All language subtitles for Hitler.And.Churchill.The.Eagle.And.The.Lion.Part.1

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