This year, France celebrated the tragic anniversary - the 75th anniversary of the shameful surrender to Nazi Germany.
As a result of the offensive that began on May 10, 1940, the Germans defeated the French army in just a month. On June 14, German troops entered Paris without a fight, which was declared an open city by the French government in order to avoid its destruction. On June 22, 1940, France capitulated on humiliating terms: 60% of its territory was occupied, part of the land was annexed by Germany and Italy, the rest of the territory was controlled by a puppet government. The French were supposed to support the occupying German troops, the army and navy were disarmed, the captured French were supposed to be in the camps (of the one and a half million French prisoners of war, about a million remained in the camps until 1945).
I dedicate this photo selection to this tragic event for France.
1. Residents of Paris look at the German army entering the city. 06/14/1940
2. German soldiers on the armor of an abandoned French light tank Hotchkiss H35.
3. A captured wounded French officer from a hospital captured by German troops in Juvisy-sur-Orge.
4. Captured wounded French soldiers from a hospital captured by German troops in Juvisy-sur-Orge.
5. A column of French prisoners of war on the march along a country road.
6. A group of French prisoners of war follows the streets of the city to the gathering place. In the photo: on the left - French sailors, on the right - Senegalese arrows of the French colonial troops.
7. Captured French soldiers, among them several Negroes from the French colonial units.
8. German soldiers next to the French light tank Renault R35, abandoned on the road near Lana.
9. German soldiers and an officer pose for a downed British fighter "Spitfire" (Supermarine Spitfire Mk.I) on the beach near Dunkirk.
10. Two French light tanks Renault R35, abandoned on the street of the village.
11. A column of French prisoners of war passes through the village.
12. Captured French soldiers pass along the line of German soldiers. The picture shows soldiers of various units defending the Maginot Line.
13. Captured soldiers of various units of the French colonial troops.
14. Captured French soldiers at the assembly point in Saint-Florentin.
15. Captured French soldiers guarded by a German sentry.
16. A column of French North African prisoners of war, next to the gathering place.
17. French artillery equipment abandoned on the side of the road near Brunamelle.
18. Helmets and equipment thrown by French soldiers during the surrender on the streets of the city.
19. A column of French prisoners of war on the road in the Moi-de-Aisne area.
20. A group of captured French soldiers in Amiens.
21. French soldiers surrender to German troops with their hands up.
22. German mountain rangers near the captured 155 mm French cannon Canon de 155 mm L Mle 1877 de Bange, with a barrel made in 1916 (sometimes called Canon de 155 mm L Mle 1877/1916), captured near the Marne.
23. French prisoners of war on vacation in the Dieppe area. Judging by the characteristic elements of the uniform in the picture, servicemen from the cavalry unit.
24. German soldiers on the Place de la Concorde in Paris.
25. A group of captured Moroccan soldiers of the French colonial troops in Amiens.
26. Line of captured Senegalese shooters of the French colonial troops in Amiens.
27. French prisoners of war at the assembly point. Among the prisoners are members of the French North African colonial troops, presumably Senegalese.
28. Wounded French soldiers at the infirmary in the town of Rocroix.
29. French prisoners of war drink water during a halt.
30. Vehicles abandoned by the allies on the beach near Dunkirk.
31. The commander of the 7th Panzer Division of the Wehrmacht, Major General Erwin Rommel, with staff officers cross the river in a boat.
32. A column of French prisoners of war is walking along the roadside, under the escort of German soldiers. Presumably the neighborhood of Rocroix.
33. A group of French prisoners of war on the march along the road. In the background is a flying German Yu-52 transport aircraft.
34. German gunners ferry a 37-mm PaK 35/36 anti-tank gun by boat across the Meuse.
35. German military band passes through the streets of occupied Paris.
36. French prisoners of war follow the road to the gathering place. In the center of the picture are three prisoners of war from the Zouave regiment.
37. French prisoner of war in the field.
38. French Navy dive bomber Loire-Nieuport LN-411, which made an emergency landing.
39. German soldier at the broken French fighter Bloch MB.152.
40. A group of French prisoners of war in the ranks.
41. German soldiers pose next to the broken French 25-mm anti-tank gun Hotchkiss (Canon de 25 mm antichar Modele 1934 Hotchkiss).
42. Black prisoners of the French colonial units in the construction.
43. Two German soldiers change position during the battle in the ruined French town.
44. A German soldier inspects a captured saber captured in France.
45. Captured French pilots are talking with German soldiers at the tent.
46. German soldiers next to the captured French 25-mm anti-tank gun of the 1934 model of the Hotchkiss system (Canon de 25-mm antichar Modele 1934 Hotchkiss).
47. A captured French infantryman (possibly an officer) shows something on the map to German officers. To the right and left in helmets are captured French tankers.
48. A column of French prisoners at the Palace of Versailles in Paris.
49. Abandoned French light tanks AMR-35.
50. An unknown prisoner of war soldier of one of the French North African (Moroccan) spagi regiments on the march as part of a column of prisoners.
51. A column of French prisoners of war in Rocroix, moving towards the gathering place. On the road there is a sign showing the direction to Fume.
52. Build prisoners of war from the French North African spagi regiments in a joint camp in Etamps during distribution to work.
53. An unknown POW soldier from the French 9th Algerian Regiment of the 2nd Spahi Brigade. The remnants of the regiment surrendered on June 18, 1940 near the city of Besançon.
54. A column of French prisoners passes by a German convoy in the Avranches area.
55. German soldiers and French prisoners from the colonial units in the camp at the Proto barracks in Cherbourg.
56. A German soldier distributes cigarettes to prisoners of the French colonial units.
57. A column of the 6th German Panzer Division in a field in France. In the foreground is a light tank LT vz.35 of Czech production (German designation - Pz.Kpfw. 35 (t)), in the background - German tanks Pz.Kpfw. IV early modifications.
58. Black French prisoners of the colonial units are washing clothes in the Frontstalag 155 camp in the village of Lonvik, 5 km from the city of Dijon.
59. Black French prisoners in the Frontstalag 155 camp in the village of Lonvik, 5 km from the city of Dijon.
60. Two German soldiers walk down the street of the French village of Saint-Simon past the dead cows.
61. Five French prisoners (four - blacks) are at the railroad.
62. Killed French soldier on the edge of the field in Normandy.
63. A group of French prisoners of war is on the road.
64. Representatives of France are sent to the "wagon of Marshal Foch" to negotiate an armistice with representatives of Germany. On this very spot, in this very carriage, on November 11, 1918, the Compiègne truce, humiliating for Germany, was signed, which fixed the shameful defeat of Germany in the First World War. The signing of the new Compiègne truce at the same place, according to Hitler's plan, was to symbolize the historical revenge of Germany. In order to roll out the car to the clearing, the Germans destroyed the wall of the museum where it was stored and laid rails to the historical site.
65. A group of Wehrmacht soldiers are hiding from fire in the French town of Sedan.
66. German soldiers smoke next to the horses. From the photo album of a private wagoner of the Wehrmacht infantry division.
67. German soldiers settled down to rest next to their bicycles. From the photo album of a private wagoner of the Wehrmacht infantry division.
68. Artillery guns captured by German troops during the French company. In the foreground are French 155-mm cannons of the 1917 model by Schneider. These guns in the Wehrmacht received the designation 15.5 cm gun K.416 (f). In the background - French heavy 220-mm cannons of the 1917 model by Schneider, barrels and carriages, which were transported separately. These guns in the Wehrmacht received the designation 22-cm gun K.232(f).
69. A German soldier demonstrates trophies - captured weapons and ammunition of the French troops. Photo from the photo album of a wagon soldier of a Wehrmacht infantry division.
70. A team with donkeys as part of a German convoy. From the photo album of a private wagoner of the Wehrmacht infantry division.
71. German sappers are restoring the destroyed bridge. Photo from the personal album of a Wehrmacht sapper battalion soldier.
72. Two German officers and a non-commissioned officer look at the map.
73. German soldiers at the entrance to the military cemetery in honor of those killed in the First World War near Verdun in the French town of Douaumont.
74. Wehrmacht soldiers "wash" the awards received for the campaign in France. Photo from the personal album of the Oberfeldwebel of the Wehrmacht.
75. French officer talking to a German officer during the surrender of the garrison of Nantes.
76. German nurses at the monument to French Marshal Ferdinand Foch in the Compiègne Forest. Very close to this place, the capitulation of France in the war with Germany was signed (and in 1918, the capitulation of Germany in the First World War).
77. The French bomber Amio 143 (Amiot 143) captured by German troops on the field in the commune of Sombernon in Burgundy. Aircraft from the 2nd air group of the 38th bomber squadron. The 38th bomber squadron was stationed near the city of Auxerre (Auxerre) in Burgundy. The plane returning from the mission made an emergency landing on the field due to adverse meteorological conditions and was captured by German troops. Motorcycles of one of the units of the German troops are standing next to the plane.
78. Two French prisoners are standing at the wall of the house.
79. A column of French prisoners on a village street.
80. Five non-commissioned officers of the 173rd artillery regiment of the Wehrmacht on vacation during the French company.
81. The French battleship "Bretagne" ("Bretagne", entered service in 1915) was sunk in Mers-el-Kebir during the operation "Catapult" by the English fleet. Operation Catapult was intended to capture and destroy French ships in English and colonial ports to prevent ships from falling under German control after the surrender of France. The battleship "Brittany" was covered by the third volley, hitting the base of the tripod mast, after which a strong fire began. The commander tried to throw the ship aground, but the battleship was hit by another salvo from the English battleship Hood. Two minutes later, the old battleship began to capsize and suddenly exploded, taking the lives of 977 crew members. The picture was probably taken from the French Commandant Test hydro-air transport, which miraculously avoided hits throughout the battle, and subsequently took on board the surviving crew members of the deceased battleship.
82. A column of French prisoners of the colonial units on the march on the railway bridge.
83. A soldier of the 73rd Infantry Division of the Wehrmacht poses with a French prisoner.
84. Soldiers of the 73rd Infantry Regiment of the Wehrmacht are interrogating a French prisoner of war.
85. Soldiers of the 73rd Infantry Regiment of the Wehrmacht are interrogating a French prisoner of war.
86. The body of a British artilleryman with a 40-mm 2-pound anti-tank gun QF 2 pounder.
87. French prisoners stand near a tree.
88. Soldiers of the Royal Regiment of Scottish Highlanders "Black Watch" buy dishes from a French woman. October 16, 1939
89. A column of French prisoners passes by a German convoy in the Avranches area.
90. German soldiers with horses on Stanislav Square in the French city of Nancy at the monument to the Polish king Stanislav Leshchinsky.
91. German cars on Place Stanislaus in the French city of Nancy. In the center of the square is a monument to the Polish king Stanislav Leshchinsky.
93. German 150-mm self-propelled howitzer "Bizon" (15 cm sIG 33 Sfl. auf Pz.KpfW.I Ausf B ohne Aufbau; Sturmpanzer I) against the background of the explosion of its shell on the second floor of a corner building during the fighting in France.
94. English soldiers taken prisoner by the Germans in Dunkirk, on the city square.
95. Oil storage fire at Dunkirk. The aircraft on the right, Lockheed Hudson, belongs to the British Royal Air Force.
96. German soldier killed in action during the French campaign of the Wehrmacht. On the parapet of the trench there is a German cap and parts of a belt.
97. A column of captured French soldiers. Among them are many Africans from the French colonial parts.
98. A French woman welcomes Canadian soldiers who landed in France 4 days before the surrender of French troops.
99. French soldiers during the "strange war" are photographed on the streets of the town. December 18, 1939
100. German women, children and cordon soldiers in a Nazi salute at a mass event in Germany dedicated to the victory of German troops in France.
101. The death of the English military transport Lancastria (RMS Lancastria) on June 17, 1940. In the water and on the sides of the tilted ship, you can see a lot of people trying to escape. On June 17, 1940, the English military transport Lancastria (before the war, a passenger liner cruising the Mediterranean) with a displacement of 16,243 tons was sunk by German Ju-88 bombers off the coast of France. The transport evacuated English military units to the UK from France. There were also a large number of civilians on board, including women and children. The ship was sunk in a twenty-minute attack shortly after leaving the French port of Saint-Nazaire. As a result, about four thousand passengers died - drowned, killed by bomb explosions, shelling, suffocated in oil-polluted water. 2477 people were saved.
102. Bombing by British aircraft of the French airfield in the city of Abbeville, captured by the Germans. The picture shows falling British 500-pound (227 kg) bombs.
103. The crew of the French tank Char B1 No. 350 "Fleurie" in front of their car.
104. German dive bombers "Junkers" Yu-87 (Junkers Ju 87 B-2) from the squadron "Immelman" (StG2 "Immelmann") in the skies of France.
105. Killed black French soldier.
106. During Operation Dynamo (evacuation of Anglo-French troops from Dunkirk to England), the destroyer Burrasque (French Bourrasque) hit a mine in the Ostend region (Belgium) on May 29, 1940 and sank the next day.
107. Soldiers of the SS division "Totenkopf" in battle in France.
108. Motorcyclist of the SS division "Totenkopf" in France.
109. Soldiers of the SS division "Totenkopf" regulate traffic on the streets of the French city, accelerating the advance of the lagging troops.
On May 10, 1940, German troops launched an offensive against France, which declared war on Germany on September 3, 1939, in connection with the latter's attack on Poland. As a result of the rapid offensive of the German troops, using the tactics of lightning war - blitzkrieg, the allied forces were utterly defeated, and on June 22, France was forced to sign a truce. By this time, most of its territory was occupied, and there was practically nothing left of the army.
The path of German troops to France ran through the lands of Belgium and the Netherlands, which were the first victims of aggression. German troops captured them in a short time, defeating the French troops and the British Expeditionary Force that had advanced to help.
On May 25, the commander-in-chief of the French armed forces, General Weygand, said at a government meeting that the Germans should be asked to accept surrender.
On June 8, German troops reached the Seine River. On June 10, the French government moved from Paris to the Orleans region. Paris was officially declared an open city. On the morning of June 14, German troops entered Paris. The French government fled to Bordeaux.
On June 17, the French government asked Germany for an armistice. On June 22, 1940, France surrendered to Germany, and the Second Compiègne Armistice was concluded in the Compiegne Forest. The result of the armistice was the division of France into an occupation zone of German troops and a puppet state ruled by the Vichy regime.
A Panther tank drives past the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.
German soldiers rest on the Mediterranean coast near Toulon. A destroyed French destroyer is visible in the background.
The head of the collaborationist government of France, Marshal Henri-Philippe Petain, welcomes French soldiers released from captivity in Germany at the train station in the French city of Rouen.
The ruins of the workshop of the Renault factory in Paris, completely destroyed by British aircraft.
Portrait of a Gestapo officer SS-Obersturmführer Nikolaus Barbie. Head of the Gestapo of Lyon, where he received the nickname "Lyon executioner".
German 88 mm PaK 43 anti-tank gun in occupied Normandy.
German officers at the Horch-901 car in occupied France.
German mounted patrol on a street in Paris.
German troops march through captured Paris.
German soldiers at a street stall in occupied Paris.
Belleville quarter of occupied Paris.
Tank Pz.Kpfw. IV of the 7th division of the Wehrmacht on the Toulon embankment near the French battleship Strasbourg.
Place de la Concorde in Paris.
Elderly Jewish woman on the streets of Paris.
On the street of Rose bushes (Rue des Rosiers) in occupied Paris.
Rue Rivoli in occupied Paris.
The Parisians are snapping up food.
On the streets of occupied Paris. German officers near a street cafe.
On the streets of occupied Paris.
French civilian cars running on coal and gas in Paris. In occupied France, all gasoline went to the needs of the German army.
Weighing jockeys at the racecourse Longshan. Occupied Paris, August 1943
In the Luxembourg Gardens in occupied Paris.
Famous milliners Rosa Valois, Madame le Monnier and Madame Agnes during the races at the Longchamp Racecourse, August 1943.
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.
Les Halles market in occupied Paris.
Bike taxi at the famous Parisian restaurant "Maxim's".
Parisian fashionistas in the Luxembourg Gardens. Occupied Paris, May 1942.
A Parisian on the waterfront puts lipstick on.
Showcase with a portrait of the French collaborator marshal Pétain in occupied Paris.
German soldiers at a checkpoint at a crossroads near Dieppe.
German officers are studying the coast of Normandy.
A German car "BMW-320" after a collision with a Ford BB truck on the street of a French town.
A column of self-propelled guns Panzerjäger I of the 716th Wehrmacht Infantry Division on the march in occupied France.
Two German soldiers on the street of the occupied French town of Granville.
Two German soldiers in a wrecked Sd.Kfz.231 armored car on a road in occupied Normandy.
A column of German troops in Paris.
For a long time it was believed that this photo depicted the execution of a member of the Resistance movement, but the name of the person in the photo was not known, and there was no documentary evidence that executions were carried out in the Belfort fortress (in particular, not a single cartridge case was found on the territory). Many years after the war, Georges Blind's son, Jean, saw this photograph for the first time and recognized his father in it. He said that his father had not been shot at Belfort. He was arrested and held in a fortress, and later transferred to a concentration camp in Blechhamer (Blechhamer, Upper Silesia) where he died. In prison, the Germans subjected Georges Blind to a mock execution, but did not get any information from him, and sent him to the camp.
German convoy and half-track tractors Sd.Kfz. 10 at the houses of the French village of Suyp.
Five sailors of the Kriegsmarine on the wires of the submarine U-198 at the bunker in the French La Pallice on the day the boat left for the last combat patrol.
Adolf Hitler and Francisco Franco at the talks in the French town of Hendaye.
Nazi flag over a street in Paris, 1940.
Adolf Hitler poses with his associates in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, 1940. Left - Albert Speer, Hitler's personal architect, future Reich Minister for Defense Industry and Armaments. On the right is the sculptor Arno Becker.
The Germans eat on the street of a French city.
Luftwaffe soldiers with a young French woman at the hippodrome in occupied Paris.
A German soldier at a book counter on the streets of occupied Paris.
A section of the street near the Parisian cinema in occupied Paris.
German units and a military band are preparing for a parade in occupied Paris.
Citizens of occupied France greet the head of the Vichy collaborationist government, Marshal Henri Philippe Pétain.
German officers in a cafe on the streets of occupied Paris, reading newspapers, and the townspeople. German soldiers passing by greet seated officers.
Field Marshal E. Rommel with officers watching the work of the plow during the inspection of the Atlantic Wall.
Adolf Hitler at a meeting with Francisco Franco in the French town of Hendaye. 
A German soldier plows the land with French peasants on a captured Renault UE wedge.
German post on the demarcation line separating occupied and non-occupied France.
German soldiers ride a motorcycle through a ruined French city.
On the eve of World War II, the French army was considered one of the most powerful in the world. But in a direct clash with Germany in May 1940, the French were enough for a few weeks of resistance.
Useless superiority
By the beginning of World War II, France had the 3rd largest army in the world in terms of the number of tanks and aircraft, second only to the USSR and Germany, as well as the 4th navy after Britain, the USA and Japan. The total number of French troops numbered more than 2 million people.
The superiority of the French army in manpower and equipment over the forces of the Wehrmacht on the Western Front was undeniable. For example, the French Air Force included about 3,300 aircraft, of which half were the latest combat vehicles. The Luftwaffe could only count on 1,186 aircraft.
With the arrival of reinforcements from the British Isles - an expeditionary force in the amount of 9 divisions, as well as air units, including 1,500 combat vehicles - the advantage over the German troops became more than obvious. However, in a matter of months, there was no trace of the former superiority of the allied forces - the well-trained and tactically superior army of the Wehrmacht eventually forced France to capitulate.
The line that didn't defend
The French command assumed that the German army would act as it had during the First World War - that is, it would launch an attack on France from the northeast from Belgium. The entire load in this case was to fall on the defensive redoubts of the Maginot Line, which France began to build in 1929 and improved until 1940.
For the construction of the Maginot Line, which stretches for 400 km, the French spent a fabulous amount - about 3 billion francs (or 1 billion dollars). Massive fortifications included multi-level underground forts with living quarters, ventilation systems and elevators, electrical and telephone stations, hospitals and narrow gauge railways. Gun casemates from air bombs were supposed to be protected by a concrete wall 4 meters thick.
The personnel of the French troops on the Maginot Line reached 300 thousand people.
According to military historians, the Maginot Line, in principle, coped with its task. There were no breakthroughs of German troops on its most fortified sections. But the German army group "B", having bypassed the line of fortifications from the north, threw the main forces into its new sections, which were built on swampy terrain, and where the construction of underground structures was difficult. There, the French could not hold back the onslaught of the German troops.
Surrender in 10 minutes
On June 17, 1940, the first meeting of the collaborationist government of France, headed by Marshal Henri Petain, took place. It lasted only 10 minutes. During this time, the ministers unanimously voted for the decision to turn to the German command and ask him to end the war on French territory.
For these purposes, the services of an intermediary were used. The new Minister of Foreign Affairs, P. Baudouin, through the Spanish Ambassador Lekeric, transmitted a note in which the French government asked Spain to turn to the German leadership with a request to stop hostilities in France, and also to find out the terms of the armistice. At the same time, a proposal for a truce was sent to Italy through the papal nuncio. On the same day, Petain turned on the radio to the people and the army, urging them to "stop the fight."
Last stronghold
At the signing of the armistice (act of surrender) between Germany and France, Hitler was wary of the vast colonies of the latter, many of which were ready to continue resistance. This explains some of the relaxations in the treaty, in particular, the preservation of part of the French navy to maintain "order" in their colonies.
England was also vitally interested in the fate of the French colonies, since the threat of their capture by German forces was highly valued. Churchill hatched plans for a French government in exile that would grant de facto control of Britain's French overseas possessions.
General Charles de Gaulle, who created a government in opposition to the Vichy regime, directed all his efforts to seizing the colonies.
However, the North African administration turned down an offer to join the Free French. A completely different mood reigned in the colonies of Equatorial Africa - already in August 1940, Chad, Gabon and Cameroon joined de Gaulle, which created the conditions for the general to form the state apparatus.
Fury of Mussolini
Realizing that the defeat of France from Germany was inevitable, Mussolini on June 10, 1940 declared war on her. The Italian Army Group "West" of Prince Umberto of Savoy, with forces of over 300 thousand people, with the support of 3 thousand guns, launched an offensive in the Alps. However, the opposing army of General Aldry successfully repelled these attacks.
By June 20, the offensive of the Italian divisions became more fierce, but they managed to advance only slightly in the Menton area. Mussolini was furious - his plans to seize a large piece of its territory by the time of France's surrender had failed. The Italian dictator has already begun to prepare an airborne assault, but has not received approval for this operation from the German command.
On June 22, an armistice was signed between France and Germany, and two days later a similar agreement was signed between France and Italy. So, with a "victorious embarrassment" Italy entered the Second World War.
Victims
During the active phase of the war, which lasted from May 10 to June 21, 1940, the French army lost about 300 thousand people killed and wounded. Half a million were taken prisoner. The tank corps and the French Air Force were partially destroyed, the other part went to the German armed forces. At the same time, Britain will liquidate the French fleet in order to avoid it falling into the hands of the Wehrmacht.
Despite the fact that the capture of France took place in a short time, its armed forces gave a worthy rebuff to the German and Italian troops. For a month and a half of the war, the Wehrmacht lost more than 45 thousand people killed and missing, about 11 thousand were wounded.
The French sacrifices of German aggression could not have been in vain if the French government had made a series of concessions put forward by Britain in exchange for the entry of the royal armed forces into the war. But France chose to capitulate.
Paris - a place of convergence 
According to the armistice agreement, Germany occupied only the western coast of France and the northern regions of the country, where Paris was located. The capital was a kind of place of "French-German" rapprochement. Here, German soldiers and Parisians coexisted peacefully: they went to the cinema together, visited museums, or simply sat in a cafe. After the occupation, theaters also revived - their box office receipts tripled compared to pre-war years.
Paris very quickly became the cultural center of occupied Europe. France lived as before, as if there were no months of desperate resistance and unfulfilled hopes. German propaganda managed to convince many French people that capitulation is not a disgrace to the country, but a road to the “bright future” of a renewed Europe.
Starting from May 12, 1940, the Wehrmacht troops, without encountering any serious obstacles on their way, systematically seized French territories and without a fight took the northwestern part of the Maginot Line, which was the last Allied redoubt and was recognized by many military leaders as an ideal fortification. When German tanks began their victorious raid across Western Europe, the General Staff of the British Empire developed a plan for the evacuation of allied forces from the continent to the British Isles, the so-called "Dynamo plan". This ten-day military operation, during which 340,000 soldiers of the French, British and Belgian armies were transported from the continent to the islands, was the largest operation of its kind in history.
The Nazis continued to move deep into French territory and on June 14 they reached Paris. On the same day, in the evening, a giant banner with a Nazi swastika was erected on the Eiffel Tower. This victory was very significant for the Germans, who had a special dislike for France, and in particular, for Paris, since throughout the entire World War I, the French, by the will of fate, avoided the German occupation. The swastika hovering over the Champs Elysees was a kind of German revenge for the shame in the First World War.
Eight days after the capture of the French capital, Henri Pétain and other French political leaders signed an armistice with the Nazis. According to this document, Germany annexed half of France, where an occupation regime was established. Industrial, raw materials, food resources of France were under the control of Germany. In the remaining half (in the south of the country), power was transferred to the puppet government of Pétain. This armistice was signed in the Compiègne forest, which was also very symbolic, since twenty years ago, in 1919, the Germans were forced to sign the act of surrender there.
In July 1940, Marshal Pétain, at the head of the government, which met in Vichy, began to pursue a policy of national treason, expressing the interests of a part of the French bourgeoisie that was oriented towards Nazi Germany. The Vichy regime, headed by Pétain, and later by Pierre Laval, actively collaborated with the Nazis and helped to stifle the national liberation struggle of the French people. The French population experienced double pressure: on the one hand - the invaders, on the other - their own government.
The liberation of France began on July 6, 1944, when the Allied troops landed in Normandy, and less than three months later, on August 25, 1944, French soldiers, led by General Charles de Gaulle, entered Paris in triumph. They were followed by the 4th US Infantry. Nazi resistance was quickly broken, despite Hitler's order to burn Paris to the ground.
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