Demarcation line (France)

French demarcation line
	Part of Second Armistice at Compiègne
	; The demarcation line separated the Free Zone from the Occupied Zone.
Date	22 June 1940 – 11 November 1942
Location	forest near Compiègne, France
Territorial; changes	Divided Metropolitan France in two: the northern occupied zone and southern Free zone
Parties
Germany	Vichy France

The French demarcation line was the boundary line marking the division of Metropolitan France into the territory occupied and administered by the German Army (Zone occupée) in the northern and western part of France and the Zone libre (Free zone) in the south during World War II. It was created by the Armistice of 22 June 1940 after the fall of France in May 1940.

The path of the demarcation line was specified in the Articles of the Armistice. It was also called the green line because it was marked green on the joint map produced at the Armistice Convention.^[1] In German, the line is known as the Demarkationslinie, often shortened to Dema-Linie or even Dema.^[2]

Papers were required in order to cross the line legally, but few had this privilege.

The demarcation line became moot in November 1942 after the Germans crossed the line and invaded the Free Zone in Operation Anton. After this, all of France was under German occupation, and the occupied zone north of the line became known as the "northern Zone" (Zone nord) and the former Zone libre became the "southern zone" (Zone sud). The line was officially annulled on 1 March 1943.

^ Éric Alary, The line of demarcation: 1940-1944, éd. Perrin, Paris, 2003, 429 p. ISBN 2-262-01598-8, ISBN 978-2-262-01598-5, p. 22. (in French)
^ Éric Alary, The line of demarcation: 1940-1944, éd. Perrin, Paris, 2003, 429 p. ISBN 2-262-01598-8, ISBN 978-2-262-01598-5, p. 33-34 (in French).

[1] Éric Alary, The line of demarcation: 1940-1944, éd. Perrin, Paris, 2003, 429 p. ISBN 2-262-01598-8, ISBN 978-2-262-01598-5, p. 22. (in French)

[2] Éric Alary, The line of demarcation: 1940-1944, éd. Perrin, Paris, 2003, 429 p. ISBN 2-262-01598-8, ISBN 978-2-262-01598-5, p. 33-34 (in French).

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