Narrator this is a film about that scale and grander. Grandeur. This is about of that which is achieved. This is a film about of people shattered themes not the instability. This is a film about victory and holy defeat. A german victory. And german defeat. This is the battle for russia, a battle that has been going on for centuries, a battle that filled the pages of russian history. 1242. The german order of teutonic knights have invaded Northeastern Russia and occupied the old city. Narrator under the leadership , they tryrand master to enslave the whole capital, no novgorad. In their hour of peril, the russian people turn to their present prince, alexander nevsky. On april the fifth hundred 42 1242 on lake peipus, the russians met the german army. They werent as well equipped or is well organized. But in their hearts was a flaming courage, a flame so fierce that it pierced the german army. Won filled ahey bright page of russian history. 1704, and another conquering army brought marched across russian land. This time it was charles the 12th of sweden. Again, the russians fought for their country. Led by their Emperor Peter the great after five long years of war, they defeated the swedes in the historic battle. Of poltava. The invading swedish army were crushed and forever driven out of russia. 1812. Laideon and his army have their triumphant way across europe and marching toward moscow. The conquering armies entered the city, but they entered a city in flames. Even in that day, russians scorched it when invaded, and they were forced to march back out of russia. 1914, and another german army. This time under Kaiser Wilhelm set to conquer. Time, the russian people under the regime of the czar were not only fighting german a pressure of corruption in their own country. Only the collapse of imperial germany saved russia from losing ukraine and the crimea, which the germans had occupied in 1918. Yes, for 700 years, the russian people have had to fight. And defend their land against wouldbe conquerors. Why . Why are all these attempts made to conquer russia . Perhaps russia itself can provide the answers. There it is, 16 of the earth surface reaching from east to west nearly halfway around the world and southward to the borders of india. Million square9 miles. That is our own country three times over, all of america and a million square miles to build boot. The sun never sets on russia. On its western force others borders facing europe, it is already dawn on its eastern borders facing the pacific. That is russia, born to be torect, the union of or be correct, the union of soviet socialist republics. Deep in the mountains are rich veins of silver and gold. There are couple are copper, manganese, nickel, sulfur and magnesium. Russia is rich in Raw Materials. Cover millions upon millions of acres. One fourth of the lumber reserves belong to russia. The manned demand for fuel, coal, and there is oil. 213 Million Barrels a year. Black gold flowing from the earth that contains 55 of the worlds oil. What else . Iron . Russia has better than 10 million tons. That can make a lot of steel before it is done. Yes, russia is rich. Her farms cover millions upon millions of acres. The rich black earth giving forth oil and coal also grow everything from sunflowers to lettuce. The t people right tea people drink and the tobacco they smoke. Cotton grows here too, 318,000 bales a year and sugar. And on the path, the animals wool forfor food and clothing. On the planes, fields of grain stretch as far as the eye can hops, rise, oats, and dont forget wheat, one third of the worlds best. Es, russia is very rich it has a lot of Raw Materials and the products for oil, it is also peopled. People. Ion color, andvery race, creed. People coming from the many different republics who comprise the soviet union. People speaking more than 100 different languages, but all citizens of one country. Whether they are the great russians, the descendents of the first settlers of this vast area and for a thousand years its main population or casodex cossacks, the famous rtsmen from the valley whether they come from southwest he ukraine here in the breadbasket of the soviet union is the little russia better known as ukraine, aravia. Davia and thes or if they come from the far south, the caspian and the black sea where we find the armenians and people rugged the as the high peaks as their mountains. Whether they are his backs kaegis, turkmens, mongols turkotartars, boriayats, whether people of the ice country, hunters like the zals or settlers like the lap landers , whether they come from a pioneering wilderness of the far north or from the great city like the capital moscow, where the ancient buildings of an ancient civilization stand beside the modern structures of were civilization the old russian drosashka still competes with the modern limousine factoriesey work in or as soldiers, whether they are bricklayers or traffic cops,ailors or riveters schoolchildren or farmers, nurses or engineers, window washers or sales girls, housewives or postal clerks, radio announcers were stewardesses, scientists or typists, musicians or ballerinas danube waltz] regardless of what they do or where they live, theyll have one thing in common, love of their country. Size, thessia, largest country in the world. Raw materials, unlimited. Million. 193 these are the three reasons why every conqueror in history has wanted russia, and these are the reasons why the modern wouldbe conqueror wrote and we think of yes, as we have seen, it has stood without a doubt from hit generation to generation, and now hitlers dreamy, the world was was world conquest. Such a dream, there could be only one answer, selective security. So with this objective in 1934, the soviet to union joined the league of nations. Its representatives urged funding agreements to support a collective action any nation submitted to attack. The state enters the league with the sole purpose of the maintenance of indivisible piece. Eace. But while some members of the league were pleading for the force to stop aggression, the world saw other members, germany, italy, japan withdraw from the league to follow the path of aggression. Ethiopia, then hitlers invaded austria, czechoslovakia, and in 1939, poland. One step from the road to russia, but by france and britain they were stopped, declaring war. The germans were first to turn west, and in 1940 as we have seen, like the last opposition from western europe. Tryingle the nazis were to bring britain to her knees, the german generals were already planning to resume the interrupt conquest. The road to russia was now open. And preliminary steps were necessary. South and east of germany are hungary, romania, yugoslavia and greece. Hungary had grain, rich yields of it. Grain too good for hungarians when soldiers german soldiers have such appetites. They have aluminum, which makes planes. Hungary had an army, not the battle trained german army, but good enough to throw against russian guns. Romania had not only grain but oil, and hitler needed every last drop to power his war machine. More slaveo had men, labor, more cannon fodder for the attacks on russia. And romania had russian wantedrs, and hitler those in the hands of german generals. Bulgaria did not have a russian frontier, but it did have bases, bases on the black sea, bases to pray on german shipping. The reactionary governments of hungary, under the dictatorship of an admiral, of romania, governed by young king michael, who was only a tool in the hands of hitlers puppet, general in bulgaria, all sold their countries out to hitlers. Now threatened by a revolt of their people, they were only too glad to be protected by hitlers army. 1941,march 1930 1 german armies were in occupation of hungary, romania, bulgaria. That still left yugoslavia and greece. So long as they remained unoccupied territories, there remained the possible route for allied cooperation. But he tried to bring greece to his stooge, mussolini. The stooge was delighted. Here was his chance to prove to the people he too was a conqueror. But he was wrong. Perhaps uniforms fooled him. Something did, for after the fascist went this far into greece, the greeks, in a really conducted campaign, drove the italians back and invaded albania. Ler waswas hit enraged. He sent a final ultimatum to the yugoslavs and greeks to surrender or else. At the yugoslavs and greeks come from a long line of fighting men. Not the slavery nazi slavery did not appeal to them. Crashing] at dawn on april 6, german bonds told yugoslavias they were at war with germany. The not these and italian nazis and italians launched naval attacks from all of their beaches. The conclusion was inevitable. No more resistance was determined. The Yugoslav Army was cut up and captured. The war in greece also began april 6. There, in spite of valiant resistance by the greeks, and the british would come to their aid, a german, overwhelmingly superior in numbers and equipment, forced their way through the river, mount olympus, the famous passage, and a swastika flew over the agent ancient city of athens. The conquest of the balkans was now complete. Might could now be turned on russia. There was no time to wait. Time was russias weapon. Their industry so recently built, like our own, designed for the reign of peace but converted for war. Steel for guns, and shells. They could never produce enough for the titanic struggle, but what they could produce, they would. At the same time, the army began to grow. More and more men were called up to be trained, hardened, grilled , prepared to defend their land. It was the conquest of the balkans, the nazis had a solid front from the black sea to the front, but the russians would try to take steam out of the punch the matter where it landed, but where would it land . It came from five different directions. From the north. That was the big day. Broke nearly 200 axis divisions. More than 2 billion events, 200 miles long reaching from the white sea to the black. Their aim, the annihilation of the red army and the sites of battle on the frontier. [explosions] the offensive started along the whole length of the front that was concentrated on three main objectives, leningrad, moscow, and kiev, the capital of the ukraine. Finns under mannerheim, supported by the germans, drove from the north to encircle the city. Army plunged, the 400 80 miles into soviet territory. The russian city one russian city after another was overcome by the invaders. On july 17, they captured the first main objective, smolensk, regarded as the key to moscow. Simultaneously in the south, more forces cut deep into the ukraine. This was blitzkrieg at its best. The world gave russia another six weeks, and the germans issued a communique. East hassue in the already been settled. Narrator but then, a strange thing happened. Since the first time the mighty german army started its career of blitz, smashing one european country after another, that same german army came up against the submit. That did not despite the fact that hitlers army swept deeper and deeper into the soviet union, and by october 15 still packed within the shadows of the kremlin, despite the fact the soviet and all foreign emissions worst forced to move to 700 miles to the east, triumphantlers pronouncement, i can say this enemy is already broken and will not rise again, by december 5000 square miles of russian territory, and area equal to the middle you this was stolen to the u. S. Was stolen to the invaders, despite this loss of industrial plants, millions of her people, thousands of her tanks and her planes, despite everything, those six weeks had lengthened into nearly six months, and the dread nazi blitz that spluttered, stumbled and finally died. What had happened here . Lets try to analyze it. This titanic struggle, not only to armies or to finding twoods two armies or fighting methods were two strategies came to play. One was to go deep into the enemy territory, to hook up with another spearhead to meet it. Victim would be pocketed for annihilation. The german plan in every campaign was to sink decisive battle at the moment of invasion. Narrator remember the campaigns you have already seen in these films. Poland, the polls concentrated on their borders, the blitz broke through. 18 days finished poland. And france, the allied strength on the borders, the breakthrough france wase issue of settled. The balkans, the yugoslavias rushed to the border, the breakthrough came, and in 12 days, yugoslavia was gone. The germans tried the same blitz against the russians, but the russians had developed their own strategy, one to take full advantage of the vast of their l. This was line after line, far back into the interior. When the nazi wedge struck, the then line with it would read it until it became part of the second. Again the wedge would strike, the segment would be lost, but the line would bend until it became part of the third. So the deeper the germans plowed into russian soil, the stronger their opposition until finally they faced an uncharitable wall on shatter all unshatte rable wall. The result, the germans conquered land but lost the campaign. The russian tactics to the main bulk of their armies intact and made the long war inevitable is that of that quick decision the germans thought. The russians had other tactics that through the germans for a loss. Germany had developed mechanized warfare, armies on wheels, juggernauts to crush everything before them. But the russians found a way to drag them out of their traveling fortresses. They used their cities as strongholds and made the blitz come to them down alleys. The more a city was bombed, the more impassable it became for the german panzers. They named these cities familiar to us, towns like the next kiev, smolensk , city after city standing in. He path of the nasty blitz they found a way to make cities strategic importance. Odessa, the scene of the heroic siege of more than two months that held up the whole nazi quest into the crimea. They resisted every attempt of the germans to breakthrough. Break through. Here in these months, the russians fought for the town. Inch by inch, barring the germans from the great black sea naval base located there. Finally, when the germans entered the town, each district was decided defended street by street. Each street, house by house. Each house, room by room. Russians knew their cities would be demolished but their objective was not to save cities s a highroy german price to pay for the price of mein kampf. Died in the handtohand combat combat they of they had abolished. They overlooked people. Generals may win campaigns but people win wars. 22, when the june russian people first learned of the invasion of their country, their grim faces told of their determination to fight and to die but never to surrender. Not anew this was question of who occupied what piece of land. This was a question of life or death. This war is not an ordinary word. It is a war of the entire russian people. Not only to eliminate the danger hanging over our heads but to aid all people groaning under the yoke of fascism. Alarm was so the spread from every russian town and village. Men answered the call. From now on, one thing mattered and one thing only victory. Total war meant total mobilization. Not just war for soldiers but were for everyone. Young or old. Young male or female. It made no difference. Age had nothing to do with it. If you were only 12 years old, there were was work for 12 years old there was work for 12yearolds to do it. Youou could turn a lathe were a soldier. If you could harvest the fields, you were a soldier. If you could pilot a locomotive or pilot a shift a ship, you were still a soldier. Everything you did was part of the total war. Nothing the enemy could use was left behind. Not a yard of wire or a pound of iron. Not an acre of wheat or a head of cattle. And the old men stood watch over the fields. Ready to get the word to burn at first sight of the enemy. What cannot be withdrawn must be destroyed. That meant the factories. The plants. The oil depots. The planes. The giant dam. Which had been poured us steel and concrete but also five long years of russian toil and sweat yielding the miracle of electricity to the people of ukraine. Rather than let the Power Generator fall to the enemy, they destroy it. Scorched earth. The land they had lived on, work their fields, their farms they surrendered them to the flames but not to the invaders. That was the scorched earth. Action behind the german lines, a new army was formed. An army without uniforms whose home was the forest. A guerrilla army. And a maximumlory of determination. There are achievements were seldom recorded. Look well at these faces. You will never see them again in the ranks of war prisoners. Names over euros graves. Ahead of them lay nothing but the road. They stayed beyond behind and kept on fighting. Their only goal was merciless distraction. Destruction of communication lines, supply lines, and the invaders themselves. Their weapons were dynamite. And the terror of surprise. They asked for no mercy and they gave not. And they gave none. This is the guerrilla army. This was scorched earth. This is the red army. Leaders. S these are the reasons why, although the germans conquered land, 500,000 square miles of it, it was just land, air and land, scorched land. After coming within sight of their goal, the germans were stopped at the very gates of moscow. These are the reasons why, thatugh heller had sworn the swastika would fly from the kremlin towers, december had come but it was not the swastika that flew over the russian capital. Conquerorsnot the that marched through the streets of the ancient city. But the fresh reserves of the red army. In part one of battle of russia, you saw the russian people historic defense of their land against centuries of unsuccessful invaders. You also saw how after five and a half years, the russians stopped taylor at the gates of moscow. And how in spite of hitlers prediction that by december, the swastika would fly from the kremlin towers, december had come but it was not the swastika desk but freshhe reserves of the red army on their way to reinforce and relieve the front lines. While russians they knew what it meant. In their past history, the time always came and they could turn and strike back. Time had come. Their old allies, the russian winter had carpeted the russian land. And while in the churches of russia, men of god prayed for victory against the invaders, on the front lines, the men of the red army listened to the longawaited order of the day. The whole world is looking to you to destroy the army the german lords. The war youre fighting is a war of liberation, a just war. Death to the german invaders. Fighter command ready. Bomber command ready. Paris shooters ready. Artillery in position. Tanks manned. Cavalry in position. Infantry ready. Beyond those hills are the enemy. Now, it was the germans turn to fight for their lives. Now, for the first time, it was the german army that retreated. Now, it was for the germans to. N the terrorists of ofto learn the terrorists strafing. Village after village, town after town, on the red army swept through the country which for days and weeks had been under the invaders yoke. Out of the cellars and the only know what hiding places, come the me