King George and Queen Mary - The First Windsors (Part 2)

war with Germany fierce fighting broke out in France which had been the victim of German invasion now British troops joined their French allies in a series of battles that will become infamous for their bloody slaughter the British had gone to war with bullish confidence all over by Christmas the politicians had said but that deadline had long gone and still British blood was being shared lots of it the King had not been one of those who sought war so it was with a heavy heart that he carried out his duty to recruit more men Mary made her point by wearing black in morning most public speakers however were ferocious in their enthusiasm for the war all over the country young men were inspired into joining up the stream of new recruits became a flood [Music] George meanwhile was worried about his second son Bertie who was about to see action in the Navy so when the King turned up to give Bertie's battleship the once over the entire ship's company turned out the king even joined in the crews official photograph and tried out one or two navy blue jokes on the ship's company far away on the eastern front the war was not going well for the Allies someone in the War Office had thought up a cunning plan and it was about to be activated ships of the Royal Navy would blast the steep hills of a Turkish Peninsula called Gallipoli and as soon as the thin line of defenders had been scattered droops from British Commonwealth countries would take the heights and open up a pathway straight through to Russia when these Allied troops mostly Australians and New Zealanders hit the beaches they would receive a dreadful surprise instead of a handful of frightened Turks that had been told to expect they were met by a devastating fire from a brilliantly drilled professional force 36,000 Allied soldiers would be killed in the Gallipoli campaign and the heights would never be taken Gallipoli would become a word meaning both tragic disaster and place of valour for one New Zealand soldier corporal Trevor sharp it would mean winning his country's first-ever Victoria Cross awarded by King George himself while back on the western front the king would soon present another Victoria Cross this time to a wonderfully mad Scotsman called Piper Laidlaw [Music] by 1916 the King had become a regular visitor to the Western Front where morale was at a low ebb in April George bought along his eldest son Edward now the Prince of Wales in the hope that the princes legendary charm would stiffen a few backbones it didn't work Edward was having one of his sulks he was depressed because his father wouldn't let him become a fighting man and he was jealous of his brother Bertie who as a junior officer on the cruiser Cumberland had been plunged into the Battle of Jutland Bertie had fought bravely throughout a long and fierce action and was commended in dispatches but then he fell ill and he was sent home to raise money for military hospitals all this time Queen Mary had been doing the Royal rounds on the home front today it was a working-class suburb in Glasgow all these improvised chats with strangers were doing wonders for Mary's confidence in France the British artillery was still trying to smash the German lines with endless shell fire and they now depended on a startlingly different supply line with so many man needed in the trenches women were increasingly being used as munitions workers while far away in Russia there was the scent of red revolution in the air the Communist firebrand Lenin was about to apply the torch a rebel force stormed the palace and put the Russian royal family in prison this was alarming news for King George Tsar Nicholas was his cousin a sinister new dawn George feared would soon sweep away all the Monarchs of Europe indeed his other cousin Kaiser Wilhelm absolute ruler of Germany and their official war leader had just been sacked by his own generals where will it all end the king was heard to mutter George had every right to feel cross there he was doing his patriotic best for the country he loved so much and yet appalling rumors were circulating that he and his dear wife was secretly pro-german a fever of anti German hatred was sweeping through Britain anyone with a German name was attacked George knew that it was time to act his family name saxe-coburg-gotha was unmistakably German it would have to be changed back in Windsor Castle as he discussed this painful question with his private secretary he looked around the ancient castle that had always been the family retreat it was here that Kings had kneeled in prayer through the centuries and where their bones now lay buried he knew then what the new name for his ROI family would have to be Windsor back at the war it was deadly business as useful thousands of men killed in a single day for a gain of a hundred meters and the next day the same numbers killed for the loss of the same ground a war of attrition they called it with young men's lives sacrificed to where the enemy down [Music] and the lucky ones cerveza were those two maimed to ever fight again [Music] far away from the horror but keenly aware of it George and Mary were doing their utmost to set a good example to their war weary subjects now that food rationing had been introduced they cut down on the Royal meals ate meat only twice a week and shared homegrown vegetables from their huge gardens at Sandringham with local villagers yet something dramatic had to be done to turn the tide of a war that seemed to have no end George accepted the resignation of the prime minister Lord Asquith knowing that Lloyd George a man he did not like would make a better war leader but there was good news in the air the Yanks were coming on a wing and a prayer and a throw of the dice soon whole battalions of them were parading before King George and a rather statuesque Queen Mary now the Allies were riding high with explosive new power in the air and with new weapons called tanks to support the enormous shove by fresh American troops in no time it seemed the mighty German forces were surrendering after four years of bitter bloody conflict it was all over a wild spirit of joy seized hold of Londoners and swept them along to their common destination the gates of Buckingham Palace and up there on the balcony were those two modest figures who'd seen the nation through its worst ever crisis and emerged as George and Mary Windsor at last George could relax doing what he loved best sailing his beloved yacht in calm English waters for the first time in his life he was a man and a monarch who was sure of himself and of the country over which he reigned [Music] follow a country lane and you'd swear the traditions still ruled that the Great War had left no lasting wounds but in cities and towns all over Britain hungry men wandered the streets looking for work but the jobs had gone at war's end the government had promised returning servicemen at world fit for Heroes it was a promise that had a bitter ring to it now a million and a half men were on the dole and industry was crippled by strikes one strike would even stop work on the British Empire exhibition which the king was expected to open eventually [Music] still no disloyal strikers could prevent George from honoring the memory of his late father Edward the seventh and Alexandra the Queen Mother was there too for the unveiling [Music] at least George was still a reigning monarch which was more than you could say for his cousin the Kaiser who after losing the war had been deposed and as for his Russian cousin Czar Nicholas whom George remembered as an awesome Imperial figure he and his entire family had been murdered by the Bolsheviks even the king of Serbia had been forced into exile and so had the last in a long exotic line the Sultan of Turkey while King Alphonse of Spain feared that his country might go the way of France and become that most dreaded of things a republic at least the Royal House of Windsor was secure wasn't it by the early 1920s George's anxiety about the future of his own empire had returned Islands had become a seething trouble spot British troops had been sent there in the King's name to flush out these troublesome Irish rebels unfortunately the Troubleshooters known as the Black and Tans inflamed Irish opinion with their own brutal tactics all over Europe crowned heads were under threat in Italy the black shirts marched on Rome and in a decision he would live to regret King Victor Emmanuel would give his blessing to a fascist government headed by a man called Mussolini but absurd foreigners in Ireland or Italy made no impression on the social set that swirled around the British Royal circle King George and Queen Mary of course but also Alexandra the Queen Mother with all her dogs then there was Princess Mary the Kings only daughter who was soon to be married but the star of the moment was Edward Prince of Wales who just returned from a world tour [Music] in Tokyo he'd marched with Prince Hirohito heir to Japan's throne and back home he would be the Lion of house parties and the hunt and the polo field not to mention being best man at the wedding of Lord Louis Mountbatten the king who knew his son better than his admirers was not impressed by all this pointless gallivanting meanwhile back in the real world a group of young enthusiasts had been experimenting with one of those modern inventions that King George so distrusted when suddenly the world's first radio broadcasting company was on the air the King's suspicion of this thing called Wireless would be overcome when he realized its power to unite people another thing that George disliked was socialism especially when it was on the march in his kingdom stirring people up so in 1924 when Britain elected its first-ever Labour government George was appalled at the prospect of meeting the new prime minister

Channel: Professor Cynic

Views: 569,929

Keywords: King George and Queen Mary, Queen Mary of Teck, The first windsors, King george v, The royal family documentary, king george v documentary, queen mary of teck documentary

Id: tcvTjzXuchE

Length: 16min 14sec (974 seconds)

Published: Fri Jan 11 2019