Episode 51 - Two Frances

This episode of History Date Night covers June 22nd through the 28th. For France this is the week the armistice with Germany is signed, and a second, smaller armistice with Italy follows. Hitler tours a conquered Paris and orders all memory of the German defeat in WW1 destroyed. Charles de Gaulle makes another broadcast from London and receives formal British recognition. The Soviet Union reaches deeper into Eastern Europe. And across an ocean, the Americans begin to realize that this war may not remain an entirely European affair.

Between the 22nd and the 28th of June, 1940, the map of Europe is redrawn in a way that will not be erased for years. France is divided into occupied and unoccupied zones. Britain announces a blockade of Europe and launches its first commando raid of the war. German troops are issued English phrase books in preparation for the next invasion. The Battle of France is ending and the next phase of the war is already taking shape.