303Z Winter 2026 The Fall of France 1940: A New Perspective

This class will examine the oft-neglected Allied defeat in France and the Low Countries during May-June 1940, in its military and political aspects. Part I will discuss the differences in armaments, ideas, and strategies between Nazi Germany’s Wehrmacht (armed forces), and the French and British armies, and the progress of the campaign from the opening of the German offensive on May 10 through the Dunkirk evacuation. Part II will examine the political and military aftermath of British withdrawal through the renewed German offensive and final French defeat in June. We shall attempt to work through the many misunderstandings and myths of this critically important event that shaped the rest of World War II.

Timothy Mulligan earned his MA and Ph.D in Diplomatic History at the University of Maryland. For 34 years he served as an archivist with the National Archives and Records Administration, specializing in American military and captured German records. He is the author of three books and 20+ articles.