Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start writing!
Episode Guide
Series: World War Two: 1941 and the Man of Steel
Series Progress: Episode 1 of 1100% Completed
Synopsis
Marking the 70th anniversary of the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, historian David Reynolds re-assesses Stalin's role in the struggle between Germany and Russia in World War Two, which, he argues, was ultimately more critical for British survival than the Battle of Britain. The name Stalin means 'man of steel', but Reynolds reveals how the reality of Stalin's war in 1941 did not live up to that name. Travelling to Russian battlefield locations, he charts how Russia was almost annihilated as Stalin lurched from crisis to crisis, coming close to a nervous breakdown. Reynolds shows how Stalin learnt to compromise in order to win, listening to his generals and downplaying communist ideology to appeal instead to the Russian people's nationalist fighting spirit. Using original telegrams and official documents, he looks at Churchill's visit to Moscow in 1942 and re-examines how Britain and America were drawn into alliance with Stalin, a dictator as murderous as the Nazi enemy.