Uploaded January 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
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From 1914 to 1919, Allied warships in the Atlantic and Mediterranean controlled maritime trade to and from the Central Powers – stopping shipments of weapons and raw materials, but also food, from reaching their enemies. At the same time, hundreds of thousands of German civilians died of hunger-related causes. Often, these deaths and even the outcome of the war are attributed to the naval blockade – but did the British really starve Germany into surrender in WW1?
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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
Baş, Mehmet Fatih. “War Losses (Ottoman Empire/Middle East)”. In 1914-1918-online. International Encyclopedia of the First World War. 2017-11-20. encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/war-losses-ottoman-empiremiddle-east
Blücher, Evelyn. An English Wife in Berlin : A Private Memoir of Events, Politics, and Daily Life in Germany throughout the War and the Social Revolution of 1918. E.P. Dutton and Company, 1920.
Davis, Belinda. ‘Food and Nutrition: Germany’. International Encyclopedia of the First World War. 8th October 2014. encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/food-and-nutrition-germany
Kramer, Alan. “Blockade and Economic Warfare.” In Winter, Jay (ed) The Cambridge History of the First World War: Volume II The State. Cambridge UP, 2014.
Osborne, Eric. W. “Naval Warfare”. International Encyclopedia of the First World War. 8th October 2014. encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/naval-warfare
Osborne, Eric W. Britain’s Economic Blockade of Germany, 1914-1919. London ; Frank Cass, 2004.
Vincent, C. Paul. The Politics of Hunger: The Allied Blockade of Germany, 1915-1919. Ohio University Press, 1986.
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youtube.com/realtimehistory
»CREDITS
Presented by: Jesse Alexander
Written by: Jesse Alexander
Director: Toni Steller
Editing: Philipp Appelt
Motion Design: Philipp Appelt
Mixing, Mastering & Sound Design: above-zero.com
Research by: Jesse Alexander, Annabel Blakey
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 2025
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
From 1914 to 1919, Allied warships in the Atlantic and Mediterranean controlled maritime trade to and from the Central Powers – stopping shipments of weapons and raw materials, but also food, from reaching their enemies. At the same time, hundreds of thousands of German civilians died of hunger-related causes. Often, these deaths and even the outcome of the war are attributed to the naval blockade – but did the British really starve Germany into surrender in WW1?
» SUPPORT THE CHANNEL
Patreon: patreon.com/realtimehistory
Watch this video ad-free on Nebula: XX
» 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
Baş, Mehmet Fatih. “War Losses (Ottoman Empire/Middle East)”. In 1914-1918-online. International Encyclopedia of the First World War. 2017-11-20. encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/war-losses-ottoman-empiremiddle-east
Blücher, Evelyn. An English Wife in Berlin : A Private Memoir of Events, Politics, and Daily Life in Germany throughout the War and the Social Revolution of 1918. E.P. Dutton and Company, 1920.
Davis, Belinda. ‘Food and Nutrition: Germany’. International Encyclopedia of the First World War. 8th October 2014. encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/food-and-nutrition-germany
Kramer, Alan. “Blockade and Economic Warfare.” In Winter, Jay (ed) The Cambridge History of the First World War: Volume II The State. Cambridge UP, 2014.
Osborne, Eric. W. “Naval Warfare”. International Encyclopedia of the First World War. 8th October 2014. encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/naval-warfare
Osborne, Eric W. Britain’s Economic Blockade of Germany, 1914-1919. London ; Frank Cass, 2004.
Vincent, C. Paul. The Politics of Hunger: The Allied Blockade of Germany, 1915-1919. Ohio University Press, 1986.
» OUR SISTER CHANNEL
youtube.com/realtimehistory
»CREDITS
Presented by: Jesse Alexander
Written by: Jesse Alexander
Director: Toni Steller
Editing: Philipp Appelt
Motion Design: Philipp Appelt
Mixing, Mastering & Sound Design: above-zero.com
Research by: Jesse Alexander, Annabel Blakey
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 2025
