Summer 1945... Victory Day
Red Square in Moscow. Before the Soviet leaders, famous russian army
victory over Nazi Germany. As under the Roman Empire, soldiers throw the flags
vanquished at the foot of the victor. The man who beat Hitler Joseph Stalin. After 20 years
personal power, the master of the USSR is
at the height of his glory. A poet writes, - “Stalin, you are higher than
the high celestial spaces and only your thoughts
are taller than you. Your Stalin spirit
is brighter than the sun. » - It is called
the little father of the peoples. Worldwide, he embodies
hope for a fairer society. He is the idol of hundreds
of millions of people. In France also
we sing these praises. - Yes, with all our heart, we proclaim our
ardent love for Stalin and we assure it
of our unshakeable confidence. - Yet this man is one
of the greatest criminals in history. He massacred his own people. - "We will mercilessly annihilate
anyone who threatens with facts or even in thought,
state unity. » - He enslaved
18 million people. - "We must cut off the harmful limbs
of the party to preserve him from disease and infection. » - He cynically provoked famines
which claimed millions of lives. - “Death solves all problems. More men, more problems. » - He sacrificed his family
to his own power. - "A true Bolshevik
shouldn't have a family. » - Here is the amazing story
of this son of a small craftsman who has become one of the characters
the most powerful on the planet. The story of the man who declared
to make his people happy and who has become by force
of megalomania and fanaticism one of the most dictators
bloody experiences that mankind has known. The year 1924. the surroundings of Moscow, in the Russian winter. Lenin, the father of the revolution
Bolshevik, just died. It is one of the first
movies where Stalin appeared. With Soviet officials, he carries the chief's coffin. Stalin is 46 years old. He is secretary general
of the communist party, a relatively quiet post. Among his comrades, no one yet imagines that
it is he who will succeed the great Lenin. They do not imagine that in ten years, he will have had almost all of them liquidated. Among them, no one has understood yet
who Joseph Stalin really is. For his comrades,
he is an insignificant character. - "Stalin is the most eminent
mediocrity of our party. We are not afraid of Stalin. As soon as he wants to take
great airs, we will eliminate it. » - Always,
Stalin hides his game. His real name is Iossif Dzhugashvili. He was born in 1878,
in the time of the tsars. A monarchical regime
based on inequality and submission to rulers. A miserable childhood. An alcoholic and violent father. Educated by Orthodox monks, he flipped very early
in the fight against the tsar and he took the name of Stalin, the man of steel. In 1917 he participated with Lenin
to the great Bolshevik revolution. A revolution that overthrew the Tsar, abolished the privileges
and empower the people. In the shadow of Lenin, he waits for an opportunity
to take power. Lenin's death is that occasion. In 1924 he succeeded
through political maneuvers to spread the highest
current character, Leon Trotsky, before exiling him. Stalin in a few months
seizes power. He won't leave him again. He chooses to settle here, in the Kremlin citadel,
the former palace of the tsars. It is from here that he will lead the USSR. Union of Republics
Soviet Socialists, the largest country on the planet. With a few devotees who go
follow him for almost 30 years, he wants to go further than Lenin. He wants to change the course of history. - “We Bolsheviks, we are of a special breed. The personal element is not worth a nail. Do not doubt it, comrades. I'm ready
to devote to the working class all my strength and every drop of my blood. » - Stalin wants to do
table race of the past. He abruptly removes
traces of old Russia which the revolution had spared. He decrees religion
contrary to the interests of the people. In all the countries, he makes it disappear
the symbols of the old regime. In place, he nurtures a radical project, the communism. An ideal society. Without rich or poor. A world where
everything is shared. A world where everyone
has the same chances at birth. A world where health and
education are accessible to all. For the Soviet Union,
he experiences boundless ambition. - "Old Russia has always
was beaten for being late. Slow down the pace
means to be behind and the stragglers will be beaten. We in the Soviet Union we don't want to be beaten anymore. » - He launches gigantic construction sites, Skyscraper, subway, railway, barrage. He wants to modernize Russia
forced march for her to become
workers' paradise. A world where unemployment does not exist. and where every worker can offer
a decent existence for his family. - We,
the pioneers of the great fatherland, party soldiers, always ready. We thank you Stalin for the happiness that
you give to our country. - Stalin is the guide
enlightened communists. His portrait is everywhere. Every Soviet must
revere him in all circumstances. It must be perfect, because it represents
the success of communism. He corrected himself
his official biography, sold millions of copies. On the trials,
he wrote it down by hand... - “Add the sentence, Stalin is the greatest
all time captain and of all peoples. » - The real Stalin is no longer commonplace. He measures 1m60. He wears shoes
with wedge soles. Often it stands on a small plate
of wood which makes it a little bigger. Look at this picture,
it is his true face. His skin is pockmarked, because he caught
smallpox at the age of seven. Curiously, in public, nothing seems to be. The new master of the Kremlin
is a mystery to these subjects. He lives locked up in his office and he jealously hides his private life. Here are the photos that we
remained of his wife Nadia, a former comrade 22 years her junior. With her he had two children. Vasily and Svetlana, his darling daughter. He exerts on her
a real fascination. - "As long as dad loves me, I'm
I don't care that the whole world hates me. If daddy asked me
to go to the moon, I will do it. » - Very rare pictures show us
Stalin in these moments of relaxation during the summer holidays when he takes
his deputies on the Black Sea. Ekaterina Voroshilov, the wife of one of his
lieutenants remembers. - “Stalin loved
wilderness expeditions. He took us by car and we settled down
next to a river. We lit a fire, we were grilling meat
joking and singing. It was really good times. » - However, from the first years,
the bad news is piling up. Stalin's policy
problematic. Standard of living
begins to deteriorate. By multiplying
industrial projects, Stalin sacrificed
daily life. The population increases, but the building
housing does not follow. Whole families crowd together
in very small spaces. Look at these pictures, they were shot almost
clandestinely in the streets of Moscow. She is one of the few
testimonies of poverty in the early 1930s. It's that rich Englishwoman, Lady Mountbatten who during a
trip filmed with his personal camera. - “I see everywhere
signs of malnutrition. This old man who rummages in
the trash cans is a former aristocrat. He was a teacher
famous at the time of the tsars Here is a little boy who is all alone and asking me for help. Shop windows
are almost empty. Above all, the queues
are endless. In the queue, some remain
all day waiting, without being able to buy anything. » - In the USSR, the communist dream is already
cracking. In the Kremlin, Stalin does not want to hear anything. For him, failure does not exist. If the system is faulty
it's that we're sabotaging his policy. He is looking for culprits
among economic leaders. Like the commissioner
finance, Brioukhanov that he considers incompetent and that a collaborator
drew in an awkward posture. In the margin of the drawing, Stalin writes. - "For all these sins
past and present, hang Brioukhanov by the testicles. If they hold consider it as
acquitted by the court. If they let go throw it in the river. » - Stalin is only half joking. In 1930, he invented a method for
officially identify the culprits. The political trial. The defendants are scientists, engineers,
senior officials. They are all competent but Stalin accuses them of having
sabotaged the Soviet economy. - Stand up ! - Stalin himself is absent
debates, but he appointed as judge one of his devotees. Andrei Vyshinsky. He gave him the sentences to pronounce. The death. - I announce open,
the session of the special court, of the union government
of the Soviet Socialist Republics. - For the trial to appear
believable in the eyes of all, the accused must
admit their fault. They were tortured
during weeks and they don't really have a choice. - How to tell you... I have already explained to you
in my last statement that my feelings
counter-revolutionaries against Soviet power that these feelings
never really left me. - I fully agree that... that I deserve the worst punishment. - For the prosecutor,
he is then a young child. - The government finds you guilty and ask that
the accused be shot. - After several days of gesticulation, the judge pronounces the verdict. Not without a certain emotion. - Kalininkov Ivan Andreevich according to articles 583, 584,
586 and 581 of the code of the USSR Soviet Union
condemns you to the highest penalty. - Their sentence will be commuted to ten years
jail, but the message is clear. Those who oppose
to Stalin will be crushed. With his loved ones too, Stalin becomes brutal. His relationship with his eldest son Yakov,
born from a first marriage, its icy. He recently made
a suicide attempt, his father did not show
no sympathy. - "To say that he has no
couldn't even aim straight. I can't have anything
in common with him. » - The couple of Stalin
he too is bad. His wife Nadia is fragile. She suffers from being snubbed
permanently by her husband. During an argument
where Stalin insulted him, she gets away with it. - “You are an executioner. This is what you are. You torment your own son, your wife, the Russian people. It is impossible to live with you. » - After 14 years together, Nadia is exhausted. One winter evening, after a new argument during
an official reception at the Kremlin, Nadia goes back to her room
and commits suicide with a bullet. The truth will remain
hidden for 60 years. The Russians are told that Nadia
died of appendicitis. Since,
for communist leaders, suicide is betrayal. Even her friend
Polina Molotov condemns her. - “Nadia was wrong. She leaves Stalin
at such a difficult time. » - Stalin did not stay
the funeral. He seems devastated. - “Nadiah! Nadia, as we had
need you, me and the children. She left me
like an enemy. She made me a cripple. She broke my life. » - Stalin was brutal, now he will be ruthless. The first targets are the peasants who
refuse to cede their land to the state and join the kolkhozes. These huge cooperatives
where everything is in common under party control. Against them, Stalin sends
policemen who criss-cross the countryside and requisition the crops. Their mission is to asphyxiate
families who resist his policy. They have all the rights
and stop at nothing to collect supplies
which have been hidden. One of these policemen is Lev Kopelev. - “I took part in these expeditions probing the ground
to find the caches. I emptied pantries by forcing myself
not to hear the crying of children and the moans of women. Everything was allowed. Destroy, lie, steal. The end justified the means. Our goal was triumph
universal of communism. » - 1933, the result. Stalin's requisitions
cause a tragedy in Ukraine. This region, one of the richest
of Europe has already been ravaged by famine in the 1920s under Lenin. Only this time the carnage takes
unimaginable proportions. A father writes to his son in Moscow. - " My dear son, I am writing to teach you
that your mother is dead. She died of starvation
after months of suffering. Myself,
I don't have much longer. » - Some party members
on the spot, did not understand that this famine
is not known to Stalin. They protest. - "Did Comrade Stalin... Does any member of the
office knows what is happening in Ukraine? Otherwise,
I'll give you an idea. A train loaded with corpses
just arrived in kyiv. After picking up bodies throughout its journey. » - In Moscow, Stalin decided
to finish with the Ukrainians. He forbade the peasants
hungry to leave their village to reach the big cities. He thus condemns to death
five million people. It is one of the biggest
tragedies of the century... long remained secret. At the same time, the french deputy
Édouard Herriot arrives in Ukraine, at the invitation of the Soviet government. - "I make ardent wishes for the prosperity of the Russian people. I hope my trip
will be useful for his happiness and for the peace of peoples. » - French and the delegation that
accompanies him to visit Ukraine by train. He is delighted with the trip. - “I crossed the Ukraine. I tell you that I saw it
like a garden in full bloom. There are only vegetable gardens of kolkhozes
irrigated and admirable harvests. When we support
that Ukraine is devastated by famine, allow me to shrug my shoulders. » - How could the Frenchman
miss out on millions of deaths? In fact the streets have been
cleaned before arrival. The workers he has
encountered were extras. We brought in food. Edouard Herriot
was taken in by the propaganda. In Moscow, Stalin no longer governs
only with great blows of lies. He gave a mission
journalists and filmmakers. They no longer have to
describe the world as it is, but as it should be. The harvest is bad. We film radiant peasants
in beautiful fields. The industrial results are disappointing, fake numbers are published. We even invent heroes, like that famous miner, Stakhanov. During a competition, he smashed the productivity record extracting fourteen times
more coal than the others. This story is totally false.
It was invented by the party. It makes it possible to deceive the Soviets. In reality, the USSR became
a gigantic police state. Stalin's agents are everywhere. They control the whole society. They have the order to stop
suspects and deport them. Everywhere, thousands of men,
of women and children are gathered together, then embarked
to unknown destinations. A child remembers. - "How many days did the trip last?" I've no idea. In the carriage, seven people died of starvation. When we arrived in Tomsk, they took us out
and they unloaded the corpses. Children, young people and the old. » - They are directed to the gulag,
Soviet labor camps. real camps
of concentration put in place by Stalin, long before they appeared
in Hitler's Germany. These prisoners are officially
enemies of the Revolution. In reality, simple citizens, notables, religions that have nothing
to blame themselves, but do not enter in the mold of the regime. They are mixed with common law. in the party, we call it rehabilitation
through work and we are proud of it. Here the deviant spirits
must be put back on the right track. In fact, they are turned into slaves. In the camps of the Far North,
the temperature can go to -50 degrees. A prisoner writes. - “It is dangerous to stop moving. I do not stop
to knead my toes and clench your fists. Touching a metal tool
bare hands can tear your skin. » - A political prisoner, Maria Yov is exhausted. - " Our team
is made up of intellectuals. Among these scarecrows, who will recognize the violinists, the harpists, the scientists ? We are in a constant state
of bewilderment and bewilderment. » - August 2, 1933, an illustrious event
the cruelty and absurdity of the system. That day,
the Stalin Canal is inaugurated. 200 kilometers of waterway which
connects the White Sea to the Baltic Sea. With simple pickaxes, 300,000 prisoners dug this canal. Exceptional fact, Stalin chose to move. He wants to make the channel that carries
his name, the symbol of his success. In theory,
it's a technical feat. The construction time
of the Panama Canal was pulverized. In fact, it is a new tragedy. 30,000 prisoners, i.e. one in ten,
died during construction. They died for nothing. It seems hard to believe, but to finish on time,
the canal was not dug deep enough. Most boats
can never borrow it. Abroad, we are far from imagining
the horror of the Stalinist system. Most western media,
echo propaganda lies to burlesque. While everywhere
the gulag develops, this is how french news
describe a former tsar's prison, in Siberia. - " In the old days, the tsar locked up there
revolutionaries. Now the government
Soviet decided to give another destination to this place. We will now organize raising rabbits on a large scale under supervision
of a special scientific institute. » - Every year, intoxicated by propaganda, delegations
communists all over the world, and in particular from France,
come and greet in Moscow the little father of the peoples. Despite Stalin's crimes, rallies
of prestige multiply, like that of the writer Louis Aragon
who publicly praises the gulag. - "The proletariat comes
to undertake this historic task, the rehabilitation of man by man. We are at a point in history
of humanity that resembles the passage from ape to man. » - For the Bolshevik Party
and its leader Stalin, hip hip hip. - Hooray. - Hip-hip-hip.
- Hooray. - How to explain
such blindness? At the 1935 congress,
the speech of Maurice Thorez, leader of the Communist Party
French, give the explanation. Stalin returned their pride
to workers around the world. - Understand comrades, during a moment, it happened that the communist workers
don't know how to answer in the factories, that they don't know how
to defend oneself against such reproaches or such charges. There was a time when,
because of desiccating sectarianism, they did not have the means to answer. There was no more harmony between them
and the great mass of workers. Now,
they are proud, they speak, they answer,
they give the arguments. They are seen in the factories. One says,
“Those are the Communists. These are the ones who organize
the united front and the popular front. » We are sure of victory, because the helm of our ship
is in firm hands of the greatest of pilots,
of our dear and great Stalin." - Blinded by his communist ideal, the French did not see or did not want to see that Stalin has already turned the page. That his only goal is now
to consolidate his power. Stalin decided to liquidate the whole
generation that still overshadows it. Remember, Lenin's funeral in 1924. Most of those who wore
the coffin with Stalin will die. Kamenev and Zinoviev, executed. Tomsky, driven to suicide. Rykov, shot. Radek, assassinated. He seems to feel a certain
pleasure in torturing his loved ones. - “Choose your victim, prepare carefully, wreak relentless vengeance and then go to bed. There is nothing sweeter in the world. » - In 1938, he attacked
to his closest comrade in the fight, his dear Bukharin. He is a friend of fifteen years. However, he dared
contradict him several times. To his eyes, he has become an enemy. To prepare for the fall
of this great figure of the regime, he launches the steamroller
propaganda. - In all the countries,
opinion is conditioned. - These plots are committed with ferocity by capital agents by the dogs of fascism,
Bukharin and his band. - Comrades, what I have to
tell you was confirmed by Stalin. Our country is surrounded by enemies. They want to destroy
our country and our people. - Death to these enemies,
death to these pests! - During this time, at the Lubyanka,
secret police headquarters, Bukharin is tortured. In a letter,
he implores his old friend Stalin. - " I write you this letter,
which is probably the last. My heart bleeds
at the thought that you can believe that I am really guilty. I'm ready to drag myself to my knees
and to implore you to spare me this trial. If death awaits me I beg you in the name
of everything that is dear to you, not to be shot. I want myself
able to absorb poison. I beg you. » - It's death
who awaits Bukharin. On March 2, 1938, in a full room
members of the political police, his trial begins. It's a formality. - Our people demand one thing, We must crush these accursed vermin! - Bukharin is in the dock, but there is nothing left
of him no image. He wasn't deemed docile enough
to be used for propaganda. He is shot
and his deported family. The purges extend
throughout the Soviet Union. Stalin sees enemies everywhere. He became paranoid. Against those he suspects
to threaten his power, it encourages denunciation. In every town, we must be ready to denounce
his neighbor and even his own parents. A young boy accuses. - “As a pioneer,
I have to tell you. My father acted in such a way
counter-revolutionary. I ask you,
not as a son, but as a pioneer to judge harshly,
the responsibility of my father. » - Stalin has a henchman. Nikolai Yejov nicknamed the Nabot. He's the head of the secret police. - "I may be short in stature, but my hands are strong. These are Stalin's hands. We launch an attack
on a large scale against the enemy. There will be innocent victims. When we cut down the forests,
chips fly. » - Stalin fixed him
execution quotas. As proof, this terrible document. On the first line, the name of the republics
of the USSR, here is Azerbaijan. Then three columns of numbers, one for executions. Another for deportations. One last for the total. There is no name. It is up to the party leader to find
the victims to fill the quotas. A file taken at random from
the archives of the political police. - Name, Sidorov. Heritage, a wooden house
eight by eight meters. One cow, four sheep, two pigs. Indictment, Sidorov is ill-intentioned
to Soviet power. He said that Stalin
killed a lot of people, but we can't talk about it
otherwise you are put in camp for 25 years. Verdict, shoot Sidorov
and confiscate all his property. - It's called the Great Terror. Since the year 1937, Yezhov gets shot on average
1000 people per day. - Strike, exterminate without sorting. Better go
too far than not far enough. - In full terror, life goes on
Like nothing ever happened. At the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow, we play Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake. It's Stalin's favorite ballet. He never misses a performance. Nightly,
According to testimonies, he returns to the Kremlin to sign
the execution orders prepared for him. He sometimes adds comments. - Tighten the screw on this gentleman. Beat and beat again. The sharper the teeth, the better. - Terror eventually turns around
against the chief of police himself. Yezhov is accused
of treason, tortured, executed and even erased official photos. In 1938, Stalin liquidated all
his real or imagined enemies. He gradually replaced them by a new generation
militants who owe him everything. It is the nomenclature, the new men whose dreams
Stalin and on whom he can count. They divided
property of victims of terror, and they take advantage of the vacated apartments. On March 17, 1938, four days later
the end of the Bukarin trial, many are those who go
with the family at the Moscow airfield. activists, civil servants, they are all there to welcome a plane
Russian who connected Russia to America, through the North Pole. The greeting of the pilot, Chkalov,
here in the center, is an event. Stalin decided to do
him a new Soviet hero. That day, in the streets of Moscow,
Chkalov cries out his love to the Supreme Leader. - “I am ready to die for Stalin. If we have to give him our lungs,
we will give our lungs to Stalin. If we have to give him our heart,
we will give him our heart. » - At the same time, in Germany. The Nazi Party is in power
for more than five years. He advocates superiority
of the Germanic race. At its head, Chancellor Adolf Hitler,
also established a dictatorial regime. He has already annexed Austria. He wants to take over all
these neighboring countries, including France. He mainly dreams
to attack the Soviet Union and annex its territory
for the benefit of the German people. - “The mission of the Nazi movement
is to destroy Judeo-Bolshevism. Destroy Russia, will give
to the German people a living space whose master race
needs for food. My ambition is to be
the man who will smash Marxism. » - Stalin was slow to realize the threat. The USSR is not ready for conflict. Its armament is outdated, its General Staff decimated. During the terror he did
shoot 20,000 Soviet officers. Members of the General Staff
who were around him on this 1934 film, nothing remains but
a few overwhelmed generals. They don't understand
nothing to modern warfare. Like the dashing Boudienny. - "You won't make me change my mind. As soon as war breaks out, everyone will shout,
charge the cavalry. » - To catch up,
Stalin needs time. In August 1939, he manages to get along with
Ribbentrop, Hitler's envoy to Moscow. The two dictatorships sign
a non-aggression pact, only a few days
before the outbreak of war. An agreement against nature, with many ulterior motives, but which gives respite to Stalin. - "It's all just a game
who will put the other in his sleeve. You will see, Russia will succeed
to avoid war with Germany for a while longer. » - Eight days later,
the German Army attacks Poland. It's the start of
the Second World War. In a few weeks,
the Nazis crush the Polish army. The first victory of a long series. Eight months later, in May 1940, Hitler attacked from the west
and occupies France in less than two months. In half of Europe,
he enforces his law. military occupation, racial persecution and political repression. In the meantime,
Stalin does not remain inactive. Thanks to the pact with Hitler, it appropriates new territories. In the winter of 1941, he still thinks he's safe
of a conflict with Germany. He is wrong. This is the moment when Hitler
decides to realize his old dream, the destruction of the Soviet Union. This is the Barbarossa plan, one of the biggest
historical military operations. Hitler intends to overwhelm the Soviet army and reach Moscow
in just a few weeks. From spring, the German army stands
in battle order at the border. On the spot, Soviet generals
observe troop movements. They sound the alarm and ask
authorization to deploy soldiers. In the Kremlin, Stalin, always
paranoid, fears a trap. - "You have a big head,
but a small brain. Germany will never launch
alone in the war against Russia. » - June 16, 1941, a russian spy transmits,
“imminent attack. » Stalin persists. - “He is a disinformator. You can fuck him. » - June 21, eve of the offensive. A German deserter crosses the border and warns that the attack
will be launched at dawn. Stalin's verdict, - “Shoot him. » June 22, 1941,
the invasion begins. three million soldiers
Germans attack the U.S.S.R. From the first hours, they destroy
a thousand planes on the ground. The Steamroller
German pushes the front. In a village,
a woman is trapped. - “Thousands of our soldiers
wander aimlessly, in disorder. Our leaders are leaving. We are abandoned to death. » - Stalin's own son,
Yakov, is taken prisoner as he flees,
disguised as a peasant. In back,
Russia is in shock. People don't understand
and awaits a reaction from Stalin. However, she does not come. The Muscovites, like the young
Guéna try to find out more. - “We are glued to the radio, we are waiting for Stalin's speech. We need to hear his voice, but he remains silent. It is Molotov, his deputy, who speaks. Everyone is listening. We are told that it is war. Where is Stalin? » - Stalin is entrenched
behind the walls of the Kremlin, annihilated. - " All is lost. Lenin founded our state
and we screwed it all up. He left us
a fantastic legacy, and we screwed it up. » - By his repeated mistakes,
Stalin is responsible for the disaster, but he doesn't want to admit it. Like he usually does,
he is looking for culprits. These thousands of soldiers who surrender
are considered traitors. Their families will be deported. Against deserters he sends
on the front of the special units. They are loaded
to watch the soldiers. He gives explicit orders. Within weeks, Stalin
multiplies command errors. In Ukraine, it prohibits
his generals to evacuate the city of kyiv. Five days later, nazis capture
500,000 Soviet soldiers. It's the biggest catch
ever performed by an army. In October 1941, four months after the start
of the Barbarossa Offensive, Stalin almost lost the war. The German army is no more
only a few kilometers from Moscow. The capital is
bombarded every day. The population takes refuge in the metro. The writer Viktor Kravchenko
note in his diary. - “Moscow gives the impression of dying. panic reigns and it circulates the noises
the most amazing. Some say one shot
of state broke out in the Kremlin and that Stalin was arrested. » - In fact, Stalin himself
also taken refuge in the metro. It's here, while all his devotees took
panic, urge him to evacuate the capital that he makes a decision
which will change everything. Despite the danger,
he decides to stay in Moscow. In few hours,
he will address his soldiers. November 7, 8 a.m., regiments join the place
red in the middle of a snowstorm, at Stalin's call. The tanks are coming
directly from the front and are armed. The Germans can
attack at any time, but Stalin's speech
galvanize the soldiers. - "Participants, partisans, the whole world is watching us
and waits for us to annihilate. The hordes of looters
and German invaders. Death to the German occupation. Glory to our country,
freedom, independence. Coming to victory
under the flag of Lenin. » - In a few days, the Soviet army arrives
to stabilize the front in front of Moscow. It's only 10 months
later, in the summer of 1942, what will play out the most
great battle of the century. We are in Stalingrad. It's the turning point
of World War II. The Germans, who do not have
managed to bring down Moscow, want conquer this waypoint
to oil from the Caspian Sea. They occupy 90% of the city. They still have a few left
hundreds of meters to gain. The Soviets oppose them
fierce resistance. Among them is the soldier Koseainov. - "We hear footsteps
and the breath of German soldiers. I can't
see them because of the smoke. We shoot by judgement, by ear. My head is buzzing. » - A total of two million men
will die in Stalingrad. For the first time
since the beginning of the war, Stalin decided not to intervene
and let his Chief of Staff do his thing, General Zhukov. Zhukov wants to trap
Germans in the city which they have just conquered. November 19, 1942, 7 am, 1400 tanks, more than 1000 planes and 1,000,000 Soviet soldiers
rush to the flanks of the Nazi army. These images filmed after the battle
during a re-enactment, show the junction of the two Russian armies. Few weeks later,
300,000 German soldiers surrounded, ill-equipped and starving,
end up surrendering with their leader, Marshal von Paulus. It's the first time
that a Nazi field marshal is captured alive. For Stalin, this is a miracle. Thanks to the sacrifice of these soldiers, it is he who first in the eyes
of the world, made Adolf Hitler bend. It is he who launches
the heroic counter-offensive Russian soldiers against Germany. Despite his crimes, despite his pact in 1939 with Hitler, Stalin has become unavoidable. In Moscow, during the visit of General de Gaulle, then a few months
later at the Yalta conference, the allies all come
meet the great Stalin. Britain's Churchill toasts. - "Stalin's life is
what is most precious for each of us. I sincerely hope that the people
of the Soviet Union will be able to retain his marshal for a long time. » - Churchill knows that
since the victory at Stalingrad, the U.S.S.R. is in the process of
to become a superpower. That after months of counter-offensive, the Red Army will soon enter Berlin. Spring 1945, those terrifying weapons, Stalin's organs
pound the German capital. Stalin decided to avenge
Stalingrad and destroy Berlin. In the face of such firepower, Germany ends
by capitulating on May 8, 1945. 2 months later, Generalissimo Stalin
arrives in the German capital to celebrate his victory. In this famous propaganda film, we welcome the winner
of Hitler as a messiah. In fact, it's a fiction
where Stalin is played by a look-alike. This masterful arrival
never took place. Stalin is afraid of the plane and contrary to these images, he hates crowds. - Comrades, today we celebrate
the big victory about fascist Germany. The real Stalin
returned by armored train to Potsdam, in the suburbs of Berlin, where 5,000 police are
mobilized for his arrival. He is obsessed with attacks. If he agreed to leave his country
for the first time in 30 years, is that the opportunity is worth it. He has a date around
from the negotiating table, with its American allies
and British. Since the Yalta conference, it purely demands
and simply half of Europe. i.e. all countries
whom his army liberated during the war. Stalin's demand
is accepted by the Allies. Soviet rule
from Eastern Europe can begin. It will last nearly half a century. For Russians, the price
of victory is exorbitant. The conflict wiped out 70,000 villages
and killed 26 million people. In the summer of 1945, the soldiers begin
to return to their homes and prepare to reunite with their families. A soldier tells. - “People are screaming, they are running,
they cry when the train arrives. Men kiss their wives. They take in their arms
the children they didn't see growing up. They proudly show
their decorations and their wounds. » - After so much suffering,
all yearn for peace. For them, Stalin's crimes
are just old memories. In Moscow, Stalin
is at the peak of its power. It's been over 20 years
that he leads the Soviet Union. For the victory, we have him
prepared a grand spectacle. With thousands of extras. The American General
Eisenhower made the trip. Yet Stalin seems absent. His health is fragile. He has memory lapses. He had several heart attacks. Above all, he is a single man. During the war,
he lost his son Yakov, prisoner of the Germans. It is said that Yakov sought
to escape by crossing the barbed wire. Stalin had refused to exchange it
against Field Marshal von Paulus, as Hitler proposed. - "If I had exchanged Yakov, what would they have said
the fathers of the party whose children
were they also prisoners? If I had done that,
I would have ceased to be Stalin. » - His private life is a disaster. He hardly sees anymore
his second son, the aviator Vassili. He became an alcoholic
and still go on fly over red square
at the controls of his plane. More paranoid than ever, Stalin even got angry with Svetlana, his darling daughter become a young woman. He does not understand
his need to have fun. He does not accept
his sentimental adventures, especially those with
the Jewish director, Alexei Kapler, whom he sent to the gulag. He also does not accept his marriage
with Gregory Morozov, also a Jew. Hitler's winner
seems to have become anti-Semitic. - All previous generation
was contaminated by Zionism. - Now they are
to regiment the youth. - As soon as the war was over, Stalin
relaunched the purges according to his madness. With two million prisoners,
including a large number of Jews, never has the gulag been so full. In France, communists who fought
against the Nazis during the war, they continue to worship Stalin. In 1949, he celebrated his 70th birthday. From everywhere, we send
gifts to the Kremlin. As the poet Paul Éluard tells us. - “In this small workshop in Belleville, the workers spent 300 hours
to be manufactured with application a gift to install. Their gift, a miniature lathe. » - The Crimes of Stalin
continue to be ignored. - "We have not forgotten what
that we suffered during the Nazi occupation. One should understand
that one of our comrades was interned. Another man's son is
fell in the clandestine struggle. The woman and the girl
of our director were deported. Without the Stalingrad victory, our village, Grigny,
would still be occupied by the Nazis, like all of France,
like all of Europe. Also, all of us, peasants of Grigny,
we wish happy birthday and long life to Generalissimo Stalin
who liberated us by his victory. » - "We wish long life to the guide
working class clairvoyant to Stalin,
the man of peace. » - For his birthday, the man of peace summoned to
Moscow the international communist gratin. In particular the Chinese Mao Tsé tung. However, she is a little girl
12-year-old star. Her name is Natalia. She is the daughter of Poskrebychev,
Stalin's secretary. She got the honor
to read a poem to the Supreme Leader. - Live near us dear. Lead us by your lights for the Soviet regime to flourish and getting stronger every day. - The room applauds
break everything up this touching scene, but the little girl
ignores a cruel detail. A few years earlier,
Stalin had his mother shot. At 70, the little father of the peoples
feels more essential than ever. - "What would you do without me?" You are blind, little cats. You don't see the enemy. The country will die, because you
do not know how to recognize the enemy. » March 4, 1953. This time, it is Stalin who has just died. No details in the logs. We will only know later. Stalin agonized alone
in his room for two days, with no one to help him. Not even his doctors, terrified at the thought of taking
wrong decision and be shot. His body is on display
in the Hall of Columns, where he had condemned
his friends at the Moscow trials. Among party members,
the emotion is real. A teacher is struggling
to imagine life without Stalin. - What will happen now? How are we going to live? What will happen to the country? In Red Square,
officials recite their speech. - Our master and guide, the greatest genius of all
humanity has completed its glorious journey. - Yet, despite
mourning instructions, away from the cameras, thousands of victims of Stalin
secretly begin to rejoice. At the Vorkuta camp,
in the far north of Russia, the deportees set themselves
kneeling on hearing the news. - "May the devil take his soul." Thank God today the man with the mustache
went to hell. » - During his reign, the man who had
promised heaven on earth, he caused death
of 20 million people.
