Uploaded April 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
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For more than three long months in 1917, Allied and German soldiers fought tooth and nail over a battlefield churned into a sea of sucking mud and shellholes by the guns. Hundreds of thousands were killed and wounded, some of them drowning in the soupy ground — for Allied gains of just a few kilometers. So why did the Battle of Passchendaele happen at all, and was it the most pointless battle of the First World War?
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» THANKS TO OUR CO-PRODUCERS
Rose Flaglor, Reed Spilmann, Erik Ritter, Cardboard, Ken Brownfield, David Garfinkle, Raymond Martin, Konstantin Bredyuk, Lisa Anderson, Brad Durbin, Jeremy K Jones, Murray Godfrey, John Ozment, Stephen Parker, Mavrides, Kristina Colburn, Stefan Jackowski, Cardboard, William Kincade, William Wallace, Daniel L Garza, Chris Daley, Malcolm Swan, Christoph Wolf, Simen Røste, Jim F Barlow, Taylor Allen, Adam Smith, James Giliberto, Albert B. Knapp MD, Tobias Wildenblanck, Richard L Benkin, Marco Kuhnert, Matt Barnes, Ramon Rijkhoek, Jan, Scott Deederly, gsporie, Kekoa, Bruce G. Hearns, Hans Broberg, Fogeltje
» SOURCES
Boff, Jonathan. Haig’s Enemy. Crown Prince Rupprecht and Germany’s War on the Western Front. OUP, 2018.
Fraser, Donald. The Journal of Private Fraser. CEF Books, 1998.
Hart, Peter. The Great War 1914-1918. Profile Books, 2013.
Jones, Spencer. “Ypres, Battles of.” In 1914-1918-online International Encyclopedia of the First World War, encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/ypres-battles-of
Jünger, Ernst. Storm of Steel. Penguin, 2004.
Ludendorff, Erich. My War Memories, 1914–1918. Hutchinson & Co, 1919.
Moore, Chris. “The General Who Wept.” In Historia. historiamag.com/the-general-who-wept/.
New Zealand History, “New Zealand’s Blackest Day at Passchendaele.” nzhistory.govt.nz/new-zealands-blackest-day-at-passchendaele
Sassoon, Siegfried. “Memorial Tablet.” 1918. https://net.lib.byu.edu/english/wwi/children/memorial.html
Sheffield, Gary. “Haig, Douglas.” 1914-1918-online International Encyclopedia of the First World War, encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/haig-douglas/.
Stevenson, David. 1914 1918. The History of the First World War. Penguin, 2013.
Warner, Philip. Passchendaele: The Story Behind the Tragic Victory of 1917. Pen & Sword Military Classics, 2005.
Wiest, Andrew. Haig: The Evolution of a Commander. Potomac Books, 2005.
» OUR SISTER CHANNEL
youtube.com/realtimehistory
»CREDITS
Presented by: Jesse Alexander
Written by: Jesse Alexander
Director: Toni Steller
Editing: Toni Steller
Motion Design: Toni Steller, Philipp Appelt
Mixing, Mastering & Sound Design: above-zero.com
Research by: Jesse Alexander, Leander Lerch
Fact checking: Florian Wittig
Executive Producer: Florian Wittig
Channel Design: Yves Thimian
Contains licensed material by getty images, AP and Reuters
Maps: MapTiler/OpenStreetMap Contributors & GEOlayers3
All photos and film in our documentaries are authentic historical footage. We do not use generative AI to create new assets. However, we may use AI tools to upscale or clean up certain assets without distorting or compromising the original image.
All rights reserved - Real Time History GmbH 2024
Support us and get 40% off Nebula: go.nebula.tv/the-great-war
Watch 16 Days in Berlin on Nebula: nebula.tv/videos/16-days-in-berlin-01-prologue-the-beginning-of-the-end?ref=the-great-war
For more than three long months in 1917, Allied and German soldiers fought tooth and nail over a battlefield churned into a sea of sucking mud and shellholes by the guns. Hundreds of thousands were killed and wounded, some of them drowning in the soupy ground — for Allied gains of just a few kilometers. So why did the Battle of Passchendaele happen at all, and was it the most pointless battle of the First World War?
» SUPPORT THE CHANNEL
Patreon: patreon.com/realtimehistory
Nebula: nebula.tv/the-great-war
» THANKS TO OUR CO-PRODUCERS
Rose Flaglor, Reed Spilmann, Erik Ritter, Cardboard, Ken Brownfield, David Garfinkle, Raymond Martin, Konstantin Bredyuk, Lisa Anderson, Brad Durbin, Jeremy K Jones, Murray Godfrey, John Ozment, Stephen Parker, Mavrides, Kristina Colburn, Stefan Jackowski, Cardboard, William Kincade, William Wallace, Daniel L Garza, Chris Daley, Malcolm Swan, Christoph Wolf, Simen Røste, Jim F Barlow, Taylor Allen, Adam Smith, James Giliberto, Albert B. Knapp MD, Tobias Wildenblanck, Richard L Benkin, Marco Kuhnert, Matt Barnes, Ramon Rijkhoek, Jan, Scott Deederly, gsporie, Kekoa, Bruce G. Hearns, Hans Broberg, Fogeltje
» SOURCES
Boff, Jonathan. Haig’s Enemy. Crown Prince Rupprecht and Germany’s War on the Western Front. OUP, 2018.
Fraser, Donald. The Journal of Private Fraser. CEF Books, 1998.
Hart, Peter. The Great War 1914-1918. Profile Books, 2013.
Jones, Spencer. “Ypres, Battles of.” In 1914-1918-online International Encyclopedia of the First World War, encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/ypres-battles-of
Jünger, Ernst. Storm of Steel. Penguin, 2004.
Ludendorff, Erich. My War Memories, 1914–1918. Hutchinson & Co, 1919.
Moore, Chris. “The General Who Wept.” In Historia. historiamag.com/the-general-who-wept/.
New Zealand History, “New Zealand’s Blackest Day at Passchendaele.” nzhistory.govt.nz/new-zealands-blackest-day-at-passchendaele
Sassoon, Siegfried. “Memorial Tablet.” 1918. https://net.lib.byu.edu/english/wwi/children/memorial.html
Sheffield, Gary. “Haig, Douglas.” 1914-1918-online International Encyclopedia of the First World War, encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/haig-douglas/.
Stevenson, David. 1914 1918. The History of the First World War. Penguin, 2013.
Warner, Philip. Passchendaele: The Story Behind the Tragic Victory of 1917. Pen & Sword Military Classics, 2005.
Wiest, Andrew. Haig: The Evolution of a Commander. Potomac Books, 2005.
» OUR SISTER CHANNEL
youtube.com/realtimehistory
»CREDITS
Presented by: Jesse Alexander
Written by: Jesse Alexander
Director: Toni Steller
Editing: Toni Steller
Motion Design: Toni Steller, Philipp Appelt
Mixing, Mastering & Sound Design: above-zero.com
Research by: Jesse Alexander, Leander Lerch
Fact checking: Florian Wittig
Executive Producer: Florian Wittig
Channel Design: Yves Thimian
Contains licensed material by getty images, AP and Reuters
Maps: MapTiler/OpenStreetMap Contributors & GEOlayers3
All photos and film in our documentaries are authentic historical footage. We do not use generative AI to create new assets. However, we may use AI tools to upscale or clean up certain assets without distorting or compromising the original image.
All rights reserved - Real Time History GmbH 2024
