The World at War

  • Premiered: Oct 1973
  • Episodes: 26
  • Followers: 74
  • Ended
  • ITV1
  • Wednesday at 21
  • Documentary History Mini-series War

Seasons:

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Season 1
1x1
A New Germany (1933–1939)
Episode overview
Air date
Oct 31, 1973
Germany, a nation stricken by humiliating defeat and emerging from crippling economic depression, looks to one man for a resurgence of hope and dignity. That man is Adolf Hitler…
1x2
Distant War (September 1939 – May 1940)
Episode overview
Air date
Nov 07, 1973
In Eastern Europe, the full force of the Nazi machine rolls on. In Britain, an uneasy calm settles on the nation. It is the "phony" war, with the sound of distant guns thundering ominously on the horizon…
1x3
France Falls (May–June 1940)
Episode overview
Air date
Nov 14, 1973
France discovers it is woefully unprepared for modern warfare as the Nazi war machine easily skirts around the Maginot Line. Britain retreats and prepares for invasion.
1x4
Alone (May 1940 – May 1941)
Episode overview
Air date
Nov 21, 1973
After Dunkirk, Britain faces the German onslaught. Although the RAF wins the Battle of Britain, the cities are blitzed and on the continent the last Allies are conquered. The outlook is grim.
1x5
Barbarossa (June–December 1941)
Episode overview
Air date
Nov 28, 1973
After dominating southeastern Europe through force or intrigue, Germany begins Operation Barbarossa, the massive invasion of Soviet Union. Despite several quick victories, the invasion .. show full overview
1x6
Banzai!: Japan (1931–1942)
Episode overview
Air date
Dec 05, 1973
The rise of the Japanese Empire, the Sino-Japanese War, the Soviet-Japanese border conflicts, Pearl Harbor and the early Japanese successes in the fall of Malaya and Singapore. At war .. show full overview
1x7
On Our Way: U.S.A. (1939–1942)
Episode overview
Air date
Dec 12, 1973
The opposition by various factions to the entry of the U.S.A into the war, U-boat attacks on Atlantic convoys and America's gradated responses, the mobilization of America after Pearl .. show full overview
1x8
The Desert: North Africa (1940–1943)
Episode overview
Air date
Dec 19, 1973
For two years, the 8th Army and Rommel's Afrika Corps fight in the wastes of North Africa. Finally, the tide turns at El Alamein.
1x9
Stalingrad (June 1942 – February 1943)
Episode overview
Air date
Jan 02, 1974
Hitler's early successes in Russia made him reckless and he resolves to capture Stalingrad. The battle lasts six months with the Russians emerging as victors. The Wehrmacht never recovers.
1x10
Wolf Pack: U-Boats in the Atlantic (1939–1943)
Episode overview
Air date
Jan 09, 1974
In a war of high technology and animal courage, the German U-Boats fight Allied merchantmen, hounding them in packs.
1x11
Red Star: The Soviet Union (1941–1943)
Episode overview
Air date
Jan 16, 1974
For two years, the Soviet Army fights the Germans almost alone. After one of the greatest land battles in history, the nation survives and triumphs—but with a loss of no less than 20 million of its people.
1x12
Whirlwind: Bombing Germany (September 1939 – April 1944)
Episode overview
Air date
Jan 23, 1974
Bomber Command begins bombing German cities by night, and the Americans reinforce the attacks by day—a whirlwind of terror and destruction that will win the war.
1x13
Tough Old Gut: Italy (November 1942 – June 1944)
Episode overview
Air date
Jan 30, 1974
Churchill called Italy the "soft underbelly of the crocodile" and thought the Allies could cut through it to the heart of Germany. However, the soft underbelly turned out to be a "tough old gut."
1x14
It's a Lovely Day Tomorrow: Burma (1942–1944)
Episode overview
Air date
Feb 06, 1974
Vera Lynn sang of a lovely day tomorrow, but the war in Burma was mud and monsoon. Britain's largest army learned to master the jungle and fought the Japanese to standstill.
1x15
Home Fires: Britain (1940–1944)
Episode overview
Air date
Feb 13, 1974
Finding strength in unity at home in Britain during the war, it was a time of gas masks, Winston Churchill, Dig for Victory, evacuation, George Formby, the Land Army, ITMA, the Squander Bug and the Beveridge Report.
1x16
Inside the Reich: Germany (1940–1944)
Episode overview
Air date
Feb 20, 1974
Initial victory in Europe turns sour after the defeat at Stalingrad, yet Germany prepares to fight to the end—even after an assassination attempt on the Führer.
1x17
Morning (June–August 1944)
Episode overview
Air date
Feb 27, 1974
The Western Allies resolve to invade Europe. England becomes a floating supply dump, and the British and Americans assemble the largest invasion fleet in history. It is June 6, 1944: D-Day.
1x18
Occupation: Holland (1940–1944)
Episode overview
Air date
Mar 13, 1974
Through a neutral country, Holland is attacked by Germany without warning in 1940. During the next four years, life carries on seemingly without incident, but underneath resistance never dies.
1x19
Pincers (August 1944 – March 1945)
Episode overview
Air date
Mar 20, 1974
The end of the war appears close at hand with the liberation of Paris in 1944, but the British and Americans disagree on how to advance. Meanwhile, Poland suffers devastating losses to achieve victory.
1x20
Genocide (1941–1945)
Episode overview
Air date
Mar 27, 1974
The Nazis are racist; the Aryans are a master race and others, particularly the Jews, are sub-human. Himmler's SS sets about ridding Europe of millions of Jews.
1x21
Nemesis: Germany (February–May 1945)
Episode overview
Air date
Apr 03, 1974
Hitler retreats to his bunker in Berlin as Germany crumbles around him, and his lieutenants abandon him to a fate of suicide. Meanwhile, the Russians raise the red flag in Berlin.
1x22
Japan (1941–1945)
Episode overview
Air date
Apr 10, 1974
Initially apprehensive about the outcome of declaring war, the Japanese quickly turn to celebration with early victory. In the end, their worst fears are unimaginably exceeded.
1x23
Pacific (February 1942 – July 1945)
Episode overview
Air date
Apr 17, 1974
The Americans fight their way across the Pacific towards Japan and the Philippines. Perhaps the bloodiest campaign of all, each island has to be taken by storm, and the Japanese fight to the last man.
1x24
The Bomb (February–September 1945)
Episode overview
Air date
Apr 24, 1974
Western scientists have developed a new, immensely powerful weapon: the atomic bomb. On August 6, 1945, the Enola Gay delivers the world's first atomic bomb to Hiroshima. The world would be forever altered.
1x25
Reckoning (1945...and After)
Episode overview
Air date
May 01, 1974
The war ends slowly and messily. Britain is victorious but exhausted, and the super powers confront each other as they decide the fate of Europe.
1x26 Show finale
Remember
Episode overview
Air date
May 08, 1974
For many, the Second World War was the most significant experience of their lives. Heartbreaking first hand remembrances from a vast array of survivors on both sides of the war.

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