- today
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
00:00:00To be continued...
00:01:00Your Majesty.
00:01:21Your Majesty.
00:01:24French neutrality.
00:01:26Guaranteed.
00:01:30How did you manage that?
00:01:31I didn't, Your Majesty.
00:01:34Well, the Kaiser thinks you did.
00:01:36Did my cousin just dream it?
00:01:39It is likely a mistake was made
00:01:42during my telephone conversation
00:01:45with Prince Litonofsky yesterday.
00:01:47The German ambassador misheard you?
00:01:51Possibly.
00:01:52Or you mislead him.
00:01:55It hardly matters which, Your Majesty.
00:01:58The point is the Kaiser is now holding the wrong end
00:02:00of a very big stick.
00:02:03One you handed to him?
00:02:06Certainly it has landed us all in a most awkward spot.
00:02:12So,
00:02:12you would now like me to disabuse the Kaiser.
00:02:18We can arrange for a telegram
00:02:20to be sent to your cousin in the next 20 minutes.
00:02:27Before that happens,
00:02:29let me just ask
00:02:30the obvious question.
00:02:32We haven't, by some enormous stroke of luck,
00:02:37stumbled upon a formula
00:02:38that would actually keep the peace
00:02:40in Western Europe?
00:02:42Not with the French
00:02:43being in complete ignorance
00:02:45of what is being offered.
00:02:48And they...
00:02:49And they will never agree
00:02:51to neutrality
00:02:52while their Russian ally
00:02:55is being threatened by Germany.
00:02:56I see.
00:03:02I will tell the Kaiser
00:03:03there's been a
00:03:04misunderstanding.
00:03:13Misunderstanding?
00:03:17Misunderstanding?
00:03:19What?
00:03:21What does that mean?
00:03:22It's such a
00:03:25British explanation.
00:03:27You tell me what it means.
00:03:28I...
00:03:28It's Edward Gray,
00:03:29isn't it?
00:03:31He's a deceitful girl.
00:03:34I forget sometimes
00:03:35that the English language
00:03:36doesn't distinguish
00:03:37between duplicity
00:03:38and diplomacy.
00:03:41Misunderstanding?
00:03:41What?
00:03:42We've changed our minds?
00:03:44I'm not sure that...
00:03:45Get me, Maltje!
00:03:46Sir, please.
00:03:46Get me, Maltje!
00:03:48Sir, please.
00:03:52I've been made a fool of
00:04:01and I am disgusted by that.
00:04:10Shake my hand.
00:04:15My good hand.
00:04:17The English
00:04:21are liars.
00:04:24Now you can do
00:04:25as you will.
00:04:26Have you had breakfast, sir?
00:04:50I don't think so.
00:04:52Might I arrange some for you?
00:04:53How long do you imagine
00:04:54the railway platforms are
00:04:56at Dürer?
00:05:00An awful lot of
00:05:01German troop trains
00:05:03appear to be leaving Cologne
00:05:04and heading towards Dürer.
00:05:09Makes no sense.
00:05:12For four weeks now,
00:05:14ever since the assassination
00:05:15of Franz Ferdinand,
00:05:16we in Europe
00:05:19have been living
00:05:19with a Balkan crisis.
00:05:21Serbia and its Russian ally
00:05:23ranged against Austria
00:05:25and its German one.
00:05:27Now,
00:05:28when isn't the Balkans
00:05:29in crisis,
00:05:30you might think?
00:05:31It's Bosnia,
00:05:32Foreign Secretary.
00:05:33I think that might wait.
00:05:34Rain is wet,
00:05:36the sun dries you out
00:05:37and the Balkans
00:05:38is a trouble spot.
00:05:40These are facts of nature.
00:05:43In Berlin at first,
00:05:44our Kaiser had been keen
00:05:45to stoke the fires
00:05:47in the Balkans.
00:05:47He thought this might give
00:05:50our Russian neighbour
00:05:51a nasty burn.
00:05:52A quick,
00:05:53clean war
00:05:54over before the Russians
00:05:55know it's even begun.
00:05:56So it took the special genius
00:05:58of General Moltke
00:05:59to turn a local conflict
00:06:00into an international crisis.
00:06:03Moltke wasn't interested
00:06:04in a small war
00:06:05in the Balkans.
00:06:07Can't be a powerful Russia
00:06:09and a powerful Germany
00:06:10on the same continent.
00:06:12One has to submit.
00:06:12He wanted something
00:06:14much bigger.
00:06:15He wants to declare war
00:06:16on France.
00:06:17And that was when things
00:06:18began to change in London.
00:06:20No longer were we bystanders.
00:06:22We had an alliance
00:06:24with France.
00:06:25Are you going to wait
00:06:26until France is violated
00:06:27before you act?
00:06:29The Cabinet
00:06:30had no appetite
00:06:30for war though
00:06:31and told the Foreign Secretary
00:06:32to make sure
00:06:33the Balkan crisis
00:06:34didn't spread to the West.
00:06:36And so Sir Edward
00:06:37used the telephone
00:06:38to broker some kind of agreement
00:06:39with the German ambassador.
00:06:41Sir Edward?
00:06:42But telephones,
00:06:44you know?
00:06:45Things get scrambled,
00:06:46don't they?
00:06:47And therefore,
00:06:48last night,
00:06:49to England.
00:06:50The Kaiser gratefully
00:06:51accepted a peace plan
00:06:52from London
00:06:53that didn't actually exist.
00:06:56Hence,
00:06:56the misunderstanding.
00:06:59I won't deny it,
00:07:01there was a little bit
00:07:01of panic here
00:07:02in the Foreign Office.
00:07:04Not least because
00:07:05the morning papers
00:07:05were reporting
00:07:06that a torrent
00:07:07of capital and gold
00:07:09had flowed out of the country
00:07:10over the last few days.
00:07:12Chin up, Muriel.
00:07:13Come on, everyone.
00:07:17Busy day.
00:07:18And that's why
00:07:19the Governor
00:07:19of the Bank of England,
00:07:20Sir Walter Cunliffe,
00:07:21Sir Walter,
00:07:23it's good to see you again.
00:07:24along with Lloyd George,
00:07:25the Chancellor,
00:07:26had come to the Foreign Office
00:07:27to persuade Sir Edward
00:07:28that it would be fatal
00:07:29to join the fray.
00:07:30It's important
00:07:31the Foreign Secretary
00:07:32knows that
00:07:33if he gets us involved
00:07:35in a continental war,
00:07:36it will wreck
00:07:38the British economy.
00:07:39There will be a degree
00:07:40of commercial disruption,
00:07:42of course.
00:07:43The economy
00:07:44will be wrecked.
00:07:46That's your opinion?
00:07:47It's the opinion
00:07:47of the Bank of England
00:07:48and the whole of the city.
00:07:50There, David.
00:07:52The whole of the city?
00:07:54Over a million pounds
00:07:55worth of gold
00:07:56left London on Thursday.
00:07:57To be fair, Walter,
00:07:59that's the German
00:07:59financial houses
00:08:01repatriating their capital.
00:08:03But we are vulnerable
00:08:04to that.
00:08:05This is the whole point.
00:08:06We are a trading nation.
00:08:08We are.
00:08:09Our best policy
00:08:10would be to let
00:08:11the French and Germans
00:08:12go to war
00:08:13if they need to.
00:08:14We could stay out
00:08:15and be the honest broker,
00:08:17literally.
00:08:18You want us
00:08:20to be the honest broker?
00:08:21Well, you're making it
00:08:22sound like a crime,
00:08:23Sir Edward.
00:08:23Do you know
00:08:24Air Crow here?
00:08:25Yes, of course you do.
00:08:26So, you know,
00:08:27he's an exceptionally
00:08:29knowledgeable fellow
00:08:30and he tells me
00:08:32that in the entire
00:08:33history of mankind
00:08:34there is not
00:08:36a single instance
00:08:38where financiers
00:08:40have not panicked
00:08:41at the prospect
00:08:42of a war.
00:08:43Isn't that so, Crow?
00:08:45The Peloponnesian War?
00:08:47Yes, apart from
00:08:48the Peloponnesian War.
00:08:49So, you see,
00:08:51Sir Walter,
00:08:51I have this
00:08:53odd situation.
00:08:54Up in Trafalgar Square
00:08:55right now,
00:08:56I'm being told
00:08:57by Keir Hardee
00:08:58and the Socialists
00:08:59that a European war
00:09:00would mark
00:09:01the end
00:09:01of civilisation.
00:09:03And here,
00:09:04I have
00:09:05the great banker
00:09:06of Threadneedle Street
00:09:08telling me
00:09:08the same thing.
00:09:09I didn't mention
00:09:10civilisation.
00:09:11Ah, true enough,
00:09:11you didn't.
00:09:13I suppose that's
00:09:13where the Socialists
00:09:14have the moral edge.
00:09:16But I'm not
00:09:17a hopeless dreamer
00:09:18like they are,
00:09:19so excuse me
00:09:20if I take offence
00:09:21at that.
00:09:22I am giving you
00:09:23some practical
00:09:24common sense.
00:09:26So, you'd like me
00:09:28to announce
00:09:29to the world
00:09:30that Great Britain
00:09:31can't afford
00:09:32to fight.
00:09:33That's your
00:09:34common sense.
00:09:35Now, you're
00:09:36twisting...
00:09:36Nothing would
00:09:37more readily
00:09:38put an end
00:09:39to our great
00:09:40power status
00:09:41than me
00:09:42saying that.
00:09:51Have you ever
00:09:52seen Keir Hardee?
00:09:53What, are you asking
00:09:56me because
00:09:56I'm Scottish?
00:10:02No, I saw him
00:10:03once when I was
00:10:04a wee boy.
00:10:04My father took me
00:10:05to see him speak
00:10:06in Cucubri.
00:10:08Is your father
00:10:08a Socialist?
00:10:10I thought you
00:10:11have to ask him
00:10:12yourself, Muriel.
00:10:17Of course,
00:10:18in Britain,
00:10:19the Socialist
00:10:20movement was
00:10:21very small still.
00:10:23But that
00:10:24wasn't true
00:10:24here in Germany.
00:10:28Here,
00:10:29they counted.
00:10:30The Chancellor
00:10:30is running
00:10:31a little late
00:10:32this morning.
00:10:32I could organise
00:10:33some refreshments?
00:10:34No, thank you.
00:10:35They had power
00:10:36in the Reichstag.
00:10:38If the Socialist
00:10:39deputies decide
00:10:40to vote
00:10:40against the
00:10:41Imperial War
00:10:42Budget,
00:10:42well,
00:10:43there'll be
00:10:43no war
00:10:44because there'll
00:10:44be no money
00:10:45to fight one.
00:10:45Why don't you
00:10:46just arrest
00:10:47all the Socialists?
00:10:49The Kaiser
00:10:50wouldn't mind.
00:10:50The Kaiser
00:10:51has personally
00:10:52never met
00:10:53a Socialist,
00:10:54which is a
00:10:55miraculous thing
00:10:56in itself,
00:10:57given that there
00:10:57are six million
00:10:58of them
00:10:59in this country.
00:11:00Even so?
00:11:02Even so?
00:11:02Remove the leaders
00:11:03and the rest
00:11:04will do as you
00:11:05want them to do?
00:11:06The days of
00:11:07running Germany
00:11:08like a house
00:11:09of correction
00:11:09are over,
00:11:10Moltke.
00:11:11These men
00:11:12outside are not
00:11:12our slaves.
00:11:13They're the cream
00:11:14of their class.
00:11:15And as inconceivable
00:11:16as you may find it,
00:11:17they will vote
00:11:18for your war credits
00:11:19if you reason
00:11:19with them.
00:11:20I doubt it.
00:11:22They fear
00:11:23and detest the Tsar
00:11:24as all their kind
00:11:25do.
00:11:26But they are not
00:11:27German patriots.
00:11:28They will be
00:11:29when you tell them
00:11:30about the Cossacks.
00:11:33Half of them
00:11:34are Jewish
00:11:34after all.
00:11:39Tell me.
00:11:41Because I really
00:11:42don't understand.
00:11:43Tell you what?
00:11:44I know you don't
00:11:45want a war with France.
00:11:46You could use
00:11:48these socialists
00:11:49to stop one.
00:11:50Why don't you?
00:11:53Because the cure
00:11:54would be worse
00:11:55than the disease.
00:11:57Can you imagine
00:11:58what would happen
00:11:58to Imperial Germany?
00:12:00To me,
00:12:00not just you.
00:12:01If word got out
00:12:02that the socialist
00:12:04Democratic Party
00:12:05had a veto
00:12:06on our ability
00:12:07to make war?
00:12:09I hate them.
00:12:11Every bit as much
00:12:12as you hate them.
00:12:13More probably
00:12:14because I know them.
00:12:15They are disloyal.
00:12:16They are selfish
00:12:18and they are dangerous.
00:12:21But a war
00:12:21will tame them.
00:12:23Eventually,
00:12:24with some luck,
00:12:25it will exterminate
00:12:26socialism
00:12:27in Germany forever.
00:12:33Thank you so much
00:12:35for coming, gentlemen.
00:12:36Ambassador,
00:12:51how many of you
00:12:54countrymen
00:12:54know that you
00:12:55secretly committed
00:12:56them to defending
00:12:56the French
00:12:57teleport from
00:12:58naval attack
00:12:58by Germany?
00:13:05What you have there
00:13:06is, of course,
00:13:08rather awkward
00:13:09for me
00:13:10at the present moment.
00:13:11Yes, it is.
00:13:13But it is,
00:13:14in no sense,
00:13:15a binding contract.
00:13:16Just an informal
00:13:17arrangement we once had.
00:13:19An informal arrangement
00:13:20we once had?
00:13:21I cannot go
00:13:23one inch
00:13:24beyond what
00:13:24the Cabinet
00:13:25authorizes.
00:13:26If I do,
00:13:27I am gone
00:13:28and that document
00:13:29means nothing.
00:13:30If you do not act
00:13:31on our confidential
00:13:32agreement,
00:13:33you will have
00:13:33the German Navy
00:13:34in the English Channel
00:13:35by the end of the week.
00:13:37And you will have
00:13:37to explain to your people
00:13:38why there is no
00:13:39French Navy there
00:13:40to oppose them.
00:13:41In 20 minutes,
00:13:47there is a meeting
00:13:48of the Cabinet.
00:13:50I will endeavor
00:13:51to describe
00:13:52your obligation
00:13:54to France.
00:13:55The French predicament.
00:14:11They've just voted.
00:14:18We have a majority
00:14:20in favor
00:14:22of the war credits.
00:14:29Madness.
00:14:31They could have saved us.
00:14:41John?
00:14:49Winston,
00:14:50Lord Morley.
00:14:51What bombs
00:14:52are you young gentlemen
00:14:53going to throw
00:14:54at us today?
00:14:56When you think
00:14:57of the great Cabinet
00:14:58meetings of the
00:14:5920th century,
00:15:00those that have been,
00:15:02those which are yet
00:15:02to come,
00:15:03can there ever
00:15:04have been one
00:15:05so fraught
00:15:06with meaning
00:15:06as this one?
00:15:09Viscount Morley
00:15:10had first seen
00:15:10office in 1886
00:15:12under his hero,
00:15:13William Gladstone.
00:15:14And because he
00:15:15opposed anything
00:15:16which strengthened
00:15:16the state
00:15:17against the individual,
00:15:18he opposed war.
00:15:20So did John Burns,
00:15:22on pacifist grounds.
00:15:24Burns,
00:15:25hero of the London
00:15:25Dockstrike of 89,
00:15:27was the first
00:15:28working man
00:15:28ever to take a seat
00:15:30at the Cabinet table.
00:15:31Was he conscious
00:15:32of the fact?
00:15:32So, I told him.
00:15:34I'm not a decorator.
00:15:35I'm a legislator.
00:15:37Was he conscious
00:15:38of anything else?
00:15:39And then there was
00:15:42David Lloyd George.
00:15:44Lloyd George
00:15:45was the prize.
00:15:46Did you get any sense
00:15:47this morning
00:15:48of which way
00:15:48David is moving?
00:15:50None at all.
00:15:51A man who made his name
00:15:52opposing our last war
00:15:54against the Boers
00:15:54in South Africa.
00:15:55Let's play this carefully.
00:15:57We don't want
00:15:57to antagonise him.
00:15:59He was a politician
00:16:01who was loved
00:16:02by millions of people.
00:16:03We have,
00:16:05as you know,
00:16:05because I've never
00:16:06concealed this
00:16:07from the Cabinet,
00:16:08certain obligations
00:16:09towards our French ally.
00:16:11Now, these obligations
00:16:12do not commit us
00:16:13to war
00:16:14simply because
00:16:15one of the parties
00:16:16to the agreement
00:16:16has taken up arms.
00:16:19Should France,
00:16:20say,
00:16:20find itself
00:16:21in a war
00:16:21with Spain,
00:16:22we would not
00:16:23be obliged to fight.
00:16:25Do not treat us
00:16:26like fools,
00:16:27Sir Edward.
00:16:27You can say
00:16:28Germany.
00:16:29Yes, yes.
00:16:30Well, in this
00:16:30specific instance,
00:16:31of course,
00:16:32we're talking about
00:16:33Germany,
00:16:33but my general point
00:16:35is that Parliament
00:16:36need not be fettered
00:16:37by a clause
00:16:39in a treaty
00:16:40she had no hand
00:16:41in making.
00:16:41Nor will it.
00:16:43Hear, hear.
00:16:43But I will tell
00:16:44this Cabinet now,
00:16:45because now,
00:16:46for the first time,
00:16:47it has become relevant
00:16:48that our 1912 agreement
00:16:52with France...
00:16:531904?
00:16:54No, Chancellor.
00:16:55The Foreign Secretary
00:16:56is referring to its renewal
00:16:58in 1912.
00:17:00I think it was
00:17:01minuted at the time
00:17:02and mentioned
00:17:03in this room.
00:17:04The 1912 renewal
00:17:06is a document
00:17:07I drew up
00:17:08with Monsieur Combon
00:17:10which allowed us
00:17:12to divide
00:17:12certain operational
00:17:14responsibilities
00:17:15between the French
00:17:16and Royal Navies.
00:17:17In this agreement,
00:17:19the French were assigned
00:17:20the Mediterranean
00:17:20and we agreed
00:17:22to secure the channel.
00:17:23The advantage
00:17:24of this agreement
00:17:25is obvious,
00:17:26but the disadvantage,
00:17:27as Monsieur Combon
00:17:29is now very anxious
00:17:30to point out,
00:17:31is that it leaves
00:17:32the Atlantic
00:17:32and Channel coasts
00:17:35of France
00:17:35completely unprotected
00:17:37by battleships
00:17:38or would do so
00:17:41if we failed
00:17:43to join in a war
00:17:44that Germany
00:17:45was waging on France.
00:17:47You mean the French
00:17:48are relying on us
00:17:49to protect their ports?
00:17:51In a sense, yes.
00:17:52There's no escaping it.
00:17:54It is an unfortunate
00:17:55situation.
00:17:57Our agreement
00:17:58with France
00:17:58has all the obligations
00:17:59of a formal alliance.
00:18:01No, it doesn't.
00:18:02It does, gentlemen.
00:18:03Think of it
00:18:03from the point of honour.
00:18:05Edmund Gray's honour,
00:18:06not ours.
00:18:07I hope
00:18:07they are the same.
00:18:09The French agreement
00:18:09has all the obligations
00:18:10of a formal alliance
00:18:11but none of its advantages.
00:18:13That is to say
00:18:14it contains no deterrent
00:18:15to any power
00:18:16thinking of attacking France.
00:18:18How could it?
00:18:19The agreement
00:18:19was secret.
00:18:20If only the Germans
00:18:21had known about
00:18:22this promise of yours
00:18:23to Ambassador Campbell.
00:18:25Well, they probably do.
00:18:26Just us poor devils
00:18:27have been kept in the dark.
00:18:28Well, in fairness,
00:18:28we've done well
00:18:29out of this agreement too.
00:18:30It certainly doesn't
00:18:31feel that way.
00:18:32Oh, it has released us
00:18:33from having to patrol
00:18:34the Mediterranean, David.
00:18:36The PM is right.
00:18:37I could have asked
00:18:37for more money
00:18:38for more dreadnoughts
00:18:39to patrol the Mediterranean
00:18:40ourselves.
00:18:41Here, here.
00:18:42Not leave it to the French
00:18:43but I know what
00:18:43John Burns here
00:18:44would have said to that.
00:18:45I know your game.
00:18:46You can't play it though.
00:18:47Since Sir Edward
00:18:48has been Foreign Secretary,
00:18:50he has assured Parliament
00:18:52on several occasions
00:18:53that this government
00:18:54has incurred
00:18:55no firm commitments
00:18:57to France.
00:18:59Indeed, he has been proud
00:19:00as we all have
00:19:01that Great Britain
00:19:02has avoided
00:19:02those entanglements
00:19:03with foreign powers
00:19:05which could lead us
00:19:06almost blindfolded
00:19:07into war.
00:19:08Now he appears
00:19:09to be telling us
00:19:10that we do not possess
00:19:12the full liberty
00:19:13of our own decision-making
00:19:14after all
00:19:15and that is a very
00:19:16serious thing.
00:19:17One could almost say
00:19:18he has misled us.
00:19:20You have misled yourselves.
00:19:22You all knew
00:19:22where the Anglo-French
00:19:23agreement was heading
00:19:24but none of you
00:19:25opened a conversation
00:19:25around this table.
00:19:26You did not want to know
00:19:28because you did not want
00:19:29the responsibility.
00:19:31You left Sir Edward
00:19:31with all of that
00:19:32which might be called
00:19:34good judgment
00:19:34but to be moaned now
00:19:36is a kind of cowardice.
00:19:37How dare you!
00:19:38Some of what Winston
00:19:39says may be true
00:19:40even a blunderbuss
00:19:42does occasionally
00:19:42hit its target
00:19:43but that does not answer
00:19:45the wider question
00:19:46of why we should
00:19:47follow France
00:19:48into a war
00:19:49brought about
00:19:49because her Russian ally
00:19:51has decided
00:19:52to mobilise
00:19:52its entire army
00:19:54against such feeble
00:19:55Austrian opposition
00:19:56of all things.
00:19:57There's no sense
00:19:57of proportion there.
00:19:58Boy bloody scouts
00:19:59can defeat
00:20:00the Austrian army.
00:20:01That's a ridiculous comic.
00:20:02John comes from Battersea
00:20:03and they have some
00:20:04pretty ferocious
00:20:05boy scouts down there.
00:20:07But Russia
00:20:07gentlemen please
00:20:08are we to be
00:20:09led into war
00:20:10by the Tsar?
00:20:12Let us not forget
00:20:12we are talking about
00:20:13the land of the pogrom
00:20:14of the Siberian exile.
00:20:16Rhetoric!
00:20:17Rhetoric!
00:20:18Ten days ago
00:20:19over 100 working men
00:20:21were cut down
00:20:22in the streets
00:20:23of St. Petersburg
00:20:23for the crime
00:20:25of joining
00:20:25the trade union.
00:20:27You'd be ready
00:20:27to fall this square
00:20:28with a Labour lot
00:20:29howling this
00:20:30rot from an
00:20:31upturned soapbox.
00:20:32You should get
00:20:33back to the Tory party.
00:20:34That is
00:20:35quite enough.
00:20:37We are here
00:20:38to talk about
00:20:39the French predicament
00:20:40and what this
00:20:43government intends
00:20:44to do about it.
00:20:45I will say this
00:20:46Prime Minister
00:20:47I will accept
00:20:48some of the
00:20:49cabinet's misgivings
00:20:51about the way
00:20:52the French negotiations
00:20:53have been handled
00:20:53by me.
00:20:56They were done
00:20:57in good faith
00:20:58I assure you
00:20:58but I will resign
00:21:00from the cabinet
00:21:01this afternoon
00:21:02if it prevents me
00:21:04from signalling
00:21:05Britain's intentions
00:21:06to protect
00:21:07French ports
00:21:08in the event
00:21:10of a German naval
00:21:11attack on the Channel.
00:21:13If that happens
00:21:14this government
00:21:16will be at an end.
00:21:17Why?
00:21:18Because I
00:21:19and I suspect
00:21:20some others
00:21:21will resign with him
00:21:22and then
00:21:23you'll have
00:21:23the Tories in.
00:21:25Rubbish
00:21:25they'll be too busy
00:21:26gun running
00:21:27to Ulster.
00:21:28No John
00:21:28I assure you
00:21:29they will be able
00:21:30to form a government
00:21:31and they will have
00:21:32no qualms
00:21:33about taking this country
00:21:34into a European war.
00:21:36With conscription?
00:21:37Those are the stakes
00:21:38gentlemen
00:21:39please think upon them
00:21:40when you answer
00:21:41this question
00:21:42Does Sir Edward
00:21:46have your authorization
00:21:47to inform
00:21:49Monsieur Combon
00:21:50that we will honor
00:21:52our naval agreement
00:21:53with the French?
00:21:57Those who say yes
00:21:59Those who say no
00:22:07and one abstention
00:22:15Sir Edward
00:22:18you may proceed
00:22:21In that case
00:22:23Prime Minister
00:22:24I tender
00:22:27my resignation
00:22:29I implore you
00:22:34to reconsider
00:22:34John
00:22:35I'm from the people
00:22:36Edward
00:22:36and I must speak
00:22:38for them
00:22:38because their voices
00:22:39are never heard
00:22:41in the councils
00:22:42of government
00:22:42That is why
00:22:43you should stay with us
00:22:44But the people
00:22:45don't want war
00:22:46That's why I'm having
00:22:48no part
00:22:48in taking us into one
00:22:50But most people
00:22:51aren't like you
00:22:52but more like Winston
00:22:53I don't think
00:22:55that's true
00:22:56But it's a pity
00:22:59if it is
00:22:59It's held for now
00:23:05Edward
00:23:05but if we push them
00:23:06any further
00:23:06the cabinet
00:23:07will divide
00:23:08I know
00:23:08And if that happens
00:23:10the nation
00:23:11will divide too
00:23:12What are you going to do
00:23:20David?
00:23:21You're the most important
00:23:22man amongst us
00:23:23I know you are
00:23:25There are millions of
00:23:26fellow countrymen
00:23:27who will wait to hear
00:23:28what David Lloyd George
00:23:29says before they make up
00:23:30their own minds
00:23:31I don't yet know
00:23:33You will have to decide
00:23:34and quickly
00:23:36I'm not sure
00:23:37I have the stomach
00:23:38for another peace campaign
00:23:40No one will ask you
00:23:41to mount those platforms again
00:23:42You did you bit over
00:23:43South Africa
00:23:44Let the younger men
00:23:45take up the burden
00:23:46this time
00:23:46but I tell you this
00:23:47It will be a glorious
00:23:48thing for them to know
00:23:50that Lloyd George
00:23:51is on their side
00:23:52We have been misled
00:23:55David
00:23:55The whole country has
00:23:57Certainly looks that way
00:24:00Gray has run this nation's
00:24:01foreign policy
00:24:02without a single reference
00:24:03to parliament
00:24:04and now he expects us
00:24:05to pull his chestnuts
00:24:06out of the fire
00:24:07I will likely resign
00:24:14from the government
00:24:14if we enter this war
00:24:17Is the fatherland in danger?
00:24:31It is
00:24:31Can we fight on two fronts?
00:24:34Easier than on one
00:24:35Say that again
00:24:36It is easier for us
00:24:38to fight on two fronts
00:24:39than on one
00:24:40That is what I hate
00:24:41in you Molke
00:24:41your sophistry
00:24:42Keep it simple Molke
00:24:43If we fight on one front
00:24:46against Russia
00:24:46we must improvise
00:24:48and that is always bad
00:24:49And all the time
00:24:50we will be watching
00:24:51over our shoulder
00:24:52for France
00:24:52If we fight on two fronts
00:24:54we enact a plan
00:24:56we have been working on
00:24:57for nine years
00:24:58The Schlieffen plan
00:24:59Yes
00:25:01I thought the dust
00:25:03had settled on that
00:25:04Just keep blowing it away
00:25:06The Schlieffen plan
00:25:08has always been updated
00:25:09your majesty
00:25:1090% of our army
00:25:11will be thrown at France
00:25:12according to a strict timetable
00:25:14while the rest
00:25:15hold the Russians
00:25:15off a relatively easy task
00:25:17in the first
00:25:18six weeks of war
00:25:19Six weeks?
00:25:20Yes, six weeks
00:25:21The time it will take
00:25:23to knock out France
00:25:23Then everything
00:25:25will be turned
00:25:26towards Russia
00:25:27Trains have already
00:25:28been ordered
00:25:29Six weeks
00:25:30to defeat France?
00:25:32Those scouting parties
00:25:33will first see Paris
00:25:3440 days
00:25:35into the war
00:25:36Imagine those
00:25:39fortunate few
00:25:39I know what you're
00:25:46going to say next
00:25:47You're planning
00:25:49to go through Belgium
00:25:49Isn't that so?
00:25:51A lovely idea
00:25:52your majesty
00:25:53Lovely?
00:25:54Your majesty
00:25:55The great powers
00:25:57guarantee
00:25:58Belgium independence
00:25:58not because we love
00:25:59each other
00:26:00but because we fear
00:26:00each other
00:26:01That's natural
00:26:02of course
00:26:02Natural?
00:26:03It's also efficient
00:26:04Respecting Belgium neutrality
00:26:07is what keeps us
00:26:08and the French
00:26:08from garrotting each other
00:26:09And I am custodian
00:26:11of a treaty
00:26:11with the king of Belgium
00:26:13Which tragically
00:26:14you shall have to break
00:26:15Either Belgium
00:26:16steps aside
00:26:17or she is annihilated
00:26:18Or we keep
00:26:19our treaty with Belgium
00:26:20and expose Germany
00:26:21to annihilation
00:26:22Success alone
00:26:24will justify
00:26:25what we do
00:26:26How would we begin
00:26:29to explain
00:26:30our violation
00:26:31of Belgian independence?
00:26:34Something has already
00:26:35been arranged on that
00:26:36Five days before
00:26:41our ambassador
00:26:42in Brussels
00:26:43had received
00:26:44a mysterious package
00:26:45from Berlin
00:26:46Do not open
00:26:49this telegram
00:26:49and accompanying note
00:26:51said
00:26:51and only open it
00:26:53if and when
00:26:54you receive
00:26:55a further instruction
00:26:56from Berlin
00:26:56Can you get me
00:26:58whiskey please?
00:27:25They have all
00:27:29been considerably
00:27:31lengthened
00:27:31in the last
00:27:32five years
00:27:32I'm sorry
00:27:33Are you finishing
00:27:34a conversation
00:27:35with someone else
00:27:36or starting one
00:27:38with me?
00:27:39Those northwestern
00:27:40German railway platforms
00:27:41that you mentioned
00:27:42this morning
00:27:42I mentioned those
00:27:44to you
00:27:45Oh you were thinking
00:27:45out loud
00:27:46I was there
00:27:46so I asked a friend
00:27:47at the board of trade
00:27:48to check his files
00:27:49Station platforms
00:27:52at Durin
00:27:53and they're half a male
00:27:53long
00:27:54That's an awful
00:27:57lot of German
00:27:58holidaymakers
00:27:58suddenly very keen
00:27:59to see the delights
00:28:00of Belgium
00:28:01Well done
00:28:03Belgium
00:28:05Prepare for the
00:28:07deluge
00:28:07We have guaranteed
00:28:13Belgium's neutrality
00:28:14Well done
00:28:16In perpetuity
00:28:18with Britain
00:28:19and France
00:28:20Haven't you seen
00:28:21how things are
00:28:22working here
00:28:23That treaty
00:28:24is just a scrap
00:28:26of paper
00:28:26The last ever battle
00:28:32in history
00:28:32to be fought
00:28:33in Belgium
00:28:34would be
00:28:35Waterloo
00:28:36That was the epic
00:28:39idea contained
00:28:40in the treaty
00:28:40signed by the
00:28:41great powers
00:28:42in 1839
00:28:43But evidently
00:28:50it was not
00:28:51an idea
00:28:52that meant
00:28:52much
00:28:53to General
00:28:53Moltke
00:28:54Now is the time
00:28:55Sir Edward
00:29:06I know
00:29:07Ah
00:29:08Yes
00:29:09The German ambassador
00:29:10arrived some time ago
00:29:11and the French ambassador
00:29:12is also here
00:29:13Anymore
00:29:14And I must
00:29:15have a moment
00:29:16with you also
00:29:16Later
00:29:17Sir Edward
00:29:20forgive me
00:29:20for barging in
00:29:21like this
00:29:21but
00:29:22Yes indeed
00:29:22unexpected
00:29:23I do apologize
00:29:27Prince Sliknovsky
00:29:28but I feel
00:29:29I should fulfill
00:29:30my appointment
00:29:31with the French
00:29:33ambassador
00:29:33Bien joué
00:29:46Bon brave
00:29:47You've done
00:29:50the right thing
00:29:51And what of
00:29:53a British
00:29:54expeditionary force
00:29:55Just two divisions
00:29:57on their way
00:29:58to France
00:29:58would have
00:29:59a tremendous
00:30:00moral effect
00:30:01on our people
00:30:01Oh
00:30:02and a deterrent effect
00:30:03on Germany too
00:30:04Yeah I know
00:30:04that's not a serious
00:30:05suggestion
00:30:06But it is
00:30:07Germany
00:30:08will declare war
00:30:09on France
00:30:10in the next 24 hours
00:30:12All France knows it
00:30:13The one thing
00:30:16that might stop them
00:30:17is you
00:30:17You credit Britain
00:30:19with too much power
00:30:20Paul
00:30:21and it has made
00:30:21you irresponsible
00:30:22It is you
00:30:24who can stop it
00:30:25You alone
00:30:27The power is yours
00:30:30you
00:30:32You
00:30:36the real
00:30:37who
00:30:38to
00:30:40you
00:30:48you
00:30:53Who did I say was next?
00:31:05Sir, before you see Prince Lishnofsky, you must see this.
00:31:09Please.
00:31:10Are you sure?
00:31:23I'm 100% sure about the recent lengthening of the railway platforms.
00:31:28And I'm 95% sure that German troops are heading towards the Belgian border.
00:31:33But can we be certain the intent to cross into Belgium?
00:31:37I mean, might there not be an innocent explanation for all this activity?
00:31:40Certainly, there might.
00:31:43I can't think what it would be, but...
00:31:47Well, why don't I just ask him?
00:31:52Of course, after last night, we can't afford a second misunderstanding.
00:31:56I take full responsibility for that.
00:31:59Please don't.
00:32:00I'd rather think we egged each other on.
00:32:02Damn telephone, too.
00:32:04The thing that's invented to make fools of us.
00:32:07It's not created difficulties for you.
00:32:09None?
00:32:09Yourself?
00:32:11I don't know.
00:32:13No, I don't think so.
00:32:15May I ask you an awkward question?
00:32:18I may reserve the option of pretending I didn't hear it.
00:32:20What would you say if I told you I have certain reasons to believe that someone in Germany,
00:32:33someone in the high command, is contemplating an invasion of Belgium?
00:32:37Belgium.
00:32:38I would say that is impossible.
00:32:40We have a treaty with Belgium, as you do.
00:32:42But Belgium is a backdoor to Paris.
00:32:45Belgium is a sovereign country.
00:32:48It is a backdoor to Paris.
00:32:49It is also a backdoor to Berlin.
00:32:53Belgium makes us all honest.
00:32:55It makes the French honest.
00:32:56It makes Germany honest.
00:32:58To violate Belgian sovereignty would be madness.
00:33:02We have received reports in the last 24 hours of French troops along the Givet-Namur road.
00:33:17And therefore, in the light of this violation of your territory and of the 1839 treaty,
00:33:28we are obliged to request of the Belgian government free access for our own troops to engage the French.
00:33:36You have 12 hours to respond.
00:33:48This will be our casus belli.
00:33:50It might be.
00:33:51It's an immaculate one, too.
00:33:53No oil reserves, no coaling stations, no gold fields.
00:33:57Just poor little Belgium and the mercy of the German juggernaut.
00:34:02Even the radicals will be filled with indignation.
00:34:05If Germany invades.
00:34:08The legal situation is not altogether clear.
00:34:12We would probably still need an official request for assistance from the Belgian government
00:34:18to avoid breaching the same treaty.
00:34:21We cannot be more Belgian than the Belgians.
00:34:24Surely we'll ask for our help.
00:34:25I have no idea.
00:34:28It's possible.
00:34:28The Belgian army will simply fire a token shot and then line the roads while the German army passes through.
00:34:37If we are to be crushed, said the Belgian king, let us be crushed gloriously.
00:34:50That night, his government had resolved to repel every attack on its right.
00:34:55And King Albert himself composed a personal appeal to the Kaiser, translated by his German wife.
00:35:03But there was no cry for help directed to London.
00:35:18Not yet.
00:35:19And I'll be honest with you.
00:35:25Not one man here wanted it to come.
00:35:27What would they say if they truly knew what was happening to their world?
00:35:47Tell me, Winston.
00:35:50What does it take to lead a democracy into war?
00:35:54I do not know.
00:35:56It's never been done before.
00:35:59We wouldn't be the first in Europe at any rate.
00:36:02It means seeking the approval of those who are going to die in it, I suppose.
00:36:06Our forebears never had that problem.
00:36:09And we record their names now.
00:36:12Well, of those who fall, I mean, makes it so personal.
00:36:18Have you told your parents?
00:36:20I haven't had the time.
00:36:23You ought to.
00:36:26I'm their only son, Muriel.
00:36:30They'd be horrified if they knew that I was thinking of volunteering.
00:36:35But they'll have to know eventually.
00:36:37No, not necessarily.
00:36:39It may still blow over.
00:36:42It may not come to war.
00:36:52So, Germany has requested free movement of our trips across Belgium.
00:36:57And so far, Belgium has refused to give it.
00:36:59And has not asked for our assistance.
00:37:03And may never do so.
00:37:04So, we are where we were.
00:37:07Except one power has signalled its intention to break a venerable treaty.
00:37:13What was that shrug for?
00:37:15Do these things not matter?
00:37:16Words on paper composed long ago.
00:37:19Words have to mean something.
00:37:21Otherwise, all that remains is the canon.
00:37:24And let us think of France.
00:37:26I know you don't want to, but consider her position.
00:37:29Cowardice won't save her now.
00:37:31She is about to be overwhelmed by the might of the German army, whether she fights or not.
00:37:36Words do have to mean something.
00:37:38Of course they do.
00:37:39But let us not pretend that our own ill-chosen words would not have awesome consequences for millions of our countrymen.
00:37:49We can fill this room with noble thoughts about treaties honoured and solemn promises kept.
00:37:57We can flatter ourselves that we are the custodians of international law and Germany as a nation of brigands.
00:38:04But think, think, gentlemen.
00:38:08Think of the consequences that would flow from such high-mindedness.
00:38:12We have not fought a European war for several generations unnecessarily, and we have forgotten what it is like to do so.
00:38:20And this makes us brave and frivolous.
00:38:25How does an army of several million men defeat another army of several million men with all the metal they have these days at their disposal?
00:38:35None of us knows.
00:38:36Not even the generals, although they pretend to.
00:38:38If the European nations come to blows tonight, or in the next few days, I foresee a calamity nesting years.
00:38:49There will be a war without victors, which is the worst war imaginable.
00:38:55Because the immense expense of blood will, in the end, be for nothing.
00:39:08That's what I understand.
00:39:17The temptation of neutrality.
00:39:20But human beings, not for the temptations, almost irresistible.
00:39:27But our friend here talks as though there would be no calamity if we stood aside and let Belgian pleas for help, should they come, fall on deaf ears.
00:39:39Well, what about the political calamity?
00:39:42And what about the moral calamity?
00:39:46What would happen to our good name?
00:39:48Who would ever trust us again?
00:39:50We would have sacrificed every friend and every interest simply to preserve ourselves.
00:39:57And what would lie before us when that European war had ended?
00:40:03A scarred continent, to be sure, with all the human destruction our friend has foretold.
00:40:11Not Englishmen, it is true.
00:40:15But our neighbors.
00:40:16And this, too, we would face a continent under the dominion of a solitary power, and that a military one dedicated to blood and iron.
00:40:35We have an obligation to France, unwritten perhaps, also to Belgium, very much written.
00:40:43Does that not mean something?
00:40:51Let every man here search his own heart and decide for himself whether he feels the pull of those obligations.
00:41:01I do.
00:41:02I will presently go to the House of Commons and make the case for supporting our allies, if it should come to war.
00:41:12Then I should resign.
00:41:13What can I expect if I stay on?
00:41:19Everlasting quarrels with Winston, certainly, but also with respect.
00:41:26I will be putting my name to a policy that is fundamentally wrong.
00:41:31It's sad, but this government is folding.
00:41:40Well, now I have four resignations.
00:41:47Beecham and Simon joined John Burns earlier this morning.
00:41:50David, Lord George, what is your policy?
00:41:59I would impress on Germany the importance of Belgian neutrality.
00:42:05And if Germany is not impressed, and Belgium fails to ask for our help, would you commit to war for the sake of France?
00:42:15No.
00:42:25You'll need half an hour to yourself, Edward.
00:42:33before you address the hatch.
00:42:37Yes, I'd appreciate that.
00:42:39Sir Edward, Sir Edward,
00:42:41I have just been instructed by my government
00:42:45to inform you that the German fleet
00:42:47will not operate in the English Channel
00:42:48if Britain remains neutral.
00:42:51Isn't that encouraging?
00:42:52Is there not something there for you?
00:42:55Not really.
00:42:57What if Germany were to abide
00:42:59by her treaty obligations to Belgium?
00:43:02Would Britain then agree to neutrality?
00:43:04No.
00:43:05No?
00:43:05Max, I've no idea if you were authorized
00:43:08to ask that question.
00:43:10I rather suspect you were not.
00:43:11But even if you were,
00:43:14I would still be required to say no.
00:43:16But that is irrational.
00:43:18Dear friend, I'd rather think it is you
00:43:20who is no longer seeing things clearly.
00:43:22I am offering you a formula to save us.
00:43:26You're asking Britain to reward Germany
00:43:29with a free hand against France
00:43:32merely for fulfilling its legal
00:43:34and moral obligations to Belgium.
00:43:36I cannot do that.
00:43:37Anyway, how do I know
00:43:38you will abide by your agreement?
00:43:40No, no, no, not you.
00:43:41Your chiefs.
00:43:43I could still march through Belgium tomorrow
00:43:45and wreck Britain's relations with France forever
00:43:49by publishing a text of some agreement
00:43:52struck between you and me.
00:43:54Then for God's sake,
00:43:55state the conditions
00:43:56under which Britain will remain neutral.
00:43:58I will not do that either.
00:44:00Please help me.
00:44:02There must be something you can insist on.
00:44:04That you do not go to war with France.
00:44:06Germany will declare war on France this afternoon.
00:44:24Will you go through Belgium?
00:44:26I don't know.
00:44:29Perhaps a corner will be clipped.
00:44:32I don't know.
00:44:36You'll excuse me.
00:44:41I have an address to make to the House of Commons.
00:44:54Soon after Grey's address,
00:44:56Germany declared war on France.
00:44:59Some pretext was invented.
00:45:01A French aerial attack on Nuremberg, I think.
00:45:04It wasn't true.
00:45:07Certainly nobody in Nuremberg saw it.
00:45:11Sir, are the latest dispatches from Berlin and Brussels?
00:45:15Come here for a moment.
00:45:16Look at this.
00:45:20I've always loved this sight on a summer's evening.
00:45:23I find it inexpressibly consoling.
00:45:26And I want it to last forever.
00:45:32You'll be told there isn't a better time to be young.
00:45:36And that you are the envy of those too old to fight.
00:45:44Perhaps that's true.
00:45:48Perhaps.
00:45:48You know, the lamps are going out all over Europe.
00:45:57We may not see them lit again in our lifetime.
00:46:00But, you know, there is a better time than��오.
00:46:06We may not see them very Servus cry.
00:46:14We may not beolt.
00:46:15But, sometimes our instructions are
00:46:26crewifications of theows.
00:46:27the 34th Brigade had crossed the border into Belgium.
00:46:40And King Albert of Belgium asked his parliament,
00:46:43are we still committed to our independence?
00:46:47Yes, yes, came the reply.
00:46:50The King of the Belgians then made his appeal
00:46:53to all the guarantors of Belgian neutrality.
00:46:56These are the translations, two copies of each place, Muriel.
00:47:00Is this it, do you think?
00:47:02We heard it at midday.
00:47:12David, Prime Minister.
00:47:21I do not think that we are prepared for war.
00:47:24The governor of the Bank of England assures me
00:47:27that we will be very quickly bankrupt as a nation
00:47:29if we take up arms against Germany.
00:47:33And although he exaggerates somewhat,
00:47:35he is undoubtedly correct in saying that as a mercantile nation
00:47:38we shall suffer more than most
00:47:40because of the agonies to international trade.
00:47:43I believe also there are some people in this country,
00:47:47possibly even around this table,
00:47:49who will have been delighted by the Kaiser's decision
00:47:53to violate Belgian sovereignty this morning
00:47:56for the simple reason that it coats their own selfish enthusiasm
00:48:00for war with a moral gloss.
00:48:02However, I differ from my now departed colleagues.
00:48:12I am genuinely frightened by the prospect of a rampant Germany
00:48:17sitting in Brussels and Paris and on the Channel Coast.
00:48:21Do I care for Belgium?
00:48:24I fear for her, certainly.
00:48:29She is a small nation like my own.
00:48:33She has rights which cannot be eradicated
00:48:37just because the eradicator is strong.
00:48:40Do I care for the principle
00:48:43that international law ought to mean something?
00:48:47Yes, I do.
00:48:49There ought to be more of it, not less.
00:48:54The German invasion of Belgium
00:48:56has changed everything for me.
00:49:01The only sensible thing now
00:49:03is for this government
00:49:05to send an ultimatum
00:49:07to the aggressors in Berlin.
00:49:17Is there anyone who disagrees with that last sentence?
00:49:23Well, there will be no opposition from the Conservatives
00:49:25or the Irish Nationalists.
00:49:27I very much hope there will be no opposition from our own people.
00:49:32Just one thing, Prime Minister.
00:49:33Yes?
00:49:34Do you not think we ought to consult the Dominion governments
00:49:36before we issue an ultimatum?
00:49:38The Australians and the Canadians
00:49:39will have their own thoughts on this, I'm quite certain.
00:49:42There is no constitutional need.
00:49:44They will see it as we see it.
00:49:56You did the right thing.
00:49:57None of us will survive this war.
00:50:01Politically only.
00:50:09Within the hour,
00:50:10the British government had drafted its ultimatum to the Kaiser,
00:50:13demanding the complete withdrawal
00:50:15of all German troops from Belgium by midnight.
00:50:19That was midnight Berlin time.
00:50:31But the mind of our government was made up.
00:50:34What we are doing to Belgium,
00:50:36we have been forced to do.
00:50:39Necessity knows no law.
00:50:41Necessity knows no law.
00:50:43Good.
00:50:44Necessity knows no law.
00:50:46That is right.
00:50:49If we think like magistrates,
00:50:50we are dead.
00:50:51The British think like magistrates.
00:50:53Legalism, not justice.
00:50:55They care nothing for Belgium or the treaty.
00:50:58They only care for power.
00:51:01And how they hate it,
00:51:02when we show our appetite to be equal with theirs.
00:51:07What do you say, Bitbutton?
00:51:14Our army must hack its way through Belgium.
00:51:17I believe it was Rousseau who said,
00:51:19it is a sort of folly to remain wise
00:51:22in the midst of those who are mad.
00:51:26And in those 37 days,
00:51:28Germany was short of that kind of folly.
00:51:34I'll take it next door.
00:51:45I hear you've decided to join the Royal Field Artillery.
00:51:49I have, sir.
00:51:50I think I'll be losing a lot of my young men.
00:51:59I think I'll be losing a lot of my young men.
00:52:13Have you received orders to report to your regiment yet?
00:52:19Not yet, sir.
00:52:21But you will.
00:52:24I expect so, sir. Yes, sir.
00:52:27It's not a bad life, the soldiering life.
00:52:33Yes, sir.
00:52:36But I don't think you'll fall in love with it.
00:52:39I've never seen myself as a soldier.
00:52:44Like some boys do.
00:52:46I always hoped that under my stewardship,
00:52:52we would see Germany turn into a state with an army
00:52:56rather than the other way around.
00:52:57The Prime Minister is in there.
00:52:58And Winston.
00:52:59Of course.
00:53:00You carry this burden alone.
00:53:16Yes.
00:53:17You once criticized me for that.
00:53:18And, Winston?
00:53:19Of course.
00:53:21You carry this burden alone.
00:53:24Yes.
00:53:26You once criticized me for that.
00:53:29Too many secrets, you said.
00:53:31It's how the game is played.
00:53:32I understand that.
00:53:35But it is too punishing for one man.
00:53:39All your successes, we know virtually nothing about.
00:53:42They must remain private.
00:53:44Otherwise, they're not successes at all.
00:53:46But your failures...
00:53:48They become common property.
00:53:50They belong to the world.
00:53:51And there is surely no hiding place from all the scorn and bullification that follow.
00:54:00I suppose there comes a time in a war of diplomacy where nothing is left standing except principle.
00:54:06Perhaps I should have traveled more.
00:54:31Officially, you mean?
00:54:32Officially.
00:54:33Personally.
00:54:34Both.
00:54:35I've never once set foot in Germany.
00:54:37I don't think that matters.
00:54:38I could have taken my own measure of the place.
00:54:40That's what the Foreign Office is for.
00:54:42Now, the world dissected by experts in every field.
00:54:47Its vital organs displayed and explained.
00:54:51Now all those organs are failing.
00:54:54What will it be like, do you think?
00:55:05I haven't given it much thought.
00:55:07Not the military side of things.
00:55:09Well, you've lacked the time.
00:55:11I've lacked the experience, too.
00:55:14We all lack that.
00:55:16Except Winston.
00:55:19Did he ever tell you about his charge with the 21st Lancers of the Battle of Omdaman?
00:55:24I think he did tell me about it once.
00:55:31What?
00:55:33I think perhaps this war will be a little different.
00:55:54Ours became the War of the Spade.
00:56:15The first trenches were dug in the Marlin Valley at the end of August 1914.
00:56:19There was no 40-day war.
00:56:26No triumphant gallop to Paris.
00:56:28Just a murderous and terrifying stalemate.
00:56:33And, of course, the war spread.
00:56:36It spread to the Middle East, to Asia, to Africa and beyond.
00:56:43It became the First World War.
00:56:44Now, by 1918, four empires were in ruins and four royal dynasties ended.
00:56:54The face of our continent was changed by revolution.
00:56:58And death, it seemed, could never claim too many.
00:57:03It was always hungry for more.
00:57:06Ten million died.
00:57:08It's too many for the men to conceive.
00:57:15Every single one of them mourned by people who loved them and missed them.
00:57:22It's grief-consuming half the world.
00:57:27Here's a funny thing.
00:57:28Austria and Russia, whose quarrel in the Balkans had taken everybody else to the edge.
00:57:37They were the last to declare war on each other.
00:57:41And when they did,
00:57:44nobody really noticed.
00:57:48The son of the one who was the one who was the one who was the one who was the one who was the one who was the one who was the one who was the one who was the one who was the one who was the one who was the one who was the one who was the one who was the one who was the one who was the one who was the one who was the one who was the one who was the one who was the one who was the one who was the one who was the one who was the one who was the one who was the one who was the one who was the one who was the one who was the one who was the one who was the one who was the one who was the one who was the one who was the one who was the one who was the one who was the one who was the one who was the one who was the one who was the one who was the one who was the one who was the one who was the one who was the one who was the one who was the one who was the one who was the one
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