Hostilities will be stopped six hours after the moment at which the Italian Government has notified the German Government of conclusion of its agreement. The French Government obligates itself to convey transit freight between the German Reich and Italy through unoccupied territory to the extent demanded by the German Government. The proposal of a Franco-British Union to shore up support for Paul Reynaud's government following the fall of Paris split support. The French government was forced to relocate to Bordeaux on 10 June to avoid capture and declared Paris to be an open city the same day. Adolf Hitler had a number of reasons for agreeing to an armistice. The blitzkrieg marched towards Paris, which was then declared an "Open City," a city that has given up resisting so that it won't be destroyed in the war. [4] Keitel gave verbal assurances that this would apply mainly to those refugees who had "fomented the war", a euphemism for Jews, and especially German Jews who until then had enjoyed asylum in France. When Adolf Hitler received word from the French government that it wished to negotiate an armistice, he selected the Compigne Forest as the place for the negotiations. The biggest reason that many French decided to collaborate with the Nazis was fear of what Germany would otherwise do to occupied France. Fall of France During WWII: Strategies & Impact - Study.com But conditions in the occupied portions of France were worse than in Vichy, especially for those (Jews and political opponents) specifically targeted by the Nazi regime. Exact plans regarding prepared blastings, land mines, obstructions, time fuses, barriers for fighting, etc., shall be given to the German High Command. It is an armistice for 20 years.". Every plane making a flight without German approval will be regarded as an enemy by the German Air Force and treated accordingly. French Government also will prevent members of its armed forces from leaving the country and prevent armaments of any sort, including ships, planes, etc., being taken to England or any other place abroad. But today! Both are true. Germany and Italy will fix their strength. Battle of France | History, Summary, Maps, & Combatants On May 7, 1945, the German High Command, in the person of General Alfred Jodl, signs the unconditional surrender of all German forces, East and West, at Reims, in northeastern France. When it was signed, Foch reportedly refused to shake the German officers' hands. They provided for German occupation of three-fifths of metropolitan France north and west of a line through Geneva and Tours and extending to the Spanish border, so as to give Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine access to all French Channel and Atlantic ports. Robert Farley, a frequent contributor to TNI, is the author of The Battleship Book. Why Germany surrendered twice in World War II - National Geographic The Avalon Project : Franco-German Armistice : June 25, 1940 However, in weeks in the late spring and early summer of 1940, it became clear that France was woefully unprepared for the German onslaught. The invasion had begun May 10, 1940. Had the French acted with any speed to the success of the German Ardennes offensive, this fleet could have evacuated a substantial portion of the French Army to Britain and to North Africa, possibly with much of its equipment intact. Foch asked for the farm and got everything. He wanted to ensure that France did not continue to fight from French North Africa, and he wanted to ensure that the French Navy was taken out of the war. Against Germany, French squadrons could have hunted raiders, driving the Germans to the Arctic even before the entry of the United States. The French Government is bound to compensate for all destruction, damage or removal contrary to agreement. In Article 3, Clause 2, the drafters stated that their intention was not to heavily occupy North-West France after the cessation of hostilities with Britain. The German Government may terminate this agreement at any time with immediate effect if the French Government fails to fulfill the obligations it assumes under the agreement. In addition, leaving a French government in place would relieve Germany of the considerable burden of administering French territory, particularly as he turned his attentions towards Britain. Go.". The proximate cause, of course, was the success of the German invasion, which left metropolitan France at the mercy of Nazi armies. There is an immediate prohibition of transmission for all wireless stations on French soil. Terms The map clearly shows the division of France as per all the historical realities of the era: Nazi Germany annexed Alsace Lorraine, and occupied northern metropolitan France and all the Atlantic coastline down to the border with Spain. Ptain became Prime Minister. 'Acts of capitulation of the Third Reich') was a legal document effecting the unconditional surrender of the remaining German armed forces to the Allies, and ended World War II in Europe; the signing took place at 22:43 CET on 8 May 1945 [a] and the surrender took effect at 23:01 CET on the same day. During the invasion, France, gambling heavily that the Ardennes Forest was impassable for panzers and that the Maginot Line was nearly unassailable, sent its best units north. The Alsace-Lorraine Monument (depicting a German Eagle impaled by a sword) was also destroyed and all evidence of the site was obliterated, except notably the statue of Ferdinand Foch: Hitler ordered it to be left intact, so that it would be honoring only a wasteland. The French Government will see to it that in the occupied region necessary technical personnel and rolling stock of the railways and other transportation equipment, to a degree normal in peacetime, be retained in service. [citation needed], The Armistice site was demolished by the Germans on Hitler's orders three days later. In Africa, while we can assume that the problems that bedeviled French-British operations in France would have persisted, the continued resistance of the Empire would have put Italy in an untenable position. VANQUISHED BY THE FREE PEOPLES WHICH IT TRIED TO ENSLAVE." Hitler reads it and Goring reads it. Sign up for our newsletter and receive the mighty updates! French troops in German prison camps will remain prisoners of war until conclusion of a peace. The Armistice Commission, acting in accordance with the direction of the German High Command, will regulate and supervise the carrying out of the armistice agreement. This armistice agreement, signed in the Forest of Compigne, June 22,1940, at 6:50 p.m., German summer time. It [the French Government] also will see to it that harbors, industrial facilities, and docks are preserved in their present condition and damaged in no way. The French were also permitted to retain control of all of their non-European territories. It is the task of the Armistice Commission further to insure the necessary conformity of this agreement with the Italian-French armistice. Why Is France Known For Surrendering? We Look At The Data The French Government is obligated to forbid any portion of its remaining armed forces to undertake hostilities against Germany in any manner. France Surrenders, 1940 - EyeWitness to History While French resistance continued with the Free French Forces led by Charles de Gaulle, the surrender of Metropolitan France ended any further attempts by the British to unite the two countries. The Vichy regime also administered the occupied zones (other than Alsace-Lorraine) albeit under severe restrictions. Many Frenchmen (led most notably by Charles de Gaulle) maintained an honorable resistance to the Germans, even after the armistice. Hitler looks at the statue of Ferdinand Foch in the Compiegne Forest before going into Foch's former railway car to negotiate France's surrender to Germany. Between the chief of the High Command of the armed forces, Col. Gen. [Wilhelm] Keitel, commissioned by the Fuehrer of the German Reich and Supreme Commander in Chief of the German Armed Forces, and the fully authorized plenipotentiaries of the French Government, General [Charles L. C.] Huntziger, chairman of the delegation; Ambassador [Lon] Noel, Rear Admiral [Maurice R.] LeLuc, Army Corps General [Georges] Parisot an Air Force General [Jean-Marie Joseph] Bergeret, the following armistice treaty was agreed upon: The French Government directs a cessation of fighting against the German Reich in France as well as in French possessions, colonies, protectorate territories, mandates as well as on the seas. The remainder of the country was to be left unoccupied, although the new regime that replaced the Third Republic was mutually recognised as the legitimate government of all of Metropolitan France except Alsace-Lorraine. For Hitler, this was a chance to wreak symbolic revenge for Germany's losses, adding insult to injury of the country he had largely conquered. France Surrenders / Terms of Surrender (World War II) - YouTube France's Surrender To Nazi Germany: Did It Really Need to Happen? When France asked Germany to open negotiations for an armistice and peace treaty during the Battle of France, Germany was quick to agree but Hitler had one petty and symbolic gesture that he demanded be part of any negotiations. These troops, before marching out, shall lay down their weapons and equipment at the places where they are stationed at the time this treaty becomes effective. Where it had once overlooked a forest filled with monuments to France's victory, it now looked over only a wasteland. France suffered a humiliating defeat and was quickly occupied by Germany. Italy struggled to supply Libya when faced with just the British; the presence of the French fleet, as well as an active military threat in Tunisia, would have made it very difficult for the Axis to sustain operations in Africa. As one of Hitler's few concessions, the French Navy was to be disarmed but not surrendered, for Hitler realised that pushing France too far could result in France fighting on from the French colonial empire. The French Government, in agreement with the responsible German officials, will carry out the return of population into occupied territory. France surrendered to the Nazis in 1940 for complex reasons. Any remaining military or government officials in France surrender by June 22, 1940. French armed forces on land, on the sea, and in the air are to be demobilized and disarmed in a period still to be set. May 7, 1945 | Nazi Germany Surrenders in World War II In July 1940, after the surrender, Britain asked French admirals in North Africa to surrender their fleet to avoid it being taken by the Germans. [citation needed], .mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct,.mw-parser-output .geo-inline-hidden{display:none}.mw-parser-output .longitude,.mw-parser-output .latitude{white-space:nowrap}492539N 025422E / 49.42750N 2.90611E / 49.42750; 2.90611, "French surrender" redirects here. Adolf Hitler deliberately chose Compigne Forest as the site to sign the armistice because of its symbolic role as the site of the Armistice of 11 November 1918 that signaled the end of World War I with Germany's surrender. Germany destroyed it all, except for the statue of Foch. In just over six weeks, German armed forces overran Belgium and the Netherlands, drove the British Expeditionary Force from the Continent, captured Paris, and forced the surrender of the French government. Instead of fleeing the country and keeping up the fight, as the Dutch government and a residue of the French military did, the bulk of the French government and military hierarchy made peace with the Germans. The German High Command assumes care of sick and wounded German war prisoners. He decided that the signing should take place in the same rail carriage, the Compigne Wagon, where the Germans had signed the 1918 Armistice. Signatories for Germany included Wilhelm Keitel, a senior military officer of the Wehrmacht (the German armed forces), while those on the French side held lower ranks, including general Charles Huntziger. According to William Shirer's book Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, French General Charles Huntziger complained that the armistice terms imposed on France were harsher than those imposed on Germany in 1918. The availability of French territory in Africa might have made both Franco and Hitler more amenable to each others entreaties, although much would depend on how effectively the French and the British fought Italy. But while the Maginot Line would largely hold for a few weeks, panzers actually found fairly easy passage through the Ardennes, allowing the blitzkrieg to grab large sections of French territory. Additionally, the French Government is required on demand of the German High Command to perform all necessary restoration labor on these facilities. The French Government will send a delegation to the seat of the German Armistice Commission to represent the French wishes and to receive regulations from the German Armistice Commission for executing [the agreement]. BBC - History - World Wars: The Fall of France French citizens who violate this provision are to be treated by German troops as insurgents. Given the lukewarm Italian enthusiasm for the war in the first place, a concerted Franco-British offensive in the Mediterranean might have pushed Italy out of the conflict early, or at least curtailed Romes contribution to the Eastern Front. Germany simply had less equipment than Foch desired, but they did sign over what they had. The top tier units sent north, meanwhile, were unable to quickly turn and face the new threat and were largely enveloped, forcing the surrender of most of France's strongest and most modern units. After the war, the site and memorials were restored by German POW labour. Between May and June, French forces were in general retreat and Germany threatened to occupy Paris. Visit our web site at www.fasttrackt. Without a Vichy, the situation might have gone much worse for France, especially if the military continued an effective resistance from the Empire. When considering the Blitzkrieg that had flattened the Netherlands, . It [the French Government] directs the immediate laying down of arms of French units already encircled by German troops. The French Government obligates itself to turn over to German troops in the occupied region all facilities and properties of the French armed forces in undamaged condition. The Germans always found some collaborators, and whether or not the French government continued to resist, some local authorities would have cooperated with the Nazis. But . The Fall of France in 1940 | English Heritage In Allied service, these ships could have helped hem in the Italian Navy, and cut Axis supply lines to Africa. France surrendered to the Nazis in 1940 for complex reasons. And when war came to the Pacific, the Fleet could have deployed in defense of French Indochina and other French possessions, as well as giving critical support to the Royal Navy. For the related pejorative term, see, Destruction of the armistice site in Compigne. The line mentioned in Article II of the armistice agreement begins in the east on the French-Swiss border at Geneva and runs thence nearly over the villages of Dle, Paray, Le Monial, and Bourges to approximately twenty kilometers east of Tours. When the French refused, the Brits blew up this . William Shirer, who was present on that day, reported, "I am but fifty yards from him. Resumption of wireless connections from the unoccupied portion of France requires a special regulation. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1956. The German Government solemnly declares to the French Government that it does not intend to use the French War Fleet which is in harbors under German control for its purposes in war, with the exception of units necessary for the purposes of guarding the coast and sweeping mines. Or did it happen on May 9 in Berlin instead? Resumption of commercial voyages will require approval of the German and Italian Governments. On May 7, 1945, Germany signed an unconditional surrender at Allied headquarters in Reims, France, to take effect the following day, ending the European conflict of World War II. Battle of France, (May 10-June 25, 1940), during World War II, the German invasion of the Low Countries and France. The French delegationled by General Charles Huntzigertried to soften the harsher terms of the armistice, but Keitel replied that they would have to accept or reject the armistice as it was. Unless Tokyo was willing to risk an early war with the British (and possibly the Americans), it would have needed to seize French Indochina in the first days of its December 1941 offensive, which would have significantly delayed Japans larger offensive into Southeast Asia. These valuables and provisions in occupied territory are to be disposed of only in agreement with the German Government. rail car of French Marshal Ferdinand Foch to be returned to Compiegne Forest and for all negotiations to be held there, Foch reportedly refused to shake the German officers' hands, This weapon killed more of its builders than its targets, This battleship was one of the first and last ships hit in World War II, Ramages Rampage: When a sub killed 5 ships in 40 minutes, Hitlers greatest mistake mightve been a U-boat purchase refusal, Why Adolf Hitler was obsessed with the actor Clark Gable, Qantas Airways used to have a military division. As far as the parts to be occupied still are not in control of German troops, this occupation will be carried out immediately after the conclusion of this treaty. He wanted the rail car of French Marshal Ferdinand Foch to be returned to Compiegne Forest and for all negotiations to be held there. Armistice of 22 June 1940 - Wikipedia This was envisaged to last until a final peace treaty was negotiated. Shirer, William, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany, Simon & Schuster, 2011, a German occupation zone in Northern and Western France, French soldiers would remain prisoners of war, another armistice was signed between France and Italy, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Armistice_of_22_June_1940&oldid=1164626417. With many pro-Armistice ministers in the cabinet, such as the Deputy Prime Minister Philippe Ptain, and the commander-in-chief of the French Army General Weygand, Reynaud resigned on 16 June. The proximate cause, of course, was the success of the German invasion, which left metropolitan France at the mercy of Nazi armies. In the last sentence of the preamble, the drafters inserted: "However, Germany does not have the intention to use the armistice conditions and armistice negotiations as a form of humiliation against such a valiant opponent", referring to the French forces. France surrendered to the Nazis in 1940 for complex reasons. German invasion of Poland In 1939, the United Kingdom and France offered military support to Poland in the likely case of a German invasion.