- The Lightning War was one of the most extraordinary events of the Second World War. Now, expertly restored footage from around the world shows the story in a new light.
- In 2 weeks German army swept through France and Belgium. British forces were forced to evacuate at Dunkirk. Germans had fast moving armored columns, supported by the air force Luftwaffe. New panzer tech, combined by radio for battlefield communication and coordination. Blitzkrieg, Lightening war.
Germans were humiliated after WW I by the terms of the Versailles treaty. Army was limited to 100,000 men, had to make massive reparations and lost territory. Germans were outraged that Versailles treaty saw them as responsible for WW 1 and this was their punishment. They lose territory to Poland and Czechs in the east, and demilitarize the Rhineland. Adolf Hitler comes to power with the promise of taking back what was lost: Pride. He embarks upon a massive infrastructure program to provide employment and dismantles the Versailles treaty one by one. He build his army in 1935, gambling that no one in Europe wants another war. He marches into Rhineland in 1936 with 30,000 troops. He invades Austria in 1938. Allies do nothing as they feel Austria wanted to be united with Germany. Hitler announces his intention to invade Czech.
Neville Chamberlain travels 3 times to Germany in Sep 1938 to dissuade Hitler from invading Czechoslovakia. In the Munich conference Mussolini and Daladier (French President) sign a treaty that Hitler can annex German speaking Sudetenland but not Czechoslovakia. He also signs a deal with Hitler for peace between Germany and Britain. But in March 1939 Hitler invades Czechoslovakia. Aug 1939, Hitler signs a non-aggression pact with Soviets, with Stalin as his ideological enemy. On 1st Sep, Hitler invades Poland. Soviets and Germans divide Poland between them. On 3rd Sep 1939, Britain and France declare war on Germany. Hitler doesn't see this coming. It takes Hitler 20 days to defeat Poland. Britain and France amass their combined forces in Belgium. France is best trained, best equipped army in Europe. Germany is not prepared for this war with them. But instead of attacking, French take up defensive position on the Maginot line.
German generals don't believe they can win a war against France. They present a plan to attack the Maginot line. But one ambitious general, a Prussian Aristocrat Erich Von Manstein presents the plan to avoid the Maginot line altogether. But the conservative generals shut him down. Hitler invades Norway & Demark for raw material supplies, and to secure its Northern flank, in Apr 1940. Britain lands troops in Norway, but are decimated by the Luftwaffe. By May 1940, Norway is in German hands. In May 1940 Chamberlain resigns over the Norway debacle. Churchill becomes PM, who had always advocated standing upto Hitler. Manstein presents his plan to Hitler, who approves it.
Germans attack Belgium and Holland, which the allies are prepared for. But then Germany attacks from the South, which no one sees coming. The French have almost no forces across the river Meuse, from where the Germans attack. The Britsh and French armies are encircled in Belgium. HAd the French believed their own reports and responded to the attack from the south, the German army would have been decimated and WW II would have ended. It was a missed opportunity. Blitzkrieg is in full effect now. British and French forces were stuck at the Maginot line and didn't know how to be mobile. The Germans cross the Meuse and are open to counterattack. But French tanks are slow to move and by 14th May, when they reach German front lines, the Germans had enough armor in place to knock them out. The French communications were rooted in WW I and messenger services, so much so that the French general in command of the war (Maurice Gamelin) didn't have a telephone line at his HQ. Germans reach the town of Sedan in 3 days, as opposed to 2 weeks as expected by the French. The Germans were giving their troops crystal meth, to keep them going relentlessly. It was sold under brand name Pervitin and was already a OTC drug in Germany. The army didn't have to rest at night, and became almost a fighting robot.
on 14th May, the Dutch surrender after the onslaught on Rotterdam that kills 1000 civilians. In five days from 10th May 1940, French PM Paul Raynaud calls Churchill and says the battle is lost. Germans are rapidly moving towards Paris. A million forces are stuck fighting in Belgium and Holland and their supply route is being cut off. Evacuation is ordered via the port of Calais. But the Germans annihilate the British forces send to hold Calais. But the fighting at Calais, offers the armies to reach Dunkirk. Dunkirk is within hours of being overrun by Germans, when Hitler orders them to stop. The decision was driven by Luftwaffe commander Hermann Goering. Goering argues that the task of destroying allied armies should fall to the air force and not the army. The army was ordered to take Paris further South. But Goering's plan backfires due to cloud cover and the smoke from Dunkirk's oil reserves that were destroyed by German planes. Due to the visibility issues, Luftwaffe pilot struggle to dive bomb accurately. The British also deployed the super-marine spitfire to defend the evacuating boats. Spitfires shoot down German dive bombers in their droves. Churchill hoped to rescue 45000 soldiers at best, but due to all the factors, 340,000 allied troops were rescued at Dunkirk. Goering is humiliated.
French abandon Paris and it is captured, without resistance. 14th of June 1940, Germans march into Paris. Marshall Petain takes charge from Reynaud and negotiates an armistice. Petain is a defeatist and thinks that the battle is now lost. Petain takes control of the puppet regime of South France (from the town of Vichy), while German control the entire North. French workers were sent to Germany, to replace Germans who were sent to the Eastern front to fight. The armistice was signed on the same railway carriage where Germany was made to sign the armistice in 1918. After that Hitler destroys the carriage to exorcise the ghost of WW I defeat.
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