1 00:00:13,274 --> 00:00:15,230 NARRATOR: Spring 1918. 2 00:00:16,274 --> 00:00:19,186 Revolution had taken Russia out of the war, 3 00:00:19,274 --> 00:00:22,505 releasing half a million German soldiers from the East. 4 00:00:22,594 --> 00:00:26,872 For a brief moment, Germany outnumbered the Allies on the Western Front. 5 00:00:27,914 --> 00:00:30,382 Here was her chance to win the First World War. 6 00:00:31,794 --> 00:00:34,945 We must strike at the earliest moment, 7 00:00:35,034 --> 00:00:38,504 before the Americans can throw strong forces into the scales 8 00:00:40,074 --> 00:00:42,224 We must beat the British 9 00:01:30,394 --> 00:01:35,104 Behind the German lines, great armies rolled into position for the ''Michael Offensive'', 10 00:01:35,194 --> 00:01:37,549 named after Germany's patron saint. 11 00:01:39,994 --> 00:01:42,952 All the roads were crowded with columns on the march 12 00:01:43,034 --> 00:01:47,073 eagerly pressing forward with countless guns and endless transport 13 00:02:03,074 --> 00:02:06,225 The German and the Allied Air Forces were closely matched, 14 00:02:06,314 --> 00:02:09,989 but Germany had the legendary ace, Baron Manfred von Richthofen. 15 00:02:13,594 --> 00:02:16,506 A special train carried his famous fighter squadron . 16 00:02:18,594 --> 00:02:21,233 Their brightly-painted aircraft and daring antics 17 00:02:21,314 --> 00:02:24,226 had earned the nickname ''The Red Baron's Flying Circus''. 18 00:02:29,274 --> 00:02:31,629 These pilots were Germany's heroes, 19 00:02:31,714 --> 00:02:36,390 among them, the future Nazi leader of the Luftwaffe, Hermann G�ring. 20 00:02:40,354 --> 00:02:43,391 The Red Baron's dog, Moritz, with his own flying gear. 21 00:02:44,834 --> 00:02:48,463 Von Richthofen had already downed 66 enemy planes. 22 00:02:49,554 --> 00:02:52,591 He looked to the Michael Offensive to swell his tally. 23 00:02:58,274 --> 00:03:02,711 The Allies knew the Germans were about to hit them. They just didn't know where. 24 00:03:06,274 --> 00:03:09,107 The French reinforced the Chemin des Dames ridge, 25 00:03:09,194 --> 00:03:12,743 the British strengthened the line guarding the Channel ports, 26 00:03:12,834 --> 00:03:15,712 but the Germans had their sights on the gap between, 27 00:03:15,794 --> 00:03:19,867 concentrating on a 12-mile sector where they knew the British were weak. 28 00:03:22,234 --> 00:03:26,944 Here, the British Fifth Army's trench system was shallow and incomplete. 29 00:03:27,994 --> 00:03:30,554 General Sir Hubert Gough had few reserves. 30 00:03:30,634 --> 00:03:33,307 Germany's supreme commanders had chosen well. 31 00:03:37,674 --> 00:03:41,747 Paul von Hindenburg and Erich Ludendorff carried their country's hopes. 32 00:03:41,834 --> 00:03:44,871 Virtually worshipped as demigods for past triumphs, 33 00:03:44,954 --> 00:03:47,593 they complemented one another's characters. 34 00:03:48,634 --> 00:03:52,263 Hindenburg, the rock, steady and unflappable. 35 00:03:53,354 --> 00:03:56,744 Ludendorff, the brains, but erratic, nervous. 36 00:04:00,074 --> 00:04:03,544 The plan was a short, intense bombardment to stun the British, 37 00:04:03,634 --> 00:04:05,909 then a shock attack by storm troopers. 38 00:04:05,994 --> 00:04:10,067 Evolved since 1915, these were elite, mobile soldiers, 39 00:04:10,154 --> 00:04:12,714 armed with grenades and flame-throwers, 40 00:04:12,794 --> 00:04:17,504 trained to seek out soft spots and penetrate deep and fast into enemy lines. 41 00:04:18,554 --> 00:04:20,226 (Gunfire) 42 00:04:30,874 --> 00:04:35,504 Ludendorff fixed the offensive for dawn on 21 March 1918. 43 00:04:42,394 --> 00:04:46,228 The Germans hit the British with a million shells in just five hours. 44 00:05:17,794 --> 00:05:19,750 Just before the bombardment ended 45 00:05:19,834 --> 00:05:25,352 the battalion commander Major Scherer started to sing ''Deutschland Deutschland Uber Alles'' 46 00:05:25,434 --> 00:05:26,947 We all joined in 47 00:05:27,994 --> 00:05:33,068 It was the first time I had heard our men singing the national anthem since the autumn of 1914 48 00:05:39,274 --> 00:05:41,230 9:40 is zero hour 49 00:05:41,314 --> 00:05:45,626 One division after the other breaks through in a gigantic leap 50 00:05:45,714 --> 00:05:47,989 through the smashed-wire entanglment 51 00:05:48,074 --> 00:05:51,669 across no-man's-land into the first enemy trench 52 00:05:54,554 --> 00:05:56,829 Our bayonets are stuck in their bodies 53 00:06:09,474 --> 00:06:12,625 The morning fog was thick with poison gas. 54 00:06:12,714 --> 00:06:15,228 Some British never saw them coming. 55 00:06:19,274 --> 00:06:23,745 We heard the sentry shout that the Germans were here and we all made a grab for our arms 56 00:06:23,834 --> 00:06:27,190 A party of Germans came behind us and called on us to surrender 57 00:06:27,274 --> 00:06:30,869 Well we hadn't anything to say in the matter as there were hundreds to one 58 00:06:30,954 --> 00:06:35,232 Seeing that the case was hopeless we were taken very much against our will 59 00:06:38,034 --> 00:06:41,822 Lieutenant Stewart was one of 21,000 British captured that day. 60 00:06:43,874 --> 00:06:50,222 Panic spread, as senior officers, used to years of static trench warfare, lost control in the havoc. 61 00:07:01,274 --> 00:07:04,425 As soon as communications with brigades ceased to exit 62 00:07:04,514 --> 00:07:07,870 diviional headquarters in many cases became paralysed 63 00:07:08,914 --> 00:07:14,068 They'd become so wedded to a set-piece type of warfare that they were unable to function 64 00:07:18,874 --> 00:07:22,549 General Gough ordered what was left of the Fifth Army to withdraw. 65 00:07:24,074 --> 00:07:28,033 We could hear large numbers of Boche on the roads in front 66 00:07:30,874 --> 00:07:32,830 The tramp tramp tramp 67 00:07:32,914 --> 00:07:37,226 made one imagine the whole German Army was advancing against my company 68 00:07:42,674 --> 00:07:47,828 This was the biggest breakthrough in over three years of trench warfare on the Western Front. 69 00:07:51,274 --> 00:07:55,347 What our enemies never achieved not even after month long battles 70 00:07:55,434 --> 00:07:57,390 we managed within two days 71 00:07:57,474 --> 00:08:00,068 How happy and jolly the Kaiser must be 72 00:08:00,154 --> 00:08:04,113 Finally the initiative is back with us It's a wonderful feeling 73 00:08:10,674 --> 00:08:15,350 Demoralised British troops retreated over the Somme battlefield of 1916, 74 00:08:15,434 --> 00:08:18,870 giving up ground for which so much blood had been shed. 75 00:08:21,874 --> 00:08:26,584 It is pathetic to think that the old places where we were two years ago 76 00:08:26,674 --> 00:08:31,702 are now in the hands of the Hun as also are the graves of many people we know 77 00:08:38,994 --> 00:08:44,432 Edward's sister, Vera Brittain, was a nurse at Etaples, now flooded with casualties. 78 00:08:50,514 --> 00:08:55,144 VERA: ''There's only a handful of us Sister and there seems to be thousands of them'' 79 00:08:55,234 --> 00:09:00,183 It was the perpetual cry whether the patient came from Bapaume or P�ronne or St Quentin 80 00:09:06,394 --> 00:09:10,307 Day after day while civilian refugees fled in panic into �tapls 81 00:09:10,394 --> 00:09:13,750 some fresh enemy conquest was incredulously whipered 82 00:09:13,834 --> 00:09:18,703 P�ronne Bapaume Beaumont-Hamel were gone 83 00:09:21,274 --> 00:09:26,109 The huge German advance put Paris within range of the biggest gun in the world. 84 00:09:28,594 --> 00:09:33,224 This morning the bombardment of Paris began with the three new Krupp cannons 85 00:09:34,354 --> 00:09:37,312 The target is 120 kilometres away 86 00:09:37,394 --> 00:09:40,943 and from launch the shell takes 3 1/2 minutes 87 00:09:42,474 --> 00:09:44,624 The first French prioners I speak to 88 00:09:44,714 --> 00:09:48,673 ask me anxiously whether it's true that Paris has actually been shelled 89 00:09:50,794 --> 00:09:54,343 VON ElNEM: Travelling will be all the rage in Paris 90 00:09:56,914 --> 00:10:00,589 Allied newsreels portrayed life in the city continuing as normal. 91 00:10:06,554 --> 00:10:10,308 But away from the cameras, civilians hurriedly packed their bags. 92 00:10:13,594 --> 00:10:16,631 183 of the giant shells fell on Paris. 93 00:10:27,154 --> 00:10:29,110 The battle's going well 94 00:10:29,194 --> 00:10:33,949 The enemy is in retreat though fighting courageously and with heavy bloody losses 95 00:10:35,034 --> 00:10:36,786 A brilliant offensive 96 00:10:36,874 --> 00:10:42,392 with great loot and over 3 000 prioners 60 artillery and 200 machine guns 97 00:10:44,434 --> 00:10:48,552 I receive a telegram from Crown Prince Wilhelm honouring me and my army 98 00:10:51,394 --> 00:10:54,352 This evening His Majesty The Kaiser 99 00:10:54,434 --> 00:10:57,949 returned from Avesnes bursting with news of our successes 100 00:10:58,994 --> 00:11:05,866 As the train pulled in he shouted ''The battle is won The English have been utterly defeated'' 101 00:11:10,274 --> 00:11:14,472 The Kaiser declared 24 March 1918 a national holiday. 102 00:11:16,274 --> 00:11:20,267 He awarded Hindenburg and Ludendorff the highest military honours. 103 00:11:22,274 --> 00:11:25,425 Days later, Ludendorff's troops were still advancing. 104 00:11:33,074 --> 00:11:36,111 Some of the British started to think the unthinkable. 105 00:11:37,154 --> 00:11:41,511 I shall never forget the crushing tension of those extreme days 106 00:11:42,554 --> 00:11:45,307 Nothing had quite equalled them before 107 00:11:45,394 --> 00:11:47,749 not the Somme not Arras 108 00:11:47,834 --> 00:11:49,790 not Passchendael 109 00:11:49,874 --> 00:11:53,150 For into our minds had crept for the first time 110 00:11:53,234 --> 00:11:57,671 the secret incredible fear that we might lose the war 111 00:12:00,834 --> 00:12:02,313 (Mortar fire) 112 00:12:02,394 --> 00:12:06,831 But German success in the Michael Offensive masked deep problems at home. 113 00:12:08,114 --> 00:12:10,184 The biggest threat to Germany and her allies 114 00:12:10,274 --> 00:12:14,153 had increasingly come, not from their enemies, but their civilians. 115 00:12:15,194 --> 00:12:19,426 The crucial link between fighting and home fronts became decisive in 1918. 116 00:12:22,154 --> 00:12:24,827 The Central Powers were running a desperate race 117 00:12:24,914 --> 00:12:28,031 between victory on the battlefield and collapse at home. 118 00:12:29,074 --> 00:12:30,826 (Sniper fire) 119 00:12:32,834 --> 00:12:35,792 There are signs of the increasing scarcity of metal 120 00:12:36,834 --> 00:12:40,144 In a small town near here a sad ceremony took place 121 00:12:40,234 --> 00:12:41,986 The ancient church bell 122 00:12:42,074 --> 00:12:47,910 which had rung the people from cradle to grave for 300 years was requisitioned 123 00:12:49,154 --> 00:12:52,112 The inhabitants performed a funeral service for it 124 00:12:53,154 --> 00:12:56,112 The bell was covered with wreaths and flowers 125 00:12:56,194 --> 00:13:00,665 and handed over to the military authorities under tears and protestations 126 00:13:11,434 --> 00:13:16,110 Lead pipes were ripped up from the streets and melted down into bullets. 127 00:13:18,874 --> 00:13:22,662 The war was gnawing at the vitals of Germany and Austria-Hungary 128 00:13:22,754 --> 00:13:25,791 and people's hearts were turning against it. 129 00:13:26,874 --> 00:13:29,707 They wanted change, peace and democracy. 130 00:13:35,274 --> 00:13:39,062 After a while joy at the victory announcements abated 131 00:13:39,154 --> 00:13:41,110 People stopped believing them 132 00:13:41,194 --> 00:13:43,628 They weren't sure any more what the truth was 133 00:13:45,034 --> 00:13:50,552 I saw that the war had become old and like an old person was no longer wanted 134 00:13:51,634 --> 00:13:53,511 Surely peace must come soon? 135 00:13:54,594 --> 00:13:59,873 Something dangerous was building up in people something that smelled like rebellion 136 00:14:03,154 --> 00:14:08,103 Dangerous ideas were coming in from Russia antiwar, revolutionary, 137 00:14:08,194 --> 00:14:13,473 carried by German troops being moved from Eastern to Western Front for the great offensive. 138 00:14:18,874 --> 00:14:24,426 At railway stations and on leave, these ideas took root amid the pessimism of the home front. 139 00:14:28,554 --> 00:14:32,229 Dominik Richert was one of the soldiers ordered from East to West. 140 00:14:33,314 --> 00:14:35,544 We were off to the front, so, once again, 141 00:14:35,634 --> 00:14:40,662 we had the plasant prospect of being allowed a sweet heroic death for the beloved Fatherland 142 00:14:42,274 --> 00:14:45,710 We went through East Prussia West Prussia Brandenburg 143 00:14:46,794 --> 00:14:50,343 Train after train crammed full of soliers and war supplies 144 00:14:50,434 --> 00:14:52,390 rolled over from Russia to the West 145 00:14:54,114 --> 00:14:57,186 Farm workers were in the fields We waved 146 00:14:57,274 --> 00:15:00,630 Almost all of them made the sign of having your throat cut 147 00:15:03,274 --> 00:15:04,912 Since 1917, 148 00:15:04,994 --> 00:15:10,273 letters from home to Germany's soldiers carried an increasingly defeatist message. 149 00:15:11,874 --> 00:15:14,832 Beloved Fritz hard work never seems to lessen 150 00:15:15,914 --> 00:15:19,793 We would all do it ever so willingly if only this cursed war would end 151 00:15:21,274 --> 00:15:25,028 Tomorrow it will be two years since our beloved brother was killed 152 00:15:25,114 --> 00:15:27,548 and what a number has fallen in those years 153 00:15:28,594 --> 00:15:33,748 In this small area we can count 33 and yet there is no end 154 00:15:36,394 --> 00:15:39,352 The Central Powers' censorship of letters 155 00:15:39,434 --> 00:15:44,269 revealed the extent to which dangerous pacifist ideas were infiltrating society. 156 00:15:45,314 --> 00:15:49,830 An understandable yearning for one's home family job 157 00:15:49,914 --> 00:15:53,350 can be detrimental to the soliers' resolution 158 00:15:53,434 --> 00:15:57,393 The heavier these burdens weigh down on the spirit of the army 159 00:15:57,474 --> 00:16:02,707 the more the army needs to rely on a strong foundation of belief 160 00:16:04,074 --> 00:16:07,350 Ludendorff used propaganda to boost the nation's morale. 161 00:16:08,754 --> 00:16:13,703 By now, his authority had spread into all aspects of life, military and civilian. 162 00:16:15,274 --> 00:16:19,665 In July 1917, he launched a ''patriotic instruction programme'' 163 00:16:19,754 --> 00:16:23,030 to restore the army's faith in nation and cause. 164 00:16:24,194 --> 00:16:27,152 One of the propagandists was Major Walther Nicolai. 165 00:16:28,514 --> 00:16:32,063 A German victory is necessary and possible 166 00:16:32,154 --> 00:16:36,591 It is the only means of reaching a peace which is appropriate to its sacrifices 167 00:16:37,634 --> 00:16:40,592 We must eradicate all doubt in a German victory 168 00:16:45,474 --> 00:16:47,624 Film became a key propaganda tool. 169 00:16:49,154 --> 00:16:52,863 A massive new studio, UFA, secretly funded by the military, 170 00:16:52,954 --> 00:16:55,388 made films to encourage the war effort. 171 00:16:59,994 --> 00:17:01,950 (Dramatic piano accompaniment) 172 00:17:06,674 --> 00:17:11,429 Here, Neptune, king of the seas, learns that the feast his mermaids bring him 173 00:17:11,514 --> 00:17:14,347 has floated down from British ships sunk by U-boats. 174 00:17:24,154 --> 00:17:27,988 He goes to Berlin to urge the public to keep buying war bonds. 175 00:17:37,834 --> 00:17:41,463 Propaganda also taught the importance of security and secrecy. 176 00:17:43,194 --> 00:17:44,593 In this film, 177 00:17:44,674 --> 00:17:48,952 a soldier's careless talk on the telephone to his wife is intercepted by the British. 178 00:17:57,674 --> 00:18:02,623 Ludendorff enlisted German women to spy on their fellow citizens and root out defeatism. 179 00:18:12,794 --> 00:18:15,831 Politician Hans Peter Hanssen described in his diary 180 00:18:15,914 --> 00:18:18,553 the covert mission of the Women's Home Army. 181 00:18:19,634 --> 00:18:22,865 These women are given special Instruction in espionage 182 00:18:22,954 --> 00:18:27,152 They are to pay attention to conversations everywhere 183 00:18:27,234 --> 00:18:31,307 They are to post themselves in front of food shops to prevent complaints 184 00:18:31,394 --> 00:18:34,067 If they hear people making improper utterances 185 00:18:34,154 --> 00:18:38,989 they are to demand their identity immediately and turn them over to the state attorney 186 00:18:44,594 --> 00:18:48,030 In these repressive times, politics grew more extreme. 187 00:18:49,714 --> 00:18:53,912 In July 1917, the German Parliament, the Reichstag, 188 00:18:53,994 --> 00:18:58,192 passed a resolution calling for a negotiated peace with the Allies. 189 00:18:59,914 --> 00:19:03,793 But Hindenburg and Ludendorff welcomed the formation of the Fatherland Party 190 00:19:03,874 --> 00:19:05,705 to reunite the nation. 191 00:19:08,274 --> 00:19:11,710 Financed by industry and the army, and backed by the right, 192 00:19:11,794 --> 00:19:15,912 it launched savage propaganda attacks against all antiwar factions. 193 00:19:19,314 --> 00:19:23,466 But the party only fuelled Germany's slide into dissent and division. 194 00:19:24,794 --> 00:19:28,264 All outward distinctions of class and rank have to be avoided 195 00:19:29,314 --> 00:19:32,624 The many who have grown rich through war are detested 196 00:19:33,674 --> 00:19:36,029 Finer ditinctions are not always made 197 00:19:36,114 --> 00:19:42,144 and anyone wearing a fur mantle or well made boots is suspected of being a war profiteer 198 00:19:43,794 --> 00:19:48,151 Hindenburg and Ludendorff were running Germany as a military dictatorship. 199 00:19:48,234 --> 00:19:50,384 They had marginalised the Kaiser. 200 00:19:53,114 --> 00:19:57,392 PRINCESS BLUCHER: The Kaiser is more and more the shadow of a king 201 00:19:57,474 --> 00:20:02,229 and people talk openly of his abdication as a possibility very much desired 202 00:20:07,594 --> 00:20:11,428 ln January 1918, frustration, war weariness and hunger 203 00:20:11,514 --> 00:20:14,904 drove 400,000 people onto the streets of Germany. 204 00:20:14,994 --> 00:20:18,669 WOMAN : Enough with the murder at the front! Down with the war! 205 00:20:18,754 --> 00:20:21,666 We don't want to starve any longer! 206 00:20:21,754 --> 00:20:25,827 MAN : This war will only end when Kaiser Wilhelm has to queue up for potatoes! 207 00:20:25,914 --> 00:20:28,189 WOMAN : We're all croaking with hunger! 208 00:20:29,594 --> 00:20:33,428 There has been a heavy battle between strikers and police at Moabit 209 00:20:33,514 --> 00:20:35,664 A policeman has been shot 210 00:20:35,754 --> 00:20:37,710 The strike is spreading 211 00:20:37,794 --> 00:20:42,390 In North Berlin streetcars were stopped overturned and used as barricades 212 00:20:49,834 --> 00:20:53,304 Kurt Eisner, a radical socialist leader addressed the crowd. 213 00:20:55,634 --> 00:20:58,148 Comrades! The battle has begun! 214 00:20:58,234 --> 00:21:02,193 For three and a half years you have swallowed shameful lies 215 00:21:02,274 --> 00:21:05,425 and become accomplices to the terrible slaughter 216 00:21:05,514 --> 00:21:09,871 If you give in now the oppression will start all over again 217 00:21:09,954 --> 00:21:15,711 and you will be sent to die in the name of the economic and military interests of a few 218 00:21:16,754 --> 00:21:20,429 If you stand firm now we will be victorious! 219 00:21:34,074 --> 00:21:38,829 The German Army responded by arresting 150 strike leaders and putting them on trial. 220 00:21:40,114 --> 00:21:44,551 We are now entirely at the mercy of the military courts of justice 221 00:21:44,634 --> 00:21:48,070 Anyone who strikes is being sent off to the front at once 222 00:21:50,114 --> 00:21:52,070 In the darkest days of serfdom 223 00:21:52,154 --> 00:21:56,989 men could not have been more in a state of slavery than we are in these days of militarism 224 00:22:01,274 --> 00:22:03,629 Over 3,000 strikers were sent to the front. 225 00:22:06,634 --> 00:22:12,186 It was a foolhardy decision, only likely to spread radical and pacifist ideas into the army. 226 00:22:17,674 --> 00:22:23,226 The company was ordered to attend the burial of the cavalry captain in the military graveyard 227 00:22:23,314 --> 00:22:27,865 where thousands of poor victims of European militarism already lay buried 228 00:22:27,954 --> 00:22:30,388 Of course there was a speech 229 00:22:30,474 --> 00:22:36,424 The main words featured were ''Fatherland'' ''hero's death'' ''honour'' etc 230 00:22:37,474 --> 00:22:40,113 In reality that's all lies and deceit 231 00:22:41,154 --> 00:22:45,432 The only people who die purely for the Fatherland are the basic soliers 232 00:22:46,554 --> 00:22:49,830 The higher ranks are paid so die for the money 233 00:22:59,874 --> 00:23:04,709 By March 1918, Germany's ally, Austria-Hungary, faced bankruptcy and famine. 234 00:23:09,154 --> 00:23:12,988 Josef Redlich, a member of the Austrian Parliament, was in despair. 235 00:23:15,474 --> 00:23:18,227 The financial worries are crushing 236 00:23:18,314 --> 00:23:21,590 All in all the national debt is 75 billion 237 00:23:22,634 --> 00:23:26,229 and all around the country hunger is crushing the masses 238 00:23:27,274 --> 00:23:32,223 Has such hunger ever been experienced by a hundred million people and more? 239 00:23:38,674 --> 00:23:41,234 Emperor Franz Joseph had died in 1916. 240 00:23:43,554 --> 00:23:46,626 His successor, Kaiser Karl, liberalised Austria 241 00:23:46,714 --> 00:23:49,945 and had a French wife Zita, who disliked Germany. 242 00:23:51,994 --> 00:23:56,033 In 1917, he opened secret peace negotiations with France. 243 00:23:59,754 --> 00:24:01,790 The Germans felt betrayed, 244 00:24:01,874 --> 00:24:07,631 then Austria started to waver in the one area where Germany was relying on her to hold firm, 245 00:24:07,714 --> 00:24:09,670 the Italian Front. 246 00:24:13,034 --> 00:24:18,347 ln November 1917, Austria-Hungary had beaten Italy at the battle of Caporetto, 247 00:24:18,434 --> 00:24:21,506 capturing rich farmlands and thousands of prisoners. 248 00:24:22,554 --> 00:24:26,593 But the troops soon slaughtered the animals and emptied the granaries. 249 00:24:31,514 --> 00:24:36,463 By February 1918, warnings reached Vienna that Austro-Hungarian troops in the Alps 250 00:24:36,554 --> 00:24:39,193 and on the Venetian plains were near starvation. 251 00:24:41,914 --> 00:24:47,511 The troops are no longer moved by incessant empty phrases that the hinterland is starving 252 00:24:47,594 --> 00:24:49,744 or that one must hold out 253 00:24:50,794 --> 00:24:54,230 They must be adequately supplied to be able to live and fight 254 00:24:54,314 --> 00:24:56,066 I therefore beg again 255 00:24:56,154 --> 00:25:00,989 for vigorous measures to overcome the present food crisis as quickly as possible 256 00:25:03,674 --> 00:25:07,030 But Vienna couldn't feed herself, let alone supply an army. 257 00:25:09,234 --> 00:25:10,792 In April 1918, 258 00:25:10,874 --> 00:25:15,743 Austrian General Landwehr, in charge of food distribution, took matters into his own hands. 259 00:25:16,794 --> 00:25:21,584 Grain barges from Romania passed through the city down the Danube to Germany. 260 00:25:21,674 --> 00:25:24,347 Landwehr ordered his men to hijack one. 261 00:25:29,074 --> 00:25:31,030 Now Vienna had no bread 262 00:25:31,114 --> 00:25:33,070 Something had to be done 263 00:25:33,154 --> 00:25:36,703 The confication of the German grain barge was the only way out 264 00:25:37,754 --> 00:25:42,908 This was simply street robbery albeit an official one dictated by need 265 00:25:42,994 --> 00:25:48,227 It was a violent action I had to take if I was to save Vienna from starvation 266 00:25:52,194 --> 00:25:55,948 Ludendorff was so enraged, he considered declaring war on Austria. 267 00:25:59,994 --> 00:26:04,067 And trouble was brewing with Germany's other main ally, Ottoman Turkey. 268 00:26:05,114 --> 00:26:10,063 Germany needed Turkey to hold the line against the British advance into the Middle East. 269 00:26:11,154 --> 00:26:14,749 But, after 600 years, the Ottoman Empire was crumbling 270 00:26:14,834 --> 00:26:17,507 and the British Empire was licking its lips. 271 00:26:20,554 --> 00:26:24,103 In March 1917, the British captured Baghdad. 272 00:26:26,554 --> 00:26:29,114 In December, they entered Jerusalem. 273 00:26:30,154 --> 00:26:34,511 The loss of both cities was a severe blow to Ottoman authority in the Middle East. 274 00:26:42,434 --> 00:26:48,191 The words ''Jerusalm has fallen'' spread like news of a death in the family 275 00:26:48,274 --> 00:26:50,742 Jerusalm was in the hands of the English 276 00:26:51,794 --> 00:26:54,024 How heroically the last Turks fought 277 00:26:55,074 --> 00:26:58,783 We did not leave Jerusalm like the sons of Israel 278 00:26:58,874 --> 00:27:00,830 We left it like Turks 279 00:27:03,634 --> 00:27:07,388 Through the Mount of Olives the evening shadows deepen and widen 280 00:27:07,474 --> 00:27:10,864 like a grave sucking in the whole of the Ottoman Empire 281 00:27:20,034 --> 00:27:23,583 We now had to prepare our tears for Beirut Damascus and Aleppo 282 00:27:24,874 --> 00:27:27,627 Now we thought only of Anatolia and Istanbul 283 00:27:29,074 --> 00:27:32,828 Goodbye to the Empire and all its dreams and fancies 284 00:27:37,034 --> 00:27:38,786 (Camels bray and grunt) 285 00:27:46,714 --> 00:27:52,903 The Britih Army had it all. They had built roads even pipes to ditribute water to the troops 286 00:27:52,994 --> 00:27:55,952 We did not have any clean drinking water 287 00:27:56,034 --> 00:28:00,391 A flask full of clean water was sold for a gold coin on the Turkih side 288 00:28:06,914 --> 00:28:12,466 In Turkey, as with her allies, the situation on the home front was so desperate 289 00:28:12,554 --> 00:28:15,307 it threatened her capacity to wage war. 290 00:28:16,594 --> 00:28:19,267 Turkey hadn't known peace for seven years. 291 00:28:19,354 --> 00:28:24,109 The First World War was just the latest, and most terrible, in a string of conflicts. 292 00:28:27,554 --> 00:28:29,909 Most able-bodied men were in the army 293 00:28:29,994 --> 00:28:31,950 or wounded or dead. 294 00:28:32,034 --> 00:28:35,868 The land was impoverished, the people near breaking point. 295 00:28:37,394 --> 00:28:41,831 An old farmer with a seven year-old girl his grandchild came to see me 296 00:28:42,874 --> 00:28:46,947 The child's father had died in Gallipoli and the mother had died as well 297 00:28:47,034 --> 00:28:52,506 He begged me ''For God's sake take this child and save her from starvation and death'' 298 00:28:54,634 --> 00:28:56,386 I took the child 299 00:28:57,434 --> 00:29:01,473 Back in Istanbul I discovered that almost all of my officer friends 300 00:29:01,554 --> 00:29:05,308 had taken in poor children like that from the villages of Anatolia 301 00:29:09,354 --> 00:29:12,027 General Mustafa Kemal, Turkey's future leader, 302 00:29:12,114 --> 00:29:15,072 warned that this was a recipe for national disaster. 303 00:29:17,114 --> 00:29:20,868 There are no bonds between the Government and the people 304 00:29:20,954 --> 00:29:25,072 What we call ''the people'' is now composed of women disabld men and children 305 00:29:26,114 --> 00:29:31,268 For all alike the Government is the power which insitently drives them to hunger and death 306 00:29:32,314 --> 00:29:34,987 Every new step taken by the Government 307 00:29:35,074 --> 00:29:38,225 increases the general hatred the people feel for it 308 00:29:42,914 --> 00:29:46,145 But far from relaxing the pressure on the Turkish people, 309 00:29:46,234 --> 00:29:50,193 their war leader, Enver Pasha, had even bigger demands to make on them. 310 00:29:53,834 --> 00:29:57,383 While Britain swallowed up the old Ottoman Empire in the south, 311 00:29:57,474 --> 00:30:02,229 Enver looked east, dreaming of a new Turkish Empire extending into Central Asia. 312 00:30:12,674 --> 00:30:17,828 Our destiny forces us to move from the south to the east where our blood 313 00:30:17,914 --> 00:30:23,113 our roots our language and most importantly our future lie 314 00:30:24,754 --> 00:30:29,225 Ludendorff also had plans, which ignored the parlous state of the Turkish Army. 315 00:30:31,714 --> 00:30:37,869 By May 1918, he had a crazy idea, for Enver to strike at the heart of the British Empire. 316 00:30:38,954 --> 00:30:41,593 LUDENDORFF: Even if we are victorious in France 317 00:30:41,674 --> 00:30:47,226 it is still in no way certain that we can force the English to a peace acceptable to us 318 00:30:47,314 --> 00:30:51,990 if we are not able to threaten their most sensitive spot India 319 00:30:57,514 --> 00:30:59,470 But Enver stuck to his own agenda 320 00:30:59,554 --> 00:31:03,183 and that included sending his newly-formed Army Of Islam 321 00:31:03,274 --> 00:31:05,834 to capture the oil-rich city of Baku. 322 00:31:07,394 --> 00:31:10,466 Britain and Germany also had Baku in their sights. 323 00:31:10,554 --> 00:31:13,022 Now the scramble for Central Asia was on. 324 00:31:14,114 --> 00:31:18,187 The speed and energy of the Turkish advance seems to have taken Europe by surprise 325 00:31:19,394 --> 00:31:22,943 They hadn't thought Turkey was able to carry out such deeds 326 00:31:24,994 --> 00:31:30,193 Ludendorff was furious to find, yet again, an ally trying to steal resources from Germany. 327 00:31:31,234 --> 00:31:34,909 Unlss the Turkih advance on Baku is halted at once 328 00:31:34,994 --> 00:31:38,304 and the troops are withdrawn to their original positions 329 00:31:38,394 --> 00:31:41,147 I shall have to propose to His Majesty the Kaiser 330 00:31:41,234 --> 00:31:45,022 the recall of the German officers in the Turkish High Command 331 00:31:48,074 --> 00:31:51,510 While they were bickering, Britain sneaked into Baku first. 332 00:31:57,234 --> 00:31:59,907 Turkey's commanders, like Vecihi Bey, 333 00:31:59,994 --> 00:32:03,748 were growing bitter over the cost of her alliance with Germany. 334 00:32:03,834 --> 00:32:06,906 We thought we were sacrificing ourselves 335 00:32:06,994 --> 00:32:10,145 for the common good of the Germans and Turks 336 00:32:10,234 --> 00:32:13,385 Oh! This shining silvered plan 337 00:32:14,434 --> 00:32:17,949 We've sacrificed millions of our sons for a dream 338 00:32:20,554 --> 00:32:24,513 A woman is asking everyone she sees ''Have you seen my Ahmed?'' 339 00:32:24,594 --> 00:32:26,550 "Which Ahmed?" 340 00:32:26,634 --> 00:32:29,194 "Which of the hundred thousand Ahmeds?" 341 00:32:30,634 --> 00:32:32,590 ''He went this way'' she said 342 00:32:32,674 --> 00:32:34,426 "That way? 343 00:32:34,514 --> 00:32:37,790 To the Suez Canal Sarikami or Baghdad? 344 00:32:38,834 --> 00:32:42,588 Was your Ahmed swallowed by ice sand or bitten by scorpions? 345 00:32:43,634 --> 00:32:46,432 No none of us has seen your Ahmed 346 00:32:47,474 --> 00:32:49,226 But he has seen hell" 347 00:32:50,274 --> 00:32:55,826 If we could only explain to a mother what we gained from it, news to make her proud 348 00:32:56,914 --> 00:32:59,872 But we lost Ahmed in a gamble 349 00:32:59,954 --> 00:33:01,387 (Mortar fire) 350 00:33:05,274 --> 00:33:08,346 Regardless of the Central Powers' mounting problems, 351 00:33:08,434 --> 00:33:11,790 Ludendorff's push on the Western Front was storming ahead. 352 00:33:18,274 --> 00:33:21,186 We're going like hell on and on day and night 353 00:33:23,234 --> 00:33:27,022 Our baggage is somewhere in the rear and nobody expects to see it again 354 00:33:28,274 --> 00:33:32,233 We're glad if ration carts and field kitchens can get up to us at night 355 00:33:34,074 --> 00:33:37,350 Now we go forward past craters and trenches 356 00:33:37,434 --> 00:33:39,390 captured gun positions 357 00:33:39,474 --> 00:33:41,430 ration dumps and clothing depots 358 00:33:43,594 --> 00:33:48,304 Our cars now run on the best English rubber tyres, we smoke none but English cigarettes 359 00:33:48,394 --> 00:33:51,466 and plaster our boots with lovely English boot polish 360 00:33:51,554 --> 00:33:55,229 all unheard of things which belong to a fairyland a long time ago 361 00:34:02,274 --> 00:34:05,630 The British Fifth Army fell back in disorder before the Germans. 362 00:34:08,674 --> 00:34:11,427 Von Hutier's 1 8th Army had advanced the furthest. 363 00:34:12,474 --> 00:34:14,430 They encountered slight resistance, 364 00:34:14,514 --> 00:34:19,030 because the areas they reached were of lesser strategic importance to the Allies. 365 00:34:24,674 --> 00:34:29,623 Instead of reining von Hutier in and turning his army against Allied strongholds, 366 00:34:29,714 --> 00:34:32,990 Ludendorff rewarded him with medals and reinforcements. 367 00:34:34,274 --> 00:34:39,109 Crown Prince Rupprecht, commanding four of the German armies, saw big trouble ahead. 368 00:34:40,634 --> 00:34:44,786 German High Command has changed direction 369 00:34:44,874 --> 00:34:49,152 It has made its decisions according to the size of its territorial gain 370 00:34:49,234 --> 00:34:52,192 rather than according to operational goal 371 00:34:53,834 --> 00:34:55,790 The problem was Ludendorff. 372 00:34:55,874 --> 00:35:01,551 He had an eye for detailed battlefield tactics, but was blind to the big strategic picture. 373 00:35:04,434 --> 00:35:07,665 His armies' spectacular advance had no vital objective. 374 00:35:09,114 --> 00:35:12,550 Indeed, woe betide a staff officer who dared ask Ludendorff 375 00:35:12,634 --> 00:35:15,068 what the operation was meant to achieve. 376 00:35:15,154 --> 00:35:18,032 LUDENDORFF: I object to the word ''operation'' 377 00:35:18,114 --> 00:35:20,582 We will punch a hole into their line 378 00:35:20,674 --> 00:35:22,630 For the rest we shall see 379 00:35:24,594 --> 00:35:27,666 Rudolf Binding, at the cutting edge of the Second Army, 380 00:35:27,754 --> 00:35:32,828 realised that the speed of the German advance across this open, undefended ground 381 00:35:32,914 --> 00:35:34,745 was a problem in itself. 382 00:35:35,834 --> 00:35:38,587 One cannot go on victoriously for ever 383 00:35:38,674 --> 00:35:41,711 without ammunition or any sort of reinforcements 384 00:35:41,794 --> 00:35:43,750 Behind us lies the wilderness 385 00:35:46,674 --> 00:35:49,632 The thing which annoys and upsets us again and again 386 00:35:49,714 --> 00:35:54,424 are the exaggerations of the newspapers and the telegrams to crowned heads about 387 00:35:54,514 --> 00:35:55,993 ''the decisive victory'' 388 00:36:01,714 --> 00:36:04,547 The German advance, which looked so good on paper, 389 00:36:04,634 --> 00:36:07,148 had dangerously outstripped its supply lines. 390 00:36:08,194 --> 00:36:12,312 Some units were so far ahead, no-one was quite sure where they were 391 00:36:12,394 --> 00:36:16,990 and the Germans had neither the horses to pull the supply carts, nor enough fodder. 392 00:36:19,154 --> 00:36:21,907 The sun dries out the poor earth to dust 393 00:36:21,994 --> 00:36:25,953 I don 't know what we will live off Already we have no oats 394 00:36:26,034 --> 00:36:29,993 If we have a bad harvest then we can send the horses to the sausage factory 395 00:36:34,434 --> 00:36:37,187 The deeper the Germans penetrated Allied lines, 396 00:36:37,274 --> 00:36:40,505 the more their own deprivations were forced home to them. 397 00:36:44,154 --> 00:36:48,352 Like a vision from the Promised Land we are already in the English rest areas 398 00:36:48,434 --> 00:36:50,584 a land flowing with milk and honey 399 00:36:50,834 --> 00:36:54,190 Our men can hardly be distinguihed from English soliers 400 00:36:54,274 --> 00:36:58,631 Everyone wears at last a leather jerkin a waterproof either short or long 401 00:36:59,674 --> 00:37:02,427 There's no doubt the army is looting with some zest 402 00:37:10,114 --> 00:37:15,552 On 23 March, Ludendorff suddenly dreamed up a real objective, the city of Amiens. 403 00:37:20,274 --> 00:37:23,391 Amiens was a hub of the Allied railway system, 404 00:37:23,474 --> 00:37:26,432 the key junction between Northern France and Paris. 405 00:37:29,714 --> 00:37:34,868 Amiens's loss would be a calamity for the Allies, as French General Ferdinand Foch realised. 406 00:37:36,914 --> 00:37:41,669 We must fight in front of Amiens We must fight where we are now 407 00:37:41,754 --> 00:37:45,747 As we have not been able to stop the Germans on the Somme 408 00:37:45,834 --> 00:37:48,632 we must now not retire a single inch 409 00:37:49,674 --> 00:37:54,828 The German Second Army set out for Amiens, but slowed and halted on the way. 410 00:37:56,154 --> 00:37:58,224 Rudolf Binding was sent to investigate. 411 00:37:59,274 --> 00:38:03,313 Today the advance of our infantry suddenly stopped near Albert 412 00:38:03,394 --> 00:38:05,703 Nobody could understand why 413 00:38:08,274 --> 00:38:12,472 Strange figures who looked like soldiers were making their way back out of town 414 00:38:12,554 --> 00:38:16,103 men carrying a bottle of wine under their arm and another in their hand 415 00:38:17,154 --> 00:38:21,670 The advance was held up and there was no means of getting it going again for hours 416 00:38:25,914 --> 00:38:29,873 The German troops had found French towns full of food and drink, 417 00:38:29,954 --> 00:38:33,230 in quantities and qualities they hadn't seen for years. 418 00:38:37,474 --> 00:38:41,228 Whole divisions had entirely gorged themselves on food and liquor 419 00:38:41,314 --> 00:38:43,350 and failed to press the vital attack 420 00:38:48,834 --> 00:38:51,792 The Second Army had lost precious time and momentum. 421 00:38:53,154 --> 00:38:55,509 Here, outside Amiens on 4 April, 422 00:38:55,594 --> 00:38:59,348 a combined Australian and British force stopped the Germans. 423 00:39:05,674 --> 00:39:08,234 Ludendorff called off the Michael Offensive. 424 00:39:09,274 --> 00:39:12,823 His lack of a strategic plan and the failure to supply his troops 425 00:39:12,914 --> 00:39:15,189 had squandered a priceless opportunity. 426 00:39:16,234 --> 00:39:18,668 His officers were now seriously concerned. 427 00:39:23,274 --> 00:39:26,823 VON LEEB: Ludendorff has totally lost his nerve 428 00:39:29,554 --> 00:39:31,510 VON EINEM: How will this war end? 429 00:39:32,554 --> 00:39:34,510 England is still unbeaten 430 00:39:37,554 --> 00:39:41,672 GERMAN OFFICER: The physical exhaustion of the infantry was so great 431 00:39:41,754 --> 00:39:44,632 that finally the men could hardly fire their rifles 432 00:39:45,674 --> 00:39:49,428 They let themselves be slowly wiped out almost without caring 433 00:39:55,074 --> 00:39:58,305 Then Germany's greatest hero, Baron von Richthofen, 434 00:39:58,394 --> 00:40:03,548 was shot down behind British lines, on 21 April, shortly after his 80th kill. 435 00:40:08,674 --> 00:40:11,427 The Allies buried him with full military honours. 436 00:40:12,474 --> 00:40:15,147 A British plane then flew over his headquarters, 437 00:40:15,234 --> 00:40:18,067 dropping a photograph of von Richthofen's grave. 438 00:40:31,994 --> 00:40:34,747 The Baron's was the most public German death, 439 00:40:34,834 --> 00:40:38,873 but he was one of over 230,000 casualties in just one month. 440 00:40:46,274 --> 00:40:48,230 Germany was running out of men, 441 00:40:48,314 --> 00:40:51,989 having failed to capitalise on Russia's withdrawal from the war. 442 00:40:57,114 --> 00:41:00,789 Germany had left one and a half million troops on the Eastern Front, 443 00:41:00,874 --> 00:41:04,230 soaking up vital resources, food and transport. 444 00:41:06,274 --> 00:41:08,629 Germany's leaders were out of their depth, 445 00:41:08,714 --> 00:41:11,945 fighting what Ludendorff would later call ''a total war'', 446 00:41:12,034 --> 00:41:16,789 but with the administrative structures and thinking of a small 19th-century state. 447 00:41:18,434 --> 00:41:20,709 Now Ludendorff's nightmare unfolded. 448 00:41:23,274 --> 00:41:28,223 Germany had failed to achieve decisive victory before the Americans poured into France. 449 00:41:29,274 --> 00:41:31,629 A quarter of a million by March 1918. 450 00:41:36,914 --> 00:41:40,145 But General Pershing gave the Germans some breathing space 451 00:41:40,234 --> 00:41:44,512 by refusing to allow American troops to serve under British or French command. 452 00:41:46,954 --> 00:41:50,663 America declared war independently of the Allies 453 00:41:50,754 --> 00:41:53,712 and she must face it as soon as possible with a powerful army 454 00:41:54,754 --> 00:41:59,032 The moral of our soliers depends upon fighting under our own flag 455 00:42:12,394 --> 00:42:18,105 Pershing Obstinate and stupid hankering after a ''great self contained American Army'' 456 00:42:18,194 --> 00:42:19,866 Ridiculous! 457 00:42:23,114 --> 00:42:27,869 What changed the situation was a radical reorganisation of the Allied command structure. 458 00:42:29,914 --> 00:42:32,553 During the bleakest moments of the Michael Offensive, 459 00:42:32,634 --> 00:42:36,707 General Ferdinand Foch was appointed Allied Supreme Commander on the Western Front. 460 00:42:38,274 --> 00:42:41,471 If Petain and Haig could take orders from him, so could Pershing. 461 00:42:46,394 --> 00:42:49,272 But the Americans went their own way over how to fight. 462 00:42:51,114 --> 00:42:56,268 Captain Christison gave a training lecture to some of the newly-arrived American troops. 463 00:42:56,354 --> 00:43:00,984 I held forth adding a few personal experiences and lessons 464 00:43:01,074 --> 00:43:04,544 When I had ended an old Colonel dressed more like a sheriff said 465 00:43:04,634 --> 00:43:07,626 ''Gentlmen l'd like you all to accord the Scottish major 466 00:43:07,714 --> 00:43:10,751 a hearty vote of thanks for his very interesting lecture'' 467 00:43:11,794 --> 00:43:15,309 Then he shook his finger and went on ''But l'd have you guys remember 468 00:43:15,394 --> 00:43:18,830 the Britih have been trying these tactics for nearly four years 469 00:43:18,914 --> 00:43:20,870 and they ain't done much damn good!" 470 00:43:24,954 --> 00:43:26,910 The Americans were raring to fight. 471 00:43:33,114 --> 00:43:34,911 We all seemed to go crazy 472 00:43:34,994 --> 00:43:38,145 for we gave a yell like a bunch of wild Indians 473 00:43:38,234 --> 00:43:42,830 and started down the hill running and cursing in the face of the machine-gun fire 474 00:43:42,914 --> 00:43:48,830 Men were falling on every side but we kept going yelling and firing as we went 475 00:43:48,914 --> 00:43:50,666 (Gunfire) 476 00:43:52,994 --> 00:43:56,304 We threw hand grenades as if they had been baseballs 477 00:43:56,394 --> 00:44:01,343 A boy next to me threw a hand grenade and hit a tree It bounced back and exploded 478 00:44:01,434 --> 00:44:06,303 We saw it just in time to hit the bottom of the trench and keep from getting killed 479 00:44:17,834 --> 00:44:20,109 By refusing to learn from the Allies, 480 00:44:20,194 --> 00:44:24,472 the Americans fought in 1918 the way the Allies had done in 1914... 481 00:44:25,514 --> 00:44:29,473 ..charging across open ground, without adequate artillery support. 482 00:44:31,514 --> 00:44:36,065 German Intelligence noted their inexperience from interrogation of prisoners. 483 00:44:37,274 --> 00:44:41,586 The attacks were carried out with dash and recklessness 484 00:44:41,674 --> 00:44:45,906 Regarding military matters however they show not the slightest interest 485 00:44:45,994 --> 00:44:48,633 For example most of them have never seen a map 486 00:44:49,674 --> 00:44:53,952 They are not able to describe the villages and roads through which they marched 487 00:44:58,754 --> 00:45:03,589 The Americans had a lot to learn, but their presence gave the Allies a huge morale boost. 488 00:45:05,114 --> 00:45:07,344 They looked larger than ordinary men 489 00:45:07,434 --> 00:45:12,713 their tall straight figures were in vivid contrast to our undersized armies of pale recruits 490 00:45:13,754 --> 00:45:18,430 I pressed forward with the others to watch the United States physically entering the war 491 00:45:19,474 --> 00:45:21,226 So godlike 492 00:45:21,314 --> 00:45:23,066 so magnificent 493 00:45:23,154 --> 00:45:28,433 so splendidly unimpaired in comparion with the tired nerve-racked men of the Britih Army 494 00:45:30,274 --> 00:45:32,424 So these were our deliverers at last 495 00:45:33,834 --> 00:45:40,433 With the knowldge that we were not after all defeated I found myself beginning to cry 496 00:45:46,954 --> 00:45:51,789 The failure of the Michael Offensive further depressed German morale at home. 497 00:45:51,874 --> 00:45:56,629 Pacifism and defeatism now seeped through to the soldiers in the German rear. 498 00:46:00,994 --> 00:46:02,950 Military transports lanterns 499 00:46:03,034 --> 00:46:07,232 windows from block stations and trains have been smashed by stone throwing 500 00:46:07,314 --> 00:46:12,263 Troops standing on top of the wagons cut through telephone cables and signals 501 00:46:12,354 --> 00:46:15,266 In other trains brakes were tampered with 502 00:46:15,354 --> 00:46:19,711 making it impossible to stop in time for signals and in stations 503 00:46:19,794 --> 00:46:22,627 Also wagons have been uncoupled 504 00:46:26,114 --> 00:46:30,710 Colonel Albrecht von Thaer became so worried about the state of the German Army 505 00:46:30,794 --> 00:46:33,228 that he voiced his concerns to Hindenburg. 506 00:46:34,714 --> 00:46:37,182 His soothing voice said 507 00:46:37,274 --> 00:46:42,712 ''My dear Thaer while it may be the case that things recently have not gone so well for you 508 00:46:42,794 --> 00:46:46,753 you must remember that you are talking about a front of 12 miles 509 00:46:46,834 --> 00:46:50,588 I daily receive reports from the entire front 510 00:46:50,674 --> 00:46:52,630 Moral is splendid 511 00:46:52,714 --> 00:46:56,787 while according to our reports enemy moral is rather poor'' 512 00:46:58,674 --> 00:47:04,226 But morale in Hindenburg's own headquarters was sliding and the root cause was Ludendorff. 513 00:47:05,754 --> 00:47:09,429 By July 1918, his nerves were shot. 514 00:47:09,514 --> 00:47:13,268 He'd only had three days off in four years. 515 00:47:13,354 --> 00:47:17,313 His beloved stepson had been killed in the Michael Offensive. 516 00:47:18,754 --> 00:47:21,905 Ludendorff became morbidly attached to the boy's body, 517 00:47:21,994 --> 00:47:24,667 refusing to send it back to his wife in Berlin. 518 00:47:25,874 --> 00:47:30,664 If I didn't send you Pieckchen then that was pure selfishness 519 00:47:31,714 --> 00:47:33,670 I wanted to keep him 520 00:47:33,754 --> 00:47:35,506 I go to him often 521 00:47:35,594 --> 00:47:37,664 It's a lovely feeling to have him here 522 00:47:39,714 --> 00:47:42,945 Ludendorff's inner circle feared for his mental health. 523 00:47:43,994 --> 00:47:48,351 There's a serious question about Ludendorff's nervousness and his incoherence 524 00:47:49,394 --> 00:47:51,669 He's working himself to death 525 00:47:51,754 --> 00:47:54,188 The situation is really serious 526 00:47:54,274 --> 00:47:56,629 It looks as if he's lost all hope 527 00:48:02,074 --> 00:48:06,352 Throughout June, the Germans grew weaker and the Allies stronger. 528 00:48:07,754 --> 00:48:12,908 On 15 July, Ludendorff launched the last German offensive of the First World War. 529 00:48:16,154 --> 00:48:19,783 I have lived through the most disheartening day of the whole war 530 00:48:20,834 --> 00:48:24,713 The French deliberately lured us across rusty snakes of barbed wire 531 00:48:24,794 --> 00:48:27,752 We only managed to advance about three kilometres 532 00:48:28,874 --> 00:48:31,229 Everything seemed to go wrong 533 00:48:35,674 --> 00:48:38,029 Then the French struck back at the Marne. 534 00:48:46,314 --> 00:48:49,784 Their counteroffensive battered the exhausted German Army. 535 00:48:53,914 --> 00:48:59,068 It looks as though we are being thrown against the largest enemy counteroffensive of all time 536 00:48:59,154 --> 00:49:01,907 and it was supposed to be our offensive 537 00:49:01,994 --> 00:49:05,145 We could never have dreamt that this would happen ever 538 00:49:14,194 --> 00:49:19,063 Germany had suffered nearly a million casualties since the glory days of March. 539 00:49:19,154 --> 00:49:23,511 Her great gamble had failed and the tables were turning against her. 540 00:49:33,634 --> 00:49:35,943 In the next episode of the First World War: 541 00:49:36,994 --> 00:49:39,144 the strange, sudden ending of the war, 542 00:49:39,234 --> 00:49:43,546 the bitter legacy of Versailles and the search for meaning in the terrible losses.