World War Two: Week by Week - Episode Guide

When Germany invades Poland on September 1, 1939, the world is already at the brink of a new world war…

The German-Polish war is the match that ignites the flames that finally burn British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain's appeasement efforts to the ground.

When the Wehrmacht and the SS continue devastating Poland and her people in the first weeks of September, her last chance is her western allies.

When the USSR crushes the plans of the Allies for Poland and the Japanese plans in China in the same week, it is Germany that benefits.

Facing two enemies at once, Poland finds itself in a crushing vice after less than a month of war and the Polish forces must flee their own country to live to fight another day.

In the West, the sun sets on Poland as the last forces surrender, but her defenders are already regrouping abroad. In the East, the sun rises on China as Japan meets yet another defeat.

While the Third Reich and USSR consolidate their Polish conquest, their leaders are wary of each other but turn the attention to the next prize. Stalin moves to the North and Hitler pushes for an attack in the West.

For the men in the navies of the warring nations in Europe, there was nothing phony about WW2 in October 1939 - mortal danger was immediately under the cold surface at the receiving end of a torpedo or a depth charge...

The persecution, incarceration, enslavement and murder of the Polish people in occupied Poland is driven by ideological hatred for both Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia, but it's also a personal matter for Joseph Stalin.

Ten weeks into World War Two, and the Allied ground forces are bored in France. In North-Eastern Europe, Poland's suffering has no end and Finland is in the crosshairs of the USSR.

As Hitler drives for a fast invasion he faces covert and open resistance, even an assassination attempt. In the background British and German agents and double agents play a game of betrayal and counter-betrayal.

While the Finnish and the Soviets seem to be moving ever closer to war, the Royal Navy is losing ships at a frightening rate to an explosive threat not yet understood.

The European Allies seek a countermeasure to the mysterious German mines, in China the Japanese advance, and in Poland it is the beginning of the Warsaw Ghetto.

On the final day of November 1939 the Red Army of the USSR invades Finland and the Winter War begins.

When the Red Army invades Finland they get a cold reception and a pretty nasty surprise. It looks like team Stalin might just be skating on some very thin ice.

In the second week of the Winter War, during multiple counteroffensives, including the famous Sausage War, the Finnish Defence Forces dash any hopes of a quick victory that the Red Army and Stalin might have had.

While the Winter War continues with a Soviet armoured attack at Summa and the Lähde Road and the British attack the Germans from the skies in the first official aerial battle of World War Two, there's trouble in China. Chiang Kai Shek is looking for ways to gain a new advantage on the Japanese.

The Chinese Nationalists under command of Chiang Kai Shek is desperately looking to make new or restore old, allies to aid them in their fight against the Japanese. Meanwhile, the Soviets are still struggling to turn the Winter War against the Finnish in their favor.

In Finland the invading Red Army suffers catastrophic casualties, while in China the Nationalists are divided as Japan uses diplomacy to strike back.

After the chaotic invasion and catastrophic losses of the first weeks of the Winter War, the Soviet Army has learnt their lesson. Further west the Wehrmacht is ready to move, as long as the skies stay clear.

As the Winter War rolls on the only help the Finns are getting are from volunteers. The Western Allies still have their thoughts on Norway, little do they know that the Phoney War almost ends this week...

This week shows the Allies first attempts to break the German Enigma code. Meanwhile, the German war economy shows some flaws and the Soviets are massing artillery in an effort to break the Finnish defences.

As the Winter War rolls on the only help the Finns are getting are from volunteers. The Western Allies still have their thoughts on Norway, little do they know that the Phoney War almost ends this week...

The T-26 tank was one of the most frequently used tanks during the first battles of World War Two. It saw action in the Soviet Union, Finland and China. In our first collaborative video with the Tank Museum in Bovington, UK, David Willey and David Fletcher talk about the development, production and action of the this tank.

The Soviet forces revive their winter offensive this week. More men, more tanks and more artillery are brought in to try to force a breakthrough in the Finnish lines. Meanwhile, Churchill encounters resistance to his plan to cut of the German iron trade with Sweden.

While the Winter War rages on in Finland, Japan is confronted with a dilemma. Keep fighting the Chinese and face huge problems feeding the populace in Japan and their newly conquered territories or withdraw and face your own populace to whom you've promised a glorious victory.

After more than a week of preliminary bombardmends and attacks, the Red Army finally attacks the Finnish defensive positions on the Karelian Isthmus en masse. They throw thousands of troops at the Finns at the entire width of their lines, even exceeding them. The Finns defend the best as they can, but their winning streak seems to come to an end.

German Genral Erich von Manstein has a cunning plan. And as it happens, it's just how Hitler likes it. This week, the German war plans change quite drastically. In the meantime, the Soviet Red Army continues it push through the Finnish Mannerheim line, except for a stubborn Finnish pocket of resistance at Taipale.

The German plans for the invasion of Western Europe start taking shape. Mansteins plan is innovative, bold and controversial, but Hitler likes it. If everything goes according to his plan, the Germans will be celebrating their victory in Paris come spring.

The French promise to send troops to aid Finland, though the majority is planned to go to Norway or Sweden. In return, the Finns postpone their peace talks with the Soviets. It is at that moment that the Finns realise that the French are playing tricks and the Soviets are not to be messed with. It's deal or no deal, and they need to decide quick.

The Winter War is over. The Allies tried to stall the Finns for as long as possible to justify their invasion of Norway, but the Finns have had it and don't trust the British and French to come to their aid. This week, the Finns sign a peace agreement with the Soviet in Moscow.

French Prime Minister Daladier overplays his hand and is replaced after his vision regarding Scandinavia wasn't widely shared in the French parliament. Meanwhile, the French and British in France are preparing for a German attack. If Hitler gets it his way, they will also have to prepare for an attack in the south as Hitler tries to persuade Mussolini to join his invasion.

Newly appointed French Prime Minister Paul Reynaud and his British counterpart Neville Chamberlain spend the week looking for ways to harm the Germans. Not just by targeting their direct opponent directly, but also by exploring the idea of expanding the war into much bigger territory. In the meantime, the French prepare for the expected invasion and the Allies are laying the foundations of what might one time become a weapon of mass destruction.

While China gets a new government, or at least in the eyes of Japan, the British are trying to cope with the rationing of meat and dairy products by trying out some new recipes. More importantly, Germany seems to be very serious about invading Norway. However, the British also plan to move closer to Norway.

This week, the Phoney War seems to come to an end when Germany invades Denmark and Norway. The Allies seek confrontation with the Germany in the hope to at least deny them full access to the Swedish Iron mines. Nevertheless, the Germans are prepared and have been planning this for weeks. It looks like it will cost a lot to put a stop to this.

The German Invasion of Norway is still very much in full swing. The German Wehrmacht is moving north from Oslo, where a Norwegian force is trying to halt them in anticipation of Allied reinforcements. The British do land in Norway, but don't necessarily rush to relief the Norwegian army. Meanwhile, Norwegian 'traitor' and 'failure' Vidkun Quisling rises to be the new leader of Norway – only to get rejected by Hitler again. Numerous powers are now trying to grab, restore or consolidate military or political power in Norway. It's a mess.

The Invasion and subsequent Battle of Norway has only just begun when the British decide to pull back. Poor planning and misfortune after misfortune harms the British campaign, which becomes very apparent this week while the fighting continues. Almost everywhere, except for in the far north, the Allied troops pull back under heavy German pressure.

After the Great War was over, the French reconsidered their armies function and the role that tanks would play in future warfare. At the brink of World War Two, the Char B tank is deeply embedded in the structure of the French armoured defences. David Willey from the Tank Museum in Bovington (UK) tells how French politics influenced how the Char B will be used if the Germans attack.

Allied plans to take Trondheim in Norway to allow for larger reinforcements and even bigger aerial support to come in are disbanded as the troops approaching Trondheim are pulled back from Norway. While the Allied efforts in Norway lose force there, the Allied forces in Western Europe are prepared for a German invasion through the Benelux countries. The Japanese too are determined to continue their campaign in China, and send thousands more young men into the battlefields.

As the Allied troops in Central Norway are evacuated and the Norwegian troops there surrender to the Germans, the Allied position around Narvik is still quite strong. With the addition of roughly 5000 Polish soldiers, the French, British and Norwegian force will prove to be a formidable foe for the Germans up North. This week however, the war drastically changes as not three but four Neutral countries are invaded. The Phoney War is ultimately over.

The Maginot Line was not the failure many think - in fact it was quite a remarkable feat - find out more in this video.

The German invasion of Western Europe has been going for over a week now, and the Neutral and Allied countries are in disarray. The Netherlands, despite putting up fierce resistance on some occasions, faces overwhelming powers while Belgium, France and the British feel the pressure from an organised and armoured assault from the Ardennes. And still, the German tanks, soldiers and aircraft are not all the Allies have to fear, as many of their losses are caused by their own command.

The Chieftain takes you on an extensive walkthrough of the armoured vehicles used by both sides during the German invasion of France in 1940.

After the German army breaks through the French lines at Sedan, the left flank of the moving army has to be secured. The French Ouvrage la Ferté, part of the Maginot Line Defense works, is subject to this consolidation. But the Germans move with ulterior motives, as to them capturing a Maginot Line fort in the first week of the offensive has a huge propaganda value. Tour guide Richard Tucker shows Indy the grounds of a modern tragedy, where 107 French soldiers gave their lives.

While the massive invasion of the Benelux countries and France was going down last week, things were also developing on the fronts in Norway and China. But this week, the German beast is let loose. After breaking through its cage at Sedan last week, nothing seems strong enough to block its way to the English Channel. And if one thing becomes clear, it is that the Allied command structure and the way they communicate is one big smoking mess...

Marc Halter takes Indy and all of us on a tour through the fort at Schoenenbourg on the Maginot Line.

When the Germans Panzers move north from Calais, the British Expeditionary Force and France's soldiers still fighting in Belgium and Northern France are trapped between a numerically superior German army. A big operation codenamed 'Dynamo' is set up to evacuate as many as possible from Dunkirk.

As the battle for France is still raging but looks like a ringing victory for Nazi Germany, and the encircled troops in Dunkirk have been evacuated, will Great Britain remain in the war? If so will British forces remain in continental Europe? In fact will Great Britain even be able to remain an independent nation, or also fall to the Nazis?

You might have heard he a was vegetarian. You might have heard that he shunned alcohol. You might have heard he was anti-tobacco. Then you might think he was against hard drugs as well, but you'd be wrong…

The fighting in France isn't over, not even when Paris falls, as the Germans advance and Italy joins the fight. But the Brits now have their back to yet another ocean and see no option but out. Further east Stalin uses the chaos in the West as cover to start moving in on his neighbours.

While many armies use performance enhancing drugs during WW2, the Wehrmacht takes it to extremes in 1940, with more than debatable consequences.

While the fighting subsides in much of France, the Italians invade in the south, while tension continues to grow in the Baltic states as the Red Army increases its presence and the USSR makes plans for coups.

Hitler goes to Paris, while Stalin occupies more territory... but something is on Stalin's mind. News of the sudden success of the Wehrmacht in the West is not what he had hoped for. Churchill also looks to the West for help while a German invasion of the British Isles seems imminent. Far East the Japanese are on the advance.

The repercussions of the fall of France are not yet seen in full. But this week Britain makes it clear it isn't about to give up, even if it will mean some really hard decisions.

The Germans and the French in Vichy consolidate their newly acquired power as the British deal with the remnants of the French navy. The Battle of Britain begins with fighting above the English Channel, a battle with great consequences for the future of Europe.

Peace seems to slowly return to the European mainland, but not for long, as the Germans move their airplanes to the French coast to Battle Britain in the skies while they make invasion plans, and the Soviets are entering the Baltics after 'elections' invited them to.

Hitler searches for ways to force Britain out of the war, but the British sit safely behind their cliffs, their channel and their Royal Navy. Engaging the navy and invading Britain would require a major air-superiority. As a result, the Germans plan to knock the British out of the skies. This is the Battle of Britain.

As the Kanalkampf comes to a close, the Battle of Britain heats up. Hitler wants Britain out of the war. But before the Germans can invade Britain, it will have to deal with the Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy.

This week, the war spreads to Africa, when the Italians invade the British Colony of British Somaliland. While this might seem trivial, it might have tremendous consequences on the remainder of the war.

As the Battle of Britain reaches not seen before levels of intensity, one of the British colonies is lost to the Italians.

This week, the communists attack the Japanese in the Battle of 100 Regiments. Meanwhile in Europe, the Battle of Britain enters phase three with the Luftwaffe actively targeting British airfields.

As the war turns one year old, there seems to be no end in sight. The Luftwaffe starts targeting civilian areas of London, the peoples of Eastern Europe switch country without moving houses, in occupied territory the population continues to be terrorized, and an end to the Chinese war that has been raging on for years now seems ever further away.

When Germany invades Poland on September 1, 1939, the world is already at the brink of a new world war…

The German-Polish war is the match that ignites the flames that finally burn British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain's appeasement efforts to the ground.

When the Wehrmacht and the SS continue devastating Poland and her people in the first weeks of September, her last chance is her western allies.

When the USSR crushes the plans of the Allies for Poland and the Japanese plans in China in the same week, it is Germany that benefits.

Facing two enemies at once, Poland finds itself in a crushing vice after less than a month of war and the Polish forces must flee their own country to live to fight another day.

In the West, the sun sets on Poland as the last forces surrender, but her defenders are already regrouping abroad. In the East, the sun rises on China as Japan meets yet another defeat.

While the Third Reich and USSR consolidate their Polish conquest, their leaders are wary of each other but turn the attention to the next prize. Stalin moves to the North and Hitler pushes for an attack in the West.

For the men in the navies of the warring nations in Europe, there was nothing phony about WW2 in October 1939 - mortal danger was immediately under the cold surface at the receiving end of a torpedo or a depth charge...

The persecution, incarceration, enslavement and murder of the Polish people in occupied Poland is driven by ideological hatred for both Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia, but it's also a personal matter for Joseph Stalin.

Ten weeks into World War Two, and the Allied ground forces are bored in France. In North-Eastern Europe, Poland's suffering has no end and Finland is in the crosshairs of the USSR.

As Hitler drives for a fast invasion he faces covert and open resistance, even an assassination attempt. In the background British and German agents and double agents play a game of betrayal and counter-betrayal.

This week, the battle in the skies of Britain enters a new, even deadlier phase, as the crowded streets of London turn into a war zone. It is the start of the Blitz.

The Blitz continues as the German army seems close to the execution of Operation Sea Lion: The Invasion of Britain.

The Battle of Britain continues as planes fight over the South-English shorelines and large parts of London are targeted during the Blitz. However, this week the ultimate goal of this air battle is postponed. The invasion of Britain, Operation Sea Lion, is called off. For now at least.

This week, the factions of World War Two begin to crystallise as the Japanese join the Axis powers.

Hitler is trying to get new Axis Powers on board in his fight against Britain, promising them all huge territorial gains.

Hermann Göring was one of the most powerful leaders of the Third Reich. He was also a drug addict with some serious problems and a remarkable lifestyle.

The Blitz continues while Chinese Communists are fighting Chinese Nationalist in China. But the mass bombing of civilian targets does not really do what it is supposed to.

Winston Churchill was one of the most influential figures of World War Two. But as a heavy drinker he must have been under influence of constant drunkenness, right?

The World War seems to get bigger and bigger as Italy plans to invade Greece and the USA takes a stance.

Hitler finds out that not everyone is ready to do his bidding. Much to the frustration of Hitler, Franco, Petain and Mussolini all have their reasons to take the high road.

A new front opens up in Greece as the Italians invade, while the Battle of Britain seems to come to an end.

The Battle of Britain is finished, but the war is far from over. New German plans are being made for the Balkans and Greece, where the Italian offensive is not as successful as planned.

Japan has two wins this week, and one might turn out to be very consequential for the rest of the war. In the meantime, the British RAF fights the Luftwaffe and Italy struggles in their offensive against Greece.

As the Greek campaign continues, Hitler points his attention eastwards. While he can't invade the Soviet Union just yet, his dependence on it is making him nervous.

While Hitler consolidates his power in occupied France, Japanese and Italian forces try to get an edge, but fail. The war is not looking too well for anyone at this point.

Wilhelm Canaris once again disturbs Hitlers plans to drag Spain into the war, as the Germans finalize their plan for the Invasion of the Soviet Union which is scheduled for the summer of 1941. Meanwhile, the Greek counter-offensive into Albania loses steam and the Pope objects to the German T-4 euthanasia program.

The First British offensive of the War begins in North Africa. Meanwhile, the German Knickebein system is designed for bombers to accurately bomb British targets at night. This is what the Brits do to stop them.

What Adolf Hitler expects to be his Magnum Opus offensive is still 6 months in the future, but it's going to need plans and more plans. The British, though, are seeing success right now on two fronts far to the south.

Italy finds itself in a dire position in Albania as Christmas is celebrated in a war-torn Europe and fighting continues in China.

1941 begins with action in North-Africa and China, but Indy also takes a moment to assess the current stakes and stakeholders in the East-Asian theatre. What is sure, is that 1941 will be an eventful year!

Action in Albania. Action in North-Africa. Action in East-Africa. Action in China and action on the Mediterranean. It looks like every belligerent party is amping up its efforts to get a foothold wherever they are. And if your enemy is gaining ground? You just throw more material and men at them.

The Chinese Communists and Nationalists Clash while they're also both facing Japanese armies in the North. And although the Communists are not the obvious victor this week, the battle has bigger ramifications. Other action takes place in Cambodia and the Mediterranean.

The British offensive in East-Africa takes off with some rapid advances. Meanwhile in Eastern-Europe, Romania is the stage of fierce anti-semitism, but also infighting between two of the groups causing the anti-semitism.

Greek Prime Minister Ioannis Metaxas dies this week as Italy is still uncomfortably wrapped up in the Albanian Mountains. Italy also finds itself in a pickle on other fronts, as Allied troops in Africa moves into Italian territory with three offensives this week.

As the Italian campaigns in Africa collapse, Hitler considers his options and then chooses Erwin Rommel to rescue their Italian allies.

While the Germans send one of their best generals to North Africa to bail out the Italians, Great Britain switches focus from Libya to Greece, but make symbolically important gains in East Africa.

As the British make spectacular advances in East-Africa, with even more spectacular advances on the horizon, South-Eastern Europe is getting increasingly tense.

Parts of the British forces in North-Africa are being send to Greece to strengthen the Allied position there. While the remaining British plan for the near future, others make huge advances in East-Africa and Hitler plans his attack on Greece through Bulgaria.

German troops pour into Bulgaria as they join the Axis alliance, while British troops enter Greece in anticipation of a German attack. Meanwhile, the British celebrate victories in East-Africa and on the Atlantic.

The Fallschirmjäger were Germany's own paratrooper branch, designed to deal a swift and fatal blow behind the enemy's lines. They were deployed with great success in Scandinavia and the Benelux, but they come too close to the sun when they attempt to invade Crete.

An Italian offensive into Greece is prepared, just as the Germans are preparing to also attack Greece via Bulgaria. Meanwhile, a daring and spectacular dash is made by the Nigerian Army.

While two more Kriegsmarine u-boat aces go down, the moving parts of the war are getting more complex leaving the intelligence services scrambling to separate fact from fiction - they don't always get it right.

Yugoslavia joins the Axis powers, which then triggers a pro-Allied coup, angering Hitler. Meanwhile, the Italians fail to outsmart the British as the Japanese hope to capitalise on their superior army.

The United States of America aims to remain neutral during World War Two. But they see it in their best interest to aid the British in their fight against Nazism. The Lend-Lease Act is designed to do exactly that.

The British thought they would be safe for a while, but this week they are proven wrong. This week, Erwin Rommel begins his advance towards the East of North-Africa.

As Hitler pressured Yugoslavia to join the Axis Powers, Britain tried to gain a Balkan ally. Then Yugoslavia did join then Axis... and then there was an anti-Axis coup in Yugoslavia. But just how much were the British involved in that coup? Let's find out.

This week, the German Army invades Greece and Yugoslavia as it launches Operation Marita and Operation 25 respectively. They also take some remarkable captives in North-Africa.

The Battles for Yugoslavia and Greece continue as the Soviet-Union and Japan sign a non-aggression pact.

The Chieftain takes us to North-Africa, where he talks us through the tanks that were used during the first months of the Battles in North-Africa between the Italians and Germans on the one side and British and commonwealth forces on the other.

The Battle of Greece continues as forces clash once more at the historic site of Thermopylae.

Greece falls as Axis troops push through the last Allied defences. New plans are made for a German invasion of Crete, and a new war breaks out between Great Britain and Iraq.

An Enigma encode is captured in the Atlantic Ocean as the Germans make plans for a new offensive in Crete. Britain is heavily bombed by the Luftwaffe and fighting continues in Iraq, China and East-Africa.

In a series of events, Hitlers second in command Rudolf Hess decides to fly to Britain to enter peace negotiations with the Allies. But the true reasons behind and effects of his action remain ambiguous at best.

In the week that Rudolf Hess makes his flight to Britain, the Luftwaffe prepares for theirs to Crete. The British utilise their code-breaking methods and prepare for defence.

Operation Mercury commences as fallschirmjäger airborne troops land on the Greek island of Crete. A bloody and messy battle follows as it turns out to be costly in more ways than one.

For the British, breaking the German's seemingly unbreakable codes is one of the most vital battles of the war. If they fail, there is litte to stop the German U-Boats hunting down Allied shipping in the Atlantic.

This week, the Battle of Crete continues as the Bismarck and Prinz Eugen set sail to the Atlantic, starting one of the most dramatic episodes in the histories of the Royal Navy and the Kriegsmarine.

The SS are the elite force of the Third Reich, representing everything good about the German race. But half of them will one day be foreign-born non-Germans. How did this happen?

The British morale reaches new depths after losses at Crete and the loss of the HMS Hood. New plans are made for North-Africa and Syria to restore the public and the soldier's faith.

What good is your army if you can't supply it? As the German army prepares to invade the massive lands of the Soviet Union, it faces hefty production, logistical and supply challenges.

Germany, Romania and Finland prepare for a gigantic invasion of the Soviet Union, whose own military is in a dire state. The Allies invade Vichy French Syria and prepare to relieve the Australians besieged at Tobruk.

We take a look at the types and amounts of tanks available to the German and Soviet armies on the eve before Barbarossa.

When the Nazi war machines tears through Poland, France, and the Soviet Union, people will call it Blitzkrieg. But what is Blitzkrieg and is it anything that unique?

The Allies continue advancing into Vichy French Syria, but they are halted and pushed back by Erwin Rommel at the Halfaya Pass in Libya. Meanwhile, the last preparations are being made for Operation Barbarossa. It will begin in two days.

June 22 1941. The first day of Operation Barbarossa begins as Adolf Hitler's German armies invade Joseph Stalin's Soviet Union with the largest force on the longest front ever seen in human history...

Operation Barbarossa kicks off this week with action all along the front as German panzers pierce through deep into the Soviet Union. Meanwhile, Claude Auchinleck becomes Commander of the Allied forces in the Middle East that capture Damascus.

Operation Barbarossa continues this week but is already running into problems that are gonna be hard to fix. The Japanese are thinking future war strategy, while the British set up a focused research program on nuclear power and atom bombs...

Unlike the German Army, which for the most part had many idle months over the past year, the German Air Force- the Luftwaffe- has seen constant action in the Battle of Britain and the Mediterranean Theater. How did this affect its preparations and plans for the invasion of the Soviet Union?

Germany keeps advancing on the eastern front, and yet by now, transport and supply problems are seriously undermining the capability of the German spearheads, even as they pull further away from the infantry. The Syria-Lebanon campaign is coming to an end, though, and an armistice is proposed which would give the Allies victory if accepted.

As the German armed forces stretch further and further into the USSR, the Wehrmacht command doesn't seem to agree where they are really going. In the Middle East, the Fascist French forces are delivered a hard blow as the Allied Syrian campaign comes to an end.

The planning for Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union, took nearly a year and went through a variety of scenarios. The basic plan was finalized in December 1940, and that month General Friedrich Paulus ran a series of war games to test its feasibility. Today we'll look at his conclusions.

Although we may picture panzers when we think of the German Army in WW2, it was very much an army that relied on horses- especially in the east- for a large part of its supplies and logistics, and the horse situation on the Eastern Front has grown dire. Japan's economic situation has also grown dire and they are now looking south for new sources of raw materials.

Josef Stalin was warned time and again from a variety of sources of the German plans for invading the Soviet Union, and yet, he did NOT heed those warnings.

Japan needs resources for its seemingly endless war in China, but where to look for them? And who might have a problem with it? Meanwhile in the Soviet Union, Hitler's forces have been diverted from the Moscow Road, and are on the move in the north and the south.

In Japan those in power are divided as to what to do as war with the Western powers looks more and more likely. Meanwhile in the USSR the war gets deadlier and deadlier, but also more and more confusing with leadership conflicts on both sides of the front.

Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt issue a charter that lays out their thoughts for the future, the Soviets are in trouble on two fronts, and Adolf Hitler repeats his orders to those who failed to heed them the first time.

As Barbarossa unfolds and the Germans take ever more Soviet territory, they have ever fewer planes with which to fly over it. What does this mean for the forces on the ground? What does this mean for their other theaters of war?

Josef Stalin is forming new armies to fight off the German onslaught, and yet it continues gaining ground both in the north and in the south. He also issues Draconian orders to the Red Army concerning any form of surrender.

The British and Soviets work together invade Iran, while Barbarossa trudges ever on, with heavy losses. Bletchley Park intercepts German messages, and unease grows among the German public.

It is two years this week since Germany invaded Poland. That European conflict soon became a global one. Japan's invasion of China began two years before that, but with Japan allied to the Axis Powers, they are now the same conflict. Those Axis are all fighting together now to try and defeat the Soviet Union, but the war has grown not just in the scale of the armies fighting, but also in the scale of man's inhumanity to man. We see that this week in German occupied territory.

Chieftain is back on the World War Two channel with a deep-dive into the Soviet armour in the first months of war on the Eastern Front. Remember that this is only Part 1 and covers armoured cars and light tanks. Part 2 comes out next week and focuses on medium and heavy tanks.

While the Second World War grows ever more destructive, some nations take advantage of the global chaos to settle old disputes. In Peru and Ecuador, long standing territorial disputes turn violent.

The German invasion of the Soviet Union has taken enormous amounts of territory, but this week the Red Army not only stops the Germans, they score a ringing victory. However, Leningrad comes under siege and Kiev is in great danger, and Adolf Hitler is issuing directives for the next phase of the Operation.

Chieftain returns to the World War Two channel this week for Part 2 of his deep-dive into the Soviet armour in the first months of war on the Eastern Front. This week, the focus is on medium and heavy tanks.

Kiev falls to the Germans, yielding hundreds of thousands of prisoners as whole armies are surrounded, but behind the lines all over German-occupied territories, partisan movements are gaining steam. Meanwhile, in China, Japan launches another campaign against Changsha.

In former Yugoslavia, the Republic of Uzice breaks free from the German occupation, even as the Germans are mopping up the masses of shattered Soviet Armies after last week's capture of Kiev. In the north, it really looks as if Leningrad will hold out for the time being, and German troops from both north and south converge on the center for the coming drive on Moscow.

In 1941, the question of whether America should join the European War still isn't settled. Different groups whip up opposition to it, and those such as the America First Committee seem suspiciously sympathetic to Hitler's message and cause.

Adolf Hitler's renewed drive on Moscow, the Soviet capital, begins this week, even as the Japanese drive on Changsha ends. But major news this week is the colossal amount of equipment, arms, and ammunition that Britain and the neutral USA plan to ship to the beleaguered Soviet Union.

Resistance has been brewing since the Axis invasion in April 1941. Multiple resistance groups fight for very different reasons and with different methods. When they launch a big offensive against the occupier, lines between friend and foe become blurry.

The road to Moscow does indeed lay open before the Germans, but for how long? And can they exploit such an opportunity- since the panzers are busy encircling hundreds of thousands of Soviet soldiers near Vyazema? Georgy Zhukov arrives in Moscow to take charge of the Soviet defenses and try to shut the door.

German U-Boats were a big threat to Allied shipping across the Atlantic. New inventions and tactics triggered a race to outsmart the opponent, dramatically changing the tides of the Battle of the Atlantic every few months.

Moscow panics as the Germans edge closer and take prisoners by the hundreds of thousands, even as the temperature drops far below freezing. At home in Germany, Josef Goebbels has a problem - he's promised victory too soon and too often. And in Japan, a government falls.

When the Yugoslav Partisans and Chetniks liberate a large part of modern-day Serbia, the Partisans found the Republic of Užice, complete with its own governmental structure, education and cultural policy and weapons factory.

The Germans draw ever closer to Moscow, but Soviet reinforcements have begun to arrive from Siberia and the city's defenses have grown stronger. Meanwhile in the south, the Germans are sweeping into the Crimea and looking hungrily at the Caucasus.

Operation Typhoon is halted until the coming winter can freeze enough ground to increase mobility. But the ever colder weather is a disaster waiting to happen for an already over-stretched German supply line.

Hitler and German High Command had expected the invasion of the Soviet Union to be an easy victory and for the Red Army to quickly collapse. Yet here we are, with millions of Soviet soldiers captured, wounded or killed and the Red Army still holding fast.

There is a lull now on the Eastern Front, and Adolf Hitler uses the time to plan another drive on Moscow and points beyond, but he'll be facing a larger Red Army, as reinforcements and recruits hope to nearly double its size in a matter of weeks. The British are counting down the days to their upcoming North African offensive, and the Japanese are sending out orders that will change the world dramatically in a single morning.

The British sink an entire convoy of supplies heading for Rommel in North Africa by using radar at night, something their opponents lack. In North Africa itself, the Allies are gearing up for a major offensive to begin in a few days. Meanwhile, the Germans are gearing up for a renewed drive on Moscow even as Georgy Zhukov launches small attacks there designed to spoil the larger German plans.

When Allies and Axis clash on the deserts of North Africa, harsh and unique conditions force them to develop new tactics. From misdirection to new ways to move across the desert, all to gain an advantage over the enemy.

The long planned Allied Offensive in North Africa- Operation Crusader- begins, but the Allies are worrying about how to defend Singapore in case of Japanese aggression. The Germans renew their drive on Moscow, but their number one flying ace perishes, a major PR hit.

After the fall of France in June 1940, the neutral Swiss are surrounded by a hostile expansionist power. So how do they manage to survive the conflict largely unscathed?

The German advance has pushed within artillery range of Moscow, but can they reach it- and take it- before the Red Army and the murderously cold weather halt them? Meanwhile in North Africa, both Erwin Rommel and Claude Auchinlek make daring and brilliant moves that save the fight for their sides. A mighty Japanese fleet is now secretly heading for Hawaii to make a surprise attack on American territory while the US worries where in Southeast Asia the Japanese are planning to attack.

During their occupation of large parts of Europe, the Nazis systematically looted foreign countries for art, gold and other items holding financial or cultural value. Often for any larger purpose, but for their own, egocentric, criminal gain.

Contrary to popular belief, Imperial Japan was not an absolute monarchy marching (or sailing) to war with singular vision and purpose. Rather, it was a dysfunctional government of competing factions, players and interests.

The Wehrmacht is halted by the Red Army at the gates of Moscow. Not only that, but a Red Army counteroffensive begins pushing the Germans back decisively. The Germans are also beginning to withdraw from their siege of Tobruk in North Africa. Japan, however, is advancing all over the Pacific, sending troop transports into the South China Sea, though it is unclear just whom Japan plans to attack. The Japanese are also- in top secrecy- sending a force of aircraft carriers to soon attack the American Pacific fleet at anchor at Pearl Harbor.

In this episode: Japan's meticulous planning and preparation made it possible to surprise the Americans at Pearl Harbor. Alert on Oahu is largely nonexistent. It is the deep breath before the plunge.

There are signals of attack and a buzz of chatter in the air, but will this be enough to force the American defenders out of their beds?

In this episode: War is sort of declared, but Japanese planes have already started their attack.

In this episode: The first wave commences its attack, how successful will it be? Will months of planning and preparation pay off?

The first wave continues, and with it, the chaos and destruction.

Desperate and shocked, American forces scramble to mount a resistance to the attack. But how effective can this be as the Japanese launch their second decisive raid?

American pilots are in the air, defending Pearl Harbor. They have already lost so much, and the Japanese show no sign of letting up the attack. How much will the Americans accomplish with their defense?

The Japanese attack is over, but the damage is done and the remaining Americans in Hawaii are left to react to their defeat.

Today marks the beginning of a war all over the South Pacific and Southeast Asia. How will the world change from here?

The circle closes, and we see why these fateful decisions were made and what the United States' reaction will be.

The Japanese launch attacks all over Southeast Asia and the Pacific, and launch a preemptive surprise attack on the American Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor. The war is suddenly much larger. In the USSR, the Germans find themselves now heavily on the defensive after the failure to take Moscow, while in North Africa, Erwin Rommel decides he must withdraw out of Cyrenaica to await reinforcements.

The NKVD started out as your regular old Ministry of the Interior. But over time, they grew out to a hugely influential and highly lethal weapon for some of the Soviet Union's leaders.

Following the German declaration of war on America on the 11th of December 1941, Britain gained an invaluable ally. Securing a joint military command between the new partnership will be central to its success, the question is, how can this be achieved?

The Japanese make gains in Malaya, Burma, Hong Kong, Borneo, and the Philippines. The Allies also have trouble in the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, where they are beginning to seriously suffer from a lack of capital ships. The Soviet Red Army is advancing, though, and Stalin takes personal control of planning for the upcoming counteroffensive, while Adolf Hitler takes personal control of the German Army.

Kido Butai was the fleet that launched the surprise attack on the US Pacific Fleet at anchor at Pearl Harbor and followed that up with a string of victories in 1942. But how was it commanded, both as a whole and in the high and even mid level command? Today we'll look at that.

The Japanese offensives and advances in Southeast Asia and the Pacific continue unabated and both Hong Kong and Wake Island fall. British and American leaders begin the Arcadia Conference to decide just how they are going to fight this war together, and there are more changes made in the German High Command on the Eastern Front, even as the Soviets make advances there.

At the ongoing Arcadia Conference, 26 nations sign the Declaration of the United Nations. Otherwise it is very much a week of motion and changes in motion: in the USSR the Soviets are on the move in the center and the Crimea, the Japanese are slowing their movement in China, the Americans are finishing their movement in the Philippines, and the Axis are moving backward in North Africa. The Luftwaffe also decides that Malta must be eliminated as a base for the Allies.

The US government realizes that it cannot send help to relieve the US and Filipino forces in the Philippines, but it does not tell those forces. Meanwhile in the USSR, a huge Red Army offensive against entrenched German forces begins along the entire frontline. The Germans have pulled back in North Africa, though, to consolidate. The Japanese enter Manila and advance in Malaya, but are forced to withdraw in China.

As the United States enter World War Two, a huge industrial giant awakens from hibernation. This episode covers Industrial Mobilization plans, their execution, and their potential.

Operation Pauchenslag, long-range German submarines operating just of the US Coast, kicks into action this week, as does the Japanese invasion of the Dutch East Indies. They also take Kuala Lumpur. Meanwhile, the Soviet Red Army offensive all along the Eastern Front has its first full week of action, with the Soviets making some real territorial gains in the center, though a German offensive in the Crimea catches them off guard.

The structure of decision-making in the Nazi Party and the German government is clouded in ambiguity and implicit power-structures. We explore how this leads to a. rat-race, resulting in an endless spiral of irrational decisions and violence.

Nazi Germnay's "Holocaust by Bullets" has already claimed over a million lives over the past 8 months; this week German authorities hold a conference to streamline and systematize the process of extermination. Gas will now be the preferred method of murder. The Japanese are murdering Allied soldiers that fall into their hands as they advance ever closer to Singapore. The Soviet offensive continues along the entire Eastern Front, but the orders and objectives grow ever more confusing and chaotic. In North Africa, Erwin Rommel launches a surprise offensive against the Allies and make a lightning advance the final two days of the week.

Access to scarce natural resources and labor was a big reason for the Japanese to invade numerous South-East asian countries. But was that necessary? And did the benefits outweigh the risk? Let's find out!

The Japanese advance on Singapore has gotten close enough that the British have destroyed the causeway to Singapore Island. The Japanese are also making attacks in the Solomon Islands, Burma, the Philippines, and the Dutch East Indies- their threat to Australia is real. Erwin Rommel's surprise spoiler offensive in North Africa takes Benghazi, and on the eastern front the Soviets break a hole in the German lines in the north even as the temperature drops to the -50s.

The Japanese advance in Burma and the Dutch East Indies, but they've reached the end of the Malayan Campaign- Singapore, which they have under siege. They now prepare for the final assault. The Allies are going on the offensive at sea, though, in the Marshalls-Gilberts Raids, while on land in the Soviet Union the Red Army launches another series of offensives against the Germans.

The Soviet Red Army has managed to surround some 100,000 German soldiers in the Demyansk Pocket. The Allies are surrounded in Fortress Singapore and the Japanese spend the week breaking in. The Allies are also unable to supply Malta by ship because of continuous heavy Axis bombing of the island and its surroundings, which bodes ill for Allied operations in North Africa. The Germans also make a bold naval move this week- sending two capital ships right up the English Channel under British noses, making for German ports.

Hundreds of thousands of Soviet Women were deployed in the Red Army and Red Navy during World War Two. They served in a multitude of functions, from traditional roles like nurses to roles previously associated with men. They were pilots, snipers, tank-crews, and fought on the very front of the lines.

The most humiliating defeat in British history according to Winston Churchill- 80,000 men lost as prisoners of war! Humiliated by an enemy far less numerous than themselves! There are many ways to describe the fall of Singapore; these are but two of them. The Japanese are also bombing Australia and invading Sumatra, Bali, and Timor this week, so they are certainly not resting on their laurels. Meanwhile in the Soviet Union, thousands of Red Army paratroops are dropping behind German lines.

Japan is one of the few belligerent nations of World War Two to wage war with biological and chemical weapons. Many of these weapons of mass destruction are developed in the secretive and infamous Unit 731.

The Japanese are advancing in the Dutch East Indies and Burma, brushing aside defenders, but their biggest victory this week is at sea, when they not only brush aside the ABDA Fleet, but literally wipe it out of existence. Meanwhile Italian and Germans submarines are patrolling the Caribbean, sinking any Allied merchant shipping they find. It is yet another week of Axis successes.

Without the incredible support and sacrifice of troops from British and French colonies, the Allies would be having an even harder time withstanding the Axis onslaught. This episode looks at their formation and their fighting style.

The Japanese advance in Burma continues, threatening Rangoon, and also make landings on Java and New Guinea. They even go so far as an air raid on Broome, Australia. The British are making raids of their own this week, Operation Biting against Bruneval in German-occupied France. As for the Germans themselves, 100,000 of them are still surrounded by the Red Army at Demyansk, and Hitler is told that the Soviets might have enough reserves to defend against a renewed summer offensive.

West Point and Annapolis are two of the most iconic military academies in America - maybe even the world. The two institutions have produced the men who are leading America's fight against the Axis powers.

Rangoon in Burma falls to the invaders without a shot, the Dutch East Indies surrender 100,000 men to them at Batavia, and the Japanese land on New Guinea and begin their advance on port Moresby. The first phase of their offensives is now over. The Philippines still hold out, their armies under siege at Bataan, but Douglas MacArthur, Allied commander there, has made his getaway, one day to hopefully return. American troops do begin landings on New Caledonia, to build a base there to begin the fight back.

MacArthur makes one of the most iconic remarks of the whole war, but considering the fact that the Philippines seem unsalvageable, it's pretty unclear just how he'll do it, especially since even though ever more American soldiers are arriving in Australia, the Japanese threat to Australia grows daily. Bill Slim arrives in Burma to take command of I Burma Corps, and Joe Stilwell has taken over two Chinese Nationalist armies, so the defense of Burma looks like it might go on a while longer, though the Allies are at a serious disadvantage after losing Rangoon. The Japanese, for their part, are trying to figure out how the heck they're going to administer all the territory they've taken this year and bring natural resources to Japan itself. There is still scattered fighting in the USSR, but the spring muds have put pad to any major offensives for the time being. As for the British, they launch Operation Outward, a hydrogen balloon campaign over Germany. Yep, you read that right. What a week.

The Allies make plans to bring the war to Germany by possibly attacking in North Africa. Holding Malta might be the key to such adventures, but it is increasingly harder to do. The Soviets and German make plans for adding millions of soldiers to their ranks, while springtime mud has kept the front mostly quiet. The Japanese plans for the conquest of Burma are still advancing, though the fighting this week is especially brutal.

After the German take over continental Europe, the British invent the commando, a new soldier type to raid and harass German installations in occupied Europe.

Censorship was not just a practice in totalitarian regimes. During World War Two, democratic liberties in Allied countries often clashed with propaganda and restrictions of the press.

Britain's campaign to firebomb the old towns of Germany where civilians reside begins in earnest this week. The British also destroy the port at St. Nazaire in commando action. In the Indian Ocean, however, they are avoiding contact with the Japanese, even while on land the Japanese advance in both Burma and New Guinea.

After holding out since the beginning of the year, the American and Filipino defenders at Bataan can do so no more, and they surrender to the Japanese- the Bataan Death March for the 75,000 prisoners begins. Meanwhile, the Japanese carrier fleet launches a raid on Colombo and shipping in the Bay of Bengal, wrecking Britain's Eastern Fleet in the process and forcing them to move to African coastal bases. Adolf Hitler issues the directive outlining his plans for a summer offensive against the USSR that aim south toward the Caucasus.

The Doolittle Raid is just a little bombing raid over Tokyo that doesn't do that much physical damage. It does, however, have big repercussions- partly in terms of future offensive plans for the Japanese fleet, and partly in terms of the thousands of Chinese lives taken in reprisals for allowing the US bombers to land in China. There is small scattered action on the Eastern Front, more Japanese advances in Burma, and a French VIP escapes captivity in Germany and heads for Switzerland and freedom.

On paper, Hitler never made a lot of money. Yet he became one of the wealthiest people of his time. This is how he stole his fortune.

After last week's Doolittle Raid on Tokyo, pretty much the entire Japanese fleet is sent out looking for American ships. They do not find them, but the enormous amount of radio traffic they generate is a treasure trove for Allied codebreakers to work on. The Allies ship 46 British Spitfire planes to Malta... and all of them are destroyed by the Axis within 48 hours. Germany begins bombing tourist and cultural destinations in Britain, and to make things even worse for the British this week, they realize they can't hold Burma and are now making tracks for India, with the Japanese Army in hot pursuit.

From inspiring their subjects to plotting international strategy, the world's monarchies still have a crucial role to play in their country's war effort during the Second World War. As you'll find out, some sovereigns are much more successful at this than others.

Now Burma and control of the Burma Road have fallen to the Japanese. Can nothing stop them? The Allies are thinking about maybe using the Solomon Islands as a base to build to try and fight back, but to do that they'll need control of the Coral Sea, but both sides are sending warships there since the Japanese plan to take Port Moresby. The Allies are aware of this, however, since they have the advantage of being able to read a substantial part of japan's radio traffic. It is a week of foreshadowing not just there, but also as the Allies send ships to take Madagascar from the Vichy French and the Soviets prepare to launch an offensive in the south of the Eastern Front.

This week sees a major clash between the naval forces of the Japanese and the Allies. Both sides take big damage, though on the tactical level it is a victory for the Japanese. Operationally, however, they must postpone their attacks towards Port Moresby. They are busy making plans all the while, though, for their upcoming attack against Midway Atoll in the Central Pacific. They also finally have success ending an offensive this week with the conquest of the Philippines when Corregidor falls. Japan's ally Germany begins an offensive of their own this week on the Kerch Peninsula. The Allies, for their part, launch an offensive of their own this week against Vichy French-held Madagascar, and they take the main port, Diego Suarez.

The Soviets pre-empt a German offensive with one of their own in the south of the Eastern Front, but that's not the only fighting. The skies over Malta and the waters of the Gulf of St. Lawrence are full of action. Meanwhile, two races against time - and the Japanese - come to an end in India.

While the US was fighting for freedom and liberty across the globe, their home country and armies are still deeply segregated, causing minority groups in the USA to fight not one but two wars.

The inhuman, torturous, and deadly Japanese PoW Camps famous from "Bridge over the River Kwai," "Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence," "Empire of the Sun," and more recently "Unbroken" are a world of abuse and mistreatment managed by willfully incompetent and sadistically brutal men.

Soviet Foreign Minister Molotov arrives in London to meet with Churchill, but at home in the USSR the Germans have launched an instantly successful offensive. In North Africa and Malta the British are building up, unaware that Erwin Rommel is just about to strike, and an American ruse discovers secret Japanese attack plans.

Before the infamous day that was Pearl Harbor, US and Japanese military planners worked to envision what a future war in the Pacific would look like. With the entire region now a war zone, it is time to put their theories to the test. Watch the video to find out what these are.

Erwin Rommel begins his surprise new offensive with "Rommel's Moonlight Ride", bringing all of his mighty mobile units to the fray in North Africa, while in the Pacific, dozens of warships and tens of thousands of men set sail from Japan- their mission? Attack the Aleutian Islands and Midway Island, but above all, destroy the US Pacific Fleet!

In the wrong hands, propaganda is a powerful tool that can trick whole countries into supporting a dictator, go to war, or even commit genocide.

The supposedly surprise Japanese operations against Midway Atoll and the Aleutian Islands kick-off, but they don't know that Allied intelligence has cracked their codes. As the Japanese fleet advances in the Central Pacific and Japanese planes bomb Midway, the US Navy has a big surprise waiting for them.

Midway isn't the only fight right now. Germany is trying to crack the mighty fortress of Sevastopol and take the whole Crimea. In North Africa, Rommel is routing the Allies, but in Malta the arrival of ever more fighter planes bodes well for the Allies.

We left off last time with several burning behemoths. Watch today to see the action that follows, not just on the high seas, but also in Alaska. We also turn to Washington DC and Tokyo and follow the reaction to the Battle of Midway there. The Japanese one may surprise you.

It's a week of starts and stops. The Battle of Sevastopol kicks into high gear, and the Battle of Gazala enters its third phase. And what is going on in the Pacific just one week after Midway?

Naval infantrymen have long been a feature of warfare. In the build-up to 1939, they took on new functions and tactics. The Royal Marines, the US Marine Corps, Black Death, Kaiheidan, and more are ready for all-out amphibious warfare in the Pacific Theatre and beyond.

Two convoys head from opposite ends of the Mediterranean to supply Malta, hoping to run interference for each other, and the Battle of Sevastopol continues as the Axis slowly wear down the Soviet defenders, but the big news is Erwin Rommel's continued advances in North Africa, defeating the 8th Army again and again. Can the Allies hold Tobruk? Will they even try? Watch and find out.

What aircraft are being sent out by commanders like Hermann Göring and Arthur Harris to blitz and firebomb enemy cities? Watch the video to learn the specs of the Handley Page Halifax, Avro Lancaster, Junkers Ju-88, Dornier Do-17, Dornier Do-217, and Heinkel He-111 as they fly in their respective 1,000 Bomber Raids and Baedeker Blitz.

When nuclear fission was discovered, scientists theorized if it could be used in an atom bomb. Thus, American Army sets up one of the biggest research projects in history: The Manhattan Project.

Fall Blau, the huge Axis summer offensive in the Soviet Union, is supposed to being this, but is postponed to next. The smaller Operation Fridericus II does begin though, and what dos Josef Stalin make of that and the intelligence he's received? Meanwhile in North Africa, after the fall of Tobruk, the British 8th Army gets a leadership change, but Erwin Rommel is still on the move eastward into Egypt. Where will the Allies try to hold him? Half the world away, the Allies begin to establish a base at Milne Bay, New Guinea. It's a start, a small one, but a start.

A year ago we covered the largest invasion in history: Operation Barbarossa - the Axis invasion of the Soviet Union. Here is the time-lapse map of the whole one year campaign in the USSR.

It's that time of the year again- the time when the Axis Powers drive deep into the Soviet Union. Fall Blau is the name of this year's huge offensive, and it begins this week, making great gains from the very beginning, but the Axis Powers are also making big gains this week in North Africa, taking Mersa Matruh and pushing to within 100 km of Alexandria. Can nothing stop them?

Adolf Hitler is not happy, and yet phase one of Fall Blau has accomplished all of its goals and done so ahead of the timetable. However, the Soviet Army in 1942 is not the same as that in 1941, and is not waiting around this time to be captured by the hundreds of thousands, and if things continue then the Axis might just be wasting a ton of gas to take a ton of empty space.

The second phase of Fall Blau begins with second guessing by the Axis Powers and constant changes in directive. The Soviet Union's response to the successes of the first phase of Fall Blau is equally chaotic. Over in North Africa there is the question of it maybe ending in stalemate.

The Soviets keep withdrawing from the advancing Axis forces, and Hitler keeps issuing contrary orders to try and stop that, with the results that logistics are getting screwed up and the mobile units are bogged down in huge traffic jams. The Allies have decided not to open a second front in Europe in 1942, but do choose another spot to begin the long counter offensive.

It is what it says it is, the front line deployments of the Axis and Soviet forces in the Southern Part of the Eastern Front in late July 1942. Hitler's forces invading, and Josef Stalin's on defense.

"I said DAMN, this traffic jam... How I hate to be late, hurts my motor to go so slow. Time I get home my supper be cold. Damn, this traffic jam." (James Taylor, the Eastern Front, 1942)

Operation Edelweiss opens with a blast, and as the Wehrmacht closes in on Stalingrad, Stalin issues that famous order. There aren't just big actions in the East, the Japanese have landed in New Guinea, the Allies try one more offensive at El Alamein, and the Americans have locked in on Guadalcanal.

Well, we all know by know that the Wehrmacht is driving into the Caucasus to try and take the Soviet oilfields, but how bad is their oil situation, actually? And how will they get it out of the ground if the Soviets sabotage the fields and wells? What exactly is the plan? Let's find out.

The Axis Forces are on the move on the Eastern Front and in the Caucasus, but this week the Allies begin an offensive of their own: this week come Allied landings and attacks on Guadalcanal and nearby islands, the first American offensive against the Japanese.

The Axis advance into the Caucasus is going great... except the oil towns they take have no oil, and wasn't that the whole purpose? Meanwhile in the Pacific, the US Navy is suffering perhaps its greatest defeat ever off Savo Island, even as the Marines take Tulagi, Gavutu, and Tanambogo.

When Germany and Japan mobilize huge numbers of well-trained conscripts and sweep across Europe and Asia, Britain and America are forced to devote huge resources to closing the gap. But how far should the rights of those who refuse to fight be respected?

The Axis advance in the Caucasus takes Mt. Elbrus, and the one on Stalingrad continues, and there are several raids of note this week- a Japanese one on Guadalcanal is destroyed, an Allied one on Dieppe is badly savaged, and an American one at Makin Atoll is successful in the short term, but with bad long term ramifications.

The Eastern Front is a battleground of Blitzkrieg and Deep Battle; Panzers vs. T-34s; Nazism and Communism. You'd think that there would be no place for cavalry tactics here. But the Wehrmacht, Red Army, and Regio Esercito do still use centuries-old cavalry tactics in their waging of war.

The Battle of the Eastern Solomons takes place this week- another carrier battle. As for the Germans, they're advancing on Stalingrad, slowing down in the Caucasus, and Erwin Rommel is preparing to launch another assault in North Africa.

German military doctrine is all about mobility and operational maneuverability, but there comes a time in this war, well, several times, when an actual classic siege is called for. So how does the Wehrmacht respond to that call? Find out today.

As the war turns three there is is no slacking in the fighting. Erwin Rommel launches another Axis attack in North Africa, but it is foiled in only days, though the Axis are advancing in the Caucasus as well as on Stalingrad, where the fight for the suburbs is now beginning. They're also advancing in the South Pacific, as the Japanese fight their way along the Kokoda Trail.

To fuel the German war economy, the Nazis force millions of Prisoners of War, Concentration Camp inmates and civilians from all over Europe to work for in their factories and on their farms as slave laborers under harsh circumstances.

Adolf Hitler sacks Wilhelm List, Army Group Commander in the Caucasus. His replacement does not have military command experience. The fighting there is still successful this week, though, as is the advance through the suburbs of Stalingrad. The Japanese are advancing along the Kokoda Trail and on Guadalcanal, but the Axis attacks in North Africa have failed badly.

Here's an extra weekly episode for you. The suburbs of Stalingrad have fallen and the fight for the city proper is about to begin, but before it does, three conferences take place that will decide the scope, the tactics, and the strategy of this battle.

There is more to war on merchant shipping than U-Boats and the Battle of the Atlantic. Raiders disguised as innocent traders also play the role of privateers; stalking vessels, approaching with a false flag, and then striking before anyone can react. Here's the story of one: Kormoran.

It's a big week, but by now they all are. The fighting in Stalingrad is intense, the fighting on Guadalcanal is intense, and the US loses a carrier in the Pacific. And the German quest for oil in the Caucasus... how's that going again?

Franz Halder, German Army Chief of Staff since the war began, loses his job this week, but the offensive this summer has failed to gain any of its objectives and someone has to take the blame. In the Caucasus it's slowing to a crawl, and in Stalingrad the fighting is now block by block. Meanwhile, the Japanese are making new plans for a big offensive of their own, to take Guadalcanal once and for all.

What is left of the Red Army after the smashing offensives of Operation Barbarossa and Fall Blau, and what have Stavka done to rebuild it? As the war on the Eastern Front goes on, more men and materiel stream to the frontlines, stemming the onslaught of the Wehrmacht.

The fighting for Stalingrad continues, but the Soviets forces are split and the Volga is on fire. In the Caucasus, the Axis forces for the most part are being held in check- at one point a single Soviet battalion holds off an entire Army Corps- but they're being pushed back on the Kokoda Trail in the South Seas.

We all know that penicillin is a wonder drug, it shortened the war, and assured Allied victory. Or did it, is that just a myth? The Allies are certainly much further ahead than the Axis, but even with accelerated wartime development, will it come into service quick enough to make a difference?

Things are looking pretty grim for Vassily Chuikov's 62nd Army in Stalingrad this week, as the German 6th Army launches its biggest series of attacks so far. The Axis are unable to get anywhere in the Caucasus, though, and the American Marines win a local victory over the Japanese on Guadalcanal, but everyone's thoughts there are on reinforcing and more reinforcing.

The Americans win a naval victory off Guadalcanal and even manage to reinforce the Marines there with the first Army units to arrive, but as the week ends the Japanese launch a major offensive on the island. Meanwhile far across the globe, Adolf Hitler orders that all German offensive operations except those at Stalingrad and in the Caucasus cease. There is plenty to do in Stalingrad, though, because this week all hell breaks loose there.

The Higgins Landing Craft, Higgins Boat, Landing Craft, or whatever you would like to call it, is one of the most important vehicles of the Second World War - perhaps just as much as tanks, planes, and warships. In a war full of amphibious invasions, landing on beaches in a safer and more efficient way is crucial to victory. So let's find out the history of this war machine and it's use by the World War Two Allies?

Could this be the beginning of the big break in North Africa? The Allies have the men, the armor, and the fuel... they just have to deal with the Axis minefields to try and get started. And the Axis are throwing ever more men at Stalingrad as the Soviets grimly hold on. Another roller coaster of a week.

How do you convince your people to hate and fear their neighbors, to support a genocidal war of aggression, and see you as their only hope? If you are Adolf Hitler or Joseph Goebbels, the answer is simple. You send them to the cinema.

The Allies may be on the verge of a breakthrough in North Africa, but they're losing at sea to the Japanese this week, and the Axis are also advancing in the Caucasus, though the street by street struggle at Stalingrad continues as always.

Georgy Zhukov told Josef Stain in September that if the Red Army could just hold out until November, he could put together a counteroffensive that would defeat the enemy. Well, November is here, and that counteroffensive is ready to kick off, but how was it put together? Let's find out.

After all these months of fighting, the British 8th Army breaks through Erwin Rommel's Axis positions in North Africa, but the Allies have even bigger plans for that theater of war- a huge invasion of Vichy French North Africa to take place next week. The Soviets also have a plan for a huge invasion to take place very soon near Stalingrad, though the fighting in the city itself sees a lull the second half of this week.

Chieftain returns to the North African theatre to talk us through the armored fighting vehicles in action around the time of Operation Torch. This episode is part one of two with Chieftain covering the German and Italian vehicles. Here, Chieftain looks at everything from the fearsome Tiger to the nemesis of LRDG: the Sahariana.

Operation Torch goes off this week, the Allied invasion of French Northwest Africa, but this prompts the Germans to invade European France. This is the Allies first combined major offensive in the Western Hemisphere. The Germans launch another offensive of their own this week, though- Operation Hubertus in Stalingrad. And in the South Pacific, a major naval battle begins off Guadalcanal.

The second front has been opened, and Allied forces are invading Vichy French Northwest Africa. But did you know that it could very well have been an invasion of Europe taking place right now instead? Let's examine how this idea came about, and why it never worked out.

After months of stubborn defense the time has finally come for the Soviet Counterstroke, but is it in time to save Stalingrad? And can the Allies reach Tunis and take all of North Africa before the Axis can reinforce?

Part two of Chieftain's return to the North African campaign. Here he looks at the armored fighting vehicles of the British and Americans with a small bit on the French as well. We see the introduction of the iconic Sherman and the varied fortunes of British design.

Last week's counterattack was just the beginning, for the Soviets launch another giant offensive this week. And things look bad for the Axis powers in the south of the USSR. Meanwhile in France, the French scuttle their navy rather than allow it to fall into German hands.

It might only be tangentially relevant to the war as a whole, but the Battle for Reunion Island is not only interesting in and of itself, it serves as a microcosm for the war for the French in general. Check it out!

America shares a language and large parts of its culture with Britain and Australia. But when tens of thousands of US troops arrive in 1942, things will be far from smooth. While the alliance remains firm, their soldiers will spend almost as much time fighting each other as they do the Axis.

The Soviets have launched offensives on the entire eastern front and by now hundreds of thousands of men are surrounded at Stalingrad. The Japanese win a battle at sea, but are losing a war of attrition.

For the past months, we have continuously mentioned the fighting on the Kokoda Track, but it was often a mere footnote next to the colossal battles happening throughout the world. Today, we give you a unique recap of all that's been going on in this remote theater of war.

It is one of the deadliest battles of the Eastern Front and entire conflict, yet it is often overlooked next to the fighting at Stalingrad. Today, we will take a look at the 1942 Summer Battles of Rzhev.

The Stahlhelm. Perhaps the most iconic symbol of German military power, ever present in images of the war. Hitler believes it strikes fear in his enemies and makes his own troops fearless. But where does it come from and why is it so enduring?

The Japanese try and fail to supply their starving soldiers. The Allies fail to break through in Tunisia and New Guinea. The fighting in the USSR is bloody, but the Axis prepare for a new offensive there.

It's late1942 and the German Army is close to ruin. The Ostheer alone has suffered more than a million casualties in its fight against the Red Army. If the Wehrmacht can not find a way to return to its former strength or reap decisive strategic benefits in the near future, it will ultimately face destruction in a war of attrition.

Just a few weeks ago massive offensives were launched in North Africa and the Soviet Union, against the Axis. These operations and offensives have now morphed into fully fledged campaigns, and the nature of these theatres of the war has been transformed.

They might be four of the most powerful politicians and/or military leaders on earth, but they are also citizens of their respective countries and today we take a look at what they do over the traditional Christmas holidays in 1942.

The Soviet offensive Operation Mars is over; it has failed, but Operation Little Saturn has been such a success that the Axis are forced to cancel their own Operation, Winter Storm, which was to relieve the troops trapped in Stalingrad. They remain trapped because Adolf Hitler has now forbidden them from trying to break out. The Allies run into tough Axis defense in both Tunisia and on Guadalcanal, and a French bigwig is assassinated.

Quantity had a quality of its own. 1942 was the year in which the dimensions of the Second World War became truly apparent. The US and its unmatched economic power began to outproduce any other warring nation, manufacturing a fleet of ships and aircraft in record time. In the east Soviet industry began recovering itself, producing tens of thousands of tanks despite tremendous losses. All the while the German logistic system got overwhelmed by the vastness of the occupied territory.

The attrition cannot continue so the Japanese decide they will evacuate Guadalcanal, conceding the Solomon Islands to the Allies. The Allies are also conceding the Caucasus, and a naval battle in the far north convinces Hitler that he should scrap the entire German surface fleet. 1943 begins ominously for the Axis.

North Africa. The Axis and Allies are fighting each other but even more, they're fighting the desert itself. The men of the desert burn during the day and freeze at night. They do most of their fighting on a litre of water and a packet of army biscuits. What is life in such a hostile environment?

Things look grim for the Germans, surrounded at Velikie Luki and Stalingrad and with no real help of relief. The Soviets are, in fact, making plans for attacks all along the front, as are the Americans to push the Japanese off of Guadalcanal.

Even the best sniper needed a reliable and accurate rifle. During the Second World War, all warring nations fielded designated sniper and marksman rifles, but different manufacturers had different ideas, from optical sights to breech-loading mechanisms, to gas-piston systems. Some preferred traditional bolt-action, others favored the new semi-automatic approach.

Soviet attacks are launched this week to destroy the Hungarians, all while the German desperation at Stalingrad and Velikie Luki continues, but in the far north the Soviets have broken through the siege of Leningrad after 16 months. And the Casablanca Conference begins, a meeting to guide the war's future progress.

Tens of thousands of Japanese soldiers were fighting over the jungles and beaches of Guadalcanal. To supply them with food, ammunition and medicine, the Japanese Navy had to resort to a series of daring supply runs - nicknamed the "Tokyo Express". In the face of overwhelming American air superiority, the Tokyo Express had to find a tactic to overcome their enemy's advantage, or it would doom its soldiers stranded on the island.

This is a rough week for the Germans- their trapped garrison at Velikie Luki is liquidated, and their trapped army at Stalingrad is... well, it isn't going well for them. In fact, it isn't going well for the Axis anywhere this week, being pushed back or retreating in New Guinea, the Caucasus, North Africa, and on Guadalcanal. Berlin is even bombed this week as well.

The Allies are unable to win in Tunisia, though further east Bernard Montgomery has achieved his goal of driving the enemy out of Libya. To the west, the Casablanca Conference comes to its end and the Allies write a list of their war priorities. The Soviets, however, are on the move everywhere, closing in on Stalingrad, and launching new operations up and down the eastern front, to the dismay and detriment of the Axis forces.

The Battle of Stalingrad is nearing its end. Strong contingents of the 21st and 62nd Soviet Armies broke through the German defensive lines west of Stalingrad and were now pushing deep into the city. Despite the "Kessel" being split into several parts, the Axis soldiers are still resisting fiercely, fighting street by street, house by house. Yet it is a desperate last stand. Overwhelmed and undersupplied, many Generals push for surrender. But only their commander, the freshly promoted "Field-Marshal" Paulus, has the authority to do so.

"Who dares, wins". Nowadays the British SAS - Special Air Service is considered one of the best special forces in the world. Yet its wartime origins are shrouded in mysteries and legends. From the first ideas of top-secret "special raiding squadrons", to the first raids in North Africa accompanying the Long Range Desert Group, the SAS's beginnings resemble one big experiment. An experiment from which a truly legendary special service would emerge.

This week sees the 10th anniversary of Hitler's ascension to power in Germany, but while there may be celebrations and speeches in Germany, the Battle of Stalingrad comes to its end with the surrender of the German 6th Army. The Soviets are on the move all over, launching yet more winter offensives. It is the Axis who are attacking in Tunisia, and in the Solomon Islands... well, the Allies aren't sure what the Japanese are up to.

Operation KE, the Japanese evacuation of Guadalcanal, concludes this week and the campaign has been a big loss for the Japanese. The Axis forces are also withdrawing- and the Red Army advancing- in the Donbas and the Caucasus, closing in on both Kharkov and Rostov. And a front that's been quiet for a while, the Burma front, begins heating up again with an Allied advance out of India.

It's 1943, the preparations for D-Day have already begun: deceive the Wehrmacht. Here at TimeGhost, we have begun to prepare our D-Day for 2023, and we want you to join us! Find out how in the pinned comment.

Outnumbered, outgunned, and outproduced by the Allies, the noose seems to be tightening slowly but surely around the Third Reich. For Joseph Goebbels, salvation lies in a radical transformation of the economy and society – Total War. But first, he must sell it to the German people.

The Red Army liberates both Rostov and Kharkov this week, but their advancing spearheads are close to an even bigger prize, Adolf Hitler himself. It is the Axis, however, who are both advancing and consolidating in Tunisia, and gearing up for new offensive actions next week.

Humanity has spent millennia developing ever more efficient ways to kill. This reaches its apogee in WWI and WWII, the most terrible conflicts in human history. Broken bodies bring with them broken minds. The trauma of war brings with it the mysteries of shell shock, war neurosis and PTSD.

What if there was a plane that the enemy could neither catch nor reach? One that fully relied on speed instead of defensive armaments? The de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito was the first multi-role aircraft developed during World War Two. Made mostly out of wood, the "Wooden Wonder" could be easily converted into different roles - a fighter, a fighter-bomber, a bomber, and a reconnaissance aircraft.

Erich von Manstein's Axis counterattack on the Eastern Front begins this week and right away smashes through the Red Army lines, threatening all the recent Soviet gains. The Allies- the Americans- also suffer a big defeat in Tunisia at the Kasserine Pass, though in the Pacific it is the Americans who occupy the Russell Islands.

This war has seen a huge amount of scientific and technological innovation. New ways of taking lives, and new ways of saving lives abound. But what about the more ordinary, everyday, products of the war? Would you be surprised to hear that people in the 21st century will still be using WWII inventions in daily life.

By 1943 the German "Uranium-Club" was hoping to harvest the energy of the atoms. One of the things they still needed for their experiments was the moderator "heavy water", which was produced for them in the hydro-plant "Vemork" in occupied Norway. British High Command authorized a top-secret mission to prevent it from ever reaching Germany. A group of highly trained commandos was to parachute in and destroy the heavy water facility by any means necessary.

The Japanese again fail to reinforce New Guinea, losing many transport ships, and their forces there are ever more isolated. In Tunisia the Axis lose a bunch of new Tiger tanks, but in the Soviet Union it is the Axis forces that are on the offensive as Erich von Manstein's offensive continues.

Erwin Rommel loses his command and leaves Tunisia, while change in American command there puts George Patton in charge. On the ground the Axis lose the Battle of Medenine, but in the Soviet Union, Axis forces are on the move and heading for Kharkov.

The British are attacking the Mareth Line in North Africa while the Americans hit the Axis flank, but the Allies are withdrawing in Burma. It's the Germans who are pulling back in the USSR, though, and there is another attempt from within German Command to assassinate Adolf Hitler.

Along with its arsenal of carriers, bombers, and tanks, America has perhaps the most powerful weapon of all. Hollywood. Hollywood is pumping out American and Allied propaganda as quickly as it can. But was this always the case?

The British are attacking the Mareth Line in North Africa while the Americans hit the Axis flank, but the Allies are withdrawing in Burma. It's the Germans who are pulling back in the USSR, though, and there is another attempt from within German Command to assassinate Adolf Hitler.

Boots on the ground! Despite all the mobility provided by tanks, trucks and planes, the infantryman had to rely on his own two feet above all else. To march, run and fight, soldiers needed sturdy and comfortable footwear. Choosing between ankle-boots, service-shoes and jackboots, the warring nations were looking for the perfect combat-boot for their soldiers.

The phantom submarine that has been savaging both Japanese and Allied shipping in the South Pacific is tracked to Hydra Island, Baron von Strucker's base. The fighting for it is a tough hand-to-hand combat, as Japanese and American soldiers ally with each other in the face of a common enemy.

American attacks in Tunisia meet with local disaster, but in general the Axis forces are withdrawing there. The Allies learn about the German rocketry plans this week, and both sides are making plans for action in the Pacific.

Few things of the Second World War are more intimidating than the iconic German Bunker. Made out of reinforced concrete with a thickness of up to 3.5 meter, these casemates and pillboxes were incredibly tough to destroy. Built to withstand shells and bombs, they provided shelter to troops and civilians alike. But there were also some even larger super-structures. From giant U-Boat shelters and fearsome Flak-Towers, to the ultimate Führerbunker, the Germans perfected the art of bunker building.

"Bicycling to victory! Soldiers were moved by trucks and trains to the front, transported on the backs of tanks and armoured vehicles into combat. But sometimes they also went by using the good old bicycle. Pedaling over the paved roads of Western Europe and East Asia, specialised bicycle-companies surprised through mobility and independence. Bikes were comparatively cheap to mass produce and did not need fuel nor fodder. So they proved a real alternative to those nations, that had to budget their oil resources."

Adolf Hitler meets with Benito Mussolini to hopefully restore his flagging morale and convince him that the Axis can hold out in North Africa, but the situation there grows more precarious and this week there the Allies advancing from the west and the east link up for the first time. The Axis are also holding out in the Caucasus, as new Soviet attacks to take Krymskaya begin.

The German U-Boats were one of the most dangerous armed forces of World War II. From the North Sea to the Mexican coast to the Cape of Good Hope, everywhere they put fear into the Allied merchant marine. But what was life like on a German submarine? What dangers did the crew face? How did they endure the long voyages far away from home?

The Allies have one chance left to catch the Axis forces in Tunisia before they can reach the Tunis defences, in the USSR both the Axis and Soviets are making plans for a fight near Kursk, and in the skies, in the South Pacific a Japanese aerial offensive ends and Yamamoto himself flies off to congratulate his pilots.

The mastermind of Pearl Harbor meets his fate this week in the Solomons, as do a great many Italian airmen and sailors in the Mediterranean in the Palm Sunday Massacre trying to supply the desperate Axis forces in Tunisia.

Serving on board a merchant-ship during the Second World War is a hazardous endeavor. Stalked by submarines, attacked by surface raiders, and hunted by bombers, the convoys and individual cargo ships face constant danger on their routes across the seas. And that is in addition to the job's typical hazards. But what is life like for a regular sailor on board these ships? And what motivates a man to sign up for such a dangerous job?

The Allies launch a deception operation to hide their intent of soon attacking Sicily, but first, they'll actually have to secure Tunisia, and it is slow going. A German offensive in the Caucasus grinds to a halt, and German U-Boats are suddenly finding themselves unable to destroy Allied shipping in the Atlantic.

We've heard how German forces are fuelled by stimulants like Pervitin. But are the Allies doing the same thing? Of course! Their drug of choice is Benzedrine. It's in use as the RAF bomb German cities, as Monty's tanks push Rommel back, and as US Marines take the fight to the Japanese.

Tunis falls to the Allies, but the Axis are still fighting back from their little corner of Tunisia. There is more of the seemingly endless fighting in the Kuban in the Caucasus, and the Chinese Theater comes to life with a new Japanese offensive.

With the end of the Tunisian Campaign, the Allies have won the war for the African Continent. What next? They meet at the Trident Conference in Washington DC to try and figure that out. Meanwhile, the fight in the field continues - in Burma, the Aleutians, China, and the Kuban.

Washington, May 1943. It was the largest Anglo-American conference of the war so far. With the Axis being defeated in North Africa, the Mediterranean, and New Guinea, the need to agree on new strategic goals arose inside the Combined Chiefs of Staff. A new course of action was to be set against Italy, Japan, and Germany, to capitalize on the recent successes. But debates and old dilemmas heated up when it came to resources, manpower, and the question: "where to attack next".

The Allies have won the battle for Africa, but now they have nearly 250,000 POWs to care for, and do not have the facilities to do so. The Trident Conference continues in Washington to try and decide the direction of the Allied war effort, but they launch the Dambuster Raids this week in Germany to try and cripple German water power - and thus, industry - with a new type of bomb.

German Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz orders the U-Boats to leave the Atlantic this week; the losses lately have just been too great for their patrols to continue there. There is active fighting in China, the Aleutians, and the Kuban, and there are special weapons tests in the skies over Germany.

How to kill a U-Boat? The threat of the elusive and nearly undetectable submarines had been on the mind of every Allied naval planner since the Great War. As the Kriegsmarine once more unleashed its wolfpacks to the high seas, it became a race against time to find a way to stop the deadly stalkers from beneath the surface.

The Chinese defeat the Japanese at Shipai Fortress and the Americans maul the Japanese in the Aleutians. The Japanese are also worried about the possibility of the USSR joining the war against them. Meanwhile the Allies still plan to invade Sicily, but have no idea what they'll do after that.

The thousand-bomber offensive was about to begin as Air-Marshall Harris was assembling his forces. Yet one man was to challenge his strategy. The aircraft designer Barnes Wallis thought: "What if there was a way to destroy Germany's industrial might not by simply dropping thousands of bombs over its cities, but by a precision strike against its dams?" For this, a new kind of bouncing bomb was to be delivered.

The Allies bomb Mediterranean islands in preparation for their invasion of Sicily next month; they also prepare a lot of deceptions to mislead the enemy as to where they will attack. The German plans for the summer offensive against the Kursk Salient are ever more concrete, and in the field this week, the Chinese stop the Japanese offensive cold.

The Soviets have put civilians to work by the hundreds of thousands, building line after line of defenses in the Kursk Salient, where they are sure the Germans are soon to attack. Meanwhile the Allies are making moves in preparations for two big upcoming offensives of their own- in Sicily and the Central Solomon Islands.

The Allies make some preliminary moves ahead of their next big operation in the Solomon Island as well as a few before their impending invasion of Sicily. Meanwhile, in the Soviet Union, Soviet citizens are laying over a million mines in anticipation of the impending German attack at Kursk.

The best tank of World War Two or a piece of junk? Using the original held at the U.S. Army Armor & Cavalry Collection, Chieftain and Rob Cogan take you on a literal deep dive into the iconic Tiger I.

The Allies begin the next phase of their Solomon Islands offensives, the invasion of New Georgia, even as the regional fighting continues on New Guinea. Adolf Hitler schedules his summer Kursk offensive for July 5th, and the Allied invasion of Sicily is set for July 10th.

Over the last few weeks entire cities worth of troops along with all the logistical support needed to support them have gathered in and around the Kursk salient. Here's how they've been deployed, and where they could go from here.

Adolf Hitler launches his huge summer offensive in the USSR, Operation Citadel, known as the Battle of Kursk. Men in the millions clash. The Allies New Georgia campaign continues in the Solomons, both on land and with fighting at sea this week, and the preliminary actions begin for the Allied invasion of Sicily, scheduled to go off tomorrow.

As dawn broke on 12th July 1943, the spearheads of the German II SS Panzer Corps and the Soviet 5th Guards Tank Army were shuffling into their positions. The battle of Zitadelle was entering a pivotal moment. Would the elite of the German Panzers finally achieve a breakthrough into open country? Or would the might of the Soviet Tank Army break them in a pre-emptive attack? The battle and fate of Operation Zitadelle was to be decided in front of a small village called Prokhorovka.

The Allies have begun their fight to take back Western Europe with Operation Husky. That's not the only news though. They are also trying to extend their foothold in the Solomons, and Germany and the USSR continue smashing into one another at Kursk.

The occupation of a neutral country by the United Nations Alliance potentially killed millions of innocent people. Few seemed to care at the time and it has gone largely unreported in traditional historiography. This is the forgotten famine of World War Two. The Iranian Famine.

The Allied invasion of Italy powers on and puts the future of a key axis power at play. In the USSR, the Soviets have learnt to deal with German offensives, as the Wehrmacht struggles to make a dent.

The Allied advance on Sicily continues, though they're really gearing up for operations next week. The Soviet advances around in the USSR and in New Georgia also continue, with the enemy deciding to withdraw in both; Allied firebombing kills tens of thousands of German civilians, but the big news is still the fall of Benito Mussolini from power in Italy.

The Allies bomb the Romanian oil fields, a major Axis source of oil, but it does not go well for the attackers. They do advance in both Sicily and the Solomon Islands- where a future President has one heck of an adventure, and in the USSR a huge Soviet counter offensive begins, taking Belgorod after just a few days and threatening Kharkov.

From Sicily to Spas-Demensk, the Axis continue conceding ground to the Allies this week. But the fighting is still tough. The Wehrmacht has halted the Red Army offensive in the Kuban, and the British and American Armies have neither the strength nor the willpower to press the advantage against Axis troops retreating to the Italian mainland.

The British and Americans race for Messina to complete the conquest of Sicily- who will reach it first? On New Guinea, the Allies destroy a substantial Japanese air force; there are several major Allied air raids over Europe, the fighting in the USSR around Kharkov is brutal and costly for both sides, and a secret Allied leadership conference in Quebec begins to determine the course of the war. Busy week.

In 1943, the British are working on a radical plan which could revolutionize the Allies' productive capacity. It might sound crazy, but ice might be the magic material they need.

As the war grows ever more ferocious, some people are unfortunate enough to see the front line arrive to their villages, towns, and cities multiple times.

Four years of war and no real end in sight, but as the week ends the Allies land their first troops on Italy, actively committing themselves to a front in Western Europe. In the USSR the Soviets are taking heavy casualties but still pushing back the enemy with big partisan help and in Pacific plans are made for offensive against yet more Japanese held islands.

Dwight Eisenhower publicly announces the secret armistice signed last week, and Italy is now officially out of the war. The Italian Fleet sails for Malta and Allied captivity. The Allies have landed in force in Southern Italy and they do face some heavy opposition from German forces- who have no intention of giving up Italy. In the USSR, though, the Soviets continue liberating territory all over Ukraine as they force the Germans back to the Dnieper River.

This is an intimate story inspired by real events (notably inspired by the story of a member of the Danish resistance and grandmother of Hans von Knut Skovfoged, Head of Development at PortaPlay. A story told not on the front line, but in the intimate setting of a small Danish village.

The German Panzers are high on the list of the most feared and respected weapon systems of the Second World War. Much of their effectiveness however did not simply stem from technical or tactical superiority, but was achieved through rigorous training and the tight camaraderie of their crews. Days, weeks, or even months on end, the men operating a Panzer would stay together, maintaining the tank, and training for the battle to come. Through summer and winter, heat and snow, mud and rain, the tank would become their home.

Benito Mussolini proclaims a new fascist republic in Italy, but this time it is a full puppet state to Germany. There is scattered fighting around Italy and the Dodecanese- including a massacre of Italian POWs, but the big Allied advances this week are the Australians in New Guinea and the Soviets retaking their own territory. They take ground, in fact, from near Smolensk all the way south to the Sea of Azov.

Major prizes are taken by the Allies this week on two fronts- Naples in Italy and Smolensk in the USSR, but they are advancing all over the Eastern Front, across the Italian peninsula, and in the South Seas, but the enemy is leaving a trail of destruction as he pulls back.

Where man goes, so does man's best friend. Across the globe, tens of thousands of dogs are called up. They play their part in tales of heroism and joy. But without any agency over their own lives, they also experience fear, death, and cruelty.

The Germans booby-trapped Naples when they evacuated last week and local civilians now pay the price. In the Mediterranean, Kos falls to the Germans while Corsica is liberated by the French. There is action all along the Dnieper in the USSR, and the Australians advance in New Guinea, and the Japanese evacuate Vella Lavella in the Solomons.

The Allies begin an aerial bombing campaign against the Japanese base at Rabaul. It has big success, though Allied bombing in Europe this week achieves big failure. The Allied advance in Italy is slowing down to a crawl, but in the USSR the advance across the Dnieper continues, specifically at the Zaporozhe bridgehead.

A Conference in Moscow lays out some postwar plans of the Allies, but the war has to be won first. The Allies fight their way across both the Dnieper and Volturno Rivers, but the going looks like it's going to be tougher after the crossings. Meanwhile, in the South Seas the Japanese change plans in the face of Allied advances over there.

Erich von Manstein finally gets the reserve armor he's been begging Hitler for, so he can carry out his counteroffensive in Ukraine. The Soviets are still on the move themselves though. In Italy, though, the Allies are moving at a crawl since the Germans have mined and booby trapped everything. There's also new action in the Solomons and a celebration in Japan.

Even as the Allied powers condemn the German crimes against humanity, their recent victories are in part thanks to the massive system of forced labour built by Joseph Stalin's Soviet Union. Over one million prisoners work in the Gulag to power the Soviet war economy.

The Allies hit the beaches of Bougainville, largest and last of the Solomon Islands. They create and expand a beachhead there and also win battles there at sea and in the skies. In the USSSR, the Soviets are closing in on Kiev and in the south have isolated the Crimea, but in spite of that, Adolf Hitler issues a new directive that Germany's focus for the future should be in the west and the threat of an Allied invasion there.

The Red Army has driven the Axis forces out of Kiev, third largest city in the USSR. The Allies are also advancing, albeit slowly and at great cost, in Italy, but in the South Pacific, they launch a massive air strike against Rabaul... and what is the result? Watch and find out.

The murder of the Jews of Europe is not simply conducted alongside the military and political war aims of the Third Reich. For Hitler and the Nazis, the murder of the Jews of Europe is the military-political aim of the war. It confounds all logic, but in the twisted worldview of Nazi ideology, it makes perfect sense. This is a war on the Jewry.

A torpedo attack against the President; a Marine invasion in the central Pacific that turns very bloody in a hurry; German counterattacks in the Soviet Union; a bombing raid in Italy against a secret weapons site- all of that this week.

The Americans attack the Gilbert Islands this week, and though they successfully take Tarawa and Makin Atolls, it is VERY costly in lives, and show that the Japanese are not going to be defeated easily. They also have a naval battle in the Solomons. Fighting continues in the Soviet Union and Italy, and an Allied conference takes place in Cairo, a prelude for a major one in Teheran next week.

The Teheran Conference is in full swing and the Allied leadership and plan for a cross channel invasion of Europe is agreed upon by Stalin, Churchill, and Roosevelt. There are new Allied attacks across Italy, but further at Bari a German air raid releases deadly poison gas.

Outnumbered and outproduced, the once mighty Luftwaffe is battling to hold its own across three fronts. Every month brings new pain for the force. But the Luftwaffe still has a few tricks up its sleeves and can make the Allies bleed heavily. If only Hitler and the Nazi leadership weren't sabotaging its chances...

There are plans afoot to hit the enemy from behind in Italy. Allied leaders are meeting again in Cairo to go over other plans, notably what to do about China and Burma. There is active fighting on two fronts in Italy too, though this week it doesn't go particularly well for the Allies. Attacks in the USSR are unsuccessful for the Soviets, but do well for the Germans, and there are Allied attacks by air in the Marshall Islands and over France.

The Polish state was the first to fall in this war, yet across the globe Polish soldiers are fighting on land, air, and sea as part of the United Nations alliance. The story of the tens of thousands of men and women fighting for Polish liberation is equal parts hope and hardship as they battle the enemy and even sometimes their own allies.

This war has now lasted as long as the Great War did, but there's no signs of it slowing. The Soviets have three offensives going on on the Eastern Front, in Italy the Allies are attacking at San Pietro and over the Moro River, in the Pacific there are Allied landings on New Britain, but in Pacific Command, the big talk is all about a new super bomber.

Books, films, and comics are filled with Nazi scientists and explorers travelling the globe to get their hands on ancient artifacts or summoning daemons with black magic. But how much of it is grounded in reality? Well, some of it. In the neo-pagan religion invented by Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler, the world can only be explained through the occult.

Twas the night before Christmas and the war was grinding on. The Moro River Campaign continues in Italy with Canadian infantry pushing past the Gully and into 'Little Stalingrad'. Generally, the Allied advance to Rome is turning into a stalemate though, but Winston Churchill still believes an amphibious landing is the way to break this. Joseph Stalin also has some pretty big plans to bring the USSR back to its pre-Barbarossa borders. In the Pacific, there is attrition over Rabaul and stalemate on Bougainville.

1943 reaches its end with no end in sight for the war. In Italy, the Canadians take Ortona after bloody close fighting, the US Marines advance on New Britain, and a new Soviet offensive makes huge gains in the USSR. This isn't enough for the Allies, though, who have a big shake up in their European Command to help prepare for future attacks.

This war is massive. Our chronological coverage helps give us an understanding of it, but sometimes statistics help us understand the bigger picture.

That's what the headlines say as the Red Army continues its advance in Ukraine. There are also plans afoot for a northern offensive to end the siege of Leningrad. There are also plans afoot for an Allied amphibious attack in Italy at Anzio. Both of these are set to go off within a couple weeks, so January promises to be full of active conflict.

Three Soviet Fronts launch major offensives to try and finally free Leningrad, under siege for nearly two and a half years now. The Soviets are, in fact, making attacks along most of the Eastern Front. In the South Pacific, the Allies step up their aerial assault to wreck Rabaul's air power, thus neutralizing it as a base.

There is a second war raging on the Eastern Front. From the huge expanses of no man's land behind the German lines, Moscow's battle-hardened and well-armed partisan bands are waging a Rail War in support of Red Army offensives. But every successful mission brings down the wrath of the genocidal Axis war machine.

The Allies have reached the linchpin of the German defenses in Italy, but a first attack proves disastrous. It does, though, divert troops from where they soon plan to make landings behind enemy lines. Meanwhile in the USSR, the huge Soviet offensive in the north makes great gains against the stunned Axis forces.

Some big news is the Allies amphibious offensive to hit the Germans behind their lines at Anzio in Italy, some other big news is that after nearly two and a half years, the Soviets have broken the siege of Leningrad and their twin northern offensives keep pushing back the enemy. Yet more big news is that the Soviets have managed to surround and cut off over 50,000 Axis troops near Korsun. This is one big week of action!

Young, daring, and handsome, the Allied fighter aces of World War Two have captivated the public with their thrilling exploits.

The Allies begin a new operation in the Pacific this week: assaulting the Marshall Islands. They also make big attacks from their beachhead in Italy at Anzio, but these are called off after only a few days in the face of heavy enemy resistance. However, in the USSR there's several successes against the Axis, as they are pushed back both in the far north and the far south of the front, and still surrounded near Korsun.

Does Adolf Hitler like Duke Ellington? No, and nor do many National Socialists. But the story of the music in the Third Reich is more complicated than you might think. What if we told you that Joseph Goebbels has tried to create a Nazi-approved swing band tasked with bringing the Jazz War to the Allies?

It is crisis mode in the Korsun Pocket this week for the Axis troops surrounded, but they are also losing ground all over the Eastern Front this week, including the big prize of Nikopol. In Italy, it is a different story as the Germans play offense at Anzio, though with only small gains.

We've covered in great depth the Battle of the Atlantic and the war by and against German U-Boats, but what about the other side of the world? Why has the war on Japanese shipping been so much quieter? There are several very specific reasons for that, which we look at today.

The Allies bomb the monastery atop Monte Cassino in Italy, but just to the Northwest it's the Germans attacking them at Anzio this week. In the Soviet Union, the Axis break out of the Korsun Pocket, but at great cost, and in the Pacific comes a major Allied raid on the Japanese base at Truk and landings on Eniwetok Atoll.

Even as the Allied and Axis commanders focus on the sweeping warfare of the Eastern Front and the planning for the invasion of Europe, their men continue to fight a grinding war of attrition high in the Italian mountains. It's a war of merciless terrain, brutal close-quarters combat, and vast quantities of artillery and bombs. They may be playing second fiddle, but the soldiers on the Italian front will never forget these battles.

Now that the Americans have seized the Marshall Islands, they can bypass the Japanese base at Truk. This impels Prime Minister Hideki Tojo to shake up both army and navy command, and he even takes personal control over the Japanese Army. On the Anzio Front, Lucian Truscott replaces John Lucas as Allied Commander. In the field, the Allies win a big victory in Burma, and in Ukraine, the Soviets are still on the move.

The American attacks against the Admiralty Islands are successful, but this causes real tensions between Commanders Douglas MacArthur and Chester Nimitz. Much of this week is taken up by planning and meetings on both sides, actually- Adolf Hitler plans the occupation of Hungary, Josef Stalin plans new offensives in Ukraine, and the Allies plan to reconfigure their whole front in Italy. It's all the prelude to an explosion of action.

The Soviets launch not one, not two, but three offensives in Ukraine this week, designed to destroy the entire southern wing of the German forces. The Japanese counterattack against the Americans on Bougainville finally begins after months of preparations, but there are more Japanese attacks elsewhere that get going: the operation to invade India.

Across Europe, non-Germans are filling the ranks of Heinrich Himmler's forces. These foreign fighters certainly don't meet the racial standards of the SS but times are tough and the Reichsführer-SS needs warm bodies. So, does that mean Himmler's given up on the idea of a Germanic master race? Not at all. And he uses all sorts of twisted esoteric logic to justify his latest moves.

Operation U-Go, Renya Mutaguchi's invasion of India, is in full swing this week, as his men aim at Imphal and Kohima; three Soviets Fronts batter their way through the Axis positions all over Ukraine; and there is a huge Allied bombing campaign at Cassino in Italy, which mistakenly kills a lot of Allied soldiers. That's one busy week.

Germany occupies Hungary this week to prevent any possible Hungarian defection from the war, the Soviets continue pushing back the Axis in Ukraine, pressing them ever more toward Romania, the Japanese advance on Imphal and Kohima continues, but Allied attacks in Italy and Japanese ones on Bougainville come to their ends.

The United States Army Air Forces, USAAF, is the most powerful air force in the world. Alongside the Royal Air Force, it is winning the air war against the Luftwaffe. But things weren't always like this. At the outbreak of war, the USAAF could not hold a candle to its allies or enemies. How have the Americans managed to turn things around?

The Finns have been fighting the Soviet Union since the Winter War. But now, Marshal Mannerheim and Prime Minister Risto Ryti look like they might pull out of the Eastern Front commitments they agreed upon with their Axis allies. German-Finnish relations seem to be at breaking point, and Red Army troops are threatening the borders. How long will Finland stay in this war?

As the Allies prepare to close in on Germany from all fronts, a shake up of the German military leadership can only achieve so much...

The Soviets are finally going to try and push the Axis out of Sevastopol and the Crimea. They also continue to drive the Axis back in Transnistria. Over in Burma and Northeastern India, the Japanese have the Allies under siege at not one, but two towns, and are also attacking Imphal from several points, but the Japanese have way bigger future plans up their sleeves in China.

Thousands of German soldiers, mostly new teenage recruits, are obeying Hitler's 'Fortress Directive' and are surrounded in Tarnopol; it does not go well for them. German forces in Ukraine manage to all pull back across the Dniester, but they are under serious pressure in the Crimea. Meanwhile, in India, the Japanese siege of Kohima continues, and in China they are poised to launch a gigantic offensive.

We often see comments asking why we don't cover the war in China. Chiang Kai-shek is one of the major Allied leaders - so why don't you hear about him as much as Stalin, Roosevelt, or Churchill? Let us explain.

Japan Launches Operation Ichigo in China, their largest offensive of the war... or ever, but over in India things are not going well for the Japanese at Imphal and Kohima. The Allies also launch attacks on the Japanese at Hollandia, while over in the Crimea, the German defenses at Sevastopol are cracking under Soviet pressure.

The fighting at Kohima is up close, personal, and vicious, as it is at Imphal. The Allies consolidate their gains at Hollandia, the Japanese are advancing in Central China, and it seems like the Chinese Nationalist Army has lost the support of the civilian population. This might not surprise you when we take a closer look.

A command crisis in the Chinese Nationalist Army benefits the Japanese invaders, in Italy, Mark Clark spends his birthday planning new offensives, the Japanese are pushing for Imphal, and the Soviets for Sevastopol- another busy week of the war!

The Soviets push the Axis out of the Crimea this week once and for all. In Italy, the Allies launch a major offensive, and the French make a breakthrough there by week's end. In China, the Japanese are aiming at Luoyang, but in India at Kohima they're slowly being pushed back.

In Italy, the Allies finally overcome Monte Cassino and break through the Gustav Line; in Burma Merrill's Marauders surprise the Japanese and take Myitkyina Airfield; in China, it's the Japanese who are playing offense, as Operation Ichi Go and the siege of Luoyang continue. That's the field action, but there's big planning behind the scenes for major June offensives going on by both the Western Allies and the Soviets.

After four months, the Allies breakout from their bridgehead at Anzio and meet with the advancing troops heading north after the fall of Monte Cassino last week. The Japanese begin phase two of their big operation in China, and both the Soviets and the Western Allies continue making plans for their massive June offensives to squeeze the Axis from both sides of Europe.

The Allies head north in Italy after the fall of Monte Cassino last week; the Japanese head south in China in a new phase of their offensive; and the Soviets and the Western Allies make ever more concrete plans for their huge offensives, to go off very soon.

In the early hours it is up the Allied airborne troops to secure the battlefield permitter, and protect the operation. Now they will find out if the Germans have been deceived, or are ready and waiting with mortal force.

When the amphibious landings begin, they run straight into Hitler's Atlantic Wall. Eisenhower has predicted a third of his troops may fall. While they land, the news breaks across the world.

With wide gaps struck in the Atlantic Wall, it is now up to the Allies to secure the beachheads and move inland. There they will face off with new German defenses, and the Norman geography.

It has taken all day for Rundtsedt, Hitler and the rest of German command to gather their wits, but now the Panzers are rolling - will the beachheads hold?

The Allies' gigantic, amphibious invasion of France begins and by the end of the week they've carved out a decent sized beachhead. Meanwhile in Italy the Allied advance takes Rome. The Soviets are launching new attacks of their own- now against the Finns, and the Japanese at Kohima... have just plain had enough.

Japanese and American navies are heading for a showdown in the Philippine Sea, even as American forces land on Saipan in the Marianas in force. The Japanese have Changsha under siege in China, the Allies advance in both Normandy and Italy, the Soviets advance in Finland, and the massive Soviet summer operation is coming together and will begin in a matter of days.

How do you blast through the obstacles and minefields on the beaches Normandy? How do you get thousands of tonnes of tanks, guns, and men into the fight? And what about reopening the shattered French ports? You need men who are as skilled in construction as they are destruction. You need the engineers.

The Red Army surges forward in Operation Bagration, a mighty new offensive to destroy German Army Group Centre. Fighting continues in Normandy, Italy, and Finland. The United States Navy tears the heart out of the Imperial Japanese Navy in the Philippine Sea even as the Imperial Japanese Army has success in China. The British and Indian armies lift the siege of Kohima.

Several weeks after the invasion of Normandy began, the Allies finally take a port city there, though the actual harbor has been destroyed. On Saipan the Americans have the advantage, in Finland, the Soviets do, but the big news is the Soviet destruction of huge chunks of German Army Group Center, demolishing entire Army Corps, and surrounding tens of thousands of the enemy.

Operation Bagration continues, smashing the armies of German Army Group Center and taking ever more territory including the prize of Minsk; on Saipan the Americans have taken most of the island when the Japanese resort to a huge suicidal banzai charge to try and turn the tide; and in Normandy new attacks begin try to finally take Caen and St. Lo.

Japanese troops and civilians commit mass suicide rather than surrender to the Americans in the Marianas; in Normandy, Caen has finally fallen to the Allies though the fight for St. Lo is not over; the Soviet offensives in the north take Vilnius and the fighting continues up in Finland, but the big eastern front news is the mighty new Soviet offensive in Western Ukraine.

This week, Adolf Hitler is blown up and Hideki Tojo steps down. In the Pacific, the Americans land on Guam and prepare for hard fighting. In France, the Americans take Saint-Lô and British and German armored forces clash around Caen. In the East, the Red Army enters Latvia, tears a gap in Army Group North, and reaches the gates of Lvov.

Operation Cobra is the drop that finally opens the floodgates and the Allies make a breakthrough in Normandy; up in the Baltics the Soviets take Shaulyai, Dvinsk, and finally Narva, though their big prize this week is Lvov further south. This happens during the Poles' Lvov Uprising, which ends badly for the Poles. Things also go badly for the Japanese on Guam, though, as their assault this week devastates their own troops.

As the Red Army closes in on Warsaw, the Polish Home Army in the city rises up against the German forces. Up in the north the Red Army takes Kaunas. The Allies take Florence in Italy this week, well, half of it, and in France break out of Normandy and into Brittany. The Allies also finally take Myitkyina in Burma after many weeks of siege, and in the Marianas take Tinian and nearly finish taking Guam. And in Finland the President resigns, which could have serious implications for Finland remaining in the war.

The Germans launch a counter attack to sabotage the Allied positions in France. In the Baltics the Soviet advances grind to a halt, but the Soviets are busy making plans to invade Romania in the south. Meanwhile in the center the Warsaw Uprising continues. Across the world the siege of Hengyang comes to its end with a Japanese victory, but the Battle for Guam ends with a Japanese loss.

This week the Allies invade Southern France, and do so very successfully. They're also successful in the north, closing the Falaise gap and trapping huge numbers of Germans. In the East, however, the Germans manage to stop the Soviet drive on Riga with a counter attack, and in Warsaw they continue to brutally put down the Warsaw Uprising.

Paris is liberated by the Allies, a symbolic act that causes the world to rejoice. Something far more important to the course of the war, though, happens this week in Romania. The Allies continue to advance in the south of France and begin a new offensive in Italy, though the Pacific War has quietened down once again.

Rationing of goods in Europe started immediately when the war broke out. Lord Woolton, British Minister of Food came up with one of the first substitute dishes... a vegetable pie that was promptly named after him. Our team chef Joram shows you how to do it.

A while ago we met up with the guys and galls from Paradox Interactive, the team behind the Military Strategy Game Hearts of Iron IV. And though we are working in two very different fields, us in reporting on factual history and they in creating your own alternative history, we really like each others work and started looking for a way to work together. Here it is, an alternative scenario with deep roots in actual history, illustrated by the Hearts of Iron IV game. We have played it ourselves, and it is impressively extensive – featuring many characters and events that we talk about every week. If you haven't discovered HOI4 yet, or if you want to find out more about their upcoming expansion pack 'La Résistance'.

Pearl Harbor is one of the major events of 1941 and World War Two, bringing America into the war and changing history for ever. We want to do it justice by going there with boots on the ground, and by covering it minute-by-minute as it unfolds.

This video is sponsored by Paradox Interactive. Indy shares his thoughts on what he thinks would have happened if the French would have decided to meddle in the Spanish Civil War – triggering a Civil War.

Get Hearts of Iron and the new DLC No Step Back now. This is a paid promotion in partnership with Paradox Interactive.

Livestream playing of No Step Back DLC. This is a paid promotion in partnership with Paradox Interactive.

How accurate is that famous beach scene in Saving Private Ryan? Is it true to the history or just another Hollywood story? Seeing as we're about to start the filming for our massive D-Day project, we figured we'd break it down, shot by shot.