The Free Zone Was No Longer Free

On 11 November 1942, German and Italian forces began occupying the part of France that had remained outside direct Axis military control. The Allied landings in French North Africa had begun three days earlier. For Adolf Hitler, they removed the practical reason to leave Vichy France nominally independent and exposed the French Mediterranean flank. After a final conversation with French premier Pierre Laval, Hitler gave the order to occupy the rest of France.

By the evening of 10 November, preparations for Case Anton had been completed. German forces advanced from the Atlantic coast, parallel to the Spanish border, and from central France towards Vichy and Toulon, under General Johannes Blaskowitz. Italy’s 4th Army occupied the French Riviera, while an Italian division landed on Corsica. By the evening of the 11th, German tanks had reached the Mediterranean coast. The operation was not a single rush into Vichy, but a coordinated advance across the zone.

Vichy France did not mount an armed defence of the occupation. Its protest took the form of a radio broadcast objecting to the violation of the 1940 armistice. The 50,000-strong Vichy French Army took defensive positions around Toulon, but disbanded when confronted with German demands. It lacked the military capacity to resist the Axis forces. Philippe Pétain’s government continued to exist, but the occupation ended Vichy’s position as a nominally independent state; it remained as a puppet government under occupation.

The French fleet at Toulon remained a separate concern. Germany had planned Operation Lila to seize it intact. French naval commanders delayed the Germans through negotiation and subterfuge, then scuttled the ships on 27 November before they could be captured. The losses included three battleships, seven cruisers, 28 destroyers and 20 submarines. On 11 November, that outcome was still more than two weeks away. For the moment, the map had changed first: the zone once called free was now under German and Italian occupation.