The Great Commanders (1993)

PART ONE: Alexander the Great, The Battle of Issus: In November 333 B.C., twenty-three year old Alexander of Macedonia led his army against the Persian Host of Darius, which outnumbered the Greeks by more than 2 to 1. The Battle of Issus, which saw the comprehensive defeat of the Persians, is a case study where strategic brilliance and daring deliver a battlefield triumph. Alexander's victory over Darius was the beginning of the end for Persian hegemony in the Near-East, and began the Hellenization that would dominate the region for more than 500 years. PART TWO: Julius Caesar, The Battle of Alesia: In 52 B.C. Rome's pre-eminent general, Gaius Julius Caesar found himself locked in a titanic struggle against the forces of King Vercingetorix in Gaul. Pacifying Gaul was paramount to Rome's security and Caesar needed a decisive victory to quell Gallic resistance once and for all. Having surrounded Vercingetorix and his army at Alesia, Caesar now found himself attacked in turn by a relief force which outnumbered him by 5 to 1. Using superior Roman tactics, discipline and military technology, he crushed the Gauls and forced Vercingetorix's surrender. This victory cemented Roman control of Western Europe for 400 years and elevated Caesar to mythic status as a battlefield commander. PART THREE: Napoleon Bonaparte, The Battle of Austerlitz: The Battle of Austerlitz in 1805 lasted 9-hours, and saw Napoleon decisively defeat the combined Austro-Russian Coalition through tactical brilliance. By no means an assured victory for Napoleon, the battle was marked by the constant movement of armies and sudden battlefield developments. It is a testament to Napoleon's tactical genius that he succeeded in inflicting 3 times the casualties on the Austro-Russian force that the French suffered. His victory at Austerlitz realigned the boundaries of the continent and laid the foundations for the political evolution of Europe in the 19th Century. PART FOUR, Horatio Nelson, The Battle of Trafalgar, 1805: By 1805 Napoleon was master of Europe, with only Britain opposing him. Determined to destroy the British Navy, a combined Franco-Spanish fleet was assembled, and battle was joined at Trafalgar. By a revolutionary naval tactic of 'cutting the line' Nelson destroyed 22 out of 33 enemy ships, while losing none of his own. Nelson's overwhelming victory prevented a French invasion of Britain and guaranteed British naval dominance for the 19th Century. PART FIVE, Ulysses S. Grant, The Battle of the Wilderness, 1864: Confederate General Robert E. Lee was determined to fight Ulysses S. Grant's larger Union Army in the Spotsylvania wilderness. Fighting in the tangled woods and close quarters would give Lee's outnumbered force better odds. Although Lee inflicted heavier casualties on Grant, strategically the Battle of the Wilderness benefited the Union; Grant knew that the Union could absorb heavier casualties, whereas the Confederacy could not, and would not be able to sustain the war against the North. PART SIX, Georgi Zhukov, The Battle of Berlin, 1945: By April 1945, the heart of Nazi Germany was now within the sights of the Red Army. Hitler's refusal to surrender had made seizing the city both a military and a political imperative. But Joseph Stalin also foresaw that possession of Berlin would have long-term strategic consequences for post-war Europe. Taking a city is one of the most difficult military objectives, but the Red Army was willing to pay heavily to finally seize the capital of the Third Reich.