Blood and Tears: French Decolonisation • 2020

44:08

On November 22, 1963, John F. Kennedy was shot twice as he rode in an open-top limousine through Dallas, Texas. The assassination sent shockwaves across the world and begged the question: How could a United States president be murdered so easily? Now, thanks to new research, firsthand accounts, and unpublished CIA files, we uncover ten crucial errors—from ignored threats to intelligence breakdowns to major security failings—any one of which, if avoided, could have saved JFK's life…and changed history.

S1E2 • Ten Steps to Disaster • 2021 • History

29:55

The times were turbulent around 1100 AD, when West-Roman Christianity was spreading out in all directions. The Crusades were part of it - perhaps the most important, certainly the best known. The advance of the Islamic Selchuks could not be stopped, especially their attacks on the travel routes of the pilgrims, who were on their way to the holy Christian sites. When news of raids mounted, the Patriarch of the Eastern Roman Church Alexios I asked Rome for help. Even then, Christianity was divided - not into Catholics and Protestants, but into the Eastern Roman (Orthodox) and Western Roman Churches. The Crusades took place in the middle of tension between these different interest groups. The expansion of the West Romans cut a swath through the Islamic territories, which had by then reached the climax of their development. The Byzantine realm increasingly lost its importance. It was not a battle of cultures, not a struggle against Islam, but a chaotic confrontation of warlords and princes. The main goal of the crusades – the conquest of Jerusalem – was soon forgotten, and the first conquest ended with bloodbaths among the civilian population that are still notorious today. The following crusades were equally infamous and far from an honor to Christianity. This program examines the forces behind European determination to capture Palestine, linking the belligerence of medieval Crusaders with their piousness. Drs. Klaus Herbers of Friedrich Alexander University and Patrick Franke of Martin Luther University draw surprising parallels between East and West, focusing on martyrdom as a vital component of the Crusader's motivation, interreligious notions of knightly behavior, and cases of negotiation and cultural exchange despite numerous atrocities and military disasters. Without neglecting the harsh realities of the Crusades, In the Name of Christ presents a fresh perspective on the medieval clash of Christian and Islamic powers.

S1E1 • The Holy Wars: War and Religion • 2004 • History

46:59

From battlefields and ancient swords to mighty castles and Durham cathedral, the rich, brutal story of William the Conqueror's journey from invader to ruler of England. Alice Roberts discovers who the Normans really were, tests a nearly thousand-year-old sword from William the Conqueror's time and wonders why there are so few women depicted in art from the time. Plus, Danielle George gets a brutal lesson in medieval 11th-century battlefield combat techniques, and Onyeka learns how William's coronation turned into a PR disaster.

S1E4 • Fortress Britain • 2022 • History

52:00

1916. The war is raging in Europe and stretches from the trenches in France to the Italian Alps and the Balkans, and beyond to the gates of the Eastern world. The conflict becomes industrial, and millions of shells rain down on the battlefields; Verdun and the Somme are the deadliest battles in this second year of the war. Who can stop this infernal machine?

S1E3 • Apocalypse: World War 1 • 2014 • History

87:07

A look at the Battle of Britain, examining the limited resources the British military were left with following the retreat from Dunkirk, and the pressure on German forces to conquer England quickly, so attention could be switched to Russia. The second half of the programmes examines the US entry into the war, in defiance of the promise made by President Roosevelt during his re-election campaign.

S1E2 • World War II in Numbers • 2019 • History

44:11

September 1950. On the banks at Incheon, 30 miles from Seoul, General MacArthur is victorious. The landing he planned, to rescue his men stuck in Pusan, was a success. But the war isn't over. In the North, the Americans will have to face an unexpected enemy. On the other side of the frozen Yalu river, Mao, covert as always, has stationed 300,000 of his men. On Thanksgiving Day, the Chinese and North Koreans attack the US army, whose only choice is to fall back. Faced with his army's defeat and Chinese intervention, Truman considers the atomic bomb... Further south, in Indochina, the French are also suffering setbacks. An ambush set by the Vietminh on the road Route Coloniale 4 annihilates them. To relieve the situation, the French government sent as a last resort one of its most famous generals: Jean de Lattre de Tassigny. French win a victory in Vinh Yen , but suffer heavy losses too. The parallel between Korea and Indochina is striking: the same hidden operators, frightened civilians, bomb blasted regions, columns of emaciated prisoners... For De Lattre, it is indeed one and the same war: the war for freedom, against communism. And the real enemy is Stalin, who sends North Koreans weapons and MIG-15 planes, and struts in front of his people with a super bomber capable of carrying his brand new atomic bomb. Will Stalin conquer the world?

S1E3 • Apocalypse: War of Worlds 1945-1991 • 2019 • History