8 videos, downloadable support materials (program planner's manual and publicity materials), 5 posters. $450

The WWI Years examines the American Experience in the Great War, the first global conflict. The events of WWI transformed America into a world power and continue to inform the most important aspects of our lives today, nearly nine decades later.

The United States’ entrance into World War I in 1918 changed the country in profound ways. Not only in inaugurating the major role it would play in global affairs for the rest of the century, but domestically as well. In mobilizing for and undertaking its part in the global conflict, America discovered new strengths, but also faced tribulations and weaknesses in its own social fabric. The trends that arose during the war years would set the agenda that dominated American life for the rest of the century. This six-program series features eight outstanding documentaries that explore this significant period in US history.

Program 1

Woodrow Wilson, Part II: The Redemption of the World

3 hours; Executive Producer, Margaret Drain; Produced by Carl Byker and Mitch Wilson; Sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities; Featured on The American Experience

Part Two of this biography begins in 1914 as the European powers enter into the most brutal conflict mankind had yet fought. President Wilson wants to avoid American involvement in the war at any cost and hopes to cast the U.S. in the role of world mediator. However, the U.S. economy is already tied to selling goods to the belligerents and American banking interests are linked to Britain and France. The film goes on to chronicle the wartime presidency as the United States' decision to intervene transforms the European conflict into the first global war.

In late 1918, President Wilson sets sail for the Paris Peace Conference, where he aims to negotiate a peace settlement that will make future wars impossible. Upon his arrival in Europe, he is treated like a hero, and his Fourteen Points praised by activists and idealists from around the world. However, Wilson's ideals clash with the interests of the Allied leaders, who want to punish Germany for their wartime losses.

Please note: Program 1 and Program 5 use different excerpts of the same video.

Program 2

The Great War - 1918

56 minutes; Written and Produced by Tom Weidlinger; Featured on The American Experience

This film presents an account of America's military involvement in France in the last two years of World War I. The millions of American troops sent to Europe were mostly new recruits with little training and no experience of modern trench warfare. They begin arriving at a crucial time; the British and French are exhausted after suffering incomprehensible losses, the Italian army has collapsed, and Russia has just made a separate peace with Germany, freeing German troops to focus on the Western Front. As the first Americans arrive, the Allied forces are on the verge of being outmanned and outgunned.

Program 3 (2 videos)

1914-1918: Shell Shock (from The Century)

45 minutes; Produced by ABC News in association with The History Channel; Hosted by Peter Jennings

This film from the acclaimed series on twentieth century history looks at the massive damage - material, psychological and spiritual - inflicted on the peoples of the world by the carnage of World War I. The film looks at the horrors of trench warfare, the role of technology and industrialization, and the psychological toll of the new weapons of war on combat soldiers on both sides.

Men of Bronze: The Black American Heroes of World War I

60 minutes; Produced and Directed by William Miles; American Film Festival Award; CINE Golden Eagle Award

This film tells the little-known story of the African American soldiers of the 369th combat regiment, New York, who fought with the French army in World War I. Despite facing violent racism from other American soldiers and being relegated to menial duties by the U. S. command, the 369th chose to fight alongside French, Moroccan and Senegalese soldiers in some of the fiercest battles of the last year of the war. At war's end, the entire regiment received high military honors from the French government.

Program 4 (2 videos)

Up South: African American Migration in the Era of the Great War

30 minutes; Executive Producer, Stephen Brier; Produced and Directed by Andrea Ades Vasquez, Pennee Bender and Joshua Brown; World Fest Houston Silver Award; Chicago International Film Festival Silver Hugo Award

This film, based on actual letters and interviews, follows African American residents of Hattiesburg, Mississippi who move north to Chicago between 1916 and 1921. Interweaving still photos, archival footage, period music and the words of the participants themselves, the film creates an impressionistic look at an important event of the WWI years - the migration of hundreds of thousands of black Americans from the agricultural south to the urban north for greater economic opportunity.

One Woman, One Vote

106 minutes; Written and Produced by Ruth Pollak; Sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities; A presentation of The American Experience; Chris Award, Columbus Film and Video Festival

The United States' decision to enter World War I creates a strategic crisis for the national women's suffrage movement that has been fighting for universal voting rights for American women since the 19th century. This film chronicles the crucial events in the movement during and after WWI, culminating in the passage of the 19th Amendment.

Program 5

Woodrow Wilson, Part II: The Redemption of the World

3 hours; Executive Producer, Margaret Drain; Produced by Carl Byker and Mitch Wilson; Sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities; Featured on The American Experience

Part Two of this biography begins in 1914 as the European powers enter into the most brutal conflict mankind had yet fought. President Wilson wants to avoid American involvement in the war at any cost and hopes to cast the U.S. in the role of world mediator. However, the U.S. economy is already tied to selling goods to the belligerents and American banking interests are linked to Britain and France. The film goes on to chronicle the wartime presidency as the United States' decision to intervene transforms the European conflict into the first global war.

In late 1918, President Wilson sets sail for the Paris Peace Conference, where he aims to negotiate a peace settlement that will make future wars impossible. Upon his arrival in Europe, he is treated like a hero, and his Fourteen Points praised by activists and idealists from around the world. However, Wilson's ideals clash with the interests of the Allied leaders, who want to punish Germany for their wartime losses.

Program 6 (2 videos)

Return to Isolationism (from Between the Wars)

30 minutes; Written and Produced by Anthony Potter

This film details the political and economic events of America in 1919, focusing on the bitter fight between the President and the Senate over the ratification of the Treaty of Versailles and the League of Nations, and thus the role of the U.S. in the post-war world. During this period the country was faced with massive labor unrest, economic uncertainty, and violent racial conflict.

Lost Peace: Ideals for a United World Fail (from The People's Century)

60 minutes; Produced and Directed by Daniel Brittain-Catlin; International Emmy Award; George Foster Peabody Journalism Award

This film examines the years following the Treaty of Versailles and the events that led to the Second World War. After the trauma of WWI, Americans turn to their own concerns, while many in Europe vow an end to all war. Popular hopes for lasting peace are expressed in the international disarmament movement and attempts at collective security by the emerging League of Nations. But nationalist feelings re-emerge in Europe, and Fascism and militarism spread. By 1939, any hopes that the problems of 1918 could be solved by negotiation are over.