It was the largest amphibious military operation in history. 80 years ago, on June 6, 1944, over 130,000 soldiers landed at dawn on five Normandy beaches. This extraordinary military operation, known as "Overlord," was executed under the leadership of American General Dwight Eisenhower. Its aim was to liberate the beaches and towns of Normandy from the German army, which was occupying part of France at the time, in preparation for the arrival of over two million Allied soldiers. Just under a year later, on May 8, 1945, Nazi Germany capitulated, officially ending the Second World War.

In this video, Le Monde explains the story of D-Day: how this large-scale operation was set up, and what happened on what became known as "the longest day."