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(suspenseful music)

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In the last year of World War II,

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two gigantic armies charge across Northern Europe

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to pommel Nazi, Germany into submission.

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It's a headlong race between the largest armies

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ever assembled in human history.

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On one side, the Soviet Red Army

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on the other side, the army of the Western Allies,

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their target Hitler's Berlin.

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If you get Berlin,

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you are the victors of the war in Europe.

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The race is on

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and the stakes could not be higher.

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Berlin is the control lever,

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the gateway to controlling the center of Europe.

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And if you control the center of Europe,

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you control the whole continent.

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But it's a prize with a massive cost.

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The devastation, the bloodshed,

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is just simply unbelievable.

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It completely changes world history.

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Each army must travel 700 miles

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to stop a madman,

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700 miles for victory,

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{\an8}700 miles to control the future of Europe and the world.

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(bomb exploding)

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What happens and how it plays out

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are still being felt, even now.

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(upbeat music)

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(rocket launching)

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(upbeat music)

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(tank engines revving)

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In the early years of World War II,

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Hitler's armies conquer most of Europe.

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But in 1942, the tide turns.

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And by the summer of 1944,

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Germany is in trouble, and The Allies are closing in,

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but Hitler will not yield.

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Even at this stage of the war,

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{\an8}Hitler still has this complete grip on Nazi Germany.

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Toppling Hitler,

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all depends on the number three.

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Of the alliance of nations that come together

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to oppose Nazi Germany,

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three countries will determine the outcome of the war

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and the future of Europe.

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Of course, there are other countries involved as well,

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{\an8}but the big three, the United States,

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{\an8}the Soviet Union and Great Britain are the most important.

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The Big Three confer,

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Roosevelt, Churchill and Joseph Stalin.

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The strength of the Alliance

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of these three nations is vital,

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but they're not exactly best buddies.

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They're tactical allies for the sake of winning the war.

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{\an8}But the relationship between the Western Allies

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{\an8}and the Soviet Union is far better characterized

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{\an8}by frankly, hatred in a lot of ways.

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{\an8}Soviet leader, Joseph Stalin,

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{\an8}who sentenced one million of his own people to death

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{\an8}during the great purge

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has a bit of an image problem.

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(suspenseful music)

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Stalin is a despotic dictator.

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He's an absolute monster.

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UK Prime Minister,

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Winston Churchill in particular has no love for the man

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or his politics.

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Churchill's view was that Stalin

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was a really disgusting, horrible figure.

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Churchill was decidedly anticommunist.

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He was absolutely against the political Sovietization

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of Central and Eastern Europe.

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{\an8}Stalin, for his part

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{\an8}has more than 8 million reasons

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{\an8}to resent his Western partners.

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Since 1941 Stalin and the Soviet Union

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have done the majority of the fighting

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against Hitler's army.

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(cannons exploding)

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It's been a blood bath.

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(airplane engine roaring)

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(guns firing)

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{\an8}8.1 million members of his Red Army are dead, missing

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{\an8}or taken prisoner.

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{\an8}10 times what the USA and the UK

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{\an8}will suffer over the entire war, combined.

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Now Stalin is furious about this.

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And Stalin's view is, "We're really doing

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"all the heavy lifting here.

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"And it's about time that the Western Allies

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"did something as well."

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Now he's finally going to get his wish.

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The Western Allies,

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the United States, the UK and Canada

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have plans to launch an unprecedented invasion

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into France from the West.

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Meanwhile, Stalin's Red Army

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continues to push from the East.

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And the end goal for everyone is the same.

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(gentle music)

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Berlin is the target,

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the lair of the fascist bEast.

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(gentle music)

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{\an8}Each side we'll fight through about 700 miles

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{\an8}of heavily defended enemy territory.

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If you want to non-stop,

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you can cover that distance in 183 hours.

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It will take these armies 11 months,

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an average of 0.09 miles per hour,

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or about half the speed of a sloth.

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Nobody's expecting this to be easy.

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If the Germans are notorious for their defense,

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notorious for fighting back.

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But this is not just a fight

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against two Fronts of Hitler's right,

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it's a competition between East and West

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for a much bigger prize.

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(gentle upbeat music)

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The one hand their smiles and agreements,

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but both sides are actively preparing for what comes next.

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Really it's very much an ideological contest

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between Soviet communism versus capitalism and democracy

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with Berlin being the center of that objective.

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The race to Berlin is the competition, in a way,

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between the Western Allies and the Soviets

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to get to Berlin before the other side does,

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winning the right to impose your political system.

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(gentle upbeat music)

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The race is set.

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{\an8}Each side will have six months to build up their strength

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{\an8}before the coordinated assault begins.

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The Soviet Red Army will be directed

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by none other than Stalin himself,

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{\an8}since the ruthless dictator has some trust issues,

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{\an8}23,000 of them.

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Stalin doesn't trust anyone on the planet.

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You know, he's suspicious of everybody.

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{\an8}I mean, anyone who kills 23,000 officers in his army

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{\an8}before the outbreak of the second world war,

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that's pretty paranoid.

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Commanding the Western Front

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is general Dwight Eisenhower.

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Eisenhower is a much different leader than Stalin.

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People actually like Ike.

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Eisenhower is a really good man.

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You know, he's decent, he's honorable.

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So they're quite different characters.

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On the eve of the allied invasion of Europe,

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{\an8}there's a big number on Ike's mind, 50%.

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{\an8}It's at the heart of the most difficult decision

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{\an8}he will make in the war.

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As an ambulance driver during the London Blitz,

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Kay Summersby witnessed to the darkest days of the war.

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Now three years later, on the evening of June 5th, 1944,

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the 35 year old is driving general Eisenhower's staff car

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out to Greenham Common airfield.

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Eisenhower decides to go to Greenham Common

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where the 101st Airborne Division, the Screaming Eagles,

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are about to make the trip over to Normandy.

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Eisenhower made a point of going

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and seeing most units in his army,

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as much as he possibly can,

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which is quite unusual for senior commander.

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A nurse tries to hand the general

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a cup of coffee,

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but his hands are shaking too much to hold it.

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In the months leading up to today, Ike's been on edge,

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{\an8}he's smoking four packs of cigarettes a day.

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The weight of responsibility on his shoulders

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is just absolutely immense.

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This is the burden of high command.

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(gentle music)

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{\an8}Walking among the 1,430 paratroopers,

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{\an8}Eisenhower stops to speak with Lieutenant Wallace Strobel,

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jump master for plane number 23.

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They don't talk about the fact

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that the entire war hinges on this mission,

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instead they talk about fishing.

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Today's Strobel's birthday,

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{\an8}the young man from Michigan has just turned 22.

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{\an8}(gentle music)

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For him and the entire 101st Airborne,

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this will be their first combat deployment.

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{\an8}In fact, only 4% of all invasion force divisions

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{\an8}have seen combat.

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Someone like Eisenhower, a humane man

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who values the lies of every single young soldier

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that is going into battle,

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he's an inevitably gonna be wondering

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how many of them gonna be alive the following morning.

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(airplane engine roaring)

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(gentle music)

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As Eisenhower and Summersby

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watch the 81 transport planes disappear into the clouds,

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Summersby notices that the general has a tear in his eye.

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(airplane engine roaring)

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{\an8}Ike has been told that approximately 50% of paratroopers

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{\an8}will likely die before they hit the ground.

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The survival of Lieutenant Strobel

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and everyone else on those planes

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has the odds of a coin toss.

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But the plan goes ahead.

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Before dawn, the assault begins

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{\an8}and in typical American fashion, it's over the top.

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{\an8}17,000 soldiers dropped from the sky.

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But that's just the beginning.

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The main assault comes by sea.

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(cannons exploding)

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The scale of D-Day is just absolutely gigantic.

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It includes 1,213 warships,

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{\an8}4,127 landing craft.

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{\an8}It includes 155,000 men

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just on that first day.

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This is on a scale that has never been seen before.

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It is the biggest single amphibious invasion ever,

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in the history of world.

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And it all starts with one step.

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By the dawn light, 20 landing craft cut the waves

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in a straight shot for a distant beach.

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Inside the landing craft, 22 young American soldiers

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are crunched together.

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It was terrible weather,

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so basically they're just crashing over high seas.

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(waves crashing)

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80% Of them are seasick.

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They've been riding through rough waves for two hours.

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When the boat ramp drops open,

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Captain Leonard "Max" Schroeder is the first one out.

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They've arrived at 6:28 a.m.

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Two minutes early,

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and they're still 100 yards from shore.

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(waves crashing)

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So, you know, he wades into the water.

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He's got his Colt 45, he's waving it above his head,

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and leading his men on.

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Weighed down by 80 pounds of equipment,

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Max surges forward, leading his men to shore.

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In the early hours of D-Day,

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he is the first man to put his foot down on French sand.

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It's step number one in the race to Berlin.

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(suspenseful music)

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And the starter's pistol is an explosion of gunfire

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from entrenched German positions up the beach.

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And hell is unleashed.

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(guns firing)

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The bullets start whizzing by and the explosions.

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And you've got nowhere to hide.

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Max is hit twice in the left arm and side.

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(guns firing)

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But the 25-year-old keeps fighting.

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By the afternoon of June 6th,

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he and his man have done their job,

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they've secured the beach.

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Captain Schroeder survives to fight another day.

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{\an8}But many aren't so lucky.

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{\an8}Of the estimated 10,000 allied casualties on D-Day,

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4,414 men lost their lives.

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(gentle upbeat music)

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Despite the losses, the D-Day landings are a success.

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The most important thing,

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when you're launching an amphibious invasion,

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is that it doesn't fail.

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(gentle music)

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And D-Day doesn't,

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it's really very, very successful.

267
00:12:27,580 --> 00:12:30,630
Eisenhower could breathe a sigh of relief.

268
00:12:30,630 --> 00:12:32,440
Pre-invasion casualty estimates

269
00:12:32,440 --> 00:12:35,663
{\an8}had been almost four times higher than they turned out.

270
00:12:36,770 --> 00:12:41,510
And only 338 American paratroopers were killed,

271
00:12:41,510 --> 00:12:45,253
far below the 6,500 he'd been told to expect.

272
00:12:46,620 --> 00:12:47,453
At the end of the day,

273
00:12:47,453 --> 00:12:51,270
The Allies secure the foothold they need on French soil.

274
00:12:51,270 --> 00:12:55,920
Between D-Day and the end of the war, 2.5 half million men,

275
00:12:55,920 --> 00:12:57,770
half a million vehicles

276
00:12:57,770 --> 00:13:00,070
and 4 million metric tons of supplies

277
00:13:00,070 --> 00:13:02,360
will pass through the beachhead.

278
00:13:02,360 --> 00:13:05,330
In the race to Berlin, the Western Allies

279
00:13:05,330 --> 00:13:07,788
are first out of the blocks.

280
00:13:07,788 --> 00:13:09,490
(gentle music)

281
00:13:09,490 --> 00:13:10,660
DNA was stand in history

282
00:13:10,660 --> 00:13:13,110
as one of the greatest military feats of all time.

283
00:13:13,110 --> 00:13:16,162
The Alliance were on their way to Berlin.

284
00:13:16,162 --> 00:13:19,140
(gentle music)

285
00:13:19,140 --> 00:13:22,530
Western Allies are off to a great start,

286
00:13:22,530 --> 00:13:25,623
but on the Eastern Front, Stalin is seizing.

287
00:13:26,550 --> 00:13:29,863
{\an8}He's got 30 million reasons to be out for vengeance.

288
00:13:30,960 --> 00:13:33,730
Stalin and Hitler had been allies,

289
00:13:33,730 --> 00:13:38,730
but in 1941, Hitler being Hitler, betrays Stalin.

290
00:13:39,585 --> 00:13:40,418
(crowd cheering)

291
00:13:40,418 --> 00:13:41,251
When the blow came

292
00:13:41,251 --> 00:13:43,153
it was from five different directions.

293
00:13:44,140 --> 00:13:46,150
{\an8}Stalin was absolutely shocked

294
00:13:46,150 --> 00:13:48,380
{\an8}when Hitler invades the Soviet Union,

295
00:13:48,380 --> 00:13:51,290
and Hitler's invasion is brutal.

296
00:13:51,290 --> 00:13:53,130
Many people believe that the Soviet Union

297
00:13:53,130 --> 00:13:54,897
was actually going to fall.

298
00:13:54,897 --> 00:13:55,900
(suspenseful music)

299
00:13:55,900 --> 00:13:59,410
{\an8}Somewhere between about 27 and 30 million people

300
00:13:59,410 --> 00:14:00,790
{\an8}in the Soviet Union died,

301
00:14:00,790 --> 00:14:03,470
vast majority are civilians,

302
00:14:03,470 --> 00:14:06,530
which tells you the nature of the German war effort.

303
00:14:06,530 --> 00:14:07,706
It's not a regular war.

304
00:14:07,706 --> 00:14:11,000
This is a war of extermination, it's a war of blood.

305
00:14:11,000 --> 00:14:12,950
But the Soviets fight back

306
00:14:12,950 --> 00:14:15,946
fueled by the biggest draft in history.

307
00:14:15,946 --> 00:14:17,602
{\an8}(speaks in foreign language)

308
00:14:17,602 --> 00:14:20,270
{\an8}This war is not an ordinary war.

309
00:14:20,270 --> 00:14:23,340
It is a war of the entire Russian people.

310
00:14:23,340 --> 00:14:25,970
Before the end of World War II,

311
00:14:25,970 --> 00:14:28,630
{\an8}almost 30 million troops will be drafted

312
00:14:28,630 --> 00:14:30,380
{\an8}to serve in the Red Army.

313
00:14:30,380 --> 00:14:31,920
{\an8}And that's one new soldier

314
00:14:31,920 --> 00:14:34,623
{\an8}for every person lost to Hitler's invasion.

315
00:14:35,460 --> 00:14:37,670
A lot of young men weren't properly trained,

316
00:14:37,670 --> 00:14:39,030
didn't have proper uniforms.

317
00:14:39,030 --> 00:14:40,370
They had bad equipment.

318
00:14:40,370 --> 00:14:42,287
They were taken from their villages and just said,

319
00:14:42,287 --> 00:14:44,077
"Okay, you're going to the frontline now,

320
00:14:44,077 --> 00:14:46,627
"you have to fight because we need you."

321
00:14:46,627 --> 00:14:49,020
(upbeat music)

322
00:14:49,020 --> 00:14:52,630
{\an8}In June of 1944 with his army now replenished

323
00:14:52,630 --> 00:14:55,730
and the Western Allies invasion of Europe underway,

324
00:14:55,730 --> 00:14:58,313
{\an8}it's time for Stalin to strike in the East.

325
00:14:59,190 --> 00:15:02,110
{\an8}Bagration, is Stalin's plan

326
00:15:02,110 --> 00:15:06,440
for the great summer offensive of 1944,

327
00:15:06,440 --> 00:15:11,440
the largest, bar none, single ally campaign in World War II.

328
00:15:13,260 --> 00:15:15,970
On D-Day, the Western Allies invasion force

329
00:15:15,970 --> 00:15:19,173
numbered approximately 155,000.

330
00:15:20,470 --> 00:15:23,940
But that's nothing compared to the number Stalin has.

331
00:15:23,940 --> 00:15:25,720
{\an8}He begins his race to Berlin

332
00:15:25,720 --> 00:15:30,210
{\an8}with a force more than 10 times bigger.

333
00:15:30,210 --> 00:15:31,160
{\an8}(upbeat music)

334
00:15:31,160 --> 00:15:35,340
Stalin gets together over 2.3 million men.

335
00:15:35,340 --> 00:15:37,310
We're talking thousands of tanks,

336
00:15:37,310 --> 00:15:40,020
thousands of trucks, thousands of aircraft.

337
00:15:40,020 --> 00:15:43,200
It's absolutely massive.

338
00:15:43,200 --> 00:15:46,460
{\an8}Hitler by this point has around about 1 million troops

339
00:15:46,460 --> 00:15:48,120
{\an8}on the Eastern Front.

340
00:15:48,120 --> 00:15:50,920
They're setting up this horrific defense

341
00:15:50,920 --> 00:15:52,628
that the Soviets are gonna have to go through.

342
00:15:52,628 --> 00:15:53,910
(upbeat music)

343
00:15:53,910 --> 00:15:54,743
Stalin's problem

344
00:15:54,743 --> 00:15:56,480
isn't the number of men he's got,

345
00:15:56,480 --> 00:15:58,830
but how to hide the fact that he's got so many.

346
00:16:00,260 --> 00:16:02,773
The goal, catch the Germans off guard.

347
00:16:03,750 --> 00:16:06,830
What Stalin wants is to try and hide from the Germans.

348
00:16:06,830 --> 00:16:11,000
{\an8}But you know, there is this storm of steel coming their way.

349
00:16:11,000 --> 00:16:14,290
To keep 2.3 million men a secret,

350
00:16:14,290 --> 00:16:18,163
{\an8}it's going to take Stalin's secret weapon, Maskirovka.

351
00:16:19,562 --> 00:16:24,463
Maskirovka is a Russian word for disguise or deceit.

352
00:16:25,510 --> 00:16:28,160
Stalin does a number of things in order to deceive Hitler,

353
00:16:28,160 --> 00:16:30,300
having fake radio signals,

354
00:16:30,300 --> 00:16:33,394
having fake army groups, which don't really exist.

355
00:16:33,394 --> 00:16:35,350
(suspenseful music)

356
00:16:35,350 --> 00:16:37,190
Stalin's ploys to make it appear

357
00:16:37,190 --> 00:16:39,380
the attack will come in the Ukraine

358
00:16:39,380 --> 00:16:42,290
when he actually plans to attack further North

359
00:16:42,290 --> 00:16:43,434
in Byelorussia.

360
00:16:43,434 --> 00:16:44,300
(gentle music)

361
00:16:44,300 --> 00:16:47,480
Gentler of course was no military strategist.

362
00:16:47,480 --> 00:16:48,783
The Germans are duped.

363
00:16:49,690 --> 00:16:52,930
They move huge numbers of German tanks to the South.

364
00:16:52,930 --> 00:16:56,380
And that left them virtually defenseless.

365
00:16:56,380 --> 00:16:58,720
Stalin is about to find out just how long

366
00:16:58,720 --> 00:17:01,330
he can keep his 2.3 million men a secret.

367
00:17:01,330 --> 00:17:02,600
(train engine revving)

368
00:17:02,600 --> 00:17:06,140
The Germans had laid these vast minefields on their Front

369
00:17:06,140 --> 00:17:08,740
in order to prevent the service from coming through.

370
00:17:09,960 --> 00:17:11,110
In the dead of night,

371
00:17:11,110 --> 00:17:14,660
on the Byelorussian Front, 21-yeah-old Pyotr Makeyev

372
00:17:14,660 --> 00:17:18,283
slips between trees, careful not to make a sound.

373
00:17:19,270 --> 00:17:21,630
The work that Pyotr and his team are doing

374
00:17:21,630 --> 00:17:26,630
is incredibly dangerous, deactivating minefields

375
00:17:27,230 --> 00:17:30,437
in preparation for the invasion of Bagration.

376
00:17:31,357 --> 00:17:34,240
Pyotr clips barbed wire and pulls it away,

377
00:17:34,240 --> 00:17:36,520
creating a safe channel for troops in the rear

378
00:17:36,520 --> 00:17:37,860
to move through.

379
00:17:37,860 --> 00:17:41,050
These young men had to crawl out into these minefields

380
00:17:41,050 --> 00:17:44,930
and very, very carefully try and find out where they were

381
00:17:44,930 --> 00:17:48,469
and then deactivate them by taking them apart.

382
00:17:48,469 --> 00:17:49,500
(gentle music)

383
00:17:49,500 --> 00:17:52,380
To do it in the dead of night where you can't see anything,

384
00:17:52,380 --> 00:17:55,130
you can't communicate, you don't know where the mines are,

385
00:17:55,130 --> 00:17:57,950
was enormously dangerous work.

386
00:17:57,950 --> 00:17:59,710
Many of Pyotr brothers in arms

387
00:17:59,710 --> 00:18:01,132
will be killed in the attempt.

388
00:18:01,132 --> 00:18:01,965
(bomb exploding)

389
00:18:01,965 --> 00:18:03,790
But by the time they are done their work,

390
00:18:03,790 --> 00:18:07,437
the Front has been cleared for Stalin's surprise assaults.

391
00:18:07,437 --> 00:18:09,850
(upbeat music)

392
00:18:09,850 --> 00:18:11,733
Hitler is still none the wiser.

393
00:18:12,640 --> 00:18:15,137
But how much time does Stalin have before he is?

394
00:18:15,137 --> 00:18:18,141
(upbeat music)

395
00:18:18,141 --> 00:18:21,910
{\an8}Vasily Ermolenko is on the frontline ready for the attack.

396
00:18:21,910 --> 00:18:23,660
{\an8}Like every Soviet soldier,

397
00:18:23,660 --> 00:18:27,670
after three years of fighting for survival, he's exhausted,

398
00:18:27,670 --> 00:18:29,780
physically and mentally,

399
00:18:29,780 --> 00:18:32,220
even his boots are falling apart.

400
00:18:32,220 --> 00:18:35,170
And yet by Bagration comes along

401
00:18:35,170 --> 00:18:39,340
and this gives them all this tremendous boost of hope.

402
00:18:39,340 --> 00:18:41,930
Because finally, this is the chance

403
00:18:41,930 --> 00:18:44,280
that they're going to actually be able to show the Germans

404
00:18:44,280 --> 00:18:45,870
what they've got.

405
00:18:45,870 --> 00:18:48,386
On June 22nd, it begins.

406
00:18:48,386 --> 00:18:50,737
(cannons exploding)

407
00:18:50,737 --> 00:18:52,880
The battle begins early in the morning

408
00:18:52,880 --> 00:18:55,379
and it begins with artillery barrage.

409
00:18:55,379 --> 00:18:57,110
(cannons exploding)

410
00:18:57,110 --> 00:18:59,050
So these guns that had been lined up,

411
00:18:59,050 --> 00:19:01,580
all the way down for kilometers,

412
00:19:01,580 --> 00:19:03,203
all of a sudden start to fire.

413
00:19:04,240 --> 00:19:07,040
32,000 Pieces of artillery,

414
00:19:07,040 --> 00:19:09,950
open up on German defenses,

415
00:19:09,950 --> 00:19:14,950
firing a total of 192,000 metric tons of ordinance.

416
00:19:16,400 --> 00:19:17,940
The Germans are just all of a sudden

417
00:19:17,940 --> 00:19:20,113
faced with this massive barrage,

418
00:19:21,000 --> 00:19:22,253
pounding down on them.

419
00:19:23,350 --> 00:19:24,870
And the Germans don't know what hit them

420
00:19:24,870 --> 00:19:26,510
because they weren't expecting this at all.

421
00:19:26,510 --> 00:19:28,083
And then they become terrified.

422
00:19:28,950 --> 00:19:31,710
After the artillery, the Red Army,

423
00:19:31,710 --> 00:19:34,860
Ermolenko included surges forward.

424
00:19:34,860 --> 00:19:38,540
Waves and waves of troops smashing into the Germans.

425
00:19:38,540 --> 00:19:40,570
They scramble and try to fight back,

426
00:19:40,570 --> 00:19:42,300
but it really doesn't help.

427
00:19:42,300 --> 00:19:44,010
They start to surrender.

428
00:19:44,010 --> 00:19:46,300
And this is such a moment of triumph

429
00:19:46,300 --> 00:19:48,320
for the Red Army soldiers.

430
00:19:48,320 --> 00:19:50,600
It's a complete and utter victory

431
00:19:50,600 --> 00:19:52,823
for the Soviets from the moment go.

432
00:19:54,780 --> 00:19:56,673
Stalin's maskirovka is so successful,

433
00:19:56,673 --> 00:19:59,730
{\an8}it takes three days before Hitler realizes

434
00:19:59,730 --> 00:20:03,163
{\an8}he's made this enormous error of judgment.

435
00:20:04,010 --> 00:20:05,350
Three days is all it takes

436
00:20:05,350 --> 00:20:07,800
to give Stalin the advantage he needs.

437
00:20:07,800 --> 00:20:09,600
All along the Eastern Front,

438
00:20:09,600 --> 00:20:12,600
the Red Army pushes into occupied territory,

439
00:20:12,600 --> 00:20:14,290
rapidly gaining ground.

440
00:20:14,290 --> 00:20:18,830
Stalin takes back all the territory he's lost since 1941

441
00:20:18,830 --> 00:20:19,842
and then some.

442
00:20:19,842 --> 00:20:21,010
(bombs exploding)

443
00:20:21,010 --> 00:20:23,500
Bagration is the most territory gains

444
00:20:23,500 --> 00:20:25,830
in the shortest period of time and all of World War II.

445
00:20:25,830 --> 00:20:27,690
So in the span of about two months,

446
00:20:27,690 --> 00:20:30,160
they make it all the way to Poland.

447
00:20:30,160 --> 00:20:34,060
The Germans suffer 350,000 casualties,

448
00:20:34,060 --> 00:20:37,153
over 40% of their defending forces.

449
00:20:37,153 --> 00:20:38,760
(suspenseful music)

450
00:20:38,760 --> 00:20:40,920
It's absolutely staggering,

451
00:20:40,920 --> 00:20:45,723
how successful Bagration is to Hitler's absolute fury.

452
00:20:46,810 --> 00:20:49,590
And Stalin of course is jubilant.

453
00:20:49,590 --> 00:20:53,003
Finally, there's a sense of retribution, sense of revenge.

454
00:20:54,330 --> 00:20:56,030
(upbeat music)

455
00:20:56,030 --> 00:20:58,380
By August of 1944,

456
00:20:58,380 --> 00:21:01,430
{\an8}the Red Army has advanced 400 miles,

457
00:21:01,430 --> 00:21:03,583
{\an8}more than halfway to the German capital.

458
00:21:04,650 --> 00:21:06,520
The Western Allies, meanwhile,

459
00:21:06,520 --> 00:21:10,391
{\an8}have only made it 150 miles towards Berlin.

460
00:21:10,391 --> 00:21:12,540
{\an8}(gentle music)

461
00:21:12,540 --> 00:21:14,990
The allies get stalled in France.

462
00:21:14,990 --> 00:21:17,030
People often think, you know, June 7th,

463
00:21:17,030 --> 00:21:18,830
the day after D-Day, it's all over.

464
00:21:18,830 --> 00:21:19,800
It's not over.

465
00:21:19,800 --> 00:21:20,874
The allies had tough go.

466
00:21:20,874 --> 00:21:21,707
(guns firing)

467
00:21:21,707 --> 00:21:24,150
Advantage Stalin.

468
00:21:24,150 --> 00:21:25,950
But he's paid for the lead in blood.

469
00:21:26,850 --> 00:21:31,850
{\an8}His Red Army suffers over 770,000 casualties.

470
00:21:31,890 --> 00:21:36,327
While the Western Allies suffer just over 226,000.

471
00:21:37,630 --> 00:21:39,933
There's a quote famously attributed to Stalin,

472
00:21:40,807 --> 00:21:45,807
"One death is a tragedy, a million deaths, a statistic."

473
00:21:46,480 --> 00:21:47,530
The bottom line is that Stalin

474
00:21:47,530 --> 00:21:49,910
doesn't care how many people die.

475
00:21:49,910 --> 00:21:52,227
All he cares about is winning.

476
00:21:52,227 --> 00:21:55,502
(gentle music)

477
00:21:55,502 --> 00:21:57,643
(tank engine revving)

478
00:21:57,643 --> 00:21:59,730
Commanding the Western Front,

479
00:21:59,730 --> 00:22:02,240
Eisenhower has been taking a more measured approach

480
00:22:02,240 --> 00:22:04,800
on the road to Berlin than Stalin.

481
00:22:04,800 --> 00:22:07,120
{\an8}In terms of character, in terms of personality,

482
00:22:07,120 --> 00:22:09,840
{\an8}you almost couldn't find two people more opposite.

483
00:22:09,840 --> 00:22:12,470
Because Eisenhower is very cautious,

484
00:22:12,470 --> 00:22:15,070
he's very concerned with the welfare

485
00:22:15,070 --> 00:22:17,073
of his own men and women.

486
00:22:18,090 --> 00:22:19,860
After the success of D-Day,

487
00:22:19,860 --> 00:22:22,190
the Western Allied armies get bogged down

488
00:22:22,190 --> 00:22:24,903
by heavy German resistance in Normandy.

489
00:22:24,903 --> 00:22:26,600
(bombs exploding)

490
00:22:26,600 --> 00:22:27,893
Allied bombing,

491
00:22:28,780 --> 00:22:32,925
{\an8}followed by overwhelming forces is what actually breaks 'em.

492
00:22:32,925 --> 00:22:34,090
(bomb exploding)

493
00:22:34,090 --> 00:22:37,533
And the American forces burst that way through that hole.

494
00:22:38,700 --> 00:22:39,650
The Western advance

495
00:22:39,650 --> 00:22:41,530
is finally picking up steam

496
00:22:41,530 --> 00:22:43,700
and Eisenhower is hoping to make up ground

497
00:22:43,700 --> 00:22:44,963
in the race to Berlin.

498
00:22:46,180 --> 00:22:48,740
But at a time when any delay counts,

499
00:22:48,740 --> 00:22:51,260
{\an8}he's got a problem in Paris,

500
00:22:51,260 --> 00:22:53,363
{\an8}20,000 problems actually.

501
00:22:55,150 --> 00:22:58,640
{\an8}Paris has been under Nazi occupation for four years.

502
00:22:58,640 --> 00:23:02,413
And the more than 2 million citizens want the Germans gone.

503
00:23:04,090 --> 00:23:06,683
Eisenhower though, has other ideas.

504
00:23:07,560 --> 00:23:09,410
In the pre-invasion planning,

505
00:23:09,410 --> 00:23:13,613
Eisenhower never had any intention of fighting for Paris.

506
00:23:14,870 --> 00:23:17,173
The plan was to bypass Paris.

507
00:23:18,400 --> 00:23:21,530
{\an8}It's not a major military objective for The Allies.

508
00:23:21,530 --> 00:23:24,910
It's only in the French minds that Paris is important.

509
00:23:24,910 --> 00:23:26,100
With the Germans attention

510
00:23:26,100 --> 00:23:27,720
on the allied invasion,

511
00:23:27,720 --> 00:23:30,223
the French Resistance make their move.

512
00:23:31,184 --> 00:23:32,219
(bomb exploding)

513
00:23:32,219 --> 00:23:35,570
The uprising by the French Resistance

514
00:23:35,570 --> 00:23:38,720
that starts on the 19th of August, 1944.

515
00:23:38,720 --> 00:23:39,800
(guns firing)

516
00:23:39,800 --> 00:23:41,540
It's a bit of a ragtag army

517
00:23:41,540 --> 00:23:44,590
armed with whatever they can get their hands on,

518
00:23:44,590 --> 00:23:45,763
but it's quite sizable.

519
00:23:46,920 --> 00:23:49,490
The resistance has up to 20,000 fighters

520
00:23:49,490 --> 00:23:52,040
determined to help liberate Paris,

521
00:23:52,040 --> 00:23:54,833
which puts their numbers on par with German occupiers.

522
00:23:56,470 --> 00:23:59,100
But they only have 600 guns,

523
00:23:59,100 --> 00:24:01,233
one for every 33 fighters.

524
00:24:03,130 --> 00:24:05,220
Despite being badly outgunned,

525
00:24:05,220 --> 00:24:08,327
the Resistance have the backing of the people of Paris.

526
00:24:08,327 --> 00:24:11,324
But the Germans don't back down.

527
00:24:11,324 --> 00:24:12,920
(upbeat music)

528
00:24:12,920 --> 00:24:15,506
Hitler is insisting they fight for every yard.

529
00:24:15,506 --> 00:24:16,630
(guns firing)

530
00:24:16,630 --> 00:24:18,650
So there's quite vicious fighting.

531
00:24:18,650 --> 00:24:21,259
And there are a number of casualties.

532
00:24:21,259 --> 00:24:24,120
(upbeat music)

533
00:24:24,120 --> 00:24:25,530
Eisenhower and his generals

534
00:24:25,530 --> 00:24:29,140
have been keeping an eye on Paris and the rising body count.

535
00:24:29,140 --> 00:24:33,270
2000 Parisians and 800 Resistance fighters killed,

536
00:24:33,270 --> 00:24:34,693
thousands more are wounded.

537
00:24:35,540 --> 00:24:38,160
But diverting troops from the frontline to help

538
00:24:38,160 --> 00:24:41,136
risks stalling their advanced to Berlin.

539
00:24:41,136 --> 00:24:42,630
It very quickly becomes clear

540
00:24:42,630 --> 00:24:44,320
that they simply can't let this

541
00:24:44,320 --> 00:24:45,900
turn into a kind of bloodbath,

542
00:24:45,900 --> 00:24:48,250
they're gonna have to do something about it.

543
00:24:48,250 --> 00:24:51,980
Eisenhower says, "Yes, okay, we'll send in the troops."

544
00:24:51,980 --> 00:24:53,600
(tank engine revving)

545
00:24:53,600 --> 00:24:56,917
Two days later, allied troops enter Paris

546
00:24:56,917 --> 00:24:59,160
and the tide of the uprising turns

547
00:24:59,160 --> 00:25:01,230
in favor of the Resistance.

548
00:25:01,230 --> 00:25:04,263
But there's still one more wrong left to right.

549
00:25:05,130 --> 00:25:06,270
(upbeat music)

550
00:25:06,270 --> 00:25:09,180
When the Germans first took Paris in 1940,

551
00:25:09,180 --> 00:25:10,760
they ordered a French firefighter

552
00:25:10,760 --> 00:25:14,120
to hang a swastika from the top of the Eiffel Tower.

553
00:25:14,120 --> 00:25:17,768
He complied, but swore he would take it down one day.

554
00:25:17,768 --> 00:25:19,260
(gentle music)

555
00:25:19,260 --> 00:25:21,840
Redemption is never easy.

556
00:25:21,840 --> 00:25:26,840
For Lucien Sarniguet, it will take 1,671 steps.

557
00:25:27,770 --> 00:25:31,470
August 25th, the battle for Paris is raging,

558
00:25:31,470 --> 00:25:33,700
the city is in chaos,

559
00:25:33,700 --> 00:25:36,860
but Sarniguet is singularly focused.

560
00:25:36,860 --> 00:25:41,210
His kept a tricolor the red, white and blue flag of France

561
00:25:41,210 --> 00:25:44,277
since the surrender back in 1940.

562
00:25:44,277 --> 00:25:45,670
And he seized this opportunity

563
00:25:45,670 --> 00:25:49,343
to raise the tricolor on the very top of the Eiffel Tower.

564
00:25:50,430 --> 00:25:52,700
Sarniguet and three fellow firefighters

565
00:25:52,700 --> 00:25:54,603
rush to the base of the Eiffel Tower.

566
00:25:56,470 --> 00:26:00,220
As the four men begin to climb the thousand foot tall tower,

567
00:26:00,220 --> 00:26:02,115
the Germans open fire.

568
00:26:02,115 --> 00:26:03,790
(guns firing)

569
00:26:03,790 --> 00:26:06,467
There was heavy fighting, Germans were shooting at him.

570
00:26:06,467 --> 00:26:09,970
And then he saw another team of Frenchmen

571
00:26:09,970 --> 00:26:11,700
doing the exact same thing.

572
00:26:11,700 --> 00:26:13,980
So it became kind of a foot race.

573
00:26:13,980 --> 00:26:17,120
Sarniguet rushes to close the distance.

574
00:26:17,120 --> 00:26:19,460
Gasping for breath, the 45 year old

575
00:26:19,460 --> 00:26:23,890
reaches the last of the tower's 1,671 steps

576
00:26:24,810 --> 00:26:27,970
to see his competition raising their own tricolor

577
00:26:27,970 --> 00:26:29,313
in place of the swastika.

578
00:26:32,340 --> 00:26:34,860
Sarniguet swore he'd be the one to do it,

579
00:26:34,860 --> 00:26:35,693
but in the moment

580
00:26:35,693 --> 00:26:38,730
of seeing the French flag flying once again,

581
00:26:38,730 --> 00:26:41,193
his disappointment gives way to elation.

582
00:26:42,030 --> 00:26:44,000
It was never about him,

583
00:26:44,000 --> 00:26:46,410
this was about France.

584
00:26:46,410 --> 00:26:48,070
You're not just raising one flag,

585
00:26:48,070 --> 00:26:51,330
you're taking down the flag of your oppressor.

586
00:26:51,330 --> 00:26:55,670
So in a way that raising of the tricolor or the Eiffel Tower

587
00:26:55,670 --> 00:26:57,843
is the moment that Paris has liberated.

588
00:26:58,773 --> 00:27:01,440
(gentle music)

589
00:27:02,420 --> 00:27:04,120
The remaining German troops surrender

590
00:27:04,120 --> 00:27:06,033
in the face of overwhelming odds.

591
00:27:07,320 --> 00:27:08,610
But the liberation of Paris

592
00:27:08,610 --> 00:27:10,653
has cost the Western Allies time,

593
00:27:11,720 --> 00:27:13,930
putting them even further behind the Soviets

594
00:27:13,930 --> 00:27:15,030
in the race to Berlin.

595
00:27:16,886 --> 00:27:17,880
(tank engine revving)

596
00:27:17,880 --> 00:27:21,370
{\an8}Which means Stalin, already ahead of the game,

597
00:27:21,370 --> 00:27:23,412
{\an8}has 63 days to kill.

598
00:27:23,412 --> 00:27:25,920
{\an8}(gentle music)

599
00:27:25,920 --> 00:27:29,840
At August, 1944, Stalin's Red Army

600
00:27:29,840 --> 00:27:31,730
is approaching the Vistula River,

601
00:27:31,730 --> 00:27:34,634
just on the other side, Warsaw.

602
00:27:34,634 --> 00:27:36,070
(upbeat music)

603
00:27:36,070 --> 00:27:38,720
Just like the Parisians, the Polish home army

604
00:27:38,720 --> 00:27:40,830
thinks liberty is at hand

605
00:27:40,830 --> 00:27:44,033
and they rise up against the German occupiers in Warsaw.

606
00:27:44,900 --> 00:27:48,010
But to the surprise of the home army fighters

607
00:27:48,010 --> 00:27:49,700
and the Germans,

608
00:27:49,700 --> 00:27:52,980
{\an8}the Red Army stopped six miles outside the city

609
00:27:52,980 --> 00:27:54,870
{\an8}and doesn't budge.

610
00:27:54,870 --> 00:27:56,970
The Russian army is ordered to stay put.

611
00:27:57,940 --> 00:28:00,970
There's no reason why they couldn't have helped

612
00:28:00,970 --> 00:28:02,940
but it was the malice of Stalin,

613
00:28:02,940 --> 00:28:05,623
not wanting to spend his forces for Poland.

614
00:28:06,460 --> 00:28:08,780
Warsaw is abandoned.

615
00:28:08,780 --> 00:28:10,940
For the residence, the number 13

616
00:28:10,940 --> 00:28:13,103
represents their last hope of escape.

617
00:28:16,070 --> 00:28:17,433
Civilians can't get out.

618
00:28:18,550 --> 00:28:21,020
So they're just simply massacred by bombing

619
00:28:21,020 --> 00:28:22,434
and by shellfire.

620
00:28:22,434 --> 00:28:25,840
(bombs exploding)

621
00:28:25,840 --> 00:28:29,600
{\an8}Girl scout, Anna Kowalska may only be 13 years old,

622
00:28:29,600 --> 00:28:31,573
but she is no stranger to combat.

623
00:28:33,540 --> 00:28:35,200
The AK, the Polish home army

624
00:28:35,200 --> 00:28:38,010
was very much a young people's movement

625
00:28:38,010 --> 00:28:41,483
made up of people in their teens and early 20s.

626
00:28:42,500 --> 00:28:46,040
And this included young boy scouts and girl scouts.

627
00:28:46,040 --> 00:28:50,380
They worked as couriers, hid things in their houses.

628
00:28:50,380 --> 00:28:52,500
They dobbed graffiti on the walls

629
00:28:52,500 --> 00:28:55,620
in the aid of the resistance movement.

630
00:28:55,620 --> 00:28:56,850
Throughout the uprising,

631
00:28:56,850 --> 00:28:58,860
Anna has been an essential courier,

632
00:28:58,860 --> 00:29:02,580
dodging German gunfire and leaping barricades.

633
00:29:02,580 --> 00:29:05,150
Now she has for most difficult task,

634
00:29:05,150 --> 00:29:08,760
40 feet below the city in a river of filth.

635
00:29:08,760 --> 00:29:11,820
The home army have used the sewer system in Warsaw,

636
00:29:11,820 --> 00:29:13,450
throughout the Warsaw uprising,

637
00:29:13,450 --> 00:29:16,430
to move around the city underground.

638
00:29:16,430 --> 00:29:18,820
Girl scouts, who of course were very small, very slim,

639
00:29:18,820 --> 00:29:20,300
could work in the sewers.

640
00:29:20,300 --> 00:29:21,133
And they were the ones

641
00:29:21,133 --> 00:29:24,520
who actually mapped out the routes through the sewers.

642
00:29:24,520 --> 00:29:27,040
Desperate to escape German artillery,

643
00:29:27,040 --> 00:29:29,160
Anna leads people in groups of 50

644
00:29:29,160 --> 00:29:30,653
through the maze of tunnels.

645
00:29:32,540 --> 00:29:35,490
Below, it's almost pitch-black.

646
00:29:35,490 --> 00:29:37,660
Some lose consciousness because of the smell

647
00:29:37,660 --> 00:29:39,220
and have to be carried.

648
00:29:39,220 --> 00:29:43,900
And for those carrying them, the journey takes five hours.

649
00:29:43,900 --> 00:29:46,500
At last, they reached the exit manhole,

650
00:29:46,500 --> 00:29:48,053
gasping for fresh air.

651
00:29:49,330 --> 00:29:52,510
Behind them, Warsaw burns.

652
00:29:52,510 --> 00:29:54,950
And just across the river, the Red Army

653
00:29:54,950 --> 00:29:56,233
watches it all happen.

654
00:29:58,000 --> 00:30:01,990
In three days, over 5,000 Poles escape bombardment

655
00:30:01,990 --> 00:30:03,993
before the sewer entrance is destroyed.

656
00:30:05,140 --> 00:30:10,140
But thousands more are left behind to face Nazi wrath.

657
00:30:10,244 --> 00:30:11,960
(gentle music)

658
00:30:11,960 --> 00:30:14,220
In the end, after 63 days,

659
00:30:14,220 --> 00:30:17,660
it's Germans have managed to take Warsaw,

660
00:30:17,660 --> 00:30:20,388
fiercely crushing the Warsaw uprising.

661
00:30:20,388 --> 00:30:22,510
(building crashing)

662
00:30:22,510 --> 00:30:24,190
All this time, the Red Army

663
00:30:24,190 --> 00:30:26,750
remains effectively at a standstill.

664
00:30:26,750 --> 00:30:29,680
For Stalin, it's a calculated risk,

665
00:30:29,680 --> 00:30:32,600
he can kill two birds with one pause,

666
00:30:32,600 --> 00:30:35,990
allow the Red Army to resupply before the push to Berlin

667
00:30:35,990 --> 00:30:39,759
and also set the stage for his post-war ambitions.

668
00:30:39,759 --> 00:30:40,900
(upbeat music)

669
00:30:40,900 --> 00:30:42,860
Politically it's in Stalin's interest

670
00:30:42,860 --> 00:30:45,710
to see the destruction of Warsaw.

671
00:30:45,710 --> 00:30:48,330
Stalin's making it very clear what he wants out of this war,

672
00:30:48,330 --> 00:30:50,590
and he wants Central and Eastern Europe

673
00:30:50,590 --> 00:30:52,023
to be under Soviet control.

674
00:30:52,950 --> 00:30:56,010
He wanted to eliminate Polish resistance

675
00:30:56,010 --> 00:30:57,163
to make sure that the resistance

676
00:30:57,163 --> 00:31:00,302
that the Soviets would face, was gone.

677
00:31:00,302 --> 00:31:02,730
(upbeat music)

678
00:31:02,730 --> 00:31:04,220
But those 63 days

679
00:31:04,220 --> 00:31:06,690
waiting for the Warsaw uprising to fail,

680
00:31:06,690 --> 00:31:10,230
risks losing Stalin his lead in the race to Berlin.

681
00:31:10,230 --> 00:31:12,000
Because at the other end of Europe,

682
00:31:12,000 --> 00:31:14,402
the Western Allies are making headway.

683
00:31:14,402 --> 00:31:15,235
(crowd cheering)

684
00:31:15,235 --> 00:31:16,930
From the moment they come to Paris,

685
00:31:16,930 --> 00:31:17,950
{\an8}suddenly the race is on.

686
00:31:17,950 --> 00:31:20,830
{\an8}You know, they're charging through Northern France

687
00:31:20,830 --> 00:31:21,780
{\an8}and Eastern France.

688
00:31:23,110 --> 00:31:25,340
By mid September, 1944,

689
00:31:25,340 --> 00:31:28,100
the Western Allies have advanced through France and Belgium

690
00:31:28,100 --> 00:31:31,090
{\an8}to the doorstep of Germany's Western border,

691
00:31:31,090 --> 00:31:33,123
{\an8}340 miles from Berlin.

692
00:31:34,410 --> 00:31:37,740
{\an8}But they're about to face their greatest challenge yet,

693
00:31:37,740 --> 00:31:38,843
the Siegfried Line.

694
00:31:40,810 --> 00:31:43,110
The Siegfried line is a series of German defenses

695
00:31:43,110 --> 00:31:44,970
West of the River Rhine.

696
00:31:44,970 --> 00:31:48,903
This is a major, major obstacle that The Allies face.

697
00:31:49,830 --> 00:31:54,330
Built over three years from 1936 to 1939,

698
00:31:54,330 --> 00:31:57,640
{\an8}the Siegfried Line is more than 390 miles long,

699
00:31:57,640 --> 00:32:00,370
{\an8}but has only one purpose,

700
00:32:00,370 --> 00:32:03,940
{\an8}to stop anyone from getting into Germany alive.

701
00:32:03,940 --> 00:32:06,650
{\an8}It has 22,000 bunkers.

702
00:32:06,650 --> 00:32:09,323
{\an8}The defenses go almost 20 miles deep.

703
00:32:10,280 --> 00:32:12,023
{\an8}It has never been breached.

704
00:32:13,070 --> 00:32:14,950
But there might be a way through.

705
00:32:14,950 --> 00:32:18,623
{\an8}And one number, 69, holds the key.

706
00:32:20,390 --> 00:32:22,090
Eisenhower's methodical advance

707
00:32:22,090 --> 00:32:24,853
has kept us forces relatively safe up to now.

708
00:32:26,090 --> 00:32:28,590
But has him trailing Stalin in the race to Berlin.

709
00:32:29,760 --> 00:32:32,970
A fact that frustrates Winston Churchill.

710
00:32:32,970 --> 00:32:35,410
Churchill believed that getting to Berlin

711
00:32:35,410 --> 00:32:39,080
{\an8}quickly and ahead of Stalin is really very, very important.

712
00:32:39,080 --> 00:32:41,020
The British prime minister pressures Ike

713
00:32:41,020 --> 00:32:42,413
to gamble on a shortcut.

714
00:32:43,550 --> 00:32:45,030
There is a gap in the Siegfried Line

715
00:32:45,030 --> 00:32:46,480
which is in Northern Holland.

716
00:32:47,600 --> 00:32:50,530
That gives you the chance to burst through into Germany,

717
00:32:50,530 --> 00:32:52,723
to try and get to Berlin by Christmas.

718
00:32:53,726 --> 00:32:54,820
(tank engine revving)

719
00:32:54,820 --> 00:32:56,570
It's Highway 69.

720
00:32:56,570 --> 00:32:59,370
But that route requires capturing key bridges

721
00:32:59,370 --> 00:33:01,000
in a risky lightening strike

722
00:33:01,000 --> 00:33:03,603
in order to secure a path across the River Rhine.

723
00:33:04,790 --> 00:33:06,350
Eisenhower, didn't like the plan.

724
00:33:06,350 --> 00:33:08,890
{\an8}And that leads to a significant military debate

725
00:33:08,890 --> 00:33:10,300
{\an8}between The Allies.

726
00:33:10,300 --> 00:33:13,290
But war isn't always about military strategy.

727
00:33:13,290 --> 00:33:16,350
It's often about political strategy too.

728
00:33:16,350 --> 00:33:19,190
In the end, Eisenhower agrees to roll the dice

729
00:33:19,190 --> 00:33:23,290
with the largest airborne operation in history.

730
00:33:23,290 --> 00:33:26,180
Operation Market Garden is the allied effort

731
00:33:26,180 --> 00:33:28,400
to try and force away through

732
00:33:28,400 --> 00:33:32,040
around the Northern edge of the Siegfried Line.

733
00:33:32,040 --> 00:33:35,770
{\an8}On September 17th, 34,600 men

734
00:33:35,770 --> 00:33:37,490
{\an8}are airlifted into combat

735
00:33:37,490 --> 00:33:40,260
in an attempt to break through German lines.

736
00:33:40,260 --> 00:33:42,150
But after only eight days,

737
00:33:42,150 --> 00:33:45,600
{\an8}The Allies suffer 17,000 casualties

738
00:33:45,600 --> 00:33:47,033
{\an8}and are forced to withdraw.

739
00:33:48,110 --> 00:33:50,970
Market Garden was a giant gamble and it failed.

740
00:33:50,970 --> 00:33:53,593
And it costs sizeable losses for The Allies.

741
00:33:54,470 --> 00:33:57,933
{\an8}Highway 69 gains the nickname Hell's Highway.

742
00:33:59,050 --> 00:34:01,710
Eisenhower took a risk and it cost him.

743
00:34:01,710 --> 00:34:05,600
Now he knows they can't go around the Siegfried Line.

744
00:34:05,600 --> 00:34:07,830
If The Allies want to get to Berlin,

745
00:34:07,830 --> 00:34:09,330
they'll have to go through it.

746
00:34:10,310 --> 00:34:11,690
The Battle of Hurtgen Forest

747
00:34:11,690 --> 00:34:13,800
is just one of a series of battles

748
00:34:13,800 --> 00:34:16,680
that takes place all along the Siegfried Line.

749
00:34:16,680 --> 00:34:17,513
It's one of the most

750
00:34:17,513 --> 00:34:19,890
heavily defended spots on the Line.

751
00:34:19,890 --> 00:34:23,930
54 square miles of dense woods, deep ravines

752
00:34:23,930 --> 00:34:25,123
and high ridges.

753
00:34:26,150 --> 00:34:28,180
{\an8}And the Western Allies, biggest enemy,

754
00:34:28,180 --> 00:34:32,333
{\an8}a 100-foot-tall pine tree times several million.

755
00:34:33,672 --> 00:34:37,460
The whole allied way of war is to use fire power,

756
00:34:37,460 --> 00:34:40,800
tanks and vast amounts of artillery.

757
00:34:40,800 --> 00:34:43,910
But in a dense pine forest, how do you do that?

758
00:34:43,910 --> 00:34:47,233
The infantry have got to actually gain the ground.

759
00:34:48,963 --> 00:34:51,160
{\an8}(upbeat music)

760
00:34:51,160 --> 00:34:54,490
{\an8}November 14th, 1944,

761
00:34:54,490 --> 00:34:56,510
20-year-old Private Floyd A. Fulmer

762
00:34:56,510 --> 00:34:58,550
advances through the thick forest.

763
00:34:58,550 --> 00:35:01,132
Everything is silent.

764
00:35:01,132 --> 00:35:02,380
(gentle music)

765
00:35:02,380 --> 00:35:05,120
As he inches forward, he is surrounded by the bodies

766
00:35:05,120 --> 00:35:07,010
of those who came before him,

767
00:35:07,010 --> 00:35:09,853
reminding him of just how deadly this place is.

768
00:35:10,962 --> 00:35:13,010
(guns firing)

769
00:35:13,010 --> 00:35:15,919
Suddenly the trees come alive with gunfire.

770
00:35:15,919 --> 00:35:16,810
(guns firing)

771
00:35:16,810 --> 00:35:20,240
Mowing down the men as they stumble and dive for cover.

772
00:35:20,240 --> 00:35:22,747
Fulmer scrambles to make it to a foxhole.

773
00:35:22,747 --> 00:35:23,580
(guns firing)

774
00:35:23,580 --> 00:35:25,020
But it's too late.

775
00:35:25,020 --> 00:35:29,248
He's hit, his body drops lifeless to the ground.

776
00:35:29,248 --> 00:35:31,000
(guns firing)

777
00:35:31,000 --> 00:35:33,910
The rest of his squad is forced into retreat.

778
00:35:33,910 --> 00:35:37,320
In the chaos Fulmer's must be abandoned.

779
00:35:37,320 --> 00:35:40,325
Afterwards, he is listed as missing and presumed dead.

780
00:35:40,325 --> 00:35:41,280
(guns firing)

781
00:35:41,280 --> 00:35:44,413
One more fallen soldier in a forest filling up with them.

782
00:35:46,630 --> 00:35:50,953
By the Hurtgen Forest campaign, on December 16th, 1944,

783
00:35:52,510 --> 00:35:57,510
an army of 120,000 will suffer 33,000 casualties,

784
00:35:58,090 --> 00:36:00,810
{\an8}a rate of 27.5%.

785
00:36:01,700 --> 00:36:03,040
We look back on these things and we say,

786
00:36:03,040 --> 00:36:03,970
well, eventually they won,

787
00:36:03,970 --> 00:36:06,771
but we often forget that it came at significant costs.

788
00:36:06,771 --> 00:36:08,520
(gentle music)

789
00:36:08,520 --> 00:36:10,270
In all the Siegfried Line

790
00:36:10,270 --> 00:36:14,730
{\an8}will cost the Western Allies 250,000 casualties

791
00:36:14,730 --> 00:36:17,553
{\an8}and stall their advanced on Berlin for months.

792
00:36:18,470 --> 00:36:21,053
(gentle music)

793
00:36:22,653 --> 00:36:23,570
(motorcycle engine revving)

794
00:36:23,570 --> 00:36:25,811
In the East, Stalin watches as the Germans

795
00:36:25,811 --> 00:36:28,363
divert more troops to the Western Front.

796
00:36:29,250 --> 00:36:31,380
And he knows his day will come,

797
00:36:31,380 --> 00:36:34,623
a day marked on his calendar by the number one.

798
00:36:35,543 --> 00:36:36,710
(upbeat music)

799
00:36:36,710 --> 00:36:39,410
By the end of December, 1944,

800
00:36:39,410 --> 00:36:42,220
the Red Army has been standing down for five months

801
00:36:42,220 --> 00:36:43,393
outside of Warsaw.

802
00:36:45,580 --> 00:36:48,360
But they've been busy with a massive logistical buildup,

803
00:36:48,360 --> 00:36:51,870
132,000 carloads of supplies,

804
00:36:51,870 --> 00:36:53,893
9 million rounds of ammunition,

805
00:36:54,810 --> 00:36:56,573
{\an8}30 million gallons of fuel.

806
00:36:57,800 --> 00:37:00,080
{\an8}Stalin starts to build up the supplies

807
00:37:00,080 --> 00:37:02,690
in preparation for this winter offensive.

808
00:37:02,690 --> 00:37:06,200
And Stalin is just determined to push as far Westward

809
00:37:06,200 --> 00:37:08,270
as he possibly can.

810
00:37:08,270 --> 00:37:11,100
January 12th, 1945,

811
00:37:11,100 --> 00:37:13,300
the Red Army is on the march again.

812
00:37:13,300 --> 00:37:15,540
For three weeks, they drive unrelentingly

813
00:37:15,540 --> 00:37:17,490
through Poland towards Germany

814
00:37:17,490 --> 00:37:19,770
and all over the depleted Nazi defenses

815
00:37:19,770 --> 00:37:22,750
with their vastly superior numbers.

816
00:37:22,750 --> 00:37:25,420
There's about a five to one discrepancy

817
00:37:25,420 --> 00:37:29,143
between the Germans and the Soviets by this point.

818
00:37:30,085 --> 00:37:31,023
(tank engine revving)

819
00:37:31,023 --> 00:37:32,190
(upbeat music)

820
00:37:32,190 --> 00:37:34,930
295,000 German troops

821
00:37:34,930 --> 00:37:37,190
are killed in three weeks.

822
00:37:37,190 --> 00:37:41,163
That's an astonishing 14,000 every single day.

823
00:37:43,060 --> 00:37:47,850
{\an8}By January 31st, the Red Army has covered 270 miles

824
00:37:47,850 --> 00:37:49,940
{\an8}to the banks of the Oder river.

825
00:37:49,940 --> 00:37:52,840
That thrush through Poland is everything for the Russians.

826
00:37:52,840 --> 00:37:56,264
Then basically you're right on the German doorstep.

827
00:37:56,264 --> 00:37:58,470
(gentle upbeat music)

828
00:37:58,470 --> 00:38:01,100
The Red Army now sits only 40 miles

829
00:38:01,100 --> 00:38:02,913
{\an8}from the finish line in Berlin.

830
00:38:04,043 --> 00:38:04,876
(bombs exploding)

831
00:38:04,876 --> 00:38:07,600
As you get closer and closer to Berlin,

832
00:38:07,600 --> 00:38:09,750
the German soldiers start to fight more

833
00:38:09,750 --> 00:38:11,950
and more and more ferociously.

834
00:38:11,950 --> 00:38:13,780
Facing fierce resistance,

835
00:38:13,780 --> 00:38:16,970
Stalin pauses the Soviet advanced once more.

836
00:38:16,970 --> 00:38:19,120
He wants to make sure his Red Army

837
00:38:19,120 --> 00:38:21,930
can crush the Germans on their home turf.

838
00:38:21,930 --> 00:38:24,480
He wants to consolidate their forces

839
00:38:24,480 --> 00:38:28,835
and to build them up for that last thrust into Germany.

840
00:38:28,835 --> 00:38:31,418
(gentle music)

841
00:38:33,279 --> 00:38:35,790
(bombs exploding)

842
00:38:35,790 --> 00:38:37,910
February on the Western Front,

843
00:38:37,910 --> 00:38:41,200
The Allies are finally passed the Siegfried Line,

844
00:38:41,200 --> 00:38:43,980
battling their way into German cities and towns

845
00:38:43,980 --> 00:38:46,090
on the banks of the River Rhine.

846
00:38:46,090 --> 00:38:48,570
By the end of March, they've crossed the Rhine

847
00:38:48,570 --> 00:38:50,433
and are into the German Heartland.

848
00:38:52,230 --> 00:38:54,740
{\an8}In March, 1945, it's clear to Eisenhower

849
00:38:54,740 --> 00:38:57,290
that Hitler doesn't have a hope of winning.

850
00:38:57,290 --> 00:39:00,370
In most wars, usually people surrender

851
00:39:00,370 --> 00:39:02,190
when they're not going to win.

852
00:39:02,190 --> 00:39:04,880
But Hitler has no intention of surrendering.

853
00:39:04,880 --> 00:39:08,513
He's insisting his army defend to the last man standing.

854
00:39:09,510 --> 00:39:13,700
{\an8}So with Berlin, just 175 miles away,

855
00:39:13,700 --> 00:39:16,500
{\an8}Eisenhower changes focus.

856
00:39:16,500 --> 00:39:18,440
{\an8}His primary objective is of course

857
00:39:18,440 --> 00:39:21,260
{\an8}to deliver victory to the allied forces.

858
00:39:21,260 --> 00:39:24,260
But he wants to make sure that the goal is achieved

859
00:39:24,260 --> 00:39:28,670
without dramatic losses or as few losses as possible.

860
00:39:28,670 --> 00:39:32,063
That now becomes the paramount goal, not the race to Berlin.

861
00:39:32,930 --> 00:39:34,300
Eisenhower decides it's better

862
00:39:34,300 --> 00:39:35,870
to isolate Berlin,

863
00:39:35,870 --> 00:39:37,750
cut off the enemy's supply lines

864
00:39:37,750 --> 00:39:41,540
and slowly suffocate the remaining German resistance.

865
00:39:41,540 --> 00:39:44,104
But he'll need Stalin to go along with this plan.

866
00:39:44,104 --> 00:39:45,210
(bomb exploding)

867
00:39:45,210 --> 00:39:47,110
Eisenhower sends his telegram

868
00:39:47,110 --> 00:39:50,550
to Stalin on the 28th of March, 1945.

869
00:39:50,550 --> 00:39:54,160
{\an8}You know, he's a pretty straightforward, honest kind of guy.

870
00:39:54,160 --> 00:39:55,870
And I suppose his hope is

871
00:39:55,870 --> 00:39:57,590
that by being straight with Stalin,

872
00:39:57,590 --> 00:39:59,384
Stalin will be straight with him.

873
00:39:59,384 --> 00:40:00,380
(suspenseful music)

874
00:40:00,380 --> 00:40:01,890
Eisenhower wrote the telegram

875
00:40:01,890 --> 00:40:03,680
to assure Stalin his intentions,

876
00:40:03,680 --> 00:40:06,070
that an American thrusts of Berlin

877
00:40:06,070 --> 00:40:07,940
would be a waste of time and effort.

878
00:40:07,940 --> 00:40:10,340
And all they had to do is basically wait it out.

879
00:40:11,550 --> 00:40:13,400
As Stalin gets this telegraph

880
00:40:13,400 --> 00:40:15,600
and he's absolutely thrilled.

881
00:40:15,600 --> 00:40:17,547
{\an8}He says, "Yes, yes, we absolutely agree.

882
00:40:17,547 --> 00:40:18,947
{\an8}"We don't think that Berlin

883
00:40:18,947 --> 00:40:22,430
{\an8}"is particularly important strategic point anymore either."

884
00:40:22,430 --> 00:40:23,870
And then the first thing he does

885
00:40:23,870 --> 00:40:25,150
after answering the telegram

886
00:40:25,150 --> 00:40:27,780
is to call together his generals

887
00:40:27,780 --> 00:40:29,950
and to figure out how they're going to take Berlin

888
00:40:29,950 --> 00:40:30,804
as quickly as possible.

889
00:40:30,804 --> 00:40:32,870
{\an8}(upbeat music)

890
00:40:32,870 --> 00:40:35,603
{\an8}It's April 1st, April Fool's Day.

891
00:40:37,240 --> 00:40:38,720
Eisenhower has made the mistake

892
00:40:38,720 --> 00:40:40,860
of underestimating Stalin's willingness

893
00:40:40,860 --> 00:40:44,265
to sacrifice Soviet lives to get what he wants.

894
00:40:44,265 --> 00:40:45,320
(crowd cheering)

895
00:40:45,320 --> 00:40:47,773
And the next date on Stalin's calendar, May 1st.

896
00:40:49,462 --> 00:40:51,740
(gentle music)

897
00:40:51,740 --> 00:40:53,780
{\an8}The final push to Berlin will involve

898
00:40:53,780 --> 00:40:56,270
{\an8}over 2 million Soviet troops,

899
00:40:56,270 --> 00:40:59,380
{\an8}6,250 tanks

900
00:40:59,380 --> 00:41:01,940
and 41,000 pieces of artillery.

901
00:41:01,940 --> 00:41:03,970
(cannon exploding)

902
00:41:03,970 --> 00:41:07,970
More than 750,000 German troops stand between them

903
00:41:07,970 --> 00:41:09,213
and the German capital.

904
00:41:10,170 --> 00:41:13,840
On April 15th, the assault begins.

905
00:41:13,840 --> 00:41:18,170
1.2 million shells rain down on the first day.

906
00:41:18,170 --> 00:41:20,630
After nine days of intense fighting,

907
00:41:20,630 --> 00:41:23,033
Red Army troops have surrounded Berlin.

908
00:41:24,710 --> 00:41:26,470
They swarm into the city.

909
00:41:26,470 --> 00:41:28,680
Their goal, the Reichstag,

910
00:41:28,680 --> 00:41:31,190
the traditional seat of the German government.

911
00:41:31,190 --> 00:41:33,230
(bombs exploding)

912
00:41:33,230 --> 00:41:34,063
They're like locusts.

913
00:41:34,063 --> 00:41:38,020
I mean it is carnage, destruction, death, mayhem,

914
00:41:38,020 --> 00:41:38,855
everywhere you look.

915
00:41:38,855 --> 00:41:40,210
(bomb exploding)

916
00:41:40,210 --> 00:41:41,750
The race to Berlin has been run

917
00:41:41,750 --> 00:41:44,910
for 11 months and 700 miles.

918
00:41:44,910 --> 00:41:48,653
But the last 1,200 feet takes seven hours to cross.

919
00:41:50,720 --> 00:41:51,553
(upbeat music)

920
00:41:51,553 --> 00:41:53,910
April 30th, 1945,

921
00:41:53,910 --> 00:41:57,140
20 year old Kazak Lieutenant Rakhimzhan Qoshqarbaev

922
00:41:57,140 --> 00:41:59,743
and his comrade Grigory Bulatov take cover.

923
00:42:00,627 --> 00:42:01,730
(guns firing)

924
00:42:01,730 --> 00:42:04,570
The battle is raging around the Reichstag.

925
00:42:04,570 --> 00:42:06,870
The Germans are fiercely defending it.

926
00:42:06,870 --> 00:42:08,340
And these two young men

927
00:42:08,340 --> 00:42:10,760
who've been fighting for such a long time,

928
00:42:10,760 --> 00:42:13,436
have a very precious cargo with them.

929
00:42:13,436 --> 00:42:14,610
(guns firing)

930
00:42:14,610 --> 00:42:16,660
Two men carry a Soviet flag.

931
00:42:17,660 --> 00:42:19,090
{\an8}Their orders are that the flag

932
00:42:19,090 --> 00:42:21,860
{\an8}must hang from the Reichstag by May 1st,

933
00:42:21,860 --> 00:42:23,253
{\an8}International Workers Day.

934
00:42:24,320 --> 00:42:26,440
{\an8}Exactly the kind of political home run

935
00:42:26,440 --> 00:42:27,723
{\an8}Stalin is looking for.

936
00:42:28,780 --> 00:42:31,330
{\an8}They're sneaking toward the Reichstag.

937
00:42:31,330 --> 00:42:33,390
There's sniper fire, there's rifle fire,

938
00:42:33,390 --> 00:42:34,810
there's shrapnel going off,

939
00:42:34,810 --> 00:42:36,656
but they managed to get inside.

940
00:42:36,656 --> 00:42:38,970
(guns firing)

941
00:42:38,970 --> 00:42:40,200
Heavy German resistance

942
00:42:40,200 --> 00:42:43,100
pushes back at them as they ascend the steps.

943
00:42:43,100 --> 00:42:45,450
By the time they get safely to the top

944
00:42:45,450 --> 00:42:47,040
night has fallen.

945
00:42:47,040 --> 00:42:48,710
They complete their mission in the dark

946
00:42:48,710 --> 00:42:51,110
with just over three hours to spare,

947
00:42:51,110 --> 00:42:52,720
hanging the flag and officially

948
00:42:52,720 --> 00:42:55,110
{\an8}declaring a winner in the race to Berlin

949
00:42:55,110 --> 00:42:59,222
{\an8}at 8:40 p.m. on April 30th, 1945.

950
00:42:59,222 --> 00:43:00,940
{\an8}(gentle music)

951
00:43:00,940 --> 00:43:03,000
{\an8}They were going to take pictures of this flag

952
00:43:03,000 --> 00:43:04,990
waving above the Reichstag.

953
00:43:04,990 --> 00:43:06,680
But the problem was of course, by this point,

954
00:43:06,680 --> 00:43:09,110
it was dark and the image didn't work

955
00:43:09,110 --> 00:43:10,860
and nobody really sees it.

956
00:43:10,860 --> 00:43:14,526
And so they wrap the flag back up again and retreat.

957
00:43:14,526 --> 00:43:15,550
(guns firing)

958
00:43:15,550 --> 00:43:18,780
The race began with gunshots over Utah beach.

959
00:43:18,780 --> 00:43:20,623
It ends with a gunshot as well.

960
00:43:21,610 --> 00:43:23,410
A few hours before the Soviet flag

961
00:43:23,410 --> 00:43:25,260
is planted on the Reichstag,

962
00:43:25,260 --> 00:43:29,580
28 feet underground, Adolf Hitler puts a gun to his head

963
00:43:29,580 --> 00:43:30,578
and pulls the trigger.

964
00:43:30,578 --> 00:43:32,640
(gun firing)

965
00:43:32,640 --> 00:43:34,420
By the end of the battle of Berlin,

966
00:43:34,420 --> 00:43:38,113
{\an8}Soviet casualties stand at 81,000 dead or missing.

967
00:43:39,600 --> 00:43:43,110
The Germans have lost at least 100,000.

968
00:43:43,110 --> 00:43:47,350
Stalin has the victory he craved, but it isn't enough.

969
00:43:47,350 --> 00:43:50,004
He needs the world to see it.

970
00:43:50,004 --> 00:43:50,837
(upbeat music)

971
00:43:50,837 --> 00:43:53,020
It's the photograph of the guy on Reichstag

972
00:43:53,020 --> 00:43:55,340
that's important to Stalin.

973
00:43:55,340 --> 00:43:57,300
However, it's not until the 2nd of May,

974
00:43:57,300 --> 00:43:59,493
when they re-enact the moment,

975
00:43:59,493 --> 00:44:03,420
that the famous picture of the young soldier

976
00:44:03,420 --> 00:44:06,580
reaching out and putting the flag up on the Reichstag,

977
00:44:06,580 --> 00:44:08,118
is actually photographed.

978
00:44:08,118 --> 00:44:10,400
(upbeat music)

979
00:44:10,400 --> 00:44:12,660
One last deception from the master,

980
00:44:12,660 --> 00:44:13,521
Joseph Stalin.

981
00:44:13,521 --> 00:44:14,354
(upbeat music)

982
00:44:14,354 --> 00:44:16,743
The unqualified winner of the race to Berlin,

983
00:44:17,880 --> 00:44:19,703
even if he was one day late.

984
00:44:21,215 --> 00:44:23,600
(upbeat music)

985
00:44:23,600 --> 00:44:25,600
Stalin's getting to Berlin first

986
00:44:25,600 --> 00:44:27,450
is a great propaganda coup,

987
00:44:27,450 --> 00:44:30,843
which bolsters his own image in the Soviet Union.

988
00:44:31,900 --> 00:44:33,900
It's a glorious moment for the Russians

989
00:44:33,900 --> 00:44:35,250
and for Stalin personally,

990
00:44:35,250 --> 00:44:36,850
but it's wasteful.

991
00:44:36,850 --> 00:44:39,960
You commit tens of thousands of boys to their graves

992
00:44:39,960 --> 00:44:41,563
in order to hoist a flag.

993
00:44:42,800 --> 00:44:45,990
For Stalin it's just one more small sacrifice

994
00:44:45,990 --> 00:44:48,580
for victory and glory.

995
00:44:48,580 --> 00:44:50,320
Stalin wins the race for Berlin

996
00:44:50,320 --> 00:44:52,290
because he wants it more that The Allies,

997
00:44:52,290 --> 00:44:53,820
because he's prepared to sacrifice

998
00:44:53,820 --> 00:44:55,403
more of his men to achieve it.

999
00:44:56,650 --> 00:45:00,790
It is absolutely unquestionably, the Eastern Front,

1000
00:45:00,790 --> 00:45:02,463
where the most blood is spilled.

1001
00:45:03,920 --> 00:45:06,960
Over 50% of all German casualties took place

1002
00:45:06,960 --> 00:45:09,970
within these last 12 months of the war.

1003
00:45:09,970 --> 00:45:12,873
And 80% of those casualties were on the Eastern Front.

1004
00:45:13,750 --> 00:45:17,910
The Western Allies face 25% of the German army.

1005
00:45:17,910 --> 00:45:21,220
The Soviets faced 75%.

1006
00:45:21,220 --> 00:45:25,480
The Soviet Union lost more than 15% of its population,

1007
00:45:25,480 --> 00:45:27,370
but they won the race.

1008
00:45:27,370 --> 00:45:30,383
And for Stalin much more.

1009
00:45:30,383 --> 00:45:31,300
(gentle upbeat music)

1010
00:45:31,300 --> 00:45:35,167
In a way World War II sealed the power of Stalin

1011
00:45:35,167 --> 00:45:36,313
and his regime.

1012
00:45:37,210 --> 00:45:40,300
And he's got pretty well everything East of Berlin

1013
00:45:40,300 --> 00:45:42,860
and also East Germany.

1014
00:45:42,860 --> 00:45:45,465
An iron curtain splits Europe.

1015
00:45:45,465 --> 00:45:46,560
(upbeat music)

1016
00:45:46,560 --> 00:45:48,250
Stalin had his glory,

1017
00:45:48,250 --> 00:45:51,440
his territory, and a stranglehold on Europe

1018
00:45:51,440 --> 00:45:55,623
from which to maintain Soviet control for decades to come.

1019
00:45:55,623 --> 00:45:58,290
(upbeat music)