Paris liberated
August 25, 1944
After four years of occupation, the first Allied troops, mostly Free French under Leclerc, rolled into Paris through cheering crowds. Hitler had ordered the city destroyed; the German commander disobeyed. De Gaulle walked down the Champs-Elysees the next day under sniper fire, head up, refusing to duck. France had its myth of liberation.
In context
Also in 1944 (5 other events on record)
- D-Day: Normandy landings · Europe · War
- Bretton Woods Conference begins · North America · Politics
- Valkyrie plot fails to kill Hitler · Europe · War
- Warsaw Uprising · Europe · War
- Battle of Leyte Gulf · Southeast Asia · War
Before and after in Europe
Before and after in War
Era
Modern Era (1901–2000), one of 590 events from that era on Saeculum.