1 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:07,000 Downloaded from YTS.MX 2 00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:13,000 Official YIFY movies site: YTS.MX 3 00:00:12,000 --> 00:00:14,240 [train rattling on tracks] 4 00:00:51,160 --> 00:00:53,200 [train horn] 5 00:00:58,280 --> 00:00:59,560 [indistinct chatter] 6 00:01:04,480 --> 00:01:07,240 [brakes squeal] 7 00:01:10,960 --> 00:01:12,840 [shuffling footsteps] 8 00:01:21,960 --> 00:01:23,280 [dramatic music] 9 00:01:30,120 --> 00:01:31,560 [rattling and clanking] 10 00:01:35,840 --> 00:01:36,920 [metallic squealing] 11 00:01:42,760 --> 00:01:45,160 [indistinct chatter] 12 00:01:52,600 --> 00:01:54,080 [rattling and clanking] 13 00:02:01,680 --> 00:02:04,160 [repeated explosions] 14 00:02:08,199 --> 00:02:09,320 [man yells] 15 00:02:24,200 --> 00:02:26,360 [all yelling] 16 00:02:26,920 --> 00:02:28,360 [signal whistle] 17 00:02:32,360 --> 00:02:35,360 [narrator]The First World War was the largest armed conflict 18 00:02:35,440 --> 00:02:37,480 that the world had ever seen… 19 00:02:39,640 --> 00:02:40,640 the Great War. 20 00:02:47,560 --> 00:02:51,520 Since the summer of 1914 and over the next four years, 21 00:02:51,600 --> 00:02:54,600 more than 40 countries were fighting each other, 22 00:02:56,760 --> 00:02:57,640 on land… 23 00:02:59,800 --> 00:03:00,760 sea… 24 00:03:03,680 --> 00:03:04,800 and in the air… 25 00:03:05,880 --> 00:03:07,880 [machine gun fire] 26 00:03:07,960 --> 00:03:09,360 [engine splutters] 27 00:03:11,640 --> 00:03:12,800 …with no mercy… 28 00:03:16,320 --> 00:03:17,560 and to the bitter end. 29 00:03:20,120 --> 00:03:24,520 Crimes against the civilian populations of Serbia and Belgium. 30 00:03:24,600 --> 00:03:25,680 [loud boom] 31 00:03:26,480 --> 00:03:29,320 Gas among the trenches of the Western Front. 32 00:03:31,400 --> 00:03:35,800 Unrestricted submarine warfare waged by Germany and Austria-Hungary. 33 00:03:38,480 --> 00:03:41,120 The Allied blockade of Germany, 34 00:03:41,200 --> 00:03:44,440 Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire. 35 00:03:47,680 --> 00:03:50,120 The Ottoman genocide of the Greeks, 36 00:03:50,200 --> 00:03:53,240 the Assyrians and the Armenian people 37 00:03:55,600 --> 00:03:59,040 were just some among many faces of this war. 38 00:04:05,920 --> 00:04:08,960 By the time it ended in November of 1918, 39 00:04:09,560 --> 00:04:13,040 the Great War left over 20 million people wounded 40 00:04:17,040 --> 00:04:19,720 and more than 16 million dead. 41 00:04:28,280 --> 00:04:30,080 The Bolshevik revolution in Russia, 42 00:04:33,920 --> 00:04:37,080 the rise of the USA as the dominant world power, 43 00:04:39,160 --> 00:04:42,360 Nazism and the coming of Adolf Hitler to power, 44 00:04:43,200 --> 00:04:46,680 were all direct products of the First World War, 45 00:04:49,800 --> 00:04:52,480 as was the Second World War. 46 00:04:58,400 --> 00:05:02,400 And then the Cold War in its many forms and shapes. 47 00:05:04,400 --> 00:05:07,400 The Balkan wars of the 1990s. 48 00:05:08,880 --> 00:05:11,080 The everlasting Middle East crisis. 49 00:05:15,640 --> 00:05:17,080 [soft music] 50 00:05:19,280 --> 00:05:22,720 In the summer of 1914, Europe was at peace. 51 00:05:26,040 --> 00:05:29,440 There hadn't been a major war for more than 50 years, 52 00:05:29,520 --> 00:05:32,400 the era known as Belle Epoque. 53 00:05:37,840 --> 00:05:41,440 On June the 28th on Franz Joseph Street in Sarajevo, 54 00:05:41,520 --> 00:05:45,720 the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, then part of Austria-Hungary, 55 00:05:45,800 --> 00:05:48,960 the heir to the Austrian throne was assassinated 56 00:05:49,040 --> 00:05:51,240 by a young Bosnian student. 57 00:05:53,360 --> 00:05:54,760 [military drumbeat] 58 00:05:55,480 --> 00:05:57,560 For that reason, a month later 59 00:05:57,640 --> 00:06:00,320 Austria-Hungary was to declare war on Serbia. 60 00:06:00,400 --> 00:06:02,600 [repeated explosions] 61 00:06:06,480 --> 00:06:08,600 And seven days after that, 62 00:06:08,680 --> 00:06:12,600 all of the European Great Powers would march into war. 63 00:06:13,320 --> 00:06:15,720 [fanfare] 64 00:06:22,840 --> 00:06:28,360 But why is it that the nations of Europe and the world went to war so readily, 65 00:06:30,320 --> 00:06:34,720 and how did the First World War ever came about? 66 00:06:50,360 --> 00:06:52,720 -[birds chirping] -[ominous music] 67 00:07:13,720 --> 00:07:18,400 In the 1870s, 40 years before the Sarajevo assassination, 68 00:07:19,080 --> 00:07:23,760 Bosnia and Herzegovina were still a part of the Ottoman Empire. 69 00:07:27,080 --> 00:07:30,080 And this was so ever since the 15th century 70 00:07:30,160 --> 00:07:32,440 when the Ottoman Turks had broken into Europe 71 00:07:32,520 --> 00:07:35,200 and conquered most of the Balkans. 72 00:07:38,800 --> 00:07:42,560 But now, after four centuries of the cruel regime, 73 00:07:42,640 --> 00:07:44,880 the empire's end was in sight. 74 00:07:49,200 --> 00:07:51,800 Throughout the 19th century, the Balkan peoples 75 00:07:51,880 --> 00:07:54,920 the Serbs, Greeks, Bulgarians and Romanians 76 00:07:55,000 --> 00:07:57,720 had turned to arms to liberate their lands. 77 00:07:59,560 --> 00:08:04,160 Now the time came for Bosnia and Herzegovina. 78 00:08:07,240 --> 00:08:09,400 [Bataković] The slogan which was very popular was 79 00:08:09,480 --> 00:08:11,600 "Balkans to the Balkan people," 80 00:08:12,280 --> 00:08:15,920 meaning that Great Powers should not intervene 81 00:08:16,000 --> 00:08:19,080 and let the Balkans people agree among themselves 82 00:08:19,160 --> 00:08:20,480 about their own future. 83 00:08:22,120 --> 00:08:25,600 [Höbelt] The plurality of the population of Bosnia actually is Serb, 84 00:08:25,680 --> 00:08:30,320 so I think it's natural for Serbia wanting to reunite those Serbs 85 00:08:30,400 --> 00:08:31,520 with the motherland, 86 00:08:31,600 --> 00:08:34,559 just as it was natural in 19th century terms 87 00:08:34,640 --> 00:08:37,840 that they would want the Serbs of southern Hungary and Slavonia 88 00:08:37,919 --> 00:08:40,080 to be reunited with the rest of Serbia. 89 00:08:40,880 --> 00:08:43,200 [narrator] But the future of Bosnia and Herzegovina 90 00:08:43,280 --> 00:08:47,440 was also a matter of principal interest to a great power. 91 00:08:50,480 --> 00:08:54,760 Since the mid-19th century, the foundations of the Austrian Empire 92 00:08:54,840 --> 00:08:59,080 were shaken by the revolutions and the civil war with the Hungarians. 93 00:08:59,160 --> 00:09:00,840 -[people yelling] -[fire crackling] 94 00:09:04,600 --> 00:09:08,400 By 1860s, the Austrian Empire lost its Italian provinces 95 00:09:08,480 --> 00:09:10,520 in wars with Piedmont. 96 00:09:10,600 --> 00:09:14,440 And in war with Prussia, Austria lost its dominant position 97 00:09:14,520 --> 00:09:16,600 in the German Confederation. 98 00:09:18,080 --> 00:09:22,560 As both Italy and Germany were now unified at Austria's expense, 99 00:09:22,640 --> 00:09:25,200 the Emperor Franz Joseph was determined to prevent 100 00:09:25,280 --> 00:09:27,360 the further crumbling of the Empire 101 00:09:27,440 --> 00:09:31,520 and reach the so-called Compromise with the Hungarians. 102 00:09:33,760 --> 00:09:36,160 Although the name was now Austria-Hungary, 103 00:09:36,240 --> 00:09:40,080 the largest ethnic group within the empire were actually Slavs, 104 00:09:40,160 --> 00:09:44,880 who outnumbered both the Austrian Germans and the Hungarians together. 105 00:09:49,480 --> 00:09:56,480 [Bled in French] Vienna's great fear is that Serbia might set her foreign policy 106 00:09:56,560 --> 00:09:59,640 towards the South Slavs of the Monarchy, 107 00:10:00,880 --> 00:10:07,680 and that Belgrade might become the Piedmont of the South Slavs. 108 00:10:08,800 --> 00:10:10,440 [archive voiceover] Any extension of Serbia 109 00:10:10,520 --> 00:10:12,600 which would embrace Bosnia Herzegovina 110 00:10:12,680 --> 00:10:14,280 as well as some other districts 111 00:10:14,360 --> 00:10:17,440 could not be reconciled with the standpoint of Austria-Hungary, 112 00:10:18,000 --> 00:10:21,120 a portion of whose subjects belong to the same race 113 00:10:21,200 --> 00:10:24,680 and might therefore become enthused with similar aspirations. 114 00:10:26,000 --> 00:10:28,760 [Bled] Vienna could have accepted the nation-states, 115 00:10:28,840 --> 00:10:33,560 but only those which remained of limited importance, 116 00:10:33,640 --> 00:10:35,520 those over which it could exert control. 117 00:10:35,600 --> 00:10:38,520 If Serbia were to annex Bosnia and Herzegovina, 118 00:10:38,600 --> 00:10:45,360 she would thus obviously become a mid-rank state, 119 00:10:45,440 --> 00:10:46,840 and that was not acceptable. 120 00:10:47,400 --> 00:10:49,880 [narrator] In the summer of 1875, 121 00:10:49,960 --> 00:10:53,600 gunfire was heard again in the mountains of Herzegovina. 122 00:10:54,080 --> 00:10:55,720 [repeated shots] 123 00:10:58,680 --> 00:11:01,320 [Bataković] It remained totally unknown that the Bosnian Serbs 124 00:11:01,400 --> 00:11:03,880 during these insurrections 125 00:11:03,960 --> 00:11:08,120 proclaimed, on several occasions, unification with Serbia. 126 00:11:08,200 --> 00:11:11,480 Bosnia with Serbia, and Herzegovina with another Serbian state, 127 00:11:11,560 --> 00:11:14,080 which was the principality of Montenegro. 128 00:11:14,680 --> 00:11:18,480 [narrator]In July of 1876, both Serbia and Montenegro 129 00:11:18,560 --> 00:11:20,960 declared war on the Ottoman Empire. 130 00:11:21,640 --> 00:11:23,040 [clanking] 131 00:11:25,000 --> 00:11:29,640 But the destiny of Bosnia and Herzegovina had already been made. 132 00:11:30,280 --> 00:11:33,920 [archive voiceover] Austria-Hungary cannot permit that Serbia occupy and keep 133 00:11:34,000 --> 00:11:37,440 the enclave between Dalmatia, Croatia and Slavonia, 134 00:11:37,520 --> 00:11:40,480 as this would mean a danger to the provinces of the monarchy, 135 00:11:40,560 --> 00:11:42,960 especially to its Dalmatian littoral 136 00:11:43,040 --> 00:11:45,080 which, extending like a thin ribbon, 137 00:11:45,160 --> 00:11:48,720 would evidently have to be annexed to the new Serbia. 138 00:11:48,800 --> 00:11:52,080 It was agreed that Serbia should obtain an extension of territory 139 00:11:52,160 --> 00:11:54,000 in the Drina region in Bosnia 140 00:11:54,080 --> 00:11:57,560 at the same time as in that of Novi Pazar in old Serbia. 141 00:11:58,600 --> 00:12:00,800 [narrator] The rest of Bosnia and Herzegovina 142 00:12:00,880 --> 00:12:03,320 were to be annexed by Austria-Hungary. 143 00:12:06,920 --> 00:12:09,360 In order to secure Russian support for this, 144 00:12:09,440 --> 00:12:12,760 Austria was willing to do anything. 145 00:12:13,360 --> 00:12:15,600 If Russia was to wage war on the Ottomans, 146 00:12:15,680 --> 00:12:20,360 Austria-Hungary would observe an attitude of benevolent neutrality, 147 00:12:20,920 --> 00:12:25,680 but would also provide military logistics, field ambulances, 148 00:12:25,760 --> 00:12:29,200 the supply of armaments, as well as the diplomatic shield 149 00:12:29,280 --> 00:12:31,120 against other powers, 150 00:12:31,200 --> 00:12:34,640 so Russia could pursue her most important goal: 151 00:12:35,800 --> 00:12:37,960 the Straits of the Black Sea. 152 00:12:42,320 --> 00:12:44,520 -[men yelling] -[horses neighing] 153 00:12:45,640 --> 00:12:50,960 In April 1877, Russia declared war on the Ottoman Empire. 154 00:12:52,840 --> 00:12:56,560 But in the peace conference in Berlin in the summer of 1878, 155 00:12:56,640 --> 00:12:59,640 the Great Powers decided that the straits of the Black Sea 156 00:13:00,200 --> 00:13:02,400 would remain closed to the Russian war fleet. 157 00:13:03,880 --> 00:13:06,560 At the same time, they allowed Austria-Hungary 158 00:13:06,640 --> 00:13:08,880 to occupy Bosnia and Herzegovina, 159 00:13:09,880 --> 00:13:12,720 but also the Sandjak of Novi Pazar 160 00:13:13,400 --> 00:13:17,720 so that Austria could keep Serbia and Montenegro apart. 161 00:13:20,200 --> 00:13:23,120 While Bosnia and Herzegovina were to be occupied 162 00:13:23,200 --> 00:13:25,200 and administered by Vienna, 163 00:13:25,280 --> 00:13:28,840 formally they would still remain a part of the Ottoman Empire. 164 00:13:32,000 --> 00:13:33,760 [distant artillery fire] 165 00:13:35,000 --> 00:13:38,400 The Austro-Hungarian generals planned to complete the occupation 166 00:13:38,480 --> 00:13:42,320 by August the 18th, Franz Joseph's birthday, 167 00:13:42,400 --> 00:13:44,400 but they encountered fierce resistance, 168 00:13:44,480 --> 00:13:48,800 first from the Bosnian Muslims, and then from the Orthodox Serbs. 169 00:13:51,160 --> 00:13:54,600 It took Austria-Hungary more than 150,000 troops… 170 00:13:54,680 --> 00:13:56,840 [men yelling] 171 00:13:56,920 --> 00:13:58,000 …heavy artillery… 172 00:13:58,080 --> 00:14:00,440 [repeated explosions] 173 00:14:02,000 --> 00:14:04,760 …and more than three months of war and reprisals 174 00:14:04,840 --> 00:14:09,640 against the local population to occupy Bosnia and Herzegovina. 175 00:14:22,360 --> 00:14:26,800 [Sked] The real point is that it gives prestige to Franz Joseph, 176 00:14:26,880 --> 00:14:29,280 who likes to annex a little bit of territory 177 00:14:29,360 --> 00:14:31,240 because he's lost so much in the past. 178 00:14:31,320 --> 00:14:36,320 But Bosnia and Herzegovina is obviously a Slav territory, 179 00:14:37,080 --> 00:14:38,960 and there's no particular reason 180 00:14:39,040 --> 00:14:41,520 why the local population would want to be occupied 181 00:14:41,600 --> 00:14:44,040 by the Austrian army, and they don't. 182 00:14:44,120 --> 00:14:48,400 And they resist until resistance is put down after two or three years. 183 00:14:58,680 --> 00:15:00,960 [fanfare] 184 00:15:29,640 --> 00:15:32,400 [narrator] Germany had been united under the leadership of Prussia 185 00:15:32,480 --> 00:15:35,640 and her "iron chancellor" Otto von Bismarck 186 00:15:35,720 --> 00:15:38,120 over the course of three wars. 187 00:15:39,160 --> 00:15:42,200 In the war against Denmark in 1864, 188 00:15:42,280 --> 00:15:45,920 after the victory over Austria in 1866, 189 00:15:46,000 --> 00:15:50,800 and then over France in 1870 and 1871. 190 00:15:52,800 --> 00:15:56,040 At the helm of the victorious armies were the Prussian king, 191 00:15:56,120 --> 00:15:59,200 the future German Kaiser Wilhelm, 192 00:15:59,280 --> 00:16:02,640 and the Chief of General Staff, Helmuth von Moltke. 193 00:16:08,240 --> 00:16:10,080 [Röhl] What Bismarck did in unifying Germany 194 00:16:10,160 --> 00:16:12,560 was to place Prussia at the heart of Germany. 195 00:16:13,680 --> 00:16:15,840 And the heart of Prussia was the Prussian army, 196 00:16:15,920 --> 00:16:19,280 and at the heart of the Prussian army was the Hohenzollern monarchy, 197 00:16:19,920 --> 00:16:25,760 and that monarchy had a long tradition of fighting wars without giving notice. 198 00:16:29,520 --> 00:16:32,000 [narrator] But the new German Reich was quickly turning 199 00:16:32,080 --> 00:16:34,560 into the most progressive country in Europe. 200 00:16:35,400 --> 00:16:37,960 By the late 19th century, Germany had overtaken 201 00:16:38,040 --> 00:16:42,560 the United Kingdom, France and Russia in almost all spheres. 202 00:16:44,080 --> 00:16:46,400 In overall industrial production, 203 00:16:48,760 --> 00:16:51,520 in the achievements in humanities and natural sciences, 204 00:16:53,680 --> 00:16:56,480 as well as in social care for the German workers. 205 00:16:59,200 --> 00:17:01,040 The standard of living was rising, 206 00:17:01,120 --> 00:17:05,839 and the population would grow from 41 million in 1871 207 00:17:05,920 --> 00:17:08,920 to 68 million in 1913. 208 00:17:13,839 --> 00:17:17,079 But Germany's further growth in the age of colonialism 209 00:17:17,160 --> 00:17:20,480 was constrained by the other Great Powers. 210 00:17:21,800 --> 00:17:23,640 In the "Scramble for Africa," 211 00:17:23,720 --> 00:17:26,760 Germany managed to acquire just three colonies, 212 00:17:26,839 --> 00:17:31,240 while the old colonial masters kept most of the world for themselves. 213 00:17:32,240 --> 00:17:33,720 [background chatter] 214 00:17:45,440 --> 00:17:48,080 [Mombauer] Although Germany is now very strong, 215 00:17:48,160 --> 00:17:51,240 she was a late comer on the international stage. 216 00:17:51,320 --> 00:17:54,800 Certainly a late comer in terms of colonial possessions, 217 00:17:54,880 --> 00:17:58,080 and one of the foreign policy aims 218 00:17:58,160 --> 00:17:59,680 was to ensure that Germany has 219 00:17:59,760 --> 00:18:03,160 her rightful "place in the sun" internationally 220 00:18:03,240 --> 00:18:06,960 and her rightful state within the European Concert 221 00:18:07,040 --> 00:18:08,760 or the balance of power. 222 00:18:10,120 --> 00:18:12,840 [Förster in German] "A place in the sun" implied growth 223 00:18:12,920 --> 00:18:16,600 of the colonial empire overseas, 224 00:18:16,680 --> 00:18:20,800 but also strengthening the position within Europe, 225 00:18:20,880 --> 00:18:25,360 based on economic superiority over the neighboring countries, 226 00:18:25,440 --> 00:18:27,520 but also upon military superiority. 227 00:18:27,600 --> 00:18:29,360 [crowd cheering] 228 00:18:32,760 --> 00:18:38,440 [narrator] In 1888, Wilhelm's grandson, Wilhelm II, ascended the throne. 229 00:18:41,600 --> 00:18:44,880 He was to rule the German Empire for the next 30 years 230 00:18:44,960 --> 00:18:47,720 and be the last German Emperor. 231 00:18:54,520 --> 00:18:56,840 [Röhl] Wilhelm II was a very damaged person. 232 00:18:58,280 --> 00:19:01,760 The nerves were ripped out in his neck at birth, he was a breech baby. 233 00:19:02,640 --> 00:19:05,680 So he was a military monarch with a crippled left arm. 234 00:19:05,760 --> 00:19:07,960 It was very difficult, and he always was trying 235 00:19:08,040 --> 00:19:10,520 to overcompensate for that disability 236 00:19:10,600 --> 00:19:15,040 by showing how bellicose he was, what a militarist he really was. 237 00:19:18,120 --> 00:19:20,240 Wilhelm II as Kaiser thought, 238 00:19:20,320 --> 00:19:22,720 "Well, the army has been built up by my grandfather," 239 00:19:22,800 --> 00:19:24,520 whom he called Wilhelm the Great, 240 00:19:25,240 --> 00:19:28,080 "and my duty will be to put this army to effect 241 00:19:28,160 --> 00:19:32,760 so that I will make Germany into the hegemonial power in Europe." 242 00:19:32,840 --> 00:19:34,160 That was his great dream. 243 00:19:34,240 --> 00:19:36,800 The great model always was the quick victory, 244 00:19:36,880 --> 00:19:39,680 especially against France in 1870-71. 245 00:19:40,840 --> 00:19:44,200 [narrator] Now Germany was too small for the two leaders, 246 00:19:44,280 --> 00:19:47,640 and as soon as Wilhelm II was settled as the new kaiser, 247 00:19:47,720 --> 00:19:50,040 Bismarck was dismissed. 248 00:19:53,240 --> 00:19:55,400 [Airapetov in Russian] Several days before his dismissal, 249 00:19:55,480 --> 00:19:59,680 Bismarck promised the Russian ambassador Count Shuvalov 250 00:19:59,760 --> 00:20:03,360 that the Reinsurance Treaty, which prevented 251 00:20:03,440 --> 00:20:06,520 a possibility of a conflict between Germany and Russia, 252 00:20:06,600 --> 00:20:08,040 was to be prolonged. 253 00:20:10,680 --> 00:20:14,600 Caprivi stated that he was not a juggler, 254 00:20:14,680 --> 00:20:18,200 that he can't handle three balls at a time. 255 00:20:19,520 --> 00:20:22,480 So one ball had to be dropped, and that was Russia. 256 00:20:24,760 --> 00:20:26,720 Russia found herself isolated. 257 00:20:26,800 --> 00:20:29,080 And as a result, 258 00:20:29,160 --> 00:20:33,920 Russia turned towards making an alliance with France. 259 00:20:36,720 --> 00:20:38,800 [narrator] A war against France in the west 260 00:20:38,880 --> 00:20:44,400 for Germany would now also mean a war against Russia in the east. 261 00:20:46,440 --> 00:20:51,720 A two-front war nightmare for any military strategist. 262 00:20:57,560 --> 00:21:02,080 [Förster] The consequence was that in case of a two-front war, 263 00:21:02,160 --> 00:21:06,600 the German Empire would have found itself tied up from both sides 264 00:21:06,680 --> 00:21:11,400 and finally wouldn't have any chance for a quick victory over either enemy. 265 00:21:13,960 --> 00:21:17,600 It was for these reasons 266 00:21:17,680 --> 00:21:21,600 that in 1875 and also in 1887 267 00:21:21,680 --> 00:21:24,840 Moltke called for preventive war before the German government, 268 00:21:24,920 --> 00:21:26,960 against either France or Russia 269 00:21:27,040 --> 00:21:32,760 in order to resolve the two fronts problem 270 00:21:32,840 --> 00:21:36,800 before a war against both sides would come. 271 00:21:39,480 --> 00:21:42,640 [narrator] But Bismarck had been strongly against it. 272 00:21:42,720 --> 00:21:44,640 And without the Chancellor's ascent, 273 00:21:44,720 --> 00:21:48,120 not even the Kaiser could take Germany to war. 274 00:21:50,080 --> 00:21:53,560 But in 1890, Bismarck was no more, 275 00:21:53,640 --> 00:21:59,880 and Wilhelm II was to ensure that he becomes the sole ruler of Germany. 276 00:22:05,080 --> 00:22:08,080 [Röhl] He, of course, over the years appointed all the ministers. 277 00:22:08,160 --> 00:22:11,800 The chancellor, all the generals, they were his appointees, 278 00:22:11,880 --> 00:22:13,720 and they behaved accordingly. 279 00:22:14,680 --> 00:22:18,240 They did not behave like republican civilian statesmen. 280 00:22:18,320 --> 00:22:21,240 They behaved like courtiers or like militarists. 281 00:22:23,440 --> 00:22:27,280 The chancellor Bernhard von Bulow would write on his cuff 282 00:22:27,360 --> 00:22:30,360 what the Kaiser had ordered, not because he thought he'd forget it, 283 00:22:30,440 --> 00:22:32,000 but to demonstrate to the Kaiser 284 00:22:32,080 --> 00:22:34,600 that he would always remember exactly what the Kaiser had said. 285 00:22:34,680 --> 00:22:38,040 [Bülow voiceover] True to the tradition of German policy, 286 00:22:38,120 --> 00:22:41,720 we will make every effort to protect our rights and interests 287 00:22:41,800 --> 00:22:44,080 in East Asia and West India 288 00:22:44,160 --> 00:22:48,840 without unnecessary harshness, but without weakness either. 289 00:22:49,800 --> 00:22:52,880 We do not want to put anyone in our shadow, 290 00:22:52,960 --> 00:22:56,120 but we also demand our place in the sun. 291 00:22:56,200 --> 00:22:57,880 [applause] 292 00:23:01,960 --> 00:23:03,520 -[steam hisses] -[train whistle] 293 00:23:09,280 --> 00:23:10,800 [metallic squeal] 294 00:23:16,280 --> 00:23:18,440 [train rattling over tracks] 295 00:23:28,720 --> 00:23:31,640 [narrator]Setting on what they called the "civilizing mission" 296 00:23:31,720 --> 00:23:33,800 in Bosnia and Herzegovina, 297 00:23:33,880 --> 00:23:39,400 the Austrians pledged to introduce the agrarian reform and abolish serfdom, 298 00:23:39,480 --> 00:23:42,200 to raise the standards of living, 299 00:23:42,280 --> 00:23:47,720 to organize schools, to improve the taxation system, 300 00:23:47,800 --> 00:23:50,200 to reform the administration of justice, 301 00:23:50,280 --> 00:23:54,320 and to treat the three religious groups with equality. 302 00:23:57,080 --> 00:24:01,280 The priority was to build modern roads and railways. 303 00:24:05,320 --> 00:24:09,200 [Bataković] Most of the constructions undertaken 304 00:24:09,280 --> 00:24:11,960 by the Austro-Hungarian administration 305 00:24:12,040 --> 00:24:15,480 was to serve for exploiting 306 00:24:15,560 --> 00:24:19,320 the mining wealth of Bosnia and Herzegovina 307 00:24:19,400 --> 00:24:21,600 and much less to anything else. 308 00:24:25,040 --> 00:24:29,960 There were five times more police stations in Bosnia built than schools. 309 00:24:30,040 --> 00:24:35,880 Social progress was reserved for very thin layer of population. 310 00:24:37,600 --> 00:24:40,880 [narrator]In 1882, the Austria-Hungary's new Finance Minister, 311 00:24:40,960 --> 00:24:44,520 and thus the administrator of Bosnia and Herzegovina, 312 00:24:44,600 --> 00:24:47,000 became Benjamin von Kallay, 313 00:24:47,080 --> 00:24:50,760 a historian and a former diplomat to Belgrade. 314 00:24:51,720 --> 00:24:54,240 He was to leave his mark on an era 315 00:24:54,320 --> 00:24:57,040 by remaining in his post for the next 21 years. 316 00:25:00,040 --> 00:25:02,680 This man who had written the history of the Serbs 317 00:25:02,760 --> 00:25:06,680 now had a task of keeping Bosnia and Serbia apart. 318 00:25:08,520 --> 00:25:12,120 [Bataković] The Serbs had had hundreds of religious schools 319 00:25:12,200 --> 00:25:16,800 which were keeping their Serbian and Christian Orthodox tradition. 320 00:25:16,880 --> 00:25:19,800 Then Benny von Kallay came and told them, 321 00:25:19,880 --> 00:25:22,240 "You are not Serbs anymore, you are now Bosnians. " 322 00:25:23,080 --> 00:25:26,160 He imposed the Bosnian language, 323 00:25:26,240 --> 00:25:31,400 and he even banished his book History of the Serbian People, 324 00:25:31,480 --> 00:25:34,480 which was published previous to the occupation of Bosnia, 325 00:25:34,560 --> 00:25:39,160 in which he claimed that all the population of Bosnia, 326 00:25:39,840 --> 00:25:43,680 and Bosnian Muslims in particular, are of Serbian origin. 327 00:25:49,640 --> 00:25:52,320 And the Bosnian Serbs wanted the same 328 00:25:52,400 --> 00:25:57,120 what they wanted in 1878: human rights, civil rights, 329 00:25:57,200 --> 00:26:02,360 and to be free owners of the land they tilled. 330 00:26:02,960 --> 00:26:05,600 [narrator] But the occupational rule in Bosnia and Herzegovina 331 00:26:05,680 --> 00:26:09,240 never addressed any of the problems of the largest ethnic group. 332 00:26:11,800 --> 00:26:15,080 Kallay had even prevented the agrarian reform, 333 00:26:15,960 --> 00:26:19,800 so at the beginning of the 20th century, just as in the Middle Ages, 334 00:26:19,880 --> 00:26:22,320 the Christian peasants were still serfs, 335 00:26:23,360 --> 00:26:26,120 paying a third of their harvest to the Ottoman beys 336 00:26:26,200 --> 00:26:28,840 who still owned the land. 337 00:26:30,280 --> 00:26:32,600 Meanwhile, the Austro-Hungarian administration 338 00:26:32,680 --> 00:26:36,120 kept raising the state taxes even higher 339 00:26:36,200 --> 00:26:38,520 than those imposed by the Ottomans. 340 00:26:41,480 --> 00:26:45,440 By 1910, 32 years into the Austro-Hungarian occupation, 341 00:26:45,520 --> 00:26:49,840 nearly 90% of the entire population of Bosnia and Herzegovina 342 00:26:49,920 --> 00:26:51,640 was still illiterate. 343 00:26:53,000 --> 00:26:55,520 This was unique in Europe. 344 00:27:03,480 --> 00:27:05,240 [church bells ringing] 345 00:27:09,400 --> 00:27:11,280 -[gunshots] -[people screaming] 346 00:27:12,600 --> 00:27:15,840 THE ASSASSINATION OF THE SERBIAN ROYAL COUPLE 347 00:27:15,920 --> 00:27:17,320 [ominous music] 348 00:27:17,400 --> 00:27:20,080 COUP D'ÉTAT IN SERBIA 349 00:27:25,880 --> 00:27:28,880 THE SERBIAN ROYAL COUPLE ASSASSINATED 350 00:27:44,720 --> 00:27:48,600 After the assassination of the autocrat King Alexander Obrenović 351 00:27:48,680 --> 00:27:51,320 and his consort in the spring of 1903, 352 00:27:51,400 --> 00:27:53,480 a group of military insurgents brought 353 00:27:53,560 --> 00:27:56,520 Peter Karadjordjević to the Serbian throne. 354 00:27:57,880 --> 00:28:00,760 King Peter reintroduced democracy to Serbia, 355 00:28:00,840 --> 00:28:04,360 and it was through the parliament that the national unification ideas 356 00:28:04,440 --> 00:28:08,440 were to come to the forefront of the Serbian foreign policy again. 357 00:28:11,160 --> 00:28:13,960 At the same time, in the Austro-Hungarian provinces 358 00:28:14,040 --> 00:28:19,360 of Croatia-Slavonia and Dalmatia, a new political force was emerging. 359 00:28:20,360 --> 00:28:23,240 In 1905, the Croatian and Serbian parties 360 00:28:23,320 --> 00:28:26,320 joined in The Croat-Serb Coalition. 361 00:28:27,160 --> 00:28:31,640 Its main goal: unification of the South Slavs. 362 00:28:35,800 --> 00:28:40,880 [Bled] To Vienna, it appears that a threat 363 00:28:40,960 --> 00:28:43,840 is forming on its borders. 364 00:28:43,920 --> 00:28:49,320 All the while Serbia was an ally 365 00:28:49,400 --> 00:28:52,840 subordinate to Austria-Hungary, 366 00:28:52,920 --> 00:28:54,480 there had been no such fear. 367 00:28:54,560 --> 00:29:00,680 But now the entire situation seems to have changed. 368 00:29:03,920 --> 00:29:09,280 And as a consequence, in Vienna, 369 00:29:09,360 --> 00:29:12,800 in both political and military circles, 370 00:29:12,880 --> 00:29:18,760 a particular view towards Serbia was formed. 371 00:29:18,840 --> 00:29:21,040 A sort of obsession. 372 00:29:23,680 --> 00:29:25,040 [ominous music] 373 00:29:29,440 --> 00:29:32,280 [Höbelt] And it's not just Serbia. 374 00:29:32,360 --> 00:29:35,280 Serbia is a headache for people in Vienna. 375 00:29:35,360 --> 00:29:38,160 For people in Budapest, for the Hungarians, 376 00:29:38,240 --> 00:29:40,960 they are facing an even bigger headache, to some extent, 377 00:29:41,040 --> 00:29:42,480 with the Romanians. 378 00:29:43,920 --> 00:29:48,800 And so you have two irredentist smaller states 379 00:29:48,880 --> 00:29:51,760 that are getting stronger every day on your southern borders, 380 00:29:51,840 --> 00:29:55,120 and this is what gives the Austrians this impression 381 00:29:55,200 --> 00:29:56,920 that they are really beleaguered 382 00:29:57,000 --> 00:29:59,720 and they are facing enemies all the way around. 383 00:29:59,800 --> 00:30:02,480 And Conrad, who was a little bit paranoid about Italy, 384 00:30:02,560 --> 00:30:05,640 he would say, "You know, this is another secret enemy. 385 00:30:05,720 --> 00:30:08,280 Italy is only waiting for its chance to attack us. 386 00:30:08,360 --> 00:30:12,360 So what we need to do is eliminate all these threats 387 00:30:12,440 --> 00:30:14,400 before they strike first," 388 00:30:14,480 --> 00:30:17,600 which is why Conrad's always arguing for preventive wars. 389 00:30:31,760 --> 00:30:34,160 [narrator]The Kaiser was also seeking ways 390 00:30:34,240 --> 00:30:37,200 to get Germany out of encirclement. 391 00:30:38,000 --> 00:30:40,200 In order to achieve this, it seemed only natural 392 00:30:40,280 --> 00:30:42,000 to use his family ties, 393 00:30:42,080 --> 00:30:45,480 first with his uncle, the British King Edward VII, 394 00:30:45,560 --> 00:30:46,840 and then young Nikki, 395 00:30:46,920 --> 00:30:51,040 the Russian Tsar Nicholas II, also a relative. 396 00:30:52,080 --> 00:30:54,640 [Wilhelm II voiceover] The Russian regiments must march with us. 397 00:30:54,720 --> 00:30:59,240 I believe that the prospect of raping and pillaging in beautiful France 398 00:30:59,320 --> 00:31:01,960 will lure the Russians to join us. 399 00:31:04,080 --> 00:31:06,360 [narrator] But Nicholas had other priorities. 400 00:31:08,800 --> 00:31:11,640 -[canons booming] -In 1904, Japan attacked 401 00:31:11,720 --> 00:31:13,200 Russia in Manchuria. 402 00:31:13,280 --> 00:31:14,240 [boom] 403 00:31:15,160 --> 00:31:19,160 And now, as the entire Russian army had been sent away to the far east, 404 00:31:19,240 --> 00:31:22,640 in Saint Petersburg the revolution broke out. 405 00:31:22,720 --> 00:31:24,120 [multiple shots fired] 406 00:31:24,200 --> 00:31:25,520 [people yelling] 407 00:31:26,400 --> 00:31:28,480 The revolution was to be extinguished in blood. 408 00:31:31,600 --> 00:31:35,960 In 1905, the Russian army and the navy suffered a devastating defeat 409 00:31:36,040 --> 00:31:38,040 in the war with Japan. 410 00:31:39,120 --> 00:31:42,880 Russia's military might was all but destroyed, 411 00:31:42,960 --> 00:31:47,040 and for Russia, it would take a long time to recover. 412 00:31:55,200 --> 00:31:57,840 [Röhl] Russia was not able to fight in Europe. 413 00:31:57,920 --> 00:32:00,880 In other words, France was now at Germany's mercy. 414 00:32:01,440 --> 00:32:02,840 And it's in this situation 415 00:32:02,920 --> 00:32:04,760 that the Chief of the German General Staff, 416 00:32:04,840 --> 00:32:10,080 Count Schlieffen, devises his Angriffsplan gegen Frankreich, 417 00:32:10,160 --> 00:32:12,760 a swift, lightning war against France. 418 00:32:16,720 --> 00:32:21,760 [Förster] The problem was that the German-French border 419 00:32:21,840 --> 00:32:27,440 on the French side was well fortified, all along the mountain chain of Vosges. 420 00:32:27,520 --> 00:32:30,600 A quick breakthrough was not possible there. 421 00:32:30,680 --> 00:32:37,560 That is why Schlieffen developed a plan to march through the neutral Belgium 422 00:32:37,640 --> 00:32:40,880 but also through neutral Holland 423 00:32:40,960 --> 00:32:46,440 in order to attack France from the northeast. 424 00:32:46,520 --> 00:32:52,600 And expecting that the French army would be set to fight, 425 00:32:52,680 --> 00:32:55,400 they could now surround it 426 00:32:55,480 --> 00:32:59,880 with a huge outflanking move and destroy it. 427 00:32:59,960 --> 00:33:02,240 [repeated explosions] 428 00:33:05,360 --> 00:33:08,800 That was the idea which Schlieffen formulated 429 00:33:08,880 --> 00:33:12,240 in 1905 in his memorandum, 430 00:33:12,320 --> 00:33:16,440 which we now know as The Schlieffen Plan. 431 00:33:19,200 --> 00:33:24,800 [narrator] Still, a war could not begin without a major international crisis. 432 00:33:27,320 --> 00:33:29,000 [stringed Arab music] 433 00:33:56,480 --> 00:34:01,360 [narrator] Since 1830, France had put most of North Africa, Algiers and Tunisia 434 00:34:01,440 --> 00:34:03,360 under her colonial rule. 435 00:34:06,040 --> 00:34:10,600 Now she reached for the last remaining territory, 436 00:34:10,679 --> 00:34:12,760 but so did Germany. 437 00:34:14,920 --> 00:34:18,440 [Soutou] Morocco was a European problem. 438 00:34:19,960 --> 00:34:22,880 There had been a conference at the end of 19th century 439 00:34:22,960 --> 00:34:26,760 which decided that not a single European country 440 00:34:26,840 --> 00:34:30,639 should acquire a unilateral position in Morocco. 441 00:34:31,360 --> 00:34:35,840 And France, transforming Morocco in a protectorate, 442 00:34:35,920 --> 00:34:38,159 broke that agreement, actually. 443 00:34:38,239 --> 00:34:40,520 The Germans were not happy. 444 00:34:41,120 --> 00:34:45,239 They tried to force the French to stop that. 445 00:34:45,800 --> 00:34:47,400 [narrator]In March 1905, 446 00:34:47,480 --> 00:34:50,719 the Kaiser landed in the Moroccan port of Tangiers, 447 00:34:50,800 --> 00:34:53,679 offering the Sultan his support against France. 448 00:34:54,679 --> 00:34:57,000 Paris saw this as a direct threat, 449 00:34:57,080 --> 00:35:00,600 and soon Europe was on the brink of war. 450 00:35:00,680 --> 00:35:02,160 [drumming] 451 00:35:14,000 --> 00:35:17,800 [Röhl] What finally persuades the Kaiser not to attack 452 00:35:17,880 --> 00:35:22,720 is his realization that Britain would not allow France to be defeated. 453 00:35:24,040 --> 00:35:27,480 Both with her navy, which was totally superior, 454 00:35:27,560 --> 00:35:31,680 but also with a landing of 100,000 men somewhere on the Continent. 455 00:35:33,600 --> 00:35:36,880 So for the first time, you had Britain clearly stating, 456 00:35:36,960 --> 00:35:40,520 "We cannot tolerate the crushing of France, 457 00:35:40,600 --> 00:35:44,280 because we British will just be left facing a continent 458 00:35:44,360 --> 00:35:47,680 that's united under your leadership, and that's something we cannot tolerate." 459 00:35:52,360 --> 00:35:53,920 [ominous music] 460 00:35:56,200 --> 00:35:59,600 [narrator] The United Kingdom, the world's largest colonial power, 461 00:35:59,680 --> 00:36:03,120 had the largest naval force the world had ever seen. 462 00:36:07,160 --> 00:36:10,160 [ship horn] 463 00:36:13,400 --> 00:36:17,240 In 1897, under the Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz, 464 00:36:17,320 --> 00:36:20,080 Germany had started building her own fleet 465 00:36:20,160 --> 00:36:22,680 with the aim of matching that of the British. 466 00:36:26,040 --> 00:36:30,200 This then prompted the British admirals to insist on a preventive attack 467 00:36:30,280 --> 00:36:34,080 on the German navy before it became too strong an opponent. 468 00:36:39,360 --> 00:36:41,440 But instead of a preventive attack, 469 00:36:41,520 --> 00:36:46,480 Great Britain took another giant step in securing its naval supremacy. 470 00:36:53,160 --> 00:36:56,400 [Strachan] In 1905, Britain launches 471 00:36:56,480 --> 00:37:00,320 the first all big gun battleship the Dreadnought, 472 00:37:00,400 --> 00:37:02,440 with 12-inch guns. 473 00:37:02,520 --> 00:37:04,680 Eventually it'll aspire to have 15-inch guns, 474 00:37:04,760 --> 00:37:07,240 and ultimately, they're thinking about 18-inch guns. 475 00:37:08,840 --> 00:37:14,040 And that outclasses every existing battleship in the world, 476 00:37:14,120 --> 00:37:18,440 but then, of course, creates pressure on other navies to conform, 477 00:37:18,520 --> 00:37:20,840 and particularly, of course, Germany. 478 00:37:22,760 --> 00:37:25,800 [Röhl] This presented the Germans with a huge dilemma, 479 00:37:25,880 --> 00:37:29,000 because the battleships that they'd been building so far 480 00:37:29,080 --> 00:37:33,080 were still small enough to go through the Kiel Canal, 481 00:37:33,160 --> 00:37:37,760 from the Baltic Sea to the Atlantic or North Sea, and back again. 482 00:37:38,320 --> 00:37:42,800 The new dreadnoughts were too large to go through that canal, 483 00:37:42,880 --> 00:37:47,080 which means that they had to go all the way around the top of Denmark. 484 00:37:47,160 --> 00:37:49,720 And so they had to decide not only 485 00:37:49,800 --> 00:37:54,880 whether we Germans will also now build dreadnoughts to match the British, 486 00:37:54,960 --> 00:37:59,520 and if we do, secondly, we will have to widen the Kiel Canal. 487 00:38:02,760 --> 00:38:05,960 [multiple explosions] 488 00:38:09,640 --> 00:38:12,000 [narrator] The Germans accepted the challenge. 489 00:38:12,560 --> 00:38:14,680 The undertaking to widen and deepen 490 00:38:14,760 --> 00:38:18,520 the 98 kilometer Kiel Canal began in 1907, 491 00:38:18,600 --> 00:38:22,240 as Germany started building her own dreadnought-class fleet. 492 00:38:22,320 --> 00:38:24,360 [dramatic music] 493 00:38:24,440 --> 00:38:26,960 [clanking] 494 00:38:30,160 --> 00:38:33,480 The naval arms race in Europe began. 495 00:38:44,360 --> 00:38:46,280 [ship creaking] 496 00:38:47,120 --> 00:38:48,520 [roaring splash of water] 497 00:38:48,600 --> 00:38:50,000 [crowd cheering] 498 00:39:00,960 --> 00:39:03,960 There are really two arms races going on within Europe 499 00:39:04,040 --> 00:39:05,080 before the First World War. 500 00:39:05,160 --> 00:39:07,440 SKETCH OF THE 75 MILLIMETER FIELD GUN 501 00:39:07,520 --> 00:39:12,000 In 1897, the French develop a 75 millimeter field gun 502 00:39:12,080 --> 00:39:14,480 which can fire about 20 rounds a minute. 503 00:39:15,400 --> 00:39:17,600 [gun booming] 504 00:39:18,360 --> 00:39:22,320 That is a serious increase in the rate of fire of guns, 505 00:39:22,400 --> 00:39:25,520 and what that then does is create pressure 506 00:39:25,600 --> 00:39:29,280 for every other European army to acquire quick-firing artillery. 507 00:39:31,240 --> 00:39:33,760 [narrator] One of the first armies to introduce the cannon 508 00:39:33,840 --> 00:39:36,560 was the Serbian army in 1905. 509 00:39:38,360 --> 00:39:41,360 Drawn by a superior quality over the cannons made 510 00:39:41,440 --> 00:39:44,240 by Austrian Skoda and the German Krupp, 511 00:39:44,320 --> 00:39:47,760 but also by the offerings of a substantial French loan, 512 00:39:47,840 --> 00:39:50,280 the Serbian government, for the first time, 513 00:39:50,360 --> 00:39:54,280 decided not to buy weapons from Austria or Germany. 514 00:39:56,600 --> 00:40:00,960 In Vienna, they were shocked when Serbia decided 515 00:40:01,040 --> 00:40:06,800 to sign treaties with other states without consulting Viennese diplomacy. 516 00:40:07,360 --> 00:40:11,160 They thought, "If Serbia wants to be independent," 517 00:40:11,240 --> 00:40:18,240 and 97% of Serbian export was dependent on Austria-Hungary, 518 00:40:18,320 --> 00:40:20,640 "we will impose sanctions 519 00:40:20,720 --> 00:40:24,720 and Serbia will have to come back under our wing." 520 00:40:25,520 --> 00:40:27,560 [narrator] In January of 1906, 521 00:40:27,640 --> 00:40:30,280 Austria-Hungary enforced the trade embargo 522 00:40:30,360 --> 00:40:33,160 on the Serbian livestock exports, 523 00:40:33,240 --> 00:40:36,280 an economic clash known as The Pig War. 524 00:40:36,360 --> 00:40:37,960 [cows lowing] 525 00:40:38,040 --> 00:40:42,280 But by 1911, Serbia would emerge from this war as a winner, 526 00:40:42,360 --> 00:40:45,560 eventually profiting more by finding new markets 527 00:40:45,640 --> 00:40:49,600 in France, Russia, Switzerland and Germany. 528 00:40:49,680 --> 00:40:51,240 [pigs squealing] 529 00:40:53,840 --> 00:40:57,120 [Bataković] It was political emancipation, 530 00:40:57,200 --> 00:41:00,080 economic emancipation, military emancipation. 531 00:41:00,160 --> 00:41:05,000 This is how Serbia became an attractive… 532 00:41:05,080 --> 00:41:07,840 a kind of Balkan Piedmont, 533 00:41:07,920 --> 00:41:11,760 especially for the Serbs, but also for other South Slavs. 534 00:41:14,520 --> 00:41:17,080 [archive voiceover] The Serbs of the Orthodox and the Muslim faith 535 00:41:17,160 --> 00:41:20,040 hereby pledge to work and incite people 536 00:41:20,120 --> 00:41:23,640 towards getting the self-government for Bosnia and Herzegovina, 537 00:41:23,720 --> 00:41:26,240 under the supreme rule of the Sultan. 538 00:41:28,440 --> 00:41:29,880 In accordance with its free will, 539 00:41:29,960 --> 00:41:32,920 the people shall decide on the country's social system 540 00:41:33,000 --> 00:41:38,680 and elect governors, alternately a Muslim and an Orthodox Serb. 541 00:41:44,880 --> 00:41:47,560 In the elections of 1908 in the provinces 542 00:41:47,640 --> 00:41:49,680 of Croatia-Slavonia and Dalmatia, 543 00:41:49,760 --> 00:41:52,280 the Croat-Serb Coalition took a huge victory 544 00:41:52,360 --> 00:41:56,480 by winning 56 out of 81 seats in the parliament. 545 00:41:59,160 --> 00:42:02,040 [Bataković] When the Croat-Serbian coalition 546 00:42:02,120 --> 00:42:03,880 took power in Croatia, 547 00:42:03,960 --> 00:42:07,960 in Vienna they were very, very concerned. 548 00:42:09,680 --> 00:42:12,760 They were banning Serbian newspapers 549 00:42:12,840 --> 00:42:14,680 to be imported into Bosnia. 550 00:42:14,760 --> 00:42:17,280 They were putting people in prison. 551 00:42:18,200 --> 00:42:24,280 They were arresting Serbian leaders and accused them for high treason. 552 00:42:26,040 --> 00:42:30,480 And this is why Austria decided to make another blow 553 00:42:30,560 --> 00:42:36,320 to proclaim annexation of Bosnia-Herzegovina to Austria-Hungary. 554 00:42:41,440 --> 00:42:43,720 -[fanfare] -[repeated canon fire] 555 00:42:56,320 --> 00:42:58,320 [crowd cheering] 556 00:42:59,960 --> 00:43:01,760 [narrator] On the last day of 1905, 557 00:43:01,840 --> 00:43:06,200 Kaiser Wilhelm II relieved Alfred von Schlieffen of his duty, 558 00:43:06,280 --> 00:43:08,760 and to the post of the Chief of German General Staff 559 00:43:08,840 --> 00:43:11,200 he brought his personal adjutant. 560 00:43:11,760 --> 00:43:14,080 Kaiser called him Julius, 561 00:43:14,160 --> 00:43:18,000 but his real name was Helmut von Moltke, the younger. 562 00:43:19,280 --> 00:43:20,720 [Mombauer] It was the Kaiser's choice, 563 00:43:20,800 --> 00:43:23,960 based more on a personal liking, 564 00:43:24,040 --> 00:43:26,040 and importantly, on the name, 565 00:43:26,120 --> 00:43:29,960 because Helmut von Moltke had his more famous uncle. 566 00:43:30,680 --> 00:43:34,200 Wilhelm II thought that somehow some of this would perhaps rub off, 567 00:43:34,280 --> 00:43:37,480 and in fact, the younger Moltke asked the Kaiser, 568 00:43:37,560 --> 00:43:40,840 "Are you thinking that you might win in the same lottery twice?" 569 00:43:41,560 --> 00:43:44,000 [Wilhelm II voiceover] You can do that little bit of peace work, 570 00:43:44,080 --> 00:43:45,440 but in times of war, 571 00:43:45,520 --> 00:43:48,600 I will be my own Chief of the General Staff. 572 00:43:49,880 --> 00:43:51,200 [narrator] As soon as Moltke was appointed, 573 00:43:51,280 --> 00:43:54,320 the state of affairs in Europe began to change. 574 00:43:55,680 --> 00:43:59,600 Russia slowly but steadily started recovering from the revolution 575 00:43:59,680 --> 00:44:01,400 and the war with Japan, 576 00:44:01,480 --> 00:44:04,080 and it seemed that her army would fully recover 577 00:44:04,160 --> 00:44:06,280 within five to six years. 578 00:44:07,800 --> 00:44:11,840 War on two fronts was again becoming a possibility, 579 00:44:11,920 --> 00:44:13,400 and like his uncle before him, 580 00:44:13,480 --> 00:44:18,040 Moltke the younger would get determined to prevent that from happening. 581 00:44:21,520 --> 00:44:22,960 [Mombauer] Now or never. 582 00:44:23,040 --> 00:44:25,920 Jetzt oder nie, the sooner the better. 583 00:44:26,000 --> 00:44:28,880 At every opportunity he advocates war. 584 00:44:29,960 --> 00:44:31,760 At no point does he say, 585 00:44:31,840 --> 00:44:34,240 "Actually, let's just maybe hold back a bit. 586 00:44:34,320 --> 00:44:35,680 Perhaps we're not strong enough." 587 00:44:35,760 --> 00:44:39,640 But at the same time, he is surrounded by people who say very similar things. 588 00:44:42,840 --> 00:44:45,280 [narrator] With Russia now back in the picture, 589 00:44:45,360 --> 00:44:46,840 the German deployment plan, 590 00:44:46,920 --> 00:44:50,320 the so-called Schlieffen Plan, needed an update. 591 00:44:52,160 --> 00:44:54,800 [Lieven] The basic German strategic dilemma is a simple one. 592 00:44:54,880 --> 00:44:56,160 They're in the middle. 593 00:44:56,240 --> 00:44:59,400 If you're going to win quickly, you have to attack France first. 594 00:44:59,480 --> 00:45:01,960 You can't defeat Russia quickly. 595 00:45:02,040 --> 00:45:05,600 So the basic idea is you destroy the French army 596 00:45:05,680 --> 00:45:11,200 before Russia has time to mobilize and deploy its troops. 597 00:45:12,520 --> 00:45:14,200 [narrator] While Germany and Austria were covered 598 00:45:14,280 --> 00:45:17,520 by the dense railway network, Russia was not. 599 00:45:17,600 --> 00:45:20,360 Therefore the deployment of the Central Powers’ armies 600 00:45:20,440 --> 00:45:24,040 was supposed to be much faster than that of the Russians. 601 00:45:24,120 --> 00:45:26,400 So while Germans would go and attack France, 602 00:45:26,480 --> 00:45:28,400 their rear, the Russian front 603 00:45:28,480 --> 00:45:32,000 would have to be secured by the Austro-Hungarian army. 604 00:45:35,000 --> 00:45:39,160 Then, after a lightning victory over France in six to eight weeks, 605 00:45:39,240 --> 00:45:42,280 most of the German troops would be transferred to the east 606 00:45:42,360 --> 00:45:44,120 and face the Russians. 607 00:45:46,040 --> 00:45:47,400 Given the size of Russia, 608 00:45:47,480 --> 00:45:50,120 given the weakness of the railway network, 609 00:45:50,200 --> 00:45:53,480 given the ineffectiveness of Russian administration, 610 00:45:53,560 --> 00:45:55,240 the Germans think that they can do this. 611 00:45:58,280 --> 00:45:59,560 [military drumbeat] 612 00:46:03,680 --> 00:46:06,640 [Franz Joseph voiceover] We, France Joseph, Emperor of Austria 613 00:46:06,720 --> 00:46:08,680 and Apostolic King of Hungary 614 00:46:08,760 --> 00:46:12,080 to the inhabitants of Bosnia and Herzegovina. 615 00:46:13,360 --> 00:46:17,720 When a generation ago our troops crossed the borders of your lands, 616 00:46:17,800 --> 00:46:22,120 you were assured that they came not as foes, but as friends, 617 00:46:22,200 --> 00:46:26,480 to remedy the evils from which your fatherland had suffered so grievously 618 00:46:26,560 --> 00:46:30,720 for many years, and guide the country to a happier future. 619 00:46:32,480 --> 00:46:36,160 Order and security have replaced violence and oppression. 620 00:46:36,240 --> 00:46:39,800 Trade and traffic are constantly extending. 621 00:46:40,280 --> 00:46:42,240 The elevating influence of education 622 00:46:42,320 --> 00:46:44,640 has been brought to bear in your country, 623 00:46:44,720 --> 00:46:47,360 and under the shield of an orderly administration, 624 00:46:47,440 --> 00:46:50,600 every man may enjoy the fruits of his labors. 625 00:46:51,640 --> 00:46:54,080 In order to raise Bosnia and Herzegovina… 626 00:46:54,160 --> 00:46:56,560 [narrator]With these words, the Emperor Franz Joseph, 627 00:46:56,640 --> 00:46:58,640 after 30 years of occupation, 628 00:46:58,720 --> 00:47:02,160 proclaimed the annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina 629 00:47:02,240 --> 00:47:04,120 into the Austro-Hungarian Empire. 630 00:47:04,200 --> 00:47:05,760 [ominous music] 631 00:47:08,120 --> 00:47:11,520 [Bataković] Of course, it was a violation of international law, 632 00:47:11,600 --> 00:47:13,520 the Berlin Treaty, 633 00:47:13,600 --> 00:47:18,200 and naturally Serbia was fiercely against it. 634 00:47:18,280 --> 00:47:23,840 They considered Bosnia to be kind of Alsace-Lorraine of Serbia, 635 00:47:23,920 --> 00:47:30,840 key provinces for future of the Serbian and Yugoslavian unification. 636 00:47:31,800 --> 00:47:34,200 [narrator]In Belgrade, the news of the annexation 637 00:47:34,280 --> 00:47:38,000 of Bosnia and Herzegovina was met with outrage. 638 00:47:38,560 --> 00:47:42,120 The largest demonstrations the city had ever seen were organized. 639 00:47:45,080 --> 00:47:47,960 To try to defuse the tension, Serbian Foreign Minister 640 00:47:48,040 --> 00:47:50,680 appealed to Vienna and eventually Berlin 641 00:47:50,760 --> 00:47:52,880 for compensations in territory, 642 00:47:52,960 --> 00:47:55,720 namely the Sanjak of Novi Pazar 643 00:47:55,800 --> 00:47:59,320 from where the Austro-Hungarian army now withdrew. 644 00:48:01,520 --> 00:48:02,880 Serbia hoped to expand there 645 00:48:02,960 --> 00:48:06,200 and finally get a shared border with Montenegro. 646 00:48:07,360 --> 00:48:11,120 But this was not what Austria had in mind for Serbia at the time. 647 00:48:13,120 --> 00:48:16,920 A month before the annexation on September the 5th, 1908, 648 00:48:17,000 --> 00:48:20,000 the Austro-Hungarian Foreign Minister Aehrenthal 649 00:48:20,080 --> 00:48:24,760 met with his German counterpart Minister Schoen in Berchtesgaden 650 00:48:24,840 --> 00:48:28,720 and told him in confidence that his plan beyond the annexation was 651 00:48:28,800 --> 00:48:32,800 "the complete destruction of the Serbian revolutionary nest" 652 00:48:32,880 --> 00:48:37,160 and "partition of Serbia between Austria-Hungary and Bulgaria." 653 00:48:39,520 --> 00:48:43,400 A MESSAGE TO AUSTRIA SERBIA IS TAKING UP ARMS 654 00:48:45,280 --> 00:48:48,240 Now it was also the Serbian press that called for war. 655 00:48:53,000 --> 00:48:55,280 As the army itself was unfit to fight, 656 00:48:55,360 --> 00:48:57,800 people close to the government and army circles 657 00:48:57,880 --> 00:49:00,760 began organizing thousands of volunteers 658 00:49:00,840 --> 00:49:03,640 in what was known as the National Defense, 659 00:49:03,720 --> 00:49:08,440 armed Chetnik squads willing to go to Bosnia and fight Austria-Hungary. 660 00:49:09,200 --> 00:49:11,840 [Hötzendorf voiceover]We must deliver a crushing blow to Serbia, 661 00:49:11,920 --> 00:49:14,840 regardless of the position of other powers. 662 00:49:14,920 --> 00:49:17,040 [Moltke voiceover] An Austrian invasion of Serbia 663 00:49:17,120 --> 00:49:19,560 might lead Russia to intervene actively. 664 00:49:19,640 --> 00:49:23,160 With this, thecasus foederis would arise for Germany. 665 00:49:24,640 --> 00:49:26,840 [narrator] But the Russians were secretly supportive 666 00:49:26,920 --> 00:49:29,880 of the Austro-Hungarian annexation plan. 667 00:49:31,280 --> 00:49:34,360 In September of 1908 in Buchlovice, 668 00:49:34,440 --> 00:49:37,520 Russian Foreign Minister Iswolsky gave Aehrenthal 669 00:49:37,600 --> 00:49:40,640 Russia's consent to the planned annexation. 670 00:49:40,720 --> 00:49:42,320 [bells ringing] 671 00:49:43,480 --> 00:49:45,800 [Airapetov] Iswolsky's policy was based on the following. 672 00:49:45,880 --> 00:49:49,520 "There are antagonisms with Japan, say, in Manchuria, Korea… 673 00:49:49,600 --> 00:49:52,600 but we'll resolve that, we'll make concessions. 674 00:49:52,680 --> 00:49:57,040 There are antagonisms with England, in Afghanistan, Persia, 675 00:49:57,120 --> 00:49:59,280 but we'll come to an understanding, we'll make concessions. 676 00:49:59,360 --> 00:50:01,480 There are antagonisms with Austria-Hungary. 677 00:50:01,560 --> 00:50:03,560 We'll come to an understanding with Austria-Hungary. 678 00:50:03,640 --> 00:50:06,400 For what reason? For the result that with all of the concessions made 679 00:50:06,480 --> 00:50:08,760 there should be a conference 680 00:50:08,840 --> 00:50:13,800 at which the issue of the Straits is to be reviewed. 681 00:50:14,560 --> 00:50:17,520 [narrator] And while Austria-Hungary got the annexation, 682 00:50:17,600 --> 00:50:21,320 it failed to provide support for Russia one more time again. 683 00:50:22,040 --> 00:50:23,640 And the straits of the Black Sea 684 00:50:23,720 --> 00:50:26,760 were to remain closed for the Russian Navy. 685 00:50:34,000 --> 00:50:37,320 Now the Russian press called for war. 686 00:50:41,240 --> 00:50:42,920 [ominous music] 687 00:50:45,080 --> 00:50:48,160 And while Serbia was facing the Austrian ultimatum, 688 00:50:48,240 --> 00:50:51,400 the German one was delivered to Saint Petersburg. 689 00:50:55,640 --> 00:50:58,240 [Airapetov] As Count Montecuccoli, 690 00:50:58,320 --> 00:51:00,640 the famous Austrian general, used to say, 691 00:51:00,720 --> 00:51:03,640 "There are only three necessary prerequisites for war, 692 00:51:03,720 --> 00:51:06,760 and that's money, money, and once again, money." 693 00:51:06,840 --> 00:51:10,560 And that was something that during 1908 and 1909 694 00:51:10,640 --> 00:51:14,560 the Russian budget was lacking entirely. 695 00:51:14,640 --> 00:51:17,480 So, the Bosnian crisis caught the Russian army 696 00:51:17,560 --> 00:51:21,680 in the position from which not only it could not have effectively attacked, 697 00:51:21,760 --> 00:51:23,960 but from which it was unable to effectively defend itself. 698 00:51:30,800 --> 00:51:36,360 Decision to collapse under Austrian threat and German ultimatum 699 00:51:36,440 --> 00:51:39,280 totally humiliates the Russian elite 700 00:51:39,360 --> 00:51:42,680 and makes everybody, from Nicholas II down, 701 00:51:42,760 --> 00:51:47,480 absolutely determined that Russia will not be humiliated again in that way. 702 00:51:49,640 --> 00:51:51,560 [Goltz voiceover] What a good opportunity we missed 703 00:51:51,640 --> 00:51:54,880 of bringing the great European question to a decision. 704 00:51:55,440 --> 00:51:57,760 [Moltke]…and will probably not come back so soon 705 00:51:57,840 --> 00:52:01,320 and under such favorable circumstances. 706 00:52:04,240 --> 00:52:05,680 [dramatic music] 707 00:52:17,200 --> 00:52:21,160 [narrator] In 1911, Moroccan tribes revolted against the sultan. 708 00:52:22,800 --> 00:52:25,640 This now served as a strong pretext for France to send 709 00:52:25,720 --> 00:52:30,160 her 20,000 troops and take full control of Morocco. 710 00:52:31,600 --> 00:52:33,400 In return, the Germans sent 711 00:52:33,480 --> 00:52:36,240 a small gunboat, the SMSPanther, 712 00:52:36,320 --> 00:52:38,400 to the Moroccan port of Agadir. 713 00:52:40,920 --> 00:52:44,320 But yet again, it was the British naval threat 714 00:52:44,400 --> 00:52:47,560 that deterred the Germans from taking any action. 715 00:52:52,920 --> 00:52:56,040 The German navy was still far from ready to fight the British. 716 00:52:59,440 --> 00:53:01,960 The works on the Kiel Canal and the major U-boat base 717 00:53:02,040 --> 00:53:04,760 in the North Sea were well underway, 718 00:53:04,840 --> 00:53:08,280 but still several years away from their completion. 719 00:53:09,440 --> 00:53:13,240 The new naval law brought in the same year, 1911, 720 00:53:13,320 --> 00:53:17,760 now allowed Germany to speed up her battleship production by 50%. 721 00:53:19,080 --> 00:53:21,280 Instead of building two major ships a year, 722 00:53:21,360 --> 00:53:25,040 she was to build three, starting in 1917. 723 00:53:27,280 --> 00:53:29,600 With a Dreier tempo, Germany planned to reach 724 00:53:29,680 --> 00:53:32,960 the British naval supremacy in a matter of years. 725 00:53:33,040 --> 00:53:34,680 [tense music] 726 00:53:39,600 --> 00:53:41,240 [guns clanking] 727 00:53:43,000 --> 00:53:47,560 [Röhl] But the other purpose of the navy was to force Britain to her knees, 728 00:53:47,640 --> 00:53:50,920 simply because Britain, with her larger commitments 729 00:53:51,000 --> 00:53:54,000 all over the globe and her smaller manpower, 730 00:53:54,080 --> 00:53:58,520 would have to build three ships for every two of the Germans built. 731 00:53:58,600 --> 00:54:01,480 So if the Tirpitz navy was 60 ships strong, 732 00:54:01,560 --> 00:54:03,880 the British would have to build 90 ships, 733 00:54:03,960 --> 00:54:06,280 and economically they just could not do that. 734 00:54:06,360 --> 00:54:08,280 And so Tirpitz says, "There will come a point 735 00:54:08,360 --> 00:54:10,160 when the British will break, 736 00:54:10,240 --> 00:54:12,920 where they will come to us and say, 'We can't go on. 737 00:54:13,000 --> 00:54:16,120 Our hospitals are suffering, our schools are suffering, 738 00:54:16,200 --> 00:54:17,600 our whole economy is breaking. 739 00:54:17,680 --> 00:54:20,200 What can we do? What can we give you 740 00:54:20,280 --> 00:54:23,760 in return for your slowing down the naval arms race?'" 741 00:54:23,840 --> 00:54:26,120 And Tirpitz knew exactly what he wanted. 742 00:54:26,200 --> 00:54:29,080 He wanted Britain to sign a treaty with Germany 743 00:54:29,160 --> 00:54:33,760 promising to stay neutral in the event of a war on the Continent, 744 00:54:33,840 --> 00:54:35,840 regardless of how that war started. 745 00:54:35,920 --> 00:54:39,200 In other words, to give Germany carte blanche 746 00:54:39,280 --> 00:54:43,680 to attack France or Russia at any time they chose. 747 00:54:43,760 --> 00:54:45,000 [man shouts orders] 748 00:54:48,120 --> 00:54:51,920 [Fisher voiceover] The decisive contest will start in September 1914. 749 00:54:52,000 --> 00:54:55,320 That date suits the Germans if ever they are going to fight. 750 00:54:55,400 --> 00:54:58,560 Both their army and fleet then mobilized, 751 00:54:58,640 --> 00:55:00,200 the Kiel Canal finished, 752 00:55:00,280 --> 00:55:03,000 and their new naval buildings complete. 753 00:55:05,760 --> 00:55:07,480 [narrator] In the spring of 1912, 754 00:55:07,560 --> 00:55:09,240 Britain and France made an agreement 755 00:55:09,320 --> 00:55:12,240 to bring all of their warships back to Europe 756 00:55:12,320 --> 00:55:14,440 and share defense responsibilities. 757 00:55:17,640 --> 00:55:20,680 The French fleet was to patrol the Mediterranean, 758 00:55:20,760 --> 00:55:23,680 and the British Royal Navy was to increase its presence 759 00:55:23,760 --> 00:55:25,280 in the North Sea. 760 00:55:27,400 --> 00:55:29,840 In July of 1912 in Paris, 761 00:55:29,920 --> 00:55:33,760 Generals Joffre and Zhilinsky signed a military convention. 762 00:55:33,840 --> 00:55:36,440 In the event of a German attack on France, 763 00:55:36,520 --> 00:55:39,400 Russia was to attack Germany within fifteen days 764 00:55:39,480 --> 00:55:42,000 and push through Prussia towards Berlin. 765 00:55:45,160 --> 00:55:50,240 And inside Germany, politics were getting more and more complicated. 766 00:55:50,320 --> 00:55:53,640 In 1912 elections, the Social Democratic Party won 767 00:55:53,720 --> 00:55:56,520 35% of the seats in the Reichstag, 768 00:55:56,600 --> 00:56:00,120 thus becoming the strongest political party in Germany. 769 00:56:05,120 --> 00:56:08,080 [Röhl] Germany is becoming more and more democratic, internally, 770 00:56:08,160 --> 00:56:10,320 and has a larger socialist movement 771 00:56:10,400 --> 00:56:14,360 which is republican, Marxist and pacifistic. 772 00:56:16,120 --> 00:56:20,440 There is a real danger that the Social Democratic Party, 773 00:56:20,520 --> 00:56:24,960 the Catholic Center Party, the Liberal Party will simply say, 774 00:56:25,040 --> 00:56:29,960 "This form of government that we have is not adequate for a modern society." 775 00:56:30,040 --> 00:56:32,520 And the more power those parties acquire, 776 00:56:32,600 --> 00:56:37,880 the less the militarist tradition will be able to be put into effect. 777 00:56:37,960 --> 00:56:39,880 So there's a time factor involved here, 778 00:56:39,960 --> 00:56:42,120 they see that very clearly, the German General Staff. 779 00:56:44,240 --> 00:56:46,040 [machines clanking] 780 00:56:54,840 --> 00:56:57,120 [Lieven] Russia has huge resources, 781 00:56:57,200 --> 00:57:01,320 both in terms of raw materials and in terms of population. 782 00:57:02,080 --> 00:57:04,320 So if the economy goes on growing at this rate, 783 00:57:04,400 --> 00:57:06,560 Russia is going to be a superpower 784 00:57:06,640 --> 00:57:09,600 in a way that really in the world of that time, 785 00:57:09,680 --> 00:57:11,680 only the United States could match. 786 00:57:12,280 --> 00:57:15,680 Possibly the British Empire, if the British Empire holds together, 787 00:57:15,760 --> 00:57:18,320 but certainly not a purely continental European country. 788 00:57:19,000 --> 00:57:22,920 And the fact that the future seems to belong to Russia 789 00:57:23,000 --> 00:57:26,640 deeply scares both German policymakers 790 00:57:26,720 --> 00:57:29,600 and broader sections of German society, 791 00:57:30,160 --> 00:57:32,280 so from the German perspective, 792 00:57:33,200 --> 00:57:36,960 you have this combination of fear and temptation. 793 00:57:37,720 --> 00:57:40,400 The sense that if you fight now you'll probably win, 794 00:57:40,480 --> 00:57:43,080 whereas if you leave it for ten years, you'll almost certainly lose. 795 00:57:43,160 --> 00:57:44,960 [band playing] 796 00:57:51,480 --> 00:57:54,520 [narrator] There was also growing concern that by 1917, 797 00:57:54,600 --> 00:57:57,520 Russia would have fully recovered from the Japanese defeat 798 00:57:57,600 --> 00:57:59,800 and the 1905 revolution. 799 00:58:00,800 --> 00:58:04,080 The Russians were expected to complete their Great Military Program 800 00:58:04,160 --> 00:58:06,240 and be firmly on their feet again, 801 00:58:08,040 --> 00:58:10,800 this time with two million soldiers. 802 00:58:14,200 --> 00:58:16,880 [Höbelt] Germany and Austria, they say, 803 00:58:16,960 --> 00:58:18,760 "We're losing ground in Europe. 804 00:58:18,840 --> 00:58:20,800 The others are getting more and more powerful 805 00:58:20,880 --> 00:58:21,800 and we can't catch up." 806 00:58:25,080 --> 00:58:27,080 And it's not so much armaments 807 00:58:27,160 --> 00:58:30,520 but railway building by the French in Russia. 808 00:58:30,600 --> 00:58:31,640 That is the big threat. 809 00:58:33,160 --> 00:58:38,320 [narrator]In 1912 and 1913, Russia received a major French loan. 810 00:58:38,400 --> 00:58:42,760 The condition was that they build strategic railways in western Russia. 811 00:58:43,640 --> 00:58:46,800 Railways leading to the German border. 812 00:58:46,880 --> 00:58:48,360 [train whistle] 813 00:58:54,080 --> 00:58:56,320 [Höbelt] And within three or four years, 814 00:58:56,400 --> 00:59:00,000 Russian mobilization would be just as quick as the Austrians, 815 00:59:00,080 --> 00:59:02,640 maybe even not quite as the Germans. 816 00:59:02,720 --> 00:59:06,680 So you can no longer have the Schlieffen Plan after 1917. 817 00:59:06,760 --> 00:59:09,120 You can still fight the war on two fronts now. 818 00:59:09,200 --> 00:59:12,040 In a few years' time you'll no longer be able to do that, 819 00:59:12,120 --> 00:59:15,880 and that is really the basic argument for a preventive war. 820 00:59:15,960 --> 00:59:17,800 So, in global terms, 821 00:59:17,880 --> 00:59:20,320 World War I is a sort of preventive war 822 00:59:20,400 --> 00:59:22,440 against the Russian railway building program. 823 00:59:34,280 --> 00:59:37,840 [Röhl] It's obvious that if you are the Chief of the German General Staff 824 00:59:37,920 --> 00:59:40,920 you're not going to wait until your enemies are ready. 825 00:59:41,680 --> 00:59:45,480 It's quite natural that you plan to do the attacking yourself 826 00:59:45,560 --> 00:59:47,240 to surprise the others. 827 00:59:47,320 --> 00:59:50,080 The trouble with that is that it looks like a war of aggression, 828 00:59:50,160 --> 00:59:52,120 which indeed it would have been, 829 00:59:52,200 --> 00:59:55,840 which your own people would not support. 830 00:59:55,920 --> 00:59:58,040 Your allies would not even support it 831 00:59:58,120 --> 01:00:02,920 if it looks like you are taking an initiative in starting this war. 832 01:00:03,000 --> 01:00:05,120 So the whole war had to be disguised. 833 01:00:05,200 --> 01:00:06,840 [bells ringing] 834 01:00:09,120 --> 01:00:13,920 [Mombauer] It was crucial for Berlin to appear to be attacked. 835 01:00:15,120 --> 01:00:18,240 There was a lot of talk about how we need to appear to be attacked 836 01:00:18,320 --> 01:00:20,640 so that all the population will be behind us 837 01:00:20,720 --> 01:00:24,080 and that perhaps Britain will stay out of the war. 838 01:00:27,040 --> 01:00:31,520 [Röhl] I prepare the German mind for this by newspaper articles 839 01:00:31,600 --> 01:00:35,080 written by the General Staff to represent Russia 840 01:00:35,160 --> 01:00:37,520 as barbaric, killing its own people, 841 01:00:37,600 --> 01:00:40,800 shooting its own people in Petrograd and so on. 842 01:00:40,880 --> 01:00:46,640 But secondly, the best way is to push Austria in the Balkans 843 01:00:46,720 --> 01:00:48,200 into a war against Serbia. 844 01:00:49,960 --> 01:00:52,520 Perhaps I don't have to push because they want to do it anyway, 845 01:00:52,600 --> 01:00:54,880 but we will be very supportive. 846 01:00:56,160 --> 01:00:59,000 [Mombauer] The experience of the Moroccan crisis had shown 847 01:00:59,080 --> 01:01:03,920 that they couldn't really rely on the Austrian ally in a crisis 848 01:01:04,000 --> 01:01:07,240 that didn't directly affect their own interests, 849 01:01:07,320 --> 01:01:10,160 so a Balkan crisis was considered in Berlin 850 01:01:10,240 --> 01:01:13,120 to be really pretty crucial and important 851 01:01:13,200 --> 01:01:16,080 if you wanted, perhaps, to provoke a war. 852 01:01:17,600 --> 01:01:21,400 [Röhl] If then, which they thought was very likely, 90% likely, 853 01:01:21,480 --> 01:01:24,840 Russia supports Serbia and declares war on Austria, 854 01:01:24,920 --> 01:01:27,560 then we will look as if we're only coming to the aid of our ally. 855 01:01:27,640 --> 01:01:29,560 We will not seem like the aggressors, 856 01:01:29,640 --> 01:01:32,600 even though our attack is actually against France, 857 01:01:32,680 --> 01:01:36,560 before we can sweep our army against Russia. 858 01:01:39,040 --> 01:01:43,680 And the greatest prize of all in this plan of Bethmann Hollweg's 859 01:01:43,760 --> 01:01:46,480 was to keep Britain neutral 860 01:01:46,560 --> 01:01:50,560 in what would look like a war in the Balkans long way away. 861 01:01:50,640 --> 01:01:52,520 [ominous music] 862 01:02:01,320 --> 01:02:04,160 [narrator] The Austro-Hungarian annexation of 1908 863 01:02:04,240 --> 01:02:09,080 incited the creation of many groups and secret societies of young Bosnians. 864 01:02:17,040 --> 01:02:20,920 One was the progressive Serbo-Croat youth of Sarajevo, 865 01:02:21,000 --> 01:02:24,200 and one of its members Gavrilo Princip. 866 01:02:26,960 --> 01:02:30,600 And in Serbia there was a secret society of Serbian army officers 867 01:02:30,680 --> 01:02:36,880 called Unification or Death, better known as The Black Hand. 868 01:02:37,920 --> 01:02:42,880 One of its leaders was Lieutenant Colonel Dragutin Dimitrijević, "Apis," 869 01:02:42,960 --> 01:02:47,080 the man who organized the 1903 coup d'état. 870 01:02:47,160 --> 01:02:49,280 Now he also aimed to bring down 871 01:02:49,360 --> 01:02:53,080 the Prime Minister Nikola Pašić and his government. 872 01:02:55,360 --> 01:02:58,880 The Black Hand and the revolutionary and nationalist groups in Bosnia 873 01:02:58,960 --> 01:03:01,080 shared a common goal 874 01:03:01,160 --> 01:03:06,040 to free Bosnia and Herzegovina of Austro-Hungarian rule. 875 01:03:14,120 --> 01:03:17,200 [Bataković] The main target of Serbian policy 876 01:03:17,280 --> 01:03:21,520 was to finish with the Ottoman rule in Old Serbia, 877 01:03:21,600 --> 01:03:25,760 which is Vilayet of Kosovo and Vilayet of Manastir, 878 01:03:25,840 --> 01:03:28,160 which is Slavic Macedonia. 879 01:03:28,240 --> 01:03:33,560 So Bosnia was apart from any plans of Serbia 880 01:03:33,640 --> 01:03:39,240 to foment revolt or any kind of internal turmoil. 881 01:03:39,320 --> 01:03:42,840 The main focus was the south. 882 01:03:42,920 --> 01:03:44,640 [fanfare] 883 01:03:45,960 --> 01:03:47,560 [crowd cheering] 884 01:03:48,720 --> 01:03:50,680 [narrator] In order to fully liberate their lands 885 01:03:50,760 --> 01:03:52,800 from centuries of Ottoman rule, 886 01:03:52,880 --> 01:03:55,680 Serbia, Bulgaria, Greece and Montenegro 887 01:03:55,760 --> 01:03:58,920 commenced military operations against the Ottoman Empire 888 01:03:59,000 --> 01:04:01,520 on October the 8th, 1912. 889 01:04:02,720 --> 01:04:04,240 [canons booming] 890 01:04:10,320 --> 01:04:12,040 [men yelling] 891 01:04:28,320 --> 01:04:30,480 [Bataković] One of the most important elements 892 01:04:30,560 --> 01:04:33,440 in Serbian strategy during the First Balkan War 893 01:04:33,520 --> 01:04:37,480 was to obtain an access to the Adriatic Sea 894 01:04:37,560 --> 01:04:44,560 and to have a direct territorial link for its exports into the third countries, 895 01:04:44,640 --> 01:04:48,960 because the tariff war by Austria-Hungary has shown 896 01:04:49,040 --> 01:04:55,760 that Austria is doing everything to block Serbia's export 897 01:04:55,840 --> 01:04:59,720 and to bring her back into their political influence. 898 01:05:01,520 --> 01:05:04,560 [Bled] For Vienna, it was essential 899 01:05:04,640 --> 01:05:10,400 to restrict the expansion of Serbia. 900 01:05:10,480 --> 01:05:16,920 It is not acceptable to allow Serbia to reach the Adriatic. 901 01:05:17,000 --> 01:05:22,600 The means to prevent that was to form the Albanian state. 902 01:05:22,680 --> 01:05:26,480 SERBIAN ADVANCE TOWARDS THE ADRIATIC 903 01:05:32,440 --> 01:05:34,560 [narrator]The tension between Vienna and Belgrade 904 01:05:34,640 --> 01:05:36,240 was becoming critical. 905 01:05:36,320 --> 01:05:42,080 THE BALKAN WAR AUSTRO-HUNGARIAN CONFLICT WITH SERBIA 906 01:05:42,160 --> 01:05:45,600 In Berlin, all saw this as a welcome opportunity. 907 01:05:47,480 --> 01:05:49,480 All but one. 908 01:05:53,920 --> 01:05:58,400 [Röhl] In November 1912, even the Chancellor Bethmann Hollweg 909 01:05:58,480 --> 01:06:00,440 and Kiderlen-Waechter, the Foreign Secretary, 910 01:06:00,520 --> 01:06:04,360 as well as the generals, are urging Wilhelm II 911 01:06:04,440 --> 01:06:09,560 that the thing to do is to encourage Austria to attack Serbia 912 01:06:09,640 --> 01:06:12,080 before Serbia can reach the Adriatic. 913 01:06:12,640 --> 01:06:15,960 And Wilhelm is reluctant. He has a plan B in mind. 914 01:06:17,080 --> 01:06:20,240 Plan B is that instead of Austria attacking Serbia, 915 01:06:20,320 --> 01:06:22,160 it should bribe Serbia. 916 01:06:22,240 --> 01:06:24,280 Give them lots of money, he says, 917 01:06:24,360 --> 01:06:26,720 and then when the war against Russia comes, 918 01:06:26,800 --> 01:06:29,920 the Serb army will be integrated with the Austro-Hungarian army, 919 01:06:30,000 --> 01:06:31,760 and we can defeat Russia all the better. 920 01:06:32,680 --> 01:06:34,120 [Bethmann Hollweg voiceover] It is often said that Germany 921 01:06:34,200 --> 01:06:38,120 has no need to fight for Austria's Albanian or Adriatic interests, 922 01:06:38,200 --> 01:06:40,040 or even for the harbor at Durazzo, 923 01:06:40,120 --> 01:06:42,160 but that is not what is at stake. 924 01:06:42,840 --> 01:06:46,200 If Austria has to fight for her position as a great power, 925 01:06:46,280 --> 01:06:47,560 regardless of the cause, 926 01:06:47,640 --> 01:06:50,160 then we must stand at her side 927 01:06:50,240 --> 01:06:52,680 so as not to have to fight alone at a later stage 928 01:06:52,760 --> 01:06:55,400 with a weakened Austria beside us. 929 01:06:55,960 --> 01:06:58,160 [Wilhelm II voiceover] Austria-Hungary could count unconditionally 930 01:06:58,240 --> 01:07:00,240 on the support of the German Reich. 931 01:07:00,320 --> 01:07:03,880 Germany's sword is already loose in its scabbard. 932 01:07:05,840 --> 01:07:09,000 [narrator] On November the 21st, 1912, the Kaiser ordered 933 01:07:09,080 --> 01:07:12,480 his new ambassador to London, Prince Lichnowsky, 934 01:07:12,560 --> 01:07:14,840 to ascertain what the British position would be 935 01:07:14,920 --> 01:07:17,240 in the event of a Continental war. 936 01:07:20,840 --> 01:07:23,240 The very next day, November the 22nd, 937 01:07:23,320 --> 01:07:26,520 Conrad's replacement, General Blasius Schemua, 938 01:07:26,600 --> 01:07:30,000 and the Archduke Franz Ferdinand came in secret to Berlin 939 01:07:30,080 --> 01:07:32,280 to meet the Kaiser and Moltke. 940 01:07:33,120 --> 01:07:35,600 [Schemua voiceover] Moltke entirely understood our situation 941 01:07:35,680 --> 01:07:37,640 vis-à-vis Russia and Serbia. 942 01:07:37,720 --> 01:07:39,800 He promised not merely to stand guard 943 01:07:39,880 --> 01:07:44,240 but to launch a forceful offensive action in parallel with ours. 944 01:07:44,720 --> 01:07:46,680 [Franz Ferdinand voiceover] Kaiser Wilhelm, especially gracious, 945 01:07:46,760 --> 01:07:49,440 willing to support us in everything. 946 01:07:49,520 --> 01:07:54,640 Full security in this respect, absolutely against the conference of the Powers. 947 01:07:56,840 --> 01:07:59,800 [narrator] In his speech on December the 2nd, 1912, 948 01:07:59,880 --> 01:08:05,120 the Chancellor Bethmann Hollweg pledged full German support for Austria-Hungary 949 01:08:05,200 --> 01:08:08,360 in front of the Reichstag and the whole world. 950 01:08:12,120 --> 01:08:16,640 So that is if you like, a blank check, given both secretly and in public 951 01:08:16,720 --> 01:08:21,359 by the Kaiser, but also Moltke and Bethmann Hollweg. 952 01:08:21,439 --> 01:08:23,760 All make it clear to the Austrian leadership 953 01:08:23,840 --> 01:08:27,760 that Germany would be in support if they attack Serbia. 954 01:08:28,399 --> 01:08:30,240 -[officer giving orders] -[drumming] 955 01:08:43,240 --> 01:08:45,840 [Bataković] They brought such an enormous army 956 01:08:45,920 --> 01:08:49,960 that in Belgrade they thought that the war is imminent, 957 01:08:50,040 --> 01:08:54,279 that the war will erupt within weeks, 958 01:08:54,359 --> 01:08:58,840 at the moment when the most of the Serbian troops were in the south 959 01:08:58,920 --> 01:09:01,080 guarding the new territories. 960 01:09:02,840 --> 01:09:04,040 [narrator] On December the 8th, 961 01:09:04,120 --> 01:09:07,720 the Kaiser read Lichnowsky's telegram from London. 962 01:09:08,640 --> 01:09:11,160 [Lichnowsky voiceover] In a general European conflict that might arise 963 01:09:11,240 --> 01:09:14,200 from an Austrian invasion of Serbia, it is hardly likely 964 01:09:14,279 --> 01:09:17,640 that Great Britain would be able to remain a passive observer. 965 01:09:17,720 --> 01:09:20,840 England could, therefore, under no circumstances 966 01:09:20,920 --> 01:09:22,840 tolerate the crushing of France. 967 01:09:23,319 --> 01:09:27,359 England cannot be and is not willing to be confronted afterwards 968 01:09:27,439 --> 01:09:31,359 by a united continent under the leadership of one single power. 969 01:09:33,439 --> 01:09:35,560 [narrator] The Kaiser was furious. 970 01:09:35,640 --> 01:09:37,520 He called up a meeting. 971 01:09:37,600 --> 01:09:40,640 It would become known as the War Council. 972 01:09:41,640 --> 01:09:43,439 It took place on a Sunday morning, 973 01:09:43,520 --> 01:09:47,240 December the 8th, 1912, in the Berlin Palace. 974 01:09:47,880 --> 01:09:50,560 [Wilhelm II voiceover] Austria must deal energetically with the Serbs, 975 01:09:50,640 --> 01:09:53,319 otherwise she will lose control of the Slavs 976 01:09:53,399 --> 01:09:55,280 in the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. 977 01:09:56,960 --> 01:09:59,920 If Russia supports the Serbs, which she evidently does, 978 01:10:00,000 --> 01:10:02,920 then war would be unavoidable for us too. 979 01:10:03,000 --> 01:10:05,720 [Moltke voiceover] I believe a war is unavoidable, 980 01:10:05,800 --> 01:10:08,520 and the sooner the better. 981 01:10:09,080 --> 01:10:11,480 Moltke says the sooner the better. 982 01:10:11,560 --> 01:10:15,000 We are ready, any delay is going to put us at a disadvantage. 983 01:10:15,560 --> 01:10:18,200 But it's Tirpitz who swings the meeting 984 01:10:18,280 --> 01:10:23,160 by saying the Navy would prefer to see the great fight, 985 01:10:23,240 --> 01:10:27,160 he says "the great fight," to be postponed for a year and a half 986 01:10:27,240 --> 01:10:29,080 until the Kiel Canal is ready 987 01:10:31,360 --> 01:10:33,880 in the summer of 1914. 988 01:10:33,960 --> 01:10:38,840 [ship horn] 989 01:10:41,360 --> 01:10:43,640 [narrator]The very next day, December the 9th, 990 01:10:43,720 --> 01:10:45,880 work began on the new Army Bill. 991 01:10:47,600 --> 01:10:51,680 The army budget was to increase by a staggering 35% 992 01:10:51,760 --> 01:10:56,360 and reach 2.4 billion Deutschemarks in 1913. 993 01:10:57,400 --> 01:11:01,360 The army's troop strength would be increased by 140,000 men 994 01:11:01,440 --> 01:11:03,040 by 1914. 995 01:11:09,080 --> 01:11:11,120 [Wilhelm II voiceover] The creation of a strong Serbian Empire 996 01:11:11,200 --> 01:11:12,440 must be prevented. 997 01:11:12,520 --> 01:11:15,600 It is vital not to get encircled by the ring of Slavs. 998 01:11:17,240 --> 01:11:18,520 The solution can be deferred, 999 01:11:18,600 --> 01:11:21,040 but the question will come up again in one or two years. 1000 01:11:21,800 --> 01:11:24,080 It will be necessary to create a Balkan state 1001 01:11:24,160 --> 01:11:27,480 which does not look towards Petersburg, but Vienna, 1002 01:11:27,560 --> 01:11:30,280 and Turkey will have to be strengthened again. 1003 01:11:34,560 --> 01:11:36,840 [narrator]But back in December of 1912, 1004 01:11:36,920 --> 01:11:38,640 Austria-Hungary was still gathering 1005 01:11:38,720 --> 01:11:42,040 a massive military force just outside Belgrade. 1006 01:11:44,560 --> 01:11:46,960 [Röhl] They now had to be pulled back again, had to be told, 1007 01:11:47,040 --> 01:11:49,840 no, well, actually, we've changed our minds because of this. 1008 01:11:49,920 --> 01:11:52,040 So the Kaiser writes to Franz Ferdinand, 1009 01:11:52,120 --> 01:11:54,840 Moltke writes to Conrad von Hötzendorf, 1010 01:11:54,920 --> 01:11:57,760 Bethmann Hollweg writes to Berchtold, and says, 1011 01:11:57,840 --> 01:11:59,800 "No, actually not yet. Wait!" 1012 01:12:09,920 --> 01:12:12,280 [Höbelt] And then the Austrians say, "All right. 1013 01:12:13,160 --> 01:12:16,320 Let's say the Balkan for the Balkan peoples." 1014 01:12:16,400 --> 01:12:20,440 Because if you follow ethnic lines of conduct, 1015 01:12:20,520 --> 01:12:23,800 then Serbia is going to win fairly little. 1016 01:12:23,880 --> 01:12:27,480 Because Macedonians are regarded as Bulgarians, 1017 01:12:27,560 --> 01:12:30,320 the Kosovo has an Albanian majority, they believed, 1018 01:12:30,400 --> 01:12:32,680 so Serbia will gain almost nothing. 1019 01:12:33,280 --> 01:12:36,160 So they are waiting for the second round of arguing. 1020 01:12:36,240 --> 01:12:39,680 They are waiting for the Balkan entente to fall apart 1021 01:12:39,760 --> 01:12:42,080 and for the victors in the first Balkan War 1022 01:12:42,160 --> 01:12:43,080 to start fighting each other. 1023 01:12:45,280 --> 01:12:47,000 [dramatic music] 1024 01:12:47,080 --> 01:12:48,800 [canons booming] 1025 01:12:50,000 --> 01:12:52,200 [narrator]On June the 29th, 1913, 1026 01:12:52,280 --> 01:12:55,240 with the Bulgarian attack on the Serbian and Greek troops, 1027 01:12:55,320 --> 01:12:57,040 the Second Balkan War began. 1028 01:12:57,120 --> 01:12:58,920 [soldiers yelling] 1029 01:13:03,720 --> 01:13:05,640 [Höbelt] The Austrians tell the Bulgarians, 1030 01:13:05,720 --> 01:13:09,920 "We'll support you, but only if you buy off the Romanians. 1031 01:13:10,920 --> 01:13:13,640 If you bribe the Romanians with territory, 1032 01:13:13,720 --> 01:13:17,160 then we'll actually join you in jointly defeating Serbia." 1033 01:13:18,360 --> 01:13:23,040 The Bulgarians refuse to hand over territory to the Romanians. 1034 01:13:23,120 --> 01:13:27,440 And so the Austrians say, "All right. If that is so, then our offer lapses." 1035 01:13:27,520 --> 01:13:29,480 And the Bulgarian tsar is furious. 1036 01:13:29,560 --> 01:13:32,400 He says, "Who could have thought that you would miss 1037 01:13:32,480 --> 01:13:36,040 this perfect opportunity for wiping Serbia from the map!" 1038 01:13:36,680 --> 01:13:37,960 And as it happens, of course, 1039 01:13:38,040 --> 01:13:40,400 the Bulgarians on their own, they're being defeated. 1040 01:13:40,480 --> 01:13:44,040 And in itself that's a big defeat for foreign policy. 1041 01:13:44,120 --> 01:13:45,920 [joyful singing] 1042 01:13:56,480 --> 01:14:00,320 [narrator] Now Bulgaria and Austria's interests were united in defeat, 1043 01:14:00,400 --> 01:14:04,760 and Bulgaria was to become an important ally for the Central Powers, 1044 01:14:05,960 --> 01:14:08,480 as was the Ottoman Empire. 1045 01:14:11,600 --> 01:14:14,640 Germany was building the Berlin-Baghdad railroad, 1046 01:14:15,960 --> 01:14:19,040 while the German General Otto Liman von Sanders 1047 01:14:19,120 --> 01:14:23,120 was in charge of rebuilding the Turkish Army on the German model. 1048 01:14:25,240 --> 01:14:28,320 Now Russia was getting encircled. 1049 01:14:37,040 --> 01:14:39,120 [Lieven] The basic point from the Russian perspective 1050 01:14:39,200 --> 01:14:43,160 is that Serbia is their most reliable ally in the Balkans. 1051 01:14:43,240 --> 01:14:45,720 It's the only country on which they can depend, 1052 01:14:45,800 --> 01:14:49,720 because unlike everybody else, Serbia has no one else to look to. 1053 01:14:50,960 --> 01:14:54,280 The Bulgarians can play the Russians and Austrians off against each other. 1054 01:14:54,360 --> 01:14:55,800 So can the Romanians. 1055 01:14:55,880 --> 01:14:58,640 The Greeks can look to Germany, they can look to Britain. 1056 01:14:58,720 --> 01:15:00,240 So can the Turks, even. 1057 01:15:00,800 --> 01:15:05,960 But Serbia, because of its commitment to a basically anti-Austrian line, 1058 01:15:06,040 --> 01:15:08,080 has no one to look to but Russia. 1059 01:15:08,160 --> 01:15:11,400 It's therefore a secure ally, in a way, 1060 01:15:11,480 --> 01:15:14,960 and it's an ally which looks even more valuable 1061 01:15:15,040 --> 01:15:16,920 after the two Balkan wars. 1062 01:15:20,160 --> 01:15:21,920 [narrator]The weapon that stood out in the Balkan wars 1063 01:15:22,000 --> 01:15:26,600 was the French Schneider-Creusot 75 millimeter cannon. 1064 01:15:27,600 --> 01:15:31,480 [Soutou] That brought confidence to the French General Staff. 1065 01:15:33,000 --> 01:15:34,440 They were also convinced 1066 01:15:34,520 --> 01:15:38,400 that the Serbian army had become quite a good army. 1067 01:15:39,080 --> 01:15:40,840 They had a great respect 1068 01:15:40,920 --> 01:15:45,760 from what was called at the time "military virtues of the Serbian people," 1069 01:15:45,840 --> 01:15:50,480 reliable, tough, willing to sacrifice themselves. 1070 01:15:53,960 --> 01:15:57,560 The Serbian generals are saying, "Look, we're very vulnerable 1071 01:15:57,640 --> 01:16:01,400 at the moment, because Serbia is attempting to absorb 1072 01:16:01,480 --> 01:16:03,160 these newly conquered areas. 1073 01:16:03,240 --> 01:16:05,200 The army has to reorganize itself. 1074 01:16:05,280 --> 01:16:07,680 We need a new system of mobilization. 1075 01:16:07,760 --> 01:16:09,600 We need all sorts of things. 1076 01:16:09,680 --> 01:16:10,840 Give it three years. 1077 01:16:10,920 --> 01:16:13,640 We and the Montenegrins will be able to put half a million men 1078 01:16:13,720 --> 01:16:15,280 in the field against Austria." 1079 01:16:15,360 --> 01:16:19,080 That is a huge potential advantage to Russia. 1080 01:16:19,160 --> 01:16:22,400 That means three, four Austrian army corps less 1081 01:16:22,480 --> 01:16:24,280 on the eastern front. 1082 01:16:24,360 --> 01:16:28,000 So at that level this is straight realpolitik. 1083 01:16:28,720 --> 01:16:30,400 At another level it isn't. 1084 01:16:30,480 --> 01:16:34,440 It's to do with appeals to Slav solidarity. 1085 01:16:34,520 --> 01:16:36,480 [priest chanting prayers] 1086 01:16:38,240 --> 01:16:39,720 [indistinct dialogue] 1087 01:16:44,520 --> 01:16:46,360 [tense music] 1088 01:16:48,160 --> 01:16:50,000 [narrator] In the autumn of 1913, 1089 01:16:50,080 --> 01:16:51,960 tensions were again on the rise. 1090 01:16:53,680 --> 01:16:56,080 In putting down the Albanian insurgents, 1091 01:16:56,160 --> 01:16:59,560 the Serbian army had penetrated deeply into Albania 1092 01:16:59,640 --> 01:17:02,520 and pushed for the Adriatic coast again. 1093 01:17:05,000 --> 01:17:08,520 Austria-Hungary now demanded full Serbian withdrawal 1094 01:17:08,600 --> 01:17:10,600 from the newly formed country. 1095 01:17:13,240 --> 01:17:15,680 And in the Alsace-Lorraine town of Severn, 1096 01:17:15,760 --> 01:17:20,480 a racial incident between a German officer and the local French population 1097 01:17:20,560 --> 01:17:23,880 threatened to escalate into an open conflict. 1098 01:17:28,840 --> 01:17:32,320 At exactly that same time, October-November 1913, 1099 01:17:32,400 --> 01:17:35,440 the king of the Belgians, Albert, comes to Berlin 1100 01:17:35,520 --> 01:17:38,320 and is told both by the Kaiser and Moltke, 1101 01:17:38,400 --> 01:17:41,000 "We are about to go to war with France. 1102 01:17:41,080 --> 01:17:43,400 The German people will be so up for it 1103 01:17:43,480 --> 01:17:46,560 that nothing will stop the furor teutonicus, 1104 01:17:46,640 --> 01:17:48,360 and you had better be on our side. 1105 01:17:48,440 --> 01:17:52,360 Because the penalty of being against us will be terrible for you." 1106 01:17:55,960 --> 01:17:58,640 [narrator]Within days, Albert reported Wilhelm's threat 1107 01:17:58,720 --> 01:17:59,800 to the French government. 1108 01:18:01,120 --> 01:18:03,760 But for Paris, this was hardly news. 1109 01:18:04,800 --> 01:18:09,840 In 1905 and 1911, war with Germany over Morocco was narrowly avoided, 1110 01:18:10,840 --> 01:18:13,640 so in 1913, Poincaré's administration 1111 01:18:13,720 --> 01:18:18,000 extended the military service from two to three years, 1112 01:18:18,080 --> 01:18:23,800 increasing the number of active troops from 480,000 to 750,000. 1113 01:18:28,960 --> 01:18:32,960 [Soutou] Poincaré was convinced that there was a danger for France 1114 01:18:33,040 --> 01:18:36,960 to be drawn into a very difficult war against Germany, 1115 01:18:37,040 --> 01:18:39,920 and he did not want to do anything 1116 01:18:40,000 --> 01:18:45,040 which might endanger Russian help in that case, in case of war. 1117 01:18:45,880 --> 01:18:49,240 As soon as Poincaré became President of the Council, 1118 01:18:49,320 --> 01:18:52,480 Prime Minister, if you prefer, in 1912, 1119 01:18:52,560 --> 01:18:55,800 he sent to Saint Petersburg 1120 01:18:55,880 --> 01:18:59,800 as his ambassador, Delcassé, 1121 01:18:59,880 --> 01:19:03,600 who was a former Foreign Minister, 1122 01:19:03,680 --> 01:19:08,440 who was the architect of the Franco-British Entente, 1123 01:19:08,520 --> 01:19:12,080 and who had already started, in 1898, 1124 01:19:12,160 --> 01:19:15,200 to reinforce the Franco-Russian Alliance. 1125 01:19:15,280 --> 01:19:19,280 That was a sign, an indication to the Russians. 1126 01:19:19,360 --> 01:19:21,080 "We mean it seriously." 1127 01:19:22,000 --> 01:19:24,480 [narrator] During his post as ambassador in St. Petersburg, 1128 01:19:24,560 --> 01:19:27,920 Théophile Delcassé conducted comprehensive talks 1129 01:19:28,000 --> 01:19:31,320 with the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Sazonov. 1130 01:19:32,320 --> 01:19:35,280 The possibility of war was an unavoidable subject. 1131 01:19:36,120 --> 01:19:40,320 If it comes to a war, then we must try to win it. 1132 01:19:40,400 --> 01:19:42,320 They were pretty sure they could win it. 1133 01:19:42,400 --> 01:19:48,960 And in that case, we're going to solve a whole series of problems. 1134 01:19:49,040 --> 01:19:54,800 We're going to solve the problem of German hegemony in Europe. 1135 01:19:54,880 --> 01:19:58,000 We're going, of course, to take back Alsace-Lorraine, 1136 01:19:58,080 --> 01:20:00,920 which had been lost to the Germans in 1871. 1137 01:20:01,000 --> 01:20:04,720 The Russians will take the Prussian part of Poland. 1138 01:20:04,800 --> 01:20:07,840 The Austro-Hungarian problem will be solved 1139 01:20:07,920 --> 01:20:11,720 with annexation of Galicia by the Russians, 1140 01:20:11,800 --> 01:20:16,440 and probably with the end of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. 1141 01:20:16,520 --> 01:20:18,200 [dramatic music] 1142 01:20:25,200 --> 01:20:27,840 [narrator] On October the 18th, 1913, 1143 01:20:27,920 --> 01:20:30,640 Belgrade received yet another ultimatum. 1144 01:20:33,200 --> 01:20:35,080 For the third time in a year, 1145 01:20:35,160 --> 01:20:38,080 Austria-Hungary threatened war on Serbia, 1146 01:20:38,160 --> 01:20:42,320 now giving her eight days to completely withdraw from Albania. 1147 01:20:43,400 --> 01:20:45,000 [clanking] 1148 01:20:53,200 --> 01:20:55,680 [Bataković] After the two exhausting Balkan wars, 1149 01:20:55,760 --> 01:20:59,320 which costed Serbia almost a billion Francs, 1150 01:20:59,400 --> 01:21:02,560 the whole state was on the edge of exhaustion. 1151 01:21:03,320 --> 01:21:07,440 Serbia was lacking 120,000 rifles only. 1152 01:21:07,520 --> 01:21:11,240 Cannons and ammunition was needed. 1153 01:21:11,960 --> 01:21:15,040 Half of the army was in the hospitals. 1154 01:21:15,120 --> 01:21:19,680 And Serbia needed at least 20 years of peace 1155 01:21:19,760 --> 01:21:22,920 in order to absorb these new territories. 1156 01:21:23,000 --> 01:21:27,360 Therefore, her main interest was to remain 1157 01:21:27,440 --> 01:21:30,040 in friendly relations with Austria-Hungary. 1158 01:21:31,680 --> 01:21:34,080 [narrator] So once again, Serbia gave in 1159 01:21:34,160 --> 01:21:36,640 under the Austro-Hungarian ultimatum. 1160 01:21:44,160 --> 01:21:47,040 [Höbelt] The Austrians face the frustrations of success. 1161 01:21:47,120 --> 01:21:50,360 Because outwardly, the Austrians get what they want. 1162 01:21:50,440 --> 01:21:53,800 They want annexation of Bosnia in 1909, they get it. 1163 01:21:53,880 --> 01:21:56,440 They want Serbia not to have a port 1164 01:21:56,520 --> 01:21:59,640 on the Adriatic coastline in 1912, and they get that. 1165 01:21:59,720 --> 01:22:02,960 They want Serbia to withdraw from Albania in 1913, 1166 01:22:03,040 --> 01:22:04,320 and they get what they want. 1167 01:22:04,400 --> 01:22:07,640 On the other hand, they realize it's all Pyrrhic victories. 1168 01:22:08,200 --> 01:22:09,840 It doesn't really benefit Austria. 1169 01:22:09,920 --> 01:22:12,080 Serbia gets stronger and stronger. 1170 01:22:14,760 --> 01:22:19,040 And each of these crises cost the Austrians an enormous sum of money, 1171 01:22:19,120 --> 01:22:21,520 because they always issue an ultimatum. 1172 01:22:21,600 --> 01:22:23,920 They almost mobilize half their troops, 1173 01:22:24,000 --> 01:22:26,960 they send all their troops to Bosnia and to the border, 1174 01:22:27,040 --> 01:22:29,880 and it costs them hundreds of millions of crowns. 1175 01:22:29,960 --> 01:22:34,200 So that after the last mobilization at the end of 1913, 1176 01:22:34,280 --> 01:22:38,600 Francis Joseph, who basically favored a peaceful policy until then, 1177 01:22:38,680 --> 01:22:40,520 he said, "This is the end of it. 1178 01:22:40,600 --> 01:22:44,840 We can no longer have another mobilization short of war. 1179 01:22:44,920 --> 01:22:47,080 Next time it has to be all or nothing." 1180 01:22:59,000 --> 01:23:03,160 Today we use the phrase "we live in a globalized world." 1181 01:23:03,240 --> 01:23:06,800 In 1914, people thought they lived in a globalized world, too. 1182 01:23:09,240 --> 01:23:10,560 [soft music] 1183 01:23:26,800 --> 01:23:28,120 [cars honking] 1184 01:23:49,040 --> 01:23:52,040 This is a very sophisticated society and civilization. 1185 01:23:52,120 --> 01:23:54,480 This is the world of Stravinsky and Chagall. 1186 01:23:54,560 --> 01:23:57,720 This is the world of, you know, insurance companies 1187 01:23:57,800 --> 01:24:00,920 which already have hundreds of thousands of insurance policies, 1188 01:24:01,000 --> 01:24:04,440 newspapers which have hundreds of thousands of readers. 1189 01:24:05,400 --> 01:24:07,400 In a way, it's almost postmodern. 1190 01:24:07,480 --> 01:24:09,120 [music continues] 1191 01:24:12,440 --> 01:24:13,800 [horses neighing] 1192 01:24:17,760 --> 01:24:20,240 [narrator] But the time around the turn of the 20th century 1193 01:24:20,320 --> 01:24:23,680 was also the time of political assassinations. 1194 01:24:26,360 --> 01:24:31,240 Presidents and prime ministers of Bulgaria, Spain, USA, Russia and France 1195 01:24:31,320 --> 01:24:33,440 were killed during this period, 1196 01:24:35,080 --> 01:24:36,760 as were members of the royal families 1197 01:24:36,840 --> 01:24:40,440 of Japan, Portugal, Russia, Italy and Greece. 1198 01:24:42,600 --> 01:24:47,040 Among others, King Alexander and Queen Draga Obrenović of Serbia 1199 01:24:47,120 --> 01:24:51,320 and the Austrian Empress Elizabeth, the wife of Franz Joseph. 1200 01:24:59,360 --> 01:25:02,880 [Bataković] In early June, there was a government session in Belgrade. 1201 01:25:02,960 --> 01:25:05,360 Pašić was presiding, 1202 01:25:05,440 --> 01:25:08,720 and there was a report from the civilian authorities 1203 01:25:08,800 --> 01:25:11,400 on the border with Austria-Hungary 1204 01:25:11,480 --> 01:25:16,840 that the military officers were organizing illegal transfer 1205 01:25:16,920 --> 01:25:20,800 of certain persons and weapons into Bosnia. 1206 01:25:23,400 --> 01:25:26,200 When they saw that the military officer 1207 01:25:26,280 --> 01:25:31,040 who transferred the three young Bosnians is Major Vulović, 1208 01:25:31,120 --> 01:25:33,720 who was one of the closest friends of Apis, 1209 01:25:33,800 --> 01:25:37,400 they knew that Apis is probably behind this venture. 1210 01:25:38,720 --> 01:25:41,280 [Apis voiceover]I was convinced that the maneuvers in Bosnia 1211 01:25:41,360 --> 01:25:44,080 were just a pretext for the Austrian invasion of Serbia 1212 01:25:44,160 --> 01:25:46,920 with Franz Ferdinand leading the way. 1213 01:25:47,720 --> 01:25:49,640 Before our troops could return from the south, 1214 01:25:49,720 --> 01:25:51,920 Serbia would have been overrun, 1215 01:25:52,000 --> 01:25:54,200 and the world would face a fait accompli. 1216 01:25:55,520 --> 01:25:58,120 So when Tankosić came to me and said, 1217 01:25:58,200 --> 01:25:59,880 "Some Bosnian youth, they keep pestering me 1218 01:25:59,960 --> 01:26:02,800 to let them go to Bosnia and try something against Ferdinand," 1219 01:26:02,880 --> 01:26:05,800 I said, "Well, let them go." 1220 01:26:05,880 --> 01:26:07,120 [ominous music] 1221 01:26:09,120 --> 01:26:13,080 Pašić immediately demanded investigation. 1222 01:26:14,960 --> 01:26:16,960 And just in case, 1223 01:26:17,040 --> 01:26:22,640 he sent the cable to his most loyal diplomat to Vienna, 1224 01:26:22,720 --> 01:26:28,280 Jovan Jovanović, asking him to warn about possible turmoil in Bosnia 1225 01:26:28,360 --> 01:26:32,160 during the visit of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand. 1226 01:26:35,680 --> 01:26:37,920 [Höbelt] The Serbian ambassador to Vienna, 1227 01:26:38,000 --> 01:26:40,160 he actually approaches Biliński, 1228 01:26:40,240 --> 01:26:42,760 who's formally in charge of administering Bosnia, 1229 01:26:42,840 --> 01:26:45,560 and tells him there are rumors about an assassination attempt 1230 01:26:45,640 --> 01:26:46,720 and they should be careful. 1231 01:26:51,520 --> 01:26:53,640 [fanfare] 1232 01:27:03,240 --> 01:27:07,720 [narrator] On June the 24th, 1914, the Kiel Canal was finished. 1233 01:27:09,960 --> 01:27:11,720 The passage from Baltic to the North Sea 1234 01:27:11,800 --> 01:27:15,000 was now open for the German dreadnoughts. 1235 01:27:16,960 --> 01:27:19,080 The same day, June the 24th, 1236 01:27:19,160 --> 01:27:21,320 the Austro-Hungarian foreign ministry 1237 01:27:21,400 --> 01:27:25,320 finished a diplomatic document known as the Matscheko Memorandum, 1238 01:27:25,400 --> 01:27:28,680 addressing the leaders of both Austria-Hungary and Germany. 1239 01:27:30,280 --> 01:27:32,840 [archive voiceover] The idea to free the Christian Balkan peoples 1240 01:27:32,920 --> 01:27:35,320 from the Turkish rule in order to use them 1241 01:27:35,400 --> 01:27:37,280 as a weapon against Central Europe 1242 01:27:37,360 --> 01:27:40,280 has always been Russia's interest in these peoples. 1243 01:27:40,760 --> 01:27:44,600 To put up quietly with this unilaterally shifted situation 1244 01:27:44,680 --> 01:27:48,920 is not possible for the monarchy for military-political reasons. 1245 01:27:49,000 --> 01:27:50,320 For these reasons, 1246 01:27:50,400 --> 01:27:52,440 it is in the joint interest of the monarchy, 1247 01:27:52,520 --> 01:27:53,760 as much as Germany's, 1248 01:27:53,840 --> 01:27:57,840 to oppose promptly and energetically a development 1249 01:27:57,920 --> 01:28:00,440 aspired to by Russia and supported by her, 1250 01:28:00,520 --> 01:28:04,320 which it will later no longer be possible to revert. 1251 01:28:06,400 --> 01:28:10,480 [Röhl] The Kaiser issues the order to the ambassador in London 1252 01:28:10,560 --> 01:28:13,760 on the 16th of June, 1914, 1253 01:28:13,840 --> 01:28:17,640 to discover how Britain will position herself 1254 01:28:17,720 --> 01:28:19,480 if a continental war breaks out. 1255 01:28:19,560 --> 01:28:20,880 16th of June! 1256 01:28:21,800 --> 01:28:24,080 A few days before that, 1257 01:28:24,160 --> 01:28:28,640 Moltke and the Foreign Secretary Gottlieb von Jagow 1258 01:28:28,720 --> 01:28:31,560 are traveling back by car from Potsdam to Berlin. 1259 01:28:34,560 --> 01:28:37,560 And Moltke issues virtually a command 1260 01:28:37,640 --> 01:28:42,760 to the foreign secretary to direct his policy in such a way 1261 01:28:42,840 --> 01:28:45,080 as to begin a preventive war soon. 1262 01:28:51,840 --> 01:28:54,680 [Paléologue voiceover]I have the feeling that we are going into the storm. 1263 01:28:55,160 --> 01:28:58,240 At what point on the horizon and just when it will break out 1264 01:28:58,320 --> 01:29:00,200 I couldn't say exactly, 1265 01:29:00,280 --> 01:29:05,280 but from now, on the war is both predetermined and not far off. 1266 01:29:08,920 --> 01:29:10,600 [bells ringing] 1267 01:29:33,560 --> 01:29:37,000 [Strachan] It was recognized that if Franz Ferdinand went 1268 01:29:37,080 --> 01:29:41,200 to the maneuvers in Bosnia-Herzegovina 1269 01:29:41,280 --> 01:29:42,960 that he was taking a risk. 1270 01:29:46,160 --> 01:29:49,120 And he himself does not seem to have been 1271 01:29:49,200 --> 01:29:52,640 particularly enthusiastic about undertaking this mission. 1272 01:29:54,000 --> 01:29:56,360 [narrator]Since 1910, there had been five attempts 1273 01:29:56,440 --> 01:29:58,720 on the lives of Austro-Hungarian governors 1274 01:29:58,800 --> 01:30:01,840 of Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia. 1275 01:30:03,280 --> 01:30:06,840 In 1910, during the Emperor Franz Joseph's visit, 1276 01:30:06,920 --> 01:30:10,680 several thousand soldiers had secured the streets of Sarajevo. 1277 01:30:11,200 --> 01:30:14,080 But the visit of Franz Ferdinand on Vidovdan, 1278 01:30:14,160 --> 01:30:15,960 the Serbian national holiday, 1279 01:30:16,040 --> 01:30:20,720 was supervised by no more than 36 of local policemen, 1280 01:30:20,800 --> 01:30:24,920 although more than 20,000 troops were stationed just outside the city, 1281 01:30:25,000 --> 01:30:27,080 at the moment when their Commander-in-Chief 1282 01:30:27,160 --> 01:30:30,040 was entering in an open-topped car. 1283 01:30:33,360 --> 01:30:35,920 [car honking] 1284 01:30:36,000 --> 01:30:37,520 [tires squeal] 1285 01:30:37,600 --> 01:30:40,960 -[multiple gunshots] -[people screaming] 1286 01:30:43,800 --> 01:30:48,480 In the second attempt of the day, Franz Ferdinand was killed. 1287 01:31:05,360 --> 01:31:07,680 [Hötzendorf voiceover] If we disregard this opportunity, 1288 01:31:07,760 --> 01:31:09,960 the monarchy shall be left at the mercy 1289 01:31:10,040 --> 01:31:15,280 of a renewed onset of Yugoslav, Czech, Romanian and Italian aspirations. 1290 01:31:16,320 --> 01:31:21,160 The assassination in Sarajevo is Serbia's declaration of war against us. 1291 01:31:24,320 --> 01:31:26,280 It's not that the Serbian government wanted 1292 01:31:26,360 --> 01:31:28,800 the assassination at Sarajevo. Certainly not! 1293 01:31:29,920 --> 01:31:33,040 It's perfectly clear that it's in Serbia's interest 1294 01:31:33,120 --> 01:31:34,400 to postpone the conflict. 1295 01:31:34,480 --> 01:31:38,200 This is in the midst of a tremendous struggle within Serbia 1296 01:31:38,280 --> 01:31:40,440 between the army leadership and the government. 1297 01:31:40,520 --> 01:31:45,560 I think Apis Dimitrijević was actually, as much as anything, 1298 01:31:45,640 --> 01:31:47,560 acting in order to undermine Pašić. 1299 01:31:47,640 --> 01:31:51,360 The assassination was the genuine endeavor 1300 01:31:51,440 --> 01:31:53,840 of Gavrilo Princip and his friends, 1301 01:31:53,920 --> 01:31:55,400 and I have discussed this 1302 01:31:55,480 --> 01:31:58,120 with professor Vaso Čubrilović on many occasions. 1303 01:31:58,920 --> 01:32:03,080 They did not think that they were obliged something to the Black Hand. 1304 01:32:03,160 --> 01:32:06,080 They just came to obtain weapons, 1305 01:32:06,160 --> 01:32:09,240 to pursue their goal in Bosnia. 1306 01:32:09,800 --> 01:32:13,160 [Princip voiceover] The people suffer because they're impoverished completely 1307 01:32:13,240 --> 01:32:15,200 and are being treated like cattle. 1308 01:32:15,280 --> 01:32:18,680 I wanted to avenge that, and I'm not sorry. 1309 01:32:19,640 --> 01:32:22,320 [Wiesner voiceover]There is nothing to prove or even to suppose 1310 01:32:22,400 --> 01:32:25,000 that the Serbian government is accessory to the inducement 1311 01:32:25,080 --> 01:32:28,040 for the crime or the furnishing of weapons. 1312 01:32:28,640 --> 01:32:30,960 On the contrary, there are reasons to believe 1313 01:32:31,040 --> 01:32:33,400 that this altogether is out of the question. 1314 01:32:39,760 --> 01:32:42,680 There was certainly a war party in Austria-Hungary 1315 01:32:42,760 --> 01:32:44,560 before the assassination, 1316 01:32:44,640 --> 01:32:49,080 centered around two people in particular, Conrad von Hötzendorf 1317 01:32:49,160 --> 01:32:52,200 as the Austro-Hungarian Chief of the General Staff, 1318 01:32:52,280 --> 01:32:56,720 who repeatedly pressed for a preventive war against Serbia, 1319 01:32:56,800 --> 01:32:58,840 some say about 20 times, 1320 01:32:58,920 --> 01:33:03,400 and latterly Berchtold, the Foreign Minister. 1321 01:33:03,480 --> 01:33:06,160 And so for them, of course, 1322 01:33:06,240 --> 01:33:10,160 if there is a warning coming from Serbia about the possibility of assassination, 1323 01:33:10,240 --> 01:33:12,920 that isn't necessarily something they want to pay attention to. 1324 01:33:13,000 --> 01:33:15,440 [Hötzendorf voiceover] I expressed to His Majesty my belief 1325 01:33:15,520 --> 01:33:18,400 in the unavoidability of war with Serbia. 1326 01:33:18,480 --> 01:33:20,080 His Majesty said… 1327 01:33:20,160 --> 01:33:22,160 [Franz Joseph voiceover] "Yes, that is entirely correct. 1328 01:33:22,240 --> 01:33:26,480 But do we want a war if everyone is against us, especially Russia?" 1329 01:33:27,040 --> 01:33:29,760 [Hötzendorf voiceover] "Don't we have our flank covered by Germany?" 1330 01:33:29,840 --> 01:33:31,920 [Franz Joseph voiceover] "Last night a note was sent to Germany 1331 01:33:32,000 --> 01:33:34,280 in order to get an answer." 1332 01:33:34,360 --> 01:33:37,600 [Hötzendorf voiceover] "If the answer says that Germany stands on our side, 1333 01:33:37,680 --> 01:33:40,120 could we then go to war against Serbia?" 1334 01:33:41,200 --> 01:33:43,080 [Franz Joseph voiceover] "Then, yes." 1335 01:33:44,840 --> 01:33:45,960 [dramatic music] 1336 01:34:06,680 --> 01:34:11,480 [Sked] And Franz Joseph knew that the war would turn into world war. 1337 01:34:11,560 --> 01:34:16,080 When Biliński, the Finance Minister, put it to Franz Joseph, 1338 01:34:16,160 --> 01:34:18,720 "You know this will mean a European war?" 1339 01:34:18,800 --> 01:34:21,000 Franz Joseph just muttered, "Yes." 1340 01:34:50,560 --> 01:34:55,400 [Mombauer] The reply that comes back via the Austrian ambassador in Berlin, 1341 01:34:55,480 --> 01:34:59,680 Count Szőgyény, is a resounding yes. 1342 01:34:59,760 --> 01:35:03,960 "We will support you, regardless of if what you do 1343 01:35:04,040 --> 01:35:07,560 results in Russia becoming involved, results in a European war." 1344 01:35:08,360 --> 01:35:14,360 [Röhl] The Kaiser writes the famous and fatal jetzt oder nie, now or never. 1345 01:35:14,440 --> 01:35:17,000 We must clear up with the Serbs, 1346 01:35:17,080 --> 01:35:19,040 mit den Serben muß aufgeräumt werden, 1347 01:35:19,120 --> 01:35:23,920 which acted as a signal to start the war, in effect. 1348 01:35:24,000 --> 01:35:28,320 This is the famous "blank check" that Berlin issues to Vienna. 1349 01:35:28,400 --> 01:35:32,560 It's not just an encouragement, they're also putting pressure on Vienna. 1350 01:35:33,320 --> 01:35:35,720 [Tschirschky voiceover] Berlin expects the dual monarchy 1351 01:35:35,800 --> 01:35:37,200 to take action against Serbia, 1352 01:35:37,280 --> 01:35:40,480 and would not understand if we let this opportunity pass 1353 01:35:40,560 --> 01:35:42,320 without striking a blow. 1354 01:35:42,960 --> 01:35:45,880 [narrator]On July the 7th, the Austro-Hungarian government 1355 01:35:45,960 --> 01:35:47,680 reached the following conclusion. 1356 01:35:48,400 --> 01:35:51,560 [archive voiceover]All present, except the royal Hungarian Premier, 1357 01:35:51,640 --> 01:35:54,160 hold the belief that a purely diplomatic success 1358 01:35:54,240 --> 01:35:55,840 would be worthless, 1359 01:35:55,920 --> 01:35:58,040 and therefore such far-reaching demands 1360 01:35:58,120 --> 01:36:00,040 must be addressed to Serbia, 1361 01:36:00,120 --> 01:36:02,640 which will make a refusal almost certain, 1362 01:36:02,720 --> 01:36:05,160 so that the road to a radical solution, 1363 01:36:05,240 --> 01:36:08,160 by means of military action, should be open. 1364 01:36:12,960 --> 01:36:16,720 [Strachan] Berchtold's wife actually wrote a letter to her cousin saying, 1365 01:36:16,800 --> 01:36:19,920 "Poor Leopold, he couldn't sleep last night. 1366 01:36:20,000 --> 01:36:23,120 He kept getting up and changing the terms of the ultimatum. 1367 01:36:23,200 --> 01:36:25,640 He was so worried that the Serbs might accept it." 1368 01:36:25,720 --> 01:36:28,200 [keys clicking] 1369 01:36:29,600 --> 01:36:33,320 The ultimatum against Serbia was really written to be rejected. 1370 01:36:33,400 --> 01:36:35,960 And everybody said who read it, 1371 01:36:36,040 --> 01:36:38,880 "This is really a strongly-worded document, isn't it?" 1372 01:36:38,960 --> 01:36:40,600 That's what the Emperor himself said. 1373 01:36:40,680 --> 01:36:41,880 But he knew what he was doing. 1374 01:36:41,960 --> 01:36:44,320 He said, "We don't want another compromise solution. 1375 01:36:44,400 --> 01:36:47,280 We don't want another conference that will lead to nothing." 1376 01:36:48,000 --> 01:36:52,560 What the Austrians really wanted was Serbia to vanish into thin air. 1377 01:37:11,120 --> 01:37:12,560 [narrator]The summer of 1914 1378 01:37:12,640 --> 01:37:16,280 was to be called "Europe's last summer." 1379 01:37:16,360 --> 01:37:17,760 [people laughing] 1380 01:37:21,160 --> 01:37:23,720 Perhaps that was why, as Stefan Zweig wrote 1381 01:37:23,800 --> 01:37:26,080 in his World of Yesterday, 1382 01:37:26,160 --> 01:37:30,920 it was "more luxuriant, more beautiful and more summery." 1383 01:37:34,920 --> 01:37:40,000 On the surface, nothing indicated the catastrophe soon to come. 1384 01:37:41,040 --> 01:37:43,200 [background chatter] 1385 01:37:44,680 --> 01:37:46,520 [Mombauer] All the important decision makers 1386 01:37:46,600 --> 01:37:49,880 are sent away on holiday, as had previously been planned, 1387 01:37:49,960 --> 01:37:51,960 so as not to alert anyone to the fact 1388 01:37:52,040 --> 01:37:55,160 that behind the scenes, trouble was brewing. 1389 01:37:55,240 --> 01:37:58,960 So Moltke goes on his second cure that year to Carlsbad, 1390 01:37:59,040 --> 01:38:01,800 Jagow is on his honeymoon in Switzerland, 1391 01:38:01,880 --> 01:38:05,720 and in Vienna, similarly, Conrad von Hötzendorf is away, 1392 01:38:05,800 --> 01:38:09,200 and it's the deputies who liaise with each other 1393 01:38:09,280 --> 01:38:11,680 while the leading figures are away. 1394 01:38:14,280 --> 01:38:17,440 [narrator] The Kaiser also took his annual cruise. 1395 01:38:18,200 --> 01:38:20,680 [Röhl] They sent him off to Norway, 1396 01:38:20,760 --> 01:38:25,040 telling him, "Your Majesty, it's got to look as if we know nothing." 1397 01:38:25,120 --> 01:38:26,320 Because that's the German case. 1398 01:38:26,400 --> 01:38:28,280 We're innocent, it's the Austrians 1399 01:38:28,360 --> 01:38:30,600 who are pulling us into this at a later stage. 1400 01:38:31,080 --> 01:38:34,560 So, "Please go on your annual cruise, otherwise we'd look fishy. 1401 01:38:34,640 --> 01:38:38,080 But please don't go further than just north of Bergen, 1402 01:38:38,160 --> 01:38:40,880 because then it will take too long for you to get back." 1403 01:38:45,040 --> 01:38:49,080 [Förster] Only Bethmann remained in the vicinity of Berlin. 1404 01:38:49,160 --> 01:38:53,200 He found himself to be in a completely unusual situation, 1405 01:38:53,280 --> 01:38:57,280 namely he was in position to make decisions all by himself. 1406 01:38:57,840 --> 01:39:03,840 He could now decide alone because the Kaiser, before his departure, 1407 01:39:03,920 --> 01:39:09,080 in a militant tone spoke how they must finally deal with Serbia. 1408 01:39:09,160 --> 01:39:15,800 He demonstrated that he was in the mood for war. 1409 01:39:15,880 --> 01:39:19,120 So Bethmann Hollweg was now able to continue with the policy 1410 01:39:19,200 --> 01:39:23,000 which would fit in with the Kaiser’s opinion about the war, 1411 01:39:23,080 --> 01:39:25,760 namely to unleash a general war. 1412 01:39:30,680 --> 01:39:32,320 [narrator] The Austro-Hungarian government 1413 01:39:32,400 --> 01:39:35,960 had completed its ultimatum to Serbia by July the 12th, 1414 01:39:36,040 --> 01:39:37,480 but it would be another 11 days 1415 01:39:37,560 --> 01:39:41,080 before it was delivered to the Serbian government. 1416 01:39:41,800 --> 01:39:43,280 [Mombauer] There is a long delay 1417 01:39:43,360 --> 01:39:45,080 before that ultimatum can be delivered, 1418 01:39:45,160 --> 01:39:46,680 and there are a number of reasons for that. 1419 01:39:47,880 --> 01:39:51,200 One is that the Austrian soldiers are on harvest leave, 1420 01:39:51,280 --> 01:39:53,440 and you can't simply recall them. 1421 01:39:53,520 --> 01:39:56,720 This would cause suspicion, of course, elsewhere, 1422 01:39:56,800 --> 01:39:58,320 and also you do need to have the harvest in 1423 01:39:58,400 --> 01:39:59,400 if you want to go to war. 1424 01:40:00,720 --> 01:40:02,600 And the other reason is that there is 1425 01:40:02,680 --> 01:40:05,760 an official visit by the French president to Russia, 1426 01:40:05,840 --> 01:40:08,560 and you don't want to deliver your ultimatum 1427 01:40:08,640 --> 01:40:11,760 at a point in time when the French president 1428 01:40:11,840 --> 01:40:13,520 and the Russian foreign minister 1429 01:40:13,600 --> 01:40:16,080 can sit down together and discuss their response. 1430 01:40:18,320 --> 01:40:19,840 [ominous music] 1431 01:40:20,360 --> 01:40:22,480 [narrator] Still, the Russians and the French 1432 01:40:22,560 --> 01:40:24,680 had good anticipation of things to come. 1433 01:40:28,880 --> 01:40:33,120 On July the 21st, 1914, President Poincaré met 1434 01:40:33,200 --> 01:40:36,880 the Austro-Hungarian Ambassador to Russia, Count Szapáry, 1435 01:40:36,960 --> 01:40:39,400 and warned him openly that the war against Serbia 1436 01:40:39,480 --> 01:40:42,800 could draw Russia and consequently France in. 1437 01:40:43,400 --> 01:40:45,840 Szapáry left without a word. 1438 01:40:49,080 --> 01:40:52,920 [Soutou] Poincaré told Nicholas, the Russian tsar, 1439 01:40:53,000 --> 01:40:57,160 "You must be firm and you must stand by the Serbs. 1440 01:40:59,520 --> 01:41:03,960 You must not let Austria bullying the Serbs as they want to do. 1441 01:41:04,560 --> 01:41:09,040 Because then Austria will have sort of huge victory, 1442 01:41:09,120 --> 01:41:12,200 and then Austrian and German problem 1443 01:41:12,280 --> 01:41:15,600 would become even worse for Paris and St. Petersburg." 1444 01:41:20,240 --> 01:41:21,880 [narrator]On July the 23rd, 1445 01:41:21,960 --> 01:41:24,720 just as Poincaré left St. Petersburg by ship, 1446 01:41:24,800 --> 01:41:27,240 the Austro-Hungarian ultimatum was delivered 1447 01:41:27,320 --> 01:41:30,360 to the Serbian royal government in Belgrade. 1448 01:41:33,800 --> 01:41:37,240 [Bataković] They called Pašić to come back from the electoral campaign. 1449 01:41:37,320 --> 01:41:40,200 He was deep in the south of Serbia. 1450 01:41:40,280 --> 01:41:43,480 When they read the ultimatum, 1451 01:41:43,560 --> 01:41:45,120 one of the ministers said, 1452 01:41:45,200 --> 01:41:49,360 "Oh my God, there is nothing left but to die again." 1453 01:41:49,440 --> 01:41:53,520 When Sazonov first sees the Austrian ultimatum, he says, 1454 01:41:53,600 --> 01:41:54,680 "This is the European war. 1455 01:41:56,480 --> 01:41:59,160 There is no way the Austrians could have written something like this 1456 01:41:59,240 --> 01:42:01,800 unless they had a firm German guarantee." 1457 01:42:02,400 --> 01:42:04,560 And also says, "48 hours?" 1458 01:42:05,080 --> 01:42:08,000 You know, you don't give someone an ultimatum like this in 48 hours 1459 01:42:08,080 --> 01:42:10,160 unless you're pretty convinced there's going to be war. 1460 01:42:18,600 --> 01:42:21,680 [narrator] Serbian reply was delivered to Baron Giesel, 1461 01:42:21,760 --> 01:42:24,800 the Austro-Hungarian Ambassador to Belgrade, 1462 01:42:24,880 --> 01:42:28,280 by the Prime Minister Nikola Pašić himself. 1463 01:42:30,320 --> 01:42:32,640 [Bataković] When he entered the Austrian legation, 1464 01:42:32,720 --> 01:42:35,000 Baron Giesel was already packed. 1465 01:42:35,080 --> 01:42:36,520 He was ready to leave. 1466 01:42:36,600 --> 01:42:43,000 He had an instruction to leave Belgrade whatever the answer of Serbia will be. 1467 01:42:43,080 --> 01:42:44,800 [clock chimes] 1468 01:42:47,600 --> 01:42:50,520 [Strachan] Sir Edward Grey, the British Foreign Secretary, 1469 01:42:50,600 --> 01:42:55,680 tries at that stage to reinvoke the spirit of the Concert of Europe, 1470 01:42:55,760 --> 01:42:56,680 the idea of the congress system. 1471 01:42:56,760 --> 01:43:00,240 Let's get the great powers together to talk about this 1472 01:43:00,320 --> 01:43:01,680 rather than going to war. 1473 01:43:03,720 --> 01:43:06,840 If it had been agreed to, two things would have followed. 1474 01:43:06,920 --> 01:43:10,560 First of all, Austria-Hungary wouldn't have had its war against Serbia. 1475 01:43:10,640 --> 01:43:12,640 They would be back to square one. 1476 01:43:12,720 --> 01:43:15,760 The Serb problem would just resurrect itself in a matter of years, 1477 01:43:15,840 --> 01:43:18,520 and they would have to do it all over again, 1478 01:43:18,600 --> 01:43:20,960 probably in less favorable circumstances. 1479 01:43:21,040 --> 01:43:23,840 And secondly, from Germany's point of view, 1480 01:43:23,920 --> 01:43:28,560 the opportunity to split the alliance facing them, the Entente, 1481 01:43:28,640 --> 01:43:30,160 would have gone as well. 1482 01:43:30,240 --> 01:43:36,240 At that point, Bethmann Hollweg as the German Chancellor says no. 1483 01:43:39,560 --> 01:43:40,760 [narrator]On July the 28th, 1484 01:43:40,840 --> 01:43:45,280 Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia in a telegraphic note. 1485 01:43:47,640 --> 01:43:51,040 The same evening, the shelling of Belgrade began 1486 01:43:51,120 --> 01:43:53,160 from Zemun and the Danube. 1487 01:43:55,360 --> 01:43:57,960 [multiple explosions] 1488 01:44:21,240 --> 01:44:22,840 [Nicholas II voiceover] I appeal to you to help me. 1489 01:44:24,400 --> 01:44:27,880 An ignoble war has been declared to a weak country. 1490 01:44:27,960 --> 01:44:31,640 The indignation in Russia shared fully by me is enormous. 1491 01:44:32,560 --> 01:44:34,880 I foresee that very soon I shall be overwhelmed 1492 01:44:34,960 --> 01:44:38,640 and be forced to take extreme measures which will lead to war. 1493 01:44:39,200 --> 01:44:42,040 To try and avoid such a calamity as a European war, 1494 01:44:42,120 --> 01:44:44,680 I beg you, in the name of our old friendship, 1495 01:44:44,760 --> 01:44:48,960 to do what you can to stop your allies from going too far. Nikki. 1496 01:44:54,680 --> 01:44:56,480 [Airapetov] Russia is unable not to stand up for Serbia 1497 01:44:56,560 --> 01:44:58,280 in such a situation. 1498 01:44:59,240 --> 01:45:01,800 And such a support, if not accompanied by display of force, 1499 01:45:01,880 --> 01:45:07,000 was not to be taken by Vienna or Berlin seriously. 1500 01:45:07,560 --> 01:45:10,040 On the other hand, such a display of military power, 1501 01:45:10,120 --> 01:45:12,400 from the viewpoint of Nicholas II, 1502 01:45:12,480 --> 01:45:14,640 need not have necessarily resulted in war. 1503 01:45:15,600 --> 01:45:18,040 [Wilhelm II voiceover] If Russia mobilizes against Austria, 1504 01:45:18,120 --> 01:45:23,160 my role as mediator will be endangered, if not ruined. Willy. 1505 01:45:25,400 --> 01:45:29,000 There is a sense in which Russia will be declaring mobilization. 1506 01:45:29,080 --> 01:45:31,080 We don't quite know when it will happen, 1507 01:45:31,160 --> 01:45:34,080 but Germany needs to declare her own mobilization, 1508 01:45:34,160 --> 01:45:36,160 and more importantly, needs to send troops 1509 01:45:36,240 --> 01:45:40,120 into Luxembourg and Belgium before war has been declared. 1510 01:45:40,200 --> 01:45:44,440 Does that not happen and is Liège not taken within the first 11 days, 1511 01:45:44,520 --> 01:45:48,120 the whole plan has failed and Germany will lose the war. 1512 01:45:51,440 --> 01:45:56,200 This puts an enormous time pressure on the decision makers in Berlin, 1513 01:45:56,280 --> 01:46:01,400 and they decide in a meeting that regardless of what Russia will do, 1514 01:46:01,480 --> 01:46:06,280 on the 31st of July, we will have to issue the order 1515 01:46:06,360 --> 01:46:08,440 to march into Belgium. 1516 01:46:08,520 --> 01:46:11,640 They will then later on say that this was done 1517 01:46:11,720 --> 01:46:15,480 in response to Russia's mobilization, but actually the decision, 1518 01:46:15,560 --> 01:46:17,160 as we know from secret documents, 1519 01:46:17,240 --> 01:46:20,520 was taken regardless of Russia's decisions. 1520 01:46:25,200 --> 01:46:28,560 [narrator]On July the 30th, Tsar Nicholas II ordered 1521 01:46:28,640 --> 01:46:31,080 the mobilization of the Russian military districts 1522 01:46:31,160 --> 01:46:33,280 on the Austro-Hungarian border. 1523 01:46:33,920 --> 01:46:35,520 [Wilhelm II voiceover] Your troops were mobilized 1524 01:46:35,600 --> 01:46:38,040 against Austria-Hungary, my ally. 1525 01:46:38,120 --> 01:46:40,960 The responsibility for the disaster which is now threatening 1526 01:46:41,040 --> 01:46:45,840 the whole civilized world will not be laid at my door. Willy. 1527 01:46:47,160 --> 01:46:49,320 [Lieven] The Russians partially mobilize. 1528 01:46:49,400 --> 01:46:51,520 In other words, they mobilize that bit of their army 1529 01:46:51,600 --> 01:46:53,560 which is on the Austrian border 1530 01:46:53,640 --> 01:46:56,200 in order to warn the Austrians 1531 01:46:56,280 --> 01:46:58,560 that they will not allow Serbia to be destroyed, 1532 01:46:58,640 --> 01:47:00,640 without antagonizing Germany. 1533 01:47:02,200 --> 01:47:06,440 The Russian military leadership revolts at the idea of partial mobilization, 1534 01:47:06,520 --> 01:47:12,960 because they say it is just going to wreck general mobilization when that is needed, 1535 01:47:13,040 --> 01:47:17,920 and as a result of that, Nicholas II in the end caves in 1536 01:47:18,000 --> 01:47:20,480 and goes for general mobilization. 1537 01:47:23,440 --> 01:47:27,120 This is then used by the Germans, always subsequently, 1538 01:47:27,200 --> 01:47:30,000 to say that it's the Russians who started the war, not them. 1539 01:47:30,080 --> 01:47:31,160 [fanfare] 1540 01:47:31,240 --> 01:47:32,640 [Müller voiceover] The mood is brilliant! 1541 01:47:32,720 --> 01:47:37,440 The government has succeeded very well in making us appear like the attacked. 1542 01:47:39,080 --> 01:47:43,880 [Röhl] The Kaiser signed mobilization order on a desk 1543 01:47:43,960 --> 01:47:47,320 that was cut from the British shipVictory, 1544 01:47:47,400 --> 01:47:50,600 which was lord Nelson's ship at the Battle of Trafalgar. 1545 01:47:51,960 --> 01:47:54,680 There is exaltation in Berlin. 1546 01:47:54,760 --> 01:47:58,280 One general reports, "Beaming faces everywhere! 1547 01:47:58,360 --> 01:48:00,800 Yeah, we're over the hump. We've done it." 1548 01:48:02,480 --> 01:48:07,200 [Mombauer] Erich von Falkenhayn, the Prussian Minister of War, says, 1549 01:48:07,280 --> 01:48:09,560 "Even if we perish over this, 1550 01:48:09,640 --> 01:48:12,040 at least it was fun, at least it was beautiful!" 1551 01:48:12,880 --> 01:48:14,760 [Freud voiceover] For the first time in 30 years, 1552 01:48:14,840 --> 01:48:18,120 I feel myself to be an Austrian, and feel like giving 1553 01:48:18,200 --> 01:48:21,120 this not very hopeful empire another chance. 1554 01:48:21,200 --> 01:48:23,360 -[crowd cheering] -[fanfare] 1555 01:48:29,960 --> 01:48:32,880 [Strachan] The declaration of war was received well in Vienna. 1556 01:48:32,960 --> 01:48:34,760 There were jubilant crowds. 1557 01:48:34,840 --> 01:48:37,840 The idea was that it'd be a quick little war 1558 01:48:37,920 --> 01:48:40,240 and that Austria was obviously going to win it. 1559 01:48:42,320 --> 01:48:44,000 They think the main role of Germany 1560 01:48:44,080 --> 01:48:46,600 is to support the Austrian plan to defeat Serbia. 1561 01:48:46,680 --> 01:48:50,400 But the Germans, who've got their own priority, 1562 01:48:50,480 --> 01:48:52,360 and their priority is the Schlieffen Plan, 1563 01:48:52,440 --> 01:48:57,400 they now want the Austrians to cover them on the Russian front, 1564 01:48:57,480 --> 01:48:59,120 and forget about Serbia. 1565 01:48:59,640 --> 01:49:02,080 And they say, "Well, look, Serbia is not all that important." 1566 01:49:02,160 --> 01:49:05,760 They also say to the Austrians, in order to keep the Italians out, 1567 01:49:05,840 --> 01:49:08,800 "Why don't you give up part of your Italian territories?" 1568 01:49:08,880 --> 01:49:10,840 And the Austrians were flabbergasted. 1569 01:49:29,360 --> 01:49:32,640 [Förster] In the night between July 30 and 31, 1570 01:49:32,720 --> 01:49:36,920 an eerie scene took place at the General Staff. 1571 01:49:38,720 --> 01:49:43,640 Moltke received his adjutant, Major von Haeften, 1572 01:49:43,720 --> 01:49:48,040 and then Moltke told him about the kind of war it would be. 1573 01:49:48,600 --> 01:49:49,800 [explosion] 1574 01:49:51,840 --> 01:49:54,200 Namely a war which will set 1575 01:49:54,280 --> 01:49:57,720 the European civilization back for decades. 1576 01:50:00,200 --> 01:50:06,440 A war which will last for years once England becomes involved. 1577 01:50:07,480 --> 01:50:11,040 He spoke about the general catastrophe, 1578 01:50:11,120 --> 01:50:15,840 and according to Haeften's record, Moltke, with tears in his eyes, 1579 01:50:15,920 --> 01:50:22,240 turned to the portrait of his uncle, Moltke the Elder. 1580 01:50:24,600 --> 01:50:29,000 Moltke the Elder previously feared 1581 01:50:29,080 --> 01:50:32,800 precisely such a development, 1582 01:50:32,880 --> 01:50:37,960 even though he had always demanded a preventive war himself. 1583 01:50:39,720 --> 01:50:41,360 [melancholic music] 1584 01:50:44,760 --> 01:50:47,880 [narrator] But on the morning of August 1st, 1914, 1585 01:50:47,960 --> 01:50:50,600 this was still not a European war. 1586 01:50:55,640 --> 01:50:58,680 The same day, the German leaders received important news 1587 01:50:58,760 --> 01:51:01,240 from Ambassador Lichnowsky in London. 1588 01:51:02,320 --> 01:51:06,120 [Mombauer] Lichnowsky suggests that Sir Edward Grey has offered 1589 01:51:06,200 --> 01:51:08,080 the possibility of neutrality. 1590 01:51:08,160 --> 01:51:11,640 This is taken as a great victory for Germany. 1591 01:51:11,720 --> 01:51:13,840 A second telegram even promises 1592 01:51:13,920 --> 01:51:18,200 that this neutrality might be accompanied by French neutrality. 1593 01:51:18,920 --> 01:51:21,960 [Röhl] The Kaiser calls for champagne, everybody thinks this is wonderful. 1594 01:51:22,040 --> 01:51:25,720 At one point, the Kaiser actually orders Moltke 1595 01:51:25,800 --> 01:51:31,720 to change all his plans and attack not France but only Russia. 1596 01:51:32,360 --> 01:51:33,880 And Moltke has a nervous breakdown. 1597 01:51:33,960 --> 01:51:35,400 He says, "Your Majesty, you can't do this. 1598 01:51:35,480 --> 01:51:37,960 This is an army of several million people. 1599 01:51:38,040 --> 01:51:41,200 We cannot just take them from where they're supposed to go 1600 01:51:41,280 --> 01:51:42,920 with all these plans and send them the other way." 1601 01:51:43,000 --> 01:51:46,040 "If we change the plan, you will not have an army. 1602 01:51:46,120 --> 01:51:49,280 You will have a heap of disorganized men." 1603 01:51:49,360 --> 01:51:53,320 To which the Kaiser replies, tragically, I think, 1604 01:51:53,400 --> 01:51:56,120 "Your uncle would have given me a different answer." 1605 01:51:57,480 --> 01:51:59,320 [narrator] Later the same night, 1606 01:51:59,400 --> 01:52:03,440 another telegram arrived from Prince Lichnowsky. 1607 01:52:04,440 --> 01:52:07,840 And then, of course, the clarification comes from London to say, 1608 01:52:07,920 --> 01:52:09,400 "No, no, I got it wrong. 1609 01:52:09,480 --> 01:52:12,520 The British will not allow France to be crushed. 1610 01:52:12,600 --> 01:52:14,080 They will enter the war." 1611 01:52:14,160 --> 01:52:16,920 And then the Kaiser, who's by this time in his pajamas, 1612 01:52:17,000 --> 01:52:21,000 says to Moltke, "Okay, now do what you want." 1613 01:52:21,080 --> 01:52:24,720 And goes back to sleep and then has a nervous breakdown himself. 1614 01:52:37,560 --> 01:52:39,280 [crowd cheering] 1615 01:52:54,760 --> 01:52:56,360 [horses neighing] 1616 01:53:54,600 --> 01:53:56,920 [somber orchestral music] 1617 01:55:05,000 --> 01:55:07,920 [military band plays]