182 Dunkirk and Vichy France
31.3.3: Dunkirk and Vichy France
The Dunkirk evacuation was the removal of Allied soldiers from the beaches and harbor of Dunkirk by the attack of German soldiers, which started as a disaster but soon became a miraculous triumph.
Learning Objective
Evaluate the success or failure of the evacuation at Dunkirk
Key Points
- During the 1930s, the French constructed the Maginot Line, a series of fortifications along their border with Germany.
- The area immediately to the north of the Maginot Line was covered by the heavily wooded Ardennes region, which French General Philippe Pétain declared to be “impenetrable” as long as “special provisions” were taken.
- The German army decided to attach through the Ardennes region, then establish bridgeheads on the Meuse River and rapidly drive to the English Channel. This would cut off the Allied armies in Belgium and Flanders.
- When this occurred and the French army was surrounded, the British decided on a plan of evacuation.
- On the first day of the evacuation, only 7,669 men were evacuated, but by the end of the eighth day, a total of 338,226 soldiers had been rescued by a hastily assembled fleet of over 800 boats.
- More than 100,000 evacuated French troops were quickly and efficiently shuttled to camps in various parts of southwest England, where they were temporarily lodged before being repatriated.
- In his speech to the House of Commons on June 4, Churchill reminded the country that “we must be very careful not to assign to this deliverance the attributes of a victory. Wars are not won by evacuations.”
Key Terms
- Vichy France
- The common name of the French State during World War II, specifically the southern, unoccupied “Free Zone,” as Germany militarily occupied northern France.
- Maginot Line
- A line of concrete fortifications, obstacles, and weapon installations that France constructed on the French side of its borders with Switzerland, Germany, and Luxembourg during the 1930s.
- Dunkirk evacuation
- The evacuation of Allied soldiers from the beaches and harbour of Dunkirk, France, between May 26 and June 4, 1940, during World War II.
Dunkirk Evacuation
The Dunkirk evacuation, code-named Operation Dynamo and also known as the Miracle of Dunkirk, was the evacuation of Allied soldiers from the beaches and harbor of Dunkirk, France between May 26 and June 4, 1940, during World War II. The operation was decided upon when large numbers of Belgian, British, and French troops were cut off and surrounded by the German army during the Battle of France. In a speech to the House of Commons, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill called the events in France “a colossal military disaster,” saying “the whole root and core and brain of the British Army” had been stranded at Dunkirk and seemed about to perish or be captured. In his We shall fight on the beaches speech on June 4, he hailed their rescue as a “miracle of deliverance.”
On the first day of the evacuation, only 7,669 men