Chemical Weapons used in the Battle of France

Pretty simple WI. Lets say France adopted chemical weapons into its war plans during the interwar period and chemical weapons were used on German forces during the Battle of France.

Assume that it becomes an integral part of France's backup plan. At the most ideal time during the Battle of France, chemical weapons are authorized to be used. France's allies are NOT informed of this during prewar planning sessions.

What happens? Does it manage to blunt or halt the German advance temporarily? Does it prove decisive and allow the Allies time to reorganize and prepare a coherent defense or counterattack? Or is France still doomed to fall? How does it affect the rest of the war?

Germany will obviously retaliate with its own chemical weapons and its nerve agents. However its often stated in chemical weapon threads that in the long run Germany would suffer more from said exchange. Although no matter who wins all of Europe loses. Stalin's the real winner here (unless Germany attacks the Soviet Union).

As a sidenote butterfly, IIRC France apparently had the only gas proof tank during WW2. It was a limited production run so only a few units were created. As a butterfly lets say gas proof capabilities becomes vogue among French tanks in this scenario. Other nations do not make adaptions to their tank designs in response to this.
 
France still goes down hard, whoever came up with that dumb idea is executed for war crimes by the Germans who may not retaliate in kind (Hitler had a thing about gas leftover from his WWI experience with it), maybe the Germans get a huge propaganda victory out of it
 

Cook

Banned
The French fear of an airborne bombing campaign was pathological, to the extent that even when the convoys of Panzer divisions were identified moving through the Ardennes from 10 -14 May, 1940 and the French air force was finally authorised to bomb them, they were specifically forbidden to bomb in any towns. It was while they were moving through towns that the Germans were most concentrated, identifiable and vulnerable, that the French command would voluntarily give up this opportunity to strike at them speaks volumes. The use of gas would have resulted in retaliation, and to the French that was more terrifying than defeat.
 
It sets the precedent for later British use of biological warfare agents against Germany. Anthrax was being developed for this purpose by the British, and would've been used in the event of German chemical attacks on British cities.
 

Cook

Banned
What happens? Does it manage to blunt or halt the German advance temporarily? Does it prove decisive and allow the Allies time to reorganize and prepare a coherent defense or counterattack? Or is France still doomed to fall? How does it affect the rest of the war?
At the crossing of the Meuse, to receive fire missions the French Artillery relied on telephone cables just as they had from 1914 to 1918 and just as in the 1914-18 war the lines were prone to break as soon as the fighting commenced, rendering the artillery blind. Shells using gas would have been just as ineffective as high explosives in those circumstances, probably more so since . The Germans meanwhile were using radio to direct both their artillery and the Stukas.
 

BlondieBC

Banned
France using gas in WW2 will play badly in the USA, and will make it a lot harder for FDR to get the USA in the war. Combine this with the English attack on Oran, and Hitler can make a plausible argument that the Nazi's are either no worse or perhaps better than the Allies.
 
So long as US shipping is being sunk by German wolfpacks, FDR will have a legitimate excuse. Of course, that requires Lend Lease to be passed in the first place, which is where difficulties may arise. So it'll be up to the British to distance themselves from the Free French once France is overrun.
 
In WWI, gas claimed about 90,000 dead, and most of those were poorly equip Russians. After gas masks became common in armies, chemical weapons became largely redundant. The German infantry invading France also were already equip with gas masks for such an eventuality, so Unless the French have developed something REALLY nasty, I doubt it would turn the tide.
 
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