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Xadrez BélicoWar as a Chess Game
Topic · 04 battles

World War II, 1939–1940

The start of World War II in Europe, read as a chess game. In the invasion of Poland, from 1 September to 6 October 1939, each German infantry division had 3,859 horses, and the word Blitzkrieg came from the newspapers; on 17 September, the Soviet Union invaded from the east.

In the fall of France, in May 1940, Germany attacked with fewer tanks and little more than half the Allied artillery, and won with a plan, not with a doctrine: the crossing of the Ardennes and the Meuse at Sedan. At Dunkirk, the armor halted less than 20 km from the port, and the evacuation took 338,226 men off by sea.

In the Battle of Britain, from 10 July to 31 October 1940, the Luftwaffe did not win the sky: it attacked a defense network that saw the whole board, guided by an intelligence service that counted aircraft that had not been shot down.

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Battles on this topic

  • Line of German soldiers in helmets climbing an open hillside on foot, with other groups marching in the background 04 Premieres Oct 15, 2026
    World War II, 1939

    The Polish campaign

    1 September to 6 October 1939 · Poland, within its 1939 borders

    The German division that invaded Poland had 3,859 horses, and the word Blitzkrieg came from the newspapers. The 1939 invasion read as a chess game.

    Episode 04Read the game →
  • Column of German tanks halted in an open field, with crewmen sitting on the turrets and soldiers on foot alongside 05 Premieres Oct 22, 2026
    World War II, 1940

    The Fall of France

    10 May to 25 June 1940 · France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg; the point of decision at Sedan, on the Meuse River, Ardennes department, France

    In the fall of France, Germany attacked with fewer tanks and little more than half the Allied artillery. A plan won, not a doctrine: Sedan is the proof.

    Episode 05Read the game →
  • Long lines of soldiers cross the wide beach at Dunkirk, from the dunes in the foreground to the water's edge 06 Premieres Oct 29, 2026
    World War II, 1940

    Dunkirk

    24 May to 4 June 1940 · Dunkirk, Nord department, France, and the beaches up to La Panne, Belgium; the Flanders pocket between Lille and the English Channel

    The halt order of 24 May 1940 did not come from Hitler. Why the panzers stopped, and how the Dunkirk evacuation took 338,226 men off by sea.

    Episode 06Read the game →
  • Operations room with men in RAF uniform in front of telephone and radio panels; one officer speaks on the telephone, another wears headphones, and an airman seated in front works at a map table 07 Premieres Nov 05, 2026
    World War II, 1940

    The Battle of Britain

    10 July to 31 October 1940 · Southern and southeastern England, United Kingdom, London and the English Channel, against German air bases in northern France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Norway

    Why the Luftwaffe did not win the sky in the Battle of Britain: a network that saw the whole board against a command that believed its own reports.

    Episode 07Read the game →
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