La Grande-Bretagne n'a pas cessé d'être une île (Great Britain has not ceased to be an island), ORAFF poster

A stylised portrait of Georges Clemenceau sits above a block of his words on Britain as 'our oldest enemy', signed with his name and a book title. The tell: the poster carries no argument of its own; it borrows a World War I leader's authority to make an anti-British claim.

Date: 1943
Period: Second World War
Made by: Vichy French State; Office de répartition de l'affichage (ORAFF), printed by Imprimerie Bedos & Cie, Paris
Region: Western and Central Europe
Country: Vichy France
Medium: Poster
Issuer type: State
Regime: Vichy Regime
Leader: Philippe Petain
Audience: Domestic public
Purpose: Persuade or win support
Themes: War and the military, Empire and colonialism
Event: World War II
Techniques: Testimonial
Source: Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
Source: Wikimedia Commons (Musée Carnavalet / Paris Musées Collections), retrieved October 2, 2026
Rights: CC0 1.0 (Paris Musées / Musée Carnavalet open-content dedication)
Anonymous designer; printed by Imprimerie Bedos & Cie, Paris for the Office de répartition de l'affichage (ORAFF). Musée Carnavalet, Histoire de Paris, inv. 2021.0.137, via Paris Musées Collections and Wikimedia Commons.

Text on the object

Original (French) · read from the image, not independently checked

LA GRANDE-BRETAGNE
N'A PAS CESSÉ D'ÊTRE UNE ÎLE
DÉFENDUE PAR LES FLOTS, CE POUR
QUOI ELLE SE CROIT TENUE
DE MULTIPLIER LES CAUSES DE
DISCORDES ENTRE LES PEUPLES
DU CONTINENT POUR ASSURER
LA PAIX DE SES CONQUÊTES. CETTE
POLITIQUE A EU DE GRANDS JOURS
POUR ELLE CONTRE NOUS.
L'ANGLETERRE FUT HISTORIQUEMENT
NOTRE PLUS VIEILLE ENNEMIE.

CLEMENCEAU
GRANDEURS ET MISÈRES D'UNE VICTOIRE

IMP. BEDOS & Cie - PARIS
ORAFF V. I 1053

English translation (machine translation by Claude, not verified by a fluent reader)

GREAT BRITAIN HAS NOT CEASED TO BE AN ISLAND DEFENDED BY THE WAVES, WHICH IS WHY SHE BELIEVES HERSELF BOUND TO MULTIPLY THE CAUSES OF DISCORD BETWEEN THE PEOPLES OF THE CONTINENT, TO ENSURE THE PEACE OF HER CONQUESTS. THIS POLICY HAS HAD GREAT DAYS FOR HER AGAINST US. ENGLAND WAS HISTORICALLY OUR OLDEST ENEMY.

CLEMENCEAU
GRANDEURS AND MISERIES OF A VICTORY

PRINTED BY BEDOS & CO - PARIS
ORAFF V. I 1053

Translation is FRAME's own literal rendering, machine-assisted and not verified by a fluent reader.