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{{Infobox country
| conventional_long_name = Free France
| native_name = {{native name|fr|France
| status = [[Government-in-exile]] (until November 1942){{br}}[[Provisional government]] over unoccupied and liberated territories (after November 1942)
| capital = [[Paris]] (''[[de jure]]''){{br}}[[London]] (''[[de facto]]'') (until November 1942){{br}} [[Brazzaville]] {{br}} [[Algiers]] (''de facto'') (after November 1942)
| religion = [[Secular state]]
| demonym = [[French people|French]]
| p1 = French Third Republic
| s1 = Provisional Government of the French Republic{{!}}Provisional Government of the French Republic
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| image_flag = Flag of Free France (1940-1944).svg
| image_coat = Emblem of Free France (1940-1944) Cross of Lorraine.svg
|
| symbol_type = Cross of Lorraine<br />(1940–1944)
| coa_size = 60px
| national_anthem = {{lang|fr|"[[La Marseillaise]]"}} <small>(official)</small><br />{{center|[[File:La Marseillaise Rouget de Lisle Musique de la Garde Républicaine.ogg]]}}
| image_map = Vichy france map.png
| image_map_caption = See [[:File:Vichy france map.png#Summary|map legend]] for color descriptions;{{br}}sky blue = colonies under the control of Free France after [[Operation Torch]]
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| year_exile_start = 1940
| year_exile_end = 1944
| common_languages = [[French language|French]], [[Languages of France|others]]
| title_leader =
| leader1 = [[Charles de Gaulle]]
| year_leader1 = 1940–1944
| era = [[World War II]]
}}
{{History of France}}
{{Campaignbox Free French}}
'''Free France''' ({{lang-fr|France
Following the defeat of the Third Republic by
Initially, with the exception of French possessions in the Pacific, [[French India|India]], and [[French Equatorial Africa|Equatorial Africa]],<ref group="note">August–September 1940</ref> all the territories of the French colonial empire rejected {{nowrap|de Gaulle}}'s appeal and reaffirmed their loyalty to Marshall Pétain and the Vichy government.<ref>French India, New Caledonia/New Hebrides and French Polynesia, were totally dependent economically and for their communication on British and Australian goodwill and support for Vichy was not a realistic option. Jean-Marc Regnault and Ismet Kurtovitch, "Les ralliements du Pacifique en 1940. Entre légende gaulliste, enjeux stratégiques mondiaux et rivalités Londres/Vichy", ''Revue d'histoire moderne et contemporaine'', vol. 49, No. 4 (Oct. – Dec., 2002), p. 84–86</ref> 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 by [[Allied landings in North Africa|November 1942.]]
The Free French fought
The AFL took part in the Allied [[Allied advance from Paris to the Rhine|advance through France]] and subsequent [[Western Allied invasion of Germany|invasion of Germany]], and by end of the war totaled over 1.3 million troops—the fourth-largest Allied army in Europe. The provisional government ruled France until the establishment of the [[French Fourth Republic|Fourth Republic]] in October 1946, having preempted the country's [[Allied Military Government of Occupied Territories|occupation by Allied forces]] and secured its status as a major power.
==Definition==
[[File:Medaille-IMG 0954.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.55|[[Commemorative medal for voluntary service in Free France]]]]
Historically, an individual became "Free French" by enlisting in the military units organised by the CFN or by employment by the civilian arm of the Committee. On 1 August 1943 after the merger of CFN and representatives of the former Vichy regime in North Africa to form the CFLN earlier in June, the FFF and the Army of Africa (constituting a major part of the Vichy regular forces allowed by the 1940 armistice) were merged to form the [[French Liberation Army]], {{lang|fr|
In many sources, Free French describes any French individual or unit that fought against [[Axis powers of World War II|Axis]] forces after the June 1940 armistice. Postwar, to settle disputes over the Free French heritage, the French government issued an official definition of the term. Under this "ministerial instruction of July 1953" ({{lang|fr|instruction ministérielle du 29 juillet 1953}}), only those who served with the [[Allies of World War II|Allies]] after the Franco-German armistice in 1940 and before 1 August 1943 may correctly be called "Free French".<ref>{{Cite web |title=VRID Mémorial – Un site utilisant WordPress |url=https://www.vrid-memorial.com/ |access-date=2023-06-06 |website=www.vrid-memorial.com}}</ref>
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From 27 May to 4 June, over 200,000 members of the [[British Expeditionary Force (World War II)|British Expeditionary Force]] and 140,000 French troops were evacuated from Dunkirk.<ref>Taylor, p.58</ref> Neither side viewed this as the end of the battle; French evacuees were quickly returned to France and many fought in the June battles. After being evacuated from Dunkirk, [[Alan Brooke, 1st Viscount Alanbrooke|Alan Brooke]] landed in [[Cherbourg]] on 2 June to reform the BEF, along with the [[1st Canadian Division]], the only remaining fully equipped formation in Britain. Contrary to what is often assumed, French morale was higher in June than May and they easily repulsed an attack in the south by [[Kingdom of Italy#Fascist regime (1922–1943)|Fascist Italy]]. A defensive line was re-established along the Somme but much of the armour was lost in Northern France; they were also crippled by shortages of aircraft, the vast majority incurred when airfields were over-run, rather than air combat.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Alexander|first=Martin|year=2007|title=After Dunkirk: The French Army's Performance Against 'Case Red', 25 May to 25 June 1940|journal=War in History|volume=14|issue=2|pages=226–227|doi=10.1177/0968344507075873|s2cid=153751513|issn=1477-0385}}</ref>
On 1 June, Charles {{nowrap|de Gaulle}} was promoted to brigadier general; on 5 June, Prime Minister [[Paul Reynaud]] appointed him Under Secretary of State for Defence, a junior post in the [[Cabinet of France|French cabinet]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Jackson |first1=Julian |title=A Certain Idea of France: The Life of Charles de Gaulle |date=2018 |publisher=Allen Lane |isbn=978-1846143519 |pages=110–111}}</ref> {{nowrap|De Gaulle}} was known for his willingness to challenge accepted ideas; in 1912, he asked to be posted to [[Philippe Pétain|Pétain]]'s regiment, whose maxim 'Firepower kills' was then in stark contrast to the prevailing [[orthodoxy]] of [[Attaque à outrance
The new French commander [[Maxime Weygand]] was 73 years old and like Pétain, an Anglophobe who viewed Dunkirk as another example of Britain's unreliability as an ally; de Gaulle later recounted he 'gave up hope' when the Germans renewed their attack on 8 June and demanded an immediate Armistice.<ref>Jackson, p. 112</ref> {{nowrap|De Gaulle}} was one of a small group of government ministers who favoured continued resistance and Reynaud sent him to London in order to negotiate [[Franco-British Union|the proposed union between France and Britain]]. When this plan collapsed, he resigned on 16 June and Pétain became President of the Council.<ref name="shlaim197407">{{cite journal|last=Shlaim|first=Avi|title=Prelude to Downfall: The British Offer of Union to France, June 1940|journal=Journal of Contemporary History|date=July 1974|volume=9|issue=3|series=3|pages=27–63|jstor=260024|doi=10.1177/002200947400900302|s2cid=159722519}}</ref> {{nowrap|De Gaulle}} flew to [[Bordeaux]] on the 17th but returned to London the same day when he realised Pétain had already agreedto an armistice with the [[Axis Powers]].{{sfn|Munholland|2007|p=10}}
===De Gaulle rallies the Free French===
{{Main|Appeal of 18 June}}
[[File:De Gaulle - à tous les Français.jpg|thumb|In [[Occupied France]] during the war, reproductions of the [[Appeal of 18 June|18 June appeal]] were distributed through [[Clandestine press of the French Resistance|underground means]] as pamphlets and plastered on walls as posters by supporters of the [[Résistance]]. This could be a dangerous activity.]]
[[File:4 carlton gardens.jpg|thumb|230px|right|4 Carlton gardens, London. During WWII the building served as provisional headquarters of the Free French Resistance movement]]
On 18 June 1940, General {{nowrap|de Gaulle}} spoke to the [[French people]] via [[BBC radio]], urging French soldiers, sailors and airmen to join in the fight against the [[Nazism|Nazi]]s:
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Despite {{nowrap|de Gaulle}}'s call to continue the struggle, few French forces initially pledged their support. By the end of July 1940, only about 7,000 soldiers had joined the Free French Army in England.<ref name="Goubert1991">{{cite book|author=Pierre Goubert|title=The Course of French History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1VbZMbFw89YC&pg=PA298|access-date=6 March 2011|date=20 November 1991|publisher=[[Psychology Press]]|isbn=978-0-415-06671-6|pages=298|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130527210545/http://books.google.com/books?id=1VbZMbFw89YC&pg=PA298|archive-date=27 May 2013|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=Axelrod362>Axelrod & Kingston, p. 362.</ref> Three-quarters of French servicemen in Britain requested repatriation.<ref name="Hastings, Max, p.80">Hastings, Max, p.80</ref>
France was bitterly divided by the conflict. Frenchmen everywhere were forced to choose sides, and often deeply resented those who had made a different choice.<ref name="Hastings, Max, p.126">Hastings, Max, p.126</ref> One French admiral, [[René-Émile Godfroy]], voiced the opinion of many of those who decided not to join the Free French forces, when in June 1940, he explained to the exasperated British why he would not order his ships
:"For us Frenchmen, the fact is that a government still exists in France, a government supported by a Parliament established in non-occupied territory and which in consequence cannot be considered irregular or deposed. The establishment elsewhere of another government, and all support for this other government would clearly be rebellion."<ref name="Hastings, Max, p.126"/>
Equally, few Frenchmen believed that Britain could stand alone. In June 1940, Pétain and his generals told Churchill that "in three weeks, England will have her neck wrung like a chicken".<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=vXsOAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA235 Yapp, Peter, p. 235. ''The Travellers' Dictionary of Quotation'']. Retrieved October 2012</ref> Of France's far-flung empire, only the [[French domains of
Unlike the troops at Dunkirk or naval forces at sea, relatively few members of the [[French Air Force]] had the means or opportunity to escape. Like all military personnel trapped on the mainland, they were functionally subject to the Pétain government: "French authorities made it clear that those who acted on their own initiative would be classed as deserters, and guards were placed to thwart efforts to get on board ships."<ref>Bennett, p. 16.</ref> In the summer of 1940, around a dozen pilots made it to England and volunteered for the [[RAF]] to help fight the [[Luftwaffe]].<ref name="learningsite">[http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/france_pilots_battle_britain.htm History Learning Site] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121003014827/http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/france_pilots_battle_britain.htm |date=3 October 2012 }}. Retrieved October 2012</ref><ref>Bennett, p. 13.</ref> Many more, however, made their way through long and circuitous routes to French territories overseas, eventually regrouping as the [[Free French Air Force]].<ref>Bennett, pp. 13–18.</ref>
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The [[French Navy]] was better able to immediately respond to {{nowrap|de Gaulle}}'s call to arms. Most units initially stayed loyal to Vichy, but about 3,600 sailors operating 50 ships around the world joined with the [[Royal Navy]] and formed the nucleus of the [[Free French Naval Forces]] (FFNF; in French: FNFL).<ref name=Axelrod362/> France's surrender found her only aircraft carrier, {{ship|French aircraft carrier|Béarn||2}}, en route from the United States loaded with a precious cargo of American fighter and bomber aircraft. Unwilling to return to occupied France, but likewise reluctant to join {{nowrap|de Gaulle}}, ''Béarn'' instead sought harbour in [[Martinique]], her crew showing little inclination to side with the British in their continued fight against the Nazis. Already obsolete at the start of the war, she would remain in Martinique for the next four years, her aircraft rusting in the tropical climate.<ref>Hastings, Max, p. 74</ref>
Many of the men in the French colonies felt a special need to defend France, their distant "motherland
===Composition===
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[[File:Naval Jack of Free France.svg|thumb|right|The Free French [[naval jack]] and French naval honour jack.<br />The [[argent]] rhomboid field [[Defacement (flag)|is defaced]] with a [[gules]] Lorraine cross, the [[emblem]] of the Free French.]]
{{lang|fr|[[Ranks in the French Navy|Capitaine de corvette]]}} [[Thierry d'Argenlieu]]<ref>[http://www.france-libre.net/temoignages_documents/1_6_1_6_origines_FNFL.htm www.france-libre.net, Le site de la France-Libre, "Les origines des FNFL, par l'amiral Thierry d'Argenlieu"] ({{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160413155713/http://www.france-libre.net/temoignages_documents/1_6_1_6_origines_FNFL.htm |date=13 April 2016 }}) {{in lang|fr}}</ref> suggested the adoption of the [[Cross of Lorraine]] as a symbol of the Free French. This was chosen to recall the perseverance of [[Jeanne d'Arc|Joan of Arc]], patron saint of France, whose symbol it had been, the province where she was born, and now partially annexed into [[Alsace-Lorraine]] by [[Nazi Germany]], and as a response to the symbol of [[national-socialism]], the [[Swastika#Use in Nazism|Nazi swastika]].<ref>{{
In his [[general order]] No. 2 of 3 July 1940, [[Vice
[[File:Free French Memorial Greenock.jpg|thumb|right|The Free French Memorial, looking out over the Firth of Clyde]]
A monument on [[Lyle Hill]] in [[Greenock]], in the shape of the Cross of Lorraine combined with an anchor, was raised by subscription as a memorial to the Free French naval vessels which sailed from the [[Firth of Clyde]] to take part in the [[w:Battle of the Atlantic|Battle of the Atlantic]]. It has plaques commemorating the loss of the [[Flower-class corvette]]s ''Alyssa'' and ''Mimosa'', and of the submarine {{ship|French submarine|Surcouf||2}}.<ref name="Inverclyde Council 2017">{{
==Mers El Kébir and the fate of the French Navy==
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By the end of November 1940 French Equatorial Africa was wholly under the control of Free France, but the failures at Dakar had led French West Africa to declare allegiance to Vichy, to which they would remain loyal until the fall of the regime in November 1942.
On 27 October 1940 the [[Empire Defence Council]] was established to organise and
In 1941–1942, the African FFF slowly grew in strength and even expanded operations north into [[Italian Libya]]. In February 1941, Free French Forces invaded [[Cyrenaica]], again led by Leclerc, [[Battle of Kufra (1941)|capturing the Italian fort]] at the [[oasis]] of [[Kufra]].<ref name="Keegan, John 1994. p300" /> In 1942, Leclerc's forces and soldiers from the British [[Long Range Desert Group]] captured parts of the province of [[Fezzan]].<ref name="Keegan, John 1994. p300" /> At the end of 1942, Leclerc moved his forces into [[Tripolitania]] to join British Commonwealth and other FFF forces in the [[Run for Tunis]].<ref name="Keegan, John 1994. p300" />
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The Free French forces participated in the [[Tunisian campaign|Tunisian Campaign]]. Together with British and Commonwealth forces, the FFF advanced from the south while the formerly Vichy-loyal Army of Africa advanced from the west together with the Americans. The fighting in Tunisia ended with the Axis forces surrendering to the Allies in July 1943.
During the [[Italian campaign (World War II)|campaign in Italy]] during 1943–1944, a total of between 70,000<ref name="Goubert1991" /> and 130,000{{Citation needed|date=December 2010}} Free French soldiers fought on the Allied side. The French Expeditionary Corps consisted of 60% colonial soldiers, mostly Moroccans and 40% Europeans, mostly [[Pied-Noir]]s.<ref name="Paul Gaujac 2003, p.31"/> They took part in the fighting on the [[Winter Line|Winter Line and Gustav Line]], distinguishing themselves at [[battle of Monte Cassino|Monte Cassino]] in [[Operation Diadem]].<ref name="Clark-1950">{{Cite book |last=W. Clark |first=Mark |title=Calculated Risk |publisher=Harper & Brothers |year=1950 |pages=348}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=General Mark W. Clark |url=http://www.montecassinobelvedere.fr/en/leading-figures-in-the-battle-of-belvedere/general-mark-w-clark-en/
In September 1943, the [[liberation of Corsica]] from [[Italian occupation of Corsica|Italian occupation]] began, after the [[Armistice of Cassibile|Italian armistice]], with the landing of elements of the reconstituted [[I Corps (France)#Corsica 1943|French I Corps]] ([[Operation Vesuvius]]).{{citation needed|date=July 2016}}{{clear}}
=={{lang|fr|Forces Françaises Combattantes}} and National Council of the Resistance==
{{Main|French Resistance|National Council of the Resistance}}
[[File:Resistance.jpg|thumb|Picture of [[Jean Moulin]] and his iconic scarf. He was probably tortured to death by [[Klaus Barbie]] personally.]]
The [[French Resistance]] gradually grew in strength. General {{nowrap|de Gaulle}} set a plan to bring together [[List of networks and movements of the French Resistance|the fragmented groups]] under his leadership. He changed the name of his movement to "Fighting French Forces" (''Forces Françaises Combattantes'') and sent [[Jean Moulin]] back to France as his formal link to the irregulars throughout the occupied country to co-ordinate the eight major [[Résistance]] groups into one organisation. Moulin got their agreement to form the "National Council of the Resistance" (
De Gaulle's influence had also grown in France, and in 1942 one resistance leader called him "the only possible leader for the France that fights".<ref name="derochemont19420824">{{cite news |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=fk4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA92 |title = The French Underground |magazine = Life |date = 24 August 1942 |access-date = 20 November 2011 |last = deRochemont |first = Richard |page = 86 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160503004940/https://books.google.com/books?id=fk4EAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PA6&pg=PA92#v=onepage&f=true |archive-date = 3 May 2016 |url-status = live |df = dmy-all }}</ref> Other Gaullists, those who could not leave France (that is, the overwhelming majority of them), remained in the territories ruled by Vichy and the Axis occupation forces, building networks of propagandists, spies and [[sabotage|saboteurs]] to harass and discomfit the enemy.
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A point of strong disagreement between {{nowrap|de Gaulle}} and the [[Allies of World War II|Big Three]] (Roosevelt, Stalin and Churchill), was that the President of the Provisional Government of the French Republic (GPRF), established on 3 June 1944, was not recognised as the legitimate representative of France. Even though {{nowrap|de Gaulle}} had been recognised as the leader of Free France by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill back on 28 June 1940, his GPRF presidency had not resulted from democratic elections. However, two months after the liberation of Paris and one month after the new "unanimity government", the Big Three recognised the GPRF on 23 October 1944.<ref>{{dead link|date=August 2011}} [http://www.charles-de-gaulle.org/article.php3?id_article=22&page=2 ''1940–1944 : La France Libre et la France Combattante pt. 2''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081216141743/http://www.charles-de-gaulle.org/article.php3?id_article=22&page=2|date=16 December 2008}} (in French). Charles de Gaulle foundation official website.</ref><ref>{{dead link|date=August 2011}} [http://www.charles-de-gaulle.org/article.php3?id_article=22&page=1 ''1940–1944 : La France Libre et la France Combattante pt. 1''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081216141737/http://www.charles-de-gaulle.org/article.php3?id_article=22&page=1|date=16 December 2008}} (in French). Charles de Gaulle foundation official website.</ref>
In his liberation of Paris speech, {{nowrap|de Gaulle}} argued "It will not be enough that, with the help of our dear and admirable Allies, we have got rid of him [the Germans] from our home for us to be satisfied after what happened. We want to enter his territory as it should be, as victors", clearly showing his ambition that France be considered one of the World War II victors just like the Big Three. This perspective was not shared by the western Allies, as was demonstrated in the German Instrument of Surrender's [[German Instrument of Surrender|First Act]].<ref>[http://crdp.ac-reims.fr/memoire/enseigner/reims7mai/09reims_berlin.htm "France Excluded from the German Capitulation Signing by the Western Allies"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110929002925/http://crdp.ac-reims.fr/memoire/enseigner/reims7mai/09reims_berlin.htm |date=29 September 2011 }}. Reims Academy.</ref> The French [[Allied Occupation Zones in Germany|occupation zones in Germany]] and in [[West Berlin]] cemented this ambition
==Legacy==
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==See also==
{{Portal
*[[France during the Second World War]]
* [[Bureau Central de Renseignements et d'Action]], the intelligence service
*[[List of networks and movements of the French Resistance]]
*[[France Forever]]
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*{{lang|fr|[[Chant des Partisans]]}}
*[[Military history of France during World War II]]
*[[List of French possessions and colonies]]
*[[Danish collaborator trials]]
*[[Wallis and Futuna during the Second World War]]
==Notes==
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{{Reflist|30em}}
===
* {{Cite book |last=Crémieux-Brilhac
* {{Cite book |last1=Axelrod |first1=Alan |last2=Kingston |first2=Jack A. |year=2007 |title=Encyclopedia of World War II |volume=1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LbWFgjW6KX8C |publisher=[[Facts on File]] |isbn=9780816060221 }}▼
* {{Cite book |last=Bennett |first=G. H. |year=2011 |title=The RAF's French Foreign Legion: De Gaulle, the British and the Re-emergence of French Airpower 1940-45 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rlhOD1V1jVsC |location=London; New York |publisher=Continuum |isbn=9781441189783 }}▼
▲* {{Cite book |last=Crémieux-Brilhac |first=Jean-Louis |title=La France libre |language= fr |publisher=Gallimard |year=1996 |location=Paris |isbn=2-07-073032-8}}
* Gordon, Bertram M. ''Historical Dictionary of World War II France: The Occupation, Vichy, and the Resistance, 1938-1946 '' (1998)
* {{cite book|last=Hastings|first=Max|author-link=Max Hastings|title=All Hell Let Loose, The World at War 1939–45|year=2011|publisher=Harper Press|location=London}}▼
* Holland, James. ''Normandy '44: D-Day and the Epic 77-Day Battle for France '' (2019) 720pp
* {{
* [[Andrew Mollo|Mollo, Andrew]] (1981). ''The Armed Forces of World War II''. Crown. {{ISBN|0-
* {{
* {{
* {{
* {{
* {{cite book |last1=Sumner |first1=Ian |last2=Vauvillier |first2=François |year=1998 |title = The French Army 1939–45: Free French, Fighting French and the Army of Liberation|series=Men-at-arms Series No. 318|volume=2 |location=London |publisher=Osprey |isbn = 978-1855327078}}▼
* [[A. J. P. Taylor|Taylor, A. J. P.]] ''The Second World War – an Illustrated History'', [[Hamish Hamilton]], London, 1975.
== Further reading ==
▲* {{Cite book |
▲* {{Cite book |last=Bennett |first=G. H. |
▲* {{
▲* {{
==External links==
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{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Free
[[Category:Charles de Gaulle]]
[[Category:France–United Kingdom relations]]
[[Category:
[[Category:Military history of France during World War II|Free France]]
[[Category:National liberation armies]]
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