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The Wrong War

A look at how Hitler found himself at war with Britain - a country whose achievements he admired - and allied to his ideological enemy, the Soviet Union.

Adolf Hitler loved to watch feature films and he liked one film in particular, the Hollywood epic The Lives of a Bengal Lancer. 'It was certainly his favourite film,' says Herbert Dohring, a member of Hitler's SS bodyguard, 'and he would always talk about it - this huge English empire - how such a relatively small people could establish and manage something like that.' Hitler would later say, 'What India was for England, the territory of Russia will be for us.'

How was it possible then, that in 1939 Hitler found himself at war with a country whose achievements he admired, Great Britain, and allied to his ideological enemy, the Soviet Union? With the help of archive footage and interviews with eye-witnesses, including former diplomats and members of the Nazi party who had never appeared on television before, this film charts the course of Hitler's road to war.

50 minutes

Credits

Role Contributor
Producer Laurence Rees
Director Tilman Remme

Broadcasts

  • Wed 24 Sep 1997 21:00
  • Sun 4 Oct 1998 21:00
  • Sat 4 Sep 1999 19:10
  • Sat 5 Aug 2000 20:15
  • Mon 7 Aug 2000 10:00
  • Mon 7 Aug 2000 13:00
  • Mon 7 Aug 2000 16:00
  • Mon 7 Aug 2000 19:00
  • Mon 7 Aug 2000 22:00
  • Tue 8 Aug 2000 01:00
  • Sat 12 Aug 2000 11:00
  • Sat 12 Aug 2000 15:00
  • Sat 12 Aug 2000 19:00
  • Sat 12 Aug 2000 23:00
  • Mon 16 Apr 2001 20:00
  • Mon 16 Apr 2001 23:30
  • Sat 2 Jun 2001 09:00
  • Sat 2 Jun 2001 12:00
  • Sat 2 Jun 2001 15:00
  • Tue 30 Jul 2002 22:40
  • Sat 14 May 2005 19:35
  • Thu 18 Oct 2012 22:00
  • Thu 16 Feb 2017 22:20