Marian Peraza Sanchez, Ally Hines, Emily Froman, Sophia Kagan Case Yellow & Case Red, Operation Dynamo, and the rest of the Battle of France Marian Peraza Sanchez, Ally Hines, Emily Froman, Sophia Kagan
Set up of the Battle France joined the War on the side of the Allies whose goal was to defeat Germany. At the start of the battle the Allies and German forces were thought to be evenly matched However, German war planes were known to be more advanced than the war planes of the Allies Though the French military looked good on paper, due to weak leadership and tactics, and a defensive strategy (which was how they fought WWI) they were at a huge disadvantage. Unlike the French, General Erich von Manstein,who led the German side fought with the strategy known as Blitzkrieg which included high speed offensive attacks that focused on the opposition’s weak points, a strategy that proved highly effective in Poland.
Map of Battle The Battle of France was when Germany invaded France through Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. This was kind of like the Schlieffen Plan of WWI. The Germans overwhelmed the French resistance and pushed the Allies to the sea. Red represents Axis Powers (Germans), blue represents Allied Powers (French, British).
Timeline of the Battle September 1939-Germany invades Poland, beginning WWII May 10, 1940-German invasion of France starts with Case Yellow May 27,1940- June 4,1940 Evacuation of Allied troops (Operation Dynamo) (Dunkirk) June 5, 1940- Beginning of Case Red June 10, 1940- Italy joined Axis Powers in WWII June 14, 1940- Paris fell to German forces June 16 1940- Reynaud resigned and Marshal Philippe Petain in power June 22, 1940- French government surrendered to Germany June 25, 1940- Official end of battle
Battle’s Impacts on WWII Thesis: Although the Battle of France was an Axis victory, Allied efforts ensured the continuation of the war through Operation Dynamo’s strategic retreat, ultimately resulting in the Allies winning the war. Extra Facts After Battle: France was out of WWII until liberated by Allies on June 6, 1944 (D-Day) WWII was not fought on Western Front until D-Day Until then Britain fought Germany in the air and at sea Meanwhile Germany stayed with their blitzkrieg strategy
Case Yellow Also known as “Fall Gelb” This operation kickstarted the invasion of France, which began on May 10, 1940 German plan to take France through the Ardennes Forest and Somme Valley Germans overwhelmed French forces at Maginot Line Germans surrounded Allies (British, French), and forced them to sea at Dunkirk Allies later needed to be evacuated to England
Operation Dynamo- The Allied retreat from France at Dunkirk French resistance fell to Germany Allies surrounded by Axis and forced to retreat May 27th to June 4th, 1940 General John Gort, commander of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) had begun to weigh the possibility of evacuating his entire force by sea in order to save them from certain annihilation by the approaching Nazi troops. Evacuation of more than 338,000 allied soldiers, loss of 68,000 800 boats, The beaches at Dunkirk shelve gently into the sea. Even at high tide, a destroyer couldn’t approach within a mile of the shore, and troops had to be ferried out in small craft. Also, under constant air attacks from Nazis Although the Battle of France was an Axis victory, the strategic Allied retreat saved hopes for an overall Ally victory of WWII
Case Red Also referred to as “Fall Rot” and was the second part of Germany’s plan to invade France Meant to occur after Germany’s initial invasion of France Initiated by Hitler on June 5th, 1940 Began when Hitler renewed his offense on the Somme Although France’s tactics improved since Germany’s first attack, they weren’t able to replenish the men lost during Case Yellow and Germany continued to gain on them.
Case Red There was a breakthrough for the Germans near Abbeville on June 10th The French line began to collapse especially due to the Luftwaffe which was the aerial warfare branch of the Nazi military. The Luftwaffe focused on strong points of the French military and did not allow the French to focus their troops on the battle on the ground Paris officially fell to the Germans on June 14, when Hitler heard this news he performed a little Jig The Battle of France officially ended on June 25th, 1940 and resulted in an Axis victory
Hitler’s Jig in 1940 after finding out that Paris fell to the Germans
Northern France occupied by Germany Petain signed the Franco German armistice splitting France in two zones: Northern France occupied by Germany Southern France Pétain's Vichy-based government.
Impact of Battle on WW1: FRANCE IN OCCUPATION Southern France Vichy Regime A New Government A puppet government: endowed with the outward symbols of authority but in which direction and control are exercised by another power (Merriam Webster) July 1940–September 1944 Leader of the Vichy regime Marshal Philippe Petain
May 1940- Germans Occupy France Date Event Genocide Step July 1940 Reexamination of citizenship & censuses identifying Jews CLASSIFICATION October 1940 Jewish Statute”: revoked citizenship and stole property DISCRIMINATION October 1870 Cremieux Decree: No citizenship to Algerian Jews March 1942 Registered children of Jews with police PREPARATION ORGANIZATION July 16th 1942 Arrest Jews and put them in extermination camps PREPARATION/EXTERMINATION November 1942 Germans broadened their occupation and continued the ongoing actions to arrest Jews and deport them to their extermination. EXTERMINATION May 1940- Germans Occupy France Result: the Germans had sent some 78,000 Jews to the extermination camps, about a quarter of the total number of Jews in France. (with connection to the 10 steps of genocide) France’s Participation with Genocide
Sources http://totallyhistory.com/the-battle-of-france/ https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0077r7h http://3dhistory.co.uk/ww2/battle-of-france/battle-of-france-fall-rot-case-red-timeline.php https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&source=images&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwiP86zovNzhAhUhIjQIHZffCeIQjRx6BAgBEAU&url=https%3A%2F%2Fthebattlesww2.weebly.com%2Fthe-battle-of-france.html&psig=AOvVaw2K9KMM-ZPAs3dgZ9eUIiVs&ust=1555773945316585 https://www.history.co.uk/history-of-ww2/fall-of-france https://www.warhistoryonline.com/world-war-ii/ww2-battle-france-disaster-allies.html http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo/fall_france_01.shtml https://www.yadvashem.org/yv/en/holocaust/france/occupation.asp http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peopleswar/timeline/factfiles/nonflash/a1057286.shtml