France during the German occupation. France in World War II. The surrender of France in World War II. Occupation of France by Nazi Germany
If we recall which of the states has not been occupied by another state in its history, 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, Napoleon's winner 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. total strength Russian corps is evaluated 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 in German city Aachen (or in French - Aix-la-Chapelle) gathered delegations from five countries. 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.
Back in the years of World War II, when the north of France was under the occupation forces of Germany, the residence of the collaborationist government of free southern France was stationed in Vichy, which they began to call the Vichy regime.
Marshal Foch's car. Wilhelm Keitel and Charles Huntziger during the signing of the armistice, June 22, 1940A traitor, an accomplice of the enemy, or in the language of historians - a collaborator - there are such people in every war. During the Second World War, individual soldiers, military units, and sometimes entire states unexpectedly took the side of those who bombed and killed them yesterday. June 22, 1940 was the day of shame for France and the triumph of Germany.
After a month-long struggle, the French suffered a crushing defeat from the German troops and agreed to a truce. In fact, it was a real surrender. Hitler insisted that the signing of the armistice take place in the Compiègne forest, in the same carriage in which, in 1918, Germany signed the humiliating surrender in the First World War.
The Nazi leader enjoyed the victory. He entered the car, listened to the preamble of the text of the truce, and defiantly left the meeting. The French had to part with the idea of negotiations, the armistice was signed on the terms of Germany. France was divided into two parts, the north, together with Paris, was occupied by Germany, and in the south from the centers in the town of Vichy. The Germans allowed the French to form their new government.
photo: Philippe Pétain at a meeting with Adolf Hitler, October 24, 1940 By the way, by this time the majority of French citizens had concentrated in the south. The Russian émigré writer Roman Gul later recalled the atmosphere that prevailed in the summer of 1940 in the south of France:
“All the peasants, winegrowers, artisans, grocers, restaurateurs, cafe garcons and hairdressers and soldiers running like a rabble - they all wanted one thing - anything, just to end this fall into the bottomless abyss.”
Everyone had only one word in mind - "truce", which meant that the Germans would not go to the south of France, they would not come here, they would not quarter their troops here, they would not take cattle, bread, grapes, wine. And so it happened, the south of France remained free, though not for long, very soon it would be in the hands of the Germans. But while the French were full of hope, they believed that the Third Reich would respect the sovereignty of southern France, that sooner or later the Vichy regime would succeed in uniting the country, and most importantly, that the Germans would now free almost two million French prisoners of war.
Marshal Henri Philippe Pétain (1856-1951), head of the French collaborationist government, welcomes French soldiers released from captivity in Germany at the train station in the French city of Rouen. All this was to be implemented by the new head of France, who was endowed with unlimited powers. He became a very respected person in the country, the hero of the First World War, Marshal Henri Philippe Pétain. At that time he was already 84 years old.
It was Pétain who insisted on the surrender of France, although the French leadership, after the fall of Paris, wanted to withdraw to northern Africa and continue the war with Hitler. But Pétain offered to end the resistance. The French saw an attempt to save the country from destruction, but finding such a solution turned out not to be a salvation, but a disaster. The most controversial period in the history of France, not conquered but subjugated, has come.
A group of French prisoners of war follows the streets of the city to the gathering place. In the picture: on the left - French sailors, on the right - Senegalese arrows of the French colonial troops. What policy Pétain would pursue became clear from his speech on the radio. In his address to the nation, he called on the French to collaborate with the Nazis. It was in this speech that Pétain first uttered the word "collaborationism", today it is in all languages and means one thing - cooperation with the enemy. It was not just a nod to Germany, this step Pétain predetermined the fate of the still free southern France.
French soldiers with raised hands surrender to German troops Before Battle of Stalingrad all Europeans believed that Hitler would rule for a long time and everyone had to more or less adapt to new system. There were only two exceptions, this is the UK and of course Soviet Union, who believed that he would definitely win and defeat Nazi Germany, and all the rest were either occupied by the Germans or were in an alliance.
The French read Charles de Gaulle's appeal of June 18, 1940 on the wall of a house in London. How to adapt to the new government, everyone decided for himself. When the Red Army was rapidly retreating to the east, they tried to bring industrial enterprises to the Urals, and if they did not have time, they simply blew them up so that Hitler would not get a single conveyor belt. The French did it differently. A month after the surrender, French businessmen signed the first contract with the Nazis for the supply of bauxite (aluminum ore). The deal was so big that by the beginning of the war with the USSR, that is, a year later, Germany had risen to the first place in the world in aluminum production.
Paradoxically, after the actual surrender of France, things were going well for French entrepreneurs, they began to supply Germany with aircraft, aircraft engines for them, almost the entire locomotive and machine-tool industry worked exclusively for the Third Reich. The three largest French automobile companies, which, by the way, exist today, immediately shifted their focus to the production of trucks. Recently, scientists have calculated and it turned out that about 20% of Germany's truck fleet during the war years were made in France.
German officers in a cafe on the streets of occupied Paris, reading newspapers, and the townspeople. German soldiers passing by greet seated officers. In fairness, it should be noted that sometimes Pétain allowed himself to openly sabotage the orders of the fascist leadership. So in 1941, the head of the Vichy government ordered the minting of 200 million copper-nickel coins of five francs, and this at a time when nickel was considered a strategic material, it was used only for the needs of the military industry, armor was made from it. During the Second World War, not one European country used nickel in minting coins. As soon as the German leadership found out about Pétain's order, almost all the coins were seized and taken out for melting down.
In other matters, Pétain's zeal exceeded even the Nazis' own expectations. So the first anti-Jewish laws in the south of France appeared even before the Germans demanded such measures. Even in northern France, which was under the rule of the Third Reich, the fascist leadership so far managed only with anti-Jewish propaganda.
Anti-Semitic cartoon from the period of the German occupation of France There was a photo exhibition in Paris, where the guides clearly explained why the Jews are the enemies of Germany and France. The Parisian press, in which articles were written by the French under the dictation of the Germans, seethed with hysterical calls for the extermination of the Jews. The propaganda quickly bore fruit, signs began to appear in the cafe stating that “dogs and Jews” were forbidden to enter the institution.
While in the north the Germans were teaching the French to hate the Jews, in the south the Vichy regime was already disenfranchising the Jews. Now, under the new laws, Jews did not have the right to hold public office, work as doctors, teachers, could not own real estate, in addition, Jews were forbidden to use telephones and ride bicycles. They could ride in the subway, only in the last car of the train, and in the store they did not have the right to stand in a general queue.
In fact, these laws did not reflect a desire to please the Germans, but the French's own views. Anti-Semitic sentiments existed in France long before the Second World War, the French considered the Jews of the peoples to be aliens, not indigenous, and therefore they could not become good citizens, hence the desire to remove them from society. However, this did not apply to those Jews who lived in France for a long time and had French citizenship, it was only about refugees who came from Poland or Spain during the civil war.
French Jews at Austerlitz station during deportation from occupied Paris. After the end of World War I, during the 1920s, many Polish Jews migrated to France due to the economic crisis and unemployment. In France, they began to take the jobs of the indigenous population, which did not cause much enthusiasm among them.
After Pétain signed the first anti-Jewish decrees, in a matter of days, thousands of Jews found themselves without work and without a livelihood. But even here everything was thought out, such people were immediately assigned to special detachments, in which the Jew had to work for the benefit of French society, clean and improve cities, and monitor roads. They were enrolled in such detachments forcibly, they were controlled by the military, and the Jews lived in camps.
Arrest of Jews in France, August 1941 Meanwhile, the situation in the north was getting tougher, which soon spilled over into supposedly free southern France. At first, the Germans made the Jews wear yellow stars. By the way, one textile company immediately allocated 5,000 meters of fabric for sewing these stars. Then the fascist leadership announced the mandatory registration of all Jews. Later, when the raids began, this helped the authorities quickly find and identify the Jews they needed. And although the French were never in favor of the physical extermination of the Jews, as soon as the Germans ordered the collection of the entire Jewish population in special points, the French authorities again obediently complied with the order.
It is worth noting that the Vichy government helped the German side and did all the dirty work. In particular, Jews were registered by the French administration, and the French gendarmerie helped deport them. More precisely, the French police did not kill Jews, but they arrested and deported them to the Auschwitz concentration camp. Of course, this does not mean that the Vichy government was entirely responsible for the Holocaust, but it was Germany's collaborator in these processes.
As soon as the Germans moved on to the deportation of the Jewish population, ordinary Frenchmen suddenly ceased to be silent. Entire Jewish families, neighbors, acquaintances, friends disappeared before their eyes, and everyone knew that there was no turning back for these people. There were weak attempts to stop such actions, but when people realized that the German car could not be overcome, they themselves began to save their friends and acquaintances. A wave of so-called quiet mobilization has risen in the country. The French helped the Jews escape from under the escort, hide, hide.
An elderly Jewish woman on the streets of occupied Paris. By this time, Pétain's authority, both among ordinary Frenchmen and among German leaders, was seriously shaken, people no longer trusted him. And when in the 42nd Hitler decided to occupy all of France, and the Vichy regime turned into a puppet state, the French realized that Pétain could not protect them from the Germans, the Third Reich still came to the south of France. Later, in 1943, when it became clear to everyone that Germany was losing the war, Pétain tried to contact the Allies via anti-Hitler coalition. The German reaction was very tough, Veshi's regime was immediately reinforced by Hitler's proteges. The Germans introduced true fascists and ideological collaborators from among the French into the government of Pétain.
One of them was the Frenchman Joseph Darnan, an ardent follower of Nazism. It was he who was responsible for establishing a new order, for tightening the regime. At one time he managed the prison system, the police and was responsible for punitive operations against Jews, resistance and simply opponents of the German regime.
Wehrmacht patrol prepares to search for Resistance fighters in the sewers of Paris. Now Jewish raids were taking place everywhere, the largest operation began in Paris in the summer of 42, the Nazis cynically called it "spring wind." It was scheduled for the night of July 13-14, but the plans had to be adjusted, July 14 is a big holiday in France, Bastille Day. It is difficult to find at least one sober Frenchman on this day, and the operation was carried out by French police forces, the date had to be corrected. The operation was already carried out according to the well-known scenario - all the Jews were herded into one place, and then taken to the death camps, and the Nazis conveyed unambiguous instructions to each performer, all the townspeople should think that this is a purely French invention.
At four in the morning on July 16, a raid began, a patrol came to the home of the Jew and took the families to the Vel d'Yves winter velodrome. By noon, about seven thousand people had gathered there, including four thousand children. Among them was one Jewish the boy Walter Spitzer, who later recalled... we spent five days in this place, it was hell, the children were taken away from their mothers, there was no food, there was only one water tap for everyone and four outhouses. Then Walter, along with a dozen other kids, was miraculously saved by the Russian nun "Mother Mary", and when the boy grew up he became a sculptor and created a memorial to the victims of "Vel-d" Yves.
Laval (left) and Karl Oeberg (head of the German police and SS in France) in Paris When the great exodus of Jews from Paris took place in 1942, children were also taken out of the city, this was not the demand of the German side, it was the proposal of the French, more precisely, Pierre Laval, another protege of Berlin. He suggested that all children under 16 be sent to concentration camps.
In parallel, the French leadership continued to actively support the Nazi regime. In 1942, Fritz Sauckel, Commissioner for Labor Reserves of the Third Reich, turned to the French government with a request for workers. Germany was in dire need of free labor. The French immediately signed an agreement and provided the Third Reich with 350 workers, and soon the Vichy regime went even further, the Peten government established compulsory labor service, all Frenchmen of military age had to go to work in Germany. Railroad wagons with live goods were pulled from France, but few of the young people were eager to leave their homeland, many of them ran away, hid or went into resistance.
Many French believed that it was better to live by adapting than to resist and fight the occupation. In the 44th, they were already ashamed of such a position. After the liberation of the country, none of the French wanted to remember the shamefully lost war and cooperation with the invaders. And then General Charles de Gaulle came to the rescue, he created and for many years in every way supported the myth that the French people during the years of occupation, as a whole, participated in the resistance. In France, trials began on those who served as a German, Peten was also brought to trial, because of his age he was spared and instead of the death penalty, he got off with life imprisonment.
Tunisia. General de Gaulle (left) and General Mast. June 1943 The trials of the collaborators did not last long, already in the summer of 1949 they completed their work. More than a thousand convicts were pardoned by President de Gaulle, the rest waited for an amnesty in 1953. If in Russia former collaborators still hide that they served with the Germans, then in France such people returned to normal life already in the 50s.
The further the second went World War into history, the more heroic the French saw their military past, no one remembered not the supply of raw materials and equipment to Germany, not the events at the Paris velodrome. From Charles de Gaulle and all subsequent presidents of France down to François Mitterrand, they did not believe that the French Republic was responsible for the crimes committed by the Vechy regime. Only in 1995, the new President of France, Jacques Chirac, at a rally in the memorial to the victims of the Vel d'Yves, for the first time apologized for the deportation of Jews and called on the French to repent.
In that war, each state had to decide which side to be on and whom to serve. Even neutral countries could not stand aside. By signing multimillion-dollar contracts with Germany, they made their choice. But perhaps the most eloquent was the position of the United States on June 24, 1941, the future President Harry Truman said: “If we see that Germany is winning the war, we should help Russia, if Russia is winning, we should help Germany, and let them kill each other more, all for the good of America!”
The 20th century in world history was marked by important discoveries in the field of technology and art, but at the same time it was the time of two World Wars that claimed the lives of several tens of millions of people in most countries of the world. The decisive role in the Victory was played by such states as the USA, the USSR, Great Britain and France. During World War II, they defeated world fascism. France was forced to capitulate, but then revived and continued to fight against Germany and its allies.
France in the prewar years
In the last pre-war years, France experienced serious economic difficulties. At that time, the People's Front was at the helm of the state. However, after Blum's resignation, the new government was headed by Shotan. His policy began to deviate from the program of the Popular Front. Taxes were raised, the 40-hour work week was abolished, and industrialists had the opportunity to increase the duration of the latter. A strike movement immediately swept across the country, however, to pacify the dissatisfied, the government sent police detachments. France before the Second World War pursued an anti-social policy and every day had less and less support among the people.
By this time, the military-political bloc "Berlin-Rome Axis" had been formed. In 1938, Germany invaded Austria. Two days later, her Anschluss took place. This event dramatically changed the state of affairs in Europe. A threat loomed over the Old World, and first of all it concerned Great Britain and France. The population of France demanded that the government take decisive action against Germany, especially since the USSR also expressed such ideas, offering to join forces and stifle the growing fascism in the bud. However, the government still continued to follow the so-called. "appeasement", believing that if Germany was given everything she asked for, war could be avoided.
The authority of the Popular Front was fading before our eyes. Unable to cope with economic problems, Shotan resigned. After that, the second Blum government was installed, which lasted less than a month until its next resignation.
Daladier government
France during the Second World War could have appeared in a different, more attractive light, if not for some actions of the new chairman of the Council of Ministers, Edouard Daladier.
The new government was formed exclusively from the composition of democratic and right-wing forces, without communists and socialists, however, Daladier needed the support of the latter two in the elections. Therefore, he designated his activities as a sequence of actions of the Popular Front, as a result he received the support of both the communists and the socialists. However, immediately after coming to power, everything changed dramatically.
The first steps were aimed at "improving the economy." Taxes were raised and another devaluation was carried out, which eventually gave its negative results. But this is not the most important thing in the activities of Daladier of that period. Foreign policy in Europe was at that time at the limit - one spark, and the war would have begun. France in World War II did not want to take the side of the defeatists. Inside the country there were several opinions: some wanted a close alliance with Britain and the United States; others did not rule out the possibility of an alliance with the USSR; still others strongly opposed the Popular Front, proclaiming the slogan "Better Hitler than the Popular Front." Separate from those listed were the pro-German circles of the bourgeoisie, who believed that even if they managed to defeat Germany, the revolution that would come with the USSR to Western Europe would not spare anyone. They offered to pacify Germany in every possible way, giving her freedom of action in an easterly direction.
A black spot in the history of French diplomacy
After the easy accession of Austria, Germany is increasing its appetites. Now she swung at the Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia. Hitler made the mostly German-populated area fight for autonomy and virtual separation from Czechoslovakia. When the country's government gave a categorical rebuff to the fascist tricks, Hitler began to act as a savior of the "infringed" Germans. He threatened the government of Beneš that he could bring in his troops and take the region by force. In turn, France and Great Britain supported Czechoslovakia in words, while the USSR offered real military assistance if Beneš applied to the League of Nations and officially appealed to the USSR for help. Beneš, however, could not take a step without the instructions of the French and British, who did not want to quarrel with Hitler. The international diplomatic events that followed after that could greatly reduce France's losses in World War II, which was already inevitable, but history and politicians decreed differently, strengthening the main fascist many times over with military factories in Czechoslovakia.
On September 28, a conference of France, England, Italy and Germany was held in Munich. Here the fate of Czechoslovakia was decided, and neither Czechoslovakia nor the Soviet Union, which expressed a desire to help, were invited. As a result, the next day, Mussolini, Hitler, Chamberlain and Daladier signed the protocols of the Munich Agreements, according to which the Sudetenland was now the territory of Germany, and the areas dominated by Hungarians and Poles were also to be separated from Czechoslovakia and become the lands of the titular countries.
Daladier and Chamberlain guaranteed the inviolability of the new frontiers and peace in Europe for "an entire generation" of returning national heroes.
In principle, this was, so to speak, the first capitulation of France in World War II to the main aggressor in the history of mankind.
The beginning of World War II and the entry of France into it
According to the strategy of the attack on Poland, Germany crossed the border in the early morning of the year. World War II has begun! with the support of its aviation and having a numerical superiority, it immediately took the initiative into its own hands and quickly captured Polish territory.
France in World War II, as well as England, declared war on Germany only after two days of active hostilities - September 3, still dreaming of appeasing or "pacifying" Hitler. In principle, historians have reason to believe that if there had not been an agreement, according to which the main patron of Poland after the First World War was France, which, in the event of open aggression against the Poles, was obliged to send its troops and provide military support, most likely, there would be no declaration of war did not follow either two days later or later.
A strange war, or how France fought without fighting
France's involvement in World War II can be divided into several phases. The first one is called " strange war". It lasted about 9 months - from September 1939 to May 1940. It is named so because in the conditions of the war by France and England against Germany, no military operations were carried out. That is, the war was declared, but no one fought. The agreement under which France was obliged to organize an offensive against Germany within 15 days was not fulfilled. the machine calmly "dealt" with Poland, without looking back at its western borders, where only 23 divisions were concentrated against 110 French and English divisions, which could dramatically change the course of events at the beginning of the war and put Germany in a difficult position, if not lead to its defeat at all. Meanwhile, in the east, beyond Poland, Germany had no rival, it had an ally - the USSR. Stalin, without waiting for an alliance with England and France, concluded it with Germany, securing his lands for some time from the onset of the Nazis, which is quite logical. But England and France in the Second World War, and specifically at its beginning, behaved rather strangely.
The Soviet Union at that time occupied the eastern part of Poland and the Baltic states, presented an ultimatum to Finland on the exchange of territories of the Karelian Peninsula. The Finns opposed this, after which the USSR unleashed a war. France and England reacted sharply to this, and preparing for war with him.
A completely strange situation has developed: in the center of Europe, at the very border of France, there is a world aggressor that threatens all of Europe and, first of all, France itself, and she declares war on the USSR, which simply wants to secure its borders, and offers an exchange of territories, and not perfidious capture. This state of affairs continued until the Benelux countries and France suffered from Germany. The period of the Second World War, marked by oddities, ended there, and the real war began.
At this time in the country ...
Immediately after the outbreak of war in France, a state of siege was introduced. All strikes and demonstrations were banned, and the media were subject to strict wartime censorship. With regard to labor relations, wage was frozen at the pre-war level, strikes were banned, vacations were not granted, the law on the 40-hour working week was repealed.
During the Second World War, France pursued a rather tough policy within the country, especially with regard to the PCF (French Communist Party). The communists were declared practically outlaws. Their mass arrests began. The deputies were deprived of immunity and were put on trial. But the apogee of the "fight against aggressors" was the document dated November 18, 1939 - "Decree on Suspicious". According to this document, the government could imprison almost any person in a concentration camp, considering him suspicious and dangerous to the state and society. In less than two months of this decree, more than 15,000 communists found themselves in concentration camps. And in April of the following year, another decree was adopted, which equated communist activity with treason, and citizens convicted of this were punished by death.
German invasion of France
After the defeat of Poland and Scandinavia, Germany began the transfer of the main forces to the Western Front. By May 1940, there was no longer the advantage that countries such as England and France had. World War II was destined to move to the lands of "peacekeepers" who wanted to appease Hitler by giving him everything he asked for.
On May 10, 1940, Germany launched an invasion of the West. In less than a month, the Wehrmacht managed to break Belgium, Holland, the British Expeditionary Force, as well as the most combat-ready French forces. All Northern France and Flanders were occupied. The morale of the French soldiers was low, while the Germans believed even more in their invincibility. The matter remained small. In ruling circles, as well as in the army, fermentation began. On June 14, Paris was surrendered to the Nazis, and the government fled to the city of Bordeaux.
Mussolini also did not want to miss the division of trophies. And on June 10, believing that France no longer poses a threat, he invaded the territory of the state. However, the Italian troops, almost twice as numerous, were not successful in the fight against the French. France in World War II managed to show what she is capable of. And even on June 21, on the eve of the signing of the surrender, 32 Italian divisions were stopped by the French. It was a complete failure of the Italians.
French surrender in World War II
After England, fearing that the French fleet would fall into the hands of the Germans, scuttled most of it, France severed all diplomatic relations with the United Kingdom. On June 17, 1940, her government rejected English sentence about an indestructible alliance and the need to continue the struggle to the last.
On June 22, in the forest of Compiègne, in the carriage of Marshal Foch, an armistice was signed between France and Germany. France, it promised serious consequences, primarily economic. Two-thirds of the country became the territory of Germany, while the southern part was declared independent, but obliged to pay 400 million francs a day! Most of the raw materials and finished products went to support the German economy, and primarily the army. More than 1 million French citizens were sent as labor force to Germany. The economy and economy of the country suffered huge losses, which would later influence the industrial and agricultural development of France after the Second World War.
Vichy mode
After the capture of northern France in the resort town of Vichy, it was decided to transfer the authoritarian supreme power in southern "independent" France to Philippe Pétain. This marked the end of the Third Republic and the establishment of the Vichy government (from location). France in the Second World War showed itself not from the best side, especially during the years of the Vichy regime.
At first, the regime found support among the population. However, it was a fascist government. Communist ideas were banned, Jews, just like in all the territories occupied by the Nazis, were driven to death camps. For one killed German soldier, death overtook 50-100 ordinary citizens. The Vichy government itself had no regular army. There were few armed forces necessary to maintain order and obedience, while the soldiers did not have any serious military weapons.
The regime existed for quite a long time - from July 1940 to the end of April 1945.
Liberation of France
On June 6, 1944, one of the largest military-strategic operations started - the opening of the Second Front, which began with the landing of the Anglo-American allied forces in Normandy. Fierce battles began on the territory of France for its liberation, together with the allies, the actions to liberate the country were carried out by the French themselves as part of the resistance movement.
France in World War II dishonored itself in two ways: firstly, by being defeated, and secondly, by collaborating with the Nazis for almost 4 years. Although General de Gaulle tried with all his might to create a myth that the entire French people as a whole fought for the country's independence, not helping Germany in anything, but only weakening it with various sorties and sabotage. "Paris has been liberated by French hands," de Gaulle asserted confidently and solemnly.
The surrender of the occupying troops took place in Paris on August 25, 1944. The Vichy government then existed in exile until the end of April 1945.
After that, something unimaginable began in the country. Face to face met those who were declared bandits under the Nazis, that is, partisans, and those who lived happily under the Nazis. Often there was a public lynching of the henchmen of Hitler and Pétain. The Anglo-American allies, who saw this with their own eyes, did not understand what was happening, and urged the French partisans to come to their senses, but they were simply furious, believing that their time had come. A large number of French women, declared fascist whores, were publicly disgraced. They were dragged out of their houses, dragged to the square, where they were shaved and led along the main streets so that everyone could see, often while all their clothes were torn off. The first years of France after the Second World War, in short, experienced remnants of that recent, but such a sad past, when social tension and at the same time the revival of the national spirit intertwined, creating an uncertain situation.
End of the war. Outcomes for France
The role of France in World War II was not decisive for its entire course, but there was still a certain contribution, at the same time there were negative consequences for it.
The French economy was practically destroyed. Industry, for example, produced only 38% of the output of the pre-war level. About 100 thousand French did not return from the battlefields, about two million were held captive until the end of the war. Military equipment most of it was destroyed, the fleet was sunk.
The policy of France after the Second World War is associated with the name of the military and political figure Charles de Gaulle. The first post-war years were aimed at restoring the economy and social welfare of French citizens. The losses of France in World War II could have been much lower, or perhaps they would not have happened at all if, on the eve of the war, the governments of England and France had not tried to “appease” Hitler, but would have immediately dealt with the not yet strong German army with one hard blow. a fascist monster that almost swallowed the whole world.
The period of occupation in France is preferred to be remembered as a heroic time. Charles de Gaulle, the Resistance… However, the impartial footage of the photo chronicle shows that everything was not quite the way the veterans tell and write in the history books. These photographs were taken by a correspondent for the German magazine Signal in Paris 1942-44. Color film, sunny days, French smiles welcoming the occupiers. 63 years after the war, the selection became the exhibition "Parisians under the Occupation". She caused a huge scandal. The mayor's office of the French capital banned its display in Paris. As a result, permission was achieved, but France saw these shots only once. Second - public opinion could no longer afford. The contrast between the heroic legend and the truth turned out to be too striking.
Orchestra on Republic Square. 1943 or 1944
Changing of the Guard. 1941
The audience in the cafe.
Beach near the Carruzel Bridge. Summer 1943
Parisian rickshaw. Regarding the photographs "Parisians during the Occupation". What hypocrisy on the part of the city authorities to condemn this exhibition for the "lack of historical context"! Just the photographs of the journalist-collaborator remarkably complement other photographs on the same topic, talking mainly about Everyday life Wartime Paris. At the cost of collaborationism, this city avoided the fate of London, or Dresden, or Leningrad. Carefree Parisians sitting in a cafe or in a park, rollerblading boys and fishermen on the Seine are the same realities of wartime France as the underground activities of the Resistance. For what it was possible to condemn the organizers of the exhibition, it is not clear. And there is no need for the city authorities to become like the ideological commission under the Central Committee of the CPSU.
Rue Rivoli
Cinema for German soldiers.
Showcase with a photograph of Collaborator Marshal Pétain.
Kiosk on Avenue Gabriel.
Metro Marbeuf-Champs Elysees (now Franklin Roosevelt). 1943
Fiberglass shoes with a wooden last. 1940s.
Exhibition poster at the corner of rue Tilsit and the Champs Elysees. 1942
View of the Seine from the Quai St. Bernard, 1942
Famous milliners Rosa Valois, Madame le Monnier and Madame Agnes during the races at the Longchamp Racecourse, August 1943.
Weighing jockeys at the racecourse Longshan. August 1943
At the tomb of the Unknown Soldier under the Arc de Triomphe, 1942
In the Luxembourg Gardens, May 1942.
Nazi propaganda on the Champs Elysees. The text on the poster in the center: THEY GIVE THEIR BLOOD GIVE YOUR WORK to save Europe from Bolshevism.
Another Nazi propaganda poster issued after the British bombing of Rouen in April 1944. In Rouen, as you know, the French national heroine Joan of Arc was executed by the British. The inscription on the poster: KILLERS ALWAYS RETURN.. ..TO THE CRIME SCENE.
The caption to the picture says that the fuel for this bus was "city gas".
Two more auto monsters from the times of the Occupation. Both pictures were taken in April 1942. The top picture shows a car that is fueled by charcoal. The bottom picture shows a car running on compressed gas.
In the garden of the Palais Royal.
The central market of Paris (Les Halles) in July 1942. The picture clearly shows one of the metal structures (because the pavilions of Baltar) of the era of Napoleon III, which were demolished in 1969.
One of the few black and white photographs of Zucca. On it is the national funeral of Philippe Enriot, Secretary of State for Information and Propaganda, who advocated full cooperation with the occupiers. On June 28, 1944, Enrio was shot dead by members of the Resistance.
Playing cards in the Luxembourg Gardens, May 1942
The public in the Luxembourg Gardens, May 1942
In the Parisian Central Market (Les Halles, the very “womb of Paris”) they were called “meat dressers”.
Central Market, 1942
Rue Rivoli, 1942
Rue Rosier in the Jewish quarter of the Marais (Jews were required to wear a yellow star on their chests). 1942
Fair in the Nation quarter. 1941
Baths on the Seine.
Fishermen on the Seine. 1943
Place de la Concorde, 1942
Cycle taxi in front of the Maxim restaurant on Mira Street. 1942
