The Necessary War (2014)

The Somme: The First 24 Hours with Tony Robinson

Hosted by actor and historian Sir Tony Robinson, this one-off special tells the powerful and moving story of five men, all members of a unique volunteer army – the Sheffield City battalion – as it recounts the soldiers’ last days, leaving their homes and loved ones to go and serve alongside their friends and neighbours, completely unaware of what lay ahead of them. Central to the programme is the story of Private Frank Meakin, who recorded his unique personal testimony of the war. Frank and his friends could never have anticipated what they would experience, but 100 years on we know in detail, thanks to his diary – an account that shouldn’t have existed, because keeping one was forbidden for servicemen on active duty on the Western Front. Frank’s diary, which was smuggled back from the Front, reveals the intimate details and dramatic stories of one battalion – and one British city – in the words of one man.

Gallipoli

The Gallipoli campaign of World War I was so controversial & devastating, it changed the face of battle forever. Using diaries, letters, photographs and memoirs, acclaimed director, Tolga Ornek, traces the personal journeys of Australian, New Zealand, British and Turkish soldiers, from innocence and patriotism to hardship and heartbreak.

Propaganda: Engineering Consent

How can the masses be controlled? Apparently, the American publicist Edward L. Bernays (1891-1995), a pioneer in the field of propaganda and public relations, knew the answer to such a key question. The amazing story of the master of manipulation and the creation of the engineering of consent; a frightening true story about advertising, lies and charlatans.

They Shall Not Grow Old

A documentary about World War I with never-before-seen footage to commemorate the centennial of Armistice Day, and the end of the war.

Winston Churchill: A Giant in the Century

A new look at the public and private life of one of the most important statesmen in the history of Europe: Winston Churchill (1874-1965), soldier, politician, writer, painter, leader of his country in the darkest hours, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, a myth, a giant of the 20th century.

The Battle of the Ancre and Advance of the Tanks

Official film of the British Army’s autumn campaign on the Somme, which ran from 15th September to 18th November 1916.

The Battle of the Somme

A documentary and propaganda film which shows the British Army's preparations for, and the early stages of, the battle of the Somme.

Atatürk: Father of Modern Turkey

Docudrama examining the life of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, who founded the Republic of Turkey from the ruins of the Ottoman Empire. Monuments to him can be found in every city; the anniversary of his death is commemorated every year; derogatory words about him are punishable by law. Rarely has a politician changed a society so radically in such a short time as Atatürk did Turkey.

WW1 - War on Two Wheels

A fascinating insight into the role of the bicycle in the First World War - from reconnaissance to transporting ammunition, historian and cycling enthusiast Jeremy Banning explores stories from the battlefield. Ollie Bridgewood discovers the role cycle scouts played in the Army Cycling Corp and rides the original bikes used in the conflict. Mark Beaumont meets the grandson of a WW1 soldier who rode for the Highland Cyclist Battalion and survived brutal combat on the front line.

Dawn of the Nazis

How Germany was when its people entered the nightmare of World War II? Despair and fear lead a hungry population to follow the chilling call of just one man to world domination. A real-life horror story, an ominous tale of violence and deception, which takes place from 1919 to 1934. (Entirely made up of restored, colorized archival footage.)

Battle of Jutland: The Navy's Bloodiest Day

Documentary about the Battle of Jutland, a naval battle during World War I between the British and German fleets, which took place on 31 May and 1 June 1916 in the North Sea, off the west coast of Denmark. It re-creates the events of the battle and examines why the number of British warships that sank was so much higher than the number of German ships that were lost. Shown to commemorate the 100-year anniversary of the battle.

14-18, les tunnels de guerre

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Apocalypse: The Battle of Verdun

A detailed account of one of the bloodiest battles of World War I. Between February and December 1916, the French and German armies relentlessly fought in the devastated camps around the village of Verdun.

Congrès de Tours 1920: The Birth of the French Communist Party

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The Somme

Drama-documentary recounting the events of the 1st July 1916 and the Battle of the Somme on the Western Front during the First World War. Told through the letters and journals of soldiers who were there.

Le Baron et l'Empereur : Japon, la voie de la guerre

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Lenin and the Other Story of the Russian Revolution

Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, better known as Lenin, is remembered as the instigator of the October Revolution of 1917 and, therefore, as one of the men who changed the shape of the world at that time and forever, but perhaps the actual events happened in a way different from that narrated in the history books…

Osteuropa zwischen Hitler und Staline - Das große Sterben

Between 1930 and 1945, Eastern Europe experienced mass violence on an unprecedented scale. Hitler and Stalin exploited the vast region for their respective expansionist plans. It is estimated that around 14 million civilians were murdered—primarily Jews, Poles, Balts, Belarusians, and Ukrainians.

14-18: The Noise & the Fury

Not everything has been told about World War One. This documentary tries to explain how tens of millions of men could have suffered the unbelievable toughness of life in trenches during the 4 year ordeal. How could they have accepted the idea of a sure death or injury while not being able to tell why they were fighting.

The Indomitable Teddy Roosevelt

Theodore Roosevelt was America's 26th president and a larger-than-life legend whose incredible story must be seen to be believed. Narrated by George C. Scott, this documentary weaves extremely rare archival footage with meticulous recreations alongside the music of John Philip Sousa in a dynamic panorama of the great events of Teddy Roosevelt in the early years of the 20th century.

De brand van Leuven

At the end of August 1914 Leuven became the victim of blind rage war. Virtually the entire city center was systematically destroyed by the Germans. War journalist Rudi Vranckx explains what happened.

Major Raoul Lufbery: Fighter Ace

The story of WWI Pilot Gervais Raoul Lufbery, a triple confirmed WWI ace, mechanic and world traveler. Explores the Lafayette Escadrille squadron, a formation of volunteer pilots serving in France on behalf of the United States whose service marked the early origins of the U.S. Air Force.

Gallipoli from Above

Gallipoli from Above: The Untold Story is the true story of how a team of Australian officers used aerial intelligence, emerging technology and innovative tactics to plan the landing at Anzac Cove. It is now nearly 100 years since the landing and hundreds of books, movies and documentaries have failed to grasp the significance of the ANZAC achievement. Instead, the mythology has clouded the real story of how these two influential Australian officers took control of the landing using every innovation they could muster to safely land their men on Z beach.

Namibia: The Story of a German Colony

Germans colonized the land of Namibia, in southern Africa, during a brief period of time, from 1840 to the end of the World War I. The story of the so-called German South West Africa (1884-1915) is hideous; a hidden and silenced account of looting and genocide.

Breakpoint: A Counter History of Progress

An account of the last two centuries of the Anthropocene, the Age of Man. How human beings have progressed so much in such a short time through war and the selfish interests of a few, belligerent politicians and captains of industry, damaging the welfare of the majority of mankind, impoverishing the weakest, greedily devouring the limited resources of the Earth.

The Road to War (The End of an Empire)

"The Road to War" uses elaborate and fascinating computer-generated recreations and archives never seen before to examine how the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in 1914 was used by the Austro-Hungarian Empire to start a war against Serbia. The film investigates how this regional conflict involving the Central Powers and the Triple Entente escalated to become "World War I", a war with more than 17 million dead and More than 20 million injured.

Russia 1917: Countdown to Revolution

Russia, 1917. After the abdication of Czar Nicholas II Romanov, the struggle for power confronts allies, enemies, factions and ideas; a ruthless battle between democracy and authoritarianism that will end with the takeover of the government by Vladimir Lenin and the Bolsheviks.

Mata Hari: The Naked Spy

100 years ago Mata Hari faced the firing squad as a convicted Dutch spy. It was at this moment that the legend of Mata Hari, the seductive spy, was born. Newly-discovered documents cast doubt on her guilt and reveal startling truths about her life. Mata Hari was a self-made woman whose boldness and sexuality threatened the male establishment. Most of what we've known about her until now has largely been myth. Mata Hari's challenges as an abused wife, single mother and a creative independent woman are familiar to women around the world. At the turn of the century, her struggles to attain sexual freedom, artistic expression, and liberation from the constraints of conventional society are the same ones women face today. She graced the cover of Vogue, performed all over Europe and left a coterie of smitten admirers in her wake.

The Pity of War

Professor Niall Ferguson argues that Britain's decision to enter the First World War was a catastrophic error that unleashed an era of totalitarianism and genocide.

The Millionaires' Unit

A documentary about the First Yale Unit, a group of Yale students who trained for World War I.

Quintinshill: Britain's Deadliest Rail Disaster

Neil Oliver describes the worst ever railway accident in the UK, which happened a hundred years ago on 22 May 1915, in which three trains collided at Quintinshill near Gretna Green. One of the trains was a troop train taking soldiers to fight in World War I at the Battle of Gallipoli: many of the dead were in this train which caught fire due to escaped gas from the archaic gas lighting in the carriages. The cause of the crash was attributed to a catastrophic signalman's error, but Neil examines whether there were other contributory factors and whether there was a cover-up to prevent investigation of them, making convenient scapegoats of the signalmen.

The Eagle and the Lion: Hitler vs Churchill

Winston Churchill, one of the most revered men of the twentieth century. Adolf Hitler, one of the most hated leaders in contemporary history. Between 1940 and 1945, these two enormously contradictory personalities faced each other in both politics and war. A clash of giants whose story begins in the trenches of the World War I and ends with the debacle of the World War II.

Games on the Battlefield

Built on archive footage – much of it previously unseen – this film reveals one of the most unexpected legacies of the First World War -- popular participation in sports, once the realm of the elite. For four years, sport represented a welcome respite from the killing fields of Europe.

The Long Road to War

We all learned in schools that the WWI began with the assasination of Franz Ferdinand done by a young Bosnian Gavrilo Princip. In fact, the war was brewing much longer.

Verdun - They will not pass!

A century ago, from February to December 1916, the French and Germans provided a superhuman effort to control a few hills in eastern France, located in front of Verdun . A frontal confrontation, conducted without the help of their allies, army against army, nation against nation. Today, this battle seems absurd to us. Because it has caused almost as many casualties in each camp and its strategic utility has never really been demonstrated. But in 1916, soldiers on both sides did not consider it absurd: they agreed to fight. Why ? By reliving the rare Herculean confrontation of our ancestors, using reconstructions made in the 1920s, using a large number of animated computer-generated images that recreate the topography of the battlefield, this documentary returns, with the help of the historical adviser Paul Jankowski , on the last great victory won alone by France against Germany.

Christmas at the Front

Poignant scenes of Allied troops enjoying their Yuletide rations at the first Christmas of WWI.

Charcot: Secret Poles

The adventures and exploits of Jean-Baptiste Charcot (1867-1936), an intrepid scientist and explorer who laid the foundations of modern oceanography.

1914, et soudain la guerre !

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Noble Sissle's Syncopated Ragtime

Combining footage unseen since WWI with original scores from the era, this film tells the story of Noble Sissle's incredible journey that spans "The Harlem Hellfighters" of World War I, Broadway Theatre, the Civil Rights movement, and decades of Black cultural development.

Aurora's Sunrise

The story of how Aurora Mardiganian (1901-94), a survivor of the Armenian genocide perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire (1915-17), became a Hollywood silent film star.

The Hello Girls

In 1918, the U.S. Army Signal Corps sent 223 women to France as telephone operators to help win the Great War. They swore Army oaths, wore uniforms, held rank, and were subject to military justice. By war's end, they had connected over 26 million calls and were recognized by General John J. Pershing for their service. When they returned home, the U.S. government told them they were never soldiers. For 60 years, they fought their own government for recognition. In 1977, with the help of Sen. Barry Goldwater and Congresswoman Lindy Boggs, they won. Unfortunately, only a handful were still alive.