France has always been a strong country on the European continent. In the era of Napoleon and World War I, the French army showed quite strong combat effectiveness. Especially their army troops are a kind of existence that makes the enemy fearful. However, in World War II, faced with the attack of Nazi Germany, the French army, which was proud of it, was beaten out of power. France also surrendered less than 40 days after the war.
So, obviously in Napoleon's period and World War I invincible, why did the French army fail in World War II? What happened in the middle?
In the Napoleonic period, only Russia and Britain were not controlled by France in the entire Europe. Under the command of Napoleon, the French army was almost destroyed all the way. If it were not for the Russian winter and the supply of the French army, Napoleon would probably unite the entire European continent.
Of course, the French army can have such a performance, and Napoleon's command is inseparable.
Napoleon is a born commander. In his tactics, he emphasized the cooperation of cavalry and artillery, which is also the invincible magic weapon of the French army.
Napoleon especially likes to adopt column tactics while using his arms to cooperate. Column tactics allow the army to change different formations at any time, so that the impact of the cavalry and the lethality of the artillery can be maximized. Napoleon used this tactic many times in the war, and the final effect was very satisfactory.
In World War I, in the face of the aggression of one million German troops, the French army effectively used the three magic weapons of trenches, barbed wire and Maxim machine guns, making the advancement of the German army difficult.
In addition, the French army has a strong sense of defending the country, and it has exploded with astonishing willpower and combat power, while Germany is in the predicament of fighting on the two fronts. Therefore, at the end of the war, the German army never crossed Verdun.
After World War I, the French Army was called "Europe's Strongest Army". It can be seen that this is a high evaluation.
But in World War II, the French army became very weak. What is going on here?
Compared with the Napoleonic period and the First World War, the French army has three shortcomings at this time: one is that there are no more outstanding commanders, the second is that there is a problem with the strategic policy, and the third is the general war weariness.
Due to the victory experience of the First World War, Petain, the French head of state from the military, did not pay enough attention to the German army. In Petain's view, Germany will never make a comeback in a short time.
Of course, in order to prevent wars from breaking out in half a century or in the future, Petain also suggested building a solid defense line between France and Germany.
In 1928, France invested 5 billion francs to formally build the Maginot Line.
In 1940, the Maginot Line was officially completed. In the defense line, cannons, trenches, fortresses, power stations, hospitals and other equipment are all available. Even in the big pass, there are tram passages.
However, this line of defense is only a defense against the French-German border. Like the Ardennes on the border between France and Belgium, there are no fortifications built.
is not repaired in the Ardennes, one is because the terrain of the Ardennes is rugged, which is not suitable for large-scale military operations. The second is because of strong opposition from Belgium.
Unexpectedly, the German army later invaded France from the Ardennes.
After the Maginot Line was completed, Petain was quite confident in resisting Germany.
As everyone knows, Petain is a defensive master, he always believes that defense is the best way to attack. This also helped France achieve victory in World War I.
However, Petain did not realize that the war he was familiar with had undergone earth-shaking changes in the past two decades.
In World War I, the tank was just invented and was not put on the battlefield. Therefore, trench warfare advanced by soldiers became the main form of warfare. But after Hitler came to power, Germany rapidly developed heavy industry, and the German ArmyWithin a few years, a tank-based armored force was established.
This also means that although the Maginot Line will become a nightmare for the Germans in the trench warfare, the power of the Maginot Line will be greatly reduced under the attack of tank armor.
and later the Germans did not attack the Maginot Line at all, which made France's most proud defensive weapon a display.
In addition to leadership incompetence and strategic and tactical errors, the performance of the French army was poor, which was also affected by other aspects.
After World War I, France was filled with war exhaustion. From the leadership of the country to the soldiers in the army, all are affected by this sentiment.
From the perspective of soldiers, the French soldiers lost their vigor during the First World War because they yearned for peace, and their combat effectiveness was not as good as before. On the other hand, the German army is trying to wash away the shame of World War I. Under the situation of one-sidedness, the war has become one-sided.
From the perspective of national leadership, due to the nation’s anti-war, the leading politicians won votes. After Zhuhe faction took office, he has always adopted a cautious "policy of appeasement." Let Germany behave in the surrounding area and ignore it.
After the fall of Austria and Czechoslovakia, France also signed a peace treaty of "forever friendship" with Britain, Germany, and Italy in the name of mediation.
When Stalin had a foreboding of the threat from Germany and came to his door to form an alliance. France also hoped to bring the disaster to the east, and rejected the alliance. This incident led the Soviet Union to sign a treaty with Germany to carve up Poland, which eventually led to catastrophe.
(Reference materials: "War History of the Second World War" etc.)
