The French, so nearly lost world war 1. They fought back hard, they held the line with support from the British, it was an influx of fresh American troops that broke the stalemate. That was a relief, however the French were worried, Germany had only existed since around 1870, before that it was a collection of small nations made up of mostly German speaking peoples. When Bismarck had gotten the Germans united, they had defeated France in a matter of months, and signed the unification papers in Germany. When the aftermath of an assassination in the Balkans spiraled out of control, France and Germany found themselves supporting different sides of the conflict that was world war 1, and France would have lost without help. So in the aftermath of world war 1 they were quite hard on Germany, and their allies agreed. They pushed for Germany to be held responsible for all financial loss acquired by France and her allies in the war and other things I don't feel like looking up and writing in here. This gave Germany a big opportunity to choose bitterness, rage etc. and with the help of gifted inspiring speaker named Adolf Hitler, they did. They aligned with such dastardly evil beliefs such as German racial superiority, a killing off of others, a manifest destiny type right for German living space, and a socialist utopia for Germans in that living space. Meanwhile, France worked on a line of defensive fortifications along their border, it has become known as the Maginot line. When Germany decided to invade though, they went through Belgium and the Netherlands, they had developed a coordinated and well crafted offensive strategy that caught the French off guard. During all this time, the British, as allies to the French, had come alongside and offered support to the defensive line along the low countries, (Belgium and Netherlands) but the Maginot line was not really built up along a dense forested area known as the Ardennes because it was "impossible" to get through the Ardennes with any force, what few units made it through could easily be dispatched, but, the Germans, penetrated it in force and split the French defenses, the British found themselves pinned against the sea with the Germans closing in. Meanwhile the rest of the German forces, relentlessly marched on to Paris and France fell. Hitler had his picture taken by the Eiffel tower to celebrate.
The British recognized Germany as a real and present danger. They had preemptively decided to support France on the continent due to alliance commitments and more importantly for them, their own survival as an island nation just off the continent. They fully intended to back France, just like in world war 1. Now things have not gone to plan. So, they set in place an evacuation plan, masses of ships, military, private, and cargo, were deployed from the south of England to Dunkirk, France and they managed to evacuate 85% of the British forces. However this was a defeat, ground had been given to the enemy, soldiers running away were shot in the back. Paris was in the enemy's hands. The fight at Dunkirk was a fight from a place of defeat, it was only a victory in British eyes in the sense that 85% of the soldiers lived to tell about it.
Around 4 years later: Germany is holding France, the soviets have been attacked with tremendous losses in lives and territory. Events in the Pacific have brought the United States into the war, the USA agrees with the the British position that reclaiming Europe from the hold of Nazism is important for all of the world, not just Europe. So, fortified with American support, French soldiers that managed to escape, Canadian soldiers, and others. This group of soldiers, united by a common enemy, land on the beaches of Normandy, France, and face a hailstorm of German bullets, but they move forward, soldiers get shot in the face and chest, but still they march forward and secure a hold, they keep pushing further inland, they reclaim France, reclaim Belgium, reclaim the Netherlands, and then begin to fight the Germans in Germany. There are many casualties, but now, they are fighting from victory. The gains are tangible, in the form of land, in the form of abandoned German positions, in the form of hugs, cheers, and greetings from grateful French, Belgian, and Dutch men, women, and children. There is a taste of victory before the official German surrender.
So if we drop all the history for a bit and look at your spiritual life, as someone who is worshipping the only true God, a God of resurrections, a King of kings. Your taking shots to. Are you just trying to survive? Getting shot in the back? Or are you fighting from victory? If your going to get shot for the God of resurrection, take it to the face. Christ got the victory, He secured the hold. Just because our spiritual enemy hasn't surrendered yet, does not mean that we don't have victory. We do, if we decide to advance in the power of Christ no matter what, we can.
P.S. Maybe my grasp of history is dodgy, it's a free country, read up on it yourself. ;) Also, I love Germany, and German people. The enemy is not Germany or Germans and never has been. It's the devil. Conflict comes when people agree with the actual enemy. Racism isn't a German thing, it's a thing from hell that many Germans and others, agreed with.
-Loren
