Plot Synopsis

The six-hour documentary series WORLD WAR II: RACE TO VICTORY recalls one of the most thrilling races in history, between three icons, superpowers and ideologies that came together to overcome a greater evil and achieve VE Day. Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin find themselves in an uneasy alliance, fraught with power-struggles, false promises and deadly suspicions of each other. The series paints an in-depth picture of the race to power and victory during the war, to reach VE Day. To mark the 75th anniversary of VE Day, an examination of the race, not only to win WWII, but also to gain power and an ideological stronghold. 7:48 am on December 7, 1941. The U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii is attacked by 350 Japanese planes. They sink four American battleships -- half the U.S. fleet. In just two hours, they also destroy 188 aircraft and kill more than 2,000 Americans. History Channel premiered the series on Sunday, June 14, 2020 from 9-11pm ET/PT, with an additional two-hour episode debuting each subsequent Sunday through June 28:

"Mortal Peril" (Sunday, June 14, 2020 from 9-11pm): An exploration of the tensions at the heart of the Allied war effort, as the dominant powers weigh up the moral ambiguity and actions of their alliance. After a year of fraught relations and tension, the big three leaders meet in Tehran. Will they find the unity they need to help the Allies win the war?

"Victory at Any Cost" (Sunday, June 21, 2020 from 9-11pm): An exploration of the tensions at the heart of the Allied war effort, as the dominant powers weigh up the moral ambiguity and actions of their alliance. After a year of fraught relations and tension, the big three leaders meet in Tehran. Will they find the unity they need to help the Allies win the war?

"D-Day and Beyond" (Sunday, June 28, 2020 from 9-11pm): 6th June 1944--D Day. More than 156,000 British, American, and Canadian soldiers are transported across the English Channel, in the largest seaborne invasion ever attempted. After years of pressure from Stalin, Churchill has finally agreed to open a second front in Europe and send Allied troops to liberate occupied France. From there, they will fight their way across to Germany and--with the Red Army, advancing from the East--finally bring down Hitler's Fascist Empire. And yet just three months later, the Big Three's optimism will turn to despair. It is February 1945 and the Allies can almost taste victory. They agree to meet to decide what the future will look like after the war finally comes to an end. And so "The Big Three" come face to face for the second, and last, time in the seaside town of Yalta.