In the history of war, although France is not among the best, its strength is definitely not to be underestimated. Especially in World War I, France's performance on the battlefield can be described as very remarkable. But France was astonished in World War II, and within forty days of the German offensive, France surrendered. So why did France surrender so quickly? Is there something hidden? Let's take a look.
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Comparison of French results
Although World War II is the largest war in the history of the world, it is also worth remembering deeply. There are also many famous battles in the First World War, the most frightening of which is the "Verdun Meat Grinder", of which France is one of the participating countries. France's record in the First World War has to be said to be very dazzling, with about 1.5 million casualties. For France, which is not a large number of people in a country, this number of casualties is very large. But germany was forced to surrender under france's perseverance, which undoubtedly demonstrated France's strong military strength.
But France, which excelled in World War I, was astonished in World War II, when France held out for less than forty days before surrendering to Germany. And the place of surrender was the place of Germany's surrender to France in World War I, which was a naked humiliation, but France did not care. France bowed its head to Germany, and the speed of Its surrender was unbelievable. A great power became a joke during World War II, and France could not but become Germany's little brother. So what made France surrender so quickly? Let's find out why.
Domestic turmoil, foreign enemies
In World War I, france died on the battlefield for almost a generation in order to win. At that time, there were only 50 million people in a country, and 4 million people died on the battlefield. And because of the First World War, the industrial provinces in the north of France were beaten to a pulp and needed a long time to recover. The scars of World War I have just passed, and World War II is close behind. Many people in the country complained bitterly, and many people did not come out of the damage of the First World War, and then began the Second World War. This has caused many people to protest, and the domestic situation has begun to be turbulent. At the same time, there is turmoil at home and abroad.
Britain, as The First Navy of Europe, was a deterrent presence. However, Germany used blitzkrieg against many countries at that time, and once France surrendered, it was extremely unfavorable to Britain. The French navy and the British navy were very close, and once France belonged to Germany, the British army was the enemy at its doorstep. So the British had to prepare themselves, and the British plan was for the French warships to stop at British ports. But France did not want to anger Germany at all, and it would not do france any good to do so. So he refused the British request.
When you are friends, you are a partner, and when you are not friends, you are the enemy of both sides! Of course, the British could not tolerate the behavior of the French, and he could not get it without the Germans. So began to fight with the French army at sea, at this time France was undoubtedly attacked on the back. Although the French Army is the first army in Europe, but the navy is not bad, but in the face of the British attack, which makes France can not accept for a while, which has also become the key to France's surrender, in addition to other factors, let us continue to look.
Tactical blunders
After the First World War, France began to build a defensive line on a large scale, and even invested 5 billion yuan to build the Maginot Line. In fact, the strength of France cannot be underestimated, if he insists on the war, like the Netherlands and Belgium, no one will laugh at his spinelessness. Before World War II, France was making a big fuss, claiming that it had a lot of weapons, and it was known as the First Army. Even the number of tanks was higher than that of Germany, plus more than a thousand aircraft, and it was an industrial power in its own right.
However, even the most powerful military force can only be won by using it rationally, and French tactical thinking is too stupid. Thinking that as long as the Maginot Line was there, they could resist the German army, and their mechanized armored vehicles should not think about coming. It can be seen that the French single idea, the country is so big that not only one side can enter, all roads lead to Rome. Germany would have to attack in a different direction, and France was too dependent on defensive lines. But forget that the meaning of the defensive line is defensive, they still focus on defense, not attack.
The Germans bypassed the defensive line and went straight into Paris. Paris is the lifeblood of France, whether it is demographic, economic, educational, administrative, military is very important. The fall of Paris has caused an "avalanche effect" in many cities. The German attack made france unable to react, and after forty days of resistance, the war ended with 46,000 casualties. France was the smallest to reduce casualties, with millions of deaths in World War I but less than one-fortieth of World War II deaths.
And the focus is on France with a small population and small places. The wars were fought in French territory, while Germany's industrial development and economic strength were growing, and the United States also provided loans to Germany to help the German economy recover. This is undoubtedly putting more pressure on France. Just as the so-called "poor war tactics are interspersed, rich war firepower suppression", on the one hand, the British army is uneasy, and on the other hand, the United States gives Economic support to Germany. This put France in a very awkward position, not only did it have no money and weapons were not advanced enough, but it was also attacked by Germany, the lifeblood of the country, Paris.
One of the most important reasons for France's surrender was mainly the backstabbing of the United States and Britain, and the actions of the two countries were undoubtedly helping Germany to fall against France. Make France, which is at a disadvantage on its own, even worse. In my opinion, the surrender of France was a good choice, at least to minimize casualties.