When Nazi Germany signed its unconditional surrender in 1945, Wilhelm Keitel, a senior German commander, reportedly reacted with surprise. As he reviewed the list of victorious powers, one name stood out to him: France. From a legal and military standpoint, France had not been formally recognized by the U.S. or the USSR as a victorious power. The country had been defeated in 1940 and later liberated with Allied help. Yet at the surrender table, France stood alongside the major victors. That incl