The World Wars (miniseries)
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox television
| image =
| image_size =
| image_alt =
| caption =
| genre = Historical Drama
Docudrama
| creator =
| based_on =
| writer = David C. White
John Ealer
Alec Michod
Chelsea Coates
Jordan Rosenblum
David Schaye{{Cite web|url=https://www.emmys.com/shows/world-wars|title = The World Wars}}
| screenplay =
| story =
| director = John Ealer
| starring =
| narrated = Jeremy Renner
| theme_music_composer = The 13 Brotherhood
| country = United States
| language = English
| num_episodes = 3
| producer = Stephen David
Russ McCarroll
Paul Cabana
Elaine Frontain Bryant
Christian Murphy
Brian Burstein
David C. White
Tim W. Kelly
Randy Counsman
| editor = Tim W. Kelly
Jonathan Soule
| cinematography = Roger Chingirian
| runtime =
| company = Stephen David Entertainment
| budget = was
| first_aired = {{Start date|2014|05|26}}
| last_aired = {{end date|2014|05|28}}
}}
The World Wars is a three-part, six-hour event miniseries by the History Channel that premiered on Monday, May 26, 2014, (Memorial Day) airing for three consecutive nights. An extended version of the series, divided into six episodes with never before seen footage, was subsequently broadcast on H2 and in more than 160 countries on June 22, 2014.{{cite web|url=http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2014/03/31/the-world-wars-to-premiere-monday-may-26-on-history/249443/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140403053107/http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2014/03/31/the-world-wars-to-premiere-monday-may-26-on-history/249443/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=2014-04-03 |title='The World Wars' to Premiere Monday, May 26 on History - Ratings |publisher=Zap2it |date=2014-03-31 |access-date=2014-04-05}}
Narrated by Jeremy Renner,{{cite web|url=https://realscreen.com/2014/04/16/jeremy-renner-to-narrate-historys-the-world-wars/ |title=Jeremy Renner to narrate History's 'The World Wars' |publisher=Real Screen |date=2014-04-16 |accessdate=2014-05-25}} the documentary series features a mix of dramatic reenactments, archival stills and footage, and interviews with historians and authors alongside current and former prominent political figures such as former U.S. Senator John McCain from Arizona, former U.S. General and Secretary of State Colin Powell, former British prime minister John Major, former Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti, former U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, former U.K. Foreign Secretary David Miliband and many more.{{cite web|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/history-orders-six-hour-world-677430 |title=History Orders Six-Hour 'World Wars' Docuseries |website=The Hollywood Reporter |date=2014-02-05 |accessdate=2014-05-22}}
The show was produced for History Channel by Stephen David Entertainment, the production company behind the Emmy Award-winning miniseries The Men Who Built America.{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2014/tv/reviews/tv-review-historys-the-world-wars-1201183621/ |title=TV Review: History's 'The World Wars' |publisher=Variety.com |date=2014-05-22 |accessdate=2014-05-25}}{{cite web|url=https://www.emmys.com/shows/men-who-built-america |title=Emmy Award Status for 'The Men Who Built America'}} A portion of the filming took place in and around Martinsburg, West Virginia in the United States during October and November 2013.{{cite news | title =Residents audition for chance to be on History Channel | newspaper =The Journal | date = 2013-09-29 | url =http://www.journal-news.net/page/content.detail/id/599372/Residents-audition-for-chance-to-be-on-History-Channel.html | accessdate = 2014-04-26}} The series was introduced by United States President Barack Obama in a pre-recorded message.{{cite web|url=https://realscreen.com/2014/05/23/president-obama-to-intro-historys-the-world-wars/ |title=President Obama to intro History's 'The World Wars' |date=2014-05-23 |accessdate=2014-05-25}}
Plot
According to the History Channel, the miniseries "showcase(s) the thirty year period that changed the course of human history", documenting both World Wars and the interwar era in a continuous timeline from 1914 to 1945. The series takes a personality-driven approach, focusing on some of the key players of World War II (Hitler, Mussolini, Patton, Stalin, Churchill, Roosevelt), and chronicling how their experiences as younger men in the First World War shaped them into the leaders they became in World War II.{{cite web|url=https://www.denverpost.com/television/ci_25809636/world-wars-history-channel-six-hour-three-night/ |title='The World Wars' on History Channel a six-hour, three night miniseries |publisher=The Denver Post |date=2014-05-23 |accessdate=2014-05-25}}
Tagline:
{{cquote|Before history knew their names, they fought their own battles. World War 1: The world changed them. World War 2: They changed the world.|}}
Cast
The series features two actors for each of the main characters, one young (during WWI) and one older (during World War II and its lead-up).{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3543006/?ref_=nv_sr_1 |title=iMDb Cast List|website=IMDb |date=26 May 2014}}
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- Winston Churchill – Ian Beyts
- Young Churchill – Tom Vickers
- Charles De Gaulle – Don Meehan
- Young De Gaulle – Michael Perrie
- Adolf Hitler – Hugh Scully
- Young Hitler – Maximilian Klas
- Douglas MacArthur – Dan Berkey
- Young MacArthur – Prescott Hathaway
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- Benito Mussolini – Jonathan Hartman
- Young Mussolini – Nabil Vinas
- George S. Patton – Don Hartman
- Young Patton – Matt Dearman
- Franklin Delano Roosevelt – Dino Gigaliano
- Young Roosevelt – Kevin McKillip
- Joseph Stalin – Joseph Scott Barbarino
- Young Stalin – Jacopo Rampini
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- Hideki Tojo – Isao Ota
- Young Tojo – Koji Oshashi
- Vladimir Lenin – C. Conrad Cady
- Bernard Montgomery – Joe Bevilacqua
- Harry S. Truman – David Mitchum Brown
- Woodrow Wilson – Judd Bankert
- George Marshall – Sewell Whitney
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Interview subjects
The following people appear as talking head experts throughout the series.
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Politicians/Military Figures:
- Dick Cheney
- Joe Lieberman
- John Major
- John McCain
- Stanley McChrystal
- Mario Monti
- David Miliband
- Richard Myers
- Leon Panetta
- Colin Powell
- Donald Rumsfeld
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Historians/Authors:
- Michael Beschloss
- Richard Bosworth
- H. W. Brands
- Douglas Brinkley
- Johann Chapoutot
- Richard Connaughton
- Richard Evans
- Robert Gellately
- Steven Gillon
- Max Hastings
- Sönke Neitzel
- Paul Reid
- Ron Rosenbaum
- Adam Tooze
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Episodes
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="width:100%; margin:auto;" |
| style="background:#a59f7b; color:#ffffff; width:6%;"|Number in series
! style="background:#a59f7b; color:#ffffff;" |Title ! style="background:#a59f7b; color:#ffffff;" |Directed by ! style="background:#a59f7b; color:#ffffff;" |Written by ! style="background:#a59f7b; color:#ffffff;" |Original air date ! style="background:#a59f7b; color:#ffffff;" |U.S. viewers |
|---|
| {{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber=1 | Title=Trial by Fire |DirectedBy = John Ealer |WrittenBy = David C. White |OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2014|5|26}} |ShortSummary= An assassin’s bullet sparks a global conflict that quickly evolves into the deadliest war humanity has ever seen. In the chaos, a new generation of soldier emerges, including a group of men who would become the most infamous leaders of the 20th century. | LineColor = a59f7b }} {{Episode list | EpisodeNumber=2 | Title=A Rising Threat |DirectedBy = John Ealer |WrittenBy = David C. White |OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2014|5|27}} |ShortSummary= | LineColor = a59f7b }} {{Episode list | EpisodeNumber=3 | Title= Never Surrender |DirectedBy = John Ealer |WrittenBy = David C. White |OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2014|5|28}} |ShortSummary= | LineColor = a59f7b }} |
=Expanded version=
During the expanded re-airings during June, instead of three episodes, the series was split into six episodes.
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="width:100%; margin:auto;" |
| style="background:#a59f7b; color:#ffffff; width:6%;"|Number in series
! style="background:#a59f7b; color:#ffffff;" |Title ! style="background:#a59f7b; color:#ffffff;" |Original air date |
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| {{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber=1 | Title=Trial by Fire | OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2014|6|22}} | ShortSummary= An assassin's bullet starts a global conflict that escalates into a deadly war; a new generation of soldiers emerges, including future world leaders such as Winston Churchill, Charles De Gaulle, Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, and Joseph Stalin; tanks and chemical weapons enter the battlefield. | LineColor = a59f7b }} {{Episode list | EpisodeNumber=2 | Title=The Price of Glory | OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2014|6|22}} | ShortSummary= The Allies turn Germany away from France; leaders are dissatisfied with the Treaty of Versailles; Germany's economy collapses with the end of the war; Hitler begins his rise to power; Lenin overthrows the tsarist government in Russia. | LineColor = a59f7b }} {{Episode list | EpisodeNumber=3 | Title=The Rising Tide | OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2014|6|23}} | ShortSummary= The entire world plunges into an economic depression; Josef Stalin seizes power; Japan makes plans to dominate Asia; Adolf Hitler begins taking back the territory Germany lost. | LineColor = a59f7b }}{{Episode list | EpisodeNumber=4 | Title=The Storm Explodes | OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2014|6|23}} | ShortSummary= Hitler takes over Czechoslovakia; Stalin and Hitler sign a shocking pact; Churchill rises to Prime Minister as Hitler invades Poland; Hitler betrays Stalin; the United States is threatened by Japan's increasingly bold actions near the United States-controlled Philippines. | LineColor = a59f7b }}{{Episode list | EpisodeNumber=5 | Title=Never Surrender | OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2014|6|24}} | ShortSummary= The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor brings the United States into the war; Germany almost takes Moscow; the Nazis continue to execute the Jews of Europe; the Allies gain a victory at the Battle of Midway. | LineColor = a59f7b }}{{Episode list | EpisodeNumber=6 | Title=Peace at Last | OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2014|6|24}} | ShortSummary= Stalin, Churchill and Roosevelt meet to discuss an invasion of Europe; D-Day is launched and the Allies defeat Hitler on the beaches of Normandy; Hitler tries to retaliate; the war ends when Hitler commits suicide and Japan surrenders. | LineColor = a59f7b }} |
"Trial by Fire" and "Never Surrender", episodes 1 and 5 of the expanded six-part series, use the same names as episodes 1 and 3 of the original three part series with two hour episodes.
Home media release
On September 9, 2014, the miniseries was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc formats. The two-disc includes English subtitles and bonus material, such as deleted scenes of over an hour of footage cut from the original U.S. broadcast; "Characters In Depth" of Churchill, Stalin, Truman, Roosevelt, Eisenhower, and Hitler; and 10 featurettes on both wars. UltraViolet digital copies of each episode were also included.{{cite web|url=http://tvshowsondvd.com/news/World-Wars-DVDs-BDs-Announced/20143|title=The World Wars (mini-series) - The Recent History Channel Mini-Series Comes to DVD, Blu-ray|publisher=TVShowsOnDVD.com|last=Lambert|first=David|date=August 6, 2014|accessdate=August 7, 2014|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140808105310/http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/World-Wars-DVDs-BDs-Announced/20143|archivedate=August 8, 2014}}
References
{{reflist|100em}}
External links
- {{IMDb title|id=3543006|title=The World Wars}}
{{History films}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:World Wars (miniseries), The}}
Category:2010s American drama television miniseries
Category:2014 American television series debuts
Category:2014 American television series endings
Category:History (American TV channel) original programming