Free France France libre (French) | |||||||||
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| 1940–1944 | |||||||||
| Anthem: "La Marseillaise"(official) "Chant des Partisans" (unofficial)[1] ("Song of the Partisans") | |||||||||
 Seemap legend for color descriptions; sky blue = colonies under the control of Free France afterOperation Torch | |||||||||
| Status | Government-in-exile (until November 1942) Provisional government over unoccupied and liberated territories (after November 1942) | ||||||||
| Capital | Paris (de jure) London (de facto) (until November 1942) Brazzaville (de jure andde facto) (1940–1942) Algiers (de facto) (after November 1942) | ||||||||
| Common languages | French,others | ||||||||
| Religion | Secular state | ||||||||
| Demonym | French | ||||||||
| Chairman of National Committee | |||||||||
• 1940–1944 | Charles de Gaulle | ||||||||
| Historical era | World War II | ||||||||
| 18 June 1940 | |||||||||
| 11 July 1940 | |||||||||
| 24 September 1941 | |||||||||
| 3 June 1943 | |||||||||
| 8 February 1944 | |||||||||
| 3 June 1944 | |||||||||
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Free France (French:France libre) was a resistance governmentclaiming to be the legitimate government ofFrance following the dissolution of theThird Republic duringWorld War II. Led by GeneralCharles de Gaulle, Free France was established as agovernment-in-exile in London in June 1940 after theFall of France toNazi Germany. It joined theAllied nations in fightingAxis forces with theFree French Forces (Forces françaises libres), supported theresistance inNazi-occupied France, known as theFrench Forces of the Interior, and gained strategic footholds in severalFrench colonies in Africa.
Following the defeat of the Third Republic by Nazi Germany, MarshalPhilippe Pétain led efforts tonegotiate an armistice and established a German puppet state known asVichy France. Opposed to the idea of an armistice, de Gaulle fled to Britain and from there broadcast theAppeal of 18 June (Appel du 18 juin) exhorting the French people to resist the Nazis and join the Free French Forces. On 27 October 1940, theEmpire Defense Council (Conseil de défense de l'Empire)—later theFrench National Committee (Comité national français or CNF)—formed to govern French territories in central Africa, Asia, and Oceania that had heeded the 18 June call.
Initially, with the exception of French possessions in the Pacific,India, andEquatorial Africa,[note 1] all the territories of the French colonial empire rejectedde Gaulle's appeal and reaffirmed their loyalty to Marshall Pétain and the Vichy government.[2] It was only progressively, often with the decisive military intervention of the Allies, that Free France took over more Vichy possessions, securing the majority of colonies byNovember 1942.
The Free French fought both Axis andVichy troops and served in almost every major campaign, fromNorth Africa toIndochina. TheFree French Navy operated as an auxiliary force to theRoyal Navy and, in the North Atlantic, to theRoyal Canadian Navy.[3] Free French units also served in theRoyal Air Force,Soviet Air Force, andBritish SAS, before larger commands were established directly under the control of the government-in-exile. On 13 July 1942, "Free France" was officially renamedFighting France (France combattante) to mark the struggle against the Axis both externally and within occupied France.
Exile officially ended after the reconquest of North Africa, when the Free French government relocated fromLondon toAlgiers.[note 2] From there, theFrench Committee of National Liberation (Comité français de Libération nationale, CFLN) was formed as the provisional government of all French, uniting the disparate forces that opposed the Axis and their collaborators. On 1 August 1943, Free French Forces united with theArmy of Africa (L'Armée d'Afrique) to form theFrench Liberation Army (Armée française de la Libération, AFL). By June 1944, the AFL numbered more than 500,000, and the CFLN was succeeded by theProvisional Government of the French Republic (Gouvernement Provisoire de la République française, GPRF), which was established in anticipation of theliberation of France. The AFL participated in theNormandy landings and theinvasion of southern France, ultimately leading theliberation of Paris in August 1944, which ushered in the provisional government on French soil.
The AFL took part in the Alliedadvance through France and subsequentinvasion of Germany, and by end of the war totaled over 1.3 million troops—the fourth-largest Allied army in Europe. The provisional government ruled France until the establishment of theFourth Republic in October 1946, having preempted the country'soccupation by Allied forces and secured its status as a major power.
Historically, an individual became "Free French" by enlisting in the military units organised by the CFN or by employment by the civilian arm of the Committee. On 1 August 1943 after the merger of CFN and representatives of the former Vichy regime in North Africa to form the CFLN earlier in June, the FFF and the Army of Africa (constituting a major part of the Vichy regular forces allowed by the 1940 armistice) were merged to form theFrench Liberation Army,Armée française de la Libération, and all subsequent enlistments were in this combined force.
In many sources, Free French describes any French individual or unit that fought againstAxis forces after the June 1940 armistice. Postwar, to settle disputes over the Free French heritage, the French government issued an official definition of the term. Under this "ministerial instruction of July 1953" (instruction ministérielle du 29 juillet 1953), only those who served with theAllies after the Franco-German armistice in 1940 and before 1 August 1943 may correctly be called "Free French".[4]
On 10 May 1940,Nazi Germany invaded France and theLow Countries, rapidly defeating the Dutch and Belgians, while armoured units attacking throughthe Ardennes cut off the Franco-British strike force in Belgium. By the end of May, the British and French northern armies were trapped in a series of pockets, includingDunkirk,Calais,Boulogne,Saint-Valery-en-Caux andLille. TheDunkirk evacuation was only made possible by the resistance of these troops, particularly the French army divisions at Lille.[5]
From 27 May to 4 June, over 200,000 members of theBritish Expeditionary Force and 140,000 French troops were evacuated from Dunkirk.[6] Neither side viewed this as the end of the battle; French evacuees were quickly returned to France and many fought in the June battles. After being evacuated from Dunkirk,Alan Brooke landed inCherbourg on 2 June to reform the BEF, along with the1st Canadian Division, the only remaining fully equipped formation in Britain. Contrary to what is often assumed, French morale was higher in June than May and they easily repulsed an attack in the south byFascist Italy. A defensive line was re-established along the Somme but much of the armour was lost in Northern France; they were also crippled by shortages of aircraft, the vast majority incurred when airfields were over-run, rather than air combat.[7]
On 1 June, Charlesde Gaulle was promoted to brigadier general; on 5 June, Prime MinisterPaul Reynaud appointed him Under Secretary of State for Defence, a junior post in theFrench cabinet.[8]De Gaulle was known for his willingness to challenge accepted ideas; in 1912, he asked to be posted toPétain's regiment, whose maxim 'Firepower kills' was then in stark contrast to the prevailingorthodoxy ofAttaque à outrance.[9] He was also a long-time advocate of the modernarmoured warfare ideas applied by theWehrmacht, and commanded the4th Armoured Division at theBattle of Montcornet.[10] However, he was not personally popular; significantly, none of his immediate military subordinates joined him in 1940.[11]
The new French commanderMaxime Weygand was 73 years old and like Pétain, an Anglophobe who viewed Dunkirk as another example of Britain's unreliability as an ally; de Gaulle later recounted he 'gave up hope' when the Germans renewed their attack on 8 June and demanded an immediate Armistice.[12]De Gaulle was one of a small group of government ministers who favoured continued resistance and Reynaud sent him to London in order to negotiatethe proposed union between France and Britain. When this plan collapsed, he resigned on 16 June and Pétain became President of the Council.[13]De Gaulle flew toBordeaux on the 17th but returned to London the same day when he realised Pétain had already agreed to an armistice with theAxis Powers.[10]
On 18 June 1940, Generalde Gaulle spoke to theFrench people viaBBC radio, urging French soldiers, sailors and airmen to join in the fight against theNazis:
Some members of theBritish Cabinet had reservations aboutde Gaulle's speech, fearing that such a broadcast could provoke the Pétain government into handing the French fleet over to the Nazis,[14] but British Prime MinisterWinston Churchill, despite his own concerns, agreed to the broadcast.
In France,de Gaulle's "Appeal of 18 June" (Appel du 18 juin) was not widely heard that day but, together with his BBC broadcasts[15] in subsequent days and his later communications, came to be widely remembered throughout France and its colonial empire as the voice of national honour and freedom.
On 19 June,de Gaulle again broadcast to the French nation saying that in France, "all forms of authority had disappeared" and since its government had "fallen under the bondage of the enemy and all our institutions have ceased to function", that it was "the clear duty" of all French servicemen to fight on.[16]
This would form the essential legal basis ofde Gaulle'sgovernment in exile, that the armistice soon to be signed with the Nazis was not merely dishonourable but illegal, and that in signing it, the French government would itself be committing treason.[16] On the other hand, if Vichy was the legal French government as some such asJulian T. Jackson have argued,de Gaulle and his followers were revolutionaries, unlike theDutch,Belgian, and othergovernments in exile in London.[17] A third option might be that neither considered that a fully free, legitimate, sovereign, and independent successor state to theThird Republic existed following the Armistice, as both Free France and Vichy France refrained from making that implicit claim by studiously avoiding using the word "republic" when referring to themselves.[citation needed] In Vichy's case, underlying reasons were compounded by ideals of aRévolution nationale stamping out France's republican heritage.
On 22 June 1940, Marshal Pétain signed anarmistice with Germany, followed bya similar one with Italy on 24 June; both of these came into force on 25 June.[18] After a parliamentary vote on 10 July, Pétain became the leader of the newly established authoritarian regime known asVichy France, the town ofVichy being the seat of government.De Gaulle wastriedin absentia in Vichy France and sentenced to death for treason.[19] He, on the other hand, regarded himself as the last remaining member of the legitimate Reynaud government and considered Pétain's assumption of power to be an unconstitutional coup d'état.
Despitede Gaulle's call to continue the struggle, few French forces initially pledged their support. By the end of July 1940, only about 7,000 soldiers had joined the Free French Army in Britain.[21][22] Three-quarters of French servicemen in Britain requested repatriation.[23]
France was bitterly divided by the conflict. Frenchmen everywhere were forced to choose sides, and often deeply resented those who had made a different choice.[24] One French admiral,René-Émile Godfroy, voiced the opinion of many of those who decided not to join the Free French forces, when in June 1940, he explained to the exasperated British why he would not order his ships inAlexandria harbour to joinde Gaulle:
Equally, few Frenchmen believed that Britain could stand alone. In June 1940, Pétain and his generals told Churchill that "in three weeks, England will have her neck wrung like a chicken".[25] Of France's far-flung empire, only theFrench domains of Saint Helena (on 23 June at the initiative of Georges Colin, honorary consul of the domains[26]) and the Franco-British ruledNew Hebrides condominium in the Pacific (on 20 July) answeredde Gaulle's call to arms. It was not until late August that Free France would gain significant support inFrench Equatorial Africa.[27]
Unlike the troops at Dunkirk or naval forces at sea, relatively few members of theFrench Air Force had the means or opportunity to escape. Like all military personnel trapped on the mainland, they were functionally subject to the Pétain government: "French authorities made it clear that those who acted on their own initiative would be classed as deserters, and guards were placed to thwart efforts to get on board ships."[28] In the summer of 1940, around a dozen pilots made it to England and volunteered for theRAF to help fight theLuftwaffe.[29][30] Many more, however, made their way through long and circuitous routes to French territories overseas, eventually regrouping as theFree French Air Force.[31]
TheFrench Navy was better able to immediately respond tode Gaulle's call to arms. Most units initially stayed loyal to Vichy, but about 3,600 sailors operating 50 ships around the world joined with theRoyal Navy and formed the nucleus of theFree French Naval Forces (FFNF; in French: FNFL).[22] France's surrender found her only aircraft carrier,Béarn, en route from the United States loaded with a precious cargo of American fighter and bomber aircraft. Unwilling to return to occupied France, but likewise reluctant to joinde Gaulle,Béarn instead sought harbour inMartinique, her crew showing little inclination to side with the British in their continued fight against the Nazis. Already obsolete at the start of the war, she would remain in Martinique for the next four years, her aircraft rusting in the tropical climate.[32]
Many of the men in the French colonies felt a special need to defend France, their distant "motherland," eventually making up two-thirds ofde Gaulle's Free French Forces.
The Free French forces included men from the French Pacific Islands. Mainly coming from Tahiti, there were 550 volunteers in April 1941. They would serve through the North African campaign (including theBattle of Bir Hakeim), theItalian Campaign and much of the Liberation of France. In November 1944, 275 remaining volunteers were repatriated and replaced with men of French Forces of the Interior to deal better with the cold weather.[33]
The Free French forces also included 5,000 non-French Europeans, mainly serving in units of theForeign Legion. There were also escaped Spanish Republicans, veterans of theSpanish Civil War. In August 1944, they numbered 350 men.[34]
The ethnic composition of divisions varied. The main common difference, before the period of August to November 1944, was armoured divisions and armour and support elements within infantry divisions were constituted of mainly white French soldiers and infantry elements of infantry divisions were mainly made up of colonial soldiers. Nearly all NCOs and officers were white French. Both the2e Division Blindée and1er Division Blindée were made up of around 75% Europeans and 25% Mahgrebians, which is why the 2e Division Blindée was selected for theLiberation of Paris.[35] The5e Division Blindée was almost entirely made up of white Frenchmen.
Records for the Italian campaign show that both the3rd Algerian Infantry Division and2nd Moroccan Infantry Division were made up of 60% Mahgrebians and 40% Europeans, while the4th Moroccan Infantry Division was made up of 65% Mahgrebians and 35% Europeans.[36] The three North African divisions had one brigade of North African soldiers in each division replaced with a brigade of French Forces of the Interior in January 1945.[37] Both the1st Free French Division and 9th Colonial Infantry Division contained a strong contingent ofTirailleurs Sénégalais brigades. The 1st Free French Division also contained a mixed brigade of FrenchTroupes de marine and the Pacific island volunteers.[33] It also included the Foreign Legion Brigades. In late September and early October 1944, both the Tirailleurs Sénégalais brigades and Pacific Islanders were replaced by brigades of troops recruited from mainland France.[38] This was also when many new Infantry divisions (12 overall) began to be recruited from mainland France, including the 10th Infantry Division and many Alpine Infantry Divisions. The 3rd Armoured Division was also created in May 1945 but saw no combat in the war.
The Free French units in theRoyal Air Force,Soviet Air Force, and British SAS were mainly composed of men from metropolitan France.
Before the addition of the assemblies of Northern Africa and the loss of the runaways who fled France and went to Spain in the spring of 1943 (10,000 according to Jean-Noël Vincent's calculations), a report by the major state general of the Free French Forces in London from October 30, 1942 records 61,670 combatants in the Army, of which 20,200 were from colonies and 20,000 were from the Levant's special troops (non-Free French forces).[39]
In May 1943, citing the Joint Planning Staff, Jean-Louis Crémieux-Brilhac alludes to 79,600 men who constitute ground forces, including 21,500 men from special Syro-Lebanese troops, 2,000 men of color supervised by Free French Forces in northern Palestine, and 650 soldiers assigned to the general headquarters in London.[40]
According to the tally of Henri Écochard, an ex-Free French Forces serviceman, there were at least 54,500 soldiers.[41]
In 2009, in his work on the Free French Forces, Jean-François Muracciole, a French historian specializing in Free France, reevaluated his count with that of Henri Écochard, while considering that Écochard's list had greatly underestimated the number of colonial combatants. According to Muracciole, between the creation of the Free French forces in the Summer 1940 and the merger with the Army of Africa in summer 1943, 73,300 men fought for Free France. This included 39,300 French (from metropolitan France and colonial settlers), 30,000 colonial soldiers (mostly from sub-Saharan Africa) and 3,800 foreigners. They were divided up as follows:[42][43]
Army: 50,000;
Naval: 12,500;
Aviation: 3,200;
Communications in France: 5,700;
Free French Forces committees: 1,900.
General Leclerc's second armored division included two units of female volunteers: The Rochambeau Group with the Army (dozens of women) and the Woman Service of the Naval Fleet with the Navy (9 women). Their role consisted of administering first aid to the first line of injured soldiers (often to stop bleeding) before evacuating them by stretcher to ambulances and then driving these ambulances under enemy fire to care centers several kilometers behind the lines.[44]
The following anecdote byPierre Clostermann[45] suggests the spirit of the times in the Free French Forces; a commander reproaches one of Clostermann's comrades for having yellow shoes and a yellow sweater under his uniform, to which the comrade responds: "My Commander, I am a civilian who voluntarily came to fight the war that the soldiers don't want to fight!"
Capitaine de corvetteThierry d'Argenlieu[46] suggested the adoption of theCross of Lorraine as a symbol of the Free French. This was chosen to recall the perseverance ofJoan of Arc, patron saint of France, whose symbol it had been, the province where she was born, and now partially annexed intoAlsace-Lorraine byNazi Germany, and as a response to the symbol ofnational-socialism, theNazi swastika.[47]
In hisgeneral order No. 2 of 3 July 1940,Vice AdmiralÉmile Muselier, two days after assuming the post of chief of the naval and air forces of the Free French, created thenaval jack displaying the French colours with a red cross ofLorraine, and acockade, which also featured the cross of Lorraine. Modern ships that share the same name as ships of the FNFL—such asRubis andTriomphant—are entitled to fly the Free French naval jack as a mark of honour.[citation needed]
A monument onLyle Hill inGreenock, in the shape of the Cross of Lorraine combined with an anchor, was raised by subscription as a memorial to the Free French naval vessels which sailed from theFirth of Clyde to take part in theBattle of the Atlantic. It has plaques commemorating the loss of theFlower-class corvettesAlyssa andMimosa, and of the submarineSurcouf.[48] Locally, it is also associated with the memory of the loss of the destroyerMaillé Brézé which blew up at theTail of the Bank.
After the fall of France, British Prime MinisterWinston Churchill feared that, in German or Italian hands, the ships of the French Navy would pose a grave threat to the Allies. He therefore insisted that French warships either join the Allies or else adopt neutrality in a British, French, or neutral port. Churchill was determined that French warships would not be in a position to support a German invasion of Britain, though he feared that a direct attack on the French Navy might cause the Vichy regime to actively ally itself with the Nazis.[23]
On 3 July 1940, AdmiralMarcel-Bruno Gensoul was provided an ultimatum by the British:
It is impossible for us, your comrades up to now, to allow your fine ships to fall into the power of the German enemy. We are determined to fight on until the end, and if we win, as we think we shall, we shall never forget that France was our Ally, that our interests are the same as hers, and that our common enemy is Germany. Should we conquer we solemnly declare that we shall restore the greatness and territory of France. For this purpose we must make sure that the best ships of the French Navy are not used against us by the common foe. In these circumstances, His Majesty's Government have instructed me to demand that the French Fleet now at Mers el Kebir andOran shall act in accordance with one of the following alternatives;
(a) Sail with us and continue the fight until victory against the Germans.
(b) Sail with reduced crews under our control to a British port. The reduced crews would be repatriated at the earliest moment.
If either of these courses is adopted by you we will restore your ships to France at the conclusion of the war or pay full compensation if they are damaged meanwhile.
(c) Alternatively if you feel bound to stipulate that your ships should not be used against the Germans lest they break the Armistice, then sail them with us with reduced crews to some French port in theWest Indies—Martinique for instance—where they can be demilitarised to our satisfaction, or perhaps be entrusted to the United States and remain safe until the end of the war, the crews being repatriated.
If you refuse these fair offers, I must with profound regret, require you to sink your ships within 6 hours.
Finally, failing the above, I have the orders from His Majesty's Government to use whatever force may be necessary to prevent your ships from falling into German hands.[49]
Gensoul's orders allowed him to accept internment in the West Indies,[50] but after a discussion lasting ten hours, he rejected all offers, and British warships commanded by AdmiralJames Somerville attacked French ships during theattack on Mers-el-Kébir in Algeria, sinking or crippling three battleships.[23] Because the Vichy government only said that there had been no alternatives offered, the attack caused great bitterness in France, particularly in the Navy (over 1,000 French sailors were killed), and helped to reinforce the ancient stereotype ofperfide Albion. Such actions discouraged many French soldiers from joining the Free French forces.[24]
Despite this, some French warships and sailors did remain on the Allied side or join the FNFL later, such as the mine-laying submarineRubis, whose crew voted almost unanimously to fight alongside Britain,[51] the destroyerLe Triomphant, and the then-largest submarine in the world,Surcouf. The first loss of the FNFL occurred on 7 November 1940, when the patrol boatPoulmic struck a mine in the English Channel.[52]
Most ships that had remained on the Vichy side and were notscuttled with the main French fleet in Toulon, mostly those in the colonies that had remained loyal to Vichy until the end of the regime through theCase Anton Axis invasion and occupation of thezone libre and Tunisia, changed sides then.
In November 1940, around 1,700 officers and men of the French Navy took advantage of the British offer of repatriation to France, and were transported home on a hospital ship travelling under theInternational Red Cross. This did not stop the Germans from torpedoing the ship, and 400 men were drowned.[53]
The FNFL, commanded first byAdmiral Emile Muselier and then byPhilippe Auboyneau and Georges Thierry d'Argenlieu, played a role in the liberation of French colonies throughout the world includingOperation Torch in French north Africa, escortingconvoys during theBattle of the Atlantic, in supporting theFrench Resistance in non-Free French territories, inOperation Neptune in Normandy andOperation Dragoon in Provence for the liberation of mainland France, and in thePacific War.
In total[citation needed] during the war, around 50 major ships and a few dozen minor and auxiliary ships were part of the Free French navy. It also included half a dozenbattalions of naval infantry and commandos, as well asnaval aviation squadrons, one aboardHMS Indomitable and onesquadron of anti-submarineCatalinas. The French merchant marine siding with the Allies counted over 170 ships.
With metropolitan France firmly under Germany's thumb and the Allies too weak to challenge this,de Gaulle turned his attention to France's vast overseas empire.
De Gaulle was optimistic that France's colonies in western and central Africa, which had strong trading links with British territories, might be sympathetic to the Free French.[54] Pierre Boisson, the governor-general ofFrench Equatorial Africa, was a staunch supporter of the Vichy regime, unlikeFélix Éboué, the governor ofFrench Chad, a subsection of the overall colony. Boisson was soon promoted to "High Commissioner of Colonies" and transferred toDakar, leaving Éboué with more direct authority over Chad. On 26 August, with the help of his top military official, Éboué pledged his colony's allegiance to Free France.[55] By the end of August, all of French Equatorial Africa (including the League of Nations mandateFrench Cameroun) had joined Free France, with the exception ofFrench Gabon.[56][57]
With these colonies came vital manpower—a large number of Africancolonial troops, who would form the nucleus ofde Gaulle's army. From July to November 1940, the FFF would engage in fighting with troops loyal to Vichy France in Africa, with success and failure on both sides.
In September 1940 an Anglo French naval force fought theBattle of Dakar, also known as Operation Menace, an unsuccessful attempt to capture the strategic port of Dakar inFrench West Africa. The local authorities were not impressed by the Allied show of strength, and had the better of the naval bombardment which followed, leading to a humiliating withdrawal by the Allied ships. So strong wasde Gaulle's sense of failure that he even considered suicide.[58]
There was better news in November 1940 when the FFF achieved victory at theBattle of Gabon (or Battle of Libreville) under the very skilled GeneralPhilippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque (General Leclerc).[59]De Gaulle personally surveyed the situation in Chad, the first African colony to join Free France, located on the southern border of Libya, and the battle resulted in free French forces takingLibreville, Gabon.[60]
By the end of November 1940 French Equatorial Africa was wholly under the control of Free France, but the failures at Dakar had led French West Africa to declare allegiance to Vichy, to which they would remain loyal until the fall of the regime in November 1942.
On 27 October 1940 theEmpire Defence Council was established to organise and administer the imperial possessions under Free French rule, and as an alternative provisional French government. It was constituted of high-ranking officers and the governors of the free colonies, notably governorFélix Éboué of Chad. Its creation was announced by theBrazzaville Manifesto that day.La France libre was whatde Gaulle claimed to represent, or rather, as he put it simply, "La France"; Vichy France was a "pseudo government", an illegal entity.[61]
In 1941–1942, the African FFF slowly grew in strength and even expanded operations north intoItalian Libya. In February 1941, Free French Forces invadedCyrenaica, again led by Leclerc,capturing the Italian fort at theoasis ofKufra.[59] In 1942, Leclerc's forces and soldiers from the BritishLong Range Desert Group captured parts of the province ofFezzan.[59] At the end of 1942, Leclerc moved his forces intoTripolitania to join British Commonwealth and other FFF forces in theRun for Tunis.[59]
France also had possessions in Asia and the Pacific, and these far-flung colonies would experience similar problems of divided loyalties.French India and the French South Pacific colonies ofNew Caledonia,French Polynesia and the New Hebrides joined Free France in the summer 1940, drawing official American interest.[56] These South Pacific colonies would later provide vital Allied bases in the Pacific Ocean during the war with Japan.
French Indochina wasinvaded by Japan in September 1940, although formost of the war the colony remained under nominal Vichy control. On 9 March 1945, the Japaneselaunched a coup and took full control ofIndochina by the beginning of May. Japanese rule in Indochina lasted until the successfulAugust Revolution which was led by communist-dominatedViet Minh, and the entry of British and Chinese forces.
From June 1940 until February 1943,the concession ofGuangzhouwan (Kouang-Tchéou-Wan or Fort-Boyard), in South China, remained under the administration of Free France. The Republic of China, after the fall of Paris in 1940, recognised the London-exiled Free French government as Guangzhouwan's legitimate authority and established diplomatic relations with them, something facilitated by the fact that the colony was surrounded by the Republic of China's territory and was not in physical contact with French Indochina. In February 1943 theImperial Japanese Army invaded and occupied the leased territory.[62]
In North America,Saint-Pierre and Miquelon (nearNewfoundland) joined the Free French after an "invasion" on 24 December 1941 byRear Admiral Emile Muselier and the forces he was able to load onto threecorvettes and a submarine of the FNFL. The action at Saint-Pierre and Miqueloncreated a serious diplomatic incident with the United States, despite this being the first French possession in the Americas to join the Allies,[63] whichdoctrinally objected to the use of military means by colonial powers in the western hemisphere and recognised Vichy as the official French government.
Mainly because of this and of the often very frosty relations between Free France and the USA (with PresidentRoosevelt's profound distrust ofde Gaulle playing a key part in that, with him being firmly convinced that the general's aim was to create a South-American stylejunta and become the dictator of France[64]), other French possessions in the New World were among the last to defect from Vichy to the Allies (withMartinique holding outuntil July 1943).
In 1941, the FFF fought alongside British Empire troopsagainst the Italians inItalian East Africa during theEast African Campaign.
In June 1941, during theSyria-Lebanon campaign (Operation Exporter), Free French Forces fighting alongside British Commonwealth forces faced substantial numbers of troops loyal to Vichy France—this time in theLevant.De Gaulle had assured Churchill that the French units in Syria would rise to the call of Free France, but this was not the case.[65] After bitter fighting, with around 1,000 dead on each side (including Vichy and Free FrenchForeign Legionnaires fratricide when the13th Demi-Brigade (D.B.L.E.) clashed with the6th Foreign Infantry Regiment near Damascus). GeneralHenri Dentz and his VichyArmy of the Levant were eventually defeated by the largely British allied forces in July 1941.[65]
The British did not themselves occupy Syria; rather, the Free French GeneralGeorges Catroux was appointedHigh Commissioner of the Levant, and from this point, Free France would control bothSyria andLebanon until they became independent in 1946 and 1943 respectively. However, despite this success, the numbers of the FFF did not grow as much as had been wished for. Of nearly 38,000Vichy French prisoners of war, just 5,668 men volunteered to join the forces of Generalde Gaulle; the remainder chose to be repatriated to France.[66]
Despite this bleak picture, by the end of 1941, the United States had entered the war, and theSoviet Union had also joined the Allied side,stopping the Germans outside Moscow in the first major reverse for the Nazis. Gradually the tide of war began to shift, and with it the perception that Hitler could at last be beaten. Support for Free France began to grow, though the Vichy French forces would continue to resist Allied armies—and the Free French—when attacked by them until the end of 1942.[67]
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Reflecting the growing strength of Free France was the foundation of theFrench National Committee (French:Comité national français, CNF) in September 1941 and the official name change fromFrance Libre toFrance combattante in July 1942.
The United States grantedLend-Lease support to the CNF on 24 November.[citation needed]
In June 1942, the Britishattacked the strategically important colony ofFrench Madagascar, hoping to prevent its falling into Japanese hands and especially the use ofDiego-Suarez's harbour as a base for theImperial Japanese Navy. Once again the Allied landings faced resistance from Vichy forces, led byGovernor-GeneralArmand Léon Annet. On 5 November 1942, Annet, at last, surrendered. As in Syria, only a minority of the captured Vichy soldiers chose to join the Free French.[68] After the battle, Free French generalPaul Legentilhomme was appointed High Commissioner forMadagascar.[citation needed]
Throughout 1942 inNorth Africa, British Empire forces fought a desperate land campaign against the Germans and Italians to prevent the loss of Egypt and the vitalSuez canal. Here, fighting in the harsh Libyan desert, Free French soldiers distinguished themselves. GeneralMarie Pierre Koenig and his unit—the1st Free French Infantry Brigade—resisted theAfrika Korps at theBattle of Bir Hakeim in June 1942, although they were eventually obliged to withdraw, as Allied forces retreated toEl Alamein, their lowest ebb in the North African campaign.[69] Koenig defended Bir Hakeim from 26 May to 11 June against superior German and Italian forces led by GeneraloberstErwin Rommel, proving that the FFF could be taken seriously by the Allies as a fighting force. British GeneralClaude Auchinleck said on 12 June 1942, of the battle: "The United Nations need to be filled with admiration and gratitude, in respect of these French troops and their brave General Koenig".[70] Even Hitler was impressed, announcing to the journalist Lutz Koch, recently returned from Bir Hakeim:
You hear, Gentlemen? It is a new evidence that I have always been right! The French are, after us, the best soldiers! Even with its current birthrate, France will always be able to mobilise a hundred divisions! After this war, we will have to find allies able to contain a country which is capable of military exploits that astonish the world like they are doing right now in Bir-Hakeim![71]
GeneralmajorFriedrich von Mellenthin wrote in his mémoirsPanzer Battles,
[I]n the whole course of the desert war, we never encountered a more heroic and well-sustained defence.[72][73]
From 23 October to 4 November 1942, Allied forces under generalBernard Montgomery, including the FFI, won theSecond battle of El Alamein, driving Rommel's Afrika Korps out of Egypt and back into Libya. This was the first major success of a Western Allied army against the Axis powers, and marked a key turning point in the war.
Soon afterwards in November 1942, the Allies launchedOperation Torch in the west, an invasion of Vichy-controlledFrench North Africa. An Anglo-American force of 63,000 men landed in French Morocco and Algeria.[74] The long-term goal was to clear German and Italian troops from North Africa, enhance naval control of the Mediterranean, and prepare an invasion of Italy in 1943. The Allies had hoped that Vichy forces would offer only token resistance to the Allies, but instead they fought hard, incurring heavy casualties.[75] As a French foreign legionnaire put it after seeing his comrades die in an American bombing raid: "Ever since the fall of France, we had dreamed of deliverance, but we did not want it that way".[75]
After 8 November 1942putsch by the French resistance that prevented the19th Corps from responding effectively to the allied landings around Algiers the same day, most Vichy figures were arrested (including GeneralAlphonse Juin, chief commander in North Africa, and Vichy admiralFrançois Darlan). However, Darlan was released and U.S. GeneralDwight D. Eisenhower finally accepted his self-nomination as high commissioner of North Africa andFrench West Africa, a move that enragedde Gaulle, who refused to recognise his status.
Henri Giraud, a general who had escaped frommilitary captivity in Germany in April 1942, had negotiated with the Americans for leadership in the invasion. He arrived in Algiers on 10 November, and agreed to subordinate himself to Admiral Darlan as the commander of the French African army.[76]
Later that day Darlan ordered a ceasefire and Vichy French forces began, en masse, to join the Free French cause. Initially at least the effectiveness of these new recruits was hampered by a scarcity of weaponry and, among some of the officer class, a lack of conviction in their new cause.[75]
After the signing of the cease-fire, the Germans lost faith in the Vichy regime, and on 11 November 1942 German and Italian forces occupied Vichy France (Case Anton), violating the 1940 armistice, and triggering the scuttling of the French fleet in Toulon on 27 November 1942. In response, the VichyArmy of Africa joined the Allied side. Theyfought in Tunisia for six months until April 1943, when they joinedthe campaign in Italy as part of theFrench Expeditionary Corps in Italy (FEC).
Admiral Darlan was assassinated on 24 December 1942 in Algiers by the young monarchistBonnier de La Chapelle. Although de la Chapelle had been a member of the resistance group led byHenri d'Astier de La Vigerie, it is believed he was acting as an individual.
On 28 December, after a prolonged blockade, the Vichy forces inFrench Somaliland were ousted.
After these successes,Guadeloupe and Martinique in theWest Indies—as well asFrench Guiana on the northern coast of South America—finally joined Free France in the first months of 1943. In November 1943, the French forces received enough military equipment through Lend-Lease to re-equip eight divisions and allow the return of borrowed British equipment.
The Vichy forces in North Africa had been under Darlan's command and had surrendered on his orders. The Allies recognised his self-nomination as High Commissioner of France (French military and civilian commander-in-chief,Commandement en chef français civil et militaire) for North and West Africa. He ordered them to cease resisting and co-operate with the Allies, which they did. By the time the Tunisia Campaign was fought, the ex-Vichy French forces in North Africa had been merged with the FFF.[77][78]
After Admiral Darlan's assassination, Giraud became hisde facto successor in French Africa with Allied support. This occurred through a series of consultations between Giraud andde Gaulle. The latter wanted to pursue a political position in France and agreed to have Giraud as commander in chief, as the more qualified military person of the two. It is questionable that he ordered that many French resistance leaders who had helped Eisenhower's troops be arrested, without any protest by Roosevelt's representative,Robert Murphy.
Later, the Americans sentJean Monnet to counsel Giraud and to press him into repeal the Vichy laws. TheCremieux decree, which granted French citizenship to Jews in Algeria and which had been repealed by Vichy, was immediately restored by Generalde Gaulle. Democratic rule was restored in French Algeria, and the Communists and Jews liberated from the concentration camps.[79]
Giraud took part in theCasablanca conference in January 1943 with Roosevelt, Churchill andde Gaulle. The Allies discussed their general strategy for the war, and recognised joint leadership of North Africa by Giraud andde Gaulle. Henri Giraud and Charlesde Gaulle then became co-presidents of theFrench Committee of National Liberation (Comité Français de Libération Nationale, CFLN), which unified the territories controlled by them and was officially founded on 3 June 1943.
The CFLN set up a temporary French government in Algiers, raised more troops and re-organised, re-trained and re-equipped the Free French military, in co-operation with Allied forces in preparation of future operationsagainst Italy and theGerman Atlantic wall.
TheNormandie-Niemen Regiment, founded at the suggestion of Charlesde Gaulle, was a fighter regiment of the Free French Air Force that served on theEastern Front of theEuropean Theatre of World War II with the1st Air Army. The regiment is notable for being the only air combat unit from an Allied western country to participate on the Eastern Front during World War II (except brief interventions from RAF andUSAAF units) and the only one to fight together with the Soviets until the end of the war in Europe.[citation needed]
The unit was the GC3 (Groupe de Chasse 3 or 3rd Fighter Group) in the Free French Air Force, first commanded by Jean Tulasne. The unit originated in mid-1943 during World War II. Initially thegroupe comprised a group of French fighter pilots sent to aid Soviet forces at the suggestion of Charlesde Gaulle, leader of the Free French Forces, who felt it important that French servicemen serve on all fronts in the war. The regiment fought in three campaigns on behalf of theSoviet Union between 22 March 1943, and 9 May 1945, during which time it destroyed 273 enemy aircraft and received numerous orders, citations and decorations from both France and the Soviet Union, including the FrenchLégion d'Honneur and the SovietOrder of the Red Banner.Joseph Stalin awarded the unit the nameNiemen for its participation in theBattle of the Niemen River.[citation needed]
The Free French forces participated in theTunisian Campaign. Together with British and Commonwealth forces, the FFF advanced from the south while the formerly Vichy-loyal Army of Africa advanced from the west together with the Americans. The fighting in Tunisia ended with the Axis forces surrendering to the Allies in July 1943.
During thecampaign in Italy during 1943–1944, a total of between 70,000[21] and 130,000[citation needed] Free French soldiers fought on the Allied side. The French Expeditionary Corps consisted of 60% colonial soldiers, mostly Moroccans and 40% Europeans, mostlyPied-Noirs.[36] They took part in the fighting on theWinter Line and Gustav Line, distinguishing themselves atMonte Cassino inOperation Diadem.[80][81] In what came to be known as theMarocchinate in one of the worst mass atrocities committed by Allied troops during the war, theMoroccan Goumiers,raped and killed Italians civilians on a massive scale during those operations, often under the indifferent eye of their French officers, if not their encouragement.[82] Acts of violence by French troops against civilians continued even after the liberation of Rome.[83] French MarshalJean de Lattre de Tassigny, claimed that such cases were isolated events exploited byGerman propaganda to smear allies, particularly French troops.[84]
In September 1943, theliberation of Corsica fromItalian occupation began, after theItalian armistice, with the landing of elements of the reconstitutedFrench I Corps (Operation Vesuvius).[citation needed]
TheFrench Resistance gradually grew in strength. Generalde Gaulle set a plan to bring togetherthe fragmented groups under his leadership. He changed the name of his movement to "Fighting French Forces" (Forces Françaises Combattantes) and sentJean Moulin back to France as his formal link to the irregulars throughout the occupied country to co-ordinate the eight majorRésistance groups into one organisation. Moulin got their agreement to form the "National Council of the Resistance" (Conseil National de la Résistance). Moulin was eventually captured, and died under brutal torture by theGestapo.
De Gaulle's influence had also grown in France, and in 1942 one resistance leader called him "the only possible leader for the France that fights".[85] Other Gaullists, those who could not leave France (that is, the overwhelming majority of them), remained in the territories ruled by Vichy and the Axis occupation forces, building networks of propagandists, spies andsaboteurs to harass and discomfit the enemy.
Later, the Resistance was more formally referred to as the "French Forces of the Interior" (Forces Françaises de l'Intérieur, or FFI). From October 1944 – March 1945, many FFI units were amalgamated into theFrench Army to regularise the units.
Theliberation of continental France began onD-Day, 6 June 1944, with theinvasion of Normandy, theamphibious assault aimed at establishing abridgehead for the forces ofOperation Overlord. At first hampered by very stiff German resistance and thebocage terrain ofNormandy, the Alliesbroke out of Normandy atAvranches on 25–31 July 1944. Combined with the landings inProvence ofOperation Dragoon on 14 August 1944, the threat of being caught in apincer movement led to a very rapid German retreat, and by September 1944 most of France had been liberated.
Opening a "Second Front" was a top priority for the Allies, and especially for the Soviets to relieve their burden on theEastern Front. While Italy had beenknocked out of the war in the Italian campaign in September 1943, the easily defensible terrain of the narrow peninsula required only a relatively limited number of German troops to protect and occupy theirnew puppet state in northern Italy. However, as theDieppe raid had shown, assaulting theAtlantic Wall was not an endeavour to be taken lightly. It required extensive preparations such as the construction of artificial ports (Operation Mulberry) and an underwater pipeline across theEnglish Channel (Operation Pluto), intensive bombardment of railways and German logistics in France (theTransportation Plan), and the wide-rangingmilitary deception such as creating entiredummy armies likeFUSAG (Operation Bodyguard) to make the Germans believe the invasion would take place where the Channel was at its narrowest.
By the time of theNormandy Invasion, the Free French forces numbered around 500,000 strong.[86] 900 Free Frenchparatroopers landed as part of the BritishSpecial Air Service's (SAS)SAS Brigade; the2e Division Blindée (2nd Armoured Division or 2e DB)—under General Leclerc—landed atUtah Beach in Normandy on 1 August 1944 together with other follow-on Free French forces, and eventually led the drive toward Paris.
In thebattle for Caen, bitter fighting led to the almost total destruction of the city, and stalemated the Allies. They had more success in the western American sector of the front, where after theOperation Cobra breakthrough in late July they caught 50,000 Germans in theFalaise pocket.
The invasion was preceded by weeks of intense resistance activity. Coordinated with the massive bombardments of theTransportation Plan and supported by theSOE and theOSS, partisans systematically sabotaged railway lines, destroyed bridges, cut Germansupply lines, and provided general intelligence to the allied forces. The constant harassment took its toll on the German troops. Large remote areas were no-go zones for them and free zones for themaquisards so-called after themaquis shrubland that provided ideal terrain forguerrilla warfare. For instance, a large number of German units were required to clear themaquis du Vercors, which theyeventually succeeded with, but this and numerous other actions behind German lines contributed to a much faster advance following the Provence landings than the Allied leadership had anticipated.
The main part ofFrench Expeditionary Corps in Italy which had been fighting there was withdrawn from the Italian front, and added to theFrench First Army—under GeneralJean de Lattre de Tassigny—and joined theUS 7th Army to form theUS 6th Army Group. That was the force that conductedOperation Dragoon (also known as Operation Anvil), the Allied invasion of southern France. The objective of the French 2nd Corps was to capture ports atToulon (France's largest naval port) andMarseille (France's largest commercial port) in order to secure a vital supply line for the incoming troops. Most of the German troops there were second-line, consisting mainly of static and occupation units with a large number ofOsttruppen volunteers, and with a single armoured division, the11. Panzer-Division. The Allies sustained only relatively light casualties during the amphibious assault, and were soon in an all-out pursuit of a German army in full retreat along theRhône valley and theRoute Napoleon. Within 12 days the French forces were able to secure both ports, destroying two German Divisions in the process. Then on 12 September, French forces were able to connect to GeneralGeorge Patton'sThird Army. Toulon and Marseille were soon providing supplies not only to the 6th Army Group but also to GeneralOmar Bradley's 12th Army Group, which included Patton's Army. For its part, troops from de Lattre's French First Army were the first Allied troops to reach the Rhine.
While on the right flank theFrench liberation army was covering Alsace-Lorraine (and the Alpine front againstGerman-occupied Italy), the centre was made up of US forces in the south (12th Army Group) and British and Commonwealth forces in the north (21st Army Group). On the left flank, Canadian forcescleared the Channel coast, takingAntwerp on 4 September 1944.
After the failed20 July plot against him, Hitler had given orders to have Paris destroyed should it fall to the Allies, similarly to theplanned destruction of Warsaw.
Mindful of this and other strategic considerations, GeneralDwight D. Eisenhower was planning to by-pass the city. At this time, Parisians started ageneral strike on 15 August 1944 that escalated into a full-scale uprising of the FFI a few days later. As the Allied forces waited near Paris,de Gaulle and his Free French government put General Eisenhower under pressure.De Gaulle was furious about the delay and was unwilling to allow the people of Paris to be slaughtered as had happened in the Polish capital ofWarsaw during theWarsaw uprising.De Gaulle ordered General Leclerc to attack single-handedly without the aid of Allied forces. Eventually, Eisenhower agreed to detach the4th US Infantry Division in support of the French attack.
The Allied High Command (SHAEF) requested the Free French force in questionto be all-white, if possible, but this was very difficult because of the large numbers of black West Africans in their ranks.[35] General Leclerc sent a small advance party to enter Paris, with the message that the 2e DB (composed of 10,500 French, 3,600 Maghrebis[87][88] and about 350 Spaniards[34] in the 9th company of the 3rd Battalion of theRégiment de Marche du Tchad made up mainly of Spanish Republican exiles[89]) would be there the following day. This party was commanded by CaptainRaymond Dronne, and was given the honour to be the first Allied unit to enter Paris ahead of the2e Division Blindée. The1er Bataillon de Fusiliers Marins Commandos formed from the Free French Navy Fusiliers-Marins that had landed onSword Beach were also amongst the first of the Free French forces to enter Paris.
The military governor of the city,Dietrich von Choltitz, surrendered on 25 August, ignoring Hitler's orders to destroy the city and fight to the last man.[90] Jubilant crowds greeted theLiberation of Paris. French forces andde Gaulle conducted a now iconic parade through the city.
TheProvisional Government of the French Republic (gouvernement provisoire de la République Française or GPRF) was officially created by the CNFL and succeeded it on 3 June 1944, the day beforede Gaulle arrived in London from Algiers on Churchill's invitation, and three days before D-Day. Its creation marked the re-establishment of France as a republic, and the official end of Free France. Among its most immediate concerns were to ensure that France did not come underallied military administration, preserving the sovereignty of France and freeing Allied troops for fighting on the front.
After the liberation of Paris on 25 August 1944, it moved back to the capital, establishing a new "national unanimity" government on 9 September 1944, includingGaullists, nationalists, socialists, communists and anarchists, and uniting the politically divided Resistance. Among its foreign policy goals was to secure aFrench occupation zone in Germany and apermanent UNSC seat. This was assured through a large military contribution onthe western front.
Several alleged Vichy loyalists involved in theMilice (a paramilitary militia)—which was established bySturmbannführerJoseph Darnand who hunted the Resistance with the Gestapo—were made prisoners in a post-liberationpurge known as theépuration légale (legal purge or cleansing). Some were executed without trial, in "wild cleansings" (épuration sauvage). Women accused of "horizontalcollaboration" because of alleged sexual relationships with Germans during the occupation were arrested and had their heads shaved, were publicly exhibited and some were allowed to be mauled by mobs.
On 17 August,Pierre Laval was taken toBelfort by the Germans. On 20 August, under German military escort, Pétain was forcibly moved to Belfort, and on 7 September to theSigmaringen enclave in southern Germany, where 1,000 of his followers (includingLouis-Ferdinand Céline) joined him. There they established a government in exile, challenging the legitimacy ofde Gaulle's GPRF. As a sign of protest over his forced move, Pétain refused to take office, and was eventually replaced byFernand de Brinon. The Vichy regime's exile ended when Free French forces reached the town and captured its members on 22 April 1945, the same day that the3rd Algerian Infantry Division tookStuttgart. Laval, Vichy's prime minister in 1942–1944, was executed fortreason. Pétain, "Chief of the French State" and hero ofVerdun, was also condemned to death but his sentence was commuted to life imprisonment.
As the wartime government of France in 1944–1945, its main purposes were to handle the aftermath of theoccupation of France andcontinue to wage war against Germany as a major Ally. It also made several important reforms and political decisions, such as grantingwomen the right to vote, founding theÉcole nationale d'administration, and laying the grounds ofsocial security in France, and lasted until the establishment of theIVth Republic on 14 October 1946, preparing its new constitution.
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By September 1944, the Free French forces stood at 560,000 (including 176,500 White French from North Africa, 63,000 metropolitan French, 233,000 Maghrebis and 80,000 from Black Africa).[91][92] The GPRF set about raising new troops to participate in theadvance to the Rhine and theinvasion of Germany, using the FFI asmilitary cadres and manpower pools of experienced fighters to allow a very large and rapid expansion of the French Liberation Army. It was well equipped and well supplied despite the economic disruption brought by the occupation thanks to Lend-Lease, and their number rose to 1 million by the end of the year. French forces were fighting inAlsace-Lorraine, theAlps, and besieging the heavily fortifiedFrench Atlantic coast submarine bases that remained Hitler-mandatedstay-behind "fortresses" in ports along the Atlantic coast likeLa Rochelle andSaint-Nazaire until the German capitulation in May 1945.
Also in September 1944, the Allies having outrun theirlogistic tail (the "Red Ball Express"), the front stabilised along Belgium's northern and eastern borders and in Lorraine. From then on it moved at a slower pace, first to theSiegfried Line and then in the early months of 1945 to theRhine in increments. For instance, theIst Corps seized theBelfort Gap in acoup de main offensive in November 1944, their German opponents believing they had entrenched for the winter.
The French 2nd Armoured Division, tip of the spear of the Free French forces that had participated in the Normandy Campaign and liberated Paris, went on toliberate Strasbourg on 23 November 1944, thus fulfilling theOath of Kufra made by its commanding officer General Leclerc almost four years earlier. The unit under his command, barely abovecompany size when it had captured the Italian fort, had grown into a full-strength armoured division.
The spearhead of the FreeFrench First Army that had landed in Provence was theIst Corps. Its leading unit, theFrench 1st Armoured Division, was the first Western Allied unit to reach the Rhône (25 August 1944), the Rhine (19 November 1944) and theDanube (21 April 1945). On 22 April 1945, it captured Sigmaringen in Baden-Württemberg, where the last Vichy regime exiles, including Marshal Pétain, were hosted by the Germans in one of the ancestral castles of theHohenzollern dynasty.
They participated in stoppingOperation Nordwind, the very last German major offensive on the western front in January 1945, and in collapsing theColmar Pocket in January–February 1945, capturing and destroying most of the GermanXIXth Army. Operations by the First Army in April 1945 encircled and captured the GermanXVIII SS Corps in theBlack Forest, and cleared and occupied south-western Germany. At the end of the war, the motto of the French First Army wasRhin et Danube, referring to the two great German rivers that it had reached and crossed during its combat operations.
In May 1945, by theend of the war in Europe, the Free French forces comprised 1,300,000 personnel, and includedaround forty divisions making it the fourth largest Allied army in Europe behind the Soviet Union, the US and Britain.[93] The GPRF sent anexpeditionary force to the Pacific to retake French Indochina from the Japanese, butJapan surrendered andViet Minh took advantage by the successfulAugust Revolution before they could arrive in theatre.
At that time, GeneralAlphonse Juin was thechief of staff of theFrench army, but it was GeneralFrançois Sevez who represented France atReims on 7 May, while GeneralJean de Lattre de Tassigny led the French delegation at Berlin onV-E day, as he was the commander of the French First Army. At theYalta Conference, Germany had been divided into Soviet, American and British occupation zones, but France was then given an occupation zone in Germany, as well as in Austria and in the city ofBerlin. It was not only the role that France played in the war which was recognised, but its important strategic position and significance in theCold War as a major democratic, capitalist nation of Western Europe in holding back the influence of communism on the continent.
Approximately 58,000 men were killed fighting in the Free French forces between 1940 and 1945.[94]
A point of strong disagreement betweende Gaulle and theBig Three (Roosevelt, Stalin and Churchill), was that the President of the Provisional Government of the French Republic (GPRF), established on 3 June 1944, was not recognised as the legitimate representative of France. Even thoughde Gaulle had been recognised as the leader of Free France by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill back on 28 June 1940, his GPRF presidency had not resulted from democratic elections. However, two months after the liberation of Paris and one month after the new "unanimity government", the Big Three recognised the GPRF on 23 October 1944.[95][96]
In his liberation of Paris speech,de Gaulle argued "It will not be enough that, with the help of our dear and admirable Allies, we have got rid of him [the Germans] from our home for us to be satisfied after what happened. We want to enter his territory as it should be, as victors", clearly showing his ambition that France be considered one of the World War II victors just like the Big Three. This perspective was not shared by the western Allies, as was demonstrated in the German Instrument of Surrender'sFirst Act.[97] The Frenchoccupation zones in Germany and inWest Berlin cemented this ambition.
TheFree French Memorial onLyle Hill inGreenock, in westernScotland, in the shape of the Cross of Lorraine combined with an anchor, was raised by subscription as a memorial to sailors on the Free French Naval Forces vessels that sailed from the Firth of Clyde to take part in the Battle of the Atlantic.
The memorial is also associated, locally, with the memory of theFrench destroyer Maillé Brézé (1931) which sank at theTail of the Bank.[98]
To this day, Generalde Gaulle's Appeal of 18 June 1940 remains one of the most famous speeches in French history.[99][100]
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