Hitler's Victory (2002 TV Movie) User Reviews

A terrifyingly convincing picture of Britain's fate under Nazi rule

[gavsivan · 8/10 · 16 November 2004]

This documentary is actually the first part of a (two-part) miniseries entitled "Hitler's Britain."

Part One gives a terrifyingly convincing picture of what might well have occurred if the Nazis had launched a successful invasion of Great Britain in 1940. It suggests that eminent appeasers, such as Neville Chamberlain and Lord Halifax, would have collaborated with Hitler and that "enemies of the Reich" (Socialists, Freemasons, and of course Jews) would have been rounded up and shot or sent to the European death camps.

Part Two visualizes the collapse of British military resistance within a few months of the invasion, the activating of Churchill's civilian underground fighters, and their ultimate destruction. That would have left Hitler free to perfect his long-range missiles and launch them in waves against the Soviet Union and the United States.

Having lived through the World War 2 Blitz (in Liverpool), and knowing how the Nazis treated many millions of so-called "Untermenschen," I believe that these two documentaries provide a clear idea of what the British people's fate would have been under Nazi occupation.

Interesting Alternative History

[sddavis63 · 8/10 · 3 July 2010]

What if? That's the question raised by this documentary that considers the question of what life in Britain would have been like had Hitler's Germany won World War II and occupied the island. This has the advantage of being based on actual documents. The Germans expected to defeat Britain and had very detailed plans for what to do with the occupation, right down to which personalities would be arrested, which organizations would be destroyed and which museums would be plundered. The first half of this film deals with that German occupation, and it's a sobering look at what British life would have become, based on the documents and on the examples of how the Germans dealt with other nations under occupation. As this half comes to a close, I thought the film lost a bit of its bite as it became highly speculative, proposing either a nuclear war between Germany and the United States or a Cold War between the two powers, and suggesting that, with Werner von Braun not being captured by the Americans, Germany would have landed men on the moon first. Maybe, but that seemed to be becoming a bit too speculative and was going a bit beyond what the purpose of the film was. The second half of the movie shifts the focus from what the Germans would have done in the occupation to what the British would have done, and focuses on the plans for the "Auxiliary Units" set up on Churchill's orders - basically, small groups of men organized on a village by village basis who were to engage in guerilla warfare against the Germans. The depiction of the types of sabotage they would have engaged in was realistic, but in the end the film suggests that their operations would have been largely hopeless, and would have led to widespread reprisals against the civilian population.

Certainly, this is a sobering and realistic documentary that makes one grateful for those who so long ago made sure that Nazi tyranny would be defeated.

Imagine if Britain was Invaded by Germany!

[Sylviastel · 8/10 · 24 April 2011]

This documentary is about what if Germany invaded Britain during World War II. It was a goal of the Nazis to overtake the world. This documentary describes the possibilities of the horrors that would happen to it's population. The Jews would be taken away after they are stripped of their businesses. They would be branded with yellow stars of David like all the others nations. They would placed in ghettos and sent to concentration camps in Eastern Europe where they would be killed. The Royal Family would evacuate to Canada. Churchill's secret army of Auxiliaries men and women would be more active and risk their lives to retake their country as the resistance. This documentary asks what would happen if Germany was successful. We must all stop and pause to thank that they weren't and never invaded Britain at all. The Britons knew Germany's horror in occupied Europe by those refugees.

An excellent "what if" documentary

[williamsonkwr · 10/10 · 11 October 2006]

What if Hitler had invaded the UK? What if Germany had won WWII? What if the United Kingdom was a Nazi State? This documentary - or I suppose, more correctly docu-dram paints a very vivid and very credible picture of what life would have been like under the Nazis.

The documentary is very methodical, as it takes us step-by-step, down the path from initial invasion, via appeasement, to UK death camps.

I watched this on television on its first showing and it has left an indelible mark on my memory. I only wish it was available to purchase.

I strongly recommend that anyone with an interest in history, politics or the war, who gets the opportunity to watch this - to make every effort to do so - you will not be disappointed.

Pretty Good

[Jmhl3 · 8 May 2006]

Hitler's Britain. This documentary sets out a Britain where we had been defeated and lay under the Nazi jackboot.

Many of you military historians out there may have noticed that the idea for a successful German invasion, that the program puts forward, kinda falls down when it comes to crossing the channel and not mentioning the Royal Navy, which as the Sandhurst War Game proved, could have straddled the German's supply and reinforcement line via the Channel. It also mentions the successful German paratroop landings. Which would'nt have been possible. Even in October 1940 the German Airborne divisions were still re-equipping and training replacement recruits for their losses in France and the Low-Countrys. Even if the BEF had been cut off at Dunkirk the Royal Navy would have made a massacre of the invasion fleet which consisted mainly on Rhine River Barges. About a quarter would have capsized in the Channel anyway. So there's the history.

Whilst the actual invasion itself was poorly thought out by the writers the content of the program was fascinating. The German's prepared a list of about 2,300 Britons to be "detained" if Britain was taken. With Einzatzgrupen sqauds (Death Sqauds) at London, Liverpool, Bristol, Manchester, Birmingham and Edinburgh. Also mentioned was the treatment of Freemasons and Jews but most of you pretty much know all about this so I wont go into it. How the Britsh police force was to be handled. And of course the big question, who was going to be the Prime Minister ? (The program killed Churchill off in an air raid). The first name that will pop into someones head is probably Oswald Mosley the interned leader of The British Union of Fascists. You might be screaming TRAITOR, TRAITOR at Mosley but it was not to be the case. The Nazi's rarely let local Fascist or Nazi party's run occupied country's governments and anyway Mosley announced he was supporting the British war effort and called on BUF men and women to resist the invaders. The program settles on Lord Halifax becoming leader and surrendering the country after the British counter attack is defeated due to lack of armour. (Which also doesn't stand up as we had an armoured division that was nearly fully equipped and also that Air Chief Marshall Dowding had a plan to withdraw what was left of the RAF to the Midlands, and don't forget there was also a considerable force in Scotland and the North of England at that time). So anyway the the writers have the Royal Family as we know it George VI, Queen Elisabeth (later Queen Mother), Princess Elisabeth (later Queen) and Princess Margret, fleeing to Canada. It has Edward VIII being instated as Prince Regent and Wallis Simpson, his Princess. They rule from Balmoral Castle in Scotland. I'm guessing they rule the North of England, Scotland, Nothern Ireland and a part of the British Empire (as the Dominions, the West Indies, the South Atlantic Islands and some African colonies would remain loyal to King George.) Others like India would stay loyal to the puppet government so that Germany could restrain Japan from trying to seize British colonys there.

Anyhow it ends up with another program on the Auxiliury Units or "The British Resistance". The Auxiliury Units were set up in mid 1940 to act as a resistance movement in case the country was occupied. This is the most interesting program as it has interviews with former members and charts a fictional one in a what-if scenario.

All in all it's a good documentary, if flawed on the historical side. Worth a watch though and much better than ITV's horrible attempt to put their view of it in "When Hitler Invaded Britain".

Similar Fiction You Might Want to Read

[Pete_Falina · 9/10 · 19 November 2007]

For the same subject treated quite well in fiction, look for a copy of Len Deighton's "SS GB". You follow the path of a British cop who has to answer to Nazi officers as he first investigates, and then is drawn into, a resistance movement. The resistance schemes to draw the sympathy of the isolationist USA, looking for America's intervention in the European war. This could help you flesh out some of the concepts in "Hitler's Britain." And, frankly, I'm a bit annoyed with the summary that suggests a likely ineffectual British resistance. That scarcely jives with the Brits who survived the bombing of London, and who rescued the troops at Dunkirk. For those of you who know Len Deighton's work, you won't be wasting your time, if you can find the book.

Circumspect Drivel

[missismiggins · 1/10 · 31 January 2011]

There was no plan to invade England by the Nazis, a waste of film! Should be described as a work of complete fiction - a "What If" rather than a true documentary. The Germans were already busy on various fronts without having to even contemplate invading the British Isles.

There is no "Concrete" evidence, documents or otherwise that suggested that Hitler even contemplated this other than as an excuse to get rid of his own Military advisers, and get them off his back.

He paid no more than lip service to any of their crazy schemes.

His Air Force were totally incapable of providing necessary air support over Germany at the time let alone supporting a 3rd Reich Invasion force.

A wasted exercise for a rather phony documentary.

A truly excellent "what if" documentary

[williamsonkwr · 10/10 · 11 October 2006]

What if Hitler had invaded the UK? What if Germany had won WWII? What if the United Kingdom was a Nazi State? This documentary - or I suppose, more correctly docu-dram paints a very vivid and very credible picture of what life would have been like under the Nazis.

The documentary is very methodical, as it takes us step-by-step, down the path from initial invasion, via appeasement, to UK death camps.

I watched this on television on its first showing and it has left an indelible mark on my memory. I only wish it was available to purchase.

I strongly recommend that anyone with an interest in history, politics or the war, who gets the opportunity to watch this - to make every effort to do so - you will not be disappointed.

Nothing You Didn't Already Know And Some Of The Facts Are Very Dubious

[Theo Robertson · 4/10 · 15 November 2012]

This is a speculative documentary showing what would have happened if Nazi Germany was successful in invading the British Isles in 1940 . Alternative history literature is full of this " What if " which comes as no surprise because who knows how human history would have developed if Hitler had succeeded with Operation Sealion ? Real history is compelling whilst alternative history is intriguing . But - and it's a massive BUT - speculative fiction shouldn't be given the same respect as historical fact same as science and religion should be viewed as being compatible . On the surface HITLER'S Britain might be of some interest but if you have any knowledge of the second world war you'll be irritated by historical conjecture masquerading as fact and bits that are just plain wrong

Early in the story we're told that the Nazis had a campaign of rape , murder and looting in Poland but treated the French with politeness and kindness . Well of course they did because Nazi Germany was unique in its ideology in that people were viewed due to their ethnic origin . Poles being Slavs were viewed as being " untermenschen " and unworthy of existence being in theory of Asiatic descent . Western Europeans were viewed by the Nazis as being pure bred Ayrans hence the mass genocide seen in Eastern Europe wasn't seen in the occupied countries of Western Europe. I also have to question what is meant by " politeness and kindness " not committing genocide doesn't automatically qualify something as being polite

There's also a lot of " artistic license " used in Hitler having to conquer Britain . In reality the Nazis didn't have the seaborne logistics to conquer the island so you have to ignore this . What can't be ignored is that the documentary states " 4,000 panzers are landed " because there's no way the Wermacht had that amount of panzers in 1940

After the invasion Churchill is killed by a Luftwaffe raid and the Nazis install a puppet government where many individuals named in the Nazis " black book " are liquidated . Often in alternative history Oswald Mosley is head of this puppet state but to its credit HITLER'S Britain speculates that Lord Halifax would be installed . That said Britain had its own black book where people with Nazi sympathies - one of whom would be Mosley - were to be executed before the Nazis took control . I'm guessing that the producers didn't have knowledge of this black book ?There's also a ridiculous insert showing Ante Pavlic who described as " The puppet ruler of Yugoslavia " when he was in fact the puppet ruler of The Independent State Of Croatia

As the time-line goes in to 1941 the dubious storytelling then starts collapsing as it tells how Operation Barbarossa is delayed due to the Nazis invading the Balkans and Greece . It suggests if the Nazis invaded the USSR in May they might have succeeded in conquering the country . But would they ? It was only a short delay . One of the enduring myths of the war is that because some forward German units were within sight of Moscow in the early winter of 1941 the Balkans campaign effectively caused a big enough delay in the Germans plan to make it to Moscow before winter set in . This remains a myth because the Germans didn't have the logistics to get enough men and equipment to the Soviet capital . It also ignores the certainty that the Soviets would have defended their capital with the same brutal intensity seen at Leningrad and Stalingrad

Perhaps the most ridiculous aspect is that after winning the war is that the Nazis then embarked on an atomic program and rocket program . The problem with the former is that for decades a large proportion of the German scientific and engineering elite were Jewish and they'd left the country taking their expertise with them . There was some evidence the Nazis were trying to attain an atomic capacity but were a long way behind American research and hadn't got round to even the fundamental aspects . As for the latter why would they be setting up a rocket program ? In this alternative world they're not fighting a war anymore hence there'd be no V weapon program

In short this is a very disappointing " What if " documentary . If you've got a knowledge of the second world war then you'll recognise that despite having to give the show some slack some of the " facts " aren't facts at all and are just plain wrong and will have you putting your foot through the TV . It's about as accurate as Mel Brooks THE PRODUCERS

Informative, curious.

[rmax304823 · 1 August 2011]

It isn't one of those shabby, scratchy documentaries that wave the flag all over the place and terrify the viewers, the kind of product popular during the war.

Actually, it's well researched and the material is presented systematically. Sure, it's a "What If" film. Another reviewer complained that it's not a documentary. Well, how could it be? Who has ever produced a documentary of things that never happened? Yet, the conjecture is kept to a minimum and existing Nazi documents are used in the construction of this awful scenario.

One thing we're reminded of is that the Nazis did, in fact, occupy a part of Great Britain, namely the channel islands of Guernsey and Jersey, closer to France than to England. There was no resistance. The German troops simply walked in and took over. They were under strict orders to treat the population politely and fairly. (Violators would be executed.) They paid for their goods at the going exchange rates, until the goods more or less ran out.

But if the Nazis had been able to invade and conquer England, the results would have been far different, according to plans laid out for the occupation. (The plans for the occupation were infinitely more thorough and logical than the plans for the invasion itself!)

As in other conquered nations, the Germans would not simply have exterminated all those at the top and installed their own dictator. They didn't even plan to involve the English fascists. They had been courting the recently abdicated Edward VIII and would have installed him on the throne and had him urge national unity. You know, "Let's get the past behind us and work for the common good." The Royal Family itself would by this time have been evacuated to Canada.

Once in power, the political situation would have followed a common channel. With German thoroughness, the occupation plan prepared by a general lists the names of individuals and groups that would, little by little, been quietly "removed" and sent away, never to be heard from again.

Among the first to go would be those accused of homosexuality, like Noel Coward and Aldous Huxley. And good-bye avowed socialist Bertrand Russell, then at Oxford. The Freemasons and the Church of England were to be deprived of any political power -- or worse. The libraries would have had decadent books burned. The museums would have been looted and the work sent to the Fuhrermuseum in the Austrian city of Linz. Parallel to all of this, of course, would come the gradual identification, isolation, and extermination of the Jews.

What difference would the Nazi conquest of Britain meant in the rest of the world? With Britain out of the way, there could have been no interference with the Axis occupation of the Balkans, which would mean that the invasion of the USSR could have begun in early spring as originally planned. The result would have been quick strikes in good weather and the likely collapse of the Soviet Union.

There would have been no need for Hitler to declare war on the United States, which was busy with a war in the Pacific. But just in case his designers were working on a transatlatic bomber and a nuclear weapon. The making of an atomic bomb was in the hands of a physicist, Werner Heisenberg, who didn't proceed with it, for one reason or another, perhaps deliberately aborting the project. Still, Germany was far ahead of any other country in rocketry and the US could hardly have considered itself safe.

The film spends too much time on the "auxiliaries," who were, in effect, trained as guerrilla fighters, but it observes accurately that they wouldn't have lasted long and that reprisals for their acts sabotage would have been terrible. The subject of collaboration is treated candidly. The film, as it now exists on DVD, is interrupted too often by the sign-on and sign-off logos -- an expanding circle of fire over a map of Britain with a swastika in the middle of it. And a few of the "reenactments" are overly extended.

Those carps aside, it's not bad.

What if the Axis had won?

[mistypain · 20 November 2009]

A very interesting book that preceded both Deighton's SS-GB and this movie, was "The Man in the High Castle" by Philip K. Dick. (He's also the author of many fantastic stories that have made it to the screen: Bladerunner; Total Recall, Screamers, Minority Report, Paycheck, A Scanner Darkly).

In the Man in the High Castle, the US is divided up between Japan and Germany after winning WWII. Japan gets the West Coast, Germany the East Coast.

READ IT!! it's fantastic! and while you're at it, also read It Can't Happen Here...