Why was France defeated so quickly in World War 2?

Answer 1

There are two different but related reasons for it. One was that the French (and British) generals just did not understand how the improvements in airplanes and tanks since the first war had changed the operational capabilities of armies, but the Germans did. The allies were still thinking in terms of marching infantry making massed assaults against enemy positions. The Germans understood that with tanks and trucks an army could move at twenty miles an hour for hours on end and just go around fixed fortifications and marching infantry and attack anywhere anytime they wanted to. For a good desription of what this meant read chapters 20 and 21 in "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich" by William L. Shirer. For more detail read "The Collapse of the Third Republic" by the same author. The second reason was defeatism among the government, the military leadership and the people of France. France had been so utterly traumatized by World War I that they were willing to do almost anything to avoid another one. There were a lot of people who felt fewer people would get killed if they lost quickly than if they fought for a long time and won. As the German advance turned into a seemingly unstoppable onslought, this way of thinking came to dominate the French councils. For more information, again read the Shirer books. Michael MOntagne

AnswerWell, the French are much maligned for the Maginot Line, but the Maginot Line did precisely what the French wanted the Germans to do: attack through Belgium. Intent on fighting the war on Belgium's soil, the English and French Armies entered Belgium to assist and the Germans caught the French off balance by attacking through the Ardennes which was thought to be unsuitable for armor. The French troops rushed to where they thought the Germans would attack--the flat plains of northern Belgium--leaving the southern Ardennes region completely exposed, and getting themselves cut off and surrounded. Very few French troops were left in the way of the German army, and were basically crushed.

Once the Germans obtained such a tactical surprise, it was followed by a strategic victory. Unable to cope with the blitzkrieg tactics, the French sued for peace - England was annoyed that France had asked for terms without informing England

AnswerIn addition to above:

On tactical level the Germans had a lot of luck :

The French troops at sedan at the end of the maginot line and ardennes were (because it was judged German troops would not steer through ardennes and cross rivers) very very poor quality.

At the sound of rattling tanks they panicked and most fled (it was a french tank approaching!).

No one learned about the "molotov cocktail" ambush method to have some stopping power if no antitank guns (or rifles) are at hand especially with the puny German tanks PnzI, II and T35, T38.

No one realised that french petrol stations should have been molested BEFORE the German tanks would reach them. MAny of the (Rommel) Tanks simply took fuel from these stations and thus created thereto never seen penetration distances!

The "front" of the blitzkrieg was in fact no more than a few panzer battalions with constant aerial stuka support. the MASS of the German infantry was ON FOOT or on HORSE drawn lorries far far in the rear. Technically with a clever outflanking manouevre these German tanks could have been surrounded, isolated and knocked out (De Gaulle tried and his tanks were successful tank vs tank) but that required cooperation between land forces in all directions and the airforce... and there France had (very surprisingly) very little numbers..and the british fighters were ordered not to go to far inland (which led to resentment amongst french that brits were not prepared to join fights so that France felt they took all the blows and Britain stayed clear and thus France was quick to surrender and considered Britain should feel the bloodshed on their own soil for once...).

There were miles of traffic jams in Luxemburg and French bomber planes could have EASILY wrecked havoc there... but they simply did not think of that possibility.

The few french tanks and demolition engineers that were rushed to Belgium to stop the crossing of Germans (Rommel) at the meuse (Dinant) were held up by fleeing civilians and by the belgium road blocks and demolitions on their path as well.

A lot of stupidity and imbecility, but in all fairness that blame should be directed to governing and decision makers levels and not to the common fighting french soldier.

They fought as brave as they did 4 years later.

Answer 2

AnswerThere were many reasons:

incredible german war tactics : blitzkrieg

the outdated french defenses : maginot line

etc

AnswerSome believe that the French will to fight was weak, and that this was as important as the reasons given in the first answer.

• France had suffered very heavy losses in WW1 and was many Frenchmen (and women) were willing to pay a high price to avoid a repetition of the carnage.

• As far I'm aware, no other well established democracy became as deeply divided as France in the 1930s. When the left-wing Popular Front came to power in 1936, some French conservatives seem to have felt that it was no longer the France that 'they knew and loved' [and were willing to fight for] and a small but growing number flirted with Fascism, which already had a stronger following than in any other democracy. Many in the military and in the Roman Catholic Church made no secret of their admiration of Franco. In fairness, it should be added that the Communist Party was a key pillar of the Popular Front. There was polarization and a really divided country seldom fights very effectively. (Compare with Tsarist Russia in 1904-5 and again in 1914). Fighting a major war requires social cohension.

Despite all the problems listed in both answers, there were also French men and women who believed that the main body of the French armed forces had surrendered far too willingly. After all, at the time of the surrender, the Germans took 1.8 million (!) French soldiers prisoner. It was not for nothing that Marc Bloch (1886-1944, when he was shot by the Gestapo) entitled his book on the 1940 campaign and surrender "Strange Defeat". Charles de Gaulle and others fled to Britain to continue the fight.

Alternate answer-

Their strong defense line plan failed(Maginot lines), it was an not a winnable battle at the time.

France has a lot of history and had many innocents to look out for so they had to hand over France to Nazi's during World War 2.

France has a long history of interesting warfare and if you do overlook this terrible part of their military history you can understand the french are not "just cheese-eating surrender monkeys,"

they simply knew the outcome of their actions and did not have the strength to fight back.

Answer 3

yes, France was occupied by Germany and under German rule the French army was reorganized and fought under German control for a short time.

AnswerHitlor wanted to rule all of Europe; they owed money to the French and hated them for the defeat in WW1. They built a supposide invincible wall; the majino (sorry for the misspelling) line The French and English had a treaty with Poland and when the German invaded Poland they were obligated to go to war so the Germans beat them to it. I not sure there is one right answer.

Answer 4

France thought they learned from WW1, they thought that the Germans would come from the east so France made a barrier on the east to block the Germans. Then Germans surprised them when they came the same way they did in WW1. The Germans came from the north right behind them and made them surender.

Answer 5

The quick defeat of France in 1940 in the Second World War is often blamed on Germany's military operations, strategies and tactics. Many times the poor defenses of France are also mentioned, including the futility of the Maginot line. There's a long list of factors,however, most of them speak about France in 1939 and the strength of the German military. However, what is often overlooked are the factors that led to France's weakness in 1939. After the First World War, France's future as a European power was weakened by the following:

1. There was a large loss of lives in France as a result of the long WW 1;

2. The birthrate after WW 1 displayed a decline well into the early 1930's;

3. There was a decline in industry expansion; and

4. The above factors all contributed to internal strife in France.

After the initial celebrations with the end of WW 1, demoralization set in. A general one, no event or year can be sited, it was along process. Even with the threat posed by Germany after Hitler came to power, France was not a strong power, not strong enough by all counts. Germany's victory over France came in the blink of an eye. In WW 1, France took a hard beating, but from 1914 to 1918, Germany did not even reach Paris.

There are definitely many other factors that led to the quick French surrender, however, the internal factors mentioned above cannot be overlooked.

Answer 6

Germany had been preparing for its September 1, 1939 invasion for months. Hitler's decision was finalized when the German-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact was completed in August of 1939. Although Warsaw held out until September 27, Poland's fight effectively came to an end on September 17, 1939. The Soviet Union crossed the eastern border with Poland on September 17, 1939. Poland had committed its defenses on the western front, thus the Soviets hardly fired a shot and after Warsaw surrendered, Poland became a nation under dual occupation from the Germans and the Soviets.In the western border conflict with Germany, Poland had 30 divisions, however they were overwhelmed by Germany's 48 divisions.

The Germans were better trained and armed. They also had a competent general staff. The Germans attacked from the north and the west. Poland held many of its forces back hoping to counterattack.

The Germans made steady progress and covered 140 miles in nine days. Within a few days the Germans had effectively enveloped Polish forces. The German air force and its tank force could not be matched by Poland.

Answer 7

Becasue they didnt have that great of a military and also because they were being flanked on both sides by two very powerful,well Armed and numbered countries(Germany,and Russia)

Answer 8

France gave up in 1940.