Dunkirk: History Behind the Movie
On July 21, 2017, director Christopher Nolan is bringing Dunkirk to theaters--for the second time. Yes, that’s right. The original Dunkirk, directed by Leslie Norman, was actually a film released in 1958. So why is Dunkirk so important so as to warrant two separate movies? Well, like the upcoming trailer suggests, the story of Dunkirk is one of hope and survival, and it marks one of the greatest military miracles in all of history.
First, some context. In the year 1940, Hitler’s Germany decided to attack France through Luxembourg and Belgium. The German war machine proved to be a bulldozer of destruction, and it surprised both Britain and France by smashing a path through the dense Ardennes forest. After occupying Luxembourg, it went on to conquer Belgium and scatter the defending forces. These forces, mainly British but also consisting of Belgians and French, fled the area before the German onslaught, and it was arranged for all the troops to be evacuated at Dunkirk. A race against time ensued, as 400,000 men prepared to evacuate before the German army arrived. However, this race was heavily stacked against their favor, for no large ships could enter the shallow waters of Dunkirk, and the soldiers would need to sail in smaller ships in order to reach the larger ones. As one can imagine, ferrying 400,000 men in small boats back and forth is a time consuming task, and it was predicted that only 25% of the men would make it out alive. In the end though, 800 “little ships” successfully saved about 340,000 troops, making the event of Dunkirk a military miracle--especially when considering that the Germans attacked the troops during the evacuation at one point.
While the outcome of Dunkirk was beyond the wildest dreams of even the most optimistic, many men were still lost, and Britain ended up leaving behind much of its military equipment such that their tanks fell into German hands. In the chapter “To the Brink” in Freedom from Fear, we see the implications of Dunkirk, for Britain is under-supplied and Roosevelt has to enact his Lend-Lease plan in order to give Britain more arms.
So now that you know the story of Dunkirk, are you still going to watch the movie? I know I certainly will.
For a more detailed look at Dunkirk:
This post is very interesting. I like how you were able to demonstrate and explain the German attack on the French and British was so large scale that it got documented into a movie. Like a lot of other moments in history, the important ones get documented and this one is clearly important. In addition to the information about Britain having to leave their forces behind for the Germans to take over, I wonder if America's supply to Britain was smart even though some of the arms will end up in Germans hands.
ReplyDeleteGreat post that has relevance to a future event, and excellent organization in your post. I liked how you included facts about the feasibility of Dunkirk, while adding your own commentary to the statistics. Do you know why it was thought that so few men would survive?
ReplyDeleteFor more information on the Battle of Dunkirk:
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/world-war-two/world-war-two-in-western-europe/the-attack-on-western-europe/dunkirk/