The Road to War (5/8) : France
For educational purposes
France ended World War 1 victorious but devastated, with over 1 million men killed and much of northern France destroyed.
Although determined to crush Germany, France’s leaders were haunted by the fear of another war.
French attempts to control Germany were continually undermined by economic weakness and fierce social and political divisions.
France ended World War 1 victorious but devastated, with over 1 million men killed and much of northern France destroyed.
Although determined to crush Germany, France’s leaders were haunted by the fear of another war.
French attempts to control Germany were continually undermined by economic weakness and fierce social and political divisions.
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LearningTranscript
00:00The soldiers who returned to their families in 1918 thought that neither they nor their sons would have to fight in the name of France, because they fought to end the war.
00:18The Germans were defeated. Their military equipment was put on display at the Square of Agreement in Paris. The French people were united in their desire not to allow a new threat from Germany.
00:31However, the war exhausted France more than it seemed from the outside. For four years, fierce battles were fought here, but with the advent of peacetime, France remained a battlefield. After all, for the next twenty years, there were riots among the French.
01:01THE ROAD TO WAR
01:20THE ROAD TO WAR
01:23FRANCE
01:27France. The author is Charles Wheeler.
01:32THE GERMAN REVOLUTION
01:41In November 1918, the French again occupied Strasbourg, the capital of the border province of Alsace-Lotharing, which they had to surrender to the Germans in 1871 after the defeat in the Franco-Prussian War.
01:54The country was already waiting for the liberation of Strasbourg, the French thought.
02:01There was joy and enthusiasm all around.
02:08Everybody went out into the street.
02:12THE TRICOLOR FLAG
02:15The tricolor flag was fluttering in every window. We were still wondering where so many people came from. Everybody had a tricolor cockade.
02:25Women and children were still wearing old-fashioned costumes and everybody was shouting in tongues of their voices, Viva France!
02:33They sang in English. We were so well-known.
02:38But the fact that our neighbors knew it so well became a big surprise for us.
02:44It was impossible to convey the overwhelming enthusiasm.
02:48THE BORDER
02:50THE BORDER
02:57No border inspection was able to heal the wounds of France.
03:01During the war, 1.5 million people died, a quarter of the population younger than 30 years.
03:07And that was in a country where the level of birth rate did not exceed the level of mortality rate.
03:124 million people were wounded. Of those, 1.5 million remained crippled.
03:20Nearly every family suffered a loss.
03:29Among Marie Royer's relatives, 8 men did not return from the war.
03:34In my family, the eldest of my brothers and seven cousins died when my brother, Marcel Royer, died on September 4, 1916.
03:46He was only 26 years old.
03:49It seemed that we would never stop crying.
03:52We still can't remember him without tears.
04:03Of course, the war changed me.
04:07I still remember everything.
04:10These memories will only die with my death.
04:13You can't imagine the suffering the soldiers suffered on the front.
04:21When I think about it, tears cover my eyes.
04:31What did you think? It can't be otherwise.
04:34A war, especially one like that, will cripple you forever.
04:37You feel like you can't hide from it. It feels like it's poisoning you from the inside.
04:56Northeast France was in ruins.
04:59Towns like Saint-Quentin had to be rebuilt.
05:07The French were forced to rebuild the city.
05:23Once upon a time, there were many French industrial enterprises here.
05:27Now the French authorities demanded a payment from the Germans, because they were the instigators of the war.
05:32And the German territories were not particularly affected.
05:34The French demanded that the Germans pay all military expenses to the Allies,
05:39and also pensions to the families of the dead and the disabled.
05:46At the Versailles Peace Conference in 1919,
05:49there was a disagreement between the French and their Allies.
05:53France insisted on permanent measures to weaken Germany.
05:56America and Great Britain feared that too harsh conditions of peace would not lead to new wars.
06:05The hall of the Versailles Palace is a significant place for the French.
06:10Because it was here, half a century ago, that the triumphant Prussia proclaimed the creation of the German Empire, the Second Reich.
06:17For 100 years, Paris has heard the sound of German cannons five times,
06:20and three times the Parisians had to watch the Germans marching down the streets of the French capital.
06:28The peace treaty was built on compromises.
06:30Germany was obligated to pay reparations until the 1980s.
06:34It lost most of its armed forces, all its colonies, and part of its territory.
06:40But France's allies rejected the offer to build a Western Front on the River Rhine.
06:46Instead, the Rhine pool was turned into a demilitarized buffer zone.
06:51It was the only province of Germany occupied by the Allies.
06:54In terms of population and industrial capacity, Germany was far superior to France.
07:04In the early 1920s, France was filled with spirit.
07:07Paris, like Mecca, was stimulating the world's imagination.
07:25Needless to say, in those days, we weren't bored.
07:29We had fun and, of course, there was music everywhere.
07:32It suited that era so well.
07:34It was a time of the craziness and the freedom of choice, both in terms of leisure and work.
07:40It was good for anyone who wanted to work.
07:55France was a very powerful country, even by European standards.
08:00In the 1920s, its army was not equal in the world.
08:04Its financial well-being was reinforced by successful investments abroad,
08:09especially in Central European countries.
08:12The economy was growing at a steady pace.
08:16France's wealth was modernizing it, unlike the Great Depression.
08:19At that time, there was a period of silence, if not liturgy.
08:23And finally, France dominated the international political scene in Europe.
08:30In 1923, the French troops occupied Ruhr, the richest industrial district in Germany.
08:36The Germans delayed the payment of reparations for more than a year,
08:40and, according to the terms of the peace treaty,
08:43France had to withdraw its troops from Ruhr.
08:45After the payment of reparations, and according to the terms of the peace treaty,
08:49France was enlightened to retaliate.
08:52This displeased Britain, which considered the reparations to be excessively high,
08:56and France was too greedy.
08:58The German government called for a general strike.
09:02At the Krupp plant in Essen, the French troops fired on 13 German workers.
09:08Eventually, Germany agreed to pay the reparations,
09:11but France was isolated from the rest of the world.
09:13Since then, France has not acted against Germany without the help of Britain.
09:21This aggressive image of Europe was remembered for the next 20 years.
09:26Even Great Britain was inclined to overestimate the power of France and underestimate the power of Germany.
09:36In 1920, Oxford University awarded Clemenceau an honorary degree.
09:41Upon arriving at the ceremony, he asked Lloyd George,
09:45Why are you so hostile to us?
09:48Lloyd George replied,
09:50England always supports others in the fight against the strongest country on the continent.
09:54And it turns out that the strongest country is you.
09:59Britain and America agreed to guarantee the inviolability of the borders of France in the event of German aggression.
10:05When the United States Senate refused to ratify the treaty,
10:07the British proposal fell through, which was a heavy blow to France.
10:12It began to look for new allies in the matter of containing Germany.
10:16Leaving aside the Soviet Union, which was still in the throes of revolution,
10:20France created a network of alliances with smaller countries,
10:25Czechoslovakia, Poland, Romania, and Yugoslavia.
10:30But in the West, France's strategy was completely passive.
10:33The country invested billions in strengthening the Franco-German border
10:37between Switzerland and Belgium.
10:40These fortifications were called the Maginot Line.
10:48The Maginot Line was a masterpiece of military-engineering thought.
10:52It was considered impregnable. At least, direct attacks were not a threat to it.
10:56But most importantly, the Maginot Line worked to preserve human lives,
10:59the resource of which Germany always outnumbered France.
11:04When you attack, hundreds of thousands die.
11:08In the spring of this war in 1914, this past month,
11:12there was a stream of blood.
11:14An entire French community, all the young intellectuals,
11:17were moaned down during those first months of the war.
11:21By building the Maginot Line,
11:24the goal of the Maginot Line was to protect as much as possible
11:28The essential lesson of this war,
11:31which became the essential framework of military doctrine,
11:34was the defense.
11:45The trouble was,
11:47most of the money that France was prepared to give to its armed forces
11:50went to the construction of the Maginot Line.
11:53Even worse, this chain of lockups and bunkers
11:55created a special worldview,
11:58extremely inert and passive,
12:00which the French military leaders could not overcome.
12:05For France, the Maginot Line was a kind of invisible force.
12:10We were always told that thanks to it,
12:13France was strong and invincible,
12:15that the Maginot Line was a real wall,
12:18a barrier that protected us from any invasion.
12:21At that time, France seemed very powerful.
12:23Everywhere, at school and everywhere else,
12:26we were told that thanks to the Maginot Line,
12:29France would never be threatened by an invasion.
12:37But the invasion was a distant threat,
12:40but the decline of prosperity was very real.
12:43Year after year, successive warring governments
12:46avoided unpopular measures,
12:49such as increasing the tax rate for the rich.
12:51No government held on to power long enough
12:54to take control of the economy.
12:57And when the Great Depression fell on France,
13:00the treasury was almost empty,
13:02because the country was generously giving out loans.
13:04Instead of spending all the money to overcome the crisis,
13:07as the United States did,
13:09the French government followed the path of deflation.
13:12Production was cut,
13:14salaries, as well as pensions, were cut by widows and veterans.
13:21The economic crisis exacerbated social divisions.
13:24The dark-skinned American singer, Josephine Baker,
13:27was still gathering full halls in nightclubs in Paris.
13:30For the famous and stylish, nothing changed,
13:33and that gave ground to dissatisfaction.
13:36But for the famous and stylish,
13:39nothing changed,
13:42and that gave ground to dissatisfaction.
13:45But for the famous and stylish,
13:48nothing changed,
13:51and that gave ground to dissatisfaction.
13:54My mother worked for some middle-class people,
13:57that is to say, very wealthy people like me,
14:00who could afford to have all kinds of things
14:02for 24 hours, having to take care of them.
14:05She lived in a wardrobe with no windows.
14:07She had a horrible armchair and a terrible bed.
14:10When she had a moment,
14:12she would sit at the corner of the kitchen table,
14:14the leftovers from her toys,
14:17and even then, what came down,
14:18she would pick it up and leave it there.
14:21My mother, like many other workers,
14:23saw very few joys in her hard life.
14:28Economic and political stagnation
14:30exacerbated conflict and the old conflicts.
14:33Historically, the peasants
14:35could not stand the workers.
14:37At the same time, both sides envied the rich
14:40and at the same time hated them.
14:43The new element was political extremism,
14:45where on the left wing there were communist views,
14:48and on the right there were fascist movements
14:50of all kinds.
14:52What fed extremism destroyed
14:54parliamentary democracy,
14:56and it turned out to be helpless.
14:59Do not forget that in 10 years,
15:02from 1920 to 1930,
15:05we have changed more than 25 governments.
15:10In the Chamber of Deputies,
15:12no single party could get the majority vote.
15:16No sooner had one of them formed a government,
15:19than a section of its supporters
15:21went to the opposition.
15:23In February 1934,
15:25three days of a right-wing demonstration
15:27against alleged China corruption
15:29turned to a massive uproar
15:31in the Square of Agreement.
15:33As communists and servicemen
15:35made war with fascists,
15:37a mob advanced to the other bank of the river,
15:39to the Parliament.
15:40The police and the guardsmen
15:42tried to stop the bridge,
15:44and in the Chamber of Deputies,
15:46the new central government,
15:48Edouard de Ladey,
15:50tried to get the vote of confidence.
15:52Hundreds of thousands of people
15:54gathered to storm the Chamber of Deputies.
15:56They reached the Square of Agreement,
15:58and my father, who was 200 meters away from them,
16:00gave the order to open fire.
16:02The Parliament did not succeed,
16:04but the killed and the wounded were there.
16:10It took six hours to clear the Square.
16:1317 people were killed,
16:15but over 2,000 were wounded.
16:17Since the Paris Commune of 1871,
16:20the streets of the French capital
16:22have not seen such a bloody battle.
16:25Prime Minister de Ladey
16:27got his vote of confidence,
16:29but his own office, frightened,
16:31forced him to resign.
16:33For the first time in this century,
16:35the Parliament fell under the pressure of the crowd.
16:38The battles on the streets came at a very inopportune time
16:41for the French.
16:43They distracted the attention of the French
16:45from much more important events on the other side of the Rhine,
16:47where, years after several years of similar unrest,
16:49Hitler came to power.
16:54Early in 1936,
16:57Hitler marched his then small army
17:00into the demilitarized Rhine zone,
17:02thereby violating two treaties.
17:04This became a real threat to France,
17:05because, first of all,
17:07the demilitarized zone served as a buffer.
17:09Secondly, in case of war,
17:11the French troops could quickly pass through it
17:13and attack the Rhine.
17:15Now France has lost it.
17:18I immediately said,
17:20it can't be,
17:22the government will not allow it.
17:24Tomorrow morning we are speaking.
17:26I took out my officer's uniform
17:28and laid it on the bed.
17:30And then I said,
17:32tomorrow I will not be here.
17:33Nothing happened,
17:35and I regretted it for the rest of my life.
17:37My rage must have reached
17:39the most remote corners of France.
17:41It's a pity that it did not resonate
17:43in the minds of our government.
17:45Then we would not have to go through
17:47what happened.
17:49We were not involved in events
17:51in the Rhine zone.
17:53Do not forget that at that time
17:55the working class had a very hard time,
17:57especially because of unemployment.
18:00What was our business
18:01with our neighbors?
18:03We discussed
18:05our own difficulties.
18:15Another reason for France's inactivity
18:17is the memory of the bloodshed
18:19of 1914-18.
18:23Public opinion,
18:25embodied in the press,
18:27opposed the very idea of war.
18:32Even the generals
18:34in secret were pacifists.
18:36They told politicians
18:38that the army was organized
18:40as a passive defense
18:42through the Maginot Line,
18:44and not for rapid offensive.
18:46They wildly overestimated
18:48the power of Germany,
18:50and the British did not expect
18:52assistance from Hitler's resistance,
18:54because the British government
18:56was determined against
18:58the introduction of British troops
18:59into the Rhine zone.
19:01The occupation of the Rhine zone
19:03in March 1936
19:05became a turning point
19:07in French politics in the 1930s.
19:09When France did not respond
19:11to Germany blow for blow,
19:13its international authority
19:15was greatly shaken,
19:17especially in the eyes
19:19of small allied states.
19:21Why should France resort
19:23to the help of the Poles or the Czechs,
19:25if it cannot even defend
19:27its own interests in the Rhine?
19:29The alliance system
19:31collapsed before their eyes.
19:33Moreover,
19:35France realized
19:37its own weakness.
19:39The useful alliances
19:41with small countries
19:43in the 1920s
19:45became a burden
19:47in the 1930s.
19:50Germany was gaining power,
19:52and France was trying
19:54to attract new allies.
19:56Again and again,
19:57German and French defense
19:59were breaking up
20:01about internal ideological disagreements.
20:03When the French authorities
20:05tried to get closer
20:07to the fascist Italy,
20:09they became a fierce leftist opposition.
20:11And the very notion
20:13of the Alliance of Russia
20:15offended the right-wingers.
20:17That left Britain.
20:19But the British
20:21put their trust in peace,
20:23and without consulting the French,
20:25concluded a naval agreement
20:27with France.
20:29The French authorities
20:31were confused
20:33when they learned
20:35that Britain was negotiating
20:37with Hitler behind their backs.
20:39They did not understand
20:41why the English
20:43were trying to maintain
20:45a balance of power
20:47in Europe between
20:49France and Germany.
20:51After all, Germany was becoming
20:53more and more powerful,
20:54and there were no more allies.
20:56The Gulf of Britain
20:58and France
21:00became even more divided
21:02when leftist political sentiments
21:04grew stronger in France.
21:06One day, my mother took me
21:08by the hand,
21:10and we went out into the street
21:12and we were all people.
21:14They were all holding hands,
21:16shouting and singing.
21:18And there were a lot of words
21:20out there like freedom,
21:22holidays, brotherhood,
21:24international.
21:26It's the final struggle,
21:28let's get together
21:30and tomorrow
21:32the international...
21:47Comrades,
21:49such demonstrations
21:50unite millions of workers.
21:52So let's get together
21:54so as not to allow
21:56fascists to come to power.
22:08At that time,
22:10class hatred
22:12was deeply rooted.
22:14The crisis of the 1930s
22:16deprived France
22:18of national unity.
22:20France had a political crisis
22:22from 1934.
22:24Class hatred
22:26was reflected in the political
22:28struggle between
22:30the right and the left.
22:32There were constant cries
22:34of hatred.
22:36The barometer shivered
22:38with each step
22:40because the tone
22:42was extremely violent.
22:51In May 1936,
22:53elections were held in France.
22:55The parties of the left wing
22:57united thanks to their hatred
22:59of the right.
23:01The communists,
23:03obeying Stalin's order,
23:05called on the top of the socialists
23:07to unite against the fascists.
23:09The New People's Front,
23:11which united socialists,
23:13communists and radicals,
23:15received a million votes
23:17more than the right-wing parties.
23:18Over the past century,
23:20they came to power twice
23:22during the revolution,
23:24but both times the bourgeoisie
23:26threw them back.
23:28Now the workers had a chance
23:30to reform.
23:32The prime minister was the
23:34eternal oppositionist
23:36socialist Leon Blum.
23:38At the last moment,
23:40the communists refused
23:42to join the government.
23:44The task of our government
23:46is to ensure the welfare
23:48of the people.
23:50We want to show the world
23:52that we believe
23:54in a peaceful Europe,
23:56and the French workers
23:58believe in themselves.
24:02According to the Constitution,
24:04the new government
24:06could start fulfilling
24:08its obligations
24:10only four weeks later.
24:12Two million working people
24:14refused to wait for the promised reforms.
24:15They refused to reduce
24:17the wages,
24:19to shorten the working week
24:21and the right of trade unions
24:23to sign collective agreements.
24:34The right-wing parties
24:36shouted about the revolution.
24:38The employers gave in.
24:40The parliament sanctioned the reforms.
24:42But the wind of change
24:43was a direct reaction
24:45to the outflow of capital abroad
24:47and, as a result,
24:49the fall of Franco's course
24:51and his devaluation.
24:53Soon after the People's Front
24:55came to power,
24:57a civil war broke out in Spain.
24:59There, the right-wing rebels
25:01of General Franco
25:03rebelled against the government
25:05of the Spanish People's Front.
25:07The French gave up
25:09in the assessment of what was happening.
25:11Leon Blum stood up
25:13and said,
25:15Comrades!
25:17Friends!
25:19All of us gathered here
25:21want peace.
25:23And the first condition of peace
25:25is obvious.
25:27The nation
25:29should not be forced
25:31to defend its territory
25:33or its freedom
25:35with arms in its hands.
25:37The nation
25:39should not be forced
25:41to defend its territory
25:43or its freedom
25:45with arms in its hands.
25:48But the right-wing rebels
25:50objected.
25:52Intervention can provoke
25:54a civil war in France.
25:56Faced with the possibility
25:58of a powerful pressure
26:00from Britain,
26:02Blum retreated.
26:04The French were more afraid
26:06of communism
26:08because they had memories
26:10of the Spanish Revolution
26:12because if the communists
26:14had come to power
26:16it would provoke a bloody war
26:18and a murderous war
26:20between the French themselves.
26:27The People's Front
26:29took the course
26:31of urgent rearmament.
26:33Previously, the left wing
26:35resisted such a decision,
26:37but now France was threatened
26:39to be taken in the ring
26:41by the radical
26:43Édouard Daladier.
26:47Early in September 1936,
26:49Daladier received the mail
26:51of a particular military man
26:53named Georges
26:55and asked him,
26:57how many millions
26:59do you need
27:01for the four-year plan?
27:03Georges replied 9 million
27:05and Daladier said
27:07you will have 14 million.
27:09For the first time,
27:11this was a real fact.
27:13If you look at the budget
27:15of France at that time,
27:17it turns out that the People's Front
27:19also adhered to the principle
27:21of guns instead of oil.
27:23Why? Because Hitler
27:25became a real threat.
27:27Rearmament caused
27:29another reaction
27:31of the right wing.
27:33Five years earlier,
27:35in Paris,
27:37members of the League
27:39of Fiery Crosses,
27:41the left-wing government,
27:43thought that the rearmament
27:45would lead to a pro-communist war.
27:47And again,
27:49internal ideological disagreements
27:51tied hands with the government.
27:53Maurice Gardet
27:55was an active member
27:57of the Fiery Crosses.
27:59Let's say that
28:01if you are interested
28:03in my opinion,
28:05I can answer this question.
28:07My choice,
28:09if I had to choose,
28:11I would prefer a regime
28:13close to National Socialist Fascism.
28:15I can say this
28:17with confidence.
28:26For the next two years,
28:28the People's Front,
28:30Léon Blum,
28:32one after the other,
28:34addressed crises.
28:36He no longer used the support
28:38of the majority,
28:39but the fascists forced the country
28:41to pay dearly for these achievements.
28:43The capital outflow abroad
28:45cost France tens of millions of francs.
28:47And the state did not have enough money
28:49to chase Germany
28:51in the matter of rearmament.
28:53By 1938,
28:55the People's Front essentially
28:57ordered a long life.
28:59And on March 11,
29:01the day Hitler occupied Austria,
29:03France was a country without a government.
29:05Vienna.
29:07The Austrian National Socialist Party
29:09held a demonstration of the procession.
29:11On the roads,
29:13joyful cries and singing resounded,
29:15while the main motorized units
29:17of the German army
29:19gathered in Innsbruck.
29:21As in the case of Hitler's occupation
29:23of the Rhineland,
29:25France and Great Britain
29:27declared a protest,
29:29and that was the end of the matter.
29:31The government was headed
29:33by Edouard Daladier,
29:35a man who had been elected
29:37to the Council of Ministers 17 times
29:39and who was equally unbearable
29:41to both fascists and communists.
29:43Daladier was an active
29:45but indecisive man.
29:47He was nicknamed
29:49a bull with a snail's horn.
29:54In the name of my country,
29:57I will lead France
29:59to an alliance with all our
30:01like-minded people,
30:03with those who,
30:05like us,
30:06will continue to seek
30:08peaceful ways,
30:11but will resist
30:13the aggressors.
30:15Daladier was well aware
30:17of Hitler's next move.
30:20Germany annexed Austria.
30:22What next?
30:24The map of Europe itself
30:26points to the answer.
30:28Czechoslovakia is still surrounded.
30:30Clamped between Berlin and Vienna,
30:32Prague can be attacked
30:34from both sides.
30:37The Italian border
30:39is within the reach
30:41of German guns.
30:43For Hitler's supporters,
30:45it represented
30:47the most important phase
30:49of a large-scale
30:51pan-German program.
30:53This program
30:55implies the annexation
30:57of all nations
30:59belonging to the German race
31:01to the Reich.
31:03They live near the German border
31:04and will be annexed
31:06by the Germans
31:08in 1919.
31:13Czechoslovakia was the main
31:15ally of France in Europe.
31:17The French trained
31:19the Czechoslovakian military,
31:21including pilots,
31:23and helped to build
31:25a system of fortifications
31:27along the border
31:29of the Maginot Line.
31:31Daladier asked French General
31:32if he could help Czechoslovakia
31:34given that, of course,
31:36mobilization was only
31:38the first step.
31:40President Daladier
31:42was the defense minister
31:44for two years.
31:46The 1936 armistice agreement
31:48was his idea.
31:50If anyone knew the situation
31:52in the French army,
31:54it was Daladier.
31:57Consequently,
31:59he knew of all
32:00the losses.
32:02And he was perfectly able
32:04to realize that in September
32:06of 1938,
32:08the French army
32:10was not ready
32:12for military intervention.
32:14By 1938,
32:16which was marked
32:18as the Munich Crisis,
32:20the French Prime Minister
32:22and Great Britain
32:24were already struggling.
32:26Daladier wanted
32:28to defend his ally,
32:30but the lack of support
32:32in his home country
32:34forced Daladier
32:36to go along with the British.
32:38His interior minister,
32:40Georges Bonnet,
32:42insisted on a peaceful
32:44settlement of the situation.
32:46The French generals
32:48claimed that France
32:50would be defeated.
32:52Its air forces
32:54would be destroyed,
32:56and Paris would be
32:58wiped off the face of the earth.
33:00And the children
33:02would be left
33:04with their own suffering.
33:14At the Munich Conference,
33:16Daladier agreed with Chamberlain
33:18and abandoned Czechoslovakia
33:20and told a colleague,
33:22I shall do anything
33:24to avoid war,
33:26because we will lose it.
33:28Etienne Crouchanel
33:30accompanied Daladier
33:32on his way back to Paris.
33:36I remember very well
33:38the funeral mood
33:40on board the plane.
33:42We felt
33:44we had suffered
33:46a serious defeat.
33:48We lost our friend
33:50and ally,
33:52who is now motionless.
33:54The atmosphere
33:55was so heavy
33:57that when we arrived
33:59at Le Bourget,
34:01we saw the crowd
34:03and decided
34:05we were going to whistle.
34:07Daladier wondered
34:09if we should land here.
34:11And in the end,
34:13he ordered the pilot
34:15to land at Le Bourget.
34:20And when he stopped
34:22the doors opened
34:23and instead of the whistling
34:25and the whistling,
34:27there was a sea of applause.
34:29It was beyond
34:31our understanding.
34:33As I remember now,
34:35Daladier turned around
34:37to his neighbour
34:39and said,
34:41these people have gone mad.
34:54The French people's reaction
34:56after Munich
34:58was a huge relief.
35:04Let's say that
35:06they were saying
35:08peace has been achieved
35:10because the French
35:12did not want war at all
35:14and they were trying
35:16to avoid war.
35:18War had been avoided
35:20but Daladier knew
35:21that Hitler was going
35:23to seize power in Europe.
35:26In 1938,
35:28Daladier signed
35:30the Munich Agreement
35:32against his will.
35:34In fact, Daladier,
35:36unlike Neville Chamberlain,
35:38was not a supporter
35:40of peace politics.
35:42For him,
35:44France was not yet
35:46ready for war.
35:48His decision allowed him
35:49to avoid war,
35:51but France had to be
35:53better prepared for it.
35:59After Munich,
36:01I said to my father,
36:03why?
36:05I could have joined the army.
36:07Then he looked me in the eye
36:09and said,
36:11be sure,
36:13you will fight it
36:15and it will last longer
36:17than you think.
36:20A week after the return
36:22from Munich,
36:24Daladier publicly abandoned
36:26peace politics
36:28and the fight for peace
36:30at any cost.
36:32Sometimes,
36:34looking at the rays
36:36of the setting sun,
36:38I, like all human sons,
36:40wonder
36:42if I am going
36:44the right way
36:46and if there is
36:47no other way.
36:49But today,
36:51I have chosen my way.
36:53Our republic is strong.
36:55Democracy is strong.
36:57And we will overcome
36:59all adversities.
37:01We are not afraid
37:03of the enemy.
37:05If we have to,
37:07we, the citizens of France,
37:09are not afraid
37:11of the enemy.
37:13We are not afraid
37:15of the enemy.
37:17Its armed forces
37:19and the entire nation
37:21will stand as one
37:23and resist violence.
37:31The French government
37:33has regained self-confidence.
37:35New taxes have been introduced,
37:37production volumes have been increased
37:39and strikes have been suppressed.
37:41All in the name of the accelerated rearmament.
37:43National Defense
37:45requires unprecedented
37:47All French people, regardless of their political beliefs,
37:51should be ready to defend their country
37:54if they want to protect their property and their freedom.
38:04In 1939, the nation had a very important response.
38:10The country came to life.
38:12I think the main role here was the Munich Agreement.
38:15For the French, it acted as a public opinion poll.
38:20One of the first French opinion polls carried out by the IAEA
38:24showed that 57% of the population approved the Munich Agreement.
38:2837%, however, was a large minority.
38:34A bit later, a second opinion poll was formulated.
38:38The question was,
38:39Are you ready to go on Hitler's new concessions?
38:42The answer was evident.
38:4470% no, 17% yes.
38:47That's how the attitude of society changed.
38:50Munich was the last good last,
38:52not in the war, but in the last concession to Hitler.
38:59There were further meetings with the British.
39:02To the disappointment of France,
39:04they were not particularly interested in a single plan of military action.
39:07In the event of war,
39:08Britain was ready to send only two divisions to the continent.
39:16Only Hitler's invasion of Czechoslovakia in March 1939
39:21forced France and England to unite.
39:23Both countries believed that Poland would be the next target,
39:27another ally of France.
39:28Great Britain guaranteed Poland its independence.
39:33Consequently, England gave its word to Poland and Romania
39:37and wanted to ease relations with France.
39:40Military talks, very lively and friendly,
39:43went on all spring.
39:47Yes, with the arrival of 1939,
39:49the Anglo-French relations changed fundamentally.
39:53Now both countries had a common goal,
39:56which was to prevent Hitler from capturing the world
39:59and to establish their abominable regime everywhere.
40:22I received an invitation to the parade on July 14, 1939.
40:28And, of course, I went.
40:30The parade was magnificent.
40:32A real army of the Second Empire.
40:34White, blue, red cuirassiers,
40:36the British in fur hats.
40:39All this, however, looked a bit old-fashioned.
40:52On the way to the parade, I saw six modern bombers,
40:55the Leo 45.
40:57I thought they were probably the last ones,
41:00but there were more.
41:02The next day, I went to the Ministry of Defense
41:05and found out that these bombers were actually the only ones.
41:10In 1939, we had about 300 modern fighters,
41:14but only six modern bombers.
41:17A few more were built in 1940.
41:20So, in 1939, when France entered the war,
41:23we had 500 standing modern aircraft.
41:26England had 1,500,
41:28and Germany had 3,500.
41:38In August 1939, Britain and France
41:41made the last and the last attempt
41:43to find an ally in the fight against Hitler.
41:46They sent a joint mission to Moscow.
41:50But the Germans were ahead of them.
41:53The pact between the USSR and Nazi Germany
41:56put Poland's fate in the hands of these countries.
42:01You know me well enough to understand.
42:06I will do everything in my power
42:10to avoid war.
42:14Not only the lives and freedoms
42:17of 33 million Poles are at stake,
42:21but also the lives of all the people of Europe.
42:25But if all our efforts
42:28are in vain,
42:32we will call upon you, the people of France.
42:38We will call upon your courage and will
42:42to resist slavery.
42:46I know that you do not need to be reminded
42:51of your duty to your motherland.
42:54I know that you are determined
42:58to save your homeland
43:01at any cost.
43:05I clearly remember that in 1939
43:09a Parisian modeler released a batch of straps
43:13that said,
43:15let's get it over with.
43:18Let's get it over with.
43:21When people realized that war was inevitable,
43:24they said to themselves,
43:26well, let's get over it.
43:28The self-proclaimed struggle of the Polish people
43:31is one of the most heroic pages in the history of mankind
43:36Germany went to war on 1 September.
43:40France and Britain declared war on Germany
43:43two days later.
43:45They were not going to directly help Poland.
43:48They were not ready for that kind of action.
43:51In the final days,
43:53France was still divided.
43:55Foreign Minister Georges Bonnet
43:57desperately tried to deter France
43:59from participating in the conflict.
44:01France has always supported peace and pacification.
44:04Why don't you say something about the majority of French people
44:07in 1939?
44:10People were convinced that in three months
44:13France would crush Germany.
44:15The young men went off to take hands for the war
44:18hoping to return soon.
44:22But not the mothers,
44:24not the older people
44:26who still remember the stories
44:28about the war of 1914-1918.
44:31They still have the war memorial of their father
44:34and they have some of the memorials
44:36who have been sold in every city.
44:59Strasbourg
45:02In 1918,
45:04Strasbourg became the first border town
45:06that the French had returned to.
45:08It is now the first town
45:10where people were evacuated.
45:13Everybody was upset.
45:15It was a sad sight
45:17to see all those old people
45:19with their shabby belongings in their suitcases,
45:21mothers with their children in their arms.
45:23But everybody was sure
45:25that it wouldn't be for long,
45:27that they would be leaving,
45:29but soon the city would be free again,
45:31that the French would soon take it.
45:43After 1919,
45:45France never again set foot on the path of war.
45:48In fact, France was in no position
45:50to think of war after 1914-1918.
45:55In fact, France could not afford
45:57such a luxury as war.
45:59It was weakened both demographically
46:01and financially.
46:03Besides, pacifism did not come from the left wing.
46:06It came from the depths of society.
46:09It was conquered by all political parties.
46:12France was only following a peaceful path.
46:15But the truth is
46:17that the peaceful path, in the end,
46:19led it to war.
46:22The German government declares
46:25solemnly to the French government...
46:27Only nine months later,
46:29the road to war ended in defeat.
46:32In sudden dismay,
46:34the French listened to Germany's
46:36terms and conditions
46:38for the ceasefire.
46:40Their country could not save itself
46:42from another German invasion.
46:45Twenty years of strife and decline
46:48were not in vain.
46:50...to the French fleet
46:52at the conclusion of the peace.
47:21B.B.C. presents
47:24Thank you, Le Croc Le Veneme
47:27Le Parisien Paris Match
47:30Le Veneme Du Gedi Rolan Yte
47:33Films used in this film
47:36Cinémathèque Paffet Cinémathèque Gamon
47:39Imperial Military Museum
47:42National Archive of British Archives
47:46The production of B.B.C.
47:48together with Arts & Entertainment Network
47:51Australian Broadcasting Corporation
47:53MTI Films & Video
47:55Consultant Richard Overy
47:57Cameraman David Sout
47:59Sound Editor John Hooper
48:01Editors Sarah Gosling and Paul Hardy
48:04Editors Sarah Gosling and Paul Hardy
48:07Producers David Sout
48:09Editors Sarah Gosling and Paul Hardy
48:12Editors Sarah Gosling and Paul Hardy
48:15Producers Dennis Blackway
48:17General Producer Christopher Warren