The Battle of France
- Episode aired Jan 19, 1995
IMDb RATING
8.0/10
16
YOUR RATING
A documentary look at Early World War Two, the invasion of Poland and France, the equipment, the leaders, and the strategy.A documentary look at Early World War Two, the invasion of Poland and France, the equipment, the leaders, and the strategy.A documentary look at Early World War Two, the invasion of Poland and France, the equipment, the leaders, and the strategy.
Photos
Tim Pigott-Smith
- Narrator
- (voice)
Neville Chamberlain
- Self - Prime Minister of Great Britain
- (archive footage)
Winston Churchill
- Self - Prime Minister of Great Britain
- (archive footage)
Maurice Gamelin
- Self - French General
- (archive footage)
John Gort
- Self - English General
- (archive footage)
Hermann Göring
- Self - German Field Marshal
- (archive footage)
Adolf Hitler
- Self - Führer of Germany
- (archive footage)
Paul Reynaud
- Self - Prime Minister of France
- (archive footage)
Walther von Brauchitsch
- Self - German General
- (archive footage)
Erich von Manstein
- Self - German General
- (archive footage)
Storyline
Featured review
Swift Defeat.
May, 1940. The German army had conquered Norway and Poland. Neither country was geared up for war, with the Polish cavalry still mounted on horses. Now Hitler was taking on the French army and the British Expeditionary Force, both modern and equipped with weapons equal to those of the Nazis. Could the Germans do it? Yes, they could and they did, through the masterful use of strategy and tactics, and with the help of a suitable terrain. They demolished the French army in a matter of weeks and inflicted the most humiliating defeat on the Brits since the American revolution.
As with the other episodes in this splendid series, what we watch is newsreel and combat footage, and what we hear is Tim Piggot-Smith's sonorous and informed narration. The maps are flawless. There is no jingoism, no bombast. A spade is called a spade. The narrative covers the political background, the military thinking and personnel, and life on the field. Unlike, say, Eric Burns' masterful "The Civil War," there is no sentimentality. Nobody reads a heart-breaking letter from a dead soldier. The emphasis is on events that took place outside that death. The approach here is disinterested and analytic, which some have found unsatisfying but which I didn't. We do see suffering but it isn't dwelt on in detail. It doesn't have to be because, after all, we all know something of suffering and adults can take it for granted. We already know that it's extremely painful to lose one's home, one's family, or one's life.
Before the invasion of France, Hitler had bloodlessly acquired Austria, the Rhineland, the ethnically German part of Czechoslovakia, and then the rest of the country, the Czechs themselves having had no say in the matter. All of this territorial acquisition was in flagrant violation of the law, but none of the Allies wanted another world war after the misery and loss incurred during the First World War. America only entered the field for one year out of the four, and had never been invaded or bombed, so we may not appreciate the fact that World War I was a thoroughly mismanaged slaughter that saw thousands of lives thrown away by the officer corps whose thinking ran along lines like, "If my enemy kills one thousand of my troops and I killed two thousand of his, our side has won the battle." There is no point here in giving the full particulars of the battle for France, which here includes Scandinavia and Poland. (For one thing, there isn't space.)
Chamberlain is always ridiculed in the popular press as an "appeaser" who negotiated with Hitler. It's usually forgotten that Chamberlain had the backing of virtually the entire country when he returned with that "piece of paper" and declared "peace in our time." He was welcomed back from Munich as a hero. Meanwhile he had already begun Britain's rearmament, modernizing the Armed Forces and introducing the draft. Among today's public, any negotiations with an adversary has been conflated with "appeasement", now a dirty word. The word "compromise" has come to mean "we lost."
At any rate, after Poland Chamberlain resigned and the hawkish Winston Churchill ascended to 10 Downing Street. The commander of the French Armies was Gamelin, whose ideas of warfare were hopelessly mired in the trenches of the previous war. Further, he was constantly at odds with political enemies, and he chose as his headquarters a mansion a hundred miles behind the lines, which lacked radio communication with the front. The French economy had been as nearly demolished as those of the other European powers. (See George Orwell's "Down and Out in Paris and London" for a first-hand account of near starvation.) They'd spent an enormous amount of money on the Maginot Line, mile after mile of underground fortresses with guns galore along the border with Germany. The French Army was dispirited. Discipline was lax and they were paid only a few centimes a day, compared to the several francs of the British troops.
The Germans walked over Denmark, Belgium, and Holland, despite resistance, using paratroopers and many of those phony dolls that were called "Rupert" in "The Longest Day." Not only was France conquered in a matter of a few weeks but the Wehrmacht cut the country neatly in half, leaving many of the French and all of the surviving British pressed against the English Channel at Dunkirk. The southern half of France surrendered and with the promise of some limited autonomy (they could keep their fleet and their colonies) was dominated by the Germans. Hitler was a madman. There is no question of Germany's leadership being sub-human in its treatment of minorities and prisoners of war. Germany's armed forces were, however, the most efficient and well-led military force in the war, and perhaps in the history of warfare.
As the Brits and many French forces were swept back against the English Channel, they put up fierce resistance, especially the French. Meanwhile a horde of British ships and boats, large and small, crossed the channel to evacuate the surrounded Allies. More than a quarter of a million were rescued from the beaches but it was hardly a victory. The French were bitter because most of the evacuees were Tommies and it was the French who had held the perimeter. The Brits had to abandon every heavy vehicle and gun and managed to escape only with rifles. Several hundred British ships were sunk, including both destroyers and cargo ships, and almost entirely by the Luftwaffe. It was an inauspicious beginning.
The program gives us maps and newsreel footage. There are no experts or other talking heads. Piggot-Smith's narration is balance and precise.
It's a very nice job. For a splendid fictional film about the evacuation, see "Dunkirk", with John Mills.
As with the other episodes in this splendid series, what we watch is newsreel and combat footage, and what we hear is Tim Piggot-Smith's sonorous and informed narration. The maps are flawless. There is no jingoism, no bombast. A spade is called a spade. The narrative covers the political background, the military thinking and personnel, and life on the field. Unlike, say, Eric Burns' masterful "The Civil War," there is no sentimentality. Nobody reads a heart-breaking letter from a dead soldier. The emphasis is on events that took place outside that death. The approach here is disinterested and analytic, which some have found unsatisfying but which I didn't. We do see suffering but it isn't dwelt on in detail. It doesn't have to be because, after all, we all know something of suffering and adults can take it for granted. We already know that it's extremely painful to lose one's home, one's family, or one's life.
Before the invasion of France, Hitler had bloodlessly acquired Austria, the Rhineland, the ethnically German part of Czechoslovakia, and then the rest of the country, the Czechs themselves having had no say in the matter. All of this territorial acquisition was in flagrant violation of the law, but none of the Allies wanted another world war after the misery and loss incurred during the First World War. America only entered the field for one year out of the four, and had never been invaded or bombed, so we may not appreciate the fact that World War I was a thoroughly mismanaged slaughter that saw thousands of lives thrown away by the officer corps whose thinking ran along lines like, "If my enemy kills one thousand of my troops and I killed two thousand of his, our side has won the battle." There is no point here in giving the full particulars of the battle for France, which here includes Scandinavia and Poland. (For one thing, there isn't space.)
Chamberlain is always ridiculed in the popular press as an "appeaser" who negotiated with Hitler. It's usually forgotten that Chamberlain had the backing of virtually the entire country when he returned with that "piece of paper" and declared "peace in our time." He was welcomed back from Munich as a hero. Meanwhile he had already begun Britain's rearmament, modernizing the Armed Forces and introducing the draft. Among today's public, any negotiations with an adversary has been conflated with "appeasement", now a dirty word. The word "compromise" has come to mean "we lost."
At any rate, after Poland Chamberlain resigned and the hawkish Winston Churchill ascended to 10 Downing Street. The commander of the French Armies was Gamelin, whose ideas of warfare were hopelessly mired in the trenches of the previous war. Further, he was constantly at odds with political enemies, and he chose as his headquarters a mansion a hundred miles behind the lines, which lacked radio communication with the front. The French economy had been as nearly demolished as those of the other European powers. (See George Orwell's "Down and Out in Paris and London" for a first-hand account of near starvation.) They'd spent an enormous amount of money on the Maginot Line, mile after mile of underground fortresses with guns galore along the border with Germany. The French Army was dispirited. Discipline was lax and they were paid only a few centimes a day, compared to the several francs of the British troops.
The Germans walked over Denmark, Belgium, and Holland, despite resistance, using paratroopers and many of those phony dolls that were called "Rupert" in "The Longest Day." Not only was France conquered in a matter of a few weeks but the Wehrmacht cut the country neatly in half, leaving many of the French and all of the surviving British pressed against the English Channel at Dunkirk. The southern half of France surrendered and with the promise of some limited autonomy (they could keep their fleet and their colonies) was dominated by the Germans. Hitler was a madman. There is no question of Germany's leadership being sub-human in its treatment of minorities and prisoners of war. Germany's armed forces were, however, the most efficient and well-led military force in the war, and perhaps in the history of warfare.
As the Brits and many French forces were swept back against the English Channel, they put up fierce resistance, especially the French. Meanwhile a horde of British ships and boats, large and small, crossed the channel to evacuate the surrounded Allies. More than a quarter of a million were rescued from the beaches but it was hardly a victory. The French were bitter because most of the evacuees were Tommies and it was the French who had held the perimeter. The Brits had to abandon every heavy vehicle and gun and managed to escape only with rifles. Several hundred British ships were sunk, including both destroyers and cargo ships, and almost entirely by the Luftwaffe. It was an inauspicious beginning.
The program gives us maps and newsreel footage. There are no experts or other talking heads. Piggot-Smith's narration is balance and precise.
It's a very nice job. For a splendid fictional film about the evacuation, see "Dunkirk", with John Mills.
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- Jan 7, 2017
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What is the broadcast (satellite or terrestrial TV) release date of The Battle of France (1995) in Australia?
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