The Neutral Ally - Norway in WW1 I THE GREAT WAR Special

[@norwegiantactician]

As a Norwegian, the pronounciation of the norwegian names is very impressive. And worth noting about our declaration of independence in 1905, Kaiser Wilhelm II was one of the people who sought to prevent a Norwegian-Swedish war, in fact, Wilhelm loved Norway and every time he embarked on a cruise, Norway was his destination.

[@lordmaniac9775]

Alternate history: what if Norway sided with the Central Powers in 1918?

[@Mrtweet81]

Was going to comment the same about the pronounciation, even got the Ø somewhat right.

[@GardEngebretsen]

I agree. His pronunciation was very impressive considering him not being a native speaker, or a speaker at all I reckon. Another fun fact about Wilhelm is that when Ålesund burned to the ground in 1904 he was the one who "saved" the city. He immediately sent a warship, and two huge civilian ships to aid the city. ships in which 10 000 people were housed - and he raised 1.2 million Norwegian kroner to help with reconstruction (of which he donated 600 000 of himself). The Norwegian government, and the King of Sweden, raised a combined 5000 kroner. Pretty crazy. The Kaiser went on a total of 23 cruises to Norway.

[@randomclouds4404]

Martin Einarsen That is because he speaks Swedish, since he lives in Sweden, and the languages are similar enough to the point Indy can pronounce it well.

[@emperorkarlfranzrulerofthe2826]

He also donated a statue of Fridjof Den Frøkne a Norwegian saga hero that Kaiser Wilhelm loved. The statue is 22,5 meters tall and is at Vangsnes in vik kommune in sogn. But norway would never ever ant to be on opposite side of Great Brittan in the war, because of the british blocade of Norway during the napoleon wars, wich cause hunger in Norway and led many Norwegians to piracy

[@Stermling]

Whenever someone mentions Denmark-Norway taking sides with Napoleon, I get triggered when they don't mention the fact that the UK attacked Denmark while they were neutral.

[@valdemarhammer5981]

yes.

[@yohaneschristianp]

Viking revenge!

[@shadowguardian210]

Raid on London

[@deeznoots6241]

Not just once but twice lmao. There is even a word that came out of it, Copenhagenising

[@SingularityEngine]

I'm Norwegian and I find this extremely interesting. Thanks for covering our country's role, we don't really learn alot of WW1 history in school, at least not in regards to how it affected Norway.

[@marvelfannumber1]

We sure do cover WW2 though....over and over again.

[@SingularityEngine]

Hahaa... we sure do.

[@lordmaniac9775]

"Never forget World War 2, there was a war before that... but eh..."

[@zaril21]

I actually learned it last school year in history class. 3rd year of "studiespesialiserende".

[@Euphrynichus]

I actually find ww1 more interesting, i'm a Norwegian too

[@zacherybarger6591]

Funny thing the king of Sweden at the time of the Napoleonic wars was actually one of the marshal's that served under Napoleon. Right after the original king died with no heir.

[@AdrianMartinez-ek4kl]

Zachery Barger Really? That's interesting.

[@chriscann7627]

well.......at the time, he was nominated heir by the childless King of Sweden. Marshal Bernadotte went to Scandinavia and was later to command the Swedish army against Napoleon in the Campaigns of 1813-14.

[@MikaelKKarlsson]

Yeah, Marshall Jean Baptiste Bernadotte (under Napoleon) became Charles XIV John of Sweden in 1810 (though not officially crowned until 1818). Three years later he declared Sweden for the anti-Napoleon alliance. No doubt he had seen the writing on the wall so to speak.

[@Jx-kj9fs]

Zachery Barger whats even funnier is that the swedes wanted him because he treated swediah pows well

[@theordinarytime]

The even funnier thing was that he was wanted by Sweden in the belief that he was to join Napoleon and kick the Russians out of Finland.

[@lemon-pc6ob]

Can we get this channel to 1 million subscribers before the end of The Great War?

[@fritzorino]

But how would you know when the Great War ends??

[@Jack-ey6nn]

fritzorino Simple, it will all be over by Christmas!

[@Healermain15]

We probably need to conscript additional subscribers. Perhaps if we lower the viewtime limit by a few hours?

[@arnekrug939]

fritzorino Whem Luigi Cadorna doesn't want to start another Battle of the Isonzo River.

[@hebl47]

Yeah, I don't know. Looks to me like a few weeks till Paris falls. We better hurry. Maybe we should recruit some more subscribers from the colonies.

[@indianajones4321]

Heavy water wait wrong war

[@darthguilder1923]

Sabaton: Saboteurs

[@perhakonspenningsby6853]

Ha ha ha

[@TheNN]

"What makes a man turn neutral? Lust for gold? Power? Or were you just born with a heart full of NEUTRALITY."

[@PropaneWP]

I have no strong feelings one way or the other!

[@gladehartdreamer5620]

not wanting to die is usually the biggest cause of neutrality.

[@sidekickerbrohoof9584]

Xenomorph Captain Vex Ghost of the brony community He took it to seriously, or he hasn't seen Futurama.

[@JDahl-sj5lk]

TheNN “It sickens me!” Zapp Brannigan is the best ever! Lenge leve Norge! :)

[@jamesjacocks6221]

Some pushback saying you don't know the citizenship of TheNN but you probably guessed right, US. I'm American and I agree with you if you are saying that it is far braver to not fight if that fight is optional. I can't explain our militarism but it seems to have become one of the few points most Americans agree on: we must be at war constantly and protect our wonderful troops (who only took the job because it was the only one available). Say some kind words for a nation in decline.

[@Tetrach_4]

I have been waiting SO LONG for this!! Blessed be this day, and blessed be this channel.

[@JDahl-sj5lk]

LuckyPants I know right? Knallbra serie! :)

[@HSMiyamoto]

This is interesting. It helps to explain why so many Norwegians moved to Minnesota in the 1920s. Many Finns came because of the civil war that broke out, but economic disaster is also a powerful influence on migration.

[@bingusborgus24us]

Takk for at du endelig inkluderte oss i en spesiell episode!

[@PkMnNeWb]

One small inaccuracy, Norway wasn't a part of Sweden. It was a personal union meaning both kingdoms were separate, but had the same monarch. The only thing they shared other than a king were foreign affairs. The original reason for Norway not having their own consulates were funnily enough because it seemed like a waste of money to maintain if they could just leech on Sweden.

[@TheWoollyFrog]

Personal union is just a nice way of saying colony. And besides, most personal unions in history resulted in one country eventually being absorbed by the stronger country.

[@PkMnNeWb]

You're talking about a real union, Norway was legally recognized as an independent state during the union. In some ways Norwegians had more freedom than Swedes as Norway was a lot more liberal than Sweden.

[@JDahl-sj5lk]

Jakob But we wanted our own consulates, or that become the final trigger to leave the union at least. Though it was pretty clear we would at that point. The government even pursued the line most likely to lead to conflict as well. Sweden would have let us go at that point anyway I think, but wanted more say in the matter and to be respected. Like the vote for getting out of the Union. The Swedes were about to demand it when Stortinget beat them to it and issued a vote first, of which 99.95% voted for independence. Questions could be asked how free that vote was through, and the Swedes definitely asked that question. In the papers it said that voting no was tantamount to high treason. But it was generally a very strong support for independence anyway.

[@TheWoollyFrog]

Jakob You speak as if this was unique case at the time. And clearly Norwegians at the time didn't have "more freedom than Swedes" when they felt like their autonomy was being denied and sought independence. Why don't you go bother the Finns with your irredentism?

[@PkMnNeWb]

Other Jakob. I'm talking about the original negotiations in 1814, Norway had the opportunity to demand their own consulates, but it was viewed as too expensive.

[@WildBillCox13]

Where there's Norwill, there's Norway. I'll let myself out.

[@graeme3023]

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@paulconrad6220]

Take your damn like and get out of here

[@johnmeyer4789]

Do not forget to pick up a complementary Danish on your way out

[@graeme3023]

John Meyer - that was even worse 😂😂😂

[@thurin84]

thats a pretty chill pun!

[@oliversherman2414]

I'm half Swedish and have been to Norway many times so I find this very interesting

[@Luredreier]

0:50 Yeah, about that. That was actually one of the Swedish consessions during the peace talks. Norway was *not* integrated *within* Sweden but only entered a union as a junior partner. It was still a separate kingdom just as it had been during the union with Denmark but with certain affairs handled by Sweden.

[@benspsychologist3218]

Dear Indy and the crew, I have a question for OotT: We have heard on several occasions how the German Army has run out of rubber so the vehicles of the army must just run on metal. My question is why could Germany not trade rubber with the Netherlands who could import rubber through their colonies in Indo-China and pass it to the Germans through its land border. Thanks for the great work Rob

[@hippymad1]

Unrestricted Submarine Warfare meant that importing from overseas to the Netherlands was dangerous enough just to feed the nation. Plus, as the war continued and the Allies gained steam the Netherlands favoured the Allies trade over Germany's.

[@LuvBorderCollies]

Norway's population would have been much, much larger if not for the masses immigrating to the USA post-Civil War. This poses a theoretical question....would Norway have made different decisions if it was bulging with people? On the immigration to the US, I don't have have exact numbers but going through ship lists its obvious they came by the boatload. One ship's list from Quebec port listed the amount of money per person. The average was $2.00 US and this was 1892, still not much to live off in a new country. Norway is beautiful but has very little tillable land so no surprise so many left. Their desperation and toughness really contributed to the development of the Wild West. Its amazing what they accomplished in 20 years with horse and manpower.

[@rustknuckleirongut8107]

All those people you are talking about are only 800.000 in number(1830-1920) and Norway would have been around 3 million in population rather than 2.3 million. The difference is less than the population of a medium city in other European nations and would have had little effect other than making late war food shortages worse.

[@LuvBorderCollies]

I knew Norway was devastated by the Black Death. There is a term that was applied to farms that lost all occupants. I can't find the reference I read that. Guess they wanted to designate empty farms taken over by survivors vs ones where the ownership survived. The farms by Lesja from where my great-great-grandparents lived don't have any special designation, at least on modern maps on-line from the Norwegian govt.

[@LuvBorderCollies]

Rustknuckle Irongut You may be right. Looking just at archived census forms and ships lists for a few years gives the impression Norway was half empty. LOL In my family tree they all had big families like 7-10 kids but not all survived. If they reproduced like that in Norway it'd be hard to find room for all of them. Maybe the women were more fertile in the US than in the Old Country.

[@paulmanson253]

LuvBorderCollies Robert Heinlein the science fiction writer once made the observation that empty spaces tend to produce a massive increase in birthrate. Given the decades he lived,I think he was on to something. He got to see developed cites versus open land,a time now largely passed.

[@rustknuckleirongut8107]

+LuvBorderCollies I think the term was "Ødegård" or some dialect variation. Its a name found in increasing numbers on farms after the black death. "Ødegård" literally translates to deserted farm. If you are willing to use Google translate there is some more info here: snl.no/%C3%B8deg%C3%A5rd And the fertility thing I think may also be a nutrition and healthcare issue. There were big families here also, but in the early 1800s I suspect children in america had a better chance of growing to maturity as Norway was one of the poorest nations in Europe at that time and the rural nature of the nation left many with no real medical assistance or access to drugs. It may also have been a contributing factor in the emigration and lower population growth here the fact that clearing new farmland was more or less a Sisyphean task many places. Some places you could start clearing boulders and stones from your new land and end up with nothing but a hole as rocks was all there was.

[@lefstad8700]

I'm from Norway and thank you for making this🙏

[@chrisphillips8419]

I don’t know if you guys check the KZbin comments for questions but I have one for Out of The Trenches. Though out the war you have talked about the role of colonial troops from colonies of all the major powers, Francs, Britain, Germany etc. However there were other belligerent countries that had colonies and I haven’t heard anything about their roles, if they even had any. Where are the Italian, Belgian and Portuguese colonial troops in the war? I would think countries as hard pressed as the Italians and Belgians would make some use of African troops? If not what were they up during the war? Thanks for the awesome show.

[@TheSciuzzo]

Italian colonial troops were for the most part busy fighting the Senussi uprising in Libya and local revolts in Somalia alongside the British.

[@davethompson3326]

Congolese troops participated in offensives against German forces in the area of modern-day Rwanda and Burundi which were placed under Belgian occupation.

[@robertdevito5001]

3:01 lol, reminds me of when you did a video about the Austrian invasion of Russia, when you joked about how they invaded at bicycle speed and showed the clip of the guy going off the bridge. Falling was funnier in those days.

[@AlanDeAnda1]

Robert DeVito Except if you're an Alpini

[@kossakken]

Norwegian military manual: If you lose control of your bike, you are required to yell "I'm falling!" three times and then do a "controlled" fall/crash to the right.

[@52down]

Finally, I'm up to date with all content you guys publish on YT. I've lagged for 5 months, but found time to watch all the clips from late November and catch up before Germany is gonna win the war.

[@s3anth3boss77]

Norway: there will be peace 12,960,000 seconds later: ww1

[@Matta1224]

Finally an episode on Norway! ÆØÅ :) Interesting note; the coast of Norway was so heavily mined during WW1 and WW2 that still to this day, on average there is found one mine washed ashore a day. (About 350 a year)

[@lordmaniac9775]

Pokeball Ø

[@Christopher-ik6hc]

Yes! Finally! A great video about Norway.

[@sailstone]

Your pronunciation of Norwegian names is great.

[@andreacapuano585]

indy: norway can count himself luclky hitler: helloooooooo norway

[@markusjohansen2187]

Thank you guys so much for this episode. Loved it. I have been waiting long time for Norway. Great work guys and cant wait for the next one. Markus johansen.

[@sircheveezjeeves914]

YEEEEEEEEEEES. Thank you for making this. Was waiting a long time for it.

[@JonasBro1607]

Im a simple Norwegian i see Norway i like

[@TheNathanacer]

Thank you for this video! Love from Norway

[@ysersno]

Finally. Been waiting so long

[@megaman1808]

Love from Norway! Thanks for not forgetting our history during the great war :)

[@niklas5547]

Great channel! And big cred to you for obviously doing some research into the pronounciation of non/english names and places

[@ItsARandomEncounter]

Want to point out that another internal conflict in Norway was that between shipowners/merchant and sailors. The shipowners sent sailors out in the dangerous sea leading to the deaths mentioned. Sailors blamed the shipowners for these deaths and playwriter Nordahl Grieg wrote one of his most important works a around this conflict

[@brucetucker4847]

Very informative on a subject that doesn't get much attention in the history books!

[@acrosticrampage9420]

Yay! Finally, I've been waiting for this one for a while!

[@hkeen4482]

You guys should have a fan mail episode and have a po box and people can send you old interesting war relics and you can talk about them. Just an idea. Love the show

[@ToxiDJ]

Great video as always! Im also very impressed that you managed to pronounce every name correctly!! (Im norwegian)

[@fardiemann]

Thank you for making a special episode for Norway!

[@Mattyy2599]

Why didn’t you talk about the German children who went to Norway during the war as evacuees?

[@lordnootnoot2892]

Thank you for teaching me more of my country.

[@Khazon93]

One result of the post-war situation, as well as Norway's close relationship with Great Britain was that the Svalbard Archipelago was awarded to Norway (all while Russia was busy with their civil war so they couldn't protest), and it's occasionally referred to as Norway's 'payment' for being, as the title of the video says, "The Neutral Ally"

[@lordmaniac9775]

I thought Norway and Russia co-owned Svalbard. The more you know, I guess.

[@DerDitchwater]

That is true, Svalbard is not an incorporated norwegian territory . Both Russia and Norway have internationally recognized rights to inhabit the island, but none of them own it outright. The Russians still maintain a small symbolic mining community on the island.

[@thomasnorb4077]

Everything you said is wrong. Svalbard is actually incorporated and an integral part of Norway according to Norwegian law. You should try reading the Svalbard treaty as well. The Russians have equal rights to the resources there by way of the treaty, all signatories have the same rights, but only since they signed the treaty which gives Norway sovereignty over the archipelago.

[@thomasnorb4077]

No, the Svalbard treaty gave Norway sovereignty over the islands. The treaty is signed by Russia and as such they have equal rights to the resources there, but the islands are Norwegian. All signatories have equal rights to the resources themselves.

[@LetsbeHonestOfficial]

This is thee first time I've seen this guy, and it took me like 1 second to like his voice

[@felixandreassen6282]

I've been waiting for this video for a while now.

[@guldukat6749]

You just gained a norwegian subscriber my man.

[@sondremun]

Thanks for sharing this story about my country!

[@sirjabal]

The same case for Spain: strike in 1917, increased gap between rich and poor, and all the extraordinary gains of being neutral, lost a few years later, for the same reason. Being neutral carries some hidden risks !!! I will see for Holland & Sweden too.

[@MarkSultanaX2]

2:08 - 2:20 That is a level of sass I have never heard before on Indy.

[@bredekk]

I live on Karmøy, on the west coast of Norway. I know that here, not sure if it was a thing elsewhere, people used to gift a ownership percentage on boats to kids on their confirmation. The reason why they did that was so that when or if the boat was sunken, they would get rich on the insurance money.

[@octofett]

Thanks for opplading, very informative:)

[@Nuka0420]

I can trace my family line to the Jorvik vikingrs from Norway and the minor nobles of the manor of Wakely, which was just northwest of london. I am learning Norwegian now too

[@Paeremannen]

On the subject of making your own alcohol being illegal at the time (still is for spirits, but wine and beer is ok), I was at the Transport Museum in Oslo recently and in one of the trams there were ads for malt extract that said "Brewing beer of this malt extract is ILLEGAL!" I imagine as a way to get around that prohibition. After 1919 full prohibition on alcohol was in effect, like in the US.

[@Asbjoorn]

I have to say, cudos on the pronunciation! It's quite rare to hear a non scandinavian being able to pronunce "ø" the right way. Well done sir!

[@aracuan2938]

2:45 oscarsborg, i live 5 mins away from that hill

[@trygvek]

Thanks for covering my country!

[@Grimjar]

Thanks for this video. I've always beeen curious what Norway did durning WW1 and didn't bother researching it

[@robertdevito5001]

Keep getting ads for the universal mag carrier on videos for this channel lately lol. I don't trust any ad that says the product is nearly indestructible, not that I'd have use for one anyway. I keep letting the ad roll though. Thanks for all the great videos crew!

[@GroovingPict]

6:38 Gamlebyen, Fredrikstad! (all those old buildings are still there today btw, being Northern Europe's "best preserved fortified town"). Always fun to see your hometown in unexpected places. A more modern photo of the same square: pbs.twimg.com/media/CXiv1HEWsAEN5TI.jpg

[@mmestari]

Just when you think there can't be a leader more clueless about war than Luigi Cadorna, with the likes of von Hötzendorf and Pasha. You hit the rock bottom with that quote from Gunnar Knudsen.

[@Slashelio]

Question for Out of The Trenches: I was reading the diaries of Louis Barthas. When he was in champaign summer of 1916 there were Russian troops stationned there. I would like to know more about that... How they got there and what happened to them after the revolution Thank you guys for this amazing show.

[@oggbogg2]

This is a great video. Thankyou!

[@ethanthom4977]

Great War when you are done with the Great War do things like before the war and after and during ww2 and after to keep this great channel going

[@gabrielsaether8077]

Hi! Love your video! Im actually a decendant of Jørgen løvland!! Hes my Great Great great grandpas brother:)

[@christopherconard2831]

Knudson's spiritual successor would become the US Secretary of the Navy 20 years later. When asked to expand cryptography and code breaking, he explained "Gentleman do not read each other's mail."

[@mobiusonerocks]

Yay Norway!

[@akrybion]

We have no strong feelings, one way or the other! *crowd breaks out in applause*

[@steinmaniac7920]

It's either the Norway, or the highway.

[@paulmanson253]

Sokrates with ADHD Running shine,down a mine,or down the line.

[@steinmaniac7920]

paul manson Going crazy in the heat and running for the red light. -Meat Loaf

[@sharkfinbite]

I just realized something. Imagine how tough it is when you start a nation and try to get their armed forces up to date, get all the equipment set up, and find trainers and generals to take jobs. There's no way in heck you can simply walk up to any nation to ask them to help inform you about the specs about some of the most common military modern arsenals, modern military tactics, equipment, and vessels without it forcing them to give up some military secrets. Even then you have to find qualified people willing to spend all their life as a trainer teach people how to use this stuff or ways of engaging war in a place that is relatively new as a country, and it is unsure if it will even last. You know there had to been some foreigners taking positions in some way (including general and officer positions), because there will be a significant amount of already qualified people would be reluctant on leaving their job they already have gotten up to that point. Then there is the possibility of people with not much experience taking on those positions because you couldn't find any better ones available around willing to take that job. To me... the more further back in time you go in the past the easier it is to set up a new nation. You have to put into account of more complex technical details while you're setting up and the complex politics the further you move in time if you try to create a new nation. (People today and further in the future may grow more and more reluctant on sharing their knowledge as time progresses with others about stuff relating to their military. They have concerns it help expose holes in their military structure.)

[@GardEngebretsen]

I think it's easier than you think. Norway is a bad example since it had it's own armed forces, but if you look at Finland instead its a better example. Numerous Finns served in the army of the Tsar, and Mannerheim himself (the father of Finland) was a high ranking officer in that army. When they seceded from Russia they would have all these officers who possessed all this knowledge about tactics, and equipment.

[@torkilvalla1463]

Great video!!! :-)

[@Johan_delacruz]

3:02 RIP.

[@ezekielwong7771]

164k left everyone lets help this awesome channel to 1 million can we??

[@samuelschutte3704]

Great vid loved it!!

[@rogeriodeoliveirasouza9068]

Excellent lecutre. Congratulations.

[@nordicoASR]

Now this is a history channel doing things right

[@graycap44]

Those Krupp guns and torpedoes on Oskarsborg came into their own in 1940 when they sank the German heavy cruiser Blucher, thus delaying German plans to quickly capture Oslo.

[@lordmaniac9775]

Yet they still managed to capture Olso after 24 hours...

[@fattymuffin2182]

When the guy fell of his skis...

[@benygamer9330]

YES finally its somevone that is talking about norway and the WAR LOVE FROM NORWAY

[@asd36f]

6:08 - Was the gap in the minefield to allow Norwegian freighters to leave port and get into the open sea?

[@NaumRusomarov]

2:17 Famous last words. :)

[@painterforbeginners9613]

First and also awsome special!

[@Audunforgard]

As a norwegian, I am very hankfl. That was more about the norse participation, than what I have learned in my entire life previously

[@luna237]

My country! Ty The Great War

[@tom2000d]

Please do a special episode on Thailand and the Siamese Expeditionary Forces in ww1. Keep up the great work lads. Tom.

[@isteinrsleie6784]

Well, actually Norway legally didn't go in with an deal. It was free companies who did do the deal with the British.

[@scragglebum]

best channel on youtube. Do you guys have a WW2 channel? or plan on doing one? that would be sweet

[@HenrikML]

I literally put a movie night with some friends on a small hold because I needed to watch this 😂🇳🇴

[@hoangkimviet8545]

I wonder how Switzerland could be save in World War 1? :0

[@Hilja1suus]

Mountains.

[@LoserBroProductions]

He made an episode about Switzerland.

[@lacasadipavlov]

behind every general there's a current account holder!!

[@sharkfinbite]

@Hoàng Kim Việt Switzerland has taken on a tactic that is actually managed to keep itself out of war and invasion no one ever realizes. In the ancient times some people noticed some of the nobles and kingdoms actively chose not to go towards war against, or want another nation to mess with a country that actually handles their own credit, finances, and banks. If someone tried messing with them suddenly that place got a kingdom or noble running towards their side to defend it, being their ally, and getting more people riled up around them to help defend them. (It's because their money was under threat. In the old days people conducted plundering too.) Out of clever method of defense strategy they decided it was best for their nation to become more and more over time involved in handling with other nations' finances. (Their country was also a place surrounded by constant threats during the time.) They did so and it did in fact show evidence of it working and wars and threats started to occur less and less towards them. The downside is this... Since they now handle most of finances of the other nations they could no longer get too involved in political issues and choice sides without it causing a hit to their nation's diplomacy and finance industry. They had to become more neutral much more frequently... Over time they had to be always on the neutral stance of everything. This is how the stereotype the people and the nation is always neutral and want to be. The upside of the tactic though... ABSOLUTELY NO NATION IS WILLING TO WANT A WAR WITH THEM OR MESS WITH THEM! It's because most of the world nation's financial, credit, and etc. institutions are either handled directly by a Swiss group there or have some indirect influence by them. This is why they did not have to go through as bad of a strong fear of a invasion in ww1 and ww2. Technically their financial institutions were doing business with everyone. This means the Germans and later Hitler did not really want to spend effort at the early stages of the war to take over the country. If there was ever going to be a time it will happen... the thoughts were literally, "We can easily take them over no sweat. We can do that later, after we settle things in the other places, in this war. They are currently to useful for us to mess with right now." That is why Switzerland was safe during ww1. There might have been internal disputes by people, but no politician dared to go little to far in actions without it compromising the mutual transaction the country does with everyone.

[@orgaes]

Banks

[@NewDealDem2187]

Are the “under water battery” and the “torpedo battery” the same thing? I could not tell if the were being listed differently and was referring to a “disappearing” coastal gun.

[@drewpamon]

The only winners in this war were the arms merchants.

[@viisiionj5156]

Hello there. Great show guys! I got a question: Will there be a episode about Switzerland in the great war?

[@MoLGamingML]

Now I wait for the Denmark episode

[@capralean]

Fascinating

[@AlanDeAnda1]

2:59 That was sure for Fail Army.

[@edwardtroth8630]

JA!!! met indy at the prince of Wales pub in july and complained at how expensive Norway is 😂

[@SingularityEngine]

Edward Troth Nice! Indy seems like a really cool guy. Is he?

[@larsmunch4536]

1814-1905 Norway was not a part of Sweden. It was under the Swedish king and didn't have full independence, but it had its own constitution and other laws, its own national institutions etc.

[@MajesticSkywhale]

Paused my once yearly LOTR binge for this video.

[@PropaneWP]

What an honor :D

[@rossfisher1843]

Hey Flo!

[@benhadaway3322]

Question for out of the trenches: Are their any examples of enlisted (or lower officers) men living in the trenches the ENTIRE length of the war through all these major battles/conflicts from 1914 to 1918. I can imagine that troops were cycles through various fronts that were more active than others to keep up morale. If so what was their story?

[@starguy321]

My economics teacher found this as interesting as my history teacher

[@GardEngebretsen]

If you found the economics behind this interesting, then read about Nortraship during WW2. When Germany invaded Norway most of the Norwegian merchant fleet escaped to England and was nationalised by the government-in-exile. They made so much money during the war it was ridiculous. The Norwegian merchant fleet was the 3rd (I think) largest in the world at the onset of WW2, and had 40% of all the oil tankers in the world. If not for those tankers Britain would be starved for fuel for their planes during the Battle of Britain

[@starguy321]

GardEngebretsen I will give that a read, it sounds really interesting. I need to visit Norway too, it looks like a fantastic place and it'd be cool to go there

[@GardEngebretsen]

Well, I live there and I think it's marvelous. The prices aren't really tourist friendly though :P

[@seanhaber7847]

I know that Norway and Britain had a rivalry concerning Antarctic exploration. This had to stop because of the outbreak of war. The dynamics of Shackleton's third expedition were effected by the war. Did Germany, or the other Central Powers, have any aspirations with Antarctic exploration?

[@GardEngebretsen]

Pretty sure Arctic and Antarctic exploration was mostly between Britain, the US and Norway. Anyway, the race for the South Pole had been finished years prior to the war.

[@thomasnorb4077]

Whale oil was a valuable commodity internationally and especially for Norwegian whalers. Norway claimed many islands and territory in the Arctic and Antarctic because of this (bases). Bouvet island and Peter I island are prime examples.

[@MrBjarte84]

Proud to be an Norwegian =)