France in the dark years

London and Paris remained passive in the face of rising dangers, going unenthusiastically to war after the invasion of Poland. Entrenched behind their fortifications, armies lowered their weapons. Major demonstrations of the strength of Nazi Germany readying itself for war give way to images of a worn-out France and an army from another lifetime, massed behind the Maginot Line. This long period known as the “phoney war” was characterized by defensive tactics and a strategy of waiting… But the length of the wait would be countered by the brevity of the Battle of France: from 13 May to 22 June 1940, the French armies were utterly crushed by the efficiency of the German “blitzkrieg”.

A film presents France’s military and moral collapse after the battle of France in May-June 1940, and the unprecedented exodus of almost 8 million French civilians.

Then visitors discover French society under the German occupation. An interactive map shows how the country was divided up – the north under the German military administration in Brussels; Alsace-Moselle annexed to the Reich; forbidden and reserved zones; and, of course, the Demarcation Line. The daily life of French people was significantly affected because each zone was separated by almost totally watertight borders. In the occupied zones, nothing got past German regulations that imposed thousands of decrees and rules placing the population under constant control.

The collaboration is symbolised by a photograph of Hitler and Pétain shaking hands at Montoire-sur-le-Loir on 24 October 1940. A collaboration that, despite the radicalisation of collaborationist parties such as Jacques Doriot’s Parti Populaire Français, was almost always non-reciprocally beneficial to the Germans.

During the summer of 1940, the first acts of resistance against occupying forces were committed by isolated individuals. By gradually gathering together into movements and networks, the resistance was able to define key objectives such as fighting the occupier, blocking collaboration policies and preparing first for liberation, then for the future of the country.

Let us not forget the help they gave Allied soldiers parachuting into France or the information they broadcast to the people through tracts and the thousand leaflets published by their underground press. Finally, the exhibition covers the role of Free France, the name given to the movement created by General de Gaulle after his appeal on BBC airwaves on 18 June 1940.