ABSTRACT
On 28 June 1940, Winston Churchill recognised General Charles de Gaulle as leader of the Free French. Thirteen days later, Petain became leader of the 'independent' Vichy government in the south. Petain appointed, and then sacked, Pierre Laval as his right-hand man. Laval was brought back into government on 18 April 1942, when Germany and Japan were in the ascendant (in parts of Africa and Asia especially). Hitler invaded the southern zone on 11 November 1942, and that, in effect, put an end to any notional independence that Vichy may once have had. By August 1944, Paris was liberated, and de Gaulle was strolling down the Champs Elysees.
