- 7/20/2025
A TV mini-series that unveils the behind-closed-doors story of the final weeks before the outbreak of World War I.
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Short filmTranscript
00:00Thank you for listening.
01:30Sorry, our weekend's been ruined, sir.
01:32Well, yours too, Harry.
01:36Austria's mad.
01:37I should issue a communique saying just that.
01:40Good afternoon, Foreign Secretary.
01:41Britain says Austria mad official.
01:47I was embarrassed to read the Serb note.
01:49It was like seeing a servant cringe.
01:52It was submissive.
01:53Serbia has agreed to practically every demand Austria makes of her and gets this in return.
01:58Oh, it's a grotesque diplomatic exchange, Foreign Secretary.
02:01What does Austria want?
02:02I mean, what does she want?
02:04It is sometimes better to forget everything we think we know and look instead at what is staring us in the face.
02:10Austria doesn't want to talk.
02:12She wants a war in the Balkans.
02:13I want to speak to that idiot, Mensdorf.
02:20Get the Austrian ambassador.
02:22Yes, sir.
02:22I tell you, it's not often you see the Foreign Office in disarray, but it was this day.
02:28Four weeks ago, we discovered that the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austrian throne, had been assassinated while on a visit to Sarajevo in Bosnia.
02:37The assassin, Gavrilo Princip, was a Serb nationalist who believed that acts of terror would drive the Austrians out of the Balkans.
02:48But a student fanatic? A non-entity?
02:52Is this important enough to disturb the Foreign Secretary?
02:55What position would Britain take if a conflict would break out between Austria and Serbia?
03:01Well, I suppose it doesn't take much to set the Balkans on fire.
03:04In Berlin, it was frantic, too.
03:08Austria was our ally, and Franz Ferdinand was a personal friend of our Kaiser.
03:13There is no crime greater.
03:17The Habsburg Empire had been crumbling for years, and now the Kaiser said, that had to stop.
03:23Serbia must learn to feel the Habsburgs again.
03:26The Kaiser told our Austrian friends to punish the Serbs.
03:30They sent a long list of demands instead.
03:35We got them in London, and what extreme demands they were.
03:39This is an astonishing ultimatum.
03:43It was obvious to everybody that Serbia could not meet those demands,
03:47that in fact, they were designed to be rejected.
03:50But then, Serbia did meet them, only to find that the Austrians were still not satisfied.
04:00And that's why the Austrian ambassador had been summoned to the Foreign Office this morning.
04:05You ought to be wearing body armor.
04:08I want an explanation.
04:10Austria is unhappy with the Serbian response to our list of demands,
04:13and therefore has issued an ultimatum.
04:15I said I want an explanation, not a reiteration of the absurd sequence of events of the last 12 hours.
04:23Austria is unhappy.
04:25That is the explanation.
04:27Were you surprised by the compliance of the Serbian government?
04:30But we don't see it as a compliance.
04:31They will extradite any government official you wish to charge in connection with the assassination,
04:39censor their newspapers, overhaul their school curriculum,
04:43punish anyone who denigrates your royal family.
04:46Do you want me to go on?
04:47We see these things more like...
04:50cosmetic.
04:51But you asked for them.
04:52And you didn't expect them to comply, did you?
04:58Let me remind you how post-Napoleonic diplomacy works.
05:02Are you listening?
05:04I am all ears.
05:06We statesmen.
05:07We occasionally conceal things from each other.
05:10We dissemble, we act hypocritically,
05:13when consistency or sincerity would be either dangerous or hurtful.
05:19We don't always tell the whole truth.
05:22But we don't exactly lie.
05:25But what we've never done is pretend the other fellow is a fool.
05:30Or that black is white when everyone can see that it isn't.
05:33Because if we did that, the whole system,
05:36the concert that has kept the peace in Europe,
05:39kept even the superannuated Austrian Empire afloat,
05:43would begin to break down.
05:46We don't regard it as a compliance.
05:55You must have loved the Archduke Franz Ferdinand.
05:59We did.
06:00I mean...
06:01Really loved him.
06:04He was the heir to our throne.
06:06Heir to the throne?
06:07He was despised in Vienna.
06:09His poor Czech wife even more so.
06:12They treated her like a waitress.
06:13No, I'm serious.
06:15They did.
06:22I thought you said the Serbs had bent over backwards.
06:25Vienna was humiliation.
06:26And bending over backwards isn't humiliating.
06:29You should try it one day, Winston.
06:30And if I were you, I'd start watching Russia now.
06:35Humiliating little Serbia is one thing,
06:37humiliating her protector is quite another.
06:39She's right about that.
06:45Be careful of Winston.
06:46He's smelling blood.
06:48Why is Vienna suddenly unafraid of Russia?
06:51That is the question.
06:52I disagree.
06:53With what?
06:54I think it's the wrong question.
06:56You don't want to hear my answer.
06:58Oh, yes.
06:59I know your answer.
07:00Which is that Austria is acting as if Russia doesn't exist
07:03because she's already taken out an insurance policy in Berlin.
07:06An insurance policy?
07:08You think Austria and Germany are in cahoots over this?
07:13Your evidence?
07:16Winston, I can see what Edward's getting at.
07:18We don't yet know what the Germans think of this latest development,
07:21and it's always been a point of principle in this country
07:23not to reduce everything to the workings of the alliances.
07:26That way, the logic of war always gets the other hand.
07:30It's my sense that Austria cannot see beyond her quarrel with Serbia.
07:35It's what happens to great powers when they shrink.
07:38The world shrinks with them,
07:40and then they cease to think about consequences.
07:42You don't believe that Austria's alliance with Germany means anything?
07:46Don't be a obtuse, Winston.
07:48No-one's said that.
07:48I should like to propose a roundtable conference here in London
07:53to be attended by the ambassadors of the disinterested parties.
07:59If we start talking,
08:01Austria will be forced to join the conversation.
08:04How many days do we have before Austria actually declares war?
08:09Yeah, well, that depends on the state of their army
08:11and how well they've digested this year's conscript.
08:14Perhaps four days, maybe a week.
08:17It's crucial for Germany to be involved in any conference.
08:22Unthinkable without her.
08:24You can manage that.
08:25I believe so.
08:27We have more than a few carrots to offer.
08:29There should be a stick, too.
08:34You will discover tomorrow morning
08:36that Winston Churchill has ordered the entire fleet
08:40to remain at Spithead.
08:42I see.
08:43It's a precautionary thing.
08:45I mean, the ships are there already
08:46for the grand naval review, as you know.
08:50They just haven't gone home.
08:51They don't have to threaten us into a conference, Sedgwick.
08:54I know that.
08:56Germany is open to the idea
08:57of a collective solution to the Bolton problem.
09:00It is an opportunity, I think,
09:02for Britain and Germany to cooperate at last.
09:04Austria will have to suspend its military operations first.
09:09Naturally.
09:10But if, when that happens,
09:14I will be prepared to host a peace conference straight away.
09:19And I will inform my government straight away.
09:22I ought to say, Max,
09:26there is an opinion amongst us
09:29that a possible reason for Austria's reckless behavior
09:32is the tacit support she enjoys from Germany.
09:38I can see how the impression might have arisen
09:42amongst some of you.
09:46Vienna may have got used to us backing them,
09:48and perhaps that has made them as they are.
09:54Reckless.
09:55Your superior said so.
09:57And I will admit that possibility,
10:00but, of course,
10:02that is quite a different thing
10:04from saying she receives our encouragement.
10:14What is it?
10:15I admire Prince Lishnovsky.
10:19And I think you're sincere.
10:21I know that sentence.
10:21It's always followed by its opposite.
10:25Oh, come on, Crow.
10:27Tell me why I shouldn't place my faith in Lichnovsky.
10:30I'm not sure Berlin listens to him.
10:35He was listened to.
10:39Lichnovsky had Edward Gray's confidence, after all.
10:46But was he respected?
10:48Yes, please.
10:52Excuse me, sir.
10:52Not by our chancellor,
10:54Theobald von Bethmann-Holwig.
10:55Our ambassador in London, sir.
10:59This has just arrived?
11:02Yes, sir.
11:03Seven minutes ago.
11:04They agreed on so little.
11:07Get me the foreign minister.
11:09Yes, sir.
11:12Of course it's a perfectly reasonable proposal.
11:15Gray is a reasonable man.
11:18If I were in his position, I would propose an international tribunal, too.
11:26Perhaps we should accept.
11:28Say that again?
11:30We should accept.
11:31Would you like to explain to the Kaiser, when he gets back from his holiday tomorrow, what has happened to his plan?
11:38Not a crashing military victory for Austrian ally, Your Majesty, but a diplomatic triumph for Sir Edward Gray and the British?
11:47No, no, no, I would not want to be the one to say that.
11:49And that's why it will not be said.
11:53We must therefore reject Edward Gray's offer.
11:59Something to the effect that Austria would find it...
12:03Insupportable?
12:04Humiliating.
12:08It would be humiliating for a great power like Austria to be subjected to the decisions of an international tribunal.
12:17But what if the Austrians agree to Gray's proposal?
12:22They won't.
12:24You seem very sure.
12:25You won't let them.
12:27But tell Lechnovsky we are sympathetic to the idea.
12:31He'll want to cultivate it anyway.
12:33We can use him to get the English off our backs for 48 hours or so.
12:37And the Kaiser?
12:47There is no proposal from Britain.
12:51There never has been.
13:07Kaiser Wilhelm knew nothing of the diplomatic events of the past two weeks.
13:14He'd been on his vacation.
13:18Looking at the Norwegian fjords.
13:23The world he expected to return to was one in which Serbia had been handsomely crushed by Austria,
13:31while our most feared enemy, Russia, stood staring at a brilliant fait accompli.
13:37Of course, none of that had happened.
13:40Did you know that Norwegians read more than any other people in the world?
13:45I have heard something of the sort, Your Majesty.
13:48Of course you have.
13:49You know everything.
13:51I didn't know, though.
13:56It was very disappointing.
14:00Norway, Your Majesty.
14:02Norway?
14:02Why do you want to talk about Norway?
14:05Austria, that's disappointing.
14:07The Austrian army is still not in Belgrade.
14:10Completely disappointing.
14:12Not yet, Your Majesty.
14:13Not yet.
14:14I'm assured by the Austrian ambassador that...
14:16In fact, they decided to mobilize their army yesterday,
14:19so it's little wonder they're not yet in Belgrade.
14:22The day before yesterday, Your Majesty, but very late indeed, sir.
14:25Later than we expected.
14:26Later than I wanted!
14:27What did I tell him, Iago, before I took my vacation, you were there?
14:35You said you wanted things to happen quickly.
14:36A quick, clean war.
14:39Over before the Russians know it's even begun, yes?
14:41Yes, you did say that, Your Majesty.
14:44And now, the Russians will get all agitated, which I think I expressly said I did not want.
14:51And this morning, I arrived back in Berlin to discover that the British have their navy on high alert.
14:57Brilliant!
14:57I will resign.
15:07No, you won't.
15:09You cooked this broth, you'll eat it.
15:14What is especially humiliating is that the Serbs are now laughing at us.
15:21You've seen their reply to the Austrian note?
15:23I'd appreciate it if you left me to finish my breakfast.
15:26Now, in the days following Austria's rejection of the Serbian reply, we found ourselves asking,
15:41What will Russia do?
15:42What will Russia do?
15:43Foreign Secretary.
15:44Not now.
15:45What is it?
15:46And why have you not come to me?
15:47What?
15:47Russia, our absolutist ally, was a perennial mystery to us.
15:58We'd been friends with Russia since 1907, and that was a good thing in Asia.
16:04It stopped us bickering about India and Afghanistan.
16:07But in Europe...
16:08Is that it?
16:09That's it, sir.
16:10What is it?
16:11Well, it meant we were now underrating the decisions of a very erratic ally.
16:16It's the Russian army.
16:18The Tsar appears to have ordered a section of it to mobilize in the southern districts facing the Austrian Empire.
16:24What in God's name has he done that for?
16:26I don't know.
16:27It's not been confirmed yet, of course.
16:30Well, I just have to hope your sources are as wretched as they usually are.
16:34It's a precautionary thing, I'm sure.
16:37At any rate, it'll take four weeks to come to fruition.
16:40But they've just wrecked my peace conference, or perhaps you won't need it.
16:44Nothing will bring Austria to her senses quicker than Britain supporting its Russian ally.
16:51How much more belligerent do you think the Tsar would become if he imagines the Royal Navy and a British expeditionary force are at his disposal?
16:58But, Foreign Secretary, it's the effect on Germany that's the relevant thing.
17:02Germany wants to take part in my conference.
17:05We don't need a conference.
17:06The quickest way to influence Austria is to frighten Germany.
17:08The best way to frighten Germany is to support Russia.
17:11The key to this problem is to cut across international rivalries, not reinforce them.
17:17I'm seeing the Russian ambassador in...
17:20It's a quarter to six.
17:21Right.
17:22Well, now, in actual fact, he's getting the deluxe treatment and taking him to see the Prime Minister.
17:27Good.
17:28But I think you should know the mail on the Russia desk is saying that you don't take their concerns
17:32seriously.
17:33I'm not here to please the Russian desk.
17:35They're turning into bloody Russians in there, by the way.
17:38I'm an elected politician.
17:40I know that.
17:40And I answer to Parliament.
17:42Of course, but do not alienate Russia over this, sir.
17:46If we fail to bend a little towards her here, she will make things difficult for us in India.
17:50Of course, the thing about our Russian alliance, the awkward thing, was that it tied us to
17:58this man, Tsar Nicholas II.
18:01No one ever knew what he was going to say next.
18:04He was whimsical and unpredictable, as powerful men often are, answering only to God, but capable
18:11of acting like God, too.
18:13Now, the man in charge of his war machine was General Vladimir Sukomninov.
18:18Enfilade fire from this direction.
18:21Here he is, reenacting the 1812 Battle of Borodino.
18:24And it was here that Kutuzov deployed the guards.
18:28All part of the young prince's tuition, you understand.
18:32And the royal family's general entertainment.
18:34And this woman, who hates the Battle of Borodino, is General Sukomninov's young wife.
18:42No, Alexei, that's the infantry.
18:47You'll never find horses in a trench.
18:52This man now had 13 army corps moving towards the Austrian Empire.
18:57And this was not a pleasant thought for us in London.
19:00For we are talking 1,100,000 men.
19:05We had to show our support for the Serbs.
19:09There'd be a rebellion in Russia if we didn't.
19:12Rubbish.
19:13We both know that's not true, Count Benkendor.
19:15Are you saying that the Russian does not care at all about his Serb brother?
19:20I'm saying that most Russians would have more luck locating Serbia on a map with a blindfold and a pin.
19:29Count, let's not forget how we got here.
19:32Austria's case against your Serb friends is that they provide a safe haven for Bosnian terrorists.
19:38Well, we all deplore that, I think.
19:40We do have a little difficulty understanding why Russia has felt it necessary to mobilize her army.
19:47It's the same thing as you did yesterday with the Royal Navy.
19:51It's not the same thing at all.
19:53But it is.
19:54This is not a mobilization.
19:56In our administrative departments, it is called a period preparatory to work.
20:04Are you impressed with those apostrophes, Edward?
20:07Edward is not impressed.
20:09You see, Count, playing with the word, it cannot alter the fact that quite soon you will have over one million men-at-arms moving towards the Austrian frontier.
20:21You object to us mobilizing an army that will take ten days to assume a proper war footing.
20:33Not four weeks.
20:34There is an old idea, William Gladstone's idea.
20:39It says that our two countries sit on the edges of Europe.
20:46And if we should ever fall out...
20:49The lands in between should fall under the dominion of Germany.
20:52You need only affirm your friendship to Russia tonight, and you will see the Austrians pull in their horns, and the Germans too.
21:05We know also that our two empires are drawing ever closer together in Asia.
21:17Soon, it is likely that our cartographers shall collide not far from the northwest frontier of India.
21:27It would be a shame, would it not, if our grenadiers collided too.
21:36When you are so close together, and you are not friends, it is very difficult to avoid friction.
21:47Well, that sounded almost like a threat.
21:49Those were your foreign secretary's words to me, not five years ago, which is why we became friends.
21:59And why now we have to help each other.
22:07Foreign secretary?
22:10Prime minister?
22:11Prime minister?
22:19He said, ten days.
22:24We in Berlin were shocked by the Russian mobilisation too.
22:29That had not been in the Kaiser's plan.
22:33But his chief of staff, General Moltke?
22:37I don't think Moltke was shocked.
22:38The Tsar has mobilized his southern army districts.
22:42That's technically 1.1 million men, perhaps a little less, knowing Ivan.
22:46You can always count on 10% being curled up in a ditch with the vodka butter.
22:50Well, but big numbers. Nonetheless, more than Austria can handle.
22:57So, stay a mate.
22:58Well, that depends on what we do.
23:01Think of it from my point of view. I'm paid to be suspicious.
23:03So then, how am I meant to know that these Russian troops are destined for the Austrian border?
23:12How can I be sure that these troops aren't being sent here, or here, or here, to our borders?
23:18Well, I suppose in this...
23:19I can't.
23:21So, are we not entitled to mobilize an army, too, for defensive purposes?
23:28Well, I'd rather think the Kaiser would wish to retain that prerogative.
23:33It would be an excellent thing, if Russia could be encouraged to move to a general mobilization.
23:42Get all her men in the field.
23:44We will see it one day, whether we like it or not.
23:47Rather, it happens now than in 5 or 10 years' time, when the scales tip towards Russia.
23:53Think of all this double-track railway lines laid through Poland coming our way.
23:58But theirs is a partial mobilization, not a general one.
24:04But a general one wouldn't be difficult to provoke, would it?
24:09I always expect you to lose your magic powers when we deprive you of those.
24:24We do.
24:25We are at your mercy now.
24:27There can't be a powerful Russia and a powerful Germany on the same continent one has to submit.
24:35But let me give you a statistic.
24:38Something that will reduce this monstrous Cossack to human size.
24:42At the present moment, the Russian Empire has possession of 4,000 machine guns.
24:49The German Empire has 24,000.
24:52We know why we have so many precious weapons of war.
24:56Because we are industrious and we are prudent.
24:59But why does Russia have so few?
25:03Once you know the answer to that question, you have stopped feeling, Cossack.
25:07The reason why Russia lacks machine guns is that General Sukomninov's pretty young wife adores Fabergé X.
25:17Where is he going with this?
25:19I don't know.
25:20So, old Sukomninov, who is famously luxurious, finds that to love his wife is to empty his wallet.
25:27And that is why the old general took a backhander from Vickers of England to supply all of Russia's machine guns.
25:33But Vickers' machine guns are three times the price of those produced in Moscow.
25:39Here's another statistic.
25:40We have 381 batteries of heavy artillery.
25:44They have 60.
25:45And their forts?
25:47They are not forts.
25:47They are museums.
25:49And don't tell me about the Russian steamroller, gentlemen.
25:52It doesn't exist.
25:53It's a fantasy.
25:56But...
25:56But be careful.
26:00Eventually, old Sukhu will be put out of grass.
26:03And will be replaced by a modernizer with a modest wife.
26:09If that happens tomorrow, it is likely that by 1917, Russia will have parity with us.
26:15Imagine that.
26:18Imagine a Balkan crisis, where they, not we, have the whip-hand.
26:22Gentlemen, it's us or them.
26:27The Tutank or the Slav, we all know it.
26:29Through no machinations of our own, we are now being offered the chance, by very reasonable terms, to settle that account once and forever.
26:42On Russia, I have similar thoughts to you.
26:47I've often said we overestimate their strength.
26:50So it was like listening to my own voice in there.
26:53I make no claims to originality.
26:54But you failed to mention the French.
26:57French alliance with Russia?
26:59Isn't that the key?
27:01A Russian entry into a Balkan war would mean a French entry into a Balkan war.
27:05And at that point, we wouldn't be calling it a Balkan war anymore.
27:10I've just told you why you shouldn't fear Russia.
27:12I'm too in need of dinner right now to tell you why you shouldn't fear France.
27:17It's not a question of fear, of course.
27:18You will manage France if the time comes, I'm sure.
27:24It's important we maintain the European Act because we do agree with that.
27:30As you say.
27:31We have a political system in Germany where power is concentrated at the top.
27:44One of the tragedies of July 1914 was that the men at the very top always seemed to be reacting to yesterday's news.
27:52While Moltke's mind was turning towards a general war with Russia, the Kaiser was still trying to control Austria's local war with Serbia.
28:05Every cause for war has vanished.
28:08Your Majesty.
28:09Every cause gone.
28:13What do you call this?
28:15It's the Serb reply to the Austrian demands.
28:19They agreed to everything.
28:21Everything.
28:22A total capitulation.
28:23I thought you said...
28:25What?
28:27What did I say?
28:29I was under the impression you had read the Serb reply before we met at breakfast yesterday.
28:35Why on earth would you think that?
28:38It was in front of you on the breakfast table.
28:40This whole thing wouldn't be such a mess if Austria had simply...
28:48If things had been done as I said they should be done.
28:53You've had the time, big money.
28:56Do we change cars, Your Majesty?
29:00No.
29:02Get Austria into Belgrade!
29:06They can hold the city until the Serbs do all those things they now say they are willing to do!
29:13Yes, sir.
29:14But it must be done immediately!
29:16Yes, sir.
29:23Message to Vienna.
29:25Yes, sir.
29:27I take the liberty of submitting for the consideration of Your Imperial Majesty...
29:34No.
29:35No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
29:42The indulgence of Your Imperial Majesty.
29:45Franz Josef, the Austrian Emperor, signing a declaration of war against Serbia.
30:05He might be signing an ordinance to permit electric streetlighting in distant Budapest or lifting a ban on linen trading in Krakow.
30:18What he's actually doing is signing his own death warrant, and that of his dynasty.
30:27The Kaiser had finally got his little Balkan wall.
30:44That evening, the first Austrian bombs fell on Belgrade.
30:48The Serbian government has left Belgrade, apparently, to avoid capture.
31:06I see.
31:06Of course, we're still waiting to hear officially from the Austrian Embassy.
31:10So, the International Conference...
31:12It's dead.
31:13Yes.
31:14I suppose so.
31:16Can't imagine how that happened.
31:18I thought we had an agreement.
31:20You've been played, Edward.
31:22You've been played, Edward.
31:23You're a very clever play.
31:25You have to admire Berlin.
31:27Berlin?
31:28They've used Prince Lyschnovsky like a sewer.
31:30A conduit to send all their shit our way.
31:33Oh, don't feel sorry for yourself.
31:35You've only lost one wicket.
31:37The game's still trembling in the balance.
31:42Yeah.
31:43That's true.
31:44But do remember that affability is not a strategy, Edward.
31:48Now is the time to put British power into the scales.
31:52No more pretending we're just the umpire.
31:58I'll see myself.
32:24You told me Berlin was going to put its weight
32:27behind a peace conference.
32:28Edward, that was before we realized
32:31that the Russians were mobilizing their army.
32:33Against Austria, not Germany.
32:34I'm told they have enough truths to worry us both.
32:38They fear your mobilization, too, of course.
32:40But Germany has not mobilized.
32:42No, yes, yes.
32:44But they fear the speed with which you can.
32:47Therefore, they are obliged to act now
32:49for fear of being overwhelmed later.
32:50I understand the point.
32:52Craig, can I have a moment alone with Prince Lyschnovsky?
32:57You're shaken by this, too.
32:58I can tell.
32:59What can we do, Max?
33:00I believe that once the Austrians have captured Belgrade,
33:02the Kaiser will want diplomacy to take over.
33:03I feel I've been misled once by Germany.
33:04I can appreciate that, but it's not by design, please believe me.
33:06Very well.
33:07Once Austria has crossed the Danube, let the Kaiser propose a plan for mediation.
33:13I'm not jealous about my role in this or precious about ownership.
33:15I know you're not.
33:16No, he'd be happy to fall in with whatever he suggests.
33:17We could call it the German peace plan.
33:18Oh, that would be very helpful to his majesty.
33:19We are friends, aren't we?
33:20Most certainly we are friends.
33:21So, I'm telling you this because we are friends and I wouldn't want our intimacy to lead you astray.
33:28If France is drawn into this conflict...
33:29France?
33:30As Russia's ally, it is possible.
33:31I don't know.
33:32No, he'd be happy to fall in with whatever he suggests.
33:35We could call it the German peace plan.
33:37Oh, that would be very helpful to his majesty.
33:42We are friends, aren't we?
33:44Most certainly we are friends.
33:46So, I'm telling you this because we are friends and I wouldn't want our intimacy to lead you astray.
33:51If France is drawn into this conflict...
33:54France?
33:55As Russia's ally, it is possible.
33:58Unlikely for a Balkan question.
34:00But still possible.
34:01And if France is drawn in, it may be difficult for Britain to stand aside.
34:21He will warn his government.
34:26Britain in earnest.
34:31Mediation must succeed.
34:36Britain in earnest.
34:39Of course that alarmed the Kaiser.
34:42He thought of his cousin, Tsar Nicholas of Russia.
34:46Knees up.
34:47And wondered if the two of them might not stop their respective military machines.
34:54What a sad dialogue they embarked on.
34:56Salute, dear Nikki.
34:59We have a common interest as sovereigns
35:03to ensure that all persons morally responsible for the murder...
35:09Dear Willy,
35:10the indignation in Russia, fully shared by me, is enormous.
35:17I foresee a time when I shall be forced to take extreme measures, which will lead to war.
35:22Dear Nikki,
35:24the whole weight of the decision lies solely on your shoulders now.
35:27Dear Willy,
35:29I shall be overwhelmed by pressure to go to war.
35:33I appeal to you to help me.
35:35Dear Nikki.
35:36Dear Willy.
35:37Dear Nikki.
35:38Dear Willy.
35:39Dear Willy.
35:40Dear Willy.
35:41And on it went.
35:42Dear Willy.
35:43Dear Willy.
35:44Dear Willy.
35:45Dear Willy.
35:46Dear Willy.
35:47Dear Willy.
35:48Dear Willy.
35:50Dear Willy.
35:51For the two sovereigns living in a world of make-believe.
35:52That evening, Russia moved to full mobilization,
35:53and all her reservists were called up.
35:54That night, Moltke sent a cable to Vienna.
35:58Proceed to full mobilization.
35:59Do not fear Russia.
36:00fear Russia. But Bietmann sent one to the Austrians too. To open hostilities with Russia, he said,
36:09would be a serious error. Two conflicting voices. Whose would be louder?
36:24We knew nothing about those two telegrams, of course,
36:27but the full Russian mobilisation we did know about.
36:32We also knew that it meant France was now in danger of being drawn into the conflict.
36:41France has arrived.
36:46France has arrived.
37:03I always expect him to dance in.
37:05I'd rather doubt he'd be in the mood for that.
37:07This was France, in the shape of Ambassador Paul Cambon. Gaelic on the surface, Gaelic to the core.
37:19But there were many in the Foreign Office who joked that Monsieur Cambon was representing Russia too.
37:24For in 1892, the impossible had happened.
37:28Republican France, home to the revolution, had signed a treaty with Tsarist Russia,
37:32the symbol of despotic tyranny.
37:34Why had they done this?
37:36Fear.
37:37Fear that they might be overwhelmed again by the German army.
37:42Foreign Secretary will see you now, Your Excellency.
37:47So now, if Russia went to war, it was likely that France would do so too.
37:51If France follows Russia into a Balkan war, it would be difficult for Britain to follow France.
37:57I know that sounds blunt, but I think it's important to be clear, so there's no room for misunderstanding later.
38:13Germany, happily, will postpone its own mobilization until we've absolutely exhausted efforts at mediation.
38:21But in the light of Russia's actions, we're asking rather a lot of them, I feel.
38:27It does sound blunt.
38:29Ah, for a moment there, I thought you'd taken a vow of silence, Paul.
38:33There's a war party in Germany. He knows it.
38:37Yeah, I know it too.
38:38But if France throws the fat in the fire by following Russia, it will simply encourage that war party, don't you think?
38:45How easy it is to be complacent about Germany when you are protected by the channel.
38:53My dear fellow, it's not the channel that protects us. It's the Navy.
39:03There is no ordinary mobilization, of course. The Russian railway system...
39:07It's prehistoric. It would be quicker to get their men to the front in horse and cart.
39:13And therefore there is no need for us to panic. Who panics here?
39:17I'm saying, we should not be hasty.
39:19The French will be. It's nature.
39:21But France has not mobilized. On the contrary, I received a piece of information today, which I wish to share with you.
39:28On an initiative from the French Foreign Ministry to eliminate potential sources of friction,
39:35All French military personnel have retreated ten kilometers from the Franco-German frontier as from this morning.
39:43But they're getting some practice in, huh?
39:45Shut up.
39:48The French have not mobilized.
39:50Not yet.
39:51So you're asking us to threaten someone in advance of them possibly threatening us?
39:56Yes. Yes, I am.
39:58What are you planning?
40:00Either Germany fills her lungs or she dies. This is the law of nations.
40:04International life is a constant struggle to breathe.
40:07You want to invade France?
40:09And then we'll deal with the Russians.
40:12Is this vanity?
40:15It won't be like your uncle's day, Moltke.
40:18I thought as a military man, you might have noticed a line of concrete forts.
40:23They've built since 1870.
40:25Toul, Moulinville, Doubaumont.
40:31Very good, Bittmann. You should set this to music.
40:34Verdun.
40:35Verdun, oui, oui.
40:36Pas oublier Verdun.
40:38Are we just to ignore these fortifications?
40:41Pretend they are not there? They do not exist?
40:44We could spare France, of course, and concentrate on Russia.
40:48But Paris would have to agree to certain conditions.
40:52Those I've already outlined to our friends in London.
40:56You're talking to London?
40:59They will receive my note tomorrow morning.
41:29Quite incredible.
41:32Germany is practically asking for the keys to France.
41:35If France agrees to remain neutral in the event of a German-Russian war,
41:39it gets as its reward from Germany...
41:42What?
41:43The German occupation of the fortresses of Verdun and Toul for the duration of that war.
41:48They don't seem to know the difference between a threat and a bribe.
41:51It's intended to provoke a French mobilisation.
41:53Not convinced.
41:54It is, Edward.
41:55It would be like then telling us,
41:56we won't attack you,
41:57but Winston here must allow German sailors to take him out of the Royal Navy.
42:01Who keeps saying they or them?
42:03How do you know it's not the work of just one man?
42:06Rogues have loud voices.
42:08Doesn't mean they speak for everyone.
42:10Yeah.
42:11I beg your pardon?
42:13Yeah, I think we must share this with the Cabinet.
42:15They'll be waiting, Winston.
42:19The German proposal is inept, of course it is.
42:22But the principle...
42:23But the principle behind it is not a bad one.
42:26What is this principle, Mr Chancellor, that we stuff our ally?
42:30Very good, Winston.
42:31But the principle that Mr Burns here is talking about
42:34is one of separating any war in the East from any likely conflict in the West.
42:39Of building a cavity wall between the two.
42:42The sensible thing would be to send France a signal
42:45that we do not share her enthusiasm for war.
42:48That we rein her in.
42:50Or leave her high and dry?
42:53France is our ally.
42:55We do have certain obligations.
42:57We have an understanding, sir.
43:02That's putting it rather mildly, Lord Morley.
43:05It is an understanding.
43:07That's the way the Foreign Secretary described the Entente Cordiale
43:11when it was first dreamt up.
43:13But exactly what this understanding entails,
43:17we around this table don't quite know.
43:21There's nothing that you're concealing from us, is there, Sir Edward?
43:35Please.
43:37Sir Edward is still in cabinet.
43:39But I could have some tea brought for you.
43:42Have you been waiting long?
43:44Oh.
43:45Have you been waiting long?
44:10Oh, only since 1870.
44:15For two years, Your Majesty, if you all adjust our diet a little, that's was grain from
44:29our own fields.
44:33We may acquire fields elsewhere, of course.
44:37You mean in Russia?
44:40Russia, eventually.
44:41He's talking about France.
44:44I wonder, Your Majesty, do you know how many ministers of war the French Republic has had
44:50in the last 43 years?
44:53I will not guess, but I'm sure my Chancellor here will know the answer.
44:57Forty-two?
44:58That is correct.
44:59Forty-two ministers of war in 43 years, and they wonder why their army is a rebel.
45:06But it isn't.
45:07Friedman Holwig, the soldier.
45:09Your Majesty, he wants to declare war on France.
45:11I don't want to, but I think a war between us is bound to happen.
45:16He wants to.
45:17And I will tell you this, Britain will not stay neutral in a war that takes in France.
45:21Britain is not capable of getting involved.
45:23She cannot spare the troops.
45:25He means Ireland.
45:26She will risk how many divisions on the continent?
45:29Four?
45:30Five?
45:31They would get swept up in the general routes.
45:32This is irresponsible talk.
45:34Gentlemen.
45:35It's a beautiful summer's evening, and I think we deserve some refreshments.
45:43You have to say, it would teach the British a thing or two.
45:49Well, if you insist on making war on the continent, then don't just send a few outriders.
45:55Do it properly.
45:57I would ask the cabinet for authorization to move to a full mobilization of the Royal Navy.
46:06Do that, and I go.
46:08Oh, John.
46:09Sorry, Prime Minister, but that is gunboat diplomacy.
46:14Any fool could make an heroic gesture.
46:16Let's not confuse that with a bid for peace.
46:19Yeah, yeah, yeah.
46:20Liberalism has got to mean something more intelligent than pulling the gun out every time you're
46:26in a quarrel.
46:27It's an accompaniment, John, to what I'm doing.
46:30We'll keep on talking.
46:31I would offer my resignation too, Prime Minister.
46:36And I.
46:39Prime Minister, you will not take the Liberal Party with you into a European war.
46:46Can I suggest this?
46:49We have evidently lost control of what is taking place between Austria and Russia.
46:54But we are still capable of influencing what is happening between Germany and France.
47:00that is where our peacemaking efforts should now be.
47:06Sir Edward?
47:08I should like to make a telephone call to the German ambassador.
47:18Your Excellency, Sir Edward is on the number 10 telephone and would like to speak with you.
47:30You must promise not to attack France.
47:32That is key.
47:34In the event of a Russian-German conflict-wrecking act.
47:39Yes.
47:40Do you understand?
47:42Do you understand?
47:43And we will undertake to guarantee that Britain and France will not attack Germany in return.
47:53The French have agreed to this?
47:55What?
47:56That is correct.
47:58The French have...
47:59That is correct.
48:00Then I will take responsibility for saying now that the German government will respond positively,
48:08pleasurably to your initiative.
48:13Sir Edward?
48:36Sir Edward Grey's proposal is to be commended for guaranteeing
48:43the security of our border with France.
48:49What did you say to Germany?
48:50You have soreness.
48:51I can tell.
48:52Crow, please, will you join us?
48:56I have not sold you.
49:00It is simply this.
49:02The cabinet feels Britain has no interest in what is essentially an Austro-Russian dispute
49:10in the East.
49:12France, of course, has her alliance with Russia, the provisions of which we know nothing about.
49:17And we cannot allow ourselves to be the tail to Russia's comments.
49:21You have sold us.
49:23We haven't.
49:24Each day we delay our mobilization, we lose the equivalent of 25 kilometers of French territory
49:29if borders break out.
49:30But I appreciate France's restraint and would urge her to continue on that course.
49:34How many French lines would it take to get each of those 25 kilometers back?
49:37Paul.
49:38Are you going to wait until France is violated before you act?
49:44You must make your own decision and not reckon on British assistance.
49:50We, for our part, will continue to explore peace initiatives with Germany.
49:56This evening, the word honor will be struck from the English dictionary.
50:12I thought he'd be a little more pliable.
50:23He's distraught, of course.
50:27I think the French will back down.
50:30I think they'll see sense.
50:33Can I ask you, sir, what precisely did you say to Prince Leszlofsky on the telephone?
50:41I, um...
50:43I told him.
50:50I'm not entirely sure, Crow.
50:53That's rather awkward.
50:58Everyone thinks I have the power to invent new facts when the old ones become dangerous.
51:09They think if they tell me their predicament, it will disappear.
51:14To them, you are Great Britain.
51:17You hold immense power.
51:23I'm also just Edward Grey.
51:25The Kaiser ordered the mobilization of our army against Russia that evening.
51:48And then, France also mobilized.
51:52The iron dice rolled. May God help us.
51:57Trains must leave every 90 seconds.
52:00No delays, no excuses.
52:02A million of our soldiers would soon be on the move.
52:07And I would be one of them.
52:10We think we are good at this.
52:13Let us prove it.
52:15But then, suddenly, out of the clear blue sky came Edward Grey's peace plan.
52:22The one he proposed on the telephone to Prince Leszlofsky.
52:27It arrived in Berlin just 23 minutes after the Kaiser had signed our mobilization papers.
52:34Open those doors.
52:37And bring champagne.
52:38What is it?
52:39The best champagne.
52:40What is it?
52:41Gentlemen, I just received word from Prince Leszlofsky in London.
52:45French and...
52:47Chancellor, you represent the civilian arm of Germany.
52:50You read it.
52:51French and British neutrality guaranteed if Germany refrains from attacking France.
52:56Only Russia is left in the field.
52:57I have 25,000 trains in motion.
52:59Will Russia back down now also?
53:00She might well do that.
53:0125,000 trains moving westwards.
53:02They don't have brakes.
53:03Our forward units are about to enter Luxembourg.
53:04Then stop them, Moltke, and deploy the entire army to the east.
53:07I can't.
53:08It's too late.
53:09It's a command you have, Whit.
53:10Stop them and turn around.
53:11I can't.
53:12I can't.
53:13It's too late.
53:14It's a command you have, Whit.
53:15Stop them and turn around.
53:16I can't.
53:17I can't.
53:18I can't.
53:19I can't.
53:20I can't.
53:21I can't.
53:22I can't.
53:23I can't.
53:24I can't.
53:25Stop them and turn the army to the east.
53:28Just let go.
53:35To England.
53:36To Sir Edward Graves.
53:37To where we complete chaos, the whole world will be founded to chaos.
53:47The army.
53:50You said the whole world.
53:52It's just the army.
53:55It is simple, Moltke.
53:58Applaud this man's superb diplomacy
53:59and then begin shifting your man to the east.
54:04We'll discuss the reservations once you've finished.
54:07Well, on with it.
54:08Mobilize yourself first.
54:10This isn't leadership.
54:12You might start by getting those Luxembourg patrols back
54:15before they do some damage.
54:17It isn't.
54:18Even with that absurd marshal's baton in your hand.
54:21Moltke?
54:22You're one good hand.
54:34When do wars start?
54:44When a declaration is signed
54:47or when an embassy is closed?
54:51Or do we delude ourselves
54:53that these formalities are what count?
55:01I know this.
55:03Our fellows were not meant to be in Luxembourg on August 1st.
55:07We had not declared an argument with that country,
55:10let alone declared a war.
55:12Yet, at 7 in the evening,
55:14a detachment of the 69th Infantry Regiment
55:17crossed over into Luxembourg.
55:19They were under the command of a lieutenant Feldman,
55:30who'd been told to seize the town's telegraph office.
55:37No casualties were suffered that day,
55:40unless you count Private Meyer with his sprained ankle.
55:43But this strange little engagement was the curtain-raiser
55:48to an all-out war on the Western Front.
55:58Or it would have been,
56:00had Sir Edward Grey's peace plan not reached Berlin just in time.
56:05Feltman was told to come home.
56:14The war in the West had been cancelled.
56:16Scheiße.
56:17Dear Georgie,
56:19having just received the glorious communication
56:21from your government,
56:23offering French neutrality
56:24under guarantee of Great Britain,
56:27I am delighted to convey
56:29my own government's enthusiasm
56:30for the proposal.
56:31How does an army of several million men
56:46defeat another army of several million men?
56:50I will likely resign from the government
56:51if we enter this war.
56:53For God's sake,
56:54state the conditions
56:55under which Britain will remain neutral.
56:57That you do not go to war with France.
56:59Madness.
57:00They could have saved us.
57:01Those German railway platforms
57:03are now half a mile long.
57:04German troops are heading towards
57:06the Belgian border.
57:08You'll be told there isn't a better time
57:10to be young
57:10and that you are the envy
57:12of those too old to fight.
57:14I've never seen myself as a soldier.
57:16The immense expense of blood
57:18will in the end
57:19be for nothing.
57:20It is you
57:21who can stop it.
57:22You're lucky,
57:45you're in the mountains,
57:47you're in the mountains.
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