Afrikaans
Akan
Albanian
Amharic
Arabic
Armenian
Azerbaijani
Basque
Belarusian
Bemba
Bengali
Bihari
Breton
Cambodian
Catalan
Cebuano
Cherokee
Chichewa
Chinese (Simplified)
Chinese (Traditional)
Corsican
Croatian
Czech
Danish
Dutch
English
Esperanto
Estonian
Ewe
Faroese
Filipino
Finnish
French
Frisian
Ga
Galician
Georgian
German
Greek
Guarani
Gujarati
Haitian Creole
Hausa
Hawaiian
Hebrew
Hindi
Hmong
Hungarian
Icelandic
Igbo
Indonesian
Interlingua
Irish
Italian
Japanese
Javanese
Kannada
Kazakh
Kinyarwanda
Kirundi
Kongo
Korean
Krio (Sierra Leone)
Kurdish
Kurdish (Soranรฎ)
Kyrgyz
Laothian
Latin
Latvian
Lingala
Lithuanian
Lozi
Luganda
Luo
Luxembourgish
Macedonian
Malagasy
Malay
Malayalam
Maltese
Maori
Marathi
Mauritian Creole
Moldavian
Mongolian
Myanmar (Burmese)
Montenegrin
Nepali
Nigerian Pidgin
Northern Sotho
Norwegian
Norwegian (Nynorsk)
Occitan
Oriya
Oromo
Pashto
Persian
Polish
Portuguese (Brazil)
Portuguese (Portugal)
Punjabi
Quechua
Romanian
Romansh
Runyakitara
Russian
Samoan
Scots Gaelic
Serbian
Serbo-Croatian
Sesotho
Setswana
Seychellois Creole
Shona
Sindhi
Sinhalese
Slovak
Slovenian
Somali
Spanish
Spanish (Latin American)
Sundanese
Swahili
Swedish
Tajik
Tamil
Tatar
Telugu
Tigrinya
Tonga
Tshiluba
Tumbuka
Turkish
Turkmen
Twi
Uighur
Ukrainian
Urdu
Uzbek
Vietnamese
Welsh
Wolof
Xhosa
Yiddish
Yoruba
Zulu
NARRATOR: May 10th, 1940. An extraordinary coincidence.
The same day that Hitler launches his "lightning war" on Western Europe,
Churchill is named Prime Minister of Great Britain...
..as if fate had a hand in the decision.
A few weeks later,
Hitler conquers France, Holland and Belgium.
Churchill finds himself isolated,
facing an army that has already vanquished a large portion of Europe.
Churchill refuses to surrender.
CHURCHILL: We shall defend our island,
whatever the cost may be.
We shall fight on the beaches,
we shall fight on the landing grounds.
We shall never surrender.
Between 1940 and 1945,
Hitler and Churchill devoted every minute of their existence
to the other's destruction.
These two diametrically-opposed personalities will do battle,
and both promise their people victory.
The combat these titans wrought
determined the course of human destiny.
Beneath the clamour of bombs, a river of blood and bodies,
these larger-than-life leaders seem to fuse with their nations.
Their dual, undoubtedly the most important of the modern era,
pits two possible worlds against one another.
How did they get here?
How did destiny bring two men so different,
and, yet, at times so alike,
together for this ultimate confrontation?
The first showdown between these two 20th-century giants
took place well before 1940.
(BLOWS WHISTLE)
It's 1916, and the First World War drags on.
At this point,
more than 2 million soldiers are already dead.
World War I proves an unspeakable massacre.
From the sodden trenches of the Artois region of France,
a British officer writes to his wife.
MAN: "Filth and rubbish everywhere,
"graves built into the defences and scattered about promiscuously,
"feet and clothing breaking through the soil,
"the unceasing accompaniment of rifle and machine guns
"and the venomous whining and whirring of the bullets
"which pass overhead.
"Amid these surroundings, aided by wet and cold,
"and every minor discomfort, I have found happiness and content
"such as I have not known for many months."
The author of these lines,
who seems to relish the cold under the hail of bullets,
is Winston Churchill.
And if he seems as comfortable in the trenches as in his bath,
it's because his youth was already a veritable adventure novel.
Winston is born in one of England's most beautiful palaces in 1874.
American by his mother
and English aristocracy by his father,
the boy has never spread toothpaste on his own toothbrush.
Educated in boarding school,
he is a restless student with poor grades.
His father considers him a dullard.
Quickly reoriented to a military career,
the young man surprises everyone.
He distinguishes himself as a soldier in three colonial wars
on the outskirts of the Empire - in India, Sudan and South Africa.
Back in England, the intrepid hussar enters Parliament
and holds a series of government posts.
At age 36, he's already Home Secretary.
Graced with insatiable ambition and astonishing eloquence,
the following year, he is named First Lord of the Admiralty,
which becomes one of the world's most prestigious posts
when World War I breaks out.
But his ascension is abruptly interrupted,
because in 1915 he commits an unforgivable act.
He torpedoes his political career with a bungled occupation
during the Gallipoli campaign in Turkey -
a mission intended to attack German forces from the rear.
More than 100,000 soldiers from the United Kingdom, Australia,
New Zealand and France
die in the course of this disastrous campaign.
Churchill is forced to resign.
He enters a difficult depressive phase,
which he calls his black dog.
At 42 years old, he's considered a finished man.
But Churchill abhors idleness,
so the former First Lord of the Admiralty and Home Secretary
decides to join the French frontlines.
He's transferred to a Scots battalion that is fighting in Flanders.
(BAGPIPE MUSIC PLAYS)
Churchill loves combat,
and the roar of the cannons helps keep at bay
his two most notorious enemies - inactivity and depression.
In the long hours between attacks,
Churchill drinks whiskey, writes, takes baths,
and very near the front line,
gives in to an all-consuming passion - painting.
Just a few kilometres away, on the other side of the trenches,
a young corporal in the Bavarian infantry
is passionate about painting as well, and sketches tirelessly.
A volunteer in the German army, Adolf Hitler is 27 years old -
15 years younger than Churchill.
For many years, he has wanted to become a professional artist.
In the foxholes of Flanders, he's a dispatch rider,
carrying messages from one position to another
under barrage and artillery fire.
After almost two years of war, the young soldier,
well-noted, diligent and serious,
is already radically re-evaluating his life.
The routine of military life suits him perfectly.
It's his first war,
and he's convinced he's found his place at last.
Indeed, there were many years
of aimless wandering for the young Austrian.
Born in a lower-middle class household
to an extremely violent father and an over-protective mother,
Hitler had a very troubled childhood.
Given his poor academic results,
his father envisions a career as a public servant for his son,
but the young man wants to be a painter.
At 18, he leaves home and moves to Vienna.
Hitler fails the entrance exam to the Academy of Fine Arts - twice.
The misunderstood artist makes little effort to earn a living.
He barely gets by selling his works,
which acquaintances say are painted in an unhurried rhythm.
For a time, he's even forced to stay at a homeless shelter,
and lives in poverty.
On August 2nd, 1914, a divine surprise - war is declared.
Hitler, in Munich, is euphoric.
"I am not ashamed to say that, overcome by a storm of enthusiasm,
"I fell on my knees and thanked heaven
"from an overflowing heart," he later writes.
The conflict jolts the failed painter from his torpor.
Thus, as early as World War I,
Corporal Hitler and Lieutenant-Colonel Churchill
are in direct opposition.
Everything separates them - their background, their nationality -
but down in the trenches,
the two soldiers resemble one another.
The smell of gunpowder and paint are like a fountain of youth to them.
Here, Hitler forgets his parents, who died prematurely,
and his repeated failures in art school.
Churchill pushes aside the shame that dogged him after Gallipoli...
..and perhaps forgets his father, who always belittled him as well.
The two intrepid soldiers distinguish themselves
on the battlefield.
Hitler is decorated with an Iron Cross 1st Class.
A distinction he'll display his entire life.
After six months in the mud,
Churchill's depression lifts and he's feeling much better.
The deputy returns to London.
15 months later,
he joins the government as Minister of Munitions.
The two men don't yet know one another,
but in the eye of the steel storm that pummels Northern Europe,
their dual has already begun.
The bullets that Adolf Hitler dodges were manufactured
by the Minister of Munitions, Winston Churchill.
Hitler is wounded several times.
In October, 1918, the corporal is the victim of a mustard gas attack
and evacuated to a hospital behind the front lines.
For him, the war is over.
(MARCHING BAND PLAYS CHEERFUL MUSIC)
(CHEERING)
One month later, the Armistice is signed.
Germany has lost.
The victory is celebrated around the world.
In Britain, Churchill regains his post and his rank.
The Minister of Munitions has accomplished several feats.
Curious and passionate,
he oversaw the production of munitions as well as armoured tanks,
whose use he encouraged,
and which were decisive in a number of battles.
Many in England credit him with the victory,
and during the parade, he is well-positioned.
While Churchill is in the light, Hitler is in darkness.
Temporarily blinded,
Germany's surrender is a humiliating blow
for the young corporal.
The peace imposed by the Treaty of Versailles,
nicknamed the Versailles Diktat, disgusts him.
Germany is partially occupied
and sometimes even plundered by the victors.
Part of the country is amputated,
enormous war reparations must be paid,
and its battleships are dismembered with blowtorches.
For Hitler, it's a stab in the back to a prestigious nation.
No longer sure what to do with his life,
Corporal Hitler joins the German Workers' Party,
an extreme right-wing group
that's one of a dozen that exist at the time.
The first time he speaks in public, the audience is riveted.
"At this precise moment,
"I understood that I knew how to speak," he writes later.
Thanks to his eloquence,
he quickly becomes the party's speaker of choice.
Hitler, the failed artist, the lazy student,
the wounded soldier, now knows he's good at something.
He's propelled to the head of the movement,
which he renames the National Socialist German Workers' Party -
the Nazi party, for short.
And he's certain of his mission - seize power.
The war has lifted Churchill out of his depression
and gotten Hitler off the streets.
Both men are brimming with ambition.
Hitler wants to restore Germany's image.
Churchill wants to restore his family's reputation,
because of his father's failed ministerial career
and the fact that he died ostracised from his party.
The two orators begin a new chapter in their lives.
In post-war Germany,
economic scarcity and revolutionary stirrings collide.
Hitler becomes the talk of the town.
He leads sympathisers in a putsch in Munich.
The attempted coup is a resounding failure.
14 Nazi militants are killed.
A trial takes place a few weeks later.
Hitler turns the court room into a veritable tribunal.
The accused states, "I have not come to deny anything.
"The responsibility for this putsch is mine and mine alone."
The orator wins the audience's sympathy.
He is sentenced to only 5 years in prison,
with a promise of conditional early release.
His determination before the judges makes him famous throughout Germany.
In his spacious prison cell in Landsberg,
Hitler writes a book - Mein Kampf, "My Struggle" -
in which he lays out his racist and anti-democratic ideology.
After barely nine months of incarceration, he's out.
(CHANTING)
Hitler has managed to enhance his aura.
Prison should have silenced him.
Instead, it placed him at the head of the party
and offered him a springboard.
The no-name Austrian painter has entered into history.
He's become the Fuhrer - "the guide".
(SPEAKS IN GERMAN)
The failure of the putsch convinced him
that power can only be seized by a ballot box.
Meanwhile in the United Kingdom,
it's also thanks to his talent as a speaker
that Churchill rises from post to post
in the ministries - of war, aviation and the colonies.
The minister puts his finger in many pies -
armaments, secret service, cracking codes.
The talented public servant is also attentive to his family
and life in society.
Married to Clementine Hozier, father of four,
he receives guests at Chartwell,
a manor house where he plays the gentleman farmer.
An ambitious parliament member,
he is up on current events and knows how to put himself in the spotlight.
When an appendicitis stops him from campaigning,
he arrives at the polling station in a chair.
Churchill's career is bright.
At 50, he is named Chancellor of the Exchequer -
the Minister of Finance.
Thus, by the middle of the 1920s,
two former soldiers, painters, writers and orators
are back in the saddle.
But they're worlds apart from one another.
If the Englishman suggests, the German bellows.
If the petty bourgeois sweats as he pushes back a lock of hair,
the aristocrat is not above antics that play to the gallery.
Churchill is a world-class drinker -
always tipsy, perhaps, but never drunk.
Hitler detests alcohol,
and wonders how anyone can drink champagne,
which he calls "nothing but vulgar vinegar".
Churchill is often accompanied by his wife, Clementine.
Hitler plays it chaste,
and claims that his only spouse is Germany.
The patriotic Churchill has humour and wit.
He holds court for hours in the Chamber of Deputies,
because his colleagues fear getting a taste of his deadly eloquence,
if they challenge him.
Like the day when Deputy Lady Astor said to him,
"Mr Churchill, if I were your wife, I'd poison your coffee,"
to which Churchill retorted,
"Madam, if I were your husband, I'd drink it."
The nationalist Hitler never debates because no-one dares contradict him.
He delivers long monologues that can last for hours.
But his speeches fascinate the crowds
and resemble mass religious conversions.
The more he speaks, the more the faithful flock to him.
His speaking skills are magnified by his ability
to cast a hypnotic spell over his listeners.
But the skills these two theatrical giants display
are also the fruit of tireless practice.
The nervous man from Munich tries out new poses,
expressions and gestures, perfecting them to better communicate
with the people he wants to influence.
The extravagant Englishman
prepares his improvised discourses for hours on end.
By the end of the 1920s,
the two men are now important figures in their respective countries.
But an event will change their destiny.
In October, 1929, panic breaks out on Wall Street.
The stock market crashes.
Soon, the world's economy is plunged into a recession.
In England, the Conservative government is swept aside.
Winston loses his post as Minister of Finance.
Every political faction attacks him
for his disastrous mismanaging of the treasury.
The straight shooter becomes a pariah.
No-one trusts him.
He confides,
"They said I was the worst Chancellor of the Exchequer
"that England ever had, and they we're right."
(TRUMPET PLAYS SUSTAINED NOTE)
While Churchill hits bottom, Hitler is a rising star.
Fed by the crisis,
the firebrand has transformed an insignificant group
into an increasingly powerful machine.
(CHEERING)
Hitler understands the frustrations of the German people
and knows the humiliation of defeat better than anyone.
The strength of his convictions rallies his countrymen around him.
(CHANTING)
His hoarse and penetrating voice elicits emotion
and instinctually unleashes passions.
(SPEAKS IN GERMAN)
(CROWD CHANT IN GERMAN)
His political movement transforms into a wave
that sweeps across the whole of society.
(CHANTING IN GERMAN)
So much so that in January, 1933,
the little corporal is named Chancellor of Germany
by President Hindenburg.
Nine years after his failed putsch,
the insurgent has succeeded in rising to the very top.
Hitler sees the purpose of democracy as a means to seize power
and, more importantly, not to lose it.
Once in office, he bans every faction that could hurt him.
Unions and opposition parties are dissolved and outlawed.
Jews are persecuted.
Hitler drives Germany into darkness.
A recluse at his manor in Chartwell, Churchill is completely isolated.
He may be alone,
but he has no intention of watching from the sidelines,
because he is one of the few people to have read Mein Kampf.
As early as 1934,
he alerts the public to the danger Nazi Germany represents.
CHURCHILL: Only a few hours away by air,
there dwells a nation of nearly 70 million
of the most educated, industrious, scientific,
disciplined people in the world,
who are being taught from childhood
to think of war as a glorious exercise
and death in battle as the noblest fate for man.
There is a nation, which with all its strength and virtue,
is in the grips of a group of ruthless men
preaching a gospel of intolerance and racial pride,
unrestrained by law, by Parliament or by public opinion.
From their new table of commandments,
they have omitted "Thou shalt not kill."
Now they are rearming with the utmost speed,
and in face of these facts, I ask again -
what are we to do?
A long-distance dual begins between the aristocrat
and the petty bourgeois -
a dual largely dominated by the dictator.
Flouting the Treaty of Versailles,
Hitler prepares his people's revenge for 1918.
He reinstates obligatory military service,
and launches a rearmament policy.
In 1936, he remilitarises the Rhineland -
the buffer zone at the French-German border,
by pretending he has a powerful army,
when in fact he has only two divisions.
But the bluff works.
Neither France nor England raise a finger.
In March, 1938, he activates Anschluss -
the annexing of Austria into the German Reich.
Nazi marketing still hums along,
and the annexation resembles a regional celebration.
Within 48 hours, Austria ceases to exist.
Once more, European democracies so fear war that they remain silent.
Winston, again, denounces the forceful takeovers,
but his press department is less powerful
than that of the Reich.
To fill the long days,
the occasionally depressed recluse oversees the construction
of a swimming pool on his property.
He takes great interest in the mason work,
and even becomes a member of the Mason's Federation.
The greatest irony is that
influential members of his society now reject Churchill,
while embracing Hitler.
Lloyd George, former British Prime Minister,
signatory of the Treaty of Versailles
and Churchill's former brother-in-arms,
visits him in Berghof.
As does Edward VIII, the Duke of Windsor,
ex-King of England, with whom Churchill was close.
The former sovereign seems to support the Nazi dictator's political views,
in part because Hitler has stepped up lobbying
to neutralise warmongers in the opposition camp.
His supporters even operate on British soil.
In the heart of London,
British Nazis often take part in parades,
passing themselves off as pacifist militants.
They display "stop war" protest signs,
which implies the Reich is preparing for war,
but don't make war with the Reich.
In 1937, the bluffing Berliner
will even attempt to influence Churchill himself.
He sends his ambassador Ribbentrop to London
to sound out the old deputy who has denounced them
for so many years.
Ribbentrop explains to Churchill
that Germany needs breathing room to the east,
and even guarantees that Germany will defend the British Empire.
But Churchill immediately refuses.
"England will never accept a colonial enterprise to the east."
Ribbentrop abruptly turns away and says,
"In that case, war is inevitable.
"There is no way out. The Fuhrer is resolved.
"Nothing will stop him."
"Do not underrate England," exclaims Churchill.
"She is very clever.
"If you plunge us all into another Great War,
"she will bring the whole world against you, like last time."
But neither Hitler nor Ribbentrop
worries about the threats of a 63-year-old deputy.
In the eyes of Britain, and Hitler, he's finished.
Nevertheless, Churchill relentlessly condemns the policy of appeasement
and the wrong-headed pacifism of the British political class.
Ostracised by Parliament,
he continues to believe in his lucky star,
and comes off like a lunatic when he claims,
"History will prove you wrong in this matter,
"and if I am so sure, it's because I will write it myself."
For now, it's Hitler who is dictating history.
No more bluffing.
The Wehrmacht has become a powerful war machine,
and no-one can curb the Fuhrer's appetite.
After the Rhineland and Austria,
Hitler demands, in no uncertain terms,
possession of the Sudetes region of Czechoslovakia,
where three million Germans live.
He announces point blank to the Czech president, Edvard Benes,
that he's willing to go to war for it.
Hitler has become a master in the art of frightening declarations.
Terrified by the power of the Wehrmacht,
horrified at the idea of a new war,
Paris and London, both allies of Czechoslovakia,
nevertheless sign the Munich Pact
which bestows the Sudetes region to Hitler,
in exchange for a mere scrap of paper.
The English see Britain's Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain
as a hero who has preserved peace.
# God bless you, Mister Chamberlain
# You know we're all with you
# And when we shout "God bless you, Mister Chamberlain"
# Our hats go off to you... #
Come on, everybody!
# God bless you, Mister Chamberlain... #
Away from the spotlight, Churchill doesn't applaud.
He prophesises,
"You were given the choice between war and dishonour.
"You chose dishonour, and you will have war."
Less than six months later, Hitler violates the Munich Pact.
In March 1939, his army invades what remains of Czechoslovakia
and triumphantly enters Prague.
Contemplating the city from the fortified castle
of the kings of Bohemia, Hitler savours his victory.
A camp aide informs him that neither France nor England
have moved their armies.
He replies, "I knew it.
"In two weeks, no-one will speak of it again."
Since taking power, the German eagle hasn't made one false move.
He's succeeded in taking over Rhineland,
Austria and Czechoslovakia without firing a single shot.
If history had stopped there,
despite the persecution of his opponents,
Hitler would have been considered a great German statesman.
In six years, he stopped inflation, fought unemployment,
gave Germans back their pride
and made Germany the most powerful European nation.
And if history had stopped there, Churchill, the aristocrat,
would have been considered a politician
with an outstanding oratory talent
but an overly-impulsive and depressed man,
who had ruined his career like his father before him.
But history has more surprises in store.
By invading Czechoslovakia,
Hitler proved the eastern nation was powerless.
Progressively, public opinion swings in the other direction.
The English now understand that Churchill was right
all those years about Germany's intentions.
The newspapers announce, "We still need Churchill."
A few months later, on September 1st, 1939,
Hitler invades Poland.
France and England finally enter the war.
Prime Minister Chamberlain has no choice
but to bend to public opinion.
Churchill, the failed politician,
is immediately called back to serve his government.
25 years after his humiliating ousting
following the Gallipoli disaster,
Churchill is, once again, named First Lord of the Admiralty.
(CHEERING)
The ministers curse their pesky colleague...
..but Winston has become untouchable.
He is the only real warrior in the government,
because Chamberlain has proved a catastrophe
as a wartime Prime Minister.
The consequences are swift.
NEWSREEL REPORTER: Goodbye, Mr Chamberlain,
and thanks for all you've tried to do.
We welcome a new Prime Minister, Mr Churchill.
May 10th, 1940.
The same day that Churchill is named Prime Minister,
Hitler attacks Belgium, France and the Netherlands.
20 years after the First World War,
the two men now find themselves face to face,
each at the head of their own nation.
Hitler, who thought he had seen the last of his main rival,
has, in fact, put him back in power.
After a decade of observing one another,
the two men will finally do battle.
Excluded from political life for more than 10 years,
Churchill has been dreaming of this moment, and it's understandable.
This is the challenge that could restore his reputation.
At 65 years of age,
the old British bulldog senses he was made for this moment.
Since starting at the ministry,
this warrior has overseen the development of the weapons
and inventions necessary to defending the Empire -
armoured tanks, the Royal Air Force, the secret services,
radar technology, and the ships of the Royal Navy.
Each of these units owe their modernisation,
and even their very existence, to Churchill.
But the Prime Minister's most powerful weapon
is his extraordinary eloquence.
Hitler has indoctrinated his people for almost seven years.
Churchill has only a few days to find the words
that will give his people the courage to resist against all odds.
CHURCHILL: I would say to the House,
as I said to those who have joined the government,
I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat.
We have before us an ordeal of the most grievous kind.
We have before us many, many long months of struggle
and of suffering.
You ask, what is our policy?
I will say, it is to wage war, by sea, land and air,
with all our might and with all the strength that God can give us,
to wage war against a monstrous tyranny
never surpassed in the dark and lamentable catalogue of human crime.
That is our policy.
You ask, what is our aim?
I can answer in one word - victory. Victory at all costs.
Victory, in spite of all terror.
Victory, however long and hard the road may be.
Hearing him speak, even members of the opposition are in tears.
The people of England, like the French of the same era,
are caught between fear,
defeatism and the instinct to survive.
The underlying courage was there, but it had to be awakened,
and that's what Churchill did.
Still, on that night, the new Prime Minister had doubts.
He is cheered by the crowd which shouts,
"Good luck, Winnie. God bless you."
But once he's alone, Churchill breaks down in tears
and confides to his generals... "Poor people.
"They trust me,
"and I can give them nothing but disaster for quite a long time."
Disasters? They crop up even sooner than expected.
Hitler has developed the "lightning war",
a highly-effective warfare technique.
Thousands of Wehrmacht tanks, supported by the air force,
penetrate France and wreak havoc.
In just a few hours, the chain of command is broken.
On May 20th, after only 10 days of fighting,
the German troops reach the English Channel.
More than 500,000 British and French soldiers
find themselves trapped in the pocket of Dunkirk.
Their backs to the sea, they are under German fire.
Hitler destroys or captures a large part of the Allied Army.
In light of the defeat,
some British ministers want to negotiate with Hitler.
But Churchill won't bend. Better to die fighting.
But before dying, the army must be rescued.
Churchill launches Operation Dynamo.
Its mission - the evacuation of Dunkirk.
On May 26th, more than 220 warships
and more than 660 civilian boats,
supported by the RAF, come to the aid of the Allied divisions.
Under heavy fire from the Luftwaffe,
British strategists hope to bring home at least 50,000
of the half a million soldiers stationed on the beaches.
Despite the shelling that rips through the naval vessels,
in 10 days, more than 335,000 soldiers are evacuated
and brought home safe and sound to England.
Churchill deems Operation Dynamo a miracle,
because it literally saved the British army.
This heroic evacuation considerably enhanced his standing.
Newsreels commend the mission's success.
NEWSREEL REPORTER: Out from the hell that is Dunkirk,
back from the steel thrust of the German war machine
comes the BEF.
They're worn out and foot-sore. They're hungry.
For weeks, they have been shelled and bombed from three sides.
They had to stagger back to the sea to survive.
They were betrayed but never defeated or dispirited.
Around these men there hangs an atmosphere of glory.
While these men live and breathe, Britain is safe.
The enemy will never pass.
But the headlines neglect to mention
that the Allies have left their equipment behind -
their cannons, their tanks... and even their dead.
Churchill is a realist.
He states, "We must be very careful not to assign to this deliverance
"the attributes of a victory.
"Wars are not won by evacuations."
Hitler is delighted.
He's won the Battle of France in record time.
His generals never imagined getting so far, so quickly.
Revenge for 1918 has been served.
The vanquished of yesterday are today's victors.
Hitler is definitely a god of war.
With France defeated, Churchill is more alone than ever,
but the old bulldog won't be waiting quietly for the invasion.
The United Kingdom is turned into a fortress,
and to secure its seas,
the Prime Minister launches an operation
that will capture everyone's imagination.
(AIR RAID SIREN BLARES)
July 3rd, 1940.
Winston makes the difficult decision to bomb the French fleet
based at Mers El Kebir near Oran.
Because of the armistice signed by the French,
its ships could fall into Hitler's hands
and take part in an invasion of England.
1,297 French sailors are killed in the offensive.
One month earlier,
these soldiers fought side by side with the British.
"This was a hateful decision,
"the most unnatural and painful in which I have ever been concerned,"
confides Churchill.
The attack is bloody,
but it proved to the world the Prime Minister's tenacity.
Faced with the bulldog's determination,
the eagle resorts to trickery.
Do the British really want war?
Hitler hopes to convince them to oust Churchill
and sign an armistice on the French model
that would avoid a lot of blood, sweat and tears.
There is no shortage of Englishmen eager to negotiate.
Lloyd George or even the Duke of Windsor
could take control of the Empire.
July 19th, Hitler himself makes an appeal for peace
to the treacherous Albion.
But in unison with the people of England,
Churchill rejects the olive branch extended on the tip of a cutlass,
and newsreels mock the Fuhrer.
NEWSREEL REPORTER: There are various uses
to which Hitler's leaflets may be put.
For example, shaving paper.
The Germans are dumbfounded.
"Can you believe these English imbeciles?
"Now they are rejecting peace? They're crazy,"
is heard in the streets of Berlin.
Hitler thought he could triumph over Britain without a fight.
He's forced to revise his strategy
because there's a stone in his path - a stone named Churchill.
A confrontation is inevitable.
The Battle of Britain begins.
Captions by Red Bee Media (c) SBS Australia 2018
Can't find what you're looking for?
Get subtitles in any language from opensubtitles.com, and translate them here.