What are some of France's military strengths during World War 2?

Answer 1

France's strength in WW2 was defence.It was rock solid in defend by convential means. It was not suited however for mobile warfare.The french were expected another trench war and they thought that because of the maginot line, they would win with out much of a fight.However, as Germany had an effective military offensive capability they seept through the part of the maginot line covering t the side exposed to Belgium which took longer to build due to high production costs.

FRances offensive capabiluity was almost none as they only were able to attack a few desolute German towns and villages in 1939.

Answer 2

GERMANY STRENGTHS Strategic: German General Staff - Skilled, audacious generals - understanding of combined arms (blitzkrieg) - ruthless political leaders - advanced science (rockets, jets)

TACTICAL: Well trained and disciplined at all levels - skilled situational response at all levels - MG at squad level - assault rifle - good anti-tank weapons (88 canon, panzerfaust) - superior tanks (armament and armor)

WEAKNESSES Strategic: Misreading of opponents resolve and capabilities - Hitler's interference in all facets - complicated weapon design(inability to select one design and build in great numbers) - low mobility (horses) - lack of petroleum - low production capacity - alienation of conquered peoples - loss of air control - use of slave labor instead of women in the work force- small navy - engaging in a two front war,

TACTICAL: Un-mechanized in general - too few and faulty tanks - no heavy MG (50 caliber)

AMERICA STRENGTHS Strategic: Industrial might - production capacity - wealth - Out of reach of enemy weapons

TACTICAL: Semi-auto rifle M1 - Superior combined arms (late in war) - artillery (quality, mobility, communications, coordination, WP, prox. fuze, tungsten AT shell) - tanks (numbers and reliability) - trucks ( high mobility) - aircraft numbers and quality gave control of the air in all theaters. - Marines

WEAKNESSES Strategic: - Unskilled and timid generals- poor overall strategy (straight ahead mass attack) - decision to limit army size to 90 divisions (The other combatants had total mobilization with 100's of divisions) - isolationist stance led to being late out of the gate with design and training (tanks, planes) - incorrect armored strategy (tank destroyer concept) - Pacific strategy dissipated strength (two paths of attack) - unskilled troops at all levels - replacement concept

TACTICAL: Poor tanks (armament and armor) - poor airplanes (initially) - tank destroyers - defective torpedoes - lack of light MG - poor anti-tank weapons

Soviet Union STRENGTHS STRATEGIC: Use of large landmass and weather - large population - ruthlessness - concentration on guns instead of butter - ability to handle cold weather - tough people, defending mother land

TACTICAL: Tank superiority (T34 quality and numbers) - artillery (numbers) - sub machine gun proliferation - disregard for life

WEAKNESSES STRATEGIC: - Unskilled generals, timid - officer corps decimated by purges - political operatives co-leading military units - poor overall strategy (straight ahead mass attack) - disregard for life

TACTICAL: poor airplanes (initially) - poor low level leadership (initially) - poor troop training - disregard for troop welfare - shortage of arms (initially) - uneducated troops

United Kingdom STRENGTHS Strategic: Stalwart political leaders and population - island nation - Good Navy - intelligence - code breaking - SOE - commonwealth assistance- Scientific ingenuity - Large supplies of fuel Tactical: Good airplanes early - radar system integration - stalwart troops - light MG at squad level - Commandoes - SAS (special ops)

WEAKNESSES

Strategic: Extremely timid generals(early in war) - class bound officer corps - small army(early in war) - Small air force (early in war)- Last war thinking(early in war) - Forces spread out all over the globe - dependence on imports along extended supply lines,

TACTICAL: poor tanks(early in war)

JAPAN STRENGTHS Strategic: Committed leaders and population - island nation (good navy) - far away from U.S.

Tactical: Well trained military (at war since 1933) - good airplanes and pilots early - fanatical troops - excellent torpedoes

WEAKNESSES Strategic: - Low production capacity - weak industrial base - lack of petroleum and minerals - inability to upgrade and replace navy losses - inability to upgrade aircraft and replace skilled pilots - supply lines subject to interdiction - armies spread out all over the far east - inflexibility of island fortress strategy enabled allies the initiative to either bypass or attack in strength each garrison

Tactical: Over all poor quality of arms(no submachine gun) - tactical inflexibility (suicide charges)

---- Excellent description, and may I just add, the United States contributed to the difficulty that they encountered by being reluctant to get involved. It was considered "their war", and as such we allowed the enemy to gain far too much strength before getting involved. By the time we got involved, Japan had pretty much taken over the Pacific and Germany had almost all of Europe. Unfortunately, we still haven't learned that lesson and we're still late to stop an aggressive enemy.

Addition to your comment. WWII was a un-necessary War. Hitler could have destroyed Bolshevik Communism within a year, but the French and British involved themselves in a skirmish in the East that led to the Rape and dismemberment of Europe, Britain lost the Empire and the US willingly took up the role of Worlds Policeman. After the War we all know what happened when the Communists took over Europe, the Iron Curtain went up and the World was plunged into a Nuclear nightmare. Which country won WWII? None! If you tell me the West won, you will be able to tell me what exactly they gained for the betterment of Mankind. Don't say "Freedom" because that is nonsense. The US is on a perpetual War footing and incredibly diplomacy has been left to the Russian Federation under Putin. It was Putins intervention in Syria that prevented Airstrike that would have Balkanized Syria like what happened in Libya.

Answer 3

Free French Forces

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Air WarMain article: Free French Air Force

There were sufficient Free French pilots to man several squadrons based in Britain and North Africa, mainly from African colonial bases but also volunteers from South American countries such as Uruguay, Argentina and Chile. They were initially equipped with a mixture of British, French and American aircraft. They had mixed success at first, and French army-air cooperation was often poor.

At de Gaulle's initiative, the Groupe de Chasse 3 Normandie was formed on 1 September 1942, for service on the Eastern Front. It served with distinction and was awarded the supplementary title Niemen by Stalin.

The War at SeaMain article: Free French Naval Forces

The Free French Navy, commanded by Admiral Emile Muselier, played a role in the occupation of French colonies in Africa, in supporting the French Resistance, in D-Day (Operation Neptune), and the Pacific War.

The Forces Françaises Combattantes and National Council of the Resistance

The French Resistance gradually grew in strength. Charles de Gaulle set a plan to bring together the different groups under his leadership. He changed the name of his movement to "Fighting French Forces" (Forces Françaises Combattantes) and sent Jean Moulin back to France to unite the eight major French Resistance groups into one organisation. Moulin got their agreement to form the "National Council of the Resistance" (Conseil National de la Résistance). Moulin was eventually captured, and died under brutal torture by the Gestapo.

Later, the Resistance was more formally referred to as the "French Forces of the Interior" (Forces Françaises de l'Intérieur, or FFI). From October 1944 to March 1945, many FFI units were amalgamated into the French Army in order to regularize the units.

Liberation of FranceFFF leaders General Henri Giraud and General Charles de Gaulle in front of Roosevelt and Churchill at the Casablanca Conference, 14 January 1943.

During the Italian Campaign of 1943 and 1944, 100,000 Free French soldiers fought on the Allied side, notably in the fighting on the Winter Line and Gustav Line. By the time of the Normandy Invasion, the Free French forces numbered more than 400,000 strong. 900 Free French paratroopers landed as part of the in the British Special Air Service Brigade (S.A.S.); the Free French 2nd Armoured Division, under General Leclerc, landed at Utah Beach in Normandy on 1 August 1944, and eventually led the drive towards Paris, while the divisions which had been fighting in Italy became part of the French First Army, under General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny, and joined the U.S. 7th Army in Operation Dragoon. This operation was the Allied invasion of southern France. The Allied forces advanced up the line of the Rhône River to liberate the Vosges and southern Alsace. Leclerc's 2nd Armoured Division parading down the Champs Elysées on 26 August 1944, the day after the Liberation of Paris

Fearing the Germans would destroy Paris if attacked by a frontal assault, General Dwight Eisenhower ordered his forces to cease their advance and reconnoitre the situation. At this time, Parisians rose up in full-scale revolt. As the Allied forces waited near Paris, General Eisenhower acceded to pressure from de Gaulle and his Free French Forces. De Gaulle was furious about the delay and was unwilling to allow the people of Paris to be slaughtered as had happened in the Polish capital of Warsaw during the Warsaw Uprising. De Gaulle ordered General Leclerc to attack single-handedly without the aid of Allied forces. In response, General Eisenhower, in an attempt to spare De Gaulle's forces heavy casualties during his initiative, granted the Free French forces the honour of spearheading the Allied assault and liberating the capital city of France.

General Leclerc sent a small advance party to enter Paris, with the message that the 2e Division Blindée (composed of 10,000 French, 3,600 North Africans and 3,000 Spaniards) would be there the following day. This party was commanded by Captain Raymond Dronne, and was given the honor to be the first Allied unit to enter Paris ahead of the 2e Division Blindée. The 9th company of the 3rd Battalion of the Régiment de Marche du Tchad was made up mainly of Spanish Republican exiles. After hard fighting that cost the 2nd Division 35 tanks, 6 self-propelled guns, and 111 vehicles, von Choltitz, the military governor of Paris, surrendered the city at the Hôtel Meurice. Jubilant crowds greeted the Liberation of Paris. French forces, and de Gaulle conducted a now iconic parade through the city.

End of the war

By September 1944, the Free French forces stood at 560,000. This number rose to 1 million by the end of the year. French forces were fighting in Alsace, the Alps, and Brittany. In May 1945, by the end of the war in Europe, the Free French forces comprised 1,300,000 personnel, and included seven infantry divisions and three armoured divisions fighting in Germany making it the fourth allied army in Europe behind the Soviet Union, the USA and the United Kingdom. The French offered to send a division to the Pacific to help fight the Japanese towards the end of the war, but it ended before they could be sent.

At that time, general Alphonse Juin was the chief of staff of the French army, but it was General François Sevez who represented France at Reims on 7 May, while it was General de Lattre de Tassigny who was the leader of the French delegation at Berlin on V-E day, as he was the commander of the French First Army. France was then given an occupation zone in Germany, as well as in Austria and the city of Berlin, but they were given it slightly later than those of the "Big Three". It was not only the role that France played in the war which was recognized, but its important strategic position and significance in the Cold War as a major democratic, capitalist nation of Western Europe in holding back the influence of communism on the continent.