• 24
    watchers
  • 137
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  • 1996-11-10T05:00:00Z on PBS
  • 50m
  • 8h 20m (10 episodes)
  • United States
  • English
  • Documentary, History
The World War of 1914-18 - The Great War, as contemporaries called it -- was the first man-made catastrophe of the 20th century. Historians can easily identify the literal "smoking gun" that set the War in motion: a revolver used by a Serbian nationalist to assassinate Archduke Franz Ferdinand (heir apparent to the Austro-Hungarian throne) in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914. But scholars are still debating the underlying causes. Was it the desire for greater empire, wealth and territory? A massive arms race? The series of treaties which ensured that once one power went to war, all of Europe would quickly follow? Was it social turmoil and changing artistic sensibilities brought about by the Industrial Revolution? Or was it simply a miscalculation by rulers and generals in power? The answer provided in "The Great War and The Shaping of the 20th Century" is that all of these volatile elements combined to set off a gigantic explosion we now know as World War I.

10 episodes

Series Premiere

1996-11-10T05:00:00Z

1x01 Explosion

Series Premiere

1x01 Explosion

  • 1996-11-10T05:00:00Z50m

This chronicle of World War One begins with an investigation into the events of 1914 as Europe edged toward conflict. Improved technology and new political awareness paved the way for the rise of socialism across the Continent, while in Britain the voice of the suffragette movement was growing louder

1996-11-17T05:00:00Z

1x02 Stalemate

1x02 Stalemate

  • 1996-11-17T05:00:00Z50m

At the start of World War One it was predicted the fighting would be over in a matter of weeks, owing to technical advances in weaponry. But the reality proved entirely different as soldiers dug into the ground to escape artillery, trenches began to spread for miles and the Western Front developed.

1996-11-24T05:00:00Z

1x03 What if... Total War

1x03 What if... Total War

  • 1996-11-24T05:00:00Z50m

An insight into the personal experiences of people caught up in World War One, with diaries and letters shedding light on the conflict. One million women left the home to work in Britain's munitions factories, while soldiers' families lived in dread of receiving a telegram or telephone call bearing bad news.

1996-12-01T05:00:00Z

1x04 Slaughter

1x04 Slaughter

  • 1996-12-01T05:00:00Z50m

The stories of the battles of Verdun, the Somme and Passchendaele, three of World War One's most bloody encounters, using newsreel footage taken at the scene during a time when film was on the verge of becoming a major influence on the public's perception of warfare

1996-12-08T05:00:00Z

1x05 Mutiny

1x05 Mutiny

  • 1996-12-08T05:00:00Z50m

Account of the despair which swept Europe in 1917, as World War One dragged on into its fourth year with no end in sight. While British doctors struggled to find an effective shell-shock treatment for patients, including poet Wilfred Owen, half of the French army mutinied and Russia was gripped by revolution.

1996-12-15T05:00:00Z

1x06 Collapse

1x06 Collapse

  • 1996-12-15T05:00:00Z50m

Account of the sudden ending of World War One in 1918, tracing the various causes responsible for Germany's ultimate downfall, including a failed offensive, the Americans joining the Allied Forces and crumbling civilian morale. Archive footage reveals the momentous occasion when the guns fell silent on the 11th hour of November 11, and British and German troops shook hands.

1996-12-22T05:00:00Z

1x07 Hatred and Hunger

1x07 Hatred and Hunger

  • 1996-12-22T05:00:00Z50m

Covers the continuing blockade on Germany as the Allies drew up the Treaty of Versailles, with considerable focus on Woodrow Wilson’s role in the Paris Peace Conference.

1996-12-29T05:00:00Z

1x08 War Without End

1x08 War Without End

  • 1996-12-29T05:00:00Z50m

Examines the cost of the war and its continuing reverberations through the rest of the 20th century.

1996-12-29T05:00:00Z

1x10 La bataille de l'Ancre

1x10 La bataille de l'Ancre

  • 1996-12-29T05:00:00Z50m
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