France vs Germany in 1940: equipment vs. organization

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The wikipedia article on the Battle for France should answer most of your questions.

Due to restrictions imposed by the Treaty of Versailles, budget constraints and other factors the early German tanks were really bad. They really were no more than mobile, armored machine guns. I saw one early German newsreel showing tiny "tanks" getting pulled across a field by horses; it was pretty funny.

The German aircraft, however, were significantly better and their pilots were much better. This was because aircraft had a higher development priority in Germany than tanks.

Upvote:7

When it comes to tank numbers, and even many models - absolutely the French had superiority.

However, the problem was primarily doctrinal. Where the Germans concentrated their armour in large motorised formations, designed to strike the enemies centre of gravity, the French dispersed their armour at the battalion level, so it could never really achieve the kind of critical mass that the Germans did.

Another consideration is that the German armour doctrine included speed as a major consideration. French tanks were heavier and consequently slower. This is pretty much in line with the French expectation of fighting a defensive war along the Maginot line.

The German doctrine was an evolution of the stormtrooper tactics used in the 1918 offensive. Fast, tactical level attacks on many points to overwhelm the enemies communications network, with a major armoured thrust against the enemy's centre of gravity (The Schwerpunkt).

In terms of models, in 1940, really only the Panzer IV was superior to the French tanks - at least in an all round sense. It wasn't heavy as some French models (Char B1). Many of the earlier German Panzers were often little more than armoured cars on tracks.

Whilst the wikipedia page is good, I recall that reading quite a good analysis of the tank production and tank models in 2194 Days of War - which I will quote as my source. However the other commenters are right in that the 1940 campaign is an excellent source of information (and probably the most meticulously kept page on all of wikipedia).

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