Really east-prussia as well as other lands with over 1million square kilometers used to belong to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth during 13-16th centuries (and some to lesser extent in later times), which span from the Baltic sea to the Black sea but were partitioned during constant eurpean fudal wars, so poland regained only a tiny portion of it's original lands, thanks in part to Napoleon Bonaparte as well as the allies mostly Britain after the WWs, but also in part to Hungary, Chech and Italy with whom they maintained good relations over the centuries.
Obliterated by the slavs? Check your information! It was Lithuanians and Polish and only a very small amount of slavs from Smolensk was in Lithuanian army. This is an insult!
2023-05-19 ... wow ... an absolutely excellent presentation of an otherwise skipped-over historical moment ... the WW1 overview is clearly and superbly explained ... Woodrow Wilson's personal attempt to humiliate Germany is a revelation to me ... Highly recommended one hour video.
The armistice was supposed to be an ARMISTICE...’peace without victory’ as Woodrow Wilson tried to push...instead it became a victory shoved down a defeated Germany’s throat without their knowledge until the moment that they came to sign. This anger, both tangible and intangible and the brutal forcing of them to acknowledge ‘war guilt’ despite there being plenty of blame to go around, set the stage for the rise of ultra nationalism and anger...as the ‘treaty’ left Germany with nothing, nothing that is, but its pride.
My grandfather (U.S. Army) took a bullet in the stomach on the last day of the war. He was hospitalized for a year, and suffered greatly the rest of his life. I never really knew him, but my mother said he was never, ever the same after the war. What a waste.
That's why general Pershing should have been hanged. Instead he got promoted to the only 6 star general in American history besides George Washington. He intentionally hid the armistice from his officers and ordered all planned attacks to go forward. America had over 3000 deaths that last day. Thank God it ended 11am not pm. Who knows how many Pershing could have gotten killed
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Professor David Reynolds is a first class Moderator that explains what went on behind the scenes within all the belligerents leaders, both military and political. The German high command underestimated what would happen if they asked for a cease fire. The upheaval of the people of the Central Powers was caused by starvation, the death of their soldiers in a never-ending war, and the collapse of Germany's allies that could not continue to fight. I have watched other war videos with Professor Reynolds telling the story. They are all worth watching. Thank you!
After watching this very informative presentation, I wonder if there really were two wars, it seems to me there was only one war with a twenty-one year ceases fire.
*@Robert Mangeni.* I tend to agree with your thinking because it is in accordance with general Foch accurate statement who said the -peace- armistice will last 20 years, he was off only by two months.
It was more like four wars. Started with Napoleons conquest of Europe which lead to prussias desire for unification of the German people and the Franco Prussian war which of course lead to ww1
I have loved every one of professor David Reynold's documentaries. A master presentatator like no other, shedding light on less talked about aspects of history that nonetheless had dramatic consequences for the world we all inhabit today.
The German delegation walked up to the signing table expecting to see an ARMISTICE, meaning a ‘peace without victory’ as Woodrow Wilson promised....instead the armistice had turned into a strong-armed actual surrender and caught them off guard. Being forced to declare ‘war guilt’ and then pay reparations (which were actually France’s bills to the US and Britain that she told them she wouldn’t pay back) was particularly brutal considering the fact that there was plenty of guilt to go around regarding WWI. Members of the delegation literally fell down upon reading it. It was MORE than just the tangible ‘harshness’ of the treaty...it was the perceived (and actual) injustice of it and their no tangible losses psychologically that fueled the later rise of a certain angry little man. Also, history has shown that whenever a democracy is forced upon a people before they are ready for it, it never works out well.
Austira started the war in order to punish Serbia. Germany gave Austria a "Blank Check" as their role in supporting Austrian in "Punishing" Serbia. Austria got their butts kicked. Germany was punished after the cease fire primarily because Austria-Hungary disintegrated into smaller countries. The Destruction the German Army inflicted on Belgium and France during the early stages of the war, including murdering civilians, was primarily the reason Germany was blamed after the Armistice.
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My Grand Grand Mother who lost three of her four brothers in WWI used to say that few things were so meaningless than a war..as an English woman settled in my country i think she was right..peace to all of them...
My grandparents lost something like 60% of their extended family to the holocaust. The first family reunion after the war was the last family reunion for over 70 years. No one could come to terms with how many people simply weren't there anymore. For my grandfather, I think the lingering effect was survivor's guilt. He had been drafted and even though he had a degree as a dentist and could have deferred the draft, he decided to sign up. He spent the entire war stationed in DC cleaning the teeth of the president, congressmen, and heads of the armed forces. I think he never really thought he did enough. He never even told his sons about it. When they found his uniform in the attic, he told them he'd been a civil servant but didn't elaborate. It was my grandmother who told me the story of his service record after his death. For my grandmother, I think the biggest effect was a complete terror of pride. I think she blamed the loss of her family on the pride of the Nazis and so she was determined to never let any of us feel proud of anything. If you had something you were proud of she felt the need to gently but firmly crush it. I don't think it was out of malice or narcissism, I think she genuinely believed that she had a personal duty to the world to make sure no one felt pride ever again. She told her favorite son for years that she'd gotten him at an orphanage and he had a 15 year warranty so she could return him if he wasn't good enough. I excelled academically and any time I'd bring her something like a standardized test putting me in the top 15% of students two years older than me she'd tell me "I know you're smart dear, I drowned all the dumb ones." We're at the point now where World War 1 is completely out of living memory: no one who served in it is still alive. World War 2 is nearly out of living memory: of the 15 million Americans who served, only around 240,000 remain, and it's much the same in all the other countries impacted. I hope that the lessons of history won't be forgotten when the people to tell us the emotional toll of our history are gone but given the track record of the human species...yeah, probably not going to work out that way, is it. We seem to fall into the pattern of making the old mistakes in new centuries, cursing unborn generations to shoulder the heavy mantle created by generations long dead. I hope we can change.
There was a woman in Western Australia interviewed in 1970, she was very old weather beaten and quiet. She had seven sons, every one of them died in France. All those years later she was still in stunned silence.
She was so right. The amazing part is that we never learn, and after every war everything goes back to the way it was before the war because people migrate to where they belong. Wait to see what happens in Ukraine. Hundreds of thousands of a country's best young people die for nothing.
America was hardly neutral. We had loaned Britain huge amounts of money and I believe this was as much of a reason for going to war as the U-boat attacks. However, Wilson could hardly tell the country to go to war so JPMorgan can get its money back, so the U-boat war was a convenient cause.
rse US wont help unless there is sonetging in it for them atleast you eeren't treated likre ukrain who thry lrft in the midfle of war fto thrir theier own deviced😅😅😅😅so im kinda afraid for us filipinod we ard being pushed to a cockfight agai st chibs😢😢😢
An excellent documentary, it is important to remember that the 11th November 1918 Armistice which is so well commemorated in Western Europe has absolutely no bearing or significance in Central or Eastern Europe. There the Great War dragged on in various civil and border conflicts into the early and mid 1920's.
The Russians often emphasize that 75% of the German Army was fighting on the eastern front in WW2 and that the Italian, North African and western fronts were just sideshows. And that is largely true. But in WW1 it was just the opposite. Most of the German army was fighting in the west...and it was the Russians that collapsed. It was the western powers that defeated Germany in WW1.
lots of stuff continued on, yeah...the Greeks even seem to have gone on some bizarre campaign into an admittedly prostrate Turkey...the Russian civil war and various other square-ups between Slavs, including Russia vs Poland and the usual lunacy in the Balkans ..then the West tried a half-baked attempt to Bay of Pigs the Russian Revolution itself...'the North Russian Expedition" I think it was called..and I think it had arrow prongs in both Arctic Europe end of Russia and NW Pacific Asian end of Russia.
“Nowhere have I seen such Lions led by such lambs “ excerpt of poem penned by a WW1 German soldier , describing the unwavering bravery of the British Soldier while being ‘led’ by Cowards in the Rear with their Tea & crumpets
Actually 78 British and Commonwealth generals were killed fighting in the trenches. Another 148, were wounded, gassed, or captured. 200 generals from all the combative nations were killed, 78 out of 200 proves they were not at the Chateau sipping tea and playing chess, that is a myth.
@리차드 Absolutely, I will never understand why so many young men would accept to die so easily, they seemed to forget that they had families waiting for them at home, they left their wives and kids to a very difficult life... I hate wars.
@@rosesprog1722 Because if they didn't fight, their families country would be occupied?! It's not as easy and obvious as you think. These soldiers didn't even know what awaited them. They thought it was a big adventure.
thoroughly enjoyed this walk through this part of our history with Professor David Reynolds. He really brings it to life and I watched it twice already. Thank you greatly.
My Granddad was born in Brighton England on November 24th 1918, not long after the Armistice happened. His mother was an English lass from London whose first husband was also English and a sailor who died at sea during the war and had 2 daughters. His father was born in Manchester, to Irish parents who died thanks tot the Famine. He was brought to Canada as an orphan at 6 years old and went back to fight with the Canadians in WW1 and brought his family to back home to Canada after the end of WW1. My Grandpa then went back to fight in WW11. I love the history behind the two World Wars. So this is interesting for me to watch.
What often gets ignored is the actions of the French, Swiss and Italian Central Banks. In particular, the French central bank kept trying to punish the Germans. The French would not lend Germany any money. The British could not afford to lend the Germans any money. And the Italians kinda followed the French. The banking crisis and the money supply were really what drove the German economy into depression. Troop movements on the ground were not as important.
@@Nome_utente_generico It is documented fact. France REFUSED to lend the Germans any money to help their industry. Brits said that they were broke and couldn't lend any.
@@markothwriter The economy of Europe was so broke that it wouldn't be improved even during the early ww2 (the funding at least in UK is from the remaing gov. reserves) thus after, the end of colonial holdings. The Marshall plan was one of many policies to recover the economy of Europe during the twilight years of the cold war.
You can make all the documentaries you want.. if the people don't care (especially today).. They're not going to watch. Everyone would rather look at tiktok as the world crumbles around them 🤷🏾♂️. Just stating stating the facts.
If time could be paused until this understanding you speak of is obtained, so long as it were wrought in truth, then maybe history could be used for good. Back to reality, moving in one direction while looking the opposite direction through a dense fog is absent rational thought.
This was frankly one of the best documentaries on the Armistice! Well researched and well written. One thing that we should take away from this is the idea that punishing Germany, (or any other nation for that matter), can and possibly will lead to another armed conflict down the road if the peace is not just peace. Yes, Germany for intense and purposes, started the war. Yes, they were to first to use chemical weapons on the battlefield. Yes, there were some horrific things that occurred. However, this Armistice was meant to punish beyond reason, Germany and its leaders. The ones who really pay for it are the people.
You Mean something like Nurebenrg process should happen? Sentencing to death Kaiser, Hindenburg, Ludendorf and others? Maybe... since german military was one of allies of nazism. Germany was not so punished in fact... Most of territory and industry still intact. France tried to make Rhineland independent or annexed, but was denied by UK and USA. Compare this to the treatys that met Turkey and Hungary - loss of 2/3 of territory and population.
@@fkjl4717 The Nuremberg Trials were meant to punish those responsible for mass, deliberate, genocide of entire people. I would not suggest this. What I would suggest is men like Ludendorf should have been court marshalled by the Kaiser for a policy that killed hundreds of thousands of their own men! Can you imagine being told to walk in the open toward machine guns aimed at you for the simple privilege of dying for Germany? No and again no! War is a hellish thing. Men die for what? Land? A difference of ideals? Some wars are clearly necessary such as World War II. The first World War was not necessary. Millions died because some monarchs successor was assassinated. I view this as such a waste of young lives. Horrible! We can never forget those lives or forget that there are times where we must fight for our own freedoms. I see that happening in our country and probably fairly soon. That is the tragedy of warfare.
Also great respect for the Canadian General Arthur Currie. And Australian General Monash. Cared the most about their troops, and were the most forward thinking commanders in the British empire. I always thought of Canadians as nice polite people (the stereotypical view lol) but I didn't know how deadly their soldiers were, and how committed.
Australian Rugby league is almost certainly a physically harder and more dangerous game than Rules is. More people are killed or put in wheelchairs on RL fields in Australia than are in boxing or MA. I'd give ice-hockey a try. I'd never run out onto an RL field, not at gunpoint. half to 3/4 of the RL players here are now 'Islanders" ..ie Polynesians/Melanesians...Maori, Samoan, Tongan, Fijian..you don't need to get involved with anything that carries the probability of physical contact with them in any shape or form. You just need to keep walking. I like this weekends hockey fight, though..the two goal-keepers had a fight? I like that..so one guy ran down the opposite end or they met in mid-field..LOL..
The man signed the death warrant of his own country...in more ways than one. He tarnished the legacy of Germany and the German people forever, leading to it's complete dissolution and partition less than 20 years down the road.
@@mr.ramfan8100 idk about that. I love criticizing stuff and I write beautiful music every day. I am quick with a joke or an analysis. Those cliches are pretty tired lol kinda gives me heartburn just reading it
This drivel you vomited up here is about as creative as Goodyear announcing they just invented the automobile tire...if this gives you heartburn, take a Prilosec and write some PRETTY MUSIC.....
I think WWI and WWII are, increasingly, being thought of as two phases of a bigger war just as the "Hundred Years War" is really a series of smaller wars strung together.
WW2 has an easily understandable story arc. WW1 is more like a compilation of cartel gore videos. People trying to impose some classification or order onto ww1 are whistling in the dark. It's a human coping mechanism to try to apply some artificial categorization or framework of sanity even when it's clearly impossible.
@@jimmyjakes1823 In one sense you're correct but in another it's really quite simple. Half a dozen bullies are playing "pokey-chest" and one of them goes too far!
Mr. Reynolds is a study in what a Professor of History should be. He explains complex issues in a manner that makes consuming the information easy. How he acts out stylistic movements of the leaders, in their times of struggle, when trying to make decisions, they know will affect history, long after they're dead & gone. In one episode about Churchill and FDR, Winston stays at the White House as two men plan war strategy. FDR goes into Churchill's suite just as Winston is getting out of the bath. FDR pauses and says sorry for intruding without knocking. Churchill, a towel around his waist and one in his hands, drying off excess water, looks at FDR and says, "no intrusion my friend, it's not as if we're strangers". With that said, their conversation of Military matters continues, then Winston let's the towel around his waist fall to the floor, as he reaches for his shirt and trousers. David Reynolds acts out the scene, without any props, letting the invisible towel around his waist also fall! Suttle, but everyone gets the picture.
As a german i have to say, that generations of my forefathers where missused by idiotic leaders . So we lost almost everything of the fatherland in the two wars against brothers. . And today, we all loose europe without fighting. What will be left of European history in 100 Years?
Interesting question. German Leadership is not very wise in the 21st Century. Their open border policy will lead to the final destruction of Germany, as well as other countries because the Globalist don't want Sovereign countries.
One consequence of European history in the 19th century was that the military element of the aristocracy were in control. They needed military rank to justify their importance in a functioning society. It was fine when they had nothing to do, but when they were given complete control, they could be really dangerous. Elites, disconnected from the people are dangerous. They become more concerned with maintaining a superficial veneer than in serving the people. The Habsburg blundered for a month after the murder of the Archduke/Archduchess. The Russian bureaucracy were clueless, and overly obsessed with their client state. The media is all countries created a fever pitch of tension to sell newspapers, ratcheting up emotions. Every step after that was a blunder. The only smart leaders were those that kept their countries out. All of them shared one thing in control - civilian concerns were more important in Scandinavia, Holland, Spain and even lazy participants like Ireland, Greece, and Portugal. The whole era was a litany of repeated failures. Do not let inept incompetent people take control!!!!
@@johnadams5489 Germany since after WW2 is an American colony the USA (whether democrats or republicans in power) determinds the political direction of Germany, and Germany due to all of its history cannot say no to the USA. It's strange how these is blamed on immigrants who have no political office in Germany compared to USA whose immigrants are everywhere in Congress, Senate
@@sambaemol2476 Bismarck must be crying from his grave ever since the WW1 not only that his legacy and Germany in state of it. But also the lost of his country. His country literally is wipe out of the map along with all of history and tradition. He give all his life for his country and king. Now that both of that not even existed anymore.
I really feel so much sorrow for the loss of life the destruction on the families of all soldiers and the common people. When you look at what was going on in Germany before the war and yeah they didn't lose homes and personal items the way that Belgium or France had lost. But the loss of the humans who would have had such a life within their nation, without it ending the way it had is such an incrimination against the ones, the ones for me who were the biggest contributors for the war is the Austro-Hungarians who wanted the Balkans to have coverage into the black sea I think it was. They forced the German Empire to uphold their treaty with the forces near Serbia. The same soldiers and the way they fought was ridiculous. They assumed the Serbs would lay down their arms and surrender. The Astro-Hungarians were out of their element. By 1918 their empire was destroyed from within, their people were starving they had their fields empty without crops being sowed. The end was as destructful as it was in the German Empire.
Mostly accurate. Fact is, the AH army had largely destroyed itself by the insane stupidity of its COC Archduke Conrad von Hotzendorff in its opening offensives in Galicia in 1914. It never recovered from those disasters. The AH army would collapse during the Brusilov offensive in 1916. But all the rest of what you state is entirely true. LIke Germany, the A-H empire was starving to death long before the end of the war.
@@vincentconti-jb3hd Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg was a German general who gained renown during World War I and later as President of the Weimar Republic.
I was always taught that The great war never ended, it was simply put on hold and then finished in the second great war. I'm no fan of President Wilson, but maybe he was right in his approach. Maybe we shouldn't have punished Germany for the war but instead embraced them and reached unity. Had we done that then the second great war may have been avoided.
@@brandonbath6097 id love if you responded with facts, something we can debate, if im wrong or looking at it wrong, please prove it to me because id rather be right. Did Serbia not attack the Austrian Empire? Was that not the start of WW1? I always thought thats what happened. But if im wrong please explain where im wrong.
@@rommyremus9650 ua-cam.com/video/2JsFvcSr7BA/v-deo.html Give this a watch. While Germany wasn't fully to blame, their support did give Austria license to push Serbia around. If Germany hadn't supported them, maybe they don't try to push harsh terms on the Serbs. Not saying the Gernams were treated right after the war, but they aren't blameless either for the cause.
@@LanceMan @Rommy Remus the Germans gave the “blank cheque” ie their unconditional support to Austria-Hungary, hence emboldening them. It wasn’t Germany who started the war and the Versailles Treaty was extremely draconian in its punishments, but Germany’s full backing of the Habsburgs, Kaiser Wilhelm and the military’s bellicose attitude and Germany’s expansionist views all definitely added fuel to the fire.
Why he needs to eat his words at every pause, every end of sentence, in his many narrations, beats me, though, in narration here, his voice usually holds throughout his speech ...
Thank you for your wonderful video. And here's more compliments.. number one you didn't have too loud of a soundtrack behind your narration. I've turned off so many videos because of their annoying soundtracks. Secondly your narration is outstanding. It is clear, distinct and you have a fascinating voice. Third, your script is outstanding. Other History Channels need to watch your videos to learn how to do them correctly. Bravo to you!
Luubelaar...the devastation of this war, was ultimately caused by the British queen who hoped to rule the European houses. Even with just a figure of state, kings/queen acnnot have this much power! I'm European but live in the US. My country was under the German crown (Eastern Europe) and the country unified after the war. Germany placed their bet on the wrong horse (Austria).
3:10 - although I have fancied myself a student of history, while I had seen the connection between the German surrender here and the French surrender in the same rail car during WW2, I did not realize that the WW1 surrender could equally be revenge of the French against Germany for the French surrender in Versailles in 1871, post Franco-Prussian war.
France and England were both of the opinion that a unified Germany was too unstable, and actively declared that they wrote the treaty in such a way as to break the German government. They were very successful. They just didn't consider what would come next.
When I was a boy in school in the 1960s we would make crepe poppies and wear them on our shirts along with a blue ANZAC badge made out of some soft material that felt like silk. Everywhere you would see kids with poppies pinned to their pockets. One year we had a digger come and talk to the class. Regrettably I don't remember much of what he said. Fast forward 55 years. I didn't see a single poppy on a school uniform. I happened to be listening to the radio at 11 o'clock but there was no call for a moment of silence. I still practise it, the remembrance of those men and women who sacrificed so much. In a few years time Remembrance Day will be removed from the calendar and the day will only have significance to historians and movie producers. Then we will repeat it. Because we have forgotten those timeless words: LEST WE FORGET
Maybe it's that Anzac day is more significant for people than Remembrance day?.. Did you know that it's celebrated even in Prague, Czech Republic? Every year Australians and New Zealanders gather to pay their respect to the fallen. Few of ANZAC soldiers were buried there (few as around 8 I think). Now it's not a dawn service and it's on a weekend closest to the Anzac day, but that's probably for allowing more people to attend.
@@FN-rl2ku Were you talking about ANZAC Day outside of Aust & NZ being honoured on a weekend? In Aust & NZ ANZAC Day is a national public holiday on the 25th. Our Dawn Service across the country grows stronger in attendance each year with the younger generations learning and remembering their sacrifice. It's still a strong solemn day for us. Australians and I'm sure NZ's would not have it on any other day.
@@lexaharpell5196 What I meant is that it's amazing that even half a world away Australians and New Zealanders still find the time to organise an event and pay their respects.
You see kids in the UK in school wearing their poppies, we don't forget here in the UK, I buy my poppy from the British Legion who are always busy selling them at my local supermarket, and come the 11th hour on the 11th of November we all stop and pay our respects to our fallen, Remembrance Sunday in November is part of British life with all cities towns and villages actively involved with services and the laying of numerous poppy wreaths. My poppy is for my Great Grandad, John T Nicholson aged 26 killed at Arras, 27th April 1917. A little Geordie lad buried in France.
The sad part is not that the treaty was not a good one; given the enormous losses, it is not remarkable that a measure of revenge motivated the treaty makers. But not long after, England began to realize they were hurting themselves via German reparations; Germany had been England's number one trading partner before the war and England needed Germany back...France was caught in a trap: they wanted Germany strong enough to pay reparations but not strong enough to fight another war...France scaled back on its initial demands against Germany with the belief England and America would guarantee they would come to France's aid if Germany ever did attack again...when this was not forthcoming, France could only dig in its heels...as the Great Depression set in, England offered to cancel all debts it was owed by other countries, principally France and Belgium, if in exchange America would cancel England''s debts which of course the US was not about to do....so there was an opening in time where things could have been worked out after the treaty but that time was squandered....
I watched another program the other day (Paris 1919, I think it was called). Georges Clemenceau seemed to be able to predict the next 20 years after the war very accurately, very eerily - he seemed to understand the politics and potential damages of the specifics of the treaty more than the other leaders in the room. Woodrow Wilson, as instrumental as he was in stopping the war, couldn't seem to step down from his high horse of power and listen to what the other leaders were telling him about what the terms of the Treaty of Versailles meant for the entirety of Europe, and essentially the world. Crazy times these people grew up in. Not so different than todays power-hungry leaders, really. "Those who can not remember the past are condemned to repeat it"
I presume you are seated safely writing this and all because there are those who are the guardians of our safety & freedoms, and who might be called upon if all else fails, to sacrifice their today so we might have a tomorrow.
@@richardturner9317 If all else fails you say? In that war for example, let's see was "else" had failed: This is Sir Edward Grey’s letter to the British ambassador in Berlin on 1st August, 1914 concerning his meeting with Prince Lichnowsky, German ambassador in London: "He asked me whether, if Germany made a promise not to violate Belgian neutrality we would agree to remain neutral. I replied that I could not say, that our hands were still free, that we were considering what our attitude should be and that I did not think that we could make promises on that condition alone. The ambassador pressed me as to whether I could formulate the conditions on which we would remain neutral, he even suggested that the integrity of France and her colonies could be guaranteed, I said that I felt obliged to refuse categorically to make any promises to remain neutral on such terms, and that all I could say was that we had to keep our hands free." When Germany offered to stop this madness on December 12th 1916 they all refused, fract is Britain, France and Russia had that war planned well in advance and they wouldn't settle for tess than the complete destruction of Germany's economy.
@@suzyqualcast6269 The French merely wanted their devastated cities restored. They were actually much nicer to the Germans in 1918 compared to how the Germans treated them in 1870. In 1870 they were forced to pay one billion US dollars to Germany even though there was no fighting in germany. They also were forced to endure a 3 year occupation by the German army. After WW1 they were not occupied and were only asked to pay for the damages that they had inflicted upon Belgium and France. If the Germans had won WW1 they planned on annexing all of Belgium and large parts of northern France. The Kaiser also wanted the French population of the annexed French territory to forcibly be deported to the remaining part of France. The German Govt. held onto these outrageous demands up until the bitter end. It was only after their 1918 offensives failed that they abandoned these aggressive territorial demands.
@Serge Rambert Your analysis of German history is completely wrong. Germany never paid very much in reparations after WW1 because the USA loaned Germany money in the Dawes and Young Plans. what little money Germany did pay in reparations they got back 5 fold in American loans which they used to rearm Germany to fight WW2. Germany annexed Alsace Lorraine from France against the wishes of its inhabitants. In 1870 the representatives of Alsace Lorraine in the French Legislature publicly voted their opposition to the annexation by the German Govt. Months later within the German Reichstag again the representatives of alsace lorraine voted their opposition to the annexation of alsace lorraine by the German Empire. You say Germany had to pay 30 times more gold to france in 1919. Have you ever considered that perhaps WW1 was 30 times more destructive and costly than the 1870 war. Consider that in 1870 the war was fought entirely in France...not in Germany. Consider that the war in 1870 lasted only a few months....not over 4 years.
@Serge Rambert The Germans did pay a terrible price for starting two world wars that killed about 60 million people. They did lose a total of about 35% of their 1914 territory. And some 10 million German soldiers and civilians did die in WW1 and WW2....so yes there really is a God!
When I was on France, it seemed to me the monuments and memorials of WW1 were much more than WW2 in number... and emotion, both grief and pride. This assymetry always baffled me, since on hindsight WW2 was clearly bigger and worse. But after studying WW1 and its lasting impacts, I understand.
Way more French died in WW1 and they were the victors. Germany was defeated eventually in WW2 however they were forced to surrender and were defeated within months
In Czechia, at that time under Austria-Hungary , there is a WWI memorial monument with the list of fallen in every single village, and we were not even a frontline country
As a proud Australian it find this documentary offensive. You make it appear that the British won by themselves. There no mention of either the Canadians or the Australians. The war was at a stalemate until Australian commander Monash constructed the first co-ordinated attack on Hamel. All over in 93 minutes. This was the first victory for the Allies for some time. Some facts: in 6 months of fighting they took 29,144 prisoners and freed 116 towns. They had taken on 39 divisions and beaten everyone. It was the Australians who broke through the Hindenburg line and did more that any other nation to end this war. Surely this was worth at least a mention. It was Monash that devised the use of tanks and aircraft to protect the infantry. This system is still used today.
@@mariekatherine5238 sadly I'm British. I learned very little in terms of recent world history. I feel so so stupid. This is both interesting and tragic. The area I live in is quasi rural now seeing my local war memorials is even more poignant. I had never even heard the term war poet before this.
Victoria…I am from Europe and there is no way students could possibly learn everything that these documentaries explain to those who are interested. School teaches concise and limited information about certain important events from history. It would take not only a proper historian who most often has a phD in his/her topic as well as researching several sources and that would mean which journals to go to etc…I said I’m from (Europe) a continent full of history dating back to the BC era and it is really an awful lot to learn.
Contrary to popular belief the armistice that came into effect at 11 o'clock on 11 November did not end the First World War.. It wasn't until the Versailles peace treaty along with various other peace treaties was signed in 1919 that the war was officially over. In the meantime kaos, revolution and war continued to rage in the east of Europe. There the Entente Powers of France, Great Britan and the USA came to fight alongside the Whites against the Red Army, only to be beaten and see the rise of the Soviet Union. At the same time civil war between whites and reds raged in Finland. Soon the newly independent Baltic states aswell as Poland would have to fight for their newly won freedom against the young Soviet Red Army. Also Germany faced revolution aswell as committed troops to military intervention operations in the Ukraine. It wasn't until 1922-23 that peace would really return to Europe. So French, British, German and American soldiers continued to die after 11 o'clock on 11 November 1918. Something that is all to often forgotten.
Nice to hear the Australian & the Canadian troops who did much of the fighting from the town of Hamel onwards, or as general Monash called it the heavy lifting, not even get a mention.
This presenter is trying to paint the British as entirely supreme over any of her allies or anyone at all. He might as well have said the British won the war outright without help from any of the allies or the Empire.
@@Aarontlondon Britain need not have joined in the war in the first place, which would have allowed Germany to beat France and Russia. Britain did join the war, so it may be said that victory was due to Britain.
@@robertbryant6859 It may be said that if the allies did not help, that Britain would have been soundly beaten just the same in WW2. Then the title of this video would have been How Brits learned to like German sausage.
You are most correct. The Australians and Canadians performed an incredible breakthrough against the German lines in late 1918...I believe even on bicycles. I have a lot of respect for the performance of British dominion forces in WW1 because at Galipoli and countless other places they did do "the heavy lifting".
@34:00 The alternative strategy suggestions provided are inadequate. Considering the large influx of Americans streaming into Europe every month, numbering in the hundreds of thousands, it is evident that such a force would have been unstoppable in 1919, irrespective of any respite offered by the british and french in the spring of 1918.
This completely glosses over the Treaty of Versailles, the Revolution of 1918-19, the Hyperinflation of 1923, and the desire of the Allies to grind Germany into the dust. Scarcely amazing that the next war happened...
Not so much the Allies, more the French, who needed the reparations to repay huge loans from the United States. Wilson and Lloyd George both thought French demands were too extreme, until the French explained to Wilson why their demands were so extreme. Not that it mattered much anyway, and the French didn't get what they had demanded in any case.
@@dovetonsturdee7033 I disagree; the French got what they demanded--they just never imagined that that was what they were demanding: although Foch appears to known...
Flash...I think it was more the mentality of the previous century. The Communists believed in a huge population so if the decision was made to go to war, the bigger army won. That's why China has such a large population.
John Smith a lot of people from Ireland fought on the allied side in both world wars and a lot of people in mainland Britain have Irish relatives or are just Irish because the people of Britain have never rejected them, and they come and go freely as they always have done.
The British never enforced conscription in Ireland during the war. All the Irishmen who fought in the war were volunteers. The UK thought about it in 1918, but they realised it wouldn't be accepted. Irish independence gained momentum in the wake of the 1916 Easter Rebellion.
It was the Treaty of Versailles that directly lead to the Second World War in Europe. In fact, Nicholson of the British delegation even said at the time "In 25 years we'll have to fight this war all over AGAIN!" He only got one thing wrong. It ONLY took 20 years before "Round 2" started!
It appears Ludendorff thought he could overcome fatigue with his own will. Will is useful but only to a limited extent. In a short war, will can be key. But, in a protracted war, fatigue and the exhaustion of material resources will eventually determine the outcome.
The Soviets did one thing properly in 17 and it was CALLING FOR THEIR TROOPS TO COME BACK FROM THE FRONT. Are you confusing the Tsar's army with the Soviet one that Lenin called to retire, being bought back to Russia on the dime of the Kaiser? "Disinterest"? Unpreparedness! Calling the war now was a way for the Kaiser to not allow the Tsar to complete his planned upgrade of the railways and military. Russia was caught midway and was not ready to deploy: it was Nicholas's feeling of Protector of the Slavs that pushed him to join to protect Serbia. ...a country whose soldiers had 3 regional wars prior and were ragtag but seasoned. Russia only had a handful veterans from the catastrophic 1905 campaign, and their ordeal could not be chalked as experience. As for WW2, Stalin let the Germans kill his own son when he fell into their hands. What would you expect for regular Soviet soldiers? You are captured, you kill yourself, period. Not disinterest. Inhumanity reeking from the top down.
That's because Britain nearly bankrupt the empire in fighting the First World War....and after the Second, she was simply done. Today, for example, the Royal Navy fields just 9 frigates...not even a shadow of its former self. Not even close.
If there were no generals then Germany would have lost the in the first week. Generals and officers are the men plan and and soldiers execute it. With the absence of any one of them its a lost cause.
More generals and politicians should be forced to see the "real" cost of war, just like Ludendorf was forced to do. Perhaps then there would be less wars.
funny how Sir John Monash never gets a mention by English historians. He was the man that made Haig look good .he saved Haig and Rawlings jobs by HIS new tactics.
history is a neglected field here in the UK, perhaps because the 'victors' don't believe they have any thing to learn, but also because leftist political views dominate our teaching / education system and they don't want their narrative of incompetent military leaders such as Haig to be challenged by the likes of Monash as this would conflict with the perceptions they are presenting [a war waged by Toff's but fought by sacrificing the Working Classes] ! Haig is much maligned, the mass battles of 1916 were of necessity based on rather simplistic plans because the vast majority of the Officers & troops involved had no or very little battlefield experience and could only be expected to follow a clock-like plan. In 1918 Haig was credited by the French military leadership of winning the war with the battle of Amiens . He was held in good regard by those veterans I personally spoke to in the 1960' & 70's.
I agree, same old stuff, wanted more detail on the actual collapse of Germany, eg what happened in the armed forces, the civilians at home etc. It's treatment was cursory, instead we got the familiar retelling of WW1 from the beginning, again!
Very much so ...I respect this video a lot...However do not forget Romnia entering the war in august 1916 with a frontline of 1400 km from the Danube up until northen Bucovina county, just to give France a breathing space on Verdun battle ....Germany took many western troops to newly open front on the east....
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Really east-prussia as well as other lands with over 1million square kilometers used to belong to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth during 13-16th centuries (and some to lesser extent in later times), which span from the Baltic sea to the Black sea but were partitioned during constant eurpean fudal wars, so poland regained only a tiny portion of it's original lands, thanks in part to Napoleon Bonaparte as well as the allies mostly Britain after the WWs, but also in part to Hungary, Chech and Italy with whom they maintained good relations over the centuries.
@@jonathans-.torres7144 1
Obliterated by the slavs? Check your information! It was Lithuanians and Polish and only a very small amount of slavs from Smolensk was in Lithuanian army. This is an insult!
Thank you for not censoring the actual war footage.
2023-05-19 ... wow ... an absolutely excellent presentation of an otherwise skipped-over historical moment ... the WW1 overview is clearly and superbly explained ... Woodrow Wilson's personal attempt to humiliate Germany is a revelation to me ... Highly recommended one hour video.
WWII was an inevitable extension of WWI. My mind will never be changed.
It shouldn't be changed. You're right.
And world war three?
The armistice was supposed to be an ARMISTICE...’peace without victory’ as Woodrow Wilson tried to push...instead it became a victory shoved down a defeated Germany’s throat without their knowledge until the moment that they came to sign.
This anger, both tangible and intangible and the brutal forcing of them to acknowledge ‘war guilt’ despite there being plenty of blame to go around, set the stage for the rise of ultra nationalism and anger...as the ‘treaty’ left Germany with nothing, nothing that is, but its pride.
*watches documentery about how WWll was an extension of WWl
"WWll was an extension of WWl"
*20 people*
"He's right"
@@terryerdos6820 why even make this comment, for real?
My grandfather (U.S. Army) took a bullet in the stomach on the last day of the war. He was hospitalized for a year, and suffered greatly the rest of his life. I never really knew him, but my mother said he was never, ever the same after the war. What a waste.
When will we dumbshit homosapiens stop using blood and misery solve it's problems?????
That's why general Pershing should have been hanged. Instead he got promoted to the only 6 star general in American history besides George Washington. He intentionally hid the armistice from his officers and ordered all planned attacks to go forward. America had over 3000 deaths that last day. Thank God it ended 11am not pm. Who knows how many Pershing could have gotten killed
So sorry .... I agree they knew
.. an they let it happen
It's horrible.... glad he lived sorry he was hurt so bad....
Jesus I’m surprised he survived that. That’s awful.
@ethanniedorowski116 I u go 9u up iu u u yuiu u u u u guy7 u u u I u u 6 u u 7 u6 u u 8689u266h6u227j7u 7 u u iii Iuiuiiiuùuu6ogo7i u iuiuùuuu u uuuuuuuuuuùuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu u u u u yuuyuuuuuuuuuuut23rd uuu u uuùuùuuuuu u yuuyuuuuuuuuuuuuùuuu u u ù u ÿy u yuù 788uu78 u u u u u huuuuuùùuùuuuùu u ÿuuuùu yuuyuuuuuuuuuuut23rd u ù yuuyuuuuuuuuuuut23rd u 76 u u u i77 u 68 u 77y9787u77 67yy79 7 u⁷77⁷⅞yuyyyyyyyyyyyyy8yy😅9 666u66666 ggg😮ty. 8dgI😅7 I uo89😮😮7😮
Professor David Reynolds is a first class Moderator that explains what went on behind the scenes within all the belligerents leaders, both military and political. The German high command underestimated what would happen if they asked for a cease fire. The upheaval of the people of the Central Powers was caused by starvation, the death of their soldiers in a never-ending war, and the collapse of Germany's allies that could not continue to fight. I have watched other war videos with Professor Reynolds telling the story. They are all worth watching. Thank you!
After watching this very informative presentation, I wonder if there really were two wars, it seems to me there was only one war with a twenty-one year ceases fire.
*@Robert Mangeni.* I tend to agree with your thinking because it is in accordance with general Foch accurate statement who said the -peace- armistice will last 20 years, he was off only by two months.
It was more like four wars. Started with Napoleons conquest of Europe which lead to prussias desire for unification of the German people and the Franco Prussian war which of course lead to ww1
J.P.T. Taylor the historian said that
Churchill actually called the period of 1914-1945 the "30-Years War" for this reason exactly.
Yeah, you can't get past that 1919-1939 was merely halftime in this bloody insanity...
I have loved every one of professor David Reynold's documentaries. A master presentatator like no other, shedding light on less talked about aspects of history that nonetheless had dramatic consequences for the world we all inhabit today.
I wish every documentary was hosted by this guy, he's very well spoken and articulates the information very well.
true
I taught him everything he knows
The German delegation walked up to the signing table expecting to see an ARMISTICE, meaning a ‘peace without victory’ as Woodrow Wilson promised....instead the armistice had turned into a strong-armed actual surrender and caught them off guard. Being forced to declare ‘war guilt’ and then pay reparations (which were actually France’s bills to the US and Britain that she told them she wouldn’t pay back) was particularly brutal considering the fact that there was plenty of guilt to go around regarding WWI.
Members of the delegation literally fell down upon reading it.
It was MORE than just the tangible ‘harshness’ of the treaty...it was the perceived (and actual) injustice of it and their no tangible losses psychologically that fueled the later rise of a certain angry little man.
Also, history has shown that whenever a democracy is forced upon a people before they are ready for it, it never works out well.
Austira started the war in order to punish Serbia. Germany gave Austria a "Blank Check" as their role in supporting Austrian in "Punishing" Serbia. Austria got their butts kicked. Germany was punished after the cease fire primarily because Austria-Hungary disintegrated into smaller countries. The Destruction the German Army inflicted on Belgium and France during the early stages of the war, including murdering civilians, was primarily the reason Germany was blamed after the Armistice.
My Grand Grand Mother who lost three of her four brothers in WWI used to say that few things were so meaningless than a war..as an English woman settled in my country i think she was right..peace to all of them...
My grandparents lost something like 60% of their extended family to the holocaust. The first family reunion after the war was the last family reunion for over 70 years. No one could come to terms with how many people simply weren't there anymore. For my grandfather, I think the lingering effect was survivor's guilt. He had been drafted and even though he had a degree as a dentist and could have deferred the draft, he decided to sign up. He spent the entire war stationed in DC cleaning the teeth of the president, congressmen, and heads of the armed forces. I think he never really thought he did enough. He never even told his sons about it. When they found his uniform in the attic, he told them he'd been a civil servant but didn't elaborate. It was my grandmother who told me the story of his service record after his death. For my grandmother, I think the biggest effect was a complete terror of pride. I think she blamed the loss of her family on the pride of the Nazis and so she was determined to never let any of us feel proud of anything. If you had something you were proud of she felt the need to gently but firmly crush it. I don't think it was out of malice or narcissism, I think she genuinely believed that she had a personal duty to the world to make sure no one felt pride ever again. She told her favorite son for years that she'd gotten him at an orphanage and he had a 15 year warranty so she could return him if he wasn't good enough. I excelled academically and any time I'd bring her something like a standardized test putting me in the top 15% of students two years older than me she'd tell me "I know you're smart dear, I drowned all the dumb ones."
We're at the point now where World War 1 is completely out of living memory: no one who served in it is still alive. World War 2 is nearly out of living memory: of the 15 million Americans who served, only around 240,000 remain, and it's much the same in all the other countries impacted. I hope that the lessons of history won't be forgotten when the people to tell us the emotional toll of our history are gone but given the track record of the human species...yeah, probably not going to work out that way, is it. We seem to fall into the pattern of making the old mistakes in new centuries, cursing unborn generations to shoulder the heavy mantle created by generations long dead. I hope we can change.
Great grand mother.
There was a woman in Western Australia interviewed in 1970, she was very old weather beaten and quiet. She had seven sons, every one of them died in France. All those years later she was still in stunned silence.
She was so right. The amazing part is that we never learn, and after every war everything goes back to the way it was before the war because people migrate to where they belong. Wait to see what happens in Ukraine. Hundreds of thousands of a country's best young people die for nothing.
America was hardly neutral. We had loaned Britain huge amounts of money and I believe this was as much of a reason for going to war as the U-boat attacks. However, Wilson could hardly tell the country to go to war so JPMorgan can get its money back, so the U-boat war was a convenient cause.
Loaning money to either side doesn't make them an ally or axis.
Yeah like weapons of mass destruction that Saddam had in Iraq😮
rse US wont help unless there is sonetging in it for them
atleast you eeren't treated likre ukrain who thry lrft in the midfle of war fto thrir theier own deviced😅😅😅😅so im kinda afraid for us filipinod we ard being pushed to a cockfight agai st chibs😢😢😢
ade.2 have live yooo😅😅😅
An excellent documentary, it is important to remember that the 11th November 1918 Armistice which is so well commemorated in Western Europe has absolutely no bearing or significance in Central or Eastern Europe. There the Great War dragged on in various civil and border conflicts into the early and mid 1920's.
The Russians often emphasize that 75% of the German Army was fighting on the eastern front in WW2 and that the Italian, North African and western fronts were just sideshows. And that is largely true. But in WW1 it was just the opposite. Most of the German army was fighting in the west...and it was the Russians that collapsed. It was the western powers that defeated Germany in WW1.
Good point!
lots of stuff continued on, yeah...the Greeks even seem to have gone on some bizarre campaign into an admittedly prostrate Turkey...the Russian civil war and various other square-ups between Slavs, including Russia vs Poland and the usual lunacy in the Balkans ..then the West tried a half-baked attempt to Bay of Pigs the Russian Revolution itself...'the North Russian Expedition" I think it was called..and I think it had arrow prongs in both Arctic Europe end of Russia and NW Pacific Asian end of Russia.
@@KateLicker Nobody really wanted it, which is why it fizzled out.
@Min Tin only half of it :P
“Nowhere have I seen such Lions led by such lambs “ excerpt of poem penned by a WW1 German soldier , describing the unwavering bravery of the British Soldier while being ‘led’ by Cowards in the Rear with their Tea & crumpets
Actually 78 British and Commonwealth generals were killed fighting in the trenches. Another 148, were wounded, gassed, or captured. 200 generals from all the combative nations were killed, 78 out of 200 proves they were not at the Chateau sipping tea and playing chess, that is a myth.
It was: Lions led by Donkeys:
ua-cam.com/video/NEZdlLBiA-A/v-deo.html
@리차드 Absolutely, I will never understand why so many young men would accept to die so easily, they seemed to forget that they had families waiting for them at home, they left their wives and kids to a very difficult life... I hate wars.
@@bri5490 that's a drop in the ocean compared to all others that died in that war.
@@rosesprog1722 Because if they didn't fight, their families country would be occupied?!
It's not as easy and obvious as you think. These soldiers didn't even know what awaited them. They thought it was a big adventure.
thoroughly enjoyed this walk through this part of our history with Professor David Reynolds. He really brings it to life and I watched it twice already. Thank you greatly.
My Granddad was born in Brighton England on November 24th 1918, not long after the Armistice happened. His mother was an English lass from London whose first husband was also English and a sailor who died at sea during the war and had 2 daughters. His father was born in Manchester, to Irish parents who died thanks tot the Famine. He was brought to Canada as an orphan at 6 years old and went back to fight with the Canadians in WW1 and brought his family to back home to Canada after the end of WW1. My Grandpa then went back to fight in WW11. I love the history behind the two World Wars. So this is interesting for me to watch.
I like stories...
Is sad that the “war to end all wars” only led to the “war of all wars”
And worst of all, let to the creation of atomic weapons so deadly that can wipe out humankind with the blink of an eye...
I think you wanted to say "war to start all wars"
It was never "war to end all wars". Even without WW2, it started about 15 smaller wars.
What often gets ignored is the actions of the French, Swiss and Italian Central Banks. In particular, the French central bank kept trying to punish the Germans. The French would not lend Germany any money. The British could not afford to lend the Germans any money. And the Italians kinda followed the French.
The banking crisis and the money supply were really what drove the German economy into depression.
Troop movements on the ground were not as important.
U are so stupid . Everything u said is a lie .
Are you sure about that?
@@Nome_utente_generico It is documented fact. France REFUSED to lend the Germans any money to help their industry. Brits said that they were broke and couldn't lend any.
@@markothwriter The economy of Europe was so broke that it wouldn't be improved even during the early ww2 (the funding at least in UK is from the remaing gov. reserves) thus after, the end of colonial holdings. The Marshall plan was one of many policies to recover the economy of Europe during the twilight years of the cold war.
@@rafaeldavid32Beggar thy neighbor economic policies in the inter war period was terrible.
I think that the history understanding is the first necessary step to fix our messed up world. I wish there are more documentaries like this ….
You can make all the documentaries you want.. if the people don't care (especially today).. They're not going to watch. Everyone would rather look at tiktok as the world crumbles around them 🤷🏾♂️. Just stating stating the facts.
@@BiggHogg870 I know. You can give a horse water, but you cannot make him drink...
If time could be paused until this understanding you speak of is obtained, so long as it were wrought in truth, then maybe history could be used for good. Back to reality, moving in one direction while looking the opposite direction through a dense fog is absent rational thought.
One of the best documentary movie ever!!!!!!
Professor David Reynolds is a master of his craft. I agree with him 100%. Great documentary, by the way.
This documentary is so One sided it's hilarious.
Saying pride was the driving force is ridiculous. It was actually economics
This was frankly one of the best documentaries on the Armistice! Well researched and well written. One thing that we should take away from this is the idea that punishing Germany, (or any other nation for that matter), can and possibly will lead to another armed conflict down the road if the peace is not just peace.
Yes, Germany for intense and purposes, started the war. Yes, they were to first to use chemical weapons on the battlefield. Yes, there were some horrific things that occurred. However, this Armistice was meant to punish beyond reason, Germany and its leaders. The ones who really pay for it are the people.
You Mean something like Nurebenrg process should happen? Sentencing to death Kaiser, Hindenburg, Ludendorf and others? Maybe... since german military was one of allies of nazism.
Germany was not so punished in fact... Most of territory and industry still intact. France tried to make Rhineland independent or annexed, but was denied by UK and USA. Compare this to the treatys that met Turkey and Hungary - loss of 2/3 of territory and population.
@@fkjl4717 The Nuremberg Trials were meant to punish those responsible for mass, deliberate, genocide of entire people. I would not suggest this.
What I would suggest is men like Ludendorf should have been court marshalled by the Kaiser for a policy that killed hundreds of thousands of their own men! Can you imagine being told to walk in the open toward machine guns aimed at you for the simple privilege of dying for Germany? No and again no!
War is a hellish thing. Men die for what? Land? A difference of ideals? Some wars are clearly necessary such as World War II. The first World War was not necessary. Millions died because some monarchs successor was assassinated. I view this as such a waste of young lives. Horrible!
We can never forget those lives or forget that there are times where we must fight for our own freedoms. I see that happening in our country and probably fairly soon. That is the tragedy of warfare.
josefina bananos I agree! I follow that and it was superbly awesome!
Intense and purposes?
Germany didn’t start the war lol.
Also great respect for the Canadian General Arthur Currie. And Australian General Monash. Cared the most about their troops, and were the most forward thinking commanders in the British empire.
I always thought of Canadians as nice polite people (the stereotypical view lol) but I didn't know how deadly their soldiers were, and how committed.
Hockey is just as crazy as australian football rules ! We're tough people !
Australian Rugby league is almost certainly a physically harder and more dangerous game than Rules is. More people are killed or put in wheelchairs on RL fields in Australia than are in boxing or MA.
I'd give ice-hockey a try. I'd never run out onto an RL field, not at gunpoint.
half to 3/4 of the RL players here are now 'Islanders" ..ie Polynesians/Melanesians...Maori, Samoan, Tongan, Fijian..you don't need to get involved with anything that carries the probability of physical contact with them in any shape or form. You just need to keep walking.
I like this weekends hockey fight, though..the two goal-keepers had a fight? I like that..so one guy ran down the opposite end or they met in mid-field..LOL..
For committed and effective Canadian soldiers read about, or better still visit Vimy Ridge - and then you'll know.
KateLicker id agree rugby is tougher than footy, I don’t know about hockey tho, I’ve heard it’s rough af
provided I could actually skate well, I'd try it..it is by far the closest thing to watchable of the North American sports, imo..
It’s funny how they left out the part where Ludendorff financed Lenin’s return to Russia and the chance for him to start the revolution.
it wasn't left out, there is another section (video) that mentions it, that focuses primarily on the war.
@SMA Productions true. But for the last half century to America
The man signed the death warrant of his own country...in more ways than one.
He tarnished the legacy of Germany and the German people forever, leading to it's complete dissolution and partition less than 20 years down the road.
WAR: Old men talk and young men die.
Ain't it the truth...
@@mr.ramfan8100 idk about that. I love criticizing stuff and I write beautiful music every day. I am quick with a joke or an analysis. Those cliches are pretty tired lol kinda gives me heartburn just reading it
This drivel you vomited up here is about as creative as Goodyear announcing they just invented the automobile tire...if this gives you heartburn, take a Prilosec and write some PRETTY MUSIC.....
This is quite true. Its sad that the world ended up the way it did. So much death and violence.
@JZ's Best Friend Ah yes, but you see I only accept criticism from one with a MIND
Thank you for this. I've learned so much about the war in recent weeks by watching these videos and reading.
Let's hope its all transparent information. Not twisted for a better view
A great read outlining all the in and outs of the Armistice, Paris 1919 by Margaret McMillan.
Amen.
I think WWI and WWII are, increasingly, being thought of as two phases of a bigger war just as the "Hundred Years War" is really a series of smaller wars strung together.
Yes.. get ready for phase 3
It actually starts with Napoleon and the Franco- Prussian war is the root of the two world wars
WW2 has an easily understandable story arc. WW1 is more like a compilation of cartel gore videos. People trying to impose some classification or order onto ww1 are whistling in the dark. It's a human coping mechanism to try to apply some artificial categorization or framework of sanity even when it's clearly impossible.
@@jimmyjakes1823 In one sense you're correct but in another it's really quite simple. Half a dozen bullies are playing "pokey-chest" and one of them goes too far!
This documentary has the most epic soundtrack music from period classics like “The Road to Perdition” and “Atonement” …
Professor David Reynolds is a star.
He is, isn't he?
Mr. Reynolds is a study in what a Professor of History should be. He explains complex issues in a manner that makes consuming the information easy. How he acts out stylistic movements of the leaders, in their times of struggle, when trying to make decisions, they know will affect history, long after they're dead & gone. In one episode about Churchill and FDR, Winston stays at the White House as two men plan war strategy. FDR goes into Churchill's suite just as Winston is getting out of the bath. FDR pauses and says sorry for intruding without knocking. Churchill, a towel around his waist and one in his hands, drying off excess water, looks at FDR and says, "no intrusion my friend, it's not as if we're strangers". With that said, their conversation of Military matters continues, then Winston let's the towel around his waist fall to the floor, as he reaches for his shirt and trousers. David Reynolds acts out the scene, without any props, letting the invisible towel around his waist also fall! Suttle, but everyone gets the picture.
Another great documentary. Thank you UA-cam
As a german i have to say, that generations of my forefathers where missused by idiotic leaders . So we lost almost everything of the fatherland in the two wars against brothers. . And today, we all loose europe without fighting. What will be left of European history in 100 Years?
just lets hope not war again
Interesting question. German Leadership is not very wise in the 21st Century. Their open border policy will lead to the final destruction of Germany, as well as other countries because the Globalist don't want Sovereign countries.
One consequence of European history in the 19th century was that the military element of the aristocracy were in control. They needed military rank to justify their importance in a functioning society. It was fine when they had nothing to do, but when they were given complete control, they could be really dangerous.
Elites, disconnected from the people are dangerous. They become more concerned with maintaining a superficial veneer than in serving the people.
The Habsburg blundered for a month after the murder of the Archduke/Archduchess. The Russian bureaucracy were clueless, and overly obsessed with their client state. The media is all countries created a fever pitch of tension to sell newspapers, ratcheting up emotions. Every step after that was a blunder.
The only smart leaders were those that kept their countries out. All of them shared one thing in control - civilian concerns were more important in Scandinavia, Holland, Spain and even lazy participants like Ireland, Greece, and Portugal.
The whole era was a litany of repeated failures.
Do not let inept incompetent people take control!!!!
@@johnadams5489 Germany since after WW2 is an American colony the USA (whether democrats or republicans in power) determinds the political direction of Germany, and Germany due to all of its history cannot say no to the USA. It's strange how these is blamed on immigrants who have no political office in Germany compared to USA whose immigrants are everywhere in Congress, Senate
@@sambaemol2476 Bismarck must be crying from his grave ever since the WW1 not only that his legacy and Germany in state of it. But also the lost of his country. His country literally is wipe out of the map along with all of history and tradition. He give all his life for his country and king. Now that both of that not even existed anymore.
I really feel so much sorrow for the loss of life the destruction on the families of all soldiers and the common people. When you look at what was going on in Germany before the war and yeah they didn't lose homes and personal items the way that Belgium or France had lost. But the loss of the humans who would have had such a life within their nation, without it ending the way it had is such an incrimination against the ones, the ones for me who were the biggest contributors for the war is the Austro-Hungarians who wanted the Balkans to have coverage into the black sea I think it was. They forced the German Empire to uphold their treaty with the forces near Serbia. The same soldiers and the way they fought was ridiculous. They assumed the Serbs would lay down their arms and surrender. The Astro-Hungarians were out of their element. By 1918 their empire was destroyed from within, their people were starving they had their fields empty without crops being sowed. The end was as destructful as it was in the German Empire.
Mostly accurate. Fact is, the AH army had largely destroyed itself by the insane stupidity of its COC Archduke Conrad von Hotzendorff in its opening offensives in Galicia in 1914. It never recovered from those disasters. The AH army would collapse during the Brusilov offensive in 1916. But all the rest of what you state is entirely true. LIke Germany, the A-H empire was starving to death long before the end of the war.
I've heard of Hindenburg and the Kaiser but never have I heard of Ludendorff. Thank you for this very very very informative video.
Critical... where did you hear of Hindenburg??? Wasn't that a big blimp?
Only historical figure I remember is Wilhelm!!!
@@vincentconti-jb3hd Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg was a German general who gained renown during World War I and later as President of the Weimar Republic.
@@criticaltheories5222 I know now! But did you know before you heard about the Hindenburg disaster?? More famous than him!!!! Just sayin'
@@vincentconti-jb3hd I'm not that old ...
Yes the 3 stooges of the German military forces. 😜😝😛
I was always taught that The great war never ended, it was simply put on hold and then finished in the second great war. I'm no fan of President Wilson, but maybe he was right in his approach. Maybe we shouldn't have punished Germany for the war but instead embraced them and reached unity. Had we done that then the second great war may have been avoided.
I don’t get why Germany was blamed, they did not start ww1. They came to the aid of an ally, exactly what Russia did.
@@rommyremus9650 few more red pills and you’ll understand
@@brandonbath6097 id love if you responded with facts, something we can debate, if im wrong or looking at it wrong, please prove it to me because id rather be right. Did Serbia not attack the Austrian Empire? Was that not the start of WW1? I always thought thats what happened. But if im wrong please explain where im wrong.
@@rommyremus9650 ua-cam.com/video/2JsFvcSr7BA/v-deo.html Give this a watch. While Germany wasn't fully to blame, their support did give Austria license to push Serbia around. If Germany hadn't supported them, maybe they don't try to push harsh terms on the Serbs. Not saying the Gernams were treated right after the war, but they aren't blameless either for the cause.
@@LanceMan @Rommy Remus the Germans gave the “blank cheque” ie their unconditional support to Austria-Hungary, hence emboldening them. It wasn’t Germany who started the war and the Versailles Treaty was extremely draconian in its punishments, but Germany’s full backing of the Habsburgs, Kaiser Wilhelm and the military’s bellicose attitude and Germany’s expansionist views all definitely added fuel to the fire.
David Reynolds is awesome. I love how into it he gets lol
Pppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppp
He's the best!!
Why he needs to eat his words at every pause, every end of sentence, in his many narrations, beats me, though, in narration here, his voice usually holds throughout his speech ...
Thank you for your wonderful video. And here's more compliments.. number one you didn't have too loud of a soundtrack behind your narration. I've turned off so many videos because of their annoying soundtracks. Secondly your narration is outstanding. It is clear, distinct and you have a fascinating voice. Third, your script is outstanding. Other History Channels need to watch your videos to learn how to do them correctly. Bravo to you!
Watching on the 100th anniversary of the Armistice. Lest we forget.
we did, or haven't you heard of WWII?
Damn straight, bro....
Bill whittle
Luubelaar...the devastation of this war, was ultimately caused by the British queen who hoped to rule the European houses. Even with just a figure of state, kings/queen acnnot have this much power! I'm European but live in the US. My country was under the German crown (Eastern Europe) and the country unified after the war. Germany placed their bet on the wrong horse (Austria).
Germany got a raw deal, they should have kept fighting instead of agreeing to the "surrender" that was no armistice
I really appreciate all the original records, many of them are quite unique.
3:10 - although I have fancied myself a student of history, while I had seen the connection between the German surrender here and the French surrender in the same rail car during WW2, I did not realize that the WW1 surrender could equally be revenge of the French against Germany for the French surrender in Versailles in 1871, post Franco-Prussian war.
Sometimes, you end a war with so much pragmatism that you might as well start the next one right away.
France and England were both of the opinion that a unified Germany was too unstable, and actively declared that they wrote the treaty in such a way as to break the German government. They were very successful. They just didn't consider what would come next.
What an excellent documentary! Well done!
Outstanding documentary, thank you very much for sharing this jewel!!!
My Grandpa was a dough boy in France and came back unscathed, but lost his son in WW-2. What terrible waste of precious life.
Unfortunately and alas, that is war...
Well done. Glad to be able to watch this
Loving the use of Road to Perdition’s soundtrack, amazing doc! 👌
Another remembrance day is going to come and go but we'll continue to remember them. What a generation of men they must have been.
When I was a boy in school in the 1960s we would make crepe poppies and wear them on our shirts along with a blue ANZAC badge made out of some soft material that felt like silk. Everywhere you would see kids with poppies pinned to their pockets. One year we had a digger come and talk to the class. Regrettably I don't remember much of what he said.
Fast forward 55 years. I didn't see a single poppy on a school uniform. I happened to be listening to the radio at 11 o'clock but there was no call for a moment of silence.
I still practise it, the remembrance of those men and women who sacrificed so much.
In a few years time Remembrance Day will be removed from the calendar and the day will only have significance to historians and movie producers.
Then we will repeat it. Because we have forgotten those timeless words: LEST WE FORGET
Maybe it's that Anzac day is more significant for people than Remembrance day?.. Did you know that it's celebrated even in Prague, Czech Republic? Every year Australians and New Zealanders gather to pay their respect to the fallen. Few of ANZAC soldiers were buried there (few as around 8 I think). Now it's not a dawn service and it's on a weekend closest to the Anzac day, but that's probably for allowing more people to attend.
@@FN-rl2ku Were you talking about ANZAC Day outside of Aust & NZ being honoured on a weekend? In Aust & NZ ANZAC Day is a national public holiday on the 25th. Our Dawn Service across the country grows stronger in attendance each year with the younger generations learning and remembering their sacrifice. It's still a strong solemn day for us.
Australians and I'm sure NZ's would not have it on any other day.
@@lexaharpell5196 The place meant is in the second sentence.
@@lexaharpell5196 What I meant is that it's amazing that even half a world away Australians and New Zealanders still find the time to organise an event and pay their respects.
You see kids in the UK in school wearing their poppies, we don't forget here in the UK, I buy my poppy from the British Legion who are always busy selling them at my local supermarket, and come the 11th hour on the 11th of November we all stop and pay our respects to our fallen, Remembrance Sunday in November is part of British life with all cities towns and villages actively involved with services and the laying of numerous poppy wreaths. My poppy is for my Great Grandad, John T Nicholson aged 26 killed at Arras, 27th April 1917. A little Geordie lad buried in France.
Peace without profit is a chilling phrase
The sad part is not that the treaty was not a good one; given the enormous losses, it is not remarkable that a measure of revenge motivated the treaty makers. But not long after, England began to realize they were hurting themselves via German reparations; Germany had been England's number one trading partner before the war and England needed Germany back...France was caught in a trap: they wanted Germany strong enough to pay reparations but not strong enough to fight another war...France scaled back on its initial demands against Germany with the belief England and America would guarantee they would come to France's aid if Germany ever did attack again...when this was not forthcoming, France could only dig in its heels...as the Great Depression set in, England offered to cancel all debts it was owed by other countries, principally France and Belgium, if in exchange America would cancel England''s debts which of course the US was not about to do....so there was an opening in time where things could have been worked out after the treaty but that time was squandered....
Britain not England.
Yes so sad 😢 that the general population not the ruling party suffered after the war.
Never fight a war, thinking you can't die or lose.
Great documentary! Thank you for sharing with us! It’d be nice if there was subtitles in Portuguese.
I watched another program the other day (Paris 1919, I think it was called). Georges Clemenceau seemed to be able to predict the next 20 years after the war very accurately, very eerily - he seemed to understand the politics and potential damages of the specifics of the treaty more than the other leaders in the room.
Woodrow Wilson, as instrumental as he was in stopping the war, couldn't seem to step down from his high horse of power and listen to what the other leaders were telling him about what the terms of the Treaty of Versailles meant for the entirety of Europe, and essentially the world. Crazy times these people grew up in. Not so different than todays power-hungry leaders, really.
"Those who can not remember the past are condemned to repeat it"
I really enjoy the way this narrator speaks 😊
31:00 lunandorf had so much greif he was rolling around on the floor
Excellent presentation.
RS. Canada
There is no glory in war, only death and destruction for the many and unimaginable profits for the few. SAY NO, DON'T GO!
I presume you are seated safely writing this and all because there are those who are the guardians of our safety & freedoms, and who might be called upon if all else fails, to sacrifice their today so we might have a tomorrow.
@@richardturner9317 If all else fails you say? In that war for example, let's see was "else" had failed:
This is Sir Edward Grey’s letter to the British ambassador in Berlin on 1st August, 1914 concerning his meeting with Prince Lichnowsky, German ambassador in London:
"He asked me whether, if Germany made a promise not to violate Belgian neutrality we would agree to remain neutral. I replied that I could not say, that our hands were still free, that we were considering what our attitude should be and that I did not think that we could make promises on that condition alone. The ambassador pressed me as to whether I could formulate the conditions on which we would remain neutral, he even suggested that the integrity of France and her colonies could be guaranteed, I said that I felt obliged to refuse categorically to make any promises to remain neutral on such terms, and that all I could say was that we had to keep our hands free."
When Germany offered to stop this madness on December 12th 1916 they all refused, fract is Britain, France and Russia had that war planned well in advance and they wouldn't settle for tess than the complete destruction of Germany's economy.
My great uncle died on the first day of the Somme at Redan Ridge.
Top quality presentation.
Very informative! Gives a better understanding of WWII.
Those poor Men died in Vein. They must not be forgotten. The Bigger bickering between the royal cousins
This was an extraordinarily well-done documentary with great detail & explanations of strategies, excellent!👍🇺🇸
15 mil. dead- 70 mil. 25 years later: How is it I wonder that humanity continues to survive......
Professor David Reynolds is an excellent storyteller.
Armistice - Peace! - was the best idea to stop this war. But Versaille was a disaster and again war.
Ralf Rath : French angst & punitive greed, particularly for German assets > coal & steel production, I believe.
@@suzyqualcast6269 The French merely wanted their devastated cities restored. They were actually much nicer to the Germans in 1918 compared to how the Germans treated them in 1870. In 1870 they were forced to pay one billion US dollars to Germany even though there was no fighting in germany. They also were forced to endure a 3 year occupation by the German army. After WW1 they were not occupied and were only asked to pay for the damages that they had inflicted upon Belgium and France. If the Germans had won WW1 they planned on annexing all of Belgium and large parts of northern France. The Kaiser also wanted the French population of the annexed French territory to forcibly be deported to the remaining part of France. The German Govt. held onto these outrageous demands up until the bitter end. It was only after their 1918 offensives failed that they abandoned these aggressive territorial demands.
@Serge Rambert Your analysis of German history is completely wrong. Germany never paid very much in reparations after WW1 because the USA loaned Germany money in the Dawes and Young Plans. what little money Germany did pay in reparations they got back 5 fold in American loans which they used to rearm Germany to fight WW2.
Germany annexed Alsace Lorraine from France against the wishes of its inhabitants. In 1870 the representatives of Alsace Lorraine in the French Legislature publicly voted their opposition to the annexation by the German Govt. Months later within the German Reichstag again the representatives of alsace lorraine voted their opposition to the annexation of alsace lorraine by the German Empire.
You say Germany had to pay 30 times more gold to france in 1919. Have you ever considered that perhaps WW1 was 30 times more destructive and costly than the 1870 war. Consider that in 1870 the war was fought entirely in France...not in Germany. Consider that the war in 1870 lasted only a few months....not over 4 years.
@Serge Rambert The Germans did pay a terrible price for starting two world wars that killed about 60 million people. They did lose a total of about 35% of their 1914 territory. And some 10 million German soldiers and civilians did die in WW1 and WW2....so yes there really is a God!
The Paris Peace Conference GUARANTEED WW2....
Very well done.
When I was on France, it seemed to me the monuments and memorials of WW1 were much more than WW2 in number... and emotion, both grief and pride. This assymetry always baffled me, since on hindsight WW2 was clearly bigger and worse. But after studying WW1 and its lasting impacts, I understand.
Maybe because France crumbled in 60 days under German invasion in WW2.
Well observed
Well Vichy France...
Way more French died in WW1 and they were the victors. Germany was defeated eventually in WW2 however they were forced to surrender and were defeated within months
In Czechia, at that time under Austria-Hungary , there is a WWI memorial monument with the list of fallen in every single village, and we were not even a frontline country
"This is not a peace treaty... But, a ceasefire to last for 20 years..."
Make that 20 years and 65 days sadly.
It's the old math.....
...CLOSE ENOUGH-!!!
Just finishing Kershaw’s 1st volume Hubris. This really helped bring out the context in which the NSDAP incubated between the two world wars.
Great video, thank you. Another reminder that in war, it is abuses and crimes which only lead to more abuses and crimes.
As a proud Australian it find this documentary offensive. You make it appear that the British won by themselves. There no mention of either the Canadians or the Australians. The war was at a stalemate until Australian commander Monash constructed the first co-ordinated attack on Hamel. All over in 93 minutes. This was the first victory for the Allies for some time. Some facts:
in 6 months of fighting they took 29,144 prisoners and freed 116 towns. They had taken on 39 divisions and beaten everyone. It was the Australians who broke through the Hindenburg line and did more that any other nation to end this war. Surely this was worth at least a mention. It was Monash that devised the use of tanks and aircraft to protect the infantry. This system is still used today.
See what youve made VLDL do here on UA-cam. They could be marketed as spies you know.
We didn't learn about this at school sadly I'm 39 and learning it now
Did you go to public school in the USA? My condolences! Do educate yourself. Read history. It's never too late.
@@mariekatherine5238 sadly I'm British. I learned very little in terms of recent world history. I feel so so stupid. This is both interesting and tragic. The area I live in is quasi rural now seeing my local war memorials is even more poignant. I had never even heard the term war poet before this.
@@victoriahollis3454 Why are you 'sadly British'? Britain has achieved a huge number of good things in the world, as well as the bad stuff.
@@victoriahollis3454 Your school must of been appalling...
Victoria…I am from Europe and there is no way students could possibly learn everything that these documentaries explain to those who are interested. School teaches concise and limited information about certain important events from history. It would take not only a proper historian who most often has a phD in his/her topic as well as researching several sources and that would mean which journals to go to etc…I said I’m from (Europe) a continent full of history dating back to the BC era and it is really an awful lot to learn.
This war started the beginning of the end. Evrything we suffer from today was born here.
Absolutely, the older I get the more I think that November 11 1918 was the beginning of the end of European civilisation.
Contrary to popular belief the armistice that came into effect at 11 o'clock on 11 November did not end the First World War.. It wasn't until the Versailles peace treaty along with various other peace treaties was signed in 1919 that the war was officially over. In the meantime kaos, revolution and war continued to rage in the east of Europe. There the Entente Powers of France, Great Britan and the USA came to fight alongside the Whites against the Red Army, only to be beaten and see the rise of the Soviet Union. At the same time civil war between whites and reds raged in Finland. Soon the newly independent Baltic states aswell as Poland would have to fight for their newly won freedom against the young Soviet Red Army. Also Germany faced revolution aswell as committed troops to military intervention operations in the Ukraine. It wasn't until 1922-23 that peace would really return to Europe. So French, British, German and American soldiers continued to die after 11 o'clock on 11 November 1918. Something that is all to often forgotten.
You know your history and the edification is provides is appreciated.
So true. The war was not over for my grandparents in Russia.
Its amazing how people cant spell these days.
Nice to hear the Australian & the Canadian troops who did much of the fighting from the town of Hamel onwards, or as general Monash called it the heavy lifting, not even get a mention.
This presenter is trying to paint the British as entirely supreme over any of her allies or anyone at all. He might as well have said the British won the war outright without help from any of the allies or the Empire.
@@Aarontlondon
Britain need not have joined in the war in the first place, which would have allowed Germany to beat France and Russia.
Britain did join the war, so it may be said that victory was due to Britain.
@@robertbryant6859 It may be said that if the allies did not help, that Britain would have been soundly beaten just the same in WW2. Then the title of this video would have been How Brits learned to like German sausage.
Canadians are French and British😅
You are most correct. The Australians and Canadians performed an incredible breakthrough against the German lines in late 1918...I believe even on bicycles. I have a lot of respect for the performance of British dominion forces in WW1 because at Galipoli and countless other places they did do "the heavy lifting".
@34:00 The alternative strategy suggestions provided are inadequate. Considering the large influx of Americans streaming into Europe every month, numbering in the hundreds of thousands, it is evident that such a force would have been unstoppable in 1919, irrespective of any respite offered by the british and french in the spring of 1918.
This completely glosses over the Treaty of Versailles, the Revolution of 1918-19, the Hyperinflation of 1923, and the desire of the Allies to grind Germany into the dust. Scarcely amazing that the next war happened...
Not so much the Allies, more the French, who needed the reparations to repay huge loans from the United States. Wilson and Lloyd George both thought French demands were too extreme, until the French explained to Wilson why their demands were so extreme. Not that it mattered much anyway, and the French didn't get what they had demanded in any case.
@@dovetonsturdee7033 I disagree; the French got what they demanded--they just never imagined that that was what they were demanding: although Foch appears to known...
@@jeffreysommer3292 Actually, Foch made his prediction because he felt the treaty had been far too lenient on Germany.
WW1 strategic mentality, "they'll run out of bullets before we run out of men".
Flash...I think it was more the mentality of the previous century. The Communists believed in a huge population so if the decision was made to go to war, the bigger army won. That's why China has such a large population.
@@marinazagrai1623 China wasn't in WW1 so that was a bit of a stupid point and no one was Communist in WW1 either, even stupider.
@@flashgordon6670 Excellent point, Flash!!- You have to fight ignorance and stupidity at each and every turn: Keep up the good work!
@@mr.ramfan8100 Ty bro. Appreciation at last!
@@marinazagrai1623 China had a huge population for centuries, they became communist after WW2 so that makes no sense at all.
I'm from Dublin Ireland and my Granny has being telling me about her Dad and he did not come back the same from what the Gas did to him.
I would of thought the Irish would like any country that fought Britain.
John Smith a lot of people from Ireland fought on the allied side in both world wars and a lot of people in mainland Britain have Irish relatives or are just Irish because the people of Britain have never rejected them, and they come and go freely as they always have done.
Nobody cares about the fenians though
The British never enforced conscription in Ireland during the war. All the Irishmen who fought in the war were volunteers. The UK thought about it in 1918, but they realised it wouldn't be accepted. Irish independence gained momentum in the wake of the 1916 Easter Rebellion.
lol..
Colonel House controlled Wilson (who himself later had a breakdown) and so those typewritten letters were likely dictated by House.
wilson had a stroke.
Very good! Super informative & concise.⭐😉👍
It was the Treaty of Versailles that directly lead to the Second World War in Europe. In fact, Nicholson of the British delegation even said at the time "In 25 years we'll have to fight this war all over AGAIN!" He only got one thing wrong. It ONLY took 20 years before "Round 2" started!
Well that and Hitlers belief that Judeo-Bolshevik Autarky would lead to the death of the German People and a socialist revolution of the workers
Look up the economist Etienne Mantoux. He clearly debunked the Keynesian myth of reparations being too much for Germany to handle.
Wonderful and informative post. May you fix it so the volume doesn’t surge during commercials? It was intense in my earbuds.
0:20 The glorious dead....“The dead know only one thing, it is better to be alive”
CANNOT argue that, PFC. Joker....
There is no Glory in War. Period.
@@johnadams5489 Very true
For In Flanders Fields, I forgot to include the author's name: John McCrae.
A very unessary war.What would the world be like had it never occured.We can only imagine.
As bad as it was, it still escalated progress. That war shaped what our everyday lives are now, from confection clothing sizes to tea bags.
There would probably have been no WW2. Plus there would be peace in the Middle East.
It appears Ludendorff thought he could overcome fatigue with his own will. Will is useful but only to a limited extent. In a short war, will can be key. But, in a protracted war, fatigue and the exhaustion of material resources will eventually determine the outcome.
Not only did Ludendorf make those decisions, all the armies in ww1 did and in ww2 the Soviets were the most disinterested with their troops
The Soviets did one thing properly in 17 and it was CALLING FOR THEIR TROOPS TO COME BACK FROM THE FRONT.
Are you confusing the Tsar's army with the Soviet one that Lenin called to retire, being bought back to Russia on the dime of the Kaiser?
"Disinterest"? Unpreparedness!
Calling the war now was a way for the Kaiser to not allow the Tsar to complete his planned upgrade of the railways and military. Russia was caught midway and was not ready to deploy: it was Nicholas's feeling of Protector of the Slavs that pushed him to join to protect Serbia.
...a country whose soldiers had 3 regional wars prior and were ragtag but seasoned. Russia only had a handful veterans from the catastrophic 1905 campaign, and their ordeal could not be chalked as experience.
As for WW2, Stalin let the Germans kill his own son when he fell into their hands. What would you expect for regular Soviet soldiers?
You are captured, you kill yourself, period.
Not disinterest. Inhumanity reeking from the top down.
though Germany could not become as equal as The british empire at the end of ww1 but it could successfully bring it on the verge of collaspe in ww2
That's because Britain nearly bankrupt the empire in fighting the First World War....and after the Second, she was simply done. Today, for example, the Royal Navy fields just 9 frigates...not even a shadow of its former self. Not even close.
If the generals had to lead from the front lines, that war wouldn’t have lasted a week.
If there were no generals then Germany would have lost the in the first week. Generals and officers are the men plan and and soldiers execute it. With the absence of any one of them its a lost cause.
Many generals throughout history have led from the front.
78 British generals died in WW1, a fourth of which by small arms fire.
Thank you so very much for creating such incredibly informative videos !!
The Host of this Program reminds me of the Historian that gets cut down by a Knight in Monty Python & The Holy Grail.
haha
I don't believe that any explanation of the November Armistice can be done without the knowledge that Archduke Ferdinand's license plate was A111118.
More generals and politicians should be forced to see the "real" cost of war, just like Ludendorf was forced to do. Perhaps then there would be less wars.
22:30 the commander from his battle HQ could not appreciate what was happening to his men
09:32 ‘Gericht’ means reckoning, not execution
26:00 lunandorfs greef from his dead son is effecting his roll as general
funny how Sir John Monash never gets a mention by English historians. He was the man that made Haig look good .he saved Haig and Rawlings jobs by HIS new tactics.
history is a neglected field here in the UK, perhaps because the 'victors' don't believe they have any thing to learn, but also because leftist political views dominate our teaching / education system and they don't want their narrative of incompetent military leaders such as Haig to be challenged by the likes of Monash as this would conflict with the perceptions they are presenting [a war waged by Toff's but fought by sacrificing the Working Classes] !
Haig is much maligned, the mass battles of 1916 were of necessity based on rather simplistic plans because the vast majority of the Officers & troops involved had no or very little battlefield experience and could only be expected to follow a clock-like plan. In 1918 Haig was credited by the French military leadership of winning the war with the battle of Amiens . He was held in good regard by those veterans I personally spoke to in the 1960' & 70's.
Its because he wasn't a brit. There is zero mention of dominion troops or generals here, like monash, currie, etc
David Reynolds' conventional wisdom rationalized is not enough for me.
I agree, same old stuff, wanted more detail on the actual collapse of Germany, eg what happened in the armed forces, the civilians at home etc. It's treatment was cursory, instead we got the familiar retelling of WW1 from the beginning, again!
Very much so ...I respect this video a lot...However do not forget Romnia entering the war in august 1916 with a frontline of 1400 km from the Danube up until northen Bucovina county, just to give France a breathing space on Verdun battle ....Germany took many western troops to newly open front on the east....