German occupation of France

The German occupation of France lasted from the 1940 defeat of France until its liberation in 1944. German forces controlled the north and west directly, while the Vichy government administered the unoccupied zone until 1942.

Armistice of 22 June 1940: The agreement that ended major fighting between France and Germany in June 1940 and set the terms of French defeat. Its terms established the occupation zone and constrained the French state.
Battle of France: The German campaign that defeated France and its allies in May and June 1940. The occupation began as a consequence of this military defeat.
Philippe Pétain: French military leader who headed the Vichy regime from 1940 until its collapse in 1944. His government administered France and collaborated with German occupiers.
Holocaust in France: The persecution and deportation of Jews from France during the Holocaust, carried out by German occupiers with French collaboration. Deportations made occupation policy catastrophic for France's Jewish communities.
Occupied zone: The part of metropolitan France placed under direct German military administration after the 1940 armistice. German authorities governed this zone directly from the occupation's beginning.
Vel' d'Hiv Roundup: The July 1942 arrest of more than 13,000 Jews in Paris by French police, followed by internment and deportation. It exemplifies French police participation in persecution under occupation.
Charles de Gaulle: French general who led the Free French movement and later headed provisional government after liberation. He challenged Vichy's legitimacy and organized an alternative French authority.
French Resistance: The clandestine movements and networks that opposed German occupation and the Vichy regime. Resistance challenged occupation through intelligence, sabotage, escape networks, and armed action.
Vichy France: The French authoritarian state based in Vichy that governed the unoccupied zone and collaborated with Germany from 1940 to 1944. Its administration preserved French institutions while cooperating with German demands.
Service du travail obligatoire: The Vichy labor conscription program that sent hundreds of thousands of French workers to Germany from 1943. It brought occupation-era labor demands into daily life and fueled resistance.

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