History Buffs: 1917

this episode sponsored by surfsharkvpn [Music] hello and welcome history Buffs my name is Nick Hodges and today we're going to revisit the war to end all wars with 1917. in 1917 the British and the Germans have been fighting a war of attrition in northern France both are left a real link from the disastrous Battle of the Somme but neither side refuses to give ground that is until the British wake up one morning to find out that their enemy has disappeared after initial reconnaissance it appears the Germans are retreating taking advantage of the situation the second Evans division are sent after them but after analyzing some aerial data the British High command soon realized the Germans haven't run away but are consolidating their defenses the British are about to walk into a trap this is the premise of 1917. two boys Lance corporal's Blake and schofields are sent on a mission to stop the British attack on the new German front before it's too late at stake a 1600 British lives to get there the two boys must cross the dangerous Lads between the two fronts known as no man's land and venture out Behind Enemy Lines but how much of 1917 is fact and how much is fiction do its visuals accurately portray no man's land and life in the trenches although 1917 is a work of historical fiction it is based on very real events in this review we'll take a look at the inspiration behind the film to see how accurate it is compared to World War One history and find out and Faithfully recreate the horrors of trench warfare this is 1917. the film opens up with our main character Scofield and Blake resting in a field their Sergeant wakes Blake up and asks him to see General Aaron Moore who then tells the boys the Germans have retreated from their front lines and the second Evans division is chasing after them but unfortunately their Intel has revealed that this is a trick we oh yeah second Evans are advancing here how long will it take you to get there Germans have gone don't get your hopes up appears to be a strategic withdrawal you seem to have created a new line nine miles back here by the looks of it this new line was the Hindenburg line also called the Siegfried line by the Germans and Schofield and Blake are tasked reaching it and finding the man in charge of the attack Colonel Mackenzie they need to deliver a letter to stop the attack and save the lives of 1600 men who are about to be annihilated and to make it even more personal Blake's brother is part of the second Evans and the reason why he was chosen for this Mission his brother's life and that's the second Evans are now in their hands but before we follow the boys on their Dangerous Mission it's important to look at the root of this story to the aftermath of two colossal battles fought the previous year in 1916 the done and the Sun at the beginning of 1916 the Germans and the Allies were locked in stalemate of the northeastern France Millions had died to seize ground but neither side had much to show for their sacrifice put in charge to re-seize the initiative was the German general Chief of Staff Eric Von falkenheim knowing that the Allies were planning their summer offensives was going to throw them off balance by striking first his plan was to hit the French hard and crush them before the British even that time to deploy if he could do that then Germany could secure a victory on the Western Front and so on February 21st 1916 falconhein attacked the French Fortress city of Verdun now this wasn't so much an attempt to break through the French lines but to inflict maximum losses he chose Verdun because of its strong emotional Valley to the French a place he knew there would be compelled to defend at all costs and he was right falconheim wanted to quote bleed Frant white by annihilating the French army he'd severely weakened the whole Allied front the Battle of Verdun is a classic example of what we call a war of attrition it was less about seizing ground and more about body count and grinding down the enemy Germany felt that they could force France to surrender by inflicting such heavy losses upon them it would break their will to fight as predicted France's commander-in-chief Joseph joffra refused to give up the city he promote to an officer named patan to defend Verdun who pledged illness or they shall not pass and when your enemies are at the gate you have to do everything you can to protect yourself which is why I like using surf shark everywhere you go online websites and cyber criminals are constantly trying to track your movements and gather your data surf shark VPN however keeps your online identity safe by encrypting your personal data that means they are the barrier between your device and the internet whether it's be at home or on public Wi-Fi they even have a clean web feature that blocks ads trackers and fishing attempts so you can surf the Internet hassle-free but my favorite part of surfsharkvpn is the ability to change my virtual location 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their French allies at Verdun the British carried out their pre-planned attack on the Somme in July 1916 and it was also a meat grinder on their first day alone the British lost over 57 000 troops but the Somme did succeed in diverting some of the German Army away from bird done thinning out their attack despite the spiraling loss of life on all sides falconhein maintains that this war of attrition was the only way to take on the west unfortunately for him both were done and the song proved that a war of attrition was not sustainable for the Germans Not only was the anglo-french alliance strong but they had a much more efficient system of transporting troops and supplies to the front though falconhein had hoped that attacking Verdun would weaken French resolve the Allies under patan instead better coordinate the artillery attacks and reopened supply lines the Germans just didn't have the Manpower or the resources to match them or to fight another series of costly battles they would have to find another way for his failure to break the stalemate falconheim was sacked in August 1916 and replaced by Paul Von Hindenburg and Eric ludendorff the battle of the Somme lasted four months and ended on November 18th whilst Verdan continued on until December 18 1916 but it was after the song that Hindenburg and ludendorff decided to build the Hindenburg line in his Memoirs ludendorff explained that German headquarters had to bear in mind that the enemies great superiority in many material would be even more painfully felt in 1917 than in 1916 they had to face the danger that some on fighting would soon break out at various points on our front and even our troops would not be able to withstand such attacks indefinitely the point of this new front was to shorten the German line and consolidate its troops before the spring of 1917. this decision however was criticized back in Germany as this would mean giving up 25 miles apart Fort ground to the enemy it would also looked like a retreat and a defeat a potentially damaging German morale and emboldening their enemies but ludendorf convinced the Kaiser that this was vital for Germany to regroup and repel Allied defensives the Germans were sure that the British and French were gearing up for another big attack so Germany needed to change tactics to be able to withstand their combined forces and so ludendorf got to work building the Hindenburg line the new front began south of Aras and stretched Southeast about 80 kilometers or roughly 50 miles before reconnecting with the original front east of suasong built to be significantly stronger than the old front Germany spent the end of 1916 and the beginning of 1917 setting it up before finally pulling their forces back by the middle of March its featured trenches that were dug 9 to 10 feet deep and 12 feet across to prevent a new British weapon from crossing the tank which was first introduced in the battle of the Somme in September 1916. the trenches though were only the beginning of ludendorff's new strategy the land between the old front of the new Hindenburg line became a wasteland and in the movie 1917 we followed Blake and Scofield as they venture out into the eerily quiet desert the Germans Left Behind what we discover through their journey is the horrifying reality of trench warfare foreign Schofield steal themselves to climb over the trench wall they're prepared to meet an onslaught of German fire after all sticking your head above ground has always been a short way of getting sniped but as the two go over the top their stun to find that the Germans really did fall back as general Erin Moore told them regardless they still tread carefully through the barbed wire obstacles and corpses strewn about the ground that they're navigating through was a thin strip of uninhabited land between the two fronts called No Man's Land separating the Allied and central powers on the Western Front it was almost 10 miles long it would have looked just like it does in the movie inhuman a hellscape peppered with dead animals burnt trees and the shell that remains at tanks like this English Mark II which by the way small inaccuracy but this particular model didn't see action until the Battle of Aras on April 9 1917 which is arguably what the battle at the end of the movie is inspired by but I digress one of the horrifying things about no man's land is that it wasn't just an empty space you could hear it too in her book on World War one historian Fran Britain detailed the following description men drowning in Shell holes already filled with decaying flesh wounded men beyond help from behind the wire dying over a number of days the cries Audible and often unbearable to those in the trenches indeed it was a landscape so nice marriage that had even inspired the dead marshes from tolkien's Lord of the Rings based on his own experiences at the Battle of the Somme anyway Blake and Schofield eventually make it through and into the remains of the old German front including some of the now deserted underground barracks and is accurately depicted the Germans were far more sophisticated with their trench building than the British much to the Envy of Scofield and Blake whilst these two would have been used to sleeping in the open air the Germans would have had some of their living quarters almost 50 feet beneath the surface decked out with electricity toilets and even beds for now though it's only inhabitants other rats eating whatever scraps are left however the pair soon find that these Barracks are booby trapped and scofields nearly gets killed in the explosion but survives with minor injuries now these booby traps really did exist not only that but when ludentor withdrew his troops he also ordered them to leave nothing behind for the Allies to use we see evidence of this as they both leave the barracks and find abandoned artillery cannons with sabotage barrels and the remains of a burnt forest all of this was due to a scorched Earth policy that took place during the retreat back to the Hindenburg line it was known as operation orbric Wells were filled in or poisoned railway lines were ripped out buildings were demolished even the animals were slaughtered mass destruction became a definable feature of the plan as the Germans regrouped to their new line they destroyed almost everything in their path for instance the town of papon which is directly between the old and new German fronts was obliterated in less than an hour and I have to say in my opinion the film does a great job of showing the immense destruction from operation Albrecht although it does get the date wrong several scenes in the movie make it seem like this operation was happening during the event of the film on April 6th and 7th 1917 but in reality this was a month after the operation ended also this is a bit of a nitpick but those artillery cannons are way too close to the front in real life they would have been miles away not only to keep them safe because they had such a long range putting them this close to the front practically point-blank range would have resulted many of their shells just to fly over the British and miss them completely anyway as the boys continue on at their Journey they watch a dogfight between one German and two British biplanes when the German plane is shot out of the sky and crashes the unabandoned barn they pulled the pilot out of the burning wreck to rescue him but in the suing chaos Blake is stabbed by the pilot and is mortally wounded though shocking and pretty early in the movie what I do like about Blake's death scene is that it shows the unpredictability of war and its consequences death could come at any moment a fact that every World War one soldier had to face every single day despite the loss of his friend Schofield takes the letter intended for the second Evans Division and continues on the mission he meets a captain who had just passed the now destroyed papone and offers to bring Scofield to acousta man six miles Northeast they get close but can't cross into the city due to a broken bridge Schofield leaves the Convoy and heads out on his own but as he begins to cross the bridge to acoust he comes under sniper fire he eventually makes it through and finds the German sniper in the top of an abandoned Watchtower but when he shoots him he is knocked unconscious when Schofield wakes up it is night time he navigates the ruined City in a beautifully shot sequence running away from enemy Germans that have been left behind during the operation which is pretty accurate the Germans did leave pockets of snipers and machine gun Crews to slow down the Allied advance but there were also instances of stragglers being separated from the main Army which is the complexity of such a large-scale withdrawal anyway Schofield seeks shelter in the basement of a destroyed building and finds a French car with an orphan's baby they share a tender moment that reminds viewers of the human cost of War as these two are the only civilians we see in the movie but there's a reason for that so when the Germans gave orders to begin operation or brick they had to deal with the French civilian population living in the areas they were clearing Belgian and French prisoners of War were often used as forced laborers which luzendorf preferred to hiring German Builders so in all close to 150 000 civilians were displaced by operation Albrecht with some Center work camps and others moved to clearance zones though it was deemed a military necessity many Germans soldiers were uncomfortable with what they had to do and infantryman George David bantalin writes today February 18 1917 all inhabitants of the village are to be evacuated at desolate sight these roughly 500 people women children and also with a few bits of possessions gathered together on the market square on a rainy Sunday morning how miserable it must be to leave house and property to head for an uncertain future but not all the people have moved to safety some women children and old men were left behind with little to no rations of foods living in destroyed Villages so when we see the woman and child alone in a ruined building we get the feeling that she either hid from the Germans or was purposely Left Behind either way it is an accurate depiction from the movie although Scofield feels compelled to help this girl he remembers his mission and leaves after a short Chase sequence he jumps into the nearby River to float to safety and its here where we come across the dumbest inaccuracy in the entire movie here's the problem Scofield needs to find the second Evans division stationed in the quasier woods near acoust these towns are next to each other in France less than two miles apart but there are no white water rapids connecting them outside quasia is a small slow-moving river called Los Angeles but based on how 1917 is shot it doesn't fit with what we see in the film there would be no River especially one with waterfalls that connects a coast with a forest it makes for good action but it's very inaccurate for French geography in reality lost on say looks like this and sometimes even this so although the film takes celebrities with both dates and geography it does do a pretty good job of portraying the desolation of no man's land at least and the destruction created by operation orbric it's a place that was constructed to be devoid of humanity but Scofield still manages to find some in the ruined acoust exhausted bruised and with some pretty serious injuries Schofield floats down La Sensei getting over closer to finding the second Devon's division [Music] eventually Schofield finds a shallow bank and crawls out of the river having to step on bloated corpses as he goes the film is Unapologetic about showing the harsh realities of War to its viewers as we are meant to go through the same trauma as Schofield does he hears singing faintly in the distance and stumbles towards it a group of British soldiers are listening to a man sing poor Wayfaring Stranger an American folk song from the mid-19th century about facing death and hoping for a better afterlife A fitting choice for a group of boys about to rush to their deaths Scofield by this points looks bedraggled having survived and experienced so much in the past few hours believing he's too late to complete his mission the emotional moment leaves him bereft until the other soldiers notice and reach out to him [Music] what's up man I have to find the difference we're the devons your suggestions yes cool why haven't you gone over we're the second wave they don't send us all at once he Ard the company realizing he's not too late Scofield gets up and rushes to find Colonel McKenzie he runs into the trenches and desperately tries to find the Colonel bumping into several captains along the way preparing the first wave to attack hold off General erinmore has called off the attack ballsman we're about to go over we've got them on the road you don't please don't send your men over get out of the ways and direct the honestly might be command where is Colonel MacKenzie's as Christ but go and see the captain Schofield continues to stumble through the trenches seeing men lined up and ready to charge over the top into the Ambush and though it's not directly referenced I believe this is meant to be or at least inspired by the Battle of harass a British offensive fought a few days after the event of the movie on April 9 1917. in response to the German Retreat to the Hindenburg line French commander-in-chief Robert Novell believed that the Allies could break through the German defenses in a giant coordinated attack the Battle of Aras was one part of what was called the Neville offensive there was another one 50 miles to the south at n however the German line withstood the attack until the French called it off on May 15th now Aras is only 10 miles from mccoose and eight miles from the quasier woods so the film is likely depicting this battle even though it is a little off the mark in terms of the date and location in any case Schofield is running out of time and asks another Captain where to find Mackenzie [Music] make further up the line 300 yards he's in a cotton cover until the first wave goes over no no I can't unable to wait any longer Schofield makes the daring move to climb out of the trench and run straight for the cut and cover knowing he could be shot any moment and here we have the most iconic scene in the movie as the first wave of soldiers charge Schofield runs perpendicular to them dodging artillery shells and bullets alike it's a cool sequence and very nail biting but I must admit it is a little silly never mind the shrapnel flying everywhere the blast wave alone given how close those explosions are would rupture his eardrums and internal organs the likelihood of him walking away from that without a scratch is slim to none but luckily for the rest of the men waiting their turn in the trenches schofields does make it to his destination he tries to push his way past the guards he manages to squeeze by and finds Colonel McKenzie inside and in this pivotal scene Schofield tries to persuade Colonel Mackenzie to read the letter from General erinmore this attack is not to go ahead just stop you have to stop who the hell are you let's go plus Garfield sir hey I have orders from General erinmore to cool off this attack so these orders are from army command you have to read them shall we hold back the second wave so no major hesitate now we lose Victory is only 500 yards away sir please read I have heard it all before I'm not gonna wait until dusk or for fog I'm not calling back my men only to send them out there again tomorrow not when we got the bastards on the run this is their last the Germans plans this uh they've been planning it for months they want you to attack read the letter small nitpick but with that letter still be legible at this point I mean think about it was in Blake's blood soak's pockets and Schofield swam with it in the sansei river admittedly we never get to see the front of the letter so we have no idea how damaged it is but regardless McKenzie trusts his authenticity and stops the rest the attack before all 1600 men are killed Scofield has finally completed his mission but before he can rest Scofield feels compelled to find Blake's Brother Joseph promise he made to his friend as he died in Scofield's arms now the attack has been called off he intends to fulfill that promise finding one man in a sea of thousands is difficult but Scofield is undeterred after finding out that the Elder Blake was part of the first wave Schofield heads to the casualty clearing station and here viewers are treated to the gruesomeness of World War One field medicine amputations quick surgeries extreme pain and death what you see here is for the most part pretty accurate eight stations were set up close behind the front lines where doctors and nurses would treat the returning wounded from Battle for those with significant injuries they'd be transported to a horse Hospital behind the lines to receive Advanced Medical Care the only criticism I may have about this aid station is that it doesn't seem that well protected it's out in an open field and very exposed to artillery but in the context the movie maybe they just put it together at the last minute and intend to fix the problem later Against All Odds Schofield finds Lieutenant Blake alive and well outside the medical tents and what follows is the most touching part of the movie I'm from the 8th what the hell are you doing here I was sent here to deliver a message you must know my brother I was sent here with him Tom's here where is he it was very quick I'm sorry what's your name Schofield sir sorry what it's Schofield sir William Schofield well he was a good man always telling funny stories he saved my life [Music] no I'm glad you were with him the two men shake hands and scofields apart heading towards a Lone Tree in the background his story and our movie ends here with the lance corporal thinking of his family waiting for him back home 1917 is a beautiful piece of historical fiction set in an often overlooked period of World War One history and I absolutely love it the unique feature of this film is that is shown as one continuous take the director Sam Mendes wanted the audience to feel as though they were part of the story and as the film ends we see that is dedicated to Lance corporal Alfred Mendes the director's grandfather like Blake and Schofield Alfred Mendes was a runner in World War one and told stories of having to cross into No Man's Land 1917 is Mendes's way of paying tribute to his grandfather and all those who perished in the Great War by having the audience follow along with Schofield in real time it feels as if we too are experiencing the trauma of that war for the most part 1917 is pretty accurate even though it takes a few Liberties to heighten the drama it's hard not to laugh for the Whitewater happens cutting through the flat French Countryside or Scofield shrugging off explosions all around him like an action hero it's also curious that the film is set on April 6 1917 the date that the U.S officially joined the war considering the story doesn't feature the Americans at all perhaps it should have been set on April 8th to line up with the beginning of the battle of Aras when Schofield eventually makes it to the new front line but because the characters and the situation in this film are fictional I can excuse the fact that the play is a little loose with the dates and locations in any case 1917 is a must-watch for history Buffs especially those of you who love a good War film or enjoy unique cinematography and storytelling though the director took some Liberties to create a more Hollywood cinematic experience the viewers left feeling like Schofield at the end of the film overcome by the brutality and senselessness of War but still filled with hope for the future it's a brilliant film that deserves a watch if not for the human story then for the historical portrayal of World War One battlefields and trenches well that about wraps it up once again thanks to today's sponsor surfsharkvpn remember to click on the link in the description box below for your exclusive deal my name is Nick Hodges and thanks for watching history Buffs and remember if you like this show help the channel grow if you wish to support history Buffs and you can now do so at patreon and as always let me know what you thought about 1917 and of course what historical movie should I review next in the meantime check out the history bus Twitter and Facebook pages for new updates until then I'll see you next time [Music] foreign [Music]

Channel: History Buffs

Views: 1,094,216

Keywords: sam mendes, history buffs, historical accuracy, historical inaccuracies, nick hodges, 1917 movie, The Great War, Hindenburg Line, ludendorff, battle of arras 1917, Verdun, The Somme, Trench Warfare, No Man's Land, Dean Charles Chapman, george mackay, How historically accurate, Richard Madden, Operation Alberich, nivelle offensive 1917, Benedict Cumberbatch, Colin Firth, Mark Strong, Andrew Scott, Claire Duburcq

Id: HguI7Lm975U

Length: 26min 49sec (1609 seconds)

Published: Fri Jun 16 2023