1 00:00:00,520 --> 00:00:02,920 (tense music) 2 00:00:04,880 --> 00:00:06,680 - Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party 3 00:00:06,840 --> 00:00:08,520 have dominated the hearts and minds 4 00:00:08,680 --> 00:00:11,240 of the German people for over a decade. 5 00:00:11,400 --> 00:00:14,680 But by the summer of 1944, the Soviet Red Army 6 00:00:14,840 --> 00:00:16,840 and the forces of the Western allies 7 00:00:17,000 --> 00:00:20,360 are tightening their vice grip on Hitler's Third Reich. 8 00:00:21,280 --> 00:00:24,400 The Nazi's complete control is about to crack. 9 00:00:26,080 --> 00:00:28,080 ROBERT: All wars change the world, 10 00:00:28,240 --> 00:00:31,440 but none of them changed the world like the Second World War did. 11 00:00:31,600 --> 00:00:33,320 MAN: Japan's on the march, 12 00:00:33,480 --> 00:00:35,680 Germany's on the march. 13 00:00:35,840 --> 00:00:38,960 No one can imagine the nightmare they're about to unleash. 14 00:00:39,840 --> 00:00:42,320 The most destructive war in human history. 15 00:00:42,480 --> 00:00:45,040 - Suddenly the world is turned upside down 16 00:00:45,200 --> 00:00:46,640 and all hell is let loose. 17 00:00:48,720 --> 00:00:51,680 - The West is stunned by the speed of the advance. 18 00:00:52,880 --> 00:00:55,800 JON: You get the allies led by the big three. 19 00:00:55,960 --> 00:00:58,320 Roosevelt, Churchill, Stalin; 20 00:00:58,480 --> 00:01:00,160 men who are dealing with 21 00:01:00,320 --> 00:01:03,120 immensely complicated questions. 22 00:01:03,280 --> 00:01:06,920 - It's the biggest military operation of human history. 23 00:01:07,080 --> 00:01:09,240 ALEXANDRA: The Allies have to come together 24 00:01:09,400 --> 00:01:11,600 not just militarily, but industrial scale. 25 00:01:11,760 --> 00:01:13,240 It's a global perspective. 26 00:01:13,400 --> 00:01:15,400 MAN: They have to fight in every climate 27 00:01:15,560 --> 00:01:18,520 from the Arctic to the jungles of the Pacific 28 00:01:18,680 --> 00:01:21,760 to the deserts of Africa and the depths of the ocean. 29 00:01:24,720 --> 00:01:27,520 - But there was no certainty of victory. 30 00:01:27,680 --> 00:01:30,200 It was going to be a horrific bloodbath. 31 00:01:30,360 --> 00:01:32,720 - We see humans at their absolute worst, 32 00:01:32,880 --> 00:01:34,960 how they treat other human beings. 33 00:01:35,120 --> 00:01:36,680 And we see them at their absolute best, 34 00:01:36,840 --> 00:01:38,920 willing to give their lives that others might live. 35 00:01:39,080 --> 00:01:41,760 JON: World War II was a struggle in which there could be 36 00:01:41,920 --> 00:01:45,320 one victor and one vanquished. 37 00:01:50,080 --> 00:01:52,080 (explosion rumbles) 38 00:01:52,240 --> 00:01:54,240 (siren wails) 39 00:02:06,560 --> 00:02:08,720 REPORTER: The biggest story in Western Europe today 40 00:02:08,880 --> 00:02:10,880 is the attempted assassination of Hitler. 41 00:02:11,040 --> 00:02:13,240 For the second time since this war began, 42 00:02:13,400 --> 00:02:16,960 an assassin has almost succeeded in killing the Fuhrer 43 00:02:17,120 --> 00:02:19,360 and perhaps changing the course of history. 44 00:02:20,480 --> 00:02:22,400 (tense music) 45 00:02:25,600 --> 00:02:28,000 TOM: July 20th, 1944. 46 00:02:29,160 --> 00:02:32,640 A bomb hidden in a briefcase explodes at the Wolf's Lair, 47 00:02:32,800 --> 00:02:34,840 Adolf Hitler's military headquarters. 48 00:02:38,120 --> 00:02:40,320 It was the opening move in an elaborate plan 49 00:02:40,480 --> 00:02:42,880 to kill the Nazi leader and overthrow his government. 50 00:02:45,680 --> 00:02:48,640 Hitler is wounded but survives, 51 00:02:48,800 --> 00:02:50,560 and the plot fails. 52 00:02:50,720 --> 00:02:52,920 (Adolf Hitler speaking German) 53 00:03:08,760 --> 00:03:10,440 ROBERT: Surviving the July 20th bombing 54 00:03:10,600 --> 00:03:13,280 convinces Hitler beyond a shadow of a doubt 55 00:03:13,440 --> 00:03:15,920 that he has been chosen by heaven 56 00:03:16,080 --> 00:03:19,320 or by providence to lead the German people. 57 00:03:22,560 --> 00:03:25,160 DAN: He's on all sorts of medications. 58 00:03:25,320 --> 00:03:28,360 He's under more pressure than most human beings can imagine. 59 00:03:30,520 --> 00:03:33,360 JAMES: He becomes even more paranoid than he already has been. 60 00:03:33,520 --> 00:03:35,760 He is micromanaging even more. 61 00:03:36,600 --> 00:03:39,120 Nazis take over armaments production. 62 00:03:39,280 --> 00:03:42,040 (crowd chatter indistinctly) 63 00:03:42,200 --> 00:03:44,680 TOM: Hitler and the Nazis mobilise even more men 64 00:03:44,840 --> 00:03:47,520 and tighten their grip on Germany and its people. 65 00:03:48,520 --> 00:03:50,480 (crowd chatter indistinctly) 66 00:03:50,640 --> 00:03:52,880 PETER: There is no difference anymore 67 00:03:53,040 --> 00:03:55,000 between the fate of the public and the German people 68 00:03:55,160 --> 00:03:57,800 and the fate of the Nazi state. 69 00:03:58,640 --> 00:04:00,800 The thing is, the German public 70 00:04:00,960 --> 00:04:04,040 is not too happy about how the war goes on. 71 00:04:04,200 --> 00:04:07,320 They are aware that Germany may lose the war, 72 00:04:07,480 --> 00:04:10,560 but they think the only person who can bring 73 00:04:10,720 --> 00:04:13,240 this to a close is Hitler himself. 74 00:04:17,000 --> 00:04:18,280 TOM: As summer turns to fall, 75 00:04:18,440 --> 00:04:21,120 Germany's strategic situation deteriorates... 76 00:04:22,360 --> 00:04:24,120 ...and every German is aware 77 00:04:24,280 --> 00:04:27,600 that the allies demand unconditional surrender. 78 00:04:29,040 --> 00:04:31,800 JAMES: Hitler knows that that's an impossibility. 79 00:04:31,960 --> 00:04:34,000 Surrender means humiliation, 80 00:04:34,160 --> 00:04:36,120 being betrayed, ultimately executed. 81 00:04:37,000 --> 00:04:39,040 ROBERT: Hitler also knows something about warfare. 82 00:04:39,200 --> 00:04:41,480 A passive defence never works. 83 00:04:42,680 --> 00:04:45,880 You have to show your adversaries that you're still dangerous. 84 00:04:47,480 --> 00:04:49,280 Hitler quotes Frederick the Great, 85 00:04:49,440 --> 00:04:52,560 who was in a similar war in the 18th century. 86 00:04:52,720 --> 00:04:54,960 Frederick famously said, "We're gonna fight this war 87 00:04:55,120 --> 00:04:57,440 till one of our goddamn enemies gets tired." 88 00:04:59,360 --> 00:05:02,800 MARTIN: Hitler wants to come up with some Hail Mary. 89 00:05:02,960 --> 00:05:05,960 He wants to come up with some plan that will bring advantage back 90 00:05:06,120 --> 00:05:08,760 to a heavily disadvantaged situation. 91 00:05:13,960 --> 00:05:16,600 TOM: In September, Hitler summons his generals 92 00:05:16,760 --> 00:05:18,360 to the Wolf's Lair. 93 00:05:19,280 --> 00:05:21,800 He outlines a plan that will return his troops 94 00:05:21,960 --> 00:05:24,920 to the scene of his greatest triumph, 95 00:05:25,080 --> 00:05:26,480 the Ardennes. 96 00:05:29,680 --> 00:05:31,320 ROBERT: The Ardennes Offensive of 1944 97 00:05:31,480 --> 00:05:33,880 is going to involve multiple German armies 98 00:05:34,040 --> 00:05:35,720 across 100 miles of front. 99 00:05:35,880 --> 00:05:38,600 They're going to crash through what they have identified 100 00:05:38,760 --> 00:05:41,960 as a weakly held portion of the American line. 101 00:05:42,120 --> 00:05:44,400 They're going to drive through the Ardennes Forest, 102 00:05:44,560 --> 00:05:46,480 scene of the great victory of 1940, 103 00:05:46,640 --> 00:05:49,120 and if all goes well, cross the Meuse River, 104 00:05:49,280 --> 00:05:51,480 and from there, make it to Antwerp. 105 00:05:51,640 --> 00:05:53,360 Antwerp is the major supply port 106 00:05:53,520 --> 00:05:55,680 for the entire allied force in Europe. 107 00:05:55,840 --> 00:05:57,760 If the Germans take Antwerp, 108 00:05:57,920 --> 00:06:00,760 it will be a catastrophe of unimaginable proportions. 109 00:06:00,920 --> 00:06:02,680 (intense music) 110 00:06:02,840 --> 00:06:05,880 GEOFFREY: Hitler sees this as a way to divide the coalition, 111 00:06:06,040 --> 00:06:07,240 demoralise the coalition, 112 00:06:07,400 --> 00:06:10,600 and force the coalition to make separate peaces with him. 113 00:06:12,200 --> 00:06:14,160 TOM: But Hitler will have to strip whole divisions 114 00:06:14,320 --> 00:06:18,560 from his Eastern front to execute his gambit in the West. 115 00:06:22,880 --> 00:06:25,040 ROBERT: Not all of Hitler's generals are on board. 116 00:06:25,200 --> 00:06:28,880 They just don't believe that given their current force levels 117 00:06:29,040 --> 00:06:31,800 that they can blast across the West European continent 118 00:06:31,960 --> 00:06:34,000 and take the major city of Antwerp. 119 00:06:35,720 --> 00:06:39,520 Field Marshall Gerd von Rundstedt says "Antwerp, my God, 120 00:06:39,680 --> 00:06:41,920 if we even get to the Meuse River," that's less than halfway, 121 00:06:42,080 --> 00:06:44,080 "we should get down on our knees and thank God." 122 00:06:45,720 --> 00:06:47,440 GEOFFREY: But Hitler, by this stage of the war, 123 00:06:47,600 --> 00:06:50,200 he doesn't really trust very many of his generals, 124 00:06:50,360 --> 00:06:52,760 and he does have this belief in luck. 125 00:06:52,920 --> 00:06:55,120 He's gotten lucky at various points throughout this war, 126 00:06:55,280 --> 00:06:57,480 and he might be lucky again this time. 127 00:06:57,640 --> 00:06:59,320 So he decides to roll the dice. 128 00:07:00,240 --> 00:07:02,000 MARTIN: Hitler will even eventually say that, 129 00:07:02,160 --> 00:07:04,480 "If this doesn't end well, I'd see no other path 130 00:07:04,640 --> 00:07:07,640 toward reaching a favourable conclusion." 131 00:07:07,800 --> 00:07:09,560 The fate of Germany really hangs in the balance. 132 00:07:09,720 --> 00:07:11,640 (footsteps marching) 133 00:07:11,800 --> 00:07:13,640 (tense music) 134 00:07:22,160 --> 00:07:24,480 ROBERT: December 16th, it's a snowy morning 135 00:07:24,640 --> 00:07:26,680 in the Ardennes for the allies. 136 00:07:27,840 --> 00:07:30,800 It's overcast, it's freezing cold. 137 00:07:32,560 --> 00:07:35,080 PAUL: The weather was awful for everybody, 138 00:07:35,240 --> 00:07:36,760 but it gave the Germans advantage 139 00:07:36,920 --> 00:07:40,160 because the allied aircraft are mostly grounded, 140 00:07:40,320 --> 00:07:42,120 and that's the perfect environment 141 00:07:42,280 --> 00:07:44,240 for the Germans to launch this... 142 00:07:44,400 --> 00:07:46,320 bold offensive. 143 00:07:47,800 --> 00:07:50,160 - Suddenly at 5:30, it seems that hell has opened up. 144 00:07:50,320 --> 00:07:52,760 (artillery bangs) 145 00:07:54,720 --> 00:07:56,480 Every artillery piece the Germans own, 146 00:07:56,640 --> 00:07:58,360 heavy artillery, light artillery, 147 00:07:58,520 --> 00:08:01,520 rocket artillery, the famous Screaming Mimi's mortars. 148 00:08:03,240 --> 00:08:06,960 The American position in the Ardennes simply gets shredded. 149 00:08:07,120 --> 00:08:09,360 (bomb booms) 150 00:08:11,720 --> 00:08:13,840 PAUL: Trees are thrown through the air 151 00:08:14,000 --> 00:08:16,000 with this just shell after shell. 152 00:08:16,160 --> 00:08:18,160 (bomb booms) 153 00:08:20,440 --> 00:08:22,320 MARTIN: Allied forces, they're caught off guard. 154 00:08:22,480 --> 00:08:24,120 They are overwhelmed. 155 00:08:24,280 --> 00:08:26,240 They certainly didn't expect the Germans capable 156 00:08:26,400 --> 00:08:30,160 of launching something as big as the Ardennes Offensive. 157 00:08:31,520 --> 00:08:34,560 GEOFFREY: Suddenly there's a couple of hundred thousand German infantry 158 00:08:34,720 --> 00:08:37,320 with 600 German Panzers along 100-mile front. 159 00:08:37,480 --> 00:08:39,400 (guns booming) 160 00:08:44,080 --> 00:08:45,600 TOM: One of the four divisions 161 00:08:45,760 --> 00:08:47,720 holding the allied line in the Ardennes 162 00:08:47,880 --> 00:08:51,160 is the newly arrived American 106th. 163 00:08:52,440 --> 00:08:55,240 - The 106th Division, who are just in the wrong place 164 00:08:55,400 --> 00:08:57,440 at the wrong time, who have columns of German armour 165 00:08:57,600 --> 00:09:01,720 coming at them from all directions, are just overwhelmed by this. 166 00:09:01,880 --> 00:09:03,760 And within a matter of hours, 167 00:09:03,920 --> 00:09:06,560 7,000 men are captured. 168 00:09:07,960 --> 00:09:11,520 GEOFFREY: It's the biggest mass American surrender since Bataan. 169 00:09:14,120 --> 00:09:16,240 DR. LIEB: At this point of time, the German troops 170 00:09:16,400 --> 00:09:17,920 are in a state of euphoria. 171 00:09:19,080 --> 00:09:21,320 For weeks or months or even years, 172 00:09:21,480 --> 00:09:23,920 they had only known retreat, 173 00:09:24,080 --> 00:09:26,040 and now for the first and for a long time, 174 00:09:26,200 --> 00:09:28,040 they are on the offense again. 175 00:09:30,040 --> 00:09:31,720 MARTIN: German troops are partly motivated 176 00:09:31,880 --> 00:09:34,240 because they're being told, "Take no prisoners. 177 00:09:34,400 --> 00:09:37,280 This is your chance. Now you get revenge against the Allies." 178 00:09:38,280 --> 00:09:42,040 The result is that there is literally a trail of massacres... 179 00:09:43,440 --> 00:09:46,440 ...that will lead eventually to the most notorious 180 00:09:46,600 --> 00:09:49,160 of about a dozen massacres, and that's the one that takes place 181 00:09:49,320 --> 00:09:51,280 in the afternoon of December 17th 182 00:09:51,440 --> 00:09:53,200 just outside the city of Malmedy. 183 00:09:55,040 --> 00:09:57,240 (tense music) 184 00:09:58,640 --> 00:10:00,720 ROBERT: The first SS Panzer division, 185 00:10:00,880 --> 00:10:02,320 they've worked their way forward 186 00:10:02,480 --> 00:10:05,360 under their battle group commander Joachim Peiper. 187 00:10:07,120 --> 00:10:08,520 Peiper's built for speed. 188 00:10:08,680 --> 00:10:11,480 He's been told to get ahead as fast as you possibly can 189 00:10:11,640 --> 00:10:14,360 towards the Meuse, cross the river, get to Antwerp. 190 00:10:14,520 --> 00:10:15,960 (cannon booms) 191 00:10:16,120 --> 00:10:19,360 And he's just overrun a couple of rear echelon US detachments, 192 00:10:19,520 --> 00:10:22,120 supply depots, administrative troops. 193 00:10:23,120 --> 00:10:24,400 - There's a brief firefight. 194 00:10:24,560 --> 00:10:26,960 The Americans then surrender, about 120 of them. 195 00:10:27,120 --> 00:10:29,480 They move them off the road into a field. 196 00:10:32,960 --> 00:10:35,800 And the result is that 84 Americans, 197 00:10:35,960 --> 00:10:39,120 they are murdered after having surrendered their weapons. 198 00:10:43,160 --> 00:10:45,480 COL. DOUDS: This is one of the largest war crimes against 199 00:10:45,640 --> 00:10:47,400 US soldiers during World War II, 200 00:10:47,560 --> 00:10:48,880 and it shows the ruthlessness 201 00:10:49,040 --> 00:10:51,080 which this war has achieved at this point. 202 00:10:51,240 --> 00:10:53,280 (tense music) 203 00:10:55,720 --> 00:10:57,720 TOM: Some German units advance 204 00:10:57,880 --> 00:11:00,200 as much as 20 miles on the first day. 205 00:11:01,440 --> 00:11:03,560 The initial success of the Ardennes Offensive 206 00:11:03,720 --> 00:11:05,400 confirms Hitler's sense 207 00:11:05,560 --> 00:11:07,360 of divine destiny. 208 00:11:07,520 --> 00:11:09,280 DR. LIEB: In Hitler's mind, he thinks, 209 00:11:09,440 --> 00:11:12,360 "Again, I was right. I took the decision to launch this offensive 210 00:11:12,520 --> 00:11:14,120 against the advice of my generals, 211 00:11:14,280 --> 00:11:17,480 against the advice of my experts, but I was right." 212 00:11:17,640 --> 00:11:19,520 (cannon booms) 213 00:11:20,640 --> 00:11:24,240 So in the first couple of days of the Ardennes Offensive... 214 00:11:24,400 --> 00:11:25,760 (rapid gunfire) 215 00:11:25,920 --> 00:11:28,960 it seems for the Germans that they have regained the initiative. 216 00:11:29,120 --> 00:11:31,320 (rockets zooming) 217 00:11:39,960 --> 00:11:42,400 (tense music) 218 00:11:46,080 --> 00:11:47,520 TOM: The Wehrmacht's attack stretches 219 00:11:47,680 --> 00:11:49,360 from Belgium to Luxembourg, 220 00:11:49,520 --> 00:11:52,000 but the initial reports from the front are sketchy. 221 00:11:56,120 --> 00:11:59,920 How to respond to the German assault is the responsibility of one man: 222 00:12:01,240 --> 00:12:03,080 General Dwight Eisenhower, 223 00:12:03,240 --> 00:12:05,040 the Supreme Allied Commander. 224 00:12:06,720 --> 00:12:09,160 - So Eisenhower has to determine whether or not this is a feint. 225 00:12:09,320 --> 00:12:11,440 Are the Germans trying to essentially pull his resources 226 00:12:11,600 --> 00:12:13,200 in the wrong direction? 227 00:12:13,360 --> 00:12:15,320 Or is this a proper offensive? 228 00:12:15,480 --> 00:12:17,200 Does he actually have to respond? 229 00:12:19,000 --> 00:12:21,440 - Eisenhower immediately defines the threat. 230 00:12:24,040 --> 00:12:26,040 And he says, "This is more than a German feint. 231 00:12:26,200 --> 00:12:28,800 This is a major effort." 232 00:12:28,960 --> 00:12:31,560 SARADA: And he thinks, let's not see this 233 00:12:31,720 --> 00:12:34,160 disaster as anything but an opportunity. 234 00:12:34,320 --> 00:12:36,280 The Germans wanna fight out in the open... 235 00:12:38,080 --> 00:12:39,880 ...let's take it to them. 236 00:12:41,160 --> 00:12:42,960 GEOFFREY: Yeah, the Germans are advancing. 237 00:12:43,120 --> 00:12:45,880 Yeah, the Germans have driven a deep bulge into my lines, 238 00:12:46,040 --> 00:12:47,880 but that offers me this big German salient 239 00:12:48,040 --> 00:12:49,880 that I can attack from the shoulders. 240 00:12:50,040 --> 00:12:52,680 - That's why we refer to this as the Battle of the Bulge. 241 00:12:54,160 --> 00:12:57,360 TOM: The Germans advance across a 60-mile front, 242 00:12:57,520 --> 00:13:00,560 but are held up by the US 28th Infantry Division 243 00:13:00,720 --> 00:13:02,880 at the Belgian town of Bastogne. 244 00:13:03,840 --> 00:13:07,200 ROBERT: Both sides know that Bastogne is the key. 245 00:13:07,360 --> 00:13:10,040 If the Germans seize it, they can control the road network 246 00:13:10,200 --> 00:13:12,080 and motor all the way to the West, 247 00:13:12,240 --> 00:13:14,240 perhaps even reach Antwerp. 248 00:13:14,960 --> 00:13:16,480 But if the Americans hold it, 249 00:13:16,640 --> 00:13:18,400 the Germans are stuck in their tracks. 250 00:13:18,560 --> 00:13:20,800 (dramatic music) 251 00:13:20,960 --> 00:13:23,960 - So it's a race. It's a race for the Germans to take it. 252 00:13:24,120 --> 00:13:26,680 It's a race for the Americans to try and resupply it 253 00:13:26,840 --> 00:13:28,920 before it's lost. 254 00:13:29,080 --> 00:13:30,120 So all of a sudden, 255 00:13:30,280 --> 00:13:32,680 Bastogne becomes this key road intersection, 256 00:13:32,840 --> 00:13:36,040 not unlike Gettysburg or Waterloo or Thermopylae. 257 00:13:36,200 --> 00:13:37,440 It is everything. 258 00:13:39,520 --> 00:13:42,360 TOM: As the Germans attempt to surround Bastogne, 259 00:13:42,520 --> 00:13:46,400 Eisenhower calls on the 101st Airborne Division: 260 00:13:47,240 --> 00:13:49,040 the Screaming Eagles. 261 00:13:50,720 --> 00:13:52,480 COL. DOUDS: Their big contribution so far is 262 00:13:52,640 --> 00:13:54,760 when they get dropped behind enemy lines before D-Day. 263 00:13:54,920 --> 00:13:56,680 (planes whirring) 264 00:13:59,400 --> 00:14:02,200 They've basically been in the game since June 5th of '44. 265 00:14:03,960 --> 00:14:06,600 - To say that the 101st is unprepared for this fight 266 00:14:06,760 --> 00:14:09,120 is to understate the matter considerably. 267 00:14:09,280 --> 00:14:11,200 COL. DOUDS: They would usually jump into war zones 268 00:14:11,360 --> 00:14:13,960 carrying what they can carry, which inherently means 269 00:14:14,120 --> 00:14:16,480 they don't have a lot of armour, 270 00:14:16,640 --> 00:14:18,680 they don't have any artillery. 271 00:14:18,840 --> 00:14:20,440 ROBERT: They don't have the winter gear, 272 00:14:20,600 --> 00:14:23,600 that equipment that would allow you to fight a tough battle 273 00:14:23,760 --> 00:14:27,000 in the middle of December. It's a come-as-you-are war. 274 00:14:28,120 --> 00:14:31,120 COL. DOUDS: It tells you the degree to which this is a crisis, 275 00:14:31,280 --> 00:14:33,880 that in the midst of this crisis, Eisenhower turns around 276 00:14:34,040 --> 00:14:35,800 and looks and says, "I'll take them." 277 00:14:37,880 --> 00:14:39,800 Because the one thing they are 278 00:14:39,960 --> 00:14:41,960 is they are a hardened group of elites, 279 00:14:42,120 --> 00:14:43,880 and they will go in there and do the job 280 00:14:44,040 --> 00:14:46,120 despite all the limitations they face. 281 00:14:46,280 --> 00:14:48,640 (tense music) 282 00:14:51,280 --> 00:14:52,800 TOM: December 18th. 283 00:14:54,000 --> 00:14:56,120 The 101st is trucked into Bastogne 284 00:14:56,280 --> 00:14:58,560 to relieve the battered 28th Division. 285 00:15:01,120 --> 00:15:03,440 The defence of this Belgian town is the key 286 00:15:03,600 --> 00:15:06,960 to the allied effort against Adolf Hitler on the Western front. 287 00:15:07,120 --> 00:15:10,040 And the key to the defence of this town 288 00:15:10,200 --> 00:15:12,960 is in the hands of the men of the 101st Airborne. 289 00:15:13,120 --> 00:15:15,720 (tense music) 290 00:15:18,240 --> 00:15:20,600 COL. DOUDS: For the Germans, this whole thing has to happen fast. 291 00:15:20,760 --> 00:15:23,720 Every day they're standing in front of Bastogne is time they don't have, 292 00:15:23,880 --> 00:15:25,280 time where the weather could clear up, 293 00:15:25,440 --> 00:15:27,720 time where the rest of the allied armies 294 00:15:27,880 --> 00:15:30,200 are starting to get reinforcements in there. 295 00:15:30,360 --> 00:15:32,000 - And so the Germans are determined 296 00:15:32,160 --> 00:15:34,640 to throw everything at Bastogne that they possibly have. 297 00:15:34,800 --> 00:15:36,560 (cannons booming) 298 00:15:39,920 --> 00:15:42,680 There's an artillery bombardment. 299 00:15:42,840 --> 00:15:44,280 They're attacking from all sides. 300 00:15:44,440 --> 00:15:46,360 They're trying to push the Americans out. 301 00:15:48,880 --> 00:15:50,480 ROBERT: For the 101st Airborne, 302 00:15:50,640 --> 00:15:53,120 the fighting around Bastogne is as tough as any in the war. 303 00:15:53,280 --> 00:15:55,280 (rapid gunfire) 304 00:15:55,440 --> 00:15:56,920 It's out in the open, 305 00:15:57,080 --> 00:15:58,960 it's bitterly cold, there's snow on the ground. 306 00:15:59,120 --> 00:16:00,880 COL. DOUDS: They're short on food, 307 00:16:01,040 --> 00:16:02,840 and yet with almost just small arms, 308 00:16:03,000 --> 00:16:04,880 bazookas and machine guns, 309 00:16:05,040 --> 00:16:08,320 they're able to put up enough bluster and defence 310 00:16:08,480 --> 00:16:09,960 that they're able to hold the line. 311 00:16:11,160 --> 00:16:13,960 (tense music) 312 00:16:18,800 --> 00:16:21,880 TOM: To reinforce the 101st in Bastogne, 313 00:16:22,040 --> 00:16:24,840 Eisenhower turns to his most aggressive commander: 314 00:16:26,160 --> 00:16:28,560 General George Patton and the Third Army. 315 00:16:30,160 --> 00:16:31,600 - Patton, you know, promises him 316 00:16:31,760 --> 00:16:33,520 three divisions in two days for Bastogne, 317 00:16:33,680 --> 00:16:36,720 which is something only George S. Patton would promise. 318 00:16:37,560 --> 00:16:41,760 - Promising three divisions. And you know, that's 40,000-plus men 319 00:16:41,920 --> 00:16:44,000 ready in 48 hours. 320 00:16:45,760 --> 00:16:48,880 - Patton had already planned for precisely this contingency 321 00:16:49,040 --> 00:16:52,080 and was ready to take the lead once he was given the operation. 322 00:16:52,240 --> 00:16:54,160 (rapid gunfire) 323 00:16:54,320 --> 00:16:56,280 TOM: But until the Third Army arrives, 324 00:16:56,440 --> 00:16:59,800 the Screaming Eagles are virtually on their own. 325 00:17:01,360 --> 00:17:03,480 MARTIN: The Germans encircle the city, 326 00:17:03,640 --> 00:17:06,360 and that encirclement will be headline news 327 00:17:06,520 --> 00:17:08,120 back in the United States. 328 00:17:09,520 --> 00:17:11,760 There was this critical thought that we might lose 329 00:17:11,920 --> 00:17:15,520 the entire 101st Airborne Division to the enemy. 330 00:17:16,440 --> 00:17:19,280 ALEXANDRA: It looks as if the Germans are really in control 331 00:17:19,440 --> 00:17:23,120 and they send a message to the 101st Airborne. 332 00:17:24,600 --> 00:17:27,000 They say, "You've got to surrender." 333 00:17:27,160 --> 00:17:29,200 (tense music) 334 00:17:29,360 --> 00:17:31,960 COL. DOUDS: They're gonna give it to the acting division commander, 335 00:17:32,120 --> 00:17:34,000 Brigadier General Anthony McAuliffe. 336 00:17:34,160 --> 00:17:38,040 McAuliffe will read the thing and he'll send back a one-word reply, 337 00:17:38,200 --> 00:17:40,000 and it says, "Nuts!" 338 00:17:41,760 --> 00:17:44,600 Now, you gotta imagine, you know, some savvy Airborne officer 339 00:17:44,760 --> 00:17:46,400 gets to go give this to the German delegation. 340 00:17:46,560 --> 00:17:48,200 Of course, they read "Nuts" and they're like, 341 00:17:48,360 --> 00:17:50,840 "We don't understand the colloquialism." 342 00:17:51,000 --> 00:17:52,440 And so he gets to stand there and he says, 343 00:17:52,600 --> 00:17:54,600 "It's the same as go to hell." 344 00:17:55,600 --> 00:17:58,520 And in a sense, the whole unit kind of reaches out 345 00:17:58,680 --> 00:18:00,520 and they hit the collective "I believe" button... 346 00:18:02,240 --> 00:18:04,720 ...which is not so much that they can hold out forever, 347 00:18:04,880 --> 00:18:07,360 but Patton's coming. 348 00:18:07,520 --> 00:18:08,800 They're all coming. 349 00:18:08,960 --> 00:18:10,960 All we have to do is hold out a little longer. 350 00:18:21,000 --> 00:18:23,080 (tense music) (cannon booms) 351 00:18:27,880 --> 00:18:30,720 TOM: In Bastogne, the men of the 101st Division 352 00:18:30,880 --> 00:18:33,000 had been under siege for almost a week. 353 00:18:34,840 --> 00:18:36,640 But on December 26th, 354 00:18:36,800 --> 00:18:40,640 Patton's Third Army reaches the outskirts. 355 00:18:41,760 --> 00:18:43,880 MARTIN: Famously, it was the 4th Armored Division 356 00:18:44,040 --> 00:18:45,080 that is given the task 357 00:18:45,240 --> 00:18:48,680 of fighting up a narrow road corridor toward Bastogne. 358 00:18:48,840 --> 00:18:50,880 (tense, dramatic music) 359 00:18:56,560 --> 00:18:59,680 And on the day after Christmas, on December 26th, 360 00:18:59,840 --> 00:19:03,080 elements of C Company of the 37th Tank Battalion 361 00:19:03,240 --> 00:19:04,800 pull up to the Bastogne perimeter. 362 00:19:04,960 --> 00:19:06,800 (cannon booming) 363 00:19:08,360 --> 00:19:10,880 COL. DOUDS: The allies break the German lines, 364 00:19:11,040 --> 00:19:13,240 and now supplies will be able to flow in. 365 00:19:13,400 --> 00:19:15,520 And so for the Germans, 366 00:19:15,680 --> 00:19:18,000 the Ardennes Offensive breaks over Bastogne. 367 00:19:18,160 --> 00:19:20,360 (cannons booming) 368 00:19:21,520 --> 00:19:23,360 TOM: Even though Bastogne is relieved, 369 00:19:23,520 --> 00:19:26,240 fighting continues across the front for weeks. 370 00:19:27,400 --> 00:19:29,760 The United States Army suffers more casualties 371 00:19:29,920 --> 00:19:31,080 in the Battle of the Bulge 372 00:19:31,240 --> 00:19:33,720 than in any other battle in its history. 373 00:19:35,720 --> 00:19:40,400 But ultimately, Hitler's Ardennes Offensive is a failure. 374 00:19:40,560 --> 00:19:43,040 ROBERT: For Hitler, the catastrophe of the Ardennes 375 00:19:43,200 --> 00:19:44,800 is that it was the last round in the chamber. 376 00:19:44,960 --> 00:19:46,680 The Germans really poured 377 00:19:46,840 --> 00:19:49,160 their entire armoured reserve into it. 378 00:19:49,320 --> 00:19:51,480 They could have used those troops perhaps to defend 379 00:19:51,640 --> 00:19:53,280 more robustly in the east 380 00:19:53,440 --> 00:19:56,000 and west simultaneously, but they threw them all away 381 00:19:56,160 --> 00:19:58,120 on a gamble, and a gamble that failed. 382 00:20:00,040 --> 00:20:02,400 (sombre music) 383 00:20:05,480 --> 00:20:07,680 TOM: As the Allies stop Hitler in the West, 384 00:20:07,840 --> 00:20:11,880 the Soviets launch a massive offensive in the East. 385 00:20:12,040 --> 00:20:14,040 (distant gunfire) 386 00:20:14,880 --> 00:20:17,560 SEAN: The Red Army is a force of millions, 387 00:20:17,720 --> 00:20:19,840 which has begun its advance everywhere 388 00:20:20,000 --> 00:20:22,240 from Finland and the Baltics in the north, 389 00:20:22,400 --> 00:20:25,240 all the way down to the Black Sea in the south. 390 00:20:28,280 --> 00:20:31,080 SIMON: The Soviet forces had advanced incredible speed, 391 00:20:31,240 --> 00:20:32,720 incredible hard fighting, 392 00:20:32,880 --> 00:20:37,160 and Stalin had stopped them between October and December 393 00:20:37,320 --> 00:20:39,880 for a very clear strategic purpose; 394 00:20:40,040 --> 00:20:44,000 to prepare a massive, massive buildup of armour. 395 00:20:45,400 --> 00:20:47,680 SEAN: So by January '45, 396 00:20:47,840 --> 00:20:49,280 they are ready to go on the offensive. 397 00:20:49,440 --> 00:20:50,800 (bomb booms) 398 00:20:54,120 --> 00:20:57,920 TOM: Within weeks, Soviet forces cross into Germany. 399 00:20:58,080 --> 00:21:01,480 The Red Army has breached the border of the Fatherland. 400 00:21:01,640 --> 00:21:03,960 (cannons booming) 401 00:21:04,120 --> 00:21:06,760 DR. LIEB: Having Soviet boots on German ground 402 00:21:06,920 --> 00:21:10,960 is a major blow for the German psyche because 403 00:21:11,120 --> 00:21:12,960 they consider the Soviets 404 00:21:13,120 --> 00:21:15,120 as their mortal enemies, 405 00:21:15,280 --> 00:21:17,560 and this is a disaster for them. 406 00:21:18,280 --> 00:21:21,120 - The war is finally being brought home to the Germans. 407 00:21:22,920 --> 00:21:25,240 DR. LIEB: In theory, the Nazi authorities 408 00:21:25,400 --> 00:21:28,160 would've had the time for months 409 00:21:28,320 --> 00:21:30,080 to evacuate the civilians, 410 00:21:30,240 --> 00:21:32,120 but that's something they didn't do, 411 00:21:32,280 --> 00:21:35,480 because if you stay there, you'll show that you've got more confidence 412 00:21:35,640 --> 00:21:38,120 and that you are defending your home territory. 413 00:21:40,040 --> 00:21:41,840 GEOFFREY: But basically, the Russians come 414 00:21:42,000 --> 00:21:43,400 with such overwhelming force 415 00:21:43,560 --> 00:21:45,440 that the Germans can't stop them at the border. 416 00:21:45,600 --> 00:21:48,240 And so this causes mass panic as the German civilians 417 00:21:48,400 --> 00:21:50,840 take to the roads to try to escape this Russian onslaught, 418 00:21:51,000 --> 00:21:53,320 knowing full well what awaits if they stay. 419 00:21:53,480 --> 00:21:55,480 (cannon booms) 420 00:21:55,640 --> 00:21:58,280 SEAN: The Germans have fought a horrific war 421 00:21:58,440 --> 00:22:01,040 of annihilation in the Soviet Union. 422 00:22:02,920 --> 00:22:05,040 Now the Soviets are finally able 423 00:22:05,200 --> 00:22:07,360 to take revenge against the Germans. 424 00:22:12,040 --> 00:22:13,960 GEOFFREY: They looted and they pillaged and they raped 425 00:22:14,120 --> 00:22:16,320 and they burned and they destroyed, 426 00:22:16,480 --> 00:22:18,720 and they took pleasure in doing these things as they advanced. 427 00:22:18,880 --> 00:22:21,080 (sombre music) 428 00:22:24,080 --> 00:22:27,680 - There's 100,000 or more deaths on the German side 429 00:22:27,840 --> 00:22:31,560 and something like maybe a fifth of the female population is raped. 430 00:22:35,680 --> 00:22:39,560 - This is the beginning of what the Germans can expect 431 00:22:39,720 --> 00:22:42,800 to receive when Red Army break into Berlin. 432 00:22:46,120 --> 00:22:47,920 (dramatic music) 433 00:22:48,080 --> 00:22:49,880 TOM: Joseph Stalin engineers 434 00:22:50,040 --> 00:22:52,720 the Soviet Union's final moves, 435 00:22:52,880 --> 00:22:56,320 as the Red Army continues its march west... 436 00:22:57,200 --> 00:22:58,800 ...towards Berlin. 437 00:22:58,960 --> 00:23:02,200 SEAN: Berlin is really the be all, end all of the war. 438 00:23:02,360 --> 00:23:04,400 This is where we have the Reich Chancellery, 439 00:23:04,560 --> 00:23:06,240 where we have the Reichstag building, 440 00:23:06,400 --> 00:23:08,560 where Hitler has his bunker. 441 00:23:08,720 --> 00:23:11,160 Once the Red Army reaches Berlin, the war will be over 442 00:23:11,320 --> 00:23:13,320 and it will be a great victory and a great triumph. 443 00:23:13,480 --> 00:23:14,880 (crowd chants) 444 00:23:15,040 --> 00:23:16,760 COL. DOUDS: For someone who lives in Berlin, 445 00:23:16,920 --> 00:23:19,880 it's not lost on them what happens in East Prussia. 446 00:23:20,040 --> 00:23:21,680 The Soviets are getting retribution 447 00:23:21,840 --> 00:23:24,760 and it's coming in the form of German bodies, 448 00:23:24,920 --> 00:23:26,840 German blood, rapes, killings, 449 00:23:27,000 --> 00:23:29,080 and that's coming your way. 450 00:23:29,240 --> 00:23:32,560 Almost the image of an incoming tide that you cannot stop. 451 00:23:32,720 --> 00:23:34,320 (bomb booms) 452 00:23:36,280 --> 00:23:38,320 (tense music) 453 00:23:41,640 --> 00:23:43,360 TOM: In the spring of 1945, 454 00:23:43,520 --> 00:23:45,960 Germany is under assault from multiple directions. 455 00:23:46,120 --> 00:23:47,640 (cannon booms) 456 00:23:47,800 --> 00:23:50,000 (tense, dramatic music) 457 00:23:50,160 --> 00:23:53,560 In the east, the Red Army rapidly advances towards Berlin. 458 00:23:55,240 --> 00:23:57,800 In the west, the allies continue on a broad front 459 00:23:57,960 --> 00:24:00,040 as they approach the Rhine River. 460 00:24:03,520 --> 00:24:05,120 PAUL: The Rhine is the German's 461 00:24:05,280 --> 00:24:08,120 last key strategic position 462 00:24:08,280 --> 00:24:09,960 to try and delay the inevitable 463 00:24:10,120 --> 00:24:12,720 of the allies getting into Germany and defeating the Third Reich. 464 00:24:12,880 --> 00:24:17,040 GEOFFREY: It's a big, broad river, fast-flowing, deep, 465 00:24:17,200 --> 00:24:18,360 and the Germans know this, 466 00:24:18,520 --> 00:24:21,600 so they're planning to kind of defend every inch of it. 467 00:24:22,520 --> 00:24:24,680 DR. LIEB: Their defence strategy in the west is 468 00:24:24,840 --> 00:24:27,600 to blow up all the bridges across the River Rhine. 469 00:24:29,280 --> 00:24:31,760 To use this huge natural barrier. 470 00:24:35,960 --> 00:24:38,040 TOM: British Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery 471 00:24:38,200 --> 00:24:40,960 designs an operation that will take Allied Forces 472 00:24:41,120 --> 00:24:44,160 across the Rhine and further into Germany. 473 00:24:45,280 --> 00:24:48,240 But unexpectedly, the American 9th Armored Division 474 00:24:48,400 --> 00:24:51,600 discovers another way into the German Reich. 475 00:24:54,800 --> 00:24:56,560 PAUL: Really, out of nowhere, 476 00:24:56,720 --> 00:24:59,960 an advanced unit of Americans ends up at the Remagen Bridge, 477 00:25:00,120 --> 00:25:01,520 the key bridge across the Rhine. 478 00:25:01,680 --> 00:25:05,000 And the Germans, they failed to destroy the bridge properly. 479 00:25:06,640 --> 00:25:08,520 MARTIN: That's not because the Germans were dumb, 480 00:25:08,680 --> 00:25:10,240 the Germans tried to blow the bridge. 481 00:25:10,400 --> 00:25:12,680 It's just that they didn't have enough explosives to do the job. 482 00:25:12,840 --> 00:25:14,760 GEOFFREY: But it was very stoutly built. 483 00:25:14,920 --> 00:25:17,640 The bridge just kind of jumps on these really heavy stone piers 484 00:25:17,800 --> 00:25:19,360 and then settles back into place. 485 00:25:21,640 --> 00:25:23,400 The Allies couldn't believe their luck, 486 00:25:23,560 --> 00:25:25,760 so they raced forward and they took the bridge. 487 00:25:25,920 --> 00:25:28,760 And they get across the Rhine three weeks earlier than anticipated. 488 00:25:30,240 --> 00:25:32,760 - Once you're over the Rhine, you're into Germany proper. 489 00:25:33,880 --> 00:25:35,960 It's a crucial moment for the war in the West. 490 00:25:38,800 --> 00:25:42,320 DR. LIEB: For the Germans, this is a huge blow 491 00:25:42,480 --> 00:25:44,480 because now the Allies can bring in 492 00:25:44,640 --> 00:25:46,400 reinforcements much quicker 493 00:25:46,560 --> 00:25:48,520 and Hitler is absolutely furious about this. 494 00:25:48,680 --> 00:25:51,480 ROBERT: Oh, Hitler is prone to rage at this time, 495 00:25:51,640 --> 00:25:53,920 and he demands that everyone responsible 496 00:25:54,080 --> 00:25:55,600 will be immediately court marshalled, 497 00:25:55,760 --> 00:25:58,040 not brought to Berlin to explain, 498 00:25:58,200 --> 00:26:01,160 but a drumhead court marshal in the field and shot. 499 00:26:01,320 --> 00:26:03,680 (sombre music) 500 00:26:10,560 --> 00:26:13,040 TOM: Hitler retreats to Berlin. 501 00:26:13,200 --> 00:26:14,840 He orders the destruction 502 00:26:15,000 --> 00:26:18,240 of bridges, roads, railways, factories, 503 00:26:18,400 --> 00:26:21,880 anything that can aid the allied advance. 504 00:26:23,760 --> 00:26:25,680 MARTIN: This Nero order, 505 00:26:25,840 --> 00:26:28,880 named in honour of the Roman Emperor 506 00:26:29,040 --> 00:26:31,840 who famously allowed the city of Rome to burn, 507 00:26:32,000 --> 00:26:33,600 would authorize German forces 508 00:26:33,760 --> 00:26:36,560 to destroy absolutely everything as they retreated. 509 00:26:36,720 --> 00:26:37,720 (thunderous explosion) 510 00:26:37,880 --> 00:26:39,600 DAN: Blow up the bridges, blow up the sanitation, 511 00:26:39,760 --> 00:26:41,360 blow up the power plants, 512 00:26:41,520 --> 00:26:43,760 even if it doesn't do any good in the war effort. 513 00:26:43,920 --> 00:26:47,360 There's no reason to worry about a post-war Germany. 514 00:26:48,960 --> 00:26:51,040 He stopped caring about the individual people 515 00:26:51,200 --> 00:26:52,880 'cause they're no longer worthy 516 00:26:53,040 --> 00:26:54,760 of surviving the war. 517 00:27:01,160 --> 00:27:02,840 TOM: Hitler commands his loyal 518 00:27:03,000 --> 00:27:04,680 and capable minister of armaments, 519 00:27:04,840 --> 00:27:07,600 Albert Speer, to carry out his order. 520 00:27:09,000 --> 00:27:10,600 Speer refuses. 521 00:27:10,760 --> 00:27:12,800 GEOFFREY: Because he sees that Hitler's, 522 00:27:12,960 --> 00:27:14,400 you know, gone mad essentially. 523 00:27:14,560 --> 00:27:16,360 And Speer actually comes to Berlin and says, 524 00:27:16,520 --> 00:27:19,440 right before the end, and he says, "I haven't done it." 525 00:27:21,200 --> 00:27:23,560 DR. LIEB: This shows that the bond between Hitler 526 00:27:23,720 --> 00:27:27,000 and his leadership is being broken to a certain degree. 527 00:27:28,280 --> 00:27:31,320 It's almost to the very last days, the crumbling Third Reich, 528 00:27:31,480 --> 00:27:34,680 that this link finally starts to collapse. 529 00:27:34,840 --> 00:27:37,560 Hitler has now lost control of the entire situation. 530 00:27:37,720 --> 00:27:39,760 He's now focused only on the battle of Berlin. 531 00:27:39,920 --> 00:27:41,640 (sombre music) 532 00:27:47,160 --> 00:27:50,160 TOM: In the garden outside the Reich Chancellery, 533 00:27:50,320 --> 00:27:53,200 the Fuhrer reviews a formation of Hitler youth 534 00:27:53,360 --> 00:27:54,840 who have been awarded the Knight's Cross 535 00:27:55,000 --> 00:27:56,400 for bravery in battle. 536 00:27:56,560 --> 00:28:00,320 Now, many will be ordered to defend Berlin. 537 00:28:01,240 --> 00:28:02,720 ROBERT: The Hitler youth, 538 00:28:02,880 --> 00:28:04,880 14 and 15 and 16-year-old boys. 539 00:28:05,040 --> 00:28:07,080 (speaks German) 540 00:28:08,200 --> 00:28:11,600 - By any analysis, this is insane. 541 00:28:12,520 --> 00:28:14,160 GEOFFREY: And he comes up out of the bunker 542 00:28:14,320 --> 00:28:16,240 and he pins medals on these 543 00:28:16,400 --> 00:28:18,520 sort of beardless little boys. 544 00:28:18,680 --> 00:28:21,560 Any rational onlooker can see that Hitler has lost 545 00:28:21,720 --> 00:28:23,800 all attachment to reason. 546 00:28:25,480 --> 00:28:29,120 ROBERT: It may be he's thinking of the last lost war, 547 00:28:29,280 --> 00:28:31,040 but I think 1918 548 00:28:31,200 --> 00:28:34,320 is enough of a obsession with Hitler 549 00:28:34,480 --> 00:28:37,640 that he is determined that Germany will not give in this time. 550 00:28:37,800 --> 00:28:39,160 There will be no surrender. 551 00:28:39,320 --> 00:28:41,520 There will be total war to the end. 552 00:28:41,680 --> 00:28:43,440 If Germany is gonna go down, 553 00:28:43,600 --> 00:28:46,240 it's going to go down in a blaze of glory. 554 00:28:58,120 --> 00:29:00,120 (tense music) 555 00:29:02,400 --> 00:29:04,360 TOM: Allied forces rapidly advanced 556 00:29:04,520 --> 00:29:08,200 through the Ruhr Valley and into the heart of Germany. 557 00:29:08,360 --> 00:29:10,000 The British and Americans had agreed 558 00:29:10,160 --> 00:29:12,760 that Soviet forces should capture Berlin, 559 00:29:12,920 --> 00:29:16,560 but Stalin grows suspicious of allied success. 560 00:29:18,800 --> 00:29:20,800 MICHEL: You have to remember that Stalin is 561 00:29:20,960 --> 00:29:24,440 naturally and not unreasonably deeply mistrustful. 562 00:29:24,600 --> 00:29:28,240 So when the Western Allies start pouring into Western Germany 563 00:29:28,400 --> 00:29:30,440 far faster than anyone expects, 564 00:29:30,600 --> 00:29:33,560 Stalin fears that there may be something that he doesn't see. 565 00:29:34,600 --> 00:29:36,880 SIMON: Stalin is always paranoid 566 00:29:37,040 --> 00:29:39,280 that the Western powers are going to 567 00:29:39,440 --> 00:29:42,800 make a deal with the Germans at the last minute 568 00:29:42,960 --> 00:29:45,200 against the Soviet Union, against the Communists. 569 00:29:55,080 --> 00:29:57,200 TOM: In Moscow, Stalin summons 570 00:29:57,360 --> 00:29:58,880 Marshal Georgy Zhukov, 571 00:29:59,040 --> 00:30:02,320 the hero of Stalingrad and Kursk, 572 00:30:02,480 --> 00:30:03,760 and Marshal Ivan Konev, 573 00:30:03,920 --> 00:30:05,840 who has led the first Ukrainian front, 574 00:30:06,000 --> 00:30:08,560 a famed Red Army group, throughout the war. 575 00:30:12,120 --> 00:30:14,720 SIMON: He sits there with the map and he says, 576 00:30:14,880 --> 00:30:16,520 "Who's gonna take Berlin?" 577 00:30:17,400 --> 00:30:19,360 SEAN: So Stalin effectively sets up 578 00:30:19,520 --> 00:30:21,320 a kind of race between them 579 00:30:21,480 --> 00:30:23,960 to see who will take Berlin first. 580 00:30:24,120 --> 00:30:26,360 So this is a way of motivating his generals 581 00:30:26,520 --> 00:30:29,120 because Stalin, of course, wanted to ensure 582 00:30:29,280 --> 00:30:32,280 that the Red Army would be the first to reach Berlin. 583 00:30:32,440 --> 00:30:34,320 SIMON: And in an amazing scene, 584 00:30:34,480 --> 00:30:36,160 both Marshals salute 585 00:30:36,320 --> 00:30:39,440 and leave the room and run to their cars 586 00:30:39,600 --> 00:30:41,520 to start the race to Berlin. 587 00:30:43,280 --> 00:30:45,000 (tense music) 588 00:30:47,600 --> 00:30:51,400 TOM: By mid-April, the Red Army is closing in on Berlin. 589 00:30:52,680 --> 00:30:55,560 Zhukov's forces approach from the east. 590 00:30:55,720 --> 00:30:58,120 Konev's troops will attack from the south. 591 00:30:59,440 --> 00:31:01,600 - The final assault on Berlin begins 592 00:31:01,760 --> 00:31:03,800 with a ferocious artillery barrage. 593 00:31:03,960 --> 00:31:06,600 (cannons booming) 594 00:31:12,640 --> 00:31:14,520 Something like 9,000 guns 595 00:31:14,680 --> 00:31:16,960 rained down 1.2 million shells. 596 00:31:17,120 --> 00:31:19,120 (cannons hiss) 597 00:31:21,080 --> 00:31:23,920 GEOFFREY: To put that in context, the British fired one million 598 00:31:24,080 --> 00:31:26,560 rounds of artillery onto the German trenches on the Somme 599 00:31:26,720 --> 00:31:28,560 over like two weeks in World War I. 600 00:31:29,680 --> 00:31:33,360 Now, in one day, more shells into the streets of Berlin. 601 00:31:37,960 --> 00:31:39,280 TOM: Zhukov's forces meet 602 00:31:39,440 --> 00:31:42,760 particularly fierce resistance in the Seelow heights, 603 00:31:42,920 --> 00:31:46,680 an area the Germans consider the gates of Berlin. 604 00:31:48,520 --> 00:31:50,360 SEAN: The Germans are dug in. 605 00:31:50,520 --> 00:31:52,360 They have no desire to surrender 606 00:31:52,520 --> 00:31:55,000 because they know they would be viewed as traitors. 607 00:31:55,160 --> 00:31:58,960 Berlin is meant to be a fortress city, Festung Berlin. 608 00:31:59,120 --> 00:32:01,320 This means it has to be defended at all costs. 609 00:32:03,640 --> 00:32:07,800 - Hitler's order was to keep fighting until there's nothing left. 610 00:32:07,960 --> 00:32:09,760 They're not gonna admit the war's been lost. 611 00:32:09,920 --> 00:32:13,120 DR. LIEB: Hitler is now facing total defeat, 612 00:32:13,280 --> 00:32:14,400 and he wants to drag 613 00:32:14,560 --> 00:32:18,080 the entire German people into this total defeat. 614 00:32:19,120 --> 00:32:21,200 DAN: The population has been pressed into service. 615 00:32:21,360 --> 00:32:23,600 They've been, you know, building tank traps 616 00:32:23,760 --> 00:32:26,240 and digging ditches. But I don't think you can 617 00:32:26,400 --> 00:32:29,400 fool a bunch of people who are living in cities that are rubble. 618 00:32:29,560 --> 00:32:32,440 You hear the artillery in the distance 619 00:32:32,600 --> 00:32:34,680 that the Soviets are shooting at your city. 620 00:32:34,840 --> 00:32:36,760 I mean, we're past the time of illusions. 621 00:32:36,920 --> 00:32:38,400 You're people at the end of the rope. 622 00:32:39,480 --> 00:32:41,160 GEOFFREY: The German troops that are left, 623 00:32:41,320 --> 00:32:43,800 it's this bizarre assembly of 624 00:32:43,960 --> 00:32:47,120 overage people that normally wouldn't be drafted, or underage. 625 00:32:49,040 --> 00:32:52,120 MARTIN: You have a large number of very young 626 00:32:52,280 --> 00:32:54,000 members of the Volkssturm. 627 00:32:55,240 --> 00:32:57,440 They were divided into these tank hunting units 628 00:32:57,600 --> 00:33:00,120 where they were 12 and 13-year-old boys that were equipped 629 00:33:00,280 --> 00:33:02,360 with this very effective German anti-tank weapon 630 00:33:02,520 --> 00:33:03,840 called the Panzerfaust. 631 00:33:05,640 --> 00:33:07,680 GEOFFREY: These basically one-shot German bazookas, 632 00:33:07,840 --> 00:33:09,720 and they're gonna be in these load of fighting holes 633 00:33:09,880 --> 00:33:13,440 waiting for the Soviet tanks to come and take their one shot, and be, 634 00:33:13,600 --> 00:33:16,320 you know, crushed into pulp under the treads. 635 00:33:17,320 --> 00:33:19,960 PAUL: The ideology of the Reich has gone out the window. 636 00:33:20,120 --> 00:33:22,520 You don't know what you're fighting for anymore. 637 00:33:23,520 --> 00:33:25,600 You are now protecting your street 638 00:33:25,760 --> 00:33:28,840 and your friends and your family from the marauders that are coming. 639 00:33:31,280 --> 00:33:34,720 GEOFFREY: If you're still in Berlin by April 1945, 640 00:33:34,880 --> 00:33:36,880 you're not gonna get out. 641 00:33:37,040 --> 00:33:39,040 So you're fighting for your life. 642 00:33:39,200 --> 00:33:41,480 (bazooka booms) 643 00:33:44,920 --> 00:33:47,000 (tense music) 644 00:33:51,520 --> 00:33:54,440 TOM: On April 19th, Zhukov's troops 645 00:33:54,600 --> 00:33:57,520 break through the German lines at Seelow Heights. 646 00:33:57,680 --> 00:34:00,520 Konev enters the Nazi capital from the south. 647 00:34:02,120 --> 00:34:04,840 (rapid gunfire) 648 00:34:07,720 --> 00:34:09,760 SIMON: Battle of Berlin is brutal. 649 00:34:12,640 --> 00:34:14,440 It's an urban battlefield, 650 00:34:14,600 --> 00:34:17,200 which is the hardest sort of fighting and the most costly. 651 00:34:17,360 --> 00:34:19,520 (rapid gunfire) 652 00:34:19,680 --> 00:34:21,960 It's impossible not to take every building. 653 00:34:22,120 --> 00:34:23,520 You can't leave buildings behind you. 654 00:34:23,680 --> 00:34:26,280 You're under fire all the time from buildings on both sides. 655 00:34:28,240 --> 00:34:30,120 Large amounts of civilians are killed, 656 00:34:30,280 --> 00:34:33,040 and it's incredibly slow and dangerous. 657 00:34:33,200 --> 00:34:34,920 (tense music) 658 00:34:37,920 --> 00:34:40,280 GEOFFREY: This moonscape of Berlin that's already been 659 00:34:40,440 --> 00:34:43,360 just shattered to rubble is now just being pounded 660 00:34:43,520 --> 00:34:45,840 by companies of Soviet infantry filtering into the city 661 00:34:46,000 --> 00:34:48,240 from all points. I mean, literally all points. 662 00:34:49,440 --> 00:34:51,920 (tense, dramatic music) 663 00:34:59,920 --> 00:35:03,720 SIMON: But in the end, this extraordinary battle, 664 00:35:03,880 --> 00:35:08,480 the Soviet troops begin to converge on the Chancellery. 665 00:35:09,880 --> 00:35:11,880 (tense music) 666 00:35:12,840 --> 00:35:15,040 TOM: Beneath the Reich Chancellery, 667 00:35:15,200 --> 00:35:17,000 Hitler is sequestered in a bunker 668 00:35:17,160 --> 00:35:19,440 with his companion, Eva Braun, 669 00:35:19,600 --> 00:35:22,000 and surrounded by aides, secretaries, 670 00:35:22,160 --> 00:35:23,960 and Nazi party officials. 671 00:35:25,160 --> 00:35:27,280 He believes that the military 672 00:35:27,440 --> 00:35:29,080 and the German people 673 00:35:29,240 --> 00:35:31,560 have let him down. 674 00:35:31,720 --> 00:35:33,280 - Hitler wants to keep the resistance going 675 00:35:33,440 --> 00:35:35,040 for as long as possible to inflict 676 00:35:35,200 --> 00:35:37,480 as much damage on the invading armies. 677 00:35:37,640 --> 00:35:42,160 However, he does not want to outlast, to outlive the war. 678 00:35:42,320 --> 00:35:44,520 He does not want to become a prisoner of war. 679 00:35:44,680 --> 00:35:47,040 He does not want to become some type of curiosity 680 00:35:47,200 --> 00:35:48,920 exhibited by his enemies. 681 00:35:50,080 --> 00:35:54,400 ROBERT: And so he has to stay alive as long as possible, 682 00:35:54,560 --> 00:35:56,960 as close to the bitter end as possible 683 00:35:57,120 --> 00:35:58,800 so that there will never really be 684 00:35:58,960 --> 00:36:02,080 an idea of Nazi Germany in people's minds 685 00:36:02,240 --> 00:36:03,960 that does not include Adolf Hitler. 686 00:36:05,080 --> 00:36:09,040 He's going to go down in Wagnerian fashion 687 00:36:09,200 --> 00:36:10,800 and take a world with him. 688 00:36:11,960 --> 00:36:14,040 (tense music) 689 00:36:19,800 --> 00:36:22,080 TOM: On April 29th, Hitler is informed 690 00:36:22,240 --> 00:36:23,880 that his longtime ally, 691 00:36:24,040 --> 00:36:26,800 the Italian dictator, Benito Mussolini, 692 00:36:26,960 --> 00:36:28,720 has been executed. 693 00:36:28,880 --> 00:36:32,440 His body put on display by Italian partisans. 694 00:36:33,760 --> 00:36:35,840 GEOFFREY: Mussolini has just been hung upside down 695 00:36:36,000 --> 00:36:38,040 in a gas station in northern Italy, 696 00:36:38,200 --> 00:36:40,200 along with his mistress, Clara Petacci, 697 00:36:40,360 --> 00:36:43,360 where he's like mocked and spat upon and vilified. 698 00:36:46,160 --> 00:36:48,120 Hitler fears the same fate for himself. 699 00:36:50,040 --> 00:36:52,080 - The Soviets are right outside the Fuhrer bunker. 700 00:36:52,240 --> 00:36:54,400 He's listening to the shelling happening above him. 701 00:36:54,560 --> 00:36:56,760 (muffled shelling) 702 00:36:58,520 --> 00:37:02,120 - And so Adolf Hitler, on April 30th, 1945, 703 00:37:02,280 --> 00:37:05,600 commits suicide in the Fuhrer bunker along with Eva Braun... 704 00:37:08,960 --> 00:37:11,000 ...in a city that has been reduced to rubble. 705 00:37:12,720 --> 00:37:14,720 (sombre music) 706 00:37:21,120 --> 00:37:22,680 - When Hitler commits suicide, 707 00:37:22,840 --> 00:37:25,880 Stalin is woken in the night by Marshal Zhukov, 708 00:37:26,040 --> 00:37:27,840 and Marshal Zhukov says to him, 709 00:37:28,000 --> 00:37:29,720 "Marshal Stalin, I've got news. 710 00:37:29,880 --> 00:37:32,080 Hitler is dead and he's committed suicide in the ruins," 711 00:37:32,240 --> 00:37:35,080 and there's a long silence. And then Stalin says something like, 712 00:37:35,240 --> 00:37:36,840 "So that's the end of the bastard." 713 00:37:37,000 --> 00:37:39,200 Puts the phone down and goes back to sleep. 714 00:37:39,360 --> 00:37:41,560 (sombre music) 715 00:37:45,040 --> 00:37:47,000 (distant gunfire) 716 00:37:54,240 --> 00:37:57,160 TOM: On May 2nd, the Soviets raised their flag 717 00:37:57,320 --> 00:37:59,520 above the ruins of the Reichstag. 718 00:38:02,520 --> 00:38:05,640 On May 7th, German General Alfred Jodl 719 00:38:05,800 --> 00:38:09,160 surrenders to the Western Allies at Reims, France. 720 00:38:11,200 --> 00:38:13,880 A day later, the Germans officially surrendered 721 00:38:14,040 --> 00:38:15,960 to the Soviets. 722 00:38:16,120 --> 00:38:18,880 - With the stroke of the pen, Nazi Germany ceases to exist 723 00:38:19,040 --> 00:38:21,640 on May 8th, 1945. 724 00:38:21,800 --> 00:38:23,800 (tense music) 725 00:38:28,560 --> 00:38:32,080 TRUMAN: This is a solemn but a glorious hour. 726 00:38:32,240 --> 00:38:34,680 General Eisenhower informs me 727 00:38:34,840 --> 00:38:37,080 that the forces of Germany has surrendered 728 00:38:37,240 --> 00:38:39,080 to the United Nations. 729 00:38:39,240 --> 00:38:41,400 MICHEL: Here we are at the end of a brutal war 730 00:38:41,560 --> 00:38:44,280 against a brutal adversary in Europe. 731 00:38:44,440 --> 00:38:46,000 And there was such great costs 732 00:38:46,160 --> 00:38:48,160 with so much exhaustion. 733 00:38:48,320 --> 00:38:51,360 It's almost impossible to imagine what that must have been like. 734 00:38:55,840 --> 00:38:59,120 TRUMAN: Our rejoicing is sobered and subdued 735 00:38:59,280 --> 00:39:03,120 by a supreme consciousness of the terrible price we have paid 736 00:39:03,280 --> 00:39:04,760 to rid the world of Hitler 737 00:39:04,920 --> 00:39:07,080 and his evil band. 738 00:39:08,840 --> 00:39:11,520 SIMON: Hitler was the ultimate reckless gambler. 739 00:39:12,560 --> 00:39:15,720 Risking everything, even Germany, even Europe. 740 00:39:18,320 --> 00:39:20,640 TRUMAN: Let us not forget the sorrow 741 00:39:20,800 --> 00:39:23,480 and the heartache, which today abide 742 00:39:23,640 --> 00:39:26,720 in the homes of so many of our neighbours. 743 00:39:27,400 --> 00:39:29,400 SEAN: The Second World War, unlike the first, 744 00:39:29,560 --> 00:39:31,920 is one in which the majority of the casualties 745 00:39:32,080 --> 00:39:34,440 actually happened among the civilian population. 746 00:39:35,120 --> 00:39:36,560 A lot of it was simply because of 747 00:39:36,720 --> 00:39:38,640 the vast atrocities committed. 748 00:39:38,800 --> 00:39:41,520 (sombre music) 749 00:39:43,480 --> 00:39:47,680 The war left terrible scars on the landscape of Europe 750 00:39:47,840 --> 00:39:50,560 and in the memories of the populations. 751 00:39:53,120 --> 00:39:55,200 TRUMAN: We must work to bind up the wounds 752 00:39:55,360 --> 00:39:57,040 of a suffering world. 753 00:39:57,200 --> 00:39:58,800 The West is free, 754 00:39:58,960 --> 00:40:01,360 but the East is still in bondage. 755 00:40:02,160 --> 00:40:03,560 JON: In the popular mind, 756 00:40:03,720 --> 00:40:06,640 World War II tends to wrap up 757 00:40:06,800 --> 00:40:09,240 with the glory of VE Day. 758 00:40:10,840 --> 00:40:12,840 It did not happen that way 759 00:40:13,000 --> 00:40:15,680 for the people who were fighting it. 760 00:40:16,800 --> 00:40:18,400 In the Pacific, 761 00:40:18,560 --> 00:40:20,360 there's no end in sight. 762 00:40:20,520 --> 00:40:23,000 TRUMAN: When the last Japanese division 763 00:40:23,160 --> 00:40:26,080 has surrendered unconditionally, 764 00:40:26,240 --> 00:40:29,720 then only will our fighting job be done. 765 00:40:30,600 --> 00:40:31,800 Until that day, 766 00:40:31,960 --> 00:40:34,800 let no man abandon his post 767 00:40:34,960 --> 00:40:37,000 or slacken his efforts. 768 00:40:37,160 --> 00:40:39,160 (plane rumbles) 769 00:40:40,480 --> 00:40:45,240 - After VE Day, Europeans facing chaos and uncertainty 770 00:40:45,400 --> 00:40:47,000 begin the long work of putting 771 00:40:47,160 --> 00:40:49,520 their shattered world back together. 772 00:40:49,680 --> 00:40:53,080 In the Pacific, the war is reaching a crescendo. 773 00:40:53,240 --> 00:40:56,600 As the United States fights its way to the Japanese home islands, 774 00:40:56,760 --> 00:41:00,320 a new weapon is tested in the deserts of New Mexico. 775 00:41:00,480 --> 00:41:02,280 A noiseless flash 776 00:41:02,440 --> 00:41:04,560 with a potential to change the world. 777 00:41:04,720 --> 00:41:06,080 Subtitles by Sky Access Services