1 00:00:21,800 --> 00:00:25,679 The Eastern Front was the conflict at the heart of the First World War. 2 00:00:29,840 --> 00:00:34,755 A struggle which devastated the lives of Eastern Europe's peoples, as old scores were settled, 3 00:00:34,840 --> 00:00:36,796 new hatreds forged. 4 00:00:38,920 --> 00:00:40,876 A harbinger of the Second World War. 5 00:00:43,080 --> 00:00:46,629 There has never been such a war as this, 6 00:00:46,720 --> 00:00:48,676 waged with such bestial fury. 7 00:01:33,880 --> 00:01:36,792 This was a racial war between Teuton and Slav. 8 00:01:37,840 --> 00:01:41,276 Between the Germans and Austro-Hungarians on one side, 9 00:01:41,360 --> 00:01:44,033 and Russia and her Slav ally Serbia on the other. 10 00:01:48,400 --> 00:01:55,112 Caught between the clashing giants were Poles, Ukrainians, Lithuanians, Croatians, Jews, 11 00:01:56,400 --> 00:01:58,356 without statehood or voice, 12 00:01:58,440 --> 00:02:00,670 with no means of defence. 13 00:02:03,760 --> 00:02:07,639 It was also a war of alliances stretched to breaking point. 14 00:02:09,760 --> 00:02:12,672 Germany, hands full on the Western Front, 15 00:02:12,760 --> 00:02:15,877 looked to Austria-Hungary to bear the brunt of a Russian attack. 16 00:02:15,960 --> 00:02:18,918 But Austria-Hungary's empire was crumbling and weak. 17 00:02:19,000 --> 00:02:23,073 Theirs was a partnership with different agendas, many enemies. 18 00:02:24,800 --> 00:02:30,158 Germany's eastern flank bordered directly onto Russia, down what is now Poland. 19 00:02:30,240 --> 00:02:33,596 To Austria-Hungary's south lay her dreaded enemy Serbia. 20 00:02:34,640 --> 00:02:39,236 Around them, a ring of neutrals as yet undecided which side to join. 21 00:02:49,960 --> 00:02:53,032 Russian troops are blessed before leaving for the war. 22 00:02:57,520 --> 00:03:00,956 One officer presented his men with an historic opportunity. 23 00:03:02,520 --> 00:03:08,470 Hey brothers, our eternal enemy Germany is trying to enslave Russia, 24 00:03:08,560 --> 00:03:13,793 our country which has long suffocated under Germany's dead weight. 25 00:03:13,880 --> 00:03:16,758 The time has come to end their Teutonic rule. 26 00:03:19,080 --> 00:03:22,595 Not everyone saw the conflict in such epic terms. 27 00:03:23,680 --> 00:03:28,800 Russian conscript Vasily Mishnin left to fight the Germans, filled with dread. 28 00:03:33,600 --> 00:03:35,909 A shiver ran through my whole body. 29 00:03:36,000 --> 00:03:37,513 The third whistle. 30 00:03:37,600 --> 00:03:38,953 Everybody breaks down. 31 00:03:40,080 --> 00:03:42,389 I kiss my Nurya for the last time 32 00:03:43,440 --> 00:03:45,396 and all my family kiss me. 33 00:03:49,120 --> 00:03:54,399 Nurya shouts "Why are you crying Vasyusha? You said you weren't going to cry!" 34 00:04:01,760 --> 00:04:05,639 The challenge to this war on the backward side of Europe was logistics. 35 00:04:10,640 --> 00:04:15,077 There were vast distances to cover, from the Urals to the Alps, 36 00:04:15,160 --> 00:04:18,311 with desperate problems of communications and supply. 37 00:04:27,720 --> 00:04:29,870 On the 17th of August, 1914, 38 00:04:29,960 --> 00:04:32,679 the Russian First Army seized the initiative 39 00:04:32,760 --> 00:04:34,876 and invaded Germany. 40 00:04:39,840 --> 00:04:41,751 This would be a mobile war, 41 00:04:41,840 --> 00:04:44,115 and some units went in hard from the start. 42 00:04:51,200 --> 00:04:57,116 Russian cavalry officer Vladimir Littauer had already crossed the border, scouting ahead. 43 00:04:59,019 --> 00:05:01,515 We started while it was still dark. 44 00:05:02,240 --> 00:05:06,518 Around seven o'clock in the morning our squadron reached the objective for the day, 45 00:05:06,600 --> 00:05:08,079 a large German farm. 46 00:05:09,280 --> 00:05:12,238 The scene on the German side of the border was frightening. 47 00:05:13,280 --> 00:05:16,989 For miles, farms, haystacks and barns were burning. 48 00:05:18,560 --> 00:05:21,950 Like every army under the sun we looted and destroyed, 49 00:05:23,000 --> 00:05:24,956 and later hated to admit it. 50 00:05:28,200 --> 00:05:31,715 The scope for atrocity was greatest where places suddenly changed hands, 51 00:05:32,960 --> 00:05:34,916 where soldiers lived off the land, 52 00:05:35,000 --> 00:05:37,230 where you weren't sure who the enemy was. 53 00:05:41,760 --> 00:05:46,709 Littauer's regiment was fired on at the village of Santopen in East Prussia. 54 00:05:49,360 --> 00:05:53,592 The Russians blamed locals for directing the attack from the church tower. 55 00:05:56,760 --> 00:06:01,038 Groten completely lost his temper and shouted "They are all spies. Shoot them!" 56 00:06:02,480 --> 00:06:04,436 In a moment they were all dead. 57 00:06:09,320 --> 00:06:14,678 Horror stories spread, as 12-year-old German Piete Kuhr recorded in her diary. 58 00:06:15,920 --> 00:06:18,912 Whole columns of East Prussian refugees came through our town. 59 00:06:19,000 --> 00:06:21,195 Many are crying. 60 00:06:21,280 --> 00:06:23,748 There are mothers with tiny children. 61 00:06:24,800 --> 00:06:27,678 They say Russians tie German women who stay behind to trees, 62 00:06:27,760 --> 00:06:29,990 set up wooden crosses in front of them 63 00:06:30,080 --> 00:06:32,674 and nail their little children to them. 64 00:06:32,760 --> 00:06:36,196 When the kiddies have died before their mothers' eyes, 65 00:06:36,280 --> 00:06:39,113 the Russians mutilate the women and kill them. 66 00:06:48,960 --> 00:06:51,428 The German Army fell back 100 miles. 67 00:06:56,560 --> 00:07:00,519 Two men took over Germany's defence in the east. 68 00:07:00,600 --> 00:07:04,309 General Paul Von Hindenburg, brought out of retirement, 69 00:07:04,400 --> 00:07:08,359 and General Erich Ludendorff, poached from the offensive in the west. 70 00:07:11,800 --> 00:07:15,076 They would in time become more powerful than the Kaiser. 71 00:07:23,360 --> 00:07:26,875 The Germans planned to hit the Russian Second Army in these woods, 72 00:07:26,960 --> 00:07:29,155 near the East Prussian town of Tannenberg, 73 00:07:29,240 --> 00:07:31,629 where, 500 years before, 74 00:07:31,720 --> 00:07:34,029 a Polish army had defeated a force of Teutons. 75 00:07:37,640 --> 00:07:41,315 The stakes were high, Germany fighting to defend her native soil. 76 00:07:49,280 --> 00:07:53,114 Julius Boldt's regiment was whisked from Western to Eastern Front. 77 00:07:54,720 --> 00:07:56,676 After a 60-hour train ride, 78 00:07:56,760 --> 00:08:00,275 a quick march for nearly four hours straight to the battlefield. 79 00:08:00,360 --> 00:08:03,318 I had my baptism of fire. 80 00:08:03,400 --> 00:08:06,517 Oddly enough it left me completely cold. 81 00:08:06,600 --> 00:08:09,797 In a flash I thought of home, gave one glance to heaven, 82 00:08:09,880 --> 00:08:12,155 and then straight into the line of fire. 83 00:08:19,440 --> 00:08:23,035 When the injured scream, your heart clams up. 84 00:08:25,800 --> 00:08:28,997 There's almost nothing left of this hospitable town. 85 00:08:29,080 --> 00:08:33,039 What's left of the buildings is either still burning or in ruins. 86 00:08:34,200 --> 00:08:37,237 Charred corpses lie in the streets. 87 00:08:45,840 --> 00:08:48,559 Tannenberg stopped the Russians in their tracks, 88 00:08:48,640 --> 00:08:51,598 and made up for the lack of German victory in the west. 89 00:08:55,320 --> 00:09:00,348 Hindenburg and Ludendorff were seen as saviours of the nation, as schoolgirl Piete wrote. 90 00:09:01,640 --> 00:09:05,155 Paul von Hindenburg is mighty big and strong. 91 00:09:05,240 --> 00:09:09,836 He has a square head with a moustache and many wrinkles in his face. 92 00:09:11,920 --> 00:09:14,150 The people here in the east worship him. 93 00:09:17,720 --> 00:09:20,075 Germany needed heroes. 94 00:09:20,160 --> 00:09:23,072 The battle entered pan-German mythology, 95 00:09:23,160 --> 00:09:25,116 payback for the Russian invasion, 96 00:09:25,200 --> 00:09:27,919 final revenge for that ancient defeat. 97 00:09:32,080 --> 00:09:35,231 This massive monument was completed in 1927, 98 00:09:35,320 --> 00:09:38,756 a rallying symbol for Germany's ambitious right. 99 00:09:44,880 --> 00:09:49,829 A few years later, Hindenburg showed Adolf Hitler the site of Germany's historic triumph. 100 00:09:55,280 --> 00:09:57,589 Today the monument lies in ruins, 101 00:09:57,680 --> 00:10:00,558 blown up by the Russians after the Second World War, 102 00:10:00,640 --> 00:10:03,996 last blow in the saga of Slav-Teuton clashes at Tannenberg. 103 00:10:13,280 --> 00:10:15,430 Poland, January 1915. 104 00:10:16,480 --> 00:10:18,436 The Russians were firmly dug in. 105 00:10:19,680 --> 00:10:23,150 The Germans were now on the offensive, trying to dislodge them. 106 00:10:27,440 --> 00:10:29,874 The village of Bolimow was in the front line. 107 00:10:34,560 --> 00:10:38,633 The Germans turned to technology to give them the edge over the Russians. 108 00:10:40,800 --> 00:10:44,076 Bolimow would be the test-bed for an experimental weapon. 109 00:10:47,000 --> 00:10:50,037 Francis Smolinski, a civilian, raised the alarm. 110 00:10:52,440 --> 00:10:57,798 I got up, went outside, and then I saw this something which looked like smoke. 111 00:10:57,880 --> 00:11:00,235 I ran back home shouting "Fire!" 112 00:11:00,320 --> 00:11:02,276 "Fire!" 113 00:11:06,400 --> 00:11:12,555 Behind the Russian lines, General Basil Gourko got snippets of information that didn't add up, 114 00:11:12,640 --> 00:11:19,239 hundreds mysteriously killed, trenches full of corpses that might not be dead. 115 00:11:20,280 --> 00:11:24,717 Bodies in a state of collapse, with little sign of life, were lying in the wood. 116 00:11:24,800 --> 00:11:27,360 What was the reason for this unusual occurrence? 117 00:11:27,440 --> 00:11:32,719 Had some of those already buried been in a state of coma and not dead at all? 118 00:11:38,360 --> 00:11:39,918 From this church tower, 119 00:11:40,000 --> 00:11:44,551 German observers watched the first major use of chemical warfare ever. 120 00:11:50,360 --> 00:11:55,036 The Germans fired 18.000 tear gas shells onto the Russians. 121 00:12:02,080 --> 00:12:05,231 The conventional wisdom is that the wind was blowing the wrong way, 122 00:12:05,320 --> 00:12:07,356 and it was too cold for the gas to work. 123 00:12:08,400 --> 00:12:10,356 The Russians withstood the attack. 124 00:12:14,800 --> 00:12:20,670 But there were victims, as General Gourko heard and Francis Smolinski saw. 125 00:12:22,640 --> 00:12:25,200 They were carried crowded onto wagons, 126 00:12:25,280 --> 00:12:27,589 some lying on top of others. 127 00:12:27,680 --> 00:12:29,636 Those who could walked. 128 00:12:29,720 --> 00:12:32,234 Their faces were pale blue. 129 00:12:32,320 --> 00:12:34,470 They had foam at their mouths. 130 00:12:36,520 --> 00:12:41,116 Three months later, Ypres on the Western Front wrongly earned the morbid distinction 131 00:12:41,200 --> 00:12:44,237 of being the site for the first gas attack. 132 00:12:44,320 --> 00:12:46,959 Bolimow went unreported, never investigated. 133 00:12:55,440 --> 00:13:00,309 Meanwhile, Germany's main ally, Austria-Hungary, was fighting for survival. 134 00:13:01,360 --> 00:13:05,831 The Russians had invaded, and were now besieging the fortress city of Przemysl. 135 00:13:09,360 --> 00:13:11,715 If it fell, so might Hungary herself. 136 00:13:18,320 --> 00:13:20,595 The Russians sat outside for six months, 137 00:13:20,680 --> 00:13:22,636 lobbing shells, waiting. 138 00:13:30,320 --> 00:13:34,791 Inside, 300 Austro-Hungarians a day were dying of starvation. 139 00:13:38,480 --> 00:13:42,268 Przemysl was a microcosm of the Austro-Hungarian Empire itself, 140 00:13:42,360 --> 00:13:44,316 a crucible of ethnic frictions. 141 00:13:44,400 --> 00:13:48,154 Orders of the day had to be issued in 15 languages; 142 00:13:49,200 --> 00:13:53,034 Austrian patriots cheek by jowl with Russian sympathisers. 143 00:13:53,120 --> 00:13:54,314 Questions of race, 144 00:13:54,400 --> 00:13:56,356 questions of loyalty. 145 00:13:56,440 --> 00:13:58,396 Fears of the enemy within. 146 00:14:01,960 --> 00:14:04,030 There's execution after execution. 147 00:14:07,840 --> 00:14:11,992 The Austrians are hanging people by the dozen now, 148 00:14:12,080 --> 00:14:14,036 innocent ones too. 149 00:14:32,680 --> 00:14:34,636 March 1915. 150 00:14:35,680 --> 00:14:39,389 Nikolai Myaskovsky was one of the Russians preparing for the final assault. 151 00:14:49,000 --> 00:14:51,639 Instead of the total shoot-out we expected, 152 00:14:51,720 --> 00:14:56,953 there were only a few shots of shrapnel and then we reached the fort quite easily. 153 00:15:08,320 --> 00:15:11,073 The Austro-Hungarian garrison had fallen apart. 154 00:15:15,120 --> 00:15:18,192 Przemysl surrendered to the Russians without a fight. 155 00:15:22,360 --> 00:15:25,113 The first Russian train crosses the river San. 156 00:15:37,840 --> 00:15:44,075 British observer, Bernard Pares, quickly realised how divided the Austro-Hungarians were. 157 00:15:45,320 --> 00:15:50,713 The troops instead of being all Hungarians, were of various nationalities. 158 00:15:50,800 --> 00:15:53,075 The conditions of defence led to brawls, 159 00:15:53,160 --> 00:15:56,436 and in the end open disobedience of orders. 160 00:16:02,800 --> 00:16:06,076 Austro-Hungarian prisoners were paraded through Moscow. 161 00:16:10,880 --> 00:16:15,590 A German official said, referring to Austria-Hungary, that his country was now 162 00:16:15,680 --> 00:16:17,636 "shackled to a corpse." 163 00:16:27,960 --> 00:16:31,839 Russians bury the German dead after yet another battle. 164 00:16:49,200 --> 00:16:52,909 While great armies tore at one another's throats on the Eastern Front, 165 00:16:53,000 --> 00:16:56,276 a circle of small nations watched like vultures, 166 00:16:58,400 --> 00:17:00,356 waiting to see which side to join. 167 00:17:06,200 --> 00:17:08,430 Forget liberal ideals and high principles. 168 00:17:09,480 --> 00:17:12,995 The question was, who would offer them the most, 169 00:17:13,080 --> 00:17:15,036 and who would win this war? 170 00:17:19,760 --> 00:17:24,038 These smaller nations: Italy, Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, 171 00:17:24,120 --> 00:17:26,076 also had scores to settle, 172 00:17:26,160 --> 00:17:28,469 lands they wanted back. 173 00:17:28,560 --> 00:17:30,710 The price of any alliance would be high. 174 00:17:41,800 --> 00:17:46,157 Marie, Queen of Romania at her post-war coronation. 175 00:17:48,920 --> 00:17:51,229 British-born as Princess of Edinburgh, 176 00:17:51,320 --> 00:17:55,871 Marie had effectively led Romania as Britain's loyal ally in the First World War. 177 00:18:00,920 --> 00:18:03,878 She kneels before her husband, King Ferdinand. 178 00:18:09,600 --> 00:18:13,195 But behind closed doors, Marie called the shots. 179 00:18:13,280 --> 00:18:16,317 She was instrumental in brokering the critical deal. 180 00:18:23,000 --> 00:18:25,833 Marie had written to the Russian Tsar, cousin Nicky, 181 00:18:25,920 --> 00:18:28,388 and to the British King, cousin George, 182 00:18:28,480 --> 00:18:32,393 putting Romania's entry in the First World War out to tender. 183 00:18:33,440 --> 00:18:37,831 Being neutral I get news from all sides. 184 00:18:37,920 --> 00:18:41,515 Each tries to persuade us that defeat for them is impossible. 185 00:18:41,600 --> 00:18:45,309 Promises and threats being dangled over our heads. 186 00:18:49,560 --> 00:18:55,351 The Romanian government, prodded by Marie, fixed the price for entry on the Allied side: 187 00:18:55,440 --> 00:18:58,637 Transylvania, the Banat, and Bukovina. 188 00:19:01,160 --> 00:19:03,594 She added for George V's benefit... 189 00:19:03,680 --> 00:19:07,355 These geographical explanations must be Chinese to you, 190 00:19:07,440 --> 00:19:09,396 but the places can be found on a map. 191 00:19:11,640 --> 00:19:15,792 Her Prussian-born husband Ferdinand rather fancied joining Germany, 192 00:19:15,880 --> 00:19:21,034 but by August 1916, the Allies agreed Romania's terms in full. 193 00:19:31,800 --> 00:19:35,156 In Rome, Italy's leaders had already cashed in. 194 00:19:36,640 --> 00:19:40,269 Instead of joining the Central Powers in line with pre-war treaties, 195 00:19:40,360 --> 00:19:42,510 Italy initially declared neutrality. 196 00:19:45,680 --> 00:19:52,597 But in October 1914, Prime Minister Salandra said Italy must act for her own national good. 197 00:19:52,680 --> 00:19:57,390 He called this policy Sacro Egoismo, sacred self-interest. 198 00:19:58,480 --> 00:20:02,632 In practice, it meant joining the side of the highest bidder. 199 00:20:09,800 --> 00:20:11,756 Few Italians wanted to fight. 200 00:20:12,800 --> 00:20:17,271 But the Allies offered a chunk of Austria-Hungary, part of the Dalmatian coast, 201 00:20:17,360 --> 00:20:19,715 and threw in a few islands. 202 00:20:19,800 --> 00:20:22,314 So, without consulting Parliament, Salandra accepted, 203 00:20:22,400 --> 00:20:26,234 landing his people with one of the harshest fronts in the entire war. 204 00:20:34,960 --> 00:20:41,229 Italy's border with Austria-Hungary zigzagged for 375 miles into Europe's highest peaks. 205 00:20:45,920 --> 00:20:50,948 The Austro-Hungarians had the advantage, holding the high ground along the entire front. 206 00:20:57,040 --> 00:20:58,996 It was brutal terrain. 207 00:21:11,200 --> 00:21:15,034 Italian Alpine troops inch up to the front line. 208 00:21:34,480 --> 00:21:38,314 An officer beats out a rhythm for men hauling a field gun up the slope. 209 00:22:00,760 --> 00:22:06,039 In May 1915, Italian troops seized the mountain village of Cortina d'Ampezzo. 210 00:22:09,920 --> 00:22:13,037 In front of them, the vast Lagazuoi mountain. 211 00:22:16,840 --> 00:22:21,868 By sunrise, the Italians had climbed its sheer rock face to a narrow ledge. 212 00:22:30,480 --> 00:22:32,948 They were now fighting a vertical war. 213 00:22:39,840 --> 00:22:42,798 Above them, the Austro-Hungarians had fewer men, 214 00:22:42,880 --> 00:22:45,348 but showed a tenacity they lacked elsewhere. 215 00:22:56,400 --> 00:23:00,757 Austrian Colonel Viktor Schemfil watched his men attack the Italians below. 216 00:23:03,720 --> 00:23:08,077 They threw several hand grenades on the ridge, which was about 100 metres below them. 217 00:23:09,800 --> 00:23:11,756 Judging by the screams of the wounded 218 00:23:11,840 --> 00:23:15,879 and from the fact that the machine gun hasn't fired a single shot all day, 219 00:23:15,960 --> 00:23:17,916 we must have been successful. 220 00:23:21,560 --> 00:23:25,189 But the Italians clung on, two miles above sea level. 221 00:23:31,080 --> 00:23:33,275 Each side burrowed into the mountains, 222 00:23:33,360 --> 00:23:36,352 and spent the next two years trying to dislodge the other. 223 00:23:44,400 --> 00:23:47,551 15 men slept in this cave carved out of the rock. 224 00:24:03,880 --> 00:24:05,836 Both sides worked 24-hour shifts, 225 00:24:05,920 --> 00:24:07,876 digging tunnels, 226 00:24:07,960 --> 00:24:11,589 trying to reach the enemy's position and blast the mountain under them. 227 00:24:21,840 --> 00:24:24,638 Some went mad listening for the sound of enemy drills. 228 00:24:26,760 --> 00:24:29,479 My nerves are shot to pieces. I've got to calm down. 229 00:24:29,560 --> 00:24:34,839 I've now been in the front line four months, amid constant fear and torment. 230 00:24:46,600 --> 00:24:49,114 Avalanches became another hazard of war... 231 00:24:51,240 --> 00:24:53,196 sometimes triggered by shell fire. 232 00:24:59,440 --> 00:25:05,595 Austrian Eugenio Mich was caught in one that wiped out nine barrack huts, killing 272. 233 00:25:06,800 --> 00:25:10,031 I stayed squashed under the debris of the beds. 234 00:25:11,560 --> 00:25:16,031 For the first quarter of an hour I could feel 50 or so men moving around me, 235 00:25:16,120 --> 00:25:19,237 and then one by one they fell silent and died. 236 00:25:28,200 --> 00:25:32,557 Italy's frontier with Austria-Hungary levelled out along the Isonzo river. 237 00:25:35,800 --> 00:25:38,758 Italy's first attack failed, with heavy loss of life. 238 00:25:39,800 --> 00:25:43,952 But General Luigi Cadorna bloody-mindedly ordered another and another. 239 00:25:45,680 --> 00:25:49,878 11 battles in all, at a cost of 300.000 lives. 240 00:25:56,120 --> 00:25:59,590 They never reached their main objective, the port of Trieste. 241 00:26:04,960 --> 00:26:07,758 Guiseppe Cordano served in the Julian Alps, 242 00:26:07,840 --> 00:26:11,355 in a trench system just 15 metres below the Austrian positions. 243 00:26:23,480 --> 00:26:27,189 Between the two trenches it's a cataclysm. 244 00:26:27,280 --> 00:26:30,556 The dead are scattered everywhere, half buried. 245 00:26:30,640 --> 00:26:33,279 Haversacks, rifles, rags of clothing, 246 00:26:33,360 --> 00:26:35,316 and human body parts. 247 00:26:37,160 --> 00:26:41,119 A couple of grenades fall in the middle of the dyke, where some soldiers are sheltering 248 00:26:41,200 --> 00:26:43,270 and everything is thrown up in the air. 249 00:26:44,320 --> 00:26:47,153 Rocks fly and fall with furious destruction. 250 00:26:47,240 --> 00:26:52,712 Laments and screams for help can be heard from everywhere, but how can one move? 251 00:26:52,800 --> 00:26:54,756 How can one help them? 252 00:26:59,800 --> 00:27:03,839 I'm astride the crest and I carry on metre by metre, 253 00:27:03,920 --> 00:27:05,751 ducking my head under shrapnel fire. 254 00:27:06,800 --> 00:27:10,509 Ten metres in front of me, Zani from Vicenza is hit in the head, 255 00:27:10,600 --> 00:27:13,273 screams and falls down the precipice. 256 00:27:14,560 --> 00:27:16,516 I watch his body tumbling down. 257 00:27:18,000 --> 00:27:19,638 He was a good lad. 258 00:27:19,720 --> 00:27:21,676 I keep going, 259 00:27:21,760 --> 00:27:24,228 forever asking myself when my time will come. 260 00:27:37,640 --> 00:27:41,519 In the winter of 1914, Germany's High Command told the Kaiser 261 00:27:41,600 --> 00:27:46,276 they'd decided to launch the major offensive of 1915 against the Russians. 262 00:27:51,240 --> 00:27:53,913 The generals ruled out total victory, 263 00:27:54,000 --> 00:27:57,436 but a decisive blow might force the Russians to sue for peace. 264 00:28:03,040 --> 00:28:06,510 Germany moved eight divisions from the Western Front to the Eastern, 265 00:28:06,600 --> 00:28:11,833 to try to break through the Russians at Gorlice, in the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains. 266 00:28:12,880 --> 00:28:15,030 Now German fought alongside Austrian. 267 00:28:19,200 --> 00:28:22,272 Austrian Mathias Migschitz sensed the change of mood. 268 00:28:24,680 --> 00:28:28,468 It sounds wonderful to hear German troops speaking. 269 00:28:28,560 --> 00:28:31,632 Everyone is sure of victory, conscious of their might. 270 00:28:31,720 --> 00:28:35,633 You hear no melancholy talk, no bleak forecasts. 271 00:28:39,240 --> 00:28:42,710 Florence Farmborough, a British nurse with the Russian Red Cross, 272 00:28:42,800 --> 00:28:45,678 travelled with her camera along the Eastern Front. 273 00:28:47,960 --> 00:28:51,430 Her nursing team went by horse cart to Gorlice. 274 00:28:53,000 --> 00:28:55,878 They had no idea a third of a million Germans and Austrians 275 00:28:55,960 --> 00:28:58,190 were massing to attack the town. 276 00:28:59,840 --> 00:29:02,035 We have already chosen our hospital. 277 00:29:02,120 --> 00:29:05,999 It is a well built house, with several nice airy rooms. 278 00:29:06,080 --> 00:29:08,548 We are surrounded by the Carpathians. 279 00:29:10,280 --> 00:29:14,751 I love watching them at night, when the mountains lie mysteriously quiet and passive. 280 00:29:40,120 --> 00:29:42,076 Then the wounded started to arrive. 281 00:29:43,120 --> 00:29:45,509 They came in their hundreds from all directions, 282 00:29:45,600 --> 00:29:48,717 some able to walk others crawling, 283 00:29:48,800 --> 00:29:51,030 dragging themselves along the ground. 284 00:30:00,280 --> 00:30:04,273 As the Germans got near, Florence's team was ordered to evacuate. 285 00:30:05,320 --> 00:30:07,276 And the wounded? 286 00:30:07,360 --> 00:30:10,238 They shouted to us when they saw us leaving, 287 00:30:10,320 --> 00:30:13,710 called out to us in piteous language to stop. 288 00:30:13,800 --> 00:30:17,713 We had to wrench our skirts from their clinging hands. 289 00:30:22,160 --> 00:30:25,630 Caught by surprise and low on shells, the Russians retreated. 290 00:30:30,520 --> 00:30:35,469 Infantryman Myaskovsky wrote to his friend the composer Sergei Prokofiev: 291 00:30:36,520 --> 00:30:41,913 My dearest Serezhenka, we're in a state of unstoppable panicked retreat. 292 00:30:42,000 --> 00:30:44,719 Our troops are melting away like snow. 293 00:30:44,800 --> 00:30:49,635 Only 600 to 700 survived out of a 3000-strong regiment in one day alone! 294 00:30:53,000 --> 00:30:56,879 The Russian Army fled, but not towards the negotiating table. 295 00:31:03,040 --> 00:31:04,996 They scorched the earth. 296 00:31:07,000 --> 00:31:10,356 Vasily Mishnin retreated through the village of Dombrovo. 297 00:31:15,080 --> 00:31:17,036 The locals received us well. 298 00:31:17,120 --> 00:31:21,432 But in the evening, when the Cossacks arrived and began to drive them out with cruelty, 299 00:31:22,480 --> 00:31:26,189 then there were tears and grief and cursing of the war. 300 00:31:36,960 --> 00:31:42,478 The Russians were looking for scapegoats, and the Jews of Eastern Europe fitted the bill. 301 00:31:43,920 --> 00:31:49,677 They didn't look Russian, and their language, Yiddish, sounded suspiciously like German. 302 00:31:59,360 --> 00:32:02,716 In 1914, there were four million Jews in the Russian Empire. 303 00:32:04,320 --> 00:32:08,199 Battered by pogroms and denied rights allowed the Tsar's other minorities, 304 00:32:08,280 --> 00:32:11,317 Jews were forced to live in specified areas, 305 00:32:11,400 --> 00:32:13,356 known as the Pale of Settlement. 306 00:32:18,160 --> 00:32:22,438 And even though 650.000 Jews served in the Army, 307 00:32:22,520 --> 00:32:26,752 many Russian officers and men saw Jews as dirty, half-human creatures. 308 00:32:37,840 --> 00:32:40,354 1st of April 1915. 309 00:32:40,440 --> 00:32:42,749 The Russkies make fun of the Jews, 310 00:32:42,840 --> 00:32:45,912 saying they can munch their matzos for now, 311 00:32:46,000 --> 00:32:48,514 but when Passover's finished, they'll sort them out. 312 00:32:49,560 --> 00:32:51,118 Send them to Siberia. 313 00:32:54,160 --> 00:32:57,755 Helena Jablońska lived at number 20 Franciszek Street, 314 00:32:57,840 --> 00:32:59,796 in the heart of old Przemysl. 315 00:33:02,960 --> 00:33:05,315 A third of the town's population were Jews. 316 00:33:06,360 --> 00:33:09,193 They had been safe enough there under the Austro-Hungarians, 317 00:33:09,280 --> 00:33:13,990 but now Helena watched the Russians root them out within days of taking over. 318 00:33:16,160 --> 00:33:18,116 Tuesday, the 30th of March. 319 00:33:19,640 --> 00:33:21,596 Jews are treated with no mercy. 320 00:33:22,920 --> 00:33:26,071 They cut the beard and sideburns off the old rabbi from Bircza, 321 00:33:26,160 --> 00:33:29,630 then strapped him to a horse and dragged him away. 322 00:33:29,720 --> 00:33:31,676 They beat his wife. 323 00:33:32,720 --> 00:33:35,359 Jews are not allowed to own any shops. 324 00:33:42,720 --> 00:33:44,676 Saturday, the 17th of April. 325 00:33:46,600 --> 00:33:49,273 The Cossacks waited till the Jews went off to pray, 326 00:33:50,320 --> 00:33:52,276 then set upon them with whips, 327 00:33:53,800 --> 00:33:56,837 taking them from synagogues, streets and doorsteps. 328 00:33:58,320 --> 00:34:00,276 Many hundreds of Jews. 329 00:34:00,360 --> 00:34:02,316 What'll they do with them? 330 00:34:03,360 --> 00:34:06,989 Some of the older weaker ones couldn't keep up and were whipped. 331 00:34:08,040 --> 00:34:10,918 The round up will go on till they've caught the lot. 332 00:34:11,960 --> 00:34:14,315 Such lamenting and despair. 333 00:34:16,360 --> 00:34:18,555 Some hide in cellars, 334 00:34:18,640 --> 00:34:20,596 but the Russians will find them. 335 00:34:24,480 --> 00:34:29,156 No-one knows how many Jews were killed in Eastern Europe during the First World War. 336 00:34:31,080 --> 00:34:33,150 600.000 were uprooted, 337 00:34:33,240 --> 00:34:35,674 of whom 200.000 never returned home. 338 00:34:42,360 --> 00:34:44,396 After their experiences under the Russians, 339 00:34:44,480 --> 00:34:47,517 many Jews looked to the Germans for better treatment. 340 00:34:53,480 --> 00:34:57,519 German officers enter the main Jewish street of Mlawa, north of Warsaw. 341 00:34:59,800 --> 00:35:03,270 The Germans tried to win the support of Jews in Eastern Europe 342 00:35:03,360 --> 00:35:06,557 by promising them liberation from the Russian yoke. 343 00:35:09,120 --> 00:35:12,908 Meanwhile, the assimilated Jews of Germany showed their patriotism by joining up. 344 00:35:15,040 --> 00:35:19,477 Emma and Fritz Schlesinger see their friend, Ludwig Bornstein, off to the front, 345 00:35:19,560 --> 00:35:22,028 one of 100.000 Jews who fought for the Kaiser. 346 00:35:27,000 --> 00:35:31,516 German-Jewish soldiers mark Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights, in 1916. 347 00:35:36,280 --> 00:35:40,319 12.000 were killed in the war. Nearly 30.000 received decorations. 348 00:35:45,840 --> 00:35:50,470 But while Jews were tolerated within the German Army, many soldiers despised them. 349 00:35:57,000 --> 00:35:59,833 Ernst Nopper passed columns of refugees 350 00:35:59,920 --> 00:36:03,993 forced out of their homes by the Russians, and now returning. 351 00:36:05,680 --> 00:36:09,309 I couldn't bear to watch as a Polish family struggled on foot, 352 00:36:09,400 --> 00:36:13,029 while the entire lazy Jewish population travelled on carts. 353 00:36:14,080 --> 00:36:16,833 I hauled a Jew off and gave his arse a good kicking, 354 00:36:16,920 --> 00:36:21,755 before making the three Poles with all their baggage climb up onto the cart. 355 00:36:21,840 --> 00:36:24,752 I let everyone know that I would have all the Jews shot, 356 00:36:24,840 --> 00:36:27,991 if they didn't let the Poles continue on their journey. 357 00:36:30,680 --> 00:36:33,353 The breakthrough continued through the summer. 358 00:36:34,400 --> 00:36:37,631 This was the greatest victory of the Central Powers in the war, 359 00:36:37,720 --> 00:36:43,238 seizing present day Poland, Lithuania, parts of Belarus and the Ukraine. 360 00:36:49,880 --> 00:36:54,351 As the Germans advanced, they entered a world half destroyed. 361 00:37:02,000 --> 00:37:06,232 German troops convert Russian railway lines to the narrower German gauge. 362 00:37:07,920 --> 00:37:12,550 Rebuilding the communication system became a key task, rich in symbolic meaning. 363 00:37:25,160 --> 00:37:30,234 Germany aimed to recast Poland as an independent state, but under her wing. 364 00:37:33,240 --> 00:37:37,711 Advancing troops saw themselves as bringing civilising order and discipline. 365 00:37:41,040 --> 00:37:42,473 That which seemed forever lost 366 00:37:42,560 --> 00:37:46,792 was created anew by the German battalions of Kultur. 367 00:37:46,880 --> 00:37:49,872 The German spirit blows through the poor land 368 00:37:49,960 --> 00:37:53,157 and new life rises up out of the ruins. 369 00:38:02,240 --> 00:38:04,196 But that's not how it worked out, 370 00:38:04,280 --> 00:38:09,035 however keen the Germans were to present a caring image to their newsreel audiences. 371 00:38:13,920 --> 00:38:16,195 American woman Laura de Turczynowicz 372 00:38:16,280 --> 00:38:20,273 lived in the occupied town of Suwalki, near the Lithuanian border. 373 00:38:29,920 --> 00:38:34,516 To her, the rebuilt railways and roads weren't bridges between cultures. 374 00:38:35,560 --> 00:38:38,836 They were Germany's means of whipping war booty back home. 375 00:38:40,920 --> 00:38:43,992 Furniture was carted daily to East Prussia. 376 00:38:44,080 --> 00:38:48,153 The woods were cut down, every agricultural implement taken, 377 00:38:48,240 --> 00:38:50,549 every woman outraged. 378 00:38:50,640 --> 00:38:52,676 All Poland was to be emptied and carted away, 379 00:38:52,760 --> 00:38:56,639 beaten into the bargain and made to pay such terrible contributions! 380 00:39:08,960 --> 00:39:13,033 Faced with a chronic labour shortage, and with little love for Slav or Russian, 381 00:39:13,120 --> 00:39:17,238 the German Army began transporting men to the west for forced labour. 382 00:39:24,160 --> 00:39:28,312 The American Red Cross distributes food aid to starving Polish peasants. 383 00:39:35,920 --> 00:39:38,275 Reluctant to feed conquered populations, 384 00:39:38,360 --> 00:39:42,751 the German Army became increasingly obsessed with cataloguing them. 385 00:39:43,840 --> 00:39:46,308 Everyone over ten was to be documented, 386 00:39:46,400 --> 00:39:49,358 and nearly two million photo passes were issued. 387 00:39:53,640 --> 00:39:58,191 The Germans also began to view the east as a place of disease, 388 00:39:58,280 --> 00:40:01,238 and started large-scale disinfecting programmes. 389 00:40:03,200 --> 00:40:05,839 On the 17th of October 1915, 390 00:40:05,920 --> 00:40:07,876 the German field medical commander 391 00:40:07,960 --> 00:40:11,999 ordered that all railway crossings on the eastern border be sealed off. 392 00:40:21,040 --> 00:40:25,795 Everyone crossing the frontier had to be deloused before setting foot on German soil. 393 00:40:43,000 --> 00:40:44,956 Winter 1915. 394 00:40:50,120 --> 00:40:53,635 The racial war of Teuton versus Slav neared its peak. 395 00:40:57,960 --> 00:41:01,794 German and Austro-Hungarian forces moved south to destroy Serbia. 396 00:41:04,520 --> 00:41:06,829 This would win control of the Balkans, 397 00:41:06,920 --> 00:41:10,674 final revenge for the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. 398 00:41:15,600 --> 00:41:17,192 And they had a new ally: 399 00:41:17,280 --> 00:41:22,559 Bulgaria, tempted by Germany's military muscle, and certain this was the winning side. 400 00:41:27,240 --> 00:41:30,232 The bait dangled before Bulgarian leader Ferdinand 401 00:41:30,320 --> 00:41:32,788 was the promise of vast swathes of Serbia. 402 00:41:34,360 --> 00:41:38,319 Born in Vienna, Ferdinand had few sympathies for his Slav neighbours. 403 00:41:43,440 --> 00:41:47,433 The purpose of my life is the destruction of Serbia. 404 00:41:51,200 --> 00:41:53,156 On the 6th of October 1915, 405 00:41:53,240 --> 00:41:56,949 a joint German-Austro-Hungarian force invaded Serbia, 406 00:41:57,040 --> 00:41:58,996 taking the capital in just two days. 407 00:42:00,960 --> 00:42:03,997 The Bulgarian Army then entered from the south-east. 408 00:42:05,800 --> 00:42:09,509 The Serbs' only way out of their country was into Albania, 409 00:42:09,600 --> 00:42:12,034 but that lay across treacherous mountain ranges. 410 00:42:18,680 --> 00:42:23,470 As their enemies' claws closed around them, the Serbian Army slipped away. 411 00:42:23,560 --> 00:42:25,835 And the people fled with them. 412 00:42:31,280 --> 00:42:36,638 Serbian photographer Rista Marjanovic documented his nation's exodus. 413 00:42:53,640 --> 00:42:57,155 One of the refugees was 12-year-old Katarina Kostic. 414 00:42:58,240 --> 00:43:00,879 We spent the nights in the open, beside a fire, 415 00:43:00,960 --> 00:43:04,589 which would scorch one side of your body while the other froze. 416 00:43:08,240 --> 00:43:10,390 One morning a woman refugee woke up 417 00:43:10,480 --> 00:43:15,270 and happily announced that she'd had something soft beneath her head that night. 418 00:43:15,360 --> 00:43:20,559 To our horror the soft thing turned out to be a human corpse. 419 00:43:27,120 --> 00:43:31,159 One soldier threw away his rifle to carry an old woman who had collapsed. 420 00:43:33,240 --> 00:43:35,879 She gestured towards the sound of the enemy closing in, 421 00:43:36,960 --> 00:43:38,916 and handed him back his weapon. 422 00:43:44,200 --> 00:43:49,149 They halted here on the Field of Blackbirds in Kosovo. 423 00:43:51,560 --> 00:43:55,872 The Serb nation drew breath while its leaders met in the town of Prizrend. 424 00:43:56,920 --> 00:43:58,478 The choices were grim, 425 00:43:58,560 --> 00:44:00,232 battle it out, 426 00:44:00,320 --> 00:44:01,719 surrender, 427 00:44:01,800 --> 00:44:03,756 or survive to fight another day. 428 00:44:05,200 --> 00:44:09,637 Journalist Gordon Gordon-Smith watched the debate inside the town seminary. 429 00:44:12,400 --> 00:44:14,356 The final councils did not last long. 430 00:44:15,400 --> 00:44:18,915 On November the 24th, the supreme resolution was taken. 431 00:44:19,000 --> 00:44:21,355 The King, Army and Government 432 00:44:21,440 --> 00:44:25,194 would refuse to treat with the enemy and would leave for Albania. 433 00:44:30,960 --> 00:44:35,033 Hundreds of thousands of troops and civilians set off into the mountains. 434 00:44:42,200 --> 00:44:46,239 Their plan, to reach the Mediterranean and sail to safety. 435 00:44:50,960 --> 00:44:54,589 This epic retreat shaped modern Serbian self-perception, 436 00:44:54,680 --> 00:44:56,671 taking its place in national myth, 437 00:44:56,760 --> 00:45:02,312 alongside the 1389 defeat by the Turks on the same Field of Blackbirds, 438 00:45:03,360 --> 00:45:05,316 still an open wound today. 439 00:45:08,960 --> 00:45:14,751 A Serbian film directed by a veteran of the march reconstructed its agony. 440 00:45:17,480 --> 00:45:20,517 The further we went, the worse it got. 441 00:45:21,560 --> 00:45:27,070 You didn't hear the usual men swearing, officers yelling orders. 442 00:45:27,160 --> 00:45:32,632 This huge funeral procession of the state of Serbia endured the pain in silence. 443 00:45:36,280 --> 00:45:39,113 Who tramped behind me? Who in front? 444 00:45:39,200 --> 00:45:41,156 Where was my company? 445 00:45:41,240 --> 00:45:44,038 All too soon we fell apart. 446 00:45:45,560 --> 00:45:47,516 Now it was every man for himself. 447 00:45:59,120 --> 00:46:01,953 We staggered up mountains, then clambered down, 448 00:46:02,040 --> 00:46:06,636 avoiding quagmires from which the hands reached out of poor people who'd got stuck. 449 00:46:09,120 --> 00:46:11,475 We stumbled, running out of strength, 450 00:46:11,560 --> 00:46:13,516 but could not turn back. 451 00:46:13,600 --> 00:46:15,556 We had to move on. 452 00:46:23,720 --> 00:46:26,280 The survivors gathered on the island of Corfu. 453 00:46:32,800 --> 00:46:37,032 Exhaustion, starvation, and disease continued to take their toll. 454 00:46:49,200 --> 00:46:53,034 Half the army, over 200.000 men, had died on the march. 455 00:46:55,200 --> 00:46:57,156 No-one knows how many civilians. 456 00:46:58,600 --> 00:47:01,831 But Serbia's death rate was the highest of the First World War. 457 00:47:09,680 --> 00:47:14,708 There was no question who was winning the titanic struggle of Teuton versus Slav. 458 00:47:14,800 --> 00:47:18,554 The Central Powers were now the masters of the Eastern Front. 459 00:47:20,160 --> 00:47:23,232 Columns of Russian prisoners became a familiar sight. 460 00:47:27,880 --> 00:47:32,795 The street was full of them, thousands driven along like dogs, taunted, 461 00:47:32,880 --> 00:47:38,512 beaten if they fell down, kicked until they either got up or lay still, for ever. 462 00:47:41,320 --> 00:47:45,438 Kaiser Wilhelm even suggested that 90.000 Russian prisoners 463 00:47:45,520 --> 00:47:50,514 be driven onto a barren peninsula along the Baltic shore and starved to death. 464 00:47:59,360 --> 00:48:02,750 The German and Austro-Hungarian High Commands meet in the Tyrol. 465 00:48:08,320 --> 00:48:12,677 But behind the mutual congratulation, the partnership is rotten to the core. 466 00:48:14,680 --> 00:48:20,073 Practising his handshake, Archduke Frederick, the Austrian Commander in Chief, 467 00:48:20,160 --> 00:48:23,550 waits to meet one of the world's most powerful men, 468 00:48:23,640 --> 00:48:25,596 the German Kaiser. 469 00:48:28,960 --> 00:48:30,996 War has exposed their differences, 470 00:48:31,080 --> 00:48:33,036 not bound them closer. 471 00:48:35,480 --> 00:48:38,313 Germany thought the Austro-Hungarian Empire a shambles. 472 00:48:38,400 --> 00:48:42,029 She wondered whether to take the whole lot into the German Reich. 473 00:48:44,440 --> 00:48:47,796 Austria-Hungary found Germany arrogant and domineering. 474 00:48:48,840 --> 00:48:54,517 The Austrian Chief of Staff, on the left, called the Germans "our secret enemies". 475 00:49:00,200 --> 00:49:04,352 In time, the Austrians would even send secret peace feelers to the Allies. 476 00:49:07,880 --> 00:49:10,348 But they could never break away from Germany. 477 00:49:12,040 --> 00:49:16,636 It was alliances on both sides that would keep the war going. 478 00:49:30,120 --> 00:49:32,076 In the next episode of The First World War: 479 00:49:33,160 --> 00:49:35,754 the horrors of Verdun and the Somme, 480 00:49:35,840 --> 00:49:38,593 as both sides try to break the deadlock on the Western Front.