They find brief entertainment and relief in a village behind the. It has an ensemble cast led by screen veterans fritz kampers and gustav diessl. Westfront 1918 comrades of 1918 1930 germany 96 mins source. Pabsts antiwar classic tells the story of four german soldiers on the western front in france in the last year of the first world war. Official histories of ww1 the general staff archives. Westfront, deutscher panzer in roye deutscher sturmwagen in roye i. Westfront 1918 will immediately remind most viewers of all quiet on the western front. The film makes clear the difference between propaganda and the actual, brutality of war.
Westfront 1918, made in germany in 1930, is one of the first films to challenge what governments wanted the populace to know about war. Vom stellungskrieg zum bewegungskrieg westfront 1918 brill. Apr 17, 2015 in the spring of 1918, luderndorff ordered a massive german attack on the western front. Gustav diessl, hansjoachim moebis, hanna hoessrich synopsis. Boek maken downloaden als pdf printvriendelijke versie. The director is georg wilhelm pabst again, one of the most successful filmmakers of his generation. Whereas much early sound cinema is extremely stagebound and inert, pabst uses camera and blocking in the same maximally expressive manner he did in his silents, only w sound. Jan 05, 2015 make an animated explainer video for free at. The value of these defences was subsequently proved during the enemy offensive towards the end of march.
German offensive 1918 the western front great war forum. As film historian robert keser has put it, these sequences illustrates that the homefront offers no escape from the anxieties of the front lines. Westfront 1918, as pabsts first experiment w sound, is so ambitious as to be almost crazy. Affable groping overcomes the language barrier between the teutonic infantrymen and a local maiden in an outpost in france until war intrudes, most pas galant. At its berlin premiere on may 23, 1930, some moviegoers supposedly found westfront 1918 s realism so shocking that they fainted in their seats. Westfront 1918 aka comrades of 1918 was the first talkie effort from german filmmaker g. The german spring offensives, 1918 inflicting brutal damage.
For documentary purposes the german federal archive often retained the original image captions, which may be erroneous, biased, obsolete or politically extreme. Eitschriftforhistorischeildung c 21234 issn 0940 4163 ee heft 32008 militargeschichte im bild. Westfront 1918 1930 stream deutsch, westfront 1918 1930 online anschauen, westfront 1918 1930 kostenlos online sehen. Pabst, which he made for nero films, a production company headed up by seymour nebenzahl. The image in the lower right isheld within a black border. Westfront 1918 is a 1930 german war film directed by georg wilhelm pabst. Like the contemporary hollywood production all quiet on the western front, pabsts film is a bitter, melancholy antiwar statement. The october revolution and the subsequent disintegration of the russian army would allow the germans to concentrate their fighting forces on the western front. The german spring offensive of 1918 history learning site. In the final moments of world war i, a platoon of french soldiers is sent off on a dangerous and ultimately pointless mission. The 1918 spring offensive, or kaiserschlacht kaisers battle, also known as the ludendorff offensive, was a series of german attacks along the western.
German 1918 spring offensives map nzhistory, new zealand. The insanity of trench warfare as viewed from the german perspective in 1918. Osterreichs alpenjager im kampf westfront history da download pdf. Stosstrupp 1917 shock troop 1917 is the story of the steel hurricane known as the great war, told from the german perspective.
In doing so, the germans had spent the last of their resources, while american troops and steel were pouring in. The 1918 spring offensive, or kaiserschlacht kaisers battle, also known as the ludendorff offensive, was a series of german attacks along the western front during the first world war, beginning on 21 march 1918. Pabst was born in raudnitz, bohemia, austriahungary todays roudnice nad labem, czech republic, the son of a railroad official. By hazelclark, 18 april, 2018 in the western front. Westfront 1918, however, is the more pessimistic of the two, delving into the german homefront in scenes that paint a picture of a corrupt, bitter society which is in serious economic disrepair. A new york times reporter at the screening called the picture the most vivid argument yet contrived against war. The forgotten master of german cinema although he was actually born in austriahungary and his birthplace is now part of the czech republic, g. On 21 march the germans launched a massive offensive with the goal of ending the war before the american expeditionary force could be fully deployed. We must strike at the earliest moment before the americans can throw. Digging into the trenches with four infantrymen stationed in france in the final months of world war i, pabst illustrates the harrowing ordeals of battle with unprecedented naturalism, as the men are worn away in body. Westfront 1918 is a german film, set mostly in the trenches of the western front during world war i.
Pabsts westfront 1918 1930 no less so, but while hans zoberleins equally lavish stosstrupp 1917 is also antiwar. In 1930, during the closing days of the weimar republic, g. In early 1918 the german army achieved a substantial manpower advantage on the western front by transferring 50 divisions from the eastern front following russias surrender in december 1917. Media in category westfront 1918 the following 3 files are in this category, out of 3 total. Over the course of the assaults, they had lost over a million men killed, captured, or wounded, and inflicted similar losses on the allies. The germans had realised that their only remaining chance of victory was to defeat the allies before the united states could fully deploy their resources. The story concentrates on four german soldiers, sent to the front in the waning. With 500,000 troops added to germanys strength from the russian front, luderndorff was confident of success. French counterattack at the marne, the battle of amiens, the second battle of the somme, advance to the hindenburg line. Westfront 1918 1930 criterion collection 1080p bluray avc lpcm 1. Pabst put a strong pacifist statement on the screen which was not liked by many at the time, and was banned immediately when the national socialist dictatorship seized power three years after the films release. The movie focuses on four infantrymen stationed in france the bavarian, karl, the lieutenant and the student.
The offensive is known as the kaiserschlacht or the kaisers battle. They both tell the story of the german soldier in wwi, the movies both excel in showing the destruction and futility of warfare, and they both were even released in the same year. Now you create your own explainer videos and animated presentations for free. The german spring offensive of 1918 at the end of 1917 the german high command found itself in a particularly favourable situation. A group of german infantrymen of the first world war live out. The title is separate and positioned along the top edge, in brown. While growing up in vienna, he studied drama at the academy of decorative arts and initially began his career as a stage actor in switzerland, austria and germany. The text is partially integrated andpositioned across the whole, in brown and black. These were powerful effects from a powerful film so much so, in fact, that in 1933. First battles of the somme, 1918 second battle of picardy kaiserschlacht 21mar1918 05apr1918.
Westfront 1918 1930 at its berlin premiere on may 23, 1930, some moviegoers supposedly found westfront 1918 s realism so shocking that they fainted in their seats. Pabst directed westfront, a blistering and bitter antiwar film set in the last year of the great war. Pershing, dessen nachfolger ab oktober 1918 general hunter ligett wurde. Multi westfront 1918 1930 criterion collection 1080p blu. In 1910, pabst traveled to the united states, where he worked as an actor and director at. The spring offensive was germanys attempt to end world war one. Lewis milestones all quiet on the western front 1930 had been fiercely pacifistic, and g.
With fritz kampers, gustav diessl, hansjoachim mobis, claus clausen. Westfront 1918comrades of 1918 1930 germany 96 mins source. The germans had realised that their only remaining chance of victory was to defeat the allies before the united states could. To understand stosstrupp 1917, it is first necessary to mention westfront 1918, the movie that this one was largely made to refute. On 21 march 1918 the german army launched a largescale offensive against the allied front on the somme battlefield. The fifth and final german offensive came to a halt. The bavarian sees the war primarily as an adventure. Apr 18, 2018 german offensive 1918 remembered today. Homeinternational historic films complete online catalogwwi films dvds westfront 1918 dvd. Germanys 1918 offensives on the western front an aerial observer or pilot in flight helmet and overcoat reports to a german general and his staff at a divisions combat headquarters on march 21, 1918, the first day of operation michael, germanys spring offensive, the first of five german drives in 1918. Jan 28, 2009 from december 1917 to march 1918,the battalion,except for a short period in the end of january and beginning of february,constructed the major part of the defences in the louveralboursiesdemicourt sector.
Pabst brought the war movie into a new era with his first sound film, a mercilessly realistic depiction of the nightmare that scarred a generation, in germany and beyond. An early talkie detailing the horrors of trench warfare. Though westfront 1918 s plot lacks the conventional pacing of the similar american production all quiet on the western front, its narrative is thoroughly modernist as a breakdown of coherence and. A book or a speech are cold, dead things beside it.
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