HUM 3343: WWII in Europe through History, Literature and Film
Summer 2014
Lecture 2: Blitzkrieg and the Fall of France, 1939-1940
-History of Europe, 1935-1939
-Appeasement and Rearmament
-Invasion of Poland, 1939
-Phony War
-Invasion of the West, 1940
1935: Germany increases the size of the army and announces increase/creation of an air force in
violation of Versailles Treaty; offers to limit size of army and air force if France would agree to
sign a pact with Germany; France’s refusal is pretext Hitler uses to increase both to greater size
1936: Introduction of conscription increases Army to 36 divisions; signing of mutual assistance
pact between France and Soviet Union gives Hitler legal space to remilitarize the Rhineland on
March 7; Nazi Germany’s armed forces, the Wehrmacht, becomes one of the best armed
militaries and is one of the most modern in Europe; alliance with Japan; creation of Rome-Berlin
Axis (Oct)
1937: Creation of OKW (Oberkommando der Wehrmacht, “Supreme Command of the Armed
Forces”) with Hitler as head, gives Hitler some say over high level military strategic planning
(Nov); alliance with Mussolini
1938: Hitler begins mass rearmament and diplomatic offensive with plans for Austrian
Anschluss (occupation and annexation of Austria) and incorporation of the Sudetenland of Czech
Republic into Greater Germany; on March 12, German troops march into Austria; on March 14,
Hitler’s triumphant parade to Vienna; in September, Czech crisis as German troops move to
border. Czech crisis threatens war but British and French governments lack political or military
willpower to oppose Germany and encourage Czech President Benes to give into Hitler’s
demands; on September 22, Hitler makes new demands and result is Munich crisis in which
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Arthur Neville Chamberlain and Prime Minister of
France Edouard Daladier fly to Munich to meet with Hitler on September 29-30; appeasement’s
high point but also reinforces to both governments the need to rearm and retrain their own
militaries
1939: on March 11, Hitler seizes Slovakia and arranges for a German protectorate to be
established on March 15 over all of Czechoslovakia, causes Britain and France to agree to halt
Hitler the next time he acted. Both warn Hitler that he risks war if he continues his actions, or
threatens Poland
1939: on August 22, signing of non-aggression pact between Germany and Russia with secret
clauses giving Russia opportunity to take eastern Poland and annex Baltic states if a GermanPolish war should break out. Poland doomed; on August 25, Anglo-Polish treaty signed; on
August 28, Germans end 1934 non-aggression pact with Poland; on August 31, German radio
station attacked, giving Hitler opportunity to invade Poland the next morning (Sept 1)
Invasion of Poland:
Germans: 62 divisions (6 armored, 10 mech), 1300 modern aircraft
Poles: 40 divisions (no armor or mech), 935 aircraft (1/2 obsolete)
Pre-dawn raids by Luftwaffe catch most of Polish air force still on the ground, destroying air
force; on September 3, Britain and France issue ultimatum for Germany to withdraw; war breaks
out between Germany and Britain and France; German 4th Army connects with 3rd Army, cutting
off Poland’s outlet to the sea
September 7: Poles’ attempt to stand along the Warta River fails and Poles retreat to Warsaw;
Germans begin envelopment plan
September 17: Warsaw encircled and city is heavily bombed until September 27; Russia crosses
border, ending hope of relief
September 18: Polish Poznan Army cut off and encircled by German 8th and 10th Armies;
nevertheless counterattacks inflict heavy casualties before 100,000 Polish soldiers surrender on
the 19th
October 6: Polish resistance ends; 910,000 taken prisoners (more than 2000,000 by Russians);
100,000 escape through Lithuania, Hungary, and Romania to France and Britain to eventually
form Polish armed forces in exile
1939: Winter War between Russia and Finland begins on November 30 (Russia expelled from
League of Nations on December 14); Russians eventually forced to send more than 1 million
men against Finland’s 175,000; in January, 40 Finns counterattack but Russians start to bring
overwhelming force and by February Russians had broken through Finnish lines; Finland sues
for peace on March 12; Finns lose, with casualties at 25,000, Russians more than 200,000
December 13: Scuttling of German pocket battleship Graf Spee in Motevideo Harbour off the
coast of Uruguay after being cornered by 3 British cruisers. Hitler humiliated; British people
given 1st good news since outbreak of the war
Phony War in Western Europe from September 1939 to April 1940 until invasion of Norway in
the spring (Churchill referred to period as the “Twilight War,” Germans as “Sitzkrieg,” “sitting
war”)
1940: Altmark incident: merchant-supply ship intercepted off Norwegian coast by British
destroyer; worried about access to neutral Swedish coal, iron, and water supplies forces Hitler to
order OKW to plan for invasion of Norway; also invasion of Denmark as a land bridge to
Norway
April 9: Germans bombard Copenhagen and land in Norway; threat causes Denmark to
surrender; Norwegians fight back, sinking German cruiser while royal family escapes to Britain;
Norwegian Army fights in the interior and near Narvik in the far north; Britain and France send
assistance
April 18-23: Allies land 12,000 troops but are forced to retreat from the south by May 3
April 10-13: Battles at sea around Narvik sink 10 German destroyers and kill much of German
General Eduard Dietl’s mountain troops. 2000 mountain infantry and 2600 sailors versus Allied
force of 24,500; Nazis try to break out to Swedish border (successfully) at the end of May
End of May: Allies recalled home after opening of campaign in France on May 10
June: Nazis recapture all that had lost and Norwegians “surrendered” to homegrown Nazi
sympathizer government
Invasion of the West
1939: Planning begins in October with creation of Case Yellow (German attack on Low
Countries) by OKH (Oberkommando des Heeres, Supreme High Command of the German
Army); General von Rundstedt and General von Manstein eventually defect from OKH to
support planning by Hitler; after the plan ends up being exposed in January 1940, Hitler orders
new invasion plan; result is the Von Manstein plan
Battle for France
Control rested in the hands of French General Maurice Gamelin, who in turn gives orders to the
entire French Army and to the BEF (British Expeditionary Force) under the command of General
Lord Gort; part of the RAF in France listen to Gort and part to Bomber Command in London.
Gort is too closely identified with his battalion commanders while he is just too old and tired at
68 to be an effective overall commander
May 10: German airborne units land near the Hague and Leyden in Holland and on the Meuse
River in Belgium; attack on Eben Emael is one of the most daring during the war; Dutch are
genuine neutrals—their army had not fought since 1830; on May 13, Queen Wilhelmina of the
Netherlands leaves for Britain and the government surrenders on the 14th. Belgians are blamed
by the British and French for what eventually comes later: accusations of defeatism and lack of
military preparedness
German armour strike through the Ardennes while the bulk of British and French forces are
fighting in Beligum, mistakenly believing that they are fighting the bulk of the German Army.
On May 12th, led by Erwin Rommel, the Germans find the French 2nd Army in retreat and cross
the Meuse in bulk on the 13th. The 15th marks the drive forward which the Allies try to stop
several times
General Weygand (73) is recalled from Syria to take command of the French Army on May 20
but things are out of control by then. Germans attack until the 24th and then are ordered to halt
until the 26th so that the infantry can catch up with the faster Panzer Division; on May 23, Britain
decides to retreat back to Dunkirk on the coast and by May 26-27, the evacuation of the BEF
begins with an improvised flotilla of warships and small boats (Operation Dynamo). 337,000
Allied soldiers (including 110,000 French soldiers) died
May 28: Belgian Army surrenders
June 5: Hastily arranged Weygand Line breaks and, without any French reserves, the Germans
continue to advance
June 10: French government moves from Paris to Tours
June 17: Marshall Petain takes control of the government
June 21: Germans accept an armistice from the French; French government remains in control
over southern France and the empire; the Army is to be reduced to 100,000 men and the French
government is to pay “occupation costs” to the Germans; new French capital is at Vichy; about 2
million Frenchmen and much of France’s industrial heartland falls into German hands
June 25: Armistice takes effect with both Germans and Italians
June 16, 1940: Fuehrer Directive No 16 makes direction for a landing operation against the
British