1 00:00:01,217 --> 00:00:03,967 (dramatic music) 2 00:00:36,740 --> 00:00:39,840 I'm Christopher Clark, Cambridge historian. 3 00:00:39,840 --> 00:00:41,830 I was born in Australia. 4 00:00:41,830 --> 00:00:43,730 For Europeans, that's practically 5 00:00:43,730 --> 00:00:45,670 the other end of the world. 6 00:00:45,670 --> 00:00:49,150 But the European continent and its incredible diversity 7 00:00:49,150 --> 00:00:51,010 always fascinated me. 8 00:00:51,010 --> 00:00:53,570 Even in the far off country where I grew up, 9 00:00:53,570 --> 00:00:56,270 I was always aware that so much of our world 10 00:00:56,270 --> 00:00:58,020 has its roots in Europe. 11 00:00:58,020 --> 00:00:59,590 And modern Europe is one of 12 00:00:59,590 --> 00:01:02,600 the greatest achievements in human history. 13 00:01:02,600 --> 00:01:06,440 I want to share the grand saga of this continent. 14 00:01:06,440 --> 00:01:07,730 And, in the process, 15 00:01:07,730 --> 00:01:10,593 I hope to rediscover its wonders for myself. 16 00:01:12,649 --> 00:01:15,399 (dramatic music) 17 00:01:19,760 --> 00:01:22,870 Today's leg of my journey begins in Paris 18 00:01:22,870 --> 00:01:24,843 with a meeting that might surprise you. 19 00:01:26,170 --> 00:01:28,630 Does this lady here look familiar to you? 20 00:01:28,630 --> 00:01:30,000 Well, it's no wonder. 21 00:01:30,000 --> 00:01:34,210 She's the little Paris sister of Lady Liberty in New York. 22 00:01:34,210 --> 00:01:36,920 The French gave the Statue of Liberty to the Americans 23 00:01:36,920 --> 00:01:39,100 as a gift in gratitude, it could be said, 24 00:01:39,100 --> 00:01:41,290 for America's role in inspiring 25 00:01:41,290 --> 00:01:44,680 the most important turning point in Europe's history. 26 00:01:44,680 --> 00:01:47,020 America had broken away from England. 27 00:01:47,020 --> 00:01:48,970 The American Declaration of Independence, 28 00:01:48,970 --> 00:01:51,530 which the Statue of Liberty holds in her arm, 29 00:01:51,530 --> 00:01:55,250 includes the lines "All men are created equal" 30 00:01:55,250 --> 00:01:57,220 and "They are endowed by their creator 31 00:01:57,220 --> 00:01:58,990 with certain inalienable rights, 32 00:01:58,990 --> 00:02:02,680 including life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." 33 00:02:02,680 --> 00:02:04,500 In the fledgling United States, 34 00:02:04,500 --> 00:02:08,830 it seemed freedom, equality, and progress reigned. 35 00:02:08,830 --> 00:02:11,180 Two years before the French Revolution, 36 00:02:11,180 --> 00:02:13,798 self-determination and the liberty of humankind 37 00:02:13,798 --> 00:02:17,070 were written into the American Constitution. 38 00:02:17,070 --> 00:02:20,338 It was as if the utopias of enlightened political theory 39 00:02:20,338 --> 00:02:22,053 had sprung to life. 40 00:02:24,340 --> 00:02:27,290 Pennsylvania, 1777. 41 00:02:27,290 --> 00:02:29,830 French nobleman Lafayette is fighting 42 00:02:29,830 --> 00:02:31,860 on the side of the American colonists 43 00:02:31,860 --> 00:02:34,380 for democracy and human rights 44 00:02:34,380 --> 00:02:37,530 and against the English colonial rulers 45 00:02:37,530 --> 00:02:39,813 whom the settlers see as their oppressors. 46 00:02:42,420 --> 00:02:44,260 The old order begins to falter 47 00:02:44,260 --> 00:02:46,520 in Europe and the rest of the world. 48 00:02:46,520 --> 00:02:48,530 The Americans man the barricades 49 00:02:48,530 --> 00:02:51,233 in what will become known as the Revolutionary War. 50 00:02:52,140 --> 00:02:54,870 In the previous year, the United States of America, 51 00:02:54,870 --> 00:02:56,790 as the colonists now call themselves, 52 00:02:56,790 --> 00:03:00,263 had declared its independence from England. 53 00:03:00,263 --> 00:03:02,513 (cheering) 54 00:03:10,109 --> 00:03:12,076 The Statue of Liberty in New York 55 00:03:12,076 --> 00:03:15,494 is still a symbol of freedom and democracy today. 56 00:03:15,494 --> 00:03:17,183 It was a gift from the French 57 00:03:17,183 --> 00:03:19,959 to the country that helped to spark a revolution 58 00:03:19,959 --> 00:03:21,709 in their own country. 59 00:03:24,012 --> 00:03:25,579 "L'Etat, ce moi." 60 00:03:25,579 --> 00:03:26,412 "I am the state." 61 00:03:26,412 --> 00:03:28,720 That's how the kings of France think. 62 00:03:28,720 --> 00:03:31,360 The Palace of Versailles just outside Paris 63 00:03:31,360 --> 00:03:33,800 is a manifestation of absolutism 64 00:03:33,800 --> 00:03:35,930 and of the existing European order. 65 00:03:35,930 --> 00:03:39,283 Many European monarchs model themselves on French royalty. 66 00:03:42,550 --> 00:03:45,080 The monarch holds all executive power. 67 00:03:45,080 --> 00:03:47,150 There's no formal separation of powers 68 00:03:47,150 --> 00:03:49,920 into executive, judiciary, and legislature. 69 00:03:49,920 --> 00:03:51,940 All chains of command converge 70 00:03:51,940 --> 00:03:55,700 on one person in one place, Versailles. 71 00:03:55,700 --> 00:03:57,990 This is a society of orders 72 00:03:57,990 --> 00:04:00,000 with different rights and responsibilities. 73 00:04:00,000 --> 00:04:02,700 The clergy, the nobility, and, of course, 74 00:04:02,700 --> 00:04:05,710 the third estate encompassing the rest of society. 75 00:04:05,710 --> 00:04:08,480 Those at the top of the pyramid wallow in luxury 76 00:04:08,480 --> 00:04:10,363 while the poor often go hungry. 77 00:04:14,360 --> 00:04:17,870 The days of absolutism were numbered. 78 00:04:17,870 --> 00:04:21,150 Have the courage to make use of your own reason. 79 00:04:21,150 --> 00:04:24,520 With these words, the Konigsberg philosopher Immanuel Kant 80 00:04:24,520 --> 00:04:26,880 summed up the meaning of enlightenment. 81 00:04:26,880 --> 00:04:29,980 Today, in what's sometimes called a post-factual era, 82 00:04:29,980 --> 00:04:32,660 his words are more important than ever. 83 00:04:32,660 --> 00:04:35,810 Profound discoveries in the field of the natural sciences 84 00:04:35,810 --> 00:04:37,570 had already paved the way. 85 00:04:37,570 --> 00:04:40,090 With their thinking and their precise reckoning, 86 00:04:40,090 --> 00:04:42,040 Galilei, Kepler, and Newton 87 00:04:42,040 --> 00:04:44,560 had already transformed human understanding 88 00:04:44,560 --> 00:04:46,860 of the world and the universe. 89 00:04:46,860 --> 00:04:49,547 When the French philosopher Rene Descartes declared, 90 00:04:49,547 --> 00:04:51,470 "I think, therefore I am," 91 00:04:51,470 --> 00:04:54,370 he made the reflecting, questioning consciousness 92 00:04:54,370 --> 00:04:56,510 of an individual human being 93 00:04:56,510 --> 00:04:59,343 the fulcrum of our knowable existence. 94 00:05:00,910 --> 00:05:05,120 In the European salons, often run by high society ladies, 95 00:05:05,120 --> 00:05:08,350 the old order is increasingly called into question. 96 00:05:08,350 --> 00:05:10,100 Especially in France. 97 00:05:10,100 --> 00:05:13,610 Thinkers like Rousseau, Diderot, Montesquieu, and Voltaire 98 00:05:13,610 --> 00:05:16,850 extol the principles of human equality, tolerance, 99 00:05:16,850 --> 00:05:18,223 and the division of powers. 100 00:05:21,393 --> 00:05:24,140 In his nature, man is free. 101 00:05:24,140 --> 00:05:26,840 And all his actions must be based on reason. 102 00:05:26,840 --> 00:05:31,450 I tell everybody, think for yourself. 103 00:05:31,450 --> 00:05:34,740 We, ourselves, are responsible for what we do. 104 00:05:34,740 --> 00:05:36,923 But also for what we don't do. 105 00:05:38,600 --> 00:05:40,290 That's true, my dear Voltaire. 106 00:05:40,290 --> 00:05:43,723 But it's also important to set the limit on power. 107 00:05:45,050 --> 00:05:46,667 Experienced teachers have said, 108 00:05:46,667 --> 00:05:50,197 "Any man with power tend to abuse it." 109 00:05:52,110 --> 00:05:55,213 That is why the three powers of estate should be separated. 110 00:05:56,110 --> 00:06:01,110 The legislative, the executive, and the judicial. 111 00:06:04,710 --> 00:06:06,450 Freedom can only exist when 112 00:06:06,450 --> 00:06:09,320 the powers of the state are separated. 113 00:06:09,320 --> 00:06:12,627 Reason would mandate that, as well, don't you think? 114 00:06:15,890 --> 00:06:17,510 During the Enlightenment, 115 00:06:17,510 --> 00:06:20,370 knowledge is diligently collected and published 116 00:06:20,370 --> 00:06:22,440 in the form of encyclopedias. 117 00:06:22,440 --> 00:06:25,140 But these are not mere storehouses of knowledge. 118 00:06:25,140 --> 00:06:27,323 They are critical and argumentative. 119 00:06:36,460 --> 00:06:41,460 Ah, Monsieur Diderot, I am glad you could make it today. 120 00:06:42,600 --> 00:06:43,433 Come with me. 121 00:06:45,630 --> 00:06:49,190 Here, I bring you the author of the encylopedie 122 00:06:50,860 --> 00:06:53,050 that you hold in your hands. 123 00:06:53,050 --> 00:06:57,423 Oh, this here is a declaration of war against the king. 124 00:06:58,300 --> 00:06:59,200 And why is that? 125 00:07:01,260 --> 00:07:04,370 When man starts listening to the voice of reason, 126 00:07:04,370 --> 00:07:06,370 he will strangle the last king 127 00:07:06,370 --> 00:07:08,553 with the guts of the last priest. 128 00:07:14,070 --> 00:07:16,210 The writing is on the wall. 129 00:07:16,210 --> 00:07:18,260 Peasants and commoners are financing 130 00:07:18,260 --> 00:07:20,830 the extravagant lifestyle of the royal court. 131 00:07:20,830 --> 00:07:24,790 The nobility and clergy are largely exempt from taxation. 132 00:07:24,790 --> 00:07:26,420 The argument that this is a natural 133 00:07:26,420 --> 00:07:28,360 and God-given state of affairs 134 00:07:28,360 --> 00:07:30,113 comes to seem less persuasive. 135 00:07:35,150 --> 00:07:38,133 This is a menu from the court at Versailles. 136 00:07:38,133 --> 00:07:40,099 20 courses were served 137 00:07:40,099 --> 00:07:44,370 from jellied lobster and scallops in oyster sauce 138 00:07:44,370 --> 00:07:47,380 to morel souffle and leg of hare. 139 00:07:47,380 --> 00:07:50,610 And, while the nobles of Versailles reveled and feasted, 140 00:07:50,610 --> 00:07:54,020 the people in many parts of the country starved. 141 00:07:54,020 --> 00:07:57,260 The world of the court and the world of everybody else 142 00:07:57,260 --> 00:07:58,780 drifted apart. 143 00:07:58,780 --> 00:08:00,070 This was just one of the reasons 144 00:08:00,070 --> 00:08:02,650 why the French monarchy failed to make it through 145 00:08:02,650 --> 00:08:04,880 to the end of the 18th century. 146 00:08:04,880 --> 00:08:07,923 The fundamental problem was government debt. 147 00:08:08,950 --> 00:08:12,890 France has become the most populous country in Europe. 148 00:08:12,890 --> 00:08:15,610 25 million people live here. 149 00:08:15,610 --> 00:08:18,463 Food is scarce and prices have spiked. 150 00:08:18,463 --> 00:08:19,545 We want bread. 151 00:08:19,545 --> 00:08:20,955 Down with the king. 152 00:08:20,955 --> 00:08:22,359 We want bread. 153 00:08:22,359 --> 00:08:23,682 Down with the king. 154 00:08:23,682 --> 00:08:24,710 We want bread. 155 00:08:24,710 --> 00:08:26,910 In 1788, bad harvests 156 00:08:26,910 --> 00:08:28,560 and catastrophic weather events 157 00:08:28,560 --> 00:08:30,600 only make the situation worse. 158 00:08:30,600 --> 00:08:32,980 Bread, the main food of the poor, 159 00:08:32,980 --> 00:08:35,280 is suddenly much more expensive. 160 00:08:35,280 --> 00:08:38,030 The French decide to take things into their own hands. 161 00:08:38,030 --> 00:08:40,640 Food riots break out across the country, 162 00:08:40,640 --> 00:08:41,740 particularly in Paris. 163 00:08:43,080 --> 00:08:44,271 Take what you can. 164 00:08:44,271 --> 00:08:45,640 Take as much as you can carry. 165 00:08:45,640 --> 00:08:47,070 Do not leave anything behind. 166 00:08:47,070 --> 00:08:47,963 Keep your hands off. 167 00:08:47,963 --> 00:08:48,796 You hear me? 168 00:08:48,796 --> 00:08:50,280 Nothing. 169 00:08:50,280 --> 00:08:51,640 Take what you can. 170 00:08:51,640 --> 00:08:53,592 Take as much as you can carry. 171 00:08:53,592 --> 00:08:55,440 Do not leave anything. 172 00:08:55,440 --> 00:08:56,473 Take all the bread. 173 00:08:59,088 --> 00:09:02,780 And the king's soldiers simply stand back and watch. 174 00:09:02,780 --> 00:09:04,580 When order breaks down in the capital, 175 00:09:04,580 --> 00:09:07,530 they refuse to intervene against the revolutionaries. 176 00:09:07,530 --> 00:09:10,330 On the contrary, many side with the rebels, 177 00:09:10,330 --> 00:09:12,773 because there is unrest in the army, as well. 178 00:09:16,860 --> 00:09:19,550 By the late 1780s, there wasn't even enough money 179 00:09:19,550 --> 00:09:22,460 to cover monthly payments to the troops. 180 00:09:22,460 --> 00:09:24,970 A fully functional and strongly motivated army 181 00:09:24,970 --> 00:09:26,114 could easily have put down 182 00:09:26,114 --> 00:09:29,250 the small hunger riot at the Bastille. 183 00:09:29,250 --> 00:09:31,040 But France no longer possessed 184 00:09:31,040 --> 00:09:32,893 an army loyal enough to do that. 185 00:09:35,263 --> 00:09:39,140 On the morning of the 14th of July, 1789, 186 00:09:39,140 --> 00:09:41,710 an angry Parisian crowd storms 187 00:09:41,710 --> 00:09:45,270 the notorious state prison in the Bastille fortress. 188 00:09:45,270 --> 00:09:47,540 Their anger is directed at this symbol 189 00:09:47,540 --> 00:09:51,103 of the tyranny inflicted on them by the king and nobility. 190 00:09:54,030 --> 00:09:55,350 The revolutionaries demand 191 00:09:55,350 --> 00:09:58,060 freedom, equality, and brotherhood. 192 00:09:58,060 --> 00:10:01,500 But are these ideals really compatible with one another? 193 00:10:01,500 --> 00:10:03,050 Contention over this question 194 00:10:03,050 --> 00:10:05,000 will shape the force of the revolution. 195 00:10:10,260 --> 00:10:14,460 In June 1789, the third estate breaks away 196 00:10:14,460 --> 00:10:17,560 from the other two orders and convenes in assembly. 197 00:10:17,560 --> 00:10:19,290 Its members see themselves 198 00:10:19,290 --> 00:10:22,030 as representatives of the entire nation. 199 00:10:22,030 --> 00:10:24,980 Open disagreement, debate now becomes 200 00:10:24,980 --> 00:10:27,760 a central motor of political life. 201 00:10:27,760 --> 00:10:30,650 Drawing on the legacy of the American Revolution, 202 00:10:30,650 --> 00:10:33,350 General Lafayette and Honore Mirabeau 203 00:10:33,350 --> 00:10:35,830 draft a bill of human rights. 204 00:10:35,830 --> 00:10:39,100 Article one, men are born 205 00:10:39,100 --> 00:10:42,940 and remain free and equal in rights. 206 00:10:42,940 --> 00:10:47,123 Social distinctions can be founded only on the common good. 207 00:10:48,037 --> 00:10:50,710 (applause) 208 00:10:50,710 --> 00:10:55,370 Article two, the goal of any political association 209 00:10:55,370 --> 00:10:57,860 is the conservation of the natural 210 00:10:57,860 --> 00:11:00,888 and imprescriptible rights of man. 211 00:11:00,888 --> 00:11:04,381 These rights are liberty, property, safety, 212 00:11:04,381 --> 00:11:07,516 and resistance against oppression. 213 00:11:07,516 --> 00:11:09,230 (applause) 214 00:11:09,230 --> 00:11:10,620 Fearing that the revolution 215 00:11:10,620 --> 00:11:13,300 underway in France will threaten their security, 216 00:11:13,300 --> 00:11:15,270 the rulers of Prussia and Austria 217 00:11:15,270 --> 00:11:18,320 declare their military support for the French king. 218 00:11:18,320 --> 00:11:21,100 The armies marching to Paris in 1792 219 00:11:21,100 --> 00:11:23,708 are stopped by French revolutionary forces 220 00:11:23,708 --> 00:11:25,910 in a battle at Valmy. 221 00:11:25,910 --> 00:11:30,523 Historical events begin to unfold at a breathtaking pace. 222 00:11:39,253 --> 00:11:41,050 France becomes a republic. 223 00:11:41,050 --> 00:11:44,220 The king has been deposed and is a prisoner of the people. 224 00:11:44,220 --> 00:11:45,870 He is put on trial. 225 00:11:45,870 --> 00:11:50,770 Both Louis XVI and his queen are beheaded by guillotine. 226 00:11:50,770 --> 00:11:52,670 France enters an era of profound 227 00:11:52,670 --> 00:11:56,100 political polarization and radicalization. 228 00:11:56,100 --> 00:11:57,543 The body count goes up. 229 00:12:04,000 --> 00:12:06,250 Increasingly, the French revolutionaries 230 00:12:06,250 --> 00:12:08,830 became armed missionaries. 231 00:12:08,830 --> 00:12:11,540 Using violence to propagate their ideals. 232 00:12:11,540 --> 00:12:13,880 And that, too, is a European invention. 233 00:12:13,880 --> 00:12:17,340 The totalized application of a single political theory, 234 00:12:17,340 --> 00:12:19,180 whatever the human cost. 235 00:12:19,180 --> 00:12:22,150 Just across the river, in the Conciergerie Prison, 236 00:12:22,150 --> 00:12:25,790 2,780 people were swiftly processed 237 00:12:25,790 --> 00:12:29,160 by revolutionary tribunals and sentenced to death. 238 00:12:29,160 --> 00:12:30,350 And, throughout the country, 239 00:12:30,350 --> 00:12:32,360 executions during this period numbered 240 00:12:32,360 --> 00:12:34,300 in the tens of thousands. 241 00:12:34,300 --> 00:12:37,530 The revolutionaries wanted to liberate all of humanity. 242 00:12:37,530 --> 00:12:40,170 That was one of the things that made them so radical. 243 00:12:40,170 --> 00:12:42,020 And the French National Assembly 244 00:12:42,020 --> 00:12:45,670 was the first organization in Europe, in the world, 245 00:12:45,670 --> 00:12:48,380 to pose the question of whether and how 246 00:12:48,380 --> 00:12:50,450 one state could use military force 247 00:12:50,450 --> 00:12:54,440 to enforce the observation of human rights in another state. 248 00:12:54,440 --> 00:12:58,570 The age of the humanitarian intervention was born. 249 00:12:58,570 --> 00:13:01,140 The French National Assembly hopes to offer 250 00:13:01,140 --> 00:13:03,620 strong resistance to Europe's monarchs 251 00:13:03,620 --> 00:13:07,460 and mobilizes the population with revolutionary slogans. 252 00:13:07,460 --> 00:13:12,460 Now let us show Europe that 10 million French citizens, 253 00:13:12,611 --> 00:13:17,611 when challenged, will be fueled by the fire of freedom. 254 00:13:18,720 --> 00:13:21,230 And, armed with swords and reason, 255 00:13:21,230 --> 00:13:23,820 we'll single-handedly change the world 256 00:13:23,820 --> 00:13:26,800 and make the tyrants tremble on their thrones. 257 00:13:26,800 --> 00:13:29,260 The future of the revolution is at stake. 258 00:13:29,260 --> 00:13:32,700 Ultimately, the advocates of war prevail. 259 00:13:32,700 --> 00:13:35,510 Now let us vote. 260 00:13:35,510 --> 00:13:38,170 Peace or war. 261 00:13:38,170 --> 00:13:39,713 Who votes for peace? 262 00:13:44,703 --> 00:13:45,536 And war? 263 00:13:47,596 --> 00:13:50,763 (cheers and applause) 264 00:13:56,070 --> 00:13:58,710 Napoleon Bonaparte starts out 265 00:13:58,710 --> 00:14:00,900 as a general of the revolution. 266 00:14:00,900 --> 00:14:04,690 But, once in power, he brings the domestic tumult to an end 267 00:14:04,690 --> 00:14:08,850 and focuses on projecting French power outwards onto Europe. 268 00:14:08,850 --> 00:14:10,550 His battles are legendary. 269 00:14:10,550 --> 00:14:12,610 And his conquests numerous. 270 00:14:12,610 --> 00:14:14,610 Napoleon plunges the continent 271 00:14:14,610 --> 00:14:16,700 into a state of constant war. 272 00:14:16,700 --> 00:14:19,960 And he leads his army from victory to victory. 273 00:14:19,960 --> 00:14:23,190 And then Napoleon, a national hero at this point, 274 00:14:23,190 --> 00:14:25,210 names himself emperor. 275 00:14:25,210 --> 00:14:27,690 He is crowned in 1804. 276 00:14:27,690 --> 00:14:31,450 Napoleon casts himself as a successor to the Roman emperors 277 00:14:31,450 --> 00:14:33,650 and especially to Charlemagne. 278 00:14:33,650 --> 00:14:37,263 Like his hero, he wants to create a European empire. 279 00:14:39,640 --> 00:14:42,350 In 1806, Prussian troops encounter 280 00:14:42,350 --> 00:14:45,830 the gendarme at Jena and Auerstedt in Thuringia. 281 00:14:45,830 --> 00:14:48,550 The Prussians suffer a harrowing defeat. 282 00:14:48,550 --> 00:14:50,200 Further annexations follow. 283 00:14:50,200 --> 00:14:53,470 Napoleon now dominates almost the whole of Europe. 284 00:14:53,470 --> 00:14:56,420 And he orchestrates his triumph accordingly. 285 00:14:56,420 --> 00:14:58,250 In Berlin, as in many other places, 286 00:14:58,250 --> 00:15:00,310 the response is ambivalent. 287 00:15:00,310 --> 00:15:02,730 Napoleon may be a tyrant to some, 288 00:15:02,730 --> 00:15:05,563 but, to others, he's the herald of a new era. 289 00:15:08,970 --> 00:15:10,930 Napoleon and Europe, 290 00:15:10,930 --> 00:15:14,260 some territories are simply annexed to France. 291 00:15:14,260 --> 00:15:17,040 Outside the borders of an enlarged France, 292 00:15:17,040 --> 00:15:20,630 Napoleon creates satellite states and confederations. 293 00:15:20,630 --> 00:15:23,320 Even great powers like Prussia and Austria, 294 00:15:23,320 --> 00:15:26,190 defeated by Napoleon, now pay tribute to him 295 00:15:26,190 --> 00:15:27,703 and accept his dominance. 296 00:15:29,320 --> 00:15:33,840 Napoleonic rule is a strange mix of military aggression, 297 00:15:33,840 --> 00:15:37,010 fiscal extraction, and progressive institutions. 298 00:15:37,010 --> 00:15:39,440 He hopes to bring progress wherever he rules. 299 00:15:39,440 --> 00:15:42,531 His Napoleonic code promises civil rights, 300 00:15:42,531 --> 00:15:46,193 equal protection under the law, and freedom for peasants. 301 00:15:47,580 --> 00:15:51,640 But the mood darkens as Bonaparte wages war after war. 302 00:15:51,640 --> 00:15:54,840 There's no exit strategy, no limit to his ambition. 303 00:15:54,840 --> 00:15:56,290 Resistance grows. 304 00:15:56,290 --> 00:16:00,690 In 1813, the Battle of the Nations rages in Leipzig. 305 00:16:00,690 --> 00:16:03,810 A European alliance, including Austria, Prussia, 306 00:16:03,810 --> 00:16:08,270 Russia, and Sweden, mobilizes more than 300,000 troops 307 00:16:08,270 --> 00:16:09,710 against Napoleon. 308 00:16:09,710 --> 00:16:11,970 More than 200,000 soldiers, 309 00:16:11,970 --> 00:16:14,740 including Frenchmen, Italians Poles, and Germans, 310 00:16:14,740 --> 00:16:16,720 fight on the side of France. 311 00:16:16,720 --> 00:16:18,270 Bonaparte is defeated. 312 00:16:18,270 --> 00:16:21,443 His dream of dominating the continent goes up in smoke. 313 00:16:31,140 --> 00:16:34,760 He may only have been one meter 68 tall, 314 00:16:34,760 --> 00:16:36,760 but, when it came to his sarcophagus, 315 00:16:36,760 --> 00:16:39,430 there was no such thing as too big. 316 00:16:39,430 --> 00:16:44,000 Here lie the mortal remains of Napoleon in five coffins. 317 00:16:44,000 --> 00:16:47,670 Each nesting inside the other like a Russian doll. 318 00:16:47,670 --> 00:16:49,410 As though the French wanted to preserve 319 00:16:49,410 --> 00:16:53,540 their most important national myth for all eternity. 320 00:16:53,540 --> 00:16:56,110 Napoleon was one of the sculptors of modern Europe. 321 00:16:56,110 --> 00:16:59,590 His tools of preference were armies, legal codes, 322 00:16:59,590 --> 00:17:01,100 and administrative innovation. 323 00:17:01,100 --> 00:17:03,560 He was willing to use any means necessary 324 00:17:03,560 --> 00:17:06,340 to bring the nations of the old continent together 325 00:17:06,340 --> 00:17:09,840 as a family united around and serving 326 00:17:09,840 --> 00:17:13,010 the motherland of human rights, France. 327 00:17:13,010 --> 00:17:16,450 He believed in open borders for people and goods 328 00:17:16,450 --> 00:17:18,510 and standardized weights and measures, 329 00:17:18,510 --> 00:17:20,460 such as meters and kilos. 330 00:17:20,460 --> 00:17:22,540 And, of course, the original standard meter 331 00:17:22,540 --> 00:17:26,097 on which all the others are based resides here in Paris. 332 00:17:26,097 --> 00:17:28,639 "France is the measure of all things. 333 00:17:28,639 --> 00:17:32,880 The laws of France must extend to all the united countries 334 00:17:32,880 --> 00:17:36,480 from the Pillars of Hercules to the Kamchatka Peninsula," 335 00:17:36,480 --> 00:17:38,273 Napoleon is reported to have said. 336 00:17:40,700 --> 00:17:42,937 With Napoleon defeated and banished, 337 00:17:42,937 --> 00:17:46,110 new negotiations begin in Vienna. 338 00:17:46,110 --> 00:17:47,760 After 20 years of war, 339 00:17:47,760 --> 00:17:50,960 Austria, Russia, Prussia, and England are the victors. 340 00:17:50,960 --> 00:17:54,360 The objective is both to contain France 341 00:17:54,360 --> 00:17:57,840 and to block hegemonic projects by the other powers. 342 00:17:57,840 --> 00:17:59,770 France is invited to participate 343 00:17:59,770 --> 00:18:01,376 in the system that will come to be known 344 00:18:01,376 --> 00:18:03,073 as the Concert of Europe. 345 00:18:04,180 --> 00:18:05,920 The settlement hammered out in Vienna, 346 00:18:05,920 --> 00:18:08,660 amidst a flurry of extravagant social events, 347 00:18:08,660 --> 00:18:11,850 will define the future of Europe. 348 00:18:11,850 --> 00:18:15,184 Of course, the nations, the peoples as such, 349 00:18:15,184 --> 00:18:17,440 aren't involved in this process. 350 00:18:17,440 --> 00:18:19,700 They are objects to be acted upon. 351 00:18:19,700 --> 00:18:22,270 Items on the negotiating agenda. 352 00:18:22,270 --> 00:18:25,000 The dynastic rulers view themselves 353 00:18:25,000 --> 00:18:27,040 as the guarantors of order in Europe. 354 00:18:27,040 --> 00:18:30,000 And the result is a security architecture 355 00:18:30,000 --> 00:18:31,563 that spans the continent. 356 00:18:32,430 --> 00:18:36,314 This is the final act of the Congress of Vienna. 357 00:18:36,314 --> 00:18:38,970 And, here, you can see the seals and the signatures 358 00:18:38,970 --> 00:18:40,340 of the statesmen who took part 359 00:18:40,340 --> 00:18:42,860 in the negotiations in Vienna. 360 00:18:42,860 --> 00:18:44,862 Here, Prince Metternich for Austria. 361 00:18:44,862 --> 00:18:49,120 Here, Talleyrand, French representative. 362 00:18:49,120 --> 00:18:53,380 And, on this side, further significant figures. 363 00:18:53,380 --> 00:18:55,963 Hardenberg, Humboldt, and many others. 364 00:18:59,078 --> 00:19:01,620 The ultimate result of the Congress of Vienna, 365 00:19:01,620 --> 00:19:03,770 laid out in this final act, 366 00:19:03,770 --> 00:19:06,410 was, in a sense, the rebirth of Europe. 367 00:19:06,410 --> 00:19:09,770 Napoleon had a vision of a united Europe, of course. 368 00:19:09,770 --> 00:19:12,330 But it was a Europe united under his control 369 00:19:12,330 --> 00:19:14,310 and under French hegemony. 370 00:19:14,310 --> 00:19:16,310 The new Europe allocated more power 371 00:19:16,310 --> 00:19:19,060 to the peripheral empires of West and East. 372 00:19:19,060 --> 00:19:20,626 Great powers Britain and Russia 373 00:19:20,626 --> 00:19:23,380 were granted a stronger voice in determining 374 00:19:23,380 --> 00:19:24,910 the fate of the continent. 375 00:19:24,910 --> 00:19:27,750 A state of affairs that anticipated, in some ways, 376 00:19:27,750 --> 00:19:29,560 the later standoff between 377 00:19:29,560 --> 00:19:32,450 the United States and the Soviet Union. 378 00:19:32,450 --> 00:19:35,160 In the future, problems would be solved 379 00:19:35,160 --> 00:19:38,210 not by uncoordinated individual initiatives, 380 00:19:38,210 --> 00:19:42,250 but harmoniously through the so called Concert of Powers. 381 00:19:42,250 --> 00:19:46,183 This in some ways very intelligent and impressive solution 382 00:19:46,183 --> 00:19:49,180 fell victim, like so many peace treaties, 383 00:19:49,180 --> 00:19:51,973 to the egoism of the most powerful states. 384 00:19:52,830 --> 00:19:55,850 One of Napoleon's unintended legacies 385 00:19:55,850 --> 00:19:58,370 was a surge in national feeling. 386 00:19:58,370 --> 00:20:01,190 Nothing galvanizes patriotic emotion 387 00:20:01,190 --> 00:20:04,563 like the experience of invasion and foreign domination. 388 00:20:05,490 --> 00:20:08,660 In May 1832, more than 20,000 people 389 00:20:08,660 --> 00:20:11,810 from Germany, France, Poland, and other countries 390 00:20:11,810 --> 00:20:15,760 gather at a palace in Pfalz Region of Western Germany. 391 00:20:15,760 --> 00:20:17,920 They call for a united Germany 392 00:20:17,920 --> 00:20:20,480 and a confederated republic of Europe, 393 00:20:20,480 --> 00:20:23,670 as well as for freedom of the press, speech, and assembly 394 00:20:23,670 --> 00:20:25,513 and equal rights for women. 395 00:20:26,570 --> 00:20:28,810 Hambach is considered one of the cradles 396 00:20:28,810 --> 00:20:30,460 of modern democracy in Germany. 397 00:20:30,460 --> 00:20:34,010 And some see it as the birthplace of European unity. 398 00:20:34,010 --> 00:20:37,460 But the European vision was still formless and incoherent. 399 00:20:37,460 --> 00:20:40,190 And the old powers still dominated the continent. 400 00:20:40,190 --> 00:20:42,270 The kings and princes simply ignored 401 00:20:42,270 --> 00:20:45,383 the increasingly passionate demand for liberal reform. 402 00:20:51,160 --> 00:20:54,870 In 1848, another revolution breaks out. 403 00:20:54,870 --> 00:20:57,380 Once again, the French take to the streets. 404 00:20:57,380 --> 00:20:59,430 Invoking the symbols and slogans 405 00:20:59,430 --> 00:21:01,643 of the French Revolution of 1789. 406 00:21:07,820 --> 00:21:09,930 But, unlike the French Revolution, 407 00:21:09,930 --> 00:21:14,130 the Revolution of 1848 spreads like wildfire across Europe 408 00:21:14,130 --> 00:21:17,080 at a breathtaking pace. 409 00:21:17,080 --> 00:21:20,630 From all over the country, deep from every heart, 410 00:21:20,630 --> 00:21:23,183 a strong united German fatherland. 411 00:21:25,110 --> 00:21:26,203 The revolution. 412 00:21:27,890 --> 00:21:31,593 The revolution has won in Paris. 413 00:21:32,830 --> 00:21:35,470 With the exception of England and Russia, 414 00:21:35,470 --> 00:21:38,520 nearly all the major European states are affected. 415 00:21:38,520 --> 00:21:41,980 In the simultaneity of its tumult across the continent, 416 00:21:41,980 --> 00:21:43,813 this revolution is unique. 417 00:21:44,830 --> 00:21:48,810 The people want social reform and liberal constitutions. 418 00:21:48,810 --> 00:21:51,273 And they're willing to use violence, if necessary, 419 00:21:51,273 --> 00:21:52,483 to get what they want. 420 00:21:55,830 --> 00:21:58,910 Full blown revolutions rage in many cities. 421 00:21:58,910 --> 00:22:02,600 And revolutionary hotspots flare up across the continent. 422 00:22:02,600 --> 00:22:05,380 The people rise up against the dynasties of Europe 423 00:22:05,380 --> 00:22:08,493 under the banner of freedom and self-determination. 424 00:22:11,790 --> 00:22:15,040 A wave of revolutions rolled across Europe 425 00:22:15,040 --> 00:22:19,210 form Palermo to Paris to Rome, Milan, 426 00:22:19,210 --> 00:22:22,540 Vienna, Budapest, and Berlin. 427 00:22:22,540 --> 00:22:27,540 Hope, frustration, and anger formed a combustible mix. 428 00:22:27,900 --> 00:22:30,840 The apparent unanimity of the revolutionary protests 429 00:22:30,840 --> 00:22:34,250 concealed a plurality of conflicting aims. 430 00:22:34,250 --> 00:22:38,620 Political liberty, social justice, the unity of nations. 431 00:22:38,620 --> 00:22:40,956 In Central Europe, national identity, 432 00:22:40,956 --> 00:22:44,090 the desire to be united in a common state, 433 00:22:44,090 --> 00:22:46,490 was at the center of the revolutionary movement. 434 00:22:47,460 --> 00:22:49,330 In Germany, for example, 435 00:22:49,330 --> 00:22:52,080 the first freely elected German parliament 436 00:22:52,080 --> 00:22:55,080 convenes at Saint Paul's Church in Frankfurt. 437 00:22:55,080 --> 00:22:57,163 The focus is on uniting the nation. 438 00:23:00,670 --> 00:23:03,940 The parliament is modeled on France's National Assembly. 439 00:23:03,940 --> 00:23:05,266 Parliaments during this era 440 00:23:05,266 --> 00:23:07,733 are still the domain of the elites. 441 00:23:10,290 --> 00:23:12,840 But how is a revolution expected to succeed 442 00:23:12,840 --> 00:23:14,980 without the support of an army? 443 00:23:14,980 --> 00:23:17,780 In most European nations, the army remains loyal 444 00:23:17,780 --> 00:23:19,000 to the rulers. 445 00:23:19,000 --> 00:23:20,330 There's little that militias 446 00:23:20,330 --> 00:23:22,640 or a network of revolutionaries can do 447 00:23:22,640 --> 00:23:25,010 against an armed military force. 448 00:23:25,010 --> 00:23:27,071 And yet the shockwaves of this revolution 449 00:23:27,071 --> 00:23:29,613 would yield several important victories. 450 00:23:30,550 --> 00:23:33,430 New constitutions and parliaments are created 451 00:23:33,430 --> 00:23:35,640 and censorship is scaled back. 452 00:23:35,640 --> 00:23:38,480 Many of the European states absorb and channel 453 00:23:38,480 --> 00:23:39,890 the energy of the revolution. 454 00:23:39,890 --> 00:23:42,163 Selectively implementing its demands. 455 00:23:44,390 --> 00:23:46,750 And these political upheavals take place 456 00:23:46,750 --> 00:23:47,960 against the background of 457 00:23:47,960 --> 00:23:50,870 an even more profound transformation. 458 00:23:50,870 --> 00:23:52,900 The Industrial Revolution. 459 00:23:52,900 --> 00:23:55,540 Enormous factories spring up first in England 460 00:23:55,540 --> 00:23:57,810 and then nearly everywhere in Europe. 461 00:23:57,810 --> 00:23:59,588 With the invention of the steam engine, 462 00:23:59,588 --> 00:24:03,820 manual labor is increasingly replaced by machines. 463 00:24:03,820 --> 00:24:05,670 The process will take over a century. 464 00:24:09,530 --> 00:24:12,860 Why did all of this begin in England of all places? 465 00:24:12,860 --> 00:24:15,700 For centuries, using the experimental method 466 00:24:15,700 --> 00:24:17,660 to probe the secrets of nature 467 00:24:17,660 --> 00:24:19,750 had been part of the culture here. 468 00:24:19,750 --> 00:24:21,770 So, there was a long run up. 469 00:24:21,770 --> 00:24:23,260 And then there was the pleasure that 470 00:24:23,260 --> 00:24:25,310 English scientists and inventors took 471 00:24:25,310 --> 00:24:28,210 in the practical application of their knowledge. 472 00:24:28,210 --> 00:24:31,100 They fueled the Industrial Revolution. 473 00:24:31,100 --> 00:24:34,840 And among them was James Watt, inventor of the steam engine. 474 00:24:34,840 --> 00:24:37,930 The water in this boiler is heated to steam 475 00:24:39,660 --> 00:24:42,020 and the resulting pressure can be used 476 00:24:42,020 --> 00:24:43,740 to drive other engines. 477 00:24:43,740 --> 00:24:46,860 A loom, for example, or a locomotive. 478 00:24:46,860 --> 00:24:49,070 During the middle decades of the 19th century, 479 00:24:49,070 --> 00:24:50,890 the Industrial Revolution spread 480 00:24:50,890 --> 00:24:53,410 in fits and starts across Europe. 481 00:24:53,410 --> 00:24:55,210 It was a peaceful conquest. 482 00:24:55,210 --> 00:24:58,652 But, for many, the consequences were grave. 483 00:24:58,652 --> 00:25:01,890 Finally, people could free themselves 484 00:25:01,890 --> 00:25:04,674 of the constraints of agricultural production. 485 00:25:04,674 --> 00:25:06,760 Crop failures and famines that 486 00:25:06,760 --> 00:25:10,290 impact entire populations are a thing of the past 487 00:25:10,290 --> 00:25:12,320 in industrialized societies. 488 00:25:12,320 --> 00:25:14,810 But industrial work is poorly paid, 489 00:25:14,810 --> 00:25:16,663 dangerous, and exploitative. 490 00:25:19,250 --> 00:25:21,570 Until late in the 18th century, 491 00:25:21,570 --> 00:25:23,700 the only effective way of increasing 492 00:25:23,700 --> 00:25:25,920 the production of goods was to increase 493 00:25:25,920 --> 00:25:28,970 the number of humans employed to make them. 494 00:25:28,970 --> 00:25:31,610 Then, the machines arrived. 495 00:25:31,610 --> 00:25:33,760 They didn't just replace muscle power. 496 00:25:33,760 --> 00:25:35,940 They also multiplied it. 497 00:25:35,940 --> 00:25:37,630 In factories like this one, 498 00:25:37,630 --> 00:25:39,700 huge machines performed the labor 499 00:25:39,700 --> 00:25:41,520 of hundreds of human beings. 500 00:25:41,520 --> 00:25:44,360 It was the most fundamental transformation 501 00:25:44,360 --> 00:25:46,920 in human social existence since the beginning 502 00:25:46,920 --> 00:25:48,690 of organized agriculture. 503 00:25:48,690 --> 00:25:51,370 In other words, it was a true revolution. 504 00:25:51,370 --> 00:25:53,450 An Industrial Revolution. 505 00:25:53,450 --> 00:25:55,141 The inventor of the term was none other 506 00:25:55,141 --> 00:25:57,380 than Karl Marx's close friend 507 00:25:57,380 --> 00:25:59,580 and collaborator, Friedrich Engels, 508 00:25:59,580 --> 00:26:01,750 who coined it in the 1830s 509 00:26:01,750 --> 00:26:06,111 in an analogy with the French Revolution of the 1790s. 510 00:26:06,111 --> 00:26:09,860 If the idea of Communism had a birthplace, 511 00:26:09,860 --> 00:26:11,900 it would surely be Manchester. 512 00:26:11,900 --> 00:26:15,320 The unrestrained form of production that developed here 513 00:26:15,320 --> 00:26:18,190 came to be known as Manchester Capitalism. 514 00:26:18,190 --> 00:26:20,650 In the mid-19th century, Friedrich Engels, 515 00:26:20,650 --> 00:26:23,010 whose father owned a factory like this one, 516 00:26:23,010 --> 00:26:25,490 could study, as if in a laboratory, 517 00:26:25,490 --> 00:26:27,551 the social and economic consequences 518 00:26:27,551 --> 00:26:30,000 of an unchecked capitalism. 519 00:26:30,000 --> 00:26:33,010 And, in his writings, Karl Marx, Engels's friend, 520 00:26:33,010 --> 00:26:34,893 explored the implications. 521 00:26:35,860 --> 00:26:37,453 Workers of the world unite. 522 00:26:38,570 --> 00:26:40,500 Yes, that sounds good. 523 00:26:40,500 --> 00:26:43,150 But we need a strong message at the start. 524 00:26:43,150 --> 00:26:45,280 The aim was to raise the workers 525 00:26:45,280 --> 00:26:47,980 against a system that kept them poor and weak. 526 00:26:47,980 --> 00:26:48,813 That's good. 527 00:26:48,813 --> 00:26:49,646 That's good. 528 00:26:51,540 --> 00:26:53,110 Yeah. 529 00:26:53,110 --> 00:26:54,040 Not bad. 530 00:26:54,040 --> 00:26:56,310 A specter is haunting Europe. 531 00:26:56,310 --> 00:26:58,040 The specter of Communism. 532 00:26:58,040 --> 00:26:59,030 Yeah. 533 00:26:59,030 --> 00:27:00,400 What do you think? 534 00:27:00,400 --> 00:27:03,190 Marx lives in exile in London. 535 00:27:03,190 --> 00:27:05,130 In 1848, he and Friedrich Engels 536 00:27:05,130 --> 00:27:06,960 published their Communist Manifesto, 537 00:27:06,960 --> 00:27:09,290 which will one day become the bible 538 00:27:09,290 --> 00:27:11,180 of the global workers' movement. 539 00:27:11,180 --> 00:27:13,160 Marx and Engels call for a world 540 00:27:13,160 --> 00:27:15,150 without exploitative social relations 541 00:27:15,150 --> 00:27:16,397 in which the means of production 542 00:27:16,397 --> 00:27:19,809 are owned not by capitalists, but by society itself. 543 00:27:19,809 --> 00:27:22,760 Understood as a collective enterprise. 544 00:27:22,760 --> 00:27:25,730 Both of them reflect at length on the idea of revolution. 545 00:27:25,730 --> 00:27:28,020 But it's not until the early 20th century 546 00:27:28,020 --> 00:27:30,830 that the explosive potential of their ideas 547 00:27:30,830 --> 00:27:32,640 is fully realized. 548 00:27:32,640 --> 00:27:35,170 Meanwhile, the gap between rich and poor 549 00:27:35,170 --> 00:27:37,080 continues to expand. 550 00:27:37,080 --> 00:27:39,610 A workers' movement soon begins to take shape 551 00:27:39,610 --> 00:27:41,386 and, with it, come political parties 552 00:27:41,386 --> 00:27:44,313 championing the rights of waged labor. 553 00:27:47,670 --> 00:27:50,170 And thus Karl Marx, who incidentally claimed 554 00:27:50,170 --> 00:27:52,290 never to have been a Marxist, 555 00:27:52,290 --> 00:27:53,880 influenced European history 556 00:27:53,880 --> 00:27:56,470 in several ways at the same time. 557 00:27:56,470 --> 00:27:58,360 The idea of the working class 558 00:27:58,360 --> 00:28:01,830 as a structural feature of all modern capitalist systems 559 00:28:01,830 --> 00:28:03,860 united people across borders 560 00:28:03,860 --> 00:28:06,130 into a sort of community of fate. 561 00:28:06,130 --> 00:28:08,960 The slogan "Workers of the world unite" 562 00:28:08,960 --> 00:28:12,070 offered a counterweight to national egotism. 563 00:28:12,070 --> 00:28:14,700 In the last decades of the 19th century, 564 00:28:14,700 --> 00:28:16,880 left wing parties gained power 565 00:28:16,880 --> 00:28:18,970 and pushed through social reforms 566 00:28:18,970 --> 00:28:21,140 in dozens of European parliaments. 567 00:28:21,140 --> 00:28:24,130 Only under the immense social and political stresses 568 00:28:24,130 --> 00:28:28,090 of the First World War did the socialist left fracture. 569 00:28:28,090 --> 00:28:30,560 A Communism emerged in whose hands 570 00:28:30,560 --> 00:28:34,980 the teachings of Marx hardened into an unbending doctrine. 571 00:28:34,980 --> 00:28:37,540 As the instrument of Soviet state power, 572 00:28:37,540 --> 00:28:40,240 Communism became a force of global significance. 573 00:28:40,240 --> 00:28:42,050 And, in Europe, the tension 574 00:28:42,050 --> 00:28:44,860 between Communist and capitalist social orders 575 00:28:44,860 --> 00:28:46,873 split the continent down the middle. 576 00:28:48,400 --> 00:28:51,500 It's the high noon of the national idea 577 00:28:51,500 --> 00:28:53,550 in every European country. 578 00:28:53,550 --> 00:28:55,420 In the course of the 19th century, 579 00:28:55,420 --> 00:28:58,610 the concept of nation becomes the pole star 580 00:28:58,610 --> 00:29:00,940 in the firmament of European values. 581 00:29:00,940 --> 00:29:03,670 But, in Europe, where so many cultures and languages 582 00:29:03,670 --> 00:29:05,380 live in close proximity, 583 00:29:05,380 --> 00:29:08,643 one nation's dream can become another's nightmare. 584 00:29:13,830 --> 00:29:15,640 The leading monarchs of Europe 585 00:29:15,640 --> 00:29:19,860 are nearly all connected in the same gigantic clan network. 586 00:29:19,860 --> 00:29:22,460 And, in 1913, many of them come together 587 00:29:22,460 --> 00:29:25,160 at the wedding of the German emperor's daughter, 588 00:29:25,160 --> 00:29:27,463 Victoria Louisa, in Berlin. 589 00:29:35,180 --> 00:29:38,850 No one realizes just how close Europe is to the brink. 590 00:29:38,850 --> 00:29:41,300 This is the calm before the storm. 591 00:29:41,300 --> 00:29:45,230 An assassination in the multinational Hapsburg state, 592 00:29:45,230 --> 00:29:47,940 the murder of the Austrian heir to the throne, 593 00:29:47,940 --> 00:29:49,333 captures the headlines. 594 00:29:50,330 --> 00:29:52,870 But does this automatically mean war? 595 00:29:52,870 --> 00:29:56,050 The great powers recognize the risk of escalation, 596 00:29:56,050 --> 00:29:58,770 but none of them does anything to prevent it. 597 00:29:58,770 --> 00:30:02,840 In 1914, the decision makers are like sleepwalkers. 598 00:30:02,840 --> 00:30:04,670 They maneuver for advantage, 599 00:30:04,670 --> 00:30:06,330 but, in placing their own goals 600 00:30:06,330 --> 00:30:09,710 above the preservation of peace, they risk catastrophe. 601 00:30:09,710 --> 00:30:13,640 When war breaks out, each country sees itself as the victim 602 00:30:13,640 --> 00:30:15,340 and its opponent as the aggressor. 603 00:30:18,930 --> 00:30:21,240 Modern military technology means that 604 00:30:22,600 --> 00:30:25,190 this world war brings unparalleled carnage. 605 00:30:25,190 --> 00:30:27,950 Nearly 17 million people lose their lives 606 00:30:27,950 --> 00:30:30,210 on the battlefields and on the home front. 607 00:30:30,210 --> 00:30:32,840 And the First World War is a breaking point. 608 00:30:32,840 --> 00:30:35,370 The old European order collapses, 609 00:30:35,370 --> 00:30:38,630 but no new order emerges to take its place. 610 00:30:38,630 --> 00:30:41,070 The desire for compromise is there, 611 00:30:41,070 --> 00:30:44,490 but the differences between the fronts are overpowering. 612 00:30:44,490 --> 00:30:47,400 This is the dawn of an age of extremes 613 00:30:47,400 --> 00:30:49,733 shaped by fascism and Bolshevism. 614 00:30:59,130 --> 00:31:01,710 After the October Revolution in Russia, 615 00:31:01,710 --> 00:31:04,200 the Bolsheviks seize power. 616 00:31:04,200 --> 00:31:07,440 Vladimir Ilyich Lenin is the man of the hour. 617 00:31:07,440 --> 00:31:09,430 He keeps an iron grip on power 618 00:31:09,430 --> 00:31:11,270 in hopes that this Red Revolution 619 00:31:11,270 --> 00:31:13,700 will spread to the rest of Europe. 620 00:31:13,700 --> 00:31:16,520 Versailles, 1919. 621 00:31:16,520 --> 00:31:20,183 How can peace endure if Europe's two strongest powers 622 00:31:20,183 --> 00:31:23,434 play no role in the peacemaking process? 623 00:31:23,434 --> 00:31:26,010 Russia doesn't even send a representative 624 00:31:26,010 --> 00:31:28,860 to the European conference at Versailles. 625 00:31:28,860 --> 00:31:30,740 And the German delegation is barred 626 00:31:30,740 --> 00:31:32,713 from participating in the negotiations. 627 00:31:37,120 --> 00:31:40,103 With its reparations, disarmament clauses, 628 00:31:41,256 --> 00:31:43,460 and territorial penalties, and, above all, 629 00:31:43,460 --> 00:31:47,170 with its insistence on German-sold guilt 630 00:31:47,170 --> 00:31:48,760 for the outbreak of war, 631 00:31:48,760 --> 00:31:50,530 the Treaty of Versailles places 632 00:31:50,530 --> 00:31:54,493 a lasting burden on the new Weimar Democracy. 633 00:31:57,400 --> 00:32:01,140 The multinational Hapsburg Empire collapses. 634 00:32:01,140 --> 00:32:04,120 New independent nations arise in its place. 635 00:32:04,120 --> 00:32:07,910 Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Yugoslavia. 636 00:32:07,910 --> 00:32:11,000 The Baltic countries also gain their independence. 637 00:32:11,000 --> 00:32:15,250 But the losers refuse to accept the new post-war order. 638 00:32:15,250 --> 00:32:17,600 Voices of protest grow louder. 639 00:32:17,600 --> 00:32:19,710 Particularly from the right wing. 640 00:32:19,710 --> 00:32:22,603 Germany is being oppressed and robbed, they claim. 641 00:32:29,230 --> 00:32:32,770 There are signs of rapprochement between Germany and France 642 00:32:32,770 --> 00:32:36,840 at an international conference in Locarno in 1925. 643 00:32:36,840 --> 00:32:38,601 It's a time of hope. 644 00:32:38,601 --> 00:32:42,720 German Foreign Minister Gustav Stresemann 645 00:32:42,720 --> 00:32:46,950 speaks of a Europe of cooperation, not confrontation. 646 00:32:46,950 --> 00:32:48,690 And his French colleague Briand 647 00:32:48,690 --> 00:32:50,137 makes an impassioned speech. 648 00:32:50,137 --> 00:32:52,087 "Away with the cannons," he says. 649 00:32:52,087 --> 00:32:54,057 "Make way for reconciliation." 650 00:32:58,390 --> 00:33:00,930 Both statesmen are awarded the Nobel Peace Prize 651 00:33:00,930 --> 00:33:02,120 for their efforts. 652 00:33:02,120 --> 00:33:05,533 But this vision of a peaceful Europe would soon evaporate. 653 00:33:11,970 --> 00:33:15,400 The National Socialists promised to liberate Germany. 654 00:33:15,400 --> 00:33:16,860 To restore the country to 655 00:33:16,860 --> 00:33:18,790 its former strength and independence. 656 00:33:18,790 --> 00:33:21,680 Hitler isn't interested in the balance of power. 657 00:33:21,680 --> 00:33:24,870 He wants unconditional domination of the continent. 658 00:33:24,870 --> 00:33:28,180 Attempts to appease the new German leadership fail. 659 00:33:28,180 --> 00:33:31,840 The Nazis intend to secure their objectives by force. 660 00:33:31,840 --> 00:33:34,933 Rearmament begins in earnest as soon as they take power. 661 00:33:43,740 --> 00:33:46,110 September, 1939. 662 00:33:46,110 --> 00:33:49,570 The war begins with the invasion of Poland. 663 00:33:49,570 --> 00:33:53,300 The Nazis couple the technology of invasion and conquest 664 00:33:53,300 --> 00:33:55,970 with the subjugation and extermination 665 00:33:55,970 --> 00:33:58,400 of the peoples under their control. 666 00:33:58,400 --> 00:34:00,800 The systematic slaughter of civilians 667 00:34:00,800 --> 00:34:02,767 sets this war apart from past conflicts 668 00:34:02,767 --> 00:34:05,840 right from the very beginning. 669 00:34:05,840 --> 00:34:09,140 The Holocaust begins behind the front lines. 670 00:34:09,140 --> 00:34:12,353 It will claim the lives of six million Jews. 671 00:34:16,550 --> 00:34:18,710 May, 1940. 672 00:34:18,710 --> 00:34:22,193 The German Wehrmacht attacks its neighbor to the west. 673 00:34:23,140 --> 00:34:26,690 Hitler always adheres to the same binary principle. 674 00:34:26,690 --> 00:34:28,230 All or nothing. 675 00:34:28,230 --> 00:34:31,790 Germany will be a great power or it will cease to exist, 676 00:34:31,790 --> 00:34:33,880 he declares in his book Mein Kampf 677 00:34:33,880 --> 00:34:36,750 published years before he comes to power. 678 00:34:36,750 --> 00:34:39,970 With his victory secure, Hitler visits Paris. 679 00:34:39,970 --> 00:34:43,350 Among the sightseeing stops is Napoleon's tomb 680 00:34:43,350 --> 00:34:45,400 at the Dome des Invalides. 681 00:34:45,400 --> 00:34:48,339 He plans to surpass even the French emperor's prowess 682 00:34:48,339 --> 00:34:50,020 as a military leader. 683 00:34:50,020 --> 00:34:53,600 But his memory of Napoleon's achievements is selective. 684 00:34:53,600 --> 00:34:55,990 He seems to have forgotten the fact that 685 00:34:55,990 --> 00:34:58,310 Napoleon's invasion of Russia 686 00:34:58,310 --> 00:35:02,050 proved the disaster that undid his empire. 687 00:35:02,050 --> 00:35:05,543 The Nazi ideology leads further into ruin. 688 00:35:12,791 --> 00:35:15,720 The Siegessaule or Victory Column of Berlin 689 00:35:15,720 --> 00:35:18,340 was supposed to serve as an important element 690 00:35:18,340 --> 00:35:20,700 on the great east-west axis 691 00:35:20,700 --> 00:35:24,220 of the capital city of the Third Reich, Germania. 692 00:35:24,220 --> 00:35:26,500 In Hitler's grotesque vision, 693 00:35:26,500 --> 00:35:28,523 the megalopolis Germania, 694 00:35:28,523 --> 00:35:31,020 bulging with oversized monuments, 695 00:35:31,020 --> 00:35:34,940 was to be the focal point of a pan-germanic world empire. 696 00:35:34,940 --> 00:35:38,860 The Nazis liked the mural at the base of the Victory Column. 697 00:35:38,860 --> 00:35:41,300 We see an aroused German people 698 00:35:41,300 --> 00:35:43,650 raising their swords against Napoleon 699 00:35:43,650 --> 00:35:47,270 who's dressed like a Roman emperor in a red toga. 700 00:35:47,270 --> 00:35:48,430 An historical event. 701 00:35:48,430 --> 00:35:50,710 The early 19th century wars of liberation 702 00:35:50,710 --> 00:35:53,240 against Napoleonic France is elevated 703 00:35:53,240 --> 00:35:56,910 to the status of a world historical principle. 704 00:35:56,910 --> 00:36:01,210 For the Nazis, the state was an obsolete concept. 705 00:36:01,210 --> 00:36:03,000 They thought in ethnic racial 706 00:36:03,000 --> 00:36:04,860 rather than political categories. 707 00:36:04,860 --> 00:36:06,710 When Hitler imagined Europe, 708 00:36:06,710 --> 00:36:10,820 it was not the Europe of states, but a continental platform. 709 00:36:10,820 --> 00:36:14,530 A Petri dish inhabited by biological cultures. 710 00:36:14,530 --> 00:36:17,060 One in which the Germans would simply expand 711 00:36:17,060 --> 00:36:19,060 like a bacterial colony. 712 00:36:19,060 --> 00:36:21,910 Lebensraum, the German word for habitat, 713 00:36:21,910 --> 00:36:23,840 has nothing to do with politics. 714 00:36:23,840 --> 00:36:26,060 It's a concept from biology. 715 00:36:26,060 --> 00:36:29,987 In Europe, only the fittest were supposed to survive. 716 00:36:29,987 --> 00:36:33,576 "Every being strives for expansion," Hitler wrote. 717 00:36:33,576 --> 00:36:37,390 "And every nation strives for world dominion. 718 00:36:37,390 --> 00:36:39,790 Only those who keep this goal in mind 719 00:36:39,790 --> 00:36:41,840 will find the right path." 720 00:36:41,840 --> 00:36:44,630 The war Hitler launched on Central and Eastern Europe 721 00:36:44,630 --> 00:36:47,590 was a war of annihilation and enslavement. 722 00:36:47,590 --> 00:36:49,550 A war against the diversity 723 00:36:49,550 --> 00:36:51,610 of Europe's peoples and cultures. 724 00:36:51,610 --> 00:36:54,450 It was a war against Europe's history. 725 00:36:54,450 --> 00:36:57,010 The consequence was an unfathomable break 726 00:36:57,010 --> 00:36:59,110 with culture and civilization. 727 00:36:59,110 --> 00:37:02,523 And today's Europe is still deeply marked by this conflict. 728 00:37:04,060 --> 00:37:08,080 In June, 1941 came the invasion of the Soviet Union. 729 00:37:08,080 --> 00:37:10,900 A campaign of unexampled extermination 730 00:37:10,900 --> 00:37:13,870 to expand Germany's territory to the east. 731 00:37:13,870 --> 00:37:16,410 The dictator wants to create a German Europe 732 00:37:16,410 --> 00:37:19,550 from the Atlantic to the Ural Mountains. 733 00:37:19,550 --> 00:37:21,550 The Second World War would cost 734 00:37:21,550 --> 00:37:24,410 60 to 70 million human lives. 735 00:37:24,410 --> 00:37:25,943 The majority civilians. 736 00:37:27,564 --> 00:37:29,520 The Holocaust, millions of slaughtered Slavs, 737 00:37:29,520 --> 00:37:32,290 bombing campaigns, prisoner of war camps, 738 00:37:32,290 --> 00:37:34,630 refugees, and displaced persons. 739 00:37:34,630 --> 00:37:37,663 The war left a traumatized generation in its wake. 740 00:37:47,510 --> 00:37:48,770 I'm in Kiev. 741 00:37:48,770 --> 00:37:50,810 Where an enormous statue commemorates 742 00:37:50,810 --> 00:37:53,120 the Great Patriotic War, 743 00:37:53,120 --> 00:37:57,040 as the struggle against Hitler's Germany is known in Russia. 744 00:37:57,040 --> 00:38:00,093 The fighting here was particularly violent. 745 00:38:01,490 --> 00:38:04,550 In a place like this, you can still feel the horror. 746 00:38:04,550 --> 00:38:06,195 The iron hand of war. 747 00:38:06,195 --> 00:38:08,020 These are the bloodlands. 748 00:38:08,020 --> 00:38:10,540 Areas where two totalitarian powers 749 00:38:10,540 --> 00:38:12,280 fought over the same space 750 00:38:12,280 --> 00:38:15,140 in a life and death struggle for supremacy. 751 00:38:15,140 --> 00:38:16,470 Millions died. 752 00:38:16,470 --> 00:38:18,140 Millions more were murdered. 753 00:38:18,140 --> 00:38:20,180 And, even before the Second World War, 754 00:38:20,180 --> 00:38:22,730 millions had perished in a manmade famine 755 00:38:22,730 --> 00:38:24,309 engineered by Joseph Stalin 756 00:38:24,309 --> 00:38:27,550 to break the national will of the Ukraine. 757 00:38:27,550 --> 00:38:29,490 Hitler's war of annihilation 758 00:38:29,490 --> 00:38:31,550 claimed further millions of lives. 759 00:38:31,550 --> 00:38:33,190 Hundreds of thousands of soldiers 760 00:38:33,190 --> 00:38:36,720 died in battles of encirclement or in POW camps. 761 00:38:36,720 --> 00:38:38,210 The country was plundered. 762 00:38:38,210 --> 00:38:41,060 People starved in a new wave of famines. 763 00:38:41,060 --> 00:38:43,550 There have been phases in the history of Europe 764 00:38:43,550 --> 00:38:46,060 where the violence was so devastating that 765 00:38:46,060 --> 00:38:48,580 the thread of memory was severed. 766 00:38:48,580 --> 00:38:50,862 The intimacy with the past was disrupted. 767 00:38:50,862 --> 00:38:53,490 Only trauma remained. 768 00:38:53,490 --> 00:38:56,370 These are the killing fields of Europe. 769 00:38:56,370 --> 00:38:59,830 In 1945, it seemed unimaginable that 770 00:38:59,830 --> 00:39:02,350 Europe would ever reemerge from the abyss 771 00:39:02,350 --> 00:39:03,863 it had created for itself. 772 00:39:07,140 --> 00:39:10,730 Everyone suffered in this terrible war. 773 00:39:10,730 --> 00:39:12,670 Tens of thousands of soldiers 774 00:39:12,670 --> 00:39:14,570 and civilians lost their lives. 775 00:39:14,570 --> 00:39:17,300 German invaders and Russians alike. 776 00:39:17,300 --> 00:39:21,690 There is a story, a grieving family, behind every headstone. 777 00:39:21,690 --> 00:39:23,590 The military cemeteries in the Ukraine 778 00:39:24,603 --> 00:39:27,143 bear witness to the countless dead on both sides. 779 00:39:28,136 --> 00:39:30,886 (dramatic music) 780 00:39:50,010 --> 00:39:53,490 But the most terrible, the cruelest fate, 781 00:39:53,490 --> 00:39:55,330 was suffered by the Jews. 782 00:39:55,330 --> 00:39:57,360 There was a campaign of extermination 783 00:39:57,360 --> 00:40:00,073 against the entire Jewish population of Kiev. 784 00:40:02,425 --> 00:40:05,040 And, on this precise spot, 785 00:40:05,040 --> 00:40:08,320 the bloodiest mass shooting of Jews took place. 786 00:40:08,320 --> 00:40:10,230 If the name Auschwitz stands 787 00:40:10,230 --> 00:40:14,550 for industrial mass murder by the Nazis in gas chambers, 788 00:40:14,550 --> 00:40:18,850 Babi Yar near Kiev stands for the murder by shooting 789 00:40:18,850 --> 00:40:21,360 of tens of thousands of defenseless 790 00:40:21,360 --> 00:40:24,290 men, women, and children. 791 00:40:24,290 --> 00:40:25,833 Holocaust by bullet. 792 00:40:26,740 --> 00:40:30,210 On the 29th and 30th of September, 1941, 793 00:40:30,210 --> 00:40:31,891 in this ravine near Kiev, 794 00:40:31,891 --> 00:40:36,891 33,000 Jewish men, women, and children were shot. 795 00:40:37,430 --> 00:40:38,860 The Jewish population, 796 00:40:38,860 --> 00:40:41,490 whose roots here extended back for centuries, 797 00:40:41,490 --> 00:40:44,410 was annihilated by Hitler's henchmen. 798 00:40:44,410 --> 00:40:49,140 Babi Yar and Auschwitz, the nadir of the history of Europe, 799 00:40:49,140 --> 00:40:52,543 which it had such a high view of its own civilization. 800 00:40:54,040 --> 00:40:57,770 June the 6th, 1944, D-Day. 801 00:40:57,770 --> 00:40:59,860 The tides of war begin to turn. 802 00:40:59,860 --> 00:41:01,770 With the Allied attack on Normandy, 803 00:41:01,770 --> 00:41:05,350 the assault on Hitler's Fortress Europe begins. 804 00:41:05,350 --> 00:41:07,400 The victorious powers want to put an end 805 00:41:07,400 --> 00:41:09,920 to the Nazi dictatorship once and for all. 806 00:41:09,920 --> 00:41:13,580 Never again should war originate from German soil. 807 00:41:13,580 --> 00:41:16,773 Nor should one European power subjugate the others. 808 00:41:22,550 --> 00:41:26,970 Above all, the humanitarian catastrophe of the war 809 00:41:26,970 --> 00:41:28,593 should never be repeated. 810 00:41:30,993 --> 00:41:33,743 (dramatic music) 811 00:41:50,790 --> 00:41:54,300 I'm standing in the old Jewish cemetery in Vienna. 812 00:41:54,300 --> 00:41:55,810 This is one of those places that 813 00:41:55,810 --> 00:41:58,050 reminds you of what was lost to Europe 814 00:41:58,050 --> 00:41:59,370 through the Holocaust. 815 00:41:59,370 --> 00:42:02,380 The industrialized killing centers of the Nazi genocide 816 00:42:02,380 --> 00:42:03,920 were unique in history. 817 00:42:03,920 --> 00:42:05,780 But so were their victims. 818 00:42:05,780 --> 00:42:07,010 Since the Middle Ages, 819 00:42:07,010 --> 00:42:09,930 Jewish culture, know how, and scholarship 820 00:42:09,930 --> 00:42:12,180 have left a deep imprint on Europe. 821 00:42:12,180 --> 00:42:15,610 Heinrich Heine, Franz Kafka, Marcel Proust, 822 00:42:15,610 --> 00:42:18,770 Stefan Zweig, Sigmund Freud, Hannah Arendt, 823 00:42:18,770 --> 00:42:21,390 Felix Mendelssohn, Gustav Mahler, 824 00:42:21,390 --> 00:42:24,060 Marc Chagall, Albert Einstein. 825 00:42:24,060 --> 00:42:26,063 You could add countless further names. 826 00:42:26,063 --> 00:42:29,436 The Holocaust put a brutal end 827 00:42:29,436 --> 00:42:31,890 to this remarkable history of cultural symbiosis. 828 00:42:31,890 --> 00:42:33,580 Europe has never quite recovered 829 00:42:33,580 --> 00:42:35,843 from this act of self-mutilation. 830 00:42:39,750 --> 00:42:41,360 Zero hour. 831 00:42:41,360 --> 00:42:42,890 The war is over. 832 00:42:42,890 --> 00:42:45,312 The Nazi's attempt to dominate the continent 833 00:42:45,312 --> 00:42:47,340 ends in catastrophe. 834 00:42:47,340 --> 00:42:50,089 Huge swaths of Europe lie in ruins. 835 00:42:50,089 --> 00:42:54,413 Buildings will be rebuilt, but the trauma will remain. 836 00:43:01,360 --> 00:43:04,000 At a conference in Potsdam near Berlin, 837 00:43:04,000 --> 00:43:07,340 the victorious Allies negotiate the post-war order. 838 00:43:07,340 --> 00:43:08,633 The future of Europe. 839 00:43:10,090 --> 00:43:11,960 The heads of state of the three allied powers 840 00:43:11,960 --> 00:43:13,260 come together here. 841 00:43:13,260 --> 00:43:17,370 US President Truman, Soviet dictator Stalin, 842 00:43:17,370 --> 00:43:20,033 and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. 843 00:43:23,200 --> 00:43:25,690 When Churchill arrived on a hot July day, 844 00:43:25,690 --> 00:43:30,023 the first thing he did was to order a whiskey and a cigar. 845 00:43:32,650 --> 00:43:34,630 He spent a long time looking out 846 00:43:34,630 --> 00:43:36,800 over the peaceful Griebnitz Lake. 847 00:43:36,800 --> 00:43:38,370 A Soviet sentry could be seen 848 00:43:38,370 --> 00:43:40,530 patrolling along the opposite shore. 849 00:43:40,530 --> 00:43:42,176 And perhaps Churchill reflected 850 00:43:42,176 --> 00:43:44,867 on how Europe would in future be divided 851 00:43:44,867 --> 00:43:47,103 into East and West. 852 00:43:52,860 --> 00:43:55,890 The Allies have won the war together. 853 00:43:55,890 --> 00:43:58,570 And together they want to work towards peace 854 00:43:58,570 --> 00:44:00,638 and to shape the future of Europe. 855 00:44:00,638 --> 00:44:03,590 But alliances rarely survive the wars 856 00:44:03,590 --> 00:44:05,540 they are created to fight. 857 00:44:05,540 --> 00:44:08,320 And now that their mutual enemy is defeated, 858 00:44:08,320 --> 00:44:12,090 the victorious Allies begin to discover their differences 859 00:44:12,090 --> 00:44:14,853 as they sit talking at this table. 860 00:44:18,040 --> 00:44:20,410 After this war, the preeminent position 861 00:44:20,410 --> 00:44:24,400 of the old European continent was a thing of the past. 862 00:44:24,400 --> 00:44:27,520 Moscow and Washington now called the shots in Europe 863 00:44:27,520 --> 00:44:30,320 and would do so in the decades to come. 864 00:44:30,320 --> 00:44:33,360 Europe, like the world, would be divided. 865 00:44:33,360 --> 00:44:35,633 Embedded in two opposing blocks. 866 00:44:36,802 --> 00:44:38,790 And this, too, was Hitler's work. 867 00:44:38,790 --> 00:44:40,780 The aim of defeating Nazi Germany 868 00:44:40,780 --> 00:44:43,610 had united the world's two greatest powers 869 00:44:43,610 --> 00:44:45,770 in a struggle that brought them together 870 00:44:45,770 --> 00:44:47,680 in the heart of the continent. 871 00:44:47,680 --> 00:44:50,060 But, when it came to shaping the peace, 872 00:44:50,060 --> 00:44:53,262 the tensions between two radically opposed systems 873 00:44:53,262 --> 00:44:56,120 proved impossible to contain. 874 00:44:56,120 --> 00:44:59,240 The so called Iron Curtain separated 875 00:44:59,240 --> 00:45:01,940 the capitalist from the Communist world. 876 00:45:01,940 --> 00:45:04,243 And did so in the very center of Europe. 877 00:45:05,460 --> 00:45:07,930 The western power zones of occupation 878 00:45:07,930 --> 00:45:09,963 become the Federal Republic of Germany. 879 00:45:12,180 --> 00:45:13,706 In the east, the Soviet Union creates a bloc 880 00:45:13,706 --> 00:45:17,120 of socialist satellite states, which includes East Germany. 881 00:45:17,120 --> 00:45:18,450 The continent splits into 882 00:45:18,450 --> 00:45:21,310 a mainly capitalist and liberal democratic region 883 00:45:21,310 --> 00:45:22,830 and a Communist region. 884 00:45:22,830 --> 00:45:26,183 And the two alliance blocs keep each other in check. 885 00:45:29,150 --> 00:45:32,100 The term balance of terror is often used 886 00:45:32,100 --> 00:45:34,663 in this era of nuclear arms buildup. 887 00:45:43,250 --> 00:45:45,330 Meanwhile, in the Hague, 888 00:45:45,330 --> 00:45:47,340 European leaders take up an idea 889 00:45:47,340 --> 00:45:51,230 that failed to acquire traction between the two world wars. 890 00:45:51,230 --> 00:45:54,743 The vision of a Europe united in peace and freedom. 891 00:45:56,620 --> 00:45:58,910 We cannot ordain that anything less 892 00:45:59,810 --> 00:46:02,253 than the union of Europe as a whole. 893 00:46:03,280 --> 00:46:06,173 Winston Churchill even floats 894 00:46:06,173 --> 00:46:08,630 the idea of a United States of Europe. 895 00:46:08,630 --> 00:46:10,610 This goes too far for many Europeans, 896 00:46:10,610 --> 00:46:13,140 but the heads of state manage to agree 897 00:46:13,140 --> 00:46:16,730 on the creation of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg. 898 00:46:16,730 --> 00:46:19,920 It's the precursor to the future European Community 899 00:46:19,920 --> 00:46:21,550 and to the EU. 900 00:46:21,550 --> 00:46:25,050 In May, 1949, 10 founding fathers 901 00:46:25,050 --> 00:46:27,620 sign this institution into existence. 902 00:46:27,620 --> 00:46:29,420 A Western European forum 903 00:46:29,420 --> 00:46:32,773 for freedom, peace, and social justice is born. 904 00:46:33,690 --> 00:46:36,540 The hope is that a spirit of solidarity 905 00:46:36,540 --> 00:46:39,210 will blossom from the conflict of the past. 906 00:46:39,210 --> 00:46:42,753 Shared values and symbols are at the heart of this project. 907 00:46:44,630 --> 00:46:46,920 Konrad Adenauer, the first chancellor 908 00:46:46,920 --> 00:46:48,690 of the Federal Republic of Germany, 909 00:46:48,690 --> 00:46:51,680 sees an opportunity in this bond with Europe. 910 00:46:51,680 --> 00:46:54,210 By collaborating with the Western allies, 911 00:46:54,210 --> 00:46:55,850 he hopes to lead Germany 912 00:46:55,850 --> 00:46:58,330 back into the family of free peoples. 913 00:46:58,330 --> 00:47:00,350 Or at least West Germany. 914 00:47:00,350 --> 00:47:02,923 Even if doing so intensifies the division 915 00:47:02,923 --> 00:47:06,433 between eastern and western halves of his country. 916 00:47:08,430 --> 00:47:10,200 The Wets German government's goal 917 00:47:10,200 --> 00:47:12,130 is to peacefully overcome 918 00:47:12,130 --> 00:47:14,540 the division of Germany and Europe. 919 00:47:14,540 --> 00:47:16,300 But what's the first step? 920 00:47:16,300 --> 00:47:18,690 Building bridges with France. 921 00:47:18,690 --> 00:47:22,527 France's Foreign Minister Shuman already has a plan. 922 00:47:22,527 --> 00:47:25,667 "If we want to prevent war in the future," he argues, 923 00:47:25,667 --> 00:47:27,410 "the coal and steel industries 924 00:47:27,410 --> 00:47:31,170 in various European countries, vital to any war effort, 925 00:47:31,170 --> 00:47:33,830 were to be consolidated under one roof." 926 00:47:33,830 --> 00:47:38,437 In 1952, the European Coal and Steel Union is born. 927 00:47:38,437 --> 00:47:42,570 Now, iron and steel shall forge 928 00:47:42,570 --> 00:47:44,570 the peoples of Europe together 929 00:47:44,570 --> 00:47:47,763 in a community of actions and ideals. 930 00:47:49,580 --> 00:47:51,880 Just seven years after the war, 931 00:47:51,880 --> 00:47:55,400 national sovereignty over a crucial military resource 932 00:47:55,400 --> 00:47:58,110 is handed over to an international body. 933 00:47:58,110 --> 00:48:00,530 A world historical step. 934 00:48:00,530 --> 00:48:04,700 As the economy recovers, Europeans grow more mobile. 935 00:48:04,700 --> 00:48:06,780 Their horizons broaden. 936 00:48:06,780 --> 00:48:09,049 They drive their own cars or motorbikes or hitchhike 937 00:48:09,049 --> 00:48:12,000 to new destinations. 938 00:48:12,000 --> 00:48:13,420 Traveling through a Europe that 939 00:48:13,420 --> 00:48:15,060 was opening up to the world. 940 00:48:15,060 --> 00:48:16,743 Today, we take it for granted. 941 00:48:21,860 --> 00:48:25,470 As early as the 1950s, some young Europeans 942 00:48:25,470 --> 00:48:28,290 are already calling for open borders. 943 00:48:28,290 --> 00:48:30,210 That's still a long way off at this point. 944 00:48:30,210 --> 00:48:32,250 Particularly since a few early attempts 945 00:48:32,250 --> 00:48:34,600 at expanding the community failed. 946 00:48:34,600 --> 00:48:37,153 But the campaigners refuse to be deterred. 947 00:48:40,780 --> 00:48:44,630 And, once again, all roads lead to Rome. 948 00:48:44,630 --> 00:48:47,510 The Roman Empire was one of the largest in history 949 00:48:47,510 --> 00:48:49,370 and the EU would later become 950 00:48:49,370 --> 00:48:51,550 the world's largest trading power. 951 00:48:51,550 --> 00:48:54,980 In 1957, representatives of West Germany, 952 00:48:54,980 --> 00:48:57,630 France, Italy, and the Benelux Countries 953 00:48:57,630 --> 00:49:00,180 come together in Rome to establish 954 00:49:00,180 --> 00:49:02,158 the European Economic Community. 955 00:49:02,158 --> 00:49:05,980 The EEC also results in closer political ties 956 00:49:05,980 --> 00:49:07,260 between the countries. 957 00:49:07,260 --> 00:49:08,820 It's open to new members. 958 00:49:08,820 --> 00:49:13,010 And plans to expand its powers step by step. 959 00:49:13,010 --> 00:49:15,663 Building the foundation for a shared future. 960 00:49:22,660 --> 00:49:25,410 Ancient Rome eventually fell, of course, 961 00:49:25,410 --> 00:49:29,009 thanks to financial crises, political conflict, 962 00:49:29,009 --> 00:49:31,740 and barbarian invasions. 963 00:49:31,740 --> 00:49:34,730 And Europe has its own share of tensions today. 964 00:49:34,730 --> 00:49:37,070 The divide between north and south, 965 00:49:37,070 --> 00:49:40,460 the Euro crisis, immigration policies. 966 00:49:40,460 --> 00:49:42,330 These are all challenges that 967 00:49:42,330 --> 00:49:44,633 the continent will continue to face. 968 00:49:48,980 --> 00:49:52,000 But the European political order is robust. 969 00:49:52,000 --> 00:49:55,080 It's underpinned by longstanding common values, 970 00:49:55,080 --> 00:49:58,330 civil and political freedom, equality before the law, 971 00:49:58,330 --> 00:50:02,630 democracy, human dignity, and a rational view of the world. 972 00:50:02,630 --> 00:50:05,490 This order is now in danger. 973 00:50:05,490 --> 00:50:08,830 If Europeans really want to inhabit a common house, 974 00:50:08,830 --> 00:50:10,640 they will have to make it so strong that 975 00:50:10,640 --> 00:50:13,400 it can withstand storms and earthquakes, 976 00:50:13,400 --> 00:50:15,540 even those that come from within. 977 00:50:15,540 --> 00:50:17,280 This can be learned. 978 00:50:17,280 --> 00:50:20,353 And wasn't Europe always a continent that learned? 979 00:50:21,292 --> 00:50:24,459 (inspirational music)