The dégradation nationale ("National stripping of rank") was a sentence introduced in France after the Liberation. It was applied during the épuration légale

Épuration légale

The Épuration légale was the wave of official trials that followed the Liberation of France and the fall of the Vichy Regime...

("legal purge") which followed the fall of the Vichy regime

Vichy France

Vichy France, Vichy Regime, or Vichy Government, are common terms used to describe the government of France that collaborated with the Axis powers from July 1940 to August 1944. This government succeeded the Third Republic and preceded the Provisional Government of the French Republic...

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The dégradation nationale was one of the sentences available to the Cours de justice. It was meant to punish offences of Indignité nationale

Indignité nationale

Indignité nationale was a legally defined offense, created at the Liberation in the context of the “Épuration légale”...

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Individuals sentenced to the dégradation nationale lost their political, civil and professional rights. They effectively became second-class citizen

Second-class citizen

Second-class citizen is an informal term used to describe a person who is systematically discriminated against within a state or other political jurisdiction, despite their nominal status as a citizen or legal resident there...

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