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App as a member of Noiser plus at noiser.com or in Apple Podcasts. Or you can get all of History Daily plus other fantastic history podcasts@intohristory.com It's June 11, 1940. In the Chateau de Mouguet, a mansion 100 miles south of Paris, one month after German troops invaded France in the beginning of World War II. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill sits the head of a conference table. He takes a sip from a cup of tea and silently stares down the British and French officers seated around him. But the moment of quiet is interrupted by the sound of fighter planes flying overhead. Churchill puts down his cup of tea and addresses the war council before him. He doesn't mince words, saying that if the French army does not muster a defense of their country, France will fall into the clutches of the Nazis. Churchill clamps a cigar between his teeth and lights up as he blows smoke across the table. He demands to know how the French generals plan to launch a successful counterattack. For a few awkward moments, the generals squirm, looking uncomfortable, until General Maxime Wegan clears his throat. Weygan says there's no way France can stop the Nazis and they should ask for a ceasefire. Many generals in the room nod and make known their approval of surrender, but Churchill is livid. He slams his hands down on the table, shocking the room into silence. Again he bellows that France must not surrender, and in response, another French general at the table insists that they have no choice. Hearing this, Churchill rises from his seat and raises his voice even further, loudly announcing that Britain will never surrender. In response, General Wegen rises as well. He looks Churchill in the eyes and with a sneer says that his plan to fight on is a fantasy. Germany will conquer France, and when they do, the Brits will be next. In three weeks, he says, Britain will have her neck wrung like a chicken. Winston Churchill left this council of war and flew back to London with a heavy heart. He knew that the French were on the verge of capitulating to their German invaders. But Churchill was determined to prove General Wegen wrong by ensuring that Britain did not fall to the Nazis as well. Over the next 18 months, Churchill will lead Britain through a dark period when a German invasion was a very real possibility. Initially, the German air force will take to the skies, trying to destroy the Royal Air Force in what's known as the Battle of Britain. Later, the Nazis will bomb civilians in an unrelenting campaign called the Blitz. In the end, Britain will survive these threats, and Churchill will deliver a famous rebuttal to General Weigen during a rousing speech to the Canadian Parliament on December 30, 1941. Hey prime members, have you heard?
