15,697
edits
Changes
no edit summary
__NOTOC__
[[File:French Prisoners 1940.jpg|thumbnail|300px|left|French Prisoners,1940]]
The fall of France in 1940 was sudden and shocking. French leaders believed that they had prepared for a potential war with Germany and were well prepared. Tragically, they were not. Within months of the German invasion, France would surrendercollapsed. Why did France surrender so quickly?
In September 1939, the German war machine invaded Poland, and World War II began. France and its Britain declared against Germany in 1939. The French army was in theory as strong as Germanys. It had a vast Empire and a sophisticated arms industry. It had also established a series of fortifications along the eastern border of the country along with Germany, known as the Maginot Line. The Line was designed to keep German forces out of France. Initially, France and Great Britain appeared to be a match for Germany.
