Dunkirk Presentation

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A major military defeat such as Dunkirk could easily cause the fall of government, but Winston Churchill managed to convince the British that it was a victory. Overall, it significantly impacted the entire course of world war 2

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After Dunkirk, British virtually had no equipment, all was abandoned in the rushed evacuation which left the British unarmed for possible German invasion.

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At this point, the British High Command had already begun planning an operation to evacuate British forces by sea.

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Basically, the troops were put in a position where they were unable to leave, a sitting target for the Germans.

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Because of the constant attacks, it became necessary to take the troops off the nearby beaches, which was almost impossible because the shallow water prevented large ships from coming in close to shore.

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By 4 June, when the operation ended, about 198,000 British and 140,000 French and Belgian troops had been saved. Although they were defeated, the evacuation was a major boost to British morale

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By this time the Allies had strengthened their defenses and the tanks met heavy resistance.

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Evacuation began on May 26th and gained urgency the following day, when German Commander-in-Chief persuaded Hitler to revoke his orders, and so German tanks again advanced on Dunkirk

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Even today, they use the term "Dunkirk Spirit" to describe coming together in the face of adversity. Even though it was a defeat, the evacuation restored hope for the British and allowed them to continue fighting in the war.

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However, the amount of soldiers saved compared to how many they expected to was a huge difference and viewed as an achievement. They expected to save a maximum of maybe 40,000 soldiers and managed to save about 380,000..

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Leading up to the event, the "Phoney War" had just ended in early May of 1940 when attacks started up again. Hitler ordered German troops to invade The Netherlands, Belgium and Northern France.

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On May 21st, Commander of the British Expeditionary Force launched an attack from Arras, a city in France, which put some anxiety into the German advance.

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On May 29th, the evacuation was announced and became public knowledge. Privately owned boats started arriving at Dunkirk to ferry the troops to safety

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On the 23rd of May however, a halt was issued by the German High Command, approved by Hitler. A lot of people still debate why he did this, but it gave the allies the surprising opportunity to evacuate their troops.

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Others were generals, commanders in chief of French, German and British armies.

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Overall, by conventional standards, Dunkirk was a defeat for the Allies. British failed to hold ground in France, lost a great number of men and a huge amount of equipment.

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That's why smaller ships were needed to ferry the troops from the beaches to the large ships.

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The Allies had highly underestimated the power of German forces. France was falling rapidly as well, and by May 15th, the Germans were advancing in the west direction toward the English Channel.

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The Dunkirk evacuation was a very significant event of the world war 2. It helped save the British from an almost certain defeat by Germans, and enabled the allies to continue fighting the war.

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The German attacks quickly demolished Dutch and Belgian forces, who surrendered within a few days.

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The Retreat from Dunkirk is an event that took place in the world war 2, on May 26, 1940, ending June 4th where about 340,000 allied troops were saved in this evacuation from the beaches and harbor of Dunkirk, France across the English Channel.

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The attack however, lacked significant armour, and German tanks were used and put the Allies closer into a trap until they were forced onto the port of Dunkirk, surrounded, which was the only port left for an Allied withdrawal from Europe.

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The countries involved consisted of Germany, opposing the allied countries of Britain, France and Belgium.

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The significant people involved included Winston Churchill, British Prime Minister at the time and Adolf Hitler, leader of Nazi Germany. Both were major contributors to the overall event and what it resulted in.

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This is a map of German conquests in Europe around this time

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This is a map of the evacuation plan

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Those who were not rescued in the evacuation were captured and imprisoned by the Germans.