The German occupation of France lasted 4 years. It began with the surrender of France to the Nazi forces. France was split in two. The northern part along with all coastlines went the Nazis while the south went to a government run by Marshal Pétain, called Vichy France. Marshal Pétain was a man of the people, he was a decorated soldier in WW1 and people saw him as knowing what was best for the french people. The government in the south was still under heavy Nazi influence and was a puppet government but the conditions were slightly better. There were less German soldiers around and the area was governed by french people so their was a little sympathy. At first Vichy France was seen as the area without Nazi occupation and the government wasn’t under any Nazi influence. This idea was later deemed completely wrong as Marshal Pétain met with Hitler a few months after the occupation started. The french people then saw him as a traitor and many resistances started up in Vichy France that fought against the Nazi influenced Gestapo (police) in the area.
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Another public figure during occupation was General Charles de Gaulle, the leader of the Free French forces. He hosted radio shows encouraging french people to stay true to themselves and keep the idea of a free France. Many people took his words and took up arms against the Nazi occupiers. De Gaulle, who was in London. Began the collection and training of french forces not in France and also worked with British forces and the S.O.E.(British Special Forces) to help with training operatives to be sent to France to work with the resistance movements that quickly began gaining followers. Many of the french public were on one side or the other. Collaboration or Resistance. Many chose both. The collaborators usually got extra provisions and better treatment, sometimes even immunity. The resistors, if caught, were jailed, tortured and most were also executed.
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As like in most other occupied countries. Many men were taken away either to do labour for the German war effort or to join the military. There was a labour conscription service in France were caused many men to run away to the mountains and go into hiding they then later joined the resistance. Along with labourers many Jewish people were taken away to concentration camps. There was one day in 1942, June 16, which was later dubbed “Vélodrome d'Hiver”, in which the largest Jewish roundup in France occurred. It took place in Paris and the majority of the Jewish population in the city was arrested and sent off to concentration camps. Most ended up at Auschwitz and close to none returned after the war. Around 13,000 Jewish people were taking from their homes that day. The Germans had imposed rules including a curfew and various other rules that made life a little more challenging for the french people. They requisitioned many agricultural goods and food amounts were dwindling for France. Many people resorted to the Black Market but if one was caught with black market goods they would be arrested, interrogated and probably shot. It was a hard time for many in France.
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The French Resistance was the collection of French movements that fought against the Nazi German occupation of France. The French Resistance were small groups of armed men and women. The men and women of the Resistance came from all economic levels and political leanings of French society, including émigrés, academics, students, aristocrats, and conservative Roman Catholics. The French Resistance played a significant role in facilitating the Allies' rapid advance through France following the invasion of Normandy on 6 June 1944. The Resistance also planned, coordinated, and executed acts of sabotage on the electrical power grid, transport facilities, and telecommunications networks. It was also politically and morally important to France, both during the German occupation and for decades afterward, because it provided that the country wouldn’t just roll over and take no for answer. The French Resistance gave the people of france hope.
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Charles De Gaulle was the leader of the FFF (Free French Forces). He fought in World War 1 and then traveled to Poland to help with the training of the polish infantry forces. He became fascinated with the idea of tanks and mobile infantry warfare. When France declared war on Germany in 1940, De Gaulle was a colonel and he had command of the 4th armored division. On May 17 he led 200 French tanks on an attack on German tanks thus deeming him as the only French commander to cause a German retreat during the Battle of France. He quickly received many promotions which then brought him to be the Under-Secretary of the State for National Defense and War. |
When the French surrendered to the Germans on June 17 De Gaulle decided to flee to London. There he became the leader of the Free French Movement. The FFF was a collection of French nationals that were out of occupied France, They trained and became apart of the allied forces fighting in Africa. De Gaulle also began doing radio broadcasts for the BBC to the French people living in France. He encouraged them to keep the fight going and to resist the Nazi and Vichy France rule. Many resistance fighters and leaders claimed they were doing what they were doing in the name of De Gaulle. De Gaulle also worked to unite the French resistance groups under a council so as to provide communication and collaboration in sabotaging and other forms of resistance. |