# PBS series on WWI

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pbs-series-on-wwi/784504>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [April 15, 2017, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pbs-series-on-wwi/784504 "2017-04-15T15:38:33Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\
**Post date:** [April 15, 2017, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pbs-series-on-wwi/784504/1 "2017-04-15T15:38:33Z")

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Anybody else watching (or ‘watched’, since I recorded it)? Extremely well done documentary that sticks very close to history as I understand it. I’m familiar with most of it, having read several books on the subject, but there are some insights into Woodrow Wilson’s character flaws that are revealing. The series goes into detail about black soldiers and the huge diversity of immigrants that were drafted into the military, many of whom could barely speak English.

One thing I was unaware of were the detention centers for German-Americans who were suspected of supporting the mother country. I had, of course, read about the internment of Japanese-Americans in WWII, but didn’t realize that it had happened before. With the passage of the Sedition Act, America came its closest to becoming an authoritarian state under Wilson.

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**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\
**Post date:** [April 15, 2017, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pbs-series-on-wwi/784504/2 "2017-04-15T16:17:01Z")

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Are you talking about _The Great War_?

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**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\
**Post date:** [April 15, 2017, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pbs-series-on-wwi/784504/3 "2017-04-15T16:17:08Z")

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Yes, I’m watching. Very enjoyable and educational. We sometimes forget how draconian the laws could be back then. And the industrialization of war-- it’s often said this was a large part of the inspiration for Tolkien’s _LoTR_.

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**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\
**Post date:** [April 15, 2017, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pbs-series-on-wwi/784504/4 "2017-04-15T16:29:29Z")

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> [@Little\_Nemo](#):
>
> Are you talking about _The Great War_?

Yup.