Vichy France

The Vichy France, officially the French  State, was the government of France during the early 1940s.  It included all of France except for Alsace-Lorraine and Pas-de-Calais.  It also governed the French colonial empire.  The state was led by Philippe Pétain.  He had been notable for helping to win World War I. The Vichy French Military took place from July 1940 to September 1944.

History

When the French and the British armies lost the Battle of Dunkirk, and the rest of the Battle of France was being lost, the French Parliament made Pétain Minister. He negotiated an armistice with Germany. He agreed that France would be neutral in World War II. He became head of state and ruled as a dictator.  He usually did what the Germans told him to do. 

The Axis powers militarily occupied northern and western France. They also controlled part of the southeastern part of the country.  The Vichy government, as a client state of Germany, controlled the Free Zone, the unoccupied parts of France. In November 1942 the United States joined the North African Campaign by invading French North Africa, so the German army occupied the Vichy zone. In 1943, the Vichy government, now a puppet state, moved to Paris. In 1944, it moved to Germany.  The government disbanded in 1945 with the defeat of Nazi Germany.

Category:Fascism
Category:World War II
Category:Puppet states
Category:1940s in France
Category:Former dictatorships
Category:20th century in France
Category:1944 disestablishments
Category:1940 establishments in France
Category:1940s disestablishments in Europe
Category:20th-century disestablishments in France