Transcripts For CSPAN3 America Goes Over 20170101 : vimarsan

Mitch ellisonce and allison finkelstein. Says but this is a compilation of mostly u. S. Army video core footage. Ae idea was to create america did which was to build the bring the war to a close. How have the propaganda been intended by the government . Reassureas intended to a justns they fought for cause. There was quite a bit of backlash against world war i. This is the era where you see america retreat into neutrality, the rejection of the league of nations. A littled have given bit of a boost of morale. Where are the films held today . Mitchell the original copies are maintained by the National Archives. They are being digitized and placed on the National Archives Youtube Channel so anyone can watch these at any time. Is themer preservation of this type of film a difficult art . To review mays have copies that have scratches. We have a staff that will meticulously go through and check to make sure each scene is clear. Often it came with that sort of transferred from whatever Government Agency brought it over. For the background. Now we are going to roll of film, called america goes over. 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. They always have that little border around the film, and the two flag insignia was actually signal flags. It was a moment of pride for the signal corps to have these films. Mitchell yeah, because so many films were done with reenactment. For example, the british did iran enactment of the battle of the psalm. This is telling you, this is actual footage taken overseas. Susan this is part of the background of what got the United States into the war. Tells about that decision. Allison the entry of the United States into the war is still interesting. Scholars still debated today. This is submarine warfare were germans were attacking civilians or supposedly civilian, ships. This caused a lot of tension between the u. S. And germany. Some scholars say this led to the u. S. Entering the first rolled war, particularly 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. Certainly these surroundings would have shook from the reverberations susan of the torpedoes hitting the ships. Reverberations hitting the ships. Susan how controversial was this decision to go to war . Mitchell for one thing, wilson ran on his reelection platform on keeping the u. S. Out of the were against theater roosevelt was still active, even though he was not ofoffice, was a proponent war. Some folks were saying, its about time we get into the war. Others were, do we really need to get into this war . Its not americas problem. The fact that our ships, merchant ships were being sunk, some of them were actually carrying armaments. They were warships in the eyes of the germans. Susan what country are they in . Mitchell im guessing this would be france. Its hard to tell because premature all of the western front was torn up like this. It could be belgium. The unique aspect of world war i was trench warfare. 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 the british are focused right now, what happened was you had a stalemate that both sides were using weapons. People could not actually go further on the battlefield without risking basically suicide attacks, which is what happened, especially in the battle of the somme with the british. Andhad over 60,000 killed 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 . Were the germans trying to capture . Mitchell the germans were on the defensive for most of the war, except early on, and then a few other attacks, like allison mme where around the so they move forward a little bit. I think in this case, its completely different. This is, i guess, in the alps . Allison yes, i think so. Mitchell the italian theater. Susan who are the allies and who were the central powers . The allies were great britain, france, the United States when the u. S. Entered, theyll jump started off as neutral and then they were invaded. Then you have germany, austria, the ottoman empire. World war i stretches beyond what we are seeing on the western front. Italy, the middle eastern theater, you have a lot of what is happening in places that are now part of the modern middle east. Susan 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 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 truth transfer ships as they left american port. Because they were under threat just like the merchant ships were from german uboats. Susan how was the war financed . Financed the work was from american coffers, but eventually the war was financed from american coffers, but eventually, americans were asked to give money to help the effort. And women taken from normal jobs and put in these factories to work . You had a lot of women who started to take factory jobs, more than there had been 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 election of the first draft member. Mitchell rhett, the first draft, the secretary of war, noon baker roosevelt, still active. Mitchell he had three sons that were in the war. He actually lost one. His son Quentin Roosevelt was a pilot. That really strongly affected teddy roosevelt. Susan 3 million american men were drafted ultimately. Mitchell ultimately. Not all of them served. Whathe vast majority of would become the American Expeditionary forces were made up of drafted susan here we see people being conscripted into war, taken from their homes and ordinary lives, being turned into soldiers. Mitchell you can see the buildings. These were quickly built structures by the Army Quartermaster tour. Forts scattered around the u. S. , but they needed the socalled temporary camps, and they were constructed mostly in the south and southeast. About nine months out of the year. You had to factor in what the weather was going to be like. Then how difficult was turning of citizens . Thaton one of the things you find reading print sources, many the soldiers did not have the many of these soldiers did not have the training they thought they needed. They were very rushed. 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 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. Overseasntil they got that it really hit home. Once the americans joined and how much of the war was fought on the seas versus the land . Mitchell by the time the americans got in the war, practically not, other than some attacks by uboats. There was not a major enabling judgment the americans were involved in. The was not a major naval engagement the americans were involved in. Allison this is one of my favorite stories from world war i, one of the first things i know pershing and the american troops did on arriving in paris was visiting the tomb of the marquee to left a yet, the war hero who helped the americans de lafayettequis among wealthy americans during the revolution. Mitchell they are training you can see they have their gas masks on. What was interesting, even though trenches are synonymous with world war i, the americans primarily did not fight from the trenches. General pershing was adamant the fight a troops socalled open warfare. They would fight basically from above ground im sorry, you know, over the ground, through the woods, so forth. At he was fearful because the french and the british were using the trench warfare to 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 off fighting these wars . Are justi think these scenes of camp life. If you look at the faces of these men, they are very young. Probably between 18 and 25. They are playing cards, trying to do laundry, and living life on the front. These personal scenes are some of the most interesting of this film. Mitchell were they are showing now, they are jumping ahead to the spring of 1918. The germans are realizing, 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 it was started by the germans in 1915 in belgium. And slowly, the allies caught up. Moredea of the gas, it was of 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 experience well after the war was horrible. Veryon it was also psychological. Soldiers began to fear gas attacks and it made them a lot more jumpy at the front. Mitchell yet, despite the fact that we are in the socalled modern age of mechanized warfare with trucks and tanks, the it rains quitee a bit in this part of europe, you still needed horses carrying litters with the wounded. Those trucks just could not handle here you see the firing of artillery, which was a really ordinance element during the war. Susan allison and here is general pershing, the leader of the American Expeditionary forces. Mitchell that was ferdinand fouts, the commander of the allied forces. Those would have been, i believe, either british or french troops. General pershing was very adamant that the signal corps photographers not show deceased wounded american soldiers. Susan because it would be harmful to the war mitchell absolutely. He would have film censored before it was printed. 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. Its a really sad story. 200,000 roughly africanamericans served. The vast majority were in labor battalions or infantry. There were exceptions. There is the famous three 69th Harlem Health fighters hell fighters who were in combat longer than any other unit. Germans were well aware of any american buildup, so they would have wanted to destroy these ships before they crossed the sea . Mitchell absolutely. But they were not that successful. This is why we see them traveling in convoys protected by other naval ships. Amazing footage. Susan what a steady hand by the photographer. And there we see the successful destruction of the uboat. That would have been navy airships. Many of the horses, the u. S. Purchased from the french. I dont think dogs were typically allowed. Here you have americans entering france for the first time. From letters i have read, often they would see women dressed in the daughtersor of those who had been killed. Must have europeans just been floored at the numbers of americans who came over. Mitchell they are jumping ahead here. Put is the americans being into the line to stop the germans in this great offensive. They are famous for the efforts of the first division, the big red one. Is the artillery. French artillery. The americans did not have their own to bring over. So we borrowed them from the french. One of the more famous artillery commanders was captain harry s. Truman, who was a commander of the National Guard from missouri. Susan as the germans were hoping to overtake paris . Mitchell they were. They tried several times before. They got close again, but logistics and other problems, hungertainly, they were hungry and they were eager. There were troops, here you will see them in the town. Its amazing, you look at these towns and how do estimated they are. You go there today and you do not recognize there has been more there. Basically you see the small villages. You can see where there are these ruins and a few buildings that might have been restored. Here are americans with some captured german pows. A lot of times they would send them home and you will see these in museums or they will end up on ebay today. Coming to a the effort world war i. Mitchell the americans did not have enough at the beginning of the war. Us thetish lent transport ships. Otherwise it would have taken a lot longer to get american troops over. Thesell allison ships are interesting. They were painted with what is known as basil camouflage, a technique that would make it harder for them to be hit. Mitchell this is the second battle of the marne, where the germans were stopped on their effort to get into paris. This would last through much of the summer. Theson these are engagements where the americans were starting to jump and much more. You see places like Chateau Thierry become symbols of the first world war. Theres a very prominent american monument there. Earlier, mitch, you were suggesting these battlefields farm fields and they still find unexploited unexploded ordinance . Mitchell yes, its America Farmers use them today. There is so much metal in the. Round that is still found seven, too often, farmers are savvy,or killed when too often, farmers are maimed or killed when their plows go over the ordinance. And then you have the Second World War going over some of the same ground. These trench lines, many of them were not filled in. Lines andnd trench barb wire sticking up from the ground, the 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 the scenes where they are showing the communications, which were actually very sophisticated for their time. There was wireless that was used. The signal corps was able to relay messages from the front to the rear or iceberg of or vice versa. You had runners who could relay messages. You had messages all the way in the back. You have the u. S. Army corps female telephone operators known as the hello girls. You can see that there is absolutely very little protection for the troops, firing repeatedly these weapons without any protection for their ears are we saw a soldier putting his fingers in his ears for production. How much compared to the hightech equipment we have, so much, and how much protection did they provide for the soldiers . Mitchell not a whole lot. The material, especially for machine guns, penetrated very easily. They did not have bulletproof vests. That is one of the reasons casualties were so high. Susan im sure the metal and the helmets is nothing like we have today. Mitchell nothing like we have today. They developed throughout the war so they gave more protection. Here we see the panel the pontoon bridges being developed by engineers so they could cross rivers fairly easily. The gas masks, usually you see them in the front of uniform so they could access them easily. Mitchell another devastated French Village of americans would go through. Once it was occupied, they would use it for headquarters. Susan look at that distraction. 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. This was the mobile field kitchen, i believe. Here, they are sort of narrating the story of american engagement first world war. Mitchell going back to make sure equipment was in good order, soldiers cleaning their uniforms, getting their hair cut. Susan teeth, actually. Allison delousing stations. And thats one of the things the soldiers write about in their letters, complaining about the lies, complaining about the poor conditions they were living in, the wet heat complaining about the lice. Here you see the Salvation Army. I think that those were doughnuts. The women were famous as doughnut dollies come of serving for the troops, trained to give them a little enjoyment. The Salvation Army also saved paper. They encouraged soldiers to write home, which they did in droves. You could see that in various museums. The information and letters tens to not be that informative because, again, they were censored. If you mentioned something about, you know, 40 of the minimize platoon went out across this river, that probably would have been redacted. 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, we built up tremendous we had sections where supplies came in on a daily basis, and they were transported, usually by rail, at the front. Here, you see bread being baked. Then they would have been shipped out to the various these are the rear areas and eventually the front line. Susan do we want to talk about general portion general pershing . Mitchell mitchell i think ellison will agree with him. He was the ultimate commander for the americans. He was a goodlooking guy. He was a micromanager. He had control over everything. If you go to the National Archives records, often you will see little marks in the marginalia with his initials jjp. He had his hands in just about everything. Pershing was really adamant that the americans would fight und