French Third Republic, 1936

[makif130289]

PART XVII : BATTLE OF FRANCE : BATTLES OF PARIS​

French AMX R-40 tanks moving to the Front​

1940

August


On 3 August, Defenses of Paris was overwhelmed and On 4 August, Paris Fell. General Gamelin launched general offensive to Amiens as planned.

In spite of the initial successes, Amiens Offensive failed. Now, There is a big hole in the front and the communication lines of Northern and Southern Armies were cut. General Gamelin wanted Reynaud to ask for armistice immediately.

Prime Minister Reynaud replaced Gamelin with General Weygand. Weygand decided to abandon Maginot Line and to reorganize the frontline in the further interior.

General Weygand ordered general retreat to Caen-Avranches route to save the Northern Armies.

On 7 August, Germans attacked Compiegne. French forces there had already begun to retreat when german offensive started.

By 9 August, Situation in the North was stabilized. Northern Armies successfully managed to escape from German encirclement.

General Weygand decided to try to take Paris in order to increase the morale of troops. On 12 August, Offensive commenced.

General Weygand ordered the capture of Le Havre along with Paris to encircle German forces in Argentan.

On 16 August, Le Havre and Paris were liberated. 5 German divisions were trapped in Argentan. Immediate offensive was launched to destroy the pocket.

5 German divisions in Argentan were annihilated. 3 of those divisions were panzer divisions. Loss of these valuable tanks will surely slow down German blitz. 2nd Cavalry Corps in Le Havre managed to hold out until Argentan pocket was finished.

On 21 August, Germans attacked Chaumont. Our forces in Metz immediately began to withdraw to Chaumont.

Italians invaded most of Tunisia. Corsica also fell into Italian hands.

 

[makif130289]

PART XVIII : BATTLE OF FRANCE : FALL OF PARIS​

A Parisian is weeping while Germans are entering the city​

1940

August


1st Battle Fleet of Admiral Gensoul spotted Italian battleship fleet at 21 km near the coast of Marseille. The engagement lasted for 4 hours. Italian Fleet, with numerical superiority, defeated French Fleet. 2 light cruisers, 2 destroyers and 1 heavy cruiser was lost. Italians lost no ships.

Germans are reorganized and launched new offensive to capture Paris. German offensive to Chaumont was repulsed. Evacuation of Metz salient continues. General Weygand doesn't want to risk these troops.

Metz and Paris fell. Germans launched offensive to Argentan.

September

Argentan fell on 1 September. Immediate counter-attack was launched to recapture the region.

Loss of Paris, Lille and many other economic centers ruined French economy. Total industrical capacity went down from 118 to 64.

On 3 September, Second Battle of Chaumont has begun.

On 5 September, Hungary occupied Northern Transylvania with the support of Germany.

Germans reinforced Argentan with huge numbers of tanks. Battle of Chaumont was lost. General Nogues with all his forces is retreating to Dijon.

German forces in Argentan were forced to retreat. Germans launched offensive on exhausted forces in Orleans.

Bulgaria occupied Dobrega region which it lost in the Great War. Romania again folded under German pressure.

Chaumont was captured. French Army destroyed most of the fortifications along the Maginot Line to prevent Germans benefiting from them.

General Nogues launched strong counter-offensive to recapture Chaumont.

Germans captured Orleans on 10 September. General Weygan launched general offensive to retake Orleans and Argentan. Orleans was recaptured on 13 September. Battle of Argentan still continues.

German fighters attacked 1st Bomber Wing above Argentan. Huge number of bombers were lost.

On 20 September, Argentan and Chaumont was liberated. Germans launched immediate counter-attack to Argentan with new fresh divisions.

A German battleship fleet sank 3 transport ships of 1st Transport Fleet in the English Channel.

Third Battle of Chaumont has begun. Germans has also attacked Orleans.

Battle of Orleans and Chaumont were lost. Germans reinforced Argentan with many fresh divisions. General Conde launched offensive to recapture the region.

 

[Patukov]

Ouch!Things are certainly looking bad.

Do you have any troops to spare for North Africa?

 

[makif130289]

PART XIX : COMPIEGNE ARMISTICE​

General Huntziger signing the Armistice​

1940

September


Argentan Offensive failed. Germans launched offensive to Le Mans. The region is defended by exhausted cavalry divisions that retreated from Orleans.

Germans attacked Caen on 29 September.

Germans were defeated in the Battle of Caen. General Weygand ordered an attack on Orleans to close the gap in the front.

October


Orleans Offensive failed due to the arrival of huge number of German panzers.

On 5 October, Italy declared war on Greece.

General Huntziger launched an attack against Le Mans.

On 8 October, Le Mans was liberated.

Battle of Auxerre has begun. In a meeting with Prime Minister Reynaud, General Weygand told him that the Army is on the verge of collapsing and wanted immediate armistice with Germany. Many people in France also blame Britain for her lack of help. According to them, Only French blood was shed in this bloody war and France shouldn't continue to fight for the interests of Britain anymore.

Forces in Dijon stopped their advance to Chaumont and launched an offensive against Auxerre. The aim of this offensive is to secure the rear of forces retreating from Auxerre to Vichy.

Great events took place on 13 October. British offered union to France. Aim of this proposal was to persuade French leaders to continue the fight in North Africa. Prime Minister Reynaud was sympathetic to the plan and read it in the Assembly. However, The proposal created anger among most of French politicians because they viewed the proposal simply as reducing France to the dominion of Britain. Many also claimed that Britain is after France's colonies. Now completely discredited Reynaud resigned. President Lebrun appointed Marshal Petain as new prime minister.

Marshal Petain was convinced that Germany has won the war and in his opinion, further continuation of the war would only bring utter destruction to France. For him, France sacrificed many lives to for this war and now has her right to end this war.

On 14 October, new French government asked the conditions for armistice from Germany via Spanish diplomats.

On 16 October, the Armistice was signed in Compiegne. General Huntziger signed the armistice on the behalf of France.

Germans imposed much harsher conditions on France than the conditions imposed on them in 1918. According to Article II of the Armistice :

"To safeguard the interests of the German Reich, French State territory north and west of the line drawn on the attached map will be occupied by German troops."

According to Clause II of Article III :

"It is the intention of the German Government to limit the occupation of the west coast after ending hostilities with England to the extent absolutely necessary."


Marshal Petain and other French leaders believe that war with Britain would end within few months and thus France would take occupied territories back.

Although Italian Army couldn't invade an inch of French soil, Germany forced French government to cede Savoy and Nice to Italy.

 

[makif130289]

Ouch!Things are certainly looking bad.

Do you have any troops to spare for North Africa?

No, not a single division. This is not really important anymore

 

[unmerged(83496)]

Wow. Germany seems quite relentless in their attacking. Are you continuing to play as Free France? Could be a great story AAR.

 

[unmerged(189717)]

Or play as Vichy France and ally with Germany...

 

[Winner]

Is this the end? It was a good fight, but IMO you shouldn't have gambled with Paris.

---

On an unrelated note, I sometimes wonder what the original HoI2 map creators were thinking when they created the province of Rheims. I mean, it's so totally again common sense, and it makes it impossible for the player to try the historical Sichelschnitt against France.

(BTW, how was the British-French union supposed to look like? I keep hearing about it, but I know no details.)

 

[makif130289]

PART XX : L'ETAT FRANÇAIS​

Marshal addressing the French People​

1940

October


Following the signing of the Armistice at Compiegne, The Chamber of Deputies and Senate convened to ratify the armistice. At the same time, constitutional reform was enacted giving full extraordinary powers to Marshal Petain. With this move, Third Republic was replaced by l'État français ( French State ).

French State after the Armistice :

Marshal Petain formed his new cabinet. Pierre Laval insisted to be Foreign Minister but Marshal appointed him as Minister of State.

According to the Compiegne Armistice, French State is allowed to maintain moderate sized army.

Situation of the economy of French State :

Colonial governments in Syria and Lebanon declared full independence.

On October 25, Royal Navy attacked French Fleet at Mers-el-Kébir to prevent French Fleet falling into German hands. Battleship Bretagne and 1 destroyer were sunk. Admiral Darlan gave promise to Churchill even before the signing of the armistice about preventing the French Fleet falling into German hands. This hostile act of Britain increased anti-British sentiments in France.

On October 20, Empire of Japan demanded bases in Indochina. France doesn't have any significant force in Indochina. Marshal Petain didn't want to fight against Japanese and yielded to Japanese demands.

United States and Britain signed an agreement according to which United States will give 50 destroyers to Britain in return for bases in the Caribbean and the Pacific.

Few military officers led by General de Gaulle defy the authority of French State. These rebels named themselves as Free France forces. These rebels took control of New Caledonia and other minor pacific islands. Marshal Petain sentenced all rebel soldies to death penalty in absentia.

 

[makif130289]

Is this the end? It was a good fight, but IMO you shouldn't have gambled with Paris.

---

On an unrelated note, I sometimes wonder what the original HoI2 map creators were thinking when they created the province of Rheims. I mean, it's so totally again common sense, and it makes it impossible for the player to try the historical Sichelschnitt against France.

(BTW, how was the British-French union supposed to look like? I keep hearing about it, but I know no details.)

I had to try Amiens offensive because the result wouldn't have changed with continous war of attrition. It didn't work at Amiens but it worked at Argentan.

It wasn't one of my best games but I wasn't cakewalk for Germany. I destroyed 6 divisions ( 3 ARM 2 MOT ) and burnt a lot of German manpower. Even when surrender fired, my front was still intact and I could have continued to resist for couple of months.

This is not the end but I will turn to my Japanese AAR. This AAR will get updates if there are people interested in Vichy France AAR.

Or play as Vichy France and ally with Germany...

That is exactly my plan

Wow. Germany seems quite relentless in their attacking. Are you continuing to play as Free France? Could be a great story AAR.

For now Vichy France, but think this AAR as the story of France in general. normal France, Vichy France, Free France and even Communist France.

 

[unmerged(189717)]

Arrrgh, Brown France! Please change the colour to silver!

 

[Patukov]

Keep playing as Vichy France!

 

[makif130289]

PART XXI : INVASION OF THE BALKANS​

German panzers in Yugoslavia​

1940

November

Roosevelt was elected for another term in the presidential elections in United States.

Germany began to build coastal fortifications along the Atlantic and the Channel Coast of France.

According to the Armistice conditions, French government accepts to meet the cost of German occupation forces. This puts a heavy burden on French economy.

1941

January

Thailand Army began to invade Cambodia on January 15. Cambodia belonged to Thailand in the past and Thai Prime Minister Phibun saw the defeat of France as a chance to retake Cambodia. Marshal Petain doesn't want to drag France into another war too early and as a result, accepted the return of Cambodia to Thailand.

With the help of the British traitors led by de Gaulle took control of French Somaliland.

March

Yugoslavia signed Tripartite Pact on 25 March. However, 2 days later a coup overthrew the government and renounced Yugoslavian entry into Axis.

April

In Iraq, pro-German Rashid Ali al-Gaylani staged a coup and took power. British immediately invaded Iraq.

German Army attacked Yugoslavia on 3 April.

Research :

French State couldn't assert its authority in the far away colonies. British and Free French agents are plotting against French State in these colonies. Colonial governor of Chad joined so called Free French forces on April 18.

Three Opinions about the direction of French State

Pierre Laval :

Laval believes that France should join the Axis immediately and fight against Britain along with Germans. According to him, this will put France on the side of victory and France will rewarded after the war her efforts.

Marshal Petain :

Old hero of Verdun blames communism, democracy and ignorance to traditional values for the French defeat against Germany. He is determined to save his country from the ruins and reinstate traditional values into French nation again. For this purpose, he doesn't want to drag France into another war.

Admiral Darlan :

Admiral Darlan has more pragmatic viewpoint. British advance into Libya and American material support to Britain convinced him that war will last very long. He favours wait-and-see strategy for the future of France. According to him, France should maintain its neutrality for now and should join the Axis when Britain's doom becomes certain.


May

With the orders from Marshal, new infantry divisions are being formed. Marshal wants to rebuild French Army and to be ready against Gaullists and the British in North Africa.

Equitorial Africa joined to the side of Gaullist traitors. Germans are pressuring on Vichy government to protect colonies and especially North Africa against the British.

June

On 15 June, Yugoslavia surrendered. On 21 June, Greece surrendered to Italy with the help of Germans.

 

[Patukov]

The British waited until you surrended to do something in the war?

 

[Aliasing]

They wanted all the Glory

 

[Faeelin]

Hrm. Are you playing with the Full darkest hour in any of your mods? This looks like the old HOI2 events, and not how DH handles Vichy.

 

[gooy]

too bad you chose to allow the armistice. it looked like you were losing but anyway you were able to pin down germans for another couple of months and maybe even destroy some of their precious panzer divisions. anyway you occupied them for longer than usual and i would like to see what happens next. even if vichy doesn't do anything.

 

[Cybvep]

Great AAR as always, makif!

I will follow it closely. The Japanese one is now quite predictable, anyway.

 

[makif130289]

Great AAR as always, makif!

I will follow it closely. The Japanese one is now quite predictable, anyway.

Thanks I made some changes to AI and event files in the past 2 days and now plan to make updates for this AAR. Now, SOV, GER, ENG and JAP will also build nukes when their core lands are not under threat. I hope this will make post-war much more enjoyable

 

[unmerged(189717)]

Dam those Brazzaville traitors!