All language subtitles for BBC.The.Great.War.02of26.For.Such.A.Stupid.Reason.Too.divx.mp3

"Bury the Archduke
With an empire's lamentation

"Let us bury the Archduke

"To the noise of the mourning
of a mighty nation

"Mourning when their leaders fall

"Warriors carry the warrior's pall

"And sorrow darkens hamlet
and hall."

The assassin's work was done.

The mortal remains
of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand

were returning home for burial.

FAIRGROUND ORGAN MUSIC

A world on holiday
took only passing note

of another Hapsburg tragedy.

In that brilliant summer of 1914,

it was for most men
only passing notice.

An Englishman living in Capri
glanced at an Italian newspaper.

"There in the stop press
news was a telegram

that the Archduke Franz
Ferdinand had been shot

"as he visited a town named Sarajevo,
of which neither of us had heard.

"After lunch we consulted
the Times Atlas

and found that Sarajevo
was the capital of Bosnia

"which seemed almost equally remote
and insignificant."

A few days later, the same man travelling
through Paris back to England

bought a French paper
at the Gare du Nord.

"An article was headed Sarajevo.

"And for a moment, so faint had
been the original impression,

I wondered where I'd
seen that name before."

"Sarajevo - Sunday.
After the crime, reprisals.

"Violent anti-Serb demonstrations
have taken place.

"Over 200 Serb houses were sacked
and their occupants maltreated.

"Martial law has been proclaimed."

Even in the countries most affected
- Austria-Hungary and Serbia -

it would require a little time to understand
what Sarajevo might come to mean.

In Austria, as the Archduke's body
was brought back to Vienna,

opinion against Serbia hardened.

The German ambassador
reported to the Kaiser:

"Count Berchtold, the
Austro-Hungarian foreign minister,

"said everything pointed to the fact
that the thread of the conspiracy

"to which the Archduke fell as
sacrifice, ran together at Belgrade.

"I frequently hear expressed
in Vienna, the wish that at last

"a final and fundamental reckoning
should be had with the Serbs."

The Kaiser noted in the margin
of his copy of the report:

"Now or never."

Four days later, July 6th, he sent
a message to the Austrian Emperor.

"The Emperor Franz
Joseph may rest assured

that his majesty will faithfully
stand by Austria-Hungary,

"as is required by the obligations of his
alliance and of his ancient friendship."

And with that, on that same day

the Kaiser set off
in the imperial yacht

for a summer cruise
in Scandinavian waters.

WHISTLE BLOWS

This was the holiday season
everywhere and the sea was calling.

Emperors and princes,
soldiers and statesmen,

rich men and poor men - it
was holiday time for all.

But while they relaxed
with summer pastimes,

the logic of power was moving
towards terrible conclusions.

The German Ambassador
was conveying to Berlin

a message from the Austrian Emperor
and his foreign minister.

"Count Berchtold requested me
to express to his Majesty

"the most sincere gratitude for
the position which he has assumed,

"so clearly in accord with the compact of
alliance and the dictates of friendship."

"The compact of alliance
and the dictates of friendship."

These were the fatal words,
the concepts

which would bring Europe's holiday
of peace to a sudden end.

Under the innocent laughter,
beneath the internal tensions,

behind the diplomatic courtesies,

a network of compacts and alliances
linked the powers together in misfortune.

In the centre of it all
was the Triple Alliance

of Germany, Austria-Hungary
and Italy.

By a secret treaty in 1879,
Austria and Germany

had been allied against Russia.

Impressed by Germany's growing strength
and overcoming her distrust of Austria,

Italy joined the compact in 1882.

So the centre of Europe
with two young nations

and one ambitious old
one became a fortress

waiting to make a sortie.

The implications did not go unnoticed
on either side of the fortress.

The Russian Empire was more than a
power. It was the focus of an idea.

Slovaks and Slovenes under
Austrian rule, Czechs and Serbs,

all looked to Russia as
the protector of Slavs everywhere.

And Russia, conscious of the menace
of the central powers, had found an ally.

In 1891, the apparently
impossible happened.

The Imperial Russian Government signed an
agreement with the Third Republic of France.

So the Triple Alliance
was now faced with a Dual Alliance.

And the Dual Alliance was
linked to the Balkans -

- an unsettled area which
could burst into flame.

None of these arrangements
brought security.

On the contrary -
tension and anxiety grew.

Both groups looked for new friends.

The central powers towards Turkey and her
empire stretching down to the Persian Gulf.

France, building her own
empire, looked uneasily

across the Channel at the
heart of an empire in being.

Slowly and unwillingly,

British policy bowed
to the pressure of events.

As the imperial German navy based on its
North Sea harbours grew year by year,

Britain's sense of safety
diminished.

Lord Haldane, an admirer of much
in Germany, summed it up.

"We who live on islands and are
dependant for food and raw materials

"and protecting their transport,

"could not permit that protection
to be threatened

"by the creation of naval forces
intended to make it precarious."

Colonial disputes with France
became unimportant.

The entente cordiale was forged.

In 1906, military discussions began
between the two countries.

These completed a process
described by Winston Churchill.

"All that subterranean
subconscious movement

"whereby the vast antagonisms
of the Great War

"were slowly, remorselessly,
inexorably assembled."

Behind the summer pleasure,
as an American writer says,

the nations of Europe were like
a file of marching prisoners,

chained together
by their ankles.

Prisoners of national pride,

shackled together
by treaty obligations.

Britain's entente with
France was followed

by an understanding with
France's ally, Russia.

And on July 20th, 1914, the French
President, Monsieur Poincare,

arrived on a state
visit to Russia,

designed to strengthen the alliance.

The purpose was to emphasise
the military ties

between Russia and France,
which were quite precise.

In 1912, the Russian general staff
had agreed

that the Russians would march on
the fifteenth day of mobilisation -

in advance of the millions
who might follow.

The Russian steamroller.

36 divisions of cavalry,
114 divisions of infantry.

Over 2.5 million men with limitless
reserves behind them,

if they could be armed, if they could be
equipped, if they could even be mobilised.

Mostly peasants, most of the
Russian soldiers were illiterate.

Many officers were little better.
Few of the generals had studied war.

Corruption and inefficiency went
hand in hand among their officials.

And at the court, there was strong pro-
German feeling, centred round the Tsarina.

"She is a cousin of
the German Kaiser,

is deeply religious and hates
the world of the court.

"She is convinced all Russia needs
is the Tsar, the church and people.

"'Be an autocrat',
she'd say to her husband.

"The Tsar - the little father -
is devoted to his wife and children.

"He is industrious, conscientious,
generous, even-tempered, fatalistic,

"utterly without a will of his
own or any understanding

of the realities of
international affairs."

Yet the French visit served its
purpose, reassuring both powers.

Poincare's departure from Russia
was being closely watched.

By delaying, the Austrians ensured
the French party would be at sea

before the news broke
of Austria's ultimatum to Serbia.

25 days had passed
since the Archduke was murdered.

Nine days since work had begun
on this document.

It was diligently composed
without compromise,

without loopholes - an
ultimatum with a purpose.

The final and fundamental reckoning
with the Serbs.

It was delivered at 6pm
on July 23rd.

"The Austro-Hungarian Government expects
the reply of the Royal Serbian Government

"at the latest within 48 hours."

The ultimatum twitched the chain
which bound the nations together.

The inevitable reactions
followed immediately.

The Serbian regent, Alexander, sent
a telegram to the Tsar the next day.

"At this critical moment, I echo
the feelings of the Serbian people,

"in praying your Majesty to be
pleased to interest yourself

in the fate of the
Kingdom of Serbia."

And so the fuse was lit. The Kaiser
was still yachting in Norway.

"I telegraphed to the Chancellor
and the Foreign Office,

"that I considered it
advisable to return home,

but was asked not to
interrupt my journey.

"When I learned from the Norwegian
newspapers, not Berlin,

"of the Austrian ultimatum to Serbia,

I started on my return journey
without further ado."

The 48 hours of the ultimatum
trickled away.

The Serbs gave way
on almost everything

and for the rest appealed to
Austrian loyalty and chivalry.

But the Austrian Ambassador
in Belgrade left.

On July 28th, Austria-Hungary
declared war on Serbia.

The Tsar promised the Serbs
his support.

Russia proclaimed mobilisation
along the Austrian frontier on 29th.

The German Imperial Chancellor,
Bethmann-Hollweg,

instructed the ambassador
in St Petersburg:

"Kindly call attention to the fact

that further confirmation of
Russia's mobilisation measures

"would force us to mobilise

"and in that case a European war
could scarcely be prevented."

While the people of Europe
amused themselves,

the unseen flame ran swiftly
along the fuse.

The moment of mobilisation in each country
was the moment when the war plan took effect.

Nowhere was this clearer
than in Germany,

for Germany had become the
prisoner of her plan.

The Schlieffen Plan had existed
since 1905.

General Field Marshall Count Alfred von
Schlieffen, Chief of Staff for 18 years,

had devoted his mind to one problem,

the danger to Germany created
by the Franco-Russian agreement.

War on two fronts - east and west.

He assumed that the Russian giant
would move slowly.

The French might move fast.

His answer to the
problem was simple.

Smash the French before the
Russians entered the field.

So one army - only 250,000 men - would join
the Austrians to contain the Russian threat.

Seven armies - over 1.5 million
men - would fall on France.

By sheer weight and speed,

they would beat her to her knees
in 40 days and then turn eastward.

The difficulty was how
to get at France.

A strong line of well-planned
fortresses lay along the frontier.

Von Schlieffen's answer
was to outflank the French.

He would march through Belgium -
trample on neutrality.

And he'd send the bulk of his army
through Belgium.

A mere handful would face
the French along the frontier

and the rest would go for a vast
encirclement of the French army -

through Brussels, south-westward
across the Seine,

round Paris itself, then
east towards Germany

to attack the French forces
from behind.

Now von Schlieffen was dead but
his vast plan was poised to move.

July 29th was the decisive day
of crisis.

Many things now became apparent.

The meaning of mobilisation,
the powerlessness of individuals,

the significance of Belgium.

This, above all, was a
question for Britain,

bound by treaty to uphold
Belgian neutrality.

But Britain had another
preoccupation - Ireland.

Irishmen were drilling, waiting,
importing arms.

The Liberal Government
backed by over 80 Irish MPs

was determined to give
Home Rule to Ireland.

Conservative opposition supported
the resistance of the North.

Ulster protestants violently
opposed a measure

which would subject them
to the Catholic south.

In March, the possibility of having
to use troops to coerce Ulster,

split the Army, like the nation,
down the middle.

Civil war seemed imminent.

The crisis continued into July.

"The disagreements turned upon the
boundaries of Fermanagh and Tyrone.

"Upon the disposition of these
clusters of humble parishes,

"turned at that moment
the political future of Britain."

On July 24th,
the Cabinet was still toiling

around the muddy byways
of Fermanagh and Tyrone.

But, says Churchill, an all
sufficient shock was at hand.

"The discussion had reached
its inconclusive end.

"When the grave tones of Sir
Edward Grey's voice were heard

reading a document from
the Foreign Office.

"It was the Austrian note to Serbia.

"As the reading proceeded,

"the parishes of Fermanagh and Tyrone

"faded back into the mists
and squalls of Ireland.

"And a strange light began immediately
to fall and grow upon the map of Europe."

By the fatal 29th July,

even ordinary people knew
what was brewing.

Sir Edward Grey, the British
Foreign Secretary,

interviewed the German
Ambassador in London.

"I said the situation was grave.

"While it was restricted to the
issues at present actually involved,

we had no thought
of interfering.

"But if Germany became involved,
and France, I did not wish him

"to be misled by our friendly tone
into thinking we should stand aside."

The question of British action
was acute.

Germany respected British power.

The Royal Navy's grip
on the world's trade,

the financial resources
of the City of London,

the potential of British industry,
the raw materials of the Empire,

the possession of riches and might
for which Germany still strove.

On July 29th, Bethmann-Hollweg told
the British Ambassador in Berlin:

"The Imperial Government will give
assurances to the British Government,

"provided Britain remains neutral,

"that Germany aims
no territorial acquisitions

"at the expense of metropolitan
France. As regards Belgium,

"provided she does not take
sides against Germany,

her integrity will be respected
at the end of the war."

For those who cared to read,
the writing was on the wall.

It was noted in the Foreign Office
that:

"Germany admits the intention
to violate Belgian neutrality."

Foresight and happy chance
came together.

At Spithead, on July 18th, the British
fleet had assembled for a Royal review.

The Royal Navy ruled the seas.

232 vessels assembled at Spithead.

40 miles of warships.

59 battleships.

55 cruisers.

78 destroyers.

70,000 men.

It was an impressive display.

The world was suitably impressed.

On July 29th,
the fleet was due to disperse.

The First Lord of the Admiralty,
Winston Churchill, decided otherwise.

"Admiralty to Commander-in-Chief
home fleets, July 28th. Sent 5pm.

"Tomorrow, Wednesday, the first
fleet will leave port for Scarpa Flow.

"Destination is to be kept secret."

So, in secrecy, the last act
of July 29th took place.

The Royal Navy on its way
to its war station.

"We may now picture this great fleet,

"scores of gigantic castles of steel,

"wending their way
across the shining sea

"like giants bowed
in anxious thought.

"18 miles of warships,

"bearing with them into the waters of the
north the safeguard of considerable affairs.

"The King's ships were at sea."

With the fleet at Scarpa Flow,
the British Government could relax.

The days of France's agony
were beginning.

In France also, mobilisation was
part of a plan and the government

was as much a prisoner of its plan
as were Russia and Germany.

On July 29th, the French
Minister of War

authorised the concentration
of the covering forces

behind which the army would gather.

France's plan was in motion.

Relying on the Napoleonic
principles of speed and violence,

the whole army was prepared to hurl
itself across the German frontier.

One vast phalanx would sweep towards
the Rhine, catch the Germans off balance

and defeat them before their plans
could take effect.

It only awaited the word.

The last hours of July
were running out

and Europe's last entertainments
with them.

Britons were going on Continental
holidays. But the flame on the fuse

had only reached the powder.

On July 31st, Sir Edward Grey
sent telegrams to Paris and Berlin:

"I trust that situation
is not irretrievable.

But in view of
mobilisation in Germany,

it becomes essential to ask

"whether French Government engages
to respect neutrality of Belgium

"provided no other power violates it.

"A similar request is addressed
to German Government.

It is vital to have
an early answer."

The French replied at once - they
would respect Belgian neutrality

unless violated by another power.

Germany did not reply directly.

Her mood that day
was difficult to analyse.

A British diplomat in Berlin

was watching it closely.

"The people looked serious,
but not depressed.

"The song Deutschland Uber Alles
was continually heard.

"Otherwise, there was little
evidence of jingo sentiment.

"The feeling was hard to describe -
like electricity in the air."

"In the neighbourhood of Berlin,
stations are surprisingly empty.

"In the suburbs, where one expects
large crowds, the streets are empty.

"A serious expression
marks the travellers."

The German Government
heightened the tension.

1.45pm, Germany declares
a state of "danger of war",

the immediate prelude
to full mobilisation.

3.30pm, the Germans
address Russia and France.

Russia is told to demobilise within 12 hours
or full mobilisation in Germany will follow.

The German Ambassador in Paris
is told mobilisation means war.

France is asked for guarantees
of neutrality.

Events were moving out of the
control of monarchs and statesmen.

The spectre of war
was no longer imaginary,

but obvious to all,

solid and menacing.

In Paris,
sensation followed sensation.

There was the trial of Madame Caillaux,
wife of the combative ex-premier.

"In this drama of love and politics

"a beautiful woman has shot dead
the editor of Le Figaro

"because he had wronged her husband

"and published his letters.

"A story of an unimaginable intrigue,
this trial has magnetised France."

But on July 28th, astoundingly,
she was acquitted.

Riots broke out in the streets.

Then Jean Jaures, the socialist
leader, was assassinated.

Cavalry going to war stations were
kept in Paris for fear of a revolt.

Thousands gathered
outside the banks.

The Bank of France would only pay
50 francs a fortnight to depositors.

In Germany, there was a run on gold.
The stock exchanges quivered.

The British Chancellor of the
Exchequer, Mr Lloyd-George, wrote:

"On the 27th, the volume of selling

"became such that the foreign
exchange market in New York gave way.

"From there, this breakdown spread
to other foreign exchanges.

It affected Britain
especially

"since London was
the financial centre of the world.

"In the last week of July,

"there was every prospect of such a
crash in London as had never been known."

On July 31st, as war evidently
came nearer, Lloyd-George

told his friend Lord Riddell:

"All bankers and commercial people
are begging us not to intervene.

"The Governor of the Bank of England
said to me with tears in his eyes,

"'Keep us out of it. We shall all
be ruined if we are dragged in.'"

On that day, Friday 31st,
the Stock Exchange closed.

The bank rate went up to 8%.

The Bank of England asked for
permission to issue notes instead of gold.

The oppression of imminent
catastrophe lay on all men.

During the days that
followed, it was as if

all the fears and agonies of
France were poured into one man,

Paul Cambon,
the French ambassador in London.

On August 1st,
Germany declared war on Russia.

General mobilisation was
decreed in Germany and France.

No-one doubted
what this meant.

Paul Cambon bluntly
asked Sir Edward Grey,

"Is England going to wait until French
territory is invaded before intervening?

"If so, her help might
be very belated.'

"I said that we could not propose
to Parliament at this moment

"to send an expeditionary force
to the Continent.

"Such a step had always been regarded
here as very dangerous and doubtful,

"unless our interests and obligations
were deeply, desperately involved."

In Berlin, the Kaiser had persuaded
himself that Britain would remain neutral,

and that France would not fight.

He called for champagne
and his chief of staff, von Moltke.

"Now we need only wage
war against Russia,

so we simply advance with the
whole army in the East."

But it was too late.
Schlieffen's plan was in action.

German patrols had already entered
neutral Luxembourg.

All eyes now turned on Britain.

Still the Liberal government shrank
from accepting the march of events.

In desperation, Cambon turned to
the Conservative opposition leaders.

"Doesn't England understand
what honour means?"

Now honour and necessity
were hand in hand.

The next day, Germany presented
her ultimatum to Belgium,

demanding a passage
for her troops.

The Belgians had
12 hours to reply.

It took far less time for
them to make up their minds.

King Albert spoke for his people.

"Our answer must be no.

"Whatever the consequences, our duty
is to defend our national integrity.

"In this, we must not fail."

It had been a rainy
day in London,

damping alike for the great peace
rally in Trafalgar Square,

and for the hot heads
who wanted to cheer for war.

When the news of the German ultimatum to
Belgium arrived, uncertainty began to pass.

Telegrams were sent, calling up
Army reservists and Territorials.

Opposition leaders urged
the Government to take up arms.

"Insensibly during this Sunday,

"without any fresh news,
some nameless factor began to work.

"The horrors of war might be less
insupportable than those of peace.

"There were dissentients, but the
majority did not want to argue.

"Argument never makes headway
against conviction,

and conviction takes
no part in argument,

"because it knows."

Knowing was everything. Knowing
the worst, and knowing what to do.

On August 3rd, Sir Edward Grey
addressed the House of Commons.

"I ask the House, from the point
of view of British interests,

"to consider what may be at stake.

"If France is beaten to her knees -

"if, in such a crisis,
we run away from obligations

"of honour and interest
as regards the Belgian Treaty,

"we should, I believe, sacrifice our
respect and good name before the world,

"and should not escape the most
grave economic consequences."

The House of Commons rose to him.
The country united behind him

in Grey's moment
of distasteful triumph.

When a Foreign Office
official congratulated him

on his speech, he crashed
his fists on the table.

"I hate war.

"I hate war."

"God grant we may not have
a European war thrust upon us.

"And for such a stupid reason too.

"No, I don't mean stupid.

"But to have to go to war on account
of tiresome Serbia beggars belief."

But war was now a fact.

The French ambassador in
St Petersburg witnessed

the Imperial proclamation
to the Russian people.

"I got to the Winter Palace Square
where a crowd had congregated

"with flags, banners
and portraits of the Tsar.

"The Emperor appeared on the balcony.

CHEERING

"To those thousands of men
on their knees at that moment,

"the Tsar really was the autocrat
appointed of God.

"The military, political and
religious leader of his people,

"the absolute master
of their bodies and souls."

Germany declared war on France
on August 3rd.

The Kaiser
had already addressed his people.

"This is a dark day and a dark hour.

"The crisis which is forced
upon us is the result

of an envy which, for
years, has pursued Germany.

"The sword is being forced
into my hand.

"This war will demand of us
enormous sacrifice,

"but we shall show our foe
what it is to provoke Germany."

The French declaration of war
followed at once.

"It was a lovely afternoon in Paris,
but what was the matter?

"That was the second woman
I've seen crying.

"Motors whizzed past, driven by men
with strained, set faces.

"No taxi driver would stop - they
were all returning to the garages.

"We turned. There,
on the walls of the Palais Bourbon,

"still wet and shining in the sun, was
the order for the general mobilisation.

"It was to be war after all."

Britain's vigil was almost over.

On August 4th,
the Prime Minister wrote,

"We got the news that the Germans
had entered Belgium.

"This simplifies matters.

"We sent them an ultimatum,
to expire at midnight,

requesting that they would
respect Belgian neutrality.

"The whole thing fills me
with sadness."

While the hours ran out in London,

crowds gathered at the German
embassy and along the Mall.

Expectation was in the air -
an electrical excitement.

"The whole crowd, solid up to the
railings of the palace, was silent,

"save for a murmur
as of bees in a hive.

"Suddenly, away to the right, came
the singing of the national anthem.

"From the left, a roar of cheering.

"Like great winds blowing
when they listed,

these storms rose and died,
and broke out afresh."

BIG BEN CHIMES

The hours struck.
The ultimatum ran out.

CROWD SING "LAND OF HOPE AND GLORY"

Standing at a window
overlooking St James' Park,

watching lamp-lighters
in the summer dusk,

Sir Edward Grey pronounced
the obituary of peace.

"The lamps are going out
all over Europe.

"We shall not see them lit again
in our lifetime."

BIG BEN DROWNS OUT THE SINGING