occupied France. France during the years of occupation by German troops Paris during the occupation

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, stated 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.

The 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.

If we recall which of the states in its history has not been occupied by another state, then there are few such pleasant exceptions. Maybe those that arose quite recently somewhere on the islands. And others will always find sad examples when foreign conquerors marched through the streets of cities and villages. There were such invaders in the history of France: from the Arabs to the Germans. And between these extreme examples, there was just no one.

Nevertheless, the occupation of 1815-1818 was noticeably different from the previous ones. France was captured by a coalition of states that imposed the regime they needed and for several years made sure that the French did not destroy this regime.

The re-capture of France was not cheap for the interventionists. And it was not the talents of the defeated emperor. Napoleon abdicated just four days after Waterloo - June 22, 1815, but the French army resisted the interventionists even without the famous commander. One of the culprits of the defeat, Marshal Grouchy, managed to deal a painful blow to the Prussian avant-garde under the command of Pirkh.

Anglo-Prussian troops crossed the French border on June 21 and stormed the fortresses of Cambrai and Peronne. In the absence of the emperor, Marshal Davout took command of the defeated army, who led the battered troops to Paris. On July 3, under pressure from the allied forces, the old Napoleonic commander concluded an agreement on the withdrawal of the French army beyond the Loire in exchange for security guarantees for Napoleonic officers (these promises did not save Marshal Ney). The capital of France was occupied by Prussian and English troops. However, the fall of Paris did not lead to a cessation of hostilities.

Napoleon had already surrendered to the British, and some French garrisons continued the war. For almost a month, the Landrecy fortress resisted the Prussian troops. For two months the fortress of Guningen withstood the Austrian siege. Longwy resisted the same amount. Metz survived for a month. Phalsburg surrendered to Russian troops only on July 11 (23). For a month and a half, the fortress of Valenciennes fought off foreign troops. Grenoble briefly, but fiercely repelled the attacks of the Piedmontese army (among the defenders of the city was the famous Egyptologist Champollion). Strasbourg managed to conquer the second time.

Only in the autumn were the interventionists able to dictate their terms to the defeated. The basis for the occupation was the Second Treaty of Paris of November 20, 1815, according to which, to ensure its implementation, occupying troops of no more than 150 thousand people were stationed in France.

The winners also insisted on the return of France to the borders of 1789, the occupation of 17 border fortresses, the payment of an indemnity of 700 million francs and the return of art treasures seized by Napoleon. On the French side, the contract was signed by the same Duke ("Duc") Richelieu, whose memory is carefully preserved by the inhabitants of Odessa.

The main participants in the anti-Napoleonic coalition were represented in the occupying forces on an equal footing. England, Russia, Austria and Prussia provided 30,000 soldiers each. The participation of other countries was more modest. 10 thousand gave Bavaria, 5 thousand - Denmark, Saxony and Württemberg. By the end of the Napoleonic Wars, many of these armies already had experience of interaction.

On October 22, 1815, the conqueror of Napoleon Arthur Wellesley (aka the Duke of Wellington) was appointed commander of the occupying army in France. The headquarters of the interventionist troops in January 1816 was located in Cambrai, away from restless Paris. At first, the winner of Napoleon settled down in the “Franqueville” mansion (now the municipal museum), but with the arrival of his wife he moved to the old abbey of Mont Saint Martin, turned into the personal residence of the commander. For the summer, Wellington returned to his homeland, where awards and numerous ceremonies awaited him, such as the opening of Waterloo Bridge on June 18, 1817.

The king of France, Louis XVIII, did not skimp on awards to the winners, who awarded Wellington with the Order of Saint-Esprit with diamonds, and then presented him with the Grosbois estate. Other compatriots of the Bourbons showed less warm feelings for the commander of the occupying army. On June 25, 1816, in Paris, someone tried to set fire to Wellington's mansion on the Champs-Elysées during a ball (on August 15, 1816, the Boston newspaper The Weekly Messenger reported the fire on June 23). On February 10, 1818, the commander-in-chief tried to shoot the former Napoleonic non-commissioned officer (sous-officier) Marie Andre Cantillon, who was put on trial, but pardoned. Under Napoleon III, the heirs of the failed terrorist received 10,000 francs.

The regiments of the 1st Infantry Division of Great Britain covered the main apartment of the occupying troops in Cambrai. Parts of the 3rd Infantry Division were stationed nearby in Valenciennes. A British cavalry division was stationed at Dunkirk and Azbrouck. The ports of northern France were used to supply the English army. The performance of surveillance and police functions no longer required the presence of selected units. Therefore, in the summer of 1816, the British government withdrew from France the famous Coldstream Guards Regiment.

Next to the British in the Douai area was the Danish contingent under the command of Frederick (Friedrich) of Hesse-Kassel. Hanoverian units adjoined the British troops. The army of Hanover, barely recreated in 1813, sent about 2 brigades to the occupying group (the Hanoverians were reinforced by soldiers of the Royal German Legion of the British Army dissolved on May 24, 1816). Parts of the Hanoverian group were located in Bushen, Cond and St. Quentin (the headquarters was in Conde).

The Russian occupation corps included the 3rd Dragoon Division (Kurland, Kinburn, Smolensk and Tver Dragoon Regiments), the 9th Infantry Division (Nasheburg, Ryazhsky, Yakutsk, Penza Infantry and the 8th and 10th Jaeger Regiments) and 12 -th Infantry Division (Smolensky, Narva, Aleksopolsky, Novoingermanlandsky Infantry and the 6th and 41st Chasseur Regiments). The former head of the 12th Infantry Division, Mikhail Semenovich Vorontsov, who distinguished himself at Borodino, was appointed commander of the "contingent".

At first, the Russian zone of occupation was mainly the regions of Lorraine and Champagne. In the summer of 1816, part of the Russian troops was transferred from Nancy to the Maubeuge area. Maubeuge (near Cambrai) housed the headquarters of Vorontsov, commander of the expeditionary force. Near the headquarters were the Smolensk and Narvsky (Kuto called this regiment Nevsky) regiments of the 12th division. Parts of the Alexopol regiment of the same division were scattered between Aven and Landrecy. The Novoingermanland Regiment (Regiment de la Nouvelle Ingrie) was stationed in Solesma. In Solre-le-Chateau was the Nasheburg Regiment of the 9th Infantry Division. The Le Cateau area was occupied by the 6th and 41st Chasseurs.

Away from the headquarters of the corps on the territory of the Ardennes department in Rethel and Vuzier stood the Tver, Kinburn, Courland and Smolensk regiments of the 3rd Dragoon Division. Two Don Cossack regiments under the command of Colonel A.A. Yagodin of the 2nd (among the French - Gagodin) and military foreman A.M. Grevtsov of the 3rd were located in Briquette (Brick?). He commanded the Cossack brigade L.A. Naryshkin. Luka Yegorovich Pikulin (1784-1824) was appointed chief physician of the Russian corps. The total strength of the Russian corps is estimated differently. Some authors proceed from the official quota - 30 thousand people, others raise this figure to 45 thousand, but the number of 27 thousand people with 84 guns seems to be more reliable.

The organization of service in the Russian corps was exemplary. Violations of discipline were suppressed without leniency. The corps commander reacted just as harshly to attacks from local residents. When a French customs officer killed a Cossack smuggler, and the royal officials in Aven allowed the killer to escape, Vorontsov threatened that "every Frenchman guilty of us will be judged by our laws and punished according to them, even if he were to be shot." In addition to disciplinary measures, educational ones were also encouraged in the Russian corps. At the initiative of Vorontsov, a system for teaching soldiers to read and write was developed. To eliminate illiteracy, 4 schools were opened at the corps according to the “Landcaster method of mutual education”. The command tried not to resort to the usual corporal punishment in the Russian army.

Despite the remoteness of Vorontsov's troops from the borders of Russia, St. Petersburg looked after these garrisons. From time to time high-ranking officials appeared at the location of the corps. In March 1817, Grand Duke Nikolai Pavlovich (future Emperor Nicholas I) arrived in France. On this trip he was accompanied by the Duke of Wellington himself. At the request of Alexander I, Nikolai Pavlovich did not stop by in Paris. On his way to Brussels, the Grand Duke stopped for several hours in Lille and Maubeuge, where the noble guest was met by Russian and French aristocrats. In response to the greetings, Nikolai Pavlovich called the Russian troops and the French National Guard "brothers in arms." As expected, the official part ended with a "corporate party" and a ball. Among the less important visitors to Maubeuge was the famous partisan Seslavin.

The most brutal of the participants in the anti-Napoleonic coalition were the troops of Prussia, who played a decisive role in the battle of Waterloo. Many of these units distinguished themselves in the battles of 1815. Lieutenant General Hans Ernst Karl von Zieten was appointed commander of the Prussian occupation corps, located in the Sedan area, on whose account there were successful battles with Napoleon and the capture of Paris. Near the headquarters was the 2nd Infantry Brigade under the command of Colonel von Othegraven (Othegraven). The 1st Prussian Infantry Brigade, led by Colonel von Lettow, was located at Bar-le-Duc, Vaucouleurs, Ligny, Saint-Miguel and Mézières. The 3rd Infantry Brigade, under the command of Colonel von Uttenhofen, occupied the Stenet-Montmedy area. The 4th Infantry Brigade, led by Major General Sjoholm, was stationed at Thionville and Longwy.

The Prussian reserve cavalry brigade of Colonel Borstell (4 regiments) was located in Thionville, Commerce, Charleville, Foubecourt and Friancourt. The hospitals of the Prussian corps were located in Sedan, Longwy, Thionville and Bar-le-Duc. The field bakeries of the Prussian Corps were concentrated in Sedan.

The Austrian troops, having entered the war later than the British and Prussians, nevertheless, by the end of 1815, were able to establish control over almost all of southeastern France from the Rhine to the Cote d'Azur. The corps under the command of Colloredo invaded French territory from the Rhine, and the troops led by Frimont broke through the Riviera into Provence, defeating Murat's army along the way (the interventionists acted less successfully against Marshal Suchet's Alpine army).

Later, the main part of the Austrian troops was concentrated in Alsace. For example, the 2nd Dragoons were stationed at Erstein, the 6th Dragoons at Bischweiler, the 6th Hussars at Altkirchen, and the 10th Hussars at Enishheim. The headquarters of the Austrian "observation" corps, commanded by Johann Maria Philipp von Frimont, was located in Colmar. Next to the Austrians were the Württemberg troops, who in 1815 reached the Allier department almost in the center of France. Baden and Saxon units were also located there in Alsace. In addition to the old members of the anti-Napoleonic coalition, Swiss troops were active in the Jura mountains, and Piedmontese in Haute-Savoie.

Relations between the French and the occupiers remained moderately hostile. The actions of the interventionists gave many reasons for discontent, and sometimes even for open conflicts. According to Lauren Dornel, there were also fights. In 1816 there were skirmishes with the Prussians in Charleville, the department of Meuse and Longwy. The Danes also got it in Douai. The following year, 1817, brought new clashes between the inhabitants of the Meuse department and the Prussians, and the unrest also swept the administrative center - Bar-le-Duc. There were speeches against the Russian troops in the department of the Ardennes.

In the same place in the Ardennes, civilians heard cries against the Prussian general Ziten who visited this region. The British also fell in the area of ​​Douai, where, in addition, there were skirmishes with the Danes. In Valenciennes, in 1817, the notary Deschamps was put on trial for hitting a Hanoverian officer. In Forbach, the Bavarian soldiers became the object of discontent among the locals. 1817 was marked by fights with Danish dragoons in Bethune and Hanoverian hussars in Brie (Moselle department). At the same time, the issue of a fight between the French and the British was being considered in Cambrai. Again there were fights between local residents and the British and Danes in Douai. In the following year, 1818, skirmishes in Douai with the British, Danes, Hanoverians and Russians occurred repeatedly.

Less noticeable was the constant discontent caused by requisitions for the needs of foreign troops. The invaders took away food, took "for temporary use" horses. And besides, the French paid a huge indemnity according to the Treaty of Paris in 1815. All this taken together made the presence of foreign troops undesirable for the vast majority of the inhabitants of France. However, there was a minority in power who willingly put up with the occupation. One of the royal ministers, Baron de Vitrolles, with the consent of the Count of Artois, even sent a secret note to all the monarchs of Europe, in which he demanded that pressure be exerted on the Bourbons, demanding a more conservative policy.

When the king found out about the behind-the-scenes negotiations, he immediately fired Vitrolles. Louis XVIII, unlike many royalists, understood that foreign bayonets could not be an eternal support for an unpopular regime, and in 1817 he inserted into the throne speech a hint of the upcoming withdrawal of foreign troops. To strengthen the royal army, a law was passed to increase the armed forces of France to 240 thousand people.

At the same time, the occupying troops were slightly reduced. Since 1817, the gradual withdrawal of Vorontsov's corps from France began. At the same time, some units (the 41st Jaeger Regiment) were sent to strengthen the Caucasian Corps of General Yermolov. There is an opinion that the transfer of the Russian occupation corps to the Caucasus was a manifestation of a kind of disgrace for the troops, imbued with liberal views in France. Of course, such an influence cannot be denied, but for categorical statements it is not enough to refer to the Decembrists, among whom not all of them were in France.

It must also be borne in mind that before the eyes of the soldiers and officers of the Russian corps passed the panorama of not a revolutionary country, but a society crushed by the interventionists and their own royalists. In fact, the reorganization of the occupation corps was reduced to the transfer of infantry regiments to other corps and divisions. According to the memoirs of A.A. Euler sent five artillery regiments from France to the Bryansk and Zhizdrinsky districts. The withdrawal of the Russian units was led by the brother of Alexander I, Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich. The former corps commander had other troubles at that time. Following his troops, Vorontsov took his young wife, Elizaveta Ksaveryevna Branitskaya, to Russia.

The time had come when the major powers of Europe had to decide on the withdrawal of foreign troops. According to the Second Treaty of Paris in 1815, the occupation of France could last 3 or 5 years. However, the occupiers themselves were not very enthusiastic about continuing their stay in France. The person least interested in the occupation was Emperor Alexander I, for whom the stay of Vorontsov's corps at the other end of Europe did not bring great political dividends. The authority of Russia was very weighty for the Prussian king to join the opinion of the "partners".

The British government had enough opportunities to influence the French court even without Wellington's troops, and Lord Castlereagh decided to continue to protect England from direct intervention in intra-European conflicts. Austria was the least interested in restoring French sovereignty, but Metternich remained in the minority. The most ardent opponents of the withdrawal of the occupation troops were the French royalists, who felt with their whole body that their compatriots would not leave them alone. They tried to scare their foreign sponsors with impending upheavals, but that didn't work. The question of the withdrawal of the occupying troops was a foregone conclusion.

The diplomats of the Holy Alliance had to figure out how to improve relations with France without military pressure. For this purpose, delegations from five countries gathered in the German city of Aachen (or in French - Aix-la-Chapelle). England was represented by Lord Castlereagh and the Duke of Wellington, Russia by Emperor Alexander I, Austria by Emperor Franz I, Prussia by King Frederick William III and France by Duke Richelieu. The Aachen Congress lasted from September 30 to November 21, 1818.

Through the efforts of diplomats, France moved from the category of supervised recidivists to the rank of a full member of the group of great powers, which was transformed from the "four" into the "five". The occupation has become a complete anachronism. On November 30, 1818, the allied troops left the territory of France. The last echo of the Napoleonic wars has fallen silent. Before the overthrow of the Bourbons, 12 years remained.

After the previous entry about the Parisian Immortal regiment a discussion arose: are they celebrating the Victory here, what was the occupation and liberation for the Parisians? I do not want to give unambiguous answers, as well as draw any conclusions. But I propose to listen to eyewitnesses and see through their eyes.

German soldiers look at Paris from the Eiffel Tower, 1940

Robert Capa. Parisians at the victory parade, 1944

Here are some dry numbers.
- France was defeated by the Germans in a month and a half. She fought in World War I for 4 years.
- During the war, 600 thousand Frenchmen died. In World War I, there were one and a half million dead.
- 40 thousand people participated in the resistance movement (of which about half were French)
- The troops of De Gaulle's "Free France" in 1943 numbered up to 80 thousand people (of which about 40 thousand French), by the time they landed in Normandy, they had reached 400 thousand.
- Up to 300,000 Frenchmen served in the German Wehrmacht (23,000 of them were captured by us).
- 600 thousand French were deported to Germany for forced labor. Of these, 60,000 died, 50,000 went missing, and 15,000 were executed.

And any big whole is better perceived through the prism of small events. I will give two stories of my good friends who were children in occupied Paris.

Alexander Andreevsky, son of a white emigrant.
Alexander's mother was Jewish. With the arrival of the Germans, the French began to extradite the Jews or point out to the Germans people who were suspected of being Jews. “Mother saw how the neighbors began to look askance at her, she was afraid that they would inform her soon. She went to the old rabbi and asked what she should do. He gave unusual advice: go to Germany, work there for several months and return with documents that the Germans will issue "But so that when entering Germany, my mother's passport would not be checked, the rabbi told her to knock over a jar of honey in her bag. She did so, and the German officer at the border disdained to pick up documents soiled and stuck together with honey. For four months I lived with friends, and then the mother returned from Germany and no one else had any suspicions towards her."

Francoise d'Origny, hereditary aristocrat.
“During the occupation, we lived in the suburbs, but my mother sometimes took me to the city with her. In Paris, she always walked hunched over, quietly, like a mouse, looking at the ground and not raising her eyes to anyone. And she also made me walk. But one day I saw a young German officer looking at me and smiled back at him - I was 10 or 11 then. My mother instantly gave me such a slap in the face that I almost fell. I never looked at the Germans again. And another time we we were riding in the subway and there were a lot of German officers and soldiers around. Suddenly, a tall man called out to my mother, she was very happy, she straightened up and seemed to look younger. The car was crowded, but around us it was as if an empty space arose, such a breath of strength and independence. I then she asked who this man was. Mother answered - Prince Yusupov. "

See some photos of life during the occupation and liberation of Paris. Choosing them, I tried to cover different aspects of the events of that time.

1. German victory parade at the Arc de Triomphe in June 1940

2. Installation of German signs on Concord Square.

3. Palace of Chaillot. The oath of civil servants and the police of the new government

4. Champs Elysees, "new life", 1940

5. German propaganda truck in Montmartre. Broadcast music to commemorate the 30 days of the capture of Paris. July 1940

6. German soldier with a Frenchwoman on the Trocadero

7. In the Paris subway

8. Saleswoman of German newspapers

9. Andre Zucca. Hot day, Seine embankment, 1943

10. André Zucca. Parisian fashionistas. 1942

11. Tuileries Garden, 1943

12. Return to horse traction. There was almost no fuel in the city

13. Wedding in Montmartre

14. Pierre Jean. Remelting of monuments into metal. 1941

15. Sending workers to Germany.

16. Deportation of Jews, 1941

17. "Departure from Bobigny". From this station, trains went straight to the death camps.

18. At the walls of the Louvre. Products were distributed according to cards, so many planted vegetable gardens.

19. The queue at the bakery on the Champs Elysees

20. Giving away free soup

21. Entrance to the Paris metro - air raid alert

22. Legionnaires of the Anti-Bolshevik Corps

23. Volunteer French Legion goes to the Eastern Front

24. Parisians spit on captured British paratroopers, whom the Germans are leading through the city.

25. Torture of a member of the Resistance in the German police

26. Captured members of the resistance movement are led to execution

27. Robert Capa. German paratrooper caught by resistance partisans

28. At the barricade in Paris in August 1944

29. Paris, August 1944. In the center is Simon Seguan, an 18-year-old partisan from Dunkirk.

30. Robert Capa. Resistance fighters during the liberation of Paris

31. Skirmish with German snipers

32. Pierre Jamet. Procession of the Leclerc Division, Avenue du Maine. Liberation of Paris, August 1944

33. Robert Capa. Resistance fighters and French soldiers celebrate the liberation of Paris, August 1944

34. Parisian with allies

35. Robert Capa. Mother and daughter, who were shaved for cooperation with the invaders.

36. Robert Capa. Paris welcomes General De Gaulle, August 1944

What does France have to do with the victory over fascism?

Freedom-loving, democratic and left-leaning France (which is the historical image that many of us are used to) was nothing more than a myth. Historian Zeev Sternhel in his works he repeatedly raised the question of the “French roots of fascism”.

Of course, in the Soviet Union it was well understood that the "great" French resistance could not be compared in any way with the partisan movement in Belarus or Yugoslavia, since, according to some estimates, it was inferior in its scope even Italy and Greece. But, nevertheless, France was seen by Soviet politicians as the weakest link in the capitalist system, again Charles de Gaulle did not hesitate to demonstrate his frankly skeptical attitude towards US and NATO, and therefore some myths of French history were looked through with fingers.

Now the situation has changed dramatically. From the former French independent policy no trace left. France - regardless of which party government is in power - behaves like an obedient satellite of the United States. And this gives us, the Russians, citizens of the country that suffered the most damage in the world from the war, finally an impartial look at the so-called French ally in the anti-Hitler coalition ...

War of haute couture

When the Second World War began in September 1939, French society met her in the highest degree strangely: did ... an abundance of new "patriotic" hats appear ?! So, the so-called "Astrakhan fez" became a bestseller. In addition, checkered fabric began to be intensively imported from England, which was used to cut women's berets. This style of headwear immediately brought to life many new hairstyles. Much was borrowed from military baggage.

So, for example, a hat designed Rosa Desca, very reminiscent of an English cap. In addition, a new accessory came into fashion almost immediately. Many wore the obligatory gas mask on their side. The fear of gas attacks was so great that for several months the Parisians did not even dare to go out without it. The gas mask could be seen everywhere: in the market, at school, in the cinema, in the theater, in a restaurant, in the subway. Some of the French women showed a lot of ingenuity in disguising gas masks. High fashion felt this trend almost immediately. So fancy bags for gas masks, made of satin, suede or leather, began to appear.

A woman with a wheelchair equipped against gas attacks. England 1938

Advertising and trade immediately joined this process. A new style has appeared - in the form of miniature gas masks they began to produce perfume bottles and even tubes of lipstick. But the cylindrical hatboxes that Lanvin made were considered special chic. They even stepped across the Atlantic. With cylindrical handbags, very reminiscent of cases for gas masks, Argentine and Brazilian fashionistas began to walk around, who were by no means threatened by the horrors of war.

The war and its first consequences (air raids and power cuts) dictated a change in the behavior of the French, especially the townspeople. Some of the eccentric Parisians began to wear khaki shirts with gilded buttons. Epaulettes began to appear on jackets. Traditional hats were replaced by stylized shakos, cocked hats and fezzes. Attributes came into fashion operetta military. Many young women, with their summer tan still on their faces, refused to style their hair. They fell on their shoulders, resembling a kind of hood that had previously been called upon to protect from the cold. Curls and curls went out of fashion almost immediately.

Against the backdrop of the official military propaganda in the press, again strange at first glance questions sounded the loudest: how would it be better to sell all collections of fashionable clothes - to the French and foreign clients? How to keep the palm, which has traditionally been reserved for Parisian haute couture? In one of the French newspapers, the following phrase flashed: “Where are those glorious old days when people flocked to Paris from all parts of the globe? When the sale of one luxurious dress allowed the government to buy ten tons of coal? When selling a liter of perfume allowed you to buy two tons of gasoline? What will happen to the 25,000 women who worked in fashion houses?”…

As you can see, at first the war for the French was just inconvenience that interfered with fashionable life. This is the only way to understand the essence of the proposal with which the famous French fashion designer Lucien Lelong addressed the authorities. He wanted guarantees state support ... French couturier! He tried to explain that in the conditions of war such support was vital, and the continuation of high-class tailoring in France would allow him to maintain a presence in foreign markets! He said:

« Luxury and comfort are national industries. They bring millions of foreign exchange reserves, which we now so badly need. What Germany earns with the help of mechanical engineering and the chemical industry, we earn with transparent fabrics, perfumes, flowers and ribbons "...

The situation changed little when the period of the “strange war” passed and real hostilities began. The inhabitants of France saw the catastrophe mainly only in the fact that fashionable shops, variety shows and restaurants were closed. Now the war was perceived not just as an inconvenience, but like a ruinous mom nt. As a result, the defeat of France in the war was met, albeit wary, but without tragic moods.

Interrupted daily life resumed almost immediately after the occupation by the Germans Northern France. Already on June 18, 1940, almost all stores opened iron shutters on their windows. Large department stores in Paris: Louvre, Galeries, Lafayette, etc. - started working again. Years later, a new literary genre will appear in France - “How I did not like boches” (in Germany, its analogue will be “How I sympathized with anti-fascists”).

However, the actual diary entries made by the French in the second half of 1940 showed a completely different picture. Many almost rejoiced that they could reopen their establishments. The owners of shops, stalls and restaurants were pleased with an unprecedented number of " new visitors". They were even more delighted that they were ready to buy everything Germans paid in cash…

A crowd of women, children and soldiers with the signature Nazi salute. France

Large groups of "tourists" in field gray uniforms and armbands with swastikas actively photographed all Parisian sights: the Louvre, Notre Dame Cathedral, the Eiffel Tower. And although the majority of the population was wary of what was happening, there were also many who openly welcomed the occupying troops. Gradually the fear went away. Young schoolgirls with braided pigtails sometimes mustered up the courage to smile at the conquerors. In Paris, gradually scattered: « How polite are they?!», « How cute are they!». The Germans became charming invaders". In the subway, without hesitation, they gave way to the elderly and women with children. Not only trade, but also public life revived, although this happened in a very specific way.

Path to the Nazi EU

“The European idea is deeply rooted in France. Since Europe has become associated primarily with Germany, then this idea works exclusively for us. At present, the exhibition "France-European", the opening of which was organized by our diplomatic services, attracts the attention of many visitors. We have connected the radio, the press and literary reviewers to continuously propagate the European ideology.”

These were the words contained in the message of the German ambassador Otto Abeza, which was sent on 23 June 1941 to the Reich Foreign Minister Ribbentrop. It must be said that " European ideas for France were not new.

It was the French Foreign Minister Aristide Briand at the end of the 20s put forward the idea of ​​uniting Europe. It immediately began to be actively discussed both in the left and in the right circles of the republic. There are many new magazines appearing in France: “ New order», « New Europe”,“ Plans ”,“ The struggle of the young. From the titles alone it follows that young French intellectuals, holding different political views, were looking for new ways to transform the "old Europe" with its disputed territories, mutual reproaches, economic crises and political scandals. Questions were actively discussed as to whether it was possible for the emergence of pan-European patriotism, supra-class socialism, and whether these phenomena could become the basis for the unification of all Western European peoples.

It should be noted that these discussions did not stop during the Second World War. No European country under German control wrote so much about " European idea like in France! The so-called. "Vichy government", as its youngest representatives immediately turned to the German ambassador Abetsu. They presented to the German diplomat a plan for the reorganization of France, which was supposed to not only meet the "standards" of the "axis" countries, but also integrate your economy into a common (read German) economic space. The policy statement did not at all resemble the request of the occupied country - the representatives of the "Vichy government" intended "through the defeat of France to gain the victory of Europe."

Specifically, their memorandum stated:

“We are forced to take an active position, as our country is in distress. Military defeat, growing unemployment, the specters of hunger disorientated the public. Being under the pernicious influence of old prejudices, false propaganda, which feeds on facts alien to the lives of ordinary people, instead of looking to the future, our country turns into the bygone past, content with voices heard from abroad. We offer our countrymen an extremely useful and exciting field of activity that can satisfy the vital interests of the country, revolutionary instincts and demanding national self-consciousness.

The proposed transformation of France included seven important components: the adoption of a new political constitution, the transformation of the French economy, which was supposed to integrate into the European economy, the adoption of a public works program in the field of construction, the creation national socialist movement, new landmarks in French foreign policy.

Of all this list, we should be primarily interested in the question of the "new" foreign policy. On this issue, the document stated the following:

“The French government does not want to abuse the confidence placed in it, and therefore won't let you recreate the past system of unions, focused on the preservation of the so-called. equilibrium in Europe. In addition, France should not be a weak point, but a zone through which non-European political ideas would seep. France is forever connected with the fate of the continent, it emphasizes solidarity, which in the future should unite our country with all the peoples of Europe. Based on this, we believe that France should become the defensive frontier of Europe, which is predetermined by our sea coast, and therefore can become a European bastion in the Atlantic. France will be able to cope with this task if the same harmonious distribution of responsibilities is applied in this area as in the areas of the economy. France must protect Europe primarily through the strength of her fleet and colonial troops.

For the most part " European idea” in France was clearly Anglophobic in nature. This was not surprising, given the details of the meeting between Marshal Pétain and Hitler, which took place on October 24, 1940 in the town of Montoire-sur-le-Loire. During these negotiations, Hitler told the marshal, who became the head of France:

“Someone has to pay for the lost war. It will be either France or England. If England covers the costs, France will take her rightful place in Europe and can fully maintain her position. colonial power».

Activists who rallied around the New Europe magazine actively developed this topic. In the course was the story of the deceased at the stake Joan of Arc, the treacherous flight of British troops from Dunkirk, attacks on the French fleet near Mers-el-Kebir and much more ...

... It would seem that all these historical facts could continue to be looked through the fingers, which, in fact, was done at one time by Soviet politicians. However, the first wake-up call for us came in 1994, when the Russian delegation was not invited to the celebrations dedicated to the opening of the Second Front. At the same time, the Western community openly hinted that they say France is a real victorious country, and Russia "as it were, not very much." And today these sentiments to distort history in the West are only intensifying.

So it makes sense for our historians and diplomats (before it is too late) to pose a number of questions to the world community that require an extremely clear answer:

- why for one Frenchman who went to the partisans, there were several of his compatriots who voluntarily enlisted in the Wehrmacht and the Waffen-SS?

- why did a hundred pilots from the Normandie-Niemen squadron account for many thousands of Frenchmen who were captured by the Soviets when they fought on the side of Hitler?

- why did the radical French fascist Georges Valois end his days in the Sachsenhazuen concentration camp, and the French communist Jacques Doriot volunteered for the Eastern Front to fight against the USSR?

- why the last battles in Berlin at the Reich Chancellery, the Red Army had to fight not against fanatical Germans, but against French SS?

- why did the Europeans, not distinguished by a long historical memory, begin to attribute the arbitrariness perpetrated by the French occupation authorities in Germany to units of the Red Army?

- why the Vichy administration Francois Mitterrand after the end of the war he became a respected politician, and the great French writer Louis Ferdinand Celine was subjected to "public dishonor"?

- why did the fashion designer who collaborated with the invaders Lucien Lelong was hailed as a figure of "cultural resistance" ("He saved French fashion"), and the French novelist and journalist Robert Brasillach was shot as an accomplice of the invaders?

And finally, the most important two questions:

- Can France be considered the winner of fascism, if it was her predatory policy, carried out under the guise of the Versailles Peace Treaty, on the one hand that provoked the emergence of Italian fascism and German National Socialism, and on the other hand laid the foundation for global geopolitical conflict which eventually escalated into World War II?

France during the occupation in World War II.

Poll in France: Who made the most significant contribution to the victory over Germany in World War II? 60 years of propaganda...

More detailed and a variety of information about the events taking place in Russia, Ukraine and other countries of our beautiful planet, you can get on Internet conferences, constantly held on the website "Keys of Knowledge". All Conferences are open and completely free. We invite all waking up and interested ...

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 to create exile government France, which would grant de facto control over the French overseas possessions of Britain.
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 the 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.