In May 194O, a French destroyer sinks off the coast of Dunkirk, France after attempting to evacuate Allied troops.
BATTLE OF FRANCE
- European Theater
- BATTLE OF FRANCE
The months following the triumph over Poland passed quietly. Many mocked the idleness as a “phony war,” but the British and French were busy behind the scenes, hastily mobilizing their armies in preparation for an expected German invasion of Western Europe. The Germans were active as well, accelerating their buildup and racing to replenish losses of tanks and aircraft in Poland.
The next move, however, came in Northern Europe. In April 1940, the Germans attacked Norway and Denmark, vying for control of Scandinavian waterways used to transport iron ore from neutral Sweden to German industrial plants. The undermanned Danes surrendered in a day, while the Norwegians held out for nearly two months before succumbing as well.
The greater prize for Hitler was France, where he intended to avenge Germany’s humiliating defeat in the First World War. The Allies were confident in the Maginot Line defenses along the Franco-German border, and with the Germans likely to invade instead from the Low Countries (Belgium and Holland), French and British armies were positioned across from northern Belgium, where the flat and open terrain could be easily navigated by German tanks.
It proved a grievous error. The Germans did indeed invade Belgium and Holland, but moved their strongest armor into the Ardennes, a densely wooded region in southern Belgium. It was rugged terrain, but the German tanks navigated it far swifter than the Allies thought possible and swept into the French interior with ease. Rather than charging toward Paris, the Germans unveiled another surprise, wheeling toward the English Channel coast and cutting off British and French forces trapped to the north. Hitler’s forces then steamrolled toward Paris, barely slowed by a collapsing resistance. The French prime minister resigned and was promptly replaced by Marshal Henri Phillipe Pétain, a hero of the previous war. Hoping to avoid further bloodshed, Pétain brokered an armistice, and triumphant German troops were soon parading down the Champs Élysées.
It was a crowning victory for Hitler, whose armies had toppled France in just six weeks and taken 1.5 million French prisoners. More than 90,000 French troops were killed in the fighting, doubling German losses.
Stunned by the speed of the German advance, masses of Allied soldiers cut off in northern France fled to the coastal town of Dunkirk, hoping to escape encirclement. The British organized the largest sealift in military history, using hundreds of civilian vessels from yachts to fishing boats to safely evacuate 338,000 Allied troops to Britain.
Vichy France
Following France’s surrender, German occupation troops fanned across the northern and coastal provinces. Southern France was permitted more autonomous rule, and a government was established in the town of Vichy with Pétain as head of state. Convinced the Germans would prevail against Britain, Vichy officials fully collaborated with the Nazis, even joining and leading searches for French Jews and facilitating their deportation to concentration camps. Following the Allied invasion of North Africa in late 1942, Vichy French forces in Morocco and Algeria joined with the Allies, infuriating Hitler, who rescinded the authorities of the Vichy government and extended the Nazi occupation to all of France. Throughout the four-year occupation, the Germans plundered the country for resources, including food, forced labor, and manufactured goods.
During the occupation, an organized resistance movement known as the Maquis emerged as an effective, disruptive force, spying on German officials, aiding downed Allied airmen, and fighting as guerillas.
Did You Know?
During the occupation, an organized resistance movement known as the Maquis emerged as an effective, disruptive force, spying on German officials, aiding downed Allied airmen, and fighting as guerillas.
