WW2: Biography - Season 1

Carton de Wiart was a remarkable figure in World War One, but his story continues in World War Two, where he rolls from one adventure into the next.

Hans Oster opposed the Nazis and tried to oppose them from early on. As a member of the Abwehr, he tried to do whatever he could. During the war, his efforts increased with a dramatic outcome.

A Serb royal with an English heart sounds pretty romantic, but the story of Prince Paul of Yugoslavia is far from it. Trapped by circumstance, he is forced to make decisions that go against his own personal beliefs and leave him condemned as a traitor.

Charles De Gaulle is a towering figure in history, and not just because of his height. Becoming increasingly political in the interwar years due to his unorthodox views on military strategy, The Fall of France will thrust him into the limelight.

Haile Selassie was the Emperor of the Ethiopian Empire. He led the country against the Italians in the Second Italo-Ethiopian War after which he is exiled to Britain.

Georgy Zhukov's rise to one day become the Hero of the Soviet Union did not happen overnight. Instead, the son of a poor tradesman has slowly worked himself up the ranks of the Red Army using his grit, determination, and iron will.

Roald Dahl is not just a beloved author, he is also a wartime adventurer. He saw plenty of action in North-Africa and Greece, where he got the inspiration for many of his work to come.

The Bismarck is without a doubt a force to be reckoned with. But with the Kriegsmarine experiencing an identity crisis throughout the 1930s, the Bismarcks design and strategic purpose foreshadow a dramatic ending.

Most of the German high-command are not committed National Socialists. So what were like and why did they still serve the Nazi regime?

The career of Duško Popov is probably more exciting than any work of fiction. A glamorous and brave spy who plays a central role in the underground intelligence war of the time.

George Orwell is one of the most famous English writers in the modern age. But how did he become the man who would coin so many of the words we still use in our political debates?

Leni Riefenstal's film techniques were groundbreaking and are still influential today. She did, though, create her most famous works in the service of Adolf Hitler.

In the pre-war years, the cold and amibtious Reinhard Heydrich rapidly climbed the Nazi political ladder. With the outbreak of World War Two, he expands his political power even more by carrying out ruthless political repression on the homefront and genocidal racial policies in the occupied territories.

Claude Auchinleck put military matters over that of politics. Although this angered some, mainly Churchill, Auchinleck still found himself in India, and later facing down Rommel in North Africa.

A spy who is famous for warning Stalin about Hitler's plan to invade the Soviet Union. But he was so much more than that. His fascinating life begins in the Cacuausases and eventually leads him to Tokyo.

A man who was both Japan's War Minister and Prime Minister, who played a large role in escalating the already daunting scale of the war in China to a world war against multiple world powers. We learn about his life from his birth in Tokyo in 1884 to his execution at Sugamo prison in Tokyo in 1948.

Cordell Hull is the face of American diplomacy in 1941 as it navigates the precarious road to war against Imperial Japan.

Thailand's prime minister and de-facto dictator Plaek Phibunsongkhram imported European fascism, nationalism and militarism to his country. But when Japan's threat to South-East Asia became imminent, Phibun didn't know what to do. His story is one of utter indecisiveness and opportunism.

Adolf Eichmann was one of the masterminds behind the 'Final Solution of the Jewish Question'. Or was he? In his trial, he argued to be merely a bureaucrat who was following orders. This episode attempts to shine a light on the real role of this controversial figure.

She is much more than the wife of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and once she tasted political life, she soon followed her own interests, changing what it means to be a politician's wife.

Carl Gustaf Mannerheim is a national hero after his service in everything from the Finnish Civil War to the Winter War. But did he plan a war of aggression with Nazi Germany against the Soviet Union? And if so, did Hitler and Stalin even give him any choice in the matter?

Leningrad's Dmitri Shostakovich has risen from a child prodigy to be one of the Soviet Union's most celebrated composers, having rescued his career from Stalin's interference along the way. Desperate to defend Russia after the German invasion, he fights back, not with a rifle, but with music.

Brazilian President, Getúlio Vargas, has led his country as dictator since the 1930s. He has embraced European fascist ideas and fostered close ties with Germany and Italy. Yet, he also maintains a close relationship with the United States. After skilfully playing both sides, he must now choose Axis or Allies.

Amin al-Husseini is one of the leading figures in global Islam. He's an Arab nationalist, an anti-Semite, and anti-Zionist. But he's also willing to work with imperialist powers if it suits him. He's been loyal to the Ottomans and the British. In 1941, he throws his lot in with Hitler and the Nazis.

From the woods of the Urals to the burning city of Stalingrad, Vasily Zaitsev went out to hunt his prey. As a sniper, he learned his trait in the grim reality of Stalingrad street fighting. Deep in the ruins of the factories, he stalked his enemies with a team of battle-hardened snipers. For days on end, they would lay in wait for valuable targets to show up. With a finger on the triggers, they would decimate the German ranks within a few deadly moments.

Nikita Khrushchev has served Joseph Stalin faithfully for the past decade. He's a career commissar and party man. So, when war breaks out, are commissars like Khrushchev little more than Stalinist enforcers? Or is there more to the institution than that?