
Introduction to the programme by Dr Emmett Sullivan
Examine the dangers of appeasement, from Munich to the Suez crisis, and why coalitions of my enemy’s enemy can yield unstable, short-term alliances.
Explore how resource control steered the war, detailing Britain's oil constraints, German gains, El Alamein, and Japan's supply pressures, then compare autarchy with open borders and trade.
Technology shapes warfare; appropriate technology matters more than sheer high-tech, as robust, maintainable designs like the T-34 and mass production outpace fragile devices, while drones and precision warfare redefine deterrence.
World War I dismantled central and eastern empires, Britain and allies kept colonies intact, and the Atlantic Charter promoted self-determination, steering decolonization and Europe toward a US-Soviet bipolar order.
Documentaries often tell us about the wars themselves, but what about the legacy of the war and what lessons can we learn. In this 9 part programme. Historian, Dr Emmett Sullivan takes us through the 5 most significant take aways from World War Two, the lessons we should all know. He finishes with four parts on how Europe, specifically, has changed since the war both economically, politically and socially.