Examine the process of "destructive creation"-the idea that fear, rivalry and conflict strengthen community bonds while stimulating an arms race of technological progress. The result is civilization. Ancient Mesoamerica exemplifies this development.
Simon explores modern Istanbul in search of the last desperate centuries of Christian Byzantium, in which the once glorious city was buffeted by enemies in both East and West, and yet still produced a golden artistic renaissance. This is story of the Christian crusaders who destroyed the city, and the Ottoman Muslims who restored it to life as an imperial capital after the epic siege of 1453.
Part 2 • Byzantium: A Tale of Three Cities • 2013 • History
In the name of religious tolerance, Catherine de Medici weds her Catholic daughter, Margaret of Valois, to the young Protestant heir of the Bourbon dynasty, Henry of Navarre. Protestants and Catholics are both in attendance. This event leads to the most infamous bloodbath in France's history.
S2E4 • The Real War of Thrones: The True History of Europe • 2018 • History
Timing is everything, just look at what happened in 1848. How did the finding of gold in Sutter's Mill make an impact on the development of California and the history of the United States?
S2E4 • Butterfly Effect • 2017 • History
German commanders discover the efficiency of gassing prisoners, and Auschwitz transforms from a small backwater camp for those resisting the Nazi occupation of Poland to a large scale extermination camp for Jews.
1/6 • Auschwitz: The Nazis and the 'Final Solution' • History
Episode covers Joseph Stalin's early life and his early political activities which resulted in his rose to power with the help of Lenin. June 1941 Hitler has thrown himself into a fight to the death against Stalin. Two decades earlier, in 1917, Joseph Jughashvili from Georgia is a member of Lenin's Bolshevik Party, who has just seized power in Russia. The country is torn by civil war.
1/3 • Apocalypse Stalin • 2015 • History
Europe was embroiled in near constant conflict for centuries. Violent power struggles between nations and rulers shook the continent. Not until the Enlightenment and the French Revolution of 1789 that a new idea of Europe emerged based on common values: freedom, equality, and fraternalism.
5/6 • The Story of Europe • 2018 • History
