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France declared war on Germany on 3 September 1939, the same day as Great Britain, in response to the German invasion of Poland.

During 1939 and the first half of 1940, France and Germany did little to fight each other, a period known as the "Phony War". In the East, Germany quickly invaded and occupied Poland.

After that, Germany invaded and occupied Denmark and Norway, beginning in April 1940. Again, France and Germany were still techincally at war during this period but there was little fighting along the border.

Then, beginning in May 1940, Germany invaded Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Belgium (the low countries), to invade France and bypass the Maginot line (the French fortifications on the French-German border). The British, German, Dutch and Belgian armies were quickly over-run, and the Germans then invaded France from the North.

The German army used "Blitzkrieg" tactics that relied heavily on tank warfare. The French and British were not prepared for these tactics, and the Germans punched massive holes in the French defensive lines very quickly. Shocked at the speed of the German victories, the French army and French morale began to collapse. Within six weeks of the invasion of France, the French government signed an Armistice, officially surrendering to Germany on 25 June 1940.

Not everyone in France accepted the surrender. The French government was taken over by Marshal Phillippe Petain, who set up a military Dictatorship in the town of Vichy that was basically a puppet state for the Germans. However, many French men and women escaped with the Allies and promised to continue the war against Germany.

General Charles de Galle was the leader of the French Forces who refused to surrender to Germany. He led the "Free French forces", which included thousands of French soldiers and sailors from across the war who continued to fight the Germans alongside the Allies, particularly in the French colonies in Africa and Asia. General De Galle famously made a speech to the French people urging them to keep fighting Germany. He said "France has lost the battle, but France has not lost the war".

As well as the Free French fighting outside of France, within France there were many thousands of French people who participated in acts of resistance against the Germans. They risked their own lives, family and safety to commit acts of sabotage and espionage against both the German occupiers and the Nazi puppet Vichy government. The French Resistance provided plenty of information to the Allies and they also helped to rescue British pilots who were shot down over France, and return them to Britain.

On 6 June 1944, the Allies invaded France in D-Day. Free French troops took part in the invasion and the French Resistance played a very important role in sabotaging and hindering the Germans so that they could not drive the Allied troops back into the sea.

By the end of August, Paris had been liberated. De Galle returned to Paris to set up a new French government that fought the Germans until the end of the war.

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12y ago

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