Africa · Conquest and colonial rule
Free France
Government in exile · 1940–1944
Free France (France libre) was the resistance government claiming to be the legitimate continuation of France after the Third Republic's collapse to Nazi Germany in June 1940.
- Type
- Government in exile
- Existed
- 1940–1944
- Shown on the map
- 1940–1944
- Peak area
- 2.4M km²
- Region
- Africa
Overview
Free France (France libre) was the resistance government claiming to be the legitimate continuation of France after the Third Republic's collapse to Nazi Germany in June 1940. Led by General Charles de Gaulle, it was established as a government-in-exile in London following Marshal Pétain's armistice with Germany, and its African dimension was decisive: while de Gaulle's Appeal of 18 June 1940 initially drew only about 7,000 soldiers in Britain, the movement gained a territorial base when Félix Éboué, governor of Chad, pledged French Equatorial Africa to Free France on 26 August 1940. By the end of August all of French Equatorial Africa — Chad, Ubangi-Shari, Middle Congo, and the mandate of French Cameroun — had rallied, except Gabon, which was taken militarily in November 1940 by General Philippe Leclerc's forces. Brazzaville became the movement's symbolic African capital, and on 27 October 1940 the Empire Defence Council was proclaimed there to govern the rallied territories.
Decline and legacy
The African colonies provided the vital manpower that made Free France credible: colonial soldiers, mostly from sub-Saharan Africa, formed a large share of the Free French Forces, which fought Vichy and Axis troops at Dakar (a failed attempt in September 1940), Gabon, Syria (Operation Exporter, 1941), Italian East Africa, Kufra in Libya (1941), and famously at Bir Hakeim (1942). After the Allied Operation Torch landings in November 1942 brought French North Africa over to the Allied side, de Gaulle relocated from London to Algiers, merging Free France with the former Vichy Army of Africa into the French Liberation Army — over 500,000 strong by June 1944 and 1.3 million by war's end. The January–February 1944 Brazzaville Conference promised postwar colonial reforms, foreshadowing the French Union. In June 1944 the French Committee of National Liberation became the Provisional Government of the French Republic, which liberated Paris in August 1944 and ruled until the Fourth Republic was founded in 1946. Free France's legacy in Africa was double-edged: African troops and territories saved French honour, yet postwar France resisted the decolonisation that African veterans increasingly demanded.
Common questions
- What was Free France?
- Free France (France libre) was the resistance government claiming to be the legitimate continuation of France after the Third Republic's collapse to Nazi Germany in June 1940.
- When did Free France exist?
- Free France existed 1940–1944. On this map it is drawn 1940–1944.
- How large was Free France?
- At its greatest extent drawn on this map, Free France covered about 2.4 million km². That is the largest area the border data gives it across the years it is drawn, not necessarily its greatest extent in history.
- How did Free France end?
- The African colonies provided the vital manpower that made Free France credible: colonial soldiers, mostly from sub-Saharan Africa, formed a large share of the Free French Forces, which fought Vichy and Axis troops at Dakar (a failed attempt in September 1940), Gabon, Syria (Operation Exporter, 1941), Italian East Africa, Kufra in Libya (1941), and famously at Bir Hakeim (1942).
Sources
Every source below was consulted while writing this entry.
- Wikipedia — Free France en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_France
This entry was written from the sources above and last updated .
This entry was researched and drafted with AI from the sources above, and has not been reviewed by a historian. How entries are made
Text available under CC BY-SA 4.0: reuse it with a credit to The World Through Time and a link to this page. Passages drawing on the Wikipedia articles listed above are also licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 by their contributors.
Border geometry for the map itself comes from Cliopatria v0.12 (Seshat Global History Databank, CC-BY-4.0).
See Free France in its world
Open the atlas at 1942 and every neighbour, rival and successor is on screen with it — then drag the slider and watch what happens next.
Open the map at 1942 →