14 - Diaries Of The Great War

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''14 - Diaries of the Great War'' (titled ''Great War Diaries'' when aired on the

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) is a 2014 international documentary drama series about

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

. It uses a mix of acted scenes, archive footage, and animation. All episodes were directed by

Jan Peter Jan, JaN or JAN may refer to: Acronyms * Jackson, Mississippi (Amtrak station), US, Amtrak station code JAN * Jackson-Evers International Airport, Mississippi, US, IATA code * Jabhat al-Nusra (JaN), a Syrian militant group * Japanese Article Numb ...

, series authors were Jan Peter and

Yury Winterberg Yury, Yuri, Youri, Yurii, Yuriy, Yurij, Iurii or Iouri is the Slavic (russian: Юрий, Yuriy, or uk, Юрій, Yuriy, or bg, Юрий, Jurij, or be, Юры, Jury) form of the masculine given name George; it is derived directly from the Gre ...

. In a dramatic advisory capacity, Dutch producer and screenwriter

Maarten van der Duin Maarten Laurens van der Duin (; born 9 January 1967) is a Dutch scriptwriter, stage director and creative consultant. Education After graduating from Leiden University in Slavic Languages and Soviet Studies, Van der Duin completed a director' ...

and BBC-author Andrew Bampfield worked on the film's development. The series is based on an idea by

Gunnar Dedio Gunnar Dedio (born November 16, 1969, in Rostock, Germany) is a German film producer and media entrepreneur. He is the founder and managing director of the film production company LOOKSfilm. Life In 1995, Gunnar Dedio founded the media produc ...

, producer at the film company LOOKSfilm and Ulrike Dotzer, the Head of Department

ARTE Arte (; (), sometimes stylized in lowercase or uppercase in its logo) is a European public service channel dedicated to culture. It is made up of three separate companies: the Strasbourg-based European Economic Interest Grouping ARTE, plu ...

Norddeutscher Rundfunk Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR; ''Northern German Broadcasting'') is a public radio and television broadcaster, based in Hamburg. In addition to the city-state of Hamburg, NDR broadcasts for the German states of Lower Saxony, Mecklenburg-Vorpommer ...

Synopsis

The individual episodes of the series tell the story of the First World War, not from the perspective of politicians and the military; but from the perspective of soldiers, housewives, factory workers, nurses and children. In total there are 14 main characters. Meaningful scenes from their lives are re-enacted and intertwined. The result is not only a political or military history of the First World War, but a story that poignantly captures the feelings and moods of the people.

Episodes

Cast and characters

Sarah Broom Macnaughtan Sarah Broom Macnaughtan (26 October 1864 – 24 July 1916) was a Scottish novelist. With the outbreak of the First World War, she volunteered with the Red Cross Society and was sent to Russia, then Armenia. She wrote much about the plight of ref ...

(portrayed by Celia Bannerman) was born on 26 October 1864 in Partick, Scotland. Already having served in the Boer War, the British woman had experience as a nurse. In 1914, when assistants were being sought for the British Army in Belgium, she volunteered. In 1915 she witnessed the first gas attack at Ypres. Macnaughtan died on 24 July 1916 at the age of 51 years. *

Charles Edward Montague Charles Edward Montague (1 January 1867 – 28 May 1928) was an English journalist, known also as a writer of novels and essays. Biography Montague was born and brought up in London, the son of an Irish Roman Catholic priest who had left ...

(portrayed by David Acton) was born on 1 January 1867, the son of a Roman Catholic priest and grew up in London. After graduating, he became a journalist. Montague was anti-war and a pacifist - until the summer of 1914. Despite his 47 years, he volunteered for the war effort. After the war he resumed his journalistic career but retired shortly after in order to spend his old age as a writer. Charles Edward Montague died on 28 May 1928 at the age of 61 years. *

Käthe Kollwitz Käthe Kollwitz ( born as Schmidt; 8 July 1867 – 22 April 1945) was a German artist who worked with painting, printmaking (including etching, lithography and woodcuts) and sculpture. Her most famous art cycles, including ''The Weavers'' a ...

(portrayed by Christina Große) was born on 8 July 1867, in

Königsberg Königsberg (, ) was the historic Prussian city that is now Kaliningrad, Russia. Königsberg was founded in 1255 on the site of the ancient Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teutonic Knights during the Northern Crusades, and was ...

. The well-known German artist was an avowed socialist and pacifist. But when the war began, the 47-year-old could not avoid the patriotic spirit of optimism in Germany. Her son Peter volunteered for military service, marched into Belgium in 1914 and was killed in October. Käthe Kollwitz died on 22 April 1945, in Moritzburg at the age of 77 years, a few days before the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. * Ethel Cooper (portrayed by Megan Gay) was born on 24 December 1871 in North Adelaide. Between 1897 and 1906, she studied music in Leipzig, but returned temporarily to Australia. From 1911, Leipzig becomes her adopted home. When the war broke out, she found herself suddenly considered a foreign enemy. She was spied on and suffered from hunger and disease, but she was not allowed to leave the country. Caroline Ethel Cooper died on 25 May 1961 in Malvern, Australia at the age of 90. *

Louis Barthas Louis Barthas (; 14 July 1879 – 4 May 1952) was a French infantry corporal who served on the Western Front of World War I for nearly the entire duration of conflict, stationed on the front lines for a significant amount of time. He was ...

(portrayed by Mikaël Fitoussi) was born the son of a barrel maker and a seamstress on 14 July 1879 in the French wine-growing region of Languedoc. He took up his father's profession. At 35 years of age Barthas was recruited into the reserve army. In the last days of 1914 he found himself on one of the most dangerous sections of the German-French front and experienced the horrors of trench warfare. After the war, he began work as a barrel maker once again. Barthas died on 4 May 1952 at the age of 72 years. * Karl Kasser (portrayed by David Oberkogler) was born in 1889 in the Lower Austrian town of

Kilb Kilb is a town in the district of Melk in the Austrian state of Lower Austria. Geography Kilb lies in the foothills of the Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain ...

. Despite a hand injury, the 25-year-old farmer was deemed fit for military service. Reluctantly, he had to enlist in early 1915. He was captured by the Russians during fighting on the Eastern Front. This was the beginning of a multi-year odyssey throughout the Tsarist Empire which only ended on 4 October 1920. Karl Kasser died in 1976 at the age of 87 years. * Gabrielle West (portrayed by Naomi Sheldon) was born in 1890. For the young woman from a wealthy British family, it was only natural to serve her country through volunteer work. She becomes a guard in a munitions factory, where she is confronted with the terrible working conditions of the women there. Her date of death is unknown. Her diary was published under the name ''World War I diary of Miss G. West''. * Paul Pireaud (portrayed by Lazare Herson-Macarel) was born in 1890 in southwestern France. At the beginning of the war, Marie and Paul Pireaud were a young couple. But the young farmer was separated for a long time from his wife, Marie, by the war. His only connection to her was the field post. In his letters he tells of the suffering of the soldiers at the front. After many years together with his wife, Paul Pireaud died in 1970 shortly before his 80th birthday.''Your Death Would Be Mine: Paul and Marie Pireaud in the Great War'', by Martha Hanna, was published in 2008. * Marie Pireaud (portrayed by Emilie Aubertot) was born in 1892 near Paris. At the beginning of the war, Marie and Paul Pireaud were a happy, young couple. However, when her husband went to war, Marie had to do the hard work on the farm. In her very personal letters to Paul she writes about her jealousy and her great desire for intimacy, tenderness and a child. Later the couple give birth to a son. But there are unfortunately no grandchildren who might remember the love of the two. Marie Pireaud died eight years after her husband in September 1978 at the age of 86 years. ''Your Death Would Be Mine: Paul and Marie Pireaud in the Great War'', by Martha Hanna, was published in 2008. * Vincenzo D'Aquila (portrayed by Jacopo Menicagli) was born on 19 September 1892 in Palermo, Sicily. After the emigration of his family, he grew up in the United States. In the spring of 1915, the 22-year-old travelled with a ship full of volunteers who wanted to fight for their original homeland. In Europe, however, the fighting caused D'Aquila to have psychological issues. After the initial enthusiasm, D’Aquila was taken by disillusionment of a war that manifested itself in all its atrocity. He was forcibly consigned to a mental hospital with poor conditions characteristic of the time period, most particularly suspicion from the doctors that he was faking his issues to avoid the front. D'Aquila died on 26 April 1975 at the age of 82 years. In 1931 he wrote a memoir based on his experience titled ''Bodyguard Unseen: A True Autobiography''. The book was published in New York by Richard R. Smith and appeared in Italy in 2019 for the first time. *

Ernst Jünger Ernst Jünger (; 29 March 1895 – 17 February 1998) was a German author, highly decorated soldier, philosopher, and entomologist who became publicly known for his World War I memoir '' Storm of Steel''. The son of a successful businessman and ...

(portrayed by Jonas Friedrich Leonhardi) was born on 29 March 1895 in Heidelberg. The then high school student, who later became a writer, signed up for military service in August 1914. At the end of 1914, he was assigned to the front in France. He survived several battles before the end of the war in 1918, including the bloody battles of the Somme. He died in 1998 at the age of 102 years at the hospital in Riedlingen. *

Marina Yurlova Marina Yurlova (russian: Мари́на Максимилиа́новна Ю́рлова; 25 February 1900 - 1 April 1984) was a Russian child soldier and author. She fought in World War I and later in the Russian Civil War on the side of the anti- ...

(portrayed by Natalia Witmer) was born in 1901 in a small village in the Caucasus. The daughter of a colonel of the Kuban Cossacks was just 14 years old when her father went to war in August 1914. In the search for her father, she became a child soldier in the Russian army at age 14. She originally worked as a groom in Armenia; however, after two months of this she was sent to fight the Turkish Army. In 1915 she was wounded while blasting bridges across the Erivan River. She was treated at the Red Cross hospital in Baku and then returned to the Eastern Front. In 1916 she was again wounded and also had a mental breakdown and was sent to an asylum. However, in 1919 she was released and emigrated to the United States. Yurlova published two autobiographies, ''Cossack Girl'' (1934) and ''Russia Farewell'' (1936). In 1984 Marina Yurlova died at the age of 84 years. * Elfriede Alice Kuhr (portrayed by Elisa Monse) was born on 25 April 1902, in the German town of Schneidemühl (modern Pila), about 100 kilometers from the border with Russia. At the beginning of the war, the 12 -year-old girl, who lived with her grandmother, celebrated the German victories; but then Elfriede experienced how the war brought suffering and misery. She died on 29 March 1989, at the age of 86 years. *

Yves Congar Yves Marie-Joseph Congar (; 13 April 1904 – 22 June 1995) was a French Dominican friar, priest, and theologian. He is perhaps best known for his influence at the Second Vatican Council and for reviving theological interest in the Holy Spiri ...

(portrayed by Antoine de Prekel) was born on 8 April 1904 in Sedan in northern France, where he grew up well protected until the age of ten. In 1914, he had to experience the German invasion and beginning of a four-year occupation of his hometown. Later he would become a Catholic theologian and cardinal. Yves Congar died on 22 June 1995 at the age of 91 years in Paris.

Production

The series was produced by LOOKSfilm Leipzig, Les Films d’ici Paris und Filmoption International Montreal. The series is one of the most elaborate docudrama formats ever co-produced in Germany and was already sold in more than 25 countries worldwide before broadcast. The budget for the German version alone was around 6 million euros, for all the international versions together the budget was closer to 8 million euros.

Development

The scripts are based on quotes from

diaries Diaries may refer to: * the plural of diary *''Diaries: 1971-1976'', a 1981 documentary by Ed Pincus *'' Diaries 1969–1979: The Python Years'', a 2006 book by Michael Palin *''OFW Diaries ''OFW Diaries'' is a Philippine television documentary ...

and letters from men and women who experienced

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

, the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, who wrote during the period from 1914 to 1918. More than 1,000 journals and collections of letters were examined and 14 stories of World War I were selected from this compilation. Overall, the selection of the diaries and subsequent development work took four years.

Archive footage

The series uses cinematic and photographic archive material from a total of 71 archives in 21 countries. Most material came from British Pathé (United Kingdom), Gaumont Pathé (France), Krasnogorsk (Russia), Bundesfilmarchiv (Germany), Österreichisches Filmmuseum, the

National Archives and Records Administration The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an " independent federal agency of the United States government within the executive branch", charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It ...

(USA) and the Imperial War Museum.

Filming

The series was filmed in France, Canada and Germany. Filming took place over a total of 50 days. The French part of the shoot took place in and around Strasbourg. Among the location were the historical baths, an abandoned brewery and the chateau of Frœschwiller. The Canadian part of the shoot took place in the province of Québec. Among the locations were an old

quarry A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to reduce their envir ...

north of

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

, where a trench system, complete with accompanying

No-Man's-Land No man's land is waste or unowned land or an uninhabited or desolate area that may be under dispute between parties who leave it unoccupied out of fear or uncertainty. The term was originally used to define a contested territory or a dump ...

was constructed.

Team

Music

The score was created by the French composer Laurent Eyquem. Choir pieces were recorded in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...

Release

Broadcast

Arte Arte (; (), sometimes stylized in lowercase or uppercase in its logo) is a European public service channel dedicated to culture. It is made up of three separate companies: the Strasbourg-based European Economic Interest Grouping ARTE, plus ...

began broadcasting the eight-part series on 29 April 2014 in Germany and France, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the start of World War I. Additional partners of the series are SWR, NDR and WDR in Germany; ORF in Austria; and the BBC in the United Kingdom. ARD and ORF broadcast the series as four episodes of 45 minutes each. The BBC broadcast the series under the title ''Great War Diary'' in three episodes of 60 minutes. Dutch broadcasters NTR and

VPRO The VPRO (stylized vpro; originally an acronym for , ) is a Dutch public broadcaster, which forms a part of the Dutch public broadcasting system. Founded in 1926 as a liberal Protestant broadcasting organization, it gradually became more soc ...

produced an additional episode about the situation in the Netherlands which aired on 5 April 2014, on

Nederland 2 NPO 2 (''NPO twee'', formerly Nederland 2 until 2014) is a Dutch television channel, sister channel of NPO 1 and NPO 3. It was established on 1 October 1964 at 20:00, initially with a 2.5 hours schedule until 22:30. NPO 2 tends to broadcast art ...

. The remaining eight "international" episodes aired in the Netherlands between 12 April and 7 June. Sweden's SVT had several additional segments produced for their airing of the series which included introductions to each episode by historian and author

Peter Englund Peter Mikael Englund (born 4 April 1957) is a Swedish author and historian. Englund writes non-fiction books and essays, often about the Swedish Empire and other historical events. He writes in a very accessible style, providing narrative deta ...

and dramatisations of diaries from six Swedes to tell the story of Sweden during the Great War. These were edited into the original eight episodes which meant they ended up with a running time of sixty minutes. This version of the series premièred on

SVT1 SVT1 (SVT Ett; commonly referred to as Ettan) is the primary television station of the Swedish public service broadcaster Sveriges Television in Sweden. History Television in Sweden officially launched on 4 September 1956 with the launch of '' ...

on 26 June.

Home media

The German edition of the series was released on 14 May 2014, on DVD and Blu-ray Disc.

In other media

Radio feature

Beginning on 9 March 2014 the WDR broadcast a six-part, eponymous Radio Documentary by Christine Sievers and Nicolaus Schröder. This series is based and created in collaboration with the TV series.

Print

The series is accompanied by a coffee table book, which was published by

BBC Books BBC Books (also formerly known as BBC Publishing) is an imprint majority-owned and managed by Penguin Random House through its Ebury Publishing division. The minority shareholder is BBC Studios, the commercial subsidiary of the British Broadcasti ...

in the United Kingdom, and Bucher Verlag in Germany. In eight chapters, the book presents high resolution photographs, which were colorized prior and during World War I. Each photo is accompanied by a diary quote. The foreword is written by

. The book "14 - Der große Krieg" by Oliver Janz was published in October 2013 by Campus Verlag.

Exhibition

The Military History Museum

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...

shows in a special exhibition "14-Menschen-Krieg" from 01. August 2014 until 24. February 2015 all 14 biographies and their perspectives on World War I. The exhibition focuses on the eve of the war and furthermore shows the dimension and forms of sufferings of both, soldiers and civilians. The exhibition draws a conclusion of World War I and ends with a forecast on the soon to follow World War II.

Reception

Critical response

The series received very positive reviews.

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung The ''Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung'' (; ''FAZ''; "''Frankfurt General Newspaper''") is a centre-right conservative-liberal and liberal-conservativeHans Magnus Enzensberger: Alter Wein in neuen Schläuchen' (in German). ''Deutschland Radio'', ...

called it "Gripping, emotional, and real. A milestone for European television.".

Süddeutsche Zeitung The ''Süddeutsche Zeitung'' (; ), published in Munich, Bavaria, is one of the largest daily newspapers in Germany. The tone of SZ is mainly described as centre-left, liberal, social-liberal, progressive-liberal, and social-democrat. History ...

describes the series as "A story of the destruction and the future of television.".

Stuttgarter Zeitung The ''Stuttgarter Zeitung'' ("Stuttgart newspaper") is a German-language daily newspaper (except Sundays) edited in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, with a run of about 200,000 sold copies daily. History and profile It was first edited ...

calls it "Woven together like a modern television series.".

Neue Zürcher Zeitung The ''Neue Zürcher Zeitung'' (''NZZ''; "New Journal of Zürich") is a Swiss, German-language daily newspaper, published by NZZ Mediengruppe in Zürich. The paper was founded in 1780. It was described as having a reputation as a high-quality ne ...

says that "the program manages to fascinate by combining different observations, in different locations, and managing to condense these into a coherent mood.".

Le Monde ''Le Monde'' (; ) is a French daily afternoon newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average circulation of 323,039 copies per issue in 2009, about 40,000 of which were sold abroad. It has had its own website si ...

ascribes to the series "a never before seen virtuosity", while Direct Matin calls it "of exceptional quality." The Dutch version of the series was described as follows by

NRC Handelsblad ''NRC'', previously called ''NRC Handelsblad'' (), is a daily morning newspaper published in the Netherlands by NRC Media. It is generally accepted as a newspaper of record in the Netherlands. History ''NRC Handelsblad'' was first published on 1 ...

: "Phantastic Television Making… We ride a rollercoaster of emotions, as if we are not supposed to understand history but rather to live it ourselves." After watching the series on

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

, William F.B. O'Reilly called the series "superbly done" and said "unlike other Netflix programming that escapes the mind moments after consumption, "14" lingers. It consumes its viewers rather than the other way around."

Audience ratings

References

External links

Official web page of 14 - Diaries of the Great War (in German)

14 - Diaries of the Great War on the main production company's website

Review
at Fernsehserien.de
Special exhibition at Militärhistorisches Museum der Bundeswehr in Dresden
* {{DEFAULTSORT:14 - Diaries of the Great War German documentary television series World War I television drama series BBC television dramas Television series based on actual events Television shows based on books 2014 German television series debuts 2014 German television series endings 2014 French television series debuts 2014 Canadian television series debuts 2014 French television series endings 2014 Canadian television series endings French documentary television series 2010s Canadian documentary television series