stalingrad. the film in in 1943 when the soviets are beginning to reclaim lost territory from the invading german army. ♪

♪

narrator: 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 , not the instability. this is a film about victory and defeat. 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 -- they threatened to enslave the whole population of that area, including the capital 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

-- 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 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.

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 army were crushed and forever driven out of russia. 1812. napoleon and his army have laid their triumphant way across europe, and were marching toward moscow. the conquering armies entered the city, but they entered a city in flames. even in that day, russians -- russian earth was scorched earth when it was invaded and , they were forced to march back

out of russia. 1914, and another german army. this time under kaiser wilhelm set to conquer. -- set out to conquer russia. ♪ 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 the 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.

one sixth of16 -- 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 its mountains lie rich veins of silver and gold. below ground lie enormous amount of 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. fuel, there is cold -- coal, ton upon on. 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. while on the warm plains, fields of grain stretch as far as i 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 a lot of raw materials and the products for oil, it is also peopled. ♪ 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

soviet union lives the little russia better known as ukraine, and moldavia and thesaravia. or if they come from the far south, between the caspian and black sea -- ♪ where we find the armenians and the georgians, the english the , people rugged as the high peaks as their mountains. ♪ whether they are uzbecks, turkmens, kaegis, mongols --

♪ turko-tartars, boriayats, from far beyond the euro mountains. 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 bricklayers, or traffic cops, sailors or riveters, schoolchildren, or farmers, nurses or engineers, window washers or sales girls, , housewives or postal clerks, radio announcers or 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 -- >> when we speak of new territory, we must speak of russia. narrator: yes, as we have seen, it has stood without a doubt from hit generation to generation, and now in hitler's germany, the dream was world conquest. such a dream, there could be only one answer, selective security. so with this objective in 1934,

the soviet union joined the league of nations. again and again, before the league, it's representatives urged funding 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 it's eastward march was interrupted 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. and while the nazis were trying -- were unsuccessfully trying to bring britain to her knees, the german generals were already planning to resume the interrupt of eastern conquest. the road to russia was now open. but before that attack, preliminary steps were necessary. south and east of germany are hungary, romania, yugoslavia and greece. and hungary had grain, rich fields of it. grain too good for hungarians when german soldiers have such good 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 of it to power his war machine. romania also had men, more slave labor, more cannon fodder for the attacks on russia. and most importantly, 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 aces -- bases on the black sea, bases to pray on german shipping. by the spring of the reactionary 1941, 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 sold their

countries out to hitler. 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. -- four a counterpart allied invasion. 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 legions went this far into greece, the greeks, in a brilliantly conducted campaign,

drove the italians back and invaded albania. hitler was enraged. for failure of his stooge to protect his southern flank to protect southern russia. 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 a powerful and coordinated bases from all naval

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 both numbers and equipment forced their way , through the river, mount olympus, the famous passage, and by the end of a swastika flew april, over the ancient city of athens. a conquest of the balkans was now complete. the nazi might could now be turned loose on russia. there was no time to wait. but time was russia's weapon. their industry so recently ownt in which, like our designed for the reign of peace , but converted for war. , 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 nasty punch the matter where it landed but where would it land? came, it was from five different directions. from the north. that was the big day. a storm broke nearly 200 axis divisions. 200 than 2 million men

, 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. and the first 30 days, the forces joke within 125 miles of leningrad, while they finns -- while 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 overrun by the invaders. ♪

and on they captured the first --y 17, 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. >> the issue in the east has been settled. narrator: but then, a strange thing happened. for the first time since 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 the still packed within 15th, 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 pronouncement, i can say this enemy is already broken and will never rise again. december 5000t by , square miles of russian territory, and area equal to the states had fallen to the invaders. yet 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 had 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 face-to-face. the german strategy was based from the trap maneuver. it one was to go deep into the enemy territory, to hook up with another spearhead to meet it. in the trap bus formed. the victim would be pocketed for annihilation. the german plan in every campaign was to sink decisive battle at the moment of invasion. >> a single blow despite the enemy. a gigantic all destroying below. 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. france, the allied strength on the borders, the breakthrough of

this, 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 planned the same blitz against the russians, but the russians develop their own strategy. one to develop to take full advantage of the vast area of their land. this was line after line, far back into the interior. and when the nazi wedge struck, the first line would then read -- 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 at their chance

to get their final blow. it as a result the germans , conquered land but lost the campaign. to the russian tactics main bulk of their armies intact and made the long war inevitable is that of that quick decision the germans thought. but the russians had another tactic that through the germans for a lost. 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 kiev, smolensk, city after city standing in the 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 break through. here for 8.5 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 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 the copy of mein kampf. they died in the hand-to-hand combat they thought they had abolished. they overlooked people. generals may win campaigns but people win wars. 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 was not 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. >> so the alarm was 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 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. sex had nothing to do with it. if you could turn a lathe you were a soldier. if you could harvest the fields, you were a soldier. if you could pilot a locomotive or pilot 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 give the word to burn at first sight of the enemy. scorched earth.

what cannot be withdrawn must be destroyed. that meant the factories. the plants. the oil depots. the planes. the giant dam. into which had been poured with 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 it generated fall to the enemy, they destroy it. scorched earth. the land they had lived on, 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.

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 prisoners. or read their names over heroe'' graves. ahead of them lay nothing but the rope and the halter. they stayed behind and kept on fighting. their only goal was merciless destruction. 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 none. 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 was just land -- barren land, scorched land. 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 the swastika would fly from the kremlin towers, december had come, but it was not the swastika that flew over the russian capital. and it was not the nazi conquerors 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'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 of 1941, the swastika would fly from the kremlin towers, december had come but it was not the swastika that flew and not the conquerors that walked the

streets of the ancient city, 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. 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 the 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. parashuters 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 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 cellars and the forests, out of only they know what hiding places, come the men, the women, and the children that had once called these towns home. soldiers find wives and mothers. friends are reunited. there is thanksgiving in their streets and thanksgiving in their hearts. there is also something else. something they will never forget. their ruined homes. the shattered homes they once had known as thriving and prosperous communities. they stand together 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. it found the hearts of people everywhere. this piano concerto. ♪ the fifth symphony. ♪ the sixth symphony. ♪ his work was always and will always be inspiration to countless millions but it brought only one inspiration to the masses. vandalism.

this is the home of leo tolstoy, the author of the immortal novel, "war and peace." his home also was a museum until the germans came. and this is tolstoy's grave. if the nazis buried nearby had read his book, they would have learned of his fate for them. but there were other dead that the nazis did not bury, russian dead. they were not soldiers and they were not killed in battle.

♪ ♪ 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, not young now. the attentions of the nazi soldiers aged them very quickly. and 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 was the reason why the russians smashed on, deeper and deeper, along the front. nowhere could the tide of russian pressure be stopped. by the spring of 1942, this area was delivered from the germans. this was not the important result. not that this town or that village was retaken but the whole legend of nazi invincibility had been shattered. german armies would retreat also. german armies could be captured. but besides this crushing

offensive, there was another factor. 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 which today 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, 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 worse. they knew that they too were on the front lines. they were not wrong. >> [sirens]

>> leningrad's baptism of fire did not stop with the darkness. finally, the morning came, and finally, the morning comes, and

the people of leningrad dig themselves out from the ruins.

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 zoo. there was one important difference, bombing from the air was only one small part that the people of leningrad had to face. they were surrounded. german commanders sent the city an ultimatum demanding it surrender. they are still waiting for an answer. thus, began the siege of leningrad. a siege that was to last nearly 17 months. the winter came early that year. the hardest in years. but here, unlike elsewhere in

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

there was no food. the whole city went on starvation rations. a factory worker got eight ounces of bread a day. everyone else, child and adult alike got only four. to keep the dread enemy of disease from taking their city, an army of women worked with shovels and picks on those streets every day, clearing away the rubble, the refuge, 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. for days, long-range guns threw

ton after ton of explosives into the city. the more the people of leningrad were shelled, the harder they worked.

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 the 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 quarter of the lake and in the south, the germans this point. between those two points, was a

stretch of lakefront still in russian hands. there were nearly 100 miles between the shore and the beleaguered city. 100 miles of what had been open water and was now snow-covered ice. 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. truck load 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. 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. the russians were now laying a track across the ice. "to the heroes of leningrad" says the inscription on this locomotive. 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 not only brought in supplies, but it took out the wounded, the sick women, and a 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 invader, 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. mute evidence of russian tenacity. the warm breath of spring is also found on the frozen surface of lake ladoga but trucks continued to roll, even though the ice was melting beneath. 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, woman, and child had to go for a ride.

this was life again. life for the leningrad children that were not killed by nazi bombs or by the horrible winter. life for the women of the red army. and for the sailors of the fleets themselves, the artists of the famous ballet theater had come to entertain. ♪

>> spring is here. summer is coming. leningrad is still free. although some germans did finally succeed in getting in. 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 had showed that generals may win campaigns, but the 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, food, and warm clothing to help sustain them in their darkest hours. despite all of 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 be often focused on one objective, the caucusus and the oil. the caucusus mountains represented one of the toughest military obstacles 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 dangerous

extended supply line this would entail. for the operation to be a success for the germans, the first they had to control was the rail hub. that hub is a port we have come to know well -- stalingrad. named for russia's present leader. the pride of this generation of russians. it was their city, built in their time. with the capture of stalingrad, the germans would have a base. with one masterstroke, in the north, russian factories, russian firms, and russian army 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 river would be a crippling blow for russia. early in may, the german offensive began along the front extending to the crimea. within two weeks, the nazis had steamrolled. 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 --. -- by the end of august, they had captured the oilfields of --. they reached the northern caucusus. the germans were only a few miles from their goal, the oilfields from baku.

but the russian mountains and determination stood between them. the people of the caucusus joined with the army to prove an unshatterable wall against the full onslaught of the attack. stalingrad 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. 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 a few days. once more, the world was afraid a russian campaign was lost. but once more, the germans were to stand on the threshold of victory and still fail. and now, there met a fight of fury such that they had never known.

the battles raged in the streets of odessa, and others. preludes to what had happened at stalingrad. every inch of the city was a strategic point to be defended.

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. 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 tickertape brought

us breathtaking news. american and british troops had landed and occupied north africa. further east, the british bombing was driving westward. and in the northeast, the red army had launched its smash counter defense. the germans were learning the real meaning of the words -- combined operations. russians are along the entire front. in the far north, the germans felt the first impact of the russians recaptured --. another -- bypassing the germans defense and plunging down.

still another russian blow fell. in the far south, the germans were moving away. instead of toward it. 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 from the japanese. now, these troops had been transported to relieve the embattled defenders of stalingrad. as the reserves enter 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 and one from the south. they were now threatened with encirclement. the two prongs finally met. these battle hardened soldiers of the northern army 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 that celebrated a happier christmas this year.

there are no german bombers overhead. the russians, like ourselves, celebrated on new year's eve. 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.

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 in advance of the main army. rocket guns.

every last resource of the red army was thrown into a crushing offense devoted to destruction. the nazis were getting -- instead of the russians.

on february 2, 1943, after 162 days of the heaviest fighting in the history of warfare, the last shot was fired. peace came to stalingrad. in the shattered streets, and blasted ruins, the ghastly evidence of their ordeal. but the defenders of the city greeted the rescuing army at the dawn. stalingrad is free. the nazis had capitulated. the german generals who had been ordered to take stalingrad, regardless of the cost, and obediently promised that the city would be hit. these generals, 24 of them, who had covered themselves with such glory on the fields of france and norway had only the past glory.

this is the commander-in-chief of the german armies of stalingrad. this is the man who told his soldiers that if they surrender, he would see to it that their families died in reprisal. when he faced his captors, his face reflected the anxiety that hitler might take the same revenge on his family. he knew when he surrendered, hitler lost not only a field marshal, but 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. and when another spring broke over the russian countryside, the results of the winter were clear. 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 it 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 tanks, planes, over 20,000 guns, 30,705 machine guns, more than 500,000 rifles, 17 million shells, 128

million cartridges, vast stores of other materials and over one million men of whom 800,000 were dead. that is the story to date of the german attempts 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 would not only be resisted wherever their failing powers strike, but they will be attacked, attacked , and attacked by these united peoples of these united nations. ♪

[captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2016] ♪ >> you're watching american history tv, all begin, every weekend on c-span3. to join the conversation, like us on facebook at c-span history. donald trump: once more, we will have a government of, by, and for the people. hillary clinton: we are stronger together.

and a matter what, remember this. love trumps hate. >> c-span's campaign 2016 continues on the road to the white house with the first presidential debate monday night, live from hostile university in hempstead, new york. beginning at 7:30 p.m. eastern with a preview of the debate. then, the predebate briefing for the audience. at 9:00 p.m., live coverage of the debate, followed by viewer reactions. the 2016 presidential debate on c-span. watch anytime on demand at c-span.org, or listen live on the free c-span radio app. next, daniel croft, history professor emeritus at the college of new jersey discusses his book when again and the politics of slavery, the other 13th amendment and the struggle to save the union. he describes how 1961, lincoln and the republican party

supported a constitutional amendment quite different from the one that was eventually ratified in 1865. and he argues that lincoln was against slavery, but was willing to accept it in order to preserve the union. societyyork historical and the bryant park reading room cohosted this event. it is an hour and half. >> thank you, alex castle and paul marineau, and thanks to the bryant park corporation and the bryant park reading room, and the hsbc corporation, and all else who made it possible for me to appear here tonight. privilege toular speak here in new york city. already, 1860, as it remains today, new york was the nerve center of the nation. herald, the tribune, the times, the three most influential and widely read newspapers in the united