next american history tv's "real america" features a world war ii team entitled "why we fight: the battle of russia." it was produced by the office of war information and looks at the history of the military in russia leading up to the war against the invadesing german army between 1941 and 1943. the soviet union was allied with the u.s. during world war ii, and this film was intended to show the country in their struggle against the nazis in a positive light for the u.s. audience. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> this is a film about that scale and grandeur. this is a film about that military achievement. this is a film about a people who for all times shattered the legend of nazi invincibility. this is a film about victory and defeat. german victory. and german defeat. this is the battle for russia. the battle that has been going on for centuries. a battle that fills the pages of russian history. 1242. the german order of tutonic knights that invade russia and occupied the old city of pskov. under the leadership of their grand master, they threatened to enslave the whole population of that area, including the capital novgorod. ♪ in their hour of peril, the russian people turned for leadership to their prince, alexander nest. on april 5th, 1242 on lake peipus, the russians met the might of the german forces. ♪ ♪ they weren't as well equipped or as well organized. but in their hearts was a flaming courage. a flame so fierce that it pierced the german army. the victory they won fills a bright page of russian history. 1704. and another conquering army marched across russian land. this time under charles xii of sweden. and 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 armies were crushed and forever driven out of russia. 1812. y in polian and his armies blazed their triumphant way across europe and were marching on moscow. the conquering armies entered the city, but they entered a city in flames. even in that day, russian earth was scorched earth to an invader. and once again, the invader was forced to start the long march on the road back out of russia. 1914. and another german army, this time under kaiser wilhelm set out to conquer russia. this time the russian people under the regime of the czar were not only fighting german gun guns but oppression and corruption in their own country. and only the ultimate collapse of imperial germany saved russia from losing the ukraine and the crimea. which the germans had occupied in 1918. yes, for 700 years, the russian people have had to fight to defend their land against would-be conquer kers. why? why have all these attempts been ma made to conquer russia? perhaps russia itself can provide the answer. here it is. one-sixth of the earth's surface reaching from east to west nearly halfway around the world and southward from the north pole to the borders of india. one country of 9 million square miles. that's our own country three times over or all of north america and a million square miles to boot. the sun never sets on russia. when it is dusk on its western borders facing europe, it is already dawn on its eastern borders facing the pacific. that's russia. or to be correct, the union of soviet socialist republics. deep in its mountains lie thick, rich veins of gold and silver. below ground lie enormous deposits of copper, tin, mang niece and nickel, magnesium. russia is rich in raw material. forests cover millions upon millions of acres. one-fourth of all the lumber reserve in the world belongs to russia. and as for fuel, there's coal, ton upon ton and, more important, there's also oil. 213 million barrels a year. black gold flowing from the earth that contains 55% of the world's oil. what else? iron. russia has better than 10 billion tons. that can make a lot of steel before it's done. y russia is rich. farms cover millions upon millions of acres. the rich, black earth that debe sides giving forth oil and coal will also grow sunflowers to lotus. the tea her people drink in such huge quantities and the tobacco that they smoke. cotton grows here, too. 3,800,000 bails a year. and sugar. and on the pasture land, the manuals grow fat for food and wool for clothing. while on the warm plains, the fields of grain stretch as far as the eye can reach. corn, oats, hops, rye and don't forget wheat. one-third of the world's best. y russia is very rich. for it has not only raw materials and the products of its soil. russia is also people. ♪ 193 million people. people of every rairx color and creed. people coming from the many different republics that comprise the soviet union. people speaking more than 100 different languages. but all citizens of one country. ♪ whether they are the great russians, the descendants of the first settlers of this vast area and for 1,000 years its main population or cosacs or famous horsemen from the river valley. ♪ whether they come from southwest, the ukraine -- ♪ here in the bread basket of the soviet union live the little russians, better known as ukrainians. and beside them, the maldavians and besaravians. what if they come from the arabian and black seas. ♪ where we mind the armenians and the georgians, the czechs. rugged is the high peaks of their native caucasian mountains. ♪ whether they are uzbeks, kiergis from the persian and indian frontiers. or mongols. ♪ turkotartars, the yakus from far beyond the euro mountains. or the people of the ice country. hunters or settlers. whether they come from the 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 a modern civilization. where the old russian drazka still competes with the modern limousine. ♪ whether they work in factories or as soldiers. whether they are brick layers or traffic cops. sailors or riveters. schoolchildren or farmers. nurses or engineers. window washers or salesgirls. housewives or postal clerks. radio announcers or stewardesses. scientists or typists. musicians or ballerinas. ♪ regardless of what they do or where they live, they all have one thing in common. love of their soil. ♪ that is russia. size, the largest country in the world. raw materials, unlimited. manpower, 193 million. these are the three reasons why every conqueror in history has wanted russia. and these are the reasons why the modern would-be conqueror wrote -- >> when we speak of new territory, we must think of russia. destiny itself points the way there. >> yes, as we have seen, german's spirit of aggression was handed down from generation to generation. and now in hitler's germany, the dream was world conquest. such a dream there could be only one thing. collective security. so with this objective in 1934, the soviet union joined the league of nations. again and again before the league, its representatives urged binding agreements to support by collective action any nation submitted to attack. >> the state i represent entered the leagues with the sole purpose of the maintenance of invisiblible peace. the league of nations is still strong enough by its collective actions to overt or arrest aggression. there is no room for bargaining or compromise. >> while some members of the league were pleading vainly for the use of collective force to stop aggression, the world saw other members -- germany, italy, japan -- withdraw from the league to follow the path of aggression. manchuria, ethiopia. then hitler invaded austriaczechoslovakia. and 1939, poland. first step on the road to russia. but his eastward march was interrupted by france and britain declaring war so the germans were forced to turn west. in 1940, as we have seen, like the last opposition from western europe, and while the nazis were unsuccessfully trying to beat britain to her knees, the german generals were already planning to resume the interrupted eastern blitz. the road to russia was now open. but before that attack, preliminary steps were necessary. south and east of germany are hungary, romania, bulgaria, yugoslavia and greece. and hungary had grain, rich fields of it. grain too good for hungarians when german soldiers have such good appetites. hungary had boxite. boxite makes aluminum, and aluminum makes planes. and 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 of it to power his war machine. romania also had men. more slave labor. more cannon fodder for the attack on russia. and most important, romania and hungary had russian frontiers, and hitler wanted those fronteers in the hands of german generals. bull garria didn't have a russian frontier but it did have bases. bases on the black sea. bases for german submarines to prey on russian shipping. by the spring of 1941, the reactionary governments of hungary under the dictatorship of admiral horthy of romania governed by young king michael, who was only a tool in the hands of hitler's puppet, and a bulgaria ruled by king bor, i always a discipil of german um perialism. all had sold their countries out to hitler. now threatened by a revolt of their peoples, they were only too glad to be protected by hitl hitler's armies. by march of 1941, german armies were in occupation of hungary, romania, bulgaria. that still left yugoslavia and greece. so long as they remained unoccupied territory, they'd remain the route for a possible allied counterinvasion. at one of their regular meetings, hitler signed it to mussolini. the stooge was delighted. here was his chance to prove to his people that he, too, was a conqueror. he was wrong. perhaps the uniforms fooled him. something did. for after the fascist leagueses of blitzed on one cylinder this far into greece, the greeks in a brilliantly conducted mountain campaign drove the italians back and invaded albania. hitler was enraged. but failure of his stooge to protect his southern flank was delaying the attack on russia. he sent a final ultimatum. the yugoslavs and greeks it was surrender or else. but the yugoslavs and greeks come from a long line of fighting men. nazi slavery didn't appeal to them. at dawn, on april 6th, german bombs told the yugoslavians they were at war with germany. the nazis and italians launched a powerful and coordinated attack, supported by virtually unopposed aerial bombardment. the conclusion was inevitable. although rezuftance was determined, the yugoslav army was cut up into many small segments and captured. the war in greece also began on april 6th. there, in spite of fierce and valiant resistance by the greeks and the british who had come to their aid, the germans overwhelmingly superior in both numbers and equipment forced their way past the river, mt. olympus, the famous passage of thermopoly. and the swastika flew over the ancient city of athens. the conquest of the balkans was now complete. the whole force of nazi might could now be turned loose on russia. there was no time to waste. time was russia's weapon. their industries, so recently built in which, like our own, were designed for the ways of peace or converted for war. instead of steel for plows and tools, steel for shells and guns. they knew their industry could never produce enough to adequately for the titanic struggle but what they could produce, they would. ♪ the same time, the army began to grow. more and more men were call up to be trained. hardened. drilled. prepared to defend their land. ♪ the conquest of the balackans. the russians had built themselves a buffer to take some of the steam out of the nasty punch no matter where it landed. but where would it land? when the blow came, it was from five different directions. and from the north, one extra just for luck. that was the big day. >> more than 2 million men plunged into a front 2,000 miles long reaching from the white sea to the black. their aim, the annihilation of the red army and decisive battle on the frontier. the offensive started along the whole length of the front but was concentrated on three main objectives. lennen grad, moscow and kiev. the capital of the ukraine. in the first 30 days, the forces drove to within 125 miles of leningrad while the finns supported by the germans began a drive from the north to encircle the city. in the center, the army plunged 480 miles into soviet territory. one russian city after the other was overrun by the invaders. ♪ and on july 17th, they captured the first main objective. smolensk, regarded as the key to moscow. simultaneously in the south, the 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. >> the issue in the east has already been settled. smolensk is the last halt on the road to moscow. >> but then a strange thing happened. for the first time since the mighty german army started its career of blitz, smashing into submission one european country after the other, that same german army came up against a country that did not submit. despite the fact that hitler's army swept deeper and deeper into the soviet union and by auc october the 17th stood practically in the shadows of the kremlin. despite the soviet government was forced to move 700 miles to the east, despite hitler's triumphant proannouncement, i can say this enemy is already broken and will never rise again. despite the fact that by december 500,000 square miles of russian territory, an area equal to the entire middle western united states had fallen to the invaders. yes, despite russia's loss of her best agricultural areas, her most thoroughly developed 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 spluttered, stumbled and finally died. what had happened here? let's try to analyze it. first, in this titanic struggle, not only two armies, but two fighting methods and two strategies came face-to-face. the german strategy was based on the well-tried kyle and kessel or wedge and trap maneuver. one wedge would be driven deep into the enemy territory to hook up with another spearhead driven through to meet it. in the trap thus formed, the victim would be pocketed for annihilation. the german plan in every campaign was to seek a decisive battle of the moment of invasion. >> a single blow must destroy the enemy without losses. the gigantic, all-destroying blow. >> remember the campaigns you have already seen in these films. poland. the poles concentrated on their borders. the blitz broke through. 18 days finished poland. france. the allied strength on the borders. the breakthrough at sedan and the issue of france was settled. the balkans. yugoslavians rushed to the border. the breakthrough came, and in 12 days, yugoslavia was gone. the germans planned the same blitz against the russians. but the russians had developed their own strategy. one to take full advantage of the vast area of their land. the russian strategy was a defense and depth, loan aftine line, far back into the interior. when the nazi wedge struck, the first line would bend with it until it became part of the second. again, the wedge would strike. again, the segment would be lost. but again, 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 unshatterable wall and were robbed of their chance to hit that all-destroying blow they had counted on. the result, the germans conquered land and lost the campaign. for the russian tactics kept the main bulk of their armies intact and made a long war inevitable instead of that quick decision the germans sought. the russians had other tactics that threw the germans for a loss. germany, the blitz warfare, recognized 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 to the german pansers. they made the names of these russian cities as familiar to us as the names of towns in the next county. votkov, hartog, smolents. the red army found a way to make their cities of greg strategic importance. odessa, scene of an heroic siege of more than two months. held up the whole nazi thrust into crimea. sevastopol which resisted every attempt of the germans to break through. here for eight and a half long months, the russians fought for the town. inch by inch, barring the germans from the great black sea naval base located there. and finally, when the germans entered the town, each district was defended street by street. each street, house by house. each house, room by room. the russians knew their cities would be demolished, but their objective was not to save cities but to destroy germans. a high price to pay for a copy of mein kampf. they were forced out of their armored shells to fight and to die in the hand-to-hand combat they thought they had aboll innere abollished. they had overlooked people. and generals may win campaigns, but people win wars. on that fatal june 22nd, when the 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. they knew this wasn't a question of who occupied what piece of land. this was a question of life or death. >> translator: this war is not an ordinary war. it is the 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. >> the alarm was spread to factory and farm. from every russian town and village, men poured forth to answer the call. from now on, one thing mattered and one thing only. victory. total war meant total mobilization. not war just for soldiers. war for everyone. young or old, male or female, made no difference. age had nothing to do with it. if you were only 12 years old there was work for 12-year-olds to do. sex had nothing to do with it. if you could hold a rifle, you were a soldier. if you could turn a lade, you were aye soldier. if you could harvest the field, you were a soldier. if you could handle a locomotive or pilot a ship or guide a tractor, you were still a soldier. for everything you did was part of that total war. nothing that the enemy could use was left behind. not a yard of wire or a pound of iron. not an acre of wheat or head of cattle. when the old men stood watch over the fields ready to give the word to burn at the first sight of the enemy. scorched earth. what can't be withdrawn must be destroyed. that meant the factories, the plants, the oil depots. flames claimed them all. the giant dam which had been poured not only steel and concrete but five long years of russian toil and russian sweat to yield the miracle of electricity to the farms and people of ukraine. now, rather than let the power it generated fall to the enemy, they destroyed it. scorched earth. the land they had lived on and worked on. their forests. their fields. their barns. they surrendered them to the flames, but not to the invaders. that was the scorched earth. andar action behind the german lines, a new army was formed. an army without uniforms whose home was the forest and whose front was the enemy's rear. a guerrilla army. a minimum of glory and a maximum of determination. their achievements were seldom recorded. look well at these faces. you will never see them again in the ranks of war prisons or read their names over heroes' graves. ahead of them lay nothing but the horror but they stayed behind and went on fighting. their only goal was merciless destruction. destruction of communication lines, supplies. the invaders themselves. their weapons were dynamite and the terror of surprise. they asked for no mercy, and they gave none. this is the guerrilla army. this, the scorched earth. this the red army. these its leaders. these are the reasons why, although the germans conquered land, 500,000 square miles of it, it was just land. barren land, scorched land. these are the reasons why, after 5 1/2 months of blitz warfare, after coming within sight of their goal, the germans were stopped at the very gates of moscow. these are the reasons why, although hitler had sworn that before december, the swastika would fly from the kremlin towers, december had come, but it wasn't the swastika that flew over the russian capital. and it wasn't the nazi conquerors who marched through the streets of the ancient city but fresh reserves of the army. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ in part one of "battle of russia," you saw the historic defense of their land against centuries unsuccessful invaders. you also saw how after 5 1/2 months of nazi blitz, the russians stopped hitler at the very gates of moscow. and how, in spite of hitler's prediction that by december of 1941, the swastika would fly over the kremlin towers. december had come. but it wasn't a swastika that flew over the russian capital, and it wasn't the nazi conquerors who marched through the streets of the ancient city but fresh soldiers of the red army. ♪ >> russians read this appeal and knew what it meant. they remembered that in their past history, the time always came when they could turn and strike back. and time had come. their old ally, the russian winter, had carpeted the russian land. ♪ and while in the churches of russia, men of god prayed for victory against the invader -- ♪ ♪ in the front lines, the men of the red army listened to though long-awaited order of the day. the whole world is looking to you to destroy the german hoards. the war you are fighting is a war of liberation. a just war. death to the german invaders. fighter command ready. bomber command ready. parachutists ready. artillery in position. tanks man. cavalry in position. infantry ready. beyond those hills is 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 learn the terrors. ♪ 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, out of the forests, out of only they know what hiding places come the men and the women and the children that had once called these towns home. soldiers and guerrillas find wives and mothers. friends are reunited. there is thanksgiving in their streets. thanksgiving in their heart. and there is also something else. something they will never forget. their ruined homes. the shattered towns they once had known as thriving and prosperous communities. they stand gutted now. ghostly relics of what they once had been. nothing has been spared. this was a museum, a former home of peter tchaikovsky, a man who wrote music for russia. music that sought the heart of his own people. and because it found that heart, found the hearts of people everywhere. this piano concerto. ♪ the fifth symphony. ♪ the sixth symphony. ♪ his work was, is and always will be inspiration to countless millions. but it brought only one inspiration to the nazis. vandalism. and this was the home of leo tolstoy, the author of "war and peace." his home, too, was a museum until the germans came. and this is tolstoy's grave. if the nazis buried nearby had read his famous book, they would have learned their fate beforehand. but there were other dead the nazis didn't bury. russian dead. they weren't soldiers, and they weren't killed in battle. ♪ ♪ ♪ no, these aren't dolls. these are children. mass murdered by orders of the high command. and there were other children, perhaps more fortunate, perhaps less. young girls, if not young now, the intentions of the nazi soldiers aged them very quickly. whoever resisted the invaders met with this. these are the things the russians can never forget. these are the things the russians will never forget. these are the reasons why every russian pledged his life to uphold this sacred oath. >> blood for blood. death for death. ♪ that is the reason the russians smashed on, deeper and deeper along the entire front from roskov to leningrad. nowhere for the tide of russian pressure to stop. and by spring of 1942, this area was delivered from the germans. but this was not the important result. not for this town village was retaken but that the whole legend of nazi invincebility had been shattered. german armies could retreat, too. german armies could be defeated. german troops could be captured. besides this crushing offensive, there was another factor that shattered the legend of nazi invincebility. that which will live forever in the history of this war was written by the people of this city. a city now called lennon grad after the leader of the revolution, lennon. and which before that was called pet try grad, in honor of its founder, peter the great, a city which today, with the exception exception of moscow. here throughout the soviet union. on june 22 word came of the attack. but here the city was a few miles from german lives. while a man of the red army and baltic fleet moved out to meet the enemy, another army was formed. an army whose weapons were shovels instead of weapons. an army of men, an army of women, an army of children. feverishly they dug trenches. threw up barricades. built fences. prepared themselves for the worst. they knew that they too were in the front lines. they weren't wrong. [ siren ] lennon grad's baptism of fire didn't stop with the darkness. >> finally, the morning comes and the people of lenin grad dig themselves out from the ruins. ♪ ♪ they seem very similar here to the people of london, of were saw. as in those areas were ruined homes, cities and other important objectives. like the russian dumb bolt from the linen grad zoo. but there was one different importance. one small part of what the people of lenin grad had to face. in september the nazis surrounded the city and announced it was cut off and doomed. german commander sent an ultimate imdemanding a surrender. he is still waiting for the answer. thus, began the siege of lenin grad. the siege that is to last for nearly 17 months. in lenin grad as everywhere else in russia, winter came early that year. a cold hard winter. the hardest in years. but here, unlike everywhere else in russia, the winter wasn't an ally, but an enemy. here, the 10, 20, 30 below zero temperatures could only mean more suffering, more hardship. in trenches outside the city, trenches of snow and ice, defenders stuck firm to their oath, to die if necessary but not to go backward one more step. when the enemy, inspite of all its efforts, was stopped at the very gates of the city, a city now facing disease, famine, destitution. there was no oil for fuel. no power for the electric lines. but the people defied elements and trudged the necessary miles to the lathe and work bench. the pipes froze. water was shut off. so they dug holes through the streets until they could get to water. there was no food and the whole city went on starvation rations. factory worker got eight ounces of bread a day. everyone else, child and adult alike, only four. and to keep the enemy of disease from stalking streets of the city, an army of women worked with shovels. worked on those streets everyday. clearing the rubble, the sources of contamination. bombs from the air couldn't force the defenders of lenin grad to surrender. winter couldn't do it. hunger couldn't do it. so the germans decided to shell them to surrender. for days long-range guns hurled ton after ton of high explosives into the heart of the city. the more the people were shelled, the harder they worked. high explosives from russia, with only their own hands to depend on, the determination never faultered. everyday more people died. cold, disease, hunger. this was leningrad in its darkest hour. and then a miracle happened. to the west of leningrad is the baltic sea and east and north is lake ladoga. 7,000 square miles of inland water. the fins and germans occupied one border of the lake to about this point. and the south the germans controlled the lake to here. between these two points was a stretch of lake front still in russian hands. but there was nearly a hundred miles between this shore and the beleaguered city. a hundred miles of what had been open water and was now snow-covered ice. across this frozen surface now went tractors. sledges. carving the road across the lake. and soon across this highway, and the far side of the lake, poured a stream of trucks. bringing in food, oil, grain, fuel, truck load after truck load of fresh light by the people of the city. too late the germans discovered that they left one rescue over. planes bombed the road but the trucks kept rolling by day and by night. the lake highway remained open. and soon more than trucks would reach the city. for the russians were now laying a track across the ice. to the here whys of linen grad, says the inscription on this locomotive, as it starts. it brings food, medicine, supplies of all kinds. across the lake and into leningrad this train is but the first of many. trains that not only brought in supplies but could take out the wounded. the sick women. the half-frozen children. all those that needed better care. all winter long the lake traffic continued. and the men of the red army outside the city found the strength not only to defend, but to attack. time after time they hurled themselves against the invader. driving in inch by inch back from the city's outskirts. and then spring came. spring. outside leningrad, the snows begin to fall. and german bodies are washed from their ice box graves. evidence of russian tenacity. warm breath of spring is felt too on the frozen surface of the lake. but the trucks continue to roll. even though the ice is melting beneath them. the spring, as it invariably does, is in the city, too. but spring is in the new season of leningrad. the city begins to breath again. the trollies ran. that first day it seemed that every man, woman and child in the city todhad to go for a rid. life of the leningrad children weren't killed by nazi bombs by the horrible winter. the life of the russian wax. women of the army. and russian waves of the women of the red fleet and for the sailors of the fleet themselves, the artists of the famous ballet theater to offer entertainment. spring is here. summer is coming. and leningrad is still free. although, some germans did finally succeed in getting in. although, under different circumstances than they had anticipated. yes, here, too, the legend of nazi invincebility was shattered against the iron will and courage of a determined people. the citizens of leningrad have proved that generals may win campaigns, but people win wars. by summer of 1942, new posters were appear onning on the streets of moscow, welcome their health was arriving in russian ports. the friendliness sending drugs, food and warm clothing to help sustain them in their darkest hour. but despite all this the staff of the red army knew they still faced the worst enemy in history and that enemy would attack again. and when that happened, there would be one objective, caucuses and oil. caucuses mountains represent one of the toughest military obstacles in the world. towering peaks rising to heights as much as 18,000 feet. with only one practical highway traversing them. and the biggest oil field is on the other side. to reach bacu, the only feasible military route is along the coast of the caspian sea.kcu, t feasible military route is along the coast of the caspian sea.u,e military route is along the coast of the caspian sea. that rub was a river port we have come to know well. stalin grad. named for russia's present leader. the pride of this generation of russians for it was their city built in their time. the nazis would have a base on which to launch a planking take on moscow. with one stroke the russian army would be cut off and in the north russian factories, russian farms and russian armies would be practically cut off from caucuses oil. and also from american and british supplies. which were shipped to russia through iran and iraq. a tripling blow for russia, but the vital artery through which flowed the life blood of supplies. early in may, the german offensive began along a front. the nazi steam roller overran. the nazi's had complete control of crimea and southern route of the oil fields. next they started to go further north and drove through the don river. then south and east until they occupied the whole area from the don river south to rasta. this left them in perfect position to strike against stalin grad. by the end of august, they captured the oil fields. needless to say, first demolished by the russians and reached the northern caucuses. yes, the germans were only few miles from their goal, the oil fields of baku. but two things stood between them, russian mountains and russian determination. forming an unshatterable wall against the full onslaught of the attack. further north, within 15 miles of stalin grad. this city had become the focal point of the whole campaign. regardless of the cost, stalin grad must be captured. those for the german oil. german guns. german bombs. shattered the city into pieces. by september 20th, the germans after 30 days of grueling and ceaseless fighting battled their way into the city's outskirts. by the end of the month, their drive had carried them through the whole northwest section of the city and no occupation of part of the center, including the railroad station. on the last day of september, hitler announced that the fall of the city was only a matter of a few days. once more the world was afraid of russian campaign was lost. but once more the germans were to stand on the very threshold of victory. and still fail. now they were to meet a fire of fury such as they had never known. through all that had gone before, battles waged on the streets. these were all preludes to what happened in stalin grad. every inch of the city was a strategic point and defended as such. by the end of october, snow-covered stalin grad, from the air the germans tried to force surrender of the russian-held part of the city. at the same time, the battle of the streets continued. as november dawns, the russians were no longer defending their city inch by inch. inch by inch they were regaining. and now as the whole world spoke in admiration of the city of steel, the ticker tape brought us breathtaking news. american and british troops landed and occupied north africa. further east, the british eighth army driving west ward pursuing the african corps and in the northeast the red army smashed encounter attempts. but germ answers were learning the real meaning of the words combined operations. as though spring had been released, russians attacked along the entire front. in the far north the germans felt the first impact as the russians broke the axis ring around leningrad. soon after another offensive lashed out further south. bypassing the german's defense and plunging down to the leaky lutke. pushing up a russian spear head deep into the german lines.ke. pushing up a russian spear head deep into the german lines.vlea luke. pushing up a russian spear head deep into the german lines.ileay luke. pushing up a russian spear head deep into the german lines.viel. pushing up a russian spear head deep into the german lines.klea. pushing up a russian spear head deep into the german lines.elea. pushing up a russian spear head deep into the german lines.eaky. pushing up a russian spear head deep into the german lines.aky . pushing up a russian spear head deep into the german lines.vieky luke. pushing up a russian spear head deep into the german lines.y luke. pushing up a russian spear head deep into the german lines. luke. pushing up a russian spear head deep into the german lines. the germans were about to meet new opponents. fresh reserves were arriving from far siberia. they had been stationed there in case trouble with the japanese. now these troops have been transported to relief the embattled defenders of stalin grad. and as the reserves entered the city, the commanders of three russian armies were meeting. the germans have fought for stallin grad as a prize, the russians were determined to make it a track. two simultaneous attacks were launched. one from the north. one from the south. german armies and certainly stallin grad were threatened. finally the two prongs met. these battle hardened soldiers of the northern army and soldiers of the southern were emotionless children as they greeted each other. they knew this meeting meant the salvation of stalin grad and of their country. and on this christmas of 1942, the people of the soviet union can celebrate with happy hearts. they have received the most precious gift of the men at their arm. the assurance of victory. just as in our home towns, it is the children's day in moscow. it is a happier christmas this year. today there are no german bombers overhead. the russians, like ourselves, celebrated on new year's eve. not now. the factories are just as busy as on any other night. the moment comes. it is the new year. and at the front, the greeting is the same. up to a point. outside stalin grad, the icy winter becomes a fiery hell. here concentrated the latest in russian equipment. flame-throwers. ice gliders. used here by sharp troops to catch airfields in advance of the main army. rocket guns. fatusha, the russians called them. every last source of the red army crawling into a crushing offense of ultimate destruction. the nazis were getting tus eld instead of the russians. and on february 2, 1943, after 162 days of heaviest fighting in the history of warfare, the last shot was fired. peace came to stalin grad. in the shattered streets, blasted ruins, the ghastly evidence of their ordeal, the defenders of the city with the rescuing army of the dawn. stalin grad was free. nazis ka pit lant. the germans ordered by hitler to take stalin grad and would immediately promise that the city would be his, these generals, 24 of them, covered themselves with such glory and such medals, on the fields of pole and and norway and france. they now had only that past glory. and and norway and franc. they now had only that past glory.and and norway and france. they now had only that past glory. this is commander-in-chief of stalin grad. he said would he see to it that families died in reprizal. when he faced his captors, perhaps he had anxiety that hitler might take revenge on his family. he knew when he surrendered that hitler lost not only field martial, he lost an entire army. 22 divisions. 330,000 men. these are the men who had been promised his conquers they would winter in stalin grad. well, it was winter and this was stallin grad. here were the conquerers. when another spring broke over the russian countryside, results of the winter were clear. the invader had been driven back far beyond the lines he occupied a year earlier. 185,000 square miles of russian landed been freed. in this winter campaign of 1942, the axis powers lost 5,090 planes, 1,190 tanks, 20,360 guns. 30,705 machine guns. more than 500,000 rifles. 17 million shells. 128 million cartridges. vast other materials. and 1,193,525 men of whom 800,000 were dead. that is the story to date of the german attempt to conquer russia. the 1941 they tried from moscow. and failed. in 1942, they tried for the caucuses. and failed. in 1943, for as many more years as necessary, they will not only be resistant wherever their failing power strikes, but they will be attacked, attacked and attacked by these united people of these united nation. ♪ ♪ defense secretary ashton carter hosted for the strategic and international studies. live coverage at 8:00 a.m. eastern on c-span 3. later, a look at reconnecting justice program which provides education and training for prisoners. center for law and social policy holds a briefing with state and federal correctional education administrators. that's live at noon eastern, also here on c-span 3. this weekend on american history tv on c-span 3, saturday morning from 9:00 eastern until just afternoon -- >> the british empire and its common wealth, last for a thousand years. noon -- >> the british empire and its common wealth, last for a thousand years. men will still say, this was our finest hour. >> live for the 33rd international churchill conference in washington, d.c. focussing on the former british prime minister's friends and contemporaries. speakers include british historian andrew roberts, author of "masters and commanders how four titans would be the war in the west 1941-1945." later on saturday at 7:00, texas general land office commissioner george w. bush. state senator jose menendez. and musician phil collins talk about the spanish mission, the alamo at the 2016 texas tribune festival in austin. >> my memories of that time is that this group of people were going and they knew they were going to die, but they went. or they were there. crocket went. but there was something very noble and very, you know,

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