Doomsday: World War 1 | Extra Long Documentary

[Music] the First World War one of the most deadly conflicts in history [Music] a new automated era of fighting and killing for the first time in history death comes on us it Porges the personalities of young men who will later shake the fate of Europe [Music] and prepares the ground for a second even deadlier conflict how would history have played out had it not been for the killing fields of the First World War [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] Berlin 1914 no sign yet of the nightmare that lies ahead [Music] Alexanderplatz even livelier than today cameras are still a novelty they stare straight at us full of curiosity no trace of the worries to come this is the pulsating capital of the aspiring German Empire foreign soldiers haven't set foot on German soil since Napoleon these people don't know what war really means at least not yet these are modern times the automobile is met with exuberant enthusiasm right across the Western world speed is the drug of the time the smell of petrol is a favorite perfume [Music] for the bulk of Europe the 20 the the beginning of the 20 cents you could look back on a century of astonishing peace and prosperity and look optimistically at the new century that was just beginning Germany is the second strongest industrial power in the world right after the USA and it is armed to the teeth [Music] life is good in his memoirs the author Carl Chuck Meyer writes people felt safe in a world of progress civilization and humanitarianism nobody saw the approaching storm [Music] Munich 1914 [Applause] [Music] the Bavarian kings homely residential city this is where a 25 year old Austrian has found shelter Adolf Hitler his future prospects are not encouraging with no qualifications he's making a meager living by copying cityscapes he's in Munich to escape Austrian military service even then Hitler is filled with hatred for people of different ethnicities well Hitler had been a big supporter of of German nationalism of he hated the cow Ankara monarchy in Austria he didn't like this this mixed-race Empire under this there's Foca commissions in Central Europe he saw his future as being with Germany who wouldn't wouldn't err never wants to fight in there and the Austrian army meanwhile Hitler's future adversary bernard montgomery lives in london the capital of the world and the heart of the vast british empire where the Sun never sets [Music] [Music] it's the 3rd of June 1914 trooping the colour to honor the birthday of the British king George v [Music] twenty-six-year-old bernard montgomery affectionately known as monty has just returned from the indian colonies now he's leading the comfortable.if a little boring life of a british officer [Music] [Applause] engagements in high society but hardly any real challenges it was almost like a club and the idea was that if you behaved well and you would be promoted and as long as you were a good administrator of the natives in the colonies you would do very well and you might end up your career as Sir Bernard Montgomery this is the fading glitz of the old feudal Europe most of its rulers are related the British king is in Berlin visiting his cousin the german emperor wilhelm ii they've exchanged uniforms as a sign of their bond the occasion is the wedding of the emperor's daughter victoria bill helms other cousin the russian tsar nicholas has also come for now there are only gun salutes the 28th of June 1914 is a wonderful summer's day but the day's headlines are full of doom the Austrian heir to the throne and his wife have been murdered they're shot by Serbian nationalists during a visit to Sarajevo this assassination is the spark that sets off the first world war [Music] but hardly anyone is taking any notice [Music] it wasn't immediately thought of that this is now going to be this is the the start of a major conflagration in Europe and in the English politician or a British politician rather Lord George said later on that the European nations I think in the phrase will slithered over the edge into the cauldron of war [Music] to be honest the news of Franz Ferdinand's death didn't cause any deep feelings of sympathy comments the Austrian writer Stefan spike the people are enjoying the holidays at the vans a just as at the Baltic Sea the bathtub of Berlin this is the summer in which Europe commits suicide [Music] a children's party in Gaghan are in Swabia how many of these small children will later fall victim to the Second World War how many of these girls will become war widows [Music] horse racing at Ludwig's lost [Music] the ladies of Mecklenburg high society are showing off their finest wardrobe and again children playing up for the camera worry free and full of mischeif but these are the last jovial hours of an entire era [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] just like every summer the German Kaiser also goes on holiday to Norway on his yacht horn sahlan meanwhile is politicians and Generals are navigating straight into a catastrophe but they're not alone for a long time mystical research was was concentrated on Germany when we discussed the outbreak of the first world war in summer 1914 and we now I think have have moved away from that concentration on just on on Germany and we know now that it was the responsibility of all great powers almost all great poles all great powers contributed to the outbreak of the first world war and we now know that in every capital of Europe the general styles the Prime Minister's the monarchs were playing with fire but the Central Powers of Germany and austria-hungary are the first to cross the red line four weeks after the assassination in Sarajevo Austria declares war on Serbia as a result Serbia's ally Russia begins to mobilize to preempt an attack Germany now declares war on Russia and two days later also on the Russian ally France the die has been cast they all thought this would be an easy war quickly won over within a very short time and everything will go on under be a sort of cleansing effect through this war there's a curious notion that this idea that war would have a cleansing effect on Europe Germany's declaration of war on Russia comes on the 1st of August 1914 it's a fateful day the Emperor addresses his people the sword now has to decide the enemy attacks us in the midst of peace that's why we have to take a patriotic frenzy takes hold here are the Odeon splats in munich heinrich hoffmann the man to become hitler's personal photographer in later years photographs the crowds Adolf Hitler is also there this photograph apparently shows him whether real or photoshopped one thing is certain Hitler is filled with German nationalist excitement and volunteers [Music] later he will claim that the Bavarian King personally gave him permission to become a Bavarian soldier despite being an Austrian citizen it's a propaganda lie [Music] it was chaotic at a time beginning of August 1914 and lots of people were rushing to join up and so on Hitler was one of those and he got into the German army of a variant by mistake really these are the most arduous days of his life he writes to his landlord in Munich the times when he could sleep until midday then paint a little before taking in a vogner Opera in the evening are well and truly over Hitler is assigned to the Royal Bavarian infantry reserves regiment number 16 the so called regiment list he will later describe it as an elite regiment of fiery volunteers this too is a propaganda lie [Music] that's that name the regiment is badly equipped the men have no training many are already a little older just as Hitler himself [Music] the enlistment oath for the first time the outsider Hitler is part of something his regiment parades in front of the Bavarian King soldiers on their way to the front I have witnessed quite a few jubilant crowds since then but the enthusiasm was never as deep been overwhelming as on this day rights the volunteer Ernst younger [Music] it's the same everywhere in Vienna finally the chance to teach the cheeky Serbs a lesson in Paris to settle an old score with a sworn enemy Germany [Applause] tender farewells Carl took my alator rights we went to war like young lovers and just like them we had no idea what was to come most of the soldiers are certain they'll be back home by Christmas at the latest and the German military strategists believe speed is their only chance of victory because Germany is in a predicament the Germans always tried to prevent a war at two fronts this was what Bismarck tried to prevent in the 1880s then his successors in the 1890s so for the Germans it was quite clear you can't win a wall at two Franz in the West and East but then in 1914 s was exactly what happened so he had Britain and France the West Russia in the East so this strategic situation could not have been worse the aim is to first defeat France then Russia the German General Staff have a plan a quick assault through neutral Belgium to deliver a devastating strike to the French army coming from the north France is to be beaten within 42 days [Music] the fourth of August 1914 German troops invade Belgium it's a breach of international laws [Music] but they are met with a surprise the Belgians put up a spirited resistance [Music] des deutschen hardy stomach Krishna trusty burger the Germans didn't expect the Belgians to put up any resistance not least because both politicians and military strategists had said that Belgium isn't the main target and the Belgian Army is a vanishing opposition they called them chocolate box soldiers not a Pauline sold out in V man Thomas goes after Hut but Great Britain comes to the aid of the Belgians on the 4th of August it declares war on Germany up to that point Germans and British have never been at war with one another no British soldier has set foot on the West European mainland for a hundred years the british expeditionary Corps includes the officer bernhard montgomery [Music] the truth is Monty was rather excited after all he'd he'd had seen some combat on the northwest frontier of India with Afghans but this was a very different kind of anticipation but even he had no idea what was coming no idea at all they was still thinking in terms of cavalry he had sharpened his sword as as a left tenant and he imagined it almost in in terms of Napoleonic warfare but this war will be completely different unlike any war gone before a war without bounds [Music] the machine guns kill in intervals of a second it's an automated warm for the first time war also comes from the air and takes place in the air it's killing on an industrial scale unimaginable until now a conflagration the level of death and destruction the use of the modern technology in the war was on a scale that had been unimaginable and the experience of the soldiers then of these the when brighter breezily into the war very rapidly turned into this the abject horror dying on mass begins gradually and it begins in the most beautiful of summer's it starts with small skirmishes in Belgium it's the 6th of August 1914 near Liege [Music] these are unique testimonials of this day-old glass plates found by accident on a flea market these are the first fallen men the first of millions the priests in the village of bottom had asked to have the dead of these first battles photographed to be able to identify them later [Music] you look death in the eye it's the faces of war and it's it it is really what what war does to people it war is a business of killing people and and that's the only business it is this is how the families want to remember their dead young and bursting with health the reality of this war is very different [Music] someone tried to to give an image of the people killed and therefore almost of the act of killing just imagine if it had continued like that we would end up now with 10 million identification images pictures photograph portraits of death to die for your fatherland is sweet and honorable they'd be told they march up to 40 kilometers a day in sweltering heat they don't drink the water in the wells for fear the Belgians may have poisoned it on the other hand no wine cellar is safe and there are many of those in Belgium everywhere there are control posts wild rumors circulate apparently Belgian civilians are ambushing and shooting Germans the young swert the fear was grounded in the fact that modern infantry weapons in 1914 had a range of 1600 meters sometimes a little more 600 meter so from that distance it was completely impossible to tell who'd been shooting even from 1,000 meters it's impossible to tell is he wearing a uniform or not when he form or tarnished could belgian windmills be hideouts for snipers so called frontier figments of the fertile imagination of inexperienced troops on the 19th of August German units arrived at the belgian university town of Leuven the inhabitants are to surrender all their weapons or face the death penalty the imperial troops take their quarters there's a curfew for locals after 8 p.m. [Music] on the evening of the 25th of August tired irritable men mana control post at the edge of Leuven [Music] there are shots in the darkness [Music] are these Belgian snipers the German soldiers fire into the windows [Music] [Music] and they begin to burn down the proud townhouses of Leuven they call it a criminal tribunal even the pride of the town its medieval library falls victim to the flames including its 230,000 valuable books [Music] the next morning the heart of the city has been razed to the ground [Music] on his way to the front private Hitler also comes through Luverne he notes it as a heap of burnt rubble he doesn't have eyes for the suffering of its inhabitants but what triggered the nighttime shooting it is now clear that it wasn't Belgian snipers it's more likely that nervous German soldiers accidentally shot at each other friendly fire skipping mirror believed there are a number of proven cases where German soldiers demonstrably shot at each other the soldiers know it and the officers write about it in their own private letters and private war Diaries but the citizens of Leuven are the ones who pay the price over 200 are executed without substantiating proof or court proceedings [Music] men are taken to Germany as forced laborers [Music] the tragedy of Leuven is a catastrophe not least because of the damage it does to Germany's reputation abroad [Music] enemy propaganda exploits it shamelessly they're now called the Huns or Bosch pigs in French the spiked helmets become a dark symbol in the old days great powers waged war as somehow bit as gentlemen they were regarded themselves as being equal and and this understandings is the first football was very different so the great past did not regard themselves as equal the opponent was something very evil was something like like fighting against a piece you must win the war you must defeat the enemy there's no no solution for that and this is the reason this perception this power of perception is the reason why there was no peace in 1915 no peace in 1916 was this striving for final victory for final defeat of the enemy German counter-propaganda awkward attempts to paint the man in the spiked helmets as child friendly gentlemen good people here spare them rights the soldier in fact excesses like in Leuven do stop after just a few weeks but it's already too late the Germans reach Brussels by the end of August 1914 Belgium is beaten and the Imperial Army is still on schedule there is now only one natural obstacle separating the German army from Paris the Mon River in northern France they get closer and closer [Music] for now the Germans have the upper hand [Music] thousands of French soldiers are taken captive by the end of August 1914 victory in the West seems to be virtually a done deal for the German Empire at least that's the opinion of the German supreme army command it makes a fateful decision to entire army divisions are removed from the fighting in France and loaded onto trains they're heading towards the eastern border of the German Empire the Russian Empire has mobilized its armies faster than expected they've already entered Eastern Prussia the divisions from France are to help keep them at bay but when they arrive the decisive battle is already over the Battle of Tannenberg it's been a victory for the German Empire 90,000 Russian soldiers are taken prisoner masses of materials are captured [Music] the victor of Tannenberg is paul von hindenburg it becomes a popular hero [Music] the German refugees of eastern Prussia can return home [Music] well the Battle of Tannenberg was definitely a major German success but you could ask the question what was the strategic consequence of the victory of Tandberg and well and at this time of the and summer 1914 Germany have to win the campaign in France so they must win in front they must defeat France so Tannenberg didn't change the strategic situation of Germany in tunberg the Germans did not defeat Russia and the what was going on least in front and everybody was concentrated on the Western Front waiting for a decisive victory there on the 3rd of September 1914 the first German forces crossed the man now it's just 18 kilometers to Paris the French government has already left the city but the will to offer resistance remains unbroken [Music] French soldiers are even taking taxis to go north towards the Marne River and the front it's all or nothing for the Western powers now with massive foots locks the British managed to catch up with the French forces bernard montgomery writes to his mother we have become toughened we sleep outside in any weather you get used to it I haven't washed my face and my hands in ten days [Music] the Battle of the Marne is to be decisive the Western powers offer up everything they have 1 million French and British soldiers against 750,000 Germans [Music] but then something happens that the French call the miracle of them on following days of bloody battles the Germans surprisingly pulled back but they have good reason to do so they didn't suddenly retreat they were suddenly and overwhelmingly outnumbered and faced the very real threat of a massive military defeat there were big gaps between the attacking units which the opposition forces could exploit Nagina final encounter they are now badly missed those two army divisions sent to eastern Prussia by the German military leadership but the really decisive thing is something else the German forces have lost touch with each other the supply chain isn't working properly eventually there's an order from the imperial supreme command in luxembourg to retreat to positions that are more easily defendable it's the first big German defeat in this war they couldn't have gone on it would have been impossible that would have been a catastrophe in big parts of the army would probably have become encircled and destroyed the dream of a quick victory over France is over the battle plan of the German supreme command has failed how will they go on they are at a loss [Music] the people in Germany aren't told about this except perhaps from soldiers on leave from the front like here in Leipzig [Music] war is still the boys favorite game the painter August maka writes to his wife from the front when I think about the two little guys I'm gripped by despair that I might not see them again soon afterwards August maka is killed the mass killings are in full flow now the reinigen Valen must not after a few weeks they have to stop publishing the lists of the dead in newspapers because there are simply too many names the family's concerned are informed and they grieve but I think that the first months of the war with these massive losses don't really register properly during the war there's Nick's or Varga Nam they still go to the front anxious they might be too late to fight [Music] in Flanders the soldiers on both sides begin to dig themselves in trench warfare barbed wire communication trenches and fortifications at times the enemies are positioned only meters from one another the men attempt to disappear in the ground is the only protection they have from artillery fire the Germans become the in disputed masters of trench building [Music] life in there Death Zone sometimes for years sometimes only for a few days before a bloody end by October 1914 the volunteers are also seeing action the exuberant enthusiasm of the start of the war seems a lifetime ago private Hitler is also here on the 29th of October there's an order to attack British positions it's the first bit of action for the regiment list they don't have proper helmets nor do they know how to use their new rifles three out of four are killed Hitler later writes that the war had been his University he learns this this absolute hardness this ruthlessness the lack of compassion the lack of any sort of human feelings the causes crucial human beings are simply atoms that come and go and from what little bit we know about his early life Hitler but didn't have a pronounced sense of of human feelings or human warmth and so on but in the First World War this seems to have been knocked out of him completely after the war Hitler stages himself as a frontline soldier but he was only there for four days then he manages to find a comfortable place in the regiment's headquarters as a dispatch runner he will glorify these years as the greatest time of his mortal life [Music] for many of his comrades he is now a bass Waller one who no longer has to share the misery of the suckers at the front and this misery is hard to imagine these days it's the same on both sides of the front cold wet and dirty and constantly close to death of a hundred and ten thousand British soldiers who went to war in August 1914 ninety thousand are either dead or wounded just a few months later [Music] in October 1914 there was also a grave ready and waiting for Bernard Montgomery the Briton leads a company he wants to take a German trench with his men and scouts the situation himself he's shot through the lung one of his men wants to save him and is mortally wounded himself [Music] [Music] stay behind nobody moves [Music] in the night his men want to recover the dead they realize Montgomery is miraculously still alive he's learned a lesson the shock was not only recognizing the reality of modern war but the way it brought soldiers officers and the men together in this new kind of bond really in the trenches and the more critical he became about the loss of human life the more determined he became to to try and preserve human life as far as possible by being a better professional for Bernard Montgomery to the First World War becomes a defining experience but unlike Hitler as a commanding officer later in life he will always try to achieve his targets with the least number of casualties possible [Music] the horror of trench warfare is too much for many to bear in November 1914 the Saxon leftenant Kurt Samish notes in his diary everyday we now get French soldiers coming over to us because they can no longer cope with life in the trenches the Western Front towards the end of 1914 a Death Zone several kilometers wide running from the North Sea all the way to the Swiss border nothing is moving by now 1 million young men have senselessly lost their lives well in the end of 1914 the Germans had advanced a bit into France but I can't go barium advanced a bit into France and they were able to stop the offensive of the Russian offensive in the east they were able to defeat at least some Russian troops but there was no final victory for the Germans and you could also say well even the The Untold the EMAs were not able to defeat Germany either the astonishing thing is nobody had a master plan 1 million young men are dead killed in the space of just 5 months the reality is 2 million grieving parents just like the sculptress ketta kovetz and our husband their son Peter is buried in the cemetery of Vlad slow in Belgium he was just 18 years old that's how long Quetta kovetz worked on these sculptures a scar that would never quite heal and should never quite heal she wrote [Music] Berlin 1914 just before Christmas this is not how anyone would have imagined it where are all those father's all those brothers who in August 1914 believed they would be back home by Christmas so many of them will never come home [Music] at no point in this war did as many soldiers die as in 1914 Christmas at the front it means grub from the field kitchen rather than roast goose cold and near to death instead of happy times with the loved ones gathered around a Christmas tree [Music] Christmas Eve in Flanders it's a starry night the first in a long time notes the Saxon lieutenant Kurt Samish in his diary he's ordered that not a single shot should be fired if at all avoidable [Music] in the British trench it's the same story Christmas Eve [Music] [Applause] [Music] we communicate with each other whistling and shouting Samish rights the British soldier Bruce bans father reports following a little to and fro the Germans put up lights and so do we soon the two front lines looked fit for a celebration eventually the first of them dare to venture out of their trenches first steps into the deaf zone all this was wonderful and bizarre rights cut Samish christmas the festival of love turned the hated full into friends for a short time [Music] [Music] the British soldier Ernest Morley later reports the Germans approached us and we walk towards them we had the very bizarre pleasure to chat with the men who had been doing their best to kill us and we them [Music] we have proof of over 30 cases around here and in some cases it lasted for over ten days into the new year if the two units opposing each other and having a truce we're staying there for quite a while you notice that nobody is is restarting the war again pictures of a unique incident something like this will not be repeated in the coming years at war it's a quiet revolt of humanity [Music] as long as the Offices of the troops at the front play ball but eventually the commander's crack down on them there are signals for the man in the trench opposite we have to shoot at you again now this slaughterhouse lusted for four long years and left a world behind it which was unrecognizable from that which has started the war in 1914 and the war which took place in 1939 to 1945 is unthinkable really without what happened in the first world war that that the disturbances the first war created the social unrest the economic mayhem that resulted from it all this left unfinished business [Music] what would Europe look like today if those in power in 1914 had acted a little more wisely as it is it took another dreadful war before the people of Europe would learn to approach each other again the war has been raging for two years it will shape the lives of generations to come several million soldiers are fighting on the battlefields of Europe by 1916 the German advance in the West has long ground to a halt it's turned into bitter static trench warfare French and German soldiers face each other along a 700 kilometer front line also at Verdun [Music] the war swallows up huge numbers of people and masses of material the Germans want to regain the advantage and plan an offensive at the mers River [Music] the French know only too well what's at stake and take up their positions but they're under observation from the air the war in the air in 1916 takes a dramatically different turn a turn that begins at Verdun right at the start of the year because that is the moment when the German air force takes the decision to concentrate fighters into squadrons and by doing that to create areas of airspace which they are in control of for that period of time while the aircraft are in the air which is part of the reason why the Germans can prepare the Verdun offensive in so much secrecy Hermann Goering is a member of the new German air force he's a young left tenant with a crucial assignment to recce the military situation at Verdun from the air [Music] hundreds of pictures are taken using special cameras they are to give an indication of the enemy forces size and its positions [Music] Goering knows all about war on the ground he was injured in 1914 and deemed no longer fit for infantry service now he wants to find glory another way as a reconnaissance pilot a mansion house near a penny a safe distance from the front [Music] armed with his photographs the young pilot gains access to the highest military circles [Music] the kaisers Sun Crown Prince Wilhelm commands the local attacking forces chief of staff von Falkenhayn bears the overall responsibility gorings Pictures surprised the military leadership they now believe they know where the opponent's weak spot lies it's good news for the messenger Gaddafi Verdun had a positive or lasting effect for him because through his first assignment at the time he'd caught the crown prince's eye who was the commander in chief there he doesn't just decorate him he also mentions him in his memoirs by name design memoir the Battle of Verdun has been raging since the 21st of February 1916 thousands of artillery pieces pound the fortifications outside the town to clear the way for the advancing infantry there's never been so much artillery and action in such a small space it's exceptionally destructive this feeling of wanting to break through and force a decision remained a basic aspiration right until the end and continued to refresh fighting courage the war is different from any others before it massive armies face each other there are just a few professional soldiers next to millions of young men from all walks of life all lacking serious military experience technological progress now shows its cruel face the area between the opposing trenches is called the Death Zone symbolic of the Battle of Verdun will be its fortresses Fort Duomo is the biggest one after just a few days the Germans managed to conquer it without difficulty it was the most important and the most modern fortress in the defensive buffer zone in front of there down the taking of the fortress by the Germans is a shock for the French including a young captain wounded in the battle he's taken to a German field hospital to be treated for his injury [Music] as a French officer shall de Gaulle is treated in a way befitting his rank [Music] he feels humiliated by the way this battle has ended for him dugu rules if I'm I'm he tell - Reggie Smith the girl was a real military man he chose this line of work and was very ambitious were promoted during the war it's obvious he was intent on climbing the career ladder the fact that he was taken captive was a serious blow to his morale many others share the same fate along this stretch of the front at Verdi alone thousands of prisoners are taken on both sides nobody is prepared for the sheer numbers kake's Catholicism yesterday in the first world war prisoners of war on mas our first suddenly there are 100,000 captives what could be done with all these people there is no precedent so they have to compromise I have to say despite all the cruelties that did take place there is a substantial difference between the treatment of prisoners of war in World War one and World War two for the most part the prisoners are treated in accordance with the laws of war but the supply of their provisions is problematic another mass phenomenon in this war the number of wounded and maimed reaches hundreds of thousands [Music] modern technology is now needed to put right what it has wreaked on the battlefields [Music] films are to show and reassure that the victims are well cared for [Music] this is bad it is true that this side of the war was made public it wasn't hidden away at times the advertisement of prosthetics in German specialist journals and in the public newspapers goes so far that to be sarcastic one might be feeling a little jealous of the people who don't have a silly arm anymore but instead a fabulous gripping tool who can screw a hammer or pliers straight onto the prosthetic rather than having to cope with a cumbersome hand they go to some lengths to make those maimed and crippled feel useful by contributing to the war effort from home and ingate they're doing well don't worry that's how people manage to cope with this appalling experience initially these pictures are kept from the public [Music] transfusion Linda the French call this the girl Cassie and the association of in English broken faces is still very powerful in France even today the battle for ver Dow alone will destroy many lives German artillery reaches as far as the town square thousands flee their homes scenes that will become commonplace during the two world wars [Music] the French fear the Germans could make a breakthrough here and reach Paris within just a few weeks they're looking for someone to solve their problems at verdun re Phillip Pathan an experienced general takes charge his orders are to hold Verdun at all costs for the flag for victory a French propaganda poster virtually every French soldier will fight at Verdun at some point during the war the people in France's capital have by now lived with the German threat for two years apparent normality in which women set the tone millions of men are away fighting at the front yet the needs of their families at home are well catered for the people of France don't go hungry not even in the years of water followed she searches on wonderful for civilians far removed from the front daily routines become homogenous they continue with their normal activities but that's deceptive even if you're in Marseilles you still have a father a brother or a son serving at the front if you work in the fields you're in a way feeding the war if you're working in a factory you're more than likely also working for the war this apparent normality can be very misleading the war is not physically here but it's unlikely anybody can escape the war in these times in Germany they are queueing for bread butter meat and vegetables many provisions go straight to the military you even need ration coupons for new clothes the people have lost faith in a quick end to the war how do they cope this war is the new life this is how our lives are going to be we'll actually were all much more comfortable if we just accept that we're now a country at war and we have no prospect of it ever ending and that way we'll stop worrying we'll stop having to calculate we'll become resigned to our fates we've become institutionalized really as war making nations and I think the longer that goes on the more that mood takes place and hope becomes extinguished the main cause of the plight in Germany is the British naval blockade as early as 1914 the North Sea is declared a war zone only once does the Emperor's Navy make an attempt to challenge the British fleet at the end of May 1916 there is a single huge battle between the two naval powers at scag Iraq off Norway the Battle of Jutland [Music] the British far outnumber the Germans it's a hundred and fifty ships against a hundred in the end neither are victorious but there are many casualties over 6,000 dead on the side of the British and more than 2,500 on the German side the Germans sink twice as many ships but the blockade remains in place [Music] [Music] in the face of British superiority any further attempts to break through seem pointless this is a time of waiting for many sailors at the end of the war they will refuse a combat mission ordered by the Kaiser and rebelled [Music] the war is also proving to be a logistical nightmare behind the front line suppliers of people weapons and ammunition are deciding factors over winners and losers [Music] logistical effort required to put this offensive in place is enormous because what you're effectively having to do is to create roads where there are no roads railways where there are no railways and put in a system of Telegraph communication which isn't in place necessarily either the front isn't just a system of trenches and fortifications the facilities needed to cater for the troops reach far into the hinterland there are field kitchens bakeries stables and transport fleets ammunition depots and weapons Arsenal's first aid stations are about three kilometers from the front field hospitals about 20 kilometers on the German side trains lead almost to the frontline because every day they have to look after an army with enough soldiers to populate a major city [Music] every battalion is like a mirror image of society and all its professions on the French side everyday life behind the front line is also being documented alcohol is distributed to still the soldiers fear of the next assault this war eats up more resources than any before it it requires supplies on a sheer unimaginable scale an enormous industrial undertaking involving many thousands of soldiers on both sides who eat sleep and fight here the Battle of Verdun was so special because it was fought on a very small area it was not the costea's battle of the first world war but it was the battle fought on the smallest area and in this very small tiny area around whether hundreds of thousands of soldiers fought hundreds of thousands of soldiers died and and this small area around the der saw the first battle of attrition of the First World War hundreds of thousands of grenades are ready to literally plow up just a few square kilometers of ground they turned the battlefield into a living hell [Music] Modern Warfare is no longer a man-to-man fight the enemy is everywhere its deadly ammunition rains from the sky modern weapons turn ones honorable combat into a senseless slaughter the French company commander jacques de verre comments in his diary this battle has been raging for a hundred days already the trench warfare is wearing my men down we should end this war as soon as possible a young Frenchman writes in his letter from the front 15 days in Verdun have drained and demoralized us more than six months in the trenches before millions of letters from the front reach the families at home but increasingly they bring news of deaths [Music] of dying or battle wounds and maimings a farewells and last hope there is no safe place on the battlefields death now also comes from the air reconnaissance flights turn into fighter planes which develop into bombers cameras are exchanged for machine guns and explosives in March 1916 Hermann Goering celebrates his first downing of a French bomber but contrary to the battles on the ground this is still an apparently gallant war well they're looking for duels in a way almost like a step back to the Middle Ages where you would also try to compete with each other during a personal dispute that's the difference to the soldiers in the trenches harbingers of a war that only decades later will obliterate entire cities the War of the Bombers for now these are still isolated attacks involving just a few hundred aircraft for now it's mainly airships that push far into enemy airspace all the way to Freiburg Cologne Paris London these are terror attacks designed to spread fear amongst the population the material damage is minor but it is a testbed for the future [Music] in World War two flight left-handed Goering will be commander of Hitler's Luftwaffe he'll order the merciless bombing of civilian centers but the first world war is fought on the ground the battle for verda reaches a crucial stage there is a grueling jostling for position around 44 [Music] the German soldiers know what is expected of them on the 1st of June 1916 a Senior Lieutenant of the 50th Infantry Division notes a great day has arrived we are going to attack fort veau just before the attack all doubts disappear and our duty to our holy father land wins out if you compare less less than 30 years later what happens at Stalingrad for example that battle is the same jealous if you like it is the big difference is it's taking place in a city which i think is one of the big contrast between the first and second world wars is that cities become battlegrounds because people realize the defensive capabilities of a city even in a semi destroyed or totally destroyed State but the weapons systems that are being used in second world war our weapon systems that broadly speaking reached their maturity in the first world war and are being fought by armies of comparable size and scale chemical weapons are used only in the first world war their effects are horrendous and too unpredictable at first mainly irritant and disabling chemicals are used but later also lethal substances begin to appear [Music] special units are formed and artillery grenades filled with the substances the soldiers die agonizing deaths survivors suffer from terrible chemical burns the threat of chemical warfare spreads fear amongst the people affair done they fashion makeshift masks from wet cloth but these children wouldn't have survived a serious attack gas is also used during the battle for fought for the Germans advance with flamethrowers meter by meter [Music] shortly before the surrender the fortress is French commander notes all communications with the outside world have collapsed the battle for the fortress is dreadful the suffering of the wounded is horrendous we are defeated through exhaustion and thirst the survivors of fort war are taken into German captivity altogether about eight million soldiers will be taken prisoner in this war The Hague Convention of 1907 forms the basis of their treatment decrees prisoners should be treated with humanity and with regards to food quarters and clothes there should be no distinction from one's own troops but faced with huge numbers of prisoners the military powers are often unable to cope during the first winter there are mass deaths in several countries there are 2.5 million inmates from 13 different countries in German camps alone among them shall de Gaulle Eduardo's I can't present you for a man like him it's intolerable to be sitting in a POWs camp while others are dying at the front supporter he had only one wish to return to the front in Philly and to do that he had to escape he made several attempts it was unbearable for him to be in the hands of the enemy that schilling me but instead his daily routine consists of reading the newspapers he keeps his comrades informed even gives talks [Music] he would have been granted day passes in exchange for the promise not to make a run for it he couldn't the goal had gone for walks yes outside the fortress guitar he didn't because he refused to give such a promise on principles in his view a French officer has the duty to try to escape always immediately and at any time that's why he'll never promise not to escape even just temporarily begins in contrast to captured officers ordinary soldiers are put to work most of them as agricultural laborers for security reasons operations is essential to the war effort are excluded from the forces labor all powers use their prisoner of war prisoners of war that there are not to use as labor are they significant nothing like to the same extent as in the Second World War it's not is not in this that the same deliberate exploitation of this manpower as a resource in the way in which you get in the Second World War on the other hand it happens I mean this is the beginning of a process some prisoners are released early especially the wounded and the sick these are exchanged German soldiers on their way back home for the most part the German hinterland remains untouched by the ravages of war unlike later during the Second World War but behind the facades the living conditions change significantly many are missing even the bare necessities food becomes scarce [Music] even soldiers on home leave complained for example that soldiers have to produce bread meat and potato ration cards in restaurants near Berlin there's a reconstruction of life at the front an attraction for day-trippers I still find the trenches constructed in Girona vaults just fascinating the people of Berlin were invited to come and have a look at how the soldiers at the front lived these trenches were nice and clean nothing at all happened just like a museum and the people looked and said oh there are three tiers of trenches so they are all safely hidden away in Conseco 50 while millions of men lived through the reality of the front their wives at home take on more and more of their jobs in public service in factories in agriculture administration or the workbenches of the armaments industry but they get 1/3 less pay [Music] mothers with children in particular depend on the additional income because the support for soldiers families is meager a Berlin woman writes to her husband at the front there's the worry of feeding the children I'm exhausted I've had to wait in line for three hours to get gas and one and a half hours at the slaughterhouse on Tuesday on top of that there's the washing when you come you'll be able to see for yourself how we women are exploited [Music] in all countries keeping the wartime economy going is now down to the women in England two million women take up jobs previously held by men in France every fifth woman goes out to work it's also women who look after the destitute and veterans pictures from Great Britain show how they attempt to entertain those convalescing sometimes with weird competitions there is often a strong contrast made between the experiences of the soldier at the front and a civilian world that which knows nothing of what the war is about and which lives in a sort of fantasy world still going to the theater still going to restaurants still relaxing behaving as though there isn't a war on but those who have recovered enough are expected to return to the front most of those in uniform are citizens in uniform they're temporary soldiers they're not career soldiers these are people who going to return from the war and take up their previous occupations whether they were peasants or factory workers or Clark's or lawyers they're going to get back to doing those sorts of things in early summer 1916 the British mobilized hundreds of thousands of soldiers for an offensive in support of the French at the song a river basin 250 kilometres to the north of the battles raging around Verdun the German occupiers have had more than a year to dig themselves in and fortify their positions here it's the calm before the storm these reconstructed scenes are to show life in the trenches during laws in the fighting [Music] by June 1916 there are 20 British and 11 French divisions stationed at the Somme they're facing only half their number on the German side in the end almost two and a half million soldiers will be fighting here [Music] this is the first battle to be documented extensively on film British camera teams follow the troops on their way to the front [Music] before the British infantry launches their attacks artillery clears the way with a barrage lasting several days they try to comfort and encourage the soldiers this attack is to be different from earlier ones the British commander in chief Douglas Haig says the infantryman simply have to walk over and occupy the German trenches 1,500 artillery pieces will concentrate all their firepower on just a narrow strip of the German line the barrage begins on the 24th of June 1916 in just seven days and nights around one and a half million grenades detonate here the author Ernst younger later writes there was artillery fire of unimaginable power that thundered and roared ahead of us a thousand flashes enveloped the western horizon like a sea of flames there was a constant stream of the wounded returning with bloodless sunken faces [Music] cotton able-body on the total more actress on the external talking about the most experienced system when you're being bombarded you're completely helpless the experience is extremely traumatizing why because you could die at any moment and you witnessed the deaths of your comrades all around you yeah little Baltimore so the bombardments cause trauma in the survivors who asked themselves why then why not me why love whether Budokan wha there are some mysterious new clinical symptoms [Music] they're called shell-shocked sufferers [Music] initially they're thought to be simulating their condition at the war physicians decided they were simply particularly shrewd shirkers and treated these people with horrendous forced methods tied down electroshocks they didn't know us to snitch [Music] on the 1st of July 1916 the British infantry of the psalm attacks the German lines they believe the enemy positions to have been obliterated by the fierce artillery bombardment but it's a fallacy it takes just a few machine gunners and cannons to kill 8,000 British soldiers in just half an hour they can't retreat either because the guards in the trenches would shoot them immediately soldiers know this there's no return for them so a gupta snoozy this kind of battle police of the british army also exists on the German side [Music] there are reasons why the Germans survived the bombardment of the song the strong fortifications were several metres deep and generally withstood the shelling but above ground there was an inferno the Battle of the Somme is one of the most gruesome examples of how military commanders clung to outdated ways of fighting again in a game the British general Haig orders his troops to attack the German positions if you lose nearly 20,000 dead and nearly 40,000 wounded in a single day of course the experience that if the song was traumatic the effects were traumatic in certain battalions and they were felt throughout those effects throughout British society because those battalions were very often so-called pals battalions that have been locally recruited and very often whole platoons sections had come from the same streets in the same cities with over a million dead wounded and missing on both sides this is the most costly battle of the First World War the Battle of the psalm is really the iconic moment for britain in terms of understanding of its own military history in the 20th century it's the example to avoid it's what every British general in the second world war has not to do and it's also a definition of what can happen if you have a continental outlook on wolf this is what European war can be like if you misinterpret Lee and get it wrong so it has a very profound long-term effect German field hospitals are overflowing with thousands of wounded including The Dispatch Runner Hitler who is hit by a piece of shrapnel in October 1916 he's taken to bail it's near Berlin to convalesce he's bitterly disappointed Hitler said the regiment was his home and he never felt anywhere as much as home as he did in the regiment here he had some sort of community he wanted to get back to it Hitler will later refer to the bail its sanitarium as a wondrous place he writes about his time there in his pamphlet mine camp the spirit of the Army at the front is no longer welcome here agitate errs without any conscience were in charge and tried to ridicule the notions of the decent soldier with all means of their pathetic oratory he hasn't been back to Germany since 1914 he uses his stay at the hospital to visit the capital his experiences there disgust him and he hated the what he saw the defeatism and the shirking and the malingering that he saw at when he went to Berlin the initial enthusiasm for the war has long turned into bitter disillusionment here his comrades regard him as a loner and Hitler detects defeatism cowardice and treason everywhere the atmosphere amongst the population is becoming more and more strained there are protests and there is widespread hardship I often don't know whether I'm coming or going you're supposed to cook everyone is hungry and you have nothing to give them an Alex Berg woman writes [Music] more and more children are malnourished many died the government is facing heavy criticism [Music] [Applause] the emperor tries to appease with symbolic gestures if we stand today in front of the German parliament in Berlin we see the inscription theme dodging folk for the German people and this inscription was made in the end of 1916 to offer the starving German people and suffering German people something I mean the German people had no political power it was no real democracy at this time they were starving it was quite a bad situation of the German people and this there was also no hope to gaining political power so this inscription was so a symbol from the authorities to offer at least a hope to the German people they might get in the future more political power for two long years the German Reich has been leading a war on two fronts in the east the battle zones are more open and spacious Russia has to relinquish control of large tracts of land the war here is still on the move it's not ground to a halt in the trenches the opponents are trying to encircle one another in pincer movements [Music] the Tsar's Army is suffering from supply breakdowns shortages of ammunition and food it demoralizes his soldiers but in the summer of 1916 a wave of attacks closely coordinated with the Western Allies is designed to put pressure on Germany and its associate austro-hungary one of the Russian generals Alexei Brusilov no longer sends his soldiers unprotected into the line of German machine-gun fire he now prepares his attacks carefully with artillery barrages the German High Command reacts by withdrawing around a hundred thousand soldiers from the Western Front they are transferred to the east the Brusilov offensive is is absolutely the Eastern Front contribution to the overall Allied strategy of conversion to tax on all fronts simultaneously to pull the Germans in three directions at once so the Brusilov offensive fulfills its role and in fact it's the Bristol offensive that really provides the relief for the French at Verdun in the East to hundreds of thousands of soldiers are taken prisoner [Music] in 1916 some of the captive Germans are taken to Moscow and st. Petersburg to parade them in front of the public for the Russian propaganda it's a welcome way of diverting attention from the weaknesses of their own army over a hundred thousand German soldiers are deported to Siberia every fifth man won't return [Music] the war in the East is different from the West parts of it are very bloody it's a slaughter not the least because the civilian population is more involved not only the Russian soldiers have to go hungry but their families the entire population suffers [Music] resentment grows while the nobility and the Tsar's family still live lives of luxury [Music] the war deepens the chasm between the ruler and his people it's the first stirring of the Russian Revolution it'll topple the Tsar's regime in the coming year [Music] his opponent kaiser wilhelm ii also refuses to relinquish power to the people he didn't want these terrible losses he says he distributes medals hermann goering - receives the highest decoration from the kaiser his plane crashed during an aerial dogfight [Music] but following his recovery he still wants to prove himself as a fighter pilot Goering will down more than 20 enemy aircraft by the end of the war even after the war a flying ace can count himself as a hero but like so many who cling on to the illusion of victory he will find the eventual defeat humiliating and follow a demagogue called Hitler childr goal will become Hitler's opponent in the future but remains in German captivity until the end of the war it tries to escape five times because that's what a French officer is supposed to do he's certain that in the end the Germans will lose he learns to understand and speak their language [Music] shall de Gaulle has been thinking about the murderous trench warfare and its senselessness [Music] never again should a war be layered as rigidly and with as many casualties as this one this attack is supposed to change the course of the Second World War at the end of 1944 18 German divisions go on the offensive in the Ardennes they're led by Army Group commander Valtor mortal his assignment to return the advantage to Hitler's ver Mart despite its desperate situation he's even brought troops from the Eastern Front specifically for this purpose the element of surprise is a success at least initially the US Army has been on the advance ever since setting foot in France now for the first time it's on its back foot an experienced general and his troops comes to their aid from the south George Smith Patton he's a passionate an experienced tank division commander it had his baptism of fire 26 years earlier during the First World War just like his opponent but a mortal here during a visit to Hitler's headquarters he's also a long-serving professional soldier mortal had once before been part of a military initiative against the West in an equally difficult deadlock at that time in March 1918 he was a general staff officer with the German supreme army command and if your plan fails Ludendorff then Germany will have to perish the 27 year old captain looks up to his superiors Paul von Hindenburg and Erich Ludendorff gentlemen we have to at their headquarters in the Belgian resort of spa the army commanders plan a massive offensive for the 21st of March 1918 it's to bring a turnabout in this fifth year of war its codename operation Michael Hindenburg and Ludendorff appear to find it impossible to think of reaching an armistice without a German victory since the German invasion in 1914 the war has ground to a halt to the east of Paris a million soldiers on each side Germans in the east and French and British in the West have been fighting each other since then but the front line has stayed put in a massive war of attrition the land between the rivers Somme and maan has literally been plowed up [Music] even today the ground bears the scars of bombs and grenades [Music] by the beginning of 1918 over one and a half million men have met their end in the war of the trenches now the frontline soldiers put all their hopes in this expected decisive battle a German lieutenant later remembers we're about to make history they told us we were convinced that the attack ahead was in the end going to bring the war to a victorious close the ordinary German soldier always tried to make sense of the war because it was quite a disastrous situation in the trenches without food well the danger of being killed and so on so on this for years years years now end inside so they tried to make sense and in spring 1918 there was the big hope with last offensive a final offensive they might win the war and then there's peace so a situation in spring 1918 was that day they said well let's stay together let's have one last effort one last chance to end this endless war general staff officer Valtor model also believes in the victory he had fought at the front himself but near verda his leg was badly wounded yet he remains filled with the ambition to contribute to the success of the war effort even in the German Reich the spring of 1918 brings new hope more than anything it is fueled by a longing for an end to this war it is forced austerity on the people in the German Empire more than at any other time in modern history over 13 million men are in military service the women are left to master daily life at home and produce ammunition during the war the state develops new powers powers over the civilian populations powers of mobilization powers of organization economic controls and so on and the idea of this being a total war a total effort then emerged out of the First World War but the collective exertion also provokes a sense of war weariness and dissent at the start of the year hundreds of thousands go on strike it's a protest against misery diseases and hunger all of which have struck the civilian population hard during this war [Music] further east widespread discontent in the Russian Empire has led to a revolution which topples that Tsar's reign in 1917 [Music] a communist dictatorship under Lenin's leadership has taken its place just beforehand the Germans secretly smuggled him back into his homeland from exile as expected the new regime responds by putting an end to the war on the Eastern Front yesterday's enemies become allies in brest-litovsk in western Russia the Central Powers demand tough conditions for a peace treaty it frees the German Reich from the grip of a two-front war two weeks before the planned attack in the West it also frees up 200,000 fresh soldiers as private Dominick Richard remembers train after train roll towards the West filled with soldiers and war materials they thought the Army's freed up in Russia would break through the English French front line and gain victory despite everything behind all of this was the thought on the German side that they had to force the collapse of the French and British armies before the Americans could reach the front with all their might in this sense the whole thing was of course an act of desperation the American government resorts to drastic measures to recruit for the deployment overseas the US Army grows from a hundred thousand recruits to four million in the space of a single year all under the banner of fighting for a free new world order [Music] half of them soon arrived in Francis ports [Music] what they lack in battle experience is compensated by good suppliers and fresh fighting spirit the American Expeditionary Force suffers as the British Expeditionary Force suffered in 1914 from gain from a very low base point from being a very small army to creating a mass army for continental war in a very short space of time now what that means is you can bring manpower in very quickly you can bring in untrained man part very quickly can you produce a trained and effective army that is why the British in particular say we need two Brigade American units with British units from the very beginning the Americans back a new generation of weapons that will shape future wars tanks preferably French models made by Renault with off-road capabilities [Music] one young US officer has already realized that these are the future George s pattern is a pioneer of the new tank division and will later become a four-star general in World War two [Music] just like his German counterpart Volta modeled the ambitious captain seize his military service as a chance to get right to the top in the army he's been drilling new recruits since the start of the year simulating battles and training the steel battle aides is motto two men in a tank can offset ten in front of it [Music] as well in much Henan Creek there is a war of machines the first great war of machines in history and the situation of men versus machines really arose that was really a new thing even just the massive amounts of artillery clustered together that had never happened before the first tanks were deployed and the machine gun could substitute an entire company of infantry airplanes of all kinds zealand's and u-boats in the war at sea all this led to the fact that this war turned into a gigantic battle of materials and weapons like the sinking of the austrian battleship szent istván in 1918 almost 90 people lost their lives 1 million 160,000 grenades are set aside in German depots earmarked just for the initial phase of the planned battle Valter mortal has been transferred to a frontline division tasked with a decisive contribution to the attack his assignment to ensure a reliable supply chain [Music] but despite the amount of material available he can already see that the supplies will only last if they manage to make a rapid breakthrough [Music] the planned offensive in the West is also a race against time [Music] on the German side the anxiety of the forthcoming attack is mixed with a little cautious hope anything seems better than spending any more time in the trenches a German soldier writes home dying by the bullet doesn't seem hard but to be torn apart hacked to pieces and pulped is a fear that the flesh cannot cope with the stalemate of trench warfare is is the failure of all the military strategy up to that day and and and they have no answer to that and so they they just keep on doing whatever they think is best and and the political leaders don't have the courage nor the alternative to stop it what are we sacrificing ourselves for a French artillery man writes if they could at least tell us that and not follow us off with speeches from our perspective we will not gain victory over the Germans and it's the same the other way round [Music] further north positions are held by soldiers from right across the British Empire the mood on the Allied side of the line is pretty depressed preload particularly from the British point of view the British Army has no real sense of imminent victory in fact if anything the reverse you know the expectation is can they hold particularly when they don't know where the Michel offensive will be launched which sector of the front maybe of course in the early part of the month the the Jemez themselves haven't decided where we'll be in the attackers trenches hardly anyone manages to get any sleep in the hours before the order to attack [Music] sergeant max Schultz reports the commander gave a speech we were to participate in a great attack it would be the last decisive battle we trusted our generals and believed what he said I thought of my parents and prayed that God would guide me through this thing in one piece on the 21st of March at 4:40 a.m. the German barrage begins 6600 artillery pieces and 3,500 mortars reverberates along 70 kilometers of frontline with resounding success a British captain describes one of his subordinates Achilles left a youth and returned an old man he never recovered from this shock the 21st of March he became a human wreck and could no longer be used as a soldier on the morning of the 21st of March 1918 the German attack started the German artillery barrage on the British lines on the French lines and then the German stormtroopers attacked and very much to the German surprise and the German stormtroopers suffered very very heavy casualties the British artillery was firing back it was I think one of the costea's days in the first world war for the German sites are thousands of German soldiers getting killed mainly by artillery and artillery was the deadliest weapon in the first world war 56 percent of German soldiers died due to artillery and it was also made a new impact on the soldier something which was then I'm up to then unknown it was then given the name of a shell-shocked a British private describes the effects nobody could cope with a barrage for more than three hours without being completely worn down and deadened to it it's a little like paralyzation after that when the enemy come over they can do anything to you I think we were sacrificed Dominic Richard is among the attackers everyone got ready with a pounding heart we left the protection of the whole everywhere was brimming with German soldiers pushing forwards this is the first war fought in front of cameras but they usually show a reenacted reality in a few places the attackers managed to push 5 kilometers further west the price is unbelievably high more than 17,500 British and German soldiers died in a single day [Music] [Music] the German supreme command celebrates the start of the Kaiser battle as it is now called kaiser wilhelm ii awards the highest prussian military decoration to his strategist Ludendorff and the newly decorated general proclaims victory after just four days [Music] in his enthusiasm the kaiser grants his youngest subjects a day of school [Music] the hope of a speedy victory gains ground in the German Reich the spirit of those early days in August 1914 is coming back reports a witness of the time in Heidelberg a corporal writes home the daily pushes forward are encouraging and invigorating for the soldiers disposition which had dried up in the overly long trench warfare the Germans push westwards for up to 60 kilometers they stretch the front but they don't break through it at least they've managed to fight their way out of their frozen positions further than ever since 1914 ninety thousand Allied soldiers are taken prisoner the French capital is now within reach of German artillery and bombers [Music] it's inhabitants worried about the protective shield in front of the city gates which is threatening to turn into the frontline [Music] for civilians in number of countries this was the first time really that the war had been felt by the population of populations and had been mobilized for war in a way that had never been done before and ordinary people were aware now of the war not just in the fact that their fathers or brothers were away at the front but also the impact was having on their own realized women being conscripted for for civilian work driving buses or trams and things working in munitions factories all these sorts of things meant that the war now became a civilian war women and children leave Paris not least because of the dire supply situation while the German attackers indulge in the bounty of newly conquered food depots [Music] but anyone celebrating now is celebrating too soon [Music] so the Germans attacked in March 1918 and they punched a hole through the British lines and they advanced they they pushed the British and the French soldiers back but there was no final victory so and this was the problem of the whole offensive the whole idea was a last battle a last attack and then the final victory but this never happens at the beginning of April the momentum of the attack slows down the massive military entourage can't keep up the army lacks the supplies to secure their advances by comparison their opponents are better equipped especially the US Army is constantly expanding its stocks of people and machines [Music] but building up a tank division takes time to the annoyance of the ambitious captain George Patton [Music] who notes in his diary at times I deeply regret that I didn't offer to join the infantry rather than the tank division I wake up at night bathed in sweat fearful the war will be over before our new weapon is deployed [Music] but the battle isn't won yet with support from the air the German army undertakes for further offensives at other sections of the frontline in early summer they want to force a decision the fighting rages to excess in all elements according to Dominic Richert up in the air there are a number of fierce dog fights which end in two planes crashing to the ground in flames these pilots die a three-fold hero's death first they're shot dead then they burn and at the end they even smash to pieces on the ground this man tots up the greatest number of aerial victories on the German side Manfred von Richthofen the Red Baron the propaganda proclaims him as a model Knight of the skies he takes to the air for the last time on the 21st of April 1918 hit from the ground Richtofen crash lands British officers bury him with military honors but his death seems like a bad omen [Music] the attackers are now forced into defensive positions on the 18th of July the Allies launch a Counter Strike [Music] with British and American help 13 French divisions push the Germans back towards the east the Germans suffer the worst losses on the 8th of August it's called the black day of the German army [Music] as a result there are the first signs of disintegration the number of prisoners increases dramatically dominic richard describes the atmosphere if we could only put this mess behind us was the universal wish i only have one thought to be captured at least then your life would be safe the German soldiers in spring 1918 agreed it's it's worthwhile to have a last offensive it makes sense never last the parents of a last battle we must stand together to achieve the final victory so let's come on final battle and but then they saw they suffered so many casualties and they were not able to make it Britain was not going to surrender France was not going to surrender and they saw me we tried everything it's pointless it's absolutely pointless we can't make it the war lost a French officer describes the prisoners they don't talk at all they are so weak they don't even complain anymore there is an immense sense of deep pain in their eyes [Music] but in the splendid surroundings of the German headquarters and the Belgian resort of spa the reality of life at the front seems to be largely ignored the incredible suffering caused by the war seems far removed the imperial chief strategists hindenburg and ludendorff continue their campaign unperturbed as if there had been no setbacks [Music] they continue to produce new battle plans which are passed on to the fighting troops as general staff officer of a frontline division responsible for supplies and logistics multi-modal has first-hand experience of the situation in the field [Music] his conclusion any victories even those built on massive sacrifices and losses are worth nothing if the supply chain can't keep up the failed offensives take their toll on the ambitious young officer but he retains his hope for ultimate victory to the west of the front the influx of new forces continues the Germans ignored the facts for a long time but it's now unmistakable the US Army is rapidly becoming a significant opposition force had the u.s. not become involved in this war the end would have not been in sight because France and Great Britain had by now also reached a point where they weren't really able to defeat the Germans anymore so this standoff could have carried on without end the involvement of the USA had the decisive impact on the balance of power in September 1918 the time has finally come for the tank division led by George Patton he's in the mix during the Allied offensive near Sam Mejia to the south of Verdun he's on foot directing the approach of his 144 tanks he's following his motto as long as a tank is maneuverable it has to push forward its presence will save the lives of hundreds of infantryman even when his left leg is hit pattern limps on until he can't continue and has to take cover in a bomb crater his injury gives the ambitious commander the longed-for satisfaction of feeling like a war hero left to his own devices he later claims a deep feeling of peace came over him for the tax supported US troops the Battle of San Miguel becomes the first independently achieved success the wounded man is recovered after a long two hours wants the barrage of gunfire calms down for the tank officer who was so desperate to see action the war is over [Music] in so many ways this is a war unlike any other before it [Music] all sides are prepared to use any means available in 1918 the use of poison gas reaches its climax a third of the ammunition is filled with the gas which paralyzes breathing and corrodes the lungs [Music] [Music] on the 13th of October a German private in Flanders is temporarily blinded by the poison gas [Music] his front-line experience will have far-reaching effects the experience at close hand of this massive death and destruction must have left an imprint on Hitler the impact of the First World War was to harden Hitler's views on the worth of all the lack of worth of human life and to this extent when he came out of the First World War his view was probably the same that he expressed in the Second World War which he was the main author of that we should weep no tears for those who are who are dying here they deserve to die and the dying in in a course so I think this type of attitude this social almost the / social Darwinist attitudes of survivors will survive that the the tough and the brave will survive and the others world goal isn't only to weep tears for them this hard attitude probably was shaped by his experience in the First World War the war weary German soldiers who now surrender in droves are described by a French officer they are emaciated sometimes led by an officer who got away they wore coarse stagger forward supporting each other almost as if drunk head down with a dark expression their clothes as crusty as their faces have you spent years in this meat grinder the point would come when you would say I just want to save my life now it was noticeable to thousands of German soldiers went into captivity without putting up much resistance that hadn't been the case before the number of German captives in the West climbs to over half a million Domini cricket is also set on escaping service at the front I think about how sad it would be if after all this awful terrible stuff I was forced to participate in I would still die here I once read our soldiers die for their fatherland with a smile on their faces what a brazen lie who would want to smile faced by such a dreadful death all those who come up with such speeches should be sent to the front line in reality there is no sign of courage mortal fear takes over all other feelings and it's only under this terrible pressure that the soldiers push forwards I don't think there's a single man here who would stay at the front of his own free will they couldn't have cared less about the fatherland and would have just been desperate to save themselves shortly afterwards Dominick Ricketts saves his own life by fleeing into captivity in the German Reich there are few illusions left about the war hunger shortages and epidemics like Spanish flu kill almost twice as many people here as all the bombs in World War two no one is thinking of victory anymore a police informer quotes from an overheard conversation everything the papers write is lies and delusions if we finish it now we can still save a lot [Music] eventually there's a significant u-turn in the belgian resort of spa ludendorf surprises politicians and the general staff with a sort of admission of failure his staff officer reports the effect on the listeners was indescribable while Ludendorff spoke you could hear muted groans and sobs many probably most had tears streaming down their cheeks Ludendorff had this long inside meaning for a long time Ludendorff didn't show his feelings the only things that were noticeable were his tension and his temper tantrums only in September 1918 did he suddenly confront the political leadership with the realization the war is lost we're going to have to negotiate a truce immediately indeed Berg too argues that parties should take over the political power that the civilians and in particular the Democratic parties should face the music so that the military leadership would not be tainted by the odium of the defeat democratic politicians like Philipp Scheidemann or Friedrich Ebert who had until recently been reviled as unpatriotic now become the administrators of a war policy that took the Empire into the abyss society as a whole is going through a sea of change in November mutinous sailors in keel spark a widespread revolt by soldiers and workers against the ailing monarchy [Applause] following in Ludendorff's footsteps the german kaiser is eventually also forced to abdicate under pressure from the revolution on the 9th of november the social democrat Scheidemann beats the socialist karl liebknecht to the proclamation of the Republic [Music] long lives change long live the German Republic [Applause] it's the 11th of November in a lounge car in Compiegne near Paris the representatives of this new democracy many of whom were anything but in favor of the costly trench warfare now assign the truce on behalf of the German Reich rather than those responsible the military leaders that's why many compatriots later see them as the initiators of the defeat the allied negotiators wear uniform and they leave the venue victorious general staff officer Valtor model is hit abruptly by the end of the war like a slap in the face [Music] he had firmly believed until the end that all the effort hadn't been for nothing and it seemed to him that civilians at home had ended the war that wasn't yet finished should the Allies not have properly defeated the Germans instead of making peace with them well we only know that the decision not to invade Germany in 1918 is going to have the effects it had with hindsight and of course some people were able to anticipate what might come that Germany wouldn't feel the full force of military defeat as a consequence of the decisions stopped short what we have to remember is that by The Immortal of 1918 the Allies logistically had run out of the capability to continue the advance the relief is felt on all sides a German soldier gives his impressions of the truce all of a sudden it stopped there was deadly silence we felt like newborns the Sun was out and the world was green we regained hope we would go home [Music] for the victims of the war - this is mainly a day of joy [Music] on the 11th of November the convalescent tank officer Patton laconically notes in his diary I'm finally rid of my bandage have written a peace poem instead of these war trains the little lives will blossom as before pale bloom of creatures all too weak to bear the light of war a few days after the Armistice French troops arrive in Alsace Lorraine the area bitterly disputed by both neighbors [Music] to avoid any future conflicts the allies create a buffer zone by occupying the region to the left of the Rhine as well as the shorelines opposite mines Coblentz and Cologne [Music] but what is first in the thoughts of most people on all sides of the borders is the end of a hopeless mass killing [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] the French soldier writes to his parents so much pain is mixed with elation that one would like to cry the soldier has lost his inner peace they cannot yet imagine that this terrible fighting has really come to an end an entire generation will have to carry the permanent physical and mental scars of this war almost nine million dead including two million Germans are left in the fiercely contested ground of the battlefields across the world on the French side every sixth conscript never returns to his wife and children to his family his home and his homeland to has not been spared by this war ten million killed in the First World War another five million in the aftermath of it and famines and further fighting and so on and violence direct against civilian populations then reached levels that had never been seen before we have seen a third of the deaths in the first world war civilian deaths two-thirds I think in the second world war something so in this sense it was an era that was characterized by violence across large tracts of the country the land is devastated in all aspects [Music] the German front soldiers withdraw in an orderly fashion the majority are in no doubts that there was nothing left to be won in this campaign Loyola student tagging see new studies show clearly that the great majority of the German soldiers now believed never again another war most of the population also believed the war was lost but over time the idea managed to spread that they hadn't really been beaten in the field so the German troops had to withdraw in 1918 but they had not yet been beaten when the tough conditions of the Treaty of Versailles become public and the New Republic slides politically and economically into crisis the opinion of the war changes a lot of the time people think he won't never again this never again another war but the Nazi group who are thinking well this war ended in disaster for Joni Whedon another war to undo the consequence of the first world war that was the view that gradually want one over because the the National Socialists were able to gain this gained power especially demagogues like Adolf Hitler feed of the discontent and so following his successful campaign against France the warlord stages the truce of 1940 at exactly the same place as the Armistice of November 1918 it is an act of humiliation and revenge the German victory in 1940 was the big triumph for Germany so they perceived it like while we fought for years against France in the First World War and now the sons have achieved in six weeks what the fathers could not reach in the First World War and for years Hitler's teachings from his war experiences are now doctrine of course Hitler's views were to some extent formed in the in the First World War shaped by them so the notion that he comes out with another war will be fought and this war will be fought to the end now there be no no capitulation as there was in the First World War his entire leitmotif of his entire so-called career was that there should be no there could never be a repeat of the what he called the cowardly capitulation in 1918 and in this sense he was consistent in that the next time there's a defeat Germany will then cease to exist and in that sense the German people don't deserve to survive because they haven't being proved to be strong enough and the German people deserve to lude to disappear Hitler's all-or-nothing doctrine is shared by his field marshal modal the passionate professional soldier wants to avoid a repeat of 1918 at all costs even when the desperate 1944 attempt to break through the Ardennes ends in a debacle with over 10,000 dead and 22,000 captive there Martin soldiers u.s. tank division general pattern triumphs on this occasion even in 1945 model continues to cling to his perseverance Dogma as such is typical of his generation of generals [Music] it's clearly those who fought in the Second World War more generally either had direct experience the First World War or who had a very strong received impression of the First World War so the first of all had a view a role in shaping their outlook undoubtedly only when model has been encircled in the Ruhr Basin by US troops and loses all commanding power over his forces does he realize what delusions he has been serving all this time now when all is lost he withdraws from facing his responsibilities by committing suicide [Music] with World War 2 Hitler wanted to make amends for the first world war but in the process unleashed a much more hellish conflagration [Music] [Music] you

Channel: hazards and catastrophes

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Rating: 4.7112174 out of 5

Keywords: Doomsday science documentary, Doomsday full documentary, Doomsday full documentaries, Doomsday documentary, Doomsday earth documentary, Doomsday catastrophe documentary, Doomsday World War I, Doomsday world war 1 history, Doomsday world war 1 facts, Doomsday WWI summary, Doomsday WWI documantary, Doomsday WW1 explained, Doomsday WWI explanation, Doomsday worldwar, Doomsday world war 1 original footage, Doomsday ww1 documentary, Doomsday ww1 facts, Doomsday ww1 full documentary

Id: o0D7vNubnH8

Length: 144min 8sec (8648 seconds)

Published: Fri May 15 2020