World War I: The Great War

The Last Day of WWI (4x3)

Data di messa in onda: Dic 31, 2009

Discover why more soldiers died on the final day of WWI than on D-Day, as this chilling indictment of the horror and pointlessness of war is captured by rare footage and photos. At 11am on November 11, 1918, World War I ended victory was assured and final territory agreed upon. How is it possible, then, that more soldiers died on this day than on D-Day? Based on Joseph Persico s book 11th Month, 11th Day, 11th Hour: Armistice Day, 1918, World War I and Its Violent Climax (2004), THE LAST DAY OF WORLD WAR I focuses on the little-known events of the war s Armistice Day, revealing the outrageous excuses Allied leaders found to send 13,000 men to their deaths against a defeated enemy. Some leaders desired promotion, others retribution, while one commander chose to capture a town solely so that he could bathe. Despite the devastating human toll, nothing was gained and the territories taken on this day were eventually returned to Germany. Penetrating and provocative, THE LAST DAY OF WORLD WAR I reveals the untold story of gratuitous 11th-hour bloodshed that cost the lives of thousands of Allied heroes.