Editing Axis powers (section)

===Vichy France===
{{main|Vichy France}}
The German army entered Paris on 14 June 1940, following the [[battle of France]]. Pétain became the last [[Prime Minister of France|Prime Minister of the French Third Republic]] on 16 June 1940. He sued for peace with Germany and on 22 June 1940, the French government [[Armistice with France (Second Compiègne)|concluded an armistice]] with Hitler and Mussolini, which came into effect at midnight on 25 June. Under the terms of the agreement, Germany [[occupied France|occupied two-thirds]] of France, including Paris. Pétain was permitted to keep an "[[Armistice Army|armistice army]]" of 100,000 men within the [[Zone libre|unoccupied southern zone]]. This number included neither the army based in the [[French colonial empire]] nor the [[French Navy]]. In Africa the Vichy regime was permitted to maintain 127,000.{{sfn|Bachelier|2000|p=98}} The French also maintained substantial garrisons at the French-mandate territory of [[Mandatory Syrian Republic|Syria]] and [[Greater Lebanon]], the [[French Madagascar|French colony of Madagascar]], and in [[French Somaliland]]. Some members of the Vichy government pushed for closer cooperation, but they were rebuffed by Pétain. Neither did Hitler accept that France could ever become a full military partner,{{sfn|Paxton|1993}} and constantly prevented the buildup of Vichy's military strength.

After the armistice, relations between the Vichy French and the British quickly worsened. Although the French had told Churchill they would not allow their fleet to be taken by the Germans, the British launched naval attacks intended to prevent the French navy being used, the most notable of which was [[Attack on Mers-el-Kébir|the attack on the Algerian harbour of Mers el-Kebir]] on 3 July 1940. Though Churchill defended his controversial decision to attack the French fleet, the action deteriorated greatly the relations between France and Britain. [[Propaganda in Nazi Germany|German propaganda]] trumpeted these attacks as an absolute betrayal of the French people by their former allies.
[[File:France map Lambert-93 with regions and departments-occupation.svg|thumb|France during the war; [[German occupation of France during World War II|Occupied and annexed zones by Germany]] in shades of red, [[Italian occupation of France during World War II|Italian occupation zones]] in shades of yellow and striped blue, [[zone libre|"Free zone"]] in blue.]]

[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-H25217, Henry Philippe Petain und Adolf Hitler.jpg|thumb|[[Philippe Pétain]] (left) meeting with Hitler in October 1940]]
[[File:Flag of Philippe Pétain, Chief of State of Vichy France.svg|thumb|Personal flag of Philippe Pétain, Chief of State of [[Vichy France]]]]
On 10 July 1940, Pétain was given emergency "full powers" by a majority vote of the [[French National Assembly]]. The following day approval of the new constitution by the Assembly effectively created the [[French State]] (''l'État Français''), replacing the French Republic with the government unofficially called "Vichy France," after the resort town of [[Vichy]], where Pétain maintained his seat of government. This continued to be recognised as the lawful government of France by the neutral United States until 1942, while the United Kingdom had recognised [[Free France|de Gaulle's government-in-exile in London]]. Racial laws were introduced in France and its colonies and many [[History of the Jews in France|foreign Jews in France]] were deported to Germany. [[Albert Lebrun]], last President of the Republic, did not resign from the presidential office when he moved to [[Vizille]] on 10 July 1940. By 25 April 1945, during Pétain's trial, Lebrun argued that he thought he would be able to return to power after the fall of Germany, since he had not resigned.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.elysee.fr/recherche|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090414173559/http://www.elysee.fr/elysee/elysee.fr/francais_archives/la_presidence/la_galerie_des_presidents/iii_eme_republique/albert_lebrun.21008.html|url-status=dead|title=Rechercher sur le site &#124; Élysée|archivedate=April 14, 2009|website=elysee.fr}}</ref>

In September 1940, Vichy France was forced to allow [[invasion of French Indochina|Japan to occupy French Indochina]], a federation of French colonial possessions and protectorates encompassing modern day Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. The Vichy regime continued to administer them under Japanese military occupation. [[French Indochina]] was the base for the Japanese [[Japanese invasion of Thailand|invasions of Thailand]], [[Malayan Campaign|Malaya]], and [[Dutch East Indies campaign|the Dutch East Indies]]. On 26 September 1940, de Gaulle [[Battle of Dakar|led an attack by Allied forces on the Vichy port of Dakar]] in [[French West Africa]]. Forces loyal to Pétain fired on de Gaulle and repulsed the attack after two days of heavy fighting, drawing Vichy France closer to Germany.

During the [[Anglo-Iraqi War]] of May 1941, Vichy France allowed Germany and Italy to use air bases in the [[French mandate of Syria]] to support the Iraqi revolt. British and Free French forces attacked later [[Syria-Lebanon campaign|Syria and Lebanon in June–July 1941]], and in 1942 Allied forces [[Battle of Madagascar|took over French Madagascar]]. More and more colonies abandoned Vichy, joining the Free French territories of [[French Equatorial Africa]], [[French Polynesia|Polynesia]], [[New Caledonia]] and others who had sided with de Gaulle [[Appeal of 18 June|from the start]].

In November 1942 Vichy French troops briefly resisted the [[Operation Torch|landing of Allied troops in French North Africa]] for two days, until Admiral [[François Darlan]] negotiated a local ceasefire with the Allies. In response to the landings, [[Case Anton|German and Italian forces invaded the non-occupied zone in southern France]] and ended Vichy France as an entity with any kind of autonomy; it then became a puppet government for the occupied territories. In June 1943, the formerly Vichy-loyal colonial authorities in [[French North Africa]] led by [[Henri Giraud]] came to an agreement with the [[Free France|Free French]] to merge with their own interim regime with the [[Free France#Creation of the French National Committee (CNF)|French National Committee]] (''Comité Français National'', CFN) to form a [[provisional government]] in [[Algiers]], known as the [[French Committee of National Liberation]] (''Comité Français de Libération Nationale'', CFLN) initially led by Darlan.

In 1943 the [[Milice]], a paramilitary force which had been founded by Vichy, was subordinated to the Germans and assisted them in rounding up opponents and Jews, as well as fighting the [[French Resistance]]. The Germans recruited volunteers in units independent of Vichy. Partly as a result of the great animosity of many right-wingers against the pre-war [[Popular Front (France)|Front Populaire]], volunteers joined the German forces in their anti-communist crusade against the USSR. Almost 7,000 joined ''[[Legion of French Volunteers Against Bolshevism|Légion des Volontaires Français]]'' (LVF) from 1941 to 1944. The LVF then formed the cadre of the [[33rd Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS Charlemagne (1st French)|Waffen-SS Division ''Charlemagne'']] in 1944–1945, with a maximum strength of some 7,500. Both the LVF and the ''Division Charlemagne'' fought on the eastern front.

Deprived of any military assets, territory or resources, the members of the Vichy government continued to fulfil their role as German puppets, being quasi-prisoners in the so-called "[[Sigmaringen enclave]]" in a castle in [[Baden-Württemberg]] at the end of the war in May 1945.