War of the Century

Recently declassified documents and eyewitness reports piece together the details of Hitler's plans to invade the Soviet Union as well as the horror of the early months of the "war of annihilation".

First-hand testimony recalls the bloodshed of the Battle for Moscow, where many Soviet citizens perished as a result of their own leader's brutality as well as the draconian rules of the occupying Nazis.

An examination of the Battle of Stalingrad, one of the most horrific engagements in the history of warfare where, in 1942. the exhausted and demoralised Soviet army managed to turn the tables on Hitler's advancing forces through the implementation of new combat tactics: fighting on the retreat.

Summer 1944: the seeds of Soviet victory are sown when Germany suffers huge casualties against Stalin's troops in Byelorussia. When, in April 1945, the red flag appears over the Berlin Reichstag, Germany's defeat is followed by violent retribution.