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That's the Explorers Podcast. Hello everyone and welcome to history of the Second World War, episode 184, the fall of France, Hanu, and Jim Blu.

This week, a big thank you goes out to Andrew for the donation and to Royal

Dragoon and Scott for choosing to support the podcast by becoming members. You can find out more

over at History of the Second World War.com slash members. While the Belgian government had made

the decision in 1936 to transition back to neutrality. Both the governments in Brussels and in Paris

knew that if the Germans came knocking, the Belgians could depend on the French for assistance.

Then the plan would be to push British and French troops to meet up with Belgian forces

somewhere in Belgium to form a defensive line that would be used to stop the German attack.

This basic outline had not really changed since after the First World War, and so Belgium's

period of neutrality didn't really change very much, even though they couldn't have detailed

military coordination or conversations with the French and British.

And this all makes Belgian neutrality in the late 1930s somewhat interesting, because on both sides of the border, there was never any serious doubt that two things would occur.

Germany would probably attack, and when Belgium called for French aid, they would answer.

And that's exactly what would happen on May 10th, 1940, when the German invasion would begin.

News traveled faster than the Belgian diplomats, though.

This meant that information arrived in Paris early in the morning of May 10th.

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