Good morning, it took two years, but I am now officially done with the Great War in Numbers for our World War I and World War II theme for November. I am pretty sure that I did this out of order. This is episode five in the series and the run time for this episode is 45:03.
The casualties keep mounting and more will continue to die. It is 1916 and the German army is devastated. The German economy was collapsing. The Germans could not endure such severe losses. They would have to come up with another way to win the war and win the war as quickly as possible. A pair of German generals tried to come up with a plan. The British and French industries are outproducing the Germans when it comes to munitions. The generals suggest conscripting workers, mainly the old and the young. Their target is the people whom they had conquered. Prisoners of war and locals are used as slaves to build railroads and make munitions. 180,000 Belgian men are forced to work in munition plants and work in horrendous conditions. Many of these men would die. Even with an unwilling supply of laborers, the Germans still struggle. The Hindenburg line is born and it was five fortified zones running from the North Sea south. There were hidden machine gun nests, barbed wire, and underground tunnels. It would be a colossal task to build. After the Hindenburg Line was finished and they ravage the countryside in a coordinated retreat back to the line. The locals were terrorized by the retreat and were taken to German-held territory to work in the slave camps. In 1917, the German defenses are ready to be tested and the French generals are looking forward to cracking the German defenses. They are confident that they can win in light of their victory in Verdun. One million French soldiers are recruited for the battle, while the British plan on distracting the Germans. They plan on meeting together and then driving the Germans back to the German border. However, there were French officers that had their doubts. The British launched their attack first and they would use an effective weapon against the barbed wire. Their goal was to capture the high ground. The Canadian Corps was tasked with capturing the high ground and were known as the best shock troops of the war. They follow the bombarding guns. This would have been dangerous because of potential friendly fire accidents. The Germans were shocked by the Canadians and the barrage. It was the first major Allied success in eighteen months. However, it comes at a high cost. The Generals are pleased with the success, but the soldiers were unimpressed. The Hindenburg Line will be a scene of great slaughter. The main assault was eighteen miles south, the French begin their assault. However, the French Generals are overconfident. They do not know about the Hindenburg Line. Even the French guns do not put a dent in the German lines. The French are cut down and on the first day, 40,000 French soldiers are killed. Over the next eighteen days over 180,000 French soldiers are killed. The survivors are left shocked and disillusioned with their leaders. The French general is sacked, however, this is not enough. The French soldiers are plotting mutiny. Anti-war sentiment spreads through the French lines. There was one song that was on the lips of the soldiers and there was a bounty on the soldier who wrote the song. However, the French soldiers refused to be the snitch. The rebellion continues to spread. Thousands of French soldiers refuse to fight and there are other acts of rebellion. Tune into the rest of this episode to discover more about the fates of the soldiers who engaged in Rebellion. Woah, the story of the French soldiers rebelling was fascinating and is one of history’s unknown stories. It makes me think of the Father Brown series on PBS and how Flambeau’s father was killed during World War I for an act of cowardice. I also enjoyed the talk about how the soldiers used humor to keep morale up. In the end, this was another interesting look at the Great War and should be a series to show to the history class.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Author
The reviews I do are my opinion and my opinion only. My opinions should always be taken with a grain of salt. I just want to help teachers out selecting documentaries. Worksheets
My Teachers Pay Teachers Store! Worksheets available as a Word Document.
Lulu Store
I am also on Lulu! If you're interested in genealogy I have several books available!
Archives
May 2024
Categories
All
Privacy Policy
HistoryDocTube will not collect any personal information and will not sell any personal information to a third party. We will not request any personal information.
The purpose of this blog is to share information on what can be used in a classroom, private school, or home school setting as well as serve as a portfolio of my personal and professional work. The reviews are my opinions and should be treated as such. I just want to provide a tool for teachers to select documentaries for their classrooms. |