Best Defense
Thomas E. Ricks' daily take on national security.

WWII query: Why did France surrender so quickly while Russia held out for years?

Best of Best Defense: Number 1 in our list of the most viewed posts of 2015. This post ran originally on June 2.

By
German soldiers beside a tank during World War II (German Federal Archives via Wikimedia Commons).
German soldiers beside a tank during World War II (German Federal Archives via Wikimedia Commons).
German soldiers beside a tank during World War II (German Federal Archives via Wikimedia Commons).

 

 

Best of Best Defense: Number 1 in our list of the most viewed posts of 2015. This post ran originally on June 2.

I’ve read tons of books on World War II, yet I realized the other day that I don’t know the answer to this question. British intelligence expected France to hold out, but the USSR to collapse in a few months. Yet the opposite happened. Why?

Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons

Thomas E. Ricks covered the U.S. military from 1991 to 2008 for the Wall Street Journal and then the Washington Post. He can be reached at ricksblogcomment@gmail.com. Twitter: @tomricks1
Tags: France, Military, War, World War II

latest

A Tale of Two Germanies

The Great Turn Inward

‘We Don’t Want to Lose Our Second Motherland’

All the Palestinians Got From Oslo Was KFC

The End of Nagorno-Karabakh
See All Stories

Editors’ Picks

  1. 1
    A Tale of Two Germanies
  2. 2
    The Morality of Ukraine’s War Is Very Murky
  3. 3
    The U.S. Cannot Afford to Lose a Soft-Power Race With China
  4. 4
    No, the World Is Not Multipolar

More from Foreign Policy

A photo illustration shows Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Joe Biden posing on pedestals atop the bipolar world order, with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and Russian President Vladamir Putin standing below on a gridded floor.
A photo illustration shows Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Joe Biden posing on pedestals atop the bipolar world order, with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and Russian President Vladamir Putin standing below on a gridded floor.

No, the World Is Not Multipolar

The idea of emerging power centers is popular but wrong—and could lead to serious policy mistakes.

A view from the cockpit shows backlit control panels and two pilots inside a KC-130J aerial refueler en route from Williamtown to Darwin as the sun sets on the horizon.
A view from the cockpit shows backlit control panels and two pilots inside a KC-130J aerial refueler en route from Williamtown to Darwin as the sun sets on the horizon.

America Prepares for a Pacific War With China It Doesn’t Want

Embedded with U.S. forces in the Pacific, I saw the dilemmas of deterrence firsthand.

The Chinese flag is raised during the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics at Beijing National Stadium on Feb. 4, 2022.
The Chinese flag is raised during the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics at Beijing National Stadium on Feb. 4, 2022.

America Can’t Stop China’s Rise

And it should stop trying.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky looks on prior a meeting with European Union leaders in Mariinsky Palace, in Kyiv, on June 16, 2022.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky looks on prior a meeting with European Union leaders in Mariinsky Palace, in Kyiv, on June 16, 2022.

The Morality of Ukraine’s War Is Very Murky

The ethical calculations are less clear than you might think.

Trending

  1. A Tale of Two Germanies
    Review
    Allison Meakem

  2. The U.S. Cannot Afford to Lose a Soft-Power Race With China
    Analysis
    Raja Krishnamoorthi

  3. The Great Turn Inward
    Review
    Jan-Werner Müller

  4. No, the World Is Not Multipolar
    Essay
    Jo Inge Bekkevold

  5. The Morality of Ukraine’s War Is Very Murky
    Argument
    Stephen M. Walt

Latest

A Tale of Two Germanies

The Great Turn Inward

‘We Don’t Want to Lose Our Second Motherland’

All the Palestinians Got From Oslo Was KFC

The End of Nagorno-Karabakh
See All Stories