Rudy, it started Sept 1, the same day the Germans invaded Poland in '39. You've basically missed about 7 weeks. It shouldn't take too long to catch up.
Fun Fact: After the victory in the Italian front many illitterate paesants called their sons Firmato (signed), this was because the written victory proclamation ended with "Firmato Diaz" (signed Diaz) and they believed that Firmato was the first name of the general Armando Diaz
Man I remember subscribing to this channel back in 2014 when I was just a freshman in high school. Now I’m a freshman in college as a history major. Thank you Indy for this show, you are a genius and great orator.
It’s feels crazy to have seen how, it seemed that the Central Powers might have had the upper hand after Russia and Romania were nocked out of the war. Yet now the Central powers seem to be falling apart, due to the difficulties of getting food and other resources. It seems we really see how in the last few months of the war, we actually see how important it was for Germany and Austria-Hungry to get food supplies from Ukraine, and oil from Romania and Baku. This series has honestly really helped me, and probably a lot of other people see the progression, and even possibly how people at the time thought things would turn out, even though we all already know how it will turn out.
Context is always important, right? From a broad historical view, it's hard to imagine the Central Powers winning a long war because both sides were hoping that enough attritional warfare would make the other side just give up. But total war is total war, and they can't just give up, so they bankrupt themselves and send even more men to die because maybe those few thousands of men will make the difference this time... And that's the war in a nutshell. The Western Entente just had the benefit of a much better supply situation, but even then they were economically ruining themselves to attain victory.
MacTire Tiogair, I know how key the East was in World War 2, but had little knowledge of the entirety of the Great War. This series has taught me so much. Now I just want to dive into more books. And you are right, it is shocking how quickly it fell apart for the Central Powers.
May the soldiers who fallen, Rest in peace. All the poor souls who died 100 years ago in a '' war to end all war '' only to have it repeated 20 years later. Ww1 was a tragedy that was forgot by most people today. Will always remember, November 11.
Italy win in the mountain than in the Piave river and finallt in Vittorio Veneto wirh fifty-one Italian divisions, three British, two French, one Czechoslovakian and one American regiment, against seventy-three Austro-Hungarian divisions. Thank you Gen. Armando Diaz
Hello Indy and the rest of the crew, this is for Out of the Trenches. My great grandfather Charles was the personal radio operator for General Pershing. At some point during the war he was mustard gassed by the German but lived. Doctors proscribed him cigarettes to help the lungs ironically. My two questions are, what type of position and or job would being the radio man for the commander of the AEF entitle? And how was he gassed? Would that mean he was on the frontlines? My mother said he never talked about the war his whole life. Anyway thanks for this incredible show, i binged it last year to catch up and i dont regret a second. Have a wonderful day, Tyler.
Tyler Bioshock Rodriguez there has to be a way to get a hold of his military records. Perhaps contact the Army? Research on Ancestry? There are definitely options out there that could help flesh out his story since he refused to talk about it.
@@BJBlaskovichGaming I've gotten nothing on that. I've tried. Best I could get is the above info. Its strange really. He lived a charmed life. Was a leading engineer at Westinghouse post war and was the first person in Iowa to get a pacemaker. If I hadn't done ancestry I wouldn't even know he was in the war.
I don't know for certain, but I can make an educated guess. I doubt that a unit as high up as the AEF headquarters company would have had only one radio operator. He would have probably been one soldier in a squad or section of radio operators, specially trained on Morse code and how to operate the radio equipment. Such a job would have most likely entailed transmitting and receiving encrypted communiques to and from lower and higher echelon units. The actual encryption and decryption of the messages would have most likely been handled by a special team of soldiers trained in various cipher methods. Together, the radio and cipher teams would have represented the nervous system for the entire American Expeditionary Force. Without them, GEN Pershing would have been unable to coordinate his forces. Given the size and power requirements of radio equipment back then I doubt that he would have spent much time in the trenches. Though, considering the mobile nature of the war at this point, that doesn't mean the same thing as it would have between 1915 and 1917. Considering the unit's importance to GEN Pershing, it's quite possible that German artillery could have been targeting the AEF command post. A gas attack would have been effective at targeting an area where they thought the command post might have been, even if they didn't know the exact location. It's also possible that the German artillery was shelling what they thought was the American front line based on outdated position reports. Seeing as how the German army was under the command of General Disarray at this point, it's quite possible that the front was moving faster than their own lines of communication.
For more information on what your great grandfather did you might want to try the Library of Congress. They have Pershing's personal war diary in their collection. I saw it on display when I was in Washington D.C. several months ago. If he or his headquarters were gassed during the war he probably mentioned it in his diary. That would at least give you a date for when it happened.
yes, this is it. he would have been part of a crew operating the radios in a command post, lucky for him he got a position in the general headquarters CP so it would have been a relatively cushy job compared to command posts for brigades closer to the front lines (not including the gassing of course). we do it in a rather similar way today just with much better tech - i know this because in was a radio operator in various CP's in the canadian army for 5 years.
"Scheer orders Franz von Hipper, commander of the High Seas Fleet, to prepare for an all out attack on the British Grand Fleet" I'm sure that will go over well with the sailors. And even if it doesn't, what are they going to do? Mutiny?
I'm very proud to say that my great grandfather fought on the Italian front in the Battle of Vittorio Veneto against the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He was in charge of detonating bridges. My great grandfather was named by the military order as "Cavaliere dell'Ordine di Vittorio Veneto" at the Italian embassy. Greetings from Argentina.
After years of fighting, Paul is finally killed in October of 1918, on an extraordinarily quiet, peaceful day. The army report that day contains only one phrase: “All quiet on the Western Front.” As Paul dies, his face is calm, “as though almost glad the end had come.”
He died in 1927. The actual guy not the fictional character... "After the war, Bäumer worked briefly in the dockyards before he became a dentist, and reportedly one of his patients, Erich Maria Remarque, used Bäumer's name for the protagonist of his antiwar novel All Quiet on the Western Front. Continuing his interest in flying, he founded his own aircraft company in Hamburg. Bäumer died in an air crash at Copenhagen on 15 July 1927, age 31, while test flying a Rohrbach Ro IX fighter."
my great grandfather fought in this battle and he won the medal of honor as bridge engineering a true hero! ♥♥♥ thanks for covering this battle Love you The Great War!!!
Fact that nobody knows: the final decision of signing the armistice was taken by Central powers after the battle of Vittorio Veneto, because Italians overran basically all austrian troops with breakthroughs on the peaks and in the valleys. This meant that the italian army had a clean way directly into Austria and southern Germany. If peace would've been delayed more, Italy could have annexed *at least* the whole Tyrol.
Is it? Or is it more likely that it is NOT KNOWN TO BE A FACT... XD These Italians, seriously, a failure at war, but they never stop trying to deceive others and themselves...
Well, taking the Tyrol was a bit different from mopping up the Austrian army on the plains of Veneto. But yeah, the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Army in Italy really made continuing the war impossible for the Germans. Their south was wide open.
Tyrol could have easily been cut off the rest of Austria, so given the situation it wouldn't have last long under pressure. I'm not Italian by the way, not taking sides. It's just a fact, there was literally no one to stop Italians advance towards Munich and beyond. I'm saying that once the land is occupied by a victorious neighbor, who has even weak claims on it, it's hard to remove in a peace deal. So yes, I believe that if the armistice wasn't accepted by CP in November, Italy would have obtained at least Tyrol.
LOL!!!! Its laughable, the German army was collapsing by itself and was already discussing armistice terms, this whole Italian invention is simply TOO RETARDED TO BE ANSWERED WITHOUT LAUGHING! XD Let me put it this way, no matter in how bad state the Germany army was, if they found themselves in need to send some troops to stop the Italians in the easily defensible terrain in south Austria they would have, it is not like they would have been intimidated by Italians! XD It is soo funny to see the Italians patting themselves on the back by fighting a disintegrating army and thinking that it was all them!
Returning to rewatch this channel. A superb history of the Great War. The team manage to provide a fairly comprehensive overview of what was taking place across all fronts each week of the conflict. Terrific stuff!
I feel like the German Navy believed that a treaty would require them to scrap a large number of ships and decided that if they were to be lost they should be lost in battle.
Indy Neidell - works with the Germans, vacations in France during summer and Austria during winter, secretly loves the Russian anthem, drinks Turkish coffee, speaks English and is an American. He also has no idea who to root for.
Litterally two minutes about the battle of Vittorio Veneto, and half of that is dedicated about the British view on it, hardly explaining any tactic or handling of the battle. As an Italian fan, I am slightly disappointed. But oh well
My mother's father was in the American army in France about this time, and he caught the flu. According to my mother, he was so sick that he was taken to a separate ward for those about to die, and all of his possessions were divided up and given away. Miraculously, he recovered. She said that he never did get his things back, but he was so happy to have recovered that he didn't mind it so much. Mother also said that he spent so much time recovering that while his unit went into combat and suffered many casualties, he never did make it into combat before the Armistice was signed. So he really did luck out after all.
Yea... but it's a bullshit statement. They did not want to send them into the battle just for the sake of it. Rather, the German Navy thought that a large naval victory might be the only way to give German Empire better bargening position.
@@LordVader1094 this is how I see it, and this is just a guess, but they likely had 5-6% chance of winning a large naval battle. Hardly a comfortable odds, but if successful, Germany stands a chance of a lessened defeat where its population is not forced in economic slavery and Hitler coming to power might not be an option. Yes... hindsight and such speculation is a bogus, but can you really call the German Navy command crazy for considering it?
In three days, it will be 100 hundred years of Czechoslovakian independence. I guess the majority of my country is still proud of our legions filled with men and women who were willing to give their lives for the new republic. I am very glad you covered the legions and also mentioned Czechoslovakia in this channel. Thank you!
My grandfather was in Company G of the 332nd Infantry Regiment-the only US fighting forces sent to Italy in late July 1918. On September 29, the 2nd Battalion (Companies E, F, G and H) took over the whole frontline sector from the Italians. On October 4, The rest of the 332nd Regiment joined the 2nd Battalion at the front near the Piave River. They went on marches throughout the area changing uniforms to give the Austrians the impression that there were many thousands of soldiers. On October 7, The 332nd practiced river crossing on the Sile River in preparation for an offensive river crossing over the Piave River. On October 24, The Vittorio-Venetian offensive began. The 332nd Regiment was part of the 10th British Army under Lord Cavan. On October 28, The 332nd Regiment crossed the Piave River and became the vanguard of the corps to lead the final push against the Austrians. On November 3, The 2nd Battalion crosses the Tagliamento River under fire and reaches Villaorba on Nov 4, when the Austrian armistice becomes effective. On November 4, The 2nd Battalion led by Major Scanland crossed the Tagliamento river and the Austrians ran for their lives. The Battalion continued towards Codroipo. Corporal Charles A. Kelli of Company G was the only death, 7 wounded, 25 enemy dead and 22 prisoners.
I'm Italian, but now I live and work for our old enemy... and I can promise you, they are still SO pissed off because they lost the sea to us ... Hi hi.
While all of this is going on a Franco-Serbian army is marching through Serbia straight towards the heart of the Austro-Hungarian Empire crushing whatever opposition could be scraped together and not even a mention of it?
I don't know why they stopped mention it in the last couple of weeks. It's literally second most important front, a way more important than Italian or Palestinian! And it was THE front on which Entente made most successful offensive. I mean they advanced from Dobro Polje to Belgrade, distance of nearly 700km, in 45 days. That's advance of 15km in every day, under heavy fighting! Not to mention that they didn't mentioned battle of Nis in which 2nd Serbian army of 29 battalions defeated German army of 75 battalions, led by von Mackenzen. Well, I guess that they would mention it in the next episode, when the Belgrade was liberated.
My great-great-grandfather died during the second wave of the Spanish flu pandemic, just ten days after the end of the war. He was from New Jersey, aged 31 or 32, and left behind a wife and three children who were all under the age of 7 when he died. He didn't serve in the war, but it's sad to imagine his family thinking he was safe from possible conscription as the war was ending, only to lose him suddenly from the flu just after the war's end.
"Well.... we've pretty much lost the whole thing.... so let's go out and ruin the navy, too." Talk about not caring about your men. Madness. Total madness.
As the German Navy moved its best junior officers to U-boats and other branches, less capable men took their places in the large warships. Many of those officers were not able to gain the trust of the sailors, and did not create the impression that they cared about them. Finally, when they were ordered to sortie, the sailors understood that they were being sacrificed for the honor of their officers.
Still, this has been a monumental undertaking and in many way this is what let him even think about making those other channels. That's got to inspire some pretty strong emotions.
This is really fascinating and I've been following for years, but one thing I'd like to see is a retrospective of the impeding collapse of the central powers. Like we see the battlefield manoeuvres and all the intrigue in OHL, but it just seems like one day the Bulgarians and Ottomans just immediately ceased to be an effective fighting force - what was happening to their industries and high commands over the months leading up to the assaults that just caused them to melt away? I think a special on the 'gathering storm' amongst the minor central powers focussing on their growing internal struggles would help give context to why they all suddenly collapsed.
I don't know too much but I'll give my view. The Italian blockade was taking a toll on Bulgaria through 1917 and 1918. It really doesn't help when a massive amount of your country is in the starving and tired army, 25%. Strikes were happening a lot, ultimately leading to a revolt against the monarch, causing them to abdicate as in Germany, Austria-Hungary and Russia. The Ottomans meanwhile, I feel should have collapsed way earlier. The desert didn't have too many barriers and the Ottomans were less advanced than many of the others. Gallipoli was fought in a place easily defendable, Kut was just really unorganized, same with the battles of Gaza and Russia was too busy with revolutions to go any further into Anatolia. When the Allies finally got everything together, they took Baghdad, Jerusalem, and Damascus, only stopping during the summer and Enver Pasha is too busy fighting in the Caucasus. Ultimately, what caused the armistice was the sudden collapse of Bulgaria and an army not far from Istanbul/Constantinople while their army is in the Caucasus or southward.
@@randomclouds4404 I think I understand the Ottomans better than the Bulgarians. The Ottomans were barely adding anything to this war after Gallipoli ended - they weren't an effective force offensively anywhere and you're right in saying the only reason they are still around at this point is because of the logistical issues of getting an effective allied force through the dessert. It's not so much the Ottomans collapsed so much as that they were always poor and eventually would be overwhelmed. However, Bulgaria I still just found to be completely sudden. Like there was no gradual decline, it's just that one day they all just completely gave up and then sued for peace after a week of giving up incredible defences. I'd like to see more context on that. The recent special on Austria did a lot to answer my questions on their collapse, the internal political turmoil seems to have gradually doomed them starving them of food and troops and waiting for collapse. I guess I'm looking for a Bulgaria special on these last months more than anything haha.
Let me just say, no matter who won and who lost. Italians, Autrians, Slovenians, Croatians... We were all Catholic brothers. We should have united in friendship and brotherhood, not started killing each other over petty disputes. And yet, some people from all the sides which once fought, are still not over it, still hating each other after a century. Why do we do this to each other? I, an Italian, have nothing against my friends in Austria, Slovenia, and Croatia. Can't we let go our old petty disputes and be friends once again, without recriminations tainting our peaceful cooperation?
The remains of what used to be one of the strongest army of the world are climbing back, hopeless and in disorder, the same valleys they flood with proud self-confidence. - Army Chief of Staff General Diaz
It's an issue of the "Hamburger Fremdenblatt", a newspaper from Hamburg. The headline reads "The failed Russian offensive" (Die gescheiterte russische Offensive), not sure which one.
You did a great job with this. Very entertaining and unbiased telling of WW1. Although this seems like ancient history it was just 100 years ago. How many things have changed globally! For better or worse?
Our history teacher said, when we got the the period. This period is boring and the war is not interesting. We rushed trough the First World War in a week and wrote a test on the 2nd week. I'm sitting here and think... why did I have such a dumb teacher. :(
Actually the Italian requests, in accord to the Art. 7 of the third treaty of the Triple Alliance (that provided compensations for Italy for eventual territorial gains of Austria in the Balkans) were only for the province of Trento (the only part the Empire had to concede), a certain autonomy for the city of Trieste (that, IE, requested to build an Italian university since 1871, without effect), and the diplomatic recognition of the Italian occupation of the city of Valona and the Docecanese.
Greetings from perth Australia. Question for out of the trenches. Was there any sentimentality or public acknowledgement in Britain attached to recapturing areas of the front associated with the first bef battles ie mons and le cateau? Love your work, this was the series that needed to happen. It's almost appropriate that, given the static nature of the western front for the British, (spoiler alert) the fighting effectively began and ended in the same town.
So sad this is ending. Any chance you could do any sort of speculative history after you wrap this up? I had a story I was thinking of writing, but I'd need the Great War to have continued for another 4 or 5 years. I have a feeling if the British hadn't suceeded in blockading Germany, that could go a lot of the way.
Hey Indy and crew, I'm just wondering, are guys going to make a special episode on the Spanish flu? Maybe talk about it on OOTT? Where and how it originated, why was it called Spanish flu and so on. Best Wishes!
crazy to think that armistice talks were happening, and only 2 weeks away from coming into effect, with such brutal fighting still happening as a matter of course
Well more like the Hungarians deserting and the Austrian army beeing desolved before the italians can even make any ground.....This is a victory that even the army of Luxembourg would have achieved.....
If i remember correctly the italians kept going, even after an armastice was agreed and their opposition tried to end the fighting. To be honest, with A.Diaz effort to rebuilt the italian army and getting help from the allies in doing so and in guns, ammo and men, they would have had the upper hand even if the A-H Army would not have dissolved already. A-Hs army was lacking everything... Indy mentioned 9 Divisions, but they were severely understrengh in headcount, and without food, ammo etc.
the Austro-Hungarian Empire was defeated after the battle of the Piave, Vittorio Veneto was the coup de grace. "This is a victory that even the army of Luxembourg would have achieved" yeah!! for this there were 47 thousand italian dead and wounded and 90 thousand austro-hungarian dead and wounded , a quiet walk through Luxembourg. Go back to school!
Still, the Austro-Hungarian Army was well and truly no more once the Hungarians withdrew their troops. By definition, that makes the Austro-Hungarian Army dissolved. Yes, the Italians did a fine job mopping up the disorganized remaining forces (most of whom were in various phases of retreat anyway), but this was in no way the same army that stopped the Italians 11 times on the Isonzo.
To be precise, the armistice was agreed for the 4th of november hour 15.00, the A-H command instead informed the troops (before the final agreement) that the armstice would have been effective on the midnight between the 3th and the 4th, so the confusion was an austrian fault.
Some extra: On the 28th in Budapest (Hungary) the "Battle of the Chain bridge" happened: The police attacked the crowd demanding the resignation of the Hungarian government and a new government under (the mentioned) Mihály Károlyi. 3 died, more than 50 injured. It was the prelude of the revolution.
anyone watching these last few videos in 2020 with the whole Spanish Flu and now in 2020 this Covid-19 it really is true history tends to repeat itself
A question for out of the Trenches: I have heard that the German soldiers on the western front disliked the scottish troops. If that was the case, why? What's not to like about men in skirts?
Just to say
If you want to see more of Indy neidell he's doing a world 2 series
The channel name is world war 2
When did they announced it? It looks like it's been around for a while. Since April!
No
Rudy Flores they never did. It’s a different company so they aren’t aloud to advertise it
@@monks311 its a different company so they didn't announce it in this channel
Rudy, it started Sept 1, the same day the Germans invaded Poland in '39. You've basically missed about 7 weeks. It shouldn't take too long to catch up.
General Armando Diaz:
Battle of the Piave River-he protec
Battle of Vittorio Veneto-he attac
Chef Mussolini
but most importantly he try to get caporetto bac
he got caporetto bac
Somebody toucha my spaghett? ♨ 🍝
Somebody toucha my Sicily-Mussolini 1943
Fun Fact: After the victory in the Italian front many illitterate paesants called their sons Firmato (signed), this was because the written victory proclamation ended with "Firmato Diaz" (signed Diaz) and they believed that Firmato was the first name of the general Armando Diaz
Guglielmo Cellerai I know some boys called "Froylan" here in Mexico. In german freulein means lady or señorita.
Italian cavalry, entering Trentino asked a paesant where the enemy was. The paesant answered "you are the enemy"
Mario Cassina real as the turkish republic of cyprus
@@Nyx-kb7ze ok... You must be right..
@@mariocassina90 Yeah, never happened.
FINALLY!!! The 118th Battle of the Isonzo is here!!!
Onyx1916 you aren't funny
Yes he is
They have no chance without Cadorna.
Onyx1916 Cadorna’s legacy
you mean, we have all che chance without Cadorna
Just a friendly reminder for everybody that doesn't know. Indy is covering the Second World War on another channel!
Link
And also the years in between
This is an extremely important comment since he's (Indy) not allowed to advertise it on this channel.
Search for "World War Two"
That is a different project and they made it clear. It's not the same crew and cast. They are following the model but don't get it confused.
Man I remember subscribing to this channel back in 2014 when I was just a freshman in high school. Now I’m a freshman in college as a history major. Thank you Indy for this show, you are a genius and great orator.
This is me from the future asking you how school’s going? 👀
@@MrDaredevil96cap
Don’t worry! Conrad’s counter offensive will begin any day now!
Steiner’s counteroffensive will sweep the soviets from the city
@@secondagent5998 Fegelein!,.. FEGELEIN..!! FEGELEIN!!!
@@secondagent5998 Der Angriff Steiner ist nicht erfolgt.
*Takes off glasses slowly*
P K DAS WAR EIN BEFEHL!
Right the German don't lose
It’s feels crazy to have seen how, it seemed that the Central Powers might have had the upper hand after Russia and Romania were nocked out of the war. Yet now the Central powers seem to be falling apart, due to the difficulties of getting food and other resources. It seems we really see how in the last few months of the war, we actually see how important it was for Germany and Austria-Hungry to get food supplies from Ukraine, and oil from Romania and Baku. This series has honestly really helped me, and probably a lot of other people see the progression, and even possibly how people at the time thought things would turn out, even though we all already know how it will turn out.
Context is always important, right? From a broad historical view, it's hard to imagine the Central Powers winning a long war because both sides were hoping that enough attritional warfare would make the other side just give up. But total war is total war, and they can't just give up, so they bankrupt themselves and send even more men to die because maybe those few thousands of men will make the difference this time...
And that's the war in a nutshell. The Western Entente just had the benefit of a much better supply situation, but even then they were economically ruining themselves to attain victory.
it turned out that operations and logistics matter, who knew!
MacTire Tiogair, I know how key the East was in World War 2, but had little knowledge of the entirety of the Great War. This series has taught me so much. Now I just want to dive into more books.
And you are right, it is shocking how quickly it fell apart for the Central Powers.
I think the real important factor was the Americans with their fresh troops coming effected the ending of the war.
@@fatihsaidduran Woah woah woah! Don't you know it's illegal to suggest that the US made a substantial contribution to ending the war?
May the soldiers who fallen, Rest in peace.
All the poor souls who died 100 years ago in a '' war to end all war '' only to have it repeated 20 years later.
Ww1 was a tragedy that was forgot by most people today.
Will always remember, November 11.
Totally agree.
But Italy win, and end the war same day before. The 3 of November.
Such wisdom from a mushroom
Oh boy here we go crossing the isonzo again
dank demer This time we even get past it
Italy win in the mountain than in the Piave river and finallt in Vittorio Veneto wirh fifty-one Italian divisions, three British, two French, one Czechoslovakian and one American regiment, against seventy-three Austro-Hungarian divisions. Thank you Gen. Armando Diaz
An Italian attack without the strategic genius that is Cadorna? Preposterous! It will never work.
November 11 is just around the corner(1918-2018)
Spoilers
Germany will turn it around, any minute now..
xxAnaconta *insert Germany’s gonna win joke here*
Wrong
Mit dem Angriff Steiners wird das alles in Ordnung kommen.
What if we pull back to the Rhine? We can hold them for years there.
BountyFlamor - that's the sequel to the Great War there . . .
Hello Indy and the rest of the crew, this is for Out of the Trenches. My great grandfather Charles was the personal radio operator for General Pershing. At some point during the war he was mustard gassed by the German but lived. Doctors proscribed him cigarettes to help the lungs ironically. My two questions are, what type of position and or job would being the radio man for the commander of the AEF entitle? And how was he gassed? Would that mean he was on the frontlines? My mother said he never talked about the war his whole life. Anyway thanks for this incredible show, i binged it last year to catch up and i dont regret a second. Have a wonderful day, Tyler.
Tyler Bioshock Rodriguez there has to be a way to get a hold of his military records. Perhaps contact the Army? Research on Ancestry? There are definitely options out there that could help flesh out his story since he refused to talk about it.
@@BJBlaskovichGaming I've gotten nothing on that. I've tried. Best I could get is the above info. Its strange really. He lived a charmed life. Was a leading engineer at Westinghouse post war and was the first person in Iowa to get a pacemaker. If I hadn't done ancestry I wouldn't even know he was in the war.
I don't know for certain, but I can make an educated guess. I doubt that a unit as high up as the AEF headquarters company would have had only one radio operator. He would have probably been one soldier in a squad or section of radio operators, specially trained on Morse code and how to operate the radio equipment. Such a job would have most likely entailed transmitting and receiving encrypted communiques to and from lower and higher echelon units. The actual encryption and decryption of the messages would have most likely been handled by a special team of soldiers trained in various cipher methods. Together, the radio and cipher teams would have represented the nervous system for the entire American Expeditionary Force. Without them, GEN Pershing would have been unable to coordinate his forces.
Given the size and power requirements of radio equipment back then I doubt that he would have spent much time in the trenches. Though, considering the mobile nature of the war at this point, that doesn't mean the same thing as it would have between 1915 and 1917. Considering the unit's importance to GEN Pershing, it's quite possible that German artillery could have been targeting the AEF command post. A gas attack would have been effective at targeting an area where they thought the command post might have been, even if they didn't know the exact location. It's also possible that the German artillery was shelling what they thought was the American front line based on outdated position reports. Seeing as how the German army was under the command of General Disarray at this point, it's quite possible that the front was moving faster than their own lines of communication.
For more information on what your great grandfather did you might want to try the Library of Congress. They have Pershing's personal war diary in their collection. I saw it on display when I was in Washington D.C. several months ago. If he or his headquarters were gassed during the war he probably mentioned it in his diary. That would at least give you a date for when it happened.
yes, this is it. he would have been part of a crew operating the radios in a command post, lucky for him he got a position in the general headquarters CP so it would have been a relatively cushy job compared to command posts for brigades closer to the front lines (not including the gassing of course). we do it in a rather similar way today just with much better tech - i know this because in was a radio operator in various CP's in the canadian army for 5 years.
Thank you guys love your channel I'm one of your Italian fans!!!
Pure io
Dovevamo combattere contro la vera, nemica la francia e rimanere fedeli alla triplice alleanza.
@@krasnyytsesarevich ci sarebbe andata peggio
@@krasnyytsesarevich c'era l'opportunità di riprendere Niza, Savoia e la Corsica , però secondo me gli Inglesi sarebbero interventui
@@krasnyytsesarevich * sarbbero interventui sul lato Francese
"Scheer orders Franz von Hipper, commander of the High Seas Fleet, to prepare for an all out attack on the British Grand Fleet"
I'm sure that will go over well with the sailors. And even if it doesn't, what are they going to do? Mutiny?
*SPOILER ALERT !* ...: Yes
Patrick Hyden - SPOILER ALERT! - it will happen as Hildo Schutte said; yes, they will mutiny.
I miss having a new battle of the isonzo every week
I'm very proud to say that my great grandfather fought on the Italian front in the Battle of Vittorio Veneto against the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He was in charge of detonating bridges. My great grandfather was named by the military order as "Cavaliere dell'Ordine di Vittorio Veneto" at the Italian embassy. Greetings from Argentina.
R.I.P. Paul Bäumer 1898 - 1918
Diden't he die during the last day of the war?
After years of fighting, Paul is finally killed in October of 1918, on an extraordinarily quiet, peaceful day. The army report that day contains only one phrase: “All quiet on the Western Front.” As Paul dies, his face is calm, “as though almost glad the end had come.”
Oh, my memory was overshadowed by the movie even thogh i liked the book more.
@@Rockbagaren Ironically, the book is much more violent than the films.
He died in 1927. The actual guy not the fictional character...
"After the war, Bäumer worked briefly in the dockyards before he became a dentist, and reportedly one of his patients, Erich Maria Remarque, used Bäumer's name for the protagonist of his antiwar novel All Quiet on the Western Front.
Continuing his interest in flying, he founded his own aircraft company in Hamburg. Bäumer died in an air crash at Copenhagen on 15 July 1927, age 31, while test flying a Rohrbach Ro IX fighter."
my great grandfather fought in this battle and he won the medal of honor as bridge engineering a true hero! ♥♥♥ thanks for covering this battle Love you The Great War!!!
My Grandfather was also here.
Fact that nobody knows: the final decision of signing the armistice was taken by Central powers after the battle of Vittorio Veneto, because Italians overran basically all austrian troops with breakthroughs on the peaks and in the valleys. This meant that the italian army had a clean way directly into Austria and southern Germany. If peace would've been delayed more, Italy could have annexed *at least* the whole Tyrol.
Is it? Or is it more likely that it is NOT KNOWN TO BE A FACT... XD
These Italians, seriously, a failure at war, but they never stop trying to deceive others and themselves...
@ trauko1388 - stay on topic and dispute j Leo’s statement, if you can
Well, taking the Tyrol was a bit different from mopping up the Austrian army on the plains of Veneto. But yeah, the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Army in Italy really made continuing the war impossible for the Germans. Their south was wide open.
Tyrol could have easily been cut off the rest of Austria, so given the situation it wouldn't have last long under pressure. I'm not Italian by the way, not taking sides. It's just a fact, there was literally no one to stop Italians advance towards Munich and beyond. I'm saying that once the land is occupied by a victorious neighbor, who has even weak claims on it, it's hard to remove in a peace deal. So yes, I believe that if the armistice wasn't accepted by CP in November, Italy would have obtained at least Tyrol.
LOL!!!!
Its laughable, the German army was collapsing by itself and was already discussing armistice terms, this whole Italian invention is simply TOO RETARDED TO BE ANSWERED WITHOUT LAUGHING! XD
Let me put it this way, no matter in how bad state the Germany army was, if they found themselves in need to send some troops to stop the Italians in the easily defensible terrain in south Austria they would have, it is not like they would have been intimidated by Italians! XD
It is soo funny to see the Italians patting themselves on the back by fighting a disintegrating army and thinking that it was all them!
My Italian great grandfather fought in this war.
I mean battle
After Cadorna and the Isonzo meatgrinder, Diaz must seem like a mythical beast out of legend with unparalleled tactical mastery
*inspires*
AVANTI
SAVOIAAA
Ahh BF1
8:30 That would make an awesome Twisted Metal prequel.
SABATON
+
>When World War 1 invented Twisted Metal
I approve
Love your avatar Baron von Brunk! OL J R
As someone that was taught Italian history at school, I've waiting this moment for a long time.
Hard to think that 100 years ago brave men thought for their countries. Let we not forget them.
VIVA ITALIA!
Returning to rewatch this channel. A superb history of the Great War. The team manage to provide a fairly comprehensive overview of what was taking place across all fronts each week of the conflict. Terrific stuff!
The Iron Thrones are falling. The Iron Crown is gone, and the Iron Chancellor predicted this moment 20 years past.
As was said of a different conflict many years before this: These are the times that try men's souls.
I feel like the German Navy believed that a treaty would require them to scrap a large number of ships and decided that if they were to be lost they should be lost in battle.
Indy Neidell - works with the Germans, vacations in France during summer and Austria during winter, secretly loves the Russian anthem, drinks Turkish coffee, speaks English and is an American.
He also has no idea who to root for.
Indy Neidell's team: the Houston Astros. He has a tattoo of their logo.
I waited a long time for this video, thanks
Litterally two minutes about the battle of Vittorio Veneto, and half of that is dedicated about the British view on it, hardly explaining any tactic or handling of the battle. As an Italian fan, I am slightly disappointed. But oh well
Sicuramente pure nel prossimo episodio ne parlerà, in fondo il 25 Ottobre è solo iniziata la battaglia.
Sono un Lamah e invece no, che bella la propaganda britannica
@@Nyx-kb7ze Rip
Sono un Lamah rip
Tommaso Rucci Questo è un canale storico inglese dove tutto viene enfatizzato dal punto di vista britannico: un po’ storia e un po’ fun-fiction.
mythical the attack that the same American writer said the Italians are the true heirs of the Roman Empire.
My mother's father was in the American army in France about this time, and he caught the flu. According to my mother, he was so sick that he was taken to a separate ward for those about to die, and all of his possessions were divided up and given away. Miraculously, he recovered. She said that he never did get his things back, but he was so happy to have recovered that he didn't mind it so much. Mother also said that he spent so much time recovering that while his unit went into combat and suffered many casualties, he never did make it into combat before the Armistice was signed. So he really did luck out after all.
IL PIAVE MORMORÓ, NON PASSA LO STRANIEROOOOOOO
È IL MOMENTO DI FINIRE L'ACQUILA ASBURGICA
Despacito
“...after all...it’s only men” ;-;
Yea... but it's a bullshit statement. They did not want to send them into the battle just for the sake of it. Rather, the German Navy thought that a large naval victory might be the only way to give German Empire better bargening position.
In naval warfare, it's not only men... It's also very expensive battleships, battlecruisers, cruisers and destroyers.
@@_sky_3123 It's not a bullshit statement when it's still throwing away mens lives for a better bargaining position in an armistice.
@@LordVader1094 this is how I see it, and this is just a guess, but they likely had 5-6% chance of winning a large naval battle. Hardly a comfortable odds, but if successful, Germany stands a chance of a lessened defeat where its population is not forced in economic slavery and Hitler coming to power might not be an option. Yes... hindsight and such speculation is a bogus, but can you really call the German Navy command crazy for considering it?
In three days, it will be 100 hundred years of Czechoslovakian independence. I guess the majority of my country is still proud of our legions filled with men and women who were willing to give their lives for the new republic. I am very glad you covered the legions and also mentioned Czechoslovakia in this channel. Thank you!
YES! I've finally caught up and can watch these as they come out!
My grandfather was in Company G of the 332nd Infantry Regiment-the only US fighting forces sent to Italy in late July 1918. On September 29, the 2nd Battalion (Companies E, F, G and H) took over the whole frontline sector from the Italians. On October 4, The rest of the 332nd Regiment joined the 2nd Battalion at the front near the Piave River. They went on marches throughout the area changing uniforms to give the Austrians the impression that there were many thousands of soldiers. On October 7, The 332nd practiced river crossing on the Sile River in preparation for an offensive river crossing over the Piave River. On October 24, The Vittorio-Venetian offensive began. The 332nd Regiment was part of the 10th British Army under Lord Cavan. On October 28, The 332nd Regiment crossed the Piave River and became the vanguard of the corps to lead the final push against the Austrians. On November 3, The 2nd Battalion crosses the Tagliamento River under fire and reaches Villaorba on Nov 4, when the Austrian armistice becomes effective. On November 4, The 2nd Battalion led by Major Scanland crossed the Tagliamento river and the Austrians ran for their lives. The Battalion continued towards Codroipo. Corporal Charles A. Kelli of Company G was the only death, 7 wounded, 25 enemy dead and 22 prisoners.
3 episodes left D: :(
Indy said that they'll continue to analyze the armistice and post-war for a bit.
Ahhh awesome :D
They have a World War 2 channel
Ay I know, I just haven't watched it yet as I want to do it one step at a time
also got the Russian civil war part to complete too.
I'm Italian, but now I live and work for our old enemy... and I can promise you, they are still SO pissed off because they lost the sea to us ... Hi hi.
While all of this is going on a Franco-Serbian army is marching through Serbia straight towards the heart of the Austro-Hungarian Empire crushing whatever opposition could be scraped together and not even a mention of it?
VersusARCH . They did talk about it over the last few weeks, but yeah, surprised there was no update on the macedonian front.
Nis was liberated last week, next big city liberated is Belgrade on Nov 1.
@@odorovic Tell that to someone from Kragujevac, Kruševac, Pirot, Leskovac, Jagodina, Čačak... 😂
I don't know why they stopped mention it in the last couple of weeks. It's literally second most important front, a way more important than Italian or Palestinian! And it was THE front on which Entente made most successful offensive. I mean they advanced from Dobro Polje to Belgrade, distance of nearly 700km, in 45 days. That's advance of 15km in every day, under heavy fighting! Not to mention that they didn't mentioned battle of Nis in which 2nd Serbian army of 29 battalions defeated German army of 75 battalions, led by von Mackenzen. Well, I guess that they would mention it in the next episode, when the Belgrade was liberated.
@@justinian-the-great It was the 1st army that won at Nish and the numerical superiority wasn't as pronounced but yeah I generally agree with you.
Another poignant ending Indy. Well done sir.
Another fantastic episode Indy and crew. Treasuring each and everyone of them knowing we are near the end.
We're running out of weeks to squeeze in one more Battle of the Isonzo River
My great-great-grandfather died during the second wave of the Spanish flu pandemic, just ten days after the end of the war. He was from New Jersey, aged 31 or 32, and left behind a wife and three children who were all under the age of 7 when he died. He didn't serve in the war, but it's sad to imagine his family thinking he was safe from possible conscription as the war was ending, only to lose him suddenly from the flu just after the war's end.
Damn I love this show..best channel on UA-cam by far
Great video
Wow I'm here before your comment got thousands likes I feel proud
Did you chech oversimplified
franco Fransisco yeah it’s a very cool channel I like the Falklands War video especially
"Well.... we've pretty much lost the whole thing.... so let's go out and ruin the navy, too." Talk about not caring about your men. Madness. Total madness.
As the German Navy moved its best junior officers to U-boats and other branches, less capable men took their places in the large warships. Many of those officers were not able to gain the trust of the sailors, and did not create the impression that they cared about them. Finally, when they were ordered to sortie, the sailors understood that they were being sacrificed for the honor of their officers.
for the past month, I've been playing catch-up on your week-by-week series. I'm happy to say I've managed to get caught up before the end of the war.
I'm early? Well...
VIVA L'ITALIA!
O LA VITTORIA O TUTTI ACCOPPATI!
AVANTI SAVOIA!
No, you are late.
*whistle blows as you charge into the Austrian occupied lonely church of monte Grappa*
love this ! amazing its been 4 years already
Hey Indy neidell how are you doing how do you feel that this is about to end
He's got other channels. He'll keep busy.
Still, this has been a monumental undertaking and in many way this is what let him even think about making those other channels. That's got to inspire some pretty strong emotions.
I searched through all of you videos and you never focused on the fighting atop of Monte Grappa
This is really fascinating and I've been following for years, but one thing I'd like to see is a retrospective of the impeding collapse of the central powers.
Like we see the battlefield manoeuvres and all the intrigue in OHL, but it just seems like one day the Bulgarians and Ottomans just immediately ceased to be an effective fighting force - what was happening to their industries and high commands over the months leading up to the assaults that just caused them to melt away?
I think a special on the 'gathering storm' amongst the minor central powers focussing on their growing internal struggles would help give context to why they all suddenly collapsed.
I don't know too much but I'll give my view. The Italian blockade was taking a toll on Bulgaria through 1917 and 1918. It really doesn't help when a massive amount of your country is in the starving and tired army, 25%. Strikes were happening a lot, ultimately leading to a revolt against the monarch, causing them to abdicate as in Germany, Austria-Hungary and Russia.
The Ottomans meanwhile, I feel should have collapsed way earlier. The desert didn't have too many barriers and the Ottomans were less advanced than many of the others. Gallipoli was fought in a place easily defendable, Kut was just really unorganized, same with the battles of Gaza and Russia was too busy with revolutions to go any further into Anatolia. When the Allies finally got everything together, they took Baghdad, Jerusalem, and Damascus, only stopping during the summer and Enver Pasha is too busy fighting in the Caucasus. Ultimately, what caused the armistice was the sudden collapse of Bulgaria and an army not far from Istanbul/Constantinople while their army is in the Caucasus or southward.
@@randomclouds4404 I think I understand the Ottomans better than the Bulgarians. The Ottomans were barely adding anything to this war after Gallipoli ended - they weren't an effective force offensively anywhere and you're right in saying the only reason they are still around at this point is because of the logistical issues of getting an effective allied force through the dessert. It's not so much the Ottomans collapsed so much as that they were always poor and eventually would be overwhelmed.
However, Bulgaria I still just found to be completely sudden. Like there was no gradual decline, it's just that one day they all just completely gave up and then sued for peace after a week of giving up incredible defences. I'd like to see more context on that.
The recent special on Austria did a lot to answer my questions on their collapse, the internal political turmoil seems to have gradually doomed them starving them of food and troops and waiting for collapse. I guess I'm looking for a Bulgaria special on these last months more than anything haha.
Let me just say, no matter who won and who lost. Italians, Autrians, Slovenians, Croatians... We were all Catholic brothers. We should have united in friendship and brotherhood, not started killing each other over petty disputes. And yet, some people from all the sides which once fought, are still not over it, still hating each other after a century. Why do we do this to each other? I, an Italian, have nothing against my friends in Austria, Slovenia, and Croatia. Can't we let go our old petty disputes and be friends once again, without recriminations tainting our peaceful cooperation?
3 years ago I subscribed for this battle
I hope bells ring in major cities at 11:11 in europe in about 2 weeks.
UK has plans for 1000 towers to ring their bells in recognition.
@@batteriebrettchen6761 Nobody won WW1 .... it was a unnesecary war
Well said....very well said.
@@bigbrowntau I think, Europe as a whole lost this War...
The remains of what used to be one of the strongest army of the world
are climbing back, hopeless and in disorder, the same valleys they flood with proud self-confidence.
- Army Chief of Staff General Diaz
The seemingly 1st recorded battle between two fleets of armored cars in Syria is so well told & displayed (8:19). Cheers TGW crew ! :)))
Spoilers: We got 2/3 episodes left
UK ball
Shows English flag
Two thirds?
Well, two regular ones on Thursday, and the series finale on Armistice Day, which falls on a Sunday, making it the first and only Sunday episode.
@@shrillbert i still wonder... would Flo fit in Indys vest?
what about the treaty of versailles?
Ive always wondered, what does that newspaper on your desk say Indy?
Its the script.
It's an issue of the "Hamburger Fremdenblatt", a newspaper from Hamburg. The headline reads "The failed Russian offensive" (Die gescheiterte russische Offensive), not sure which one.
It doesn't say anything, because newspapers can't talk!
@@thexalon How do you know? Have you checked any newspaper in history? (raven paradox)
You did a great job with this. Very entertaining and unbiased telling of WW1. Although this seems like ancient history it was just 100 years ago. How many things have changed globally! For better or worse?
Your videos are so awesome! Thanks a lot
I think you guys might have skipped a week. It should be week 222 right? And that "its only men" at the end was pretty chilling.
Finally caught up from 1914 to today. Fell like an epic marathon,
Our history teacher said, when we got the the period. This period is boring and the war is not interesting. We rushed trough the First World War in a week and wrote a test on the 2nd week.
I'm sitting here and think... why did I have such a dumb teacher. :(
Amen to that, Indy!
what kind of historical periods did your teacher find interesting?
@@bezahltersystemtroll5055 probably world war II, and anything glorified by america, ie civil war, revolution war
@@zeppelinboys can’t both World Wars be interesting
IM ITALIAN VIVA L'ITALIAAAAA E GLI ITALIANI PIERI DI ESSERE ITALIANI
If only Austria Hungary would've given Dalmatia to Italy.
They really must be pissed off about that now
Actually the Italian requests, in accord to the Art. 7 of the third treaty of the Triple Alliance (that provided compensations for Italy for eventual territorial gains of Austria in the Balkans) were only for the province of Trento (the only part the Empire had to concede), a certain autonomy for the city of Trieste (that, IE, requested to build an Italian university since 1871, without effect), and the diplomatic recognition of the Italian occupation of the city of Valona and the Docecanese.
Still seems like a better deal than losing all of your empire imho.
Infact even the German mediator, Von Bulow, considered the Austrian position unreasonable in 1915.
Greetings from perth Australia. Question for out of the trenches. Was there any sentimentality or public acknowledgement in Britain attached to recapturing areas of the front associated with the first bef battles ie mons and le cateau? Love your work, this was the series that needed to happen. It's almost appropriate that, given the static nature of the western front for the British, (spoiler alert) the fighting effectively began and ended in the same town.
Next week is the armistice of mudros where the middle east theater of the war ended against the ottoman empire
@@indiananeidell9186oh yeah. I had watched a documentary on wwi in the middle east on Al Jazeera and I just happened to find our it ended on that day
Indy that's not true! That's impossible!
Wait, WHAT!??!
Later! OL J R
of course wilson still has things to say. he loves the sound of his own voice!
amid the madness of war nothing is so mad as the last few weeks.
So sad this is ending. Any chance you could do any sort of speculative history after you wrap this up? I had a story I was thinking of writing, but I'd need the Great War to have continued for another 4 or 5 years. I have a feeling if the British hadn't suceeded in blockading Germany, that could go a lot of the way.
@10:42 And there that quote comes back from earlier in the series. "Its only men" pretty much says it all.
Hey Indy and crew, I'm just wondering, are guys going to make a special episode on the Spanish flu? Maybe talk about it on OOTT? Where and how it originated, why was it called Spanish flu and so on.
Best Wishes!
I have learned so much watching this series - I think it helps that Indi is subtly anti-war or at least skeptical
crazy to think that armistice talks were happening, and only 2 weeks away from coming into effect, with such brutal fighting still happening as a matter of course
Iron Walls-Monte Grappe and Empires Edge happened this episode.
Oof. Great finish, Indy. That attitude is on par with what Pershing did on the 11th day.
I need to say something. It's Vittorio Vèneto, not Vittorio Venéto. 8-D
Great vide. Great job.
Hipper will save the day, I am very confident in this.
that would have been the biggest comeback in human history.
November 11th is so close now, yet many men will die in these last days of the war, that is a tragedy
for the king and for italy ! AVANTI SAVOIA!
"For The king and for Italy"
Yeah not like se Italians voted for ending the kingdom years later
I did not know that the High Seas fleet was being prep for one last great battle. crazy.
Monte Grappa you say? Anyone up for a BF1 Operation of Iron Walls?
Now Italy picks up there boots and get to work rising from the ashes of caporetto 💪💪💪
Well more like the Hungarians deserting and the Austrian army beeing desolved before the italians can even make any ground.....This is a victory that even the army of Luxembourg would have achieved.....
If i remember correctly the italians kept going, even after an armastice was agreed and their opposition tried to end the fighting. To be honest, with A.Diaz effort to rebuilt the italian army and getting help from the allies in doing so and in guns, ammo and men, they would have had the upper hand even if the A-H Army would not have dissolved already. A-Hs army was lacking everything... Indy mentioned 9 Divisions, but they were severely understrengh in headcount, and without food, ammo etc.
the Austro-Hungarian Empire was defeated after the battle of the Piave, Vittorio Veneto was the coup de grace.
"This is a victory that even the army of Luxembourg would have achieved" yeah!! for this there were 47 thousand italian dead and wounded and 90 thousand austro-hungarian dead and wounded , a quiet walk through Luxembourg. Go back to school!
Still, the Austro-Hungarian Army was well and truly no more once the Hungarians withdrew their troops. By definition, that makes the Austro-Hungarian Army dissolved. Yes, the Italians did a fine job mopping up the disorganized remaining forces (most of whom were in various phases of retreat anyway), but this was in no way the same army that stopped the Italians 11 times on the Isonzo.
To be precise, the armistice was agreed for the 4th of november hour 15.00, the A-H command instead informed the troops (before the final agreement) that the armstice would have been effective on the midnight between the 3th and the 4th, so the confusion was an austrian fault.
Ludendorf Runs with a fake mustache like a coward. Soldiers die and Generals Flee, the mighty have proven to be nothing more than welps.
Some extra: On the 28th in Budapest (Hungary) the "Battle of the Chain bridge" happened: The police attacked the crowd demanding the resignation of the Hungarian government and a new government under (the mentioned) Mihály Károlyi. 3 died, more than 50 injured. It was the prelude of the revolution.
I'm wondering if they'll go all the way to 1919 when the treaty is signed.
anyone watching these last few videos in 2020 with the whole Spanish Flu and now in 2020 this Covid-19 it really is true history tends to repeat itself
watching this at start 2022. It's chilling to think how many died then and now.
So much fun that school can never give.
Just to know, have you ever talked about the II army corp of the Royal Italian army that fought on the western front?
It may sound bad but I don’t want this war to end so this channel may keep going
last year, 2018, they organized a marathon in Vittorio Veneto to be held just once, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the battle
ONORE SEMPRE AL GENERALE ARMANDO DIAZ 🇮🇹🇮🇹🇮🇹🇮🇹🇮🇹🇮🇹🇮🇹🇮🇹
A question for out of the Trenches: I have heard that the German soldiers on the western front disliked the scottish troops. If that was the case, why? What's not to like about men in skirts?