15,697
edits
Changes
no edit summary
====How did the German Army move so quickly through France?====
[[File: Eric Von Manstein.jpg|thumbnail|300px|left|Eric Von Manstein 1940]]
Between the world wars, the German army developed the [[How Did the German Military Develop What was Blitzkrieg?and Who Created it|Blitzkrieg tactics]]. This strategy was based on high-speed and mobile attacks on the enemy’s weak points, and it proved devastating in France.<ref> Bond, p. 111</ref> The German victory was founded on a plan developed by the great military strategies, General Erich von Manstein. He adopted the Schlieffen Plan that was almost successful in WW I.<ref> Bond, p. 117 </ref>
However, rather than advance on a broad front through Belgium, the Germans focused two-thirds of their forces, including most of their tanks, in the Ardennes region of Belgium. France and Belgium did reinforce the fortifications in this region because they assumed that the terrain was unsuitable for tanks. When the Germans attack came through the Ardennes, they caught the French and their British allies by surprise because the French believed it was impassable to tanks.