Lv Haifeng
In other words, in the early days of World War II, in 1940, the French army was defeated by the Germans almost overnight. Since then, France has fallen into the hands of the German army. However, since France at that time had already fallen, why did a "free France" appear later? What is this "free France"? Let's take a look.
First, let's turn our attention back to the afternoon of June 18, 1940. At this time, a French general named Charles de Gaulle was making a speech of great historical significance on the British radio station, namely: "I am the French general charles de Gaulle, I am now in London, and here I appeal to the French soldiers who are currently in British territory and may retreat to British territory in the future, please contact me!" ”
So why did the French general Charles de Gaulle run to England? It turned out that after the German army officially launched an attack on France, some of the French capitulationists made contact with the German army, which in turn made the German army easily occupy the French capital Paris without firing a single shot. Then the traitors formed a new cabinet. De Gaulle was the deputy minister of defense and army of the ministry of defense in this cabinet. However, because he strongly opposed the traitorous acts of the capitulationists, he fled from France to England alone. Then an important anti-fascist force was formed in England called the "Free France".
Later, in order to further expand the French anti-fascist forces in Britain, General de Gaulle, with the strong support of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, delivered the above speech through the British radio station. Of course, the speech was very successful, and General de Gaulle also played a very high level of speech, and his speech made every Frenchman feel elated and enthusiastic, which in turn promoted the strength of "Free France" to be significantly strengthened. Even many students in France stood under the Arc de Triomphe and enthusiastically cheered the name of General de Gaulle.
Obviously, General de Gaulle's speech was a pleasure for all righteous people who loved peace and opposed fascism, but it was a pin for the capitulationists in France. As a result, Pétain, then head of the French capitulation government, immediately forwarded an order through the French Embassy in Britain to General de Gaulle, restricting him to return to China for trial within three months. General de Gaulle, on the other hand, laughed at this and threw it away. Of course, this further annoyed Pétain, the head of the French capitulation government, who immediately ordered the French military court to try de Gaulle in absentia, with a sentence of 4 years in the first instance, but because the Germans felt that the 4-year sentence was a bit too little, it was changed to the death penalty.
After that, General de Gaulle devoted all his body and mind to the construction of the "Free French Movement", from a few hundred to a few thousand, and the scale was getting bigger and bigger. In particular, later, his Free France also joined a lieutenant general of the French Navy, who strongly supported the anti-fascist spirit of General de Gaulle and fought side by side with General de Gaulle.
Later, shortly thereafter, the "Free French" established a combat base and a lean administrative system in Africa. And began to publish the first newspaper of "Free France". Of course, as one famous person put it: Success only gives to those who are prepared. By June 1944, the Allies had begun to land from Normandy towards France. General de Gaulle also marched to Paris with his "Free France" fighters, and was warmly welcomed by the French people everywhere he went.
In short, what was the Free French Movement of 1940? It is an anti-fascist organization organized and initiated by the French general de Gaulle and with the participation of the French. (Lv Haifeng)