0:01:06 > 0:01:08CLOCK CHIMES NINE O'CLOCK
0:01:19 > 0:01:21- Your Majesty.- Your Majesty.
0:01:23 > 0:01:24French neutrality.
0:01:24 > 0:01:26Guaranteed.
0:01:28 > 0:01:30How did you manage that?
0:01:30 > 0:01:32I didn't, Your Majesty.
0:01:32 > 0:01:35Well, the Kaiser thinks you did.
0:01:35 > 0:01:37Did my cousin just dream it?
0:01:37 > 0:01:44It is likely a mistake was made during my telephone conversation
0:01:44 > 0:01:46with Prince Lichnowsky yesterday.
0:01:46 > 0:01:48The German ambassador misheard you?
0:01:50 > 0:01:51Possibly.
0:01:51 > 0:01:54Or you misled him?
0:01:54 > 0:01:57It hardly matters which, Your Majesty.
0:01:57 > 0:02:01The point the Kaiser is now holding the wrong end of a very big stick.
0:02:01 > 0:02:03One you handed to him.
0:02:05 > 0:02:11Certainly, it has landed us all in a most awkward spot.
0:02:11 > 0:02:15So, you would now like me to disabuse the Kaiser?
0:02:17 > 0:02:20We can arrange for a telegram to be sent
0:02:20 > 0:02:22to your cousin in the next 20 minutes.
0:02:26 > 0:02:31Before that happens, let me just ask the obvious question.
0:02:33 > 0:02:37We haven't, by some enormous stroke of luck, stumbled upon
0:02:37 > 0:02:41a formula that would actually keep the peace in western Europe?
0:02:41 > 0:02:46Not with the French being in complete ignorance of what is being offered.
0:02:46 > 0:02:48And they...?
0:02:48 > 0:02:51And they will never agree to neutrality
0:02:51 > 0:02:55while their Russian ally is being threatened by Germany.
0:02:58 > 0:02:59I see.
0:03:01 > 0:03:05I will tell the Kaiser there's been a...misunderstanding.
0:03:11 > 0:03:13"Misunderstanding."
0:03:15 > 0:03:17"Misunderstanding?!"
0:03:19 > 0:03:21What does that mean?
0:03:22 > 0:03:27It's such a British explanation. You tell me what it means.
0:03:27 > 0:03:31- I...- It's Edward Grey isn't it? He's a deceitful cur!
0:03:33 > 0:03:36I forget sometimes that the English language doesn't distinguish
0:03:36 > 0:03:39between 'duplicity' and 'diplomacy.'
0:03:39 > 0:03:42"Misunderstanding?" What, "We've changed our minds?!"
0:03:42 > 0:03:44- I'm not sure that...- Get me Moltke!
0:03:44 > 0:03:47- Sir, please...- Get me Moltke!
0:03:58 > 0:04:00I've been made a fool of.
0:04:00 > 0:04:04And I am disgusted by that.
0:04:08 > 0:04:10Shake my hand.
0:04:14 > 0:04:16My good hand.
0:04:19 > 0:04:22The English are liars.
0:04:23 > 0:04:25Now you can do as you will.
0:04:43 > 0:04:46DOOR OPENS
0:04:46 > 0:04:49Have you had breakfast, sir?
0:04:49 > 0:04:50I don't think so.
0:04:50 > 0:04:52Might I arrange some for you?
0:04:52 > 0:04:56How long do you imagine the railway platforms are at Duern?
0:04:58 > 0:05:03An awful lot of German troop trains appear to be leaving Cologne...
0:05:05 > 0:05:06..and heading towards Duern.
0:05:08 > 0:05:09It makes no sense.
0:05:11 > 0:05:15'For four weeks now, ever since the assassination of Franz Ferdinand...'
0:05:15 > 0:05:16SHOTS FIRED
0:05:16 > 0:05:20'..we, in Europe, have been living with the Balkan crisis.
0:05:20 > 0:05:25'Serbia and its Russian ally raged against Austria and its German one.
0:05:25 > 0:05:29'Now, "When isn't the Balkans in crisis?" you might think.'
0:05:29 > 0:05:33- It's Bosnia, Foreign Secretary. - I think THAT might wait.
0:05:33 > 0:05:34'Rain is wet,
0:05:34 > 0:05:36'the sun dries you out,
0:05:36 > 0:05:38'and the Balkans is a trouble spot.
0:05:39 > 0:05:41'These are facts of nature.'
0:05:41 > 0:05:43'In Berlin at first,
0:05:43 > 0:05:47'our Kaiser had been keen to stoke the fires in the Balkans.
0:05:47 > 0:05:51'He thought this might give our Russian neighbour a nasty burn.'
0:05:51 > 0:05:54A quick, clean war, over before the Russians know it's even begun!
0:05:54 > 0:05:58'So, it took the special genius of General Moltke to turn
0:05:58 > 0:06:01'a local conflict into an international crisis.
0:06:02 > 0:06:05'Moltke wasn't interested in a small war in the Balkans.'
0:06:05 > 0:06:07Can't be a powerful Russia
0:06:07 > 0:06:12and a powerful Germany on the same continent. One has to submit!
0:06:12 > 0:06:14'He wanted something much bigger.'
0:06:14 > 0:06:16He wants to declare war on France.
0:06:16 > 0:06:19'And that was when things began to change in London.
0:06:19 > 0:06:21'No longer were we bystanders.
0:06:21 > 0:06:24'We had an alliance with France.'
0:06:24 > 0:06:27Are you going to wait until France is violated before you act?
0:06:28 > 0:06:30'The Cabinet had no appetite for war, though,
0:06:30 > 0:06:32'and told the Foreign Secretary
0:06:32 > 0:06:35'to make sure the Balkan crisis didn't spread to the West.
0:06:35 > 0:06:38'And, so, Sir Edward used the telephone to broker some kind of
0:06:38 > 0:06:40'agreement with the German ambassador.'
0:06:40 > 0:06:41Sir Edward?
0:06:41 > 0:06:43'But...telephones, you know?
0:06:43 > 0:06:48'Things get scrambled, don't they? And, therefore, last night...'
0:06:48 > 0:06:49To England.
0:06:49 > 0:06:52'..the Kaiser gratefully accepted a peace plan from London
0:06:52 > 0:06:53'that didn't actually exist.
0:06:53 > 0:06:57'Hence the misunderstanding.
0:06:58 > 0:07:01'I won't deny it, there was a little bit of panic here
0:07:01 > 0:07:02'in the Foreign Office,
0:07:02 > 0:07:06'not least because the morning papers were reporting that a torrent
0:07:06 > 0:07:09'of capital and gold had flowed out of the country
0:07:09 > 0:07:10'over the last few days.'
0:07:10 > 0:07:12Chin up, Muriel.
0:07:14 > 0:07:17Come on, everyone. Busy day.
0:07:17 > 0:07:20'And that's why the Governor of the Bank of England, Sir Walter Cunliffe...'
0:07:20 > 0:07:22Good to see you again.
0:07:22 > 0:07:25'..along with Lloyd George, the Chancellor,
0:07:25 > 0:07:26'had come to the Foreign Office
0:07:26 > 0:07:29'to persuade Sir Edward that it would be fatal to join the fray.'
0:07:29 > 0:07:33It's important the Foreign Secretary knows that if he gets us
0:07:33 > 0:07:38involved in a continental war, it WILL wreck the British economy.
0:07:38 > 0:07:42There will be a degree of commercial disruption, of course.
0:07:42 > 0:07:45- The economy will be wrecked. - That's your opinion.
0:07:45 > 0:07:49It's the opinion of the Bank of England. And the whole of the City.
0:07:49 > 0:07:52There, David. The whole of the City(!)
0:07:52 > 0:07:56Over £1 million worth of gold left London on Thursday!
0:07:56 > 0:07:57To be fair, Walter,
0:07:57 > 0:08:01that's the German financial houses repatriating their capital.
0:08:01 > 0:08:03But we are vulnerable to that.
0:08:03 > 0:08:08- This is the whole point, we are a trading nation.- We are(?)
0:08:08 > 0:08:12Our best policy would be to let the French and Germans go to war,
0:08:12 > 0:08:16if they need to. We could stay out and be the honest broker, literally.
0:08:16 > 0:08:20You want us to be the honest broker?
0:08:20 > 0:08:22You're making it sound like a crime, Sir Edward.
0:08:22 > 0:08:25Do you know Eyre Crowe here? Yes, of course you do.
0:08:25 > 0:08:29So you know he's an exceptionally knowledgeable fellow,
0:08:29 > 0:08:34and he tells me that in the entire history of mankind,
0:08:34 > 0:08:39there is not a single instance where financiers have not panicked
0:08:39 > 0:08:43at the prospect of a war. Isn't that so, Crowe?
0:08:43 > 0:08:46The Peloponnesian War...
0:08:46 > 0:08:48Yes, apart from the Peloponnesian War.
0:08:48 > 0:08:53So, you see, Sir Walter, I have this odd situation.
0:08:53 > 0:08:57Up in Trafalgar Square right now, I'm being told by Keir Hardie and
0:08:57 > 0:09:02the Socialists that a European war would mark the end of civilisation.
0:09:02 > 0:09:07And here I have a great banker of Threadneedle Street telling me
0:09:07 > 0:09:10- the same thing. - I didn't mention civilisation.
0:09:10 > 0:09:11True enough, you didn't.
0:09:11 > 0:09:14I suppose that's where the Socialists have the moral edge.
0:09:14 > 0:09:18But I am not a hopeless dreamer like they are, so, excuse me
0:09:18 > 0:09:20if I take offence at that.
0:09:20 > 0:09:25I am giving you some practical common sense.
0:09:25 > 0:09:27So, you'd like me to announce
0:09:27 > 0:09:32to the world that Great Britain can't afford to fight?
0:09:32 > 0:09:34That's your common sense?
0:09:34 > 0:09:38- Now you're twisting...- Nothing would more readily put an end
0:09:38 > 0:09:42to our great power status than ME saying THAT.
0:09:46 > 0:09:48HE SIGHS
0:09:50 > 0:09:52Have you ever seen Keir Hardie?
0:09:54 > 0:09:56Are you asking me because I'm Scottish?
0:09:58 > 0:10:00HE CHUCKLES
0:10:01 > 0:10:03No, I saw him once when I was a wee boy.
0:10:03 > 0:10:06My father took me to see him speak in Kirkcudbright.
0:10:06 > 0:10:08Is your father a socialist?
0:10:08 > 0:10:12You'll have to ask him yourself, Muriel.
0:10:17 > 0:10:18'Of course, in Britain,
0:10:18 > 0:10:21'the socialist movement was very small, still.
0:10:22 > 0:10:25'But that wasn't true here in Germany.
0:10:26 > 0:10:29'Here they counted.'
0:10:29 > 0:10:31The Chancellor is running a little late this morning.
0:10:31 > 0:10:34- I could organise some refreshments. - No, thank you.
0:10:34 > 0:10:36'They had power in the Reichstag.
0:10:36 > 0:10:39'If the socialist deputies decide to vote against
0:10:39 > 0:10:41'the Imperial War Budget,
0:10:41 > 0:10:44'there'll be no war because there'll be no money to fight one.'
0:10:44 > 0:10:48Why don't you just arrest all these Socialists?
0:10:48 > 0:10:50The Kaiser wouldn't mind.
0:10:50 > 0:10:53The Kaiser has personally never met a socialist,
0:10:53 > 0:10:55which is a miraculous thing in itself,
0:10:55 > 0:10:59- given that there are six million of them in this country.- Even so.
0:11:00 > 0:11:05- Even so?- Remove their leaders and the rest will do as you want them to do.
0:11:05 > 0:11:07The days of running Germany
0:11:07 > 0:11:10like a house of correction are over, Moltke.
0:11:10 > 0:11:12These men outside are not our slaves.
0:11:12 > 0:11:15They're the cream of their class, and, as inconceivable
0:11:15 > 0:11:18as you may find it, they will vote for your war credits
0:11:18 > 0:11:19if you reason with them.
0:11:19 > 0:11:21I doubt it.
0:11:21 > 0:11:25They fear and detest the Tsar, as all their kind do.
0:11:25 > 0:11:27But they are not German patriots.
0:11:27 > 0:11:30They will be when you tell them about the Cossacks.
0:11:31 > 0:11:34Half of them are Jewish, after all.
0:11:38 > 0:11:42Tell me, because I really don't understand.
0:11:42 > 0:11:43Tell you what?
0:11:43 > 0:11:46I know you don't want a war with France.
0:11:46 > 0:11:50You could use these socialists to stop one. Why don't you?
0:11:52 > 0:11:56Because the cure would be worse than the disease.
0:11:56 > 0:11:58Can you imagine what would happen to Imperial Germany -
0:11:58 > 0:12:00to me, not just you -
0:12:00 > 0:12:04if word got out that the Socialist Democratic Party
0:12:04 > 0:12:07had a veto on our ability to make war?
0:12:09 > 0:12:12I hate them, every bit as much as you hate them.
0:12:12 > 0:12:14More, probably, because I know them.
0:12:14 > 0:12:18They are disloyal, they are selfish, and they are dangerous.
0:12:19 > 0:12:21But a war will tame them.
0:12:22 > 0:12:24Eventually, with some luck,
0:12:24 > 0:12:28it will exterminate socialism in Germany forever.
0:12:32 > 0:12:35Thank you so much for coming, gentlemen.
0:12:42 > 0:12:46BIG BEN CHIMES
0:12:50 > 0:12:51Ambassador.
0:12:51 > 0:12:55How many of your countrymen know that you secretly committed them
0:12:55 > 0:12:59to defending the French channel ports from naval attack by Germany?
0:13:04 > 0:13:07What you have there is, of course,
0:13:07 > 0:13:10rather awkward for me at the present moment.
0:13:10 > 0:13:11Yes, it is.
0:13:11 > 0:13:14But it is in no sense a binding contract.
0:13:14 > 0:13:18Just an informal arrangement we once had.
0:13:18 > 0:13:20An informal arrangement we once had?
0:13:20 > 0:13:25I cannot go one inch beyond what the Cabinet authorises.
0:13:25 > 0:13:27If I do, I am gone,
0:13:27 > 0:13:29and that document means nothing.
0:13:29 > 0:13:32If you do not act on our confidential agreement,
0:13:32 > 0:13:33you will have the German Navy
0:13:33 > 0:13:35in the English Channel by the end of the week.
0:13:35 > 0:13:37And you will have to explain to your people
0:13:37 > 0:13:40why there is no French Navy there to oppose them.
0:13:45 > 0:13:49In 20 minutes, there is a meeting of the Cabinet.
0:13:49 > 0:13:51I will endeavour to describe...
0:13:51 > 0:13:55- Your obligation to France. - ..the French predicament.
0:14:04 > 0:14:06PHONE RINGS
0:14:15 > 0:14:17They've just voted.
0:14:17 > 0:14:18We have a majority...
0:14:20 > 0:14:23..in favour of the war credits.
0:14:28 > 0:14:29Madness.
0:14:29 > 0:14:31They could have saved us.
0:14:46 > 0:14:50- John.- Winston.- Lord Morley.
0:14:50 > 0:14:53What bombs are you young gentlemen going to throw at us today?
0:14:56 > 0:14:59'When you think of the great Cabinet meetings of the 20th century,
0:14:59 > 0:15:02'those that have been, those which are yet to come,
0:15:02 > 0:15:06'can there ever have been one so fraught with meaning as this one?'
0:15:08 > 0:15:11'Viscount Morley had first seen office in 1886
0:15:11 > 0:15:13'under his hero William Gladstone.
0:15:13 > 0:15:16'And because he opposed anything which strengthened the state
0:15:16 > 0:15:19'against the individual, he opposed war.
0:15:19 > 0:15:23'So did John Burns, on pacifist grounds.
0:15:23 > 0:15:26'Burns, hero of the London Dock strike of '89,
0:15:26 > 0:15:30'was the first working man ever to take a seat at the Cabinet table.
0:15:30 > 0:15:31'Was he conscious of the fact?'
0:15:31 > 0:15:36So, I told him, "I'm not the decorator, I am a legislator."
0:15:36 > 0:15:38'Was he conscious of anything else?
0:15:40 > 0:15:43'And then there was David Lloyd George.
0:15:43 > 0:15:45'Lloyd George was the prize.'
0:15:45 > 0:15:49Did you get any sense this morning of which way David is moving?
0:15:49 > 0:15:50None at all.
0:15:50 > 0:15:52'A man who made his name opposing our last war
0:15:52 > 0:15:54'against the Boers in South Africa.'
0:15:54 > 0:15:58We want to play this carefully. We don't want to antagonise him.
0:15:58 > 0:16:03'He was a politician who was loved by millions of people.'
0:16:03 > 0:16:06We have, as you know, because I have never concealed this
0:16:06 > 0:16:10from the Cabinet, certain obligations towards our French ally.
0:16:10 > 0:16:14Now, these obligations do not commit us to war simply because
0:16:14 > 0:16:17one of the parties to the agreement has taken up arms.
0:16:17 > 0:16:21Should France, say, find itself in a war with Spain,
0:16:21 > 0:16:23we would not be obliged to follow.
0:16:23 > 0:16:28Do not treat us like fools, Sir Edward. You can say Germany.
0:16:28 > 0:16:31Yes, yes, well, in this specific instance, of course
0:16:31 > 0:16:32we're talking about Germany.
0:16:32 > 0:16:37But my general point is that Parliament need not be fettered
0:16:37 > 0:16:40by a clause in a treaty she had no hand in making.
0:16:40 > 0:16:42- And nor will it. - Hear, hear.
0:16:42 > 0:16:46But I will tell this Cabinet now, because now for the first time
0:16:46 > 0:16:51it has become relevant, that our 1912 agreement with France...
0:16:51 > 0:16:55- 1904.- No, Chancellor, the Foreign Secretary
0:16:55 > 0:16:59is referring to its renewal in 1912.
0:17:00 > 0:17:03It was minuted at the time and mentioned in this room.
0:17:03 > 0:17:09The 1912 renewal is a document I drew up with Monsieur Cambon,
0:17:09 > 0:17:14which allowed us to divide certain operational responsibilities
0:17:14 > 0:17:16between the French and Royal Navies.
0:17:16 > 0:17:20In this agreement, the French were assigned the Mediterranean,
0:17:20 > 0:17:22and we agreed to secure the Channel.
0:17:22 > 0:17:27The advantage of this agreement is obvious, but the disadvantage,
0:17:27 > 0:17:30as Monsieur Cambon is now very anxious to point out,
0:17:30 > 0:17:34is that it leaves the Atlantic and Channel coasts of France
0:17:34 > 0:17:37completely unprotected by battleships.
0:17:37 > 0:17:43Or would do so if we failed to join in a war
0:17:43 > 0:17:45that Germany was waging on France.
0:17:45 > 0:17:49You mean the French are relying on us to protect their ports?
0:17:49 > 0:17:50In a sense, yes.
0:17:52 > 0:17:56There's no escaping it. It is an unfortunate situation.
0:17:56 > 0:17:57Our agreement with France
0:17:57 > 0:18:00has all the obligations of a formal alliance.
0:18:00 > 0:18:02- No, it doesn't! - But it does, gentlemen.
0:18:02 > 0:18:04Think of it from the point of honour.
0:18:04 > 0:18:05Edward Grey's honour! Not ours!
0:18:05 > 0:18:08I hope they are the same.
0:18:08 > 0:18:11The French agreement has all the obligations of a formal alliance,
0:18:11 > 0:18:14but none of its advantages. That is to say it contains no deterrent
0:18:14 > 0:18:17to any power thinking of attacking France.
0:18:17 > 0:18:19How could it? The agreement was secret.
0:18:19 > 0:18:22If only the Germans had known about this promise of yours
0:18:22 > 0:18:24- to Ambassador Cambon! - They probably do.
0:18:24 > 0:18:27It's just us poor devils that have been kept in the dark.
0:18:27 > 0:18:29Well, in fairness we've done well out of the agreement, too.
0:18:29 > 0:18:31It certainly doesn't feel that way.
0:18:31 > 0:18:34Oh, it has released us from having to patrol the Mediterranean, David.
0:18:34 > 0:18:36No, the PM is right.
0:18:36 > 0:18:38I could have asked for money for more dreadnoughts to patrol
0:18:38 > 0:18:40- the Mediterranean ourselves... - Hear, hear.
0:18:40 > 0:18:43..and not leave it to the French, but I know what John Burns here
0:18:43 > 0:18:45- would have said to that. - I know your game.
0:18:45 > 0:18:47You can't play it, though.
0:18:47 > 0:18:49Since Sir Edward has been Foreign Secretary
0:18:49 > 0:18:53he has assured Parliament on several occasions that this government
0:18:53 > 0:18:57has incurred no firm commitments to France.
0:18:57 > 0:19:00Indeed he has been proud, as we all have,
0:19:00 > 0:19:04that Great Britain has avoided those entanglements with foreign powers
0:19:04 > 0:19:07which could lead us, almost blind-folded, into war.
0:19:07 > 0:19:11Now he appears to be telling us that we do not possess
0:19:11 > 0:19:14the full liberty of our own decision-making after all,
0:19:14 > 0:19:16and that is a very serious thing.
0:19:16 > 0:19:19One could almost say he has misled us.
0:19:19 > 0:19:20You have misled yourselves.
0:19:20 > 0:19:23You all knew where the Anglo-French agreement was heading
0:19:23 > 0:19:25but none of you opened a conversation around this table.
0:19:25 > 0:19:29You did not want to know because you did not want the responsibility.
0:19:29 > 0:19:32You left Sir Edward with all of that,
0:19:32 > 0:19:34which might be called good judgment,
0:19:34 > 0:19:36but to bemoan it now is a kind of cowardice.
0:19:36 > 0:19:37How dare you!
0:19:37 > 0:19:39Some of what Winston says may be true.
0:19:39 > 0:19:42Even a blunderbuss does occasionally hit its target.
0:19:42 > 0:19:46But that does not answer the wider question of why we should follow
0:19:46 > 0:19:50France into a war brought about because her Russian allies
0:19:50 > 0:19:54decided to mobilise its entire army against such feeble Austrian
0:19:54 > 0:19:57opposition of all things. There's no sense of proportion there.
0:19:57 > 0:20:00The boy bloody scouts could defeat the Austrian army.
0:20:00 > 0:20:01That's a ridiculous comment.
0:20:01 > 0:20:03No, well, John comes from Battersea
0:20:03 > 0:20:05and they have some pretty ferocious boy scouts down there.
0:20:05 > 0:20:10But Russia? Gentlemen, please, are we to be led into a war by the Tsar?
0:20:10 > 0:20:13Let us not forget we are talking about the land of the pogrom
0:20:13 > 0:20:16- of the Siberian exile. - It's rhetoric.
0:20:16 > 0:20:21Rhetoric! 10 days ago, over 100 working men were cut down
0:20:21 > 0:20:25on the streets of St Petersburg for the crime of joining a trade union.
0:20:25 > 0:20:27Wouldn't you be better off in Trafalgar Square
0:20:27 > 0:20:31with the Labour lot, howling this rot from an upturned soap box?
0:20:31 > 0:20:33You should get back to the Tory party.
0:20:33 > 0:20:35That is quite enough!
0:20:36 > 0:20:39We are here to talk about the French predicament.
0:20:41 > 0:20:44And what this government intends to do about it.
0:20:44 > 0:20:49I will say this, Prime Minister - I will accept some of the Cabinet's
0:20:49 > 0:20:53misgivings about the way the French negotiations have been handled...
0:20:54 > 0:20:57..by me. They were done in good faith,
0:20:57 > 0:21:02I assure you, but I will resign from the Cabinet this afternoon
0:21:02 > 0:21:06if it prevents me from signalling Britain's intentions to protect
0:21:06 > 0:21:11French ports in the event of a German naval attack on the Channel.
0:21:12 > 0:21:16If that happens, this government will be at an end.
0:21:16 > 0:21:17Why?
0:21:17 > 0:21:21Because I, and I suspect some others, will resign with him.
0:21:21 > 0:21:23And then you'll have the Tories in.
0:21:23 > 0:21:27Rubbish. They'll too busy gunrunning to Ulster.
0:21:27 > 0:21:30No, John, I assure you they will be able to form a government
0:21:30 > 0:21:33and they will have no qualms about taking this country
0:21:33 > 0:21:36- into a European war. - With conscription.
0:21:36 > 0:21:38Those are the stakes, gentlemen.
0:21:38 > 0:21:41Please think upon them when you answer this question.
0:21:44 > 0:21:48Does Sir Edward have your authorisation to inform
0:21:48 > 0:21:53Monsieur Cambon that we will honour our naval agreement with the French?
0:21:57 > 0:21:58Those who say yes?
0:22:05 > 0:22:06Those who say no?
0:22:11 > 0:22:14And one abstention
0:22:17 > 0:22:20Sir Edward, you may proceed.
0:22:21 > 0:22:23In that case, Prime Minister,
0:22:25 > 0:22:28I tender my resignation.
0:22:32 > 0:22:34I implore you to reconsider, John.
0:22:34 > 0:22:37I'm from the people, Edward, and I must speak for them
0:22:37 > 0:22:41because their voices are never heard in the counsels of government.
0:22:41 > 0:22:43That is why you should stay with us.
0:22:43 > 0:22:45But the people don't want war.
0:22:45 > 0:22:48That's why I'm having no part in taking us into one.
0:22:48 > 0:22:52But most people aren't like you. They're more like Winston.
0:22:54 > 0:22:55I don't think that's true.
0:22:57 > 0:22:58But it's a pity if it is.
0:23:02 > 0:23:04Well, it's held for now, Edward,
0:23:04 > 0:23:08- but if we push them any further the Cabinet will divide.- I know.
0:23:08 > 0:23:11And if that happens the nation will divide, too.
0:23:18 > 0:23:22What are you going to David? You're the most important man amongst us.
0:23:22 > 0:23:24LLOYD GEORGE SCOFFS No, you are.
0:23:24 > 0:23:27The millions of our fellow countrymen who wait to hear what
0:23:27 > 0:23:30David Lloyd George says before they make up their own minds.
0:23:31 > 0:23:35- I don't yet know. - You will have to decide, and quickly.
0:23:35 > 0:23:39I'm not sure I have the stomach for another peace campaign.
0:23:39 > 0:23:41No-one will ask you to mount those platforms again.
0:23:41 > 0:23:43You did your bit over South Africa,
0:23:43 > 0:23:45let the younger men take up the burden this time.
0:23:45 > 0:23:49But I tell you this, it will be a glorious thing for them to know
0:23:49 > 0:23:51that Lloyd George is on their side.
0:23:52 > 0:23:56We have been mislead, David. The whole country has.
0:23:57 > 0:23:58It certainly looks that way.
0:23:58 > 0:24:02Grey has run this nation's foreign policy without a single reference to
0:24:02 > 0:24:06parliament, and now he expects us to pull his chestnuts out of the fire.
0:24:11 > 0:24:15I will likely resign from the government...
0:24:15 > 0:24:17if we enter this war.
0:24:27 > 0:24:30Is the Fatherland in danger?
0:24:30 > 0:24:31It is.
0:24:31 > 0:24:35- Can we fight on two fronts? - Easier than on one.
0:24:35 > 0:24:36Say that again.
0:24:36 > 0:24:39It is easier for us to fight on two fronts than on one.
0:24:39 > 0:24:41This is what I hate in you, Moltke, your sophistry.
0:24:41 > 0:24:43Keep it simple, Moltke, hm?
0:24:43 > 0:24:46If we fight on one front against Russia, we must improvise
0:24:46 > 0:24:48and that is always bad.
0:24:48 > 0:24:52And all the time we will be watching over our shoulder for France.
0:24:52 > 0:24:54If we fight on two fronts,
0:24:54 > 0:24:57we enact a plan we have been working on for nine years.
0:24:57 > 0:24:59The Schlieffen Plan.
0:24:59 > 0:25:01Yes.
0:25:01 > 0:25:03I thought the dust had settled on that.
0:25:03 > 0:25:06We just keep blowing it away.
0:25:06 > 0:25:08The Schlieffen Plan is always being updated, Your Majesty.
0:25:08 > 0:25:1190% of our army will be thrown at France,
0:25:11 > 0:25:13according to a strict timetable,
0:25:13 > 0:25:16while the rest hold the Russians off, a relatively easy task
0:25:16 > 0:25:18in the first six weeks of war.
0:25:18 > 0:25:20- Six weeks? - Yes, six weeks.
0:25:20 > 0:25:22The time it will take to knock out France.
0:25:22 > 0:25:26Then everything will be turned towards Russia.
0:25:26 > 0:25:28The trains have already been ordered.
0:25:28 > 0:25:31Six weeks to defeat France?
0:25:31 > 0:25:35Our scouting parties will first see Paris 40 days into the war.
0:25:37 > 0:25:38Imagine those fortunate few.
0:25:44 > 0:25:47I know what you're going to say next
0:25:47 > 0:25:50You're planning to go through Belgium. Isn't that so?
0:25:50 > 0:25:52- A lovely idea, Your Majesty. - Lovely?
0:25:54 > 0:25:57Your Majesty, the great powers guarantee Belgium independence
0:25:57 > 0:26:00not because we love each other, but because we fear each other.
0:26:00 > 0:26:04- That's natural, of course. - Natural? It's also efficient.
0:26:04 > 0:26:07Respecting Belgian neutrality is what keeps us and the French
0:26:07 > 0:26:08from garrotting each other.
0:26:08 > 0:26:11And I am custodian of a treaty with the King of Belgium.
0:26:11 > 0:26:14Which, tragically, you shall have to break.
0:26:14 > 0:26:17Either Belgium steps aside or she is annihilated.
0:26:17 > 0:26:21Or, we keep our treaty with Belgium and expose Germany to annihilation.
0:26:22 > 0:26:25Success alone will justify what we do.
0:26:27 > 0:26:31How would we begin to explain our violation of Belgian independence?
0:26:33 > 0:26:35Something has already been arranged on that.
0:26:39 > 0:26:43Five days before, our ambassador in Brussels had received
0:26:43 > 0:26:45a mysterious package from Berlin.
0:26:46 > 0:26:50"Do not open this telegram", an accompanying note said,
0:26:50 > 0:26:55"and only open it if, and when, you receive a further instruction
0:26:55 > 0:26:56"from Berlin."
0:26:56 > 0:26:58Can you get me a whiskey, please?
0:27:28 > 0:27:31They have all been considerably lengthened in the last five years.
0:27:31 > 0:27:36I'm sorry. Are you finishing a conversation with someone else
0:27:36 > 0:27:37or starting one with me?
0:27:37 > 0:27:40Those north-western German railway platforms
0:27:40 > 0:27:43- that you mentioned this morning. - I mentioned those to you?
0:27:43 > 0:27:45Well, you were thinking out loud, I was there.
0:27:45 > 0:27:48So, I asked a friend at the Board of Trade to check his files.
0:27:50 > 0:27:53The station platforms at Dueren are now half a mile long.
0:27:55 > 0:27:58That's an awful lot of German holidaymakers suddenly very keen
0:27:58 > 0:28:00to see the delights of Belgium.
0:28:01 > 0:28:03Well Done.
0:28:03 > 0:28:04Belgium.
0:28:05 > 0:28:06Prepare for the deluge.
0:28:10 > 0:28:14We have guaranteed Belgium's neutrality.
0:28:14 > 0:28:15- HE LAUGHS - Well done.
0:28:16 > 0:28:19In perpetuity with Britain and France.
0:28:19 > 0:28:23Haven't you seen how things are working here?
0:28:23 > 0:28:25That treaty is just a scrap of paper.
0:28:30 > 0:28:33'The last ever battle in history to be fought in Belgium
0:28:33 > 0:28:35'would be Waterloo.
0:28:37 > 0:28:39'That was the epic idea contained in the treaty
0:28:39 > 0:28:42'signed by the Great Powers in 1839.'
0:28:48 > 0:28:53'But, evidently, it was not an idea that meant much to General Moltke.'
0:28:53 > 0:28:54Now is the time!
0:29:05 > 0:29:07- Sir Edward. - I know. Ah!
0:29:07 > 0:29:10Yes, the German ambassador arrived some time ago.
0:29:10 > 0:29:12And the French ambassador is also here.
0:29:12 > 0:29:15- Any more?- And I must have a moment with you also.
0:29:15 > 0:29:17Later.
0:29:18 > 0:29:21Sir Edward, forgive me for barging in like this, but...
0:29:21 > 0:29:22Yes, indeed. Unexpected.
0:29:24 > 0:29:29I do apologise, Prince Lichnowsky, but I feel I should
0:29:29 > 0:29:33fulfil my appointment with the French ambassador.
0:29:48 > 0:29:50You've done the right thing.
0:29:51 > 0:29:55And what of a British expeditionary force?
0:29:55 > 0:29:58Just two divisions on their way to France would have
0:29:58 > 0:30:00a tremendous moral effect on our people.
0:30:00 > 0:30:03- Paul!- And a deterrent effect on Germany too.
0:30:03 > 0:30:05Yeah, I know that's not a serious suggestion.
0:30:05 > 0:30:11But it is. Germany will declare war on France in the next 24 hours.
0:30:11 > 0:30:12All France knows it.
0:30:14 > 0:30:17The one thing that might stop them is you.
0:30:17 > 0:30:20You credit Britain with too much power, Paul,
0:30:20 > 0:30:22and it has made you irresponsible.
0:30:22 > 0:30:24It is you who can stop it.
0:30:25 > 0:30:26You alone.
0:30:28 > 0:30:29The power is yours.
0:30:38 > 0:30:40CLOCK TICKS
0:31:02 > 0:31:03Whom did I say was next?
0:31:03 > 0:31:06Sir, before you see Prince Lichnowsky,
0:31:06 > 0:31:09you must see this. Please.
0:31:21 > 0:31:22Are you sure?
0:31:22 > 0:31:25I'm 100% sure about the recent lengthening
0:31:25 > 0:31:29of the railway platforms, and I'm 95% sure that German troops
0:31:29 > 0:31:32are heading towards the Belgian border.
0:31:32 > 0:31:36But can we be certain they intend to cross into Belgium?
0:31:36 > 0:31:39Might there not be an innocent explanation for all this activity?
0:31:40 > 0:31:46Certainly there might. I can't think what it would be. But...
0:31:46 > 0:31:48Well, why don't I just ask him?
0:31:51 > 0:31:55Of course, after last night, we can't afford a second misunderstanding.
0:31:55 > 0:31:58I take full responsibility for that.
0:31:58 > 0:32:00Please don't. I rather think we egged each other on.
0:32:00 > 0:32:06The damn telephone, too. The thing was invented to make fools of us.
0:32:06 > 0:32:09- It's not created difficulties for you?- Hmm, none.
0:32:09 > 0:32:12- Yourself? - I don't know.
0:32:12 > 0:32:14No, I don't think so.
0:32:14 > 0:32:17May I ask you an awkward question?
0:32:17 > 0:32:19If I may reserve the option of pretending I didn't hear it.
0:32:22 > 0:32:24What would you say
0:32:24 > 0:32:29if I told you I have certain reasons to believe
0:32:29 > 0:32:31that someone in Germany...
0:32:32 > 0:32:37..someone in a high command, is contemplating an invasion of Belgium?
0:32:37 > 0:32:40I would say that is impossible. We have a treaty with Belgium,
0:32:40 > 0:32:44- as you do.- But Belgium is a back door to Paris.
0:32:44 > 0:32:46Belgium is a sovereign country.
0:32:46 > 0:32:50- Mm-hmm. It is the back door to Paris. - It is also a back door to Berlin.
0:32:52 > 0:32:54Belgium makes us all honest.
0:32:54 > 0:32:57It makes the French honest, it makes Germany honest.
0:32:57 > 0:33:02To violate Belgian sovereignty would be madness.
0:33:09 > 0:33:13We have received reports in the last 24 hours
0:33:13 > 0:33:17of French troops along the Givet-Namur road...
0:33:18 > 0:33:20..and therefore,
0:33:20 > 0:33:25in the light of this violation of your territory,
0:33:25 > 0:33:29and of the 1839 treaty, we are obliged to request
0:33:29 > 0:33:33of the Belgian government free access for our own troops
0:33:33 > 0:33:34to engage the French.
0:33:41 > 0:33:42You have 12 hours to respond.
0:33:47 > 0:33:50- This will be our casus belli. - It might be.
0:33:50 > 0:33:52It's an immaculate one, too.
0:33:52 > 0:33:56No oil reserves, no coaling stations, no gold fields.
0:33:56 > 0:34:01Just poor little Belgium at the mercy of the German juggernaut.
0:34:01 > 0:34:04Even the radicals will be filled with indignation.
0:34:04 > 0:34:07If Germany invades.
0:34:07 > 0:34:11The legal situation is not altogether clear.
0:34:11 > 0:34:15We would probably still need an official request for assistance
0:34:15 > 0:34:20from the Belgian government to avoid breaching the same treaty.
0:34:20 > 0:34:23We cannot be more Belgian than the Belgians.
0:34:23 > 0:34:26- Surely they will ask for our help. - I have no idea.
0:34:26 > 0:34:32It's possible the Belgian army will simply fire a token shot
0:34:32 > 0:34:36and then line the roads while the German army passes through.
0:34:43 > 0:34:47"If we are to be crushed" said the Belgian King,
0:34:47 > 0:34:50"let us be crushed gloriously."
0:34:50 > 0:34:51That night his Government had resolved
0:34:51 > 0:34:54"to repel every attack on its right."
0:34:55 > 0:34:59And King Albert himself composed a personal appeal to the Kaiser,
0:34:59 > 0:35:02translated by his German wife.
0:35:11 > 0:35:13But there was no cry for help directed to London.
0:35:17 > 0:35:18Not yet.
0:35:22 > 0:35:24And I'll be honest with you.
0:35:24 > 0:35:26Not one man here wanted it to come.
0:35:42 > 0:35:44What would they say if they truly knew
0:35:44 > 0:35:46what was happening to their world?
0:35:46 > 0:35:49Tell me, Winston,
0:35:49 > 0:35:52what does it take to lead a democracy into war?
0:35:53 > 0:35:56I do not know. It's never been done before.
0:35:58 > 0:36:01We would be the first, in Europe at any rate.
0:36:01 > 0:36:04It means seeking the approval of those who are going to die in it,
0:36:04 > 0:36:07I suppose. Our forebears never had that problem.
0:36:08 > 0:36:13And we record their names now. Of those who fall, I mean.
0:36:15 > 0:36:17It makes it so personal.
0:36:17 > 0:36:19Have you told your parents?
0:36:19 > 0:36:20I haven't had the time.
0:36:23 > 0:36:24You ought to.
0:36:26 > 0:36:27I'm their only son, Muriel.
0:36:29 > 0:36:34They'd be horrified if they knew that I was thinking of volunteering.
0:36:34 > 0:36:38- But they'll have to know eventually. - No, not necessarily.
0:36:38 > 0:36:40It may still blow over.
0:36:42 > 0:36:43It might not come to war.
0:36:51 > 0:36:54So, Germany has requested free movement of her troops
0:36:54 > 0:36:58across Belgium and so far, Belgium has refused to give it,
0:36:58 > 0:37:03and has not asked for our assistance and may never do so.
0:37:03 > 0:37:06So, we are where we were.
0:37:06 > 0:37:09Except one power has signalled its intention
0:37:09 > 0:37:12to break a venerable treaty.
0:37:12 > 0:37:15What was that shrug for? Do these things not matter?
0:37:15 > 0:37:18Words on paper, composed long ago.
0:37:18 > 0:37:20Words have to mean something.
0:37:20 > 0:37:22Otherwise, all that remains is the cannon.
0:37:22 > 0:37:25And let us think of France.
0:37:25 > 0:37:28I know you don't want to, but consider her position.
0:37:28 > 0:37:30Cowardice won't save her now.
0:37:30 > 0:37:34She is about to be overwhelmed by the might of the German Army,
0:37:34 > 0:37:35whether she fights or not.
0:37:35 > 0:37:39Words do have to mean something, of course they do.
0:37:39 > 0:37:41But let us not pretend
0:37:41 > 0:37:46that our own ill-chosen words would not have awesome consequences
0:37:46 > 0:37:48for millions of our countrymen.
0:37:48 > 0:37:53We can fill this room with noble thoughts about treaties honoured
0:37:53 > 0:37:56and solemn promises kept.
0:37:56 > 0:38:00We can flatter ourselves that we are the custodians of international law
0:38:00 > 0:38:02and that Germany is a nation of brigands.
0:38:02 > 0:38:07But think, think, gentlemen,
0:38:07 > 0:38:11think of the consequences that would flow from such high-mindedness.
0:38:11 > 0:38:15We have not fought a European war for several generations
0:38:15 > 0:38:19and, necessarily, we've forgotten what it is like to do so,
0:38:19 > 0:38:22and this makes us brave and frivolous.
0:38:24 > 0:38:27How does an army of several million men
0:38:27 > 0:38:30defeat another army of several million men
0:38:30 > 0:38:34with all the metal they have these days at their disposal?
0:38:34 > 0:38:38None of us knows, not even the generals, although they pretend to.
0:38:38 > 0:38:41If the European nations come to blows tonight,
0:38:41 > 0:38:43or in the next few days,
0:38:43 > 0:38:48I foresee a calamity lasting years.
0:38:48 > 0:38:51It will be a war without victors,
0:38:51 > 0:38:54which is the worst war imaginable,
0:38:54 > 0:39:00because the immense expense of blood will, in the end, be for nothing.
0:39:09 > 0:39:10HE SIGHS
0:39:12 > 0:39:13Edward?
0:39:15 > 0:39:19That's why I understand the temptation of neutrality.
0:39:21 > 0:39:26We're human beings and therefore, the temptation's almost irresistible.
0:39:26 > 0:39:30But our friend here talks as though there will be no calamity
0:39:30 > 0:39:35if we stood aside and let Belgian pleas for help,
0:39:35 > 0:39:37should they come, fall on deaf ears.
0:39:37 > 0:39:39Well...
0:39:39 > 0:39:42what about the political calamity?
0:39:42 > 0:39:46And what about the moral calamity? What would happen to our good name?
0:39:46 > 0:39:49Who would ever trust us again?
0:39:49 > 0:39:53We would have sacrificed every friend and every interest
0:39:53 > 0:39:56simply to preserve ourselves.
0:39:57 > 0:40:02And what would lay before us when that European war had ended?
0:40:02 > 0:40:05A scarred continent, to be sure,
0:40:05 > 0:40:10with all the human destruction our friend has foretold -
0:40:10 > 0:40:15not Englishmen, it is true, but our neighbours.
0:40:18 > 0:40:21And this too -
0:40:21 > 0:40:27we would face a continent under the dominion of a solitary power.
0:40:27 > 0:40:31And that a military one, dedicated to blood and iron.
0:40:34 > 0:40:38We have an obligation to France,
0:40:38 > 0:40:39unwritten perhaps,
0:40:39 > 0:40:43also to Belgium - very much written.
0:40:43 > 0:40:46Does that not mean something?
0:40:49 > 0:40:55Let every man here search his own heart and decide for himself
0:40:55 > 0:40:58whether he feels the pull of those obligations.
0:40:59 > 0:41:01I do.
0:41:01 > 0:41:04I will presently go to the House of Commons
0:41:04 > 0:41:10and make the case for supporting our allies if it should come to war.
0:41:10 > 0:41:12Then I should resign.
0:41:14 > 0:41:16What can I expect if I stay on?
0:41:17 > 0:41:21Everlasting quarrels with Winston, certainly,
0:41:21 > 0:41:24but also, with respect...
0:41:25 > 0:41:30..I would be putting my name to a policy that is fundamentally wrong.
0:41:33 > 0:41:35It's sad, but...
0:41:37 > 0:41:39..this government is folding.
0:41:43 > 0:41:45Now I have four resignations.
0:41:45 > 0:41:50Beauchamp and Simon joined John Burns earlier this morning.
0:41:51 > 0:41:53David Lloyd George.
0:41:54 > 0:41:56What is your policy?
0:41:58 > 0:42:04I would impress on Germany the importance of Belgian neutrality.
0:42:04 > 0:42:06And if Germany is not impressed?
0:42:06 > 0:42:11And Belgium fails to ask for our help,
0:42:11 > 0:42:14would you commit to war for the sake of France?
0:42:19 > 0:42:21No.
0:42:30 > 0:42:34- You'll need half an hour to yourself, Edward?- Uh?
0:42:34 > 0:42:37- Before you address the House. - Ah, yes, I would appreciate that.
0:42:37 > 0:42:40Sir Edward! Sir Edward!
0:42:41 > 0:42:44I have just been instructed by my government to inform you
0:42:44 > 0:42:47that the German fleet will not operate in the English Channel
0:42:47 > 0:42:49if Britain remains neutral.
0:42:49 > 0:42:51Isn't that encouraging?
0:42:51 > 0:42:54Is there not something there for you?
0:42:54 > 0:42:56Not really.
0:42:56 > 0:43:00What if Germany were to abide by her treaty obligations to Belgium?
0:43:00 > 0:43:02Would Britain then agree to neutrality?
0:43:02 > 0:43:04- No.- No?!
0:43:04 > 0:43:08Max, I have no idea if you were authorised to ask that question,
0:43:08 > 0:43:10I rather suspect you were not,
0:43:10 > 0:43:15but even if you were, I would still be required to say, "No".
0:43:15 > 0:43:17But that is irrational.
0:43:17 > 0:43:19My dear friend, I rather think it is you
0:43:19 > 0:43:21who is no longer seeing things clearly.
0:43:21 > 0:43:25I'm offering you a formula...to save us.
0:43:25 > 0:43:28You're asking Britain to reward Germany
0:43:28 > 0:43:31with a free hand against France
0:43:31 > 0:43:35merely for fulfilling its legal and moral obligations to Belgium.
0:43:35 > 0:43:36I cannot do that.
0:43:36 > 0:43:38Anyway, how do I know you will abide by your agreement?
0:43:38 > 0:43:42- I...- No, no, no, not you - your chiefs.
0:43:42 > 0:43:44They could still march through Belgium tomorrow
0:43:44 > 0:43:48and wreck Britain's relations with France forever
0:43:48 > 0:43:52by publishing the text of some agreement struck between you and me.
0:43:52 > 0:43:55Then, for God's sake, state the conditions
0:43:55 > 0:43:57under which Britain will remain neutral.
0:43:57 > 0:43:59I will not do that either.
0:43:59 > 0:44:03Please help me. There must be something you can insist on.
0:44:03 > 0:44:05That you do not go to war with France.
0:44:10 > 0:44:15Germany will declare war on France this afternoon.
0:44:23 > 0:44:24Will you go through Belgium?
0:44:24 > 0:44:26I don't know.
0:44:28 > 0:44:32Perhaps a corner will be clipped, I don't know.
0:44:37 > 0:44:39You'll excuse me.
0:44:40 > 0:44:43I have an address to make to the House of Commons.
0:44:53 > 0:44:58'Soon after Grey's address, Germany declared war on France.
0:44:58 > 0:45:00'Some pretext was invented -
0:45:00 > 0:45:04'a French aerial attack on Nuremberg, I think.
0:45:04 > 0:45:08'It wasn't true - certainly, nobody in Nuremberg saw it.'
0:45:09 > 0:45:13Sir, I've the latest despatches from Berlin and Brussels.
0:45:13 > 0:45:16Come here for a moment, and look at this.
0:45:19 > 0:45:22I've always loved this sight on a summer's evening.
0:45:22 > 0:45:25I find it inexpressibly consoling.
0:45:26 > 0:45:28And I want it to last forever.
0:45:31 > 0:45:35You'll be told there isn't a better time to be young
0:45:35 > 0:45:40and that you are the envy of those too old to fight.
0:45:43 > 0:45:45Perhaps that's true.
0:45:46 > 0:45:47Perhaps.
0:45:48 > 0:45:53You know, the lamps are going out all over Europe.
0:45:55 > 0:45:59We may not see them lit again in our lifetime.
0:46:24 > 0:46:26'By mid-morning, our 34th Brigade
0:46:26 > 0:46:29'had crossed the border into Belgium.'
0:46:32 > 0:46:33HE SHOUTS
0:46:33 > 0:46:35GUNFIRE
0:46:38 > 0:46:41'And King Albert of Belgium asked his parliament,
0:46:41 > 0:46:46' "Are we still committed to our independence?"
0:46:46 > 0:46:49' "Yes, yes!", came the reply.'
0:46:49 > 0:46:51'The King of the Belgians then made his appeal
0:46:51 > 0:46:55'to all the guarantors of Belgian neutrality.'
0:46:55 > 0:46:58These are the translations, two copies of each, please, Muriel.
0:46:58 > 0:47:00Is this it, do you think?
0:47:00 > 0:47:02'We heard it at midday.'
0:47:10 > 0:47:12David.
0:47:12 > 0:47:13Prime Minister.
0:47:19 > 0:47:23I do not think that we are prepared for war.
0:47:23 > 0:47:26The Governor of the Bank of England assures me that we will be
0:47:26 > 0:47:30very quickly bankrupt as a nation if we take up arms against Germany.
0:47:32 > 0:47:36And although he exaggerates somewhat, he is undoubtedly correct
0:47:36 > 0:47:38in saying that, as a mercantile nation,
0:47:38 > 0:47:39we shall suffer more than most
0:47:39 > 0:47:42because of the agonies to international trade.
0:47:43 > 0:47:46I believe also there are some people in this country,
0:47:46 > 0:47:48possibly even around this table,
0:47:48 > 0:47:53who will have been delighted by the Kaiser's decision to violate
0:47:53 > 0:47:57Belgian sovereignty this morning for the simple reason
0:47:57 > 0:48:00that it coats their own selfish enthusiasm
0:48:00 > 0:48:02for war with a moral gloss.
0:48:03 > 0:48:05However...
0:48:07 > 0:48:10..I differ from my now departed colleagues.
0:48:11 > 0:48:16I am genuinely frightened by the prospect of a rampant Germany
0:48:16 > 0:48:20sitting in Brussels and Paris and on the Channel coast.
0:48:21 > 0:48:23Do I care for Belgium?
0:48:24 > 0:48:27I fear for her, certainly.
0:48:28 > 0:48:32She is a small nation like my own -
0:48:32 > 0:48:36and she has rights, which cannot be eradicated
0:48:36 > 0:48:39just because the eradicator is strong.
0:48:39 > 0:48:41Do I care for the principle
0:48:41 > 0:48:45that international law ought to mean something?
0:48:46 > 0:48:48Yes, I do.
0:48:48 > 0:48:51There ought to be more of it, not less.
0:48:52 > 0:48:58The German invasion of Belgium has changed everything for me.
0:49:00 > 0:49:04The only sensible thing now is for this government
0:49:04 > 0:49:08to send an ultimatum to the aggressors in Berlin.
0:49:15 > 0:49:19Is there anyone who disagrees with that last sentence?
0:49:21 > 0:49:26Well, there will be no opposition from the Conservatives or the Irish Nationalists,
0:49:26 > 0:49:30I very much hope there will no opposition from our own people.
0:49:30 > 0:49:33- Just one thing, Prime Minister. - Yes.
0:49:33 > 0:49:35Do you not think we ought to consult the Dominion governments
0:49:35 > 0:49:38before we issue an ultimatum? The Australians and the Canadians
0:49:38 > 0:49:40will have their own thoughts on this, I'm quite certain.
0:49:40 > 0:49:43There is no constitutional need.
0:49:43 > 0:49:47They will see it as we see it.
0:49:54 > 0:49:56'You did the right thing.'
0:49:58 > 0:50:00None of us will survive this war.
0:50:01 > 0:50:02Politically, I mean.
0:50:07 > 0:50:11'Within the hour, the British government had drafted its ultimatum
0:50:11 > 0:50:14'to the Kaiser demanding the complete withdrawal
0:50:14 > 0:50:18'of all German troops from Belgium by midnight.'
0:50:24 > 0:50:26'That was midnight, Berlin time.
0:50:29 > 0:50:32'But the mind of our government was made up.'
0:50:33 > 0:50:39What we are doing to Belgium, we have been forced to do.
0:50:39 > 0:50:41Necessity knows no law.
0:50:42 > 0:50:47Good - necessity knows no law. That is right.
0:50:47 > 0:50:50If we think like magistrates, we are dead.
0:50:50 > 0:50:53The British think like magistrates.
0:50:53 > 0:50:54Legalism, not justice.
0:50:54 > 0:50:57They care nothing for Belgium or the treaty.
0:50:57 > 0:50:58They only care for power.
0:50:59 > 0:51:03And how they hate it when we show our appetite to be equal with theirs.
0:51:05 > 0:51:07What do you say, Bethmann?
0:51:13 > 0:51:16Our army must hack its way through Belgium.
0:51:16 > 0:51:18'I believe it was Rousseau who said,
0:51:18 > 0:51:21' "It is a sort of folly to remain wise
0:51:21 > 0:51:24' "in the midst of those who are mad." '
0:51:25 > 0:51:30'And on those 37 days, Germany was short of that kind of folly.'
0:51:33 > 0:51:34Can you take it next door?
0:51:43 > 0:51:47I hear you've decided to join the Royal Field Artillery.
0:51:47 > 0:51:48I have, sir.
0:51:56 > 0:51:59I think I'll be losing a lot of my young men.
0:52:10 > 0:52:12Thank you.
0:52:12 > 0:52:15Have you received orders to report to your regiment yet?
0:52:17 > 0:52:19Not yet, sir.
0:52:19 > 0:52:20But you will.
0:52:22 > 0:52:24I expect so, sir, yes.
0:52:29 > 0:52:31It's not a bad life, the soldiering life.
0:52:33 > 0:52:34Yes, sir.
0:52:35 > 0:52:38But I don't think you'll fall in love with it.
0:52:40 > 0:52:44I've never seen myself as a soldier, like some boys do.
0:52:48 > 0:52:51I always hoped that, under my stewardship,
0:52:51 > 0:52:55we would see Germany turn into a state with an army,
0:52:55 > 0:52:57rather than the other way around.
0:53:14 > 0:53:16The Prime Minister is in there.
0:53:16 > 0:53:19- And Winston...- Of course.
0:53:20 > 0:53:22You carry this burden alone.
0:53:23 > 0:53:25Yes.
0:53:25 > 0:53:27You once criticised me for that.
0:53:27 > 0:53:29"Too many secrets," you said.
0:53:29 > 0:53:32It's how the game is played, I understand that.
0:53:34 > 0:53:37But it is too punishing for one man.
0:53:37 > 0:53:41All your successes - we know virtually nothing about,
0:53:41 > 0:53:44they must remain private. Otherwise, they are not successes at all.
0:53:44 > 0:53:46But your failures...
0:53:46 > 0:53:50they become common property, they belong to the world.
0:53:50 > 0:53:54There is surely no hiding place from all the scorn
0:53:54 > 0:53:56and vilification that follow.
0:53:59 > 0:54:02I suppose that there comes a time in a war diplomacy
0:54:02 > 0:54:06when nothing is left standing except principle?
0:54:06 > 0:54:08CLOCK TICKS
0:54:20 > 0:54:23CLOCK CHIMES
0:54:27 > 0:54:29Perhaps I should have travelled more.
0:54:29 > 0:54:31Officially, you mean?
0:54:31 > 0:54:34Officially, personally, both.
0:54:34 > 0:54:36I've never once set foot in Germany.
0:54:36 > 0:54:37I don't think that matters.
0:54:37 > 0:54:39I could have taken my own measure of the place.
0:54:39 > 0:54:41That's what the Foreign Office is for.
0:54:41 > 0:54:46The world dissected by experts in every field,
0:54:46 > 0:54:50its vital organs displayed and explained.
0:54:50 > 0:54:53Now, all those organs are failing.
0:54:58 > 0:55:02What will it be like, do you think?
0:55:04 > 0:55:06I haven't given it much thought.
0:55:06 > 0:55:08Not the military side of things.
0:55:08 > 0:55:10Well, you've lacked the time.
0:55:10 > 0:55:13I've lacked the experience too.
0:55:13 > 0:55:15We all lack that.
0:55:15 > 0:55:17Except Winston.
0:55:18 > 0:55:22Did he ever told you about his charge with the 21st Lancers
0:55:22 > 0:55:24at the Battle of Omdurman?
0:55:24 > 0:55:26I think he did tell me about it once.
0:55:29 > 0:55:31What?
0:55:33 > 0:55:38I think perhaps this war will be a little different.
0:55:40 > 0:55:45CLOCK CHIMES THE HOUR
0:56:10 > 0:56:12'Ours became the war of the spade.
0:56:13 > 0:56:16'The first trenches were dug in the Marne Valley
0:56:16 > 0:56:18'at the end of August 1914.'
0:56:18 > 0:56:21CLOCK KEEPS CHIMING
0:56:22 > 0:56:24There was no '40-day war'.
0:56:25 > 0:56:27No triumphant gallop to Paris,
0:56:27 > 0:56:28just a murderous
0:56:28 > 0:56:32and terrifying stalemate.
0:56:32 > 0:56:35And, of course, the war spread.
0:56:35 > 0:56:37It spread to the Middle East,
0:56:37 > 0:56:41to Asia, to Africa - and beyond.
0:56:41 > 0:56:44It became the First World War.
0:56:44 > 0:56:48By 1918, four Empires were in ruins
0:56:48 > 0:56:52and four royal dynasties ended.
0:56:52 > 0:56:55The face of our continent was changed by revolution.
0:56:57 > 0:57:00And death, it seemed, could never claim too many.
0:57:01 > 0:57:03It was always hungry for more.
0:57:05 > 0:57:07'10 million died.'
0:57:10 > 0:57:13It's too many for the mind to conceive.
0:57:13 > 0:57:18Every single one of them mourned by people who loved them
0:57:18 > 0:57:21and missed them,
0:57:21 > 0:57:23with grief consuming half the world.
0:57:26 > 0:57:27Here's a funny thing.
0:57:29 > 0:57:32Austria and Russia,
0:57:32 > 0:57:36whose quarrel in the Balkans had taken everybody else to the edge,
0:57:36 > 0:57:40they were the last to declare war on each other.
0:57:40 > 0:57:42And when they did...
0:57:45 > 0:57:47..nobody really noticed.