"The Battle of France" | Battlefield S1/E1 | World War Two

If you want to support our channel, I will be very grateful. PayPal: viktor3177@inbox.lv
Friends! If you liked this video, be sure to like and subscribe to the channel!

The Battle of France, also known as the Fall of France, was the German invasion of France and the Netherlands during World War II. In six weeks beginning on May 10, 1940, German forces defeated Allied forces through mobile operations and conquered France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands, ending ground operations on the Western Front until June 6, 1944. Italy entered the war on June 10. 1940 and invaded France through the Alps.

The German invasion plan consisted of two main operations. During the "Fall of Gelb" (Yellow Corps), German armored units pushed through the Ardennes and then along the Somme Valley, cutting off and encircling Allied units that had advanced into Belgium to meet the expected German invasion. When British, Belgian and French forces were driven back to sea by a mobile and well-organized German operation, the British evacuated the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) and several French divisions from Dunkirk as part of Operation Dynamo.

Following the withdrawal of the BEF on 5 June, German forces began the "Autumn Rot" (Red Case). The sixty remaining French divisions put up a determined resistance, but were unable to overcome German air superiority and armored mobility. German tanks bypassed the Maginot Line and advanced deeper into France. German troops occupied Paris without resistance on June 14, following the flight of the French government and the collapse of the French army. On June 18, the German command met with French officials to negotiate an end to hostilities.

On June 22, France and Germany signed the Second Armistice at Compiegne. A neutral Vichy government led by Marshal Philippe Pétain replaced the Third Republic, and Germany occupied the northern and western coasts of France and their hinterland. Italy took control of a small occupation zone in the southeast, while the Vichy regime retained unoccupied territory in the south, known as the free zone. The Germans occupied the area under "Fallen Anton" in November 1942 until the Allied liberation in the summer of 1944.

All right reserved to:
NBC Universal
Directed by Dave Flitton, Andy Aitken, Justin McCarthy
Produced by Dave Flitton (series prod.), David McWhinnie, Ken Maliphant, David Rozalla
Written by Dave Flitton, Andy Aitken
Narrated by Tim Piggott-Smith; Jonathan Booth
Music by David Galbraith
Distributed by Public Broadcasting Service
Release date(s) 1994
Running time 6 116-minute episodes
Country USA
Language English