Why Was France Defeated So Quickly During WW2?

by Panzer
One of the most dramatic and unexpected events of WWII was the collapse of France
and the Low Countries in 1940. France was the most powerful military power in the world at the time.
Britain, its ally, was the largest naval force. Both had greater economies than
Germany and could draw resources from the world's most powerful empires.
Yet, the Germans defeated France, Britain, Belgium and the Netherlands in a short campaign.
The defeat of this formidable army in under six weeks in 1940,
stands as one of the most remarkable military campaigns in history.
Following the heavy casualties in the First World War for France, around 40% of the active
male population, the French military rejected the concept of improvised unplanned offensives.
They intended to stay on the defensive in western Europe while mobilizing
their military forces and industrial base in preparation for a total war.
They expected to launch the offensive two to three years after hostilities began.
During the 1930s, the French constructed the Maginot Line,
a series of fortifications along the German border.
The line was intended to save manpower
by diverting a German invasion beyond the Franco–German border into Belgium
where it could be confronted by the French Army's strongest divisions.
The war would be fought outside of French territory
avoiding the destruction of the First World War.
The main stretch of the Maginot Line ran from the Swiss border to Longwy with the
hills and woods of the Ardennes region, supposed to cover the area to the north.
The Ardennes Forest and the Meuse River according to French military authorities
were "impenetrable" and a death trap for any attacking force.
In general, the slow-paced, attritional fighting of World War One
heavily influenced French military strategy at the onset of World War Two.
Following the German invasion of Poland on September 3, 1939, France declared war on Germany.
They launched the limited Saar Offensive in early September 1939
and had withdrew to their starting positions by mid-October.
Hitler was keen to follow up his triumph over Poland in 1939 with an invasion in the west
but bad weather forced the planned offensive to be postponed.
The invasion finally began on May 10, 1940, with German air raids on Belgium
and Holland followed by parachute drops and ground troops operations.
The British and French had responded to the initial
offensive by implementing a plan to push to the River Dyle in Belgium.
The Allies pushed their strongest forces into Belgium including the British.
The two opposing armies were nearly equal in troop numbers and divisions.
The French and British forces had nearly a 3 to 2 advantage in the number of tanks and a 2 to
1 advantage in guns. However, The Germans had a significant advantage in the number of aircraft.
Light Panzer II and even lighter Panzer I tanks, made up the bulk of the German tank force.