May 1940: the three weeks that saved Britain
France was collapsing, the army was trapped at Dunkirk, and the War Cabinet was split. Churchill had been prime minister for 16 days.
Winston Churchill became prime minister on 10 May 1940 — the very day Germany invaded France and the Low Countries. Within two weeks, the British army was cornered on the beaches of Dunkirk.
In the War Cabinet, the foreign secretary, Lord Halifax, argued for exploring peace terms through Italy. For several tense days in late May the question was real: should Britain negotiate?
Churchill went to the wider cabinet and declared that Britain would fight on. The ministers reportedly rose to cheer him. The negotiation idea died in that room.
Meanwhile, a flotilla of naval ships and civilian boats evacuated more than 338,000 soldiers from Dunkirk. On 4 June, Churchill told Parliament: "We shall fight on the beaches… we shall never surrender."
Britain stood alone for a year. Historians still debate many of Churchill's choices — but few dispute that in May 1940, his refusal to bend changed the course of the century.
Sources
- Churchill, The Second World War, Vol. II: Their Finest Hour (1949)
- John Lukacs, Five Days in London, May 1940 (1999)
“I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat.”Winston Churchill
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