The World Wars

male narrator: OVER A 30-YEAR PERIOD,

MORE THAN 100 MILLION PEOPLE WILL DIE

IN THE BLOODIEST CONFLICT THE WORLD HAS EVER SEEN.

BUT IT ALL BEGAN

IN THE SLUMS OF VIENNA.

[thundAT AGE 25,

AND ASPIRING ARTIST

STRUGGLING TO SURVIVE.

BOTH HIS PARENTS ARE DEAD...

LEAVING HITLER TRULY ALONE IN THE WORLD.

HE WAS A LOST SOUL.

HE WANTED TO BE AN ARTIST,

BUT HE COULDN'T GET INTO THE ART SCHOOL,

AND HE ENDED UP LIVING IN A FLOPHOUSE.

narrator: LEFT WITHOUT ANY MEANS OF SUPPORT,

HIS ONLY WAY TO MAKE MONEY IS SELLING PAINTINGS AROUND TOWN

FOR NEXT TO NOTHING.

- HITLER DIDN'T HAVE A PLAN B WHEN HE WAS REJECTED.

HE JUST DIDN'T KNOW WHAT TO DO.

SO HE STARTED TO DRIFT.

HE HAD VERY LITTLE MONEY.

HE WAS LIVING IN A HAND-TO-MOUTH EXISTENCE.

HE HAD NO CLEAR AIM IN LIFE AT ALL.

HE WAS, IN A SENSE, WAITING FOR SOMETHING TO HAPPEN.

narrator: BEFORE LONG,

A CHANCE EVENT 450 MILES AWAY

WILL CHANGE EVERYTHING.

JUNE 28, 1914.

AN ASSASSIN TAKES DOWN THE ARCHDUKE OF AUSTRIA-HUNGARY.

THE MURDER IGNITES A DEADLY CONFLICT

THAT QUICKLY ERUPTS INTO WAR.

FROM THE TANGLE OF ALLIANCES

TWO SIDES EMERGE.

BRITAIN, FRANCE, AND RUSSIA

BECOME KNOWN AS THE ALLIES,

WHILE AUSTRIA-HUNGARY, GERMANY, AND THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE

FORM THE CENTRAL POWERS.

FILLED WITH PATRIOTIC SENSE OF URGENCY,

MEN ON BOTH SIDES RUSH TO JOIN THE FIGHT.

FOR HITLER, IT'S THE OPPORTUNITY HE'S BEEN WAITING FOR.

HE QUICKLY RUSHES TO ENLIST.

- HE TRIED OUT FOR THE AUSTRIAN ARMY.

HE FAILED THE PHYSICAL.

HE WASN'T CONSIDERED STRONG ENOUGH TO CARRY A RIFLE.

narrator: REJECTED BY HIS OWN COUNTRY,

HITLER TURNS TO THE GERMANY ARMY

WHO'S ACCEPTING ALMOST ANYONE

AS THEY WORKED TO BUILD THE LARGEST FIGHTING FORCE

IN THE WORLD.

GERMANY HAS FINALLY GIVEN HITLER

A PLACE TO BELONG.

- I THINK THAT THE DECISION TO ENTER THE MILITARY

FOR MOST PEOPLE IS NOT A DECISION TO SERVE.

IT MAY BE IN A VERY GENERAL SENSE,

BUT IT'S MORE OFTEN

BECAUSE SOMETHING ELSE IS MOTIVATING YOU.

ZWEI!

DREI!

VIER!

narrator: THROUGHOUT AUGUST OF 1914,

HITLER TRAINS AS A PRIVATE IN THE GERMAN ARMY.

- WELL, THE GERMAN ARMY WAS CONSIDERED

TO BE THE FINEST ARMY IN THE WORLD.

IT WAS A MASSIVE FORCE--

WELL EQUIPPED, WELL TRAINED,

AND VERY WELL LED,

AND HITLER WAS SWEPT AWAY.

BEING PART OF THE GERMAN ARMY

WAS SOMETHING THAT HITLER DEEPLY LOVED.

narrator: THE STRUCTURE OF TRAINING TRANSFORMS HITLER

INTO A DEVOUT GERMAN SOLDIER.

HITLER JOINS 1 1/2 MILLION GERMANS

MARCHING TOWARDS THE FRENCH BORDER

AND THE UNIFIED ALLIED FORCES.

IN THE HISTORY OF WARFARE,

ARMIES THIS LARGE HAVE NEVER MET IN COMBAT.

6,000 MILES AWAY,

AMERICA HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE WAR IN EUROPE.

THEY'RE IN THEIR OWN WAR

WITH PANCHO VILLA.

THE MEXICAN REVOLUTIONARY

IS CARRYING OUT VIOLENT ATTACKS ON U.S. CITIZENS

ALONG THE SOUTHWESTERN BORDER.

BUT HE GOES TOO FAR.

VILLA AND HIS MEN SEIZE AN AMERICAN MINING TRAIN,

BRUTALLY KILLING 16 INNOCENT AMERICANS,

LEAVING THE U.S. MILITARY NO CHOICE

BUT TO TAKE ACTION.

NEARLY 5,000 AMERICAN TROOPS CROSS THE MEXICAN BORDER

TO TAKE DOWN VILLA.

BUT FIGHTING A GUERRILLA FORCE WITH A TRADITIONAL ARMY

IS NEXT TO IMPOSSIBLE.

ONE ARMY CAPTAIN IS DETERMINED TO FIND A DIFFERENT WAY.

HIS NAME IS GEORGE S. PATTON.

- PATTON'S ANCESTORS FOUGHT IN THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR;

THEY FOUGHT IN THE CIVIL WAR.

HE GREW UP WANTING TO BE A MILITARY HERO.

HE HAS A REPUTATION FOR BEING SMART, TOUGH,

AND FOR BEING RUTHLESS.

AND HE HAS ANOTHER QUALITY THAT'S ESSENTIAL

IN MILITARY LEADERSHIP.

HE UNDERSTANDS THE POWER OF TECHNOLOGY,

AND HE DOESN'T WANT TO FIGHT WITH CAVALRY AND WITH HORSES.

HE'S LOOKING FOR NEW TECHNOLOGY

THAT WILL CHANGE THE NATURE OF THE BATTLEFIELD.

SO THE CAR IS FAIRLY NEW.

IF YOU STRAP A GUN TO A CAR,

YOU'VE GOT A NEW INSTRUMENT OF WARFARE.

narrator: WHAT PATTON DOESN'T KNOW

IS THAT HE'S ABOUT TO REVOLUTIONIZE WARFARE.

- I THINK PATTON KNEW ONLY ONE DIRECTION,

AND THAT WAS FORWARD.

HE HAD A LOT OF CHARISMA.

HE WAS A VERY COLORFUL LEADER.

I THOUGHT HE WAS VERY EGOTISTICAL,

AND THAT'S FINE AS LONG AS YOU TRANSLATE THAT

INTO GOOD LEADERSHIP.

BUT MAYBE A LITTLE BIT OVER THE TOP.

narrator: ALMOST IMMEDIATELY,

PATTON IS ABLE TO PUT HIS PLAN INTO ACTION...

AND HE LAUNCHES A SURPRISE RAID ON PANCHO VILLA'S CAMP.

FASTER!

GOT 'EM ON THE RUN. GO!

FASTER!

GET DOWN!

LET'S GO, LET'S GO!

narrator: THE BANDITS ARE NO MATCH

FOR PATTON AND HIS MOBILE ARMY,

AND BY THE END OF THE FIGHT,

THREE OF VILLA'S MEN HAVE BEEN KILLED,

INCLUDING HIS SECOND-IN-COMMAND.

THE FIRST USE OF MOTORIZED WARFARE

BY THE UNITED STATES ARMY

IS A HUGE SUCCESS,

AND FOR PATTON,

IT'S THE FIRST STEP IN HIS RISE TO GREATNESS.

HALF A WORLD AWAY,

TWO MASSIVE ARMIES COLLIDE ON THE BATTLEFIELD...

IN THE FIRST MAJOR WAR WITH MODERN TECHNOLOGY.

WHEN YOU LOOK AT WORLD WAR I,

IT'S ABOUT MACHINE GUNS, AND, YOU KNOW,

ALL OF THESE SORTS OF NEW KILLING MECHANISMS.

IT'S THE BEGINNING OF THE 20TH CENTURY AS A TECH ERA.

THIS IS NOT MEN ON HORSEBACK ANYMORE.

THIS IS A MOTORIZED WAR.

narrator: THE ADVANCED WEAPONRY TURNS THE CONFLICT

INTO A SLAUGHTER.

230 MEN ARE KILLED EACH HOUR--

ONE DEATH EVERY 15 SECONDS.

REALLY THE MACHINE GUN

THEY FOUND IF THEY DUG EVEN SHALLOW TRENCHES

AND USED MACHINE GUNS,

A SMALL NUMBER OF TROOPS

COULD STOP A LARGE ATTACKING FORCE.

AND THEN BOTH SIDES STARTED TO DIG TRENCHES.

AND SO THEY WERE LOCKED ALONG THIS LINE, THE WESTERN FRONT,

WHICH WAS THIS EXTRAORDINARILY COMPLEX SET OF TRENCHES

THAT DIDN'T MOVE VERY MUCH EITHER WAY.

narrator: THE TRENCHES COVER 25,000 MILES.

LAID END TO END,

THEY WOULD CIRCLE THE GLOBE.

THE AREA BETWEEN THE TRENCHES IS SO DEADLY,

IT'S KNOWN...

AS NO-MAN'S-LAND.

AMONG THE GERMAN SOLDIERS

STATIONED IN THE TRENCHES ALONG THE WESTERN FRONT

IS ADOLF HITLER.

BUT EVEN AFTER MONTHS ON THE FRONT LINES,

HITLER'S STILL SEEN AS AN OUTCAST.

- HITLER WAS REGARDED BY THE OTHER TROOPS

AS SOMETHING OF A LONER,

SOMETHING OF A RATHER PECULIAR ECCENTRIC PERSON

WHO KEPT TO HIMSELF.

narrator: BUT WHAT HITLER LACKS IN POPULARITY

HE MAKES UP FOR IN BLIND AMBITION.

RUNNER!

COMMAND WANTS THIS TAKEN TO THE 3RD BATTALION.

NOW! - YES, SIR.

HITLER'S ROLE AS A MESSENGER

WAS ACTUALLY CONSIDERED PERHAPS THE MOST DANGEROUS TASK

IN TRENCH WARFARE--

RUNNING FROM TRENCH TO TRENCH, EXPOSING HIMSELF TO ENEMY FIRE.

THE MORTALITY RATE FOR MESSENGERS

WAS QUITE SIGNIFICANT.

PULL BACK!