The BEST episodes of The Great War (2014) season 2
Every episode of The Great War (2014) season 2, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of The Great War (2014) season 2!
'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 - 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.
#2 - 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.
#3 - 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.
#4 - Sinking of the Lusitania & The Gorlice-Tarnów Offensive
Season 2 - Episode 19 - Aired 5/7/2015
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.
#5 - 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.
#6 - 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.
#7 - Scorched Earth - Russia's retreat goes up in flames!
Season 2 - Episode 30 - Aired 7/23/2015
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.
#8 - 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.
#9 - The German Occupation of Lithuania - Unrest in Russia
Season 2 - Episode 39 - Aired 9/24/2015
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.
#10 - The Battle of Loos - New Offensives On The Western Front
Season 2 - Episode 40 - Aired 10/1/2015
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.
#11 - 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.
#12 - 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.
#13 - Despair And Mutiny On The Italian Front
Season 2 - Episode 51 - Aired 12/17/2015
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.
#14 - Stopping Russia - Hindenburg's Final Offensive?
Season 2 - Episode 7 - Aired 2/12/2015
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.
#15 - Prelude to Gallipoli - Naval Bombardement of the Dardanelles
Season 2 - Episode 9 - Aired 2/26/2015
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.
#16 - Russia Fails In The Mountains - Basra Falls
Season 2 - Episode 16 - Aired 4/16/2015
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.
#17 - The Ottoman Disaster - The Battle of Sarikamish
Season 2 - Episode 1 - Aired 1/1/2015
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.
#18 - Preparing for 1916 - The Year of Battles
Season 2 - Episode 53 - Aired 12/31/2015
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.
#19 - The Beginning Of The End - Evacuation At Gallipoli
Season 2 - Episode 52 - Aired 12/24/2015
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.
#20 - Britain On The Run - The Siege of Kut Al Amara
Season 2 - Episode 50 - Aired 12/10/2015
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.
#21 - Pride Comes Before The Fall - British Trouble in Mesopotamia
Season 2 - Episode 48 - Aired 11/26/2015
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.
#22 - Serbia's Last Stand Against The Central Powers
Season 2 - Episode 46 - Aired 11/12/2015
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).
#23 - The Third Battle of the Isonzo - French Despair On The Western Front
Season 2 - Episode 45 - Aired 11/5/2015
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.
#24 - Russia Stems The Tide - Winter Is Coming
Season 2 - Episode 44 - Aired 10/29/2015
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.
#25 - The Crime That Shook the World - The Execution of Edith Cavell
Season 2 - Episode 43 - Aired 10/22/2015
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.