World at War - Stories from WWII

In 1933 Adolf Hitler seizes power after seducing the German people with lavish promises of restoring order, prosperity and the Greater German Reich to its former glories. He then goes to on exploit other Western European powers' fear of confrontation to rearm the country in direct defiance of the restrictive terms of the Treaty of Versailles. Before his neighbours can react, Hitler has transformed Germany's armed forces into the most modern war machine of the day. And Hitler is not alone. He allies himself with Mussolini's fascist Italy, Stalin's communist Soviet Union and – on the other side of the world – the military dictatorship of Japan, which shares Germany's expansionist vision.

On September 1, 1939, Hitler invaded Poland. The country needed to be subjugated quickly before Britain and France could intervene. Germany's Panzer divisions proved unstoppable. Backed by the Luftwaffe, they smashed through Poland's defences, destroying roads, bridges, and radio stations. The Polish defended valiantly, but were eventually forced to surrender. By 6th of October, Poland was in German hands. In the spring of 1940, the Blitzkrieg rolled through Europe again – within a few months, all of France, Belgium, Holland, Denmark, and Norway fell. But when Hitler attacked Britain, he discovered the British were tougher than expected. This issue of bringing history to life tracks the Germans' early advances to discover how a relatively small nation could take a continent by storm.

It is 03:14 on 22nd June 1941. Along a 1,800-kilometre front line that stretches from the Baltic Sea in the north, to Romania in the South, German soldiers are ready for battle. A minute later, all hell breaks loose. The Luftwaffe begins attacking targets behind the Red Army's front line, and the artillery opens fire. Germany's dreaded Panzer tanks follow – the spearhead of Operation "Barbarossa", Hitler's invasion of the Soviet Union. With 3.7 million soldiers, it's the largest invasion to date. The first few weeks seem to confirm the supremacy of Germany's Blitzkrieg tactics as city after city falls. This issue follows the advancement of the Axis forces in the conflict that, during 1941, turns into an all-out world war.

The Germans and their Japanese allies have gone from victory to victory since the start of the war, but in the autumn of 1942, that begins to change. On the small Pacific island of Guadalcanal, US forces drive back the Japanese to capture a key airfield. Meanwhile, on the Eastern Front, Hitler's blitzkrieg slams to a halt at Stalingrad, stopped by the Russian winter and a Red Army determined to defend every street. As the war enters its fourth year, the conflict becomes ever more brutal. Both sides try to break their enemies' spirits by carpet-bombing civilian-filled cities. The Nazis also break the Geneva Convention. As a result, more than half of all Soviet prisoners of war die in German captivity. This issue covers the dramatic moments that turned the war in favour of the Allies – both on the Eastern Front and in the Pacific.

German tanks rolled unimpeded across the Russian steppes at the start of Hitler's campaign against the Soviet Union. But in 1943, the so-called Slavic "untermensch" (subhumans) gain the initiative and transform the country into a hell for Hitler's invasion forces. Nearly 100,000 Germans are captured after the Battle of Stalingrad at the beginning of the year. Ahead lies cold, hunger and ill-treatment, and only five percent of prisoners will return to Germany after the war. In mid-July the Red Army decisively defeats the Wehrmacht in history's greatest tank battle. Hitler's Tiger and Panther tanks are too heavy and slow against the Soviets' more nimble T-34. Stalin's counteroffensive costs millions of soldiers their lives, but men are an infinite resource for the Red Army. Fired up by thoughts of revenge, the Russians soon mass on the borders of the Third Reich.

Adolf Hitler ruled Germany for 12 years. As the Third Reich began to collapse in on itself in the spring of 1945, the Führer took up residence in Berlin. By the middle of April he'd entrenched himself in a bunker deep beneath the capital, as the Soviets bombed the capital around the clock. Eventually, even Hitler would have to fact the fact the war was lost. The Führer turned down all opportunities to flee, preferring instead to make use of both a gun and a cyanide pill at his doctor's suggestion – the surest way to kill himself. Hitler was only one among countless casualties in the war's final months. One of the war's worst air attacks cost thousands of civilian lives in Dresden, while in the Baltic Sea a German refugee ship was destined to become history's biggest maritime disaster.

Luftwaffe pilots fear one weapon more than any other: British Spitfires. Powerful Rolls Royce engines and an ingenious design make the plane fast and manoeuvrable. In 1940, Spitfires and their fearless pilots resist Hitler's attempts to bomb Britain to submission. The fighter's success forces Germany's leaders to develop even more powerful weapons. London is targeted by V-1 and V-2 bombs, forerunners of the Saturn V moon rocket. Meanwhile, on the Eastern Front the supergun Schwerer Gustav fires shells at targets 47 kilometres away. It's the heaviest gun in history at over 1,300 tonnes. Nevertheless, the juggernauts cannot prevent the Nazis' defeat. With new weapons like the Mosquito bomber, designed to be built from a kit, the Allies slowly crush the Third Reich. In 1945, the atomic bomb also forces Japan to raise the white flag. Incredible Weapons explores the war's wildest weapons –including crazy projects like an aircraft carrier built from ice that came close to becoming a reality.

The battle is won, the enemy driven out, and everyone can breathe again. Many field generals thought this – but generals often make mistakes. Throughout World War II, specially trained soldiers made sure that the enemy never rested in peace. Command units struck anywhere and at any time: a German general was kidnapped in the middle of Crete, while commandos liberated Benito Mussolini from his prison on a mountain top. And British units blew up factories in a Norwegian town to deprive Germany of important raw materials. The warring parties also employed trickery, like when the Nazis tried to undermine Britain's economy with fake bank notes, or when the British planted false documents on the corpse of an "officer" detailing plans for an imminent invasion of Greece. This issue takes you undercover on some of the war's most daring missions.

Nazi propaganda presented Adolf Hitler as ascetic, solitary and a brilliant Führer. Only a few knew the real man behind World War II. His mystery has fuelled numerous conspiracy theories – like why Hitler's own decisions were sometimes was so strange that neither his contemporaries nor posterity can explain the Führer's bizarre choices. Why did he turn the Luftwaffe's terror bombing of Britain from military targets to civilian ones? Why did Hitler issue the Wehrmacht with a stop order just before Dunkirk? And why did he hate Jews so much that millions of people died? This issue gets close to World War II's unsolved mysteries and gives historians its best guess at some of the answers.

With Europe overrun by Hitler's thundering war machine, Churchill is the only head of state with the courage to stand up to the Führer. The British Prime Minister's iron will makes him a role model in Great Britain and across the continent. Churchill and his V-sign become a symbol of resistance against Nazi Germany. In Germany in February 1942, armaments minister Albert Speer has the job of making sure that there's a steady supply of prisoners of war to man the plants and factories –at the same time as the SS are on a killing spree. But Speer isn't saving prisoners' lives: men, women and children are worked to death producing weapons for the German army. Churchill was a true hero, and Speer, a nasty villain – or were they? Churchill had racist views, while Speer defied Hitler at risk to his own life and saved Germany's infrastructure. This issue gets up close to World War II's greatest personalities.

In August 1940, Berlin was hit by British bombers. Hitler immediately ordered a series of gigantic air defences be built – each one more expensive than the city's entire Olympic facilities – but they're ineffective and resources are wasted. The Führer also has an opportunity to force the British out of North Africa and gain control of the Middle East's valuable oil. But he rejects his generals' advice, just as he unnecessarily draws the United States into the war in Europe. Had Hitler kept a cool head, the war could have gone in a different direction. But the Führer was not alone in making mistakes. British and French politicians gave Hitler concessions in the 1930s and failed to send troops to Germany immediately after war was declared. The Western powers have themselves to thank for the dictator setting Europe on fire before finally going on the offensive in spring 1940. This issue reveals the worst errors of the war.

On 27th January 1944, Stalin declares that Leningrad has been liberated. After a siege lasting two and a half years, German forces retreat with the Red Army in hot pursuit. Encouraged by the victory, Soviet general Govorov decides to liberate Estonia, but in the battle of Narva, the Germans upset his plans, and the front comes to a temporary halt. Hitler's forces are feeling the pressure on all sides, however. On D-day, the allies succeed in landing over 150,000 soldiers in Normandy's beaches, and in Southern Europe, British and US forces fight their way north through Italy. At the same time, Stalin embarks on a major summer offensive - operation Bagration. As his forces drive the Germans out of the Soviet Union and back towards Germany, the net around Hitler's Third Reich starts to tighten.

Germany in the early 1930s is falling apart. The population is disillusioned, poverty is spreading, and unemployment is everywhere. Many Germans see Adolf Hitler as the only man who can pull the country out of crisis. The Nazi leader's promise of bread and work for the people makes him popular, and his demands for revenge for the humiliating peace terms after World War I find a sympathetic audience. Soon after the Nazis first seize power, Hitler begins an unprecedented transformation of society: the unemployed are sent to build roads, young folk are forced into the Hitler Youth and women are rewarded for giving birth to many purebred children. The young German democracy that brought the Nazi party to the fore will be swept aside. Hitler establishes himself as dictator and commander of the German army, which quickly steps up to become a modern war machine.