France in the World War II
The World War 2 began on September 1, 1939, when the German army invaded Poland. It ended 6 years after with the surrender of Japan on September 2, 1945. This was a period of the significant amendments in the whole world. For example, the Hitler’s army managed to conquer one of the most powerful states in Europe, France. The former Empire once ruled by the dynasty of Bourbons, Napoleon Buonaparte and was considered the most progressive country during the times of Republics, it was occupied by German Army within the month after the beginning of the invasion.
Hitler initiated the operation of France, Luxembourg and Belgium invasion on May 10, 1940. In about two weeks both Belgium and Luxembourg surrendered and open their borders for the Nazi Army. The France, which declared the war on Germany, on September 3, 1939, two days after their invasion to Poland, had to ask for the help from their British colleagues. The troops of both countries did their best in order to stop the invasion. However, their attempts were in vain. The battle of Dunkirk was one of the most significant events of that time. During the battle German army surrounded the Allies troops near the city of Dunkirk. Hitler brought a lot of forces to fight the united army of Britain and France. This resulted in a massive evacuation of the Allies troops from Dunkirk. The operation Dynamo, which was aimed at evacuation, lasted till the June 4, 1940. Despite the speeches by Generalle de Gaulle, 20 days after France headed by Marshal Petain signed the documents of surrender in the town of Compiegne. It was the same place where German officials signed the surrender of the World War I. This symbolical moment encouraged the Nazis. Their army was almost invincible until 1942, when the famous battle of Stalingrad changed the course of the war. The decision of Petain is still discussed by the modern historians. On the one hand, the surrender allowed the Axis powers to move through Europe.
On the other hand, the Petain’s action saved Paris and the whole France from bombings. Most probably the cultural heritage of the country still exists only because of the Marshal. After the agreement in Compiegne, the state was divided in two different zone – one was occupied by the German army, and the second was so called free zone, which was ruled by Petain from Vichy. However, the “zone libre” was fully dependent on the decisions of the Nazi government. Therefore, the Vichy Republic was made only to create the image of the state. In October, 1940 the government initiated the anti-Jews laws. According to them, Jews were not deprived of any civil, public, industrial or commercial position. Moreover, the foreigner Jews were immediately sent to the concentration camps once found on the territory of France.
Meanwhile the French Resistance was fighting with the Nazi regime. The situation got even worse during 1942 when Nazi powers demanded 250 thousand volunteers in order to cover their needs in new soldiers. The Zone Libre got occupied by the Axis powers by November. In 1943 Germany continued searching for workers and soldiers in France. The situation changed only in 1944, when the liberation movement started all over Europe. The famous D-Day landing took place on June 6, 1944 stating the start of the operation Overlord. Thousands of sailors and paratroopers reached the beaches of Normandy and Utah and attacked the Axis forces. Next, the Allies liberated Provence. On August 25, 1944, Paris, the capital of France, finally became French again. That Charles de Gaulle headed Allied troops on a march along famous Champs Elysees in order to celebrate the liberation of citizens. By the end of 1944 France was fully liberated and started to overcome the consequences of the war.
The World War II influenced the political and economic situation in France. Moreover, it harmed the cultural development of the Republic. The country needed years in order to recover from the massacres and horrors of the Nazi regime. Modern France seems to be fully rehabilitated after the war, and it seems that the French people are fully confident in their future despite the economic crisis and cultural problems they face.