A filmed historical survey of the First World War.A filmed historical survey of the First World War.A filmed historical survey of the First World War.
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A Surprising Piece of Programing in 1964
At the time that Newton Minnow made his famous pronouncement of television being the great wasteland, CBS decided to honor the fiftieth anniversary of the First World War with this series narrated by Robert Ryan. It was, if memory serves, shown over the course of an entire television season (roughly 26 or so episodes of thirty minutes each). The episodes began with a quick review of the international rivalries and tensions of the years 1870 to 1914, culminating in the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie in Sarajevo by the Serbians, and how this (in turn) set off the two war alliances of the Triple Alliance (Germany and Austria Hungary - Italy decided to remain neutral, for the moment), and the Triple Entente (Britain, France, and the Russian Empire). The episodes picked up on different problems and theaters of the war, and how it gradually extended to involve Japan, Italy (as an enemy of it's old alliance partners), the Ottoman Empire, Bulgaria, Greece, Roumania, Portugal, Norway, and finally the United States. Episodes dealt with the invasion of Belgium, the sacking of Louvain, and the beginning of the image of the German "Hun". One dealt with the war at sea, culminating in the battle at Jutland. Another dealt with the great air aces. Another dealt with the popular songs of the war (from both sides - one, by the way, was a French anti-war song that was sung during the famous French army mutinies of 1917). The Russian Revolution was the subject of an episode. So was the hopeless Italian army campaigns, mostly in the valley of the Isonzo River (12 battles!). The arrival of the U.S. and the final defeat of Germany were shown, as was the mess of the Versailles Treaty. There were many archives that were tapped, and special, rarely seen films shown (like the torpedoing and sinking of the Austrian dreadnought Sven Istvan in 1918, one of the most graphic ship sinkings ever photographed). The series was terrific, and it is good to know it is now available on video and DVD. This was one series to keep.
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- theowinthrop
- May 11, 2005
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- Country of origin
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- Also known as
- Der erste Weltkrieg
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- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime48 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1
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