Today, June 14th, is the day Paris fell to the Germans.
Here are the facts and numbers...
The Goal: The Germans planned to catch the French by surprise by bypassing the Maginot Line they had built with a Blitzkrieg maneuver from the north through the Ardennes Forest, believed too thick to let an attacking army through, and by attacking neutral countries like Belgium, Holland, and Luxembourg. Then to swing south destroying the French army and British Expeditionary Force (BEF) along the way before taking Paris and ultimately all of France.
Those Involved: On one side, the Allies, was the French army and the small, yet highly trained BEF. On this other was the German military, or Wehrmacht.
The Commanders: The French Army was led by Maxime Weygand. The Dutch by Henri Winkelman. The Belgians by their king, Leopold III. The Wehrmacht by Gerd von Rundstedt, Heinz Guderian, and Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb. The BEF by General Lord Gort.
The Date(s): May 10th, 1940 - June 25th, 1940.
The Result: The German plan succeeded amazingly. The Allies were completely caught off guard by the attack through the Ardennes and the Low Countries. Almost all the Allied offensives helped the German advance in the end. The Low Countries were beaten, the BEF evacuated, France surrendered, and overall the Allies mainland strong point fell, despite the French military's high reputation and the Allied courageous defense. The superior German tactics could not be stopped, and the Blitzkrieg proved effective once again.
The Casualties:
French dead: 90,000
French wounded: 200,000
French captured: 1,800,000
British overall: 68,111
Dutch overall: 9,779
Belgian overall: 23,350
German dead: 27,074
German wounded: 129,000
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