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Conflicts

Apocalypse - Never-Ending War 1918 - 1929

October 4, 2018

This is the story of the years following the First World War, a time of chaos, conflict and precarious equilibrium, of survivors who have lost everything.

https://p.dw.com/p/35yEh
Berlin, Alexanderplatz in 1919
Image: picture-alliance/akg-images

As the world reels and tries to right itself, misery and uncertainty give rise to the evil forces of totalitarianism. Will there ever be peace? "Apocalypse: Never-Ending War" tells the story of the years of fragile peace that followed the Fist World War, the collapse of empires, and the fateful rise of totalitarianism. Years that foretell the coming of another disastrous war. For four years, from 1914-1918, the world seemed hellbent on total self-annihilation.

World War I, westfront
Image: picture-alliance/Mary Evans Picture Library/IBL Collections

The First World War was an apocalyptic war that claimed over 50 million lives, civilian and military. Those who survive come to realize the world of the past century has now disappeared into an abyss of suffering. Millions of soldiers, the shell-shocked, the amputees, the disabled, will spend the rest of their lives trying to make sense of their years in hell. Parents are in despair at the loss of their children, families destroyed, millions of widows and orphans left to survive any way they can.

Paris Peace Conference, 18 June 1919 (Hotel Trianon)
Image: picture-alliance / akg-images

In 1919 at Versailles and Saint-Germain-en-Laye, and in 1920 at Trianon, the victors forge peace treaties that they claim will restore balance. But those who have pinned their hopes on a transition from war to universal peace are to be deeply disappointed. 

Hatred, fear, and resentment re-emerge from the depths of societies traumatized by war and the tumultuous transformation that results from the world’s map being re-drawn. The vanquished, facing terrible reparations, look for promises of hope, stability and order, even at the cost of personal freedom. The climate is ripe for the emergence of authoritarian forces, exacerbating ethnic nationalism, and opening doors to the worst of human nature. Extreme ideologies take root in Germany and Italy, and spread from there.

 

Broadcasting Hours: 

Part 1: 

DW English

SUN 11.11.2018 – 19:15 UTC
MON 12.11.2018 – 01:15 UTC
MON 12.11.2018 – 15:15 UTC
WED 14.11.2018 – 05:15 UTC
THU 22.11.2018 – 03:15 UTC
SUN 25.11.2018 – 09:15 UTC

Cape Town UTC +2 | Delhi UTC +5,5 | Hong Kong UTC +8
San Francisco UTC -8 | Edmonton UTC -7 | New York UTC -5
Lagos UTC +1 | Cape Town UTC +2 | Nairobi UTC +3 
London UTC +0 | Berlin UTC +1 | Moscow UTC +3

DW Deutsch+

MON 12.11.2018 – 09:15 UTC

Vancouver UTC -7 | New York UTC -4 | Sao Paulo UTC -2  

 

Part 2: 

DW English

SUN 18.11.2018 – 19:15 UTC
MON 19.11.2018 – 01:15 UTC
MON 19.11.2018 – 15:15 UTC
WED 21.11.2018 – 05:15 UTC
THU 29.11.2018 – 03:15 UTC
SUN 02.12.2018 – 09:15 UTC


Cape Town UTC +2 | Delhi UTC +5,5 | Hong Kong UTC +8
San Francisco UTC -8 | Edmonton UTC -7 | New York UTC -5
Lagos UTC +1 | Cape Town UTC +2 | Nairobi UTC +3 
London UTC +0 | Berlin UTC +1 | Moscow UTC +3

DW Deutsch+

MON 19.11.2018 – 09:15 UTC

Vancouver UTC -7 | New York UTC -4 | Sao Paulo UTC -2