World War II Behind Closed Doors: Stalin, the Nazis and the West is a 2008 six-episode documentary series.
If the end of the war was supposed to have brought 'freedom’ to countries that suffered under Nazi occupation, then for millions it did not really end until the fall of Communism. In the summer of 1945 many of the countries in Eastern Europe simply swapped the rule of one tyrant, Adolf Hitler, for that of another: Joseph Stalin. Why this happened has remained one of the most troubling questions of the entire conflict, and is at the heart of Laurence Rees’ dramatic book.
In World War II: Behind Closed Doors, Rees provides an intimate 'behind the scenes’ history of the West’s dealings with Joseph Stalin – an account which uses material only available since the opening of archives in the East as well as new testimony from witnesses from the period. An enthralling mix of high politics and the often heart-rending personal experiences of those on the ground, it will make you rethink what you believe about World War II.
Episode 1:
Looks at the Nazi-Soviet Pact of 1939 after the Battle of Poland together with the planning and start of Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union of 1941.
Episode 2:
Explores the relationship between the Soviet Union and Britain during the war, the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and plans for a Western Front in Europe.
Episode 3:
Features the Moscow Conference between Stalin and Churchill and two battles on the Eastern Front: Stalingrad and Kursk.
Episode 4:
Covers the Teheran Conference, the first between the „Big Three”, D-Day in France and the Warsaw Uprising.
Episode 5:
Details the Battle of Normandy, the Battle of the Bulge, the Yalta Conference, the push to Berlin, and the victory over Germany from the perspective of Allied nations.
Episode 6:
Focuses on Operation August Storm, the end to the Pacific War, the Potsdam Conference, the fall from grace of Zhukov and Molotov, the death of Stalin, to the eventual fall of communist influence with the Berlin Wall in 1989.
