The Darkest Hour

For other uses, see Darkest Hour (disambiguation).
The world situation at the beginning of 1941, with colour-coding:
  Western Allies (independent countries)
  Western Allies (colonies or occupied)
  Comintern
  Axis (countries)
  Axis (colonies or occupied, including Vichy France)
  neutral

"The Darkest Hour" is a phrase used to refer to an early period of World War II, from approximately mid-1940 to mid-1941. While widely attributed to Winston Churchill, the origins of the phrase are unclear.