The Guns of August

Fritz Weaver relentlessly narrates the First World War, from the death of Edward VII of England through its conclusion with thirty-seven million dead, wounded, and missing. Based on Barbara Tuchman's book of the same name, it tells a tale of men of position and power confronted with situations they could not believe possible. From Austria-Hungary, granted everything in their ultimatum to Serbia, going to war regardless, through impeccably smooth operations of long-laid war plans, through the German belief that publishing their intentions to violate treaties believing this gave them sanction to do so, through a Belgian defense that destroyed those plans, through nations that had been screaming against war going unhesitating into battle, through men who had been retreating for ten days turning around onto the offensive, this movie chronicles those imbecilities. Men secure in their power were suddenly thrust into situations in which that power vanished. It was the end of the 19th Century, and the beginning of a 20th Century in which the old world vanished and a new, harsher world began.

More than a hundred years later, we are still living with the turmoil of those stupidities. Maybe it was a stupid world that got us into that fix. What have we done to repair it?

I was impressed with all the authentic films of World War I. It's a Who's Who of historical figures, and the battle scenes are amazing. They're old and grainy, of course, but I didn't know footage like this existed. There are scenes of soliders going over the top and getting mowed down by gun fire, and a great view of the damage to the French countryside from the air.

I teach history and plan to start showing parts of this regularly in my class.

This is the movie version of Tuchman's anti-German propaganda book.Tuchman was a rabid German hater and her book(and this movie)are little more than a replay of old allied propaganda from the war years.As history it is worthless.Turn the sound off and look at the old film footage.It is a shame that after all these years we still can't get an honest and objective look at these important events.Instead we are stuck with the same propaganda lies that our grandparents were fed 90 years ago.Even 70 years after historians like Harry Elmer Barnes and Sidney Fay totally demolished these faulty theories many people still believe them,probably because they have been trained since youth to unquestioningly believe any anti-German fairy tale that's trotted in front of them.WWI has been over for almost 90 years isn't it time we called off the propaganda campaign?

"The Guns of August" is one of the most thorough historical accounts of World War I. The film is based on a 1962 book of the same title by American journalist, historian and author, Barbara Tuchman. The book earned her the 1963 Pulitzer Prize for non-fiction, and was made into this 99-minute documentary film in 1964 The book was highly popular and made the New York Times bestseller list for ten months. The documentary used news film collected from the U. S. and many European countries.

It may seem odd to many in modern times that a book and film about WW I should be so popular in the early 1960s. That time was much closer to World War II when most of the world's population had memories of the most destructive war in history. And, it was a time when the Cold War was at fever pitch, after the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. But this documentary story did something more and better than any previous history of World War I had done. It delved deeply into the background and the situation of world politics, particularly in Europe, of the several years before the war.

The opening prologue in the film sets the stage. "The year 1914. Millions of peaceful and industrious people were hounded into a war by the folly of a few all-powerful leaders. The war was in no way inevitable. But the results determined the shape of the world in which we live today (1964)." And, "The innocence of the people was in the streets of Europe. The guilt was in the Cabinets."

Fritz Weaver narrates this documentary. It includes more news clips of European royalty and prominent leaders than any film I can recall ever having seen. Winston Churchill will be the most familiar to people in the 21st century. But, in their day, many others were frequently in the news headlines. The list includes prominent English, French, German, Prussian, Austrian, Belgian, and Russian aristocrats and officers. So, heir-apparent of Austria-Hungary, Archduke Franz Ferdinand is here, as well as Austrian Emperor Franz-Josef, French Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau, German Emperor Wilhelm II, and a host of other statesmen, generals and other military commanders. Prominent females of the period are here also. Most noted among these are the assassinated and exiled Russian royalty - Grand Duchesses Olga Nikolaevna, Romanov, Maria Romanov, and Anastasia Romanov.

History and war buffs especially should find this film very interesting.

I'm surprised Barbara Tuchman didn't sue the developers of the movie for misappropriation of her title. Though it starts out as she did with Edward VII funeral, and shows the beginning of the war,it is far from her detailed explanations, and goes far beyond August, hopping with giant-steps across the major incidents until the end of the war: the sinking of the Lusitania, the arrival of the Americans, the final German push and then defeat. Great old footage and some strategy maps to help the viewer out but more an anti-German propaganda film than a documentary that might have come from her much acclaimed history. Tuchman certainly thought Germany was at the center of the war, but she showed the deep involvement of the others, as well. The producer-director, Nathan Kroll, was a musician and did other movies with musical themes. He must have self-chosen himself to do this, but inappropriately, I think. For a very good WW I documentary see the 2006 "Gallipoli" (Not the Peter Weir movie) narrated by Sam Neill and Jeremy Irons. It's very good, both filmically and historically.