Winner 1996

The Great War and the Shaping of the 20th Century

KCET-TV, Los Angeles, California, BBC, London, England

The war to end all wars—the war to make the world safe for democracy—“The Great War,” as its contemporaries knew it, began when Europe erupted in flames in August 1914. By its end in November 1918, millions were dead, and the world was forever changed. The Great War and the Shaping of the 20th Century relies on a wealth of original and vintage film, rare photos, letters, and diaries, to create a haunting, stunning, and absorbing series. Historian Jay Winter and executive producer Blaine Baggett were assisted by a superb group of producers, writers, and directors, including Carl Byker (series producer), Joseph Angier, Cynthia Crompton, Margaret Koval, Lyn Goldfarb, Isaac Mizrahi, David Mrazek, and Mitch Wilson (also director of photography). In eight stirring parts, they dissected the war and its aftermath to provide a dramatic, sobering, thoughtful inquiry not only into political and military ramifications of the conflict, but also into its ongoing social, cultural, and personal legacies—effects felt even today. A Peabody Award goes to KCET and the BBC, in association with England’s Imperial War Museum, for explaining the poignant, powerful, permanent ways World War I changed the lives of everyone it touched in The Great War and the Shaping of the 20th Century.