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German military administration in occupied France during World War II

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"Occupation of France" and "Occupied France" redirect here. For other occupations, seeMilitary occupation of France.
Not to be confused withFrench occupation zone.
Military Administration in France
Militärverwaltung in Frankreich(German)
Administration militaire en France(French)
1940–1944
The zone occupée: German (red) and Italian (yellow) occupation zones of France, the zone libre, the zone interdite, the Military Administration in Belgium and Northern France, and annexed Alsace-Lorraine
Thezone occupée:German (red) andItalian(yellow) occupation zones of France, thezone libre,thezone interdite,theMilitary Administration in Belgium and Northern France,and annexedAlsace-Lorraine
StatusTerritory underGerman military administration
CapitalParis
Common languagesGerman
French
Occitan
Military Commander
• 1940–1942
Otto von Stülpnagel
• 1942–1944
Carl-Heinrich von Stülpnagel
Historical eraWorld War II
22 June 1940
11 November 1942
• Disestablished
25 August 1944
Preceded by		 Succeeded by
1940:
French Third Republic
1942:
Vichy France
1943:
Italian military administration
Provisional Government of the French Republic

TheMilitary Administration in France(German:Militärverwaltung in Frankreich;French:Administration militaire en France) was aninterim occupation authorityestablished byNazi GermanyduringWorld War IIto administer the occupied zone in areas of northern and westernFrance.This so-calledzone occupéewas established in June 1940, and renamedzone nord( "north zone" ) in November 1942, when the previously unoccupied zone in the south known aszone libre( "free zone" ) was also occupied and renamedzone sud( "south zone" ).

Its role in France was partly governed by the conditions set by theArmistice of 22 June 1940after theblitzkriegsuccess of theWehrmachtleading to theFall of France;at the time both French and Germans thought the occupation would be temporary and last only until Britain came to terms, which was believed to be imminent. For instance, France agreed that itssoldiers would remain prisoners of waruntil the cessation of all hostilities.

The "French State" (État français) replaced theFrench Third Republicthat had dissolved in defeat. Though nominally extending its sovereignty over the whole country, it was in practice limited in exercising its authority to the free zone. AsPariswas located in the occupied zone, its government was seated in the spa town ofVichyinAuvergne,and therefore it was more commonly known asVichy France.

While the Vichy government was nominally in charge of all of France, the military administration in the occupied zone was ade factoNazidictatorship, where the actual sovereignty of the French government was seriously limited. Nazi rule was extended to the free zone when it was invaded by Germany and Italy duringCase Antonon 11 November 1942 in response toOperation Torch,the Allied landings inFrench North Africaon 8 November 1942. The Vichy government remained in existence, even though its authority was now severely reduced.

The German military administration in France ended with theLiberation of Franceafter theNormandyandProvence landings.It formally existed from May 1940 to December 1944, though most of its territory had been liberated by the Allies by the end of summer 1944.

Occupation zones[edit]

German soldiers march by theArc de Triompheon theAvenue des Champs-Élyséesin Paris, June 1940.

Alsace-Lorrainehad been annexed after theFranco-Prussian warin 1871 by theGerman Empireand returned to France after the First World War. It wasre-annexedby theThird Reich(thussubjecting their male population to German military conscription.) The departments ofNord and Pas-de-Calaiswere attached to themilitary administration in Belgium and Northern France,which was also responsible[1]for civilian affairs in the 20-kilometre (12 mi) widezone interditealong the Atlantic coast. Another "forbidden zone" wereareas in north-eastern France,corresponding toLorraineand roughly about half each ofFranche-Comté,ChampagneandPicardie.War refugeeswere prohibited from returning to their homes, and it was intended for Germansettlersand annexation[2]in the coming NaziNew Order(Neue Ordnung).

The occupied zone (French:zone occupée,French pronunciation:[zonɔkype],German:Besetztes Gebiet) consisted of the rest of northern and western France, including the two forbidden zones.

The southern part of France, except for the western half ofAquitainealong the Atlantic coast, became thezone libre( "free zone" ), where theVichy regimeremained sovereign as an independent state, though under heavy German influence due to the restrictions of the Armistice (including a heavy tribute) and economic dependency on Germany. It constituted a land area of 246,618 square kilometres, approximately 45 percent of France, and included approximately 33 percent of the total French labor force.[3]Thedemarcation linebetween the free zone and the occupied zone was a de facto border, necessitating special authorisation and alaissez-passerfrom the German authorities to cross.[4]

German control post on the Demarcation Line,[5]1941.

These restrictions remained in place after Vichy was occupied and the zone renamedzone sud( "south zone" ), and also placed under military administration in November 1942.

TheItalian occupation zoneconsisted of small areas along theAlpsborder, and a 50-kilometre (31 mi) demilitarised zone along the same. It was expanded to all territory[6][7]on the left bank of theRhôneriver after its invasion together with Germany of Vichy France on 11 November 1942, except for areas aroundLyonandMarseille,which were added to Germany'szone sud,and Corsica.

The Italian occupation zone was also occupied by Germany and added to thezone sudafterItaly's surrender in September 1943,except for Corsica,which was liberatedby the landings ofFree French forcesand local Italian troops that became co-belligerents of the Allies.

Administrative structure[edit]

After Germany and France agreed on anarmisticefollowing the defeats of May and June,Colonel GeneralWilhelm KeitelandGeneral Charles Huntzinger,representatives of theThird Reichand of the French government of MarshalPhilippe Pétainrespectively, signed it on 22 June 1940 at the Rethondes clearing inCompiègne Forest.As it was done at the same place and in the same railroad carriage where thearmistice ending the First World Warwhen Germany surrendered, it is known as theSecond Compiègne armistice.

France was roughly divided into an occupied northern zone and an unoccupied southern zone, according to the armistice convention "in order to protect the interests of the German Reich".[8]TheFrench colonial empireremained under the authority of Marshal Pétain's Vichy regime. French sovereignty was to be exercised over the whole of French territory, including the occupied zone, Alsace and Moselle, but the third article of the armistice stipulated that French authorities in the occupied zone would have to obey the military administration and that Germany would exercise rights of an occupying power within it:

In the occupied region of France, the German Reich exercises all of the rights of anoccupying power.The French government undertakes to facilitate in every way possible the implementation of these rights, and to provide the assistance of the French administrative services to that end. The French government will immediately direct all officials and administrators of the occupied territory to comply with the regulations of, and to collaborate fully with, the German military authorities.[8]

The military administration was responsible forcivil affairsin occupied France. It was divided intoKommandanturen(singularKommandantur), in decreasing hierarchical orderOberfeldkommandanturen,Feldkommandanturen,Kreiskommandanturen,andOrtskommandanturen.German naval affairs in Francewere coordinated through a central office known as theHöheres Kommando der Marinedienststellen in Groß-Paris(Supreme Command for Naval Services in the Greater Paris Area) who in turn answered to a senior commander for all of France known as theAdmiral Frankreich.AfterCase Anton,the "Admiral Frankreich" naval command was broken apart into smaller offices which answered directly to the operational command ofNavy Group West.

Collaboration[edit]

See also:Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy § France,andCollaborationism § France
Parade of the collaborationistMilice Française,1944.

In order to suppress partisans and resistance fighters, the military administration cooperated closely with theGestapo,theSicherheitsdienst(SD),the intelligence service of theSS,and theSicherheitspolizei(SiPo),its security police. It also had at its disposal the support of the French authorities and police forces, who had to cooperate per the conditions set in the armistice, toround up Jews,anti-fascists and other dissidents, and vanish them intoNacht und Nebel,"Night and Fog". It also had the help of notable French collaborators likePaul TouvierandMaurice Papon,along with collaborationists French auxiliaries like theMilice,theFranc-Gardesand theLegionary Order Service.The two main collaborationist political parties were theFrench Popular Party(PPF) and theNational Popular Rally(RNP), each with 20,000 to 30,000 members.

TheMiliceparticipated with the Gestapo in seizing members of the resistance and minorities including Jews for shipment to detention centres, such as theDrancy internment camp,en route toAuschwitz,and other German concentration camps, includingDachau,BuchenwaldandMauthausen.

Some Frenchmen also volunteered directly in German forces to fight for Germany and/or againstBolsheviks,such as theLegion of French Volunteers Against Bolshevism.Volunteers from this and other outfits later constituted the cadre of the33rd Waffen Grenadier Division of the SSCharlemagne(1st French).

Stanley Hoffmannin 1974,[9]and after him, other historians such asRobert PaxtonandJean-Pierre Azémahave used the termcollaborationnistesto refer to fascists and Nazi sympathisers who, for ideological reasons, wished a reinforced collaboration with Hitler's Germany, in contrast to "collaborators", people who merely cooperated out of self-interest. Examples of these are PPF leaderJacques Doriot,writerRobert BrasillachorMarcel Déat.A principal motivation and ideological foundation amongcollaborationnisteswasanti-communism.[9]

Occupation forces[edit]

Turkestani soldiers in northern France, October 1943.

The Wehrmacht maintained a varying number of divisions inFrance.100,000 Germans were in the whole of the German-zone in France in December 1941.[10]When the bulk of the Wehrmacht was fighting on theeastern front,German units were rotated to France to rest and refit. The number of troops increased when the threat of Allied invasion began looming large, with theDieppe raidmarking its real beginning. The actions of Canadian andBritish Commandosagainst German troops brought Hitler to condemn them asirregular warfare.In hisCommando Orderhe denied them lawful combatant status, and ordered them to be handed over to theSS security servicewhen captured and liable to besummarily executed.As the war went on, garrisoning theAtlantic Walland suppressing the resistance became heavier and heavier duties.

Some notable units and formations stationed in France during the occupation:

Anti-partisan actions[edit]

Further information:French Resistance
Roundup of French civilians inLe Faouët,Brittany,by German soldiers in July 1944

The "Appeal of 18 June"by de Gaulle'sFree Francegovernment in exile in London had little immediate effect, and few joined itsFrench Forces of the Interiorbeyond those that had already gone into exile to join the Free French. After theinvasion of the Soviet Unionin June 1941, theFrench communist party,hitherto under orders from theCominternto remain passive against the German occupiers, began to mount actions against them. De Gaulle sentJean Moulinback to France as his formal link to the irregulars throughout the occupied country to coordinatethe eight majorRésistancegroupsinto one organisation. Moulin got their agreement to form theNational Council of the Resistance(Conseil National de la Résistance).

Moulin was eventually captured, and died under brutal torture by theGestapo.The resistance intensified after it became clear the tide of war had shifted after the Reich's defeat atStalingradin early 1943 and, by 1944, large remote areas were out of the German military's control and free zones for themaquisards,so-called after themaquis shrublandthat provided ideal terrain forguerrilla warfare.

The most important anti-partisan action was theBattle of Vercors.The most infamous one was theOradour-sur-Glane massacre.Other notable atrocities committed were theTulle massacre,theLe Paradis massacre,theMaillé massacre,and theAscq massacre.Large maquis where significant military operations were conducted included themaquis du Vercors,themaquis du Limousin,themaquis des Glières,themaquis du Mont Mouchet,and themaquis de Saint-Marcel.Major round-up operations included theRound up of Marseilleand theVel' d'Hiv Roundup.

Although the majority of the French population did not take part in active resistance, many resisted passively through acts such as listening to the banned BBC'sRadio Londres,or giving collateral or material aid to Resistance members. Others assisted in the escape of downed US or British airmen who eventually found their way back to Britain, often through Spain.

By the eve of the liberation,numerous factions of nationalists, anarchists, communists, socialists and others,counting between 100,000 and up to 400,000 combatants, were actively fighting the occupation forces. Supported by theSpecial Operations Executiveand theOffice of Strategic Servicesthat air-dropped weapons and supplies, as well as infiltrating agents likeNancy Wakewho provided tactical advice and specialist skills likeradiooperation anddemolition,they systematically sabotaged railway lines, destroyed bridges, cut Germansupply lines,and provided general intelligence to the allied forces. German anti-partisan operations claimed around 13,000-16,000 French victims, including 4,000 to 5,000 innocent civilians.[11]

At the end of the war, some580,000French had died (40,000 of these by the western Allied forces during the bombardments of the first 48 hours of Operation Overlord). Military deaths were 92,000 in 1939–40. Some 58,000 were killed in action from 1940 to 1945 fighting in theFree Frenchforces. Some 40,000malgré-nous( "against our will" ), citizens of re-annexed Alsace-Lorraine drafted into the Wehrmacht, became casualties. Civilian casualties amounted to around 150,000 (60,000 by aerial bombing, 60,000 in the resistance, and 30,000 murdered by German occupation forces). Prisoners of war and deportee totals were around 1.9 million. Of this, around 240,000 died in captivity. An estimated 40,000 were prisoners of war, 100,000 racial deportees, 60,000 political prisoners and 40,000 died as slave labourers.[12]

Propaganda[edit]

Military propaganda for European countries under occupation was headquartered inPotsdam.There was one Propaganda battalion in each occupied country, headquartered in the main town or capital. This was further subdivided at the regional level. Headquarters for France was at theHotel Majesticin Paris, with propaganda sections (Staffel) inBordeaux,Dijon,and other towns.[13]: 23 

APropagandastaffel( "propaganda squadron" ) was a service charged by the German authorities with the propaganda and control of the French press and of publishing during the Occupation of France. Sections (Staffel,"squadron" ) in each important town.[13]: 23 

After their victory inJune 1940,the occupation authorities first relied on the German embassy in Paris (Hôtel Beauharnais) to monitor publications, shows, and radio broadcasts. They then set up thePropaganda-Abteilung Frankreich(France Propaganda Department), which developed Nazi propaganda and censorship services calledPropagandastaffelin the variousregions of France.[13]

EachPropagandastaffelwas led by a commander and employed some thirty people.[13]: 23 There wereSonderführers(special directors) in charge of particular areas:censorshipof shows and plays, publishing and press, cinematographic works, and public advertising and speeches.[13]: 23 The directors, chosen for their skills in civil matters, wore military dress and were subject to military regulation.[13]: 24 

Civilians[edit]

The census for 1 April 1941 show 25,071,255 inhabitants in the occupied zone (with 14.2m in the unoccupied zone). This does not include the 1,600,000 prisoners of war, nor the 60,000 French workers in Germany or the departments of Alsace-Lorraine.[14]

Daily life[edit]

The life of the French during the German occupation was marked, from the beginning, by endemic shortages. They are explained by several factors:

  1. One of the conditions of the armistice was to pay the costs of the 300,000-strong occupying German army, which amounted to 20 millionReichsmarkper day. The artificial exchange rate of the German currency against theFrench francwas consequently established as 1 RM to 20 FF.[15]This allowed German requisitions and purchases to be made into a form of organisedplunderand resulted in endemic food shortages andmalnutrition,particularly amongst children, the elderly, and the more vulnerable sections of French society such as the working urban class of the cities.[16]
  2. The disorganisation of transport, except for the railway system which relied on French domestic coal supplies.
  3. The cutting off of international trade and the Alliedblockade,restricting imports into the country.
  4. The extreme shortage of petrol and diesel fuel. France had no indigenous oil production and all imports had stopped.
  5. Labour shortages, particularly in the countryside, due to the large number ofFrench prisoners of war held in Germany,and theService du travail obligatoire.
Rationing tickets for the French population, July 1944.

Ersatz,or makeshift substitutes, took the place of many products that were in short supply;wood gas generatorson trucks and automobiles burned charcoal or wood pellets as a substitute to gasoline, and wooden soles for shoes were used instead of leather. Soap was rare and made in some households from fats andcaustic soda.Coffee was replaced by toastedbarleymixed withchicory,and sugar withsaccharin.

The Germans seized about 80 percent of theFrench foodproduction, which caused severe disruption to the household economy of theFrench people.[17]French farm production fell in half because of lack of fuel, fertilizer and workers; even so the Germans seized half the meat, 20 percent of the produce, and 80 percent of theChampagne.[18]Supply problems quickly affected French stores which lacked most items.

Faced with these difficulties in everyday life, the government answered byrationing,and creating food charts and tickets which were to be exchanged for bread, meat, butter and cooking oil. The rationing system was stringent but badly managed, leading to malnourishment,black markets,and hostility to state management of the food supply. The official ration provided starvation level diets of 1,300 or fewercaloriesa day, supplemented by home gardens and, especially, black market purchases.[19]

Hunger prevailed, especially affecting youth in urban areas. The queues lengthened in front of shops. In the absence of meat and other foods including potatoes, people ate unusual vegetables, such asSwedish turnipandJerusalem artichoke.Food shortages were most acute in the large cities. In the more remote country villages, however, clandestine slaughtering, vegetable gardens and the availability ofmilkproducts permitted better survival.

Some people benefited from theblack market,where food was sold without tickets at very high prices. Farmers diverted especially meat to the black market, which meant that much less for the open market. Counterfeit food tickets were also in circulation. Direct buying from farmers in the countryside andbarteragainstcigaretteswere also frequent practices during this period. These activities were strictly forbidden, however, and thus carried out at the risk of confiscation and fines.

During the day, numerous regulations, censorship and propaganda made the occupation increasingly unbearable. At night, inhabitants had to abide acurfewand it was forbidden to go out during the night without anAusweis.They had to close their shutters or windows and turn off any light, to prevent Allied aircraft using city lights for navigation. The experience of the Occupation was a deeply psychologically disorienting one for the French as what was once familiar and safe suddenly become strange and threatening.[20]Many Parisians could not get over the shock experienced when they first saw the huge swastika flags draped over the Hôtel de Ville and flying on top of the Eiffel Tower.[21]The British historianIan Ousbywrote:

Even today, when people who are not French or did not live through the Occupation look at photos of German soldiers marching down the Champs Élysées or of Gothic-lettered German signposts outside the great landmarks of Paris, they can still feel a slight shock of disbelief. The scenes look not just unreal, but almost deliberately surreal, as if the unexpected conjunction of German and French, French and German, was the result of a Dada prank and not the sober record of history. This shock is merely a distant echo of what the French underwent in 1940: seeing a familiar landscape transformed by the addition of the unfamiliar, living among everyday sights suddenly made bizarre, no longer feeling at home in places they had known all their lives.[22]

Ousby wrote that by the end of summer of 1940: "And so the alien presence, increasingly hated and feared in private, could seem so permanent that, in the public places where daily life went on, it was taken for granted".[23]At the same time France was also marked by disappearances as buildings were renamed, books banned, art was stolen to be taken to Germany and as time went on, people started to vanish.[24]

With nearly 75,000 inhabitants killed and 550,000 tons of bombs dropped, France was, after Germany, the second most severely bomb-devastated country on theWestern Front of World War II.[25]Allied bombings were particularly intense before and duringOperation Overlordin 1944.

The Allies'Transportation Planaiming at the systematic destruction of French railwaymarshalling yardsand railway bridges, in 1944, also took a heavy toll on civilian lives. For example, the 26 May 1944 bombing hit railway targets in and around five cities in south-eastern France, causing over 2,500 civilian deaths.[26]

Crossing theligne de démarcationbetween the north zone and the south zone also required anAusweis,which was difficult to acquire.[4]People could write only to their family members, and this was only permissible using a pre-filled card where the sender checked off the appropriate words (e.g. 'in good health', 'wounded', 'dead', 'prisoner').[4]The occupied zone was on German time, which was one hour ahead of the unoccupied zone.[4]Other policies implemented in the occupied zone but not in the free zone were acurfewfrom 10 p.m to 5 a.m, a ban on American films, the suppression of displaying theFrench flagand singing theMarseillaise,and the banning of Vichy paramilitary organizations and the Veterans' Legion.[4]

Schoolchildren were made to sing"Maréchal, nous voilà!"( "Marshall, here we are!" ). The portrait of MarshalPhilippe Pétainadorned the walls of classrooms, thus creating apersonality cult.Propaganda was present in education to train the young people with theideas of the new Vichy regime.However, there was no resumption in ideology as in other occupied countries, for examplein Poland,where the teaching elite was liquidated. Teachers were not imprisoned and the programs were not modified overall. In the private Catholic sector, many school directors hidJewishchildren (thus saving their life) and provided education for them until the Liberation.[citation needed]

Nightlife in Paris[edit]

See also:Paris in World War II
German soldiers talking with French women by theMoulin Rougein June 1940, shortly after the German occupation of Paris.

One month after the occupation, the bi-monthly soldiers' magazineDer Deutsche Wegleiter für Paris[fr](The German Guide to Paris) was first published by the ParisKommandantur,and became a success.[27]Further guides, such as theGuide aryien,counted e.g. theMoulin Rougeamong the must-see locations in Paris.[28]Famous clubs such as theFolies-BellevilleorBobinowere also among the sought-after venues. A wide array of German units were rotated to France to rest and refit; the Germans used the motto"Jeder einmal in Paris"( "everyone once in Paris" ) and provided"recreational visits"[clarify]to the city for their troops.[29]Various famous artists, such asYves Montandor laterLes Compagnons de la chanson,started their careers during the occupation.Edith Piaflived aboveL'Étoile de Kléber,a famous bordello on the Rue Lauriston, which was near theCarlingueheadquarters and was often frequented by German troops. Thecurfewin Paris was not upheld as strictly as in other cities.

TheDjango Reinhardtsong "Nuages",performed by Reinhardt and theQuintet of the Hot Club of Francein theSalle Pleyel,gained notoriety among both French and German fans.Jean Reinhardtwas even invited to play for theOberkommando der Wehrmacht.[30]The use and abuse of Paris in the visitations of German forces during the Second World War led to a backlash; the intensive prostitution during the occupation made way for theLoi deMarthe Richardin 1946, which closed the bordellos and reduced raunchy stage shows to mere dancing events.

Oppression[edit]

During the German occupation, a forced labour policy, calledService du Travail Obligatoire( "Obligatory work service, STO" ), consisted of the requisition and transfer of hundreds of thousands of French workers to Germany against their will, for the German war effort. In addition to work camps for factories, agriculture, and railroads,forced labourwas used forV-1 launch sitesand other military facilities targeted by the Allies inOperation Crossbow.Beginning in 1942, many refused to be drafted to factories and farms in Germany by the STO, going underground to avoid imprisonment and subsequent deportation to Germany. For the most part, those "work dodgers" (réfractaires) becamemaquisards.

There were German reprisals against civilians in occupied countries; in France, the Nazis built an execution chamber in the cellars of the former Ministry of Aviation building in Paris.[31]

Many Jews were victims ofthe Holocaust in France.Approximately 49concentration campswere in use in France during the occupation, the largest of them atDrancy.In the occupied zone, as of 1942, Jews were required to wear theyellow badgeand were only allowed to ride in the last carriage of theParis Métro.13,152 Jews residing in the Paris region were victims of a mass arrest by pro-Nazi French authorities on 16 and 17 July 1942, known as theVel' d'Hiv Roundup,and were transported toAuschwitzwhere they were killed.[32]

Overall, according to a detailed count drawn underSerge Klarsfeld,slightly below 77,500 of the Jews residing in France died during the war, overwhelmingly after being deported todeath camps.[33][34]Out of a Jewish population in France in 1940 of 350,000, this means that somewhat less than a quarter died. While horrific, the mortality rate was lower than in other occupied countries (e.g. 75 percent in the Netherlands) and, because the majority of the Jews were recent immigrants to France (mostly exiles from Germany), more Jews lived in France at the end of the occupation than did approximately 10 years earlier when Hitler formally came to power.[35]

Aftermath[edit]

TheLiberation of Francewas the result of the Allied operationsOverlordandDragoonin the summer of 1944. Most of France was liberated by September 1944. Some of the heavily fortifiedFrench Atlantic coast submarine basesremainedstay-behind "fortresses"until the German capitulation in May 1945. TheFree French exile governmentdeclared the establishment of aprovisional French Republic,ensuring continuity with the defunct Third Republic. It set about raising new troops to participate in theadvance to the Rhineand theinvasion of Germany,using theFrench Forces of the Interiorasmilitary cadresand manpower pools of experienced fighters to allow a very large and rapid expansion of the French Liberation Army (Armée française de la Libération). Thanks toLend-Lease,it was well equipped and well supplied despite the economic disruption brought by the occupation, and it grew from 500,000 men in the summer of 1944 to more than 1.3 million byV-E day,making it the fourth largest Allied army in Europe.[36]

A plaque commemorating theOath of Kufranearthe cathedralofStrasbourg,the capital ofAlsaceandElsaß-Lothringen,and after the war,a capital of Europeas a symbol of peace and reconciliation.

TheFrench 2nd Armored Division,tip of the spear of theFree Frenchforces that had participated in theNormandy Campaignand hadliberated Parison 25 August 1944, went on toliberate Strasbourgon 22 November 1944, thus fulfilling theOath of Kuframade by GeneralLeclercalmost four years earlier. The unit under his command, barely abovecompany-size when it had captured the Italian fort, had grown into a full-strength armoureddivision.

The spearhead of the FreeFrench First Army,that hadlanded in Provenceon 15 August 1944, was theI Corps.Its leading unit, theFrench 1st Armored Division,was the first Western Allied unit to reach theRhône(25 August 1944), theRhine(19 November 1944) and theDanube(21 April 1945). On 22 April 1945, it captured theSigmaringen enclaveinBaden-Württemberg,where the last Vichy regime exiles, including Marshal Pétain, were hosted by the Germans in one of the ancestral castles of theHohenzollerndynasty.

Collaborators were put on trial in legal purges (épuration légale), and a number were executed forhigh treason,among themPierre Laval,Vichy's prime minister in 1942–44. Marshal Pétain, "Chief of the French State" andVerdunhero, was also condemned to death (14 August 1945), but his sentence was commuted to life three days later.[37] Thousands of collaborators weresummarily executedby local Resistance forces in so-called "savage purges" (épuration sauvage).

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^Vinen, Richard (2006).The Unfree French: Life under the Occupation(1st ed.). London: Allen Lane. pp. 105–6.ISBN978-0-713-99496-4.
  2. ^Schöttler, Peter (2003). "'Eine Art "Generalplan West": Die Stuckart-Denkschrift vom 14. Juni 1940 und die Planungen für eine neue deutsch-französische Grenze im Zweiten Weltkrieg ".Sozial.Geschichte(in German).18(3): 83–131.
  3. ^""La ligne de démarcation", Collection "Mémoire et Citoyenneté", No.7 "(PDF).Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 24 January 2020.
  4. ^abcdeJackson, Julian (2003).France: the dark years, 1940-1944.Oxford University Press.p.247.ISBN978-0-19-925457-6.
  5. ^The nameligne de démarcationdid not figure in the terms of the armistice, but was coined as a translation of the GermanDemarkationslinie.
  6. ^Giorgio Rochat, (trad. Anne Pilloud), La campagne italienne de juin 1940 dans les Alpes occidentales,Revue historique des armées,No. 250, 2008, pp77-84,sur le site du Service historique de la Défense,rha.revues.org.Mis en ligne le 6 juin 2008, consulté le 24 octobre 2008.
  7. ^« L’occupation italienne »Archived13 January 2019 at theWayback Machine,resistance-en-isere.Retrieved 24 October 2008.
  8. ^abLa convention d'armistice,sur le site de l'Université de Perpignan,mjp.univ-perp.fr,accessed 29 November 2008.
  9. ^abHoffmann, Stanley (1974). "La droite à Vichy".Essais sur la France: déclin ou renouveau?.Paris: Le Seuil.
  10. ^"The Civilian Experience in German Occupied France, 1940-1944".Connecticut College.
  11. ^Peter Lieb:Konventioneller Krieg oder NS-Weltanschauungskrieg? Kriegführung und Partisanenbekämpfung in Frankreich 1943/44,München, Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag, 2007,ISBN978-3486579925
  12. ^Dear and Foot 2005, p. 321.Dear; Foot (2005).The Oxford Companion to World War II.p. 321.
  13. ^abcdefMilitary Intelligence Service (29 July 1943). "14. German Army Propaganda Units".Tactical and Technical Trends(Technical report). War Department. p. 22–24. 30.Retrieved28 August2019.
  14. ^g, J. (1942)."Statistiques récentes [La population de la France d'après le recensement du 1er avril 1941]".Annales de Géographie.51(286): 155–156.
  15. ^The American Historical Association.""Book Review ofMorts d'inanition: Famine et exclusions en France sous l'Occupation"".Retrieved15 December2007.
  16. ^Marie Helen Mercier and J. Louise Despert."Effects of War on French children"(PDF).Retrieved15 December2007.
  17. ^E. M. Collingham,The Taste of War: World War Two and the Battle for Food(2011)
  18. ^Kenneth Mouré, "Food Rationing and the Black Market in France (1940-1944)",French History,June 2010, Vol. 24 Issue 2, pp. 272-273
  19. ^Mouré, "Food Rationing and the Black Market in France (1940-1944)" pp 262-282,
  20. ^Ousby, IanOccupation The Ordeal of France, 1940-1944,New York: CooperSquare Press, 2000 pages 157-159.
  21. ^Ousby, IanOccupation The Ordeal of France, 1940-1944,New York: CooperSquare Press, 2000 page 159.
  22. ^Ousby, IanOccupation The Ordeal of France, 1940-1944,New York: CooperSquare Press, 2000 page 158.
  23. ^Ousby, IanOccupation The Ordeal of France, 1940-1944,New York: CooperSquare Press, 2000 page 170.
  24. ^Ousby, IanOccupation The Ordeal of France, 1940-1944,New York: CooperSquare Press, 2000 pages 171, 18 & 187-189.
  25. ^Centre d'études d'histoire de la défense,Les bombardements alliés sur la France durant la Seconde Guerre Mondiale, Stratégies, bilans matériels et humains,Conference of 6 June 2007,Defense.gouv.frArchived2 December 2008 at theWayback Machineretrieved 5 November 2009
  26. ^See French language Wikipedia articlefr:bombardement du 26 mai 1944
  27. ^Hetch, Emmanuel (October 2013)."Le Guide du soldat allemand à Paris, ou comment occuper Fritz".L'Express(in French).Retrieved23 October2013.
  28. ^Emotion in Motion: Tourism, Affect and Transformation,Dr David Picard, Professor Mike Robinson, Ashgate Publishing, 2012,ISBN978-14094-2133-7
  29. ^Paris under the occupation,Gilles Perrault;Jean-Pierre AzémaLondon: Deutsch, 1989,ISBN978-0-233-98511-4.
  30. ^Michael Dregni:Django – The Life and Music of a Gipsy Legend.p.344, Oxford University Press, 2006,ISBN978-01951-6752-8
  31. ^"NAZI PERSECUTION".Imperial War Museum. 2011.Retrieved18 April2012.
  32. ^Online Encyclopedia of Mass Violence:Case Study: The Vélodrome d'Hiver Round-up: July 16 and 17, 1942
  33. ^Summary from data compiled by the Association des Fils et Filles des déportés juifs de France, 1985.
  34. ^Azéma, Jean-Pierre and Bédarida, François (dir.),La France des années noires,2 vol., Paris, Seuil, 1993 [rééd. Seuil, 2000 (Points Histoire)]
  35. ^François Delpech,Historiens et Géographes,no 273, mai–juin 1979,ISSN0046-757X
  36. ^Talbot, C. Imlay; Duffy Toft, Monica (24 January 2007).The Fog of Peace and War Planning: Military and Strategic Planning Under Uncertainty.Routledge, 2007. p. 227.ISBN9781134210886.
  37. ^by de Gaulle, then leader of theProvisional Government of the French Republic

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