Poth, Joseph De la Lorraine à Sralingrad

Le destin de la 79e division d’infanterie allemande. La division à l’emblème de la croix de Lorraine

Courage, because he addresses sensitive issues, namely France's defeat in 1940 on the one hand and the cross-border resentment he experienced in his home region, the Moselle department, on the other. Originality, because he draws on German eyewitness accounts to explain and understand the defeat of the French army in 1940. Indeed, for a soldier in a defeated army, even if that defeat is only temporary, it is very painful to come to terms with the causes and circumstances of such a crushing defeat as that of 1940, which brought with it the humiliation of the French army and the decline of a certain image of France. In June 1940, the French army was in ruins and the Wehrmacht was triumphant on all fronts. How could this have happened? For many German officers, the French army was a feared enemy in 1939. But by May 1940, this image was outdated. The opportunities missed by the High Command and the doctrine of pure defence bear a heavy responsibility for this debacle, which might have been avoidable. The book highlights all these shortcomings and makes it clear that German soldiers were aware of the role these shortcomings played in the progressive collapse of the French army. The author sheds light on the recent past from a historical perspective, thereby making a valuable contribution to the development of civic spirit and openness towards the future.