Zone occupée

The zone occupée (, occupied zone; Besetztes Gebiet) was the area of France where German occupying troops were deployed during the Second World War after the signature of the Second Armistice at Compiègne. After the German occupation of the zone libre in November 1942, the zone occupée was renamed the zone nord (north zone).

Origin of the zone occupée
Article 2 of the terms of the armistice signed on June 22, 1940 at the Rethondes clearing in Compiègne Forest between Marshal Wilhelm Keitel, representative of the Third Reich, and General Charles Huntzinger, representative of the French government of Marshal Philippe Pétain, stipulated as follows:

"In order to protect the interests of the German Reich, the French territory situated to the north and west of the line traced on the attached map, will be occupied by German troops..."

The separation of French territory into two zones was indicated by a line drawn on an accompanying map:

"...starts, in the east, at the Swiss-French frontier, near Geneva, and is then bounded by Dole, Paray-le-Monial, and Bourges, about twenty kilometers to the east of Tours. From there, it passes at a distance of twenty kilometers to the wast of the Tours-Angouleme-Libourne railway line, and then, further on, by Monte-de-Marsan and Orthez, until it reaches the Spanish frontier." This partition of French territory took effect on 25 Jun 1940. It was later named the ligne de démarcation (demarcation line).

The areas constituting the French colonial empire remained under the authority of Marshall Pétain's Vichy regime. French sovereignty was to be exercised over the whole of French territory, including the zone occupée, Alsace and Moselle, but the 3rd article of the armistice stipulated that Germany would exercise rights of an occupying power in the zone occupée:

"In the occupied region of France, the German Reich exercises all of the rights of an occupying power. The French government undertakes to facilitate in every way possible the implementation of these rights, and to provide the assistance of the French administrative services to that end. The French government will immediately direct all officials and administrators of the occupied territory to comply with the regulations of, and to collaborate fully with, the German military authorities."

Policies
The division line between the unoccupied and occupied zones constituted an internal frontier. Crossing the border required a pass (Ausweis), which was difficult to acquire. People could write only to their family members, and this was only permissible using a pre-filled card where the sender checked off the appropriate words (e.g. 'in good health', 'wounded', 'dead', 'prisoner'). The occupied zone was on German time, which was one hour ahead of the unoccupied zone. Other policies implemented in the occupied zone but not in the south were a curfew from 10 p.m to 5 a.m, a ban on American films, the suppression of displaying the French flag and singing the Marseillaise, and the banning of Vichy paramilitary organizations and the Veterans' Legion.