1940 in France

Decades:	1920s ; 1930s ; 1940s ; 1950s ; 1960s ;
See also:	Other events of 1940 ; History of France • Timeline • Years

Last updated July 28, 2025

Incumbents

Chief of State: Albert Lebrun (until 11 July), Philippe Pétain (starting 11 July)
Vice-president of the Council of Ministers:
- until 21 March: Édouard Daladier
- 21 March-16 June: Paul Reynaud
- 16 June-11 July: Philippe Pétain
- 11 July-13 December: Pierre Laval
- starting 13 December: Pierre-Étienne Flandin

Events

21 March – Édouard Daladier resigns as Prime Minister. French cabinet shuffles and Daladier is replaced by Paul Reynaud.
10 May – Battle of France begins. German forces invade Low Countries.
13 May – German armies open 60-mile wide breach in Maginot Line at Sedan.
18 May – Marshal Philippe Pétain named vice-premier of France.
19 May – General Maxime Weygand replaces Maurice Gamelin as commander-in-chief of all French forces.
20 May – German forces, under General Erwin Rommel, reach the English Channel.
26 May – Dunkirk evacuation of British Expeditionary Force starts.
3 June – Paris is bombed by the Luftwaffe for the first time.
4 June – Dunkirk evacuation ends – British forces complete evacuating 300,000 troops.
10 June
- French government flees to Tours.
- Italy declares war on France and the United Kingdom.
12 June – 13,000 British and French troops surrender to Field Marshal Erwin Rommel at St. Valery-en-Caux.
13 June – Paris is declared an open city.
14 June
- Paris falls under German occupation and German troops march past the Arc de Triomphe, following exactly the same route that the victorious French troops coming home from the First World War, 22 years previously.
- French government flees to Bordeaux.
15 June – Verdun falls to German forces.
16 June – The Churchill war ministry in the United Kingdom offers a Franco-British Union (inspired by Jean Monnet) to Paul Reynaud, Prime Minister of France, in the hope of preventing France from agreeing to an armistice with Germany, but Reynaud resigns when his own cabinet refuses to accept it.
17 June
- Philippe Pétain becomes Prime Minister of France and immediately asks Germany for peace terms.
- Operation Aerial begins – Allied troops start to evacuate France, following Germany's takeover of Paris and most of the nation.
- Luftwaffe Junkers Ju 88 bomber sinks RMS Lancastria, serving as a British troopship evacuating troops and nationals from near Saint-Nazaire, with the loss of at least 4,000 lives, immediate news of which is suppressed in the British press.
18 June – Appeal of 18 June: General Charles de Gaulle, de facto leader of the Free French Forces, makes his first broadcast appeal over Radio Londres from London, rallying the French Resistance, calling on all French people to continue the fight against Nazi Germany: "France has lost a battle. But France has not lost the war".
21 June – Armistice negotiations begin at Compiègne.
22 June – Armistice of 22 June 1940: The French Third Republic and Nazi Germany sign an armistice ending the Battle of France, in the Forest of Compiègne, in the same Wagons-Lits railroad car used by Marshal Ferdinand Foch to conclude the Armistice of 11 November 1918 with Germany. This divides France into a Zone occupée in the north and west, under the Military Administration in France (Nazi Germany), and a southern Zone libre , Vichy France.
23 June – Adolf Hitler surveys newly defeated Paris.^[1]
24 June – Vichy France signs armistice terms with Italy.
28 June – General Charles de Gaulle is officially recognized by Britain as "Leader of all Free Frenchmen, wherever they may be."
3 July – Attack on Mers-el-Kébir: British naval units sink or seize ships of the French fleet anchored in the Algerian ports of Mers El Kébir and Oran to prevent them from falling into German hands.
4 July – Vichy France breaks off diplomatic relations with Britain.
10 July – Vichy France begins with a constitutional law where only 80 members of the parliament vote against.
12 September – Lascaux: 17,000-year-old cave paintings are discovered by a group of young Frenchmen hiking through Southern France. The paintings depict animals and date to the Stone Age.
24 October – Pétain meets with Hitler at Montoire and shakes his hand.

Births

January to June

9 January – Pierre Combescot, journalist and writer (died 2017)
14 January – Georgie Dann, singer (died 2021)
30 January – Françoise Delord, ornithologist and zoo-owner (died 2021)
6 March
- Philippe Amaury, publishing tycoon and entrepreneur (died 2006)
- Philippe Lacoue-Labarthe, philosopher, literary critic, and translator (died 2007)
18 March
- Hugues Gall, opera manager (died 2024)
- Arlette Laguiller, Trotskyist politician
25 March – Jean Ichbiah, computer scientist (died 2007)
13 April – J. M. G. Le Clézio, writer and professor
22 April – Marie-José Nat, actress (died 2019)
27 May – Jean-Claude Piumi, soccer player (died 1996)
17 June – Marcel Aubour, international soccer player
25 June – Maryvonne Le Dizès, violinist (died 2024)

July to December

23 July – Danielle Collobert, author, poet and journalist (died 1978)
28 August – Philippe Léotard, actor and singer (died 2001)
31 August – Jean-Pierre Teisseire, politician and professional football player
1 September – Annie Ernaux, née Duchesne, author, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature ^[2]
24 September – Yves Navarre, writer (died 1994)
24 October – Jean-Pierre Genet, cyclist (died 2005)
30 December – Philippe Cousteau, oceanographer (died 1979)

Deaths

16 January – Émile-Félix Gautier, geographer (born 1864)
2 February – Eugène Apert, pediatrician (born 1868)
14 March – Paul Lemoine, geologist (born 1878)
24 March – Edouard Branly, inventor and physicist (born 1844)
13 April – Pierre Marie, neurologist (born 1853)
18 May – Adolphe Guillaumat, army general (born 1864)
23 May – Paul Nizan, philosopher and writer (born 1905)
6 June – Maurice Arnoux, World War I flying ace (born 1895)
2 August – Jules-Louis Breton, chemist, politician and inventor (born 1872)
25 August – Prince Jean, Duke of Guise, great-grandson of Louis Philippe I, King of the French (born 1874)
4 September – Émile Régnier, World War I flying ace (born 1896)
27 November
- Jean Chiappe, civil servant (born 1878)
- Henri Guillaumet, aviator (born 1902)

References

↑ "Hitler in Paris". Archived from the original on 5 October 2008. Retrieved 2 April 2008.
↑ "French author Annie Ernaux wins 2022 Nobel Prize for Literature". Onmanorama. 6 October 2022. Retrieved 6 October 2022.

v t e Years in France
13th century	Pre-1201 1201 1202 1203 1204 1205 1206 1207 1208 1209 1210 1211 1212 1213 1214 1215 1216 1217 1218 1219 1220 1221 1222 1223 1224 1225 1226 1227 1228 1229 1230 1231 1232 1233 1234 1235 1236 1237 1238 1239 1240 1241 1242 1243 1244 1245 1246 1247 1248 1249 1250 1251 1252 1253 1254 1255 1256 1257 1258 1259 1260 1261 1262 1263 1264 1265 1266 1267 1268 1269 1270 1271 1272 1273 1274 1275 1276 1277 1278 1279 1280 1281 1282 1283 1284 1285 1286 1287 1288 1289 1290 1291 1292 1293 1294 1295 1296 1297 1298 1299 1300
14th century	1301 1302 1303 1304 1305 1306 1307 1308 1309 1310 1311 1312 1313 1314 1315 1316 1317 1318 1319 1320 1321 1322 1323 1324 1325 1326 1327 1328 1329 1330 1331 1332 1333 1334 1335 1336 1337 1338 1339 1340 1341 1342 1343 1344 1345 1346 1347 1348 1349 1350 1351 1352 1353 1354 1355 1356 1357 1358 1359 1360 1361 1362 1363 1364 1365 1366 1367 1368 1369 1370 1371 1372 1373 1374 1375 1376 1377 1378 1379 1380 1381 1382 1383 1384 1385 1386 1387 1388 1389 1390 1391 1392 1393 1394 1395 1396 1397 1398 1399 1400
15th century	1401 1402 1403 1404 1405 1406 1407 1408 1409 1410 1411 1412 1413 1414 1415 1416 1417 1418 1419 1420 1421 1422 1423 1424 1425 1426 1427 1428 1429 1430 1431 1432 1433 1434 1435 1436 1437 1438 1439 1440 1441 1442 1443 1444 1445 1446 1447 1448 1449 1450 1451 1452 1453 1454 1455 1456 1457 1458 1459 1460 1461 1462 1463 1464 1465 1466 1467 1468 1469 1470 1471 1472 1473 1474 1475 1476 1477 1478 1479 1480 1481 1482 1483 1484 1485 1486 1487 1488 1489 1490 1491 1492 1493 1494 1495 1496 1497 1498 1499 1500
16th century	1501 1502 1503 1504 1505 1506 1507 1508 1509 1510 1511 1512 1513 1514 1515 1516 1517 1518 1519 1520 1521 1522 1523 1524 1525 1526 1527 1528 1529 1530 1531 1532 1533 1534 1535 1536 1537 1538 1539 1540 1541 1542 1543 1544 1545 1546 1547 1548 1549 1550 1551 1552 1553 1554 1555 1556 1557 1558 1559 1560 1561 1562 1563 1564 1565 1566 1567 1568 1569 1570 1571 1572 1573 1574 1575 1576 1577 1578 1579 1580 1581 1582 1583 1584 1585 1586 1587 1588 1589 1590 1591 1592 1593 1594 1595 1596 1597 1598 1599 1600
17th century	1601 1602 1603 1604 1605 1606 1607 1608 1609 1610 1611 1612 1613 1614 1615 1616 1617 1618 1619 1620 1621 1622 1623 1624 1625 1626 1627 1628 1629 1630 1631 1632 1633 1634 1635 1636 1637 1638 1639 1640 1641 1642 1643 1644 1645 1646 1647 1648 1649 1650 1651 1652 1653 1654 1655 1656 1657 1658 1659 1660 1661 1662 1663 1664 1665 1666 1667 1668 1669 1670 1671 1672 1673 1674 1675 1676 1677 1678 1679 1680 1681 1682 1683 1684 1685 1686 1687 1688 1689 1690 1691 1692 1693 1694 1695 1696 1697 1698 1699 1700
18th century	1701 1702 1703 1704 1705 1706 1707 1708 1709 1710 1711 1712 1713 1714 1715 1716 1717 1718 1719 1720 1721 1722 1723 1724 1725 1726 1727 1728 1729 1730 1731 1732 1733 1734 1735 1736 1737 1738 1739 1740 1741 1742 1743 1744 1745 1746 1747 1748 1749 1750 1751 1752 1753 1754 1755 1756 1757 1758 1759 1760 1761 1762 1763 1764 1765 1766 1767 1768 1769 1770 1771 1772 1773 1774 1775 1776 1777 1778 1779 1780 1781 1782 1783 1784 1785 1786 1787 1788 1789 1790 1791 1792 1793 1794 1795 1796 1797 1798 1799 1800
19th century	1801 1802 1803 1804 1805 1806 1807 1808 1809 1810 1811 1812 1813 1814 1815 1816 1817 1818 1819 1820 1821 1822 1823 1824 1825 1826 1827 1828 1829 1830 1831 1832 1833 1834 1835 1836 1837 1838 1839 1840 1841 1842 1843 1844 1845 1846 1847 1848 1849 1850 1851 1852 1853 1854 1855 1856 1857 1858 1859 1860 1861 1862 1863 1864 1865 1866 1867 1868 1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900
20th century	1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000
21st century	2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025

1940 in France

Contents

Incumbents

Events

Births

January to June

July to December

Deaths

See also

References

Further reading