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Season 1 - 1914

  • SPECIAL 0x1 Europe Prior to World War I: Alliances and Enemies I PRELUDE TO WW1 - Part 1/3

    • July 31, 2014

    To understand World War One completely, you need to understand what happened before. In 1914, Europe was on the verge of modernity. The German Reich, France, Great Britain and Austria-Hungary were fighting over influence and colonies. Russia was gaining more and more power while the Ottoman Empire was only a shadow of its former self. Meanwhile, smaller nations were striving towards independence to fulfil their dream of being an sovereign state. In our first special episode about the prelude to World War 1, Indy explains what Europe was like in 1914.

  • SPECIAL 0x2 Tinderbox Europe - From Balkan Troubles to World War I PRELUDE TO WW1 - Part 2/3

    • August 1, 2014

    After multiple wars, the Balkan states had gained independence from the Ottoman Empire. At the same time, Austria-Hungary increased its influence over the region. The second video in our special series about the prelude to World War 1 is focusing on South-Eastern Europe and the Balkans. Indy explains the rising conflict between the double monarchy and Serbia. Even before 1914, the Balkan Wars lead to unbelievable misery in the area and would have a huge influence later on. This video is part two of three special episodes dealing with the prelude to war.

  • SPECIAL 0x3 A Shot that Changed the World - The Assassination of Franz Ferdinand I PRELUDE TO WW1 - Part 3/3

    • August 2, 2014

    On June 28th, 1914, Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, was assassinated by Gavrilo Princip, a nationalist working for the Serbian underground organisation "Black Hand" (officially known as "Unification or Death"). From today's perspective, the assassination is seen as the event that triggered the chain reaction leading to the outbreak of the Great War. These events are known today as the July Crisis. Only one month after the shot, on July 28th, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia.

  • S01E01 The Outbreak of WWI - How Europe Spiraled Into the Great War

    • July 28, 2014
    • YouTube

    After the assasination of Franz Ferdinand, Austria-Hungary is determined to put a lid on Serbia once and for all. Germany wanted to go to war with Russia sooner than later, because it was a affraid of a strong Czar. In our first episode, Indy explains how the conflicts in Europe spiraled into a world war.

  • S01E02 Germany in Two-Front War and the Schlieffen-Plan

    • August 7, 2014
    • YouTube

    Austria-Hungary starts the bombardment of Belgrade. What follows is a race of armies between all major powers in Europe. Nobody wants to be unprepared in case of an attack. Germany is implementing the Schlieffen-Plan to avoid a two front war by conquering Paris via Belgium. One thing gets clear in the first days at the Western Front: This war is going to be different - the modern warfare shows itself.

  • S01E03 To Arms! Deployment of Troops

    • August 14, 2014
    • YouTube

    The first few days of war were a combination of failed organisation and chaos. The Austro-Hungarian supreme command lacks in combat experience, and their irrational actions in Serbia are causing turmoil among the Germans. At the Eastern and Western Front, early signs of problems can be seen, too, which the armies will pay a terrible price for, in the upcoming weeks.

  • S01E04 A New War With Old Generals – Carnage on the Western Front

    • August 21, 2014
    • YouTube

    In the early days of World War 1, warfare is still based on ideas and ideals of 19th century generals. The technological progress during industrialisation clashes with obsolete war tactics. Tens of thousands of soldiers lose their lives in carnage at the Western front.

  • S01E05 The Rape of Belgium And The Battle of Tannenberg

    • August 28, 2014
    • YouTube

    During their advance through Belgium, the German Army is committing atrocities against Belgian civilians. The Austro-Hungarian Army is perpetrating massacres against the Serbian civilian population to retaliate against Serbian guerrilla warfare. At the Eastern Front, German generals Hindenburg and Ludendorff succeed in one of the most important battles of World War I: The Battle of Tannenberg.

  • S01E06 Plans Are Doomed to Fail - The Battle of Galicia

    • September 4, 2014
    • YouTube

    While the Germans are very close to reaching Paris, the Eastern Front proves to become a disastrous fail for the Austro-Hungarian forces. Conrad von Hötzendorf overestimated his skills and the strength of his troops. And after his too complicated plan in Galicia failed, the town of Lemberg falls into the hands of the Russians. Meanwhile, the war starts spreading into Asia, as Japan is besieging Tsingtao and New Zealand conquering German Samoa.

  • S01E07 Taxi To The Front – The First Battle of the Marne

    • September 11, 2014
    • YouTube

    The German army is so close to Paris that French soldiers are brought to the front by taxis. Together with the British troops, the French are fighting the German advance near the Marne river. Meanwhile, the Austro-Hungarian army is retreating to the Carpathian Mountains after a catastrophic defeat against Russia with hundreds of thousands of casualties.

  • S01E08 Welcome To The Dirt – The Beginning of Trench Warfare

    • September 18, 2014
    • YouTube

    After the advances and retreats during the early weeks of war, the front is coming to a grinding hold at the river Aisne. The German army is digging itself in on one side of the river and therefore a new, horrible chapter of World War One beginns: the trench warfware. To be prepared for this new kind of war, the British are recruiting over 400.000 soldiers, some of them still believing that the war will be over by Christmas.

  • S01E09 The Russian War Machine And The Race To The Sea

    • September 25, 2014
    • YouTube

    Sparked by the desperate state of the Austrians, the Russian army goes on the offensive. General Ivanov even tries to us his numerical superiority to make up for the German victories of a few weeks ago. Meanwhile, the armies of the western front try to outflank each other as they race north to the sea. And in the North Sea itself submarine warfare really gets going while in the air, we see airplanes used in large military operations for the first time.

  • S01E10 Dying In The Mud - Autumn Is Taking Its Toll

    • October 2, 2014
    • YouTube

    The autumn rain turns the battlefields into muddy landscapes. Mud in which the soldiers are hardly able to dig trenches and in which no artillery gun will stand. The first change of seasons is proving to be a big new challenge for the soldiers in Europe. While at the time, the longest siege of the war is starting, we can also see the first major battle in the south of Africa.

  • S01E11 Back For Christmas? - The Illusion Of A Short War

    • October 9, 2014
    • YouTube

    In the trenches on the Western Front and in the mud on the Eastern Front, hundreds of thousands of soldiers die and with them dies the illusion of a short war. After heavy casualties, the armies are adapting to a longer conflict and are looking for new recruits. To convince them to fight they are taking advantage of national minorities and their hope of equal rights and self-determination.

  • S01E12 Learning From Napoleon – Russia, The Underestimated Enemy

    • October 16, 2014
    • YouTube

    After defeating the Russian Army in the early weeks of the war, the German and Austrian generals hope to push the Russians back with combined forces. But, like Napoleon 100 years ago, they underestimate their enemy and his tactics and so the tides are turning at the Eastern Front. In the West, the last frontline gaps are closed and the British army is entering a small town called Ypres, which will eventually be the symbol for the carnage in Flanders for the next four years.

  • S01E13 A War To End All Wars - Home Front Propaganda

    • October 23, 2014
    • YouTube

    The first weeks of war already took hundreds of thousands of lives and the daily struggle to survive in the trenches has by far nothing to do with the promised glory. Back home, propaganda is already working and grotesquely distorting the public's opinion about the war. While the British civilians feared a German invasion, some of the leading German scientists and intellectuals published the "Manifesto Of The 93" in which they rallied for solidarity with the Germans.

  • S01E14 Fresh Meat - The Search For New Recruits

    • October 30, 2014
    • YouTube

    After some heavy casualties during the first months of war, the armies had to look for new recruits. While Great Britain undertook soldiers in military service to fill up their ranks, Germany was relying on reservists and inexperienced recruits. This fatal German mix was sent against smaller, but much more experienced British and French troops. The resulting carnage had no military effect, but was later on idolized by the German propaganda and is today known as the "Kindermord" (child murder) or Massacre of the Innocent.

  • S01E15 The World at War - The Ottoman Empire Enters The War

    • November 6, 2014
    • YouTube

    Three months after the outbreak of the war, another world power enters the conflict: The Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman war minister Enver Pascha, a supporter of a new Turkish self confidence, wants to gain advantages for a future Turkey by declaring war. Meanwhile, another ship of the German East Asian Squadron is surprising the Royal Navy by sinking two of their ships near Coronel, Chile. Regardless, the battles on the Eastern, Western Front and in Serbia are continuing.

  • S01E16 The Defensive War on the Western Front

    • November 13, 2014
    • YouTube

    The German army dug in at the Western Front and waited for the next enemy attack at the Eastern Front. Even though the Germans outnumbered their opponents, they barely stand a chance against machine guns in no-man's-land. But they realize: to defend a position is a lot easier than to attack and conquer. Especially while fighting near Ypres. At the Eastern Front, things are going better for Chief of Staff Ludendorff: he breaks through outstretched Siberian lines. At the same time, Russian soldiers are faced with a new enemy and start the Bergmann Offensive in today's East-Turkey.

  • S01E17 The Enemy Within - The German Army's Power Play

    • November 20, 2014
    • YouTube

    The commanders of the German army blame each other for the missing victories. Falkenhayn and Hindenburg both believe that they have the only solution to the problems. The German emperor feels more and more excluded when it comes to military decisions. His soldiers become pieces on a chessboard and the war of the 20th century also takes it's toll on some of the best commanders. The situation at the Western Front stays unaltered: the French and Germans fight each other between the trenches. On the contrary, at the Eastern Front the Russians and the Germans are battling in a heavy fight.

  • S01E18 Iron, Steel and Oil - The Fight For Resources

    • November 27, 2014
    • YouTube

    Four months after the outbreak of the war, a new fight develops: the fight for the most valuable resources. The modern warfare and its war machines need one thing more than anything: oil. The influence is immense - on the battles and the life of the soldiers. Oil, iron, steel or cole resources can be a matter of life and death. Meanwhile, the situation at the Front is gridlocked, especially in the trenches of the Western Front. The Britain's advance into the Ottoman Empire and conquer the city Basra. Their goal is to secure their drilling facilities at the Arab Gulf.

  • S01E19 Mission Accomplished? - The Austro-Hungarian Empire Conquers Belgrade

    • December 4, 2014
    • YouTube

    During the first week of December, Austria manages to capture Belgrad. Thereby Austria is the first nation to achieve one of its war aims. The victorious Austrians are joyful, but the Serbs strike back and the Austrian euphoria takes a sudden end. Meanwhile, the Russians fight against the German and Austrian troops in front of Cracow. But the Austrians are able to stop the Russian offensive and achieve yet another victory.

  • S01E20 The Naval Battle At The Falkland Islands - The Death of Maximilian von Spee

    • December 11, 2014
    • YouTube

    Near the far away Falkland Islands the story of the German East Asia Squadron is coming to an end: in a naval battle nearly the entire squadron sunk and Maximilian von Spee dies together with over 2000 German seamen. Meanwhile, the war of attrition is still going on in Europe and Austria-Hungary has to learn that their conquest of Belgrade is not putting a lid on the Serbian resistance.

  • S01E21 The Raid On Scarborough - A Failed Attempt at Intimidation

    • December 18, 2014
    • YouTube

    German admiral Franz von Hipper reluctantly carries out his orders to bomb British costal towns. And indeed, this attempt to intimidate British civilians only makes them more united. British propaganda gets another opportunity to portray Germans as bloodthirsty and brutal. Meanwhile, the French start a new offensive near Vimy on the Western Front.

  • S01E22 The First Battle of Champagne - Dying In Caucasus Snow

    • December 25, 2014
    • YouTube

    Right before Christmas the allied powers begin the Champagne offensive, which will last several months. In the snow and the mud, and under horrible living conditions not only the soldiers suffer. The images of a war fought with honour and glory are finally over as even the white flag is used for ambushes. Far away in the mountains of the Caucasian, Russia and the Ottoman Empire are fighting a grim battle, too, in which many soldiers die during interminable marches in the snow wearing summer uniforms.

Season 2 - 1915

  • S02E01 The Ottoman Disaster - The Battle of Sarikamish

    • January 1, 2015
    • YouTube

    The Champagne offensive is still going on the Western Front without any side gaining a decisive advantage. In the Caucasus, Enver Pasha is showing how far he's willing to go to achieve his goals. Against his military advisors’ recommendations, he decides to send more and more troops to Sarikamish. Without supplies and with temperatures constantly below -20 degrees, thousands of them freeze to death before even reaching the frontline. When the Russians finally encircle the Ottoman Troops, defeat is inevitable.

  • S02E02 In Dire Straits - Russia on Austro-Hungary's Doorstep

    • January 8, 2015
    • YouTube

    The Austro-Hungarian army resembles a better militia after six months into the war. After defeats against Serbia and Russia and still under siege in Galicia, the forces are in dire straits. Many casualties, especially among the officers, mean that an effective warfare is impossible. And all this while the Russians are close to entering the Hungarian plains. On another front, the Russians are winning the battle of Sarikamish which ends in a disaster for the Ottoman Empire. On the Western Front, each side still tries to gain a decisive advantage.

  • S02E03 Onwards! - The Western Front Of Early 1915

    • January 15, 2015
    • YouTube

    French general Joseph Joffre is stuck in a dilemma: the Champagne offensive has been going on for weeks now - without any expected results. Should he dig in and tolerate the enemy on French soil? Or should his soldiers continue to run up against the impenetrable German defences? Meanwhile, South African troops attack German South West Africa and in London, Winston Churchill's plan for an invasion of the Dardanelles has been approved.

  • S02E04 Zeppelins Over England - New Inventions For The Modern War

    • January 22, 2015
    • YouTube

    For a decisive advantage on the Western Front, the military commanders of both sides are trying to use technological advances. And so this week, German Zeppelins are flying their first air raids on English towns. Winston Churchill is outlining his ideas for what would later become the tank. Meanwhile at the Western Front, the soldier Adolf Hitler is thinking about how this war is going to continue.

  • S02E05 All Or Nothing - Winter Offensive In The Carpathians

    • January 29, 2015
    • YouTube

    Konrad von Hötzendorf has to prevent the Russian army from entering the Hungarian plains. So, he starts a huge offensive in the Carpathian Mountains - in mid winter. He also wants to demonstrate his power to Italy and Romania who are considering entering the war for the Entente. Meanwhile, in the Northern Sea the first Battle of Dogger Bank takes place which leads to the sinking of the German ship SMS Blücher.

  • S02E06 Gas! - A New Horror On The Battlefield

    • February 5, 2015
    • YouTube

    After more than 6 months of stalemate, the German Empire is playing two new cards to gain a decisive advantage. On the Eastern Front, the Germans use gas on a huge scale for the first time. While the attack fails, the foundation for gas warfare is laid. At the same time Kaiser Wilhelm II agrees to unrestricted submarine warfare – any ship can be sank at any time.

  • S02E07 Stopping Russia - Hindenburg's Final Offensive?

    • February 12, 2015
    • YouTube

    This week, well over 1 million soldiers are on the advance everywhere in Europe. General Hindenburgs tries to beat the Russians once and for all at the Masurian Lakes. Austria-Hungary is fighting the Russians with German support in the Carpathian mountains and on the Western Front the Champagne offensive is still going.

  • S02E08 Hindenburg's Cunning Plan - A 2nd Tannenberg

    • February 19, 2015
    • YouTube

    After more than six months of war, the first big mutiny breaks out in Singapore. The endless battles in which big powers sacrifice thousands of soldiers are leading to an organised resistance for the first time. Indian troops refuse to board a ship because they don't want to fight other muslims in the Middle East. Meanwhile, the great offensives at the front in Europe continue.

  • S02E09 Prelude to Gallipoli - Naval Bombardement of the Dardanelles

    • February 26, 2015
    • YouTube

    To break up the stalemate and get a decisive advantage, France and Great Britain open up yet another theatre of war in the Dardanelles. The plan is to seize the strait and open eventually open up the Bosporus in order to ship supplies to the Eastern and Balkan front. And so begins the naval bombardment of ottoman forts as prelude to a big offensive which will we know to today as Gallipoli.

  • S02E10 Playing With Fire - The First Flame Thrower

    • March 5, 2015
    • YouTube

    Modern war already took place in the sky and under water but the waring nations also wanted to gain an advantage in the trenches. So this week, we see the first use of another merciless invention on the battlefield: the flame thrower. The battles on the Western Front, in the Carpathian's and near the Dardanelles continued nonetheless.

  • S02E11 The Battle of Neuve-Chapelle

    • March 12, 2015
    • YouTube

    The British Expeditionary Forces are starting their first major offensive since the beginning of trench warfare. Near Neuve-Chapelle they attack the Germans and try to "bite and hold" their position. This battle will be the blueprints for future British offensives. On the Balkan, Serbia is facing a different enemy: Typhus. The catastrophic sanitary conditions enable the disease to spread across the whole country.

  • S02E12 A Slice of The Pie - Splitting Up The Middle East

    • March 19, 2015
    • YouTube

    Even though the Entente offensive near Constantinople didn't really take off yet, the allied powers were already dreaming about splitting up the Ottoman Empire between themselves - and even promised territory to other nations. In the meantime, Austria-Hungary started its third offensive in the Carpathians to free the besieged army in Galicia.

  • S02E13 The Fall of PrzemyÅ›l - Changing Strategy On The Western Front

    • March 26, 2015
    • YouTube

    The generals at the Western Front are slowly starting to adapt to the modern war. The battle of Neuve-Chappelle will be a blueprint for future operations and further improvements are supposed to finally bring the decisive advantage. In the meantime, after 133 days, the fortress of Przemyśl capitulates - the longest siege of World War 1.

  • S02E14 Showdown In The Dardanelles - Bulgaria Flirts With The Central Powers

    • April 2, 2015
    • YouTube

    Not only the soldiers are suffering on the Eastern and Western Front, the Dardanelles or since this week also in Macedonia. More and more civilians become refugees in this modern war. Even far away from the battle grounds they are not safe anymore when German submarine sink civilian ships.

  • S02E15 The Armenian Genocide

    • April 9, 2015
    • YouTube

    The leaders of the Ottoman Empire are looking for a scapegoat after their collosal defeat in the Caucasian Mountains a few month earlier. They start the systematic relocation and disarm Armenian troops among their ranks to end all calls for Armenian independence. Today's estimates place the death toll of the genocide up till 1.5 million men, women and children.

  • S02E16 Russia Fails In The Mountains - Basra Falls

    • April 16, 2015
    • YouTube

    This week, generals on three different fronts show that they are not able to realise their mistakes. Basra falls to the British, the quick victory at the Dardanelles is getting more and more unlikely and the Russians are loosing their advantage in the Carpathians. But not the commanders have to pay the price for their mistakes, the soldiers have to.

  • S02E17 Gas On The Western Front - Baptism of Fire for Canada

    • April 23, 2015
    • YouTube

    After experiments on the Eastern Front, the German Army is using poison gas for the first time on the Western Front. At the beginning of the 2nd Battle of Ypres, the wind blows in a favourable direction; the wide spread use of chlorine gas has a devastating effect on the French troops. Even the Germans are surprised by it. The incredible sacrifice of the Canadian troops make it possible to defend Hill 60 in the end.

  • S02E18 The Sea Turns Red - Gallipoli Landings

    • April 30, 2015
    • YouTube

    Completely underestimating the Ottoman army at the Dardanelles, the British commanders decide to let the ANZACs take the Gallipoli peninsular as a gateway to the Bosporus and Constantinople. After the landing in ANZAC Cove and on Z Beach one thing comes clear though: Mustafa Kemal and his troops will fight for every inch of this piece of rock.

  • S02E19 Sinking of the Lusitania & The Gorlice-Tarnów Offensive

    • May 7, 2015
    • YouTube

    Ignoring the warnings and cruising carelessly slow the RMS Lusitania is hit by a torpedo of the German U-Boat U20. Almost 2000 people die during the sinking of the Lusitania. At the same time the German and Austro-Hungarian army start a combined surprise offensive in the Carpathians. The Gorlice-Tarnów Offensive is a huge success for German commander August von Mackensen.

  • S02E20 The German Phalanx Chases Russia

    • May 14, 2015
    • YouTube

    The 2nd Battle of Ypres is still going but no side can gain a decisive advantage. The main reason on the British side is a lack of artillery ammunition. Even the delivered shells are not working correctly. But even the German supply lines are stretched thin. At the same time German South-West Africa falls to South African troops under Louis Botha.

  • S02E21 The Battle of San River - Winston Churchill Gets Fired

    • May 21, 2015
    • YouTube

    The big success of the Gallipoli Campaign never came, thousands of soldiers died and so Winston Churchill is forced to resign. At the same time August von Mackensen is pushing back the Russians and forcing them to hide in Przemyśl fortress - the same fortress they just conquered from the Austro-Hungarians a few weeks earlier.

  • S02E22 The New Alpine Front - Italy Joins World War 1

    • May 28, 2015
    • YouTube

    After the defeats of Austria-Hungary against Russia, Italy is seeing her chance to grab disputed territories from them. Even though they are not prepared for a full scale war economically or militarily, the declare war against the Central Powers. So, just one month after the landing at Gallipoli, yet another front is opened in Europe. Meanwhile the Russians are still on the run from August von Mackensen and in Gallipoli the fighting stops to collect the dead.

  • S02E23 Artillery in World War 1 - The Key To Success

    • June 4, 2015
    • YouTube

    When Przemysl falls for the 2nd time and when the British and ANZAC troops fail at Gallipoli again, one thing becomes clear: Artillery is the key for future battles. August von Mackensen had used it with great success at the Gorlice-Tarnow-Offensive and the French even diverted one million men to shell factories. Meanwhile German Zeppelins bombed London and the US sent submarines for aid.

  • S02E24 Rex Warneford Destroys A Zeppelin - Austria Digs Into the Mountains

    • June 11, 2015
    • YouTube

    Reginald Warneford is important to Britain's war effort. Not just because he shot down a German zeppelin, but because he is made a hero in times when heroes are needed. He receives a Victoria Cross soon after his victory because the commanders know about the average life span of pilots in World War 1. Meanwhile, the Austro-Hungarian army digs into the alpine rocks to fend of the Italian Attackers and Gallipoli continues to be a butchery without any progress.

  • S02E25 Cavalry, Spies and Cossacks

    • June 18, 2015
    • YouTube

    The war seems like a romantic novel this week: In the East the Russians are saved by Cossack Cavalry while August von Mackensen's artillery is plowing through Galicia. In the meantime, the British discover a German spy ring in London and the French gain a few miles in the west.

  • S02E26 The Austro-Hungarian Empire Strikes Back

    • June 25, 2015
    • YouTube

    Just a few weeks ago Austria-Hungary's military laid in shambles. But with German support from August von Mackensen and other German generals, the tide is turning on the Eastern Front. Even Lemberg can be conquered again and the Russians are still on their Big Retreat.

  • S02E27 On the Move but going Nowhere - Optimism is Failing!

    • July 2, 2015
    • YouTube

    Two months after landing in Gallipoli the fight has become a trench warfare. In Mesopotamia British troops were losing the optimism, they had felt just a few weeks ago. The change of seasons brought more heat, turning the weather from bearable to excruciating. Heat became a deadly foe. While the German crown prince Wilhelm unsuccessfully tried to break through the Western front in the Ardennes, the Austro-German force managed to drive back the Russians in the East.

  • S02E28 Adapt or Die - The Artillery Barrage

    • July 9, 2015
    • YouTube

    The Great Retreat of the Russians during the last weeks has shown one thing: Artillery is the key to success. More specifically, a new kind of artillery tactic called the artillery barrage which focuses shelling on one part of the front. August von Mackensen had actually stolen this approach from John French. The Entente tried to use it on the Western Front a few months earlier without the expected breakthrough.

  • S02E29 The Tumbling Giant - Russia's Army On The Verge Of Collapse

    • July 16, 2015
    • YouTube

    The German-Austrian offensive on the Eastern Front had undone all of Russia's territorial gains in the last weeks. Lemberg had fallen and the German troops were at the gates of Warsaw. The Russian casualties were in the millions, especially equipment and officers were becoming scarce. And exactly now, the German high command (OHL) prepared an all-out offensive along the entire frontline. At the same time in Gallipoli, one failure followed the other. How long would the Entente be able to continue this exercise in butchery?

  • S02E30 Scorched Earth - Russia's retreat goes up in flames!

    • July 23, 2015
    • YouTube

    This week Russia premieres her tactics of „Scorched Earth“. A new strategy of burning their own land is to avoid enemies profiting from their conquests. Russia had been retreating from the German and Austro-Hungarian armies for nearly three months now. Continuously losing huge areas of land and hundreds of thousands of men on the Eastern Front. As a consequence, millions of civilians had to flee their homes. At the same time allied troops at Gallipoli are weakened by infections and disease due to lack of hygiene and heat while Italy repeatedly failed to take out Austrian strongpoints.

  • S02E31 Russian Roulette - Germany Helps The Bolsheviks

    • July 30, 2015
    • YouTube

    After Russia's Great Retreat and the defeat on the Eastern Front, the Russian Army is demoralized and even revolution is in the air. Germany is fanning the revolutionary flames by sending Bolshevik prisoners of war back to Russia - equipped with money to support the Bolshevik cause. Meanwhile, the the war is continuing on the Western Front. Even small skirmishes are turning into atrocious battles with little gain for either side. A great offensive is not in sight.

  • S02E32 Warsaw Falls - The Fokker Scourge Begins

    • August 6, 2015
    • YouTube

    After the Russian defeats on the Eastern Front, Warsaw falls. The first time in over 100 years a new foreign power occupies the city. The German onslaught in the East seems to be unstoppable. Also on the Western Front the Germans are causing havoc with the new Fokker-Eindecker planes which start the so called Fokker Scourge. The British pilots even start to call their airplanes Fokker-Fodder. At the same time, the battle in Gallipoli continues with ever more troops landing while neither the Ottomans nor the ANZAC troops can gain any advantage.

  • S02E33 The Ruse at Gallipoli and the Siege of Kovno

    • August 13, 2015
    • YouTube

    Another 20,000 soldiers fresh from the barracks are supposed to turn the tide at Gallipoli. But Mustafa Kemal is an Ottoman commander to be reckoned with. With a tactical ruse and the right timing, he surprises the inexperienced ANZAC recruits with a bayonet charge. As the sand of Chunuk Bair turns red, one thing is clear, Gallipoli is still not taken. On the Eastern Front the Germans lay siege on Kovno and are about to encircle the Russian troops near Brest-Litovsk. The German offensive on the Western Front is not nearly as successful though.

  • S02E34 Escalation At Sea and Russia Up Against the Wall

    • August 20, 2015
    • YouTube

    The Entente was in desperate need of American supplies and so the German submarine campaign in the Atlantic was a real problem. The British started to run false flag operations with so called Q-Ships to hunt down U-Boats which lead to the so called Baralong Incident this week. In the meantime, Russia was standing up against the wall as the fortresses of Kovno and Novogeorgievsk were falling to the Germans leading to a catastrophic loss in men, equipment and supplies.

  • S02E35 The Battle of Hill 60 - Lunatic Persistence in Gallipoli

    • August 27, 2015
    • YouTube

    Peter Hart described the state of the Gallipoli campaign in 1915 as "lunatic persistence in the face of the obvious" - and the Battle of Hill 60 proved just that. Outgunned and with a lack of artillery support, the battle was one of the bloodiest days on the peninsular near Constantinople. The Ottoman capital was still out of reach for the Entente to capture. Meanwhile, the war spread to the Indian border region and on the Western and Eastern Front the carnage continued in the air and on ground.

  • S02E36 The Western Front Awakens - The Tsar Takes Over

    • September 3, 2015
    • YouTube

    The Western Front has been relatively quiet the whole summer while the Russians were on their Big Retreat. The French and British generals have been busy trying to find a new strategy to overcome the stalemate. The Germans weren't sitting idle while awaiting the next big French offensive, they fortified their positions even using concrete. At the same time in the East, Tsar Nicholas II personally takes over military command and fires Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich for the catastrophic casualties the Russian Army faced this summer. But his timing could not be worse.

  • S02E37 The Socialists Call for Peace - But the Plans Do Not

    • September 10, 2015
    • YouTube

    While the Socialist movement gathers in Switzerland and calls for peace on the Western Front, on the Eastern Front and the Balkans the signs are set for the opposite: An escalation with new offensives. The French and British want to attack near Artois and in the Champagne, Germany wants to finish the war weary Russian Army. At the same time Bulgaria agrees to attack Serbia within the next 30 days. Even in London the war can still be felt when German Zeppelins continue to drop bombs on the British capital.

  • S02E38 The State Of World War 1 - As Reported by A Newspaper 100 Years Ago

    • September 17, 2015
    • YouTube

    This week Indy dissects a contemporary source from autumn 1915 - the Hobart Mercury Newspaper from Australia. You can find the whole newspaper right here: http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/artic... While the French and British prepare a new offensive on the Western Front, their Entente ally Russia is still suffering in the East when Germany is moving on the last big Russian city of Vilnius. Even though the propaganda says otherwise, the situation for the ANZACs in Gallipoli still looks grim.

  • S02E39 The German Occupation of Lithuania - Unrest in Russia

    • September 24, 2015
    • YouTube

    When the Germans take Vilnius, they set their plans of "germanizing" the whole area into motion. Erich Ludendorff believes that Courland and other areas near East Prussia are culturally German and that he's returning them to the Fatherland. While the Russian Army is now in a much better defensive position after their Great Retreat, civil unrest across the country is becoming a problem. Huge losses and the difficult supply situation are making it difficult to maintain order. At the same time, Bulgaria is mobilizing her troops, foreshadowing yet another front in this World War.

  • S02E40 The Battle of Loos - New Offensives On The Western Front

    • October 1, 2015
    • YouTube

    After weeks of preparation the French and British Armies unleash a new offensive on the Western Front. Not only is it supposed to relieve pressure on the Russians on the Eastern Front but the Entente wants to achieve the decisive breakthrough. The French actually break through German trenches only to realise that they have a second line of trenches completely in tact right behind the first line. The British attack at Loos also turns into carnage even though the British use gas for the first time.

  • S02E41 Serbia Is Invaded Once Again - The Entente Lands in Greece

    • October 8, 2015
    • YouTube

    The Central Powers want to open a direct supply connection between Berlin and Constantinople. So, they start a new offensive on Serbia to defeat them once and for all. It's an open secret that Serbias neighbour Bulgaria will soon join the war so the Serbians are in dire need of help. With no other option, the Entente lands troops in Salonika, Greece. The whole situation on the Balkans is sprialing out of controle once more. Meanwhile the new offensives on the Western Front continue while the Eastern Front cools down.

  • S02E42 Learning Lessons From Loos - Bulgaria Enters The War

    • October 15, 2015
    • YouTube

    By the numbers the Battle of Loos was a defeat for the British Army but they learned valuable lessons for the future on the Western Front. The creeping artillery barrage is used for the first time successfully and it is apparent that assault tactics have to be rethought completely. On the Balkans, Bulgaria officially declares war on Serbia and joins the Central Powers Germany, Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire. On the same day they invade Serbia which is now in real trouble.

  • S02E43 The Crime That Shook the World - The Execution of Edith Cavell

    • October 22, 2015
    • YouTube

    Edith Cavell was a British nurse serving in a nursing school in occupied Belgium. She was executed by the Germans for treason and espionage in Brussels. Her death and the surrounding atrocity propaganda caused a public outcry all over the world. At the same time the First World War continued like never before. The Third Battle of the Isonzo didn't bring a decision between Austria-Hungary and Italy, in Gallipoli the troops were slowly withdrawn and the the Champagne offensive of the French army was still in full swing.

  • S02E44 Russia Stems The Tide - Winter Is Coming

    • October 29, 2015
    • YouTube

    After the Great Retreat during the summer, the Russians are finally able to fight back the Germans at Dvinsk. With a new type of trench warfare, they are able to render August von Mackensen's artillery useless and only take on small numbers of Germans at the same time. The German army is successful in Serbia though and so the situation for the Serbs looks grim. Meanwhile Benito Mussolini writes in his diary that the worst enemy is not Austria-Hungary, but lice. All of the soldiers and generals know one thing: Winter is coming.

  • S02E45 The Third Battle of the Isonzo - French Despair On The Western Front

    • November 5, 2015
    • YouTube

    For the third time the Italians had tried to conquer the Austrian positions at the Isonzo front and for the third time they had failed. And like the other defeats before, the Third Battle of the Isonzo came with an extreme amount of casualties due to the difficult terrain in the Alps. At the same time, Lord Kitchener visits the front in Gallipoli and realizes that evacuation is the only logical decision to make. On the Western Front, the French had suffered well over 200.000 casualties during the autumn offensives at Artois and in the Champagne.

  • S02E46 Serbia's Last Stand Against The Central Powers

    • November 12, 2015
    • YouTube

    Serbia's Army cannot hold out much longer against the invasion of the Central Powers. Germany, Austria-Hungary and Bulgaria are relentlessly pushing forward through the Balkan country. The French are trying to help from the south but a river proves to be an obstacle they cannot overcome. In the Alps, the 4th Battle of the Isonzo starts one week after the 3rd had failed and in West Africa, the Battle of Banjo takes place as one of the last battles of the German colony Kamerun (Cameroon).

  • S02E47 The Forgotten Front - World War 1 in Libya

    • November 19, 2015
    • YouTube

    12 war zones were not enough for this global war and this week an often forgotten theatre of war opens in Libya. Local Arab tribesmen fight against the British in guerrilla war. As if the Italians did not have enough problems at the Isonzo Front where Luigi Cardona is still sending his men into certain death against the Austrian defences. The situation for the Serbs is grim too and on the Western Front the carnage continues unchanged.

  • S02E48 Pride Comes Before The Fall - British Trouble in Mesopotamia

    • November 26, 2015
    • YouTube

    Far away from the Western Front, the British Indian Army gets intro trouble in Mesopotamia against the Ottoman Empire. In the Alps, the Fourth Battle of the Isonzo is proving just as disastrous to the Italians the other three before. And in Serbia the situation is getting darker and darker as Nis is falling to the Central Powers. All while the flying aces of World War 1 are fighting it out in the skies over the Western Front.

  • S02E49 The Serbian Exodus Through Albania

    • December 3, 2015
    • YouTube

    Serbia's last stand is over and the remaining forces and civilians have to leave their home country across the inhabitable trails of the Albanian Alps. So, a whole nation is on the run while their enemies celebrate their successful military operation. The German Army is gladly relocating the much needed troops to other fronts while they leave the Austrians and Bulgarians to deal with the new situation on the Balkans.

  • S02E50 Britain On The Run - The Siege of Kut Al Amara

    • December 10, 2015
    • YouTube

    Serbia is breaking under the pressure of the Central Power invasion and the last troops and civilians flee through the Alps. The final decision to evacuate Gallipoli is made and the British Indian Army gets under siege in the town of Kut Al Amara in Mesopotamia. The end of 1915 certainly looked grim for the Entente. The morale in Italy was also at a low point after the Fourth Battle of the Isonzo river ended like the three before.

  • S02E51 Despair And Mutiny On The Italian Front

    • December 17, 2015
    • YouTube

    The morale of the Italian Army at the Isonzo Front is on an all time low. Catastrophic defeats against the Austrians, bad and broken equipment, unsanitary conditions, no supplies, no front leave and recreation for the soldiers. This week the first troops under Luigi Cardona are mutinying. At the same time the Entente is in real trouble against Bulgaria on the Macedonian Front and the evacuation of Gallipoli is still in the planning phase.

  • S02E52 The Beginning Of The End - Evacuation At Gallipoli

    • December 24, 2015
    • YouTube

    While the Western and Eastern Front freeze over and the armies there have to fight the harsh conditions as much as the fight the enemy, the evacuation of Gallipoli is set into motion. After months of stalemate, the disease ridden offensive is finally called off. Unlike the rest of the operations there, the evacuation is actually following a thorough plan.

  • S02E53 Preparing for 1916 - The Year of Battles

    • December 31, 2015
    • YouTube

    1915 was a year for the Central Powers except on the Western Front where the stalemate continues. But plans are being made on both sides to gain an advantage. Preparations for huge offensives are on the way and one French fortress is the focus of the German Army: Verdun.

Season 3 - 1916

  • S03E01 Prelude to Verdun And The Road To the Somme

    • January 7, 2016
    • YouTube

    1915 was a year in favor of the Central Powers. But in early 1916, the Russians, British and French were sending more fresh troops into battle than ever before – and better equipped too. French General Joseph Joffre was confident that a huge combined offensive at the Somme in summer would turn the tide. But German Chief of Staff Erich von Falkenhayn had his own plans to bleed the French dry at Verdun.

  • S03E02 The Invasion Of Montenegro - The End of Gallipoli

    • January 14, 2016
    • YouTube

    It already started around Christmas but this week the evacuation of Gallipoli is complete. While the evacuation was a success, the overall defeat is inarguable for the British. On top of that the Ottomans can now send 40.000 soldiers to the siege of Kut in Mesopotamia where the British are still awaiting relieve. At the same time the Austro-Hungarian Army starts its invasion of Montenegro and the Western Front is still quietly awaiting the offensive at Verdun.

  • S03E03 The Fight for Montenegro & The Disaster Of Kut

    • January 21, 2016
    • YouTube

    The Russians try to take Czernowitz, the Capital of Austrian Bukovina but thousands upon thousands of Russians were killed in action. While in Montenegro, Austro-Hungarian troops under commander in chief Franz Conrad von Hotzendorf take control of the Balkan state of Montenegro. A relief force led by Lieutenant-General Fenton Aylmer had to return to base after a big loss against the Turks, while in South Cameroon, so the Germans retire into Spanish territory.

  • S03E04 The Kaiser's Birthday - Hypocrisy in Greece

    • January 28, 2016
    • YouTube

    Even though Britain went to war over the violation of the Belgian neutrality by the Germans, the neutrality of Greece seems to be of no concern to the Entente. The military presence on Corfu and Salonika is growing and growing. And even though there is no fighting there, the soldiers have to suffer since general Malaria is taking his toll. In the week of the Kaiser's birthday, the diplomatic tensions between the USA and Germany are increasing and on the Western Front Trench Foot is becoming a real problem.

  • S03E05 Germany Aims For Verdun - Russia Goes South

    • February 4, 2016
    • YouTube

    The preparations for the huge German offensive at Verdun are almost complete. Thousands of artillery pieces are moved, millions shells brought to the front. Erich von Falkenhayn would soon unleash is offensive on the Western Front. At the same time, Russia headed south to the Caucasus once more in search for a desperately needed victory against the Ottomans.

  • S03E06 The Generalissimo Goes Forth

    • February 11, 2016
    • YouTube

    The situation for the Italian soldiers was dire during the winter battles, but even though Luigi "The Generalissimo" Cadorna maintained a tight grip on the strategy used, the equipment of the Italian soldiers was greatly improved. At the same time, the Russians were advancing on Erzurum in the Turkish Caucasus and war at sea counted a few more casualties on all sides.

  • S03E07 The Ghost Of The Lusitania - Russia Takes Erzurum

    • February 18, 2016
    • YouTube

    The sinking of the Lusitania is still causing diplomatic tensions between Germany and the USA. While the Germans insist they were forced by the British blockade to adopt unrestricted submarine warfare, the Americans think otherwise. In the meantime the Russian Army is taking Erzurum in the Caucasus and the big offensive at Verdun is delayed for a week.

  • S03E08 The Battle of Verdun - They Shall Not Pass

    • February 25, 2016
    • YouTube

    The Germans start the biggest battle in history with an artillery barrage of over 1000 guns on a 20 km front. The Battle of Verdun is the first major German offensive since the Race to the Sea and Erich von Falkenhayn has high hopes to break through the French lines. Right before the offensive starts, the French are able to reinforce their defences, so they are barely able to hold the line. The French credo is: "ls ne passeront pas!" – they shall not pass!

  • S03E09 The US Arms Industry - The Fight for Douaumont

    • March 3, 2016
    • YouTube

    The fierce Battle of Verdun continues but as the Germans under Crown prince Wilhelm push harder and harder, the German casualties begin to rise to the same levels as the French. The French Army is only kept alive through the sacred road which brings men to the front without a pause. One French soldier that gets captured around Verdun, is Charles De Gaulle. At the same time, on the almost forgotten Libyan Front South African cavalry saves the day like in the glorious past of the British Army.

  • S03E10 Equilibrium of Carnage at Verdun - Portugal Joins The War

    • March 10, 2016
    • YouTube

    The fierce battle of Verdun is still going on and the initial surprise momentum of the German Army under Erich von Falkenhayn is lost. Battles for hill tops and forts turn into carnage where even the winning side is loosing too much men to go on. The Siege of Kut is growing ever more desperate as the there is virtually no food left for the British Army. And in all that Portugal is joining the war.

  • S03E11 Battle of the Isonzo - Discord Among The Central Powers

    • March 17, 2016
    • YouTube

    The alliance between the Central Powers of World War 1 doesn't seem to be as strong anymore. The Bulgarians, the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Germany are following their own goals without really helping out the other. Erich von Falkenhayn is obsessed with Verdun, Conrad von Hötzendorf wants to go on the offensive again after the 5th Battle of the Isonzo and the Bulgarians don't have the resources to pursue their own goals. At the same time the unrestricted submarine warfare of the Germans is taking a deadly toll.

  • S03E12 Russian Spring Offensive - Confusion at Fort Vaux

    • March 24, 2016
    • YouTube

    The Russians want to relieve the pressure of their French allies at Verdun by starting a huge spring offensive near Lake Narroch. But this is not the only reason: The spring thaws are coming and the Germans on the Eastern Front have the high ground. At the same time, the epic struggle at Verdun is continuing: Neither the French nor the German Army can gain a decisive advantage at Fort Vaux. At sea, the British use the depth charge successfully for the first time and the German ship Greif tries to run the British Blockade.

  • S03E13 Verdun - A Nightmare to Annex

    • March 31, 2016
    • YouTube

    After the huge failure at Mort Homme the Germans decide to take Cote 304 and therefore go to the western edge of the Verdun salient to make progress. On the Eastern Front the Russian 5th army loses 28,000 men in the Lake Naroch offensive and runs in its own artillery fire while at home, the Russian minister of war will be sacked. On the sea, German U-boats strike down a hospitalship and a ferry, which they thought were troopships.

  • S03E14 Zeppelins over Britain - Terror in the Skies

    • April 7, 2016
    • YouTube

    As the other fronts are relatively quiet, the war is taken to the air. Zeppelins bombard Britain, the Italian and Austro-Hungarian air forces were fighting on the Italian Front and Greece was bombarded. The British and Greek civilians were now too casualties of this war with no end in sight. Though the Kaiser thinks the decision will be made at Verdun in the near future.

  • S03E15 The Meat Grinder at Verdun - Brusilov's New Plan

    • April 14, 2016
    • YouTube

    The Russian offensive at Lake Naroch were an utter failure but the Russian General Aleksei Brusilov is already gearing up for the future mother of all offensives on the Eastern Front. At the same time the meat grinder at Verdun is sucking in German and French troops alive. Erich von Falkenhayn realised that his initial idea probably won't work but he still tries to capture the Mort Homme and Cote 304. In far away Mesopotamia the siege of Kut is still going on even though the British and Indian soldiers are already killing the hunger with Opium pills.

  • S03E16 The Muddy Graves of Russia and Kut

    • April 21, 2016
    • YouTube

    With the spring in Russia and the Caucasus came the thaws on the Eastern Front and all the way down to Mesopotamia. The soldiers had to adapt to survive let alone fight. The Battle of Verdun still rages on though the French are not moving more airplanes to the area to break the German air superiority.

  • S03E17 Dividing Up The Middle East - The Sykes-Picot Agreement

    • April 28, 2016
    • YouTube

    The secret agreement between France, Britain and Russia that was signed this week 100 years ago was a turning point in the relations to the Arab world. It negated all future promises made by the British and still has consequences 100 years later. The Middle East was becoming more and more important to the British in 1916 and people like T.E. Lawrence are starting to become major players in the background.

  • S03E18 The British Surrender At Kut - Germany Restricts The U-Boats

    • May 5, 2016
    • YouTube

    After 140 days, the Siege of Kut ends with the biggest surrender of British forces in history. The remaining soldiers are starting their long march into captivity. Meanwhile the Italian front lights up again as Luigi Cadorna plans a new offensive and the Germans give in to diplomatic pressure and stop their unrestricted submarine warfare.

  • S03E19 The British Death March in Mesopotamia

    • May 12, 2016
    • YouTube

    After the Ottoman victory at Kut, the suffering for the British and Indian prisoners is not over. They embark on a death march towards their prison camps. Sick, hungry and with no protection from the blazing sun, the soldiers have to suffer again and again. Meanwhile, the Eastern Front is still drowning in spring thaws and in Verdun, the French rotation system proofs its strategical advantage.

  • S03E20 Conrad's Cunning Plan - Hiding In Plain Sight

    • May 19, 2016
    • YouTube

    Austro-Hungarian Chief of Staff Conrad von Hötzendorf had a plan to finally force a decision against the Italians. He massed troops and artillery in a different sector of the front planning a surprise offensive. And even though everybody knew about his cunning plan, Italian Chief of Staff Luigi Cadorna believed everything was a ruse and fired a general instead of preparing against the attack.

  • S03E21 Cutting Germany's Wings- The Dawn Of The Air Force

    • May 26, 2016
    • YouTube

    The age of the solitary flying Ace is coming to end this week as the French are demonstrating what an Air Force can do. Equipped with Nieuport 11 fighters, they give the Germans a hard time above Verdun. On the ground, the Germans still obliterate whole battalions with their artillery but cannot gain any ground themselves. The Austrian offensive in Italy is still advancing and Luigi Cadorna is quickly scraping together troops for a defence.

  • S03E22 The Battle of Jutland - Royal Navy vs. German Imperial Navy

    • June 2, 2016
    • YouTube

    The Battle of Jutland or the Skagerrakschlacht was arguably the biggest naval battle in history and a turning point of World War 1 as the German High Seas Fleet failed to break through the Royal Navy's blockade of the North Sea. The set trap of U-Boats fails to spring and even though more British ships were lost in the battle, it was a tactical defeat for the Germans.

  • S03E23 The Brusilov Offensive - The Arab Revolt

    • June 9, 2016
    • YouTube

    The Brusilov Offensive is unleashed on the Eastern Front this week 100 years ago. General Aleksei Brusilov wants to crush the Austro-Hungarian Army and uses a variety of new tactics for his plan. At the same time, the Germans take Fort Vaux during the Battle of Verdun and in the Middle East, the Arab Revolt is declared.

  • S03E24 What If - Two Pivotal Moments of World War 1

    • June 16, 2016
    • YouTube

    This week 100 years ago the whole war hangs in the balance, the Germans are about to break through the lines at Verdun, the Russians actually break through the Austro-Hungarian lines but fail to seize the opportunity further north. It all boils down to the lack of communication between Erich von Falkenhayn and Conrad von Hötzendorf which created a situation in which Falkenhayn has to save Conrad's Army and loses his momentum at Verdun.

  • S03E25 The Death of Max Immelmann - Haig's Final Offensive

    • June 23, 2016
    • YouTube

    100 weeks of war. 100 weeks and not decisive breakthrough in sight. British Commander Douglas Haig is looking for the final showdown on the Western Front. He wants to relieve the French fighting in Verdun and break through the German lines once and for all. Up in the sky, the first German Flying Ace, Max Immelmann, dies in a plane crash and on the Eastern Front, the Brusilov Offensive is still steamrolling the Austrian defenses.

  • S03E26 British Artillery At The Somme - Brusilov Offensive Implodes

    • June 30, 2016
    • YouTube

    This week 100 years ago, the British Army starts their preparations for the Battle of the Somme with a week long artillery bombardment which fails to weaken the German defensives considerably. At the same time the Brusilov Offensive in the East implodes as Russian General Evert fails with his offensive against the Germans even with superior numbers

  • S03E27 The Battle of the Somme - Brusilov On His Own

    • July 7, 2016
    • YouTube

    After months of preparations and a week long artillery bombardment, the Battle of the Somme is unleashed on the Western Front. The great British and French offensive, brainchild of General Sir Douglas Haig, which is supposed to crush the Germans on the Western Front once and for all. But the initial infantry attack is a disaster. And on the Eastern Front, General Alexei Brusilov realizes that his northern flank support is not worth the name.

  • S03E28 Meatgrinder At The Somme - Battle of Mametz Wood

    • July 14, 2016
    • YouTube

    The stalemate of the Somme continues as the uncoordinated British attacks only gain little ground. This war of attrition was costly for the defending Germans too though. German Chief of Staff Erich von Falkenhayn demanded that every meter lost should be recovered immediately. The same stalemate continued at the Battle of Verdun where the Germans attacked with poison gas this week 100 years ago.

  • S03E29 Australia's Darkest Hour - The Battle of Fromelles

    • July 21, 2016
    • YouTube

    North of the Somme-Battlefield, the newly arrived Australian troops are supposed to prevent German forces to reinforce their comrades in the South. The following Battle of Fromelles is described as a the worst 24 hours in Australian history as the troops are sent against German defenders in a disastrous attack. At the same time, the French and Germans are licking their wounds at Verdun and the Russians are continuing their attack on the Eastern Front.

  • S03E30 Happy Birthday World War 1

    • July 28, 2016
    • YouTube

    2 years. It has been 2 years since Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia which led to a downwards spiral that we now remember as World War 1. And this week 100 years ago, the three biggest battles in human history are being fought simultaneously: The Battle of Verdun, the Battle of the Somme, the Brusilov Offensive. Happy Birthday.

  • S03E31 Germany's Grandeur - Analyzing the War Effort

    • August 4, 2016
    • YouTube

    It has been two years since the global escalation that lead to World War 1. Three of the biggest battles in history are fought simultaneously now and there is no end sight. When asked about the state of the war, the nations are still determined but the German position is still full of grandiose exaggerations.

  • S03E32 Italy Breaks Through - Cadorna's Triumph

    • August 11, 2016
    • YouTube

    Italy's war in the alps wasn't very successful so far but this week they took Gorizia, a major triumph for the Duke of Aosta and Italian Chief of Staff Luigi Cadorna.

  • S03E33 Cadorna Snatches Defeat From The Jaws of Victory

    • August 18, 2016
    • YouTube

    The Italian offensive taking Gorizia last week surprised everyone. Including Italian Chief of Staff Luigi Cadorna who overlooks the huge strategical advantages now open in front of him. Instead he hesitates and "glorious" victory gets a few dents. At the same time, Romania is getting ready to join the war on the side of the Entente too and on the Western Front German morale is dwindling as the French and the British Army are getting more confident at the Somme and at Verdun.

  • S03E34 The Five Nation Army - The Salonica Front Erupts

    • August 25, 2016
    • YouTube

    The Salonica Front was supposed to be a backdoor to the Austro-Hungarian Empire and for supporting the Serbian Army when the first Entente troops landed there. But their presence in Salonica was growing and bigger. With the return of the Serbian troops from Corfu and new support by the Russians and Italians, the Allies were now fielding a Five Nation Army here.

  • S03E35 Romania Joins The War

    • September 1, 2016
    • YouTube

    After more than two years of carnage, the war is still growing as Romania joins the war. The moments seems right to them as the Russians steamrolled the Austro-Hungarian Army on the Eastern front this summer. But can the unproven and under equipped Romanian Army really seize the moment? The German High Command wants to make sure that Romania regrets joining the Entente and sends two of their best generals: Erich von Falkenhayn and August von Mackensen.

  • S03E36 Fire In The Sky - Zeppelin Shot Down Over Britain

    • September 8, 2016
    • YouTube

    German Zeppelins brought terror and destruction to the British homeland since the beginning of the war. But a new invention helped to bring the first one down this week 100 years ago: the incendiary bullet. The public is overjoyed as the first behemoth strikes the ground as a flaming ball of fire. At the same time an unusual calm descends on the battlefields around Verdun: Paul von Hindenburg and Erich Ludendorff visited the battlefield for the first time and are appalled by what they see.

  • S03E37 Beasts of Steel - The First Tanks On The Battlefield

    • September 15, 2016
    • YouTube

    For years the British had developed the idea of the "landship" or tank and now it was finally ready for the first deployment during the Battle of Flers-Courcelette. And even though technical problems plagued the new invention, the British leadership was confident that this new weapon would break the stalemate at the Western Front for good. In the meantime Germany was focusing all offensive efforts on the Romanian front to mercilessly crush the new enemy.

  • S03E38 Manfred von Richthofen's First Victory - American Volunteers in WW1

    • September 22, 2016
    • YouTube

    This week 100 years ago Manfred von Richthofen is credited with his first aerial victory on the Western Front. He shoots down a British airplane with his Albatross D.II. At the same time the Isonzo Front is in full swing again where Luigi Cadorna is leading another offensive.

  • S03E39 Falkenhayn Crosses The Carpathians - The Battle of Sibiu

    • September 29, 2016
    • YouTube

    Erich von Falkenhayn had been fired from his position as Chief-of-Staff but he had a new task: Leading the combined Austro-German forces into Romania. So, this week 100 years ago Falkenhayn crosses the Carpathian mountains into Transylvania where they met fierce Romanian resistance. At the same time the British attacked at the Somme again and failed to utilise their new weapon: the tank.

  • S03E40 Douglas Haig's Fantasies Drown In Mud

    • October 6, 2016
    • YouTube

    Even though his troops are drowning in mud, Douglas Haig is still sketching grandiose plans for the breakthrough at the Somme. At the same time, the German Ambassador is recalled from Constantinople because he spoke out against the Armenian Genocide and with a clever offensive the Romanians harass August von Mackensen on the new Romanian Front.

  • S03E41 Deadly Routine On The Italian Front - The 8th Battle Of The Isonzo

    • October 13, 2016
    • YouTube

    While the 7th Battle of the Isonzo River was still raging, Italian chief of staff Luigi Cadorna was already planning the 8th. The war of attrition was going in his favour even though the Italian losses began to mount too. But how long could Austria-Hungary keep up against the constant pressure?

  • S03E42 French Plans For Glory At Verdun - Romania Stops The Germans

    • October 20, 2016
    • YouTube

    The front at Verdun has been quieter in recent weeks because the French are planing to retake all the lost ground and most importantly Fort Douaumont. Improved supplies, detailed planning and training give hope to the Poilus. The Germans on the other hand know that something is coming for them and when the morale couldn't get much lower, the Romanians stop Erich von Falkenhayn in the Carpathians.

  • S03E43 France Turns The Tide At Verdun

    • October 27, 2016
    • YouTube

    Meticulous planning, patience and and improvement supply chain meant that the French were finally ready to push the Germans back at Verdun. And the recapture of Fort Douaumont was as much an odd story as was the capture a few months earlier.

  • S03E44 War of Attrition On The Italian Front - The Ninth Battle of the Isonzo

    • November 3, 2016
    • YouTube

    The dust of the 8th and even 7th battle hasn't really settled on the Isonzo Front, but Luigi Cadorna is already unleashing the 9th Battle of the Isonzo River. The Austro-Hungarian troops under Svetozar Borojevic von Bojna can only look forward to the onset of winter because that will give them the long needed rest on the mountainous battlefield.

  • S03E45 Charming The Poles - The Central Powers Look For New Allies

    • November 10, 2016
    • YouTube

    The year of battles is coming to a close as winter approaches. The Central Powers realize that they need new troops and new war material if they actually want to win the war and not just continue it. Erich Ludendorff dreams of a Polish Army under German command and to charm the Poles in the German Empire and the occupied territories, the Kingdom of Poland is established.

  • S03E46 Heavy Action At The Somme - The Fight For Monastir

    • November 17, 2016
    • YouTube

    The battlefield at the Somme flared into action this week with the same disastrous consequences. The soldiers fighting for the British Army even analyzed the problems they were facing in the repeated assaults but to no avail. At the same time, the Serbs, supported by French troops, continued towards their home and fought for Monastir on the Macedonian Front.

  • S03E47 The Death Of Franz Joseph - The End of The Somme

    • November 24, 2016
    • YouTube

    The year 1916 is slowly coming to a close. This year of battles has seen the Battle of Verdun and the Battle of the Somme with well over 2 million casualties alone. And this week 100 years ago, the Battle of the Somme ended with the last push at the Ancre. In Vienna, Emperor Franz Joseph dies after almost 7 decades on the throne and Serbian and French forces take Monastir.

  • S03E48 Romania On The Ropes - Reflections On The Battle of the Somme

    • December 1, 2016
    • YouTube

    The fighting at the Somme is over - for now. The numbers of casualties on both sides is staggering and for what? Indy reflects on this epitome of WW1 battles. And at the same time 100 years ago the fighting in Romania was far from over. The four Central Powers were still on the move and it did not look good for Romania which only joined the war a few months ago. The situation in Greece became ever more complicated and increasingly violent too.

  • S03E49 The Fall of Bucharest - Political Turmoil in Russia

    • December 8, 2016
    • YouTube

    Field Marshal August von Mackensen gets a very special present for his birthday this week: Bucharest, the Romanian capital falls to the Central Powers. The Romanians reluctantly agree to destroying their grain and oil supplies on their retreat which are the two things Germany and Austria-Hungary desperately need to continue the war. Romania's direct ally Russia has its own problems at the moment as the political game of thrones continues in Petrograd.

  • S03E50 The Mesopotamian Front Awakes - Joseph Joffre Gets Sacked

    • December 15, 2016
    • YouTube

    After the humiliating defeat at Kut, the British forces in Mesopotamia have been busy building a proper supply chain up the Tigris river. Their goal is Basra and they are even dreaming of taking Baghdad. At the same time, French general Robert Nivelle, the new hero of the French army, is promoted while Joseph Joffre is no longer needed.

  • S03E51 They Did Not Pass - The Battle Of Verdun Ends

    • December 22, 2016
    • YouTube

    The Battle of Verdun ended after 299 days. With a final French offensive the Germans lose Vacherauville and Louvemont. This means that the front line is basically back to where it was in February 1916. 300,000 men were killed and another 700,000 were wounded or missing in an area roughly equal to the size of all the London parks combined.

  • S03E52 Turmoil in Russia - The Assassination of Rasputin

    • December 29, 2016
    • YouTube

    The chaos within Russia, especially Petrograd, is getting more and more severe. In the centre of much controversy is the Tsarina herself and her trusted mystic and healer Grigori Rasputin. His influence over the Tsar and his wife are actively frowned upon and this week 100 yeas ago he is assassinated. At the same the Russians are facing the German Army on the Romanian Front.

Season 4 - 1917

  • S04E01 The World At War 1917

    • January 5, 2017
    • YouTube

    This war was supposed to be over by Christmas 1914. Now, as 1917 dawned, the world still knew 10 active theatres of war around the globe: Western Front, Italian Front, Eastern Front, Macedonian Front, Caucasus Front, Persian Front, Libyan Front, Palestine, Mesopotamia and German East Africa - and still there was no end in sight, no quick victory to be had for any side.

  • S04E02 No Peace For The Wicked

    • January 12, 2017
    • YouTube

    This week 100 years ago there was talk about peace between the great waring nations. But even after millions of casualties, starving people at home and more escalation on the horizon, the situation didn't seem bad enough for one of them to give in on their demands. At the same time, the fighting in Romania continues and the political situation in Russia becomes evermore dire.

  • S04E03 Fighting on Alpine Peaks - Call for Self Determination

    • January 19, 2017
    • YouTube

    The winter of 1916/1917 is the harshest one so far in the war. Nowhere do the soldiers suffer from these extreme conditions than on the Italian Front in the Dolomites. The fighting there is fierce already but the cold, avalanches and height make it even more brutal. After the failed peace negotiations, the cry for ethnic self determination can still be heard all around the world. And German foreign secretary Arthur Zimmermann sends a fateful telegram to Mexico that is today remembered as the Zimmermann-Telegram.

  • S04E04 Nivelle's Spring Offensive - Royal Conspiracy In Greece

    • January 26, 2017
    • YouTube

    Germany is about to unleash unrestricted submarine warfare again which might draw the United States into the conflict - but the Germans are not worried. The German Kaiser is instigating with his sister in Greece and Nivelle has big plans for a decisive battle in spring.

  • S04E05 Germany Resumes Unrestricted Submarine Warfare

    • February 2, 2017
    • YouTube

    This week 100 years ago, Germany goes all in and resumes unrestricted submarine warfare, their goal is to starve Britain out of the war before Germany cannot continue the war. All doubts are brushed aside and all shipping around the British Isles will be sunk without warning. At the same time, the economic situation in Russia gets worse and worse and winter prevents any major action.

  • S04E06 Bulgaria Digs In At Doiran - The Final Blow Against The Senussi

    • February 9, 2017
    • YouTube

    While the US breaks of diplomatic relations with Germany in response to unrestricted submarine warfare, the Western Front is rather quiet. On the Macedonian Front, the Bulgarian Army is digging in at Doiran. They built a formidable defence network without the Entente realising it and this week 100 years ago the British get a first taste of that. The British also deal the final blow against the Senussi tribesmen on the Libyan Front.

  • S04E07 Russian Bombing On The Eastern Front - US Prisoners of War I

    • February 16, 2017
    • YouTube

    After breaking of diplomatic relations, the tensions between the US and Germany are still strong. This week the so called Yarrowdale prisoners become pawns in the power play between the great powers. At the same time, the Russian air force is bombing targets all over the north Eastern Front and little skirmishes happen on the overall quiet Western Front.

  • S04E08 Mechanised War In Mesopotamia - Toplica Uprising

    • February 23, 2017
    • YouTube

    After the humiliating defeat at Kut last year, the British upped their game in Mesopotamia and this week 100 years ago the British Indian Army starts making gains towards Baghdad. In the occupied territories of Serbia the local population is rising up against the Bulgarian and Austro-Hungarian occupants and on the Western Front, the British make surprisingly easy progress against the German Army.

  • S04E09 Conrad Loses His Job - Nivelle's Coup

    • March 2, 2017
    • YouTube

    The new Austro-Hungarian Kaiser is not happy about his Empire's dependence on the German ally. And he is also not happy about their own military decisions and over the winter has worked to replace key positions with his own men. The last step in that process is convincing Conrad von Hötzendorf to take a position on the Italian Front. At the same time, French Commander Robert Nivelle is trying to get control over the British Armies on the Western Front and the Zimmermann Telegram is released to the press.

  • S04E10 The Russian February Revolution 1917

    • March 9, 2017
    • YouTube

    Food shortages, an overall desolate supply situation and great political turmoil make Russia ripe for revolution and this week 100 years ago, the people take to the streets. The US adopts a policy of armed neutrality.

  • S04E11 The Tsar Abdicates - Baghdad Falls

    • March 16, 2017
    • YouTube

    The protests that emerged in Russia this week are growing stronger and the Tsar is increasingly isolated until even his generals are pushing for his abdication. And after 300 years of Romanov rule, Tsar Nicholai II abdicates and when his brother refuses to take up the throne, the dynasty is no more. Meanwhile in the Middle East, the British are taking Baghdad effectively seizing control over a large area.

  • S04E12 Kaiser Karl Wants Peace - The Sixtus Affair

    • March 23, 2017
    • YouTube

    Since Kaiser Karl I ascended the throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empire he was not happy with the progression of the war. He felt that his empire was tied to their German ally more than necessary and this week 100 years ago he was starting a process of secret negotiations for a separate peace with the Entente. At the same time the British had increasing problems at the home front and the chaos in Russia continued.

  • S04E13 Lenin Takes The Train - First Battle of Gaza

    • March 30, 2017
    • YouTube

    When the Russian government promises to continue the war and support the Entente with another offensive, the Germans are allowing Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov aka Lenin to board a train from his exile in Switzerland to Russia. The British Army once again underestimates the Ottoman Empire at the 1st Battle of Gaza and the Toplica Uprising ends.

  • S04E14 The United States Declares War on Germany

    • April 6, 2017
    • YouTube

    Diplomatic tensions after the return of German unrestricted submarine warfare and the aftermath of the Zimmermann telegram lead to the United States declaration of war on Germany this week 100 years ago. Meanwhile the British and French high command are still debating the upcoming offensive, namely the Battle of Arras which includes taking the contested Vimy Ridge and the Nivelle Offensive at the Chemin Des Dames.

  • S04E15 The Canadian Corps Takes Vimy Ridge - The Battle of Arras

    • April 13, 2017
    • YouTube

    This week 100 years ago, the Western Front comes to live with a big British offensive at Arras. The Canadian Corps and the British 51st Infantry Division take Vimy Ridge which had been contested for 3 years by now. The rest of the battles goes well in the beginning too but due to a snowstorm and the German defences it soon slows down.

  • S04E16 The Nivelle Offensive - Carnage At The Chemin Des Dames

    • April 20, 2017
    • YouTube

    French Commander Robert Nivelle was sure that his offensive would bring the final victory against Germany. He scaled up his successful plan from Verdun which had worked so well and even when other generals questioned the very idea of the offensive, he would refuse to alter it or call it off. The Germans knew that the French were coming and were well prepared. And so the disaster at the Chemin Des Dames unfolded.

  • S04E17 The Battle of Doiran - Turmoil In The French Army

    • April 27, 2017
    • YouTube

    The Salonica Front had been quiet over the winter, but much like the recent battles on the Western Front, it erupted this week. The British Army tried to take the Bulgarian positions at Doiran - these positions might have been some of the best defences of the entire war. After the failed Nivelle Offensive, some French soldiers start to question the whole war.

  • S04E18 The Battle of Arleux - Robert Nivelle Gets Fired

    • May 4, 2017
    • YouTube

    The Battle of Arras continued in smaller scale attacks this week 100 years ago. Fighting focused on Arleux and the Scarpe river. Neither of these battles was able to repeat the success of the early Arras offensive. The casualties of the Nivelle Offensive were now costing Robert Nivelle his job as he was still blaming everyone but himself.

  • S04E19 The Macedonian Standoff - The Five Nation Army Is Repelled

    • May 11, 2017
    • YouTube

    Italy, France, Serbia, Britain and Russia joined forces at the Macedonian Front and the "five nation army" wants to break through the lines held by Bulgaria with some German support. But the Bulgarian defences can withstand the attack and so Maurice Sarrail is forced to abandon all hopes for a breakthrough. Meanwhile another offensive is about to proceed at the Italian front which had been quiet all winter.

  • S04E20 Tenth Battle of The Isonzo River - Trotsky Arrives in Petrograd

    • May 18, 2017
    • YouTube

    The Italian Front has been quiet over the winter and while the Austrians used the time to improve their defences, the Italian Army prepared another offensive near the Isonzo River. At the same time, Leon Trotsky arrives in Petrograd which will ensure the further complication of the situation in Russia after the Revolution.

  • S04E21 German Bombers Over Britain - Arab Revolt On The Advance

    • May 25, 2017
    • YouTube

    This week 100 years ago, Germany is flying concentrated bomber attacks with multiple Gotha bombers on British cities - causing more damage than any Zeppelin raid before. In the Middle East, T.E. Lawrence and his allies from the Arab Revolt are on the march while on the Western Front, the last battles of the Nivelle Offensive come to an end.

  • S04E22 French Mutinies - Tunnels Under Messines Ridge

    • June 1, 2017
    • YouTube

    The casualties and lack of success during the Nivelle Offensive were too much for the French Army and now the breaking point was reached. While parts of the French Army are in open mutiny, British Commander Douglas Haig is already planning the next offensive at Ypres. This time he wants to combine it with an amphibious landing along the Belgian coast.

  • S04E23 The Battle of Messines - Explosion Beneath Hill 60

    • June 8, 2017
    • YouTube

    In the early morning of June 7 the area around Messines Ridge is shattered by huge explosions beneath the German positions. Miners and sappers had dug tunnels and filled them up with tons of explosives. Up to 10,000 German soldiers are killed in this inferno. At the same time, the Romanian Army seems to be in shape for an attack against the Germans again and the 10th Battle of the Isonzo continues.

  • S04E24 Italian Mountain Warfare - The Espionage Act

    • June 15, 2017
    • YouTube

    The US entry into the war had raised some pretty unrealistic expectations among the Allies. When General Pershing arrived in Britain, King George personally told him how he looked forward to the 50,000 US airplanes soon in the air. At the same time the Italians start an offensive in the Trentino and attack Mount Ortigara.

  • S04E25 The Disillusionment of Lawrence of Arabia

    • June 22, 2017
    • YouTube

    Almost a year after the secret signing of the Sykes-Picot-Agreement, British intelligence officer and guerrilla fighter T.E. Lawrence learns about the deal. He learns how the French, British and Russians are carving up the Middle East while officially supporting the Arab Revolt. Lawrence is increasingly frustrated with this double crossing behaviour and warns his superiors about the consequences.

  • S04E26 Russia's New Offensive - The Russian Women's Battalion of Death

    • June 29, 2017
    • YouTube

    After the Russian Revolution, fresh optimism is gripping the troops at the front line and another offensive is planned. The first American troops arrive in France and Greece officially joins the Entente.

  • S04E27 Turmoil In The Reichstag - The Kerensky Offensive

    • July 6, 2017
    • YouTube

    The German home front is shaken by a political scandal this week 100 years ago. A member of the Center party reveals that the German unrestricted submarine warfare is not achieving what the German high command had hoped for. Paul von Hindenburg and Erich Ludendorff, who pretty much run Germany as a military dictatorship by now, also dispose of chancellor Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg. Hollweg was actually secretly involved in peace negotiations but that chance is gone with him too. Russia unleashes their Kerensky Offensive on the Eastern Front and puts further pressure on the Central Powers.

  • S04E28 Operation Beach Party - Mustard Gas Unleashed

    • July 13, 2017
    • YouTube

    British Commander Sir Douglas Haig is still convinced of his coming offensive in Flanders. But the Germans now that something is afoot and launch a spoiling attack at the Yser River - the name of the operation is Strandfest or Beach Party. They use blue cross gas for the first time there and two days later also use another new chemical agent which will be known as mustard gas.

  • S04E29 July Days In Petrograd - Blood On The Nevsky Prospect

    • July 20, 2017
    • YouTube

    The tensions between the Russian Provisional Government, between the civilians and the Bolsheviks turn violent this week 100 years ago. Machine Guns fire into the demonstrations on the Nevsky Prospect and arrest warrants are issued for Lenin and Trosky. At the same time the preliminary bombardment for the Battle of Passchendaele begins on the Western Front.

  • S04E30 Three Years of World War 1

    • July 27, 2017
    • YouTube

    Christmas 1914 - that's when the war was supposed to be over. And now, in the summer of 1917, it entered its fourth year and there was no end in sight. The British Army was about to launch a new offensive near Ypres, Russia drowned in chaos and the central powers' defences were still holding. Though in Romania, the combined Russian and Romanian attack put a few cracks into the German self esteem.

  • S04E31 The Battle of Passchendaele - Mutiny in the German Navy

    • August 3, 2017
    • YouTube

    Douglas Haig had been busy since the Battle of Arras came to an end. He amassed huge artillery concentration, got his hands on the new British Mark IV tanks and had a cunning plan that even involved a naval landing along the Belgian coast. And the opening of the battle was definitely more promising than the Battle of the Somme one year earlier. In Germany, a small naval mutiny is put down at the same time.

  • S04E32 Despair Everywhere

    • August 10, 2017
    • YouTube

    This week Russo-Romanian forces clash with the Central Power´s counteroffensive in the Second Battle of Oltuz. The failure of the Kerensky Offensive disheartens the Russian army and radicalizes the homefront. While the Bolsheviks were calling for "Peace, Bread and Land", the new commander of the Russian army Lavr Kornilov strives to become a strong authoritarian figure for the political right. And the Battle of Passchendaele reveals a scarred, broken battlefield of mud and destroyed equipment. Despair is everywhere.

  • S04E33 The Battle of Hill 70 - Mackensen Advances in Romania

    • August 17, 2017
    • YouTube

    The Battle of Passchendaele has turned into a muddy mess, the weather conditions take a toll on both the defenders and the attackers alike. The Canadians relieve some pressure on the British Army in the Battle of Hill 70 south of Ypres. Meanwhile, August von Mackensen is fighting back the Romanian offensive that was unleashed last week.

  • S04E34 The 2nd Battle Of Verdun - Lost Opportunities On The Isonzo River

    • August 24, 2017
    • YouTube

    The 11th Battle of the Isonzo river continued this week and the Italians manage to break through parts of the Austro-Hungarian lines, they hesitate to exploit the breakthrough though and the opportunity is lost. Meanwhile the French break through the German lines at Verdun and Herbert Plumer comes up with a plan to defeat the German Hindenburg Line.

  • S04E35 The Moscow State Conference - Black Sea Revolutionaries

    • August 31, 2017
    • YouTube

    The political factions that oppose the rise of Bolshevism in post-revolutionary Russia come together for a conference this week 100 years ago. But apart from the Moscow State Conference, some people in the military actually aim for a military dictatorship to restore order in Russia and continue the war. At the same time the 2nd Battle of Verdun comes to an end with a French victory and revolutionary fever also spreads across the Black Sea Fleet.

  • S04E36 The Fall of Riga - 11th Battle of the Isonzo River

    • September 7, 2017
    • YouTube

    The German Army under Oskar von Hutier and his artillery officer Georg "Durchbruchmüller" Bruchmüller takes Riga from the Russians, the French government is reshuffled and the 11th Battle of the Isonzo River continues.

  • S04E37 Attempted Military Coup in Russia - The Kornilov Affair

    • September 14, 2017
    • YouTube

    The situation in Russia further escalates as Lavr Kornilov attempts to gain complete power with a military coup. The result is a disaster for him and thousands of armed Bolsheviks in the streets of Petrograd.

  • S04E38 British Advance At Passchendaele

    • September 21, 2017
    • YouTube

    Herbert Plumer had a cunning plan to crack the German defences at Passchendaele, he would "bite and hold" only small pieces of the German Hindenburg Line instead of aiming for the big breakthrough. It was still a costly tactic but it achieved results and the Germans under Ruprecht, Crown Prince of Bavaria, were worried.

  • S04E39 Battle of Polygon Wood - Betrayal At The Italian Front

    • September 28, 2017
    • YouTube

    The British and Australian forces under Sir Herbert Plumer continue to advance at Passchendaele. Plumer's new tactic comes with a high price in men and material but it also gets results. German flying ace Werner Voss fights his last legendary fight and on the Italian Front, some Austro-Hungarian officers want to end the war sooner than later - and not in their countries' favour.

  • S04E40 Sabotage In The Desert - Battle of Broodseinde

    • October 5, 2017
    • YouTube

    While the regular British forces were advancing towards Jerusalem and Baghdad, T.E. Lawrence and the Arab Revolt were causing havoc behind the lines. This week 100 years ago, they were continuing to attack the important Hejaz railway which was one of the vital supply routes for the Ottoman Army. On October 4, the Battle of Broodseinde was fought near Ypres and the costly British victory there caused real headaches for German general Erich Ludendorff.

  • S04E41 Operation Albion - Passchendaele Drowns In Mud

    • October 12, 2017
    • YouTube

    The situation for the German Army on the Western Front looks grim, but in the East they have the upper hand and this week begin to put pressure on the Russians in Operation Albion - an amphibious landing operation in the Estonian archipelago. At the same time, the Battlefield at Passchendaele is turning into a muddy swamp.

  • S04E42 Operation Albion Concludes - Allied Failures In Belgium

    • October 19, 2017
    • YouTube

    100 years ago this week, Operation Albion comes to a successful end for the Germans, as revolution is on the horizon in Russia. The Allies aren’t faring quite so well on the Western Front, where the weather continues to worsen and the death toll climbs ever higher. Haig believes a breakthrough is imminent and German morale is tested. The stalemate continues, but sooner or later the Battle of Passchendaele must come to an end.

  • S04E43 The Battle of La Malmaison - Breakthrough at Caporetto

    • October 26, 2017
    • YouTube

    The French score a morale boosting victory over the German at La Malmaison, but the Canadians were not so successful elsewhere on the Western Front. Whilst the Germans continue on through the Estonian Archipelago and onto the Russian mainland, the 12th Battle of the Isonzo takes place on the Italian Front. Unlike the 11 battles that came before it, this one was initiated by the Central Powers and was their biggest breakthrough yet on that front.

  • S04E44 Battle of Beersheba - Canadian Frustration - Balfour Declaration

    • November 2, 2017
    • YouTube

    On the Western Front this week, the Canadians under Sir Arthur Currie attempt to advance once more, whilst Haig remains optimistic about an imminent breakthrough. Following Caporetto, the Italian retreat continues, whilst the British Army enjoys success on the Palestine Front, with a little help from mounted ANZAC troops. With Lenin’s return, the revolution looms over the Russian capital, whilst the Balfour Declaration is issued in Britain.

  • S04E45 The Russian October Revolution 1917

    • November 9, 2017
    • YouTube

    After the turmoil of the past weeks in Petrograd, the Soviets and the Red Guards seize the opportunity and topple the provisional government under Alexander Kerensky. Their first goal is to pull out of the war. The Italians were still in full retreat during the Battle of Caporetto and the British Army was still advancing in Palestine.

  • S04E46 The End Of Passchendaele - Fighting in Petrograd

    • November 16, 2017
    • YouTube

    The Anti-Bolshevik forces in Russia are trying to fight back last week's revolution. The Battle of Passchendaele ends after 3 months of fighting and at least 500,000 casualties on both sides. The British are still advancing on Jerusalem and the Italians set up defences behind the Piave river.

  • S04E47 Tank Corps Unleashed - The Battle of Cambrai

    • November 23, 2017
    • YouTube

    After stopping the offensive at Passchendaele, the British Army launches another, albeit more limited, offensive. Almost 500 tanks are put into place and the initial success is remarkable. But the Germans had ben training in anti-tank warfare and are supported by fresh troops from the Eastern Front.

  • S04E48 All Quiet On The Eastern Front - Action in East Africa

    • November 30, 2017
    • YouTube

    This week in the Great War, the Battle of the Ngomano was fought in East Africa between the Germans and Portuguese, which was a decisive win for Lettow-Vorbeck’s men. On the Eastern Front, the fighting stops and Trotsky published the secret treaties that Russia and the other Allies had signed. The Battle of Cambrai continued, with attacks and counterattacks from both sides, including the implementation of the new Hutier assault tactics. Armando Diaz was making changes for the better on the Italian Front, with the express aim of improving the morale among his men.

  • S04E49 Halifax Explosion - Peace in the East?

    • December 7, 2017
    • YouTube

    This week in the Great War, we see some action in Italy and none at all in Russia - the peace negotiations are well underway. The Allied Supreme War Council meets for the first time as the Battle of Cambrai comes to a close. Two ships collide in Nova Scotia resulting in a deadly explosion.

  • S04E50 Jerusalem Surrenders - Bolsheviks Consolidate Control

    • December 14, 2017
    • YouTube

    This week in the Great War, the British under Allenby capture the Holy City. Meanwhile the British War Cabinet beings to strategise for future offensives. In Russia, though the fighting may be over on the Eastern Front, the fight for control of the country is far from over. Before the Bolsheviks can negotiate peace with Germany, they need to establish peace within Russia’s own borders.

  • S04E51 The Armistice of Brest-Litovsk

    • December 21, 2017
    • YouTube

    An armistice between Austria-Hungary, Germany and Russia is signed this week 100 years ago at Brest-Litovsk. And right away the Germans make their intentions clear that they want to dictate the terms for the following peace negotiations. Even Great Britain is exploring peace options but is there actually peace in Russia? After the Bolshevik Coup a Civil War is looming.

  • S04E52 Ludendorff Plans for a Spring Offensive

    • December 28, 2017
    • YouTube

    This week, the peace negotiations are underway at Brest-Litovsk. Meanwhile, the German High Command begins to plan for a game-changing offensive in the spring. There’s action in Italy on the Piave Front, and the Ottomans try to recapture the Holy City.

Season 5 - 1918

  • S05E01 Machinations In The British High Command

    • January 4, 2018
    • YouTube

    1918 starts with machinations in the British High Command since Prime Minister Lloyd George is holding back troops and generally would like to replace Sir Douglas Haig as commander.

  • S05E02 Woodrow Wilson’s Fourteen Points

    • January 11, 2018
    • YouTube

    In the first full week of 1918, U.S. President Woodrow Wilson outlines his points for peace. In the Caucasus, the increasing instability leads to daily skirmishes between the Armenians and Ottomans. Ludendorff continues planning for an upcoming German offensive whilst his countrymen negotiate peace terms with Russia.

  • S05E03 Assassination Attempt on Lenin - Chaos in Romania

    • January 18, 2018
    • YouTube

    This week in Russia, Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin was almost killed by sharpshooters in Petrograd and the Constituent Assembly meets. Tensions rise as Russia issues an ultimatum to Romania, with an order for their King’s arrest. There are also machinations in Finland and some action on the Western Front.

  • S05E04 Civil War in Finland and the Ukraine

    • January 25, 2018
    • YouTube

    This week in the Great War, two more wars start - the Finnish Civil War and the Ukrainian War of Independence. Meanwhile, David Lloyd George pulls some strings in France, even as Ludendorff settles on a target for Germany’s upcoming Spring Offensive.

  • S05E05 Strikes and Mutiny

    • February 1, 2018
    • YouTube

    Public opinion is turning against the war for the Central Powers but not only that, mutinies are also happening more frequently. Winning the war will be a race against time for Ludendorff and Germany's allies. Within the month, the biggest German offensive of the war is to be unleashed.

  • S05E06 Austro-Hungarian House of Cards

    • February 8, 2018
    • YouTube

    The situation for Austria-Hungary is dire, even after the success in Italy and the peace negotiations at Brest-Litovsk. Strikes and mutinies break out across the Empire and the emerging drive for ethnic self determination by the subjects of the Empire are worrying to the leaders of the Habsburg Empire.

  • S05E07 No War, No Peace – Trotsky's Gamble

    • February 15, 2018
    • YouTube

    he negotiations between the Bolsheviks, the German High Command and Austria-Hungary reach a new low this week 100 years ago. Leon Trotsky is playing for time since the revolutions in Berlin and Vienna are only a matter of time in his opinion. At the same time, the Ukrainians are try to get German aid against the Bolsheviks against Ukrainian grain for the starving German population.

  • S05E08 Operation Faustschlag - Germany Advances In The East Again

    • February 22, 2018
    • YouTube

    Germany has had enough with the stalling tactics by the Bolsheviks and is unleashing its military might on the Eastern Front again to show who is in charge. Within the first days of Operation Faustschlag, the German Army marches on Kiev and the Baltic region. At the same time, the plans for a German spring offensive in the West are getting more pronounced.

  • S05E09 Ludendorff's Window Of Opportunity

    • March 1, 2018
    • YouTube

    German victory in the East, chaos in the British High Command, stable fronts in the Balkans and Italy, the US still not in full strength; German General Erich Ludendorff has a window of opportunity for his spring offensive and he intends to use it. Within the next weeks the German Army will launch their biggest offensive of WW1: Operation Michael.

  • S05E10 Peace In The East - The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk

    • March 8, 2018
    • YouTube

    Germany and the Russian Bolshevik Government sign the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk ending hostilities on the Eastern Front. Previously Germany had resumed the war in the East to put pressure on the Bolsheviks to accept the dictated terms. The Western Front Caucasian theatre were far from peaceful though.

  • S05E11 Allied Unified Command On The Horizon

    • March 15, 2018
    • YouTube

    While Germany is occupying a territory from the Baltics to the Black Sea and planning it's huge spring offensive, the Allies are still trying to get behind the idea of a unified command.

  • S05E12 Kaiserschlacht - German Spring Offensive 1918

    • March 22, 2018
    • YouTube

    It was all or nothing for the German Army under General Erich Ludendorff now: They unleashed the biggest offensive of the entire war on the Western Front trying to split the British and French Armies, drive the British off the continent and capture Paris.

  • S05E13 Backs To The Wall - All Eyes On Amiens

    • March 29, 2018
    • YouTube

    The German Operation Michael continues this week and after some uncertainty, the Germans put their eyes on Amiens. The city is a vital communications and transport hub for the Entente and so Ferdinand Foch decides to mount a defence in front of the city.

  • S05E14 Operation Michael Runs Out Of Breath

    • April 5, 2018
    • YouTube

    Two weeks after the initial success of the German Spring Offensive, Operation Michael looses pace and direction. The German supply situation is dire and when the troops find cattle and food behind the British positions, there is no way for them to ignore that. At the same time, orders for a new German offensive in Flanders are given and the Germans land additional troops in Finnland.

  • S05E15 The Battle of La Lys - Operation Georgette

    • April 12, 2018
    • YouTube

    A year after the US entry into the war, the German Spring Offensive 1918 continues with operations Archangel and Georgette. The Portuguese Expeditionary Corps has to pay the price while the British manage to orderly retreat.

  • S05E16 Knocking Out The Hejaz Railway

    • April 19, 2018
    • YouTube

    While the Germans are still advancing in Flanders (Operation Georgette), the other fronts are not always quiet. In Palestine, the British forces and the Arab Revolt are taking the initiative again. T.E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) and the Arab Revolt are attacking the vital Hejaz Railway, a major transport factor for the Ottoman Empire.

  • S05E17 The First Tank-on-Tank Battle in History - The Zeebrugge Raid

    • April 26, 2018
    • YouTube

    At Villers-Bretonneux, German and British tanks clash marking the first tank-on-tank battle in history. In the same week, the most successful flying ace of World War 1 is shot down over France: Manfred von Richthofen dies after scoring 80 victories. Meanwhile, the British Navy attempts to eliminate the German U-Boat threat with a daring raid on Zeebrugge and Ostende.

  • S05E18 Pershing Under Pressure - The End Of La Lys

    • May 3, 2018
    • YouTube

    Even though the German spring offensive is not able to gain any ground in Flanders, the allied casualties are mounting. This increases the pressure on John J. Pershing and the American troops in Europe to finally join the battle.

  • S05E19 The Ostende Raid - Peace of Bucharest

    • May 10, 2018
    • YouTube

    Even though the first raid on Ostende and the Raid on Zeebrugge were not entirely successful, the Royal Navy is still determined to block access to the German submarine ports in Belgium. And this week they attack Ostende again. Meanwhile, the Germans are planning their next offensives for late May 1918 even though ten percent of the Western Front army has become a casualty in the offensives this year alone.

  • S05E20 Rebellion

    • May 17, 2018
    • YouTube

    The summer of 1918 saw many ethnic and political groups within the warring empires to openly rebel. The Austro-Hungarian Army saw open mutiny every week, the Irish rebelled against the British, the situation in the newly annexed Eastern European territories that were now part of the German Empire was a powder keg. And in France civilians were sentenced to death for treason.

  • S05E21 Bombs Away - German Thirst For Caucasian Oil

    • May 24, 2018
    • YouTube

    In the 200th week of the war, the total nature of modern warfare is truly showing its face. The warring nations escalate their bombing campaigns and the German troops in the Caucasus are so thirsty for Caucasian oil, that they are considering to double cross their own allies.

  • S05E22 50 Miles To Paris - Third Battle Of The Aisne

    • May 31, 2018
    • YouTube

    The French and British defenses during the German Spring Offensive 1918 were put to a real test when the Germans attacked. The carefully built defenses had to be abandoned and new lessons had to be learned.

  • S05E23 The Battle of Belleau Wood Begins

    • June 7, 2018
    • YouTube

    The German Army is still threatening Paris and the situation for the Allies looks dire. Reluctantly, General Pershing agrees to put some of the American troops into action at Belleau Wood and Château-Thierry.

  • S05E24 The French Counter Attack At Matz

    • June 14, 2018
    • YouTube

    The French have cracked the German radio code on the Western Front and use their advantage for a counterattack at Matz. The already hastily planed German attack during Operation Gneisenau is called off after just 4 days. Meanwhile Austria-Hungary plans another offensive in Italy and German and Ottoman forces fight each other in Georgia.

  • S05E25 Second Battle of the Piave River

    • June 21, 2018
    • YouTube

    Even though Austro-Hungarian Field Marshal Svetozar Boroević von Bojna warns against, the Austro-Hungarian Army goes on the offensive in Italy again. In a two-pronged attack Borojevic and Conrad von Hötzendorf attack the Italian positions.

  • S05E26 The Run For The Baku Oil Fields

    • June 28, 2018
    • YouTube

    While the Ottoman Army of Islam is marching on Baku and the Caspian Sea, multiple other players are trying to stake their claim of the Baku oil fields.

  • S05E27 The First Modern Battle - The Battle of Hamel

    • July 5, 2018
    • YouTube

    The Battle of Hamel is considered as the first modern battle. Masterminded by Australian general John Monash, it included meticulous planning and integrated tanks, artillery, airplanes and infantry into one cohesive strategy.

  • S05E28 The Gardeners Of Salonica Prepare A New Offensive

    • July 12, 2018
    • YouTube

    The Macedonian Front has been quite since the recapture of Monastir except for some minor battles like at Skra. But the five nation Army of the Orient wants to change that and is readying a new offensive.

  • S05E29 2nd Battle Of The Marne - Turning Point On The Western Front

    • July 19, 2018
    • YouTube

    The German Army launches an diversionary attack from the Rheims-Soisson salient and increases the pressure on Paris. But the Allies knew about the attack and for the first time, they effectively counter the German Stormtrooper tactics and even counter-attack along the line.

  • S05E30 Ludendorff's Last Swing

    • July 26, 2018
    • YouTube

    All of Germany's recent offensives have been building up to Operation Hagen: An offensive in Flanders that was to divide the Allies and drive the British off the continent. But this week German High Command realizes that they don't have the manpower left to even start the offensive.

  • S05E31 Four Years of War

    • August 2, 2018
    • YouTube

    As the war turns 4 years old, there is still no end in sight. From the Western Front to the Caucasus and the Middle East; in every theater the war is still raging on.

  • S05E32 The Black Day Of The German Army - The Battle of Amiens

    • August 9, 2018
    • YouTube

    Ludendorff and his generals didn't think the Allies had it in them, but this week they attack with the might off several hundred tanks near Amiens, the Black Day of the German Army.

  • S05E33 A Resounding Victory - German Morale Plummets

    • August 16, 2018
    • YouTube

    As the Battle of Amiens is coming to an end, the Germans are desperately trying to stem the Allied advance and fortify new positions. But morale is crumbling and German High Command is running out of time to find a new strategy. Meanwhile in Russia, the struggle between Bolsheviks and Social Revolutionaries reaches a violent climax, as assassins prey on Lenin's life. The Dunsterforce finally arrives in Baku to help defend the city from the Ottoman advance. But this is not the mighty British force the inhabitants had hoped for. Will Lenin survive? Does Ludendorff choose to abandon all the gains the German army made over the spring? And what about the attack on the Wookies? Find out this and more in the new episode of The Great War.

  • S05E34 Over By Christmas? - Growing Allied Confidence

    • August 23, 2018
    • YouTube

    With the recent "Black Day of the German Army" and the success of the new strategy of Allied attacks along the Western Front and with the renewed offensives in Palestine, British Commander Sir Douglas Haig is confident the war can be won by the end of the year. Entente Generalissimo Ferdinand Foch is a bit more cautious but also thinks the war can be won by 1919.

  • S05E35 The American First Army Gears Up - Germany Retreats

    • August 30, 2018
    • YouTube

    As the German Army withdraws along the Western Front, the Entente prepares for ever more offensives. This includes the newly founded American First Army which will have the task to attack the Germans in the Meuse-Argonnes area.

  • S05E36 Red Terror in Soviet Russia

    • September 6, 2018
    • YouTube

    After an almost successful attempt on Lenin's live, the Tscheka under Felix Dzerzhinsky responds with a terror campaign to consolidate Soviet power through fear. At the same time, a supposed Allied plot is unveiled that would get Russia back into the war.

  • S05E37 The Battle of Saint-Mihiel

    • September 13, 2018
    • YouTube

    The American First Army joins the fray on the Western Front with the Battle of Saint-Mihiel. All along the Western Front, the Allies are attacking or planning new attacks. The situation for the Germans looks dire even as the first war reparations from Russia arrive.

  • S05E38 Allied Breakthroughs In Palestine And Macedonia

    • September 20, 2018
    • YouTube

    In a turbulent week of the First World War, the Allies break through at the Macedonian Front during the Battle of Vadar and in Palestine during the Battle for Palestine. At the same time, the Ottoman defeats the last defenders of Baku.

  • S05E39 The Meuse-Argonne Offensive - Bulgarian Collapse

    • September 27, 2018
    • YouTube

    This week, the biggest American military operation in history kicks off with 1.2 million American soldiers trying to take the Krimhilde Stellung. At the same time the Army of the Orient advances into Bulgaria and the Ottoman 7th and 8th armies collapse in Palestine.

  • S05E40 Germany's Reckoning - Bulgarian Armistice

    • October 4, 2018
    • YouTube

    While Bulgaria signs the Armistice of Salonika and effectively exits the war as the first of the Central Powers, the Hindenburg Line is broken on the Western Front. It dawns among the German leadership, that an armistice is necessary and in a desperate attempt to secure a more favourable position at the negotiations table, the Kaiser agrees to a "revolution from the top" that gives more political saying to the Reichstag.

  • S05E41 The Hindenburg Line Breaks - The Lost Battalion Returns

    • October 11, 2018
    • YouTube

    The Hindenburg Line or Siegfriedstellung is the backbone of the German defenses on the Western Front and this week 100 years ago, the Allies break through during the Battle of St. Quentin Canal. At the same time, the political fallout within Germany continues and the Allied Army of the Orient continues its offensive on the Macedonian Front.

  • S05E42 The Battle of the Selle - Ludendorff Resigns

    • October 18, 2018
    • YouTube

    As the Germans are retreating further and further during the Battle of the Selle, Erich Ludendorff – the German Quartermaster General, one half of Germany's military dictatorship and mastermind behind the last big German offensive in spring 1918 – resigns under pressure by the Kaiser and the Reichstag. The German upper class realizes that their days might be numbered if the war continues in the current form and Austria-Hungary's Emperor Karl has the same epiphany.

  • S05E43 Italy Attacks - The Battle of Vittorio Veneto

    • October 25, 2018
    • YouTube

    After the Battle of the Piave, the Italian front had been relatively quiet and stable. But just as unrest and instablity spread through the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Italian Army and its allies attack along the whole front. From Monte Grappa and across the Piave, the Austro-Hungarians are caught off guard.

  • S05E44 Austria-Hungary Deisintegrates - The Ottoman Empire Leaves the War I

    • November 1, 2018
    • YouTube

    The Ottoman Empire has been on the retreat in the Middle East since the renewed British offensive in September and now, as the allies are threatening the Turkish heartland and also Constantinople, the Ottoman Empire calls for an armistice. The Armistice of Mudros is signed as the remaining Central Powers also struggle to keep their Empires together.

  • S05E45 Revolution in Germany - Armistice in Austria

    • November 8, 2018
    • YouTube

    Unrest within the German Empire is spreading, resentment against the war, the hunger and the elites is turning into revolutionary action and with a mutiny in Kiel the wheels begin to turn quickly. Austria signs an armistice, the Macedonian Front collapses, Romania might enter the war again and the new German political leaders send a delegation through the lines in France. Their goal: An Armistice.

  • S05E46 Armistice - But Peace?

    • November 11, 2018
    • YouTube

    On November 11 1918, the German delegation and the Allies reach an agreement for an armistice. At the 11th hour the guns go silent and the First World War is over, well at least the guns go silent but is it a peace already? Germany is struggling with revolution and civil war at home, the break up of the Austro-Hungarian Empire causes a lot of chaos. And in Romania, the men are taking up arms again.

Season 6 - 1919

  • S06E01 New Wars and Revolutions - Demobilisation

    • February 13, 2019
    • YouTube

    In our first new episode, our host Jesse takes a look at the German Revolution of 1918/1919 and how the Spartacists under Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg tried to take power. We also take a look at the new conflicts that emerge right after the supposed "war to end all wars" and explain how the massive armies of the great powers were demobilized.

  • S06E02 The Russian Civil War in Early 1919

    • March 18, 2019
    • YouTube

    The biggest conflict, or rather series of conflicts, that had their roots in the First World War are today known as the Russian Civil War. After the October Revolution the Bolsheviks under Vladimir Lenin and Leon Trotsky fought all across the former Russian Empire to consolidate their power.

  • S06E03 Greater Poland Uprising - Book Picks - Veteran Care

    • April 2, 2019
    • YouTube

    It's time for another episode of Beyond The Great War where we answer questions from the community. This time we take a look at the Greater Poland Uprising and the situation of Poland in early 1919, Jesse recommends a few of his favourite history books and we also talk about how veterans were treated after the 1918 armistice.

  • S06E04 The Lenin Boys Go To War - Hungarian Soviet Republic

    • April 14, 2019
    • YouTube

    Like many European countries, Hungary experiences rapid political changes in the aftermath of the 1918 armistices. The Kingdom of Hungary used to rule big parts of South Eastern Europe and many peoples within its former boundaries are now gaining independence and expand their territory. The new Hungarian Republic is faced by external and internal pressures and after a coup becomes the Hungarian Soviet Republic, the 2nd Soviet State in Europe.

  • S06E05 Bavarian Soviet Republic - 1919 Economy and Reconstruction

    • April 30, 2019
    • YouTube

    Jesse Alexander takes a look at the short lived but historically important Bavarian Soviet Republic that existed for 3 weeks in April 1919. He also takes a look at the post armistice economy and reconstruction in the west.

  • S06E06 Mussolini and D'Annunzio On The Rise - Allies in Crisis Over Italy

    • May 14, 2019
    • YouTube

    Italy joined World War 1 in 1915 after it had been promised territorial gains in the Treaty of London. Now that the Central Powers had been defeated, the Italian government and the Italians themselves expected that their contribution would be honored at the Paris Peace Conference. But France, Great Britain and the US had other plans and so the Italian government was caught between the new realities at Paris and the nationalists at home.

  • S06E07 US Soldiers Fighting in Russia - The End of the "Polar Bear Expedition"

    • May 28, 2019
    • YouTube

    The so called Allied intervention into the Russian Civil War suffered from no clear operational goals and mandate and when US President Woodrow Wilson pulled out the American soldiers that were fighting in Northern Russia in May 1919, the operation suffered another setback. Public pressure against US foreign intervention was increasing now that Germany had been beaten and many people didn't understand what American soldiers were doing in Russia anyway. At the same time Winston Churchill and his supporters maintained that it was vital to defeat the Bolsheviks in Russia once and for all.

  • S06E08 Just Peace Or Day of Dishonor? - The Treaty of Versailles

    • June 14, 2019
    • YouTube

    The Treaty of Versailles was the first of the big peace treaties after the armistice of 1918. In just six months the allied powers had – without talking to the defeated powers – negotiated a new world order while trying to make sure Germany would pay reparations to rebuild. The German delegation was only informed about the peace terms a few weeks before signing the Treaty and they were shocked about the terms. In May 1919 they even considered not signing the contract at all.

  • S06E09 Estonia and Latvia Fight For Independence - Russian Civil War Baltic Front

    • June 28, 2019
    • YouTube

    Estonia and Latvia had declared their independence from Russia in the late 1918 chaos. Over the spring of 1919 both countries' new governments needed to defend that independence not only against the Russian Bolsheviks, there was also a violent internal struggle about the future of these countries. The Baltic Germans didn't want to give up their social status and the even the anti-bolshevik Russians considered the Baltics as part of the Russian Empire.

  • S06E10 The Allied Occupation of Germany After The Treaty of Versailles

    • July 17, 2019
    • YouTube

    When the Allied armies marched into German territory in late 1918 under the terms of the armistice, they were surprised to see a relatively untouched land. After the signing of the Treaty of Versailles, the Allied Occupation was made permanent and the troops settled in to stay in a country that did not want them there initially.

  • S06E11 Polish-Ukrainian War 1919 - The Battle for Lemberg

    • August 1, 2019
    • YouTube

    Lviv or Lwów are two names for the same city that was known as Lemberg until 1919. The Poles considered it as one of their most important cultural and political centers, the Ukrainians too. And so, in the aftermath of the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the question of who would control this city led to conflict: The Polish-Ukrainian War.

  • S06E12 The Drive On Moscow - Russian Civil War Summer 1919

    • August 16, 2019
    • YouTube

    The summer of 1919 was a pivotal moment in the Russian Civil War. Backed with Allied support the White movement went on the offensive in the East under Alexander Kolchak and in the South under Anton Denikin. However, the Bolsheviks were not wasting time either. They consolidated their power and got the Red Army into shape to crush the enemy once and for all.

  • S06E13 Communist Revolution in America? - The Red Scare

    • August 29, 2019
    • YouTube

    The American intervention in the Russian Civil War, the economic hardships of workers and returning veterans and the strikes all over the US in 1919 created a hysteria that we know as Red Scare today. But how realistic was the idea of a Bolshevist revolution in America really?

  • S06E14 Worse Than Versailles? - The Treaty of Saint-Germain

    • September 14, 2019
    • YouTube

    The Treaty of Versailles between the Allies and Germany was only one of the peace treaties that followed the defeat of the Central Powers. The new Austrian republic, one of the countries that emerged from the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, also tried to get a favorable deal with the Allies in Paris in 1919. Like Versailles, the The Treaty of Saint-Germain caused an outcry across the country.

  • S06E15 The Freikorps Fights On - Estonia and Latvia War For Independence

    • September 27, 2019
    • YouTube

    After the Battle of Cesis it seemed the situation in Latvia and Estonia was about to quieten down. But the German soldiers in the region and the ongoing conflict with Bolshevik Russia meant the 2nd half of 1919 saw even more fighting in the Baltics.

  • S06E16 The Tide Is Turning - Russian Civil War Fall 1919

    • October 14, 2019
    • YouTube

    The White Russian advance on Moscow comes to a crashing end as the Red Army manages to turn the tide of the Russian Civil War in Fall 1919.

  • S06E17 The Graveyard of Empires Strikes Back - The British-Afghan War of 1919

    • October 30, 2019
    • YouTube

    The British-Afghan War of 1919

  • S06E18 The Brief Independence of Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan

    • November 11, 2019
    • YouTube

    Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan used the power vacuum after the 1917 revolution in Russia and after the collapse of the Central Powers in 1918 to gain their independence. But the Caucasus region was of vital strategic importance to the new Russian regime, to the British and to the Turks.

  • S06E19 Treaty of Neuilly - A National Catastrophe for Bulgaria?

    • November 19, 2019
    • YouTube

  • S06E20 The Hungarian Romanian War & The Downfall of the Hungarian Soviet Republic

    • December 2, 2019
    • YouTube

    In early 1919 Hungary was one of the European territories that saw a communist revolution. Bela Kun and his supporters established the Hungarian Soviet Republic while the country was in great turmoil and fighting against the Romanians, the Czechoslovaks, the Serbs and within Hungary itself.

  • S06E21 Adolf Hitler's First Steps In Politics - The Foundation Of The Nazi Party

    • December 17, 2019
    • YouTube

    Like many former soldiers, lance corporal Adolf Hitler was disillusioned with the new German Republic after the Armistice in 1918. Like man of his country men he was also in dire need of a job. The Bavarian Army provided an opportunity and soon young Adolf Hitler found himself in the ranks of an obscure political party in Munich: The German Workers' Party.

  • S06E22 The Treaty of Versailles And The Economic Consequences Of The Peace

    • December 19, 2019
    • YouTube

    John Maynard Keynes was an economist and part of the Paris Peace Conference in 1919. He had high hopes for a new post-war order but when he realized what Georges Clemenceau, David Lloyd-George and Woodrow Wilson were planing, he resigned from the conference. And then wrote a book about it: The Economic Consequences of the Peace became a bestseller and is one of the best known critiques of the Versailles Treaty.

Season 7

  • S07E01 The United States Goes Dry - Alcohol Prohibition

    • January 20, 2020
    • YouTube

    In January 1920, after one year of preparation, the 18th Amendment to the US Constitution went into effect. From now on alcohol prohibition was the law.

  • S07E02 The Greco-Turkish War & The Turkish War Of Independence

    • January 31, 2020
    • YouTube

    The Ottoman Empire was among the losing powers of World War 1 and left a power vacuum after the armistice of Mudros. The Great Powers had already made plans for the territory beforehand and now Greece had ambitions to take over the parts of Turkey where Greeks lived.

  • S07E03 Diamonds or Self-Determination? - South West African Nationalism

    • February 15, 2020
    • YouTube

    Woodrow Wilson's 14 Points and their idea of self-determination didn't go unnoticed in the former German colonies like German Southwest Africa. But especially South Africa had other ideas at the Paris Peace Conference and lobbied to take control over future Namibia and its lucrative diamond mines.

  • S07E04 The Freikorps Marches On Berlin - The Kapp Putsch

    • February 29, 2020
    • YouTube

    Dissatisfied with the new German Republic and the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, parts of the new Reichswehr and the paramilitary Freikorps decide to take matters into their own hands. The Marinebrigade Ehrhardt marches on Berlin to topple the government: It's the Kapp Putsch.

  • S07E05 Irish War of Independence - Black and Tans vs. IRA Guerrillas

    • March 14, 2020
    • YouTube

    The movement for more Irish self determination had turned into a full out revolutionary movement by 1919. The British Empire was losing control over Ireland and by early 1920 was in a full out guerrilla war against the Irish Republican Army (IRA). To regain control more police forces were recruited with wide ranging authorities - and a lack of actual police training. With their mismatched equipment made from war supplies, they soon got the nickname "Black and Tans".

  • S07E06 The Failed Start Of The League of Nations

    • April 11, 2020
    • YouTube

    The League of Nations was US President Woodrow Wilson's tool for a new and peaceful world after the war of 1914-1918 - and the US should have been their most important member. But the United States never joined and today the League of Nations is often seen as a failure. Was it doomed from the start?

  • S07E07 Spoils of War for Britain and France - Redrawing the Map of the Middle East

    • April 25, 2020
    • YouTube

    100 years ago at the conference of San Remo, one thing became clear: Great Britain and France wanted control over the Middle East. Justified by the fighting in the previous years and painted as "liberators" of the Middle Eastern minorities, the new map of the Middle East emerged - under the cover of the League of Nations Mandate system.

  • S07E08 Polish-Soviet War - First Phase 1919 - May 1920

    • May 16, 2020
    • YouTube

    The Polish-Soviet War was one of the biggest conflicts after the armistice of 1918 and the culmination point of the many sub-conflicts that made up the Western Front of the Russian Civil War. The question about the Polish-Russian border was decided with armored trains, cavalry charges and also on the negotiating table.

  • S07E09 The Spanish Flu Influenza Pandemic 1918 - 1920

    • May 30, 2020
    • YouTube

    It was far deadlier than even the global war that had preceded it: The Influenza pandemic or Spanish Flu that hit the world between 1918 and 1920 in multiple waves.

  • S07E10 The Treaty of Trianon - The Most Controversial of the Peace Treaties

    • June 13, 2020
    • YouTube

    The last of the big peace treaties signed in Paris that finalized the borders in Europe was the Treaty of Trianon. Even at the time, Hungarians considered it a historic injustice while nations such as Czechoslovakia, Romania and Yugoslavia were quite happy with the result. We examine how the treaty was signed and negotiated.

  • S07E11 The Peasants Rise Up Against The Bolsheviks - The Russian Civil War(s) 1920

    • June 27, 2020
    • YouTube

    Freeing peasants and workers from oppression was one of the main messages of the Bolsheviks. The peasants in the country side where happy to get rid of the landowning class and supported socialist ideas of land reform but once the Bolshevoks turned to "War Communism" to maintain their power against the Whites and other forces, the reluctant support of the peasants dropped - and in 1920 they turned to open revolt.

  • S07E12 German-Polish Proxy War In Silesia - French Troops On The Rhine

    • July 11, 2020
    • YouTube

    The summer of 1920 was marked by escalating tensions on the borders of the German Reich. In the Rhineland, a neutral zone per the Versailles Treaty, the revolutionary uprising after the failed Kapp Putsch was put down with the help of the army and the Freikorps. In Upper Silesia, the conflict between Poland and Germany was escalating into a proxy war. And all that while the German government was negotiating the payments of reparations at the Spa Conference.

  • S07E13 French War In Syria - British War Against The Iraqi Revolution

    • July 25, 2020
    • YouTube

    The French and British colonial powers had their own plans on how to rule the Middle East after the costly campaigns of World War 1. National self determination for the different groups in Syria, Iraq, Palestine and Arabia were not part of these plans. And so in the summer of 1920 the situation in Iraq and Syria escalated and the French-Syrian War and the Iraqi Revolt broke out.

  • S07E14 Greco-Turkish War - Treaty of Sèvres

    • August 15, 2020
    • YouTube

    While the Greco-Turkish War was still raging, the last of the peace treaties between the Allies and the Central Powers was finalized in Paris. But the Turkish Nationalist Movement under Mustafa Kemal would not accept the terms of the Treaty of Sèvres - even though the Ottoman government had signed it.

  • S07E15 Battle of Warsaw - Turning Point of Polish-Soviet War

    • August 29, 2020
    • YouTube

    In the summer of 1920 the new Poland under Josef Pilsduksi stood with their backs to Warsaw against the Red Army. The Bolsheviks had advanced in the North and in the South and some of the Soviet leadership wanted to carry the revolution into Western Europe.

  • S07E16 Irish War of Independence - WW1 Veterans In A New Battle

    • September 12, 2020
    • YouTube

    The conflict between the Irish independence movement and the UK government had been heating up since 1919. The summer of 1920 brought a new level of escalation with the arrival of the the Auxiliary Division of the Royal Irish Constabulary. Former veterans of the First World War were brought in to quell the rebellion and get a hold of the strongholds controlled by the IRA.

  • S07E17 Dividing Up The Middle East - The Creation of Lebanon

    • September 26, 2020
    • YouTube

    In the summer of 1920 it became clear that the many different voices and local opinions on the future of the former Ottoman provinces were going to be mostly ignored. France and Britain had their own ideas for the new mandate states in the region.

  • S07E18 Russian Civil War in Central Asia

    • October 17, 2020
    • YouTube

    By the fall of 1920, the Russian Civil War had unleashed three years of ethnic and internal conflict in Central Asia, and there was no end in sight. In this episode we’ll catch up on the dramatic events of the former Russian imperial lands in Central Asia from the revolution right up to the end of 1920, 100 years ago.

  • S07E19 Polish-Lithuanian War - Caught Between Poland and Soviet Russia

    • October 31, 2020
    • YouTube

    Like the other Baltic states, Lithuania declared independence at the end of World War 1 and was caught in the chaotic and violent situation of 1919 and 1920 when much of Eastern Europe was in turmoil. Territories that today belong to Lithuania were claimed by Poland and Soviet Russia alike - while these two were waging a war in the direct vicinity of Lithuania.

  • S07E20 Italian Proto-Fascists Occupy Fiume - The Adriatic Question

    • November 14, 2020
    • YouTube

    Italy was promised a lot of territorial gains for entering the First World War on the Allied side. But in 1919, the map of Europe had changed and the Allies were less interested in only fulfilling Italian territorial ambitions. Push came to shove when Italian Fascists around nationalist Gabriele D'Annunzio occupied the coastal city of Fiume in the newly created Yugoslavia.

  • S07E21 Bloody Sunday - Escalation in the Irish War of Independence

    • November 28, 2020
    • YouTube

    The British government was confident that the guerrilla war against the Irish Independence movement would soon be under control. But with the events around Bloody Sunday and the Killmichael Ambush, the situation reached a new level of violence.

  • S07E22 The Mexican Revolution - Bandits Turned Heroes

    • December 12, 2020
    • YouTube

    The 10 year long Mexican Revolution came to a conclusion in December of 1920. In the decade prior the country had seen peasant revolts, political assassination and and US intervention.

  • S07E23 The Russian Civil War in Siberia

    • December 27, 2020
    • YouTube

    The Russian Civil War's most eastern front in Siberia saw a supranational intervention by several world powers in the name of stopping Bolshevism. But the tens of thousands of foreign soldiers were not the only opposition to the Bolsheviks, white warlords and anarchist peasant revolts also meddled in this complex situation.

Season 8

  • S08E01 Anglo-Somali War - The Somali Dervish Movement

    • January 16, 2021

    The Somali Dervish movement was a thorn in the British colonial side for 20 years starting at the beginning of the 20th century. The leader Mohammed Abdullah Hassan was able to resist military expeditions and establish his own proto-state in the region.

  • S08E02 Mahatma Gandhi And The Indian Anti-Colonial Resistance After WW1

    • January 30, 2021

    Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was no stranger to anti-colonial activism when he returned to India during the First World War. After the great sacrifices of Britain's colony, the demand for autonomy was growing in India. And Ghandi would be front and center of this new movement with his idea of non-cooperation and peaceful resistance.

  • S08E03 The Persian Coup And The British Thirst For Oil

    • February 13, 2021

    Persia's struggle between British and Russian territorial ambition went back to the 19th century. In the new geopolitical landscape after the First World War, Britain was more keen then ever to have control over Persia - and its oil. But the 1921 Persian coup d'état by the Persian Cossack Brigade headed by Reza Khan put a stop to British ambition. For now.

  • S08E04 Attacking a Fortress Island Across The Frozen Sea - The Kronstadt Rebellion

    • February 27, 2021

    In early 1921 internal resistance against the Bolsheviks was mounting even among their supporters. The peasants in the cities were struggling from food shortages and some left-wing groups felt that the Bolsheviks had abandoned their ways particularly by not hearing out the Soviet councils. One of the largest acts of resistance was the Kronstadt (Кронштадт) Rebellion by Red Navy sailors in the Gulf of Finland.

  • S08E05 Bloody Climax Of The Anglo-Irish War - And A Truce

    • March 12, 2021

  • S08E06 Banana Wars - US Marines Occupy Cuba, Haiti & Dominican Republic

    • March 26, 2021

    Following the Spanish-American War, the United States foreign policy, under the influence of the Monroe Doctrine, intervened in several countries in Central America and the Caribbean. The United States Marine Corps was usually the military arm of these involvements as was the case in Cuba, Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

  • S08E07 Emperor Karl Wants His Crown Back - Habsburg Restoration Coups

    • April 16, 2021

    Former Austro-Hungarian Emperor Karl lived in exile since the armistice of 1918. But he hadn't given up his claim to the crowns of the dual monarchy. And so in 1921 he tried to claim the Hungarian crown not once, but twice.

  • S08E08 Chinese Warlord Era - The Zhili–Anhui War

    • April 30, 2021

    The first decades of the 20th century were a tumultuous time for China with carrying factions trying to control the vast country. These cliques were led by colorful warlords who even went to war with each other. The Zhili-, Anhui- and Fengtian Cliques are the most well known of this warlord era in Chinese history.

  • S08E09 Battle of Annaberg - Germany and Poland Fight Over Silesia

    • May 14, 2021

    The question of the allegiance of the ethnically mixed region of Silesia had already caused heated diplomatic arguments between Germany, Poland and the Allies after the First World War. After a divisive plebiscite the situation escalated into violence. Neither Germany nor Poland could officially send troops, but German Freikorps and Pro-Polish militias fought it out.

  • S08E10 French Troops March Into Germany - After The Treaty of Versailles

    • May 28, 2021

    France was probably the Allied country hit hardest by the First World War both in economic terms and by the casualties suffered. To rebuild the country (and to prevent Germany from future aggression), their goal was clear: Germany would need to pay for the war in form of reparations. At the same time, France was involved in major international turmoil.

  • S08E11 Banana Wars - US Occupation in Central America for A Fruit Company

    • June 14, 2021

    US involvement in Central America dated back to the first attempt to build the Panama Canal. And in accordance to the Monroe Doctrine was expanded in the 20th century too. US Marines took part in expeditions in Guatemala, Nicaragua and US naval power was a factor in many disputes like the Coto War between Costa Rica and Panama. With the rise of the United Fruit Company, the US domestic market also influenced decisions in the region.

  • S08E12 British Economy after WW1 - Fear of The Bolshevik Brit

    • June 25, 2021

    The cost - in men, materiel and GDP - for the First World War was immense for Great Britain. And the returning soldiers wanted their share after being sent to die for their country. This explosive situation led to a series of Labour led strikes between 1919 and 1921 and changed the political and economic landscape of Great Britain.

  • S08E13 Outbreak of the Rif War - Spanish Defeat at Annual

    • July 16, 2021

    The once global Spanish Empire was a distant memory in 1921 and in one of the last Spanish colonies trouble was brewing. The Berbers in the Rif mountains under Abd El-Krim were vying for control and so the Spanish Army started a fateful expedition that would end in one of the biggest colonial defeats in history: The battle at Annual.

  • S08E14 Adolf Hitler Becomes Führer of the Nazi Party - Erzberger Assassinated

    • July 30, 2021

    Adolf Hitler and the small Nazi party are on the rise thanks to Hitler's public speaking talent. But not everyone in the party is in line with his vision for the future. In the end Hitler prevails and becomes Führer of the NSDAP. At the same time the SA is founded and Matthias Erzberger is assassinated by Organisation Consul.

  • S08E15 The Battle of Blair Mountain - West Virginia Coal Wars

    • August 13, 2021

    In the aftermath of the American economic downturn after the First World War in certain industries, the labor movement escalated into strikes across the country. This was also true in West Virginia where unions and coal mine owners had already clashed before the war. With the Matewan Massacre and the Battle for Blair Mountain this struggle reached a violent climax in which WW1 veterans were going against hired security - and even the federal army had to be called in.

  • S08E16 Turning Point in the Greco-Turkish War - Battles of Sakarya and Ä°nönü

    • August 27, 2021

    The Greek Army was desperately trying to continue their offensive into Turkey among waning Allied support, Eleftherios Venizelos losing the Greek election and a monkey bite killing young Greek King Alexander of Greece. With their backs to the wall, the Turkish Army under Mustafa Kemal was able to turn the tide at the Battle of Sakarya.

  • S08E17 Palestine Riots - Jewish Settlements Under British Protection

    • September 11, 2019

    After taking control of Mandate Palestine, Great Britain saw itself confronted with mounting Arab and Jewish tensions. Zionist settlers had been moving to the region since the 1890s and after the Balfour Declaration in 1917, the Zionist movement accelerated.

  • S08E18 The Largest Anti-Bolshevik Uprising Of The Russian Civil War

    • September 24, 2021

    The famine and the Bolshevik policy of War Communism during the Russian Civil War created a unique situation in Western Siberia that led to the largest peasant uprising against the Communists of the entire Russian Civil War.

  • S08E19 Worthless Paper Money - German Hyper-Inflation Starts After WW1

    • October 8, 2021

    The German post-WW1 economy was under pressure: The loss of territory, the war bonds issued during the war and the reparations under the Treaty of Versailles. All this lead to a downward spiral of rising inflation and living costs for German citizens.

  • S08E20 The Franco-Turkish War - Southern Front of the Turkish War of Independence

    • October 29, 2021

    After the armistice of Mudros in 1918, the Ottoman Empire started to dissolve while being occupied by Allied powers and several independence movements erupted across its territory. The Turkish National Movement didn't want to accept any territorial changes in their heartland and fought back against France in the Cilicia Campaign or the Franco-Turkish War.

  • S08E21 How Mussolini Founded The Italian Fascist Party

    • November 12, 2021

    Benito Mussolini's national fascist movement was a fringe phenomenon right after the First World War and couldn't gain much traction in the 1919 elections. But soon after Mussolini was increasing his political standing and the National Fascist Party gained more members than ever before.

  • S08E22 A Peace Treaty That Sparked A Civil War - The Anglo-Irish Treaty

    • November 26, 2021

    The Irish and British sides of the Irish War of Independence were exhausted from two years of fighting. The IRA was also about to run out of ammunition and other vital supplies to keep up the fight. And so the British government and the Irish delegation started to negotiate a treaty.

  • S08E23 Foreshadowing WW1 - Italo-Turkish War 1911-1912 I THE GREAT WAR [DOCUMENTARY]

    • December 17, 2021

    The Italo-Turkish War 1911 was one of the last classic imperial wars over colonial processions between two great powers. But it was in many ways also a first glimpse into what would come during the First World War: trenches, artillery, combat aircraft, motorboat attacks. This war in Ottoman Libya was fought between the Italian Army and Ottoman-led local Senussi forces.

Season 9

  • S09E01 World War Zero - The Russo Japanese War 1904-1905

    • January 21, 2022

    The Russo-Japanese War is nicknamed World War Zero - it was a clash between two world powers that foreshadowed war on an industrial scale as seen just 10 years later again. Gigantic land battles like the Battle of Mukden showed the true cost in manpower and materiel when modern armies clashed and the naval side of the war showed the strategic importance of modern navies.

  • S09E02 War of the Cliques - Warlord Era 1922-1928

    • February 25, 2022

    The Chinese Warlord Era was a violent period of chaos and civil war in which multiple factions (so called cliques) fought each other over supremacy in China. After the first Anhui-Zhili War the situation escalated further and more players joined this game of thrones.

  • S09E03 How Ukraine Became Part of the USSR - The Soviet–Ukrainian War

    • March 25, 2022

    Ukraine was right in the center of the violent chaos following the Russian Revolution 1917. After declaring independence the Ukrainian People's Republic was invaded multiple times as the Russian Civil War, the Polish-Soviet War, the Ukrainian-Polish War and the Soviet-Ukrainian War all raged across the country. The Communist victory in the Russian Civil War meant that the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic became a founding member of the USSR.

  • S09E04 Why The Allies Couldn't Overcome German Trenches in Spring 1917

    • April 22, 2022

    The Allied 1917 Spring Offensive masterminded by French general Robert Nivelle was supposed to end the stalemate on the Western Front and bring a decisive breakthrough. But the German Army also knew they couldn't win the war on the offensive and thus prepared a new type of defensive system: The Hindenburg Line and it would be tested in the Battles of Arras (Vimy Ridge, Bullecourt) and Chemins des Dames (Aisne).

  • S09E05 The First Modern War? - Why the 2nd Boer War Was So Different

    • May 25, 2022

    The 2nd Boer War was the culmination of almost a century of dispute between the British Empire and South African farmers of Dutch decent called Boers. The Boer Republics knew how to use their advantages against the might imperial army and at first it looked like they could defeat it. But the British Empire struck back and an ugly guerrilla war ensued that also saw the introduction of concentration camps.

  • S09E06 Why Russia's Smartest General Failed in 1916

    • June 24, 2022

    The start of the Brusilov Offensive was the most successful Russian military operation during the First World War. It crippled the Austro-Hungarian Army and forced the Germans to divert troops from Verdun. But the Brusilov Offensive ultimately was a failure and cost the Russian's an enormous amount of men. What went wrong?

  • S09E07 How Did The First World War Break Out?

    • July 15, 2022

    The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife in Sarajevo on the 28th of June 1914 kicked off a crisis among the European Powers. Tensions that built up in the decades before erupted and in early August 1914 the world was at war. But what happened in these fateful July weeks 1914?

  • S09E08 The Greek-Turkish war 1919-1923

    • August 20, 2022

    The defeat of the Ottoman empire in 1918 meant that it got its own peace treaty like the other three central powers.

  • S09E09 Start of the Troubles in Ireland - Irish Civil War 1922-1923

    • September 9, 2022

    The Anglo-Irish Treaty and the withdrawal of Great Britain from almost all of Ireland was supposed to be a big step towards full Irish independence. But the pro-Treaty Irish Free State and the anti-Treaty IRA couldn't bridge their differences and so the Irish Civil War broke out. With further support from Britain and drastic measures, the Irish National Army was able to quell the IRA uprising that didn't have the popular support they previously enjoyed.

  • S09E10 Prelude to WW1 - The Balkan Wars 1912-1913

    • October 7, 2022

    The Balkan Wars marked the end of Ottoman rule in Southeastern Europe, and they involved several countries that would join the First World War just a few years later. A complicated alliance between Serbia, Montenegro, Bulgaria and Greece imploded over disagreement of the war spoils after defeating the Ottomans. This led to the 2nd Balkan War and also created much resentment that would play a role between 1914 and 1918 too.

  • S09E11 How Was The Soviet Union Founded?

    • November 11, 2022

    Vladimir Lenin had led the Bolshevik movement through the October Revolution and the Russian Civil War but by 1922 his health was failing and infighting among Bolshevik leadership caused friction. In the end Josef Stalin was able to prevail over Leon Trotsky and lead the newly founded Soviet Union until his death in 1953.

  • S09E12 United States Empire - The Spanish-American War

    • December 9, 2022

    The Spanish-American War (fought in Cuba and the Philippines) kickstarted US global ambitions and expanded their influence far beyond the borders of the United States. At the same time the war marked the endpoint of the decline of Spain as a global power.

Season 10

  • S10E01 Why Germany Underestimated This Tank

    • January 20, 2023

    The Battle of Cambrai 1917 didn't have a clear winner, but the conclusions that Germany and Britain drew from it, particularly about the use of the tank (in combinations with other arms), would have far reaching consequences in 1918.

  • S10E02 British Empire Crackdown in South Africa - Boer War 1899-1902

    • February 17, 2023

    The 2nd Boer War saw the British Empire bring to bear the entire imperial might to put to rest a dispute with the Boer Republics in South Africa. With scorched earth tactics and the use of concentration camps, the Boer War was a glimpse of what was to come in 20th century warfare.

  • S10E03 Rise of Franco - The Spanish Rif War 1921-1926

    • February 24, 2023

    The Rif War between Spain and the Rif Republic gave rise to a young Spanish officer named Francisco Franco - who later would become Spanish dictator. After Spain had almost lost the war against the Rifi people, they got help from France and WW1 hero Philippe Pétain.

  • S10E04 Why Russia Lost the Polish-Soviet War

    • March 24, 2023

    The Polish-Soviet War was one of the most important conflicts in the aftermath of the First World War when Eastern Europe was in flux. Both the Polish and the Bolshevik Army had the advantage numerous times and at the Battle of Warsaw is looked like the Bolsheviks would carry the revolution into Western Europe.

  • S10E05 The Deadliest Day of WW1

    • April 28, 2023

    What was the deadliest day of any nation in WW1? There are multiple candidates for that, but why should we even care? Well, the answer to this question highlights a challenge with popular memory that is often focused on the biggest battles of the war like the Somme or Verdun.

  • S10E06 Why the Russian Army Collapsed in 1917

    • September 9, 2023

    As 1917 began, the Russian army was larger and better-equipped than ever before. Within weeks, the Tsar and his dynasty were gone, and by the summer, the Russian army was disintegrating before the eyes of its generals – but how exactly did one of the most powerful armies in the world collapse?

  • S10E07 Why WW1 Cavalry Was More Useful Than You Think

    • October 13, 2023

  • S10E08 Why Germany Lost the First World War

    • November 10, 2023

    Germany's defeat in the First World War has been blamed on all kinds of factors or has even been denied outright as part of the stab in the back myth. But why did Germany actually lose?

  • S10E09 World War Zero: 3 Conflicts That Foreshadowed WW1

    • November 23, 2023

    World War Zero: 3 Conflicts That Foreshadowed WW1

  • S10E10 How the First World War Created the Middle East Conflicts

    • December 7, 2023

    How the First World War Created the Middle East Conflicts (Documentary)

Season 11

  • S11E01 Sharpshooters and Snipers in World War 1

    • February 9, 2024

    In fall 1914, the British and French armies on the First World Wadustr’s Western Front were wrestling with a problem: unseen German riflemen were picking off any man who showed himself above the trench. Something had to be done about it – and the result was the birth of the modern sniper.

  • S11E02 Why Germany Lost the Battle of Verdun

    • March 8, 2024

    The Battle of Verdun represents the worst of trench warfare and the suffering of the soldiers in the minds of millions – and for many, the cruel futility of the First World War. But why did Germany decide to attack Verdun in the first place and why didn't they stop after their initial attack failed?

  • S11E03 Why WW1 Turned Into Trench Warfare

    • April 12, 2024

    Trench Warfare is one of the lasting symbols of the First World War, especially on the Western Front. But when the war began, the German and French armies envisioned sweeping advances and defeating the enemy swiftly. So, how and why did the Western Front in 1914 turn into the trench system we associate with WW1?

  • S11E04 Why Britain Lost the Irish War of Independence

    • May 10, 2024

    Great Britain had emerged victorious from the First World War, and ruled over an even larger empire than before . But many in Ireland were unhappy with British rule, and over the next two years, Irish republicans won their independence – so how did the mighty British empire lose the Anglo-Irish War?

  • S11E05 Who Really Won The Battle of the Somme?

    • June 14, 2024

    The Battle of the Somme was one of the bloodiest of the First World War. From July to November 1916, millions of men struggled to fight in mud, under crushing shellfire, or in a hail of machine gun bullets. The Somme has been a synonym for the futility of trench warfare, but also the subject of fierce debate – who really won the battle of the Somme?

  • S11E06 1914 - Outbreak and Escalation of WW1

    • July 12, 2024

    In the summer of 1914, following the assassination of archduke Franz Ferdinand the July Crisis, the Great Powers of Europe went to war. Everyone expected a short war "over by Christmas" but instead the war turned into a colossal struggle on multiple fronts and trench warfare set in.

  • S11E07 Why the Russian February Revolution Failed

    • August 8, 2024

    The Russian February Revolution of 1917 saw the dramatic end of the Romanov dynasty and the creation of a new provisional government. But before 1917 had passed, Russia was gripped by a second revolution - that some have also called a coup. What happened?

  • S11E08 Was WW1 Pointless? - War Goals Of Every Major Nation

    • September 11, 2024

    The First World War is often seen as futile and pointless. Millions of men fought and died for years, but no one was satisfied with the outcome, which did not bring a lasting peace. But that is not how governments and many people saw the war as it was being fought. So what did the countries fighting actually want to achieve? In other words, what was the purpose of the First World War?

  • S11E09 The Mexican Revolution - Bandits Turned Heroes

    • October 10, 2024

    The Mexican Revolution of 1910-1920 was a conflict of shifting alliances and assassinations, peasant revolutionaries, an attack on US soil, and US intervention in Mexico. The decade of struggle cost hundreds of thousands of lives, resulted in new constitutions and governments, and — for some at least — turned bandits into heroes.

  • S11E10 1916: The Year of Battles

    • November 7, 2024

    1916 was a watershed year for the First World War. In the summer multiple gigantic offensives were taking place simultaneously, the biggest naval battle in history up until that point was fought and even smaller fronts didn't remain quiet.

Additional Specials

  • SPECIAL 0x4 Are Those Insane Austrian Railways Still In Use?

    • September 22, 2014

    OUT OF THE TRENCHES is our new community format where your questions are being answered. Praise, criticism or a simple question about World War 1 – Indy will take some time to give you answers. The more questions you ask, the more episodes we can produce. Don't hesitate! If you have any questions for the next episode, just post them on Facebook, Twitter or in the comments.

  • SPECIAL 0x5 The Role Of Airplanes And Cavalry in World War 1

    • October 14, 2014

    Indy is answering your questions again. This time we are dealing with the role of airplanes and cavalry in World War 1. If you want your question answered in OUT OF THE TRENCHES, post your question in the comments, on Twitter or on Facebook.