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The First World War: The Road to War

Hindsight is 20:20: how looking back at the films of the early 1910s reveals glimpses of what few at the time saw coming - a world-changing war.


The outbreak of war in July 1914 came as a shock to most. But from our privileged position today, we can find among the films produced in the early 1910s scattered hints of the looming conflict that would split Europe in two.

One ominous sign was the proliferation of stories of international espionage and intrigue (played as drama or comedy), while newsreels offer evidence of the prominence of the armed forces in British society. Even so, the overwhelming majority of films of the period point to a nation blissfully unaware of the horrors to come.

21 videos in this collection

The intrepid Lieutenant Pimple thwarts foreign enemies in an action-packed wartime spy spoof.

Lieutenant Pimple and the Stolen Submarine

  • Twickenham
  • 1914
Inventive WWI propaganda in which a rejected volunteer foils a German plot to blow up Parliament.

The German Spy Peril

  • 1914
An aeronautical accident is caught on camera at a Parisian 'Aéro-Parc'.

Balloon Accident at St Cloud Topical Budget 152-1

  • 1914
Two gifted servants perform magical feats for their employer with the aid of some impressive cinematic trick effects.

Servants Superceded

  • 1911
Scots soldiers are drilled in trench warfare techniques in leafy English countryside.

Fife and Forfar Yeomanry Topical Budget 164-1

  • Huntingdon
  • 1914
Munitions workers down tools, weeks before Britain enters WWI.

8,000 Men on Strike at Woolwich Arsenal Topical Budget 150-1

  • Woolwich
  • 1914
Boxing stars Georges Carpentier and 'Gunboat' Smith pull the crowds ahead of their title bout for the World White Heavyweight Championship.

Carpentier and Gunboat Smith Topical Budget 151-2

  • 1914
Private Daly of the Connaught Rangers triumphs in the Aldershot Command annual cross country race, months before the outbreak of WWI.

Army Cross Country Topical Budget 136-2

  • Aldershot
  • 1914

The Great East End Anarchist Battle

  • Stepney
  • 1911
HMS Chatham is launched by the Marchioness Camden in this earliest surviving item from the Topical Budget newsreel.

New Type of Cruiser Topical Budget 11-2

  • Chatham
  • 1911
Follow two kidnapped children on a surreal pirate adventure in this 'trick' sci-fi fantasy.

Aerial Submarine A Startling Forecast. Piracy in Sea and Air

  • 1910
Enjoy the chilly thrills and spills of a bobsleigh ride in an exclusive New York suburb.

Millionaires at Play Topical Budget 136-2

  • 1914
Rare film of soldiers working out before heading to the battlefields.

Lord Lovat's Scouts Topical Budget 164-1

  • 1914
England faces aerial invasion in this entertaining Edwardian science fiction fantasy.

The Airship Destroyer

  • 1909
Newsreel cameras capture huge crowds thronging the Paris streets for the funeral of an assassinated newspaper editor.

The Paris Sensation: Scenes at the Funeral of M. Calmette, The Murdered Editor of the 'Figaro' Gaumont Graphic No. 313

  • 1914
Britannia rules the waves! Scenes of a battleship at gunnery practice, with fine shots of the guns firing.

From the Fighting Top of a Battleship in Action

  • 1909
A winter paradise in the Peak District: beautifully-composed shots of snow-clad Buxton.

The English Switzerland

  • Buxton
  • 1914

Bobs and the Baby Marksmen

  • Clerkenwell
  • 1911
Northumberland army reserve's new home reveals Tardis-like tendencies as the town of Haltwhistle pours inside.

The Opening of New Drill Hall at Haltwhistle

  • Haltwhistle
  • 1913
On the brink of invasion, holidaymakers promenade while refugees shelter in beach huts on the Belgian coastline in 1914.

From Antwerp to Ostend

  • 1914
A grand turn out for the last Henley Royal Regatta before World War I.

Henley Finals Topical Budget 150-1

  • Henley-on-Thames
  • 1914