Video: 'The World At War 1973(World War II Documentary) 03.France Falls (May – June 1940)' (June 10, 1940, at 46:00)

(Monday, June 10, 1940; during the Battle of France, part of the Western Front of the World War II) — As troops from Nazi Germany approached the “City of Light” from the north and west, the French government fled Paris today, first to Tours and then to Bordeaux.

Under the cover of darkness, the ministers, drove to their new offices last night (June 9, 1940) with their principal aides. The rest of the functionaries followed this morning. Most of the government documents already had been moved.

Video: 'World War II - Blitzkrieg to the Bomb Documentary' (Paris declared an open city on June 12, 1940, at 16:40)

Thousands of Parisians followed their example, filling the roads out of the city with automobiles, tourist buses, trucks, wagons, carts, bicycles, and on foot.

The British General Staff urged the French to defend Paris street-by-street, but Deputy Prime Minister Philippe Pétain would dismiss the idea, saying “To make Paris into a city of ruins will not affect the issue.”

On June 12, 1940, the French government, in Tours, declared Paris to be an open city, assuring that the Germans would face no resistance.