WW1 At Sea: The Battle of Jutland (1916)

Nearly a century of Cold War tensions between the United States and Russia hide the incredibly close friendship that the two nations enjoyed before this period. From America’s colonial founding in the 1600s to the eve of World War One, the two distant nations relied on each other ... Show More

One of the worst nautical disasters in recent American history is the sinking of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald. On November 10, 1975, the “storm of the century” threw 100 mile-per-hour winds and 50-foot waves on Lake Superior. The ship found itself at the worst possible place, at the ... Show More

Over the course of World War II, Germany’s submariners sank over three thousand Allied ships, nearly three-quarters of Allied shipping losses in all theaters of the war. Winston Churchill famously declared the only thing that truly frightened him during World War II was the U-boa ... Show More

In accounts of the Second World War, the role Navy's played is often overlooked. But the Navy's of both the Allied and Axis forces engaged in some of the biggest maritime campaigns in history. From near total elimination of forces, to epic sea battles, the Second World War change ... Show More

<p>During WWII, the whole of Britain's coastline was involved in the struggle against the Nazis. In 1940-41 invasion was the main threat. Many towns and cities around the coast, such as Plymouth, Portsmouth, Hull and Great Yarmouth, were the targets of devastating air raids. The ... Show More

As the Soviet Union reeled from the shock of the German invasion in 1941 it asked for aid from Britain and its allies and the arctic convoys was a key part of the response. Desperate to keep the Soviets in the war and fighting the Nazi war machine Winston Churchill agreed to deli ... Show More

<p>Mes chers camarades, bien le bonjour ! </p><p>Quand on parle de la Seconde Guerre mondiale, il est généralement question du déroulement général de la guerre, de l’occupation, des principales batailles terrestres… et moins souvent de ce qu’il s’est passé du côté naval. Quelles ... Show More

<p>As some of you may know, I am also a First World War historian, and the academic history of the war can be very different from the public perspective, which dwells on the first two years of the war. </p> <p>Forgetting the victories of 1917 and 1918 is not new; it is something ... Show More

On September 1 1939 Nazi Germany invaded Poland followed two days later by France and the United Kingdom declaring war on Germany and beginning the Second World War. This was the opening act in what would be the most devastating clash in human history. By its end Europe and much ... Show More

<p>The battle of Leyte Gulf was the largest naval battle of WWII, it consisted of four separate actions near the Philippines between the US Navy and the Imperial Japanese Navy.</p> <p>The Japanese plan was to disrupt the American landings on the island of Leyte. In one respect, t ... Show More

During World War Two, British women were employed as operators of a top-secret radar system for detecting aircraft. The new technology had helped shift the balance of power in the air war with Nazi Germany. Laura Fitzpatrick talks to Margaret Faulds, who was stationed at a Royal ... Show More

November 11, 1918. At exactly 11 AM local time, the shooting stops. It’s eerily quiet for the first time in a long time. World War I has finally come to an end today after Germany and the Allied nations signed an armistice not long before. The final battle of the war, known today ... Show More

From BBC Radio 4 Responsibility for the Great War has been a fierce battle for meaning ever since 1914. Michael Portillo examines how the history of the origins of the Great War and the issue of war guilt has, since 1914, frequently been a fierce battle for meaning with high stak ... Show More