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Between the Wars

TV·1978–1978·1 season, 16 episodes·PBS·War & Politics, Documentary·30m

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This classic series follows the events that sparked the greatest conflict of the century, capturing the drama, the excitement and the ideological juxtapositions of these crucial years. Former CBS News correspondent and commentator Eric Sevareid, one of the world's most respected figures in journalism, presents this extraordinary series featuring stunning original newsreels, soundtracks, and rare archival footage.

Cast

Episodes by season

Season0116Episodes1978AiredSeason avg
  1. S01E01Versailles: The First PeaceApril 5, 1978President Woodrow Wilson's idealistic hopes for world peace through collective security clash at Versailles with the harsh old-world real-po
  2. S01E02Return to IsolationismApril 12, 1978The ultimate failure of Woodrow Wilson destroys himself in his desperate struggle for the League of Nations. The President and the Senate fi
  3. S01E03The First SALT TalksApril 19, 1978The forces favoring peace through disarmament clash with the forces for peace through military strength. In 1921, the world's first major di
  4. S01E04Radio, Racism and Foreign PolicyApril 26, 1978Disillusioned by the horrors of World War I, the U.S. tries to isolate herself from the rest of the world. Strict immigration quotas are imp
  5. S01E05The Great Depression and Foreign AffairsMay 3, 1978The Depression is a traumatic national experience which shatters U.S. self-confidence and paralyzes foreign policy, thus leading to further
  6. S01E06FDR and Hitler: the Rise to PowerMay 10, 1978"The individual does matter in history" -- a contrast of the style of FDR and Hitler shows how technological change and individual charisma
  7. S01E07FDR and Hitler: The Dynamics of PowerMay 17, 1978Both Hitler and Roosevelt appreciated the value of mass communications. FDR began his series of "fireside chats" to reassure and inform the
  8. S01E08America in the Pacific: The Clash of Two CulturesMay 24, 1978This overview of U.S.-Japanese relationships from the turn of the century until 1933 is a story of conflict. Japan emerged from World War I
  9. S01E09The Recognition of Russia: A Climate of Mutual DistrustMay 31, 1978From the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917 until the Roosevelt administration officially recognized the U.S.S.R. in the first detente in 1933, Am
  10. S01E10Latin America: Intervention in Our Own BackyardJune 7, 1978FDR's "The Good Neighbor Policy", his greatest foreign policy success, was a key development in reversing the U.S. imperialistic attitude to
  11. S01E11The Italian-Ethiopian War: Africa in World AffairsJune 14, 1978The short-lived but brutal Italian-Ethiopian War leads to an examination of Italian Fascism, the character of Mussolini and how he came to p
  12. S01E12The Spanish Civil WarJune 21, 1978The Spanish Civil War was a microcosm of the ideological conflict of this century. When Spanish fascists under Franco rebel against the repu
  13. S01E13The Phony WarJune 28, 1978Hitler's assumption that England would not go to war to defend Poland triggers World War II. As the Nazis sweep over Europe and launch their
  14. S01E14FDR and Churchill: The Human PartnershipJuly 5, 1978The close personal friendship between Roosevelt and Churchill had a profound effect on the history of the Western world. Roosevelt posted "l
  15. S01E15Japan Invades China: Crisis in the Far EastJuly 12, 1978In 1937 Japan was bent on establishing an empire. Encouraged by lack of Western resistance, Japan took control of French Indochina, the Dutc
  16. S01E16War Comes to Pearl HarborJuly 19, 1978Some of the great questions that arises from WWII is: Did FDR know in advance about Pearl Harbor? Was the Japanese attack unprovoked? FDR kn

Season 1 ranked & reviewed

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