Bringing History to Life

In 1933, Adolf Hitler seizes power in Germany, where he has seduced the population with golden promises of a restoration of the Great German Empire. He allies himself with Mussolini's fascist Italy, Stalin's communist Soviet Union and the military dictatorship in Japan, which has the same dreams of grandeur as Germany. In this series, you get a thorough review of World War II - from the birth of fascism through the war's many dramas to the aftermath, where the victors deal with the war's worst criminals.

30 MILLION FELL ON THE EASTERN FRONT

BLITZKRIEG PLAN CAME UP SHORT • Despite their numerical disadvantage, the Germans were full of confidence as they invaded the Soviet Union. They had better equipment and personnel, plus tactics that had proved unstoppable on the Western Front.

FRITZ A SOLDIER FOR GERMANY • It was a well-trained German army that attacked the Soviet Union. The privates trusted their officers and were encouraged to use their initiative. But when the Russian winter came, ‘Fritz’ was hit hard.

‘Fritz’ equipment • Soldiers from the 269th Infantry Division take on a Soviet T-34 tank. The division belongs to the 4th Panzer Group, which is attacking towards Leningrad. The soldiers have just captured a Soviet ZiS-3 76-mm anti-tank gun, a vast improvement over the PaK 38 normally used by German infantry.

THE WEHRMACHT’S WAR CRIMES • German atrocities on the Eastern Front weren’t simply the purview of the SS – the Wehrmacht were also heavily implicated. Nevertheless, the myth that the regular German army played no part in Nazi war crimes has persisted.

MYTHS ABOUT OPERATION BARBAROSSA • Germany’s invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941 is not only the largest invasion of all time but also the most legendary. Renowned WWII writer Christer Bergström has identified several long-held myths about the Barbarossa operation. Here we discuss four of them.

OPERATION TYPHOON • Could Germany have won the war with Colonel-General Heinz Guderian’s armoured divisions in the Battle of Moscow? Mathias Forsberg provides a clear answer to one of the most frequently asked questions about World War II.

Resistance against all odds • Crimea has been a disputed peninsula many times. The battle for its port city of Sevastopol in 1941-42 became a bloody siege. For the Germans, the city was both a key to the Black Sea and their further progress eastward.

THE MISTAKE THA T COST THE WAR • When the Germans launched Case Blue in June 1942, its goal was to capture the Caucasus oil fields, but Hitler’s decision to divide his forces and add extra objectives meant that the offensive ended in disaster.

BATTLE AMONG THE RUINS • Both Hitler and Stalin ordered their generals to fight to the last man for the strategically unimportant city of Stalingrad. On 14th September 1942, the German assault began in a city that ended up in ruins.

Tanks at Kursk • Operation Citadel in July 1943 was a German action to repel Soviet forces inside a pocket at Kursk and straighten its front line. The plans were ready by spring, but Hitler was waiting for the new Panzer V Panther tank to be available. Here we show it and some of the other tanks in that legendary battle.

CARNAGE IN BUDAPEST • Hitler ordered that the city be held at all costs. The Battle of Budapest raged for 100 days, becoming one of the bloodiest clashes of World War II.

RED ARMY’S REVENGE • Hitler’s order to General Lasch was clear: Königsberg must be defended to the last man. It took four days for Soviet troops to crush all resistance in the besieged city, then the Red Army took its horrific revenge on the city’s civilians.

The Luftwaffe’s final victory • The German air force managed to stop the Red Army in front of Berlin’s gates in January-February...