Free French
▶ Explore on the mapFree France (French: France libre) was a resistance government claiming to be the legitimate government of France following the dissolution of the Third Republic during World War II. Led by General Charles de Gaulle, Free France was established as a government-in-exile in London in June 1940 after the Fall of France to Nazi Germany. It joined the Allied nations in fighting Axis forces with the (Forces françaises libres) ("Free French Forces"; FFF), supported the Resistance in Nazi-occupied France, known as the French Forces of the Interior, and gained strategic footholds in several French colonies in Africa. Following the defeat of the Third Republic by Nazi Germany, Marshal Philippe Pétain negotiated an armistice and established a German client state known as Vichy France. Opposed to the idea of an armistice, de Gaulle fled to Britain and from there broadcast the Appeal of 18 June (Appel du 18 juin) exhorting the French people to resist the Nazis and join the Free French Forces. On 27 October 1940, the Empire Defense Council (Conseil de défense de l'Empire)—later the French National Committee (Comité national français or CNF)—formed to govern French territories in central Africa, Asia, and Oceania that had heeded the 18 June call. Initially, with the exception of French possessions in the Pacific, India, and Equatorial Africa, all the territories of the French colonial empire rejected de Gaulle's appeal and declared their loyalty to Marshal Pétain and the Vichy government. It was only progressively, often with the decisive military intervention of the Allies, that Free France took over more Vichy possessions, securing the majority of colonies after November 1942. The Free French fought both Axis and Vichy troops and served in several major campaigns, from North Africa to Indochina.
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