Unoccupied Zone

The ''zone libre'' (, ''free zone'') was a partition of the French metropolitan territory during World War II, established at the Second Armistice at Compiègne on 22 June 1940. It lay to the south of the demarcation line and was administered by the French government of Philippe Pétain based in Vichy, in a relatively unrestricted fashion. To the north lay the ''zone occupée'' ("occupied zone"), in which the powers of Vichy France were severely limited.

In November 1942, the ''zone libre'' was invaded by the German and Italian armies in Case Anton, as a response to Operation Torch, the Allied landings in North Africa. Thenceforth, the ''zone libre'' and ''zone occupée'' were renamed the ''zone sud'' (southern zone) and ''zone nord'' (northern zone) respectively. From then on both were under German military administration.

Origins of the ''zone libre''

On 22 June 1940, after the Battle of France, Wilhelm Keitel, representing Nazi Germany, and Charles Huntziger, representing Pétain's government, signed an armistice at the Rethondes clearing in the forest of Compiègne, which stipulated in its second article:

The line separating French territory into two zones was defined on a map attached to the treaty.

This separation line took effect on 25 June 1940., sur le site du ministère de la Défense ''defense.gouv.fr''. Consulté le 24 octobre 2008. It was thereafter referred to as the ''ligne de démarcation''.

French sovereignty persisted throughout the whole territory, including the ''zone occupée'' (except for Alsace and Moselle, which had been annexed), but the terms of the armistice in its third article stipulated that Germany would exercise the rights of an occupying power in the ''zone occupée''.

When the Allies invaded North Africa on 8 November 1942, the Germans and Italians immediately occupied the remaining free part of France. After being renamed ''zone sud'' ("south zone"), it was thereafter ruled by the Wehrmacht as a part of occupied France.

The liberation of France began on 6 June 1944 with the Allied forces landing on D-Day, the Battle of Normandy, and the Allied landing in Provence on August 15. Most of France was liberated by September 1944.

Extent of the ''zone libre''

The ''zone libre'' constituted a land area of , approximately 45% of France, and included approximately 33% of the total French labour force. The ''ligne de démarcation'' passed through 13 of the 90 departments:

* Basses-Pyrénées (Pyrénées-Atlantiques since 1969)
* Landes
* Gironde
* Dordogne
* Charente
* Vienne
* Indre-et-Loire
* Cher
* Allier
* Saône-et-Loire
* Jura
* Ain

Of the other 77 departments, 42 lay entirely within the ''zone libre'' and 35 lay entirely within the ''zone occupée''.

Theories about the separation of the zones

For the historian Éric Alary, the partitioning of France into two main zones, ''libre'' and ''occupée'', was partly inspired by the fantasy of pan-Germanist writers, particularly a work by a certain Adolf Sommerfeld, published in 1912 and translated into French under the title ''Le Partage de la France'', which contained a map showing a France partitioned between Germany and Italy according to a line which partly matched that of 1940.

suggests: "During the occupation, the Franciens were separated from the Occitans by the infamous "demarcation line". For a long time, we thought that the shape of this line was suggested to Hitler by the Romance-language specialists within his entourage. Now we believe that this border was imposed upon the occupying power by well-known geopolitical realities."

Jews in the free zone

Jews in the were directly targeted by antisemitic legislation from the Vichy government. Though the free zone was not under direct Nazi control from 1940 to 1942, many of the laws made in these years mirrored the policies of Nazi Germany and German-occupied France despite their completely French origin.

Vichy anti-Jewish legislation was made and enforced by the Vichy government which had administrative and military control in the , as opposed to the Occupied zone where Germany was a military occupying force. The Law on the status of Jews was signed by Pétain on 3 October 1940, three months after the zone libre was formed. These laws barred Jews from many aspects of daily life including work and naturalization as French citizens. Three quarters of Jews in France who lost their jobs from this statute were from the . Jews' new classification as foreign made them more at risk for harsh punishment as “foreigners” rather than citizens. House arrest or being arrested and placed into one of the internment camps in France was a common fate. Breaking any French law or anti-Jewish statute could lead to their expulsion if accused by a neighbor or officer. Jews continued to be stripped of their rights and forced out of French society over the two years of existence of the .

Official justification for the laws varied slightly but held with the top-down anti-Semitism characteristic of the Vichy government at this time. The General Commission on Jewish Affairs stated plainly that these laws were justified in their moral humiliation of Jews and were completely of French origin. The narrative of Jews in France being parasitic was pushed by Vichy France in official statements but was relatively subdued until the last six months of the when outright antisemitism became a fundamental aspect of Vichy policy.

Free zone and Italy

On 24 June 1940, two days after the armistice with Germany, the Vichy government signed an armistice with the Italians at the villa Incisa in Olgiata near Rome, instituting a zone of Italian occupation.Giorgio Rochat, (trad. Anne Pilloud), La campagne italienne de juin 1940 dans les Alpes occidentales, ''Revue historique des armées'', No. 250, 2008, pp. 77–84
sur le site du Service historique de la Défense, ''rha.revues.org''. Mis en ligne le 6 juin 2008, consulté le 24 octobre 2008. The Italian occupation zone concerned certain border areas conquered by Italian troops, including Menton. This zone was of limited importance, comprising and 28,000 inhabitants.Jacques Delperrié de Bayac, ''Le royaume du maréchal : histoire de la zone libre'', Éditions Robert Laffont, 1975, p. 14. Four departments were partially covered by the Italian occupation: Alpes-Maritimes, Basses-Alpes (Alpes-de-Haute-Provence since 1970), Hautes-Alpes and Savoie.

In addition, a demilitarised zone was established containing all French territory within from the zone of Italian occupation. The department of Corsica (split into two departments since 1976) was neither occupied nor demilitarized by any provision of the armistice (although it was occupied by Italy after ''Case Anton'').

End of the free zone

On 8 November 1942 Allied forces invaded French North Africa (Operation Torch). German and Italian forces responded on 11 November 1942 by invading the ''zone libre'' in Case Anton (based on a previous plan called Operation Attila, which had not included any Italian forces).« Invasion de la zone libre »
''histoire-en-questions.fr''. Retrieved 24 October 2008. The ''zone libre'' became the ''zone sud'' (south zone) from November 1942 onwards; the invading powers shared out its territory between themselves, with a region covering practically the whole area east of the Rhône passing to the Italians.« L’occupation italienne »
, ''resistance-en-isere.com''. Retrieved 24 October 2008
.
After the capitulation of Italy at Cassibile became public knowledge on 8 September 1943, the Italian armies retreated and the Germans united the southern zone under their own exclusive control. The German military administration in France ruled both ''zone sud'' and ''zone nord''; the Vichy regime remained nominally in charge, as it had in the ''zone occupée''.

Other names

Until November 1942, the Germans called the ''zone libre'' "''Unbesetztes Gebiet''" or unoccupied zone. The ''zone libre'' was also nicknamed the ''zone nono'' by the French, shortened from ''non occupée'' (unoccupied). The occupied zone accordingly became the ''zone jaja'' (yes-yes zone). The ''zone libre'' was also called the ''royaume du maréchal'' ("Marshal Philippe Pétain's kingdom") by the French author Jacques Delperrié de Bayac.

References

{{coord missing, France

Military history of France during World War II
Former subdivisions of France
1940 establishments in France
1942 disestablishments in France
States and territories established in 1940
States and territories disestablished in 1942
Axis powers