Adolf Hitler greets French Head of State Marshal Henri Philippe Pétain in Montoire-sur-le-Loir. In the center is Chief Interpreter Dr. Paul Schmidt; on the right, Reich Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop.

Why Hitler Chose Not to Occupy All of France

The strategic logic behind France’s division, and the moment Hitler’s trust in Vichy collapsed. France features prominently throughout the history of World War II. Across…

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Nick Ravenshade
Nick Ravenshade

Nick Ravenshade, LL.B., founded WarCommons out of a lifelong obsession with the Second World War. He has spent years reading the histories, the memoirs, the declassified files, and the scholarship. And WarCommons is where that research becomes writing. His features aim to do what the best military history does: take readers inside the decisions, the institutions, and the ordinary lives that the war consumed, without simplifying what was genuinely complicated. He holds a law degree and applies that habit of evidence and argument to everything he publishes here.

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