What if France and Britain invaded Germany immediately after declaring war in 1939?

Alex Parker

·

Updated June 18, 2019

Superb question.

The answer is very difficult to predict.

It is worth mentioning first, that France did invade Germany in the Saar Offensive

, they just gave up and withdrew at the first sign of resistance.

Such may sound stupid but it reflects perfectly the issues associated with a French offensive.

In 1939/40, the French army was larger and better equipped than that of Germany by a long way. This was because the Wehrmacht was still very young and largely engaged on the Eastern Front (with Poland) and hence would might assume that a French offensive would have been extraordinarily successful.

This issue, was morale. After the First World War, France was utterly war exhausted. They did not want, and hence were not really ready for, war. That’s why they built the Maginot Line

—so they were safe and did not need to prepare for more great offensives.

They did not spend billions on these fortifications just to go on an offensive past them. This lack of desire to launch an offensive was massively reflected in the army that was overwhelmingly designed for defensive operations. The country was also massively political divided with a divided military command as well making such an offensive more difficult.

The reality was, although on paper the French army was greater than that of Germany, France just was not prepared to launch an offensive after the carnage of the First World War. Whether it would have succeeded regardless is hard to say.