World War II With Tom Hanks

1 season available

Exploring WWII from Germany's invasion of Poland through the atomic age and examining pivotal battles, wartime leaders like Churchill and Roosevelt and the human cost of total war.
The Beginning
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In September 1939, Germany invades Poland, setting the stage for the most destructive war in history.

Blitz
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After toppling the Netherlands and Belgium, Nazi Germany pushes further west; the Allies scramble to support France as Churchill is forced to defend Britain from the skies and FDR rushes to mobilize wartime production.

Barbarossa
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Examine the story of Operation Barbarossa, Hitler's surprise invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, the largest and costliest land offensive in human history.

Pearl Harbor
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Japan escalates their war in China, drawing increasing U.S. sanctions and widespread outrage; driven by resource shortages and military ideology, Japan attacks Pearl Harbor in a move that reshapes the course of World War II.

The War at Sea
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Examine how America's battle to control the seas against the German U-boats in the Atlantic and Japan's navy in the Pacific turns the tide of the war.

Guadalcanal
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After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Japanese forces sweep across Southeast Asia; on Guadalcanal, United States Marines are given the bloody task of stopping their relentless advance.

Darkness Falls
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As Hitler's reach extends beyond Germany and darkness descends on Europe, his hateful rhetoric leads to anti-Jewish persecution and ultimately, genocide.

Operation Torch
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The first joint U.S.-British offensive of the war, thousands of inexperienced U.S. troops and their untested leader Eisenhower, face off against the hardened German Afrika Korps and the infamous Field Marshal Erwin Rommel.

Secrets and Lies
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Behind the fierce frontline clashes of WWII, a hidden battle rages - one of espionage, deception, and codebreaking; in rural England, a group of brilliant academics work to crack Germany's unbreakable Enigma Code and change the course of the war.

Stalingrad
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In Operation Blue, the German Army fights to take Soviet oil fields and the city of Stalingrad, becoming one of the deadliest battles ever fought and a major turning point on the Eastern Front.

Italy
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The Allies hope to quickly penetrate the Nazi Reich via Italy but instead endure a months-long slog with devastating results.

Battle for the Skies
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Allied air forces engage in a fierce and costly battle with the German Luftwaffe over the skies of Europe.

Overlord
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The Allies undertake Operation Overlord, a complicated and massive military invasion, to liberate Occupied France and open a true second front in Western Europe.

Long Road to Tokyo
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The Allies and Japan clash in the jungles and plains of Asia, the "forgotten theater" of World War II, as America struggles to bring the fight to Tokyo's door.

Home Front
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As the tide begins to turn against the Axis powers, the leaders of Germany and Japan deploy opposite strategies on their home fronts.

Resistance
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Resistance to Nazi occupation and oppression is a constant throughout the war, with results both triumphant and devastating.

No Surrender
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The Pacific campaign reaches a brutal and bloody fever pitch from 1944 to 1945.

Last Days of the Reich
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The war in Europe reaches a climax as Allied armies advance towards Berlin and Hitler orders his people to fight to the last man.