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Documentary, The First World War - Part 1 - 10
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00:00Kusutniak park outside the Serbian capital Belgrade in May 1914 a Bosnian student Gavrilo
00:13Princip came here with a browning pistol for some target practice
00:17Princip was 19 years old according to his instructor he was not a very good shot
00:29other students were much more confident whenever Princip missed the target people standing around
00:35would laugh at him that would drive him to tears
00:38out of sight in the forest he had a chance to get his eye in shooting at trees
00:46his ultimate goal was far more ambitious
00:50I am an adherent of the radical anarchist idea which aims at destroying the present system through terrorism
00:57in 1914 Princip's wish was granted
01:16the first world war began almost by accident it ended just as strangely
01:32in between it was more destructive than any war had ever been more British French and Italian soldiers died in the first world war than died in the second
01:50more British French and Italian soldiers died in the first world war than died in the second
02:03it was the first genuinely global conflict fought not just on the fields of France and Flanders but up mountains across deserts at sea and in the air
02:13the first world war shaped the first world war shaped the 20th century
02:20it sparked the Russian Revolution
02:22it launched America as a world power
02:26the fault lines from its failed peace settlement led the world to a second terrible war barely 20 years later
02:36then to the cold war
02:43but the ideas the men of 1914 fought for still shape our world today
02:46nationalism and democracy the rule of international law and the rights of nations
02:51now after the collapse of communism the European map resembles the one redrawn by the first world war
02:57we live with its unresolved bitter consequences in the Middle East and the Balkans
03:04and it was in the Balkans that it all began nearly a hundred years ago
03:12at the start of the 20th century as at its close the Balkans were the most unstable part of Europe
03:18here three great empires fought for power and influence the Austro-Hungarian the Russian and the Ottoman
03:33for hundreds of years the Ottoman Turks had the upper hand Serbia Bosnia Albania were under their control
03:48they built over 80 mosques in Serbian Belgrade
03:57but by the 1900s only this one was left
04:03Serbia had thrown the Turks out and set herself up as an independent Slav Kingdom
04:09but right on Serbia's border was an even greater challenge to Slav nationalism
04:17the Austro-Hungarian Empire
04:23the old Turks of the south have gone
04:26but new enemies come from the north more fearsome and dangerous than the old
04:31they want to take our freedom and our language from us and crush us
04:36Gavrilo Princip was born in a poor mountainous part of Bosnia
04:51his house was destroyed in the Balkan Wars of the 1990s
04:57his initials carved in 1909 are one of the few signs he ever lived here
05:08the year before control of Bosnia had been wrested from the Turks by the Austro-Hungarians
05:15the enemy Princip wanted to destroy
05:19his particular target was the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne
05:22Franz Ferdinand
05:24member of the ruling family the Habsburgs
05:27that extraordinary empire known as the Austrian-Hungarian dual monarchy is less an empire or a kingdom or a state
05:42than the personal property of the Habsburgs whose hereditary talent for the acquisition of land is recorded on the map of Europe today
06:02the Empire was ruled by Franz Ferdinand's uncle Franz Joseph
06:12he sat on two thrones as Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary
06:21by 1914 he'd been in charge for 66 years
06:25he'd spent them trying to resist change of any kind
06:28hardly ever seen out of military uniform he hated the idea of political reform
06:36as he told US President Theodore Roosevelt
06:39you see in me the last European monarch of the old school
06:50Austria-Hungary was a key part of European security
06:53a multinational empire keeping the peace on the borders of the West
06:57the capital Vienna was one of the great cosmopolitan centers of Europe
07:04this was the Empire that produced Freud and Mahler
07:07Schiele, Kafka and Strauss
07:10it contained at least ten different nationalities
07:14not just Austrians and Hungarians
07:16but Czechs, Slovaks, Poles, Romanians, Italians, Croats and Bosnians
07:21a guide was prepared by the British Foreign Office to help work out who was who
07:30Teutons, anti-Slav, vigorous and untested
07:35very wooden and hard-headed, shy and suspicious
07:38close-fisted
07:40very tall, big noses
07:42Slovaks, ignorant but artistic
07:44Ruthines, savage and ignorant but
07:47Czechs, musical
07:49energetic, forceful, intensely
07:50but it was also an empire in a state of constant crisis
07:54Poles, all for Polish independence
07:57Bosnian Serbs, pro-Yugoslav
08:00Italians, anti-Austrian
08:03In all the empire, only the Hungarians and Austrians had any real power
08:09and the Hungarians refused to share it with the rest
08:11For countries like Serbia, Austria-Hungary was the prison of nations
08:24a repressive, undemocratic state that grounds small peoples under its heel
08:36In 1905, there were nationalist demonstrations in Vienna
08:39In 1912, there was rioting in Budapest
08:49By 1914, there'd been ethnic unrest in nearly every part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire
08:56Local parliaments were suspended, troops brought in to restore order
09:00Austria-Hungary's domestic problems gave opportunities to her enemies
09:11Serbia wanted the break-up of the empire
09:18She welcomed national unrest, particularly in Croatia and Bosnia
09:22Backed by Slav Russia, Serbia saw herself as the only independent hope for Slavs living under foreign rule in the Balkans
09:34She wanted to unite them into a single South Slav state, Yugoslavia
09:39Dragutin Dmitrievich was an officer in the Serbian army
09:49He opposed any kind of friendship with Austria
09:52The blind surrender to Austria's embrace was a most shameful betrayal of Serbian traditions
10:01I realised that Serbia must in full measure become the leader, not only of Serbs, but of Yugoslavia
10:08Dmitrievich believed killing kings could bring political change
10:16It had worked for him in the past
10:21In 1903, he led a palace revolution, killing the old king of Serbia
10:27Who was too close to Austria for the army's liking
10:29And installing a new one
10:31The crowds expressed enormous joy
10:34They stuck flowers and leaves in their caps
10:38Windows were decorated with banners, flowers, garlands
10:41Belgrade was celebrating
10:46The rest of the world was horrified at Serbia's bloody coup
10:50Serbia was treated like a rogue state
10:53A nest of revolutionaries, one foreign minister complained
10:56Only two countries sent ambassadors to King Peter's coronation
11:00Russia, Serbia's greatest ally
11:03And Austria, her greatest enemy
11:12Dmitrievich was also one of the founding members of the Black Hand
11:16A secret military society
11:19That used terrorism and assassination to try and establish Yugoslavia
11:22He is said to have sent men to murder Austro-Hungarian military leaders and cabinet ministers
11:32He allegedly tried to kill Emperor Franz Josef
11:37One saw him nowhere, yet one knew that he was doing everything
11:41By the spring of 1914, Gavrilo Princip was also in Belgrade, talking revolution with his friends
11:54Then the young Bosnians heard that Archduke Franz Ferdinand would visit Sarajevo in June
11:59Here was their chance to match deeds to words
12:01Luckily for them, their plans reached the ears of Dmitrievich and the Black Hand
12:03Dmitrievich worked in the Kalamegd
12:30Magdan fortress in Belgrade as chief of Serbian military intelligence
12:41In the spring of 1914 major voyeur tankasic also in the black hand walked into his office with a question
12:51I've got some Bosnian youths pestering me these kids want to pull off some great deed at any cost
12:57They've heard that Franz Ferdinand is coming to Bosnia and have begged me to let them go there
13:02What do you say? I've told them they cannot go, but they give me no peace
13:11Franz Ferdinand was going to Bosnia to observe the Austro-Hungarian armies maneuvers in the hills outside Sarajevo
13:27As intelligence chief Dmitrievich fear these maneuvers were a smokescreen the what France Ferdinand really planned was an invasion of Serbia
13:44As leader of the black hand he believed anything that destabilized Austria-Hungary was good for his beloved Serbia
13:50Princip's plan to murder France Ferdinand suited him perfectly fine. He said let him go
14:12Unlike Gavrilo Princip Archduke Franz Ferdinand was an excellent shot
14:16One of his castles Connor fished in what is now the Czech Republic is full of the evidence
14:28By the age of 50 he'd shot 5,000 stags as well as 200,000 other animals all carefully numbered
14:38Anyone who disturbed the Archduke's peace at Connor fished by trespassing on his land as
14:42Unsuspecting trippers sometimes did on Sundays had to reckon with being shouted out by an irascible and almost apoplectic proprietor
14:50Who threatened to shoot anyone who dared set foot in his grounds a second time?
14:58By 1914
15:00Franz Ferdinand was Emperor-in-waiting
15:03Everyone knew it couldn't be long before his uncle died
15:07Even the official portrait was ready
15:09Franz Ferdinand with the stars and sash only the Emperor could wear
15:16He had no time for the etiquette and convention that hemmed in the Vienna court
15:23He defied his uncle by marrying Sophie Hotek who was not of royal blood
15:28The most intelligent thing I've ever done in my life has been the marriage to myself
15:40She is everything to me my wife my advisor my doctor my guardian angel in a word my entire happiness
15:51Franz Ferdinand also had radical ideas for political reform
15:55He recognized that the less power national minorities had within the Empire the more they'd look to other countries for help
16:06The old system allowed ethnic Germans and Hungarians to dominate the government
16:10It was a system that couldn't last I
16:15Can't help being surprised that there is any loyalty left among the nationalities after their treatment for so many years past I must have them with me
16:24This is the only salvation for the future
16:31In 1914 the German Emperor came to stay with Franz Ferdinand at Konopischt
16:37The Kaiser had a simple solution for dealing with troublesome national minorities
16:43The Slavs are born not to rule but to obey
16:46This must be brought home to them and if they imagine they can look to Belgrade for their salvation
16:51They must be cured of this belief
16:58But Franz Ferdinand had a better idea
17:00He thought political reform was the best way to keep the multinational Austrian Empire on its feet and protect his own future as Emperor
17:07He had this map drawn up showing how the Habsburg Empire could become the United States of Great Austria
17:17Above all, Franz Ferdinand wanted to avoid war in the Balkans
17:21One night he made a toast after dinner
17:25To peace!
17:27What would we get out of war with Serbia?
17:29We'd lose the lives of young men and we'd spend money better used elsewhere
17:34And what would we gain for heaven's sake?
17:36A few plum trees, some pastures full of goat droppings and a bunch of rebellious killers
17:39Gavrilo Princip crossed the border from Serbia into Austria-Hungary here at the Drina river
17:58He paddled out to Isakovic Island where there was a Serbian guard post
18:02The soldiers helped him wade ashore into Bosnia
18:13From here, he made his way to Sarajevo
18:16Where he met up with six others in on the plot
18:19The Serbian Major Tankasic had supplied them with four pistols
18:23Six bombs and suicide pills in case of capture
18:27They were already in Sarajevo when Franz Ferdinand arrived outside the capital on the 25th of June
18:37They planned to attack him three days later as he drove from the railway station to the town hall
18:46One would be stationed at the first bridge on this road
18:50Princip and the others would cover the rest of the route
18:59Franz Ferdinand chose the date of his visit badly
19:03Sarajevo was decked in flags for the occasion
19:06But the 28th of June was Serbian National Day
19:09A natural focus for hatred of the Habsburgs
19:12As the Serbian ambassador to Vienna warned
19:15This will cause much discontent
19:19Some young Serb might put a live round rather than a blank in his gun
19:24And fire it
19:26Therefore it might be good if Archduke Franz Ferdinand
19:29Were not to go to Sarajevo
19:32But the Austrians laughed off the ambassador's fears
19:36On the morning of the 28th of June
19:40Franz Ferdinand and Sophie arrived by train in Sarajevo
19:44Despite the warnings security was light
19:49No soldiers lined the streets
19:52Just a handful of policemen
19:53The royal car was a greffemstift tourer
19:57At Franz Ferdinand's request it travelled with the top down
19:59Very slowly
20:01So the crowds could see him and he could see the sights
20:06As the procession passed the first bridge
20:08The conspirator there threw his bomb
20:09Sitting opposite the royal couple was Oskar Potiarek
20:12The explosion came immediately after the Archduchess's cry to drive on quickly
20:16I was sure no damage had been done to our car
20:18And the Archduke commented very calmly
20:20I've always thought something like this might happen
20:22The bomb had bounced off the car, exploding behind it and wounding two officers and some onlookers
20:26The bomb had bounced off the car, exploding behind it and wounding two officers and some onlookers
20:28Franz Ferdinand stopped to ask after the casualties before hurrying on to the town hall
20:31The bomb came immediately after the Archduchess's cry to drive on quickly
20:33I was sure no damage had been done to our car
20:35And the Archduke commented very calmly
20:38I've always thought something like this might happen
20:41The bomb had bounced off the car, exploding behind it and wounding two officers and some onlookers
20:52Franz Ferdinand stopped to ask after the casualties before hurrying on to the town hall
20:56There the Mayor of Sarajevo began his official welcome speech
21:01The Archduke interrupted
21:03Lord Mayor, what is the good of your speeches?
21:06I come to Sarajevo on a friendly visit and someone throws a bomb at me
21:10This is outrageous!
21:16So far the young Bosnian's plans had gone badly wrong
21:19Franz Ferdinand was alive
21:20Official security was now on high alert
21:24Gavrilo Princip turned to go home
21:26Stopping on the corner of Franz Josef Street to buy a sandwich
21:30Then his luck changed
21:35Franz Ferdinand had left the town hall
21:37He should have been driven straight along the river
21:38Travelling too fast to give any other assassins a chance
21:40But his driver took a wrong turn at the corner of Franz Josef Street
21:41As the royal car tried to reverse onto the main road, Princip came face to face with his target
21:47At that moment I heard the crack of a pistol shot
21:52Followed swiftly by another
21:54And saw in the same split second
21:56A man standing standing on the ground
21:57He was travelling too fast to give any other assassins a chance
22:00But his driver took a wrong turn at the corner of Franz Josef Street
22:03As the Royal car tried to reverse onto the main road, Princip came face to face with his target
22:07At that moment I heard the crack of a pistol shot
22:10Followed swiftly by another
22:13And saw in the same split second
22:16A man standing right in front of me being thrown to the ground by the people around him
22:20And the shining sabre of a security guard descending on him
22:26A thin stream of blood spurted from his highness's mouth onto my right cheek
22:31The Duchess cried out
22:33In heaven's name what has happened to you?
22:35Then she slid off the seat and lay on the floor of the car
22:37I thought she had simply fainted
22:41Then I heard his Imperial Highness say
22:44Saufurl, Saufurl, don't die
22:46Stay alive for the children
22:48I asked him if he was in great pain
22:51He answered me quite distinctly
22:53It's nothing
22:55Franz Ferdinand and Sophie died on the way to hospital
22:58The people of Sarajevo didn't know that a clutch of Serbian army officers had secretly sponsored the assassination
23:13But they made the same leap the world did
23:17That Serbia had as good as pulled the trigger herself
23:19The pro-Austrian element in the crowd went wild
23:24The excitement of the moment turned into fury against everyone and everything Serbian
23:29Serbian shops, schools and churches were smashed and looted
23:34The streets choked with furniture, clothes, bicycles, books
23:38Even icons and crosses
23:41Twisted and befouled lying in heaps in the gutters
23:49Over 200 Serbs were arrested in Sarajevo alone
23:54Local officials hanged some in the city prison
24:00Many more died in pogroms across Bosnia and Herzegovina
24:10The funeral of Franz Ferdinand and Sophie was held in Vienna on the 4th of July
24:16Oskar Potirek had already written to the Foreign Ministry
24:20Calling for Austria-Hungary to take revenge against Serbia
24:22We must take the first opportunity for a destructive blow against Serbia
24:28We must take the first opportunity for a destructive blow against Serbia
24:32To give the monarchy a few decades of calm internal development
24:36Serbia must learn to fear us again
24:44Austro-Hungarian Chief of Staff Conrad von Hertzendorf agreed
24:48This is not the crime of a single fanatic
24:52Assassination represents Serbia's declaration of war on Austria-Hungary
24:57If we miss this occasion
24:59The monarchy will be exposed to new explosions of ethnic unrest
25:04Austria-Hungary must wage war for political reasons
25:08In life, the Crown Prince had been a champion of peaceful coexistence with Serbia
25:18In death, he was becoming a cause for war
25:23The murder of Franz Ferdinand did not immediately set Europe alight
25:34International tensions in early July remained low
25:39But behind the scenes in Vienna, Austria-Hungary's leaders were planning how to take revenge on Serbia
25:45Without getting stamped on by Serbia's powerful friends
25:48Even before the assassination, Army Chief of Staff Conrad von Hertzendorf had pressed for war against Serbia no fewer than 20 times
26:05Now he made his case again
26:07I expressed to his majesty my opinion that war with Serbia was unavoidable
26:15That is entirely correct, said his majesty
26:18But how are you going to wage war if everyone, in particular Russia, is going to attack us?
26:25We have backing from Germany, I replied
26:28His majesty gave me a searching look and said, Can you be certain of that?
26:32This was the moment when what could have been just another war in the Balkans began to turn into the First World War
26:44Austro-Hungarian Emperor Franz Josef now asked the German Kaiser for support
26:49On the 6th of July he got just the answer he wanted
26:52The German government is of the opinion that we must decide what is to be done
26:56Whatever we decide, we may always be certain that we will find Germany at our side, a faithful ally and friend of our monarchy
27:05Germany's crucial decision to back Austria was made with no care for the consequences
27:16Neither the Kaiser nor his senior political and military leaders took any steps to find out what Austria-Hungary had in mind
27:23It was an extraordinary oversight
27:26It was an extraordinary oversight
27:28Because nothing in the Balkans happened in isolation
27:35Europe was divided into two camps
27:38On one side were Germany, Austria, Hungary and Italy
27:42On the other were France and Russia
27:46War with one could mean war with the others
27:49No one knew how Russia would respond if one of the leading Balkan countries was attacked
27:56She might go to war with Austria to protect Serbia
28:00Then Germany would have to fight to protect Austria
28:03The Germans thought the Russians might stay out of it
28:14The German ambassador in St. Petersburg insisted Russia couldn't risk war for fear of internal revolution
28:21The German foreign minister decided Austria would quietly settle with Serbia
28:25The German chancellor, Bettman Holweg, was almost as confident
28:33The crime of Sarajevo was reprehensible
28:37But politically it would have the positive result of making Russia thoroughly disgusted with the Serbs
28:42It was Germany's confidence support that pushed Austria forward
28:53But far from plunging the world into war in 1914 out of aggression
28:59Germany was just nudging it closer out of incompetence and wishful thinking
29:03The Kaiser was so sure no war was brewing that he went on holiday
29:14In Sarajevo the trial of Gavrilo Princip was underway
29:19The court heard plenty of evidence to prove that Serbian army officers had helped him
29:24And with Germany's unconditional support that was enough for Austria
29:27She sentenced Princip to 20 years in jail where he died in 1918
29:34She sent Serbia an ultimatum
29:42This document was Austria's excuse for war
29:45It was filled with demands so extreme and insulting that Serbia could never accept them
29:50But just in case they did
29:53The Austrian ambassador in Belgrade was ordered to reject any reply as unacceptable
30:02He delivered the ultimatum at 6pm on the 23rd of July 1914
30:10Slavka Mihailovic was a Belgrade doctor
30:13The news of the ultimatum spread quickly
30:16And soon there was a real alert
30:18Streets and bars were crowded with anxious people
30:21Everybody wondered what answer our government would give
30:25Whether a new war would be avoided
30:30Austria's ultimatum caught the world's diplomats napping
30:35The French government, the French press and public opinion have been inconceivably surprised
30:39Paris is almost dead
30:43Paris is almost dead
30:46All the ambassadors but one are out of town
30:49The Italian ambassador is in Ireland
30:53The Kaiser was on his yacht in Norway when the text of the Austrian ultimatum arrived
30:57The Kaiser arrived on deck as usual after breakfast and said to me, I was still holding the wireless message
31:12That's a pretty strong note for once in a while
31:15It certainly is, I replied
31:18But it means war
31:20Whereupon the Kaiser observed that Serbia would never risk a war
31:24She might not have risked it on her own
31:29But on the 24th of July the Serbian regent, Prince Alexander, telegrammed Russia for help
31:35In St Petersburg the Russian foreign minister spoke frankly to the British ambassador
31:43Austria would not have acted so aggressively without the consent of Germany
31:48I hope the British government would declare itself on the side of France and Russia without delay
31:54Russia was convinced that Germany was warmongering
32:01On the 26th of July she called up her reserves
32:08This was the second key stage of the crisis
32:11As Britain's foreign secretary, Edward Grey, warned on the 28th
32:15From the moment the dispute ceases to be one between Austria, Hungary and Serbia
32:19And becomes one in which another great power is involved
32:24It cannot but end in the greatest catastrophe that has ever befallen the continent of Europe
32:31Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia that same day
32:37The first shots of the war were fired from here
32:40The Austrian fortress of Zeeman, just across the river from Belgrade
32:44In the dead of night, Major Voya Tankasic had the black hand blow the only railway bridge
32:52Windows shattered to smithereens and broken glass covered the floor
32:58Patients started screaming
33:01Then there was another explosion
33:04And another one
33:05So it was true
33:11The war had begun
33:25How well our old city deserved the name the Turks had given her
33:28The House of Wars
33:30Shells fired from all sides were criss-crossing above her
33:33The Austrians had peculiar weapons
33:37The so-called monitors
33:39Little boats armed with heavy guns circling Belgrade like rabid dogs
33:43And firing from every direction
33:45It was still only a war between Austria-Hungary and Serbia
33:51And on the 29th of July, as the shells fell on Belgrade
33:55There was a final attempt to keep it that way
33:59A series of last-minute telegrams flashed across Europe
34:04Tsar to Kaiser, cousin to cousin
34:07Dear Willy, an ignoble war has been declared on a weak country
34:11The indignation in Russia is enormous
34:14Dear Nicky, I am exerting my utmost influence on the Austrians
34:17I confidently hope you will help me
34:19Dear Willy, my troops shall not take any provocative action
34:22But by now the crisis was beyond the control of monarchs or politicians
34:28It was in the hands of the military
34:31From the moment Russia mobilised her army
34:34German generals knew their own clock was ticking
34:36The alliance between France and Russia meant that Germany faced a war on two fronts
34:49Her only hope was to deal with France in the west
34:52Before the main Russian armies could invade from the east
34:55That left no time to wait and see
34:58For Germany, Russian mobilisation meant war
35:00Germany hadn't looked for a fight
35:10Her generals knew a European war would be long and devastating
35:15Even for the victors
35:17But if it was going to happen, they thought
35:19Better sooner than later
35:20According to all competent observation, Russia will be prepared to fight in a few years
35:30Then she will crush us by the number of her soldiers
35:33Then she will have built her Baltic sea fleet and strategic railways
35:37Our side, meanwhile, will have grown steadily weaker
35:40On the 1st of August, Germany declared war on Russia
35:48Two days later, she declared war on Russia's ally, France
35:59Across Europe, 10 million men headed off to fight
36:03For all the bands and flag-waving, many went unwillingly to war
36:11Where are we off to? France? Belgium? Or the east?
36:16At the station, people waved goodbye, some with handkerchiefs
36:19I thought of my wife and child left alone at home
36:23In fact, it wasn't so much a thought
36:26As a fearful shadow flitting over my soul
36:28God, how long is this town?
36:41My bane is digging in, my collars strangling me
36:44When I look up, I see a pretty girl
36:48She was so full of admiration
36:51So moved by it all that I realized we've got to look handsome and walk tall
36:55Off we march to the sound of shrill brass
36:59Although where we're going, you die
37:02You're defaced, hacked up, torn apart
37:04All down the line, my comrades straightened up at the sight of her
37:14There's great excitement among my comrades
37:18The bachelors are calm, they're even joking about it
37:22Family men are depressed
37:25Some are saying we'll get nothing from this war
37:27We'll get beaten by the Germans
37:30What's in it for us peasant soldiers?
37:32Why have we got to fight for some offended Serbs?
37:37The leaders had little better idea why they were fighting than the men
37:41They had no lists of war aims
37:44Germany and Austria, Serbia, Russia and France
37:48Were all convinced they were fighting a defensive war
37:51Forced on them by someone else
37:57The only great power in Europe still on the sidelines
38:00Was Britain
38:09On the 2nd of August 1914
38:12Britain was still at peace
38:13But only just
38:17We've been in a state of great excitement
38:20As the reservists are being called up
38:22All the railways are guarded
38:24Everything points to the great war
38:26So long expected being upon us
38:31But Britain was the only great power
38:34Who could not claim she was the victim of aggression
38:36Nobody had attacked her
38:38So why should she fight?
38:40It wasn't really to defend the rights of small nations
38:43At least, not Serbia, according to the Manchester Guardian
38:47If it were physically possible for Serbia to be towed out to sea and sunk there
38:51The air of Europe would at once seem cleaner
38:56Nor was Britain bound by treaty obligations
39:01As the Foreign Secretary, Edward Grey, assured Parliament
39:05We are not parties to the Franco-Russian Alliance
39:10We do not even know the terms of the Alliance
39:12But in private, Grey and other leaders knew that Britain had to fight
39:22If Britain stayed neutral
39:24The war would still threaten the country's vast empire
39:27Its global trade and security
39:29And Britain needed to stay on friendly terms with France and Russia
39:33Even in peacetime, she was not powerful enough to defend her empire against everyone
39:39In Africa and India, the safety of Britain's colonies depended on French and Russian goodwill
39:46In 1914, Britain feared her friends just as much as her enemies
39:53If we fail Russia now, we cannot hope to maintain that friendly cooperation with her in Asia
40:02That is of such vital importance to us
40:05Above all, Britain could never afford to have Europe dominated by a triumphant Germany
40:11If Germany overran the Channel ports, Britain's control of the seas would be under threat
40:17Prime Minister Herbert Asquith took a pragmatic view
40:21It is quite against British interests that France should be wiped out
40:27At 11pm on the 4th of August, Britain declared war on Germany
40:34It was like awaiting the signal for the pulling of a lever which would hurl millions to their doom
40:39The deep notes of Big Ben rang out into the night
40:43The first strokes in Britain's most fateful hour since she arose out of the deep
40:47Every face was suddenly contracted into a painful intensity
40:56It's horrible to think of all the suffering which may follow our mobilization
41:00I suppose the less one thinks of it, the better
41:02We never talk of death and very seldom think much about it
41:07It's when everyone is asleep and you are awake that sometimes you look into the future and wonder
41:14The British government had a war book listing all that had to be done in an emergency
41:20The country's leaders knew war would be a long and painful struggle
41:25A slow grinding process of blockade, of starving the enemy out
41:32But most civilians had no idea what they were getting into
41:38Across Europe there was a run on the banks
41:43The war couldn't last longer than a year, the French finance minister told a British general
41:48Because the money to pay for it would run out
41:51Most people expected Britain, with the largest navy in the world, to fight a sea war
42:04The foreign secretary reassured the nation
42:10For us, with a powerful fleet, which we believe able to protect our commerce
42:17To protect our shores, and to protect our interests
42:20If we are engaged in war, we shall suffer but little more than we shall suffer if we stand aside
42:25Burt Fielder was a sergeant in the Royal Marines
42:36He reassured his wife
42:39My dear Nell, I don't think this war is going to be half as bad as people expect it to be
42:44You see, it's not a hard job for England, so there's no need to worry yourself
42:49As long as I can keep you informed as to where I am, it'll all be alright
42:53But the weapons with which the world went to war were so new that few had ever been fired in anger
43:03Countries were armed with battleships and submarines less than ten years old
43:08Nobody really knew how to use them
43:11All the European powers had been stockpiling new artillery, machine guns, explosive shells
43:18But none had fought a major war in Europe for over 40 years
43:29The crisis had begun in the Balkans
43:32And as the Austrians faced up to the Serbs, the First World War started here, as it would go on everywhere else
43:38A war in which old scores would be settled and the rule book thrown away
43:49The war is taking us into a country inhabited by a population inspired with fanatical hatred towards ourselves
43:57An attitude of extreme severity, extreme harshness and extreme distrust is to be observed towards everybody
44:04In some sectors, Serbian civilians did fight a guerrilla war
44:11Not in uniform, not in the regular army
44:14It was hard for the Austrians to tell who was a real enemy, who was not
44:19But their reprisals against the Serbian people were vicious
44:23This was a war of nationalities and races
44:34Not just against an enemy army, but against whole peoples
44:41In the first month of the war, 4,000 civilians in Western Serbia were killed or disappeared
44:46They burned houses down, looted, raped, killed
44:54Seventeen people, all women, girls, children tied with rope, dead in a ditch by the road
45:02All of them slaughtered
45:03At 9am I went to Lesnice to get some supplies for the battery
45:10In the town you could see the atrocities left behind by the enemy
45:16Ten people, some children among them, had been hanged near the church
45:21About a hundred people, their throats cut at the railway station
45:27A terrible sight to cast your eyes on
45:29At the Serbian town of Prinjava, this memorial commemorates those who died
45:35The Serbian government had been hanged near the church
45:40Ten people, some children among them, had been hanged near the church
45:43About a hundred people, their throats cut at the railway station
45:45The Serbian government commissioned a report into the massacres by a Swiss doctor, Rodolf Reis
45:56The massacres of the civil population were systematically organised by the command of the invading army
46:03It's upon the command that all responsibility must rest
46:07And also the disgrace with which this army has covered itself for all time
46:15The Serbian army was far less ruthless when it came to fighting the Serbian army
46:27That too set a pattern for the war
46:30A foretaste of the military weakness which would dog Austria-Hungary's partnership with Germany
46:37This was a war in which events on one front could have a critical effect on another
46:45Germany was relying on her ally Austria-Hungary to hold the Eastern Front
46:53With Russia massing on her borders, Germany was horrified to learn Austria had concentrated her reserves
47:00Not against Russia, but down in the Balkans to deal with Serbia
47:04Meanwhile, the main Serbian army had marched up from the south of the country
47:10Gathering numbers as it went
47:11On the 12th of August, it finally met the Austrians at Ser Mountain
47:21The Serbs had taken up strong defensive positions along the mountain range
47:26And waited for the Austrians to walk into the trap
47:29The Serbs surrounded us
47:32The Serbian artillery had the range perfectly
47:34Unluckily, so we were told by senior officers, we had arrived at the Serbian artillery practice area
47:42Laughable
47:47The Serbs easily beat off the Austro-Hungarian attack
47:50We could see the enemy retreating along the river
47:53Their ammunition train left all their carts in the valley and ran away as soon as they were hit by our artillery
47:59A beaten army, no, an uncontrolled mob ran towards the border in senseless panic
48:07Drivers whipped their horses, officers and soldiers shoved and squeezed through between the columns of wagons
48:13Austro-Hungarian prisoners captured in the first Allied victory of the war
48:29Austria had thought Serbia would be a pushover, swift revenge for the murder of Franz Ferdinand
48:35But Serbia had scattered the Austrian army
48:44The victories of 1914 cost Serbia 130,000 men
48:48They did not die in vain, reads the inscription on this memorial to Serbia's dead
48:53Every nation would learn that nothing in this war would be easy, quick or clean
48:58On the Western Front, a French ambulance driver wrote to his son
49:08Do you ever think of your daddy walking day and night over ploughed fields and getting very used to shells exploding all over the place?
49:15I'd really like to hear from you
49:18How's school?
49:20Don't be too quick to learn the geography of Europe
49:23I think it's all about to change
49:25In the next episode of the First World War, German armies roll into Belgium and France, leaving a trail of atrocities
49:41And France, aided by Britain, fights for her life
49:44For her life
49:45For her life
49:48For her life
49:52For her life
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