At the time World War I broke out, the King of England, the Czar of Russia, and the Kaiser of Germany were first cousins. This two-part series looks at the role played by Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany and King George V of England, and their relationships with each other, in the outbreak of war. Mismanaging their countries and mishandling foreign policy, they failed to adapt to the forces of nationalism and democracy, and so brought tumbling down their own ideal of a Europe governed by the descendants of Queen Victoria. While it was war that delivered the final blow, this fascinating series shows how the problems had set in much earlier. A two part miniseries.
It all starts in 1985. In a small town there are three boys who dream of a career as a naval officer - Sashka Robertson, Leshka Balunov and Vovka Titov. The submarine K-963, on which their fathers serve, is leaving on a secret mission - to the NATO exercise area to find and record an acoustic portrait of the newest, virtually silent American submarine. And the boys, playing submariners in an abandoned factory, fall into a death trap. Years later, when friends Sashka, Leshka and Vovka were finishing school, military service no longer seemed so prestigious to many, values changed, and submarines rusted. Vovka leaves for Moscow, becomes a businessman. Lyoshka goes to the Marine Corps. And only Sashka remains true to his youthful dream and connects his life with the sea - he becomes a submariner.
Rarely has a war produced such clear cut reasons to fight as World War II. Suddenly, ordinary men and women found themselves thrown into fearsome, situations worthy of any Hollywood movie. The only difference in this series is that every story is true. Real people emerge as the Heroes of Telemark. Ordinary GIs and US Airforce and Navy personnel suddenly find themselves flying against the Japanese in China, jungle fighting in Burma and being dropped by submarine on enemy coasts at midnight. These untold stories can now be examined in great detail with the benefit of hindsight, newly-discovered film, maps and graphics. Each fifty-two minute story covers the background to the main action. It will give the viewer a clear view of the historical context, the strategic objective and the tactical effort made by flyers, sailors and foot-soldiers - often in the most oppressive and life-threatening situations - to win victory from the enemy.
A Total War is all encompassing, a war without boundary or limitation. It is a war of material and morale. A war that mobilizes, destroys and displaces civilian populations. The Second World War was a war in which massive armies advanced, confronting whole populations with impossible choices. The manufacture of weapons transformed industry and the workforce; area bombing campaigns reduced cities to rubble; sieges doomed populations to starvation; racial policies sponsored campaigns of genocide. Told through archive footage and expert interviews, we learn how WWII shattered the boundaries between home-front and battlefield.
From inside history's biggest empire, host Abby Martin records a world shaped by war & inequality, and explores the U.S. Empire, its rise to world hegemony and its impact on people and the planet.