World War Two: 1942 and Hitler's Soft Underbelly
David Reynolds asks why Britain spent much of the war fighting in Africa and Italy, reassessing Churchill's view that the Mediterranean was the soft underbelly of Hitler's Europe.
The British fought the Second World War to defeat Hitler. This film asks why, then, did they spend so much of the conflict battling through North Africa and Italy?
Historian David Reynolds reassesses Winston Churchill's conviction that the Mediterranean was the 'soft underbelly' of Hitler's Europe. Travelling to Egypt and Italian battlefields like Cassino, scene of some of the worst carnage in western Europe, he shows how, in reality, the 'soft underbelly' became a dark and dangerous obsession for Churchill.
Reynolds reveals a prime minister very different from the jaw-jutting bulldog of Britain's 'finest hour' in 1940 - a leader who was politically vulnerable at home, desperate to shore up a crumbling British empire abroad, losing faith in his army and even ready to deceive his American allies if it might delay fighting head to head against the Germans in northern France.
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Clips
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The futility of the War in Italy
Duration: 01:22
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Egypt on the brink in 1942
Duration: 02:25
History on 麻豆官网首页入口 Four
Take a look at the 麻豆官网首页入口 Four History documentaries available to watch in iPlayer.
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Army: A Very British Institution
For more about the British armed forces, visit the 麻豆官网首页入口 Four Collection Army: A Very British Institution.
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Credits
Role | Contributor |
---|---|
Presenter | David Reynolds |
Director | Russell Barnes |
Broadcasts
- Mon 15 Oct 2012 21:00
- Tue 16 Oct 2012 02:25
- Fri 19 Oct 2012 00:05
- Sun 21 Oct 2012 22:10
- Sat 3 Nov 2012 18:45麻豆官网首页入口 HD
- Wed 16 Jan 2013 22:30
- Mon 29 Apr 2013 21:00
- Tue 30 Apr 2013 02:30
- Mon 24 Aug 2015 23:00
- Wed 26 Aug 2015 01:30
- Sun 18 Sep 2016 21:00
- Tue 20 Sep 2016 01:30
- Tue 18 Jul 2017 23:30
麻豆官网首页入口 History
The causes, events and people of the most destructive war in history.