Did you know France attacked Germany before the other way around?

Here's a familiar story: Nazi Germany attacked Poland on September 1, 1939. France and Great Britain declared war on Germany in response but didn't actually attack, allowing the Nazis to overrun Poland and sitting on their thumbs until Germany finally invaded France. You've heard this before, but did you know that France actually did attack Germany well before the spring of 1940?

On September 7, 1939, six days after the German invasion of Poland commenced, 11 French Army divisions advanced into the Saarland, an area along the French-German border that belonged to Germany but was on the French side of the fortified German Siegfried Line. Encountering negligible German resistance since the vast majority of the German army was in Poland, the French captured over a dozen towns and villages with bemused locals looking on, advanced to within a few miles of the Siegfried Line... then stopped and eventually withdrew to the border in mid-October, a few weeks after the fall of Poland.

What happened? The French offensive was overly cautious as they were constantly expecting a massive German counterattack, not realizing the Germans didn't have enough forces for one. Strategically, the French also fell into the trap of sunk costs fallacy: they invested so much into the Maginot Line and plans for a defensive war that they were reluctant to truly commit to a serious attack. And finally, politically, the offensive was an empty gesture so they could claim they tried to help Poland.

But what would have happened had the French (and the British, whose expeditionary forces were just starting to arrive in France) truly committed to an attack? There were 30 French divisions along the border in the region, more than half of which didn't advance. During the Nuremberg Trials, several German generals stated that had the French committed all of their local forces along with British help and more French units from elsewhere, Germany would have collapsed within a week or two, and World War II would have ended in a month. 

Save 25% until September 2!

On the occasion of the upcoming 79th anniversary of V-J Day, also known as Victory over Japan Day, we are offering all our available tours with a discount of 25% if you book and pay in full until September 2, 2024. Note that this offer applies only in case of new bookings, and it cannot be combined with other special promotions. The tour price is refundable up until 90 days before departure.

If you have any questions related to this promotion or our tours, please contact our travel consultants at info@beachesofnormandy.com or by calling our toll-free number: +1 855-473-1999.