D Day - La Résistance - Extra History - Part 3

📜 History of D-Day, The Great Crusade, Part 3
Although the French government surrendered to the German invasion, French people rose up and formed resistance groups to take their country back. Charles de Gaulle and his Free French took advantage of these independent movements to help organize actions that would greatly aid the Allied landings at Normandy.

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[obscurity]

D-Day is such a common topic, but there always seems to be even more to talk about

[Diceyed]

You guys actually teach lessons that I NEVER got in school. It's fascinating to know about the French resistance.

[subtlewhatssubtle]

I've always viewed the Free French sabotage actions as a sacrifice by the French people. These were French roads, French railways, French industry complexes that had been claimed by the Nazis, and they destroyed those things anyway, because in the end, better to have to rebuild than let the fascists use it unopposed.

[wolfbyte]

I will give the Vichy French credit to one thing, though: They promised the British the Germans would never get their navy. At the start of WWII, the French Navy was the 4th largest in the world. Aside from the handful of ships De Gaulle managed to sway, most of the fleet remained locked in Toulon. But on 27 November 1942, as German troops marched into the port, the order was given, and the French Navy at large ceased to exist. 3 battleships, 7 cruisers, 15 destroyers, 12 submarines, 6 sloops, 9 patrol boat, 19 auxilary ships, a school ship, 28 tugboats and 4 cranes, all burned and sank to the bottom of the harbor. German forces managed to take 3 destroyers and 4 submarines, as well as a handful of smaller boats, but the damage was done. A few French submarines managed to make it out of the port and align with the Free French as well.

What makes this even more potent is that the British didn't believe the French when they said this. On 3 July 1940, in response to the armistance, a British task force including HMS Hood attacked the French port of Mers-el-Kebir in Algeria, killing nearly 1300 French sailors and disabling their fleet. This left a sour note in French-British relations, and two years later, Admiral Darlan sent a letter to Winston Churchill, in which he said this:

"Prime Minister you said to me 'I hope you will never surrender the fleet'. I replied, 'There is no question of doing so'. It seems to me you did not believe my word. The destruction of the fleet at Toulon has just proved that I was right."

[cycy]

The agent sent by gaulles was called Jean Moulin, he is a hero who allowed the coordination of the French resistance movements and who died tortured in Lyon by the Nazi Klaus Barbi, who was nicknamed "the butcher of Lyon". He was tortured to death without revealing any information to the Nazis, and he is buried in the Pantheon in Paris

[SAarumDoK]

Im french and im happy to see this episode, now it would be cool to see one on the polish, czech and others countries resistances groups.

[erictaylor]

When you talk about the French battle cry ("We surrender") consider this. Those British and American solders captured by the Germans had the protection of the Geneva Conventions. Though they suffered as POW's they did not face summery execution, unlike the French, who did face execution if captured.
These were incredibly brave people who I think diverse respect.

[charleswalsh]

8:53 Ho boy someone forgot where Normandy is

[abisain]

We like to make jokes about the French, but they are, truthfully, a strong spirited people. Even when their government failed them, they continued the fight against the Axis, and proved that, even at its weakest, France was still a formidable adversary.

[Luis-bemi]

France has lost a battle... BUT France has not lost the war! - Charles De Gaulle

[sabata]

I really liked this episode.
From all I remembered from my WW2 lessons, France just "turned tail and acquiesced", so getting the view of their resistance is uplifting.

[Aipe]

The french perspective of WWII is one that i find the most interesting, all of those covert operations to try to save their country are a great story to hear.

[conallongden]

as well as the french resistance's contribution we should also recognise how much the free french army did right up until the end of the war, especially in north africa, the battle of bir hakeim for example where a tiny number of free french held off rommel's advance and delayed him enough for the british to regroup before El Alamein. Free french soldiers fought in most theatres of ww2, North africa, Italy, France, right up into the push into germany. Im not saying they single handedly turned the course of the war or anything but you have to acknowledge the contribution so many men who fought and died

[mishamedvedev]

Most Forgotten about allies:
-Free France
-Poland
-Greece
-Inda
-New Zealand
-Denmark
-Chech

I think it is a shame we don't recognise them more (i know there are many others too), and that we only seem to look at the US and USSR. Thanks EH for shedding so light onto this underated subject :)

[RYII-mmgu]

Among the 7000 soldiers who stayed with de Gaulle, there was my great rear grandfather from Dunkirk, he was mortally wounded and therefore had to stay in England... When the message passed he continued the fight.

[yunes]

Les sanglots longs des violons de l'automne blessent mon cœur d'une langueur monotone. Tout suffocant et blême, quand sonne l'heure, je me souviens des jours anciens et je pleure.

[DaniRockandFire]

I LOVE that game companies are paying for, what is basically, a history lesson.

[knightshade]

Huh. I thought there would be a lot more throwing of baking ingredients.

[Pyro-etvs]

Vive la France! Love from America! 🇫🇷 🇺🇸

[natureman]

thank you for doing the french resistance and free french army their due justice