By this point in the war, the speed at which the war progressed could no longer be determined by national power alone.
If one were truly comparing the overall strength of the nations, Germany was clearly weaker than the United Kingdom, let alone when facing the encirclement of the four great powers—Anglo-French-Australasian-Russian.
The reason Germany had managed to hold out for so long and even gain a certain advantage during the early stages of the war was, in fact, the mutual wariness and maneuvering among the four countries of the Anglo-French-Australasian-Russian alliance.
If those four countries had been even a little more united, Germany might not have lasted a year before being reduced to ashes beneath their combined assault.
Unfortunately, seeing the Anglo-French-Australasian-Russian alliance unite without reservation would require Germany's strength to surpass that of all four countries combined—and that was impossible.
Thus, early in World War II, one could see a scene that reflected the cracks between the nations: when the German Army attacked the French Army, the British Army often stood by and watched, only stepping in to help when the French Army was on the verge of collapse.
The French Army was much the same. Neither side gave its all when supporting the other. Most of the time, they seemed like the 996 employees of later generations, slacking off and going through the motions.
Every country truly wanted to defeat Germany, but compared with defeating Germany, the manner in which Germany was defeated was more important.
They would not go so far as to sabotage their allies' offensives, but they could still manage to delay them somewhat. One major reason Paris fell so quickly to the Germans was that the United Kingdom and Australasia had not committed themselves fully to the war.
Likewise, France had been able