The Popular Front- France and the Second World War

[Prufrock451]

Vann, Petrarca, Hannibal- You may have gathered that I'm not a huge Chamberlain fan. Let's see what others think of him.

September 17, 1938

De Lattre rapped the map confidently with his knuckles. "The British, French, and Czech air forces outnumber the Germans. The Royal Navy, with support from France, will obtain complete mastery over the North Sea. Our forces are mobilized and concentrated. They can launch an attack on an hour's notice." De Lattre leaned forward, his face shadowed by anger. "I say again, we can and must attack."

The room erupted in dismay. Daladier was frowning, while Gamelin threw his hands in the air in horror and disgust. De Lattre looked from face to face. Only Juin and de Gaulle were on his side- it stood to reason, since their armored corps would gain the lion's share of the glory from de Lattre's plan.

The Premier held up his hands for silence. "Enough! Enough!" He actually hopped nervously from one foot to the other. "Enough argument. I leave for London tonight- and there will be no disagreement, no second-guessing. It is vital that this government presents a united front in such a crisis." The military men stiffened immediately, their controversies momentarily forgotten. The civilians were less eager.

Daladier sighed. "General de Lattre, do not stir up this hornet's nest again. I have repeatedly stated that we will not declare war first. I will not be responsible for such bloodshed."

"With the Czechs, we outnumber the German ninety to seventy-five divisions-"

"I was listening, General. That is all." De Lattre snapped to furious attention. Daladier rubbed his eyes. "President Benes will not go to war without the express guarantee of British intervention. I am going to London to secure that guarantee."

"And if the British do not provide it?"

Daladier fixed de Lattre with a steely glare. Both men knew de Lattre could not be replaced at so critical a moment, but both men knew that safety was temporary.

"Then, General, I shall do everything in my power short of war to resolve this crisis. And your duty is to support that decision."

"I must protest-"

"If you wish to resign, feel free. Your protest is noted." The room was deathly silent. De Lattre's face burned with humiliation. Daladier dismissed him with a curt gesture.

De Lattre stormed down the corridor, followed by his generals. He stopped abruptly and pivoted on his heel. De Gaulle grabbed his shoulder.

"Don't, sir."

De Lattre's lip twitched in anger. Gamelin stepped in front of him.

"General de Lattre. Sir. We have our orders."

De Lattre slowly calmed. He nodded. Slowly, the French Army's commanders walked out of the Quai d'Orsay and into a dark autumn night.

 

[Vann the Red]

Now if only you could get the Poles in for more weight of troops to counterbalance what you are losing from the British...

Vann

 

[unmerged(61296)]

90 to 75, I must say i'd cast my vote with Daladier on that one, depending on the respective deployment of the divisions. The key would be to gain a clear local superiority and work one's way from here. But waging a coalition war would be difficult, of course.

 

[latinsword]

Avant les bleues!

Yikes!

So Neville thinks that France would invade the UK? And they think that France will ally Stalin?

For me it's even easier: England never liked someone taking over continental Europe, no matter who...

90 to 75, I must say i'd cast my vote with Daladier on that one, depending on the respective deployment of the divisions. The key would be to gain a clear local superiority and work one's way from here. But waging a coalition war would be difficult, of course.

Even a limited success would tie up the german hands, since they could lose part of their IC and wouldn't be able to take Poland. But I smell things going the other way - apparently we will have to wait Warsav be overrolled to get some action from the allies.

 

[unmerged(61296)]

Even a limited success would tie up the german hands, since they could lose part of their IC and wouldn't be able to take Poland. But I smell things going the other way - apparently we will have to wait Warsav be overrolled to get some action from the allies.

Ah, if Poland joins the fray, then success is almost guaranteed. The problem with the French Army is that, while you can occupy Rhineland if acting quickly and boldly (like, through Luxembourg), it's extremely hard to keep it. All too often I held a Kiel-to-Frankfurt line for a few weeks, facing relentless attacks from German infantry and bombers which left my troops low in organization, until Germany managed to finish off Poland and to launch fresh units to dismantle my front. Even with the Rhineland in French hands, Germany still has a superior IC.

90 to 75 is neat, but you have to leave some close to Italy, some in German provinces you occupy, and some on the Belgian border in case Germany attacks the Low Countries. In the end it all boils down to local superiority, and your ability to transform it into a strategic one, defeating your enemy piecemeal.

 

[EmprorCoopinius]

Argh, attack of the appeasers. Let's hope this doesn't handcuff De Lattre too badly.

 

[Petrarca]

I think Atlantic Friend is right: Germany enjoys local superiority in whichever location it chooses to concentrate in, and can use that to destroy the Little Entente armies piecemeal, starting in the East and ending on the west bank of the Meuse.

 

[elbasto]

Lot's of scheming!

It seems that you will face Germany only when they choose to do so... that's usually not a good thing.

Good luck!

 

[GeneralHannibal]

I disagree. If France takes a decisive stand, Poland may join in as well, which will provide clear victory. Hungry is balanced by Romania, and Italy will not join a losing Germany, and there is also Yugoslavia looking at Trieste if things go badly. In short, France must act decisively to help the Czechs.

Otherwise, France will have no credibility at all among the eastern allies and they will turn to Germany. Romania, Poland and Yugoslavia are not totally lost as of yet!

 

[Stuyvesant]

Backstabbing British... Perhaps the French should use their one-year breathing space (before the Fuehrer inevitably invades Poland) to lanch a few assassination attempts across the English Channel? Surely replacing Chamberlain with Churchill will do more good for the French than trying to knock off another German Armaments Minister?

 

[Petrarca]

I disagree. If France takes a decisive stand, Poland may join in as well, which will provide clear victory. Hungry is balanced by Romania, and Italy will not join a losing Germany, and there is also Yugoslavia looking at Trieste if things go badly. In short, France must act decisively to help the Czechs.

But the Czechs won't act unless London provides the imprimatur. Donald Kagan used it as a good example of strategic choices being influence by history, as 1619 pushed the Czechs to demand strong allies (here, the entire Entente) or accept the inevitable and capitulate, just as a different historical experience pushed another small country to make the exact opposite choice, consistently.

Poland does not provide the Little Entente with a clear victory. All three powers have militaries oriented towards strategic defense, and with their geographic separation they remain extremely vulnerable to defeat in detail, particularly to a Wehrmacht with the best-conceived operational doctrine of any of their contemporaries. Czechoslovakia will fold-- their fortifications existed largely on paper, and with the Anschluss they were already outflanked. Poland too cannot stand, and France is in no position to attempt a crossing of the Rhine without the additional manpower of the BEF. A craven Britain that will sell Prague for peace will render inviable any military option.

 

[unmerged(61296)]

I disagree. If France takes a decisive stand, Poland may join in as well, which will provide clear victory. Hungry is balanced by Romania, and Italy will not join a losing Germany, and there is also Yugoslavia looking at Trieste if things go badly. In short, France must act decisively to help the Czechs.

Otherwise, France will have no credibility at all among the eastern allies and they will turn to Germany. Romania, Poland and Yugoslavia are not totally lost as of yet!

It's the usual French dilemma - to support, or not to support the Little Entente ?

I hate it when the question is solved by Czechoslovakia caving in to every German demand in 1938, leaving your alliance all of a sudden, and being annexed a few months later. I wonder if there is a way for France to influence the Czech position ? I tried to guarantee independence and I had an alliance with Czechoslovakia, I chose to max out the Sudetenland garrison after having taken military control, but oftentimes to no avail, as President Benes chose national suicide.

 

[Prufrock451]

September 27, 1938

Daladier was weary to his soul. Tomorrow, he left for Germany.

"An earlier statement would not have been possible when I was flying backwards and forwards across Europe, and the position was changing from hour to hour. But today there is a lull for a brief time, and I want to say a few words to you, men and women of Britain and the Empire, and perhaps to others as well."

Chamberlain sounded good- a radio speech from the House of Commons itself, but he was orating with uncommon feeling. Daladier listened respectfully.

"How horrible, fantastic, incredible it is that we should be digging trenches and trying on gas-masks here because of a quarrel in a far-away country between people of whom we know nothing. It seems still more impossible that a quarrel which has already been settled in principle should be the subject of war. "

The Royal Navy was at sea and air-raid trenches were being dug in the public parks. The army was finally arranged in attack formation, waiting to cross the Rhine, stationed along the Italian frontier and the North Sea coast. And, of course, some troops on the Belgian border. Everything was waiting for Hitler's word.

Daladier was trembling. He hadn't eaten all day, and his fingers had been cold since the moment he woke up.

"I shall not give up the hope of a peaceful solution, or abandon my efforts for peace, as long as any chance for peace remains. I would not hesitate to pay even a third visit to Germany if I thought it would do any good. But at this moment I see nothing further that I can usefully do in the way of mediation."

Soon, Chamberlain would be on his way back to Paris. And then he and Daladier would fly to Munich. There, to meet Hitler and Mussolini. Chamberlain's stories of Hitler were dark and frankly disturbing. Daladier did not relish persuading such a man to abandon the path to war.

"For the present I ask you to wait as calmly as you can the events of the next few days. As long as war has not begun, there is always hope that it may be prevented, and you know that I am going to work for peace to the last moment. Good night."

The last moment. That was approaching soon.

Daladier looked out his window. The city was quiet and dark, except for the piercing rays of air-raid searchlights. He crossed himself silently.

Tomorrow he would learn whether he would send children to die.

---

I'm excited over the level of debate on France's opportunities here. We'll learn shortly what will come of them.

 

[Petrarca]

I might, just might, consider letting Czechoslovakia fall to demonstrate to the accommodationists that Germany will not stop unless we stop them. But that's sacrificing a nation to prove a point.

Ironically, given my dire worries about the strategic disposition, my own opinion is this: Not a Single Step Back!

 

[unmerged(31881)]

Not a Single Step Back!

Ни шагу назад!
Wait, wrong AAR.
Indeed, a difficult diplomatic position for France.
Lockstep with Perfidious Albion? Betray the Little Entente? Scylla? Charybdis?

 

[Prufrock451]

September 29, 1938

It was eleven at night. The meeting had gone on for hours now. On point after point, Chamberlain caved and Daladier numbly followed.

The Czechs to give up the Sudetenland. The Czechs to agree to plebiscites. Detail after numbing detail, Hitler laid out an inflexible agenda, and the Western leaders slowly whittled him down.

Chamberlain had a clear vision; to preserve the peace. To resolve the crisis peacefully. Whether Hitler had engineered this crisis was immaterial. Daladier found a new admiration for the man. Time after time (and he had already held two meetings with this demagogue), Chamberlain parried and ducked Hitler's rhetoric. He listened attentively to the monologues. He accepted minor points. And time and again, he ignored the obvious provocations and insults. For hours, without flagging, without a single misstep, Chamberlain controlled the conversation, steering the Great Powers away from the brink of war. Daladier could only follow in his wake.

Daladier watched the Germans carefully. He could see, only in glimpses, the frustration and rage in Hitler's face. My God, the man actually wanted a war. Daladier hadn't risen to lead a nation by ignoring subtle cues and flashes of insight. Beneath the mask of control, he read the humiliation on Mussolini, watching an upstart seize his ideas and bend Britain to his will. He read the alarm and fear on the faces of the German military leaders. At one chilling moment, he caught Hitler measuring his gaze. After that brief exchange of glances, Hitler dismissed his generals. He turned back to Daladier and nodded briefly, the way a chess player would nod if you took the first pawn of the game.

Chamberlain was cheerfully drafting the final wording. The last few details would take hours, but Daladier could see no sign of fatigue or exasperation on the Prime Minister. The man was a master.

At the end, Hitler did not get what he wanted. He wanted a war. Chamberlain held him to every outrageous demand, to every rhetorical flourish, and took him at face value. As a result, Hitler got only what he said he wanted. But that was enough.

"Peace in our time," Chamberlain demanded, and this he got. The crowds rightfully hailed him. He had been the master of the hour. He had saved Britain, maintained her honor, preserved her children.

But Daladier did not go home to a hero's welcome.

With Czechoslovakia dismantled, the Little Entente crumbled. Hungary, Romania, Yugoslavia; the careful relationships France had built up to contain Germany crumbled overnight. Republican Spain, whose gratitude to France had always been tinged with resentment, began drifting into isolation. The army was divided. De Lattre was humiliated and angry, and his control over the intelligence agencies still made him untouchable. The Right was howling for blood, the Left barely contained. Daladier was alone in a field of landmines. The only friend he had left was Britain.

And if Daladier ever, in dark moments, thought to himself that every aspect of Chamberlain's performance brought France low and tied its hands, that every step of this crisis had forced him into dependence on the British- well, those moments were few and brief.

 

[unmerged(61296)]

As the RL Daladier said, hearing that Parisian crowds were gathering to cheer his "success" in Muncih : "Ah ! Les cons !"

 

[GeneralHannibal]

Damnit


This won't bode well for France, mark my words. One day I'm going to do an AAR where France does stand up, and we'll see how it plays out.

 

[Prufrock451]

Heh!

Again, all, thanks for your discussion through this section. It helped me figure out how to express some of this part.

Man, though- I'd love to see an event tree for this. "Choice B- Grow A Pair!"

 

[Vann the Red]

This sounds more like Our Dear Neville of Sir H's work. Well played, sir!

Vann