The French invasion of Germany-1939

The French attack on German between September 19th and October 16th, was a minor conflict in the Second World War. It was part of a French plan to divert the Germans attention from the Polish front and take Munich. In this, the invasion failed in both, as it failed to significantly reduce pressure on the by then already collapsing Poland and was beaten off well before Munich.

The French invasion: September 19th to 28th 1939
France's initial attacks into western Germany met, suprisingly, with next to no resistance. The three divisions defending Freiburg were soon forced to retreat from the province. France entered the city on September 22nd, but did not push their attack for a crucial three days. On September 24th, Poland, battered and weak from the German and Soviet invasion, surrendered. This allowed thje Germans to bring thousands of troops from the east to the west. Despite, this on September 28th, French troops entered Friedrichshafen and began attacking east towards Munich.

The German response: September 23rd to October 2nd 1939
With a large portion of it's garrision attacking Munich, the dfences of the Maggiot Line were severely compromised. Major General Rommel, seeing this weakness, launched an attack along with several panzer divisions south from Stuggart, capturing Strasbourg on September 30th. At this point, several French commanders began to request permission to withdraw back towards Mulhouse. The French government quickly overruled them and instead ordered them to countinue their offensive against Munich.

Operation: Eagle in the West
On October 3rd, German forces under Rommel began an offensive against Mulhouse, a move which would cut the French in Germany off from supply and in the words of Hitler, "Allow the Germany army to divide and conquer." Suprised French forces resisted stubbornly and the French commanders began a large scale withdrawal eastward from Germany. However, Rommel's forces, after initially slow progress, smashed through the French lines and captued Mulhouse, trapping a huge section of the French army (nearly 50 divisions) in a pcoket. Operation: EitW had been an unqualified success story.

The battle of the Freiburg Pocket: October 7th 1939
French commanders in the pocket were ordered to wait for relief, however, it never came and instead, the Germans began the largest battle of the war so far to pound the pocket into nothing. Most German commanders expected it to take about four days, it took less than twenty hours for the Germans to take Freiburg. The French countinued to fight, but the invasion was now unsalavagable and the last French troops in the pocket surrendered on October 15th.

Aftermath
The cost to France was massive, close to fifty divisions were lost and the Maggiot Line was made completely worthless. Germany was in a much stronger position, having wiped out it's only major land enemy. Britain sued for peace on November 17th, ensuring Germany's final victory over France in the summer of 1940. However, Hitler was not contented with just that victory and he turned east in 1941, invading the Soviet Union. At first, victory seemed to be close, but the Soviets slowly ground the Germans to pieces. The defeats at Stalingrad in 1943 and the Kurk Salient in 1944 sealed the Germans fate and on April 30th, with the Soviets closing around Berlin, Hitler commited suicide. With Germany defeated, Stalin effectively ruled the whole of northern Eurasia, from the Pacific to the Atlantic and from the Artic Ocean to Mediterrinian Sea. Even as early as the end of 1946, it was clear Stalin was planning an invasion of Britain and Spain, helped no doubt by a new German super weapon, the nuclear bomb.