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The Best Episodes of Real Time History

Every episode of Real Time History ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of Real Time History!

Binge this in 2d 3h•Peaking at 10.0/10

Realtimehistory creates chronological documentaries such Rhineland 45 and 15 Days in Berlin. They are also know as the team behind the youtube hit series The great War. Now they will cover one of the pivotal

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Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Fan Favorite
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    Real Time History Season 2022 Episode 22 - Why Germany Lost the Battle of the Bulge
    10.0/10(1 votes)

    #1 - Why Germany Lost the Battle of the Bulge

    S2022:E22

    The Battle of the Bulge was one of the last German offensives during the Second World War. It caught the US Army off guard in the Ardennes sector but ultimately the Allies prevailed. But did Unternehmen Wacht am Rhein ('Operation Watch on the Rhine') ever have a chance to succeed and reach Antwerp?

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  2. Real Time History Season 2023 Episode 7 - Why Rommel Lost the Battle for North Africa (WW2 Documentary)
    10.0/10(1 votes)

    #2 - Why Rommel Lost the Battle for North Africa (WW2 Documentary)

    S2023:E7

    The North African campaign of WW2 is one of the most famous ones. The almost mythical story of the British "Desert Rats" defeating Erwin Rommel's Afrika Korps. But why did Rommel loose in North Africa?

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  3. Real Time History Season 2023 Episode 10 - Tempting Armageddon: Soviet vs. NATO Nuclear Strategy
    10.0/10(1 votes)

    #3 - Tempting Armageddon: Soviet vs. NATO Nuclear Strategy

    S2023:E10

    Since the inception of the nuclear bomb, military strategists have tried to figure out how to use them best. During the Cold War, this led to two very different doctrines but on both sides of the Iron Curtain the military wasn't sure of you could actually win Nuclear War.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  4. Real Time History Season 2023 Episode 11 - Napoleon's Downfall: German Campaign 1813
    10.0/10(1 votes)

    #4 - Napoleon's Downfall: German Campaign 1813

    S2023:E11

    After Napoleon's disastrous retreat from Russia he was still able to put up a fight and was determined to beat the enemy coalition in the German lands. But after a spring campaign and the battle of Grossbeeren, and the later battles of Bautzen and the Katzbach, the Emperor was beaten at the Battle of Leipzig 1813

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  5. Real Time History Season 2023 Episode 13 - France's Vietnam War: Fighting Ho Chi Minh before the US
    10.0/10(1 votes)

    #5 - France's Vietnam War: Fighting Ho Chi Minh before the US

    S2023:E13

    After the Second World War multiple French colonies were pushing towards independence, among them Indochina. The Viet Minh movement under Ho Chi Minh was clashing with French aspirations to save their crumbling Empire.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  6. Real Time History Season 2023 Episode 17 - Why Germany Lost the Battle of Kursk 1943
    10.0/10(1 votes)

    #6 - Why Germany Lost the Battle of Kursk 1943

    S2023:E17

    In summer 1943, Germany and the Soviet Union fought the arguably biggest single battle in history with millions of men, thousands of tanks and artillery guns – the battle of Kursk. The German Army wanted to hit the Red Army so hard that they couldn’t go on the offensive again. And indeed, new research shows that the Soviets suffered shockingly high casualties, up to 6 times more men and equipment. But why then did the Germans lose this historic battle?

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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    The 20 WORST Episodes of Real Time History

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  7. Real Time History Season 2023 Episode 18 - Why Rommel Lost His Last Battle
    10.0/10(1 votes)

    #7 - Why Rommel Lost His Last Battle

    S2023:E18

    In February 1943, Rommel’s panzers are again on the attack in North Africa. This time he’s facing untested US troops in the mountains of Tunisia - but the clock is ticking. As his veterans batter their way through the Kasserine Pass, the British are steadily advancing behind him. The Desert Fox has a bold plan to defeat the Allies in Tunisa for good. Little does he know, however, it will be his last battle in the field - and will soon lead him to total defeat in what some later will call Tunisgrad.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  8. Real Time History Season 2023 Episode 19 - Why Did Japan Attack Pearl Harbor?
    10.0/10(1 votes)

    #8 - Why Did Japan Attack Pearl Harbor?

    S2023:E19

    December 7, 1941: The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor shocked the world and brought the US into the Second World War. But why did the Japanese resort to such an attack against a powerful rival and what did it have to do with the Japanese war in China?

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  9. Real Time History Season 2023 Episode 20 - Downfall of Imperial Japan 1945: From Iwo Jima to Nagasaki
    10.0/10(1 votes)

    #9 - Downfall of Imperial Japan 1945: From Iwo Jima to Nagasaki

    S2023:E20

    In 1945 US forces are advancing towards Japan, but the road to victory will be bloody.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  10. Real Time History Season 2024 Episode 1 - Search and Destroy: Vietnam War Tactics 1965-1967
    10.0/10(1 votes)

    #10 - Search and Destroy: Vietnam War Tactics 1965-1967

    S2024:E1

    In 1965, tens of thousands of US troops are heading for war in Vietnam. Backed up by B-52 bombers, helicopters and napalm, many expect the Viet Cong guerillas to crumble in the face of unstoppable US firepower. Instead, in the jungles and swamps of Vietnam, the Americans discover combat is an exhausting slog in which casualties are high and they rarely get to fire first.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  11. Real Time History Season 2023 Episode 14 - Why France Lost Vietnam: The Battle of Dien Bien Phu
    9.0/10(1 votes)

    #11 - Why France Lost Vietnam: The Battle of Dien Bien Phu

    S2023:E14

    After the French success in the Battle of Na San, the battle of Dien Bien Phu is supposed to defeat the Viet Minh once and for all. But instead the weeks long siege becomes a symbol of the French defeat in Vietnam.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  12. Real Time History Season 2023 Episode 15 - Why Did the Vietnam War Break Out?
    9.0/10(1 votes)

    #12 - Why Did the Vietnam War Break Out?

    S2023:E15

    In 1965, US troops officially landed in Vietnam, but American involvement in the ongoing conflict between the Communist North and the Anti-Communist South had started more than a decade earlier. So, why did the US-Vietnam War break out in the first place?

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  13. Real Time History Season 2022 Episode 23 - Biggest US Battle in the Pacific: Okinawa 1945
    4.0/10(1 votes)

    #13 - Biggest US Battle in the Pacific: Okinawa 1945

    S2022:E23

    The American invasion of Okinawa was the last big island operation on the Pacific Front. It took the US Marines and Army troops several months to defeat the last Japanese resistance on the island in one of the costliest American victories of the 2nd World War - but in the end not even Japanese Kamikaze attacks and using the civilian population could avert the outcome.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  14. Real Time History Season 2021 Episode 1 - The World of the Franco-Prussian War – The 19th Century up to 1870 I GLORY & DEFEAT
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #14 - The World of the Franco-Prussian War – The 19th Century up to 1870 I GLORY & DEFEAT

    S2021:E1

    Welcome to the first primer episode for Glory & Defeat. In this first primer episode we will take a broad look at the industrial revolution and the emerging new ideologies of the 19th century: Communism and Nationalism.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  15. Real Time History Season 2021 Episode 2 - 1848 -The Year of (Failed) Revolutions I GLORY & DEFEAT
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #15 - 1848 -The Year of (Failed) Revolutions I GLORY & DEFEAT

    S2021:E2

    The year 1848 was pivotal in European history. All across the continent revolutionary movements erupted and demanded a new order. This would be no different in France and in the German states.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  16. Real Time History Season 2021 Episode 3 - In The Shadow of Napoleon - The 2nd French Empire Before 1870 I GLORY & DEFEAT
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #16 - In The Shadow of Napoleon - The 2nd French Empire Before 1870 I GLORY & DEFEAT

    S2021:E3

    After Napoleon I had conquered and then lost Europe, France went through multiple revolutions. In 1851, Napoleons nephew and French president Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte took control and in 1852 crowned himself Emperor Napoleon III. The new French Empire wanted to regain the glory of Napoleon's uncle and together with his wife Empress Eugenie he ruled a state known for lavish balls and spending.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  17. Real Time History Season 2021 Episode 4 - The Ems Dispatch - The Outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War I GLORY & Defeat Week 1
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #17 - The Ems Dispatch - The Outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War I GLORY & Defeat Week 1

    S2021:E4

    French and Prussian animosity have been swelling in the background since the German Wars of Unification started in the 1860s. The French Duc de Gramont hopes that a victory over Prussia could restore French prestige while Prussian Chancellor Bismarck needs a reason to fulfill his dream of German unification from above. When the crisis about the Spanish throne escalates with the Ems Dispatch, the die is cast and the Franco-Prussian War begins.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  18. Real Time History Season 2021 Episode 5 - The German Wars of Unification - Bismarck's Rise I GLORY & DEFEAT
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #18 - The German Wars of Unification - Bismarck's Rise I GLORY & DEFEAT

    S2021:E5

    After the failed revolution of 1848, the German states within the German confederation were still moving towards unification. This movement would come from the citizens this time though but from the top. Prussia's chancellor Otto von Bismarck was using clever and aggressive diplomacy to outmaneuver his biggest German rival: Austria.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  19. Real Time History Season 2021 Episode 6 - Franco-Prussian War - First Fighting and Casualties I GLORY & DEFEAT Week 2
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #19 - Franco-Prussian War - First Fighting and Casualties I GLORY & DEFEAT Week 2

    S2021:E6

    With the official declaration of war from France, Prussia mobilizes and calls in the defensive alliances with the other German states within the North German Confederation but also with Bavaria, Württemberg and Baden. And while the bigger armies still assemble, the first skirmishes happen near the French border.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  20. Real Time History Season 2021 Episode 7 - French and German Armies in 1870 - Dreyse and Chassepot Rifle Overview I GLORY & DEFEAT Week 3
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #20 - French and German Armies in 1870 - Dreyse and Chassepot Rifle Overview I GLORY & DEFEAT Week 3

    S2021:E7

    While the French and different German Armies are gathering we are taking the time this week to take a look at military organization and warfare in 1870. As a special guest we also have Cap And Ball on the show who introduces the famous Chassepot and Dreyse rifles which will be important in this conflict.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  21. Real Time History Season 2021 Episode 8 - Opening Battles of the Franco-Prussian War: Saarbrücken, Wissembourg, Wörth I GLORY & DEFEAT Week 4
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #21 - Opening Battles of the Franco-Prussian War: Saarbrücken, Wissembourg, Wörth I GLORY & DEFEAT Week 4

    S2021:E8

    Early August 1870 saw the first series of opening battles of the Franco-Prussian War. The Battle of Saarbrücken was the only battle of the entire war fought on German soil, the following Battle of Wissembourg, the Battle of Wörth and the Battle of Spicheren happened right after and gave a glimpse of the carnage to come.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  22. Real Time History Season 2021 Episode 9 - Battle of Colombey-Nouilly - Strasbourg Under Siege I GLORY & DEFEAT Week 5
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #22 - Battle of Colombey-Nouilly - Strasbourg Under Siege I GLORY & DEFEAT Week 5

    S2021:E9

    After the opening battles of the Franco-Prussian War, the German armies have suffered heavy casualties but were also able to stop French plans in their tracks. Now the French are withdrawing towards Metz and the symbolic city of Strasbourg is under siege.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  23. Real Time History Season 2021 Episode 10 - Bloody Victories - The Battles For Metz | GLORY & DEFEAT Week 6
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #23 - Bloody Victories - The Battles For Metz | GLORY & DEFEAT Week 6

    S2021:E10

    The French Army of Marshal Bazaine was hoping to reach Verdun or even Paris after the first engagements around Metz. But the French troops were exhausted which allowed the Germans to catch up. With the Battle of Gravelotte and the Battle of Mars-la-Tour, the fate of the French Rhine Army is sealed; they are trapped in Metz.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  24. Real Time History Season 2021 Episode 11 - An Entire French Army Trapped in Metz During the Franco-Prussian War
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #24 - An Entire French Army Trapped in Metz During the Franco-Prussian War

    S2021:E11

    The French Army of the Rhine under Marshal Bazaine is trapped inside Metz - along with civilians and wounded over 250,000 people will need to be fed from the city's dwindling supplies. Surrounding the city is a German Army that cannot force the Metz fortifications and opts for starving it into submission instead.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  25. Real Time History Season 2021 Episode 12 - Battle of Sedan - German Victory and Fall of the French Empire (Franco-Prussian War)
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #25 - Battle of Sedan - German Victory and Fall of the French Empire (Franco-Prussian War)

    S2021:E12

    The Battle of Sedan was one of the pivotal moments in the 19th century. The French 2nd Empire's defeat at Sedan (and the capture of Emperor Napoleon III) unleashed social tensions in Paris and a new French republic was proclaimed. And while the victory of the German Armies was resounding, the cost at places like Bazeilles was also high.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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Best Episodes Summary

"Why Germany Lost the Battle of the Bulge" is the best rated episode of "Real Time History". It scored 10/10 based on 1 votes. Directed by Unknown and written by Unknown, it aired on 10/21/2022. This episode scored 0.0 points higher than the second highest rated, "Why Rommel Lost the Battle for North Africa (WW2 Documentary)".