The Tank Museum
Published 6 Aug 2021In this weeks Tank Chat, Curator David Willey talks about the Renault UE Chenillette. A light tracked armoured carrier produced by France between 1932 and 1940.
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November 24, 2021
Tank Chats #133 | Renault UE Chenillette | The Tank Museum
November 21, 2021
The Red Army Kicks Ass – Operation Uranus! – WW2 – 169 – November 20th, 1942
World War Two
Published 20 Nov 2021After months of stubborn defense the time has finally come for the Soviet counterstroke, but is it in time to save Stalingrad? And can the Allies reach Tunis and take all of North Africa before the Axis can reinforce?
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November 19, 2021
Bismarck Gets Closer To German Unification – A New Spanish King I GLORY & DEFEAT
Real Time History
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While the Franco-Prussian War is continuing its messy guerilla phase, the German leaders are negotiating towards a united Germany. Hesse and Baden join the promptly renamed German Confederation — but Württemberg and Bavaria still want more concessions. Meanwhile the question of Spanish succession that started the war is solved in Madrid.
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https://realtimehistory.net/podcast – interviews with historians and background info for the show.» LITERATURE
Arand, Tobias: 1870/71. Der Deutsch-Französische Krieg erzählt in Einzelschicksalen. Hamburg 2018Gouttman, Alain: La grande défaite. 1870-1871. Paris 2015
Koch, Roland : “Les canons à balles dans l’armée du Rhin en 1870” in Revue historique des armées, 255 (2009), p. 95-107.
» SOURCES
Braun, Lily (Hrsg): Kriegsbriefe aus den Jahren 1870/71 von Hans von Kretschman weiland General der Infanterie. Berlin 1911Carr, Raymond: Spain 1808–1939. Oxford: At the Clarendon Press, 1975
Deuerlein, Ernst: Die Gründung des Deutschen Reichs 1870/71 in Augenzeugenberichten. Düsseldorf 1970
Goncourt, Edmond de: Journal des Goncourts. II.1. 1870-1871. Paris 1890
Kühnhauser, Florian: Kriegs-Erinnerungen eines Soldaten des königlich bayerischen Infanterie Leibregiments. Partenkirchen 1898
Lowndes, Emma: Récits de femmes pendant la guerre franco-prussienne (1870-1871). Paris, 2013.
Meisner, Heinrich Otto (Hrsg.): Kaiser Friedrich III. Das Kriegstagebuch von 1870/71. Berlin, Leipzig 1926
N.N: + Amadeus von Savoyen in: Neue Presse v. 19. Januar 1890. S. 2
N. N. (Hrsg.): Bismarcks Briefe an seine Gattin aus dem Kriege 1870/71. Stuttgart, Berlin 1903
Schikorsky, Isa (Hrsg.). “Wenn doch dies Elend ein Ende hätte”. Ein Briefwechsel aus dem Deutsch-Französischen Krieg 1870/71. Köln, Weimar, Wien 1999
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Presented by: Jesse Alexander
Written by: Cathérine Pfauth, Prof. Dr. Tobias Arand, Jesse Alexander
Director: Toni Steller & Florian Wittig
Director of Photography: Toni Steller
Sound: Above Zero
Editing: Toni Steller
Motion Design: Philipp Appelt
Mixing, Mastering & Sound Design: http://above-zero.com
Maps: Battlefield Design
Research by: Cathérine Pfauth, Prof. Dr. Tobias Arand
Fact checking: Cathérine Pfauth, Prof. Dr. Tobias ArandChannel Design: Battlefield Design
Contains licensed material by getty images
All rights reserved – Real Time History GmbH 2021
November 18, 2021
When artillery became powerful enough to literally destroy castles
In Quillette, Paul Lockhart recounts one of the early artillery successes in European siege warfare, the reduction of the English-held fortifications at Odruik:

Portrtait of Philip the Bold (Philip II, Duke of Burgundy), 1342-1404.
Unknown painter of the Flemish School via Wikimedia Commons.
Philip the Bold, duke of Burgundy, was a warrior’s warrior. Hawk-nosed, ambitious, and brash, Philip had been a soldier since childhood. He was still a smooth-faced boy of 14 when he fought alongside his father, King John II of France, in the battle of Poitiers in 1356. Like King John, he was taken prisoner by the English when Edward, the Black Prince of Wales, vanquished the French on the field at Poitiers. A decade later, the duke, always looking for an advantage over the Englishmen who had invaded his country, embraced a novel technology: gunpowder.
This mysterious Asian invention had been known in Europe for more than a century, and for nearly that long European armies had used it as a weapon of war — or, more precisely, as the substance that made another recent innovation, the cannon, work. So far, gunpowder artillery had not shown great promise. Cannon had been used as siege engines in European warfare at least as early as the 1320s. But for all the trouble and effort they demanded, they had not proven themselves to be much more effective than conventional siege weapons such as catapults and trebuchets, machines that used mechanical energy to hurl projectiles at castle walls. Certainly, the early cannon did not appear to be effective enough to justify their cost, which was substantial.
But Philip the Bold saw promise in the new weapons, especially the huge siege guns that came to be known as bombards, and in 1369 he began to invest heavily in them. France and England were then locked in the on-again, off-again series of dynastic conflicts known today as the Hundred Years’ War (1337–1453). In 1377, when Duke Philip’s brother and sovereign, King Charles V of France, ordered him to attack the English in the Calais region, the duke answered the call, bringing with him more than 100 new cannon, including one monster of a gun that fired a stone cannonball weighing some 450 livres (around 485 pounds).
One of the duke’s intended targets was the English-held castle at Odruik, built with stout masonry walls and surrounded by a thick layer of outworks. Odruik would be a tough nut to crack. Its defenders seemed to think so, too, and were confident that they could hold out against Duke Philip’s army, even as the duke’s men began to put their huge siege cannon into position in full view of the castle walls.
The first few shots from Philip’s siege-battery hammered Odruik’s outer walls into dust. Soon, the stone cannonballs were sailing through the walls as if they weren’t there; soon after that, the outer walls actually weren’t there. After Philip’s guns had fired a grand total of about 200 rounds, much of Odruik’s once-proud walls lay in ruin, and before the duke could send his men through the breach and into the castle, Odruik’s defenders capitulated.
Philip the Bold’s triumph at Odruik in 1377 was a harbinger of things to come, a revealer of unsettling truths. Gunpowder artillery had been used in sieges before, but Odruik was its first overwhelming and clear-cut victory over a castle. The siege of Odruik demonstrated that — when the guns were big enough, and when there were enough of them — cannon were more powerful than any siege engine yet invented, and could knock down castles in a matter of hours. What happened at Odruik would be repeated over and over again at castles throughout continental Europe and the British Isles through the remainder of the Middle Ages and beyond.
It was one of the accepted “rules” of war that a besieged town that surrendered before the beseiging army conducted an infantry assault would be spared from sack … the theory being that once the fortifications had been overcome, the final outcome was not in doubt and the defenders lost no honour from the surrender. You can certainly understand why the citizens of the defended town would be eager to avoid the plunder and rapine of an assaulting army once the walls were breached.
November 15, 2021
Fighting Nazis with Radios and Funerals – WAH 046 – November 1942, Pt. 1
World War Two
Published 14 Nov 2021As the Winter of 1942/43 is beginning, the German Nazis are under more and more pressure, both on the frontlines and in the occupation zones.
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QotD: Britain at war
England is the most class-ridden country under the sun. It is a land of snobbery and privilege, ruled largely by the old and silly. But in any calculation about it one has got to take into account its emotional unity, the tendency of nearly all its inhabitants to feel alike and act together in moments of supreme crisis. It is the only great country in Europe that is not obliged to drive hundreds of thousands of its nationals into exile or the concentration camp. At this moment, after a year of war, newspapers and pamphlets abusing the Government, praising the enemy and clamouring for surrender are being sold on the streets, almost without interference. And this is less from a respect for freedom of speech than from a simple perception that these things don’t matter. It is safe to let a paper like Peace News be sold, because it is certain that ninety-five per cent of the population will never want to read it. The nation is bound together by an invisible chain. At any normal time the ruling class will rob, mismanage, sabotage, lead us into the muck; but let popular opinion really make itself heard, let them get a tug from below that they cannot avoid feeling, and it is difficult for them not to respond. The left-wing writers who denounce the whole of the ruling class as “pro-Fascist” are grossly over-simplifying. Even among the inner clique of politicians who brought us to our present pass, it is doubtful whether there were any conscious traitors. The corruption that happens in England is seldom of that kind. Nearly always it is more in the nature of self-deception, of the right hand not knowing what the left hand doeth. And being unconscious, it is limited. One sees this at its most obvious in the English Press. Is the English press honest or dishonest? At normal times it is deeply dishonest. All the papers that matter live off their advertisements, and the advertisers exercise an indirect censorship over news. Yet I do not suppose there is one paper in England that can be straightforwardly bribed with hard cash. In the France of the Third Republic all but a very few of the newspapers could notoriously be bought over the counter like so many pounds of cheese. Public life in England has never been openly scandalous. It has not reached the pitch of disintegration at which humbug can be dropped.
George Orwell, “The Lion And The Unicorn: Socialism and the English Genius”, 1941-02-19.
November 14, 2021
Axis and Allies Both Invade France – WW2 – 168 – November 13, 1942
World War Two
Published 13 Nov 2021Operation Torch goes off this week, the Allied invasion of French Northwest Africa, but this prompts the Germans to invade Vichy France. This is the Allies’ first combined major offensive in the Western Hemisphere. The Germans launch another offensive of their own this week, though — Operation Hubertus in Stalingrad. And in the South Pacific, a major naval battle begins off Guadalcanal.
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November 13, 2021
Here’s Looking at You, Bill – The Secret Preparations for Operation Torch – WW2 – Spies & Ties 10
World War Two
Published 12 Nov 2021To smooth the way for the Allied invasion of French North Africa, Operation Torch, a massive spy operation is set up in 1941 and 42.
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November 12, 2021
The Weird And Only Naval Battle of The Franco-Prussian War
Real Time History
Published 11 Nov 2021Support Glory & Defeat on Patreon: https://patreon.com/realtimehistory
While the fighting on land continued during the Franco-Prussian War in November 1870, the bizarre and only naval battle of the war took place off the coast of Cuba when the German Meteor and the French Bouvet met in the port of Havana.
» THANK YOU TO OUR CO-PRODUCERS
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Richard L Benkin
Scott Deederly
John Belland
Adam Smith
Taylor Allen
Jim F Barlow
Rustem Sharipov» OUR PODCAST
https://realtimehistory.net/podcast – interviews with historians and background info for the show.» LITERATURE
Arand, Tobias: 1870/71. Die Geschichte des Deutsch-Französischen Krieges erzählt in Einzelschicksalen. Hamburg 2018Arand, Tobias: “Rogerowski oder Rasumofsky? Überlegungen zur nationalen ‘Meistererzählung’ in Fontanes Kriegsgefangen”, in: Fontane-Blätter 105 (2018), p. 61-86
Bauer, Gerhard u.a. (Hrsg.): Krieg – Macht – Nation. Wie das deutsche Kaiserreich entstand. Ausstellungskatalog Dresden Militärhistorisches Museum der Bundeswehr. Dresden 2020
Bigelow, John: France and the Confederate Navy 1862-1868. New York, 1888
Farret, “Étude sur les combats livrés sur mer de 1860 à 1880”, Revue Maritime et Coloniale, t. 70, no d’édition, 1881, p. 519-522
Gouttman, Alain: La grande défaite 1870-1871. Paris 2015
Pölking, Hermann and Linn Sackarnd: Der Bruderkrieg. Deutsche und Franzosen 1870/71. Freiburg 2020
Radecke, Gabriele/Rauh, Robert: Fontanes Kriegsgefangenschaft. Wie der Dichter in Frankreich dem Tod entging. Berlin 2020
Tümmler, Holger: Großer Atlas des Deutsch-Französischen Krieges 1870/71. Wolfenbüttel 2010
» SOURCES
Fontane, Theodor: Kriegsgefangen. Erlebtes 1870. Neuausgabe Berlin 2020Kriegsgeschichtliche Abtheilung des Großen Generalstabs (Hrsg.): Der deutsch-französische Krieg 1870-71. II.1. Berlin 1878
Kürschner, Joseph (Hrsg.). Der große Krieg in Zeitberichten. Leipzig 1895
Meisner, Heinrich Otto (Hrsg.): Kaiser Friedrich III. Das Kriegstagebuch von 1870/71. Berlin, Leipzig 1926
Roux, Georges: La Guerre de 1870. Paris 1966
Stenzel, Alfred: “Flotte und Küste”, in: Krieg und Sieg 1870-71. Ein Gedenkbuch, hrsg. v. Julius von Plugk-Harttung. Berlin 1895. S. 584-611
“The Naval Duel Near Havana,” Otago Witness, Issue 996, 31 December 1870, p. 11.
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Website: https://realtimehistory.net»CREDITS
Presented by: Jesse Alexander
Written by: Cathérine Pfauth, Prof. Dr. Tobias Arand, Jesse Alexander
Director: Toni Steller & Florian Wittig
Director of Photography: Toni Steller
Sound: Above Zero
Editing: Toni Steller
Motion Design: Philipp Appelt
Mixing, Mastering & Sound Design: http://above-zero.com
Maps: Battlefield Design
Research by: Cathérine Pfauth, Prof. Dr. Tobias Arand
Fact checking: Cathérine Pfauth, Prof. Dr. Tobias ArandChannel Design: Battlefield Design
Contains licensed material by getty images
All rights reserved – Real Time History GmbH 2021
November 11, 2021
H.G. Wells – The Outline of History – The Great War
Thersites the Historian
Published 5 Mar 2021In this video, we look at H.G. Wells’ coverage of World War I, from the war’s outbreak to the Armistice. Here, we see Wells at his most passionate and he makes a few controversial claims as well as sharing a couple of his personal experiences as a Londoner dealing with German air raids and celebrating the Armistice.
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November 9, 2021
Napoleonic Wars: Siege of Zaragoza (1808) – Peninsular War
Kings and Generals
Published 30 Sep 2018
Our animated historical documentary series on the Napoleonic Wars are back with another episode covering the Peninsular War. The armies of Napoleon face more rebellions this time in Spain. And if the battle of Vimiero was crucial for the resistance in Portugal, the Siege of Zaragoza of 1808 played the similar role for the northern part of Spain. The battle of Bailen is just around the corner, and the Peninsular campaign will only get more interesting from here.This script was researched and written by Everett Rummage. Check out his brilliant Age of Napoleon podcast – http://bit.ly/2vC3cIE In our opinion, it is the best podcast on the Napoleonic era.
Support us on Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/KingsandGenerals or Paypal: http://paypal.me/kingsandgenerals
We are grateful to our patrons and sponsors, who made this video possible: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1KEV…
This video was narrated by Officially Devin (https://www.youtube.com/user/OfficiallyDevin)
Machinimas were made on NTW3 mod for Napoleon Total War by Malay Archer (https://www.youtube.com/user/Mathemed…)
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Napoleon Total War OST – “HMS Victory”
Napoleon Total War OST – “The Battle At Arcole”
Jon Björk – “Downfall 1”
Johannes Bornlöf – “Imperious 2”
Johannes Bornlöf – “Rise of the Phoenix 2”
Johannes Bornlöf – “Solemn”
Andreas Jamsheree – “Sunstorm 1”#Documentary #Kingsandgenerals #Napoleon
November 7, 2021
The Allies Break Through! – WW2 – 167 – November 6, 1942
World War Two
Published 6 Nov 2021After all these months of fighting, the British 8th Army breaks through Erwin Rommel’s Axis positions in North Africa, but the Allies have even bigger plans for that theater of war — a huge invasion of Vichy French North Africa to take place next week. The Soviets also have a plan for a huge invasion to take place very soon near Stalingrad, though the fighting in the city itself sees a lull the second half of this week.
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November 5, 2021
The 1st (Failed) Paris Commune Uprising During the Franco-Prussian War 1870
Real Time History
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The Siege of Paris during the Franco-Prussian War 1870 and the downfall of the French Empire after the Battle of Sedan created a volatile social situation in the French capital. And in November 1870 this situation erupted in an attempt to topple the provisional government and create a self-ruling Paris Commune.
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John Ozment
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Richard L Benkin
Scott Deederly
John Belland
Adam Smith
Taylor Allen
Jim F Barlow
Rustem Sharipov» OUR PODCAST
https://realtimehistory.net/podcast – interviews with historians and background info for the show.» LITERATURE
Arand, Tobias: 1870/71. Die Geschichte des Deutsch-Französischen Krieges erzählt in Einzelschicksalen. Hamburg 2018Gouttman, Alain: La grande défaite. Paris 2015
Spiekermann, Uwe: “Die wahre Geschichte der Erbswurst”, unter: https://uwe-spiekermann.com/2018/05/1… (zuletzt besucht am 21.9.2021)
» SOURCES
Chuquet, Arthur: La Guerre 1870-71. Paris 1895Fontane, Theodor: Der Krieg gegen Frankreich. Bd. 3. Berlin 1878
Goncourt, Edmond de: Journal des Goncourts. II.1. 1870-1871. Paris 1890
Hérisson, Maurice d’: Journal d’un officier d’ordonnance. Paris 1885
Heylli, Georges d’ (ed.): M. Thiers à Versailles: l’armistice. Paris 1871
Kürschner, Joseph (Hrsg.): Der große Krieg 1870-71 in Zeitberichten. Leipzig o.J. (1895)
Meisner, Heinrich Otto (Hrsg.): Kaiser Friedrich III. Das Kriegstagebuch von 1870/71. Leipzig 1926
N.N.: Bismarcks Briefe an seine Gattin aus dem Kriege 1870/71. Stuttgart, Berlin 1903
Schikorsky, Isa (Hrsg.): “Wenn doch dies Elend ein Ende hätte”. Ein Briefwechsel aus dem Deutsch-Französischen Krieg 1870/71. Köln, Weimar, Wien 1999
» OUR STORE
Website: https://realtimehistory.net»CREDITS
Presented by: Jesse Alexander
Written by: Cathérine Pfauth, Prof. Dr. Tobias Arand, Jesse Alexander
Director: Toni Steller & Florian Wittig
Director of Photography: Toni Steller
Sound: Above Zero
Editing: Toni Steller
Motion Design: Philipp Appelt
Mixing, Mastering & Sound Design: http://above-zero.com
Maps: Battlefield Design
Research by: Cathérine Pfauth, Prof. Dr. Tobias Arand
Fact checking: Cathérine Pfauth, Prof. Dr. Tobias ArandChannel Design: Battlefield Design
Contains licensed material by getty images
All rights reserved – Real Time History GmbH 2021
A United Front Against Nazi Atrocities – WAH 045 – October 1942, Pt. 2
World War Two
Published 4 Nov 2021As the war intensifies on all fronts, the occupied world is aflame with resistance and reprisals. From Paris to Papua New Guinea, Humanity is under attack — but it is also fighting back.
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November 4, 2021
Napoleonic Wars: Battle of Vimeiro (1808) – Peninsular War
Kings and Generals
Published 12 Aug 2018Napoleonic Wars are back! It is 1807, and we find the Emperor of the French Napoleon Bonaparte at the height of his power, as he controls most of Europe after the War of the Fourth Coalition and the treaties of Tilsit. Napoleon decided to strangle his remaining enemy the United Kingdom economically by enacting Europe-wide Colonial Blockade, yet as Portugal defied him, he invaded it and then Spain. This was the beginning of the Peninsular War. Soon Spain and Portugal were in open rebellion. The first phase of the war ended when the British forces under Wellington landed in Portugal and fought the French General Junot at Vimeiro.
This script was researched and written by Everett Rummage. Check out his brilliant Age of Napoleon podcast – http://bit.ly/2vC3cIE In our opinion, it is the best podcast on the Napoleonic era.
Support us on Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/KingsandGenerals or Paypal: http://paypal.me/kingsandgenerals
We are grateful to our patrons and sponsors, who made this video possible: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1jjh…
This video was narrated by Officially Devin (https://www.youtube.com/user/OfficiallyDevin)
Machinimas were made on NTW3 mod for Napoleon Total War by Malay Archer (https://www.youtube.com/user/Mathemed…)
✔ Merch store ► teespring.com/stores/kingsandgenerals
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