World War I Battlefields: Crash Course European History #33

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

[@langohr9613ify]

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

[@zflowes]

I find the lack of indy neidell disturbing

[@Green-tf8uw]

Same, to me WW1=indy

[@michaelaburns734]

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

[@pnutz_2]

This Is Modern War

[@mav8535]

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

[@dmnemaine]

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

[@ethanrepublic]

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

[@dakotawilliams507]

Only somme survived, that's why

[@Anaguma79]

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

[@ethanrepublic]

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

[@marcushead9985]

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

[@fuduzan5562]

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

[@mcdrums87]

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

[@danmenard6917]

Przhemysyl especially.

[@HannesWithoutJo]

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

[@hpsauce1078]

The true name of Charlie

[@thedeadpeatr]

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

[@schelfie1986]

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

[@wyacheslawkodanev2107]

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

[@babitz0r]

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

[@Argacyan]

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

[@jaojao1768]

Yes true

[@Jackson-mm3qb]

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

[@Madhattersinjeans]

Like a news reporter now.

[@anaveragegamingchannel1843]

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

[@oslonorway547]

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

[@poep85]

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

[@poppop-oj6by]

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

[@MusicalRaichu]

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

[@DeusExHonda]

Crash course notifications ALWAYS make a day better.

[@ОлегКозлов-ю9т]

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

[@cathykeller5113]

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

[@poi2lkj3mnb]

The russian revolution clearly deserves its own episode.

[@Argacyan]

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

[@cathykeller5113]

Yes, the Russian Civil War is included in that episode

[@kevinlove4356]

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

[@neutronbob22]

John, you need to smile like you used to. Smiling is contagious. It's also necessary in show biz, of which you are in, whether you like to admit it or not.

[@billboyd2009]

He is married now.

[@neutronbob22]

@@billboyd2009 OH?! Never mind!

[@carsonhunt4642]

Bill Boyd Lmao 😂😂😂😂

[@grapeshot]

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

[@bryceabell9860]

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

[@alexey926]

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

[@achintyagopinath621]

11:17 I saw the old John Green

[@whiskeycrusaderwill8699]

Yay! Time for more learning.

[@mike14991498]

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

[@MKPiatkowski]

The Turkish front is a huge omission.

[@Argacyan]

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

[@Lucifer8881]

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

[@quasicroissant]

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

[@xenotypos]

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

[@jessicamarshall1975]

As someone who has heard Verdun said a lot (I am a history grad whose dissertation subject was France in WW1, the Interwar Years and WW2) that was a weird pronunciation. And the Somme too. Fun fact: Russia may have mobilised quicker than expected but the front often experienced shortages and they diverted resources from the rest of Russia to the front. It got so bad that at one point factories in Moscow could only open 3 days a week because they didn’t have enough power. Naturally this contributed to the eventual revolutions along with Rasputin, the fact the Tsar’s wife was German by birth and the fact that Nicholas took over leadership of the army.

[@ahouyearno]

What 40 million deaths means, is chills on my entire body. Great episode, terrible war.

[@biggiecheese4960]

Damn it’s been awhile since I watched John my boy got old🤧

[@Tryo707]

As an Armenian, thank you for covering Meds Yeghern.

[@Boots1164]

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

[@kevinlove4356]

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

[@marjolainemenard4570]

I live in Canada, very true. Sobering.

[@jackiekennedy4902]

Man six years is a hell of a thing

[@FloridatedH2O]

Something not mentioned, probably because it would overly complicate things, is that smaller countries were involved as well. Bulgaria joined the Central powers. Romania joined the Allies and was pretty much instantly destroyed. Greece's national autonomy was trampled and they were pretty much forced by the Allies to join the war with them. Also, there were two major and three minor fronts in the war. The major fronts are the Eastern and Western fronts. The minor fronts were the Italian front (Italy vs. Austria-Hungary), the Balkan front (Allies vs. Bulgaria and A-H), and the Palestine/Galipoli/Mesopotamian front (UK vs. Ottomans)

[@SDCLFC1]

Biggest thing missing from this is the naval blockade - maybe it's in the nest one. And from that how Britain's empire was able to feed their homefront while Central Europe starved

[@justlolit]

A very modern view of ww1. The world was very different back then and you have to understand their mindset to understand decisions in ww1.

[@keithkarnage]

You neglected Canada when mentioning all the colonies that participated in the war, and we gave a lot. Thanks for the mention at the end... I think.

[@MKPiatkowski]

Probably because were we a dominion and not a colony. But considering how much we gave, we should have been mentioned.

[@stax6092]

I agree, I was really enraged by this not only because of how thorough he was with each other place's participation, but because it seems like we are being ignored because of our small numbers as if we didn't contribute just as much as others even though in several cases our country contributed more. Yet the U.S. gets more than full enough mention, when their contributions for their size were Fairly small and towards the end of the war.

[@SantomPh]

Canada was a Dominion which meant that it was pseudo-independent by then, which would lead to its participation in WW2 as a separate country in its own right

[@Argacyan]

People tend to recall Canada being there very easily, not so much with other participants.

[@DaDunge]

@@Argacyan I don't think anyone forgot what what the Anzac suffered at Gallipoli.

[@DerHimmelIstRot]

This is a really excellent video.

[@annarose3354]

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

[@yetigriff]

5:12 John sounds like Kermit when he sings

[@elanesh547]

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

[@3zyPL]

5:17 I laughed so hard xD

[@michaelzheng5250]

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

[@mhdabdulhai123]

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

[@MrAzul99]

1,5 million Armenians were killed in genocide

[@Warpwaffel]

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

[@Darthpika5]

Or the huge number of Swedish kings called Karl

[@varana]

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

[@CaptainBohnenbrot]

@@varana Yes, and the same for France.

[@lizziebanyan8468]

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

[@JinJinDoe]

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

[@Arlosrep]

The Sausage and croissants sums it all 😂😂😂

[@juliagrant419]

Yeah! Canada as a unit of measurement!

[@kazinadbiralamadit6905]

Please do Bangladesh liberation war.

[@aaa-sk6tq]

hey john, i’ve been watching your videos since 2014 and i really miss you smiling in your videos. hope everything is okay. 🥺

[@Vindblain]

Thank you as always for the helpful references. Do you have a specific source for the prohibition of battlefield photography?

[@imthestein]

"Emperor Karl!?" I genuinely lol'd 😂

[@DaDunge]

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

[@jaojao1768]

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

[@DaDunge]

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

[@jasonbelcher2224]

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

[@neilghosh3821]

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

[@kevinolmedo675]

YEEES! (Please Juancito Verde when you finish can you host a "Americas history" [which means that show cant for the love of god be US history #2} ) Love Crash Course.

[@saollieandjerrymoyo9891]

one day they will be series from world war 1 to world war 8

[@Arishika96]

I have a hard time understanding WW1. Do you guys have any particular videos or books that elaborate on this topic and is easy to understand?

[@Nabooshlove7]

I've been having a rough time piecing it together as well despite my college text book

[@benharrison3479]

Centralized banks made it easier for nation's to lend money for wars, coupled with the nations' desire outdo their brother nations.

[@csfelfoldi]

6:47 hmmm a meat grinder on the front... wonder where they got the meat. Somehow I doubt cattle just grazed around. :D

[@DaDunge]

Actually soldiers on the allied side in ww1 were relatively well fed.

[@thorpeaaron1110]

Its Verdun not Verdoon

[@Pantsinabucket]

Planes didn't bomb any civilian targets or cities during WW1. Some Zeppelins did, but the first example of a plane bombing or attacking a civilian target is the Tulsa Race Riots in 1925.

[@mojotheaverage]

If we could draw a circle around the single moment where we set ourselves upon our current course of self destruction, it'd probably be around world war 1

[@IkeOkerekeNews]

Not really.

[@dezfernandez]

Wow George V and Nicholas II look like twins!

[@dehavillandvampire]

The term mutiny is mildly unhelpful I find in describing the disobedience in the french army, indeed 'Military Strikes' would be a better term considering the (understandable) attitude of soldiers towards their officers coupled with a continued willingness to resist German attacks if they came. Many Historians have pointed out that this shows a good deal of a civil conscience in the soldiers of the French Army as many wished to go to Paris not to overthrow the governement (as some generals feared) but to petiton their representatives in Parliament like they were able to do as civilians and improve their conditions of living. Its also worth noting that Generals like Joffre wished to keep Parliament in the dark as much as possible as to the conditions on the front and the costs of the battles they were waging. This would change only with the advent of Foch and Petain's relationship with Clemenceau.

[@rockthered8706]

You forgot Canada.

[@jesseeidem4084]

They always forget Canada

[@rockthered8706]

Jesse Eidem everyone forgets Canada lol

[@pegasus713]

Someone didn't finish the video

[@rockthered8706]

pegasus713 that had nothing to do with the many Canadians who fought and died in WWI, it simply compared the total dead to modern Canada’s population. That's not the same thing. I did make that comment before the end of the video, I decided not to delete it because he didn't mention Canadians service at all. It was a simple omission, I was just pointing it out.

[@pegasus713]

@@rockthered8706 yes I am aware I watched the same video. I understand your frustration. But everyone does this with these videos, they expect a crash course to be extensive and talk about all that happened in a massive event like WW1. That's impossible! Also he spoke about Canada's massive involvement (bigger than the US/capita) in a video about WW2. So he's not always forgetting Canada...

[@MCorpReview]

Fighting on two fronts. Very smart haha

[@sparhelt718]

The peace of versailles was the biggest tragedy of human history

[@uzairhalimi9676]

John R SPEAKING SLOW I LIKED IT WHEN U SPOKE FAST

[@Nabooshlove7]

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

[@karavanderberg9573]

can you doa video about the spanish civil war>

[@blendylass685]

Verdoon?? Really? It's not like the internet isn't rife with perfect exemples of how to say the word. You could use some research, it's such an important battle, it deserves some respect.

[@jimhendriks1007]

Moltke plan, the Dutch remained neutral in ww1 because the Germans decided to follow the Von Moltke plan, which was the Schlieffen plan with the arrow trought The Netherlands removed.

[@ManojKale1994]

Finally Some reference to CANADA IN WAAARRRR!! 😂

[@walteraldrete6396]

The war was a consequence of the villains of Europe removing Napoleon from his throne.

[@billboyd2009]

The war eill be over by Christmas! Christmas of which year?

[@tsmspace]

With all of the social tension in the news, and the myriad of immigration crises (basically all around the world are some form of potentially militant immigrant or refugee), it does seem like we should spend more time saying things like "people generally don't really understand what's happening when incredible holocaust and strife occur", and "everyone everywhere is susceptible to being taught militant extremism, and equally susceptible to being taught constructive cooperation". We are just animals who individually can experience any imaginable atrocity and simply carry on our day without ever properly realizing our experience and what it will mean to people who might try to build or rebuild in the wake of such events. So many people from every culture and region are prepared to war against an enemy today, that anarchy would certainly result in a "record-multiplied" breaking loss of human life. We wouldn't feel it the way we wish we would. It would happen and only looking back would others experience the shock we hope will save us.

[@sookie1x65]

Great video. Just watched a video of crash course astronomy "Jupiter's moons" 10 minutes & 30 sec.. Q-ball hogged the camera for 7 min & 30 approx (timed it) Is he that full of himself? When a person tries that hard, it shows just how insecure they really are.

[@edd5554]

You'd think stuff like *this* 6:59 would end wars But nope... 😞

[@grantgazi4864]

Right so doing a presentation on the rise of nationalism in Germany and I’m not sure wether or not to do it in a German accent

[@r2b217]

Grammar nazi do it

[@saollieandjerrymoyo9891]

one day it will be premier ruling the world

[@gre3nishsinx0Rgold4]

Ahh.. Austria, getting Germany into wars since the HRE or the fall of the HRE, anyways. I really really hate Kaiser Wilhelm 2, the old fool abandoned his throne, abandoned his country and abandoned his people. He wasn't like the other monarch who sunk with their ship like a good captain ought to be.

[@fdygggigmtdwdewmsc]

now i have to wait again :(

[@trj820]

How'd you guys get 40 million dead? The most aggressive counts that I've seen place it at around 20. Did you guys confuse "casualties" with "deaths", or something?

[@MNalias]

To glory and death! At least, that's what the old men, that don't care about anyone but themselfs, say!

[@terencemichaels]

We Are All Bat People! Check out the Green brothers on Spotify singing just that...these guys have entirely revived my faith in America, suffering so under Trump....so well presented, so interesting and no awful background music...thank you so much for that. Hank seems to have cut down on the caffeine too; a bonus.

[@daddymonkey7361]

Damm When technology progress but human commands skills stagnate, rip to all the soldiers who died for nothing literally nothing.

[@calummuir9313]

"Kaiser William" lmao

[@sumtingwong5248]

Welp, this video sure isn't gonna be able to be viewed in Turkey.

[@mehmetesatince3503]

Sum Ting Wong nope. Still watchable

[@prakalpupadhyaya]

Please add your videos on Facebook watch also...

[@WindFireAllThatKindOfThing]

Legend says that if you go to downtown Paris, you can still get an Emperor Karl for $40

[@peculiarpangolin4638]

Nobody: Crash Course: "Verdoon and the Sum"

[@abk4202020]

Lool

[@TheMattastic]

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

[@edwinnivens6207]

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

[@TheCheck999]

+

[@MRFlackAttack1]

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

[@seneca983]

At least Haig learned to be a better commander.

[@EcceJack]

+

[@TheOsis181]

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

[@magnuspeacock5857]

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

[@mcdrums87]

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

[@SDCLFC1]

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

[@ОлегКозлов-ю9т]

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

[@babscabs1987]

Where are the other two?

[@festethephule7553]

@@babscabs1987 Wouldn't you like to know.

[@kevinconrad6156]

@@babscabs1987 Paradise.

[@loomhigh]

conclusion thus far is that no one lives in canada

[@Gyrant]

@@loomhigh Canaidan here. Can confirm.

[@christianrodier3381]

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

[@ciaranreed91]

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

[@ludwigvr3212]

Ciarán Reed “verdoon” is definitely a new one

[@johnsparrow7050]

Americans...

[@ОлегКозлов-ю9т]

I can't see whoot is wroong

[@Green-tf8uw]

@@johnsparrow7050 ikr?

[@jannoottenburghs5121]

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

[@turbobus4983]

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

[@madshagen5849]

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

[@JoshTheValiant]

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

[@DaDunge]

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

[@danmenard6917]

We mostly call him Emperor Chucky.

[@Dayglodaydreams]

Cheerful revisionist history???

[@erikn.7540]

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

[@josiahferguson6194]

or Greece and Romania on the side of the Entente

[@nolearystream]

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

[@Oxtocoatl13]

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

[@DaDunge]

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

[@MattJones-ki6wh]

There were a lot of omissions in this episode

[@holaps7620]

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

[@casualsleepingdragon8501]

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

[@downsjmmyjones101]

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

[@Argacyan]

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

[@jaojao1768]

@@Argacyan very true

[@19MAD95]

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

[@harunsuaidi7349]

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

[@juliah8674]

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

[@DaDunge]

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

[@jaojao1768]

Indeed

[@HistoryHustle]

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

[@neilgow77]

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

[@bx8321]

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

[@masudaahmed7990]

Wot pod cast does everyone mean!?!

[@nrrork]

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

[@rationalityrules]

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

[@tando6266]

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

[@MarkyMark1221]

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

[@mcsmaria28]

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

[@Prutswerk]

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

[@yearginclarke]

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

[@Prutswerk]

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

[@dariusgunter5344]

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

[@pjvish]

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

[@hobojeinkins5012]

pjv ish m

[@melonlord1414]

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

[@dariusgunter5344]

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

[@dariusgunter5344]

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

[@TheRealGuywithoutaMustache]

I learned more about WW1 because of the film 1917

[@racg174]

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

[@Madhattersinjeans]

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

[@thetruerift]

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

[@jannoottenburghs5121]

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

[@Tundramonkey5]

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

[@kumirapau-chan9880]

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

[@thetruerift]

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

[@kumirapau-chan9880]

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