Fall of France — Armistice Signed with Nazi Germany

German forces breach the Ardennes and outflank the Maginot Line in a six-week campaign (May–June 1940). The British Expeditionary Force evacuates at Dunkirk (May 26–June 4). France signs an armistice at Compiègne, ceding the northern zone to German occupation while a nominally independent French state governed from Vichy covers the south.