French corsairs French corsairs Corsairs () were privateers, authorized to conduct raids on shipping of a nation at war with France, on behalf of the French crown. Seized vessels and cargo were sold at auction, with the corsair captain entitled to a portion of the proceeds. Although not French Navy personnel, corsairs were considered legitimate combatants in France (and allied nations), provided the commanding officer of the vessel was in possession of a valid letter of marque ( or , the latter giving "corsairs" their name), and the officers and crew conducted themselves according to contemporary admiralty law. By acting on behalf
Military history of France during World War II the border in three places. Roughly thirty-two Italian divisions faced just four French divisions. Fighting continued in the east until General Pretelat, commanding the French Second Army group, was forced to surrender on June 22 by the armistice. France formally surrendered to the German armed forces on June 22 in the same railroad car at Compiègne in which Germany had been forced to surrender in 1918. This railway car was lost in allied air raids on the German capital of Berlin later in the war. Metropolitan France was divided into a German occupation zone in the north and west and