They are clearly a different government, that doesn’t make them a different nation. The France that allied troops fought against in Africa and the Middle East was the same France that gave them medals after the war, even if the government was not the same.
No, but it’s the government, not the nation, that determines alliances and enmity. de Gaulle’s government did not give medals to enemies of de Gaulle’s government.
Franz Stigler deserved an award but his counterpart was ordered to not repeat what happened.
The OP is: “Has a nation ever given an enemy combatant a medal?”. So when the France gave a medals to Allied troops who had had fought against France they gave them to enemy combatants (as in: soldiers who have fought in combat against France). Which government was in charge is irrelevant.
It wasn’t because of his actions during the war, it was all about his actions after the war, and during the occupation.
After their defeat, the Japanese civilians were completely fed up with the brutal military rule and the terrible conditions they had had to endure. They say MacArthur as a liberator and welcomed the new rights allowed under the occupation, including free speech and the right to assembly. They felt betrayed by the former government and felt they could trust him over their own leaders.
During his reign, time as Supreme Commander of Allied Power, the Japanese people sent him 500,000 letters, mostly fan letters, although a few hate mails as well.
Free France and Vichy France were two distinct entities, covering different territories.
Thus, they can be considered different nations.
Free France did not consider Allied troops to be “enemy combatants”.
They didn’t cover different territories, no part of France was officially annexed by the Nazis (even Alsace Lorraine), they ran the occupied portion of France, but France remained intact…
What makes a country the “official” country. It happens on occasion that some goon overthrows his government in a military coup and claims he is the the new ruler but the rest of the world does not agree.
Heck, Taiwan is STILL not recognized as an official country today because China aggressively says no to that. For a while there was a question mark next to which government was officially China.
Some countries (I believe less than 20) do recognize the Republic of China thus according to them the status of “an official country” as far as those countries are concerned.
The allied forces were fighting against germans occupying france and the Vichy government. They fought alongside Free French forces. The allied forces were awarded medals by the Free French government which claimed to be the rightful government of france. In now way could those awards said to be made to an enemy combatant.
Except in the way they were awarded to troops who fought, in that same war, against the army of France in an enemy army. Which is 100% defintely the definition of "enemy combatant:
Also (not it makes a ton of difference to the claim) but it should be pointed out that, just like the senior military and civilian leadership, basically none of the French troops from France, ended up in the free french forces (even those who were evacuated with the British forces at Dunkirk were almost all repatriated after the French government signed the armistice with Hitler). For all intents and purposes “Free french” forces, mean troops from francophone Africa (a fact that is not always mentioned in the history books written by Europeans).
Well firstly, whatever the diplomatic niceties Taiwan is not China. If China were to invade Taiwan tomorrow, it would not be a civil war or a coup by one faction of the Chinese government against another, it would one nation state invading another nation state.
But even if you disagree with that, and claim Taiwan is China. It still does not apply to the French exiles during WW2. The reason Taiwan is still referred to as China in some diplomatic circles is that the government of China (or at least what was nominally the government of China, the Chiang Kai-shek regime) fled there after losing the civil war to the communists, and carried on claiming to the legitimate government of China, long after the communists had completely taken over actual China.
That did happen in some European countries after the Nazi invasion of Europe (e.g. Norway where the King and the government escaped to Britain when it became obvious the Germans were going to win) but not in France. The French government resigned (and stayed in France) and handed over power willingly the Vichy regime. It was that regime, the actual government of France, that the french troops in Africa and Middle east were fighting for when the allies invaded.
We were talking about Vichy France. Taiwan is a more recent example of a country in a political twilight and has been for many decades.
But, if you want a very recent example, I do not think the Taliban government setup in Afghanistan has been recognized by anybody (or at least very few).
So, how does it work if Afghanistan started handing out medals? By which I mean how would you view them?
Germany donated a marble sarcophagus for the remains of Saladin, 700 years after the fact. It sits next to his wooden sarcophagus.
Seguin, TX was named after Juan Seguin, a Tejano who fought for the Republic of Texas against the Mexican army. He later took up arms against the US army, so they quietly renamed it for Seguin’s father, coincidentally also named Juan Seguin.
Do you have the story or a link to that story? I don’t doubt you, just never heard of it, find it very interesting and would like to know more details.
EinsteinsHund wrote:
Germany donated a marble sarcophagus for the remains of Saladin, 700 years after the fact. It sits next to his wooden sarcophagus.Do you have the story or a link to that story? I don’t doubt you, just never heard of it, find it very interesting and would like to know more details.
Click on the link to get the full story. I first heard this story in Terry Jones’s The Crusades (I think it was Episode 3).
Thanks a lot! 
ETA: I have t to dig deeper into that matter. I wonder why Willhelm II gave that sarcophagus to Syria. I probably was a political gesture/maneuver to make allies, but I’m not sure about German politics in the Middle East at that time in history.
From wikipedia
On September 14, 1989, the United States Postal Service released a Great Americans series 28¢ postage stamp featuring a likeness of Sitting Bull.
I just wanted to say that I’m really enjoying this thread. There are some great examples. Thanks to all the contributors!
EinsteinsHund wrote:
ETA: I have t to dig deeper into that matter. I wonder why Willhelm II gave that sarcophagus to Syria. I probably was a political gesture/maneuver to make allies, but I’m not sure about German politics in the Middle East at that time in history.
I suspect a big part of it was that he wanted to legitimize himself and his new(ish) throne and be seen as the real successor to the crown of Charlemagne. Plus, shoring up a shaky alliance with the Ottoman Empire had to be on his mind right about then.