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How did Charles de Gaulle respond to France's armistice with Germany?

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Nazi leaders in Paris — Battle of France Adolf Hitler (center) in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris shortly after signing an armistice with France, June 1940.

In response to the French government's decision to seek an armistice with Germany in June 1940, General Charles de Gaulle rejected the surrender and fled to London. On June 18, 1940, he broadcast an appeal to his compatriots, urging them to continue the war against Germany under his leadership.123

Following this appeal, de Gaulle established the Free France movement, which the British officially recognized on June 28, 1940. His commitment to resistance was met with severe opposition from the Vichy government; on August 2, 1940, a French military court tried him in absentia, sentencing him to death, stripping him of his military rank, and ordering the confiscation of his property. Despite these actions, de Gaulle continued to build the Free French Forces, eventually unifying various resistance groups and establishing a government-in-exile that played a pivotal role in the liberation of France.14256