Editing Lille (section)

===Second World War===
{{main|Lille during World War II}}
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 121-0396, Frankreich, Allee mit zerstörten Fahrzeugen.jpg|thumb|Wrecked vehicles in Lille, after the 1940 [[Siege of Lille (1940)|siege of the city]]]]
During the [[Battle of France]], Lille was besieged by German forces for several days. When Belgium was invaded, the citizens of Lille, still haunted by the events of World War I, began to flee the city in large numbers. Lille was part of the zone under control of the German commander in Brussels, and was never controlled by the [[Vichy France|Vichy government]] in [[German occupation of France during World War II|France]]. Lille was instead controlled under the [[Military Administration in Belgium and Northern France|military administration in Northern France]]. The ''départements'' of Nord and [[Pas-de-Calais]] (with the exception of the coast, notably [[Dunkirk]]) were for the most part liberated from 1 to 5 September 1944, by British, Canadian and Polish troops. On 3 September, German troops began to leave Lille out of fear of the British, who were on their way from Brussels. The city was liberated by a British force consisting largely of tanks.<ref>Landry, Gérard (1982). Lille, Roubaix, Tourcoing sous l'occupation (in French). Rennes: Ouest-France. {{ISBN|9782858824236}}.</ref>

Rationing came to an end in 1947, and by 1948, normality had returned to Lille.