On May 10, German armed forces began their offensive against France itself. The French had only 60 divisions, and the French general Weygand termed their deployment "a line of troops without depth or organization."
Artillery shelling and air cover helped the German army to breach the ostensibly impermeable Maginot defense line. The Wehrmacht routed the French army within a few days; the 37 French divisions were defeated or surrendered en masse. The government fled from Paris to Bordeaux; German forces marched into Paris. The next day, June 14, French military forces began to retreat from the Maginot Line. Columns of refugees attempting to escape the conquering German army were savaged by Luftwaffe bombing raids on the roads.
France surrendered to Nazi Germany on June 22. The armistice agreement, tailored to Hitler’s terms, was signed in the same railroad car in which Germany had surrendered to France 22 years previously. Hitler personally witnessed the humiliation of the French. For him and the Germans, it was sweet revenge. Marshal Pétain blamed his country’s stinging defeat on "too few children, too few armaments, too few allies." Hitler now expected the conflict to end quickly: "The British have lost the war, but they do not know it. Give them time and they will realize it."
