Life in German-Occupied France | Animated History

[Music] it is late on the night of august 18th 1944 and paris is illuminated only by moonlight the din of artillery can be heard in the distance and each day it grows louder a strict curfew is in effect and german patrols march up and down the empty streets the stamp of their heavy boots echoing through the alleyways that they pass but despite the danger a small french family scurries through them innocently the woman carries her newborn child and her husband and son knew blackout curtains for their home just one wrong turn could spell disaster however the father remains calm navigating the winding back streets of the city with reassuring ease but just before they round the last corner the sun stumbles over a loose cobblestone and the family freezes in terror knowing that they have only seconds the mother helps her son regain his footing and the three dart off deeper into the maze-like streets of the occupied city [Music] hi i'm griffin johnson the armchair historian in today's video we'll be exploring what life was like for the citizens of france after their country's capitulation in the second world war our focus will be on their day-to-day hardships under the heel of a regime that viewed the nation as little more than a convenient source of labor and resources for their war machine before we begin i'd like to take a minute to talk about today's sponsor world of tanks a free to play action mmo that gives you the chance to operate over 600 different historically accurate military vehicles from 11 different nations in addition to iconic tanks such as the m4 sherman and tiger history enthusiasts can also unlock many rare and unique designs that never saw mass production like the legendary mouse or the t95 super heavy tank destroyer players can also enjoy large-scale tactical warfare on more than 40 different unique maps that are designed to facilitate many different play styles from long range support to close range brawling with vehicles divided into five 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french clocks forward by one hour prolonging the morning darkness and hastening the arrival of night this was just the first of a host of rules and regulations imposed by the germans soon enough it was illegal to possess or conceal firearms aid escaped prisoners of war or listen to foreign propaganda basically any radio station other than those approved by the german government most impactful to the immediate aftermath of the invasion was the clause against showing hostility to the occupiers which essentially just gave them free reign to do whatever they wanted paris was rapidly swarmed by thousands of german soldiers on leave and many of its famous hotels were taken over as the headquarters of various reich military and political organizations in addition to having to deal with young and eager vermont recruits flooding the capital the armistice had fixed the exchange rate between the frank and the reichsmark at 20 to 1 making even the lowliest german private able to stock up on as much cheese and wine as he could smuggle past his commanding officers not that the officers were any better far from setting a good example the ranking members of the german army set about requisitioning vast amounts of supplies from the helpless french people baggage trains were soon leaving france on a daily basis laden with luxury items exotic foodstuffs and even priceless works of art but as much as the french people resented this inglorious plundering worse was in store nazi officials soon imposed a curfew on the nation prohibiting activity between midnight and 6am this curfew would be used like a baton to beat the populace into submission and was pushed forward multiple times in response to acts of civil disobedience however while this treatment was humiliating even more changes were on the horizon as the second world war progressed and the nazi supply situation deteriorated greater and greater material pressure was exerted on its occupied territories the flow of luxury goods out of france was soon replaced by an even greater flow of essentials such as wax metal textiles leather and a vast array of other products this led to the issuing of yet another dreaded piece of paperwork the ration card rationing in france started off strict and only got stricter as the war progressed as early as 1941 daily caloric intake by adults had fallen from 2 400 calories to between 1 200 and 1 500. by comparison german citizens in 1941 were consuming a healthy 2000 calories a day with harsh rationing came the inevitable rise of the black market where disgruntled frenchmen were happy to sell their hoarded goods to their fellow countrymen at exorbitant prices farmers faced stiff fines or imprisonment if they were caught but this was little deterrent when their goods could easily fetch 30 times the official price on the black market resulting in the creation of informal barter systems between cities and rural villages in an attempt to ease the pressure of the occupation thanks to arrangements like these the french people were able to endure the hardships of the occupation but still many citizens were now refugees displaced by the invasion and subsequent division of france with nearly 2 million french soldiers held captive many communities became ghost towns even paris was affected with its pre-war population of 3 million falling to around 800 000 by the time of the occupation many families also remained separated by a vindictive clause in the armistice which stated that germany was under no obligation to release any of the prisoners of war taken during the invasion these men were now hostages and the french people were expected to work for their release and as more able-bodied germans were drafted into the military the axis need for foreign labor grew many unconvincing propaganda posters depicting happy french laborers working in german factories had existed since the start of the occupation but when these drew little interest drastic measures were implemented in march 1942 hitler personally appointed fritz sockle to the position of general plenipotentiary for labor deployment it was soccer's job to secure foreign labor for the reich by any means necessary which would earn him the nickname the slaver of europe sakho's first initiative was conceived in cooperation with the vichy government and was called the releve or relief shift it was a simple concept for every three french workers sent to germany one french prisoner would be released this allowed fishy officials to crow in satisfaction at the great compromise they had achieved and also allowed for a new more effective propaganda strategy to promote the program working abroad in germany was now an act of utmost patriotism a selfless sacrifice to help reunite brave soldiers with their families but although the rule of a brought in around 250 000 volunteers by the end of 1942 this was still far below the quota in february of 1943 salko pressured vichy france into endorsing the compulsory work service or sto this required all healthy males between 18 and 50 and all single females between 21 and 35 to be subject to do any work the government deemed necessary no matter how the vichy government chose to spin this new scheme there was no hiding its true nature as a slave labor program the introduction of the sto was arguably the breaking point for the french people they had stoically endured starvation displacement and injustice but this was too much the french resistance which up until this point had been little more than an irritant to the nazis now saw a considerable increase in membership thanks primarily to sockles efforts many men and women fled to the countryside to escape the german military police becoming the maquis a name derived from a corsican word for a type of rough elevated terrain that dominated much of rural france this land was ideal cover for resistance activities but quickly became a battleground and rural french communities found themselves embroiled in a bloody and desperate struggle where there was no such thing as an innocent bystander as early as 1940 german policy towards partisan activity was one of collective punishment if a resistance member was identified his or her family was promptly executed and as the occupation progressed this policy was widened and eventually became one of indiscriminate retaliation especially in rural areas by 1944 france was littered with mass graves and deserted villages whose inhabitants had been massacred by the ss or gestapo more insidious than both of these were the males a paramilitary force of french collaborators who worked closely with the occupiers and the uvishi government to keep their fellow countrymen under control some police were fascists from far-right parties and had existed in france before the war but many others were drawn in by the promise of better rations and exemption from the sto even still police interrogators regularly engaged in torture to extract intel from suspected resistance fighters and the information they obtained led directly to many of the massacres committed during the occupation in the years to come however they would realize that their collaboration would not go unpunished in june of 1944 the german stranglehold over france was finally broken by the normandy landings in which the resistance played a significant role by isolating german forces in the region only a month later operation dragoon began in the south forcing a german withdrawal from the occupied territories in paris despite possessing fewer than a hundred guns at the start the resistance quickly procured an arsenal of german weapons including tanks as chaos engulfed the nation angry mobs quickly took to the streets when news of their struggle reached the allies a free french armored division rushed to the capital at which point the nazi governor promptly surrendered estimates regarding the number of frenchmen put to death for collaboration vary widely but it was probably around 10 000 individuals over the course of the war this would be followed by trials known as the legal purge ironically those who escaped vigilante justice found themselves interned in concentration camps initially built by the vichy government france had also lost most of its infrastructure as a result of the allied bombing campaigns that preceded liberation and in total some 150 000 civilians had died during the occupation of these numbers a staggering 30 000 had been directly executed by germans for various crimes against the regime and another 60 000 had fought and died with the resistance throughout the brutality and hardships of the occupation the spirit of the french people remained unbroken while a few sought to escape hardship by ingratiating themselves with their new masters most frenchmen were thoroughly united in opposition to nazi rule within a few decades france would once again be one of the leading nations in europe with a strong economy and a founding position in nato but one needs only to take a walk through the ruins of villages like aurador sergeland to see the dreadful price france paid for its freedom before we conclude i'd like to remind you to check out our sponsor world of tanks new players can get 7 days of premium account time a free tier 5 premium tank and other benefits by clicking the link in the description below and using the invite code once upon a tank [Music] you

Channel: The Armchair Historian

Views: 4,385,668

Keywords: Life in german france, vichy france, the french resistance, La Résistance, France in WW2, France in the second world war, why did france surrender, the german invasion of france, the western front, world war two, second world war, 1940 history, military history of ww2, life as a civilian in ww2, what was life like in ww2, german-occupied france, german occupation of france, what was vichy france?

Id: N8ZesKsbhJA

Length: 14min 45sec (885 seconds)

Published: Fri Jul 24 2020

Reddit Comments

[u/tmbgisrealcool]

Great video. Had a lot of info about the occupation and resistance that I had not known prior.