LIBERATION OF PARIS

The 'Liberation of Paris' (also known as 'Battle for Paris') took place during World War II from 19 August until the surrender of the occupying German garrison on the 25th. The capital of France had been administered by Nazi Germany since the Second Compiègne armistice in June 1940, when the Vichy puppet regime was established with its capital maintained in the central commune of Vichy.
The liberation was an uprising staged by the French Resistance against the German Paris garrison. On August 24 and 25, the FFI resistants received backup from the Free French Army of Liberation and the uprising evolved to urban warfare with the use of barricades, submachine guns, and tanks firing against Nazi and Milice snipers until the German surrender on August 25.
This battle marked the end of Operation Overlord, the successful liberation of France by the Allies, the restoration of the French Republic and the exile of the Vichy government moving to Sigmaringen in Germany.

Background

Allied strategy emphasized destroying German forces retreating towards the Rhine, when the French Resistance (FFI) under Henri Rol-Tanguy staged an uprising in the French capital. Supreme Allied Commander Eisenhower did not consider Paris as a primary objective; instead, American and British Allies wanted to enter Berlin before the Soviet Union's army and put an end to the conflict.^[2] Moreover Eisenhower thought it was too early for a battle in Paris; he wanted to prevent another battle of Stalingrad, and knew that Hitler had given orders to destroy Paris. In a siege situation, it was estimated that 4,000 tons of food per day would be needed to supply the Parisians, plus additional effort to restore vital infrastructure including transport and energy supply. Such a heavy task would require time and entire Allied divisions.^[2]
However, Charles de Gaulle negotiated with the Allies, threatening to send his Free French 2nd Armored Division (''2ème DB'') into Paris, single-handedly, to prevent the uprising being quelled as had happened earlier in Warsaw. (On August 1st, the Red Army reached the outskirts of the Polish capital but did not intervene to support the local resistance Home Army that was forced to surrender to the Nazis; the city ended up being razed to the ground.) Eventually Eisenhower agreed to send backup.
On August 24, delayed by combat and poor road conditions, Free French General Leclerc, commander of the 2nd Armored Division disobeyed his superior U.S. field commander general Omar Bradley and sent a vanguard (''la colonne Dronne'') to enter Paris, with the message that the entire division would be there the following day. Bradley reportedly said "''OK, Leclerc, run into Paris...''". The vanguard column made of M4 Sherman tanks, M2 half-track and GMC trucks was commanded by Captain Raymond Dronne, who became the first uniformed Allied liberating officer to enter Paris.

Events timeline

General strike (August 15~18)

On August 15, in Pantin (the North-East suburb of Paris from where the Germans entered the capital back in June 1940), 2,200 men and 400 women - all political prisoners - were sent to the Buchenwald camp on the last convoy to Germany.^[4]^[5]
With the Free French rapidly advancing on Paris, the Paris Métro, Gendarmerie and Police went on strike the same day, followed by the postal workers on 16 August. They were joined by workers across the city when a general strike broke out on 18 August, the day on which all Parisians were ordered to mobilize by the French Forces of the Interior.
On August 16, 35 young FFI resistants were betrayed by a Vichist agent of the Gestapo. They went to a rendez-vous in the Bois de Boulogne, near the waterfall, and were executed by the Germans. They were machine-gunned then killed using grenades.^[6]
On August 17, concerned that explosives were being placed at strategic points around Paris by the Germans, chairman of the municipal council of Paris Pierre Taittinger met with the German military governor of ''Gross Paris'' and commander of the Paris garrison, general Dietrich von Choltitz.^[7] On being told that Choltitz intended to slow up as much as possible the Allied advance, Taittinger, along with the general consul of Sweden Raoul Nordling, attempted to persuade Choltitz not to destroy Paris.^[8]

FFI uprising (August 19~23)

Some German light tanks are captured and used against the enemy, August 19.

On August 19, columns of German military tanks, half-tracks, trucks dragging a trailer and cars charged with troops and material moved down the Champs Elysees. The rumor of the Allies advance toward Paris was growing.
The streets were deserted following the Germans retreat, when suddenly the first skirmishes between Resistants and the German occupiers started. Spontaneously some people went out in the streets and some FFI resistants posted propaganda posters on the walls. These posters focused on a "general mobilization" order, arguing "the war continues", with a call to the Parisian police, the Republican Guard, the Gendarmerie, the Gardes Mobiles, the G.M.R. (''Groupe Mobile de Réserve'', the police units replacing the army), the jailkeepers, the patriotic French, "all men from 18 to 50 able to carry a weapon" to join "the stuggle against the invader". Other posters were ensuring "the victory is near" and a "chastisement for the traitors", i.e. the Vichy loyalists. The posters were signed by the "Parisian Committee of the Liberation" in agreement with the Provisional Government of the French Republic and under the orders of "Regional Chief Colonel Rol", aka Henri Rol-Tanguy, commander of the French Forces of the Interior.
As the battle raged on, some small mobile units of Red Cross moved in the city to assist French and German injured. Later this day three French Resistants were executed by the Germans.

FFI and Free Republic of Vercors marked captured truck.

The same day in Pantin, a barge filled with mines exploded and destroyed the Great Windmills.^[5]

Resistants standing behind a barricade, August 20

On August 20, barricades began to appear and the resistants organized themselves to hold a siege. Trucks were deposed, trees were cut and trenches were dug in the pavement to tear the paving stones that would be used to consolidate the barricades. These materials were transported from an area to another by men, women, children and old people using wooden carts. Fuel trucks were attacked and captured, other civilian vehicles like the famous Citroën Traction Avant sedan would be captured, painted with camouflage and marked with the FFI emblem. The Resistace would use them to transport ammunitions and orders from a barricade to another.
The Fort de Romainville, a German internment camp where several men and women, then only female resistants were jailed or executed since October 1940, was liberated with many corpses still abandoned in its yard.

Some FFI firing during a skirmish, one of them wears the French Army traditional Adrian helmet, August 19

A temporary ceasefire was managed between General Dietrich von Choltitz commander of the Paris garrison and a part of the French Resistance with Raoul Nordling (consul general in Paris) as a mediator. Both sides needed time, the Germans wanted to strengthen its weak garrison with front line troops and the French Resistance leaders wanted to strengthen their positions in view to a battle (resistance lacked ammunition for any prolonged fight).
Garrison hold most of the main monuments and some strongpoints, resistance most of the city. Germans lacked numbers to go on the offensive and resistance lacked heavy weapons to attack those strongpoints.
Skirmishes reached their height on the 22nd when some Germans units tried to leave their strongpoints. August 23rd, 9:00AM under von Choltitz' orders, the Germans burned the Grand Palais then a FFI stronghold and panzers fired against the barricades in the streets. Hitler gave the order to bring the maximum damage in the city.^[10]
It is estimated that around 1,500 resistance members and civilians were killed during the battle for Paris.

Entrance of the 2nd Armored Division (August 24~25)

On August 24, 35 resistants were executed near the Bois de Boulogne's waterfall.^[11] There was fighting in Aubervilliers. Later this day the 2nd Armored Division's vanguard commanded by Captain Dronne entered Paris and moved to the city hall (''Hôtel de Ville'').
The following day Leclerc and the rest of the division were in Paris. Leclerc planned the final operation, and fighting ensued in Montreuil.
In Pantin, where the liberation battle also took place, remnant Germans escaped to the East through the road for Meaux.^[4]
The battle cost the Free French 2nd Armored Division 71 KIA, 225 wounded, 35 tanks, 6 self-propelled guns, and 111 vehicles, which is "''a rather high ratio of losses for an armoured division''" according to historian Jacques Mordal.^[13]

French ultimatum (August 25)

On August 25 10:30AM, General Pierre Billotte, commander of the First French Armored Brigade (the 2nd Armored Division's tactical group), sent an ultimatum to von Choltitz. Raoul Nordling played the role of mediator and delivered the message.

German surrender (August 25)

Despite repeated orders from Hitler that the French capital "''must not fall into the enemy's hand except lying in complete debris'' by bombing it and exploding its bridges, hence the famous "Is Paris Burning?" who became the title of both a German 1950 memoir^[14], a 1966 Franco-American novel -and film- and a 2001 Japanese video game^[15], German General Dietrich von Choltitz, commander of the Paris garrison and military governor of Paris, surrendered on 25 August at the Hotel Meurice, newly established headquarters of General Leclerc. Von Choltitz was kept prisoner until April 1947. In his memoir ''... Brennt Paris?'' ("is Paris burning?") first published in 1950, von Choltitz describes himself as the saviour of Paris, unlikely he was not involved in the Nuremberg Trial.

On August 19 three resistants were executed by the Germans.

On August 23 the Grand Palais is set on fire.

There is a controversy about von Choltitz's actual role during the battle since he is regarded a totally different way in France and Germany. In Germany he is regarded as an humanist and a hero who saved Paris from urban warfare and destruction. In 1964, Dietrich von Choltitz explained in an interview taped from his Baden Baden home, why he had refused to obey Hitler: "''If for the first time I had disobeyed, it was because I knew that Hitler was insane''" ("''Si pour la première fois j'ai désobéi, c'est parceque je savais qu'Hitler déraisonnait''")". According to a 2004 interview his son Timo gave to the French public channel France 2, von Choltitz's father disobeyed Hitler and personally allowed the Allies to take the city back safely and rapidly, preventing the French Resistance from engaging in urban warfare that would have destroyed parts of Paris. He knew the war was lost and decided alone to save the capital.^[16]
However in France, this version is seen as a "falsification of History" since von Choltitz is regarded as a Nazi officer faithful to Hitler involved in many controversial actions such as:

★ In 1940 and 1941 he gave the orders to destroy Sevastopol and burn Rotterdam.^[16]

★ During the battle for Paris:

★
★ On August 23, he ordered the burning of the Grand Palais occupied by FFI resistance.^[16]

★
★ On August 19, he ordered the destruction of the Pantin great windmills in order to starve the population.^[16]

★
★ On August 16, he ordered the execution of 35 members of the resistance in the Bois de Boulogne waterfall.^[16]
In a 2004 interview, Parisian Resistance veteran Maurice Kriegel-Valrimont describes von Choltitz as a man who "as much longer as he could, killed French and when he ceased to kill them it was because he wasn't able to do so any longer". Kriegel-Valrimont argues "not only we owe him nothing but this a shameless fasification of History to award him any merit."^[16] The ''Liberation de Paris'' documentary secretly shot during the battle by the Resistance brings evidence of bitter urban warfare that contradicts the von Choltitz father and son version. On the other hand, the Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre novel ''Is Paris Burning?'' and its 1966 theatrical adaptation emphasize on Von Choltitz the saviour of Paris.
A third source, the protocols of telephonic conversations between von Choltitz and his superiors found later in the Fribourg archives and their analysis by German historians support Kriegel-Valrimont's theory^[8].
Also, Pierre Taittinger and Raoul Nordling both claim it was them who convinced von Choltitz not to destroy Paris as ordered by Hitler^[8]. The first published a book ''...et Paris ne fut pas détruit'' (''... and Paris Wasn't Destroyed'') relating this episode in 1948 that earned him a prize from the French Academy.
German losses are estimated at about 3,200 killed and 12,800 prisoners of war.

De Gaulle's speech (August 25)

French Resistance snipers using captured firearms, August 19.

Leclerc division Free French with U.S. uniforms, Thompson submachine gun and M1 Carbine, August 25.

FFI using rifles, these were called "the soldiers without uniform", August 19

On the same day, Charles de Gaulle, president of the Provisional Government of the French Republic moved back into the War Ministry on the rue Saint-Dominique, then made a rousing speech to the population from the Hôtel de Ville.

Victory parades (August 26 & 29)

U.S. 28th Infantry Division parading after the battle on August 29

This was followed on 26 August by a victory parade down the Champs-Élysées, with some German snipers still active. According to a famous anecdote, while de Gaulle was marching down the Champs Elysee and came in the Place de la Concorde, snipers in the Hôtel de Crillon area shot at the crowd. Someone in the crowd shouted "''this is the Fifth Column!''" leading to a famous misunderstanding as a 2nd Armored Division tank operator shot at the Hôtel's actual fifth column, which had a different color.
A combined Franco-American military parade was organised on the 29th after the arrival of the U.S. Army's 28th Infantry Division. Joyous crowds greeted the ''Armée de la Libération'' and the Americans as liberators, as their vehicles drove down the city streets.

Aftermath

AMGOT exit

General Eisenhower and General Leclerc in liberated Paris (1944)

From the French point of view, the liberation of Paris by the French themselves rather than by the Allies saved France from a new constitution imposed by the Allied Military Government for Occupied Territories (AMGOT) like the contemporary ones established in Germany and Japan in 1945.^[24]

A Dollar-alike 100 Francs note made in America and distributed in Normandy in June 1944 as part of the AMGOT.

The AMGOT administration for France was planned by the American Chief of Staff but de Gaulle's opposition to Eisenhower's strategy, moving to the East as soon as possible without passing by Paris in order to reach Berlin before Stalin's Red Army, led to the 2nd Armored Division breakout toward Paris and the liberation of the French capital.^[24] A clue of the French AMGOT's advanced status was the new French money, called "Flag Money" (''monnaie drapeau'') for it featured the French flag on its back, had been made in America and was distributed as a replacement for the Vichy money since June 1944, following the successful Operation Overlord in Normandy. However this short lived money was forbidden by GPRF President Charles de Gaulle after the liberation of Paris claiming these US dollar standard notes were fakes.

National Unity

Urban warfare scene, in the background a captured tank fires against a sniper position. August 19

Another important factor was the popular uprising of Paris which allowed the Parisians to liberate themselves from the Germans and gave the newly established Free French government and its president Charles de Gaulle enough prestige and authority to establish the Provisional Government of the French Republic. This replaced the fallen Vichy French State (1940-1944) and united the politically divided French Resistance then including anarchists, communists, Gaullists and nationalists into a new "national unanimity" government established on September 9, 1944.^[24]
In his speech, de Gaulle insisted on the role played by the French and on the necessity for the French people to support their "duty of war" in the Allies last campaigns to complete the liberation of France and to pursue the advance in Benelux and Germany. De Gaulle wanted France to be part of "the victors" in order to evade the AMGOT threat. Two days later on August 28, the FFI, then called "the combatants without uniform", were incorporated in the New French Army (''nouvelle armée française'') which was fully equipped with U.S. materiel (uniform, helmet, weapon and vehicles) until after the Algerian War in the 1960s.

WWII victor

Allied Occupation Zones in Germany in 1946 after territorial annexations in the East

A point of strong disagreement between de Gaulle and the Big Three was that the President of the Provisional Government of the French Republic (GPRF), established in June 3 1944, was not recognized as the legitimate representative of France. Even though de Gaulle had been recognized as the leader of Free France by British Prime Minister Churchill back in June 28 1940, his GPRF presidency had not resulted from democratic elections. However, three months after the liberation of Paris and one month after the new "unanimity government", the Big Three recognized the GPRF on October 23, 1944.^[27]^[28]
In his liberation of Paris speech de Gaulle argued "''It will not be enough that, with the help of our dear and admirable Allies, we have got rid of him from our home for us to be satisfied after what happened. We want to enter his territory as it should be, as victors''", clearly showing his ambition for France to be considered one of the World War II victors just like the Big Three. This perspective was not obvious to the western Allies, as demonstrated in the German Instrument of Surrender's First Act ^[29]. The French occupation zones in Germany and in West Berlin concretized this ambition, leading to some frustration, part of the deeper Western betrayal sentiment, from similar European Allies, especially Poland, whose proposition that they be part of the occupation of Germany was rejected by the Soviets, the latter taking the view that they had liberated the Poles from the Nazis, placing them under the influence of the USSR.

Legal purge

Several Vichy loyalists called "vichistes" being administration officials or militians -the Vichy Milice was established by Sturmbannführer Joseph Darnand and hunted the Resistance with the Gestapo- were made prisoners in the post-liberation purge era called ''Épuration légale''. However, some of them were executed without a trial, and the women accused of "horizontal collaboration" were arrested, shaved, exhibited and sometimes mauled by the crowds, for they had sex with German officers during the 1940-1944 occupation.
In August 17 1944 Pierre Laval was moved to Belfort by the Germans. On September 7, evading the Allies advance in western France and toward Berlin, Philippe Petain and 1,000 of his followers (including Louis-Ferdinand Céline) moved to Sigmaringen, a French enclave in Germany. There they established the government of Sigmaringen challenging legitimacy over France to de Gaulle's Provisional Government of the French Republic. Soon Laval joined Sigmaringen, there were 2 millions French living in Germany then; Most of them were forced workers sent there by the STO service (''Service du Travail Obligatoire'', "compulsory work service")^[30] established according to the 1940 armistice. As a sign of protest Petain, who was forced to move by the Germans, refused to take office but was eventually replaced by Fernand de Brinon. The Vichy government in exile ended in April 1945.

"''Yesterday Strasbourg, tomorrow Saigon...''"

Leclerc's 2nd Armored Division arms featuring the cross of Lorraine.

Leclerc, whose 2nd Armored Division was regarded by the French with prestige, led the Expeditionary Forces FEFEO who sailed to French Indochina then occupied by the Japanese in 1945.
FEFEO recruiting posters depicted a Sherman tank painted with the cross of Lorraine with the caption "''Yesterday Strasbourg, tomorrow Saigon, join in!''" as a reference to the 1944 liberation of Paris by Leclerc's armored division and the role this unit played later in the liberation of Strasbourg. The war effort for the liberation of French Indochina through the FEFEO was presented by the propaganda as the continuation of the liberation of France and part of the same "duty of war".
While Vichy France collaborated with Japan in French Indochina since the 1941 invasion and later established a Japan ambassy in Sigmaringen^[30], de Gaulle had declared war on Japan on December 8, 1941 following the attack on Pearl Harbor and created local anti-Japanese resistance units called Corps Léger d'Intervention (CLI) in 1943. On September 2, 1945 General Leclerc signed the armistice with Japan on behalf of the Provisional Government of the French Republic onboard the USS ''Missouri''.
Actually France fulfilled its so-called "duty of war" for 18 years more as the FEFEO -renamed CEFEO- was involved in two consecutive eight-years major conflicts and the country was at war without stopping from 1944 to 1962 (First Indochina War, Suez Crisis, Algeria War). Paradoxally the one who stopped this situation was de Gaulle himself in 1962, when he returned to office as President of the Fifth French Republic and put an end to the decolonization wars.

1944-2004

The 60th anniversary in 2004 was notable for the two military parades reminiscent of the August 26 and 29 1944 parades and featuring armoured vehicles from the era. One parade represented the French, one the Americans, while people danced in the streets to live music outside the Hôtel de Ville city hall.

Homage to the liberation martyrs

The wall of the 35 martyrs, Bois de Boulogne, Paris (2007)

On May 16 2007, following his election as President of the Fifth French Republic, Nicolas Sarkozy organized an homage to the 35 French Resistance martyrs executed by the Germans during the liberation of Paris on August 16 1944. French historian Max Gallo narrated the events that happened in the Bois de Boulogne woods, and a Parisian schoolgirl read young French resistant Guy Môquet's (17) final letter. During his speech, President Sarkozy announced this letter would be now read in all French schools to remember the resistance spirit.^[32]^[33] Following the speech, the chorale of the French Republican Guard closed the homage ceremony by singing the French Resistance's anthem ''Le Chant des Partisans'' ("the partisans' song"), then the new President moved to Berlin to meet German chancellor Angela Merkel as a symbol of the Franco-German reconciliation.

''La Libération de Paris''

An early scene from ''La Libération de Paris'', a German truck passes by the Kommandantur on August 19.

''La Libération de Paris'' ("the liberation of Paris"), whose original title was ''l'insurrection Nationale inséparable de la Libération Nationale'' ("the national insurrection inseparable from the national liberation"), was a short documentary secretly shot from August 16 to August 27 by the French Resistance propaganda. It was released in French theaters on September 1st, 1944.

Filmography

★ ''La Liberation de Paris'' (1944)

★ ''Is Paris Burning?'' (1966)