France

Flags 1939–1945

1. …1939
   France (tricolour)
2. 1940-07-10
   France (tricolour)French State (Vichy)France (tricolour)Free France (Cross of Lorraine)
3. 1944-08-25
   France (tricolour)Provisional Government
4. simplified version (without arms)

Course of events

1. 23 August 1939

   Neutral / non-belligerent

   Not yet at war.

2. 3 September 1939

   Allies

   Declared war on Germany on 3 Sept 1939.

3. 22 June 1940

   Occupied by the Axis

   Armistice: north and west under German occupation, Vichy regime in the south (fully occupied from Nov 1942). Free French continued fighting.

4. 25 August 1944

   Liberated

   Paris liberated on 25 Aug 1944. Fighting in Alsace-Lorraine into 1945; German-held Atlantic pockets until May 1945.

Events involving this country

• 3 Sept 1939Britain and France declare war on Germany
• 3 Sept 1939Battle of the Atlantic
• 7 Sept 1939Saar Offensive
• 9 Apr 1940German invasion of Denmark and Norway (Operation Weserübung)
• 9 Apr 1940Battles of Narvik
• 10 May 1940Battle of France
• 12 May 1940Battle of Sedan (1940)
• 26 May 1940Dunkirk evacuation (Operation Dynamo)
• 10 Jun 1940Italy enters the war: invasion of France
• 22 Jun 1940Armistice of 22 June 1940
• 3 Jul 1940Attack on Mers-el-Kébir
• 26 May 1942Battle of Gazala
• 19 Aug 1942Dieppe Raid (Operation Jubilee)
• 23 Oct 1942Second Battle of El Alamein
• 8 Nov 1942Operation Torch
• 17 Nov 1942Tunisian campaign
• 17 Jan 1944Battle of Monte Cassino
• 6 Jun 1944Normandy landings and Operation Overlord
• 10 Jun 1944Oradour-sur-Glane massacre
• 12 Aug 1944Falaise pocket
• 15 Aug 1944Operation Dragoon — landings in southern France
• 19 Aug 1944Liberation of Paris
• 7 May 1945German Instrument of Surrender — end of the war in Europe