Victoire 1945
Monaco commemorates the end of World War II in Europe with a ceremony at the Monument aux Morts on the Avenue de la Costa. Monaco was occupied by the Italians (1942-43) and then by the Germans (1943-44), and the Monégasques endured hardship, deportation, and the forced conscription of young men into the German labor service. Prince Louis II, the reigning prince during the war, walked a difficult line between accommodation and resistance : secretly helping the Resistance while maintaining the appearance of neutrality. The liberation of Monaco came on September 3, 1944, when American troops entered the principality. The ceremony on May 8 is simple and dignified, and the old veterans of the Resistance are honored with the Légion d'honneur.