Jackson - The fall of France: the Nazi invasion of 1940

THE FALL OF FRANCE

Julian Jackson is Professor of Modern History at Queen Mary and Westfield, University of London, and the author of several books on twentieth-century France, including France: The Dark Years 19401944 (OUP, 2001), and editor of Europe 19001945 (OUP, 2002).

The Nazi Invasion of 1940

JULIAN JACKSON

Great Clarendon Street, Oxford OX2 6DP

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Julian Jackson 2003

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First published 2003
First published as an Oxford University Press paperback 2004

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ISBN 0192805509

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To Douglas

THE MAKING OF THE MODERN WORLD

This group of narrative histories focuses on key moments and events in the twentieth century to explore their wider significance for the development of the modern world.

PUBLISHED:

The Fall of France: The Nazi Invasion of 1940, Julian Jackson

FORTHCOMING:

A Bitter Revolution: Chinas Struggle with the Modern World, Rana Mitter
The Vietnam Wars: A Global History, Mark Bradley
Algeria: The Undeclared War, Martin Evans
The Burning of Louvain, Alan Kramer

SERIES ADVISERS:

PROFESSOR CHRIS BAYLY, University of Cambridge

PROFESSOR RICHARD J. EVANS, University of Cambridge

PROFESSOR PAUL PRESTON, London School of Economics

PROFESSOR DAVID REYNOLDS, University of Cambridge

PROFESSOR MEGAN VAUGHAN, University of Cambridge

Most of this book was written in a sabbatical semester in the autumn of 2001, and I would like to thank my Head of Department, Professor Noel Thompson, for granting me this leave. In some form or other I have taught a Special Subject on the Fall of France in Swansea History Department for the last fifteen years. Some years have worked better than others, but overall I have learnt a lot from the experience and enjoyed it (as I hope the students have as well). I have profited enormously from conversations, electronic or otherwise, with Martin Alexander, Peter Jackson, and Talbot Imlay. Talbot Imlay was kind enough to show me some sections of his forthcoming book on the Phoney War. I am grateful to Katharine Reeve, my editor at OUP, for her comments and advice. I am grateful also to Patrick Higgins for taking the time to read the whole manuscript with great care. This is certainly a much better book as a result of his criticisms and suggestions. Perhaps it would be a better one still if I had listened to all of them. Finally, I would like to thank Eleanor Breuning who generously gave up hours of her time to read through the proofs. Her heroic labours and vigilant eye saved me from more than mere typographical errors.

J.J.

Bibliothque nationale de France, Paris

Imperial War Museum (HU.3799)

Rue des Archives

Meuse at Bouvignes north of Dinant

Bildarchiv des Bundesarchivs

Bildarchiv des Bundesarchivs

deserted roads; at others they found themselves driving past columns

of refugees or even troops marching in the opposite direction

ECPAD/France

Keystone

encircled in the north at the end of May

Royal Army Museum Collections, Brussels

AKG London

Keystone

First appeared in Gringoire, 30/09/38

Keystone

16. Reynaud with his three nemesesPaul Baudouin, General Weygand, and Marshal Ptain

Keystone

Keystone

Rue des Archives

Keystone

(top) Keystone; (bottom) AKG London

Keystone

LAPI/Roger-Viollet

Keystone

First appeared in Gringoire, 18/01/38

AKG London

Roger-Viollet

Photos12.com/ARJ

Ouvrire on 8 January 1964

La Nouvelle Vie Ouvrire

The publisher and the author apologize for any errors or omissions in the above list. If contacted they will be pleased to rectify these at the earliest opportunity.

1934
6 February: Stavisky riots in Paris

1935
1114 April: Stresa Conference
18 June: Anglo-German Naval Agreement
2 October: Italian invasion of Abyssinia

1936
7 March: Germany reoccupies Rhineland
3 May: Popular Front wins French elections
September: French rearmament programme approved
14 October: Belgium ends military alliance with France

1938
10 April: Daladier becomes premier
2830 September: Munich agreement signed
30 November: General strike protesting against end of 40-hour week

1939
1516 March: Germany occupies the rest of Czechoslovakia
31 March: Anglo-French guarantee to Poland
23 August: Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact concluded
3 September: France and Britain declare war on Germany
30 November: Soviet invasion of Finland

1940
10 January: Mechelen incident
12 March: Soviet-Finnish Armistice
9 April: Germany invades Norway
10 May: Germany invades the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg
13 May: German troops cross Meuse at Sedan
51 May: Anglo-French forces in Belgium begin retreat
16 May: Churchill in Paris
18 May: Reynaud reshuffles government and brings in Ptain
19 May: Weygand replaces Gamelin as Commander-in-Chief
20 May: German troops reach Channel at Abbeville
21 May: Weygand visits Ypres
22 May: French and British leaders accept Weygand Plan
25 May: Armistice first mentioned in French War Committee
26 May: Reynaud visits London; Gort decides to withdraw towards Channel
28 May: Capitulation of Belgium
26 May4 June: Dunkirk evacuation
5 June: Reynaud reshuffles government; Daladier goes and de Gaulle comes in
57 June: German army breaks through Somme/Aisne line