French Liberation

The end of German occupation in France from 1944 to 1945, achieved through Allied military advances and French resistance. It restored French sovereignty while leaving some regions occupied until the war’s final months.

Operation Overlord: The Allied invasion of German-occupied Normandy, launched on 6 June 1944. The Normandy landings opened the western front that made liberation possible.
Battle of France: The 1940 German campaign that defeated France and led to its occupation and armistice. Its defeat established the occupation that liberation later ended.
Charles de Gaulle: The French general and political leader who headed Free France and later led the provisional government. He pressed for French forces and institutions to take a central role in liberation.
Provisional Government of the French Republic: The French government that restored republican authority after liberation and governed until the Fourth Republic began in 1946. It reestablished national institutions as Allied forces expelled German rule.
Operation Dragoon: The Allied invasion of southern France, launched on 15 August 1944. Its rapid advance helped liberate southern and eastern France.
Armistice of 22 June 1940: The agreement that ended fighting between France and Germany in June 1940 and set terms for France’s defeat. Its terms divided France and left much of the country under German control.
Philippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque: A French general who commanded the 2nd Armored Division during the liberation of France. His division entered Paris and later fought in eastern France.
Liberation of Paris: The expulsion of German forces from Paris in August 1944 after a local uprising and Allied advance. Paris became the most prominent symbol of restored French sovereignty.
French Resistance: The clandestine movements and networks that opposed German occupation and Vichy rule in France. Resistance groups sabotaged German operations and supported Allied advances.
German occupation of France: Germany’s military rule over parts or all of France from 1940 to 1944–1945. The occupation was the authority Allied forces and resistance groups sought to end.

Linked from 10 pages