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03:01At the conclusion of the Second World War, the atomic bomb introduced an entirely new level of destruction.
04:37The Soviet Union, the Soviet Union, under Joseph Stalin, had signed a non-aggression pact with Hitler.
04:48But when the German dictator betrayed this agreement, the Russians too joined the Allied cause.
04:54The war spanned six years, resulting in the staggering loss of over 50 million lives, two-thirds of whom were civilians.
05:06This program, using rare archival footage, will examine the events that led to the outbreak of war on September 3rd, 1939,
05:27and, more specifically, how the paths of two men, Winston Churchill and Adolf Hitler, helped shape the contours of this devastating global conflict.
05:37Looking back with the clarity of hindsight, it is evident that more decisive action and better preparation could have averted a war that continues to cast long shadows over world history.
05:56To understand the climate in which war erupted, we must step back into the early 20th century and delve into the intricate history that preceded it.
06:07The first world war left Europe in turmoil, its economies shattered, and political landscapes transformed.
06:34Monarchies crumbled, revolutions erupted,
06:37and long-standing institutions were upended.
06:51Mussolini established a fascist regime in Italy.
06:54The Russian Revolution of 1917 birthed the world's first communist state,
06:59and Germany, once a proud empire, was left reeling from defeat.
07:07The treaty of Versailles, signed in 1919, officially ended the war, but imposed severe penalties on Germany.
07:25Though the fighting had ceased on November 11th, 1918, it took months to finalize the terms of peace.
07:32In the opulent Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles, American President Woodrow Wilson, British Prime Minister Lloyd George,
07:44and French Premier Georges Clemenceau gathered to shape the post-war world.
07:49The treaty stripped Germany of valuable industrial land, drastically reduced its military capability,
08:05and saddled it with a crippling war debt.
08:07But rather than ensuring lasting peace, these measures plunged Germany into economic ruin.
08:13The ultimate humiliation came in the form of the infamous war guilt clause,
08:26forcing Germany to accept full responsibility for the conflict.
08:30When German politicians signed the treaty, nationalist outrage exploded.
08:34Among those enraged was a young soldier named Adolf Hitler, who would later brand them the November Criminals.
08:42The 1920s saw Germany in dire straits.
08:52Poverty, unemployment and social unrest gripped the nation.
08:59It was in this atmosphere of desperation that Adolf Hitler rose to prominence,
09:03vowing to restore Germany's former glory.
09:07Though Austrian by birth, Hitler considered Germany his true homeland.
09:11He had fought for the country during the First World War,
09:14and had even been awarded the Iron Cross for bravery.
09:22After the war, the German army, fearing communist uprisings,
09:26tasked him with spying on the German Workers' Party.
09:29But instead of merely observing, Hitler became deeply involved.
09:32One evening, after delivering an impassioned 15-minute speech,
09:40he caught the attention of the party's leaders, who quickly recognised his potential.
09:48Hitler's anti-Semitic and nationalistic rhetoric resonated with many,
09:53and soon the small parties swelled in numbers.
09:56Within days, Hitler was on its committee.
09:59His speeches captivated audiences, railing against the Treaty of Versailles,
10:03blaming the Jews for Germany's woes, and denouncing Marxism and communism.
10:08Under his leadership, the party rebranded as the National Socialist German Workers' Party,
10:23the Nazi Party.
10:25Hitler became its undisputed leader, or Führer,
10:29introducing the now-infamous swastika as its emblem.
10:42As Hitler's speeches grew ever more impassioned,
10:45Germany's economic woes deepened.
10:47With the Allies demanding reparations, hunger riots erupted,
10:51and the country verged on collapse.
10:52In 1923, the Nazis attempted a coup in Munich, but it failed, and Hitler was imprisoned for treason.
11:12However, rather than ending his career,
11:15his trial and subsequent imprisonment only amplified his influence.
11:19His courtroom speeches were widely published, spreading his ideology far beyond his initial base of support.
11:34Hitler used his time in prison to pen Mein Kampf,
11:37a manifesto that laid bare his extreme nationalist and racist beliefs.
11:41He vilified Jews, blamed them for Germany's decline, and spoke of conspiracies to control global finance and media.
11:56He glorified the Aryan race, demeaning Slavs, Poles and Russians,
12:01and outlined his vision of Lebensraum, or living space, for the German people.
12:05This expansionist policy would be pursued through war,
12:14as Hitler openly discussed enslaving or exterminating entire populations.
12:20He also fixated on avenging Germany's defeat in the First World War, particularly by striking against France.
12:27It was the first time in the First World War, and the First World War, and the First World War.
12:33Upon its publication in 1925, Mein Kampf was not an immediate success.
12:40However, it provided a chilling warning, one that the world largely ignored.
12:48Hitler, however, was patient.
12:51As Germany's economy stabilised in the mid-1920s,
12:55public interest in his extremist rhetoric waned, but he waited for the right moment.
13:08That moment came in 1929, with the Wall Street Crash and the subsequent Great Depression.
13:14The effects on Germany were catastrophic.
13:24Banks collapsed, life savings vanished, inflation skyrocketed, and the economy ground to a halt.
13:35In the ensuing desperation, Hitler and his Nazis seized their opportunity,
13:39infiltrating the political establishment and gaining widespread support.
13:55On January 30th, 1933, Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany.
14:00As the Nazi SS marched triumphantly beneath the towering columns of Berlin's Brandenburg Gate,
14:05thousands of Germans cheered.
14:07Hitler and Hitler did.
14:17Joseph Goebbels, Hitler's propaganda mastermind, exulted in his diary, writing,
14:23It is almost like a dream, a fairy tale. The new Reich has begun.
14:28With Hitler's rise to power, democracy in Germany was swiftly dismantled.
14:38Civil liberties were stripped away, freedom of the press was curtailed,
14:42and political opponents were rounded up, tortured or executed.
14:46The persecution of Jews intensified as Nazi paramilitary forces enforced boycotts
14:58on Jewish businesses and burned books deemed un-German. Many of Germany's brightest minds,
15:05scientists, artists and intellectuals fled the country, including Albert Einstein,
15:10Sigmund Freud and Marlene Dietrich. Within mere days, Germany had begun its transformation into a
15:21totalitarian police state, where individual freedoms were systematically eradicated. The world watched in
15:28an alarm, but few could foresee the unprecedented horrors that lay ahead.
15:52Support for Hitler continued to grow at an alarming rate,
15:55with rallies reaching unprecedented sizes.
16:02When 87-year-old President Hindenburg died on the 2nd of August 1934,
16:07Hitler swiftly assumed presidential powers, making himself the unchallenged Führer of Germany.
16:18Matters worsened in 1935, when, in direct violation of the Treaty of Versailles,
16:24Hitler bolstered the German army. As he methodically expanded his military,
16:29thousands of miles away, another dictator pursued similar ambitions.
16:39In October 1935, Italian leader Mussolini invaded Abyssinia, aiming to enhance his political prestige,
16:47and establish new colonies. Despite public outcry in Britain, Stanley Baldwin's government failed to act,
16:58potentially emboldening Hitler.
16:59When Hitler marched into the industrially rich Rhineland, territory lost by Germany after the First World War,
17:14on 7th March 1936, the world watched as Britain and France failed to respond.
17:30Hitler later admitted,
17:36If the French had marched into the Rhineland, we would have had to withdraw with our tail between
17:42our legs, for our military resources were wholly inadequate for even a moderate resistance.
17:48He even contemplated suicide had Britain and France intervened.
17:52But with no repercussions, he pressed forward.
18:00That summer, as the world gathered in Berlin for the 1936 Olympic Games,
18:04Hitler continued plotting.
18:17With the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War,
18:20Hitler and Mussolini supported General Franco's fascist regime.
18:23In November, Hitler signed an alliance with Japan, forming a dangerous coalition.
18:36Japan, deeply affected by the Great Depression, sought to secure vital resources,
18:41escalating its conflict with China from 1931.
18:44The battle at Marco Polo Bridge in 1937 marked the start of full-scale war between China and Japan.
18:59Despite its vast population, China lacked military strength, giving Japan the upper hand.
19:18Meanwhile, Hitler set his sights on further expansion.
19:25In a secret conference with his military chiefs,
19:28he announced plans to seize Austria and Czechoslovakia,
19:31exploiting France and Britain's perceived weaknesses.
19:37His army commanders, Blomberg and Fritsch, were alarmed at his aggressive intentions,
19:42but challenging him had become perilous.
19:45Soon after, both were removed from their positions under humiliating circumstances.
19:50By 1938, with no opposition, Hitler forced Austria into unification.
19:58It was a war.
19:59It was a war.
20:00Following months of Nazi propaganda, German troops marched in.
20:06And the Austrian Chancellor, after a heated argument with Hitler,
20:09was coerced into submission.
20:13Not a single shot was fired.
20:15This left neighbouring Czechoslovakia vulnerable,
20:23and Hitler wasted no time declaring it his next target.
20:33At a Nazi congress in Berlin, 20,000 Nazis cheered as he threatened war over the region.
20:39Those who had established the Treaty of Versailles now recognised that decisive action was necessary.
20:55With Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin retired, Neville Chamberlain took office, advocating a strong anti-war stance.
21:01As Britain prepared for possible conflict, with gas masks distributed and sandbags filled,
21:08Chamberlain flew to Germany in an attempt to negotiate peace.
21:11On 28th of September 1938, four world leaders, French Premier Edouard Daladier,
21:23Mussolini, Hitler and Chamberlain, met in Munich to discuss Czechoslovakia's fate.
21:28With memories of the First World War still fresh, Chamberlain and Daladier, desperate to prevent
21:44another global conflict, conceded Czechoslovakian territory to Hitler, believing his assurance that
21:50this was his final demand in Europe.
21:58Returning to Britain with Hitler's signed promise, Chamberlain was met with public and political
22:03celebration. However, one voice of dissent stood out.
22:12Winston Churchill. He had long warned of Hitler's threat and condemned the Munich Agreement,
22:17famously stating, Britain and France had to choose between war and dishonour.
22:22They chose dishonour. They will have war.
22:27Churchill's fears were soon realised.
22:30On 15th March 1939, without warning, Hitler invaded Czechoslovakia.
22:36The Munich Agreement had been a missed opportunity to halt Nazi expansion,
22:51and with Germany now even stronger, Hitler turned his gaze eastward to Poland.
22:56Poland.
23:01That summer, Germany began a relentless campaign for the return of Danzig and the Polish corridor,
23:07lost under the Treaty of Versailles.
23:09Poland.
23:18Before advancing, Hitler secured Soviet support, despite his disdain for communism.
23:28Foreign Minister Ribbentrop was sent to Moscow to finalise a non-aggression pact with Stalin.
23:33The world saw the writing on the wall. Hitler was preparing for his next move.
23:47Having seized the Rhineland, Austria and Czechoslovakia with little resistance,
23:52Hitler assumed Britain and France would remain passive.
23:56But on 1st September 1939, when Nazi troops invaded Poland, the Allies were bound by treaty to respond.
24:05Britain and France issued an ultimatum.
24:07If German troops did not withdraw immediately, war would be declared.
24:11The deadline was 11am on Sunday, 3rd September 1939.
24:33When no response came, Neville Chamberlain addressed the British people,
24:37announcing that Britain was at war with Germany.
24:41The hours following this declaration were extraordinary.
24:47Londoners enjoying their Sunday morning were suddenly ushered into shelters as air raid sirens blared across the capital.
24:58Fortunately, it was a false alarm, but the fear was real, as memories of the First World War loomed large.
25:11By the end of the day, with concerns of a Nazi assault mounting, 1.5 million evacuees,
25:22children, expectant mothers and women with infants were sent to the countryside.
25:27The evacuation was efficiently managed, each child was tagged with their name, address and school number.
25:41They carried gas masks, basic toiletries, and if they had one, an overcoat.
25:44The process, however, was deeply distressing, as families parted with no certainty of their children's destinations.
26:02That same day, the first casualties of war were not in the cities, but at sea.
26:18The SS Athenia, carrying over 1,000 passengers, including women and children, from Dublin to Canada,
26:30was attacked by a German U-boat, killing 112 people.
26:34Any prospect of a peaceful resolution with Hitler now seemed impossible.
26:53But there was one significant development.
26:55Winston Churchill, the fiercest critic of appeasement, was appointed First Lord of the Admiralty.
27:04The Royal Navy, relieved by his return, famously signalled its fleet with a simple message.
27:18Winston is back.
27:20For Churchill, this was a pivotal moment.
27:23Born at Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire to aristocratic parents,
27:27Lord Randolph Churchill and American heiress Jenny Jerome,
27:31his early life had been fraught with difficulties.
27:34Estranged from his parents and struggling in school,
27:37Churchill found his calling in the military and later in politics.
27:41Now, with war engulfing Europe, his leadership would soon be tested like never before.
27:46Yet Churchill was no stranger to controversy, having switched political parties multiple times,
28:06and being blamed for the disaster at Gallipoli in the First World War,
28:09cutting short his tenure at the Admiralty.
28:22Following Gallipoli, he was demoted.
28:25After years in the political wilderness, it seemed as though his career had ended,
28:29and that Winston was destined for retirement.
28:34But everything changed on 3rd September 1939.
28:38His country desperately needed his blunt style of leadership.
28:42And being who he was, Churchill rose to the occasion.
28:48After all, he had been right about Hitler's wicked plans.
28:52In the nation's eyes, he was the man for the job, first at the Admiralty and then beyond.
29:04As the British adapted to curfews and nightly blackouts, little seemed to happen.
29:09The only casualties were road accidents and falls, as car headlights and streetlights were completely blacked out.
29:14A lull in activity even led to confused evacuees returning home,
29:28as war and danger felt like a distant concern.
29:37Aircraft were sent over Germany, but rather than dropping bombs,
29:40they released millions of leaflets informing civilians and soldiers alike about the evils of the Nazi regime.
29:53It was thought this might intimidate the Nazis by demonstrating Germany's vulnerability to air raids.
30:01But many dismissed this as a pointless confetti war, futile against such a ruthless enemy.
30:06In fact, between the outbreak of war and the year's end, this period became known as the Phony War.
30:18For British civilians, war seemed distant, but in Poland it was a different reality.
30:27The nation was being annihilated by Nazi forces and its people desperately needed Western Allied support.
30:36Hitler's commanders showed no mercy in their assault.
30:48Fields and forests quaked as armoured columns thundered through the terrain, destroying everything in their path.
30:54The nation was being annihilated by Nazi forces and the nation's forces and the nation's forces and the nation's forces.
31:01Overhead, the Luftwaffe raised buildings and roads, sending civilians scattering.
31:06This new military tactic was called Blitzkrieg, or lightning strike, allowing the Nazis to attack with speed and surprise rather than being bogged down in trench warfare,
31:33a lesson learned from the First World War.
31:42The British and French had wrongly assumed Poland could hold out for two to three months before requiring military assistance.
31:55Huge numbers of civilians perished as terror bombings devastated Poland,
31:59with the Nazis brutally massacring many Poles.
32:01Operation Tannenberg claimed 20,000 lives, with shootings at 760 mass-execution sites.
32:15But these atrocities were only the beginning of the horrors that would unfold in the Second World War.
32:20Hoping for Western aid, Polish militia and civilian volunteers courageously defended Warsaw.
32:31Meanwhile, the British Expeditionary Force was swiftly deployed to France,
32:36with half a million British and French troops waiting at the Maginot Line along the German border for the order to strike.
32:54But the command never came.
33:04Allied leaders believed they were still unprepared for war and hesitated to advance into Germany.
33:10Little did they know, there were no tanks left on the German defensive line, the Siegfried Line,
33:22as the Nazis prioritized Poland's destruction.
33:30Had the Allies acted then, the war might have been cut short.
33:32Tragically, intelligence came too late, and the brave Poles were steadily crushed.
33:48Worse was yet to come.
33:50On 17th September, the Soviet Red Army, 800,000 strong, marched into eastern Poland,
33:55fulfilling Stalin's agreement with Hitler to divide the country.
33:58Hundreds of miles west, Warsaw held out until disease, starvation and exhaustion forced its surrender.
34:22The Polish capital was utterly reduced to rubble.
34:25On 28th September, its defenders were marched out, as the Nazis triumphantly marched in.
34:45In Poland's aftermath, Chamberlain's vague address in the Commons failed to inspire confidence,
34:49while Churchill's resolute words captivated Britain.
34:53Even Hitler saw Churchill as Britain's true leader, particularly after Poland's fall and attempted to broker peace, appealing to Churchill's faction rather than Chamberlain's.
35:09Although Britain and France had failed to save Poland, they now fully understood Hitler's imperial ambitions and prepared for their own defence.
35:21After war was declared, Britain's National Service Act made men aged 18 to 40 eligible for conscription into the Army, Navy or Air Force.
35:33Many also volunteered throughout 1939.
35:47Mobilisation extended beyond Europe, as Indians, Cypriots, Australians and New Zealanders trained while Canada provided military and financial aid.
36:05Soon, soldiers, airmen, ships and supplies poured into Britain from across the Commonwealth to support the fight against Nazi Germany.
36:21Despite this, many European nations remain neutral, reluctant to risk their economies or sever ties with Germany.
36:31The United States wished to avoid sending troops into overseas conflicts.
36:41But Roosevelt's Neutrality Act of 1939 permitted US arms to aid the Allies.
37:01Norway and Denmark also sought neutrality, as they had in the First World War, but events would soon drag them into battle.
37:09While Britain remained largely peaceful on land, the situation at sea was far deadlier.
37:28A German submarine torpedoed the aircraft carrier HMS Courageous, killing 550 men, including the captain, who refused to leave the bridge.
37:39Fire!
37:41Fire!
37:42Fire!
37:53Ah! And one another!
37:54Yet under Churchill's leadership, the Royal Navy fought back fiercely.
38:04While the phony war continued at home, at sea,
38:07Hitler was left in no doubt of Britain's naval strength.
38:14However, Hitler was not the only aggressor seeking territorial gains.
38:19Just two months after securing Poland, the Soviet Union struck again.
38:24Drawing Finland into the war.
38:31Despite their pact with Hitler, Stalin's regime feared Germany, France or Britain
38:36might use Finland as a launching point against Leningrad.
38:44Under their agreement, Finland was assigned to the Soviet sphere of influence
38:48and Stalin's forces were eager to claim what they considered theirs.
38:54In autumn 1939, the Soviets demanded Finland move its border 25 kilometers from Leningrad.
39:05When Finland refused, Stalin ordered an invasion on the 30th of November 1939.
39:11Overpowering Finland seemed easy.
39:18Soviet troops outnumbered the Finns 4 to 1, their tanks 200 to 1, and aircraft 30 to 1.
39:25But Stalin's forces faced a tougher battle than expected.
39:28The winter of 1939 was one of Finland's harshest,
39:42with temperatures plunging to minus 20 degrees Celsius.
39:46Soviet troops recruited from Russia's south were unaccustomed to such conditions.
39:50In contrast, the Finns used their knowledge of the terrain,
40:06deploying swift ski troops in white camouflage to ambush the enemy.
40:10Despite shortages of weapons and supplies,
40:16the Finns struck Soviet troops as they huddled by their fires and seized enemy provisions.
40:21Finnish snipers exploited the Soviets' dark uniforms against the snow.
40:34One, a farmer by trade, killed 542 Red Army soldiers,
40:41earning the title of deadliest sniper in military history.
40:44The world was captivated by Finland's plight
40:55and its ghost-like warriors gliding through wintry forests.
40:59The struggle against the Soviets united Finland,
41:02a nation once torn by civil war.
41:05Christmas 1939 saw Finns rally together,
41:16determined to defend their homeland.
41:19While in Britain, families gathered for festive dinners,
41:23wondering if war would reach their shores.
41:30As 1940 dawned, the naval conflict began affecting daily life.
41:35As Britain depended on food imports,
41:42German U-boat attacks made it increasingly difficult
41:44for cargo ships to deliver goods.
41:48Bacon, sugar and butter became the first items to be rationed.
41:56Ration books with coupons ensured fair distribution
41:59as Britain felt war's impact.
42:05A major threat to British merchant ships
42:11was the formidable German battleship Graf Spee,
42:15which had sunk nine Allied vessels in 1939.
42:23The British and French navies organised eight task forces
42:26to track down the radar.
42:27The resulting chase ended in a dramatic battle
42:31off Argentina's coast,
42:33delivering Britain a much-needed morale boost.
42:44Though the navy had managed to sink the Graf Spee,
42:47another issue remained.
42:49The 300 British prisoners captured from the ship
42:52and the troops sunk by the Nazis,
42:53who had been transferred to the German vessel Altmark.
42:58Under Winston Churchill's command,
43:00the Admiralty ordered the destroyer HMS Cossack
43:03to rescue them,
43:05eventually tracking the Altmark
43:06to a fjord in neutral Norway.
43:08The Cossack pursued,
43:13ran alongside,
43:14and after an intense battle
43:15with hand-to-hand combat,
43:17the prisoners were freed.
43:26Returning home with the rescued men,
43:28the Cossack's crew received a jubilant welcome.
43:32In London, Churchill celebrated the navy's triumph,
43:35further increasing his popularity in Britain.
43:38With Chamberlain's government continuing to falter,
43:43Churchill became the obvious leader
43:45to counter Adolf Hitler's ambitions.
43:50Amidst this,
43:51the Allies pressed on
43:52with their plan to aid Finland.
43:56However,
43:57by the 15th of March,
43:59the heavily bombed-out Finns
44:00could wait no longer
44:01and chose to make peace with the Red Army.
44:04The new frontier,
44:05as demanded by the Soviets,
44:07was established.
44:08forcing 200,000 Finns
44:10to abandon their homes.
44:19The failure to aid Finland
44:21led to widespread discontent
44:23in Britain and France,
44:24with Allied leaders
44:25blamed for inaction.
44:27Five days after Finland
44:28signed the Moscow Peace Treaty,
44:30the French Premier was replaced.
44:32and Neville Chamberlain's fate became clear
44:35as his critics grew in Parliament.
44:44Finland's fall shook not only Britain and France,
44:46but also their Scandinavian neighbours,
44:48who now questioned their neutrality.
44:50both the Germans and the Allies
44:55turned their focus to Norway,
44:57strategically valuable
44:58and an outlet for Swedish iron ore,
45:01essential to Hitler's war machine.
45:11Churchill urged troops to be sent there,
45:14but Chamberlain's government refused to act,
45:16once again letting Hitler seize the advantage.
45:27The Nazi invasion of Denmark and Norway
45:30proved the devastating skill and organisation
45:33of the German military.
45:34the Allies had expected a land advance,
45:41believing Germany would avoid confronting
45:43the superior Royal Navy,
45:44but the Nazis did exactly that.
45:47on the 9th of April, 1940,
45:56Germany launched its assault,
45:58catching everyone off guard.
46:02Denmark surrendered immediately,
46:04with minimal losses,
46:05but Norway resisted as long as possible.
46:11Against Germany's relentless tactics, however,
46:14its defence was nearly impossible.
46:17Before British, French and Norwegian forces
46:20could coordinate,
46:21the Germans seized key coastal positions,
46:24pushing as far as Narvik.
46:34In London,
46:35when news confirmed
46:36Churchill's warnings had been right,
46:38the Cabinet, at first,
46:40struggled to believe it.
46:42Due to Chamberlain's hesitation,
46:44Norway was lost,
46:45before any real defence
46:46could be mounted,
46:47leaving the Nazis dangerously close to Britain.
46:51Though Hitler's ships suffered constant attacks,
46:53the Germans pressed forward relentlessly.
46:56The British public and politicians alike
46:58were outraged by Chamberlain's government's failures
47:00over Norway,
47:01sparking fierce debate.
47:07In Parliament,
47:09it was clear the Prime Minister
47:10had lost the people's confidence,
47:11and with honour,
47:12and with honour,
47:13he resigned.
47:16On the 10th of May, 1940,
47:19Winston Churchill,
47:20at 65,
47:21became leader of a coalition government
47:23set to guide Britain through the war.
47:25To a relieved nation,
47:27there was no doubt,
47:28Churchill was the right man for the job.
47:30At last,
47:39Hitler faced a formidable adversary.
47:42As Churchill assumed office,
47:44his inaugural speech signalled to Germany
47:46that success would no longer come easily.
47:48He declared,
48:01I have nothing to offer
48:03but blood,
48:04toil,
48:05tears,
48:05and sweat.
48:06You ask,
48:07what is our policy?
48:09I can say,
48:10it is to wage war
48:11by sea,
48:12land,
48:13and air
48:13with all our might,
48:14and with all the strength
48:16that God can give us
48:17to wage war
48:18against a monstrous tyranny
48:19never surpassed
48:20in the dark,
48:21lamentable catalogue
48:22of human crime.
48:24That is our policy.
48:26You ask,
48:27what is our aim?
48:29I can answer in one word.
48:30It is victory.
48:32Victory at all costs.
48:33Victory in spite of all terror.
48:36Victory,
48:36however long and hard
48:37the road may be.
48:39For without victory,
48:40there is no survival.
48:44Even as Churchill spoke
48:53these now legendary words
48:54in Parliament,
48:55the very threat he warned of
48:56was closing in on Britain
48:58at alarming speed,
48:59sweeping through the Netherlands
49:00and the Low Countries.
49:08Nazi forces struck Holland,
49:10Belgium,
49:11and Luxembourg
49:11simultaneously,
49:13leaving destruction
49:14and death
49:14in their wake.
49:16As cities crumbled
49:17and civilians fled,
49:18German troops
49:19cut a path
49:19towards their long-time enemy,
49:21France.
49:28Hitler had anticipated
49:30this confrontation,
49:31but knew his army
49:32was smaller than the French.
49:38However,
49:38by employing
49:39blitzkrieg tactics,
49:41he once again
49:41breached enemy lines
49:43with remarkable speed.
49:47This time,
49:48having learned
49:48from past mistakes,
49:50the Allies
49:50responded immediately.
49:53British and French forces
49:54swiftly mobilized,
49:56advancing to meet
49:57the Belgian army
49:57and form a solid
49:59defensive line
49:59from the English Channel
50:00to Switzerland.
50:08Yet,
50:08the southern flank
50:09collapsed against German pressure.
50:11within days,
50:12the entire
50:13BEF
50:14and half the French army
50:15found themselves
50:16encircled.
50:25By the 12th of May,
50:26German troops
50:27had entered France.
50:29By the next day,
50:30a 50-mile gap
50:31had formed
50:31between French divisions.
50:32The Luftwaffe
50:37had inflicted
50:38heavy losses
50:38on the RAF
50:39while the French
50:40air force
50:41was nearly annihilated,
50:42only three days
50:43into the battle.
50:49As a million refugees
50:51fled in panic,
50:52Holland had fallen,
50:53Belgium was crumbling,
50:55and on the 16th of May,
50:57French Commander-in-Chief
50:58General Maurice Gamela
50:59admitted to the
51:00Anglo-French War Council
51:01that he had
51:02no remaining reserve.
51:03It was a dire moment
51:04for France
51:05and the situation
51:06was rapidly worsening.
51:08By the 20th of May,
51:10the Germans
51:10had reached the coast,
51:12effectively severing
51:13the Allied forces.
51:14The Allies now risked
51:16losing the entire
51:16British expeditionary force,
51:18trapped against the sea
51:19and surrounded.
51:20exhausted British troops
51:30faced relentless attacks
51:31and were driven back
51:32to Dunkirk.
51:38The loss of thousands
51:40of soldiers
51:40seemed inevitable,
51:42and Hitler was convinced
51:43victory was at hand.
51:44France lay exposed,
51:46awaiting occupation.
51:46Yet despite Hitler's
51:51impressive conquests,
51:53he had miscalculated
51:54Churchill's resolve
51:55and the resilience
51:56of the British people.
52:02What followed
52:03was one of history's
52:04most astonishing
52:05rescue operations.
52:07The phony war
52:08had ended.
52:09With Europe in turmoil
52:11under Hitler's
52:11relentless offensive,
52:12the battle for Dunkirk
52:14had begun.
52:15yea.
52:23.
52:31.
52:34.
52:36.
52:40.
52:42.
52:42.
52:43.
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