'Sink the French!'

A history-defining moment in World War II, when the allied nations of England and France stood on the precipice of betrayal—and war with each other. After the forces of Nazi Germany launched their Blitzkrieg assault on Holland, Belgium, and Northern France, the tentative relationship between Great Britain and France was strained to the limit. For when the Vichy regime surrendered, the British had grave fears that the Germans would force the French naval fleet—the fourth largest in the world—to t