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Animated maps of the main campaigns on the Western Front and the global effect of the declarations of war, 1914-1918. Each 'take' is introduced by a shot-board.
(Reel 1) The full map shows Europe from Dover east to Frankfurt, and Antwerp south to Orléans. In various stages the map shows the five main phase lines of the war: the furthest German advance of 1914, the line at the end of 1914, the line after the retreat to the Hindenburg Line in 1917, the line after the German offensive of 1918, and the Armistice line. Each new line is introduced by a dissolve, and traced by a pointer. This is followed by a close-up pan down the line from the Channel coast to the Somme area, and close-ups of areas of specific battles such as the Third Battle of Ypres in 1917 or the prepared defence of Paris in 1914. An animated globe of the world, centred approximately on Karachi so that Great Britain is visible but Canada and New Zealand are not. By dissolves the countries that declare war in 1914 and later are darkened in, with tags giving their names and dates of declaration, going from Austria-Hungary and Serbia through to the British Empire. Map of the German advance in 1914 showing the locations of German, French and British forces by name.
(Reel 2) Globe of the world, with countries darkened in and tagged in the order od declaration between 1914 and 1917: this time, the countries noted are non-British Empire: Japan, Turkey, Portugal, Italy, Bulgaria, Egypt, Romania/Rumania (here given as "Roumania"), Greece, China. Next, a map of the Americas (also including New Zealand, but not Australia) shows further countries in the order in which they joined the war: Canada, Newfoundland, British West Indies, Falkland Islands, New Zealand, Brazil, Costa Rica, Uruguay, Panama, Nicaragua, Haiti, Honduras. Close-up map of the Mons area, with a tag saying "BEF". Full map is shown again; moving pointer indicates the line of the maximum German advance in 1914. A further map gives a close-up of the Paris/Coulonniers/Reims area showning the maximum line of German advance in 1914. Final map/diagram shows "[the] British Position at End of Retreat, 5th Sept 1914".
Catalogue entry from Imperial War Museum: http://film.iwmcollections.org.uk/record/index/45767