Life in German-Occupied France | Animated History

It is late on the night of August 18th, 1944, and Paris is illuminated only by moonlight. The din of artillery can be heard in the distance, and each day it grows louder. A strict curfew is in effect, and German patrols march up and down the empty streets, the stamp of their heavy boots echoing through the alleyways that they pass. But despite the danger, a small French family scurries through them. Innocently, the woman carries her newborn child, and her husband and son, new blackout curtains for their home. Just one wrong turn could spell disaster. However, the father remains calm, navigating the winding backstreets of the city with reassuring ease. But just before they round the last corner, the son stumbles over a loose cobblestone and the family freezes in terror, knowing that they have only seconds. The mother helps her son regain his footing, and the three dart off deeper into the maze-like streets of the occupied city. Hi, I'm Griffin Johnson, the armchair historian. In today's video, we'll be exploring what life was like for the citizens of France after their country's capitulation in the Second World War. Our focus will be on their day-to-day hardships under the heel of a regime that viewed the nation as little more than a convenient source of labor and resources for their war machine. Before we begin, I'd like to take a minute to talk about today's sponsor, World of Tanks, a free-to-play action MMO that gives you the chance to operate over 600 different historically accurate military vehicles from 11 different nations. In addition to iconic tanks such as the M4 Sherman and Tiger, history enthusiasts can also unlock many rare and unique designs that never saw mass production, like the legendary Maus or the T95 Super Heavy Tank Destroyer. Players can also enjoy large-scale tactical warfare on more than 40 different unique maps that are designed to facilitate many different playstyles, from long-range support to close-range brawling. With vehicles divided into five complementary classes, World of Tanks lets you dominate the battlefield as part of an experienced squad, or take part in large-scale events involving entire clans. In addition, World of Tanks now has a special offer available only for Armchair Historian fans. New players can get 7 days of premium account time, a free Tier V Premium Tank, and other benefits by clicking the link in the description below and using the invite code ONCEUPONATANK. Following the French surrender on June 22nd, the country was split in two. In the north, the German Occupied Zone, and in the south, a new puppet regime under French Marshal Philippe Bitton, created because the Germans essentially lacked both the time and energy to govern all of France by themselves. The Italians, who had assisted Hitler's conquest, were also granted a small Occupied Zone of their own in the form of a Participation Award. From the onset of the occupation, a great shadow fell across the people of France, quite literally, as the Germans immediately brought French clocks forward by one hour, prolonging the morning darkness and hastening the arrival of night. This was just the first of a host of rules and regulations imposed by the Germans. Soon enough, it was illegal to possess or conceal firearms, aid escaped prisoners of war, or listen to foreign propaganda, basically any radio station other than those approved by the German government. Most impactful to the immediate aftermath of the invasion was the clause against showing hostility to the occupiers, which essentially just gave them free reign to do whatever they wanted. Paris was rapidly swarmed by thousands of German soldiers on leave, and many of its famous hotels were taken over as the headquarters of various Reich military and political organizations. In addition to having to deal with young and eager Wehrmacht recruits flooding the capital, the armistice had fixed the exchange rate between the Frank and the Reichsmark at 20 to 1, making even the lowliest German private able to stock up on as much cheese and wine as he could smuggle past his commanding officers. Not that the officers were any better. Far from setting a good example, the ranking members of the German army set about requisitioning vast amounts of supplies from the helpless French people. Baggage trains were soon leaving France on a daily basis, laden with luxury items, exotic foodstuffs, and even priceless works of art. But as much as the French people resented this inglorious plundering, worse was in store. Nazi officials soon imposed a curfew on the nation, prohibiting activity between midnight and 6 a.m. This curfew would be used like a baton to beat the populace into submission, and was pushed forward multiple times in response to acts of civil disobedience. However, while this treatment was humiliating, even more changes were on the horizon. As the Second World War progressed and the Nazi supply situation deteriorated, greater and greater material pressure was exerted on its occupied territories. The flow of luxury goods out of France was soon replaced by an even greater flow of essentials, such as wax, metal, textiles, leather, and a vast array of other products. This led to the issuing of yet another dreaded piece of paperwork, the ration card. Rationing in France started off strict, and only got stricter as the war progressed. As early as 1941, daily caloric intake by adults had fallen from 2,400 calories to between 1,200 and 1,500. By comparison, German citizens in 1941 were consuming a healthy 2,000 calories a day. With harsh rationing came the inevitable rise of the black market, where disgruntled Frenchmen were happy to sell their hoarded goods to their fellow countrymen at exorbitant prices. Farmers faced stiff fines or imprisonment if they were caught, but this was little deterrent when their goods could easily fetch 30 times the official price on the black market, resulting in the creation of informal barter systems between cities and rural villages in an attempt to ease the pressure of the occupation. Thanks to arrangements like these, the French people were able to endure the hardships of the occupation, but still, many citizens were now refugees, displaced by the invasion and subsequent division of France. With nearly 2 million French soldiers held captive, many communities became ghost towns. Even Paris was affected, with its pre-war population of 3 million falling to around 800,000 by the time of the occupation. Many families also remained separated by a vindictive clause in the Armistice, which stated that Germany was under no obligation to release any of the prisoners of war taken during the invasion. These men were now hostages, and the French people were expected to work for their release. And as more able-bodied Germans were drafted into the military, the Axis need for foreign labor grew. Many unconvincing propaganda posters depicting happy French laborers working in German factories had existed since the start of the occupation, but when these drew little interest, drastic measures were implemented. In March 1942, Hitler personally appointed Fritz Sockel to the position of General Plenipotentiary for labor deployment. It was Sockel's job to secure foreign labor for the Reich by any means necessary, which would earn him the nickname the Slaver of Europe. Sockel's first initiative was conceived in cooperation with the Vichy government, and was called the Relève, or Relief Shift. It was a simple concept. For every three French workers sent to Germany, one French prisoner would be released. This allowed Vichy officials to crow in satisfaction at the great compromise they had achieved, and also allowed for a new, more effective propaganda strategy to promote the program. Working abroad in Germany was now an act of utmost patriotism, a selfless sacrifice to help reunite brave soldiers with their families. But although the Relève brought in around 250,000 volunteers by the end of 1942, this was still far below the quota. In February of 1943, Sockel pressured Vichy France into endorsing the Compulsory Work Service, or STO. This required all healthy males between 18 and 50, and all single females between 21 and 35, to be subject to do any work the government deemed necessary. No matter how the Vichy government chose to spin this new scheme, there was no hiding its true nature as a slave labor program. The introduction of the STO was arguably the breaking point for the French people. They had stoically endured starvation, displacement, and injustice, but this was too much. The French resistance, which up until this point had been little more than an irritant to the Nazis, now saw a considerable increase in membership, thanks primarily to Sockel's efforts. Many men and women fled to the countryside to escape the German military police, becoming the Maquis, a name derived from a Corsican word for a type of rough, elevated terrain that dominated much of rural France. This land was ideal cover for resistance activities, but quickly became a battleground, and rural French communities found themselves embroiled in a bloody and desperate struggle, where there was no such thing as an innocent bystander. As early as 1940, German policy towards partisan activity was one of collective punishment. If a resistance member was identified, his or her family was promptly executed. And as the occupation progressed, this policy was widened, and eventually became one of indiscriminate retaliation, especially in rural areas. By 1944, France was littered with mass graves and deserted villages, whose inhabitants had been massacred by the SS or Gestapo. More insidious than both of these were the Milice, a paramilitary force of French collaborators who worked closely with the occupiers and the Vichy government to keep their fellow countrymen under control. Some Milice were fascists from far-right parties and had existed in France before the war, but many others were drawn in by the promise of better rations and exemption from the STO. Even still, Milice interrogators regularly engaged in torture to extract intel from suspected resistance fighters, and the information they obtained led directly to many of the massacres committed during the occupation. In the years to come, however, they would realize that their collaboration would not In June of 1944, the German stranglehold over France was finally broken by the Normandy landings, in which the resistance played a significant role by isolating German forces in the region. Only a month later, Operation Dragoon began in the south, forcing a German withdrawal from the occupied territories. In Paris, despite possessing fewer than a hundred guns at the start, the resistance quickly procured an arsenal of German weapons, including tanks. As chaos engulfed the nation, angry mobs quickly took to the streets. When news of their struggle reached the Allies, a free French armored division rushed to the capital, at which point the Nazi governor promptly surrendered. Estimates regarding the number of Frenchmen put to death for collaboration vary widely, but it was probably around 10,000 individuals over the course of the war. This would be followed by trials known as the Legal Purge. Ironically, those who escaped vigilante justice found themselves interned in concentration camps initially built by the Vichy government. France had also lost most of its infrastructure as a result of the Allied bombing campaigns that preceded liberation, and in total some 150,000 civilians had died during the occupation. Of these numbers, a staggering 30,000 had been directly executed by Germans for various crimes against the regime, and another 60,000 had fought and died with the resistance. Throughout the brutality and hardships of the occupation, the spirit of the French people remained unbroken. While a few sought to escape hardship by ingratiating themselves with their new masters, most Frenchmen were thoroughly united in opposition to Nazi rule. Within a few decades, France would once again be one of the leading nations in Europe, with a strong economy and a founding position in NATO. But one needs only to take a walk through the ruins of villages like Oradour-sur-Glane to see the dreadful price France paid for its freedom.