Alliance Française WW1: A Documentary Film

November 11, 1918. 11am. Suddenly, there was silence. Canadian soldier George Price had just fallen, one of the last killed during a massacre which left 10 million soldiers and 9 million civilians dead, and 21 million wounded.

How did we get to this point? What was the cause of this fury which gripped the world for 4 devastating years? At the beginning of the 20th Century, Europe was still living in the Golden Age, but on 28th June 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, is murdered in Sarajevo. This event will ignite the old grudges of European monarchies. Patrons of industry no doubt prefer armed conflict to the one simmering in the working class. A few weeks after Ferdinand’s assassination, Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia and inter-state alliances begin to emerge. While soldiers head to the front, a collective belief suggests that the war will be short and glorious. In August 1914, the Germans are not far from Paris. Their victory seems close, and enthusiasm soon turns into fear…

The documentary Furie : juin-août 1914, screened in English, is part of the Franco-Canadian series Apocalypse, la Première Guerre mondiale, based on archives collected from different countries involved in World War One which have been converted to colour. Discover one of the most devastating conflicts in human history through the eyes of soldiers and rulers, and what civilians’ life from behind enemy lines was like.