Final answer:
France and Britain's efforts to stop German aggression included reliance on the Treaty of Versailles, political and military preparations, and eventually military engagement. However, deep political divisions in France, reluctance from Britain, and ineffective military strategies led to the swift German occupation of France and Paris. A Free French government was established in exile, and the U.S. imposed economic sanctions against Axis allies.
Step-by-step explanation:
The efforts to stop the German occupation of Paris and France during World War II were numerous but ultimately unsuccessful until the liberation by Allied forces. Initially, the French and British forces hoped to stave off the Germans through the Treaty of Versailles, which limited Germany's military capacity.
However, disillusionment and internal divisions in France, along with British reluctance to confront Hitler, led to ineffective resistance against the German war machine. Following the Polish resistance against German annexation, Britain and France declared war on Germany, but their assistance was insufficient to prevent the swift German victory over France.
Eventually, the Neutrality Acts in the United States aimed to keep the country out of the European conflict. In Spring 1940, German forces launched a blitzkrieg against Western Europe, circumventing French defenses and occupying Paris. France finally surrendered on June 22, 1940, with a portion of the government fleeing to London to form the Free French government under Charles de Gaulle.
During the period before the German offensive in 1940, known informally as the Phony War, French and British forces prepared for the inevitable confrontation, with Britain also supplying the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) for defense purposes. After the fall of France, various strategies such as economic embargoes by the United States against Axis-allied nations came into play.