1914-1918 (1996– )
"The Great War and the Shaping of the 20th Century" (original title)

Stars:

Judi Dench, Salome Jens, Jürgen Prochnow

Won 2 Primetime Emmys. Another 3 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Series cast summary:
Judi Dench	...	Narrator (8 episodes, 1996)
Salome Jens	...	Narrator (U.S.A Verison) (8 episodes, 1996)
Jürgen Prochnow	...	Kaiser Wilhelm II (5 episodes, 1996)
Michael York	...	Harold Owen (5 episodes, 1996)
Tim Pigott-Smith		(4 episodes, 1996)
Ian Richardson	...	David Lloyd George (4 episodes, 1996)
Jay Winter	...	Himself (4 episodes, 1996)
Rene Auberjonois	...	Jean Jaures (3 episodes, 1996)
Leslie Caron	...	Czarina Aleksandra Romanov (3 episodes, 1996)
Ralph Fiennes	...	Wilfred Owen (3 episodes, 1996)
Rupert Graves		(3 episodes, 1996)
Jeremy Irons	...	Siegfried Sassoon (3 episodes, 1996)
David Keith	...	Himself (3 episodes, 1996)
Jeroen Krabbé		(3 episodes, 1996)
Martin Landau	...	Woodrow Wilson (3 episodes, 1996)
Malcolm McDowell	...	Charles Stockwell (3 episodes, 1996)
Liam Neeson	...	Adolf Hitler (3 episodes, 1996)
Natasha Richardson		(3 episodes, 1996)
Kai Wulff	...	Franz Blumenfeldt (3 episodes, 1996)
Helena Bonham Carter	...	Vera Brittain (2 episodes, 1996)
David Hayter		(2 episodes, 1996)
Allan Hendrick		(2 episodes, 1996)
Udo Kier		(2 episodes, 1996)
Paul Mercurio	...	Cyril Lawrence (2 episodes, 1996)
Helen Mirren	...	Margaret Randa (2 episodes, 1996)
Marion Ross	...	Kathe Kollwitz (2 episodes, 1996)
Fredrich Solms		(2 episodes, 1996)
Norman Stone	...	Himself (2 episodes, 1996)

Storyline

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Plot Keywords:

cannibalism | canadian | german soldier | jew | genocide | 

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Genres:

Biography | History | Sport | War

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Details

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 November 1996 (USA)

Also Known As:

1914-1918

Company Credits

Production Co:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Imperial War Museum, KCET

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Black and White Color

Did You Know?

Connections

Features The Immigrant (1917)

User Reviews

Great documentary...

I can't really add to the other reviews. This is one of the best documentaries I've seen, and the best on this subject. It really was a case of lions being led by donkeys. I am including a poem by Wilfred Owen (killed a few days before the end of the war in a meaningless assault) that sums up what happened:

The Parable of the Old Man and the Young

So Abram rose, and clave the wood, and went, And took the fire with him, and a knife. And as they sojourned both of them together, Isaac the first-born spake and said, My Father, Behold the preparations, fire and iron, But where the lamb, for this burnt-offering? Then Abram bound the youth with belts and straps, And builded parapets and trenches there, And stretchèd forth the knife to slay his son. When lo! an Angel called him out of heaven, Saying, Lay not they hand upon the lad, Neither do anything to him, thy son. Behold! Caught in a thicket by its horns, A Ram. Offer the Ram of Pride instead.

But the old man would not so, but slew his son, And half the seed of Europe, one by one.