1940 in France
Encyclopedia
See also:
1939 in France
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other events of 1940,
1941 in France
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Events from the year 1940 in France
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1939 in France
1939 in France
See also:1938 in France,other events of 1939,1940 in France.----Events from the year 1939 in France.-Events:*27 February - United Kingdom and France recognize Franco's government in Spain....
,
other events of 1940,
1941 in France
1941 in France
See also:1940 in France,other events of 1941,1942 in France.----Events from the year 1941 in France.-Events:*17 January - Battle of Koh Chang...
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Events from the year 1940 in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
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Events
- 21 March - Édouard DaladierÉdouard DaladierÉdouard Daladier was a French Radical politician and the Prime Minister of France at the start of the Second World War.-Career:Daladier was born in Carpentras, Vaucluse. Later, he would become known to many as "the bull of Vaucluse" because of his thick neck and large shoulders and determined...
resigns as Prime Minister. He is replaced by Paul ReynaudPaul ReynaudPaul Reynaud was a French politician and lawyer prominent in the interwar period, noted for his stances on economic liberalism and militant opposition to Germany. He was the penultimate Prime Minister of the Third Republic and vice-president of the Democratic Republican Alliance center-right...
. - 10 May - Battle of FranceBattle of FranceIn the Second World War, the Battle of France was the German invasion of France and the Low Countries, beginning on 10 May 1940, which ended the Phoney War. The battle consisted of two main operations. In the first, Fall Gelb , German armoured units pushed through the Ardennes, to cut off and...
begins - German forces invade Low CountriesLow CountriesThe Low Countries are the historical lands around the low-lying delta of the Rhine, Scheldt, and Meuse rivers, including the modern countries of Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and parts of northern France and western Germany....
. - 13 May - German armies open 60-mile wide breach in Maginot LineMaginot LineThe Maginot Line , named after the French Minister of War André Maginot, was a line of concrete fortifications, tank obstacles, artillery casemates, machine gun posts, and other defences, which France constructed along its borders with Germany and Italy, in light of its experience in World War I,...
at SedanSedan, FranceSedan is a commune in France, a sub-prefecture of the Ardennes department in northern France.-Geography:The historic centre is built on a peninsula formed by an arc of the Meuse River. It is around from the Belgian border.-History:...
. - 18 May - Marshal Philippe PétainPhilippe PétainHenri Philippe Benoni Omer Joseph Pétain , generally known as Philippe Pétain or Marshal Pétain , was a French general who reached the distinction of Marshal of France, and was later Chief of State of Vichy France , from 1940 to 1944...
named vice-premier of France. - 19 May - General Maxime WeygandMaxime WeygandMaxime Weygand was a French military commander in World War I and World War II.Weygand initially fought against the Germans during the invasion of France in 1940, but then surrendered to and collaborated with the Germans as part of the Vichy France regime.-Early years:Weygand was born in Brussels...
replaces Maurice GamelinMaurice GamelinMaurice Gustave Gamelin was a French general. Gamelin is best remembered for his unsuccessful command of the French military in 1940 during the Battle of France and his steadfast defense of republican values....
as commander-in-chief of all French forces. - 20 May - German forces, under General Erwin RommelErwin RommelErwin Johannes Eugen Rommel , popularly known as the Desert Fox , was a German Field Marshal of World War II. He won the respect of both his own troops and the enemies he fought....
, reach the English ChannelEnglish ChannelThe English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
. - 26 May - Dunkirk evacuation of British Expeditionary ForceBritish Expeditionary Force (World War II)The British Expeditionary Force was the British force in Europe from 1939–1940 during the Second World War. Commanded by General Lord Gort, the BEF constituted one-tenth of the defending Allied force....
starts. - 3 June - Paris is bombed by the LuftwaffeLuftwaffeLuftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....
for the first time. - 4 June - Dunkirk evacuation ends - British forces complete evacuating 300,000 troops.
- 10 June - Italy declares war on France and the United Kingdom.
- 10 June - French government flees to ToursToursTours is a city in central France, the capital of the Indre-et-Loire department.It is located on the lower reaches of the river Loire, between Orléans and the Atlantic coast. Touraine, the region around Tours, is known for its wines, the alleged perfection of its local spoken French, and for the...
. - 12 June - 13,000 British and French troops surrender to Field MarshalField MarshalField Marshal is a military rank. Traditionally, it is the highest military rank in an army.-Etymology:The origin of the rank of field marshal dates to the early Middle Ages, originally meaning the keeper of the king's horses , from the time of the early Frankish kings.-Usage and hierarchical...
Erwin RommelErwin RommelErwin Johannes Eugen Rommel , popularly known as the Desert Fox , was a German Field Marshal of World War II. He won the respect of both his own troops and the enemies he fought....
at St. Valery-en-Caux. - 13 June - Paris is declared an open cityOpen cityIn war, in the event of the imminent capture of a city, the government/military structure of the nation that controls the city will sometimes declare it an open city, thus announcing that they have abandoned all defensive efforts....
. - 14 June - French government flees to BordeauxBordeauxBordeaux is a port city on the Garonne River in the Gironde department in southwestern France.The Bordeaux-Arcachon-Libourne metropolitan area, has a population of 1,010,000 and constitutes the sixth-largest urban area in France. It is the capital of the Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture...
. - 14 June - Paris falls under German occupation.
- 15 June - VerdunVerdunVerdun is a city in the Meuse department in Lorraine in north-eastern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department.Verdun is the biggest city in Meuse, although the capital of the department is the slightly smaller city of Bar-le-Duc.- History :...
falls to German forces. - 17 June - Philippe PétainPhilippe PétainHenri Philippe Benoni Omer Joseph Pétain , generally known as Philippe Pétain or Marshal Pétain , was a French general who reached the distinction of Marshal of France, and was later Chief of State of Vichy France , from 1940 to 1944...
becomes Prime Minister of FrancePrime Minister of FranceThe Prime Minister of France in the Fifth Republic is the head of government and of the Council of Ministers of France. The head of state is the President of the French Republic...
and immediately asks Germany for peace terms. - 17 June - Operation ArielOperation ArielOperation Ariel was the name given to the World War II evacuation of Allied forces from ports in western France, from 15–25 June 1940, due to the military collapse in the Battle of France against Nazi Germany...
begins - AlliedAllies of World War IIThe Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...
troops start to evacuate France, following Germany's takeover of Paris and most of the nation. - 17 June - LuftwaffeLuftwaffeLuftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....
Junkers 88 bomber sinks British ship RMS LancastriaRMS LancastriaThe RMS Lancastria was a British Cunard liner sunk on 17 June 1940 during World War II with the loss of an estimated 4,000 plus lives. It is the worst single loss of life in British maritime history and the bloodiest single engagement for UK forces , in the whole conflict and claimed more lives...
, that was evacuating troops from near Saint-NazaireSaint-NazaireSaint-Nazaire , is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France.The town has a major harbour, on the right bank of the Loire River estuary, near the Atlantic Ocean. The town is at the south of the second-largest swamp in France, called "la Brière"...
, France. Death toll is over 2500. Wartime censorship prevents the story going public. - 18 June - General Charles de GaulleCharles de GaulleCharles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle was a French general and statesman who led the Free French Forces during World War II. He later founded the French Fifth Republic in 1958 and served as its first President from 1959 to 1969....
broadcasts from London, calling on all French people to continue the fight against Nazi GermanyNazi GermanyNazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
: "France has lost a battle. But France has not lost the war." - 21 June - Vichy FranceVichy FranceVichy France, Vichy Regime, or Vichy Government, are common terms used to describe the government of France that collaborated with the Axis powers from July 1940 to August 1944. This government succeeded the Third Republic and preceded the Provisional Government of the French Republic...
and Germany sign armistice at CompiègneCompiègneCompiègne is a city in northern France. It is designated municipally as a commune within the département of Oise.The city is located along the Oise River...
in the same wagon-lit railroad car used by Marshal Ferdinand FochFerdinand FochFerdinand Foch , GCB, OM, DSO was a French soldier, war hero, military theorist, and writer credited with possessing "the most original and subtle mind in the French army" in the early 20th century. He served as general in the French army during World War I and was made Marshal of France in its...
to accept the surrender of Germany in 1918. - 23 June - Adolf HitlerAdolf HitlerAdolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
surveys newly defeated Paris. - 24 June - Vichy FranceVichy FranceVichy France, Vichy Regime, or Vichy Government, are common terms used to describe the government of France that collaborated with the Axis powers from July 1940 to August 1944. This government succeeded the Third Republic and preceded the Provisional Government of the French Republic...
signs armistice terms with Italy. - 28 June - General Charles de GaulleCharles de GaulleCharles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle was a French general and statesman who led the Free French Forces during World War II. He later founded the French Fifth Republic in 1958 and served as its first President from 1959 to 1969....
is officially recognized by Britain as "Leader of all Free Frenchmen, wherever they may be." - 3 July - British naval units sink or seize ships of the French fleet anchored in the AlgeriaAlgeriaAlgeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
n ports of OranOranOran is a major city on the northwestern Mediterranean coast of Algeria, and the second largest city of the country.It is the capital of the Oran Province . The city has a population of 759,645 , while the metropolitan area has a population of approximately 1,500,000, making it the second largest...
and Mers El Kébir. - 4 July - Vichy FranceVichy FranceVichy France, Vichy Regime, or Vichy Government, are common terms used to describe the government of France that collaborated with the Axis powers from July 1940 to August 1944. This government succeeded the Third Republic and preceded the Provisional Government of the French Republic...
breaks off diplomatic relations with Britain. - 10 July - Vichy FranceVichy FranceVichy France, Vichy Regime, or Vichy Government, are common terms used to describe the government of France that collaborated with the Axis powers from July 1940 to August 1944. This government succeeded the Third Republic and preceded the Provisional Government of the French Republic...
begins with a constitutional law where only 80 members of the parliamentThe Vichy 80The Vichy 80 were a group of elected French parliamentarians who, on 10 July 1940, voted against the constitutional change that dissolved the Third Republic and established an authoritarian regime known as Vichy France....
voted against. - 12 September - LascauxLascauxLascaux is the setting of a complex of caves in southwestern France famous for its Paleolithic cave paintings. The original caves are located near the village of Montignac, in the department of Dordogne. They contain some of the best-known Upper Paleolithic art. These paintings are estimated to be...
: 17,000-year-old cave paintingCave paintingCave paintings are paintings on cave walls and ceilings, and the term is used especially for those dating to prehistoric times. The earliest European cave paintings date to the Aurignacian, some 32,000 years ago. The purpose of the paleolithic cave paintings is not known...
s are discovered by a group of young Frenchmen hiking through Southern France. The paintings depict animals and date to the Stone AgeStone AgeThe Stone Age is a broad prehistoric period, lasting about 2.5 million years , during which humans and their predecessor species in the genus Homo, as well as the earlier partly contemporary genera Australopithecus and Paranthropus, widely used exclusively stone as their hard material in the...
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January to June
- 6 March - Philippe AmauryPhilippe AmauryPhilippe Amaury was a French publishing tycoon and entrepreneur who dominated the French media world. Amaury was the son of the publisher Émilien Amaury....
, publishing tycoon and entrepreneurEntrepreneurAn entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...
(d.20062006 in FranceSee also:2005 in France,other events of 2006,2007 in France.----Events from the year 2006 in France.-Incumbents:* President - Jacques Chirac* Prime Minister - Dominique de Villepin* Interior Minister - Nicolas Sarkozy* Finance Minister -...
). - 6 March - Philippe Lacoue-LabarthePhilippe Lacoue-LabarthePhilippe Lacoue-Labarthe was a French philosopher. He was also a literary critic and translator....
, philosopherPhilosophyPhilosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
, literary criticLiterary criticismLiterary criticism is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often informed by literary theory, which is the philosophical discussion of its methods and goals...
, and translatorTranslationTranslation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. Whereas interpreting undoubtedly antedates writing, translation began only after the appearance of written literature; there exist partial translations of the Sumerian Epic of...
(d.20072007 in FranceSee also:2006 in France,other events of 2007,2008 in France.----Events from the year 2007 in France.-Incumbents:* President - Nicolas Sarkozy* Prime Minister - François Fillon* Interior Minister - Michèle Alliot-Marie...
). - 18 March - Arlette LaguillerArlette LaguillerArlette Yvonne Laguiller is a French Trotskyist politician. Since 1973, she has been the spokeswoman and the best known leader and perennial candidate of the Lutte Ouvrière political party...
, TrotskyistTrotskyismTrotskyism is the theory of Marxism as advocated by Leon Trotsky. Trotsky considered himself an orthodox Marxist and Bolshevik-Leninist, arguing for the establishment of a vanguard party of the working-class...
politician. - 25 March - Jean IchbiahJean IchbiahJean David Ichbiah was a French-born computer scientist and the chief designer of Ada, a general-purpose, strongly typed programming language with certified validated compilers....
, computer scientistComputer scientistA computer scientist is a scientist who has acquired knowledge of computer science, the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and their application in computer systems....
(d.20072007 in FranceSee also:2006 in France,other events of 2007,2008 in France.----Events from the year 2007 in France.-Incumbents:* President - Nicolas Sarkozy* Prime Minister - François Fillon* Interior Minister - Michèle Alliot-Marie...
). - 27 May - Jean-Claude PiumiJean-Claude PiumiJean-Claude Piumi was a French former football defender.-References:***...
, soccer player (d.19961996 in FranceSee also:1995 in France,other events of 1996,1997 in France.----Events from the year 1996 in France.-Incumbents:* President - Jacques Chirac* Prime Minister - Alain Juppé* Interior Minister - Jean-Louis Debré* Finance Minister - Jean Arthuis...
). - 17 June - Marcel AubourMarcel AubourMarcel Aubour is a retired French international footballer who played as goalkeeper. He was the first goalkeeper for France in the FIFA World Cup 1966.-Titles:...
, international soccer player.
July to December
- 23 July - Danielle CollobertDanielle CollobertDanielle Collobert was a French author, poet and journalist, born in Rostrenen, Côtes-d'Armor on 23 July 1940. She died, by her own hand, in Paris on 23 July 1978....
, author, poet and journalist (d.19781978 in FranceSee also:1977 in France,other events of 1978,1979 in France.----Events from the year 1978 in France.-Events:*1 February - Hollywood film director Roman Polanski skips bail and flees to France, after pleading guilty to charges of engaging in sex with a 13-year-old girl.*12 March - Legislative...
). - 28 August - Philippe LéotardPhilippe LéotardPhilippe Léotard was a French actor, poet, and singer....
, actor and singer (d.20012001 in FranceSee also:2000 in France,other events of 2001,2002 in France.----Events from the year 2001 in France.-Events:*March - The Renault Vel Satis is launched at the Geneva Motor Show.*8 March - Cantonales Elections held....
). - 24 September - Yves NavarreYves NavarreYves Navarre was a French writer. A gay man, most of his work concerned homosexuality and associated issues, such as AIDS. In his romantic works, Navarre was noted for his tendency to emphasize sensuality and "the mystical qualities of love" rather than sexuality or sensationalism...
, writer (d.19941994 in FranceSee also:1993 in France,other events of 1994,1995 in France.----Events from the year 1994 in France.-Events:*20 March - Cantonales Elections held.*24 March - Cantonales Elections held....
). - 24 October - Jean-Pierre GenetJean-Pierre GenetJean-Pierre Genet was a professional road bicycle racer from Brest, France from 1964 to 1976. During this time he stayed with one cycling team, the Mercier team of Raymond Poulidor. He rode 13 editions of the Tour de France where he won three stages, once each in 1968, 1971 and 1974...
, cyclist (d.20052005 in FranceSee also:2004 in France,other events of 2005,2006 in France.----Events from the year 2005 in France.-Incumbents:* President - Jacques Chirac* Prime Minister - Jean-Pierre Raffarin then Dominique de Villepin...
). - 30 December - Philippe CousteauPhilippe CousteauPhilippe Cousteau was a documentary film maker specializing in environmental issues, with a background in oceanography. He was the second son of Jacques-Yves Cousteau and Simone Cousteau....
, oceanographerOceanographyOceanography , also called oceanology or marine science, is the branch of Earth science that studies the ocean...
(d.19791979 in FranceSee also:1978 in France,other events of 1979,1980 in France.----Events from the year 1979 in France.-Events:*8 January - French tanker Betelgeuse explodes at the Gulf Oil terminal at Bantry in Ireland; 50 are killed....
).
Deaths
- 2 February - Eugène ApertEugène ApertEugène Charles Apert was a French pediatrician who was born in Paris.He received his doctorate in 1897 and afterwards was associated with the Hôtel-Dieu and Hôpital Saint-Louis. From 1919 until 1934, he worked at the Hôpital des Enfants-Malades in Paris...
, pediatrician (b.18681868 in FranceSee also:1867 in France,other events of 1868,1869 in France.----Events from the year 1868 in France.-Events:*31 May - The first bicycle race is held at Parc de Saint-Cloud, Paris....
). - 24 March - Edouard BranlyEdouard BranlyÉdouard Eugène Désiré Branly was a French inventor, physicist and professor at the Institut Catholique de Paris. He is primarily known for his early involvement in wireless telegraphy and his invention of the Branly coherer around 1890.-Biography:The coherer was the first widely used detector for...
, inventor and physicist (b.18441844 in FranceSee also:1843 in France,other events of 1844,1845 in France.----Events from the year 1844 in France.-Events:*6 August - First Franco-Moroccan War begins....
). - 13 April - Pierre Marie, neurologist (b.18531853 in FranceSee also:1852 in France,other events of 1853,1854 in France.----Events from the year 1853 in France.-Events:*6 December - Taiping Rebellion: French minister de Bourboulon arrives at the Heavenly Capital aboard the Cassini.-Births:...
). - 23 May - Paul NizanPaul NizanPaul Nizan was a French philosopher and writer.-Biography:He was born in Tours, Indre-et-Loire and studied in Paris where he befriended fellow student Jean-Paul Sartre at the Lycée Henri IV...
, philosopher and writer (b.19051905 in FranceSee also:1904 in France,other events of 1905,1906 in France.----Events from the year 1905 in France.-Events:*31 March - German emperor William II asserts German equality with France in Morocco, triggering the Tangier or First Moroccan Crisis....
). - 25 August - Jean d'Orléans, duc de GuiseJean d'Orléans, duc de GuiseJean Pierre Clément Marie d'Orléans, Duke of Guise , was the son of Robert, Duke of Chartres , grandson of Ferdinand-Philippe and great-grandson of Louis Philippe I, King of the French...
, great-grandson of Louis Philippe ILouis-Philippe of FranceLouis Philippe I was King of the French from 1830 to 1848 in what was known as the July Monarchy. His father was a duke who supported the French Revolution but was nevertheless guillotined. Louis Philippe fled France as a young man and spent 21 years in exile, including considerable time in the...
, King of the French (b.18741874 in FranceSee also:1873 in France,other events of 1874,1875 in France.----Events from the year 1874 in France.-Arts and literature:*23 January - Camille Saint-Saëns' composition Danse Macabre is premiered....
).