World War One (TV series)

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World War One was an American documentary television series on World War I that was shown on CBS during the 1964-1965 television season to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the start of the war. The series, which featured 26 half-hour episodes, was narrated by Robert Ryan. The series was originally aired on Tuesday nights at 8 pm, but at mid-season it was moved to Sunday nights at 6:30 pm because it was being beaten in the ratings by the second half-hour of ABC's Combat! and the second half-hour of NBC's Mr. Novak.

The series begins with a review of the rivalries and tensions between the major European powers from 1870 to 1914, which culminated with the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie in the city of Sarajevo by members of the Serbian Black Hand, which in turn led to declarations of war between the Central Powers of the German and the Austro-Hungarian Empires and the Allied Powers of the Russian Empire, France and Great Britain. The series would then follow the course of the war, showing how more countries both in and out of Europe, such as Japan, the Ottoman Empire, Bulgaria, Romania and the United States, became involved in the war, as well as the war's various fighting fronts. Various episodes would look at such subjects as the Belgian Atrocities, the War at Sea, Trench Warfare, the Russian Revolution, the Italian Front, air warfare, America's entry into the war, the home fronts of the various participants, the war's final campaigns and the war's legacy.

The series would use archival footage from various national and private archives, some of which were at that point being seen by the public for the first time. The series is presently available on video tape and DVD.