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The Battle of France (French: bataille de France; 10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign (German: Westfeldzug), the French Campaign (Frankreichfeldzug, campagne de France) and the Fall of France, during the Second World War was the German invasion of the Low Countries (Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands) and France.
France declared war on Germany on 3 September 1939 under the Franco-Polish Military Alliance following the invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939. A French force invaded the Saarland in western Germany in the Saar Offensive led by general Louis Faury , who prior to the war had been head of the French Military Mission to Poland .
The German economist de:Bruno Gleitze from the German Institute for Economic Research estimated that included in the total of 7.1 million deaths by natural causes that there were 1,2 million excess deaths caused by an increase in mortality due to the harsh conditions in Germany during and after the war [151] In Allied occupied Germany the ...
During World War II, 14,059 American POWs died in enemy captivity throughout the war (12,935 held by Japan and 1,124 held by Germany). [342] During World War II, 1.2 million African Americans served in the U.S. Armed Forces and 708 were killed in action. 350,000 American women served in the Armed Forces during World War II and 16 were killed in ...
With nearly 75,000 inhabitants killed and 550,000 tons of bombs dropped, France was, after Germany, the second most severely bomb-devastated country on the Western Front of World War II. [25] Allied bombings were particularly intense before and during Operation Overlord in 1944.
2 September: Tensions began to flare with Germany as Britain and France put Germany on notice for the invasion of Poland. 3 September: France declared war on Nazi Germany. 7 September: French forces engage in light skirmishes with German forces near Saarbrücken. 10 September: British forces arrived to reinforce the French.
German casualties based on statistics collected during the war included 27,074 KIA, 18,384 MIA and 111,034 WIA. Equipment losses were 753 tanks and 1,284 aircraft. UK total casualties were 68,111 including 11,000 KIA. The RAF lost 931 aircraft. French losses were 92,000 KIA, 39,600 MIA and over 250,000 WIA. French aircraft losses were 560.
Between the time of the German victory in the Battle of France and the liberation of the country, the Allied Forces bombed many locations in France. In all 1,570 French cities and towns were bombed by the Allies between June 1940 and May 1945.