Editing Winston Churchill (section)

====Operation Dynamo and the Battle of France====
The [[Dunkirk evacuation]] of 338,226 Allied servicemen, ended on 4 June when the French rearguard surrendered. The total was far in excess of expectations and gave rise to a popular view Dunkirk had been a miracle, even a victory.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=597}} Churchill himself referred to "a miracle of deliverance" in his "[[we shall fight on the beaches]]" speech to the Commons that afternoon. The speech ended on a note of defiance, with a clear appeal to the United States:<ref name="WSFB">{{cite web |url=https://winstonchurchill.org/resources/speeches/1940-the-finest-hour/we-shall-fight-on-the-beaches/ |title=We Shall Fight on the Beaches |work=International Churchill Society (ICS) |date=4 June 1940 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing plc |location=London |access-date=30 April 2020 |archive-date=14 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200514012817/https://winstonchurchill.org/resources/speeches/1940-the-finest-hour/we-shall-fight-on-the-beaches/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="H361:791">{{cite periodical |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1940/jun/04/war-situation#column_791 |title=War Situation – Churchill |magazine=Hansard |date=4 June 1940 |series=5th |volume=361 |page=791 |publisher=House of Commons |location=Westminster |access-date=14 January 2020 |archive-date=6 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200206025900/https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1940/jun/04/war-situation#column_791 |url-status=live}}</ref>

{{Blockquote|We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air. We shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be. We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills. We shall never surrender, and even if, which I do not for a moment believe, this island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, would carry on the struggle, until, in God's good time, the New World, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old.}}

Germany initiated ''[[Fall Rot]]'', in France, the following day, and Italy entered the war on the 10th.{{sfn|Hastings|2009|pp=44–45}} The Wehrmacht occupied Paris on the 14th and completed their conquest of France on 25 June.{{sfn|Hastings|2009|pp=51–53}} It was now inevitable that Hitler would attack and probably try to invade Great Britain. Faced with this, Churchill addressed the Commons on 18 June with one of his [[This was their finest hour|most famous speeches]], ending with this peroration:{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=621}}<ref name="H362:61">{{cite periodical |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1940/jun/18/war-situation#column_61 |title=War Situation – Churchill |magazine=Hansard |date=18 June 1940 |series=5th |volume=362 |page=61 |publisher=House of Commons |location=Westminster |access-date=30 April 2020 |archive-date=8 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308190540/https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1940/jun/18/war-situation#column_61 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="TFH">{{cite web |url=https://winstonchurchill.org/resources/speeches/1940-the-finest-hour/their-finest-hour/ |title=Their Finest Hour |work=International Churchill Society (ICS) |date=18 June 1940 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing plc |location=London |access-date=30 April 2020 |archive-date=13 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200413090457/https://winstonchurchill.org/resources/speeches/1940-the-finest-hour/their-finest-hour/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

{{blockquote|What General Weygand called the "Battle of France" is over. I expect that the [[Battle of Britain]] is about to begin. Hitler knows that he will have to break us in this island or lose the war. Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duty and so bear ourselves that if the British Commonwealth and Empire lasts for a thousand years, men will still say: "This was their finest hour".}}

Churchill ordered the commencement of the [[Western Desert campaign]] on 11 June, a response to the Italian declaration of war. This went well at first while Italy was the sole opposition and [[Operation Compass]] was a success. In early 1941, however, Mussolini requested German support. Hitler sent the [[Afrika Korps]] to [[Tripoli, Libya|Tripoli]] under {{lang|de|[[Generalleutnant]]}} [[Erwin Rommel]], who arrived not long after Churchill had halted ''Compass'' so he could reassign forces to Greece where the [[Balkans campaign (World War II)|Balkans campaign]] was entering a critical phase.<ref>{{cite book |first1=Major-General I. S. O. |last1=Playfair |author1-link=Ian Stanley Ord Playfair |first2=Commander G. M. S. |last2=with Stitt [[Royal Navy|R.N.]] |first3=Brigadier C. J. C. |last3=Molony |first4=Air Vice-Marshal S. E. |last4=Toomer |editor-last=Butler |editor-first=J. R. M. |editor-link=James Ramsay Montagu Butler |series=History of the Second World War, United Kingdom Military Series |title=The Mediterranean and Middle East: The Early Successes Against Italy (to May 1941) |volume=I |publisher=Naval & Military Press |year=2004 |orig-year=1st. pub. [[HMSO]] 1954 |pages=359–362 |isbn=978-1-84574-065-8 |name-list-style=amp}}</ref>

In other initiatives through June and July 1940, Churchill ordered the formation of the [[Special Operations Executive]] (SOE) and [[British Commandos|Commandos]]. The SOE was ordered to promote and execute subversive activity in Nazi-occupied Europe, while the Commandos were charged with raids on military targets there. [[Hugh Dalton]], the [[Minister of Economic Warfare]], took political responsibility for the SOE and recorded that Churchill told him: "And now go and set Europe ablaze".{{Sfn|Dalton|1986|p=62}}