Western Civilization II / Unit 17 WC2 1603 short lesson, about 20 seconds
The Phony War, the Maginot Line, and May 1940 Through the Ardennes
Captions available
The idea
From September to May nothing moved on the French border: the Phony War. France sat behind the Maginot Line. In April Germany took Norway; on the tenth of May it struck the Netherlands and Belgium, and the main thrust came through the Ardennes forest France thought impassable.
In practice
The Line bypassed, not breached.
Where people slip
Pétain had called the Ardennes "impenetrable", the witness says.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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