The United Kingdom under Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain hadn't managed to prevent World War II by his Appeasement Politics. Now they were badly prepared for a war with the Land power of Nazi Germany, only nine Divisions were ready. At least the Royal Navy is still standing strong and blockaded the German coasts.
At the Western front of Germany, initially there was almost no fighting, which puzzled many people, although the British Empire and France had declared war on 3rd of September already. Despite the fact that about 110 Allied Divisions stood against 23 German ones. This situation was called "Sitzkrieg" or "phoney war" (drôle de guerre). Some like Churchill pressured for a more aggressive approach, but weren't successful.
Nothing was done to prevent the defeat of Poland, but three Polish destroyers and two submarines joined the Royal Navy to continue the fight.
Even before the war had started, the Emergency Powers (Defence) Act 1939 was passed. It theoretically gives the government full control over all persons and property - and two offences can be punished by death. Since December 1939, some foodstuffs like Butter, Sugar and Bacon are rationed.
When the Soviet Union attacked Finland in Winter 1939, an Intervention was considered. Then, Operation Catherine - disturbing the German naval traffic in the Baltic, including the important iron ore imports from Sweden - was considered for 1940 and scrapped. Instead, they decided for Operation Wilfred, a Landing in Norway. On the 4th of April 1940, a battlecruiser and twelve destroyers left for Norway. As it turned out, the Germans had occupied Denmark and Norway just hours before. On the 9th and 10th of April, there was the Sea battle of Narvik. After that, 38,000 Allied Soldiers - Brits, French, and Poles - were landed there. As the consequence of his failure in Norway, Chamberlain had to step back and was replaced by the First Lord of the Admirality, Winston Churchill.
On the 12th of April, the Faroe Islands were occupied preventively, on the 10th of May Iceland as well.
The western campaign[]
But then, also on the 10th of May, the Wehrmacht invaded the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg. On the 15th of May, Reynaud contacted the new British Prime Minister, using the Words "We have been defeated... we are beaten". There was panic in Paris already.
Until the 20th of May, Wehrmacht troops under Ewald von Kleist arrived at the Channel; the remains of the Belgian Army, the British Expedition Corps under Lord Gort, and three French armies were cut off from France. On May 24th, the Wehrmacht took Boulogne and surrounded Calais, which worsened Allied chances for evacuation. On the 25th, they surprisingly managed to occupy Dunkirk too, which lowered them to practically zero.
For the 26th of May, a conference of Reynaud and Churchill in London was planned, but at this time, it already was overshadowed by the situation with the battle of Dunkirk. Churchill had hoped to save at least some ten thousand Men with an evacuation, with the "Operation Dynamo"; now, even this aim seemed to be too high. Despite of this, Churchill managed to survive his first government crisis (May 25th - 28th), when Lord Halifax challenged his leadership.
On June 2nd, the anew German Offensive ("Case Red") began against France. As soon as June 9th, the Wehrmacht had reached the Seine. These successes encouraged Benito Mussolini to declare war on France and Britain on June 8th too. Negotiations with France about a British-French Union stayed without result, and on June 19th the ally had to make an armistice. Now only Charles de Gaulle's Free France stayed on the Empire's side in the war. On June 30th, the Channel Islands were lost as well. Was an Invasion of the Home Islands due now, as many feared? This was even more disheartening since only a few Divisions of the British Army were ready for defense - a motley crew of evacuated Troops from Norway, Belgium, and France, plus the slowly arriving reinforcements from Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
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File:Canadian Red Ensign (1921–1957).svg Canada | File:Flag of Australia.svg Australia | | |||
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