With overwhelming advantages in men, tanks, and artillery, the Soviets smashed through German lines in Poland and made their way toward Berlin. Learn how this push set the stage for the momentous agenda at the Allied leadership conference in Yalta, where plans were made to stop a future Germany from starting another global war.

From the fate of everyday Germans and captured German leadership to the creation of NATO and the European Union, take stock of the global situation at the end of World War II. It was a time that would see a system of cooperation for the Allies, as well as the dawn of a lengthy Cold War with the Soviet Union.

Discover the ways that intelligence (from spying to espionage to assassination) contributed to the Allies' ultimate battlefield success. Follow Germany's desperate search for miracle weapons like the V-2 rocket. Explore why the real miracle weapon of World War II wasn't a weapon at all, but mass industrial production.

How should one consider the vast history of the Ottoman Empire? Professor Harl sets the stage for the lectures to come with a consideration of key themes in the empire's journey from "Sublime Porte" to "Sick Man of Europe" - as well as the distorting images of Orientalism.

Learn how Muhammad Ali exploited the confusion in Egypt after Napoleon's departure and, in 35 years, became the first successful Muslim ruler to transform Egypt into the literary and intellectual center of the Arabic-speaking world. Also, consider several Serbian and Greek revolts that rocked the Ottoman Empire.

Between 1500 and 1800, the Ottoman Empire spread across more than 1 million square miles - but economic activity varied from region to region. Discover how groups like pastoralists and the Muslim gentry (timariots) played their own critical roles in the drama and resiliency of the rural Ottoman economy.

While precise figures are difficult to determine, it's estimated that some 500,000 lives in Germany were lost to Allied bombing. In this episode, ponder the costs and rewards of strategic bombing during World War II in terms of dollars and human lives. Should Britain and the United States have invested their resources in something else?

By the spring and summer of 1940, the Hitler-Stalin Pact was under real strain. Go inside the strategic decision making behind Hitler's decision to break his non-aggression pact with the Soviet Union and to ignite Operation Barbarossa in a grand (and flawed) effort to invade and conquer Stalin's Russia.

First, learn how the Seljuk sultans created an Islamic Turkish Anatolia, which would become the heartland of future Ottoman sultans. Then, explore Seljuk developments in architecture, decorative art, and religion - including domed mosques, medresses (religious schools), and "whirling dervishes."

By 1916, the Ottoman Empire was fighting for its very survival. Professor Harl reveals the impact of the Russian Revolution on the war, the steady deterioration of the empire over the course of the fighting, and the army's ultimate collapse, which came suddenly and unexpectedly, in late 1918.