✦ History

Battle of France

May 10 – June 25, 1940

German invasion of the Low Countries and France from 10 May to 25 June 1940. In Fall Gelb (Case Yellow), German armour advanced through the Ardennes, crossed the Meuse, and drove to the Channel; Fall Rot (Case Red) then finished off the French and British after the Dunkirk evacuation, and the Low Countries and France were defeated and occupied.

View war on globe Full event page

Battles and events 4

May 10–15, 1940
German invasion of the Netherlands Netherlands Fedor von Bock
May 26 – June 4, 1940
Battle of Dunkirk Dunkirk, France Winston Churchill, Hermann Göring, Gerd von Rundstedt
May 26 – June 4, 1940
Dunkirk evacuation Dunkirk Hermann Göring, Gerd von Rundstedt, Jean-Marie Charles Abrial
June 22, 1940
Armistice of 22 June 1940 Forest of Compiègne

Key commanders

Axis 6

Adolf Hitler Hermann Göring military commander Gerd von Rundstedt Field Marshal, Commander of Army Group A (Ardennes breakthrough) Fedor von Bock Field Marshal, Commander of Army Group B (northern wing) Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb Field Marshal, Commander of Army Group C (southern wing, against the Maginot Line) Günther von Kluge military commander

Allies 6

Maxime Weygand General, Allied supreme commander, 19 May - 22 June 1940 Maurice Gamelin General, Allied commander-in-chief until his dismissal on 19 May 1940 John Vereker, 6th Viscount Gort General, Commander-in-chief of the British Expeditionary Force; organized the Dunkirk evacuation Leopold III of Belgium military commander Winston Churchill Prime Minister Jean-Marie Charles Abrial