The Battle of France, also known as the Fall of France, was the German invasion of France and the Low Countries during the early stages of World-War-II, which began on May 10, 1940, and ended with the armistice signed on June 22, 1940. This campaign was part of Case Yellow (Fall Gelb), the codename for the German plans to invade the West.
Following the Phoney War, a period of inactivity after the invasion of Poland in 1939, Germany sought to eliminate France as a military threat, secure the western border, and then focus on the Eastern Front against the Soviet Union. The French military doctrine at the time was heavily influenced by World War I experiences, focusing on defense in depth, with the Maginot Line as a key defensive fortification along the French-German border.
The German strategy, known as Blitzkrieg or "lightning war," involved rapid, mechanized attacks to break through the enemy lines, encircle, and defeat enemy forces before they could react effectively. Instead of a direct assault on the Maginot Line, the Germans planned to:
The operation began with the German forces invading the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg, drawing Allied forces northward. Meanwhile, General Heinz Guderian's armored units made a rapid advance through the Ardennes, crossing the Meuse River on May 13, and driving towards the English Channel, cutting off the Allied armies in Belgium.
The German success led to:
France was divided into an occupied zone in the north and west, with the unoccupied zone (Vichy France) in the south, under the government led by Marshal Philippe Pétain.
The fall of France had profound effects: