Battle of Sedan

Overview

The Battle of Sedan or Second Battle of Sedan took place in World War II during the Battle of France in 1940. It was part of the German Wehrmacht's operational plan codenamed Fall Gelb for an offensive through the hilly and forested Ardennes, to encircle the Allied armies in Belgium and north-eastern France. German Army Group A crossed the Meuse with the intention of capturing Sedan and pushing westwards towards the Channel coast, to trap the Allied forces that were advancing east into Belgium, as part of the Allied Dyle Plan.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Significance

The Battle of Sedan was fought during the Franco-Prussian War on 1–2 September 1870. The engagement resulted in the capture of Emperor Napoleon III and more than one hundred thousand French troops, a catastrophic loss that effectively decided the war in favor of Prussia and its allies. Although fighting continued after the battle under a new French government, the fall of Napoleon III removed the imperial leadership and stripped France of its principal field force. No comparable blow to French strategic capacity occurred elsewhere in the war, making Sedan the decisive action of the conflict.

Forces & casualties

Commanders (16)