Original subtitles

The concept of Blitz Greek is that the

enemy cannot gain a fresh foothold

somewhere and offer major resistance.

It calls for certain elements above all

large armored units that can act

operationally with air support.

You also need the right leadership

culture.

Militarily, the focus is usually on the

enemy's capital. To win the war, you

have to take it.

It was of course important to the

Germans to capture Warsaw with as few of

their own casualties as possible. But

they did so relatively quickly because

the Po's willingness to defend and their

morale had already been broken.

>> During the war in Poland, Hitler had

already told his military leaders of his

decision to attack France.

The Germans planned to go through

Belgium and act as bait, so to speak,

for the Allies, but the actual

destructive thrust was to take place

further south through the Arden. It was

a huge gamble, and the Germans were

lucky that the French failed tactically

and operationally.

Somehow, Hitler seemed to have cornered

success,

and Germany's military leaders also

bathed in the charisma which he now

exuded.

In the first world war, Germany had

fought for four years without taking

Paris. Now, this had been achieved

within a few weeks. Naturally, this was

a phenomenal achievement that could not

only be exploited propagandistically. It

also made a massive impression on the

German people.

Actually,

the Blitzgri operations and the whole

myth surrounding them showed how quickly

battles or campaigns could be won and

individual countries and armies

defeated. But it was not a concept for

winning an entire war.

[music]

[music]

On September 22nd, 1939, Germany and the

Soviet Union agreed on a demarcation

line along the river Bug. Poland was

divided up between the two dictatorships

even before the fighting had ended. Tank

General Hines Gderion and his core as

part of Army Group [music] North had

arrived in Breastly to celebrate the two

sides supposed commonalities with a

military parade.

>> It was actually absurd for each side to

meet with the class enemy because the

Germans clearly mistrusted the Soviet

Union. Old Nazis in particular were

shocked at the alliance between the two,

but Hitler reassured them, saying that

it was only a tactical alliance and that

at some point the Russians would get

their day of reckoning. He said he'd had

to replace one evil with another.

Gderion and the Soviet general both put

on a brave face.

>> Polish troops taken prisoner by the

Germans. In the end, nearly 700,000

surrendered to the Vermacht.

France and Great Britain had still not

given any military support [music] to

their allies who were now facing defeat.

Nevertheless, the Polish government

still refused to declare Warsaw an open

city and end the war.

Hitler had ordered the capital to be

bombed and shelled into capitulation. On

September 25th, at the peak of its

attacks, the German air force dropped

487 tons of explosive and 72 tons of

incenduries.

When you read the diaries of Warsaw

inhabitants, the days of the aerial and

artillery bombardment must have been

terrible. Warsaw became a symbol that

survived longer than the Germans

expected. A symbol for those Polish men

and women who still hoped that in some

way they could hold out until the

Western powers came to their assistance.

>> The Nazis claimed that their barbaric

assault was inevitable. Propaganda

Minister Ysef Gerbles wrote in his

diary,

>> "We have to take the city and if it is

defended with all available means, that

is also how we must attack it.

The bombing was so devastating that the

Polish commander-in-chief said, "It's

intolerable. We have to capitulate." And

that took place soon after. There was

fighting in the outskirts of the city.

But by then, surrender negotiations were

already in progress. So sadly, the

terror bombing had achieved its goal.

Morally, it had virtually broken the

Polish backs. "We simply had no choice

but to capitulate," they said.

No city had ever experienced such

horrific aerial bombardment. More than

2,500 people died in the ruins of

Warsaw.

September

Poland's supreme commander Marshall Rid

Smiggley had fled to Romania where the

Polish government had already sought

refuge 10 days earlier.

A Nazi propaganda film reported on the

capitulation of Warsaw.

The last hostilities in Poland ended

early in October.

There was no general Polish capitulation

because the Poles had established a

government in exile and also because a

large part of the Polish army had tried

to escape to Romania and Hungary. So the

message was quite clear. We are not

submitting. We are going to fight on.

Poland is not yet lost. Consequently,

overall capitulation would have violated

Polish honor.

On October 5th, 1939, Hitler arrived in

Warsaw.

In the streets of the capital, the

Vermach honored the dictator with a

victory parade.

His troops had defeated Poland in less

than 5 weeks. Hitler's power seemed

insupable.

The Blitzkrieg myth was born.

>> Victory parades have always had a

symbolic power. They show the victorious

army and present it in a special light.

as a salute so to speak.

In Warsaw, we again had a victory parade

taking place in the very country that

had been defeated.

So it was also a form of humiliation and

that is how this victory parade in

Warsaw was also presented from a

propaganda point of view.

>> Hitler was overjoyed at the campaign

having proved victorious so quickly. I

now want to attack at once in the west,

he said, because the western allies are

still too weak. Time is working against

the German Reich. We must immediately

move our troops westward and attack

France. Naturally, most of his generals

were horrified to hear this.

Because of the speed with which it was

achieved, the military success in Poland

was massive. It had been a short war.

Germany's great trauma was having to

fight a long war against superior enemy

coalitions. But in Poland, the Germans

had succeeded in isolating an adversary

and defeating it relatively quickly.

That was of huge importance to how

military and especially political

leaders in Germany thought.

>> Wounded troops from the Poland campaign

arrive at Corbach in Hessa.

Johannes Bleasner owned a photo store.

Time and again during the Second World

War, he filmed events in his hometown.

The Vermachar put the number of wounded

at 30,322.

>> The war resulted in losses on both

sides, but that is a problem in war. You

lose soldiers, of course. The question

is, can the losses be offset? Do they

have a place in the big picture?

Are the losses excessive or justifiable?

And in the opinion of Hitler and his

military leaders, they marked casualties

in Poland certainly were acceptable.

>> Bandages for the wounded were in short

supply. Women in Corbach helped to ease

the supply problem. People were happy

about the swift victory in Poland.

To prevent people at home going hungry

during the war, food had been rationed

[music] and could only be bought with

tokens.

The citizens of Corbach used their own

initiative. They preserved fruit and

took the produce to assembly camps.

>> Naturally, the fact that German

politicians and public opinions thought

so highly of the blitz creek had a

propaganda effect. On the domestic

front, it showed the German people how

powerful the veh had been made. The

message was if we have defeated Poland

in 4 weeks, how long will we need for

other adversaries?

Johannes Blener also filmed the funeral

of a soldier killed in Poland.

The Vermacht claimed to have lost 13,981

troops.

No comparison with the horrific losses

of the Polish army.

The Vmach did not of course achieve

victory over Poland without incurring

its own losses in men and material.

Germany had mainly suffered losses of a

material nature. This meant that the veh

would not be able to embark on another

campaign in the west straight away

would need several weeks or even months

to refit and reinforce its units to be

ready for a new campaign.

The armament's industry was working flat

out to supply the Vermacht. Above all,

the Air Force urgently needed more

planes. With 285 lost and 279 damaged,

[music] 29% of all the aircraft used in

Poland needed to be replaced.

U47 on its way to the dry dock at a Kroo

shipyard. It was filmed by a Nazi

propaganda team because the submarine

had achieved a spectacular success. On

October 13th, 1939, U47 broke through

the British sea blockade and entered

Scarpa Flow, a body of water in the

Orcne Islands in Scotland. Basically, it

was suicide operation.

>> The German Navy was very weak and had

far too few vessels. So, it was highly

important to the Navy for it to achieve

at least symbolic successes. And that

was the case when captained by GA Pin

U47 entered Scapa Flow and sank the

British battleship Royal Oak

Gin's coup in entering Scapa Flow and

sinking a British battleship was just

what German propaganda was waiting for.

Apparently, it showed the vulnerability

of the Royal Navy. And at this early

stage of the war, it also demonstrated

the courage of German yubot crews.

And an additional element of special

importance was that Pin was a Nazi party

member. He had joined in 1931. So this

was the perfect scenario for a

propaganda campaign.

Together with his unit, Lieutenant Edgar

Forsberg of the 257th Infantry Division

was sent to Krakow and from there to

southern Poland.

A book printer from Berlin for many

years, he had also been a keen amateur

filmmaker known as the Bear Division.

His unit was stationed on the Slovakian

border.

>> One effect of the war was that young

German men were suddenly being taken out

of a regional setting where as a rule

they had spent their whole life. The

crucial issue is that outside Germany,

they were the masters. They could

actually do what they wanted. The

difference from being at home was that

in occupied areas and especially in the

east, they were in a legal vacuum and

that's totally uninhibiting. Naturally,

it led to troops becoming coarsened. As

a result, looting and rape and other

offenses against the civilian population

became part of the daily agenda.

Galysia had been a center of Yiddish

culture for centuries. Around 800,000

Jews coexisted more or less peacefully

with Ukrainians and Poles. But according

to official Nazi doctrine, they were

subhumans. And as soon as German troops

occupied Galacia, a reign [music] of

terror began for the Jews. They were

recruited everywhere for use as forced

labor.

The 257th Infantry Division was

relocated to the Sarland, a train

journey through the Nah Valley. After

France had declared war on the Third

Reich, the border between the two

countries had undergone particular

fortification. All road and rail links

had been cut, [music]

bridges were blown, and for security

reasons, villages in the border region

evacuated. Soldiers [music]

wiled away the time in various ways.

It was the time of the phony war, which

the French called the Dare the Funny

War, because they'd just be sitting in

their bunkers opposite the Germans.

It became clear that the Germans thought

little of France's ability to resist

them militarily because fraternizing

scenes took place where the French would

shout across, "Don't shoot. We've

nothing against you. It's just the

British who are pushing us into war."

Consequently, the Germans and Hitler

himself gained the impression that the

French didn't want war. If we attack,

they thought, we stand a good chance of

overcoming the French.

[music]

>> The two armies eyed each other on the

border for months, waiting for the order

from Berlin or Paris [music] to attack.

[music]

In the Zarland, the deceptive piece was

broken occasionally by a [music] few

shells being fired. Since the start of

the war, there had been repeated

skirmishes on Germany's border with

France. On September 7th, 1939, French

[music] troops had advanced onto Reich

territory between the Moselle and the

Palatine forest.

They penetrated only a few kilome into

the German Reich. Theoretically, they

could have gone a lot further, but that

is not what they wanted. That was not

what politicians nor indeed the military

had in mind. The French wanted the

Germans to attack first.

>> Occasionally, [music] French

reconnaissance units were taken

prisoner.

The soldiers were first given something

to eat and then crammed into a holding

area. [music]

Since the invasion of Poland, Germany's

[music] supreme commander had only worn

the gray tunic of a soldier. He had

wanted to command the attack on France

ever since [music] October. But time and

again his generals found a reason to

postpone it. [music] The dictator was

getting impatient.

>> In all, the date for the attack in the

west was postponed no less than 29

times. And each time the armed forces

were put on the alert. Get ready. They

were told in 3 days we move. This of

course was extremely tiring and

frustrating for the soldiers who should

have been told you first got 6 months to

take a rest and exchange pleasantries

with the French. But instead they had to

remain constantly on standby.

The fact that there was a break, a time

window was of crucial importance to the

ve.

The troops needed to be refreshed and

reinforced and of course units had to be

refitted.

What is more, military leaders needed to

reflect on how well their approach in

Poland had functioned militarily.

The French armament's industry had not

been idle either. It was producing

artillery pieces and shells for the

forthcoming defensive battle against the

Germans.

And the French too placed great faith in

their tanks.

At the time, the French had one of the

most powerful armies in the world. They

also had extremely strong armored units

and formidable artillery. But they were

short of anti-aircraft weapons. So they

had set certain priorities and they had

of course invested a great deal in

defense in the Majino line. Their view

was why should we attack the Germans?

For the time being we are safe and time

is on our side. If the Germans want to

defeat us and win the war they will have

to try and attack like they did in the

first world war and that can only take

place through the Benel countries.

>> How would they strike this time? through

al-Sassraine as in 1870

through the low countries as in 1914.

What was the 1940 model conquest? The

French considered the Minino line

utterly impregnable and therefore

believed the Germans would again try a

swing through the low countries as in

1914.

Back then the Schlieffen plan failed.

Even in 1914 in southern Belgium and

northern France, the western front sank

into bloody trench warfare that devoured

more and more men and material.

The frame of reference for the higher

ranks of the military was of course the

first world war which they had

personally experienced.

Even though 15 or more years of military

development had passed since then, it

was how they first looked at plans for a

war against France.

So for them, the concept of attacking

France was always linked to memories of

1914 and the campaign back then.

The chief of the general staff of the

army high command, France Halder, had

plans for an attack through Holland and

Belgium drawn up and presented them to

Hitler.

But the Furer himself still had vivid

memories of war in the trenches, which

he had experienced for years as a

dispatch runner. Halder however saw no

alternative.

>> Hitler said that Halder's plan reminded

him of the Schlieffen plan in the First

World War. The French already know it,

he said, and you don't make the same

mistake twice. The concept is totally

lacking in imagination. I don't think

Halder had any better idea. I think it

was the best he could come up with

because for him, the Majino line was

impenetrable. So, Halder saw attacking

through neutral Belgium once again as

Germany's only option.

Since the end of the first world war,

the French had extended and reinforced

the bunker constructions in the Majino

line.

The aim was to give the Germans no

chance against defensive lines that were

heavily manned and ready for action.

So the French mass 78 divisions here

along the border of Belgium.

17 were in the Minino line, 10 divisions

here in case Mussolini got bold. Three

and a half as a safeguard against Spain.

The British had 10 divisions here. The

Allied strategy in the event of an

attack against the Low Countries was to

swing their armies like a gate into

Belgium. The hinge being the north end

of the Majinino line.

This allimportant hinge was protected by

the forest of the Arden, a hilly [music]

and thickly wooded area, honeycombed

with streams, its roads narrow trails,

its bridges too weak for military

vehicles. French strategists estimated

the forest of the Ardan impossible for

armored forces. [music]

As you will see, this was one of the

costliest estimates in all military

history.

>> General Munchstein.

>> When he first saw this initial plan of

attack, the chief of staff of Army Group

A, General Eric von Munchstein was

horrified and developed his own plans.

Although independently of each other, at

the same time, both Hitler and

Munchstein had very similar ideas. But

neither knew of the others thoughts and

Haldder tried to the very end to prevent

Hitler from getting a glimpse of

Munchstein's ideas. That's because

Halder did not believe that a thrust

through the Arden through an extension

of the Majino line would prove

successful and certainly not with

powerful armored units. Right to the

end, he stuck to the idea that the main

attack had to come through Belgium.

>> All winter long, German units practiced

the mobile warfare that had proved so

successful in Poland. Dive bombers would

make it easier for infantry to advance

while flamethrowers would eliminate

defensives positions.

And once again, hopes rested on the

power of the armored units. Manstein

looked at the deployment of the enemy's

forces and the topography and identified

a definitive weak point, the Aden.

[clears throat] The French were not

expecting an attack from that direction.

They were preparing for a massive German

armored offensive, but not through the

Aden. Even German military thinkers were

against the

>> Aden is.

>> At some point, Hitler learned of the

daring idea of taking a tank army

through the Arden.

Hitler did not know Eric von Mannstein

personally, but an opportunity soon

arose for a meeting in the chancellory

in Berlin.

>> Hitler had received the newly appointed

commanding generals and informed them of

their new role. After the meal, he asked

Munchstein to stay behind and talk to

him. Hitler himself, Munchstein said,

liked to hold forth and often didn't

allow people to finish what they were

saying. But this time, Hitler listened.

And afterwards, he told Munchstein he

was surprised. The ideas he voiced were

the very ones Hitler had had already.

>> Afterwards, Hitler is reported to have

said, "Sometimes you need someone like

Mannstein." The dictator was impressed,

and Halder and the other military

leaders had to shove their resistance.

The question of whether this plan could

be sabotaged or Hitler dissuaded from

following it just never arose I think

because Hitler's popularity was

undisputed

and through the success in Poland he had

of course also won respect in military

circles.

So the small number of people who viewed

Hitler critically and saw themselves

perhaps as opposition realized that

their position was totally marginal and

that in this situation there was

absolutely no point in sabotaging the

plan.

>> On March 23rd, 1940, the Nazi public

welfare organization in Corbach invited

people to enjoy a pee and ham stew on

Adolf Hitler Square.

On Armed Forces Day, the Nazi leadership

wanted to promote solidarity in the

community.

[music]

After the successful campaign in Poland,

most people hoped that as in 1938,

diplomacy would soon bring peace again.

But for Hitler, it [music] was clear

that France had to be defeated.

In the German officer corps and

especially amongst the generals in some

cases there was massive resistance to a

campaign against France.

The background to this was that in the

first world war Germany had failed to

defeat France. As a result many generals

wondered whether Germany would be

successful this time especially with an

army that was still not fully equipped

not fully upgraded and unlike the

imperial armies in the first world war

lacked in-depth quality.

Thus, resistance arose amongst the

generals who constantly managed to get

the start of the campaign postponed.

>> In spring 1940, Hitler turned his

attention to a different theater of war,

Scandinavia. The Soviet attack on

Finland had made the Allies aware of the

strategic importance of the region. In

their view, neither Stalin nor Hitler

should be allowed to gain control.

Neither Germany nor the Soviet Union

should become an occupying power there

and Allied concerns were justified.

>> In spring of 1940, Norway was important

to Germany for three reasons. Firstly,

Germany's northern flank was threatened

by the Allies. Secondly, so were its

imports of iron ore, so important to the

German armament's industry. Germany

obtained its iron ore from northern

Sweden.

And thirdly, if Germany occupied Norway,

it would suddenly have new ports and

could conduct the war against the Royal

Navy on a totally different level. It

would open the gateway not just to the

North Sea, but to the Atlantic as well.

>> Atlantic.

The Germans looked on wearily as British

warships and mine layers stepped up

their operations off Norway, thus

threatening Swedish or supplies to the

Reich, which took place mainly through

the Norwegian port of Narvik.

Early in 1940, Lieutenant Commander

Briggs took this footage on board HMS

Ivanho. The British cruiser was

operating in the Norwegian Sea,

searching for German submarines in order

to attack them with [music] depth

charges and sea mines.

The Royal Navy also had to protect

British merchant ships heading for

Britain in convoys

in Norwegian waters on February 16th,

1940. Briggs filmed this spectacular

action by a British warship.

>> Several incidents then took place like

the Altmark incident. A British

destroyer captured the Altmark, a German

supply ship that had British prisoners

on board. Several German sailors were

killed in the operation. Hitler was

furious. The Norwegians, he said, are

clearly not protecting their neutrality.

In fact, Norway is about to become a

British zone of influence. So, he

launched Operation Vasa exercise, the

occupation of Norway and also of

Denmark. The idea had also come from the

German Navy, but Hitler implemented it

because he thought it had to happen

quickly, otherwise the British would

beat him to the punch.

Another [music]

Blitz Creek, this time first of all on

water

under the code name Operation Vaser

exercise. Not only was Norway to be

occupied in a lightning operation, so

was neutral Denmark. The Danes had

actually been relying on a

non-aggression pact which existed with

Berlin, but the Germans of course

ignored it. Copenhagen was simply

occupied. [music]

Fore!

Foreign! Foreign!

Faced with the superior military power

of the Germans and their brutal

approach, the Danes fought for just a

few hours before surrendering.

planets.

On the one hand, Hitler hoped right to

the end that he could somehow come to an

agreement with London because he saw the

British as putitive natural allies. He

only changed his opinion at a very late

stage. On the other hand, the military

situation was totally different. If I

take Norway with its ports and airfields

and so on, I can of course confront a

[clears throat] potential enemy like

Great Britain in a totally different way

from me not having these possibilities

are indeed Great Britain having them

because the Norwegian government had

asked London for help and not Berlin.

Berlin was the aggressor.

Norway categorically refused to

capitulate.

The German invaders responded with

military power.

In the end, the Norwegian capital

capitulated to the invaders.

But the actual objectives of Hitler's

Vermacht were the ice-free [music] ports

in the north of the country, Bergen,

Tronheim, and Naravik.

Just as in Warsaw, the Nazi air force

showed no consideration for the civilian

population. Wherever there was

resistance, as in ports like Namsos or

Stavanga, German bombers reduced the

town to rubble.

Like many of his subjects, King Harken

II first fled into the interior of the

country. He rejected the installation of

a fascist government in Oslo.

A German naval formation reached Narvik

on schedule on April 9th and encountered

fierce resistance.

>> For the German Navy, this was a gain in

prestige, although many of its ships

were lost or seriously damaged. Nearly

all the large warships were either put

out of action or suffered so much damage

that they needed repairing in a

dockyard. Worst of all, however, was the

failure of the submarine arm because

nearly all its torpedoes were defective.

In fact, there was a real torpedo

crisis. Yubot commanders had almost half

the British home fleet in their sights,

but their torpedoes failed, which of

course triggered a huge loss of

confidence within the German Navy.

In the Battle of Narvik, the Vermach

suffered its first embarrassing defeat

of the war. Supported by French and

British units, the Norwegian army held

off the invaders for several weeks, but

not forever.

On June 7th, 1940, the king of Norway

[music] managed to escape to Great

Britain by sea. Norway had to

capitulate.

[music]

On the Rhine, too, French troops had

spent all winter observing the

activities of the Germans. They were

prepared for an attack on Alsas and

Lraine, but the French didn't take any

action themselves. [music]

So, in spring 1940, [music] the

atmosphere here was one of tense calm.

>> [music]

>> The whole concept of defense was based

on what the Germans called a strike from

the hindquarters. This meant letting the

enemy attack first and then

counterattacking. In other words, we

just have to wait. Then we surge forward

with our superb tank units and all the

material at our disposal. The French are

much stronger and they are also getting

stronger the longer they wait and force

the Germans to take the first step.

In the end, Hitler set May 10th, 1940 as

the date for the attack.

>> Infantry troops stationed in Bitterfeld

near Hala were now also moved west.

Many had been involved in the Blitzkrieg

in Poland. In the months before, the

Vermach had analyzed the Polish campaign

in great detail.

In Poland, coordination between the

armored units, the infantry, and the

artillery, in other words, warfare with

combined arms, including the air force,

had not functioned to the total

satisfaction of the Vey.

At the end of the campaign, each German

division was told to produce a full

report on what had gone well in Poland

and what had not gone well from a

military point of view.

Between the Polish campaign and the

French campaign a few months later, the

German army made a great effort to learn

from the deficits of the Polish

campaign, in particular to improve

cooperation between the various branches

of the armed forces.

141 German divisions with more than 3.3

million troops were ready. They would be

faced by enemy forces of similar

strength, but the French had no idea of

the Germans plan, which Winston

Churchill would later call the sickle

cut.

Hitler traveled to the Western Front in

an armored train.

The apparatus of government went with

him, including a communications

compartment with a telephone and Tel

center.

On the night of the 9th and 10th of May,

the chancellory was deserted.

Hanging next to Hitler's desk was a

painting of Bismar, the iron chancellor

who had defeated the French in 1871.

In 1940, the army film department

produced a propaganda film showing the

advance through the Aden.

The title song glorified the Blitz Creek

legend.

The film began with a detailed list of

all the units involved in the French

campaign together with the names of the

commanding officers.

>> [music]

>> Tank General Hines Gudderion took the

opportunity to introduce the film in a

rather stiff presentation.

The plan was risky in many respects. The

infrastructure in the Arden, the road

system was not good.

Secondly, the region is hilly and

wooded, so it is not perfect terrain for

an attack with armor.

And thirdly, above all, marching from

east to west always left the south flank

open.

On the morning of May 10th, Hines

Gdderian posed for the camera once again

as the German tank divisions were

approaching Luxembourg. The man behind

the sickle cut concept, Eric von

Mannstein, still had to wait to put in

an appearance.

If we control this side of the French

front, Manstein said, we will strike the

enemy's flanks on mass. He will then

somehow have to adopt a defensive

position he's not prepared for. This

will cause chaos and confusion in the

ranks of the enemy. But we will be on

the front foot operationally and thus

able to conduct our movements from the

flank of the French defensives.

for

at Wallandorf. The first tank division

crossed the border into neutral

Luxembourg.

At first, the invaders met with no

resistance. Now it would become clear

whether the secrecy had paid off.

>> The big risk was at the start of the

cickle cut operation. Would the Germans

get their units through the adenon

sufficient strength to break through the

French positions? Would the French fail

to react adequately? The success of the

operation depended on this otherwise the

plan would fail at an early stage.

At the same time, a large-scale

diversionary operation was launched in

the north. Just as in 1914, Vermacht

units advanced into neutral Belgium.

They were supported by airborne forces,

dive bombers, and heavy bombers.

Nazi propaganda also gave the impression

that this was the main thrust by German

armor. The French and the British

swallowed Germany's bait.

The Allied concept of defense involved

the best Allied armies, the British and

the French, in other words, marching

into Belgium the moment Germany violated

Belgian neutrality, throwing their best

armies at the Germans in the expectation

that as in the First World War,

initially perhaps trench warfare would

begin. Then it would be a case of who

had the most material and the greater

stamina. And that is precisely what the

Germans expected. They planned to go

through Belgium with Army Group B,

luring the British as bait, so to speak,

so that they really would seek to engage

in battle there, but the actual

destructive thrust would come further

south through the Arden. The French and

the British did not believe that heavier

units could advance through such

terrain.

>> [music]

>> Luxembourg's casualties amounted to six

wounded John Darmms and one soldier.

Nobody was killed.

The problem was that only a limited

number of motorized units could advance

towards the Arden at any one time.

Behind them, a huge chain of vehicles

stretched far back into the German

Reich, and the heavy tanks had not even

set off.

[music]

The Polish campaign had already shown

the potential of the armored units if

they were used correctly.

And in the Battle of France, everything

was honed even more. The armored forces

were combined in armored or motorized

core to form the main thrust of the

attack. Victory was to be secured by a

handful of armored divisions.

While the Nazi army was rolling through

Luxembourg in London, a political

earthquake was taking place.

That same day, Neville Chamberlain had

to vacate number 10 Downing Street for

Winston Churchill.

>> Churchill's appointment as prime

minister on May 10th, 1940 had a major

symbolic effect.

Churchill was the man who in the 1930s

had warned time and again about Hitler.

Now at last he was in power and showed

his intention to defeat Hitler and the

Third Reich.

Churchill's speeches are famous. I have

nothing to offer, he said, but blood,

toil, tears, and sweat. But that is what

the people of Britain needed in order to

be stealed for a longer war. One that

would require a massive effort in order

to defeat the German Reich.

Meantime, an hour and a half after the

German invasion began, Allied troops

crossed the French and Belgian border to

meet the advancing Germans.

Just as in 1914, French troops were

given a sterling sendoff.

Most of the 144 Allied divisions with

over 2.8 million men were concentrated

in the north.

>> The plan worked. The French army had

been tricked. They sent their best

troops to Belgium where Army Group B was

attacking because they reckoned that was

where the main German thrust would come

from and where the main battles would be

fought. Army Group B made surprisingly

good progress. In fact, the general

staff had to intervene and slow it down.

Don't advance so quickly was the

message. You're just supposed to tie

them down.

>> In the south, in the meantime, Army

Group A was heading for the Belgian

border. Its mission was to break through

the Arden, cross the Muse, and advance

through to the Channel Coast, cutting

off the Allied forces in northern

France, and then destroying them.

As yet, it was an open question as to

whether this Blitzkrieg would also prove

successful.