THE WAR OF THE WORLD

PROGRAMME 1: THE CLASH OF THE EMPIRES

PROGRAMME OUTLINE

00.00 – 02.59

Introduction to the series by the presenter Niall Ferguson, in which he previews the events that made the 20th century the most violent in history.

03.00 – 07.11

We learn how race and empire were the dominant themes of the 20th century, and Niall illustrates this through the expansion of the Russian Empire and the Trans-Siberian Railway.

07.12 – 09.54

The Japanese attack on Port Arthur, Manchuria – part of the far-flung Russian Empire.

09.55 – 14.25

Niall explores the new doctrines of democracy and socialism, and the 1905 revolution in Russia.

14.26 – 18.25

Niall visits the plaque that commemorates the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and explains the how the event unfolded.

18.26 – 22.29

We discover why this assassination led to the largest war the world had ever known.

22.30 – 25.46

The ethnic issue during the First World War is explored by looking at the attitude of British troops to the Germans on the Western Front.

25.47 – 27.43

In Brest, Belarus, Niall visits the White Palace where the Bolsheviks had to agree humiliating peace terms with Germany.

27.44 – 37.18

The Russian civil war continues, and the Bolsheviks used terror to control more and more of the Soviet empire. We see film footage of Lenin ordering the murder of peasants, and learn that ethnic conflict was just as fierce as the class struggle.

37.19 – 40.43

We learn about the aftermath of the First World War and the impact of turning empires into viable nation-states. In particular, Niall takes us to Turkey to recall the events that led up to the first generally acknowledged genocide – that of the Armenians from the Ottoman Empire.

40.44 – 45.25

The ethnic violence in the Ottoman Empire continues in 1922, with Greeks being either killed or expelled.

45.26 – 47.18

A summary of the programme.