France entered the war in 1939. The defeat of May–June 1940 led to the armistice, the Vichy regime and Occupation. Charles de Gaulle called for resistance from London; the Free French and the internal Resistance grew. Liberation in 1944 and victory in 1945 opened the Fourth Republic.
1940
Blitzkrieg, Dunkirk, armistice, division of the country, Vichy and collaboration.
Resistance and Liberation
Free France, internal networks, Allied landings (Normandy, Provence), Liberation of Paris (August 1944).