It describes how governments resort to the use of a parallel, non-traditional, criminal justice system in order to remain in power by eliminating all political opposition groups who may question their legitimacy or threaten their existence. The essence of problems of obedience during the war consisted in the fact that police officers often came to view themselves as the instruments for carrying out the orders of the Vichy Government, and therefore no longer viewed themselves as responsible for their own actions. In 1942, Vichy's legitimacy rapidly diminished and by 1943-44 the majority of police officers and gendarmes were reluctant to carry out repressive activities against the Resistance. An overview of the maintenance of public order in France during the occupation years 1944-45 provides an example of the way unpopular governments utilize their traditional police force and create a parallel Criminal Justice System in order to remain in power.