1. | Cases Yellow & Red | Operation Dynamo | | Battle of France |
Alexei, Mateo, Nikhil, Sarath, Yogesh
Mateo

2. Thesis
The French exclusion of the Belgian border from the Maginot Line allowed the Germans to invade easily through the north, as they were bolstered by a dominant air force and infantry. This led to the invasion of Dunkirk, the evacuation of Allied forces, and France’s subsequent defeat. The French surrender rendered them as simply a resistance force in the war, putting Nazi Germany ahead early in WWII.
Yogesh

3. Timeline Vichy France established Case Yellow Case Red June 5,1940
May 10,1940
Case Red
June 5,1940
Vichy France established
July 10,1940
Operation Dynamo
May 27,1940
Germans invade Paris
June 14,1940
Alexei

4. Leadership Vice Admiral Bertram Ramsay - coordinated Operation Dynamo
General Maurice Gamelin - General in charge of French defense
General Charles de Gaulle - French resistance leader (Free France)
Marshal Philippe Pétain - Leader of Vichy France - Nazi collaborator
General Erich Von Manstein - Came up with the Manstein plan, Case Yellow
Chief of Staff Franz Halder - Put the Manstein plan into action, added improvements
Yogesh

5. Casualties
Allies had almost double the amount of casualties with 360,000 casualties compared to around 157,000 casualties for the axis during the Battle of France.
Yogesh

6. German Tactics Blitzkrieg:
A method of warfare, intended to unbalance the enemy until their annihilation
Nazis led with the air force, followed by armored infantry. Germany often capitalized on unreadiness and surprise on the part of the enemy
Luftwaffe:
Bomb everything in sight, until there was NOTHING in sight.
Slowed down Allied reinforcements, reconnaissance and communication
Panzers:
The German tank forces would come through after the bombings
Overwhelmed and pushed back the Allies due to numbers and firepower
sarath

7. French Tactic
sarath

8. CASE YELLOW
alexei

9. Case Yellow: First Phase, May 1940
- “Fall Gelb” — plan to attack the Low Countries (Netherlands,
Belgium, Luxembourg) to cut off Allied forces
- General Erich von Manstein
- Franz Halder
- Quickly cut through the Low Countries
with the Luftwaffe and Panzers
- French lost significant forces in the north
- Led to events of Dunkirk
alexei

10. Nazis Invade Dunkirk
France built the Maginot line to defend from future German aggression
DID NOT WORK
Went north towards the English Channel, around the strong part of the Maginot line
Attacked Dunkirk but Hitler ordered a halt, and sent in the bombers
This forced the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) to evacuate from Dunkirk Beach, putting Nazi Germany ahead of the Allies
Nikhil

11. Operation Dynamo
2 30
Mateo

12. Operation Dynamo (Dunkirk)
-May 27, 1940 – June 4, 1940
-Coordinated by Vice Admiral Ramsay
-Implemented Operation Dynamo, the evacuation of Allied forces from Dunkirk
-Goal was to rescue at least 40,000 soldiers, mainly British Expeditionary forces
Mateo

13. Mateo

14. Operation Dynamo Cont.
-Not just military ships, also English civilian boats came to rescue
-Allies successfully evacuate, about 340,000 soldiers were saved (out of the 350,000 waiting in beaches of Dunkirk), although Germans took the city of Dunkirk
-Worked due to Hitler ordering tank movement in Dunkirk to halt
-Germans would’ve had a major advantage if the evacuation had not worked
-Became known as the “Miracle of Dunkirk”
Mateo

15. CASE RED
alexei

16. Case Red: Second Phase, June 1940
- “Fall Rot” — plan to destroy remaining
French in the south after Allied evacuation
of Dunkirk
- Germans denied the French the opportunity
to concentrate their forces with aerial
attacks from the Luftwaffe
- French Prime Minister Reynaud resigned,
succeeded by Petain
- Pétain signed armistice to end the
Battle of France 20 days after Case Red begins in June of 1940
alexei

17. Fall of France
Sarath

18. Fall of Paris Most divisions had been destroyed during Dunkirk
BEF had retreated, leaving France by itself
General Gamelin had committed most of the army reserves to reinforcing the Belgian border
Marched through French Army and countryside
French government had begun burning documents and prepping for total evacuation
On June 14, 1940, Paris fell to the Nazis
Sarath

19. Vichy France
Nikhil

20. Vichy France
Product of armistice between Nazis and France on 10 July 1940
⅖ of France to Vichy government, and ⅗ to Germany
Led by Philippe Pétain, who had absolute power
Nominally independent from Nazi Germany, but actually servile to Nazis - increased Nazi power
United Kingdom refused to support Vichy France - Nazi collaborators
Instead supported Charles de Gaulle’s provisional government in London
Large resistance movement against the Vichy government and Nazi government
Nikhil

21. Charles Pétain and Adolf Hitler
Nikhil
Charles de Gaulle

22. Free France

23. Free France
Led by General Charles de Gaulle, the Free France movement was able to unify most of the French resistance forces in their struggle against Germany.
de Gaulle was recognized by the British as the leader of France and built up his forces from his base in London as he did not like the armistice signed by Pétain and made sure to unify the various resistance groups
Liberation of Paris on August 26,1944
yogesh

24. Fun Factoid
Nikhil

25. Nikhil

26. Hitler’s Jaunty Jig
Nikhil

27. Bibliography
“Battle of France.” Battle of France - New World Encyclopedia, “Battle of France - Fall Gelb (Case Yellow).” 3d History Illustrated World History.
Bienaimé, Pierre. “Why France's World War II Defense Failed so Miserably.” Business Insider, Business Insider, 14 Apr.
2015,
Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. “Free French.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 7 Dec. 2016,
Call of Duty: World War II* *joke
“English Heritage.” Operation Dynamo: Things You Need to Know about the Dunkirk Evacuation | English Heritage,
“Fall Of France.” HistoryNet,
Operation Dynamo, the Evacuation from Dunkirk, 27 May-4 June 1940,
Peck, Michael, et al. “Hitler's Greatest World War II Mistake: Not Crushing the British at Dunkirk.” The National Interest, The
Center for the National Interest,
nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/hitlers-greatest-world-war-ii-mistake-not-crushing-the
“The Fall of France - a Summary.” History in an Hour, 7 Aug. 2015,

28. Muchas Gracias