ABSTRACT
Hitler’s long-awaited attack in the west began at dawn on 10 May 1940, barely a month after his swift occupation of Denmark and preemptive descent on Norway.1 He had assembled 136 divisions for the new Blitzkrieg campaign-a force that gave him a substantial numerical ascendancy. The first thrusts were into neutral Holland and Belgium. Hitler knew from intercepted signals of the French High Command that this would draw three French armies and most of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) forward in support of the Belgians. Then seven German Panzer divisions advanced through the Ardennes forest, outflanking the northern end of the Maginot Line defensive system, and crossed the Meuse into French territory near Sedan, the third such invasion in 70 years.
