All language subtitles for Butterfly.Effect.S02E13_English

- [Narrator] Our history
is no more than a series

of incredible events.

Every one of us can
influence its course.

The most infinitesimal of
our decisions can influence

the future of humanity.

To know the past is
to foresee the future.

(bombs exploding)

May 10th, 1940.

Hitler triggers Case Yellow,

the invasion and
conquest of France.

May 24th,

Divisional General
Heinz Guderian

received the order to
halt his land offensive

at the gates of Dunkirk.

May 27th,

General Gort, Commander of the
British Expeditionary Force

announces the withdrawal
of his troops to England.

These three intimately
connected events

are major incidents of
the Battle of Dunkirk

and will determine the course
of the Second World War.

(gentle music)

December 31st, 1939.

Ardennes Forest.

It's minus four
degrees Fahrenheit.

The winter is
exceptionally harsh.

The soldiers of the
French Ninth Army

are celebrating New
Years' Eve in their way.

But their hearts aren't in it.

Since the 3rd of September,
they are at war with Germany.

Mobilized and then
sent to the front,

millions of men stand on
guard, arms at the ready,

alongside the British
Expeditionary Force.

But this war is nothing like
what some of them experienced

25 years earlier during
the First World War.

Nothing happens.

The enemy is invisible.

This war of waiting is weird.

It's a phoney war.

And yet, they are
ready to fight.

In 1939, the French Army
is acknowledged as being

the best in the world.

2,240,000 soldiers

divided into 94
infantry divisions.

That is four times greater
than Napoleon's Grand Army

during the Russian campaign.

Well equipped and armed
with numbers of machine guns

and good rifles, the foot
soldiers advance under

the protection of the best
armored vehicles of the
period.

The S35 is a redoubtable
destroyer of tanks.

It is designed to advance at
the same pace as the infantry,

withstand heavy enemy fire,
and destroy enemy defenses.

Staff HQ has learned all the
lessons of the Great War.

This time, the French
Army is ready to endure

years of hard fighting.

It will win this war just
as it won the previous one.

The Germany Army will be
shattered on its defenses,

defenses that, incidentally,

have been considerably
reinforced.

Constructed at great
expense, the Maginot Line

is a vast network
of fortifications,
bunkers, and tunnels.

It presents a formidable
obstacle to any army

wishing to invade the
national territory.

It represents the
entire French strategy,

protect the peace by
wagering on defense

and not on attack,

because nobody in France
in 1939 wants war.

The last one cost
1,300,000 men their lives.

There is not a single
village that does not have

a memorial
commemorating the dead.

(intense music)

- [Woman] Welcome to
the memory of humanity.

Here we can control time,
analyze, and compare

billions of events
and alter them

to rewrite history endlessly.

All the events in our history,
however minute they may be,

are memorized and
interconnected.

It only requires one to be
changed for all the others

to be shaken to the core.

For example, let's take a
look at the Maginot Line.

400 kilometers long and armed

with the most modern of guns,

it is designed to
protect the country.

It is said to be impossible.

In the 17th century,
the engineer Vauban

created the concept of the
pre carre, square meadow,

a double line of fortified
towns to consolidate

the frontiers of the kingdom.

Perfectly suited to counter
the progress of artillery,

these fortifications
are formidable.

Frontal attack is highly
risky, even suicidal.

Cannonballs ricochet
off the inclined walls.

Assailants are caught
in a deadly crossfire.

Vauban's works were
a real success.

During that period,
France was never invaded.

In 1940, will the Maginot
Line be up to the standard

of Vauban's pre carre?

(upbeat music)

- [Narrator] Ardennes,
May 10th, 1940.

The German Army attacks.

(intense music)

Although France
does not want war,

the Nazi regime has been
hoping for it for years.

Leaning toward the
offensive, the strategy

of the German High Command is
based on speed and aggression.

Find a weak point in the
adversary's defenses,

force a path through,
go around the enemy,

strike him there and
then, before he has time

to understand what's happening.

It's a huge gamble.

If the attack slows down,
the enemy can recover,

counterattack on the flanks,
and reverse the situation.

But by attacking the most
powerful army in the world,

Germany knows that they
don't have the resources

to become bogged down
in a long battle.

They have to finish it quickly.

Germany risks everything.

(intense music)

The Panzers, the
German assault tanks,

are organized in autonomous
mechanized divisions

and commanded by young
and audacious leaders.

Their mission is to charge
through the Ardennes range

and create a breach.

In perfect coordination
with their numerous

and modern air forces,
the Panzer unit generals

have considerable independence
in decision-making

and can react quickly.

The Maginot Line is impassable.

The Germans won't even try
to force their way through

and prefer to go around it.

At the point of
attack, divisional
general Heinz Guderian.

On May 13th, just three
days after the start

of the fighting, his
tanks break through

the front at Sedan.

Nobody can stop them.

The French tanks are
divided between each

infantry division
while the German tanks

attack in a group.

Handfuls of S35s manage
to hold out against

the Panzer battalions,
taking shell after shell,

returning shot after shot.

But the survivors finally
succumb to the horrific
attacks

from the dive bombers.

French staff HQ is stunned.

As veterans of the First
World War, the generals

don't understand how
the enemy was able

to move so fast.

Everything is done to stop
the avalanche of steel.

But on May 20th, the first
Panzers reach the Channel

and cut the front in two.

A million French, British,
and Belgian soldiers

are cut off from their bases
and in a critical situation.

Guderian is on the point of
delivering the death blow.

But suddenly, on May 24th,

the German High Command
orders
a halt to the offensive.

(suspenseful music)

- [Woman] We have just
reached a turning point.

A turning point is a key
event,
a crossroads in our history

where the world swings
one way or the other.

The Panzer divisions have
just received the order

confirmed by Hitler himself

to halt and stop the battle.

If the German tanks
had continued on their

implacable advance, they
would very certainly

have destroyed the
entire Allied forces

in the Dunkirk pocket.

Today, this choice is
considered to be one of
Hitler's

greatest strategic errors.

If the Fuhrer had allowed
his Panzers to attack,

the outcome of World
War II would've been

radically different.

Stripped of its professional
army and its finest generals,

England would not have been
able to carry on the fight.

It would almost certainly
have been forced

into peace negotiations.

The United States would not
have been able to assemble

their troops in Great Britain.

The Normandy landings would
never have taken place.

Without enemies in Europe,
Hitler would've concentrated

all his forces on the
East against the USSR

and would most probably have
been victorious there, too.

The Third Reich
would've won the war

and today would be
sole master of Europe.

Let's continue.

(fire roaring)

- [Narrator] Hundreds of
thousands of soldiers,

including the entire
British Expeditionary Force,

are encircled in a giant
pocket of resistance.

The situation is critical,

but not desperate.

Inexplicably, the
Panzer divisions
seemed to have stopped.

This respite is jumped on.

From all sides, units
pull back to form

a new line of defense.

Troops still fit to fight
are hastily assembled.

At all costs, they
must break the circle

and go on fighting
until victory or death.

French HQ plans the
counteroffensive.

It intends to engage all
available Allied resources

to force a way out.

But for General Gort,
head of the British

Expeditionary Force, there
remains another option.

Proportionately, England has
not committed as many men

to the battle, but they are
the elite of its infantry.

To lose these soldiers
is to be left without

any defense against the Germans.

On May 20th, Gort no
longer believes in victory,

so he decides to save what
he can and has secretly

prepared the evacuation
of his fighting force.

Strategically, the only
possible escape route is by
sea.

And on May 26th, the
only port still free

is that of the city of Dunkirk.

In the following days,
the British carry out

a series of withdrawals
to get close to it.

Saving the Expeditionary
Force becomes

the British government's
top priority.

The Royal Navy and the Air
Force fighters are mobilized.

Code name, Operation Dynamo.

The French don't know it yet,

but their Ally is preparing
to leave the front.

On May 27th at dawn, Gort
meets the French generals

and announces the evacuation.

The French are stunned.

Without British support,
the counteroffensive

cannot take place.

The battle is lost.

But in order to
evacuate their soldiers,

the British need help.

They ask France to
defend the Dunkirk pocket

where they have
withdrawn to the last.

In return, they promise
to evacuate as many

French troops as possible.

The elite of the French
Army is defeated.

The German offensive
can no longer be broken.

With nothing left to
lose, French HQ decides

to provide the defense and
orders all available units

to hold the line,
whatever the cost.

General Fagalde is charged
with the dangerous mission

of commanding the
defense of Dunkirk.

If England survives,
the struggle will go on.

On the morning of the
27th, the Panzer division

resumes their offensive.

The Battle of Dunkirk begins.

- [Woman] Gaining time.

France, first among
the military powers,

has just been hit as if by
lightning from the German Army.

Hitler himself is more
surprised than anyone.

The Nazi propaganda
machine even creates a term

for lightning war,
Blitzkrieg,
to boast of its superiority.

And yet, this audacious
strategy costs the German
forces

half their tanks and almost
2/3 of their combat aircraft

because far from giving
way, the French Army

fought ferociously.

The confrontations
of a rare violence

decimated the armies
on both sides.

It's what is called
a Pyrrhic victory.

2,000 years ago, King
Pyrrhus faced a Roman army.

He won the battle, but
with losses so great,

that he finally lost the war.

The horrific losses of
May 1940 most probably

alarmed the German
headquarters, still concerned

over a possible
counteroffensive.

To preserve the remainder
of his precious Panzers,

Hitler preferred to pause
before attacking Dunkirk.

The Germans had
run out of steam.

(intense music)

(airplane engine roaring)

- [Narrator] At
dawn on May 27th,

the Luftwaffe planes
rained bombs down

on the port of Dunkirk.

By that very evening, it
is entirely destroyed.

The evacuation takes place to
the howl of the Stuka sirens,

those terrifying dive bombers.

Firefighters struggled
with massive blazes.

Civilians die in their hundreds.

Off the shore, the British
and French warships

have difficulty
reaching the port,

now blocked by the
hulks of burning ships.

Rapidly, soldiers
crowd onto the beaches,

more accessible than the port.

Small boats ply to and
fro in a shuttle service

to the fleet's destroyers.

Belgium warns its allies,
backed into a corner,

it can't hold out
for much longer.

On the evening of the first day,

only 7,600 men have
been evacuated.

They need to go
faster and gain time.

On May 28th, Belgium surrenders.

The situation seems
disastrous, but at Lille,

the remnants of the French
Army are holding out

against 130,000 German soldiers

and 800 armored vehicles.

For four days,
smashed by the bombs,

the French troops engage
in a heroic combat.

For four days, they
prevent the enemy

from falling upon Dunkirk.

For four days, they
salvage Operation Dynamo.

In the air, other heroes throw
themselves into the battle.

British fighter pilots
struggle to contain

the German bombers.

Day after day they intervene
in ferocious aerial battles.

On the beach, a multitude of
craft continue to evacuate

the men in their thousands.

47,000 on the 29th,

53,000 on the 30th.

Along the line of defense,
the British troops

leave their positions
to move to the beach.

On the 31st, Winston
Churchill,
the British Prime Minister,

expresses anxiety over the
small number of French soldiers

evacuated compared
to the British.

In England, everything that
floats is requisitioned

and sent to Dunkirk.

More than 800 ships of all sizes

and in all nationalities
divide
the German bombers and guns.

Many of them end up at
the bottom of the Channel.

On this day, 68,000
men are evacuated.

The next day, out of
ammunition, Lille,

now a camp cut off, falls.

On June 1st, in Dunkirk,

only French troops are
still holding the line,

outnumbered 10 to one.

On the evening of June 2nd,
the Expeditionary Force

has been totally evacuated.

The Admiralty announces
operation complete,

we are returning to Douvres.

And yet in Dunkirk,
45,000 French defenders

are still fighting on.

One after another, the
last battalions receive

the order to evacuate.

At the twilight of the
battle, brave teams risk all

aboard whatever
boats they can find.

The exhausted combatants
pile on board.

Under enemy fire, they
destroy the last bridges,

set up the last
guns as a battery,

fire the final mortars.

Many choose to stay
in position and cover

their comrades' retreat as
they run from the beaches.

Everywhere they're fighting,
smashed by the bombs.

All strength and all
ammunition is gone.

France makes a final
magnificent gesture.

The Germans paid dearly for
every inch of ground gained.

June 4th, the Germans break
into the destroyed city.

A general addresses his
opposite French number,

now a prisoner, and asks him
where the English have gone.

The officer replies, to England.

- [Woman] Holding out.

The French forces
receive the order to hold

the evacuation perimeter
to allow their allies

to get out of Dunkirk.

French headquarters
could've continued with its

initial plan to counterattack.

Instead, it decided
to do all it could

to protect Operation
Dynamo and throw its last

operational forces
into the battle.

This decision makes the
evacuation of the British

Expeditionary Force possible
and allows the Allies

to continue the fight.

About a century
earlier, in 1836,

the 200 Texan
defenders of Fort Alamo

were in the same situation.

Besieged by 1,200
Mexican soldiers,

they held out, six
to one, for 13 days.

At the end of the third assault,

the Fort finally
fell into the hands

of the Mexican Army.

All of the defenders,
including
the famous Davy Crockett,

die in the fighting.

But the time gained
allowed the Texan Army

to prepare a counterattack.

A few weeks later, it
carries off a decisive

victory over Mexico.

Let's continue.

- [Narrator] The Allies hoped
to rescue 40,000 soldiers

at best, they will
evacuate 347,000,

of which 280,000 were British.

The Germans take
40,000 prisoners.

90% of the city is destroyed.

Tactically, this is
a German victory.

The city has fallen
into their hands

and will remain
there for five years.

But strategically, the
Germans have missed

a unique opportunity to
put an end to the conflict.

And the British Army
is still operational,

and amongst the evacuees
are important generals

such as Alexander
and Montgomery,

future victor over
the Africa Corps.

Many of these soldiers will land

on the Normandy beaches in 1944

and take part in the
liberation of Europe.

The British retained their
ability to continue the
battle.

On the return to
the United Kingdom,

the soldiers were
greeted as heroes.

The Battle of Dunkirk
was a feat of arms.

But as Winston
Churchill will say,

wars are not won on evacuations.

For all that, the Battle
of France is not yet over.

On the continent, more
than a million soldiers

are still fighting, France
needs all of its troops,

and the divisions
evacuated from Dunkirk

could swing the balance.

Exhausted and decimated
by weeks of fighting,

the defenders of Dunkirk
will transit via England,

then land at Brest
a few days later.

But the situation has changed.

In spite of opposition from
the President of the Counsel

and General de Gaulle,

(mumbles) has decided to
ask Hitler for an armistice.

He orders all French
units to cease fighting.

He thinks he can succeed in
saving what remains of France.

The heroes of Dunkirk,
after having held this city

for several days,
outnumbered 10 to one,

are obliged to lay
down their arms

and surrender to the enemy.

For France, this is the
time of the Vichy regime.

But that is another story.

(gentle music)

- [Woman] Winners write history.

During the campaign in France,

the German forces brought
cameramen with them.

Today, we have many images
of Panzers driving through

the flaming hulks
of French tanks.

Never the opposite,
and for good reason.

There was hardly a single
camera on the French side.

During the Battle of Dunkirk,

the only images we
have are those taken

aboard ships or on the beach.

Nobody was there to see
the last 50 survivors

of the 137th Infantry Regiment
charge with fixed bayonets.

Today, the universally shared
view, including in France,

is that the French Army
did not fight in 1940.

But the facts speak
for themselves.

The Germans lost more
Panzers in May 1940

than during the great
Battle of Kursk,

considered to be the
greatest battle ever

between tanks in history.

France, overtaken
strategically, gave all it
had

to contain the enemy forces.

Unlike the British, the
Americans, and the Russians,

it did not have time to adapt
to this new form of warfare.

Crushed by the German
troops, France fought

to save its allies
and give itself

the means to carry on the fight.

(intense orchestral music)