02: The War Machine | Britain’s Great War

Duration: 58'54''

Synopsis

With the country unprepared for war, the whole population is enlisted to turn Britain into a war machine.

Further Information

More clips from Britain's Great War

01: War Comes to Britain | Britain's Great War

01: War Comes to Britain | Britain's Great War

BBC One | 2014 | 59'02''

Jeremy Paxman presents a four-part documentary charting how the First World War affected Great Britain, with this episode focu...

03: The Darkest Hour | Britain's Great War

03: The Darkest Hour | Britain's Great War

BBC One | 2014 | 58'46''

How Germany's attempts to starve Britain into submission edged the nation closer to defeat than ever.

04: At the Eleventh Hour | Britain's Great War

04: At the Eleventh Hour | Britain's Great War

BBC One | 2014 | 58'52''

Jeremy Paxman describes how the country came to the very brink of defeat in the last year of the war.

How Britain declared war in 1914 | Britain's Great War

How Britain declared war in 1914 | Britain's Great War

BBC One | 2014 | 5'27''

Jeremy Paxman explores the optimistic national mood at the declaration of war in 1914 after Germany, under Kaiser Wilh...

Learning Zone | Britain's Great War

Learning Zone | Britain's Great War

BBC Two | 2014 | 58'57''

Jeremy Paxman traces the effects of the First World War on Britain. This was a total war which dragged in civilians as well as soldiers, ...

More resources about Twentieth century warfare

S01E02: Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand | Days That Shook the World

S01E02: Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand | Days That Shook the World

BBC Two | 2004 | 28'56''

How the duke's death led to the start of the First World War.

Dunkirk (2017)

Dunkirk (2017)

BBC One | 2020 | 1'37'04''

Hundreds of thousands of British and Allied troops find themselves in an impossible situation. Christopher Nolan's epic wartime action thriller.

S01E04: Hiroshima | Days That Shook the World

S01E04: Hiroshima | Days That Shook the World

BBC Four | 2003 | 59'15''

Documentary recalling 6 August 1945, when the atom bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, with testimony from American colonel Paul Tib...

Hiroshima

Hiroshima

BBC Four | 2005 | 1'29'06''

Dramatic reconstruction of the devastating impact of the first atomic bomb to be used against people on the citizens of Hiroshima.

05: 1968 Vietnam | Peter and Dan Snow: 20th Century Battlefields

05: 1968 Vietnam | Peter and Dan Snow: 20th Century Battlefields

BBC Two | 2007 | 58'47''

Peter and Dan Snow reveal the techniques use by US marines to flush out Communist fighters who lived in a ne...

The Cold War: 01: Berlin 1945-48 | History File

The Cold War: 01: Berlin 1945-48 | History File

BBC Two | 2000 | 23'40''

Compilation of secondary schools programme about the Cold War, featuring Berlin Crisis, Hungarian Uprising, rise of Soviet le...

S01E09: Chernobyl | Days That Shook the World

S01E09: Chernobyl | Days That Shook the World

BBC Two | 2003 | 30'35''

Two days highlight the benefits and terrors of atomic power: Chernobyl's nuclear meltdown on April 26, 1986.

01: Advance Britannia | Andrew Marr's History of Modern Britain

01: Advance Britannia | Andrew Marr's History of Modern Britain

BBC Two | 2007 | 59'10''

Andrew Marr revisits Britain in 1945 and finds the country victorious but nearly bankrupt, beginning a battle...

08: Their Finest Hour | Battlefield Britain

08: Their Finest Hour | Battlefield Britain

BBC Two | 2004 | 58'32''

Peter and Dan Snow take an in-depth look at the battles that shaped our nation. The Battle of Britain was the pivotal air battle ...

01: Martial Races | The World's War: Forgotten Soldiers of Empire

01: Martial Races | The World's War: Forgotten Soldiers of Empire

BBC Two | 2014 | 59'04''

David Olusoga challenges our perceptions of the First World War with the stories of the millions of Indian,...

The Cold War: 04: Cuban Missile Crisis 1962 | History File

The Cold War: 04: Cuban Missile Crisis 1962 | History File

BBC Two | 2000 | 23'12''

Compilation of secondary schools programme about the Cold War, featuring Berlin Crisis, Hungarian Uprising, rise o...

The First World War: 01: The Approach of War | History File

The First World War: 01: The Approach of War | History File

BBC Two | 1999 | 18'28''

The first section asks who was to blame for the war.

The Peacemakers

The Peacemakers

BBC Four | 2003 | 59'14''

Historian Margaret MacMillan revisits the scene of the Versailles Treaty and tries to establish whether it was a short-sighted settlement - as economist John...

Kate Adie's Women of World War One

Kate Adie's Women of World War One

BBC Two | 2014 | 59'14''

Distinguished war reporter Kate Adie examines the impact of women's work on the Home Front during the First World War.

11: Vietnam: 1954-1968 | Cold War

11: Vietnam: 1954-1968 | Cold War

BBC Two | 1998 | 46'48''

After losing the Battle of Dien Bien Phu the French leave Vietnam. A stream of refugees flee to the south after the Communist north institu...

09: The Wall: 1958-1963 | Cold War

09: The Wall: 1958-1963 | Cold War

BBC Two | 1998 | 46'39''

West Germany, and West Berlin, become more affluent, prompting a surge of East Germans to cross the borders in Berlin, kept open under the...

06: The Men Who Wouldn't Fight | Not Forgotten

06: The Men Who Wouldn't Fight | Not Forgotten

Channel 4 | 2007 | 48'21''

In this special edition of Not Forgotten, Ian Hislop explores the powerful and often overlooked stories of conscientious objec...

07: 1982 Falklands | Peter and Dan Snow: 20th Century Battlefields

07: 1982 Falklands | Peter and Dan Snow: 20th Century Battlefields

BBC Two | 2007 | 58'54''

Peter and Dan Snow tell the story of how the British fought back to regain control of the Falkland Islands...

S02E03: Attack on Pearl Harbor | Days That Shook the World

S02E03: Attack on Pearl Harbor | Days That Shook the World

BBC Two | 2004 | 59'03''

The 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, which changed world history.

01: Comrades: 1917-1945 | Cold War

01: Comrades: 1917-1945 | Cold War

BBC Two | 1998 | 46'26''

Both the United States and the Soviet Union drifted apart after the Russian Revolution of 1917, the Russian Civil War and the Paris Peace ...