The title of this epic documentary is "The Great War" - an alternative term for World War I. And it does a brilliant job describing the prelude of the War and partly the aftermath. Even more, the analyses of many of the epic battles, but also less known are remarkable. However...
With the title which shows ambition to describe the "Great War, the series failed. Why. Because we have a Western-centric view on WWI - probably some 75% is related to the Western front and others to the Eastern and some the in Middle East. But at the end, giving enormous sacrifices, small countries are, as usual, left with no memory. I will quote the example of Serbia, on the allied side, which 1st defeated a much stronger Austro-Hungarian Army in 1915. Hust a few minutes about that. Even less is on an epic retreat of the whole army over Albania after the Germans occupied the weakened country. Finally, the numbers. In terms of losses, Serbia suffers by far the most - 31% of the pre-war population, counting both army and civilians perished. The second on the list is Romania (again, almost no mention) - 14%. UK and France are 4 and 7,7%. Should I also mention half a million orphans in Serbia after the war? Well, "The great war" has no references to that.
If the title was - "Great War on the Western Front" I would give a 10! With these facts, I will just stay and wonder about politics, visible even when we celebrate the heroes...
With the title which shows ambition to describe the "Great War, the series failed. Why. Because we have a Western-centric view on WWI - probably some 75% is related to the Western front and others to the Eastern and some the in Middle East. But at the end, giving enormous sacrifices, small countries are, as usual, left with no memory. I will quote the example of Serbia, on the allied side, which 1st defeated a much stronger Austro-Hungarian Army in 1915. Hust a few minutes about that. Even less is on an epic retreat of the whole army over Albania after the Germans occupied the weakened country. Finally, the numbers. In terms of losses, Serbia suffers by far the most - 31% of the pre-war population, counting both army and civilians perished. The second on the list is Romania (again, almost no mention) - 14%. UK and France are 4 and 7,7%. Should I also mention half a million orphans in Serbia after the war? Well, "The great war" has no references to that.
If the title was - "Great War on the Western Front" I would give a 10! With these facts, I will just stay and wonder about politics, visible even when we celebrate the heroes...