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Today in history… sombre mood as Nazis march into Paris

12:00am | & Lifestyle

It was a dark day for Parisians on June 14th, 1940, when the French capital was formally occupied by invading troops from Nazi Germany.

Convoys of military vehicles followed by columns of infantry swept into Paris early in the morning, meeting virtually no resistance. Although France was still at war with Germany, the city’s defenders had withdrawn to avoid a violent battle which they had no hope of winning. Conflict would have meant the destruction of large parts of the historic city and countless civilian deaths.

Instead Paris was declared an ‘open town’ by the French military governor, General Hering, effectively inviting the invading Germans to occupy it without resistance. Beginning at 5-30am on Friday June 14th, they advanced from the north-east and north-west, with tanks and other vehicles rumbling past the Arc de Triomphe, down the Champs Elysees and into the Place de Concord.

The Germans had been advancing towards Paris since taking Dunkirk 10 days earlier, resulting in a huge evacuation by sea of Allied and French troops across the Channel to England. Tens of thousands of those left behind were either killed, wounded or captured.

As the Germans advanced towards Paris they faced stiff resistance from French and Allied fighters and bombing of their convoys and supply columns by the RAF, but it wasn’t enough to halt the advance or even slow its march. When they reached the outskirts of the capital, the decision was made to surrender it to the Germans rather than risk its inevitable destruction and thousands of civilian deaths. Instead, new defensive lines were established south of Paris, but those too were steadily pushed back.

As German troops entered the city, loudspeakers attached to their vehicles told citizens to remain in their homes and submit to the occupation. An order had already gone out for all shops and businesses to remain closed and shuttered. Those citizens who dared to venture out were met with the sight of column after column of German troops marching into their city, taking control of key buildings and transport routes.

By 8am large delegations of German officers were arriving at the headquarters of the military governor of Paris to formally take control. They politely invited French officials to put themselves at the disposition of the occupying German forces – an invitation which they could not refuse.

By late afternoon a huge swastika flag had been draped from the Arc de Triomphe as an unmistakeable and highly visible symbol of German occupation. Military parades, including marching bands, were staged on the Champs Elysees and Avenue Foch, largely for the benefit of German army photographers and newsreel men.

The French government had already left Paris and re-established itself further south in Bordeaux. It was powerless to act as the French capital fell into the hands of the enemy. Two days later, on June 16th, French Prime Minister Paul Reynaud resigned, replaced by his deputy Phillipe Petain, an 84-year-old hero of the First World War. The following day he made a radio broadcast to the French people, telling them: “It is with a heavy heart that I tell you today that we must cease hostilities. The fighting must stop.”

Allied and French troops now retreated to Channel ports still in French hands, from where many were evacuated to Britain. French General Charles de Gaulle left on a plane to London on June 17th, from where he would continue to direct the Free French forces throughout the war.

A formal armistice confirming the unconditional surrender of the French was signed on June 22nd and two days later the Nazi leader Adolf Hitler arrived in Paris for a guided tour of the city, visiting its historic sites, including Napoleon Bonaparte’s tomb. It was his first and only visit to Paris.

For Parisians, it was the start of more than four years of harsh and humiliating German occupation until the city was finally liberated by American and French troops on August 25th, 1944. The following day a returning General de Gaulle led another parade along the Champs Elysees, this time to the resounding cheers of the newly liberated Parisians.

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