Real Time History - Season 6

The Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan was supposed to be a quick show of force to pacify the country and install a more Moscow-friendly leadership for the Afghan communist regime. But the 40th Army (officially "Limited Contingent of Soviet Troops in Afghanistan") soon found themselves embroiled in a counter insurgency which they weren't prepared for. The tactical successes and increasingly brutal methods against the guerilla mujahedeen tactics didn't win hearts and minds of the Afghan population, however.

In early 1945, US forces return to the Philippine Island of Luzon. Hundreds of American and Filipino PoWs remain in Japanese prison camps like at Cabanatuan. US Rangers and Filipino Guerillas device a cunning plan to liberate the camp.

On March 28, 1982 almost the entire Argentinian navy, carrying 900 troops, invades the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas). The ruling junta is confident Britain won't oppose the Argentinian fait accompli. But Britain's political will and military ability to carry out a successful campaign at the end of an 12,500 km supply line surprises many.

After the defeat in the 1st Sino-Japanese War, the Qing Dynasty is under pressure: Some are calling for domestic reforms and ousting Western influence, while the Great Powers want to further open up China for their businesses. Violence erupts when the so called Boxer

By 1967, the Vietnam War is a stalemate. Although a purely military solution seems impossible against US forces, a massive North Vietnamese offensive could trigger a general uprising in the south. This results in the Tet Offensive – a North Vietnam attack across the South coinciding with the Tet Lunar New Year festivities in late January 1968. One of the key targets inside Saigon is the new US embassy.

In March 2003, a US-led coalition invades Iraq. US President George W. Bush claims he must disarm Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein of weapons of mass destruction and depose a brutal regime supporting global terror. But after a lightning capture of Baghdad and other Iraqi cities in the south, the war is far from over.

As the war in the Pacific develops, the United States takes the fight to Japan itself – by crippling its economy, destroying its industry, and crushing civilian morale. To do this, American submarines and heavy bombers wage campaigns beneath the sea and above the clouds. And even 80 years later, there’s a fierce debate about which of these campaigns did more to bring Japan to its knees – perhaps even more than the atomic bombs.

In the late summer of 1917, the German Empire is running out of time to win the First World War. If Germany can force Russia out of the war, shift its armies west, and defeat Britain and France before the Americans arrive in strength, victory might still be won. To threaten the Russian capital Petrograd they device a daring operation to capture the islands in the Gulf of Riga. The resulting Operation Albion is one of the most unique operations of the entire war.

In February 1989, the last Soviet Combat troops leave Afghanistan after almost a decade of war. Despite military superiority, the super power was not able to establish a stable Moscow-friendly regime in the country. Yet, the mujahedeen are also deeply divided and influenced by outside forces such as Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Osama Bin Laden.

The War of 1812 broke out after a series of escalations between Great Britain and the still young United States. The impressment of American sailors into the Royal Navy desperate to crew their ships in the ongoing war against Napoleon, the question if the US could trade with Britain and France at the same time and thus profit of the war, all came to a head after failed negotiations.

After the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan, the various mujahedeen factions and Afghanistan's neighbours Pakistan, Iran and the USSR are still vying for control. With new weapons still streaming in, some factions are not willing to compromise to achieve their vision of peace and thus Afghanistan descents into civil war.

The 19th century is a time of violent global imperial competition. The Scramble for Africa and the Great Game between the Russian and British Empires over influence in Central Asia are among the best-known examples. But the 2nd half of the century also involved another Great Game – the Great Game for Asia.

In late November 2001, the Northern Alliance and American paramilitary- and special forces have liberated almost the entire north of Afghanistan including the capital Kabul. But the remaining Taliban commanders have one more card to play which results in a multi-day battle in the 19th century fortress Qala-i-Jangi.

The Italian Army in North Africa is in disarray after the British Operation Compass. Hitler reluctantly sends help in the form of the newly formed Africa Corps under Erwin Rommel. Despite his orders, he immediately goes on the offensive and pushes back the British which are also reeling from the Axis invasion of Greece and Yugoslavia. But Rommel's bold leadership style has drawbacks and in May 1941, the vital port town of Tobruk still holds out.

To gain an advantage over Erwin Rommel's Axis forces in North Africa, the newly formed SAS and Long Range Desert Group try out a new kind of operation: A raid deep into enemy territory through harsh desert terrain.

In 1944 the days of dashing Japanese victories in the Pacific theatre are over. But the Empire is not defeated yet and desperate to at least gain a favorable position for peace negotiations. Against the full might of the dramatically expanded US Navy, Marines and Army forces, the Japanese are determined to fight to the last.

n May 2003, US President George W. Bush announces the end of major combat operations in the Iraq War and officially shifts to occupation and reconstruction. But an anti-US insurgency is quickly spreading and the country is quickly descending into violence. Even the capture of Saddam Hussein does not help stabilizing Iraq.

When the United States launched the War of 1812, it predicted a rapid successful invasion of British Canadian colonies. However, by fall 1812, it could only count a string of humiliating defeats. But in October, an ambitious US officer, Jesse Elliott, spots two British warships anchored in Lake Erie. If he can approach these ships undetected, he may be able to take them by storm, adding them to the US fleet and boosting American morale at a critical moment in the war.

By 1994, Afghanistan has been at war for more than 15 years. The Islamist mujahadeen factions that defeated them are divided by religious and ethnic rivalries. And in the midst of the chaos, a new faction that will change the course of the war rises to prominence in 1994: the Taliban.

Both the Axis and the British Middle East Command want to break the Siege of Tobruk in the summer of 1941. In the Fall the new British Eighth Army strikes first and the resulting Operation Crusader is one of the most confusing battles of the Second World War.

After the 9/11 attacks Afghanistan is the centre of the new "War on Terror" after the country has been largely ignored by the US in the 1990s. To quickly respond, the CIA and CENTCOM devise a new kind of warfare relying on special forces and CIA operators on the ground working in tandem with the Afghan Northern Alliance. Their goal is to capture or kill Osama Bin Laden and if possible topple the Taliban government sheltering him.

After the 9/11 attacks Afghanistan is the centre of the new "War on Terror" after the country has been largely ignored by the US in the 1990s. To quickly respond, the CIA and CENTCOM devise a new kind of warfare relying on special forces and CIA operators on the ground working in tandem with the Afghan Northern Alliance. Their goal is to capture or kill Osama Bin Laden and if possible topple the Taliban government sheltering him.

When war broke out in 1812, American leaders anticipated that they could annex Canada before the UK could mount an effective defense. But against smart Canadian and Native American defenders spurred on by the energetic Isaac Brock and marred by logistical problems, the Americans soon find themselves in a military quagmire with mounting losses.

When the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in late 1979, the Politburo planned for a quick show of force that would help the fledgling Afghan communist regime to consolidate power. Instead the Soviet Army was embroiled in a 10 year counter insurgency against Afghan mujahedeen and their supporters in Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Iran and the USA.

When Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union in 1941 with Operation Barbarossa, observers expected a quick German victory - and so did Adolf Hitler and the Wehrmacht leadership. But many of the assumptions of the German plan would turn out to be flawed.