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1916
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11.18.1916
World War I: First Battle of the Somme ends – In France, British Expeditionary Force commander Douglas Haig calls off the battle which started on July 1, 1916.
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1917
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1918
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4.24.1918
First tank-to-tank combat, at Villers-Bretonneux, France, when three British Mark IVs met three German A7Vs. |
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10.8.1918
World War I: In the Argonne Forest in France, United States Corporal Alvin C. York leads an attack that kills 25 German soldiers and captures 132.
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11.11.1918
World War I: Germany signs an armistice agreement with the Allies in a railroad car outside Compiègne in France. The war officially ends at 11:00 (The eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month) and this is annually honoured with a two-minute silence.
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1919
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1920
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2.2.1920
France occupies Memel.
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1922
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6.29.1922
France grants 1 km² at Vimy Ridge "freely, and for all time, to the Government of Canada, the free use of the land exempt from all taxes".
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1923
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1.11.1923
Occupation of the Ruhr: Troops from France and Belgium occupy the Ruhr area to force Germany to make its World War I reparation payments. |
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1924
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1.25.1924
The 1924 Winter Olympics opens in Chamonix, France (in the French Alps), inaugurating the Winter Olympic Games. |
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1925
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10.14.1925
An Anti-French uprising in French-occupied Damascus, Syria. (All French inhabitants flee the city.) |
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1927
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5.8.1927
Attempting to make the first non-stop transatlantic flight from Paris to New York, French war heroes Charles Nungesser and Francois Coli disappeared after taking off aboard ''The White Bird'' biplane. |
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1930
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3.4.1930
Floods hit Languedoc and the surrounding area in south-west France, resulting in twelve départements being submerged and causing the death of over 700 people.
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1931
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8.24.1931
France and the Soviet Union sign a neutrality/no attack treaty. |
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8.28.1931
France and Soviet Union sign a treaty of non-aggression. |
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1938
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1939
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6.17.1939
Last public guillotining in France: Eugen Weidmann, a convicted murderer, is guillotined in Versailles outside the Saint-Pierre prison. |
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1940
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5.28.1940
World War II: Norwegian, French, Polish and British forces recapture Narvik in Norway. This is the first allied infantry victory of the War. |
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6.17.1940
World War II: Operation Ariel begins – Allied troops start to evacuate France, following Germany's takeover of Paris and most of the nation.
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6.17.1940
World War II: sinking of the RMS Lancastria by the Luftwaffe near Saint-Nazaire, France. |
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8.26.1940
Chad becomes the first French colony to join the Allies under the administration of Félix Éboué, France's first black colonial governor.
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8.26.1940
Chad becomes the first French colony to join the Allies under the administration of Félix Éboué, France's first black colonial governor.
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9.12.1940
Cave paintings are discovered in Lascaux, France.
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1942
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4.17.1942
French prisoner of war General Henri Giraud escapes from his castle prison in Festung Königstein.
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11.11.1942
World War II: Nazi Germany completes its occupation of France. |
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1943
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11.22.1943
Lebanon gains independence from France.
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1944
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6.6.1944
World War II: Battle of Normandy begins. D-Day, code named ''Operation Overlord'', commences with the landing of 155,000 Allied troops on the beaches of Normandy in France. The allied soldiers quickly break through the Atlantic Wall and push inland in the largest amphibious military operation in history. |
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6.9.1944
World War II: 99 civilians are hung from lampposts and balconies by German troops in Tulle, France, in reprisal for maquisards attacks.
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10.5.1944
Royal Canadian Air Force pilots shoot down the first German jet fighter over France. |
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10.5.1944
Suffrage is extended to women in France.
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1945
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5.7.1945
World War II: General Alfred Jodl signs unconditional surrender terms at Reims, France, ending Germany's participation in the war. The document takes effect the next day.
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