Into the Abyss
The roles played by cousins Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany and King George V of England in the desperate, frantic summer of 1914.
This episode looks at the realignment of the European powers and the emergence of the alliance system in the years following the death of Queen Victoria in 1901. It examines the key role played by royalty in smoothing the path to the Anglo-Russian entente of 1907 and the part played by the kaiser's erratic, unstable personality in the growing isolation of Germany in the years leading up to 1914.
It explores the role played by each of the three monarchs in the frantic, desperate days of July and August 1914. And it tells the tragic story of King George's refusal to grant his cousin and close friend Tsar Nicholas asylum in England following the Russian Revolution of 1917 - a refusal that would lead directly to the brutal murder of the tsar and his family by the Bolsheviks in the summer of 1918.
Last on
More episodes
Previous
Next
You are at the last episode
Clip
-
Royal Diplomacy
Duration: 03:47
Music Played
-
Richard Wagner
Tannhäuser (Overture) (Proms 2016)
-
Michael Houstoun
II. Andante
Royal Photographs
Credits
Role | Contributor |
---|---|
Executive Producer | Denys Blakeway |
Producer | Richard Sanders |
Director | Richard Sanders |
Broadcasts
- Thu 6 Feb 2014 21:00Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Two except Scotland
- Fri 7 Feb 2014 21:00Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Two Scotland
- Mon 10 Feb 2014 23:20Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Two HD & England only
- Mon 10 Feb 2014 23:50Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Two Scotland
- Wed 12 Feb 2014 23:50Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Two Northern Ireland
- Wed 2 Apr 2014 00:20
- Tue 23 Feb 2016 21:00
- Mon 21 Aug 2017 19:00
- Tue 27 Nov 2018 22:00
World War One at the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ
New perspectives on the war that changed everything.