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Period: to
The construction of the Maginot line
the Maginot line was built to defend against a frontal German attack, and designed with the style of fighting from WW2 in mind, which was very static and not practical against the fast moving German forces. -
Hitler's Nazi party came to power in Germany, and a year later Hitler had made himself Reichschancellor
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Nazi party declared official party of Germany; all other parties banned.
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Hitler assumed the presidency but immediately abolished the post. Instead, he proclaimed himself Führer, and achieved absolute power
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The Foreign Minister of France, Barthou and King Alexander of Yugoslavia are killed by Croatian terrorists in Marseille, France.
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France and the Soviet Union conclude negotiations for a five-year Treaty of Mutual Assistance, although the treaty is never ratified by France.
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The Anglo-German Naval Agreement is signed, limiting the German surface fleet to 35 percent of British tonnage, and submarine fleet to 45 percent. The agreement signals Britain's unwillingness to defend the Versailles settlement.
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A two-day conference begins in Germany, held by Adolf Hitler, Italy's Benito Mussolini, Britain's Neville Chamberlain, and France's Edouard Daladier, to discuss German demands on Czechoslovakian territory.
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Britain and France pledge to support Romania and Greece should they be attacked.
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The USSR proposes a ten-year alliance with Britain and France.
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Britain and France try to persuade Poland to negotiate with Germany, but Poland refuses. In preparation for war, Poland disperses military aircraft to small camouflaged airfields around Warsaw.
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Second World War begins, France and Britain declare war.
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the Mainot Line finished
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Inter-Allied Supreme War Council meets in Paris at which both Poland and Norway are represented.
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The battle of France begins, ending a mere 6 weeks later with the axis powers victorious.
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French forces withdraw behind the Meuse river between Dinant and Sedan as advance German panzer columns push out from the Ardennes.
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Operation 'Dynamo' the evacuation of British, French and Belgian troops from Dunkirk begins. Under the command of Admiral Bertram Ramsay
The Allies lost their only foothold but were able to regroup after Hitler's mastake of halting his panzer division. -
Defence of Dunkirk continues as 68,000 allied troops are evacuated. The French defence of Lille collapses. Churchill fly's to Paris for a meeting of the Supreme Allied War Council, the second time since the 10th May.
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German troops enter Dunkirk, taking 40,000 French prisoners and huge quantities of abandoned equipment
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The Germans begin 'Operation Red',
The ‘Battle of France’ with 119 divisions, including 10 Panzer division's. Army Group B, with 50 divisions, opens the offensive against the French left wing which is anchored along the Somme for 120 miles, in fortified positions known as the Weygand Line, just 100 miles from Paris. Charles de Gaulle is appointed as French Under Secretary of State for War. -
Italy Declares war on France and begins fighting alongside german forces.
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Germans enter Paris
Rommel's 7th Panzer Division takes Le Havre. The French government leaves Tours for Bordeaux. Army Group C, with 24 divisions, prepares to cross the upper Rhine to attack the Maginot Line in Alsace. All remaining British troops in France are ordered to return to England. -
The German advance continues down west coast of France.
Pierre Laval is appointed as Vice-Premier, while de Gaulle is dismissed by Weygand for announcing the formation of French National Committee in London. Hitler makes a brief sightseeing visit to Paris. Driving through nearly empty streets, he makes a special point of viewing Napoleon's tomb, ending his tour at the Eiffel tower. -
Vichy France passes its own version of the anti-Jewish Nuremberg Laws.
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Petain dismisses his Vice-Premier, Laval.
At this time the government of Vichy France is developing attributes of a fascist state. -
3,600 Jews arrested in Paris.
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Theresienstadt Ghetto is established near Prague, Czechoslovakia. The Nazis will use it as a model ghetto for propaganda purposes.
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12,887 Jews of Paris are rounded up and sent to Drancy Internment Camp located outside the city.
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Vichy France creates the Milice (Militia), under the command of Joseph Darnand, an extreme right-wing World War 1 veteran, to combat the Resistance, led by De Gaule. The Milice effectively becomes an arm of the German Occupation and reaches a great streng
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Jean Moulin presides over the first-ever unified meeting of the French Resistance
Held at 48 Rue de Four in Paris, where Charles de Gaulle is unanimously recognized as the movement's leader. A month later, Moulin is betrayed and arrested by the Gestapo, dying on his way to a concentration camp in Germany. -
Plans for invasion of France, Operation 'Overlord' are confirmed.
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De Gaulle becomes the head of Free French armed forces in place of Giraud.
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The Free French claim that the resistance now numbers 100,000 and plead for more military aid.
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The invasion of southern France is fixed for the 15th August.
Since D-Day, the Allies have landed 920,000 troops, 177,000 vehicles and 600,000 tons of supplies and equipment. In the 24 days of fighting, they have lost 62,000 men, either killed, wounded or missing. -
The French First Army under de Lattre attacks against the Colmar Pocket in Alsace.
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Hitler commits suicide with Eva Braun. The U.S. Third Army liberates 110,000 POW's in the Moosburg area, Northeast of Munich.
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12,887 Jews of Paris are rounded up and sent to Drancy Internment Camp located outside the city.
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The Nuremberg trials begin, with Goring, Ribbentrop, Hess, Keitel, JodI, Raeder, Doenitz, Streicher and other top Nazis on trial.
