French Military Strategies During World War I

• French military strategy was outdated, as it continued to use defensive strategies used during World War I. The most outspoken aspect was the French reliance on the Maginot defense line. Historians such as Robert Foley and Gary Sheffield believe that the Maginot Line’s failure to cover the Belgian-Franco Ardennes was symptomatic of a general unpreparedness, which allowed Germany to take full advantage. Having revived diplomatic negotiations between Belgium and the Allies in 1939, France was allowed troops to advance to the Dyle River in Belgium,. However, General Gamelin prepared to advance French troops all the way to Breda in the Netherlands. Not only would this break Belgian and Dutch neutrality but it also deprived the French from

When the German invasion of Poland began in 1939, the Allies constantly pressured Belgium with demands to let Allied troops enter Belgium or to at least hold military staff talks. Belgium rejected such Allied demands in an attempt to maintain Belgian neutrality as a war in Belgium would “destroy” Belgium. This position was strongly supported by King Leopold III. At the heart of the issue was strong mistrust between the European allies. In Belgium it was generally believed France could not be trusted to keep military agreements a secret and the Germans would eventually find out. This decision would ultimately lead to terrible confusion and misunderstandings, which Germany took advantage of. Bad diplomacy was not limited to Belgo-Franco relationships. Belgian and Dutch defense diplomacy led to equally complicated relations causing confusion and bitterness. Just as the British and French had done to Belgium, the Belgians in turn bombarded the Dutch with demands for talks and consultations but received a similar response, as Holland as well desperately wanted to hang on to its neutrality just as it had done in World War One. The conviction that avoiding participation in the war via a policy of strict neutrality held by both countries prevented them from coordinating defense plans

In the end, an armored offensive through the Ardennes, threatened to encircle all French and British divisions in Belgium. This successful advance caused the evacuation of 200,000 British and 140,000 French troops to England between 26th May and 4th June 1940. And on 14th of June, Paris already capitulated, forcing the French government to flee to Bordeaux (history.co.uk). Nazi Germany’s ability to execute with exceptional coordination and speed proved to be one of the most decisive elements, as France’s capital capitulated about a month after the very start of the German operations. The capacity for “Blitzkrieg”, from the German words ‘blitz’ (lightning fast) and ‘Krieg’ (war) had a profound influence on the outcome of the invasion into France. Credit is due to German General Erich von Manstein, who applied Blitzkrieg tactics and a proper read on French defense systems to develop his Fall Gelb offensive. The Maginot Line failed to protect France since the Germans moved with extraordinary speed through the least protected part of Allied defense systems, i.e. the Belgian Ardennes, and ultimately onto