This week sees the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Paris from Nazi occupiers during the Second World War. The Battle for Paris started with an uprising by the French Resistance against the German garrison on 19 August 1944 and lasted until the Germans surrendered on 25 August 1944.

On 24 August 1944 crowds of Parisians cheered as General Leclerc's 2nd French Armoured Division rumbled through the Arc de Triomphe and along the Champs-Élysées. American forces cleared the eastern part of the capital.

On 25 August General Charles de Gaulle, president of the Provisional Government of the French Republic, addressed the gathered crowds from the Hôtel de Ville. The following day he led a victory parade, interrupted by the last few German snipers. A huge combined French-US military parade was held on 29 August.

IBTimesUK looks back at photographs documenting the historic events of this momentous week.