Great War to Great Flu Year 3: Bleeding France White

July 1, 2026 is the 110^th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme. The bloodiest day in the British Army's history. The Somme offensive, however, was a diversion meant to relieve pressure on the French city of Verdun. There, the Germans had begun an offensive in Feb 1916 to bleed the French Army white.

1916 was a turning point in WWI. Belligerents on the Western Front began long, horrific battles of attrition. While much has been written about the impact of this bloody year on the fighting men, the consequences of "total war" on the civilian populations have been less studied. Historian Scott Hileman will give an overview of Verdun and the Somme before we see footage of the fighting in "Apocalypse WWI Part 03: Hell" (2016). Microbiologist Mark Chee will discuss how the incredible strains of the Great War exacerbated the eventual impact of the 1918 influenza pandemic.