French Sign German Armistice – The Philadelphia Inquirer 06/23/1940

Headline: “French Sign German Armistice, Call Terms ‘Hard But Honorable’; Envoys Fly to Italy; 500,000 Troops Surrender In Maginot Line”
From The Philadelphia Inquirer, 06/23/1940

This newspaper documents the surrender of France to Germany in 1940.  This moment may have been near the apex of Germany’s successes in the early days of World War II.

Photos in the gallery above include:

• Full front page of this newspaper
• Photo from the front page of Hitler and French leaders signing the armistice handing France over to the Germans.  Hitler made sure the signing took place in the same railway car where Germany signed their own armistice after Germany’s defeat 22 years earlier in World War I.