Wartime collaboration is the voluntary cooperation of local populations, officials or combatants with the enemy against their own state, often for personal gain, ideology or survival. It is widely considered as a form of betrayal and a crime (treason) as it is viewed as a breach of loyalty that compromises the safety of the citizens and sovereignty of the state. As historian Gerhard Hirschfeld says, it "is as old as war and the occupation of foreign territory".

The term collaborator dates to the 19th century and was used in France during the Napoleonic Wars. The meaning shifted during World War II to designate traitorous collaboration with the enemy. The related term collaborationism is used by historians who restrict the term to a subset of ideological collaborators in Vichy France who actively promoted German victory.

Etymology The term collaborate dates from 1871, and is a back-formation from collaborator (1802), from the French collaborateur. It was used during the Napoleonic Wars against smugglers trading with England and assisting in the escape of monarchists. It is derived from the Latin collaboratus, past participle of collaborare "work with", from com- "with" + labore "to work".

The meaning of "traitorous cooperation with the enemy"collaborate in The Oxford English Dictionary Online (2014) dates from 1940, originally in reference to the Vichy Government of France, which cooperated with the Germans after the fall of France and during their occupation, 1940–44. It was first used in the modern sense on 24 October 1940 in a meeting between Marshal Philippe Pétain and Adolf Hitler in Montoire-sur-le-Loir a few months after the Fall of France. Pétain believed that Germany had won the war, and informed the French people that he accepted "collaboration" with Germany.

Definitions

Collaboration in wartime can take many forms, including political, economic, social, sexual, cultural, or military collaboration. The activities undertaken can be treasonous, to varying extent, and in a World War II context generally working with the enemy actively.

Stanley Hoffmann subdivided collaboration into involuntary (reluctant recognition of necessity) and voluntary (an attempt to exploit necessity). According to him, collaboration can be either servile or ideological. Servile is service to an enemy based on necessity for personal survival or comfort, whereas ideological is advocacy for cooperation with an enemy power.Stanley Hoffmann. 'Collaborationism in France during World War II." The Journal of Modern History, Vol. 40, No. 3 (Sep., 1968), pp. 375–395 In contrast, Bertram Gordon used the terms "collaborator" and "collaborationist" for ideological and non-ideological collaboration, respectively, in France.Bertram N. Gordon, Collaborationism in France during the Second World War (Cornell University Press, 1980) James Mace Ward has asserted that, while collaboration is often equated with treason, there was "legitimate collaboration" between civilian internees (mostly Americans) in the Philippines and their Japanese captors for mutual benefit and to enhance the possibilities of the internees to survive.Ward, James Mace (May 2008), "Legitimate Collaboration: The Administration of Santo Tomas Internment Camp and its Histories, 1942-2003," Pacific Historical Review, Vol 77, No. 2, p. 159, 195-200. Downloaded from JSTOR. Collaboration with the Axis Powers in Europe and Asia existed in varying degrees in all the occupied countries.

Collaboration with the enemy in wartime goes back to prehistory, and has always been present. Since World War II, historians have used it to refer to the wartime occupation of France by Germany in World War II. Unlike other defeated countries which capitulated to Germany, whose leaders fled into exile, France signed an armistice, cooperated with the German Reich economically and politically, and used the new situation to effectuate a transfer of power to a cooperative French State under Marshall Phillipe Pétain., as quoted in:

In the context of World War II Europe, and especially in Vichy France, historians draw a distinction between collaboration and collaborator on the one hand, and the related terms collaborationism and collaborationist on the other. Stanley Hoffmann in 1974 and other historians have used the term to refer to fascists and Nazi sympathisers who, for anti-communist or other ideological reasons, wished a reinforced collaboration with Hitler's Germany. Collaborationism refers to those, primarily from the fascist right in Vichy France, who embraced the goal of a German victory as their own, whereas collaboration refers to those among the French who for whatever other reason collaborated with the Germans.

Motivation

The reasons for people collaborating with the enemy in wartime is driven by a complex, often overlapping set of motivations. Historically, such actions have been motivated by a desire to mitigate the hardships of occupation, personal gain or alignment with the invader's political and social goals.

The most common (and often involuntary) motive for collaboration is the instinct for survival. In occupied territories, individuals may cooperate to ensure food, safety and employment for themselves and their families. Occupation forces can often compel cooperation through coercion and threats of severe punishment and in extreme cases, individuals (including victims) may cooperate with the enemy to avoid death.

Another motive for collaboration involves individuals having active, often passionate support for the occupier’s worldview and ideology. In some instances, collaborators work with occupiers in the hope of achieving nationalist goals such as independence, territorial gains or strengthening their nation-state.

Opportunism and self-interest, particularly by political, economic and administrative elites can also be another motive for collaboration, often for personal, financial or professional gain. Elites either sought to take control of their countries under the protection of the invader or profiting from the war through the exploitation of resources, confiscation of property and lucrative business contracts with the occupying power or securing a higher social position or special privileges under the new regime.

Collaboration can also be driven by pragmatism, which involves individuals or groups who, while not necessarily sharing the occupier's ideology, believe that cooperation is the best way to manage a difficult situation. It is based on a "lesser evil" argument that portrays collaboration as a way to soften the negative impacts from the occupation or to prevent further destruction under the belief that resistance is futile and will only cause more bloodshed.

Ethnic, religious and social divisions can also drive wartime collaboration. Invaders often exploited existing local tensions to gain support, especially among minority groups in occupied countries who sometimes viewed the invaders as "liberators" from the majority population who often mistreated them or using the occupier to eliminate other local, political or personal rivals.

Public perceptions of collaborators Public perceptions of wartime collaborators are generally deeply hostile, often viewing them as traitors who violated the traditional political order. However, these perceptions are complex, nuanced and evolve over time, ranging from total condemnation to understanding the, at times, forced nature of the cooperation.

Collaborators are often viewed as traitors, opportunists or cowards who, by working with the enemy, bear responsibility for the occupation and sufferings caused by the enemy. In many cases, these collaborators often faced immediate, harsh punishment, including public humiliation, imprisonment and even summary execution by their own people, even before official legal proceedings are established. However, some collaborators may be viewed as morally ambiguous, with their actions portrayed as necessary evils with their attempts to save others or the country, particularly in hindsight or when analyzing the difficult choices made under extreme conditions. The memory of collaboration can often remain a source of division within societies after a conflict concluded.

Collaboration with occupying forces is a common phenomenon in contexts of military occupation and war. Heonik Kwon observes that those studying modern warfare, particularly under prolonged occupation, often encounter instances of collaboration between the subjugated population and the occupying power. Such cooperation is frequently coerced, as the subjugated may have no choice but to comply in order to avoid further harm or punishment. Kwon notes that collaboration is a recurring element in the history of war.Kwon, Heonik (2008), "Excavating the History of Collaboration," Asia-Pacific Journal, Vol. 6, No. 7, p.2

Timothy Brook highlights the use of the term "collaboration" in the context of World War II, particularly after Philippe Pétain's announcement on 30 October 1940, in which he declared that France would cooperate with Nazi Germany. This statement, following Pétain's meeting with Adolf Hitler, contributed to the negative connotation of the term, as it became associated with political cooperation with occupying forces.

In the Philippines, during the Japanese occupation in World War II, collaboration was similarly seen as a necessary measure by the internee government at the Santo Tomas Internment Camp. Edilberto C. de Jesus and Carlos Quirino explain that collaboration with the Japanese was viewed as the lesser evil, preferable to facing a more direct and oppressive rule.Ward, pp. 160-161

History

Colonialism

In some colonial or occupation conflicts, soldiers of native origin were seen as collaborators. This could be the case of mamluks and janissaries in the Ottoman Empire. In some cases, the meaning was not disrespectful at the beginning, but changed with later use when borrowed: the Ottoman term for the sipahi soldiers became sepoy in British India, which in turn was adapted as cipayo in Spanish or zipaio in Basque with a more overtly pejorative meaning of "mercenary".

Harki is the generic term for native Muslim Algerians who served as auxiliaries in the French Army during the Algerian War from 1954 to 1962. The word sometimes applies to all Algerian Muslims (thus including civilians) who supported French Algeria during the war. The motives for enlisting were mixed. They are regarded as traitors in independent Algeria.

Napoleonic Wars Afrancesados ("Frenchified" or "French-alike") were upper-and-middle class Spanish supporters of the French occupation of Spain. The afrancesados saw themselves as heirs of enlightened absolutism and saw the arrival of Napoleon as an opportunity to modernize the country.Joes, Anthony James. Guerrilla Conflict Before the Cold War, pp. 109-110. Greenwood Publishing Group, 1996. Google Books. Retrieved 28 January 2019.

Examples

World War II

In World War II, collaborators with Nazi Germany were found in Stalin's Soviet Union and in other Western European countries, and Japanese collaborators operated in China.

During World War II, collaboration existed to varying degrees in German-occupied zones, ranging from government officials to celebrities and ordinary citizens. High-profile German collaborators included Dutch actor Johannes Heesters or English-language radio-personality William Joyce (the most widely known Lord Haw-Haw).

France

In France, a distinction emerged between the collaborateur (collaborator) and the collaborationniste (collaborationist). The term collaborationist is mainly used to describe individuals enrolled in pseudo-Nazi parties, often based in Paris, who