CASE RED CASE YELLOW Operation Dynamo And the rest of the battle of France. Grace Miao, Jaanhavi Kannan, Pankhuri Singhal Doran/Matheny Block ½ 19 April, 2016
Thesis The Battle of France was rapidly lost to Germany by a combination of the Allies failure to prepare a realistic defense strategy, Germany s Blitzkrieg tactics, France s weak government, and the remained influence from the Phony War. Despite the miraculous evacuation of Allied troops from Dunkirk in Operation Dynamo, Britain was unable to save its ally France, thus resulting in France s fall and cease-fire in the German exploitation of the puppet state Vichy France until the end of World War II.
CASE YELLOW. AKA, Fall Gelb. Purpose: Cut off, surround Allies units, who had went into Belgium (B/c they were expecting the German attack) Victory of Case Yellow = Battle of France Brought about the VERY embarrassing defeat of FR, GBR, Belgium, Netherlands Allies had 2x as many guns as Germany, but Germany s guns were more updated. (Big and old Small and new. It s like a kid vs. an adult.) So for example there were 5 MILLION French soldiers, but with a really bad high command Also France was VERY weak, strategically =P (Created a defense plan, but no offense?!) IMPACT: German > French
VIP German tactics! 22 May, 1940 German General Wieterscheim and his XIV Motorized Corps sent to guard Villers-Carbonnel** ** French place where Lieutenant Landriau s 34th GDRI fought 2 days ago Wehrmacht reached Somme River & German bridgeheads (Ameins, Péronne and Ham) Large German infantry concentrations had been detected in the Péronne region the Germans will try to push towards Rouen and towards Reims: leaving Paris isolated (Alexander 232) IMPACT: Another German > French The fast-paced and alien German style of warfare forced disjointed and isolated decision-taking at... subordinate levels by individual commander-managers, unprepared... for the eventuality. (Alexander 261)
ALSO, CASE RED. Fall Rot. We don t want another May 1940! -The French After the German-French armistice (25 June), Germany didn t exactly have it their way French units fought tooth-and-claw in early-mid-june (Alexander 220) BUT THEY STILL DIDN T WIN.
Map of Case Red. (Made by yours truly.)
Operation Dynamo AKA The Dunkirk Evacuation
Nations involved Britain Canada France Poland Belgium Netherlands...And surprise! Germany. :P
Background It was evacuation of Allied soldiers from the beaches and harbour of Dunkirk, France, lasting from 27 May to 4 June 1940 The operation was decided upon when large numbers of Belgian, British, and French troops were cut off and surrounded by the German army during the Battle of France. The evacuation from Dunkirk was made possible by a combination of German mistakes and a brave decision made by Lord Gort, the commander of the BEF.
Events Leading up 1. After Nazi Germany invaded Poland in September 1939, marking the beginning of the Second World War, the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) was sent to aid in the defence of France. 2. Germany invaded Belgium and the Netherlands on 10 May 1940, and three of their Panzer corps attacked France through the Ardennes and rapidly drove to the English Channel, and the BEF was soon trapped by German Forces May 21, 1940. General John Vereker, 6th Viscount Gort, the Commander of the BEF, saw that an evacuation back to England was the only way to avoid being completely devastated by the German war machine and ordered his troops on a retreat to Dunkirk, as it was the closest harbor.
Events Continued 1. On 22 May 1940, a halt order was issued by the German High Command, with Adolf Hitler's approval, giving the trapped Allied forces time to construct defensive works and pull back large numbers of troops toward Dunkirk. 2. The tactic used was the German Sickle Cut strategy, put to use in 1940. This was meant to cut the Allied armies in half by breaking through the French lines in the Ardennes and then dashing for the Somme estuary 3. The battle of Dunkirk proceeds 4. From 28 31 May 1940, during the Siege of Lille, the remaining 40,000 men in the French First Army fought a delaying action against seven German divisions.
The Evacuation 1. On the first day of the evacuation, only 7,669 men were evacuated, but by the end of the eighth day, a total of 338,226 soldiers had been rescued by a fleet of over 800 boats. 2. The operation, therefore ended with a successful withdrawal from the allies.
Map of Operation Dynamo
Fall of France Prolonged inactivity along front since fall of Poland eroded Allied military morale and confidence in France's military and civilian leadership Premier Paul Reynaud's government divided France purposely overestimated German strength in pronouncements to provide an excuse in case of disaster Signs of impending attack were obvious, but its direction, speed, and success caught Allies by surprise Churchill proposed union of Britain and France to keep France in the war, he refused, under pressure from RAF, to commit remainder of fighter aircraft, appeared Britain was withdrawing, leaving France to fight alone
Fall of France cont. France opposed onslaught with weakened military and defeated government Italy entered war on Germany s side French government struggled to find solution while its demoralized forces fought unorganized withdrawal without any clear strategy Reynaud resigned, Pétain succeeded him as premier German advance continued largely without resistance June 13, Paris declared an open city, and German troops took peaceful possession next day France and Germany signed ceasefire on June 22, 1940 at Compiègne Allowed Germany to occupy northern France and Atlantic coastal regions to Spanish border, French fleet demobilized, with France to pay for the German costs of administration French government fled Paris and continued to rule Vichy under Pétain
Vichy France Vichy France under control of Nazi Germany from June 1940 to May 1945 Led by Philippe Pétain and socialist Pierre Laval Collaborated both militarily and economically with Nazis after armistice on June 22, 1940 Both Pétain and Laval arrested on war crimes charges and given death penalty at end of war Effect: Vichy spared France from further damage by collaborating, but military and economic benefits brought to the Nazis by Vichy's policies prolonged the war
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9ecithsvxu #WoopWoop1940
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