For all of you are interested in the history of WWII

[CaptainCrunch]

The National Geographic channel is running a 6 part series entitled apocalypse which run through the entire history of WWII using mostly unseen battlefield film from all sides, German, Italian, American, British, Japanese and Canadian. From the rise of fascism in Germany, Italy and Japan through to the surrender of the Japanese of the battleship Missouri it is one of the best, most detailed and balanced chronicles of the war, and ends with the video of a young girl painting "The End" on a bomb at the end of the war.

Check it out if your interested.

[pope04]

It looks quite interesting:

http://www.natgeochannel.co.uk/progr...the-apocalypse

[metallicat]

I watched the first episode this morning and PVRd the rest. The first on Hitler was awesome.

[4X4]

Looks like all six are being replayed this afternoon starting at 2 on channel 93 for Shaw users.

[Dion]

Originally Posted by 4X4

Looks like all six are being replayed this afternoon starting at 2 on channel 93 for Shaw users.

Damnit! The LPGA is on until 4. Guess i'm going to miss the first 2 hours

[Dome_Gnome]

You are totally right. This series is great. I too am PVRing them right now - much to the wife's shagrin.

I am surprised how weak my knowledge on WWII really is.

Thank goodness for Wikipedia.

[CaptainCrunch]

Its interesting, Eric Margolis (Sp?) had an interesting column on the german invasion of the Soviet union in the sun today where he theorized that the Soviets were building up an invasion of Western Europe prior to the German invasion of Russia and he theorized that if he had been able to spring board his invasion that all of Europe would be in Soviet hands by 1941.

I don't know how valid of a theory it is based around Stalin's gutting of his military leadership in the great purges, and the fact that up until the Soviets put the excellent T-34 tank into the field in numbers that the Soviets were badly outclassed in terms of armor, leadership and logistical supplies, but I would encourage everyone to take a look at the column online at the Sun's website.

[Kjesse]

Just tuned in... awesome... its on in HD on Shaw 214.

I had never heard of Japan being described as 'fascist' until the OP did... I'm going to start reading up on that now. I always considered early 1900's Japan hyper-Imperialist, and certainly racist, but 'freer' internally when compared to fascism, which implies heavy state control, but I could be wrong.

Edit: http://www.questia.com/googleScholar.qst;jsessionid=KkhpxkLJxyDLSpp0vyv1Y 36VV23TXv4SvH7knxKT22x902thQcH9!-2071802929!846852835?docId=97786290

and: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/ar...847123,00.html

http://books.google.ca/books?id=NjbP...age&q=&f=false

[3 Justin 3]

Thanks for the heads-up. Didn't even realize I had channel 93 (on shaw)! Missed the first part, but will watch the other 5.

Everything WW2 entices me, if it weren't for my greedy money-hungry ways, I would go to school to become a WW2 historian rather than a businessman.

[4X4]

Pretty damn good series so far. Thanks again for the heads up, CC.

[Stranger]

PVR'ed it this morning. Looks like a good series.

[Flashpoint]

I love WWII history, simply because just when you think you have heard everything about it, something new pops up.

I have been studying the war in Europe ever since I was an Army Cadet in the late 80's but it was only last year I found out that the Nazi's had an aircraft carrier (The Graf Zeppelin)




Always something more to know. I look forward to seeing the National Geographic special too!

[CaptainCrunch]

Its true that the Germans laid the keel for an aircraft carrier, but it was never completed, nor were planes ever commissioned for it.

At the end of the war as the Soviets got close Karl Donitz who hated surface ships had it scuttled.

Eventually the Soviets towed the Zepplin back to Leningrad where it was used as target practice by the Soviets and sunk.

It was generally considered to be a very advanced design based around Japanese naval strategies and included a steam catapult. But Germany was more in love with submarines then surface naval assets.

[Flashpoint]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

Its true that the Germans laid the keel for an aircraft carrier, but it was never completed, nor were planes ever commissioned for it.

At the end of the war as the Soviets got close Karl Donitz who hated surface ships had it scuttled.

Eventually the Soviets towed the Zepplin back to Leningrad where it was used as target practice by the Soviets and sunk.

It was generally considered to be a very advanced design based around Japanese naval strategies and included a steam catapult. But Germany was more in love with submarines then surface naval assets.

Yeah, it was about 90% done. Polish (I think) divers found it a couple of years ago on the bottom, which is how I heard about it. Every now and again I go to Google news and type in "Lost WWII found" and learn about cool aircraft and vessel finds.

[3 Justin 3]

Well thanks again for the heads up, just finished watching all 6. Now I am off to play some Call of Duty 2.

[Hemi-Cuda]

thanks again for the heads up on the series. it's running again starting at 9:00 tonight, set my PVR to record them all in HD

[tanguay'sstillgood]

Thanks for this thread. It really helped me have a productive afternoon!!

Actually, that series was fantastic. Lots of interesting footage, and I managed to learn a few (many) things.

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by Flashpoint

I love WWII history, simply because just when you think you have heard everything about it, something new pops up.

So true. I hated history as a kid- but I think if there were episodes like these I might have had some interest. One interesting thing mentioned in an episode today; once German officers started establishing a presence in the Allied POW camps in North America, they made sure that through the chain of command they made life tough for the soldiers underneath them. Part of the reason for this was to get the word out to soldiers still fighting that being a POW was no picnic.

Another good series that was out a few years ago was on the American version of the History Channel. All throughout the spring and summer of 2005 they showed "This date in history- 60 years ago." As long as you could get past the idea that the Americans single handedly won WWII- it was alright.

[GreenLantern]

Thanks for ruining the ending.

[CaptainCrunch]

The sad thing is that this is a series that can create a lot of discussion. However, I'm taking a new girlfriend out to Drumheller tommorrow and she has no interest in the same kind of history as I do.

Guess I'll have to talk about stuff that she's interested in.