Blitzkrieg: German Invasion of France (Britannica.com)

[lilkandy555]

as a german in my heart ill always love my great grandfather an his fighting. weiter kampfen fur alle deutsche soldaten..... welt krieg zwei is gewonnen in alle unsere herz.......und nie veloren. 6 lan auf niederlarge deutschland...... gluck hundin.

[my8miles]

@lilkandy555 Was für ein kläglicher Versuch, die Deutschen unsympathisch zu machen.

[lolcatish]

Fuck France, And Trianon. Viva viva hungaria

[ThePalnik]

"Brave" French:

In 1938 they didn't want to fight for Prague!

In 1939 they didn't want to fight for Gdańsk and Warsaw!!

In 1940 they didn't want to fight for Paris!!!

The worst cowards of Europe.

[FELOOx1]

@ThePalnik

WHERE IS NAPOLEON WHEN YOU NEED HIM!!!!

[Fridomfry]

Believing that any political organization is "ineffective since it was filled with hypocrits" is deliciously naive.

On the contrary, the League of nations was ineffective since it was inspired by idealists. They believed that they could appease Hitler with words, and ignored that Might makes Right.

[alexgomez83]

i have no sympathy for the french or british when these two little weasles had oversees empires that were up to 10 times more in area than anything Germany put together during ww2. The atrocities against the jews was horrendous, but the invasion of other countries to gain territory is a seperate and totally justafiable matter, especially when you look at how much land Britian and france had. Tha'ts why the League of nations was ineffective. It was filled with hypocrits.

[LordGodofMercy]

Good Grief, a lecture on Imperialism from an American. Whatever next?

[alexgomez83]

haha, good point.!

[Noobssuckass300]

they surrenedered in less than 6 weeks.

[Fridomfry]

Yes. Nothing to be proud of. Just remember that the British army was beaten flat as well, and took the chicken run at Dunkirk after 3 weeks only

[jelisi1]

The germans blundered at dunkirk

every day the british saved around 60 000 men!

And,they coud not invade britain with there so cald luftwaffe. the germans blundered all the time. The RN and the RAF where to strong at dunkirk even if u say they did the 'chicken run'

[Fridomfry]

jelisi1, we must try to understand how Hitler viewed things at that time. He (like many other leaders, including Roosevelt) had many reasons to believe that Britain would sue for peace, and accept a deal (Hitler ruling the continent and attacking USSR, leaving Britain in peace). He remembered that, after the Prussian victory over Austria in 1866, Bismarck had wisely NOT exploited his victory, preparing a later alliance with Austria. It made sense; but for Churchill !

[lookgooddz]

Germans had another plan to invade Britain "Operation sealions" but it was cancelled hoping there would be a peace with Britain !

[Noobssuckass300]

word.

[armenius25]

tranmere you are vary wrong...

after ww1 the Germans completly rewised ther Startegy and tactics.Prehaps by going back to Calusewitz Books...

But its defenetly not a Myth...

[tranmere789]

Blitzkrieg is actually myth. This is a consequence of poor military history and the preponderance of popular accounts of the 1940 campaign. For example, German doctrinal innovation was due more to the unfavorable situation Germany faced rather than to any "revolution" in technology or concepts of warfare. Their planning the 1940 campaign did not expect a swift, easy defeat of France nor was its success solely attributable to technology, specifically tanks and airpower.

[overflow77]

The french got what they deserved , after all they where the ones who caused ww2 with their policies after the end of ww1 , breaking up of Hungary the Germans should of broke france up into a dozen small countries ,

[Lionsdale]

Fridomfry, the fact that you are claiming the raf to be in superior to your french one is a fallacy. Britain held out defeating the luftwaffe France didn't. Britain also shot down more planes then France did and contributed more then just a battleground

[Fridomfry]

I'm not sure I understand your comment. What period are you talking of ? People often forget how fast things evolve in wartime. Let's keep to Spring 1940. The data I have indicate that the RAF was slightly superior to the French, its best fighter (Hurricane) being more numerous than the French equivalent (Dewoitine D520); and its radar systems being more operational. Both downed many German planes. Neither defeated the Luftwaffe, otherwise there would have been no subsequent battle of England.

[thebritish25]

if we lisend to chirchill in the first place and not baldwin and chamberlin mabey just mabey we could have stoped the nazi exspanshon

[msimon6808]

The Maginot line was misunderstood. It was designed to channel the Germans. It did.

It would have held had the French and British stuck to the original plan of fighting a defensive war on French territory. Instead they adopted a forward defense strategy and the Germans broke the French hinge by coming out of the Ardennes.

Typical Britannica piece. Total misunderstanding and misrepresentation of events.

[goldyn12345]

the french were useless,large parts of the french army didnt even want to fight.

[Fridomfry]

Well, many French also believed that the British were useless - with their obsolete tanks, tea-time break in battle, keeping most of the RAF in England instead of using it on the continent... Our British allies blundered in Norway, and finally took the chicken run in Dunkirk... Many British politicians wanted peace with Hitler... That was England's image in France in 1940.

Meanwhile, French pilots shot down 1000 German aircraft in combat.

[goldyn12345]

there is some truth to your point,but are you sure that your airforce shot down that many german planes?that is a lot of aircraft.yes,lord halifax wanted to do a peace deal with hitler but churchill refused.

[Fridomfry]

Good question. It is very difficult to be precisely sure about statistics on victories in dogfight. A pilot who's just shot an enemy must turn immediately to a new one, rather than playing the cameraman. There is a book, "Les Mille Victoires de la Chasse Française", which describes them in detail, squadron by squadron, day by day. On June 15th, 1940, the French kept 700 German airmen POWs. They handed them over to the British before the armistice.

[Fridomfry]

Here, we are discussing facts. But what also interests me, is the image each nation has of other nations, and how this image was shaped. In 1939, everyone in the world considered French soldiers heroes, since they had hold in hell during 4 long years, and repelled the Beast at the Marne and at Verdun. Now, since France was beaten in 1940, essentially because of bad high command, today ignorant teenagers around the world type "french=surenderring monkiiies" on their computer.

[goldyn12345]

yes im afraid to say the image we have in britain about the french army of 1940 is quite negative.but i am convinced that if the german army had landed in england then they would have defeated the british,i am sure of that.the germans had an excellent army with some great generals,guderian,rommel,ect.

[Fridomfry]

The Germans would have defeated the small British army, but not the Royal Navy !

Be sure that none is more conscious than the French themselves of the weaknesses of France in 1940. Simply we don't accept lessons from nations across the Atlantic which stood idle while we were fighting - well or poorly, we fought.

[Track14]

it's sadly a product of bad american education system, kids these days take no fucking initiative to learn military history or european history. they have no fucking clue of tours, salamis, verdun, or trafalgar

[Xssam11]

@Track14

i blame democrats

and sadly i only know what Tours is.

[Rasengan854]

was that the eiffel tower falling?, sorry, im just askin XD

[DeutschePatriot]

No, just part of a church.

[avniade]

I am not in favour of any war, or any invasion to any country... but this one, was (from military point of view) good...

french, should have never been considered as a super power... they lack strategy, planning, and have pride (which could be tourned against them)

[Highlanderswave83]

french old pride was swallowed dry

they deserved this modesty lesson

[Crysis12]

nice Invasion

[pawnp4]

nice video..i wonder if a Frenchmen posted this video