Video: 'Will Britain Remain?! - WW2 - 041 - June 8 1940' (June 3-4, 1940, at 1:37)

(Tuesday, June 4, 1940, 3:40 a.m. Western European Summer Time; during the Dunkirk evacuation, part of Battle of France on the Western Front of World War II) — The Dunkirk evacuation, the rescue of 338,226 Allied soldiers during World War II from the beaches and harbor of Dunkirk, in the north of France, by a hastily assembled fleet of over 800 vessels, ended early this morning when the destroyer HMS Shikari departed for Dover with German infantry firing only a few streets away from where she was moored. Continue reading Evacuation of 338,226 Allied troops from Dunkirk, France, completed 80 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Jun 4 1940) →

Video: 'The First Brexit? - The Dunkirk Evacuation - WW2 - 040 - June 1 1940' (Belgium surrenders at 1:18)

(Tuesday, May 28, 1940, 4:00 a.m. Western European Summer Time; during the Battle of Belgium, part of Battle of France, part of the Western Front of the World War II) — Leopold III, king and commander in chief of the Belgian army, surrendered personally to German forces today, contrary to the advice of his government, led by Hubert Pierlot, having personally decided that the Allied cause was lost. Continue reading King Leopold III orders Belgian Army to unconditionally surrender to Nazi Germany 80 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (May 28 1940) →

Video: 'The First Brexit? - The Dunkirk Evacuation - WW2 - 040 - June 1 1940' (May 26, 1940, at 3:32)

(Sunday, May 26, 1940, just before 7:00 p.m. BST; during the Dunkirk evacuation part of Battle of France, part of the Western Front of the World War II) –British Prime Minister Winston Churchill tonight ordered Operation Dynamo, the evacuation of some 338,000 Allied troops from Dunkirk, France, to begin. Continue reading Evacuation of 338,226 Allied troops from Dunkirk, France, begins 80 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (May 26 1940) →

Video: 'The Allied Clusterf**k - The Battle of France - WW2 - 039 - May 25 1940' (Germans reach English Channel at 5:47)

(Monday, May 20, 1940, 7:00 p.m. Western European Summer Time; during the Battle of France, part of the Western Front of the World War II) — In a crowning series of staggering blows dealt to the Allies in the last few days, the German army reached the English Channel tonight at Abbeville, France, severing all communication between the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) in the north and the main French army in the south. Continue reading Germans reach English Channel at Abbeville, France 80 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (May 20 1940) →

Video: 'Blitzkrieg in the West - The Invasion of France - WW2 - 038 - May 18 1940' (May 14, 1940, at 3:35)

(Tuesday, May 14, 1940, 7:00 p.m. NET; during the Battle of the Netherlands part of Battle of France , part of the Western Front of the World War II) — All but a small part of the Netherlands capitulated to the invading German Army tonight “to prevent further bloodshed and annihilation” as General Henri Gerard Winkelman, the Commander in Chief, called upon his troops to lay down their arms after only five days of fighting. Continue reading Dutch military ends resistance against Germans except in Zealand 80 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (May 14 1940) →

Video: 'Hitler Strikes in the West - The Invasion of the Benelux - WW2 - 037 - May 11 1940' (Churchill replaces Chamberlain at 1:11)

(Friday, May 10, 1940 approximately 6:25 p.m. Western European Summer Time; during Battle of France, part of the Western Front of the World War II) — British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain resigned tonight and Winston Churchill agreed to form a new government. Continue reading Churchill replaces Chamberlain as British Prime Minister 80 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (May 10 1940) →

Video: 'Hitler Strikes in the West - The Invasion of the Benelux - WW2 - 037 - May 11 1940' (May 10, 1940, at 6:25)

(Friday, May 10, 1940 approximately 4:00 a.m. Western European Summer Time; during Battle of France , part of the Western Front of the World War II) — Nazi Germany invaded without warning Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands shortly before dawn today, swinging 89 army divisions around France’s so-called impregnable Maginot Line. Continue reading Nazi Germany invades Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg 80 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (May 10 1940) →

Video: 'Hitler Strikes in the West - The Invasion of the Benelux - WW2 - 037 - May 11 1940' (Norway debate at 1:11)

(Tuesday, May 7, 1940, 2:45 p.m. BST; during the Norway Debate, part of World War II) — The Norway Debate, sometimes called the Narvik Debate, a momentous debate in the British House of Commons during the Second World War, began this afternoon in London. Continue reading Norway Debate begins in British House of Commons 80 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (May 7 1940) →

Video: 'The Invasion of Norway and Denmark - WW2 - 033 - April 13 1940' (Apr. 9, 1940, at 3:57)

(Tuesday, April 9, 1940, 5:15 a.m. Central European Time; during Operation Weserübung, part of World War II) — Nazi Germany occupied Denmark and invaded Norway early this morning, ostensibly as a preventive manoeuvre against a planned, and openly discussed, Franco-British occupation of Norway known as Plan R 4.

German envoys in Oslo and Copenhagen had presented the Norwegian and Danish governments with a German ultimatum demanding that they immediately accept the “protection of the Reich.”

Video: 'The World At War 1973(World War II Documentary) 02.Distant War (September 1939 – May 1940)' (Operation Weserübung at 36:31)

Denmark capitulated so as to not provoke mass bloodshed at the hands of the Germans, and the country was invaded in six hours.

Norwegian Foreign Affairs Minister Halvdan Koht, however, responded with the defiant words “Vi gir oss ikke frivillig, kampen er allerede i gang” (“We will not submit voluntarily; the struggle is already underway”).

Video: 'World War II - Blitzkrieg to the Bomb Documentary' (Operation Weserübung at 10:29)

The entire Norwegian government including King Haakon VII fled the capital this morning for the mountains in the north.