Creative Capital

SIX

WAR—THE INFLECTION POINT

(1940–1946)

SMASH! BANG!! BOOOOOOOM!!! In the spring of 1940 fascism was on the march, and the Allies appeared unable to halt the goose steps of the Nazi storm troopers. The Allies had thought the thick forests of the Ardennes would be impenetrable by a modern, mechanized army, but during the first phase of the German invasion, the Wehrmacht’s Panzer Division blitzed right through them. Then the Nazis broke through the French line at Sedan, and drove west across northern France, splitting the Allied forces in half. Meanwhile, Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands fell like dominoes against the attack of the German war machine. By June 10, German tanks rumbled across the Seine River. Four days later, Paris fell. ...