Fall of Eagles

Overview

"Fall of Eagles" is a 13-part British television drama aired by the BBC in 1974. The series portrays historical events from 1848 to 1918, dealing with the collapse of the ruling dynasties of Austria-Hungary (the Habsburgs), Germany (the Hohenzollerns) and Russia (the Romanovs).

Episodes

S01E01 Death Waltz

March 15, 1974 50 min
Franz Josef has been Austrian emperor since 1848, yet he remains unmarried five years into his reign. His mother, Archduchess Sophie, is determined to ensure the Habsburg line and favours her niece Helene as the...

S01E02 The English Princess

April 5, 1974 50 min
In the hope of promoting a liberal and united Germany, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert arrange for their eldest daughter Victoria ‘Vicky’ to marry Prince Frederick ‘Fritz’ of the Kingdom of Prussia. However, despite her...

S01E03 The Honest Broker

April 12, 1974 50 min
With Germany united under Prussia, Bismarck seeks a stabilizing alliance with the Austrians and Russians through the League of the Three Emperors. His plans extend to influencing the Kaiser’s grandson Wilhelm. In 1888, Wilhelm I...

S01E04 Requiem for a Crown Prince

April 19, 1974 50 min
On 30 January 1889, tragedy strikes the House of Habsburg when liberal Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria-Hungary and his young mistress Baroness Mary Vetsera are found dead at the hunting lodge at Mayerling in the...

S01E05 The Last Tsar

April 26, 1974 50 min
Tsar Alexander III doubts the ability of his son and heir-apparent, Nicholas, to inherit the Russian throne. The young tsarevich is similarly apprehensive. Despite his longstanding affair with St Petersburg ballerina Mathilde Kschessinska and the...

S01E06 Absolute Beginners

May 3, 1974 50 min
Nicholas has now been tsar for nine years and refuses to share his absolute authority with a parliament urged by social reformers. Now married and in London, Lenin is founding his own more radical brand...

S01E07 Dearest Nicky

May 8, 1974 50 min
Nicholas is preoccupied by strikes and the humiliating war with Japan; the continual unsolicited advice and gifts of his cousin, Wilhelm II; and the health of his only son Alexei, who has hemophilia. A rising...

S01E08 The Appointment

May 15, 1974 50 min
When Grand Duke Sergei is murdered, Nicholas dismisses his police chief and considers Pyotr Rachkovsky as a suitable replacement even though he seems untrustworthy and is rumoured to use agent provocateurs. Both Sergei Witte and...

S01E09 Dress Rehearsal

May 22, 1974 50 min
Britain’s King Edward VII makes a visit to the Royal Russian yacht to discuss an alliance with Russia. Meanwhile, Russia’s Foreign Minister Alexander Izvolsky, begins intriguing to have the Bosphorus opened to the Black Sea...

S01E10 The Indian Summer of an Emperor

May 29, 1974 50 min
Franz Josef fears for Austria-Hungary’s future in the hands of his reform-minded nephew and heir-presumptive Franz Ferdinand, especially because of the time that he spends with Kaiser Wilhelm. However, he soon gets news of the...

S01E11 Tell the King the Sky is Falling

June 5, 1974 50 min
With the resolve and the morale of the Russian army plummeting, Nicholas decides to leave the capital to take personal command of the army, leaving Alexandra behind as his eyes and ears in Petrograd. His...

S01E12 The Secret War

June 12, 1974 50 min
As the war continues, Kaiser Wilhelm, tiring from his responsibilities, allows Ludendorff, Hindenburg, Admiral von Holtzendorff and Bethmann-Hollweg to propose riskier strategies for ‘total victory’ (such as unrestricted submarine warfare against neutral shipping). With Rasputin...

S01E13 End Game

June 19, 1974 50 min
With Franz Joseph now dead and the Romanovs murdered by the Bolsheviks, Kaiser Wilhelm is the lone eagle still standing. German troops move west from the now peaceful Russian front, but the Spring Offensive fails,...

Cast

Barry Foster
Barry Foster
Kaiser Wilhelm II
Michael Hordern
Michael Hordern
Narrator

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