Un Peu d’Histoire — La France Libre et la Libération

Abstract

The Allied forces landed on the beaches of Normandy on 6 June 1944, but it was not until August of that year that Allied troops arrived on the outskirts of Paris, as described in the first passage below. To appreciate the euphoria that greeted the Allies one needs to remember that the liberation followed four years of occupation which began with the invasion of 1940. When the French Government collapsed in 1940 it was General de Gaulle who set up a government in exile in London, and the second text contains his call to all French citizens to defend their country.