Vazov was greatly respected even by the British for his defence of Doiran, in 1936 when he came to visit London he was personally greeted by Lord Milne who was his opposing general during the various Doiran battles in WW1. Lord Milne is quoted to have said 'Bring down the flags, the winner of Doiran is here!" and the flags of the regiments that fought in Doiran were lowered in honour of him.
Now that is what I call respect you would expect the opposing force to be quite angry but again it shows how much of a weird war WW1 was despite the casualties Britain suffered they treated him with the utmost genuine respect and it makes me proud.
British were absolutely destroyed in Doiran, to the point where British troops called the place "the Valley of Death". British suffered roughly 12 000 casulties. Vladimir Vazov was promoted to Major-General and the defence of Doiran made him a hero to the Bulgarians.
The british lost 47 000 and the greeks lost 20 000, the french lost 2 full devisions ,but the french casualties were never announced . The allies also had auxiliary serb troops, mercenaries, and additional colonial senegalese troops from the french . the summed allied casualties at Doiran totalled over 80 000 .
I'm a Bulgarian and can tell you that this battle began with one loud ura the irony is that literally the next day after the battle was over they had to retreat cuz the front was broken somewhere else and the British stood against the empty fortifications for two days before daring to go in
@@ysjhdhd2601 and when they visited Britain in the 1930s they where treated with the greatest genuine honour which makes me proud to known that despite it being war my nation didn't hold a grudge and neither did the officer's fighting it.
@@ysjhdhd2601 Correct, Ivan Vazov, is the literature author you refer to. In the age of darkness, most Bulgarians bluntly disregarded the Bulgarian government, seeking advice and news from Ivan Vazov.
Italian here👋 In our schools they barely talk about Bulgaria's military effort in ww1 but if they joined the war they must've done something. This song confirmed my teory more than anything else🔥🔥🇧🇬🔥🔥
As a Bulgarian myself this song gives me goosebumps... I can't really explain the amount of pride and joy it gave to everyone in our country. Sabaton released it on the 4th of march (bare in mind our liberation day is on the 3rd of march !)
Also notice the Lion stabbed by the 4 sabers and still holding on to the Bulgarian colors shield. Bulgaria has never lost or had a flag captured while at war . And the Lion is on our crest as well
It's amazing how every country that has a lion in their coat of arms, is depicted as strong and majestic and then comes our lion in Finland who is standing on top of a saber lol. Ofcourse the saber is meant to be russian, but it just seems goofy when you think about it.
@@RavetsU Isn't the lion also stabbing himself in the head with another sword as well? I love Finland btw , never knew the story behind the crest though
@@Worrick Haha, it sure does look like it! But the sword is behind his head, ready to strike. It has alot of meaning overall, dating back hundreds of years. Finland was pretty much bouncing back and forth in between Russia and Sweden.
quoting another great Bulgarian Patriot on UA-cam @Бранникѣ Battle of Doiran during 1917 aka "The little Verdun" is the biggest military disaster in the history of the British Empire and the biggest glory in Bulgarian history! In the chaos of the Macedonian Front the 9th Pleven Division (~17 000 strong) sudenly find themselfs in front of 7 British armies (~400 000 strong)! They were send to defend Sector "Boris" wich were near the Lake Doiran. The commander was Colonel Vladimir Vazov who will leter become General after what he and his boys will achieve in that hell position! The British start the first 4 attacks without any preparations and they suffer brutal loses but our High Command and Vazov himself saw that the position is too weak and General Vladimir Vazov ordered intense fortifying work during late 1916 and early 1917 that the British didn't expect! The next 4 attacks was coupled with massive artilery bombardment but they all failed despite British took the front trench system but the Bulgarians send all reserves in insane and bloody bayonete counter attack and took it back! The last 4 attack come after 7 days and nights of bombardment uncluding the first gas attack on this Front! The whole position "Boris" were devastated, the wires cutted but the bunkers intact and when the last 8 British divisions come to the first trench again General Vazov ordered an full suprise counter attack face to face hand to hand melee that will become the most epic and glorious win in our history! In the 1930's on a Veteran meeting in London General Vazov were welcomed at the train station by Lord Mill, Generals, Officers, Members of the Parliament and the Royal Family with the words "Down the Battle Flags! The winner of Doiran is walking through!" This is the only time in the history of the British Empire where the British downed their battle flags to anyone!!! Later Lord Mill will say to General Vazov that he respected the Bulgarian Soldiers because they fought with bravery and were true gentelmens like the Brits and will finish quote "Our boys ask me and my officers on arrival in Greece what to expect up there and we told then directly - You are in Greece! In front of you is Bulgaria that we have orders to invade but between are the enemy positions! Welcome to Bulgaria Chaps! Welcome in front of the Gates of Hell"!!! Survived British major sayed quote: "Bulgarian officers do not hide behind like ours but fight in front shoulder to shoulder with their soldiers! and continue with letter to the Allied High Command quote:" Learn to die like the Bulgarians and only then you will defeat them!!!"
Because of the fortifications he ordered to be constructed, the Bulgarian casualties we impossibly few. General Vazov was later the mayor of Sofia, the nation's capital. Wives and mothers of the men in those trenches would bring gifts and food to his office as a show of gratitude for bringing their husbands and sons back.
There's a sentence that is engraved in the mind of every Bulgarian soldier - "Not a single step back. Behind you is Bulgaria." Thats why during overwhelming odds (like this is the end for sure) Bulgarian soldiers were putting their parade uniforms for the final engagement.
Thanks. This is one reason for pride for us. I am Bulgarian. It is our national trait in difficult times when we are pressed against the corner to charge with out of the box ingenuity, and the battle cry URAAAAA is our way to say to our enemy: "you asked for trouble? well you get what you asked for. BIG trouble is coming your way, pray to your god you are ready to face our wrath!" This is the exact meaning of the battle cry URAAAAA. In this moment Bulgarian army fights like there is no tomorrow, as it was proven at Doiran.
I never head of this battle, also this greatest victory ever for there army and Nation. Battle of Doiran during 1917 aka "The little Verdun" is the biggest military disaster in the history of the British Empire and the biggest glory in Bulgarian history! In the chaos of the Macedonian Front the 9th Pleven Division (~17 000 strong) sudenly find themselfs in front of 7 British armies (~400 000 strong)! They were send to defend Sector "Boris" wich were near the Lake Doiran. The commander was Colonel Vladimir Vazov who will leter become General after what he and his boys will achieve in that hell position! The British start the first 4 attacks without any preparations and they suffer brutal loses but our High Command and Vazov himself saw that the position is too weak and General Vladimir Vazov ordered intense fortifying work during late 1916 and early 1917 that the British didn't expect! The next 4 attacks was coupled with massive artilery bombardment but they all failed despite British took the front trench system but the Bulgarians send all reserves in insane and bloody bayonete counter attack and took it back! The last 4 attack come after 7 days and nights of bombardment uncluding the first gas attack on this Front! The whole position "Boris" were devastated, the wires cutted but the bunkers intact and when the last 8 British divisions come to the first trench again General Vazov ordered an full suprise counter attack face to face hand to hand melee that will become the most epic and glorious win in our history! In the 1930's on a Veteran meeting in London General Vazov were welcomed at the train station by Lord Mill, Generals, Officers, Members of the Parliament and the Royal Family with the words "Down the Battle Flags! The winner of Doiran is walking through!" This is the only time in the history of the British Empire where the British downed their battle flags to anyone!!! Later Lord Mill will say to General Vazov that he respected the Bulgarian Soldiers because they fought with bravery and were true gentelmens like the Brits and will finish quote "Our boys ask me and my officers on arrival in Greece what to expect up there and we told then directly - You are in Greece! In front of you is Bulgaria that we have orders to invade but between are the enemy positions! Welcome to Bulgaria Chaps! Welcome in front of the Gates of Hell"!!! Survived British major sayed quote: "Bulgarian officers do not hide behind like ours but fight in front shoulder to shoulder with their soldiers! and continue with letter to the Allied High Command quote:" Learn to die like the Bulgarians and only then you will defeat them!!!"
A little correction the Invasion of Afghanistan in 1842, the fall of Singapore are amongst the battles if you can call them that are considered to be amongst the biggest military disasters in our Empires history maybe even the Somme if we are talking numbers on the first day alone the British army suffered 57,470 casualties of which 19,240 where killed my point is there are far more embarrassing Imperial defeats in our history than this but I still class this as a battle that should be logged as a major victory and defeat to be remembered. I have absolute respect for the Bulgarians who like you say put up a heroic defence and where treated with such genuine respect by their enemies.
@@samuel10125 its considered one of the greatest british defeats because of the numbers. The bulgarian army on that fron was outnumbered 10 to 1. This battle is considered the greatest victory in modern bulgarian history.. Not in the full bulgarian history though. Bulgaria is older than Britain.. Actually than everyone except the french in europe if im not mistaken 😉 1st bulgarian country was created in 681. And we did held the 4th crusade on our own for years. The crusade finally decided to to go around bulgaria due to that 😂
@@Na4oLibre Again I looked up multiple sources for great British defeats and this battle doesn't appear on any even with major historians again when I type this battle up nothing appears its like it doesn't exist its really weird and annoying because I want to read more about the battle.
I don't know if anybody has mentioned this in the comments, but I heard you speaking about the lion. It is indeed a national animal and when we try to metaphorically express that someone is courageous we are always comparing them to lion etc, hence why. Also it might help to know that we have never lost a flag, so it is showing how the lion is protecting the flag, the swords in the back of the Lion are the betrayals of our neighbors during the previous wars or at least that's what usually it means when depicted in similar way here.
Interesting fact.The lion not only represents is a national symbol, but Bulgaria's shape is very similar to a lion.Also mentally bulgarians had and some of us still have a very lion-ish spirit.And what's even better of sabaton to do is to make the lion stabbed by 4 swords, yet still keeping the flag, refering to the fact that during battles Bulgaria has never lost a flag, which I think no other country did.
Sabaton got a crew to check up facts of history, as well as the band members often go visit the locations, talk to locals and stuff, to get all facts, and missing info in there, before the making, and release of some of the songs..
Won't find anything... Doyran is in Republic if North Macedonia now and every Bulgarian historical trace is systematicaly destroyed and hidden by North Macedonian government, no matter which party
It's not about you as a person bein cornered it's about your homeland. The though that someone is coming to rampage your homeland is terrifying to bulgarian warrior and death is nothing scary in comparison
I yeah but what he means is when your back is against the wall which the Bulgarians where they couldn't retreat they had to hold at all costs heavily outnumbered you will fight such determination that arguably not even the biggest army could stop you.
Quick history lesson. Bulgarian army defended 3 times at Doiran during world war 1. 1916/1917/1918 First time was against combined french and british armies. 45 000 men, 400 artilery and others. Bulgarians won! Secound time (which is the moment in the song when they sing "twice they attack twice they are beaten back") it was 43 000 english men, 160 artilery, 400 machine guns and mortars. Bulgarians won! The third time it was combined forces of english and greek forces. 75 000 men. Bulgarians won! All 3 battles the bulgarian forces were no more than 30 000-35 000 men. After the war has ended, general Vazov went to England, where he was welcomed by their generals at the time and one of them shouted: Put the flags down, here comes the winner from Doiran! As for the picture, the lion is the national symbol of Bulgaria, and the shield resembles the defence of Doiran. Also there is a shield with the national colors on the helms of every soldier in the bulgarian army. And white, green, red are the colors of the national flag. And the swords show that no matter how many times you hurt the lion, he will still roar and kill you. You can't defeat him! I like the song and listen to it before i go to bed. I don't know why i stumble upon this video a year after it was released. Anyway, greetings! ❤
I’m not sure if it’s the term your looking for but I’ve hear ‘Even a worm will turn’ so when backed into a corner even the meekest animal will fight back
_Battle of Doiran during 1917 aka "The little Verdun" is the biggest military disaster in the history of the British Empire and the biggest glory in Bulgarian history! In the chaos of the Macedonian Front the 9th Pleven Division (~17 000 strong) sudenly find themselfs in front of 7 British armies (~400 000 strong)! They were send to defend Sector "Boris" wich were near the Lake Doiran. The commander was Colonel Vladimir Vazov who will leter become General after what he and his boys will achieve in that hell position! The British start the first 4 attacks without any preparations and they suffer brutal loses but our High Command and Vazov himself saw that the position is too weak and General Vladimir Vazov ordered intense fortifying work during late 1916 and early 1917 that the British didn't expect! The next 4 attacks was coupled with massive artilery bombardment but they all failed despite British took the front trench system but the Bulgarians send all reserves in insane and bloody bayonete counter attack and took it back! The last 4 attack come after 7 days and nights of bombardment uncluding the first gas attack on this Front! The whole position "Boris" were devastated, the wires cutted but the bunkers intact and when the last 8 British divisions come to the first trench again General Vazov ordered an full suprise counter attack face to face hand to hand melee that will become the most epic and glorious win in our history! In the 1930's on a Veteran meeting in London General Vazov were welcomed at the train station by Lord Mill, Generals, Officers, Members of the Parliament and the Royal Family with the words "Down the Battle Flags! The winner of Doiran is walking through!" This is the only time in the history of the British Empire where the British downed their battle flags to anyone!!! Later Lord Mill will say to General Vazov that he respected the Bulgarian Soldiers because they fought with bravery and were true gentelmens like the Brits and will finish quote "Our boys ask me and my officers on arrival in Greece what to expect up there and we told then directly - You are in Greece! In front of you is Bulgaria that we have orders to invade but between are the enemy positions! Welcome to Bulgaria Chaps! Welcome in front of the Gates of Hell"!!! Survived British major sayed quote: "Bulgarian officers do not hide behind like ours but fight in front shoulder to shoulder with their soldiers! and continue with letter to the Allied High Command quote:" Learn to die like the Bulgarians and only then you will defeat them!!!" General Vazov tactics are studied till today in every military universities around the World and they were used by the Vietnanese against USA!_
Sun Tzu said to always leave your enemies an outlet to retreat. A cornered animal always fights harder, but in this case I believe that he really meant that in leaving an escape route the enemy will flee in fear of encirclement. Brilliantly simple because a fleeing enemy is easily cut down. Especially with the advent of light harrying cavalry. The Mongols used this tactic to great effect because of the short horn bow that was their main weapon from horseback. Think about it. Thousands of cavalry chasing down infantry in retreat with deadly accuracy. Extremely maneuverable and able to enfilade and fire while moving. Damn….
The lion is an ancient Bulgarian symbol, way earlier than the British ones... Like the White-Green-Red flag, which origins are found even as early as in the times of Orpheus. Dig a little bit, it will be really interesting to you, as I see you're a very thoughtful person :)
After this album is over some must do songs are cliffs of Gallipoli, last dying breath, long live the king, talvisota, and lifetime of war in that order.
I'm british and damn i'm also bulgarian while listening to this song. On first listen of the full album, this was my second to least favourite song and now it's well up there. Definitely a grower
The numbers on each side weren't that different.. About 10,000 in favour to the British.. But the Bulgarians took 10,000 less casualties. Absolutely astounding defence in a hell of a war. As a Brit, I even love listening to this song knowing the pride that Bulgarians must have for this act. Fantastic song about a fantastic battle.
The Bulgarian lion is much older than British ones. Also to mention that, there is no single war flag captured in Bulgarian history, last near 1400 years!
Just a note to the commentator. The epic music in the 300 is Bulgarian folk song. You make that kind of music only when you love through such epics. Coincidentially, Spartans were devote followers of Godess Trake, from which Tracian derived their name. Ancient Tracians are modern day Bulgarians according to the latest genetic rsearch. One Trcian king was reputed to say that if he is not fighting, he is just a stable boy.
The sayings I can find about being cornered were a Chinese proverb "Corner a dog in a dead-end street and it will turn and bite" and a quote by Manel Loureiro "Back a mouse into a corner and he'll attack a lion."
Bulgarian here. Awesome video. And yes the lion although not an animal that can be seen in our country. It is our national symbol, even our currency is called lev aka lion.
The song fires its main barrage at the start and personally I think it goes slightly downhill after that but picks up back again in the chorus and the “again again, again, again they attack” is very good.
This is the second most important battle in bulgarian history after the battle of Shipka. If Bulgaria lost the battle at Doiran, theres a high chance it wouldnt exist today - if the british, serbs and greeks entered Bulgaria before the armistice was signed, they would have had more bargaining power on the peace deal, and Serbia, Greece and Romania would have been able to grab whatever they want. Serbia - all of western Bulgaria to the Iskar river, Romania all of Moesia, and Greece all of Thrace. So in best case scenario Bulgaria would have been left like a Gaza strip around the Stara planina mountain, worst case scenario it would have been completely partitioned like Poland. After the war Vladimir Vazov became a mayor of Sofia, and women would carry food to him daily, in gratitude for saving their husbands and sons in that war - his idea to force them to build a complex of bunkers and trenches kinda pissed them off, since they had to dig and build for 6 months in the hot summer. But in the end it paid off, since the british shelled those positions for 48 hours and used around 150 thousand shells, not to mention 9 consecutive poison gas attacks. Only a group of 7 people died, and only because they lost their way. That bunker and tunnel system actually makes modern Sofia's metro look like a joke. Vladimir Vazov returned the 9-th Pleven division with only 494 casualties, most other divisions lost thousands. So thats why this battle was studied in military academies for years - even the russians used his example during the battle at Kursk against the germans - far front machinegun positions connected to the trenches behind, those positions hinder the enemy advance by forcing them to lay down in cover.
There is a good video on the Battle of Doiran by a channel called Българска История (Bulgarian History). The video is called The Military Miracle of Bulgaria: Battle of Doiran. The dub is in Bulgarian, but there are also English closed captions. I'd highly recommend you watch it to get a full feeling of the battle, sung here by Sabaton.
Unlike the 300 Spartan's Bulgarian's manage to hold of the: British, French, Italian,Greek,Serb and Australian unit's at Doiran and protect their country. Even the Bulgarian's inflicted less than 1k casualty's.
"on a knife" was the last command of Doiran's defenders. All or nothing ! Everyone knew what to do, just kill another enemy before he died . But Bulgaria won.
Да, най-страшната заповед - напред на нож, и боен вик Ура. Както агличаните откриха по много унизителен начин, това означава да се молиш на твойте богове, защото идваме и ще се бием все едно няма утре.
I do think War To End All Wars and Great War can be attributed to Indy. Before they collaborated for Sabaton History it was Last Stand and now they have two WWI albums. (Indy did do The Great War youtube channel before)
I saw you struggled with "Versailles" at the start of the video so here is how to say it, "vers i" with the "i" sounding like the english letter's name, in French "ai" make a similar sound to "é" but if you have 2 L behind it (or one if no letter comes after like in "ail") it makes the same sound as the way you would say the name of the letter "i" in english. In Versailles the "es" at the end is silent
It's an absolutely fantastic song but as a Brit its bloody odd too because it's about a defense against my countrymen. I think everyone feels that way when they hear a song that's absolutely awesome but it's about a fight against their own country.
Samuel, I am Bulgarian i take a feel of national pride listening to this song, and the events in it. No offense. In the past many countries waged war for many causes. What is important now, is Bulgaria and UK are friends now.
@@ShinobiDiabolik Good it should give you patriotic pride in your military and nation no taken by the way its war we don't choose our sides the respect our Armies gave each other in the end is something to be admired no ill feelings just a sense that both did what they where trained to and their duty. We paid great honour to General Vladimir Vazov when in 1936 he arrived in Victoria Station in London, by lowering the flags of all their regiments who participated in the battle. The chairman of the British legion Major Goldy said in his speech: "He is one of the few foreign officers whose name features in our history". Supposedly during one of the battles a British officer Is quoted as saying I'm paraphrasing a little "Once you learn to fight and die like Bulgarians only then will you be able to defeat them. But I can't confirm it. Honestly this has become my one of mu favourite songs I can't stop listening to it
@@samuel10125 Your memory serves you well about the phrase. As long as it ends well, it is good. currently i am happy that both countries are friends and respect each other, the way it should be. cheers and best wishes.
Beware of a cornered animal, a cornered animal will fight twice as hard to survive. Fight or flight, when flight is not an option they will give it their all.
About the lion, yes. The lion is the national animal of Britain. This is also why the national animal of Scotland is oddly the unicorn. Unicorns and lions are enemies... oddly.
To be honest as a Canadian it makes me sad they didn't do a song about vimmy ridge it of course it's understandable but it's a cool story still love the album tho
The white, green and red is the flag colours of Bulgaria, the lion is meant to represent the British who eventually were the victors, with the swords being the battles that hurt the British
No, the lion represents Bulgaria. It is the Bulgarian 'national' animal and it is present on our coat of arms, various flags and statues, poems, etc. Even the Bulgarian currency lev means lion in Bulgarian.
Respect for reacting to the song…../but you were very poorly prepared. All you had to do before that is google the battle. The colours are the national flag, the lion is on the crest and the swords - it wasnt just the british attacking (its allied force). And it wasnt “we have nothing to loose, so we fight! It was about protection the country! And FYI…..bulgaria had not 1, but 2 empires ;)
3:40 That was an empty talk Because It’s not Like All Type Of Those Of beigium It’s not True That They’ve Had Pronouncing Issues I Don’t Believe That, That’s Wrong
Britain lost only for concerns about the latest updates regarding the new Health & Safety legislation introduced just a couple of days before the attack. In the latest edition, BS 4506( from 2nd of April 1917) was strongly advised that in case of any kind of violent fighting, the troops have to return home to their families and immediately contact their related GPs for PTSD treatment.
Vazov was greatly respected even by the British for his defence of Doiran, in 1936 when he came to visit London he was personally greeted by Lord Milne who was his opposing general during the various Doiran battles in WW1. Lord Milne is quoted to have said 'Bring down the flags, the winner of Doiran is here!" and the flags of the regiments that fought in Doiran were lowered in honour of him.
Now that is what I call respect you would expect the opposing force to be quite angry but again it shows how much of a weird war WW1 was despite the casualties Britain suffered they treated him with the utmost genuine respect and it makes me proud.
British were absolutely destroyed in Doiran, to the point where British troops called the place "the Valley of Death". British suffered roughly 12 000 casulties. Vladimir Vazov was promoted to Major-General and the defence of Doiran made him a hero to the Bulgarians.
The british lost 47 000 and the greeks lost 20 000, the french lost 2 full devisions ,but the french casualties were never announced .
The allies also had auxiliary serb troops, mercenaries, and additional colonial senegalese troops from the french .
the summed allied casualties at Doiran totalled over 80 000 .
I'm a Bulgarian and can tell you that this battle began with one loud ura the irony is that literally the next day after the battle was over they had to retreat cuz the front was broken somewhere else and the British stood against the empty fortifications for two days before daring to go in
The brother of Vladimir Vazov Ivan Vazov is the biggest name 8n Bulgarian literature
@@ysjhdhd2601 and when they visited Britain in the 1930s they where treated with the greatest genuine honour which makes me proud to known that despite it being war my nation didn't hold a grudge and neither did the officer's fighting it.
@@ysjhdhd2601 Correct, Ivan Vazov, is the literature author you refer to. In the age of darkness, most Bulgarians bluntly disregarded the Bulgarian government, seeking advice and news from Ivan Vazov.
Italian here👋
In our schools they barely talk about Bulgaria's military effort in ww1 but if they joined the war they must've done something.
This song confirmed my teory more than anything else🔥🔥🇧🇬🔥🔥
As a Bulgarian myself this song gives me goosebumps... I can't really explain the amount of pride and joy it gave to everyone in our country. Sabaton released it on the 4th of march (bare in mind our liberation day is on the 3rd of march !)
I’m not even Bulgarian and it gives me goosebumps can’t imagine how you feel lol
Also notice the Lion stabbed by the 4 sabers and still holding on to the Bulgarian colors shield. Bulgaria has never lost or had a flag captured while at war
. And the Lion is on our crest as well
It's amazing how every country that has a lion in their coat of arms, is depicted as strong and majestic and then comes our lion in Finland who is standing on top of a saber lol. Ofcourse the saber is meant to be russian, but it just seems goofy when you think about it.
@@RavetsU Isn't the lion also stabbing himself in the head with another sword as well? I love Finland btw , never knew the story behind the crest though
@@Worrick Haha, it sure does look like it! But the sword is behind his head, ready to strike. It has alot of meaning overall, dating back hundreds of years. Finland was pretty much bouncing back and forth in between Russia and Sweden.
@@RavetsU Yeah I know that much since I'm a history major , but thought there was a story behind the creation of the crest I didn't know about
@@Bazerald777 disperse dumbo
This is my favorite song on the album
Same here, love it and the chorus got me hooked the first time I heard the song
Same
Im tied with this, dreadnought and resist and bite
@@FemboyVegeta Me with Stormtroopers and this ond
quoting another great Bulgarian Patriot on UA-cam @Бранникѣ
Battle of Doiran during 1917 aka "The little Verdun" is the biggest military disaster in the history of the British Empire and the biggest glory in Bulgarian history! In the chaos of the Macedonian Front the 9th Pleven Division (~17 000 strong) sudenly find themselfs in front of 7 British armies (~400 000 strong)! They were send to defend Sector "Boris" wich were near the Lake Doiran. The commander was Colonel Vladimir Vazov who will leter become General after what he and his boys will achieve in that hell position! The British start the first 4 attacks without any preparations and they suffer brutal loses but our High Command and Vazov himself saw that the position is too weak and General Vladimir Vazov ordered intense fortifying work during late 1916 and early 1917 that the British didn't expect! The next 4 attacks was coupled with massive artilery bombardment but they all failed despite British took the front trench system but the Bulgarians send all reserves in insane and bloody bayonete counter attack and took it back! The last 4 attack come after 7 days and nights of bombardment uncluding the first gas attack on this Front! The whole position "Boris" were devastated, the wires cutted but the bunkers intact and when the last 8 British divisions come to the first trench again General Vazov ordered an full suprise counter attack face to face hand to hand melee that will become the most epic and glorious win in our history! In the 1930's on a Veteran meeting in London General Vazov were welcomed at the train station by Lord Mill, Generals, Officers, Members of the Parliament and the Royal Family with the words "Down the Battle Flags! The winner of Doiran is walking through!" This is the only time in the history of the British Empire where the British downed their battle flags to anyone!!! Later Lord Mill will say to General Vazov that he respected the Bulgarian Soldiers because they fought with bravery and were true gentelmens like the Brits and will finish quote "Our boys ask me and my officers on arrival in Greece what to expect up there and we told then directly - You are in Greece! In front of you is Bulgaria that we have orders to invade but between are the enemy positions! Welcome to Bulgaria Chaps! Welcome in front of the Gates of Hell"!!! Survived British major sayed quote: "Bulgarian officers do not hide behind like ours but fight in front shoulder to shoulder with their soldiers! and continue with letter to the Allied High Command quote:" Learn to die like the Bulgarians and only then you will defeat them!!!"
Because of the fortifications he ordered to be constructed, the Bulgarian casualties we impossibly few.
General Vazov was later the mayor of Sofia, the nation's capital. Wives and mothers of the men in those trenches would bring gifts and food to his office as a show of gratitude for bringing their husbands and sons back.
There's a sentence that is engraved in the mind of every Bulgarian soldier - "Not a single step back. Behind you is Bulgaria." Thats why during overwhelming odds (like this is the end for sure) Bulgarian soldiers were putting their parade uniforms for the final engagement.
This is one of my favorites as well. Salute to the brave Bulgarians who held the line.
Thanks. This is one reason for pride for us. I am Bulgarian. It is our national trait in difficult times when we are pressed against the corner to charge with out of the box ingenuity, and the battle cry URAAAAA is our way to say to our enemy: "you asked for trouble? well you get what you asked for. BIG trouble is coming your way, pray to your god you are ready to face our wrath!" This is the exact meaning of the battle cry URAAAAA. In this moment Bulgarian army fights like there is no tomorrow, as it was proven at Doiran.
Grreting from Bulgaria.Tnanks for comment and reaction ❤
I love the energy in the intro. It resembles Seven Pillars of Wisdom
I never head of this battle, also this greatest victory ever for there army and Nation.
Battle of Doiran during 1917 aka "The little Verdun" is the biggest military disaster in the history of the British Empire and the biggest glory in Bulgarian history! In the chaos of the Macedonian Front the 9th Pleven Division (~17 000 strong) sudenly find themselfs in front of 7 British armies (~400 000 strong)! They were send to defend Sector "Boris" wich were near the Lake Doiran. The commander was Colonel Vladimir Vazov who will leter become General after what he and his boys will achieve in that hell position! The British start the first 4 attacks without any preparations and they suffer brutal loses but our High Command and Vazov himself saw that the position is too weak and General Vladimir Vazov ordered intense fortifying work during late 1916 and early 1917 that the British didn't expect! The next 4 attacks was coupled with massive artilery bombardment but they all failed despite British took the front trench system but the Bulgarians send all reserves in insane and bloody bayonete counter attack and took it back! The last 4 attack come after 7 days and nights of bombardment uncluding the first gas attack on this Front! The whole position "Boris" were devastated, the wires cutted but the bunkers intact and when the last 8 British divisions come to the first trench again General Vazov ordered an full suprise counter attack face to face hand to hand melee that will become the most epic and glorious win in our history! In the 1930's on a Veteran meeting in London General Vazov were welcomed at the train station by Lord Mill, Generals, Officers, Members of the Parliament and the Royal Family with the words "Down the Battle Flags! The winner of Doiran is walking through!" This is the only time in the history of the British Empire where the British downed their battle flags to anyone!!! Later Lord Mill will say to General Vazov that he respected the Bulgarian Soldiers because they fought with bravery and were true gentelmens like the Brits and will finish quote "Our boys ask me and my officers on arrival in Greece what to expect up there and we told then directly - You are in Greece! In front of you is Bulgaria that we have orders to invade but between are the enemy positions! Welcome to Bulgaria Chaps! Welcome in front of the Gates of Hell"!!! Survived British major sayed quote: "Bulgarian officers do not hide behind like ours but fight in front shoulder to shoulder with their soldiers! and continue with letter to the Allied High Command quote:" Learn to die like the Bulgarians and only then you will defeat them!!!"
A little correction the Invasion of Afghanistan in 1842, the fall of Singapore are amongst the battles if you can call them that are considered to be amongst the biggest military disasters in our Empires history maybe even the Somme if we are talking numbers on the first day alone the British army suffered 57,470 casualties of which 19,240 where killed my point is there are far more embarrassing Imperial defeats in our history than this but I still class this as a battle that should be logged as a major victory and defeat to be remembered.
I have absolute respect for the Bulgarians who like you say put up a heroic defence and where treated with such genuine respect by their enemies.
@@samuel10125 its considered one of the greatest british defeats because of the numbers. The bulgarian army on that fron was outnumbered 10 to 1. This battle is considered the greatest victory in modern bulgarian history.. Not in the full bulgarian history though. Bulgaria is older than Britain.. Actually than everyone except the french in europe if im not mistaken 😉 1st bulgarian country was created in 681. And we did held the 4th crusade on our own for years. The crusade finally decided to to go around bulgaria due to that 😂
@@Na4oLibre Again I looked up multiple sources for great British defeats and this battle doesn't appear on any even with major historians again when I type this battle up nothing appears its like it doesn't exist its really weird and annoying because I want to read more about the battle.
@@Na4oLibre The country was formed in 680, but it was recognized as independent country in 681. Because of this historical records say 681.
@@samuel10125 That's why it's most likely their worst defeat, they got so humiliated, they tried suppress the memory
Love from Bulgaria 🇧🇬
I don't know if anybody has mentioned this in the comments, but I heard you speaking about the lion. It is indeed a national animal and when we try to metaphorically express that someone is courageous we are always comparing them to lion etc, hence why. Also it might help to know that we have never lost a flag, so it is showing how the lion is protecting the flag, the swords in the back of the Lion are the betrayals of our neighbors during the previous wars or at least that's what usually it means when depicted in similar way here.
''There are NO two deaths, it cant be without one!'' - PUT ON THE KNIVES!
Another great Bulgarian. Colonel Boris Drangov.
Interesting fact.The lion not only represents is a national symbol, but Bulgaria's shape is very similar to a lion.Also mentally bulgarians had and some of us still have a very lion-ish spirit.And what's even better of sabaton to do is to make the lion stabbed by 4 swords, yet still keeping the flag, refering to the fact that during battles Bulgaria has never lost a flag, which I think no other country did.
As a Bulgarian the combination of the song, the images and the meaning behind them is stunning!!!
Sabaton got a crew to check up facts of history, as well as the band members often go visit the locations, talk to locals and stuff, to get all facts, and missing info in there, before the making, and release of some of the songs..
Won't find anything...
Doyran is in Republic if North Macedonia now and every Bulgarian historical trace is systematicaly destroyed and hidden by North Macedonian government, no matter which party
It's not about you as a person bein cornered it's about your homeland. The though that someone is coming to rampage your homeland is terrifying to bulgarian warrior and death is nothing scary in comparison
I yeah but what he means is when your back is against the wall which the Bulgarians where they couldn't retreat they had to hold at all costs heavily outnumbered you will fight such determination that arguably not even the biggest army could stop you.
@@samuel10125 I agree
Quick history lesson.
Bulgarian army defended 3 times at Doiran during world war 1. 1916/1917/1918
First time was against combined french and british armies. 45 000 men, 400 artilery and others. Bulgarians won!
Secound time (which is the moment in the song when they sing "twice they attack twice they are beaten back") it was 43 000 english men, 160 artilery, 400 machine guns and mortars. Bulgarians won!
The third time it was combined forces of english and greek forces. 75 000 men.
Bulgarians won!
All 3 battles the bulgarian forces were no more than 30 000-35 000 men.
After the war has ended, general Vazov went to England, where he was welcomed by their generals at the time and one of them shouted: Put the flags down, here comes the winner from Doiran!
As for the picture, the lion is the national symbol of Bulgaria, and the shield resembles the defence of Doiran. Also there is a shield with the national colors on the helms of every soldier in the bulgarian army. And white, green, red are the colors of the national flag. And the swords show that no matter how many times you hurt the lion, he will still roar and kill you. You can't defeat him!
I like the song and listen to it before i go to bed. I don't know why i stumble upon this video a year after it was released. Anyway, greetings! ❤
Amazing timing my friend! I have been chain watching your Sabaton reactions and now a new one! Subscribed! May the Emperor protect.
May the Emperor Protect
I’m not sure if it’s the term your looking for but I’ve hear ‘Even a worm will turn’ so when backed into a corner even the meekest animal will fight back
In the Ardennes we say that, when a boar cannot flee it will charge.
_Battle of Doiran during 1917 aka "The little Verdun" is the biggest military disaster in the history of the British Empire and the biggest glory in Bulgarian history! In the chaos of the Macedonian Front the 9th Pleven Division (~17 000 strong) sudenly find themselfs in front of 7 British armies (~400 000 strong)! They were send to defend Sector "Boris" wich were near the Lake Doiran. The commander was Colonel Vladimir Vazov who will leter become General after what he and his boys will achieve in that hell position! The British start the first 4 attacks without any preparations and they suffer brutal loses but our High Command and Vazov himself saw that the position is too weak and General Vladimir Vazov ordered intense fortifying work during late 1916 and early 1917 that the British didn't expect! The next 4 attacks was coupled with massive artilery bombardment but they all failed despite British took the front trench system but the Bulgarians send all reserves in insane and bloody bayonete counter attack and took it back! The last 4 attack come after 7 days and nights of bombardment uncluding the first gas attack on this Front! The whole position "Boris" were devastated, the wires cutted but the bunkers intact and when the last 8 British divisions come to the first trench again General Vazov ordered an full suprise counter attack face to face hand to hand melee that will become the most epic and glorious win in our history! In the 1930's on a Veteran meeting in London General Vazov were welcomed at the train station by Lord Mill, Generals, Officers, Members of the Parliament and the Royal Family with the words "Down the Battle Flags! The winner of Doiran is walking through!" This is the only time in the history of the British Empire where the British downed their battle flags to anyone!!! Later Lord Mill will say to General Vazov that he respected the Bulgarian Soldiers because they fought with bravery and were true gentelmens like the Brits and will finish quote "Our boys ask me and my officers on arrival in Greece what to expect up there and we told then directly - You are in Greece! In front of you is Bulgaria that we have orders to invade but between are the enemy positions! Welcome to Bulgaria Chaps! Welcome in front of the Gates of Hell"!!! Survived British major sayed quote: "Bulgarian officers do not hide behind like ours but fight in front shoulder to shoulder with their soldiers! and continue with letter to the Allied High Command quote:" Learn to die like the Bulgarians and only then you will defeat them!!!" General Vazov tactics are studied till today in every military universities around the World and they were used by the Vietnanese against USA!_
I am bulgarian and I watch all of your videos since almost the beginning. Keep it up!
Sun Tzu said to always leave your enemies an outlet to retreat. A cornered animal always fights harder, but in this case I believe that he really meant that in leaving an escape route the enemy will flee in fear of encirclement. Brilliantly simple because a fleeing enemy is easily cut down. Especially with the advent of light harrying cavalry. The Mongols used this tactic to great effect because of the short horn bow that was their main weapon from horseback. Think about it. Thousands of cavalry chasing down infantry in retreat with deadly accuracy. Extremely maneuverable and able to enfilade and fire while moving. Damn….
I think Audie Murphy noted that retreat was one of the most dangerous operations in war.
The lion is an ancient Bulgarian symbol, way earlier than the British ones... Like the White-Green-Red flag, which origins are found even as early as in the times of Orpheus. Dig a little bit, it will be really interesting to you, as I see you're a very thoughtful person :)
After this album is over some must do songs are cliffs of Gallipoli, last dying breath, long live the king, talvisota, and lifetime of war in that order.
I'm british and damn i'm also bulgarian while listening to this song. On first listen of the full album, this was my second to least favourite song and now it's well up there. Definitely a grower
The numbers on each side weren't that different.. About 10,000 in favour to the British.. But the Bulgarians took 10,000 less casualties. Absolutely astounding defence in a hell of a war. As a Brit, I even love listening to this song knowing the pride that Bulgarians must have for this act. Fantastic song about a fantastic battle.
beautiful reaction!
love your reactions and comments
Summer Solo, The Valley Of Death From Sabaton
Greetings from Bulgaria ✊🇧🇬🦁
this one rocks so hard 80's. I love it.
If you want to visualize the entire thing - theres a very good video of a channel called Knowledgia. Video is called "The third Balkan war"
Its a sun tzu quote " throw your soliders into postions once there is no escape and they will prefer death to flight"
The Bulgarian lion is much older than British ones. Also to mention that, there is no single war flag captured in Bulgarian history, last near 1400 years!
Just a note to the commentator. The epic music in the 300 is Bulgarian folk song. You make that kind of music only when you love through such epics. Coincidentially, Spartans were devote followers of Godess Trake, from which Tracian derived their name. Ancient Tracians are modern day Bulgarians according to the latest genetic rsearch. One Trcian king was reputed to say that if he is not fighting, he is just a stable boy.
The sayings I can find about being cornered were a Chinese proverb "Corner a dog in a dead-end street and it will turn and bite" and a quote by Manel Loureiro "Back a mouse into a corner and he'll attack a lion."
Bulgarian here. Awesome video. And yes the lion although not an animal that can be seen in our country. It is our national symbol, even our currency is called lev aka lion.
Good job! Bulgaria ☝
The song fires its main barrage at the start and personally I think it goes slightly downhill after that but picks up back again in the chorus and the “again again, again, again they attack” is very good.
And they have a show in Bulgaria this summer...... Oh boy Oh boy.
No step back! Behind is Bulgaria!
Greetings from Bulgaria to all!
This is the second most important battle in bulgarian history after the battle of Shipka. If Bulgaria lost the battle at Doiran, theres a high chance it wouldnt exist today - if the british, serbs and greeks entered Bulgaria before the armistice was signed, they would have had more bargaining power on the peace deal, and Serbia, Greece and Romania would have been able to grab whatever they want. Serbia - all of western Bulgaria to the Iskar river, Romania all of Moesia, and Greece all of Thrace. So in best case scenario Bulgaria would have been left like a Gaza strip around the Stara planina mountain, worst case scenario it would have been completely partitioned like Poland. After the war Vladimir Vazov became a mayor of Sofia, and women would carry food to him daily, in gratitude for saving their husbands and sons in that war - his idea to force them to build a complex of bunkers and trenches kinda pissed them off, since they had to dig and build for 6 months in the hot summer. But in the end it paid off, since the british shelled those positions for 48 hours and used around 150 thousand shells, not to mention 9 consecutive poison gas attacks. Only a group of 7 people died, and only because they lost their way. That bunker and tunnel system actually makes modern Sofia's metro look like a joke. Vladimir Vazov returned the 9-th Pleven division with only 494 casualties, most other divisions lost thousands. So thats why this battle was studied in military academies for years - even the russians used his example during the battle at Kursk against the germans - far front machinegun positions connected to the trenches behind, those positions hinder the enemy advance by forcing them to lay down in cover.
Wow, amazing. That's some achievements to be proud of!
When Gen. Vazov was invited to the UK, an officer shout: "Take down the flags, Gen Vazov is comming - the victoror from Doiran!"
Wish this was the history version, I love the narration intro to this one.
ha ha. I really liked how he compared the Battle of Doiran to the 300 Spartans. Greetings from Bulgaria.
i am a
Bulgerian and this song is amazing i love it its so accurate
I love your channel keep up the great stuff
There is a good video on the Battle of Doiran by a channel called Българска История (Bulgarian History). The video is called The Military Miracle of Bulgaria: Battle of Doiran. The dub is in Bulgarian, but there are also English closed captions. I'd highly recommend you watch it to get a full feeling of the battle, sung here by Sabaton.
the lion is the national animal of the UK
The Lion is Bulgarien enimal too. It is on our flag and on parliament
Wait it isn't Boris? Jk
My favourite from musical prospective.
Unlike the 300 Spartan's
Bulgarian's manage to hold of the: British, French, Italian,Greek,Serb and Australian unit's at Doiran and protect their country.
Even the Bulgarian's inflicted less than 1k casualty's.
"on a knife" was the last command of Doiran's defenders. All or nothing ! Everyone knew what to do, just kill another enemy before he died . But Bulgaria won.
Да, най-страшната заповед - напред на нож, и боен вик Ура. Както агличаните откриха по много унизителен начин, това означава да се молиш на твойте богове, защото идваме и ще се бием все едно няма утре.
wow
This song is.... FIREEEEEE!
I do think War To End All Wars and Great War can be attributed to Indy. Before they collaborated for Sabaton History it was Last Stand and now they have two WWI albums. (Indy did do The Great War youtube channel before)
I saw you struggled with "Versailles" at the start of the video so here is how to say it, "vers i" with the "i" sounding like the english letter's name, in French "ai" make a similar sound to "é" but if you have 2 L behind it (or one if no letter comes after like in "ail") it makes the same sound as the way you would say the name of the letter "i" in english. In Versailles the "es" at the end is silent
I always describe it as “Verse I” or “Ver Sigh”
The intro remind me some dragon ball z mood, so coooool
Dont forget sarajevo..released same as the new album...should of been on it
Already done.
ua-cam.com/video/SsHMFSEZeqg/v-deo.html
Please do last dying breath
My guy, me and a few others are still waiting for Royal Guard
Come on Bulgaria are you here
It's an absolutely fantastic song but as a Brit its bloody odd too because it's about a defense against my countrymen.
I think everyone feels that way when they hear a song that's absolutely awesome but it's about a fight against their own country.
Samuel, I am Bulgarian i take a feel of national pride listening to this song, and the events in it. No offense. In the past many countries waged war for many causes. What is important now, is Bulgaria and UK are friends now.
@@ShinobiDiabolik Good it should give you patriotic pride in your military and nation no taken by the way its war we don't choose our sides the respect our Armies gave each other in the end is something to be admired no ill feelings just a sense that both did what they where trained to and their duty.
We paid great honour to General Vladimir Vazov when in 1936 he arrived in Victoria Station in London, by lowering the flags of all their regiments who participated in the battle. The chairman of the British legion Major Goldy said in his speech: "He is one of the few foreign officers whose name features in our history".
Supposedly during one of the battles a British officer Is quoted as saying I'm paraphrasing a little "Once you learn to fight and die like Bulgarians only then will you be able to defeat them. But I can't confirm it.
Honestly this has become my one of mu favourite songs I can't stop listening to it
@@samuel10125 Your memory serves you well about the phrase. As long as it ends well, it is good. currently i am happy that both countries are friends and respect each other, the way it should be. cheers and best wishes.
Lord Milne was Gentleman. Are you too?
Just by the way. The last track, Versailles, Pronouce it like Ver-sigh.
The 4 sabers symbolize the 2nd Balkan war and the betrayal of Bulgarians by their allies, especially Romania
How easy you can change bulgaria for Ukraine and british for Russian. Fits like a glove
Versailles is pronounced “Versai” btw :)
Beware of a cornered animal, a cornered animal will fight twice as hard to survive. Fight or flight, when flight is not an option they will give it their all.
I'd believe the lion would represent the britsh and the swords represent their failed assaults.
About the lion, yes. The lion is the national animal of Britain. This is also why the national animal of Scotland is oddly the unicorn. Unicorns and lions are enemies... oddly.
its the national animal of Bulgaria too and it represents Bulgaria here not Britain
@@mcsroom8930 Ah, really? I didn't know that. Thank you.
Hymn of the immortal Bulgarian soldiers. The biggest warriors of the world... Once. Сега са нагъзени на западния враг. Не и аз!
yea best solo in this album...by Chris. Side note I think US ppl are so into their own shit that it's amazing...ignorance i mean
To be honest as a Canadian it makes me sad they didn't do a song about vimmy ridge it of course it's understandable but it's a cool story still love the album tho
You should react to Dream Theater some day!
They have some of the most talented musicians in their band :D
Since you were mentioning the Spartans you might as well review Sparta by sabaton
Here ya go.
ua-cam.com/video/ulxrmZjs-WE/v-deo.html
versailles = [verse ai]
🇧🇬🇧🇬🫡
The white, green and red is the flag colours of Bulgaria, the lion is meant to represent the British who eventually were the victors, with the swords being the battles that hurt the British
The Lion is Bulgarien enimal too. It is on our flag and on parliament
No, the lion represents Bulgaria. It is the Bulgarian 'national' animal and it is present on our coat of arms, various flags and statues, poems, etc. Even the Bulgarian currency lev means lion in Bulgarian.
Hi!
Respect for reacting to the song…../but you were very poorly prepared. All you had to do before that is google the battle. The colours are the national flag, the lion is on the crest and the swords - it wasnt just the british attacking (its allied force). And it wasnt “we have nothing to loose, so we fight! It was about protection the country! And FYI…..bulgaria had not 1, but 2 empires ;)
3:40 That was an empty talk Because It’s not Like All Type Of Those Of beigium It’s not True That They’ve Had Pronouncing Issues I Don’t Believe That, That’s Wrong
Britain lost only for concerns about the latest updates regarding the new Health & Safety legislation introduced just a couple of days before the attack. In the latest edition, BS 4506( from 2nd of April 1917) was strongly advised that in case of any kind of violent fighting, the troops have to return home to their families and immediately contact their related GPs for PTSD treatment.
😂 sure dude sure .in Bulgarian trench death maybe 20-30 000 British brave soljers.