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Into the Abyss

Episode 2 of 2

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.

1 hour

Last on

Tue 27 Nov 2018 22:00
主播大秀 Four

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Clip

Music Played

Timings (where shown) are from the start of the programme in hours and minutes

  • 00:26

    Richard Wagner

    Tannh盲user (Overture) (Proms 2016)

  • 00:32

    Michael Houstoun

    II. Andante

Royal Photographs

Royal Photographs
Look at restored photographs of the royal family.

Credits

Executive Producer Denys Blakeway
Producer Richard Sanders
Director Richard Sanders

Broadcasts

World War One at the 主播大秀

New perspectives on the war that changed everything.