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The Liberation of Paris Essay example

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The Liberation of Paris, also referred to as the Liberation of France, took place during World War II from the 19th of August 1944 until the surrender of the occupying German army on the 25th of August. The Liberation began with an uprising by the French Resistance against the German troops. The capital of France had been governed by Nazi Germany since the signing of the Second Compiègne Armistice in June 1940, when the German Army occupied northern and westernmost France, and when the puppet regime of Vichy France was established in the town of Vichy in central France.

Nonetheless, it is difficult to define exactly when the Liberation took place because the term ‘Liberation’ has a multitude of meanings: the military operations of the …show more content…

This emphasis placed on supposed active resistance led to revelations of women’s efforts during the war and the roles that they had played in the resistance. I believe that it was these revelations that were responsible for the sparking of women’s suffrage in France and as a consequence, led to French women gaining the right to vote in 1944. There is ample evidence that the role women played in the Resistance had a significant impact and this consequently helped to secure their right to vote. It is a great shame that today the vast majority of the French population know little about the surprisingly large role women had to play. I believe that although subtle, their involvement in underground operations was significant. It was after this success in gaining the right to vote that a period of advances in women’s lives took place between 1945 and the late 1970s.

Although during the occupation, French women were expected to revert to traditional female gender roles and the Vichy government encouraged women to bear more children and focus their energies on activities that centered on family life; a select few were responsible for remarkable efforts during the resistance. “Women’s suffrage was claimed, mainly by the Left, as a reward for their Resistance activities.”(Duchen, 1994). Although the majority of women were confined to underground roles within the French Resistance network, a select few were responsible for remarkable efforts in saving

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