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00:00:01
With financial support of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation
00:00:05
With financial support of the Russian Military Historical Society
00:00:10
Year of Culture 2014
00:00:22
Star Media
00:00:28
Babich design
00:00:33
The war brought Russia much grief and suffering.
00:00:37
The Empire drowned in hundreds of thousands funerals.
00:00:41
Obituary section were filled with death notices for the perished officers.
00:00:46
Death had mercy on neither sons of old aristocratic families,
00:00:51
nor Cossacks, nor simple peasants from remote parts of the vast Empire.
00:00:58
But the biggest challenges for the country and its people were yet ahead.
00:01:05
FIRST WORLD WAR Part 4
00:01:13
KRASNOPOL. POLAND. REAR CAMP OF THE 256th ELISAVETGRADSKY REGIMENT Spring 1915
00:01:35
How do you play this game, Master-at-Arms, Sir?
00:01:40
- It’s too complicated for you! - This is chess, my friend. A special game.
00:01:45
It requires thought. You’re better off at the kitchens, go help peel potatoes!
00:01:50
Fine. Don’t tell if you don’t want to.
00:01:56
Got it in the neck from our “rear” intellectuals? Nevermind him.
00:02:02
I’ll teach you how to play chess myself.
00:02:06
I’d like that.
00:02:27
Everyone in Longeron is probably at the beach now…
00:02:33
That’s ok. War will soon be over.
00:02:36
We’ll head home after we finish off the Germans this summer…
00:02:47
That tune seems familiar. What is it?
00:02:53
"Dark clouds cover the skies,
00:03:00
Strong wind stirs up the garden leaves".
00:03:08
It’s the “Autumn Dream” waltz. Was very popular before the war.
00:03:15
The “Autumn Dream” waltz was written in 1908 by the English composer
00:03:19
Archibald Joyce.
00:03:23
When Joyce was on tour in Russia, waltz's popularity skyrocketed
00:03:28
and his gramophone records were sold by the millions.
00:03:32
The waltz was translated into Russian a number of times.
00:03:35
Soon everyone forgot its original English compser,
00:03:38
but the waltz outlived two wars, remaining popular for decades.
00:03:42
It was performed by Lidiya Ruslanova, Klavdiya Shulzhenko,
00:03:46
Peter Leschenko, Ludmila Zykina.
00:03:50
In the spring of 1915, the situation at the Western front
00:03:54
was so favourable for Russia,
00:03:57
that many were certain of close victory and a quick ending of the war.
00:04:01
Onslaught of the German troops from the Northwest was stopped.
00:04:05
At the Southwestern front, one of the largest European fortresses,
00:04:09
the Austrian fortress of Przemysl, was seized after months of fighting.
00:04:14
Russian troops in the Carpathians changed over to the offensive.
00:04:18
Austrian command planned to outflank and surround them.
00:04:23
It was up to the Third Cavalry Corps under General Keller to stop the Austrians.
00:04:38
Count Fedor Arturovich Keller, Cavalry General.
00:04:42
Stood out with his towering height and strong build.
00:04:46
Began his career in 1877,
00:04:49
running off in secret from his parents to the Russo-Turkish front,
00:04:53
and was awarded for bravery two Soldier’s Crosses of St. George.
00:04:57
Since 1906 — Commander of the Imperial Guard Dragoons Regiment.
00:05:01
He was called the first Russian sabre. Keller was taken as a prototype
00:05:06
for one of the characters in Bulgakov’s novel “The White Guard” —
00:05:09
Colonel Nai-Turs, the very embodiment of a Russian officer at his best.
00:05:15
In March of 1915, Keller took under his command
00:05:19
two more units, besides his own division, already seasoned in combat
00:05:23
and called “Immortal”.
00:05:26
The new formation was called the Third Cavalry Corps
00:05:29
and sent to the battlefield at once — without any joint exercise,
00:05:34
with no preparations for the Corps’ staff.
00:05:38
Hey you, hold it!
00:05:47
What do you think you’re doing? Get off the horse!
00:05:56
- He hurt the horse’s back. - Unsaddle!
00:06:12
What is this?
00:06:13
I have no idea, Your Excellency.
00:06:15
You don’t know that the saddle blanket has to be cleaned?
00:06:19
- Why, for that we would get.... - Silence!
00:06:21
- There, there, take it easy... - Give me the saddlecloth!
00:06:27
Why, this is…
00:06:32
How do even fight in these rags?
00:06:34
These are old uniforms, Your Excellency.
00:06:37
Back from the war with Japan?
00:06:40
Yes, from back then.
00:06:42
Ok then. Take the horse to the vet. And this one to detention quarters.
00:06:48
We must get fur jackets by tomorrow.
00:06:51
But Your Excellency! He won’t give them out! Won’t even listen!
00:07:02
Fyodor Arturovich, what happened?
00:07:06
Got your gloves smeared?..
00:07:10
Fur jackets. For the whole division. By tomorrow.
00:07:14
Fyodor Arturovich, that’s impossible.
00:07:18
I’ll only have the supply schedule tomorrow.
00:07:21
Perhaps in three days or so… But I doubt it.
00:07:26
I don’t even have that many. Where would I get them from?
00:07:32
Where? How about form that detached train car?
00:07:38
You get the idea?
00:07:40
How dare You? I won’t…
00:07:45
I’ll send a complaint at once to the… to the Front’s headquarters…
00:07:52
to the high command… To His Royal…
00:07:55
Go ahead, go on.
00:07:58
But if i don’t get those fur jackets by tomorrow,
00:08:02
I’ll personally send you this.
00:08:08
Get on with it… It was my pleasure…
00:08:22
It took at least one month to coordinate the cavalry units.
00:08:27
Keller had only four days. And he managed to do the impossible.
00:08:34
Hoorah! Hoorah! Hoorah!
00:08:38
He managed to revive the disorganized divisions
00:08:41
and counter attacked the Austrians with two powerful blows.
00:08:44
Over three thousand enemy soldiers and fifty officers were taken prisoner.
00:08:49
Keller’s Corps saved the Ninth Army preventing its encirclement.
00:08:53
This heroic deed received acknowledgement from Commander-in-Chief,
00:08:57
Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich:
00:09:00
"Long live our brave cavalry!
00:09:03
Extend my cordial gratitude to all those, who had part in this noble battle.
00:09:07
May God bless you with new heroic deeds!"
00:09:11
Cavalry, as a military unit of great significance on the battlefield,
00:09:16
will practically cease to exist after the end of World War I.
00:09:20
With machine guns and other rapid-firing weapons taking the arena
00:09:24
battle tactics drastically change.
00:09:26
Infantry columns and cavalry foragers were becoming a thing of the past.
00:09:30
Full-scale cavalry attacks
00:09:33
were successful only if the enemy didn’t use machine guns in time.
00:09:38
German, Austrian and French armies were restricting the use
00:09:42
of cavalry to intelligence missions and pursuit of the enemy.
00:09:47
Only Russian mounted troops
00:09:49
managed to adapt to the new tactics of warfare.
00:09:53
In 1904 there were over 75 million horses in the world.
00:10:00
Out of this number, 21 million (almost a third) were in Russia.
00:10:06
60% of Russian peasant farms had three horses or more.
00:10:12
Russia had a bigger cavalry than all the other warring countries put together —
00:10:18
1500 squadrons.
00:10:20
German and Austrian cavalry units were always trying to avoid
00:10:24
hand-to-hand combat and pulled back under cover of their infantry and artillery.
00:10:30
The only exception were the Hungarian Hussars —
00:10:33
but even they were no match for the Russian cavalry.
00:10:37
No infantry division could change their position so fast
00:10:41
or enter a combat formation so quickly.
00:10:44
Cavalry forces could adapt to any conditions, even in the mountains.
00:10:47
The very sight of the renowned Savage Division
00:10:49
struck terror into the hearts of their enemy.
00:10:53
Savage Division was the unofficial name of the Caucasian Native Mounted Division,
00:10:59
90% of it was composed of Muslim highlanders of the North Caucasus.
00:11:05
Soldiers from Dagestan, Chechnya, Ingushetia, Kabarda and Circassia
00:11:09
were not subject to military service and joined the Division as volunteers.
00:11:15
Highlanders were usually multilingual and considered to be ideal scouts.
00:11:20
They were great instinctive shooters
00:11:22
(quick to raise their weapon and fire without aiming),
00:11:25
and could shoot from the hip without aiming or even raising their weapon.
00:11:28
They could accurately shoot an enemy with a lit cigarette who happened
00:11:32
to carelessly enjoy a midnight smoke.
00:11:35
The Savage Division was under command of the Emperor’s younger brother,
00:11:39
Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich,
00:11:41
and the officers were representatives of high aristocracy:
00:11:45
a Persian prince Faizullah Qajar,
00:11:47
a descendant of Georgian monarchs, Dmitry Bagration,
00:11:51
Duke Alexander Svyatopolk-Mirsky and many others.
00:11:54
Caucasians deemed it an honour to serve in the Savage Division
00:11:58
and spoke of their commander with pride:
00:12:01
"Grand Duke Michael, the Tsar’s brother!”
00:12:09
- What do they want? - No idea. Who are they anyway?
00:12:12
- Russ, don’t shoot! Don’t shoot!
00:12:15
At the beginning of April, 1915 two companies of the 28-th Austrian regiment
00:12:20
voluntarily surrendered to the Russians.
00:12:24
It mostly consisted of Czechs,
00:12:27
whose country was at that time part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
00:12:31
Among Czechs and Slovaks, many were favouring the Russians.
00:12:36
When the Austrian emperor found out about Czechs switching sides, he was furious:
00:12:41
"With bitter disappointment, I hereby order to disband
00:12:44
the Imperial and Royal 28th Infantry Regiment
00:12:48
from the list of my troops for cowardice and treason…"
00:12:52
Franz Joseph I.
00:12:53
But the Emperor’s decree had no desired effect. On the contrary.
00:12:58
On the Galician front, this only fueled mass voluntary surrenders
00:13:02
of Czechs to the Russians.
00:13:05
Among those, who put down their arms was the future famous writer-to-be
00:13:09
Jaroslav Hašek along with his friend, František Strašlipka,
00:13:13
prototype for the main character of the book "Good Soldier Švejk".
00:13:16
I'm Jaroslav.
00:13:17
And I am Petro. This is Ivan. And what's your name?
00:13:21
František.
00:13:22
Surname?
00:13:23
Strašlipka.
00:13:25
And what is that?
00:13:26
Oh… that's our “cow”, Mathilda, and now we are going to milk her.
00:13:33
Hand me your glass. C'mon, C'mon.
00:13:37
What is that?
00:13:38
- We'll know in a second. - Where's your cup?
00:13:44
Here.
00:13:46
- Pass it. - These Czechs are jolly fellows.
00:13:51
Tell them about how you managed to get drunk without any booze.
00:13:56
No, I can't.
00:13:58
- Oh, c'mon. Sure you can. - He took… what’s the name? Baker’s yeast.
00:14:04
Yeast. Yes, yeast. Bit off a whole chunk and washed it down with water.
00:14:09
Then he lay on his belly on top of a radiator…
00:14:12
And all this in the General’s office...
00:14:18
Many of Czech and Slovak nationals were fighting
00:14:21
under the Russian colours for their own freedom.
00:14:24
The Czech National Council was established in Kiev,
00:14:26
and first volunteer troops were beginning to form.
00:14:30
In autumn, a Czech volunteer unit of over
00:14:32
a thousand soldiers left Kiev for the front.
00:14:35
In spring of 1915, the Russian command decided to let those soldiers and officers
00:14:39
that have surrendered voluntarily join the Czech volunteer unit as well.
00:14:45
First they formed a regiment, then a brigade.
00:14:48
And so began the complicated path of Czechoslovak legionaries in Russia.
00:14:53
In April of 1915, Russian troops were already in the Transcarpathia.
00:14:59
They had to move just a little further
00:15:00
before beginning an offensive at the Hungarian capital, Budapest...
00:15:06
Russ, Russ, Come on out!
00:15:12
Russ, Russ, Come on out!
00:15:20
Just look at him! Yelling his lungs out! I’ll give him a taste of my rifle.
00:15:24
No shooting! We were told not to waste bullets.
00:15:27
Then I’ll throw something at him.
00:15:31
Throw your boot. If you can throw that far.
00:15:35
What am I going to wear then? - There’s no getting new ones.
00:15:38
No boots, no bread, no bullets.
00:15:42
How are we going to fight, Unter-officer, Sir?
00:15:44
Cut the nonsense. We’ll fight when we are ordered to.
00:15:49
In spring of 1915 it became apparent the the Russian General Staff
00:15:54
made a miscalculation in ammunition provisions.
00:15:58
The Russian army was suffering from severe shortage of
00:16:01
artillery shells and ammunition rounds.
00:16:04
Af first everyone believed that the war would be quick.
00:16:08
No one expected such protracted battles.
00:16:10
Supply and ammunition shortages became a problem for all warring parties:
00:16:16
none of the countries expected to be dragged into exhausting trench warfare.
00:16:23
“We won’t be able to provide sufficient military supplies before autumn this year…
00:16:30
Reinforcements are not to be expected, you are to rely on the forces at hand..."
00:16:37
A telegram from the front’s headquarters.
00:16:42
On the forces at hand.
00:16:45
We have less than two hundred shots per weapon.
00:16:48
Artillerymen are counting every shell.
00:16:51
“You should take bold and decisive action to defeat the enemy.”
00:16:57
Now, Really! It’s hard enough to hold our ground.
00:17:03
At the beginning of 1915, Russian army had following monthly supply needs:
00:17:08
200 thousand rifles, 2 thousand machine guns,
00:17:12
400 canons, 200 million ammo rounds
00:17:15
and 1,5 million shells.
00:17:17
While Russia’s monthly manufacturing capacity could provide them with only
00:17:22
30-32 thousand rifles, 216 machine guns,
00:17:26
115-120 canons, 50 million ammo rounds
00:17:30
and 403 thousand shells, satisfying only 15-30% of the requirements.
00:17:36
Of all Allied countries, Russia’s supply crisis was the most severe,
00:17:41
because Russia was last to shift its manufacturing focus
00:17:44
to military production.
00:17:47
Such measures required
00:17:49
substantial expenses and were deemed unnecessary at first.
00:17:52
The much expected weapons shipments from Europe didn’t come:
00:17:56
weapons ordered by Russia were manufactured
00:17:59
but confiscated by the Allies for their own needs.
00:18:02
And it was very problematic to deliver
00:18:04
shipments that were sent to Russia after all.
00:18:07
Europe was torn apart by front lines,
00:18:09
The Baltic and Mediterranean Sea were engulfed by combat,
00:18:12
Only two ports were left available for the Allied ships:
00:18:16
northernmost Arkhangelsk and remote Vladivostok.
00:18:21
Emperor Nicholas II ordered to set up an emergency governmental body —
00:18:26
Special Council of Defence that comprised government officials,
00:18:31
community spokesmen and private entrepreneurs.
00:18:34
Their task was to promptly mobilize
00:18:37
the nation’s war economy and military production.
00:18:41
Machinery and equipment were bought instead of finished goods.
00:18:45
Russia urgently built new arms factories
00:18:48
and constructed in the Barents Sea a completely new ice-free port,
00:18:53
Romanov-on-Murman (present-day Murmansk).
00:18:57
Russia was undergoing full-scale military-oriented industrialization.
00:19:02
Within months, production of weapons and ammunition increased tenfold.
00:19:09
In the August of 1916, production of rifles was 1100% higher
00:19:15
than in the August of 1914.
00:19:18
Canon production (76 mm mountain gun) from January 1916
00:19:25
until January 1917 increased by over 1000%,
00:19:31
and that of 76-mm shells — by 2000%.
00:19:36
Gunpowder and explosives manufacture rose by 250-300%.
00:19:42
This transfer of capitals into the defence industry
00:19:45
had its effect on the whole country’s economy.
00:19:48
There was a cutback in iron ore production, output of cast iron and steel was reduced.
00:19:53
Crisis swept over the construction industry.
00:19:56
In 1915 Russia was the only warring country that didn’t buy bread from abroad,
00:20:02
fully capable of providing itself with foodstuffs.
00:20:05
Now the prices for bread gradually began to grow.
00:20:08
Due to transportation difficulties there were delivery interruptions.
00:20:12
For the first time, the country had to stand in line to buy bread.
00:20:23
When the war began, Russia introduced the “dry law” (prohibition).
00:20:27
This lead to rapid development of bootlegging in the villages
00:20:30
and mass consumption of varnish and other surrogates in the cities.
00:20:35
Peasants and workers were drinking themselves to death.
00:20:40
Contrary to the set stereotype about Russia’s heavy drinking problems,
00:20:44
before the revolution, the Russian Empire was the most sober nation in Europe.
00:20:48
Only Norwegians drank less.
00:20:50
Interestingly enough, for three centuries (from the 17th till the 20th century)
00:20:56
Russia was world’s second to last country in alcohol consumption per capita.
00:21:03
Light industry lost its production volumes,
00:21:06
there was a reduction in quality and assortment of goods.
00:21:10
Textile factories stopped making cotton prints —
00:21:13
the front required a supply of military apparel.
00:21:16
Factories fiercely competed for the right to manufacture it —
00:21:19
such shipments of military apparel were a quick and sure way to fortune.
00:21:25
Big-city restaurants and clubs were filled with wives of rich entrepreneurs
00:21:28
who made their fortunes on war.
00:21:30
They were extravagantly dressed in gorgeous furs and diamonds,
00:21:33
with an unnatural sparkle in their eyes.
00:21:37
In Petrograd and Moscow the “dry law” was compensated by
00:21:40
unprecedented massive consumption of cocaine.
00:21:44
It was openly available in any pharmacy,
00:21:47
sold in plump brown packages.
00:21:50
The best cocaine was German “Mark” and cost 50 kopeeks per gram.
00:21:56
Even wartimes didn’t hinder drug trafficking,
00:22:00
cocaine contraband was delivered to the Russian capital without fail.
00:22:06
Mobilization of the economy for war required some time,
00:22:09
regardless of the efforts.
00:22:11
But Russia didn’t have that time.
00:22:14
The German command decided to take advantage of the situation,
00:22:17
and get rid of the Eastern front
00:22:20
by taking Russia out of the war with one heavy decisive blow.
00:22:24
Your Excellency, the German troops are growing in numbers,
00:22:29
they are getting reinforcements…
00:22:31
In April 1915, Commander of Third Russian Army, General Radko-Dimitriev, reported
00:22:38
that the German forces were growing in numbers, gathering reinforcements
00:22:43
and pulling in heavy artillery.
00:22:46
Clearly, they were preparing offensive near the town of Gorlice.
00:22:49
Radko-Dimitriev asked the high command to let his army withdraw and regroup.
00:22:55
Radko-Dimitriev. Distinguished Bulgarian commander,
00:23:00
a hero of liberation wars with Turkey.
00:23:02
Strong supporter of union with Russia.
00:23:05
In 1914 — Bulgarian ambassador to St. Petersburg.
00:23:10
With the beginning of First World War (a unique case in history)
00:23:14
resigned from his diplomatic position in order to serve in the Russian army.
00:23:18
As of September 1914, was in command of the Third Army.
00:23:24
Russian high command refused to take the offensive seriously.
00:23:28
But Radko-Dimitriev had serious grounds for concern.
00:23:32
The Germans transferred a whole army to Gorlice from the Western front.
00:23:38
Germans were outnumbering the Russians threefold
00:23:41
and had five times more artillery.
00:23:43
On the evening of May 1st, Germans began a 13-hour artillery bombardment.
00:23:59
It seemed impossible for anyone to survive such heavy fire in the trenches.
00:24:03
But when the German infantry began its offensive
00:24:06
they were greeted with rifles and bayonets.
00:24:08
Third Russian Army put up a desperate fight.
00:24:12
The headquarters ordered "Not a step back!" There were no reinforcements.
00:24:16
Each artillery battery had only 10 shells a day.
00:24:20
While the Germans spared no shells and were bombarding the Russians at full throttle.
00:24:25
To save his men from total annihilation, Radko-Dimitriev gave the order to retreat.
00:24:31
The high command ordered to save the situation by counterattacking
00:24:35
and sent an army corps to the rescue.
00:24:38
But it was too late.
00:24:40
Forty thousand men of Third Russian Army were either killed,
00:24:44
wounded or taken prisoner.
00:24:50
The Germans kept moving forward, now posing a threat to the Russian rears.
00:24:55
The Russians lost everything they gained with so much blood in 1914.
00:25:01
Galicia was taken by the enemy.
00:25:03
Przemysl fortress, seized with such tremendous efforts, had to be given up.
00:25:08
Soon the Germans reached Lviv…
00:25:11
Russian armies has to pull back or they would be surrounded.
00:25:16
Retreat of Brusilov's Eighth Army from the Carpathians
00:25:20
was covered by the famous "Steel Division" under General Kornilov.
00:25:24
The Steel Division saved Third army from utter defeat, but got surrounded itself.
00:25:31
Kornilov realised that help won’t be coming.
00:25:35
The orders are to breakout!
00:25:40
A battalion of the Rymnikskiy Regiment will be covering.
00:25:47
I will command it personally.
00:25:51
And remember: our regiments are named after
00:25:58
great Suvorov victories.
00:26:01
We’ve no right to let these names perish!
00:26:08
This means defending our banners at any cost!
00:26:15
So long as we have our banners — the Steel Division lives on!
00:26:23
Shoulder arms! Turn right! Forward march!
00:26:37
Only seven men survived out of the whole battalion.
00:26:41
Wounded twice after bayonet fighting,
00:26:43
General Kornilov was taken prisoner by the Austrians.
00:26:47
The other survivors reached their army in four days.
00:26:50
The Steel Division will be formed again under it’s salvaged banners.
00:26:55
After escaping from prison to Petrograd, General Kornilov will learn
00:27:01
that he was awarded St. George’s Order 3rd Class…
00:27:05
At the time of onslaught in Carpathians, the German troops
00:27:08
began offensive in Poland,
00:27:10
trying to push Russia out of the war by all means.
00:27:15
Here, among the forests of Poland,
00:27:17
Germans resorted to the deadliest weapon in this war.
00:27:21
At the end of April near the village of Bolimów
00:27:24
there was a strange lull in fighting.
00:27:27
With only occasional fire and no attempts of breakthrough from the Germans
00:27:31
no one could understand what they were waiting for.
00:27:35
But the Germans were waiting for the right weather. Literally.
00:27:39
They were planning a gas attack
00:27:42
and needed the wind to blow towards the Russian troops.
00:27:45
Early morning of May 2nd, over a 12-kilometer stretch of the front line
00:27:51
the Germans let out 264 tons of chlorine.
00:27:56
The yellow-greenish clowd slowly drifted towards the Russian trenches.
00:27:59
The command had no idea about chemical weapons,
00:28:03
and thinking that it was a smoke screen prior to the enemy attack
00:28:07
sent reinforcements to the trenches.
00:28:12
Within one hour, 8 thousand men were poisoned.
00:28:16
Over a thousand died right on spot. But the front remained in position.
00:28:21
Unaware of the the terrible reality, choking on chlorine gas,
00:28:25
Russian soldiers nevertheless kept holding the line.
00:28:28
Survivors of the gas poisoning defeated the enemy attack.
00:28:33
Russia became furious when learned about this terrible tragedy.
00:28:38
An urgent search for possible antidotes began.
00:28:44
The first countermeasure for chemical weapons was a cotton face mask.
00:28:49
By January 1916, chemist and professor Zelinsky
00:28:54
together with technical engineer Kummant
00:28:56
created the first gas mask:
00:28:57
Zelinsky’s filter (a tin can with layers of activated charcoal
00:29:02
and cotton gauze lining) connected by a nozzle with Kumman’s rubber mask.
00:29:08
Millions of Zelinsky-Kummant gas masks were shipped to the front lines,
00:29:12
which lead to a substantial reduction in casualties from gas poisoning.
00:29:17
Disappointed by the efficiency of chemical weapons,
00:29:20
Germans resorted to their former tactic:
00:29:23
massive bombardments and attacks, attacks, attacks...
00:29:28
Day after day. Non-stop.
00:29:31
Over here! Run here, faster!
00:29:37
Go, go, go, go! C’mon, my dear!
00:29:45
Stop the bleeding!
00:29:48
Stay with us.
00:29:50
Apply pressure higher, higher!
00:29:54
Wait, darling. Or you’ll bleed to death.
00:30:29
C’mon. Don’t be afraid. A shell doesn’t hit the same spot twice.
00:30:34
- Yeah, you’re sure? - It’ll be fine. Hold this.
00:31:00
Peter, Peter!
00:31:04
Peter, wait! Don’t even think about it! Peter, Peter! Peter, please!
00:31:59
Who’s machine gun was it, who’s the gunner?
00:32:03
Gunner Rodion Malinovsky, 17 years old, singlehandedly saved an artillery battery.
00:32:10
For that, he was awarded St. George’s Cross 4th Class and promoted to Gefreiter.
00:32:18
But that hardly made him happy. He was exhausted and despaired:
00:32:23
there would be no going home any time soon.
00:32:27
Not for him, not for thousands of other soldiers.
00:32:33
Amidst fierce combat, breaking news came from Europe:
00:32:38
Italy declared war on Austria-Hungary and Germany.
00:32:42
Italians decided to go against their former partners from the Triple Alliance.
00:32:48
"Italian soldiers are expected to revive the fame of Roman legionaries.
00:32:53
We must take revenge on Austria for its century-old wrongdoings…
00:32:56
Let us show the entire world that Italians aren’t made of straw!”
00:33:01
Words of a popular political journalist.
00:33:05
He personally went to war, not afraid to answer for his words with blood.
00:33:10
He was certain that war would bring him to power.
00:33:15
In seven years, Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini
00:33:20
will become Head of the Italian Government, founder of Fascism
00:33:24
and one of those responsible for the next war — World War II.
00:33:31
But while the new front was only forming,
00:33:34
German Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg
00:33:37
decided to carry out a plan that he’d been plotting for quite a while:
00:33:42
to hit the Russian troops in Poland from south and north and surround them.
00:33:47
This plan was no big secret to the Russian command.
00:33:50
But shell and ammunition shortage reached its peak by summer.
00:33:55
New defense plants weren’t put into service yet.
00:33:58
Generals were bitterly joking:
00:34:01
"Gentlemen! The enemy knows that we have neither bullets nor shells.
00:34:06
And we know that we won’t get any soon".
00:34:08
And the high command made a strategic decision to leave Poland.
00:34:13
It was the only possible option: to retreat and save the army,
00:34:18
win some time until reinforcements and shipments would arrive.
00:34:28
For half a year now you’ve been withstanding our siege.
00:34:33
We admire your bravery, but there’s a limit to everything.
00:34:37
You can’t even imagine the force that will descend upon you.
00:34:44
Take half a million German marks.
00:34:49
It’s not a bribe. Just payment for the shells that we
00:34:55
won’t have to waste on the fortress.
00:35:00
Germany doesn’t want to waste them.
00:35:04
If you refuse,
00:35:07
rest assured that within 48 hours Osowiec will cease to exist!
00:35:14
How about a wager! Stay here with us.
00:35:19
If Osowiec falls in the next 48 hours, you can hang me.
00:35:25
If the fortress withstands, I’ll hang you.
00:35:34
That’ll be all.
00:35:38
I take it, you refuse my wager?
00:35:53
We shall see.
00:35:56
Nikolay Alexandrovich Brzozowski, Lieutenant General.
00:36:00
Took action in the Bulgarian liberation war and Russo-Japanese War.
00:36:05
As of April 1915 — Commander of the Osowiec Fortress.
00:36:10
Awarded Order of St. George 4th Class and St. George's Weapon.
00:36:15
Take cover! Take cover! Faster! Faster!
00:36:20
At 4 a.m. August 6, 1915 the Germans opened artillery fire on the fortress.
00:36:28
At the same time using poison gas against those inside.
00:36:44
There is an order to begin gas attack.
00:36:47
Follow through.
00:36:48
- Yessir. - Officer! Take the men away.
00:36:55
Prepare to release gas. Put on the gas masks.
00:37:00
Open valves.
00:37:03
Open the valves.
00:37:15
Thinking that the garrison was annihilated, German troops began their attack.
00:37:20
Nearly seven thousand infantrymen went on the offensive.
00:37:29
There’s no one left alive inside.
00:37:31
All the Russians are dead.
00:37:34
They were counter-attacked by what was left of the first line defenders.
00:37:37
A little over 60 soldiers.
00:37:42
The surprise attack and the very sight of those men terrified the Germans.
00:37:47
A few dozens of barely alive Russian soldiers sent the Germans flying.
00:37:52
Later, the Germans who were there and the European press
00:37:56
called this "attack of the living dead".
00:38:03
The enemy failed to seize Osowiec after all.
00:38:06
But since the Russians pulled back from Poland,
00:38:09
there was no point in defending the fortress.
00:38:12
Russians cleared the fortress of all remaining supplies and blew out the forts.
00:38:29
Brzozovsky personally destroyed all of the fortifications.
00:38:40
Nine years later, when Osowiec became part of Poland,
00:38:45
soldiers were conducting excavations on the fortress' ruins.
00:38:48
There was supposed to be a supply storage buried under the rubbles.
00:38:53
The Poles went into the basement, when suddenly a voice came from the darkness:
00:38:59
Hold it! Who goes there?
00:39:06
It was a Russian soldier, who was assigned duty to guard the storage
00:39:11
and somehow got left behind. For nine years he hadn’t abandoned his post.
00:39:16
He survived on can food. The guard refused to leave his post without orders.
00:39:22
After the soldiers persuaded him to come out of the dungeons,
00:39:25
the sunlight made him blind.
00:39:30
The German offensive continued.
00:39:32
They captured Mitawa and Libava — key military bases of the Baltic fleet.
00:39:37
Now Riga was under threat.
00:39:40
The powerful Russian fortress of Novogeorgievsk was under siege.
00:39:44
The siege required substantial forces and took up much of the enemy troops,
00:39:48
and so the Germans failed to surround the Russian army in Poland.
00:39:52
But the fortress itself lasted for only a week.
00:39:56
Kaunas Fortress fell on the same day.
00:39:59
These losses were hard to accept for the Russian people.
00:40:04
Rumours of treason swept the country.
00:40:07
Each morning, headlines spelled the names of abandoned cities:
00:40:12
Warsaw, Wilno, Grodno, Brest...
00:40:16
In September, the Germans broke through the front line and entered Belorussia,
00:40:20
heading towards Polotsk and Minks. The situation was catastrophic.
00:40:34
- Go faster! Faster, to the trenches. - Run.
00:40:43
They got the second line! This is sheer hell!
00:40:46
Why won’t the artillery blow them back? Why are they silent?
00:40:49
Silent… They have no shells left, used up all of them.
00:40:56
How could the generals miscalculate like that?
00:40:59
Were they hoping to win the war in three months?
00:41:02
It’s fine to hope, but better safe than sorry.
00:41:06
Well...maybe the French will help us out, give us some shells and ammo, huh?
00:41:11
That’s all we need to beat the hell out of these damned Germans.
00:41:14
Yeah, unless we all get killed before the French aid arrives.
00:41:20
Regiment’s commander said: "Be strong, brothers! Reserves will arrive soon!"
00:41:27
Brothers, attack! Attack!
00:41:33
Attack! Hoorah!
00:41:35
Hoorah!!!
00:42:01
Hold the ammo.
00:42:10
Bring it here, quick.
00:42:12
Faster, load it.
00:42:15
Watch that it doesn’t get jammed.
00:42:23
Rodik! Rodik! Rodik! Rodik! Rodik!
00:42:30
They killed Rodik!!!!
00:42:48
How are you feeling? Stay strong, it’ll all be fine.
00:42:54
- Where’s the pain? - In my leg.
00:42:59
- Does your back hurt? - No.
00:43:02
Don’t you know how you should reply to an officer? “No, Sir!”.
00:43:07
Where would you rather go: Simbirsk or Kazan?
00:43:11
Kazan… I’ll get to see the Tatar capital at least.
00:43:17
- This one can go. - You’ll be fine.
00:43:30
The Red Cross — international voluntary humanitarian organisation
00:43:34
to help the wounded
00:43:36
was founded in Switzerland in 1863.
00:43:40
That’s why an inverted Swiss flag became it’s emblem:
00:43:45
instead of a white cross on red background — there was the Red Cross.
00:43:49
Red Cross Societies were established in all European countries,
00:43:54
Russia being among the first.
00:44:22
During the First World War, the Russian Red Cross
00:44:26
prepared 11 thousand nurses, created 150 food stations,
00:44:32
equipped 360 hospital trains,
00:44:34
formed 65 anti-epidemic teams.
00:44:38
Red Cross military hospitals had a capacity of 300 thousand beds.
00:44:43
The overall number of medical personnel exceeded 100 thousand workers
00:44:47
including staff of stationary hospitals — 2700 doctors and 20 thousand nurses.
00:44:55
The Russian Red Cross was under the high patronage of
00:44:58
Her Supreme majesty Empress Maria Feodorovna.
00:45:01
All women of the royal family, including the young grand duchesses,
00:45:05
worked as nurses in hospitals and infirmaries in the town of Tsar’s Village,
00:45:10
looked after the badly wounded and assisted during surgeries.
00:45:15
Women were not allowed on the battlefield.
00:45:17
The exception was a 20 year old sister of mercy, Rimma Ivanova
00:45:23
who disguised herself as a man and volunteered to the front
00:45:26
where she later became a hospital nurse under her own name.
00:45:30
For her great kindness, she was called Saint Rimma by the wounded.
00:45:35
For her bravery she was awarded with two Medals of St. George.
00:45:40
During combat near Pinsk, all officers of Ivanova’s company were killed.
00:45:50
Attack!
00:45:55
Captain is dead!
00:46:00
Company began to retreat.
00:46:02
Rimma, who was bandaging the wounded, lead the soldiers into attack.
00:46:06
Brothers, what are you doing? Come back! Get back here!
00:46:13
Attack! Attack!
00:46:17
Attack! Attack! Attack!
00:46:32
The enemy was defeated, their positions were seized, but Rimma got killed.
00:46:41
The German Red Cross strongly protested:
00:46:44
"In view of the Convention on the neutrality of medical personnel,
00:46:47
sisters of mercy should not take action on the battlefield".
00:46:52
But Nicholas II by personal assent
00:46:56
posthumously awarded Rimma Ivanova with the Order of St. George 4th Class.
00:47:01
She became the only woman in Russian history to receive this prestigious award.
00:47:07
Despite heavy casualties, Russian troops survived the attack
00:47:12
and remained in fighting condition.
00:47:15
Hindenburg’s plan failed.
00:47:17
"Russians escaped our clutches", — he was forced to admit.
00:47:22
But the retreat to the east, called the Great Retreat, continued.
00:47:27
General Anton Ivanovich Denikin recalls:
00:47:32
"I shall never forget the spring of 1915.
00:47:37
A great tragedy for the Russian army. No ammunition, no shells.
00:47:41
Bloody combat from day to day, exhausting movement each day,
00:47:46
endless exhaustion — both physical and mental;
00:47:50
glimmers of hope lined with pitch-black horror..."
00:47:53
Russia was on the verge of a military catastrophe.
00:47:57
Drastic measures had to be taken. So in order to boost the army’s morale,
00:48:03
Emperor Nicholas II decided to personally become Commander-in-Chief
00:48:07
after dismissing Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich.
00:48:10
It was a very risky move: since the times of Peter the Great
00:48:15
not a single Emperor dared to take command of the Army.
00:48:19
Many government officials and those,
00:48:22
close to the Emperor believed this to be a mistake.
00:48:25
Only the Empress Alexandra Fedorovna supported her husband.
00:48:30
The rest of Romanov family members, especially his mother,
00:48:35
Empress Maria Feodorovna, were absolutely against his decision.
00:48:40
On August 23rd, 1915 Emperor Nicholas II
00:48:45
assumed the role of Commander-in-Chief.
00:48:50
Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich took command of the Caucasus front.
00:48:55
Your Highness, we are happy to welcome you in the headquarters.
00:48:58
General Alekseyev was appointed Chief of Staff.
00:49:02
Mikhail Vasilyevich Alekseyev, Infantry General.
00:49:07
Awarded St. George’s Weapon
00:49:09
for distinguishing himself in the Russo-Japanese War.
00:49:11
At the beginning of World War I — Chief of Staff of the Southwestern Front,
00:49:16
later — appointed as commander of the Northwestern Front.
00:49:19
It was Alekseyev who saved the Russian army from the trap
00:49:23
set by Hindenburg in Poland.
00:49:27
Grand Duke Alexander Michaelovitch recalls:
00:49:31
"No one but the Sovereign himself could inspire and breathe
00:49:35
the life back into our army and dismiss from the headquarters
00:49:38
all the worthless generals and politicians that clung on to it.
00:49:42
General Alexeyev was a good strategist.
00:49:45
The Sovereign together with General Alekseyev
00:49:47
would have made a perfect combination,
00:49:50
if only Nikki had kept his eyes on the schemers plotting in St. Petersburg,
00:49:54
and if Alekseyev would have sworn to stay out of politics".
00:50:01
Army and Navy order dated August 23rd, 1915.
00:50:08
As of this day, I herewith take supreme command of
00:50:12
all Army and Navy…
00:50:14
Arrival of the Emperor at Stavka (headquarters)
00:50:16
immediately uplifted the spirits of lost and dismayed generals.
00:50:20
Telegrams went flying to the front: "Emperor is with us! Not a step back!"
00:50:25
Soldiers cheered up.
00:50:28
Indeed, in just a few months things began to change for the better.
00:50:33
By autumn, Russian army’s front line stabilized along Riga — Pinsk — Chernivtsi.
00:50:39
By then, new military plants started operating at full capacity.
00:50:44
Over a million shells were produced monthly.
00:50:47
New soldiers were drafted to war.
00:50:50
But in place of military professionals
00:50:53
this mobilization brought completely unskilled peasants.
00:51:02
And where are the horses?
00:51:05
I don't get it, guys. Weren't we supposed to serve in the cavalry? Huh?
00:51:10
Hey listen, do you know how to fight? Like shooting and whatnot?
00:51:15
No. I'm just a furrier. And can read a bit.
00:51:19
Read! Reading is a good thing. Ok, then. What's your name? I'm Kolya Sivtsov.
00:51:26
- I'm Georgiy Zhukov. - Nice to meet you.
00:51:30
The 19-year old Georgiy Zhukov had only two years of school
00:51:34
at a municipal college and was hoping to continue studies after the war.
00:51:40
He had 4 wars ahead of him and a career path from a non-commissioned officer
00:51:45
to Marshal of the Soviet Union.
00:51:48
But right now it was 1915, Russia was recovering from heavy losses
00:51:54
and preparing to change the course of the First World War.

Description:

Watch free documentary on russian with english subtitles All episodes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lymm8TU900E&list=PLwGzY25TNHPAtf180Sg-YDiPAjeYm01aP&index=1 Sciences and technology in the beginning of XX century were developing at a fast pace: radio, electricity, cinematograph, automobiles… Millions of Europeans could hardly catch up with the swift scientific and technological advance and they were unable to surmise that something threatens their lives. But in 1914 a war emerged that humanity had never seen before. The first war of armored machines and airplanes, machineguns and poison gases. The war that began with the murder of two people and ended with over 10 million deaths and the ruining of four empires. World War I that changed the face of Europe and the whole world for ever. Type: historical reenactment Genre: docudrama Year of production: 2014 Number of episodes: 8 Directed by: Andrey Vereschagin, Aleksey Fedosov Written by: Marina Bandilenko Production designer: Aleksandr Yakimov Director of photography: Dmitriy Kiptilyi Music by: Maksim Voytov Producers: Valeriy Babich, Vlad Ryashin, Sergey Titinkov , Konstantin Ernst Star Media and Babich Design proudly present a major new 8-part documentary series, World War I. The year 2014 marks the centenary of the start of one of the most devastating wars in human history, which claimed the lives of ten million soldiers and over twenty million civilians, changing the world and global civilization forever. World War I shows the impact of the war on the nations of the Russian Empire - the extraordinary heroism, duty and honour paid by so many people to a country that underwent horrific ordeals to defend itself from outside enemies, only to collapse after being unable to solve its own internal problems. Epic battles and attacks on villages, towns, cities and fortifications, air raids and cavalry campaigns, the use of poison gases and the first tanks are all recreated on an impressive scale. And the latest technological and engineering achievements of the time - aeroplanes, airships, submarines, guns, tanks and armoured vehicles - all built to supply a terrifying new age of warfare - are brought to life with stunning and vivid CGI animation and special effects. Watch movies and TV series for free in high quality. Explore a great collection of documentaries. The best Russian movies and tv series, melodrama, war movies, military tv shows, new russian films, top documentary films and full movies with english subtitle. With these free online Russian language movies you will learn Russian easily. Subscribe for high quality movies and series on our channel. Enjoy Watching! #StarMediaEN

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