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00:00:00 #1 The German Army looked invincible. What about the British and French?
00:01:35 #2 First, let's take up the British.
00:01:38 #3 They started from scratch, but both at home and abroad, an army was growing.
00:01:43 #4 But not only Britain had declared war. Canada.
00:01:47 #5 Australia. New Zealand. South Africa.
00:01:53 #6 The whole British Commonwealth of Nations was also determined on victory over Hitlerism and all it stands for.
00:02:00 #7 And Britain had one weapon that was ready, the Royal Navy.
00:02:04 #8 Shortly after war was declared it had swept German shipping from the high seas.
00:02:09 #9 And units of the British fleet were deployed at Suez, Malta, Gibraltar, in the Channel, and in the North Sea, blockading Germany.
00:02:21 #10 World conquest was impossible without running smack up against the rock called Britain.
00:02:27 #11 How to strike at that little island? That was the question.
00:02:31 #12 Between Britain and Germany stood not only France, but the little countries of Luxembourg, Belgium, Holland, Denmark, Norway and Sweden.
00:02:42 #13 The people of these small, neutral countries were peaceful, hardworking, and free.
00:02:49 #14 They knew they were in the middle and feared violation of their neutrality.
00:02:54 #15 Hitler knew this.
00:02:56 #16 He also knew that if they united with the Allies, they would form a solid democratic wall against Nazi aggression,
00:03:03 #17 and their conquest would be far more difficult.
00:03:06 #18 So before striking with his armies, he used another weapon, the propaganda barrage, to
00:03:14 #19 confuse, to make them lose faith, to divide and conquer.
00:03:20 #20 To lull the fears of the little neutrals, propaganda minister Goebbels told them Germany didn't
00:03:24 #21 want a war at all.
00:03:26 #22 It was Britain and France that caused all the trouble.
00:03:30 #23 Then it was Hitler's turn.
00:03:34 #24 In the speech on October 6, 1939, he made the more kinds of specific promises.
00:03:40 #25 To the Danes, he said, we have concluded a non-aggression pact with Denmark.
00:03:46 #26 To the Norwegians, he said, Germany never had any conflict with the northern states
00:03:52 #27 and has none today.
00:03:55 #28 To the Dutch, he said, the new Reich is endeavored to continue the traditional friendship
00:04:00 #29 with Holland.
00:04:02 #30 to the Belgians, he announced, the Reich has put forth no claim which might in any way
00:04:07 #31 be regarded as a threat to Belgium. And while Hitler was making these promises, his generals
00:04:13 #32 were cold-bloodily picking out the first victim, Norway. And why did they pick Norway?
00:04:21 #33 It's many steep inlets or fjords would make excellent U-boat bases, from which raiders
00:04:26 #34 could prey on British supply lines. Also, it would give the Nazis vital air bases. This
00:04:37 #35 is Stap-a-Flo, British naval base, and this the blockade fleet. At this time, the German
00:04:44 #36 base bombers couldn't reach them. Possession of bases on Norway's western shore would
00:04:49 #37 bring these vital British defenses under easy bomber attack. But he couldn't take Norway
00:04:54 #38 without also taking tiny Denmark, the springboard for his attack.
00:04:59 #39 So at dawn on April 9th, 1940, the German Army rolled across the neutral borders of little
00:05:11 #40 Denmark and in a matter of hours it occupied the entire country.
00:05:17 #41 By nightfall Denmark is erased as a nation and the Danes go into slavery.
00:05:23 #42 Although only six months before Hitler had announced it, we have concluded an unaggression
00:05:28 #43 packed with Denmark. The Danes will not forget. Meanwhile in Norway peaceful looking German
00:05:38 #44 merchant ships like these had sneaked inside Norway's neutral waterway and tied up at all
00:05:43 #45 principal ports. That is they looked like merchant ships. But if the Norwegians had
00:05:49 #46 had x-ray eyes this is what they would have seen. The Trojan horse of ancient Greece
00:05:55 #47 brought up to date with new and deadlier weapons. At the precise moment that the
00:06:00 #48 Nazis overran Denmark, these quiet looking ships sprang to life. At the same time,
00:06:18 #49 Nazi warships, discovered along the entire coastline, started steaming up the
00:06:23 #50 Norwegian fjords. Ships, transports, tanks, men, planes, all flung themselves
00:06:32 #51 simultaneously upon a defenseless country. Airborne infantry seized every
00:06:38 #52 strategic Norwegian airport. The whole job was made easier by treacherous
00:06:43 #53 columnists led by Major Quisling, who seized power and issued orders to suppress resistance.
00:06:52 #54 Maxi warships steamed past silent guns that could have blasted them out of the water.
00:06:57 #55 This was one of the most amazing acts of treachery the world has ever known. It brought Major
00:07:02 #56 Quisling international fame, making his very name synonymous with the word traitor.
00:07:09 #57 By the afternoon of April 9th, the Germans were in complete control of all seven ports where they had landed in the morning.
00:07:16 #58 For the first time in more than 200 years, the people of Norway saw an invading army parading through their cities.
00:07:35 #59 Many of these Nazi soldiers strutting as conquerors in 1940 had last seen Norway some 20 years earlier,
00:07:43 #60 when as refugee German children they had been raised and cared for by kind Norwegians.
00:07:49 #61 Now these same Germans were backed to repay that kindness with terror and destruction.
00:07:56 #62 Once they had occupied the capital, the Nazis quickly fanned out in all directions.
00:08:01 #63 But loyal Norwegian troops stopped one German column between Hamar and Elvera,
00:08:07 #64 so the Germans brought up their bombers.
00:08:26 #65 Norwegians were forced to flee to the north under constant and unopposed air attack.
00:08:53 #66 It was here that Captain Robert Lose, an American military attaché, was killed,
00:08:58 #67 the first American soldier to lose his life in this war.
00:09:02 #68 Meanwhile, the Nazis had spread all over the country.
00:09:06 #69 Small patrols occupied every strategic village.
00:09:10 #70 Parachute troops landed high in the mountains.
00:09:15 #71 Opposed bombing raids sent defenseless civilians fleeing in stark terror.
00:09:28 #72 They hadn't wanted war.
00:09:58 #73 They had done everything to avoid it, hoping they could escape the Nazi scourge they had compromised
00:10:05 #74 and tragically failed to unite with the other democracies.
00:10:08 #75 And now they face the scourge defenseless and alone.
00:10:12 #76 For before the Allies could come to their aid, the Germans were in control of all principal ports.
00:10:18 #77 Regardless of this, British, French, Polish contingents plunged in and made several landings along the Norwegian coast.
00:10:27 #78 They landed forces north and south of Trondheim and attempted an encircling movement on the
00:10:34 #79 city under constant heavy and almost entirely unopposed air attack.
00:10:39 #80 While the scene of action was out of range of British fighter planes.
00:10:48 #81 So they brought up aircraft carriers.
00:10:52 #82 But these are at a disadvantage when opposed by land based planes.
00:10:57 #83 The Allies therefore were badly battered from the air.
00:11:00 #84 Finally, suffering heavy losses, they withdrew from a hopeless situation.
00:11:07 #85 Later to the north, at Norfolk, they met with better success, inflicting heavy naval losses
00:11:12 #86 on the Nazis.
00:11:13 #87 They made landings and held the town for nearly two months.
00:11:52 #88 Incidentally, they also took their first prisoners of the present war.
00:11:55 #89 Again, the Nazis' overwhelming air superiority proved a deciding factor.
00:12:03 #90 And the Allies were forced to withdraw under terrific air bombardment.
00:12:57 #91 Loyal Norwegians were left with their quizbings, their ruins, their dead.
00:13:03 #92 Even though six months before Hitler had said Germany never had any conflict with the northern
00:13:09 #93 states and has none today the Norwegians will not forget.
00:13:18 #94 And Hitler, Hitler had another victory.
00:13:21 #95 He had hijacked two more countries.
00:13:24 #96 The world wondered and sometimes marveled at this man's efficiency.
00:13:31 #97 Gangster Dillinger was efficient too.
00:13:39 #98 When a man or a nation throws away all regard for the laws of God and man, he is bound
00:13:44 #99 first to be more efficient than his victims.
00:13:47 #100 Society had a police force to deal with gangster Dillinger,
00:13:50 #101 but it had no police force to deal with gangster Hitler.
00:13:54 #102 So he clubbed Norway into submission
00:13:55 #103 and got what he wanted, bases for use against Britain.
00:14:00 #104 Now he had the northern claw of an enormous pincer movement.
00:14:03 #105 A drive through France would give him the southern claw.
00:14:06 #106 Blockade bayou boats, coupled with mass bombing attacks,
00:14:09 #107 would weaken the British for final invasion.
00:14:12 #108 Then, with Britain gone, Germany could reach out in all directions for world conquest.
00:14:23 #109 His next move must obviously be through France to get his southern claw.
00:14:27 #110 Through France, how was she to face the onslaught?
00:14:39 #111 These scenes are ancient history. They occurred in 1914.
00:14:43 #112 The German armies without warning had smashed across neutral Belgium.
00:14:47 #113 Invaded France reached the river Marne only a few miles from Paris.
00:14:51 #114 Out of the French capital poured the French reserves,
00:14:55 #115 Riding out to battle the enemy in every vehicle that could move.
00:14:58 #116 Famous Taxicab Army.
00:15:01 #117 Note well, it was riding out two battles.
00:15:05 #118 In the center of the French line stood the 9th French Army,
00:15:08 #119 commanded by a then comparatively unknown general.
00:15:12 #120 On September 5th, 1914, he is reputed to have said,
00:15:16 #121 My right is driven in. My center is giving way.
00:15:20 #122 The situation is excellent.
00:15:22 #123 I attack. He did attack.
00:15:52 #124 The German on-stop was checked and Paris was saved.
00:15:56 #125 That comparatively unknown general later became Commander-in-Chief of all the Allied armies
00:16:01 #126 and presided for signing of the armistice with the defeated Germans on November 11, 1918.
00:16:08 #127 To this general, the French people erected a monument to Marshal Ferdinand Foch, whose model was attack.
00:16:18 #128 Always attack.
00:16:21 #129 Still later, the war weary French people erected another monument.
00:16:25 #130 This one to a minister of war, André Maginot.
00:16:31 #131 Between the ideas symbolized by these two statues,
00:16:34 #132 they well lie the military story of the fall of a great nation.
00:16:39 #133 In farsious time, the proud spirit of France demanded nothing less than victory
00:16:44 #134 and placed its faith in the attack.
00:16:47 #135 In Maginot's time, the spirit no longer proud, asked only to avoid defeat and
00:16:58 #136 placed its faith in concrete. So the French built the mighty chain of fortresses
00:17:09 #137 called the Maginot Line. These tremendous bastions were built deep into the
00:17:15 #138 French land. They were connected by underground passages and railways, guarding
00:17:21 #139 France's eastern borders facing Germany. And when France was finally forced to
00:17:27 #140 declare war against the rising Nazi menace,
00:17:31 #141 the French troops, instead of attacking,
00:17:34 #142 were marched into their modern caves
00:17:36 #143 to wait for the Nazi blitz to smash itself
00:17:38 #144 against the Maginot Line.
00:17:41 #145 And their generals, headed by Marshal Paytown,
00:17:44 #146 proudly announced, whoever makes the first move
00:17:47 #147 in this war will be hurt.
00:17:50 #148 But Hitler didn't go near the Maginot Line.
00:17:53 #149 That was France's strong point.
00:17:56 #150 Instead, he attacked the weak point.
00:18:00 #151 Hitler knew that the French had tried to avoid war instead
00:18:03 #152 of preparing for it.
00:18:05 #153 That knowledge was one of his greatest weapons.
00:18:09 #154 He knew they had planes, but he knew they were antiquated.
00:18:13 #155 He knew they had tanks, but he knew they were
00:18:15 #156 few in number and lightly armored.
00:18:18 #157 But most important of all, he knew that France had become
00:18:21 #158 a cynical and disillusioned nation.
00:18:25 #159 What made this change in the French spirit?
00:18:28 #160 In the first place, between 1914 and 1918,
00:18:31 #161 the French suffered more than 6 million casualties
00:18:34 #162 in the heroic defense of their land against German invasion.
00:18:39 #163 The flower of an entire generation
00:18:41 #164 was lost with its stimulus of new blood, new determination,
00:18:46 #165 new ideals.
00:18:49 #166 Secondly, the failure of the League of Nations
00:18:51 #167 to which the French had pinned their hopes of peace,
00:18:55 #168 the corruption of many in high places,
00:18:58 #169 the greed of special interests,
00:19:00 #170 all it combined to shake the faith of the French people
00:19:03 #171 in their democratic ideals.
00:19:05 #172 And when a people loses its faith in its own ideals,
00:19:09 #173 it is right for the insidious words of the devil.
00:19:15 #174 France still looked like an imposing castle,
00:19:18 #175 but Hitler's political termites had so gnawed away
00:19:20 #176 the binding of national unity that the castle was ready to crumble.
00:19:24 #177 During those months of military inactivity that we called the Pony War,
00:19:49 #178 a ceaseless barrage of German propaganda crossed the still waters of the Rhine
00:19:54 #179 to affect the soldiers in the Maginot Line.
00:19:59 #180 Why do you fight, asked the banners.
00:20:01 #181 Poems and friendly notes were sent over by balloons.
00:20:09 #182 French tunes were played by German bands.
00:20:12 #183 And German Puy was broadcast in French.
00:20:15 #184 The British will fight to the last drop of French blood.
00:20:22 #185 You have been deceived.
00:20:24 #186 This was an imperialistic war for Britain.
00:20:28 #187 We Germans want nothing of France.
00:20:32 #188 What is happening to your wives back home, soldiers?
00:20:35 #189 The British are stationed in your villages.
00:20:38 #190 Yes, France was ready to be plucked.
00:20:43 #191 was ready to be plucked.
00:20:45 #192 The whole force of the Nazi might was turned toward the west.
00:20:49 #193 How would they strike this time?
00:20:52 #194 Through Alsace-Lorraine is in 1870?
00:20:55 #195 Through the Low Countries is in 1914?
00:20:59 #196 What was the 1940 model conquest?
00:21:02 #197 The French considered the Maginot Line utterly impregnable
00:21:05 #198 and therefore believed the Germans would again try a swing through the Low Countries is in 1914.
00:21:11 #199 But even after Hitler's rape of Scandinavia, Holland and Belgium hoping against hope still
00:21:18 #200 plunge to their neutrality.
00:21:20 #201 So the French massed 78 divisions here along the border of Belgium.
00:21:25 #202 17 were in the Maginot line.
00:21:27 #203 10 divisions here in case Mussolini got bored.
00:21:31 #204 Three and a half as a safeguard against Spain.
00:21:34 #205 The British had 10 divisions here.
00:21:38 #206 The allied strategy in the event of an attack against the Low Countries was to swing their
00:21:42 #207 armies like a gate into Belgium, the hinge being the north end of the Maginot Line.
00:21:49 #208 This all-important hinge was protected by the Forest of the Ardennes, a hilly and
00:21:54 #209 thickly-wooded area, honeycombed with streams, its roads, narrow trails, its bridges too
00:22:01 #210 weak for military vehicles.
00:22:03 #211 The first strategists estimated the forest of the Ardennes impossible for armored forces.
00:22:08 #212 As you will see, this was one of the costliest estimates in all military history.
00:22:13 #213 That was the situation on May 9, 1940.
00:22:17 #214 The hour of trial had come.
00:22:29 #215 The people of the democracies prayed for strength to meet the coming hurricane of terror.
00:22:42 #216 While across the Rhine, U.S. possessed the germination.
00:23:12 #217 The last long-awaited decision for us, our comrades,
00:23:17 #218 will be the leader of the regiments,
00:23:19 #219 to rise again and again,
00:23:21 #220 and to make sure that the truth is reported in Germany.
00:23:23 #221 If you look at the books of the whole country,
00:23:27 #222 the past three years have passed,
00:23:30 #223 and for the German text, the Reich,
00:23:33 #224 the Russia,
00:23:34 #225 Hitler, however, is the gold,
00:23:38 #226 in the light, not to us, heard.
00:23:40 #227 fathering to declare war the German armies launched a coordinated attack
00:24:58 #228 across the neutral borders of Luxembourg, Belgium and Holland
00:25:02 #229 from the Maginot Line north to the sea.
00:25:06 #230 The action along the entire front was simultaneous.
00:25:09 #231 So for purposes of clarity let's take up one country at a time.
00:25:13 #232 First let's see what happened in Holland.
00:25:16 #233 Maxi ground forces smashed through the improvised and hastily erected border defenses.
00:25:38 #234 But the main attack was to come from the air, far behind the defense lines.
00:26:39 #235 Ten thousand troops were landed in this manner.
00:26:42 #236 Before the stunned citizens of Rotterdam even knew they were at war, these troops,
00:26:48 #237 aided by well-trained fifth columnists, quickly captured the airport and outlying sections of the city.
00:26:54 #238 Meantime, Nazi armored columns were racing across the country.
00:27:03 #239 Their progress speeded by other fifth columnists who prevented the destruction of vital dykes and bridges.
00:27:10 #240 These forces affected a meeting with the parachutists landed in Rotterdam.
00:27:15 #241 The Dutch were doomed to defeat.
00:27:17 #242 On the fourth day of the invasion, the Nazis gave the Dutch general an ultimatum.
00:27:27 #243 All Dutch resistance must cease, or Rotterdam will be bombed flat.
00:27:32 #244 The Dutch general had little choice to save the lives of innocent civilians he accepted the German terms
00:27:47 #245 But after the unconditional surrender the Nazis bombed the city anyway
00:27:57 #246 The one opposed German bombers flew low over the center of Rotterdam and methodically bombed it into a heap of rubble
00:28:05 #247 Because endeavor to continue the traditional friendship with Holland the Dutch will not forget
00:30:15 #248 Meanwhile, in Belgium, the whole force of Nazi blitzkrieg
00:30:21 #249 has stormed across its neutral borders.
00:30:23 #250 The main German attack was directed at the Albert Canal
00:30:34 #251 and Merse River Line, the anchor of which was Fort Ebenemail,
00:30:37 #252 a modern and seemingly impregnable fortress.
00:30:40 #253 The Germans had secretly built a replica of the mighty
00:30:43 #254 fortress in Czechoslovakia and had rehearsed the attack
00:30:46 #255 until they knew every detail of the fort's construction
00:30:49 #256 and its every weakness.
00:30:51 #257 When the real attack came, it was fool-proof.
00:30:54 #258 Parachute troops, dive bombers, plane blowers, specially trained engineer battalions,
00:31:01 #259 all working together as a well-trained team.
00:31:04 #260 It's exactly where to cross the river.
00:31:12 #261 Knows exactly where to put his high explosive charge in order to destroy the blockhouse.
00:32:42 #262 Forty-ben a male withstood the Nazi attack exactly two days, and the German armies rolled on.
00:33:06 #263 Meanwhile, an hour and a half after the German invasion began, a large troops crossed the
00:33:15 #264 French and Belgian border to meet the advancing Germans.
00:33:31 #265 As they raced across Belgium to take up their defense positions, they met an obstacle they
00:33:35 #266 hadn't countered on.
00:33:37 #267 Refugees.
00:33:38 #268 And the refugee choked roads didn't get that way by accident.
00:34:01 #269 The Nazis methodically bombed little towns and villages, otherwise devoid of any military
00:34:07 #270 Not so much to kill as to drive the inhabitants out onto the highway.
00:34:12 #271 Then by expert machine gun, the Nazis would herd them along in terror-stricken flight
00:34:19 #272 and hopefully entangle the advancing Allied armies.
00:34:23 #273 Army.
00:34:36 #274 Refugees used as a weapon of war.
00:34:39 #275 A new low in inhumanity.
00:37:08 #276 Forget that the German attack on Belgium and Holland was the main threat and according to plan that swung their armies like a gate into Belgium.
00:37:23 #277 But the attack on Belgium and Holland was only a faint.
00:37:27 #278 The main German attack was to be centered where the Allies least expected it, through the Ardennes Forest.
00:37:34 #279 For this decisive blow, they have secretly assembled the mightiest striking force the world had ever seen, including 45,000 armored vehicles.
00:37:43 #280 In the meantime that the Nazi armies were plunging into Holland and Belgium, this column started to move.
00:38:02 #281 The trained engineer battalions went first,
00:38:30 #282 posed only by scattered allied patrols.
00:39:02 #283 They cleared pathways for the tanks to follow.
00:39:05 #284 And the French thought any troops could get through.
00:39:52 #285 Those the Germans should have paused here to bring up heavy artillery
00:39:57 #286 before attempting to force the river.
00:40:00 #287 But the Nazis had a new type of artillery.
00:40:03 #288 The Germans passed the French positions across the meadows.
00:40:15 #289 With feverish haste, the Germans laid a barrage across the river
00:40:18 #290 with anything and everything that would shoot.
00:40:21 #291 Through the night, he lost the river to Sudan.
00:42:32 #292 But the all-important breakthrough into a dismayed and flat-went the old ballgame for the Allies.
00:42:44 #293 And it was only a matter of how long.
00:42:47 #294 Watch the map as one of our intelligence officers explained the details of the German breakthrough.
00:42:54 #295 You speak of the breakthrough at Sudan.
00:42:56 #296 But actually the break was along a wide front extending for 50 miles from Namor in Belgium to Sudan.
00:43:04 #297 Further north, the Allied armies had swung like a gate into these positions.
00:43:09 #298 The German armies had swept over Holland, broken the line of the Albert Canal,
00:43:15 #299 and for all anyone new, were preparing to smash against the Allied front with all that power.
00:43:21 #300 That was the situation, dangerous but obscure, on the evening of May 13th.
00:43:27 #301 On the 14th and 15th, it became clear that the German breakthrough south of Namor
00:43:33 #302 was in the greatest strength and that the French 9th Army attacked while moving into position
00:43:39 #303 had been shattered. Without doubt this was the point of mortal danger and the French high command
00:43:46 #304 ordered the abandonment of these positions although they had not yet been attacked. Those positions
00:43:53 #305 were abandoned solely because of the situation developing along the Merse near Sudan. In
00:43:59 #306 In the meantime, the French 7th Army had been ordered to make its historic force march far
00:44:08 #307 to the south into the area threatened by the rapidly advancing German spearheads.
00:44:14 #308 This army was not used to attack the German flank, but rather was used as a plug to restore
00:44:21 #309 the broken front.
00:44:23 #310 Throughout, the Allies had placed their faith not in offense, but in defense.
00:44:28 #311 and the defense was doomed to failure
00:44:31 #312 because it was confronted with an entirely new technique in warfare
00:44:35 #313 the plane tank infantry team
00:44:37 #314 in action
00:44:39 #315 the world was staggered by the speed with which the german armoured columns moved
00:44:44 #316 what was the secret that enabled armies to move so far so rapidly
00:44:49 #317 the secret lay in the organization of the striking spearhead
00:44:53 #318 armoured forces came first
00:44:55 #319 closely followed by
00:44:57 #320 motorized divisions which peeled off forming solid walls.
00:45:02 #321 And through the corridor, thus formed,
00:45:05 #322 raced the supply trucks to feed the ever-lifening column.
00:45:11 #323 It was obvious that if the Allied situation was
00:45:14 #324 to be restored, the German column would have to be cut.
00:45:19 #325 On May 17, General De Gaulle attacked the German flank
00:45:23 #326 and captured a few prisoners.
00:45:26 #327 but it's like mechanized forces were like a pin
00:45:29 #328 fricking the side of a renos.
00:45:32 #329 A subsequent attack met with even less success.
00:45:40 #330 The means for a really successful counterattack
00:45:42 #331 against the German Carter simply did not exist.
00:45:47 #332 Where numbers of divisions were required,
00:45:49 #333 only hand-folds of companies and battalions were available.
00:45:54 #334 A valiant attempt to cut the German corridor was made by a group of slow-moving British tanks just south of Arak.
00:46:07 #335 But lack of sustained striking power doomed this valiant unit to destruction.
00:46:13 #336 On May 21st, the German spearhead reached the Channel Port of Abbeyville.
00:46:19 #337 protecting their flank along the Somme, the Germans banned out to the north and east.
00:46:26 #338 This was to be the perfect battle of annihilation. On May 28th, the Belgian army
00:46:34 #339 compressed into a small space and weary of battle lay down its arms. That left the
00:46:41 #340 desperate French and British defenders with their backs to the sea at the small
00:46:46 #341 channeled fought of Dunkirk.
00:46:48 #342 One of the greatest disasters in history seemed in the making.
00:46:54 #343 An entire British army faced annihilation.
00:46:57 #344 But out of the fog and the mist,
00:46:59 #345 robbing the channel came a strange armada.
00:47:02 #346 A Navy craft, fishing boats,
00:47:05 #347 plazoriats, anything that would float.
00:47:08 #348 The sea-going people of Britain had come to rescue their army.
00:47:13 #349 High overhead British fighter planes fought the Luftwaffe to a standstill.
00:47:18 #350 Small Allied suicide units held the German fact long enough for the miracle of Dunkirk to take place.
00:47:50 #351 211,500 British troops, plus 112,500 French and Belgian were rescued.
00:47:58 #352 Over 300,000 battle-tested men grimly determined to go back again with new tools,
00:48:04 #353 new weapons with which to blast the heated Nazis out of this world.
00:48:09 #354 For free men are like rubber balls.
00:48:12 #355 The harder they fall, the higher they bounce.
00:48:16 #356 Leaving the British by this time was a man who had been
00:48:18 #357 bouncing all his life, Winston Churchill,
00:48:21 #358 who had tried for years to warn the world about Germany.
00:48:26 #359 Meantime, the situation that faced France
00:48:28 #360 was as nearly hopeless as a military situation can be.
00:48:32 #361 Two-fifths of the French army was lost.
00:48:35 #362 There were fewer than 50 divisions left to defend
00:48:38 #363 the front almost 200 miles long,
00:48:40 #364 running from the northern end of the Maginot line to the sea.
00:48:44 #365 And behind that thin front line, there were no reserves.
00:48:51 #366 The sparing people of Paris sent their children south,
00:48:54 #367 praying that some miracle would keep them from harm.
00:49:07 #368 The hopeless men of the French army,
00:49:09 #369 without adequate arms or equipment,
00:49:11 #370 braced themselves for the coming blow.
00:49:14 #371 The first blow fell on June 5th.
00:49:17 #372 The French resistance was determined,
00:49:19 #373 but by June 8th, the left flank army had been shattered,
00:49:22 #374 and a general withdrawal was ordered to the line of the man and the same.
00:49:28 #375 On June 9th, the German main attack came.
00:49:32 #376 Within two days, the German armoured and motorised divisions
00:49:36 #377 roared out into the open terrain.
00:49:38 #378 With this breakthrough, the issue of the Battle of France was decided.
00:49:42 #379 And from that time on, there was official talk of an armistice.
00:49:47 #380 Now, what about the famous marginal line?
00:49:53 #381 Let's go back and take a look.
00:49:55 #382 On June 14th, the Germans launched two attacks against the Marginal Line.
00:50:01 #383 In both cases, penetrations were affected.
00:50:04 #384 But we must remember that this was against fortifications
00:50:07 #385 defended by man devoid of hope.
00:50:10 #386 In the meantime, Mussolini, now thinking it's safe,
00:50:14 #387 sent his division of racing across the border.
00:50:20 #388 The hand that held the dagger
00:50:23 #389 has struck it into the back of its neighbor.
00:50:28 #390 Organized resistance in France was no longer possible.
00:50:41 #391 The government faced two alternatives,
00:50:44 #392 retire to North Africa and carry on from there,
00:50:47 #393 or give up the struggle.
00:50:49 #394 France's leaders were old and tired,
00:50:52 #395 and the oldest and most tired was Marshal Payton,
00:50:55 #396 egged on by men like Laval,
00:50:58 #397 who saw in a German victory his chance for personal power.
00:51:01 #398 for personal power on June 16th, Paytang asked for an armistice.
00:51:07 #399 The news is carried to Hitler,
00:51:09 #400 who received this word of a great nation's fall
00:51:12 #401 in a characteristic manner.
00:51:16 #402 Also characteristic were his terms for the armistice.
00:51:20 #403 It must be signed in the coach where Marshall Fosh
00:51:23 #404 met the defeated Germans in the last war.
00:51:26 #405 French delegation arrived to pay the final price
00:51:48 #406 of French disunity and the treachery
00:51:51 #407 of some of its leaders.
00:51:57 #408 Final price.
00:51:59 #409 A price that for centuries to come,
00:52:01 #410 the French won't forget.
00:52:07 #411 More than three-fifths of their country
00:52:09 #412 was to be blacked out by a military occupation.
00:52:13 #413 The remainder was to be controlled
00:52:15 #414 by a French government acceptable to Hitler.
00:52:19 #415 A tax of 400 million francs a day
00:52:21 #416 was to be imposed on the French people
00:52:24 #417 to support the German army of occupation.
00:52:28 #418 Nearly two million French prisoners of war
00:52:30 #419 were to be taken into Germany and kept there as hostages
00:52:34 #420 to work as slaves or rot of hunger to burkulosis
00:52:39 #421 or other diseases in concentration camps.
00:52:43 #422 Men deliberately and permanently separated
00:52:46 #423 from their families in order to decrease the French birthrate
00:52:51 #424 and thus eliminate France as a world power
00:52:53 #425 in future generations.
00:52:55 #426 French civilians, men, women and children
00:52:59 #427 must slave on farmer in factory for the Nazi master race or starve.
00:53:07 #428 There will be a class of subject alien races.
00:53:11 #429 We need not hesitate to call them slaves.
00:53:15 #430 French children were to grow up on such inadequate food
00:53:19 #431 that many would reach the age of 12 before they grew new teeth.
00:53:24 #432 And for any attempts to protest against these restrictions,
00:53:27 #433 Thousands of innocent French civilians would be executed.
00:53:31 #434 This was the price the French were to pay as they signed the armistice.
00:53:41 #435 And the master of the master race must go to Paris to tour the streets of what was once the city of light.
00:53:49 #436 You notice no cheering crowds here to welcome in the new order.
00:53:54 #437 When the people of Paris come to the streets again, it is to hear the voice of dictators.
00:54:08 #438 telling them what they must do, how they must live, what they must say, what they
00:54:19 #439 must think, telling them how to be slaves. Gone is the Republic of France. Gone is
00:54:27 #440 free speech and a free representative government. Gone is liberty, equality,
00:54:33 #441 fraternity, deep friendship. With their ears they listen, but their minds and
00:54:41 #442 their hearts, these are down on the Mediterranean where the battle colors of the regiments are
00:54:46 #443 being taken to Africa, out of the Nazi grasp. The people weep with their glory departs,
00:54:53 #444 but they don't as yet know that France has hope, a rallying point. Charles de Gaulle,
00:55:00 #445 a soldier in the great tradition of Foch, is not surrendering. He will continue to
00:55:05 #446 fight, gathering about him loyal Frenchmen from all over the world to become the free
00:55:11 #447 French Army, the fighting French.
00:55:14 #448 Yes, the people weep as they watch their colors go.
00:55:18 #449 Not knowing that two years later, those same flags would again be unfurled in North Africa,
00:55:25 #450 alongside the stars and stripes, alongside the Union Jack.
00:55:31 #451 Once more, their leaders, General de Gaulle and the famous United in the Common Clause,
00:55:36 #452 were the leaders of their lives.
00:55:38 #453 Once more, the red, white, and blue of France is raised on high.
00:55:43 #454 For out of the ashes of the defeat and the humiliation of France, her soul has been born again.