World War II with Tom Hanks

- The nation of Poland no longer exists,

and that enables Adolf Hitler to attack the West.

After six months of inactivity, what is called the Phony War,

Germany quickly occupies Denmark,

then invades Norway,

where they easily defeat a British and French force,

triggering a crisis in the British leadership.

Now, the question is,

where will Hitler point the Wehrmacht next?

And who will be able to stop him?

All wars change the world,

but none of them changed the world

like the Second World War did.

- Japan's on the march, Germany's on the march.

No one can imagine

the nightmare they're about to unleash.

The most destructive war in human history.

- Suddenly the world is turned upside down,

and all hell is let loose.

- The West is stunned by the speed of the advance.

- You get the Allies, led by the big three--

Roosevelt, Churchill, Stalin.

Men who are dealing

with immensely complicated questions.

- It's the biggest military operation of human history.

- The Allies have to come together,

not just militarily,

but industrial scale

it's a global perspective.

- They have to fight in every climate,

from the Arctic to the jungles of the Pacific

to the deserts of Africa and the depths of the ocean.

- But there was no certainty of victory.

It was going to be a horrific bloodbath.

- We see humans at their absolute worst--

how they treat other human beings.

And we see them at their absolute best--

willing to give their lives that others might live.

World War II was a struggle

in which there could be one victor and one vanquished.

[explosions, air-raid sirens wailing]

May 10, 1940...

German forces sweep through the Netherlands and Belgium...

Headed for France.

This will be the third time

that Germany has invaded France in 70 years.

Because of this history,

the French have constructed a 280-mile system of forts...

known as the Maginot Line.

- The idea is to have a number of different fortifications

and infrastructures and weapons,

underground tunnels.

You have extensive batteries

that can house entire battalions.

There are even electric railroads underground

to funnel soldiers from blockhouse to blockhouse.

- Confident that the border with Germany is secure,

the French position their best troops

along the Belgian-Dutch border.

- The French Army of 1940 is regarded as Europe's finest.

They have a large number of soldiers.

- They have some of the largest and best tanks

in all of the world at this time.

Nobody else has an army

standing between the Allies and Germany.

It's so deeply assumed

the French Army will hold off the Germans,

just as it had in the First World War.

- The French Army feels more than capable

of meeting any challenge

it might face in a future conflict.

- As they did 25 years before, in the First World War,

Great Britain also sends an army

to stop the German invasion.

- Reinforcements for the British Expeditionary Force

reach France.

- The British Expeditionary Force has been sent across

to assist the French in their defense against the Germans.

You've probably got about 300,000 men.

They are the cream of British ground troops.

- British and French forces surge into Belgium...

Looking to confront the Germans

in what they believe will be

the main effort of the German attack.

- They're heading for the line,

towards the distant rumble of gunfire.

- This is precisely what Hitler wants them to do.

One of the Wehrmacht's best generals,

Erich von Manstein, has designed a trap.

- Manstein-- very ambitious general,

big advocate of war-of-movement tactics,

blitzkrieg tactics...

he says, we're going to distract them.

We'll still have an army facing the Maginot Line.

We'll still have an army sweeping through Belgium,

but we'll do what they least expect.

We'll cut through the Ardennes.

The Ardennes Forest

straddles the French frontier with Belgium.

Its steep wooded hills and valleys

are considered impenetrable.

- Here, there was no reason to build anything

because the forest was so thick and dense.

- But Manstein's not deterred by this terrain.

He sends his armored forces into France

from this unexpected direction,

which gives Hitler the opportunity

to outmaneuver the Allies.

- And once he's sold on it, as so often in Hitler's life,

it becomes a kind of mania for it.

He says, this is what I wanted.

Finally, someone understands me.

- Hitler now throws the bulk of his forces

through the Ardennes.

That same day...

British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain resigns.

- The Second World War is going badly for Britain.

Hitler's troops have swept through Denmark and Norway.

And Neville Chamberlain, the British Prime Minister,

like leaders do, takes the blame for that.

- I sought an audience of the King this evening

and tendered to him my resignation,

which His Majesty has been pleased to accept.

- The King asks the First Lord of the Admiralty,

the maverick politician Winston Churchill,

to become prime minister.

- Winston Churchill was born at a time when Britain was

at its imperial apex--

the height of the Victorian age.

From the youngest age, he's brought up

thinking that he's special, that fate has predestined

that he would one day save Britain and its empire.

- Churchill has openly been critical of Hitler,

very worried about Hitler...

against German rearmament,

and against Hitler's obvious plans

in Europe.

He was the guy who,

sounding like a bit of a crank for years,

had said this was going to happen.

And then when it does happen

and you're looking to turn to somebody,

it's inevitable that you turn to the person

that was right all along.

- Churchill's immediate challenge

is to stiffen British resolve

and to prepare them for a long struggle.

From his first address to Parliament,

Churchill demonstrates his determination

to defeat the Nazis.

- Churchill used the wonders of language

and the oratory skill,

and the way he crafted his words--

well, he's one of the most quoted people in the world.

I would say to the House,

I have nothing to offer but blood,

toil, tears,

and sweat.

- Nasty, dirty base words-- blood, sweat, toil.

He takes you up here, and he brings you back down here.

You ask, what is our aim?

I can answer in one word...

victory...

victory at all costs,

for without victory, there is no survival.

- People that were there that day said

that you could feel the opposition

to Winston Churchill just draining away.

- As the Wehrmacht advances on France through Belgium

and the Ardennes Forest...

Adolf Hitler takes a risk.

- This is a huge gamble for the simple reason

that if you try to mass Panzer divisions

and motorized infantry on these little dirt tracks,

you're going to have massive traffic jams.

And they're going to be a ripe target for the French

and British air forces,

which could fly over and just bomb these things