Series examining the strategies used in warfare throughout history. 'Blitzkrieg' literally means 'Lightning War', and refers to the use of speedy shock tactics to break the enemy's line. In the program, two examples are studied: Operation Yellow in May 1940, when German Panzer forces penetrated almost 250 miles, and Operation Iraqi Freedom in March 2003, when American mechanized forces raced over 350 miles through Iraq in 15 days.
Series examining the strategies used in warfare throughout history. Attack from the air introduces a third dimension to a battlefield - military planners it 'vertical envelopment'. In this program we study Operation Mercury, the German invasion of Crete in 1941. Plus the thinking behind Operation Junction City in Vietnam in 1967, when US and South Vietnamese forces used paratroops to block the enemy's line of retreat, and then helicopter-borne forces to clear the area ahead of them.
Series examining the strategies used in warfare throughout history. Even before the Greeks used a wooden horse to capture Troy, deception was a critical part of warfare. In this programme we examine Operation Fortitude, the range of plans which hid the location of the D-Day Landings. Plus a look at how General Tommy Franks disguised the timing of his offensive during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003.
Series examining the strategies used in warfare throughout history. A look at tactics used when attacking land from the sea, with two notable examples. The first is from 1945, when the US Marines battled their way up the beaches of Iwo Jima. The second is from 1950, which saw the last major sea assault of the 20th century, as US Marines closed in on the harbour defences of Inchon during the Forgotten War in Korea.
Explaining the strategies used in warfare which have shaped our modern world. This program looks at three occasions when different types of counterstrike worked superbly. Including the classic counterstrike at Tannenberg in 1914; and the Russian counterstrike against Hitler's Operation Barbarossa, which saved Moscow in winter 1941.
Series examining the strategies used in warfare throughout history. This program looks at two major cases of blockade, both of which involved island nations fighting for their survival. The German attempt to blockade Britain during World War II was the longest-running campaign of the war, and offered Hitler his best chance of winning. And the US submarine campaign against Japan in 1943-45 showed how a major nation could be brought to its knees.
Series examining the strategies used in warfare in history, looking at three different sieges. The first is the German siege of Leningrad from 1941-43, which Hitler simply wanted to cut off and starve into surrender. The second is the Viet Minh victory at Dien Bien Phu in 1953, when the French deliberately landed deep in hostile territory. And finally, the Viet Cong siege of the US base at Khe Sanh in 1968, when US commanders deliberately drew their enemy into an exhausting confrontation.
Series examining the strategies used in warfare throughout history, with a focus on sea power, and examples. At Midway, in June 1942, the whole course of the Pacific War was transformed in less than five minutes, when US dive bombers devastated Japan's vital aircraft carriers. Plus the events of Leyte Gulf in October 1944, when the Japanese Imperial Navy staked everything on an assault by its battleships against the US landings on the Philippines, but was finally shattered by US naval air power.
Series examining the strategies used in warfare throughout history. The program examines why leaders, often political rather than military, decide on the use of pre-emptive strike, with two notorious examples. The first is December 6th, 1941, the 'day of infamy', when a Japanese surprise attack on the US fleet base at Pearl Harbor brought the United States into World War II. The second is the Israeli attack which began the Six-Day War of June 1967.
Series examining the strategies used in warfare throughout history, this time with a focus on air power, with two major cases: the Battle of Britain in Summer 1940, the world's first purely aerial battle, when the German Luftwaffe's failure to vanquish the Royal Air Force meant that a Nazi invasion could not be launched. And the opening air campaign of Operation Desert Storm in January 1991, when coalition air forces destroyed the sophisticated Iraqi air defense system.
Series examining the strategies used in warfare throughout history. This program looks at the conditions in which a commander might choose to fight a defensive battle, with two very different examples. The first is the deliberate German withdrawal to the Hindenburg Line on the Western front in the spring of 1917. The next is the Battle of Kursk, 1943, where the Red Army knew that the Germans were determined to take the offensive again.
Series examining the strategies used in warfare throughout history. The program looks at the history and principles of guerrilla warfare. Examples include Afghanistan 1979-88, where guerrilla warfare won the military campaign and then went on to political victory. Vietnam 1961-73 is another classic study as Vietcong guerrillas were steadily ground down by superior American firepower and mobility.
Series examining the strategies used by the military throughout history. Urban warfare is the most vicious form of fighting. In an era dominated by technology, it takes a soldier back to hand-to-hand, knife against knife combat. Two bloody urban battles are studied here: Stalingrad, winter 1942-43, fought largely unnecessarily for Hitler's ideological reasons. And the Tet Offensive, 1968, the desperate last throw by the Vietcong to win the political initiative against the United States.
Series examining the strategies used in warfare throughout history. A look at the most feared aspect of warfare, when a commander and his forces have to break through a defensive line which cannot be outflanked. The first of two case studies is the US Army's assault under General Pershing on the Hindenburg Line in 1918 at Meuse-Argonne. The second is the Battle of El Alamein in 1942, when British forces under General Montgomery broke through against Rommel's Afrika Korps.
Series examining the strategies used in warfare throughout history. Raids are one of the most interesting subjects in military history, and they can have a huge variety of aims. This program looks at the rescue of prisoners; either specific and very important individuals like Mussolini in 1943, or US prisoners of war from Son-Tay camp in North Vietnam.
Understanding the strategies used in warfare throughout the history of the human race. A look at the use of air power to destroy an enemy's ability to wage war. Two case studies are included in this program; the RAF/USAAF campaign against Nazi Germany from 1941-45, and the USAAF assault on Japan in 1944-45.
Series examining the strategies used in warfare throughout history. Outflanking has been one of the classic strategies ever since mankind first began to plan organized warfare. This program looks at two of the classic examples. The first is the Allied breakout from the Normandy beachhead led by US armored forces under General George Patton. The second is the classic left-hook mounted by Norman Schwarzkopf during the first Gulf War.
Revealing the strategies used in warfare throughout history. A look at special operations, the cutting edge of modern warfare. Sometimes entire squadrons are involved, sometimes just two men or women, and a range of intelligence services and organizations are involved.