The Last Of The Ottoman Victories At Gallipoli | First World War EP4 | Timeline

[Music] a new kind of war was evolving on sea and land a war which turned starvation into a weapon which used spies and subdivision to force countries to give up the fight or join it now germany faced a desperate task to win the war before she ran out of resources and to win before america joined in and tipped the balance against her [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] the world's capital ships in 1914 were the products of a cold war britain's hms dreadnought had set the benchmark heavy armor big guns fast [Music] dreadnoughts were bargaining chips in a great naval poker game germany had 13 and seven building austria hungary three america 10 britain 20. [Music] they kept the peace but then the cold war turned hot but mighty as they were in wartime conditions these warships seemed more like vulnerable goliaths the sight everyone feared austro-hungarian battleship the istvan sunk late in the war by a tiny italian torpedo [Music] in 1914 the german navy believed torpedoes and submarines might tip the balance their way a hit-and-run war with little history and no rules jackie fisher britain's sharpest admiral predicted radical change ahead the use of submarines has convinced us that in wartime nothing can stand against them the submarine is the coming type of war vessel for sea fighting it means that the whole foundation of our traditional naval strategy has broken down a succession of losses early in the war forced the royal navy to withdraw her ships to beyond the limits of the german u-boats range [Music] this suited britain's strategy to isolate and starve her enemies at scarpa flow and recycle to the north at dover and harris to the south the royal navy closed the north sea to german ships [Music] here was a use for those huge battleships her sentinels sealing the exits from the north sea stopping germany's fleet getting out and her vital food and water supplies getting in the north sea would become no man's land a dead sea [Music] the blockade was a brutal vision brainchild of morris henke of the committee of imperial defense my belief in sea power amounted almost to a religion the germans like napoleon might overrun the continent this might prolong the war but could not affect the final issue which would be decided by economic pressure the director of naval intelligence agreed grass would soon are laid to grow in the streets of hamburg and widespread death and ruin would soon be inflicted germany began the war with a merchant fleet of nearly four million tons within months she lost a quarter of her ships seized in harbors or caught making a dash into the no man's land of the north sea lloyds of london kept a log of every vessel sunk their records show that on one day alone the 8th of august 1914 germany lost 41 ships within weeks the german government started to ration food caroline ethel cooper was an australian stranded in leipzig since the start of the war every week she wrote to her sister in adelaide my dear emmy the government has seized the whole bread flour and meal supply of the country we are allowed only four pounds of bread and can only buy one pound of white flour at a time now that the war against neutral ships and food supply has begun prices rise every week to end germany's isolation her navy came up with a revolutionary plan an unarmed submarine over 200 feet long that could carry a cargo over a thousand tons in june 1916 the deutschland set out for america the first time a submarine had ever tried to cross the atlantic because of the wet weather and the high running seas the deck hatches were closed most of the time the diesel engines pumped hot humid air throughout the boat sweat ran down the bulkheads and water leaked around loose rivets the drinking water tasted like diesel and every meal the cook cooked had a layer of oil across the top as we approached the american coast captain koenig ordered the crew to say nothing to anyone about the strains we'd undergone during the trip and to especially avoid mentioning our seasickness now after two world wars it's taken for granted that america and britain are the closest of allies naturally on the same side but in the first world war it wasn't so clear eight million americans had german parents or grandparents four and a half million were of irish descent many of them have little love for england at the outbreak of war thousands of u.s citizens had tried to enlist in the german army and america was enjoying a massive economic boom half britain's war budget was spent in the states [Music] companies like bethlehem steel were swamped with orders they hauled in six times the profits they'd made before the wall the deutschland was another good customer her crew received a hero's welcome there were dinners in their honor captain koenig was invited to meet the president the three weeks we spent in the united states were a non-stop party everywhere we went people gathered around us they all wanted a souvenir of some kind i even sold the buttons off my shirt and the stripes of my tunic german families introduced this to their daughters and we never had to pay for beer the deutschland returned to germany with a vital cargo of nickel and rubber the help it gave the economy was nothing compared with a boost to german morale as even caroline ethel cooper had to admit the town has flagged today because the deutschland has got safely back the side of those red white and black flags always makes me sick but i'm glad she got across all the same it was a sporting run [Music] but the deutschland was too small to break the blockade in germany and austria there were not enough people to work the land and too many officials trying to ration what food there was the situation with the hunger and cues is turning nasty people wait for potatoes in their hundreds far deep from four in the morning until the afternoon the shortages worsened after the terrible harvest of 1916. there were 50 food riots that year oh what days of terror everything's in turmoil there was havoc in town last night the window panes were smashed in a cafe kaiserhof angry crowds were shouting outside bakeries and inns up at the castle they cursed the major in words i shan't repeat the army appeared at 11. germany also tried to starve her enemies using her u-boats against allied merchant shipping one british admiral was horrified submarines are underhand unfair and damned on english as for u-boats attacking civilian ships it is impossible and unthinkable if they do their captured crew should be hanged as pirates germany's u-boats in the early years operated under strict guidelines they gave warnings of their attacks they did not attack underwater they gave merchant crews time to escape they had sunk a quarter of a million tons in 1914 but britain built new ships faster than the u-boats could sink them far from being choked by the german blockade the british economy flourished the british firm vicars with a workforce of 78 000 turned out guns airplanes battleships the u-boat blockade of britain would have to be ruthless but germany's chancellor batman holdweg realized the effect this would have on world opinion as he told george von muller spent the afternoon with the chancellor who wished once more to discuss the u-vote question bettman envisaged the remaining neutrals united against us as the mad dog among the peoples of the world that would mean the end of germany so germany's admirals had their hands tied u-boats were ordered to stick to the old rules of war if germany was trying to play fair britain wasn't q-ships looked like unarmed traders but carried hidden guns they looked like easy prey but when submarines came close the q-ships uncovered their guns and attacked to add to the deception they often sailed under foreign flags lieutenant henry crompton on the u-41 was caught by just such a trick as the two ships came within 300 meters of each other the steamer opened a heavy accurate rifle fire from all along the railing immediately joined by large caliber guns hidden four and on the u-41 immediately returned three rounds from the forward gun all hits to the hull throughout the action this steamer continued to fly the american flag on the 1st of february 1915 in response to the british blockade the kaiser stepped up his campaign he declared that all the waters around britain were a war zone in which any ships including neutrals might be sunk this decision set germany on a collision course with america the pride of the cunard line the lusitania was the largest most luxurious liner in the world she could carry over 2 000 passengers there was a ragtime dance written in her honor on the 1st of may 1915 cunard posted a list of her departures in the new york times next to it was an advertisement placed by the german ambassador those sailing to britain had said did so at their own risk at 11 30 that morning the lusitania left new york for liverpool her captain made light of the submarine threat it's the best joke i've heard in many days this talk of torpedoing the lucitane this is the last picture of her ever taken the lusitania sighted the irish coast on the 7th of may the lighthouse and the old head of kinsale was traditionally used by ships on the atlantic run to get their bearings at ten past two the lusitania was hit by a single torpedo as i watched one funnel went then the other then the other until the ship had gone and the sea was calm and all you could see was bodies and wreckage of furniture and everything that had been in the ship floating in the water my husband and i got into a lifeboat the ropes of which jammed and had to be cut since when i have not seen or heard of my husband i've lost all i ever possessed and my dead boys ages 11 years and eight i was rescued by a trawler my dear husband was lost but i had the great satisfaction of finding him on saturday and seeing him laid to rest in the cemetery in queenstown police reports were sent to relatives to identify the bodies 1200 people died on the lusitania including 128 americans at the battlefronts in europe tens of thousands were dying every day but the fate of the great cunard liner overshadowed them with the sinking of the lusitania germany had crossed a line the whole world hates us because we are conducting the war in such a brutal manner and the brutality is increasing i was at a party when the report of the torpedoing of the lusitania arrived i saw two officers wives who mad with joy started to dance about the room don't forget i said that there were also women and children aboard that doesn't matter they said danced on the more who go to the bottom the better lusitania came to stand for german barbarity britain stirred the indignation with its own propaganda posters and even posed photographs rammed home what had happened [Music] the german embassy in washington received bomb threats [Music] president woodrow wilson himself began to see germany as the mad dog of the world [Music] in god's name how could any nation calling itself civilized do so horrible a thing it seemed america might clamber down off the fence but outrage soon gave way to caution wilson reassured the nation that america would not go to war there is such a thing as a man being too proud to fight there is such a thing as a nation being so right that it does not need to convince others by force that it is right and anyway war would be very bad for business [Music] wilson kept the united states prepared but neutral for two more years germany's policy in america after sinking the lusitania was complex she kept her u-boats in check but not her spies in 1916 german agents blew up black tom island a loading depot in new york harbor it held 900 tons of ammunition destined for the allies [Music] several thousand persons lined the sea wall and acquired a real picture of what the firing line in the european war looks like a water line was one mass of red glare the explosions were so strong they were felt in philadelphia 90 miles away german agents slipped bombs onto ships in american ports there were several assassination attempts and even a bomb planted in the u.s capitol [Music] but nothing got in the way of business on the new york stock exchange when germany won a battle allied stocks fell when britain won her shares rose american investors were betting on the war for british cabinet minister david lloyd george there was a direct connection between battle and bank success means credit financiers never hesitate to lend to a prosperous concern france and russia paid for the war by borrowing from britain britain in turn raised money on the american stock market through her wall street bankers jp morgan it was spent buying american armaments american supplies of all the money raised in america to pay for the war 99 went to britain and the allies it was something that made many germans wonder just how neutral america really was 30th of january 1916. in financial circles it is openly said that england has won the war already and every day that it goes on after march can only make the ruin of germany completer no matter what our military successes may be germany's generals felt the odds were stacking up against them they grew impatient but hesitant politicians tying their hands in view of the military situation we must lose no time in adopting the measure of torpedoing armed enemy merchantmen without notice the antart are continuing the war with all the resources at their disposal our ambassador prophesies war with america if we persist in our intention of torpedoing armed merchantmen without warning the kaiser wrote in the margin of the report i do not care the kaiser didn't care because of some key german calculations his generals gambled that if america joined the allies she would not have a decisive impact on the fighting in europe until 1919 long before then the uber campaign would have brought britain and france to their knees one thing stayed germany's hand in december 1916 she put out a peace feeler to the allies believing she could hold on to her gains the french and british leaders met in paris and rejected the offer germany now staked everything on a new submarine campaign u-boats would sink all ships on-site without warning [Music] february the second is a special and uplifting day for us germans the beginning of the all-out submarine war we're all holding our breaths and hoping that with this radical medicine we will finally cure england of our arrogance and secure a quick piece the terms of which we will dictate in april 1917 germany sunk over 800 000 tons causing panic at the british admiralty but germany didn't have enough u-boats to sustain the success and allied ships were getting better at protecting themselves and the second u-boat campaign was a diplomatic disaster pushing america to the very brink of war the final shove came from the men of british naval intelligence in room 40 at the admiralty on the 16th of january 1917 britain intercepted a coded telegram from german foreign secretary zimmerman to his ambassador in mexico city the zimmermann telegram was made up of a thousand numerical code groups it took two weeks to decipher and as the meaning emerged the men in room 40 realized they were holding the most extraordinary intelligence of the war destined for the mexican government the telegram outlined germany's plan for mexico to invade the united states we make mexico a proposal of alliance with an understanding on our part that mexico is to reconquer texas new mexico and arizona the settlement in detail is left to you zimmermann's scheme was hairbrained mexico was in the middle of a revolution us troops are already fighting bandits on the border there was no way the mexican government wanted more trouble but germany's proposal was a godsend to britain it was just what she needed to end america's neutrality on the 2nd of april president wilson went to the capitol the united states had not declared war when the lusitania went down it had not declared war when spies blew up its shipyards but germany urging mexico to attack america was in a different league on the 6th of april 1917 the united states declared war against germany an american army is fighting for you everything you hold worthwhile is it safe only the hardest blows can win against the enemy we are fighting invoking the spirit of our forefathers the army asks your unflinching support to the end that the high ideals for which america stands they endure upon the earth germany now faced the prospect of america fighting alongside the allies on the western front while she was still battling russia on the eastern but russia was in turmoil what started as a civilian protest on the 8th of march 1917 had turned into a revolution within days the tsar had abdicated and a provisional government taken over so could germany even the odds by exploiting the revolution to lever russia out of the war almost all the ingredients were in place a major civilian uprising restless troops at the front and a toothless leadership in the rear the germans lacked just one piece of the jigsaw a charismatic leader but they had someone in mind vladimir ilh lenin was leader of the bolsheviks a small group of extreme russian radicals they'd spent many hours over the past 14 years plotting revolution in coffee houses and prison cells when at last it came they were caught on the hot stalin was in siberia bukharim was in new york and lenin was in zurich german agents had long been watching lenin they knew that if he seized power he would take russia out of the war so they granted him permission to cross germany to get home [Music] on the 10th of april 1917 lenin his wife nadia krupskaya and his former mistress inessa armor boarded the train with other bolsheviks the kaiser's paying for the journey cheered rival russian socialists he'll be hanged as german spies lennon stood listening and smiled hiss as much as you like he said we bolsheviks will shuffle your cards and spoil your game zimmerman had agents in petrograd monitoring lenin's progress lenin's entry into russia successful he is working exactly as we would wish just as the germans hoped lenin's ideas spread to the front the regiments have turned into hordes of bastards holding meetings led by the bolsheviks military life has come to a standstill the soldiers want peace no matter what the conditions are the bolsheviks led by lenin seized power on the 7th of november 1917. the first thing they did was take russia out of the war the bolsheviks have brought about the crucial event of the century they've discharged millions of russian soldiers and freed the germans hands a hot steam bath awaits the allies with half a million soldiers released from russia germany at the start of 1918 briefly outnumbered the allies on the western front here was her chance to win the first world war behind the german lines great armies rolled into position all the roads were crowded with columns on the march eagerly pressing forward with countless guns and endless transport the allies knew the germans were about to hit them they just didn't know where the french reinforced the shaman de dam ridge the british strengthened the line guarding the channel ports but the germans had their sights on the gap between concentrating on a 12-mile sector where they knew the british were weak here the british fifth army's trench system was shallow and incomplete general sir hubert goff had few reserves germany's supreme commanders had chosen well the german plan was a short intense bombardment to stun the british then a shock attack by stormtroopers evolved since 1915 these were elite mobile soldiers armed with grenades and flamethrowers trained to seek out soft spots and penetrate deep and fast into enemy lines ludendorff fixed the michael offensive named after germany's patron saint for the 21st of march 1918 the germans hit the british with a million shells in just five hours [Music] 940 is zero hour one division after the other breaks through in a gigantic leap through the smashed wire entanglement across no man's land into the first enemy trench our bayonets are stuck in their bodies general gough ordered what was left of the fifth army to withdraw we could hear large numbers of bosch on the roads in front the [ __ ] [ __ ] [ __ ] made one imagine the whole german army was advancing against my company this was the biggest breakthrough in over three years of trench warfare on the western front what our enemies never achieved not even after month-long battles we managed within two days how happy and jolly the kaiser must be finally the initiative is back with us it's a wonderful feeling [Music] demoralized british troops retreated over the somme battlefield of 1916 giving up ground for which so much blood had been shared it is pathetic to think that the old places where we were two years ago are now in the hands of the hun as also are the graves of many people we know edward's sister vera britain was a nurse at a tarp now flooded with casualties she started to think the unthinkable i shall never forget the crushing tension of those extreme days nothing had quite equaled them before not the sun not aris not passchendaele for into our minds had crept for the first time the secret incredible fear that we might lose the [Music] war german success in the michael offensive masked deep problems at home the allied blockade was biting hard her allies austria-hungary and ottoman turkey were falling apart the central powers are running a desperate race between victory on the battlefield and collapse at home there are signs of the increasing scarcity of metal in a small town near here a sad ceremony took place the ancient church bell which had rung the people from cradle to grave for 300 years was requisitioned the inhabitants performed a funeral service for it the bell was covered with wreaths and flowers and handed over to the military authorities under tears and protestations lead pipes were ripped up from the streets and melted down into bullets the war was gnawing at the vitals of germany and austria-hungary and people's hearts were turning against it they wanted change peace and democracy after a while joy at the victory announcements abated people stopped believing them they weren't sure anymore what the truth was i saw that the war had become old and like an old person was no longer wanted surely peace must come soon something dangerous was building up in people something that smelled like rebellion dangerous ideas were coming in from russia anti-war revolutionary carried by german troops being moved from eastern to western front for the great offensive at railway stations and on leave these ideas took root amid the pessimism of the home front dominic rickert was one of the soldiers ordered from east to west we were off to the front so once again we had the pleasant prospect of being allowed a sweet heroic death for their beloved fatherland we went through east prussia west prussia brandenburg train after train crammed full of soldiers and war supplies rolled over from russia to the west farm workers were in the fields we waved almost all of them made the sign of having your throat cut [Music] in january 1918 frustration war weariness and hunger drove 400 000 people onto the streets of germany enough with the murder at the front down with the war we don't want to starve any longer this war will only end when kaiser wilhelm has to queue up for potatoes we're all croaking with hunger the german army responded by arresting 150 strike leaders and putting them on trial over 3 000 strikers were sent to the front it was a foolhardy decision only likely to spread radical and pacifist ideas into the army by march 1918 germany's ally austria-hungary faced bankruptcy and famine [Music] jersey friday a member of the austrian parliament was in despair the financial worries are crushing all in all the national debt is 75 billion and all around the country hunger is crushing the masses as such hunger ever been experienced by a hundred million people and more [Music] and preference joseph had died in 1916 his successor kaiser carl liberalized austria and had a french wife zita who disliked germany in 1917 he opened secret peace negotiations with france the germans felt betrayed then austria started to waver in the one area where germany was relying on her to hold firm the italian front by february 1918 warnings reached vienna that austro-hungarian troops in the alps and on the venetian plains were near starvation but vienna couldn't feed herself let alone supply an army and trouble was brewing with germany's other main ally ottoman turkey germany needed turkey to hold the line against the british advance into the middle east but after 600 years the ottoman empire was crumbling and the british empire was licking its lips [Music] in march 1917 the british captured baghdad in december they entered jerusalem the loss of both cities was a severe blow to ottoman authority in the middle east the words jerusalem has fallen spread like news of a death in the family jerusalem was in the hands of the english how heroically the last turks fought we did not leave jerusalem like the sons of israel who left it like turks through the mount of olives the evening shadows deepen and widen like a grave sucking in the hole of the ottoman [Music] empire we now had to prepare our tears for beirut damascus and aleppo now he thought only of anatolia and istanbul goodbye to the empire and all its dreams and fancies [Music] in turkey as with her allies the situation on the home front was so desperate it threatened her capacity to wage war turkey hadn't known peace for seven years the first world war was just the latest and most terrible in a string of conflicts most able-bodied men were in the army or wounded or dead the land was impoverished the people near breaking point [Music] a woman is asking everyone she sees have you seen my achmed which ahmed which of the hundred thousand ahmeds he went this way she said that way to the suez canal sarikamish of baghdad was your achmed swallowed by ice sand or bitten by scorpions no none of us have seen your life but he has seen hell if we could only explain to a mother what we gained from it news to make her proud but we lost ahmed in a gamble regardless of the central powers mounting problems ludendorff's push on the western front was storming ahead but his army's spectacular advance had no vital objective indeed robert had a staff officer who dared asked ludendorff what the operation was meant to achieve i object to the word operation we will punch a hole into their line for the rest we shall see [Applause] the german advance which looked so good on paper had dangerously outstripped its supply lines some units were so far ahead no one was quite sure where they were the german second army set out for amir but slowed and halted on the way rudolf binding was sent to investigate today the advance of our infantry suddenly stopped near albert nobody could understand why strange figures who looked like soldiers were making their way back out of town men carrying a bottle of wine under their arm and another in their hand the advance was held up and there was no means of getting it going again for hours the german troops had found french towns full of food and drink in quantities and qualities they hadn't seen for years whole divisions had entirely gorged themselves on food and liquor and failed to press the vital attack the second army had lost precious time and momentum here outside emiya on the 4th of april a combined australian and british force stopped the germans ludendorff called off the michael offensive his lack of a strategic plan and the failure to supply his troops had squandered a priceless opportunity [Music] germany was running out of men having failed to capitalize on russia's withdrawal from the war germany had left one and a half million troops on the eastern front soaking up vital resources food and transport germany's leaders were out of their depth fighting what ludendorff would later call a total war but with the administrative structures and thinking of a small 19th century state now ludendorff's nightmare unfolded germany had failed to achieve decisive victory before the americans poured into france a quarter of a million by march 1918 [Applause] we threw hand grenades as if they had been baseballs a boy next to me threw a hand grenade and hit a tree it bounced back and exploded we saw it just in time to hit the bottom of the trench and keep from getting killed [Music] the americans 14 1918 the way the allies had done in 1914 incurring casualties by charging across open ground without adequate artillery support but their presence gave the allies a huge morale boost they looked larger than ordinary men their tall straight figures were in vivid contrast to our undersized armies of pale recruits i pressed forward with the others to watch the united states physically entering the war so godlike so magnificent so splendidly unimpaired in comparison with the tired nerve-wracked men of the british army so these were our deliverers at last and with the knowledge that we were not after all defeated found myself beginning to cry [Music] throughout june 1918 the germans grew weaker and the allies stronger then on the 18th of july the french struck back at the marn [Music] their counter-offensive battered the exhausted german army it looks as though we are being thrown against the largest enemy counter offensive of all time and it was supposed to be our offensive we could never have dreamt that this would happen ever [Music] germany had suffered nearly a million casualties since the glory days of march her great gamble had failed and the tables were turning against her

Channel: Timeline - World History Documentaries

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Keywords: History, Full Documentary, Documentaries, Full length Documentaries, Documentary, TV Shows - Topic, Documentary Movies - Topic, 2017 documentary, BBC documentary, Channel 4 documentary, history documentary, documentary history, ottoman empire, winston churchill, first world war, world war 1, documentaries 2018, documentaries history, documentaries full length, documentary 2018, documentary movies, documentary bbc, battle of gallipoli, battle of gallipoli footage, gallipoli

Id: ULxoFXtXE84

Length: 49min 41sec (2981 seconds)

Published: Tue Nov 27 2018