The occupation of France - the occupation of the territory of the former Third French Republic [1] and its colonies by the troops of Germany and Italy. The occupation began with the invasion of Germany on May 10, 1940 and Italy on June 10, 1940 and ended in August 1944 after the fall of the Vichy government and the liberation of France [2] .
| German military administration in France | ||
|---|---|---|
| him. Militärverwaltung in frankreich | ||
| ||
| A country |  Germany | |
| Adm. Centre | Paris | |
| Square | French Metropolis and Corsica (since November 1942) | |
The territory occupied by Germany (red), the "Free Zone" under the control of the Vichy regime until 1942 (blue), yellow / shaded - territories annexed and occupied by Italy (until 1943 ). | ||
The occupation was carried out in several stages.
On June 22, 1940, the Second Compiegne Armistice was signed, according to which 2/3 of the territory of France (the entire Atlantic coast and Paris) fell under German occupation, and the remaining southern territory of the metropolis and all the colonies came under the control of the collaborationist government of Marshal Philippe Pétain .
Alsace and Lorraine were annexed directly by the Third Reich, the northern departments of France ( Nor , Pas de Calais ) were merged with Belgium in the Reichskommissariat Belgium-Northern France ( German : Reichskommissariat Belgien-Nordfrankreich).
After the loss of almost all the Vichy colonies (their transition to the side of Free France ) and the threat of landing in the southern zone, Germany launched a military aggression against the Vichy government and occupied the southern zone in November 1942, and Italy expanded its occupation zone. (so-called Operation "Anton" , German: Unternehmen Anton ) [3] .
In the summer of 1941, the Syrian-Lebanese operation took place, as a result of which Syria and Lebanon were liberated from the Vichy troops.
On November 8, 1942, the United States and Great Britain launched a successful landing in North Africa - Operation Torch . Seeing the stalemate situation of the Vichy troops in the region, as well as the refusal of Italy and Germany to support, the Vichy leaders in North Africa conspired with the allies, suggesting the influential commander Francois Darlan to form an autonomous government in the territories under his control, which was done despite protests by the French resistance .
With the gradual fall of the Third Reich in August 1944, the Allies began the liberation of the French metropolis directly from the German troops and numerous collaborationist groups controlled by the Vichy government.
Content
List of Military Commissars
- Otto von Stülpnagel (1940-1942)
- Karl von Stulpnagel (1942-1944)
- Karl Kitzinger (1944)
Notes
Literature
- Isabelle von Bueltzingsloewen, (ed) (2005). "Morts d'inanition": Famine et exclusions en France sous l'Occupation . Rennes: Presses Universitaires de Rennes. ISBN 2-7535-0136-X
- Philippe Burrin. France Under the Germans: Collaboration and Compromise. - New York: New Press, 1998 .-- ISBN 978-1-56584-439-1 .
- Robert Gildea (2002). Marianne in Chains: In Search of the German Occupation 1940–1945 . London: Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-333-78230-9
- Gerhard Hirschfeld & Patrick Marsh (eds) (1989). Collaboration in France: Politics and Culture during the Nazi Occupation 1940-1944 . Berg Pub, ISBN 978-0854962372
- Julian T. Jackson (2001). France: The Dark Years, 1940–1944 . Oxford: Oxford University Press . ISBN 0-19-820706-9
Links
- Cliotexte: sources on collaboration and resistance (Fr.)
- Cliotexte: daily life under occupation (French)
- NAZI diplomacy: Vichy, 1940
- unwelcome visitor is a webpage relating Hitler's triumphal tour of Paris. (eng.)