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Many ordinary people were disgusted with the leaders of the Third Republic, who were widely seen as professional politicians who were both venal and corrupt.<ref>Jackson, p.117</ref> Furthermore, defeatism was rampant at the start of WW II. France had a low birth rate, and many were convinced that the country was degenerating, based on ideas current at the time. <ref> Bloch, Marc, ''[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0393319113/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0393319113&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=b9916b35c01e23b2ac59f9ebb5e33d42 Strange Defeat: A Statement of Evidence Written in 1940]'' (New York, NY: Norton, 1946), p. 117</ref> The cultural pessimism in France meant that many, in the political and military elite believed that France could not defeat Germany and that any efforts to resist the Germans were pointless. Many people believed that France was a nation in decline and that her greatest days had passed. This led to a spirit of defeatism in France in the Spring and Summer of 1940, that played an important role in the Fall of France. Despite the valiant efforts of many French men against the German invasion, the French government and military were ill-equipped both politically and militarily to meaningfully contest Germany. <ref>Copper, p, 144</ref>

While France was protected by the Maginot Line and a fairly large army, it put up little resistance to Germany. It only took a few weeks for the entire country to fall. The reasons for the sudden defeat of France in 1940 were numerous and varied.