The BEST episodes directed by Toni Steller & Florian Wittig
#1 - Halifax Explosion - Peace in the East?
The Great War (2014) - Season 4 - Episode 49
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.
#2 - Jerusalem Surrenders - Bolsheviks Consolidate Control
The Great War (2014) - Season 4 - Episode 50
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.
#3 - Machinations In The British High Command
The Great War (2014) - Season 5 - Episode 1
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.
#4 - Woodrow Wilson’s Fourteen Points
The Great War (2014) - Season 5 - Episode 2
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.
#5 - Assassination Attempt on Lenin - Chaos in Romania
The Great War (2014) - Season 5 - Episode 3
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.
#6 - Civil War in Finland and the Ukraine
The Great War (2014) - Season 5 - Episode 4
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.
#7 - Strikes and Mutiny
The Great War (2014) - Season 5 - Episode 5
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.
Watch Now:Apple TV#8 - Austro-Hungarian House of Cards
The Great War (2014) - Season 5 - Episode 6
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.
#9 - No War, No Peace – Trotsky's Gamble
The Great War (2014) - Season 5 - Episode 7
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.
#10 - Operation Faustschlag - Germany Advances In The East Again
The Great War (2014) - Season 5 - Episode 8
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.
#11 - Ludendorff's Window Of Opportunity
The Great War (2014) - Season 5 - Episode 9
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.
#12 - Peace In The East - The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
The Great War (2014) - Season 5 - Episode 10
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.
#13 - Allied Unified Command On The Horizon
The Great War (2014) - Season 5 - Episode 11
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.
#14 - Kaiserschlacht - German Spring Offensive 1918
The Great War (2014) - Season 5 - Episode 12
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.
#15 - Backs To The Wall - All Eyes On Amiens
The Great War (2014) - Season 5 - Episode 13
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.
#16 - Operation Michael Runs Out Of Breath
The Great War (2014) - Season 5 - Episode 14
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.
#17 - The Battle of La Lys - Operation Georgette
The Great War (2014) - Season 5 - Episode 15
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.