Les dossiers de l'écran: La 1ère guerre mondiale

Sarajevo, late June 1914: A Serbian nationalist shoots the Austro-Hungarian heir to the throne and his wife. A few weeks later, war raged in Europe with devastating consequences.

WWI: The Tunnels of Death

While the Allies were nearing panic as the Germans approached Paris, Marshal Foch quickly realised the German intent and that the Schlieffen plan was unravelling. In a master piece of military diplomacy he persuaded Filed Marshal French to join the Attack on the exposed flank of the Germans as it wheeled to the east of Paris. The battle was indeed a miracle, with the British playing a key part alongside the French in halting the German advance and driving them back behind the next river – The Aisne, where the Allied attack crossed the river and up onto the open ridges of the Chemin des Dames. The Germans held firm and Field Marshal French ordered the BEF to dig-in as a temporary measure but the line moved but little here in the next four years.With neither army able to make headway against modern small arms, the machine gun and quick firing artillery in a conventional frontal battle, the armies raced to redeploy into the uncontested ground north to the sea.

Filmed in the skies above France and the United States, The Lafayette Escadrille tells the story of the American volunteers who flew and fought for France in World War 1, becoming the founding squadron of American combat aviation.

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.

A documentary of early airplane pilot and WW1 fighter ace Manfred von Richthofen, famously known as The Red Baron.

On the 31st Oct 1914 the Germans were on the cusp of victory at Ypres. troops of the German 30th and 54th Divisions had broken the line at Geluveldt to the east of Ypres.The German troops were fired with enthusiasm as the Kaiser was said to be watching their action. If they succeeded the way to Ypres and even the coast was open, the BEF would be destroyed. This is the story of the last British reserve the 2nd Worcesters who were ordered to counter attack and drive the Germans out of Geluveld. Their attack was a success and was described by Field Marshall French as the " The Charge that saved the Empire".

In October 1914 as the Battle of the Aisne drew to a close both the Allies and the Germans started to dig in. In an attempt to go back to mobile warfare both sides tried to outflank the other by manoeuvring around their western flank. The Race to the sea had begun. As a result of this movement the BEF moved from just North east of Paris to the Allies western flank in Flanders. This is the story of the BEF's desperate attempts to outflank the Germans and prevent themselves from being outflanked.

In 1914 the German Attack on France was based on a later iteration of the plan that Von Schlieffen produced in 1905. The plan was aimed at fighting a war on 2 fronts against Russia and France. Von Molkte changed the plan when he replaced Schlieffen but the essentials were the same. Both plans were based on the following assumptions,Russia would take at least 6 weeks to mobilise,France would be easily defeated in 6 weeks, Belgium would not resist any German attack and Britain would remain neutral.All these assumptions were wrong and the new plan did not work. This film explains in detail why it failed.

This short animated film is about Wop May, one of Canada's leading bush pilots in the 1920s.

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

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.

Relying on newly discovered archival footage, memoirs from the fallen, and expert commentary from scholars, this documentary tells the story of World War I from the American perspective: Its ace pilots, mine-laying Sailors, heroic doughboys, Harlem Hell Fighters, and courageous nurses.

Two modern Red Arrows pilots take on the challenges faced by World War I pilots by performing photo reconnaissance, artillery ranging, and bombing missions in period aircraft - culminating in a classic dogfight.

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

On July 1st, 1916, the Newfoundland Regiment took part in a massive First World War offensive on the Somme, led by the British. At Beaumont Hamel the regiment was nearly wiped out, as only 110 of 780 soldiers survived the day. To commemorate its 100th anniversary, Brian McKenna’s documentary film tells the story of this epic tragedy. Using a technique that brings new meaning to reenactment, McKenna recruits descendants of soldiers who fought this battle, offering them a unique opportunity to relive the experience of their ancestors in trenches built specifically for the film.

On April 18th, 1906, San Francisco witnessed its most devastating natural disaster, yet Frederick Funston, commandnig officer of the Presidio of San Francisco, gathered civilians to fight the fire, patrol the streets, and rebuild the city without authorization.

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

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.

The Habsburg Dynasty had ruled large parts of Europe and the world for 650 years. During World War I, however, the mighty Austro-Hungarian Empire sowed the seeds of its own demise. At the height of World War I, the world of the Habsburgs was on the brink of collapse. Almost exactly 100 years ago to the day, in April 1918, the most sensitive diplomatic mission of the First World War became a Europe-wide scandal: the so-called "Sixtus Affair". Secret negotiations between the Austrian imperial family and France were supposed to bring peace to the Danube monarchy – and their failure caused the war to escalate and the Habsburgs to fall.