WEBVTT

00:00:00.570 --> 00:00:11.520
[Music]

00:00:12.510 --> 00:00:21.180
country

00:00:14.710 --> 00:00:22.540
[Music]

00:00:21.180 --> 00:00:24.200
created

00:00:22.540 --> 00:00:27.960
[Applause]

00:00:24.200 --> 00:00:27.960
[Music]

00:00:28.110 --> 00:00:33.039
intro

00:00:29.530 --> 00:00:33.039
[Applause]

00:00:33.230 --> 00:00:43.750
[Music]

00:00:47.629 --> 00:00:57.140
Pier 54 New York City.

00:00:52.730 --> 00:00:58.910
On May the 1st 1915 2000 passengers

00:00:57.140 --> 00:01:02.120
boarded one of the fastest most

00:00:58.910 --> 00:01:04.449
luxurious ships in the world the

00:01:02.120 --> 00:01:04.449
Lusitania

00:01:06.229 --> 00:01:11.570
"She was simply a wonderful steady ship

00:01:09.189 --> 00:01:13.840
she had four red funnels and she was a

00:01:11.570 --> 00:01:16.759
beautiful sight to see. She really was"

00:01:13.840 --> 00:01:18.950
EDA Stanley and her family were heading

00:01:16.759 --> 00:01:20.840
home to England and into the midst of

00:01:18.950 --> 00:01:24.110
the most brutal conflict man had ever

00:01:20.840 --> 00:01:26.570
experienced, The First World War was

00:01:24.110 --> 00:01:28.570
almost a year old and any transatlantic

00:01:26.570 --> 00:01:31.479
crossing was made potentially dangerous

00:01:28.570 --> 00:01:35.420
by the presence of German submarines

00:01:31.479 --> 00:01:37.550
Still, the passengers felt safe. After all

00:01:35.420 --> 00:01:40.670
the Lusitania was a passenger ship

00:01:37.550 --> 00:01:40.670
[Music]

00:01:41.140 --> 00:01:47.550
On her last day at sea the Lusitania was

00:01:45.440 --> 00:01:50.780
approaching the Irish coast

00:01:47.550 --> 00:01:50.780
[Music]

00:01:51.430 --> 00:01:57.250
"It was two o'clock in the afternoon and

00:01:53.200 --> 00:02:00.570
you could see all this coastline. It was a

00:01:57.250 --> 00:02:00.570
beautiful day. Couldn't have been any better.

00:02:02.520 --> 00:02:09.190
There was a terrific bang. Dad knew what it was.

00:02:06.960 --> 00:02:11.519
I mean that he knew darn well that

00:02:09.190 --> 00:02:11.519
it was a torpedo"

00:02:12.360 --> 00:02:16.470
The single German torpedo did such

00:02:14.370 --> 00:02:19.230
damage that the Lusitania could launch

00:02:16.470 --> 00:02:21.620
only six of her lifeboats before she

00:02:19.230 --> 00:02:21.620
went down

00:02:21.650 --> 00:02:27.080
"We could not take the people and they

00:02:23.750 --> 00:02:30.760
were begging to be taken in we would have

00:02:27.080 --> 00:02:30.760
capsized and everybody would have gone

00:02:30.849 --> 00:02:39.670
down. 1,200 drowned. I think.....There was

00:02:35.920 --> 00:02:39.670
more drowned than was saved"

00:02:40.860 --> 00:02:46.950
Among those who drowned were a hundred

00:02:43.570 --> 00:02:46.950
and twenty-eight Americans.

00:02:51.230 --> 00:02:56.720
The memory has faded for all but a very

00:02:53.240 --> 00:02:58.880
few some of whom you'll hear from. But

00:02:56.720 --> 00:03:00.349
because it has affected so much of what

00:02:58.880 --> 00:03:03.650
has happened since, the bulk of this

00:03:00.349 --> 00:03:06.349
program is about the First World War. The

00:03:03.650 --> 00:03:08.690
Great War they called. It began in

00:03:06.349 --> 00:03:10.670
June of 1914 with the assassination of

00:03:08.690 --> 00:03:13.370
the Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria

00:03:10.670 --> 00:03:14.180
Hungary. He was shot by a Serbian

00:03:13.370 --> 00:03:17.480
nationalist in Sarajevo.

00:03:14.180 --> 00:03:19.069
Ferdinand had governed in a

00:03:17.480 --> 00:03:20.450
circle of European royalty that also

00:03:19.069 --> 00:03:22.849
included the king of England,

00:03:20.450 --> 00:03:24.830
the Tsar of Russia, and the Kaiser of

00:03:22.849 --> 00:03:27.709
Germany and together their colonial

00:03:24.830 --> 00:03:30.440
empires dominated most of the Earth's

00:03:27.709 --> 00:03:33.110
population. And when the competitive

00:03:30.440 --> 00:03:35.959
Kaiser seized upon the assassination as

00:03:33.110 --> 00:03:38.209
a pretext to begin a European war he

00:03:35.959 --> 00:03:41.239
found the other Royals only too willing

00:03:38.209 --> 00:03:44.269
to go along. All of them sought to widen

00:03:41.239 --> 00:03:46.760
their influence. None could possibly

00:03:44.269 --> 00:03:57.470
realize how radically they were about to

00:03:46.760 --> 00:03:59.900
alter the course of the 20th century. In

00:03:57.470 --> 00:04:01.540
the summer of 1914 the generation that

00:03:59.900 --> 00:04:04.940
would fight the First World War was

00:04:01.540 --> 00:04:07.010
enthusiastic about doing so. Those young

00:04:04.940 --> 00:04:10.160
men who were so quick to answer their

00:04:07.010 --> 00:04:13.930
nation's call to arms had no reason to

00:04:10.160 --> 00:04:13.930
anticipate the hell ahead

00:04:19.890 --> 00:04:23.000
[Applause]

00:04:23.610 --> 00:04:29.710
In the German city of Coblenz

00:04:26.460 --> 00:04:36.580
twelve-year-old Joachim von Elbe began a

00:04:29.710 --> 00:04:43.930
diary. August 5 1914: the city is full of

00:04:36.580 --> 00:04:51.310
soldiers. They were singing this song, on

00:04:43.930 --> 00:04:55.479
on to fight we are born on on to fight

00:04:51.310 --> 00:05:00.780
for the Fatherland

00:04:55.479 --> 00:05:00.780
to Kaiser Wilhelm we have sworn

00:05:01.320 --> 00:05:06.779
to Kaiser Wilhelm we give our hand."

00:05:04.439 --> 00:05:10.379
The optimism of the Germans was matched

00:05:06.779 --> 00:05:15.209
by their allies in Austria and by their

00:05:10.379 --> 00:05:20.429
enemies in Russia in France and in

00:05:15.209 --> 00:05:23.339
England. "As soon as I enlisted I was in

00:05:20.429 --> 00:05:25.259
the crowd of all other 18,19 and 20 year

00:05:23.339 --> 00:05:28.080
olds and we thought was going to be a

00:05:25.259 --> 00:05:31.699
tremendous tremendous lark to go and knock

00:05:28.080 --> 00:05:31.699
the Kaiser off his throne, you see"

00:05:32.899 --> 00:05:39.809
"Everyone, everyone thought the war would

00:05:36.119 --> 00:05:42.599
be over Christmas and they really badly

00:05:39.809 --> 00:05:43.870
wanted to get to France to get in the

00:05:42.599 --> 00:05:53.830
fighting"

00:05:43.870 --> 00:05:53.830
Music

00:05:57.080 --> 00:06:01.800
music

00:05:59.540 --> 00:06:03.450
The Germans attacked first

00:06:01.800 --> 00:06:07.320
and very quickly they were through

00:06:03.450 --> 00:06:09.210
Belgium and into France. The romantic

00:06:07.320 --> 00:06:12.450
notion of war that so many young men

00:06:09.210 --> 00:06:16.200
carried into battle was very quickly

00:06:12.450 --> 00:06:18.270
shattered. The new weapons of war were so

00:06:16.200 --> 00:06:20.460
ferocious that by the end of the first

00:06:18.270 --> 00:06:22.650
year French casualties alone would

00:06:20.460 --> 00:06:26.860
approach a million men

00:06:22.650 --> 00:06:26.860
[Music]

00:06:32.230 --> 00:06:37.850
"Nobody in Europe expected these appalling

00:06:34.910 --> 00:06:41.230
casualties and when they came they were

00:06:37.850 --> 00:06:41.230
utterly crushing

00:06:41.990 --> 00:06:46.530
music

00:06:43.650 --> 00:06:50.460
The first dreadful experience was that

00:06:46.530 --> 00:06:53.010
of the victims of what was called "the

00:06:50.460 --> 00:06:55.410
massacre of the innocents" in Germany.

00:06:53.010 --> 00:06:57.840
These boys from high school or college

00:06:55.410 --> 00:07:00.300
who were given a couple of months

00:06:57.840 --> 00:07:03.600
training and sent off to the Front and

00:07:00.300 --> 00:07:04.210
then died in tens of thousands in a few

00:07:03.600 --> 00:07:06.090
weeks

00:07:04.210 --> 00:07:08.200
music

00:07:06.090 --> 00:07:10.330
Nothing like that had ever happened

00:07:08.200 --> 00:07:12.340
before to any country in Europe and

00:07:10.330 --> 00:07:14.380
moreover this was the flower of German

00:07:12.340 --> 00:07:16.750
youth. They were they the best educated

00:07:14.380 --> 00:07:20.590
young men. They were from middle-class

00:07:16.750 --> 00:07:23.410
families almost exclusively and they had

00:07:20.590 --> 00:07:26.310
no expectation at all this terrible

00:07:23.410 --> 00:07:26.310
thing was going to happen."

00:07:27.810 --> 00:07:31.079
Americans had never dreamed

00:07:45.480 --> 00:07:49.690
that a war on the other

00:07:47.800 --> 00:07:52.420
side of the ocean could affect them.

00:07:49.690 --> 00:07:54.970
The US was officially neutral and most

00:07:52.420 --> 00:07:58.200
of its citizens assumed it would stay

00:07:54.970 --> 00:07:58.200
that way." People were going about

00:08:02.280 --> 00:08:08.080
their own business. The object being to

00:08:05.080 --> 00:08:12.130
makes money and and good business

00:08:08.080 --> 00:08:17.350
Everything was very pleasant indeed"

00:08:12.130 --> 00:08:20.530
" It's hard for people who weren't

00:08:17.350 --> 00:08:22.900
there to realize how enormously

00:08:20.530 --> 00:08:25.840
the world has changed. On New Year's Day

00:08:22.900 --> 00:08:26.330
President Wilson had open house at the

00:08:25.840 --> 00:08:28.699
White House. And he would go out

00:08:26.330 --> 00:08:30.530
[Music]

00:08:28.699 --> 00:08:32.180
on the lawn and we went down once

00:08:30.530 --> 00:08:34.159
I was a little kid and we went down on the

00:08:32.180 --> 00:08:35.719
lawn and stood in a little queue and it

00:08:34.159 --> 00:08:39.589
moved up and we all went through and

00:08:35.719 --> 00:08:42.049
shook his hand. Shook hands with the

00:08:39.589 --> 00:08:44.620
President on New Year's Day"

00:08:42.049 --> 00:08:48.649
[Music]

00:08:44.620 --> 00:08:52.209
But certainly America was changing. The

00:08:48.649 --> 00:08:52.209
pace of life was quickening.

00:08:53.970 --> 00:08:59.529
Almost overnight Henry Ford's historic

00:08:56.980 --> 00:09:02.170
assembly line had lowered the cost of

00:08:59.529 --> 00:09:05.350
making cars as well as the cost of

00:09:02.170 --> 00:09:07.810
buying them. The mass-produced Model T

00:09:05.350 --> 00:09:11.410
came in one color: black but at

00:09:07.810 --> 00:09:12.880
295 dollars it was the first car priced

00:09:11.410 --> 00:09:17.650
within reach of ordinary Americans

00:09:12.880 --> 00:09:21.490
"We played baseball in the streets.

00:09:17.650 --> 00:09:25.540
There was no problem of playing

00:09:21.490 --> 00:09:28.180
baseball when horses and wagons

00:09:25.540 --> 00:09:32.640
dominated the traffic. It only became a

00:09:28.180 --> 00:09:32.640
problem when automobiles and trucks

00:09:33.490 --> 00:09:39.630
came in"

00:09:36.830 --> 00:09:41.990
So much in America was changing as

00:09:39.630 --> 00:09:45.090
Europe went about its ugly war

00:09:41.990 --> 00:09:45.090
[Music]

00:09:47.200 --> 00:09:55.510
At this first movie that I attended I

00:09:50.589 --> 00:10:00.310
recall the scene where there was a great

00:09:55.510 --> 00:10:02.529
deal of shooting. As they came to the

00:10:00.310 --> 00:10:05.230
front of the screen and the figures got

00:10:02.529 --> 00:10:06.910
larger and larger and I thought they

00:10:05.230 --> 00:10:11.529
were coming at me and I started

00:10:06.910 --> 00:10:15.940
screaming so badly that had to take me

00:10:11.529 --> 00:10:17.920
out of the movie house." As moviemaking

00:10:15.940 --> 00:10:20.949
techniques improved movies became an

00:10:17.920 --> 00:10:23.139
American obsession and it was in the

00:10:20.949 --> 00:10:26.680
movie houses that Americans were exposed

00:10:23.139 --> 00:10:32.380
to the war in Europe. In the movie house

00:10:26.680 --> 00:10:36.910
it still seemed glamorous." We went every

00:10:32.380 --> 00:10:43.149
Saturday morning and just devoured the

00:10:36.910 --> 00:10:47.230
pictures of the war, beautiful uniforms

00:10:43.149 --> 00:10:50.500
and dashing mounted cavalry with their

00:10:47.230 --> 00:10:53.500
flashing sabers in the sun riding into

00:10:50.500 --> 00:10:59.230
battle and oh I thought that would be

00:10:53.500 --> 00:11:01.250
something else (I was just just eighteen)

00:10:59.230 --> 00:11:04.310
to go."

00:11:01.250 --> 00:11:06.630
[Music]

00:11:04.310 --> 00:11:08.730
The movies were the perfect proving

00:11:06.630 --> 00:11:12.030
ground for the new art form called

00:11:08.730 --> 00:11:14.310
propaganda. Americans saw and soon

00:11:12.030 --> 00:11:15.120
sympathized with the British view of the

00:11:14.310 --> 00:11:26.370
Germans

00:11:15.120 --> 00:11:29.769
[Music]

00:11:26.370 --> 00:11:32.829
By early 1915 the war in Europe was good

00:11:29.769 --> 00:11:34.560
for America. U.S. banks were lending huge

00:11:32.829 --> 00:11:37.690
amounts of money to Britain and France

00:11:34.560 --> 00:11:41.040
who in turn used the money to buy arms

00:11:37.690 --> 00:11:43.660
from American factories. With the war

00:11:41.040 --> 00:11:47.790
Americans were in the greatest economic

00:11:43.660 --> 00:11:52.959
boom in their history. "During the war

00:11:47.790 --> 00:11:55.540
everybody worked. Before the war my

00:11:52.959 --> 00:11:58.930
father brought home six or seven dollars

00:11:55.540 --> 00:12:00.490
a week Now he brought home checks for

00:11:58.930 --> 00:12:04.810
a hundred, a hundred and ten dollars

00:12:00.490 --> 00:12:08.380
a week. It was like bringing home a check

00:12:04.810 --> 00:12:10.420
for a million." The war had

00:12:08.380 --> 00:12:12.940
another effect: it virtually cut off

00:12:10.420 --> 00:12:15.430
European immigration to the United

00:12:12.940 --> 00:12:18.250
States causing a labor shortage in

00:12:15.430 --> 00:12:20.470
American factories and that forced

00:12:18.250 --> 00:12:22.449
northern employers to look for the very

00:12:20.470 --> 00:12:26.980
first time at the substantial Black

00:12:22.449 --> 00:12:31.480
labor pool of the American South. " Black

00:12:26.980 --> 00:12:33.970
newspapers, we went down south and told

00:12:31.480 --> 00:12:36.040
them 'come on up to Chicago with us

00:12:33.970 --> 00:12:37.390
we'll get you a job and you don't have

00:12:36.040 --> 00:12:40.199
to stay down here and be lynched and

00:12:37.390 --> 00:12:40.199
burned'" " My relatives, aunt, uncles

00:12:46.350 --> 00:12:57.690
cousins came North and were able

00:12:52.450 --> 00:13:02.020
to get into factories and steel mill jobs

00:12:57.690 --> 00:13:05.260
that just wouldn't have been available

00:13:02.020 --> 00:13:09.160
to Blacks under normal circumstances"

00:13:05.260 --> 00:13:11.530
This Great Migration from

00:13:09.160 --> 00:13:13.840
the South kept America's economy strong

00:13:11.530 --> 00:13:16.380
and vigorous while the increasing

00:13:13.840 --> 00:13:19.330
economic stake in Britain and France

00:13:16.380 --> 00:13:22.990
encouraged greater support for their war

00:13:19.330 --> 00:13:26.200
against the Germans. But the war was not

00:13:22.990 --> 00:13:28.480
going well and the idea that Americans

00:13:26.200 --> 00:13:32.020
might yet have to be involved was now an

00:13:28.480 --> 00:13:33.640
issue all over the United States. With

00:13:32.020 --> 00:13:37.330
the support of former President Theodore

00:13:33.640 --> 00:13:40.010
Roosevelt, potential volunteers began to

00:13:37.330 --> 00:13:43.200
train for battle

00:13:40.010 --> 00:13:43.200
[Music]

00:13:44.390 --> 00:13:49.950
By Christmas 1914 the armies of Europe

00:13:48.090 --> 00:13:53.040
had completely bogged down and fighting

00:13:49.950 --> 00:13:55.080
had spread to Russia, Africa, and the

00:13:53.040 --> 00:13:58.290
Middle East. The empires drew on their

00:13:55.080 --> 00:14:00.300
colonies for manpower. 60 countries were

00:13:58.290 --> 00:14:03.960
eventually represented in the conflict

00:14:00.300 --> 00:14:06.720
The Germans had expected to win in 42

00:14:03.960 --> 00:14:08.790
days but they had not anticipated what

00:14:06.720 --> 00:14:13.740
would happen on the Western Front in

00:14:08.790 --> 00:14:15.900
France. On the Western Front, the German

00:14:13.740 --> 00:14:18.600
assault had finally failed and soldiers

00:14:15.900 --> 00:14:20.730
on both sides had raced to dig an

00:14:18.600 --> 00:14:23.970
elaborate trench system that stretched

00:14:20.730 --> 00:14:32.580
for 300 miles from the English Channel

00:14:23.970 --> 00:14:34.800
all the way to Switzerland. On New Year's

00:14:32.580 --> 00:14:37.800
Day in 1915 the young men who had gone

00:14:34.800 --> 00:14:40.920
off to fight glorious battles were now

00:14:37.800 --> 00:14:47.710
trapped in a desperate war of attrition

00:14:40.920 --> 00:14:47.710
[Music]

00:14:48.770 --> 00:14:57.690
"Someone said to us excitedly" Jack Smith"

00:14:53.700 --> 00:14:58.290
I said what about him? he said" he's dead.

00:14:57.690 --> 00:15:00.930
he's been shot"

00:14:58.290 --> 00:15:01.530
The first one of the battalion to be

00:15:00.930 --> 00:15:05.520
shot. I said " what?"

00:15:01.530 --> 00:15:08.610
" Yes he's dead. Been shot

00:15:05.520 --> 00:15:13.890
Put his head too far over and a sniper

00:15:08.610 --> 00:15:17.460
got him" and that caused a bit of a

00:15:13.890 --> 00:15:21.420
sensation amongst the lads. They

00:15:17.460 --> 00:15:25.620
thought 'well this is not exactly what we

00:15:21.420 --> 00:15:29.790
come for' (mumbling) from that day

00:15:25.620 --> 00:15:32.850
onwards while we were in the trenches

00:15:29.790 --> 00:15:38.790
it was three killed, four killed, five

00:15:32.850 --> 00:15:42.260
killed, 20 killed, a hundred killed. By

00:15:38.790 --> 00:15:42.260
then we was veterans."

00:15:43.600 --> 00:15:54.520
A young American poet, Alan Seeger, was

00:15:52.630 --> 00:15:56.740
among those looking for adventure when

00:15:54.520 --> 00:16:00.370
he joined the Foreign Legion to fight

00:15:56.740 --> 00:16:04.380
for France. His diary reveals how seldom

00:16:00.370 --> 00:16:06.760
he found it."It's a miserable life.

00:16:04.380 --> 00:16:09.820
Shivering in these wretched holes in the

00:16:06.760 --> 00:16:12.760
dirt. We're not leading the life of men

00:16:09.820 --> 00:16:15.460
at all but that of animals, living in our

00:16:12.760 --> 00:16:19.800
holes on the ground and only showing our

00:16:15.460 --> 00:16:19.800
heads outside to fight and to feed"

00:16:20.600 --> 00:16:24.590
"We'd been

00:16:21.810 --> 00:16:28.790
there about six months. Covered in mud

00:16:24.590 --> 00:16:32.580
Wet through practically all day

00:16:28.790 --> 00:16:35.790
Absolutely chewed up by lice and we'd

00:16:32.580 --> 00:16:43.460
say "and to think we wanted to come to

00:16:35.790 --> 00:16:44.730
this hole" I said "yes, we didn't know"

00:16:43.460 --> 00:16:46.800
[Music]

00:16:44.730 --> 00:16:49.380
Every so often one side or the other

00:16:46.800 --> 00:16:51.230
seized a few hundred yards of territory

00:16:49.380 --> 00:16:53.760
only to be forced back again

00:16:51.230 --> 00:16:56.970
surrendering what had costs hundreds of

00:16:53.760 --> 00:17:00.830
lives to win. The Front never moved more

00:16:56.970 --> 00:17:00.830
than a mile or two in either direction

00:17:02.900 --> 00:17:07.890
By the spring of 1915 the generals had

00:17:06.240 --> 00:17:10.860
concluded that the best way out of the

00:17:07.890 --> 00:17:13.459
stalemate was to blast the enemy out of

00:17:10.860 --> 00:17:13.459
their trenches

00:17:15.310 --> 00:17:18.740
[Music]

00:17:21.850 --> 00:17:26.510
The same factories and assembly lines

00:17:24.650 --> 00:17:29.390
that had begun to contribute to life in

00:17:26.510 --> 00:17:33.190
the 20th century were now retooled to

00:17:29.390 --> 00:17:33.190
create massive killing machines.

00:17:36.059 --> 00:17:41.639
This was the industrialization of war

00:17:46.720 --> 00:17:50.009
[Music]

00:17:53.030 --> 00:18:03.310
"There were

00:17:59.650 --> 00:18:06.290
just a splintered trunks of trees, there's

00:18:03.310 --> 00:18:11.840
a quagmire of the shell holes

00:18:06.290 --> 00:18:12.950
and no ,no grass. It was just like a

00:18:11.840 --> 00:18:13.390
lunar landscape

00:18:12.950 --> 00:18:28.610
really"

00:18:13.390 --> 00:18:33.179
[Music]

00:18:28.610 --> 00:18:37.049
"At night the rats, they grew to

00:18:33.179 --> 00:18:39.929
enormous sizes feeding on the bone and

00:18:37.049 --> 00:18:43.549
the corpses. It was impossible

00:18:39.929 --> 00:18:46.499
to get to get the dead buried."

00:18:43.549 --> 00:18:49.440
"We put dead bodies in the bottom of the

00:18:46.499 --> 00:18:52.200
trench so that we could stand on them

00:18:49.440 --> 00:18:55.049
to keep dry and on some

00:18:52.200 --> 00:18:57.749
occasion dead bodies was put on the top

00:18:55.049 --> 00:19:00.659
of the trench to make it higher so that

00:18:57.749 --> 00:19:04.249
we could walk a bit better

00:19:00.659 --> 00:19:04.249
instead of crouching." And

00:19:05.270 --> 00:19:14.510
contributing to the stalemate were new

00:19:07.820 --> 00:19:15.830
weapons. (NOTE) By now the machine gun

00:19:14.510 --> 00:19:18.710
had been perfected to the point that a

00:19:15.830 --> 00:19:22.990
single soldier could command as much

00:19:18.710 --> 00:19:22.990
firepower as 40 riflemen

00:19:23.460 --> 00:19:28.280
[Music]

00:19:25.800 --> 00:19:30.420
The tank made its first appearance

00:19:28.280 --> 00:19:32.730
invented by the British to get through

00:19:30.420 --> 00:19:36.360
the dense thickets of barbed wire that

00:19:32.730 --> 00:19:39.180
protected the enemy trenches. And in

00:19:36.360 --> 00:19:41.060
April 1915 the Germans introduced the

00:19:39.180 --> 00:19:46.410
most terrifying weapon of all poison gas

00:19:41.060 --> 00:19:51.240
"No one had ever seen it before.

00:19:46.410 --> 00:19:57.030
This is the moment when chemical

00:19:51.240 --> 00:19:58.770
warfare was invented. It scared the

00:19:57.030 --> 00:20:03.230
living daylights out of the Canadian

00:19:58.770 --> 00:20:03.230
troops that were hit by it." The First

00:20:07.919 --> 00:20:12.669
World War had become a contest NOT

00:20:11.019 --> 00:20:16.090
of fighting spirit but of technological

00:20:12.669 --> 00:20:18.549
might and for the soldiers caught in the

00:20:16.090 --> 00:20:22.179
middle of it there was no way forward

00:20:18.549 --> 00:20:31.149
and no way back. There was simply

00:20:22.179 --> 00:20:34.419
endurance. " You saw a little bush

00:20:31.149 --> 00:20:40.450
you swore that bush was somebody creeping

00:20:34.419 --> 00:20:42.539
up on you. The perfect soldier for that

00:20:40.450 --> 00:20:45.750
war would have been somebody with no

00:20:42.539 --> 00:20:45.750
imagination whatsoever.

00:20:46.350 --> 00:20:55.530
We all had too much imagination"

00:20:50.380 --> 00:20:59.679
[Music]

00:20:55.530 --> 00:21:04.059
"So many men who had been through these

00:20:59.679 --> 00:21:06.370
dangers and anxieties. Their life broken

00:21:04.059 --> 00:21:11.290
They were the victims of shell shock. You

00:21:06.370 --> 00:21:16.630
know there is a breaking point for most

00:21:11.290 --> 00:21:19.630
people. For anybody really. Robbed of all

00:21:16.630 --> 00:21:24.130
humanity and courage and everything else

00:21:19.630 --> 00:21:27.630
that makes life worth living really. He's

00:21:24.130 --> 00:21:27.630
descended to something less than human."

00:21:30.960 --> 00:21:36.940
The stalemate in the trenches continued

00:21:33.790 --> 00:21:38.950
through 1915 and into 1916 when the

00:21:36.940 --> 00:21:43.679
generals decided to go back to their

00:21:38.950 --> 00:21:43.679
original weapon: their men

00:21:43.740 --> 00:21:52.600
[Music]

00:21:48.060 --> 00:21:59.620
The river Somme in northern France. Early

00:21:52.600 --> 00:22:03.770
summer 1916. Along a Front 25 miles wide

00:21:59.620 --> 00:22:05.840
a massive Allied army prepared to attack.

00:22:03.770 --> 00:22:08.660
Thousands of British Tommies, as they

00:22:05.840 --> 00:22:10.250
were called, would lead the charge and

00:22:08.660 --> 00:22:12.020
they would follow one of the most intense

00:22:10.250 --> 00:22:15.080
bombardments in the history of warfare.

00:22:12.020 --> 00:22:17.800
An artillery barrage would last an

00:22:15.080 --> 00:22:17.800
entire week

00:22:18.960 --> 00:22:23.220
[Music]

00:22:20.790 --> 00:22:25.370
The Battle of the Somme was about to

00:22:23.220 --> 00:22:25.370
begin.

00:22:25.960 --> 00:22:32.180
"There must be a thousand gods if there

00:22:29.330 --> 00:22:36.920
was one. It was a terrible roar from

00:22:32.180 --> 00:22:40.880
morning to night but the foolish officers

00:22:36.920 --> 00:22:44.330
said "tomorrow boys will be over the top

00:22:40.880 --> 00:22:47.870
and don't worry" he says.

00:22:44.330 --> 00:22:50.360
"There'll be no trenches there. Our shells

00:22:47.870 --> 00:22:53.770
have blown them to pieces. There will be

00:22:50.360 --> 00:22:57.680
no Germans there. They're blown to pieces

00:22:53.770 --> 00:23:00.980
All you have to do is to walk over and

00:22:57.680 --> 00:23:05.160
take those trenches. In fact ,"he says,

00:23:00.980 --> 00:23:10.100
you can carry your rifle like a bag."

00:23:05.160 --> 00:23:13.190
[Music]

00:23:10.100 --> 00:23:14.900
"The Germans after the shelling, they

00:23:13.190 --> 00:23:17.860
simply come out of the dugouts,

00:23:14.900 --> 00:23:19.910
grabbed their machine guns and then

00:23:17.860 --> 00:23:22.120
waited for the Tommies."

00:23:19.910 --> 00:23:27.460
[Music]

00:23:22.120 --> 00:23:30.880
They just simply shot them down .

00:23:27.460 --> 00:23:37.660
like cutting down grain. They didn't

00:23:30.880 --> 00:23:41.020
get 200 feet. One German

00:23:37.660 --> 00:23:44.830
machine gunner said "I stopped firing

00:23:41.020 --> 00:23:47.460
because I was sickened by what we were

00:23:44.830 --> 00:23:47.460
doing"'

00:23:50.350 --> 00:24:00.220
It was the bloodiest day in British

00:23:52.790 --> 00:24:00.220
history. 20,000 men killed 40,000 wounded

00:24:00.909 --> 00:24:05.979
And yet the day after and for days

00:24:03.309 --> 00:24:08.799
after that young men continued to be

00:24:05.979 --> 00:24:11.639
ordered out of their trenches and into

00:24:08.799 --> 00:24:11.639
near certain death.

00:24:12.190 --> 00:24:18.910
Poet volunteer Alan Seeger was killed

00:24:15.190 --> 00:24:21.990
on July the 4th. On the same morning Ted

00:24:18.910 --> 00:24:23.520
Francis waited for the signal to go

00:24:21.990 --> 00:24:26.309
[Music]

00:24:23.520 --> 00:24:29.340
Officers are down below us in the

00:24:26.309 --> 00:24:31.470
trenches with a whistle and when they

00:24:29.340 --> 00:24:34.050
blow that whistle we'd got to dash out of

00:24:31.470 --> 00:24:38.760
the trenches and make for this German

00:24:34.050 --> 00:24:42.330
trench and (mumbling) still

00:24:38.760 --> 00:24:49.740
four or five minutes but we look at each

00:24:42.330 --> 00:24:54.809
other and say I would also do this. Some

00:24:49.740 --> 00:24:58.170
were visibly shaken. Some were crying and

00:24:54.809 --> 00:25:01.160
of course when the whistle went off we

00:24:58.170 --> 00:25:01.160
had to scramble over."

00:25:01.250 --> 00:25:13.909
[Music]

00:25:11.380 --> 00:25:15.919
The Battle of the Somme would come to

00:25:13.909 --> 00:25:16.610
define the futility of the First World

00:25:15.919 --> 00:25:19.700
War

00:25:16.610 --> 00:25:23.150
It went on for six more months at a cost

00:25:19.700 --> 00:25:25.250
of a million men and at the end of it

00:25:23.150 --> 00:25:29.690
the Allied armies had moved a grand

00:25:25.250 --> 00:25:31.700
total of five miles. The guns of the

00:25:29.690 --> 00:25:33.200
Somme were so loud and so insistent that

00:25:31.700 --> 00:25:35.659
they were heard across the English

00:25:33.200 --> 00:25:42.799
Channel in London a hundred and fifty

00:25:35.659 --> 00:25:45.110
miles away. In every country that was

00:25:42.799 --> 00:25:47.179
involved in the war there were growing

00:25:45.110 --> 00:25:48.710
problems at home. After so many years of

00:25:47.179 --> 00:25:51.289
struggle the disillusionment of the

00:25:48.710 --> 00:25:53.929
battlefront now extended to the home

00:25:51.289 --> 00:25:56.120
front. Russia in particular was ripe for

00:25:53.929 --> 00:25:58.880
revolution. Its people were starving and

00:25:56.120 --> 00:26:04.610
its battered army was on the verge of

00:25:58.880 --> 00:26:06.830
defeat. In February 1917 a food riot

00:26:04.610 --> 00:26:09.860
broke out in the city of Petrograd which

00:26:06.830 --> 00:26:12.710
had been called Saint Petersburg. In no

00:26:09.860 --> 00:26:17.149
time Russia was embroiled in full-scale

00:26:12.710 --> 00:26:20.600
revolution. The ruling family led by Tsar

00:26:17.149 --> 00:26:24.269
Nicholas was brought down.

00:26:20.600 --> 00:26:26.399
300 years of royal rule were replaced by

00:26:24.269 --> 00:26:30.049
a provisional government that stubbornly

00:26:26.399 --> 00:26:30.049
decided to continue the war

00:26:31.110 --> 00:26:37.120
The Germans chose this moment to help a

00:26:34.060 --> 00:26:40.090
Russian revolutionary return home from

00:26:37.120 --> 00:26:42.220
exile. The man who spoke for a socialist

00:26:40.090 --> 00:26:44.830
movement known to Russians as the

00:26:42.220 --> 00:26:47.560
Bolsheviks. His given name was Vladimir

00:26:44.830 --> 00:26:50.370
Ulianov. He's better remembered as

00:26:47.560 --> 00:26:50.370
Vladimir Lenin. Sascha Bryansk

00:26:50.430 --> 00:26:59.880
served as Lenin's bodyguard

00:26:53.170 --> 00:27:03.220
"He spoke with a lot of gestures and

00:26:59.880 --> 00:27:06.310
rushed forward calling us to advance.

00:27:03.220 --> 00:27:08.680
Saying "Power had been taken over

00:27:06.310 --> 00:27:11.890
by the bourgeoisie that went on with the

00:27:08.680 --> 00:27:14.560
bloody war." A new order had to be

00:27:11.890 --> 00:27:18.010
established to ensure the power of the

00:27:14.560 --> 00:27:19.390
working class. Lenin and the Bolsheviks

00:27:18.010 --> 00:27:22.270
hoped to create the world's first

00:27:19.390 --> 00:27:24.040
Communist state where all land, capital,

00:27:22.270 --> 00:27:28.900
and political power would be given to

00:27:24.040 --> 00:27:30.590
the people. For many Russians it would

00:27:28.900 --> 00:27:33.320
mean the end of privilege

00:27:30.590 --> 00:27:36.410
[Applause]

00:27:33.320 --> 00:27:42.040
"Victory of the Bolsheviki would mean the

00:27:36.410 --> 00:27:42.040
end of Russia. That we knew. I

00:27:42.580 --> 00:27:51.290
remember one evening at our country

00:27:46.700 --> 00:27:53.120
place. I was running down the lawn to

00:27:51.290 --> 00:27:56.750
call my mother to tell her that supper

00:27:53.120 --> 00:28:01.490
was ready and I suddenly stopped and here

00:27:56.750 --> 00:28:04.850
was all the beauty around. The roses, the

00:28:01.490 --> 00:28:09.290
trees, the park, the lawns. It was a

00:28:04.850 --> 00:28:13.820
beautiful place. It was sunset and I

00:28:09.290 --> 00:28:16.970
stopped and said all this disappears. All

00:28:13.820 --> 00:28:19.040
this will be gone. That was the one

00:28:16.970 --> 00:28:21.140
moment I remembered that feeling

00:28:19.040 --> 00:28:23.990
of fear that the whole world of which

00:28:21.140 --> 00:28:27.929
I was part of was would disappear."

00:28:23.990 --> 00:28:31.139
And it would.

00:28:27.929 --> 00:28:32.820
In October 1917 Lenin encouraged an

00:28:31.139 --> 00:28:34.499
insurrection against the provisional

00:28:32.820 --> 00:28:39.419
government that had replaced the fallen

00:28:34.499 --> 00:28:42.200
Tsar. The end came at the Tsar's old

00:28:39.419 --> 00:28:42.200
Winter Palace " I ran up the carpeted

00:28:44.460 --> 00:28:53.549
stairway. In the very first room I saw

00:28:51.059 --> 00:28:56.279
soldiers standing with their rifles ready.

00:28:53.549 --> 00:28:59.330
I shouted " put down your weapons"

00:28:56.279 --> 00:29:03.679
The defenders just dropped their weapons

00:28:59.330 --> 00:29:03.679
and left."

00:29:07.039 --> 00:29:15.869
"We saw the fires in the night and then

00:29:12.119 --> 00:29:19.049
after five or six days the shooting died.

00:29:15.869 --> 00:29:24.690
There were no more guns so we knew it

00:29:19.049 --> 00:29:26.480
was over and we knew that the

00:29:24.690 --> 00:29:29.900
Bolsheviki had won"

00:29:26.480 --> 00:29:29.900
[Applause]

00:29:31.150 --> 00:29:38.350
With Lennon's victory, Russia quickly

00:29:34.030 --> 00:29:40.930
withdrew from the war. But the Germans

00:29:38.350 --> 00:29:45.360
had seen their plans succeed only to

00:29:40.930 --> 00:29:45.360
find that they now faced a new opponent.

00:29:46.110 --> 00:29:53.370
It was clear to most Americans now that

00:29:48.970 --> 00:29:55.570
Germany regarded them as an enemy too.

00:29:53.370 --> 00:30:00.010
President Woodrow Wilson resisted the

00:29:55.570 --> 00:30:02.650
demands to get involved for a while but

00:30:00.010 --> 00:30:05.800
by 1917 the Germans had increased their

00:30:02.650 --> 00:30:08.440
attacks on unarmed ships. And then they

00:30:05.800 --> 00:30:12.280
brazenly urged Mexico to invade the

00:30:08.440 --> 00:30:19.090
United States, the President felt he had

00:30:12.280 --> 00:30:21.429
no other option. On April the 2nd 1917

00:30:19.090 --> 00:30:24.309
Woodrow Wilson stood anxiously before a

00:30:21.429 --> 00:30:27.250
special session of Congress and asked

00:30:24.309 --> 00:30:32.920
for a declaration of war. He hoped it

00:30:27.250 --> 00:30:35.890
would be the War to End all Wars. He said.

00:30:32.920 --> 00:30:39.270
"It is a fearful thing for me to try to

00:30:35.890 --> 00:30:42.250
lead a great peaceful people into war.

00:30:39.270 --> 00:30:45.670
It could be one of the most terrible and

00:30:42.250 --> 00:30:49.510
disastrous of all wars, but let me tell

00:30:45.670 --> 00:30:51.900
you this: Right is more precious than

00:30:49.510 --> 00:30:51.900
Peace."

00:30:52.860 --> 00:30:57.810
"The idea of a last great war

00:30:58.050 --> 00:31:05.779
and being part of it was very

00:31:00.899 --> 00:31:08.279
very strong,strong appeal and

00:31:05.779 --> 00:31:12.539
it certainly influenced me a great deal."

00:31:08.279 --> 00:31:16.249
I said"if we're never going to see another

00:31:12.539 --> 00:31:16.249
war. This is the time to see it." In the

00:31:27.480 --> 00:31:33.750
summer of 1917 American troops landed

00:31:30.690 --> 00:31:36.480
in France returning the favor of Lafayette:

00:31:33.750 --> 00:31:38.100
the French soldier who fought with

00:31:36.480 --> 00:31:41.700
America during the Revolutionary War

00:31:38.100 --> 00:31:45.139
"One of the officers, he said it loud

00:31:41.700 --> 00:31:48.029
enough for everybody to hear and

00:31:45.139 --> 00:31:52.610
he was waving his hands.

00:31:48.029 --> 00:31:53.880
"Lafayette, Lafayette" I didn't know who

00:31:52.610 --> 00:31:57.649
Lafayette was

00:31:53.880 --> 00:31:57.649
"Lafayette we are here"

00:31:59.370 --> 00:32:03.070
[Music]

00:32:01.210 --> 00:32:07.810
"It was coming to the end of our bit and

00:32:03.070 --> 00:32:08.560
when the Americans decided to have a go,

00:32:07.810 --> 00:32:16.030
I was absolutely... I said "Hurrah"

00:32:08.560 --> 00:32:20.330
"They were untouched by

00:32:16.030 --> 00:32:22.760
the anxiety or doubts that

00:32:20.330 --> 00:32:27.110
had afflicted everybody else. By that

00:32:22.760 --> 00:32:29.240
stage they were, they were" American"

00:32:27.110 --> 00:32:31.570
you know. They were "American" They

00:32:29.240 --> 00:32:35.600
were what the Americans were supposed to be.

00:32:31.570 --> 00:32:39.860
They were enthusiastic. They were also

00:32:35.600 --> 00:32:41.480
badly armed, poorly trained and like the

00:32:39.860 --> 00:32:45.650
Europeans before them, completely

00:32:41.480 --> 00:32:48.849
unprepared for what lay ahead.

00:32:45.650 --> 00:32:48.849
[Music]

00:32:50.580 --> 00:32:55.910
The train came through from the Front.

00:32:56.000 --> 00:33:02.310
and we got to go aboard . Of course

00:32:59.850 --> 00:33:03.140
which we did it as soon as possible

00:33:02.310 --> 00:33:06.750
We got on it and we asked the guys

00:33:03.140 --> 00:33:10.260
" how was up there what's going on?"

00:33:06.750 --> 00:33:17.010
and "what are you doing?" and it

00:33:10.260 --> 00:33:23.430
was a hospital train. I can see these

00:33:17.010 --> 00:33:32.520
poor kids like me. Youngsters, but the

00:33:23.430 --> 00:33:35.580
leg gone or two arms gone. "Well

00:33:32.520 --> 00:33:40.800
this is kind of a cold water treatment.

00:33:35.580 --> 00:33:44.160
All of a sudden to realize what war was

00:33:40.800 --> 00:33:50.480
like. You grew up very quickly in

00:33:44.160 --> 00:33:55.310
surroundings lie that. This is no longer

00:33:50.480 --> 00:33:55.310
Freshmen Studies. It was the real world"

00:34:07.100 --> 00:34:11.000
By 1918 with thousands of Americans

00:34:09.829 --> 00:34:13.940
pouring into France every day,

00:34:11.000 --> 00:34:17.060
the Germans decided they had

00:34:13.940 --> 00:34:21.780
to do something massive.

00:34:17.060 --> 00:34:25.230
IN March 1918 the German

00:34:21.780 --> 00:34:27.810
Army tried its last major gamble. Its

00:34:25.230 --> 00:34:29.760
last major offensive on the Western Front

00:34:27.810 --> 00:34:32.970
It was successful.

00:34:29.760 --> 00:34:35.850
"It was a remarkable moment. The Western

00:34:32.970 --> 00:34:38.940
Front moved. A War of movement finally

00:34:35.850 --> 00:34:40.800
arrived" And after years of impasse the

00:34:38.940 --> 00:34:43.620
Germans suddenly threatened to overwhelm

00:34:40.800 --> 00:34:48.510
the Allies and actually capture the

00:34:43.620 --> 00:34:51.320
French capital Paris. "The Germans had a

00:34:48.510 --> 00:34:56.550
fire. They called it "sweeping fire."

00:34:51.320 --> 00:35:01.950
Everything upon earth got hit. They were

00:34:56.550 --> 00:35:03.840
wounded or died."The threat to Paris was

00:35:01.950 --> 00:35:07.080
so severe that a million people simply

00:35:03.840 --> 00:35:13.470
left the city. The Germans got to within

00:35:07.080 --> 00:35:15.540
30 miles. At this point these still semi

00:35:13.470 --> 00:35:18.960
trained American divisions were

00:35:15.540 --> 00:35:21.570
thrown into the battle and along with

00:35:18.960 --> 00:35:23.080
the French, managed to stop the German

00:35:21.570 --> 00:35:27.940
drop."

00:35:23.080 --> 00:35:30.039
The Germans had put

00:35:27.940 --> 00:35:32.200
everything into this last desparate

00:35:30.039 --> 00:35:37.480
effort and when it was it was over they

00:35:32.200 --> 00:35:40.030
were finally spent. Along the Western

00:35:37.480 --> 00:35:46.020
Front that Autumn, the focus shifted

00:35:40.030 --> 00:35:46.020
from war to peace. On the 10th of

00:35:48.330 --> 00:35:53.610
Nov the Kaiser was forced into

00:35:51.810 --> 00:35:56.850
exile by his own government; a

00:35:53.610 --> 00:36:04.860
victim of the war he had helped to

00:35:56.850 --> 00:36:07.260
start. " This cut me so deeply that

00:36:04.860 --> 00:36:08.490
I can't tell you. I had a little picture

00:36:07.260 --> 00:36:13.020
of the Kaiser in my room and what did

00:36:08.490 --> 00:36:17.700
I do? I put a black tie around the

00:36:13.020 --> 00:36:24.530
picture to show my utter sorrow for

00:36:17.700 --> 00:36:28.800
this tremendous change in history" And

00:36:24.530 --> 00:36:32.990
finally at the 11th hour, on the eleventh

00:36:28.800 --> 00:36:38.360
day, of the eleventh month November 1918

00:36:32.990 --> 00:36:38.360
the Germans formally surrendered.

00:36:40.410 --> 00:36:49.640
"And suddenly the guns stopped and there

00:36:44.789 --> 00:36:53.310
was a terrible shock as if somebody had

00:36:49.640 --> 00:36:56.369
hit me over the head with a big pan

00:36:53.310 --> 00:36:56.369
[Music]

00:36:58.760 --> 00:37:07.580
"And that sudden hush after four years of

00:37:03.770 --> 00:37:11.080
continual gunfire had become part of our

00:37:07.580 --> 00:37:11.080
lives.There seemed to be something missing

00:37:11.350 --> 00:37:14.760
we didn't believe it you know."

00:37:16.760 --> 00:37:28.170
[Music]

00:37:24.950 --> 00:37:28.170
[Applause]

00:37:30.910 --> 00:37:46.559
[Music]

00:37:47.530 --> 00:37:52.690
One of the greatest calamities in human

00:37:49.930 --> 00:37:55.230
history was over and America's veterans

00:37:52.690 --> 00:38:03.570
began to return home.

00:37:55.230 --> 00:38:05.580
[Music]

00:38:03.570 --> 00:38:07.860
The trouble was that having made the

00:38:05.580 --> 00:38:12.150
world a safer place American veterans

00:38:07.860 --> 00:38:14.550
returned to a very uncertain future.The

00:38:12.150 --> 00:38:17.430
economy that the boomed during the war

00:38:14.550 --> 00:38:20.190
was now shrinking. Factories were laying

00:38:17.430 --> 00:38:25.560
off workers just as veterans came

00:38:20.190 --> 00:38:26.640
looking for jobs. "We had no help to find

00:38:25.560 --> 00:38:30.000
a job. No grants to go to school

00:38:26.640 --> 00:38:33.780
to finish our college education.

00:38:30.000 --> 00:38:38.240
When you took your

00:38:33.780 --> 00:38:41.340
discharge that was it. You had no more

00:38:38.240 --> 00:38:47.540
connection with the government or they

00:38:41.340 --> 00:38:47.540
with you. You were on your own"

00:38:50.400 --> 00:38:53.689
[Music]

00:39:00.830 --> 00:39:08.940
In the winter of 1918 Europe was a

00:39:04.830 --> 00:39:11.090
disaster. The empires of Germany Austria

00:39:08.940 --> 00:39:13.980
and Russia had been shattered

00:39:11.090 --> 00:39:18.420
leaving destitute nations in their wake

00:39:13.980 --> 00:39:21.829
[Music]

00:39:18.420 --> 00:39:25.430
Even the victors Britain and France

00:39:21.829 --> 00:39:30.290
grappled with ruin and rage.

00:39:25.430 --> 00:39:36.430
[Music]

00:39:30.290 --> 00:39:36.430
In all nine million men had died.

00:39:37.440 --> 00:39:48.140
Every family had lost someone, a father, a

00:39:43.220 --> 00:39:48.140
son, a brother,

00:39:48.170 --> 00:40:07.130
a cousin, a friend

00:39:52.170 --> 00:40:07.130
[Music]

00:40:07.880 --> 00:40:13.340
For years the wounded and the maimed

00:40:10.400 --> 00:40:14.420
haunted the streets of every city in

00:40:13.340 --> 00:40:17.909
Europe.

00:40:14.420 --> 00:40:17.909
[Music]

00:40:18.019 --> 00:40:25.109
And even those who had escaped physical

00:40:20.819 --> 00:40:27.410
harm were forever changed by the Great

00:40:25.109 --> 00:40:27.410
War

00:40:29.210 --> 00:40:32.880
"Sometimes I'm thinking about the war

00:40:30.480 --> 00:40:36.950
two,, three o'clock in the morning. My

00:40:32.880 --> 00:40:39.900
brother being hit. My best friend killed

00:40:36.950 --> 00:40:45.000
and I wonder, while I'm lying in bed

00:40:39.900 --> 00:40:47.160
" how is it that I'm lying here

00:40:45.000 --> 00:40:54.330
and they're all dead?""

00:40:47.160 --> 00:40:57.450
"I lost all my youth. I lost the best

00:40:54.330 --> 00:41:01.140
years of my life you might say. And I

00:40:57.450 --> 00:41:05.490
lost so many friends. It was all loss

00:41:01.140 --> 00:41:08.240
for me. I mean a few medals don't make up

00:41:05.490 --> 00:41:08.240
for that you know.

00:41:08.580 --> 00:41:16.910
Nobody wins in a war. They lost. We didn't

00:41:14.700 --> 00:41:16.910
win"

00:41:21.290 --> 00:41:26.300
Into this chaos traveling to a post-war

00:41:24.440 --> 00:41:28.750
peace conference in the French town of

00:41:26.300 --> 00:41:31.190
Versailles, came President Woodrow Wilson.

00:41:28.750 --> 00:41:34.190
With him President Wilson brought his

00:41:31.190 --> 00:41:36.950
so-called Fourteen Points which called

00:41:34.190 --> 00:41:42.200
for liberty and self-determination for

00:41:36.950 --> 00:41:44.630
all. Even the enemy. The people of Britain

00:41:42.200 --> 00:41:49.420
and France greeted Wilson ecstatically for

00:41:44.630 --> 00:41:49.420
he represented the hope of democracy. BUT

00:41:49.930 --> 00:41:56.960
the British and French governments were

00:41:52.760 --> 00:41:59.350
interested in revenge. "The Versailles

00:41:56.960 --> 00:42:02.690
Peace Treaty is the politics of hatred.

00:41:59.350 --> 00:42:06.460
It was the encapsulation of every

00:42:02.690 --> 00:42:09.110
mean-spirited element on the Allied side."

00:42:06.460 --> 00:42:11.140
The new Soviet Union was completely

00:42:09.110 --> 00:42:14.600
excluded from the peace conference. And

00:42:11.140 --> 00:42:18.140
not one victorious power was ready to

00:42:14.600 --> 00:42:20.660
give up a colony. Sowing the seeds of

00:42:18.140 --> 00:42:23.120
future discord, Britain and France added

00:42:20.660 --> 00:42:27.020
several colonies by carving up the

00:42:23.120 --> 00:42:28.970
Middle East. As for the Germans, they were

00:42:27.020 --> 00:42:31.760
forced to accept conditions that would

00:42:28.970 --> 00:42:32.360
humiliate and impoverish them for

00:42:31.760 --> 00:42:35.480
years.

00:42:32.360 --> 00:42:39.500
In the end Versailles was about

00:42:35.480 --> 00:42:41.330
Punishment not Peacemaking.

00:42:39.500 --> 00:42:42.730
"In Many ways all those men who died,

00:42:41.330 --> 00:42:51.200
nine million men died for nothing"

00:42:42.730 --> 00:42:54.440
[Music]

00:42:51.200 --> 00:42:56.750
Almost before it was over then it was

00:42:54.440 --> 00:42:59.950
clear that the legacy of this war would

00:42:56.750 --> 00:43:03.440
be anything but the end of all wars.

00:42:59.950 --> 00:43:06.859
Within 30 years these same nations would

00:43:03.440 --> 00:43:09.220
all fight again over precisely the same

00:43:06.859 --> 00:43:09.220
ground.

00:43:15.809 --> 00:43:21.640
The war had shown technology's dark side.

00:43:18.819 --> 00:43:23.470
But dark or bright, technology was here

00:43:21.640 --> 00:43:26.829
to stay and in the decade that followed

00:43:23.470 --> 00:43:28.720
an electric pulse of change ran through

00:43:26.829 --> 00:43:32.160
America. We'll see that on the next

00:43:28.720 --> 00:43:34.720
episode of the century America's time

00:43:32.160 --> 00:43:36.120
thank you for joining us I'm Peter

00:43:34.720 --> 00:43:52.010
Jennings

00:43:36.120 --> 00:43:52.010
[Music]