Would you like to inspect the original subtitles? These are the user uploaded subtitles that are being translated:
1
00:02:32,359 --> 00:02:35,359
The First World Warwas the largest armed conflict
2
00:02:35,440 --> 00:02:37,480
that the world had ever seen…
3
00:02:39,640 --> 00:02:40,640
the Great War.
4
00:02:47,560 --> 00:02:51,519
Since the summer of 1914and over the next four years,
5
00:02:51,600 --> 00:02:54,600
more than 40 countrieswere fighting each other,
6
00:02:56,760 --> 00:02:57,640
on land…
7
00:02:59,799 --> 00:03:00,760
sea…
8
00:03:03,679 --> 00:03:04,799
and in the air…
9
00:03:11,640 --> 00:03:12,799
…with no mercy…
10
00:03:16,320 --> 00:03:17,560
and to the bitter end.
11
00:03:20,120 --> 00:03:24,519
Crimes against the civilian populationsof Serbia and Belgium.
12
00:03:26,480 --> 00:03:29,320
Gas among the trenchesof the Western Front.
13
00:03:31,399 --> 00:03:35,799
Unrestricted submarine warfare wagedby Germany and Austria-Hungary.
14
00:03:38,480 --> 00:03:41,119
The Allied blockade of Germany,
15
00:03:41,200 --> 00:03:44,440
Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire.
16
00:03:47,679 --> 00:03:50,119
The Ottoman genocide of the Greeks,
17
00:03:50,200 --> 00:03:53,239
the Assyrians and the Armenian people
18
00:03:55,600 --> 00:03:59,040
were just someamong many faces of this war.
19
00:04:05,920 --> 00:04:08,959
By the time it ended in November of 1918,
20
00:04:09,560 --> 00:04:13,040
the Great War leftover 20 million people wounded
21
00:04:17,039 --> 00:04:19,719
and more than 16 million dead.
22
00:04:28,280 --> 00:04:30,080
The Bolshevik revolution in Russia,
23
00:04:33,920 --> 00:04:37,080
the rise of the USAas the dominant world power,
24
00:04:39,159 --> 00:04:42,360
Nazism and the comingof Adolf Hitler to power,
25
00:04:43,200 --> 00:04:46,680
were all direct productsof the First World War,
26
00:04:49,800 --> 00:04:52,479
as was the Second World War.
27
00:04:58,400 --> 00:05:02,400
And then the Cold Warin its many forms and shapes.
28
00:05:04,400 --> 00:05:07,400
The Balkan wars of the 1990s.
29
00:05:08,880 --> 00:05:11,080
The everlasting Middle East crisis.
30
00:05:19,280 --> 00:05:22,719
In the summer of 1914,Europe was at peace.
31
00:05:26,039 --> 00:05:29,440
There hadn't been a major warfor more than 50 years,
32
00:05:29,520 --> 00:05:32,400
the era known as Belle Epoque.
33
00:05:37,840 --> 00:05:41,440
On June the 28thon Franz Joseph Street in Sarajevo,
34
00:05:41,520 --> 00:05:45,719
the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina,then part of Austria-Hungary,
35
00:05:45,800 --> 00:05:48,960
the heir to the Austrian thronewas assassinated
36
00:05:49,039 --> 00:05:51,240
by a young Bosnian student.
37
00:05:55,479 --> 00:05:57,560
For that reason, a month later
38
00:05:57,640 --> 00:06:00,320
Austria-Hungarywas to declare war on Serbia.
39
00:06:06,479 --> 00:06:08,599
And seven days after that,
40
00:06:08,680 --> 00:06:12,599
all of the European Great Powerswould march into war.
41
00:06:22,840 --> 00:06:28,359
But why is it that the nations of Europeand the world went to war so readily,
42
00:06:30,320 --> 00:06:34,719
and how did the First World Warever came about?
43
00:07:13,719 --> 00:07:18,400
In the 1870s, 40 yearsbefore the Sarajevo assassination,
44
00:07:19,080 --> 00:07:23,760
Bosnia and Herzegovina were stilla part of the Ottoman Empire.
45
00:07:27,080 --> 00:07:30,080
And this was soever since the 15th century
46
00:07:30,159 --> 00:07:32,440
when the Ottoman Turkshad broken into Europe
47
00:07:32,520 --> 00:07:35,200
and conquered most of the Balkans.
48
00:07:38,799 --> 00:07:42,560
But now, after four centuriesof the cruel regime,
49
00:07:42,640 --> 00:07:44,880
the empire's end was in sight.
50
00:07:49,200 --> 00:07:51,799
Throughout the 19th century,the Balkan peoples
51
00:07:51,880 --> 00:07:54,919
the Serbs, Greeks,Bulgarians and Romanians
52
00:07:55,000 --> 00:07:57,719
had turned to armsto liberate their lands.
53
00:07:59,560 --> 00:08:04,159
Now the time camefor Bosnia and Herzegovina.
54
00:08:07,239 --> 00:08:09,400
The slogan
which was very popular was
55
00:08:09,479 --> 00:08:11,599
"Balkans to the Balkan people,"
56
00:08:12,280 --> 00:08:15,919
meaning that Great Powers
should not intervene
57
00:08:16,000 --> 00:08:19,080
and let the Balkans people agree
among themselves
58
00:08:19,159 --> 00:08:20,479
about their own future.
59
00:08:22,120 --> 00:08:25,599
The plurality of the population
of Bosnia actually is Serb,
60
00:08:25,679 --> 00:08:30,320
so I think it's natural for Serbia
wanting to reunite those Serbs
61
00:08:30,400 --> 00:08:31,520
with the motherland,
62
00:08:31,599 --> 00:08:34,559
just as it was natural
in 19th century terms
63
00:08:34,640 --> 00:08:37,840
that they would want the Serbs
of southern Hungary and Slavonia
64
00:08:37,919 --> 00:08:40,079
to be reunited with the rest of Serbia.
65
00:08:40,880 --> 00:08:43,199
But the future of Bosnia and Herzegovina
66
00:08:43,280 --> 00:08:47,439
was also a matter of principal interestto a great power.
67
00:08:50,480 --> 00:08:54,760
Since the mid-19th century,the foundations of the Austrian Empire
68
00:08:54,840 --> 00:08:59,079
were shaken by the revolutionsand the civil war with the Hungarians.
69
00:09:04,600 --> 00:09:08,400
By 1860s, the Austrian Empire lostits Italian provinces
70
00:09:08,480 --> 00:09:10,520
in wars with Piedmont.
71
00:09:10,600 --> 00:09:14,439
And in war with Prussia,Austria lost its dominant position
72
00:09:14,520 --> 00:09:16,600
in the German Confederation.
73
00:09:18,079 --> 00:09:22,560
As both Italy and Germanywere now unified at Austria's expense,
74
00:09:22,640 --> 00:09:25,199
the Emperor Franz Josephwas determined to prevent
75
00:09:25,280 --> 00:09:27,360
the further crumbling of the Empire
76
00:09:27,439 --> 00:09:31,520
and reach the so-called Compromisewith the Hungarians.
77
00:09:33,760 --> 00:09:36,160
Although the name was now Austria-Hungary,
78
00:09:36,240 --> 00:09:40,079
the largest ethnic groupwithin the empire were actually Slavs,
79
00:09:40,160 --> 00:09:44,880
who outnumbered both the Austrian Germansand the Hungarians together.
80
00:09:49,480 --> 00:09:56,480
Vienna's great fear is
that Serbia might set her foreign policy
81
00:09:56,560 --> 00:09:59,640
towards the South Slavs of the Monarchy,
82
00:10:00,880 --> 00:10:07,680
and that Belgrade might become
the Piedmont of the South Slavs.
83
00:10:08,800 --> 00:10:10,439
Any extension of Serbia
84
00:10:10,520 --> 00:10:12,600
which would embrace Bosnia Herzegovina
85
00:10:12,680 --> 00:10:14,280
as well as some other districts
86
00:10:14,360 --> 00:10:17,439
could not be reconciledwith the standpoint of Austria-Hungary,
87
00:10:18,000 --> 00:10:21,120
a portion of whose subjectsbelong to the same race
88
00:10:21,199 --> 00:10:24,680
and might therefore becomeenthused with similar aspirations.
89
00:10:26,000 --> 00:10:28,760
Vienna could have accepted
the nation-states,
90
00:10:28,839 --> 00:10:33,560
but only those which remained
of limited importance,
91
00:10:33,640 --> 00:10:35,520
those over which it could exert control.
92
00:10:35,600 --> 00:10:38,520
If Serbia were to annex
Bosnia and Herzegovina,
93
00:10:38,600 --> 00:10:45,360
she would thus obviously become
a mid-rank state,
94
00:10:45,439 --> 00:10:46,839
and that was not acceptable.
95
00:10:47,400 --> 00:10:49,880
In the summer of 1875,
96
00:10:49,959 --> 00:10:53,600
gunfire was heard againin the mountains of Herzegovina.
97
00:10:58,680 --> 00:11:01,319
It remained totally unknown
that the Bosnian Serbs
98
00:11:01,400 --> 00:11:03,880
during these insurrections
99
00:11:03,959 --> 00:11:08,120
proclaimed, on several occasions,
unification with Serbia.
100
00:11:08,199 --> 00:11:11,480
Bosnia with Serbia, and Herzegovina
with another Serbian state,
101
00:11:11,560 --> 00:11:14,079
which was the principality of Montenegro.
102
00:11:14,680 --> 00:11:18,480
In July of 1876,both Serbia and Montenegro
103
00:11:18,560 --> 00:11:20,959
declared war on the Ottoman Empire.
104
00:11:25,000 --> 00:11:29,640
But the destiny of Bosnia and Herzegovinahad already been made.
105
00:11:30,280 --> 00:11:33,920
Austria-Hungarycannot permit that Serbia occupy and keep
106
00:11:34,000 --> 00:11:37,439
the enclave between Dalmatia,Croatia and Slavonia,
107
00:11:37,520 --> 00:11:40,480
as this would mean a dangerto the provinces of the monarchy,
108
00:11:40,560 --> 00:11:42,959
especially to its Dalmatian littoral
109
00:11:43,040 --> 00:11:45,079
which, extending like a thin ribbon,
110
00:11:45,160 --> 00:11:48,719
would evidently have to be annexedto the new Serbia.
111
00:11:48,800 --> 00:11:52,079
It was agreed that Serbia should obtainan extension of territory
112
00:11:52,160 --> 00:11:54,000
in the Drina region in Bosnia
113
00:11:54,079 --> 00:11:57,560
at the same time asin that of Novi Pazar in old Serbia.
114
00:11:58,600 --> 00:12:00,800
The rest of Bosnia and Herzegovina
115
00:12:00,880 --> 00:12:03,319
were to be annexed by Austria-Hungary.
116
00:12:06,920 --> 00:12:09,360
In order to secureRussian support for this,
117
00:12:09,439 --> 00:12:12,760
Austria was willing to do anything.
118
00:12:13,360 --> 00:12:15,600
If Russia was to wage war on the Ottomans,
119
00:12:15,680 --> 00:12:20,360
Austria-Hungary would observean attitude of benevolent neutrality,
120
00:12:20,920 --> 00:12:25,680
but would also providemilitary logistics, field ambulances,
121
00:12:25,760 --> 00:12:29,199
the supply of armaments,as well as the diplomatic shield
122
00:12:29,280 --> 00:12:31,120
against other powers,
123
00:12:31,199 --> 00:12:34,640
so Russia could pursue
124
00:12:35,800 --> 00:12:37,959
the Straits of the Black Sea.
125
00:12:45,640 --> 00:12:50,959
In April 1877, Russia declared waron the Ottoman Empire.
126
00:12:52,839 --> 00:12:56,560
But in the peace conferencein Berlin in the summer of 1878,
127
00:12:56,640 --> 00:12:59,640
the Great Powers decidedthat the straits of the Black Sea
128
00:13:00,199 --> 00:13:02,400
would remain closedto the Russian war fleet.
129
00:13:03,880 --> 00:13:06,560
At the same time,they allowed Austria-Hungary
130
00:13:06,640 --> 00:13:08,880
to occupy Bosnia and Herzegovina,
131
00:13:09,880 --> 00:13:12,719
but also the Sandjak of Novi Pazar
132
00:13:13,400 --> 00:13:17,719
so that Austria could keep Serbiaand Montenegro apart.
133
00:13:20,199 --> 00:13:23,120
While Bosnia and Herzegovinawere to be occupied
134
00:13:23,199 --> 00:13:25,199
and administered by Vienna,
135
00:13:25,280 --> 00:13:28,839
formally they would still remaina part of the Ottoman Empire.
136
00:13:35,000 --> 00:13:38,400
The Austro-Hungarian generalsplanned to complete the occupation
137
00:13:38,480 --> 00:13:42,319
by August the 18th,Franz Joseph's birthday,
138
00:13:42,400 --> 00:13:44,400
but they encountered fierce resistance,
139
00:13:44,480 --> 00:13:48,800
first from the Bosnian Muslims,and then from the Orthodox Serbs.
140
00:13:51,160 --> 00:13:54,599
It took Austria-Hungarymore than 150,000 troops…
141
00:13:56,920 --> 00:13:58,000
…heavy artillery…
142
00:14:02,000 --> 00:14:04,760
…and more than three monthsof war and reprisals
143
00:14:04,839 --> 00:14:09,640
against the local populationto occupy Bosnia and Herzegovina.
144
00:14:22,360 --> 00:14:26,800
The real point is
that it gives prestige to Franz Joseph,
145
00:14:26,880 --> 00:14:29,280
who likes to annex
a little bit of territory
146
00:14:29,360 --> 00:14:31,240
because he's lost so much in the past.
147
00:14:31,319 --> 00:14:36,319
But Bosnia and Herzegovina
is obviously a Slav territory,
148
00:14:37,079 --> 00:14:38,959
and there's no particular reason
149
00:14:39,040 --> 00:14:41,520
why the local population
would want to be occupied
150
00:14:41,599 --> 00:14:44,040
by the Austrian army, and they don't.
151
00:14:44,120 --> 00:14:48,400
And they resist until resistance
is put down after two or three years.
152
00:15:29,640 --> 00:15:32,400
Germany had been unitedunder the leadership of Prussia
153
00:15:32,479 --> 00:15:35,640
and her "iron chancellor"Otto von Bismarck
154
00:15:35,719 --> 00:15:38,120
over the course of three wars.
155
00:15:39,160 --> 00:15:42,199
In the war against Denmark in 1864,
156
00:15:42,280 --> 00:15:45,920
after the victory over Austria in 1866,
157
00:15:46,000 --> 00:15:50,800
and then over France in 1870 and 1871.
158
00:15:52,800 --> 00:15:56,040
At the helm of the victorious armieswere the Prussian king,
159
00:15:56,120 --> 00:15:59,199
the future German Kaiser Wilhelm,
160
00:15:59,280 --> 00:16:02,640
and the Chief of General Staff,Helmuth von Moltke.
161
00:16:08,240 --> 00:16:10,079
What Bismarck did
in unifying Germany
162
00:16:10,160 --> 00:16:12,560
was to place Prussia
at the heart of Germany.
163
00:16:13,680 --> 00:16:15,839
And the heart of Prussia
was the Prussian army,
164
00:16:15,920 --> 00:16:19,280
and at the heart of the Prussian army
was the Hohenzollern monarchy,
165
00:16:19,920 --> 00:16:25,760
and that monarchy had a long tradition
of fighting wars without giving notice.
166
00:16:29,520 --> 00:16:32,000
But the new German Reichwas quickly turning
167
00:16:32,079 --> 00:16:34,560
into the most progressive countryin Europe.
168
00:16:35,400 --> 00:16:37,959
By the late 19th century,Germany had overtaken
169
00:16:38,040 --> 00:16:42,560
the United Kingdom, France and Russiain almost all spheres.
170
00:16:44,079 --> 00:16:46,400
In overall industrial production,
171
00:16:48,760 --> 00:16:51,520
in the achievements in humanitiesand natural sciences,
172
00:16:53,680 --> 00:16:56,479
as well as in social carefor the German workers.
173
00:16:59,199 --> 00:17:01,040
The standard of living was rising,
174
00:17:01,120 --> 00:17:05,839
and the population would growfrom 41 million in 1871
175
00:17:05,919 --> 00:17:08,919
to 68 million in 1913.
176
00:17:13,839 --> 00:17:17,079
But Germany's further growthin the age of colonialism
177
00:17:17,159 --> 00:17:20,480
was constrained by the other Great Powers.
178
00:17:21,800 --> 00:17:23,639
In the "Scramble for Africa,"
179
00:17:23,720 --> 00:17:26,760
Germany managed to acquirejust three colonies,
180
00:17:26,839 --> 00:17:31,240
while the old colonial masterskept most of the world for themselves.
181
00:17:45,440 --> 00:17:48,080
Although Germany is now very strong,
182
00:17:48,159 --> 00:17:51,240
she was a late comer
on the international stage.
183
00:17:51,320 --> 00:17:54,800
Certainly a late comer
in terms of colonial possessions,
184
00:17:54,879 --> 00:17:58,080
and one of the foreign policy aims
185
00:17:58,159 --> 00:17:59,680
was to ensure that Germany has
186
00:17:59,760 --> 00:18:03,159
her rightful "place in the sun"
internationally
187
00:18:03,240 --> 00:18:06,960
and her rightful state
within the European Concert
188
00:18:07,040 --> 00:18:08,760
or the balance of power.
189
00:18:10,120 --> 00:18:12,840
"A place in the sun" implied growth
190
00:18:12,919 --> 00:18:16,600
of the colonial empire overseas,
191
00:18:16,680 --> 00:18:20,800
but also strengthening
the position within Europe,
192
00:18:20,879 --> 00:18:25,360
based on economic superiority
over the neighboring countries,
193
00:18:25,440 --> 00:18:27,520
but also upon military superiority.
194
00:18:32,760 --> 00:18:38,440
In 1888, Wilhelm's grandson,Wilhelm II, ascended the throne.
195
00:18:41,600 --> 00:18:44,879
He was to rule the German Empirefor the next 30 years
196
00:18:44,960 --> 00:18:47,720
and be the last German Emperor.
197
00:18:54,520 --> 00:18:56,840
Wilhelm II was a very damaged person.
198
00:18:58,280 --> 00:19:01,760
The nerves were ripped out in his neck
at birth, he was a breech baby.
199
00:19:02,639 --> 00:19:05,679
So he was a military monarch
with a crippled left arm.
200
00:19:05,760 --> 00:19:07,960
It was very difficult,
and he always was trying
201
00:19:08,040 --> 00:19:10,520
to overcompensate for that disability
202
00:19:10,600 --> 00:19:15,040
by showing how bellicose he was,
what a militarist he really was.
203
00:19:18,120 --> 00:19:20,240
Wilhelm II as Kaiser thought,
204
00:19:20,320 --> 00:19:22,720
"Well, the army has been built up
by my grandfather,"
205
00:19:22,800 --> 00:19:24,520
whom he called Wilhelm the Great,
206
00:19:25,240 --> 00:19:28,080
"and my duty will be
to put this army to effect
207
00:19:28,159 --> 00:19:32,760
so that I will make Germany
into the hegemonial power in Europe."
208
00:19:32,840 --> 00:19:34,159
That was his great dream.
209
00:19:34,240 --> 00:19:36,800
The great model always
was the quick victory,
210
00:19:36,879 --> 00:19:39,679
especially against France in 1870-71.
211
00:19:40,840 --> 00:19:44,200
Now Germany was too smallfor the two leaders,
212
00:19:44,280 --> 00:19:47,639
and as soon as Wilhelm IIwas settled as the new kaiser,
213
00:19:47,720 --> 00:19:50,040
Bismarck was dismissed.
214
00:19:53,240 --> 00:19:55,399
Several days before his dismissal,
215
00:19:55,480 --> 00:19:59,679
Bismarck promised
the Russian ambassador Count Shuvalov
216
00:19:59,760 --> 00:20:03,360
that the Reinsurance Treaty,
which prevented
217
00:20:03,440 --> 00:20:06,520
a possibility of a conflict
between Germany and Russia,
218
00:20:06,600 --> 00:20:08,040
was to be prolonged.
219
00:20:10,679 --> 00:20:14,600
Caprivi stated that he was not a juggler,
220
00:20:14,679 --> 00:20:18,200
that he can't handle
three balls at a time.
221
00:20:19,520 --> 00:20:22,480
So one ball had to be dropped,
and that was Russia.
222
00:20:24,760 --> 00:20:26,720
Russia found herself isolated.
223
00:20:26,800 --> 00:20:29,080
And as a result,
224
00:20:29,159 --> 00:20:33,919
Russia turned towards making
an alliance with France.
225
00:20:36,720 --> 00:20:38,800
A war against France in the west
226
00:20:38,879 --> 00:20:44,399
for Germany would now also meana war against Russia in the east.
227
00:20:46,440 --> 00:20:51,720
A two-front war nightmarefor any military strategist.
228
00:20:57,560 --> 00:21:02,080
The consequence was
that in case of a two-front war,
229
00:21:02,159 --> 00:21:06,600
the German Empire would have found itself
tied up from both sides
230
00:21:06,679 --> 00:21:11,399
and finally wouldn't have any chance
for a quick victory over either enemy.
231
00:21:13,960 --> 00:21:17,600
It was for these reasons
232
00:21:17,679 --> 00:21:21,600
that in 1875 and also in 1887
233
00:21:21,679 --> 00:21:24,840
Moltke called for preventive war
before the German government,
234
00:21:24,919 --> 00:21:26,960
against either France or Russia
235
00:21:27,040 --> 00:21:32,760
in order to resolve the two fronts problem
236
00:21:32,840 --> 00:21:36,800
before a war
against both sides would come.
237
00:21:39,480 --> 00:21:42,639
But Bismarck had been strongly against it.
238
00:21:42,720 --> 00:21:44,639
And without the Chancellor's ascent,
239
00:21:44,720 --> 00:21:48,120
not even the Kaisercould take Germany to war.
240
00:21:50,080 --> 00:21:53,560
But in 1890, Bismarck was no more,
241
00:21:53,639 --> 00:21:59,879
and Wilhelm II was to ensurethat he becomes the sole ruler of Germany.
242
00:22:05,080 --> 00:22:08,080
He, of course, over the years
appointed all the ministers.
243
00:22:08,159 --> 00:22:11,800
The chancellor, all the generals,
they were his appointees,
244
00:22:11,879 --> 00:22:13,720
and they behaved accordingly.
245
00:22:14,679 --> 00:22:18,240
They did not behave
like republican civilian statesmen.
246
00:22:18,320 --> 00:22:21,240
They behaved like courtiers
or like militarists.
247
00:22:23,439 --> 00:22:27,280
The chancellor Bernhard von Bulow
would write on his cuff
248
00:22:27,360 --> 00:22:30,360
what the Kaiser had ordered,
not because he thought he'd forget it,
249
00:22:30,439 --> 00:22:32,000
but to demonstrate to the Kaiser
250
00:22:32,080 --> 00:22:34,600
that he would always remember
exactly what the Kaiser had said.
251
00:22:34,679 --> 00:22:38,040
True to the tradition of German policy,
252
00:22:38,120 --> 00:22:41,720
we will make every effort to protectour rights and interests
253
00:22:41,800 --> 00:22:44,080
in East Asia and West India
254
00:22:44,159 --> 00:22:48,840
without unnecessary harshness,but without weakness either.
255
00:22:49,800 --> 00:22:52,879
We do not want to putanyone in our shadow,
256
00:22:52,960 --> 00:22:56,120
but we also demand our place in the sun.
257
00:23:28,720 --> 00:23:31,639
Setting on what they calledthe "civilizing mission"
258
00:23:31,720 --> 00:23:33,800
in Bosnia and Herzegovina,
259
00:23:33,879 --> 00:23:39,399
the Austrians pledged to introducethe agrarian reform and abolish serfdom,
260
00:23:39,480 --> 00:23:42,200
to raise the standards of living,
261
00:23:42,280 --> 00:23:47,720
to organize schools,to improve the taxation system,
262
00:23:47,800 --> 00:23:50,200
to reform the administration of justice,
263
00:23:50,280 --> 00:23:54,320
and to treat the three religious groupswith equality.
264
00:23:57,080 --> 00:24:01,280
The priority was to buildmodern roads and railways.
265
00:24:05,320 --> 00:24:09,200
Most of the constructions undertaken
266
00:24:09,280 --> 00:24:11,960
by the Austro-Hungarian administration
267
00:24:12,040 --> 00:24:15,480
was to serve for exploiting
268
00:24:15,560 --> 00:24:19,320
the mining wealth
of Bosnia and Herzegovina
269
00:24:19,399 --> 00:24:21,600
and much less to anything else.
270
00:24:25,040 --> 00:24:29,960
There were five times more police stations
in Bosnia built than schools.
271
00:24:30,040 --> 00:24:35,879
Social progress was reserved
for very thin layer of population.
272
00:24:37,600 --> 00:24:40,879
In 1882, the Austria-Hungary'snew Finance Minister,
273
00:24:40,960 --> 00:24:44,520
and thus the administratorof Bosnia and Herzegovina,
274
00:24:44,600 --> 00:24:47,000
became Benjamin von Kallay,
275
00:24:47,080 --> 00:24:50,760
a historian and a former diplomatto Belgrade.
276
00:24:51,720 --> 00:24:54,240
He was to leave his mark on an era
277
00:24:54,320 --> 00:24:57,040
by remaining in his postfor the next 21 years.
278
00:25:00,040 --> 00:25:02,679
This man who had written the historyof the Serbs
279
00:25:02,760 --> 00:25:06,679
now had a task of keepingBosnia and Serbia apart.
280
00:25:08,520 --> 00:25:12,120
The Serbs had had
hundreds of religious schools
281
00:25:12,199 --> 00:25:16,800
which were keeping their Serbian
and Christian Orthodox tradition.
282
00:25:16,879 --> 00:25:19,800
Then Benny von Kallay came and told them,
283
00:25:19,879 --> 00:25:22,240
"You are not Serbs anymore,
you are now Bosnians. "
284
00:25:23,080 --> 00:25:26,159
He imposed the Bosnian language,
285
00:25:26,240 --> 00:25:31,399
and he even banished his book
History of the Serbian People,
286
00:25:31,480 --> 00:25:34,480
which was published
previous to the occupation of Bosnia,
287
00:25:34,560 --> 00:25:39,159
in which he claimed
that all the population of Bosnia,
288
00:25:39,840 --> 00:25:43,679
and Bosnian Muslims in particular,
are of Serbian origin.
289
00:25:49,639 --> 00:25:52,320
And the Bosnian Serbs wanted the same
290
00:25:52,399 --> 00:25:57,120
human rights, civil rights,
291
00:25:57,199 --> 00:26:02,360
and to be free owners
of the land they tilled.
292
00:26:02,960 --> 00:26:05,600
But the occupational rulein Bosnia and Herzegovina
293
00:26:05,679 --> 00:26:09,240
never addressed any of the problemsof the largest ethnic group.
294
00:26:11,800 --> 00:26:15,080
Kallay had even preventedthe agrarian reform,
295
00:26:15,960 --> 00:26:19,800
so at the beginning of the 20th century,just as in the Middle Ages,
296
00:26:19,879 --> 00:26:22,320
the Christian peasants were still serfs,
297
00:26:23,360 --> 00:26:26,120
paying a third of their harvestto the Ottoman beys
298
00:26:26,199 --> 00:26:28,840
who still owned the land.
299
00:26:30,280 --> 00:26:32,600
Meanwhile,the Austro-Hungarian administration
300
00:26:32,679 --> 00:26:36,120
kept raising the state taxes even higher
301
00:26:36,199 --> 00:26:38,520
than those imposed by the Ottomans.
302
00:26:41,480 --> 00:26:45,439
By 1910, 32 yearsinto the Austro-Hungarian occupation,
303
00:26:45,520 --> 00:26:49,840
nearly 90% of the entire populationof Bosnia and Herzegovina
304
00:26:49,919 --> 00:26:51,639
was still illiterate.
305
00:26:53,000 --> 00:26:55,520
This was unique in Europe.
306
00:27:12,600 --> 00:27:15,840
THE ASSASSINATION
OF THE SERBIAN ROYAL COUPLE
307
00:27:17,399 --> 00:27:20,080
COUP D'ÉTAT IN SERBIA
308
00:27:25,879 --> 00:27:28,879
THE SERBIAN ROYAL COUPLE ASSASSINATED
309
00:27:44,720 --> 00:27:48,600
After the assassination of the autocratKing Alexander Obrenović
310
00:27:48,679 --> 00:27:51,320
and his consort in the spring of 1903,
311
00:27:51,399 --> 00:27:53,480
a group of military insurgents brought
312
00:27:53,560 --> 00:27:56,520
Peter Karadjordjevićto the Serbian throne.
313
00:27:57,879 --> 00:28:00,760
King Peter reintroduceddemocracy to Serbia,
314
00:28:00,840 --> 00:28:04,360
and it was through the parliamentthat the national unification ideas
315
00:28:04,439 --> 00:28:08,439
were to come to the forefrontof the Serbian foreign policy again.
316
00:28:11,159 --> 00:28:13,960
At the same time,in the Austro-Hungarian provinces
317
00:28:14,040 --> 00:28:19,360
of Croatia-Slavonia and Dalmatia,a new political force was emerging.
318
00:28:20,360 --> 00:28:23,240
In 1905, the Croatian and Serbian parties
319
00:28:23,320 --> 00:28:26,320
joined in The Croat-Serb Coalition.
320
00:28:27,159 --> 00:28:31,639
unification of the South Slavs.
321
00:28:35,800 --> 00:28:40,879
To Vienna, it appears that a threat
322
00:28:40,959 --> 00:28:43,840
is forming on its borders.
323
00:28:43,919 --> 00:28:49,320
All the while Serbia was an ally
324
00:28:49,399 --> 00:28:52,840
subordinate to Austria-Hungary,
325
00:28:52,919 --> 00:28:54,480
there had been no such fear.
326
00:28:54,560 --> 00:29:00,679
But now the entire situation
seems to have changed.
327
00:29:03,919 --> 00:29:09,280
And as a consequence, in Vienna,
328
00:29:09,360 --> 00:29:12,800
in both political and military circles,
329
00:29:12,879 --> 00:29:18,760
a particular view
towards Serbia was formed.
330
00:29:18,840 --> 00:29:21,040
A sort of obsession.
331
00:29:29,439 --> 00:29:32,280
And it's not just Serbia.
332
00:29:32,360 --> 00:29:35,280
Serbia is a headache for people in Vienna.
333
00:29:35,360 --> 00:29:38,159
For people in Budapest,
for the Hungarians,
334
00:29:38,240 --> 00:29:40,959
they are facing an even bigger headache,
to some extent,
335
00:29:41,040 --> 00:29:42,480
with the Romanians.
336
00:29:43,919 --> 00:29:48,800
And so you have
two irredentist smaller states
337
00:29:48,879 --> 00:29:51,760
that are getting stronger every day
on your southern borders,
338
00:29:51,840 --> 00:29:55,120
and this is what gives
the Austrians this impression
339
00:29:55,199 --> 00:29:56,919
that they are really beleaguered
340
00:29:57,000 --> 00:29:59,720
and they are facing enemies
all the way around.
341
00:29:59,800 --> 00:30:02,480
And Conrad,
who was a little bit paranoid about Italy,
342
00:30:02,560 --> 00:30:05,639
he would say, "You know,
this is another secret enemy.
343
00:30:05,720 --> 00:30:08,280
Italy is only waiting
for its chance to attack us.
344
00:30:08,360 --> 00:30:12,360
So what we need to do is eliminate
all these threats
345
00:30:12,439 --> 00:30:14,399
before they strike first,"
346
00:30:14,480 --> 00:30:17,600
which is why Conrad's always arguing
for preventive wars.
347
00:30:31,760 --> 00:30:34,159
The Kaiserwas also seeking ways
348
00:30:34,240 --> 00:30:37,199
to get Germany out of encirclement.
349
00:30:38,000 --> 00:30:40,199
In order to achieve this,it seemed only natural
350
00:30:40,280 --> 00:30:42,000
to use his family ties,
351
00:30:42,080 --> 00:30:45,480
first with his uncle,the British King Edward VII,
352
00:30:45,560 --> 00:30:46,840
and then young Nikki,
353
00:30:46,919 --> 00:30:51,040
the Russian Tsar Nicholas II,also a relative.
354
00:30:52,080 --> 00:30:54,639
The Russian regiments must march with us.
355
00:30:54,720 --> 00:30:59,240
I believe that the prospect of rapingand pillaging in beautiful France
356
00:30:59,320 --> 00:31:01,959
will lure the Russians to join us.
357
00:31:04,080 --> 00:31:06,360
But Nicholas had other priorities.
358
00:31:08,800 --> 00:31:11,639
- In 1904, Japan attacked
359
00:31:11,720 --> 00:31:13,199
Russia in Manchuria.
360
00:31:15,159 --> 00:31:19,159
And now, as the entire Russian armyhad been sent away to the far east,
361
00:31:19,240 --> 00:31:22,639
in Saint Petersburgthe revolution broke out.
362
00:31:26,399 --> 00:31:28,480
The revolutionwas to be extinguished in blood.
363
00:31:31,600 --> 00:31:35,959
In 1905, the Russian army and the navysuffered a devastating defeat
364
00:31:36,040 --> 00:31:38,040
in the war with Japan.
365
00:31:39,120 --> 00:31:42,879
Russia's military mightwas all but destroyed,
366
00:31:42,959 --> 00:31:47,040
and for Russia, it would takea long time to recover.
367
00:31:55,199 --> 00:31:57,840
Russia was not able to fight in Europe.
368
00:31:57,919 --> 00:32:00,879
In other words, France was now
at Germany's mercy.
369
00:32:01,439 --> 00:32:02,840
And it's in this situation
370
00:32:02,919 --> 00:32:04,760
that the Chief
of the German General Staff,
371
00:32:04,840 --> 00:32:10,080
Count Schlieffen, devises
his Angriffsplan gegen Frankreich,
372
00:32:10,159 --> 00:32:12,760
a swift, lightning war against France.
373
00:32:16,719 --> 00:32:21,760
The problem was
that the German-French border
374
00:32:21,840 --> 00:32:27,439
on the French side was well fortified,
all along the mountain chain of Vosges.
375
00:32:27,520 --> 00:32:30,600
A quick breakthrough
was not possible there.
376
00:32:30,679 --> 00:32:37,560
That is why Schlieffen developed a plan
to march through the neutral Belgium
377
00:32:37,639 --> 00:32:40,879
but also through neutral Holland
378
00:32:40,959 --> 00:32:46,439
in order to attack France
from the northeast.
379
00:32:46,520 --> 00:32:52,600
And expecting that the French army
would be set to fight,
380
00:32:52,679 --> 00:32:55,399
they could now surround it
381
00:32:55,480 --> 00:32:59,879
with a huge outflanking move
and destroy it.
382
00:33:05,360 --> 00:33:08,800
That was the idea
which Schlieffen formulated
383
00:33:08,879 --> 00:33:12,240
in 1905 in his memorandum,
384
00:33:12,320 --> 00:33:16,439
which we now know as The Schlieffen Plan.
385
00:33:19,199 --> 00:33:24,800
Still, a war could not beginwithout a major international crisis.
386
00:33:56,480 --> 00:34:01,360
Since 1830, France had putmost of North Africa, Algiers and Tunisia
387
00:34:01,439 --> 00:34:03,360
under her colonial rule.
388
00:34:06,040 --> 00:34:10,600
Now she reachedfor the last remaining territory,
389
00:34:10,679 --> 00:34:12,759
but so did Germany.
390
00:34:14,920 --> 00:34:18,440
Morocco was a European problem.
391
00:34:19,960 --> 00:34:22,880
There had been a conference
at the end of 19th century
392
00:34:22,960 --> 00:34:26,759
which decided that
not a single European country
393
00:34:26,839 --> 00:34:30,639
should acquire
a unilateral position in Morocco.
394
00:34:31,360 --> 00:34:35,839
And France, transforming Morocco
in a protectorate,
395
00:34:35,920 --> 00:34:38,159
broke that agreement, actually.
396
00:34:38,239 --> 00:34:40,520
The Germans were not happy.
397
00:34:41,120 --> 00:34:45,239
They tried to force the French
to stop that.
398
00:34:45,799 --> 00:34:47,400
In March 1905,
399
00:34:47,480 --> 00:34:50,719
the Kaiser landedin the Moroccan port of Tangiers,
400
00:34:50,799 --> 00:34:53,679
offering the Sultanhis support against France.
401
00:34:54,679 --> 00:34:57,000
Paris saw this as a direct threat,
402
00:34:57,080 --> 00:35:00,600
and soon Europe was on the brink of war.
403
00:35:14,000 --> 00:35:17,799
What finally persuades
the Kaiser not to attack
404
00:35:17,880 --> 00:35:22,720
is his realization that Britain
would not allow France to be defeated.
405
00:35:24,040 --> 00:35:27,480
Both with her navy,
which was totally superior,
406
00:35:27,560 --> 00:35:31,680
but also with a landing of 100,000 men
somewhere on the Continent.
407
00:35:33,600 --> 00:35:36,880
So for the first time,
you had Britain clearly stating,
408
00:35:36,960 --> 00:35:40,520
"We cannot tolerate the crushing
of France,
409
00:35:40,600 --> 00:35:44,279
because we British
will just be left facing a continent
410
00:35:44,360 --> 00:35:47,680
that's united under your leadership,
and that's something we cannot tolerate."
411
00:35:56,200 --> 00:35:59,600
The United Kingdom,the world's largest colonial power,
412
00:35:59,680 --> 00:36:03,120
had the largest naval forcethe world had ever seen.
413
00:36:13,400 --> 00:36:17,240
In 1897,under the Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz,
414
00:36:17,319 --> 00:36:20,080
Germany had started building her own fleet
415
00:36:20,160 --> 00:36:22,680
with the aim of matchingthat of the British.
416
00:36:26,040 --> 00:36:30,200
This then prompted the British admiralsto insist on a preventive attack
417
00:36:30,279 --> 00:36:34,080
on the German navybefore it became too strong an opponent.
418
00:36:39,360 --> 00:36:41,440
But instead of a preventive attack,
419
00:36:41,520 --> 00:36:46,480
Great Britain took another giant stepin securing its naval supremacy.
420
00:36:53,160 --> 00:36:56,400
In 1905, Britain launches
421
00:36:56,480 --> 00:37:00,319
the first all big gun battleship
the Dreadnought,
422
00:37:00,400 --> 00:37:02,440
with 12-inch guns.
423
00:37:02,520 --> 00:37:04,680
Eventually it'll aspire
to have 15-inch guns,
424
00:37:04,759 --> 00:37:07,240
and ultimately,
they're thinking about 18-inch guns.
425
00:37:08,839 --> 00:37:14,040
And that outclasses
every existing battleship in the world,
426
00:37:14,120 --> 00:37:18,440
but then, of course, creates pressure
on other navies to conform,
427
00:37:18,520 --> 00:37:20,839
and particularly, of course, Germany.
428
00:37:22,759 --> 00:37:25,799
This presented the Germans
with a huge dilemma,
429
00:37:25,880 --> 00:37:29,000
because the battleships
that they'd been building so far
430
00:37:29,080 --> 00:37:33,080
were still small enough
to go through the Kiel Canal,
431
00:37:33,160 --> 00:37:37,759
from the Baltic Sea to the Atlantic
or North Sea, and back again.
432
00:37:38,319 --> 00:37:42,799
The new dreadnoughts were too large
to go through that canal,
433
00:37:42,880 --> 00:37:47,080
which means that they had to go
all the way around the top of Denmark.
434
00:37:47,160 --> 00:37:49,720
And so they had to decide not only
435
00:37:49,799 --> 00:37:54,880
whether we Germans will also now build
dreadnoughts to match the British,
436
00:37:54,960 --> 00:37:59,520
and if we do, secondly,
we will have to widen the Kiel Canal.
437
00:38:09,640 --> 00:38:12,000
The Germans accepted the challenge.
438
00:38:12,560 --> 00:38:14,680
The undertaking to widen and deepen
439
00:38:14,759 --> 00:38:18,520
the 98 kilometer Kiel Canal began in 1907,
440
00:38:18,600 --> 00:38:22,240
as Germany started buildingher own dreadnought-class fleet.
441
00:38:30,160 --> 00:38:33,480
The naval arms race in Europe began.
442
00:39:00,960 --> 00:39:03,960
There are really two arms races
going on within Europe
443
00:39:04,040 --> 00:39:05,080
before the First World War.
444
00:39:05,160 --> 00:39:07,440
SKETCH OF THE 75 MILLIMETER FIELD GUN
445
00:39:07,520 --> 00:39:12,000
In 1897, the French develop
a 75 millimeter field gun
446
00:39:12,080 --> 00:39:14,480
which can fire about 20 rounds a minute.
447
00:39:18,359 --> 00:39:22,319
That is a serious increase
in the rate of fire of guns,
448
00:39:22,400 --> 00:39:25,520
and what that then does is create pressure
449
00:39:25,600 --> 00:39:29,279
for every other European army
to acquire quick-firing artillery.
450
00:39:31,240 --> 00:39:33,759
One of the first armiesto introduce the cannon
451
00:39:33,839 --> 00:39:36,560
was the Serbian army in 1905.
452
00:39:38,359 --> 00:39:41,359
Drawn by a superior qualityover the cannons made
453
00:39:41,440 --> 00:39:44,240
by Austrian Skoda and the German Krupp,
454
00:39:44,319 --> 00:39:47,759
but also by the offeringsof a substantial French loan,
455
00:39:47,839 --> 00:39:50,279
the Serbian government,for the first time,
456
00:39:50,359 --> 00:39:54,279
decided not to buy weaponsfrom Austria or Germany.
457
00:39:56,600 --> 00:40:00,960
In Vienna, they were shocked
when Serbia decided
458
00:40:01,040 --> 00:40:06,799
to sign treaties with other states
without consulting Viennese diplomacy.
459
00:40:07,359 --> 00:40:11,160
They thought, "If Serbia wants
to be independent,"
460
00:40:11,240 --> 00:40:18,240
and 97% of Serbian export
was dependent on Austria-Hungary,
461
00:40:18,319 --> 00:40:20,640
"we will impose sanctions
462
00:40:20,720 --> 00:40:24,720
and Serbia will have to come back
under our wing."
463
00:40:25,520 --> 00:40:27,560
In January of 1906,
464
00:40:27,640 --> 00:40:30,279
Austria-Hungary enforced the trade embargo
465
00:40:30,359 --> 00:40:33,160
on the Serbian livestock exports,
466
00:40:33,240 --> 00:40:36,279
an economic clash known as The Pig War.
467
00:40:38,040 --> 00:40:42,279
But by 1911, Serbia would emergefrom this war as a winner,
468
00:40:42,359 --> 00:40:45,560
eventually profiting moreby finding new markets
469
00:40:45,640 --> 00:40:49,600
in France, Russia,Switzerland and Germany.
470
00:40:53,839 --> 00:40:57,120
It was political emancipation,
471
00:40:57,200 --> 00:41:00,080
economic emancipation,
military emancipation.
472
00:41:00,160 --> 00:41:05,000
This is how Serbia became an attractive…
473
00:41:05,080 --> 00:41:07,839
a kind of Balkan Piedmont,
474
00:41:07,920 --> 00:41:11,759
especially for the Serbs,
but also for other South Slavs.
475
00:41:14,520 --> 00:41:17,080
The Serbsof the Orthodox and the Muslim faith
476
00:41:17,160 --> 00:41:20,040
hereby pledge to work and incite people
477
00:41:20,120 --> 00:41:23,640
towards getting the self-governmentfor Bosnia and Herzegovina,
478
00:41:23,720 --> 00:41:26,240
under the supreme rule of the Sultan.
479
00:41:28,440 --> 00:41:29,880
In accordance with its free will,
480
00:41:29,960 --> 00:41:32,920
the people shall decideon the country's social system
481
00:41:33,000 --> 00:41:38,680
and elect governors,alternately a Muslim and an Orthodox Serb.
482
00:41:44,880 --> 00:41:47,560
In the elections of 1908 in the provinces
483
00:41:47,640 --> 00:41:49,680
of Croatia-Slavonia and Dalmatia,
484
00:41:49,759 --> 00:41:52,279
the Croat-Serb Coalitiontook a huge victory
485
00:41:52,359 --> 00:41:56,480
by winning 56 out of 81 seatsin the parliament.
486
00:41:59,160 --> 00:42:02,040
When the Croat-Serbian coalition
487
00:42:02,120 --> 00:42:03,880
took power in Croatia,
488
00:42:03,960 --> 00:42:07,960
in Vienna they were very, very concerned.
489
00:42:09,680 --> 00:42:12,759
They were banning Serbian newspapers
490
00:42:12,839 --> 00:42:14,680
to be imported into Bosnia.
491
00:42:14,759 --> 00:42:17,279
They were putting people in prison.
492
00:42:18,200 --> 00:42:24,279
They were arresting Serbian leaders
and accused them for high treason.
493
00:42:26,040 --> 00:42:30,480
And this is why Austria decided
to make another blow
494
00:42:30,560 --> 00:42:36,319
to proclaim annexation
of Bosnia-Herzegovina to Austria-Hungary.
495
00:42:59,960 --> 00:43:01,759
On the last day of 1905,
496
00:43:01,839 --> 00:43:06,200
Kaiser Wilhelm II relievedAlfred von Schlieffen of his duty,
497
00:43:06,279 --> 00:43:08,759
and to the postof the Chief of German General Staff
498
00:43:08,839 --> 00:43:11,200
he brought his personal adjutant.
499
00:43:11,759 --> 00:43:14,080
Kaiser called him Julius,
500
00:43:14,160 --> 00:43:18,000
but his real namewas Helmut von Moltke, the younger.
501
00:43:19,279 --> 00:43:20,720
It was the Kaiser's choice,
502
00:43:20,799 --> 00:43:23,960
based more on a personal liking,
503
00:43:24,040 --> 00:43:26,040
and importantly, on the name,
504
00:43:26,120 --> 00:43:29,960
because Helmut von Moltke
had his more famous uncle.
505
00:43:30,680 --> 00:43:34,200
Wilhelm II thought that somehow
some of this would perhaps rub off,
506
00:43:34,279 --> 00:43:37,480
and in fact,
the younger Moltke asked the Kaiser,
507
00:43:37,560 --> 00:43:40,839
"Are you thinking that you might win
in the same lottery twice?"
508
00:43:41,560 --> 00:43:44,000
You can do that little bit of peace work,
509
00:43:44,080 --> 00:43:45,440
but in times of war,
510
00:43:45,520 --> 00:43:48,600
I will be my ownChief of the General Staff.
511
00:43:49,879 --> 00:43:51,200
As soon as Moltke was appointed,
512
00:43:51,279 --> 00:43:54,319
the state of affairs in Europebegan to change.
513
00:43:55,680 --> 00:43:59,600
Russia slowly but steadilystarted recovering from the revolution
514
00:43:59,680 --> 00:44:01,400
and the war with Japan,
515
00:44:01,480 --> 00:44:04,080
and it seemedthat her army would fully recover
516
00:44:04,160 --> 00:44:06,279
within five to six years.
517
00:44:07,799 --> 00:44:11,839
War on two frontswas again becoming a possibility,
518
00:44:11,920 --> 00:44:13,400
and like his uncle before him,
519
00:44:13,480 --> 00:44:18,040
Moltke the younger would get determinedto prevent that from happening.
520
00:44:21,520 --> 00:44:22,960
Now or never.
521
00:44:23,040 --> 00:44:25,920
Jetzt oder nie, the sooner the better.
522
00:44:26,000 --> 00:44:28,879
At every opportunity he advocates war.
523
00:44:29,960 --> 00:44:31,759
At no point does he say,
524
00:44:31,839 --> 00:44:34,240
"Actually, let's just maybe
hold back a bit.
525
00:44:34,319 --> 00:44:35,680
Perhaps we're not strong enough."
526
00:44:35,759 --> 00:44:39,640
But at the same time, he is surrounded
by people who say very similar things.
527
00:44:42,839 --> 00:44:45,279
With Russia now back in the picture,
528
00:44:45,359 --> 00:44:46,839
the German deployment plan,
529
00:44:46,920 --> 00:44:50,319
the so-called Schlieffen Plan,needed an update.
530
00:44:52,160 --> 00:44:54,799
The basic German
strategic dilemma is a simple one.
531
00:44:54,879 --> 00:44:56,160
They're in the middle.
532
00:44:56,240 --> 00:44:59,400
If you're going to win quickly,
you have to attack France first.
533
00:44:59,480 --> 00:45:01,960
You can't defeat Russia quickly.
534
00:45:02,040 --> 00:45:05,600
So the basic idea is you destroy
the French army
535
00:45:05,680 --> 00:45:11,200
before Russia has time
to mobilize and deploy its troops.
536
00:45:12,520 --> 00:45:14,200
While Germany and Austria were covered
537
00:45:14,279 --> 00:45:17,520
by the dense railway network,Russia was not.
538
00:45:17,600 --> 00:45:20,359
Therefore the deploymentof the Central Powers’ armies
539
00:45:20,440 --> 00:45:24,040
was supposed to be much fasterthan that of the Russians.
540
00:45:24,120 --> 00:45:26,400
So while Germans would goand attack France,
541
00:45:26,480 --> 00:45:28,400
their rear, the Russian front
542
00:45:28,480 --> 00:45:32,000
would have to be securedby the Austro-Hungarian army.
543
00:45:35,000 --> 00:45:39,160
Then, after a lightning victoryover France in six to eight weeks,
544
00:45:39,240 --> 00:45:42,279
most of the German troopswould be transferred to the east
545
00:45:42,359 --> 00:45:44,120
and face the Russians.
546
00:45:46,040 --> 00:45:47,400
Given the size of Russia,
547
00:45:47,480 --> 00:45:50,120
given the weakness of the railway network,
548
00:45:50,200 --> 00:45:53,480
given the ineffectiveness
of Russian administration,
549
00:45:53,560 --> 00:45:55,240
the Germans think that they can do this.
550
00:46:03,680 --> 00:46:06,640
We, France Joseph, Emperor of Austria
551
00:46:06,720 --> 00:46:08,680
and Apostolic King of Hungary
552
00:46:08,759 --> 00:46:12,080
to the inhabitantsof Bosnia and Herzegovina.
553
00:46:13,359 --> 00:46:17,720
When a generation ago our troopscrossed the borders of your lands,
554
00:46:17,799 --> 00:46:22,120
you were assured that they camenot as foes, but as friends,
555
00:46:22,200 --> 00:46:26,480
to remedy the evils from whichyour fatherland had suffered so grievously
556
00:46:26,560 --> 00:46:30,720
for many years,and guide the country to a happier future.
557
00:46:32,480 --> 00:46:36,160
Order and security have replacedviolence and oppression.
558
00:46:36,240 --> 00:46:39,799
Trade and traffic areconstantly extending.
559
00:46:40,279 --> 00:46:42,240
The elevating influence of education
560
00:46:42,319 --> 00:46:44,640
has been brought to bear in your country,
561
00:46:44,720 --> 00:46:47,359
and under the shieldof an orderly administration,
562
00:46:47,440 --> 00:46:50,600
every man may enjoythe fruits of his labors.
563
00:46:51,640 --> 00:46:54,080
In order to raise Bosnia and Herzegovina…
564
00:46:54,160 --> 00:46:56,560
With these words,the Emperor Franz Joseph,
565
00:46:56,640 --> 00:46:58,640
after 30 years of occupation,
566
00:46:58,720 --> 00:47:02,160
proclaimed the annexationof Bosnia and Herzegovina
567
00:47:02,240 --> 00:47:04,120
into the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
568
00:47:08,120 --> 00:47:11,520
Of course,
it was a violation of international law,
569
00:47:11,600 --> 00:47:13,520
the Berlin Treaty,
570
00:47:13,600 --> 00:47:18,200
and naturally Serbia
was fiercely against it.
571
00:47:18,279 --> 00:47:23,839
They considered Bosnia to be
kind of Alsace-Lorraine of Serbia,
572
00:47:23,920 --> 00:47:30,839
key provinces for future of the Serbian
and Yugoslavian unification.
573
00:47:31,799 --> 00:47:34,200
In Belgrade,the news of the annexation
574
00:47:34,279 --> 00:47:38,000
of Bosnia and Herzegovinawas met with outrage.
575
00:47:38,560 --> 00:47:42,120
The largest demonstrationsthe city had ever seen were organized.
576
00:47:45,080 --> 00:47:47,960
To try to defuse the tension,Serbian Foreign Minister
577
00:47:48,040 --> 00:47:50,680
appealed to Vienna and eventually Berlin
578
00:47:50,759 --> 00:47:52,879
for compensations in territory,
579
00:47:52,960 --> 00:47:55,720
namely the Sanjak of Novi Pazar
580
00:47:55,799 --> 00:47:59,319
from where the Austro-Hungarian armynow withdrew.
581
00:48:01,520 --> 00:48:02,879
Serbia hoped to expand there
582
00:48:02,960 --> 00:48:06,200
and finally get a shared borderwith Montenegro.
583
00:48:07,359 --> 00:48:11,120
But this was not what Austriahad in mind for Serbia at the time.
584
00:48:13,120 --> 00:48:16,920
A month before the annexationon September the 5th, 1908,
585
00:48:17,000 --> 00:48:20,000
the Austro-HungarianForeign Minister Aehrenthal
586
00:48:20,080 --> 00:48:24,759
met with his German counterpartMinister Schoen in Berchtesgaden
587
00:48:24,839 --> 00:48:28,720
and told him in confidencethat his plan beyond the annexation was
588
00:48:28,799 --> 00:48:32,799
"the complete destructionof the Serbian revolutionary nest"
589
00:48:32,879 --> 00:48:37,160
and "partition of Serbiabetween Austria-Hungary and Bulgaria."
590
00:48:39,520 --> 00:48:43,400
A MESSAGE TO AUSTRIA
SERBIA IS TAKING UP ARMS
591
00:48:45,279 --> 00:48:48,240
Now it was also the Serbian pressthat called for war.
592
00:48:53,000 --> 00:48:55,279
As the army itself was unfit to fight,
593
00:48:55,359 --> 00:48:57,799
people close to the governmentand army circles
594
00:48:57,879 --> 00:49:00,759
began organizing thousands of volunteers
595
00:49:00,839 --> 00:49:03,640
in what was known as the National Defense,
596
00:49:03,720 --> 00:49:08,440
armed Chetnik squads willingto go to Bosnia and fight Austria-Hungary.
597
00:49:09,200 --> 00:49:11,839
We must delivera crushing blow to Serbia,
598
00:49:11,920 --> 00:49:14,839
regardless of the positionof other powers.
599
00:49:14,920 --> 00:49:17,040
An Austrian invasion of Serbia
600
00:49:17,120 --> 00:49:19,560
might lead Russia to intervene actively.
601
00:49:19,640 --> 00:49:23,160
With this, the casus foederis
would arise for Germany.
602
00:49:24,640 --> 00:49:26,839
But the Russians were secretly supportive
603
00:49:26,920 --> 00:49:29,879
of the Austro-Hungarian annexation plan.
604
00:49:31,279 --> 00:49:34,359
In September of 1908 in Buchlovice,
605
00:49:34,440 --> 00:49:37,520
Russian Foreign Minister Iswolskygave Aehrenthal
606
00:49:37,600 --> 00:49:40,640
Russia's consentto the planned annexation.
607
00:49:43,480 --> 00:49:45,799
Iswolsky's policy
was based on the following.
608
00:49:45,879 --> 00:49:49,520
"There are antagonisms with Japan,
say, in Manchuria, Korea…
609
00:49:49,600 --> 00:49:52,600
but we'll resolve that,
we'll make concessions.
610
00:49:52,680 --> 00:49:57,040
There are antagonisms with England,
in Afghanistan, Persia,
611
00:49:57,120 --> 00:49:59,279
but we'll come to an understanding,
we'll make concessions.
612
00:49:59,359 --> 00:50:01,480
There are antagonisms
with Austria-Hungary.
613
00:50:01,560 --> 00:50:03,560
We'll come to an understanding
with Austria-Hungary.
614
00:50:03,640 --> 00:50:06,400
For what reason? For the result
that with all of the concessions made
615
00:50:06,480 --> 00:50:08,759
there should be a conference
616
00:50:08,839 --> 00:50:13,799
at which the issue
of the Straits is to be reviewed.
617
00:50:14,560 --> 00:50:17,520
And while Austria-Hungarygot the annexation,
618
00:50:17,600 --> 00:50:21,319
it failed to provide support for Russiaone more time again.
619
00:50:22,040 --> 00:50:23,640
And the straits of the Black Sea
620
00:50:23,720 --> 00:50:26,759
were to remain closedfor the Russian Navy.
621
00:50:34,000 --> 00:50:37,319
Now the Russian press called for war.
622
00:50:45,080 --> 00:50:48,160
And while Serbiawas facing the Austrian ultimatum,
623
00:50:48,240 --> 00:50:51,399
the German one was deliveredto Saint Petersburg.
624
00:50:55,640 --> 00:50:58,240
As Count Montecuccoli,
625
00:50:58,319 --> 00:51:00,640
the famous Austrian general, used to say,
626
00:51:00,720 --> 00:51:03,640
"There are only
three necessary prerequisites for war,
627
00:51:03,720 --> 00:51:06,759
and that's money, money,
and once again, money."
628
00:51:06,839 --> 00:51:10,560
And that was something
that during 1908 and 1909
629
00:51:10,640 --> 00:51:14,560
the Russian budget was lacking entirely.
630
00:51:14,640 --> 00:51:17,480
So, the Bosnian crisis
caught the Russian army
631
00:51:17,560 --> 00:51:21,680
in the position from which not only
it could not have effectively attacked,
632
00:51:21,759 --> 00:51:23,960
but from which it was unable
to effectively defend itself.
633
00:51:30,799 --> 00:51:36,359
Decision to collapse under Austrian threat
and German ultimatum
634
00:51:36,440 --> 00:51:39,279
totally humiliates the Russian elite
635
00:51:39,359 --> 00:51:42,680
and makes everybody,
from Nicholas II down,
636
00:51:42,759 --> 00:51:47,480
absolutely determined that Russia
will not be humiliated again in that way.
637
00:51:49,640 --> 00:51:51,560
What a good opportunity we missed
638
00:51:51,640 --> 00:51:54,879
of bringing the great European questionto a decision.
639
00:51:55,440 --> 00:51:57,759
…and will probablynot come back so soon
640
00:51:57,839 --> 00:52:01,319
and under such favorable circumstances.
641
00:52:17,200 --> 00:52:21,160
In 1911, Moroccan tribesrevolted against the sultan.
642
00:52:22,799 --> 00:52:25,640
This now served as a strong pretextfor France to send
643
00:52:25,720 --> 00:52:30,160
her 20,000 troopsand take full control of Morocco.
644
00:52:31,600 --> 00:52:33,399
In return, the Germans sent
645
00:52:33,480 --> 00:52:36,240
a small gunboat, the SMS Panther,
646
00:52:36,319 --> 00:52:38,399
to the Moroccan port of Agadir.
647
00:52:40,920 --> 00:52:44,319
But yet again,it was the British naval threat
648
00:52:44,399 --> 00:52:47,560
that deterred the Germansfrom taking any action.
649
00:52:52,920 --> 00:52:56,040
The German navy was still far from readyto fight the British.
650
00:52:59,440 --> 00:53:01,960
The works on the Kiel Canaland the major U-boat base
651
00:53:02,040 --> 00:53:04,759
in the North Sea were well underway,
652
00:53:04,839 --> 00:53:08,279
but still several yearsaway from their completion.
653
00:53:09,440 --> 00:53:13,240
The new naval lawbrought in the same year, 1911,
654
00:53:13,319 --> 00:53:17,759
now allowed Germany to speed upher battleship production by 50%.
655
00:53:19,080 --> 00:53:21,279
Instead of buildingtwo major ships a year,
656
00:53:21,359 --> 00:53:25,040
she was to build three, starting in 1917.
657
00:53:27,279 --> 00:53:29,600
With a Dreier tempo,Germany planned to reach
658
00:53:29,680 --> 00:53:32,960
the British naval supremacyin a matter of years.
659
00:53:43,000 --> 00:53:47,560
But the other purpose of the navy
was to force Britain to her knees,
660
00:53:47,640 --> 00:53:50,920
simply because Britain,
with her larger commitments
661
00:53:51,000 --> 00:53:54,000
all over the globe
and her smaller manpower,
662
00:53:54,080 --> 00:53:58,520
would have to build three ships
for every two of the Germans built.
663
00:53:58,600 --> 00:54:01,480
So if the Tirpitz navy
was 60 ships strong,
664
00:54:01,560 --> 00:54:03,879
the British would have to build 90 ships,
665
00:54:03,960 --> 00:54:06,279
and economically
they just could not do that.
666
00:54:06,359 --> 00:54:08,279
And so Tirpitz says,
"There will come a point
667
00:54:08,359 --> 00:54:10,160
when the British will break,
668
00:54:10,240 --> 00:54:12,920
where they will come to us and say,
'We can't go on.
669
00:54:13,000 --> 00:54:16,120
Our hospitals are suffering,
our schools are suffering,
670
00:54:16,200 --> 00:54:17,600
our whole economy is breaking.
671
00:54:17,680 --> 00:54:20,200
What can we do? What can we give you
672
00:54:20,279 --> 00:54:23,759
in return for your slowing down
the naval arms race?'"
673
00:54:23,839 --> 00:54:26,120
And Tirpitz knew exactly what he wanted.
674
00:54:26,200 --> 00:54:29,080
He wanted Britain to sign a treaty
with Germany
675
00:54:29,160 --> 00:54:33,759
promising to stay neutral
in the event of a war on the Continent,
676
00:54:33,839 --> 00:54:35,839
regardless of how that war started.
677
00:54:35,920 --> 00:54:39,200
In other words,
to give Germany carte blanche
678
00:54:39,279 --> 00:54:43,680
to attack France or Russia
at any time they chose.
679
00:54:48,120 --> 00:54:51,920
The decisive contestwill start in September 1914.
680
00:54:52,000 --> 00:54:55,319
That date suits the Germansif ever they are going to fight.
681
00:54:55,399 --> 00:54:58,560
Both their army and fleet then mobilized,
682
00:54:58,640 --> 00:55:00,200
the Kiel Canal finished,
683
00:55:00,279 --> 00:55:03,000
and their new naval buildings complete.
684
00:55:05,759 --> 00:55:07,480
In the spring of 1912,
685
00:55:07,560 --> 00:55:09,240
Britain and France made an agreement
686
00:55:09,319 --> 00:55:12,240
to bring all of their warshipsback to Europe
687
00:55:12,319 --> 00:55:14,440
and share defense responsibilities.
688
00:55:17,640 --> 00:55:20,680
The French fleet was to patrolthe Mediterranean,
689
00:55:20,759 --> 00:55:23,680
and the British Royal Navywas to increase its presence
690
00:55:23,759 --> 00:55:25,279
in the North Sea.
691
00:55:27,399 --> 00:55:29,839
In July of 1912 in Paris,
692
00:55:29,920 --> 00:55:33,759
Generals Joffre and Zhilinskysigned a military convention.
693
00:55:33,839 --> 00:55:36,440
In the event of a German attack on France,
694
00:55:36,520 --> 00:55:39,399
Russia was to attack Germanywithin fifteen days
695
00:55:39,480 --> 00:55:42,000
and push through Prussia towards Berlin.
696
00:55:45,160 --> 00:55:50,240
And inside Germany, politics were gettingmore and more complicated.
697
00:55:50,319 --> 00:55:53,640
In 1912 elections,the Social Democratic Party won
698
00:55:53,720 --> 00:55:56,520
35% of the seats in the Reichstag,
699
00:55:56,600 --> 00:56:00,120
thus becomingthe strongest political party in Germany.
700
00:56:05,120 --> 00:56:08,080
Germany is becoming
more and more democratic, internally,
701
00:56:08,160 --> 00:56:10,319
and has a larger socialist movement
702
00:56:10,399 --> 00:56:14,359
which is republican,
Marxist and pacifistic.
703
00:56:16,120 --> 00:56:20,440
There is a real danger
that the Social Democratic Party,
704
00:56:20,520 --> 00:56:24,960
the Catholic Center Party,
the Liberal Party will simply say,
705
00:56:25,040 --> 00:56:29,960
"This form of government that we have
is not adequate for a modern society."
706
00:56:30,040 --> 00:56:32,520
And the more power those parties acquire,
707
00:56:32,600 --> 00:56:37,879
the less the militarist tradition
will be able to be put into effect.
708
00:56:37,960 --> 00:56:39,879
So there's a time factor involved here,
709
00:56:39,960 --> 00:56:42,120
they see that very clearly,
the German General Staff.
710
00:56:54,839 --> 00:56:57,120
Russia has huge resources,
711
00:56:57,200 --> 00:57:01,319
both in terms of raw materials
and in terms of population.
712
00:57:02,080 --> 00:57:04,319
So if the economy goes on growing
at this rate,
713
00:57:04,399 --> 00:57:06,560
Russia is going to be a superpower
714
00:57:06,640 --> 00:57:09,600
in a way that really
in the world of that time,
715
00:57:09,680 --> 00:57:11,680
only the United States could match.
716
00:57:12,279 --> 00:57:15,680
Possibly the British Empire,
if the British Empire holds together,
717
00:57:15,759 --> 00:57:18,319
but certainly not a purely continental
European country.
718
00:57:19,000 --> 00:57:22,919
And the fact that the future
seems to belong to Russia
719
00:57:23,000 --> 00:57:26,640
deeply scares both German policymakers
720
00:57:26,720 --> 00:57:29,600
and broader sections of German society,
721
00:57:30,160 --> 00:57:32,279
so from the German perspective,
722
00:57:33,200 --> 00:57:36,960
you have this combination
of fear and temptation.
723
00:57:37,720 --> 00:57:40,399
The sense that if you fight now
you'll probably win,
724
00:57:40,480 --> 00:57:43,080
whereas if you leave it for ten years,
you'll almost certainly lose.
725
00:57:51,480 --> 00:57:54,520
There was also growing concernthat by 1917,
726
00:57:54,600 --> 00:57:57,520
Russia would have fully recoveredfrom the Japanese defeat
727
00:57:57,600 --> 00:57:59,799
and the 1905 revolution.
728
00:58:00,799 --> 00:58:04,080
The Russians were expected to completetheir Great Military Program
729
00:58:04,160 --> 00:58:06,240
and be firmly on their feet again,
730
00:58:08,040 --> 00:58:10,799
this time with two million soldiers.
731
00:58:14,200 --> 00:58:16,879
Germany and Austria, they say,
732
00:58:16,960 --> 00:58:18,759
"We're losing ground in Europe.
733
00:58:18,839 --> 00:58:20,799
The others are getting
more and more powerful
734
00:58:20,879 --> 00:58:21,799
and we can't catch up."
735
00:58:25,080 --> 00:58:27,080
And it's not so much armaments
736
00:58:27,160 --> 00:58:30,520
but railway building
by the French in Russia.
737
00:58:30,600 --> 00:58:31,640
That is the big threat.
738
00:58:33,160 --> 00:58:38,319
In 1912 and 1913,Russia received a major French loan.
739
00:58:38,399 --> 00:58:42,759
The condition was that they buildstrategic railways in western Russia.
740
00:58:43,640 --> 00:58:46,799
Railways leading to the German border.
741
00:58:54,080 --> 00:58:56,319
And within three or four years,
742
00:58:56,399 --> 00:59:00,000
Russian mobilization would be
just as quick as the Austrians,
743
00:59:00,080 --> 00:59:02,640
maybe even not quite as the Germans.
744
00:59:02,720 --> 00:59:06,680
So you can no longer have
the Schlieffen Plan after 1917.
745
00:59:06,759 --> 00:59:09,120
You can still fight
the war on two fronts now.
746
00:59:09,200 --> 00:59:12,040
In a few years' time
you'll no longer be able to do that,
747
00:59:12,120 --> 00:59:15,879
and that is really the basic argument
for a preventive war.
748
00:59:15,960 --> 00:59:17,799
So, in global terms,
749
00:59:17,879 --> 00:59:20,319
World War I is a sort of preventive war
750
00:59:20,399 --> 00:59:22,440
against the Russian
railway building program.
751
00:59:34,279 --> 00:59:37,839
It's obvious that if you are
the Chief of the German General Staff
752
00:59:37,919 --> 00:59:40,919
you're not going to wait
until your enemies are ready.
753
00:59:41,680 --> 00:59:45,480
It's quite natural that you plan to do
the attacking yourself
754
00:59:45,560 --> 00:59:47,240
to surprise the others.
755
00:59:47,319 --> 00:59:50,080
The trouble with that is that it looks
like a war of aggression,
756
00:59:50,160 --> 00:59:52,120
which indeed it would have been,
757
00:59:52,200 --> 00:59:55,839
which your own people would not support.
758
00:59:55,919 --> 00:59:58,040
Your allies would not even support it
759
00:59:58,120 --> 01:00:02,919
if it looks like you are taking
an initiative in starting this war.
760
01:00:03,000 --> 01:00:05,120
So the whole war had to be disguised.
761
01:00:09,120 --> 01:00:13,919
It was crucial for Berlin
to appear to be attacked.
762
01:00:15,120 --> 01:00:18,240
There was a lot of talk about
how we need to appear to be attacked
763
01:00:18,319 --> 01:00:20,640
so that all the population
will be behind us
764
01:00:20,720 --> 01:00:24,080
and that perhaps Britain
will stay out of the war.
765
01:00:27,040 --> 01:00:31,520
I prepare the German mind for this
by newspaper articles
766
01:00:31,600 --> 01:00:35,080
written by the General Staff
to represent Russia
767
01:00:35,160 --> 01:00:37,520
as barbaric, killing its own people,
768
01:00:37,600 --> 01:00:40,799
shooting its own people
in Petrograd and so on.
769
01:00:40,879 --> 01:00:46,640
But secondly, the best way is
to push Austria in the Balkans
770
01:00:46,720 --> 01:00:48,200
into a war against Serbia.
771
01:00:49,960 --> 01:00:52,520
Perhaps I don't have to push
because they want to do it anyway,
772
01:00:52,600 --> 01:00:54,879
but we will be very supportive.
773
01:00:56,160 --> 01:00:59,000
The experience
of the Moroccan crisis had shown
774
01:00:59,080 --> 01:01:03,919
that they couldn't really rely
on the Austrian ally in a crisis
775
01:01:04,000 --> 01:01:07,240
that didn't directly affect
their own interests,
776
01:01:07,319 --> 01:01:10,160
so a Balkan crisis
was considered in Berlin
777
01:01:10,240 --> 01:01:13,120
to be really pretty crucial and important
778
01:01:13,200 --> 01:01:16,080
if you wanted, perhaps, to provoke a war.
779
01:01:17,600 --> 01:01:21,399
If then, which they thought
was very likely, 90% likely,
780
01:01:21,480 --> 01:01:24,839
Russia supports Serbia
and declares war on Austria,
781
01:01:24,919 --> 01:01:27,560
then we will look as if we're only coming
to the aid of our ally.
782
01:01:27,640 --> 01:01:29,560
We will not seem like the aggressors,
783
01:01:29,640 --> 01:01:32,600
even though our attack is
actually against France,
784
01:01:32,680 --> 01:01:36,560
before we can sweep
our army against Russia.
785
01:01:39,040 --> 01:01:43,680
And the greatest prize of all
in this plan of Bethmann Hollweg's
786
01:01:43,759 --> 01:01:46,480
was to keep Britain neutral
787
01:01:46,560 --> 01:01:50,560
in what would look like a war
in the Balkans long way away.
788
01:02:01,319 --> 01:02:04,160
The Austro-Hungarian annexation of 1908
789
01:02:04,240 --> 01:02:09,080
incited the creation of many groupsand secret societies of young Bosnians.
790
01:02:17,040 --> 01:02:20,919
One was the progressiveSerbo-Croat youth of Sarajevo,
791
01:02:21,000 --> 01:02:24,200
and one of its members Gavrilo Princip.
792
01:02:26,960 --> 01:02:30,600
And in Serbia there was a secret societyof Serbian army officers
793
01:02:30,680 --> 01:02:36,879
called Unification or Death,better known as The Black Hand.
794
01:02:37,919 --> 01:02:42,879
One of its leaders was Lieutenant ColonelDragutin Dimitrijević, "Apis,"
795
01:02:42,960 --> 01:02:47,080
the man who organizedthe 1903 coup d'état.
796
01:02:47,160 --> 01:02:49,279
Now he also aimed to bring down
797
01:02:49,359 --> 01:02:53,080
the Prime Minister Nikola Pašićand his government.
798
01:02:55,359 --> 01:02:58,879
The Black Hand and the revolutionaryand nationalist groups in Bosnia
799
01:02:58,960 --> 01:03:01,080
shared a common goal
800
01:03:01,160 --> 01:03:06,040
to free Bosnia and Herzegovinaof Austro-Hungarian rule.
801
01:03:14,120 --> 01:03:17,200
The main target of Serbian policy
802
01:03:17,279 --> 01:03:21,520
was to finish
with the Ottoman rule in Old Serbia,
803
01:03:21,600 --> 01:03:25,759
which is Vilayet of Kosovo
and Vilayet of Manastir,
804
01:03:25,839 --> 01:03:28,160
which is Slavic Macedonia.
805
01:03:28,240 --> 01:03:33,560
So Bosnia was apart
from any plans of Serbia
806
01:03:33,640 --> 01:03:39,240
to foment revolt or any kind
of internal turmoil.
807
01:03:39,319 --> 01:03:42,839
The main focus was the south.
808
01:03:48,720 --> 01:03:50,680
In order to fully liberate their lands
809
01:03:50,759 --> 01:03:52,799
from centuries of Ottoman rule,
810
01:03:52,879 --> 01:03:55,680
Serbia, Bulgaria, Greece and Montenegro
811
01:03:55,759 --> 01:03:58,919
commenced military operationsagainst the Ottoman Empire
812
01:03:59,000 --> 01:04:01,520
on October the 8th, 1912.
813
01:04:28,319 --> 01:04:30,480
One of the most important elements
814
01:04:30,560 --> 01:04:33,439
in Serbian strategy
during the First Balkan War
815
01:04:33,520 --> 01:04:37,480
was to obtain an access
to the Adriatic Sea
816
01:04:37,560 --> 01:04:44,560
and to have a direct territorial link
for its exports into the third countries,
817
01:04:44,640 --> 01:04:48,960
because the tariff war
by Austria-Hungary has shown
818
01:04:49,040 --> 01:04:55,759
that Austria is doing everything
to block Serbia's export
819
01:04:55,839 --> 01:04:59,720
and to bring her back
into their political influence.
820
01:05:01,520 --> 01:05:04,560
For Vienna, it was essential
821
01:05:04,640 --> 01:05:10,399
to restrict the expansion of Serbia.
822
01:05:10,480 --> 01:05:16,919
It is not acceptable to allow
Serbia to reach the Adriatic.
823
01:05:17,000 --> 01:05:22,600
The means to prevent that
was to form the Albanian state.
824
01:05:22,680 --> 01:05:26,480
SERBIAN ADVANCE TOWARDS THE ADRIATIC
825
01:05:32,439 --> 01:05:34,560
The tensionbetween Vienna and Belgrade
826
01:05:34,640 --> 01:05:36,240
was becoming critical.
827
01:05:36,319 --> 01:05:42,080
THE BALKAN WAR
AUSTRO-HUNGARIAN CONFLICT WITH SERBIA
828
01:05:42,160 --> 01:05:45,600
In Berlin, all saw thisas a welcome opportunity.
829
01:05:47,480 --> 01:05:49,480
All but one.
830
01:05:53,919 --> 01:05:58,399
In November 1912,
even the Chancellor Bethmann Hollweg
831
01:05:58,480 --> 01:06:00,439
and Kiderlen-Waechter,
the Foreign Secretary,
832
01:06:00,520 --> 01:06:04,359
as well as the generals,
are urging Wilhelm II
833
01:06:04,439 --> 01:06:09,560
that the thing to do is to encourage
Austria to attack Serbia
834
01:06:09,640 --> 01:06:12,080
before Serbia can reach the Adriatic.
835
01:06:12,640 --> 01:06:15,960
And Wilhelm is reluctant.
He has a plan B in mind.
836
01:06:17,080 --> 01:06:20,240
Plan B is that instead of Austria
attacking Serbia,
837
01:06:20,319 --> 01:06:22,160
it should bribe Serbia.
838
01:06:22,240 --> 01:06:24,279
Give them lots of money, he says,
839
01:06:24,359 --> 01:06:26,720
and then when the war
against Russia comes,
840
01:06:26,799 --> 01:06:29,919
the Serb army will be integrated
with the Austro-Hungarian army,
841
01:06:30,000 --> 01:06:31,759
and we can defeat Russia all the better.
842
01:06:32,680 --> 01:06:34,120
It is often said that Germany
843
01:06:34,200 --> 01:06:38,120
has no need to fight for Austria'sAlbanian or Adriatic interests,
844
01:06:38,200 --> 01:06:40,040
or even for the harbor at Durazzo,
845
01:06:40,120 --> 01:06:42,160
but that is not what is at stake.
846
01:06:42,839 --> 01:06:46,200
If Austria has to fightfor her position as a great power,
847
01:06:46,279 --> 01:06:47,560
regardless of the cause,
848
01:06:47,640 --> 01:06:50,160
then we must stand at her side
849
01:06:50,240 --> 01:06:52,680
so as not to have to fight aloneat a later stage
850
01:06:52,759 --> 01:06:55,399
with a weakened Austria beside us.
851
01:06:55,960 --> 01:06:58,160
Austria-Hungarycould count unconditionally
852
01:06:58,240 --> 01:07:00,240
on the support of the German Reich.
853
01:07:00,319 --> 01:07:03,879
Germany's sword is already loosein its scabbard.
854
01:07:05,839 --> 01:07:09,000
On November the 21st, 1912,the Kaiser ordered
855
01:07:09,080 --> 01:07:12,480
his new ambassador to London,Prince Lichnowsky,
856
01:07:12,560 --> 01:07:14,839
to ascertain whatthe British position would be
857
01:07:14,919 --> 01:07:17,240
in the event of a Continental war.
858
01:07:20,839 --> 01:07:23,240
The very next day, November the 22nd,
859
01:07:23,319 --> 01:07:26,520
Conrad's replacement,General Blasius Schemua,
860
01:07:26,600 --> 01:07:30,000
and the Archduke Franz Ferdinandcame in secret to Berlin
861
01:07:30,080 --> 01:07:32,279
to meet the Kaiser and Moltke.
862
01:07:33,120 --> 01:07:35,600
Moltke entirely understood our situation
863
01:07:35,680 --> 01:07:37,640
vis-à-vis Russia and Serbia.
864
01:07:37,720 --> 01:07:39,799
He promised not merely to stand guard
865
01:07:39,879 --> 01:07:44,240
but to launch a forceful offensive actionin parallel with ours.
866
01:07:44,720 --> 01:07:46,680
Kaiser Wilhelm, especially gracious,
867
01:07:46,759 --> 01:07:49,439
willing to support us in everything.
868
01:07:49,520 --> 01:07:54,640
Full security in this respect, absolutelyagainst the conference of the Powers.
869
01:07:56,839 --> 01:07:59,799
In his speech on December the 2nd, 1912,
870
01:07:59,879 --> 01:08:05,120
the Chancellor Bethmann Hollweg pledgedfull German support for Austria-Hungary
871
01:08:05,200 --> 01:08:08,359
in front of the Reichstagand the whole world.
872
01:08:12,120 --> 01:08:16,639
So that is if you like, a blank check,
given both secretly and in public
873
01:08:16,720 --> 01:08:21,359
by the Kaiser, but also Moltke
and Bethmann Hollweg.
874
01:08:21,439 --> 01:08:23,760
All make it clear
to the Austrian leadership
875
01:08:23,840 --> 01:08:27,760
that Germany would be in support
if they attack Serbia.
876
01:08:43,240 --> 01:08:45,840
They brought such an enormous army
877
01:08:45,920 --> 01:08:49,960
that in Belgrade
they thought that the war is imminent,
878
01:08:50,040 --> 01:08:54,279
that the war will erupt within weeks,
879
01:08:54,359 --> 01:08:58,840
at the moment when the most
of the Serbian troops were in the south
880
01:08:58,920 --> 01:09:01,080
guarding the new territories.
881
01:09:02,840 --> 01:09:04,040
On December the 8th,
882
01:09:04,120 --> 01:09:07,720
the Kaiser readLichnowsky's telegram from London.
883
01:09:08,639 --> 01:09:11,160
In a generalEuropean conflict that might arise
884
01:09:11,240 --> 01:09:14,200
from an Austrian invasion of Serbia,it is hardly likely
885
01:09:14,279 --> 01:09:17,639
that Great Britain would be ableto remain a passive observer.
886
01:09:17,720 --> 01:09:20,840
England could, therefore,under no circumstances
887
01:09:20,920 --> 01:09:22,840
tolerate the crushing of France.
888
01:09:23,319 --> 01:09:27,359
England cannot be and is not willingto be confronted afterwards
889
01:09:27,439 --> 01:09:31,359
by a united continentunder the leadership of one single power.
890
01:09:33,439 --> 01:09:35,559
The Kaiser was furious.
891
01:09:35,639 --> 01:09:37,519
He called up a meeting.
892
01:09:37,599 --> 01:09:40,639
It would become known as the War Council.
893
01:09:41,639 --> 01:09:43,439
It took place on a Sunday morning,
894
01:09:43,519 --> 01:09:47,240
December the 8th, 1912,in the Berlin Palace.
895
01:09:47,880 --> 01:09:50,559
Austria must dealenergetically with the Serbs,
896
01:09:50,639 --> 01:09:53,319
otherwise she will lose controlof the Slavs
897
01:09:53,399 --> 01:09:55,280
in the Austro-Hungarian monarchy.
898
01:09:56,960 --> 01:09:59,920
If Russia supports the Serbs,which she evidently does,
899
01:10:00,000 --> 01:10:02,920
then war would be unavoidable for us too.
900
01:10:03,000 --> 01:10:05,720
I believe a war is unavoidable,
901
01:10:05,800 --> 01:10:08,519
and the sooner the better.
902
01:10:09,080 --> 01:10:11,480
Moltke says the sooner the better.
903
01:10:11,559 --> 01:10:15,000
We are ready, any delay is going
to put us at a disadvantage.
904
01:10:15,559 --> 01:10:18,200
But it's Tirpitz who swings the meeting
905
01:10:18,280 --> 01:10:23,160
by saying the Navy
would prefer to see the great fight,
906
01:10:23,240 --> 01:10:27,160
he says "the great fight,"
to be postponed for a year and a half
907
01:10:27,240 --> 01:10:29,080
until the Kiel Canal is ready
908
01:10:31,360 --> 01:10:33,880
in the summer of 1914.
909
01:10:41,360 --> 01:10:43,639
The very next day,December the 9th,
910
01:10:43,720 --> 01:10:45,880
work began on the new Army Bill.
911
01:10:47,599 --> 01:10:51,679
The army budgetwas to increase by a staggering 35%
912
01:10:51,760 --> 01:10:56,360
and reach 2.4 billionDeutschemarks in 1913.
913
01:10:57,400 --> 01:11:01,360
The army's troop strengthwould be increased by 140,000 men
914
01:11:01,440 --> 01:11:03,040
by 1914.
915
01:11:09,080 --> 01:11:11,120
The creationof a strong Serbian Empire
916
01:11:11,200 --> 01:11:12,440
must be prevented.
917
01:11:12,519 --> 01:11:15,599
It is vital not to get encircledby the ring of Slavs.
918
01:11:17,240 --> 01:11:18,519
The solution can be deferred,
919
01:11:18,599 --> 01:11:21,040
but the question will come up againin one or two years.
920
01:11:21,800 --> 01:11:24,080
It will be necessaryto create a Balkan state
921
01:11:24,160 --> 01:11:27,480
which does not look towards Petersburg,but Vienna,
922
01:11:27,559 --> 01:11:30,280
and Turkey will haveto be strengthened again.
923
01:11:34,559 --> 01:11:36,840
But back in December of 1912,
924
01:11:36,920 --> 01:11:38,639
Austria-Hungary was still gathering
925
01:11:38,720 --> 01:11:42,040
a massive military forcejust outside Belgrade.
926
01:11:44,559 --> 01:11:46,960
They now had to be
pulled back again, had to be told,
927
01:11:47,040 --> 01:11:49,840
no, well, actually, we've changed
our minds because of this.
928
01:11:49,920 --> 01:11:52,040
So the Kaiser writes to Franz Ferdinand,
929
01:11:52,120 --> 01:11:54,840
Moltke writes to Conrad von Hötzendorf,
930
01:11:54,920 --> 01:11:57,760
Bethmann Hollweg writes
to Berchtold, and says,
931
01:11:57,840 --> 01:11:59,800
"No, actually not yet. Wait!"
932
01:12:09,920 --> 01:12:12,280
And then the Austrians say,
"All right.
933
01:12:13,160 --> 01:12:16,320
Let's say the Balkan
for the Balkan peoples."
934
01:12:16,400 --> 01:12:20,440
Because if you follow
ethnic lines of conduct,
935
01:12:20,519 --> 01:12:23,800
then Serbia is going to win fairly little.
936
01:12:23,880 --> 01:12:27,480
Because Macedonians are regarded
as Bulgarians,
937
01:12:27,559 --> 01:12:30,320
the Kosovo has an Albanian majority,
they believed,
938
01:12:30,400 --> 01:12:32,679
so Serbia will gain almost nothing.
939
01:12:33,280 --> 01:12:36,160
So they are waiting
for the second round of arguing.
940
01:12:36,240 --> 01:12:39,679
They are waiting
for the Balkan entente to fall apart
941
01:12:39,760 --> 01:12:42,080
and for the victors
in the first Balkan War
942
01:12:42,160 --> 01:12:43,080
to start fighting each other.
943
01:12:50,000 --> 01:12:52,200
On June the 29th, 1913,
944
01:12:52,280 --> 01:12:55,240
with the Bulgarian attackon the Serbian and Greek troops,
945
01:12:55,320 --> 01:12:57,040
the Second Balkan War began.
946
01:13:03,720 --> 01:13:05,639
The Austrians tell the Bulgarians,
947
01:13:05,720 --> 01:13:09,920
"We'll support you,
but only if you buy off the Romanians.
948
01:13:10,920 --> 01:13:13,639
If you bribe the Romanians with territory,
949
01:13:13,720 --> 01:13:17,160
then we'll actually join you
in jointly defeating Serbia."
950
01:13:18,360 --> 01:13:23,040
The Bulgarians refuse to hand over
territory to the Romanians.
951
01:13:23,120 --> 01:13:27,440
And so the Austrians say, "All right.
If that is so, then our offer lapses."
952
01:13:27,519 --> 01:13:29,480
And the Bulgarian tsar is furious.
953
01:13:29,559 --> 01:13:32,400
He says, "Who could have thought
that you would miss
954
01:13:32,480 --> 01:13:36,040
this perfect opportunity
for wiping Serbia from the map!"
955
01:13:36,679 --> 01:13:37,960
And as it happens, of course,
956
01:13:38,040 --> 01:13:40,400
the Bulgarians on their own,
they're being defeated.
957
01:13:40,480 --> 01:13:44,040
And in itself
that's a big defeat for foreign policy.
958
01:13:56,480 --> 01:14:00,320
Now Bulgaria and Austria'sinterests were united in defeat,
959
01:14:00,400 --> 01:14:04,760
and Bulgaria was to becomean important ally for the Central Powers,
960
01:14:05,960 --> 01:14:08,480
as was the Ottoman Empire.
961
01:14:11,599 --> 01:14:14,639
Germany was buildingthe Berlin-Baghdad railroad,
962
01:14:15,960 --> 01:14:19,040
while the GermanGeneral Otto Liman von Sanders
963
01:14:19,120 --> 01:14:23,120
was in charge of rebuildingthe Turkish Army on the German model.
964
01:14:25,240 --> 01:14:28,320
Now Russia was getting encircled.
965
01:14:37,040 --> 01:14:39,120
The basic point
from the Russian perspective
966
01:14:39,200 --> 01:14:43,160
is that Serbia is their most reliable ally
in the Balkans.
967
01:14:43,240 --> 01:14:45,719
It's the only country
on which they can depend,
968
01:14:45,800 --> 01:14:49,719
because unlike everybody else,
Serbia has no one else to look to.
969
01:14:50,960 --> 01:14:54,280
The Bulgarians can play the Russians
and Austrians off against each other.
970
01:14:54,360 --> 01:14:55,800
So can the Romanians.
971
01:14:55,880 --> 01:14:58,639
The Greeks can look to Germany,
they can look to Britain.
972
01:14:58,719 --> 01:15:00,240
So can the Turks, even.
973
01:15:00,800 --> 01:15:05,960
But Serbia, because of its commitment
to a basically anti-Austrian line,
974
01:15:06,040 --> 01:15:08,080
has no one to look to but Russia.
975
01:15:08,160 --> 01:15:11,400
It's therefore a secure ally, in a way,
976
01:15:11,480 --> 01:15:14,960
and it's an ally
which looks even more valuable
977
01:15:15,040 --> 01:15:16,920
after the two Balkan wars.
978
01:15:20,160 --> 01:15:21,920
The weaponthat stood out in the Balkan wars
979
01:15:22,000 --> 01:15:26,599
was the French Schneider-Creusot75 millimeter cannon.
980
01:15:27,599 --> 01:15:31,480
That brought confidence
to the French General Staff.
981
01:15:33,000 --> 01:15:34,440
They were also convinced
982
01:15:34,519 --> 01:15:38,400
that the Serbian army had become
quite a good army.
983
01:15:39,080 --> 01:15:40,840
They had a great respect
984
01:15:40,920 --> 01:15:45,760
from what was called at the time
"military virtues of the Serbian people,"
985
01:15:45,840 --> 01:15:50,480
reliable, tough,
willing to sacrifice themselves.
986
01:15:53,960 --> 01:15:57,559
The Serbian generals are saying,
"Look, we're very vulnerable
987
01:15:57,639 --> 01:16:01,400
at the moment,
because Serbia is attempting to absorb
988
01:16:01,480 --> 01:16:03,160
these newly conquered areas.
989
01:16:03,240 --> 01:16:05,200
The army has to reorganize itself.
990
01:16:05,280 --> 01:16:07,679
We need a new system of mobilization.
991
01:16:07,760 --> 01:16:09,599
We need all sorts of things.
992
01:16:09,679 --> 01:16:10,840
Give it three years.
993
01:16:10,920 --> 01:16:13,639
We and the Montenegrins
will be able to put half a million men
994
01:16:13,719 --> 01:16:15,280
in the field against Austria."
995
01:16:15,360 --> 01:16:19,080
That is a huge potential advantage
to Russia.
996
01:16:19,160 --> 01:16:22,400
That means
three, four Austrian army corps less
997
01:16:22,480 --> 01:16:24,280
on the eastern front.
998
01:16:24,360 --> 01:16:28,000
So at that level this is
straight realpolitik.
999
01:16:28,719 --> 01:16:30,400
At another level it isn't.
1000
01:16:30,480 --> 01:16:34,440
It's to do with appeals
to Slav solidarity.
1001
01:16:48,160 --> 01:16:50,000
In the autumn of 1913,
1002
01:16:50,080 --> 01:16:51,960
tensions were again on the rise.
1003
01:16:53,679 --> 01:16:56,080
In putting down the Albanian insurgents,
1004
01:16:56,160 --> 01:16:59,559
the Serbian armyhad penetrated deeply into Albania
1005
01:16:59,639 --> 01:17:02,519
and pushed for the Adriatic coast again.
1006
01:17:05,000 --> 01:17:08,519
Austria-Hungary nowdemanded full Serbian withdrawal
1007
01:17:08,599 --> 01:17:10,599
from the newly formed country.
1008
01:17:13,240 --> 01:17:15,679
And in the Alsace-Lorraine town of Severn,
1009
01:17:15,760 --> 01:17:20,480
a racial incident between a German officerand the local French population
1010
01:17:20,559 --> 01:17:23,880
threatened to escalateinto an open conflict.
1011
01:17:28,840 --> 01:17:32,320
At exactly that same time,
October-November 1913,
1012
01:17:32,400 --> 01:17:35,440
the king of the Belgians, Albert,
comes to Berlin
1013
01:17:35,519 --> 01:17:38,320
and is told both by the Kaiser and Moltke,
1014
01:17:38,400 --> 01:17:41,000
"We are about to go to war with France.
1015
01:17:41,080 --> 01:17:43,400
The German people will be so up for it
1016
01:17:43,480 --> 01:17:46,559
that nothing will stop
the furor teutonicus,
1017
01:17:46,639 --> 01:17:48,360
and you had better be on our side.
1018
01:17:48,440 --> 01:17:52,360
Because the penalty of being against us
will be terrible for you."
1019
01:17:55,960 --> 01:17:58,639
Within days,Albert reported Wilhelm's threat
1020
01:17:58,719 --> 01:17:59,800
to the French government.
1021
01:18:01,120 --> 01:18:03,760
But for Paris, this was hardly news.
1022
01:18:04,800 --> 01:18:09,840
In 1905 and 1911, war with Germanyover Morocco was narrowly avoided,
1023
01:18:10,840 --> 01:18:13,639
so in 1913, Poincaré's administration
1024
01:18:13,719 --> 01:18:18,000
extended the military servicefrom two to three years,
1025
01:18:18,080 --> 01:18:23,800
increasing the number of active troopsfrom 480,000 to 750,000.
1026
01:18:28,960 --> 01:18:32,960
Poincaré was convinced
that there was a danger for France
1027
01:18:33,040 --> 01:18:36,960
to be drawn into a very difficult war
against Germany,
1028
01:18:37,040 --> 01:18:39,920
and he did not want to do anything
1029
01:18:40,000 --> 01:18:45,040
which might endanger Russian help
in that case, in case of war.
1030
01:18:45,880 --> 01:18:49,240
As soon as Poincaré
became President of the Council,
1031
01:18:49,320 --> 01:18:52,480
Prime Minister, if you prefer, in 1912,
1032
01:18:52,559 --> 01:18:55,800
he sent to Saint Petersburg
1033
01:18:55,880 --> 01:18:59,800
as his ambassador, Delcassé,
1034
01:18:59,880 --> 01:19:03,599
who was a former Foreign Minister,
1035
01:19:03,679 --> 01:19:08,440
who was the architect
of the Franco-British Entente,
1036
01:19:08,519 --> 01:19:12,080
and who had already started, in 1898,
1037
01:19:12,160 --> 01:19:15,200
to reinforce the Franco-Russian Alliance.
1038
01:19:15,280 --> 01:19:19,280
That was a sign,
an indication to the Russians.
1039
01:19:19,360 --> 01:19:21,080
"We mean it seriously."
1040
01:19:22,000 --> 01:19:24,480
During his post as ambassadorin St. Petersburg,
1041
01:19:24,559 --> 01:19:27,920
Théophile Delcassé conductedcomprehensive talks
1042
01:19:28,000 --> 01:19:31,320
with the Russian Foreign MinisterSergey Sazonov.
1043
01:19:32,320 --> 01:19:35,280
The possibility of warwas an unavoidable subject.
1044
01:19:36,120 --> 01:19:40,320
If it comes to a war,
then we must try to win it.
1045
01:19:40,400 --> 01:19:42,320
They were pretty sure they could win it.
1046
01:19:42,400 --> 01:19:48,960
And in that case, we're going to solve
a whole series of problems.
1047
01:19:49,040 --> 01:19:54,800
We're going to solve the problem
of German hegemony in Europe.
1048
01:19:54,880 --> 01:19:58,000
We're going, of course,
to take back Alsace-Lorraine,
1049
01:19:58,080 --> 01:20:00,920
which had been lost
to the Germans in 1871.
1050
01:20:01,000 --> 01:20:04,719
The Russians will take
the Prussian part of Poland.
1051
01:20:04,800 --> 01:20:07,840
The Austro-Hungarian problem
will be solved
1052
01:20:07,920 --> 01:20:11,719
with annexation of Galicia
by the Russians,
1053
01:20:11,800 --> 01:20:16,440
and probably with
the end of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
1054
01:20:25,200 --> 01:20:27,840
On October the 18th, 1913,
1055
01:20:27,920 --> 01:20:30,639
Belgrade received yet another ultimatum.
1056
01:20:33,200 --> 01:20:35,080
For the third time in a year,
1057
01:20:35,160 --> 01:20:38,080
Austria-Hungary threatened war on Serbia,
1058
01:20:38,160 --> 01:20:42,320
now giving her eight daysto completely withdraw from Albania.
1059
01:20:53,200 --> 01:20:55,679
After the two exhausting Balkan wars,
1060
01:20:55,760 --> 01:20:59,320
which costed Serbia
almost a billion Francs,
1061
01:20:59,400 --> 01:21:02,559
the whole state was
on the edge of exhaustion.
1062
01:21:03,320 --> 01:21:07,440
Serbia was lacking 120,000 rifles only.
1063
01:21:07,519 --> 01:21:11,240
Cannons and ammunition was needed.
1064
01:21:11,960 --> 01:21:15,040
Half of the army was in the hospitals.
1065
01:21:15,120 --> 01:21:19,679
And Serbia needed
at least 20 years of peace
1066
01:21:19,760 --> 01:21:22,920
in order to absorb these new territories.
1067
01:21:23,000 --> 01:21:27,360
Therefore, her main interest was to remain
1068
01:21:27,440 --> 01:21:30,040
in friendly relations
with Austria-Hungary.
1069
01:21:31,679 --> 01:21:34,080
So once again, Serbia gave in
1070
01:21:34,160 --> 01:21:36,639
under the Austro-Hungarian ultimatum.
1071
01:21:44,160 --> 01:21:47,040
The Austrians face
the frustrations of success.
1072
01:21:47,120 --> 01:21:50,360
Because outwardly,
the Austrians get what they want.
1073
01:21:50,440 --> 01:21:53,800
They want annexation of Bosnia in 1909,
they get it.
1074
01:21:53,880 --> 01:21:56,440
They want Serbia not to have a port
1075
01:21:56,519 --> 01:21:59,639
on the Adriatic coastline in 1912,
and they get that.
1076
01:21:59,719 --> 01:22:02,960
They want Serbia
to withdraw from Albania in 1913,
1077
01:22:03,040 --> 01:22:04,320
and they get what they want.
1078
01:22:04,400 --> 01:22:07,639
On the other hand,
they realize it's all Pyrrhic victories.
1079
01:22:08,200 --> 01:22:09,840
It doesn't really benefit Austria.
1080
01:22:09,920 --> 01:22:12,080
Serbia gets stronger and stronger.
1081
01:22:14,760 --> 01:22:19,040
And each of these crises cost
the Austrians an enormous sum of money,
1082
01:22:19,120 --> 01:22:21,519
because they always issue an ultimatum.
1083
01:22:21,599 --> 01:22:23,920
They almost mobilize half their troops,
1084
01:22:24,000 --> 01:22:26,960
they send all their troops to Bosnia
and to the border,
1085
01:22:27,040 --> 01:22:29,880
and it costs them hundreds
of millions of crowns.
1086
01:22:29,960 --> 01:22:34,200
So that after the last mobilization
at the end of 1913,
1087
01:22:34,280 --> 01:22:38,599
Francis Joseph, who basically favored
a peaceful policy until then,
1088
01:22:38,679 --> 01:22:40,519
he said, "This is the end of it.
1089
01:22:40,599 --> 01:22:44,840
We can no longer have
another mobilization short of war.
1090
01:22:44,920 --> 01:22:47,080
Next time it has to be all or nothing."
1091
01:22:59,000 --> 01:23:03,160
Today we use the phrase
"we live in a globalized world."
1092
01:23:03,240 --> 01:23:06,800
In 1914, people thought they lived
in a globalized world, too.
1093
01:23:49,040 --> 01:23:52,040
This is a very sophisticated
society and civilization.
1094
01:23:52,120 --> 01:23:54,480
This is the world of Stravinsky
and Chagall.
1095
01:23:54,559 --> 01:23:57,719
This is the world of, you know,
insurance companies
1096
01:23:57,800 --> 01:24:00,920
which already have hundreds of thousands
of insurance policies,
1097
01:24:01,000 --> 01:24:04,440
newspapers which have
hundreds of thousands of readers.
1098
01:24:05,400 --> 01:24:07,400
In a way, it's almost postmodern.
1099
01:24:17,760 --> 01:24:20,240
But the time around the turnof the 20th century
1100
01:24:20,320 --> 01:24:23,679
was also the timeof political assassinations.
1101
01:24:26,360 --> 01:24:31,240
Presidents and prime ministersof Bulgaria, Spain, USA, Russia and France
1102
01:24:31,320 --> 01:24:33,440
were killed during this period,
1103
01:24:35,080 --> 01:24:36,760
as were members of the royal families
1104
01:24:36,840 --> 01:24:40,440
of Japan, Portugal, Russia,Italy and Greece.
1105
01:24:42,599 --> 01:24:47,040
Among others, King Alexanderand Queen Draga Obrenović of Serbia
1106
01:24:47,120 --> 01:24:51,320
and the Austrian Empress Elizabeth,the wife of Franz Joseph.
1107
01:24:59,360 --> 01:25:02,880
In early June, there was
a government session in Belgrade.
1108
01:25:02,960 --> 01:25:05,360
Pašić was presiding,
1109
01:25:05,440 --> 01:25:08,719
and there was a report
from the civilian authorities
1110
01:25:08,800 --> 01:25:11,400
on the border with Austria-Hungary
1111
01:25:11,480 --> 01:25:16,840
that the military officers
were organizing illegal transfer
1112
01:25:16,920 --> 01:25:20,800
of certain persons
and weapons into Bosnia.
1113
01:25:23,400 --> 01:25:26,200
When they saw that the military officer
1114
01:25:26,280 --> 01:25:31,040
who transferred the three young Bosnians
is Major Vulović,
1115
01:25:31,120 --> 01:25:33,719
who was one
of the closest friends of Apis,
1116
01:25:33,800 --> 01:25:37,400
they knew that Apis
is probably behind this venture.
1117
01:25:38,719 --> 01:25:41,280
I was convincedthat the maneuvers in Bosnia
1118
01:25:41,360 --> 01:25:44,080
were just a pretextfor the Austrian invasion of Serbia
1119
01:25:44,160 --> 01:25:46,920
with Franz Ferdinand leading the way.
1120
01:25:47,719 --> 01:25:49,639
Before our troopscould return from the south,
1121
01:25:49,719 --> 01:25:51,920
Serbia would have been overrun,
1122
01:25:52,000 --> 01:25:54,200
and the world would face a fait accompli.
1123
01:25:55,519 --> 01:25:58,120
So when Tankosić came to me and said,
1124
01:25:58,200 --> 01:25:59,880
"Some Bosnian youth,they keep pestering me
1125
01:25:59,960 --> 01:26:02,800
to let them go to Bosniaand try something against Ferdinand,"
1126
01:26:02,880 --> 01:26:05,800
I said, "Well, let them go."
1127
01:26:09,120 --> 01:26:13,080
Pašić immediately demanded investigation.
1128
01:26:14,960 --> 01:26:16,960
And just in case,
1129
01:26:17,040 --> 01:26:22,639
he sent the cable
to his most loyal diplomat to Vienna,
1130
01:26:22,719 --> 01:26:28,280
Jovan Jovanović, asking him to warn
about possible turmoil in Bosnia
1131
01:26:28,360 --> 01:26:32,160
during the visit
of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand.
1132
01:26:35,679 --> 01:26:37,920
The Serbian ambassador to Vienna,
1133
01:26:38,000 --> 01:26:40,160
he actually approaches Biliński,
1134
01:26:40,240 --> 01:26:42,760
who's formally in charge
of administering Bosnia,
1135
01:26:42,840 --> 01:26:45,559
and tells him there are rumors
about an assassination attempt
1136
01:26:45,639 --> 01:26:46,719
and they should be careful.
1137
01:27:03,240 --> 01:27:07,719
On June the 24th, 1914,the Kiel Canal was finished.
1138
01:27:09,960 --> 01:27:11,719
The passage from Baltic to the North Sea
1139
01:27:11,800 --> 01:27:15,000
was now open for the German dreadnoughts.
1140
01:27:16,960 --> 01:27:19,080
The same day, June the 24th,
1141
01:27:19,160 --> 01:27:21,320
the Austro-Hungarian foreign ministry
1142
01:27:21,400 --> 01:27:25,320
finished a diplomatic documentknown as the Matscheko Memorandum,
1143
01:27:25,400 --> 01:27:28,679
addressing the leadersof both Austria-Hungary and Germany.
1144
01:27:30,280 --> 01:27:32,840
The idea to freethe Christian Balkan peoples
1145
01:27:32,920 --> 01:27:35,320
from the Turkish rule in order to use them
1146
01:27:35,400 --> 01:27:37,280
as a weapon against Central Europe
1147
01:27:37,360 --> 01:27:40,280
has always been Russia's interestin these peoples.
1148
01:27:40,759 --> 01:27:44,599
To put up quietlywith this unilaterally shifted situation
1149
01:27:44,679 --> 01:27:48,920
is not possible for the monarchyfor military-political reasons.
1150
01:27:49,000 --> 01:27:50,320
For these reasons,
1151
01:27:50,400 --> 01:27:52,440
it is in the jointinterest of the monarchy,
1152
01:27:52,519 --> 01:27:53,759
as much as Germany's,
1153
01:27:53,840 --> 01:27:57,840
to oppose promptly and energeticallya development
1154
01:27:57,920 --> 01:28:00,440
aspired to by Russia and supported by her,
1155
01:28:00,519 --> 01:28:04,320
which it will laterno longer be possible to revert.
1156
01:28:06,400 --> 01:28:10,480
The Kaiser issues the order
to the ambassador in London
1157
01:28:10,559 --> 01:28:13,759
on the 16th of June, 1914,
1158
01:28:13,840 --> 01:28:17,639
to discover
how Britain will position herself
1159
01:28:17,719 --> 01:28:19,480
if a continental war breaks out.
1160
01:28:19,559 --> 01:28:20,880
16th of June!
1161
01:28:21,800 --> 01:28:24,080
A few days before that,
1162
01:28:24,160 --> 01:28:28,639
Moltke and the Foreign Secretary
Gottlieb von Jagow
1163
01:28:28,719 --> 01:28:31,559
are traveling back by car
from Potsdam to Berlin.
1164
01:28:34,559 --> 01:28:37,559
And Moltke issues virtually a command
1165
01:28:37,639 --> 01:28:42,759
to the foreign secretary
to direct his policy in such a way
1166
01:28:42,840 --> 01:28:45,080
as to begin a preventive war soon.
1167
01:28:51,840 --> 01:28:54,679
I have the feelingthat we are going into the storm.
1168
01:28:55,160 --> 01:28:58,240
At what point on the horizonand just when it will break out
1169
01:28:58,320 --> 01:29:00,200
I couldn't say exactly,
1170
01:29:00,280 --> 01:29:05,280
but from now, on the war is bothpredetermined and not far off.
1171
01:29:33,559 --> 01:29:37,000
It was recognized
that if Franz Ferdinand went
1172
01:29:37,080 --> 01:29:41,200
to the maneuvers in Bosnia-Herzegovina
1173
01:29:41,280 --> 01:29:42,960
that he was taking a risk.
1174
01:29:46,160 --> 01:29:49,120
And he himself does not seem to have been
1175
01:29:49,200 --> 01:29:52,639
particularly enthusiastic
about undertaking this mission.
1176
01:29:54,000 --> 01:29:56,360
Since 1910,there had been five attempts
1177
01:29:56,440 --> 01:29:58,719
on the lives of Austro-Hungarian governors
1178
01:29:58,800 --> 01:30:01,840
of Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia.
1179
01:30:03,280 --> 01:30:06,840
In 1910,during the Emperor Franz Joseph's visit,
1180
01:30:06,920 --> 01:30:10,679
several thousand soldiershad secured the streets of Sarajevo.
1181
01:30:11,200 --> 01:30:14,080
But the visitof Franz Ferdinand on Vidovdan,
1182
01:30:14,160 --> 01:30:15,960
the Serbian national holiday,
1183
01:30:16,040 --> 01:30:20,719
was supervised by no morethan 36 of local policemen,
1184
01:30:20,800 --> 01:30:24,920
although more than 20,000 troopswere stationed just outside the city,
1185
01:30:25,000 --> 01:30:27,080
at the momentwhen their Commander-in-Chief
1186
01:30:27,160 --> 01:30:30,040
was entering in an open-topped car.
1187
01:30:43,800 --> 01:30:48,480
In the second attempt of the day,Franz Ferdinand was killed.
1188
01:31:05,360 --> 01:31:07,679
If we disregard this opportunity,
1189
01:31:07,759 --> 01:31:09,960
the monarchy shall be left at the mercy
1190
01:31:10,040 --> 01:31:15,280
of a renewed onset of Yugoslav, Czech,Romanian and Italian aspirations.
1191
01:31:16,320 --> 01:31:21,160
The assassination in Sarajevois Serbia's declaration of war against us.
1192
01:31:24,320 --> 01:31:26,280
It's not that
the Serbian government wanted
1193
01:31:26,360 --> 01:31:28,800
the assassination at Sarajevo.
Certainly not!
1194
01:31:29,920 --> 01:31:33,040
It's perfectly clear
that it's in Serbia's interest
1195
01:31:33,120 --> 01:31:34,400
to postpone the conflict.
1196
01:31:34,480 --> 01:31:38,200
This is in the midst
of a tremendous struggle within Serbia
1197
01:31:38,280 --> 01:31:40,440
between the army leadership
and the government.
1198
01:31:40,519 --> 01:31:45,559
I think Apis Dimitrijević was actually,
as much as anything,
1199
01:31:45,639 --> 01:31:47,559
acting in order to undermine Pašić.
1200
01:31:47,639 --> 01:31:51,360
The assassination was the genuine endeavor
1201
01:31:51,440 --> 01:31:53,840
of Gavrilo Princip and his friends,
1202
01:31:53,920 --> 01:31:55,400
and I have discussed this
1203
01:31:55,480 --> 01:31:58,120
with professor Vaso Čubrilović
on many occasions.
1204
01:31:58,920 --> 01:32:03,080
They did not think that they
were obliged something to the Black Hand.
1205
01:32:03,160 --> 01:32:06,080
They just came to obtain weapons,
1206
01:32:06,160 --> 01:32:09,240
to pursue their goal in Bosnia.
1207
01:32:09,800 --> 01:32:13,160
The people sufferbecause they're impoverished completely
1208
01:32:13,240 --> 01:32:15,200
and are being treated like cattle.
1209
01:32:15,280 --> 01:32:18,679
I wanted to avenge that,and I'm not sorry.
1210
01:32:19,639 --> 01:32:22,320
There is nothingto prove or even to suppose
1211
01:32:22,400 --> 01:32:25,000
that the Serbian government is accessoryto the inducement
1212
01:32:25,080 --> 01:32:28,040
for the crime or the furnishingof weapons.
1213
01:32:28,639 --> 01:32:30,960
On the contrary,there are reasons to believe
1214
01:32:31,040 --> 01:32:33,400
that this altogether isout of the question.
1215
01:32:39,759 --> 01:32:42,679
There was certainly a war party
in Austria-Hungary
1216
01:32:42,759 --> 01:32:44,559
before the assassination,
1217
01:32:44,639 --> 01:32:49,080
centered around two people in particular,
Conrad von Hötzendorf
1218
01:32:49,160 --> 01:32:52,200
as the Austro-Hungarian
Chief of the General Staff,
1219
01:32:52,280 --> 01:32:56,719
who repeatedly pressed
for a preventive war against Serbia,
1220
01:32:56,800 --> 01:32:58,840
some say about 20 times,
1221
01:32:58,920 --> 01:33:03,400
and latterly Berchtold,
the Foreign Minister.
1222
01:33:03,480 --> 01:33:06,160
And so for them, of course,
1223
01:33:06,240 --> 01:33:10,160
if there is a warning coming from Serbia
about the possibility of assassination,
1224
01:33:10,240 --> 01:33:12,920
that isn't necessarily something
they want to pay attention to.
1225
01:33:13,000 --> 01:33:15,440
I expressed to His Majesty my belief
1226
01:33:15,519 --> 01:33:18,400
in the unavoidability of war with Serbia.
1227
01:33:18,480 --> 01:33:20,080
His Majesty said…
1228
01:33:20,160 --> 01:33:22,160
"Yes, that is entirely correct.
1229
01:33:22,240 --> 01:33:26,480
But do we want a war if everyoneis against us, especially Russia?"
1230
01:33:27,040 --> 01:33:29,759
"Don't we haveour flank covered by Germany?"
1231
01:33:29,840 --> 01:33:31,920
"Last night a note was sent to Germany
1232
01:33:32,000 --> 01:33:34,280
in order to get an answer."
1233
01:33:34,360 --> 01:33:37,599
"If the answersays that Germany stands on our side,
1234
01:33:37,679 --> 01:33:40,120
could we then go to war against Serbia?"
1235
01:33:41,200 --> 01:33:43,080
"Then, yes."
1236
01:34:06,679 --> 01:34:11,480
And Franz Joseph knew
that the war would turn into world war.
1237
01:34:11,559 --> 01:34:16,080
When Biliński, the Finance Minister,
put it to Franz Joseph,
1238
01:34:16,160 --> 01:34:18,719
"You know this will mean a European war?"
1239
01:34:18,800 --> 01:34:21,000
Franz Joseph just muttered, "Yes."
1240
01:34:50,559 --> 01:34:55,400
The reply that comes back
via the Austrian ambassador in Berlin,
1241
01:34:55,480 --> 01:34:59,679
Count Szőgyény, is a resounding yes.
1242
01:34:59,759 --> 01:35:03,960
"We will support you,
regardless of if what you do
1243
01:35:04,040 --> 01:35:07,559
results in Russia becoming involved,
results in a European war."
1244
01:35:08,360 --> 01:35:14,360
The Kaiser writes the famous
and fatal jetzt oder nie, now or never.
1245
01:35:14,440 --> 01:35:17,000
We must clear up with the Serbs,
1246
01:35:17,080 --> 01:35:19,040
mit den Serben muß aufgeräumt werden,
1247
01:35:19,120 --> 01:35:23,920
which acted as a signal
to start the war, in effect.
1248
01:35:24,000 --> 01:35:28,320
This is the famous "blank check"
that Berlin issues to Vienna.
1249
01:35:28,400 --> 01:35:32,559
It's not just an encouragement,
they're also putting pressure on Vienna.
1250
01:35:33,320 --> 01:35:35,719
Berlin expects the dual monarchy
1251
01:35:35,800 --> 01:35:37,200
to take action against Serbia,
1252
01:35:37,280 --> 01:35:40,480
and would not understandif we let this opportunity pass
1253
01:35:40,559 --> 01:35:42,320
without striking a blow.
1254
01:35:42,960 --> 01:35:45,880
On July the 7th,the Austro-Hungarian government
1255
01:35:45,960 --> 01:35:47,679
reached the following conclusion.
1256
01:35:48,400 --> 01:35:51,559
All present,except the royal Hungarian Premier,
1257
01:35:51,639 --> 01:35:54,160
hold the beliefthat a purely diplomatic success
1258
01:35:54,240 --> 01:35:55,840
would be worthless,
1259
01:35:55,920 --> 01:35:58,040
and therefore such far-reaching demands
1260
01:35:58,120 --> 01:36:00,040
must be addressed to Serbia,
1261
01:36:00,120 --> 01:36:02,639
which will make a refusal almost certain,
1262
01:36:02,719 --> 01:36:05,160
so that the road to a radical solution,
1263
01:36:05,240 --> 01:36:08,160
by means of military action,should be open.
1264
01:36:12,960 --> 01:36:16,719
Berchtold's wife actually wrote
a letter to her cousin saying,
1265
01:36:16,800 --> 01:36:19,920
"Poor Leopold,
he couldn't sleep last night.
1266
01:36:20,000 --> 01:36:23,120
He kept getting up
and changing the terms of the ultimatum.
1267
01:36:23,200 --> 01:36:25,639
He was so worried
that the Serbs might accept it."
1268
01:36:29,599 --> 01:36:33,320
The ultimatum against Serbia
was really written to be rejected.
1269
01:36:33,400 --> 01:36:35,960
And everybody said who read it,
1270
01:36:36,040 --> 01:36:38,880
"This is really
a strongly-worded document, isn't it?"
1271
01:36:38,960 --> 01:36:40,599
That's what the Emperor himself said.
1272
01:36:40,679 --> 01:36:41,880
But he knew what he was doing.
1273
01:36:41,960 --> 01:36:44,320
He said, "We don't want
another compromise solution.
1274
01:36:44,400 --> 01:36:47,280
We don't want another conference
that will lead to nothing."
1275
01:36:48,000 --> 01:36:52,559
What the Austrians really wanted
was Serbia to vanish into thin air.
1276
01:37:11,120 --> 01:37:12,559
The summer of 1914
1277
01:37:12,639 --> 01:37:16,280
was to be called "Europe's last summer."
1278
01:37:21,160 --> 01:37:23,719
Perhaps that was why,as Stefan Zweig wrote
1279
01:37:23,800 --> 01:37:26,080
in his World of Yesterday,
1280
01:37:26,160 --> 01:37:30,920
it was "more luxuriant, more beautifuland more summery."
1281
01:37:34,920 --> 01:37:40,000
On the surface, nothing indicatedthe catastrophe soon to come.
1282
01:37:44,679 --> 01:37:46,519
All the important decision makers
1283
01:37:46,599 --> 01:37:49,880
are sent away on holiday,
as had previously been planned,
1284
01:37:49,960 --> 01:37:51,960
so as not to alert anyone to the fact
1285
01:37:52,040 --> 01:37:55,160
that behind the scenes,
trouble was brewing.
1286
01:37:55,240 --> 01:37:58,960
So Moltke goes on his second cure
that year to Carlsbad,
1287
01:37:59,040 --> 01:38:01,800
Jagow is on his honeymoon in Switzerland,
1288
01:38:01,880 --> 01:38:05,719
and in Vienna, similarly,
Conrad von Hötzendorf is away,
1289
01:38:05,800 --> 01:38:09,200
and it's the deputies who liaise
with each other
1290
01:38:09,280 --> 01:38:11,679
while the leading figures are away.
1291
01:38:14,280 --> 01:38:17,440
The Kaiser also took his annual cruise.
1292
01:38:18,200 --> 01:38:20,679
They sent him off to Norway,
1293
01:38:20,759 --> 01:38:25,040
telling him, "Your Majesty,
it's got to look as if we know nothing."
1294
01:38:25,120 --> 01:38:26,320
Because that's the German case.
1295
01:38:26,400 --> 01:38:28,280
We're innocent, it's the Austrians
1296
01:38:28,360 --> 01:38:30,599
who are pulling us into this
at a later stage.
1297
01:38:31,080 --> 01:38:34,559
So, "Please go on your annual cruise,
otherwise we'd look fishy.
1298
01:38:34,639 --> 01:38:38,080
But please don't go further
than just north of Bergen,
1299
01:38:38,160 --> 01:38:40,880
because then it will take too long
for you to get back."
1300
01:38:45,040 --> 01:38:49,080
Only Bethmann remained
in the vicinity of Berlin.
1301
01:38:49,160 --> 01:38:53,200
He found himself to be
in a completely unusual situation,
1302
01:38:53,280 --> 01:38:57,280
namely he was in position
to make decisions all by himself.
1303
01:38:57,840 --> 01:39:03,840
He could now decide alone
because the Kaiser, before his departure,
1304
01:39:03,920 --> 01:39:09,080
in a militant tone spoke
how they must finally deal with Serbia.
1305
01:39:09,160 --> 01:39:15,800
He demonstrated
that he was in the mood for war.
1306
01:39:15,880 --> 01:39:19,120
So Bethmann Hollweg
was now able to continue with the policy
1307
01:39:19,200 --> 01:39:23,000
which would fit in
with the Kaiser’s opinion about the war,
1308
01:39:23,080 --> 01:39:25,759
namely to unleash a general war.
1309
01:39:30,679 --> 01:39:32,320
The Austro-Hungarian government
1310
01:39:32,400 --> 01:39:35,960
had completed its ultimatum to Serbiaby July the 12th,
1311
01:39:36,040 --> 01:39:37,480
but it would be another 11 days
1312
01:39:37,559 --> 01:39:41,080
before it was deliveredto the Serbian government.
1313
01:39:41,800 --> 01:39:43,280
There is a long delay
1314
01:39:43,360 --> 01:39:45,080
before that ultimatum can be delivered,
1315
01:39:45,160 --> 01:39:46,679
and there are
a number of reasons for that.
1316
01:39:47,880 --> 01:39:51,200
One is that the Austrian soldiers
are on harvest leave,
1317
01:39:51,280 --> 01:39:53,440
and you can't simply recall them.
1318
01:39:53,519 --> 01:39:56,719
This would cause suspicion,
of course, elsewhere,
1319
01:39:56,800 --> 01:39:58,320
and also you do need to have
the harvest in
1320
01:39:58,400 --> 01:39:59,400
if you want to go to war.
1321
01:40:00,719 --> 01:40:02,599
And the other reason is that there is
1322
01:40:02,679 --> 01:40:05,759
an official visit
by the French president to Russia,
1323
01:40:05,840 --> 01:40:08,559
and you don't want to deliver
your ultimatum
1324
01:40:08,639 --> 01:40:11,759
at a point in time
when the French president
1325
01:40:11,840 --> 01:40:13,519
and the Russian foreign minister
1326
01:40:13,599 --> 01:40:16,080
can sit down together
and discuss their response.
1327
01:40:20,360 --> 01:40:22,480
Still, the Russians and the French
1328
01:40:22,559 --> 01:40:24,679
had good anticipation of things to come.
1329
01:40:28,880 --> 01:40:33,120
On July the 21st, 1914,President Poincaré met
1330
01:40:33,200 --> 01:40:36,880
the Austro-Hungarian Ambassador to Russia,Count Szapáry,
1331
01:40:36,960 --> 01:40:39,400
and warned him openlythat the war against Serbia
1332
01:40:39,480 --> 01:40:42,799
could draw Russiaand consequently France in.
1333
01:40:43,400 --> 01:40:45,840
Szapáry left without a word.
1334
01:40:49,080 --> 01:40:52,920
Poincaré told Nicholas, the Russian tsar,
1335
01:40:53,000 --> 01:40:57,160
"You must be firm
and you must stand by the Serbs.
1336
01:40:59,519 --> 01:41:03,960
You must not let Austria bullying
the Serbs as they want to do.
1337
01:41:04,559 --> 01:41:09,040
Because then Austria
will have sort of huge victory,
1338
01:41:09,120 --> 01:41:12,200
and then Austrian and German problem
1339
01:41:12,280 --> 01:41:15,599
would become even worse
for Paris and St. Petersburg."
1340
01:41:20,240 --> 01:41:21,880
On July the 23rd,
1341
01:41:21,960 --> 01:41:24,719
just as Poincaré leftSt. Petersburg by ship,
1342
01:41:24,799 --> 01:41:27,240
the Austro-Hungarian ultimatumwas delivered
1343
01:41:27,320 --> 01:41:30,360
to the Serbian royal governmentin Belgrade.
1344
01:41:33,799 --> 01:41:37,240
They called Pašić to come back
from the electoral campaign.
1345
01:41:37,320 --> 01:41:40,200
He was deep in the south of Serbia.
1346
01:41:40,280 --> 01:41:43,480
When they read the ultimatum,
1347
01:41:43,559 --> 01:41:45,120
one of the ministers said,
1348
01:41:45,200 --> 01:41:49,360
"Oh my God,
there is nothing left but to die again."
1349
01:41:49,440 --> 01:41:53,519
When Sazonov first sees
the Austrian ultimatum, he says,
1350
01:41:53,599 --> 01:41:54,679
"This is the European war.
1351
01:41:56,480 --> 01:41:59,160
There is no way the Austrians
could have written something like this
1352
01:41:59,240 --> 01:42:01,799
unless they had a firm German guarantee."
1353
01:42:02,400 --> 01:42:04,559
And also says, "48 hours?"
1354
01:42:05,080 --> 01:42:08,000
You know, you don't give someone
an ultimatum like this in 48 hours
1355
01:42:08,080 --> 01:42:10,160
unless you're pretty convinced
there's going to be war.
1356
01:42:18,599 --> 01:42:21,679
Serbian reply was deliveredto Baron Giesel,
1357
01:42:21,759 --> 01:42:24,799
the Austro-Hungarian Ambassadorto Belgrade,
1358
01:42:24,880 --> 01:42:28,280
by the Prime MinisterNikola Pašić himself.
1359
01:42:30,320 --> 01:42:32,639
When he entered the Austrian legation,
1360
01:42:32,719 --> 01:42:35,000
Baron Giesel was already packed.
1361
01:42:35,080 --> 01:42:36,519
He was ready to leave.
1362
01:42:36,599 --> 01:42:43,000
He had an instruction to leave Belgrade
whatever the answer of Serbia will be.
1363
01:42:47,599 --> 01:42:50,519
Sir Edward Grey,
the British Foreign Secretary,
1364
01:42:50,599 --> 01:42:55,679
tries at that stage to reinvoke
the spirit of the Concert of Europe,
1365
01:42:55,759 --> 01:42:56,679
the idea of the congress system.
1366
01:42:56,759 --> 01:43:00,240
Let's get the great powers together
to talk about this
1367
01:43:00,320 --> 01:43:01,679
rather than going to war.
1368
01:43:03,719 --> 01:43:06,840
If it had been agreed to,
two things would have followed.
1369
01:43:06,920 --> 01:43:10,559
First of all, Austria-Hungary
wouldn't have had its war against Serbia.
1370
01:43:10,639 --> 01:43:12,639
They would be back to square one.
1371
01:43:12,719 --> 01:43:15,759
The Serb problem would just resurrect
itself in a matter of years,
1372
01:43:15,840 --> 01:43:18,519
and they would have to do it
all over again,
1373
01:43:18,599 --> 01:43:20,960
probably in less favorable circumstances.
1374
01:43:21,040 --> 01:43:23,840
And secondly,
from Germany's point of view,
1375
01:43:23,920 --> 01:43:28,559
the opportunity to split
the alliance facing them, the Entente,
1376
01:43:28,639 --> 01:43:30,160
would have gone as well.
1377
01:43:30,240 --> 01:43:36,240
At that point, Bethmann Hollweg
as the German Chancellor says no.
1378
01:43:39,559 --> 01:43:40,759
On July the 28th,
1379
01:43:40,840 --> 01:43:45,280
Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbiain a telegraphic note.
1380
01:43:47,639 --> 01:43:51,040
The same evening,the shelling of Belgrade began
1381
01:43:51,120 --> 01:43:53,160
from Zemun and the Danube.
1382
01:44:21,240 --> 01:44:22,840
I appeal to you to help me.
1383
01:44:24,400 --> 01:44:27,880
An ignoble war has been declaredto a weak country.
1384
01:44:27,960 --> 01:44:31,639
The indignation in Russiashared fully by me is enormous.
1385
01:44:32,559 --> 01:44:34,880
I foresee that very soonI shall be overwhelmed
1386
01:44:34,960 --> 01:44:38,639
and be forced to take extreme measureswhich will lead to war.
1387
01:44:39,200 --> 01:44:42,040
To try and avoidsuch a calamity as a European war,
1388
01:44:42,120 --> 01:44:44,679
I beg you, in the nameof our old friendship,
1389
01:44:44,759 --> 01:44:48,960
to do what you can to stopyour allies from going too far. Nikki.
1390
01:44:54,679 --> 01:44:56,480
Russia is unable
not to stand up for Serbia
1391
01:44:56,559 --> 01:44:58,280
in such a situation.
1392
01:44:59,240 --> 01:45:01,799
And such a support,
if not accompanied by display of force,
1393
01:45:01,880 --> 01:45:07,000
was not to be taken by Vienna
or Berlin seriously.
1394
01:45:07,559 --> 01:45:10,040
On the other hand,
such a display of military power,
1395
01:45:10,120 --> 01:45:12,400
from the viewpoint of Nicholas II,
1396
01:45:12,480 --> 01:45:14,639
need not have necessarily resulted in war.
1397
01:45:15,599 --> 01:45:18,040
If Russia mobilizes against Austria,
1398
01:45:18,120 --> 01:45:23,160
my role as mediator will be endangered,if not ruined. Willy.
1399
01:45:25,400 --> 01:45:29,000
There is a sense in which Russia
will be declaring mobilization.
1400
01:45:29,080 --> 01:45:31,080
We don't quite know when it will happen,
1401
01:45:31,160 --> 01:45:34,080
but Germany needs to declare
her own mobilization,
1402
01:45:34,160 --> 01:45:36,160
and more importantly, needs to send troops
1403
01:45:36,240 --> 01:45:40,120
into Luxembourg and Belgium
before war has been declared.
1404
01:45:40,200 --> 01:45:44,440
Does that not happen and is Liège
not taken within the first 11 days,
1405
01:45:44,519 --> 01:45:48,120
the whole plan has failed
and Germany will lose the war.
1406
01:45:51,440 --> 01:45:56,200
This puts an enormous time pressure
on the decision makers in Berlin,
1407
01:45:56,280 --> 01:46:01,400
and they decide in a meeting
that regardless of what Russia will do,
1408
01:46:01,480 --> 01:46:06,280
on the 31st of July,
we will have to issue the order
1409
01:46:06,360 --> 01:46:08,440
to march into Belgium.
1410
01:46:08,519 --> 01:46:11,639
They will then later on say
that this was done
1411
01:46:11,719 --> 01:46:15,480
in response to Russia's mobilization,
but actually the decision,
1412
01:46:15,559 --> 01:46:17,160
as we know from secret documents,
1413
01:46:17,240 --> 01:46:20,519
was taken regardless
of Russia's decisions.
1414
01:46:25,200 --> 01:46:28,559
On July the 30th,Tsar Nicholas II ordered
1415
01:46:28,639 --> 01:46:31,080
the mobilizationof the Russian military districts
1416
01:46:31,160 --> 01:46:33,280
on the Austro-Hungarian border.
1417
01:46:33,920 --> 01:46:35,519
Your troops were mobilized
1418
01:46:35,599 --> 01:46:38,040
against Austria-Hungary, my ally.
1419
01:46:38,120 --> 01:46:40,960
The responsibility for the disasterwhich is now threatening
1420
01:46:41,040 --> 01:46:45,840
the whole civilized worldwill not be laid at my door. Willy.
1421
01:46:47,160 --> 01:46:49,320
The Russians partially mobilize.
1422
01:46:49,400 --> 01:46:51,519
In other words, they mobilize
that bit of their army
1423
01:46:51,599 --> 01:46:53,559
which is on the Austrian border
1424
01:46:53,639 --> 01:46:56,200
in order to warn the Austrians
1425
01:46:56,280 --> 01:46:58,559
that they will not allow
Serbia to be destroyed,
1426
01:46:58,639 --> 01:47:00,639
without antagonizing Germany.
1427
01:47:02,200 --> 01:47:06,440
The Russian military leadership revolts
at the idea of partial mobilization,
1428
01:47:06,519 --> 01:47:12,960
because they say it is just going to wreck
general mobilization when that is needed,
1429
01:47:13,040 --> 01:47:17,920
and as a result of that,
Nicholas II in the end caves in
1430
01:47:18,000 --> 01:47:20,480
and goes for general mobilization.
1431
01:47:23,440 --> 01:47:27,120
This is then used by the Germans,
always subsequently,
1432
01:47:27,200 --> 01:47:30,000
to say that it's the Russians
who started the war, not them.
1433
01:47:31,240 --> 01:47:32,639
The mood is brilliant!
1434
01:47:32,719 --> 01:47:37,440
The government has succeeded very wellin making us appear like the attacked.
1435
01:47:39,080 --> 01:47:43,880
The Kaiser signed
mobilization order on a desk
1436
01:47:43,960 --> 01:47:47,320
that was cut
from the British shipVictory,
1437
01:47:47,400 --> 01:47:50,599
which was lord Nelson's ship
at the Battle of Trafalgar.
1438
01:47:51,960 --> 01:47:54,679
There is exaltation in Berlin.
1439
01:47:54,759 --> 01:47:58,280
One general reports,
"Beaming faces everywhere!
1440
01:47:58,360 --> 01:48:00,799
Yeah, we're over the hump. We've done it."
1441
01:48:02,480 --> 01:48:07,200
Erich von Falkenhayn,
the Prussian Minister of War, says,
1442
01:48:07,280 --> 01:48:09,559
"Even if we perish over this,
1443
01:48:09,639 --> 01:48:12,040
at least it was fun,
at least it was beautiful!"
1444
01:48:12,880 --> 01:48:14,759
For the first time in 30 years,
1445
01:48:14,840 --> 01:48:18,120
I feel myself to be an Austrian,and feel like giving
1446
01:48:18,200 --> 01:48:21,120
this not very hopeful empireanother chance.
1447
01:48:29,960 --> 01:48:32,880
The declaration of war
was received well in Vienna.
1448
01:48:32,960 --> 01:48:34,759
There were jubilant crowds.
1449
01:48:34,840 --> 01:48:37,840
The idea was
that it'd be a quick little war
1450
01:48:37,920 --> 01:48:40,240
and that Austria
was obviously going to win it.
1451
01:48:42,320 --> 01:48:44,000
They think the main role of Germany
1452
01:48:44,080 --> 01:48:46,599
is to support the Austrian plan
to defeat Serbia.
1453
01:48:46,679 --> 01:48:50,400
But the Germans,
who've got their own priority,
1454
01:48:50,480 --> 01:48:52,360
and their priority is the Schlieffen Plan,
1455
01:48:52,440 --> 01:48:57,400
they now want the Austrians
to cover them on the Russian front,
1456
01:48:57,480 --> 01:48:59,120
and forget about Serbia.
1457
01:48:59,639 --> 01:49:02,080
And they say, "Well, look,
Serbia is not all that important."
1458
01:49:02,160 --> 01:49:05,759
They also say to the Austrians,
in order to keep the Italians out,
1459
01:49:05,840 --> 01:49:08,799
"Why don't you give up part
of your Italian territories?"
1460
01:49:08,880 --> 01:49:10,840
And the Austrians were flabbergasted.
1461
01:49:29,360 --> 01:49:32,639
In the night between July 30 and 31,
1462
01:49:32,719 --> 01:49:36,920
an eerie scene took place
at the General Staff.
1463
01:49:38,719 --> 01:49:43,639
Moltke received his adjutant,
Major von Haeften,
1464
01:49:43,719 --> 01:49:48,040
and then Moltke told him
about the kind of war it would be.
1465
01:49:51,840 --> 01:49:54,200
Namely a war which will set
1466
01:49:54,280 --> 01:49:57,719
the European civilization back
for decades.
1467
01:50:00,200 --> 01:50:06,440
A war which will last for years
once England becomes involved.
1468
01:50:07,480 --> 01:50:11,040
He spoke about the general catastrophe,
1469
01:50:11,120 --> 01:50:15,840
and according to Haeften's record,
Moltke, with tears in his eyes,
1470
01:50:15,920 --> 01:50:22,240
turned to the portrait of his uncle,
Moltke the Elder.
1471
01:50:24,599 --> 01:50:29,000
Moltke the Elder previously feared
1472
01:50:29,080 --> 01:50:32,799
precisely such a development,
1473
01:50:32,880 --> 01:50:37,960
even though he had always demanded
a preventive war himself.
1474
01:50:44,759 --> 01:50:47,880
But on the morning of August 1st, 1914,
1475
01:50:47,960 --> 01:50:50,599
this was still not a European war.
1476
01:50:55,639 --> 01:50:58,679
The same day,the German leaders received important news
1477
01:50:58,759 --> 01:51:01,240
from Ambassador Lichnowsky in London.
1478
01:51:02,320 --> 01:51:06,120
Lichnowsky suggests
that Sir Edward Grey has offered
1479
01:51:06,200 --> 01:51:08,080
the possibility of neutrality.
1480
01:51:08,160 --> 01:51:11,639
This is taken
as a great victory for Germany.
1481
01:51:11,719 --> 01:51:13,840
A second telegram even promises
1482
01:51:13,920 --> 01:51:18,200
that this neutrality might be accompanied
by French neutrality.
1483
01:51:18,920 --> 01:51:21,960
The Kaiser calls for champagne,
everybody thinks this is wonderful.
1484
01:51:22,040 --> 01:51:25,719
At one point,
the Kaiser actually orders Moltke
1485
01:51:25,799 --> 01:51:31,719
to change all his plans
and attack not France but only Russia.
1486
01:51:32,360 --> 01:51:33,880
And Moltke has a nervous breakdown.
1487
01:51:33,960 --> 01:51:35,400
He says, "Your Majesty, you can't do this.
1488
01:51:35,480 --> 01:51:37,960
This is an army of several million people.
1489
01:51:38,040 --> 01:51:41,200
We cannot just take them
from where they're supposed to go
1490
01:51:41,280 --> 01:51:42,920
with all these plans
and send them the other way."
1491
01:51:43,000 --> 01:51:46,040
"If we change the plan,
you will not have an army.
1492
01:51:46,120 --> 01:51:49,280
You will have a heap of disorganized men."
1493
01:51:49,360 --> 01:51:53,320
To which the Kaiser replies,
tragically, I think,
1494
01:51:53,400 --> 01:51:56,120
"Your uncle would have given me
a different answer."
1495
01:51:57,480 --> 01:51:59,320
Later the same night,
1496
01:51:59,400 --> 01:52:03,440
another telegram arrivedfrom Prince Lichnowsky.
1497
01:52:04,440 --> 01:52:07,840
And then, of course, the clarification
comes from London to say,
1498
01:52:07,920 --> 01:52:09,400
"No, no, I got it wrong.
1499
01:52:09,480 --> 01:52:12,519
The British will not allow France
to be crushed.
1500
01:52:12,599 --> 01:52:14,080
They will enter the war."
1501
01:52:14,160 --> 01:52:16,920
And then the Kaiser,
who's by this time in his pajamas,
1502
01:52:17,000 --> 01:52:21,000
says to Moltke,
"Okay, now do what you want."
1503
01:52:21,080 --> 01:52:24,719
And goes back to sleep
and then has a nervous breakdown himself.
137261
Can't find what you're looking for?
Get subtitles in any language from opensubtitles.com, and translate them here.