Adolf Hitler attends the signing of the armistice with France, in the railway carriage used for the armistice after the German defeat in 1918

The armistice leaves France with the southern part of the country, with a new capital at Vichy

A delegation from France, defeated and partly occupied by Germany, signs in Rome an armistice with Mussolini's Italy

The British government gives recognition to Charles de Gaulle as official leader of the Free French

Increased German U-boat activity after the fall of France launches the crucial Battle of the Atlantic

Henri Matisse, recovering from an operation, develops his technique of gouaches découpées (cut-out patches of painted paper)

De Gaulle forms in London the French National Committee, a government in exile in London for the Free French

Algerian nationalist Ferhat Abbas produces a manifesto demanding independence from France

French author Albert Camus creates an early anti-hero in his novel The Outsider (L'Étranger)

French author Marguerite Duras makes her name with her partly autobiographical novel The Sea Wall

French music student Pierre Boulez joins a harmony class taught by Olivier Messiaen at the Paris Conservatoire

Pierre Laval becomes head of the government in German-backed Vichy France

Canadian troops provide most of the assault force in a disastrous raid on Dieppe

Hitler, disregarding the armistice, sends German troops to take control of Vichy France

French crews in Toulon scuttle the fleet to prevent it falling into German hands

French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre expounds his theory of existentialism in Being and Nothingness ('L'Être et le néant')

Pablo Picasso transforms a bicycle's handlebars and saddle into Head of a Bull

Jean-Paul Sartre begins a new career as a dramatist with his first play, The Flies ('Les Mouches')

The Allies cross the Channel on D-day for the Normandy invasion

British general Bernard Montgomery commands the Allied land forces in the Normandy Landing on D-day

Two pre-constructed harbours, known by the code name Mulberries, are towed across the Channel to Normandy

German troops massacre more than 600 civilians in the French village of Oradour

The Seventh US army, commanded by Alexander Patch, opens another front with a landing on the French Riviera

George Patton gets a division of his Third US Army across the Seine southeast of Paris

Barricades are built in the streets as Parisians stage an impromptu uprising against the Germans