The BEST episodes of The Great War (2014) season 12
Every episode of The Great War (2014) season 12, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of The Great War (2014) season 12!
'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 - Was Germany Really Starved Into Surrender in WW1?
Season 12 - Episode 1 - Aired 1/9/2025
From 1914 to 1919, Allied warships in the Atlantic and Mediterranean controlled maritime trade to and from the Central Powers – stopping shipments of weapons and raw materials, but also food, from reaching their enemies. At the same time, hundreds of thousands of German civilians died of hunger-related causes. Often, these deaths and even the outcome of the war are attributed to the naval blockade – but did the British really starve Germany into surrender in WW1?
#2 - Battle for Gaza 1917: The Palestinian Campaign of WW1
Season 12 - Episode 2 - Aired 2/12/2025
The ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict has its roots in another war more than a century ago. When the First World War began in 1914, the territory of today’s Israel and Palestine was part of the Ottoman Empire. But in 1917 the British Empire began a campaign that would change history: there would be bitter fighting in Gaza, wild cavalry charges, even talk of a modern crusade. And it would lay the foundations for a century of violence.
#3 - The Irish Wars 1919-1923
Season 12 - Episode 3 - Aired 3/12/2025
In 1919, Great Britain had just emerged victorious from the First World War, and ruled over an even larger empire than before . But in Ireland, many were unhappy with British rule, and over the next two years, Irish republicans won a brutal war of independence – but victory soon gave way to division, and Ireland would be torn apart by an even bloodier Civil War.
#4 - The Most Pointless Battle of WW1? - Passchendaele 1917
Season 12 - Episode 4 - Aired 4/9/2025
For more than three long months in 1917, Allied and German soldiers fought tooth and nail over a battlefield churned into a sea of sucking mud and shell holes by the guns. Hundreds of thousands were killed and wounded, some of them drowning in the soupy ground — for Allied gains of just a few kilometers. So why did the Battle of Passchendaele happen at all, and was it the most pointless battle of the First World War?
#5 - Russia's Great Retreat 1915
Season 12 - Episode 5 - Aired 5/5/2025
In May 1915, the Central Powers launched one of the greatest offensive operations of the First World War. The armies of Germany and Austria-Hungary planned to smash their way through Russia lines and tip the strategic balance in their favor. The result was one of the biggest and bloodiest campaigns of the war, known today as the Great Russian Retreat.
#6 - Spanish-American War 1898
Season 12 - Episode 6 - Aired 6/12/2025
In the last years of the 19th century, tension was building in the Caribbean. American newspapers were filled with grisly reports of Spanish atrocities against the people of Cuba struggling for independence. US businessmen and expansionist politicians also saw practical opportunities in Spain’s struggles: great power status and an empire for the United States. It’s the Spanish-American War.
#7 - Why did the US Enter WW1?
Season 12 - Episode 7 - Aired 7/9/2025
In early 1917, the United States was still neutral in the First World War. Meanwhile, German leaders were getting desperate – if they couldn’t find a way to break the war of attrition on the Western Front, the Allies would probably defeat them. The result was multiple gambles that staked everything on a quick victory with the risk of drawing the US into the war.
#8 - The First Poison Gas Attack of WW1: 2nd Battle of Ypres 1915
Season 12 - Episode 8 - Aired 8/13/2025
By April 1915, the Western Front was mired in trench warfare. Germany’s new Chief of Staff, General Erich von Falkenhayn, didn’t think his army could break the deadlock, and Germany needed to help struggling Austro-Hungarian forces in the East. Before the Germans turned against Russia though, they decided to attack in the West to keep the Allies off balance. They chose to strike at the vulnerable Ypres Salient – and they would support the coming offensive with a weapon their enemies had never seen.
#9 - Why Did The First World War Break Out?
Season 12 - Episode 9 - Aired 9/12/2025
In the late 19th and early 20th century the great European powers were entangled in a series of escalating crises and wars. Each successive crisis brought the world one step closer to the outbreak of the First World War.
#10 - 1917: Turning Point of WW1
Season 12 - Episode 10 - Aired 10/9/2025
Both the Entente and the Central Powers didn't achieve a breakthrough in 1916. 1917 would bring dramatic changes on all fronts with new weapons, tactics, two Russian Revolutions and more.