Battlefields of the World Wars

The town of Verdun, in Northeast France, was the scene of World War I's most emblematic battle. During the harsh winter, the German army prepared a powerful offensive on the Meuse Valley. After 300 days of fighting and 300,000 dead, the action shifted to the Somme. With so much firepower trained on the French, why did the German offensive fail? How did the battle color the course of the Great War?

April 1917. With the gloom of winter still hanging over France, French soldiers were sure the Great War was about to end. More than a million gathered on the 30 kilometer front, with aircraft and tanks deployed to break through German defenses. Yet, the Germans easily repelled the attack. tens of thousands died. Why did this fully-equipped French army fail? How did the Germans manage to stop them?

June 1940, in Southeastern France, a handful of French soldiers faced off against an invasion of 300,000 Italian troops. Elsewhere, the French army was in disarray. The Government fled to Bordeaux. The Germans entered Paris. The roads were crowded with refugees and retreating soldiers. Why did this handful of French soldiers continue to fight when all was lost? What explains their heroic victory?

This infamous battle was one of the worst moments of World War II. On one August evening, after 9 hours of fighting, over 2,000 mostly Canadian Allied soldiers were killed in a raid on a Nazi-occupied port. How did this terrible fiasco unfold? What strategic goals were served by this perilous operation? What lessons did the Allies learn as they planned for the Normandy landings two years later?

In July of 1944, at the height of World War II in Europe, Americans stormed the beaches of Normandy in Northern France. Everyone thought it would be a relatively easy move through Adolph Hitler's Nazi defenses. They were wrong. It took nearly two months to advance 50 kilometers into the French countryside. Now, commanders and historians study the invasion to understand what went right and wrong.

June 5th, 1944, over 13,000 men from two American parachute divisions flew a nearly impossible mission: to secure the right flank of the Normandy invasion, open roads, secure bridges, and blunt German counter-attacks. Who were these brave men, most of whom jumped for the first time, and many of whom perished? How did they achieve this incredible feat? Why did the Germans fail to stop their attack?

June 6, 1944. 156,000 Allied soldiers pushed toward the French Normandy coast in Operation Overlord. Among them were 15,000 Canadians of the 3rd Infantry Division. Of the first wave, half got no further than the shore. Those who got through entered one of the most brutal battles of the offensive. Within hours, these heroes faced a counter-attack from the Hitler Youth's 12th SS Panzer Division.

August 1944. For four years, the Swastika flag flew over Paris in a time of deprivation, humiliation, and repression. Despite Hitler's vow to destroy Paris rather than surrender it, Parisians rose up to play a crucial role in driving the Nazis out. General Charles de Gaulle now returned to Paris to address the people in a moment of national reconciliation, "the greatest hours of our History."

December 1944, Northern France was the scene of one of the bloodiest battles of World War II, immortalized in the movie "Saving Private Ryan." Just before Christmas, 500,000 Germans prepared to attack Allied forces with overwhelming force. The Allied counter-attack demonstrated the steely nerve of American generals, led by Dwight D. Eisenhower, and the incredible bravery of Allied soldiers.

There is no equal on the battlefield to the indomitable presence of the tank. For the last century, the tank has laid siege to front lines, provided protection to infantry, and struck fear into the hearts of its enemies. This special episode of Battlefields chronicles the development and evolution of this metal beast, from its birth in WWI to its deployment in modern urban warfare.