Why did France halt its invasion of Germany in 1939 (Short Animated Documentary)
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Date: 2025-09-01
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Comments and reviews: 20
zuendeleser6862
When reading the comments, it is astonishing how easily people demand heroism from others, as long as they themselves do not have to die for it. And how naive some seem to be when they believe that the Allies' declarations of war against Germany actually served to help Poland.
There is a reason why the British refer to World War I as the Great War and not World War II, which was much larger and claimed far more victims overall. Both the British and the French suffered far greater losses in World War I. In World War II, both were decisively defeated by Germany early on. Even though Britain continued to fight small battles on secondary fronts and ultimately emerged victorious alongside the United States, its most significant contribution to the war was to conduct a criminal bombing campaign against the German civilian population for years while waiting for the Soviet Union to win the actual war against the German army at a cost so enormous that even today it is still conveniently ignored in the West. This behavior was despicable, but it spared their peoples many casualties.
Those who believe that France only needed to be a little braver to significantly influence the outcome of the war overestimate the importance of the Western Front in World War II. At that point (1940, the Soviet Union was not yet at war with Germany. Although it was not allied with Germany, as is often claimed today, the West had made it abundantly clear that it did not want an alliance with the Soviet Union, but would have much preferred to see Germany and the Soviet Union tear each other apart (which is, unfortunately, what happened in the end. Therefore, we have no reason to believe that the Soviet Union would have intervened in favor of the Western powers without a prior German attack. And without help from the Soviet Union, which destroyed 80 percent of the German Wehrmacht, and at this time of the war also without American help, France and Great Britain simply had no chance of defeating Germany.
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When reading the comments, it is astonishing how easily people demand heroism from others, as long as they themselves do not have to die for it. And how naive some seem to be when they believe that the Allies' declarations of war against Germany actually served to help Poland.
There is a reason why the British refer to World War I as the Great War and not World War II, which was much larger and claimed far more victims overall. Both the British and the French suffered far greater losses in World War I. In World War II, both were decisively defeated by Germany early on. Even though Britain continued to fight small battles on secondary fronts and ultimately emerged victorious alongside the United States, its most significant contribution to the war was to conduct a criminal bombing campaign against the German civilian population for years while waiting for the Soviet Union to win the actual war against the German army at a cost so enormous that even today it is still conveniently ignored in the West. This behavior was despicable, but it spared their peoples many casualties.
Those who believe that France only needed to be a little braver to significantly influence the outcome of the war overestimate the importance of the Western Front in World War II. At that point (1940, the Soviet Union was not yet at war with Germany. Although it was not allied with Germany, as is often claimed today, the West had made it abundantly clear that it did not want an alliance with the Soviet Union, but would have much preferred to see Germany and the Soviet Union tear each other apart (which is, unfortunately, what happened in the end. Therefore, we have no reason to believe that the Soviet Union would have intervened in favor of the Western powers without a prior German attack. And without help from the Soviet Union, which destroyed 80 percent of the German Wehrmacht, and at this time of the war also without American help, France and Great Britain simply had no chance of defeating Germany.
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floycewhite6991
France, which had the biggest military in Europe, could not mount a large-scale invasion of Germany in 3 weeks. Yet nobody notices that the USSR had no trouble launching a large-scale invasion of Poland in 16 days. The Soviet Union was already mobilized, already had trains ready to move the troops westward, already had heavy equipment and ammunition stores in the area. Why in the world do people believe the official story that Der Evil Nutsies invaded an unprepared USSR, that Stalin had a mental breakdown and sat around crying for a month, that sheer heroism delayed the Germans, rather than two echelons of invasion forces caught with their pants down
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France, which had the biggest military in Europe, could not mount a large-scale invasion of Germany in 3 weeks. Yet nobody notices that the USSR had no trouble launching a large-scale invasion of Poland in 16 days. The Soviet Union was already mobilized, already had trains ready to move the troops westward, already had heavy equipment and ammunition stores in the area. Why in the world do people believe the official story that Der Evil Nutsies invaded an unprepared USSR, that Stalin had a mental breakdown and sat around crying for a month, that sheer heroism delayed the Germans, rather than two echelons of invasion forces caught with their pants down
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gogogomes7025
It's truly a clash of generations, we knowing how WW2 went will never be truly able to understand or sympathize with those who experienced WW1, for than it was almost assured that no war could ever be worst then the one that past, and avoiding war was ALWAYS the best solution, we now feel that we know better, I don't think that we really do, yet still we will never truly be able to feel the same way they felt about their decision, because we now know how the war went and that in fact it can get worse then WW1.
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It's truly a clash of generations, we knowing how WW2 went will never be truly able to understand or sympathize with those who experienced WW1, for than it was almost assured that no war could ever be worst then the one that past, and avoiding war was ALWAYS the best solution, we now feel that we know better, I don't think that we really do, yet still we will never truly be able to feel the same way they felt about their decision, because we now know how the war went and that in fact it can get worse then WW1.
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GelatinCoffee
I just love the idea of the boots on the ground of how this looked. French breaking through the border, being like holy shit. Le border not well defended. Boss, do we push deeper Whoever was in charge non, sounds too dangerous. We don't out number them enough. Also our tanks are too fearsome against the German army. I feel bad for them. Come back let them finish preparing
Fast forward to French defeat
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I just love the idea of the boots on the ground of how this looked. French breaking through the border, being like holy shit. Le border not well defended. Boss, do we push deeper Whoever was in charge non, sounds too dangerous. We don't out number them enough. Also our tanks are too fearsome against the German army. I feel bad for them. Come back let them finish preparing
Fast forward to French defeat
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gosforthlad
Two factors omitted -
The Westeall was too hard a nut to crack, especially the minefields, the French having no mine detecting / ploughing equipment or training.
And there was still the possibility of avoiding another devastating war like the First World War taking place on French soil. The war could have ended with the fall of Poland and acceptance of German's reasonable peace offers.
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Two factors omitted -
The Westeall was too hard a nut to crack, especially the minefields, the French having no mine detecting / ploughing equipment or training.
And there was still the possibility of avoiding another devastating war like the First World War taking place on French soil. The war could have ended with the fall of Poland and acceptance of German's reasonable peace offers.
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martinsto8190
1: 28 Bro, why you excluding the rest of the Maginot.
Some places were fortified heavily in concentrated areas sure, but the Maginot was a plan to build any new bunker or upgrade existing forts along the entire eastern frontier.
That includes the south too, Switzerland, Italy, the coasts of Corsica, and even at a strategic points in what is modern Tunesia.
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1: 28 Bro, why you excluding the rest of the Maginot.
Some places were fortified heavily in concentrated areas sure, but the Maginot was a plan to build any new bunker or upgrade existing forts along the entire eastern frontier.
That includes the south too, Switzerland, Italy, the coasts of Corsica, and even at a strategic points in what is modern Tunesia.
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fourmondnoah4013
Because we had the worst general ever see gamelin who took office few year before war and remplace a very competent general weygan that retake office after the Belgium disaster weygan make a great defense but it was too late we loosed the British betrayed and we lost a good part of the army in Belgium and dunkerk he couldn’t hold it effeciently
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Because we had the worst general ever see gamelin who took office few year before war and remplace a very competent general weygan that retake office after the Belgium disaster weygan make a great defense but it was too late we loosed the British betrayed and we lost a good part of the army in Belgium and dunkerk he couldn’t hold it effeciently
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Matt. 71
one thing that is often forgotten about why france didn't advance further during the saar offensive:
MINES, the germans had overmined the border and the french army had no answers to them, in one place the only thing they found to try to clear a minefield was freeing pigs from a farm and pushing them towards the minefield. with the expected results.
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one thing that is often forgotten about why france didn't advance further during the saar offensive:
MINES, the germans had overmined the border and the french army had no answers to them, in one place the only thing they found to try to clear a minefield was freeing pigs from a farm and pushing them towards the minefield. with the expected results.
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thorsvenson3530
The french chief of staff went into a panic attack when hearing the new of the German invasion, and effectively lost the war before it even started. Simply by being dysfunctional, and leading his generals to believe there was no point in fighting; A self fulfilling prophecy. It is perhaps the most spectacular military defeat ever.
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The french chief of staff went into a panic attack when hearing the new of the German invasion, and effectively lost the war before it even started. Simply by being dysfunctional, and leading his generals to believe there was no point in fighting; A self fulfilling prophecy. It is perhaps the most spectacular military defeat ever.
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Ginkgobonobo
This is why the French get a lot of crap for their military accomplishments, or lack thereof. Essentially, they were too disorganized to mount a full offensive, and without a full offensive they didn't feel like trying at all. How different the war might have been if Germany couldn't keep up supply lines to the Western Front.
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This is why the French get a lot of crap for their military accomplishments, or lack thereof. Essentially, they were too disorganized to mount a full offensive, and without a full offensive they didn't feel like trying at all. How different the war might have been if Germany couldn't keep up supply lines to the Western Front.
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roberthansen5727
So what happened
The Poles DIDN'T hold out for three weeks. The majority of their army was destroyed outright in the first 16 days of the war, and they were doomed in the first 10 days of the war. There was no longer a Poland to relieve after the Battle of the Bzura River.
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So what happened
The Poles DIDN'T hold out for three weeks. The majority of their army was destroyed outright in the first 16 days of the war, and they were doomed in the first 10 days of the war. There was no longer a Poland to relieve after the Battle of the Bzura River.
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JakeWingism
The French and the Germans should have never fought in the first place. It was clear then and it's clear today that the people of both nations are better off at peace than at war. It is a good thing that the fall of Paris was as relatively peaceful as it was.
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The French and the Germans should have never fought in the first place. It was clear then and it's clear today that the people of both nations are better off at peace than at war. It is a good thing that the fall of Paris was as relatively peaceful as it was.
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kevenquinlan
I never talk smack about the French and I'm not going to now, but think how different things might've been had they and how many lives would have been saved! I'm sure they also didn't know that Germany was going to try and conquer europe, which they did.
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I never talk smack about the French and I'm not going to now, but think how different things might've been had they and how many lives would have been saved! I'm sure they also didn't know that Germany was going to try and conquer europe, which they did.
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pauortolacobos6636
Never trust the french lol. While Spain was trying to fight the protestants, berber pirates, and the ottomans to defend Europe, they were one of the only european powers to Ally with the ottomans. No values nor class there
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Never trust the french lol. While Spain was trying to fight the protestants, berber pirates, and the ottomans to defend Europe, they were one of the only european powers to Ally with the ottomans. No values nor class there
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papgaming1827
The allies should have made peace with the germans so they don’t have to do anything and let the Germans fight against the Soviets alone. That’ll weaken both Germany and the Soviet Union and Allies will have the upper hand.
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The allies should have made peace with the germans so they don’t have to do anything and let the Germans fight against the Soviets alone. That’ll weaken both Germany and the Soviet Union and Allies will have the upper hand.
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aaronmarks9366
The most painful what if of World War II. If the French had launched a full offensive, they might have been able to collapse Germany in literally the first weeks of the war. So many millions of lives could have been saved.
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The most painful what if of World War II. If the French had launched a full offensive, they might have been able to collapse Germany in literally the first weeks of the war. So many millions of lives could have been saved.
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marcneef795
Of course, we should not be hindsight generals, but this was perhaps the worst decision in human history. WW2 would have most likely been prevented in Europe just by putting a bit more pressure on Germany at that moment.
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Of course, we should not be hindsight generals, but this was perhaps the worst decision in human history. WW2 would have most likely been prevented in Europe just by putting a bit more pressure on Germany at that moment.
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philippegaeng7249
Its all about the memories of wwI. France was ready for a defensive war not for butchering a new generation of boys.
The idea was always to contain Germany on the borders then negotiate hence the funny wars.
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Its all about the memories of wwI. France was ready for a defensive war not for butchering a new generation of boys.
The idea was always to contain Germany on the borders then negotiate hence the funny wars.
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Overlord24
What about the colonial troops I mean they could have thrown in every man and then if it was too much retreated no Well they; ost every colony after the war. They are still paying for that 1940 defeat politically.
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What about the colonial troops I mean they could have thrown in every man and then if it was too much retreated no Well they; ost every colony after the war. They are still paying for that 1940 defeat politically.
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jlp2011
Could also be that it was late in season by that time to mount an offensive. So stay put and let Germany waste itself on prepared defences. Not a good idea, but fits in with the Anglo-French timidity of the time.
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Could also be that it was late in season by that time to mount an offensive. So stay put and let Germany waste itself on prepared defences. Not a good idea, but fits in with the Anglo-French timidity of the time.
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