View source for Fall Rot

{{short description|Nazi German war plan}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2019}}
{{italic title}}
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict          = {{lang|de|Fall Rot}} (Case Red)
| partof            = the [[Battle of France]]
| image             = File:Bundesarchiv_Bild_146-1994-036-09A,_Paris,_Parade_auf_der_Champs_Elysée.jpg
| image_size        = 250px
| caption           = German Army parade on the ''[[Champs-Élysées]]''
| place             = France
| date              = 5−25 June, 1940  (3 weeks)
| territory         = Completion of German conquest of France
*Division of France into [[Zone libre|free]] and [[German military administration in occupied France during World War II|occupied]] zones
| result            = [[Nazi Germany|German]] victory
*End of [[French campaign]]
*[[Second Armistice at Compiègne]]
*[[French Third Republic]] replaced by the [[French State]]
*[[Free France]] proclaimed in exile
*[[Battle of Britain]]
| combatant1        = {{flagcountry|Nazi Germany}}
| combatant2        = {{flagcountry|French Third Republic}}<br />{{flag|United Kingdom}}
| casualties1       = 
| casualties2       = <!--France - 1,500,000+ needs a cite-->
}}
{{Campaignbox Battle of France}}
{{Campaignbox Western Front (World War II)}}

'''''Fall Rot''''' ('''Case Red''') was the plan for a German military operation after the success of {{lang|de|[[Fall Gelb]]}} (Case Yellow), the [[Battle of France]], an invasion of the [[Benelux]] countries and northern France. The Allied armies had been defeated and pushed back in the north to the Channel coast, which culminated in the [[Dunkirk evacuation]]. The operation to complete the conquest of [[French Third Republic|France]] by the [[German Army (Wehrmacht)|German Army]] began on 5 June 1940.{{sfn|Frieser|2005|p=315}} {{lang|de|Fall Rot}} began with a preliminary attack over the river [[Somme (river)|Somme]] on the [[English Channel|Channel Coast]] to the [[Seine]], beginning on 5 June and the main offensive by [[Army Group A]] on 9 June further east over the [[river]] [[Aisne (river)|Aisne]].{{sfn|Frieser|2005|p=315}}

==Background==
===French defensive preparations===
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1971-083-01, Frankreich, französische Flüchtlinge.jpg|thumb|[[War refugee]]s on a French road]]
By the end of May 1940, the best-equipped French armies had been sent north and lost in {{lang|de|[[Fall Gelb]]}} and the [[Dunkirk evacuation|evacuation from Dunkirk]], which cost the Allies {{nowrap|61 divisions.}} French commander [[Maxime Weygand]] was faced with the prospect of defending a {{cvt|965|km|mi}} front from [[Sedan, Ardennes|Sedan]], along the Aisne and Somme rivers to Abbeville on [[English Channel|the Channel]], with {{nowrap|64 French}} divisions. The [[51st (Highland) Infantry Division]] and a few British divisions being sent to French ports south of the Somme to form the "2nd BEF" were the only British contribution. Weygand lacked reserves to counter a breakthrough against {{nowrap|142 German}} divisions and the {{lang|de|[[Luftwaffe]]}}, which had air supremacy, except over the English Channel.{{sfn|Healy|Prigent|2008|p=84}}

Between six and ten million civilian refugees had fled the fighting and clogged the roads, in what became known as {{lang|fr|L'Éxode}} (The Exodus) and few arrangements had been made for their reception. The population of [[Chartres]] declined from 23,000 to 800 and Lille from 200,000 to 20,000, while cities in the south such as [[Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques|Pau]] and [[Bordeaux]] rapidly grew in size.{{sfn|Jackson|2001|pp=119–120}}

==Prelude==
===Battle of Abbeville===
{{main|Battle of Abbeville}}
The Battle of Abbeville took place from the 28 May to 4 June 1940 near [[Abbeville]] during the [[Battle of France]] in the [[Second World War]]. While [[Operation Dynamo]], the Dunkirk evacuation, was under way, Weygand tried to exploit the immobilisation of German forces, to attack northwards over the Somme and rescue the trapped Allied forces in the Dunkirk pocket. The attack was carried out by the French {{lang|fr|[[2e Division cuirassée]]}} (2nd DCr, heavy armoured division) and {{lang|fr|[[4e Division cuirassée]]}} (4th DCr) and the British [[1st Armoured Division (United Kingdom)|1st Armoured Division]]. The attacks reduced the size of the German bridgehead by about 50 per cent.{{sfn|Ellis|2004|pp=259–271}}

===Weygand line===
[[File:4June-12June Battle of France.PNG|thumb|The German offensive to the [[Seine River|Seine]], 4–12 June]]
The French armies had fallen back on their lines of supply and communications and had easier access to repair shops, supply dumps and stores. About 112,000 evacuated French soldiers were repatriated via the Normandy and the Brittany ports. It was some substitute for the lost divisions in Flanders. The French were also able to make good a significant amount of their armoured/armored losses and raised the 1st and 2nd DCr; the 4th DCr also had its losses replaced; morale rose and was very high by the end of May 1940.{{sfn|Alexander|2007|pp=225–226}}

Morale improved because most French soldiers knew of German success only by hearsay; surviving French officers had gained tactical experience against German mobile units and had increased confidence in their weapons, after seeing their artillery (which the post-battle analysis of the {{lang|de|Wehrmacht}} recognised as technically excellent) and tanks perform better in combat than German armour. The French tanks had heavier armour/armor and bigger guns.{{sfn|Alexander|2007|p=227}} Between 23 and 28 May, the French reconstituted the Seventh and Tenth armies. Weygand decided on hedgehog tactics, in [[defence in depth]], to inflict maximum attrition on German units. He employed units in towns and small villages, which were prepared for all-round defence. Behind that, the new infantry, armoured and half-mechanised divisions were ready to counter-attack and relieve the surrounded units, which were ordered to hold out at all costs.{{sfn|Alexander|2007|pp=231, 238}}

==Battle==
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 121-0427, Französische Kriegsgefangene.jpg|thumb|[[French POWs in World War II|French prisoners]] are marched into internment.]]
[[Army Group B]] attacked either side of Paris; in its 47 divisions it had the majority of the mobile units.{{sfn|Healy|Prigent|2008|p=84}} After 48 hours, the Germans had not broken through the French defence.{{sfn|Alexander|2007|p=248}} On the Aisne, the XVI {{lang|de|Panzerkorps}} (General [[Erich Hoepner]]) employed over 1,000 armoured fighting vehicles (AFVs) in two panzer divisions and a motorised division against the French. The assault was crude and Hoepner lost 80 out of 500 AFVs in the first attack. The German 4th Army had captured bridgeheads over the Somme but the Germans struggled to get over the [[Aisne]] as the French defence in depth frustrated the crossing.{{sfnm|1a1=Alexander|1y=2007|1p=245|2a1=Maier|2a2=Rohde|2a3=Stegemann|2a4=Umbreit|2y=1991|2p=297}} At [[Amiens]], the Germans were repeatedly driven back by powerful French artillery concentrations, a marked improvement in French tactics.{{sfn|Alexander|2007|p=249}}

The German Army relied on the {{lang|de|Luftwaffe}} to silence French artillery as the German infantry inched forward, only forcing crossings on the third day.{{sfn|Alexander|2007|p=249}} The {{lang|fr|[[Armée de l'Air]]}} (French Air Force) attempted to bomb them but failed. German sources acknowledged the battle was "hard and costly in lives, the enemy putting up severe resistance, particularly in the woods and tree lines continuing the fight when our troops had pushed past the point of resistance".{{sfn|Alexander|2007|p=250}} South of Abbeville, the French Tenth Army (General Robert Altmayer) had its front broken and it was forced to retreat to [[Rouen]] and southwards over the Seine river. The 7th {{lang|de|Panzer}} Division headed west over the [[Seine]] river through [[Normandy]] and captured the port of [[Cherbourg]] on 18 June, forcing the surrender of much of the 51st (Highland) Division on 12 June.{{sfn|Healy|Prigent|2008|p=85}} German spearheads were overextended and vulnerable to counter strokes but the {{lang|de|Luftwaffe}} denied the French the ability to concentrate and the fear of air attack negated their mass and mobile use by Weygand.{{sfn|Alexander|2007|p=240}}

[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-126-0350-26A, Paris, Einmarsch, Parade deutscher Truppen.jpg|thumb|German troops in [[Paris]]]]
On 10 June, the French government declared Paris an [[open city]].{{sfn|Shirer|1990|p=738}} The German 18th Army advanced on Paris against determined French opposition but the line was broken in several places. Weygand asserted it would not take long for the French Army to disintegrate. On 13 June, Churchill attended a meeting of the [[Anglo-French Supreme War Council]] at [[Tours]]. He suggested a [[Franco-British Union#World War II (1940)|Franco-British Union]], which the French rejected.{{sfn|Maier|Rohde|Stegemann|Umbreit|1991|pp=300–301}} On 14 June, Paris fell and the Parisians unable to flee the city found that in most cases the Germans were extremely well mannered.{{sfn|Healy|Prigent|2008|p=85}}

The [[air superiority]] established by the {{lang|de|Luftwaffe}} became [[air supremacy]], with the {{lang|fr|Armée de l'Air}} on the verge of collapse.{{sfn|Hooton|2008|p=86}} The French had only just begun to make the majority of bomber sorties; between 5 and 9 June during [[Operation Paula]], when over 1,815 sorties were flown, 518 by bombers. The number of sorties flown declined as losses became impossible to replace. The RAF attempted to divert the attention of the {{lang|de|Luftwaffe}} with 660 sorties flown against targets over the Dunkirk area but lost many aircraft; on 21 June, 37 [[Bristol Blenheim]]s were destroyed. After 9 June, French aerial resistance virtually ceased and some surviving aircraft withdrew to French [[North Africa]]. {{lang|de|Luftwaffe}} attacks concentrated on the direct and indirect support of the army. The {{lang|de|Luftwaffe}} attacked lines of resistance which then quickly collapsed under armoured attack.{{sfn|Hooton|2008|pp=84–85}}

===Maginot Line===
[[File:Maginot Line ln-en.svg|thumb|The Maginot Line]]
[[Army Group C]] in the east was to help [[Army Group A]] to encircle and capture the French forces on the [[Maginot Line]]. The goal of the operation was to envelop the [[Metz]] region, with its fortifications, to prevent a French counter-offensive from Alsace against the German line on the Somme. The XIX {{lang|de|Panzerkorps}} (General [[Heinz Guderian]]) was to advance to the French border with [[Switzerland]] and trap the French forces in the [[Vosges Mountains]] while the XVI {{lang|de|Panzerkorps}} attacked the Maginot Line from the west, into its vulnerable rear to take the cities of [[Verdun]], [[Toul]] and Metz. The French had moved the 2nd Army Group from the Alsace and Lorraine to the Weygand line on the Somme, leaving only small forces guarding the Maginot Line. After Army Group B had begun its offensive against Paris and into Normandy, Army Group A began its advance into the rear of the Maginot Line. On 15 June, Army Group C launched Operation Tiger, a frontal assault across the [[Rhine]] into France.{{sfn|Romanych|Rupp|2010|p=52}}

German attempts to break the Maginot Line prior to Tiger had failed. One assault lasted for eight hours at the north end of the line, costing the Germans 46 dead and 251 wounded for two French were killed at {{lang|fr|[[Ouvrage Ferme Chappy]]}} (Chappy Farm shelter) and one at {{lang|fr|[[Ouvrage Fermont]]}}. On 15 June, the last well-equipped French forces, including the Fourth Army, were preparing to leave as the Germans struck; only a skeleton force held the line. The Germans greatly outnumbered the French and could call upon I {{lang|de|Armeekorps}} of seven divisions and 1,000 guns, although most were First World War vintage and could not penetrate the thick armour of the fortresses. Only 88&nbsp;mm guns were effective and 16 were allocated to the operation; {{nowrap|150 mm}} guns and eight railway batteries were also employed. The {{lang|de|Luftwaffe}} deployed {{lang|de|[[5th Air Corps (Germany)|Fliegerkorps V]]}}.{{sfn|Romanych|Rupp|2010|p=56}}

The battle was difficult and slow progress was made against strong French resistance but the fortresses were overcome one by one.{{sfn|Romanych|Rupp|2010|pp=56–80}} {{lang|fr|[[Ouvrage Schoenenbourg]]}} fired 15,802 {{nowrap|75 mm}} rounds at German infantry. It was the most bombarded of all the French positions but its armour protected it from fatal damage. The same day that ''Tiger'' began, {{lang|de|Unternehmen Kleiner Bär}} started. Five assault divisions of the VII {{lang|de|Armeekorps}} crossed the Rhine into the [[Colmar]] area with a view to advancing to the Vosges Mountains. It had 400 artillery pieces including heavy artillery and mortars. The French 104th Division and 105th Division were driven back into the Vosges Mountains on 17 June. On the same day, XIX {{lang|de|Korps}} reached the Swiss border and the Maginot defences were cut off from France. Most units surrendered on 25 June and the Germans claimed to have taken 500,000 prisoners. Some main fortresses continued the fight, despite appeals for surrender. The last fort did not surrender until 10 July and then only under protest and after a request from General [[Alphonse Joseph Georges|Alphonse Georges]]. Of the 58 big fortifications on the Maginot Line, ten were captured by the German army.{{sfn|Romanych|Rupp|2010|pp=90–91}}

==Aftermath==
===Second BEF evacuation===
{{Further|Operation Cycle|Operation Aerial}}
The evacuation of the second BEF took place during [[Operation Aerial]] between 15 and 25 June. The ''Luftwaffe'', with complete domination of the French skies, was determined to prevent more Allied evacuations after the Dunkirk debacle. {{lang|de|[[1st Air Corps (Germany)|Fliegerkorps I]]}} was assigned to the Normandy and [[Brittany]] sectors.  On 9 and 10 June, the port of Cherbourg was subject to 15 [[tonnes]] of German bombs, while [[Le Havre]] received 10 [[Bombing of France during World War II|bombing attacks]] that sank 2,949 [[Gross register tonnage|GRT]] of escaping Allied shipping. On 17 June, [[Junkers Ju 88]]s (mainly from {{lang|de|Kampfgeschwader}} 30) sank a "10,000&nbsp;tonne ship" which was the 16,243 GRT liner {{RMS|Lancastria||6}} off St Nazaire, killing some 4,000 Allied personnel (nearly doubling the British killed in the Battle of France), yet the {{lang|de|Luftwaffe}} failed to prevent the evacuation of some 190,000–200,000 Allied personnel.{{sfn|Hooton|2008|p=88}}

===Armistice===
{{Main|Armistice of 22 June 1940}}
[[File:Hitler and german-nazi officers staring at french marechal foch statue 21 June 1940.png|thumb|Hitler (hand on hip) staring at [[Marshal of France|Marshal]] [[Ferdinand Foch|Foch]]'s statue. The [[Glade of the Armistice]] was later destroyed (except Foch's statue) by the Germans.]]
Discouraged by the hostile reaction in the cabinet to a [[United Kingdom|British]] proposal for a [[Franco-British union#World War II (1940)|Franco-British Union]] and believing his ministers no longer supported him, Prime Minister [[Paul Reynaud]] resigned on 16 June. He was succeeded by [[Marshal of France|Marshal]] [[Philippe Pétain]], who delivered a radio address to the French people, announcing his intention to ask for an [[armistice]] with Germany. When Hitler received word from the French government that they wished to negotiate an armistice, he selected the [[Forest of Compiègne]], the site of the [[Armistice with Germany (Compiègne)|1918 Armistice]], as the venue.{{sfn|Evans|2000|p=156}} On 21 June 1940, Hitler visited the site to start the negotiations, which took place in the railway carriage in which the 1918 Armistice was signed.{{sfn|Dear|Foot|2001|p=326}} After listening to the preamble, Hitler left the carriage in a calculated gesture of disdain for the French delegates and negotiations were turned over to [[Wilhelm Keitel]], the [[Chief of Staff]] of [[Oberkommando der Wehrmacht]] (OKW). The armistice was signed on the next day at 6:36&nbsp;p.m. (French time), by General Keitel for Germany and General [[Charles Huntziger]] for France and came into effect at 12:35&nbsp;a.m. on 25 June, once the Franco-Italian Armistice had been signed, at 6:35&nbsp;p.m. on 24 June, near Rome.{{sfn|Frieser|2005|p=317}}

====Italy====
[[Kingdom of Italy|Italy]] declared war on France and Britain on the evening of 10 June, to take effect just after midnight. The two sides exchanged air raids on the first day of war but little transpired on the [[Alps|Alpine]] front, since both France and Italy had adopted a defensive strategy. There was some skirmishing between patrols and the French forts of the {{lang|fr|[[Ligne Alpine]]}} exchanged fire with their Italian counterparts of the {{lang|it|[[Vallo Alpino]]}}. On 17 June, France announced that it would seek an armistice with Germany and on 21 June, with a Franco-German armistice about to be signed, the Italians launched a general offensive all along the Alpine front, with the main attack in the northern sector and a secondary advance along the coast.{{sfn|Frieser|2005|p=317}} The offensive was conducted by 32 Italian divisions and penetrated a few kilometres into French territory, against the [[Army of the Alps#20th Century|Army of the Alps]] (General [[René Olry]]) which held the frontier with three divisions. The coastal town of [[Menton]] was captured but on the Côte d'Azur the invasion was held up by a French NCO and seven men.{{sfn|Horne|1982|p=631}} On the evening of 24 June, a [[Franco-Italian Armistice]] was signed at [[Rome]] and came into effect at the same time as the [[Armistice of 22 June 1940|Second Armistice at Compiègne]] with Germany (22 June),  just after midnight on 25 June.{{sfn|Frieser|2005|p=317}}

==See also==
* [[List of Axis operational codenames in the European Theatre]]
* [[List of French military equipment of World War II]]
* [[List of German military equipment of World War II]]

==Footnotes==
{{reflist|20em}}

==References==
{{refbegin}}
'''Books'''
* {{cite book |last1=Dear |first1=I. |last2= Foot |first2=M. |title=The Oxford Companion to World War II |year=2001 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=London |isbn=978-0-19-860446-4}}
* {{cite book |url=http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/UN/UK/UK-NWE-Flanders/ |access-date=6 September 2015 |first=Major L. F. |last=Ellis |editor-last=Butler |editor-first=J. R. M. |editor-link=James Ramsay Montagu Butler |series=[[History of the Second World War]] United Kingdom Military Series |title=The War in France and Flanders 1939–1940 |publisher=Naval & Military Press |year=2004 |orig-year=1st. pub. [[HMSO]] 1954 |isbn=978-1-84574-056-6}}
* {{cite book |last=Evans |first=Martin Marix |title=The Fall of France: Act of Daring |publisher=Osprey |location=Oxford |year=2000 |isbn=978-1-85532-969-0}}
* {{cite book |title=The Blitzkrieg Legend |last=Frieser |first=K-H. |author-link=Karl-Heinz Frieser |year=2005 |publisher=Naval Institute Press |location=Annapolis, MD |edition=English trans. |isbn=978-1-59114-294-2}}
* {{cite book |editor-last1=Healy |editor-first1=M. |editor-last2=Prigent |editor-first2=J. |title=Panzerwaffe: The Campaigns in the West 1940 |volume=I |location=London |publisher=Ian Allan |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-7110-3240-8}}
* {{cite book |last=Hooton |first=E. R. |title=Phoenix Triumphant: The Rise and Rise of the Luftwaffe |publisher=Brockhampton Press |location=London |year=2008 |orig-year=1994 |isbn=978-1-86019-964-6 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/phoenixtriumphan0000hoot |via=Archive Foundation}}
* {{cite book |title=To Lose a Battle: France 1940 |last=Horne |first=A. |author-link=Alistair Horne |year=1982 |orig-year=1969 |publisher=Macmillan |location=London |edition=Penguin repr. |isbn=978-0-14-005042-4}}
* {{cite book |title=France: The Dark Years, 1940–1944 |publisher=Oxford University Press |last=Jackson |first=Julian |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-19-820706-1 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/france00juli |via=Archive Foundation}}
* {{cite book |last1=Maier |first1=K. |last2=Rohde |first2=H. |last3=Stegemann |first3=B. |last4=Umbreit |first4=H. |series=[[Germany and the Second World War]] |volume=II |title=Die Errichtung der Hegemonie auf dem europäischen Kontinent |trans-title=Germany's Initial Conquests in Europe |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=London |year=1991 |edition=English trans. |isbn=978-0-19-822885-1}}
* {{cite book |last1=Romanych |first1=M. |last2=Rupp |first2=M. |title=Maginot Line 1940: Battles on the French Frontier |publisher=Osprey |location=Oxford |year=2010 |isbn=978-1-84603-499-2}}
* {{cite book |last=Shirer |first=William L. |title=The Rise and fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany |publisher=Knopf |location=New York |year=1990 |isbn=978-0-671-72868-7}}

'''Journals'''
* {{cite journal |last=Alexander |first=M. S. |title=After Dunkirk: The French Army's Performance Against ''Case Red'', 25 May to 25 June 1940 |journal=War in History |date=April 2007 |volume=14 |number=2 |pages=219–264 |doi=10.1177/0968344507075873 |s2cid=153751513 |issn=0968-3445}}
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book |title=Soixante jours qui ébranlèrent l'occident: 10 mai – 10 juillet 1940 |language=fr |trans-title=Sixty Days that Shook the West: The Fall of France 1940 |last1=Benoist-Méchin |first1=J. |author-link=Jacques Benoist-Méchin |year=1956 |publisher=A. Michel |location=Paris |oclc=836238123}}
* {{cite book |last=Fantom |first=Paul |title=A Forgotten Campaign: The British Armed Forces in France, 1940 – From Dunkirk to the Armistice |place=Warwick |publisher=Helion & Co. |year=2021 |isbn=9781914059018}}
* {{cite book |last=Forczyk |first=R. |title=Case Red: The Collapse of France |year=2019 |orig-year=2017 |publisher=Bloomsbury |location=Oxford |edition=pbk. Osprey |isbn=978-1-4728-2446-2}}
* {{cite book |series=La Seconde Guerre mondiale, histoire et souvenirs |title=Le Destin Tragique de la Ligne Maginot |trans-title=The Tragic Destiny of the Maginot Line |language=fr |last=Prételat |first=A–G. |author-link=André-Gaston Prételat |year=1950 |publisher=Berger-Levrault |location=Paris |oclc=12905841}}
* {{cite book |title=Combats dans la Ligne Maginot |trans-title=Operations on the Maginot Line |language=fr |last=Rodolfe |first=R. |year=1949 |publisher=Ponsot |location=Paris |oclc=12905932}}
* {{cite book
|title=The Great Wall of France: The Triumph of the Maginot Line |last=Rowe |first=V. |year=1959 |publisher=Putnam |location=London |edition=1st |oclc=773604722}}
* {{cite book |editor-last=Wright |editor-first=D. P. |title=16 Cases of Mission Command |year=2013 |publisher=Combined Studies Institute Press US Army Combined Arms Center |location=Fort Leavenworth, KS |url=http://usacac.army.mil/Cac2/cgsc/carl/download/csipubs/SixteenCasesOfMissionCommand.pdf |access-date=5 September 2015 |isbn=978-0-9891372-1-8 |archive-date=2015-09-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150915100317/http://usacac.army.mil/Cac2/cgsc/carl/download/csipubs/SixteenCasesOfMissionCommand.pdf |url-status=dead }}
{{refend}}

==External links==
* [http://mysite.verizon.net/vzev1mpx/maginotlineatwar/ Maginot Line at War] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140806205743/http://mysite.verizon.net/vzev1mpx/maginotlineatwar/ |date=2014-08-06 }}

{{World War II}}

[[Category:Battle of France|Rot]]
[[Category:Conflicts in 1940]]
[[Category:Military operations of World War II involving Germany]]
[[Category:Paris in World War II]]