0:00:13 > 0:00:15Spring 1918.
0:00:15 > 0:00:19Revolution had taken Russia out of the war,
0:00:19 > 0:00:23releasing half a million German soldiers from the east.
0:00:23 > 0:00:28Briefly, Germany outnumbered the Allies on the Western Front.
0:00:28 > 0:00:31Here was her chance to win the First World War.
0:00:31 > 0:00:34We must strike at the earliest moment
0:00:34 > 0:00:40before the Americans can throw strong forces into the scales.
0:00:40 > 0:00:42We must beat the British.
0:01:28 > 0:01:35Behind German lines, great armies rolled into position for the Michael Offensive,
0:01:35 > 0:01:38named after Germany's patron saint.
0:01:38 > 0:01:42All the roads were crowded with columns on the march,
0:01:42 > 0:01:46pressing forward, with countless guns and endless transport.
0:02:02 > 0:02:06The German and the Allied air forces were closely matched,
0:02:06 > 0:02:09but Germany had the legendary ace Baron Manfred von Richthofen.
0:02:13 > 0:02:16A special train carried his famous fighter squadron.
0:02:18 > 0:02:21Brightly painted aircraft and daring antics
0:02:21 > 0:02:24earned the nickname "The Red Baron's Flying Circus".
0:02:29 > 0:02:32These pilots were Germany's heroes,
0:02:32 > 0:02:37among them the future Nazi leader of the Luftwaffe, Hermann Goering.
0:02:39 > 0:02:43The Red Baron's dog Moritz with his own flying gear.
0:02:44 > 0:02:49Von Richthofen had already downed 66 enemy planes.
0:02:49 > 0:02:52He looked to the Michael Offensive to swell his tally.
0:02:57 > 0:03:00The Allies knew the Germans were about to hit them -
0:03:00 > 0:03:02they just didn't know where.
0:03:05 > 0:03:09The French reinforced the Chemin des Dames ridge.
0:03:09 > 0:03:12The British strengthened the line guarding the Channel ports.
0:03:12 > 0:03:15But the Germans had their sights on the gap between,
0:03:15 > 0:03:17concentrating on a 12-mile sector
0:03:17 > 0:03:19where they knew the British were weak.
0:03:22 > 0:03:27Here, the British 5th Army's trench system was shallow and incomplete.
0:03:27 > 0:03:30General Sir Hubert Gough had few reserves.
0:03:30 > 0:03:33Germany's supreme commanders had chosen well.
0:03:37 > 0:03:42Paul von Hindenburg and Erich Ludendorff carried Germany's hopes.
0:03:42 > 0:03:44Worshipped as demigods for past triumphs,
0:03:44 > 0:03:47they complemented one another's characters.
0:03:48 > 0:03:52Hindenburg the rock, steady and unflappable.
0:03:52 > 0:03:56Ludendorff the brains, but erratic, nervous.
0:03:59 > 0:04:02The plan was a short, intense bombardment to stun the British,
0:04:02 > 0:04:05then a shock attack by storm troopers.
0:04:05 > 0:04:07Evolved since 1915,
0:04:07 > 0:04:12these were elite, mobile soldiers with grenades and flame-throwers,
0:04:12 > 0:04:15trained to seek out soft spots
0:04:15 > 0:04:17and penetrate deep and fast into enemy lines.
0:04:30 > 0:04:35Ludendorff fixed the offensive for dawn on 21st March 1918.
0:04:42 > 0:04:46The Germans hit the British with a million shells in just five hours.
0:05:17 > 0:05:19Just before the bombardment ended,
0:05:19 > 0:05:22battalion commander Major Scherer sang
0:05:22 > 0:05:25"Deutschland, Deutschland, uber alles".
0:05:25 > 0:05:26We all joined in.
0:05:27 > 0:05:33It was the first time I had heard our men singing the national anthem since the autumn of 1914.
0:05:38 > 0:05:409.40 is zero hour.
0:05:40 > 0:05:45One division after the other breaks through in a gigantic leap
0:05:45 > 0:05:48through the smashed wire entanglement,
0:05:48 > 0:05:51across no-man's-land, into the first enemy trench!
0:05:54 > 0:05:57Our bayonets are stuck in their bodies.
0:06:08 > 0:06:12The morning fog was thick with poison gas.
0:06:12 > 0:06:16Some British never saw them coming.
0:06:18 > 0:06:21We heard the sentry shout that the Germans were here.
0:06:21 > 0:06:24We made a grab for our arms.
0:06:24 > 0:06:27A party of Germans called on us to surrender.
0:06:27 > 0:06:30We had no choice. There were hundreds to one.
0:06:30 > 0:06:35Seeing that the case was hopeless, we were taken against our will.
0:06:37 > 0:06:41Lieutenant Stewart was one of 21,000 British captured that day.
0:06:43 > 0:06:45Panic spread as senior officers,
0:06:45 > 0:06:48used to years of static trench warfare,
0:06:48 > 0:06:50lost control in the havoc.
0:07:00 > 0:07:05As soon as communications with brigades ceased to exist,
0:07:05 > 0:07:08divisional headquarters in many cases became paralysed.
0:07:08 > 0:07:12They had become so wedded to a set piece type of warfare
0:07:12 > 0:07:14that they were unable to function.
0:07:18 > 0:07:22General Gough ordered what was left of the 5th Army to withdraw.
0:07:23 > 0:07:29We could hear large numbers of Boches on the roads in front.
0:07:30 > 0:07:33The tramp, tramp, tramp made one imagine
0:07:33 > 0:07:37the whole German army was advancing against my company.
0:07:42 > 0:07:44This was the biggest breakthrough
0:07:44 > 0:07:47in over three years of trench warfare on the Western Front.
0:07:50 > 0:07:55What our enemies never achieved, not even after month-long battles,
0:07:55 > 0:07:59we managed in two days! How happy the Kaiser must be!
0:07:59 > 0:08:03Finally, the initiative is back with us! It's a wonderful feeling!
0:08:10 > 0:08:15Demoralised British troops retreated over the Somme battlefield of 1916,
0:08:15 > 0:08:18giving up ground for which so much blood had been shed.
0:08:21 > 0:08:26It is pathetic to think that the old places where we were 2 years ago
0:08:26 > 0:08:29are now in the hands of the Hun,
0:08:29 > 0:08:31as, also, are the graves of many people we know.
0:08:38 > 0:08:42Edward's sister, Vera Brittain, was a nurse at Etaples,
0:08:42 > 0:08:45now flooded with casualties.
0:08:50 > 0:08:52"There's only a handful of us, Sister,
0:08:52 > 0:08:55"and thousands of them!" was the perpetual cry
0:08:55 > 0:09:00whether the patient came from Bapaume, Peronne or St Quentin.
0:09:05 > 0:09:09Day after day, while civilian refugees fled in panic into Etaples,
0:09:09 > 0:09:13some fresh enemy conquest was incredulously whispered.
0:09:13 > 0:09:18Peronne, Bapaume, Beaumont Hamel were gone.
0:09:21 > 0:09:23The huge German advance put Paris
0:09:23 > 0:09:27within range of the biggest gun in the world.
0:09:27 > 0:09:31This morning, the bombardment of Paris began,
0:09:31 > 0:09:33with the 3 new Krupp cannons.
0:09:33 > 0:09:36The target is 120 kilometres away
0:09:36 > 0:09:40and from launch the shell takes 3½ minutes.
0:09:42 > 0:09:45The first French prisoners I speak to ask me anxiously
0:09:45 > 0:09:48whether it's true that Paris has actually been shelled.
0:09:50 > 0:09:54Travelling will be all the rage in Paris.
0:09:56 > 0:10:00Allied newsreels portrayed life in the city continuing as normal.
0:10:06 > 0:10:10But, away from the cameras, civilians hurriedly packed their bags.
0:10:13 > 0:10:17183 of the giant shells fell on Paris.
0:10:26 > 0:10:30The battle's going well. The enemy is in retreat,
0:10:30 > 0:10:33though fighting courageously and with heavy losses.
0:10:34 > 0:10:36A brilliant offensive -
0:10:36 > 0:10:43great loot, over 3,000 prisoners, 60 artillery and 200 machine guns!
0:10:43 > 0:10:47I receive a telegram from Crown Prince Wilhelm
0:10:47 > 0:10:48honouring me and my army.
0:10:51 > 0:10:55This evening, His Majesty the Kaiser returned from Avesnes
0:10:55 > 0:10:58bursting with news of our successes.
0:10:58 > 0:11:01As the train pulled in, he shouted,
0:11:01 > 0:11:05"The battle is won. The English have been utterly defeated."
0:11:09 > 0:11:14The Kaiser declared 24th March 1918 a national holiday.
0:11:15 > 0:11:19He awarded Hindenburg and Ludendorff the highest military honours.
0:11:22 > 0:11:25Days later, Ludendorff's troops were still advancing.
0:11:32 > 0:11:36Some of the British started to think the unthinkable.
0:11:36 > 0:11:42I shall never forget the crushing tension of those extreme days.
0:11:42 > 0:11:45Nothing had quite equalled them before -
0:11:45 > 0:11:49not the Somme, not Arras, not Passchendaele -
0:11:49 > 0:11:53for into our minds had crept for the first time
0:11:53 > 0:11:58the secret, incredible fear that we might lose the war.
0:12:02 > 0:12:06But German success in the Michael Offensive masked deep problems at home.
0:12:08 > 0:12:10The biggest threat to Germany and her allies
0:12:10 > 0:12:14had increasingly come not from their enemies but their civilians.
0:12:14 > 0:12:19The crucial link between fighting and home fronts became decisive in 1918.
0:12:20 > 0:12:27The Central Powers ran a desperate race between victory on the battlefield and collapse at home.
0:12:32 > 0:12:36There are signs of the increasing scarcity of metal.
0:12:36 > 0:12:40In a small town near here, a sad ceremony took place.
0:12:40 > 0:12:46The church bell, which had rung the people from cradle to grave for 300 years,
0:12:46 > 0:12:48was requisitioned.
0:12:48 > 0:12:52The inhabitants performed a funeral service for it.
0:12:52 > 0:12:55The bell was covered with wreaths and flowers
0:12:55 > 0:12:58and handed over to the military authorities
0:12:58 > 0:13:00under tears and protestations.
0:13:11 > 0:13:16Lead pipes were ripped up from the streets and melted down into bullets.
0:13:17 > 0:13:22The war gnawed at the vitals of Germany and Austria-Hungary.
0:13:22 > 0:13:24People's hearts turned against it.
0:13:25 > 0:13:29They wanted change - peace and democracy.
0:13:33 > 0:13:38After a while, joy at the victory announcements abated.
0:13:38 > 0:13:41People stopped believing them.
0:13:41 > 0:13:45They weren't sure any more what the truth was.
0:13:45 > 0:13:52I saw that the war had become old and, like an old person, was no longer wanted.
0:13:52 > 0:13:54Surely peace must come soon.
0:13:54 > 0:13:58Something dangerous was building up in people,
0:13:58 > 0:14:01something that smelled like rebellion.
0:14:02 > 0:14:05Dangerous ideas were coming in from Russia -
0:14:05 > 0:14:07anti-war, revolutionary -
0:14:07 > 0:14:12carried by German troops being moved from Eastern to Western Front for the great offensive.
0:14:18 > 0:14:20At railway stations and on leave,
0:14:20 > 0:14:24these ideas took root amid the pessimism of the home front.
0:14:27 > 0:14:32Dominik Richert was one of the soldiers ordered from East to West.
0:14:32 > 0:14:35We were off to the front.
0:14:35 > 0:14:40Again, the pleasant prospect of a heroic death for the beloved Fatherland.
0:14:41 > 0:14:46We went through East Prussia, West Prussia, Brandenburg.
0:14:46 > 0:14:50Train after train, crammed full of soldiers and war supplies,
0:14:50 > 0:14:53rolled over from Russia to the West.
0:14:53 > 0:14:57Farm workers were in the fields. We waved.
0:14:57 > 0:15:00Almost all of them made the sign of having your throat cut.
0:15:02 > 0:15:06Since 1917, letters from home to Germany's soldiers
0:15:06 > 0:15:09carried an increasingly defeatist message.
0:15:11 > 0:15:14Beloved Fritz, hard work never seems to lessen.
0:15:14 > 0:15:20We would all do it ever so willingly if this cursed war would end.
0:15:20 > 0:15:24Tomorrow, it will be two years since our beloved brother was killed
0:15:24 > 0:15:28and what a number has fallen in those years.
0:15:28 > 0:15:32In this small area, we can count 33
0:15:32 > 0:15:34and yet there is no end.
0:15:36 > 0:15:40The Central Powers' censorship of letters revealed
0:15:40 > 0:15:43the extent to which dangerous pacifist ideas infiltrated society.
0:15:45 > 0:15:49An understandable yearning for one's home, family, job
0:15:49 > 0:15:53can be detrimental to the soldiers' resolution.
0:15:53 > 0:15:57The heavier these burdens weigh on the army's spirit,
0:15:57 > 0:16:02the more it needs to rely on a strong foundation of belief.
0:16:03 > 0:16:08Ludendorff used propaganda to boost the nation's morale.
0:16:08 > 0:16:14By now, his authority had spread into all aspects of life, military and civilian.
0:16:14 > 0:16:19In July 1917, he launched a "Patriotic Instruction Programme"
0:16:19 > 0:16:22to restore the army's faith in nation and cause.
0:16:22 > 0:16:26One of the propagandists was Major Walther Nicolai.
0:16:26 > 0:16:31A German victory is necessary and possible,
0:16:31 > 0:16:37the only means of reaching a peace appropriate to its sacrifices.
0:16:37 > 0:16:41We must eradicate all doubt in a German victory.
0:16:45 > 0:16:48Film became a key propaganda tool.
0:16:48 > 0:16:53A massive new studio, UFA, secretly funded by the military,
0:16:53 > 0:16:55made films to encourage the war effort.
0:17:06 > 0:17:11Neptune, king of the seas, learns that the feast his mermaids bring
0:17:11 > 0:17:15has floated down from British ships sunk by U-boats.
0:17:23 > 0:17:27He goes to Berlin to urge the public to keep buying war bonds.
0:17:38 > 0:17:41Propaganda also taught the importance of security and secrecy.
0:17:42 > 0:17:46In this film, a soldier's careless talk on the telephone to his wife
0:17:46 > 0:17:48is intercepted by the British.
0:17:57 > 0:18:01Ludendorff enlisted German women to spy on their fellow citizens
0:18:01 > 0:18:03and root out defeatism.
0:18:12 > 0:18:16Politician Hans Peter Hanssen described in his diary
0:18:16 > 0:18:19the covert mission of the Women's Home Army.
0:18:19 > 0:18:24Women are given special instruction in espionage.
0:18:24 > 0:18:26They are to pay attention to conversations everywhere,
0:18:26 > 0:18:32to post themselves in front of food shops to prevent complaints.
0:18:32 > 0:18:34If they hear people making improper utterances,
0:18:34 > 0:18:36they are to demand their identity
0:18:36 > 0:18:38and turn them over to the state attorney.
0:18:44 > 0:18:48In these repressive times, politics grew more extreme.
0:18:49 > 0:18:54In July 1917, the German parliament, the Reichstag, passed a resolution
0:18:54 > 0:18:57calling for a negotiated peace with the Allies.
0:19:00 > 0:19:03But Hindenburg and Ludendorff welcomed the formation
0:19:03 > 0:19:06of the Fatherland Party to reunite the nation.
0:19:07 > 0:19:11Financed by industry and the army, and backed by the right,
0:19:11 > 0:19:15it launched savage propaganda attacks against all anti-war factions.
0:19:19 > 0:19:24But the party only fuelled Germany's slide into dissent and division.
0:19:24 > 0:19:29Outward distinctions of class and rank must be avoided.
0:19:29 > 0:19:32Many who grew rich through war are detested.
0:19:32 > 0:19:35Finer distinctions are not always made.
0:19:35 > 0:19:41Anyone with a fur mantle or well-made boots is suspected of being a war profiteer.
0:19:43 > 0:19:48Hindenburg and Ludendorff ran Germany as a military dictatorship.
0:19:48 > 0:19:50They had marginalised the Kaiser.
0:19:52 > 0:19:56The Kaiser is more and more the shadow of a king.
0:19:56 > 0:20:03People talk openly of his abdication as a possibility very much desired.
0:20:07 > 0:20:11In January 1918, frustration, war weariness and hunger
0:20:11 > 0:20:14drove 400,000 people onto the streets of Germany.
0:20:14 > 0:20:18Enough with the murder at the front! Down with war!
0:20:18 > 0:20:21We don't want to starve any longer!
0:20:21 > 0:20:26This war will only end when Kaiser Wilhelm has to queue for potatoes!
0:20:26 > 0:20:28We are croaking with hunger!
0:20:28 > 0:20:33There was a heavy battle between strikers and police at Moabit.
0:20:33 > 0:20:35A policeman was shot.
0:20:35 > 0:20:37The strike is spreading.
0:20:37 > 0:20:42In north Berlin, streetcars were overturned and used as barricades.
0:20:49 > 0:20:54Kurt Eisner, a radical socialist leader, addressed the crowd.
0:20:54 > 0:20:58Comrades! The battle has begun!
0:20:58 > 0:21:02For three and a half years, you have swallowed shameful lies
0:21:02 > 0:21:06and become accomplices to terrible slaughter.
0:21:06 > 0:21:10If you give in now, the oppression will start again.
0:21:10 > 0:21:16You will be sent to die in the name of the economic and military interests of a few.
0:21:16 > 0:21:21If you stand firm now, we will be victorious!
0:21:33 > 0:21:39The German army responded by arresting 150 strike leaders and putting them on trial.
0:21:39 > 0:21:44We are now entirely at the mercy of the military courts of justice.
0:21:44 > 0:21:48Anyone who strikes is being sent off to the front at once.
0:21:49 > 0:21:51In the darkest days of serfdom,
0:21:51 > 0:21:54men could not have been more in a state of slavery
0:21:54 > 0:21:57than we are in these days of militarism.
0:22:00 > 0:22:04Over 3,000 strikers were sent to the front.
0:22:06 > 0:22:08It was a foolhardy decision,
0:22:08 > 0:22:12only likely to spread radical and pacifist ideas into the army.
0:22:17 > 0:22:21The company was ordered to attend the cavalry captain's burial
0:22:21 > 0:22:23in the military graveyard
0:22:23 > 0:22:28where thousands of poor victims of European militarism lay buried.
0:22:28 > 0:22:31Of course, there was a speech.
0:22:31 > 0:22:37The main words featured were Fatherland, hero's death, honour etc
0:22:37 > 0:22:40In reality, that's all lies and deceit.
0:22:40 > 0:22:46The only people who die purely for the Fatherland are basic soldiers.
0:22:46 > 0:22:49The higher ranks are paid, so die for the money.
0:22:59 > 0:23:04By March 1918, Germany's ally Austria-Hungary faced bankruptcy and famine.
0:23:08 > 0:23:12Joseph Redlich, a member of the Austrian parliament, was in despair.
0:23:15 > 0:23:17The financial worries are crushing.
0:23:17 > 0:23:21All in all, the national debt is 75 billion!
0:23:22 > 0:23:26And all around the country, hunger is crushing the masses!
0:23:26 > 0:23:29Has such hunger ever been experienced
0:23:29 > 0:23:32by 100 million people and more?
0:23:38 > 0:23:42Emperor Franz Josef had died in 1916.
0:23:42 > 0:23:46His successor, Kaiser Karl, liberalised Austria
0:23:46 > 0:23:50and had a French wife Zita who disliked Germany.
0:23:50 > 0:23:56In 1917, he opened secret peace negotiations with France.
0:23:59 > 0:24:02The Germans felt betrayed.
0:24:02 > 0:24:07Then Austria wavered in the one area Germany relied on her to hold firm -
0:24:07 > 0:24:09the Italian Front.
0:24:11 > 0:24:18In November 1917, Austria-Hungary had beaten Italy at the battle of Caporetto,
0:24:18 > 0:24:22capturing rich farmland and thousands of prisoners.
0:24:22 > 0:24:27But the troops soon slaughtered the animals and emptied the granaries.
0:24:31 > 0:24:34By February 1918, warnings reached Vienna
0:24:34 > 0:24:39that Austro-Hungarian troops in the Alps and on the Venetian plains were near starvation.
0:24:41 > 0:24:45Troops are no longer moved by incessant empty phrases
0:24:45 > 0:24:50that the hinterland is starving or that one must hold out.
0:24:50 > 0:24:54They must be adequately supplied to be able to live and fight.
0:24:54 > 0:24:57I beg again for vigorous measures
0:24:57 > 0:25:01to overcome the present food crisis as quickly as possible.
0:25:03 > 0:25:07But Vienna couldn't feed herself, let alone supply an army.
0:25:07 > 0:25:11In April 1918, Austrian General Landwehr,
0:25:11 > 0:25:15in charge of food distribution, took matters into his own hands.
0:25:17 > 0:25:20Grain barges from Romania passed through the city,
0:25:20 > 0:25:22down the Danube to Germany.
0:25:22 > 0:25:25Landwehr ordered his men to hijack one.
0:25:28 > 0:25:32Now Vienna had no bread. Something had to be done.
0:25:32 > 0:25:37The confiscation of the German grain barge was the only way out.
0:25:37 > 0:25:39This was simply street robbery,
0:25:39 > 0:25:43albeit an official one dictated by need.
0:25:43 > 0:25:47It was a violent action I had to take to save Vienna from starvation.
0:25:51 > 0:25:55Ludendorff was so enraged he considered declaring war on Austria.
0:25:59 > 0:26:04Trouble was brewing with Germany's other main ally, Ottoman Turkey.
0:26:04 > 0:26:06Germany needed Turkey
0:26:06 > 0:26:09to hold the line against the British advance into the Middle East.
0:26:11 > 0:26:15But after 600 years, the Ottoman Empire was crumbling
0:26:15 > 0:26:17and the British Empire was licking its lips.
0:26:20 > 0:26:24In March 1917, the British captured Baghdad.
0:26:26 > 0:26:29In December, they entered Jerusalem.
0:26:29 > 0:26:34Losing both cities was a severe blow to Ottoman authority in the Middle East.
0:26:40 > 0:26:48The words "Jerusalem has fallen" spread like news of a death in the family.
0:26:48 > 0:26:51Jerusalem was in the hands of the English.
0:26:51 > 0:26:54How heroically the last Turks fought.
0:26:54 > 0:26:58We did not leave Jerusalem like the sons of Israel,
0:26:58 > 0:27:00we left it like Turks.
0:27:03 > 0:27:07Through the Mount of Olives, the evening shadows deepen and widen
0:27:07 > 0:27:10like a grave sucking in the whole of the Ottoman Empire.
0:27:18 > 0:27:24We now had to prepare our tears for Beirut, Damascus and Aleppo.
0:27:24 > 0:27:28Now we thought only of Anatolia and Istanbul.
0:27:28 > 0:27:31Goodbye to the Empire
0:27:31 > 0:27:34and all its dreams and fancies!
0:27:46 > 0:27:48The British Army had it all.
0:27:48 > 0:27:53They had build roads. Even pipes to distribute water to the troops.
0:27:53 > 0:27:56We did not have any clean drinking water.
0:27:56 > 0:28:00A flask full of clean water was sold for a gold coin on the Turkish side.
0:28:06 > 0:28:09In Turkey, as with her allies,
0:28:09 > 0:28:12the situation on the home front was so desperate,
0:28:12 > 0:28:15it threatened her capacity to wage war.
0:28:16 > 0:28:19Turkey hadn't known peace for seven years.
0:28:19 > 0:28:23The First World War was just the latest and most terrible in a string of conflicts.
0:28:27 > 0:28:32Most able-bodied men were in the army, or wounded, or dead.
0:28:32 > 0:28:35The land was impoverished, the people near breaking point.
0:28:37 > 0:28:40An old farmer with his granddaughter
0:28:40 > 0:28:47came to see me. Her father had died in Gallipoli. The mother had, too.
0:28:47 > 0:28:53He begged me, "Take this child and save her from starvation and death."
0:28:53 > 0:28:55I took the child.
0:28:57 > 0:29:01Back in Istanbul, I discovered that almost all of my officer friends
0:29:01 > 0:29:05had taken in children like that, from the villages of Anatolia.
0:29:08 > 0:29:12General Mustafa Kemal, Turkey's future leader,
0:29:12 > 0:29:15warned this was a recipe for national disaster.
0:29:17 > 0:29:20There are no bonds between the government and people.
0:29:20 > 0:29:25What we call the people is composed of women, disabled men and children.
0:29:25 > 0:29:28For all, the government is the power
0:29:28 > 0:29:32which insistently drives them to hunger and death.
0:29:32 > 0:29:35Every new step taken by the government
0:29:35 > 0:29:38increases the general hatred the people feel for it.
0:29:42 > 0:29:45But far from relaxing the pressure on the Turkish people,
0:29:45 > 0:29:51their war leader Enver Pasha had even bigger demands to make.
0:29:53 > 0:29:56While Britain swallowed up the old Ottoman Empire in the south,
0:29:56 > 0:29:58Enver looked east,
0:29:58 > 0:30:02dreaming of a new Turkish Empire extending into central Asia.
0:30:11 > 0:30:17Our destiny forces us to move from the south to the east
0:30:17 > 0:30:23where our blood, roots, language and, most important, our future lie.
0:30:23 > 0:30:25Ludendorff also had plans,
0:30:25 > 0:30:29which ignored the parlous state of the Turkish army.
0:30:31 > 0:30:37By May 1918, he had a crazy idea for Enver to strike at the heart of the British Empire.
0:30:38 > 0:30:43Even if we are victorious in France, it is still uncertain
0:30:43 > 0:30:46we can force the English to a peace acceptable to us
0:30:46 > 0:30:51if we are not able to threaten their most sensitive spot, India.
0:30:56 > 0:30:59But Enver stuck to his own agenda,
0:30:59 > 0:31:03including sending his newly formed Army of Islam
0:31:03 > 0:31:07to capture the oil-rich city of Baku.
0:31:07 > 0:31:10Britain and Germany had Baku in their sights.
0:31:10 > 0:31:13The scramble for central Asia was on.
0:31:13 > 0:31:18The speed and energy of the Turkish advance took Europe by surprise.
0:31:18 > 0:31:22They hadn't thought that Turkey was able to carry out such deeds.
0:31:24 > 0:31:27Ludendorff was furious to find, yet again, an ally
0:31:27 > 0:31:30trying to steal resources from Germany.
0:31:30 > 0:31:34Unless the Turkish advance on Baku is halted at once,
0:31:34 > 0:31:38and the troops are withdrawn to their original positions,
0:31:38 > 0:31:41I shall have propose to His Majesty the Kaiser
0:31:41 > 0:31:45the recall of German officers in the Turkish high command.
0:31:47 > 0:31:51While they were bickering, Britain sneaked into Baku first.
0:31:56 > 0:32:00Turkey's commanders, like Vecihi Bey, grew bitter
0:32:00 > 0:32:03at the cost of alliance with Germany.
0:32:03 > 0:32:06We thought we were sacrificing ourselves
0:32:06 > 0:32:10for the common good of Germans and Turks.
0:32:10 > 0:32:13Oh, this shining silvered plan!
0:32:13 > 0:32:17We have sacrificed millions of our sons for a dream.
0:32:20 > 0:32:22A woman is asking everyone she sees,
0:32:22 > 0:32:25"Have you seen my Ahmed?" Which one?
0:32:25 > 0:32:28Which of the hundred thousand Ahmeds?
0:32:28 > 0:32:32"He went this way," she said.
0:32:32 > 0:32:35That way? To the Suez Canal?
0:32:35 > 0:32:38Sarikamis or Baghdad?
0:32:38 > 0:32:43Was your Ahmed swallowed by ice, sand or bitten by scorpions?
0:32:43 > 0:32:47No, none of us has seen your Ahmed.
0:32:47 > 0:32:49But he has seen hell.
0:32:49 > 0:32:54If we could only explain to a mother what we gained from it,
0:32:54 > 0:32:57news to make her proud.
0:32:57 > 0:33:00But we lost Ahmed in a gamble.
0:33:05 > 0:33:08Regardless of the Central Powers' mounting problems,
0:33:08 > 0:33:11Ludendorff's push on the Western Front was storming ahead.
0:33:18 > 0:33:21We are going like hell, on and on, day and night.
0:33:21 > 0:33:24Our baggage is somewhere in the rear
0:33:24 > 0:33:26and nobody expects to see it again.
0:33:28 > 0:33:32We're glad if ration carts and field kitchens get to us at night.
0:33:32 > 0:33:34Now we go forward,
0:33:34 > 0:33:37past craters and trenches,
0:33:37 > 0:33:39captured gun positions,
0:33:39 > 0:33:42ration dumps and clothing depots.
0:33:43 > 0:33:46Our cars now run on the best English rubber tyres.
0:33:46 > 0:33:48We smoke none but English cigarettes
0:33:48 > 0:33:51and plaster our boots with lovely English boot polish.
0:33:51 > 0:33:55All unheard-of things which belonged to a fairy land a long time ago.
0:34:02 > 0:34:05The British 5th Army fell back in disorder before the Germans.
0:34:07 > 0:34:11Von Hutier's 18th Army had advanced the furthest.
0:34:11 > 0:34:14They encountered slight resistance
0:34:14 > 0:34:18because the areas they reached were of lesser strategic importance to the Allies.
0:34:24 > 0:34:29Instead of reining von Hutier in and turning his army against Allied strongholds,
0:34:29 > 0:34:34Ludendorff rewarded him with medals and reinforcements.
0:34:34 > 0:34:38Crown Prince Rupprecht, commanding four armies, foresaw trouble.
0:34:40 > 0:34:44German high command has changed direction,
0:34:44 > 0:34:48making decisions according to the size of territorial gain
0:34:48 > 0:34:53rather than according to operational goals.
0:34:53 > 0:34:55The problem was Ludendorff.
0:34:55 > 0:34:58He had an eye for detailed battlefield tactics
0:34:58 > 0:35:02but was blind to the big strategic picture.
0:35:03 > 0:35:08His armies' spectacular advance had no vital objective.
0:35:08 > 0:35:14Woe betide a staff officer who dared ask what the operation was meant to achieve.
0:35:14 > 0:35:18I object to the word "operation".
0:35:18 > 0:35:21We will punch a hole into their line.
0:35:21 > 0:35:23For the rest, we shall see.
0:35:25 > 0:35:29Rudolf Binding, at the cutting edge of the 2nd Army, realised
0:35:29 > 0:35:34the speed of the German advance across this undefended ground was a problem in itself.
0:35:36 > 0:35:41One cannot go on victoriously without ammunition or reinforcements
0:35:41 > 0:35:44Behind us lies the wilderness.
0:35:46 > 0:35:49What annoys and upsets us again and again
0:35:49 > 0:35:51are exaggerations of the newspapers
0:35:51 > 0:35:56and the telegrams to crowned heads about the "decisive victory".
0:36:01 > 0:36:05The German advance, which looked so good on paper,
0:36:05 > 0:36:07had dangerously outstripped its supply lines.
0:36:07 > 0:36:12Some units were so far ahead, no-one was sure where they were.
0:36:12 > 0:36:16Germans had neither horses to pull supply carts, nor enough fodder.
0:36:18 > 0:36:21The sun dries the poor earth to dust.
0:36:21 > 0:36:26I don't know what we will live off. Already we have no oats.
0:36:26 > 0:36:30If we have a bad harvest, we can send horses to the sausage factory.
0:36:34 > 0:36:37The deeper the Germans penetrated Allied lines,
0:36:37 > 0:36:41the more their own deprivations were forced home to them.
0:36:43 > 0:36:46Like a vision from the Promised Land,
0:36:46 > 0:36:48we are already in the English rest areas,
0:36:48 > 0:36:51a land flowing with milk and honey.
0:36:51 > 0:36:54Our men can hardly be distinguished from English soldiers.
0:36:54 > 0:36:56Every one wear at least a leather jerkin,
0:36:56 > 0:36:59a waterproof either short or long.
0:36:59 > 0:37:02There is no doubt the army is looting with some zest.
0:37:09 > 0:37:14On 23rd March, Ludendorff suddenly dreamed up a real objective -
0:37:14 > 0:37:16the city of Amiens.
0:37:20 > 0:37:23Amiens, hub of the Allied railway system,
0:37:23 > 0:37:27was a key junction between northern France and Paris.
0:37:29 > 0:37:33Amiens' loss would be a calamity for the Allies,
0:37:33 > 0:37:35as French General Ferdinand Foch realised.
0:37:36 > 0:37:41We must fight in front of Amiens. We must fight where we are now.
0:37:41 > 0:37:45As we have not been able to stop the Germans on the Somme,
0:37:45 > 0:37:49we must now not retire a single inch.
0:37:49 > 0:37:53The German 2nd Army set out for Amiens,
0:37:53 > 0:37:55but slowed and halted on the way.
0:37:55 > 0:37:59Rudolf Binding was sent to investigate.
0:37:59 > 0:38:03Today, the advance of our infantry stopped near Albert.
0:38:03 > 0:38:05Nobody understood why.
0:38:08 > 0:38:12Strange figures like soldiers were making their way back out of town,
0:38:12 > 0:38:17men with a bottle of wine under their arm, another in their hand.
0:38:17 > 0:38:21The advance was held up and there was no means of getting it going again for hours.
0:38:24 > 0:38:29The German troops had found French towns full of food and drink,
0:38:29 > 0:38:33in quantities and qualities they hadn't seen for years.
0:38:37 > 0:38:41Whole divisions had entirely gorged themselves on food and liquor
0:38:41 > 0:38:43and failed to press the vital attack.
0:38:48 > 0:38:52The 2nd Army had lost precious time and momentum.
0:38:52 > 0:38:55Here, outside Amiens on 4th April,
0:38:55 > 0:39:00a combined Australian and British force stopped the Germans.
0:39:05 > 0:39:08Ludendorff called off the Michael Offensive.
0:39:08 > 0:39:13His lack of a strategic plan and the failure to supply his troops
0:39:13 > 0:39:15had squandered a priceless opportunity.
0:39:15 > 0:39:18His officers were now seriously concerned.
0:39:23 > 0:39:26Ludendorff has totally lost his nerve.
0:39:29 > 0:39:32How will this war end?
0:39:32 > 0:39:34England is still unbeaten.
0:39:38 > 0:39:41The physical exhaustion of the infantry was so great
0:39:41 > 0:39:45that finally the men could hardly fire their rifles.
0:39:45 > 0:39:49They let themselves be slowly wiped out, almost without caring.
0:39:54 > 0:39:59Then Germany's greatest hero, Baron von Richthofen, was shot down
0:39:59 > 0:40:04behind British lines, on 21st April, shortly after his 80th kill.
0:40:08 > 0:40:11The Allies buried him with full military honours.
0:40:11 > 0:40:15A British plane then flew over his headquarters,
0:40:15 > 0:40:18dropping a photograph of von Richthofen's grave.
0:40:31 > 0:40:35The Baron's was the most public German death
0:40:35 > 0:40:39but he was one of over 230,000 casualties in just one month.
0:40:45 > 0:40:48Germany was running out of men,
0:40:48 > 0:40:52having failed to capitalise on Russia's withdrawal from the war.
0:40:56 > 0:41:00Germany had left 1.5 million troops on the Eastern Front,
0:41:00 > 0:41:05using vital resources - food and transport.
0:41:05 > 0:41:07Germany's leaders were out of their depth,
0:41:07 > 0:41:11fighting what Ludendorff would later call a "total war",
0:41:11 > 0:41:13but with administrative structures,
0:41:13 > 0:41:17and thinking, of a small 19th-century state.
0:41:17 > 0:41:20Now Ludendorff's nightmare unfolded.
0:41:22 > 0:41:26Germany had failed to achieve decisive victory
0:41:26 > 0:41:29before the Americans poured into France.
0:41:29 > 0:41:31A quarter of a million by March 1918.
0:41:36 > 0:41:39But General Pershing gave the Germans breathing space,
0:41:39 > 0:41:44refusing to allow American troops to serve under British or French command
0:41:45 > 0:41:50America declared war independently of the Allies.
0:41:50 > 0:41:54She must face it as soon as possible with a powerful army.
0:41:54 > 0:41:59The morale of our soldiers depends upon fighting under our own flag.
0:42:11 > 0:42:14Pershing, obstinate and stupid,
0:42:14 > 0:42:17desiring a "great, self-contained American army".
0:42:17 > 0:42:19Ridiculous!
0:42:21 > 0:42:28A radical reorganisation of the Allied command structure changed the situation.
0:42:28 > 0:42:32During the bleakest moments of the Michael Offensive,
0:42:32 > 0:42:37General Foch was appointed the Western Front's Allied supreme commander.
0:42:37 > 0:42:41If Petain and Haig could take orders from him, so could Pershing.
0:42:46 > 0:42:50But the Americans went their own way over how to fight.
0:42:50 > 0:42:54Captain Christison gave a training lecture
0:42:54 > 0:42:56to newly arrived American troops.
0:42:56 > 0:43:00I held forth, adding personal experiences.
0:43:00 > 0:43:05When I ended, an old colonel, dressed like a sheriff, said,
0:43:05 > 0:43:11"I'd like yous all to accord the Scottish major a vote of thanks for his very interesting lecture."
0:43:11 > 0:43:13He shook his finger and went on,
0:43:13 > 0:43:19"But, remember, the British have tried these tactics for four years
0:43:19 > 0:43:21"and they ain't done much damn good!"
0:43:24 > 0:43:27The Americans were raring to fight.
0:43:33 > 0:43:34We all seemed to go crazy,
0:43:34 > 0:43:37for we gave a yell like a bunch of wild Indians
0:43:37 > 0:43:39and started down the hill, running and cursing
0:43:39 > 0:43:42in the face of the machine gunfire.
0:43:42 > 0:43:44Men were falling on every side
0:43:44 > 0:43:48but we kept going, yelling and firing as we went.
0:43:52 > 0:43:55We threw hand grenades as if they were baseballs.
0:43:55 > 0:43:59A boy next to me threw a hand grenade and hit a tree.
0:43:59 > 0:44:01It bounced back and exploded.
0:44:01 > 0:44:05We saw it in time to hit the trench bottom and keep from getting killed.
0:44:17 > 0:44:20By refusing to learn from the Allies,
0:44:20 > 0:44:24the Americans fought in 1918 the way the Allies had done in 1914 -
0:44:24 > 0:44:28charging across open ground, without adequate artillery support.
0:44:31 > 0:44:36German Intelligence noted their inexperience from interrogation of prisoners.
0:44:37 > 0:44:41Attacks were carried out with dash and recklessness.
0:44:41 > 0:44:43Regarding military matters, however,
0:44:43 > 0:44:46they show not the slightest interest.
0:44:46 > 0:44:49For example, most of them have never seen a map.
0:44:49 > 0:44:53They cannot describe villages and roads through which they marched.
0:44:58 > 0:45:00The Americans had a lot to learn,
0:45:00 > 0:45:04but their presence gave the Allies a huge morale boost.
0:45:04 > 0:45:07They looked larger than ordinary men.
0:45:07 > 0:45:09Their tall, straight figures were in vivid contrast
0:45:09 > 0:45:12to our undersized armies of pale recruits.
0:45:13 > 0:45:17I pressed forward to watch the US physically entering the war.
0:45:19 > 0:45:21So godlike,
0:45:21 > 0:45:23so magnificent,
0:45:23 > 0:45:25so splendidly unimpaired in comparison with
0:45:25 > 0:45:28the tired, nerve-racked men of the British Army.
0:45:30 > 0:45:33So these were our deliverers at last.
0:45:33 > 0:45:37And, with the knowledge that we were not, after all, defeated,
0:45:37 > 0:45:40I found myself beginning to cry.
0:45:47 > 0:45:52The failure of the Michael Offensive further depressed German morale at home.
0:45:52 > 0:45:56Pacifism and defeatism seeped through to the soldiers in the German rear.
0:46:00 > 0:46:05Military transports, block station windows and trains
0:46:05 > 0:46:07have been smashed by stone-throwing.
0:46:07 > 0:46:12Troops on top of wagons cut through telephone cables and signals.
0:46:12 > 0:46:15In other trains, brakes were tampered with,
0:46:15 > 0:46:19making it impossible to stop in time for signals and in stations.
0:46:19 > 0:46:22Also, wagons have been uncoupled.
0:46:25 > 0:46:30Colonel von Thaer became so worried about the state of the German army
0:46:30 > 0:46:33that he voiced his concerns to Hindenburg.
0:46:34 > 0:46:38His soothing voice said "My dear Thaer,
0:46:38 > 0:46:42"while it may be the case that things recently have not gone well for you,
0:46:42 > 0:46:46"remember, you are talking about a front of 12 miles."
0:46:46 > 0:46:50I daily receive reports from the entire front.
0:46:50 > 0:46:52Morale is splendid.
0:46:52 > 0:46:56According to our reports, enemy morale is rather poor.
0:46:58 > 0:47:02But morale in Hindenburg's own headquarters was sliding
0:47:02 > 0:47:04and the root cause was Ludendorff.
0:47:05 > 0:47:09By July 1918, his nerves were shot.
0:47:09 > 0:47:13He'd only had three days off in four years.
0:47:13 > 0:47:18His beloved stepson had been killed in the Michael Offensive.
0:47:18 > 0:47:21He became morbidly attached to the boy's body,
0:47:21 > 0:47:25refusing to send it back to his wife in Berlin.
0:47:25 > 0:47:31If I didn't send you Pieckchen, then that was pure selfishness.
0:47:31 > 0:47:33I wanted to keep him.
0:47:33 > 0:47:35I go to him often.
0:47:35 > 0:47:39It's a lovely feeling to have him here.
0:47:39 > 0:47:43Ludendorff's inner circle feared for his mental health.
0:47:43 > 0:47:45There is a serious question
0:47:45 > 0:47:48about Ludendorff's nervousness and his incoherence.
0:47:48 > 0:47:51He is working himself to death.
0:47:51 > 0:47:54The situation is really serious.
0:47:54 > 0:47:57It looks as if he has lost all hope.
0:48:01 > 0:48:06Throughout June, the Germans grew weaker and the Allies stronger.
0:48:07 > 0:48:09On 15th July,
0:48:09 > 0:48:13Ludendorff launched the last German offensive of the First World War.
0:48:15 > 0:48:20I have lived through the most disheartening day of the whole war.
0:48:20 > 0:48:25The French lured us across rusty snakes of barbed wire.
0:48:25 > 0:48:31We only managed to advance about 3 kilometres. Everything went wrong.
0:48:34 > 0:48:37Then the French struck back at the Marne.
0:48:46 > 0:48:50Their counteroffensive battered the exhausted German army.
0:48:53 > 0:48:55It looks as though we are being thrown against
0:48:55 > 0:48:58the largest enemy counteroffensive of all time.
0:48:58 > 0:49:01And it was supposed to be our offensive!
0:49:01 > 0:49:05We could never have dreamed that this would happen - ever.
0:49:13 > 0:49:16Germany had suffered nearly a million casualties
0:49:16 > 0:49:18since the glory days of March.
0:49:18 > 0:49:23Her great gamble had failed, and the tables were turning against her.
0:49:33 > 0:49:36In the next episode of The First World War...
0:49:36 > 0:49:38The strange, sudden ending of the war,
0:49:38 > 0:49:40the bitter legacy of Versailles
0:49:40 > 0:49:43and the search for meaning in the terrible losses.