Episode 4 - Tainted Victory

By 1942, it was difficult to imagine the Axis powers not winning the war. With Germany controlling virtually all of continental Europe, and Japan occupying vast areas of the Far East and the Pacific, they seemed invincible. In this programme, Niall Ferguson shows us how the eventual Allied victory was morally questionable and, in fact, 'a tainted victory'.

Germany had gained ground in Soviet territory and in this programme we learn about the huge-scale Battle of Kursk in 1943. With 400,000 land mines, thousands of tanks, 1.3 million Russian soldiers, 900,000 Germans and a battlefield the size of Wales, this was conflict on an unprecedented scale. Tanks collided in a waterlogged mud bath, leaving a sea of charred bodies and burnt-out tanks. Equipped by the Americans, the Soviets proved the stronger and pushed the Germans further and further back. This came at a heavy price, with the number of Red Army soldiers killed in this battle almost equal to the total death toll of both the British Empire and America during the whole war.

We learn of the extreme violence of the Japanese as they took control throughout the Pacific. Trained to be totally loyal to the Emperor and to uphold values of honour and self-sacrifice, Japanese soldiers had no concept of surrender, determined to fight to the death or kill themselves rather than be captured. Likewise, American troops had no respect for the rights of prisoners. Captured Japanese soldiers were killed rather than imprisoned, an attitude that was openly encouraged by military leaders. The Australian General Sir Thomas Blanney, for example, described the Japanese as a 'cross between the human being and an ape'.

Another example of the level of Allied violence against the enemy and civilians was the policy of bombing enemy cities in the last few months of the war. The official reason for the bombing of Dresden was to hit troop trains heading eastwards, but it was really to kill German civilians and break German morale. Victor Klemperer, one of the last surviving Jews in Dresden, recorded the bombing in his diary. Ironically, he escaped in the ensuing chaos, thus being saved from almost certain death in the camps. Some 35,000 to 50,000 people died in the bombing of Hamburg, and in the raid on Tokyo, 80,000 to 200,000 people were killed and the city was totally destroyed. Niall questions to what extent the bombing of German and Japanese cities – including the atom bombs at Hiroshima and Nagasaki – was justified.

In the aftermath of the war, the atrocities of Germany and Japan were examined for the world to see at the Nuremberg war crimes trials, and yet the acts of extreme violence committed by the Allies were ignored. Finally, Niall asks who really won the war in Asia since the main beneficiary was certainly Russia.

PROGRAMME OUTLINE

00.00 – 04.57

An introduction by Niall Ferguson. We see how, by 1942, Germany and Japan had control of vast areas of Europe and Asia.

04.58 – 10.30

In Kursk, Central Russia, Niall begins the story of the huge-scale battle between Germany and Russia in 1943.

10.31 – 16.24

Film footage illustrates how this battle progressed, employing sophisticated weaponry, including thousands of tanks.

16.25 – 22.57

Visiting Okinawa, Japan, Niall describes the Japanese soldiers' culture of sacrifice and honour, and their extreme violence as they invaded and controlled more and more of Asia and the Pacific.

22.58 – 25.03

We see an amazing image from the cover of an American magazine in 1944, and learn how Americans adopted the same core ideas as the Japanese, with atrocities on both sides.

25.04 – 29.17

We are shown images of the bombing of Dresden.

29.18 – 30.54

The Axis powers stepped up their levels of violence as their defeat became more and more inevitable.

30.55 – 33.39

We see how the bombing of enemy towns by the allies was justified, with footage of 'Bomber' Harris.

33.40 – 35.51

We learn of the fate of the German Jew, Victor Klemperer.

35.52 – 39.47

Using images of Dresden and Hiroshima, Niall questions the moral cost of the bombing policy.

39.48 – 44.13

Looking at some of the actions of the Allies, especially the Soviets, Niall questions the sanctimonious attitude the Allies had towards the actions of the Axis powers.

44.14 – 46.44

Looking back at the violent actions of all parties, Niall calls the end of the war 'a tainted Victory'.