Free French (Forces Françaises Libres)

Free French (Forces Françaises Libres) Those French military and civilian forces outside mainland France occupied by the Germans or ruled by the Vichy government, which continued the fight on the side of the Allies during World War II. They were led by de Gaulle and his Council for the Defence of the Empire (later Comité National Français, French National Committee). During the first years, support for the most junior general in the French army, de Gaulle, against the celebrated veteran of Verdun, Marshal Pétain, was very slow, especially as encouragement from the British was only lukewarm, while the Americans were even more suspicious of de Gaulle's intentions. However, by 1943 it had become clear that there was no realistic alternative to de Gaulle's political astuteness, particularly as he had just managed to establish his authority among the résistance movement in France itself. On 25 August 1944 the Free French, who had been renamed as the French Fighting Forces (Forces Françaises Combattantes) on 19 July 1942, were permitted by the Allies to be the first to enter Paris. The following day, de Gaulle staged a triumphal procession which confirmed his position as liberator and leader of France.