german army. ♪ ♪ narrator: this is a film about

that scale and grandeur. this is about of that which is achieved. -- 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, 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 of their grand master, they try threaten to enslave the whole capitalcluding the novgorod. ♪ in their hour of peril, the russian people turn to their prince, alexander nevsky. on april the 5th, 1242 on lake peipus, the russians met the german army. they weren't as well equipped or

-- 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 filled a bright page of russian history. 1704, and another conquering army 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. napoleon and his army have laid 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.

♪ this time, the russian people under the regime of the czar were not only fighting german guns but 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 would-be 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. one country of 9 million square miles. that is our own country three times over, all of america and a million square miles to boot. the sun never sets on russia. on its western force borders facing europe, it is already dawn on its eastern borders facing the pacific. that is russia, or to be correct, the union of soviet socialist republics. deep in the mountains are rich veins of silver and gold. there are copper, manganese, nickel, sulfur and magnesium. russia is rich in raw materials.

the forests cover millions upon millions of acres. one fourth of the lumber reserves belong to russia. the demand for fuel, coal, and there is 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 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 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 grow fat for food and wool for clothing. on the planes, fields of grain stretch as far as the eye can reach, corn, oats, hops, rise and don't forget wheat, one third of the world's best. yes, russia is very rich. it has not only raw materials the products of the soil, russia is also people. ♪ 193 million people. ♪ people of every race, color, and 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 cossacks, the famous sportsmen from the valley -- whether they come from southwest in the ukraine -- ♪ here in the breadbasket of the ♪ here in the breadbasket of the soviet union is the little russia better known as ukraine, and moldavia and thesaravia. or if they come from the far

south, the caspian and the black sea -- ♪ where we find the armenians and the georgians, the people rugged as the high peaks as their mountains. ♪ where the uzbeks, turkmens, kaegis, mongols -- ♪

turko-tartars, boriayats, whether people of the ice country, hunters like the zals or settlers like the laplanders, 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 a modern civilization -- where the old russian drashka still competes with the modern limousine -- ♪ whether they work in factories

or as soldiers, whether they are bricklayers or traffic cops, sailors 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 -- [♪ waltz of the flowers ] regardless of what they do or where they live, they'll have one thing in common, love of their country. ♪

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 -- narrator: yes, as we have seen, it has stood without a doubt from hit generation to generation, and now hitler's germany, the dream was world conquest. for such a dream, there could be only one answer -- collective security. so with this objective in 1934, the soviet union joined the league of nations.

again and again its , representatives urged to binding agreements to support a collective action any nation submitted to attack. narrator: but while some members of the league were pleading 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's 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 forced to turn west, and in 1940 as we have seen, like the last opposition from western europe. and while the nazis were trying to beat britain to her knees, the german generals were already planning to resume the interrupt ed eastern blitz. the road to russia was now open. that, preliminary steps were necessary. south and east of germany are hungary, romania, yugoslavia and greece. hungary had grain, rich yields -- fields of it. grain too good for hungarians when german soldiers have such appetites. bauxite, and bauxite makes 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. romania also had men, more slave labor, more cannon fodder for the attacks on russia. and romania had russian frontiers, and hitler wanted 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 hitler's puppet, general enescu, and of bulgaria, all -- ruled by king boris -- always a disciple of german imperialism, all have sold their

countries out to hibbler. now threatened by a revolt of their people, they were only too glad to be protected by hitler's army. so by march 1941, 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. at one of their regular meetings, hibbler assigned the task of bringing greece to its needs 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 -- brilliantly conducted mountain campaign drove the , italians back and invaded albania. hitler was enraged.

he sent a final ultimatum to the yugoslavs and greeks to surrender or else. but the yugoslavs and greeks come from a long line of fighting men. nazi slavery did not appeal to them. [planes crashing] at dawn on april 6, german bonds told yugoslavia's they were at war with germany. the nazis and italians launched naval attacks from all of their bases. 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 and fierce resistance by the greeks, and the british would come to their aid, a german, -- the germans, overwhelmingly superior in numbers and equipment, forced their way past the river, mount olympus, the famous passage, and a swastika flew over the ancient city of athens by the end of april. the conquest of the balkans was now complete. the nazi might could now be might whole force of nazi could now be turned on russia. there was no time to wait. time was russia's weapon. their industry so recently built, like our own, designed for the reign of peace but converted for war. instead of steel for plows and tools, steel for guns and shells. they knew their industry 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 baltic but the russians would , try to take steam out of the punch no matter where it landed, but where would it land? it came from five different directions. from the north. that was the big day. a storm broke nearly 200 axis divisions. -- as dawn broke, nearly 200 axis divisions.

more than 2 billion men 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. the finns under mannerheim, supported by the germans, drove from the north to encircle the city. in the center, the army plunged 480 miles into soviet territory. 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 communiqué. 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 country that did not submit. despite the fact that hitler's army swept deeper and deeper into the soviet union, and by october 15 still packed within the shadows of the kremlin, -- is still practically within the shadows of the kremlin, despite the fact the soviet

government and all foreign missions were forced to move to 700 miles to the east, despite hitler's triumphant can say this, "i enemy is already broken and will ," despite byn december 5000 square miles of russian territory, and area -- an area equal to the middle 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 then spluttered, stumbled and finally died. what had happened here? let's try to analyze it. first, in this titanic struggle, not only two armies or two fighting methods or two

strategies came to play. one was to go deep into the enemy territory, to hook up with another spearhead to meet it. the trap thus formed the victim , would be pocketed for annihilation. the german plan in every campaign was to sink decisive -- seek a decisive battle at the moment of invasion. narrator: remember the campaigns you have already seen in these films. poland, the polls -- the poles concentrated on their borders, the blitz broke through. 18 days finished poland. and france, the allied strength on the borders, the breakthrough and the issue of france was

settled. the balkans, the yugoslavians 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 area of their land. the russian strategy was a depth, line after 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 counted on. the result -- the germans conquered land but lost the

campaign. the russian tactics to the main -- kept the main bulk of their armies intact and made the long of thatitable instead quick decision the germans sought. the russians had other tactics the through -- that threw 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 with the names of towns -- like kiev, smolensk, city after city standing in the path of the

nasty blitz. i blitz.e naz they found a way to make cities of 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 break through. here for eight men have long 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 defended street by street. each street house by house. each street, house by house. each house, room by room. [gunfire] 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 the price of pay for the price of a copy of mein kampf. they died in the hand-to-hand combat they thought they had abolished. another thing the germans had overlooked. they overlooked people. generals may win campaigns, but people win wars. and on that fatal june 22, 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. >> this war is not an ordinary war. 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. narrator: so the alarm was spread to factory and farm, and men every russian town, fought to answer the call. from now on, one thing mattered and one thing only -- victory. total war meant total mobilization. not just war for soldiers, but war for everyone, young or old, 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-year-olds to do. six had nothing to do with it. if you can hold a rifle, you were a soldier. if you could turn a lathe, you were a soldier. if you could harvest the fields, you were a soldier. if you could handle a locomotive or pilot a ship, you were still a soldier. for 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 that claimed them all, the giant dam, which had been poured with steel and concrete but five long years of russian oil and russian sweat that yielded the miracle of electricity to the people of ukraine. now rather than let the power , generator fall to the enemy, .hey destroyed it scorched earth, the land they had lived on and worked on, their forests, their fields, their farms, they surrendered them to the flames but not to the invaders. that was the scorched earth. and for action behind the german lines, a new army was formed. an army without uniforms whose home was the forest and whose front was the rears. 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 prisoners. or read their names over heroe'' graves. ahead of them lay nothing but the road. but they stayed behind and kept on fighting. their only goal was merciless destruction. destruction of communication lines, supply, and the invaders themselves. their weapons were dynamite and the terror of surprise. they asked for no mercy, and they gave none. [gunfire] this is the guerrilla army. this was scorched earth. this is 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 five and a half 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 the swastika would fly december, from the kremlin towers, december had come, but it was not 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 red army. ♪ ♪

narrator: in part one of "battle of russia," you saw the russian people's historic defense of their land against centuries of unsuccessful invaders. ♪ you also saw how after five and a half months of nazi blitz, the russians stopped hitler at the gates of moscow. and how, in spite of hitler's prediction that by december 1941, the swastika would fly from the kremlin towers, december had come, but it was not the swastika that flew and it wasn't the nazi conquerors that walked through this -- the streets of moscow but fresh reserves of the red army on their way to reinforce and relieve the front lines. ♪

the russians read this appeal and knew what it meant. they are remembered that in their past history, the time always came that they could turn and strike back. 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 invaders -- ♪

-- on the front lines, the men of the red army listened to the long-awaited order of the day. the whole world is looking to you to destroy the jordan -- german hordes. the war you're fighting is a war of liberation, a just war. death to the german invaders. fighter command, ready. bomber command, ready. parachuters,s, -- ready. tanks manned. cavalry in position. infantry, ready. beyond those hills are the enemy. ♪ [gunfire]

♪

narrator: 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 of 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 sellers, out of the forests, out of who knows what hiding places, come the men, the women, and the children that had once called these towns home. soldiers and gorillas find -- guerillas find wives and mothers. friends are reunited. there is thanksgiving in their streets, thanksgiving in their hearts. there is also something else. something they will never forget. there remained homes -- their ruined homes. the shattered homes they once had known as thriving and prosperous communities. they stand prudent -- ruined now. ghostly relics of what they once had been. nothing has been spared. this was a museum. , the former home of peter tchaikovsky a man who wrote , music for russia. music that spoke to the heart of

his people. because it found that heart, found the hearts of people everywhere. this piano concerto. i]haikovsky narrator: the fifth symphony. ♪ the sixth symphony. ♪ narrator: 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 the immortal novel, "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 before hand. but there were other dead that the nazis did not bury, russian dead. they were not soldiers, and they were not killed in battle. ♪

narrator: no, these are not dolls. these are children. mass murdered by orders of the high command. and there were other children, perhaps more fortunate, perhaps less. young girls, but not young now. the attentions of the nazi soldiers aged them very quickly. and whoever resisted the inventors -- invaders were met with this. these are the things the russians can never forget. [baby crying] narrator: these are the things the russians will never forget. these are the reasons why every

russian pledged his life to uphold their sacred oath. narrator: blood for blood. death for death.

♪ that was the reason the russians smashed on, deeper and deeper, along the entire front from rostov to leningrad. nowhere could the tide of russian pressure be stopped. by the spring of 1942, this area was delivered from the germans. but this was not the important result. not that this town or that village was retaken, but that the whole legend of nazi invincibility had been shattered. german armies could retreat too. german armies could be defeated. german armies could be captured. ♪ but besides this crushing

offensive, there was another factor that shattered the legend of nazi invincibility. that factor, which will live forever in the history of this war, was written by the people of this city a city now called , leningrad after the leader of the russian revolution, lenin, and which, before that, was called petrograd in honor of its founder, peter the great. a city today which, with the exception of moscow, is the most important center in the soviet union because some of russia's largest industries are centered here. and also because it is russia's principal port on the baltic sea and the base for its baltic fleet. here as throughout the soviet union on june 22, word came of the attack. but here, the city was only a few miles from german lines. ♪ and while the men of the red army and the baltic fleet moved out to meet the enemy, behind them, another army was formed.

an army whose weapons were shovels instead of rifles. an army of men, an army of women, an army of children. feverishly, they dug the trenches, threw up barricades, built defenses, prepared themselves for the worst. they knew that they too were on the front lines. they were not wrong. >> [sirens]

[explosions] narrator: leningrad's baptism of fire did not stop with the darkness. [explosions]

narrator: finally the morning comes and the people of , leningrad dig themselves out from the ruins. ♪ narrator: they seem very similar

here to the people of london, of rotterdam, of warsaw. as in those cities, there were ruined homes, museums, and other important military objectives like the russian dumbo from the leningrad zoo, but there was one important difference. bombing from the air was only one small part that the people of leningrad had to face. in september, the nazis surrounded the city, announced it was cut off and doomed. the german commanders sent the city an ultimatum demanding it surrender. he is still waiting for the answer. thus, began the siege of leningrad. a siege that was to last nearly 17 months. in leningrad as everywhere else in russia, the winter came early that year. a cold, hard winter, the hardest in years. unlike everywhere else

in russia the winter was not an , ally but an enemy. the 10, 20, 30 below zero temperatures could only mean more suffering, more hardship. in the trenches outside of the city, trenches of snow and of ice, the defenders stuck firm to their oaths, to die if necessary but not to go backward one more step. the enemy in spite of all its efforts was stopped at the gate of the city. a city now facing disease, famine, destitution. there was no oil for fuel. no power for the electric lines. the people defied the elements and trudged the necessary miles to lathe and workbench. the pipes froze, water was shut off. so they dug holes through the streets until they could get to the water.

there was no food. and the whole city went on starvation rations. a factory worker got eight ounces of bread a day. everyone else, child and adult alike only four. to keep the dread enemy of disease from stocking -- stalking their city, an army of women worked with shovels and picks in those streets every day, clearing away the rubble so rats, the sources of contamination. bombs from the air could not force the people of leningrad to surrender. winter could not do it. hunger could not do it. so the germans decided to shell them into surrender. [explosions] narrator: for days, long-range guns hurled ton after ton of

explosives into the city. [explosions] narrator: the more the people of leningrad were shelled, the harder they worked. gunfire]sounds and narrator: drenched in a rain of

high explosives, cut off entirely from the rest of russia with only their own hands to depend on, their determination never faltered. every day, more people died from 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 to the east and north is lake ladoga. 7000 square miles of inland water. the finns and the germans occupied one border of the lake at this point. and in the south, the germans controlled the lake to hear. between those two points, was a stretch of lakefront still in russian hands. but there was nearly 100 miles between this shore and the beleaguered city. 100 miles of what had been open

water and was now snow-covered ice. ♪ narrator: across this frozen surface went tractors, sledges, carving a road across the lake. and soon, across this highway, from the far side of the lake, poured a stream of trucks bringing in food, oil, grain, fuel. truckload after truckload of fresh life for the people of the city. too late the germans discovered that they had left one avenue of rescue open.

[explosions] narrator: their 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 rail path across the ice. to the heroes of leningrad is the inscription on this locomotive as it starts its pioneer voyage. from the far shore of the lake it brings food, medicine, supplies of all kinds. across the lake and into leningrad, this train was but the first of many.

trains have not only brought in supplies but good took out the wounded, the sick women, and the half-frozen children, all of those that needed better care. all winter long, the lake traffic continued. and all through that terrible winter, the men of the red army outside of the city found the strength not only to defend but to attack. time after time, they hurled themselves against the invaders, driving them inch by inch outside of the city's outskirts. and then spring came. spring. ♪ outside leningrad, the snows began to thaw, and german bodies are washed from their icebox

graves. new evidence of russian tenacity. the warm breath of spring is felt too on the frozen surface of lake ladoga, but trucks continue to roll even though the ice is melting underneath. ♪ the spring, as it invariably does, comes to the city too. but spring is more than a new season for the people of leningrad. it is a new life. the city begins to breathe again. for the first time in months, the trolleys ran. that first day, it seemed that every man and woman and child had to go for a ride.

♪ this was life again. life for the leningrad children that weren't killed by nazi bombs or the horrible winter. wax the the russian , women of the red army. and the russian wave, the members of the red army. and for the sailors of the fleets themselves, the artists of the famous ballet theater had come to entertain them. ♪ [applause]

narrator: spring is here. summer is coming. and leningrad is still free. although some germans did finally succeed in getting in to the city, but under different circumstances than they had anticipated. yes, here too the legend of nazi invincibility 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 appearing in the streets of moscow. posters that created and welcomed their allies, allies whose help was already arriving in russian ports.

allies whose friendliness sent drugs and food and warm clothing to help sustain them in their darkest hours. of all this the , staff of the red army knew they faced the most powerful enemy in history, and that enemy would attack again. when this attack came, the whole of german strength was going to to be concentrated on objective, -- on one objective, the caucusus and the oil. the caucusus mountains represented one of the most powerful in the world. with one practical highway traversing them. and the biggest oilfield is on the other side. to reach baku, the only feasible military route was along the coast of the caspian sea, but the map shows what a dangerously extended supply line this would entail. for the operation to be a success for the germans, the first they had to control was the new -- the real hub and the

base of operations. that was a port we have come to know well, stalingrad, named for russia's present leader, the pride of this generation of russians. for it was their city, built in their time. with the capture of stalingrad, nazis would have a base to launch their attack from. with one master stroke, in the north, russian factories, russian firms, and russian army ies would be practically cut off from caucusus oil and also from american and british supplies which were shipped to russia through iran and iraq. german control of the entrance to the volga and its two main points would be a crippling blow for russians. the volga is the vital artery through which flow the lifeblood of certifies -- of supplies.

early in may, the german offensive began along the front extending to the crimea. within two weeks, the nazis had had overrun the kerch peninsula giving the nazis , complete control of the crimea and the southern route to the caucasian oilfields. next, they started to drive further north and drove through to their river. and then spread south and east until they occupied the whole area from the don river south to rostov. this led them in position to strike against stalingrad. further on they plunged. by the end of august, they had captured the oilfields, needless to say demolished by the russians. they reached the northern caucusus. yes the germans were only a few , miles from their goal, the oilfields from baku. but to barriers still stood between them, russian mountains

and russian determination. the people of the caucusus joined with the army to form an unshatterable wall against the full onslaught of the attack. further north, the nazis were within 15 miles of stalingrad. this became the focal point of the whole campaign. regardless of the cost, stalingrad must be captured. those were the german orders. german guns, german bombs shattered the city into pieces. [explosions] ♪ narrator: by september 20, 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 this city and into 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 a matter of only of a few days. once more, the world was afraid a russian campaign was lost. but once more, the germans were to stand on the very threshold of victory and still fail. and now, they were to meet a fire of fury such as they had never known. [explosions] narrator: all that had gone before, the battles raged in the

streets of kia, rostov, sevastopol, odessa, these were all preludes of what had happened at stalingrad. every inch of the city was a strategic point to be defended as such. [gunfire] ♪

narrator: by the end of october, snow covered stalingrad. from the air, the germans tried to force surrender of the russian-held part of the city. [bombs] narrator: at the same time, the battle of the streets continued. ♪ [gunfire]

narrator: but as november dawns, the russians were no longer defending their city inch by inch. inch by inch, they were regaining. ♪

narrator: and now, as the whole world spoke in admiration of the city of steel, the tickertape brought us breathtaking news. american and british troops had landed in and occupied north africa. further east, the british eighth army was driving westward, pursuing africa. and in the northeast, the red army had launched its smash in counter offenses. the germans were learning the real meanings of the words "combined operations." russians are along the entire front. in the far north, the germans felt the first impact of the -- as the russians recaptured s chlusselburg. another offense of passed out. fell another russian blow ronezh, and the germans

were moving fall or away from stalingrad, instead of towards it. at stalingrad, the germans were about to meet new opponents. ♪ fresh reserves were arriving from far siberia. they had been stationed there in case of trouble with the japanese. now, these troops had been transported to relieve the embattled defenders of stalingrad. and as the reserves entered the city, at headquarters, the commanders of the free russian armies were meeting. the germans had fought for stalingrad as a prize. the russians were determined to make it a trap. two simultaneous attacks were launched, one from the north, one from the south.

the german armies encircling stalingrad were now themselves threatened with encirclement. finally, the two prongs met. ♪ these battle-hardened soldiers of the northern army were -- and soldiers of the southern were emotional as children as they greeted each other. they knew this meeting meant the salvation of stalingrad. and of their country. and on this christmas of 1942, the people of the soviet union could celebrate with happy hearts. they had received a most precious gift from the men of their army, the assurance of ultimate victory. just as in our hometowns, it was the children's day in moscow, a happier christmas this year. today there are no german , bombers overhead.

flowers] the narrator: it appears the russians, like ourselves, celebrated on new year's eve. but not now. the factories are just as busy as any other night. the moment comes. it is the new year. and at the front, the greeting is the same, up to a point. [gunfire]

narrator: outside stalingrad, the icy winter becomes a fiery hell. here are concentrated the latest in russian equipment, flamethrowers, ice gliders, used here by shotguns to capture airfields to advance the main army. katushkas the russians call them.

[gunfire] narrator: every last resource of the red army was thrown into a crushing offense of ultimate destruction. ♪ this was trial and tussle with a vengeance. the nazis were getting heckled instead of the russians. 1943, afterary 22, 162 days of the heaviest fighting in the history of warfare, the last shot was fired. [gunshot] narrator: peace came to stalingrad.

in the shattered streets and blasted ruins, the ghastly evidence of their ordeal. the defenders of the city great the rescuing dawn. stalingrad was free. -- is free. the nazis had capitulated. ♪ narrator: the german generals who had been ordered by hitler to take stalingrad regardless of the cost, and obediently promised that the city would be his these generals, 24 of them, , who had covered themselves with such glory and such metals on the fields of poland and norway and france, they now had only that past glory to come for them. this is the commander-in-chief of the german armies of stalingrad.

this is the man who told his soldiers that if they surrendered, he would see to it that their families died in reprisal. when he faced his captors, perhaps his worried expression reflected the anxiety that hitler might take the same revenge on his family. for he knew that when he surrendered, hitler lost not only a field marshal, but he lost an entire army, 22 divisions and 330,000 men. these are the men who had been promised that as conquerors they would winter in stalingrad. well, it was winter. and this was stalingrad. and here were the conquerors. ♪ [military drums]

♪ narrator: and when another spring broke over the russian countryside, the results of the winter were clear. the invader had been driven back far beyond the lines he had occupied a year earlier. 185,000 square miles of russian land had been freed, and in this winter campaign of 1942, the axis powers had lost 5500 tanks, over 20,000 guns, 30,705 machine guns, more than 500,000 rifles, 17 million shells, 128 million cartridges, vast stores of other materials

1,193,525 men, of whom 800,000 were dead. that is the story to date of the german attempt to conquer russia. in 1941, they tried for moscow and failed. in 1942, they tried for the caucuses and failed. in 1943, and for as many more years as necessary, they will not only be resistant wherever their failing powers strike, but they will be attacked, attacked and attacked by these united people of these united nations. ♪

[captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2016] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] announcer: you are watching "american history tv," 48 hours of american history every weekend on c-span3. follow us on twitter at c-span history for information on our schedule and to keep up with the latest history news. >> next weekend here on we willn history tv," be live at 8:00 a.m. eastern with the opening ceremony for the national museum of african american history and culture.

as final preparations continue on the national mall, we talked with african-american members of congress about the smithsonian's newest museum. >> congressman johnson, can you give us your views of the importance of the new african-american museum to the country? hank johnson: well, it means so much to the collective psyche of african-american people who, throughout the history of this country, have been beleaguered by a lack of knowledge about our history. when you don't really know how great your forefathers or forebearers have been, then it's hard for you to capture in the present moment how great you are and what your future potential is. and so, what this museum will do is to restore the ability of african-american people to reach back in the history to see how

great we have been, how our forebearers have been so strong and able and so accomplished. and so, as each successive generation views those accomplishments, which we're adding to daily, by the way, it does nothing but strengthens our people. but strengthens -- it strengthens our culture and it strengthens the fabric of america which, of course, is comprised of a multitude of, of threads, african americans being a major thread in the history of this great nation. >> the founding director of the museum has said that he sees the museum as being the american story through the african-american lens. what do you think about that? hank johnson: well, i think that's a great observation. i would also add to it that it enables african-americans to peer into our own unique

background and to be proud of our accomplishments and to have hopefulness about the future based on what we have already accomplished in the past. and of course, the present moment is the most important phase of living, be it past, present and future, but to be able to look back on to the past provides us with a clear hope and even guideline for our future. so if we've accomplished so much in the past, there's no reason why we cannot continue to cut through all the challenges that we face uniquely as african-americans and continue to build a tremendous, positive history as demonstrated by the election -- by the american people of the first african-american president eight years ago. he's been elected twice now.

, has served two terms and is leaving office with a very positive popularity rating or favorability rating. it says so much about what he and, as a representative of us, what we have been able to accomplish despite the obstacles that were thrown in our way simply because of the color of our skin. >> can you tell us what the museum means to you personally? hank johnson: well, it means i have a home. that means i, it means i can go and savor about the accomplishments of my past . i can go and learn about them because we've been cut off. part of our challenge in this country is that our history we've been deprived of our , history. it's been a systematic, calculated approach to handling the african-americans is to cut

them off from their history, actually forbid them from learning about their history, and then what history has been has been skewed so as to not be accurate. and so this museum has the opportunity to recast our history from a, from a long period into the past, restore a knowledge base about our culture that then creates a collective psyche that is much more healthy than the one that, that we have right now. let's face it. our collective psyche as a people is damaged right now. this museum will go a long way towards our ability to heal ourselves, and also it shows others who decide to come to

find out about our history who are not african-americans, gives them a greater appreciation of our role in making this country the great nation that it is today. >> congressman johnson, thank you very much. hank johnson: thank you so much. announcer: the smithsonian's national museum of african american history and culture opens its doors to the public for the first time next saturday, said to much money for . "american history tv" will be live from the national mall with sights and sounds leading up to the 10:00 a.m. ceremony and we are live with the dedication which includes remarks by president obama and founding museum director bonnie hunt. this is "american history tv" only on c-span3. the c-span radio app makes it easy to follow the 2016 election wherever you are. it is free to download from the apple store or the google play.

informatione minute for c-span radio and c-span television, and podcasts from our popular history programs. stay up-to-date on all of the election coverage. the radio app means you always have c-span on the go. for smithsonian national museum of african american history and culture opens it starts to be american public for the first time on saturday. american history tv will be live at the national mall at 8:00 a.m. eastern. back in 2011, before the museum's around breaking, museums founding director gave american history tv a tour of the museum's storage facility. he showed us several artifacts from museum's collection. the museums -- the