1
00:01:21,000 --> 00:01:23,960
Harvest home.

2
00:01:34,240 --> 00:01:41,000
In 1914, the nations of Europe had
marched to war while the corn ripened.

3
00:01:41,000 --> 00:01:45,240
Now it was 1918 and the harvest
was being reaped.

4
00:01:46,880 --> 00:01:50,080
For two months, the whole
weight of the Alliance

5
00:01:50,081 --> 00:01:53,600
had pressed upon the German
army on the Western Front.

6
00:01:53,600 --> 00:01:57,240
July 18th, the Battle of the Marne.

7
00:01:58,920 --> 00:02:02,840
August 8th, the Battle of Amiens.

8
00:02:07,480 --> 00:02:11,560
August 21st, the Battle of Bapaume.

9
00:02:14,320 --> 00:02:18,200
August 26th,
the Battle of the Scarpe.

10
00:02:24,320 --> 00:02:29,080
September 12th,
the Battle of St Mihiel.

11
00:02:31,720 --> 00:02:38,000
Now on September 26th, another
massive blow fell on the German army.

12
00:02:39,320 --> 00:02:44,360
Marshal Foch launched a series
of offensives by all the Allies.

13
00:03:26,160 --> 00:03:30,400
Field Marshal von Hindenburg wrote:

14
00:03:30,400 --> 00:03:36,960
"For us another battle was raging
side by side with those in the field.

15
00:03:36,960 --> 00:03:39,711
"The other battlefield
was in our hearts.

16
00:03:39,712 --> 00:03:43,640
On September 28th, this inward
battle raged most fiercely."

17
00:03:43,640 --> 00:03:47,280
On September 28th,
the German high command

18
00:03:47,280 --> 00:03:52,320
knew that its Bulgarian allies
were on the point of surrender.

19
00:03:52,320 --> 00:03:57,360
General Ludendorff concluded:
"We must plainly sue for peace.

20
00:03:59,840 --> 00:04:03,480
"I went down
to the field marshal's room.

21
00:04:03,480 --> 00:04:08,320
"I explained my views. The field
marshal listened to me with emotion.

22
00:04:08,320 --> 00:04:12,960
"He answered that he had intended
to say the same to me.

23
00:04:12,960 --> 00:04:16,540
"The field marshal and I
parted with a firm handshake

24
00:04:16,541 --> 00:04:19,600
like men who have buried
their dearest hopes."

25
00:04:19,600 --> 00:04:24,040
The next day the surrender
of Bulgaria became a fact -

26
00:04:24,040 --> 00:04:28,480
the first rift in the front
of the central powers.

27
00:04:30,040 --> 00:04:34,880
The British Army burst through
the Hindenburg Line.

28
00:04:38,800 --> 00:04:42,440
GUNFIRE

29
00:04:55,840 --> 00:04:59,022
The German government
and high command

30
00:04:59,023 --> 00:05:03,080
held a conference at Spa
in the Hotel Britannique.

31
00:05:03,080 --> 00:05:08,120
The ministers told the generals
of possible revolution in Germany.

32
00:05:08,120 --> 00:05:14,160
The generals told the ministers that the
army had reached the end of its strength.

33
00:05:14,160 --> 00:05:17,367
Our anxieties for the
army, said Hindenburg,

34
00:05:17,368 --> 00:05:20,360
were mingled with cares
for the homeland.

35
00:05:20,360 --> 00:05:24,840
"If the one did not stand firm,
the other would collapse."

36
00:05:24,840 --> 00:05:29,480
I went through the streets
of Frankfurt and was not saluted.

37
00:05:29,480 --> 00:05:34,320
I was a commissioned officer and
in the army we had to be saluted.

38
00:05:34,320 --> 00:05:38,760
That was not the only soldier
I met who didn't salute.

39
00:05:38,760 --> 00:05:41,400
Quite a number refused to salute.

40
00:05:41,400 --> 00:05:46,840
I realised that the discipline
and mood of people was really bad.

41
00:05:46,840 --> 00:05:51,480
We hadn't realised at the Front
how bad it was at home.

42
00:05:51,480 --> 00:05:54,280
People were fed up with war.

43
00:05:54,280 --> 00:05:59,120
They wanted it to end as soon
as possible - victory or no victory.

44
00:06:01,800 --> 00:06:06,440
"We placed our proposals for a peace
step before his majesty.

45
00:06:06,440 --> 00:06:11,080
"He approved our proposals
with a strong and resolute heart."

46
00:06:11,080 --> 00:06:15,920
"It had to be peace.
Peace after 50 months of war."

47
00:06:17,400 --> 00:06:22,760
There were children going to school
who had never known peace.

48
00:06:22,760 --> 00:06:25,535
Men had forgotten
what peace was like.

49
00:06:25,536 --> 00:06:29,520
The very sense of the word had changed.
What was peace?

50
00:06:29,520 --> 00:06:34,760
Whatever else it might be, it was
something very difficult to obtain.

51
00:06:36,720 --> 00:06:41,040
The first stage towards peace
must be an armistice.

52
00:06:41,040 --> 00:06:42,280
Fire!

53
00:06:42,280 --> 00:06:47,560
There could be no peace while guns
thundered and the killing went on.

54
00:06:47,560 --> 00:06:52,400
But in every country,
soldiers and political leaders knew

55
00:06:52,400 --> 00:06:56,840
that once the guns fell silent
and the killing ceased,

56
00:06:56,840 --> 00:07:00,536
it was inconceivable that the
weary, blood-stained armies

57
00:07:00,537 --> 00:07:03,480
could ever be made to
rise up and fight again.

58
00:07:03,480 --> 00:07:06,364
And so before there
could be an armistice

59
00:07:06,365 --> 00:07:10,120
there must be an assurance
that it would lead to peace.

60
00:07:10,120 --> 00:07:13,743
And after 50 months of
hatred and suspicion,

61
00:07:13,744 --> 00:07:16,560
how could there be
such assurance?

62
00:07:16,560 --> 00:07:19,520
The clamour of the guns went on.

63
00:07:20,640 --> 00:07:23,880
Despite losses, despite exhaustion,

64
00:07:23,880 --> 00:07:27,280
the mood of the Allies in 1918
was implacable.

65
00:07:27,280 --> 00:07:30,287
20% of the French
nation had been taken

66
00:07:30,288 --> 00:07:33,520
into the armed forces
since the war began.

67
00:07:33,520 --> 00:07:35,880
Nearly eight million men.

68
00:07:35,880 --> 00:07:41,240
3.5% of the French nation
had been killed.

69
00:07:41,240 --> 00:07:44,080
Over 1,300,000 men.

70
00:07:47,920 --> 00:07:53,160
France had suffered and fought and
bled as no other country had done.

71
00:07:55,680 --> 00:07:59,920
Great Britain also had put forth
a tremendous effort.

72
00:07:59,920 --> 00:08:06,360
13% of her population had been drawn into
the armed forces - over six million men.

73
00:08:06,360 --> 00:08:11,400
Since 1916 the toll of British dead
had mounted steeply.

74
00:08:11,400 --> 00:08:16,440
Now they numbered 750,000 -
more than half the French figure.

75
00:08:20,840 --> 00:08:25,880
Britain had also lost something
Continental nations never possessed.

76
00:08:25,880 --> 00:08:29,040
A centuries-old sense of immunity.

77
00:08:29,040 --> 00:08:32,280
Over 7.5 million tonnes
of British shipping

78
00:08:32,281 --> 00:08:35,880
had been sunk by October
1918 - over 1,000 ships.

79
00:08:35,880 --> 00:08:41,720
A blow at Britain's lifelines,
which struck at every citizen.

80
00:08:42,760 --> 00:08:47,600
And every large city now knew
that it was a potential war target.

81
00:08:47,600 --> 00:08:52,880
Only 1,413 people had actually
been killed in air raids,

82
00:08:52,880 --> 00:08:57,480
but the enemy in the sky had brought
war home to British people

83
00:08:57,481 --> 00:08:59,320
as nothing else could do.

84
00:09:03,400 --> 00:09:06,040
They didn't like it.

85
00:09:06,040 --> 00:09:08,720
The British mood was sour.

86
00:09:14,760 --> 00:09:17,680
The clamour of the guns continued.

87
00:09:36,360 --> 00:09:39,000
Now it was October.

88
00:09:39,000 --> 00:09:42,909
On the 3rd, a new government
was formed in Germany

89
00:09:42,910 --> 00:09:45,840
under the liberal
Prince Max of Baden.

90
00:09:45,840 --> 00:09:50,480
First he addressed himself to
the President of the United States.

91
00:09:50,480 --> 00:09:53,320
"To avoid further bloodshed,

92
00:09:53,320 --> 00:09:56,377
"the German government
requests the President

93
00:09:56,378 --> 00:09:59,760
to arrange the immediate
conclusion of an armistice

94
00:09:59,760 --> 00:10:02,600
"on land, by sea and in the air."

95
00:10:02,600 --> 00:10:05,440
How would America react?

96
00:10:05,440 --> 00:10:10,280
For Germany and Austria,
this was the all-important question.

97
00:10:10,280 --> 00:10:12,920
CHEERING

98
00:10:12,920 --> 00:10:16,960
President Woodrow Wilson
was the man of the hour.

99
00:10:16,960 --> 00:10:20,600
His own views were simple
and did not alter.

100
00:10:20,600 --> 00:10:25,040
"If the Germans are beaten,
they will accept any terms.

101
00:10:25,040 --> 00:10:30,200
"If they are not beaten, I do
not wish to make terms with them."

102
00:10:30,200 --> 00:10:35,040
Wilson lost no time in putting
German intentions to the test.

103
00:10:35,040 --> 00:10:38,809
He asked whether the German
and Austrian governments

104
00:10:38,810 --> 00:10:41,880
were prepared to accept
the peace programme

105
00:10:41,880 --> 00:10:46,520
which he had delivered
to the US Congress in January, 1918,

106
00:10:46,520 --> 00:10:51,360
known as the Fourteen Points.
It was an unfortunate criterion.

107
00:10:51,360 --> 00:10:55,800
Britain, depending on sea power,
disliked the insistence

108
00:10:55,800 --> 00:11:00,240
on "absolute freedom of navigation
upon the seas in peace and in war".

109
00:11:00,240 --> 00:11:03,600
Proposals for altering
the frontiers of Europe,

110
00:11:03,601 --> 00:11:06,680
which seemed straightforward
in Washington,

111
00:11:06,680 --> 00:11:11,120
took on a different look
when seen from Paris or Rome.

112
00:11:11,120 --> 00:11:16,280
Wilson had not consulted the Allies
before replying to Germany.

113
00:11:24,360 --> 00:11:29,400
And now for the Allies, the war
seemed a little less promising

114
00:11:29,400 --> 00:11:32,400
than it had in October's early days.

115
00:11:32,400 --> 00:11:38,840
In Flanders, drenching rain had halted
the Belgian and British advance.

116
00:11:47,680 --> 00:11:52,920
The Americans in the Argonne also
faced insoluble transport problems.

117
00:12:05,840 --> 00:12:08,480
The French army fought hard,

118
00:12:08,480 --> 00:12:13,720
but the men of 1918 were not the
dashing soldiers of 1914 and 1915.

119
00:12:13,720 --> 00:12:17,360
And the memory of the mutinies
of 1917

120
00:12:17,360 --> 00:12:23,480
was not likely to fade in the mind
of their commander, General Petain.

121
00:12:23,480 --> 00:12:26,400
He could not press them too hard.

122
00:12:38,480 --> 00:12:41,520
MACHINE GUNFIRE

123
00:12:41,520 --> 00:12:46,160
The burden of the advance
fell upon the British Army.

124
00:12:46,160 --> 00:12:48,890
Against it, the Germans summoned up

125
00:12:48,891 --> 00:12:52,800
their last reserves of
courage, skill and fortitude.

126
00:12:52,800 --> 00:12:57,040
All of these they possessed
in a rare degree.

127
00:13:33,800 --> 00:13:39,240
The British had been within three
miles of Cambrai on September 27th.

128
00:13:39,240 --> 00:13:43,880
They didn't enter the burning city
until October 9th.

129
00:14:01,680 --> 00:14:07,200
Yet the British Army also possessed
reserves of fortitude and courage.

130
00:14:07,200 --> 00:14:11,640
On October 17th, they attacked
again on the river Selle,

131
00:14:11,640 --> 00:14:16,480
capturing 20,000 prisoners
and 475 guns.

132
00:14:16,480 --> 00:14:21,120
By the end of October
their own losses in this offensive

133
00:14:21,120 --> 00:14:25,960
had been as heavy as any they had
sustained throughout the war.

134
00:14:25,960 --> 00:14:30,600
The British Army, Haig told
the Government on October 19th:

135
00:14:30,600 --> 00:14:33,753
"...was never more efficient
than it is today.

136
00:14:33,754 --> 00:14:37,040
But it has fought hard and
lacks reinforcements.

137
00:14:37,040 --> 00:14:41,280
"With diminishing effectives,
morale is bound to suffer.

138
00:14:41,280 --> 00:14:45,037
"The French and American
armies are not capable

139
00:14:45,038 --> 00:14:47,720
of making a serious
offensive now.

140
00:14:47,720 --> 00:14:51,960
"The British alone might bring
the enemy to his knees.

141
00:14:51,960 --> 00:14:56,200
"But why expend more British lives
and for what?"

142
00:14:57,960 --> 00:15:04,600
Around the whole perimeter of the war,
the central powers faced disaster.

143
00:15:10,320 --> 00:15:15,360
In Syria, the city of Damascus
had been taken on October 1st.

144
00:15:17,720 --> 00:15:20,880
Aleppo was captured on the 26th.

145
00:15:21,880 --> 00:15:25,920
On the 30th, Turkey asked
for an armistice.

146
00:15:29,840 --> 00:15:35,160
Allied forces advancing from
Salonika now stood on the Danube.

147
00:15:44,400 --> 00:15:47,920
On October 24th,
the Italians had launched

148
00:15:47,921 --> 00:15:51,040
their final offensive
against Austria.

149
00:16:05,280 --> 00:16:10,120
By the end of the month,
Austrian resistance had collapsed.

150
00:16:10,120 --> 00:16:13,200
Austria surrendered on November 3rd.

151
00:16:22,920 --> 00:16:25,960
Now Germany stood quite alone

152
00:16:25,960 --> 00:16:29,200
to face her agonising moment.

153
00:16:29,200 --> 00:16:31,840
She had no choice.

154
00:16:31,840 --> 00:16:35,680
She had to accept whatever terms
she was offered.

155
00:16:35,680 --> 00:16:38,520
A semi-official newspaper wrote:

156
00:16:38,520 --> 00:16:43,360
"There will be a moment
of rebellion against the terms.

157
00:16:43,360 --> 00:16:49,600
"Then we shall have to say to ourselves
that we have the right to die ourselves

158
00:16:49,600 --> 00:16:52,840
"but not the right to let others die;

159
00:16:52,840 --> 00:16:56,880
"that our business is to prevent
useless bloodshed

160
00:16:56,880 --> 00:17:01,720
"and that further bloodshed has
become really and obviously useless."

161
00:17:01,720 --> 00:17:04,560
A socialist leader summed it up:

162
00:17:04,560 --> 00:17:09,520
"Better a terrible end
than terror without end."

163
00:17:24,560 --> 00:17:28,800
Germany faced the truth
with wracking despair.

164
00:17:28,800 --> 00:17:31,260
November came and a Munich paper

165
00:17:31,261 --> 00:17:35,240
bitterly recalled the Kaiser's
promise in August 1914,

166
00:17:35,240 --> 00:17:39,480
that the army would be home
"when the leaves fall".

167
00:17:39,480 --> 00:17:41,223
"'When the leaves fall.'

168
00:17:41,224 --> 00:17:46,520
Many are now dead who thought that they
would be home when the leaves fall.

169
00:17:46,520 --> 00:17:51,560
"Who does not remember with pain
those cheerful words of the Kaiser?

170
00:17:51,560 --> 00:17:55,400
"The leaves are now falling
for the fifth time.

171
00:17:55,401 --> 00:17:57,800
Now perhaps peace will come."

172
00:17:57,800 --> 00:18:01,440
"The signs of internal
commotion in Germany

173
00:18:01,441 --> 00:18:05,080
are growing more numerous
and more serious.

174
00:18:05,080 --> 00:18:09,920
"Want and the collapse of all the
expectations of victory and plunder

175
00:18:09,920 --> 00:18:14,880
"have evidently excited very
dangerous passions among the masses.

176
00:18:14,880 --> 00:18:18,065
"The people of Cologne
are sick of the war.

177
00:18:18,066 --> 00:18:20,960
They say they've been
grossly deceived.

178
00:18:20,960 --> 00:18:26,800
"They were told it would bring them
prosperity but it's brought misery."

179
00:18:26,800 --> 00:18:31,400
By November 6th, there was
revolution in all parts of Germany.

180
00:18:31,400 --> 00:18:37,640
Mutinous sailors from the fleet at
Kiel took over Hamburg and Bremen.

181
00:18:37,640 --> 00:18:40,360
There were insurrections in Hanover,

182
00:18:40,360 --> 00:18:43,200
Brunswick, Cologne and Munich.

183
00:18:43,200 --> 00:18:47,360
Berlin was in ferment.

184
00:18:47,360 --> 00:18:51,000
Ludendorff had resigned
on October 27th.

185
00:18:51,000 --> 00:18:53,611
Now his successor
told the Government:

186
00:18:53,612 --> 00:18:57,160
"We shall have to cross the
lines with a white flag.

187
00:18:57,160 --> 00:19:00,200
"Even a week is too long to wait."

188
00:19:01,640 --> 00:19:07,880
The next day, November 7th, the German
Armistice Commission crossed the lines.

189
00:19:07,880 --> 00:19:11,520
The last days of the war
were at hand.

190
00:19:11,520 --> 00:19:13,827
The last shells
were being fired,

191
00:19:13,828 --> 00:19:17,560
the last attacks mounted, the
last killing being done.

192
00:19:19,000 --> 00:19:23,280
From first to last,
the price of war was fearful.

193
00:19:23,280 --> 00:19:27,064
The poet Wilfred Owen,
who had written in his poems

194
00:19:27,065 --> 00:19:29,920
one of the sternest
indictments of war,

195
00:19:29,920 --> 00:19:34,760
was only one of the many
who fell during these last days.

196
00:19:34,760 --> 00:19:38,800
"If in some smothering dreams
you too could pace

197
00:19:38,800 --> 00:19:43,080
"Behind the wagon
that we flung him in,

198
00:19:43,080 --> 00:19:46,920
"And watch the white eyes
writhing in his face,

199
00:19:46,920 --> 00:19:51,200
"His hanging face,
like a devil's, sick of sin

200
00:19:51,200 --> 00:19:54,840
"If you could hear, at every jolt,
the blood

201
00:19:54,840 --> 00:19:58,560
"Come gargling
from the froth-corrupted lungs,

202
00:19:58,560 --> 00:20:02,800
"Obscene as cancer,
bitter as the cud

203
00:20:02,800 --> 00:20:06,840
"Of vile, incurable sores
on innocent tongues -

204
00:20:06,840 --> 00:20:11,280
"My friend, you would not tell
with such high zest

205
00:20:11,280 --> 00:20:15,320
"To children ardent
for some desperate glory,

206
00:20:15,320 --> 00:20:21,640
"The old lie: 'It is sweet and
glorious to die for one's country.'"

207
00:20:33,880 --> 00:20:37,684
100 days of savage fighting
which had begun in August

208
00:20:37,685 --> 00:20:40,520
and which had never
relaxed its pressure

209
00:20:40,520 --> 00:20:44,960
had cost the British Army
almost 400,000 men.

210
00:20:46,760 --> 00:20:51,840
In that time, the British
had taken 188,000 prisoners.

211
00:21:06,840 --> 00:21:11,480
The other Allies together,
French, Americans and Belgians

212
00:21:11,481 --> 00:21:13,760
had taken 196,000
prisoners.

213
00:21:13,760 --> 00:21:17,480
Of these, the vast majority
fell to the French.

214
00:21:29,040 --> 00:21:33,680
No army in the world
could stand this rate of loss.

215
00:21:33,680 --> 00:21:37,720
A proud German army was breaking up
in the field.

216
00:21:37,720 --> 00:21:43,960
There could be no doubt about the
outcome of the armistice negotiations.

217
00:21:43,960 --> 00:21:46,200
The London Times wrote:

218
00:21:46,200 --> 00:21:49,553
"All the world awaits with
eager desire the news

219
00:21:49,554 --> 00:21:53,040
that Germany has taken the
next step towards peace.

220
00:21:53,040 --> 00:21:56,967
"There is but one way, and
every hour that she delays

221
00:21:56,968 --> 00:21:59,680
increases her losses
and her dangers.

222
00:21:59,680 --> 00:22:02,622
"The terms have been
irrevocably fixed.

223
00:22:02,623 --> 00:22:06,520
They are to take or leave
within a definite period."

224
00:22:08,160 --> 00:22:12,000
At Compiegne, the drama
was played out.

225
00:22:12,000 --> 00:22:16,840
The German armistice delegation
entered Foch's railway carriage.

226
00:22:16,840 --> 00:22:21,800
"Foch invited them to be seated on
one side of the table and sat down.

227
00:22:21,800 --> 00:22:26,240
"'Do you request an armistice?'
the marshal asked abruptly.

228
00:22:26,240 --> 00:22:28,246
"'Yes. We are here to ask

229
00:22:28,247 --> 00:22:32,480
that an armistice be concluded,'
they replied together."

230
00:22:32,480 --> 00:22:37,760
The terms were read out in complete
silence. One German delegate wept.

231
00:22:37,760 --> 00:22:42,960
The Germans were given 72 hours
in which to reach a decision.

232
00:22:42,960 --> 00:22:46,200
They did not need so long.

233
00:22:46,200 --> 00:22:51,040
Revolution was sweeping
through the cities of Germany.

234
00:22:51,040 --> 00:22:54,680
ANGRY SHOUTING

235
00:23:13,520 --> 00:23:16,880
On November 9th,
the Kaiser abdicated

236
00:23:16,880 --> 00:23:20,120
and the next day he fled to Holland.

237
00:23:21,360 --> 00:23:25,600
Hearing the news, Sir Douglas Haig
wrote in his diary:

238
00:23:25,600 --> 00:23:30,640
"If the war had gone against us, no
doubt our king would have had to go.

239
00:23:30,640 --> 00:23:36,680
"And probably our army would have become
insubordinate like the German army.

240
00:23:36,680 --> 00:23:41,720
"Compare John Bunyan's remark on
seeing a man on his way to be hanged.

241
00:23:41,720 --> 00:23:48,160
"But for the grace of God, John Bunyan
would have been in that man's place."

242
00:23:48,160 --> 00:23:53,000
At 5am on November 11th,
the armistice was signed

243
00:23:53,000 --> 00:23:59,440
and a signal went out from Marshal Foch's
headquarters to all the Allied armies.

244
00:23:59,440 --> 00:24:04,480
"Hostilities will cease
at 1100 hours today, November 11th.

245
00:24:08,320 --> 00:24:12,360
Now, at last, on the hundredth day
of the fifth year,

246
00:24:12,360 --> 00:24:17,000
the guns fell silent,
the killings stopped.

247
00:24:17,000 --> 00:24:22,040
No more Very lights going up
with their greenish wavering flare.

248
00:24:23,600 --> 00:24:27,040
No lilies of the dead in the night.

249
00:24:27,040 --> 00:24:30,880
No flash of howitzers
on the horizon.

250
00:24:30,880 --> 00:24:34,800
No drowning with droning
of the shells.

251
00:24:36,040 --> 00:24:39,680
No machine guns.
No patrols going out.

252
00:24:39,680 --> 00:24:42,120
Just nothing.

253
00:24:42,120 --> 00:24:44,560
Silence.

254
00:24:59,240 --> 00:25:02,160
The Canadians were approaching Mons.

255
00:25:02,160 --> 00:25:05,000
Then we carried on into Mons.

256
00:25:05,000 --> 00:25:07,840
And got to the main street

257
00:25:07,840 --> 00:25:13,880
which was filled with the inhabitants
screaming their heads off and shouting.

258
00:25:13,880 --> 00:25:18,120
They didn't seem to know
what had happened to them.

259
00:25:18,120 --> 00:25:22,100
And as I got to the town hall
in the main street of Mons,

260
00:25:22,101 --> 00:25:25,120
the church clock chimed.
It was 11 o'clock.

261
00:25:25,120 --> 00:25:29,560
The war was over.
This was the unbelievable moment.

262
00:25:29,560 --> 00:25:34,400
And nowhere more unbelievable
than at the front itself.

263
00:25:34,400 --> 00:25:39,440
Slowly the news came in officially
that an armistice had been signed.

264
00:25:39,440 --> 00:25:44,480
But there was no show of emotion.
No-one went berserk or anything.

265
00:25:44,480 --> 00:25:49,720
We were too far gone. Our emotions
were all killed long ago.

266
00:25:49,720 --> 00:25:54,360
A French officer observed
the reaction of his soldiers.

267
00:25:54,360 --> 00:26:00,600
"They didn't show their joy by shouts
or songs as one could have expected.

268
00:26:00,600 --> 00:26:05,640
"They talked about it but remained
remarkably composed and dignified.

269
00:26:05,640 --> 00:26:10,280
"Peace came so suddenly
that we were all rather stunned

270
00:26:10,280 --> 00:26:15,080
"asking ourselves if it was possible
or whether we were dreaming.

271
00:26:15,080 --> 00:26:19,920
"Walking along the trenches
several hours after the armistice,

272
00:26:19,920 --> 00:26:24,960
"I was surprised to see all our
soldiers at their listening posts

273
00:26:24,960 --> 00:26:29,200
"or in their shelters,
as if the war was still on."

274
00:26:29,200 --> 00:26:34,360
The more boisterous Americans
responded differently to it.

275
00:26:34,360 --> 00:26:39,400
"In one unit, the men joined hands
in one long line behind the gun.

276
00:26:39,400 --> 00:26:44,240
"As the captain dropped his arm,
they all pulled in unison

277
00:26:44,240 --> 00:26:48,480
"so each could say he had fired
the last shell."

278
00:26:48,480 --> 00:26:51,480
EXPLOSION

279
00:26:51,480 --> 00:26:57,720
In many British sectors, stern fighting
went on until the very last minute.

280
00:26:57,720 --> 00:27:01,360
There'd been one German
machine gun unit

281
00:27:01,360 --> 00:27:04,200
giving our troops a lot of trouble.

282
00:27:04,200 --> 00:27:07,840
They kept on firing
until almost 11 o'clock.

283
00:27:07,840 --> 00:27:12,480
At 11 o'clock the officer
stepped out of their position,

284
00:27:12,480 --> 00:27:16,520
lifted his helmet and bowed
to the British troops,

285
00:27:16,520 --> 00:27:20,160
fell all his men in
and marched them off.

286
00:27:20,160 --> 00:27:24,320
CHEERING

287
00:27:24,320 --> 00:27:27,427
British soldiers watched
with astonishment

288
00:27:27,428 --> 00:27:31,240
as civilians in the liberated
areas dug up in gardens

289
00:27:31,240 --> 00:27:36,080
clothes, money and valuables
which had been hidden for years.

290
00:27:37,800 --> 00:27:41,680
For these people,
November 11th, 1918,

291
00:27:41,680 --> 00:27:45,840
meant the end of enemy rule,
repression and fear.

292
00:27:45,840 --> 00:27:51,280
"If there are endless miles of ruins,
there are thousands of beaming faces.

293
00:27:51,280 --> 00:27:54,840
"Wounded, filtering back
from the front,

294
00:27:54,840 --> 00:27:58,480
"old men and women
and then grandchildren,

295
00:27:58,480 --> 00:28:01,871
"huddled with the remains
of their possessions

296
00:28:01,872 --> 00:28:05,120
on a creaking cart drawn
by a lame old horse,

297
00:28:05,120 --> 00:28:10,160
"returning perhaps to ruins which
they may still fondly claim as home.

298
00:28:10,160 --> 00:28:14,560
"One and all bear the stamp
of trials bravely borne."

299
00:28:14,560 --> 00:28:18,200
For some the armistice
had another meaning.

300
00:28:18,200 --> 00:28:22,120
An English officer heard stories
of a different fear.

301
00:28:22,120 --> 00:28:26,160
"Of how from want,
because the children were hungry,

302
00:28:26,160 --> 00:28:29,073
"to provide medicine
for a sick baby

303
00:28:29,074 --> 00:28:32,600
or to save an invalid
mother from starvation,

304
00:28:32,600 --> 00:28:36,840
"the girl or the wife had lived
with a German officer,

305
00:28:36,840 --> 00:28:39,880
"with men their men were fighting.

306
00:28:39,880 --> 00:28:44,200
"Sometimes there was a child
by this stranger

307
00:28:44,200 --> 00:28:48,240
"and you felt the unhappy mother
did not dare say,

308
00:28:48,240 --> 00:28:52,480
"could not explain
that she loved this one also.

309
00:28:52,480 --> 00:28:55,160
"And I, the Englishman,

310
00:28:55,160 --> 00:28:59,800
"thank God that my country
had not been invaded."

311
00:28:59,800 --> 00:29:02,440
The November day wore on.

312
00:29:02,440 --> 00:29:06,880
The truth, the wonderful,
incredible truth, sank in.

313
00:29:06,880 --> 00:29:09,920
The war really was over.

314
00:29:09,920 --> 00:29:12,840
A British officer wrote:

315
00:29:12,840 --> 00:29:17,680
"Throughout the night, the singing,
the hooting of railway whistles

316
00:29:17,680 --> 00:29:22,240
"and the blast of factory sirens
might awaken the dead.

317
00:29:22,240 --> 00:29:25,000
"At last I lay down.

318
00:29:25,000 --> 00:29:28,800
"Tired and happy.
But sleep is elusive.

319
00:29:28,800 --> 00:29:32,320
"Incidents thrash through the memory.

320
00:29:32,320 --> 00:29:37,040
"The battles
of the first four months.

321
00:29:40,200 --> 00:29:44,160
"The awful winters
in waterlogged trenches,

322
00:29:44,160 --> 00:29:47,520
"cold and miserable.

323
00:29:47,520 --> 00:29:52,400
"The terrible trench assaults and
shellfire of the next three years.

324
00:30:00,840 --> 00:30:05,600
"Loss of friends.
Exhaustion and wounds.

325
00:30:06,600 --> 00:30:11,640
"Thank God. The end of a
frightful four years at the Front.

326
00:30:11,640 --> 00:30:14,680
"Company officers, rank and file

327
00:30:14,680 --> 00:30:17,960
"together with other
front-line units

328
00:30:17,960 --> 00:30:22,040
"had suffered bravely,
patiently and unselfishly

329
00:30:22,040 --> 00:30:26,920
"hardships and perils beyond
even the imagination of those,

330
00:30:26,920 --> 00:30:31,080
"including soldiers,
who had not shared them."

331
00:30:32,080 --> 00:30:36,600
To all his soldiers, Marshal Foch
addressed an order of the day.

332
00:30:36,600 --> 00:30:41,640
"Officers, non-commissioned officers
and soldiers of the allied armies,

333
00:30:41,640 --> 00:30:45,200
"You have won
the greatest battle in history

334
00:30:45,200 --> 00:30:50,760
"and rescued the most sacred of
causes - the liberty of the world.

335
00:30:50,760 --> 00:30:53,760
"You have full right to be proud.

336
00:30:53,760 --> 00:30:57,840
"For you have crowned
your standards with immortal glory

337
00:30:57,840 --> 00:31:01,240
"and won the gratitude of posterity."

338
00:31:01,240 --> 00:31:06,160
On the other side of the line,
Field Marshal von Hindenburg

339
00:31:06,160 --> 00:31:11,040
led the defeated German army home
to a country bitterly divided.

340
00:31:11,040 --> 00:31:14,600
Children were dying of hunger

341
00:31:14,600 --> 00:31:17,880
and mobs
attacked officers in the streets.

342
00:31:17,880 --> 00:31:20,800
Even the soldiers were shot at

343
00:31:20,800 --> 00:31:25,200
and all their achievements
and courage, was set at naught.

344
00:31:25,200 --> 00:31:27,960
Yet Hindenburg did not despair.

345
00:31:27,960 --> 00:31:32,160
"I have witnessed
the heroic struggle of my fatherland.

346
00:31:32,160 --> 00:31:36,280
"and I shall never believe
that it was its death struggle."

347
00:31:36,280 --> 00:31:40,360
Germany reported 1,800,000 dead.

348
00:31:40,360 --> 00:31:44,840
Austria-Hungary - 1,200,000.

349
00:31:44,840 --> 00:31:49,880
Two great empires foundered
in sorrow, in hunger, in ruin

350
00:31:49,880 --> 00:31:53,600
to face a merciless future.

351
00:31:53,600 --> 00:31:56,720
The day of reckoning had come.

352
00:31:56,720 --> 00:32:00,640
The reckoning
of victory was no less exorbitant.

353
00:32:00,640 --> 00:32:03,792
Nearly five million
French men were killed,

354
00:32:03,793 --> 00:32:06,800
wounded or taken
prisoner during the war.

355
00:32:06,800 --> 00:32:10,520
That was the price
France paid for victory.

356
00:32:10,520 --> 00:32:13,520
General de Gaulle wrote,

357
00:32:13,520 --> 00:32:18,360
"The sacrifice was cruel as it
was paid with the lives of her youth.

358
00:32:18,360 --> 00:32:23,440
"A treasure in which France was
poorer than other European countries.

359
00:32:23,440 --> 00:32:26,280
"Here dead we lie

360
00:32:26,280 --> 00:32:30,120
"Because we did not choose to live

361
00:32:30,120 --> 00:32:33,320
"And shame the land
from which we sprung

362
00:32:33,320 --> 00:32:38,760
"Life, to be sure,
is nothing much to lose

363
00:32:38,760 --> 00:32:42,120
"But young men think it is

364
00:32:42,120 --> 00:32:45,080
"And we were young."

365
00:32:45,080 --> 00:32:47,840
Now it was over.

366
00:32:47,840 --> 00:32:51,280
Now the awful letting of blood
was ended.

367
00:32:51,280 --> 00:32:53,920
France could breathe again.

368
00:32:53,920 --> 00:32:57,560
We had had
so many years of suffering.

369
00:32:57,560 --> 00:33:02,400
Four years. Four years
of dull suffering. Acute suffering.

370
00:33:02,400 --> 00:33:05,120
Pain everywhere.

371
00:33:05,120 --> 00:33:07,760
It was dreadful.

372
00:33:07,760 --> 00:33:12,800
Every day we heard about someone
we loved being killed or wounded.

373
00:33:12,800 --> 00:33:15,560
There was no relief anywhere

374
00:33:15,560 --> 00:33:20,920
and we thought it would
go on and on and on for ever.

375
00:33:20,920 --> 00:33:24,600
But it didn't
because armistice came.

376
00:33:24,600 --> 00:33:28,320
We waited for it.
We knew it was coming.

377
00:33:28,320 --> 00:33:31,120
Although we weren't sure when.

378
00:33:31,120 --> 00:33:34,000
We knew that one day it would come

379
00:33:34,000 --> 00:33:37,680
and we waited and we waited,

380
00:33:37,680 --> 00:33:43,920
with such tense feelings that
everything around us seemed to wait.

381
00:33:43,920 --> 00:33:46,720
The town waited.

382
00:33:46,720 --> 00:33:51,560
Paris waited. The buildings waited.
We were hushing everything.

383
00:33:51,560 --> 00:33:56,400
We didn't want to talk because
something was going to happen.

384
00:33:56,400 --> 00:33:59,280
We waited and it came.

385
00:33:59,280 --> 00:34:02,160
The day it came it was SO wonderful!

386
00:34:02,160 --> 00:34:04,960
The news seemed too good to be true.

387
00:34:04,960 --> 00:34:10,080
Even the excitable Parisians
had to wait till it was confirmed.

388
00:34:10,080 --> 00:34:13,560
Everyone knew
that an armistice had been signed.

389
00:34:13,560 --> 00:34:16,320
The war would surely end at eleven.

390
00:34:16,320 --> 00:34:21,000
The great city remained calm until
it had been announced officially.

391
00:34:21,000 --> 00:34:25,480
Until the fighting ceased
Parisians went about their affairs

392
00:34:25,480 --> 00:34:29,440
and conducted themselves
with good sense and restraint.

393
00:34:29,440 --> 00:34:35,960
At 1100, the great fact established,
Paris threw her chapeau into the air,

394
00:34:35,960 --> 00:34:40,680
became alive with colour,
began to sing and dance.

395
00:34:40,680 --> 00:34:45,640
In America, most people were asleep
when the news of the armistice came

396
00:34:45,640 --> 00:34:48,760
They awoke to a joyful day.

397
00:34:52,760 --> 00:34:59,000
America's war losses - 325,000
men - did not compare with Europe's.

398
00:34:59,000 --> 00:35:02,420
But at least there would
be no more young Americans

399
00:35:02,421 --> 00:35:05,840
sailing away to death and
wounds on distant fields.

400
00:35:11,640 --> 00:35:15,360
London's relief
matched that of Paris.

401
00:35:15,360 --> 00:35:18,840
Now the bells
could ring and go on ringing,

402
00:35:18,840 --> 00:35:22,560
announcing what all British people
desired to hear.

403
00:35:22,560 --> 00:35:26,280
"There was wild rejoicing
and crowds went crazy with delight.

404
00:35:26,280 --> 00:35:31,320
"But it seemed to me that behind
the ringing of these peals of joy,

405
00:35:31,320 --> 00:35:36,360
"there was the tolling of spectral
bells for those who would not return.

406
00:35:40,280 --> 00:35:44,000
For the British Prime Minister,
David Lloyd George,

407
00:35:44,000 --> 00:35:47,960
it was a day for gratitude -
and hope.

408
00:35:47,960 --> 00:35:51,258
"In the House of Commons
that afternoon,

409
00:35:51,259 --> 00:35:55,360
I rose and announced the
signing of the armistice.

410
00:35:55,360 --> 00:36:02,520
"I concluded by saying, 'Thus at
eleven this morning came to an end

411
00:36:02,520 --> 00:36:08,800
"'the cruellest and most terrible
war that has scorched mankind.'"

412
00:36:09,800 --> 00:36:12,880
In the cities of the allied nations

413
00:36:12,880 --> 00:36:17,344
the armistice set loose a wave
of exaltation and expectation

414
00:36:17,345 --> 00:36:19,360
like the breaking
of a dam.

415
00:36:19,360 --> 00:36:22,160
The very word was electrifying.

416
00:36:22,160 --> 00:36:26,000
Clemenceau expressed
the relief and happiness

417
00:36:26,000 --> 00:36:30,240
of all those who greeted
the armistice with cheers.

418
00:36:30,240 --> 00:36:32,880
"A grand word.

419
00:36:32,880 --> 00:36:36,560
"A great word
to set down when after four years,

420
00:36:36,560 --> 00:36:40,360
"lived through in anguished
expectation of the worst,

421
00:36:40,360 --> 00:36:44,520
"suddenly a voice is heard crying,
'It is finished.'"

422
00:36:44,520 --> 00:36:50,160
"The armistice is the interval
between the curtain's rise and fall.

423
00:36:50,160 --> 00:36:53,160
"Hail to it! And welcome!"