The Invasio

n of France

and The

Battle of

Britain

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0 May 10

Germany begins invasions of Belgium, the Netherlands, and France

May 13

French and British troops move into Belgium, but are trapped between German armies

May 14

Luftwaffe bombs central Rotterdam; Netherlands surrenders to Germany

May 27

British troops begin mass evacuation from Dunkirk

June 3

Luftwaffe initiates air raids on Paris

June 12

German forces penetrate France’s final lines of defense

June 22

France signs armistice with Germany

June 23

Hitler visits Paris

The W

est

ern

Fro

nt

Germany advanced to the Western Front on May 10, 1940

The primary goal was to conquer France

German bombers began by attacking air bases in France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands

They destroyed large numbers of grounded Allied planes- crippling the Allied air defenses

Elite squads of German paratroopers then attacked the front, neutralizing France’s chance at defense

The W

est

ern

Fro

nt

Germany advanced in two directions- through the Netherlands and through Belgium

Britain and France only expected the Belgium invasion and sent most of their troops there

This left the bulk of Germany’s troops, the ones going through Luxembourg, more or less free to march into the heart of France

The Invasi

on o

f Fr

ance

The F

all

of

the N

eth

erl

ands

Initially, the Germans made slow progress on their way to Brussels because the Dutch fought back

In response to the resistance, on May14th the Luftwaffe began a massive bombing attack on central Rotterdam

Over 800 civilians were killed before the Netherlands surrenderd

The F

all

of

the N

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ands

German news broadcast after the fall of the Netherlands:

Netherlands from the Germans

Translation of the broadcast:

May 15, 1940. UFA Tonwoche No. 506. The crossing of the Dutch border is conducted in thick morning fog. The bridges over the Juliana Canal have been for the most part been readied. The military engineers have constructed what is necessary in a short time. Here is a military pontoon bridge. Advance across the border roads. A tank easily removes a Dutch road obstacle. In a sudden attack the bridge over the Juliana Canal has been taken before the Dutch could blow it up. At this crossing a short but bitter fight took place in the early morning hours, but the enemy was quickly thrown back. German troops on the Albert Canal. The Belgians could only manage to blow up a part of the bridge. The remainder of the explosives are removed by military engineers. The first Belgian prisoners. The advance continues without halting. Wherever German troops encounter resistance, it is broken with all weapons. The numerous watercourses and canals in Holland and Belgium pose an additional difficulty for the German troops. However, there is no stopping. All the obstacles are quickly overcome. After a quick fight, the garrison at the bridge at Maastricht surrenders to the advancing German troops.

Belg

ium

The British and French planned to make a stand between Antwerp and Liege

The German paratroopers had already captured these, and began attacking the Allied troops on May 13

At this time, the unexpected German troops that had gone South came up behind the Allies- effectively trapping them

The main Allied army was not able to protect Paris or to prevent the Germans from marching towards the English Channel

The entire battle was considered an Allied disaster

The British and French wanted to defend forts here

They were surprised by Germans who came

through here

The British and French troops were essentially trapped here

The Germans were able to divide

the British and French

troops. The British retreated

to Dunkirk, France. But were

again trapped.

The E

vacu

ati

on o

f D

unki

rk

While most of the French army was trapped between two German armies, the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) tried to make a push for the French port of Dunkirk

They ended up trapped between the coast and the Germans

The British designed Operation Dynamo to evacuate the BEF

Beginning on May 27, 1940, more than 800 civilians and a large number of military sea vessels spent a week bringing the 300,000 troops back to Britain

The feat was heroic- the Luftwaffe was bombing the entire time- but it abandoned France to the Germans

The F

all

of

France

With the British out of the way, the Germans began to push into France

By June 12, the Germans and their tanks had gone through France’s main defenses along the Somme River and the Maginot Line

The F

all

of

France

The ultimate goal for the Germans was Paris

The British were encouraging the French to stand up against the Germans

Winston Churchill, Britain’s new prime minister, even flew to Paris to give his encouragement

France really needed military assistance though, and the British continually denied their pleas for help because they wanted to conserve their strength for when they would need to defend themselves against the Germans

The F

all

of

France

The French army was down to half of its original strength

On June 22, 1940, the French leaders signed an armistice with Germany

On June 23, Hitler came to Paris for a sightseeing tour of the city now in his possession

Reaso

ns

for

France

’s D

efe

at

France’s army was much larger and more technologically advanced than Germany’s in 1940

Hitler and his officials seriously doubted that the Germans would be successful during this mission

The only reason that the Germans were able to successfully take over France was because of mistaken assumptions

The French did not believe that the Germans would be able to send their tanks through the Ardennes Forest so they sent all of their men to Belgium

This element of surprise was the key to Germany’s success

The Battle of Britain

1940

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July 3

British initiate Operation Catapult to neutralize the French navy

July 10

First German bombers attack over the English Channel

July 19

Hitler urges Britain to make peace

August 13

Eagle Day- more than 1400 German planes attack southern England

September 7

Beginning of the “London Blitz”

September 17

Hitler indefinitely postpones plans for ground invasions in England

Win

ston C

hurc

hill

Took office as British prime minister in May 1940

Rallied the people and the military during the Battle of Britain

Finest Hour Speech

The C

hannel B

att

leOperation Sea

Lion- the German code name for this attack- began in July 1940

It began with small, quick

German bomber attacks

against British ships in the

channelBritain did not respond to

defend their ships- they knew their

best plan was to conserve

resources for the REAL

battle

Eagle

Day

In early August 1940,

Hitler launched a massive air strike on the

bases in southern England

Eagle DayOn August

30th, Germany sent 1,400

bombers and fighters across

the English Channel

The Germans brought down only 13 British jets, but lost more than 40 of their own

The L

ondon B

litz

In September 1940, Hitler ordered the Luftwaffe to begin bombing the city of London nonstop

From September 1940 to May 1941, the Germans air-raided the city, day and night, for weeks at a time

Tens of thousands of British civilians lost their lives

During this time, the British were running nightly air raids on the German city of Berlin

Hitler eventually decided that it would be too difficult to break Britain and turned his focus to Russia

The London Blitz video (9 minutes)

The F

irst

Turn

ing P

oin

t

The Battle of Britain was the first time that the German forces failed to achieve a major goal

The Royal Air Force’s incredibly strong and effective resistance proved that Hitler could be beat

The B

riti

sh A

dvanta

ge

The Importance of Air Power

The Battle of Britain was the first time that air power alone had decided a battle

Hitler knew he had needed to gain air superiority over Britain first before he could move ground troops in

Churchill knew he had to beat Hitler’s Luftwaffe if Britain wanted to survive the war

By the end of the battle, Germany had lost 1,700 airplanes, but Britain had lost only 900

The B

riti

sh A

dvanta

ge

The Importance of Radar

This battle also proved the value of radar technology

The British had built a net of radar towers along their coast before the invasion of France- they knew when the Germans were coming and could prepare their men

The Germans initially began attacking these radar towers, but decided that this strategy was ineffective- that decision would lead to their downfall in this battle

The Importance of Fighting at Home

The British were also able to stay in the air longer because they were closer to their refueling stations

The Germans lost precious time running back and forth to get refueled between bombing attacks

The British pilots would often engage the Germans and divert them from their course, causing the Germans to waste their fuel and not spend as much time bombing their target