World War I Battlefields: Crash Course European History #33

Europe's system of alliances and centuries-old tensions erupted into war in August of 1914. This week on Crash Course Euro, we're talking about the military history of World War I, and taking a look at the broad strokes of how the war unfolded. We'll take you from the guns of August through gruesome battles like Verdun and the Somme, and follow the thread all the way through to the Armistice in 1918. It didn't turn out to be the War to End All Wars, sadly, but there is a lot to learn from it.
Sources
-Engelstein, Laura. Russia in Flames. War, Revolution, and Civil War 1914-1922. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1918.
-Hunt, Lynn et al. Making of the West: Peoples and Cultures, 6th ed. Boston: Bedford St. Martin’s 2019.
-Sanborn, Joshua A. Imperial Apocalypse: The Great War and the Destruction of the Russian Empire. New York: Oxford University Press, 2014.
-Suny, Ronald Grigor. “They Can Lie in the Desert but Nowhere Else”: A History of the Armenian Genocide. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2015.
-Watson, Alexander. Ring of Steel: Germany and Austria-Hungary in World War I. New
York: Basic Books, 2014.
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#crashcourse #history #WWI

[@TheMattastic]

"Yes. Clearly, Field Marshal Haig is about to make yet another gargantuan effort to move his drinks cabinet six inches closer to Berlin."

[@edwinnivens6207]

"You know how there's a saying that somewhere there is a bullet with your name on it?"

[@TheCheck999]

+

[@MRFlackAttack1]

Darling: In short, a German spy is giving away every one of our battle plans. Melchett: You look surprised, Blackadder. Blackadder: I certainly am, sir. I didn't realise that we had any battle plans. Melchett: Well of course we have! How else do you think the battles are directed?! Blackadder: Our battles are directed, sir? Melchett: Well of course they are, Blackadder, directed according to the grand plan. Blackadder: Would that be the plan to continue with total slaughter until everyone's dead except for Field Marshall Haig, Lady Haig and their tortoise, Alan? Melchett: [horrified] Great Scott! Even you know it!

[@seneca983]

At least Haig learned to be a better commander.

[@EcceJack]

+

[@TheOsis181]

It's kinda weird to think about it but The Great War was the most significant event of the 20th century. We are still living in the aftermath and effects of it even to this day more than 100 years later

[@magnuspeacock5857]

You can say the same about most major historical events. The seven years war (French and Indian war in the USA) was perhaps the most important event in the past 300 years as it set the stage for British domination world, the US and French and South American revolutions, Russia's rise as a world power, the rise of Napoleon, Prussian supremacy in Germany, European intervention and later colonization of Africa and so much more, yet it is so rarely taught in schools. The Seven Years war was the first truly global war, with fighting in North and South America, Europe, India and Africa. It is impossible to overstate how much it shaped the world.

[@mcdrums87]

Magnus Peacock but WWI is the most recent event that got its fingers in...everything. I mean it basically ended four empires, led to the rise of Nazi Germany AND Soviet Russia, made the US a global superpower via economics, virtually erased a generation of French men, divided the Middle East up by external interests, set the stage for Irish and Indian independence... Imagine if the Central Powers were beaten sooner. Imagine a Russia without Communism. Imagine if the Weimar Republic actually having a chance to succeed, or (at the very least) without the fear of a Socialist takeover. Imagine...basically every country without Communist fears.

[@SDCLFC1]

Yes - but it would re-evaluate it further by saying that it was one of two significant high-points in thirty years of one big global conflict. For me, looking at it this way brings in the wide-ranging impacts of the first-half of the twentieth century and explains the global political-economy today.

[@peculiarpangolin4638]

Nobody: Crash Course: "Verdoon and the Sum"

[@abk4202020]

Lool

[@ОлегКозлов-ю9т]

More people died in WWI than people who currently live in Canada Well, to add to that, more people died in the influrenza pandemic than currently live in 3 Canadas

[@babscabs1987]

Where are the other two?

[@festethephule7553]

@@babscabs1987 Wouldn't you like to know.

[@kevinconrad6156]

@@babscabs1987 Paradise.

[@loomhigh]

conclusion thus far is that no one lives in canada

[@Gyrant]

@@loomhigh Canaidan here. Can confirm.

[@zflowes]

I find the lack of indy neidell disturbing

[@Green-tf8uw]

Same, to me WW1=indy

[@michaelaburns734]

I respect Professor Nidel for doing that for 4 years. Professor Alexander is great too for the post Great War content. I like the both of them. Professor Green is okay at simple history, The Great War channel goes in details.

[@pnutz_2]

This Is Modern War

[@mav8535]

Your sad devotion to that ancient channel has not helped you conjure up the stolen ad money for history channels, or given you clairvoyace enough to find the hidden youtube CEO.

[@dmnemaine]

This was not meant to be an in depth history of WWI, but an overview as a segment of European history. If you're looking for the former, you came to the wrong place, and you're comparing apples to oranges.

[@christianrodier3381]

During WWI, there was a woman on a train who keep repeatedly counting the fingers on one hand. When the passengers began to scoff, her husband asked them to stop. She was counting the number of sons she had lost, and her husband was taking her to an asylum.

[@mcdrums87]

0:47 "It didn't go that way." Basically everyone's assessment of WWI before joining in...

[@danmenard6917]

Przhemysyl especially.

[@HannesWithoutJo]

Well in german Charlemagne is called "Karl der Große" - Karl the Great. So not an uncommon name for an emperor.

[@hpsauce1078]

The true name of Charlie

[@thedeadpeatr]

Johannes Translated 'Charlemagne' has exactly the same meaning in French as in German

[@schelfie1986]

In Dutch also, just as with Keizer Karel V (Emperor Charles V of the Habsburgs)

[@wyacheslawkodanev2107]

In Russia we also call him Карл Великий, so it was a hard for me to get used to the English name for the first 20 minutes of talking about him.

[@babitz0r]

In slavic languages, our word for King actually comes from Charlemagne - in Croatian we say Kralj, in Czech they say Kral I think, etc. So to me it was funny because it was like Emperor King.

[@ethanrepublic]

i haven't heard of "Verdume" and the "some" but they sound deadly.

[@dakotawilliams507]

Only somme survived, that's why

[@Anaguma79]

I'm conflicted. Mispronouncing things is John's thing. But he also took high school French...

[@ethanrepublic]

@@Anaguma79 but he also says he's forgotten everything he's learned

[@marcushead9985]

@@Anaguma79 This decides me: during Crash Course World History, I think he pronounced it properly.

[@fuduzan5562]

Well let us know when you put out a video of equivalent quality where you pronounce it the way you prefer. I'll wait.

[@Jackson-mm3qb]

It’s so uncomfortable not seeing him at his desk...

[@Madhattersinjeans]

Like a news reporter now.

[@anaveragegamingchannel1843]

Are you talking about John or an average 1910s schoolboy.

[@Argacyan]

Two things I would have added: The Ottoman Empire and then Turkey were in war well into the 1920's still. Also people in Germany by 1918 weren't just rebellious but there were many revolutions for democracy predominantly lead by mutinies of sailors, communists and anarchists which were put down and murdered by the monarchist establishment, but also by a growing amount of ultranationalists and traditionalists who would go on to lay the foundation of the nazi party.

[@jaojao1768]

Yes true

[@turbobus4983]

Karl=Charles Charlemagne was "Emperor Karl" and so was Charles V and all the other Charleses...

[@madshagen5849]

Yup, end of the circle... 1118 years of Empire is good enough...

[@JoshTheValiant]

I mean be fair, Emperor Charles has very similar energy.

[@DaDunge]

@@JoshTheValiant ... What are you talking about?

[@danmenard6917]

We mostly call him Emperor Chucky.

[@Dayglodaydreams]

Cheerful revisionist history???

[@ciaranreed91]

I’ve never heard “Verdun” or the “Somme” pronounced like that before.

[@ludwigvr3212]

Ciarán Reed “verdoon” is definitely a new one

[@johnsparrow7050]

Americans...

[@ОлегКозлов-ю9т]

I can't see whoot is wroong

[@Green-tf8uw]

@@johnsparrow7050 ikr?

[@jannoottenburghs5121]

I mean he excused himself countlessly in the past for his French pronounciations. Probably says something about the quality of French lessons in American high schools. That said I've hardly Verdun being pronounced in a such a manner since the words "un" and "une" are probably one of the first French words people learn at school.

[@erikn.7540]

I'm surprised that Bulgaria wasn't highlighted as a Central Power on the map at 5:34. It joined the war in October 1915.

[@josiahferguson6194]

or Greece and Romania on the side of the Entente

[@nolearystream]

@@josiahferguson6194 He didn't mention tons of countries involved, at no point did he make an exhaustive list.

[@Oxtocoatl13]

Yeah they left out all the little ones, which is a shame, but given their time constraints, I get it.

[@DaDunge]

They couldn't even get who mobilized first right. Anything that shifts the blame more squarely on Germany seems to be the way to go that this series goes. John needs a new writer. the guy who did the old crash course world history episodes had a much subtler understanding of history than the person who writes these.

[@MattJones-ki6wh]

There were a lot of omissions in this episode

[@holaps7620]

Hey, I was looking at one of your videos on capitalism, authoritarianism and democracies and it dawned on me just how much CrashCourse has helped me not only in homework assignments, but in gaining a wider perspective. So thanks, I really appreciate what you're doing, and I'm sure many more feel the same way.

[@ОлегКозлов-ю9т]

I guess Russian revolution will be talked more about in the next one? It is still kinda important to the whole world

[@cathykeller5113]

Hi, I'm the consultant for the series. Stay tuned for episode 35!

[@poi2lkj3mnb]

The russian revolution clearly deserves its own episode.

[@Argacyan]

@Amon Ra Don't make yourself look like a fool pretending those are equal. Nazis seized absolute power and went on to do that which the russian revolution *stopped* from continuing to happen...

[@cathykeller5113]

Yes, the Russian Civil War is included in that episode

[@kevinlove4356]

@Ordinary Sessel The Glorious October Revolution that took place in November 1917.

[@casualsleepingdragon8501]

8:20 heck, ww1 was so bad that media says "wars awsome! Exept for ww1" Even though all war is hell.

[@downsjmmyjones101]

It either goes unmentioned and if it is mentioned, it's considered to be one of the darkest periods of human history.

[@Argacyan]

Also if ww1 is mentioned in media, depending on where you live it's slaughtered for political gains just like any war. For americans that usually means pretending the US won it and no one else, for conservatives it means attacking people who mention it was a global war and not whites-only, for Germans it usually means talking about the failure of Wilhelm the Second and ww1 being the reason for the rise of nazis (as if ww1 was the only reason which nah) as an example.

[@jaojao1768]

@@Argacyan very true

[@19MAD95]

Because drowning in mud isn’t a “fun adventure” like Liberating Paris

[@harunsuaidi7349]

Stories about WW1 always make me weep. The death, brutality, and especially the futility of it are just maddening.

[@lemonaid2216]

Good to see a crash course video that only states the facts and doesn't descend into biased rhetoric, like the European imperialism video. Congratulations!

[@langohr9613ify]

I am a German and as me and my father were traveling to France we encountered a big war grave. To see all these endless crosses gives you a sence of scale for this horreble war.

[@rationalityrules]

1917 brought me here ;) Best film I've ever seen.

[@HistoryHustle]

Have someone ever visited the former battle fields? I take my pupils to Ypres each year. Even though my Dutch students have no direct historical ties to this battle (the Netherlands was neutral) is makes a huge impression on them.

[@neilgow77]

Yep, I did a backpack trip in 2015 and walked from Amiens to Ypres. Around Loos, farmers were still leaving unexploded ordinance out on the roadside for the police to pick up. If you ever get a chance to visit the museum in Ypres, please do. I ended my trip at the Last Post ceremony at the Menin gate. Powerful trip. That war was inane.

[@juliah8674]

11:08 _are we going to tell him about the Swedish monarchs_

[@DaDunge]

Or that the regnal number of this Karl would be VIIIm (cause Austria continued the regnal numbers of the holy roman empire)

[@jaojao1768]

Indeed

[@christopheringram1605]

Great work from the whole Crash Course team! Keep it up :)

[@tando6266]

Can you do a side episode talking about how the war effected literature. Where would we be if Tolkien had not created his world to express the horrors that he saw. "Dreary and wearisome. Cold, clammy winter still held sway in this forsaken country. The only green was the scum of livid weed on the dark greasy surfaces of the sullen waters. Dead grasses and rotting reeds loomed up in the mists like ragged shadows of long forgotten summers."

[@MarkyMark1221]

Age of anxiety and other effects of the war is prolly next episode.

[@mcsmaria28]

Indy Neidell might have one on the Great War channel... might....

[@Prutswerk]

Wow, "war effected literature" and "Tolkien". Hahahahaha.

[@yearginclarke]

@@Prutswerk Are you aware Tolkien was in the Battle of the Somme, one of the bloodiest battles in human history?

[@Prutswerk]

@yearginclarke Are you aware that "Lord of the rings" hardly can be considered as literature? Are you aware of the amount of books that has been written by war veterans that doesn't contain elves, dwarfs and magical creatures?

[@escapeartistrecords]

irony is dead. hank and john have revived sincerity.

[@nrrork]

Yeah, it's pretty messed up that I learned more about World War I from watching Blackadder than I ever was taught in school.

[@bx8321]

The Dan Carlin “Hardcore History” podcast episodes on the First World War are well worth listening to.

[@masudaahmed7990]

Wot pod cast does everyone mean!?!

[@ShankarSivarajan]

8:32 I don't remember where I heard it, but I like the line "War isn't hell: there are no innocent bystanders in hell."

[@TheCaptain14]

Shankar Sivarajan I believe it’s a Hawkeye quote from M*A*S*H

[@thomaswillard6267]

Damn it John. I knew you were going to bring us up. We kick you out ONE TIME for being broke and you never let us live it down.

[@Ghisdf]

@4:54 "Damn, that barbed wire always delays me during the attack...!" 😜

[@TheRealGuywithoutaMustache]

I learned more about WW1 because of the film 1917

[@PhilipJackson03]

As a Canadian that ending really hit hard.

[@dariusgunter5344]

You should have gone more in detail how tragic the start of the war was. There were over a month many chances for peace and all failed because of desprate man, bad luch (litterally a hearth attack), the low confidence of a king and many more.

[@pjvish]

Darius Gunter or check out what Extra History did on that exact subject

[@hobojeinkins5012]

pjv ish m

[@melonlord1414]

People really wanted that war, and their leaders where more than happy to give it...

[@dariusgunter5344]

@@pjvish i did that is why I made that comment

[@dariusgunter5344]

@Intellectual Ammunition nationalism made it possible incompetence caused it, though there would most likly have been another only later.

[@grapeshot]

My great grandpa fought in World War 1. With the 372nd Infantry Regiment, 93rd Infantry Division. US Army ✊🏿✊🏿✊🏿✊🏿🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 Rest in Power

[@DeusExHonda]

Crash course notifications ALWAYS make a day better.

[@MrAzul99]

1,5 million Armenians were killed in genocide

[@Warpwaffel]

I don't really understand what's so funny about emperor Karl. There were lots of those. For example Charlemagne. Soooo yeah. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[@Darthpika5]

Or the huge number of Swedish kings called Karl

[@varana]

In English, those are not Karl but Charles. Yes, I don't get it either.

[@CaptainBohnenbrot]

@@varana Yes, and the same for France.

[@lizziebanyan8468]

Karl just sounds like your neighbor or a friend of your brother, so to put the title Emperor in front of it is kinda silly. Like the Empress Lisa or the King of the Universe Dan. Or the Great and Wonderful Kevin. At least that's how I saw it. And it seems to be that Emperor Karl did seek to end the war, so that makes him kind of a nice guy.

[@JinJinDoe]

You people have obviously not seen Llamas with Hats videos on KZbin.

[@TwykoMantis]

To quote Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce from MASH - "War is war and Hell is Hell, and of the two war is a lot worse...There are not innocent bystanders in Hell. But war is chock full of them. Little kids, cripples, old ladies. In fact, except for a few of the top brass, almost everybody involved is an innocent bystander" Also, it's worth noting that the Spanish Influenza strain mentioned was actually only attributed to Spain because they were the only country willing to report on the flu. All other governments and presses opted not to for fear that it would damage morale and public sentiment. Thus, Spanish Flu is kind of a misnomer.

[@Mixer2904]

Damn you missed so much, I can't even talk about all important stuff you forgot to mention, one that comes as major is southern front (Serbian campaign, Gallipoli, Macedonian front, Italian front, Romanian campaign), and also African front where also big battles took place

[@Whydoyoureadme]

Its a 15 minute video to summarize five years of war, obviously something is going to get lost.

[@racg174]

i wish you had talked about the german socialist rebellion within the navy which helped to end ww1

[@Madhattersinjeans]

There's a lot of events he had to skip over and honestly how he tells of the fighting on the western front isn't entirely accurate either. But broadly speaking he's got the gist. The great war channel has a great long running documentary series on ww1.

[@mike14991498]

The title is WWI Battlefields, and only two fronts are mentioned :(

[@MKPiatkowski]

The Turkish front is a huge omission.

[@Argacyan]

The Sinai front, Turkey, the japanese invasion into german Tsingtao, the guerilla wars in Namibia and Tanzania were big, the alpine front, ...

[@Lucifer8881]

If you want a really good go over of lots more ww1 battlefields (including lots of time spent on verdun and the Somme), I heavily recommend Dan Carlin’s “Blueprint for Armageddon” It is a 6 part series, about 4 hours or so per part.

[@quasicroissant]

The series is Crash Course *European* History, they probably weren't going to pay too much attention to non-european theatres. The Italian front is a bit of an omission, but one that can be accepted given the broad strokes the video is painting in.

[@xenotypos]

People need to understand, once and for all, that the western front and to a least extent the eastern front were incomparable in scale compared with the rest of the battle theatres: that war was fought in Europe, and the rest was secondary and served little purpose. That's the reality of this war, and not eurocentrism. It's then natural and not surprising at all that videos summarizing in 14 little minutes the whole war don't have the time to mention it, if they want to talk about the essential at least.

[@thetruerift]

I know it's been a while since your High School French Mr. Green, but it is pronounced "Ver-done"

[@jannoottenburghs5121]

Damn. I'm Belgian and we rather use the classic French "un" when pronoincing Verdun.

[@Tundramonkey5]

That's just the american English pronunciation, its pronounced ver-dune

[@kumirapau-chan9880]

As Janno_O mentioned it, it's pronounced with the classic French "un". Rather than making wrong statements, I would recommend to anyone else to actually verify the pronunciation before correcting someone. Just use Google Translation or something.

[@thetruerift]

@@kumirapau-chan9880 I literally live in a borough of Montreal called Verdun, you git.

[@kumirapau-chan9880]

@@thetruerift I literally live in France, in which is the actual city of Verdun mentioned in this video.

[@balisong46]

1 episode of Crash Course and 1 of The Great War a day keeps the ignorance at bay.

[@samspetifore9875]

I love how excited John gets over 'Emperor Karl', lol.

[@jennabm]

When he said it’s hard to picture 40 million people dying I immediate thought “That’s more than Canada’s population”

[@Dwumper]

The difference between this episode and the civil war episode in the American History series goes to show how much crash course improved over the years. That was just mocking military history, ignoring it's importance; this video is a great introduction to what the war was like and how it affected Europe and gives us a glimpse into it's importance to 20th century European history. This series on the whole has been great. Keep up the amazing work!

[@varana]

That was mocking "battle history" - and then they moved here, and regiments XXVI and 478 fought there, and then they moved somewhere else, and did the same again, but now formed a wedge instead of a line. Or stuff like that. This video was very light on these things, as well, and rightly so. The Great War had a much larger impact on all facets of life, not just the belligerent nations, and shaped the 20th century and modern life in a way that the American Civil War doesn't even come close to. Yes, that Civil War episode was a bit silly. But also not wrong, esp. in light of American "patriotic" history.

[@bryceabell9860]

I gotta be honest, I miss the fast-paced Crash Course videos

[@alexey926]

I also felt there were a lot more jokes in the older ones (not to say I don't like the new ones)

[@poep85]

This War is called the Great one because thankfully it ended all wars. Great job guys!👌

[@poppop-oj6by]

It's not the first war to be called the great one. It just isn't practical because a bigger wat wil require a name change on the last big one.

[@MusicalRaichu]

The only kind of war to end all wars is one where the human race exterminates itself.

[@schmoab]

The war on the Western Front was quite possibly the most horrific event in human history. Defensive warfare was so far beyond the offensive tactics at the time. The leaders were in total denial of the situation and millions died in the carnage.

[@patched8789]

I know it's kind of a nitpick but it would have been nice to have mentioned the Italian front.

[@oslonorway547]

5:05 That was touching. .. Salute to both the survived and fallen!

[@rickharold7884]

Awesome.

[@michaelzheng5250]

By Emperor Karl, do you mean *B L E S S E D* Karl of Austria?

[@kadaluarsa-316]

I just watched 1917, thanks for the back stories 😁

[@googledev566]

*_Please apply English subtitles Or captions to all your videos and upcoming too_*

[@annarose3354]

I really hope that they do at least one video on the Russian Revolution

[@MTTT1234]

Despite your map in the Thought Bubble, the Dutch lucked out that conflict. Not so much luck next time though.

[@eirikbelisarius1100]

The original plan included an invasion of the Netherlands.

[@TheNightmareRider]

Great War And I cannot take more Great Tour I keep on marching on I play the great score There will be no encore. Great War The war to end all wars...

[@Elnadrius]

I'm standing here, I'm full of fear With bodies at my feet

[@andromedafrigga7653]

Thank you for bringing up the Armenian Genocide...no one ever talks about it. RIP

[@Gguy061]

Canada? Really? 40 million could have been put more eloquently. Let me put it this way: Its like if everyone in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah all died.

[@davidbunner6708]

That only works if you're an American. Most of the rest of the world can't name our states, nor visualize their size and geography.

[@ammonjohnson5668]

Correct me if I'm wrong but I swear you said "itawy" after talking about the ottoman empire joining germany. If so I loved that you did.

[@ammonjohnson5668]

I dont care if it's a speech impediment, joke, or anything else. I love it and it makes me happy.

[@rainbowraver666]

Thank you for mentioning the Armenian Genocide! It so rarely gets brought up in discussions of WW1 🙏🙏🙏

[@RoonMian]

Brace for angry Turkish nationalists...

[@RoonMian]

And here we already have one.... >_>

[@achintyagopinath621]

11:17 I saw the old John Green

[@michaelaburns734]

The Back and forth in The Great War of 1914 was MASSIVE. The Christmas Truce 1914 is one of my favorite stories.

[@mhdabdulhai123]

why john green looks like he just wanna get over with this series of crash course

[@FatemaLiya]

"The old lie: dulce et decorum est pro patria mori" - Wilfred Owen

[@Beryllahawk]

I was going to do it if someone else didn't quote it first. Good on ya

[@festethephule7553]

Translation?

[@joelmcfarlane2984]

@@festethephule7553 If I can recall the poem from my memory of my literature 12 class I took...20 years ago *sigh* I believe it translates to "It is right and proper (maybe honerable) to die for ones country" I say this without putting any effort in double checking this, please do and let me know if I'm wrong.

[@zackerycooper1206]

joel mcfarlane Some say that it translates to “it is sweet to die for one’s country”, it’s a very rough translation in general but what you said keeps to the meaning nonetheless, that it glorifies death in war as an honorable effort

[@pineir]

Love your vids John green and I use them for school!

[@neilghosh3821]

you haven’t mentioned the Japanese involvement, when they took tsing Tao and other eastern German colonies in Asia. China also contributed to the war by supplying the allies Labour.

[@Avohaj]

How did Emperor Karl only come up now? There must have been gazillions of them ever since the OG Emperor Karl - Charlemagne.

[@varana]

In English, those are called "Charles". (Or Charlemagne, that one.)

[@rdreher7380]

Agreed. Karl is just the German form of the name, and Kaiser Karl I. von Österreich is really just a bland "Emperor Charles I of Austria" in English, though perhaps for some reason the German form of his name became widespread in English too. It's really rather silly that John and the Crash Course team thought this instance of an "Emperor Karl" in history is so unique and funny.

[@carl11547]

@@varana Exactly. Why did Mr. Green translate "Franz" into "Francis" but not "Karl" to "Charles," exactly?

[@NanoManya8]

Amazing video!

[@ΓιωργοςΣυμεωνιδης-φ6ι]

10:25 The tall woman, is clearly a man dressed as a woman to avoid going to war.....

[@syimirsafrizal3983]

The war would over by christmas

[@sonorasgirl]

Uuuugh this made me cry...the older I get the more and more war seems like a terrible undertaking, even though I’m not always sure of ways around some of them with how people are...but thanks for not glorifying it 😊

[@smurfmemez4112]

Y'all need to link your playlists in the description.

[@lialammers6609]

hey john green, are u doing good recently? ur energy seems down :(

[@jasonsender6568]

Woah woah woah. You can’t do European history and call it “soccer”.

[@wyacheslawkodanev2107]

It is a really popular misconseption that Wilhelm II was Nicholas II's cousin. They were both first cousins to the English king, but they were not THAT related between each other. George V's father was Wilhelm II's uncle (Wilhelm's mother was Queen Victoria's eldest daughter) and George V's mother was Nicholas II's aunt (there were actually no dynastic marriages between Russia and UK that time -- just both their mothers were Danish princesses). Though at the same time Nicholas II's wife was both George V's and Wilhelm II's cousin (again, through George V's paternal line), so we may say that Nicholas II and Wilhelm II were cousins-in-law.

[@wyacheslawkodanev2107]

And yes, the Christmas truce of 1914 happened both in Western Front AND Eastern Front (Russia, Germany and Austria-Hungary were all Christian countries and the Russian Orthodox Church calendar switch, which moved Christmas to January 7 /and other religious holidays for 14 days/, happened only in 1918 -- in protest of Bolshevik calendar reforms). The only European front, where Christmas truce of 1914 was not happening systematically was Russian-Ottoman front, 'cause Ottomans didn't celebrate Christmas and kept attacking Russian forces. Yet, this fact is often used by some overly politicized sources to come to the conclusion, such as "Russians were so barbaric that they didn't participate in Christmas truce -- see, they didn't feel European that time and they are definitely not Europeans now", so it seems important to me to correct this misconception (I should mention that Turkish people do not stop being Europeans just because they don't celebrate Christmas, Turkish education as far as I know, for example, is way more focused on European history than on Near/Middle Eastern history).

[@joelwest5541]

Please do an Asia, Africa and America's history too.

[@justinprupus8045]

They really did Canada dirty

[@sammylove3063]

Your amazing John

[@uzairhalimi9676]

John R SPEAKING SLOW I LIKED IT WHEN U SPOKE FAST

[@Nabooshlove7]

What happened to John? He seems less enthused like before :/

[@dehavillandvampire]

One thing I think needs to be noted here is that the 'Cult of the Offensive' effectively died in 1915, after this point Generals resorted to various forms of technological and tactical experimentation in an effort to restore movement and seek the 'decisive victory' some would even echew the idea of the 'break through' all together opting for grim (but effecitve) attritional tactics such as the 'bite and hold' practicd by ANZAC and Candian forces after the Somme. The Cult of the offensive Is also often vilified for ignoring the massive casulties of warfare, but this was not the case, indeed many of the creators of the cult acknowledged that casualties would be so massive the war had to be quick. It would be over by christmas not because the troops had won, but because the nations could't withstand that kind of bloodletting and economic drain. THey didn't reckon on a modern's state's ability to wage total war.

[@kazinadbiralamadit6905]

Please do Bangladesh liberation war.

[@imthestein]

"Emperor Karl!?" I genuinely lol'd 😂

[@DaDunge]

I don't get it. It's one of the most common names for European kings and emperors there is, the Holy roman emperors had 8 Karls, the Swedes are at their 16th one right now.

[@jaojao1768]

@@DaDunge well actually the swedish regnal numbers are based on a false 16th century history of the kings of Sweden, but we have still had a lot of King Carls (actually about 10 I think)

[@DaDunge]

@@jaojao1768 Yes you are of course correct. =) But I didn't see the point of making the point more complicated.

[@jasonbelcher2224]

Kudos for mentioning the Armenian genocide. Something too many politicians today, over 100 years later, balk at bringing up.

[@1urie1]

Ah nationalism the ultimate identity politics

[@Boots1164]

"Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practice hereditary succession." LOL

[@kevinlove4356]

In my opinion, it would of been much funnier and truer to Sir Walter Scott to have said, "Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to conceive."

[@balala8668]

Everybody: *expects the antivax kid to die* The antivax kid: 0:47

[@elanesh547]

School: Teaches half of this in 6 weeks KZbin: This in 15 minutes Me: Well, I guess I can drop out of school then

[@CrazyKungfuGirl]

Today on "How is it we even have any Europeans left"?

[@AudieHolland]

Nowadays, originally royal names sound plain and common because in the old times, people liked naming their children after kings and emperors. Philip is written as Flip in Dutch. It used to be very common. Nowadays, calling someone Flip or Flippo is calling him names. Kaiser Wilhelm. Sounds grand, doesn't it? It just means Emperor William. And in America, they dubbed him 'Kaiser Bill' during WW1. In my opinion, the only reason Napoleon isn't as common as other 'formerly high-ranking names' is because it wasn't much used because it's not a French name but Corsican (kinda Italian): Napoleone Buonaparte. Napoleon Bonaparte is the Frenchified version.

[@uzairhalimi9676]

wow it's amazing how the commentors have become smarter throughout the years of crash course

[@rickseffrin3160]

13:41 The one time a CrashCourse episode ends on a dark note...

[@666ndr]

As someone who lives in Canada, that was a rather intimidating conclusion.

[@deaglanuafhlaithbheartaigh8241]

What about the Easter Rising in Ireland in 1916 and the preceding war of Independence? Comnected to WWI 👍🏻

[@conallkingshott4597]

Okay, thats scary. I'm Canadian and when he said the estimated number of deaths was 40 million, I was like "Thats more than the population of my country".

[@whiskeycrusaderwill8699]

Yay! Time for more learning.

[@letsplaybarrysmod5815]

I didn't know the king of England Russia and Germany where cousins

[@ОлегКозлов-ю9т]

Look at the photos, Georg and Nickolas basically have the same face

[@JinJinDoe]

I didn't know either until I went to Koburg in Germany. Read up on it and the history. There was also one other cousin that history tried to erase as he sided with Hitler.

[@excession100]

Queen (Empress) Victoria had a lot of children (9) and married them off across the European monarchies. It made a messy political situation even messier.

[@AlexSaysHi2013]

You should check out the letter Kaiser Wilhelm sent to the Czar before the war. Its heartbreaking as he appeals to "Niki" not to mobilize for war and signs "Willy"

[@tyrannosaurusrhett]

As a general rule, all of European royalty was related in one way or another. It used to be part of how they sealed alliances and tried to prevent wars between each other. That mattered less and less as monarchies lost their power.

[@dodid0]

Human technology is truly amazing.