Franco-british offensive, 1941

Archibald

Banned
As title say. I know it sounds outlandish considering the poor performance of the French armies in WWII but... before the crushing 1940 defeat the plan was as follow
- blocade Germany, starve it
- build more tanks and modern aircrafts
- don't move a finger until spring 1941 - no provocation at all

And then, somewhere in 1941 (summer ? fall ?)... the Entente Cordiale starts an offensive against Germany.

Does anybody knows about the plan, if ever ? is there a TL somewhere exploring that whatif ?

Any chance that would ever works ?
 
Well the France performed quite poor but it was more a matter of a campaign that didn't allow mistakes at all.

A good exploration of a better situated Franco-British situation is A Blunted Sickle. Detailed, yet highly readable, it explores the situation on a day to day bases. It will enter 1941 soon but there is still some way left to an eventual offensive by the Allies. A great timeline all in all.
 

Archibald

Banned
I've red and enjoyed "a blunted sickle" but it doesn't really fit with my question here.
Perhaps I should ask, what could prevent Germany invading France at all before 1941 ?
Either no delcaration of war for Poland in '39; or perhaps an aborted 10 may offensive where the Sedan bridgeheads gets crushed in some days, followed by a ceasefire. However I'd like Hitler to stay in power, if only to avoid the Wermacht vs Nazi civil war cliché (and to preserve some similarities with OTL WWII)
 
Ah, I misunderstood your question. You want no hostilities up until an offensive by France. I think it is hard to reach without quite a large POD as German foreign policy would more or less force an allied declaration of war before summer 41. I guess a very long "Phony War" might do the trick but I doubt it.
 
....
- don't move a finger until spring 1941 - no provocation at all

This is a bit extreme. The Allies had a assortment of 'appreciations' and 'outline' plans for periphrial operations. These also included limited operations in the west. The rest of your OP does fit Allied expectations.

And then, somewhere in 1941 (summer ? fall ?)... the Entente Cordiale starts an offensive against Germany.

Does anybody knows about the plan, if ever ? is there a TL somewhere exploring that whatif ?

Any chance that would ever works ?

Yes, I've had bits cited to me by French historians and amaturs. Apprently no English language historian has bothered to investigate it, tho a few like Chapman or Horne refer to it vaguely.

If I am reading these fragments correctly 1941 was to be a year of escalating limited attacks, around the edges, and on the Franco/German frontier. The main attack may not have come until 1942, which seems to be when French remarmament would be complete, and when the German economy was calculated to be in the toilet. Of course had Germany fallen apart faster the French would not have been adverse to acting sooner.

In this ATL superficial references to French "Doctrines" of the 1930s & 1940 are largely irrelevant. First the principle guilty party, Marshal Gamelin, was headed for retirement before disaster struck in May 1940. The French secretary of Defense had never been a strong supporter of Gamelin and had decided his 'Use By' date was past. It took some months of political manuvering, delayed by a illness, but Gamelin would have been on the retired list in June 1940 had the Germans not struck.

Retiring Gamelin opens the senior ranks of the French army to a new generation of generals, and a acceleration of change in doctrines from that of the conscript army of the 1930s to something appropriate to a fully mobilized, equipped, and trained army of middle 1941. The French army would not develop some version of the blitzkrieg fantasy. It would probablly have a resemblance of the US Army in Europe of 1945 with a balance between firepower and manuver, and more tanks that Guderians wet dream.

More important is the French had planned for a massive air force by 1942, of the most modern aircraft available. They had their estimate of German production capacity, and intended to match that with their industrial reforms, and drawing on US industry. With the RAF the French leaders intended to overmatch German air strength by a considerable margin.
 
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