Road to War, The (8 Parts)

Synopsis

Series examining the two decades leading up to World War 2, looking at events from the points of view of each of the main protagonists, incorporating eye-witness accounts, interviews with historians, and archive footage.
1: Britain declared war on Germany in September 1939; eight months later the British army was in retreat from the beaches of Dunkirk. New research shows the possible cause of Britain’s near-defeat a country weakened by World War 1, desperate to avoid another conflict, and struggling to support an overextended Empire. By the late 1930s, Chamberlain was caught in a hopeless position, confronting the irrational aggression of Hitler and Mussolini while trying to preserve the illusion of British imperial power.
2: Hitler, more than any other individual or comination of events, started the war. He deceived many people in Germany and abroad by his claim that he was merely demolishing the Versailles treaty when his real aim was the creation of a racial empire in eastern Europe for the German master race. His bluff was not called until it was too late. In 1939, Hitler believed that Britain would not interfere if he attacked Poland but was proved wrong.
3: In this first assessment of Stalin’s pre-war foreign policy since the start of glasnost, Soviet archive material and frank testomonies from crucial Russian eyewitnesses shed new light on Stalin’s mysterious and often controversial relationship with Hitler.
4: Benito Mussolini invented Fascism; after World War 1 his regime brought stability to Italy and inspired dreams of a resurgent enpire. But the new Italian empire was fated to collapse. Interviews two of Mussolini’s children, Vittorio Mussolini and Countess Edda Ciano.
5: France ended World War 1 victorious but devastated, with over 1 million men killed and much of northern France destroyed. Although determined to crush Germany, France’s leaders were haunted by the fear of another war. French attempts to control Germany were continually undermined by economic weakness and fierce social and political divisions.
6: Desperate for living space and raw materials, Japan copied the West and sought an empire of her own in Asia. When the United States cut off oil supplies, Japan was forced to act, attacking Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941.
7: When war broke out in 1939, the USA was isolationist, but Britain ‘s near defeat in the war brought about a change of opinion. As debate raged between the interventionists and isolationists, President F D Roosevelt steered his country towards war. By the time of the Pearl Harbor attack, America was ready to fight.
8: Poland suffered more than any other country in World War 2: one in six Poles died in the hands of the Nazi occupiers, and the Jewish population was wiped out. But Poland was only the trigger for a war which in two years was to engulf the world. The programme examines why Hitler called off the invasion of Britain and turned to the Soviet Union, and why he declared war on the USA in the winter of 1941. It ties together the separate strands of the series and tells how a local conflict developed into a global war.

Language

English

Country

Great Britain

Medium

Video; Videocassette. Standard formats. col. 8 x 50 min.

Year of production

1989

Availability

Sale; 1996 sale: £99.00 (+VAT +p&p) each 1996 sale: £320.00 (+VAT +p&p) series

Notes

Broadcast om BBC2 from 5 Oct 1989.

Subjects

History

Keywords

European history; France; Italy; Japan; Nazi Germany; United Kingdom; United States of America; USSR; World War II

Credits

Writer

Charles Wheeler

Cast

Charles Wheeler

Sections

Title

Great Britain

Synopsis

1: Britain declared war on Germany in September 1939; eight months later the British army was in retreat from the beaches of Dunkirk. New research shows the possible cause of Britain's near-defeat a country weakened by World War 1, desperate to avoid anot

Title

Germany

Synopsis

2: Hitler, more than any other individual or comination of events, started the war. He deceived many people in Germany and abroad by his claim that he was merely demolishing the Versailles treaty when his real aim was the creation of a racial empire in ea

Title

USSR

Synopsis

3: In this first assessment of Stalin's pre-war foreign policy since the start of glasnost, Soviet archive material and frank testomonies from crucial Russian eyewitnesses shed new light on Stalin's mysterious and often controversial relationship with Hit

Title

Italy

Synopsis

4: Benito Mussolini invented Fascism; after World War 1 his regime brought stability to Italy and inspired dreams of a resurgent enpire. But the new Italian empire was fated to collapse. Interviews two of Mussolini's children, Vittorio Mussolini and Count

Title

France

Synopsis

5: France ended World War 1 victorious but devastated, with over 1 million men killed and much of northern France destroyed. Although determined to crush Germany, France's leaders were haunted by the fear of another war. French attempts to control German

Title

Japan

Synopsis

6: Desperate for living space and raw materials, Japan copied the West and sought an empire of her own in Asia. When the United States cut off oil supplies, Japan was forced to act, attacking Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941.

Title

USA

Synopsis

7: When war broke out in 1939, the USA was isolationist, but Britain 's near defeat in the war brought about a change of opinion. As debate raged between the interventionists and isolationists, President F D Roosevelt steered his country towards war. By t

Title

Road to total war, The

Synopsis

8: Poland suffered more than any other country in World War 2: one in six Poles died in the hands of the Nazi occupiers, and the Jewish population was wiped out. But Poland was only the trigger for a war which in two years was to engulf the world. The pro

Production Company

Name

BBC Television

Distributor

Name

BBC Active Video for Learning - now BBC Learning

Contact

Carolina Fernandez Jeremy Wilcox (CF - for educational enquiries JW - channel sales manager)

Email

BBCStudiosLearning@bbc.com

Web

https://www.bbcstudioslearning.com/ External site opens in new window

Phone

+44 (0) 20 8433 1009

Address

BBC Studios Limited
Television Centre
101 Wood Lane
London
W12 7FA
UK

Notes

The BBC Active company has now been absorbed within BBC Learning, a division of BBC Studios. It was originally a joint venture between BBC Worldwide and Pearson Education. Formerly known as ‘BBC Worldwide Learning Studies’ and before that as ‘Videos for Education & Training’