The Great War
Published on 15 Oct 2018A Prussian Quartermaster General and a Bavarian Crown Prince. The tactician in the east and the strategist in the west. Two deeply different characters and approaches to warfare. Erich Ludendorff and Rupprecht of Bavaria.
October 16, 2018
Crown Prince Rupprecht & Erich Ludendorff – Westerner vs. Easterner I WHO DID WHAT IN WW1?
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October 15, 2018
German Afghanistan Mission I OUT OF THE ETHER
The Great War
Published on 13 Oct 2018Thank you again Jack Sharpe!
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Forgotten History: Glade of the Armistice
Forgotten Weapons
Published on 25 Sep 2018http://www.patreon.com/ForgottenWeapons
Here at a forested railroad crossing outside Compiègne in Picardy, France, two rail cars met in November of 1918 – one with members of the Allied/Entente high commend and ones with representatives of Imperial Germany. They met here to end 5 years of slaughter; the German delegation being presented terms for armistice by the Allies. Faced with no other viable option, they would accept these terms, and the fighting officially ended at the 11th hour of the 11th day or the 11th month of 1918. More than a year would go by before the Treaty of Versailles was fully ratified, but it was here that the decision to end the death was made.
The rail car in which the papers were signed was kept as a monument here, along with a rather pointed monument to the French dead, featuring a slain German Imperial eagle. A large stone message was also put up in the center of the clearing, reading (in translation):
“Here on the 11th of November 1918 succumbed the criminal pride of the German reich, vanquished by the free peoples which it tried to enslave.”
When France signed an armistice with Germany in 1940, Hitler would have those papers signed here as well, in that very same rail car. The car was then taken to Berlin as a trophy, and the monuments here destroyed. The car itself was burned accidentally in 1945, but the monuments were rebuilt by the French following the war, and a sister car is now on display here with many of the original artifacts of the Armistice (which were hidden from the Germans in 1940).
Thanks to Military History Tours for making this video possible!
If you enjoy Forgotten Weapons, check out its sister channel, InRangeTV! http://www.youtube.com/InRangeTVShow
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October 12, 2018
The Hindenburg Line Breaks – The Lost Battalion Returns I THE GREAT WAR Week 220
The Great War
Published on 11 Oct 2018The Hindenburg Line or Siegfriedstellung is the backbone of the German defenses on the Western Front and this week 100 years ago, the Allies break through during the Battle of St. Quentin Canal. At the same time, the political fallout within Germany continues and the Allied Army of the Orient continues its offensive on the Macedonian Front.
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October 9, 2018
Serbia Before World War 1 I THE GREAT WAR Special
The Great War
Published on 8 Oct 2018Serbia’s recent history before the outbreak of World War 1, was already shaped by internal struggles and external conflicts. It had fought countless wars with neighbors and rivals in changing alliances culminating in the two Balkan Wars 1912 and 1913.
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October 8, 2018
Enzo Ferrari – Tank Sounds – French-American Animosity I OUT OF THE TRENCHES
The Great War
Published on 6 Oct 2018Chair of Wisdom Time!
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October 5, 2018
Germany’s Reckoning – Bulgarian Armistice I THE GREAT WAR Week 219
The Great War
Published on 4 Oct 2018The 14 Points: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourtee…
While Bulgaria signs the Armistice of Salonika and effectively exits the war as the first of the Central Powers, the Hindenburg Line is broken on the Western Front. It dawns among the German leadership, that an armistice is necessary and in a desperate attempt to secure a more favourable position at the negotiations table, the Kaiser agrees to a “revolution from the top” that gives more political say to the Reichstag.
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October 4, 2018
QotD: Gandhi in World War One
We are therefore presented with the seeming anomaly of a Gandhi who, in Britain when war broke out in August 1914, instantly contacted the War Office, swore that he would stand by England in its hour of need, and created the Indian Volunteer Corps, which he might have commanded if he hadn’t fallen ill with pleurisy. In 1915, back in India, he made a memorable speech in Madras in which he proclaimed, “I discovered that the British empire had certain ideals with which I have fallen in love …” In early 1918, as the war in Europe entered its final crisis, he wrote to the Viceroy of India, “I have an idea that if I become your recruiting agent-in-chief, I might rain men upon you,” and he proclaimed in a speech in Kheda that the British “love justice; they have shielded men against oppression.” Again, he wrote to the Viceroy, “I would make India offer all her able-bodied sons as a sacrifice to the empire at this critical moment …” To some of his pacifist friends, who were horrified, Gandhi replied by appealing to the Bhagavad Gita and to the endless wars recounted in the Hindu epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, adding further to the pacifists’ horror by declaring that Indians “have always been warlike, and the finest hymn composed by Tulsidas in praise of Rama gives the first place to his ability to strike down the enemy.”
This was in contradiction to the interpretation of sacred Hindu scriptures Gandhi had offered on earlier occasions (and would offer later), which was that they did not recount military struggles but spiritual struggles; but, unusual for him, he strove to find some kind of synthesis. “I do not say, ‘Let us go and kill the Germans,’” Gandhi explained. “I say, ‘Let us go and die for the sake of India and the empire.’” And yet within two years, the time having come for swaraj (home rule), Gandhi’s inner voice spoke again, and, the leader having found his cause, Gandhi proclaimed resoundingly: “The British empire today represents Satanism, and they who love God can afford to have no love for Satan.”
The idea of swaraj, originated by others, crept into Gandhi’s mind gradually. With a fair amount of winding about, Gandhi, roughly, passed through three phases. First, he was entirely pro-British, and merely wanted for Indians the rights of Englishmen (as he understood them). Second, he was still pro-British, but with the belief that, having proved their loyalty to the empire, Indians would be granted some degree of swaraj. Third, as the home-rule movement gathered momentum, it was the swaraj, the whole swaraj, and nothing but the swaraj, and he turned relentlessly against the crown. The movie to the contrary, he caused the British no end of trouble in their struggles during World War II.
Richard Grenier, “The Gandhi Nobody Knows”, Commentary, 1983-03-01.
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October 2, 2018
Stories From The Palestine Front – More About WW1 Trucks I OUT OF THE ETHER
The Great War
Published on 1 Oct 2018In this episode of Out of the Ether, we read a few excellent comments about WW1 Trucks and the Palestine Front.
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October 1, 2018
Machine Guns Of World War 1 I THE GREAT WAR Special feat. C&Rsenal
The Great War
Published on 29 Sep 2018Support Othais on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/CandRsenal
Indy and Othais talk about the different kinds of machine guns that were used during World War 1.
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September 29, 2018
8mm M1915 Chauchat Fixing and Range Testing
Forgotten Weapons
Published on 9 Sep 2018http://www.patreon.com/ForgottenWeapons
Well, my 8mm French Chauchat finally cleared transfer, as did my application to reactivate it. This was a “dewat”, or “Deactivated War Trophy” – a machine gun put on the NFA registry but modified to be non-firing. This is not the same as legal destruction, as the receiver of the gun remained intact. The method of deactivation on such things can very significantly; in this case the chamber was plugged with weld, the bolt face welded up, and the barrel extension welded to the receiver. I did have an intact spare bolt and barrel assembly, however.
I removed the weld holding the barrel assembly in place, cleaned it up a bit, and dropped in my new parts.
Legal note: this was done after the receipt of an approved Form 5 from ATF, complete with tax stamp.
Today I took it out to the range for the first time, to see if any further work would be needed. And yeah, there was a bit of tweaking necessary. The feeding and extraction are solid, but the ejection requires some work. So, after swapping in a better extractor, I headed back to the range for another test run.
This time it ran great, with the exception of one bad magazine (3 of 4 being 100% reliable is better than I expected, given their age and construction). So now, I have a fully functioning Chauchat and three known-good magazines. Next up? Two-gun match! Stay tuned…
If you enjoy Forgotten Weapons, check out its sister channel, InRangeTV! http://www.youtube.com/InRangeTVShow
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September 28, 2018
The Meuse-Argonne Offensive – Bulgarian Collapse I THE GREAT WAR Week 218
The Great War
Published on 27 Sep 2018This week, the biggest American military operation in history kicks off with 1.2 million American soldiers trying to take the Krimhilde Stellung. At the same time the Army of the Orient advances into Bulgaria and the Ottoman 7th and 8th armies collapse in Palestine.
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September 25, 2018
Belgium Under German Occupation During WW1 I THE GREAT WAR On The Road
The Great War
Published on 24 Sep 2018Visit the Ijser museum: http://www.museumaandeijzer.be/ijzert…
Indy talks to Peter Verplancke about Belgium during World War 1, in particular the German occupation policies.
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September 24, 2018
Drafting – Poetry – Georg von Trapp I OUT OF THE TRENCHES
The Great War
Published on 22 Sep 2018Chair of Wisdom Time!
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September 21, 2018
Allied Breakthroughs In Palestine And Macedonia I THE GREAT WAR Week 217
The Great War
Published on 20 Sep 2018In a turbulent week of the First World War, the Allies break through at the Macedonian Front during the Battle of Vadar and in Palestine during the Battle for Palestine. At the same time, the Ottoman defeats the last defenders of Baku.
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