Episode 184: The Fall of France
Guest: Michael Scott Neiberg
Sunday, November 19, 2023
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This week on History Happy Hour: According to US Secretary of War Henry Stimson, the "most shocking single event" of World War II was not the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, but rather the fall of France in the spring of 1940. In recognizing Vichy, the US not only demonstrated panic and moral ineptitude but also nearly ruined the alliance with Britain.
Chris and Rick will explore this topic with Michael Neiberg, author of When France Fell: The Vichy Crisis and the Face of the Anglo-American Alliance.
Michael Scott Neiberg is an American historian who specializes in 20th-century military history. Neiberg serves as the inaugural Chair of War Studies in the Department of National Security and Strategy at the United States Army War College. He is also a senior fellow in the Center for the Study of America and the West at the Foreign Policy Research Institute. He is the author of more than 15 books on military history.