218-642: Luxembourg The Netherlands Belgium France Britain 1941–1943 1944–1945 Germany Strategic campaigns The Battle of Gembloux (or Battle of the Gembloux Gap ) was fought between French and German forces in May 1940 during the Second World War . On 10 May 1940, The Nazi Wehrmacht , invaded Luxembourg , The Netherlands and Belgium under the operational plan Fall Gelb (Case Yellow). Allied armies responded with
436-522: A 30-minute preparation on the French main position, then fire smoke shell to blanket Gembloux, following which, both his artillery regiments and a heavy battalion would concentrate on counterbattery fire and areas impenetrable to armour. Anti-aircraft guns would neutralise enemy bunkers (of which, however, there were none). As the infantry crossed the railroad line they were to fire white starshell. At this signal, 5th Panzer Brigade would break cover and charge
654-692: A Europe balanced and guaranteed by four " great powers ": Great Britain, France, Russia, and Austria, with each power having a geographic sphere of influence. France's sphere included the Iberian Peninsula and a share of influence in the Italian states. Russia's included the eastern regions of Central Europe and a balancing influence in the Balkans. Austria's sphere expanded throughout much of the Central European territories formerly held by
872-634: A German client state of France known as the Confederation of the Rhine which, inter alia , provided for the mediatization of over a hundred petty princes and counts and the absorption of their territories, as well as those of hundreds of imperial knights , by the Confederation's member-states. Several states were promoted to kingdoms such as the Kingdom of Bavaria , the Kingdom of Saxony or
1090-691: A German nation would stretch. There was also uncertainty as to who would best lead and defend "Germany", however it was defined. Different groups offered different solutions to this problem. In the Kleindeutschland ("Lesser Germany") solution, the German states would be united under the leadership of the Prussian Hohenzollerns ; in the Grossdeutschland ("Greater Germany") solution, the German states would be united under
1308-484: A Germany without multi-ethnic Austria (under Austria-Hungary ) or its German-speaking part , the political and administrative unification in 1871 at least temporarily solved the problem of dualism. Despite undergoing in the later years several further changes of its name and borders, overhauls of its constitutional system, periods of limited sovereignty and interrupted unity of its territory or government, and despite dissolution of its dominant founding federated state ,
1526-512: A Prussian customs union in 1818, the Zollverein linked the many Prussian and Hohenzollern territories. Over the ensuing thirty years (and more) other German states joined. The Union helped to reduce protectionist barriers between the German states, especially improving the transport of raw materials and finished goods, making it both easier to move goods across territorial borders and less costly to buy, transport, and sell raw materials. This
1744-427: A brief stop, her party crossed the border at 07:45. Meanwhile, Hereditary Grand Duke Jean and two of his sisters, accompanied by an aide-de-camp , Guillaume Konsbruck , were to wait at the border for confirmation of occupation. Around 08:00 the prime minister and his entourage passed over the border before making contact with French troops at Longlaville . Last minute telephone calls with Luxembourg City revealed
1962-451: A campaign in the German states to bring them back into the French orbit; the subsequent War of Liberation culminated in the great Battle of Leipzig , also known as the Battle of Nations . In October 1813, more than 500,000 combatants engaged in ferocious fighting over three days, making it the largest European land battle of the 19th century. The engagement resulted in a decisive victory for
2180-655: A central radio receiver in Captain Stein's official office near the volunteers' Saint-Esprit Barracks in the capital. On 4 January 1940, the Cabinet convened under Grand Duchess Charlotte and outlined steps to be taken in the event of a German invasion. Charlotte decided that if possible she and the government would flee abroad in the event of an attack to advocate for the country's sovereignty. During World War I , her elder sister and then-Grand Duchess Marie-Adélaïde had elected to stay during Germany's occupation of
2398-690: A common language. Schneckenburger wrote "The Watch on the Rhine" in a specific patriotic response to French assertions that the Rhine was France's "natural" eastern boundary. In the refrain, "Dear fatherland, dear fatherland, put your mind to rest / The watch stands true on the Rhine", and in such other patriotic poetry as Nicholaus Becker's "Das Rheinlied" ("The Rhine"), Germans were called upon to defend their territorial homeland. In 1807, Alexander von Humboldt argued that national character reflected geographic influence, linking landscape to people. Concurrent with this idea, movements to preserve old fortresses and historic sites emerged, and these particularly focused on
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#17327724756202616-496: A constitution and reach an agreement on the kleindeutsch solution. While the liberals failed to achieve the unification they sought, they did manage to gain a partial victory by working with the German princes on many constitutional issues and collaborating with them on reforms. Scholars of German history have engaged in decades of debate over how the successes and failures of the Frankfurt Parliament contribute to
2834-598: A crossroads manned by German units, and was forced to detour through the countryside to avoid capture. French Ambassador Jean Tripier followed the government party but was stopped by the Germans and forced to return to the capital. Belgian Ambassador Kervyn de Meerendré was also stopped by German soldiers at the border and ordered to turn back, as was the Luxembourgish Minister of Education, Nicolas Margue, who had attempted to escape by taxi. Bodson later fled
3052-602: A delicate situation. On one hand, the population's sympathies lay with the UK and France; on the other hand, due to the country's policy of neutrality since the Treaty of London in 1867, the government adopted a careful non-belligerent stance towards its neighbours. In accordance with the treaty's restrictions, the only military force Luxembourg maintained was its small Volunteer Corps under Captain Aloyse Jacoby , reinforced by
3270-557: A direct phone call to his superiors at Longwy. Also that day a German national working in Luxembourg as a gardener and a member of the German fifth column warned his Luxembourgish employer, Carlo Tuck, that an invasion was impending. Tuck passed the warning on to government officials. Late that evening, the Grand Ducal government came into possession of a document from a German divisional command. Dated 23 April 1940, it detailed
3488-423: A flight of Fairey Battle bombers from the 226 Squadron to attack German tank columns. They went unescorted and encountered heavy anti-aircraft fire. Most were damaged by flak but managed to escape. One received a direct hit and crashed near Bettendorf . German soldiers pulled the three injured crew from the burning wreckage, one of whom later died in a local hospital. The Grand Ducal Gendarmerie resisted
3706-426: A geographically central organizing feature (such as a national capital), the rails were laid in webs, linking towns and markets within regions, regions within larger regions, and so on. As the rail network expanded, it became cheaper to transport goods: in 1840, 18 Pfennigs per ton per kilometer and in 1870, five Pfennigs . The effects of the railway were immediate. For example, raw materials could travel up and down
3924-652: A great impression on the troops, for whom this was their baptism of fire. False rumours of parachutists led to brief friendly fire incidents in which several artillery men were killed. By that evening, de La Laurencie's III Corps and units of the British and the Belgian Army on the Dyle position and at Namur made contact with German patrols. Hoepner had discovered that the Dyle position was defended. Nonetheless, until at least 16:50, superior headquarters urged him to pursue
4142-611: A growing sense of unity among German speakers of Central Europe. At the Wartburg Festival in 1817 the first real movements among the students were formed – fraternities and student organizations emerged. The colors black, red and gold were symbolic of this. Agitation by student organizations led such conservative leaders as Klemens Wenzel, Prince von Metternich , to fear the rise of national sentiment. The assassination of German dramatist August von Kotzebue in March 1819 by
4360-485: A league or society of independent nations would be realized in his own lifetime. In practice Young Europe lacked the money and popular support for more than a short-term existence. Nevertheless he always remained faithful to the ideal of a united continent for which the creation of individual nations would be an indispensable preliminary. King Frederick William IV suffered a stroke in 1857 and could no longer rule. This led to his brother William becoming prince regent of
4578-477: A limited amount of French manpower in what was likely to prove a bloody battle. The First Army, commanded by General Blanchard, received the critical mission of holding the Gembloux Gap. Blanchard's army would have to advance some 100 km (62 mi) from the Franco–Belgian frontier. In the process, its front would shrink from some 100 km (62 mi) to 30 km (19 mi) in the Gembloux Gap, where
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#17327724756204796-546: A massive dictionary known as The Grimm , also assembled a compendium of folk tales and fables, which highlighted the story-telling parallels between different regions. Karl Baedeker wrote guidebooks to different cities and regions of Central Europe, indicating places to stay, sites to visit, and giving a short history of castles, battlefields, famous buildings, and famous people. His guides also included distances, roads to avoid, and hiking paths to follow. The words of August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben expressed not only
5014-544: A master plan to expand the North German Confederation of 1866 to include the remaining independent German states into a single entity or simply to expand the power of the Kingdom of Prussia. They conclude that factors in addition to the strength of Bismarck's Realpolitik led a collection of early modern polities to reorganize their political, economic, military, and diplomatic relationships in
5232-438: A much higher loss, especially in those killed or permanently disabled. French doctrine therefore rested on the idea of a battle carefully controlled by senior commanders to reduce losses. Doctrine relied on defence in depth , keeping mobile forces away from enemy fire and to secure the line against incursions of enemy armour. The defence of the infantry division on open terrain was based on the artillery which would directly support
5450-539: A multitude of invisible bonds by nature herself, long before any human art begins; they understand each other and have the power of continuing to make themselves understood more and more clearly; they belong together and are by nature one and an inseparable whole. A common language may have been seen to serve as the basis of a nation, but as contemporary historians of 19th-century Germany noted, it took more than linguistic similarity to unify these several hundred polities. The experience of German-speaking Central Europe during
5668-422: A myth and that it was the weakness of German enemies not the strength of the German army, which had led to the devastating German victories early in the war. Frieser wrote: The campaign in the west was not a planned campaign of conquest. Instead, it was an operational act of despair to get out of a desperate strategic situation. What is called " Blitzkrieg thinking" did not develop until after [author's emphasis]
5886-413: A new political, bureaucratic, or administrative apparatus. While many spoke about the need for a constitution, no such document appeared from the discussions. In 1848, nationalists sought to remedy that problem. Several other factors complicated the rise of nationalism in the German states. The man-made factors included political rivalries between members of the German confederation, particularly between
6104-455: A permanent national parliament, and a unified Germany, possibly under the leadership of the Prussian king. This seemed to be the most logical course since Prussia was the strongest of the German states, as well as the largest in geographic size. Meanwhile, center-right revolutionaries sought some kind of expanded suffrage within their states and potentially, a form of loose unification. Finally,
6322-887: A pivotal role in German politics. Ever since the Prince-Elector of Brandenburg had made himself King in Prussia at the beginning of that century, their domains had steadily increased through inheritance and war. Prussia's consolidated strength had become especially apparent during the Partitions of Poland , the War of the Austrian Succession and the Seven Years' War under Frederick the Great . As Maria Theresa and Joseph tried to restore Habsburg hegemony in
6540-482: A radical student seeking unification was followed on 20 September 1819 by the proclamation of the Carlsbad Decrees , which hampered intellectual leadership of the nationalist movement. Metternich was able to harness conservative outrage at the assassination to consolidate legislation that would further limit the press and constrain the rising liberal and nationalist movements. Consequently, these decrees drove
6758-782: A remote farm near the Moselle . At 11:45 on 9 May he radioed Longwy: "Reports of important German troop movements on the German-Luxembourg frontier." Throughout the night his messages became more and more frantic. Two Luxembourgish customs officials at Wormeldange heard horses and soldiers across the Moselle, but were unable to make out the Germans' activities due to heavy fog. At around midnight, Captain Stein, Minister of Justice Victor Bodson , and Police Commissioner Joseph Michel Weis held an emergency meeting. Bodson requested that
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6976-571: A small portion of the male population. Problematically, the built-in Austrian dominance failed to take into account Prussia's 18th-century emergence in Imperial politics. This impractical solution did not reflect the new status of Prussia in the overall scheme. Although the Prussian army had been dramatically defeated in the 1806 Battle of Jena-Auerstedt , it had made a spectacular comeback at Waterloo. Consequently, Prussian leaders expected to play
7194-529: A third of the anti-aircraft weaponry he requested and decided to move his troops only at night. This meant that he would require at least eight days to dig in his infantry divisions, only three of which were motorised, before the Panzers arrived, or it would be an encounter battle delivered under the worst conditions. General Gaston Billotte —commanding the Allied First Army Group to which
7412-544: A war quickly, with swift attacks on the flanks and rear of opposing armies, leading to their destruction before the economic and material superiority of the Allies became overwhelming. It was only after the defeat of France in 1940, that the German military intentionally pursued a " Blitzkrieg "-kind of warfare to achieve its ambitions in Europe. In 2005, Karl-Heinz Frieser echoed Matthew Cooper in 1978, who had called " Blitzkrieg "
7630-569: A watershed, to the west streams flow into the Escaut ( Scheldt ) River and to the east into the Meuse (Maas) the area has few natural obstacles and is called the Gembloux Gap ( Trouée de Gembloux ). The strategy, operational methods and tactics of the German Army and Luftwaffe have often been labelled " Blitzkrieg " (Lightning War). The concept is controversial and is connected to the problem of
7848-450: Is often interpreted as a repudiation of the political process—a repudiation Bismarck did not himself advocate. Second, his emphasis on blood and iron did not imply simply the unrivaled military might of the Prussian army but rather two important aspects: the ability of the assorted German states to produce iron and other related war materials and the willingness to use those war materials if necessary. By 1862, when Bismarck made his speech,
8066-848: The 2nd DCR in advance. The 1st DCR was ready for action by the morning of 14 May (the fifth day of operations). The Allies also agreed that the British Expeditionary Force would move forward between the First Army and the Belgian army, to a front along the Dyle River ; the BEF planned to move both by day and by night. An important consideration in the Allied plan was the assurance that the Belgian army would prepare defences in
8284-478: The 3rd Panzer Brigade with 343 tanks, the 3rd Motorised Rifle Brigade, an artillery regiment and a squadron of reconnaissance aircraft, plus engineer and service personnel. Of its 343 tanks, only 42 were medium Panzerkampfwagen ; 16 Panzer IIIs and 26 heavier Panzer IVs ). Generalmajor Johann Stever 's 4th Panzer Division had the 5th Panzer Brigade with 331 tanks, the 4th Motorized Rifle Brigade, two artillery regiments and support forces like those of
8502-489: The 4th Panzer Brigade ran into enemy positions between the rail line and the highway from Wavre to Gembloux. The Dyle position was defended. The action of 3rd Panzer Division on 14 May is much less clear. That morning, 3rd Panzer Brigade crossed the Belgian anti-tank obstacle behind the 4th Panzer Division , with 5th Panzer Regiment on the right and 6th Panzer Regiment on the left. Colonel Kuhn—the brigade commander—was with 6th Panzer Regiment which became involved in
8720-648: The 6th Army (General Walter von Reichenau ) to push its mechanised and motorised formations into the Belgian plain and strike at Gembloux, defeating or tying down Allied forces, while the main German effort was made through the Ardennes to the Meuse River ( Battle of Sedan ), to cut off the Allied forces in Belgium and northern France. Reichenau expected Allied motorised forces in the Dyle River–Namur area from
8938-605: The Austrian Empire 's sphere of influence. The Congress established a loose German Confederation (1815–1866), headed by Austria, with a "Federal Diet " (called the Bundestag or Bundesversammlung , an assembly of appointed leaders) that met in the city of Frankfurt am Main . Its borders resembled those of its predecessor, the Holy Roman Empire (though there were some deviations e.g. Prussian territory in
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9156-575: The Burschenschaften underground, restricted the publication of nationalist materials, expanded censorship of the press and private correspondence, and limited academic speech by prohibiting university professors from encouraging nationalist discussion. The decrees were the subject of Johann Joseph von Görres 's pamphlet Teutschland [archaic: Deutschland] und die Revolution ( Germany and the Revolution ) (1820), in which he concluded that it
9374-586: The Coalition of Austria, Prussia, Russia, Saxony, and Sweden. As a result, the Confederation of the Rhine collapsed and the French period came to an end. Success encouraged the Coalition forces to pursue Napoleon across the Rhine; his army and his government collapsed, and the victorious Coalition incarcerated Napoleon on Elba . During the brief Napoleonic restoration known as the 100 Days of 1815, forces of
9592-478: The Congress of Vienna established a new European political-diplomatic system based on the balance of power . This system reorganized Europe into spheres of influence , which, in some cases, suppressed the aspirations of the various nationalities, including the Germans and Italians. Generally, an enlarged Prussia and the 38 other states consolidated from the mediatized territories of 1803 were confederated within
9810-692: The Congress of Vienna in 1814–1815 after the Napoleonic Wars endorsed Austrian dominance in Central Europe through Habsburg leadership of the German Confederation, designed to replace the Holy Roman Empire. The negotiators at Vienna took no account of Prussia's growing strength within and declined to create a second coalition of the German states under Prussia's influence, and so failed to foresee that Prussia (Kingdom of Prussia) would rise to challenge Austria for leadership of
10028-646: The Dyle Plan (Breda variant), intended to halt the Germans in Belgium, believing it to be the main German thrust. The Allies committed their best and most mobile to an advance into Belgium on 10 May and on 12 May, the Germans began the second part of Fall Gelb, the Manstein Plan an advance through the Ardennes , to reach the English Channel and cut off the Allied forces in Belgium. Unaware that
10246-563: The Electorate of Bavaria , the Margraviate of Brandenburg or the Kingdom of Bohemia . Their governance varied: they included free imperial cities , also of different sizes, such as the powerful Augsburg and the minuscule Weil der Stadt ; ecclesiastical territories, also of varying sizes and influence, such as the wealthy Abbey of Reichenau and the powerful Archbishopric of Cologne ; and dynastic states such as Württemberg . Among
10464-549: The Frankfurt Parliament passed the Paulskirchenverfassung (Constitution of St. Paul's Church) and offered the title of Kaiser (Emperor) to the Prussian king Frederick William IV the next month. He refused for a variety of reasons. Publicly, he replied that he could not accept a crown without the consent of the actual states, by which he meant the princes. Privately, he feared opposition from
10682-518: The German Empire later regarded the railways as the first indicator of a unified state; the patriotic novelist, Wilhelm Raabe , wrote: "The German empire was founded with the construction of the first railway..." Not everyone greeted the iron monster with enthusiasm. The Prussian king Frederick William III saw no advantage in traveling from Berlin to Potsdam a few hours faster, and Metternich refused to ride in one at all. Others wondered if
10900-507: The German Reich having 25 member states and led by the Kingdom of Prussia of Hohenzollerns on 18 January 1871; the event was later celebrated as the customary date of the German Empire 's foundation, although the legally meaningful events relevant to the accomplishment of unification occurred on 1 January 1871 ( accession of South German states and constitutional adoption of the name "German Empire" ), 4 May 1871 (entry into force of
11118-616: The Grand Ducal Gendarmerie under Captain Maurice Stein . Together they formed the Corps des Gendarmes et Volontaires under Major-Commandant Émile Speller . At noon on 1 September Radio Luxembourg announced that in order for the country to remain unambiguously neutral it would cease broadcasting. Exceptions were a daily 20 minute-long message at midday and in the evening reserved for government announcements. For
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#173277247562011336-494: The Great Irish Famine ) and several seasons of bad weather, encouraged many to think that the rich and powerful had no interest in their problems. Those in authority were concerned about the growing unrest, political and social agitation among the working classes, and the disaffection of the intelligentsia . No amount of censorship, fines, imprisonment, or banishment, it seemed, could stem the criticism. Furthermore, it
11554-676: The Hohenzollern Kingdom of Prussia (both the German-speaking former Duchy of Prussia and the non-German-speaking entire territory of the Prussian partition of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth) as well as the German-speaking Swiss cantons were outside of the Imperial borders. This became known as the practice of Kleinstaaterei ("small-statery") As a further consequence, there was no German national identity in development as late as 1800, mainly due to
11772-473: The Holy Roman Empire . Britain's sphere was the rest of the world, especially the seas. This sphere of influence system depended upon the fragmentation of the German and Italian states, not their consolidation. Consequently, a German nation united under one banner presented significant questions. There was no readily applicable definition for who the German people would be or how far the borders of
11990-641: The Kingdom of Hanover . Following the formal secession from the Empire of the majority of its constituent states, the Emperor dissolved the Holy Roman Empire. In his abdication, Francis released all former estates from their duties and obligations to him, and took upon himself solely the title of Emperor of Austria, which had been established since 1804. Under the hegemony of the First French Empire (1804–1814), popular German nationalism thrived in
12208-412: The Kotzebue assassination, Metternich used the popular demonstration at Hambach to push conservative social policy. The "Six Articles" of 28 June 1832 primarily reaffirmed the principle of monarchical authority. On 5 July, the Frankfurt Diet voted for an additional 10 articles, which reiterated existing rules on censorship, restricted political organizations, and limited other public activity. Furthermore,
12426-403: The Non-commissioned officer cadre was mixed; in the light artillery the officers were all French and mostly active-duty, in the heavy artillery all officers were French and most were reservists. Mellier had been their commander since the end of February. He was known to be extremely active and possessed a "perfect knowledge" of Arabic. However, the Moroccans had the reputation of being better in
12644-406: The North German Confederation Treaty establishing the North German Confederation , initially a military alliance de facto dominated by Prussia which was subsequently deepened through adoption of the North German Constitution . The process symbolically concluded when most of south German states joined the North German Confederation with the ceremonial proclamation of the German Empire i.e.
12862-403: The Panzer and Motorised divisions. During the course of the first day, XVII Corps′ 269th Infantry Division arrived, as did the 20th Motorised Division, which was used as flank protection to the south, on the Gembloux-Namur road. The Wehrmacht counted above all on the Luftwaffe to provide air superiority . Like the French command, the Wehrmacht planned a joint air-land battle , but unlike
13080-464: The Punctation of Olmütz , but among Prussians it was known as the "Humiliation of Olmütz." Although seemingly minor events, the Erfurt Union proposal and the Punctation of Olmütz brought the problems of influence in the German states into sharp focus. The question became not a matter of if but rather when unification would occur, and when was contingent upon strength. One of the former Frankfurt Parliament members, Johann Gustav Droysen , summed up
13298-405: The Ruhr Valley without having to unload and reload. Railway lines encouraged economic activity by creating demand for commodities and by facilitating commerce. In 1850, inland shipping carried three times more freight than railroads; by 1870, the situation was reversed, and railroads carried four times more. Rail travel changed how cities looked and how people traveled. Its impact reached throughout
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#173277247562013516-457: The Second War of Schleswig in 1864. Second, the unification of Italy provided Prussia an ally against Austria in the Austro-Prussian War of 1866. Finally, France—fearing Hohenzollern encirclement—declared war on Prussia in 1870, resulting in the Franco-Prussian War . Through a combination of Bismarck's diplomacy and political leadership, von Roon 's military reorganization, and von Moltke 's military strategy, Prussia demonstrated that none of
13734-420: The Seventh Coalition , including an Anglo-Allied army under the command of the Duke of Wellington and a Prussian army under the command of Gebhard von Blücher , were victorious at Waterloo (18 June 1815). The critical role played by Blücher's troops, especially after having to retreat from the field at Ligny the day before, helped to turn the tide of combat against the French. The Prussian cavalry pursued
13952-412: The Siege of Lille diverted German forces from the Battle of Dunkirk , which allowed the British Expeditionary Force and a substantial French contingent to escape. Between industrial northern France and Paris and the industrial Rhine-Ruhr River basin of Germany, the plain of central Belgium was a natural route of invasion. A ridge running roughly north-east to south-west through the Gembloux area forms
14170-441: The Sonderweg analysis helpful in understanding the period of National Socialism . After the Frankfurt Parliament disbanded, Frederick William IV, under the influence of General Joseph Maria von Radowitz , supported the establishment of the Erfurt Union —a federation of German states, excluding Austria—by the free agreement of the German princes. This limited union under Prussia would have almost eliminated Austrian influence on
14388-485: The "absolute confidence" of his men in a unit complete in personnel and armed to the highest standards of the French army of the time, the 15th DIM was ready to contribute significantly to the defence at Gembloux. The French weakness was in the air. By the time the Battle of Gembloux began, the First Army had only the remains of one group of 26 fighters, one reconnaissance group and the observation squadrons . The Corps de Cavalerie had defeated German attempts to close on
14606-453: The "defeated" enemy. To the north, 3rd Panzer Division became locked in fighting on its right flank as noted above. At 14:00, XVI Corps ordered the 35th Infantry Division to move in that direction, while the 20th Motorized Division was to move to the other flank of the corps and the arrival of the 269th Infantry Division from XVII Corps on the north edge of the Namur fortress relieved fears from that direction. At 14:05, General Stever—commanding
14824-441: The "failure" of 1848 reaffirmed latent aristocratic longings among the German middle class; consequently, this group never developed a self-conscious program of modernization. More recent scholarship has rejected this idea, claiming that Germany did not have an actual "distinctive path" any more than any other nation, a historiographic idea known as exceptionalism . Instead, modern historians claim 1848 saw specific achievements by
15042-489: The 15th century, with few exceptions, the Empire's Prince-electors had chosen successive heads of the House of Habsburg from the Duchy of Austria to hold the title of Holy Roman Emperor . Although they initially sought to restore central Imperial power, preserving a weak and fragmented Empire was convenient for France and Sweden, and therefore, their ensuing intervention led to the Peace of Westphalia which effectively thwarted for centuries any serious attempts to reinforce
15260-465: The 19th century. The period of Austrian and Prussian police-states and vast censorship between the Congress of Vienna and the Revolutions of 1848 in Germany later became widely known as the Vormärz ("before March"), referring to March 1848. During this period, European liberalism gained momentum; the agenda included economic, social, and political issues. Most European liberals in the Vormärz sought unification under nationalist principles, promoted
15478-412: The 19th century. Reaction to Danish and French nationalism provided for expressions of German unity. Military successes—especially those of Prussia—in three regional wars generated enthusiasm and pride that politicians could harness to promote unification. This experience echoed the memory of mutual accomplishment in the Napoleonic Wars, particularly in the War of Liberation of 1813–1814. By establishing
15696-521: The 31st, 7th and 18th Infantry Divisions contacted the Dyle position that afternoon and evening. At 21:50, the Chief of Staff of the 6th Army urged the infantry forward in support of 3rd Panzer Division which was involved in heavy fighting at Walhain and Ernage. By the end of 14 May, the divisions reported the Dyle position to be occupied. The corps found demolitions and mining on the approach routes difficult to negotiate. As German forces moved into contact,
15914-507: The 3rd Panzer Division . Of its 331 tanks on 10 May, only 20 were Panzer III and 24 were Panzer IV. Hoepner also disposed of the 20th Motorized Division and the 35th Infantry Division during the Battle of Gembloux. To Hoepner's right, Schwedler's IV Corps had the 31st, 7th and 18th Infantry Divisions , from north to south. The infantry divisions′ artillery and transport units were driven mostly by horse power and they were much slower than
16132-405: The 4th Panzer Division —ordered 5th Panzer Brigade supported by a rifle battalion to attack on a narrow front south of Ernage, to reach hills east of St. Gery. The divisional artillery would neutralise flanking fires from Ernage and Gembloux. At 16:00, he delayed the attack so that 3rd Panzer Division could prepare. At 16:50, Stumpff radioed 4th Panzer Division that he would inform them when he
16350-479: The Allied air forces, the Luftwaffe had the operational strength, techniques and training to make the idea work. Luftflotte 2 supported Army Group B; its strength on 10 May included some 170 medium bombers and some 550 single-engine fighter aircraft and heavy fighters although these numbers were not active during the first days of operation. The Oberkommando der Luftwaffe (OKL) reinforced Luftflotte 2 in
16568-566: The Austrians and the Prussians, and socio-economic competition among the commercial and merchant interests, and the old land-owning and aristocratic interests. Natural factors included widespread drought in the early 1830s, and again in the 1840s, and a food crisis in the 1840s. Further complications emerged as a result of a shift in industrialization and manufacturing; as people sought jobs, they left their villages and small towns to work during
16786-456: The Battle of Gembloux. The III Corps had (from north to south) the 2nd DINA and the 1st DIM ( Division d'Infanterie Motorisee , or Motorised Infantry Division). Both were complete in personnel and materiel. The 2nd DINA had battlefield experience from the small-scale Saar Offensive the preceding September, while the 1st DIM had yet to receive its "baptism of fire". Roughly ½ its cadres were reservists. The IV Corps included (from north to south)
17004-525: The Belgian army was to prepare defences for it. The powerful Corps de Cavalerie (Général René Prioux ), equivalent to a German Panzer corps, was to cover the deployment of the First Army as it narrowed its front and was vulnerable to attacks by the Luftwaffe. GQG allotted Blanchard conventional infantry installed on the frontier plus advance formations of motorised infantry divisions and the 1st DCR ( Division Cuirassée , Heavy Armoured Division), including some 70 heavy tanks. Blanchard received no more than
17222-549: The Central European economy. The invasion of Russia included nearly 125,000 troops from German lands, and the loss of that army encouraged many Germans, both high- and low-born, to envision a Central Europe free of Napoleon's influence. The creation of student militias such as the Lützow Free Corps exemplified this tendency. The debacle in Russia loosened the French grip on the German princes. In 1813, Napoleon mounted
17440-509: The Confederation was extended to include also the formerly Polish territories of the Lauenburg and Bütow Land and the former Starostwo of Draheim , while Austrian part was extended to include in the years 1818–1850 also the formerly Polish territories of the Duchy of Oświęcim and the Duchy of Zator ), meaning that large portions of both Prussia and Austria were left outside. In recognition of
17658-752: The DM and the 15th DIM. More than the rest, General Albert Mellier's DM bore the brunt of the Panzer attack at Gembloux. Heir to the prestige of the DM of the First World War, the division consisted mostly of Moroccan regulars supplemented by European reservists. The 2nd Moroccan Rifle Regiment, for example, had 2,357 men present at Gembloux, several hundred having been caught on leave by the sudden German offensive. Of those present, 925 were Europeans compared to 1,432 Moroccans. French cadres were both active and reservist. A few Moroccans had risen to be junior officers and
17876-555: The Dyle line at Hannut and retired to the second line of defence at Gembloux, about 35 km (22 mi) to the south-west. The French and German tanks had exacted a heavy toll on each other, the French had knocked out 160 German tanks for 105 losses. By retreating from the battlefield, the French lost many of their knocked-out tanks, while the Germans repaired nearly 3 ⁄ 4 of their disabled vehicles; only 49 tanks were destroyed and 111 tanks were repaired. German casualties were 60 men killed and another 80 wounded. Hoepner pursued
18094-478: The Dyle line. Around Gembloux, defences barely existed; French intelligence was at least partially aware of this but the French were taken by surprise by the lack of field fortifications found on 10 May. On the German side and forming part of Army Group B was Reichenau's 6th Army. Its forces at Gembloux were mostly first-line and experienced reservists. The divisions had been active divisions in peacetime and were filled out with reservists as war approached; they had
18312-424: The First Army to retreat from Gembloux, then back over the French frontier towards Lille . The retreat disorganised the Allied defence on the central sector of the Belgian front and the German armies occupied central Belgium. Strategically the battle was inconclusive, it diverted the First Army from Sedan , which allowed the Germans to achieve the strategic goals of Fall Gelb but the First Army survived and during
18530-571: The French 3rd Light Cavalry Division under General Petiet, supported by the 1st Spahi Brigade under Colonel Jouffault and the 2nd company of the 5th Armoured Battalion, crossed the southern border to conduct a probe of German forces; these units later retreated behind the Maginot Line . Five Spahis were killed. British Air Marshal Arthur Barratt , impatient with the reluctance of the French Air Force to conduct air strikes , ordered
18748-552: The French First Army belonged—insisted that First Army have a force of powerful armour to guarantee holding the Gembloux Gap. He wanted to have two DCRs operating under an armoured corps, with the 1st DCR ready for action by the sixth day of operations. He laid down three axes of counter-attack and also warned that German tanks might attack from the sixth day of operations (they attacked one day earlier) but General Alphonse Joseph Georges —Billotte's superior—refused to commit
18966-403: The French First Army suffered the attentions of the Luftwaffe. French fighters could barely cover the three or so reconnaissance missions flown into the area beginning that morning (most of the reconnaissance planes were lost). The retreating Cavalry Corps detailed the enemy advance and delayed the Panzers north of Ernage (near the positions of the 3rd DLM) and around Grand Leez (near 2nd DLM). As
19184-417: The French artillery, which was reluctant to risk inflicting casualties on its own side. The French set up new anti-tank screens and lacking infantry support, Hoepner was forced into a frontal attack. The two panzer divisions reported many losses on 14 May and were forced to slow their pursuit. In the aftermath, the French armoured units were joined by fresh formations which then set up a new defensive position to
19402-406: The French defence and German command confusion. Stever went forward to meet Oberst (Colonel) Breith, commanding the 5th Panzer Brigade and Boyneburg, commanding 4th Rifle Brigade. Both officers insisted that a prepared attack was no longer possible that day. French artillery shelled the headquarters of the brigades out of Baudeset, leaving two unnamed rifle battalion commanders dead. The shelling
19620-556: The French defences at Gembloux, as the first objective. Fliegerkorps VIII with the artillery available would support an assault on both sides of Ernage on a front of less than 6 km (3.7 mi). Engineer units were to repair the blown bridges and crossroads left behind by the Allies, which threatened to disrupt logistics . Stever of 4th Panzer Division ordered his 4th Rifle Brigade to deploy three battalions in line from Gembloux to Ernage, echeloned back on their left flank. In addition to air support, one artillery regiment would fire
19838-422: The French despite warnings from 5th Panzer Brigade of the 4th Panzer Division, that its losses from Hannut meant any further damage would be tantamount to "suicide". Hoepner did not wait for the infantry divisions to close up and tried to bounce the French out of their defences. The XVI Panzer Corps ran into retreating French columns and inflicted many losses. The closeness of the pursuit created severe problems for
20056-421: The French main position. The battalion found itself alone before dawn between Ernage and Perbais with no radio contact with the division. Hoepner had decided to throw his tanks with available artillery and air support at a solid French defence rather than wait another day to bring up his two infantry divisions for a more powerful effort. Encouraged by his superiors and the thrust of German doctrine to attack before
20274-458: The French position together with the riflemen. Pursuit in the direction of Nivelles would follow. Stumpff's plan for 3rd Panzer Division is less clear. He too put his infantry ahead of the tanks with Stuka and artillery support, ordering a few tank units to support the infantry. His first objective was to reach two hills west of the line Chastre - Noirmont . The mass of the German armour would wait in reserve to deal with enemy armour or to exploit
20492-548: The Gembloux Gap in the centre of the Dyle position. The first trace of this Belgian position used the Namur—Brussels railroad line as a tank obstacle, in accordance with French intentions. As the German invasion was repeatedly postponed, the Belgian command revised the trace eastwards in the hope of "dragging" the French closer to the German-Belgian frontier and on 10 May there was only a partial anti-tank obstacle east of
20710-491: The German border, 18 roadblocks on the German border, and five roadblocks on the French border. Since the Corps des Gendarmes et Volontaires had no pioneer unit, construction fell to the responsibility of civilian engineers, while technical advice was sought from the French, who took great interest in the line's establishment. A series of nine radio outposts were established along the German border, each manned by gendarmes, with
20928-404: The German infantry had not yet arrived. This was a misreading of French intentions, but it was indicative of the psychological damage suffered by the command of 3rd Panzer Brigade. That night the front quietened down, the infantry arrived and driven on by urgent orders issued hours earlier, advanced in the dark. Despite coming under fire from their own tanks by mistake, one battalion almost reached
21146-592: The German invasion of the Low Countries was a decoy, the French Army intended to halt the German advance into central Belgium and France on two defensive positions at the towns of Hannut and Gembloux . The French First Army , the most powerful Allied army, was to defend the Gembloux– Wavre axis. The French Corps de Cavalerie (Général René Prioux ), advanced to Hannut, to screen the deployment of
21364-636: The German invasion of the Low Countries — Belgium , Luxembourg and the Netherlands —and France during World War II . The battle began on 10 May 1940 and lasted just one day. Facing only light resistance, German troops quickly occupied Luxembourg. The Luxembourgish government, and Grand Duchess Charlotte , managed to escape the country and a government-in-exile was created in London . On 1 September 1939 Germany invaded Poland , initiating World War II . This put Luxembourg's Grand Ducal government in
21582-538: The German nationalism of the 1830s and the French nationalism of the July Revolution : the focus of German nationalism lay in the education of the people; once the populace was educated as to what was needed, they would accomplish it. The Hambach rhetoric emphasized the overall peaceable nature of German nationalism: the point was not to build barricades, a very "French" form of nationalism, but to build emotional bridges between groups. As he had done in 1819, after
21800-505: The German peoples. This German dualism presented two solutions to the problem of unification : Kleindeutsche Lösung , the small Germany solution (Germany without Austria), or Großdeutsche Lösung , the greater Germany solution (Germany with Austria or its German-speaking part), ultimately settled in favor of the former solution in the Peace of Prague . Historians debate whether Otto von Bismarck — Minister President of Prussia —had
22018-842: The German states. In this context, one can detect its roots in the experience of Germans in the Napoleonic period. Furthermore, implicit and sometimes explicit promises made during the German Campaign of 1813 engendered an expectation of popular sovereignty and widespread participation in the political process, promises that largely went unfulfilled once peace had been achieved. Despite considerable conservative reaction, ideas of unity joined with notions of popular sovereignty in German-speaking lands. The Burschenschaft student organizations and popular demonstrations, such as those held at Wartburg Castle in October 1817, contributed to
22236-516: The German troops, but to little avail; the capital city was occupied before noon. The Gendarmerie chain of command in the south was thrown into disarray by the influx of refugees and the arrival of German and French troops. Most gendarmes escorted refugees over the border, while some abandoned their posts and fled to France. Total Luxembourgish casualties amounted to six gendarmes and one soldier wounded, while 22 soldiers (six officers and 16 non-commissioned officers ) and 54 gendarmes were captured. By
22454-426: The German-speaking states, the Holy Roman Empire's administrative and legal mechanisms provided a venue to resolve disputes between peasants and landlords, between jurisdictions, and within jurisdictions. Through the organization of imperial circles ( Reichskreise ), groups of states consolidated resources and promoted regional and organizational interests, including economic cooperation and military protection. Since
22672-465: The Germans to attempt Bewegungskrieg with a faster tempo in 1940, than that of the slow-moving armies of 1914. The internal combustion engine and radio communication solved the problem of operational-level exploitation. The term " Blitzkrieg " is seen as an anomaly, since there was no explicit reference to such strategy, operations or tactics in German battle plans. There is no evidence in German strategic, military or industrial preparations implying
22890-647: The Holy Roman Empire by the First French Empire in the War of the Second Coalition (1798–1802) resulted in crushing the Empire and allied forces by Napoleon Bonaparte . The treaties of Lunéville (1801) and the Mediatization of 1803 secularized the ecclesiastical principalities and abolished most free imperial cities and these territories along with their inhabitants were absorbed by dynastic states. This transfer particularly enhanced
23108-568: The Holy Roman Empire, Frederick countered with the creation of the Fürstenbund (Union of Princes) in 1785. Austrian-Prussian dualism lay firmly rooted in old Imperial politics. Those balance of power manoeuvers were epitomized by the War of the Bavarian Succession , or " Potato War " among common folk. Even after the end of the Holy Roman Empire, this competition influenced the growth and development of nationalist movements in
23326-456: The IV Corps which fought at Gembloux. French doctrine provided for air reconnaissance and observation, fighter defence of ground forces and on occasion bomber support in principle, although they might not always be available in practice. The French forces of 1940 were far richer in artillery than in air assets and the reality overshadowed the doctrine. The German strategy ( Fall Gelb ) required
23544-511: The Kingdom of Prussia in 1858. Meanwhile, Helmuth von Moltke had become chief of the Prussian General Staff in 1857, and Albrecht von Roon would become Prussian Minister of War in 1859. This shuffling of authority within the Prussian military establishment would have important consequences. Von Roon and William (who took an active interest in military structures) began reorganizing the Prussian army, while Moltke redesigned
23762-428: The Luftwaffe reinforced Luftflotte 2, by now depleted in many units to 30-50 percent of strength, with Fliegerkorps I from Luftflotte 3. In effect, the high command gave priority to 6th Army in its effort to defeat the Allied corps de bataille . The day was hot and clear. French artillery had fired heavily all night, but the planned Stuka attacks and German artillery preparation went forward from 07:30. At 08:00,
23980-467: The Luxembourgish government and Grand Ducal court of the invasion. Foreign Minister Joseph Bech , in the presence of Prime Minister Pierre Dupong , attempted to contact the German ambassador at the legation and at his private residence, but they were informed that he was present at neither. At 06:30 the majority of the government, including Dupong and Bech, evacuated the capital by motorcade to
24198-548: The Polish majority living in the share of Polish territory annexed by Prussia pursued their own liberation agenda . Their pressure resulted in a variety of elections, based on different voting qualifications, such as the Prussian three-class franchise , which weighted votes based on the amount of taxes paid and therefore gave some electoral groups—chiefly the wealthier, landed ones—greater representative power. On 27 March 1849,
24416-541: The Prussian monarchy is now wholly German, while that of Austria cannot be. Unification under these conditions raised a basic diplomatic problem. The possibility of German (or Italian ) unification would overturn the overlapping spheres of influence system created in 1815 at the Congress of Vienna. The principal architects of this convention, Metternich , Castlereagh , and Tsar Alexander (with his foreign secretary Count Karl Nesselrode ), had conceived of and organized
24634-560: The Rhine had been removed by Napoleon's orders, but by the 1820s, steam engines freed riverboats from the cumbersome system of men and animals that towed them upstream. By 1846, 180 steamers plied German rivers and Lake Constance , and a network of canals extended from the Danube , the Weser , and the Elbe rivers. As important as these improvements were, they could not compete with the impact of
24852-603: The Rhineland, the site of so many confrontations with France and Spain. The widespread—mainly German— revolutions of 1848–49 sought unification of Germany under a single constitution. The revolutionaries pressured various state governments, particularly those in the Rhineland , for a parliamentary assembly that would have the responsibility to draft a constitution. Ultimately, many of the left-wing revolutionaries hoped this constitution would establish universal male suffrage ,
25070-566: The Schuster Line's tank traps. Fire was exchanged, but the Germans did not encounter any significant resistance except for some bridges destroyed and some land mines since the majority of the Luxembourgish Volunteer Corps stayed in their barracks. The border was defended only by soldiers who had volunteered for guard duty and gendarmes . A handful of Germans secured the Moselle bridge at Wormeldange and captured
25288-664: The Second World War. In the German wars of unification and First World War campaigns, the German General Staff had attempted Bewegungskrieg (war of manoeuvre), similar to the modern perception of " Blitzkrieg ", with varying degrees of success. During the First World War, these methods had achieved tactical success but operational exploitation was slow as armies had to march beyond railheads. The use of tanks , aircraft, motorised infantry and artillery, enabled
25506-701: The Wartburg rally in 1817 and the Hambach Festival in 1832 had lacked any clear-cut program of unification. At Hambach, the positions of the many speakers illustrated their disparate agendas. Held together only by the idea of unification, their notions of how to achieve this did not include specific plans but instead rested on the nebulous idea that the Volk (the people), if properly educated, would bring about unification on their own. Grand speeches, flags, exuberant students, and picnic lunches did not translate into
25724-679: The agents were to be used to seize key bridges over the Sauer , Moselle and Our rivers. Luxembourg authorities also took notice, and Captain Stein worked to stop the Germans' activities. On 3 March, the French Third Army was ordered to occupy Luxembourg in the event of a German attack. On the evening of 8 May, the Grand Ducal Government ordered for the first time that all doors of the Schuster Line be closed at 11:00 and remain so regardless of circumstance until 06:00
25942-480: The artillery battery positions in closed strong points. Defence against tanks was a priority throughout the depth of the position. A division on open terrain would hold a front 6–7 km (3.7–4.3 mi) wide and some 5 km (3.1 mi) deep. The high command reserved battalions of infantry-support tanks for key infantry units. Leading elements of the French army trained to respond to the armoured and air threat, including those under General Henri Aymes commanding
26160-442: The attack than in the defence. Despite the fateful mission which awaited it, the DM had only twenty-seven 25 mm anti-tank guns among its infantry instead of the 48 which was its established strength. There were anti-aircraft weapons with the regiments but no divisional battery and the divisional transport lacked vehicles and some 400 horses. Supporting the DM was General Alphonse Juin 's 15th Motorised Infantry Division . Enjoying
26378-584: The best equipment establishments in the Heer (German Army) and most had experienced action in the Invasion of Poland the preceding September. The formations included the XVI Corps commanded by General Erich Hoepner and the IV Corps commanded by General Viktor von Schwedler . Hoepner's XVI Corps led the attack at Gembloux. Its forces included General Horst Stumpff 's 3rd Panzer Division , which on 10 May had
26596-476: The border town of Esch . Bodson stayed behind at the Saint-Esprit Barracks to monitor the situation. In Esch a group of 125 German special operations troops had landed by Fieseler Storch , with orders to hold the area until the main invasion force arrived. A gendarme confronted the soldiers and asked that they leave, but he was taken prisoner. The government motorcade encountered a roadblock at
26814-613: The breakthrough. To the Panzer Divisions ' right, the German IV Corps was to engage in bitter fighting in the morning of 15 May and at 09:20 hours warned its divisions that a "decisive battle" was developing on the Dyle. The corps ordered a concentrated effort in the Ottignies area at the boundary between 7th and 18th Infantry Divisions. An exploitation group would follow up the expected breakthrough. Meanwhile,
27032-508: The campaign in the west. It was not the cause but rather the consequence of victory. Something that in May 1940, had come off successfully to everyone's surprise, was now to serve the implementation of Hitler's visions of conquest in the form of the secret success. French doctrine emanated from its experiences in the First World War . With only half the population and a third of the industry of Germany, France had suffered proportionally
27250-486: The capital and, having learned many of the secondary roads by memory, was able to avoid German roadblocks and navigate his way to France. Following consultation with her ministers, Grand Duchess Charlotte decided to abandon the palace. Accompanied by her husband, Prince Felix , her mother, Dowager Grand Duchess Marie Anne , and members of the Grand-Ducal suite, she departed for the border village of Redange . After
27468-448: The capital be reinforced by gendarmes from the south, and told Weis to forward this information to the capital's district commissioner to give the necessary orders. Weis later tried to contact the district commissioner by phone, but failed to reach him; reinforcements never came. A short time later the gendarmes at Diekirch were ordered to patrol the local railway bridge and be wary of unfamiliar persons. Luxembourgish authorities received
27686-460: The capital to be completely surrounded. Charlotte's party was able to link up with the government motorcade at Longwy. Meanwhile, Jean's party's car was strafed by a German aircraft while stopped at a cafe. Near Esch, the group was delayed by a German roadblock, and they escaped when their chauffeur drove straight through the soldiers. The party ultimately joined Charlotte and the Grand Ducal government at Sainte-Menehould . At 08:00, elements of
27904-443: The cavalry left the field, Blanchard ordered its tanks to remain nearby in reserve. Meanwhile, the German thrust continued to develop to the south. That evening, Billotte's headquarters warned First Army to prepare for a possible retreat, but the formations in the field knew nothing of this. The 1st DIM was disturbed by the retreat of the cavalry and Belgian infantry and refugees in the afternoon of 14 May. The first Stuka attack made
28122-402: The circumstances to create a war, rather than a grand scheme to unify a nation-state. Regardless of motivation, by manipulating events of 1866 and 1870, Bismarck demonstrated the political and diplomatic skill that had caused Wilhelm to turn to him in 1862. Three episodes proved fundamental to the unification of Germany. First, the death without male heirs of Frederick VII of Denmark led to
28340-496: The country , bringing the monarchy into disrepute; Charlotte wanted to avoid such problems. The government moved some of the country's gold reserves to Belgium, and began stockpiling funds in its Brussels and Paris legations in the event it was forced to flee due to German attack. The Paris legation was also given a sealed envelope detailing a formal request of military assistance from the French government in case communications were cut-off in an invasion. After several false alarms in
28558-525: The country. Since an invasion had not yet occurred they still enjoyed diplomatic privilege and the police were forced to release them. One group of fifth columnists was arrested while attempting to reach the legation. Meanwhile, Captain Archen had received his subordinate's report, but by that point, he had been told by informants in the Gendarmerie that shots had been exchanged with German operatives at
28776-549: The crisis in favor of the war minister. The Crimean War of 1854–55 and the Italian War of 1859 disrupted relations among Great Britain, France, Austria, and Russia. In the aftermath of this disarray, the convergence of von Moltke's operational redesign, von Roon and Wilhelm's army restructure, and Bismarck's diplomacy influenced the realignment of the European balance of power. Their combined agendas established Prussia as
28994-473: The defeated French in the evening of 18 June, sealing the allied victory. From the German perspective, the actions of Blücher's troops at Waterloo, and the combined efforts at Leipzig, offered a rallying point of pride and enthusiasm. This interpretation became a key building block of the Borussian myth expounded by the pro-Prussian nationalist historians later in the 19th century. After Napoleon's defeat,
29212-427: The division would be covered by the reconnaissance battalion, a machine-gun battalion and most of an anti-tank battalion. At 11:30, Eighth Company, 35th Panzer Regiment with some 30 tanks attacked from Baudeset toward the rail line south of Ernage but was stopped with the loss of nine tanks by enemy artillery fire and withdrew. The 6th Company was unable to aid it because of the "annihilating defensive fire". At 13:30,
29430-522: The division's chief of staff's orders to various units to occupy strategic points within Luxembourg. The Grand Ducal government put all border posts and Grand Ducal Gendarmerie stations on full alert. In Luxembourg City , gendarmes mobilised to defend public buildings and dispatched vehicle patrols to arrest fifth columnists. The economic councillor and the chancellor of the German legation were detained for questioning regarding allegations that they had used legation cars to organise subversive activities within
29648-549: The early 19th century, German roads had deteriorated to an appalling extent. Travelers, both foreign and local, complained bitterly about the state of the Heerstraßen , the military roads previously maintained for the ease of moving troops. As German states ceased to be a military crossroads, however, the roads improved; the length of hard–surfaced roads in Prussia increased from 3,800 kilometers (2,400 mi) in 1816 to 16,600 kilometers (10,300 mi) in 1852, helped in part by
29866-541: The early 9th century AD, large parts of Europe had been united under the rule of the Frankish leader Charlemagne , who expanded the Frankish Empire (Francia) in several directions including east of the Rhine, where he conquered Saxons and Frisians . A confederated realm of German princedoms , along with some adjacent lands, had been in existence for over a thousand years; dating to the Treaty of Verdun i.e.
30084-572: The east of Gembloux. The Panzers moved out on 14 May to overrun the Dyle position. At least until 09:20 (French time), air reconnaissances indicated that the position was unoccupied. At that hour, Hoepner was with 4th Panzer Division urging that unit to break through on both sides of Ernage without waiting for 3rd Panzer . The 35th Infantry and 20th Motorized Divisions were both behind the Panzers , respectively on their right and left flanks. The 4th Panzer Division ordered an advance with Panzer and Rifle Brigades operating together. The left flank of
30302-439: The enemy could further prepare himself, he decided at about 20:00 on 14 May not to wait. 6th Army intelligence continued to insist that the Allies were retreating, ordering XVI Corps to pursue and claiming that German tanks were already west of Gembloux (which was false). Nonetheless, at 22:45 the corps ordered an assault by 3rd and 4th Panzer Divisions for 08:00 of 15 May with the railroad line on both sides of Tilly , well beyond
30520-567: The establishment of East Francia from eastern Frankish Empire in east of the Rhine in 843, especially when the Ottonian dynasty took power to rule East Francia in 919. The realm later in 962 made up the core of the Holy Roman Empire , which at times included more than 1,000 entities and was called the "Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation" from 1512 with the Diet of Cologne (new title
30738-450: The evening of 10 May 1940, most of the country, with the exception of the south, was occupied by German forces. More than 90,000 civilians fled from the canton of Esch-sur-Alzette as a consequence of the advance. 47,000 evacuated to France, 45,000 poured into the central and northern part of Luxembourg. On 11 May the Grand Ducal government reached Paris and installed itself in the Luxembourg legation. Fearing German aerial attack and finding
30956-586: The existence of a thought-out " Blitzkrieg " tendency. Evidence suggests that in 1939 and 1940 the German Reich was preparing the war economy for a war of attrition, not a quick war of manoeuvre, although there was no total economic mobilisation for the war. Hitler's miscalculations in 1939 forced him into war before the war economy was ready and under these circumstances, the German General Staff reverted Vernichtungsgedanke , attempting to win
31174-696: The fighting in Ernage and on the Wavre-Gembloux road, the tanks being taken under "lively" artillery and anti-tank fire. Kuhn decided to wait for infantry support to arrive. While the Panzers blundered into the French defence, 6th Army pressed its infantry corps forward to cover their flanks. Schwedler's IV Corps was to cover the Panzers' right flank as it had done against the French cavalry on 13 May (at Hannut). The infantry made good progress against virtually no resistance early on 14 May and advance guards of
31392-538: The first reports of exchanged fire at around 02:00 on 10 May when two gendarmes were ambushed near the German border by plainclothes agents. The Germans retreated to the Fels mill near Grevenmacher and around 20 soldiers who volunteered were dispatched to arrest them. The government then ordered all steel doors along the border locked. At 02:15 soldiers stationed in Bous were attacked by Germans in civilian clothes. One soldier
31610-456: The following morning. Throughout the day Luxembourgish authorities witnessed much less activity on the far side of the border and made no reports of tank or machine gun movements. On the afternoon of 9 May, a French intelligence officer stationed in Clervaux witnessed German troops preparing pontoon bridges in the Sauer . He attempted in vain to contact Captain Archen, and resorted to making
31828-416: The general barrage of infantry and anti-tank weapons, this position to be some 2 km (1.2 mi) deep down to a stop-line where an anti-tank screen was to be located. Units were to be emplaced on commanding terrain in closed positions capable of defence in all directions, covering the intervals between them with cross fire. Behind the stop-line would be reserves, the divisional reconnaissance battalion and
32046-463: The high command planned to defeat the German move with the First Army, BEF and the Seventh Army, which contained the majority of the Allied mechanised and motorised troops. The Dyle Plan (Breda variant) covered the Allied advance into Belgium to defeat the German offensive. French doctrine opposed an encounter battle with an enemy superior in the air, nor was the command willing to invest more than
32264-406: The highly autonomous or semi-independent nature of the princely states; most inhabitants of the Holy Roman Empire , outside of those ruled by the emperor directly, identified themselves mainly with their prince rather than with the Empire or the nation as a whole. However, by the 19th century, transportation and communications improvements started to bring these regions closer together. Invasion of
32482-532: The historiographical explanations of German nation building. One school of thought, which emerged after The Great War and gained momentum in the aftermath of World War II , maintains that the failure of German liberals in the Frankfurt Parliament led to bourgeoisie compromise with conservatives (especially the conservative Junker landholders), which subsequently led to the so-called Sonderweg (distinctive path) of 20th-century German history. Failure to achieve unification in 1848, this argument holds, resulted in
32700-473: The idea of a German nation-state in the peaceful spirit of Pan-Germanism had shifted from the liberal and democratic character of 1848 to accommodate Bismarck's more conservative Realpolitik . Bismarck sought to link a unified state to the Hohenzollern dynasty, which for some historians remains one of Bismarck's primary contributions to the creation of the German Empire in 1871. While the conditions of
32918-575: The imperial central authority and petrified fragmentation, resulting in the German-speaking territories comprising on the eve of the Napoleonic Wars still more than 300 political entities, most of them being parts of the Holy Roman Empire , though portions of the extensive Habsburg Monarchy (exclusively its large non-German-speaking territories: Lands of the Crown of Saint Stephen and the Austrian partition of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth) or of
33136-543: The imperial position traditionally held by the Habsburgs, the emperors of Austria became the titular presidents of this parliament. Despite the nomenclature of Diet (Assembly or Parliament), this institution should in no way be construed as a broadly, or popularly, elected group of representatives. Many of the states did not have constitutions, and those that did, such as the Duchy of Baden , based suffrage on strict property requirements which effectively limited suffrage to
33354-693: The importance of tradition, education, and linguistic unity. Economically, the creation of the Prussian Zollverein (customs union) in 1818, and its subsequent expansion to include other states of the Austria (under Austrian Empire )-led German Confederation , reduced competition between and within states. Emerging modes of transportation facilitated business and recreational travel, leading to contact and sometimes conflict between and among German-speakers from throughout Central Europe . The model of diplomatic spheres of influence resulting from
33572-426: The infantry and tanks; heavier pieces were reserved for use by the senior commander to make his personal intervention felt on the battlefield. Infantry was to be disposed in depth: from 15 percent to 30 percent of a division's infantry strength in outposts on commanding ground before the main position to cover it from surprises, then the main position of resistance along a natural or artificial terrain obstacle covered by
33790-466: The infantry of 4th Panzer Division advanced undisturbed by enemy shelling. At 08:10, riflemen fired white starshell indicating that they had crossed the railroad line, but at 08:20 French artillery engaged the incursion and as the German tanks drove forward, they were pinned down. At 09:30, 36th Panzer Regiment was suffering heavy losses standing before the obstacle, 35th Panzer Regiment similarly at 09:45. When 5th Panzer Brigade headquarters asked why
34008-546: The infantry was not advancing, they were told "attack hopeless". By 10:00, II Battalion of the 12th Rifle Regiment had a company on the railroad line at Gembloux, but the advance was slow and costly and had halted by 11:00. Radio contact with 5th Panzer Brigade was lost and the tanks were milling around before the obstacle and being picked off one by one. Meanwhile, infantry of 3rd Panzer Division attacked from Walhain- St.Paul against Perbais at 09:15, but they too stuck fast by 11:00. The war diarist of XVI Corps complained that
34226-402: The invasion, but his reports never reached the 3rd Army at Metz . General Charles Condé, the army's commander, was unclear about the situation and at 05:30 dispatched aerial reconnaissance units to investigate. At 06:00 the French 3rd Light Cavalry Division was ordered to intervene. Telephone and radio messages from the border posts to the Gendarmerie and Volunteer Corps headquarters informed
34444-485: The invention of macadam . By 1835, Heinrich von Gagern wrote that roads were the "veins and arteries of the body politic..." and predicted that they would promote freedom, independence and prosperity. As people moved around, they came into contact with others, on trains, at hotels, in restaurants, and for some, at fashionable resorts such as the spa in Baden-Baden . Water transportation also improved. The blockades on
34662-466: The last post to fall, in Wasserbillig , transmitted until the Germans breached the operating room. The steel doors of the Schuster Line were ordered closed on 10 May 1940 at 03:15, following reports of movement of German troops on the east side of the border rivers Our , Sauer, and Moselle. At 03:30 Luxembourgish authorities released interned French pilots and German deserters. The Royal Family
34880-418: The late formation of the nation-state in 1871, which in turn delayed the development of positive national values. Hitler often called on the German public to sacrifice all for the cause of their great nation, but his regime did not create German nationalism: it merely capitalized on an intrinsic cultural value of German society that still remains prevalent even to this day. Furthermore, this argument maintains,
35098-520: The leadership of the Austrian Habsburgs . This controversy, the latest phase of the German dualism debate that had dominated the politics of the German states and Austro-Prussian diplomacy since the 1701 creation of the Kingdom of Prussia , would come to a head during the following twenty years. Other nationalists had high hopes for the German unification movement, and the frustration with lasting German unification after 1850 seemed to set
35316-618: The leading German power through a combination of foreign diplomatic triumphs—backed up by the possible use of Prussian military might—and an internal conservatism tempered by pragmatism, which came to be known as Realpolitik . Bismarck expressed the essence of Realpolitik in his subsequently famous "Blood and Iron" speech to the Budget Committee of the Prussian Chamber of Deputies on 30 September 1862, shortly after he became Minister President: "The great questions of
35534-469: The liberal politicians. Many of their ideas and programs were later incorporated into Bismarck's social programs (e.g., social insurance, education programs, and wider definitions of suffrage). In addition, the notion of a distinctive path relies upon the underlying assumption that some other nation's path (in this case, the United Kingdom's) is the accepted norm. This new argument further challenges
35752-502: The linguistic unity of the German people but also their geographic unity. In Deutschland, Deutschland über Alles , officially called Das Lied der Deutschen (" The Song of the Germans "), Fallersleben called upon sovereigns throughout the German states to recognize the unifying characteristics of the German people. Such other patriotic songs as " Die Wacht am Rhein " ("The Watch on the Rhine") by Max Schneckenburger began to focus attention on geographic space, not limiting "Germanness" to
35970-577: The member states agreed to send military assistance to any government threatened by unrest. Prince Wrede led half of the Bavarian army to the Palatinate to "subdue" the province. Several hapless Hambach speakers were arrested, tried and imprisoned; one, Karl Heinrich Brüggemann (1810–1887), a law student and representative of the secretive Burschenschaft , was sent to Prussia, where he was first condemned to death, but later pardoned. Crucially, both
36188-524: The morning of 15 May with I. Fliegerkorps from Luftflotte 3 (which had some 300 medium bombers on 10 May). Above all, VIII. Fliegerkorps (which had some 300 Junkers Ju 87 Stukas on strength on 10 May and which specialised in ground-support operations) supported Hoepner at Gembloux. The Battle of Gembloux was fought on the French side by the First Army under General Georges Blanchard, part of General Gaston Billotte's First Allied Army Group. The major units which fought at Gembloux were comparable to
36406-457: The national movement back. Revolutionaries associated national unification with progress. As Giuseppe Garibaldi wrote to German revolutionary Karl Blind on 10 April 1865, "The progress of humanity seems to have come to a halt, and you with your superior intelligence will know why. The reason is that the world lacks a nation [that] possesses true leadership. Such leadership, of course, is required not to dominate other peoples but to lead them along
36624-513: The nature and origin of " Blitzkrieg " operations, of which the 1940 campaign is often described as a classic example. An essential element of " Blitzkrieg " was considered to be a strategic, or series of operational developments, executed by mechanised forces to cause the collapse of the defenders' armed forces. " Blitzkrieg " has also been looked on as a revolutionary form of warfare but its novelty and its existence have been disputed. Rapid and decisive victories had been pursued by armies well before
36842-467: The no doubt distant future free nations might combine to form a loosely federal Europe with some kind of federal assembly to regulate their common interests. [...] His intention was nothing less than to overturn the European settlement agreed [to] in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna, which had reestablished an oppressive hegemony of a few great powers and blocked the emergence of smaller nations. [...] Mazzini hoped, but without much confidence, that his vision of
37060-633: The norms of the British-centric model of development: studies of national development in Britain and other "normal" states (e.g., France or the United States) have suggested that even in these cases, the modern nation-state did not develop evenly. Nor did it develop particularly early, being rather a largely mid-to-late-19th-century phenomenon. Since the end of the 1990s, this view has become widely accepted, although some historians still find
37278-413: The other German princes and military intervention from Austria or Russia. He also held a fundamental distaste for the idea of accepting a crown from a popularly elected parliament: he would not accept a crown of "clay". Despite franchise requirements that often perpetuated many of the problems of sovereignty and political participation liberals sought to overcome, the Frankfurt Parliament did manage to draft
37496-452: The other German states. Combined diplomatic pressure from Austria and Russia (a guarantor of the 1815 agreements that established European spheres of influence) forced Prussia to relinquish the idea of the Erfurt Union at a meeting in the small town of Olmütz in Moravia. In November 1850, the Prussians—specifically Radowitz and Frederick William—agreed to the restoration of the German Confederation under Austrian leadership. This became known as
37714-412: The outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War in 1870. Historians have long debated Bismarck's role in the events leading up to the war. The traditional view, promulgated in large part by late 19th- and early 20th-century pro-Prussian historians, maintains that Bismarck's intent was always German unification. Post-1945 historians, however, see more short-term opportunism and cynicism in Bismarck's manipulation of
37932-411: The path of duty, to lead them toward the brotherhood of nations where all the barriers erected by egoism will be destroyed." Garibaldi looked to Germany for the "kind of leadership [that], in the true tradition of medieval chivalry, would devote itself to redressing wrongs, supporting the weak, sacrificing momentary gains and material advantage for the much finer and more satisfying achievement of relieving
38150-575: The peacetime army, serving overseas, better paid and attracting the most experienced officers from the service schools. French infantry divisions had three regiments of three battalions each, two regiments of artillery, a cavalry reconnaissance battalion and service troops. Armament included modern mortars, fifty-two 25 mm Hotchkiss anti-tank guns and six to eight 47 mm APX anti-tank guns , Canon de 75 M(montagne) modele 1928 and Canon de 155mm GPF field artillery pieces of First World War vintage. In selected divisions, one group of twelve 155 mm guns
38368-569: The permanent Constitution of the German Empire ) and 10 May 1871 ( Treaty of Frankfurt and recognition of the Empire by the French Third Republic ). Despite the legal, administrative, and political disruption caused by the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, the German-speaking people of the old Empire had a common linguistic, cultural, and legal tradition. European liberalism offered an intellectual basis for unification by challenging dynastic and absolutist models of social and political organization; its German manifestation emphasized
38586-440: The polity resulting from the unification process continues its existence, surviving until today in its contemporary form known as the Federal Republic of Germany . Germans emerged in medieval times among the descendants of the Romanized Germanic peoples in the area of modern western Germany, between the Rhine and Elbe rivers, particularly the Franks , Frisians , Saxons , Thuringii , Alemanni , and Baiuvarii . The region
38804-403: The portfolios for Interior, Transportation, and Public Works; Joseph Carmes managed Finance, Labour, and Public Health; Louis Simmer oversaw Education, and Mathias Pütz directed Agriculture, Viticulture, Commerce, and Industry. In the days after the invasion Luxembourgish officers walked about the capital freely, though the regular soldiers were mostly confined to their barracks. Colonel Speller
39022-399: The problem: We cannot conceal the fact that the whole German question is a simple alternative between Prussia and Austria. In these states, German life has its positive and negative poles—in the former, all the interests [that] are national and reformative, in the latter, all that are dynastic and destructive. The German question is not a constitutional question but a question of power; and
39240-428: The railway. German economist Friedrich List called the railways and the Customs Union "Siamese Twins", emphasizing their important relationship to one another. He was not alone: the poet August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben wrote a poem in which he extolled the virtues of the Zollverein , which he began with a list of commodities that had contributed more to German unity than politics or diplomacy. Historians of
39458-628: The railways were an "evil" that threatened the landscape: Nikolaus Lenau 's 1838 poem An den Frühling ( To Spring ) bemoaned the way trains destroyed the pristine quietude of German forests. The Bavarian Ludwig Railway , which was the first passenger or freight rail line in the German lands, connected Nuremberg and Fürth in 1835. Although it was 6 kilometers (3.7 mi) long and only operated in daylight, it proved both profitable and popular. Within three years, 141 kilometers (88 mi) of track had been laid, by 1840, 462 kilometers (287 mi), and by 1860, 11,157 kilometers (6,933 mi). Lacking
39676-495: The rates of the Zollverein. Brunswick joined the Zollverein Customs Union in 1842, while Hanover and Oldenburg finally joined in 1854 After the Austro-Prussian war of 1866, Schleswig, Holstein and Lauenburg were annexed by Prussia and thus annexed also to the Customs Union, while the two Mecklenburg states and the city states of Hamburg and Bremen joined late because they were reliant on international trade. The Mecklenburgs joined in 1867, while Bremen and Hamburg joined in 1888 . By
39894-410: The reorganized German states. Due in part to the shared experience, albeit under French dominance, various justifications emerged to identify "Germany" as a potential future single state. For the German philosopher Johann Gottlieb Fichte , The first, original, and truly natural boundaries of states are beyond doubt their internal boundaries. Those who speak the same language are joined to each other by
40112-705: The reservist divisions of the Wehrmacht . The French First Army contingent at Gembloux had General Rene Prioux's Cavalry Corps, composed mainly of the 2nd and 3rd DLM ( Divisions Legeres Mecaniques , Mechanised Light Divisions) which had preceded the rest into Belgium and three infantry corps; the III, IV and V, each with one motorised infantry division and one DINA ( Division d'Infanterie Nord-Africaine or North African Infantry Division) or DM ( Division Marocaine ) or ( Moroccan Division). Four "fleets" of trucks and buses were allotted to First Army to move all its motorised infantry and support its conventional units. The French North African and Moroccan units were an elite force in
40330-453: The resolution of the war. On 14 September the volunteer corps was bolstered by the addition of a 125-strong auxiliary unit. German military manoeuvres and river traffic made the population increasingly nervous, so in the spring of 1940 fortifications were erected along the borders with Germany and France. The so-called Schuster Line , named after its chief constructor, consisted of 41 sets of concrete blocks and iron gates; 18 bridgeblocks on
40548-423: The rest of the First Army at Gembloux, by delaying a German advance. After the Battle of Hannut , some 35 km (22 mi) to the north-east, the French retired towards Gembloux and the principal defensive position for the French on the Belgian front. For two days French defeated attacks by elements of the 6th Army . The German surprise attack through the Ardennes and the crossing of the Meuse at Sedan, forced
40766-448: The rest of the month, the government supplied full transcripts of its broadcasts to the foreign legations in the country. Later that day several German stations posed as Radio Luxembourg by broadcasting in the Luxembourgish wavelength, making, in the opinion of United States Chargé d'Affaires George Platt Waller , "grossly unneutral announcements". On the evening of 21 September, the Grand Ducal government suspended all broadcasts pending
40984-438: The second day of operations, with troops brought up by railway from the fourth day. He chose to concentrate his attack between Wavre and Namur where prepared defences seemed the weakest. Luftwaffe (Air Force) medium bombers were to hinder the march of Allied units into Belgium. The French command was sure that the Germans would make their main effort ( Schwerpunkt ) on the Belgian plain and Grand Quartier Général (GQG),
41202-414: The small facilities unsuitable, the government moved further south, first to Fontainebleau , and then Poitiers . It later moved to Portugal and the United Kingdom, before finally settling in Canada for the duration of the war. In exile, Charlotte became an important symbol of national unity. Her eldest son and heir, Jean, volunteered for the British Army in 1942. The only official representative left behind
41420-401: The small town of Hambach, in the Palatinate province of Bavaria. Carrying flags, beating drums, and singing, the participants took the better part of the morning and mid-day to arrive at the castle grounds, where they listened to speeches by nationalist orators from across the conservative to radical political spectrum. The overall content of the speeches suggested a fundamental difference between
41638-428: The social order, affecting the highest born to the lowest. Although some of the outlying German provinces were not serviced by rail until the 1890s, the majority of the population, manufacturing centers, and production centers were linked to the rail network by 1865. As travel became easier, faster, and less expensive, Germans started to see unity in factors other than their language. The Brothers Grimm , who compiled
41856-517: The south of Prussia had joined the Customs Union, except Austria. In contrast, the coastal states already had barrier free access to international trade and did not want consumers and producers burdened with the import duties they would pay if they were within the Zollverein customs border. Hanover on the north coast formed its own customs union – the "Tax Union" or Steuerverein – in 1834 with Brunswick and with Oldenburg in 1836. The external tariffs on finished goods and overseas raw materials were below
42074-408: The spring of 1834, while at Berne, Mazzini and a dozen refugees from Italy, Poland and Germany founded a new association with the grandiose name of Young Europe . Its basic, and equally grandiose idea, was that, as the French Revolution of 1789 had enlarged the concept of individual liberty, another revolution would now be needed for national liberty; and his vision went further because he hoped that in
42292-478: The spring of 1940, the probability of a military conflict between Germany and France grew. Germany stopped the export of coke for the Luxembourgish steel industry . Abwehr agents under Oskar Reile infiltrated the country, posing as tourists. This was observed by Captain Fernand Archen, an undercover senior French intelligence officer in Luxembourg City , posing as a wine merchant. He reported his findings to his superiors at Longwy on 7 May, understanding that
42510-425: The strategic defense of Prussia by streamlining operational command. Prussian army reforms (especially how to pay for them) caused a constitutional crisis beginning in 1860 because both parliament and William—via his minister of war—wanted control over the military budget. William, crowned King Wilhelm I in 1861, appointed Otto von Bismarck to the position of Minister-President of Prussia in 1862. Bismarck resolved
42728-463: The suffering of our fellow men. We need a nation courageous enough to give us a lead in this direction. It would rally to its cause all those who are suffering wrong or who aspire to a better life and all those who are now enduring foreign oppression." German unification had also been viewed as a prerequisite for the creation of a European federation, which Giuseppe Mazzini and other European patriots had been promoting for more than three decades: In
42946-409: The tanks of 4th Panzer had joined the fray before the anti-tank obstacle had been cleared. The corps operations officer of French descent, Chales de Beaulieu , criticised the 3rd Panzer Division for allowing its infantry to bog down while leaving its tanks in reserve. German invasion of Luxembourg The German invasion of Luxembourg was part of Case Yellow ( German : Fall Gelb ),
43164-419: The territories of Württemberg and Baden . In 1806, after a successful invasion of Prussia and the defeat of Prussia at the joint battles of Jena-Auerstedt 1806 during the War of the Third Coalition , Napoleon dictated the Treaty of Pressburg which included the formal dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire and the abdication of Emperor Francis II from the nominal reign over it. Napoleon established instead
43382-415: The time will not be resolved by speeches and majority decisions—that was the great mistake of 1848 and 1849—but by iron and blood." Bismarck's words, "iron and blood" (or "blood and iron", as often attributed), have often been misappropriated as evidence of a German lust for blood and power. First, the phrase from his speech "the great questions of time will not be resolved by speeches and majority decisions"
43600-435: The transition to capitalism, sought the expansion of male suffrage, among other issues. Their "radicalness" depended upon where they stood on the spectrum of male suffrage : the wider the definition of suffrage, the more radical. The surge of German nationalism , stimulated by the experience of Germans in the Napoleonic period and initially allied with liberalism , shifted political, social, and cultural relationships within
43818-408: The treaties binding the various German states to one another prohibited Bismarck from taking unilateral action, the politician and diplomat in him realized the impracticality of this. To get the German states to unify, Bismarck needed a single, outside enemy that would declare war on one of the German states first, thus providing a casus belli to rally all Germans behind. This opportunity arose with
44036-450: The two customs officers there, who had demanded that they halt but refrained from opening fire. The partly demolished bridge over the Sauer at Echternach was quickly repaired by engineers of the Großdeutschland regiment , allowing the passage of the 10th Panzer Division. Planes flew overhead, heading for Belgium and France, though some stopped and landed troops within the country. Captain Archen repeatedly alerted his superiors at Longwy of
44254-417: The week in the cities, returning for a day and a half on weekends. The economic, social and cultural dislocation of ordinary people, the economic hardship of an economy in transition, and the pressures of meteorological disasters all contributed to growing problems in Central Europe. The failure of most of the governments to deal with the food crisis of the mid-1840s, caused by the potato blight (related to
44472-558: The years of French hegemony contributed to a sense of common cause to remove the French invaders and reassert control over their own lands. The Napoleon's campaigns in Poland (1806–07) resulting in his decision to re-establish a form of Polish statehood (the Duchy of Warsaw ) at the cost of also Prussian-conquered Polish territories, as well as his campaigns on Iberian Peninsula , in western Germany, and his disastrous invasion of Russia in 1812 disillusioned many Germans, princes and peasants alike. Napoleon's Continental System nearly ruined
44690-436: Was Albert Wehrer [ de ] , head of the Ministry of State Affairs, as well as the 41 deputies. By the end of May Wehrer and several high ranking functionaries established a provisional "Administrative Commission" to govern Luxembourg in lieu of the Grand Ducal family and the other ministers. Wehrer retained the Ministry of State Affairs and assumed responsibility for Foreign Relations and Justice; Jean Metzdorf held
44908-443: Was adopted partly because the Empire lost most of its territories in Italy and Burgundy to the south and west by the late 15th century, but also to emphasize the new importance of the German Imperial Estates in ruling the Empire due to the Imperial Reform ). The states of the Holy Roman Empire ranged in size from the small and complex territories of the princely Hohenlohe family branches to sizable, well-defined territories such as
45126-406: Was badly injured, as was one German who was detained. Shortly thereafter a gendarmerie lieutenant and his chauffeur were ambushed and exchanged fire with German-speaking cyclists; no one was hurt. Fifth columnists successfully severed the telephone wires between the capital and the border posts, forcing the gendarmes to communicate via shortwave radio. German agents gradually seized the radio stations;
45344-419: Was becoming increasingly clear that both Austria and Prussia wanted to be the leaders in any resulting unification; each would inhibit the drive of the other to achieve unification. Formation of the Zollverein , an institution key to unifying the German states economically, helped to create a larger sense of economic unification. Initially conceived by the Prussian Finance Minister Hans, Count von Bülow , as
45562-414: Was both impossible and undesirable to repress the free utterance of public opinion by reactionary measures. The Hambach Festival ( Hambacher Fest ) in May 1832 was attended by a crowd of more than 30,000. Promoted as a county fair , its participants celebrated fraternity, liberty, and national unity. Celebrants gathered in the town below and marched to the ruins of Hambach Castle on the heights above
45780-505: Was briefly incarcerated by the Gestapo , though he was later released under close supervision. Unification of Germany The unification of Germany ( German : Deutsche Einigung , pronounced [ˈdɔʏtʃə ˈʔaɪnɪɡʊŋ] ) was a process of building the first nation-state for Germans with federal features based on the concept of Lesser Germany (one without Habsburgs ' multi-ethnic Austria or its German-speaking part). It commenced on 18 August 1866 with adoption of
45998-563: Was deadly accurate from the first round, a number of German tanks taking direct hits as they waited around Baudeset. Harassing fire continued all night, forcing crews to dig in under their tanks. The intentions of the 3rd Panzer Division for 14 May are unclear. The division's left-flank regiment —6th Panzer Regiment—did attack in the Ernage area in the afternoon and was checked by defensive fire. The supporting riflemen failed to arrive and 3rd Panzer Brigade reported being under enemy air observation after 19:00 hours. Meanwhile, serious fighting
46216-400: Was divided into long-lasting divisions, or " Stem duchies ", based upon these ethnic designations, under the dominance of the western Franks starting with Clovis I , who established control of the Romanized and Frankish population of Gaul in the 5th century, and began a new process of conquering the peoples east of the Rhine. In subsequent centuries the power of the Franks grew considerably. By
46434-414: Was evacuated from its residence in Colmar-Berg to the Grand Ducal palace in Luxembourg City. Around 30 minutes later, at dawn, German planes were spotted flying over Luxembourg City towards Belgium. The German invasion began at 04:35 when the 1st , 2nd , and 10th Panzer Divisions crossed the border at Wallendorf-Pont , Vianden , and Echternach respectively. Wooden ramps were used to cross over
46652-471: Was particularly important for the emerging industrial centers, most of which were located in the Prussian regions of the Rhineland , the Saar , and the Ruhr valleys. States more distant from the coast joined the Customs Union earlier. Not being a member mattered more for the states of south Germany, since the external tariff of the Customs Union prevented customs-free access to the coast (which gave access to international markets). Thus, by 1836, all states to
46870-406: Was powerfully armoured for its time and made a small target. The French infantry divisions which fought at Gembloux also had light automatic anti-aircraft weapons. Morale in the units of First Army was high, based on the soldiers' confidence in their equipment and their leaders. General de Fornel de La Laurencie 's III Corps and especially General Henri Aymes 's IV Corps played the critical role in
47088-418: Was ready, but in the meantime began his own attack in the Ernage area alone. After 18:00, XVI Corps again pressed its divisions to attack, but French defensive barrages were so dense that a poison gas alert was mistakenly declared, stopped these attacks. At 20:50, Hoepner radioed his division commanders to halt their offensive until the next morning. That afternoon, 4th Panzer Division had suffered both from
47306-419: Was replaced by twelve modern Canon de 105 court mle 1935 B guns. Motorised infantry divisions had a cavalry battalion with armoured cars. The infantry-support tank battalion involved in the Battle of Gembloux was equipped with 45 Renault R35 machines: slow, manned by two reservists, lacking radio and armed with a low-velocity AC 37 anti-tank gun of limited effect in the anti-tank role, the Renault nonetheless
47524-407: Was reported with tanks (of the 3d DLM) in the Walhain and St. Paul areas and French tanks also appeared at Ernage, leading the Panzer Brigade command to conclude that the situation was critical; enemy armour, against which only the 75 mm gun of the Panzer IV was really effective, was trying to break through both on the left and the right with artillery support directed by spotter aircraft while
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