S01E01 Great Britain
Fifty years ago this week, Britain declared war on Germany; eight months later the British army was in retreat from the beaches of Dunkirk. For half a century many have blamed the 'guilty men'—the government...
The Road to War
S01E05: France
France ended the First World War victorious but devastated. Over a million and a half young Frenchmen had been killed and much of northern France had been destroyed. Determined to crush Germany, her leaders were nevertheless haunted by the fear of another war. 'This is not peace; it is an armistice for 20 years,' warned Marshal Foch. His warning was prophetic. Not only was another war unavoidable but French attempts to control Germany were continually undermined by economic weakness and fierce social and political divisions at home. France's road to war led inevitably towards defeat.
Overview
Eight country-by-country accounts of the origins of the Second World War.
Episodes
S01E02 Germany
More than any individual or combination of events, Hitler started the Second World War in Europe. Hitler deceived many people in Germany and abroad by his claim that he was merely demolishing the Versailles treaty...
S01E03 USSR
The Soviet 'Road to War' is the first major assessment of Stalin's pre-war foreign policy since the start of glasnost. Hitherto unseen Soviet archive material and frank testimonies from crucial Russian eyewitnesses shed new light...
S01E04 Italy
Benito Mussolini has been described as the most popular leader Italy has ever had. He invented Fascism; after the First World War his regime brought the country stability and inspired dreams of a resurgent Italy,...
S01E05 France
France ended the First World War victorious but devastated. Over a million and a half young Frenchmen had been killed and much of northern France had been destroyed. Determined to crush Germany, her leaders were...
S01E06 Japan
Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, on 7 December 1941, was called 'a date which will live in infamy' by President Roosevelt. But desperate for living space and raw materials, Japan copied the west and sought...
S01E07 USA
When war broke out in 1939, millions of Americans were determined to stay out of another European conflict. America was isolationist. But Britain's near defeat in the war brought about a change of opinion. As...
S01E08 Global War
Poland suffered more than any other country in the Second World War. One in six Poles died at the hands of the Nazi occupiers, and the Jewish population was wiped out. But Poland was only...
