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The Battle of France lasted only 46 days, from the German invasion on the 10th of May to the surrender of France on the 25th of June 1940. Paris fell to the Germans on the 14th of June, after the virtual collapse of the French Army. French Prime Minister Paul Reynaud resigned on the 16 June during the catasptrophe. His successor, Marshal Philippe Pétain, began negotiations to end the war. The German army approximately suffered 157,000 casualties in the invasion of France. The Allies lost over twice as many men, with 360,000 casulaties. A further two million were captured. Some 300,000 British and French troops escaped the Germans after being evacuated by naval forces at Dunkirk. The Germans occupied the majority of France. In the south of France, the Vichy Regime established a semi-autonomous political entity. Vichy maintained control over the majority of the French Colonies. <ref>Bond, Brian, ''[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0080377009/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0080377009&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=8c2293a2e966ba28b14946a14239a02d Britain, France and Belgium, 1939–1940]''. (London, Brassey's, 1990), p.178</ref>

[[File: Eric Von Manstein.jpg|thumbnail|300px|-Eric Von Manstein.jpg 1940]]

The German army developed the [[How Did the German Military Develop Blitzkrieg?|Blitzkrieg tactics]]. This was a tactic based on high-speed and mobile attacks on the enemy’s weak points and it proved devastating in France<ref> Bond, p. 111</ref>. The German victory was founded on a plan developed by the great military strategies, General Erich von Manstein. He adopted the Schlieffen Plan that was used so nearly successful in WW I <ref> Bond, p. 117 </ref>. However, rather than advance on a broad front through Belgium, the Germans focused two-thirds of their forces, including most of their tanks, in the Ardennes region of Belgium. This area was weakly defended, as they believed that the terrain was unsuitable for tanks. When the Germans did attack through the Ardennes they caught the French and their British allies by surprise. French believed it was impassable to tanks. Having successfully made their way into France, German forces then employed a tactic known as the ‘sickle stroke’. Sweeping across the northern plains of France at great speed, they divided the French and British forces into two parts. The British army was left isolated in Belgium and the French were left to bear the brunt of the German forces <ref>Blatt, Joel, <i>[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00EDY69LI/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00EDY69LI&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=98a5e102ae32052fa58ceb0d44dbe87b The French Defeat of 1940: Reassessments]</i> (Providence, RI, Berghahn, 1997), p. 111</ref>.