- September 1, 1939:Invasion of Poland by the Wehrmacht (the German army).
- September 3:France and the United Kingdom declare war on Germany.
- May 10, 1940:Hitler launches his army into the Netherlands, Belgium and France. Quickly Belgium capitulated and the city of Calais fell. The Franco-British troops no longer have room for manoeuvre. Quickly, they find themselves surrounded in the city of Dunkirk.
- June 14, 1940:Paris is occupied by the German army.
- June 16, 1940:the President of the Council, Paul Reynaud, hostile to the armistice, resigns. He was replaced by Marshal Pétain, a hero of the First World War, enjoying great popularity.
- June 18, 1940:General de Gaulle, exiled in England, calls on the French to resist the Germans.
- June 22, 1940:signing of the armistice (ceasefire) between the representatives of the III th Reich and the French government in Rethondes. It was in this same city that the armistice of November 11, 1918 was signed. Hitler saw it as a way to wash away the past affront. The French territory is divided into two parts:the northern part is occupied by Germany and the southern part is governed by Pétain.
July 10, 1940
Characters
Philippe Pétain
Pierre Laval
Adolf Hitler
Procedure
- July 10, 1940 in Vichy:Pierre Laval, Vice-President of the Council, asks the deputies and senators to give full powers to Marshal Pétain in order to promulgate a new Constitution. 569 of them accepted, 80 refused and 17 abstained.
Consequences
- July 10, 1940:Marshal Pétain receives full powers. It's the end of the III th Republic and the beginning of the Vichy regime. The Vichy regime is an authoritarian regime.
- Marshal Pétain suppresses individual freedoms, elections, parties and unions.
- Pétain set up propaganda around the ideas of patriotism, Catholic religion, family and agriculture. His person is also highlighted. He is shown as a calm and strong man against the Germans.
- October 1940:Promulgation of anti-Semitic laws preventing Jews from working in the public service and the media. These laws lead to the deportation of Jewish families from 1941.
- October 24, 1940 in Montoire:Marshal Pétain shakes hands with Hitler, a sign of the collaboration between the two men.