August 26, 1944: Eighty years ago this month, French and Allied troops liberated Paris, which had been taken over by the German army four years earlier. Just as its takeover by Adolf Hitler’s forces had come with little damage to the capital, the defeat of its Nazi occupiers left the city intact – a near-miracle, considering the Führer had demanded the destruction of its landmarks, bridges, museums and palaces, which have been the backdrop to this month’s Olympics. The liberation came 11 weeks after D-Day. The war in Europe dragged on for another nine months, but the event marked the foundation of modern France. Here, Parisians line the Champs-Élysées for a parade of the French 2nd Armoured Division the day after the German garrison in the city surrendered, its commander, Dietrich von Choltitz, having sidestepped Hitler’s orders to leave the City of Light a pile of rubble. l