The Fall of France: Operational Shock and the Death of the Third Republic, May–June 1940
France’s 1940 collapse was a historic operational shock. In six weeks, Germany defeated Europe’s strongest army and expelled the BEF through doctrinal innovation. Fall Gelb’s Ardennes breakthrough and Fall Rot’s destruction of France exposed failures in methodical battle, C3I, and political cohesion, culminating in the Armistice.