WW1: The State Of Play In 1914 | The Great War In Numbers | Timeline

hi everybody and welcome to this documentary on timeline my name is dan snow and i want to tell you about history hit tv it's like the netflix for history hundreds of exclusive documentaries and interviews with the world's best historians we've got an exclusive offer available to fans of timeline if you go to history hit tv you can either follow the information below this video or just google history hit tv and use the code timeline you get a special introductory offer go and check it out in the meantime enjoy this video [Music] and a new kind of war a war of numbers ammunition guns ships aircraft men who will die in their millions a war fought by calculating generals for whom no cost is too high the first world war is fought on a scale never before seen in the whole of human history a billion artillery shells a million machine guns 50 billion bullets 65 million men at war who die at a rate of 6 000 a day men are reduced to numbers of all the men in europe aged from 19 to 22 at the start of the war a third will be dead by the end no family will be left unscathed the first world war changes the course of human history out of it comes communism and fascism out of it comes votes for every citizen the foundation of modern democracy it is a war between empires that destroys empires it is a war in which the old rulers pay scant regard for the lives of ordinary people and for this callous indifference the old ruling class will pay the price but how and why did it happen august 1914 across europe men have been called up to fight the numbers already unprecedented in military history it comes to a staggering 18 million [Music] no one really saw this coming europe had been at peace for over 40 years in the decades since the last european war the continent has changed industrialization has introduced mass production the machine age is changing society and now it is about to transform the nature of human conflict they had never seen industrialized warfare on this scale most previous european wars have been small affairs by comparison but in the 19th century industrial progress brings greater wealth and health the population expands rapidly especially in germany where it grows to rate of almost 1 million a year to over 67 million the masses are seen by europe's ruling classes as subjects there to be governed and when required to fight to understand the origins of the first world war we must examine europe's old ruling class and the empires which they aspired to build and govern [Music] in 1914 the british possessed the largest empire the world has ever seen it covers 12.7 million square miles britain governs a quarter of the world's population second in size is the russian empire of tsar nicholas ii third largest and britain's rival in africa is france germany's tiny empire is just a tenth the size of britain's today the whole idea of empire seems very anachronistic and very old-fashioned but of course back then it was incredibly important especially for the ruling classes why because it gives them the ability to control a market in the way that you simply can't control a market today the british empire is unusual britain has a large and influential merchant class which has pioneered the idea of open free trade british exports are worth over 500 million pounds a quarter of all manufactured goods come from britain but most rulers see their empires as instruments of trade restriction and control a bigger empire means more prestige and greater wealth at the expense of their rivals for germany the small size of their empire is not just a matter of bruised pride it is an obstacle to economic expansion [Music] in the decades before 1914 germany was going through her own industrial revolution in some areas even overtaking britain the german industry and the german economy had been going through a boom period since the turn of the century electrical goods and chemical goods were the two leading sectors in fact only three german chemical companies dominated 90 percent of the world market by 1914 german steel production increases a thousand percent to almost 19 million tons more than britain france and russia combined german companies are the world's main source of industrial chemicals pharmaceuticals and dyes even the khaki dye for the british uniforms came from germany by the start of 1914 german industry is big dynamic but frustrated it craves even greater access to world markets to buy raw materials and to sell its finished products yet large areas of the world are under the control of foreign powers the german ruling elites were extraordinarily concerned that if they didn't catch up with the likes of britain france the united states indeed even russia they would be left behind they'd be deprived of the world's resources gradually strangled the german elites were convinced that they had legitimate right given the economic power that germany had at the time that this should also translate into a presence on the international stage but it's not just about cornering markets germany is still dominated by a noble officer cast full-time soldiers who yearn both for the thrill and adventure of war as well as the well-paid prestigious colonial jobs that come with running a large empire to build that empire the germans know they'll need a powerful navy the job of building it falls to admiral alfred von tirpitz [Music] tirpitz realized that if you could create a large navy it would allow you to project power and suck in commerce from around the world expel investments bring in raw materials and ensure germany's future german naval spending triples from 8 million pounds a year to 23 [Music] but britain responds to germany's naval ambitions by building even more ships it decides to double the size of the royal navy devoting to it no less than a quarter of all public spending over 45 million pounds britain has more ships and bigger ships in 1906 she launches the most powerful battleship the world has ever seen hms dreadnought the dreadnought is in a league of its own each of her 10 12-inch guns fires a half-ton shell a single broadside can sink any opponent by 1914 britain has 22 giant dreadnoughts in service 13 more under construction and 574 other ships and submarines 609 warships in total the strongest navy in the world today is the united states navy which has roughly 450 ships so that gives you a sense of just how dominant the royal navy was in 1914 it is and will remain one of the biggest navies in history germany can only muster 15 big battleships and 319 other vessels all other navies in the world lag far behind germany's expanding navy large standing army and aggressive foreign policy fails to grow her empire it succeeds in worrying her imperial rivals britain france and russia the german developed political world policies it's called had had very little success by 1913 not only have they got domestic problems which are causing the ruling elites some kind of anxiety but on the international stage they have effectively matched to alienate britain they've certainly alienated france an old rival adversary and they've pushed together france and russia to countries with entirely different political systems but united only by common concern about germany it had been a complete shambles because it turned out that german military might did not translate into actual gain and that all it produced the pursuit of world politics was increasing frictions and tensions in the international system before the outbreak of war continental europe is fraught with tension its great imperial powers are jostling for position against one another while attempting to suppress the aspirations and rebelliousness of their own subjects many members of europe's aristocratic officer class are spoiling for a war unfortunately for them and everyone else in europe they are about to get one by the summer of 1914 germany is surrounded by enemies her only friends among the imperial powers lie to the south germany has formed an alliance with the austro-hungarian empire which for the last 60 years has been ruled by the habsburg emperor franz joseph the empire includes within its borders more than a dozen different nationalities the most privileged to the austrians who rule over the checks and polls in the western half of the empire and the hungarians who rule over a hodgepodge of nationalities in the eastern half to the south is the recently annexed province of bosnia-herzegovina home to over 800 000 serbs this multi-ethnic mix is reflected in the empire's armies the makeup of the austro-hungarian army is quite remarkable you have slovaks austrians hungarians even slavs who would probably rather be fighting for the russians so it's a really unwieldy machine to call up soldiers to the austro-hungarian imperial army posters have to be put up in 15 languages many of these disparate ethnic groups aspire to freedom and independence serb nationalists in bosnia-herzegovina receive encouragement and weapons from neighboring serbia the aggressive nationalism of the serbs threatened to undermine the whole stability of the austrian hungarian monarchy to the rest of europe it's a sideshow the arrogant habsburgs are having some local trouble controlling their messy empire but the events that follow will lead to a devastating imperial war and it starts with just two pistol shots on the 28th of june 1914 the heir to the austro-hungarian empire archduke franz ferdinand is shot dead whilst visiting the bosnian capital sarajevo it makes headlines across the world the assassin belongs to a group backed by neighboring serbia as the archduke is laid to rest shock is turning to anger and that anger is directed at serbia the habsburg emperor friends joseph wants to take action but he knows that serbia is friendly with russia before he attacks he wants a guarantee of german support against the big bear on his doorstep on the 6th of july he gets it a telegram from wilhelm ii promises to back austria whatever they decide germany has given austria a blank check if there's a war germany is ready and eager to fight many members of the german elite indeed assumed that the crisis could still be contained and even if it could not be contained then they were convinced that this was the right moment to strike out there's some archival evidence to show that the german elite themselves the very highest people in government in collusion with the german army were indeed preparing for some kind of war sometime in the middle of 1914 austria makes a calculation if the war can be confined to the balkans the numbers are on their side serbia they estimate can field an army of a quarter of a million men but austria-hungary has an imperial standing army of half a million men twice as big and what's more it is the promised backing of the kaiser's giant standing army of over 800 000 men in short the habsburgs enjoy overwhelming numerical superiority so on the 23rd of july they confidently deliver an ultimatum to the serbian government demanding that austrian officials be allowed to enter serbia to investigate the assassination the ultimatum was designed to be completely unacceptable to the serbs and indeed it was in response the serbian prime minister appeals to russia for help the russians are fellow slavs but more than that the tsar is eager to extend his imperial sphere of influence over the balkans at the expense of austria-hungary within 48 hours the russian czar promises to go to any lengths to defend serbia adding over a million men to the serbian side russia felt that germany and austria were in danger of dominating a region on which russian commerce would depend in the future encouraged by the tsar's support serbia rejects the habsburg ultimatum on the 25th of july now things escalate the russian empire looks for support from her ally imperial france france has been germany's enemy since 1871 when the german empire managed to take control of alsace and lorraine this is france's chance to get them back so france promises to back russia with her 850 000 strong regular army as europe edges towards war one country attempts to hold back britain is the world's greatest trading nation and war is ruinous for trade the initial british cabinet response to any idea of intervention in this continental conflict is one of uh enactment they don't want to be involved in this continental war they've got problems in ireland they've had a spate of industrial disputes which although over still left people concerned about britain's domestic situation as an imperial commerce to protect and war is bad for business as far as the british government are concerned on the 26th of july britain calls for a peace conference the problem is is that no one in europe is really listening anymore [Applause] to counter the threat from russia the habsburgs call up vast numbers of reservists swelling their armies to over three million men but the tsar does the same russia's army now expands by an incredible five million men still austria refuses to back down on the morning of the 28th of july 1914 emperor franz joseph declares war on serbia instead of holding back the politicians and generals are rushing headlong towards disaster in 1914 europe's imperial powers are summoning vast armies into existence but how will they move them and supply them millions of trained reservists are about to be called up ten million men are already armed the horrific scale of world war one the vast numbers of men killed none of it would have been possible but for that marvel and symbol of the industrial age the railway railways were absolutely essential it was only through railways and steam power that these vast armies of hundreds of thousands of soldiers could be brought to the frontiers supplied and then carried into battle if necessary russia's mobilization relies on her vast rail network over 70 000 kilometers of track railways are just as important for germany with 63 000 kilometers austria-hungary france and britain also have large networks enabling the war to be fought on a colossal scale you could move a lot more men a lot faster you could anticipate where they would be at what particular time you could also move equipment especially artillery for your rail countless russian trains are rattling towards the german border carrying hundreds of thousands of soldiers just at that moment sar nicholas receives a telegram from his cousin kaiser wilhelm wilhelm promises to stay neutral if russia will stay out of the fight the telegram causes the tsar to hesitate war it seems might be averted the royal families of europe were incredibly close czar nicholas of russia king george of britain and kaiser wilhelm were all first cousins they called each other willie georgie and nicki they were that close on the 29th of july the tsar refuses to order full mobilization he wants to stop the train loads of soldiers heading towards germany he is pulling back from the brink of war but the troops are already on the move millions of men are already gathered at train stations hundreds of thousands have already set off the trains cannot simply stop or reverse everything was planned out even to the minute which is why things went wrong on the 30th of july the tsar accepts it's too late to recall his troops germany now feels compelled to respond on the first of august germany calls up its reservists another three and a half million men the german and austrian army is now number seven and a half million but france also calls up its three million reserves the allied forces number over 10 million never in human history have such gigantic armies been marshaled against one another austria-hungary and germany are outnumbered to make matters worse for germany she faces enemies on two fronts russia in the east france in the west britain and italy are yet to take sides but numbers will count for less if germany strikes before her enemies are ready the prussian military elite which is already ready for war has a plan to win a speedy and stunning victory the german calculation was that they could indeed beat france in a rapid war they'd undertaken a similar operation against the french in 1870-71 a surprise invasion that encircled and destroyed the french army they had some confidence that they could do it again the plan was drawn up 10 years before by the prussian nobleman count schlieffen head of the imperial general staff don't attack the heavily defended french border head on but send five german armies circling through belgium the french army will be focused on the old battlegrounds of alsace lorraine while huge numbers of germans pour down into france from the north schlieffen plan was the most ambitious offensive plan ever devised it was intended to knock france out of the war in just six weeks and allowed germany to transfer almost the entirety of its army to the eastern front and deal with russia in turn after quickly defeating france germany's armies will be sent east to help the austrians deal with the russians the schlieffen plan is the first strategic blunder of the great war many more will follow the schlieffen plan was a big gamble and as one historian has said basically made no sense the plan assumes that the french are too few too feeble and badly led ever since the turn of the century a negative perception of france's capabilities crept into the mindset of german generals and officers they noticed the demographic decline that france and the wind at the time and they reckoned that france would not be capable of mustering a strong army the germans decided that the numbers favored them five armies of more than one million men will hit a flank expected to muster little more than half that number of frenchmen [Music] and if the numbers don't prove overwhelming the military superiority of germany's prussian-dominated army is expected to tip the balance in terms of organization and equipment the german army was undoubtedly the greatest army in europe in 1914 he was heavily armed it was well organized it was well trained it was well prepared ready to put the kaiser's orders into action at the army's 73 000 strong officer corps give an army's officer class was in some ways similar to that of great britain it was fiercely aristocratic it was proud of its aristocratic traditions and yet it incorporated an enormous strand of professionalism based on the most demanding officer training of any army in europe below them 108 000 professional sergeants and corporals and over 4 million enlisted men [Music] at the beginning of august britain has yet to join the war newspapers oppose going to war over serbia but britain might go to war to protect belgium and france blinded by its ambition the german high command dismisses the risks of invading belgium it doesn't take the threat of british military intervention seriously britain historically has had an aversion to large standing armies a burden on the taxpayer and a threat to freedom in 1914 despite the size of its empire britain can only muster 160 000 men it's called the british expeditionary force and by comparison to the might of the german army it is tiny well it's alleged that the germans regarded the british as having a contemptible little army that was so small that has one bismarck once said that if it turned up on the channel case they'd send a policeman to arrest it for the schlieffen plan to work the vast german armies must move at lightning speed to do this the german generals will use industrial methods of mass transport in 20 days over 20 000 german trains carry 2 million men 118 000 horses and 400 000 tons of supplies to the front well that is astonishing when you bear in mind they're moving them by steam train they're moving them hundreds of miles and the number you're moving is equivalent to the population of berlin it's an extraordinary undertaking 550 trains a day assemble seven armies it takes germany little more than one week to mobilize it takes france two weeks to gather its armies austria-hungary four weeks russia is expected to take six weeks on the 4th of august 1914 germany invades belgium a neutral country britain now feels compelled to declare war on germany now britain's transport system swings behind the war effort in the first few days 334 trains will move 69 000 men 21 000 horses along with guns and supplies to southampton to embark for france at the same time a thousand lorries and 300 buses are requisitioned to carry the british soldiers from the french ports to the front many more will march on foot with their kit on their backs [Music] when he went to france the soldier of the british expeditionary force was wearing this a set of 1908 pattern equipments what we've got is a small pack mess tins on the outside here personal kit in the ground sheet in here two pints of water in the water bottle and on this side we've actually got the bayonet and the handle to the entrenching tool the head to the entrenching tool is here and around the front we've got pouches on each side what we've got there five rounds from that pouch each one of those pouches 10 of them all together takes 15. it means there's 150 bullets easily available for any soldier in the bef this equipment's here weighs something like 57 pounds minimum and in 1914 the minimum weight of a soldier was 112 pounds with this on a 57 pounds it's actually more than half his body weight going into battle in 1916 with gas masks steel helmet grenades it's probably about 66 pounds by late august just 84 000 men of the british expeditionary force the bef have landed in france the british army was a very small body it was essentially a colonial police force that would be sent to police the empire protected from external threats and put down internal rebellions it was not intended for a major war incredibly the british army in europe is smaller even than the 117 000 strong belgian army when thrown into a maelstrom of a massive european conflict it was undergunned and under supplied and it's about to face the might of the best equipped and best prepared army in the world the six hundred thousand german soldiers marching into belgium august 1914 europe's old imperial elite is at war a new kind of war which they do not understand and which will lead to their ruin six hundred thousand german troops under general helmut von multke are tearing through neutral belgium the germans need to get to france before the french forces have a chance to organise themselves the trouble is belgium is defended by a ring of defensive forts and it's holding them up belgium's forts put up an unexpectedly strong resistance and massively slow the german advance von mulker now has no choice but to bring up the heavy guns the germans now unveil the first industrial super weapon of world war one nicknamed big bertha this 42 centimeter caliber howitzer gun fires an 800 kilogram shell almost 10 kilometers well beyond the range of the belgian artillery in a matter of hours the germans have destroyed belgium's great forts in just one single day the german artillery overturned three centuries of military doctrine that relies on defensive thoughts this is a totally new type of war but the defiance of ordinary belgians leads to brutal german reprisals six and a half thousand civilians are killed thousands more are taken hostage almost one and a half million flee their homes the historic university town of louvain is looted and set on fire portrayed in the press as the rape of belgium it provokes outrage in britain and america there was a massive propaganda campaign that ran in the newspapers following what was referred to as the the rape of belgium anything that the germans did was magnified tremendously so you started out with a report that the germans had rung the antwerp church bells after capturing the city and by the time the press had done with it they had hung priests upside down from the church bells and used them as human clappers prussian military brutality is not new what is new are the means of mass communication by which news of it quickly spreads it was an enormous propaganda own goal for germany and one that britain would never allow it to forget thousands of outraged british people answer the call for volunteers 33 000 enlist on just one day in september by the end of that month the number of volunteers has reached a colossal 760 thousand it will be months before britain's new volunteer army is trained and ready but they like the germans and french will be trained and equipped for a form of war which no longer exists though they don't yet know it on the outbreak of war british soldiers were wearing something like this it's basically a cap stiffened with a piece of wire has absolutely no ballistic quality whatsoever bullet shrapnel goes straight through it german army slightly better off they've got this the pickle help with a cover over it when it was in use it might stop a shrapnel ball at long range might actually turn a blow with a musket butt or something but that was all something better was needed particularly because the men were in trenches and it was their heads that was the most vulnerable in a trench so by september 1915 british army start to get this called the brody after its adventure basically manganese steel designed to deflect bits of shrapnel fragments of shell debris falling out the sky sadly by the way a bullet will go straight through it having overtaken belgium a tide of german soldiers move into northern france slaughtering the british and french in terrifying numbers the french suffer 140 000 casualties in just four days caused in part by outdated french methods of fighting the french were wedded to a tactical doctrine known as the offensive at all costs this was a doctrine that argued that the best way to defeat the germans was to attack them in large numbers with the spirit of france the fury francaise unfortunately this resulted in them advancing into artillery rifle and machine gun fire and dying in catastrophic numbers losses in august of 1914 were absolutely horrendous they lost 27 000 men for example in one single day and if the losses were to continue at that rate then every man in france would be dead by 1917. for the next two weeks the british and french are forced on the run to avoid being encircled by the rapidly advancing german armies the retreat was harrowing for all involved they traveled huge distances on foot men had to be dragged along picked up on supply wagons units became mixed they were out running their lines of communication so they were struggling to feed people it looks like the germans will succeed france will fall and the war will be over by christmas but just as railways allowed the germans to strike france with industrial speed and efficiency they now do the same in the east as russia attacks germany on the 15th of august 1914 two russian armies of 485 000 men invade eastern germany the initial german response to a russian invasion of east prussia was actually to fall back away from it to try and delay the russian invasion for as long as possible without fighting a major battle russian trains bring their armies to the german border at great speed but now they hit a glitch russian railways use a different gauge track to germany so the invading troops have to disembark at the border and advance on foot without trains to bring up supplies the advancing russian armies pillaged the countryside rounding up and killing over a thousand german civilians the trauma of the russian invasion will haunt germany for decades [Music] a massive displacement of people caused by the russian invasion then really leads to absolute terror i mean it's possible at one point that berlin might fall and it's very arguable actually hitler's view towards russia has shaped very much by those events of early 1914 and the beginning of the war in the east germany is massively outnumbered 173 000 german soldiers face 485 000 russians advancing in two columns [Music] but the russian army is greatly inferior it was a large slow-moving army reliant on an antiquated supply network and above all else it was being commanded by two quarreling generals samsonov and ren and camp hated one another and were not on speaking terms and russian communications were antiquated reliant almost entirely on horseboard messenger or radio traffic broadcast without any encryption whatsoever the germans learn from intercepted radio transmissions that the two russian armies have become separated [Music] they're transmitting radio broadcasts enclave in uncoded messaging which the germans can anticipate the germans managed to corner 230 000 russian troops in the south and move in for the kill the russians are in danger being cut off they try to withdraw at the last minute but it's too late an entire russian offensive at that point is broken germany has managed to save itself the numbers again are shocking 78 thousand russians are killed or wounded ninety-two thousand captured the german casualties are less than one-tenth of that never again in the first world war would an army be encircled and destroyed quite as comprehensively as the russians were at tannenberg the russians humiliated in the east british and french forces decimated in the west the germans moving on paris the war it seems will soon be over but now it's the turn of the french to deploy their railway network as a weapon of war commander joseph joffra orders trains to bring men from all over france deliver 150 000 frenchmen a new army assembled by the river man just outside paris and the germans don't even know it's there the so-called miracle of the man begins on the 5th of september 1914 this was the moment when joffrey threw his great counter-attack at the battle of man into action it was the moment when the war began to turn against the germans when the french need even more troops they hire 630 parisian taxis to carry 5000 reinforcements from paris to the front the taxi drivers are even allowed to keep their meters running and the french government pays the 70 000 frank fair the french determination to drive the germans back from paris is captured in one general's message in the heat of battle my center is giving way my right is in retreat situation excellent i attack it's known as the miracle on the man because it seems so unlikely that british and french forces were able to stop this german juggernaut or indeed compel it to withdraw but the french attack supported by the british stuns the germans the french character attack was especially effective because of timing the germans had overreached themselves the army had been fighting and marching for weeks and it was exhausted and it was struck at a time when he was at its very lowest ebb the casualties on both sides are horrific the germans lose 105 000 men the french and british 85 000 more men are killed and injured in this one single battle than were fielded at waterloo neither side can afford such heavy losses the germans withdraw to the north the allies are forced to follow [Applause] [Music] the battered remnants of the british expeditionary force finds itself taking up defensive positions around the belgian town of eep soon they will find themselves facing an overwhelming force of german soldiers but this time they are ready this time they are dug in what happens at even will go down in history a tragedy the like of which has never been seen and it will set the pattern for this senseless bloody industrial war [Music] you

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, ww1, great war, franz ferdinand, kaiser wilhelm ii, lord kitchener, david lloyd george speech, history channel, first world war, world war i (military conflict), 1914 to 1918, british history, military history

Id: M8jLqiGRl5w

Length: 44min 46sec (2686 seconds)

Published: Sun Jun 20 2021