De Gaulle
General de Gaulle was born on November 22th, 1890 in Lille and died on November 9th, 1970. He was a soldier, a resistant.
De Gaulle rejects and the Armistice asked by Petain to German Nazi. He created Free French and was its leader. On June 18th, 1940, General de Gaulle delivered a speech to every French willing to resist the London BBC for the first time. This speech had not been heard by a lot of people but widely spread.
Situation of France
Map of the German occupation during the Second World War
On May 10th, 1940, Hitler invaded Belgium.
On the 22nd of June, 1940, Petain applied for an Armistice to Germany.
Germany used a new military tactic "Blitzkrieg" (lightning war) that allowed them to win during the first two years of the war.
France, during the Second World War is experiencing a difficult situation. The French are gradually moving towards the resistance and are participating in their liberation. The Vichy regime is controlled by Petain.
Pétain uses an authoritarian regime (censorship and propaganda), a reactionary regime (large families, "Labor, Family, Fatherland"), a regime of exclusion (status of Jews, internment of foreigners) and a regime of collaborator (STO: service of the compulsory work).
General's speech
Appeal of June 18, 1940