France remembers heroic liberation of Paris from Nazi occupation, 80 years ago
France commemorates on Sunday the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Paris from German Nazi occupation, nine months before the end of World War II. RFI looks at what's being remembered and how.
On 25 August 1944, after a week of strikes, barricades and street battles, the capital welcomed General Charles de Gaulle, the leader of France's provisional government in exile, after four years of Nazi occupation.
"Paris outraged! Paris broken! Paris martyred! But Paris liberated! Liberated by itself. Liberated by its people," the leader of Free France said in an address outside city hall the following day.
He and other key military leaders strode down the Champs-Elysées in triumph.
Each 25 August since then, France remembers the bravery and sacrifice of both the armed forces, Resistance fighters and ordinary citizens who helped free the city from Nazi rule.
A week-long liberation
Taking back control of Paris didn’t happen overnight. It began a week earlier, on 19 August, when the communist chief of the French Forces of the Interior (FFI), Henri Rol-Tanguy, gave orders for a general uprising.
The faction behind de Gaulle, who was in exile in London, issued the same call the following day.
Six days of street clashes ensued, with fighters from the French Resistance, supported by workers, women and even priests, later joined by French and US soldiers.
The day’s commemorations draw to a close at 7.30 pm with church bells across the capital chiming in unison.
Read more on RFI English
Read also:
How France's diverse forces were 'whitewashed' during the liberation of Paris
New Paris Liberation Museum opens featuring Resistance bunker
Macron marks 84 years since de Gaulle's call to resist Nazi occupation
