Living History: Why We Fight

Review the events and miscalculations that led to the war that ended the old world and created the new one. Our hundred-year-old footage has been colorized to bring the events of 1900-1914 alive. Then we visit a 100-acre site near Newville, PA where the Great War Association strives to keep alive the history of the 'War to End All Wars' and honor those who fought its battles. On this site, the GWA has authentically recreated a portion of the Western Front as it appeared circa 1917-1918. The battlefield's opposing trenches are complete with a crater-pocked No-Man's Land. There are belts of barbed wire, used to protect the sandbagged front-line trenches, and the opposing positions are punctuated by bunkers with functioning machine-guns. Behind the main lines are supporting and communication trenches, connected to underground dugouts, where officers plan operations and the common soldiers eat and rest. There is even an airfield where bi-planes launch dawn patrols over the front lines.