Fall of France

1. Fall of France Stella Koo & SeungHyun Lim

2. Brief Information • Fall of France = Battle of France. • Area: France, Belgium and the Netherlands • Location: North West Europe • It was the German invasion of France and the low countries executed from 10 may 1940 • Ended the Phoney war • 10 May 1940 to 22 June 1940 • Summary: German victory in Holland, Belgium and France, leading to an occupation that would last over four years and a desperate British evacuation from Dunkirk that left the UK facing invasion.

3. Timeline of the main events 16 June - Reynaud's government was divided between surrender and resistance, but faced Germany's inexorable advance through Paris and into the Rhône Valley. Reynaud resigned and a new government was formed by Marshal Philippe Pétain, the hero of the Battle of Verdun during World War 1. 9th June - they crossed the Seine. Also the Germans attacked on the Aisne and eventually turned towards Switzerland, cutting off all the French forces still holding the Maginot Line. 10th May 1940 – German forces advanced to Holland, landing at Hague 5th June - the Germans began a new offensive from their positions on the Somme. 14th May- Holland surrounded Germany invades Poland. Great Britain and France declare war on Germany. 20th May - cutting off the Allied armies in Belgium. 12th June, General Maxime Weygand, (French commander), told the French premier Paul Reynaud that the battle for France was lost and that a cessation of hostilities was the only option. 17th May - German crossed the River Oise and reached Abbeville. 13th May - Germans crossed the River Meuse into France at Sedan. 7th June - Their tanks, led by Rommel, broke through toward Rouen

4. The form of warfare • Losses : • 330,000 losses • 1,450,000 prisoners • 892 aircrafts France • 2100 planes • 10000 artillery pieces • 3500 tanks and armored cars but only really about 2000 modern ones engaged Germany • 4500 planes (Junkers Ju 87) • 7500 artillery pieces • 3800 tanks and armored cars • Losses: • 156,492 losses + 6000 Italian losses in the French Alps) -- compared to 40,390 losses in Poland.

5. The German army The German Army was divided into three army groups: • Army Group A commanded by Gerd von Rundstedt, composed of 45½ divisions including seven armored, through the Allied defenses in the Ardennes. • Army Group B under Fedor von Bock, composed of 29½ divisions including three armoured, was tasked with advancing through the Low Countries and luring the northern units of the Allied armies into a pocket. It consisted of the Eighteenth and Sixth Army. • Army Group C, composed of 18 divisions under Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb, was charged with preventing a flanking movement from the east, and with launching small holding attacks against the Maginot Line and the upper Rhine. It consisted of the First and Seventh Army.

6. Casualties and lost France • 360,000 dead or wounded in this battle • French prisoners: more than 1,450,000 • France's heavy artillery were captured Germany • 1236 planes destroyed & 322 damaged • 839 tanks were destroyed

7. What if… • If Britain and France had accepted the new political order, German and France would have a good relationship. • If the French soldier's had time to prepare before the war, they might win the war, but they didn’t have strategy and the French army was not able to lead a modern movement of war