Over time I have come to realize that France in 1940 is one of those classic “it’s complicated” situations, rather than the shallow “cheese eating surrender monkey” image of popular lore (which I once accepted).
*The sentiment of the (woefully undersupported) troops was one of “I see they didn’t learn their lesson” and “if we gotta, we gotta”.
*The officer corps was more neo-monarchist than anything. They admired order and authority...not the existing government.
*The politicians were the “surrender monkeys”, really. And, “democracy” was both a foreign concept and one that had given the appearance of weakness in Europe.
*Communism was very strong in prewar France...and remember, before June 22, 1941 Germany was the Soviet Union’s ally. The Communists were a strong force behind France’s inability to rearm in a timely fashion...from political obstruction right down to actual sabotage at the factories.
Also consider (though the French would prefer you not)...among the merchant class and “bourgeoisie” (for lack of a better term) there was strong support for Naziism, at least as far as nationalism and the image of order and unity. For them Communism was the greater threat.
The biggest problem was the Germans spent the period between wars preparing for combat while the French looked for ways to avoid a fight. The Maginot Line was a classic example. Millions of Francs spent on defenses that ultimately proved useless, depleting resources that could have been directed toward new weapons, particularly aircraft. The French were simply not psychologically prepared for another world war.