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0:27

August the twenty second

0:30

nineteen thirty nine evening.

0:33

We're a Temple of Airport in Berlin.

0:37

With darkness falling. Jo

0:39

Kim von Ribbentrop, foreign

0:41

minister of the third reich walks across

0:43

the runway. As

0:45

a free sum of excitement amongst the Nazi

0:47

officials gathered. Those

0:50

privileged few with security clearance,

0:52

the ones who know the purpose of his

0:54

mission. Ribbentrop

0:57

mounts the steps of a giant fucker

0:59

wolf condor. Its

1:01

engines hung ready for takeoff.

1:05

The tail fin is emblazoned with a bright

1:07

red band. On it,

1:09

a huge black on white swastika.

1:13

In his fine tailored suit, Ribbentrop

1:16

smiles for the authorized news real camera.

1:21

Once aboard he waves from the cabin window,

1:25

The plane climbs up into the sky and sets

1:27

a course with the Eastern horizon. The

1:31

next day at noon, Russian

1:34

time, it taxis to a

1:36

halt in Moscow. Ribbentrop

1:40

disembarked in bags in a leather trench coat.

1:43

Though summer, it's unseasonably chilly

1:45

in Russia. But

1:47

then everything about this voyage is strange.

1:51

A step into the unknown. When

1:54

Ribbentrop is greeted by his opposite number,

1:56

the two men are unsure at first

1:58

whether they should even shake hands. It's

2:01

an unusual sight for everyone

2:04

The swastika hanging next to the hammer

2:06

and sickle, nazism

2:08

and communism side by side. These

2:12

two sworn enemies are suddenly body

2:14

and up. Ribbentrop

2:16

climbs into a car. A

2:19

driver in a baggy cab out

2:21

his cigarette and whisks him off

2:23

to the Kremlin. The

2:27

German aircraft the combo is a big

2:29

four engine beast. One

2:31

of several types of Nazi warplane that

2:33

have been masquerading in civilian guys,

2:36

In months to come, condos

2:39

will be rekitted and armed

2:41

to the teeth. They

2:43

will range out into the North Atlantic to

2:46

attack allied shipping. But

2:49

before that, right now,

2:52

Rivbentrop is about to drop his very own

2:54

bombshell. From

2:58

noiser, this is

3:01

the Hitler story, and

3:03

this is real dictators.

3:15

In the year nineteen thirty eight, Hitler

3:17

has moved at a devastating pace.

3:20

Within just seven months, he's

3:22

forced a union with Austria, the Unshrews,

3:25

and annexed Desudetland from Czechoslovakia.

3:29

He's also unleashed a wave of domestic terror,

3:33

the infamous pogrom, Crystal lacked,

3:36

designed to force all Jews out

3:38

of the reich. The

3:40

west has little illusion now about

3:42

Hitler's intentions. The

3:44

Munich Conference at the end of September had

3:46

been Britain and France's final appeal

3:49

reason. But now,

3:51

both governments know they're dealing with

3:53

a madman. Meanwhile,

3:56

the Reich's armed forces are expanding

3:58

at a phenomenal rate. The

4:01

German public continues to hail Hitler's

4:03

every move. Greeting each

4:05

triumph with an unbridled fanaticism. Professor

4:09

Nicholas O'Shaughnessy,

4:12

His photographer Hoffman

4:15

was more than a photographer. He's

4:17

actually hit his image maker produced

4:20

a photojournal Hitler in his homeland,

4:22

which was these incredible pictures

4:24

of that kind of royal and almost

4:26

actually safety progression through

4:29

Austria, these were sold,

4:32

not just with film and newsreel,

4:34

but pictures with drawings, recordings,

4:38

speeches is not

4:40

just the momentum and dynamism, which

4:44

had all the world in its headlights.

4:47

It's actually the associated ancillary

4:49

material which went with it to actually

4:52

create the imagery. He left the

4:54

world breathless.

4:58

As soon as the ink on the Munich agreement

5:00

been blotted, then Hitler starts

5:02

going beyond its reamid. In

5:06

nineteen thirty nine, in his

5:08

New Year's message to the citizens

5:10

of the Reich, he makes clear

5:12

that control of the Sodexo mine will be

5:14

extended as he puts it

5:16

to the pacification of Czechoslovakia.

5:20

Privately, he uses another word.

5:23

Liquidation. Professor

5:26

Thomas Weber. And

5:28

this is all within the logic of Hitler's

5:30

thinking because ultimately, As far

5:32

as Hitler is concerned, this wasn't just about

5:34

bringing all Germans together under one

5:36

Ruth. It was about creating

5:39

a state that was strong

5:41

enough to be safe for all

5:43

times, a state that was

5:45

sufficiently large and that had the

5:47

kind of natural resources that

5:49

would allow Germany to survive

5:52

for all times. So therefore

5:54

Hitlers is moving towards a territory

5:56

that is the lowest hanging fruit, that

5:59

is Czech ofakia.

6:02

Taking checkers of the vacuum will require

6:04

the technicality of a justification. But

6:08

that can always be arranged. In

6:11

February, Hitler orders Joseph Gebbels

6:13

is propaganda in to circulate tails

6:16

of ethnic Germans being brutalized. There's

6:20

already tension between the Czechs and the Slovaks.

6:24

The Slovac are only easy to power

6:26

lies in Prague, not their

6:28

city at Bratislava. Slovac

6:31

nationalists are itching to rise up.

6:34

All they need is a little encouragement.

6:42

The Czechoslovak president is

6:44

Emil Hasha. He's an

6:46

old school ultra conservative. On

6:49

March the ninety, dismisses the regional

6:51

slower government. He orders

6:54

checked troops into Slovakia and

6:56

declares martial law. But

6:58

he's struggling to maintain order in his

7:00

own patch. In

7:02

Prague, Nazi sympathizes

7:05

a marching through wences last square. The

7:08

fewer Alex's lips and

7:10

summons his generals. Nice

7:14

mister Hitlers. neighbor

7:17

offers the checks state his protection urges

7:20

most strongly that they consider this

7:23

generous proposal. Meanwhile,

7:26

the Nazi's backchannel to the Slovak

7:28

nationalist leader, a man

7:30

called Joseph Tizo. The

7:33

Chubby priest is soft Polands

7:35

prompted to proclaim independence. The

7:39

helpful mister Ribbentrop has even drafted

7:41

the text for him. The Slovak

7:43

republic is declared on March the fourteenth.

7:48

At same day, president Bashar is summoned

7:50

to Berlin. Just like

7:52

Chancellor Shushnik of Austria before him.

7:55

He's walking into the lion's den.

7:58

Old and ill, The Czech

8:00

president has been unable to fly to the

8:02

German capital. He has

8:04

instead had to travel up by train.

8:07

It's a detailed not loss on his hosts.

8:11

There is the standard diplomatic plumbery,

8:13

then Asha is made to walk

8:15

endlessly through the chancellor's labyrinth

8:18

of corridors. Along a specially

8:20

choreographed extended route. When

8:23

he finally gets to Hitler's office, he's

8:26

made to sit and wait outside.

8:29

For two whole hours. Hitler

8:32

apparently has gone off to watch

8:34

a movie. At

8:36

one fifteen AM, utterly

8:38

exhausted. Asha is

8:40

finally shown in. It's

8:43

quite the scene. He enters

8:45

a darkened room featuring the fuhrer

8:47

at his desk, backlit by lamps.

8:50

His henchmen, Ribbentrop, gulling,

8:53

Kitell, are all ranged behind

8:55

him, a Tableau of intimidation.

8:59

We

8:59

can do this the easy way or the hard

9:02

way says the Nazi godfurther.

9:05

Sign over the check state right now or

9:07

at six AM. My boys

9:10

will go in. Oh,

9:13

and beautiful Prague, ChuckLE's

9:15

GIRring, will be reduced to

9:18

rubble. Hitler

9:20

actually uses the word extermination.

9:23

That is what awaits to check

9:25

people. Faced

9:28

it this. Asha does what anyone

9:30

else in this situation would do. He

9:33

suffers heart attack. Even

9:36

the Nazis hadn't meant to push things quite

9:38

this far, Hitler panics. Whatever

9:41

he gets accused of Russia's murder. Fortunately,

9:46

he has his personal physician on hand.

9:49

The shady doctor Tayo Morell. It

9:52

has quack injects the ailing president

9:54

back to life, just enough

9:56

for him at three fifty five

9:58

AM to put his wobbly

10:00

hand to the document of surrender.

10:04

At dawn, German troops

10:07

invade unopposed. A

10:10

Gidi Hitler rushes out into the front

10:12

office. In a rare

10:14

euphoric moment, he invites

10:16

his secretaries to kiss him. Girls,

10:20

this is the greatest triumph of

10:22

my life. He declares I

10:25

shall go down in history as the greatest

10:27

German. Later

10:30

that day, March the fifteenth, Their

10:32

marked jack boots are trampling over Prague's

10:35

medieval cobbles. This

10:37

time, it's not a homecoming. There

10:40

are no flowers. In

10:43

a grim sleep storm, the

10:45

citizens look on with silence. With

10:47

fear. Hitler,

10:50

the excited puppy dog wipes the

10:52

lipstick of his cheeks and travels

10:54

south to join the invasion party. In

10:57

Prague's old town, even

11:00

as a beer. In

11:02

London and Paris, Chamberlain

11:05

and Daladia cut solid figures. Hitler's

11:08

promises and signed declarations were

11:10

not worth the paper they were written on.

11:13

The mood shifts.

11:16

Opinion rapidly changed. But

11:18

for a very long period, the country was

11:20

a thousand percent behind Chamberlain. You

11:23

can buy Chamberlain iconography from

11:26

that period, from that very brief period.

11:28

When he was the most popular man in

11:30

British history, who'd saved us from war.

11:33

At Munich, he may have made a few unfortunate

11:35

compromises. But he'd

11:38

made World War never again possible.

11:40

And so this view of Chamberlain

11:43

as a kind of

11:46

utter vegetable. The ultimate

11:49

loser, a tragic man,

11:51

a weak rabbit like

11:53

civic, a bureaucrat, staring

11:56

at the headlights of the greater German

11:58

reich is terribly unfair.

12:06

In Britain, conscription is introduced.

12:10

Armaments production is stepped up

12:12

of aircraft especially. Old

12:15

frontline biplanes are being replaced by

12:17

a new generation of Hurricanes,

12:21

spit fighters, If

12:23

Chamberlain has done anything, it's to

12:25

buy the country some time. Military

12:29

overtures are made to Even

12:31

further afield to Greece, Turkey,

12:33

Romania, to anyone who

12:36

can contain German expansion. Britain

12:39

and France also begin talks with the Soviet

12:42

Union. In

12:45

Prague, the swastika flies

12:47

from the Herradjin Seats

12:49

of the old kings of Bohemia. Happy

12:53

Hitler through Pills and Goggles

12:55

declares that this is a tectonic

12:58

city. A Germanic one.

13:00

Any fool can see it. He

13:03

has liberated Prague from the clutches

13:05

of the ghastly slabs. Oh,

13:08

and better get started on rooting out the

13:10

Jews. Slovakia

13:13

becomes a Nazi client state. Hungary

13:16

and Poland assumed laying claim to their own

13:18

ethnic enclaves in the east of the country.

13:21

Czechoslovakia, is no more.

13:25

The Czech heartland becomes the protectorate

13:27

of Bohemia and Arabia. Nazi

13:31

Germany has its first vassal, its

13:33

first colony. Those

13:38

eastern neighbors scavenging on the

13:40

checkers of the Venkian carcass should be careful

13:42

what they wish for, a non

13:44

more southern Polands. It

13:47

too is being sucked into the machinations

13:49

of Berlin. The

13:51

chief cause of resentment for Hitler is the existence

13:54

of the Polish corridor, Another

13:56

legacy of hated Versailles. This

13:59

seventy mile wide strip of land

14:02

has been carved straight through German

14:04

territory, It's been

14:06

done in order to give the Polish state access

14:08

to the Baltic Sea. The

14:11

history of this region Old Pomerania

14:14

is complex. Overlordship

14:16

has been contested through the centuries. But

14:20

Germany's misgivings are evident to anyone

14:22

with access to a map. The

14:24

Polish corridor has severed East Prussia

14:26

from the main body of Germany. It's

14:30

great old port, Danzig, has

14:32

also been confiscated. It's

14:35

been turned into a free city under

14:38

the League of Nations rule linked

14:40

with Poland in a customs union. Not

14:43

only is this a humiliation outrageous

14:45

Hitler, but once again ethnic

14:48

Germans have been cut off from the Reich,

14:50

and such an injustice cannot stand.

14:56

A week after his entry into Prague.

14:59

For an encore, Hitler heads

15:01

to Sveenamunde on the Baltic

15:04

There alongside loyal Admiral Ryder,

15:07

he boards the cruiser, Deutschland. Hitler

15:11

is not a good sailor. He gets

15:13

violently seasick, but

15:15

he does his best to keep his lunch down as

15:17

they sail to the eastern extremity of the

15:19

German coastline. To the small

15:22

port of memel. Just

15:24

like Danzig, its rule has been

15:27

awarded to another party. In

15:29

this case, Lithuania. As

15:32

per the playbook, mammal is

15:34

already awash with trumped up tales of

15:36

ethnic Germans being brutalized. At

15:38

the hands of their new governors. From

15:42

ship to shore, a green

15:44

looking Hitler coordinates the final twisting

15:46

of the thumbscrews Aquenia

15:49

must give up the town to the Reich or

15:52

have it obliterated. Naval

15:55

is duly seated. So

15:59

far, Germany has been accommodating towards

16:01

Poland. A ten

16:03

year non aggression pact was signed in

16:05

nineteen thirty four Poland

16:07

is no pushover either. It

16:10

beat the Soviet Union in a short war

16:12

in nineteen twenty.

16:15

The invasion of Poland still lies in the

16:17

future, no one knows yet,

16:20

how easy it ultimately was

16:22

for Germany to invade Poland.

16:24

Poland was still seen as major military

16:26

power, so the pretense is

16:28

still going on that Poland and Germany

16:31

are getting along with each other.

16:37

But just a month after Munich, Joakim

16:39

von Reuben drop is on maneuvers.

16:42

The Polish ambassador, Jozavlipsky,

16:45

is invited to lunch at the grand hotel

16:48

in Bekaertes Garden. The Nazi

16:50

foreign minister wants to run a couple of ideas

16:52

by him. What if

16:54

Germany were to create its own transport

16:57

link across the Polish corridor? An

16:59

Autobahn, and a railway.

17:03

Also, how about the return of Danzig

17:05

to German control? But with

17:07

Poland maintaining free access and

17:10

usage. The

17:12

real threat to their joint security

17:14

comes in the shape of Bolsheviks Russia,

17:16

he reminds None

17:18

of this cozy up to Moscow, not a

17:20

good idea, much better the Germans

17:23

and Poles stand side by side.

17:26

In return, Germany is willing to

17:28

extend its non aggression pact

17:30

to twenty five years. Play

17:33

its cards right and there could be future

17:35

spoils a Polands Ukraine. And

17:38

he has some handy hints regarding

17:41

Poland's own Jewish program.

17:44

Little does Ambassador Ulipsky know?

17:47

In the Nazi's hunt for living

17:48

space, Poland is the next

17:51

designated acquisition. He

17:55

is telling the polls, he is

17:57

telling the world that this is

17:59

still only about undoing the

18:01

Versailles settlement. Of

18:04

course, at the end of the day, it doesn't matter too

18:06

much what the Polands In the perfect

18:08

world, you would create a situation where

18:10

the Polish government will say, alright, then

18:12

so we happily succeed

18:15

those territories to

18:15

you, but that's just not going to happen. And Hitler

18:18

knows that Polish

18:21

foreign minister, Joseph Beck, is the

18:23

next dignitary to be invited to the Berghof.

18:27

For him, there is no Hitler hairdryer.

18:30

Far from it, the fuhrer is

18:32

the perfect host. This

18:34

is all smoke and mirrors. As

18:37

in the Sudetan learned, as in

18:39

memo, there are the usual

18:41

noises off stage. Histrionic

18:44

outrageous about the alleged Polish mistreatment

18:46

of the eight hundred thousand Germans living in

18:49

Dansig and the corridor. Beck

18:52

summons the German ambassador and warns

18:54

him off intervention. What the

18:56

hell is Germany playing out? He

18:58

thought they had a relationship. Any

19:01

attempt to change the status of Polish

19:03

territory would be regarded as an

19:05

act of war. In

19:09

London. Prime minister Neville

19:11

Chamberlain is now an ill man. His

19:14

tireless efforts to keep peace have taken a

19:16

huge toll on his health. He'll

19:19

be dead in just over eighteen months. In

19:22

his own way, a casualty of the war that Hitler

19:24

is about to unleash. Having

19:27

been made to look a fool once, he

19:29

will not let it happen again. He

19:32

makes a categorical offer of military

19:34

assistance. Should Polish independence

19:37

come under

19:37

threat? The French

19:39

have joined him in these assurances, he says.

19:43

It was clear that Munich

19:45

was dead, that the idea that

19:48

she could somehow have an amicable

19:50

solution that included the Germans,

19:53

that is just not happening. And

19:55

what really happens then is

19:57

that both Britain and France pivot

20:00

towards a policy of containment

20:02

Polands of deterrence. And this is the

20:04

context in which Britain gives

20:06

the security assurance to Poland.

20:09

They they're really kind of drawing the line

20:11

in the sand there. And if you cross

20:13

that, there will be war. There

20:15

might be no great love in Paris

20:17

and London for Poland at that time.

20:20

But there is this red line and once you

20:22

cross it, there will be war. But

20:24

Hector ultimately sees this as as a kind

20:26

of a s as an empty bluff.

20:29

Hitler mocks chamberlain. What

20:32

rights did the British have to interfere in

20:34

German affairs? And

20:36

as for their guarantee to Poland, I'll

20:38

give them a stew that can choke on he

20:41

snarls. Ita

20:43

decrees that a military solution to

20:45

the Polish problem is required In

20:48

terms of a general war, he

20:50

will leave it to the Western powers to make

20:52

their declarations, let

20:54

them be the aggressors. He

20:57

still doesn't believe they've got the stomach for it.

21:00

Even if they did, how on earth

21:02

logistically can they even come to Poland's

21:04

age? And

21:07

as for the Soviet Union,

21:09

well, the Nazis have got wind that Polish

21:12

foreign minister Beck has been in

21:14

London. Lunching with the new king

21:16

George VI. Beck

21:18

tells the monarch that Poland doesn't trust

21:20

the communists any more than the Nazis.

21:24

This will soon turn out to be quite prophetic.

21:28

How do the Germans know all this? Because

21:31

British intelligence is woefully lacking

21:34

In Berlin, ambassador Neville

21:36

Henderson uses an unsecured phone

21:38

line. They've been tapping

21:40

it for months It's

21:42

no different in Rome. At

21:45

the weekends, a professional safecracker

21:47

breaks into the British embassy and

21:50

makes copies of all their classified documents.

21:54

Still, if the Soviets do align

21:56

themselves with the West, it will

21:58

cause problems. Hitler

22:00

is going to have to get creative rather

22:03

quickly. Ideologically,

22:09

there's nothing more anathement to Hitler's Nazi

22:11

philosophy than Bolshevism. Though

22:14

some would say they're not much different, Under

22:17

the totalitarian Stalin, governance

22:19

of the Soviet Union is proven just as murderously

22:22

ruthless as hit as Germany. Perhaps

22:25

at this point even more so. Stalin's

22:28

great purge of nineteen thirty seven

22:31

saw as many as seven hundred thousand

22:33

killed, including much of

22:35

the Soviet military leadership. As

22:38

a consequence, the Red Army

22:40

in its current condition is not patch on the

22:42

modern fighting forces now being

22:44

trained and equipped by Hitler.

22:47

They both have something each other wants.

22:51

The Russians could use some German military

22:53

know her. The Germans covered

22:55

the Soviet Union's vast supplies of

22:57

grain and raw materials. Hitlers

23:02

are extended. Soon

23:04

there is dialogue between Berlin and Moscow.

23:07

The encirclement of Poland has

23:10

begun. On

23:16

April the twentieth nineteen thirty nine,

23:18

Adolph Hitler turns fifty. An

23:21

age he thought he might not live beyond.

23:25

He'll make it just to

23:27

fifty six. The

23:29

Wehrmacht lays on the biggest military parade

23:32

that Berlin has ever seen. The

23:34

arm's limitation of their size restricted

23:36

the army to one hundred thousand men.

23:39

It's now pushing eight times that number.

23:43

The march past includes the Vaffin SS,

23:46

its men clad in black. They

23:49

used to be merely Hitler's bodyguard, Now

23:52

headed by Jaime Gimler, the

23:55

SS are ready for the battlefield. An

23:58

army within an army The

24:01

day has been declared a national holiday. Two

24:05

million people line the route. The

24:08

birthday boy is showered with presents.

24:11

Gunsmith, Karl Valta, gives

24:13

him a solid gold PPK pistol.

24:17

Albert Schpier brings a scale model of a futuristic

24:20

Berlin. Ferdinand

24:22

Porsche hit the keys to a brand new

24:24

convertible Volkswagen beetle. Even

24:27

though the Fuhrer can't drive. Churches

24:30

across the farther land hold special masses

24:33

to confer blessings upon the

24:35

Fuhrer. Even the pope

24:37

sends his best wishes. In

24:39

nineteen thirty nine, the majority of

24:41

German thought yes. Besai

24:43

had been unfair, but There

24:45

was also a memory of the horrors

24:48

of war in Germany. And

24:50

in a way, the reason why Hitler

24:52

was maybe the domestically most popular

24:55

world leader by the time he turned

24:57

fifty in April of nineteen

24:59

thirty nine was because he was

25:01

seen as kind of general bloodless in

25:03

Germany. Yes, he was building up

25:05

the army. He was pursuing a

25:08

muscular foreign Polands, but ultimately,

25:10

he was achieving all this

25:12

without a single job

25:14

of blood being spilled. But

25:19

this open display of militarism sets

25:22

alarm bells ringing. President

25:25

Roosevelt reminds Hitler of his professed

25:27

desire for peace, Hitler

25:29

replies with a speech broadcast across

25:32

Europe and the US in which

25:34

he mocks Roosevelt. Amid much

25:36

background luster. The

25:44

Axis agreement with Italy, the

25:46

pact of friendship, is upgraded

25:48

into a full blown military alliance.

25:51

The more macho packed of steel.

25:55

The Polish corridor, Danzig,

25:57

the business of layman's realm, The

26:00

securing of food supplies, it

26:02

all points to one thing. Poland

26:05

must be destroyed. There

26:08

is just one final piece of the puzzle

26:11

to fall into place. Hitler

26:13

knows that talks between the British, French,

26:15

and Russians have been stalling. So

26:18

he decides to make his play. The

26:22

Fuehrer has a nice little proposition. How

26:25

would Stalin feel? If they

26:28

devied a Polands between them.

26:31

The west are not serious in their overture,

26:33

Hitler says. In a war

26:35

against Germany, Britain and France will simply

26:37

use Russia to take the heat off them.

26:39

They'll be cannon fodder. To

26:43

Stalin, the shining new armies

26:45

of Hitler and Mussolini are starting to look

26:47

the more attractive option. Plus,

26:50

Poland has spent much of its existence under

26:53

Russian rule. Russia

26:55

would very much like it back. In

26:58

private. Italy is already preparing

27:00

to do the dirty on Stalin. He

27:03

will still invade the USSR eventually.

27:06

Just as he outlined in mine camp. Think

27:09

of this as a temporary necessity, a

27:12

pact with Satan as he puts it.

27:15

To drive out the devil. Hitler

27:22

waits out the summer. He

27:25

goes walking in his beloved Bavarian Alps.

27:28

He knows. That things have a habit

27:31

of going his way and

27:33

soon they do. With

27:36

the encouragement of Berlin, Nazi

27:38

officials in Danzig stopped cooperating with

27:40

Polish customs officers. Order

27:43

in the free city begins breaking down.

27:48

Six thousand feet above the Berckoff

27:50

at the top of a mountain is a brand

27:53

new tea room. Martin

27:55

Borman has had it built for his fuhrer.

27:57

It's called the Kayle Steinhouse, nicknamed

28:01

the Eagles Nest, another

28:03

birthday present. Twelve

28:06

workers died during its hasty construction,

28:09

but Hitler will never much care for the

28:11

place. It's a bit too

28:13

high. Normalized, he

28:16

invites the League of Nations high commissioner

28:18

here. While his guest

28:20

struggled with his vertigo, Hitler

28:22

lays it out in his most diplomatic

28:25

terms that if things don't

28:27

turn out exactly to his liking, I

28:30

will smash the so completely

28:32

that not a single trace of Poland will

28:34

be found afterwards he screams. Like

28:37

a lightning bolt. I will strike

28:39

with the full power of my mechanized army,

28:42

the power of which the Polands have no

28:44

idea. Very

28:47

well, mister Chancellor replies the crestfallen

28:50

commissioner. It seems

28:52

almost inevitable there will be a war It's

28:58

here that Mussolini steps

29:01

back into the picture. The

29:03

Italian leader had been somewhat miffed, not

29:06

to be forewarned of Hitler's Czech grab.

29:09

So just a few days later, he'd

29:11

begun his own military adventure. On

29:14

April the seventh, Mussolini

29:17

launched an invasion of Albania, on

29:19

the somewhat flimsy pretext that

29:21

it had once been part of the Roman empire.

29:25

The military action was distinctly one-sided.

29:27

But Italian forces still made a hash

29:29

in the operation. You'll

29:32

do chair relays an awkward truth to Hitler.

29:35

Italy won't be up to full military strength

29:38

until nineteen forty three. Plus,

29:42

Solene is getting rather jittery about the prospect

29:44

of war with Britain and France. Italy's

29:47

former allies. The pact

29:50

of steel commits not just to military

29:52

alliance if attacked, but

29:54

also when attacking. It

29:57

was something at the grand signing ceremony

29:59

while posturing in his helmet and medals that

30:01

Mussolini hadn't quite thought through.

30:04

He wonders whether the European powers

30:06

might not sit around the conference table

30:08

again, but nobody wants

30:11

that anymore. Especially not

30:13

the Germans.

30:15

Professor Helen Rush. But

30:18

the beginning, as Nautism

30:20

was first being conceived to Hitlers.

30:23

Really saw miscellaneous as a fanboy.

30:25

And even in their first few

30:28

meetings, you know, Mussolini

30:30

was very much the one who had the

30:32

whip hands and was kind

30:34

of showing off, oh, you know, here's

30:37

my wonderful dictated it. What have

30:39

you got to show Polands it's very

30:41

interesting how as the thirties

30:43

progress. That balance

30:46

of power really shifts as

30:49

Hitler begins to really

30:51

exert however in Europe in

30:53

a way that Mussolini hasn't

30:56

been able or or hasn't been

30:58

that interested in affecting.

31:02

Doctor John Curatola, The

31:04

Germans look upon Italy as an unsinkable

31:07

aircraft carrier. They're in a Mediterranean, you

31:09

know, geographically commands that area.

31:11

And so there's that benefit as a a fascist

31:14

power and geographically with

31:16

regard to Southern Europe. Hitlers

31:18

willing to accede Southern Europe to Italian

31:21

power because he's got bigger fish to fry. But

31:23

the problem is the Italian army, ain't

31:25

the German army, and their ability

31:27

to man train equipped and

31:30

conduct tactical action is is significantly less

31:32

than that of the Germans.

31:38

Italy may be having a wobble. But

31:40

the Fuhrer is soon warmed by the news

31:42

just in from the east.

31:45

Talks between the Soviet Union, Britain

31:47

and France, and finally hit the

31:49

buffers. That

31:51

day, August the 22nd, he

31:54

sends Ribbentrop on his mission to seal

31:56

the deal. The

31:59

next evening, after his flight. Ribbentrop

32:02

finds himself sitting opposite Joseph Stalin.

32:05

They are joined by the new Kemissar for

32:07

foreign affairs, Vyacheslav

32:09

Malatov. Monotov

32:12

wears a cheap suit and wire

32:14

rimmed pluses. With

32:17

his clipped mustache, he exudes the demeanor

32:19

of a math teacher. But

32:21

appearance is a deceptive. Molytop

32:24

is deeply implicated in the atrocities

32:27

of the great purge, and is this

32:29

cutthroat as anyone in the polypeuro, Like

32:32

many of the Soviet high ups, he

32:34

goes under a catchy nickname. Molotov

32:38

means sledgehammer. Finish

32:41

resistance fighters will call a homemade petrol

32:43

bomb after him, the molotov

32:45

cocktail. Riventrop,

32:48

the former sparkling wine salesman,

32:51

comes out with all the expected platitudes

32:53

about mutual respect. About

32:55

Germany and Russia working side by side.

32:59

Stalin cuts to the quick. For

33:01

years, We've poured buckets

33:04

of manure on one another, he says,

33:06

in the PG version of his pronouncement.

33:09

That should not stop us from coming to

33:11

an understanding. Plus,

33:15

there's some territories he's interested in himself.

33:18

He gets out the little notebook he carries around

33:20

everywhere and reads them off Polands,

33:24

the Baltic States. And

33:26

Basarabia, modern day Moldova.

33:30

Molotov spelled it out. After

33:33

going Dutch on Poland, the Soviet

33:36

Union in Germany must draw up a line

33:38

of demarcation, define

33:40

their spheres of influence. Webbentrop

33:44

explains that he'll have to ask his boss.

33:47

He leaves to use the telephone. His

33:50

ambassador advises him, but he must

33:52

take his time, not appear

33:54

too eager in negotiations. So

33:57

Ribbentrop stops off for a bite to eat.

34:01

He returns an hour later. Hitler

34:04

has agreed officially

34:07

this will be a non aggression pact

34:10

But the territorial division will be included

34:12

as a so called secret protocol.

34:16

The paperwork is signed. Commemative

34:19

photographs are taken. Stalin

34:21

drinks to Hitler's good health. At

34:25

that very moment, at the Berckoff,

34:28

Hitler is holding court with his top military

34:30

commanders. His

34:33

admirals inform him that the pocket

34:35

battleship, Graf's Bay, a

34:37

surface radar, has successfully

34:40

slipped out into the Atlantic. Twenty

34:43

one U boats have taken up positions

34:45

around the British Isles. While

34:49

talking over coffee, a telegram

34:51

is passed to Hitlers, confirming

34:54

that Stalin has now signed on the dotted

34:56

line. He rests

34:58

back in his armchair, a contented

35:01

man. I have

35:03

them who says, I have

35:05

them. Going,

35:09

it is said, dances on the table.

35:13

There is the odd military grumbling about lack of

35:15

supplies and ammunition when it comes to invading

35:18

Poland. But the Fuhrer just tells

35:20

them that they will have to wrap things up very

35:22

quickly. Blitzkrieg, the

35:25

concept of lightning war will

35:27

be unlike anything that's gone before.

35:32

The Germans, unlike the other

35:34

military's major military that were involved

35:36

in their first World War, do a wholesale

35:39

review of why they lost

35:41

the war. And as a result, they come

35:43

up with these ideas that firepower

35:45

isn't the way for the future, maneuver.

35:48

Speed, quickness, combine

35:50

arms operations. These are the

35:52

things that the Germans see as the wave of

35:54

the future, and they're gonna innovate.

35:58

Revelation of the Nazi Soviet pact

36:00

sends the world into shock. The

36:04

are devastated. In

36:06

Britain, The daily worker newspaper,

36:08

which has spent much of its time praising Stalin

36:11

trashing Hitler, doesn't know

36:13

which way to turn. Even

36:15

in Germany, there's confusion over the

36:17

deal. Aren't we supposed to

36:19

hate the communists? A

36:22

lot of people were incredibly

36:24

shocked and actually felt viscerally

36:27

betrayed by the Ribbentrop

36:30

monolith packs. The idea

36:32

that after all of this anti Russian

36:34

propaganda, there could possibly be

36:36

a reproximel, was just

36:38

seen as an unimaginable.

36:41

To perform this assault fast, I

36:44

was in rhetorical terms

36:46

something very difficult to present, but they

36:48

tried it, for example, through film and through

36:51

magazines newspaper articles so

36:53

forth. Suddenly, they began to

36:55

defend the Bolsheviks. They

36:58

identify commonalities with

37:00

the Bolsheviks. Stalin

37:02

becomes their unlikely friend.

37:05

And on Stalin's part, he really is

37:07

their friend. It's curious how such a

37:10

cynical evil and and

37:12

demented man could actually

37:14

be so naive.

37:17

Hitler heads to Temple of Airfield,

37:20

ready to greet the returning hero of Ribbentrop.

37:23

When Heinrich Hoffman shows Hitler the souvenir

37:26

photographs, Hitler doesn't like

37:28

them. Stalin is smoking.

37:31

Italy tests the habit. The

37:34

fuhrer takes out a magnifying glass

37:36

and closely examines Stalin's ear

37:38

lobes. On the

37:40

plus side, according to his own bizarre pseudoscience,

37:44

He's satisfied at least that the

37:46

Russian leader is not Jewish. Strategic

37:50

thinking Germany in the kind

37:52

of foreign ministries that aren't the way. Had

37:55

been that the one thing you could be

37:57

sure of is that there would be no

37:59

alliance between the Soviet Union

38:02

and Nazi Germany. And

38:04

in the summer of nineteen thirty nine,

38:06

he is suddenly doing precisely that.

38:10

So he's blind signing almost

38:12

everyone around the world. His

38:14

preferred solution to

38:17

Germany's security would

38:19

have been an agreement with

38:21

Britain where again Germany would dominate

38:24

the Eurasian mass and Britain would

38:26

rule the seas. But it is

38:28

increasingly becoming clear to Hitlers

38:31

and detect little rebel job that this is

38:33

just not happening.

38:37

In Moscow, a short while after

38:39

Ribbentrop's departure, an Anglo

38:41

French delegation turns up.

38:45

They're unaware that the Nazis have beaten them

38:47

to the punch. They've traveled

38:49

by ship to Leningrad. It's

38:51

taken them six days to get there.

38:54

The efficient Germans were in and out

38:56

in just a few hours. But

39:01

it's not just Mussolini was nervous about

39:03

war. Hemen Gurring

39:05

suddenly realizes it might end his

39:07

personal supply of luxury goods. So

39:10

he opens his own back channel to Britain

39:13

and France, via some wealthy

39:15

Swedes he knows through his late wife. On

39:18

a deeper level, there are those

39:20

high up in the German military command who

39:23

fear that the Fuhrer is now acting

39:25

with reckless abandon. Undoing

39:28

the injustices of versailles, reclaiming

39:30

German that's one thing. There was

39:32

a logic to it. The willful

39:34

pursuit of war and conquest. This

39:37

is not their mission. The

39:40

great war was waged at the cost of seven

39:42

million German casualties. The

39:45

new weapons of war, the new

39:47

technology, aerial strategic

39:49

bombing, What comes next

39:51

could be the apocalypse. Some

39:54

senior commanders will start covertly

39:57

to work against We

39:59

will visit their resistance in a later

40:02

episode. On

40:08

Friday, August the twenty fifth,

40:10

two days after news of the molotov Ribbentrop

40:12

pact is broken, Hitler secretly

40:15

confirms the order to invade Poland.

40:18

Although he will defer the date.

40:21

The French ambassador tells Hitler the same thing

40:24

that Neville Henderson the British ambassador did.

40:27

To make the matter quite clear, I give

40:29

you my word that the French army will fight

40:32

with the side of Poland if that

40:34

country should be attacked. Over

40:38

the weekend, there is a huge military

40:40

build up along Germany's eastern frontier.

40:44

In the coming days, there is a last

40:46

minute flurry of activity. The

40:49

Swedish associates are going shuttle

40:51

back and forth between London and Berlin.

40:53

Promoting half baked solutions. Henderson

40:57

goes to see Ribbentrop, but

40:59

the pair nearly end up in a fist fight

41:01

and have to be separated. French

41:04

Daladier tries one last appeal,

41:07

speaking to Hitler as an old front

41:09

line soldier. But

41:12

it's no use. Hitler

41:14

canceled his annual Nazi rally at Nuremberg.

41:18

This year's event had been Hitlers, with

41:20

no sense of irony, the rally

41:22

of peace. He

41:25

places his armed forces on fire alert.

41:28

Commercial air traffic between Britain and

41:30

the continent comes to a halt.

41:36

Hitler makes his final offer on the morning

41:38

of Thursday, August the thirty first. Unless

41:41

the polls are prepared to send a delegation, and

41:44

sign over the corridor and dancing by

41:46

noon. He will begin his

41:48

attack the next day, September

41:51

the first. Even

41:53

if they were agreeable, it's an impossible

41:56

deadline. Reinhard

41:58

Heidrick is already on the move.

42:01

He has sent SS detachment disguised

42:04

as Polish soldiers to create

42:06

incidents along the border. A

42:09

guy that They attack and

42:11

occupy a radio station. From

42:14

here, they broadcast anti German slogans.

42:18

They brought along some props, a

42:20

truckload of dead bodies from the concentration

42:22

camps. These they

42:25

dress in German uniforms, riddle

42:27

with bullets, and scatter around.

42:30

It's called Grimly. Operation

42:33

canned goods, On

42:35

air, it's reported that

42:37

Hitler had made a very reasonable proposal

42:40

to Poland, a sixteen point

42:42

plan and this is how they

42:44

repay him. The

42:47

invasion can't just begin. There

42:49

has to be a preamble. There has

42:51

to be a false flag. It's like they have

42:54

a textbook, which they're following.

42:56

So the border incident at Glisewich

42:59

convinces Germans at a

43:01

certain level that they're being attacked by

43:03

the Post. Now you ask how can

43:05

they be so naive? How can they not

43:07

know about false flags incidents. Well,

43:09

I think the answer is that

43:11

people become co conspirators

43:14

in their own self delusion.

43:17

In other words, their winning patches

43:20

for Hitler's insane claims

43:22

that the Poles are invading them. At

43:27

four forty five AM on

43:29

Friday, September the first in Dansing

43:31

Harbor, The German cruiser,

43:33

Schleswig Holstein, starts shelling a military

43:36

depot on the shore. All

43:40

along the lengthy land border. German

43:42

artillery units open up. At

43:45

the same time, Lufthansa bombers

43:47

start hitting Polish airfields. At

43:52

nine forty AM, Hitler

43:54

heads for the Kroll Opera House to

43:56

address his rubber stamp Reichstark costumed

44:00

in a field gray uniform, both

44:02

humble corporal and supreme commander

44:05

of the armed forces. Who

44:07

fights with poison will be fought

44:09

with poison? Screeches. He

44:13

says that he now wants nothing more than to be

44:15

the first soldier of the German Reich.

44:19

The Poles put up a heroic resistance,

44:22

but with half million Wehrmacht

44:25

troops now rolling in from the west. They

44:27

don't stand a chance. They're

44:30

pitting mounted cavalry against the state of

44:32

the arpanza tanks, Within

44:35

forty eight hours, the Polish air

44:37

force is obliterated. Within

44:40

forty eight more, the Polish army

44:42

would have been routed. That

44:45

night, the cities of Britain go into blackout.

44:48

Pains of glass are now criss crossed with tape

44:51

to prevent shattering, and

44:53

everybody is carrying a standard issue gas

44:55

mask. In the cities of

44:58

Germany, it's exactly the same. In

45:01

Westminster, at seven forty four

45:03

PM on Saturday, September the second,

45:06

and Ashen Prime Minister Chamberlain goes

45:08

to the House of Commons to make a statement. With

45:12

emotion catching at his voice, he

45:14

says that unless German troops

45:17

withdraw from Poland immediately. His

45:19

majesty's government will be bound to take

45:21

action. Members

45:24

push for an automated to be sent.

45:26

They will give Germany till noon the

45:29

next day. Eleven AM

45:31

UK time.

45:40

Berlin, Sunday September

45:42

the third. It's

45:44

a beautiful late summer morning. The

45:47

city seems serene. People

45:50

are out strolling its avenues, breakfasting

45:52

at pavement cafes, enjoying

45:54

its parks and lakes. We've

45:57

been Trump has a scheduled nine AM meeting

45:59

with Neville Henderson. But

46:01

after their last encounter, he doesn't

46:03

want to go. He asks

46:05

his interpreter, Paul Schmidt

46:07

to step in. Schmidt

46:10

over sleeps. When he sees

46:12

the time, he rushes to the foreign office.

46:14

And he gets there just as Henderson's car

46:17

is pulling up. They

46:19

shake but Henderson says

46:21

he won't sit down, you'll keep it brief.

46:24

I regret that on the instruction of

46:26

my government. I have to hand you an ultimatum,

46:29

he says. Germany's troops

46:31

must be withdrawn from Poland by noon.

46:35

He apologizes. Schmidt

46:37

has always been helpful. The

46:39

interpreter likewise has a sneaking admiration

46:42

for Henderson. He's proven

46:44

able to stand up to the fuhrer. He

46:46

yelled in Hitler's face on more than one occasion.

46:50

They parked with a weird acceptance. Schmidt

46:54

then rushes straight to Hitler's office. He

46:56

has to fight his way through the Nazi officials

46:59

gathering in the empty room. He

47:01

finds the fuhrer at his desk. We've

47:04

been trapped is standing by the window. Schmidt

47:06

translates the ultimatum before them.

47:10

Hitler in a rare lost moment

47:12

asks what they should do. Ribbentrop

47:16

says the French will be handing them a similar

47:18

note soon. They stand

47:20

around looking glum, even

47:22

gurgles. An

47:25

official telephone's gurring is

47:27

heading to Berlin on his private train.

47:30

Why doesn't Göring fly to London

47:32

right now? Hitler

47:35

surprisingly agrees. A

47:37

plane is put on standby, but

47:40

they must deal with this accursed ultimatum first.

47:44

At eleven fifteen German time.

47:46

Ribbentrop summons Henderson. The

47:49

Fuehrer, he says, has given a flat refusal

47:52

to British Polands. They

47:54

call off the gurring mercy mission.

47:58

At eleven fifteen British summertime, a

48:01

broken chamber and broadcast live

48:03

on the BBC home service.

48:06

This morning, the British ambassador

48:09

in Berlin ended the German

48:11

government a final note,

48:14

stating that unless we heard

48:16

from them by eleven o'clock,

48:19

that they were prepared at once

48:21

to withdraw their troops from Poland,

48:24

a state of war would exist

48:26

between us. I

48:28

have to tell you now that no

48:30

such undertaking has been received that

48:33

consequently, this country is

48:36

at war with Germany.

48:43

From Moscow, to Poland,

48:46

to World War. It's

48:48

taken just eleven days. Chamberlain's

48:53

broadcast is followed by a series of public

48:55

service announcements. And on

48:57

the streets of London eight minutes later, an

48:59

air raid warning. A

49:02

false alarm, it turns out. In

49:05

Berlin, public loudspeakers relay

49:07

the news of the declaration of war. But

49:11

unlike nineteen fourteen, there

49:13

are no crowds.

49:15

On this balmy Sunday, it's

49:17

all rather surreal. You

49:20

don't find that kind of euphoria

49:23

that you found in nineteen fourteen

49:26

in Germany. People were

49:28

apprehensive at first.

49:30

They didn't like the idea

49:32

of getting into another war. They were

49:34

thinking what's Hitler doing? What's he

49:36

playing at? Surely this was all meant to

49:38

be avoided.

49:41

Germans didn't want war. Henderson

49:43

describes leaving Berlin for the last

49:45

time and going back home. And

49:48

he describes the silence and

49:50

sadness of the crowds in Berlin.

49:52

These people are shocked, they're appalled.

49:55

They don't want war. There was

49:57

no great militaristic spasm

50:00

on the part of the German people. That

50:02

and he came when Hitler bought them

50:04

victory after victory.

50:08

At seven forty PM, that very

50:10

day, Two hundred miles west

50:12

of the Hebodies. German u

50:14

boat u thirty sinks

50:16

the British liner Athenian. It

50:20

had been en route from Glasgow to Montreal.

50:23

One hundred and seventy seven passengers and

50:25

crew were killed, including twenty

50:28

eight US citizens. The

50:31

hostilities have begun. In

50:44

the next episode, After

50:48

the invasion of Poland comes a period of

50:50

relative quiet, the

50:52

phoning war, though it

50:54

won't last long. Setting

50:57

his sights on Scandinavia, Hitler

50:59

will invade Denmark and Norway. A

51:03

devastating blitzkrieg will roll over

51:05

Western Europe as the fuehrer's

51:07

pantsers arrive in Paris. How

51:10

on Earth will be allies stopping

51:12

now. That's

51:15

next time.