Why Has the United States Forgotten World War One?

[@TheArmchairHistorian]

Uhuh, right. Okay. Right. But why didn't America just use its nukes in WW1? Everyone in 1914 was just stupid.

[@etherealhawk]

murica fk yea

[@heiko5129]

@Aggressive Tubesock of course not, people in 1914 was just plain stupid. It would be so much easier using machine guns and nuclear bombs, you wonder why they didnt do it? Dumbness

[@RyanCarabin]

Aggressive Tubesock He’s taking the piss out of the “reaction” channel thats goes by the name of Jon & Ashtyn, they reacted poorly to his video saying things such as the ones in his comment

[@nordy4981]

Ashtyn and jon

[@noco7243]

@Aggressive Tubesock Here's a little bit of context for bud. kzbin.info/www/bejne/gJfUmKp4pceqZpo

[@iammrbeat]

Simply put, it's overshadowed by WWII. WWI just isn't as sexy as WWII. It wasn't so much a war of ideals like WWII was. In WWII, there ostensibly more obvious heroes and villains from the American perspective. And don't forget that both wars were fought largely outside American borders, so often Americans begin perceiving these wars at a neutral perspective. Personally, I love learning and teaching about WWI more than WWII. It helps that I live 30 minutes away from the WWI museum, though. :)

[@jjrad2531]

You will probably never see this but scrrew it the us did fight tha Japanese in Alaska which was the closest next to peral Harbor

[@huntclanhunt9697]

Also the civil war.

[@Levipeanut]

@@huntclanhunt9697 people remember it. I just don’t think they know about much of it though

[@huntclanhunt9697]

@@Levipeanut I mean the Civil War overshadows it.

[@Alte.Kameraden]

I have not forgotten The Great War, it's the primary reason I got into History as well.

[@JohnMata003]

same

[@ronashapouri403]

Aye

[@Alte.Kameraden]

@@arintheseatsesh6242 Actually it has a lot of do with back in the 90s when I played Red Baron II, and the TV series The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones Chronicles (long title), which had a large number of episodes focused on the war. That and most of my love of history sparked mostly from the Vistorian Era leading up to the war. This includes other conflicts like the Franco-Prussian War, and Spanish American War, Russo Japanese War, among many others.

[@commando4481]

Kameraden why are you a weeb?

[@JohnMata003]

@@arintheseatsesh6242 the great war was fought to get revenge on Serbia for assassinating franz Ferdinand

[@Warmaker01]

For the US, WWI as you pointed out isn't as big, and what further limits its importance to the US is that it is framed right in between the Civil War and WWII, both being larger conflicts, involvement.

[@somepolishmoment9118]

Warmaker01 they say the middle child is always forgotten

[@lordbrain5263]

Lmao I ThinkUr Gay It wasn’t larger but it was larger to the US because they were involved in it far more than in ww1

[@etherealhawk]

@DOPYTC 1 It was only large for the US. If you compare total death tolls of the wars, the American Civil War was a fart in a storm.

[@Thraven7]

@@etherealhawk The subject is the US point of view, the ACW was an important confict to the US, shaping the future of the country in many ways, while WWI had reletively little impact on the US. Also the ACW happened on US soil, giving it more impact.

[@Warmaker01]

@@somepolishmoment9118 I was the older kid, so yes lol

[@BrandonF]

A lot more lighting this time around! Maybe too much? I have three blaring on me in this video...maybe I can try two next time, to see if that adds a little more 'depth' to the shot? What do we think? Also, if anyone happens to be in the area, stop by Lexington either tomorrow or on Monday and say hello! Details on my Facebook page! facebook.com/BrandonFYT

[@fullsuit6711]

G'Day from the land of the aussie

[@joemoment-o1275]

Get one of those Golden things for photography, have it on your face to warm it up without shadows.

[@cadetflamen12]

My great great grandfather fought in France from 1917 to 1919 he was part of the army's 1st division

[@thatchannel195]

I haven't forgotten at all but the most interesting time period in American history is the earlier time periods.

[@coldfront1494]

ಠ_ಠ

[@Mr_Unicorn16]

The movie the Fighting 69th was based in WW1 and it shows a good moment when they encountered another unit from Alabama and they argued over how they fought each other in the civil War.

[@keitholding8541]

I think it is an indication of how WWI had a huge effect on every corner of the United Kingdom that lists have been compiled of 'Thankful Villages' - that small number of communities that didn't have someone killed in the war. I believe that currently just 53 such villages have been identified in England and Wales, and none in Scotland or Ireland (all of Ireland was part of the UK at the time). 14 of these have been identified as 'doubly thankful', having lost no-one in either World War. Not losing a family member or neighbour was a great exception, not the norm.

[@HeyThereStan]

I never knew about this, thank you for the history lesson!

[@lovablesnowman]

Over 9/10 men who went to France or any other front came back....losing 1/10 working age men is of course devastating but let's no peddle any ridiculous notions such as the whole "lost generation" myth

[@anarchyandempires5452]

Did you know that Drouing the Civil war my great great grandpapa shelled his home town and killed his entire family? He was a Union soldier and the town had been converted to a Confederate strong point, it was commanded by his older brother who was a Confederate Colonel, He pinpointed the point on the map where his parent's home was knowing his brother was probably commanding from there, he ordered it shelled "Keep shooting until we dig up my old man's bones" he said, the shells fell like rain and killed both his older and younger brother as well as his mother and about a half dozen Confederate officers, he then ordered the shelling of every single building and the burning of the nearby Fields. I know that a lot of french people died Drouing the first world war, but I'm pretty sure they never had to exterminate their own families, I'm also pretty certain there are no cases of British officers ordering the total and complete destruction of their home town. "... that's not war son, war is shooting your dad, the same man you named your son after, and the first man to hold your child after your self just a few months ago, in the head and getting promoted because he was an enemy officer, may you never know what true war is like child." This was an entry in Grand papas diary.

[@maconescotland8996]

There was no conscription in Ireland (the whole island) during WW1, all those serving in the British military were volunteers, so it had less impact in terms of casualties amongst local communities in comparison to England, Scotland and Wales. Incidentally there was no conscription in the Six Counties (aka Northern Ireland) in WW2 for political reasons.

[@robokill387]

@@lovablesnowman 1/10 sounds like a tiny amount when you put it like that, but it's a ridiculously high death rate.

[@kllk12ful]

I must say that when it comes to WW1 the reason why it doesn't have the same importance in the US compared to Britian And France is because the US lost 100,000 dead while Britain lost almost 1,000,000 and France lost 1.4 Million so in that war the US didn't lose nearly as much people compared to other Eurpeon countries

[@lukam8815]

Nobody talks about serbia

[@RogerS1978]

A lot of the impact in the UK was the pals battalions where even small communities and large employers created battalions with the grouping of friends, neighbors and colleagues together unlike the usual process of arbitrary allocation. In some rural villages such as mine there were 50+ men killed and more seriously injured out of a village of 250-300 people, those coming back had seen their friends, family and neighbors die, so have to agree it is similar to the civil war in the US in that way.

[@tennesseerifleman5250]

@@lukam8815 you mean the country that started the whole damn thing ...

[@zachnies13]

@Matthew Chenault US was never engaged on US soil during the war, so it's even more of a difference between US and France

[@spookyshadowhawk6776]

@@zachnies13 Yes, for France the extensive trench systems, the major battlefields with the unburied dead. How long did it take to clear the minefields on land and sea, the shattered forests to regrow, the ruined villages to be rebuilt? America has seen nothing like that since the Civil War. Then the thoughts of the French as they mobilized for the second world war, many who had fought in the first world war, marching over the old battlefields where they had seen so many die. At the beginning of the first world war they sang as they marched to the front, in the second world war, they were doomed men marching off to be slaughtered, knowing few would return. The ghosts of the past marched with them, haunting their dreams at night, knowing France would be destroyed again. This had a effect on their will to fight.

[@chickenkendies470]

I’ll never forget the First World War for one simple reason. My grandad won the Victoria Cross at the battle of the Somme.

[@tallman2210]

What was his name?

[@chickenkendies470]

Ornate Orator Name was Robert Ryder. You can read his citation online. If you can’t find it I’ll find it for you.

[@sirbillius]

GravyBaby Was is a Robert E. Ryder?

[@thatbluemach]

Wow! Was he really your grandad? I read what he did to earn his Victoria cross and it is stunning.

[@hamakaze1413]

Speaking from a British point of view i feel like the US doesn't care as much due to their small amount of casualties in comparison with the other powers, Personally I always remember WW1 because my family lost 24 Men and Boys Killed in Action and many more wounded or unaccounted for and my local area lost a higher percentage of its population than any other area in the UK. Here's a roll of honour of my family killed during WW1 as an example, You can see a lot of Brothers there. Private A. T. DeLara ( British Army), Lt. J. A. Williamson (Royal Navy), Walter G. T. Hillman (Royal Engineers), George D. Honeycott (Merchant Navy), Walter Mouat (Royal Navy), Roderick D. Lardner (Royal Navy), William C. Falconer (ANZAC), James Fotheringham (ANZAC), Lake Falconer (ANZAC), Private A. Williamson (British Army), Private A. Morrison (British Army), Corporal L. B. MacKay (British Army), Private C. Henry (ANZAC), Private W. Dorsett (British Army), 2nd Lt. F. W. Ellis (ANZAC), Private J. H. Brading (Canadian Army), Private W. Hunter (ANZAC), Gunner B. Milne (British Army), Private W. S. Morgan (British Army), Lt. D. A. L. Ainslie (British Army), Lance Corporal J. R. Streeton (British Army), Rifleman T. G. Streeton (British Army), Private E. J. Woolacott (British Army), Sergeant W. Woolacott (British Army), Private D. D. M. Adam (British Army), Gunner J. B. Falconer (British Army), Private A. B. Jameison (British Army), Private R. J. Jamieson (British Army), Private A. B. Falconer (British Army) David Falconer (British Army).

[@jonskowitz]

.o7

[@etherealhawk]

Dulce Et Decorum Est Pro Patria Mori

[@alecblunden8615]

@@etherealhawk More to the point is Wilfred Owens introduction to that adage. After a long catalogue of the war's horrors, he said: My friend, you would not tell with such high zest To children ardent for some desperate glory The old lie: Dulce et decorum est Pro Patria mori

[@bmc7434]

Had to do with Franco Anglo Aggression at the end of the war as they secretly carved out most of the German/Ottoman Empires for themselves and refused to pay their debts.

[@alecblunden8615]

@@bmc7434 I understand the final payment of British war debt to the US was made in 2015, despite the exorbitant interest rates. And how do you deduce "aggression" from defending their international obligations. Granted, I would have preferred no involvement in the Middle East mandates, but I can imagine the mess- rather like the current one.

[@adventussaxonum448]

My granddad used to tell me about serving on HMS Iron Duke at Jutland in 1916 and shelling the Red Army in 1919. He joined the RN in 1914 (aged 14) and also served in WW2, as a recalled reservist, on Arctic convoys and at D-Day. So, yes, WW1 was very real to us.

[@conradcash5103]

I just realized how awfully amazing just listening to Lindybeige and Brandon just talk for however many hours it takes.

[@crazypickles8235]

Very powerful message. My great great grandfather was a dough boy in the US Army from 1917 to 1919 and he was the first of his family to serve in the American military, as his father was a Norwegian immigrant. My mother's family has ancestry that participated in the War of the Rebellion under the union color and in the War Between States under confederate colors. These were families from the same blood line and only a river border separated their towns, but they would have had vastly different world views and marched for disparate reasons. One man fighting to put down a Rebellion, the other man fighting to halt the tyranny of the federal government. Indeed Americans do not remember the Great War, as it wasn't really our conflict. But we remember the Civil War like it happened 50 years ago, and we remember the legacy of military veterans as if they were all related to us somehow.

[@primalreversion7034]

I mean I hate to break it to you but the American Civil War was definitely about slavery

[@pusspussmckitten]

Talking about forgotten, why isn't there a good fps game or film about the Korea war ?

[@flyingmonkeydeathsquadronc968]

@Matthew Chenault MASH is more of an allegory for the Vietnam War so I don't count it, I think the real reason why its more forgotten is it doesn't have the prestige Nazis or Vietnam media propaganda and protest. and the wars in the middle east are too modern to have been forgotten but they're likely to be forgot soon. id even argue that Operation Desert Storm in 90-91 has already been largely forgotten.

[@pusspussmckitten]

@Matthew Chenault Yes of course, forgot that one! With a beautiful openingssong "Suicide is painless".

[@guardiadecivil6777]

devs would probably be too lazy as fuck to add every UN nation's soldiers in their game, especially when each contributed to the war

[@Tommy-5684]

i see Korea and i raise you the ailed intervention in Russia. all joking aside its kind of a major thing as it very much set the note for Russian relations with the "west" though the cold war up to today.

[@Nostripe361]

KOrea is forgotten because it wasn't an epic struggle to victory like world war 2 nor a horrible cultural changing conflict like vietnam. It also didn't help that it ended with a largely status quo ante bellum cease fire. Nothing really changed too much geopolitically after the war other than showing that the US would use force to stop communist uprisings.

[@bloodyconstraint920]

"Did the band play the last post and chorus, did the pipes play the flowers of the forest"

[@thomasdevine867]

When I was in grade school in the 1960s a couple of WWI veterans visited my school during November as a lesson on Veteran's Day. The man with the artificial leg was a surprise to us kids. He moved so well it was a total shock when he took his leg off. They had us learn the poem "In Flanders' Fields" by heart in November in grade school. Remember that large numbers of Southerners fought on the Union side. So the percentage of Southern men under arms is even higher than you suggest.

[@dustinbreitkreuz5644]

Excellent video, though I have a few thoughts of my own to add: I think a big part of the lack of US commemoration of WWI is the fact that WWII (about two decades later) was a much larger conflict that saw much greater US involvement, higher US casualties, and generally affected the US population in a greater way than WWI. After WWI, there was quite a bit of memorialization of that conflict in the US (especially, from what I've seen, in the Midwest and on college campuses), and although it was not on the same level as in Europe, until the US entry into WWII it was a very significant part of our cultural memory. Indeed, between the wars, public opinion was solidly in favor of non-interventionism and Congress in 1937 passed the Neutrality Acts which were designed to keep the US out of any prospective European conflict because of how traumatic WWI had been for so many Americans. WWII blew WWI out of the water not only in terms of scale and America's level of commitment, but also in that it was viewed as an existential conflict by most Americans in a way that WWI simply wasn't. Americans were genuinely afraid of Germany and Japan invading US soil, even in 1939-40 before America entered the war when Germany seemed triumphant in Europe and Japan was aggressively expanding in East Asia. America lost four times as many soldiers in WWII compared to WWI, and American society was in a state of mass mobilization under a war economy (with all the strictures and controls that went with it) for almost four times as long as in WWI (and perhaps more severely). You can probably understand, then, why WWI may have been largely forgotten by Americans. WWII completely overshadowed it (not too dissimilar to the way that the Vietnam War overshadowed the Korean War) and ended up claiming a much greater space in our cultural memory. All that said, I totally agree with you that the memory of the Civil War is an important part of why WWI doesn't hold the same place in the American psyche as it does for, say, the British, since it was the standard by which all American wars were judged until WWII. Being caught between two much more significant (to the US) wars, WWI has a hard time competing for attention in the crowded space of American cultural memory.

[@GrantAugustus1]

Just saying YOU FORGOT RUSSIA STALIN!!!!

[@bigredwolf6]

America kinda just happens to do war for most of its existence. It’s kind of our thing.

[@huntclanhunt9697]

@@GrantAugustus1 We've done it a lot less than most European countries have since we were founded, actually.

[@pudgebl67]

In Australia, there are monuments in every town. During WWI, there was a town in France, I cant remember which town, that got liberated by the ANZAC's from the Germans in 1917 I think. Because of their sacrifices, they celebrate Australia Day, and ANZAC day, even sing the national anthem. I hope to go there one day, I will be googling it after I have finished here. edit: Ok just looked it up, the town is Villers-Bretonneux, and the battle took place in 1918, not 1917 like I thought. It happened on the 24th of April, the day before ANZAC Day, and on the dawn of the 25th, ANZAC Day, the ANZAC's had won. It took the lives of 1200 soldiers and the eternal gratitude of a town. I may have glossed over it, and if anyone knows anymore about it, I hope to see comments to see what I have missed.

[@jesseusgrantcanales]

@Brandon F. I am pleased you mention the Civil War when speaking of US involvement in WWI, and your other explanation why the conflict had minor importance to America. I applaud how you also mention Doughboys' knowledge of war was from the Generation of '61 and how the war all but wiped out the population of men in towns and cities; but they also may get it from the Span-Am. War Vets too so perhaps that could play another part. Memorial Day is our nod to WWI and once observed as Armistice Day before renaming, we may not remember it as well as we should but we do, for you do not forget 116,000+ dead, also WWII Hero figures got their start from the Great War. The Civil War was deadlier than 620, the estimates are 650-850,000. Some are saying the exact could be in recent research around 750,000 which only cements that yes 116,000+ is a drop in the bucket to us. Also as some Historians point out is there is often a parallel in the 2 conflicts of the Civil War and WWI, particularly the Siege of Petersburg where Americans get what is a haunting foreshadow to the latter mentioned war, trench warfare made its debut in the outskirts of Petersburg, Virginia.

[@Hero-lo3kt]

Coming from the New England area myself (Maine), I think you are 100% spot on. Yes, there are the occasional local memorials in some towns to the First World War, but they do not compare to the Civil War ones, both in quantity and in scope. I'm of the opinion that there needs to be a National WWI Memorial in Washington D.C. as well.

[@aaravtulsyan]

That redcoat poster would look better if placed a little lower

[@lukam8815]

Mention the grenadier guard drawing. It will look cramped

[@Aramis419]

Agreed. The background looks unbalanced. Then again, I’m a single divorcée with no eye for interior decoration, but that giant TETRIS block of empty space could be better utilized.

[@360Nomad]

Brandon F. never films himself from the waist-down because he secretly hates wearing puttees and actually does his videos in his regular pants.

[@tripphudson7509]

My great great grandfather fought in the Civil war For the Confederate 1st Florida regiment.He was captured in 1864.Thank you for making amazing content Brandon F.

[@WarReport.]

World War One is important in Canada too. When we planned and fought as a division for the first time and took Vimy Ridge it gave us a place on the world stage and recognized us more as a country than simply a colony of Britain.

[@harryharris4889]

Though, its important that Canadians did remember their heritage as Brits; and it really showed in outcry when the flag and anthem were changed.

[@ThisTrainIsLost]

You are perfectly welcome to add Canada to that list of European nations that you read out near the beginning of this episode. I would very much like to visit the memorial to the Canadian dead at Vimy Ridge. But as I daydream, I can always go and watch the well made documentary on the CEF, "Far From Home." Its three parts are posted to KZbin.

[@singulartrout]

Your channel is one of my favorite things to watch- Really brightens my day

[@Alex-cw3rz]

We have two plaques in my schools dinning room for all the students who died during the war for both ww1 and ww2

[@etherealhawk]

Good school. Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori

[@jamesholland5521]

Yeah, ours has a separate chapel for the war dead. We had an almost 50% casualty rate i think. There or there abouts.

[@GorinRedspear]

@@etherealhawk I prefer 'No bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. They won it by making the OTHER dumb bastard die for HIS country'

[@barneyh7014]

We say no to pay to win same

[@thatoneradicalizedprussian225]

My school has quite a history. We have plaques by our auditorium with the names of alumni that fought in WWI, WWII, the Korean war, and the Vietnam war. Nobody pays any attentions to them.

[@joemoment-o1275]

I've never forgotten...

[@harborseal1286]

Saw a Brandon F. Notification at like 12:30 AM, had to click. As the topic of the Great War is involved I do wish people would begin to acknowledge the war more so than only having learned about it from an extremely inaccurate AAA game. (BF 1). I hope more Americans remember the great sacrifices made in the war and reflect on how vital it is in the next war if there ever is one we must immediately take a stand and on that point take a stand on the side of allied and friendly nations including our natural allies like the United Kingdom. What's also striking is the scale of WWI American battle cemeteries such as the Lorrain cemetery in France which houses over 10,000 American doughboys. And lest we forget sacrifices made by Americans in more famous engagements like Belleau wood which essentially created the modern Marine Corps ethos.

[@ACM1PT95]

The Great War is not a forgotten war, countries like UK you see more ww1 memorials than the last great War . America did made a big contribution on ending the war , but by the time that America arrived to Europe , America had twice the size of the army than France armed forces combined , and it's because France had shortages of soldiers due to the losses , that's why for me France had payed the higher price in that war along side Britain

[@Szolrykor]

Americans would also remember that their involvement in the war was driven by lies (Lusitania) from their own government and the British. This would probably be the main reason you don't see American school systems focus as much on the war, and why the British make it a point to downplay American involvement.

[@yvonneblocker5618]

The British are and always have been enemies of the United States. We had no business participating in WW I and derived no benefit whatsoever from doing so. This is a big reason isolationist sentiment was so widely and deeply held before the attacks of December 7 1941.

[@aquilamotionpictures408]

My Uncle Richard was brought home after the war, my great-grandmother insisted he be buried in his Homeland. There were rumors that they were just sending random remains back, so she insisted that the coffin be opened. The recognized it was him because, since he was half Choctaw Indian, he had straight black hair.

[@BernardvonSchulmann]

In Canada World War 1 is much more important and it is interesting to see how different the experience and memory is from the United States. Every town has their World War 1 monument (cenotaph) that then had the fallen from World War 2, Korea, and now Afganistan added to it. High schools that are still in use from before 1914 will almost always have a memorial to the students and teachers killed in the war. Businesses that are still around in their buildings from before the war will have most likely have a monument to those that died in the war. And in France, there is a huge Canadian memorial at Vimy Ridge which is maintained by the Canadian government and was rededicated in 2007 by the Canadian queen. World War 1 was one of the seminal events that took Canada from being just an enhanced self-governing colony to being a nation on the world stage. It was at Vimy Ridge that the Canadian army fought has a separate army under Canadian national control. Canadians take pride in the Vimy Ridge battle because it was one of the only battles between 1914 to early 1918 on the Western Front that achieved its objectives. Canadians won at Vimy Ridge because they planned and planned, they did not needless slaughter troops, but most importantly the enlisted soldiers were given the information they needed so that in the heat of battle they could make the on the ground decisions to achieve the goals. Yes, the enlisted men were allowed to make the decisions on the battle field. It helped that Canada had the best educated enlisted corps in the war and was not lead by an elite upper class but by self-made emerging upper-middle class. One in ten Canadians served in the war. 10% of them were killed and 30% of the were wounded. Twice as many Canadians served in World War Two but total number of deaths were less than 2/3s of World War 1. Canada had more combat deaths the US in World War 1.

[@jonathanhansen3709]

I haven’t forgotten it. One of my dearest friends, Arthur Purcell, from Tulare California, was a veteran of it. Went over on the sister ship of the Titanic, the Olympic. Told me many stories of the American push in Belgium he was involved in. Said it was the greatest adventure he ever had.

[@sirrliv]

I think you've hit the nail on the head here. For the US population, the memory of the Civil War was indeed very fresh and very horrific, its scars on America just as poignant as those of the Napoleonic Wars on Europe, a constant specter, a ghost, as you put it, that haunted Americans just as Napoleon and to a lesser degree Bismarck did for Europe. I think another factor in why the First World War goes so unremembered to Americans is this idea that is wasn't really "our" war. Though it was of course fought worldwide, the bulk of fighting and the worst of the horrors of that war were centered in Europe, far away across the sea. Even after the war began, the US initially took a firm stance of neutrality, publicly proclaiming it a "European war" and therefore none of our concern; one must remember that the 1900's and 1910's were a period of isolationist policy for America, both politically and popularly. True, American lives were being lost at sea through U-boat attacks and the loss of American shipping as well as American lives lost as passengers aboard European ships; one need only look to the vociferous reaction to the sinking of the Lusitania, on which a mere 126 American souls were drowned. And yet, it was only with the exposure of the Zimmerman Telegrams between Germany and Mexico, with the threat, however unlikely in reality, that the war would spill over onto American shored, that the US finally became involved in a conflict that up to that time they had seen as not our war. And even then, one need only look at the popular culture of the time to see how Americans viewed their entry into the war, songs like "Over There" and "When You Come Back, And You Will Come Back", all referring to Yankee doughboys going to fight the good fight "over there". Not that they were going to fight for anything precious to Americans, but that they were venturing to a foreign land to defeat a foreign foe. Compare this to the Civil War and the cultural psychological impact becomes clear; the Civil War was very much "Our War"; it was being fought on home soil right in front of you; often troops on both sides would find themselves fighting in their own county, their own town, perhaps even in their own houses. Compared to that, it's small wonder that the First World War seemed so distant, when to even participate required a 5+ day steamship journey plus however long by rail both to get to an American coastline and from European ports to the front. The world was still a big place, and the horrors of the war that were right in the faces of the French, the British, the Germans, the Russians, etc., for the Americans were still very far away, and for most of its duration was seen as not our problem, not our war. And just to head off the point of "But what about Canada?", Canada, still being a dominion of the British Empire, was obliged to join the mother country from the start in a way that the US never was; they had to fight for Britain because they were still British, though in a more removed way since gaining the right to home rule. Likewise, Japan was also set face to face with the war thanks to the numerous German colonial possessions in China and the Pacific, and thanks to Japan's vivid recent memories of the Russo-Japanese War, barely a decade old, all combined with the constant post-Meiji Restoration struggle by the Japanese to be taken seriously as an equal by the Western Powers (European & American).

[@huntclanhunt9697]

To expand of that, I don't think the scars of the civil war fully healed until the 1970s-1980s with the civil rights movement settling into the culture, and sharecropping dying out.

[@tonymarchese92]

1:15 “That it does, OVER THERE” I see what you did there...

[@thevikingmusketeer9696]

1:15 OVER THERE! OVER THERE! SEND THE WORD SEND THE WORD OVER THERE!

[@360Nomad]

Brandon: "The First World War and American Civil War were UTTERLY DEVASTATING!" Paraguay be like: "Hold my beer"

[@lordflashheart3706]

Sometimes you just have to fight all the neighbors

[@snipingflute4346]

China be like: “Hold my beer”

[@Marveryn]

china was more like.. name any of our war.. we are sure we got a better one giving how many time it united.. broke up and reunited to be broken up again @@snipingflute4346

[@360Nomad]

When did you first visit the UK anyway Brandon? I did it when I was 18.

[@incendiarybullet3516]

Wait, he ISN’T British?

[@northeasturbanist]

@@incendiarybullet3516 He's from the northeast of the U.S. I believe

[@Princeofbelka]

Incendiary Bullet yes he’s from some where in New England but he’s managed to achieve the unachievable he’s regained his Atlantic Anglo accent which is similar to what the pioneers of the 13 colonies had something to be very proud of

[@Fusiongaming-il6xm]

@@incendiarybullet3516 he doesn't even sound british

[@aquilamotionpictures408]

He has adopted a version of the fake upper crust Anglo accent that dates to the 18th Century. Shakespeare probably sounded like someone from Georgia.

[@aj1986917]

What was always insane to me was just how incredible our losses were for our essentially single year of combat, compared to all the other wars we fought. Honestly less than that, our forces didn't really start entering the trenches en masse until the Spring of '18. And yet we lost 100,000 men. We just barely caught a brush with the whirling blade of conflict that so ruined the european powers, we certainly didn't com out unharmed.

[@romancermak127]

I'm czech and in every vilige or small city there is always somewhere near church a memorial with names and date of citizens who died

[@firestorm165]

Roman Čermák I remember reading somewhere that during the occupation the Nazis tore down a heap of monuments to the Czechoslovakian legion and the Soviets weren't too keen on replacing them. Have those been restored?

[@mtjakubec]

@@firestorm165 Slovakian here, and - not really. After the second world war, they mostly concetrated on building new monuments to the partisans of the Slovak National Uprising - my village (like 800 people) has a memorial with all names of the partisan victims written down. Other villages and towns have similiar things too. Statues of partisans are the most popular among them. The heroes of those monuments are soviet soldiers - "the saviours of Czechoslovakia" (an image that quickly faded away after 1968 occupation). The Czechoslovak legions are mostly forgotten now among the population unfortunatelly, event tho some streets are literally named after them (they were named this way after fall of communism in 1989)

[@firestorm165]

Martin Jakubec that's a genuine tragedy, their feats are worthy of legend and do not deserve to be forgotten.

[@mtjakubec]

@@firestorm165 Yes, also considering that legionaires were the ones who, by fighting alongside major forces like France and Russia, showed the west that we are a worthy nation, which helped to form our own state, Czechoslovakia, in 1918. They shall not be forgotten.

[@RogerS1978]

It's the same over in the UK. Most villages, towns and cities have one or more war memorials in the center listing who died, even some large businesses have them where a number of pals went to fight.

[@secondaryadjunctofu0]

Sir, I studied the civil war at college, history was my major, and the civil war and pre civil war era was my focus. I wanted to say I loved seeing you talk about the war with such great knowledge. Also I see some books on your shelf that I have as well. Horacio Hornblower Ship of the line, was the first book I ever read. If you want a good book about the civil war, even tho it is a novel, is highly regarded. The title is “The Killer Angles” it follows the characters of the generals at the battle of Gettysburg. Well done sir! Please do more videos on the civil war. I applaud you.

[@Alulim-Eridu]

Wow, very insightful! Especially in the light of what you mention about the USA Civil War

[@mattaffenit9898]

I can't look away from the bottom right corner... Which regiment is that supposed to be and from which year?

[@Nonsense010688]

WW1 memorials are also very common in Germany.

[@etherealhawk]

A lot of Brits and Germans thought we should have been fighting on the same side. We only got involved because we had promised to protect the Netherlands, we couldn't care less about France

[@Nonsense010688]

@@etherealhawk yeah, a couple years before you almost would have gone to war with france over africa... and during the Russian Japanese War the infamous 2nd Pacific Squadron almost cause a war between UK and Russia... But the attack on Belgium, the Fleet race and the general idea that germany could overtake UK mixed the cards differently.

[@bigredwolf6]

Ethereal Hawk We all shoulda fought the Commies. The holodimir was wayyyyyy worse than Mad Mustaches final solution

[@pipes9878]

When I moved to Swansea my grandmother said something so profound I could realistically never connect with what she said. “I watched Swansea burn during the blitz, I was on the bus coming back home (ilfracombe north Devon) when the bus driver pulled over and we sat in darkness as the bombs dropped across the sea on Swansea. Normally you wouldn’t be able to see the city, especially at night, but the flames burned bright like a beacon” as I said there was no way I could/can connect with this statement and I’ve seen the modern destructive power of war in action.

[@aquilamotionpictures408]

Who has forgotten it? One of my great-uncles was killed in the battle of Chateau Thierry in June, 1918, another was gassed during the Meuse-Argonne offensive in September, 1918, had one lung burned out completely and lost half of the other, lived for ten years, died at 34 and looked 80. Another lived through the War, but in every dream for the rest of his life he smelled the odor of the battlefield, the smell of rotting corpses No, it is not forgotten.

[@aquastar1182]

That’s what I don’t understand. Europeans have this weird biased view about Americans and make up random assumptions about us that they genuinely consider to themselves to be fact. Seems more like mental illness if you ask me. I think you’re right, the real question should be who has forgotten it? I don’t know a single person who’s forgotten about ww1…

[@datfisheboi6519]

I'm American, and when I visited Belgium and the various World War I places, like Ypres, I felt saddened and horrified, never as an American, but as a human being. I was saddened by all the death and suffering, but nationality never came into it much for me. I can't speak to the experiences of any British or French or Belgian or any other European people and don't know if it is universal, or if it's because simply of the lack of cultural impact it has had in the US, and am curious as to what they would say.

[@etherealhawk]

It was horrific. All that defence was done to stop Germany dominating the other European nations. Now look at the EU, seems we all failed in the end.

[@reecefinnigan4523]

As a British person, I completely agree with you. My family were lucky in that my great grandfather (Royal Marine) survived the war. When I visited various war graves, I was saddened to see that the German soldiers weren’t given their own grave but were put in to mass graves. They were all just young men forced to fight for the old politicians

[@glenbe4026]

@@reecefinnigan4523 Part of the issue was that they had been under the Pax Britannica for so long, that everyone was just itching for a fight. They were generations away from the Napoleonic Wars and had forgotten the real devastation of all out war. Germany wanted the War, Russia wanted the War, so did France, the Ottomans, and even the British. I think that is the issue even today, latter generations feel they can do things better and more successfully than the older generations.

[@NihilsineDeo1866.]

Good job for video:)

[@texasyojimbo]

I recently did some work cataloging the writings of great-great grandfather, a Presbyterian minister in South Carolina during World War I. He gave a speech to the local draftees where he compared what they were being sent to France to do, to the gallantry (etc. etc.) of their grandfathers in the Civil War. During that time the United Daughters of the Confederacy was doing a lot of work to erect statues to the Confederate veterans, who were dying off en masse of old age. To put it mildly, the average American soldier in 1918 (particularly in the South) must have thought of what they were doing as being only a pale reflection of what their elders did.

[@benjaminharmon6541]

Powerful video. I can't help but get upset at the thought of informing a time traveler who saw The Great War that it had to be renamed the FIRST World War.

[@fullsuit6711]

I like the new setup

[@Ms.Whiskertoria]

In Western Australia, where I'm from you can't go anywhere without tripping over a WW1 memorial and there are even more WW2 memorials.

[@kristofevarsson6903]

Proud Yank here. I haven't forgotten. In fact, WWI is by far and away my most favorite era of military history - and no, Battlefield has nothing to do with it. My great-great-grandfather "Red" served in WWI underage, at 16. He belonged to the 1st Infantry Division, and it's involvement in WWI gave it the nickname of "Bloody First", more commonly known nowadays as The Big Red One thanks to games like Call of Duty. I still have the bayonet belonging to his M1903 Springfield, and it does in fact smell like blood. So unfortunately for someone else's great-great-grandpa out there, it has been used.

[@brazenbull636]

I'm a 34, I had to actually seek out a documentary to learn about it. Once I learned about it and how little we were involved in it. It didnt surprise me why ww2 was/is always hyped more. What you said about the industrialized aspect of it will be said once again after the next big one starts involving today's technology. People say technology is why it wont happen again. But history points elsewhere. If it doesnt default to a nuclear exchange, I can't really imagine what itd look like. But know better than to think it won't happen..

[@Realsovietholyman]

My grandpa lost all 4 brothers in WW1 He died in 43 in the skies over Europe... The wars are real for my pa and myself.

[@SuperDancingdevil]

I think it’s a case of numbers and geography, The numbers you touched on here in the U.K. hardly a Town, City or Village was left untouched by WW1 and that had a huge impact on the national psyche the daily death toll was horrendous particularly when you think of things like the “Pals Battalions” where the men of a whole factory, Town or village joined up and served together only to be killed en masse together this had such a devastating effect on the home front that the army stopped the practice, Geographically the U.K. was so close to France and Belgium that my Grandmother who lived on the coast could see the flashes of artillery fire and at times hear them too She would also see the wounded every day pouring off hospital ships in huge numbers, It was that close proximity that also affected the British psyche, America’s contribution to the war can’t be underestimated but America’s distance from the Battlefields and the way they fought the war ensured that the casualties although terrible did not run into the millions, The Distances in America itself would also have had an effect some would have viewed the war in Europe as too far away and not every town or city was effected by it directly so it is understandable that WW1 isn’t so deeply embedded in the American psyche as it was elsewhere on a much larger scale which is a shame.

[@shaneboardwell1060]

lance allison the South in the ACW did the same in regards to their regiment system; usually men in a regiment all came from the same town or village. This increased the morale and fighting ability of the regiments thanks to better communication and comradeship but it also meant that it wasn't uncommon for entire regiments to be wiped out when they found themselves in bad spots during major battles. So some towns lost all their young men just like that after one battle.

[@glenbe4026]

It also had a massive effect on the survivors. For example Tolkein's experiences in WW1 had a massive influence on his writing of Lord of the Rings (and he was not the only writer/artist survivor who was influenced in that manner).

[@datfisheboi6519]

I had a grandmother who was a child during the Blitz. I'm pretty sure she lived in or near St Albans, and she remembers the house down the street from her was destroyed by German bombers before she was evacuated to Wales. She didn't talk about it much, it was pretty traumatic and she didn't even like WWII movies and books unless it was the Pacific Front, but it was pretty surreal when she did.

[@nualanet]

We were involved for a much shorter duration also... Even more forgotten, the Polar Bear Expedition to Arkangelsk and the AEF Siberia Expedition to Vladivostok... between 1918-1921 My great uncle James fought across Europe with the U.S. Army Field Artillery in WW1. Ironically, my uncle Phillip fought across much of the same ground with the U.S. Army Field Artillery during WW2.

[@ingmarelfsborg1466]

I wore a little metal poppy pin on rememberance/veterans day, and no one new what it meant

[@moritamikamikara3879]

November 11th, settling the score From 15 to 20 million Almost half of the dead civilian A new world will dawn from empires fallen The end of the war to end war

[@PimpLenin]

I admit that I was more interested in WWII and the Civil War growing up because I live where some significant action of the Civil War occurred, and I grew up surrounded by WWII vets (grandfather and five great uncles) who told me their stories. I became much more interested in World War I after I got married. My wife is Australian and she had a lot of relatives in WWI both in the Australian and British Armies. That’s how I learned more about things like Gallipoli, Verdun, the Somme, etc. I learned about her family history and in turn began to understand how WWI is remembered much, much more in the Commonwealth countries.

[@brucekish7576]

More recent conflicts show how devastating war was to small towns. During WWII, sparsely populated Bedford, VA, had 34 of its sons in the Virginia National Guard of which 19 were killed during the Normandy Landings and another four during the breakout operation. During Operation Desert Storm, 13 Army Reservists from the Greensburg, PA, who had just arrived in theater with the 14th QM Detachment (water purification) were killed in a scud missile shelling of their barracks the night before the cease fire. What makes these instances especially acute for these communities is that, due to their small populations, residents tend to know more of their neighbors and very often knew the deceased -- as students or athletes, customers, in church, or as volunteers in civic organizations. Thus, the psychological impact to smaller population areas are greatly magnified.

[@DarkSektori]

I think the Great War was hugely significant as it, for all intensive purposes planted the seeds for WW2, because of huge amount of failure in diplomacy and maintaining peace in the time after WW1, it actually almost guaranteed that WW2 was going to happen.

[@sontrombone6907]

i agree, and in a way WW1 is the reason for the major events of the last century (Rise of the Nazis, WW2, Cold War, on until ISIS which arguably caused by the Cykes-Piccot agreement).

[@fullsuit6711]

BTW where do you get your WW1 gear?

[@lukam8815]

E bay probaly

[@Markovite]

Full Suit what price glory has great British ww1 kit, whereas soldier of fortune in the UK is ehhhhh

[@fullsuit6711]

Thanks for that but is it just called glory?

[@Markovite]

Full Suit “What Price Glory”

[@Markovite]

SUBSCRIBE TO PEWDIEPIE nah unless you’re getting original items, don’t use ebay

[@peterblood50]

Extremely interesting and spot on. Vietnam vets had the same problem discussing their sacrifices to the members of WW2's "Greatest Generation". They didn't feel my generation had been in a "real" war. Interestingly, the amount of time spent in combat during a combat tour for infantrymen in WW2 was drastically lower than in Vietnam. In WW2 the average infantryman spent 10 days a year in combat while the average infantryman in Vietnam spent 240 days a year in combat. Now that does not mean they were fighting every one of those days in either war, it does mean they were either fighting or in close contact with the enemy for that period of time.

[@mitsvanmitsvanio6106]

Civil Wars are always impactfull even without the massive casualties of the ACW, they tend to stay relevant many years later in the society, here in Greece the Civil War of 1946-1949 is still relevant and continues to create discord.

[@whee38]

Another reason was probably that the Civil War was at least partially industrialized

[@josephbasurto404]

@@lukam8815 the civil war was indeed very industrialized, especially in the north obviously. But there were factories, rifles, repeating rifles, limited use of the gatling gun, telegraph and railways, and large amounts of trench warfare.

[@josephbasurto404]

Aside from disease, the vast majority of deaths were the result of using archaic napoleonic tactics against these new technologies

[@sshep86]

I don't understand the point you are making. Are you suggesting that WW1 was not industrialised? Or something else?

[@Szolrykor]

@@sshep86 He's suggesting Americans already went through the shock of it.

[@jxc1640]

Thing is, it's never mentioned at all in school. I hope that my history classes in high school will be much better than middle school, as nothing has ever been mentioned about either World Wars in school.

[@nathanbrown8680]

This is a big part of it. Our history curricula are trash. They obsess over aboriginal peoples that are almost wholly irrelevant. Don't get me wrong, the migrations of the Clovis people and the evolution of arrowheads is interesting, but compulsory education needs to spend its time on things people actually need to know. They spend years on state history in states with little history (or in states where state history and national history are so interrelated they're redundant). And then you try to cram world history into a year while pointlessly starting with the fucking ice age instead of with actual history. Is it any wonder you don't reach WWI? And then you start the whole stupid cycle over again because you're three years older and expected to learn things in more depth even though there's no more time in a school year. Take for example the experience of people crossing the plains and the Peace of Westphalia. Guess which one has had an actual meaningful impact on my life and which one I learned about in school. I as a citizen and voter don't need to know how people lived. I need to know about things like the Sykes-Picot agreement, the evolution of Arab nationalism and militant Islam, the Soviet-Afgan War, the Chinese Civil War, and similar events that shape the modern geopolitical environment people I vote for or against will have to deal with. None of which I learned of in school. Not that it would have helped to cover those things. All the textbooks were dumbed down Zinn and would have obsessed over the experiences of the soldiers and never even touched on why leaders made the decisions they did and how they went wrong. You know, stuff that I need to know to inform my decisions as to what leaders I should vote for.

[@bigredwolf6]

Yea in high school I had to make PowerPoint presentations about certain parts of the world wars. Like we basically had 15 minutes to teach the class our part of the war we were assigned. We had to research it and understand it rather than just memorize things

[@oliversherman2414]

I love your channel keep up the great stuff

[@coltonregal1797]

There are several videos from the 1930s on KZbin of civil war veterans meeting up with each other and talking about the war. It's really something else to see.

[@lordflashheart3706]

My theory is that the presence of monuments everywhere ine Britain and France has alot to do with the Great War a more costly war for them than WWII. Whereas it's the opposite for the U.S.. Or, I can just blame the History Channel.

[@Tommy-5684]

you say that but Americas Bloodiest battle in its history was Muse Argon in 1918 where the US militery lost 20,000 killed

[@Tommy-5684]

@@jcdenton9043 i know but my point is that they dont remember the bloodiest battle in there military history and to me that is sad

[@lycaonpictus9662]

@@Tommy-5684 One could also make a case that the fighting in the First World War for the U.S. was also much more ferocious that than of the American Civil War or really any other war in it's history, considering it suffered about 53,402 combat deaths during it's brief involvement. The great majority of those were crammed into that last six months of so of 1918. For comparison total combat deaths in the American Civil War were roughly 110,000 for the Union and 94,000 for the Confederacy. The rest died of disease which of course felled more men than bullets during that era. So in about six months or so of fighting in the First World War the U.S. suffers about half the total number of killed for the Union or the Confederacy in four years of fighting in the American Civil War. That the number of casualties in the First World War didn't greatly exceed that of the Civil War is entirely due to WW1 being a much shorter conflict for the U.S. It would be interesting to compare U.S. casualties during it's involvement in WW1 with any similar period during the Second World War. I wonder if that last six months or so in 1918 might be the bloodiest period in American military history. Of course Brandon has it right that the Civil War simply impacted a greater proportion of the population than the First World War, which why it is preserved in memory much the same way as the First World War in Europe, but I think it would have overshadowed the American Civil War even if the U.S. had entered the conflict as late as 1916 or if Germany had held out until 1919. We were saved by the bell.

[@thomaskirkness-little5809]

So America devotes more memory to when they killed themselves in a civil war to when they were killed by foreigners in a regular war? It's interesting, because I would assume that most countries would try to focus on the old 'us vs them' stuff. This was a very interesting video and I feel I have learned a lot.

[@ibigboy6950]

If you fought yourself you would memorize it FOREVER

[@caelodevorago608]

We devote more memory to the conflicts that affected us SIGNIFICANTLY more than one that we only helped speed along. In reality, little would've happened in the USA if WW1 ended the opposite way, but if the ACW ended differently, well... Nation would've been fucking split, leading to a different WW2 outcome definitely

[@cambs0181]

Civil wars are always more personal.

[@lukesshootingfun9193]

In Belgium every town, even the smallest town has a momument about WOl. Even the pro-football club in my town has a remembrance plaque of fallen players in the great war. It’s everywhere. I often visted the trenches in the “Westhoek “. A verry humbling experience.

[@marleegould542]

My great great great grandfather was a Sergeant in the union army and survived the civil war. His great nephew? (I cant remember off the top of my head) served in the AEF and died at the Battle of Soissons. It shows how someone can be incredibly lucky, surviving the civil war, and a relative can be unlucky and be one of the small percentage of Americans that died in the Great War.

[@legomaker9613]

I remember The First World War. But, For The U.S. In General, They remember The Civil War, WWII, The Revolution & Vietnam.

[@Meirstein]

Yep. You think WWI has it bad here, try asking about Korea.

[@Marveryn]

war that been forgotten. Spanish armerican war, the little dust up in mexico with pershing chasing a local bandit. 1812 is barely mention compare to the revolution. even if that war was an extension of the previous war. just delay.

[@mpf1947]

@@Marveryn And if you want to get even more obscure, the Philippine-American War which came immediately after the Spanish-American War.

[@Marveryn]

really obscure not even sure that teach that in American text books@@mpf1947

[@bigredwolf6]

Our existence is basically one long war

[@Captainkebbles1392]

Many Americans see it as simply the prelude to ww1, like it was somehow pointless as it was followed by another, also America likes ww2 because we actually did some real work in that one and weren't just extra manpower, a lot of Ameeicans don't understand how ww1 was actually fought and therefore consider it a war of fools (source is online forums and my highschool education) Should be noted many Americans who survived ww1, were rather peeved their sons fought "the same war again" almost like they had failed somehow I think America lost her innocence as in love or glory for war in the Civil war, where Europe didn't get that brutal "modern" war until 1914

[@huntclanhunt9697]

The last Civil War vet got his photograph taken standing next to a Korean War F4 Phantom.

[@VictorLepanto]

My hometown square has an enormous Nelsonesque pillar w/ a Union soldier standing on watch facing towards the South, in case anyone tries to start any more trouble. The inscription on the side honors the "loyal troops" who fought in the "War of The Great Rebellions." There is also the obligatory "Dulce et Decorum" inscription on the side.

[@deeznoots6241]

You are not mentioning some of the biggest sufferers of ww1, namely the Ottoman Empire and Russia which both lost a much larger proportion of people.

[@Ben_not_10]

He’s making a point referring to nations who America (due to mass immigration in the late 19th century) had the closest ties to prior to and during the First World War. It’s not out of spite or forgetfulness. And I’m not too clear on the numbers but I’m pretty sure the top three nations who had the highest casualties in WWI (Russia, Germany, and France) are rather close together in the top three. Under 2,000,000 but more than 1,500,000.

[@lukam8815]

Ottomans just broke up they didnt fight much the real victim of both world wars was serbia and its never mentioned.

[@Ben_not_10]

SUBSCRIBE TO PEWDIEPIE true. They got shafted twice

[@deeznoots6241]

SUBSCRIBE TO PEWDIEPIE they lost 13-15% of their entire population as war deaths.

[@chrisbolland5634]

His audience is mostly European and american, so he relates it to them mostly.

[@wjsnow2195]

For the same reason Brits don’t remember there was a war in the Pacific in world war 2. It wasn’t a huge focus for it.

[@maconescotland8996]

Lots of British & Commonwealth veterans families recognise the campaigns against the Japanese in which their relatives fought.

[@wjsnow2195]

MACONE Scotland maybe for you, I went to school in the UK and the whole war in the pacific was covered in less than one lesson. Basically Pearl Harbor-Atomic Bomb because America is evil. That’s it.

[@maconescotland8996]

@@wjsnow2195 WW2 was not on our history curriculum at all.

[@wjsnow2195]

MACONE Scotland how did your history class skip over one of the most significant events in world history and certainly modern history altogether?

[@maconescotland8996]

@@wjsnow2195 Maybe because our parents and grandparents lived through it, and many fought in it ?

[@carljacobs1260]

My Mom was born in Southern Indiana in 1921. She was the second generation of German immigrants and once mentioned that her family spoke German until WWI. I asked her once how her family was treated during the war. She looked at me and just started to cry. That reaction came simply from stories her parents and relatives told her. She remembered. That's the only time in her entire life that I ever saw Mom react like that. In general, however, the footprint of WWI was very light in the US. American soldiers didn't arrive until very late in the war. American casualties were relatively low. There was no great American cause behind the war. It was essentially a war to decide which European Empire would dominate Europe - German or British. And, the war didn't actually resolve the issue. We know today the rest of the story from twenty years later. It was interesting to comprehend the time scale from the Civil War to WWI. Technology makes it seem much farther away than it was. But it's really just the distance from Vietnam until today. Never thought of it that way before.

[@jeffreygao3956]

I think it's because the US didn't have a large role in it. But nowadays, thanks to Wonder Woman(2017) it's actually better known than ever.

[@joewilson3575]

They had a fairly large role in the production side, their industry certainly heard about it at least.

[@thebelfastvikingmartinbrow3603]

@@joewilson3575 which was paid for by us. You give nothing for free

[@joewilson3575]

@@thebelfastvikingmartinbrow3603 Well yes, but they made the material which we bought, that was largely their role and in it's own way it was a large role.

[@davidweihe6052]

Weird that Wonder Woman helps the remembrance of WWI, given that in comics she started out in WW2.

[@MetalheadMitch762]

I don't hear about Wonder Woman as much as Battlefield 1 from the general public. And every WW1 German reenactor (which I am as well) I know hates the Wonder Woman movie and it's depiction of Germans.

[@arwing20]

The US involvement in WW1 was not a deciding factor, the entente would have won without them so thats maybe one of the reasons why its not as big for the USA as WW2

[@freaki0734]

They would have won without their military aid but not without their economic aid

[@MacCoalieCoalson]

arwing20 The Germans nearly got to Paris when the US was helping. Fresh troops are not to be underestimated when most soldiers had been there for years.

[@freaki0734]

@@MacCoalieCoalson But the germans were starving anyway so... also the germans almost getting to paris happened to my knowledge quit a bit earlier in the war

[@chrisko3334]

The situation in germany is similar to the situation in the US. The memory of the first world war was superimposed by the second. Important for us is usually the treaty of versailles and its impact on postwar policy and the rise of nationalsocialism. After the war, there were two different narratives on the brutal fights in the trenches. One, for example expressed by Erich Maria Remarques novel "all quiet on the western front", emphasized the senselessness of the Heldentot. The other side saw the raw brutality too, but "natualized" the fight. An example here is the novel "Storm of Steel" by Ernst Jünger where the war is rather seen as a natural catastrophy which has to be handled by the brave soldier. This emphasis on struggle and violence as part of nature was an essential part of the following facist ideology, which emerged in italy and later in germany after the first worldwar. Today, the interest in WW1 is growing in germany, especially during the 100-year anniversary, however it still remains in the deep shadow of WW2. P.S. After the war, many german communities put up war memorials for their fallen, which were often used for the dead of WW2 as well.

[@dark_fire_ice]

Powerful. Though I can't see The Great War that badly; my family was able to flee the Tzars because of it, although my grandmother lost all her brothers to it, she kept the life insurance vouchers till she died, kept between preserved roses

[@Medved725]

Anyone else noticed how France and Russia are never mentioned in the same statement in this video? Coincidence? I think not.

[@Tonks143]

What are you on about

[@batman6621]

Медвед huh

[@andybrace9225]

Brandon mentions France in first couple of lines.

[@bluebread6482]

Because Woodrow Wilson sucks. 1:14 "Over there" I see what ya did there mister Also, for the people saying we joined the war late and didn't do much, we might not have done as much as other countries, but that's mostly cause it wasn't our war. World War 1 is still among one of the biggest wars for America in terms of pure casualties, and caused the most amount of casualties other than World War 2 and the American Civil War. Those are the top 3. When I think of World War 1, I don't think of the same glorious fight against tyranny as in World War 2. I think of the Alien and Sedition Acts, the first Red Scare, the end of the Progressive Era and the unfortunate path to America's ultra-interventionism. The Anti-War movement was huge, and it was suppressed by the government. The main reason we went in in the first place was primarily to protect business interests. Not to mention the government lied and exaggerated when it came to portraying Krauts gunning down innocent civilians fresh out of the innocent civilian boats which totally wasn't carrying supplies for the British war effort or anything like that.

[@bigredwolf6]

To be fair, everyone had exaggerated propaganda during the war.

[@lewietechnics7447]

Its always enjoyable to watch your video's tho very Somber when discussing war, your content is so accurate and well researched, i love history, but i always learn something or a new perspective from your video's.

[@bobwinters5572]

In the lobby of the main building of the faculty of university I attended (or at least, what used to be the main building of the faculty, in Canada), there is a large plaque listing the names of the graduates and students of that faculty who died in WW1.

[@nativegerry335]

The UK was in the conflict the longest. The United States only entered in the final year of hostilities

[@sshep86]

@Ron Lewenberg Battle of Cantigny was the first real participation by USA troops, that was the very end of May, 1918. Active involvement of 5 months before the war ended. 1 million USA troops deployed to France, less than half that actually saw front line service. 116,000 died, half of that was from Flu before they even got to France. But yeah, USA won the war and saved everyone, we get it.

[@thebelfastvikingmartinbrow3603]

@@sshep86 And they lost a lot of troops simply because they never listened to anyone.

[@irongeneral7861]

@@sshep86 It's like you forgot the supplies and commerce the United States was providing before then. Despite not being involved in combat operations for relatively long, the US obviously made sacrifices and contributions which were instrumental in ending the war on Allied terms. Don't be pretentious.

[@sshep86]

@@irongeneral7861 Seriously mate. Yes the USA sold supplies and resources to the Allies. But they also sold to the Central powers too. Therfore your point is void, they were as much a detriment as they were a help. Picked a side right before the end though. Funny that. ;)

[@cameronsmith3047]

Steve Sheppard compare what was sent to the central powers, it was at best a token gesture and at worst a way convince the central powers not to attack us shipping. Now I'm not saying be grateful, what I am saying is the U.S had clearly chosen a side well before actually entering the war.

[@MichaelJohnson-kx3ln]

The Seven Years War,& the Revolutionary War were the WW1,& WW2 of the 18th century.

[@andybrace9225]

Seven Years War was called by Sir Winston Churchill the first world war.

[@haraldisdead]

Great subject

[@calebfoster552]

Fascinating. Living in the south (Georgia) there is a monument in every small town in our state

[@andyjohn2211]

You can’t remember or just cant pronounce the Welsh towns name 😂

[@edmundscycles1]

Probably will run out of phlegm. Us welsh have the genetic disposition to produce abnormal amounts of phlegm for the pronunciation of our place names .

[@daringdare5078]

America 1919: We won the war and saved The Entente. America 2019: You mean their was a World War before World War Two?

[@evancoveney6268]

Hell, many people forget that the first WW2 campaign we participated in was in Africa.

[@fds7476]

Saved the Entente?

[@evancoveney6268]

@@fds7476 Germany had just freed up the Eastern Front. Without the U.S., the war could have gone another 4-5 years, and the victor of such a war is not clear. We saved the Entente. Hell, if Teddy Roosevelt won the election and got us in sooner, it may have ended in late 1916-early 1917.

[@fds7476]

@@evancoveney6268 Well, no, not really. The last great German offensive failed, irrespective of US intervention. It was the British naval blockade that made the sailors of Kiel revolt and that kicked off the German revolution. US participation likely quickened victory though and certainly saved many lives. Not to mention the great propaganda value.

[@sshep86]

@@evancoveney6268 The USA showed up late, were incredibly poorly trained and by the time they got their shit together and learned which side of the trench to shoot out of, the war was over. Other than morale, the yanks had little effect on the war. 1 million troops was nothing (and only half that ever got near the front line) , the British empire had many times that in reserves it could have pulled if numbers mattered. Almost half the American death toll was from flu, before they even got to France. Once again someone exaggerates the USAs involvement in a conflict. What a surprise.

[@charcuterie3641]

there actually is a WW1 memorial in my town, it is a stone pillar with plaques that have the names of people from my county who died during the war. There's also a 3in gun and carriage on display, though it's in that "public decoration" state of preservation

[@huntclanhunt9697]

We just opened a new memorial in 2020. But WW1 didn't resonate with us like it did in Britain. We didn't practically lose a generation. For us it was an expedition to get some payback. It was incredibly bloody for us, Argonne was our bloodiest battle so far, but it was nowhere near what WW2 or the Civil War was to us.

[@acetrainerevan]

Gamers rise up.

[@stevenlowe3026]

Every town in Australia has a memorial to the dead of WWI - they lost their best young men in a war on the other side of the world. On November 11 we still commemorate Armistice Day at 11m with one minute's silence. And of course we also commemorate Anzac Day on 25 April.

[@jeffboone7959]

This is one of the best videos i have ever watched.

[@damienparoski2033]

Excellent video and perspective that few understand!

[@BSNFabricating]

My thoughts about this are, for one thing, unlike most of the wars we had been involved in up to that point, the war was "over there". The Spanish-American War in 1898 wasn't fought on U.S. soil, but it was only a hundred or so miles from the U.S. mainland...and it really didn't last that long (even though it did lead to the war in the Philippines a few years later, and had other repercussions that we're still dealing with today). Every war we'd fought before that had been on our own territory. Also, as well as being an ocean away, at basically he same time, the Spanish flu pandemic broke out -- which was also pretty much forgotten until, oh about 2020 when, for some odd reason, we suddenly got interested in learning about global pandemics and such. In the 1920s, Europe was still dealing with the aftermath of "the war to end all wars", while on this side of the pond we were trying to move on, life was good (unless you were poor and/or black), and we ignored the rise of the likes of Hitler and Mussolini. Then we had the Depression...and finally World War II, which more or less overshadowed anything that came before...and even things in later years, like the Korean War. Throw in decades of the Cold War, Vietnam, the sixties, Watergate, disco -- not to mention everything that's happened in the past forty years... and World War I just seems like a distant footnote in history. Oh, and don't forget the fact that the majority of Americans -- aside from those of us who are interested in history -- have short memories. It's a chore trying to get them to remember anything that happened before last Tuesday.