June 22, 1940: The Surrender of France's Third Republic

June 22, 1940: The French Third Republic and Nazi Germany sign an armistice, ending the Battle of France in World War II.

When Imperial Germany surrendered to France to end World War I, on November 11, 1918, it was in a Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits railroad car, used by Marshal Ferdinand Foch, in the Forest of Compiègne.

German Chancellor Adolf Hitler had the original train car found, brought back from Paris to the same location, and had the surrender signed in it. Then it was brought back to Berlin, and put on display as a trophy in a museum.

This new armistice divided France into a Zone occupée in the north and west under the Military Administration in France, controlled from Paris by Nazi Germany; and a southern Zone libre, run by collaborators with the Nazis, in the city of Vichy, known as the Régime de Vichy, a.k.a. "Vichy France." Marshal Philippe Pétain, one of the aging heroes of the previous war, was installed as a puppet head of state.

The next day, Hitler himself visited Paris. The City of Love endured a visit from its conqueror, the Prophet of Hate. He enjoyed the visit as the conqueror of Paris, much as Otto von Bismarck had, 70 years earlier. Except, unlike the Iron Chancellor, Hitler fully intended to keep Paris, and all of France, for himself.

Supposedly, he wanted to dismantle the Eiffel Tower, and rebuild it in Berlin. Someone suggested it would be better to build a taller one from scratch. He agreed that this would be a better idea. As it turned out, neither was ever done.

At the time, anyone suggesting that, 5 years later, Western Europe would be free, Germany would be under the control of its enemies, and Hitler would be dead, would have been considered as crazy as Hitler was.

As the Allies were closing in in Spring 1945, the Nazis burned the Armistice car to prevent the Allies from retaking it; the restored French government had a replica built. It now stands at the original's location, known as the Glade of the Armistice.

On October 13, 1946, a new constitution was ratified, forming the French Fourth Republic. It was replaced by the French Fifth Republic in 1958.

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June 22, 1940 was a Saturday. These baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Detroit Tigers, 3-2 at Briggs Stadium (later Tiger Stadium) in Detroit. Spurgeon "Spud" Chandler and Tommy Bridges dueled for 8 innings. But Yankee manager Joe McCarthy brought Oral Hildebrand in to pitch the bottom of the 9th, and he gave up a double to Hank Greenberg, and intentional walk to Bruce Campbell (no relation to the later Evil Dead actor of the same name), and a game-winning single to Pinky Higgins.

Greenberg went 2-for-4. Joe Gordon hit a home run for the Yankees. Joe DiMaggio went 1-for-3 with a walk and an RBI.

* The New York Giants lost to the Cincinnati Reds, 3-1 at the Polo Grounds. Ernie Lombardi went 3-for-4 with a home run and 2 RBIs. Mel Ott went 0-for-3.

* The Brooklyn Dodgers lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates, 7-2 at Ebbets Field. Elbie Fletcher hit 2 home runs for the Bucs, and Vince DiMaggio (Joe's brother) hit 1.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Boston Bees, 9-2 at National League Park in Boston. This was the last of 5 seasons of the Boston team's rebrand. The next year, they would go back to the team and ballpark names they had until 1935: "Boston Braves" and "Braves Field."

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 10-2 at Shibe Park in Philadelphia.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Boston Red Sox, 7-5 at League Park in Cleveland. Mel Harder outpitched Jim Bagby Jr., who, the next year, would be traded to the Indians, for whom his father, Jim Bagby Sr., played. Lou Boudreau went 4-for-5 with 3 RBIs. For the Red Sox, Ted Williams went 2-for-5.

* The Washington Senators beat the St. Louis Browns, 11-10 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis.

* And the Chicago White Sox and the Philadelphia Athletics were rained out at Comiskey Park in Chicago. The game was made up as part of a doubleheader on September 12. The A's swept, 1-0 and 4-3. In the opener, Bill Dietrich pitched a 4-hit shutout, outpitching Buck Ross. The only run came in the bottom of the 8th inning, when Taffy Wright singled Moose Solters home. Ken Silvestri won the nightcap with a home run in the bottom of the 9th.