Research Paper On Who Truly Won The Battle Of Dunkirk

1133 Words3 Pages

Who Truly Won the Battle of Dunkirk?
Who could have imagined Adolf Hitler actually stopping the Wehrmacht, the German Army, from completely destroying a French city? The Battle of Dunkirk was one of the best examples of Hitler re-thinking his strategies during World War II. The real question is though, was the battle a victory for a defeat, and for which Army, the Wehrmacht or the British Expeditionary Force (B. E. F.) and France? Nobody is quite sure what the answer is, but everybody has their own ideas. The Wehrmacht advancing on British soldiers in Dunkirk highlights Hitler’s more successful battles, but also one of his least successful battles, which very well could have resulted in the British and French never recovering.
On May 10, 1940, …show more content…

Although the Allies never truly collapsed during the war, it was believed that they were done for and that Hitler had won. If Hitler never stopped the invasion on Dunkirk, the Panzers and other infantry would have completely obliterated Dunkirk. Soldiers were furious at the R. A. F. and Royal Navy for leaving them stranded on the beaches, despite orders from Churchill. Although the R. A. F. was too weak to stop the Luftwaffe, they still had enough power to at least slow down the invasion. At least 40,000 soldiers became P. O. W.’s to the Wehrmacht, and roughly more than 338,000 escaped the invasion (Peck; …show more content…

If Dunkirk never happened, World War II may not have had the same outcome. If Dunkirk never happened, Germany wcould have attacked an even bigger, more important city and ended up winning the war. When one thinks about it, the Battle of Dunkirk was actually a huge win for both sides. The British were never defeated, and Hitler technically did not lose the battle. In reality, Germany and the British both consider this neither a win, nor defeat, which made the British army mentally stronger from surviving the evacuation, causing them to believe in themselves and eventually gain enough strength over several months after the battle to eventually defeat Hitler and the other Axis powers.
















Works Cited
Farley, Robert. “The Battle of Dunkirk: The Real Turning Point of World War II?”
NationalInterest.org. The National Interest, 2017. Web. 18 Oct. 2017.
Hanson, Victor. “Miracle At Dunkirk.” HooverInstitution.org. Board of Trustees of Leeland
Stanford Junior University, 2017. Web. 19 Oct. 2017.
Peck, Michael. “The Real Reason You Should See Dunkirk: Hitler Lost World War II There.”
NationalInterest.org. The National Interest, 2017. Web. 20 Oct. 2017.
Ricks, Thomas. “The Dunkirk Evacuation, and Why It Was A Near-Miracle for England and
Churchill.” ForeignPolicy.com. Penguin Press, 2017. Web. 25 Oct.

More about Research Paper On Who Truly Won The Battle Of Dunkirk

Open Document