Above: Sarajevo, 28 June 1914. A postcard shows Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife Sophie descending the steps of Sarajevo's city hall to their waiting carriage. Source: Wikimedia Commons.
Forget dusty books
and muddy photographs -- with a few clicks of your mouse, you can see the newsreels that your great-grandparents once watched at
their neighborhood nickelodeon.
Better still: These flicks
won't cost you a nickel. More than
90,000 newsreels are available for free viewing at the British Pathé
home page, here.
British
Pathé -- an English branch of the French Pathé Frêres firm
that practically invented the news reel in 1908 -- has parked its entire film
library online and made many classic clips downloadable, in what may be
one of the most generous gestures of good will toward the general public in
film history.
These short and
digestible news films cover not only military and political events from 1910
to 1970, but also the Hollywood movie stars, pop musicians, sports heroes and
fashion models of their day.
While Pathé News photographers clearly enjoyed capturing the follies and frolics of London
and Paris in the pre-War years, they really had to prove their chops and
personal bravery in 1914. As the machinery of war began grinding into action, Pathé photographers began travelling
to war zones and cranking their cameras in the muddy, shell-torn battlefields
at Liege, the Ardennes, Tannenberg, the Marnes, Ypres and Aisne.
For history students,
these pictures put a human face on the war and bring its opening salvos into
vivid focus -- sometimes in grisly and shocking detail.
Above: German troops in Belgium
Parades, speeches,
war protests, troops waving goodbye, U-boats sinking steamships, dough boys
running in trenches, orphans huddled in bomb shelters, corpses strewn by the
sides of roads in France, biplanes in dogfights, exploding Zeppelins -- they're
all yours for the viewing, provided you have the time to watch 90,000 of them.
Viewing Guidelines
To guide school
groups and amateur historians through this sometimes confusing maze of
celluloid, Pathé’s
home page
provides
an easy-to-use search engine and
has divided its treasure trove into roughly chronological categories and galleries, covering the years
1890 to 2011.
As the 100th
anniversary of the war approaches, writers and historians will probably be most
keen to view British Pathé's “WWI – The Definitive
Collection” page here.
Scattered gems may
also be found on its 1914 page, here, its 1914 to 1918 page
here,
its First World War page,
here,
its “Selected Footage of
World War I” page
or its First World War
archive
blog.
Unfortunately, these
World War I pages are a bit of a mash-up, and they don’t always list events in
the actual order of occurrence.
For the convenience
of those who want to study the events of 1914 roughly in order, then, here is an illustrated chronology of the top headlines of 1914, hyperlinked to relevant
Wikipedia articles and placed side-by-side with interesting results from the Pathé search engine:
Chronology of Events in 1914
Above: Ford Assembly Line, 1913
JANUARY
FEBRUARY
February 1: The New York Giants and Chicago White Sox play exhibition games in England and, believe it or not, Egypt.
February 16: First plane flight from Los Angeles to San
Francisco
Newsreel: “Britannic
1914” The steamship Britannic
gets a new funnel
Above: Britannic Postcard, 1914 Source: Wikimedia Commons
MARCH
March 14: Serbia and Turkey sign a peace accord
March 22: World's first airline is launched, with
flights from Tampa to St. Petersburg, FL
April 4: The Perils of Pauline, a silent film
serial featuring Pearl White as a damsel in
distress, opens in Los Angeles
April 20: James Duffy of Canada wins the
18th Boston Marathon . Below: Duffy training in Hamilton, Ontario, ca. 1912.
April 20: Ludlow Massacre: The Colorado National Guard, urged to break up a strike, sets fire to a tent city of 1,200 coal miners, killing at least 25, including two
women and 11 children.
April 22: Mexico ends diplomatic relations with the
United States
April 28: 181 die in a coal mine collapse at Eccles,
WV
Above: A British Suffragette, ca. 1910
MAY
May 6: The British House of Lords rejects women's suffrage
May 8: Paramount Pictures is formed
Above: "The Sketchers" (1914) by John Singer Sargent (1856 - 1925)
May 29: The RMS Empress of
Ireland
collides in the early-morning fog with a Norwegian collier ship, the SS Storstad, and sinks in the
St. Lawrence River. Carrying 1,477 passengers, the ship is swallowed in 14 minutes. 1,012 die.
May 30: RMS Aquitania, weighing in at 45,647 tons, sails
on her maiden voyage from Liverpool to New York City.
May 30: René Thomas wins the 1914 Indianapolis 500
Above: René Thomas, Saturday 30 May 1914, at the Indianapolis 500.
Source: Wikimedia Commons
JUNE
June 6: First airplane flight outside of sight of
land (Scotland to Norway)
June 27: Jack Johnson beats Frank Moran for World heavyweight boxing title
Newsreel: "The Noble Art - Army Boxing Part 1" (1914-1918)
Newsreel: "The Noble Art - Army Boxing Part 1" (1914-1918)
June 28: Serbian Gavrilo Princip assassinates the Archduke of Austria,
Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie, Duchess of
Hohenberg,
at Sarajevo.
Newsreel: “Over By Christmas” (1914)
Below: A mugshot of the assassin Gavrilo Princip, who was later identified as a member of "The Black Hand" -- a secret military society formed in 1901 by the Serbian Army. By 1914 the Black Hand was no longer operating under its original charter, but under direct control of Serbian military intelligence.
Above: A contemporary illustration of the assassination at Sarajevo.
Below: A mugshot of the assassin Gavrilo Princip, who was later identified as a member of "The Black Hand" -- a secret military society formed in 1901 by the Serbian Army. By 1914 the Black Hand was no longer operating under its original charter, but under direct control of Serbian military intelligence.
June 28: The July Crisis begins: Austria threatens Serbia
with war and invasion. Russia responds by offering to back Serbia (a long-time ally). Austrians suspect the Russian military attache's office was aware of the assassination plot prior to June 14.
June 29: Anti-Serb rioting breaks out in the streets of Sarajevo. Below: Aftermath of the Sarajevo attacks. Photo Source: Wikimedia Commons.
June 29: Anti-Serb rioting breaks out in the streets of Sarajevo. Below: Aftermath of the Sarajevo attacks. Photo Source: Wikimedia Commons.
Newsreel: “Gandhi” (1922) at a Congress rally in India
Above: A commemorative postage stamp, issued in 1917, features the Archduke and Archduchess of Austria. Source: Wikimedia Commons.
Below: A map of "The United States of Greater Austria," designed by Aurel Popovici in 1906, clearly illustrates the territorial ambitions of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his family, the Habsburg dynasty. The Archduke was the presumptive heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary at the time of his assassination. When Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria died on 21 November 1916, Franz Ferdinand's brother, Karl Franz Joseph, became the new emperor.
Above: A commemorative postage stamp, issued in 1917, features the Archduke and Archduchess of Austria. Source: Wikimedia Commons.
Below: A map of "The United States of Greater Austria," designed by Aurel Popovici in 1906, clearly illustrates the territorial ambitions of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his family, the Habsburg dynasty. The Archduke was the presumptive heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary at the time of his assassination. When Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria died on 21 November 1916, Franz Ferdinand's brother, Karl Franz Joseph, became the new emperor.
JULY
July 5: Germany offers to help Austria fight Russia
July 17: New York Giants outfielder Red Murray is knocked unconscious by lighting
after catching a fly ball, ending a game that ran for 21 innings
July 18: The U.S. Army establishes the Army Air Service as a wing of its Signal Corps. The Aeronautical Division became a component of the U.S. Army Signal Corps on 1 August 1907 and operated at Ft. Myer, VA until 18 July 1914. In 1913, the United States had a total of 18 pilots and 31 aircraft.
Below: The Wright Military Flyer arrives at Ft. Myer in 1908.
Below: The Wright Military Flyer arrives at Ft. Myer in 1908.
July 23: Austria-Hungary issues a war ultimatum to
Serbia
July 26 - 28: First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill, orders an armada of
British warships, known as “The Grand Fleet,” to rendezvous at Scapa Flow
July 27 – 31: Great Stock Market Crisis of 1914: U.S. Secretary
of Treasury William McAdoo, alarmed that Europeans are rapidly withdrawing huge sums of gold from U.S. banks, abruptly shuts down the Wall Street stock market, and keeps
it closed for four months
Below: William Gibbs McAdoo, 46th Secretary of the Treasury and an "ex-officio" member of the first Federal Reserve Board (1914).
Below: William Gibbs McAdoo, 46th Secretary of the Treasury and an "ex-officio" member of the first Federal Reserve Board (1914).
July 28: A new dance craze called the Fox Trot begins with a show by Harry Fox and the Dolly Sisters at the New Amsterdam Theatre’s Roof Garden, New
York.
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July 30: Austria and Russia announce general
mobilization of troops
July 30: French troops mobilize and move to 10 km
from German border
Newsreel: “Mobilisation
1914 – The Call to Arms” 1914-1918
Newsreel: “Mobilisation”
(August 1914) a French crowd at the railway station
August 2: Belgium receives a German war ultimatum
August 2: Great Britain announces mobilization
August 3: Belgium rejects demand for free
crossing by the German Army
August 3: Germany invades Belgium, declares war on
France
August 3: Great Britain declares war on Germany
Newsreel: “Crowds at Trafalgar
Square and Stock Exchange” (August 1914) Londoners wait to hear declaration of
war.
August 4: Germany declares war on Belgium
August 4: German troops burn the Belgian village of Battice, shooting local
priests
Newsreel: "Anti-German Riots" (1914) Aftermath of attacks on German-owned shops
Newsreel: "Anti-German Riots" (1914) Aftermath of attacks on German-owned shops
Newsreels: Lord Kitchener (15 films)
.jpg)
Above: A famous "Lord Kitchener Wants You" poster that later appeared in the 5 September 1914 London Opinion magazine. Source: Wikimedia Commons.
Newsreel: “England Answers the
Call”
(1914 or 1915) Brits answer Lord Kitchener’s call to form a huge volunteer army
Above: A famous "Lord Kitchener Wants You" poster that later appeared in the 5 September 1914 London Opinion magazine. Source: Wikimedia Commons.
August 5: The U.S. and Nicaragua sign a treaty
granting canal rights to the United States
August 6: The French cavalry enter Belgium
August 6: German Zeppelins bomb the city of Liege, Belgium, killing 9. The first German Zeppelin raids on England begin several months later, in January 1915.
Newsreel: “Tribute to General
Leman”
(1920) by citizens of Liege
.jpg)
Above: Zeppelin LZ13 Hansa (1912), one of three commercial Zeppelins that were requisitioned by the German air force in 1914 and converted into attack aircraft. Most of Germany's Zeppelins were built by DELAG, the Deutsche Luftschiffahrts-Aktiengesellschaft (the "German Airship Travel Corporation").
Above: Zeppelin LZ13 Hansa (1912), one of three commercial Zeppelins that were requisitioned by the German air force in 1914 and converted into attack aircraft. Most of Germany's Zeppelins were built by DELAG, the Deutsche Luftschiffahrts-Aktiengesellschaft (the "German Airship Travel Corporation").
Above: U-boat sinking a troop transport ship, by Willy Stower (1864-1931).
Source: Wikimedia Commons
August 11: France declares war on Austria-Hungary
August 12: Great Britain declares war on
Austria-Hungary
August 15: Germans bomb and assault Dinant, Belgium; Lt. Charles de Gaulle is injured.
A German bombing raid (1917). Source: Wikimedia Commons.
August 15: Japan joins the side of the allies.
Newsreel: "Japan in the First World War" Page (9 films)
Newsreel: "Japan in the First World War" Page (9 films)
August 15: Architect Frank Lloyd Wright's living quarters at
Taliesen are burned to the
ground and seven people murdered there by a deranged male servant
August 19: The German fleet bombards the British coast
August 20: The German Army captures Brussels, Belgium
Newsreel: "Belgian Retreat" (1914) Belgian refugees
Newsreel: "Belgian Retreat" (1914) Belgian refugees
August 21: A French offensive begins in the Ardennes / Sambre
Newsreels: "WWI Western Front" Page (43 films)
Newsreels: "WWI Western Front" Page (43 films)
September 5 -12: At the First Battle of the
Marne:
French and British forces successfully defend Paris and wreck Germany’s Schlieffen Plan for a “lightning
war” or quick victory.
Newsreel: "Battle of Marne - French Troops" (1916)
Newsreel: "Battle of Marne - French Troops" (1916)
September 8: The HMS Oceanic, sister ship of the Titanic, runs aground and sinks off Scotland. First Officer Charles Lightroller (also the most senior officer to survive the Titanic sinking) was the last man off the Oceanic.
Newsreels: "Requisitioned Liners: Olympic, Britannic, Rohilla and Carmania" Page (9 films)
Newsreels: "Requisitioned Liners: Olympic, Britannic, Rohilla and Carmania" Page (9 films)
September 18: Gen. Paul Ludwig Hans Anton von Beneckendorf und von Hindenberg, having led the
German victory at Tannenberg, becomes commander
of Germany’s Eastern Front.
Below: Gen. Hindenburg (1847 - 1934) later became Germany's president from 1925 to 1934. Photo Source: Wikimedia Commons.
Below: Gen. Hindenburg (1847 - 1934) later became Germany's president from 1925 to 1934. Photo Source: Wikimedia Commons.
September 22: A German submarine designated U-9 sinks 3 British ironclads, HMS Aboukir, HMS Cressy and HMS Hogue, the “Live Bait Squadron.”. 1,459 die
October 5: The first aerial combats of World War I take
place
Newsreels: WWI Aerial Warfare Page (31 films)
Newsreel: "Battle Planes" (1914)
Newsreel: "Home of the Penguins" (1914) Women RAF motorbike and car drivers at work
Newsreels: WWI Aerial Warfare Page (31 films)
Newsreel: "Battle Planes" (1914)
Newsreel: "Home of the Penguins" (1914) Women RAF motorbike and car drivers at work
October 15: The Battle of the Vistula
River
(Hindenberg’s first attempt to capture Warsaw) begins on the Eastern Front. It
ends November 1 with a Russian victory.
October 31: Great Britain and France declare war on
Turkey
NOVEMBER
November 7: Japan attacks German allies at Shanghai
November 23: The U.S. Army retreats from Mexico
November 28: The New York Stock Exhcange re-opens for
bond trading
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Above: Cover art for Irving Berlin's Broadway hit Watch Your Step
DECEMBER
December 5: The Italian Parliament declares the
neutrality of Italy
December 8: Irving Berlin musical Watch Your Step premieres
Above: Vernon and Irene Castle, the stars of Irving Berlin's musical Watch Your Step, demonstrate their version of the "no touch tango." This photo is from their 1914 book Modern Dancing. In the stage production of Watch Your Step they refined and popularized the Foxtrot. Photo Source: Wikimedia Commons.
December 10: The French government, having evacuated in September, returns to Paris
December 12: Wall Street Crashes: The Dow Jones drops by
24 percent in one day
December 23: Australian and New Zealand troops arrive in
Cairo
December 24: German planes bomb Dover, England
December 25: British and German troops spontaneously declare a legendary
one-day Christmas Truce. They meet in "No Man's Land" to talk, exchange gifts, sing carols and play a few games of football before going back to the war.
BOOKS
For book-lovers who
wish there were a companion volume to go along with these British Pathé news reels, the following ebook
from Project Gutenberg (also free on Amazon.com in Kindle format) may be of
interest.
The New York Times
"Current History" provides an excellent collection of newspaper articles,
speeches and letters that present the original propaganda (sales pitch) given
to the public as events unfolded. Here, in the bombastic style of the period, the
German, Austrian, French, British and Russian ministers who started the war try
to explain why it had to happen.
Those who fancy something
much, much more dramatic and absorbing must run, not walk, to their local
library and check out Barbara Tuchman's Pulitzer Prize-winning masterpiece The Guns of August:
The Outbreak of World War I (New York: Random House, 1962), a book
selected by Modern Library as “one of the 100 best nonfiction books ever
written.”
President John F.
Kennedy once called The Guns of August his favorite book: He said its
insights helped him to avoid World War III during the Cuban Missile crisis.
Apparently one can
learn something from World War I after all.
Sources
Historical Events for
Year 1914
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