The BEST episodes of The Great War (2014)
Every episode of The Great War (2014) ever, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of The Great War (2014)!
'The Great War' shows you the history of the First World War in the four years from 1914 to 1918, exactly 100 years ago. Our host Indy takes you back week by week and shows you what was going on in the past. Learn more about the Allies and the Central Powers, archdukes, emperors, Winston Churchill, Franz Ferdinand, Wilhelm II, soldiers, battles and of the life aside the battlefield.
#1 - Armistice - But Peace?
Season 5 - Episode 46 - Aired 11/11/2018
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.
#2 - The Battle of Verdun - They Shall Not Pass
Season 3 - Episode 8 - Aired 2/25/2016
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!
#3 - In Dire Straits - Russia on Austro-Hungary's Doorstep
Season 2 - Episode 2 - Aired 1/8/2015
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.
#4 - The Rape of Belgium And The Battle of Tannenberg
Season 1 - Episode 5 - Aired 8/28/2014
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.
#5 - Taxi To The Front – The First Battle of the Marne
Season 1 - Episode 7 - Aired 9/11/2014
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.
#6 - Welcome To The Dirt – The Beginning of Trench Warfare
Season 1 - Episode 8 - Aired 9/18/2014
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.
#7 - Gas! - A New Horror On The Battlefield
Season 2 - Episode 6 - Aired 2/5/2015
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.
#8 - The Sea Turns Red - Gallipoli Landings
Season 2 - Episode 18 - Aired 4/30/2015
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.
#9 - Conrad's Cunning Plan - Hiding In Plain Sight
Season 3 - Episode 20 - Aired 5/19/2016
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.
#10 - The Battle of Jutland - Royal Navy vs. German Imperial Navy
Season 3 - Episode 22 - Aired 6/2/2016
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.
#11 - Romania Joins The War
Season 3 - Episode 35 - Aired 9/1/2016
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.
#12 - The Death Of Franz Joseph - The End of The Somme
Season 3 - Episode 47 - Aired 11/24/2016
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.
#13 - Turmoil in Russia - The Assassination of Rasputin
Season 3 - Episode 52 - Aired 12/29/2016
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.
#14 - The Tsar Abdicates - Baghdad Falls
Season 4 - Episode 11 - Aired 3/16/2017
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.
#15 - Despair Everywhere
Season 4 - Episode 32 - Aired 8/10/2017
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.
#16 - Austria-Hungary Deisintegrates - The Ottoman Empire Leaves the War I
Season 5 - Episode 44 - Aired 11/1/2018
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.
#17 - The Enemy Within - The German Army's Power Play
Season 1 - Episode 17 - Aired 11/20/2014
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.
#18 - The World at War - The Ottoman Empire Enters The War
Season 1 - Episode 15 - Aired 11/6/2014
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.
#19 - The Russian War Machine And The Race To The Sea
Season 1 - Episode 9 - Aired 9/25/2014
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.
#20 - Dying In The Mud - Autumn Is Taking Its Toll
Season 1 - Episode 10 - Aired 10/2/2014
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.
#21 - Cavalry, Spies and Cossacks
Season 2 - Episode 25 - Aired 6/18/2015
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.
#22 - The Austro-Hungarian Empire Strikes Back
Season 2 - Episode 26 - Aired 6/25/2015
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.
#23 - The State Of World War 1 - As Reported by A Newspaper 100 Years Ago
Season 2 - Episode 38 - Aired 9/17/2015
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.
#24 - The Forgotten Front - World War 1 in Libya
Season 2 - Episode 47 - Aired 11/19/2015
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.
#25 - The Serbian Exodus Through Albania
Season 2 - Episode 49 - Aired 12/3/2015
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.