0:01:21 > 0:01:23Harvest home.
0:01:34 > 0:01:41In 1914, the nations of Europe had marched to war while the corn ripened.
0:01:41 > 0:01:45Now it was 1918 and the harvest was being reaped.
0:01:46 > 0:01:53For two months, the whole weight of the Alliance had pressed upon the German army on the Western Front.
0:01:53 > 0:01:57July 18th, the Battle of the Marne.
0:01:58 > 0:02:02August 8th, the Battle of Amiens.
0:02:07 > 0:02:11August 21st, the Battle of Bapaume.
0:02:14 > 0:02:18August 26th, the Battle of the Scarpe.
0:02:24 > 0:02:29September 12th, the Battle of St Mihiel.
0:02:31 > 0:02:38Now on September 26th, another massive blow fell on the German army.
0:02:39 > 0:02:44Marshal Foch launched a series of offensives by all the Allies.
0:03:26 > 0:03:30Field Marshal von Hindenburg wrote:
0:03:30 > 0:03:36"For us another battle was raging side by side with those in the field.
0:03:36 > 0:03:43"The other battlefield was in our hearts. On September 28th, this inward battle raged most fiercely."
0:03:43 > 0:03:47On September 28th, the German high command
0:03:47 > 0:03:52knew that its Bulgarian allies were on the point of surrender.
0:03:52 > 0:03:57- General Ludendorff concluded: - "We must plainly sue for peace.
0:03:59 > 0:04:03"I went down to the field marshal's room.
0:04:03 > 0:04:08"I explained my views. The field marshal listened to me with emotion.
0:04:08 > 0:04:12"He answered that he had intended to say the same to me.
0:04:12 > 0:04:19"The field marshal and I parted with a firm handshake like men who have buried their dearest hopes."
0:04:19 > 0:04:24The next day the surrender of Bulgaria became a fact -
0:04:24 > 0:04:28the first rift in the front of the central powers.
0:04:30 > 0:04:34The British Army burst through the Hindenburg Line.
0:04:38 > 0:04:42GUNFIRE
0:04:55 > 0:05:03The German government and high command held a conference at Spa in the Hotel Britannique.
0:05:03 > 0:05:08The ministers told the generals of possible revolution in Germany.
0:05:08 > 0:05:14The generals told the ministers that the army had reached the end of its strength.
0:05:14 > 0:05:20Our anxieties for the army, said Hindenburg, were mingled with cares for the homeland.
0:05:20 > 0:05:24"If the one did not stand firm, the other would collapse."
0:05:24 > 0:05:29I went through the streets of Frankfurt and was not saluted.
0:05:29 > 0:05:34I was a commissioned officer and in the army we had to be saluted.
0:05:34 > 0:05:38That was not the only soldier I met who didn't salute.
0:05:38 > 0:05:41Quite a number refused to salute.
0:05:41 > 0:05:46I realised that the discipline and mood of people was really bad.
0:05:46 > 0:05:51We hadn't realised at the Front how bad it was at home.
0:05:51 > 0:05:54People were fed up with war.
0:05:54 > 0:05:59They wanted it to end as soon as possible - victory or no victory.
0:06:01 > 0:06:06"We placed our proposals for a peace step before his majesty.
0:06:06 > 0:06:11"He approved our proposals with a strong and resolute heart."
0:06:11 > 0:06:15"It had to be peace. Peace after 50 months of war."
0:06:17 > 0:06:22There were children going to school who had never known peace.
0:06:22 > 0:06:29Men had forgotten what peace was like. The very sense of the word had changed. What was peace?
0:06:29 > 0:06:34Whatever else it might be, it was something very difficult to obtain.
0:06:36 > 0:06:41The first stage towards peace must be an armistice.
0:06:41 > 0:06:42Fire!
0:06:42 > 0:06:47There could be no peace while guns thundered and the killing went on.
0:06:47 > 0:06:52But in every country, soldiers and political leaders knew
0:06:52 > 0:06:56that once the guns fell silent and the killing ceased,
0:06:56 > 0:07:03it was inconceivable that the weary, blood-stained armies could ever be made to rise up and fight again.
0:07:03 > 0:07:10And so before there could be an armistice there must be an assurance that it would lead to peace.
0:07:10 > 0:07:16And after 50 months of hatred and suspicion, how could there be such assurance?
0:07:16 > 0:07:19The clamour of the guns went on.
0:07:20 > 0:07:23Despite losses, despite exhaustion,
0:07:23 > 0:07:27the mood of the Allies in 1918 was implacable.
0:07:27 > 0:07:3320% of the French nation had been taken into the armed forces since the war began.
0:07:33 > 0:07:35Nearly eight million men.
0:07:35 > 0:07:413.5% of the French nation had been killed.
0:07:41 > 0:07:44Over 1,300,000 men.
0:07:47 > 0:07:53France had suffered and fought and bled as no other country had done.
0:07:55 > 0:07:59Great Britain also had put forth a tremendous effort.
0:07:59 > 0:08:0613% of her population had been drawn into the armed forces - over six million men.
0:08:06 > 0:08:11Since 1916 the toll of British dead had mounted steeply.
0:08:11 > 0:08:16Now they numbered 750,000 - more than half the French figure.
0:08:20 > 0:08:25Britain had also lost something Continental nations never possessed.
0:08:25 > 0:08:29A centuries-old sense of immunity.
0:08:29 > 0:08:35Over 7.5 million tonnes of British shipping had been sunk by October 1918 - over 1,000 ships.
0:08:35 > 0:08:41A blow at Britain's lifelines, which struck at every citizen.
0:08:42 > 0:08:47And every large city now knew that it was a potential war target.
0:08:47 > 0:08:52Only 1,413 people had actually been killed in air raids,
0:08:52 > 0:08:59but the enemy in the sky had brought war home to British people as nothing else could do.
0:09:03 > 0:09:06They didn't like it.
0:09:06 > 0:09:08The British mood was sour.
0:09:14 > 0:09:17The clamour of the guns continued.
0:09:36 > 0:09:39Now it was October.
0:09:39 > 0:09:45On the 3rd, a new government was formed in Germany under the liberal Prince Max of Baden.
0:09:45 > 0:09:50First he addressed himself to the President of the United States.
0:09:50 > 0:09:53"To avoid further bloodshed,
0:09:53 > 0:09:59"the German government requests the President to arrange the immediate conclusion of an armistice
0:09:59 > 0:10:02"on land, by sea and in the air."
0:10:02 > 0:10:05How would America react?
0:10:05 > 0:10:10For Germany and Austria, this was the all-important question.
0:10:10 > 0:10:12CHEERING
0:10:12 > 0:10:16President Woodrow Wilson was the man of the hour.
0:10:16 > 0:10:20His own views were simple and did not alter.
0:10:20 > 0:10:25"If the Germans are beaten, they will accept any terms.
0:10:25 > 0:10:30"If they are not beaten, I do not wish to make terms with them."
0:10:30 > 0:10:35Wilson lost no time in putting German intentions to the test.
0:10:35 > 0:10:41He asked whether the German and Austrian governments were prepared to accept the peace programme
0:10:41 > 0:10:46which he had delivered to the US Congress in January, 1918,
0:10:46 > 0:10:51known as the Fourteen Points. It was an unfortunate criterion.
0:10:51 > 0:10:55Britain, depending on sea power, disliked the insistence
0:10:55 > 0:11:00on "absolute freedom of navigation upon the seas in peace and in war".
0:11:00 > 0:11:06Proposals for altering the frontiers of Europe, which seemed straightforward in Washington,
0:11:06 > 0:11:11took on a different look when seen from Paris or Rome.
0:11:11 > 0:11:16Wilson had not consulted the Allies before replying to Germany.
0:11:24 > 0:11:29And now for the Allies, the war seemed a little less promising
0:11:29 > 0:11:32than it had in October's early days.
0:11:32 > 0:11:38In Flanders, drenching rain had halted the Belgian and British advance.
0:11:47 > 0:11:52The Americans in the Argonne also faced insoluble transport problems.
0:12:05 > 0:12:08The French army fought hard,
0:12:08 > 0:12:13but the men of 1918 were not the dashing soldiers of 1914 and 1915.
0:12:13 > 0:12:17And the memory of the mutinies of 1917
0:12:17 > 0:12:23was not likely to fade in the mind of their commander, General Petain.
0:12:23 > 0:12:26He could not press them too hard.
0:12:38 > 0:12:41MACHINE GUNFIRE
0:12:41 > 0:12:46The burden of the advance fell upon the British Army.
0:12:46 > 0:12:52Against it, the Germans summoned up their last reserves of courage, skill and fortitude.
0:12:52 > 0:12:57All of these they possessed in a rare degree.
0:13:33 > 0:13:39The British had been within three miles of Cambrai on September 27th.
0:13:39 > 0:13:43They didn't enter the burning city until October 9th.
0:14:01 > 0:14:07Yet the British Army also possessed reserves of fortitude and courage.
0:14:07 > 0:14:11On October 17th, they attacked again on the river Selle,
0:14:11 > 0:14:16capturing 20,000 prisoners and 475 guns.
0:14:16 > 0:14:21By the end of October their own losses in this offensive
0:14:21 > 0:14:25had been as heavy as any they had sustained throughout the war.
0:14:25 > 0:14:30The British Army, Haig told the Government on October 19th:
0:14:30 > 0:14:37"..was never more efficient than it is today. But it has fought hard and lacks reinforcements.
0:14:37 > 0:14:41"With diminishing effectives, morale is bound to suffer.
0:14:41 > 0:14:47"The French and American armies are not capable of making a serious offensive now.
0:14:47 > 0:14:51"The British alone might bring the enemy to his knees.
0:14:51 > 0:14:56"But why expend more British lives and for what?"
0:14:57 > 0:15:04Around the whole perimeter of the war, the central powers faced disaster.
0:15:10 > 0:15:15In Syria, the city of Damascus had been taken on October 1st.
0:15:17 > 0:15:20Aleppo was captured on the 26th.
0:15:21 > 0:15:25On the 30th, Turkey asked for an armistice.
0:15:29 > 0:15:35Allied forces advancing from Salonika now stood on the Danube.
0:15:44 > 0:15:51On October 24th, the Italians had launched their final offensive against Austria.
0:16:05 > 0:16:10By the end of the month, Austrian resistance had collapsed.
0:16:10 > 0:16:13Austria surrendered on November 3rd.
0:16:22 > 0:16:25Now Germany stood quite alone
0:16:25 > 0:16:29to face her agonising moment.
0:16:29 > 0:16:31She had no choice.
0:16:31 > 0:16:35She had to accept whatever terms she was offered.
0:16:35 > 0:16:38A semi-official newspaper wrote:
0:16:38 > 0:16:43"There will be a moment of rebellion against the terms.
0:16:43 > 0:16:49"Then we shall have to say to ourselves that we have the right to die ourselves
0:16:49 > 0:16:52"but not the right to let others die;
0:16:52 > 0:16:56"that our business is to prevent useless bloodshed
0:16:56 > 0:17:01"and that further bloodshed has become really and obviously useless."
0:17:01 > 0:17:04A socialist leader summed it up:
0:17:04 > 0:17:09"Better a terrible end than terror without end."
0:17:24 > 0:17:28Germany faced the truth with wracking despair.
0:17:28 > 0:17:35November came and a Munich paper bitterly recalled the Kaiser's promise in August 1914,
0:17:35 > 0:17:39that the army would be home "when the leaves fall".
0:17:39 > 0:17:46"'When the leaves fall.' Many are now dead who thought that they would be home when the leaves fall.
0:17:46 > 0:17:51"Who does not remember with pain those cheerful words of the Kaiser?
0:17:51 > 0:17:57"The leaves are now falling for the fifth time. Now perhaps peace will come."
0:17:57 > 0:18:05"The signs of internal commotion in Germany are growing more numerous and more serious.
0:18:05 > 0:18:09"Want and the collapse of all the expectations of victory and plunder
0:18:09 > 0:18:14"have evidently excited very dangerous passions among the masses.
0:18:14 > 0:18:20"The people of Cologne are sick of the war. They say they've been grossly deceived.
0:18:20 > 0:18:26"They were told it would bring them prosperity but it's brought misery."
0:18:26 > 0:18:31By November 6th, there was revolution in all parts of Germany.
0:18:31 > 0:18:37Mutinous sailors from the fleet at Kiel took over Hamburg and Bremen.
0:18:37 > 0:18:40There were insurrections in Hanover,
0:18:40 > 0:18:43Brunswick, Cologne and Munich.
0:18:43 > 0:18:47Berlin was in ferment.
0:18:47 > 0:18:51Ludendorff had resigned on October 27th.
0:18:51 > 0:18:57- Now his successor told the Government:- "We shall have to cross the lines with a white flag.
0:18:57 > 0:19:00"Even a week is too long to wait."
0:19:01 > 0:19:07The next day, November 7th, the German Armistice Commission crossed the lines.
0:19:07 > 0:19:11The last days of the war were at hand.
0:19:11 > 0:19:17The last shells were being fired, the last attacks mounted, the last killing being done.
0:19:19 > 0:19:23From first to last, the price of war was fearful.
0:19:23 > 0:19:29The poet Wilfred Owen, who had written in his poems one of the sternest indictments of war,
0:19:29 > 0:19:34was only one of the many who fell during these last days.
0:19:34 > 0:19:38"If in some smothering dreams you too could pace
0:19:38 > 0:19:43"Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
0:19:43 > 0:19:46"And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
0:19:46 > 0:19:51"His hanging face, like a devil's, sick of sin
0:19:51 > 0:19:54"If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
0:19:54 > 0:19:58"Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
0:19:58 > 0:20:02"Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
0:20:02 > 0:20:06"Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues -
0:20:06 > 0:20:11"My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
0:20:11 > 0:20:15"To children ardent for some desperate glory,
0:20:15 > 0:20:21"The old lie: 'It is sweet and glorious to die for one's country.'"
0:20:33 > 0:20:40100 days of savage fighting which had begun in August and which had never relaxed its pressure
0:20:40 > 0:20:44had cost the British Army almost 400,000 men.
0:20:46 > 0:20:51In that time, the British had taken 188,000 prisoners.
0:21:06 > 0:21:13The other Allies together, French, Americans and Belgians had taken 196,000 prisoners.
0:21:13 > 0:21:17Of these, the vast majority fell to the French.
0:21:29 > 0:21:33No army in the world could stand this rate of loss.
0:21:33 > 0:21:37A proud German army was breaking up in the field.
0:21:37 > 0:21:43There could be no doubt about the outcome of the armistice negotiations.
0:21:43 > 0:21:46- The London Times wrote:
0:21:46 > 0:21:53"All the world awaits with eager desire the news that Germany has taken the next step towards peace.
0:21:53 > 0:21:59"There is but one way, and every hour that she delays increases her losses and her dangers.
0:21:59 > 0:22:06"The terms have been irrevocably fixed. They are to take or leave within a definite period."
0:22:08 > 0:22:12At Compiegne, the drama was played out.
0:22:12 > 0:22:16The German armistice delegation entered Foch's railway carriage.
0:22:16 > 0:22:21"Foch invited them to be seated on one side of the table and sat down.
0:22:21 > 0:22:26"'Do you request an armistice?' the marshal asked abruptly.
0:22:26 > 0:22:32"'Yes. We are here to ask that an armistice be concluded,' they replied together."
0:22:32 > 0:22:37The terms were read out in complete silence. One German delegate wept.
0:22:37 > 0:22:42The Germans were given 72 hours in which to reach a decision.
0:22:42 > 0:22:46They did not need so long.
0:22:46 > 0:22:51Revolution was sweeping through the cities of Germany.
0:22:51 > 0:22:54ANGRY SHOUTING
0:23:13 > 0:23:16On November 9th, the Kaiser abdicated
0:23:16 > 0:23:20and the next day he fled to Holland.
0:23:21 > 0:23:25Hearing the news, Sir Douglas Haig wrote in his diary:
0:23:25 > 0:23:30"If the war had gone against us, no doubt our king would have had to go.
0:23:30 > 0:23:36"And probably our army would have become insubordinate like the German army.
0:23:36 > 0:23:41"Compare John Bunyan's remark on seeing a man on his way to be hanged.
0:23:41 > 0:23:48"But for the grace of God, John Bunyan would have been in that man's place."
0:23:48 > 0:23:53At 5am on November 11th, the armistice was signed
0:23:53 > 0:23:59and a signal went out from Marshal Foch's headquarters to all the Allied armies.
0:23:59 > 0:24:04"Hostilities will cease at 1100 hours today, November 11th.
0:24:08 > 0:24:12Now, at last, on the hundredth day of the fifth year,
0:24:12 > 0:24:17the guns fell silent, the killings stopped.
0:24:17 > 0:24:22No more Very lights going up with their greenish wavering flare.
0:24:23 > 0:24:27No lilies of the dead in the night.
0:24:27 > 0:24:30No flash of howitzers on the horizon.
0:24:30 > 0:24:34No drowning with droning of the shells.
0:24:36 > 0:24:39No machine guns. No patrols going out.
0:24:39 > 0:24:42Just nothing.
0:24:42 > 0:24:44Silence.
0:24:59 > 0:25:02The Canadians were approaching Mons.
0:25:02 > 0:25:05Then we carried on into Mons.
0:25:05 > 0:25:07And got to the main street
0:25:07 > 0:25:13which was filled with the inhabitants screaming their heads off and shouting.
0:25:13 > 0:25:18They didn't seem to know what had happened to them.
0:25:18 > 0:25:25And as I got to the town hall in the main street of Mons, the church clock chimed. It was 11 o'clock.
0:25:25 > 0:25:29The war was over. This was the unbelievable moment.
0:25:29 > 0:25:34And nowhere more unbelievable than at the front itself.
0:25:34 > 0:25:39Slowly the news came in officially that an armistice had been signed.
0:25:39 > 0:25:44But there was no show of emotion. No-one went berserk or anything.
0:25:44 > 0:25:49We were too far gone. Our emotions were all killed long ago.
0:25:49 > 0:25:54A French officer observed the reaction of his soldiers.
0:25:54 > 0:26:00"They didn't show their joy by shouts or songs as one could have expected.
0:26:00 > 0:26:05"They talked about it but remained remarkably composed and dignified.
0:26:05 > 0:26:10"Peace came so suddenly that we were all rather stunned
0:26:10 > 0:26:15"asking ourselves if it was possible or whether we were dreaming.
0:26:15 > 0:26:19"Walking along the trenches several hours after the armistice,
0:26:19 > 0:26:24"I was surprised to see all our soldiers at their listening posts
0:26:24 > 0:26:29"or in their shelters, as if the war was still on."
0:26:29 > 0:26:34The more boisterous Americans responded differently to it.
0:26:34 > 0:26:39"In one unit, the men joined hands in one long line behind the gun.
0:26:39 > 0:26:44"As the captain dropped his arm, they all pulled in unison
0:26:44 > 0:26:48"so each could say he had fired the last shell."
0:26:48 > 0:26:51EXPLOSION
0:26:51 > 0:26:57In many British sectors, stern fighting went on until the very last minute.
0:26:57 > 0:27:01There'd been one German machine gun unit
0:27:01 > 0:27:04giving our troops a lot of trouble.
0:27:04 > 0:27:07They kept on firing until almost 11 o'clock.
0:27:07 > 0:27:12At 11 o'clock the officer stepped out of their position,
0:27:12 > 0:27:16lifted his helmet and bowed to the British troops,
0:27:16 > 0:27:20fell all his men in and marched them off.
0:27:20 > 0:27:24CHEERING
0:27:24 > 0:27:31British soldiers watched with astonishment as civilians in the liberated areas dug up in gardens
0:27:31 > 0:27:36clothes, money and valuables which had been hidden for years.
0:27:37 > 0:27:41For these people, November 11th, 1918,
0:27:41 > 0:27:45meant the end of enemy rule, repression and fear.
0:27:45 > 0:27:51"If there are endless miles of ruins, there are thousands of beaming faces.
0:27:51 > 0:27:54"Wounded, filtering back from the front,
0:27:54 > 0:27:58"old men and women and then grandchildren,
0:27:58 > 0:28:05"huddled with the remains of their possessions on a creaking cart drawn by a lame old horse,
0:28:05 > 0:28:10"returning perhaps to ruins which they may still fondly claim as home.
0:28:10 > 0:28:14"One and all bear the stamp of trials bravely borne."
0:28:14 > 0:28:18For some the armistice had another meaning.
0:28:18 > 0:28:22An English officer heard stories of a different fear.
0:28:22 > 0:28:26"Of how from want, because the children were hungry,
0:28:26 > 0:28:32"to provide medicine for a sick baby or to save an invalid mother from starvation,
0:28:32 > 0:28:36"the girl or the wife had lived with a German officer,
0:28:36 > 0:28:39"with men their men were fighting.
0:28:39 > 0:28:44"Sometimes there was a child by this stranger
0:28:44 > 0:28:48"and you felt the unhappy mother did not dare say,
0:28:48 > 0:28:52"could not explain that she loved this one also.
0:28:52 > 0:28:55"And I, the Englishman,
0:28:55 > 0:28:59"thank God that my country had not been invaded."
0:28:59 > 0:29:02The November day wore on.
0:29:02 > 0:29:06The truth, the wonderful, incredible truth, sank in.
0:29:06 > 0:29:09The war really was over.
0:29:09 > 0:29:12A British officer wrote:
0:29:12 > 0:29:17"Throughout the night, the singing, the hooting of railway whistles
0:29:17 > 0:29:22"and the blast of factory sirens might awaken the dead.
0:29:22 > 0:29:25"At last I lay down.
0:29:25 > 0:29:28"Tired and happy. But sleep is elusive.
0:29:28 > 0:29:32"Incidents thrash through the memory.
0:29:32 > 0:29:37"The battles of the first four months.
0:29:40 > 0:29:44"The awful winters in waterlogged trenches,
0:29:44 > 0:29:47"cold and miserable.
0:29:47 > 0:29:52"The terrible trench assaults and shellfire of the next three years.
0:30:00 > 0:30:05"Loss of friends. Exhaustion and wounds.
0:30:06 > 0:30:11"Thank God. The end of a frightful four years at the Front.
0:30:11 > 0:30:14"Company officers, rank and file
0:30:14 > 0:30:17"together with other front-line units
0:30:17 > 0:30:22"had suffered bravely, patiently and unselfishly
0:30:22 > 0:30:26"hardships and perils beyond even the imagination of those,
0:30:26 > 0:30:31"including soldiers, who had not shared them."
0:30:32 > 0:30:36To all his soldiers, Marshal Foch addressed an order of the day.
0:30:36 > 0:30:41"Officers, non-commissioned officers and soldiers of the allied armies,
0:30:41 > 0:30:45"You have won the greatest battle in history
0:30:45 > 0:30:50"and rescued the most sacred of causes - the liberty of the world.
0:30:50 > 0:30:53"You have full right to be proud.
0:30:53 > 0:30:57"For you have crowned your standards with immortal glory
0:30:57 > 0:31:01"and won the gratitude of posterity."
0:31:01 > 0:31:06On the other side of the line, Field Marshal von Hindenburg
0:31:06 > 0:31:11led the defeated German army home to a country bitterly divided.
0:31:11 > 0:31:14Children were dying of hunger
0:31:14 > 0:31:17and mobs attacked officers in the streets.
0:31:17 > 0:31:20Even the soldiers were shot at
0:31:20 > 0:31:25and all their achievements and courage, was set at naught.
0:31:25 > 0:31:27Yet Hindenburg did not despair.
0:31:27 > 0:31:32"I have witnessed the heroic struggle of my fatherland.
0:31:32 > 0:31:36"and I shall never believe that it was its death struggle."
0:31:36 > 0:31:40Germany reported 1,800,000 dead.
0:31:40 > 0:31:44Austria-Hungary - 1,200,000.
0:31:44 > 0:31:49Two great empires foundered in sorrow, in hunger, in ruin
0:31:49 > 0:31:53to face a merciless future.
0:31:53 > 0:31:56The day of reckoning had come.
0:31:56 > 0:32:00The reckoning of victory was no less exorbitant.
0:32:00 > 0:32:06Nearly five million French men were killed, wounded or taken prisoner during the war.
0:32:06 > 0:32:10That was the price France paid for victory.
0:32:10 > 0:32:13General de Gaulle wrote,
0:32:13 > 0:32:18"The sacrifice was cruel as it was paid with the lives of her youth.
0:32:18 > 0:32:23"A treasure in which France was poorer than other European countries.
0:32:23 > 0:32:26"Here dead we lie
0:32:26 > 0:32:30"Because we did not choose to live
0:32:30 > 0:32:33"And shame the land from which we sprung
0:32:33 > 0:32:38"Life, to be sure, is nothing much to lose
0:32:38 > 0:32:42"But young men think it is
0:32:42 > 0:32:45"And we were young."
0:32:45 > 0:32:47Now it was over.
0:32:47 > 0:32:51Now the awful letting of blood was ended.
0:32:51 > 0:32:53France could breathe again.
0:32:53 > 0:32:57We had had so many years of suffering.
0:32:57 > 0:33:02Four years. Four years of dull suffering. Acute suffering.
0:33:02 > 0:33:05Pain everywhere.
0:33:05 > 0:33:07It was dreadful.
0:33:07 > 0:33:12Every day we heard about someone we loved being killed or wounded.
0:33:12 > 0:33:15There was no relief anywhere
0:33:15 > 0:33:20and we thought it would go on and on and on for ever.
0:33:20 > 0:33:24But it didn't because armistice came.
0:33:24 > 0:33:28We waited for it. We knew it was coming.
0:33:28 > 0:33:31Although we weren't sure when.
0:33:31 > 0:33:34We knew that one day it would come
0:33:34 > 0:33:37and we waited and we waited,
0:33:37 > 0:33:43with such tense feelings that everything around us seemed to wait.
0:33:43 > 0:33:46The town waited.
0:33:46 > 0:33:51Paris waited. The buildings waited. We were hushing everything.
0:33:51 > 0:33:56We didn't want to talk because something was going to happen.
0:33:56 > 0:33:59We waited and it came.
0:33:59 > 0:34:02The day it came it was SO wonderful!
0:34:02 > 0:34:04The news seemed too good to be true.
0:34:04 > 0:34:10Even the excitable Parisians had to wait till it was confirmed.
0:34:10 > 0:34:13Everyone knew that an armistice had been signed.
0:34:13 > 0:34:16The war would surely end at eleven.
0:34:16 > 0:34:21The great city remained calm until it had been announced officially.
0:34:21 > 0:34:25Until the fighting ceased Parisians went about their affairs
0:34:25 > 0:34:29and conducted themselves with good sense and restraint.
0:34:29 > 0:34:35At 1100, the great fact established, Paris threw her chapeau into the air,
0:34:35 > 0:34:40became alive with colour, began to sing and dance.
0:34:40 > 0:34:45In America, most people were asleep when the news of the armistice came
0:34:45 > 0:34:48They awoke to a joyful day.
0:34:52 > 0:34:59America's war losses - 325,000 men - did not compare with Europe's.
0:34:59 > 0:35:05But at least there would be no more young Americans sailing away to death and wounds on distant fields.
0:35:11 > 0:35:15London's relief matched that of Paris.
0:35:15 > 0:35:18Now the bells could ring and go on ringing,
0:35:18 > 0:35:22announcing what all British people desired to hear.
0:35:22 > 0:35:26"There was wild rejoicing and crowds went crazy with delight.
0:35:26 > 0:35:31"But it seemed to me that behind the ringing of these peals of joy,
0:35:31 > 0:35:36"there was the tolling of spectral bells for those who would not return.
0:35:40 > 0:35:44For the British Prime Minister, David Lloyd George,
0:35:44 > 0:35:47it was a day for gratitude - and hope.
0:35:47 > 0:35:55"In the House of Commons that afternoon, I rose and announced the signing of the armistice.
0:35:55 > 0:36:02"I concluded by saying, 'Thus at eleven this morning came to an end
0:36:02 > 0:36:08"'the cruellest and most terrible war that has scorched mankind.'"
0:36:09 > 0:36:12In the cities of the allied nations
0:36:12 > 0:36:19the armistice set loose a wave of exaltation and expectation like the breaking of a dam.
0:36:19 > 0:36:22The very word was electrifying.
0:36:22 > 0:36:26Clemenceau expressed the relief and happiness
0:36:26 > 0:36:30of all those who greeted the armistice with cheers.
0:36:30 > 0:36:32"A grand word.
0:36:32 > 0:36:36"A great word to set down when after four years,
0:36:36 > 0:36:40"lived through in anguished expectation of the worst,
0:36:40 > 0:36:44"suddenly a voice is heard crying, 'It is finished.'"
0:36:44 > 0:36:50"The armistice is the interval between the curtain's rise and fall.
0:36:50 > 0:36:53"Hail to it! And welcome!"
0:38:42 > 0:38:47Subtitles by Philippa Hanscombe and Vania Georgeson, BBC Broadcast - 2003
0:38:47 > 0:38:51E-mail us at subtitling@bbc.co.uk