James Baquet

The situation was actually much more serious than the names would suggest.

On Sept. 1, 1939, Nazi troops had entered Poland from three directions, marking the start of World War II. This became Germany’s Eastern Front.

While the lion’s share of Germany’s forces were tied up in the east, a much smaller force was committed to the “Siegfried Line,” the English name for what Germans called the “Westwall.” Facing them on the other side of the German/French border were French and English troops along the “Maginot Line.” This constituted Germany’s “Western Front.”

For approximately eight months, aside from minor skirmishes along the front and one larger operation, almost nothing happened. The “larger operation” mentioned was the Saar Offensive, when France invaded German territory in an attempt to divert German troops away from the Eastern Front. This should have offered Poland some relief, but it didn’t work.

The inactivity along the Western Front caused an American senator named William Borah to comment, “There is something phoney about this war.”Thus it came to be known as “The Phoney War.” (That’s the standard British spelling; Americans often write the word “phony.”) The French called it the “drole de guerre” — the “funny” or “strange” war. In reference to the Germans’ dreaded Blitzkrieg or “Lightning War” — a series of quick, powerful attacks using both land and air forces — some wag referred to the Phoney War as the “Sitzkrieg” or “Sitting War.” Winston Churchill called it the “Twilight War.”

At last, on May 10, 1940, Germany attacked Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg (now referred to collectively as the “Benelux” countries) and the Western Front was activated in earnest. The Battle of France, which led to the country’s occupation by Germany, had begun.

Things actually remained fairly “quiet on the Western Front” from 1941 to 1944, when the D-Day landing at Normandy brought about the liberation of France and, ultimately, the invasion of Germany and V-E Day (Victory in Europe) on May 8, 1945. V-J Day (Victory over Japan) followed about three months later.

Vocabulary:

Which words above mean:

1. the largest portion

2. turn away, distract

3. fake, not genuine

4. together, as a group

5. place where two opposing forces meet

6. attack

7. joker, witty person

8. small battles

9. made up

10. arrival of a naval force