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- May 10, 1940. German forces sweep through the Netherlands and Belgium. Headed for France. That same day. British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain resigns. - The Second World War is going badly for Britain. Hitler's troops have swept through Denmark and Norway. And Neville Chamberlain, the British Prime Minister, like leaders do, takes the blame for that. - I sought an audience of the King this evening and tendered to him my resignation, which His Majesty has been pleased to accept.
- The King asks the First Lord of the Admiralty, the maverick politician Winston Churchill, to become prime minister. - Winston Churchill was born at a time when Britain was at its imperial apex-- the height of the Victorian age. From the youngest age, he's brought up thinking that he's special, that fate has predestined that he would one day save Britain and its empire. - Churchill has openly been critical of Hitler, very worried about Hitler. against German rearmament, and against Hitler's obvious plans in Europe.
- He was the guy who, sounding like a bit of a crank for years, had said this was going to happen. And then when it does happen and you're looking to turn to somebody, it's inevitable that you turn to the person that was right all along. - With the French on the brink of collapse and the British Army in retreat. Churchill turns to the United States for help. - Churchill had one key strategy for winning the Second World War-- get America involved. - He dictates a telegram to President Roosevelt.
- He makes the clear warning to Roosevelt that, eventually, Nazism might come for the Americans as well. So he makes an appeal. We need destroyers, naval assistance, but we also need guns, we need planes, we need steel. He's desperate for military assistance. [dramatic music] - In northern France, German forces continue forward, attempting to trap the fleeing Allied armies.
- Now the Germans move to cut off the Allies at the English Channel. - Once they reach it, all those Allied armies will be surrounded. - The only chance of survival for the troops is to build some kind of defensive system round the Channel port closest to them, and that's Dunkirk. And then attempt an evacuation by sea. [dramatic music] - The small coastal town of Dunkirk is just 60 miles across the Channel from Britain, but Dunkirk doesn't have the infrastructure to support a mass naval evacuation.
By May 20th, more than 450,000 French, Belgian, and British soldiers are retreating in desperation to its wide open beaches. - The Germans are already on the fringes of the Dunkirk perimeter. - The Allies are trapped. - There is no other British Army. That's the best leaders, the best sergeants and NCOs in danger of being absolutely wiped out by German forces. - With over 400,000 Allied troops trapped on the beach at Dunkirk. A desperate call goes out from British leaders. Help us get our soldiers home.
The response is immediate. For nine days, small vessels, all captained and crewed by volunteers, cross the Channel. Fishing trawlers and paddle steamers. cargo ships and lifeboats. barges and yachts. Each sail into the firestorm around Dunkirk. joining the Royal Navy in the rescue mission. - There was every kind of ship that I saw coming in this morning, and every one of them was crammed full of tired, battle-stained, and bloodstained British soldiers. - The BEF leaves everything behind--all the tanks, all the artillery, all the trucks. The idea being that the men are the most important thing.
We can make new equipment, but we can't make new men. - The evacuation at Dunkirk brings over 300,000 British and French troops to Britain. Though thousands are left behind. In Britain, the operation becomes known as the Miracle of Dunkirk. On British streets, there is relief, joy, and anxiety about what's to come. On June 4th, Churchill addresses those fears.
- We must be very careful not to assign to this deliverance the attributes of a victory. - He reminds people that things aren't looking good for Britain at this time. France is almost certainly lost, and there's a great possibility in the weeks and months ahead that the Germans are going to launch a sea and air invasion of the UK. And the question is, will we be able to stop it? On June 14th, German troops march into Paris. - They are parading down the Champs-Elysées. Things could not be worse for the French.
Grown men are crying. This is unbelievable, unimaginable. [dramatic music] - The fall of France is a seismic event with global ramifications. - German propaganda. - Captures iconic images on Hitler's first and only trip to conquered Paris. - When France falls, for the vast majority of Americans, it's as if the unthinkable has happened. - Roosevelt and the people close to him recognize immediately what this means. All the things that the United States didn't have to do as long as France was in between us and the Germans, they're now going to have to do.
It's going to build a very large army, it's going to build a very large navy, it's going to think about a global presence, and it's never again going to put its own security in the hands of another country, even a friendly one like France. - Roosevelt now calls for America to mobilize. In the coming months, he'll institute the first peacetime draft and call for the production of 50,000 warplanes. - Overwhelmingly, we as a nation-- we are convinced that military and naval victory for the gods of force and hate would endanger the institutions of democracy in the Western world.
- At the polls in November, Franklin D. Roosevelt wins an unprecedented third term. [crowd cheering] Now he has the political freedom to offer all aid to Great Britain short of war. - Democracy's fight against world conquest must be more greatly aided by sending every ounce and every ton of munitions and supplies that we can possibly spare to help the defenders who are in the front lines. We must have more ships, more guns, more planes, more of everything. We must be the great arsenal of democracy.
