Really east-prussia as well as other lands with over 1million square kilometers used to belong to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth during 13-16th centuries (and some to lesser extent in later times), which span from the Baltic sea to the Black sea but were partitioned during constant eurpean fudal wars, so poland regained only a tiny portion of it's original lands, thanks in part to Napoleon Bonaparte as well as the allies mostly Britain after the WWs, but also in part to Hungary, Chech and Italy with whom they maintained good relations over the centuries.

Obliterated by the slavs? Check your information! It was Lithuanians and Polish and only a very small amount of slavs from Smolensk was in Lithuanian army. This is an insult!

My grandparents lost something like 60% of their extended family to the holocaust. The first family reunion after the war was the last family reunion for over 70 years. No one could come to terms with how many people simply weren't there anymore. For my grandfather, I think the lingering effect was survivor's guilt. He had been drafted and even though he had a degree as a dentist and could have deferred the draft, he decided to sign up. He spent the entire war stationed in DC cleaning the teeth of the president, congressmen, and heads of the armed forces. I think he never really thought he did enough. He never even told his sons about it. When they found his uniform in the attic, he told them he'd been a civil servant but didn't elaborate. It was my grandmother who told me the story of his service record after his death. For my grandmother, I think the biggest effect was a complete terror of pride. I think she blamed the loss of her family on the pride of the Nazis and so she was determined to never let any of us feel proud of anything. If you had something you were proud of she felt the need to gently but firmly crush it. I don't think it was out of malice or narcissism, I think she genuinely believed that she had a personal duty to the world to make sure no one felt pride ever again. She told her favorite son for years that she'd gotten him at an orphanage and he had a 15 year warranty so she could return him if he wasn't good enough. I excelled academically and any time I'd bring her something like a standardized test putting me in the top 15% of students two years older than me she'd tell me "I know you're smart dear, I drowned all the dumb ones." We're at the point now where World War 1 is completely out of living memory: no one who served in it is still alive. World War 2 is nearly out of living memory: of the 15 million Americans who served, only around 240,000 remain, and it's much the same in all the other countries impacted. I hope that the lessons of history won't be forgotten when the people to tell us the emotional toll of our history are gone but given the track record of the human species...yeah, probably not going to work out that way, is it. We seem to fall into the pattern of making the old mistakes in new centuries, cursing unborn generations to shoulder the heavy mantle created by generations long dead. I hope we can change.

Great grand mother.

There was a woman in Western Australia interviewed in 1970, she was very old weather beaten and quiet. She had seven sons, every one of them died in France. All those years later she was still in stunned silence.

So sorry .... I agree they knew .. an they let it happen It's horrible.... glad he lived sorry he was hurt so bad....

Jesus I’m surprised he survived that. That’s awful.

Are you sure about that?

@@Gio.Condor It is documented fact. France REFUSED to lend the Germans any money to help their industry. Brits said that they were broke and couldn't lend any.

@@markothwriter The economy of Europe was so broke that it wouldn't be improved even during the early ww2 (the funding at least in UK is from the remaing gov. reserves) thus after, the end of colonial holdings. The Marshall plan was one of many policies to recover the economy of Europe during the twilight years of the cold war.

​@@rafaeldavid32Beggar thy neighbor economic policies in the inter war period was terrible.

I like stories...

true

Austira started the war in order to punish Serbia. Germany gave Austria a "Blank Check" as their role in supporting Austrian in "Punishing" Serbia. Austria got their butts kicked. Germany was punished after the cease fire primarily because Austria-Hungary disintegrated into smaller countries. The Destruction the German Army inflicted on Belgium and France during the early stages of the war, including murdering civilians, was primarily the reason Germany was blamed after the Armistice.

@@johnadams5489 they didnt disintegrate, they were punnished by the allies, because they couldnt beat them all on the battle field! Germany ,and AUSTRO/ HUNGARIAN EMPIRE WERE ALLIES FOR 1,000 YEARS! WELL COULD YOU IMAGINE BREAKING FRANCE,!AND U.K. UP SAME WAY!!

Loaning money to either side doesn't make them an ally or axis.

Yeah like weapons of mass destruction that Saddam had in Iraq😮

rse US wont help unless there is sonetging in it for them atleast you eeren't treated likre ukrain who thry lrft in the midfle of war fto thrir theier own deviced😅😅😅😅so im kinda afraid for us filipinod we ard being pushed to a cockfight agai st chibs😢😢😢

Well observed

Well Vichy France...

Way more French died in WW1 and they were the victors. Germany was defeated eventually in WW2 however they were forced to surrender and were defeated within months

In Czechia, at that time under Austria-Hungary , there is a WWI memorial monument with the list of fallen in every single village, and we were not even a frontline country

*@Robert Mangeni.* I tend to agree with your thinking because it is in accordance with general Foch accurate statement who said the -peace- armistice will last 20 years, he was off only by two months.

It was more like four wars. Started with Napoleons conquest of Europe which lead to prussias desire for unification of the German people and the Franco Prussian war which of course lead to ww1

J.P.T. Taylor the historian said that

Churchill actually called the period of 1914-1945 the "30-Years War" for this reason exactly.

Yeah, you can't get past that 1919-1939 was merely halftime in this bloody insanity...

The Russians often emphasize that 75% of the German Army was fighting on the eastern front in WW2 and that the Italian, North African and western fronts were just sideshows. And that is largely true. But in WW1 it was just the opposite. Most of the German army was fighting in the west...and it was the Russians that collapsed. It was the western powers that defeated Germany in WW1.

Good point!

lots of stuff continued on, yeah...the Greeks even seem to have gone on some bizarre campaign into an admittedly prostrate Turkey...the Russian civil war and various other square-ups between Slavs, including Russia vs Poland and the usual lunacy in the Balkans ..then the West tried a half-baked attempt to Bay of Pigs the Russian Revolution itself...'the North Russian Expedition" I think it was called..and I think it had arrow prongs in both Arctic Europe end of Russia and NW Pacific Asian end of Russia.

@@KateLicker Nobody really wanted it, which is why it fizzled out.

Min Tin only half of it :P

You Mean something like Nurebenrg process should happen? Sentencing to death Kaiser, Hindenburg, Ludendorf and others? Maybe... since german military was one of allies of nazism. Germany was not so punished in fact... Most of territory and industry still intact. France tried to make Rhineland independent or annexed, but was denied by UK and USA. Compare this to the treatys that met Turkey and Hungary - loss of 2/3 of territory and population.

josefina bananos I agree! I follow that and it was superbly awesome!

Intense and purposes?

Germany didn’t start the war lol.

Hockey is just as crazy as australian football rules ! We're tough people !

Australian Rugby league is almost certainly a physically harder and more dangerous game than Rules is. More people are killed or put in wheelchairs on RL fields in Australia than are in boxing or MA. I'd give ice-hockey a try. I'd never run out onto an RL field, not at gunpoint. half to 3/4 of the RL players here are now 'Islanders" ..ie Polynesians/Melanesians...Maori, Samoan, Tongan, Fijian..you don't need to get involved with anything that carries the probability of physical contact with them in any shape or form. You just need to keep walking. I like this weekends hockey fight, though..the two goal-keepers had a fight? I like that..so one guy ran down the opposite end or they met in mid-field..LOL..

For committed and effective Canadian soldiers read about, or better still visit Vimy Ridge - and then you'll know.

KateLicker id agree rugby is tougher than footy, I don’t know about hockey tho, I’ve heard it’s rough af

provided I could actually skate well, I'd try it..it is by far the closest thing to watchable of the North American sports, imo..

It shouldn't be changed. You're right.

And world war three?

The armistice was supposed to be an ARMISTICE...’peace without victory’ as Woodrow Wilson tried to push...instead it became a victory shoved down a defeated Germany’s throat without their knowledge until the moment that they came to sign. This anger, both tangible and intangible and the brutal forcing of them to acknowledge ‘war guilt’ despite there being plenty of blame to go around, set the stage for the rise of ultra nationalism and anger...as the ‘treaty’ left Germany with nothing, nothing that is, but its pride.

*watches documentery about how WWll was an extension of WWl "WWll was an extension of WWl" *20 people* "He's right"

@@terryerdos6820 why even make this comment, for real?

Critical... where did you hear of Hindenburg??? Wasn't that a big blimp? Only historical figure I remember is Wilhelm!!!

@@vincentconti-jb3hd Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg was a German general who gained renown during World War I and later as President of the Weimar Republic.

@@criticaltheories5222 I know now! But did you know before you heard about the Hindenburg disaster?? More famous than him!!!! Just sayin'

@@vincentconti-jb3hd I'm not that old ...

Actually 78 British and Commonwealth generals were killed fighting in the trenches. Another 148, were wounded, gassed, or captured. 200 generals from all the combative nations were killed, 78 out of 200 proves they were not at the Chateau sipping tea and playing chess, that is a myth.

It was: Lions led by Donkeys: trshow.info/watch/NEZdlLBiA-A/video.html

@@rosesprog1722 more like donkeys led by bigger ones

@@user-nw4ej4yc2c Absolutely, I will never understand why so many young men would accept to die so easily, they seemed to forget that they had families waiting for them at home, they left their wives and kids to a very difficult life... I hate wars.

@@bri5490 that's a drop in the ocean compared to all others that died in that war.

You can make all the documentaries you want.. if the people don't care (especially today).. They're not going to watch. Everyone would rather look at tiktok as the world crumbles around them 🤷🏾‍♂️. Just stating stating the facts.

@@BiggHogg870 I know. You can give a horse water, but you cannot make him drink...

I don’t get why Germany was blamed, they did not start ww1. They came to the aid of an ally, exactly what Russia did.

@@rommyremus9650 few more red pills and you’ll understand

@@brandonbath6097 id love if you responded with facts, something we can debate, if im wrong or looking at it wrong, please prove it to me because id rather be right. Did Serbia not attack the Austrian Empire? Was that not the start of WW1? I always thought thats what happened. But if im wrong please explain where im wrong.

@@rommyremus9650 trshow.info/watch/2JsFvcSr7BA/video.html Give this a watch. While Germany wasn't fully to blame, their support did give Austria license to push Serbia around. If Germany hadn't supported them, maybe they don't try to push harsh terms on the Serbs. Not saying the Gernams were treated right after the war, but they aren't blameless either for the cause.

@@LanceMan @Rommy Remus the Germans gave the “blank cheque” ie their unconditional support to Austria-Hungary, hence emboldening them. It wasn’t Germany who started the war and the Versailles Treaty was extremely draconian in its punishments, but Germany’s full backing of the Habsburgs, Kaiser Wilhelm and the military’s bellicose attitude and Germany’s expansionist views all definitely added fuel to the fire.

The biggest mistake Haig made, along with all the other generals at the end of WW1, was that they never marched the mass ranks of the infantry into Germany. Later the Germans were of the opinion that they had never lost the war, and that the armistice was just a ceasefire resulting in a twenty year peace. At the end of WW1 Germany was on its knees, and the German troops had had enough. That was the opinion of two men I knew who had fought in WW1, and that of my my great grandfather too. He had fought at Passchendaele. He saw German soldiers surrendering in droves before the armistice. They were done. They all said that this was Haigs biggest mistake other than the Somme offensive. The infantry was never marched into Germany. If that had been done, there would have been no question about who had won the war. These men felt that Haig had let them down in that regard, after all the carnage, suffering, and their efforts on the Western Front. I believed them. The other thing Haig was involved with after WW1 was the pensions and welfare system for the veterans. Veterans were paid a poor pension for a rank generally two ranks below what they had attained in the conflict. Haig always said that he was concerned for the welfare of the troops after the war. That was baloney, it was all a front. Combine the above with the blunders in his outdated tactics along with those of Rawlinson, that resulted in slaughter on a grand scale repeatedly. No wonder the men who had served despised him and called him 'Butcher'. Maybe Haig gained some respect after 1960, but the spirits of the men he wasted on the battlefield, and offended with a paltry pension and welfare system after the war, would have haunted and be waiting to deal with him on the others side in 1928. The men I knew were not happy at all with Haig, and this appeared to be a common theme with many of the returning soldiers. By the grace of God, they had managed to survive his tactical mistakes and blunders. But they remembered.

Haig fully deserved his reputation, he was a butcher, all he did was send his men over the top the same way again and again, he wasted lives on an iundustrial scale but they had no one else. I saw an interview with men who had served under him, they were still very angry. trshow.info/watch/NEZdlLBiA-A/video.html

Britain not England.

Yes so sad 😢 that the general population not the ruling party suffered after the war.

And worst of all, let to the creation of atomic weapons so deadly that can wipe out humankind with the blink of an eye...

I think you wanted to say "war to start all wars"

This documentary is so One sided it's hilarious. Saying pride was the driving force is ridiculous. It was actually economics

The Soviets did one thing properly in 17 and it was CALLING FOR THEIR TROOPS TO COME BACK FROM THE FRONT. Are you confusing the Tsar's army with the Soviet one that Lenin called to retire, being bought back to Russia on the dime of the Kaiser? "Disinterest"? Unpreparedness! Calling the war now was a way for the Kaiser to not allow the Tsar to complete his planned upgrade of the railways and military. Russia was caught midway and was not ready to deploy: it was Nicholas's feeling of Protector of the Slavs that pushed him to join to protect Serbia. ...a country whose soldiers had 3 regional wars prior and were ragtag but seasoned. Russia only had a handful veterans from the catastrophic 1905 campaign, and their ordeal could not be chalked as experience. As for WW2, Stalin let the Germans kill his own son when he fell into their hands. What would you expect for regular Soviet soldiers? You are captured, you kill yourself, period. Not disinterest. Inhumanity reeking from the top down.

France and England were both of the opinion that a unified Germany was too unstable, and actively declared that they wrote the treaty in such a way as to break the German government. They were very successful. They just didn't consider what would come next.

All of Germany's allies surrendered, including the Austrians, ling before the armistices.

Let's hope its all transparent information. Not twisted for a better view

Unfortunately and alas, that is war...

There's a book of the private family correspondence IIRC that paints what a tragic figure he was.

Exactly how was it worth it?

@@travisfriedland9346 he is quoting someone, idk whom

Really ?over two people that were assassinated ?

Pppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppp

He's the best!!

Why he needs to eat his words at every pause, every end of sentence, in his many narrations, beats me, though, in narration here, his voice usually holds throughout his speech ...

just lets hope not war again

Interesting question. German Leadership is not very wise in the 21st Century. Their open border policy will lead to the final destruction of Germany, as well as other countries because the Globalist don't want Sovereign countries.

@@johnadams5489 Germany since after WW2 is an American colony the USA (whether democrats or republicans in power) determinds the political direction of Germany, and Germany due to all of its history cannot say no to the USA. It's strange how these is blamed on immigrants who have no political office in Germany compared to USA whose immigrants are everywhere in Congress, Senate

@@sambaemol2476 Bismarck must be crying from his grave ever since the WW1 not only that his legacy and Germany in state of it. But also the lost of his country. His country literally is wipe out of the map along with all of history and tradition. He give all his life for his country and king. Now that both of that not even existed anymore.

He is, isn't he?

Mr. Reynolds is a study in what a Professor of History should be. He explains complex issues in a manner that makes consuming the information easy. How he acts out stylistic movements of the leaders, in their times of struggle, when trying to make decisions, they know will affect history, long after they're dead & gone. In one episode about Churchill and FDR, Winston stays at the White House as two men plan war strategy. FDR goes into Churchill's suite just as Winston is getting out of the bath. FDR pauses and says sorry for intruding without knocking. Churchill, a towel around his waist and one in his hands, drying off excess water, looks at FDR and says, "no intrusion my friend, it's not as if we're strangers". With that said, their conversation of Military matters continues, then Winston let's the towel around his waist fall to the floor, as he reaches for his shirt and trousers. David Reynolds acts out the scene, without any props, letting the invisible towel around his waist also fall! Suttle, but everyone gets the picture.

we did, or haven't you heard of WWII?

Damn straight, bro....

Bill whittle

Luubelaar...the devastation of this war, was ultimately caused by the British queen who hoped to rule the European houses. Even with just a figure of state, kings/queen acnnot have this much power! I'm European but live in the US. My country was under the German crown (Eastern Europe) and the country unified after the war. Germany placed their bet on the wrong horse (Austria).

Germany got a raw deal, they should have kept fighting instead of agreeing to the "surrender" that was no armistice

it wasn't left out, there is another section (video) that mentions it, that focuses primarily on the war.

@SMA Productions true. But for the last half century to America

This presenter is trying to paint the British as entirely supreme over any of her allies or anyone at all. He might as well have said the British won the war outright without help from any of the allies or the Empire.

@@Aarontlondon Britain need not have joined in the war in the first place, which would have allowed Germany to beat France and Russia. Britain did join the war, so it may be said that victory was due to Britain.

@@robertbryant6859 It may be said that if the allies did not help, that Britain would have been soundly beaten just the same in WW2. Then the title of this video would have been How Brits learned to like German sausage.

Canadians are French and British😅

You are most correct. The Australians and Canadians performed an incredible breakthrough against the German lines in late 1918...I believe even on bicycles. I have a lot of respect for the performance of British dominion forces in WW1 because at Galipoli and countless other places they did do "the heavy lifting".

You know your history and the edification is provides is appreciated.

So true. The war was not over for my grandparents in Russia.

Its amazing how people cant spell these days.

If there were no generals then Germany would have lost the in the first week. Generals and officers are the men plan and and soldiers execute it. With the absence of any one of them its a lost cause.

Many generals throughout history have led from the front.

78 British generals died in WW1, a fourth of which by small arms fire.

LUDENDORFF WAS A REALIST- THAT WAS ONE OF HIS FEW GOOD POINTS!!!

Not so much the Allies, more the French, who needed the reparations to repay huge loans from the United States. Wilson and Lloyd George both thought French demands were too extreme, until the French explained to Wilson why their demands were so extreme. Not that it mattered much anyway, and the French didn't get what they had demanded in any case.

@@dovetonsturdee7033 I disagree; the French got what they demanded--they just never imagined that that was what they were demanding: although Foch appears to known...

@@jeffreysommer3292 Actually, Foch made his prediction because he felt the treaty had been far too lenient on Germany.

history is a neglected field here in the UK, perhaps because the 'victors' don't believe they have any thing to learn, but also because leftist political views dominate our teaching / education system and they don't want their narrative of incompetent military leaders such as Haig to be challenged by the likes of Monash as this would conflict with the perceptions they are presenting [a war waged by Toff's but fought by sacrificing the Working Classes] ! Haig is much maligned, the mass battles of 1916 were of necessity based on rather simplistic plans because the vast majority of the Officers & troops involved had no or very little battlefield experience and could only be expected to follow a clock-like plan. In 1918 Haig was credited by the French military leadership of winning the war with the battle of Amiens . He was held in good regard by those veterans I personally spoke to in the 1960' & 70's.

Its because he wasn't a brit. There is zero mention of dominion troops or generals here, like monash, currie, etc

As bad as it was, it still escalated progress. That war shaped what our everyday lives are now, from confection clothing sizes to tea bags.

There would probably have been no WW2. Plus there would be peace in the Middle East.

Were did you think he learned it he was in France

Well that and Hitlers belief that Judeo-Bolshevik Autarky would lead to the death of the German People and a socialist revolution of the workers

Look up the economist Etienne Mantoux. He clearly debunked the Keynesian myth of reparations being too much for Germany to handle.

Maybe it's that Anzac day is more significant for people than Remembrance day?.. Did you know that it's celebrated even in Prague, Czech Republic? Every year Australians and New Zealanders gather to pay their respect to the fallen. Few of ANZAC soldiers were buried there (few as around 8 I think). Now it's not a dawn service and it's on a weekend closest to the Anzac day, but that's probably for allowing more people to attend.

@@FN-rl2ku Were you talking about ANZAC Day outside of Aust & NZ being honoured on a weekend? In Aust & NZ ANZAC Day is a national public holiday on the 25th. Our Dawn Service across the country grows stronger in attendance each year with the younger generations learning and remembering their sacrifice. It's still a strong solemn day for us. Australians and I'm sure NZ's would not have it on any other day.

@@lexaharpell5196 The place meant is in the second sentence.

@@lexaharpell5196 What I meant is that it's amazing that even half a world away Australians and New Zealanders still find the time to organise an event and pay their respects.

You see kids in the UK in school wearing their poppies, we don't forget here in the UK, I buy my poppy from the British Legion who are always busy selling them at my local supermarket, and come the 11th hour on the 11th of November we all stop and pay our respects to our fallen, Remembrance Sunday in November is part of British life with all cities towns and villages actively involved with services and the laying of numerous poppy wreaths. My poppy is for my Great Grandad, John T Nicholson aged 26 killed at Arras, 27th April 1917. A little Geordie lad buried in France.