Following the armistice signed on 22 June 1940, the zone which was not occupied by the Germans took the name of the French State "(État Français)" (as opposed to the traditional name, "République Française" or French Republic) and set up its capital in Vichy on 1 July, because of the town's relative proximity to Paris (4.5 hours by train) and because it was the city with the second largest hotel capacity at the time. Moreover, the existence of a modern telephone exchange made it possible to reach the whole world via phone.