The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich Chapter 21: Victory in the West Summary

It's now May of 1940, and British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain was replaced by Winston Churchill in the second week of May.
As he launches into his description of the Nazi invasion of Belgium and the Netherlands, he draws this section to a close with a little bit of foreshadowing.
"Though they did not know it," he writes, "the Anglo-French armies sped directly into a trap that, when sprung, would soon prove to be utterly disastrous." (4.21.21)

The Rival Plans

In this short section, Shirer takes a step back to describe the military tactics that the Nazis had drawn up for the invasion. On May 10, Hitler invaded the three small neutral countries of Holland, Belgium, and Luxembourg.

The Nazi invasion of the Netherlands lasted only five days.
The Allies were blown away by the force of the Nazi tank divisions; even the German generals were amazed by the speed and extent of their victories.
Shirer can't help wondering aloud why the German tactics should have surprised the Allies.
Germany had used the same kinds of tactics in its recent invasions of Poland and Norway. Hadn't the allies learned anything from that?

Shirer uses this section for a more detailed account of the Nazi conquest in the Netherlands.
He includes a description of the Luftwaffe's bombing of Rotterdam—an assault that cost the lives of nearly 1000 civilians, and that helped to secure the surrender of the Netherlands.

Germany used an unprecedented mass mobilization of tanks to break through enemy lines in their invasion of Belgium.
Shirer provides a detailed account of the Allied defeat in Belgium, devoting particular attention to the fighting around Sedan, Fort Eben Emael, the Somme, and Dunkirk.

King Leopold of Belgium surrendered to the Nazis on the morning of May 28, 1940.
He did so against the advice of his government, which unanimously opposed surrender.
Shirer compares King Leopold's actions to those of the Belgian Army, who fought tenaciously and courageously against the Nazi invasion.

In late May of 1940, hundreds of thousands of Allied troops were "miraculously" evacuated from the beach at Dunkirk before they could be taken by Nazi troops.
The British managed to save more than 300,000 soldiers from the beaches using not only military vessels, but also many small boats, many of them manned by civilian volunteers from towns along the English coast.
On June 4, 1940, as the last of the rescued from Dunkirk arrived to safety, the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill delivered one of the most iconic speeches of his lifetime. He promised to valiantly continue the fight against Germany, wherever it took them.

Hitler continued to steamroll over Europe, invading France in the first two weeks of June 1940.
Shirer notes only the bare-bones details of Germany's swift victory, along with the equally bare-bones details of the French government's request for an armistice. (4.21.119-20)

Mussolini entered the war only after France's defeat was assured, and he jumped in to get his share of the spoils.
Shirer concludes that Mussolini didn't contribute all that much in the war against France.
Hitler and Mussolini held a meeting to discuss the terms of the armistice that Germany would give to France.

At Compiegne, the exact same spot where, on November 11, 1918 Germany surrendered to the Allies at the end of WWI, the Franco-German Armistice was signed.
As Shirer sets the scene for us, his descriptions draw from old diary notes, as well as from the broadcast that he made from this very spot as the signing of the armistice went down in June 1940.
Although it's a little bit crackly at times, you can give that broadcast a listen here. In it, Shirer describes the scene as a "turning back of the clock, a reversal of history."
The terms of the armistice were harsh, and the French officials who signed it were angry and frustrated. They also signed an armistice with Italy.
The only country left standing was Britain, who seemed to stand alone, "virtually unarmed, their island home besieged by the mightiest military machine the world had ever seen."

Hitler expected that an easy peace with Britain would soon be achieved. He was convinced that Britain wouldn't fight on after France had capitulated.
The Nazis used to a number of stratagems to discourage Britain from continuing the war, but Hitler still developed for an invasion of Britain, which would only be carried out if necessary. Whatever that means.
Hitler made a final offer for peace (i.e., surrender) as he delivered as speech in the Reichstag in the third week of July 1940.
The British response was almost immediate. They weren't going to quit.
Shirer notes that despite all of Hitler's planning and boasting, the German Army and Navy had yet to come up with a solid plan for a war against Britain.
As he argues, the Germans' lack of experience at sea was largely to blame, and would prove to be a significant weakness in the war to come.