All language subtitles for BBC - Europe A Natural History - 3 - Taming the Wild

Europe.

For two million years, ice has swept the
continent.

Not just once, but many times.

Then, some 20 ,000 years ago, the bitter
climate begins to ease its

grip.

The continent is transformed into the
greenest on Earth.

And now a new force of change is
gathering momentum.

This force will have relentless impact.

on Europe's wildlife, its margins and
inland forests,

and across the face of the land.

This is the story of the struggle
between man and nature, and the taming

of the wild.

10 ,000 years ago, Europe is a land of
virgin forest.

Just a few millennia earlier, this was a
treeless tundra, roamed by herds of

mammoth and reindeer.

Now Europe's milder, more pleasant
seasons attract waves of new immigrants.

With the woods so impenetrable, the
easiest access is along the newly formed

waterways.

These early hunter -gatherers follow the
sweeping meanders of the Danube, Rhine

and Rhône, drawn by the abundance of
fish,

plants and waterfowl.

This is a totally new world, entirely
different from the recent part.

is no place for migrating herds of large
animals big game is rare

but

there are many other opportunities by
creating forest clearings

early hunters find simple ways to lure
their prey

man is not the only hunter.

People and predators have long been
rivals.

Enemies.

But they share an interest.

Finding food.

And as the lives of animals and people
begin to merge, a new approach is born.

The taming of the wild.

As hunter -gatherers roam the lush green
heart of Europe, a radically new way of

life dawns on the southeastern fringes.

One that will transform almost the
entire continent.

Europe's first farmers.

Around 8 ,000 years ago, they set to
work.

exploiting the fertile landscape of the
eastern Mediterranean.

These newcomers have island hopped from
the near east, lured by the gentle

climate and rich soils.

They have brought with them some unique
goods, key plants, tools and animals.

used for generations back in
Mesopotamia, the cradle of civilization.

Even in the Stone Age, Europe's farmers
have enormous impact.

They soon replace hundreds of wild plant
species with just a handful of their

own. Emma wheat, barley, rye.

and olives.

If hunter -gatherers had never become
farmers, the woodlands might have

unscathed. But now the seeds of change
have been sown.

With enough food available all year
round, and with plenty of surplus,

can begin to settle.

The forest canopies that once covered
Crete and Malta now give way to fields

pastures.

Agriculture flourishes at the expense of
the wild.

In the eastern grasslands, the early
settlers exploit another revolutionary

resource.

Wild animals that can be easily tamed.

From the Middle East came goats and
sheep, brought in by the immigrant

Soon these animals would spread across
the entire continent and ultimately

contribute to its deforestation.

From the shores of the Mediterranean,
agriculture is now on the move.

Nydra, one of the many sun temples on
the island of Malta, erected by Europe's

farmers more than 7 ,000 years ago.

These are the world's oldest standing
buildings, calendars of stone, marking

times of sowing and harvesting, shrines
of a civilization in perfect synchrony

with nature.

Like the rising sun, this new way of
life creeps its way across the

In just 2 ,000 years, it reaches the
Atlantic.

At Carnac in France, these standing
stones are a testament to a once

farming community.

Elaborate monuments like these are
symbols of the massive changes to the

European landscape, of settlement and
ownership.

Of the thousands of megalithic sites,
this is one of the youngest and the most

imposing of them all.

Stonehenge. An enormous feat of
engineering constructed with

precision.

over a hundred generations lived to its
rhythms.

Four thousand years ago, Europe's
primeval forests are assaulted by

demand.

More aggressive than ever before.

And in remote areas so far untouched.

Metal making.

The smelting of copper and bronze soon
spreads from the Balkans and Cyprus

across much of Europe.

But as early as 2000 BC, the flourishing
metal industry on Cyprus collapses.

It fails not because of the shortage of
ore, but the lack of timber.

Metal means wealth and power.

Metal deposits scattered across the
continent become the key incentive for

conquest.

And out of these struggles emerges
Europe's mightiest superpower.

600 BC.

The Roman Empire is on a march.

Its aim is not just conquest, but the
civilization of wild Europe.

Conquer with sword and spade is the
mission statement of the Roman army,

it the biggest road -building enterprise
ever.

All roads lead to Rome, the saying goes.

But the opposite is true.

All roads spread from Rome.

As if capturing a wild animal, the
empire cast a network of roads across

continent, from Italy to Britain and
from Turkey to Spain.

Via est vita, says the Roman proverb.

The road is life.

The constant flow of livestock, goods
and ideas between the eternal city and

most distant corners of the empire would
shape Europe's societies, landscapes

and wildlife for thousands of years to
come.

Cattle and grain pour in toward the
capital.

Mediterranean animals and plants spread
in the opposite direction, in what is

one of the warmest periods in Europe's
more recent history.

Roman culture travels on muleback.

The mule is a hybrid of donkey and
horse, non -existent in wild nature.

It is mass -bred by the Romans as an all
-terrain, all -purpose carrier.

Endless caravans transport olive oil,
cheese, wine and weapons.

And raw metals.

Tin is perhaps the only reason why Rome
conquered some of the colder and less

inviting corners of the continent.

The tin mines of Cornwall prized
throughout antiquity.

would be worked until modern times.

500 years of systematic clearing has
pushed Rome's wildwood frontiers far

north.

Only beyond the Rhine and the Danube,

true wilderness still exists.

But even in these remote woodlands,
wildlife is no longer safe.

There's a price on the head of big
animals.

And catching them is big business.

Roman trade reaches out to the remotest
fringes of the continent, to regions as

far north as Scotland and Siberia.

Tens of thousands of bears, wolves and
lions are taken to supply a gigantic

entertainment industry.

By the first century AD, in Europe's
forests, the brown bear is almost

In the huge amphitheaters of major
cities and in Rome's Colosseum, the

screams for fresh blood each afternoon.

Even small garrison towns have their
circus games, often in a makeshift

Day after day, across the empire,
thousands of wild creatures are

Then, abruptly, the glory that is Rome

comes to an end.

A brutal change of climate hastens its
downfall.

Failing crops force northern tribes to
flee their homelands.

Wildlife reclaims the fields and
pastures.

It seems as if a new ice age is
arriving.

For the first time in centuries, the
frontier rivers freeze over, and

can cross the frozen Danube and the
Rhine on foot.

The greatest empire on the European
continent has imposed order for nearly a

thousand years.

But its power crumbles within decades.

And with it, its palaces, its cities,
and its road.

Yet Rome's legacy remains inscribed on
the landscape.

In some places, like Hadrian's Wall in
northern England, it's plain to see.

Within the borders of the Roman Empire,
some corners had remained totally

unexploited, written off as sterile
badlands.

This is not North Africa, but Spain, sun

-parched and thirsty.

Towering over the desert are the snowy
peaks of the country's highest mountain

range, the Sierra Nevada.

These mountains hold the key to the
region's potential wealth.

Meltwater. In the right hands, this
treasure will pay dividends.

After the fall of Rome, Waves of
invaders have come and gone.

The ones to stay are an army of canal
builders, Berber and Arab tribes from

northern rim of the Sahara.

For thousands of years, they had tapped
the snows of Morocco's mountains,

bringing the desert to life.

The Moors, as they came to be called,
are expert at harnessing the flow of

water.

From the 8th century on, they bring
their expertise to Spain.

They construct dams, reservoirs and
aqueducts, and intricate networks of

tens of thousands of kilometers of
conduits, Large and small.

To irrigate, they must first level the
ground.

Centuries after their arrival, every
hillside within reach of a canal is

terraced.

In 700 years, the moors turned Europe's
driest land into orchards.

New fruits they cultivate are reminders
of the African heritage they have

stamped on Spain's landscape.

Working miracles with water, the moors
create some of Europe's finest gardens.

The Alhambra.

The seat of Granada's Muslim kings is a
celebration of their favorite element,

a fantasy of fountains and fragrances,
of marble and alabaster.

Throughout the Middle Ages, the
societies that succeed the Romans have

their varied imprint on the land.

But the land in turn is reflected in the
people's culture.

Nowhere is this more apparent than on
the far side of the continent.

Scandinavia.

Europe's Arctic fringe.

Cold fogs.

Dark winters.

No fertile soil for farmers, but the
seas are alive.

Here, the Gulf Stream meets cold,
nutrient -rich waters, feeding a wealth

plankton and vast shoals of fish.

This far north, life on land depends
directly on life in the sea.

Ever since the Gulf Stream freed the
fjords from ice age glaciers, settlers

come to these coasts to harvest the
ocean.

But as communities grew, many were
forced to move on and discover distant,

greener shores.

These northern tribes have become
fearless navigators and enterprising

Their ships, known as nors, are built
for heavy loads.

Drying cod as they go, the Vikings can
undertake extended voyages, from the

Baltic to the Black Sea.

and from the North Sea to the
Mediterranean.

They even reach America.

In Scandinavia, timber is still
plentiful.

The Vikings ship it south, where even
the woodlands that Rome has left

are becoming patchy.

Europe's ancient trees had come crushing
down to clear land for farms, to build

ships or houses, and for fuel.

Now, around the year 1000, the wild
woods suffer a fresh onslaught.

Once again, it is Rome that wields the
axe.

The Roman church takes up where the
empire has left off.

It found scores of monasteries, and
their purpose is not purely spiritual.

Many are given vast tracts of wooded
land to clear.

The monks' mission is to also tame the
wild.

Especially Cistercian monasteries, like
Tinton Abbey, use advanced farming

techniques.

Their libraries are databases of botany
and horticulture.

Religious rulings alter Europe's
landscapes.

Most abbeys are soon surrounded by fish
farms.

Although monks must fast for up to 150
days a year, they merely abstain from

meat, but not fish.

Across the continent, monastic fish
ponds create thousands of fresh havens

wildlife.

Yet some species suffer.

Beavers and pond turtles live in water,
so the church declares them to be fish.

Fit for consumption during fasts, they
soon disappear.

An abbey's civilising mission bears
fruit when the wildwood clearing of its

first foundation becomes the site of a
new town.

By the 14th century, one in eight people
in central Europe lives within town

walls.

The streets of Europe's growing towns
are paved with opportunity.

And not just for humans.

Rats crowd into the new urban centers,
drawn by the wealth of food and refuse.

Their presence foreshadows a lethal
threat to civilization.

In the late 1340s, an epidemic flares
across the continent like wildfire,

leaping from door to door and town to
town.

In just three years, half the
inhabitants of Europe are dead.

Rats arriving on ships from Asia carry
fleas with the killer bacteria.

And the flea bites pass the plague onto
humans.

Old and young, rich and poor, great and
small succumb.

Many believe this to be the apocalypse,
the end of the world.

It will take Europe's human population
250 years to recover to its former

levels.

For Europe's wildlife, this is a long
breathing space.

After the tide of terror repeats, few
people are left to plant or harvest the

fields.

Herds of livestock run wild.

And Europe's big predators, shoved to
the edge of extinction for centuries,

return for a heyday.

When humans flourish, wolves, bears and
lynx are the first to suffer.

Over the centuries, only plagues or
extended wars have given them a chance

recover.

Throughout the Middle Ages, the higher
alpine forests have been cleared for

grazing, forcing the tree line down.

But now, this constant attack is put on
hold.

Europe's temperate climate means that
left alone, most of the continent's

regions would revert to their natural
state, unbroken forest.

After the black death, the wild can now
regenerate.

For the first time in thousands of
years, animals enjoy increasing freedom.

As fields and pastures lie uncultivated
year after year, Europe's woodlands soon

widen their territory, filling up the
farmland in an endless sea of trees.

But the truce does not last.

Late in the 16th century, the forests
faced the biggest assault ever.

It is the era of Europe's great navies.

of overseas exploration and of momentous
wars for sea power.

Tall ships need tall trees.

Mature wood in many shapes and species.

10 ,000 trunks are toppled to construct
the biggest vessels yet built.

Huge galleons.

Europe's prime timber is sent afloat to
do battle.

July 1588, the greatest invasion fleet
to date, the Spanish Armada,

meets its opponent, the English Navy.

Outnumbered, the English set fire ships
adrift among the enemy anchored off

Calais.

The armada boasts 120 vessels, including
30 galleons.

Powerful, but difficult to maneuver.

Panic and flames force the floating
fortresses out into the North Sea.

As they round Scotland Island, a violent
Atlantic storm

batters the Spanish fleet, shattering
many of the ships.

Near the coast of Ireland, Spain's
finest forests

sink to the sea floor.

Although the Armada has not changed the
course of history, some of its wreckage

will.

In Ireland, gathering seaweed to
fertilise the thin, impoverished soils

been a way to better crops in the few
wind -protected valleys where wheat

well.

But what washes ashore in the surf that
summer of 1588 will revolutionize

Ireland's and ultimately Europe's staple
crops forever.

To the locals, a shipwreck near the
coast is a stroke of good fortune.

This time, they scarcely know just how
lucky they are.

Potatoes first made the journey from the
New World to Spain decades earlier with

Columbus.

They prove ideal rations for the Spanish
Navy.

To the rest of Europe, they're virtually
unknown.

Irish farmers soon discover that this
foreign plant from the slopes of the

is well suited to the short days, cold
nights, and poor soils of their island.

Better than anything they've planted
before.

Soon, potatoes prosper where cereal
crops failed.

The fate of the Irish rapidly becomes
linked to a single plant.

Inside two centuries, fields and crops
multiply tenfold.

So does the population, to more than
eight million.

But then, in the winter of 1845, a

stowaway from America, a fungus

rots the food stores in farm cellars.

The following year, it ravages fields
and farms.

Within a few months, Millions lose their
livelihood.

Advancing a hundred times faster than
any other potato disease, it infests the

whole country and sweeps on into
mainland Europe.

This is the worst famine in Europe's
history.

In Ireland, The body count rises,
eventually reaching a million.

One and a half million impoverished
survivors desert their stricken farms.

Their mass exodus signals a shift to a
new era that has already begun in

England.

One that will alter the face of Europe
more radically.

and rapidly than ever before.

This new economy is no longer based on
crops.

but on minerals and technology.

This is the mechanical age.

A steam -driven revolution, accelerating
at an unprecedented speed.

Machines now dictate the rhythm of life,
the movement of the body, the rate of

productivity.

Factories claw in crowds of labourers
from rural districts to new industrial

centres around the coal field.

New means of transportation link far
-flung places.

Canals run from coast to coast.

Coal fuels the revolution.

By the mid -1800s, 50 million towns go
up in smoke each year, choking and

blackening England's towns.

In the most striking change to the
landscape, sprawling cities swallow up

farmland.

The Industrial Revolution begins in
England, but soon, in the second half of

19th century, pools of smoke hang over
continental Europe.

Here, at first, the Industrial
Revolution is fuelled by wood,

the Alps, where the remaining forests
are plundered wholesale.

Rivers become conveyor belts.

Hundreds of thousands of foresters
supply the iron industry with raw

for charcoal.

But so all -consuming are the furnaces
that in the long run, only the vast

deposits of coal can satisfy their
hunger.

For industries to reach beyond Europe's
borders, they need efficient

transportation.

giant steel ships, and an expanding rail
network.

Britain exports railways all over
Europe, linking port and mine to

to city, nation to nation.

For the first time, people can cover
long distances with ease.

Now inhabitants of smog -ridden towns
can escape to the countryside.

Suddenly, some are made aware of what is
missing in their lives.

Clean air.

Wide open spaces.

Blue skies.

Their greatest discovery.

The silence of true wilderness.

Ever since humans set foot on this
continent, the Alpine peaks have been

and avoided.

Up here, there was little to be gained.

But now, mountain climbers, painters and
poets, botanists and geologists,

even ambitious photographers are
crowding to these peaks.

These sons and daughters of the
Industrial Revolution discover treasures

money cannot buy.

The most spectacular of these is the
vast mountain wilderness in the very

of a tamed continent.

They descend with a powerful new
message.

Wild Europe, in all its very glory.

is worth protecting for its own sake.

At the dawn of the 20th century, this
message comes just in time.

As modern cities sprawl, populations
surge,

man -made landscapes abound, and ever
-new inventions add to the human impact

land, climate, and wildlife.

Europe's journey through time begins to
take a new direction.

from consumption to coexistence with
wild nature.

Europe's cities are turning into new
wildlife havens and natural landscapes

into protected sanctuaries.

Civilization and nature are more and
more entwined.

In Europe, wildlife is everywhere.

On farmland, in planted forests and wild
woods, on city fringes,

and in the continent's remotest corners.

Now, in the new millennium, it's in
human hands to keep Europe

wild.

And don't miss the final part of Europe
and Natural History on Tuesday at 9.

Stay with us now for The World, next.