Wednesday · November 11, 2026
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Churchill offers blood, toil, tears and sweat; German armor punches through the Meuse at Sedan

Three days into his premiership, Churchill promises Commons nothing but sacrifice, as panzer divisions crack French lines through the Ardennes in a thrust the Allies called impossible.

Three days after becoming prime minister, Winston Churchill stood before the House of Commons on May 13, 1940 and offered the British people exactly nothing — except blood, toil, tears, and sweat. That same day, German armored divisions crossed the Meuse River at Sedan, punching through French lines in a flanking maneuver the Allies had dismissed as impossible through the Ardennes. The two events share a date by accident, but together they mark the hour the war stopped being theoretical…

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More from The World Wars
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