After World War II, the French colonial empire, which dominated the lives of over 110 million people on five continents, collapsed in just under a quarter century of blood and tears.
WWII history series following a four-man team as they explore the war zones of the Eastern Front in an effort to excavate and preserve the forgotten battle relics, at the same time discovering the stories of fallen soldiers from their remains.
Chemistry teacher Andrei Petrovich Starikov, nicknamed "Charlie Chaplin", lives with his wife and mother in an old house, which, like an ark, is home to a motley international crowd: Ukrainians, Russians, Jews, Tatars, and Armenians. But the arrival of the Germans drastically changes their lives. To save his loved ones, Charlie is forced to serve as a translator at the Nazi headquarters.
At the outset of the Yalta Conference on February 4, 1945, the «Big Three» were all optimistic: victory was in no doubt, and the accord that they had achieved seemed likely to preserve the values they had fought for.
However, in just a few months, nothing would remain of this agreement apart from irreconcilable differences. United in war, the Allies would reveal themselves as divided and rivals in peace. How can such a rapid failure of a real effort at entente be explained? With the Yalta Conference in 1945 to 1953, discover a new world order drawn up by three men, looking for a lasting peace... that would lead inevitably to the Cold War.
Combining archive footage, photographs, original letters and unique testimonies, these two episodes revisit this crucial period in History. A full immersion into postwar years and an emerging new world order.
In 1964 in Laos, young Tim Page discovers his vocation as a photo journalist and is given a job, a camera, and a trip to Vietnam. There, he learns the ropes, learns about the war first in Saigon, and then in country on patrol with troops. He and his colleagues, including the sons of Errol Flynn and John Steinbeck, capture the war in pictures, recover from their wounds, swap stories, battle censorship, and support each other between the explosions at the brothel run by Tranh Ki: Frankie's House.
Occupied Western Ukraine, 1944. The Soviet High Command is concerned about a large-scale, highly classified construction running through the line of the Soviet offensive. A reconnaissance unit is deployed and a Soviet scout is placed behind enemy's lines in order to obtain information about the project.
Leipzig in 1989 – Germany divided into East and West. The twelve-year-old friends Fritzi and Sophie don't care much about this - until Sophie has to flee to the West with her mother. There she struggles with prejudices against 'those from over there', but above all with her homesickness. Fritzi's attempt to at least bring Sophie her dog Sputnik fails because of the heavily guarded border. Fritzi realizes that only the fight for freedom in her country can bring the two of them together again.