The Great War

S01E01 On the Idle Hill of Summer...

May 30, 1964 9.0 40 min

In 1914, the world was on the brink of enormous change. Worried by increasing German militarism, the French and the British entered into the Entente Cordiale against Germany and her allies, splitting Europe into opposing...

Watch Now

S01E02 For Such a Stupid Reason Too...

June 6, 1964 10.0 40 min

The assassination of the Austro-Hungarian heir Archduke Franz Ferdinand in June 1914 led to a breakdown in international diplomacy that ultimately led to war.

Watch Now

S01E03 We Must Hack Our Way Through

June 13, 1964 9.0 40 min

Following the declaration of war, the German army began to carry out one of the most famous military plans in history. Known as the Schlieffen Plan, its objective was to finish the war in 40...

Watch Now

S01E04 Our Hats We Doff to General Joffre

June 20, 1964 10.0 40 min

How the British army fought its first battle at the Belgian town of Mons. Despite initial success, the British infantry were sent into retreat after two weeks. Yet as the Germans pressed forward to Paris,...

Watch Now

S01E05 This Business May Last a Long Time

June 27, 1964 7.0 40 min

The Battle of the Marne in September 1914 ultimately proved to be a pivotal victory of the war for Allied Forces, but, at the time, they were not able to exploit it to bring a...

Watch Now

S01E06 So Sleep Easy in Your Beds

July 4, 1964 8.0 40 min

Attention turns to the battle of the sea. British confidence in the Royal Navy was to be shattered as it suffered defeats – the worst one at Coronel off the coast of South America on...

Watch Now

S01E07 We Await the Heavenly Manna...

July 11, 1964 7.0 40 min

In 1915, France and Britain struggle to keep up with the demand for shells and artillery, but Germany – the most modern industrial system in Europe – have no shortages, having smoothly switched over to...

Watch Now

S01E08 Why Don't You Come and Help?!

July 18, 1964 5.0 40 min

As Minister of Munitions, David Loyd George was faced with a restricted industrial capability; Britain even imported materials from Germany in key areas. But with the help of US equipment, Lloyd George brought troops up...

Watch Now

S01E09 Please God Send Us a Victory...

July 25, 1964 8.0 40 min

By Christmas 1914, the bloody impasse in the trench lines on the Western Front saw Lord Kitchener looking elsewhere for victory. In an attempt to sieze control of strategic Turkey, a British naval expedition advanced...

Watch Now

S01E10 What Are Our Allies Doing?

August 1, 1964 8.0 40 min

1915 brings little progress for the Allies, but a huge German offensive at Gorlice-Tarnow forces the Russians to retreat in the East. The Allied conference at Chantilly agrees on a strategy of simultaneous attacks upon...

Watch Now

S01E11 Hell Cannot Be So Terrible

August 8, 1964 8.0 40 min

One of the bloodiest battles in history, the fighting at Verdun continues throughout the year 1916. French and German forces suffer over 700,000 casualties.

Watch Now

S01E12 For Gawd's Sake Don't Send Me

August 15, 1964 7.0 40 min

Following Lord Kitchener's appeal in 1916, the British Army was reinforced by over two million volunteers. Despite the reservations of General Sir Douglas Haig, the new Commander-in-Chief, many of these mew recruits were sent to...

Watch Now

S01E13 The Devil is Coming...

August 22, 1964 8.0 40 min

The Battle of the Somme – which began in July 1916 and continued into February 19 – leaves 415,000 Brits in a muddy grave.

Watch Now

S01E14 All This It Is Our Duty to Bear

August 29, 1964 10.0 40 min

Both sides make heroic bids for victory – but what will they have to show for it?

Watch Now

S01E15 We Are Betrayed, Sold, Lost

September 5, 1964 7.0 40 min

The French Army is rallied for a great spring offensive – but mutiny looms when the plans fall foul of the Germans.

Watch Now

S01E16 Right Is More Precious Than Peace

September 13, 1964 7.0 40 min

The future of the world is changed when America joins the conflict and the Communists come to power in Russia.

Watch Now

S01E17 Surely We Have Perished

September 20, 1964 7.0 40 min

On the Western Front in 1917, the British fought alone for three-and-a-half months during one of the wettest summers Flanders has ever seen. The result was the horrific battle of Passchendale.

Watch Now

S01E18 Fat Rodzianko Has Sent Me Some Nonsense

September 27, 1964 6.0 40 min

Russia's short-lived democracy is examined.

Watch Now

S01E19 The Hell Where Youth and Laughter Go

October 4, 1964 7.0 40 min

This episode recounts the war's terrible effects; not just the scale of the loss of life, but also the toll it took upon the human spirit.

Watch Now

S01E20 Only War, Nothing but War

October 11, 1964 8.0 40 min

Exploring how modern ideas of states' responsibility for their citizens grew out of the horror of "total war".

Watch Now

S01E21 It Was like the End of the World

October 18, 1964 8.0 40 min

The story of the German offensive of March 1918, a desperate gamble to grab victory at a stroke.

Watch Now

S01E22 Damn Them, Are They Never Coming In?

October 25, 1964 5.0 40 min

As Allied troops fall back in confusion under a German counter-attack, they wait for the arrival of US reinforcements.

Watch Now

S01E23 When Must the End Be?

November 1, 1964 7.0 40 min

On 17th July 1918, an Allied counter-attack marks the beginning of the end for Germany.

Watch Now

S01E24 Allah Made Mesopotamia – and Added Flies

November 8, 1964 8.0 40 min

Stalemate on the Western Front saw Allied generals look for victory via an alternative route – the Middle East.

Watch Now

S01E25 The Iron Thrones Are Falling

November 15, 1964 7.0 40 min

Its allies beaten, Germany faces defeat alone.

Watch Now

S01E26 ...And We Were Young

November 22, 1964 9.0 40 min

Relief spreads throgh the ranks on all sides as history's bloodiest conflict finally comes to an end. With the Armistice now in effect, the Allied countries are overcome by a frenzy of joy and exultation.

Watch Now