Would it have been possible for...

[KgB]

 Czechoslovakia was a major manufacturer of machine guns, tanks, artillery, and had a modern army of 35 divisions.
But somehow its always about France.

[Becinhu]

You need to learn some history too.  You're woefully ignorant.

Has nothing to do with history. It's a French joke. If I said the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor would you still miss the point? My gut feeling...yes
I guess I should have labeled the sarcastic parts for the clueless

[Anaxogoras]

But it's a joke that got old years ago, and has far more to do with contemporary antagonism between France and the USA than with any character flaw of the French, real or perceived.  And as for what actually happened, once their only ally left the continent, and their capital was occupied, surrender was not a cowardly act.  Still, if De Gaulle had been head of state, there's no way they would have surrendered when they did.

[Karnak]

Has nothing to do with history. It's a French joke. If I said the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor would you still miss the point? My gut feeling...yes
I guess I should have labeled the sarcastic parts for the clueless

That "joke" gets posted in every thread that involves the French and has for almost a decade.  Yet somehow people still think it is the height of comedy.

Anaxogoras is spot on about it being more about modern US-France relations than anything else.

[Becinhu]

That "joke" gets posted in every thread that involves the French and has for almost a decade.  Yet somehow people still think it is the height of comedy.

Anaxogoras is spot on about it being more about modern US-France relations than anything else.

I'll be civil about this. I understand your point. As for it being about modern French-American relations...I could care less...because I'm not a politician. I can count on less than one finger how many times I have had to deal with the French on a country level (note***that was sarcasm). So continue to wrap yourself in the French flag and preach to me (note***more sarcasm). On a side note I am Scotch/Irish/Dutch/German plus either Italian or Greek ancestory so if you called me a violent, drunken, pot-legalizing Nazi who didn't know who my father is do you think I would jump on a soapbox and complain? Probably not because I'd think it was funny and a rather good dig.
     Now I will answer the OP's question for real.  If the French military had been allowed to mobilize in a timely matter they would not have been over-run so completely.  The were bogged down by their governments lack of action until it was too late. By the time they tried to defend themselves a large part of their aircraft and armor was already scrap at the bottom of bomb craters or captured. I do not think they could have defeated Germany alone due to their lack of modernized equipment. But they could have held Germany off until their allies could mobilize. ie. Britain or the US. However it is unlikely that the US would have every mobilized if Japan hadn't initiated hostilities in the Pacific. French eventually would have fallen but not without Germany expending alot of armament and men to accomplish it. (note***this is merely opinion since I do feel the need to enroll in a college course on French politics and military history pre-WW2)

I labeled all sarcasm and opinions for you.

[Ghosth]

France (and the British Expeditionary Force) took several major blows from the German forces, both land and air.
They were never really given a chance to get back on their feet again. They were bloodied, bruised and broken, and kept that way. There was no stable front line, all was chaos, leadership in total disarray.
Germany had operational control of airspace. France  lost their best chance before they ever got started.

Turn that around the other way, if it had been Germany that got pounced on hard by the French.
Yes it might have changed things. But changed enough?

However fact remains that the French leadership was not ready for that kind of attack, in fact I doubt they ever would have been ready. No matter how long Germany gave them.

Look how long it took the US to recover from the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor!
And they really didn't follow that attack up, not like they should have.

End result would have been the same.

Hitler attacked the west at least 4 years sooner than he should have if he'd been any kind of military commander.
But in the end I think it would have made little difference to France.

However, if Germany had waited, they would have IMO had an even better advantage with tanks, and probably aircraft. Not to mention a much more effective Navy.

A lot of the things we point to that things seemed to "pivot" on, were in fact developed as a direct result of what happened. How they would have played out if you change the circumstances is anyone's guess.

[OOZ662]

That "joke" gets posted in every thread that involves the French and has for almost a decade.  Yet somehow people still think it is the height of comedy.

If "people" still think it is the height of comedy...what's keeping it from being the height of comedy? The armed bears?

[VonMessa]

If "people" still think it is the height of comedy...what's keeping it from being the height of comedy? The armed bears?

Are they back?!!?         

 

[VonMessa]

Would it have been possible for France to have ended WWII if they would have jumped on Germany while Germany was still in Poland instead of waiting to take the defensive?

When is the paper due?   

[Anaxogoras]

If "people" still think it is the height of comedy...what's keeping it from being the height of comedy? The armed bears?

No, it's Man-Bear-Pig.

[SFRT - Frenchy]

France was still in WW1 tactical mode, and would have never adapted in time to the new style of warfare introduced by the Germans. Plus you can't win a war anyway if the soldiers don't even want to be there.

<edit>
As an example, I recall accounts of French pilots taking off alone to go patrol the front/capitol, like they did in WW1. Few came back, but it was what a gentleman fighter was supposed to do.

[Simaril]

France was still in WW1 tactical mode, and would have never adapted in time to the new style of warfare introduced by the Germans. Plus you can't win a war anyway if the soldiers don't even want to be there.

very true.

Beyond that, well, I'll just expand on what others have mentioned. Maybe the biggest revolution in German arms was the emphasis on fast reaction and decentralized control, which was almost the exact opposite of the French command system. If interested, I found the book Strange Victory -- Hitler's Conquest of France http://www.amazon.com/Strange-Victory-Hitlers-Conquest-France/dp/0809088541/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1257265034&sr=8-1 to be enlightening. In a nutshell -- when the French and German armies came to grips initially, the French pretty well kicked butt; but the German strike force working through the Ardennes found the exact time window it needed, breaking out after the French MLR had moved into Belgium but before adequate blocking reserves had been positioned at the Ardennes outlet.

Once the Germans had flanked the MLR, the confusion and fluidity of battle meant the fossilized French command structure simply couldn't cope. German unit commanders used their initiative faster than the French could figure out what was happening, much less react to it. As for French courage, and the Maginot Line -- sections of the line held out even after general surrender was ordered, and when the Germans tried to assault the positions (even from the poorly configured rear) the garrisons inflicted horrific German casualty rates.

[Anaxogoras]

The Germans pioneered decentralized command in WW1.  It's one of the factors that we have to appeal to in order to explain the greater effectiveness per man and per dollar of the Central Powers.  That the French didn't learn from the experience may have something to do with the high score sociologists give them for deference to authority (UK, USA, and even Germany all score lower).

[oakranger]

I am sure that Germany could have been defeated "IF" France, Britain, Belgium, Denmark and Norway all attacked Germany at once. 

[Simaril]

Czechoslovakia was a major manufacturer of machine guns, tanks, artillery, and had a modern army of 35 divisions.
But somehow its always about France.

Czechoslovakia wasn't so much beaten as betrayed. The Munich "peace for our times" agreement gave Germany the Czech's prepared defensive lines and the physical defenses of the mountain ranges, so when the attacks came there was no way defense could be successful.

But you're right that the West tends to focus on ourselves too much. Very few people consider WW2 to have started with the China incident, except for the Chinese who were invaded!