Figure 1.--As soon as the Germans marched into Paris, these posters began appearing all over the city. The French text reads, "Abandoned people, have confidence in the German soldier."
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Figure 1.--As soon as the Germans marched into Paris, these posters began appearing all over the city. The French text reads, "Abandoned people, have confidence in the German soldier." |
The Germans proceeded to conquer virtually all of Western Europe. After a few months of the "Phony War", France's turn came. The Germans struck on a wide front against the neutral Netherlands, Belgiym, and Luxemburg. The terror bombing of Rotterdam convinced the already hard-pressed Dutch Army to surrender. The British Expeditionary Force (BEF) rushed north to aid the Dutch. The Germans then struck in the Belgian Ardenes which allowed them to avoid the formidable Maginot Line. The French and Belgians considered the Ardenes impassable to tanks. The Germans managed to easily penetrate the rough terraine, crossed two substantial rivers, and the XIX Panzer Corps rapidly reached the English Channel--cutting the BEF off from the French and rendering the Maginot Line uselss. The French entrenched behind the Maginot Line simply could not cope with the exposive highly mobil style of Blitzkrieg warfare. The Panzers surrounded the Belgian Army which King Leopold III surrendered. The BEF was within Hitler's grasp. The Panzers were only a few miles south of Dunkirk and facing no serious opposition. Hitler ordered the Panzers to halt. Some believe that he hoped this gesture would help convince the British to comes to terms, other believe that is was just as it was described at the time, aneeded pause to regroup and prepare for a more coordinated assault. [Davidson, p. 408 and Fest, p. 630.] What ever the reason, this 48-hour respite allowed the British to organize a defensive perimter around Dunkirk and begin an almost miraculous withdawl. Nearly 340,000 men were evacuated from Dunkirk, including French and Dutch sholdiers. This is even more important that it sounds as akmost all if the British sholdiers were regulars and would form the corps of the future British Army that would play such an important role in the War. All of the BEF's equipment, however, was lost. Paris soon fell and the French signed a NAZI imposed armistace. The collapse of France after only a few weeks was a disaster of emense proportions. It was the French Army that had provided the bulk of the allied War Western Front in World War I. The German victory was no ccomplished with superior numbers or weaponry. In fact they had fewer men, tank, and planes. What they had was a superior tactical doctrine. The Germans were amazed to find, for example, that French tanks were not even equipped with radios, and a more disciplined fighting force. NAZI propaganda began to describe Hitler as " Der grösste Feldherr Allerzeiten " (the greatest field commander of all time). [Davidson, p. 483.]
The NAZI victory in the West and the collapse of the vaunted Fench Army left Hitler the dominant force in Europe. The Germans proceeded to conquer virtually all of Western Europe. The 19 weeks beginning on May 10 and ending September 15 was perhaps the most critical period in the 20th century. As one historian explains, "Theworld changed forever during the 19 weeks in the spring and summer of 1940." [Moss] The fall of France meant that the bullwark against the Germans--the French Army was out of the War. The loss of the French Army placed Western civilization itself in jeopardy. The full horror of the NAZIs plans for Europe were nit yet fully known--except by the Poles. While the BEF was able to escape at Duukirk, it was not until September 15 with a devestating defeat of an attacking Luftwaffe force over England did it seem possible that Britain would be able to survive the NAZI onslaught.
After Hitler invaded Poland, both Britain and France decalred war, but took no significant offensive action. The French felt secure behind the Maginot Line. When the Germans invaded Poland, there was no significant reaction from the French. Soon newspapers in the West were calling it the "Phony war".
The Allies in 1940 did not face and overwealiming surperior German force, even after the defeat of Poland and the concentration of German forces in the West. The forces were about equal numerically. The Allies had more tanks and the Germans more planes. [Militärgeschichtliches Forschungsamt, 2: p. 282.] The difference was the unified German command and their superior tactical battle doctrine. The Germans in particular massed their tanks to achieve a break through in the French line and supported this break through with their superiority in the air. The French on the other hand dispersed their tanks ineffectually along the front. Communications were a major factor. The German Panzers had radios, the French tanks did not. The French Army was still using runners on motorbikes to deliver messages little different from World War I. The French tried to form a new line of fefenxe, but often before the messages were dlivered, the Germans had occupied or move through the proposed defense line. Another factor was the spirit and morale of the Germans and French. The Germans had been effectively indoctrinated by the NAZIs and were prepared to fight. The French on the otherhand had a sence of fatalism about the War amd morale was low in many French Army units.
After a few months of the "Phony War", France's turn came. The German initiated their long awaited western campaign on May 10, 1940. The Germans struck on a wide front against the neutral Netherlands, Belgiym, and Luxemburg.
The Luftwaffe played a key role in the German success in the west.
The Wehrmacht first focused on the Netherlands. The Dutch had assumed that as in World war I, the Germans woulkd not invade. The British and French had anticipated that the Germans would attempt to outflank the Maginot Line by striking though Belgium. The cream of the French Army and the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) were thus positioned on the Belgian force. The British and French responded by leaving their prepared defenses and moving north to releave the Dutch. The British Expeditionary Force (BEF) rushed north to aid the Dutch. The terror bombing of Rotterdam convinced the already hard-pressed Dutch Army to surrender on May 15 before the British could reach them. Queen Wilhelmina fled to London to establish a government-in-exile. Princess Juliana, the next in line, was sent to Canada in case Britain would also sucumb to the NAZI onslaught.
The Germans then struck in the Belgian Ardenes which allowed them to avoid the formidable Maginot Line. The French and Belgians considered the Ardenes impassable to tanks. The
Germans then they attacked France through the Belgian Ardennes. To the amazement of the French, the Panzers penetrade the Ardenees crossed the Meuse River. The Germans managed to easily penetrate the rough terraine, crossed two substantial rivers. Desperate French actions to hold at the Meuse River failed. RAF efforts to stop the German crossing at the Meuse lead to very subastanial losses of fighter aircraft. After crossing the Meuse, the Pamzers raced to the Channel ofter flat country side. Only a few days into the offensive, on May 14 Premier Reynaud reported that there was nothing between the Panzers and Paris, but the Panzers moved west to the Channel. The French despite possessing some excellent tanks were totally unprepared for modern mechanized warfare. The XIX Panzer Corps rapidly reached the English Channel--cutting the BEF off from the French and rendering the Maginot Line uselss. The French entrenched behind the Maginot Line simply could not cope with the exposive highly mobil style of Blitzkrieg warfare.
King Leopold was an advocate of a more independent foreign policy for Belgium before World War II, Leopold twice urged mediation of the conflict between NAZI Germany and the Western Allies in the months immediately before and after the outbreak of war in 1939. Belgium remained strictly neutral, but was invaded by the Germans for a second time in the Spring of 1940. King Leopold before the War had promoted the construction of important defensive fortifications from Antwerp to Namur in front of the German border. His actions as Commander and Chief of the Army during the German invasion of 1940 has been criticized by some Belgians and the British and French. Leopold, with the bulk of the Belgian Army, was surrounded by the Germans, and capitulated. Leopold ordered his army to surrender and refused to flee with officials to form a government-in-exile in England. His actions were resented by some Belgians. His surrender at a crucial point in the battle for the low countries left a critical gap in the Allied ring around Dunkirk and could have made the evacuation impossible if the Germans had pressed their attack. King Leopold aroused further criticism by his marriage in 1941 to a commoner, who was some looked on as pro-NAZI. To many Belgians, Leopold's surrender to the NAZI's forces were in stark contrast to his father's gallant resistance to the Kaiser's Army during World War I. Other Belgians believe that the King has been unfairly criticized. King Leopold showed great courage by subsequently refusing to administer his country under German control and lend any appearance of legitimacy to the NAZI occupation government. Leopold was held prisoner by the Germans until the end of the war, first in his castle at Laeken, Brussels, and later deep in Germany itself.
The surrender of the Belgian Army left the BEF seriously exposed. The British fell back on the Belgian port of Dunkirk, but the BEF was within Hitler's grasp. Then Hitler stopped the Panzers to resupply and make needed repairs, allowing the British to evacuate their men and many French. The Panzers had been only a few klometers south of Dunkirk and facing no serious opposition. Hitler ordered the Panzers to halt. Some believe that he hoped this gesture would help convince the British to comes to terms, other believe that is was just as it was described at the time, aneeded pause to regroup and prepare for a more coordinated assault. [Davidson, p. 408 and Fest, p. 630.] What ever the reason, this 48-hour respite allowed the British to organize a defensive perimter around Dunkirk and begin an almost miraculous withdawl. Seven German divisions pressed toward Dunkirk which was also subjected to intensive bombing by the Luftwaffe. The Belgians had surrendered, but the surronded French First Army continuing to fight occupying key German forces while the British evacuated. The resistance of the French First Army was critical in the success of the Dunkirk evacuation. The British rushed all available craft accross the Channel.
Nearly 340,000 men were evacuated from Dunkirk, including French and Dutch sholdiers. This is even more important that it sounds as almost all if the British sholdiers were regulars and would form the nucleus of the future British Army that was to play such an important role in the War. [Moss] All of the BEF's equipment, however, was lost. Leaving the British Army with little artillery and few tanks to face an anticipated German invasion. Paris soon fell and the French signed a NAZI imposed armistace. Saving the BEF, however, greatly not just enhanced the chances of Britain's survival, but n fact was crtical.
The Wehrmacht in 1940 was kmown go be a powerful force. The real shock was that the French Army which many military experts had considered to be the most powefull force in Europe proved to be a hallow shell. It was the French Army which stopped the Germans in 1914 nd which the Allied front in the West was largely structured around in World War I. When the War broke out, Britain hasd only a small professional army. Many believed that the Allied war effort during World war II would largely be vased on the French Army. Thus the French collapse within a few weeks was such a momentous outcome. Some French units fought with destinction, but whole French divisions surrendered en masse. Soldiers layed down their arms with fighting and started the treck east to German POW camps where they would spend 5 years while France's future was decided by other countries. This was the great shock of 1940. Historians today still debate what happened to the French Army. It is relatively easy to chart out the factors which led to the destruction of French arms and almost the French nation. Less clear is the relative importance of these various factors. Some have stressed superior German arms and tactics. This was certainly a factor. Petain tended to lay the debacle to years of left-wing ideologists.
The French appear to have made some effort to evacuate children. They do not seem to have organized an effort like the British did to evacuate children to the country side like the British did when the War began. There appears to have been some effort to evacuate children from Paris after the German Western Offensive began. We notice images of French children with identification tags. We have no details, however, at this time concerning the French evacuation effort.
After Dunkirk the RAF continued flying missions over France, but flying from distant British bases made the RAF effort ineffectual. The RAF units that had been posted to France were badly mauled. The RAF had depoyed 261 fighters and in only 10 days, 75 had been shot down in aerial combat or destroyed on the ground. An additional 120 could not be brought back to Britain because they were damaged or fuel was not available. [Gilbert, p. 319.] Overall the RAF lost 1,000 planes in France. Fortunately, most of the pilots could be brought back. The losses in France were a quarter of the FAF's front-line fighter strength. The French pleaded for more, but Churchill, who had just replaced Chamberlain as prime minister, had to refuse knowing that the RAF now would be needed to protect Britain itself.
From a distance of several decades we tend to see a supremely confident Churchill. We are moved by his defiant speeches. We read the stirring language in his six volume history of World War II. And of course we have the advantage of knowing that Britain did survive and triumph. This is not, however, a luxury Churchill had after Dunkirk. It was not atall clear at the time that Britain would survive. Churchill flew to Paris to try to bolster the reeling French. He saw it was a lost cause. France was broken and the Panzers were mioving south toward Paris. Churchill meeting with General Hastings Ismay on his staff announced, more in desperation than defiance, "We fight alone." Ismay replied, "We'll win the Battle of Britain." Churchill's response was, "You and I will be dead in three months time." [Reynolds] This was not view Churchill ever allowed to be seen pubically. That was understandable during the War. Churchill did not wanted it revealed even after the War. He thought it would affect his image. It well might. It certainly humanizes the man and I think makes his defiance to Hitler even more admirable. After the Germans entered Paris, the French Armistice, Britain was alone. The future was bleak. In World war I the British with French and Rusian assistance barely stopped the Germans until America entered the War. Now Britain had to do it on her own. Many in Europe and America thought Britain lost.
Germn Panzers on June 10 were crossing the Seine. The French Army was collapsing. Only then did Musolini make the fatal decission for war. He declared war on France nd ordered an invasion of southern France. President Roosevelt in an address said, "On the 10th day of June, 1940, the hand that held the daggr has struck it into the back of its neighbor." The comment was not well received by the Italian-American community because of the association with crimality and the Mafia.
The French commander of Paris declared it an “open city”. The Wehrmacht entered Paris without resistance. (June 14). The Germans stage a triumphal parade up the Champs Elysees. One author writes, "Like a grotesque, enfless assembly belt, the processiin of lead collored vehicles, with their fresh blond, silent robots sitting stiffly four abreast, poured through the empty streets of Paris on this, its blackest day.".... Here and there knots of people stood and watched in what one man described as 'the silence of death'. The women weopt, the men were grim; all were stupefied bt the freshness, the youth, the discipline of the German troops, the trim spick and soan armour, so smart it was almost as tghough there had been no war, that this was just another military parade." [Barber, pp. 156-157.]
Prime Minister Reynaud asked the British Government to release France from its commitment not to makr a separate peace with Germany (June 16). Churchill replied that the honor of France was involved, but would essentially agre if the French fleet sailed for British ports. Reynaud refused. The idea of offering France a political union arose. Churchill was initially opposed, but joined with the War Cabinent in making the offer which DeGualle enthusiastically cabeled to Reynaud. He presented to his cabinent. They rejected it. Churchill writes, "Rarely has so generous a proposal encountered such a hostile reception. [Churchill, Dinest, p. 212.] The French were not focused on what terms could be obtained from the Germans.
Paris fell June 14. Churchill offered a union of France and Britain. The French Government rejected the offer. [Freidel, p. 337.] French Prime Minister Reynaud resigned on June 16 and was replaced by Marshall Pétain, the hero of Verdun in World War I. Pétain immeduately asked for an armistace on June 17. France capitulated June 22. Hitler had found the railroad car in which the Germans had signed the armistace in 1918 and the armistace was signed at Compiègne. France was out of the War and Britain now faced the Germans alone.
The collapse of France after only a few weeks was a disaster of emense proportions. It was the French Army that had provided the bulk of the allied War Western Front in World War I. The German victory was not accomplished with superior numbers or weaponry. In fact they had fewer men, tank, and planes. What they had was a superior tactical doctrine. The Germans were amazed to find, for example, that French tanks were not even equipped with radios, and a more disciplined fighting force. NAZI propaganda began to describe Hitler as " Der grösste Feldherr Allerzeiten " (the greatest field commander of all time). [Davidson, p. 483.]
The Pétain Government after signing the armistace with the NAZIs on June 22 set up a governmnt in Vichy for the sector of southern France that was not occupied by the Germans. The Vichy regime in many ways cooperated with the NAZIs. The most shameful single act was Vichy assistance in rounding up over 80,000 foreign and French Jews as part of the Holocaust so they could be shipped to the death camps in Poland. vichy even ran camps in France with apauling death rates. After the War some Vichy officials were executed and the Gaullists nurtured a myth that the great majority of the French people bravely resisted the Germans. Gaullist claimed that the French people never accepted the Vichy regime as a legitimate French Government. Gradually it has become increasingly clear that the bulk of the French people, shocked by the collapse of the French army and thinking that the War was lost, sought accompdation with the NAZI occcupiers and looked upon Marshal Philippe Pétain with reverence. [Curtis] For years, any questioning of that myth was highly controversial. The film by Marcel Ophuls "Le chagrin et la pitié" (1969) was commissioned by French Government-controlled television, but the documentary on French life during the occupation proved so embarassing that officials were afraid to broadcast it.
De Gualle was given command of a tank brigade in the Fifth Army when the War broke out and then given command of the Fourth Armormed Division. The
French had many excellent tanks, but no radio communication. French armored doctrine was different than the Germans. The French used their tanks piece meal
rather than forming massed formations. When the German blow came (May 10), the German Panzers were spectaularly successful while the French tanks played
only a minor role. De Gualle had been appointed Undersecretary for Defence and was used by Primier Reynard to coordinate with the British Government in the
desperate days when German Pazers were driving into France. He was in London when the Reynard fell from power and Pétain signed an armistace with the
NAZIs. De Gualle refused to surrender. He rejected the armistace as well as the Pétain Vichy Goverment. De Gualle was unknown to the French people, but
organized the Free French resistance to the Germans and the Vichy French Government which was colaborating with the Germans. He formed the French National
Committee and fled to England. The Committe was to become the Free French movemnent. He made inspired radio broadcasts to occupied France. It was these
speeches that made him a symbol of French resistance.
Winston Churchill was appointed primeminister, the same day that the Germans launced their western offensive (May 10). Churchill was not the leading contender for primeminister. The Foreign Secretarry Lord Halifax could have had the office, but declined. Halifax had been the princple backer for Chamberlain's policy of appeasement with Germany. Halifax declined the post. We are not sure why, perhaps he understood that he was not suited to be a war leader. Churchill was fully aware of the danger after the news from the front reported one German victory after another. He mused, "I hope it was not too late. I am very much afraid that it is. We can only do our best." After France fell, Britain could have had peace. Hitler appears to have been willing to have foregone an invasion and air assault. Britain could have kept its fleet and even colonies. As peace talks were never held it is unknown precisely what Hitler would have offered. What ever the terms, a German in comtrol of the continent would have meant a British Vichy. The actual terms Hitler would have offered, however, would have been meaningless. After Munich, the British knew that Hitler's commitments were worthless and could not be trusted. [Moss] There were members of the War Cabinent who wanted to seek terms. Churchill was having none of it and by the force of his leadership carried the Cabinent with him. His defiant words "we shall fight on the beaches" were to rally the British people.
The Royal Navy began World War II with only 9? battleships, a fraction of the World War I Grand Fleet. Italy's fleet of fast modern battleships and carriers already
outnumbered the Royal Navy in the Mediterranean. The French batleships if they had fallen into German hands would havegiven the Axis the striking power to confront
the Royal Navy. Churchill's most difficult decission upon becoming First Lord of the Admiralty was the order he gave to neutralize the French fleet. A British
squadron was dispatched to Oran where the French fleet had sought shelter. The French fleet was given the options of joining the British in the fight against the NAZIs,
imobiling their vessels, or destruction. The French rejected the British demands and the British opened fire. Only the French battleship Strassbourg survived.
TAfter France fell, many saw A German invasion of England as imminent. Many believed that nothing could stop the Germans. [Moss] The German Plan to invade Britain after the fall of France was code named Oprtation Sea Lion. The BEF had managed to escape capture at Dunkirk, but had to
abandon their heavy equiment. Th American Naval Attaché reported that the Bitih were no more prepared to defend the coast than Long Island. The British asked
for surplus World War I destroyers, but President Roosevelt was not yet ready to authorize this. He did ask General Marshall to find surplus arms, mostly small
arms, that could be rushed to Britain. [Freidel, p. 336.] It is not clear to what extent Hitler ever seriously contemplated an invasion. The first step, however, would
have to be air superority over the channel. Hitler ordered the Lufwaffe to destroy the RAF.
The fall of France led to the Battle of Britain. The Luftwaffe command were encouraged by their success in France and many assumed that it could be repeated over Britain. The poor performance of the RAF in France was not do the quality of their planes,
but rather to inferior training and tactics. The Luftwaffe concluded, however, that they could just as easily defeat the FAF over Britain. Victory in Poland and the
West led the Luftwaffe high command to believe that they were invincable. After the French capitualation, Britain stood alone and for a year had to valiantly fight the Germans without allies. The Liftwaffe rapidly behan building bases along the French coast. American public opinion was deciseively isolationist--against involvement in another European war. Most Europeans and Americans thought Britain would soon colapse and further resistance was futile. But the British stirred by Prime Minister Churchill did fight. The British were battered, but held. Newreel footage of the Luftwaffe bombing London and other British cities had an enormous impact on American public opinion. It was the first German defeat of the War. The narrow, but decisive victory in the Battle of Britain changed the course of the War. As Hitler turned his evil view east toward Russia, a huge unsinkable aircraft carrier with a population willing to make virtually any sacrifice remained in his rear.
The fall of France also had terrible consequences or the Royal Navy in the Battle of the Atlantic. The Grmans now had Atlantic ports which they could base U-boats. They were no longer restricted to Baltic and North sea ports. This significantly increased the range of the force and the amount of time thatpatrols could actually sprend in the sea lanes. The Germans proceeded to build massive bomb-proof submarine pens in French Atlantic ports.
A 17 year old French girl remembers the first important student demonstration after the German occupation of Paris. The students wanted to ay flowers on the grave of the Unknown Soldier at the Arc de Triomphe. The Germans brutally suppressed the students. Hundreds of German soldiers set up machine guns and shoot low into the crowd to disperse the students. Many are injured and arrested. The girl sees a Jewish boy she knew forced to raise his hands in the air with a pistol held at the back of his neck. The desceibes, "The ominous feeling she has, that she will never see him again, proves to be true." [Podstel-Vinay]
The German soldiers in France behaved very differently than they did in the East. With the exception of actions against Jews, the Germans behave realtively correctly. Even with the Jewsd, mmost of the actions were carried out by the French police and Milice. There were some attrocities against French civilians, especially after the Allied D-Day invasion, but these appeared to have been realtively exceptional. There were many affairs with French women. This was not ebcouraged, but not strictly proohobiyed. One question we have is how the German soldiers interacted with French children. There are of course countless images ogf American GIs with children in France and other liberated countries. We wonder how German soldiers got on with French children and how the children reacted to them. We would be interested in any information that readers may be able to supply on this topic.
Resistance groups in France played an important tole in the success of the D-day invasion. France surrendered to the German Army on June 22, 1940. The terms of the armistace divided France into an occupied and unoccupied zone, with a rigid demarcation or boundary line between the two. Provisions of the armistice, the "surrender
on demand clause", was an obligation to arrest and turn over anyone requested by the Germans. French soldiers escaped to England in the Dunkirt evacualtion. Other French soldiers, including General Charles DeGaulle, also reached England. DeGualle when he arrived in England made an inspiring radio speech where he proclaimed
that "whatever happens, the flame of French Resistance must not and will not be extinguished." This was in fact the beginning of the French Resistance. Most French people thought that the Germans had weon the War and that resistance was futile. It looked at first like Britain, the only country still resisting the Germans, would also
soon fall. The Germans banned political activity. They were most concerned about the Communists and Scocialists which had been the most critical of then. The Gestapo in the occupied zone began arresting members of the Communist Party and Socialist Party. The Gestapo also demanded that Vichy authorities make similar
arrests. As a result, many Communists and Socialists went into hising. The safest place was the rugged forests of the unoccupied zones. Some soldiers who refused to surrender to the Germans also hid in the forests. The men and women involved gradually formed into small units. Often the units were based on common political beliefs
such as Communists or Free French. The groups also formed on geographic lines as the Germans made communications difficult. These groups, despite their political differences joined together to organize the Maquis. The success of the RAF in the Battle of Britain (July-October 1940) proved that the Geramns could be defeated.
Then the German invasion of the Soviet Union (June 1941) meant that Britain no longer fought alone. The German losses before Moscow and the entry of the United States into the War (December 1941), changed the whole power ballance. The Germans no longer looked unbeatable and ressistance futile. Winston Churchill was a strong believer in unconventional forces. Thus when he became primeminister he orderede that resistance movements in occupied countries be supported. The
Ressiatance movement grew in strength an began to organize small-scale attacks on German forces. These attacks were answered savedly with German reprisals on civilians. The Allies did not have the strength to engage the Germans militarily in 1941, but British Bomber Command carried out limited air attacks in 1941 which they
escalted in 1942 when the Lancaster ling-range bomber became vavilable. The Resistance assisted Allied airman, still mostly British in 1942, shot down over France to get back to Britain. Usually they helped get the airmen to Spain whuch allowed them to return to England. General Dwight D. Eisenhower wrote: "Throughout France the Resistance had been of inestimable value in the campaign. Without their great assistance the liberation of France would have consumed a much longer time and meant greater losses to ourselves."
Barber, Noel. The Week France Fell (Stein and Day: New York, 1976), 321p.
Churchill, Winston. Their Finest Hour (Houghton Mifflin: Boston, 1949), 751p.
Curtis, Michael. Verdict on Vichy: Power and Prejudice in the Vichy French Regime (Arcade, 2003), 419p.
Davidson, Eugene. The Unmaking of Adolf Hitler (Univesity of Missouri: Columbia, 1996), 519p.
Domarus, Max. Hitler Reden und Proklamationen 1932-45 Vo. 1-2 (Neustadt a.d. Aisch: Velagsdruckerei Schmidt, 1962-63).
Fest, Joachim C. Hitler (Vintage Books: New York, 1974), 844p.
Freidel, Frank. Franklin D. Roosevelt: Rendezuous with Destiny (Little Brown: Boston, 1990), 710p.
Gilbert, Martin. A History of the Twentieth Century Vol. 2 1933-54 (William Morrow and Company, Inc.: New York, 1998), 1050p.
Militärgeschichtliches Forschungsamt. Das Deutsche Reich und der Weltkrieg 2 vols. (Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, 1979.)
Moss, Norman. Nineteen Weeks: America, Britain and the Fateful Summer of 1940 (Houghton Mifflin, 2003), 400p.
Postel-Vinay, Anise. "Sisters in Resistance: Their Stories," Independent Lens Website. accessed August 28, 2004.
Reynolds, David. In Command of History: Churchill Fighting and Writing the Second World war (Random House: 2005), 631p.
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