German military administration in occupied France

The German occupation authority that governed northern and western France from the 1940 armistice until the Allied liberation in 1944, enforcing German rule while working through French institutions.

German Military Commander in France: The senior German military office directing the occupation administration in France. This command office headed the military government and coordinated its departments.
Service du travail obligatoire: The compulsory labor service that sent French men to work in Germany during the Second World War. The occupation authorities helped impose labor demands that Vichy implemented through this system.
Armistice of 22 June 1940: The agreement that ended major fighting between Germany and France in June 1940 and set terms for occupation. Its clauses provided the immediate legal framework for German control of French territory.
French collaboration: Cooperation by French authorities and individuals with Nazi Germany during the occupation of France. The military government depended on collaboration while preserving German authority over key decisions.
Feldkommandantur: A German military field command responsible for administration in a designated area during occupation. These local commands carried occupation orders into French departments and towns.
French Resistance: The networks and movements that opposed German occupation and the Vichy regime in France. Occupation controls and repression helped shape resistance activity and its targets.
Battle of France: The German campaign that defeated France and its allies in May and June 1940. The military victory created the conditions for the occupation authority's establishment.
French Milice: A Vichy paramilitary organization that pursued resistance members and assisted German repression in France. Its operations illustrate the use of French forces to enforce occupation-era repression.
Vichy France: The French regime based at Vichy that governed the unoccupied zone and collaborated with Germany from 1940 to 1944. German authorities relied on Vichy institutions while retaining direct control in the occupied zone.
Vel' d'Hiv Roundup: The July 1942 mass arrest of more than 13,000 Jews in Paris by French police acting under German demands. It shows how German antisemitic policy was carried out through French police institutions.

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Dietrich von CholtitzRelated: Choltitz’s Paris post was part of the occupation’s military administration.