On the eve of World War II, the French army was considered one of the most powerful in the world. But in a direct clash with Germany in May 1940, the French were enough for a few weeks of resistance.
Useless superiority
By the beginning of World War II, France had the 3rd largest army in the world in terms of the number of tanks and aircraft, second only to the USSR and Germany, as well as the 4th navy after Britain, the USA and Japan. The total number of French troops numbered more than 2 million people.
The superiority of the French army in manpower and equipment over the forces of the Wehrmacht on the Western Front was undeniable. For example, the French Air Force included about 3,300 aircraft, of which half were the latest combat vehicles. The Luftwaffe could only count on 1,186 aircraft.
With the arrival of reinforcements from the British Isles - an expeditionary force in the amount of 9 divisions, as well as air units, including 1,500 combat vehicles - the advantage over the German troops became more than obvious. However, in a matter of months, there was no trace of the former superiority of the allied forces - the well-trained and tactically superior army of the Wehrmacht eventually forced France to capitulate.
The line that didn't defend
The French command assumed that german army will act as during the First World War - that is, it will attack France from the northeast from Belgium. The entire load in this case was to fall on the defensive redoubts of the Maginot Line, which France began to build in 1929 and improved until 1940.
For the construction of the Maginot Line, which stretches for 400 km, the French spent a fabulous amount - about 3 billion francs (or 1 billion dollars). Massive fortifications included multi-level underground forts with living quarters, ventilation systems and elevators, electrical and telephone stations, hospitals and narrow gauge railways. Gun casemates from air bombs were supposed to be protected by a concrete wall 4 meters thick.
The personnel of the French troops on the Maginot Line reached 300 thousand people.
According to military historians, the Maginot Line, in principle, coped with its task. There were no breakthroughs of German troops on its most fortified sections. But the German army group "B", having bypassed the line of fortifications from the north, threw the main forces into its new sections, which were built on swampy terrain, and where the construction of underground structures was difficult. There, the French could not hold back the onslaught of the German troops.
Surrender in 10 minutes
On June 17, 1940, the first meeting of the collaborationist government of France, headed by Marshal Henri Petain, took place. It lasted only 10 minutes. During this time, the ministers unanimously voted for the decision to turn to the German command and ask him to end the war on French territory.
For these purposes, the services of an intermediary were used. The new Minister of Foreign Affairs, P. Baudouin, through the Spanish Ambassador Lekeric, transmitted a note in which the French government asked Spain to turn to the German leadership with a request to stop hostilities in France, and also to find out the terms of the armistice. At the same time, a proposal for a truce was sent to Italy through the papal nuncio. On the same day, Petain turned on the radio to the people and the army, urging them to "stop the fight."
Last stronghold
When signing the armistice agreement (act of surrender) between Germany and France, Hitler was wary of the vast colonies of the latter, many of which were ready to continue resistance. This explains some of the relaxations in the treaty, in particular, the preservation of part navy France to maintain "order" in their colonies.
England was also vitally interested in the fate of the French colonies, since the threat of their capture by German forces was highly valued. Churchill hatched plans for a French government in exile that would grant virtual control of Britain's French overseas possessions.
General Charles de Gaulle, who created a government in opposition to the Vichy regime, directed all his efforts to seizing the colonies.
However, the North African administration turned down an offer to join the Free French. A completely different mood reigned in the colonies of Equatorial Africa - already in August 1940, Chad, Gabon and Cameroon joined de Gaulle, which created the conditions for the general to form the state apparatus.
Fury of Mussolini
Realizing that the defeat of France from Germany was inevitable, Mussolini on June 10, 1940 declared war on her. The Italian Army Group "West" of Prince Umberto of Savoy, with forces of over 300 thousand people, with the support of 3 thousand guns, launched an offensive in the Alps. However, the opposing army of General Aldry successfully repelled these attacks.
By June 20, the offensive of the Italian divisions became more fierce, but they managed to advance only slightly in the Menton area. Mussolini was furious - his plans to seize a large piece of its territory by the time of France's surrender had failed. The Italian dictator has already begun to prepare an airborne assault, but has not received approval for this operation from the German command.
On June 22, an armistice was signed between France and Germany, and two days later a similar agreement was signed between France and Italy. So, with a "victorious embarrassment" Italy entered the Second World War.
Victims
During the active phase of the war, which lasted from May 10 to June 21, 1940, the French army lost about 300 thousand people killed and wounded. Half a million were taken prisoner. The tank corps and the French Air Force were partially destroyed, the other part went to the German armed forces. At the same time, Britain will liquidate the French fleet in order to avoid it falling into the hands of the Wehrmacht.
Despite the fact that the capture of France took place in a short time, its armed forces gave a worthy rebuff to the German and Italian troops. For a month and a half of the war, the Wehrmacht lost more than 45 thousand people killed and missing, about 11 thousand were wounded.
The French sacrifices of German aggression could not have been in vain if the French government had made a number of concessions put forward by Britain in exchange for the entry of the royal armed forces into the war. But France chose to capitulate.
Paris - a place of convergence 
According to the armistice agreement, Germany occupied only the western coast of France and the northern regions of the country, where Paris was located. The capital was a kind of place of "French-German" rapprochement. Here, German soldiers and Parisians coexisted peacefully: they went to the cinema together, visited museums, or simply sat in a cafe. After the occupation, theaters also revived - their box office receipts tripled compared to pre-war years.
Paris very quickly became the cultural center of occupied Europe. France lived as before, as if there were no months of desperate resistance and unfulfilled hopes. German propaganda managed to convince many French people that capitulation is not a disgrace to the country, but a road to the “bright future” of a renewed Europe.
Generalissimo. Book 1. Karpov Vladimir Vasilyevich
War in Europe (The Defeat of France: May-June 1940 War with England)
After Poland was occupied by Germany, the question arose before Hitler - to carry out an attack on the USSR or to defeat France and England first? If Hitler went east and took possession living space, the need for which he openly spoke, it would strengthen Germany to such an extent that France and England would be unable to resist it. They, of course, would not have waited for this, and, probably, a real, and not a “strange” war would have begun in the West, that is, a war would have begun on two fronts, which was so feared and against which all German strategists warned the Fuhrer. Therefore, elementary logic prompted Hitler: it is necessary to liquidate the Western opponents first. But France was not like those European countries that Hitler had so easily captured before 1939. In the past, Germany waged long-term wars with France, and the battles were on an equal footing, sometimes the French armed forces prevailed, sometimes the German ones. It was a serious adversary, and having such a powerful ally as England.
By October 9, 1939, the “Memorandum and guidelines for the conduct of the war in the West” was developed at Hitler’s headquarters. At first, Hitler entrusted this most secret document to only four, namely, the three commanders-in-chief of the branches of the armed forces and the chief of staff of the supreme high command. This "Memorandum" analyzed the possible actions of all European states in the event of a German attack on France, and outlined the options for military action against France. The main idea was to bypass the long-term lines of defense of France, created by her on her borders with Germany, through the territories of Luxembourg, Belgium and Holland, and thereby avoid heavy losses and protracted battles. And then, with a swift blow of tank and mechanized troops, break into the territory of France, crush, first of all, the enemy’s will to resist, encircle and destroy the main forces of the French army and the expeditionary units of England.
Based on Hitler's instructions, the general staff and commanders began to develop a plan for the conduct of the war, as a result of which the final plan for the invasion of France was adopted, which received code name"Gelb".
On May 10, 1940, the Nazi troops launched an offensive bypassing the French Maginot Line through the territory of Holland and Belgium. With the help of airborne assaults, they captured important areas, airfields, bridges. On May 14, the Dutch army capitulated. Belgian troops retreated to the line of the Meuse River. Parts of the Anglo-French troops advanced to the same line. But the German army broke through the weak Allied defenses and reached the coast by May 20. A special role was played by the Kleist tank group, which pressed the Allied troops to the sea. The tragic Dunkirk operation took place here, during which the Anglo-French troops, having suffered huge losses, were evacuated.
Having quickly regrouped forces, the Nazi army on June 5 launched the second offensive operation - “Rot”, in which 140 divisions participated! This operation set the task of defeating the French armed forces and finally withdrawing France from the war.
The French government and command were demoralized. On June 14, by order of Weygand, Paris was surrendered without a fight. Hitler's troops moved freely into the interior of the country. On June 17, Marshal Pétain replaced the completely helpless government and immediately turned to the Wehrmacht command with a request for a truce.
Hitler reveled in his victory, he wished that the signing of the surrender of France was issued in the same carriage in which the Treaty of Versailles was signed on June 18, 1919. The car was found, put in order, driven to the Compiègne forest to the very place where it stood in the nineteenth year, and here on June 22, 1940, the surrender was signed.
Thus, within 44 days, from May 10 to June 22, the French army and the army of its allies - England, Holland and Belgium - were defeated.
The Allied command was unable to organize resistance, although it had sufficient forces for active defense. On the part of the Germans, 140 divisions, 2580 tanks, 3824 aircraft, 7378 guns participated in the implementation of Operation Gelb. And the allies had 147 divisions, including 23 tank and mechanized, 3100 tanks, 3800 combat aircraft and more than 14,500 artillery pieces. It is easy to see from these figures that the Allied forces outnumbered the Nazi Germany.
About the reasons for the rapid defeat of the French army, it is most correct, in my opinion, to learn from the French themselves. Here is what General de Gaulle wrote about this: “... the commanding cadres, deprived of systematic and planned leadership from the government, found themselves in the grip of routine. The army was dominated by concepts that had been adhered to even before the end of the First World War. This was largely facilitated by the fact that the military leaders were decrepit in their posts, remaining adherents of outdated views ... The idea of positional warfare formed the basis of the strategy that future war. It also determined the organization of the troops, their training, weapons and the entire military doctrine as a whole.
Thus, the rapid defeat of the French army and the armies of the allies was predetermined not only by the strength of the German army and the skill of its military leaders, but also by the helplessness of the command and the allied forces themselves. As for the plan of the German offensive against France, it did not represent any new discovery in the field of military art, except for the powerful attacks of tank groups that distinguished it from the actions of the German army in other wars against France. Here, for example, is what Manstein writes about this plan:
“Operational plans in general terms resembled the famous Schlieffen plan of 1914. It seemed rather depressing to me that our generation could not think of anything else but to repeat the old recipe, even if it came from a man like Schlieffen. What could come of it if a military plan was taken out of the safe, which the enemy had already once studied with us and for the repetition of which he had to be prepared.
Colonel-General von Bock, commander of Army Group B, also expressed great concern about the very many risky provisions laid down in the Gelb plan. He even wrote an official report on this subject in April 1940 addressed to the commander of the ground forces, Colonel-General von Brauchitsch. This report included the following:
“I am haunted by your operational plan. You know what I am for bold operations, but the boundaries of the reasonable have been crossed here, there is no other way to call it. Advance with a strike wing past the Maginot Line, 15 kilometers from it, and think that the French will look at it indifferently! You have concentrated the main mass of tanks on several roads in the Ardennes mountainous terrain, as if aviation does not exist! .. And you hope to immediately carry out an operation to the coast with an open southern flank stretching for 300 kilometers, on which there are large forces of the French army! What will you do if the French deliberately let us cross the Meuse piece by piece and then launch a main offensive against our southern flank... You're playing for broke!”
Yes, if the allies, led by the French command, had carried out at least what von Bock foresaw, the German offensive against France would have bogged down. But, as we have already said, the French and British commands were unable to organize resistance with the large forces at their disposal.
I also want to emphasize the fact that all the above actions took place, as they say, in front of our military leadership, but, unfortunately, it also did not draw the proper conclusions and did not organize the training of the senior command, as well as units and formations of the Red Army to counter precisely such tactics of the Nazi army.
After the crushing defeat of France, Hitler and his strategists expected that England would agree to a truce, but this did not happen - England continued the war. So Hitler began looking for a solution English problem. In the chain of countries - France, England, the Soviet Union - Germany, as we see, has reached the last straight line. France has fallen, and if England is neutralized, it will be possible to carry out main goal- the capture of the eastern spaces, in other words, to start a war against the USSR.
The Hitlerite leadership was looking for ways to take England out of the game through political intrigue and pressure. However, this did not lead to success. There were a lot of conversations, meetings, proposed options on this subject, in the end, Hitler inclined to the opinion of General Jodl, which he set out in his memorandum of June 30, 1940 "Further conduct of the war against England." The most expedient and promising strategic option he saw as follows:
1. Siege - obstruction by the fleet and aviation of any import and export from England, the struggle against English aviation and the sources of the country's military and economic power.
2. Terrorizing raids on English cities.
3. Landing for the purpose of occupying England. He considered the invasion of England possible only after the German aircraft had gained complete air supremacy and the economic life of the country had been disorganized. The landing in England was seen as the final mortal blow. But even when orders were given for the development of this operation, called the "Sea Lion", Hitler did not lose hope for a compromise peace with England. However, despite all the efforts, political and diplomatic, the actions of the “fifth column” and propaganda tricks, the Nazis still failed to achieve reconciliation with England. On June 4 and 18, Churchill declared in the House of Commons that Britain would continue the war to the end even if she was left alone. Now the Hitlerite command had only to influence England by force. A lot of, let's say, research work was done by the high command of the naval, air and ground forces to estimate all possible options for the invasion of England. Everyone understood that this was not an easy task and it would hardly be possible to achieve lightning success, as it was before in the land theater of operations.
After many meetings and reflections, on July 16, 1940, Hitler signed OKB Directive No. 16 “On the preparation of an operation to land troops in England.” It said:
“Since England, despite her unpromising military situation, still does not show any signs of readiness for mutual understanding, I decided to prepare and, if necessary, carry out a landing operation against England. The purpose of this operation is to eliminate the English metropolis as a base for continuing the war against Germany and, if necessary, completely capture it.
As you can see, even in this general attitude there is no longer that decisiveness and certainty that was in the directives when operating on land theaters: “if it is necessary to carry out a landing operation”, “if necessary ...” and many more such “ifs”.
Preparations for Operation Sea Lion were scheduled to be completed in mid-August. All previous military actions were well thought out by Hitler and the General Staff, but this time, by the time the orders were already given for the preparation of the operation, Hitler did not yet have any firm plan, so he asked his military strategists for their opinion. At first, Hitler supported and even tried to carry out what Jodl outlined in his June 30 note. At the same time, Hitler was still waiting for England to agree to a peace treaty. To achieve this, he himself and many of his advisers hoped to bring England to her knees with a blockade by sea and air. But soon Hitler came to the conclusion that decisive successes from submarine warfare and air blockade could be achieved in a year or two. This in no way corresponded to his concept of the rapid implementation of victory. The loss of time was not in favor of Germany, and Hitler understood this.
In mid-May, Berlin was agitated by reports of an unexpected flight to England by Rudolf Hess, Hitler's first deputy in charge of the Nazi Party. Hess, himself piloting a Messerschmitt-110 aircraft, took off on May 10 from Augsburg (southern Germany), heading for Downhavel Castle, the Scottish estate of Lord Hamilton, with whom he was personally acquainted. However, Hess made a mistake in calculating the fuel and, before reaching the target of 14 kilometers, jumped out with a parachute, was detained by local peasants and handed over to the authorities. For several days the British government kept silent about this event. Berlin did not report anything about this either. It was only after the British government made this flight public that the German government realized that the secret mission entrusted to Hess had not been successful. Then, at Hitler's headquarters in the Berghof, they decided to present Hess's flight to the public as a manifestation of his insanity. The official communiqué about the “Hess affair” said:
"Party member Hess seems to have become obsessed with the idea that through personal action he can still achieve an understanding between Germany and England."
Hitler understood the moral damage caused to him and his regime by the unsuccessful flight of Hess. To cover his tracks, he ordered the arrest of Hess's associates, and removed him from all posts and ordered him to be shot if he returned to Germany. At the same time, Martin Bormann was appointed Hitler's deputy for the Nazi Party. There is no doubt, however, that the Nazis pinned considerable hopes on Hess's flight. Hitler hoped that he would be able to attract the opponents of Germany, and above all England, to the anti-Soviet campaign.
From the documents of the Nuremberg trials and other materials published after the defeat of Nazi Germany, it is known that from the summer of 1940 Hess was in correspondence with prominent English Munich residents. The Duke of Windsor helped him establish this correspondence - former king England, Edward VIII, who, because of his passion for a divorced American, was forced to abdicate. At that time he lived in Spain. Using his connections, Hess arranged in advance for a visit to England. (It is characteristic that the documents about his stay in this country have not yet been declassified.)
The Hitlerite command really did not want to carry out a direct invasion of the territory of England, but after the unsuccessful flight of Hess, it remained the only way to solve the problem.
However, when developing various options for the invasion, the main naval headquarters came to the conclusion that the operation should be abandoned this year and that even a year later it would be able to carry out the landing required amount troops only on the condition that German aircraft gain air supremacy.
In addition, Hitler was informed that the military-industrial preparation for a war against England would take years and it was beyond the strength of Germany, if we keep in mind the need for further development ground forces for the upcoming trip to the east.
Hitler realized that he would not be able to carry out Operation Sea Lion, his hesitation was reflected in several postponements of the implementation of this operation.
On June 30, it was decided to make preparations for the great battle of German aviation against England. In Directive No. 17 of August 1, Hitler says: “In order to create the prerequisites for the final defeat of England, I intend to wage air and sea war against England in a more acute form than hitherto. To this end, I order: the German air force, with all the means at their disposal, destroy the British aviation as soon as possible.
In a directive dated August 2, the German Air Force was tasked with gaining air supremacy over southern England in four days. It also shows Hitler's desire to carry out his plans with lightning speed. But the air element made its own adjustments: due to bad meteorological conditions, an all-out air battle began only in the middle of the month. On August 15, the first major massive raid, which was attended by 801 bombers and 1149 fighters.
Simultaneously with the bombing, the Nazi leadership exerted the maximum propaganda influence on the British, wanting to demoralize the population not only with aerial bombardments, but also with the threat of an upcoming invasion of troops on the English island and thereby force the British to sign a peace treaty.
Since September 5, the German Air Force began to pay special attention to the bombing of London, and this was also not only bombing, but also psychological pressure. But the Nazis never managed to achieve air supremacy, just as they failed to break the morale of the British. On September 14, at a meeting of the commanders-in-chief at headquarters, Hitler gloomily stated:
“Despite all the successes, the prerequisites for Operation Sea Lion have not yet been created.”
The Nazis also underestimated the British fighter aircraft: during the air raids, the German aircraft suffered significant losses. Thus, in September 1940, it was already obvious that the conclusion of peace did not take place, that the naval blockade was beyond the power of Germany, and the all-out air attack on England failed.
The so-called peripheral strategy, which was also discussed more than once, remained untested. On August 12, 1940, an order was given to transfer tank forces to North Africa for an attack on the Suez Canal. The Mediterranean positions were, of course, of great importance for England; the metropolis was connected here with India, the Far East, Australia, East and North Africa. The Suez Canal played the role of an important strategic communication through which the supply of the British army was carried out. The supply of oil from the Middle East also followed these paths. The loss of Mediterranean communications therefore hit England very hard.
On February 12, 1941, Rommel's corps landed on the African coast. In April, Germany occupied Greece. Hitler intended to capture Gibraltar as well, sending troops there from Spanish territory, but Franco took a wait-and-see attitude, not wanting to get involved in the fight against the great powers. Hitler invited Mussolini to send one to help the Italian troops in Libya tank corps, to which the Duce also delayed the answer for a long time and agreed with great reluctance.
All these and other actions in the Balkans and in the Mediterranean were aimed not only at weakening England. It was also a disguise for the most important, the most decisive thing that Hitler and the Hitlerite General Staff were preparing for - the preparation of an attack on the Soviet Union. Hitler understood that there was now no state in Europe capable of creating or organizing a coalition to open a second front against Germany, and England in this sense, being across the sea, did not pose a real threat. Now Hitler secured a calm rear (the cherished dream of all German commanders in the past!), He untied his hands. More frightening England, and most importantly - misinforming the whole of Europe, and primarily the Soviet Union, with messages about the intention to conduct Operation Sea Lion, the Nazi General Staff began developing the Barbarossa plan.
On June 30, 1940, on the fifth day after the ceasefire in France, Halder wrote in his diary: “The main focus is on the east ...” The Chief of the General Staff, who kept his diary in a personal safe, was absolutely sure that no one had ever will not look, so his diary can be considered a completely reliable document. This entry was one of the biggest secrets of the time, and it betrays Hitler's true plans, which he, of course, told the Chief of the General Staff. General Keitel, in an OKW order "On the beginning of planning for a landing operation against England" on July 2, also wrote: "All preparations must be made on the basis that the invasion itself is only a plan, the decision on which has not yet been made."
All the activities of the operation "Sea Lion" turned into a screen to cover up the preparation of aggression against the Soviet country. This camouflage was carried out very convincingly, because landing plans were being developed, changed, and all the time there was talk about the English Channel crossing as really forthcoming. Few knew that it was all fiction. For greater persuasiveness, even such actions were carried out on the coast (I quote from the memoirs of V. Kreipe): “French, Belgian and Dutch ports were packed with all kinds of ships. Continuous training was carried out on boarding ships and landing troops. Numerous ships of the German navy and submarines were concentrated for these exercises, as well as artillery and aircraft, which covered all these training sessions.
The plans of aggression against the USSR, which were described above, at one time were a secret for everyone. But the actions of Hitler and the Hitlerite General Staff in carrying out the main intention were so consistent that Stalin did not have to guess anything. The main, one might say, the purpose of his life, Hitler outlined in the book “ mein kampf”, which has been published and republished in millions of copies in all languages around the world. Here is what it says: “If today we are talking about new lands and territories in Europe, we turn our eyes primarily to Russia, as well as to its neighboring and dependent countries ... This vast expanse in the east is ripe for destruction ... We have been chosen by fate to witness a catastrophe that will be the strongest confirmation of the correctness of the racial theory.”
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Lecture 3. World War II
1. The beginning of the war
2. Campaign 1940
3. A turning point in World War II
4. Opening of the second front. End of the war
Literature:
1. The history of modern times in Europe and America: 1918-1945 / Ed. E.F. Yazkova. M: Higher. school, 1989. S.364-450
2. Recent history foreign countries. XX century.: A manual for students in grades 10-11. educational institutions / Ed. A.M. Rodriguez. Part 1. M: VLADOS, 1998. S.72-92
3. Ponomarev M.V., Smirnova S.Yu. New and recent history countries of Europe and America: A practical guide: Proc. allowance for students. higher textbook establishments: At 3 o'clock M.; VLADOS, 2000. Part 3. pp.82-86, 194-209
The beginning of the war.
On September 1, 1939, Hitler ordered his troops to invade Poland. On this day, the Reichstag passed a law on the accession of Danzig to Germany. By virtue of their obligations to Poland, France and Great Britain on September 3, after two ultimatums, declared war on Germany. Gradually, everyone was involved in hostilities. more first European, and then non-European countries. The Second World War began.
Already in the first days of the war, the German units broke through the Polish defenses. By September 7, advanced tank formations approached the outskirts of Warsaw. However, in their rear, the resistance of the Polish units still continued. Many of them managed to break out of the encirclement and reinforce the grouping of troops concentrated near Warsaw. In this situation, the German command changed the original plan of the campaign and delivered a rounding blow from the north and south in the direction of Brest-Litovsk with the forces of two army groups. By September 17, the ring was closed. It was rather symbolic, but on the same day units of the Red Army (RKKA) entered the territory of Poland from the east. The government of the USSR declared its determination "to render assistance to the fraternal peoples of Western Belarus and Western Ukraine." In fact, the USSR followed the terms of the secret protocols of 1939, according to which these territories were included in its sphere of influence. Parts of the Wehrmacht cleared "Soviet territory" and a joint military parade of the two armies was held in Brest-Litovsk, symbolizing the formation of a new state border USSR and Germany.
The last pockets of Polish resistance were soon crushed. On September 28, the signing of the Soviet-German Treaty of Friendship and Borders took place, according to which the Polish statehood was liquidated, and the responsibility for unleashing the war was assigned to Great Britain and France.
November 30, 1939, taking advantage of the border incident on the Karelian Isthmus, Soviet troops invaded Finland. "Winter War" which lasted until March 12, 1940, demonstrated the low combat capability of the Red Army, and especially the low level of training commanders weakened by Stalin's repressions. Only due to the heavy loss of life and a clear superiority in strength, the resistance of the Finnish army was broken. Under the terms of the peace treaty, The territory of the USSR included the entire Karelian Isthmus, the northwestern coast of Lake Ladoga, and a number of islands in the Gulf of Finland. The war significantly worsened relations between the USSR and Western countries - Great Britain and France, which planned to intervene in the conflict on the side of Finland. In those months when the Polish campaign and the Soviet-Finnish war took place, amazing calm reigned on the western front. This period was called the "strange war".
The obvious unwillingness of Western government and military circles to aggravate the conflict with Germany was explained by a number of reasons. The command of the British and French armies continued to focus on the strategy of positional warfare and hoped for the effectiveness of the Maginot defensive line covering eastern borders France. The memory of the colossal losses of the First World War also forced one to exercise extreme caution. Finally, many politicians in these countries counted on the localization of the outbreak of war in Eastern Europe, on Germany's readiness to be satisfied with the first victories. The illusory nature of such a position was shown in the very near future.
Campaign 1940
A new attack by the German army was delivered in April 1940 against Denmark and Norway. Denmark capitulated almost immediately. In Norway, a number of landing operations were carried out with the support of the forces of the navy. The reciprocal landing of British landings in the north of the country did not bring success. The capture of Norway significantly strengthened Germany's position in maritime communications. However naval forces Germany suffered irreparable losses during this operation. The English fleet lost about the same number of ships. But its potential was much greater. Since then active fighting at sea from Germany became possible only through the use of submarines.
On May 10, the German offensive began on the Western Front.. To avoid a direct attack on the strong fortifications of the Maginot Line, a strike through the territories of Belgium and the Netherlands was supposed - a copy of the offensive operation of the First World War. The Dutch and Belgian divisions rolled back under the blows of the German troops. After the massive bombing of Rotterdam, the Queen and the government of the Netherlands left the country, and the army capitulated. However, British and French formations were already occupying defensive positions along the Meuse-Antwerp line, ready to contain the enemy. Events took an unexpected turn on the night of May 14, the most powerful tank grouping of German troops struck in the area of the Ardennes mountain range on the border of Luxembourg and Belgium. By May 18, the Germans broke through to the Somme and began to turn around to the north, squeezing the 350,000-strong group of Anglo-French troops into a ring. Not wanting to risk accepting a war of maneuver, the British command insisted on concentrating these units in the Dunkirk area for evacuation to the British Isles. But this operation was also under threat - by May 24, the Germans had already reached Boulogne and Calais. At this moment, Hitler's unexpected order to stop the offensive followed. . Several days of delay allowed the Allies to organize the evacuation of most of the encircled formations. The forces for the defense of the mother country were saved, but France was left to her fate.
The second phase of the fighting for France began on 5 June. The French army managed to temporarily stabilize the front along the Somme, Meuse and the Maginot Line. However, their 65 divisions were opposed by 124 German . Belgian troops capitulated on May 28, and Italy entered the war on June 10. Within a few days, German troops carried out three offensive operations, breaking into the enemy's defensive formations. On June 10, the French government moved from Paris to the city of Vichy, and on June 14, the Germans entered the capital without a fight. The line under the military campaign in France was summed up by a breakthrough on the same day of the Maginot line south of Strasbourg, as a result of which more than 400 thousand French soldiers were surrounded. The French government was headed by Marshal Peten - a supporter of military-political rapprochement with Germany. 2 On June 2, an agreement was signed according to which 2/3 of French territory was subject to occupation. France was obliged to pay huge sums and provide for the economic needs of the Reich, and the French army was deprived of heavy weapons and was significantly reduced.
The withdrawal of France from the war complicated the position of Great Britain. The new government cabinet of Churchill took urgent steps to strengthen the defense system. England was to turn into a "hornet's nest" - a continuous expanse of fortified areas, anti-tank and anti-amphibious lines, deployment of air defense units. At that time, the German command was preparing an operation to land on the British Isles ("Seelow" - "Sea Lion"). But, in view of the clear superiority of the English fleet, the task of crushing the military power of Great Britain was entrusted to the air force under the command of G. Goering. From August to October 1940, the "battle for England" flared up - one of the largest battles in the air during the Second World War. The fighting went on with varying success, but by mid-autumn it became obvious that the plans of the German command were unrealistic. The losses of the Luftwaffe amounted to 1110 aircraft, and the Royal Air Force - 650. Transferring attacks to civilian targets, massive bombardments of intimidation of English cities also had no effect.
As the activity of military operations in Western Europe decreased, the attention of the German leadership again focused on the eastern direction. The second half of 1940 and the beginning of 1941 became a decisive time for determining the balance of power on the continent. Germany could firmly count on the occupied territories of France, Austria, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Poland, the Czech Republic, as well as the dependent regimes of Quisling in Norway, Tiso in Slovakia, the Vichy in France and the “exemplary protectorate” of Denmark. The fascist regimes in Spain and Portugal preferred to remain neutral, but for the time being this was of little concern to Hitler, who fully counted on the loyalty of the dictators Franco and Salazar. Italy independently carried out the capture of Albania and began aggression in Greece. However, with the help of English formations, the Greek army repelled the offensive and even entered the territory of Albania. In this situation, much depended on the position of the government circles of the countries of the South of Eastern Europe.
Back in the second half of the 1930s, military-authoritarian nationalist regimes either came to power or further strengthened their positions in Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Yugoslavia. Nazi Germany considered this region as a sphere of its direct influence. However, with the outbreak of the war, the states of South-Eastern Europe were by no means in a hurry to assume any obligations in relation to the belligerents. Forcing events, the German leadership decided in August 1940 to prepare an open aggression against the least loyal Romania. However In November, a coup d'état took place in Bucharest and the pro-German Antonescu regime came to power. At the same time, fearing the growing influence of Romania, Hungary also announced its readiness to join the German bloc. Bulgaria became another satellite of the Reich in the spring of 1941.
Events unfolded differently in Yugoslavia. In March 1941, the Yugoslav government signed an alliance pact with Germany. However, the patriotic command of the Yugoslav army carried out a coup d'état and terminated the treaty. Germany's response was to start hostilities in the Balkans in April. The huge superiority in forces allowed the Wehrmacht to defeat the Yugoslav army within a week and a half, and then crush the pockets of resistance in Greece. The territory of the Balkan Peninsula was divided among the countries of the German bloc. However, the struggle of the Yugoslav people continued, the resistance movement was expanding in the country - one of the most powerful in Europe.
The last act of the Balkan campaign was the battle for the island of Crete., occupied by British troops in November 1940. The Battle of Crete entered the history of World War II as the largest airborne operation. 1280 Luftwaffe aircraft and almost all Wehrmacht landing units took part in it. Despite the overall success of the operation, the huge losses among these elite units made it impossible to use them later as an independent branch of the military. .
With the end of the Balkan campaign in Europe, there were only three truly neutral, independent states- Sweden, Switzerland and Ireland. The USSR was chosen as the next target of aggression. Formally, the Soviet-German treaty of 1939 was still in effect, but its true potential had been exhausted. The division of Eastern Europe into spheres of influence allowed the USSR to freely include Western Belarus and Western Ukraine, the Baltic republics - Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, part of the Romanian territories (Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina), with the help of military measures to achieve territorial concessions to Finland.
Germany, using the treaty with the USSR, conducted the first and most important campaigns in Europe, avoiding the dispersion of forces on two fronts. Now nothing separated the two huge powers, and the choice could only be made between further rapprochement or open clash. The decisive moment was the Soviet-German negotiations in November 1940 in Berlin. On them Soviet Union invited to join the Steel Pact. The rejection of the obviously unequal alliance predetermined the inevitability of war.
This year, France celebrated the tragic anniversary - the 75th anniversary of the shameful surrender to Nazi Germany.
As a result of the offensive that began on May 10, 1940, the Germans defeated the French army in just a month. On June 14, German troops entered Paris without a fight, which was declared an open city by the French government in order to avoid its destruction. On June 22, 1940, France capitulated on humiliating terms: 60% of its territory was occupied, part of the land was annexed by Germany and Italy, the rest of the territory was controlled by a puppet government. The French were supposed to support the occupying German troops, the army and navy were disarmed, the captured French were supposed to be in the camps (of the one and a half million French prisoners of war, about a million remained in the camps until 1945).
I dedicate this photo selection to this tragic event for France.
1. Residents of Paris look at the German army entering the city. 06/14/1940
2. German soldiers on the armor of an abandoned French light tank Hotchkiss H35.
3. A captured wounded French officer from a hospital captured by German troops in Juvisy-sur-Orge.
4. Captured wounded French soldiers from a hospital captured by German troops in Juvisy-sur-Orge.
5. A column of French prisoners of war on the march along a country road.
6. A group of French prisoners of war follows the streets of the city to the gathering place. In the photo: on the left - French sailors, on the right - Senegalese arrows of the French colonial troops.
7. Captured French soldiers, among them several Negroes from the French colonial units.
8. German soldiers next to the French light tank Renault R35, abandoned on the road near Lahn.
9. German soldiers and an officer pose for a downed British fighter "Spitfire" (Supermarine Spitfire Mk.I) on the beach near Dunkirk.
10. Two French light tanks Renault R35, abandoned on the street of the village.
11. A column of French prisoners of war passes through the village.
12. Captured French soldiers pass along the line of German soldiers. The picture shows soldiers of various units defending the Maginot Line.
13. Captured soldiers of various units of the French colonial troops.
14. Captured French soldiers at the assembly point in Saint-Florentin.
15. Captured French soldiers guarded by a German sentry.
16. A column of French North African prisoners of war, next to the gathering place.
17. French artillery equipment abandoned on the side of the road near Brunamelle.
18. Helmets and equipment thrown by French soldiers during the surrender on the streets of the city.
19. A column of French prisoners of war on the road in the Moi-de-Aisne area.
20. A group of captured French soldiers in Amiens.
21. French soldiers surrender to German troops with their hands up.
22. German mountain rangers near the captured 155 mm French cannon Canon de 155 mm L Mle 1877 de Bange, with a barrel made in 1916 (sometimes called Canon de 155 mm L Mle 1877/1916), captured near the Marne.
23. French prisoners of war on vacation in the Dieppe area. Judging by the characteristic elements of the uniform in the picture, servicemen from the cavalry unit.
24. German soldiers on the Place de la Concorde in Paris.
25. A group of captured Moroccan soldiers of the French colonial troops in Amiens.
26. Line of captured Senegalese shooters of the French colonial troops in Amiens.
27. French prisoners of war at the assembly point. Among the prisoners are members of the French North African colonial troops, presumably Senegalese.
28. Wounded French soldiers at the infirmary in the town of Rocroix.
29. French prisoners of war drink water during a halt.
30. Vehicles abandoned by the allies on the beach near Dunkirk.
31. The commander of the 7th Panzer Division of the Wehrmacht, Major General Erwin Rommel, with staff officers cross the river in a boat.
32. A column of French prisoners of war is walking along the roadside, under the escort of German soldiers. Presumably the neighborhood of Rocroix.
33. A group of French prisoners of war on the march along the road. In the background is a flying German Yu-52 transport aircraft.
34. German gunners ferry a 37-mm PaK 35/36 anti-tank gun by boat across the Meuse.
35. German military band passes through the streets of occupied Paris.
36. French prisoners of war follow the road to the gathering place. In the center of the picture are three prisoners of war from the Zouave regiment.
37. French prisoner of war in the field.
38. French Navy dive bomber Loire-Nieuport LN-411, which made an emergency landing.
39. German soldier at the broken French fighter Bloch MB.152.
40. A group of French prisoners of war in the ranks.
41. German soldiers pose next to the broken French 25-mm anti-tank gun Hotchkiss (Canon de 25 mm antichar Modele 1934 Hotchkiss).
42. Black prisoners of the French colonial units in the construction.
43. Two German soldiers change position during the battle in the ruined French town.
44. A German soldier inspects a captured saber captured in France.
45. Captured French pilots are talking with German soldiers at the tent.
46. German soldiers next to the captured French 25-mm anti-tank gun of the 1934 model of the Hotchkiss system (Canon de 25-mm antichar Modele 1934 Hotchkiss).
47. A captured French infantryman (possibly an officer) shows something on the map to German officers. To the right and left in helmets are captured French tankers.
48. A column of French prisoners at the Palace of Versailles in Paris.
49. Abandoned French light tanks AMR-35.
50. An unknown prisoner of war soldier of one of the French North African (Moroccan) spagi regiments on the march as part of a column of prisoners.
51. A column of French prisoners of war in Rocroix, moving towards the gathering place. On the road there is a sign showing the direction to Fume.
52. Build prisoners of war from the French North African spagi regiments in a joint camp in Etamps during distribution to work.
53. An unknown POW soldier from the French 9th Algerian Regiment of the 2nd Spahi Brigade. The remnants of the regiment surrendered on June 18, 1940 near the city of Besançon.
54. A column of French prisoners passes by a German convoy in the Avranches area.
55. German soldiers and French prisoners from the colonial units in the camp at the Proto barracks in Cherbourg.
56. A German soldier distributes cigarettes to prisoners of the French colonial units.
57. A column of the 6th German Panzer Division in a field in France. In the foreground is a light tank LT vz.35 of Czech production (German designation - Pz.Kpfw. 35 (t)), in the background - german tanks Pz.Kpfw. IV early modifications.
58. Black French prisoners of the colonial units are washing clothes in the Frontstalag 155 camp in the village of Lonvik, 5 km from the city of Dijon.
59. Black French prisoners in the Frontstalag 155 camp in the village of Lonvik, 5 km from the city of Dijon.
60. Two German soldiers walk down the street of the French village of Saint-Simon past the dead cows.
61. Five French prisoners (four - blacks) are at the railroad.
62. Killed French soldier on the edge of the field in Normandy.
63. A group of French prisoners of war is on the road.
64. Representatives of France are sent to the "wagon of Marshal Foch" to negotiate an armistice with representatives of Germany. On this very spot, in this very carriage, on November 11, 1918, the Compiègne truce, humiliating for Germany, was signed, which fixed the shameful defeat of Germany in the First World War. The signing of the new Compiègne truce at the same place, according to Hitler's plan, was to symbolize the historical revenge of Germany. In order to roll out the car to the clearing, the Germans destroyed the wall of the museum where it was stored and laid rails to the historical site.
65. A group of Wehrmacht soldiers are hiding from fire in the French town of Sedan.
66. German soldiers smoke next to the horses. From the photo album of a private wagoner of the Wehrmacht infantry division.
67. German soldiers settled down to rest next to their bicycles. From the photo album of a private wagoner of the Wehrmacht infantry division.
68. Artillery guns captured by German troops during the French company. In the foreground are French 155-mm cannons of the 1917 model by Schneider. These guns in the Wehrmacht received the designation 15.5 cm gun K.416 (f). In the background - French heavy 220-mm cannons of the 1917 model by Schneider, barrels and carriages, which were transported separately. These guns in the Wehrmacht received the designation 22-cm gun K.232(f).
69. A German soldier demonstrates trophies - captured weapons and ammunition of the French troops. Photo from the photo album of a wagon soldier of a Wehrmacht infantry division.
70. A team with donkeys as part of a German convoy. From the photo album of a private wagoner of the Wehrmacht infantry division.
71. German sappers are restoring the destroyed bridge. Photo from the personal album of a Wehrmacht sapper battalion soldier.
72. Two German officers and a non-commissioned officer look at the map.
73. German soldiers at the entrance to the military cemetery in honor of those killed in the First World War near Verdun in the French town of Douaumont.
74. Wehrmacht soldiers "wash" the awards received for the campaign in France. Photo from the personal album of the Oberfeldwebel of the Wehrmacht.
75. French officer talking to a German officer during the surrender of the garrison of Nantes.
76. German nurses at the monument to French Marshal Ferdinand Foch in the Compiègne Forest. Very close to this place, the capitulation of France in the war with Germany was signed (and in 1918, the capitulation of Germany in the First World War).
77. The French bomber Amio 143 (Amiot 143) captured by German troops on the field in the commune of Sombernon in Burgundy. Aircraft from the 2nd air group of the 38th bomber squadron. The 38th bomber squadron was stationed near the city of Auxerre (Auxerre) in Burgundy. The plane returning from the mission made an emergency landing on the field due to adverse meteorological conditions and was captured by German troops. Motorcycles of one of the units of the German troops are standing next to the plane.
78. Two French prisoners are standing at the wall of the house.
79. A column of French prisoners on a village street.
80. Five non-commissioned officers of the 173rd artillery regiment of the Wehrmacht on vacation during the French company.
81. The French battleship "Bretagne" ("Bretagne", entered service in 1915) was sunk in Mers-el-Kebir during the operation "Catapult" by the English fleet. Operation Catapult was intended to capture and destroy French ships in British and colonial ports to prevent ships from falling under German control after the surrender of France. The battleship "Brittany" was covered by the third volley, hitting the base of the tripod mast, after which a strong fire began. The commander tried to throw the ship aground, but the battleship was hit by another salvo from the English battleship Hood. Two minutes later, the old battleship began to capsize and suddenly exploded, taking the lives of 977 crew members. The picture was probably taken from the French Commandant Test hydro-air transport, which miraculously avoided hits during the entire battle, and subsequently took on board the surviving crew members of the dead battleship.
82. A column of French prisoners of the colonial units on the march on the railway bridge.
83. A soldier of the 73rd Infantry Division of the Wehrmacht poses with a French prisoner.
84. Soldiers of the 73rd infantry regiment Wehrmacht interrogate a French prisoner of war.
85. Soldiers of the 73rd Infantry Regiment of the Wehrmacht are interrogating a French prisoner of war.
86. The body of a British artilleryman with a 40-mm 2-pound anti-tank gun QF 2 pounder.
87. French prisoners stand near a tree.
88. Soldiers of the royal regiment Scottish Highlanders"Black Watch" buy dishes from a French woman. October 16, 1939
89. A column of French prisoners passes by a German convoy in the Avranches area.
90. German soldiers with horses on Stanislav Square in the French city of Nancy at the monument to the Polish king Stanislav Leshchinsky.
91. German cars on Place Stanislaus in the French city of Nancy. In the center of the square is a monument to the Polish king Stanislav Leshchinsky.
93. German 150-mm self-propelled howitzer "Bizon" (15 cm sIG 33 Sfl. auf Pz.KpfW.I Ausf B ohne Aufbau; Sturmpanzer I) against the background of the explosion of its shell on the second floor of a corner building during the fighting in France.
94. English soldiers taken prisoner by the Germans in Dunkirk, on the city square.
95. Oil storage fire at Dunkirk. The aircraft on the right, Lockheed Hudson, belongs to the British Royal Air Force.
96. German soldier killed in action during the French campaign of the Wehrmacht. On the parapet of the trench there is a German cap and parts of a belt.
97. A column of captured French soldiers. Among them are many Africans from the French colonial parts.
98. A French woman welcomes Canadian soldiers who landed in France 4 days before the surrender of French troops.
99. French soldiers during the "strange war" are photographed on the streets of the town. December 18, 1939
100. German women, children and cordon soldiers in a Nazi salute at a mass event in Germany, dedicated to victory German troops in France.
101. The death of the English military transport Lancastria (RMS Lancastria) on June 17, 1940. In the water and on the sides of the tilted ship, you can see a lot of people trying to escape. On June 17, 1940, the English military transport Lancastria (before the war, a passenger liner cruising the Mediterranean) with a displacement of 16,243 tons was sunk by German Ju-88 bombers off the coast of France. The transport evacuated English military units to the UK from France. On board were also big number civilians, including women and children. The ship was sunk in a twenty-minute attack shortly after leaving the French port of Saint-Nazaire. As a result, about four thousand passengers died - drowned, killed by bomb explosions, shelling, suffocated in oil-polluted water. 2477 people were saved.
102. Bombing by British aircraft of the French airfield in the city of Abbeville, captured by the Germans. The picture shows falling British 500-pound (227 kg) bombs.
103. The crew of the French tank Char B1 No. 350 "Fleurie" in front of their car.
104. German dive bombers "Junkers" Yu-87 (Junkers Ju 87 B-2) from the squadron "Immelman" (StG2 "Immelmann") in the skies of France.
105. Killed black French soldier.
106. During Operation Dynamo (evacuation of Anglo-French troops from Dunkirk to England), the destroyer Burrasque (French Bourrasque) hit a mine on May 29, 1940 in the Ostend region (Belgium) and sank the next day.
107. Soldiers of the SS division "Totenkopf" in battle in France.
108. Motorcyclist of the SS division "Totenkopf" in France.
109. Soldiers of the SS division "Totenkopf" regulate traffic on the streets of the French city, accelerating the advance of the lagging troops.
Part 7
BY WEAPON
Chapter 21
With his northern flank secured, Hitler turned his attention back to the West. He did not like the original plan of the attack, which was a variation of the plan used in the First World War, namely an advance through Northern France and Belgium.
“This old Schlieffen plan,” he told Keitel and Jodl, “proposes a protracted war,” and he, the Fuhrer, swore that he would never allow the present generation to suffer as the Germans suffered in Flanders a quarter of a century ago. Hitler conceived a bold thrust southward across the Ardennes, with a sudden armored breakthrough at Sedan and a dash for the English Channel. The main body would then turn north - unlike the Schlieffen plan - to strike at the rear of the retreating Anglo-French army. In the evenings he sat over a special relief map and verified his plan.
Perhaps the most brilliant strategist of the Wehrmacht, Colonel General Fritz Erich von Manstein, worked in the same direction. He presented his plan to Brauchitsch, but he rejected it, deeming it too risky. The Fuhrer heard about this and invited Manstein to his place. To the General's surprise, Hitler was delighted with his strategic ideas. This plan not only confirmed the Fuhrer's own plan, but also contained a number of significant additions. The High Command liked Hitler's updated plan no more than Manstein's version. The military objected unanimously, but the Führer brushed them off, calling his opponents "Schlieffen worshippers" stuck in a "hardened" strategy.
The Hitler-Manstein plan was formally accepted at the end of February, and immediately after the end of the battle for Norway, 136 divisions were transferred to the Western Front, ready for battle. Just waiting for good weather. Hitler set the date for the invasion on May 5th, then moved it to the 7th, then to the 8th. Goering asked for even more time, but disturbing information came from Holland: vacations were canceled for officers, the population was being evacuated from border areas, and roadblocks appeared. Excited, Hitler agreed to another delay until 10 May, "but not a day later." “Keeping two million men ready to attack at the front,” he said, “is becoming increasingly difficult.”
He decided to act without waiting for stable weather - waiting for it was worth three months of delay. He relied entirely on intuition that had justified itself in the past. On the morning of May 9, the corps commander in the Aachen area reported on a dense fog, which, according to the forecast, should soon dissipate. Hitler ordered his train to be prepared and kept the purpose and place of the trip a strict secret, hiding them even from his own retinue. The train stopped near Hannover, where they were to receive the latest weather report. Chief meteorologist Dizing—later rewarded with a gold watch—predicted fine weather for the following day. Hitler confirmed the order to advance and went to bed early.
More unpredictable than the weather, however, was his own intelligence service. Of the few to whom the Fuhrer entrusted information about the start of the offensive, was Admiral Canaris, who informed his assistant Oster about this. After dinner, he drove to the headquarters of the Design Bureau and found out that there would be no delay. "The pig goes to Western Front", - he said to the Dutch attaché, who informed his Belgian colleague about this, and then gave a coded message to The Hague by phone: "Tomorrow at dawn. Hold on!
At 4.25 am on May 10, the Fuhrer's train arrived at the destination station - in the town of Euskirchen near the border with Belgium and Holland, and Hitler went to his new headquarters "Felsennest" ("Mountain Nest"). It was getting light. Glancing at his watch, Hitler was unpleasantly surprised: dawn came fifteen minutes earlier than expected.
And forty kilometers to the west, his troops rushed forward across the Belgian, Dutch and Luxembourg frontiers. The sky darkened with Luftwaffe bombers: 2,500 aircraft were assembled for the air attack - many more than the Allies. Wave after wave, they flew west to bomb more than seventy enemy airfields. Airborne troops captured key points in Holland, and gliders were launched to surprise the Belgian fortresses. The Fuhrer was especially interested in Fort Eben-Emel. He personally gave instructions to the participants in the glider operation and was looking forward to hearing from the combat area. By noon on May 11, this considered impregnable fortress and the bridge over the river Meuse were in the hands of the Germans. Upon learning of this, Hitler was overjoyed. Later, even more important information was received: the enemy strikes back. “When I received a report that the enemy was advancing along the entire front,” Hitler recalled, “I was ready to cry with joy. They are trapped! They believed that we had remained true to the old Schlieffen plan."
On May 10, England and France were taken by surprise: their general staffs ignored warnings from Brussels and The Hague and reports from their own intelligence services. Back in 1938, the British Intelligence Service bought from a Polish mathematician the secret of a German cipher machine called Enigma (Riddle). He was paid 10,000 pounds, given an English passport and allowed to live with his wife in France. He reproduced drawings of the main parts of the machine and, in his Paris apartment, assembled a working model of the Enigma, which was installed in the Bletchley Park mansion, sixty kilometers north of London. When England declared war in 1939, the machine codenamed "Ultra" was already in operation. This made it possible to warn the British General Staff about Hitler's plan to invade the West.
Chamberlain resigned and offered to appoint Halifax prime minister. But it was clear that only Churchill enjoyed the confidence of the country, and soon the king invited him to the palace. Hitler considered Churchill his worst enemy, a tool of the English Jews who thwarted the Anglo-German alliance. This hatred for Churchill was somehow strangely combined with the admiration that the Fuhrer felt for Stalin.
While German troops and tanks were advancing deep into Holland and Belgium, Goebbels was rapidly spinning the wheel of his propaganda machine. At a meeting of employees of his ministry on May 11, he said that it was necessary to refute everything that was false in the materials of the enemy, or “even true, but dangerous for us. There is no need to check whether the facts are true or not - the main thing is that they are useful to us. Even more important is to repeat and repeat to the French and the British that their governments are to blame for everything: "They themselves brought the war on themselves and are the aggressors."
The offensive in Western Belgium was the most successful. This maneuver diverted the attention of the enemy from the main attack through the Ardennes. By May 13, troops in this direction had crossed the Meuse River in several places and approached Sedan, where Hitler hoped to break through a weak link in the fortified Maginot Line.
Along with the successful advance in the north, the advancing German units met stubborn resistance from the Dutch troops. On the morning of May 14, the Fuhrer gave the order to overcome this resistance. Luftwaffe planes took off from Belgian airfields and dropped 98 tons of bombs on Rotterdam. Bombs hit the city center, killing 814 civilians. In the democratic press, the facts were presented in a hypertrophied form: the number of those killed increased to 30,000. Western newspapers also did not report that the tacit agreement on both sides to limit bombing targets to military targets was violated for the first time by the British. Three days before this event, despite the objection of the French, 35 British bombers raided an industrial city in the Rhineland. The raid killed four civilians, including one Englishwoman. Despite Hitler's terrible retribution in Holland, he rejected proposals to bomb London itself. The Nazi dictator has not yet dared to go that far.
The Rotterdam tragedy broke the resistance of the Dutch. A few hours later, the commander-in-chief of the armed forces of Holland ordered to lay down their arms. On the same day, German tanks broke through the French defenses in the Sedan area. Supported by dive bombers, three long columns of tanks moved towards the English Channel.
Churchill was awakened the next morning by a telephone call from Paris. “We are crushed!” said Prime Minister Reynaud. Churchill could not believe it. His generals could not imagine this either: France is not Poland, there was nothing to hold back the German tanks, but the French had a powerful line of defense! ..
The horror that gripped France was fueled by Goebbels. On May 17, he told his staff: “From now on, the task of the secret radio station is to use all means to create panic in France. It is necessary to hint at the danger of the “fifth column”, which includes all German refugees. It must be argued that in the current situation, even the Jews from Germany are just German agents.”
On the morning of that day, Hitler left for the Ardennes. “The whole world is watching us!” he declared triumphantly. The Fuhrer visited the headquarters of the Army Group, led by General Gerd von Rundstedt, to discuss the progress towards the English Channel.
Germany rejoiced. Even those who were afraid that the Fuhrer started an overly risky game believed in Hitler's infallibility...
By the morning of May 19, several armored divisions were already eighty kilometers from the English Channel, and on the evening of the next day the 2nd division entered Abbeville at the mouth of the Somme. The trap closed, and the Belgians, the entire English expeditionary force and three French armies were caught in its gigantic nets. When Brauchitsch informed the Führer, Hitler was so overjoyed that he almost lost his speech.
The situation turned out the way he wanted. Three days later, German tanks turned north towards the ports of Calais and Dunkirk, the capture of which made it impossible for the British to evacuate. Hearing this message, Goering slammed his heavy fist on the table with all his might. “This is a great job for the Luftwaffe!” he exclaimed. “I must speak to the Fuhrer. Connect me to him!" He assured Hitler that the Luftwaffe could destroy the trapped enemy without the participation of ground forces. The only thing the Reich Marshal of Aviation asked was to withdraw the German tanks so as not to hit their own. Hitler agreed to Goering to attack the enemy from the air.
“We have achieved our goal!” Goering said to Milch with satisfaction, returning to the headquarters of the Air Force. “We will finish off the English on the beaches. I persuaded the Fuhrer to stop the army." But Milch did not share his enthusiasm and objected that the bombs would be buried too deep in the sand before the explosion. In addition, the Luftwaffe is not ready for such a responsible operation. “Leave it to me,” Goering snapped. “The army always wants to fight like a gentleman. These land rats are going to take the British prisoner alive and unharmed. But the Fuhrer will teach them a lesson they are unlikely to forget."
On the morning of May 24, Hitler went to the headquarters of the army group under the command of Rundstedt. In high spirits, the Führer predicted that the war would be over in six weeks, after which the way would be open to an agreement with the British. All Germany needs from them is recognition of her dominant position on the continent. Rundstedt did not object to the use of aircraft to completely defeat the enemy at Dunkirk. He proposed to stop the tanks south of the besieged city. Hitler agreed, noting that the tanks should be kept for operations against the French. At 12.45, on behalf of the Fuhrer, an order was given to the 4th Army to stop the offensive.
In the evening, four armored divisions were stopped at an insignificant water barrier. The tankers were at a loss. No fire was fired at them; quiet Dunkirk was visible ahead. What is there, at the headquarters, crazy? The divisional commanders knew they could take Dunkirk without too much trouble, as the British were still embroiled in heavy fighting at Lille. Why are they not allowed to capture this last port from which the enemy can flee?
They repeated their request to send tanks and infantry to Dunkirk, but Hitler did not want to hear about it. Only on May 26, after receiving a report about a large concentration of ships in the English Channel (are the British preparing to evacuate their troops?), the Fuhrer reluctantly agreed to advance to Dunkirk from the west. But on the same day Goering assured him that the Luftwaffe had destroyed Dunkirk harbor.
When the English and other allied troops fell into the cauldron, a strange flotilla rushed from the English ports to the continental coast. There were almost 900 ships in it: warships and sailboats, boats, pleasure yachts with crews of sailors and water sports enthusiasts. Thus began Operation Dynamo to evacuate 45,000 besieged soldiers of the British Expeditionary Force in two days. A motley group of amateurs and professionals brilliantly coped with the task. By May 30, 126,606 had returned to England.
When the German command finally realized the scale of the evacuation, massive bombardments began. But the fog came to the aid of the British, descending on Dunkirk and on German airfields.
The dive bombers of the 8th Air Corps did no damage to the flotilla of small craft, and the bombs dropped on the beaches were buried so deep in the sand before the explosion that the damaging effect was small. The Germans were also surprised by the new British Spitfire fighters, which inflicted great damage on Goering's fighters.
Strangely, the English evacuation did not appear to alarm Hitler much. At meetings these days, it was not he who showed nervousness, but the generals. Usually in such cases, the Fuhrer pounded the table with his fist, threatened, called for urgent measures, but now he was surprisingly calm ...
The shaky line of defense at Dunkirk held out until 4 June, by which time a third of a million English and allied soldiers had been transported to England. There was speculation on both sides of the English Channel about Hitler's odd behavior. Why did he give Goering permission to bomb the encircled army, and then actually facilitate its escape? Hitler confessed to Bormann that he had deliberately spared the British. “Churchill,” he lamented, “was unable to appreciate my gentlemanly gesture. I didn't want to deepen the gulf between us and the British."
The military did not really believe this version. “That the Fuhrer deliberately let the British escape is a fairy tale,” Puttkamer, one of Hitler’s adjutants, later claimed. Other people close to Hitler, on the contrary, were sure that he had respect for England and therefore took pity on the British. The Fuhrer, for example, said to Frau Troost, the wife of his old architect friend: “The blood of every Englishman is too valuable to shed. Our two peoples are traditionally and racially very similar. Their rapprochement has always been my goal, even if our generals cannot understand it.” Competent foreign observers consider this theory plausible. For example, the former French ambassador to Germany, François-Poncet, was convinced that Hitler did not really want war with England, he only wanted to neutralize a powerful rival.
Perhaps that is why Hitler sent Unity Mitford home on a special train via Zurich. He confessed to his adjutant Engel that he deeply regretted her fate: "She was confused - and this is just at the moment when for the first time I could use our acquaintance." The former journalist returned to her homeland, which hostilely met the favorite of the Nazi dictator. Her sister's husband Oswald Mosley, along with other leaders of the British Union of Fascists, was imprisoned three days after Hitler's invasion of Belgium. And this despite the fact that Mosley urged his Blackshirts to remain loyal to their homeland. His position consisted in the words: “Until the end of my life I will fight for the friendship of England with Germany and the prevention of war between them. But the moment war is declared, I will go to fight for my country.” By order of her relative, the Prime Minister, Lady Diana Mosley soon followed her husband to prison, although she had two young children in her arms: the eldest was only a year and a half old, and the youngest was not even three months old. By law, a mother could take only one child with her, but she did not want to separate them. The prisoners were placed in a damp cell, where there was not even a bed. When Mosley became seriously ill three years later, he and his wife were released from custody. And Unity Mitford died eight years later in a state of deep depression.
