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French Forces In Blitzkrieg
France suffered badly in the First World War. It’s casualty rate as a proportion of the population was by far the highest for the Western powers. This left an abiding determination not to face the same experience again.
When the Treaty of Versailles that had crippled Germany began to fail in the early 1930’s, France responded by building the Maginot Line, a monumental line of fortifications facing the German border. This fit well with the philosophy of the Armée de Terre, the Ground Army (as opposed to the Armée de l’Air, the Air Army), which had drawn the conclusion from the First World War that a good defence would always beat a good offence.
Having satisfied themselves of this, the French commanders then failed to ensure a good defence, developing a plan that left their army extended across a wide front in hastily-occupied positions with absolutely no reserves.
When the Germans broke through, the French failure to consider high-tempo mobile operations left them scrambling, trying to string together new hastily-occupied front lines without the reserves to cope with breakthroughs.
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