EPISODE 5 | JOHNNY, GET YOUR GUN

On 2 April 1917, President Woodrow Wilson went to Congress to seek permission to declare war. He was met with tumultuous applause and on 6 April 1917 America finally entered the conflict. A new drama from Martyn Wade - ENTER THE PEACE BROKER - brings America’s journey into war vividly alive. Based on first-hand accounts – diaries, letters and contemporary press coverage – it is a compelling story of duplicity and diplomatic intrigue, of colourful personalities engaged in great power politics, and of secret communications between Washington, London and Berlin set against the backdrop of war.

FEBRUARY 1917. President Wilson orders the arming of merchant ships as America drifts ever closer to war. On 2 April 1917, President Wilson addresses Congress and on 6 April America declares war on Germany. But has help come too late? Britain sends Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour to Washington to press the Allied cause.

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A ChromeRadio Production 2017 | With thanks to the Rothermere Foundation

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EPISODE 5

By the time America joined the War in April 1917, Britain was on the verge of bankruptcy. President Wilson had finally accepted that the US would have to fight if it wanted to help shape the peace, but there was concern in Britain that he did not appreciate how critical the Allied position had become. Professor Sir Hew Strachan considers how the peacemaker turned belligerent and the War Missions despatched by Britain to the US to press its case.

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EPISODE 4 | IT’S A LONG WAY TO BERLIN

On 2 April 1917, President Woodrow Wilson went to Congress to seek permission to declare war. He was met with tumultuous applause and on 6 April 1917 America finally entered the conflict. A new drama from Martyn Wade - ENTER THE PEACE BROKER - brings America’s journey into war vividly alive. Based on first-hand accounts – diaries, letters and contemporary press coverage – it is a compelling story of duplicity and diplomatic intrigue, of colourful personalities engaged in great power politics, and of secret communications between Washington, London and Berlin set against the backdrop of war.

JANUARY 1917. Germany declares unrestricted U-boat warfare. President Wilson goes before the Senate to appeal to the world for ‘peace without victory’. But interception of a telegram from German Foreign Minister Zimmermann to the German Ambassador in Mexico City forces the peace broker President to reconsider his position.

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A ChromeRadio Production 2017 | With thanks to the Rothermere Foundation

#History #WW1

EPISODE 4

The failure of the German peace initiative of December 1916 made it impossible for Chancellor Bethmann Hollweg to resist pressure from the army and the navy to adopt unrestricted U-boat warfare. On 31 January 1917, the Kaiser finally announced that Germany would sink all shipping, neutral as well as belligerent, without warning. Professor Sir Hew Strachan examines how German belligerence finally brought the US into the First World War.

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EPISODE 3 | I DIDN’T RAISE MY BOY TO BE A SOLDIER

On 2 April 1917, President Woodrow Wilson went to Congress to seek permission to declare war. He was met with tumultuous applause and on 6 April 1917 America finally entered the conflict. A new drama from Martyn Wade - ENTER THE PEACE BROKER - brings America’s journey into war vividly alive. Based on first-hand accounts – diaries, letters and contemporary press coverage – it is a compelling story of duplicity and diplomatic intrigue, of colourful personalities engaged in great power politics, and of secret communications between Washington, London and Berlin set against the backdrop of war.

NOVEMBER 1916. President Wilson is recovering from the stress of the election campaign. In Britain, the Asquith coalition is about to fall. The push for peace intensifies and Wilson finds himself wrong-footed by a peace offer from Berlin. Is Germany in earnest or is it a cynical ploy?

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A ChromeRadio Production 2017 | With thanks to the Rothermere Foundation

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EPISODE 3

The efforts of President Wilson’s adviser, Colonel House, to use the neutrality of the United States to broker a peace in 1915 and early 1916 had little hope of success. But by the end of 1916, the prospects for peace had improved. Professor Sir Hew Strachan considers Germany’s and America’s competing peace initiatives of December 1916.

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EPISODE 2 | THE HERO OF THE EUROPEAN WAR

On 2 April 1917, President Woodrow Wilson went to Congress to seek permission to declare war. He was met with tumultuous applause and on 6 April 1917 America finally entered the conflict. A new drama from Martyn Wade - ENTER THE PEACE BROKER - brings America’s journey into war vividly alive. Based on first-hand accounts – diaries, letters and contemporary press coverage – it is a compelling story of duplicity and diplomatic intrigue, of colourful personalities engaged in great power politics, and of secret communications between Washington, London and Berlin set against the backdrop of war.

JUNE 1915. Anti-German feeling in America is running high following the sinking of the Lusitania. At the front, the Allies are not making the progress they had hoped for. But President Wilson refuses to be drawn into the conflict - he has an election at home to think about.

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A ChromeRadio Production 2017 | With thanks to the Rothermere Foundation

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EPISODE 2

Sir Edward Grey, the British Foreign Secretary, found himself treading a diplomatic tightrope: how ‘to secure the maximum of blockade that could be enforced without a rupture with the United States’? Professor Sir Hew Strachan reflects on the war at sea and the challenges of securing the right kind of peace.

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EPISODE 1 | WHEN THE LUSITANIA WENT DOWN

On 2 April 1917, President Woodrow Wilson went to Congress to seek permission to declare war. He was met with tumultuous applause and on 6 April 1917 America finally entered the conflict. A new drama from Martyn Wade - ENTER THE PEACE BROKER - brings America’s journey into war vividly alive. Based on first-hand accounts – diaries, letters and contemporary press coverage – it is a compelling story of duplicity and diplomatic intrigue, of colourful personalities engaged in great power politics, and of secret communications between Washington, London and Berlin set against the backdrop of war.

FEBRUARY 1915. Colonel House, President Wilson’s right-hand man, is aboard the Lusitania bound for Liverpool. His mission: to negotiate peace. But the voyage is a perilous one. German submarines are on the prowl in the Irish Sea.

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A ChromeRadio Production 2017 | With thanks to the Rothermere Foundation

#History #WW1

EPISODE 1

The story of the First World War runs in parallel with another narrative – the story of how to define peace and how to make that peace relevant to a world profoundly changed by war. Professor Sir Hew Strachan explores how the pursuit of peace became another form of war

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