Best WW2 documentary to watch while waiting for HOI4?
- Thread starter Lieftastic
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World War II In Color is good, if a bit on the side of pop-history.
People here have already mentioned Soviet Storm, but three other good Eastern Front documentaries are Russia's War, The Road to Stalingrad, and it's sequel The Road to Berlin. A Century of Warfare also has some good episodes dedicated to World War 2, as well as the wars of the 20th century in general.
People here have already mentioned Soviet Storm, but three other good Eastern Front documentaries are Russia's War, The Road to Stalingrad, and it's sequel The Road to Berlin. A Century of Warfare also has some good episodes dedicated to World War 2, as well as the wars of the 20th century in general.
Try and watch some of the old news reels to really get in the mood. They normally feature big ass arrows painted over broad, anonymous landscapes, very evocative of what we cam expect :laugh:
I have watched "a newsreel history of the third reich" I found it interesting to see the kind of propaganda that was being used by Germany in WWII. It was historical war reports from a German viewpoint with a bias intended to make the listeners support Germanys war effort. They contained a few outright lies but it was mostly just bias , only reporting part of the truth and heavily emphasising the wrongs done by the allies while ignoring those done by Germany. I actually found it fascinating to see how they went about making black white and white black.
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Not a documentary, but Germany published an English-language version of Signal magazine, sort of like Life. It's an interesting look at how the Germans saw themselves and wanted to be perceived by others. I think Signal can be found on Amazon.
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Some Polish contribution were not declassified by the time the documentary was made. One example is Polish contribution to cracking the ENIGMA code, which was made public only in 1974.
I personally recommend the Battlefield series, already mentioned by others. I don't think it's good to binge-watch all of the episodes, I think it's better to watch one at a time on a leisured pace. I especially like the analysis made on some lesser know battlefronts, like Soviet invasion of Crimea or Soviet invasion of Manchuria.
Talking about Battlefield, I also like Battlefield: Vietnam, one of the most neutral Vietnam documentaries made in the USA. Unfortunately, it never gets the grand strategy view of the Vietnam war and why the USA lost it: because politics is a part of war and you can lose a war even if you make your enemies lose more soldiers than you do. A good way to sum this up is to compare the Japanese view what should happen in a war (die for your Emperor/country is the ultimate glory), Patton's quote about the way wars are won (making more enemy soldiers die for their country than your own) and Ho Chi Minh's quote about how the enemy could kill ten of their men for each Vietnamese, but they'd still win. Sometimes I miss this politics aspect of grand strategy in the Hearts of Iron series. There are other ways to lose other than having every major city / victory point being occupied, and casualties don't seem to matter that much to war exhaustion and national unity. I mean, in the end, the Japanese strategy to winning their war was basically that: make the USA too exausted to insist in waging war. It was a broken strategy, but there should be a way for their plan to work in this sandbox game that doesn't involve unrealistic Japanese invasion of the American West Coast or weapons of mass destruction.
Talking about Battlefield, I also like Battlefield: Vietnam, one of the most neutral Vietnam documentaries made in the USA. Unfortunately, it never gets the grand strategy view of the Vietnam war and why the USA lost it: because politics is a part of war and you can lose a war even if you make your enemies lose more soldiers than you do. A good way to sum this up is to compare the Japanese view what should happen in a war (die for your Emperor/country is the ultimate glory), Patton's quote about the way wars are won (making more enemy soldiers die for their country than your own) and Ho Chi Minh's quote about how the enemy could kill ten of their men for each Vietnamese, but they'd still win. Sometimes I miss this politics aspect of grand strategy in the Hearts of Iron series. There are other ways to lose other than having every major city / victory point being occupied, and casualties don't seem to matter that much to war exhaustion and national unity. I mean, in the end, the Japanese strategy to winning their war was basically that: make the USA too exausted to insist in waging war. It was a broken strategy, but there should be a way for their plan to work in this sandbox game that doesn't involve unrealistic Japanese invasion of the American West Coast or weapons of mass destruction.
Soviet Storm: WWII -- In the East.
Awesome series.
Also: Pobediteli A flash presentation/timeline of the Great Patriotic War.
Awesome series.
Also: Pobediteli A flash presentation/timeline of the Great Patriotic War.
Apocalipsis: Second World War. One of the best and most detailed with plenty of colored videos. This documentary is not as those that repeat the same things over and over with the same videos. There's no moment where they repeat anything.
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If Springtime for Hitler is in poor taste, try https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9oAVqYWbBI (The True Story of Lend Lease).
Warlords.
It will put a lot of the events of WW2 in context as it delves into the minds and motivations of the leadership of the European war.
It will put a lot of the events of WW2 in context as it delves into the minds and motivations of the leadership of the European war.
Oh hells yes. That website is amazing in the way it goes into detail about the Eastern Front!
It is good at picking apart the decision making process, but some of its conclusions can be seen as... far-fetched. For instance: they suggest that after Rome fell the WAllies would have been able to carry on through Italy and into the Balkans had they not diverted resources to Operation Avalanche. In reality, that would have changed nothing since the Germans had simply fallen back onto new defensive lines and the Soviets would have overrun the Balkans anyways. That they tried to use Mark Clark as support for it is hilarious: his obssession with taking Rome above all else was a major reason that the Germans were able to pull off their withdrawal! If he hadn't let his anglophobia get in the way and disobeyed General Alexander's orders, they could have trapped and destroyed the Germans before they withdrew to the Gothic line. Taking his advice on how to best get into the Balkans is a little like taking Hitler's advice on how to hold Stalingrad against a Soviet pincer movement.
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I would like to see a documentary that isn't just about D-Day, Paris, Bulge, Rhein, Elbe.
Something with the substance of Soviet Storm in terms of OOB, numbers of divs, and all that, but about the whole Allied Western Campaign. I can't believe that retaking France after Falaise was that easy?
Something with the substance of Soviet Storm in terms of OOB, numbers of divs, and all that, but about the whole Allied Western Campaign. I can't believe that retaking France after Falaise was that easy?
It actually kind of was. After the destruction of most of the 9th Army at Falaise, the road across France was wide open and the Wehrmacht was in total rout. It was only after the WAllies drove all the way across France and Belgium to the German border by September that logistical problems started setting in and the Germans managed to rally. Then they started struggling again and we got stuff like Market Garden and clearing the Scheldt in front of Antwerp.
Regarding Vietnam, give this documentary a try. It is the best one I have ever seen.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zl35LxLvaPw
That link starts at part 2, part 1 is just an edited-down version of the other 12 parts.
Anyway, I second Apocalypse: The Second World War. It isn't mind-blowing, but it does a reasonably good job of going through the European Theatre. As is basically always the case with WW2 documentaries (even World at War), the Pacific Theatre's treatment is poor.
To me, Apocalypse is the best, it is not too long, well explained and the remasterisation of the video is awesome...
There is 2 "sequels" for Apocalypse, one about Hitler and one about WWI
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAB46CAF0959FF316
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6T94Kl32fc
There is 2 "sequels" for Apocalypse, one about Hitler and one about WWI
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAB46CAF0959FF316
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6T94Kl32fc
The World at War is excellent, although I'd point out it's actually not a BBC production, having been made for ITV.
I would say that charges of anglo-centrism are pretty accurate (in many ways it's a product of its time), but despite that it's well worth viewing, if only for the quality of the interviews. I'd also add that the writing is top-notch, it treats its audience as adults and doesn't labour points in the way many modern documentaries do, and it eschews triumphalism, favouring an appropriately sombre tone throughout.
It's not the perfect WWII documentary, but I'd think that if such a programme existed it would essentially be an expanded version of the World at War.
I would say that charges of anglo-centrism are pretty accurate (in many ways it's a product of its time), but despite that it's well worth viewing, if only for the quality of the interviews. I'd also add that the writing is top-notch, it treats its audience as adults and doesn't labour points in the way many modern documentaries do, and it eschews triumphalism, favouring an appropriately sombre tone throughout.
It's not the perfect WWII documentary, but I'd think that if such a programme existed it would essentially be an expanded version of the World at War.