On the morning of 14 June 1940, the sounds of German-accented voices echoed through the streets of Paris as loudspeakers announced the implementation of an evening curfew. The unthinkable had happened – German troops had entered and occupied the City of Light, marking one of the most devastating moments in French history during the Second World War.
The occupation of Paris came after a lightning-fast German campaign that had begun just over a month earlier. German forces had successfully outflanked the supposedly impregnable Maginot Line and pushed deep into French territory with unprecedented speed and efficiency. What military strategists had expected to be a prolonged conflict reminiscent of the First World War instead became a swift and decisive German victory.
As German armies advanced towards the capital, the French government made the difficult decision to abandon Paris on 10 June. French forces withdrew from the city the day before the German arrival, and Paris was declared an “open city” to prevent its destruction through military action. This designation meant that the city would not be defended, sparing its historic architecture and civilian population from the devastation of urban warfare.
The German entry into Paris was both symbolic and strategic. Wehrmacht soldiers marched across the iconic Place de la Concorde and surrounded the Arc de Triomphe, whilst Nazi banners were hoisted over prestigious buildings including the Hôtel Crillon. These powerful images would become enduring symbols of French defeat and German triumph, broadcast across the world to demonstrate the Reich’s military prowess.
For ordinary Parisians who had not fled the city, the occupation began a dark chapter that would last over four years. Many residents had already departed as refugees in the days leading up to the German arrival, creating scenes of exodus as families loaded belongings onto carts and vehicles, desperate to escape the advancing Wehrmacht.
The fall of Paris effectively sealed France’s fate in the Battle of France. With their capital lost and their armies in retreat, French resistance crumbled rapidly. The government, now relocated to Bordeaux, found itself in an impossible position. Just eight days after Paris fell, on 22 June 1940, France signed an armistice with Germany, officially surrendering and ending the Battle of France.
The armistice divided France into two zones: the northern and western coastal areas, including Paris, fell under direct German occupation, whilst the southern zone remained under the control of the collaborationist Vichy government led by Marshal Philippe Pétain. This arrangement would persist until the Allied liberation of Paris in August 1944.
The speed of France’s collapse shocked the world. In just six weeks, German forces had overrun Belgium and the Netherlands, expelled the British Expeditionary Force from continental Europe, captured Paris, and forced French surrender. The nation that had been considered one of Europe’s great military powers had fallen with astonishing rapidity.
The occupation of Paris on 14 June 1940 represented more than just a military victory; it symbolised the triumph of Nazi ideology over democratic values and marked the beginning of a brutal period of oppression for the French people. The date remains etched in French memory as the day the City of Light was extinguished, not to shine again until liberation four long years later.
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