History Thread

[Geezer]

This likely won't generate enough interest but I wanted to mark the 100th anniversary of the start of WWI; 8/4/1914. I also recently got a publication from February 1914 that had many interesting historical articles(to history buffs anyway). These two didn't seem to merit two threads.

There are some WWI specials that have recently been on the History Channel and other cable channels. The "Great War" resulted in so much slaughter because of new technologies that tactics didn't catch up with; the machine gun, air power used to bomb civilians, modern submarines, poison gas.
The war also had the first modern genocide with the Turks murdering about 1 million Armenian civilian (Christians) by a forced death march with no food, water,medicine or shelter.
Serbia also lost 650,000 civilians due to disease and starvation. Serbia lost 1.1 million people out of a population of 4.5 million.
I never thought of Italy as a big player in WWI but they lost 650.000 KIAs and had another 950,000 wounded.

WWI also marked the end of several empires; Austo Hungary, the Ottoman empire. Monarchies also disapperaed; some to democratic forms; Russia's Czars being replaced by communism.

There was a real interesting show about the last day of WWI. The French general Foch who met with the German committee hated Germany. He had lost a son and son-in-law in the war. The armitice could have ended 4 days earlier but Foch wanted to jerk the Germans around first.
The last day of the war was set to end at 11 am. Allied commanders ordered attacks up to the last minute resulting in thousands of deaths with no impact. The post war territory lines were set in the armitice. So many American families were upset that their relatives were killed in the last few hours of the war that they complained to congress. When questioned the American generals basic response was that no one ordered them not to attack. It ended up with a whitewash with the Dems saying it was a Republican attempt to emberass Woodrow Wilson.

I became interested in WWI because I had 5 great uncles who fought in this war; two of whom were gassed. And by fought I mean they were all in combat units at the front.Somehow they all lived although one great uncle who was gassed died a few years later from the lung damage. He was sent to live in Arizona because doctors told him he'd breathe better there.

[redwill]

It's always nice to read history commentary which cites "a real interesting show."

[Sam's Drunk Dog]

Pretty interesting. I had heard of the fighting till the armistice but didn't realize the genocide aspect.

[Bioshock]

Just did a paper in college on WW1. I find it incredibly fascinating and not enough is publicized about that war. At least not compared to WW2

[Geezer]

It's always nice to read history commentary which cites "a real interesting show."

Glad you enjoyed it. I never understood why you dog my posts so much but whatever floats your little boat.

[Bioshock]

Geezer, if you have any links to videos on this subject, please share. I'll do my part in that capacity as well.

[Bioshock]

[youtube][/youtube]

[Idoit40fans]

I'm interested in learning/talking about history, but i'm not sure how to translate that into this thread.

[redwill]

It's always nice to read history commentary which cites "a real interesting show."

Glad you enjoyed it. I never understood why you dog my posts so much but whatever floats your little boat.

Do I? I can't think of a time I've ever responded to you. But maybe so.

[count2infinity]

Any history facts that you were really surprised when you heard them? One of the biggest for me was that Japan killed more people in WWII than the Germans did. In fact they were far, far more ruthless than the Nazis were. I don't remember learning anything about their activity in China or the Philippines in school. All I recall is Pearl Harbor and the American involvement after that.

[columbia]

Just as no one can compare to Chairman Mao in terms of pure butchery.

[Factorial]

Best WWI band:

[youtube][/youtube]

[Bioshock]

Any history facts that you were really surprised when you heard them? One of the biggest for me was that Japan killed more people in WWII than the Germans did. In fact they were far, far more ruthless than the Nazis were. I don't remember learning anything about their activity in China or the Philippines in school. All I recall is Pearl Harbor and the American involvement after that.

Follow @RealTimeWWII on twitter. It gives the grim reality of what really happened on all fronts, day by day throughout the war. What Japan did was absolutely insane and the people who say we shouldn't have dropped the bombs on them have no idea who we were dealing with at the time.

[Geezer]

Geezer, if you have any links to videos on this subject, please share. I'll do my part in that capacity as well.

http://shop.history.com/100-years-of-ww ... wwi_072314" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
The one they have for sale seems like it covers a recent 4 parter on their channel. These were Armored Beasts, Clouds of Death, Last Day of WWI, Massive Air Attacks. They have those 4 on demand along with World War I Tech, WWI Jutland and WWI Somme.
There are others that I have written down somewhere. Some of the others dealt with the political aftermath as well as the role of the Eurprean colonies in the war.

[Geezer]

Any history facts that you were really surprised when you heard them? One of the biggest for me was that Japan killed more people in WWII than the Germans did. In fact they were far, far more ruthless than the Nazis were. I don't remember learning anything about their activity in China or the Philippines in school. All I recall is Pearl Harbor and the American involvement after that.

They may have killed as many civilians as the Germans. They killed hundreds of thousands of Filipinos. At the start of their war in China they killed 200,000 Chinese civilians in what was known as the rape of Nanking.

[count2infinity]

Always a cool watch:

[youtube][/youtube]

[FreeCandy44]

This thread has a lot of potential. Thank you Geezer.

[Willie Kool]

What Japan did was absolutely insane and the people who say we shouldn't have dropped the bombs on them have no idea who we were dealing with at the time.

Those crazy ******* would probably have fought to the last man.

I know I wouldn't be here if we hadn't dropped the bomb. My grandfather's unit, having just finished fighting in The Philippines, was told to prepare for the invasion of the Japanese mainland.

[Bioshock]

One thing that grinds my gears about WW2 in the American education system is that they teach kids America won the war and saved the day. They really don't touch on Britain's and Russia's significance or anyone else for that matter. At least that was my experience growing up.

And Germany was never going to win that war, even if the United States had stayed out of it. They were living on borrowed time the moment they attack Russia regardless of anyone else's involvement.

[Bioshock]

What Japan did was absolutely insane and the people who say we shouldn't have dropped the bombs on them have no idea who we were dealing with at the time.

Those crazy ******* would probably have fought to the last man.

I know I wouldn't be here if we hadn't dropped the bomb. My grandfather's unit, having just finished fighting in The Philippines, was told to prepare for the invasion of the Japanese mainland.

Yep, it was called Operation Downfall and the projections for casualties involved in the invasion of Japan ranged from 1.7 to 4 million allied troops, depending on whether Japan would guess right on where the Allies would attack from. Later on, it was found that the Japanese had guessed correctly.

[PensFanInDC]

What Japan did was absolutely insane and the people who say we shouldn't have dropped the bombs on them have no idea who we were dealing with at the time.

:thumb: Those crazy ******* would probably have fought to the last man.

I know I wouldn't be here if we hadn't dropped the bomb. My grandfather's unit, having just finished fighting in The Philippines, was told to prepare for the invasion of the Japanese mainland.

Yep, it was called Operation Downfall and the projections for casualties involved in the invasion of Japan ranged from 1.7 to 4 million allied troops, depending on whether Japan would guess right on where the Allies would attack from. Later on, it was found that the Japanese had guessed correctly.

Holy ****

[MalkinIsMyHomeboy]

Ridiculous how dangerous nationalism can be.

Kind of the reason why I don't care about the national anthem, pledge of allegiance, etc. All they do is help reinforce an artificial divide between me and a Russian person or me and a Zimbabwean.

[count2infinity]

One thing that grinds my gears about WW2 in the American education system is that they teach kids America won the war and saved the day. They really don't touch on Britain's and Russia's significance or anyone else for that matter. At least that was my experience growing up.

And Germany was never going to win that war, even if the United States had stayed out of it. They were living on borrowed time the moment they attack Russia regardless of anyone else's involvement.

While our history teachers certainly made it seem like USA was the hero that came in and saved the day, I did have one teacher that strongly stressed how bad of a move attacking Russia was, and considered that to be the biggest mistake the Germans made in the war.

[Gaucho]

No doubt.

[Letang Is The Truth]

man's reach exceeds his grasp or something like that