WORLD HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -In just over six weeks, German armed forces overran Belgium and the Netherlands, drove the British Expeditionary Force from the Continent, captured Paris, and forced the surrender of the French government.

Detailed explanation-2: -Paris fell to Nazi Germany on June 14, 1940, one month after the German Wehrmacht stormed into France. Eight days later, France signed an armistice with the Germans, and a puppet French state was set up with its capital at Vichy.

Detailed explanation-3: -German invasion The French defense plan was purely passive, waiting for the Germans to attack. After eight months of relative calm (known as the Phoney War, La drôle de guerre) on the Western Front, the Germans struck France on 10 May, 1940, bypassing the Maginot Line and slipping through the Ardennes.

Detailed explanation-4: -Between 9 May and 22 June 1940, a remarkable German assault on north-west Europe, known as the Battle of France, resulted in the capture and subjugation of not only France but three other countries – Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Belgium.

Detailed explanation-5: -It is estimated that between 50, 000 and 90, 000 soldiers of the French army were killed in the fighting of May and June 1940. In addition to the casualties, 1.8m French soldiers, from metropolitan France and across the French empire, were captured during the Battle of France and made prisoners of war (POWs).

Detailed explanation-6: -Germany attacked through the Ardennes They placed great faith in the strength of the Maginot Line to defend the French border with Germany. With British and French troops rushing into Belgium to meet the German attack, German forces invaded France through the dense forests of the Ardennes.