[Music]
19:17 europe is at war then Germany like
everywhere else
women are filling in for the men the men
are dead or at the front or too old
in a Berlin subway station a few lucky
soldiers able to get away on leave find
widows and fiance's still smiling for
the camera
back home one of the soldiers
demonstrates the use of his gas mask
[Music]
he is brought a magnificent gift a
treasure a banana it's a rare treat in
this impoverished country so many are
starving as a result of the British
naval blockade Germany is descending
into
in this excerpt from a German propaganda
film the ogre of tuberculosis stalks
Germany's children
food rations are lowered to a thousand
calories a day over the course of the
war
400,000 German civilians will die of
malnutrition
victor klemper
later a celebrated intellectual survives
this ordeal he writes I never used to be
obsessed with food now I go to bed and
wake up famished weary my imagination
exhausted and again I think if only I
had more potatoes the kaiser wilhelm ii
continues to enjoy lavish meals he and
his entourage could hardly be too
concerned about the fate of civilians
when by 1917 1 million German soldiers
have already been killed on the various
fronts
[Music]
reports by dr. su Cao of Frankfurt Frau
x45 married 11 years two children age 10
and for a healthy orderly and
hard-working woman always in good
spirits four weeks ago her husband was
killed in battle she turned on the gas
unable to bear the pain
[Music]
in the trenches after three years of war
the men are desperate to see it end and
filled with rage
in 1917 the Germans are on the defensive
in the West they are determined to hold
their conquered territory in northern
France and Belgium in the East Germany
occupies 310 thousand square miles of
the Russian Empire Russia February 1917
tsar nicholas ii is still in the field
commanding the army and the capital the
czarina governs instead the russian
people hate her convinced she is a
german spy
the evil monk Rasputin is dead
assassinated because of his influence
over the czarina in this climate of
madness and heightened religious fervor
the Czar must face a tragedy the death
toll
a million and a half Russian soldiers
are dead close to five million have been
wounded a factory for artificial limbs
in Kiev is meant to reassure the
country's many amputees instead it
symbolizes a crippled regime
the war has amputated Russia's wealth
and vitality its lifeblood
[Music]
the Russian army begins to mutiny many
soldiers abandon their posts to join
their wives who on February 23rd 1917 in
st. Petersburg demonstrate against the
war famine and the loss of their
husbands
[Music]
they are joined by students and workers
[Music]
it is the start of the Russian
Revolution
[Applause]
[Music]
in the Russian capital the Army Garrison
responsible for maintaining civilian
order sides with the rebels the banners
proclaim the people in the army united
peace
[Applause]
long live the Republic and down with the
old regime
on March 15 1917 nicholas ii abdicates
he is captured here on film for the last
time with his four daughters the Grand
Duchesses and his only son and heir
czarevitch Alexei a hemophiliac to
fragile terrain Nicholas is looking for
another successor but unrest has reached
such a pitch that the Soviet the
Revolutionary Council in the capital
demands an end to the Romanov dynasty
which has plunged Russia into the war
a provisional moderate government
dominated by the Minister of Justice the
Socialists Alexander Kerensky considers
allowing the deposed czar to go into
exile Nikolas under house arrest
requests political asylum from his dear
cousin George v King of England
while awaiting the answer the Tsar
writes in his diary today I sorted
through my books and belongings choosing
what I will take to England the family's
departure is delayed because the
children have come down with measles
much to their amusement the czarina has
their heads shaved but precious time has
been lost in England King George does
not want to endanger his own popularity
or his throne
fear of revolutionary contagion haunts
the British government it formally
advises against providing refuge to the
Czar and his family
george v abandons his dear cousin who so
closely resembles him
the great empires begin to fall
in Russia will the revolution put an end
to the war
no because Kerensky head of the
provisional government needs the help of
his British and French allies he too
fans the flames of patriotism
[Music]
Kerensky plans an offensive he counts on
a victory to unite the Russian people
around his Democratic and Republican
regime Germany's Ally the
austro-hungarian Empire is also
teetering its peoples are starving
because of the blockade at the end of
the previous year Vienna had buried its
Emperor Franz Josef who died at the age
of 86 after reigning for over half a
century
he lived long enough to witness the
disaster he helped unleash after the
assassination in Sarajevo in 1914 his
generals had pushed the Emperor into war
now half their army is gone what can put
an end to the butchery
[Music]
in his book the world of yesterday
Stefan Zweig captures the prevailing
pessimism he writes the steps of the
temple of peace are awash in blood
it's a heavy legacy for the new emperor
Karl the first at 29 Karl is keenly
aware of the fragility of his empire
after its defeats and the demands for
independence by his peoples like the
Czechs Slovaks and
Karla's served at the front
he hates war he opposes the tactic of
futile assaults with their terrible cost
in human life
he and his young wife Zita are devout
Catholics what he wants above all is to
make peace he fears the revolutionary
flames spreading from Russia
he says the waves of revolutionary
unrest will sweep everything away if we
monarchs do not make peace the people
will make it over our heads
[Music]
in march 1917 he sends a secret peace
proposal to Paris that interests France
in England but Karl refuses to grant
concessions to Italy and negotiations
fail in Germany when kaiser wilhelm ii
is informed of the separate peace plan
he threatens to invade his ally austria
the kaiser makes his own proposal to end
the hostilities and he suggests that the
belligerents accept the status quo
germany will keep the territory it has
conquered Belgium northern France and of
course as Iceland
[Music]
France categorically rejects Germany's
peace proposal this only hardens the
position of the German military headed
by Field Marshal von Hindenburg
and from this point on in full command
the true master of Germany general
ludendorf
[Applause]
in Berlin Ludendorff is worried about
strikes and social unrest
that echoed the events in Russia the
munitions factories have been kept
running for the last three years by
exhausted women and soldiers no longer
able to serve at the front
[Music]
the famous both hidden the sacred union
between socialists and government
authorities that had made the war
possible begins to break down key German
socialist leaders abandoned the party to
found the Spartacus revolutionary
movement which calls for an immediate
end to the war
ludendorff sees but one solution a
German victory as quickly as possible
bring England to its knees with what he
calls unrestricted submarine warfare
this decision will change the course of
history 100 German submarines were
ordered to attack any and all commercial
vessels including neutral ships contrary
to international laws of the sea
[Music]
the German chancellor bethmann-hollweg
fears an American reaction
he says Germany is lost
the entails a Bolton or you both
received the order to fire their
torpedoes at any ship supplying England
including American ones
the German Admirals calculate that if
their submarines sink 500,000 tons of
ships a month
England will capitulated six months
whereas if the Americans enter the war
they will not be ready for a year
the first battle of the atlantic begins
[Music]
these submarine commanders are the new
heroes of Germany among them is this
descendant of French Emma Gray's now a
model Prussian lotta fun ah Hinault de
la pelea
his submarine you 35 stars in a
propaganda film glorifying his
accomplishments he proudly takes the
famous Lloyd's Register of ships
published by the British insurance
company and listing every commercial
vessel in the world and crosses out his
latest kill
[Music]
lotta fun Avenue de l'Opera air will
sink 200 ships over 500,000 tons a
record
he writes I would have preferred to
fight the enemy in real naval battles
rather than destroy unarmed vessels
but we made sure that the crews were in
lifeboats
we pointed them toward the closest port
and sank their ship with our cannon
[Applause]
in reality however the German
submariners seen here celebrating a
victory rarely worry about the fate of
their shipwrecked enemies
cruise aboard merchant ships have no
chance against the u-boats lurking below
the surface
and the 1700 French soldiers aboard the
transport ship Galya had no chance
against how no gonna be a who sank their
ship without mercy
the unrestricted submarine war confirms
the German Chancellor's worst fears
[Music]
on march 19th 1917 three american
merchant ships are sunk in the atlantic
this event allows US President Woodrow
Wilson to act
he needs an excuse to bring America into
the war
Wilson can no longer remain a pacifist
for him
France is the birthplace of the
Declaration of the Rights of Man if
France is threatened so is democracy he
declares America is privileged to spend
her blood for the principles that gave
her birth and happiness and the peace
which she is treasured
but it is not only on principle that he
wishes to help the French and British
the two countries oh the United States
two billion dollars this debt will never
be repaid if Germany wins the war with
his unrestricted submarine warfare
[Music]
[Applause]
but America has profited from his
neutrality after a long economic crisis
u.s. manufacturing is flourishing thanks
to the export to Europe of canned goods
cotton or an explosives for the war
industry
America has become powerful and Wilson
wants it to play a leading role in the
world that will emerge from the war
however in 1916 while campaigning for
re-election Wilson had promised the six
million voters of German origin that
America would remain neutral
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
the press is solidly isolationist and
opposed to any US military intervention
how can Wilson turn public opinion in
favor of the war
[Music]
in the wake of the torpedo attacks
another crisis erupts providing
ammunition for his stance
the previous year the u.s. cavalry had
intervened in Mexico following acts of
sabotage along the border wilson
suspects that mexico is being financed
by germany to create unrest in the US
the British Secret Service intercepts a
German telegram that promises Mexico
nothing less than the states of Texas
and Arizona if Germany wins the war
this telegram provides Wilson the
pretext he needs to end American
isolationism and to convince Congress to
vote for war on Germany on April 6th
1917 the United States enters the war
against Germany and its allies that
joins ranks with the British Empire
which reaches from Canada to Australia
France and its colonies Russia Italy
Belgium Serbia Greece Portugal and Japan
the conflict is now truly a world war
on April 24th France's Marshall Jaffa
visits the United States to promote the
Alliance his presence awakens in many
Americans their passion for France in
1781 the Marquis de Lafayette had made a
decisive contribution to the American
War of Independence
Lafayette Navasky
Lafayette we are here will soon become
the battle cry of American troops in
France there's already a Lafayette
squadron made up of volunteer pilots
[Applause]
the French flag waves alongside the
Stars and Stripes the British Union Jack
and banners proclaiming hell is too good
for the Hun
[Applause]
despite the early enthusiasm the
impassioned speeches in defense of
democracy the huge parades and
impressive demonstrations of military
might
America has practically no army
only 125,000 troops including 15,000 of
these Marines it's only real soldiers
[Music]
there is an urgent need for volunteers
the Americans follow the lead of the
British an issue a recruiting poster
featuring Uncle Sam saying I want you US
authorities expect 1 million men to
volunteer but six weeks in only 80,000
have signed up
for Americans the war is far away
they're still haunted by the butchery of
the Civil War which ended just fifty
years earlier
the Selective Service Act is imposed at
first training of recruits is
rudimentary there is nothing ready
except the dreaded drill sergeant
not enough uniforms dummy wood rifles
and dummy cannons to
[Applause]
on the other hand the recruits are often
good street fighters a skill they've
learned in a country whose evolution is
marked by bloodshed
[Music]
very soon these men will be plunged into
real warfare
but none of them will make it to Europe
if German submarines continue sinking
allied vessels
a decision is made to arm the ships and
to organize them in convoys protected by
escorts of destroyers
destroyers are small warships built for
speed and maneuverability with crews
trained to spot the periscopes of
lurking summerhouse
[Music]
destroyers are armed with depth charges
canisters filled with explosives that
are dropped overboard set to explode at
a certain depth they can sink a
submarine or force it to surface
[Music]
German losses rise and the convoy system
enables more supplies to reach England
and France
[Music]
in the spring of 1917 France has been at
war for three years a disastrous
offensive in the north near the village
of Cowen on the plateau known as the
chemin de Dom has precipitated a crisis
simmering in the French army French
troops do not understand why their
commanders have learned nothing from the
suicidal assaults
general pizza is now commander-in-chief
he is known to take the well-being of
his troops to heart unlike the other
generals the French army film unit
exploits batons popularity Pizza is
portrayed as a benevolent father figure
in a scene aimed at quelling unrest
among the troops he drinks their ruff
wine and after tasting their soup
orders that had be improved and he hands
out cigarettes his solemn expression
meant to convey what a great and
determined leader he is the military
tribunals have put 3,500 mutineers on
trial 1380 have been sentenced to long
prison terms 600 have been condemned to
death
57 have been executed as these rare
clandestine images show in the spring of
1917 and a letter confiscated by army
mail censors a French soldier writes if
women knew how bad it is they would rise
up together to end the war they would
shout we demand our husbands down with
war another intercepted letter from a
soldier in the 36th Infantry Regiment I
protested like the others I'm too weary
of war my dear sweet wife take pity on
my weakness forgive me but I've had
enough of war
[Music]
corporal Louie bought us prefers to
confide in his notebook as I write the
Russian Revolution is breaking out these
Slavic soldiers subject to iron
discipline who marched into the massacre
like passive slaves have broken their
chains
but sympathizers beware one subversive
word and it's a court-martial no letter
goes on opened
ten billion letters are exchanged during
the war for many soldiers these letters
from home give them the will to live
[Music]
the men know that their letters may be
read by government censors
[Music]
private Mahal 26 of the 260 second
Infantry Regiment rights to georgette
I think only of writing you of loving
you of holding you and feeling your
kisses renewed by the happiness that is
you
[Music]
June 1917 thousands of soldiers go on
leave on orders from Pathan
as if he had agreed to one of the
demands of the mutineers in fact he is
only applying the law ignored until then
that grants troops seven days rest every
four months
thousands of men can suddenly go home
like private Gaston Navy already in his
40s he fought at the Battle of Verdun
back home in Paris he is bitter no one
cares about us we are being sacrificed
the poor bastards at the front we feel
forgotten unwanted out of place as if we
don't belong
the war enriches the profit ears away
from the front the good life goes on
so many soldiers have gone without sex
for so long but they're miserable pay
the only comfort that can afford is a
prostitute who may have to serve as 50
clients that day
[Music]
the French army film unit turns its
cameras on these soldiers in the north
where an offensive is being prepared
they are shown on the north sea coast
outside Dunkirk frolicking like children
at a summer camp
in June the sea is freezing cold and
these images meant to reassure the
troops don't convince their wives in the
cities women go on strike against
exploitation poverty and loneliness
[Music]
[Applause]
men must return to their trenches their
foxholes their despair
[Music]
many slip into an altered mental state
including one of the greatest French
poets Guillaume uppity now an artillery
officer who was seriously wounded
[Music]
he writes the cannons like phalluses
impregnate the loving earth
in this time of bestial instincts war is
just like making love
[Music]
the wave of mutinies dissolves in
resignation helplessness and lack of
coordination with other strikes and
protests and factories back home but the
French army has no strength left for
further offensives the arrival of the
first American troops brings a ray of
hope
having crossed the Atlantic despite the
threat of German u-boats the commander
of the American Expeditionary Force is
first to disembark general john pershing
57 is fresh from his great success
leading the Mexican military expedition
he lands at Blue Tongue on June 13 1917
the French admire his fine military
bearing and dashing appearance
[Music]
Parisians welcome him with hope born out
of English
his first act is to pay his respects
with marshal Java at the tomb of
Lafayette
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
On June 23rd 1917 the mayor of San
Isaiah posts these notices in a few
hours
American troops will land in San Isaiah
we owe them the friendliest of welcomes
[Music]
let us cheer our allies as they pass
[Applause]
let us wave flags in their honor
[Music]
the great American Republic in our own
are fighting for the same ideal of
civilization justice and honor
long lived the United States of America
long live France
[Music]
soon there will be a million US soldiers
[Music]
at first the american's where the
campaign had but soon switched to the
more effective British helmet but even
so the boys are instantly recognizable
they are cool with friendly smiles
the French mm Sammy's as an Uncle Sam
for their part the Americans call the
French froggies because they're known
for eating frogs legs
[Music]
corporal Charlie Bell 20 from Boston
Massachusetts writes these people drink
wine as if it was water
too young to drink at home the Americans
quickly develop a taste for wine
[Music]
another soldier writes to the New York
Tribune we have come to fight for France
and in exchange we are pounced upon by a
greedy people that sees us only as
dollar signs
but in general the US troops are popular
everywhere they go a Paris newspaper
publishes a letter to the editor I am
the happiest of Parisian shop girls and
soon I will be the happiest of all women
when I am pronounced mrs. Robinson
[Music]
the French as well as the British want
to force Pershing to integrate American
soldiers and French units Pershing
refuses he insists on an American army
he says no one ever puts new wine in old
goat skins
as a concession to his allies he assigns
to the amalgamated units black America
soldiers
the African American soldiers are
stunned by the Welcome they received
from the French troops back home these
grandchildren of slaves still live under
the oppression of segregation
they're French commander general Gua B
says we will never forget the heroism of
our african-american brothers and arms
the way French generals prove their
commitment to equality is by sending all
troops of every color to their deaths
but in the American army
african-american soldiers are usually
relegated to non-combat duties they
bring to the old world the new worlds
music jazz takes the continent by storm
[Music]
here in a French military hospital the
celebrated Harlem jazz musician James
Reese Europe entertains the wounded with
his famous Memphis blues
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
the Americans training is considered
substandard by British and French
instructors who are brought in to raise
their combat skills
it will take time to turn the Americans
into real soldiers they are also
desperately short of equipment in
America so cannot meet the needs of its
troops it has to buy from France 2,500
cannons 11 million artillery shells
50,000 machine guns 200 million bullets
4500 airplanes and above all 235 Renault
FTS this revolutionary new tank the
first armored vehicle with a rotating
turret is crucial to the war of movement
that Pershing wants to wage
to finance the staggering purchase the
United States launches a massive bond
issue the little tramp played by Charlie
Chaplin then the world's most famous
movie star exhorts audiences to buy
Liberty Bonds
[Music]
the French two are now accustomed to
constant requests to buy war bonds as
our citizens of all nations fighting to
bring the Kaiser to his knees
[Music]
moviegoers are frequently targeted in
this famous scene a decade before the
talkies a soldier addresses the audience
directly while behind the screen a real
actress speaks his lines ladies and
gentlemen you should I have but one word
to say to you
subscribe cleaving the war costs 50
times more than foreseen in 1914
industrialists like Renault Ford crook
and Citroen grow wealthy located in the
15th era lundi small in Paris Citron's
factories turn out 26 million shells in
the infernal den of the cavernous
workshops underpaid women put in 11
hours a day including Sundays
on July 1st 1917 England's King George v
arrives on the continent
it's his 400th visit to the front on the
dunes lining the North Sea the Belgian
Army pays tribute to him the Belgian
monarch Albert the first heroically
hangs on to what is left of his country
Albert is King George's cousin both are
of German origin descendants of the
house of saxe-coburg and Gotha but King
George has decided to change his name
henceforth the British royal family will
be called the House of Windsor
George v is worried German u-boats are
starving the English people and killing
countless victims he must find a way out
[Music]
his solution is to seize the kaisers
submarine bases in occupied Belgium at
Ostend and Bruges British military
leaders prepare this offensive in
Belgium their commander is Field Marshal
Hague nicknamed by his men the butcher
of the song
but eggs army has also gone through
crisis 306 British soldiers from the
trenches have been executed for refusing
to climb these ladders and go over the
top to certain death
a few weeks earlier in April 1917 in an
assault on the strategic Vimy Ridge
10600 Canadians were maimed or killed
so greater the losses that even
volunteer replacements are hard to come
by
in Canada London's plan to impose
conscription across the British Empire
sparks riots in Quebec City leaving four
dead
the British Prime Minister David Lloyd
George 54 opposes a new offensive and
the strategically difficult sector in
Flanders where German defenses are
stronger than anywhere along the front
[Music]
Lloyd George a prudent centrist is
genuinely appalled that 200,000 British
Empire soldiers have already been
sacrificed
[Music]
he wants to wait for the Americans to
enter the action but he fails to
convince his military leaders rigid and
blinkered they are incapable of
imagining other strategies they have
planned the coming assault in my new
detail using these models of the
battlefield
the objective is to break through the
German lines near the Belgian village of
Passchendaele
July 31st 1917 the offensive begins
it is a repetition of the same insane
scenario tried again and again over the
last three years
[Music]
this time the British artillery
unleashes a barrage of four million
shells four times more than in the
Battle of the Somme
after 15 days of shelling the tanks are
sent in just as they were the year
before along the song but in our greater
numbers
100 mark for tanks 30-ton monsters
fitted with three machine guns or two
cannons
they flattened the barbed wire opening
the way for two British armies supported
on their flank by French units to launch
an attack on the German positions
despite heavy enemy fire the Allied
advance is spectacular
until suddenly the allies are stopped in
their tracks by weather unheard of in
late July a freak rainstorm turns the
bombed-out terrain into a sea of mud as
described by captain Edwin Vaughan of
the first warrior regiment moaning from
all sides the wounded crawl into the
craters from protection the rain
continues the water rises in the holes
unable to move the wound of drown an
officer weeps next to me my men are in
shock I have to climb over bodies a hand
rises and grasp on to me horrified I
pull out a living man from the pile of
corpses
the tanks become mired in the mud and
are easy prey for the Germans 77 field
guns
the Germans stripped the disabled tanks
and salvage whatever they can Germany
has run out of steel to manufacture
tanks because of the Allied blockade
[Applause]
[Music]
September 1917 military leaders persist
in their folly week after week
Field Marshal Haig relaunches the attack
the clay soil remains waterlogged
compounding the men's misery
the telephone lines have been cut only
carrier pigeons can get through the hail
of gunfire they deliver the dreadful
news to Haig who plays down the extent
of the disaster it reports to the
government
[Music]
in Haig's plan the town of Passchendaele
was to be captured in a few hours on the
first day of the offensive it takes
three months
the town is finally occupied after
bloody street-to-street fighting by the
Canadians
private ocular plant of the van doos
says Passchendaele it looks like a town
struck by a terrible Cataclysm these
fields of death will never see life
again
[Music]
two hundred and seventeen thousand one
hundred and ninety for British Empire
soldiers have died to advance five miles
German deaths number nearly 300 thousand
British Prime Minister Lloyd George says
Passchendaele will forever rank among
the biggest bloodiest and most useless
battles in history
[Music]
the Canadian field surgeon John McCrae
writes in Flanders Fields one of the
most moving poems ever penned about the
war
in Flanders Fields the poppies blow
between the crosses row on row we are
the dead short days ago we lived felt
dawn saw sunset glow loved and were
loved and now we lie in Flanders Fields
[Music]
and everyone else hangs on hoping
awaiting the day of deliverance
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
you
[Music]