History

The major Allied forces in the Second World War were France and Britain. These were the forces that were opposed by the Axis. The main axis countries were Germany, Italy and Japan. In May 1940, France, Luxembourg, Belgium and Netherlands were attacked by Germany the same day. It was possible for Germany to defeat a country like Luxembourg since it was poorly armed. Although Belgium was armed, it was not as good as Germany.

Hitler had air borne troops which helped Germany defeat the powerful Belgiums fortress. Germany waited for the British and France to invade Belgium before its invasion as Belgium was considered neutral at the time.  Even though Belgium had a good army, its air force was poor and it had to depend with its allies for support. At the time, French had a plan to fight Germany, not on their soil but in Belgium. However, Belgium was defeated and surrendered to Germany.

The Belgiums defeat led to Germanys victory in other ally countries and more so France. It was possible for Netherlands to lose war against German as she was all alone. This was due to the fact that she had refused to join France and Britain when they were fighting Germany in 1939. Netherlands Surrendered on 15th May 1940.

France was a powerful country among the allies and so were its weapons. During the time of invasion it was considered the most powerful in Europe and there was no doubt of its victory. The fall of Belgium had given Germany an easy entry to France. The strategy that was used by Germany was first to invade the Frances neighbors who were Luxembourg, Netherlands and Belgium. After invading these Countries Germany then turned to France and succeeded. Britain and France thought Germany would not strike at that particular time and therefore they were not fully prepared.
There was also poor communication among the allies and this contributed to the defeat. The allies were not as united as the Axis, for example, some countries like Netherlands refused to join France in its invasion. It is also reported that some countries joined the allies only when there was a threat of invasion or when they were forced to do so.

Hitlers army was well coordinated and organized. They had a well laid procedure on when and how to invade. This was the main reason as to why they succeeded especially in France. As Shepperd records, Germanys victory was due to her well organized and coordinated army as well as her well thought tactics. Studies reveal that at the time of the war, France was even divided politically. Shepherd continues to record that tanks belonging to France lacked radio. Radio was very important as it was a means of communication which enhanced coordination. Even though Hitler had few bombers, his air force was superior compared to that of France.

Although the Allies outnumbered the Axis forces, it is clear that they lacked in many things including superior weapons and lack of a strong central command. Their fighting equipments were more while their quality was poor. As Shepperd puts it, French and British had over 3000 tanks while Germany had only about 2000 tanks. It can therefore be precisely noted that their defeat can be attributed to the poor war tactics. German had superior weapons with radio and also a well organized army under the command of Brauchitsch.