Atlas of Battles

battle, landmark, interwar and Second World War

Liberation of Paris

Liberation of Paris was a battle fought on 19 August 1944 at Paris, in what is now France; it lasted 6 days. It was part of Operation Overlord. The recorded result: Free French and allied victory.

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Crowds of French patriots line the Champs Elysees to view Free French tanks and half tracks of General Leclerc's 2nd Armored Division passes through the Arc du Triomphe, after Paris was liberated on A
Crowds of French patriots line the Champs Elysees to view Free French tanks and half tracks of General Leclerc's 2nd Armored Division passes through the Arc du Triomphe, after Paris was liberated on A. Jack Downey, U.S. Office of War Information, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Fought19 August 1944lasted 6 days
WhereParis, France48.873N, 2.296E
OutcomeFree French and allied victory
BelligerentsProvisional Government of the French Republic; Free France; United States; United KingdomagainstNazi Germany; Vichy France
Part ofOperation Overlord1944

Where it sits in Operation Overlord

Battle for Caen, 1944Battle of Cherbourg, 1944Battle of Carentan, 1944Battle of Bréville, 1944Battle of Bloody Gulch, 1944Battle of La Haye-du-Puits, 1944Second Battle of the Odon, 1944Battle for Brest, 1944Falaise Pocket, 1944Liberation of Paris, 194419441944Liberation of Paris, 1944
10 placed engagements of Operation Overlord in time order; taller ticks are more widely documented. Each tick is a link.

Record

Date19 August 1944
to 25 August 1944
PlaceParis, France
48.873N, 2.296E
KindBattle, interwar and Second World War
Commanders
  • Dietrich von Choltitz
Liberation of ParisLiberation of ParisSiege of ParisSiege of ParisBattle of ParisSiege of ParisSiege of ParisSiege of ParisLe HavreRouenOrléansReimsLe MansAmiensTroyesDieppe100 km48.873N, 2.296E
The recorded site, with the nearest other engagements in the atlas. Present-day coastlines, rivers and borders; towns from Natural Earth.

The ground today

Relief of the ground around the site of Liberation of Paris
Relief within about 10.0 km of the site, contours every 10 m. Copernicus DEM GLO-30, ESA.
Satellite view of the site of Liberation of Paris today
The same ground from Sentinel-2 on 2024-08-05. Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2024.

The recorded site stands at about 57 m; within 10.0 km the ground runs from -1 to 137 m, 137 m of relief, gently rolling country and today it is 78% built-up, 19% tree cover, 2% water.

built-up: 78%tree cover: 19%water: 2%built-up 78%tree cover 19%water 2%
west to east, 10.0 km24 to 78 mnorth to south, 10.0 km24 to 72 m
Elevation from the Copernicus DEM GLO-30 (ESA, Airbus); land cover from ESA WorldCover 2021 (CC BY 4.0), within about 5 km of the recorded site. Computed, not recorded.

Nearest engagements

Contested ground: this site was fought over 26 times between 52 BC and 1944.

In the same war

Elsewhere in 1944

Liberation of Paris is one of 2,997 engagements of the 20th century in the atlas and one of 1,383 in present-day France.

Sources

Identity, coordinates, dates and the war from Wikidata Q696835, released under CC0. Result, belligerents, commanders, strength and casualties from the infobox of the English Wikipedia article Liberation of Paris, revision 1375254748, read 2026-11-14, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; the article's text is not reproduced here. Present-day country and state from Natural Earth. Dates before 1582 follow the Julian calendar as recorded.