World War One was like no other war that had preceded it. What began with a minor assassination in a small corner of a long-forgotten empire in Europe was to become history's first truly global conflict. It embroiled some 30 countries across five continents and was fought on a scale never-before-seen by mankind.
This was the first war of the Industrial Age, and it demonstrated the prodigious strength, resilience and killing power of modern states. The main theatre of action, the Western Front, was deadlocked from a few months after the war's start in 1914 until a few months before its end in 1918, stretching in a near continuous line of trenches from the English Channel to the Swiss frontier. Advance were measured in terms of a few miles gained over several months. Casualties for each big attack or 'push' ran into hundreds of thousands on both sides. At least 10 million men lost their lives on the battlefield, and another 20 million were wounded.
By the time the Great War ended Europe had lost almost an entire generation of men. Unknown numbers of civilians lay dead and the landscape of Europe looked like the surface of the moon. Empires that has taken centuries to build were gone. The United States had transformed itself into a world power. The face of the world had changed, and the "War To End All Wars" became, in reality, the first in a long line of wars to come.
Disc 1
PRELUDE TO BATTLE - At the turn of the century, the United States is unconcerned with the events beyond it shores, but in mid 1914 that attitude begins to change. An assassination throws Europe into turmoil. War is inevitable, but America is determined to stat out of the fight.
FROM MONS TO THE SOMME - Germany is confident that it can defeat France and Russia, but there is to be no quick and decisive victory. From Mons to Marne, to the opening battles of the Eastern Front, a slow, terrible war in unfolding.
AMERICA AWAKES - On April 6, 1916, President Woodrow Wilson finally declared war on Germany and the American Expeditionary Force was on its way "over there." From St. Mihiel to the Muese Argonne, the yanks prove they can fight.
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Disc 2
BY AIR AND BY SEA - World War I is mainly remembered for the struggle on land, but for the first time, combat took place above the battlefields as well. The Great War at Sea, even aside from the impact of the British blockade on Germany, was crucial both to Allied survival and later victory.
THE TIDE TURNS - By the time America enters the war, the European powers are spent and wasted. The Germans attempt one last push, but sue for peace when their last gamble fails. The war comes to a merciful end and President Wilson sails for the peace talks at Versailles, hoping for a lasting peace.
AFTERMATH - It had been called the "War To End All Wars," but the conditions set forth by the Treaty of Versailles were so punitive that they only served to inflame the embers of hatred, sowing the seeds for an even greater conflict, World War II.
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