MAPS OF HISTORY · ON THIS DAY · May 15 · 1940
ON THIS DAY · 15 MAY 1940
Breakthrough at Sedan
13–15 May 1940 — Panzers cross the Meuse out of the “impassable” Ardennes and race for the sea.
THE MOMENT IN CONTEXT
In April 1940 the Phoney War ends. Germany seizes Denmark in a morning and Norway in two months — securing Swedish iron ore and Atlantic ports. Then, on 10 May, the hammer falls in the West.
From Chapter 3 — Blitzkrieg in the West of The War Room — WW2, 1936–1945 (JUN 1940).
OPEN THE INTERACTIVE MAP →TEACH THIS IN 5 MINUTES
- Why it happened — Doctrine, not numbers. France actually had more tanks than Germany, and better ones. But she spread them thin as infantry support, while Germany massed hers into panzer…
- The turn — Sedan, 13–15 May. Guderian’s corps crosses the Meuse under an unprecedented air umbrella. French command, built for a war of timetables, needs 48 hours to react to…
- What it changed — Dunkirk: an army saved, a myth born. Halted by Hitler’s pause order and the Luftwaffe’s failure, the panzers watch 338,000 Allied soldiers escape by sea. Britain loses its equipment but…
Then ask the room: France had more tanks, more artillery, and equal manpower. Why did it collapse in six weeks? The argued answer is on the chapter page →
THE ATLAS THAT SHOWS IT
THE DISPATCH
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