The Fall of France and the Vichy Government

The End of the ‘Phoney War’ April 9th, 1940 Germany ends the silence by attacking and capturing Denmark and Norway Strategic move to build bases and attack GB Only the beginning of Germany’s conquering spree

May, 1940 May 10th - Battle of France begins Hitler invades the “Low Countries” (Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg) using the blitzkrieg method Blitzkrieg: Translates to “lightning war” First use of this military strategy was the invasion of Poland (before the Phoney War) Involved quick but brutal use of planes and tanks followed by massive troops

May, 1940 cont’d Case Yellow: Sent tanks through Ardennes Forest, rendering the Maginot Line useless; done while attention was kept on freshly invaded countries Hitler reaches the northern coast of France in only ten days Germany encircled the French and British divisions on the coast

France F a l l s The last straw for France was the “major offensive” launched on Paris; the capital was captured on June 14th The resistance in France weakened and France officially surrendered on June 22, 1940 Hitler made France sign the document of capitulation in the same railway carriage that Germany had surrendered in during WWI

The Aftermath…..

The Vichy Government After France fell, the country was split in two One section of the country was occupied by the German military In the Free Zone (southern zone) a puppet gov’t was set up The headquarters of the “French State” government was in Vichy, France Marshal Philippe Pétain headed the gov’t

The Vichy Government cont’d A French general (Charles de Gaulle) set up a gov’t in exile in London Part of his “resistance” was through a radio broadcast De Gaulle eventually goes on to form the Free French military forces which liberated France from the Nazis in 1944

The Vichy Government cont’d Under the Vichy gov’t, citizens of the “Free Zone” were forced to follow a strict moral code France implemented Hitler’s “Jewish policy”; thousands of Jews and “enemies of the state” began to vanish Gov’t officials and others did nothing to stop the new French fascism