Liberation of Paris

The Allied and French campaign that ended German occupation of Paris in August 1944, culminating in the German garrison’s surrender on August 25.

Paris uprising of 1944: An insurrection by Parisian resistance groups and civilians against German occupation, beginning on August 19, 1944. The uprising began the battle inside the city and helped prompt Allied intervention.
Operation Overlord: The Allied invasion of German-occupied western Europe, launched in Normandy on June 6, 1944. Its success opened the campaign that brought Allied forces toward Paris.
Provisional Government of the French Republic: The temporary French government led by Charles de Gaulle from 1944 until the establishment of the Fourth Republic. It established republican authority in Paris after the German surrender.
Liberation of the Prefecture of Police: The seizure and defense of Paris’s police headquarters by French police and Resistance fighters during the August 1944 uprising. The prefecture became a fortified center of resistance inside Paris.
Paris Liberation Museum: A Paris museum devoted to the city’s liberation and the French Resistance during World War II. Its collections preserve the resistance and military histories of the liberation.
Free French 2nd Armored Division: A French armored division commanded by General Philippe Leclerc that fought in the liberation of Paris. Its entry into Paris on August 24 gave the uprising decisive regular-force support.
Operation Cobra: The American breakout from Normandy launched on July 25, 1944, which shattered German lines in western France. The breakout accelerated the Allied advance across France toward Paris.
Charles de Gaulle: A French general and statesman who led the Free French during World War II and later founded the Fifth Republic. His return to Paris asserted that France had liberated itself and remained sovereign.
Battle of the Hôtel Meurice: The August 25, 1944, confrontation at the Hôtel Meurice, where German military governor Dietrich von Choltitz was captured. The capture there brought the German command in Paris into Allied hands.
French Resistance memorials: Monuments and commemorative sites honoring people and actions associated with resistance to occupation in France. Commemoration has shaped how the uprising’s participants are remembered.

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