The phoney war (in English "phoney war", false war; in German "Sitzkrieg", seated war) is the period of the Second World War in the European theater between the declaration of war by France and the United Kingdom ( the Allies) to Nazi Germany on September 3, 1939 and the latter's invasion of France, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands on May 10, 1940. She received this nickname from the journalist Roland Dorgelès using an expression used in a report on the Allied armies which awaited the offensive in their entrenchments and in particular the Maginot line by deceiving boredom. The press releases of the armies did not mention any notorious activity, at most a few skirmishes.
After ensuring that the USSR would participate in the dismemberment of the country by signing the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, Hitler launched his armies on Poland on September 1, 1939, without a declaration of war (see:Gleiwitz incident). In application of their alliance, France and the United Kingdom declare war on Germany. In particular, France guaranteed after 1918 by mutual assistance treaties the existence of most of the newly created countries in Central Europe (with the ulterior motive of creating a cordon sanitaire around Germany).
However, despite Chamberlain's pressure, neither did France honor its commitments to Hitler's previous victims, France did not honor its obligations to Poland:these provided that France would attack Germany 15 days after the start of the general mobilization, i.e. in mid-September. But the French remain at gunpoint while Poland faces German and then Soviet aggression alone. The Germans then used for the first time the tactic of "lightning war" (Blitzkrieg), which ensured the Wehrmacht a quick victory despite the counter-offensive of the Bsura. The USSR then takes its share of Poland as well as the Baltic States, and attacks Finland (Winter War) to take the border region of Karelia, near Leningrad. The Finns resisted for three months and then finally gave in.
After his first successful campaign, Hitler turned west, but nothing happened on that front for several months. Entrenched behind the Maginot line, the French waited for the German attack to stem it. It is a conflict with no major fighting apart from a few reconnaissance patrol skirmishes. This is called the phoney war.
In France, the command structure became more complex with the creation at the end of 1939 of GHQ Doumenc halfway between Gamelin and Georges. We therefore find ourselves for the key sector of operations with no less than four levels of command:- Gamelin (National Defence) - Doumenc (intermediate HQ) - Georges (Théâtre Nord-Est) - Billotte (1st First Group of Armies, i.e. the gist of the case) Not to mention the distinct "Air" channel.
The first three "sharing" the main staff services, they obviously lose efficiency and no one has in their hands all the tools necessary for the conduct of the battle. If we add these two specific personalities, one in the shadow of Reynaud, the other in that of Daladier.
The conflict bogged down until hostilities resumed in the spring, when the allies prepared to cut off Sweden's steel supply to Germany from Norway, but the operation turned into a fiasco and Germany invaded Denmark and Norway on April 9, 1940.
The phoney war ends definitively when the German armies launch the Fall Gelb, a vast offensive on the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg violating the neutrality of these States, then through the Ardennes (the breakthrough of Sedan) in order to reverse the Maginot line. This led to the hasty re-embarkation of the British and French expeditionary force in Scandinavia on the one hand and the encirclement of the bulk of the Allied forces in the Dunkirk pocket on the other. The Royal Navy and the British pleasure boats evacuate their troops and a large part of the French forces during Operation Dynamo by abandoning their heavy equipment, while a curtain of French troops slows down the reduction of the redoubt before being taken prisoner.
Patriotic songs from the der des ders like La Madelon are used in a nostalgic bittersweet version. Germany has the Westwall or Siegfried line on its side. The mainly aerial combat will cause around 1,500 deaths on both sides.
The propaganda is directed for Germany by Goebbels and for France by Giraudoux.
The two adversaries put their economy at the service of their armies.
In France, to respect the instruction of the French Communist Party:"One hour less for production, it's one hour more for the revolution", many sabotages are committed.
The United States sells its military equipment for cash only to the Allies, while the USSR trades its resources with Germany. Access to Swedish iron ore sparked a clash in Norway and its invasion by the Nazis. The Allies launched the blockade and Germany some attacks by its submarines.