The Great War in Numbers S01E05 - Total War

Episode Overview

In the fifth episode, set in the aftermath of the brutal battles of the Somme and Verdun in 1916, the imperial nations intensified their efforts to defeat their foes. In Germany, the newly appointed commander, Paul von Hindenburg, along with his right-hand man, Erich Ludendorff, pushed for a dramatic increase in military production—demanding that shell output rise to 11 million monthly and that machine guns, artillery, and aircraft production be tripled. To achieve this, Germany required an additional three million workers, leading to the mobilization of not just soldiers but also civilians, including many prisoners of war and forced laborers from occupied territories. Among them, sixty-five thousand men were tasked with constructing the Hindenburg Line, a formidable series of fortifications along the Western Front, built in near-total secrecy and leaving the Allies in shock.

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