In , the German forces defeated the French in the Battle of France. General Charles de Gaulle established a government in exile in London and competed with Vichy France to position himself as the legitimate French government, for control of the French overseas empire and receiving help from French allies.
He eventually managed to enlist the support of some French African colonies and later succeeded in bringing together the disparate maquis , colonial regiments, legionnaires, expatriate fighters, and Communist snipers under the Free French Forces in the Allied chain of command.
In , after the Allies had landed in Normandy and the southern front moved from North Africa across the Mediterranean into Italy and Provence , these forces routed the German Army, and Vichy officials fled into Germany.
France and Britain had both declared war on Germany two days after the invasion of Poland in September To divert German forces from Poland, France invaded the Saarland region of Germany on 7 September , but was forced to retreat. France formally surrendered. Germany sent two million French prisoners of war to forced labor camps in Germany. In August , the forces under de Gaulle and under Giraud merged into a single chain of command under Allied leadership.
French forces on the Eastern Front had Soviet or German leadership. Control of the French colonial empire proved critical.
