Could the French have Won the Battle of France, 1940?
Could the French have Won the Battle of France, 1940?
But for a few mistakes along the way, the French could have won World War II a friend noted to me.
But I disagree.
The Germans do the following much better, I believe:
Train: better soldiers man for man
Lead: much better leaders man for man
Move: the Germans move much more rapidly and most wars seem to be about movement almost above all else.
The French built many great weapons for WWII - at least great on paper. The Somua S35, the Char B1-bis, etc., appear to have been better than their German counterparts. But the Germans were much smarter in that they built balanced weapons (something which they forgot about as the war progressed IMHO). The Panzer III and especially the IV are two of the best weapons of all time in war IMHO because they were balanced.
Comparable French tanks had better weapons and better armor, but worse range and silly things like one man turrets. The Somua had radios, but I believe that it was exceptional.
The German tanks had many more radios though I forget if they had 100% utilization.
Narayan