Transcripts For CSPAN3 America Goes Over 20170402

We provided to scholars to provide context and commentary throughout the film, made by the u. S. Army signal corps. Oferica goes over, is one many silent world war i films that the National Archives has restored. This is about one hour. Susan welcome to American History tv, cspan history network. Let me introduce Mitchell Yockelson and Allison Finkelstein. As people actually see this film, how are these films made at the time and who saw them . Mitchell in the case of the stone, it was done by the United States government. It was a compilation of mostly u. S. Army signal corps footage by cameramen overseas. More propaganda to promote what america did, which was help bring the war to a close on the allies side. Susan it was released after the war was over. How was the propaganda intended by the government at that point in time . Allison this film would have been intended to reassure americans they fought for a just cause. It was important because there was actually quite a bit of backlash against world war i after it finished. This is the era where you see america retreat into neutrality, the rejection of the league of nations. This kind of film would have given a little boost of morale. Susan where are the films held today and how are they preserved . Mitchell the original copies are maintained by the National Archives. They are being digitized and placed on the National Archives youtube channel. Susan and is the preservation of this type of film a difficult art . Mitchell it is because in some cases you have original copy copy is that might have scratches. We have a staff that will meticulously go through and check to make sure each scene is clear, and try and do some sort of scene script so you know whats going on. Often they came with that sort of thing when it was transferred from whatever Government Agency brought it over. Susan thanks for the background. Now we are going to roll the film called america goes over. Mitchell the signal corps was communications for the u. S. Army. They were the ones responsible for Motion Picture and still photographs. Susan and the Eastman Kodak company, a very storied name. Like watchinglly these official films, because they always have that little border around the film, and the two flags that is the insignia of the signal corps, those are the flags. At the moment of pride to have these. Mitchell so many films were done with reenactments. For example, the british dear did a reenactment of the battle of the psalm. This is actual footage taken in the United States or overseas. Susan this is the background of what the u. S. Into the war. Allison, take us into that decision. Allison the entry of the United States into the war is still interesting. Scholars still debated until today. What they are showing on the screen here is the uboat, where they were attacking civilians or supposedly civilian ships. This caused a lot of tension between the u. S. And germany. Some scholars cite this as one of the factors that led to the u. S. Entering the first world war. Whatcularly the people the people are most familiar with, the sinking of the lusitania. Susan this is remarkable footage they were able to get, the american or allied vessels. Mitchell i agree. I mean, the fact that the cameras were so, i guess, antiquated. And the fact that certainly these surroundings would have shook from the reverberation of the torpedoes hitting the ships. Susan we are seeing president wilson. How controversial inside the halls of congress was the decision to go to war . Thing, wilsonone ran on his reelection platform in 1916 on keeping the u. S. Out of the war, which some were against. Theodore roosevelt was still active, even though he was not in office, was a proponent of war. There was a huge war preparedness movement. Some folks were saying it is about time we get into the war. Others said, do we really need to get into this war . This is not americas problem. It was being fought overseas. But the fact that our ships, merchant ships, where being sunk. Some of them were actually carrying armaments. The eyes of the germans, they were warships. Susan what country are they in . Mitchell im guessing this would be france. It is hard to tell because pretty much all of the western front was torn up like this. It could be belgium. Susan the unique aspect of world war i warfare was trench warfare. Allison, tell us about that. Allison trench warfare is probably the most iconic battlefield aspect of world war i. It certainly did not define the entire world war, but at least on the western front where a lot of footage of the british is focusing right now. What happened was that you had a stalemate that both sides were advancedpons that had to the point where people could actually go further on the battlefield without risking basically suicide attacks, which is what happened, especially in battle of the psalm battle of the somme with the british. You had over 60,000 killed and killed on one day. You get a type of warfare that is very difficult for people to survive. They huddle into those trenches to get some sort of shelter. Susan from a strategic standpoint, what is happening in this battle . What are the germans trying to capture . Mitchell that is an interesting question. I think the germans were on the exceptve for most of war , for early on, and then a few other attacks, like allison mentioned around the somme where they move forward a little bit. But, i think in this case here, you see it completely different. This is, i guess, in the alps . Allison yes, i think so. Mitchell the italian theater. Susan can you lineup the size . Sides . Who are the allies and who were the central powers . Allison the allies were great britain, france, the United States later when the u. S. Entered. Belgium started off as neutral before they were invaded. Then you have germany, austria, hungary, the ottoman empire. World war i stretches beyond what we are seeing on the western front. In you have a middle eastern theater. You have a lot of what is happening in places that are now part of the modern middle east. Susan we are now back in the United States with buildups of armaments. Mitchell right, they are showing how america is becoming prepared for the war. We really started the war completely unprepared. We had to rely on the allies for everything from shipping to mostly what armaments we would use in combat, especially airplanes. But here, you show the navy built up. The Navy Central Role was not for much combat, but destroyers were used to protect the troop transfer ships as they left american port. They were under threat just like merchant ships were from german uboats. Susan how was the war financed . Mitchell war was financed from the american coffers, but eventually there were these liberty load drives, similar to world war ii where americans were asked to give money to help the effort for men and women. Susan so, were men and women taken from normal jobs and put in these factories to work . How did this whole thing gear up . You had a lot of women who started to take factory jobs more than before. You also had africanamericans migrating north, in many cases to take those jobs. Here, we see the draft. I think this may be the first selection of the first draft member. Mitchell right. This is the first draft, the secretary of war newton baker. And there is theodore roosevelt, postpresidency, but still active. Mitchell he didnt serve, but certainly his sons. He had three sons that were in the war. Allison he actually lost one. His son Quentin Roosevelt was a pilot. He died during the war. That really strongly affected teddy roosevelt. Susan the graphics said that up to 3 million american men were drafted ultimately. Mitchell ultimately. Not all of them served. But the vast majority of what would become the American Expeditionary forces were made up of listed and drafted. Susan here we see people being conscripted into war, taken from their homes and ordinary lives, being turned into soldiers. Mitchell yes. You can see the buildings. Those were quickly built structures by the Army Quartermaster corp. We didnt have enough training ground. There were some forts scattered around the u. S. , but they needed the socalled temporary camps, and they were constructed mostly in the south and southeast. The climate tends to stay warmer yearround. Training was about nine months out of the year. You had to factor in what the weather was going to be like. Susan how difficult was the turning of citizens into soldiers . Allison it was pretty difficult. One of the things that you find reading these primary sources is many soldiers did not have the training they thought they needed. They were very rushed in getting the soldiers up and overseas. When i look at this footage, you kind of want to wonder what happened to these men. There you see the statue of liberty. I think we thought that was camp upton. Mitchell did you notice, allison, they were using wooden rifles . Allison yes. Mitchell now, there were british and french officers who came to the United States, whose transportation and housing was paid for by the u. S. War department and the idea was for them to lecture the soldiers at the camp. What they had seen at the somme. But not until they got overseas did it really hit home. Americans once the joined in, how much of the war was fought on the seas versus the land . Mitchell by the time the americans got in the war, practically none, other than some attacks by uboats. There wasnt a major naval engagement that the americans were involved in. Allison this is one of my favorite stories from world war i. How one of the first things i that general pershing and the american troops did on arriving in paris was visiting the tomb of the marquis de lafayette , the french war hero who helped the americans in the revolution, at the battle of yorktown. It is really connecting the Historic Alliance between france and the United States. Mitchell here you have american troops probably in the socalled quiet sector, where they are training. They have gas masks on. What is interesting is even though trenches are synonymous with world war i, the americans i merely did not fight from the trenches. General pershing was adamant the american troops fight a socalled open warfare. And so, they would basically leave from above ground, im sorry, over the ground through the woods and so forth. He was fearful because the french and british were using the trench warfare, this war would go on and on and on. He felt as though the only way to defeat the germans was to attack by going over the top. Susan what are they depicting here . The good times could still be had while they were fighting these wars . Allison i think these are just scenes of camp life. If you look at the faces of these men, they are very young. They are probably between 18 and 25. They are just playing cards, trying to do laundry, and living life on the front. I think these personal scenes are the most interesting of this film. Mitchell what they are showing now is they are jumping ahead to the spring of 1918. Realizing that now that the americans are in the war and we are starting to get more and more troops, they have launched an offensive against the british and the french in hopes to drive those allied forces away and capture paris and bring the war to a close before americans get into the war. Susan earlier on, you referenced wearing gas masks. Can you talk about the use of gas during world war i . Mitchell well, it started by the germans in 1915 in belgium. And slowly, the allies caught up. The idea of the gas was more like a choking element. It did not necessarily kill soldiers, but it made you so miserable. It would get into your lungs and into your skin that you could not fight any longer. They were pretty much taken out, and the suffering the soldiers experienced well after the war was horrible. Allison it was also very psychological. Soldiers began to fear gas attacks, and it made them a lot more jumpy at the front. Mitchell yeah, despite the fact that we are in the socalled modern age of mechanized warfare with trucks and tanks, the type of terrain, because it had been so shellpocked, and because it rains quite a bit in this part of europe, you still needed horses carrying litters with the wounded and bringing ammunition supplies to the front. The motorized trucks just couldnt handle it. Here you see the firing of artillery, which was a really important component during the war. Allison and here is general pershing, the leader of the American Expeditionary forces. A quick shot of him. Mitchell that was ferdinand , commander of the allied forces. The scene right before the where they show the casualties, that would have been french or british troops. General pershing was very adamant that the signal corps photographers not show deceased or wounded american soldiers. Susan because it would be harmful to the war effort at home . Mitchell exactly. He had all film footage censored before it was printed. Susan here we see the overwhelming force americans bring to the effort. Allison you see some African American Service Members here. Remember, the American Military was segregated at this time. Those africanamerican Service Members were probably working on that dock. It is a really interesting and very sad yet heroic story of their service. Susan 2 million men. Mitchell yeah, roughly 200,000 africanamericans served. The vast majority were in labor battalions or infantry. There were exceptions. There were famous infantry regiments, such as the famous three 69th Harlem Health fighters, wholl were in combat longer than any other american unit. Susan now, the germans were well aware of the american buildup, so they would have wanted to destroy these ships before they crossed the sea . Mitchell absolutely. But they were not that successful. Two american ships were some are were sunk during the course of the war. Allison this is why we see them traveling in convoys protected by other naval ships. Susan what a steady hand by the photographer. Mitchell a lot of credit to them. And i am not aware of any photographers being killed during the war. Susan there we see the successful destruction of uboats. And the airship. Mitchell that would have been navy airships. Susan 40 men and eight horses is what that translates to. Mitchell many of the horses, the u. S. Purchased from the french. Here you have a mascot brought over, probably snuck over by then american, because i dont think dogs were typically allowed on the transports. Here you have americans entering france for the first time. In letters i have read, it was astonishing, because often they would see in these towns were women dressed in black. Widows or the daughters of fathers of those who were killed. Susan the europeans must have just been floored at the numbers of americans who came over. Mitchell they are jumping ahead here. This is the americans being put into the line to help stop the germans in this great offensive in the spring and early summer of 1918. Allison and this battle is famous for the efforts of the first edition, the big red one. Mitchell this is the artillery. French artillery. The americans did not have their own guns to bring over. So, we borrowed them from the french. One of the more famous artillery commanders in world war i was captain harry s. Truman, who was a battery commander of the 35th division, the National Guard from missouri. Susan and the germans were hoping to overtake paris . Mitchell they were. They had tried several times before. They got close again, but logistics and other problems, and certainly the fact that the americans were hungry and eager. And at one place specifically, 30 division troops. Here you will see them in the town. It is amazing when you look at these towns on how decimated they are. Allison, when you go there today, you do not recognize that there had been a war there. Allison no. These towns are basically just small villages left over today. You can see where there are these ruins were and a few buildings that might have been restored. Mitchell here are americans with some captured german pows. Americans like to wear the german helmets. They would send these things home and you would see them in museums, or up on ebay today. Allison they love souvenirs. 10,000 men at day coming to aid the war effort in world war i. Mitchell the americans did not have enough at the beginning of the war. But the british lent us the transport ships, otherwise, it would have taken a lot longer to get american troops over. Allison these ships are interesting. They are painted with dazzle camouflage, which was a technique that was used to make it harder for them to be hit. Mitchell this is the second battle of the marne, where the germans were stopped in their effort to get into paris. This would last pretty much through most of the summer. Allison these are the really the engagements where the americans are starting to jump in a lot more. You see places like Chateau Thierry become symbols of the american role in the first world war. And the fact that at the chateau today, there is a prominent american monument there. Susan you can see the conditions under which the troops advanced. Actually, earlier, mitch, you were suggesting these battlefields today are farm fields and they still find unexploded ordinances . Mitchell yes. It is miraculous that farmers are still able to use them and to grow, whether it is weak, or a lot of sugar beets. Wheat or sugar beets. Various still a lot of metal in the ground. Too often, farmers are maimed or killed when their plows go over ordinance. And then you have the Second World War going over some of the same ground. This landscape was really devastated. In the trench lines many of them , were not filled in. If you Wander Around some of the woods where the battlefields where you, you can find trench and barbed wires sticking up from the ground. These ghosts of the americans and the british and the germans and all of the combatants still very much there in the land. Mitchell these are interesting scenes where they are showing communications, which were actually quite sophisticated for their time. Wireless was used, but also signal corps wire was lead laid to be able to relay messages from the front to the rear, or vice versa. You would have runners would deliver messages, often they were native americans. And you had messages all the way to the back that were handled by u. S. Army signal corps female telephone operators known as the hello girls. Susan you can see that there is absolutely very little protection for the troops, firing repeatedly these weapons without any protection for their ears. We saw a soldier putting his fingers in his ears for protection. If you looked at their uniforms much, compared to the kinds of hightech equipment we have, how much protection do they provide for the soldiers . Mitchell not a whole lot. They were thin material. Especially for machine guns, it penetrated very easily. They did not have bulletproof vests. That is one of the reasons why casualties were so high. Im sure the metal on the helmets was nothing like we have today. Mitchell nothing like we have today. But it was certainly better. They developed throughout the war so they gave more protection. Here we see the pontoon bridges being developed that they could cross rivers very easily. Allison and the gas mask was a important part of the soldiers uniform. Usually you see them in the front of their uniforms so they could access them easily. Mitchell a good scene of a devastated french village. Americans would go through. Once it was occupied, they would use it for headquarters. Susan look at that destruction. Allison europe had been at war for several years before this. By the time the United States got there, there was really not much left of many of these parts of france and belgium. This is a mobile field kitchen, i believe. Here, they are sort of narrating the story of american engagements in the first world war. Mitchell going back to make sure equipment was in good order, lights were a huge problem. Lice were a huge problem. You can see the soldiers cleaning their uniforms, getting their hair cut. Susan shaved, actually. Allison yes. Delousing stations. And thats one of the things the soldiers write about in their letters, complaining about the lice, complaining about the poor conditions they were living in having wet feet. , here you see the Salvation Army and some of the women working with them, serving i , think that those were doughnuts. The women were famous as doughnut dollies come of serving for the troops, trying to give them a little enjoyment. Mitchell the Salvation Army also supplied paper. They encouraged soldiers to write letters home, which they did in droves. You could see that in various museums. The information and letters tens informative that because, again, they were , censored. If you mentioned something about, you know, 40 of the men in my platoon went out across this river, that probably would have been retracted. Susan this section is on the tremendous effort to resupply for the war. Mitchell it was tremendous, despite the fact the u. S. Got into the war late. Despite the fact that we had very little infrastructure to bring, built up tremendous we had base sections near various parts of the front where supplies came in on a daily basis, and were transported usually by rail at the front. Here, you see hot loaves of bread being baked and then they would have been shipped out to various areas on the frontline. Susan do you want to talk about general pershing as we go into this . Mitchell i think allison will agree with me on this. He was the ultimate commander for the americans. He was a goodlooking guy. He had a lot of experience. He was a micromanager. He had control over everything. For example, if you go to the National Archives and research, research aef records often , you will see little marks in the marginalia with his initials jjp. He read just about everything. Allison and pershing was really adamant that the americans would fight under american command. He did not want the entire army to be commanded by the british for the french. Mitchell here, they are talking about the first time a full American Army went on the offensive. This was the American First Army , which had been captured by the germans in 1914. Wanted thesperately americans to show what they could do as an independent army. Allison and the hill is the site of the memorial today that memorializes the service of the americans in the st. Mihiel offensive. And there is also a cemetery nearby where many of the men who served are buried. Susan one million shells fired in four hours. Mitchell its amazing. The germans suspected americans were in the area and there was going to be an attack. They did not exactly know when and where. They were starting to withdraw, but they were caught by surprise. These are french guns, 75s or 110s, that could hit the front of the lines or the rear area. And a lot of it was just morale, to shake up the troops on the other side. Allison one of the interesting things as you watch these artillery pieces, you can see they have automatic recoil. So, they go back on their own, as opposed to the earlier wars, people would have to move them physically. Mitchell here you see the wire, which is an important defensive structure on the western front. You have soldiers move forward first off, the artillery was supposed to break through the wire. Often it didnt. Then you would have troops on the front who would carry clippers with them and they would clip the way through. Allison very dangerous task. Mitchell jumpoff, which is a nother synonymous term for world war i, meaning leaving the trenches and heading forward. Susan wow mitchell through the wire. Allison you can see there is no cover there at all. Mitchell these were tanks that the french provided the americans. Although he was not in charge of the tank corps, the most famous tanker was george s. Patton. He fought prominently. Susan here again, there was no air force, this was the Army Air Corps . How significant was their contribution to the effort . Mitchell well, a really depended on the battle, as you can see it is often cloudy in northern france. Sometimes planes did not get up into the air because the cloud cover was so low. Bombing was in its infancy, but planes would have been used more for reconnaissance alerting the troops. The artillery where the enemy was, or where there was a large concentration of enemy trucks. They mentioned the barrage, the idea of the barrage was an artillery fire that provides some cover for the american troops. They would time it so the artillery would go ahead of the troops and move it forward. It did not always work out that way and you did have instances of friendly fire. Allison a lot of the battlefields we are seeing that the americans fought over in 1918 have been used already for years by the german and french before the United States got there. These are not just fresh fields. These have already been devastated. They have already seen battle. Many of these trenches are actually german trenches. Susan we talk about the advance of medical technology during world war i and the treatment of casualties. Allison they had a lot of sophisticated medical technology. The professionalization of nurses, physical therapists, and occupational therapists, really trying to expand the use of triage and bringing casualties out of the front lines to hospitals, then later base hospitals where they could get more sophisticated treatment. You had a lot of University Hospitals that would go over as a team. So you have skilled surgeons, doctors, and nurses that were used to working together and volunteer their services to go as a unit to europe. Susan a graphic showing the advance of the allied effort in that part of france. Mitchell saintmihiel was a complete success for the americans. All of their objectives were captured in one day on september 12th. This is the 13th, the next day where they are mopping up. This was a great morale boost for the americans. The other allied commanders were a little bit skeptical about the americans and how well they would do on their own. The fact that it was the American First Army under pershing leadership that drove the americans out. The mascot dogs were quite frequent. Two of the most famous were rags and sergeant stubby. This was a great morale booster. The only problem was, the next two weeks was going to be a greater offensive. Allison here you see some activity behind we saw the kitchen patrol, the doughboys interacting with french families, whoever is left. Susan and feeding the local populace. Mitchell there were hundreds of french villages that had been occupied by the germans and the americans liberated them. The french were so thankful. There were accounts of french living and sellers for months, not having enough food, water, heat. Susan and german pows. Mitchell they were used to bring wounded to the rear. They were brought to camps. They called them cages. Germans were allowed to read, watch theater, played Musical Instruments sports. , it really was not a bad situation once they were captured. Susan in addition to the allamerican offensive, this is one where the americans supported efforts by the allies. Mitchell they did. Primarily americans with support from the french, plus the air power used by the germans im sorry, by the italians in british and french. Here is a completely different theater, the socalled hindenburg line north of paris, where to american divisions have spent time with the british National Guard, the 27th and 30th. They would attack one of the strongest german defensive positions late in september. Susan complemented by the australians. Mitchell by the australian core, yes. The australians love the americans. They felt kinship to them. Allison looking at these roads, you get the sense of how much this landscape had to be manipulated to get anything across. The troop transports, trucks, pontoon bridges there was so much infrastructure and logistics that was just as much a part of world war i as the battlefields and trenches. Mitchell the canal is interesting. The tunnel itself was built by napoleon in the early 1800s. When the germans built their defensive system in 1917 and increased it in 1918, they used the tunnel for communications ability. Theres a massive structure that still stands today. Susan now we are going into americas greatest battle. Mitchell it ultimately would be 47 days and more than one million american troops, the largest concentration of american soldiers in our military history. Susan you know the number of losses . Mitchell roughly 26,000 americans died during the battle. Something like 100,000 were wounded. Susan and in the worst of conditions, it looks like. Mitchell if you have ever been to this part of france in the fall, the battle started on september 26. It rained almost every day. As allison pointed out, these roads had been used in previous battles numerous times. They were not in the best condition. You had engineers going out trying to fill in holes using lumber, stones from houses that had been decimated. Really, horses were the best way to get transportation to the front. Allison they had message traffic jams. Massive traffic jams. A lot of officers who are focused on how to get their men from one place to another. Mitchell this became an important part of the battle, transportation to the front, which ultimately bogged down for the americans. The americans had what they call a division, the main fighting force of almost 28,000 officers and men, that was twice the size of both the british and french and even the germans. Moving so many troops forward became a real problem. Susan can you imagine the job of being in a hot air balloon over an active battlefield . Allison no, and i really like how the film is showing these different technologies from the balloons to the airplanes. You sort of see the eclectic techniques used in the first world war. Mitchell here is american troops that are in french trenches, waiting for the initial jumpoff on the 26th. Can you imagine how nervous they must have been . Susan and these again are 18yearolds, 19 years old. Mitchell some of them had fought previously in the war, but a large majority had not seen service, or at least combat. Susan the first work to make night as hideous as the day. What are they saying here . Mitchell the artillery started around 1 00 a. M. , so thousands of guns lit up the night sky. Allison the artillery barrage was such an important part of preparing the battlefield for the soldiers to start advancing. Susan they give homage to the teutonic preparedness, the german warmaking ability. Mitchell they certainly were the best troops in world war i. But the americans, as this battle would prove, came of age and really became firstrate fighters. Had the battle not ended the way it did with an allied victory, the war would have gone on until probably 1919 and the americans would have been the main fighting force on that part of the front. Susan is this a credit to general pershing . Mitchell i think so. He is heavily criticized because of what we talked about before, the open warfare and throwing his troops piecemeal at the germans. But he felt that was the only way to break through. I agree, i think in reality, they learned how to use small tactics and get around some of the german positions. Allison and this footage here gives you a sense of the sheer size of the battlefield. Looking at these very early tanks moving forward with the troops behind them. These battlefields are of such a scale that today you cannot really go around them in one day on foot, you have to drive to see the amount of space that the troops were crossing over the series of days. Mitchell it is open country. You can see that very clearly today, just massive fields where you are exposed. The enemy, the germans, are on the high ground on ridges. It is amazing that any success happened. Susan the filmmakers continue to narrate the days of the battle. Again, 47 days in this one particular offensive. Mitchell they had no idea it was going to last that long. The other allied commanders, especially the french, thought it was going to go much longer, maybe as far as christmas before any breakthrough. 37 millimeter guns were smaller mobile artillery, kind of like mortars that were used for close range fighting. The enemy machine gun nests were a real detriment to the americans. The famous story of alvin york, who was able to capture 132 germans, most of them in machine gun nests in the argonne forest. Allison the americans are using french technology, weapons developed by other countries. Mitchell part of the other problem, you could see with all the smoke from the artillery, you had smoke plus fog plus rain. It was very difficult for soldiers to recognize where they were. Compasses, which they were given, did not always work. What happens is soldiers became separated from their units and often end up with other units or get captured. The scene they just showed, high ground in the area that was very important for the americans to capture, took two days. Once that was taken, it opened up a whole area the americans to advance and drove the germans from that particular part of the high ground. Allison i became a very iconic symbol of american progress, the argonne offensive, the site of a major memorial today. When you stand there, you can see the major benefits of capturing that hill. Susan american soldiers were referred to as doughboy . Mitchell thats right. Mitchell there is some question about where the nickname started. It is believed it dates back to the mexicanamerican war, when americans became covered in dust, they looked like the adobe houses in mexico. I have heard other explanations. Susan clearly an important battle, because this film take such pains to narrate the extent of it. Mitchell part of it is because it was the largest battle involving the americans. As we pointed out before, ultimately more than a million american troops. It became really the symbol of world war i for the americans. Even though it took 47 days in and there were massive casualties, the americans were able to break through the strong german positions, which forced the germans into an armistice. Had the americans not attacked in this area, it is hard to imagine that the war would have ended anytime soon. And it might have ended in favor of the germans. Susan c in c . Commander in chief. Mitchell yes, that is pershing. He went through a lot of pressure in battle. When things are not going well and into midoctober, the allied commanders were starting to call for his head and to have him sacked. He had also not only commanded the aes, but also the Tactical Unit first army. He recognized that was too much for him and steps down as first army commander. Again, having the dogs as a mascot. Allison you can see the conditions these men were living in for 47 days, out in the woods, rotating in and out, walking all these huge fields. It is quite a burden on the body to participate in a conflict like that. Susan more pows. Mitchell they were brought to the rear, and the germans were starting to surrender in droves. They recognized the war was coming to an end and many of them had been in this area for at least a couple, maybe three years. Susan there seem to be a lot of people standing around. Allison i think also most of these people have probably never seen a movie camera before. To see someone filming would have been something that was a little bit rare, probably very exciting, and they wanted to get in on the action of the film. I think you see that when you watch them waving at the camera. Mitchell the decorations there were three main decorations during the war. The highest honor was the medal of honor. Next to that was the distinguished service cross, probably what general pershing is placing on the soldiers. Then there was the distinguished service medal. The silver star and purple heart were also awarded to world war i soldiers, but not until later on in the 1930s. They were made retroactive. So that is interesting. To see a lion in the front lines. Allison there were all sorts of animals and different mascots that the doughboys had. They would take these and other animals from the farms, but you could see a playful side of the doughboys as well. Mitchell knights of columbus providing welfare, similar to Salvation Army. You had entertainers who came over. The most famous was elsie janice, a stage and film star from new york, who came with her mom to entertain troops in the british sector. Susan i was wondering if these are men. Mitchell these are men, yes. Some of the new york soldiers have their own troop of actors. Allison a famous film director who did a lot of films in the 1930s, actually did entertainment overseas during world war i with the army. Mitchell dont forget about the influenza epidemic, which was in its second wave during this battle, which devastated the troops. Talking about doctors the best doctors were brought over from the u. S. Civilians, especially on the east coast, were suffering because there were not enough doctors. So many of them are in the army at this point. Allison looking at the footage, you can get a much better sense of how the influenza epidemic spread so quickly in conditions like this. Mitchell wet and damp. Allison not a lot of hygiene, a lot of people close together for long periods of time. Mitchell we mentioned before about the gas. Often gas, once detonated, would stay on whatever plants were alive or on the ground because of the dampness and soldiers would get impacted, even much later on. Susan making the case of how they had to build the roads as they went along. Allison exactly. You can see the struggles they are having, trying to push whatever kind of vehicle that is probably stuck in the mud. Mitchell moving what looks like artillery forward. Allison in world war i, they would rotate the troops out so that you had troops going behind the line to communications trenches, to frontline trenches, so you would not get them as wornout. It did not always work as intended, but that was the main goal. Mitchell for the most part, soldiers moved on foot. If they were going really long distances, they were transported by motor vehicle, often driven by indochinese drivers, who are led by the french. Susan you just wonder how they had energy to fight between the long distances they walked, the trenches and roads they build, then actually fight the battle. Mitchell that is a good point. Exhaustion mustve been terrible. You see planes leaving from the aerodromes. Susan these are biplanes. Do you know anything about the models used in the war . Mitchell theyre must be french mostly french models used by the americans. Susan now strongly reinforced enemy. Mitchell by the early part of october, the germans had brought up a number of divisions. They were really holding their ground against the americans. The battle was starting to fall apart. I talked a little bit before about how pershing had to regroup. Really it started in late september, early october, where the germans were preventing the americans from moving forward. Susan it really is quite stunning to look at these battle scenes between the germans, americans, french, and british and to think what strong allies we all are today. Allison that is the most interesting things about looking back at these films. You can see the progression of history, but the people fighting in these wars did not know what was going to happen. Today, we have a very sort of privileged way of looking back at it. Mitchell this is really the beginnings of coalition warfare. Susan could you speak more about that . Mitchell today, we have nato. It is not unusual for american troops and french troops and troops from all other countries fighting together, analogous to the war against terrorism. But world war i, on a large scale aces, the first time that americans, french, and even british joined together and fought on the same battlefield and served under each others armies. Best sort of thing. That sort of thing. Susan when you look at the extreme conditions these people fought under, today we are familiar with the terms of being shellshocked and having ptsd. We did not know much about that at the time. But imagine what their reentry was like after these kinds of battles. Allison it was very difficult, and i think a lot of people did recognize, even if they did not know what to call it or how to treat it. That is why you saw many veterans struggling after the war. Especially when the Great Depression hit the u. S. , many of them struggled even more. Mitchell the previous scene showed a Field Hospital in a church, a famous scene. I believe that was an area where there was heavy fighting between the first and 35th division. Here you see the rebuilding of a bridge across a strategically important river. Susan once again, you get a sense of the distances these armies had to go to gauge in battles. To engage in these battles. Susan and the danger of transporting troops across open fields. Mitchell the whole argonne was about 34 miles, which is quite large. Allison many of the rows are roads are very similar today. If you go to the battlefields and drive along them, you can follow closely maps that were created for the battlefields in the 1920s and 1930s. It is interesting to compare those landscapes. Susan so much as the American Civil War battles are preserved, the world war i battlefields are preserved in france . Allison yes and no. In the american sectors, they are a lot less traveled and a lot less visitors, so it is more untouched. In other sectors where the french and british had a famous battles, they are preserved a little bit more in ways that are that we are familiar with as tourist spots. Would you agree, mitch . Mitchell i would. The marines were fighting in june of 1918, and the American Battle Monuments Commission has done a good job of turning a battlefield into a civil war type battlefield, where they have markers and artillery guns, so you can get a sense. But by and large if you visit the battlefields today, you have to use your imagination. And a good map to find out where the lines were, where the fighting was. Susan what happened to the french villagers displaced by these battles . I am sure many lost their lives. Where did they go, how were they given care and comfort . Allison some of them never returned. Although some villagers did return and some left for shelter, you could see many of these villages were wiped out with maybe only women and children left. Today, there are even remnants of villages that were never restored. Mitchell a lot of the french, as the germans started coming in, either vacated or went to Southern France to get away from the war zone. Unfortunately, some were captured and use as civilian labor by the germans some even , brought to germany. Here, it points out that finally the americans have broken through. It is the end of october, beginning of november. Behind the scenes, the germans are negotiating an armistice based on president wilsons 14 points. They know that the war is pretty much done. But theyre not ending it, not willing to give up unless they can get some sort of say in the peace discussion. So really, the fighting continues. Despite the fact that the americans are overwhelming the germans they are still fighting , back and it continues to be high casualties. Susan here they are talking about the french villagers. Allison right. Of course, these look like older men, women, families, people who have gone through a lot. Susan this is now late october 1918 . Mitchell probably, the second phase. We are talking about the third week in october. Susan an armistice eventually declared november 11. Mitchell november 11. The Main Objective was a city important to the french, because they had lost it during the francoprussian war. Here they are talking about the november 11 armistice, which as it points out, is a ceasefire, not necessarily a surrender. Allison you can see the joy on the soldiers faces. Mitchell they were still fighting up until the last minute, which meant soldiers were dying, even though they knew there would be an armistice. Susan did all fighting stopped on the 11th . Mitchell some of it lingered because word did not reach. There is general pershing. That was clemens it was very , who was very critical of the americans for the most part, but there he was extremely happy. Allison these are french followed by americans in the background. People have been drawn through this horrible war and were so devastated and brutalized, the joy is almost difficult to imagine what their feelings must have been at the time. Mitchell there is american troops at the arc de triomphe parading triumphantly through paris. It took a while for the americans to come back home. Really it wasnt until early 1919 before they had enough troop transportation to get them back to the u. S. Where there were massive parades in pretty much every city that welcomed the troops back home. Susan lets end where we began. The war is over, troops are coming home, what is americas reaction to what happened . Mitchell it is interesting you bring that up. At first, it is very much a joy to see the troops come over. Newspapers are posting special editions. There are parades everywhere. But slowly as the troops come home, a lot of them dont want to talk about the war. Those that were in combat, especially in the argonne, and saw such horrible fighting and decimation, they dont want to talk about it. They just want to get back into civilian society. Slowly the americans start to forget about the war. Even as they are trying to think about it, you have other things going on. You have the volstead act eventually, prohibition. The country has changed significantly. But so many of the soldiers just didnt want to talk about war. They did not write about it until much later on, unlike the civil war, where you had soldiers writing their accounts in various magazines. Allison many of these soldiers and Service Members really struggled to adjust back to life in the u. S. When the war was over. It is interesting because it was wholy world war i veterans crafted the g. I. Bill that would help world war ii veterans readjust better. You see the men and women who supported them learning from their experience and seeing the tragedies they witnessed and trying to figure out better ways for the next generations of the military to cope with them. Susan our thanks to Allison Finkelstein and Mitchell Yockelson for this this rare footage shot by members of the Army Signal Corps during actual battle in world war i that we have been able to bring to you today on reel america on American History tv. Mitchell thank you. Allison thank you so much. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] a century ago on april 6, 1917, congress voted to declare war on germany and enter world war i. More than 4 million american men and women eventually served in uniform, and more than 100,000 died. Next, we work the 100th anniversary. We traveled to the National World war i museum and memorial in kansas city, missouri, to state speak with authors and historians about the u. S. Role in what has been called the great war. We learned about the creation of the memorial to honor those who this is about two and a half hours. 100 years ago on april 6, 19 17, president Woodrow Wilson signed a declaration of war against germany, entering the United States into world war i. More than 4 million american men and women would serve in uniform, and more than 100,000 americans died in the conflict. The influx of u. S. Resources change the tide of the global war, bringing it to a close on november 11, 1918. To mark the 100th anniversary of what was then known as the great war, American History tv is live from the National World