France build the Maginot defense line, all fortified with bunkers. England was counting the ships Germans had and did not think they had enough to Invade Britain. they knew what was like fighting Germans from ww1 so both wanted to stay out of confronting the Germans. They thought that Germans would be happy taking Czechoslovakia and Poland, and who cares if fire is in my neighbors house!
Germans surprised France with new ideas of air war, surpassed unscathed their forts and enjoyed Paris views from Eifel Tower.
English had no idea of German v5 rocket. when they started raining on London English men out of rush were in the streets of London either with no pants or no jackets on. so Winston came up with the bright idea of tailing them together.
Go read some history books for God's sake.
The Germans went AROUND the Maginot line, violating the neutrality of another country, which the idiots didn't think they'd do. France and Britain declared war after the invasion of Poland because they honored their treaty obligations with it. They didn't wait until the Germans attacked France. It's true that no hostilities began immediately. They were completely unprepared. I'm sure many also hoped, again, that Germany would be content.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maginot_Line
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Instead of attacking directly, the Germans invaded through the Low Countries, bypassing the Line to the north. French and British officers had anticipated this: when Germany invaded the Netherlands and Belgium, they carried out plans to form an aggressive front that cut across Belgium and connected to the Maginot Line. However, the French line was weak near the Ardennes forest. The French believed this region, with its rough terrain, would be an unlikely invasion route of German forces; if it was traversed, it would be done at a slow rate that would allow the French time to bring up reserves and counterattack. The German Army, having reformulated their plans from a repeat of the First World War-era plan, became aware of and exploited this weak point in the French defensive front. A rapid advance through the forest and across the River Meuse encircled much of the Allied forces, resulting in a sizeable force being evacuated at Dunkirk leaving the forces to the south unable to mount an effective resistance to the German invasion of France.[2]"
Stalin knew better. Sometimes it seems as if in an odd way sociopaths understand human nature better. Hitler and Joe Stalin understood one another very well as they played cat and mouse and divided Poland between them. They both got breathing space to prepare.
Had Britain not been re-supplied by the U.S. it would have fallen. It might have fallen anyway if Hitler hadn't "choked" and invaded Britain early on.
Chamberlain, a good man, didn't want Europe to be engulfed in war again after the massive casualties of the First World War, and he understood that the division of Europe after Versailles with no concern for the ethnic minorities in some of these countries was a problem. He was lauded as a hero at first, and Churchill as a war monger. What he and the public didn't understand is just how devious, unethical and vicious their opponents could be. The plans for the invasion of Poland had been on the table for years. It was never just about the German minorities in these countries. Everybody got played except Papa Joe.
I don't think Europe learned very much to be honest. They freaking marched in the streets for nuclear disarmament against the Russians, the morons. They must all have been the kids whose marbles got stolen on the playground by the local bullies. If it weren't for the Americans and the implosion of the Soviet Union under its own ineptitude and the monetary pressure on them from the arms race pushed by Reagan they could all have contemplated that from some re-education camps once the Soviets took over.
