Originally posted by chino65:
France, and Britain were the reigning power in Western Europe.
France especially, as it was their turf. All their men and equipment were there.
And the French were a very big and substantial army. That they were not as powerful as the Germans were already a sign of their weakness of will. Germany was quite broke after WW1, was under arms buildup control and yet they were able to surpass the French in armaments.
And they are next door to each other. How can the French not know of a arms buildup? If they did not bother to check on Germany, it is again a weakness of their part.
Take for example us in SE Asia. Singapore would never let Malaysia or Indonesia have a more powerful military force than us. To let them overtake us will be a sign of complacency or weakness of will.
It was a published fact that France had more and better tanks than Germany at the start of the war. They just didn't know how to emply them.
The British had an Expeditionary Force on Mainland Europe. But you're right, the Brits also made the same mistakes and were as weak as the French and luckily they had the Channel to escape back to.
But the quality of the Brit soldier had never been in doubt. These people had fought on nearly everyone in every part of the world since history and are known to be mostly good fighters.
The Germans did not suppass the French in armements and you've said so yourself.The French had better more powerful tanks in more numbers. Total Allied armour and self propelled gunswas around 5000 compared to around 2800 for the Germans.
However the Germans had 2500 planes compared to the around 1600 the Allies had.
The French army was positioned such that it could cover a direct attack on it rather easily.With the british holding the line between the low countries and the French.
The French if i'm not mistaken still did not have a proper Army General staff.Even if they did it would have been new and would not have the tradition of the German/Prussian counter part.
I wont say the allied and their desposition was weak,however they had crap for a plan.Most of their army was in the wrong position.
Didnt help that when they tired to move to counter the Germans, they found themselves constantly out manouvered because of the German panzers been given freedom to move around.That really messed up the Allies.
In the end while the French Army was powerful they just didnt know what to do.Their doctrine was wrong and their commanders not as good as the Germans. Their best divisions were encircled and then destroyed wholesale like the Russians would later.
I end with a saying "The Prussians are not a nation with an army,they are an army with a nation"