American Experience: The Great War 1918

 

Picture: C+     Sound: B-     Extras: D     Program: B+

 

 

It’s almost unfathomable to call World War I — The Great War, The War to End All Wars — the 20th century’s forgotten war.  That’s exactly what has happened, though, as World War I slips further into the mists of history with the passing of the remaining veterans and members of their generation and as World War II and its “Greatest Generation” continue to occupy a place of prominence, especially in American culture.

 

Those conditions don’t bode well for the future reverence of the conflict, at least in the United States.  Unlike the Revolution and the Civil War here, the US didn’t get involved in World War I until very late, and even then this nation’s military wasn’t prepared for the challenges facing them in Europe.  The war ended on November 11, 1918; the United States didn’t formally declare war on Germany until April 6, 1917, and a significant number of American forces didn’t arrive on the scene until the summer of 1918.  By the time Armistice Day arrived, the number of American dead numbered 116, 708 with another 204,002 wounded.  Compare that to the 558,052 that died during the Civil War, or the 1,415,800 who died on the French side during World War I.

 

The loss of American life was staggering, especially in 1918—the US was entrenched in a policy of isolationism, and only after serious convincing on the part of President Woodrow Wilson, and the downing of an American merchant ship by a German U-Boat, did Congress and the people give in to the crisis around them.  So for a nation with a serious aversion to becoming involved in world affairs to lose over 110,000 soldiers on foreign soil, it had to have taken a toll on the psyche of the population.

 

You wouldn’t know it now, though.  When people talk of World War I, if they talk about it at all, it’s in a wispy, long-ago-and-far-away way.  It occupies a different place in American history than does World War II, the Revolution, or the Civil War.  Rightly so, perhaps, but it’s striking that such an important conflict can almost be forgotten less than a hundred years after its conclusion.

 

And that’s why the “American Experience’s” program dedicated to America’s involvement in World War I is so vital—it moves the war from the cobwebbed corners of American experience to somewhere closer to the forefront of American culture.

 

The program, which originally aired sometime in the late ‘80s or early-‘90s, follows closely yet broadly the events that led to American involvement in World War I, the initial public unease about entering the war, and what happened once America got to Europe.  As with any “American Experience” program, the history is solid and approachable in “The Great War 1918,” and once you’re done watching it you want to run out to the library and read more about the conflict outside of the American experience.

 

But the best part about the program is that it loads its 56-minute runtime with interviews with American veterans of World War I.  In the early-20th century, it’s newsworthy when a World War I vet stays alive because there are so few veterans from the war left.  On this disc, though, the perspectives, accounts, and experiences of a handful of those men who fought in the trenches and those women who helped mend their wounds are preserved forever.  If you have any interest in World War I at all, regardless of why you have it, you owe it to yourself to pick this disc up.  In an age where talking heads and writers are more concerned with the World War II generation, “The Great War 1918” stands as a testament to the sacrifices and accomplishments of those Americans left behind in the wake of World War II.

 

Technically, the disc is sound. The video is presented in a 4:3 ratio preserving its original television presentation.  The video is grainy but hardly worth complaining about—this is a public television program produced in the late-‘80s or early-‘90s, some leniency can be granted if the program looks a little shoddy.  Audio-wise, the disc is fine.  There are no noticeable problems on the Dolby Digital 2.0 simple stereo soundtrack.  You can hear everything and everyone clearly, and because this is a documentary that’s the most important thing.  As far as extras go, this disc is as barren as a desert.  The only “extras” to be found are a scene selection tool and a link to the American Experience Web site, neither of which qualify as extra features at this stage of the DVD game.

 

But that doesn’t matter; The Great War 1918 is a fantastic program.  In its compact frame is stuffed enough facts, history, and voices to make any American history fan delight.  American Experience is renowned for their brilliant programming, and while The Great War 1918 can’t be tagged with that label, it certainly belongs in a class with some of the best American Experience programs.

 

 

-   Dante A. Ciampaglia