World War One (TV series)
Encyclopedia
World War One was an American
documentary
television series
that was shown on CBS
during the 1964-1965 television
season to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the start of the war. The series, produced by CBS News
, which featured 26 half-hour episodes, was narrated by Robert Ryan
. It originally aired on Tuesday night
s at 8 pm Eastern Time, but at mid-season it was moved to Sunday nights at 6:30 pm because it was being beaten in the ratings by the second half-hour of ABC
's Combat! and the second half-hour of NBC
's Mr. Novak
.
The series begins with a review of the rivalries and tensions between the major Europe
an powers from 1870 to 1914, which culminated with the assassination
of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
and his wife Sophie
in the city of Sarajevo
by members of the Serbia
n Black Hand
. The series then followed the course of the war, showing how more countries both in and out of Europe, such as Japan
, the Ottoman Empire
, Bulgaria
, Romania
and the United States
, became involved in the war, as well as the war's various fighting fronts and campaigns. Various episodes looked at such subjects as the Belgian Atrocities
, the war at sea
, trench warfare
, the Russian Revolution
, the Italian Front
, air warfare
, America's entry into the war, the home front
s of the various participants, the music of that era, the war's final campaigns, and the war's legacy
.
The series used archival footage from various national and private archive
s, some of which were at that point being seen by the public for the first time. Rather than use sound effects to simulate combat noises, the series used original incidental music written by Morton Gould
, performed by the CBS Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Alfredo Antonini
. Re-released in 1995, the series is presently available on video tape
and DVD
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
documentary
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
television series
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
that was shown on CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
during the 1964-1965 television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
season to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the start of the war. The series, produced by CBS News
CBS News
CBS News is the news division of American television and radio network CBS. The current chairman is Jeff Fager who is also the executive producer of 60 Minutes, while the current president of CBS News is David Rhodes. CBS News' flagship program is the CBS Evening News, hosted by the network's main...
, which featured 26 half-hour episodes, was narrated by Robert Ryan
Robert Ryan
Robert Bushnell Ryan was an American actor who often played hardened cops and ruthless villains.-Early life and career:...
. It originally aired on Tuesday night
Night
Night or nighttime is the period of time when the sun is below the horizon. This occurs after dusk. The opposite of night is day...
s at 8 pm Eastern Time, but at mid-season it was moved to Sunday nights at 6:30 pm because it was being beaten in the ratings by the second half-hour of ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
's Combat! and the second half-hour of NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
's Mr. Novak
Mr. Novak
Mr. Novak is an American dramatic series starring James Franciscus in the title role, which aired on NBC for two seasons, from 1963 to 1965.-Overview:...
.
The series begins with a review of the rivalries and tensions between the major Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an powers from 1870 to 1914, which culminated with the assassination
Assassination
To carry out an assassination is "to murder by a sudden and/or secret attack, often for political reasons." Alternatively, assassination may be defined as "the act of deliberately killing someone, especially a public figure, usually for hire or for political reasons."An assassination may be...
of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria
Franz Ferdinand was an Archduke of Austria-Este, Austro-Hungarian and Royal Prince of Hungary and of Bohemia, and from 1889 until his death, heir presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian throne. His assassination in Sarajevo precipitated Austria-Hungary's declaration of war against Serbia...
and his wife Sophie
Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg
Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg ; 1 March 1868 – 28 June 1914) was a Czech aristocrat, the morganatic wife of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria. Their assassination sparked World War I.- Early life :...
in the city of Sarajevo
Sarajevo
Sarajevo |Bosnia]], surrounded by the Dinaric Alps and situated along the Miljacka River in the heart of Southeastern Europe and the Balkans....
by members of the Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
n Black Hand
Black Hand
Unification or Death , unofficially known as the Black Hand , was a secret military society formed by members of the Serbian army in the Kingdom of Serbia, which was founded on September 6, 1901. It was intent on uniting all of the territories containing significant Serb populations annexed by...
. The series then followed the course of the war, showing how more countries both in and out of Europe, such as Japan
Empire of Japan
The Empire of Japan is the name of the state of Japan that existed from the Meiji Restoration on 3 January 1868 to the enactment of the post-World War II Constitution of...
, the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
, Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
, Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, became involved in the war, as well as the war's various fighting fronts and campaigns. Various episodes looked at such subjects as the Belgian Atrocities
Rape of Belgium
The Rape of Belgium is a wartime propaganda term describing the 1914 German invasion of Belgium. The term initially had a figurative meaning, referring to the violation of Belgian neutrality, but embellished reports of German atrocities soon gave it a literal significance...
, the war at sea
Naval warfare of World War I
Naval warfare in World War I was mainly characterized by the efforts of the Allied Powers, with their larger fleets and surrounding position, to blockade the Central Powers by sea, and the efforts of the Central Powers to break that blockade or to establish an effective blockade of the United...
, trench warfare
Western Front (World War I)
Following the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the German Army opened the Western Front by first invading Luxembourg and Belgium, then gaining military control of important industrial regions in France. The tide of the advance was dramatically turned with the Battle of the Marne...
, the Russian Revolution
Russian Revolution of 1917
The Russian Revolution is the collective term for a series of revolutions in Russia in 1917, which destroyed the Tsarist autocracy and led to the creation of the Soviet Union. The Tsar was deposed and replaced by a provisional government in the first revolution of February 1917...
, the Italian Front
Italian Campaign (World War I)
The Italian campaign refers to a series of battles fought between the armies of Austria-Hungary and Italy, along with their allies, in northern Italy between 1915 and 1918. Italy hoped that by joining the countries of the Triple Entente against the Central Powers it would gain Cisalpine Tyrol , the...
, air warfare
Aviation in World War I
World War I was the first war in which aircraft were deployed on a large scale. Tethered observation balloons had already been employed in several wars, and would be used extensively for artillery spotting. Germany employed Zeppelins for reconnaissance over the North Sea and strategic bombing raids...
, America's entry into the war, the home front
Home front
Home front is the informal term commonly used to describe the civilian populace of the nation at war as an active support system of their military....
s of the various participants, the music of that era, the war's final campaigns, and the war's legacy
Aftermath of World War I
The fighting in World War I ended in western Europe when the Armistice took effect at 11:00 am GMT on November 11, 1918, and in eastern Europe by the early 1920s. During and in the aftermath of the war the political, cultural, and social order was drastically changed in Europe, Asia and Africa,...
.
The series used archival footage from various national and private archive
Archive
An archive is a collection of historical records, or the physical place they are located. Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or organization's lifetime, and are kept to show the function of an organization...
s, some of which were at that point being seen by the public for the first time. Rather than use sound effects to simulate combat noises, the series used original incidental music written by Morton Gould
Morton Gould
Morton Gould was an American composer, conductor, arranger, and pianist.Born in Richmond Hill, New York, Gould was recognized early as a child prodigy with abilities in improvisation and composition. His first composition was published at age six...
, performed by the CBS Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Alfredo Antonini
Alfredo Antonini
Alfredo Antonini was a leading Italian/American symphony conductor and composer who was active on the international concert stage as well as on the CBS radio and television networks from the 1930s through the 1960s...
. Re-released in 1995, the series is presently available on video tape
VHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
and DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
.
Episode list
- The Summer of Sarajevo (Original Air Date—22 September 1964)
- The Clash of the Generals (Original Air Date—29 September 1964)
- The Doomed Dynasties (Original Air Date—6 October 1964)
- Atrocity 1914 (Original Air Date—13 October 1964)
- They Sank the Lusitania (Original Air Date—27 October 1964)
- Verdun the Inferno (Original Air Date—10 November 1964)
- The Battle of Jutland (Original Air Date—17 November 1964)
- The Trenches (Original Air Date—24 November 1964)
- D-Day at Gallipoli (Original Air Date—1 December 1964)
- America the Neutral (Original Air Date—8 December 1964)
- Wilson and the War (Original Air Date—20 December 1964)
- Revolution in Red (Original Air Date—27 December 1964)
- Behind the German Lines (Original Air Date—3 January 1965)
- Year of Lost Illusions (Original Air Date—10 January 1965)
- Over There (Original Air Date—17 January 1965)
- Over Here (Original Air Date—24 January 1965)
- Daredevils and Dogfights (Original Air Date—31 January 1965)
- The Agony of Caporetto (Original Air Date—14 February 1965)
- Tipperary and All That Jazz (Original Air Date—21 February 1965)
- The Promised Lands (Original Air Date—28 February 1965)
- The Tide Turns (Original Air Date—7 March 1965)
- The Battle of Argonne (Original Air Date—14 March 1965)
- The Day the Guns Stopped Firing (Original Air Date—28 March 1965)
- Wilson and Peace (Original Air Date—4 April 1965)
- The Allies in Russia (Original Air Date—11 April 1965)
- Heritage of War (Original Air Date—18 April 1965)
External links
- World War One at the Internet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...