France during World War II in the context of "Blockade of Germany (1939-45)"

The Saar Offensive was the French invasion of Saarland, Germany, in the first stages of World War II, from September 7 to October 16, 1939, in response to the German invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939. The original plans called for 40 divisions, one armored division, three mechanised divisions, 78 artillery regiments and 40 tank battalions to assist Poland, which was then under invasion, by attacking Germany's neglected western front. Despite 30 divisions advancing to the border (and in some cases across it), the attack did not have the expected result. When the swift victory in Poland allowed Germany to reinforce its lines with homecoming troops, the offensive was halted. French forces then withdrew amid a German counter-offensive on 17 October.

The Blockade of Germany (1939–1945), also known as the Economic War, involved operations carried out during World War II by the British Empire and by France in order to restrict the supplies of minerals, fuel, metals, food and textiles needed by Nazi Germany – and later by Fascist Italy – in order to sustain their war efforts. The economic war consisted mainly of a naval blockade, which formed part of the wider Battle of the Atlantic, but also included the bombing of economically important targets and the preclusive buying of war materials from neutral countries in order to prevent their sale to the Axis powers.

• The first period, from the beginning of European hostilities in September 1939 to the end of the "Phoney War", saw both the Allies and the Axis powers intercepting neutral merchant ships to seize deliveries en route to their respective enemies. Naval blockade at this time proved less than effective because the Axis could get crucial materials from the Soviet Union until June 1941, while Berlin used harbours in Spain to import war materials into Germany.
• The second period began after the rapid Axis occupation of the majority of the European landmass (Scandinavia, Benelux, France and the Balkans) in 1940–1941, resulting in Axis control of major centres of industry and agriculture.
• The third period started in December 1941 after the attack on Pearl Harbor by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service brought the U.S. officially into the European war.
• The final period came after the tide of war finally turned against the Axis after heavy military defeats up to and after D-Day in June 1944, which led to gradual Axis withdrawals from the occupied territories in the face of the overwhelming Allied military offensives.

Georges-Augustin Bidault (French: [ʒɔʁʒ bido]; 5 October 1899 – 27 January 1983) was a French politician. During World War II, he was active in the French Resistance. After the war, he served as foreign minister and premier on several occasions. He apparently joined the Organisation armée secrète; however he always denied his involvement.

The Battle of Arnhem was fought during the Second World War, as part of the Allied Operation Market Garden. It took place around the Dutch city of Arnhem and vicinity from 17 to 26 September 1944. The Allies had swept through France and Belgium in August 1944, after the Battle of Normandy. Market Garden was proposed by Field Marshal Sir Bernard Montgomery, who favoured a single push northwards over the branches of the Lower Rhine River, allowing the British Second Army to bypass the Siegfried Line and attack the important Ruhr industrial area.

The First Allied Airborne Army was to capture the bridges to secure a route for the Second Army with US, British and Polish airborne troops dropped in the Netherlands along the line of the ground advance, being relieved by the British XXX Corps. Farthest north, the British 1st Airborne Division landed at Arnhem to capture bridges across the Nederrijn (Lower Rhine), with the 1st Polish Parachute Brigade following on. XXX Corps was expected to reach Arnhem in two to three days.