Editing Free France (section)

===Prelude===
[[File:De Gaulle-OWI.jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.9|[[Charles de Gaulle]] was an armoured division commander and a minister in the [[Paul Reynaud|Reynaud]] government during the [[Battle of France]].]]

On 10 May 1940, [[Nazi Germany]] invaded France and the [[Low Countries]], rapidly defeating the Dutch and Belgians, while armoured units attacking through [[Battle of Sedan (1940)|the Ardennes]] cut off the Franco-British strike force in Belgium. By the end of May, the British and French northern armies were trapped in a series of pockets, including [[Battle of Dunkirk|Dunkirk]], [[Siege of Calais (1940)|Calais]], [[Battle of Boulogne (1940)|Boulogne]], [[Saint-Valery-en-Caux]] and [[Siege of Lille (1940)|Lille]]. The [[Dunkirk evacuation]] was only made possible by the resistance of these troops, particularly the French army divisions at Lille.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Horne |first1=Alistair |title=To Lose a Battle; France, 1940 |date=1969 |publisher=Penguin |isbn=978-0141030654 |page=[https://archive.org/details/tolosebattlefran00sira/page/604 604] |edition=2007 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/tolosebattlefran00sira/page/604 }}</ref>

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]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Horne |first1=Alistair |title=The Price of Glory; Verdun 1916 |date=1962 |publisher=Penguin |isbn=978-0140170412 |page=150 |edition=1993}}</ref> He was also a long-time advocate of the modern [[armoured warfare]] ideas applied by the [[Wehrmacht]], and commanded the [[4e Division cuirassée|4th Armoured Division]] at the [[Battle of Montcornet]].{{sfn|Munholland|2007|p=10}} However, he was not personally popular; significantly, none of his immediate military subordinates joined him in 1940.<ref>Jackson, p. 110</ref>

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 agreed to an armistice with the [[Axis Powers]].{{sfn|Munholland|2007|p=10}}