Battle of France

Immediately following the evacuation, the Germans initiated Fall Rot and turned their sights on wiping out the remaining separated French forces in the south. France was declared an open city, when the French government fled from Paris because of the advancing Germans. German forces arrived in Paris on June 14th. Ironically enough, as Hitler insisted, three days later the French government officially surrendered in the same railcar the Germans surrendered in at the conclusion of WWI at Compiègne. “The humiliation of France was complete.” (Sheffield, 2011) Following the successful takeover of Paris and surrender of the French, France was split into an occupied and unoccupied zone. The Germans occupied the northern part of France including…

The Evacuation from Dunkirk was the largest, and most successful military evacuation in world history. Over 330,000 soldiers were evacuated from the beaches of France after a failed attempt at defending it from the Nazi occupation. When the Germans invaded France in 1940, the British sent soldiers to help in the defence of the country. German tactics and technology allowed the Nazis to beat back the French and the British to the coast line. Not being able to counter-attack, the British…

yet in only six weeks, France succumbed to German attack and plunged society into its next world war. Historians wrestle with explanations, trying to pin-point specific political, psychological and military French failures which were the catalyst for the actual Fall of France. For these researchers, trying to demystify events often resurrects their own personal perspectives on history. Sometimes their bias seeps into their works. None-the-less, Julian Jackson, Marc Bloch and William D. Irvine…

They knew if that happened, the war would already be a loss for Germany. The German high command had to plan out the invasion, so the German armies could have a successful invasion of enemy nations with surprise. They knew that planning for the invasion was the finally key in the Blitzkrieg tactic. They knew that if they didn’t planned for the invasion, the key of surprise would be lost ("The Concept of Blitzkrieg"). “If moved rapidly enough, concentrations of tanks could smash through enemy…

thirty barrels of fuel per mile travelled.” Germany soon began to strategically capture land in order to support their need for fuel, which eventually became their primary motivation throughout all their invasions. During the war, Germany did not possess a very effective production of food for their troops, or almost any production at all. About 13 million people served in the German army during World War 2. In order to successfully feed its troops, one of Germany’s primary goals was “to…

June 6th, 1944, Ally troops storm the beaches of Normandy. Know as “Operation Overlord,” this was a strategical plan to liberate France. The beaches of Normandy were divided into 5 sections. On each section, Ally troops pour onto them. The Germans knew they the Allies were planning to attack, but they didn’t know where or when. So when the Allies came, the Germans weren’t as ready as they could have been. The Allies pushed ahead, with overall casualties of 9,000 men. The fight was hard fought,…

For the purpose of this paper I will be explaining the reasons for the rapid fall of France in 1940. Some, if not most, of the attention is given to Hitler’s blitzkrieg style of invasion as a main reason for France’s crushing defeat, but there were many other factors that compounded the devastation that was associated with Hitler’s war on France. As I will highlight, the German advance via the “all new” tank tactics of the time was an extremely devastating driving force that was the tip of the…

As discussed earlier, religion was a powerful driving force in France during the Hundred’s Year War. The multiple events leading up to Joan of Arc presenting to the Dauphin had left the French army discouraged and with poor morale. The people of France and the military were looking for a divine intervention and found it in Joan. Joan built trust in her troops through her confidence in the visions and voices directing her mission, her patriotism, her fearlessness, and integrity. She was at the…

to strike them in the flank or the rear, while maintaining a reserve to exploit any advantage gained, or, if things went wrong, to cover a withdrawal. These tasks called for the traditional infantry and artillery team, but now well supported by tanks and close support aircraft. McNair was also vigorously against all types of specialised units designed to carry out only one particular type of mission. Instead, he preached flexibility and the need for the balanced team of all arms. This doctrine…

during this revolution to develop a holistic approach to dealing with this issue to maximize combat power. Frederick the Great’s strategy centered on discipline. He developed rules such as not camping near wooded areas, keeping watch on rear and flank echelons, not marching at night, and closely watching Soldiers during foraging and bathes . He believed in strict adherence to formation integrity reinforced through rigorous drill. If Soldiers stepped out of position, officers would harshly…