Will,
it s true that the french surrended. but it s certainly not to prtotect the beauty of our buildings, France have never totaly recover form the "victory" of the first world war, during the all war battle have take place in the soil of France and France regard to her population have had the most killed. Finally France have fight during one month and more than 400 000 soldiers have been killed in this time, do they were surrender? we have lost the war and french society wasn t ready to accept the same sacrifice as the first one.
England and Usa can t understand the trauma that was and still is the war in the french psyche. And i think it s not fair to say what america or england will have done if they were in this position. nobodies knows what can have happen.

remy, liverpool,

Thank you for that,Al Kohler in Berlin,Germany. And what's the paricular fantasy you are hiding behind-that the Nazis only wanted to spread harmony and light?

VJ, London, UK

England didn't stand alone; "Britain and her Empire" did.
Not only were the Scots, Welsh, Irish from the north etc. involved, so were Australians, Indians (including what we now know as Pakistanis and Bangladeshis), South Africans, Kenyans, Canadians, Trinidadians, etc., etc., etc.

John Peters, Swansea,

Thanks for the Kudos, Will in the US, but it is impossible to make such a simplistic judgement against the french. 330, 000 troops were evacuated from Dunkirk of which 140,000 were French. These guys did not just sit out the war, to say the least.

England had not been invaded for a thousand years and there is a reason for that. The French had the facist Spanish behind them and the Nazis in front, Mussolini off to the side and long coastline. Very difficult to defend. Practical decisions had to be made fast.

The french resistance took huge risks and in 1944 held up many Panzer divisions in the run up to D Day, which saved a huge number of allied lives in Normandy and brought massive retribution down on themselves.

Alex, London,

Why in the world would the French be upset with mere photographs that simply depict life as it was? Have the photographs been retouched? Altered? Photoshoped? If the French of today have a problem with life as it was, they must direct their questions inward.

Bob Evans, Anaheim, California

The mere fact that a former collaborator, Maurice Papon, who had sent Jewish children to nazi death camps, became part of the Gaullist government in the 60s epitomizes the Resistance mythology. Resistants were a brave minority.

HECTOR VIGO, Paris,

As much as it might be enjoyable for Brits to observe the past failures of our allies from the saddle of an extremely high horse, it is important to remember what the Nazi regime was based upon. That was fear - fear of informers, fear of being snatched away upon being identified as an enemy of the occupier and fear of reprisals against one's family for an individuals supposed actions. I would imagine those shown in the photos are smiling because, while it all might look well, the undercurrents of life in occupied Paris were terrifying.

Chris, Portsmouth,

Al,

The facts speak for themselves. Londoners, their army defeated on the continent, rallied and defied the Nazi blitzkrieg that killed thousands, despite the fact that victory was far from certain. The French, with the largest Army in Europe, surrendered after their humiliating setbacks to protect the beauty of their buildings. Kudos to the English, who did stand alone steadfastly and saved democracy in Europe.

Will, New York, United States

As the economy fails and unemployment rises we will see the same attitude here...I suppose they will ask,why are the peasants revolting... !!!

Hugh E Torrance, London, England

Strange really ...a few color pictures and the entire piece takes on collaborationist overtones...I wonder how Londoners would have been if they had'nt had 25 miles of rough sea and and entire Empire behind them as they stood "alone". The fantasies we hide behind are truly stunning.

Al Kohler, Berlin, Germany

No matter what, Paris in those days was a much better place than Warsaw or Pragha. As to the "resistance" it never represented more than 1% of the population. Most people, as these amzing pictures show, went about their lives as best they could and were essentially busy making ends meet. My mother who lived in the countryside during the war years only saw ONE german soldier. A poor soul on a bicycle going from farm to farm trying to buy eggs and potatoes...

Richard, Paris, France

Incredible photos, although we should be cautious about regarding them as any sort of definitive record of the French attitude to the Nazi occupation. As in any occupied country, in amongst the activities of collaborators and the Resistance, most of the population would have simply tried to make the best of things.

There is also a wider point here too - since the war ended, many countries have been keen to indicate their revulsion at the Nazi regime (particularly after the Nuremberg trials), but during the war the same countries were all too willing to embrace some of the worst aspects of Nazism. Virtually every European country took the opportunity to send some of its Jewish population to the death camps between 1942 and 1944 - including France and even Britain (Channel Islands), and most prominently Hungary. I think only Denmark refused to do so.

So any pictures which show Parisiens enjoying themselves in the sun are a very small - although fascinating - part of the picture.

Roy Pinney, Weston Super Mare,

Hmmm. Wouldn't Europe have been a different place if we hadn't gone and stopped the Nazi's/Germans.

vic k, sheffield, uk

Wow, this is incredible. I am used to the black and white pictures like everyone else. I know that this event was not good, but those pictures were incredible.

Bryan, Houston, USA