0:00:03 > 0:00:06In the 1950s, the famous newsreel company,
0:00:06 > 0:00:08Pathe, produced a major
0:00:08 > 0:00:11historical documentary series for British television.
0:00:11 > 0:00:15Made by the award-winning producer Peter Baylis
0:00:15 > 0:00:18and narrated by an illustrious line-up of celebrated actors,
0:00:18 > 0:00:21Time to Remember chronicled the social,
0:00:21 > 0:00:22cultural and political forces
0:00:22 > 0:00:27that shaped the first half of the 20th century.
0:00:27 > 0:00:32In numerous programmes, Baylis covered the politicians' efforts to preserve peace
0:00:32 > 0:00:35in the aftermath of the Great War.
0:00:35 > 0:00:39The details of the diplomats' quest to maintain international security
0:00:39 > 0:00:42leave a striking impression of an enthralling period.
0:00:49 > 0:00:56- RECORDING:- # There's a long, long, trail a winding
0:00:56 > 0:01:01# Through the land of my dreams... #
0:01:01 > 0:01:05MALE VOICEOVER: 'Things, friends, places, faces,
0:01:05 > 0:01:08'years and moments half forgotten,
0:01:08 > 0:01:14'laughs, fears, songs, tears, memories are made of this.'
0:01:15 > 0:01:18CLOCK MECHANISMS CLICK AND WHIR
0:01:18 > 0:01:20CLOCK STRIKES
0:01:20 > 0:01:24CLOCK TICKS
0:01:38 > 0:01:39The prospect of the world once again
0:01:39 > 0:01:42witnessing destruction and slaughter on the scale
0:01:42 > 0:01:44of the Great War
0:01:44 > 0:01:47shaped international diplomacy through the '20s and '30s.
0:01:48 > 0:01:52Time to Remember, chronicled the doomed struggle of the politicians
0:01:52 > 0:01:57to establish a peaceful world order via an organisation in which
0:01:57 > 0:02:01all countries, no matter what size, would have a voice.
0:02:02 > 0:02:03The desire to negotiate,
0:02:03 > 0:02:11bargain and appease in the face of aggression and expansion would ultimately prove misguided.
0:02:11 > 0:02:15These were two decades when statesmen and diplomats travelled to all corners of the world
0:02:15 > 0:02:17in the vain pursuit of peace.
0:02:20 > 0:02:22CROWD CHEERS
0:02:22 > 0:02:24FILM: 'I remember a time of crowds cheering
0:02:24 > 0:02:28'before London's Buckingham Palace and calling for the Royal Family.
0:02:28 > 0:02:30'That's happened many times, I know, but this
0:02:30 > 0:02:36'was a time with a difference, for this was a time at the end of a long,
0:02:36 > 0:02:41'long trail - a trail of agony for much of mankind.
0:02:41 > 0:02:46'The first hour of a peace for which the world had given up hope.
0:02:46 > 0:02:51'The hour of 11am on the 11th of November, 1918.'
0:02:51 > 0:02:52CHEERING CONTINUES
0:02:53 > 0:02:59'With each fresh arrival of another war winner another little Armistice Day of excitement -
0:02:59 > 0:03:05'for Allenby the victor of Jerusalem and the Middle East, for Admiral Jellicoe and General Smuts,
0:03:07 > 0:03:12'for Earl Beatty, whose cruisers had taken the full blast of the German fleet at Jutland.'
0:03:15 > 0:03:19Although the war had ended, there was still the task of agreeing war reparations.
0:03:19 > 0:03:24These negotiations went on for several long months in France.
0:03:27 > 0:03:31'In 1919, troops who had fought and won the war,
0:03:31 > 0:03:34'relaxed and wandered through its great rooms
0:03:34 > 0:03:37'and marvelled at the splendid gardens.
0:03:37 > 0:03:40'The year in which cars
0:03:40 > 0:03:42'trundled through the golden gates of Versailles
0:03:42 > 0:03:47'bringing delegates to sign the peace treaty which marked the end
0:03:47 > 0:03:52'of WWI. For months the nations had conferred in Paris
0:03:52 > 0:03:54'at the peace conference.
0:03:54 > 0:03:57'The French, the British the Americans, the Italians,
0:03:57 > 0:04:00'the Belgians, the Portuguese the Romanians -
0:04:00 > 0:04:05'small conquerors as well as great. Yet, needless to say,
0:04:05 > 0:04:11'the weight of argument and decision rested with the most powerful.
0:04:11 > 0:04:16'Behind guarded gates and guilded salons, they'd gone into closed session,
0:04:16 > 0:04:20'and no ordinary mortal could get his face in, let alone a word.'
0:04:21 > 0:04:26'Amid her ruins, Europe was reopening her shutters, putting out her stalls
0:04:26 > 0:04:28'and quietly resuming business.
0:04:28 > 0:04:34'Whatever peacemakers may decide, people continue to produce, buy, sell and live.
0:04:36 > 0:04:38'And how about victorious Britain?
0:04:38 > 0:04:44'A spruced up Eros was returning to his pre-war pedestal in Piccadilly Circus, a sure sign of peace.
0:04:47 > 0:04:52'At Versailles, the fountains played as they did once for the Sun King.
0:04:52 > 0:04:56'Now they played for those who had re-shaped a continent.
0:04:56 > 0:05:00'Now it was time to pose for their portraits by Sir William Orpen.
0:05:00 > 0:05:06'And dress up in their best for the ceremony of the signing of the treaty,
0:05:06 > 0:05:11'for there in the Sun King's great hall of the mirrors,
0:05:11 > 0:05:15'the victors and the vanquished were to put their signatures to what was called
0:05:15 > 0:05:18'the Treaty of Versailles.
0:05:23 > 0:05:29'And so they signed and the pattern of the future was set for millions,
0:05:29 > 0:05:36'for this was it they said, the end of war and the rule of force.
0:05:36 > 0:05:41'This was peace, real peace, once and for all.
0:05:42 > 0:05:44'So the delegates left Paris,
0:05:44 > 0:05:48'most of them with the feeling that they had done a sound job.
0:05:48 > 0:05:52'But others left quietly by the back door without fuss,
0:05:52 > 0:05:55'as though after reading the terms of the document
0:05:55 > 0:05:59'that was to breathe new hatred into the world
0:05:59 > 0:06:03'and make a second great war almost a certainty, the least said
0:06:03 > 0:06:04'the better.
0:06:07 > 0:06:15'Yes, though many rejoiced, some had their reservations, like President Wilson for instance,
0:06:15 > 0:06:22'ailing now and soon to die before witnessing the complete failure of his dreams of a peaceful world.'
0:06:22 > 0:06:27With the Versailles Treaty in place, the war was officially over, and Britain was able to celebrate
0:06:27 > 0:06:32with peace day on July the 19th, 1919.
0:06:32 > 0:06:35Exactly one year after the end of the fighting,
0:06:35 > 0:06:41there was another parade as Britain marked the anniversary with the first Armistice Day.
0:06:44 > 0:06:49'In London, the great marched with the gun carriage, with the poor shattered body
0:06:49 > 0:06:55'chosen at random - unrecognised maybe unrecognisable.
0:06:55 > 0:07:03'In Whitehall, King George V, his sons and his ministers paid their respects in one more unveiling,
0:07:03 > 0:07:07'this time of a memorial to one mighty host to be remembered -
0:07:07 > 0:07:08'the Cenotaph.
0:07:11 > 0:07:13CANNON FIRES
0:07:13 > 0:07:14'That's Lloyd George.
0:07:19 > 0:07:21CANNON FIRES
0:07:22 > 0:07:26# Tinker? Tailor? Soldier for certain.
0:07:26 > 0:07:28'But rich man, poor man, beggar man or thief?
0:07:32 > 0:07:39'Poor broken warrior, whatever he was in life, in death he was the greatest of them all.'
0:07:39 > 0:07:45As a result of the Versailles Treaty an inter-governmental organisation
0:07:45 > 0:07:50was to be established to prevent further wars through collective security and disarmament.
0:07:50 > 0:07:53'In the courtyard of London's St James's Palace,
0:07:53 > 0:07:57'diplomats came and went as the nations decided the shape and form
0:07:57 > 0:08:01'of a new international organisation, its title,
0:08:01 > 0:08:03'the League of Nations.
0:08:04 > 0:08:09'Among the top-hatted British, French, Italian and Japanese,
0:08:09 > 0:08:10'no Americans were to be seen.
0:08:11 > 0:08:14'In spite of President Wilson's dreams,
0:08:14 > 0:08:18'the United States had decided to keep out of Europe's future affairs.
0:08:18 > 0:08:23'A decision to prove in the long run, not only a pity
0:08:23 > 0:08:25'but a disaster.'
0:08:30 > 0:08:32By December 1920,
0:08:32 > 0:08:3548 states had signed the covenant,
0:08:35 > 0:08:38pledging to eliminate aggression between countries.
0:08:38 > 0:08:41Disarmament was high on the agenda for all concerned.
0:08:41 > 0:08:42In 1924,
0:08:42 > 0:08:46British Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald addressed the delegates.
0:08:47 > 0:08:53The armed nations must be prepared to make their contribution in disarmament.
0:08:53 > 0:09:00The disarmed nation wants justice and peace. Hmm.
0:09:00 > 0:09:03And the germ is pure and simple...
0:09:04 > 0:09:13it would be the most heartbreaking confession of failure that this conference couldn't doubt.
0:09:13 > 0:09:18And then there were such treaties as the Locarno Pact.
0:09:18 > 0:09:24Negotiated in Locarno, Switzerland, and then signed in London on Dec 1st, 1925,
0:09:24 > 0:09:29this was a treaty to secure post-WWI territories and paved the way
0:09:29 > 0:09:32for Germany's admission into the League in 1926.
0:09:32 > 0:09:36Traditional opponents of Germany like France, that's Monsieur Briand,
0:09:36 > 0:09:41kept their true thoughts to themselves but still they let her in.
0:09:41 > 0:09:47And with Germany among its members, the League awaited its new headquarters.
0:09:47 > 0:09:51'Over the mountains, the stalwart Alps, in the tranquil air of Switzerland,
0:09:51 > 0:09:53'the leaders of the nations,
0:09:53 > 0:09:58'Germany included, were meeting for further discourses within the League of Nations.
0:09:58 > 0:10:03'The search for peace might be long yet there was no lack of searching.
0:10:03 > 0:10:08'Indeed so strong was faith, that by the Lake of Geneva
0:10:08 > 0:10:11'a permanent home was a-building.'
0:10:11 > 0:10:16By the early 1930s, failings within the League were starting to emerge.
0:10:16 > 0:10:18The Japanese had been original members
0:10:18 > 0:10:22but after the invasion of Manchuria their position became untenable.
0:10:22 > 0:10:28'Japan's forceful infiltration into Jehol coming so soon
0:10:28 > 0:10:30'after her Manchurian annexation
0:10:30 > 0:10:33'put before the League of Nations a test case.
0:10:33 > 0:10:36'And who knew? Maybe if Japan was intimidated
0:10:36 > 0:10:39'she might even walk out of the League for good,
0:10:39 > 0:10:43'for Japan was riding high.
0:10:46 > 0:10:49'All the same, at Geneva,
0:10:49 > 0:10:52'Japan was duly censored for her actions.
0:10:52 > 0:10:54'The Chinese delegate said...'
0:10:54 > 0:11:01'Today, because of the loft and usurpation of power by her military chieftains,
0:11:01 > 0:11:09'who are bent on defying the international instrument of peace, and, of course, of world opinion,
0:11:09 > 0:11:14'Japan finds herself all alone.'
0:11:14 > 0:11:17'And this was Japan's answer.'
0:11:20 > 0:11:22Then in October 1933,
0:11:22 > 0:11:25Hitler, as the newly elected Chancellor of Germany
0:11:25 > 0:11:28withdrew from the disarmament conference,
0:11:28 > 0:11:32removed his country from the League of Nations and started to re-arm.
0:11:32 > 0:11:37Actions that contributed to numerous German nationals to abandoning their place of birth.
0:11:37 > 0:11:40Albert Einstein sought exile in America.
0:11:40 > 0:11:43- EINSTEIN:- '..of securing and maintaining peace,
0:11:43 > 0:11:50'but also with the important task of education and enlightenment.
0:11:50 > 0:11:57'Without such freedom, there would have been no Shakespeare,
0:11:57 > 0:12:01'no Goethe, no Newton, no Faraday,
0:12:01 > 0:12:04'no Pasteur and no Lister.'
0:12:04 > 0:12:06APPLAUSE
0:12:06 > 0:12:09These withdrawals were setbacks the League could do little about
0:12:09 > 0:12:12and matters got worse when Italy invaded Ethiopia,
0:12:12 > 0:12:14starting the second Italo-Abyssinian war.
0:12:17 > 0:12:20'The tramp of soldiers' feet again, oft times bare.
0:12:20 > 0:12:23'For a year the drums had beat in Ethiopia,
0:12:23 > 0:12:26'calling the tribesman to the defence of their country.
0:12:26 > 0:12:28'The battle was now nearly over
0:12:28 > 0:12:32'but though the end was near, morale was still high.
0:12:32 > 0:12:33'March and train,
0:12:33 > 0:12:41'march and counter march. The spears, bows and arrows, antiquated rifles, muskets and shotguns...
0:12:42 > 0:12:45'these pathetic weapons against...
0:12:46 > 0:12:49'..a conqueror who had taken the sword
0:12:49 > 0:12:53'to become, as he had claimed, Islam's protector.
0:12:53 > 0:12:56'But Il Duce's protection meant for Ethiopia
0:12:56 > 0:12:59'the onslaught of tanks, guns and bombing planes.
0:12:59 > 0:13:06'And against such force, spears and courage were not enough.'
0:13:08 > 0:13:14In May 1936 the war ended, and Italy declared Ethiopia part of an Italian Empire.
0:13:14 > 0:13:17Emperor Haile Selassie sought exile in Britain.
0:13:17 > 0:13:22He then went to the League of Nations to speak for his country.
0:13:24 > 0:13:29Selassie did not get the full support he requested and returned to the UK
0:13:29 > 0:13:33where he remained in exile until Ethiopia was liberated during WWII.
0:13:33 > 0:13:36But in the summer of 1936,
0:13:36 > 0:13:41the world's nations came together under a veneer of friendliness.
0:13:41 > 0:13:44'In Berlin an open Mercedes rolled through the streets,
0:13:44 > 0:13:45'towards a stadium specially built
0:13:45 > 0:13:51'for the Olympics Games, bearing to the scene Germany's VIP of all VIPs.
0:13:55 > 0:13:57'Then the torch arrived from Greece
0:13:57 > 0:14:01'and in the presence of Adolph Hitler the flame was lit -
0:14:01 > 0:14:04'the games were on.
0:14:07 > 0:14:10'Flags flying together, the nations' athletes
0:14:10 > 0:14:15'marching shoulder to shoulder regardless of colour or creed,
0:14:15 > 0:14:18'binding the ties in a common bond of sportsmanship.
0:14:18 > 0:14:23'Yes, it was all very hail fellow, well met.
0:14:23 > 0:14:28'But when the doves of peace flew upwards over the Fuhrer's head it was into a sky
0:14:28 > 0:14:32'not as cloudless as it might have been for such an occasion.'
0:14:32 > 0:14:37By 1937 despite a new home, the League of Nations was struggling to fulfil its aims
0:14:37 > 0:14:42and there was a growing lack of belief in its effectiveness amongst its members.
0:14:42 > 0:14:49'The League, the dream, the hope. In the last few years,
0:14:49 > 0:14:53'peace in the form of collective security, which was the aim of the League,
0:14:53 > 0:14:57'had suffered several unpleasant setbacks. And although delegates might try
0:14:57 > 0:15:01'to put a good face on things, it could not be denied that Japan's walkout,
0:15:01 > 0:15:06'Italy's conquest of Abyssinia and Europe's general re-armament trend were bad omens for the future.'
0:15:08 > 0:15:14And then after several years of pressure, in March 1938, German troops
0:15:14 > 0:15:18entered Austria, violating the Treaty of Versailles.
0:15:18 > 0:15:25'In one brief, swoop Austria had been incorporated into the Reich.
0:15:25 > 0:15:29'Well, just as Hitler said, all the Austrians are Germans.
0:15:29 > 0:15:31'Well, sort of Germans anyway.
0:15:33 > 0:15:35'And as the new Austrian Nazi government
0:15:35 > 0:15:37'rubber-stamped the Anschluss, the world did its best
0:15:37 > 0:15:40'to accept the situation with a good grace.
0:15:42 > 0:15:46As a result of Germany's annexation of Austria, and mindful
0:15:46 > 0:15:51of increasing tension in the Sudetenland, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain
0:15:51 > 0:15:54went to Berchtesgaden in Germany to seek assurances
0:15:54 > 0:15:57from the Fuhrer.
0:15:57 > 0:16:02But with nothing resolved, he had to return a week later, this time to Bad Godesberg.
0:16:04 > 0:16:06'Welcome to the Rhineland Herr Chamberlain,
0:16:06 > 0:16:08'Now, Herr Chamberlain,
0:16:08 > 0:16:13'you must tell the Czechs it's the Sudetenland for Germany...
0:16:13 > 0:16:15'or else.
0:16:15 > 0:16:16CHEERING
0:16:19 > 0:16:22'The Sudetenland, or else,
0:16:22 > 0:16:23'Herr Chamberlain.
0:16:27 > 0:16:32On his return home, Chamberlain was keeping quiet about what exactly had been agreed.
0:16:32 > 0:16:36'Now I have come back, it's to report
0:16:36 > 0:16:40'to the British and French governments
0:16:40 > 0:16:43'the result of my mission.
0:16:43 > 0:16:47'And until I have done that,
0:16:47 > 0:16:52'it would be difficult for me to say anything about it.
0:16:54 > 0:16:56'I will only say this...
0:16:57 > 0:17:01'I trust...that all concerned
0:17:02 > 0:17:05'will continue their efforts
0:17:05 > 0:17:09'to solve the Czechoslovak problem peacefully,
0:17:09 > 0:17:16'because on that turns the peace of Europe in our time.
0:17:16 > 0:17:20Chamberlain went to Germany a total of 3 times in the September of 1938
0:17:20 > 0:17:27as he and other European leaders attempted to solve the Czechoslovakia crisis.
0:17:27 > 0:17:31His final trip was to Hitler's Munich headquarters on September the 29th.
0:17:31 > 0:17:33'From the north, the south and the west,
0:17:33 > 0:17:37'four strong men converge on the German town of Munich to make it for one proud day
0:17:37 > 0:17:41'the new centre of the world, Germany and Italy side by side.
0:17:41 > 0:17:44CHEERING
0:17:44 > 0:17:47'The past is forgotten, the world thinks only of the future
0:17:47 > 0:17:51'as the first plane brings the Prime Minister of France, Monsieur Daladier.
0:17:51 > 0:17:54FRENCH NATIONAL ANTHEM PLAYS
0:17:56 > 0:18:00'With him is German Foreign Minister Herr Von Ribbentropp.
0:18:03 > 0:18:05'Mr Chamberlain.
0:18:05 > 0:18:08BRITISH NATIONAL ANTHEM PLAYS
0:18:12 > 0:18:15CHEERING
0:18:22 > 0:18:26'Down the bright straight road towards a new understanding in Europe.
0:18:26 > 0:18:28'And so at Hitler's Munich headquarters,
0:18:28 > 0:18:31'the agreement that has made the biggest headline since the Armistice.
0:18:31 > 0:18:34'Let no man criticise the bargain
0:18:34 > 0:18:37'that the statesmen of Britain and France have struck until he has added up
0:18:37 > 0:18:39the price that might have been paid for any other settlement -
0:18:39 > 0:18:42a price in death and destruction.
0:18:42 > 0:18:45'That price will not be paid! There will be peace!
0:18:46 > 0:18:49'So they signed what came to be called the Munich agreement
0:18:49 > 0:18:53'and we were all so relieved that we failed to notice
0:18:53 > 0:18:59'that he'd got even more than he'd asked for by just giving in at the last moment.
0:18:59 > 0:19:02'Because he had known that once he took the screws off,
0:19:02 > 0:19:04'we would all be so relieved.'
0:19:04 > 0:19:08CHEERING
0:19:15 > 0:19:24'This morning, I had another talk with the German Chancellor, Herr Hitler.
0:19:25 > 0:19:27'And here is the paper
0:19:27 > 0:19:32'which bears his name upon it as well as mine.
0:19:32 > 0:19:35CHEERING
0:19:36 > 0:19:43'Some of you perhaps have already heard what it contains but I would just like to read it to you.
0:19:43 > 0:19:46'"We regard the agreement signed last night,
0:19:46 > 0:19:51'"and the Anglo-German Naval Agreement, as symbolic of the desire
0:19:51 > 0:19:55'"of our two peoples never to go to war with one another again."
0:19:55 > 0:19:57'Three cheers for Chamberlain.
0:19:57 > 0:20:01- 'Hip hip...- ALL:- ..Hooray! - Hip hip...- ..Hooray!
0:20:01 > 0:20:03- 'Hip hip...- ..Hooray!'
0:20:03 > 0:20:07CHEERING 'Three cheers for Mr Chamberlain.
0:20:08 > 0:20:11'And in Germany it was three cheers for our great leader
0:20:11 > 0:20:14'who brings us the Sudetenland with peace -
0:20:14 > 0:20:18'for Adolph Hitler the peace-loving wonder boy.
0:20:19 > 0:20:24'And three cheers for Monsieur Daladier of France who also helped to keep the peace.
0:20:25 > 0:20:28'And three cheers for Il Duce who had lent
0:20:28 > 0:20:32'his good name to the proceedings just at the right moment.
0:20:34 > 0:20:38'And three cheers for President Benes of Czechoslovakia,
0:20:38 > 0:20:42'the man forced to sign away his country's security so that others
0:20:42 > 0:20:46'might still sleep peacefully in their beds.'
0:20:46 > 0:20:48But Munich turned out to be a false peace.
0:20:48 > 0:20:52Six months later in March 1939,
0:20:52 > 0:20:55Hitler's troops seized Czechoslovakia.
0:20:55 > 0:20:57Chamberlain, to all outward appearances,
0:20:57 > 0:20:59still hoped for peace.
0:20:59 > 0:21:06'While I hope that we shall always be ready to discuss in a reasonable spirit...
0:21:07 > 0:21:15'any grievances, or any injustices that may be alleged to exist...
0:21:16 > 0:21:22'it is to reason that we are prepared to listen and not to force.'
0:21:29 > 0:21:32Despite Chamberlain's hopes, it was with force
0:21:32 > 0:21:36that Germany entered Poland six months later.
0:21:36 > 0:21:39'But as the Panzers continued to roll eastwards into Poland,
0:21:39 > 0:21:43'under their tank tracks and the hooves of Hitler's war horses,
0:21:43 > 0:21:46'the last hopes of peace died.
0:21:46 > 0:21:49- CHAMBERLAIN:- 'I am speaking to you
0:21:49 > 0:21:52'from the Cabinet Room at 10 Downing Street.
0:21:53 > 0:21:57'This morning, the British Ambassador in Berlin
0:21:57 > 0:22:01'handed the German Government a final note
0:22:01 > 0:22:07'stating that unless we heard from them by 11 o'clock,
0:22:07 > 0:22:13'that they were prepared at once to withdraw their troops from Poland,
0:22:13 > 0:22:16'a state of war would exist between us.
0:22:17 > 0:22:19'I have to tell you now
0:22:19 > 0:22:22'that no such undertaking has been received...
0:22:23 > 0:22:29'and that consequently this country is at war with Germany.'
0:22:32 > 0:22:38AIR-RAID SIRENS BLARE
0:22:40 > 0:22:44The League of Nations had failed in its attempt to prevent another war.
0:22:44 > 0:22:47WWII would rage on for six long years.
0:22:50 > 0:22:56Though by 1944, the axis of power was shifting away from the Nazis
0:22:56 > 0:22:58and towards the Allied Forces.
0:22:58 > 0:23:02In the summer of that year, one by one, occupied cities in Europe
0:23:02 > 0:23:03were liberated.
0:23:03 > 0:23:06BELLS PEAL
0:23:06 > 0:23:10Rome, June 4th.
0:23:10 > 0:23:12'All roads lead to Rome.
0:23:12 > 0:23:16'But there you would have thought that those now who entered Rome
0:23:16 > 0:23:18'had never at any time been enemies.
0:23:18 > 0:23:20'For the Romans, the Allied entry into the city
0:23:20 > 0:23:24'had all the thrill of true liberation.'
0:23:25 > 0:23:29And Paris, August 25th 1944.
0:23:31 > 0:23:37FRENCH NATIONAL ANTHEM PLAYS
0:23:39 > 0:23:42But the world's pursuit of peace continued.
0:23:42 > 0:23:46In February 1945, Allied leaders met at the Crimea Conference.
0:23:49 > 0:23:52'Together, British, Russian and American,
0:23:52 > 0:23:56'they sit at the tables to confer. And only long afterwards,
0:23:56 > 0:24:02'does the world realise what a victory that conference was for Marshal Stalin.'
0:24:04 > 0:24:08Their aim had been to establish an agenda for governing post-war Germany
0:24:08 > 0:24:11but only after the unconditional surrender of the Nazis.
0:24:12 > 0:24:15'Never before have the big three been seen together.
0:24:18 > 0:24:24'Churchill looking benign, Stalin enigmatic
0:24:24 > 0:24:26'and the man who talked about his dog, Fala,
0:24:26 > 0:24:29'very sick indeed.'
0:24:31 > 0:24:35Just three months later, they got what they had fought for.
0:24:39 > 0:24:46'The German delegation will now sign this, er, this paper,
0:24:46 > 0:24:51'and they will sign in order of seniority
0:24:51 > 0:24:58'and General Admiral Von Friedeburg will sign first.
0:24:58 > 0:25:00MONTGOMERY CLEARS THROAT
0:25:18 > 0:25:21'And Major Klein will sign last.'
0:25:28 > 0:25:32Nazi Germany was defeated. On May the 8th,
0:25:32 > 0:25:351945, Britain celebrated.
0:25:37 > 0:25:40'Victory in Europe Day was a big moment indeed.
0:25:40 > 0:25:45'A moment to give thanks, to thank all those who had fought
0:25:45 > 0:25:49'and those who had led along the road to victory.'
0:25:49 > 0:25:50CHEERING
0:25:54 > 0:25:57Beyond Europe, the war continued.
0:25:57 > 0:26:03The last Allied summit conference was held at Potsdam, Berlin, in the summer of 1945.
0:26:03 > 0:26:08Attended by President Truman, Stalin, Winston Churchill and then Clement Attlee.
0:26:10 > 0:26:16Their discussions focused on war reparations, procedures for the peace settlements in Europe
0:26:16 > 0:26:19and the ongoing war with Japan.
0:26:20 > 0:26:23'Marshal Stalin has already agreed that Russia
0:26:23 > 0:26:26'will join the war on Japan.
0:26:26 > 0:26:28'So what's next on the agenda?
0:26:28 > 0:26:34'About Oak Ridge? All right, tell him then.
0:26:34 > 0:26:36'Not all the details though.
0:26:38 > 0:26:44'Oak Ridge and a dozen other mighty plants spread over the North American continent,
0:26:44 > 0:26:48'plants where thousands work in secrecy to make something
0:26:48 > 0:26:52'out of Uranium 235. Well,
0:26:52 > 0:26:57'they told him and no doubt it made him think.'
0:26:57 > 0:27:00And then, less than a week later.
0:27:00 > 0:27:04'A port on the coast of the Japanese mainland,
0:27:04 > 0:27:07'its name Hiroshima.
0:27:07 > 0:27:11'Uranium 235,
0:27:11 > 0:27:14'theory into practice.
0:27:14 > 0:27:18'A thunderstruck emperor inspects what is left
0:27:18 > 0:27:25'of a city after the dropping of one bomb and realises there can only be
0:27:25 > 0:27:26'one answer.'
0:27:26 > 0:27:32Japan surrendered soon after, signalling the end of WWII.
0:27:42 > 0:27:44When the League of Nations was first established,
0:27:44 > 0:27:47America chose not to be involved.
0:27:47 > 0:27:51But in the autumn of 1945, the world's only atomic superpower
0:27:51 > 0:27:54became one of the founding members of the new, United Nations.
0:27:54 > 0:27:59Its primary function was to maintain international peace and security.
0:28:02 > 0:28:07'Now, there's a time for making plans and there's a time for action.
0:28:07 > 0:28:11'And the time for action is here, now!
0:28:11 > 0:28:14'If we had had this charter a few years ago
0:28:14 > 0:28:20'and above all the will to use it, millions dead now would be alive.
0:28:20 > 0:28:24'If we should falter in the future in our will to use it,
0:28:24 > 0:28:28'Millions now living will surely die.'
0:28:30 > 0:28:35'An end and a beginning. A beginning of what?
0:28:35 > 0:28:37'A bright promising future
0:28:37 > 0:28:41'or the fires of eternal damnation?'
0:28:52 > 0:28:55Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd.
0:28:55 > 0:28:58E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk