Poland, 1939: World War Two begins

Captured in Libya, imprisoned in Italy, and twice an escapee: historian Malcolm Gaskill's great-uncle Ralph's experiences of the Second World War were certainly dramatic. Yet he left behind little more than a few photos, a wartime memoir, and a few stories filtered through family ...  Show more

As King John was poised to press his seal into the wax of a document whose impact would reverberate for centuries, did he understand the ramifications it would have? And what were the chances he would keep his word? In this penultimate episode of HistoryExtra's Sunday Series on M ...  Show more

La fin des années 1930 est marqué par la montée du régime nazi, en Allemagne. La guerre se prépare, et elle sera mondiale, à nouveau. Le début du conflit, entre septembre 1939 et mai 1940, sans affrontement massif, est resté dans l'histoire comme la «drôle de guerre». Retour chro ...  Show more

Today I speak with historian, Peter Fritzsche about Adolf Hitler's rise to power and the first one hundred days of Nazi Germany. Support the show and visit our sponsor www.legacy-collectibles.com Hitler's First Hundred Days: When Germans Embraced the Third ReichStories of the Se ...  Show more

On September 1 1939 Nazi Germany invaded Poland followed two days later by France and the United Kingdom declaring war on Germany and beginning the Second World War. This was the opening act in what would be the most devastating clash in human history. By its end Europe and much ...  Show more

On September 1st 1939 German forces invaded Poland. Douglas Slocombe, a British cameraman, was there at the time and filmed the build-up to the war. In 2014 he spoke to Vincent Dowd about what he saw in Gdansk and Warsaw, before escaping from the country.This programme is a rebro ...  Show more