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[Music]

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country

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[Music]

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created

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[Applause]

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[Music]

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intro

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[Applause]

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[Music]

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Pier 54 New York City.

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On May the 1st 1915 2000 passengers

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boarded one of the fastest most

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luxurious ships in the world the

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Lusitania

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"She was simply a wonderful steady ship

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she had four red funnels and she was a

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beautiful sight to see. She really was"

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EDA Stanley and her family were heading

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home to England and into the midst of

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the most brutal conflict man had ever

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experienced, The First World War was

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almost a year old and any transatlantic

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crossing was made potentially dangerous

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by the presence of German submarines

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Still, the passengers felt safe. After all

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the Lusitania was a passenger ship

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[Music]

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On her last day at sea the Lusitania was

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approaching the Irish coast

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[Music]

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"It was two o'clock in the afternoon and

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you could see all this coastline. It was a

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beautiful day. Couldn't have been any better.

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There was a terrific bang. Dad knew what it was.

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I mean that he knew darn well that

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it was a torpedo"

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The single German torpedo did such

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damage that the Lusitania could launch

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only six of her lifeboats before she

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went down

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"We could not take the people and they

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were begging to be taken in we would have

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capsized and everybody would have gone

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down. 1,200 drowned. I think.....There was

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more drowned than was saved"

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Among those who drowned were a hundred

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and twenty-eight Americans.

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The memory has faded for all but a very

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few some of whom you'll hear from. But

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because it has affected so much of what

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has happened since, the bulk of this

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program is about the First World War. The

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Great War they called. It began in

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June of 1914 with the assassination of

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the Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria

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Hungary. He was shot by a Serbian

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nationalist in Sarajevo.

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Ferdinand had governed in a

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circle of European royalty that also

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included the king of England,

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the Tsar of Russia, and the Kaiser of

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Germany and together their colonial

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empires dominated most of the Earth's

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population. And when the competitive

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Kaiser seized upon the assassination as

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a pretext to begin a European war he

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found the other Royals only too willing

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to go along. All of them sought to widen

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their influence. None could possibly

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realize how radically they were about to

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alter the course of the 20th century. In

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the summer of 1914 the generation that

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would fight the First World War was

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enthusiastic about doing so. Those young

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men who were so quick to answer their

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nation's call to arms had no reason to

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anticipate the hell ahead

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[Applause]

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In the German city of Coblenz

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twelve-year-old Joachim von Elbe began a

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diary. August 5 1914: the city is full of

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soldiers. They were singing this song, on

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on to fight we are born on on to fight

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for the Fatherland

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to Kaiser Wilhelm we have sworn

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to Kaiser Wilhelm we give our hand."

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The optimism of the Germans was matched

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by their allies in Austria and by their

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enemies in Russia in France and in

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England. "As soon as I enlisted I was in

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the crowd of all other 18,19 and 20 year

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olds and we thought was going to be a

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tremendous tremendous lark to go and knock

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the Kaiser off his throne, you see"

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"Everyone, everyone thought the war would

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be over Christmas and they really badly

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wanted to get to France to get in the

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fighting"

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Music

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music

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The Germans attacked first

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and very quickly they were through

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Belgium and into France. The romantic

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notion of war that so many young men

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carried into battle was very quickly

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shattered. The new weapons of war were so

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ferocious that by the end of the first

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year French casualties alone would

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approach a million men

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[Music]

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"Nobody in Europe expected these appalling

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casualties and when they came they were

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utterly crushing

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music

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The first dreadful experience was that

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of the victims of what was called "the

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massacre of the innocents" in Germany.

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These boys from high school or college

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who were given a couple of months

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training and sent off to the Front and

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then died in tens of thousands in a few

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weeks

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music

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Nothing like that had ever happened

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before to any country in Europe and

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moreover this was the flower of German

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youth. They were they the best educated

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young men. They were from middle-class

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families almost exclusively and they had

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no expectation at all this terrible

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thing was going to happen."

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Americans had never dreamed

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that a war on the other

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side of the ocean could affect them.

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The US was officially neutral and most

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of its citizens assumed it would stay

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that way." People were going about

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their own business. The object being to

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makes money and and good business

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Everything was very pleasant indeed"

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" It's hard for people who weren't

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there to realize how enormously

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the world has changed. On New Year's Day

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President Wilson had open house at the

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White House. And he would go out

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[Music]

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on the lawn and we went down once

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I was a little kid and we went down on the

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lawn and stood in a little queue and it

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moved up and we all went through and

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shook his hand. Shook hands with the

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President on New Year's Day"

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[Music]

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But certainly America was changing. The

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pace of life was quickening.

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Almost overnight Henry Ford's historic

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assembly line had lowered the cost of

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making cars as well as the cost of

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buying them. The mass-produced Model T

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came in one color: black but at

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295 dollars it was the first car priced

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within reach of ordinary Americans

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"We played baseball in the streets.

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There was no problem of playing

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baseball when horses and wagons

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dominated the traffic. It only became a

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problem when automobiles and trucks

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came in"

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So much in America was changing as

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Europe went about its ugly war

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[Music]

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At this first movie that I attended I

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recall the scene where there was a great

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deal of shooting. As they came to the

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front of the screen and the figures got

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larger and larger and I thought they

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were coming at me and I started

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screaming so badly that had to take me

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out of the movie house." As moviemaking

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techniques improved movies became an

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American obsession and it was in the

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movie houses that Americans were exposed

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to the war in Europe. In the movie house

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it still seemed glamorous." We went every

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Saturday morning and just devoured the

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pictures of the war, beautiful uniforms

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and dashing mounted cavalry with their

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flashing sabers in the sun riding into

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battle and oh I thought that would be

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something else (I was just just eighteen)

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to go."

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[Music]

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The movies were the perfect proving

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ground for the new art form called

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propaganda. Americans saw and soon

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sympathized with the British view of the

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Germans

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[Music]

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By early 1915 the war in Europe was good

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for America. U.S. banks were lending huge

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amounts of money to Britain and France

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who in turn used the money to buy arms

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from American factories. With the war

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Americans were in the greatest economic

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boom in their history. "During the war

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everybody worked. Before the war my

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father brought home six or seven dollars

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a week Now he brought home checks for

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a hundred, a hundred and ten dollars

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a week. It was like bringing home a check

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for a million." The war had

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another effect: it virtually cut off

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European immigration to the United

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States causing a labor shortage in

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American factories and that forced

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northern employers to look for the very

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first time at the substantial Black

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labor pool of the American South. " Black

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newspapers, we went down south and told

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them 'come on up to Chicago with us

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we'll get you a job and you don't have

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to stay down here and be lynched and

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burned'" " My relatives, aunt, uncles

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cousins came North and were able

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to get into factories and steel mill jobs

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that just wouldn't have been available

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to Blacks under normal circumstances"

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This Great Migration from

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the South kept America's economy strong

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and vigorous while the increasing

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economic stake in Britain and France

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encouraged greater support for their war

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against the Germans. But the war was not

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going well and the idea that Americans

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might yet have to be involved was now an

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issue all over the United States. With

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the support of former President Theodore

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Roosevelt, potential volunteers began to

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train for battle

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[Music]

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By Christmas 1914 the armies of Europe

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had completely bogged down and fighting

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had spread to Russia, Africa, and the

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Middle East. The empires drew on their

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colonies for manpower. 60 countries were

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eventually represented in the conflict

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The Germans had expected to win in 42

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days but they had not anticipated what

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would happen on the Western Front in

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France. On the Western Front, the German

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assault had finally failed and soldiers

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on both sides had raced to dig an

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elaborate trench system that stretched

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for 300 miles from the English Channel

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all the way to Switzerland. On New Year's

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Day in 1915 the young men who had gone

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off to fight glorious battles were now

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trapped in a desperate war of attrition

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[Music]

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"Someone said to us excitedly" Jack Smith"

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I said what about him? he said" he's dead.

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he's been shot"

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The first one of the battalion to be

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shot. I said " what?"

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" Yes he's dead. Been shot

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Put his head too far over and a sniper

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got him" and that caused a bit of a

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sensation amongst the lads. They

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thought 'well this is not exactly what we

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come for' (mumbling) from that day

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onwards while we were in the trenches

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it was three killed, four killed, five

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killed, 20 killed, a hundred killed. By

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then we was veterans."

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A young American poet, Alan Seeger, was

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among those looking for adventure when

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he joined the Foreign Legion to fight

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for France. His diary reveals how seldom

279
00:16:00,370 --> 00:16:06,760
he found it."It's a miserable life.

280
00:16:04,380 --> 00:16:09,820
Shivering in these wretched holes in the

281
00:16:06,760 --> 00:16:12,760
dirt. We're not leading the life of men

282
00:16:09,820 --> 00:16:15,460
at all but that of animals, living in our

283
00:16:12,760 --> 00:16:19,800
holes on the ground and only showing our

284
00:16:15,460 --> 00:16:19,800
heads outside to fight and to feed"

285
00:16:20,600 --> 00:16:24,590
"We'd been

286
00:16:21,810 --> 00:16:28,790
there about six months. Covered in mud

287
00:16:24,590 --> 00:16:32,580
Wet through practically all day

288
00:16:28,790 --> 00:16:35,790
Absolutely chewed up by lice and we'd

289
00:16:32,580 --> 00:16:43,460
say "and to think we wanted to come to

290
00:16:35,790 --> 00:16:44,730
this hole" I said "yes, we didn't know"

291
00:16:43,460 --> 00:16:46,800
[Music]

292
00:16:44,730 --> 00:16:49,380
Every so often one side or the other

293
00:16:46,800 --> 00:16:51,230
seized a few hundred yards of territory

294
00:16:49,380 --> 00:16:53,760
only to be forced back again

295
00:16:51,230 --> 00:16:56,970
surrendering what had costs hundreds of

296
00:16:53,760 --> 00:17:00,830
lives to win. The Front never moved more

297
00:16:56,970 --> 00:17:00,830
than a mile or two in either direction

298
00:17:02,900 --> 00:17:07,890
By the spring of 1915 the generals had

299
00:17:06,240 --> 00:17:10,860
concluded that the best way out of the

300
00:17:07,890 --> 00:17:13,459
stalemate was to blast the enemy out of

301
00:17:10,860 --> 00:17:13,459
their trenches

302
00:17:15,310 --> 00:17:18,740
[Music]

303
00:17:21,850 --> 00:17:26,510
The same factories and assembly lines

304
00:17:24,650 --> 00:17:29,390
that had begun to contribute to life in

305
00:17:26,510 --> 00:17:33,190
the 20th century were now retooled to

306
00:17:29,390 --> 00:17:33,190
create massive killing machines.

307
00:17:36,059 --> 00:17:41,639
This was the industrialization of war

308
00:17:46,720 --> 00:17:50,009
[Music]

309
00:17:53,030 --> 00:18:03,310
"There were

310
00:17:59,650 --> 00:18:06,290
just a splintered trunks of trees, there's

311
00:18:03,310 --> 00:18:11,840
a quagmire of the shell holes

312
00:18:06,290 --> 00:18:12,950
and no ,no grass. It was just like a

313
00:18:11,840 --> 00:18:13,390
lunar landscape

314
00:18:12,950 --> 00:18:28,610
really"

315
00:18:13,390 --> 00:18:33,179
[Music]

316
00:18:28,610 --> 00:18:37,049
"At night the rats, they grew to

317
00:18:33,179 --> 00:18:39,929
enormous sizes feeding on the bone and

318
00:18:37,049 --> 00:18:43,549
the corpses. It was impossible

319
00:18:39,929 --> 00:18:46,499
to get to get the dead buried."

320
00:18:43,549 --> 00:18:49,440
"We put dead bodies in the bottom of the

321
00:18:46,499 --> 00:18:52,200
trench so that we could stand on them

322
00:18:49,440 --> 00:18:55,049
to keep dry and on some

323
00:18:52,200 --> 00:18:57,749
occasion dead bodies was put on the top

324
00:18:55,049 --> 00:19:00,659
of the trench to make it higher so that

325
00:18:57,749 --> 00:19:04,249
we could walk a bit better

326
00:19:00,659 --> 00:19:04,249
instead of crouching." And

327
00:19:05,270 --> 00:19:14,510
contributing to the stalemate were new

328
00:19:07,820 --> 00:19:15,830
weapons. (NOTE) By now the machine gun

329
00:19:14,510 --> 00:19:18,710
had been perfected to the point that a

330
00:19:15,830 --> 00:19:22,990
single soldier could command as much

331
00:19:18,710 --> 00:19:22,990
firepower as 40 riflemen

332
00:19:23,460 --> 00:19:28,280
[Music]

333
00:19:25,800 --> 00:19:30,420
The tank made its first appearance

334
00:19:28,280 --> 00:19:32,730
invented by the British to get through

335
00:19:30,420 --> 00:19:36,360
the dense thickets of barbed wire that

336
00:19:32,730 --> 00:19:39,180
protected the enemy trenches. And in

337
00:19:36,360 --> 00:19:41,060
April 1915 the Germans introduced the

338
00:19:39,180 --> 00:19:46,410
most terrifying weapon of all poison gas

339
00:19:41,060 --> 00:19:51,240
"No one had ever seen it before.

340
00:19:46,410 --> 00:19:57,030
This is the moment when chemical

341
00:19:51,240 --> 00:19:58,770
warfare was invented. It scared the

342
00:19:57,030 --> 00:20:03,230
living daylights out of the Canadian

343
00:19:58,770 --> 00:20:03,230
troops that were hit by it." The First

344
00:20:07,919 --> 00:20:12,669
World War had become a contest NOT

345
00:20:11,019 --> 00:20:16,090
of fighting spirit but of technological

346
00:20:12,669 --> 00:20:18,549
might and for the soldiers caught in the

347
00:20:16,090 --> 00:20:22,179
middle of it there was no way forward

348
00:20:18,549 --> 00:20:31,149
and no way back. There was simply

349
00:20:22,179 --> 00:20:34,419
endurance. " You saw a little bush

350
00:20:31,149 --> 00:20:40,450
you swore that bush was somebody creeping

351
00:20:34,419 --> 00:20:42,539
up on you. The perfect soldier for that

352
00:20:40,450 --> 00:20:45,750
war would have been somebody with no

353
00:20:42,539 --> 00:20:45,750
imagination whatsoever.

354
00:20:46,350 --> 00:20:55,530
We all had too much imagination"

355
00:20:50,380 --> 00:20:59,679
[Music]

356
00:20:55,530 --> 00:21:04,059
"So many men who had been through these

357
00:20:59,679 --> 00:21:06,370
dangers and anxieties. Their life broken

358
00:21:04,059 --> 00:21:11,290
They were the victims of shell shock. You

359
00:21:06,370 --> 00:21:16,630
know there is a breaking point for most

360
00:21:11,290 --> 00:21:19,630
people. For anybody really. Robbed of all

361
00:21:16,630 --> 00:21:24,130
humanity and courage and everything else

362
00:21:19,630 --> 00:21:27,630
that makes life worth living really. He's

363
00:21:24,130 --> 00:21:27,630
descended to something less than human."

364
00:21:30,960 --> 00:21:36,940
The stalemate in the trenches continued

365
00:21:33,790 --> 00:21:38,950
through 1915 and into 1916 when the

366
00:21:36,940 --> 00:21:43,679
generals decided to go back to their

367
00:21:38,950 --> 00:21:43,679
original weapon: their men

368
00:21:43,740 --> 00:21:52,600
[Music]

369
00:21:48,060 --> 00:21:59,620
The river Somme in northern France. Early

370
00:21:52,600 --> 00:22:03,770
summer 1916. Along a Front 25 miles wide

371
00:21:59,620 --> 00:22:05,840
a massive Allied army prepared to attack.

372
00:22:03,770 --> 00:22:08,660
Thousands of British Tommies, as they

373
00:22:05,840 --> 00:22:10,250
were called, would lead the charge and

374
00:22:08,660 --> 00:22:12,020
they would follow one of the most intense

375
00:22:10,250 --> 00:22:15,080
bombardments in the history of warfare.

376
00:22:12,020 --> 00:22:17,800
An artillery barrage would last an

377
00:22:15,080 --> 00:22:17,800
entire week

378
00:22:18,960 --> 00:22:23,220
[Music]

379
00:22:20,790 --> 00:22:25,370
The Battle of the Somme was about to

380
00:22:23,220 --> 00:22:25,370
begin.

381
00:22:25,960 --> 00:22:32,180
"There must be a thousand gods if there

382
00:22:29,330 --> 00:22:36,920
was one. It was a terrible roar from

383
00:22:32,180 --> 00:22:40,880
morning to night but the foolish officers

384
00:22:36,920 --> 00:22:44,330
said "tomorrow boys will be over the top

385
00:22:40,880 --> 00:22:47,870
and don't worry" he says.

386
00:22:44,330 --> 00:22:50,360
"There'll be no trenches there. Our shells

387
00:22:47,870 --> 00:22:53,770
have blown them to pieces. There will be

388
00:22:50,360 --> 00:22:57,680
no Germans there. They're blown to pieces

389
00:22:53,770 --> 00:23:00,980
All you have to do is to walk over and

390
00:22:57,680 --> 00:23:05,160
take those trenches. In fact ,"he says,

391
00:23:00,980 --> 00:23:10,100
you can carry your rifle like a bag."

392
00:23:05,160 --> 00:23:13,190
[Music]

393
00:23:10,100 --> 00:23:14,900
"The Germans after the shelling, they

394
00:23:13,190 --> 00:23:17,860
simply come out of the dugouts,

395
00:23:14,900 --> 00:23:19,910
grabbed their machine guns and then

396
00:23:17,860 --> 00:23:22,120
waited for the Tommies."

397
00:23:19,910 --> 00:23:27,460
[Music]

398
00:23:22,120 --> 00:23:30,880
They just simply shot them down .

399
00:23:27,460 --> 00:23:37,660
like cutting down grain. They didn't

400
00:23:30,880 --> 00:23:41,020
get 200 feet. One German

401
00:23:37,660 --> 00:23:44,830
machine gunner said "I stopped firing

402
00:23:41,020 --> 00:23:47,460
because I was sickened by what we were

403
00:23:44,830 --> 00:23:47,460
doing"'

404
00:23:50,350 --> 00:24:00,220
It was the bloodiest day in British

405
00:23:52,790 --> 00:24:00,220
history. 20,000 men killed 40,000 wounded

406
00:24:00,909 --> 00:24:05,979
And yet the day after and for days

407
00:24:03,309 --> 00:24:08,799
after that young men continued to be

408
00:24:05,979 --> 00:24:11,639
ordered out of their trenches and into

409
00:24:08,799 --> 00:24:11,639
near certain death.

410
00:24:12,190 --> 00:24:18,910
Poet volunteer Alan Seeger was killed

411
00:24:15,190 --> 00:24:21,990
on July the 4th. On the same morning Ted

412
00:24:18,910 --> 00:24:23,520
Francis waited for the signal to go

413
00:24:21,990 --> 00:24:26,309
[Music]

414
00:24:23,520 --> 00:24:29,340
Officers are down below us in the

415
00:24:26,309 --> 00:24:31,470
trenches with a whistle and when they

416
00:24:29,340 --> 00:24:34,050
blow that whistle we'd got to dash out of

417
00:24:31,470 --> 00:24:38,760
the trenches and make for this German

418
00:24:34,050 --> 00:24:42,330
trench and (mumbling) still

419
00:24:38,760 --> 00:24:49,740
four or five minutes but we look at each

420
00:24:42,330 --> 00:24:54,809
other and say I would also do this. Some

421
00:24:49,740 --> 00:24:58,170
were visibly shaken. Some were crying and

422
00:24:54,809 --> 00:25:01,160
of course when the whistle went off we

423
00:24:58,170 --> 00:25:01,160
had to scramble over."

424
00:25:01,250 --> 00:25:13,909
[Music]

425
00:25:11,380 --> 00:25:15,919
The Battle of the Somme would come to

426
00:25:13,909 --> 00:25:16,610
define the futility of the First World

427
00:25:15,919 --> 00:25:19,700
War

428
00:25:16,610 --> 00:25:23,150
It went on for six more months at a cost

429
00:25:19,700 --> 00:25:25,250
of a million men and at the end of it

430
00:25:23,150 --> 00:25:29,690
the Allied armies had moved a grand

431
00:25:25,250 --> 00:25:31,700
total of five miles. The guns of the

432
00:25:29,690 --> 00:25:33,200
Somme were so loud and so insistent that

433
00:25:31,700 --> 00:25:35,659
they were heard across the English

434
00:25:33,200 --> 00:25:42,799
Channel in London a hundred and fifty

435
00:25:35,659 --> 00:25:45,110
miles away. In every country that was

436
00:25:42,799 --> 00:25:47,179
involved in the war there were growing

437
00:25:45,110 --> 00:25:48,710
problems at home. After so many years of

438
00:25:47,179 --> 00:25:51,289
struggle the disillusionment of the

439
00:25:48,710 --> 00:25:53,929
battlefront now extended to the home

440
00:25:51,289 --> 00:25:56,120
front. Russia in particular was ripe for

441
00:25:53,929 --> 00:25:58,880
revolution. Its people were starving and

442
00:25:56,120 --> 00:26:04,610
its battered army was on the verge of

443
00:25:58,880 --> 00:26:06,830
defeat. In February 1917 a food riot

444
00:26:04,610 --> 00:26:09,860
broke out in the city of Petrograd which

445
00:26:06,830 --> 00:26:12,710
had been called Saint Petersburg. In no

446
00:26:09,860 --> 00:26:17,149
time Russia was embroiled in full-scale

447
00:26:12,710 --> 00:26:20,600
revolution. The ruling family led by Tsar

448
00:26:17,149 --> 00:26:24,269
Nicholas was brought down.

449
00:26:20,600 --> 00:26:26,399
300 years of royal rule were replaced by

450
00:26:24,269 --> 00:26:30,049
a provisional government that stubbornly

451
00:26:26,399 --> 00:26:30,049
decided to continue the war

452
00:26:31,110 --> 00:26:37,120
The Germans chose this moment to help a

453
00:26:34,060 --> 00:26:40,090
Russian revolutionary return home from

454
00:26:37,120 --> 00:26:42,220
exile. The man who spoke for a socialist

455
00:26:40,090 --> 00:26:44,830
movement known to Russians as the

456
00:26:42,220 --> 00:26:47,560
Bolsheviks. His given name was Vladimir

457
00:26:44,830 --> 00:26:50,370
Ulianov. He's better remembered as

458
00:26:47,560 --> 00:26:50,370
Vladimir Lenin. Sascha Bryansk

459
00:26:50,430 --> 00:26:59,880
served as Lenin's bodyguard

460
00:26:53,170 --> 00:27:03,220
"He spoke with a lot of gestures and

461
00:26:59,880 --> 00:27:06,310
rushed forward calling us to advance.

462
00:27:03,220 --> 00:27:08,680
Saying "Power had been taken over

463
00:27:06,310 --> 00:27:11,890
by the bourgeoisie that went on with the

464
00:27:08,680 --> 00:27:14,560
bloody war." A new order had to be

465
00:27:11,890 --> 00:27:18,010
established to ensure the power of the

466
00:27:14,560 --> 00:27:19,390
working class. Lenin and the Bolsheviks

467
00:27:18,010 --> 00:27:22,270
hoped to create the world's first

468
00:27:19,390 --> 00:27:24,040
Communist state where all land, capital,

469
00:27:22,270 --> 00:27:28,900
and political power would be given to

470
00:27:24,040 --> 00:27:30,590
the people. For many Russians it would

471
00:27:28,900 --> 00:27:33,320
mean the end of privilege

472
00:27:30,590 --> 00:27:36,410
[Applause]

473
00:27:33,320 --> 00:27:42,040
"Victory of the Bolsheviki would mean the

474
00:27:36,410 --> 00:27:42,040
end of Russia. That we knew. I

475
00:27:42,580 --> 00:27:51,290
remember one evening at our country

476
00:27:46,700 --> 00:27:53,120
place. I was running down the lawn to

477
00:27:51,290 --> 00:27:56,750
call my mother to tell her that supper

478
00:27:53,120 --> 00:28:01,490
was ready and I suddenly stopped and here

479
00:27:56,750 --> 00:28:04,850
was all the beauty around. The roses, the

480
00:28:01,490 --> 00:28:09,290
trees, the park, the lawns. It was a

481
00:28:04,850 --> 00:28:13,820
beautiful place. It was sunset and I

482
00:28:09,290 --> 00:28:16,970
stopped and said all this disappears. All

483
00:28:13,820 --> 00:28:19,040
this will be gone. That was the one

484
00:28:16,970 --> 00:28:21,140
moment I remembered that feeling

485
00:28:19,040 --> 00:28:23,990
of fear that the whole world of which

486
00:28:21,140 --> 00:28:27,929
I was part of was would disappear."

487
00:28:23,990 --> 00:28:31,139
And it would.

488
00:28:27,929 --> 00:28:32,820
In October 1917 Lenin encouraged an

489
00:28:31,139 --> 00:28:34,499
insurrection against the provisional

490
00:28:32,820 --> 00:28:39,419
government that had replaced the fallen

491
00:28:34,499 --> 00:28:42,200
Tsar. The end came at the Tsar's old

492
00:28:39,419 --> 00:28:42,200
Winter Palace " I ran up the carpeted

493
00:28:44,460 --> 00:28:53,549
stairway. In the very first room I saw

494
00:28:51,059 --> 00:28:56,279
soldiers standing with their rifles ready.

495
00:28:53,549 --> 00:28:59,330
I shouted " put down your weapons"

496
00:28:56,279 --> 00:29:03,679
The defenders just dropped their weapons

497
00:28:59,330 --> 00:29:03,679
and left."

498
00:29:07,039 --> 00:29:15,869
"We saw the fires in the night and then

499
00:29:12,119 --> 00:29:19,049
after five or six days the shooting died.

500
00:29:15,869 --> 00:29:24,690
There were no more guns so we knew it

501
00:29:19,049 --> 00:29:26,480
was over and we knew that the

502
00:29:24,690 --> 00:29:29,900
Bolsheviki had won"

503
00:29:26,480 --> 00:29:29,900
[Applause]

504
00:29:31,150 --> 00:29:38,350
With Lennon's victory, Russia quickly

505
00:29:34,030 --> 00:29:40,930
withdrew from the war. But the Germans

506
00:29:38,350 --> 00:29:45,360
had seen their plans succeed only to

507
00:29:40,930 --> 00:29:45,360
find that they now faced a new opponent.

508
00:29:46,110 --> 00:29:53,370
It was clear to most Americans now that

509
00:29:48,970 --> 00:29:55,570
Germany regarded them as an enemy too.

510
00:29:53,370 --> 00:30:00,010
President Woodrow Wilson resisted the

511
00:29:55,570 --> 00:30:02,650
demands to get involved for a while but

512
00:30:00,010 --> 00:30:05,800
by 1917 the Germans had increased their

513
00:30:02,650 --> 00:30:08,440
attacks on unarmed ships. And then they

514
00:30:05,800 --> 00:30:12,280
brazenly urged Mexico to invade the

515
00:30:08,440 --> 00:30:19,090
United States, the President felt he had

516
00:30:12,280 --> 00:30:21,429
no other option. On April the 2nd 1917

517
00:30:19,090 --> 00:30:24,309
Woodrow Wilson stood anxiously before a

518
00:30:21,429 --> 00:30:27,250
special session of Congress and asked

519
00:30:24,309 --> 00:30:32,920
for a declaration of war. He hoped it

520
00:30:27,250 --> 00:30:35,890
would be the War to End all Wars. He said.

521
00:30:32,920 --> 00:30:39,270
"It is a fearful thing for me to try to

522
00:30:35,890 --> 00:30:42,250
lead a great peaceful people into war.

523
00:30:39,270 --> 00:30:45,670
It could be one of the most terrible and

524
00:30:42,250 --> 00:30:49,510
disastrous of all wars, but let me tell

525
00:30:45,670 --> 00:30:51,900
you this: Right is more precious than

526
00:30:49,510 --> 00:30:51,900
Peace."

527
00:30:52,860 --> 00:30:57,810
"The idea of a last great war

528
00:30:58,050 --> 00:31:05,779
and being part of it was very

529
00:31:00,899 --> 00:31:08,279
very strong,strong appeal and

530
00:31:05,779 --> 00:31:12,539
it certainly influenced me a great deal."

531
00:31:08,279 --> 00:31:16,249
I said"if we're never going to see another

532
00:31:12,539 --> 00:31:16,249
war. This is the time to see it." In the

533
00:31:27,480 --> 00:31:33,750
summer of 1917 American troops landed

534
00:31:30,690 --> 00:31:36,480
in France returning the favor of Lafayette:

535
00:31:33,750 --> 00:31:38,100
the French soldier who fought with

536
00:31:36,480 --> 00:31:41,700
America during the Revolutionary War

537
00:31:38,100 --> 00:31:45,139
"One of the officers, he said it loud

538
00:31:41,700 --> 00:31:48,029
enough for everybody to hear and

539
00:31:45,139 --> 00:31:52,610
he was waving his hands.

540
00:31:48,029 --> 00:31:53,880
"Lafayette, Lafayette" I didn't know who

541
00:31:52,610 --> 00:31:57,649
Lafayette was

542
00:31:53,880 --> 00:31:57,649
"Lafayette we are here"

543
00:31:59,370 --> 00:32:03,070
[Music]

544
00:32:01,210 --> 00:32:07,810
"It was coming to the end of our bit and

545
00:32:03,070 --> 00:32:08,560
when the Americans decided to have a go,

546
00:32:07,810 --> 00:32:16,030
I was absolutely... I said "Hurrah"

547
00:32:08,560 --> 00:32:20,330
"They were untouched by

548
00:32:16,030 --> 00:32:22,760
the anxiety or doubts that

549
00:32:20,330 --> 00:32:27,110
had afflicted everybody else. By that

550
00:32:22,760 --> 00:32:29,240
stage they were, they were" American"

551
00:32:27,110 --> 00:32:31,570
you know. They were "American" They

552
00:32:29,240 --> 00:32:35,600
were what the Americans were supposed to be.

553
00:32:31,570 --> 00:32:39,860
They were enthusiastic. They were also

554
00:32:35,600 --> 00:32:41,480
badly armed, poorly trained and like the

555
00:32:39,860 --> 00:32:45,650
Europeans before them, completely

556
00:32:41,480 --> 00:32:48,849
unprepared for what lay ahead.

557
00:32:45,650 --> 00:32:48,849
[Music]

558
00:32:50,580 --> 00:32:55,910
The train came through from the Front.

559
00:32:56,000 --> 00:33:02,310
and we got to go aboard . Of course

560
00:32:59,850 --> 00:33:03,140
which we did it as soon as possible

561
00:33:02,310 --> 00:33:06,750
We got on it and we asked the guys

562
00:33:03,140 --> 00:33:10,260
" how was up there what's going on?"

563
00:33:06,750 --> 00:33:17,010
and "what are you doing?" and it

564
00:33:10,260 --> 00:33:23,430
was a hospital train. I can see these

565
00:33:17,010 --> 00:33:32,520
poor kids like me. Youngsters, but the

566
00:33:23,430 --> 00:33:35,580
leg gone or two arms gone. "Well

567
00:33:32,520 --> 00:33:40,800
this is kind of a cold water treatment.

568
00:33:35,580 --> 00:33:44,160
All of a sudden to realize what war was

569
00:33:40,800 --> 00:33:50,480
like. You grew up very quickly in

570
00:33:44,160 --> 00:33:55,310
surroundings lie that. This is no longer

571
00:33:50,480 --> 00:33:55,310
Freshmen Studies. It was the real world"

572
00:34:07,100 --> 00:34:11,000
By 1918 with thousands of Americans

573
00:34:09,829 --> 00:34:13,940
pouring into France every day,

574
00:34:11,000 --> 00:34:17,060
the Germans decided they had

575
00:34:13,940 --> 00:34:21,780
to do something massive.

576
00:34:17,060 --> 00:34:25,230
IN March 1918 the German

577
00:34:21,780 --> 00:34:27,810
Army tried its last major gamble. Its

578
00:34:25,230 --> 00:34:29,760
last major offensive on the Western Front

579
00:34:27,810 --> 00:34:32,970
It was successful.

580
00:34:29,760 --> 00:34:35,850
"It was a remarkable moment. The Western

581
00:34:32,970 --> 00:34:38,940
Front moved. A War of movement finally

582
00:34:35,850 --> 00:34:40,800
arrived" And after years of impasse the

583
00:34:38,940 --> 00:34:43,620
Germans suddenly threatened to overwhelm

584
00:34:40,800 --> 00:34:48,510
the Allies and actually capture the

585
00:34:43,620 --> 00:34:51,320
French capital Paris. "The Germans had a

586
00:34:48,510 --> 00:34:56,550
fire. They called it "sweeping fire."

587
00:34:51,320 --> 00:35:01,950
Everything upon earth got hit. They were

588
00:34:56,550 --> 00:35:03,840
wounded or died."The threat to Paris was

589
00:35:01,950 --> 00:35:07,080
so severe that a million people simply

590
00:35:03,840 --> 00:35:13,470
left the city. The Germans got to within

591
00:35:07,080 --> 00:35:15,540
30 miles. At this point these still semi

592
00:35:13,470 --> 00:35:18,960
trained American divisions were

593
00:35:15,540 --> 00:35:21,570
thrown into the battle and along with

594
00:35:18,960 --> 00:35:23,080
the French, managed to stop the German

595
00:35:21,570 --> 00:35:27,940
drop."

596
00:35:23,080 --> 00:35:30,039
The Germans had put

597
00:35:27,940 --> 00:35:32,200
everything into this last desparate

598
00:35:30,039 --> 00:35:37,480
effort and when it was it was over they

599
00:35:32,200 --> 00:35:40,030
were finally spent. Along the Western

600
00:35:37,480 --> 00:35:46,020
Front that Autumn, the focus shifted

601
00:35:40,030 --> 00:35:46,020
from war to peace. On the 10th of

602
00:35:48,330 --> 00:35:53,610
Nov the Kaiser was forced into

603
00:35:51,810 --> 00:35:56,850
exile by his own government; a

604
00:35:53,610 --> 00:36:04,860
victim of the war he had helped to

605
00:35:56,850 --> 00:36:07,260
start. " This cut me so deeply that

606
00:36:04,860 --> 00:36:08,490
I can't tell you. I had a little picture

607
00:36:07,260 --> 00:36:13,020
of the Kaiser in my room and what did

608
00:36:08,490 --> 00:36:17,700
I do? I put a black tie around the

609
00:36:13,020 --> 00:36:24,530
picture to show my utter sorrow for

610
00:36:17,700 --> 00:36:28,800
this tremendous change in history" And

611
00:36:24,530 --> 00:36:32,990
finally at the 11th hour, on the eleventh

612
00:36:28,800 --> 00:36:38,360
day, of the eleventh month November 1918

613
00:36:32,990 --> 00:36:38,360
the Germans formally surrendered.

614
00:36:40,410 --> 00:36:49,640
"And suddenly the guns stopped and there

615
00:36:44,789 --> 00:36:53,310
was a terrible shock as if somebody had

616
00:36:49,640 --> 00:36:56,369
hit me over the head with a big pan

617
00:36:53,310 --> 00:36:56,369
[Music]

618
00:36:58,760 --> 00:37:07,580
"And that sudden hush after four years of

619
00:37:03,770 --> 00:37:11,080
continual gunfire had become part of our

620
00:37:07,580 --> 00:37:11,080
lives.There seemed to be something missing

621
00:37:11,350 --> 00:37:14,760
we didn't believe it you know."

622
00:37:16,760 --> 00:37:28,170
[Music]

623
00:37:24,950 --> 00:37:28,170
[Applause]

624
00:37:30,910 --> 00:37:46,559
[Music]

625
00:37:47,530 --> 00:37:52,690
One of the greatest calamities in human

626
00:37:49,930 --> 00:37:55,230
history was over and America's veterans

627
00:37:52,690 --> 00:38:03,570
began to return home.

628
00:37:55,230 --> 00:38:05,580
[Music]

629
00:38:03,570 --> 00:38:07,860
The trouble was that having made the

630
00:38:05,580 --> 00:38:12,150
world a safer place American veterans

631
00:38:07,860 --> 00:38:14,550
returned to a very uncertain future.The

632
00:38:12,150 --> 00:38:17,430
economy that the boomed during the war

633
00:38:14,550 --> 00:38:20,190
was now shrinking. Factories were laying

634
00:38:17,430 --> 00:38:25,560
off workers just as veterans came

635
00:38:20,190 --> 00:38:26,640
looking for jobs. "We had no help to find

636
00:38:25,560 --> 00:38:30,000
a job. No grants to go to school

637
00:38:26,640 --> 00:38:33,780
to finish our college education.

638
00:38:30,000 --> 00:38:38,240
When you took your

639
00:38:33,780 --> 00:38:41,340
discharge that was it. You had no more

640
00:38:38,240 --> 00:38:47,540
connection with the government or they

641
00:38:41,340 --> 00:38:47,540
with you. You were on your own"

642
00:38:50,400 --> 00:38:53,689
[Music]

643
00:39:00,830 --> 00:39:08,940
In the winter of 1918 Europe was a

644
00:39:04,830 --> 00:39:11,090
disaster. The empires of Germany Austria

645
00:39:08,940 --> 00:39:13,980
and Russia had been shattered

646
00:39:11,090 --> 00:39:18,420
leaving destitute nations in their wake

647
00:39:13,980 --> 00:39:21,829
[Music]

648
00:39:18,420 --> 00:39:25,430
Even the victors Britain and France

649
00:39:21,829 --> 00:39:30,290
grappled with ruin and rage.

650
00:39:25,430 --> 00:39:36,430
[Music]

651
00:39:30,290 --> 00:39:36,430
In all nine million men had died.

652
00:39:37,440 --> 00:39:48,140
Every family had lost someone, a father, a

653
00:39:43,220 --> 00:39:48,140
son, a brother,

654
00:39:48,170 --> 00:40:07,130
a cousin, a friend

655
00:39:52,170 --> 00:40:07,130
[Music]

656
00:40:07,880 --> 00:40:13,340
For years the wounded and the maimed

657
00:40:10,400 --> 00:40:14,420
haunted the streets of every city in

658
00:40:13,340 --> 00:40:17,909
Europe.

659
00:40:14,420 --> 00:40:17,909
[Music]

660
00:40:18,019 --> 00:40:25,109
And even those who had escaped physical

661
00:40:20,819 --> 00:40:27,410
harm were forever changed by the Great

662
00:40:25,109 --> 00:40:27,410
War

663
00:40:29,210 --> 00:40:32,880
"Sometimes I'm thinking about the war

664
00:40:30,480 --> 00:40:36,950
two,, three o'clock in the morning. My

665
00:40:32,880 --> 00:40:39,900
brother being hit. My best friend killed

666
00:40:36,950 --> 00:40:45,000
and I wonder, while I'm lying in bed

667
00:40:39,900 --> 00:40:47,160
" how is it that I'm lying here

668
00:40:45,000 --> 00:40:54,330
and they're all dead?""

669
00:40:47,160 --> 00:40:57,450
"I lost all my youth. I lost the best

670
00:40:54,330 --> 00:41:01,140
years of my life you might say. And I

671
00:40:57,450 --> 00:41:05,490
lost so many friends. It was all loss

672
00:41:01,140 --> 00:41:08,240
for me. I mean a few medals don't make up

673
00:41:05,490 --> 00:41:08,240
for that you know.

674
00:41:08,580 --> 00:41:16,910
Nobody wins in a war. They lost. We didn't

675
00:41:14,700 --> 00:41:16,910
win"

676
00:41:21,290 --> 00:41:26,300
Into this chaos traveling to a post-war

677
00:41:24,440 --> 00:41:28,750
peace conference in the French town of

678
00:41:26,300 --> 00:41:31,190
Versailles, came President Woodrow Wilson.

679
00:41:28,750 --> 00:41:34,190
With him President Wilson brought his

680
00:41:31,190 --> 00:41:36,950
so-called Fourteen Points which called

681
00:41:34,190 --> 00:41:42,200
for liberty and self-determination for

682
00:41:36,950 --> 00:41:44,630
all. Even the enemy. The people of Britain

683
00:41:42,200 --> 00:41:49,420
and France greeted Wilson ecstatically for

684
00:41:44,630 --> 00:41:49,420
he represented the hope of democracy. BUT

685
00:41:49,930 --> 00:41:56,960
the British and French governments were

686
00:41:52,760 --> 00:41:59,350
interested in revenge. "The Versailles

687
00:41:56,960 --> 00:42:02,690
Peace Treaty is the politics of hatred.

688
00:41:59,350 --> 00:42:06,460
It was the encapsulation of every

689
00:42:02,690 --> 00:42:09,110
mean-spirited element on the Allied side."

690
00:42:06,460 --> 00:42:11,140
The new Soviet Union was completely

691
00:42:09,110 --> 00:42:14,600
excluded from the peace conference. And

692
00:42:11,140 --> 00:42:18,140
not one victorious power was ready to

693
00:42:14,600 --> 00:42:20,660
give up a colony. Sowing the seeds of

694
00:42:18,140 --> 00:42:23,120
future discord, Britain and France added

695
00:42:20,660 --> 00:42:27,020
several colonies by carving up the

696
00:42:23,120 --> 00:42:28,970
Middle East. As for the Germans, they were

697
00:42:27,020 --> 00:42:31,760
forced to accept conditions that would

698
00:42:28,970 --> 00:42:32,360
humiliate and impoverish them for

699
00:42:31,760 --> 00:42:35,480
years.

700
00:42:32,360 --> 00:42:39,500
In the end Versailles was about

701
00:42:35,480 --> 00:42:41,330
Punishment not Peacemaking.

702
00:42:39,500 --> 00:42:42,730
"In Many ways all those men who died,

703
00:42:41,330 --> 00:42:51,200
nine million men died for nothing"

704
00:42:42,730 --> 00:42:54,440
[Music]

705
00:42:51,200 --> 00:42:56,750
Almost before it was over then it was

706
00:42:54,440 --> 00:42:59,950
clear that the legacy of this war would

707
00:42:56,750 --> 00:43:03,440
be anything but the end of all wars.

708
00:42:59,950 --> 00:43:06,859
Within 30 years these same nations would

709
00:43:03,440 --> 00:43:09,220
all fight again over precisely the same

710
00:43:06,859 --> 00:43:09,220
ground.

711
00:43:15,809 --> 00:43:21,640
The war had shown technology's dark side.

712
00:43:18,819 --> 00:43:23,470
But dark or bright, technology was here

713
00:43:21,640 --> 00:43:26,829
to stay and in the decade that followed

714
00:43:23,470 --> 00:43:28,720
an electric pulse of change ran through

715
00:43:26,829 --> 00:43:32,160
America. We'll see that on the next

716
00:43:28,720 --> 00:43:34,720
episode of the century America's time

717
00:43:32,160 --> 00:43:36,120
thank you for joining us I'm Peter

718
00:43:34,720 --> 00:43:52,010
Jennings

719
00:43:36,120 --> 00:43:52,010
[Music]