During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Operation Attila (named after

Attila the Hun Attila ( or ; ), frequently called Attila the Hun, was the ruler of the Huns from 434 until his death in early 453. He was also the leader of an empire consisting of Huns, Ostrogoths, Alans, and Gepids, among others, in Central and East ...

) was a plan for the German occupation of

Vichy France Vichy France (; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was a French rump state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II, established as a result of the French capitulation after the Battle of France, ...

. It was drawn up as War Directive no. 19 in December 1940 in case the French rejoined the

Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are calle ...

or of an Allied threat to the south of France. An important aspect was the capture of the

French Navy The French Navy (, , ), informally (, ), is the Navy, maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the four military service branches of History of France, France. It is among the largest and most powerful List of navies, naval forces i ...

, with various measures under consideration to prevent its escape despite the fact that little resistance was otherwise expected. Owing to the changing situation of the war, particularly as a consequence of the events on the Eastern front, the original plan was never executed. An altered version (

Case Anton Case Anton () was the military occupation of Vichy France carried out by Germany and Italy in November 1942. It marked the end of the Vichy regime as a nominally independent state and the disbanding of its army (the severely-limited '' Armisti ...

), designed as an improvised plan to be "carried out at very short notice", which included Italian forces, was executed on 11 November 1942 in response to the

Operation Torch Operation Torch (8–16 November 1942) was an Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of French North Africa during the Second World War. Torch was a compromise operation that met the British objective of securing victory in North Africa whil ...

landings in North Africa. The attempt to capture the French fleet, Operation Lila, failed due to the

scuttling of the French fleet at Toulon The scuttling of the French fleet at Toulon was orchestrated by Vichy France on 27 November 1942 to prevent Nazi German forces from seizing it. After the Allied invasion of North Africa, the Germans invaded the territory administered by Vichy ...

, on orders of Admiral

Jean de Laborde Jean may refer to: People * Jean (female given name) * Jean (male given name) * Jean (surname) Fictional characters * Jean Grey, a Marvel Comics character * Jean Valjean, fictional character in novel ''Les Misérables'' and its adaptations * Jean ...

, to prevent its capture. As a result of the action, the Germans and Italians failed to gain the use of three battleships, seven cruisers, twenty-eight destroyers and twenty submarines. However, the destruction of the fleet also denied it to

Charles de Gaulle Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French general and statesman who led the Free France, Free French Forces against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government of the French Re ...

and the

Free French Forces __NOTOC__ The French Liberation Army ( ; AFL) was the reunified French Army that arose from the merging of the Armée d'Afrique with the prior Free French Forces (; FFL) during World War II. The military force of Free France, it participated ...

, which explained Hitler's satisfaction at the result.

References

* * Military operations of World War II involving Germany World War II operations of the Western European Theatre German occupation of France during World War II {{France-mil-stub