REARMAMENT & THE BATTLE OF FRANCE

France entered Second World War while still suffering the effects of the First. Out-thought as much as out-fought, the Armée de L’Air was left ill-equipped in both mindset and aircraft

France had been exhausted by the First World War, and the economic resources and political will were lacking to spend money on military equipment in the 1920s and early 1930s. By the mid-1930s, when the threat from Germany became obvious, the French military and aircraft industry were in a very poor state. Rapid modernisation would prove to be too little, too late.

The Armée de L’Air was formed from the Aéronautique Militaire as an independent air arm in 1934, but it continued to suffer from doctrinal, political and economic problems. Rapid changes in government created little continuity in policy and priorities, leading to problems with funding. Corners were cut with the use of multi-role aircraft intended for adaptation to a range of different capabilities, although inevitably such aircraft became a mess of compromises and fell short in all tasks. Only in 1936 did the need to rearm spark development of effective modern aircraft, in particular fighters, such as the Morane Saulnier MS406 and Dewoitine D520. Even then the tendency was to cut corners, with aircraft like the Potez 630 twin-engined fighter being built with one eye on producing bomber and reconnaissance variants.