Myths die hard, and the history of the 20th century is no exception to this rule. Even today, we hold popular beliefs that we take for Evangelical truths. Thus, we believe that Hiroshima caused Japan to surrender, that the Marshall Plan saved Europe, that Adolf Hitler was a military genius, or that Mao Zedong was a necessary evil for China’s modernization. Of course, these judgements contain some truth; but, too broad-stroked to be accurate, they contradict the historical reality by denying its complexity. What if the truth was slightly different? Through an exploration of great national or international myths, this full archive documentary collection revisits the key moments of the 20th century with a new perspective in order to provide a new, smarter and more subtle interpretation, bringing elements to light that have been forgotten or sometimes overshadowed.
How the constitution of the largest Democratic Republic in the world was created.
The True Believers is a 1988 Australian mini series which looks at the history of the Australian Labor Party from the end of World War Two up to the Australian Labor Party split of 1955.
It was co-written by Bob Ellis who focused on three characters "Chifley, the unlettered man of great dignity; Menzies, who used to stand for something but eventually stood only for Menzies; and Evatt, the grand idealist... It's almost like Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part 1. It's a chunk of national history during Australia's great era of change after the war."
Bastard Boys is an Australian television miniseries broadcast on the ABC in 2007. It tells the story of the 1998 Australian waterfront dispute. The script, published by Currency Press, won the 2007 Queensland Premier's Literary Award for Best Television Script.
Enclaves, loaned territories, disputed areas and microstates: This is the series that looks at places with absurd borders.
A documentary which explores the remarkable parallels between the careers of Adolf Hitler and Winston Churchill, as well as their personal rivalry and animosity.
A documentary series that explores who brought Vladimir Putin to power, and why. It meticulously reconstructs the sequence of events that have led us to the present day.
Four-part series Revolution mapped sweeping social and economic change in New Zealand society in the 1980s and early 1990s. Judged Best Factual Series at the 1997 NZ Television Awards, it collected together archive footage, and interviews with the major players. Said producer Marcia Russell: “We wanted to make Revolution because we believed that unless we re-run and re-examine our recent history we are in constant danger of forgetting, and forgetting can render us passive about the present and slaves of the future.
Denmark is on the brink of bankruptcy when Conservative Poul Schlüter becomes prime minister in 1982. Over his more than 10 years in office, he manages to restore the country's economy—but remains deeply unpopular with parts of the population. Schlüter becomes the longest-serving prime minister since World War II. What was the secret behind his long tenure? And what were the personal costs for him and his family? Get to know the man and the politician in DR’s new three-part documentary, Schlüter.