GREAT WAR AND THE SHAPING OF THE 20TH CENTURY, THE: EPISODE FOUR: SLAUGHTER (TV)
Summary
The fourth of eight episodes in this series examining World War I and its effect on the remainder of the twentieth century. The story is told through the use of archival film and photographs, commentary by writers and scholars, and the words of those directly involved in the war. Each episode is comprised of multiple segments that focus on different apects of the war. This episode examines three battles -- at Verdun, the Somme, and Passchendaele -- that reveal the slaughter and futility characteristic of the Great War. Early 1916 finds Germany entrenched on the Western Front, the Russians pinned at the Eastern Front, and the United States still at peace. Artist Otto Dix's grotesque battle scenes set the stage for the episode's look at the new kind of war waged in World War I. The segment titled "The Furnace" examines the battle at Verdun. German military commander Erich von Falkenhayn believes Germany needs a decisive victory at the Western Front and chooses Verdun for the battle site, a fortress central to past French military victories and of profound importance to the identity of France. Falkenhayn wages a war of attrition, creating an intentional stalement to cause massive French casualties and "Bleed France white." The French army unexpectedly rallies, and the body count rises on the German side as well, driving the combatants into gas-ridden underground tunnels and turning Verdun into a putrid slaughterhouse. At the end of the battle, France and Germany sustain a million combined casualties with neither side gaining any advantage. The segment titled "Pals" considers the role of the British army. Britain's civilian army must bear the brunt of the allies' efforts after Verdun. Men who join the army in groups are promised that they will be kept together, which encourages friends to enlist in groups. This practice has the tragic consequence of decimating whole neighborhoods and communities of young men. Poet Siegfried Sassoon reports on the absurd, inept training the British troops receive. The segment titled "The Battle of the Somme" documents the disastrous campaign waged by British commander Douglas Haig. Britain fights its first major battle at the Somme river, where the combined British and French troops plan to break the German line. Haig has the mistaken notion that Germany can be repelled from France in a single, decisive victory. Haig plans a full-out, head-on bombardment of the German line with high-powered artillery. The Germans simply dig deeper into the ground and wait out the shelling. The British troops are massacred as they advance across no man's land by the waiting German soldiers. A documentay film, "The Battle of the Somme," shakes British audiences. The Battle of the Somme drags on, another stalemate resulting in slaughter. Siegfried Sassoon writes of his experience in this battle. The segment titled "Live and Let Live" recounts the unofficial truces that arise between troops at different points along the line, allowing soldiers to relax with sports, movies, and theatrical productions. The segment titled "Mud and Rain" concerns Haig's plan to engage Germany in Belgium at Ypres. Allied advances due to coordinated attacks with tanks, artillery, and infantry create guarded optimism, but British forces hesitate to work out bureaucratic issues, and heavy rains turn the terrain into an impassable muddy swamp in the battle called "Passchendaele." Official war artist Paul Nash paints horific scenes of the battle. The campaign degenerates into another futile bloodbath. This program contains commentary by the following individuals: Sarah O'Brien-Twohig of the Tate Gallery; Stephane Audoin-Rouzeau of the University of Picardie-Jules Verne; Jay M. Winter of Cambridge University; John Keegan, author of "The Face of Battle"; Trevor Wilson of the University of Adelaide; Berndt Huppauf of New York University; and film historian Nicholas Hiley. This program is closed-captioned.
Cataloging of this program was made possible by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, 1997.
Details
- NETWORK: KCET-TV (Los Angeles, CA) / PBS
- DATE: November 11, 1996 10:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:56:46
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T:48948
- GENRE: Public affairs/Documentaries
- SUBJECT HEADING: Somme, 1st Battle of the, France, 1916; Verdun, Battle of, 1916; World War - 1914-1918; World War - 1914-1918 - Campaigns - France; World War - 1914-1918 - Campaigns - Germany; Ypres, 3rd Battle of, Ieper, Belguim, 1917
- SERIES RUN: PBS - TV series, 1996
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Blaine Baggett … Executive Producer, Writer
- Isaac Mizrahi … Producer, Director
- Jay Winter … Co-Producer, Writer
- Margaret Koval … Co-Producer
- Michelle Morgan … Series Associate Producer
- Carl Byker … Series Producer
- Alf Penn … Researcher
- Anne Marie Ehrlich … Researcher
- Lili Francklyn … Researcher
- Jeffrey Verhey … Researcher
- Karen Wyatt … Researcher
- Robin Wilder … Researcher
- Michael O'Toole … Researcher
- David Orenstein … Researcher
- Mason Daring … Music by
- Salome Jens … Narrated by
- Stephane Audoin-Rouzeau … Guest
- Nicholas Hiley … Guest
- Berndt Huppauf … Guest
- John Keegan … Guest
- Sarah O'Brien-Twohig … Guest
- Trevor Wilson … Guest
- Jay M. Winter … Guest
- Michael York … Voice
- Jurgen Prochnow … Voice
- Jeroen Krabbe … Voice
- Allan Hendrick … Voice
- Jeremy Irons … Voice
- Helena Bonham Carter … Voice
- Liam Neeson … Voice
- Kai Wulff … Voice
- Natasha Richardson … Voice
- Tim Pigott-Smith … Voice
- Rupert Graves … Voice
- Otto Dix
- Douglas Haig
- Paul Nash
- Siegfried Sassoon
- von Falkenhayn, Erich