I know I'm late to the party, but I'm catching up on this series after a recommendation. Trench foot is *not* a fungal condition, that's a misconception from WWI. It's a form of wet-cold injury, akin to frostbite, caused by the cold and wet reducing circulation to the skin of the foot, damaging the capillary beds and leading to cell death (necrosis). Determinations of trenchfoot versus frostbite were often made on the arbitrary value of the current temperature (0 trench foot). It was not contagious as such, but the conditions which made it likely (cold, wet feet, compressive boots, compressive leggings / puttees, lack of dry socks, immobility) were often endemic. It's honestly a fascinating subject!
I recommend this as a decent consideration of the experience of several nations in WWI (you'll need to scroll past other conflicts) history.amedd.army.mil/booksdocs/wwii/ColdInjury/Chapter03.htm with appropriate references. It seems that by WWII the US Army had forgotten the lessons, whereas the British had retained them.
The fungal foot infections are what is now called crumpet foot or tinea. comes as a result of wet, sweaty feet. During active service (not just inside a trench!) it's often a luxury to be able to take your boots off and air your feet and socks! In response armies gave their soldiers talcum powder so they could help dry your feet (its essentially baby powder). However unlike modern baby powder, talcum powder often is pretty starchy which helps breed fungal growth. A bit of a double edged sword until science caught on. As a side note, even modern military's have trouble keeping tinea under control, often emphasising hygiene for field operations. (Sleeping without boots or socks, during lulls have one foot exposed at a time, rubbing with baby powder. Sunlight exposure is essential!). Sorry if the post seemed ranty, i had first hand experience with crumpet foot and was a priority to keep under wraps!
My great-grandfather fought in the trenches. He ended up being buried alive in 1915, and was only found because someone saw his hand flapping rhythmically up and down and dug him out. He was sent back to Britain to recover and that was the end of the war for him. Thank Christ someone saw the hand, otherwise I wouldn't be watching this series and posting this comment
AzureSymbiote Not one he liked to talk about, by all accounts. Never met the man myself; he died about 40 years before I was born. But my grandfather managed to speak to him about it and he told me the story
You also forgot to mention all the trench night raids done by both sides of the war. Small groups would use the cover of night to cross no man's land, avoiding or taking out the enemies sentries using everything from short knives to brass knuckles to clubs. Raiders would kill men as they slept, grab any enemy documents that looked important or equipment that looked useful (sometimes including enemy machine guns), or just raid the enemy food stores and hope there was something to eat. Battles in the trenches, both during normal attacks and during the raids often was often hand to hand, as the standard issue rifles and bayonets were just so unwieldy in close quarters. Many soldiers sharpened a side of their trench shovels and used them as axes instead. This style of close quarter combat had become so expected and standard, that when the USA brought in pump action shotguns, which were horrifically effective in the trenches, the Germans called the use of shotguns a war crime.
Germans started using flamethrowers to burn people alive, and called use of a different type of firearm "a war crime". Speaking of propaganda bs and bigotry on all sides of a conflict.
notbobby125 it was the use of buckshot they protested. Not the use of shotguns themselves. They also protested the usage of sawtooth bayonets for obvious reasons.
this was a dark video... literally. jokes aside, we're really a lucky generation where our biggest dramas are losing the cellphone or that a webpage takes too long to load
juan altredo I understand the point you're making, as a whole, our generation has it way too easy. However, there are plenty of people at this very moment dealing with a lot bigger problems than a lost cellphone or a bad internet connection. As we speak people are suffering slow painful deaths due to diseases like cancer, others are being tortured, others are being sexually abused, ect.
I am a teacher and I want to thank you for putting together such an informative and interesting video that I could show my students. They very much appreciated your approach to the subject.
thank you for being a teacher who is willing to use these kinds of videos in school. I really wished that my teachers in school would have used stuff like this, even if its only a small intro to the actual lesson, this kind of format really helps to get students engaged in the topic, so that they actually become interested in the things you say and pay attention.
I had the singular privilege of seeing that while it was in theaters. It struck deeply enough I wish I'd had someone to go share it with. Glad someone else saw the same.
It was actually pretty rare to be shot for sleeping. Plenty of men were sentenced to death for it but few were carried out. It was desertion that was was most of the men who were shot were convicted of.
Info Channel Not that common, only about ~200-300 British/CW troops were executed, vs damn near a million who perished during the war. Less then 1 in 10 death sentences were carried out. But many of the guys shot had deserted previous times and been caught. Execution was also a common punishment in the criminal justice system at that time, so executions of soldiers did not raise the furor that they would say today. A lot of front line soldiers resented the men who ran away while they went on fighting, so much of the sympathy displayed to the "shot at dawn" victims is a modern phenomenon.
@Colin Kelly many of those British soldiers who were executed were also Northern Irish... English officers often looked down on the Northern Irish soldiers serving under their command, just like white US officers did black soldiers (while the military was segregated they still places single white officers in charge of entire African American units).
Also during periods of boredom were creations of trench art. Shells, coins and bullets were made into brass objects like vases, ashtrays and picture frames. I have collected a vase from a French gun at Ypres (carved with the date and location), a matchbook holder and lighter made from a machine gun shell. Some are elaborate and beautiful. Airplanes and tanks made from bullets and other brass were popular as well. The boredom interposed with terror must have been numbing in the trenches.
It's interesting that you mention the communication lines. My great grandfather won the Silver Star for laying down communication lines under German fire in WWI. I always imagine how he must have felt when given that task.
5:24 "In the middle of war the boredom was often crushing." That seems to be something people usually miss when explaining how bad war is. I suppose it's hard to understand how that compares to seeing people have their legs blown off, but really it's the boredom that's the most pervasive part of the hell.
I visited the Western Front in December 2015. I went to St Mihiel, Verdun, the Somme, Vimy Ridge, and Ypers. I rented a car and spent two days at each exploring.
I remember the life size trench models at the National WWI museum in Kansas City. The French model was so dilapidated, dark, muddy, and messy that it actually scared me quite a bit! I can't imagine having to live in one for weeks at least, while under heavy gunfire and shellfire!
the horrible thing about WW1 is that it takes place in a period of time where old school military tactics and commanders are met with a brand new wave of technology. there was no real concept of how you should properly conduct a modern war with this technology so the result was the commanders doing what they could to establish old-school front lines. by WWII the world had learned that huge line battles would only result in millions of needless deaths and adapted their tactics to use smaller squads and more mobile tactics. both wars were horrible, but the thing that makes WWI so painful was that never before had it even been possible for so many men to die in such a small amount of time, and the leaders of the world took their sweet time realizing this.
One of my great uncles and an uncle served in World War I. My uncle contracted "Spanish flue," but fortunately managed to survive. The war affected many of these men for their entire lives.
yeah, and some of it new footage to me atleast, most documentaries i've seen use all the same pictures and videos, gets a bit booring to watch afther some time.
our teacher gave us an assignment to write a letter as if we were a soldier in the trenches. we would describe at least 4 parts, 2 problems (ie trench foot, mud, rats etc.), at least 2 weapons and personal details such as daily routines, our biggest fears in the war and what we miss from home. this video helped me get a strong foundation, thanks.
Why on Earth would anyone dislike this video? It's an informative short documentary on everyday life in the trenches during WW1, what were they expecting?
Worst way to die. Being buried alive. But in a slow way. Imagine being on the front lines, and artillery shell that strikes close to you knocks you out. Then you wake up in a dark, tiny space where you can barelly breathe. You were buried alive by your comrades who thought you died. That actually happened. Not just in WW1 tho. Some really unfortunate old people in the 19th century suffered that fate. Those cases were only discovered recently when the families opened the coffin and found bodies in strange poses and nail marks on the inside of a coffin! What a horribly truamatizing, insane and deppressing way to go.
Arthur Morgan people actually used to put bells with ropes going into the coffin to try to solve the problem. It was really widespread in the 18th and 19th century
+Gordon Freeman, PhD "Some really unfortunate old people in the 19th century suffered that fate. Those cases were only discovered recently when the families opened the coffin and found bodies in strange poses and nail marks on the inside of a coffin!" Whoa! Can you provide sources for this? And when were such bodies discovered?
Danox94 I can relate to this. If I've just discovered it, how many other people are still missing out on this amazing piece of historical and didactical work? Only so many people I can tell about this myself... Thanks so much again to the staff & keep it up. :)
It's pretty crazy to think about how lucky we are that Tolkien survived the war. Imagine what the state of fantasy would be like if he was one of the millions lost in the trenches.
@@seanodonoghue116 Why? That's a great overreaction to someone mentioning Tolkien's greatest work which was a direct result of his experience in the trenches.
Greatest channel ever. Cannot be more stated.With great excitement I wait each week to get the next upload. I hope that Indiana Neidell, and this channel create a new trend of epic and well researched shows like this. Now I enjoy comedy and music just as much as anyone, but there has been a huge lack of channels of this sort. Thanks a million and then some. That is to the whole team not just Indiana.
religion had nothing to do with world war 1 and world war 2 the united states is mostly christian by way the rest of the countries that defeated germany and its allies were mostly other religions they were not atheist
That is where I found out about it as well. Check out Forgotten Weapons on youtube if you want to know more about the weapons of from this war. It is a great channel and Ian the host does a great job with history and technology of each weapon he covers.
Mr. McCollum/Gun Jesus is now in collaboration with a few other sites like his and with Indy Neidell for the upcoming Great War series on WWII. It's going to be great!
Hard to believe that the horror of WWI wasn't able to kill the romantic allure of war. Insane that we fought the bloodiest war in human history, then beat our own record less than a generation later.
GarinEtch Oh, it did. You see, before the Great War, war was commonplace, and war was honorable. Wars were usually short skirmishes of a few thousand men over honor or a couple cities. WWI was the first truly destructive war, where not only millions of people died, but even the land was permanently scarred. These shattered the illusions of the "glory of war".
majesty327 Sorry, it didn't. Teenagers today still sign up for duty, honor, country. And look at American Sniper: we still have a romantic fascination with war.
Have you even seen American Sniper? The movie makes a point to show the effects of PTSD, and how the war changes Chris Kyle. He's called a hero by everyone around him, and all we've seen him do is shoot children, and get REALLY tense around drills. The point was the subversion of classic American hero cliches, and show the true horrors of war.
GarinEtch Besides, there's a difference between modern patriotism, and ancient patriotism. War wasn't just romantic. It was a religious, social, and "honorable" affair. And war was something that just happened somewhere else, to somewhere else. That and wars happened so often then, that not many people really opposed them or was "disillusioned" by them before WWI.
WW2 was forced upon all parties but Japan. The treaty of Versailles f***** over Germany really hard and the allies couldn't just watch hitler conquer all of Europe and commit genocide in the 20th century and even then it took a bombing of US warships and a Japanese declaration of war to pull us in. Also we haven't had a real war in generations only bullying the Middle East
Hello to all the crew at The Great War, thanks for making this show such a deep and interesting experience. There’s nothing like it anywhere on TV or UA-cam. Keep up the great work.
Wow, been following for years now. Went back and am watching this random episode for the first time in many years. I tip my hat to Indy and the team. The overall quality of everything has increased so much. Regardless of which channel. Thank you so much for your hard work.
You said it trench life was both deadly and disgusting. I'm not surprised if the soldiers even had to eat rats and lice just to stay alive when food was hard to come by.
+Pieter Batenburg I can agree on that. Another thing about those trenches were the insane diseases spread in there thanks to the conditions which also played a part in beginning the pandemic of 1918 that spread around the world during that time.
No mention of barbed wire? This to me seems to be one of the main reasons of the unforeseen prolonged duration and the minimal gains of the war. Most of my post-secondary knowledge of the Great War comes from Dan Carlin's Hardcore History and Adam Hochschild's To End All Wars. Dan especially stressed and was oft to talk about the epochal changes such a simple invention and implementation had on modern warfare. Also, Adam explained how the German barbed wire especially was very difficult to penetrate: "[It] would prove a nearly insuperable obstacle, spread out for miles in a dense maze 50 to 100 feet wide and anchored to long rows of six-foot-high wooden posts pounded into the ground [...], [and if] the first line of trenches was breached or captured, several backup lines remained, each with its own thick belt of barbed wire (125)." You also mentioned in the video that if a front trench was captured, it was thereafter very difficult to turn it around and continue an advance. It's my opinion that these numerous massive zones of barbed wire were responsible for this inability to break through. I typically religiously avoid youtube comments, however I've been happily surprised by the discourse given by the viewers of this channel and was thus inspired to add to the conversation and make my comment a little more enlightening and thoughtful. Thanks so much for the series, it's really amazing.
That is something I've noticed as well, most of the comments I've seen have been productive even when argumentative. It's something I personally love, because I feel so much can be learned from this sort of discussion.
As a World History & European History (AP) teacher, these Special Episode videos and the Who Did What? series are extremely useful. Keep them up - I've used several already and will continue to do so in the future. Thanks for the great resource.
The Great War The Great War They enjoyed them. Keep them up. They seem to really like the Who Did What? series - we watched the one on Wilhelm & Nicholas and they got a lot out of them.
Dawson McCall When the time comes, I would love to see a few dedicated episodes about Indian sepoys and African troops that served in the War, especially how the war played out in East Africa and Southwest Africa. Also, one about the role of Japan and how it led to increased influence in China and the South Pacific would be really useful.
I see your view counts for these videos are now 10000+ each. I'm so happy it's finally picking up. Been a viewer since the beginning. Thank you all so much at The Great War for this great valuable treasure.
I read this one book, about a British engineer. They captured a German trench, and when they got into a pillbox, the side facing to the germans was hollow. So he asked his officer: "Why is it hollow here? Germans never finish the Pillbox? "Nah, its so that they can blow it up from their new set of trenches"
This is by far the shortest (relatively) but most comprehensive look at the trenches of WWI. Indy, Amazing work as always. I hope many students come to this video in the future.
Patrick Sellers Same here. I play mostly Operations, and use historically accurate loadouts depending on which side im on (or as historically accurate as you can get in the game). The only semi automatic I use is the cei-rigoti (since there is only one other Italian rifle), and sometimes the MP-18. Mostly I use the infantry variant bolt action rifles. I found it to be the most "immersive" way to play.
good poem. I look forward to an episode dedicated to the change in the perception of war, from the romantic to the horrifying as portrayed in poetry, music, paintings, and literature.
Thank you for including "Break of day in the trenches". One of those poems I read in school but has remained strong in my mind. I disliked it at first but the more I read into it's meaning, it really carries the thoughts of the poet and the grim image of trench warfare.
Thank you Indy (and the Team) for your awesome presentation once again. This whole series is one of the best documentaries I have ever seen (definitely the most robust one), and this Special proved its quality once again.
What a informed and honest video on everyday life of WWI trench warfare. I'd love to see a similar video on the life of a WWI submarine crew or even a WWI fighter pilots. Keep up the good work Mr Neidell.
I'm just working on catching up now :) It's great to see a focus on the daily lives of Soldiers in the trenches. Often, when historical programs try to grasp the sheer scale of a war and keep the progression of events cohesive, details of the lives of the Joes (or Tommies, or Jerries) who fought the war can be forgotten. Thanks for giving such a great highlight to their struggles and experiences!
i love logging on and finding there is some mid-week update. this idea is amazing, i am learning a lot and you guys aren't receiving the views you should be. from those of us who watch, we really appreciate it and keep it up!
Well before I've seen these series of vids, I knew that if there was one singular war in the 20th century that I would never have wanted any part of, that I knew would have been positively Hell on Earth, it was WWI. This vid only strengthened that notion. Of course no sane person would WANT to be involved in ANY war, but you get what I mean. I believe WWI was the most horrific conflict of the last 115 years, as far as the soldier's experience went.
This video was great! I showed it to my sophomore English class to give them an introduction to what life was like in the trenches. (They're reading All Quiet on the Western Front.) It made a quite an impression. Also, the poem at the end was a great touch. We've been reading poetry of WWI every day, and the one you included had two of the features we'd been studying (apostrophe and poems of address.)
A little different. One is heat and dampness, causing swelling and then problems. The other is cold and dampness, causing lack of blood circulation and then problems. Net effect is the same though, soldiers feet rotting.
I really appreciate all the work you put into the show. It is absolutely fascinating. I've binge watched every episode over the past few days and can't wait for new ones! Keep up the good work! Question: are most of these filmed in advance, or are you still in production?
I have to watch this for ap world history and im going to start watching the previous episodes once im done with the assignment as this is really infomrative!
I remember that my great great grandfather had once written that you wanted to sink up past your knees in the mud because, if you weren't, you were standing on a corpse.
I have to say, this channel is awesome. Please keep up this wonderful quality over the next few years! It really helps me get educated about the Great War. Greetings from Germany! :)
Jeez Indy, You make it look so easy. I wonder how many men simply stood up in frustration to take the sniper's bullet. Reminds me of the thought of women on the Great Plains who would drown themselves in the rain barrel.
Thanks very much - Awesome vid -my grandfather and his brother both served. Although now dead since the 70's, I can understand why he was such a hard old man and never spoke of these things unless with his brother. They new we wouldn't understand the horrors..
That poem is truly haunting. Felt as if I was traveling right back into that poor man's mind to experience his life in the trenches. How long would a surviving soldier typically stay in the trenches before being rotated in the trench cycle?
Great episode! You know this reminds me of Paul Fussell's The Great War and Modern Memory!! Good lord PF is one of my favorite authors and that book is just gripping!!! Perhaps you have read that- if not, please DO!!!!!!!!!!
I know I'm late to the party, but I'm catching up on this series after a recommendation. Trench foot is *not* a fungal condition, that's a misconception from WWI. It's a form of wet-cold injury, akin to frostbite, caused by the cold and wet reducing circulation to the skin of the foot, damaging the capillary beds and leading to cell death (necrosis). Determinations of trenchfoot versus frostbite were often made on the arbitrary value of the current temperature (0 trench foot). It was not contagious as such, but the conditions which made it likely (cold, wet feet, compressive boots, compressive leggings / puttees, lack of dry socks, immobility) were often endemic. It's honestly a fascinating subject!
Ah thanks, you wrote this on Twitter as well. I will keep this in mind and maybe we can clarify it.
I recommend this as a decent consideration of the experience of several nations in WWI (you'll need to scroll past other conflicts) history.amedd.army.mil/booksdocs/wwii/ColdInjury/Chapter03.htm with appropriate references. It seems that by WWII the US Army had forgotten the lessons, whereas the British had retained them.
The fungal foot infections are what is now called crumpet foot or tinea. comes as a result of wet, sweaty feet. During active service (not just inside a trench!) it's often a luxury to be able to take your boots off and air your feet and socks!
In response armies gave their soldiers talcum powder so they could help dry your feet (its essentially baby powder). However unlike modern baby powder, talcum powder often is pretty starchy which helps breed fungal growth. A bit of a double edged sword until science caught on.
As a side note, even modern military's have trouble keeping tinea under control, often emphasising hygiene for field operations. (Sleeping without boots or socks, during lulls have one foot exposed at a time, rubbing with baby powder. Sunlight exposure is essential!).
Sorry if the post seemed ranty, i had first hand experience with crumpet foot and was a priority to keep under wraps!
Pda
I'm glad someone knows there stuff, us carnival workers always try to keep dry feet, it's awful working in wet feet every day, even for 3 or 4 days
My great-grandfather fought in the trenches. He ended up being buried alive in 1915, and was only found because someone saw his hand flapping rhythmically up and down and dug him out. He was sent back to Britain to recover and that was the end of the war for him. Thank Christ someone saw the hand, otherwise I wouldn't be watching this series and posting this comment
+Matt Dean Wow, even for this war, this must have been a horrible experience.
+Matt Dean Hard to even picture that. I think he was one of the lucky ones.
+Matt Dean A very doom-like tale.
AzureSymbiote Not one he liked to talk about, by all accounts. Never met the man myself; he died about 40 years before I was born. But my grandfather managed to speak to him about it and he told me the story
I legitimately thought you said fapping
Hell is a trench from world war 1.
there are no non-believers sitting in foxholes... which doesnt mean its good to believe, rather, that its bad to sit in foxholes XD
Is that kthun in your picture?
it is also a place in Norway xD
You also forgot to mention all the trench night raids done by both sides of the war. Small groups would use the cover of night to cross no man's land, avoiding or taking out the enemies sentries using everything from short knives to brass knuckles to clubs. Raiders would kill men as they slept, grab any enemy documents that looked important or equipment that looked useful (sometimes including enemy machine guns), or just raid the enemy food stores and hope there was something to eat.
Battles in the trenches, both during normal attacks and during the raids often was often hand to hand, as the standard issue rifles and bayonets were just so unwieldy in close quarters. Many soldiers sharpened a side of their trench shovels and used them as axes instead.
This style of close quarter combat had become so expected and standard, that when the USA brought in pump action shotguns, which were horrifically effective in the trenches, the Germans called the use of shotguns a war crime.
He mentioned that
Verbatim Shotguns are too OP pls nerf
Germans started using flamethrowers to burn people alive, and called use of a different type of firearm "a war crime". Speaking of propaganda bs and bigotry on all sides of a conflict.
MrCorvusC germans used flamethrowers, and how did that turn out for them?
notbobby125 it was the use of buckshot they protested. Not the use of shotguns themselves. They also protested the usage of sawtooth bayonets for obvious reasons.
this was a dark video... literally. jokes aside, we're really a lucky generation where our biggest dramas are losing the cellphone or that a webpage takes too long to load
juan altredo I hope it stays that way. Remember, the people of the time did not think a war of such magnitude was possible.
So true. We really are luc- OH MY GOD THE VIDEO IS BUFFERING GOD DAMMIT WHY IS MY INTERNET SO SLOW
juan altredo I understand the point you're making, as a whole, our generation has it way too easy. However, there are plenty of people at this very moment dealing with a lot bigger problems than a lost cellphone or a bad internet connection. As we speak people are suffering slow painful deaths due to diseases like cancer, others are being tortured, others are being sexually abused, ect.
juan altredo have you heard of the syrian civil war? The extreme right islamic terrorism? The rising tension with nort korea?
Maybe first world privilages but we've literally been fighting the middle east since before I was born lol.
I am a teacher and I want to thank you for putting together such an informative and interesting video that I could show my students. They very much appreciated your approach to the subject.
Thank you for teaching history to our youth and for helping to keep them interested in knowledge and education
thank you for being a teacher who is willing to use these kinds of videos in school. I really wished that my teachers in school would have used stuff like this, even if its only a small intro to the actual lesson, this kind of format really helps to get students engaged in the topic, so that they actually become interested in the things you say and pay attention.
+Tara Thornton a pretty cool teacher
You're fat
@@elbuki4006 fr
They shall not grow old is such an amazing movie.
The way they felt bad for each other man to man was such a human thing.
I had the singular privilege of seeing that while it was in theaters. It struck deeply enough I wish I'd had someone to go share it with. Glad someone else saw the same.
Death by firing squad for sleeping.. truly sleep is the cousin of death.
It was actually pretty rare to be shot for sleeping. Plenty of men were sentenced to death for it but few were carried out. It was desertion that was was most of the men who were shot were convicted of.
is it pretty standard in all armies to kill deserters?... poor poor soldiers!
Info Channel
Not that common, only about ~200-300 British/CW troops were executed, vs damn near a million who perished during the war. Less then 1 in 10 death sentences were carried out. But many of the guys shot had deserted previous times and been caught.
Execution was also a common punishment in the criminal justice system at that time, so executions of soldiers did not raise the furor that they would say today. A lot of front line soldiers resented the men who ran away while they went on fighting, so much of the sympathy displayed to the "shot at dawn" victims is a modern phenomenon.
poor guys.. I can only imagine. either you fight and die or you run away, get caught and die ... between the devil and the deep blue sea
@Colin Kelly many of those British soldiers who were executed were also Northern Irish... English officers often looked down on the Northern Irish soldiers serving under their command, just like white US officers did black soldiers (while the military was segregated they still places single white officers in charge of entire African American units).
Also during periods of boredom were creations of trench art. Shells, coins and bullets were made into brass objects like vases, ashtrays and picture frames. I have collected a vase from a French gun at Ypres (carved with the date and location), a matchbook holder and lighter made from a machine gun shell. Some are elaborate and beautiful. Airplanes and tanks made from bullets and other brass were popular as well. The boredom interposed with terror must have been numbing in the trenches.
It's interesting that you mention the communication lines. My great grandfather won the Silver Star for laying down communication lines under German fire in WWI. I always imagine how he must have felt when given that task.
Stdu do not lie
@@IllidanSturmgrimmDeusVult ? Why would anyone lie about this
@@IllidanSturmgrimmDeusVult who lies about laying comms lines and wiinning a silver medal for it he could lie about bigger things
@@IllidanSturmgrimmDeusVult u need to gtfo why would someone lie about that
What was his name, out of curiosity? I'd love to know more about him.
5:24
"In the middle of war the boredom was often crushing."
That seems to be something people usually miss when explaining how bad war is. I suppose it's hard to understand how that compares to seeing people have their legs blown off, but really it's the boredom that's the most pervasive part of the hell.
I visited the Western Front in December 2015. I went to St Mihiel, Verdun, the Somme, Vimy Ridge, and Ypers. I rented a car and spent two days at each exploring.
+Terry Myers Something we want to do as well.
+The Great War k
+KingOf Clubz Mustard gas is poison gas...
Terry Myers
Terry Myers I have been there aswell. Did you go to langermark or paschandel
I remember the life size trench models at the National WWI museum in Kansas City. The French model was so dilapidated, dark, muddy, and messy that it actually scared me quite a bit! I can't imagine having to live in one for weeks at least, while under heavy gunfire and shellfire!
***** It's mindboggling for sure.
From the sound of it, looks like WW1 was way more brutal and nasty the WW2.
Well. They used flamethrower's much more in ww2. so blindly charging Machine guns and gas attacks, or be bunt alive by a crocodile tank.
Flamethrowers are seriously cruel
+Hamsaphina very
the horrible thing about WW1 is that it takes place in a period of time where old school military tactics and commanders are met with a brand new wave of technology. there was no real concept of how you should properly conduct a modern war with this technology so the result was the commanders doing what they could to establish old-school front lines. by WWII the world had learned that huge line battles would only result in millions of needless deaths and adapted their tactics to use smaller squads and more mobile tactics. both wars were horrible, but the thing that makes WWI so painful was that never before had it even been possible for so many men to die in such a small amount of time, and the leaders of the world took their sweet time realizing this.
I still see WWII as more brutal because of newer technologies that can kill the humankind.But well, it's your opinion.
One of my great uncles and an uncle served in World War I. My uncle contracted "Spanish flue," but fortunately managed to survive. The war affected many of these men for their entire lives.
all this footage, you guys must dig DEEP. Ive never seen so many old reels.
+jesse p Thanks to our cooperation with British Pathé we have access to a lot of them.
@@TheGreatWar Do you guys have any other countries footage?
yeah, and some of it new footage to me atleast, most documentaries i've seen use all the same pictures and videos, gets a bit booring to watch afther some time.
I don't think any of us could imagine the horrific conditions soldiers on either side faced in those trenches.
our teacher gave us an assignment to write a letter as if we were a soldier in the trenches. we would describe at least 4 parts, 2 problems (ie trench foot, mud, rats etc.), at least 2 weapons and personal details such as daily routines, our biggest fears in the war and what we miss from home. this video helped me get a strong foundation, thanks.
Thats prettt cool. I wish my school gave us assignments this fun
@@vitaliykormov1266 This isnt fun at school level. Requires mad creativity. Hopefully this was on university level.
Why on Earth would anyone dislike this video? It's an informative short documentary on everyday life in the trenches during WW1, what were they expecting?
Worst way to die.
Being buried alive. But in a slow way.
Imagine being on the front lines, and artillery shell that strikes close to you knocks you out. Then you wake up in a dark, tiny space where you can barelly breathe. You were buried alive by your comrades who thought you died. That actually happened. Not just in WW1 tho. Some really unfortunate old people in the 19th century suffered that fate. Those cases were only discovered recently when the families opened the coffin and found bodies in strange poses and nail marks on the inside of a coffin! What a horribly truamatizing, insane and deppressing way to go.
Arthur Morgan people actually used to put bells with ropes going into the coffin to try to solve the problem. It was really widespread in the 18th and 19th century
Horrific indeed !!!
Your comrades wouldn’t bury you, the trench would collapse on top of you and that’s how you get buried alive
+Gordon Freeman, PhD
"Some really unfortunate old people in the 19th century suffered that fate. Those cases were only discovered recently when the families opened the coffin and found bodies in strange poses and nail marks on the inside of a coffin!"
Whoa! Can you provide sources for this? And when were such bodies discovered?
@@anon2427 I think these are referred to as "bell-ringers". Although the meaning has changed to something different in modern English.
HOW IS THAT I'M JUST DISCOVERING THIS BRILLIANT CHANNEL?
Danox94 It's never too late.
Danox94 I can relate to this. If I've just discovered it, how many other people are still missing out on this amazing piece of historical and didactical work? Only so many people I can tell about this myself... Thanks so much again to the staff & keep it up. :)
Jakub Bukaj I agree.
Danox94 How am *I* just discovering this brilliant channel?
Danox94 Discovered it last night. Love this channel.
So I'm guessing this is why the Silmarillion is so depressing.
labrynianrebel Probably, yes.
Please never mention the word Silmarillion ever again. Ever.
It's pretty crazy to think about how lucky we are that Tolkien survived the war. Imagine what the state of fantasy would be like if he was one of the millions lost in the trenches.
@@seanodonoghue116 Why? That's a great overreaction to someone mentioning Tolkien's greatest work which was a direct result of his experience in the trenches.
Greatest channel ever. Cannot be more stated.With great excitement I wait each week to get the next upload. I hope that Indiana Neidell, and this channel create a new trend of epic and well researched shows like this. Now I enjoy comedy and music just as much as anyone, but there has been a huge lack of channels of this sort. Thanks a million and then some. That is to the whole team not just Indiana.
Zen Saber Thanks a lot! :)
This!
The Great War NO! Thank you!
Yeah, this channel is great and this might be the best episode yet.
religion had nothing to do with world war 1 and world war 2 the united states is mostly christian by way the rest of the countries that defeated germany and its allies were mostly other religions they were not atheist
That was nothing short of INCREDIBLY interesting.
Favorite episode so far! I think continuing to include war poetry would be a great idea.
I heard this channel being mentioned in forgotten weapons channel
That is where I found out about it as well. Check out Forgotten Weapons on youtube if you want to know more about the weapons of from this war. It is a great channel and Ian the host does a great job with history and technology of each weapon he covers.
oh I watch his channel and I know most of the weapons they used. Forgotten Weapons is a great channel
Gun Jesus' blessings to you my friend.
Mr. McCollum/Gun Jesus is now in collaboration with a few other sites like his and with Indy Neidell for the upcoming Great War series on WWII. It's going to be great!
Hard to believe that the horror of WWI wasn't able to kill the romantic allure of war. Insane that we fought the bloodiest war in human history, then beat our own record less than a generation later.
GarinEtch Oh, it did.
You see, before the Great War, war was commonplace, and war was honorable. Wars were usually short skirmishes of a few thousand men over honor or a couple cities.
WWI was the first truly destructive war, where not only millions of people died, but even the land was permanently scarred. These shattered the illusions of the "glory of war".
majesty327 Sorry, it didn't. Teenagers today still sign up for duty, honor, country. And look at American Sniper: we still have a romantic fascination with war.
Have you even seen American Sniper? The movie makes a point to show the effects of PTSD, and how the war changes Chris Kyle. He's called a hero by everyone around him, and all we've seen him do is shoot children, and get REALLY tense around drills.
The point was the subversion of classic American hero cliches, and show the true horrors of war.
GarinEtch Besides, there's a difference between modern patriotism, and ancient patriotism. War wasn't just romantic. It was a religious, social, and "honorable" affair. And war was something that just happened somewhere else, to somewhere else.
That and wars happened so often then, that not many people really opposed them or was "disillusioned" by them before WWI.
WW2 was forced upon all parties but Japan. The treaty of Versailles f***** over Germany really hard and the allies couldn't just watch hitler conquer all of Europe and commit genocide in the 20th century and even then it took a bombing of US warships and a Japanese declaration of war to pull us in. Also we haven't had a real war in generations only bullying the Middle East
Hello to all the crew at The Great War, thanks for making this show such a deep and interesting experience. There’s nothing like it anywhere on TV or UA-cam. Keep up the great work.
I like it when I hear stories of men meeting in No Man's Land and letting each other live, or other similar stories.
By far my favorite Great War episode
Wow, been following for years now. Went back and am watching this random episode for the first time in many years. I tip my hat to Indy and the team. The overall quality of everything has increased so much. Regardless of which channel. Thank you so much for your hard work.
The Rosenberg poem is la crème on top of this video, thank you very much !
Just appalling. Even with your help, I can't imagine how it must have been fighting in those trenches during the Great War.
Check out Jacques Tardi's work. He is a French comics author, and he's doing a great job at describing thing related to WW1.
+SpyMonkey3D I LOVE HIS BOOKS! especially "Goddamn this war" and "it was the war in the trenches."
You said it trench life was both deadly and disgusting. I'm not surprised if the soldiers even had to eat rats and lice just to stay alive when food was hard to come by.
Really rotten conditions. Absolutely horrendous
+Pieter Batenburg I can agree on that. Another thing about those trenches were the insane diseases spread in there thanks to the conditions which also played a part in beginning the pandemic of 1918 that spread around the world during that time.
nice diagram to explain the layout of the trenches
World War One poems by soldiers always give me chills
No mention of barbed wire? This to me seems to be one of the main reasons of the unforeseen prolonged duration and the minimal gains of the war.
Most of my post-secondary knowledge of the Great War comes from Dan Carlin's Hardcore History and Adam Hochschild's To End All Wars. Dan especially stressed and was oft to talk about the epochal changes such a simple invention and implementation had on modern warfare. Also, Adam explained how the German barbed wire especially was very difficult to penetrate: "[It] would prove a nearly insuperable obstacle, spread out for miles in a dense maze 50 to 100 feet wide and anchored to long rows of six-foot-high wooden posts pounded into the ground [...], [and if] the first line of trenches was breached or captured, several backup lines remained, each with its own thick belt of barbed wire (125)." You also mentioned in the video that if a front trench was captured, it was thereafter very difficult to turn it around and continue an advance. It's my opinion that these numerous massive zones of barbed wire were responsible for this inability to break through.
I typically religiously avoid youtube comments, however I've been happily surprised by the discourse given by the viewers of this channel and was thus inspired to add to the conversation and make my comment a little more enlightening and thoughtful. Thanks so much for the series, it's really amazing.
That is something I've noticed as well, most of the comments I've seen have been productive even when argumentative. It's something I personally love, because I feel so much can be learned from this sort of discussion.
I hate barbed wire.
As a World History & European History (AP) teacher, these Special Episode videos and the Who Did What? series are extremely useful. Keep them up - I've used several already and will continue to do so in the future. Thanks for the great resource.
Dawson McCall Great! How did your students like them?
The Great War The Great War They enjoyed them. Keep them up. They seem to really like the Who Did What? series - we watched the one on Wilhelm & Nicholas and they got a lot out of them.
Dawson McCall When the time comes, I would love to see a few dedicated episodes about Indian sepoys and African troops that served in the War, especially how the war played out in East Africa and Southwest Africa. Also, one about the role of Japan and how it led to increased influence in China and the South Pacific would be really useful.
Dawson McCall We will have a big surprise dealing with South Africa in WW1 very soon!
Awesome - looking forward to it. Keep up the great work.
I see your view counts for these videos are now 10000+ each. I'm so happy it's finally picking up. Been a viewer since the beginning. Thank you all so much at The Great War for this great valuable treasure.
This is so helpful for my test tomorrow thanks!!!!
I read this one book, about a British engineer. They captured a German trench, and when they got into a pillbox, the side facing to the germans was hollow. So he asked his officer: "Why is it hollow here? Germans never finish the Pillbox? "Nah, its so that they can blow it up from their new set of trenches"
This is by far the shortest (relatively) but most comprehensive look at the trenches of WWI. Indy, Amazing work as always. I hope many students come to this video in the future.
I was disappointed by the lack of focus on Trench warfare in Battlefield 1. I've been waiting years for a WWI game just for that reason
Patrick Sellers Same here. I play mostly Operations, and use historically accurate loadouts depending on which side im on (or as historically accurate as you can get in the game). The only semi automatic I use is the cei-rigoti (since there is only one other Italian rifle), and sometimes the MP-18. Mostly I use the infantry variant bolt action rifles. I found it to be the most "immersive" way to play.
Mike Gonzalez I'll have to look into that next time I play
Patrick Sellers you could try the indie game "Verdun".Heard it is more historically accurate than BF1.
There is plenty of games about WWI.
Play Verdun or Tannenberg.
Thankyou for your channel !
The Rat poem is one of the most moving things ive ever heard.
i was shown your video on the schlieffen plan in my history lesson in school and since then i have been watching
+harry123684 Hope they liked it!
yeah
+The Great War Excellent series. Very glad I ran across your site.
you forgot to mention the flies.
good poem. I look forward to an episode dedicated to the change in the perception of war, from the romantic to the horrifying as portrayed in poetry, music, paintings, and literature.
Ooo, ooo, and maybe feature artists actually painting in the trenches!
There's something entertaining about the line "as trench conditions improved".
This is such an important channel! I hope that more similarly ambituous projects will follow. All the best tou you Indiana and the whole team!
Excellent video. My favorite one so far. I think this video could a great stand alone video for any history teacher talking about WWI.
This channel should be a TV show
The poem by Isaac Rosemberg broke me. Thank you, now I'll read more from him.
0:47 Im gonna get ya this time fritz !
Thank you for including "Break of day in the trenches". One of those poems I read in school but has remained strong in my mind. I disliked it at first but the more I read into it's meaning, it really carries the thoughts of the poet and the grim image of trench warfare.
Thank you Indy (and the Team) for your awesome presentation once again. This whole series is one of the best documentaries I have ever seen (definitely the most robust one), and this Special proved its quality once again.
thanks again for another wonderful, insightful segment. The description of the odors was brilliant.
What a informed and honest video on everyday life of WWI trench warfare. I'd love to see a similar video on the life of a WWI submarine crew or even a WWI fighter pilots. Keep up the good work Mr Neidell.
I'm just working on catching up now :) It's great to see a focus on the daily lives of Soldiers in the trenches. Often, when historical programs try to grasp the sheer scale of a war and keep the progression of events cohesive, details of the lives of the Joes (or Tommies, or Jerries) who fought the war can be forgotten. Thanks for giving such a great highlight to their struggles and experiences!
Ian Hyde Glad you liked it.
This is by far my favorite video you guys have posted! Please keep posting more of these!
i love logging on and finding there is some mid-week update. this idea is amazing, i am learning a lot and you guys aren't receiving the views you should be. from those of us who watch, we really appreciate it and keep it up!
I have my history final tomorrow and your videos are exceptionally helpful ! Thank you very much
Amna H. Good luck with that and tell us how it went.
Don't forget to like the video's as your watching em people it helps em out and encourages them to do more and better.
Well before I've seen these series of vids, I knew that if there was one singular war in the 20th century that I would never have wanted any part of, that I knew would have been positively Hell on Earth, it was WWI. This vid only strengthened that notion. Of course no sane person would WANT to be involved in ANY war, but you get what I mean. I believe WWI was the most horrific conflict of the last 115 years, as far as the soldier's experience went.
This video was great! I showed it to my sophomore English class to give them an introduction to what life was like in the trenches. (They're reading All Quiet on the Western Front.) It made a quite an impression. Also, the poem at the end was a great touch. We've been reading poetry of WWI every day, and the one you included had two of the features we'd been studying (apostrophe and poems of address.)
MrSegrist That's really cool. Glad your students liked it.
I imagine that trenchfoot and bootrot (Vietnam) are the same?
A little different. One is heat and dampness, causing swelling and then problems. The other is cold and dampness, causing lack of blood circulation and then problems.
Net effect is the same though, soldiers feet rotting.
I see
I'd recommend not trying to eat while you watch this.
found that one out too late /:
Especially seeing the feet! :(
lmao I unironically only watch this channel while I'm eating
Me too. Eating right now lol
whoops
I just watched this today. Absolutely terrific work.
This channel is one of the most remarkable and informative I've come across in years. Thanks!
I really appreciate all the work you put into the show. It is absolutely fascinating. I've binge watched every episode over the past few days and can't wait for new ones! Keep up the good work! Question: are most of these filmed in advance, or are you still in production?
Dan Metzger Thank you! We are still in production and film 4-6 episodes a month.
The Alpine trenches and caves are something to be considered.
This is the best video so far, and I've seen all of them. I had no idea about so much of this stuff!
I have to watch this for ap world history and im going to start watching the previous episodes once im done with the assignment as this is really infomrative!
welcome to the show
Thanks for your work! A great channel that I will use in my classroom!
Leah Sutton Let us know what your class things. We're always dying for feedback.
Very informative piece, great work.
That was a great video. Horrifying but very eye opening. Thank you for such a great series. Am hooked!
its really good that you crush all romantization of war
top job as always Indy. Quality!
My friend lost a leg to, he claims,to one of the only modern cases of trench foot in the UK.
WOW this is an awesome video! This helped tremendously on my social studies homework and test. THANK YOU
I remember that my great great grandfather had once written that you wanted to sink up past your knees in the mud because, if you weren't, you were standing on a corpse.
Did either side ever try to launch a big attack at night?
Zero Mad.😂
Most attacks where in the night or early hour, the German Stormtroopers were very effective at nights .
I have to say, this channel is awesome. Please keep up this wonderful quality over the next few years! It really helps me get educated about the Great War. Greetings from Germany! :)
Amazing , thank you sir for these incredible videos. Flawless quality , i hope you get more views.
Really helpful insight. Loving this show! I'll tell all my history buff friends about it.
Wooo first.
Never really thought about the stench on the trenches. Nice educational video about their conditions.
Love the graphics on the trenches!!
Fantastic! Only recently found out about this channel but really impressed with the episodes
i remeber watching this video in 7th grade now i am now studying history in Istanbul Uni .thanks you for inspiring me INDY :)
Can you do an episode on the celebrities ( actors, screenwriters, etc.) who served in WWI?
+Stefan Filipovits Interesting idea.
+The Great War k
Here's a question for you guys, why can't I get enough of these videos?
WOW. What an amazingly well written poem. I liked that so much.
Jeez Indy, You make it look so easy. I wonder how many men simply stood up in frustration to take the sniper's bullet.
Reminds me of the thought of women on the Great Plains who would drown themselves in the rain barrel.
It's so depressing that I can't take it anymore, no matter how much I love the history of the world wars
This is perhaps the most upsetting episode I've heard, for some reason.
Very well done. Compassion and sensitivity in abundance
Thanks very much - Awesome vid -my grandfather and his brother both served. Although now dead since the 70's, I can understand why he was such a hard old man and never spoke of these things unless with his brother. They new we wouldn't understand the horrors..
That poem is truly haunting. Felt as if I was traveling right back into that poor man's mind to experience his life in the trenches.
How long would a surviving soldier typically stay in the trenches before being rotated in the trench cycle?
Great episode! You know this reminds me of Paul Fussell's The Great War and Modern Memory!! Good lord PF is one of my favorite authors and that book is just gripping!!! Perhaps you have read that- if not, please DO!!!!!!!!!!
+Bit Maid That could be a great resource for an episode about literature.
The Great War YES! And I look forward to that!!
+The Great War k
+The Great War Oh,yeah. I've also read Fussell. He served in WWII in the infantry,and got into the army because of a laughable set of circumstances.
Videos about what other fronts ate and did would be great as well! That is fantastic to see history brought to life.
Great video! Very well put together. I can't wait to show this to my US and World History classes
+Caleb Mitchener Let us know what they think about it.