Adolf Hitler had wanted a Western offensive immediately after Poland was defeated,

but bad weather kept getting in his way.

The rest of the world observed the quietude on the Western Front

and wondered if this war was to be taken seriously.

On May 10 10, 1940,

the world learned that the answer was an emphatic yes.

Welcome to the history of the 20th century.

Music The

The Episode 322. Plan Yellow

In 1933, Winston Churchill, In 1933, Winston Churchill Plan yellow.

In 1933, Winston Churchill famously said,

Thank God for the French army.

He also said later that he got some funny looks from his colleagues in the House of Commons when he said it,

but it's not hard to understand his thinking. France had the largest army in the world, and by the 1930s, France was one of the few

democratic nations left in Europe, but it also had by far the largest military, making France

the bulwark of democratic values on the continent.

Britain had the most powerful navy in Europe. France had the most powerful army.

Together, they made a potent military alliance.

Not that you could tell from events in the years leading up to the Second World War.

German and Italian aggression went largely unchallenged. In the case of Italy, it was because

the British and French wanted to keep Italy on side in the event of a confrontation with Germany.

In the case of Germany, it was usually the

...