Battle of France Sofia Ramirez, Lin Ye, Rithvik Nallapareddy,
Grant Niehaus & Chase Raines
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Hitler Jig :)
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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
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Thesis The Fall of France holds great significance due to the
shocking defeat of allied forces on the Western Front, depicting
Hitlers 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.
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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
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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)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 GermanyFrance 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 OccupationFrance and Italy Sign Armistice Establishing
Italian Zone of Occupation
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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 beginning of the invasion.
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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.
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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.
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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
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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.
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Key Events cont. German occupation of the Netherlands: Germans
invade Holland May 10th, 1940. Holland surrenders just six days
later. G erman occupation of Belgium: May 28, 1940 and lasted until
its liberation by Allied forces between September 1944 and February
1945. G erman 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.
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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 Ptain from the Nazi German
defeat of France to the Allied liberation in World War II. Philippe
Ptain -Petain was like a president and he was given full executive
powers.
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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)
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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)
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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.