The first meeting of the Pétain government, held on June 17, lasted only ten minutes. The ministers unanimously decided to ask the German command to stop hostilities.
The new Minister of Foreign Affairs, P. Baudouin, invited the Spanish Ambassador Lequeric and gave him a note in which the government of Marshal Petain asked Spain “to appeal to the German government as soon as possible with a request to cease hostilities and inform them what their peace conditions are.” France's proposal for a truce through the papal nuncio was also sent to the Italian government.
On the afternoon of June 17, Petain made a radio appeal to the population and army of the country to “stop the fight.” This appeal brought demoralization to the ranks of the army, which was still fighting. Petain, without waiting for a response from the Wehrmacht command, with this appeal essentially gave the order to stop resistance. The Germans immediately published leaflets with the text of Petain’s appeal and began scattering them over the positions French troops. Fascist tanks They marched with white flags and captured French soldiers who had stopped resisting. The chief of staff of the French headquarters, General Doumenc, in order to to some extent preserve the combat effectiveness of the army, was forced to give a telegram to the troops: “The truce has not been signed. The enemy uses the white flag to break through in the defended areas... We must continue to defend the territory of the homeland with all our energy everywhere.”
On June 18, the French government ordered the troops to leave all cities with a population of more than 20 thousand people without a fight. Units were forbidden to conduct military operations not only in the cities themselves, but also on their outskirts, as well as to carry out any destruction. This led to disorganization of the last efforts of the French troops to resist.
Berlin was well aware of Petain's intention to conclude a truce with Germany upon coming to power. Petain's treacherous position received the full approval of the Nazis. The fascist organ "Völkischer Beobachter", encouraging Petain's capitulatory policy, spoke of him as "an old, impeccable soldier, who alone is still able to bring comfort to the French people."
Having received a request from the French government to stop hostilities, the German political leadership was in no hurry to respond. Immediate negotiations with France, which would mean the end of hostilities, were not included in the calculations of the German General Staff. The Germans decided to take advantage of the virtual cessation of resistance by French troops and speed up the offensive along the entire front. In addition, the issue of Italy's territorial claims had to be resolved. As evidenced by the memorandum of the Italian Foreign Minister Ciano, Italy intended to occupy French territory up to the Rhone, including the cities of Lyon, Balance, Avignon, to take possession of Corsica, Tunisia, French Somalia, naval bases in Algeria and Morocco (Algeria, Mers el-Kebir, Casablanca). France had to transfer to Germany and Italy the entire fleet, aviation, heavy weapons, a large number of means of transport. Fulfillment of these demands would mean the establishment of undivided Italian dominance in the Mediterranean basin.
Germany did not want such a significant strengthening of its ally. In addition, Hitler believed that at that moment it was inappropriate to make “excessive” demands on France. At first glance, this attitude contradicted the German plans to destroy France as a great power. But the rulers of Germany were forced to reckon with the actual military-political situation. Although the French armed forces suffered a crushing defeat, France was not yet completely defeated. She still had vast colonial possessions with colossal material and human resources. Hitler understood that he was deprived of the opportunity to immediately seize the rich overseas territories of France. From agent reports, the fascist leadership knew that the French administration in the colonies, taking into account the mood of the army and the population, was ready to continue the war. This is what it feared. Excessive demands on France could push wavering groups from the ruling circles to continue resistance and emigrate the French government to North Africa. This prospect led to a prolongation of the war with England and France and violated Hitler’s intentions to quickly end the war in the West.
There was another reason for the “lenient” attitude towards France - the fear that its surviving navy would go to England.
Until June 20, 1940, the French fleet suffered minor losses (a total of 34 main ships, including 1 cruiser, 11 destroyers and 7 submarines). 7 battleships, 18 cruisers, 1 aircraft carrier, 1 air transport, 48 destroyers, 11 destroyers and 71 submarines, not counting smaller ships, remained in service.
Germany did not have sufficient naval forces to capture the French fleet, and postponed this task for the future. In the meantime, the Wehrmacht command sought to prevent French ships from leaving for English ports or to their bases in the colonies.
Petain and his accomplices were well aware that Hitler would agree to negotiate an armistice only with the French government that would retain control over the colonies and would not allow warships to leave for English ports. Petain and his entourage feared the creation of an émigré government of France, which would take over the administration of the colonies and leave the French fleet at its disposal.
The French capitulators did everything to eliminate the possibility of creating an emigrant government. They organized a veritable campaign of deceit, blackmail and threats, trying to prevent the emigration of those political figures who could become leaders of this government. Documents from the archives of Hitler's Foreign Ministry indicate that Petain's government informed Berlin through the Spanish ambassador about possible internal difficulties and hurried the start of negotiations.
Hitler, having received an offer of a truce from the French government, in his order demanded to continue the offensive, to pursue defeated enemy and occupy the most important areas of France. In Normandy, German mobile units occupied Cherbourg, and on the border of Brittany - Rennes. Another group advanced from the English Channel south and crossed the Loire between Orleans and Nevers.
On June 19, units of the 10th French Army stopped resistance. Nazi troops captured the French naval base of Brest. On the coast Atlantic Ocean German units captured Saint-Nazaire, Nantes and La Rochelle.
On last stage During Operation Rot, active actions were taken by troops of Army Group C. 1st german army, taking advantage of the withdrawal of French troops from the Maginot Line, managed to overcome the fortified zone between St. Avold and Saarbrücken, and the 7th Army, crossing the Rhine in the upper reaches, occupied Colmar on June 18. Guderian's tank group was transferred to the command of the commander of Army Group C, which, turning to the northeast, began to advance in the direction of Epinal, Belfort.
The French troops from the 2nd Army Group, which had withdrawn from the Maginot Line on Weygand's orders, found themselves surrounded. On June 22, the commander of this army group, General Conde, gave the order to lay down arms. German troops in this area captured more than 500 thousand people. Only some garrisons of the fortifications of the Maginot Line and separate units in the Vosges.
On June 20, Italian troops launched a general offensive against France in the Alps. But the French troops met them with strong artillery fire and repelled the enemy attacks. Only on the southern sector of the front did the Italian units make slight progress in the Menton area. Mussolini was furious that he could not seize a large chunk of French territory by the time the armistice was negotiated. He ordered the preparation of an airborne assault - a regiment of Alpine riflemen - to the Lyon area, and then to occupy French territory to the Rhone. The German command did not support Mussolini's action, and this “operation” was not carried out.
On June 20, the fascist German command invited the French armistice delegation to arrive to meet with German representatives on the bridge across the Loire near Tours. On the same day, the French delegation, consisting of the commander of the army group, General Huntziger (head of the delegation), former ambassador France in Poland L. Noel, Chief of the General Staff of the Navy Rear Admiral Le Luc, Chief of the General Staff of the Air Force General Bergeret and former military attaché in Rome General Parisot arrived in Tours. The next day the delegation was taken to the Retonde station in the Compiegne Forest. Here, 22 years ago, on November 11, 1918, in a white saloon carriage, Marshal Foch dictated the terms of an armistice for defeated Germany. By order of Hitler, the historical Foch carriage was removed from the museum and, in order to humiliate the French as much as possible, it was placed in the place where it stood in 1918.
Almost all the leaders of the “Third Reich” arrived at the ceremony of signing the document recognizing Germany’s victory, including Hitler. From the very beginning of the negotiations, the French representatives realized that the talk could only be about capitulation, and not “about peace terms,” as Petain and his accomplices had hoped.
Keitel (he chaired the negotiations) announced the terms of the truce, emphasizing that they could not be changed, and invited the French representatives to immediately sign the document. Huntziger, in negotiations with Keitel, tried to soften the terms of the truce, but was met with a cold refusal. On only one issue did Keitel express understanding of the French point of view. It was a question of the need to have armed forces at the disposal of the Petain government. “Experience shows,” said the head of the French delegation, “that after the terrible crisis that France is now experiencing, there is a danger of the country sliding towards communism. The French government intends to prevent this in all cases." On June 22 at 18:32, General Huntziger, on behalf of the French government, signed an armistice agreement. On the German side, the document was signed by Keitel.
In accordance with the agreement, the French government ceased military operations against Germany on French territory, as well as in colonies, protectorates, mandate territories and on the seas. The French armed forces were subject to demobilization and disarmament. The Petain government received the right to have an army "to maintain internal order", the number of which must be determined later by a decision of Germany and Italy; French prisoners of war remained in Germany until the peace treaty was signed.
Nazi Germany occupied most of France. The occupation extended to the northern, most developed and wealthy regions of the country, as well as to the Atlantic coast of France. In the occupied zone, all power was transferred to the German command. The French government pledged to facilitate the transfer to the German authorities in good condition of all military facilities, industrial enterprises, communications and transport, raw materials reserves, etc. In the unoccupied territory, weapons and military property were concentrated in warehouses and transferred under the control of the German and Italian authorities. The German command reserved the right to demand the transfer of weapons and ammunition for the needs of the Wehrmacht.
Article 8 of the agreement stipulated that the French navy should be concentrated in French ports and disarmed under German and Italian control. The French government was obliged to bear the costs of maintaining the German occupation forces.
Germany reserved the right to denounce the armistice agreement at any time if the French government did not fulfill its obligations. The agreement came into force only after the conclusion of an armistice between France and Italy.
On June 23, the French delegation flew to Rome on German planes. On the same day, at Villa Incesa near Rome, negotiations began with the Italian delegation, which included Marshal Badoglio, Generals Roatta and Pricolo, Admiral Cavagnari and Foreign Minister Ciano. On June 24, 1940, the Franco-Italian armistice agreement was signed. On June 25 at 1:16 a.m., hostilities in France officially ceased.
The Italian government, under pressure from Germany, abandoned its initial demands on France. Italy occupied French territory with an area of 832 square meters. km with a population of 28.5 thousand people. Under the terms of the agreement, France was to disarm border fortifications along the Italian-French border to a depth of 50 km, demilitarize the ports of Toulon, Bizerte, Ajaccio and Oran, as well as certain areas in Algeria, Tunisia and on the coast of French Somalia.
The Wehrmacht's fighting ended in Germany's victory. France suffered a brutal defeat. The French army lost 84 thousand killed, 1547 thousand soldiers and officers were captured by the Germans.
Wehrmacht losses were smaller - 27,074 killed, 18,384 missing and 111,043 wounded.
With the defeat of France, a new strategic pause came in Wehrmacht operations on the European continent and new stage in the development of the Second World War.
The British War Cabinet believed that, under pressure from the Nazi occupation authorities, Pétain's France would be able to provide its resources to Germany for the war against England. The British political and military leadership continued to be particularly concerned about the fate of the French navy. After the signing of the armistice agreement, the French fleet was concentrated in Toulon, in the ports of Mers-el-Kebir and Algiers (North Africa), in Dakar (West Africa), in Alexandria (Egypt). At the time the armistice was signed, 2 French battleships, 12 destroyers and several submarines found themselves in the English ports of Portsmouth and Plymouth. Churchill decided to seize French warships. Codenamed Operation Catapult, it was carried out on July 3, 1940. In response to these actions, the Petain government broke off diplomatic relations with Great Britain.
After the armistice, France found itself divided into two zones: occupied (Northern and Central France) and unoccupied (Southern France), completely dependent on Germany.
Before the war, 65 percent of the country's population lived in the occupied territory, 97 percent of iron and 94 percent of steel were smelted, 79 percent of coal, 100 percent of iron ore were mined, 75 percent of the wheat harvest was harvested, 75 percent of the horse population, and 65 percent of the cattle. The majority of enterprises in the engineering, automotive, aviation, and chemical industries were concentrated in Northern and Central France. The entire economic potential of the occupied zone was put at the service of the Nazi Reich. The occupation authorities resorted to direct robbery of France, as well as robbery through various methods of introducing German capital into its economy.
At the end of June 1940, the Nazi authorities created a military administration in the occupied zone. Two departments - Nord and Pas-de-Calais - were transferred to the administration of the occupation authorities in Belgium. Alsace and Lorraine were annexed to the Reich and became subject to the Gauleiters.
Petain and his entourage, who settled in the small town of Vichy (Southern France) on July 1, 1940, sought to establish a fascist-type dictatorship in France. Petain hoped that the dictatorial regime in the country would allow him to establish closer contacts with the Nazi Reich. One of the pamphlets published in Vichy said: “The defeat of May-June 1940 was the collapse of the regime... France is waiting for a new regime, and, as happens after every great turn, we are naturally inclined to establish We have a regime similar to that of our winners.” After the defeat, the fascist elements, for whom Petain was both a banner and a screen, began an open offensive against republican institutions. At the head of these forces was the politician P. Laval, known for his reactionary views.
On July 10, at a joint meeting of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate, the intimidated French parliamentarians transferred all power to Petain. The next day Petain signed three laws, according to which he became head French state, received legislative, executive and judicial powers, the right to appoint and dismiss ministers and other senior government officials, issue laws, conduct diplomatic negotiations, ratify international treaties, declare war and make peace. The word "republic" disappeared from the political vocabulary of the Vichy government. Petain, like crowned monarchs, began his laws with the formula: “We, Marshal of France, head of the French state...”
In its class content, the Vichy regime was a dictatorship of the French reactionary bourgeoisie, which was associated with Hitler's Germany. Behind Pétain stood the French banks, the largest monopolies. He relied on the reactionary officers, Catholic Church, farmers, into part of the urban petty bourgeoisie. The French reaction, according to the historian Siegfried, saw in Pétain “a symbol of order, the restoration of power, a welcome bulwark against social revolution.”
Petain's France became, essentially, a pro-fascist state. The activities of representative institutions in the country were terminated and previously existing ones were dissolved. political parties, trade union organizations are prohibited. The reactionary organization of the military received full support from the Vichy government. French Legion front-line soldiers" and fascist parties - the "Social Revolutionary Movement", whose leader was Deloncle, the "National Popular Rally" led by Dea, the "French People's Party", led by Doriot.
The Pétain government covered up its class reactionary essence with demagogic statements about the “national revolution” that allegedly took place in France, about the cessation of the class struggle, the creation of a “controlled” economy, and about the moral and spiritual “renewal” of the nation. Behind false phrases it tried to hide the merciless exploitation of the working people, the system of terror and repression against genuine fighters for independence and social renewal of the country. The Vichy regime was completely dependent on Hitler's Germany, which saw in the Petain government an obedient instrument of its policy of robbery and enslavement of France.
Petain's puppet government daily transferred 400 million francs to a special account of the French Bank in Paris for the maintenance of German troops. Petain and his entourage claimed to be at least junior partners of the fascist clique in establishing a “new order” in Europe. For the time being, the fascist leaders did not destroy the Vichy illusions of partnership. They did not want to prematurely reveal their plans regarding France. Among his circle of associates, Hitler declared that the French would always be enemies of Germany and therefore he would “speak to the Vichy government in a different language as soon as the Russian operation is completed and he frees up his rear.” The leaders of the “Third Reich” drew up plans for the further dismemberment of France and its transformation into an agrarian-industrial appendage of Germany. The freedom-loving French people were threatened with complete enslavement.
However, the French people did not accept the fate that the Nazi invaders and their Vichy accomplices were preparing for them. The progressive forces of France opposed the Hitlerite occupation and the fascist Vichy regime with the Resistance movement, the struggle for independence and freedom of their country. Overcoming enormous difficulties, growing in breadth and depth, taking the form of armed struggle, the Resistance movement became an expression of the national upsurge of the French people, who stood up in defense of their homeland. Its main force was the working class and the working peasantry, and its real organizer and inspirer was the French Communist Party. Along with the Resistance movement that arose within the country, the patriotic organization “Free France” began to operate, led by General de Gaulle, who emigrated to England.
On June 18, General de Gaulle addressed the French in England on London radio with an appeal to establish contact with him and continue the fight against Nazi Germany. On June 28, 1940, Churchill’s government recognized de Gaulle as the head of the “free French,” and on August 7, 1940, by agreement with the government of England, he received the right to form volunteer French armed forces on its territory.
The development and deepening of the Resistance movement in France, the growing influence of de Gaulle's Free France organization indicated that the capitulation in the Compiegne Forest had not yet determined the fate of the country.
The French people rose up to fight the Nazi invaders for the freedom and independence of their homeland.
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Original taken from aloban75 in the Fall of France. Shameful capitulation. (125 photos)
This year, France celebrated a tragic anniversary - the 75th anniversary of the shameful surrender to Nazi Germany.
As a result of the offensive that began on May 10, 1940, the Germans defeated the French army in just a month. On June 14, German troops entered Paris without a fight, which had been declared an open city by the French government to avoid its destruction. On June 22, 1940, France capitulated on humiliating terms: 60% of its territory was occupied, part of the land was annexed by Germany and Italy, the rest of the territory was controlled by a puppet government. The French had to maintain the occupying German troops, the army and navy were disarmed, the French prisoners were supposed to be in camps (out of one and a half million French prisoners of war, about a million remained in camps until 1945).
I dedicate this photo collection to this tragic event for France.
1. Residents of Paris look at the German army entering the city. 06/14/1940
2. German soldiers on the armor of an abandoned French light tank Hotchkiss H35.
3. Captured wounded French officer from a hospital captured by German troops in Juvisy-sur-Orge.
4. Captured wounded French soldiers from a hospital captured by German troops in Juvisy-sur-Orge.
5. A column of French prisoners of war on a march along a country road.
6. A group of French prisoners of war follows a city street to a meeting place. In the photo: on the left are French sailors, on the right are Senegalese riflemen of the French colonial troops.
7. Captured French soldiers, among them several blacks from French colonial units.
8. German soldiers next to a French light tank Renault R35 abandoned on the road near Lahn.
9. German soldiers and an officer pose with a downed British Spitfire fighter (Supermarine Spitfire Mk.I) on the beach near Dunkirk.
10. Two French Renault R35 light tanks abandoned on the street of a populated area.
11. A column of French prisoners of war passes through the village.
12. Captured French soldiers walk along the line of German soldiers. The picture shows soldiers from various units defending the Maginot Line.
13. Captured soldiers of various units of the French colonial troops.
14. Captured French soldiers at the assembly point in Saint-Florentin.
15. Captured French soldiers guarded by a German sentry.
16. A column of French North African prisoners of war heading to the gathering place.
17. French artillery equipment abandoned on the side of the road near Brunhamel.
18. Helmets and equipment abandoned by French soldiers during the surrender on a city street.
19. A column of French prisoners of war on the road in the Moy-de-Aisne area.
20. A group of captured French soldiers in Amiens.
21. French soldiers with their hands raised surrender to German troops.
22. German mountain rangers near the captured 155-mm French cannon Canon de 155 mm L Mle 1877 de Bange, with a barrel made in 1916 (sometimes called Canon de 155 mm L Mle 1877/1916), captured near the Marne.
23. French prisoners of war on vacation in the Dieppe area. Judging by the characteristic elements of the uniform in the picture, the servicemen are from a cavalry unit.
24. German soldiers on the Place de la Concorde in Paris.
25. A group of captured Moroccan soldiers of French colonial troops in Amiens.
26. Line up of captured Senegalese riflemen of French colonial troops in Amiens.
27. French prisoners of war at the assembly point. Among the prisoners are members of the French North African colonial forces, presumably Senegalese.
28. Wounded French soldiers at the infirmary in the city of Rocroi.
29. French prisoners of war drink water during a halt.
30. Vehicles abandoned by the Allies on the beach near Dunkirk.
31. The commander of the 7th Panzer Division of the Wehrmacht, Major General Erwin Rommel, and his staff officers are crossing the river by boat.
32. A column of French prisoners of war is walking along the side of the road, escorted by German soldiers. Presumably the area around Rocroi.
33. A group of French prisoners of war on the march along the road. In the background is a flying German transport plane Ju-52.
34. German artillerymen transport a 37-mm PaK 35/36 anti-tank gun by boat across the Meuse.
35. A German military band marches along the streets of occupied Paris.
36. French prisoners of war follow the road to the gathering place. In the center of the photo are three prisoners of war from the Zouave regiment.
37. French prisoner of war in the field.
38. French Navy Loire-Nieuport LN-411 dive bomber made an emergency landing.
39. A German soldier near the crashed French fighter Bloch MB.152.
40. A group of French prisoners of war in formation.
41. German soldiers pose next to a broken French 25 mm Hotchkiss anti-tank gun (Canon de 25 mm antichar Modele 1934 Hotchkiss).
42. Black prisoners of French colonial units in formation.
43. Two German soldiers change position during a battle in a destroyed French town.
44. A German soldier examines a captured saber captured in France.
45. Captured French pilots talk with German soldiers near the tent.
46. German soldiers next to a captured French 25-mm anti-tank gun of the 1934 model of the Hotchkiss system (Canon de 25-mm antichar Modele 1934 Hotchkiss).
47. A captured French infantryman (possibly an officer) shows something on the map to German officers. To the right and left in helmets are captured French tank crews.
48. Column of French prisoners at the Palace of Versailles in Paris.
49. Abandoned French light tanks AMR-35.
50. An unknown prisoner of war soldier of one of the French North African (Moroccan) spagi regiments on the march as part of a column of prisoners.
51. A column of French prisoners of war in Rocroi is moving towards the gathering place. There is a sign on the road showing the direction to Fume.
52. Line up of prisoners of war from the French North African spagi regiments in the joint camp in Etampes during assignment to work.
53. An unknown prisoner of war soldier from the French 9th Algerian Regiment of the 2nd Spagi Brigade. The remnants of the regiment surrendered on June 18, 1940 near the city of Besançon.
54. A column of French prisoners passes by a German convoy in the Avranches area.
55. German soldiers and French prisoners from colonial units in the camp at the Proto barracks in Cherbourg.
56. A German soldier distributes cigarettes to prisoners of French colonial units.
57. Column of the 6th German tank division in a field in France. In the foreground is a light tank LT vz.35 of Czech production (German designation - Pz.Kpfw. 35(t)), in the background - German tanks Pz.Kpfw. IV early modifications.
58. Black French prisoners of colonial units wash clothes in the Frontstalag 155 camp in the village of Lonvic, 5 km from the city of Dijon.
59. Black French prisoners in the Frontstalag 155 camp in the village of Lonvic, 5 km from the city of Dijon.
60. Two German soldiers walk along the street of the French village of Saint-Simon past dead cows.
61. Five French prisoners (four are black) stand by the railway.
62. Killed French soldier on the edge of a field in Normandy.
63. A group of French prisoners of war is walking along the road.
64. Representatives of France are sent to the “carriage of Marshal Foch” to negotiate an armistice with representatives of Germany. In this very place, in this very carriage, on November 11, 1918, the Compiegne Truce, humiliating for Germany, was signed, which recorded the shameful defeat of Germany in the First World War. The signing of the new Compiegne Truce in the same place, according to Hitler, was supposed to symbolize the historical revenge of Germany. In order to roll the carriage out into the clearing, the Germans destroyed the wall of the museum where it was stored and laid rails to the historical site.
65. A group of Wehrmacht soldiers take cover from fire in the French town of Sedan.
66. German soldiers smoke next to horses. From the photo album of a private driver of a Wehrmacht infantry division.
67. German soldiers settled down to rest next to their bicycles. From the photo album of a private driver of a Wehrmacht infantry division.
68. Artillery pieces captured by German troops during the French campaign. In the foreground are French 155-mm cannons of the 1917 model from Schneider. These guns in the Wehrmacht received the designation 15.5 cm gun K.416(f). In the background are French heavy 220-mm Schneider model 1917 cannons, barrels and carriages, which were transported separately. These guns were designated by the Wehrmacht as the 22 cm gun K.232(f).
69. A German soldier demonstrates trophies - captured weapons and ammunition of French troops. Photo from the photo album of a private driver of a Wehrmacht infantry division.
70. A team of donkeys as part of a German convoy. From the photo album of a private driver of a Wehrmacht infantry division.
71. German sappers are restoring a destroyed bridge. Photo from the personal album of a Wehrmacht engineer battalion soldier.
72. Two German officers and a non-commissioned officer look at the map.
73. German soldiers at the entrance to the military cemetery in honor of those killed in the First World War near Verdun in the French town of Duamont.
74. Wehrmacht soldiers “wash” awards received for the campaign in France. Photo from the personal album of a Wehrmacht Oberfeldwebel.
75. French officer talking to German officer during the surrender of the Nantes garrison.
76. German nurses at the monument to Marshal of France Ferdinand Foch in the Compiegne Forest. Very close to this place, the surrender of France in the war with Germany was signed (and in 1918, the surrender of Germany in the First World War).
77. A French bomber Amiot 143 captured by German troops on a field in the commune of Sombernon in Burgundy. The aircraft is from the 2nd Air Group of the 38th Bombardment Squadron. The 38th Bombardment Squadron was stationed near the city of Auxerre in Burgundy. The plane returning from a mission made an emergency landing on a field due to unfavorable weather conditions and was captured by German troops. Next to the plane are motorcycles of one of the units of the German troops.
78. Two French prisoners stand against the wall of the house.
79. Column of French prisoners on a village street.
80. Five non-commissioned officers of the 173rd artillery regiment Wehrmacht on vacation during the French campaign.
81. The French battleship Bretagne (commissioned in 1915) was sunk at Mers-El-Kebir during Operation Catapult by the British fleet. Operation Catapult was intended to capture and destroy French ships in English and colonial ports to prevent the ships from falling under German control after the surrender of France. The battleship "Brittany" was hit by the third salvo, hitting the base of the tripod mast, after which a strong fire began. The commander tried to run the ship aground, but the battleship was hit by another salvo from the English battleship Hood. Two minutes later, the old battleship began to capsize and suddenly exploded, taking the lives of 977 crew members. The photo was probably taken from the French seaplane Commandant Test, which miraculously avoided being hit during the entire battle, and subsequently took on board the surviving crew members of the dead battleship.
82. A column of French captured colonial units on the march on the railway bridge.
83. A soldier of the 73rd Wehrmacht Infantry Division poses with a French prisoner.
84. Soldiers of the 73rd Wehrmacht Infantry Regiment interrogate a French prisoner of war.
85. Soldiers of the 73rd Wehrmacht Infantry Regiment interrogate a French prisoner of war.
86. The body of a British artilleryman near a 40 mm 2 pounder QF 2 pounder anti-tank gun.
87. French prisoners are standing near a tree.
88. Soldiers of the Royal Highlanders "Black Watch" buy dishes from a French woman. 10/16/1939
89. A column of French prisoners passes by a German convoy in the Avranches area.
90. German soldiers with horses on Stanislaus Square in the French city of Nancy at the monument to the Polish king Stanislaw Leszczynski.
91. German cars on Place Stanislas in the French city of Nancy. In the center of the square is a monument to the Polish king Stanislaw Leszczynski.
93. German 150-mm self-propelled howitzer "Bison" (15 cm sIG 33 Sfl. auf Pz.KpfW.I Ausf B ohne Aufbau; Sturmpanzer I) against the background of the explosion of its shell on the second floor of a corner building during fighting in France.
94. British soldiers captured by the Germans in Dunkirk, in the city square.
95. Oil storage tank fire in Dunkirk. The plane on the right is a Lockheed Hudson, owned by the British Royal Air Force.
96. A German soldier killed in battle during the French campaign of the Wehrmacht. On the parapet of the trench there is a German cap and parts of a belt.
97. Column of captured French soldiers. Among them are many Africans from French colonial units.
98. A French woman greets Canadian soldiers who landed in France 4 days before the surrender of French troops.
99. French soldiers take pictures on the street of the town during the “Phantom War”. 12/18/1939
100. German women, children and soldiers of the cordon in the Nazi salute at a mass event in Germany dedicated to the victory of German troops in France.
101. The sinking of the British troop transport RMS Lancastria on June 17, 1940. In the water and on the sides of the tilted ship, many people are visible trying to escape. On June 17, 1940, the English troop transport Lancastria (before the war, a passenger liner that cruised the Mediterranean Sea) with a displacement of 16,243 tons was sunk by German Ju-88 bombers off the coast of France. The transport evacuated English military units from France to Great Britain. There was also on board big number civilians, including women and children. The ship was sunk in a twenty-minute attack shortly after leaving the French port of Saint-Nazaire. As a result, about four thousand passengers died - drowned, died from bomb explosions, shelling, and suffocated in oil-contaminated water. 2,477 people were saved.
102. Bombing by British aircraft of a French airfield in the city of Abbeville, captured by the Germans. The picture shows falling British 500-pound (227 kg) aerial bombs.
103. The crew of the French tank Char B1 No. 350 “Fleurie” in front of their vehicle.
104. German dive bombers Junkers Ju 87 B-2 from the Immelmann squadron (StG2 Immelmann) in the skies of France.
105. Killed black French soldier.
106. During Operation Dynamo (the evacuation of Anglo-French troops from Dunkirk to England), the destroyer Bourrasque hit a mine on May 29, 1940 in the area of Ostend (Belgium) and sank the next day.
107. Soldiers of the SS division “Totenkopf” in battle in France.
108. Motorcyclist of the SS division “Totenkopf” in France.
109. Soldiers of the SS division “Totenkopf” regulate traffic on the streets of a French city, accelerating the advance of lagging troops.
On the eve of World War II, the French army was considered one of the most powerful in the world. But when direct collision with Germany in May 1940, the French were able to resist for a few weeks.
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 largest 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 Wehrmacht forces in Western Front was undeniable. For example, the French Air Force included about 3,300 aircraft, half of which 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 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, not a trace remained of the former superiority of the allied forces - the well-trained and tactically superior Wehrmacht army ultimately forced France to capitulate.
The line that didn't protect
The French command assumed that the German army would act as 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 supposed to fall on the defensive redoubts of the Maginot Line, which France began building in 1929 and improved until 1940.
The French spent a fabulous sum on the construction of the Maginot Line, which stretches 400 km - about 3 billion francs (or 1 billion dollars). Massive fortifications included multi-level underground forts with living quarters, ventilation units and elevators, electrical and telephone stations, hospitals and narrow gauge railways. railways. The gun casemates were supposed to be protected from aerial bombs by a 4-meter thick concrete wall.
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 by German troops in its most fortified areas. But the German Army Group B, having bypassed the line of fortifications from the north, threw its main forces into its new sections, which were built in swampy areas, and where the construction of underground structures was difficult. There to hold back the onslaught German troops The French couldn't.
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 appeal to the German command and ask them 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 Lequeric, conveyed a note in which the French government asked Spain to appeal to the German leadership with a request to end hostilities in France, and also to find out the terms of the truce. At the same time, a proposal for a truce was sent to Italy through the papal nuncio. On the same day, Pétain addressed the people and the army on the radio, calling on them to “stop the fight.”
Last stronghold
When signing the armistice agreement (act of surrender) between Germany and France, Hitler looked warily at the latter's vast colonies, 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 its colonies.
England was also vitally interested in the fate of the French colonies, since the threat of their capture by German forces was highly assessed. Churchill hatched plans to create an émigré government of France, which would give actual control over the French overseas possessions to Britain.
General Charles de Gaulle, who created a government in opposition to the Vichy regime, directed all his efforts towards taking possession of the colonies.
However, the North African administration rejected the offer to join " 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 a state apparatus.
Mussolini's Fury
Realizing that France's defeat by Germany was inevitable, Mussolini declared war on her on June 10, 1940. The Italian Army Group "West" of Prince Umberto of Savoy, with a force of over 300 thousand people, supported by 3 thousand guns, began an offensive in the Alps region. However, the opposing army of General Oldry successfully repelled these attacks.
By June 20, the offensive of the Italian divisions became more fierce, but they only managed to advance slightly in the Menton area. Mussolini was furious - his plans to seize a large piece of its territory by the time France surrendered failed. The Italian dictator had already begun preparing an airborne assault, but did not receive approval for this operation from the German command.
On June 22, an armistice was signed between France and Germany, and two days later France and Italy entered into the same agreement. Thus, 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. One and a half million were captured. Tank corps and the French Air Force were partially destroyed, the other part went to the German armed forces. At the same time, Britain liquidates the French fleet to avoid it falling into the hands of the Wehrmacht.
Despite the fact that the capture of France occurred in a short time, its armed forces gave a worthy rebuff to German and Italian troops. During the month and a half of the war, the Wehrmacht lost more than 45 thousand people killed and missing, and about 11 thousand were wounded.
The French victims of German aggression could not have been in vain if the French government had accepted a number 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 for “French-German” rapprochement. We lived peacefully here German soldiers and Parisians: they went to the cinema together, visited museums or just sat in a cafe. After the occupation, theaters also revived - their box office revenue tripled compared to the pre-war years.
Paris very quickly became the cultural center of occupied Europe. France lived as before, as if there had been no months of desperate resistance and unfulfilled hopes. German propaganda managed to convince many French that capitulation was not a shame for the country, but the road to a “bright future” for a renewed Europe.
However, the situation in France worsened every day. The fascist German troops, who resumed the offensive on June 5, completed the breakthrough of the defensive line on the Somme by the end of June 8 and began to quickly move south the next morning. At the same time, Nazi divisions broke through the French defenses on the Aisne River and advanced units reached the banks of the Marne.
It has practically lost control over the country. Panic reigned in government circles. The defeatists, grouped around Marshal Petain and General Weygand, clearly had the upper hand.
By June 12, German troops had bypassed Paris, declared an open city by the French government, from the west and east, and on June 14 they entered the capital of France without a fight.
Trying to prevent the capitulation of France, or at least to prevent the transfer of the colonial possessions of France and its fleet into the hands of the Axis powers, English Prime Minister Winston Churchill put forward a plan to unite England and France into one state with a single citizenship, and, for the duration of the war, with a single a military cabinet to which the armed forces and resources of both countries would be subordinated. The French government rejected Churchill's proposal by a majority vote.
On June 16, Reynaud resigned, and the new head of the French government, Marshal Petain, turned to Germany with a request for an armistice.
Among the French bourgeoisie, only a few of its representatives, including a small part of the officers, stood for continuing the struggle. However, they, demoralized by the disaster and far from the people, did not see any way to organize resistance to the enemy.
During these days, Assistant Minister of War General Charles de Gaulle came forward and, declaring his disagreement with the capitulatory policy of the government, left for England.
On June 18, he addressed on English radio an appeal to all French soldiers and officers located in British territories to join the organization of “free French” he was creating.
Hitler's leadership did not immediately respond to Petain. For several more days, German troops advanced into the interior of the country. By June 21, they reached the Loire River along its entire length from Nantes to the line of Tours, Nevers, Dijon, Mulhouse.
Tank formations reached the Lyon area.
Finally, on June 22, in Compiegne, in the same carriage in which in 1918 Marshal Foch dictated the terms of the armistice of defeated Germany, the French commissioners signed the armistice imposed on France by Hitler's Germany.
Its conditions were to a certain extent determined by plans to continue the war against England, as well as by the calculations of the Hitlerite leadership on the possibility of attracting France to its side.
France was divided into two zones: occupied and unoccupied. The armed forces, with the exception of those necessary to maintain internal order in unoccupied territory, were subject to disarmament and demobilization. All weapons and military materials, except those in the units provided for by the agreement, were subject to surrender.
The navy and air force were interned, but were not subject to transfer to Germany. (Hitler did this in order to prevent the fleet from leaving for England or the United States and to encourage pro-fascist elements in France who favored cooperation with Germany.) France agreed to hand over all German political emigrants to Germany and return German prisoners of war.
The truce came into force after the conclusion of the Franco-Italian truce. The latter was signed on June 24.
The defeat of France was the result of the entire previous anti-national policy of its ruling circles. With its treacherous policy towards Republican Spain, the French government encouraged Hitler and Mussolini to further aggression. entailed the destruction of the French alliance system in Europe and the strengthening of Hitler's Germany.
The course towards an agreement with fascism and a persistent anti-Soviet policy had as a direct consequence the breakdown of Anglo-French-Soviet negotiations on the formation of an anti-Hitler coalition, which alone could become a real guarantee of the security of France. As a result, France found itself largely politically isolated on the continent at the beginning of the war.
The collapse of France was facilitated by the reactionary domestic politics its ruling circles, aimed at fighting against anti-fascist, democratic forces and supporting pro-German, pro-fascist and capitulatory reactionary groups.
Particularly destructive were the brutal repressions launched by the French government after the outbreak of the war against its own people and its vanguard - the Communist Party, as well as open propaganda of defeatism.
The military backwardness of France, the conviction of its military leaders in the impregnability of the Maginot Line, disdain for the achievements of modern military science, inseparable from the general reactionary nature of the ruling class, were the most important military reasons for its defeat.
The passivity of the French armed forces during the defeat of Poland also played a significant role, “ strange war"and, finally, the strategic mistakes made by the high command already during military operations in May - June 1940.
