On 10 May 1940, Germany invaded the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, and France. Luxembourg was occupied that same day. The Netherlands surrendered on 15 May, Belgium on the 28th. At first, Great Britain supported the Netherlands, Belgium, and France, but it withdrew later.
On 5 June, the Wehrmacht, the German army, launched a major attack on France. On 14 June, the German army occupied Paris. The French government and many Parisians had already fled the city by then. The French government failed to lead its army properly and they lost the trust of their people. The French Prime Minister resigned and was succeeded by Marshal Philippe Pétain.
On 22 June, the French army signed the capitulation in a railway carriage near Compiègne, a small town 60 kilometres to the north of Paris. The location bore special significance for the Germans. This was the place where Germany had signed its surrender in 1918, at the end of the First World War. Many Germans had considered it a great humiliation.
Germany did not occupy all of France. South of the front line, there was a new French government led by Marshal Pétain. This 'Vichy regime', named after the health resort where the government was based, collaborated with the Germans. Not all French people accepted the new situation. Some joined the resistance and others fled to London. General Charles de Gaulle founded the Free French there, with the aim of fighting the German occupation of France.