The Unknown War

I have to give this series, broadcast in 1978, an "8" - almost a "9" because of it's remarkable televising of long unseen Russian newsreel and movie photography of the war effort on the Eastern Front from 1941 through 1945. In a sense the release of this material in 1978 was a kind of harbinger of the release of long secret Russian historical records and archives in the "Glastnost" period, until even today. The most notable effect of this tendency was the cooperation of the post 1985 governments to assist in finding and restoring the family remains of Tsar Nicholas II and his slaughtered wife Alexandra, and their children, to the Romanoff Family for proper burial. There are other examples, such as tracing the fates of millions of Stalin's purge victims. But the first feeble attempt at this was the photography released for this series on the Russian sacrifice (20 million dead!) in the Second World War.

But the film was released at a heavy price: The Russian Government of Leonid Brezhnev insisted that they control the narrative. Now, while nobody in their right minds would deny the terrible losses and trauma Russians and other Soviet Peoples suffered at the hands of the Nazis (example on a "small level, shown in the series: the destruction of the home of the composer Pyotr Ilyich Tschaikoswki by Nazi goons and the burning of original musical manuscripts to show their contempt for Slavic culture), the narrative went to the extent of almost denying the losses of Britain and Commonwealth, China (Communist and Kuomintang), the United States, France, and others (Jews, for example), as being on a large level too. The result was, at the least, annoying. In the opening episode the Western Viewer was told by the narrator (Burt Lancaster, managing to give a good accounting of his delivery - even when speaking the worst nonsense) that the so called "Winter War" of 1939 - 1944 between Finland under Marshall Mannerheim and Stalin's Russia was due to Finnish aggression.

I don't think I ever heard before about this theory of "Greater Finland" or the hitherto under-discussed "Finnish Baltic Supremacy Theory" that shook up the globe. Somehow it escaped most of us.

To be fair Mannerheim did get aid from Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, but he was not a puppet of the former (say like Vidkun Quistling of Norway) nor a collaborator like Pierre Laval of France. In fact, Mannerheim threatened to make peace with Stalin, and even join forces with Russia against Germany, if any attempt was made to deport Finland's small Jewish population.

It is instructive that in the general "clensing" of neo-Nazi stooges in Europe following 1945, like Franco in Spain, Mannerheim was not bothered. But unlike Franco Mannerheim was honored as a great hero - even getting on an American postage stamp in the 1960s.

Similar twisting of history distort the good of the series. Little is said of such off stage incidents as the blitz or the later V2 campaign against London. While aerial warfare is given good treatment (particularly showing the loosening of sexual role playing in the war - like America's "Rosie the Riveter", Russia's women played an active role in the war machine, even as pilots of the Russian air force), the Russian's willingness to sacrifice anything for victory is underplayed. Stalin is not shown as the monster he was - his Nonaggression Pact with Hitler is barely touched on. Nothing is said of the Gulags or the Purges, except to extol certain public works projects that were valuable (that we now know were built by slave laborers from the Gulags.

The series was not fully shown. Russia invaded Afghanistan, and the U.S. public lost interest. It has not been brought back with a fixed narrative, but it probably could be now. Russia did sacrifice on an unprecedented scale. But the story of that hard, terribly hard and bloody victory of the Russian People still needs to be told without propagandistic lies for the West and the rest of the World to know of, and appreciate. Those lies prevent this from being a "10".

One of the best series about the Second World War and about the Soviet Operation Barbarossa battle. It shows us the decision of its population with the courage not to allow itself to be bent, invaded or defeated by the enemy towards its great people. And presented by the well-known and good actor Burt Lancaster and with Averill Harriman. They make this series unique that should not be missing in any collection. / Una de las mejores series sobre la Segunda Guerra Mundial y sobre la batalla de la Operación Barbarroja soviética. Nos muestra la decisión de su población con el coraje de no dejarse doblegar, invadir o derrotar por el enemigo hacia su gran pueblo. Y presentado por el conocido y buen actor Burt Lancaster y con Averill Harriman, hacen que esta serie sea única que no debe faltar en ninguna colección.

Having just watched this, I thought it was an incredible series. Burt Lancaster did a great job narrating throughout. The Soviet producers could have been a little more forthcoming regarding casualty-statistics I thought - for instance, we are always given a figure of what the German casualties were after each major battle, but hardly ever one for their Soviet counterpart. Understandable, but a little frustrating if you are a bean-counter like me! I thought the musical-score to be merely adequate. What I really liked were the 2 music-tracks that are triggered by the DVD menus, superb!

What struck me though as a 'Westerner' was how little I knew about this titanic struggle to begin with. The pro-western school systems certainly seem to have done a great job marginalizing the Soviet's role in World War II, where in reality, they practically destroyed the entire Nazi war-machine single-handedly - as one commenter mentioned, they were responsible for 88% of all Nazi-casualties during the war - but at an incredible cost! The "World At War" series also seems to just gloss over these facts as well, much to it's shame - which is why I suppose most of the 'great-unwashed' (not just Americans) believe that the USA had a much bigger hand in the European war than they actually did. Another reviewer's comment here about a recent American Poll revealing that a considerable number of Americans though that the US fought WITH the Germans AGAINST the Soviets had me LOL'ing though - if that's true, well, the mind boggles...

I was however amazed and bemused by some of the reviewer's comments here. Most that are critical appear to be using the word "Propaganda" completely out of context - there is almost no evangelizing of Communist Ideals anywhere in the entire series!!! But then the 'anti-propagandists' reveal their hand - the real problem is that it doesn't contain material that THEY almost insist, should have been included - mainly involving Stalin and his purges! This is about the Great Patriotic War, not an overview of Soviet History in the 20th century. Yes, Stalin was a monster, but as the documentary clearly states, Stalin was not a military man so gave his generals free reign in running the war, and as a result is barely seen in the whole series. More to the point, most of the world at the time in question (1941-1945) had no inklings of any of this, so why include it - again, this documentary was about the USSR's GREAT PATRIOTIC WAR!

So overall, very well made and well worth watching.

I remember well this TV miniseries that ran in 1978 and 1979. My Grandparents and I would watch every episode and they would share WWII memories with me. This miniseries is highly detailed with excellent interviews with surviving field commanders, veterans and leaders from both sides. The episode about the Battle of Stalingrad where "the irresistible force met the immovable object," was unforgettable. This series was pulled from TV when the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1980. When I saw another recent movie entitled "Enemy at the Gates," starring Jude Law and Bob Hoskiss, I remembered this TV series and am surprised that it has not been released on DVD or VHS yet. I highly recommend this TV miniseries for anyone seriously interested in World War II and it would be perfect also for classroom usage. Let's all hope that this classic miniseries becomes available soon.

Watching many documentaries about WWII is like watching the Olympics on network TV, you usually are limited to watching the US in the games. When the best indoor volleyball game is Spain against Poland, you get to watch the US against any other country.

The 2nd world war was a "World War"! Lot's of prominent action did not involve the United States directly. Many other countries such as Canada, Australia and Iceland made significant contributions. Where are their stories? I'm sure that New Zealand's efforts are well known at home, but not told to those of us here in the US who are interested in the bigger picture.

This documentary brings an acute understanding of the Russian loss of life and property in comparison to that of the US. Are we so parochial that we cannot, after 60 years, offer sympathy and credit, where it is due, to the enormous effort of the Russian people?