Battle of France
Sofia Ramirez, Lin Ye, Rithvik Nallapareddy,
Grant Niehaus & Chase Raines
Hitler Jig :)
Background
Battle of France
·
May 10, 1940- June 25, 1940
·
Also known as Fall of France, successful German invasion of France and the Low
countries
·
German plan of attack also known as “Case Yellow” was an armored offensive line
through the Ardennes Forest, which bypasses the French frontier defenses of the
Maginot Line.
-Maginot line built before WW2 to defend eastern borders
·
French forces were not equipped to deal with the German forces
·
Four days into the invasion German troops broke through French defensive lines,
allies attempted to counter-attack but fail
·
May 20 German tanks reached Amiens and trapped the British and surrounded
them.
- This idea was the Manstein Plan
Thesis
The Fall of France holds great significance due to
the shocking defeat of allied forces on the Western
Front, depicting Hitler’s success in progressing the
Schlieffen plan, ultimately leading to the absence
of British ground forces on the western front until
D-day for a total of four years.
Timeline
October 1939 Von Manstein creates the Manstein Plan.
Oct 10 1939 Britain and France decline Hitler's peace treaty.
Germany initiated Fall Gelb on the evening prior to and the night of 10 May. During the late
evening of 9 May, German forces occupied Luxembourg
May 10 1940 Battle for The Hague The attack, where Germany attacked Belgium
May 10 1940 Nazi German Forces began Operation Fall Gelb with Attack on the Netherlands
May 13 1940 Germans Cross Meuse River into France at Sedan
May 15 1940 German Army Group A Breaks Defenses at Sedan
Timeline Cont.
-May 17, 1940 German Occupation of the Netherlands Begins
They conducted an effective blitzkrieg and reached English Channel on May 20th.
-May 21, 1940 Battle of Arras (1940)
-May 26, 1940 British Begin Evacuating Allied Soldiers from Dunkirk Evacuation,
(Operation Dynamo)
-May 28, 1940 Belgian Army Surrenders to Germany
-Jun 22, 1940 France Surrenders to Nazi Germany
-During this period, Hitler built up his forces on Germany's western frontier. In April,
1940, German forces invaded Denmark and Norway.
-June 25, 1940 France and Italy Sign Armistice Establishing Italian Zone of Occupation
Fall of France: Fall Gelb (Case Yellow)
-June 5th, French forces finally collapse but not without
exchanging many blows
-June 10th, Italy enters the war on the German side
-Four days later, the French capital fell, provoking the flight of
the French Government to Bordeaux. The Government
capitulated on June 25th, just seven weeks after the
Evacuation Plan
-In a desperate situation, an evacuation plan went underway known as ‘Operation Dynamo” which was
ordered in Dover by Vice Admiral Bertram Ramsay.
-His strategy included an appeal for all civilian vessels to cross
the channel to help ferry the troops from the beaches to larger ships waiting
offshore or to evacuate them entirely.
-Between 26-May and 4-June Hitler advances his troops to Dunkirk
where 200,000 British and 150,000 French had already evacuation to England.
-Nine allied destroyers and approximately 200 civilian vessels were lost during the
evacuation, and the RAF suffered severe casualties covering the operation from
the air.
The Peace Treaty & Cease-Fire
The cease-fire agreement was signed
between Germany and France.
The Germans occupied France two
years and the allied forces pushed
Hitler out of France.
Ravaging of France: Fall Rot (Case Red)
-Second phase of the Battle of France
-Occurred after the invasion of the low countries
-Led by the German Army, Fall Rot charged through the Maginot line
-The Fall Rot had two phases: Primary attack over the River Somme (mainly
over the River Aisne)
-This allowed German Armor units to attack and cut off the bunkers
-France had asked for an armistice and surrendered officially on June 25, 1940
-Vichy, France was established due to this
Key Events
-Second Armistice at Compiegne: June 22, 1940: signed near Compiegne, France, established German
occupation zone in Northern and Western France that included the English Channel and Atlantic Ocean ports,
left the remainder to be freely governed by the French.
-Collapse of Third French Republic: After the Second Armistice at Compiegne, most of the French had
accepted that they had been defeated and lost hope in fighting. The French media and government were
extremely weak and corrupt and finally falls in the summer of 1940.
-German occupation of Luxembourg: Luxembourg originally neutral, however used as a strategic point for
the French defensive line for the Maginot line, was then later placed under military administration and then
annexed into Germany.
Key Events cont.
German occupation of the Netherlands:
Germans invade Holland May 10th, 1940. Holland surrenders just six days
later.
German
occupation of Belgium:
May 28, 1940 and lasted until its liberation by Allied forces between September
1944 and February 1945.
German occupation of France and Southern France:
Only took six weeks for France to fall to Germans and the
Maginot line fails to defend against Nazi forces.
Aftermath of Vichy, France
-Name granted to the authoritarian
government after the Fall of France
-Many politicians put blame on the Third
Republic, for the political and social problems
-France under the regime of Marshal Philippe
Pétain from the Nazi German defeat of France
to the Allied liberation in World War II.
-Petain was like a president and he was given
full executive powers.
Tactics
-The Germans used the blitzkrieg
and their air force to help reach the
English Channel to intercept the
British.
-Blitzkrieg is German term for
“lightning war” (mainly fire power)
“Fun” Facts (as fun as they can be
in war...)
● It is illegal to name a pig Napoleon
in France.
● The most important medical
advance that saved soldiers’ lives
during WWII was the blood
transfusion.
● WWII casualties totaled between
50 and 70 million people. More
than 80% of this total came from
four countries: Russia, China,
Germany, and Poland... (“fun”)
Works Cited
99 Fascinating Facts about World War II. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Mar. 2015.
Axelrod, Alan. "Battle of France." Encyclopedia of World War II, Vol. 1. New York: Facts On File, 2013.
Modern World
History Online. Web. 12 Mar. 2015.
"Battle of France Timeline." World History Project. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Mar. 2015.
“Battle of France (1940) Summary & Facts." Totally History Battle of France Comments. N.p., n.d. Web.
18 Mar. 2015.
"France in Defeat, 1940." France in Defeat, 1940. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Mar. 2015.
"Fall of France." History Net. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Mar. 2015.
"Fall Rot (Case Red)." History Wars Weapons. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Mar. 2015.
"Manstein Plan." History Wars Weapons. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Mar. 2015.
"Vichy France | French History." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 17
Mar. 2015.
Picture Sources
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