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France during World War II
3 September 1939 – 2 September 1945
President(s)	Albert Lebrun Philippe Pétain Charles de Gaulle
Prime Minister(s)	Édouard Daladier Paul Reynaud Philippe Pétain Pierre Laval Pierre-Étienne Flandin François Darlan Charles de Gaulle
Chronology Interwar France Trente Glorieuses

France was one of the largest military powers to come under occupation as part of the Western Front in World War II. The Western Front was a military theatre of World War II encompassing Denmark, Norway, Luxembourg, Belgium, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, and Germany. The Western Front was marked by two phases of large-scale combat operations.

The first phase saw the capitulation of the Netherlands, Belgium, and France during May and June 1940 after their defeat in the Low Countries and the northern half of France, and continued into an air war between Germany and Britain that climaxed with the Battle of Britain.

After capitulation, France was governed as Vichy France headed by Marshal (Maréchal - Marshal in French) Philippe Pétain. From 1940 to 1942, while the Vichy regime was the nominal government of all of France except for Alsace-Lorraine, the Germans and Italians militarily occupied northern and south-eastern France. France was not liberated until 1944, when the allied invasion restored the French Government.

Topics

The following are articles about the topic of France during World War II:

• Maginot Line and Alpine Line of fortifications and defences along the borders with Germany and Italy
• French declaration of war on Germany—17:00 on 3 September 1939.
• Phoney War, or drôle de guerre ("strange war"), the name given to the period of time in Western Europe from September 1939 to April 1940 when, after the blitzkrieg attack on Poland in September 1939, there was almost no fighting, and no bombs were dropped.
  • Maxime Weygand, commander-in-chief; little military activity between the defeat of Poland in October 1939 and April 1940.
  • Anglo-French Supreme War Council set up to organize a joint strategy against Germany.
• The Battle of France in May and June 1940, in which the German victory led to the fall of the French Third Republic.

Vichy France

• Vichy France, the German client state established in June 1940 under in the non-occupied Zone libre, officially neutral and independent until invaded by the Axis in November 1942.
  • Marshal Philippe Pétain, Vichy's main leader.
  • Pierre Laval, head of government 1942-1944
  • Vichy French Army
  • Vichy French Navy
  • Vichy French Air Force
  • Milice
    • Franc-Garde
    • Groupe mobile de réserve
  • Guard (Vichy France)
  • Scuttling of the French fleet in Toulon.
  • Service du travail obligatoire - the provision of French citizens as forced labour in Germany.
• Axis occupation of France:
  • German occupation of France during World War II - 1940–1944 in the northern zones, and 1942–1944 in the southern zone.
    • The Holocaust in France.
  • Italian occupation of France during World War II - limited to border areas 1940–1942, almost all Rhône left-bank territory 1942-1943.

Free France

• Charles de Gaulle, the main leader.
• Free France (La France Libre), the provisional government in London who controlled unoccupied and liberated territories, and the forces under its control (Forces françaises libres or FFL), fighting on the Allies' side after the Appeal of 18 June of its leader, General de Gaulle.
  • French Liberation Army (Armée française de la Libération) formed on 1 August 1943 by the merger of the FFL and all other Free French units, principally the Army of Africa.
  • French Forces of the Interior (Forces françaises de l'intérieur) elements of the Resistance loyal to London and under its operational military command.
  • Free French Air Force.
  • Free French Naval Forces.
  • French Resistance and the National Council of the Resistance which coordinated the various groups that made up the resistance.
  • Japanese and Thai occupation of French Indochina - beginning with the Japanese invasion in September 1940 and with the Franco-Thai War which started in October 1940.
• Liberation of France
  • Operation Overlord - the invasion of northern France by the western Allies in June 1944.
  • Operation Dragoon - the invasion of southern France by the western Allies in August 1944.
  • Liberation of Paris - the freeing of the French capital in August 1944.
• Allied advance from Paris to the Rhine - advance (as the right flank of the western front) into Alsace-Lorraine in 1944.
• Western Allied invasion of Germany - invasion (as the right flank of the western front) of Baden-Württemberg in 1945.

Further reading

• Kedward, Roderick. "France" in I.C.B. Dear and M.R.D. Foot, eds. The Oxford Companion to World War II (2003) pp 391–408. online at Oxford Reference.

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Liberation of France	Kieffer commandos French Liberation Army 1st Army 2nd DB General de Lattre General Leclerc Liberation of France Liberation of Paris Liberation of Strasbourg Provisional Government
Leaders	Charles de Gaulle Jean Moulin Emmanuel d'Astier Pierre Brossolette Charles Delestraint Henri Frenay Marie-Madeleine Fourcade Jean-Pierre Lévy Pierre Villon
Museums and Memorials	Order of Liberation Companions Resistance Medal Medal of the Righteous Mémorial de la France combattante Museum of National Resistance Museums and memorials Musée de l'Ordre de la Libération Free France Foundation
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v t e Liberation of France
Belgium Italy Luxembourg Netherlands Norway
Forces	Army of Africa Commando Kieffer First Army Cavalry Corps 3rd Army Corps 4th 5th 1st Armored 32nd Infantry Francs-Tireurs et Partisans French Forces of the Interior French Liberation Army French Expeditionary Corps Divisions: 1st Free French 2nd Moroccan Infantry 3rd Algerian Infantry 4th Moroccan Mountain Second Army French Forces of the West
Leaders	Charles de Gaulle Jean Moulin Winston Churchill Bernard Montgomery Henri Giraud Dwight D. Eisenhower Raymond O. Barton George S. Patton Philippe Leclerc Jean de Lattre de Tassigny Philippe Kieffer
Administration	Empire Defense Council French Civil and Military High Command French National Committee French Committee of National Liberation Provisional Consultative Assembly Provisional Government
French campaign	Nov 1940 Battle of Gabon Jun 1941 Syria–Lebanon campaign Dec 1941 Capture of Saint Pierre and Miquelon Nov 1942 Operation Torch Tunisian campaign Battle of Réunion Sept 1943 Liberation of Corsica Jan 1944 Battle of Vercors Battle of Glières March 1944 Liberation of Limousin May 1944 Battle of Mont Mouchet Jun 1944 Operation Overlord Battle of Carentan Battle of Cherbourg Battle for Caen Liberation of Limousin Tulle massacre Liberation of Guéret Oradour-sur-Glane massacre Maquis de Saint-Marcel Maquis de Saffré Battle of Ushant July 1944 Liberation of Saint-Lô Battle of Mont Gargan Operation Cobra Aug 1944 Battle for Brittany Rennes Saint-Malo Liberation of Brest Atlantic pockets: Lorient Saint-Nazaire Lioran Égletons Battle of Port Cros Battle of La Ciotat Provence landings Liberation of Toulon Liberation of Marseille Liberation of Paris Maillé massacre Liberation of Guéret Battle of Montélimar Liberation of Nice Sept 1944 Liberation of Nancy Operation Astonia Operation Undergo Atlantic pockets: La Rochelle Royan Dunkirk Battle of Arracourt Battle of Meximieux Nov 1944 - March 1945 Battle of Alsace Liberation of Strasbourg Colmar Pocket Bitche Apr 1945 Atlantic pockets: Royan May 1945 Atlantic pockets: Dunkirk La Rochelle Lorient Saint-Nazaire
Aftermath	End of Vichy 1945 municipal elections Advance to the Rhine Invasion of Germany End of World War II in Europe Victory in Europe Day Victory Day Provisional Government Épuration légale Épuration sauvage Tripartisme 1946 legislative election Fourth Republic Trente Glorieuses Trial of Philippe Pétain Klaus Barbie trial
WW II theatres: Atlantic Western Front Eastern Front Mediterranean and Middle East Pacific Sino Japanese

• France in World War II
• 1930s in France
• 1940s in France
• Wars involving France
• Modern history of France
• Military history of France during World War II