September 1st, 1939. Nazi Germany invades Poland. The campaign is fast, cruel and ruthless. In these circumstances, how is it that ordinary German soldiers suddenly became vicious killers, terrorizing the local population? Did everyone turn into something worse than wild animals? The true story of the first World War II offensive that marks in the history of infamy the beginning of a carnage and a historical tragedy.
The story of the Trojan Horse is probably one of the most famous stories ever told: after ten years of bloody war, the Greek coalition decides to lift the siege and depart, but not before leaving at the gates a huge wooden horse, which the Trojans confidently lead into the city. A few hours later, the once invincible Troy goes up in flames. What exactly happened? Is this myth true or false?
An exploration of Cologne Cathedral, an emblematic monument and world heritage site. The towering place of worship took over 600 years to complete. Once the tallest building in the world, its ornate facade remains a masterpiece of Gothic architecture - and a reflection of the evolution of Franco-German relations.
On June 26, 1813, Austrian Foreign Minister Klemens von Metternich went to meet Napoleon Bonaparte at his headquarters in Dresden, in the Kingdom of Saxony. Although the French emperor still dominated Europe, the disastrous Russian campaign had sapped his military power. Could France continue to count on Austria's support? A nine-hour private meeting would decide the fate of Europe.
Why was Pope Pius XII, head of the Catholic Church from 1939 to 1958 silent about the extermination of the Jews by the Nazis? Accused of a complacent approach to the fascist horror in Europe during the Second World War, present-day Pope Francis opened the Vatican archives from the time in 2020.
Nowadays we associate Johannes Kepler with his famous laws of planetary motion. But the history of his discoveries is a drama of Shakespearian proportions - full of intrigue, passion, depravity and corruption.
On operated by Prussian prime minister Otto von Bismarck the German Empire is finally founded in 1871 on the floors of Versailles castle, ancestral seat of the French monarchy.
In 1938 an airfield was built at the northeastern-most end of America, the descent went slowly but incessantly through the Cold War. This is the story of how its inhabitants gradually moved away from the great world stage and had to reinvent themselves as well as their home town.
With the intention of selling opium to the Chinese, and in the name of free trade, the British declared war on the Chinese Empire in 1839. Since then, disagreements between nations can be understood as economic disputes. A history of trade wars.
Friedrich Engels and Karl Marx formed one of the most famous duos in world history. In contrast to Marx, however, Engels seems to have fallen into oblivion today. Unjustly so. Moving archive images, documentary footage and graphic novels lead us back to the time of Friedrich Engels, who shaped the Communist movement like no other.
Germans colonized the land of Namibia, in southern Africa, during a brief period of time, from 1840 to the end of the World War I. The story of the so-called German South West Africa (1884-1915) is hideous; a hidden and silenced account of looting and genocide.
Oceanographers have been gripped by a new spirit of discovery and have undertaken the biggest population census of ocean species ever conducted - a "Census of Marine Life". The quest: to find out when and where it all began. Where did the water come from? How was life created in the oceans? And how did it evolve to the enormous diversity we see today? Join National Geographic as we travel more than 4 billion years into the past to uncover how oceans and marine life came to exist.
The Egypt of Al-Sisi, risen to power in 2013, is a country marked by violation of human rights, but strategic and commercial interests drive Usa and Europe to turn a blind eye to the violent oppression
The storming of the Capitol on January 6, 2021, still reverberates today. However, the presidency of Joe Biden, despite visible economic successes and strong employment figures, finds little resonance among voters. Markus Lanz is traveling to the United States once more to find out how the country and its people are faring. Do they once again believe in the promises, lies, and conspiracy theories of Donald Trump, or are they, for the first time in their history, venturing down a new path with a woman president at the helm? Does the world’s oldest democracy still have a chance with Kamala Harris? Illegal immigration along the Mexican border is more than ever one of the dominant topics in the election campaign. On a journey to the U.S.-Mexican border region, Markus Lanz and writer Anabel Münstermann meet refugees, aid workers, and residents on both sides of the border, experiencing firsthand what it truly means to leave one’s homeland to start a new life in the United States.
They say it's over 2000 years old, and more than 4,000 miles long. But even today nobody really knows for sure. The Great Wall of China is one of the world's famous buildings but it is still the least known. British writer and historian William Lindesay has lived in China for twenty years. Exploring the Great Wall has become his lifetime obsession.
Cuba is currently not the focus of global attention; there are other crisis hotspots. However, the country is in deep trouble. Even the most basic items, like toilet paper, are sometimes impossible to find across the entire island. Many Cubans say that without the good Caribbean weather, socialism would have ended long ago. But what comes after communism under the palm trees? It’s not just about material things. It’s also about the mistrust that has deeply embedded itself in society. Anyone could be an informer and send their neighbors, their friends to prison. When I asked a priest in Santiago de Cuba if he had ever been imprisoned for his Christian beliefs, he replied: “Not in a prison with barred windows, but believe me, there are many kinds of prisons…”
