“Dear and Admirable Allies”: The Enduring Leadership Lessons of the Liberation of Paris
By: John Bray
“There is no limit to the amount of good you can do if you don’t care who gets the credit.”
As General Marshall demonstrated throughout his storied career, strong and effective leaders understand the importance of teamwork, listening to their partners and sharing credit for success.
General de Gaulle and his entourage proudly stroll down the Champs Élysées to Notre Dame Cathedral for a Te Deum ceremony following the city's liberation on 26 August 1944.
The liberation of Paris from Nazi occupation 80 years ago this week is an excellent illustration of these leadership principles proving their worth. The iconic images of Charles de Gaulle’s victorious march down the Champs-Élysées to cheering throngs of Parisians on August 26, 1944, was no “fait accompli.” In fact, this well-known milestone on the road to the Allies’ ultimate victory in Europe was not part of the original gameplan.
Less than a week prior to the liberation, Allied leaders – including Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Supreme Allied Commander in Europe – were determined to circumvent the French capital, which was not viewed as a primary strategic target.
Ultimately, however, the Allies gained a strategic and symbolic victory by listening to their French partners, re-evaluating their plan based on developments on the ground (including the risky and courageous actions of French Resistance fighters inside Paris) and empowering French forces to take the lead role in the liberation.
Eisenhower – who was consistently protected from political meddling by Chief of Staff Marshall – quickly concluded that changing course and sharing credit with the French allies was the right course of action. History would prove him right. It was an approach that ended four years of Nazi occupation of their capital, affirmed the restoration of French sovereignty and dignity and ultimately gave democracy a fighting chance in the aftermath of a humiliating four years for France.
By mid-August of 1944, the Allies had made significant progress following the successful June 6 D-Day landings. The Battle of the Falaise Pocket (August 12-21), the final campaign of Operation Overlord, was ongoing. The engagement would prove a decisive blow to the Axis forces in northern France, with an estimated 50,000 German troops killed or captured.
Although Paris was now within reach, Eisenhower feared a direct assault on the city could result in a protracted, bloody urban siege the likes of Stalingrad and could rain untold destruction on “The City of Light.” Prudently, it seemed, he planned to bypass Paris and focus resources and manpower on destroying enemy forces, advancing east into Germany and bringing a swift end to the war in Europe.
What changed their thinking?
By mid-August, Parisians were taking matters into their own hands. The French Forces of the Interior (FFI) were ramping up attacks on Wehrmacht patrols. As the violence and bloodshed escalated, Paris police abandoned their posts and joined the rebellion. On August 19, the FFI launched an attack on the German garrison in Paris, took control of key buildings, raised barricades and engaged in street battles with the Wehrmacht.
General Charles de Gaulle, who had assumed the role of Chairman of the Provisional Government of the French Republic, rightly feared that the German occupiers would destroy the rebellion absent immediate intervention by Allied forces. In fact, Hitler ordered Lieutenant-General Dietrich von Choltitz, the German commander of Paris, to crush the insurrection. The Fuhrer instructed that if Paris were to fall to the Allies, it was to be destroyed and reduced to “a field of ruins.”
De Gaulle relayed the urgency of the situation to Eisenhower, even threatening to circumvent the Allied chain of command (a preview of things to come after the war) by detaching the French 2nd Armored Division and ordering an attack on Nazi forces in Paris.
Rather than digging in his heels and sticking to the gameplan in place, Eisenhower and the Allied leaders listened to their partners and executed an immediate course change. They had quickly come to appreciate the practical and symbolic power of embracing the momentum seized by the FFI, who were determined to liberate their capital from the grips of the Nazi occupiers.
On August 22, Eisenhower gave the go ahead. The French 2nd Armored Division under General Philippe Leclerc, which was equipped with American M4 Sherman tanks, would attack from the north, with the U.S. 4th Infantry Division moving in from the south. Resistance fighters inside Paris intensified their attacks on German positions.
After suffering considerable casualties in the early stages of fighting, the French division crushed the demoralized and outmatched German forces and entered Paris on August 24. The Americans broke through from the south early the next morning. Choltitz, who had mercifully defied Hitler’s orders to destroy the city, was captured on August 25 and surrendered his forces.
The French 2nd Armored Division fighting German forces before the Palais Garnier opera house in Paris. - August 25, 1944
The American and French liberators were greeted by jubilant crowds celebrating the merciful end of four humiliating years of Nazi occupation and oppression. It was a major milestone and powerful symbolic moment in the Allied advance towards victory in Europe.
But this iconic moment in world history was far from inevitable. It was a time for leadership. It was the direct result of the sound judgement and strategic flexibility of visionary leaders like General Eisenhower, who understood that changing course and sharing credit was far more powerful and effective than digging in and hogging the spotlight.
Parisians line the Champs Élysées to cheer the French 2nd Armored Division. - August 26, 1944
Charles de Gaulle’s inspiring speech, delivered the day Paris was liberated, expresses the power of the moment and the fruits of this leadership. French sovereignty and order were being restored, and the people of France could take pride in the fact that they fought bravely alongside their allies to make it happen:
“The enemy is staggering, but he is not beaten yet. He remains on our soil. It will not even be enough that we have, with the help of our dear and admirable Allies, chased him from our home for us to consider ourselves satisfied after what has happened. We want to enter his territory as is fitting, as victors. This is why the French vanguard has entered Paris with guns blazing… We, who have lived the greatest hours of our History, we have nothing else to wish than to show ourselves, up to the end, worthy of France. Long live France!”