Paris Occupied: France's Capital Surrenders to Germany
German forces entered Paris unopposed on June 14, 1940, after the French government declared it an "open city" to spare it from bombardment. Wehrmacht troops marched down the Champs-Elysees and hoisted the swastika over the Arc de Triomphe. Two million Parisians had fled in the preceding days in a chaotic exodus. The fall of Paris was a psychological blow that demoralized the remaining French resistance. France signed an armistice on June 22, dividing the country into an occupied northern zone under German military administration and a nominally independent southern zone governed by the Vichy regime under Marshal Philippe Petain. The occupation lasted four years until Paris was liberated on August 25, 1944, when French forces under General Leclerc entered the city ahead of American troops.
June 14, 1940
86 years ago
Key Figures & Places
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