The fourth and last episode in our series on the Great War in 1916 looks at Brusilov’s Offensive and the Battle of the Somme. We pause to contemplate the mind-numbing bloodshed of the Great War, and look at some of its most famous poems.

Learn more about Wilfred Owen and his poetry at the Wilfred Owen Association website.

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Fanfare

Opening War Theme

Sonatina No. 5
Composed in 1919 by Ferrucio Busoni. Public domain.
Performed by Peter McKenzie Armstrong, and used pursuant to a Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 license. Source.

In Flanders Fields

Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

 
The third of four episodes on the Great War in 1916 examines the Austrian offensive in the Alps, more Russian planning for a new offensive, and the Battle of Jutland.

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Fanfare

Opening War Theme

The Wand of Youth
Composed in 1908 by Edward Elgar. Public domain.
Performed by Steve’s Bedroom Band, and used pursuant to a Creative Commons CC BY 3.0 license. Source.

Closing War Theme

Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2016, 2017, 2018 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

 
The second of four episodes on the Great War in 1916 examines Russian planning for a new offensive and the German sinking of the passenger ferry Sussex.

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Fanfare

Opening War Theme

Goyescas (Piano Suite)
Composed in 1911 by Enrique Granados. Public domain.
Performed by Ruben Lorenzo, and used pursuant to a Creative Commons CC BY 3.0 license. Source.

Closing War Theme

Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2016, 2017, 2018 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

 
The year 1916 begins with a new German offensive on the French fortifications at Verdun.

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Fanfare

Opening War Theme

Pictures at an Exhibition
Composed in 1874 by Modest Mussorgsky; orchestral arrangement by Maurice Ravel. Public domain.
Performed by The Skidmore College Orchestra. Public domain recording. Source.

Closing War Theme

Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2016, 2017, 2018 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

 
This week’s episode catches us up on developments on the Italian front, the Caucasus front, and the Mesopotamian front, where a British force was besieged and forced to surrender, but even as that was unfolding, the British and the French were negotiating a secret agreement on how to divide the post-war Middle East.

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Fanfare

Opening War Theme

“The Roast Beef of Old England”
Composed in 1731 by Richard Leveridge. Public domain.
Performed by the United States Marine Band. Public domain recording. Source.

The Capture of Kars
Composed in 1880 by Modest Mussorgsky. Public domain.
Performed by The University of Chicago Orchestra, directed by Barbara Schubert, and used pursuant to a Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 license. Source.

Overture to La Forza del Destino (“The Force of Destiny”)
Composed in 1862 by Giuseppe Verdi. Public domain.
Performed by The University of Chicago Orchestra, directed by Barbara Schubert, and used pursuant to a Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 license. Source.

Closing War Theme

Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2016, 2017, 2018 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

 
In Mexico, the constitutionalist forces loyal to Venustiano Carranza oust the conventionalists from Mexico City and Pancho Villa is forced to retreat to his base in Chihuahua. German intelligence agents in the US fund the pro-German magazine The Fatherland as they plot to draw the US into the conflict in Mexico. With Victoriano Huerta in prison, the Germans offer support to Pancho Villa. Villa also believes US intervention in the Mexican Revolution to be in his interests, and he provokes the Americans by attacking Columbus, New Mexico.

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Fanfare

Opening War Theme

Ochos Valses Poéticos
Composed in 1900 by Enrique Granados. Public domain.
Performed by Edson Lopes and used pursuant to a Creative Commons CC BY 3.0 license. Source.

Closing War Theme

Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2016, 2017, 2018 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

 
The United States experienced an economic boom during the Great War. The motion picture industry grew rapidly, and the most famous name in cinema was Charles Chaplin. Vaslav Nijinsky and the Ballets Russes tour the US, and Nijinsky visited Chaplin’s studio. (See photo above. Nijinsky and Chaplin were both 27 years old when this picture was taken.)

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Fanfare

Opening War Theme

Music from Sam Fox Moving Picture Music Volume 1
by J.S. Zemecnik. Published in 1913. Public domain.
Performed by Richard Frolich and the Texas Radio Theatre Company and used pursuant to a Creative Commons CC BY 3.0 license. Source and source.

Closing War Theme

Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2016, 2017, 2018 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

 
In the autumn of 1915, the Allies attempt an offensive on the Western Front, partly in an effort to take pressure off the Russians. The offensive attempted to put into practice new strategies for offensive combat that the French and British were developing, but the Germans were also developing new strategies.
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Fanfare

Opening War Theme

Danse macabre
Composed in 1874 by Camille Saint-Saëns. Public domain.
Performed by the University of Chicago Orchestra and used pursuant to a Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 license. Source.

“La Marseillaise”
Composed in 1792 by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle. Public domain.
Performed by the United States Navy Band. Public domain recording. Source.

Closing War Theme

Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2016, 2017, 2018 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

 
Although there was a great deal of political resistance to conscription in the United Kingdom, declining numbers of new volunteers forced Parliament to enact mandatory service. Meanwhile, all the Great Powers are experiencing manpower shortages and increasing pressures on their economies, caused by the demands of the Great War.
 
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Fanfare

Opening War Theme

“Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit-Bag and Smile, Smile, Smile!”
Composed by George Asaf and Felix Powell in 1915. Public domain.
Public domain recording. Source.

“Your King and Country Want You”
Composed by Paul Rubens in 1914. Public domain.
Public domain recording. Source.

Closing War Theme

Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2016, 2017, 2018 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.