In ten days of bloody fighting in the Ardennes forest, the fate of the war in Europe was sealed. The Battle of the Bulge left the Wehrmacht in tatters and the road to Berlin clear for the advancing British and American forces. For six months, the Germans staved off the inevitable, despite incessant bombing and the surrender of over a quarter of a million soldiers. But, by May of 1945, the Soviet flag flew over Berlin, Hitler was dead, and the war was over.
One of the most compelling stories of World War II concerns the origins of the unlikely alliance between the Axis powers. While many people imagine that the union was forged along the lines of “the enemy of my enemy is my friend,” the real story is far more complicated. LAST SECRETS OF THE AXIS picks up where the popular HISTORY CHANNEL special THE SAMURAI AND THE SWASTIKA left off, examining the remarkable historical confluence that led to the rise of German-Japanese cooperation. At the heart of story is Karl Haushofer, a geography professor (and the man who coined the term “geopolitics”). The program explores the professor’s convoluted role, following him from the origins of the Reich to the Nuremberg Trials. LAST SECRETS also reveals details of many overlooked engagements, including a coup in Iraq, backed by German and Italian forces, that had the long-term goal of establishing a Persian Gulf base for Japanese submarines! From unsung battles to back-room dealings, this is a compelling examination of the LAST SECRETS OF THE AXIS.
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