re: Is the Fall of France the greatest military achievement in history?

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France: ~90,000 killed, ~200,000 wounded

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This is what you’re looking for. The line that the French are surrender happy is false. Like the guy above said they were just flat out maneuvered by a quick modern military machine.

Also the fact that we rescued them is a bit of a stretch too. We certainly played a huge part, however Russia occupying the other front, Germany literally running out of gas, and probably over extending itself too quickly are all major factors. Without any of those, including the US participation, Germany makes a hell of a go at it.

I think he was talking about American losses because who really cares about NVA/VC losses?

The French did not just throw up the white flag willy nilly. They had multiple chances to stop the German juggernaut in its tracks but were impeded by a high command stuck in the ways of the last war. The French commander-in-chief, Gamelin, was miles away from the front and didn't even have a telephone at his headquarters.

As has been said before, the French Army and BEF were simply outmaneuvered. They figured the Germans would be coming through Belgium like they did in 1914, planned accordingly, and got caught with their pants around their ankles when the bulk of the German panzer units showed up at Sedan. The area was lightly defended with some of France's more less-experienced soldiers because the French high command never considered an attack by the Germans through the Ardennes to be a serious threat.

France would have never fallen if they had competent military.
The German army was so bogged down after the initial blitz. They were out of gas and sitting ducks. But the French army didn't go into Netherlands and Belgium and get them.

Could have knocked out much of their force early on. . Looking back Ww2 was a lot of blunders.

Honestly I would go with the Russians turning back the Nazis. That was brutal.

How fast could we take over WWII Germany in say 1939 with our current military and hardware/tech?

That’s similar to what I fashion it was in the Germans taking France so quickly, albeit a little worse. Still, the point being that France was depending upon the Marginot line in a static warfare, and Germany had moved light years past that mindset with the Blitz. They were light years superior to France in every way, both mechanized, logistics, communications, and in philosophy. France was not nearly as horrible as Poland meeting tanks with horses, but France had an anemic mechanized defense, had no communications within their tanks, and instead placed all their money and trust in a defensive line that didnt event protect itself around the entire country. It was quite foolish, and if there is something to learn from it, it is to always have a well trained, well equipped, and up to date military, not because you want to be a war hawk, but because you never know when you’re going to have to protect yourself from another war hawk.

And it really blows my mind how people underestimate the total arse kicking we gave Saddam and the Iraqi army in the First Gulf War. They had one of the largest militaries on the planet in 1990 and many of them had been battle-hardened by the Iran-Iraq War of the 1980s. Analysts were predicting it was going to be a blood bath. Instead? We drove right through them with superior technology and tactics. The war was virtually over in a matter of days once the shooting actually started.

Hitler didn’t have the Gaul to hang with Julius Caesar militarily.

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You are leaving out the part that without France helping, the US likley would not have won.

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In pretty much every war there are allies. France certainly helped end it sooner, but their involvement may not have been the deciding factor.

"Nice Maginot Line you got there, France. Would be a shame.. if..... we just simply stepped around it."