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.

2016-07-03 | en

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.

2015-05-20 | en

Ferraty

2016-05-31 | sk

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…

2018-06-10 | fr

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

2023-10-29 | fr

The Phoney War

September 3rd, 1939. Britain and France declare war on Nazi Germany, only two days after the Wehrmacht invades Poland. This day, the sad date when the fate of the world changed forever, the Phoney War began: eight months of uncertainty, preparations, evacuations and skirmishes.

2019-08-27 | fr

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.

2005-03-18 | en

Asquith Wedding

Violet Asquith, daughter of the Prime Minister Herbert Asquith, arrives at church to marry Maurice Bonham Carter.

1915-11-30 | en

Verdun: Descent into Hell

Documentary concerning the battle of Verdun which, with its weapons of mass destruction, marked the beginning of modern warfare in what is considered to be the most gruesome military confrontation of World War I. The programme conveys the horror of this military inferno, illustrating the similar experiences of the French and German soldiers and their struggle for survival. It also provides the unknown soldier with a face through various letters, diaries and private photographs.

2006-08-30 | en

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.

2018-10-01 | en

1914, et soudain la guerre !

2024-11-12 | fr

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.

2014-02-28 | en

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.

2016-10-01 | fr

For Love of Liberty: The Story of America's Black Patriots

This High Definition, PBS miniseries uses letters, diaries, speeches, journalistic accounts, historical text and military records to document and acknowledge the sacrifices and accomplishments of African-American service men and women since the earliest days of the republic.

2010-01-01 | en

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.

1916-08-21 | en

Fighting Fred Funston

On April 18th, 1906, San Francisco witnessed its most devastating natural disaster – an earthquake that initiated a city-wide fire. The commanding officer of the U.S. Army base at the Presidio, Fred Funston, gathered citizens to fight the fire, patrol the streets, and rebuild the city – all without authorization.

2017-04-01 | en

Cake Bakers & Trouble Makers: Lucy Worsley's 100 Years of the WI

Documentary to mark the WI's centenary. Lucy Worsley goes beyond the stereotypes of jam and Jerusalem to reveal the surprisingly radical side of this Great British institution.

2015-07-20 | en

Wilhelm II. - Die letzten Tage des deutschen Kaiserreichs

Documentary about the end of the regency of Kaiser Wilhelm II., Germany's last emperor.

2007-01-01 | de

The Millionaires' Unit

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

2015-05-24 | en

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.

2016-02-09 | fr