Hopkins (June 1940)

Harry Lloyd Hopkins

25th June, 1940

France has fallen into the hands of Germany. The people here in the United States are appalled... The American government has been adopting a largely isolationist stance through Germany's march of conquest. However, I doubt this will last for long. As much as the citizens of the United States do not want to get involved in this war, we cannot possibly just sit back and watch as potentially more Western countries get engulfed by the power-hungry Hitler. We do not need to be actively or directly involved in the war at this stage... especially because we do not want to upset our citizens. This does not mean that we will do nothing at all about the situation. Need be, there will be an implementation of new financial programs to help the affected countries in the Western Hemisphere pick themselves up to fight well in the war.

The fall of France has witnessed the sheer humiliation of the French. Germany's success in military strategy and tactic that enabled the swift progress through the low countries in the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg is indeed remarkable, albeit stunningly threatening, especially due to the ideological threat that it holds against the West. France has undeniably performed poorly in its defense against Germany's invasion. From the outside, it looks to me like it was a huge problem in the leadership and commands given in the internal dynamics of French military coordination... this is quite apparent from Gamelin's dismissal in the French military. There was indeed plenty of indecisiveness in commands that led to what seemed to be confusion when Germany unexpectedly used Ardennes as a passage way to France.

The biggest fear that has been derived from the fall of France is that Britain now stands alone against Germany. The United States will have to intervene to some extent to help Britain should the situation get worse.

Winston Churchill (June 1940)

18th June 1940

Gamelin (May 1940)

General Maurice Gamelin

Supreme commander of French land forces

13th May 1940

Today I learnt about the German penetration in the Ardennes, I cannot deny that I am shocked as never did I anticipate such an invasion route. This is especially unfortunate as there was indeed parliamentary and staff concern over the poor defences over at the Ardennes. However, the damage has been done.

I had come up with the concept of the continuous front which would prevent a repeat of what happened in August-September 1914 when the Germans broke through to the outskirts of Paris. In addition, the Maginot line will be further constructed along the Franco-Swiss border. Four years ago, I had overseen preparations for French defence on Belgian soil.

Previously, I had anticipated for a war off French soil. This was particularly due to the bloodbath we had experienced on our soil during World War 1. I had a preference for war in the East... using Austrian territory for the war would have definitely spared our French people from the nightmare we had gone through in World War 1. That was then.

Two days ago, I had dispatched the best of my army through northern Belgium to Breda in Holland..whilst the Germans have come directly to French soil through the Ardennes. Not all of my best troops have been stationed there of course... I have maintained a significantly large force behind the Maginot line to fight a potential Italo-German invasion through Switzerland outflanking the line. All this has proved to be invalidated. 

There are several reasons for the failure in my planning.. a primary reason would have to be my absence from what was really going on. Another reason would be the division of decisions and actions made by me and General Alphonse Georges which may indeed have brought about much confusion.

What we face today is largely my mistake- but it does not mean that we should back down. Every soldier who might not be able to advance must let himself be killed on the spot rather than abandon the portion of national soil which has been confided to him. Today, we must conquer or die.

Daladier (May 1940)

Édouard Daladier

May 10, 1940

On January 29th I delivered my radio address to the people of France entitled – ‘Nazi’s Aim is Slavery’. I cannot emphasize any further how it is our duty to fight the Nazis. We will definitely not go down without a fight. I have been true to this stance from the very start… throughout the Munich negotiations in 1938, I was never agreeable with Chamberlain’s insistence of appeasement as a solution to preserve peace. If not for the post WW1 traumatic drain and the unenthusiastic attitudes of the French military and civilians towards fighting the Nazis instead of just giving in…I would have never allowed Chamberlain to have his way and would definitely have not signed the agreement. As much as I regretted signing the Munich Agreement the moment I signed it, I could not have possibly forgotten what France had went through in WW1. Indeed, most of the war was fought on our land and we had suffered immensely. I had to understand somehow that the French military and civilian were both weary and wary of yet another war.

My personal sentiments towards Hitler have been proven right after 2 years. He will stop at nothing. It is the duty of France to save liberty and human dignity from the madmen. Last year on the 6th of October, Hitler offered a France and Great Britain a peace proposal… I will not fall for it. I am fully aware of his true goal to dominate the world. His hunger for power is insatiable. I will not allow my failure to stop the Munich Agreement to stop me again. We will keep our arms up against aggression until peace is genuinely achieved once and for all. Although I am no longer the French Premier, I am confident of my strong base of support among the French. As Reynaud has decided to keep me in the cabinet as minister of war, I will do everything in my capacity to ensure that as France experiences war with Germany today, we will put in all we have- we must be forced to recover from our shock in WW1 so that we can save our nation today.

Today, France has been invaded by Germany. We must remain strong and fight until we achieve victory- and thereby, peace.

German perspectives

Erich von Manstein

25 November 1939

Earlier this month Army Group A gained two Panzer divisions. I am glad that Hitler sees the sense in my proposal that Halder clearly does not recognize…

However, this is does not suffice. General Guderian sings the same tune as me on the point that leading an offensive through Ardennes (despite it being a forested region) is feasible with the armoured formations in the frontline.

I firmly believe that if the primary spearhead of the offensive were to be shifted to the south, victory might very well be achieved. The failure of the Schlieffen Plan has led me to analyze the intricate flaws of the plan… there is an urgent need for pincer maneuvers in order to make possible a victory in France. Moreover, France would be anticipating for us to revive the Schlieffen plan in this offensive.

The only chance of defeating France who appears to be stronger than us is to find their Achilles’ heel from which we have to concentrate the entire attack on. My variation of Fall Gelb necessitates the transfer of the concentration of the offensive from the northern right wing to the center in the Ardennes region. There is little possibility that France would anticipate a German invasion from the Ardennes.. it does indeed come across as an almost incredulous idea to venture through the rough, narrow and swampy area of the Ardennes which presents a torturous road network. This mission would be an extraordinary logistical operation. However, we would not meet much resistance through this passage.