Decades of underinvestment could not be reversed in the opening months of the war, which left fleet policy as the practical choice still available. The concentration at Toulon placed many ships away from the northern land fighting, but France still needed an agreed destination and command policy if the country collapsed. The later crisis at Mers-el-Kebir shows the cost of leaving that question unresolved, while the speed of the German breakthrough explains why improvisation came too late. Writing a contingency plan would have required the political leadership to discuss defeat before it believed defeat was possible.
Notable Point · 3:19-7:12
A contingency plan for the French fleet
The practical January 1940 reform is not a new fleet but a clear plan for where French ships should go and fight if metropolitan France collapses.