1999: Victory Without War

Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it, and the story of the wars fought in Vietnam from the 1940s to the 1970s is one from which many lessons can be learned. Initially a conflict involving a wounded post-war France attempting to re-take and hold its former colony, the fighting in Vietnam would become less a battle over territory and independence, and more an ideological battleground where the contrasting philosophies of east and west would meet head-on in an explosion of politics, culture and napalm.

Unlike any other Century the last 100 years has provided filmed conflicts and adventures covering World Wars and many other sweeping military actions. All too often these huge conflicts have been taken at face value. The story has unfolded in newspapers and film clips in a way which has left historians to piece together the final jigsaw. But even now have their efforts given us the true picture?

The Second World War ended the Nazi domination of Europe and Japanese aggression in the Asian Pacific but created two superpowers and another world crisis, the only recently concluded 'Cold War'. What were the causes of this, the second major conflagration in 20 years? How did the war progress, and could the Axis powers have succeeded? What were the consequences of a conflict that cost the lives of 53 million people, left many countries devastated and led to the creation of a bi-polar world?