大象传媒

In the final programme of his series, Professor Sir Christopher Clark explores the dark legacy of the First World War. Although the Paris Peace Conference of 1919 was the most elaborate in the history of warfare, Chris considers how the Treaty of Versailles created serious instabilities in the European post-war system, particularly alienating Germany and Russia. These instabilities were played out in the rise of nationalist movements in the 20s and 30s and the onset of the even more devastating Second World War in 1939.

Chris also examines the longer-term impact of the war across the globe, including in Asia and in the Middle East, where the legacy of the First World War still resonates in the names of Sykes-Picot and Lord Arthur Balfour. This, he argues, was a war that has never really ended, the 'calamity out of which all other calamities sprang'.

With Margaret Macmillan, Dominic Lieven, Brendan Simms and Mustafa Aksakal.

Readings by Ewan Bailey and Fernando Tiberini.

Sir Christopher Clark is Regius Professor of History at the University of Cambridge. He is the author of Kaiser Wilhelm II: A Life in Power, Iron Kingdom and - most recently - the highly acclaimed and award-winning The Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went To War. In 2014, he presented Month of Madness on 大象传媒 Radio 4 about the outbreak of the First World War. You can listen to that series online by visiting http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03t7p27 or clicking on the related link below.

Produced by Melissa FitzGerald
A Blakeway production for 大象传媒 Radio 4.