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(unsettling music)
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From 1914 to 1918,
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Europe was at war with herself.
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Just one year after the outbreak of war,
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two million men have already died,
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and many more have been amputated, gassed,
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or, as the men shown here, shell shocked
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and damaged for life by the deadly machine gun attacks.
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(heavy gunfire)
(soldiers shouting)
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(booming)
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In 1916, with the battles of Verdun and the Somme,
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the war enters the industrial era,
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and the 20th century faces the apocalypse.
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(dramatic orchestral music)
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Each day, filmmakers undertake
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dangerous missions over the front.
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Amongst them is future director Jean Renoir.
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He is 20 years old and participates
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in brutal artillery attacks.
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Renoir later writes,
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"The memory of these hideous acts makes me ill.
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"We empathized with the German fighters
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"who suffered as much as we did."
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(carriage clacking)
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Jean Renoir, like Verdun's first German prisoners,
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wonders what the outcome of the battle will be.
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Victory?
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Defeat?
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Or a grand illusion?
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(unsettling music)
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(horses neighing)
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March 4th, 1916.
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Two weeks after the onset of the German attack on Verdun,
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General Petain faces a serious logistical problem.
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From his headquarters in Souville,
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he can see that the main street is totally blocked.
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This is the only way to move supplies
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and men to the battlefield.
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Petain takes decisive measures.
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For the first time in the history of war,
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the work horse is replaced by the engine.
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Petain immediately requisitions 4,000 trucks
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to urgently supply the front with reinforcements
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that are converging from all over France.
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(soldiers marching)
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Petain wants to ensure that the men are regularly relayed,
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so they are physically able to go the distance.
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From early March 1916 onwards,
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the number of troops increases from 200,000 to 400,000 men.
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(unsettling music)
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Petain defines what he refers to as his line of resistance,
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a defensive line to the left and right of the Meuse.
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Under no circumstances will the Germans
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be allowed to cross it.
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Petain breaks up the battlefield into sectors
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and links them together by means
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of a proper communications network.
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Through these first urgent initiatives,
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a measure of confidence is restored in the French camp,
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but the front line is still hellish.
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(heavy gunfire)
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The heavy German cannons keep shelling.
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Verdun has literally become a duel to the death
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between the two most powerful armies in history.
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(loud booming)
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The German troops are exhausted.
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Certain units have had no rest since the attack began,
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but the orders remain the same: keep moving forward.
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(pistol fires)
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(soldiers shouting)
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{\an8}On March 5th, 1916, one week after the fall of Douaumont,
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the Germans take the village around the fort.
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The last French fighters are captured.
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(somber music)
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{\an8}Among them is a 26-year-old captain, Charles de Gaulle.
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Wounded, he's evacuated to Germany
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with hundreds of his comrades.
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But first, he's declared dead and decorated posthumously.
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Petain pens the following declaration:
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"Captain de Gaulle,
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"known for his high intellectual and moral value,
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"has fallen in the fray,
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"an exceptional officer in every respect."
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{\an8}March 6, 1916.
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A new German assault concentrates on six kilometers
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of frontline on the left bank of the Meuse.
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(heavy gunfire)
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(booming)
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Petain later writes in his book, "The Battle of Verdun,"
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"After a bombing assault comparable
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"to that of February 21st,
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"the German infantry expected to make easy progress
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"in the death zone created by the shells,
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"but instead finds itself blocked
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"by our cannons' intense and precise fire.
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"The rampart is holding up."
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(cannons booming)
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(shells clanking)
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(soft music)
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{\an8}The Kronprinz, son of the empire,
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{\an8}in charge of the German attack on Verdun,
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{\an8}bitterly witnesses this setback.
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His army is trapped.
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The deadly breakthrough he planned will not happen.
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{\an8}Joffre arrives in Souville on March 10th.
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{\an8}Petain writes, "Joffre and I
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"were in a permanent state of crisis."
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According to Joffre, although the army must hold Verdun,
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The real priority is still the Somme offensive.
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Petain, on the other hand, keeps demanding mean and means
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in order to resist at Verdun.
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Thanks to his trucks, he organizes
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an incredible noria.
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The trucks continually drive along
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this 55-kilometer-long, seven-meter-wide stretch of road
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nicknamed "the sacred way" by author Maurice Barres.
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(trucks rumbling)
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Some drivers stay behind the wheel
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for up to 75 consecutive hours.
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The road crumbles and collapses
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under the weight of the trucks.
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Petain launches massive roadworks.
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He opens quarries in order to consolidate
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and broaden the road, with the help of the territorials,
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nicknamed "granddads."
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These men are no longer of fighting age
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but are capable of carrying out this hard labor.
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They are assisted by a small army of workers
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from French Indochina, modern-day Vietnam,
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which was a colony at the time.
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These very same Annamites have been hired
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at the Chateau de Versailles to transform the gardens
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into a vegetable patch and grow potatoes for the poilus.
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The army requisitions all livestock.
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Since the beginning of the war,
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each soldier has consumed the equivalent of an entire cow.
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Those 330 kilos of meat
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are supposed to bring strength and vigor to these men,
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who are subject to such brutal fighting.
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(cows lowing)
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(ax thumps)
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(chain clanking)
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The men and women forced into this war
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are not the only ones who suffer.
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The August 14th call to arms
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included a general requisition of all animals.
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(dogs barking)
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(dog whimpering)
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Horses will die by the thousands.
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As well as the dogs, trained to transport water,
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which is in such shortage in Verdun.
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The older ones are unable to carry munitions.
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They are trained to hunt rats, sniff out deadly gases,
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and even to test protective masks.
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(dog barking)
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But more importantly,
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they are faithful companions in the trenches.
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(gentle string music)
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The most famous dog is Napoleon,
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the Verdun artillery men's mascot.
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In Paris, trains filled with refugees
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arrive at the Gare de l'Est.
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They tell everyone of the hellish shelling.
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(train whistle blows)
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In their own words, they describe droves of German soldiers
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swarming the Meuse River,
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and the poilus' courageous resistance.
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Everyone worries about the men stuck in the Verdun furnace.
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It's up to the French press to reassure them.
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The weekly paper with the widest circulation,
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L'Illustration, devotes an entire section
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of its March 11th, 1916 issue
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to the man presented at the savior of Verdun.
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The magazine claims, "He is a conscientious man,
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"concerned with the wellbeing of his men."
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(somber music)
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Even the German newspapers take an interest in him.
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A respectable Berlin daily, the Vossische Zeitung writes,
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"The fighting is no longer between two armies
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"but between two people.
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"Victory will come down to two factors: will and courage.
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"In this combat with equal quantities of men and equipment,
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"moral superiority is what will make the difference."
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{\an8}On March 24th, 1916, Raymond Poincare,
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{\an8}President of the French Republic,
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{\an8}and General Joffre invite Prince Alexander
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of Serbia to Verdun.
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The Serbians are experiencing setbacks on their front.
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It's time to show the prince and his people
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that the French army is holding its own
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against the German invader.
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(somber music)
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Joffre, whose headquarters
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are far from the muddy battlefield,
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still accuses Petain of diverting forces
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from his project of attacking on the Somme
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and continually requesting more manpower.
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(dramatic music)
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(soldiers marching)
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For the troops, the ordeal is always the same.
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They carry 20 kilos of weapons and equipment on their backs,
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plus two-liter containers of water and wine,
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not to mention a triple ration of food,
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because they don't know how long they'll be at the front
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or if they'll every make it back.
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(somber music)
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The uphill road to Verdun
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is a never-ending walk through the mud,
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from the foothills to the lines along the ridge
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pounded by enemy fire.
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In this devastated landscape under constant shelling,
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the men lose their bearings.
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(dramatic music)
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The maps are useless.
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The shell holds are everywhere,
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providing combat positions ...
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or final resting places.
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Second Lieutenant de Beaucourt
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of the 170th Infantry Regiment writes,
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"Verdun's clay, tenacious and treacherous,
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"swallows up the men.
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"It is soft and sticky under my feet,
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"and with every step, I feel I am sinking further,
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"sucked down into this horrific clay.
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"I know there is no one left
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"in this constantly bombed wasteland.
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"I am overcome with the most intense
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"sense of dread I have ever known.
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"I can picture myself being engulfed
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"into a slow and lonely death."
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(digging)
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The men in their holes envy the pilots fighting in the sky,
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but airborne chivalry is just an illusion.
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The fighting is fierce, the pilots shoot at each other
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from a distance of 10 meters.
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(rapid gunfire)
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(planes buzzing)
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(rapid gunfire)
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Not buckled to their seats,
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they sometimes fall out of their planes.
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At first, german Fokkers ruled the Verdun skies.
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(planes buzzing)
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But Petain acquired better planes, Nieuports,
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which have turned the situation around.
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(propellors buzzing)
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Pilots who succeed in shooting down
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five enemy places are called aces.
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Verdun's most honored ace is a 21-year-old
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Second Lieutenant, Jean Navarre.
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{\an8}Navarre is the first French pilot
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{\an8}to score over 10 airborne victories.
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He will pull of 30 hits before being seriously injured.
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He becomes the poilus' guardian angel.
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They celebrate his feats using model airplanes
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and nickname him "The Sentinel of Verdun."
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Solider Henri Louis, 25th Chasseur Battalion writes,
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"When Navarre couldn't find any targets,
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"he made sure his flights still served a purpose.
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"He would entertain the soldiers kneeling in the trenches.
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"He put his heart into it, using his exceptional skills
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"to show these poor men he was thinking of them."
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{\an8}April 9, 1916, the Germans attack again,
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this time on both sides of the Meuse,
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00:16:20,330 --> 00:16:22,900
trapping Verdun in a pincer movement.
265
00:16:22,900 --> 00:16:25,189
Artillery fighting lasts all through the night.
266
00:16:25,189 --> 00:16:27,772
(loud booming)
267
00:16:41,460 --> 00:16:44,653
{\an8}At dawn on April 10th, the lines have barely moved.
268
00:16:46,720 --> 00:16:48,690
The French find a last letter on the body
269
00:16:48,690 --> 00:16:52,093
of a German lieutenant from the 71st Infantry Regiment.
270
00:16:54,677 --> 00:16:56,277
"I have been living in filth
271
00:16:56,277 --> 00:16:59,117
"and unable to wash for the past eight days.
272
00:16:59,117 --> 00:17:02,637
"A deathly sorrow reigns over this hell.
273
00:17:02,637 --> 00:17:06,987
"We will not take Verdun. It would cost too many lives.
274
00:17:06,987 --> 00:17:10,727
"In order to win, we would need to fight for months."
275
00:17:20,870 --> 00:17:22,630
Petain addresses his men.
276
00:17:22,630 --> 00:17:26,597
He declares, "The Kronprinz's crazed attacks
277
00:17:26,597 --> 00:17:28,527
"have been stymied everywhere.
278
00:17:28,527 --> 00:17:30,847
"Be brave. We will beat them."
279
00:17:36,640 --> 00:17:39,180
Be brave. We will beat them.
280
00:17:39,180 --> 00:17:41,840
The propaganda machine immediately broadcasts
281
00:17:41,840 --> 00:17:43,803
Petain's historical words.
282
00:17:44,950 --> 00:17:48,730
The mutinous soldiers of 1917 parody his declaration
283
00:17:48,730 --> 00:17:51,527
around on posters and postcards:
284
00:17:51,527 --> 00:17:53,787
"Our leaders, we will beat them."
285
00:17:57,700 --> 00:17:59,830
{\an8}At headquarters in Chantilly,
286
00:17:59,830 --> 00:18:01,450
{\an8}Joffre finds it increasingly difficult
287
00:18:01,450 --> 00:18:03,940
to put up with Petain's never-ending requests
288
00:18:03,940 --> 00:18:05,330
for reinforcements.
289
00:18:05,330 --> 00:18:08,493
His reputation is turning him into Joffre's potential rival.
290
00:18:09,470 --> 00:18:11,360
To avoid upsetting public opinion,
291
00:18:11,360 --> 00:18:14,800
Joffre names Petain Commander of Army Group Centre.
292
00:18:14,800 --> 00:18:17,842
This promotion is designed to sideline him.
293
00:18:17,842 --> 00:18:20,842
(soldiers marching)
294
00:18:25,730 --> 00:18:28,840
On May 1st, 1916, Petain is replaced
295
00:18:28,840 --> 00:18:31,343
by 60-year-old General Robert Nivelle.
296
00:18:34,560 --> 00:18:37,350
{\an8}An ambitious and particularly obedient graduate
297
00:18:37,350 --> 00:18:39,180
of the Polytechnique Institute,
298
00:18:39,180 --> 00:18:43,140
he asks for fewer men and receives more artillery.
299
00:18:43,140 --> 00:18:45,900
The Germans, on the other hand, believe that the outcome
300
00:18:45,900 --> 00:18:48,510
of the battle will play out on the Left Bank.
301
00:18:48,510 --> 00:18:50,210
They launch assault after assault
302
00:18:50,210 --> 00:18:52,040
all through the month of May.
303
00:18:52,040 --> 00:18:55,213
The focus specifically on a hill called Mort Homme.
304
00:18:58,430 --> 00:19:01,920
295 meters high and a kilometer wide,
305
00:19:01,920 --> 00:19:04,323
it dominates the entire Meuse valley.
306
00:19:05,760 --> 00:19:09,350
{\an8}Lieutenant Louis Maufrais, a 27-year-old military physician
307
00:19:09,350 --> 00:19:12,460
{\an8}is stationed at the Mort Homme emergency medical post.
308
00:19:12,460 --> 00:19:14,773
It will be his worst war experience ever.
309
00:19:18,110 --> 00:19:22,656
{\an8}On May 20th, the Germans launch a massive artillery attack.
310
00:19:22,656 --> 00:19:25,739
(artillery blasting)
311
00:19:36,708 --> 00:19:38,887
Louis Maufrais describes the scene:
312
00:19:38,887 --> 00:19:40,217
"Around 11 o'clock,
313
00:19:40,217 --> 00:19:42,897
"the bombing takes on an extraordinary pace.
314
00:19:42,897 --> 00:19:44,517
"We can't even count the strikes.
315
00:19:44,517 --> 00:19:46,507
"There are at least 20 per minute.
316
00:19:46,507 --> 00:19:47,787
"They hammer at our head
317
00:19:47,787 --> 00:19:50,237
"and our entire central nervous system.
318
00:19:50,237 --> 00:19:54,113
"we are shattered like mere puppets. We all feel faint.
319
00:19:54,987 --> 00:19:58,397
"I watch as my fellow soldiers slip into unconsciousness,
320
00:19:58,397 --> 00:19:59,567
"one after the other.
321
00:19:59,567 --> 00:20:01,927
"For six consecutive hours we've been subjected
322
00:20:01,927 --> 00:20:05,537
"to impacts, gas, and constant vibrations.
323
00:20:05,537 --> 00:20:06,797
"Anyone would go mad."
324
00:20:08,911 --> 00:20:11,078
(booming)
325
00:20:16,098 --> 00:20:19,015
(unsettling music)
326
00:20:33,870 --> 00:20:36,620
Maufrais wakes up along with his men.
327
00:20:36,620 --> 00:20:39,923
How is this possible? How did they survive?
328
00:20:41,450 --> 00:20:44,393
But for many, insanity awaits.
329
00:20:47,080 --> 00:20:50,867
A report from the clinical society for mental health:
330
00:20:50,867 --> 00:20:54,627
"One of our patients who received a concussion at Verdun
331
00:20:54,627 --> 00:20:56,997
"had to be placed in a psychiatric ward.
332
00:20:56,997 --> 00:21:00,197
"He is highly disoriented and delirious.
333
00:21:00,197 --> 00:21:03,837
"He has no recollection of his life in the combat zone.
334
00:21:03,837 --> 00:21:06,857
"His last memory dates from 10 days before his regiment
335
00:21:06,857 --> 00:21:08,997
"was transferred to the Meuse region."
336
00:21:13,920 --> 00:21:17,770
Delirium, or total loss of identity,
337
00:21:17,770 --> 00:21:21,030
is the most common problem among these shattered men,
338
00:21:21,030 --> 00:21:23,503
who will never recover their mental faculties.
339
00:21:28,830 --> 00:21:31,043
In this apocalyptic landscape,
340
00:21:31,970 --> 00:21:33,873
the earth swallows up the men.
341
00:21:35,600 --> 00:21:39,160
Verdun's clay has become a living necropolis,
342
00:21:39,160 --> 00:21:41,400
constantly reshaped by the shells,
343
00:21:41,400 --> 00:21:45,103
the living mixed with the dead, French with German.
344
00:21:48,360 --> 00:21:50,543
Soldier Paul Edigoffer writes,
345
00:21:52,607 --> 00:21:55,317
"There are rotting corpses everywhere.
346
00:21:55,317 --> 00:21:57,267
"We trample them without noticing,
347
00:21:57,267 --> 00:22:00,407
"until our foot sinks into something soft.
348
00:22:00,407 --> 00:22:05,407
"Then we think, 'Here rests a comrade, a man just like me.'
349
00:22:07,007 --> 00:22:09,937
"The sweet, nauseating stench of rot
350
00:22:09,937 --> 00:22:11,907
"clings to our uniforms."
351
00:22:13,947 --> 00:22:18,020
"God has left the battlefield," writes Blaise Cendrars
352
00:22:18,020 --> 00:22:20,583
in his book, "The Bloody Hand."
353
00:22:20,583 --> 00:22:22,750
(digging)
354
00:22:26,460 --> 00:22:29,303
Father George Henocque is everywhere.
355
00:22:31,267 --> 00:22:34,970
The poilus have nicknamed him "Ace Chaplain."
356
00:22:34,970 --> 00:22:37,220
(chatting)
357
00:22:40,020 --> 00:22:43,640
He hears the confessions of those leaving for the frontline.
358
00:22:43,640 --> 00:22:46,013
He administers the last rites for the dying.
359
00:22:51,670 --> 00:22:54,380
Following each attack, he blesses the ground
360
00:22:54,380 --> 00:22:56,090
for lack of actual bodies,
361
00:22:56,090 --> 00:22:58,543
pummeled into the clay by the shell storm.
362
00:23:02,590 --> 00:23:04,690
France is one of the first warring nations
363
00:23:04,690 --> 00:23:06,950
to have mobilized its clergy.
364
00:23:06,950 --> 00:23:10,173
There are priests, rabbis, and imams.
365
00:23:12,540 --> 00:23:16,147
A simple soldier of the secular French republic says,
366
00:23:16,147 --> 00:23:19,257
"Once the shells and bullets made me face death,
367
00:23:19,257 --> 00:23:21,081
"I embraced religion."
368
00:23:21,081 --> 00:23:23,998
(unsettling music)
369
00:23:28,540 --> 00:23:31,283
The french troops still think things may improve.
370
00:23:33,390 --> 00:23:35,965
But the situation only gets worse.
371
00:23:35,965 --> 00:23:38,920
(dramatic music)
372
00:23:38,920 --> 00:23:41,370
Verdun's new commander, General Nivelle,
373
00:23:41,370 --> 00:23:45,130
shown here with his deputy, the reliable General Guillaumat,
374
00:23:45,130 --> 00:23:48,303
wants to kick off his mission with a spectacular feat.
375
00:23:49,220 --> 00:23:51,850
He assigns one of his most rugged officers,
376
00:23:51,850 --> 00:23:54,560
{\an8}49-year-old General Charles Mangin,
377
00:23:54,560 --> 00:23:56,677
{\an8}to recapture Fort Douaumont.
378
00:23:59,370 --> 00:24:02,120
Thanks to the full mobilization of French industry,
379
00:24:02,120 --> 00:24:05,810
iron-clad logistics, and an endless noria of trucks,
380
00:24:05,810 --> 00:24:08,113
millions of shells have been stockpiled.
381
00:24:11,110 --> 00:24:13,420
Three months after the German attack,
382
00:24:13,420 --> 00:24:17,590
1,000 tons of shells per day fall on Fort Douaumont
383
00:24:17,590 --> 00:24:20,423
(cannons booming)
384
00:24:28,210 --> 00:24:30,740
{\an8}The massive stone and concrete structure,
385
00:24:30,740 --> 00:24:32,933
{\an8}with 2,000 Germans inside ...
386
00:24:34,510 --> 00:24:36,013
sinks into the ground.
387
00:24:38,227 --> 00:24:40,394
(booming)
388
00:24:41,980 --> 00:24:46,469
{\an8}On May 22nd, 1916, Mangin sets his men in motion.
389
00:24:46,469 --> 00:24:47,800
(booming)
390
00:24:47,800 --> 00:24:51,030
Here again, the powerful artillery has little effect
391
00:24:51,030 --> 00:24:52,693
on the well-protected Germans.
392
00:24:55,578 --> 00:24:59,080
Four days later, 4,500 French soldiers
393
00:24:59,080 --> 00:25:01,340
have been taken out of action.
394
00:25:01,340 --> 00:25:03,230
Their bodies are not filmed.
395
00:25:03,230 --> 00:25:05,930
The armies cameramen prefer to show the corpses
396
00:25:05,930 --> 00:25:08,273
of a few unfortunate German fighters.
397
00:25:12,020 --> 00:25:14,520
(fly buzzing)
398
00:25:19,646 --> 00:25:21,813
(digging)
399
00:25:32,210 --> 00:25:35,420
{\an8}One June 2nd, the Germans launch another attack,
400
00:25:35,420 --> 00:25:37,650
managing to penetrate French defenses
401
00:25:37,650 --> 00:25:39,260
all the way to Fort Vaux,
402
00:25:39,260 --> 00:25:41,543
a mere eight kilometers from Verdun.
403
00:25:44,690 --> 00:25:48,310
Inside the fort, 600 French soldiers are crammed together
404
00:25:48,310 --> 00:25:49,883
in dreadful conditions.
405
00:25:52,550 --> 00:25:55,880
{\an8}Their only hope is this last homing pigeon,
406
00:25:55,880 --> 00:25:57,533
{\an8}one of Fort Veux's heroes.
407
00:25:58,930 --> 00:26:01,570
Commander Raynal, who leads the French defense
408
00:26:01,570 --> 00:26:04,640
{\an8}sends this flying telegram on June 4th.
409
00:26:04,640 --> 00:26:07,053
{\an8}On a tiny piece of paper, he has written,
410
00:26:07,907 --> 00:26:09,537
"Get us out of here now."
411
00:26:11,630 --> 00:26:14,460
Commander Raynal's pigeon achieves the impossible,
412
00:26:14,460 --> 00:26:16,543
flying through the bullets and gas.
413
00:26:18,770 --> 00:26:21,730
The bird is starving, and his unwavering instinct
414
00:26:21,730 --> 00:26:25,293
sends him to find food back at his military dovecote,
415
00:26:26,210 --> 00:26:27,633
in the Verdun citadel.
416
00:26:31,360 --> 00:26:34,430
During these times, when all telephone lines are cut
417
00:26:34,430 --> 00:26:36,280
and runners can't get through,
418
00:26:36,280 --> 00:26:39,283
homing pigeons are the only way to transmit messages.
419
00:26:43,270 --> 00:26:46,053
Buses and trailers serve as mobile dovecotes.
420
00:26:48,310 --> 00:26:51,893
A strong bond links the birds to their military handlers.
421
00:26:52,960 --> 00:26:55,090
This handler doesn't know that, one day,
422
00:26:55,090 --> 00:26:56,530
these pigeons will be carriers
423
00:26:56,530 --> 00:26:59,933
of the deadly Spanish flu virus that will kill millions.
424
00:27:06,030 --> 00:27:07,570
Commander Raynal's homing pigeon
425
00:27:07,570 --> 00:27:10,130
receives a Legion of Honor ring
426
00:27:10,130 --> 00:27:13,353
before ultimately falling victim to asphyxiant gas.
427
00:27:22,520 --> 00:27:25,333
{\an8}But the reinforcements won't make it to Fort Veux.
428
00:27:27,200 --> 00:27:31,390
{\an8}On June 7th, 1916, the 250 survivors surrender,
429
00:27:31,390 --> 00:27:35,900
weakened and ill from thirst and exposure to gas.
430
00:27:35,900 --> 00:27:38,910
The Kronprinz, who was counting on this victory,
431
00:27:38,910 --> 00:27:42,410
decides in a grand gesture to have his soldiers present arms
432
00:27:42,410 --> 00:27:45,793
to the valiant French troops being taken into captivity.
433
00:27:50,100 --> 00:27:52,456
The French are in trouble in Verdun,
434
00:27:52,456 --> 00:27:55,013
like their Italian allies on the Austrian border.
435
00:27:56,020 --> 00:27:57,910
To relieve the Western Front,
436
00:27:57,910 --> 00:28:00,980
they are counting on their other allies, the Russians,
437
00:28:00,980 --> 00:28:03,772
who launch a large-scale offensive.
438
00:28:03,772 --> 00:28:05,350
(heavy gunfire)
439
00:28:05,350 --> 00:28:08,530
On June 4th, 600,000 Russian soldiers
440
00:28:08,530 --> 00:28:11,660
and 60,000 cavalrymen launch the attack.
441
00:28:11,660 --> 00:28:15,510
They strike first at the Austro-Hungarian Empire's troops,
442
00:28:15,510 --> 00:28:17,464
fighting alongside the Germans.
443
00:28:17,464 --> 00:28:22,464
(horses clopping)
(soldiers shouting)
444
00:28:24,630 --> 00:28:27,470
The Russians take thousands of Austrian prisoners.
445
00:28:27,470 --> 00:28:29,820
The men are sent into captivity on foot,
446
00:28:29,820 --> 00:28:31,280
except for the officers,
447
00:28:31,280 --> 00:28:34,580
who are transported in horse-drawn carriages.
448
00:28:34,580 --> 00:28:36,740
In 1916, the great empires
449
00:28:36,740 --> 00:28:39,913
are tearing each other to pieces, but with decorum.
450
00:28:44,550 --> 00:28:47,810
Just as the Allies had hoped, General Falkenhayn,
451
00:28:47,810 --> 00:28:49,710
in command of the German troops,
452
00:28:49,710 --> 00:28:52,013
blocks the reinforcements slated for Verdun.
453
00:28:53,160 --> 00:28:55,050
He has them quickly shipped east,
454
00:28:55,050 --> 00:28:57,888
over the remarkable German railway network.
455
00:28:57,888 --> 00:29:01,500
(soldiers marching)
456
00:29:01,500 --> 00:29:03,600
(artillery booming)
457
00:29:03,600 --> 00:29:06,850
But Falkenhayn can't seem to check the Russian offensive,
458
00:29:06,850 --> 00:29:09,500
which carries on victoriously until the Autumn.
459
00:29:09,500 --> 00:29:12,063
{\an8}This is a great relief to the French in Verdun.
460
00:29:15,350 --> 00:29:17,160
{\an8}The soldiers on the Verdun Front
461
00:29:17,160 --> 00:29:19,583
make the most of a well-deserved break.
462
00:29:24,230 --> 00:29:27,803
Some pay a visit to their less fortunate comrades.
463
00:29:31,250 --> 00:29:33,980
Others finally have the time to read letters
464
00:29:33,980 --> 00:29:36,326
from their war godmothers.
465
00:29:36,326 --> 00:29:40,159
(singing in foreign language)
466
00:29:43,110 --> 00:29:45,800
This wave of affection is a new phenomenon,
467
00:29:45,800 --> 00:29:48,873
encouraged by the army to keep up the soldiers' spirits.
468
00:29:51,490 --> 00:29:53,310
Five billion postcards
469
00:29:53,310 --> 00:29:56,970
in 80,000 different designs are exchanged.
470
00:29:56,970 --> 00:30:00,760
This correspondence is sometimes followed by an affair,
471
00:30:00,760 --> 00:30:03,713
a great love story, or a tragic death.
472
00:30:04,970 --> 00:30:07,120
The army prefers the postcard format,
473
00:30:07,120 --> 00:30:10,350
which is short and facilitates censorship.
474
00:30:10,350 --> 00:30:12,370
Comments on the horrors of battle
475
00:30:12,370 --> 00:30:15,600
or military information mustn't be leaked.
476
00:30:15,600 --> 00:30:16,940
Spies could be lurking
477
00:30:16,940 --> 00:30:19,373
amongst the well-intentioned godmothers.
478
00:30:22,120 --> 00:30:25,320
General Petain's entourage is equally concerned
479
00:30:25,320 --> 00:30:28,993
about Germany throwing a beautiful seductress into his arms.
480
00:30:32,820 --> 00:30:35,670
Petain may be far from the Verdun Front
481
00:30:35,670 --> 00:30:39,330
but not from the hearts of his many female conquests,
482
00:30:39,330 --> 00:30:43,197
like this one, who writes, "I am thirsty for pleasure,
483
00:30:43,197 --> 00:30:46,510
"for wild caresses and fiery kisses."
484
00:30:46,510 --> 00:30:50,027
Another one writes, "I wish my lips were on yours,
485
00:30:50,027 --> 00:30:51,717
"kissing and nibbling."
486
00:30:55,480 --> 00:30:57,590
Petain has the energy and the time
487
00:30:57,590 --> 00:31:01,490
to maintain ongoing relationships with 40 some odd women,
488
00:31:01,490 --> 00:31:06,167
{\an8}including opera singer Germaine Lubin, who recalls,
489
00:31:06,167 --> 00:31:08,517
{\an8}"I sang for our troops in the afternoon,
490
00:31:08,517 --> 00:31:10,667
{\an8}"and in the evening I attended the dinner party
491
00:31:10,667 --> 00:31:13,257
"General Petain was presiding over.
492
00:31:13,257 --> 00:31:15,517
"I thought he was very handsome.
493
00:31:15,517 --> 00:31:19,467
"Joking around, we decided I would become his war godmother.
494
00:31:19,467 --> 00:31:21,437
"I wrote and received many letters,
495
00:31:21,437 --> 00:31:23,817
"which quickly became more intimate.
496
00:31:23,817 --> 00:31:25,647
"He thought I was beautiful.
497
00:31:25,647 --> 00:31:28,057
"That is how our love was born."
498
00:31:30,750 --> 00:31:34,277
General Guillaume writes, "I can't believe Petain
499
00:31:34,277 --> 00:31:37,117
"is having all these affairs in the middle of Verdun."
500
00:31:40,250 --> 00:31:45,150
{\an8}On June 22nd, 1916, the British army and the French forces
501
00:31:45,150 --> 00:31:46,913
prepare to attack in the Somme.
502
00:31:48,860 --> 00:31:51,770
4,000 cannons will shoot 10 million shells
503
00:31:51,770 --> 00:31:53,223
during the course of a week.
504
00:31:56,860 --> 00:32:01,060
In the first minutes of the assault, 20,000 English,
505
00:32:01,060 --> 00:32:06,060
Scottish, Welsh, Irish, Canadians, New Zealanders,
506
00:32:06,380 --> 00:32:11,380
South Africans, Indians, Rhodesians, Australians,
507
00:32:11,590 --> 00:32:15,303
and all the men from Newfoundland will perish.
508
00:32:15,303 --> 00:32:20,303
(dramatic music)
(cannons blasting)
509
00:32:32,055 --> 00:32:35,870
{\an8}From July 1st, 1916 onwards, day after day,
510
00:32:35,870 --> 00:32:39,419
month after month, repeated assaults are carried out.
511
00:32:39,419 --> 00:32:42,086
(heavy gunfire)
512
00:32:49,050 --> 00:32:51,950
In November, at the end of the offensive,
513
00:32:51,950 --> 00:32:53,850
there are one million British,
514
00:32:53,850 --> 00:32:55,973
French, and German casualties.
515
00:32:59,205 --> 00:33:01,372
(digging)
516
00:33:03,420 --> 00:33:05,520
Once again, a strategy built
517
00:33:05,520 --> 00:33:07,850
around intensive artillery preparation
518
00:33:07,850 --> 00:33:11,563
followed by massive attacks has been proven ineffective.
519
00:33:13,420 --> 00:33:15,620
But the sacrifice of Allied soldiers
520
00:33:15,620 --> 00:33:17,870
disrupts Germany's battle plans
521
00:33:17,870 --> 00:33:20,053
by forcing it to divide its troops.
522
00:33:23,280 --> 00:33:26,490
{\an8}The German commander-in-chief, General von Falkenhayn,
523
00:33:26,490 --> 00:33:30,673
{\an8}turns his sights back on Verdun for a last-chance offensive.
524
00:33:33,380 --> 00:33:35,620
Six months after the start of the battle,
525
00:33:35,620 --> 00:33:38,690
on July 11th, 1916, he focuses
526
00:33:38,690 --> 00:33:42,480
on the last great hurtle before Verdun, Fort Souville.
527
00:33:42,480 --> 00:33:45,063
(loud booming)
528
00:33:48,360 --> 00:33:51,920
At Souville, a lunar landscape cloaked in death,
529
00:33:51,920 --> 00:33:53,470
the fierce French resistance
530
00:33:53,470 --> 00:33:55,683
thwarts the enemies final attacks.
531
00:33:58,800 --> 00:34:01,713
The exhausted Germans surrender by the thousands.
532
00:34:06,570 --> 00:34:10,367
French army physician Major Leon Barosse writes,
533
00:34:10,367 --> 00:34:12,647
"German prisoners file past us.
534
00:34:12,647 --> 00:34:16,287
"They are hungry, thirsty, with drawn faces
535
00:34:16,287 --> 00:34:18,287
"and muddy, tattered clothes.
536
00:34:18,287 --> 00:34:19,693
"They want food and water.
537
00:34:21,067 --> 00:34:24,487
"Our soldiers who have suffered so greatly at their hands
538
00:34:24,487 --> 00:34:28,247
"hand them bread, chocolate, and water.
539
00:34:28,247 --> 00:34:30,317
"They have cast aside their anger
540
00:34:30,317 --> 00:34:32,907
"in a great show of generosity.
541
00:34:32,907 --> 00:34:36,207
"We tend to the German wounded who are crying.
542
00:34:36,207 --> 00:34:38,467
"They offer us everything they own.
543
00:34:38,467 --> 00:34:43,107
"Pocketknives, cigars, matches."
544
00:34:49,440 --> 00:34:51,790
But these German soldiers' distress
545
00:34:51,790 --> 00:34:54,780
{\an8}echoes that of their families back in Germany,
546
00:34:54,780 --> 00:34:57,500
{\an8}subjected to a terrible naval blockade
547
00:34:57,500 --> 00:34:59,943
and ruined by military expenditures.
548
00:35:00,950 --> 00:35:02,663
All food is sent to the front.
549
00:35:03,530 --> 00:35:06,503
The Germans are literally dying of starvation.
550
00:35:07,370 --> 00:35:10,593
They have eaten the few horses that weren't requisitioned.
551
00:35:12,000 --> 00:35:13,470
The horses have been replaced
552
00:35:13,470 --> 00:35:16,003
{\an8}by circus zebras here in Dresden.
553
00:35:18,083 --> 00:35:20,333
(clopping)
554
00:35:21,500 --> 00:35:22,543
By camels.
555
00:35:27,150 --> 00:35:28,503
Or elephants.
556
00:35:28,503 --> 00:35:31,753
(elephants trumpeting)
557
00:35:36,240 --> 00:35:38,681
Soon they, too, will be killed for food.
558
00:35:38,681 --> 00:35:41,529
(gun blasts)
559
00:35:41,529 --> 00:35:43,196
(gun blasts)
560
00:35:43,196 --> 00:35:45,613
(soft music)
561
00:35:51,630 --> 00:35:54,270
{\an8}On August 29th, 1916,
562
00:35:54,270 --> 00:35:57,830
German Emperor Wilhelm II replaces Falkenhayn
563
00:35:57,830 --> 00:36:01,133
{\an8}with the awe-inspiring Marshall Paul von Hindenburg.
564
00:36:03,500 --> 00:36:07,210
{\an8}Hindenburg defeated the Russians early on in the war.
565
00:36:07,210 --> 00:36:10,200
He is always assisted by a formidable strategist,
566
00:36:10,200 --> 00:36:11,943
{\an8}General Erik Ludendorff.
567
00:36:13,970 --> 00:36:18,650
There is no doubt in their minds they will win this war.
568
00:36:18,650 --> 00:36:22,200
German forces still occupy 10 French departments.
569
00:36:22,200 --> 00:36:25,113
The Allies' bloody attempts to recapture them have failed.
570
00:36:28,860 --> 00:36:32,540
Verdun is now part of the German defense line,
571
00:36:32,540 --> 00:36:35,763
protected by the occupied forts of Douaumont and Vaux.
572
00:36:38,960 --> 00:36:41,920
But this also implies abandoning the offensive
573
00:36:41,920 --> 00:36:44,828
and ordering back much of the artillery.
574
00:36:44,828 --> 00:36:48,745
(horses neighing and clopping)
575
00:36:52,070 --> 00:36:55,340
Retreat from any position is out of the question.
576
00:36:55,340 --> 00:36:56,810
In the ruin of the forts,
577
00:36:56,810 --> 00:36:59,500
transformed into insalubrious cesspools,
578
00:36:59,500 --> 00:37:01,910
the German soldiers, left on their own,
579
00:37:01,910 --> 00:37:03,793
live a nightmarish existence.
580
00:37:05,730 --> 00:37:08,840
One of them, Arnold Zweig is a friend of Sigmund Freud,
581
00:37:08,840 --> 00:37:11,230
the father of psychoanalysis.
582
00:37:11,230 --> 00:37:12,383
Zweig writes ...
583
00:37:13,617 --> 00:37:15,397
"We breathe misery.
584
00:37:15,397 --> 00:37:19,527
"The men's underwear, mended 100 times, is falling apart.
585
00:37:19,527 --> 00:37:23,197
"Food is scarce. People steal each other's rations.
586
00:37:23,197 --> 00:37:25,697
"They don't even bother to fight the lice anymore.
587
00:37:27,347 --> 00:37:29,397
"The worst part is that the army
588
00:37:29,397 --> 00:37:30,767
"is starting to blame the Jews
589
00:37:30,767 --> 00:37:33,407
"for Germany's great sadness and suffering."
590
00:37:35,381 --> 00:37:37,325
(ominous music)
591
00:37:37,325 --> 00:37:38,780
(soldiers marching)
592
00:37:38,780 --> 00:37:41,260
The French are marching to recapture Fort Douaumont
593
00:37:41,260 --> 00:37:43,913
and Fort Vaux, future symbols of victory.
594
00:37:46,610 --> 00:37:49,290
The colonial troops will play an important role
595
00:37:49,290 --> 00:37:50,993
in the battle's final act.
596
00:37:52,400 --> 00:37:57,253
In his book "The Black Force," General Mangin wrote in 1910,
597
00:37:58,267 --> 00:38:00,107
"The Negro races have survived
598
00:38:00,107 --> 00:38:02,597
"in an environment of constant battle,
599
00:38:02,597 --> 00:38:05,117
"therefore strengthening their fighting skills,
600
00:38:05,117 --> 00:38:06,977
"which we benefit from today."
601
00:38:09,200 --> 00:38:13,540
Mangin sends these men, along with other indigenous troops,
602
00:38:13,540 --> 00:38:16,929
to join the poilus soldiers in the attack on Douaumont.
603
00:38:16,929 --> 00:38:19,929
(soldiers charging)
604
00:38:21,200 --> 00:38:24,040
{\an8}As usual, General Nivelle, the Verdun Commander,
605
00:38:24,040 --> 00:38:26,923
{\an8}is relying on even greater artillery force.
606
00:38:29,100 --> 00:38:32,050
Massive 400-millimeter caliber cannons,
607
00:38:32,050 --> 00:38:36,403
mounted on tracks, firing 900-kilo shells.
608
00:38:38,872 --> 00:38:41,455
(loud booming)
609
00:38:43,320 --> 00:38:45,550
Following extensive artillery bombing,
610
00:38:45,550 --> 00:38:47,800
the troops launch their attack on Douaumont
611
00:38:47,800 --> 00:38:51,359
at the imposed speed of 100 meters in four minutes.
612
00:38:51,359 --> 00:38:54,109
(dramatic music)
613
00:38:56,352 --> 00:38:59,019
(heavy gunfire)
614
00:39:03,202 --> 00:39:07,030
Despite heavy losses, Douaumont is recaptured in four hours
615
00:39:07,030 --> 00:39:08,604
{\an8}on October 24th.
616
00:39:08,604 --> 00:39:11,187
{\an8}(somber music)
617
00:39:17,020 --> 00:39:19,650
These are the first photos taken inside the fort
618
00:39:19,650 --> 00:39:22,403
after it was hit by a 400 millimeter shell.
619
00:39:24,410 --> 00:39:27,180
The terrible explosion and ensuing fire
620
00:39:27,180 --> 00:39:29,173
has led to the surrender of the fort.
621
00:39:35,230 --> 00:39:39,223
{\an8}On November 2nd, Fort Vaux is also reclaimed by the French.
622
00:39:40,342 --> 00:39:43,350
(dramatic music)
623
00:39:43,350 --> 00:39:46,990
10 months after the onset of Germany's attack on Verdum
624
00:39:46,990 --> 00:39:49,910
on February 21st, 1916,
625
00:39:49,910 --> 00:39:52,423
the French have recaptured their main forts.
626
00:39:54,440 --> 00:39:56,800
French high command officially announces the end
627
00:39:56,800 --> 00:39:59,823
of the Battle of Verdun on December 18th, 1916.
628
00:40:05,004 --> 00:40:07,754
(wind whistling)
629
00:40:21,624 --> 00:40:23,540
(soldiers marching)
630
00:40:23,540 --> 00:40:26,220
The poilus, who don't realize they still have
631
00:40:26,220 --> 00:40:29,570
two years of fighting, suffering, and dying ahead of them,
632
00:40:29,570 --> 00:40:32,610
watch as the men they've been battling for almost a year
633
00:40:32,610 --> 00:40:34,482
are sent off into captivity.
634
00:40:34,482 --> 00:40:37,315
(horses clopping)
635
00:40:46,690 --> 00:40:49,920
Each of these German prisoners can hum in his heart
636
00:40:49,920 --> 00:40:52,384
the Imperial Army's song of the dead.
637
00:40:52,384 --> 00:40:56,217
(singing in foreign language)
638
00:40:57,707 --> 00:40:59,343
"I once had a comrade.
639
00:41:00,457 --> 00:41:02,113
"No better will you find.
640
00:41:04,217 --> 00:41:06,033
"The drum called us to battle.
641
00:41:07,300 --> 00:41:09,217
"He walked at my side."
642
00:41:34,606 --> 00:41:38,140
The resident of Verdun are allowed to return to their homes
643
00:41:38,140 --> 00:41:40,210
or what is left of them.
644
00:41:40,210 --> 00:41:41,840
But they know their town has become
645
00:41:41,840 --> 00:41:44,373
the very symbol of the patriotic spirit.
646
00:41:49,550 --> 00:41:53,670
For years to come, they will see countless parents,
647
00:41:53,670 --> 00:41:56,830
friends, brothers, and widows
648
00:41:57,890 --> 00:42:00,853
come searching for the trace of a loved one,
649
00:42:04,040 --> 00:42:08,307
those the grisly statistics refer to as "the missing."
650
00:42:16,490 --> 00:42:19,510
The lunar landscape of the Verdun battlefield,
651
00:42:19,510 --> 00:42:24,230
filmed here in 1916, spans a mere 20 kilometers,
652
00:42:24,230 --> 00:42:27,860
yet for 300 days and 300 nights,
653
00:42:27,860 --> 00:42:31,600
it was the stage of World War I's worst confrontations
654
00:42:31,600 --> 00:42:33,723
between French and Germans.
655
00:42:35,020 --> 00:42:37,503
60 million shells were fired.
656
00:42:38,540 --> 00:42:42,823
In some places, the ground level sank by seven meters.
657
00:42:45,570 --> 00:42:47,860
Nine villages were leveled.
658
00:42:47,860 --> 00:42:50,513
They were later declared dead for France.
659
00:42:53,560 --> 00:42:57,080
Fleury, one of these villages in the Meuse,
660
00:42:57,080 --> 00:43:00,923
is still officially registered with a population of zero.
661
00:43:03,950 --> 00:43:07,408
2.5 million men fought at Verdun.
662
00:43:07,408 --> 00:43:12,408
714,000 were killed or wounded, often disabled for life,
663
00:43:12,833 --> 00:43:16,650
379,000 French, 335,000 Germans.
664
00:43:20,330 --> 00:43:25,260
100 years later, Verdun remains an indelible page
665
00:43:25,260 --> 00:43:29,211
in the history of heroism and human suffering.
666
00:43:29,211 --> 00:43:32,271
(grass rustling)
667
00:43:32,271 --> 00:43:35,938
{\an8}(dramatic orchestral music)
51937
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