80 years ago, on June 22, 1940, France signed a surrender at Compiegne. The new Compiegne armistice was signed at the same place where the armistice was signed in 1918, which, according to Hitler, symbolized the historical revenge of Germany.
Collapse of the French front
On June 12, 1940, the French front collapsed. In the western sector, the Germans crossed the Seine, in the east south of the Marne they reached Montmirail. In Champagne, Guderian's tanks moved uncontrollably southward. With the consent of the government, the French commander-in-chief Weygand declared the French capital an open city. On June 14, the Nazis occupied Paris without a fight. By order of Weygand, French troops began a general retreat, trying to get out of the enemy's attacks. The French command planned to create a new line of defense from Caen on the coast, Le Mans, Middle Loire, Clamecy, Dijon, Dol.
The high command of the Wehrmacht, with the withdrawal of the French from the Paris area, from the fortified area of Epinal, Metz and Verdun, clarified the tasks for the troops to develop the "Rot" plan. The Nazis wanted to prevent the enemy from creating a new line of defense and destroying his main forces. The armies on the left flank of the German front were targeting Orleans, Cherbourg, Brest, Lorient and Saint-Nazaire. Tank groups in the center of the front had to quickly overcome the Langres plateau and reach the r. Loire.
Lacking clear instructions, a command ready to fight to the death, the demoralized French troops quickly retreated, not having time to gain a foothold on any line. The French did not dare to use numerous large cities and industrial areas to give battle to the enemy. The Germans occupied numerous French cities without a fight. Kleist's tank group went to the river. Seine northwest of Troyes, and continued south to Lyon. Already on June 17, the Germans occupied Dijon. Guderian's tanks continued to deep bypass the Maginot Line. The French garrisons in Alsace and Lorraine were cut off from the main forces. On June 15, Guderian's divisions occupied Langres, on the 16th - Gre and on the 17th - Besançon. The Nazis reached the Swiss border, the French troops on the Maginot Line fell into the "cauldron".
French pie section
The French government fled to Bordeaux. Marshal Pétain and his supporters demanded that negotiations on surrender begin before all was lost. They won over the vacillating members of the government and parliament to their side. Prime Minister Reynaud, yielding to the defeatists, was still playing for time, knowing that there would be no place for him in the new government. On June 16, he resigned. The day before, Reynaud had sent a telegram to Roosevelt and begged the United States to save France.
The British, seeing that France was over, pursued their policy. London decided to no longer provide military material assistance to France and to urgently evacuate the troops still remaining there. British troops under the command of General Brook were withdrawn from subordination to the French command. The British government was now more concerned with the question of the "French inheritance". France was the second colonial empire in the world. Vast territories were left without a "master", as the French abandoned the idea of evacuating the government to the colony. A threat arose that the Nazis would seize part of the French possessions, especially in North Africa. The British were very much afraid of this prospect. The British colonial empire was already under threat. The fate of the French navy was also connected with the question of the French colonies. The capture of the French fleet by the Nazis changed the situation in the seas and oceans. The British, in the event of a truce between the French and the Germans, demanded the immediate transfer of French ships to British ports.
On June 16, Churchill proposed the formation of a French émigré government, which would formally lead the colonies, and the British would gain actual control over them. That is, Churchill, in fact, proposed making the French colonial empire the dominion of Britain. The plan was promoted in the form of an "indissoluble Franco-British alliance" with a single constitution, citizenship, and a common executive and legislative branch. The "fusion of states" allowed London to use the resources of the French colonies and the French navy. However, it was obvious to the French that with such a "merger" the British would dominate the empire. This offended the pride of the French. In addition, the creation of a Franco-British alliance meant the continuation of the war with Nazi Germany. Part of big French capital has already estimated the profits from the surrender, restoration and use of the possibilities of the "Hitler's European Union."
Thus, the French ruling elite chose to surrender to Germany. Churchill's project, essentially the surrender of the French empire to the British, was rejected. French capital counted on beneficial cooperation with the Reich after the war. Reino resigned. The new government was headed by Pétain.
Surrender of France
On June 17, 1940, the Petain government unanimously decided to ask the Germans for peace. Spain was the mediator. A proposal for an armistice was also sent to Italy through the Vatican. Pétain also addressed on the radio with an appeal to the people and the army to "stop fighting." This appeal finally demoralized the army. Pétain, without waiting for the enemy's response, essentially ordered an end to the resistance. The Germans actively used Pétain's call to crush the still defending French troops. The chief of the French General Staff, General Dumenc, in order to somehow save the army, urged the troops to continue the defense until the signing of an armistice.
On June 18, the French authorities ordered the army to leave without a fight all cities with a population of over 20 thousand people. The troops were forbidden to conduct in the cities, including their outskirts, military operations and to carry out any destruction. This led to the final disorganization of the French army.
Berlin reacted positively to the change of government in France and the armistice proposal. However, Hitler was in no hurry to answer. First, the German army was in a hurry to use the actual fall of the French front to take as much territory as possible. Secondly, it was necessary to resolve the issue of Italy's claims. Mussolini wanted to get the southeastern part of France to the river. Rhone, including Toulon, Marseille, Avignon and Lyon. The Italians claimed Corsica, Tunisia, French Somalia, military bases in Algeria and Morocco. Italy also wanted to receive part of the French fleet, aviation, heavy weapons, military supplies and transport. That is, Italy established its dominance in the Mediterranean basin. Such appetites of Mussolini irritated Hitler, he did not want an excessive strengthening of the ally. The Italian army did not deserve such a booty, having achieved practically no success in the Alpine sector of the front. In addition, the Fuehrer did not want to anger the French with "unnecessary" demands.
Hitler was forced to reckon with the real military-political situation. France suffered a crushing military defeat. Dropped in spirit. However, the country still had huge military material and human resources. "Excessive" demands could strengthen the wing of the irreconcilable and cause resistance. France had rich overseas possessions, the ability to evacuate there part of the government and parliament, the remaining troops, reserves, and the navy. Hitler knew about the danger of a protracted struggle, Germany was not ready for such a war. The Germans feared that the French fleet might go to the British. In his ranks there were 7 battleships, 18 cruisers, 1 aircraft carrier, 1 aircraft, 48 destroyers, 71 submarines and other ships and vessels. Germany did not have a strong navy to carry out an operation to capture the French fleet. This task was postponed for the future. While the German command wanted the French ships to remain in the ports of France, they did not leave for England or the colonies.
Pétain and his supporters understood that Hitler would only negotiate with them if they retained control of the colonies and the fleet. Therefore, the Pétain government tried to prevent the creation of a government in exile. The defeatists tried with all their might to prevent the departure of those politicians who could lead the government in exile.
Meanwhile, the German army continued its offensive with the aim of occupying the most important regions of France. On June 18, the mobile units of the 4th Army occupied Cherbourg in Normandy, on June 19 - Rennes in Brittany. The troops of the 10th French army in the north-west of the country ceased resistance. On June 20, the Germans captured the French naval base in Brest. On the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, the Nazis captured Saint-Nazaire, Nantes and La Rochelle on June 22-23. Another German group moved south, crossing the Loire between Orleans and Nevers.
On the western border of France, Army Group C, the 1st and 7th armies, went over to the offensive. Panzer group Guderian was transferred to Army Group C, which launched an offensive against Epinal and Belfort. The French troops, the 2nd Army Group (3rd, 5th and 8th armies), who left the Maginot Line by order of Weygand, were surrounded. On June 22, the commander of the 2nd Army Group, General Konde, gave the order to surrender. The 500,000-strong French group laid down its arms. Only individual garrisons on the Maginot Line and units in the Vosges continued to resist. On June 20, the Italian army tried to break through the French defenses in the Alps. However, the French Alpine army repelled the attack.
Compiegne
On June 20, 1940, the Germans invited the French delegation to come to Tours. On the same day, a French delegation consisting of Army Group Commander General Hüntziger, former French Ambassador to Poland Noel, Navy Chief of Staff Rear Admiral Le Luc, Air Force Chief of Staff General Bergeret and former military attaché in Rome, General Parisot, arrived in Tours. The next day, the delegation was taken to the Retonde station in the Compiegne forest. Here 22 years ago, on November 11, 1918, Marshal Foch dictated the terms of the armistice to the Second Reich. Hitler ordered the removal of the historic carriage from the museum. To humiliate the French, he was put in the same place as in 1918.
The entire top of the Third Reich, led by Hitler, arrived at the ceremony. In fact, it was a surrender, not a peace agreement, as Pétain had hoped. The chairman of the negotiations, Keitel, announced the terms of the armistice, and stressed that they cannot be changed. The French were asked to sign an agreement. Huntziger tried to soften the terms, but received a cold refusal. Keitel expressed understanding on only one issue. This is the need to preserve the French army in the face of the threat of the strengthening of the communists. On June 22, 1832 hours, Huntziger signed an armistice agreement on behalf of France. Keitel signed the document on behalf of Germany.
France stopped fighting. The French armed forces were subject to demobilization and disarmament. The Pétain regime was allowed to have an army to maintain order. The country was divided into three parts. Alsace and Lorraine were part of the Reich. From the rest of France, the Nazis occupied just over half: the northern, most industrialized regions, and the western, Atlantic coast. The French capital also remained under the Nazis. In the occupation zone, power passed to the German command. All military facilities, industry, communications and transport, stocks of raw materials, etc. were transferred to the Germans in good condition. As a result, 65% of the population of France was under the control of the Reich, most of its industrial and agricultural potential.
About 40% of the country (Southern France) remained under the control of the Pétain government. Armaments and military equipment were concentrated in warehouses and were under the control of the German and Italian authorities. The Germans could get weapons and ammunition for the needs of the Wehrmacht. The fleet remained in ports, it was planned to disarm it under German control. The French authorities bore the costs of maintaining the occupation forces. Also, the French had to supply industrial and agricultural products on the terms dictated by them. Petain and Laval set a course for the creation of a fascist state. On July 10-11, 1940, Pétain concentrated executive, legislative and judicial power in his hands, and received dictatorial powers. Pétain and his entourage hoped to become Hitler's junior partner in the "new order" in Europe.
On June 23, 1940, the French delegation was taken to Rome by German planes. On June 24, the Franco-Italian armistice agreement was signed. On June 25, hostilities in France were officially ended. Italy, under pressure from Germany, had to abandon most of its demands. Italy was given a small area on the border. Also, France on the border with Italy created a 50-kilometer demilitarized zone, disarmed a number of ports and bases in France and the colonies.
In fact, the Nazis applied the same methods that the European colonialists (British, Belgians, French, etc.) used in their colonies. We singled out the top, ready for cooperation, and acted through it. French politicians, officials, industrialists and bankers were fully satisfied with their position (they retained their position and capital, they could increase them). Colonies where there were no German soldiers surrendered. The strong fleet surrendered without a fight. The occupation regime was initially rather mild. The German generals wanted to look "cultured", demanded not to let the SS, Gestapo and other punitive bodies into France. French society easily embraced the new life. Nobody thought of any continuation of the struggle, the recalcitrant were rather an exception to the rule. General De Gaulle created the Free France Committee. But he had very few fighters: about a regiment for tens of millions. Therefore, he had to submit to the British. And in his homeland, De Gaulle was called a traitor who broke his oath. As a result, there was practically no resistance movement in France at that time. No opposition to traitors and defeatists.
It was a triumph for Hitler and the Third Reich. Holland, Belgium and France were blown to smithereens in six weeks! France lost 84 thousand people killed, 1.5 million people were taken prisoner. Wehrmacht losses: 27 thousand killed, over 18 thousand missing, 111 thousand wounded.
