THE GREAT WAR 1 : On the Idle Hill of Summer (A E Housman) [Main Title]

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  • Title: THE GREAT WAR 1 : On the Idle Hill of Summer (A E Housman) [Main Title]
  • Film Number: IWM 1065-1
  • Other titles: ON THE IDLE HILL OF SUMMER (A E Housman) [Alternative Title]
  • Summary: The social condition and tensions of Europe just before the outbreak of the First World War.
  • Description: Despite the apparent stability of European social values the old order of a land-based economy was in conflict with the emerging industrial urban order. The peace of Europe was fragile. The unification of Germany by Bismarck produced a boom in urban population, trade and military industry, bringing with it socialist protest. The Kaiser, obsessed by his Army, the most powerful in the world, demanded greater German influence in European affairs. France remained chiefly pastoral, its achievements in aviation or science mere novelties. The culture and glamour of Paris concealed backward industries and a declining birthrate. The socialist government of 1914 was a threat to the Army. Meanwhile, the expansion of the German fleet threatened Great Britain, where the pageantry of the monarchy and squirarchical image of "merry England" concealed industrial poverty and conflicts between government and organised labour. The discontented included socialists, women, and the population of Ireland which was on the verge of civil war. Increasing German military and naval might, controlled by the irresponsible Kaiser, drove France and Britain into the Entente Cordiale. France's chief ally was Russia. Over the Balkans, Russia was a threat to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, an anachronism held together by Emperor Franz Josef and not expected to survive him. The Slav people of Austria-Hungary and the Balkans looked to Russia for support, and in turn Austria-Hungary looked to its ally Germany. Serbia emerged from the Balkan Wars of 1912-1913 as the dominant Balkan state, challenging Austria-Hungary. "By 1914 Europeans had learned to live with fear." On Sunday 28th June 1914 Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie were shot in Sarajevo, and the peace of Europe died with them.
  • Alternative Title: ON THE IDLE HILL OF SUMMER (A E Housman) [Alternative Title]
  • Colour: B&W
  • Digitised: No
  • Object_Number: IWM 1065-1
  • Sound: Sound
  • Access Conditions: NON-IWM: PROJECTION PRINT ONLY - NOT FOR PRODUCTION USE
  • Featured Period: 1919-1938
  • Production Date: 1964
  • Production Country: GB
  • Production Details: Australian Broadcasting Corporation (Production sponsor) Imperial War Museum (Production sponsor) Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (Production sponsor) BBC (Production company) Essex, Tony (Production individual) Watkins, Gordon (Production individual) Terraine, John Alfred1921-01-152003-12-27 (Production individual) Rollins, Ed (Production individual) Manefield, Tom (Production individual) Terraine, John Alfred1921-01-152003-12-27 (Production individual) Barnett, Correlli Douglas (Production individual) Jarvis, Anne (Production individual) Hipple, Rex (Production individual) Kay Film Laboratories (Production individual) Bigman, Richard (Production individual) Caravel Films (Production individual) McWatt, John (Production individual) Garland, Nicholas1935 (Production individual) Saunders, Robert (Production individual) Read, Bill (Production individual) Keene, Brian (Production individual) Callaway, Ian (Production individual) Bosworth, Pam (Production individual) Carr, Norman (Production individual) Heelas, Peter (Production individual) Toovey, Barry (Production individual) Cave, Julia (Production individual) Broadway, Anne (Production individual) Bryen, Doris (Production individual) Kersey, Jill (Production individual) Davidson, Eric (Production individual) Vigne, Jean (Production individual) Mendelsohn, Robyn (Production individual) Maloney, William (Production individual) Macloughlin, Marya (Production individual) Maros, Basil (Production individual) Virgo, Myrtle (Production individual) Descendre, Anne (Production individual) Edwards, Jeffrey (Production individual) Parry, Audrey (Production individual) Shukman, Harold (Production individual) Kuehl, Jerome (Production individual) Barrie, Alexander (Production individual) Hastings, Max Hugh Macdonald1945-12-28Researcher, BBC TV Great War series, 1963–64; Reporter, Evening Standard, 1965–67; Fellow, US World Press Inst., 1967–68; Roving Correspondent, Evening Standard, 1968–70; Reporter, BBC TV Current Affairs, 1970–73; Editor, Evening Standard Londoner’s Diary, 1976–77; Columnist, Daily Express, 1981–83; contributor, Sunday Times, 1985–86; Editor, The Daily Telegraph, 1986–95; Dir, 1989–95, Editor-in-Chief, 1990–95, The Daily Telegraph plc; Editor, The Evening Standard, 1996–2002; contributor, Daily Mail, 2002–; Contrib. Ed., Financial Times, 2009–13. As War Correspondent, covered Middle East, Indochina, Angola, India-Pakistan, Cyprus, Rhodesia and S Atlantic. Mem., Press Complaints Commn, 1991–92. Churchill Fellow, Westminster Coll., Fulton, Mo, 2011. TV documentaries: Ping-Pong in Peking, 1971; The War about Peace, 1983; Alarums and Exercursions, 1984; Cold Comfort Farm, 1985; The War in Korea (series), 1988; We Are All Green Now, 1990; Spies, in series Cold War, CNN, 1998; Hitler’s Germany, 2000; The Falklands: reluctant heroes, 2002; Winston’s War, 2003; The Falklands Legacy, 2012; The Necessary War, 2014. A Vice Pres., Game Conservancy, 1992–; President: CPRE, 2002–07; Sir Walter Scott Soc. of Edinburgh, 2012–13. Trustee: Nat. Portrait Gall., 1995–2004; Game Conservancy, 2014–. Liddell-Hart Lecture, KCL, 1994; Mountbatten Lecture, Edinburgh Univ., 2004; Leonard Stein Lectures, Oxford Univ., 2009. FRHistS 1988; FRSL 1996. Hon FKC, 2004. Hon. DLitt: Leicester, 1992; Nottingham, 2005. Journalist of the Year, British Press Awards, 1982 (cited 1973 and 1980); What The Papers Say, Granada TV: Reporter of the Year, 1982; Editor of the Year, 1988; Duke of Westminster Medal for military literature, RUSI, 2008; Literary Award for Lifetime Achievement, Chicago Pritzker Library, 2012; Friuladria Prize, Gorizia Internat. Hist. Fest., 2014 (Production individual) Liddell Hart, Basil Henry1895-10-311970-01-29 (Production individual) Terraine, John Alfred1921-01-152003-12-27 (Production individual) Barnett, Correlli Douglas (Production individual) Pitt, Barrie (Production individual) Horne, Alistair1925Trustee of the Imperial War Museum (Production individual) Bonham-Carter, Victor (Production individual) Williams, John (Production individual) Josephs, Wilfred (Production individual) BBC Northern Orchestra (Production individual) Hurst, George (Production individual) Redgrave, Michael (Sir) (Production cast) Richardson, Ralph (Sir) (Production cast) Williams, Emlyn (Production cast) Goring, Marius (Production cast) Luckman, Cyril (Production cast) Shaw, Sebastian (Production cast)
  • Personalities, Units and Organisations:Franz Ferdinand (Archduke) (person)
  • Keywords: 01/2(497).1 (event) 01/2(497).2 (event)
  • Physical Characteristics: Colour format: B&W Sound format: Sound Soundtrack language: English Title language: English Subtitle language: None
  • Technical Details: Format: 16mm Number of items/reels/tapes: 1 Footage: 1585 ft; Running time: 45 mins
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  • Link to IWM Collections page:

    IWM 1065-1

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