All language subtitles for World.War.II.In.HD.Colour.S01E08.1080p.BluRay.x264-iFH.en

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Summer 1943, and on
the eastern front

Hitler's armies were in retreat.

Huge Soviet artillery
barrages and tank assaults

were shredding the German lines.

Hitler, by now, was fighting
a war on two fronts.

In Western Europe and
Anglo-American force

was moving up through Italy,

menacing his southern flank.

The Germans had
been forced to pull

some of their elite troops back
from the eastern front to help.

It left their forces in the east

dangerously over-stretched.

The exhausted German
soldiers were up against

the enormous reserves of the
huge Soviet military machine.

The Soviet leader, Joseph
Stalin, now seized

this opportunity to
wreak his revenge

and move onto the offensive.

By early August 1943 the Red
Army had driven the Germans

from the cities of
Orel and Belgorod.

To celebrate the victory,
Stalin ordered 12,

124-gun salvoes and a
barrage of fireworks

in Moscow's Red Square.

He proclaimed, "Eternal glory
to the heroes who fell"

in the struggle for freedom.
Death to the German invaders."

In Germany, Hitler's
response was to take greater

personal control of all
important military decisions.

The effects were felt almost
immediately by Axis troops

occupying the strategically
important city of Kharkov.

The Soviet forces approached
the city from three sides.

The German commander,
Erich von Manstein,

ordered a tactical withdrawal.

Hitler immediately
countermanded it.

Kharkov should be
held at all costs.

Hitler would not accept
anything that would reduce

what he called, Lebensraum,
the land he believed

Germany needed to
ensure its greatness.

Just as importantly, he
also believed Germany

would win the war,
if not by numbers,

then by the sheer will to win.

The Germans dug in.

At first, it seemed to work.

For several days, repeated
Soviet assaults were repulsed.

More than 300 Russian T-34
tanks were destroyed.

But by the end of August 1943,

the German positions
had been overrun.

Eventually, Manstein
went against his Fuhrer.

He ordered his men to get out.

The Red Army drove into the
ruins of Kharkov the next day.

It marked the beginning of
a massive Soviet offensive

along a 1,500 mile front.

It stretched from
Rostov in the south

to Smolensk in the north.

At the southern end of
the front, near Rostov,

the Russian breakthrough
threatened to trap

pockets of German
soldiers in the Crimea.

Once again, Manstein asked
permission to withdraw.

All he got was a
message from Hitler,

"Don't do anything. I
am coming myself."

But he never did.

The German military was
forced into another

last-minute, chaotic retreat.

The withdrawal was
made worse by bands

of battle-hardened partisans.

Many were former
Red Army soldiers

who had been cut off
behind enemy lines.

They now ambushed the
retreating Germans,

cutting their communication
and supply lines.

The Germans responded with
predictable ferocity.

There was savage reprisals
against the civilian population.

The Germans also launched
a scorched earth policy.

Factories, power
plants, railways,

and bridges were all blown up.

A massive hydro-electric dam,
which provided electricity

for the whole of the
Ukraine, was wrecked.

Meanwhile, in the
centre of the front,

the Germans fell back
across the River Dnieper.

As they fled, they blew
up yet more bridges

turning the river into a
formidable defensive line.

They then dug in
along the west bank.

Stalin's response was to
offer the Soviet Union's

highest award to the
first Red Army soldier

to cross the river.

By the early autumn
1943 a number of small

Soviet bridgeheads
had been established

on the German
controlled west bank.

But they met determined
German resistance.

Fighting raged along the Dnieper
throughout October 1943.

Finally, at the
beginning of November,

Soviet troops captured Kiev.

All along the river, the
Germans were pushed out

of their defensive positions

and forced to retreat
still further west.

By the end of 1943, the Red
Army had virtually cleared

the Germans out of
Russia's historic home.

They were now moving
west across the Ukraine.

The countries of Europe
were in their sights.

By Spring 1944, Hitler's
armies were in full retreat.

The Soviet leadership
now poured in

ever greater quantities
of men and equipment.

The Germans had two
excellent tanks:

The Tiger 1 and the
Panzer Mark V Panther.

Both were well-suited
to the sort of mobile

defensive warfare, which was
the only remaining hope

for the German armies
on the eastern front.

But the Red Army had at
least twice as many tanks.

Mostly, the battle tried
T-34 and armament factories

in Siberia were turning out more
at a rate of 2,000 a month.

While Hitler was forced
to divide his forces

between a war on two fronts,

Stalin's war machine
was working flat out.

Six million Soviet
troops faced less

than three million Germans.

In early January 1944,
the forces of the first

Ukrainian front moved
in from the north

on the German held
town of Korsun.

It was the last German toehold
on what they'd hoped would be

their defensive line
along the River Dnieper.

Twelve days later, the
forces of the second

Ukrainian front drove forward
on the southern side.

The attack followed a, by now,

well-established Soviet pattern.

First, there was a build-up

of an overwhelming
number of troops.

The Germans were
never quite sure

where the first assault
would come from.

Then there was a devastating
artillery bombardment.

Next, the mass tanks
of the Red Army

would punch a hole through
the German defences.

Finally, the infantry poured in.

In Korsun, it quickly became
obvious to the Germans

they were about to
be overwhelmed.

The German commander, Field
Marshal Erich von Manstein,

flew to Hitler's headquarters
in East Prussia to beg,

yet again, for
permission to pull out.

But Hitler, once more, refused.

After a week of fierce
fighting, about 60,000 men

were trapped in what became
known as the Korsun pocket.

The Soviet's called it,
"Little Stalingrad."

The German forces now
attempted to break out.

But the Russians
were ready for them.

T-34 tanks and Cossack
horsemen harried the Germans

as they tried to escape.

The fighting lasted two days.

By the time Korsun fell,
the Germans had lost

some 30,000 men.

The Red Army forces were now
moving forward at speed.

Their advance was made
possible by fleets of trucks,

mostly provided by
the United States,

that kept their forces supplied.

It was a much faster process
than for the Germans,

who still relied
heavily on horses.

The Russians were also
dominating the skies.

The Luftwaffe had
always been a key part

of the German war machine.

But Hitler had been forced to
divert many of his aircraft

to defend the homeland
from a US and British

bomber offensive.

As a result, Russian
planes outnumbered

the Luftwaffe five to one.

The Red Air Force's
Sturmovik fighter-bombers

took a heavy toll on German
armour and supply columns.

Yet, Hitler refused
to contemplate defeat

and now announced a new version
of his "no retreat" policy.

He ordered the German troops
to create what he called

"fortified areas" or
"local strongholds."

These were to be defended
to the bitter end.

Only with his personal approval,

could any of these
fortresses be abandoned.

It was a desperate ploy

and would come to cost
the Germans dearly.

One of the first tests
of the new strategy

was near the Ukrainian
town of Kamenets-Podolsky.

Here 20 divisions of
Panzers were threatened

with being cut off.

But Hitler declared
it a fortified area

and refused to allow a retreat.

In the face of bitter fighting,

there was a vitriolic argument
between Hitler and Manstein,

who could see the
writing on the wall.

Finally, Manstein got his way

and the Panzers were given
permission to break out.

Ten days later, some 200,000
men of the 1st Panzer Army

safely reached the German lines
over 100 miles to the west.

But they had lost most of their
heavy equipment and weapons.

By now, Manstein's
requests to retreat

had become too much for Hitler.

The Field Marshal was sacked.

Further south the Germans
attempted to hold back

the Soviet torrent on
the Yuzhny Bug River.

They failed and a large
force of Germans was caught

behind Russian lines in the
Black Sea port of Odessa.

They, too, faced being cut off.

In early April 1944, Hitler
declared it a fortress.

But the German
troops ignored him

and slipped out of the city.

Several days later on April
10th, Odessa was liberated.

Stalin was winning
on all fronts.

He could now turn his attention
to the northern Russian city

that had suffered under
Nazi assault for years.

By the beginning of 1944, the
Russian city of Leningrad

had been under siege
from German forces

for nearly two and a half years.

During the first winter,
almost half a million people

had starved to death.

Volunteers struggled
to put out fires

and construct defences.

But by 1944, life in the city
had become almost unbearable.

Several attempts to
relieve it had failed.

One effort in 1942
led to the capture

of more than 50,000 troops of
the Soviet 2nd Shock Army.

Another in 1943, had
enabled a trickle

of supplies to get
into the city.

But even so, throughout 1943,
up to 20,000 people continued

to die of cold, disease, and
starvation every month.

By January 1944, however,
with the Germans

in headlong retreat,

Stalin now turned his attention
to the plight of the city.

That month, Soviet forces
secretly infiltrated

the neighbouring peninsula
around Oranienburg.

The attack on the
German position started

with a savage, 65
minute bombardment.

Then Russian troops ripped into
the startled German lines.

At the same time another
Soviet force attacked

from the northeast
around the city.

They, too, burst onto
the German lines.

For three days the
German commander,

Field Marshal Georg von
Kuchler, held out.

Finally, he asked Hitler for
permission to fall back.

Hitler, as always, refused.

Kuchler argued back,
telling the Fuhrer

only a swift withdrawal would
save his army from a massacre.

Hitler sacked him.

He was replaced by
General Walter Model.

He was known as Hitler's fireman

for his fierce loyalty
and avid Nazi outlook.

But even to Model the
danger was obvious.

He now disobeyed
Hitler and pulled out.

After two and a half years,
the siege of Leningrad

was finally lifted.

Nearly a million Russian
civilians had died.

Relief in the city
was overwhelming.

The first fallout was
in neighbouring,

pro-German Finland,

which now feared a
Soviet invasion.

So in March 1944, a
secret Finnish delegation

arrived in Moscow
to discuss peace.

Stalin's terms were harsh.

He demanded the Petsamo region
in far north of Finland.

An area rich in nickel,
an important ingredient

in the manufacture
of metal alloys.

He also demanded reparations
of $600 million.

The Finns refused and prepared
for a Soviet invasion.

But Finland could wait.

The Soviet High Command, or
Stavka, as it was known,

had more pressing
business further south.

The Red Army offensives in
the Ukraine in late 1943

had trapped 120,000 German
troops in the Crimea.

Hitler, as ever, had refused
to allow them to withdraw.

They now waited helplessly
for the Soviet onslaught.

In early April, two
months after the lifting

of the siege on
Leningrad, it came.

The troops of the
4th Ukrainian Front

crashed into the
Crimea from the north.

At the same time, a
diversionary attack landed

on the eastern end
of the peninsula.

In less than a day, the
Axis troops in the west

had given way.

They fell back on the
port of Sebastopol

and Hitler ordered
Fortress Sebastopol

to hold out 'til the last man.

They didn't stand a chance.

Within two weeks of the siege,

German troops were being
evacuated by sea.

Forty thousand men escaped.

But some 30,000 defenders were
still trapped in the port.

They retreated to the
beaches south of the city

hoping to be rescued
by more German ships.

It didn't happen.

The evacuation was interrupted

by a Soviet artillery
bombardment.

Three days later, the
Germans surrendered.

Meanwhile, back in the
northwest of the country,

the Germans still occupied
much of what is Belarus today.

But the Red Army had grabbed
a vast bulge of land

stretching into
Poland and Romania.

It meant the Germans had to
defend a 1,400 mile front.

They were hugely over-extended.

Military logic suggested it
was time for the Germans

to withdraw to more manageable
defensive positions.

But Hitler, still obsessed
with territorial gain,

refused to allow any
further retreat.

The German military would
continue to pay a high price

for Hitler's constant meddling
and unrealistic ambitions.

By the spring of 1944,
Hitler's forces

were stretched to their limit.

All along the eastern front,

there as a desperate
need for reinforcements.

The problem for the German high
command was where to place

the few resources it had
to maximum advantage.

German intelligence reports
suggested the next

big Red Army offensive
would be into Belarus.

But Hitler disagreed.

He was convinced Stalin
would strike south

and seize the
Romanian oil fields.

Both were wrong, at
least, to begin with.

In the early summer,
the Red Army Command

finally turned its
attention to Finland.

Russian troops attacked
across the Karelian Isthmus.

After two days fighting, the
Finns were forced to retreat.

Slowly, over the next month,

the Red Army advanced
north into Finland.

By August 1944, it was all over

and the Finns sued for peace.

It was now that Stalin
showed the first signs

of a pattern that would be
repeated across Europe.

He seized land, in this case,
areas of Finnish Karelia

and the nickel-rich
Petsamo region.

Next, Stalin's attention
turned to Central Europe.

In the summer of 1944, he
launched what he called,

Operation Bagration, named
after a Russian hero

of the Napoleonic Wars.

At 5 AM on June 22nd,
three years to the day

after Hitler's invasion
of the Soviet Union,

the guns of the Red Army began
a ferocious bombardment

of German forces, in
what today is Belarus.

It was exactly where
months earlier,

German intelligence
reports had suggested

a Soviet attack would come.

But because Hitler
had ignored them,

the area was poorly defended.

It was another of his mistakes.

The Germans were now being
pounded along a 350 mile front.

In some places,
the Russians used

over 400 guns for every mile.

The barrage was
followed, as always,

by a torrent of Soviet tanks

and infantry crashing
into the German defences.

To make matters worse
for the Germans,

they had almost no air support.

Much of the Luftwaffe
was still tied up

defending the German homeland.

It was now that Hitler's
folly of fighting a war

on two fronts became
all too apparent.

The Red Air Force could
operate almost unopposed.

Russian planes struck
deep behind German lines,

cutting communications and
harassing reinforcements.

Within 36 hours the German
Panzers had been swept aside.

About 50,000 men
faced encirclement

in the German held
town of Vitebsk.

Hitler, as had become routine,

initially refused
to let it retreat.

Then, when on the following
day her relented,

it was too late for
many of his troops.

Four days later, Vitebsk fell.

Twenty thousand Axis
troops were killed

and 10,000 taken prisoner.

Further south, along
the Belarus front,

the pattern was repeated.

Hitler, now furious,
sacked his general,

Field Marshal Ernst Busch.

Once again, he brought
in his favourite,

the now promoted Field
Marshal, Walter Model.

But it made no difference.

Town after town fell.

The regional capital of
Minsk was now within reach.

Two days later, the Red
Army encircled it.

Over 100,000 German
troops were trapped.

Soviet forces bombarded them.

Within a week, the German
survivors surrendered.

The unstoppable Russian
advance now pushed on

to the Baltic states.

First of all, was the
Lithuanian capital of Vilnius.

Across the entire eastern front,

the Germans were in retreat.

But they left behind them towns
and countryside laid waste.

They committed
wide-spread atrocities

against local inhabitants.

Nothing, however, could
have prepared the Red Army

for what it was
about to discover.

On July 23rd, 1944
Soviet forces reached

the small Polish village
of Majdanek near Lublin.

Here they came across
their first evidence

of Hitler's final solution.

The Majdanek extermination camp.

It was a camp designed
for the murder of Jews

on an industrial scale.

But as the first Soviet reports
of what they found leaked out,

the Western Allies
simply dismissed them.

Three days after
seizing Majdanek,

the Russians were
approaching Warsaw.

But here the Red Army paused.

Stalin now stood ready to do
what Hitler had done before,

grab land, not in the name of
Lebensraum, but of communism.

By the summer of 1944,
Operation Bagration had ripped

the heart out of the
German army in the east.

More than 300,000 Axis
soldiers had died.

One hundred fifty thousand
had been taken prisoner.

The Red Army now
paused and dug in

along the River Vistula,
south of Warsaw.

Stalin was in no hurry to
bring the war to an end.

With Europe in turmoil,
conditions were ideal

for the spread of communism.

The first victims of Stalin's
political calculations

were the Poles.

On August 1st, 1944 the Polish
Home Army rose up in Warsaw

against its Nazi occupiers.

But it desperately needed help.

The Red Army, camped
just to the south,

was perfectly placed
to provide it.

But Stalin regarded
the Polish Home Army

as close to the Polish
government in exile in London

and hostile to communism.

So he turned a blind
eye to the plight

of the Polish fighters.

They were crushed with
terrible brutality.

The Germans wouldn't finally
be pushed out of Poland

until the Russian army drove
them out in January 1945.

It was the start of a
Soviet master plan

that would eventually see
communism governments

across most of Eastern Europe.

To the north, contingents
of the Red Army continued

to clear the Germans out
of the Baltic states.

These would be incorporated
into the Soviet Union.

Near the Latvian capital of
Riga, over 200,000 Germans

were trapped behind
Russian lines.

But Hitler, still determined
to hold on to his Lebensraum,

refused to countenance
a retreat.

Even so, gradually
the German forces

were pushed back to
the Baltic coast.

By mid-October 1944, the
Germans had been squeezed

onto the Courland
Peninsula, west of Riga.

They would remain marooned
there for the rest of the war

when they eventually
surrendered to Soviet forces.

Stalin, meanwhile, was
already sizing up

other territory in
Eastern Europe.

He could have moved directly
west towards Germany.

Instead, units of the
Red Army moved south

in a vast thrust down
through the Balkans.

Nearly 1,500 tanks and a million
men pushed into Romania

in late August 1944.

The defending Axis forces
had less than 400 tanks

and just 800,000 troops.

Pro-German Romanian
troops gave way

almost immediately
all along the front.

Three days later, large
pockets of German troops

were surrounded near Kishinev.

Hitler issued his standard
command, "No retreat."

For nine days there
was bitter fighting.

Over 180,000 German troops
were killed or taken prisoner.

The remainder beat
a belated retreat.

In late August, Romania's
pro-German dictator,

Marshal lon Antonescu,
was arrested.

Romania surrendered.

By the end of the month, the
Red Army was in Bucharest

and it occupied the
strategically important

Romanian oil fields.

It meant Germany had lost
its main supply of oil.

Three Soviet armies now
moved south into Bulgaria.

Bulgaria had tried to
stay neutral but it, too,

would soon be swallowed
up by the Soviet Empire.

Meanwhile, the rest of the
Russian forces now moved west

towards Yugoslavia.

German troops to the south, in
Greece, faced being trapped.

They began a hasty retreat
up through Albania

and southern Yugoslavia.

They were harried all
the way by Albanian

and Yugoslav partisans.

By mid-October 1944, the
Red Army had reached

the Yugoslav capital
of Belgrade.

Only now did it begin
to swing north and west

towards Hungary
and then Germany.

German reinforcements
poured into Hungary

to support the pro-Nazi
puppet government.

But the Red Army ground on.

Eight weeks later, it
laid siege to Budapest.

The siege lasted over six weeks

before the German puppet
government collapsed.

By the end of 1944,
most of Eastern Europe

lay in Stalin's grasp.

His troops controlled the
Baltic states and Poland,

Romania, and Bulgaria.

Pro-Soviet forces ruled in
Yugoslavia and Albania.

Hungary and Czechoslovakia
were in his sights.

Stalin had successfully
laid the foundations

for the future Soviet block.

He could now, at last,
move on to Germany.

But in the west, Allied forces

were also approaching
the German border.

The race was on to be the
first to take Berlin.