What parts of France were occupied by Germany?

Germany occupied three-fifths of mainland France: the areas with the most economic potential and the Atlantic and Northern coasts. The Militärbefehlshaber in Frankreich (MBF) (the German Military Command in France) was set up in to administer this “occupied zone.” Otto von Stülpnagel took control of it in October 1940.

What happened to France during the German occupation?

Paris fell to Nazi Germany on June 14, 1940, one month after the German Wehrmacht stormed into France. Eight days later, France signed an armistice with the Germans, and a puppet French state was set up with its capital at Vichy.

What was life like in Paris during ww2?

For the Parisians, the Occupation was a series of frustrations, shortages and humiliations. A curfew was in effect from nine in the evening until five in the morning; at night, the city went dark. Rationing of food, tobacco, coal and clothing was imposed from September 1940.

What part of France was occupied in ww2?

Vichy France
After capitulation, France was governed as Vichy France headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain. From 1940 to 1942, while the Vichy regime was the nominal government of all of France except for Alsace-Lorraine, the Germans and Italians militarily occupied northern and south-eastern France.

How many German soldiers occupied France?

Occupation forces 100,000 Germans were in the whole of the German-zone in France in December 1941. When the bulk of the Wehrmacht was fighting on the eastern front, German units were rotated to France to rest and refit.

Why was Germany able to defeat France so quickly?

How did the German Army move so quickly through France? Between the world wars, the German army developed the Blitzkrieg tactics. This strategy was based on high-speed and mobile attacks on the enemy’s weak points, and it proved devastating in France.

What was Paris like during the occupation?

The city was dark, silent and constricted; “physical and psychological space seemed to progressively narrow.” Rosbottom continues: “The very term occupation connotes ‘taking a place,’ and the most compelling stories of this period concern how ‘places’ — apartments, shops, subway trains, bookstores, buses, parks, cafes.

What did the French eat during ww2?

What French people ate during WWII

Margarine or lard for butter.
Chicory for coffee.
Roasted corn for coffee/tea.
Jerusalem artichoke or Swede for Potatoes.
Saccharine for sugar.

How did Germany conquer France so easily?