France Falls: May-June 1940
- Episode aired Nov 14, 1973
- 53m
IMDb RATING
8.8/10
547
YOUR RATING
French politics, the Maginot Line, the Saar Offensive, Blitzkrieg warfare and the Nazi invasion of France and the Low Countries.French politics, the Maginot Line, the Saar Offensive, Blitzkrieg warfare and the Nazi invasion of France and the Low Countries.French politics, the Maginot Line, the Saar Offensive, Blitzkrieg warfare and the Nazi invasion of France and the Low Countries.
Photos
Edward Spears
- Self - British Liason Officer to French Army
- (as Sir Edward Spears)
Siegfried Westphal
- Self - Staff Officer Western Front
- (as General Siegfried Westphal)
Walter Warlimont
- Self - German High Command
- (as General Warlimont)
Hasso von Manteuffel
- Self - German Panzer Command
- (as General von Manteuffel)
André Beaufre
- Self - French High Command
- (archive footage)
- (as General André Beaufre)
Maurice Chevalier
- Self - Entertainer
- (archive sound)
Charles Trenet
- Self - Entertainer
- (archive sound)
Charles de Gaulle
- Self
- (archive footage)
- (uncredited)
Duke of Windsor
- Self
- (archive footage)
- (uncredited)
Maurice Gamelin
- Self - C-in-C, Maginot Line
- (archive footage)
- (uncredited)
Henri Giraud
- Self - Commander, French 9th Army
- (archive footage)
- (uncredited)
Heinz Guderian
- Self - German Colonel
- (archive footage)
- (uncredited)
Adolf Hitler
- Self - Führer und Reichskanzler
- (archive footage)
- (uncredited)
Philippe Pétain
- Self - Marshal of France
- (archive footage)
- (uncredited)
Paul Reynaud
- Self - Prime Minister of France 1940
- (archive footage)
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe narrator Laurence Olivier refers to the death of King Henry V of England in 1422. Olivier played Henry V Henry V (1944), which he also directed.
Featured review
Obsolete strategies
Napoleon had once said "the army that stays within its garrisons will be beaten." This World at War episode perfectly explains why France, one of Europe's strongest countries at the outbreak of world war 2, failed to stop Hitler's armies. In the years between the world wars, france was a very confusing place. Hardly a year went by without a government change, and outdated world war 1 tactics were the norm for its military. France had done a lot during the previous war to make use of things like tanks and planes, but now idled for no good reason. Keen to avoid the huge amount of suffering inflicted on them in the last war by the germans, france built a large network of bunkers, pillboxes, machine gun nests, and artillery emplacements along its border with germany. This huge wall of defenses, known as the Maginot Line, was a marvel of 1930s engineering and featured large, underground complexes and barracks so that french infantry can quickly arrive at their defensive positions when needed. Behind its tough exterior though, it had little to offer. Once world war 2 actually starts, france stands by poland as it is being invaded, but does little to help them since they're on the other side of europe. The Saar Offensive was the only time in the war france decided to go on the attack. Shortly after poland was invaded, french forces invaded the southwestern german state of saarland with hundreds of tanks and 40 divisions worth of soldiers. The nazis, focusing all their attention in the east, were caught unprepared. Unfortunately, the french didn't choose to exploit their advantages and eventually withdrew from germany. Even some german commanders admit that if france continued to push into the west of the country, germany would have lost. After poland was subdued, there was a long pause between their defeat and Hitler's next invasion, often called the phony war. Until may 1940, world war 2 was basically put on hold. France tried to use this time to extend the maginot line, which at present was only 87 miles long. It stopped a couple hundred miles short of the English Channel and did not extend over the Ardennes; a huge forested area on france's border with Belgium. French military planners thought that this area was without a doubt impassable, due to its narrow roads and thick vegetation, and thus they intentionally left their weakest and most badly equipped soldiers to defend it. Hitler on the other hand orders his generals to punch through the ardennes with tanks and the luftwaffe following close behind. The germans officially start attacking france in the early morning hours of may 10th, 1940. Just like what happened in poland, the german air force quickly shoots up french and british aircraft (sent to help the french) parked in neat rows on their airfields. Large amounts of planes are destroyed on the first day alone. Coming out of the ardennes and bypassing the maginot line altogether, the germans come to the Meuse river and manage to cross it, despite all bridges but one being blown up by the french. French counterattacks against the germans are badly coordinated, and their tank doctrine is completely different (and inferior) to the german one. France still clings to the idea of using armored vehicles in small groups to support foot soldiers, while the nazis use theirs in a great big armored fist. However, the french char b1 heavy tank proves a tough opponent for the germans, and has armor so thick that only the legendary 88 millimeter antiaircraft gun can destroy it. As Hitler's armies push further into france and begin to swing north in order to trap all allied soldiers in belgium, people start to panic. Those rich enough to flee Paris do so. British and french forces famously evacuate from the port of Dunquerke, some living to fight another day. Meanwhile, the famed world war 1 general Philippe Petain, already 84 years old, immediately asks Hitler for an armistice. Hitler and his top commanders travel to a wooded area in Compiegne, where a certain railway carriage from the previous world war was waiting. He insists on making the french sign the surrender terms in the same exact place as germany did 22 years earlier. For france, it's the ultimate slap in the face. After they officially give up, Petain becomes the head of what is today called Vichy france; basically a nazi puppet state loyal to the Third Reich. Hitler makes his one and only trip to paris, and just to drive home the humiliation, a huge german parade band passes through the Arc de Triomphe, following the same path that victorious french armies took in 1918. Germany had beaten its eternal rival in just 5 weeks. What World at War manages to do time and time again is keep people interested, no matter how many times they've read through this section of world war 2 before. Every time I watch this show, I can't pull myself away from it. The reasons why are all on display here. Great music (some of it being from the time period), incredible footage of tank battles, air raids, refugees fleeing, etc, and obviously, the narrating. The show even tells me things I never even knew, such as how france actually launched an attack into germany itself in their one and only offensive of the war. I am interested in world war 2 so much because it seems like there's always more to know.
- nickenchuggets
- May 19, 2022
- Permalink
Details
- Runtime53 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1
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