All language subtitles for World War II Race To Victory Series 1 4of6 Tehran Sit down 1080p

The Big Three are meeting
for the first time.

British Prime Minister
Winston Churchill,

American President
Franklin Delano Roosevelt,

and the Soviet leader
Joseph Stalin.

They have come
to the Iranian capital Tehran

to decide the future
of the war in Europe.

[sombre music]

On the second day
of the Conference,

Churchill presents Stalin
with a sword inlaid with
jewels.

Its handgrip is bound in gold.
Its crossguard is solid silver.

And on its blade
are inscribed the words

"To the steel‐hearted citizens
of Stalingrad."

Stalin passes the sword
to Roosevelt

who holds it aloft and cries,

"Truly they had
hearts of steel!"

The Big Three appear united.

But away from the cameras,
tensions are growing.

Secret frustrations,
rivalries and disagreements

are threatening the
relationship
between these three men.

And the rivalries are not only
between the leaders.

As Allied forces move
from North Africa

into the Mediterranean,

two generals,
Montgomery and Patton,

have entered
a very personal race

to be the first
to take Sicily and Italy.

[explosions]

Will the first
face‐to‐face meeting

between the Big Three

save this crucial
wartime alliance,

or pull it further apart?

[theme music]

[explosions]

[slides clicking]

[explosions]

‐[explosion]
‐[artillery fire]

[narrator] 1943 marked
the turning of the tide

in the Second World War.

The months leading up
to the Tehran Conference

saw setback after setback
for Nazi Germany,

Fascist Italy,
and Imperial Japan.

‐[solemn music]
‐ In the Atlantic,

the German submarine
offensive against British

and American shipping
was faltering.

Advances in Allied technology

and an aggressive
hunting strategy

began to inflict heavy losses
on the German U‐boat fleets.

[explosions]

In North Africa, German
and Italian resistance
crumbled.

[explosion]

Hundreds of thousands
of Axis troops

surrendered
to General Montgomery

and the British Eighth Army.

[loud boom]

But the fiercest fighting
was in the east.

[artillery fire]

The brutal five month battle
for Stalingrad

had finally come to an end
in February 1943.

And the Russians
had emerged victorious.

Germany's Sixth Army
had been wiped out,

and the Axis Powers had
suffered
almost a million casualties.

[Peter] Through the efforts
of the people of Stalingrad,

but also the 62nd Red Army,

through street fighting,
which was at close quarters,

the Red Army
and the citizens of Stalingrad

managed to push back
the Germans.

This is important

because of the psychological
victory provided,

and the momentum

after Stalingrad really turns
towards the Soviet side.

[narrator] German morale
had been severely dented.

The Wehrmacht's
aura of invincibility

had been smashed.

And Hitler was determined
to strike back.

Plans were drawn up
for a new offensive

on the Eastern Front at Kursk,

280 miles southwest of Moscow.

[Jonathan] Operation Citadel was
the German attempt to regain

the initiative
on the Eastern Front

after the disaster of Stalingrad
in the winter of 1942‐1943.

So it was designed to be
a major battle

that would suck in and destroy
a large part of the Soviet Army.

[narrator] Leading the attack

would be the Nazi's latest
innovation in tank warfare,

the Panzer Mark V.

Known as The Panther,

it was hoped
that it would counter

the fearsome Soviet T‐34.

It was the Wehrmacht's best
hope

of finally defeating
the Red Army.

The Panthers would lead
the Nazi's new offensive

on the Kursk salient,

a 160‐mile‐long bulge
in the Russian frontline.

Their attacks would come
from the north and south,

a pincer movement to cut off

and destroy
the trapped Soviet troops.

But this time
Joseph Stalin was prepared.

Intelligence had revealed
there was a troop build‐up

on the Soviet border.

The Red Army was no longer
the disorganised rabble

it had been two years earlier.

And they had weeks to prepare
for the German assault.

They were very much

a different army to what it was

on the Barbarossa invasion.

Open country.

Huge numbers of tanks
on both sides.

The Wehrmacht is outmanoeuvred

and outgunned by the Red Army.

[narrator] The Russians built
a series of defensive lines

almost 25 miles deep.

The ground was mined

and criss‐crossed
with anti‐tank ditches.

Gun emplacements had been dug
into the earth.

And more than 3,000 tanks
and around 1.3 million soldiers

stood ready to repel
the German attack.

On July 5th, 1943,

after a barrage
of artillery fire,

hundreds of German Panzer tanks

rumbled towards
the Soviet lines.

[Peter] The Battle of Kursk

was simply the largest
tank battle in history.

There were 6,000 tanks,
there were 5,000 aircraft.

Like Stalingrad, this involved
an immense number of troops.

There were two million fighting
in this battle.

It was really Hitler's
last roll of the dice.

[narrator] The Germans inflicted
heavy losses on the Red Army,

but still
they could not break through

the massed Soviet defences.

The battle of Kursk
is probably definitive

in the way the Russian Front
was going to end,

which was in Nazi withdrawal.

And Kursk arguably

puts the end to any hope
on the Nazi side

of regaining the initiative.

[Jonathan] It ended up being
a strategic defeat

for the Germans, and again,

re‐emphasised the fact
that the next stop,

well, maybe not the next stop,

but the end of the line anyway,
lay in Berlin, not in Moscow.

[narrator] As the Battle
of Kursk ground to a halt,

more than a thousand miles away

another military offensive
was underway.

Following their victory
in North Africa,

the Allies wanted to continue
their success

and fight their way into Europe
through the Mediterranean,

what Churchill called

the "soft underbelly"
of the Nazi beast.

Their first target was Italy,

and their access point,
the island of Sicily.

[Sir Mike] Well, Sicily
has importance of itself,

a large island
in the Mediterranean,

the Mediterranean was
a naval motorway from Britain

through to Egypt
and, of course, beyond.

You wouldn't really think
of invading Italy

whilst leaving Sicily behind you
in the hands of your enemy.

Sicily was a stepping stone

towards Allied operations
in Italy.

[narrator] Three months
before the invasion

in April 1943,

German agents recovered the
body
of a British Royal Marine pilot

from the waters off
a Spanish beach.

Documents handcuffed
to the officer's wrist

led Hitler's forces to believe

that the Allied attack on Italy

would come via Greece
and Sardinia.

Nazi troops were moved
to those places

to defend the German positions.

But the documents were
an elaborate hoax

by British intelligence
codenamed Operation Mincemeat.

[Jonathan] The Germans knew
that there was going to be

some kind of Allied attack
somewhere in the Mediterranean.

They didn't know where it was.

And so the British
dressed up a dead body,

dumped in the sea off Spain

with supposedly the plans
for an invasion

to distract the Germans.

[narrator] The Italian island

was garrisoned
by around 300,000 Axis troops,

and they were caught off‐guard.

On July 10th, 1943,

Allied paratroopers
attacked from the air

while landing crafts
stormed the beaches.

Operation Husky had begun.

It was an immense undertaking,

involving 150,000 troops,
3,000 ships and 4,000 aircraft.

‐[engines hum]
‐[suspenseful music]

[explosion]

[narrator] The German commander,
Field Marshal Albert
Kesselring,

soon realised
the best he could do

was delay the Allied invaders

while preparing
a retreat to the mainland.

Meanwhile the American
and British forces

embarked on their
own private race.

[artillery fire]

As the U. S. Seventh Army
under General Patton

advanced up to the north
of the island,

the British Eighth Army
under General Montgomery

took control of the east.

Both Generals were highly
respected, brilliant leaders.

But they were at odds
with each other.

And after Montgomery
had led the Allies

to success in North Africa,

Patton was determined

to drive the United States
to victory in Sicily

and be recognised

as the greatest general
of the war.

If Montgomery
was the preeminent,

one of the preeminent soldiers
of the Second World War,

Patton, I think,
you'd have to put down

as one of the preeminent
warriors of all time.

This was a fighting
man who loves fighting,

who operates
at a level of instinct.

Whereas I think Montgomery
is a much more rational general.

The strength of that
is that it means

you do have a bit more scope
for these flashes of insight

that can prove very productive.

And Patton was lucky,
as well as good,

in the sense
that he had a good tool

for executing
these flashes of insight.

The weakness, of course, is that
it can mean you are either wrong

[laughs] or reckless,

I think you see
both of those traits

in Patton's career as well.

[theme music] of Axiss

escaped across the water
to Italy,

the invasion of Sicily
became a race

between the American
and British generals.

‐[explosion]
‐ Both wanted their troops

to be the first into Messina,

the vital port
on the northeast tip of Sicily.

[Jonathan]
Patton did not play the game

the way that Montgomery
expected it to be played.

In Montgomery's mind,

the British
were going to drive up

the east side of Sicily

with the Americans on their left

across the middle of the island.

And Patton,
at a pretty early stage,

realised it was going to be
quite a difficult thing to do,

and therefore it might be better
to race all the way round

the edges of Sicily instead.

[narrator]
Advancing up the east coast,

Montgomery's troops were slowed
temporarily by the Germans

as Kesselring used
the island's mountainous
terrain

to his advantage.

This was a chance

for the American general
to get ahead.

And to Montgomery's dismay,

it was Patton's troops
that entered Messina

on August 17th, 1943.

The allied invasion of Sicily

was relatively quick
and successful.

It was a clear marker

that the Allies were engaged
in Europe,

that they were winning,

and that ultimately
they could succeed

and gain a victory
against the Axis powers.

[Jonathan] What it did do
was demonstrate, number one,

that the Allies were going
to make sure

that they re‐established
control of the Mediterranean.

Number two, that they were going
to come on fighting the Axis

on their home soil.

And number three,
it was instrumental

in deciding the Italians
to drop out of the war

and to change sides
in September of 1943.

The loss of Sicily made it clear

that the Italian mainland
was next.

The Italians tried to avoid
that fate by leaving the Axis

and surrendering to the Allies.

[narrator] The triumphs
of 1943 at Stalingrad,

North Africa, Sicily, and Kursk

brought the Allies
in sight of total victory

over Nazi Germany.

But behind the scenes,

not only was there division
between the generals,

there was also division
between the Big Three.

They did not agree over
the best route to victory,

nor over what would happen
to Europe

once victory had been achieved.

[narrator] While British
and American troops

fought in Sicily, gaining
ground
from the Axis forces,

on July 24th, 1943,

Benito Mussolini
was voted out of office

by his own Grand Council.

Mussolini, known as Il Duce,

had ruled the Council
since 1922.

But as Allied armies
entered the Italian mainland,

the leaders in Rome saw
that defeat was imminent.

And the King
Vittorio Emanuele III

ordered Mussolini's arrest
and imprisonment.

In September,
while German and Allied troops

battled viciously on her soil,

‐Italy surrendered.
‐[crowds cheering]

Despite the successes
of the Italian campaign,

there remained tensions
between Churchill and
Roosevelt.

[suspenseful music]

Winston Churchill
knew early on in the war

that American support
was vital for an Allied
victory.

He'd exchanged
hundreds of letters

and cables with Roosevelt,

as well as meeting him
in North American waters

in 1941.

The blunt, emotional Churchill

and the cool, charming
Roosevelt
had become friends.

There was, however,
a major difference between
them.

Churchill wanted to preserve
the old ways

and retain the British Empire.

But Roosevelt wasn't going
to destroy the Nazi Empire

and Imperial Japan,

only for Britain to retain
sovereignty

over her imperial dominions.

For the idealistic President,

this war was a fight for
liberty

and self‐determination
for nations across the globe.

[Harshan]
So much of the war aims,

as articulated in several
of their discussions,

involved thinking
of liberating Europe

from, if you like,
the Nazi, fascist empire.

But then, of course,
the ramification of that

would mean potentially,

especially
in Roosevelt's understanding,

that that would also mean
self‐determination

for the British Empire as well.

[Warren] Increasingly,
what happens is

they start imagining

what the world is going
to look like after the war,

and the problem is that each man
had a unique vision

for what the world
would look like after the war.

And so the tie that bound them

in this alliance started to fray
quite significantly.

[narrator]
And it was already clear

that Britain would not be
the dominant power.

Roosevelt commissioned
one of his closest aides,

Harry Hopkins,

to report on the possible
future relationship

between the United States
and the Soviet Union.

He concluded that Russia's
post‐war position in Europe

will be a dominant one,

and every effort must be made
to obtain her friendship.

Roosevelt quickly recognised

that Stalin was going to be
a major player

not only in the war,
but in the post‐war era,

and he set out to develop
good relations with Stalin.

He believed that he was
more capable of doing so

than Churchill,

because Churchill had
a record of anticommunism

dating back to the 1920s.

[narrator]
Secretly, Roosevelt sought

a private meeting with Stalin
in Alaska,

to which Churchill
was not invited.

The purpose was to pave the way

for a post‐war
U. S.‐Soviet relationship.

At first, Stalin seemed
open to the idea,

but then doubts set in.

Stalin was determined
to exact a high price

for his post‐war cooperation.

Since 1942,

he had been calling
for a second front in Europe.

Soviet soldiers and civilians
were dying in their thousands.

Stalin needed a diversion

to draw German troops away
from the east.

But his allies
had pushed back again and
again.

Churchill, in particular,

had insisted that
they were not yet ready

to invade occupied France.

Stalin remained very,
very concerned

that the Western Allies
were deliberately letting

the Soviet Union do
most of the fighting,

bleeding it dry,
and therefore weakening it

for the post‐war situation.

[narrator]
When the Western Allies

again delayed
the invasion of France

in May 1943,

Stalin used it as an excuse

to cancel the meeting
with Roosevelt in Alaska.

naturally suspicious nature, s

running a war separated
by thousands of miles

was far from ideal.

Coordinating operations
over such vast distances

was difficult.

Communications were slow

and in danger of interception
by the enemy.

It was time

that the three leaders
met face‐to‐face.

Roosevelt himself, of course,
was not particularly mobile

because of his disabilities,
though he was prepared to fly,

which was very brave of him.

Churchill, on the other hand,

had already
covered a lot of miles,

and during the course
of the war,

covers about 100,000 miles
traveling.

So he is willing to travel

and actually sees
a big advantage

of being the man who travels,

because he can join
the Big Three up.

So he wasn't
necessarily that anxious

for a Big Three meeting,

because he quite liked
being the only one

who connected
the three of them together,

because it enabled him
to set the agenda,

to manage the relationship
in ways

that actually meant
that British lack of power

was balanced by his willingness
to put himself about.

[narrator] But Roosevelt
continued to push

for face‐to‐face talks
between all three of them,

while Stalin
kept putting him off.

Baghdad was suggested.

Then Basra.

Stalin turned them both down.

[Martin] Stalin hated flying

and also hated getting out
of any way

he could not be absolutely
assured of his security.

So the kind of places
that they can actually meet

were distinctly limited.

[Iwan] He would always use
the excuse,

some people would say
justification,

others would say,

"As the Commander‐in‐Chief
of the Soviet armies,

we're engaging in heavy fighting
with the Germans.

I cannot be too far
from the front."

[narrator] Stalin could not
put off the meeting forever.

When the Iranian capital
Tehran was suggested,

he finally agreed.

Iran was under joint
British‐Soviet occupation,

so there were already
Russian troops there.

And Tehran
was just a few hundred miles

from the Soviet Union.

Stalin could travel
most of the way by train.

The Conference was
codenamed Eureka,

and the date was set
for late November 1943.

For the first time,

the Big Three would meet
one another in person.

[Iwan]
The mood was one of optimism.

They believed
the corner had been turned.

The successful defence
of Stalingrad

had really turned the tide.

And they now believed
it was a matter of time

before the Germans
would be defeated.

[narrator] Before meeting
the Soviet dictator,

Roosevelt and Churchill
agreed to stop in Cairo.

There they would hold
their own conference

with their ally in the fight
against Japan in the Pacific,

the Chinese nationalist leader
Chiang Kai‐shek.

[Martin] At this point,
Roosevelt envisages Chiang

as one of what he called
the Four Policeman,

that the world after the war
would be essentially managed

by the four great powers.

And he very much hoped

that the Asian great power
would be China.

[narrator] Stalin had refused
to attend the Cairo Conference.

Always concerned
about his personal safety,

he felt Cairo was
too far to travel.

Meeting Chiang Kai‐shek at
Cairo
could also put in jeopardy

the Soviets' Neutrality Pact
with Japan,

China's sworn enemy.

Stalin placed
a lot of importance

on the Neutrality Pact
with the Japanese,

because a long‐time
preoccupation of his

has been to avoid fighting a war
on two fronts.

He knew the Soviet Union
could not fight the Germans

on the one hand,
and the Japanese on the other.

This meant that it was
absolutely essential

that that pact
with Japan was stable,

because it allowed him to turn
his forces at the Eastern Front,

really at full their capacity.

[narrator]
So Churchill and Roosevelt

met Chiang without him.

Officially on the agenda
was the course of the war,

and indeed, the fate of Japan.

The talks would result
in the Cairo Declaration,

outlining a vision
of a post‐war Pacific.

Japan would lose
all the territory it had seized

since 1914.

Land taken from China
was to be returned,

and Korea would be independent.

But the talks in Cairo
went beyond the Pacific,

and splits between Churchill
and Roosevelt soon surfaced.

Churchill has made
a lot of assumptions

about Roosevelt's friendship

and his commitment to Britain.

And he's tended to gloss that

into commitment
to the British Empire,

because Churchill sees
the two things as the same.

Roosevelt doesn't.

Roosevelt distinguishes clearly
between the British Empire,

particularly the British Empire
in Asia, and Britain itself.

Churchill is,
for the first time, I think,

aware of Roosevelt's attitude
towards the British empire.

And it worries him.

[narrator]
Both men were exasperated

by the slow pace of the talks

and the constant need
for translation.

Churchill had wanted to agree
a British‐American strategy

before meeting Stalin,

but this had not happened.

The two leaders would instead
carry their frustrations

with them to Tehran.

And if anyone
could take advantage

of this crack
in the special relationship,

it was Joseph Stalin.

It was Winston Churchill's
69th birthday,

and on the last day
of the Tehran Conference

he was throwing a party

at the British Embassy
in Tehran.

Roosevelt and Stalin were
among the guests.

The Conference was
the first time

the Big Three had met
face‐to‐face.

And despite
public displays of unity,

the leaders had argued
during the talks.

It was a clash of egos and
ideas

that threatened to undermine
the alliance.

Churchill's birthday dinner
was the last chance

to put aside the rancour
and division,

ready for the final assault
on Nazi Germany.

[Martin] All three of them are
very conscious

that if they're going to succeed

in securing victory
against Nazi Germany

as allies in Europe,

they're going to have
to continue working together,

because Germany
has a good position

in the centre of Europe,

and they're going to need

to continue coordinating
their activities.

[narrator] The Tehran Conference
had started two days earlier.

Stalin made sure
he was the first to arrive.

He had no intention
of letting Churchill

and Roosevelt gang up on him.

From Stalin's personal
point of view,

he wanted the same prestige
within The Big Three.

He wanted to be treated
as an equal within that trio.

He felt Roosevelt and Churchill
were not taking him seriously

in that respect.

[narrator] When Churchill
and Roosevelt arrived,

they were presented
with shocking information

from Soviet intelligence.

Agents had uncovered a plot
to assassinate the Big Three

while they were in Tehran.

German commandos
were allegedly in the city

and preparing
for the opportunity to strike.

The story has become legend
in Russia,

the subject of books and films.

But Western historians
are more sceptical

about whether the
Germans' "Operation Long Jump"

ever existed.

[theme music]

isk in T.

While The British and Soviet
Embassies were side by side

in a walled park
in the centre of the city,

the American Embassy was
a mile away.

Meeting up would mean
potentially dangerous trips

through the narrow city
streets.

Stalin, as always,
had a solution.

President Roosevelt could stay
at the Soviet Embassy instead.

A suite of rooms stood ready.

Despite the sudden discovery
of the German threat,

it even included
a new disabled bathroom

that could accommodate
the ailing President's needs.

Churchill quickly offered
the British Embassy

as an alternative.

But Roosevelt chose to stay
with Stalin.

Roosevelt very gladly does so,

even though
his security people say,

"Don't do that.
They'll have bugs in your room."

And Roosevelt says,

"Good. I want them to hear
what I have to say."

Because he's a pretty
cunning politician.

He knows exactly
what he's doing.

He's not met Stalin before.

He's not going to miss
the opportunity.

And if it means treading
all over Winnie,

then he's perfectly happy
to do so,

because Roosevelt
can be very ruthless.

[Iwan]
Roosevelt's record was one

of relative friendship
to the Soviet Union.

Two things Roosevelt
wanted going into Tehran.

One was to reassure Stalin

that the Allies would launch
an invasion of France in 1944

in order to cut off
any possibility

that an angry Stalin
would negotiate

a separate peace with Hitler.

And B,
to try to get Stalin to make

a commitment to enter the war
against Japan

once Germany is defeated.

[narrator] The British
Prime Minister was unhappy

and very aware

that he was being made
to feel the junior partner

in this grand alliance.

Britain had neither the
manpower

nor the industrial might
to match the others.

[Martin] Now Churchill,

who's staying
in the British Embassy,

knows that these
conversations are taking place

and he doesn't really like it.

It gets in the way
of his own personal relationship

with the other two.

Churchill was having
some time with...

the leaders he was working with.

Stalin, at the time,
needed a lot of help.

I think he was getting
a little nervous.

[narrator]
The convivial Roosevelt

was to chair the talks.

But it was soon clear

that it was Stalin
who was taking charge.

The discussions
centred on one question.

When would Britain and America
open a second front in France

to divert German attention
from the east?

The Soviet records that we have

suggest that he only had
one issue

that he wanted
the Allies to discuss,

and that was the second front.

[Iwan] They had effectively
promised Stalin

to invade in 1942 and 1943,

and a third time delay

would have been utterly
unacceptable to the Soviets.

[narrator] Yet Churchill still
wanted to delay the invasion.

He had been the politician
in charge of the Royal Navy

in the First World War,
when his record was marred

by the disaster
of the Gallipoli campaign.

Churchill has
this real sort of aversion to it

because he's been there before.

Gallipoli, in the end,

did not work

at very considerable cost
in blood and treasure.

I think Churchill was nervous

that the amphibious invasion
of France,

and thereby in northwest Europe,

might end in the same way.

And therefore

we must have everything
as absolutely prepared

as we possibly can
before committing.

And that takes time.

[narrator]
Churchill again argued

that the Mediterranean should
be
the Allies' focus instead.

Turkey should be brought
into the war,

and a new front opened
in the Balkans

to strike at Germany
from the south.

[Iwan] Churchill was of the view

that if the British plan
was followed,

it was a quicker way
to get into Germany,

and thereby occupy Germany

before the Soviet Union
swept over

the entirety of the country.

The cause, or the non‐invasion
of Western Europe

in 1942 and 1943,

was Winston Churchill's
absolute insistence

that the Allies weren't ready.

[narrator] But this was not
Churchill's only motive.

Some of this was to do
with British imperial ambitions.

You know, they had an empire
in Palestine and in Egypt

that they wanted to consolidate

and get back up
and running, if you like.

So clearing the Mediterranean
was an important part of that.

[narrator] Stalin
had suspected Churchill

of trying to undermine
his advance into central
Europe,

and saw the whole strategy
as an unnecessary diversion.

In his view,
the only true hammer blow

would come from driving
to the heart of the Third Reich

through northern France.

[Sir Mike] The moment
a Western Front was opened

in Normandy, or wherever,

that would draw German attention

and they would be on two fronts,

and that would relieve pressure
on the Russian Front.

That's why he was saying
"Come on, get a move on."

[Martin] Stalin at one point
then turns to Churchill

and says to him point‐blank,

"Do you believe
in this operation?"

And Churchill has to puff
on his cigar and say,

"Yes, of course I do,

provided certain conditions
are met,"

which is obviously trying
to find himself a way out.

[narrator]
The ill‐tempered talks

went on for days.

There were insults and
walkouts.

In a message to his wife,

Churchill described the
meetings
as "grim and baffling."

President Roosevelt
pushed Churchill

pretty hard, I think,

to start up a second front
in France.

And of course,
Churchill was still saying,

"no, no, we can do this
from the eastern Mediterranean,

create a pincer movement."

The bottom line
for the Americans was

we have to have an invasion
in order to satisfy Stalin.

Otherwise, the prospects
of post‐war cooperation are nil.

[narrator]
Churchill knew that Stalin

and Roosevelt were meeting

in the Soviet Embassy
without him.

And when he requested
one‐on‐one talks

with the President,
Roosevelt turned him down.

It's very clear to Churchill
that he's on the outs

and that Stalin and Roosevelt
are getting closer and closer,

and Churchill's starting
to struggle to find a place,

a reason to be there.

Stalin finally got his way.

It was agreed
that battle would be joined

on the Western Front
in May 1944.

British, American
and Commonwealth troops

would invade France

with the greatest amphibious
invasion force ever assembled.

In return,

Stalin agreed the Soviets
would declare war on Japan,

however,
not until Germany was defeated.

A formal agreement
had been reached,

but in trying
to win over Stalin,

Roosevelt had opened a rift
with Churchill.

Roosevelt's sense

of his relationship
with Churchill

I think, is that by this point,
he's got Churchill in the bag.

He doesn't need
to soft soap Churchill,

but he does need
to manage Stalin.

And this is his opportunity.

[narrator] On the last night
of the Conference,

the leaders gathered

for the Prime Minister's
birthday banquet.

The atmosphere was uneasy,

and Stalin seemed uncomfortable
in the opulent surroundings.

But as the drinks flowed,
the mood lightened.

Roosevelt and Stalin
presented Churchill

with birthday gifts.

While Roosevelt retired early,

Churchill and Stalin
celebrated into the night.

Stalin told the Prime Minister:

"I'd like to be allowed
to call you my good friend."

Churchill declared:

"I drink to the
proletarian masses."

Over cigars and champagne

the alliance appeared
to have been mended.

Late the following morning,

talks were held on the future
of post‐war Europe,

before the summit
formally closed.

But as the three travelled
home,
their moods were very
different.

Stalin had got what he wanted
from the Conference,

and Roosevelt believed

his charm offensive
with Stalin had worked

and the Soviet Union would be
a peaceful post‐war partner.

[Iwan] Roosevelt was thinking
more and more about

the post‐war period,

and was determined to bring
the war to an end

in a way that would allow
for the possibility

of great power cooperation
thereafter.

[narrator] Churchill's mood,
however, was bleak,

because the agreement
made at Tehran

already hinted
at the Cold War world

that would lie beyond victory.

A world dominated
not by Britain,

but by America
and the Soviet Union.

[narrator]
The Tehran Conference in 1943

committed Britain and America

to the invasion
of occupied France by May 1944.

Stalin was delighted.

He had long pushed
for this Western Front.

Now Churchill
and Roosevelt had to deliver.

[Iwan]
The Americans always believed

that the war in the West
would be won in France,

not the Mediterranean.

[Bradner] Roosevelt finally got
his guys out into Europe,

getting what he wanted,
to help out.

[narrator]
Churchill was fearful,

partly because of the deep
scars

of the previous major
amphibious landing he'd ordered

at Gallipoli
in the First World War.

[Iwan] That disaster haunted him

for the rest of his life,
because it was his idea.

[narrator] But was he now
more confident

to the chances of success?

By early 1944,
I think he was fully on board

with the decision to attack
in Normandy

and thought that there was
a good chance it would succeed.

[narrator] The initial plans
called for landings in the
south

and the north
of German‐occupied France.

But the Allies did not have
the resources

to mount
two simultaneous attacks.

So the southern option
was postponed,

and all hopes were pinned on
the landings in the north,

Operation Overlord.

The landings would be
dangerous.

Germany had spent years
building its Atlantic Wall.

From the south of France
to Norway,

the coast of occupied Europe
bristled with coastal guns,

bunkers and fortifications.

But the British
had gathered intelligence

about these defences.

There were a number
of Polish prisoners

who'd been conscripted
into the German army,

and they were captured,
brought back to Britain,

and basically
they'd been involved in building

Hitler's sea defences,

and so they were
eye‐witness accounts.

There had been years and years
of careful intelligence,

of cracking the codes
at Bletchley Park,

picking up information,
interrogation of prisoners,

double agents,

all this kind of stuff going on
behind the scenes,

the spy stuff.

[narrator] In February 1944,

four months before
the planned invasion of France,

the Allies stepped up
their bombing campaign

on Germany.

This was Big Week,

a massive aerial assault

‐lasting five days.
‐[explosions]

Hundreds of American
and British bombers rained fire

on the German war machine.

‐[explosions]
‐[engines roar]

[explosion]

[explosions]

[narrator] They hit airfields
and aviation factories

in Braunschweig and Gotha,

Augsburg and Stuttgart,

Regensburg and Schweinfurt.

But that was just part
of the plan.

Allied commanders chose targets
so important

they knew the Luftwaffe
would have to respond

and take to the skies.

There, the Allies planned
to destroy them

with a new weapon.

The P‐51 Mustang,

a fast,
long‐range fighter plane.

Despite losses of hundreds
of planes and airmen,

the Allies finally broke
the back of the Luftwaffe.

The Germans lost
more than 250 aircraft,

and their aircraft production
was set back by two months.

When D‐Day finally came,

the Allies would have control

of the skies
over Western Europe.

But seaborne landings
were among the most risky

and complicated
of military manoeuvres.

And the Allies
already had experience

of how they could go
badly wrong.

[narrator] By the beginning
of 1944,

British and American forces

had spent months
fighting the Germans

as they made their way up
through Italy.

At Monte Cassino

in the Italian mountains
south of Rome,

the German Tenth Army dug in

using a bombed‐out monastery
for shelter.

They resisted the Allied
advance for months.

[Sir Mike] Monte Cassino
sits high.

The obvious route north is
through quite a tight pass.

Everything to the defender's
advantage, that terrain,

and it became
a bit of a slogging match.

[narrator] It was Churchill
who came up with the plan

to break the deadlock.

An amphibious landing at Anzio,

to draw away the German troops

fighting in the mountains
at Monte Cassino.

[Sir Mike] It's a stratagem

whereby you bypass
the frontlines on land

and go in behind your enemy
by amphibious landing.

[narrator] But the landing force
was too small and too slow.

By the time
the Allied forces pushed
inland,

the Germans had rushed in
reinforcements,

and months of fighting
followed.

It didn't go as smoothly

as no doubt
the planners had hoped,

but it certainly,

I think, did unlock
what was a bit of a deadlock.

Monte Cassino falls in May 1944,

and on the 5th of June,
so the day before D‐day,

the Allies liberate Rome.

So, there is clear progress
on that front.

[narrator] Mussolini's rule
in Italy was effectively over.

However, just days
after being imprisoned,

he escaped with the help
of German commandos

and set up a puppet regime
until the final days of the
war,

when he was recaptured
by Italian communist fighters.

Victory in Italy

had come at the cost
of thousands of Allied troops.

And the amphibious landings
at Anzio

had shown the dangers
of getting it wrong.

If the invasion of Normandy
was to be a success,

lessons would have to be
learnt.

In Britain in 1944,
an armada was assembled.

Two million men

and nine million tonnes
of supplies

were to cross the Channel

in the largest seaborne
invasion
ever attempted.

But as D‐Day approached,

high winds and choppy seas

threatened to delay
the operation for weeks,

or even longer.

A number
of meteorological factors

had to be in harmony.

The state of the moon: full,

the state of the tide,

the sea state, etc.

And there were only
so many days in the month

when these factors
gave a window.

And I think it was
a three day window in June.

Otherwise you had to wait
a month

for the next full moon.

[narrator] On June 6th,
the weather settled enough

to give the Allies
the opportunity they needed.

The Allied Commander‐in‐Chief
Dwight D. Eisenhower

gave the green light.

Operation Overlord,

the invasion
of German occupied Europe,

was about to begin.

[theme music]

[narrator]
Next time on Race To Victory.

The landings in Normandy
take Hitler by surprise.

[Sir Mike] Southern England
crammed full of Allied troops

in readiness for D‐Day.

They set Patton up in Kent

with a whole
supposed army group,

they had him driving around
inspecting troops,

pretending to be
the First U. S. Army Group,

which was going to bounce
across the Channel

and attack Calais and Boulogne.

They had inflatable tanks
and all this sort of stuff

parked in fields,

so that any German airplanes
could spot them

and report back
of this immense concentration.

[narrator] While the Big Three
revel in the success

of getting closer to Germany,

cracks in their
relationship appear.

The reality of their differing
post‐war worlds

is becoming apparent.

The Big Three still face
multiple obstacles

before they can win
the war in Europe.

How much longer will it be

before the race to victory
comes to an end?

[theme music]