1945, rebuilding France ( CM n° 249)

Seventy years ago, allied forces put an end to the second world war in Europe. Let's look back at a little-known historical moment, the German surrender signed at Reims on May 7, 1945.

From the defence of Moscow to the victories of Stalingrad and Kursk, from Smolensk to the Black Sea, from the Vistula to the Oder, to the march into Berlin..., the great patriotic war conducted by the Red Army sealed the fate of the Reich heralding the emergence of a new superpower.

Former teacher at the IEP in Paris, this specialist in the political history of contemporary France looks back at the nature of the Vichy regime and sheds light on the political and institutional choices that were available to the French after the Liberation.