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shailen_patel4

WW2

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6 minutes ago, ScouseFox said:

i find beevors a bit lightweight, if i’m honest 

They can feel like they're trying to entertain at times, it must be said. The last one of his I read was the one about the Battle of The Bulge, and that was pretty good, but it's one of those where the subject's been done to death already, so there's not that much to add

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4 hours ago, Wolfox said:

I’m mildly obsessed with both the Great War and WW2

 

There are loads of great resources, If you know where to look 

 

WWII PODCAST is amazing…. It takes Ray Harris a few episodes to find his style, but, he gives an amazing account of the war and it battles…

 

https://worldwariipodcast.net/

 

I learnt many things - The Greeks were double hard bastards, Churchill was even more amazing than I thought he was and The French politicians should be massively ashamed of themselves 

 

also OP- ‘brown people’ (as you say) fought very bravely indeed…. Lest we forget…

 

on WWI - check out the BBC and voices of the First World War podcast- amazing and humbling to hear real live accounts of some hugely brave men…

 

off to watch WW2 in color now - thanks for the heads up!

Was going to mention voices of the First World War myself. Fantastic podcast giving first hand experiences of many aspects of the war. If you like radio drama then tommies is a good listen as well, dramatising real days in WWI.

 

I think what makes these wars so fascinating is the total nature of it, not only were the soldiers mobilised but the home front that became vital in supporting the war effort and the changing world that evolved from all this.

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4 hours ago, Bellend Sebastian said:

At the to risk of coming over all Mark out of Peep Show, those that like reading actual books but haven't indulged so far should read pretty much anything by Antony Beevor and Max Hastings.

 

Beevor's work is perhaps a bit more accessible, and he manages to convey the drama and urgency of events in a way that makes his stuff more exciting than a lot of history books.

 

Hastings does detail in a big way, possibly too much for the casual reader, but I LOVE detail so right up my street as well. In fact, I've just found one on the shelf that I've not read. Result

I’ve read Stalingrad, a great account of the battle, but truly horrific. 

2 hours ago, Kinowe Soorie said:

Pretty sure Filbert Street had a bomb dropped on it?!?

It did, the away changing rooms I think but it didn’t go off. 

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WW2 is endlessly fascinating. I'll second Beevors work as highly accessible. Stalingrad is probably his most famous book but Berlin is very similar and just as good/horrific. His mammoth book The Second World War is also very good and covers pretty much all the military theatres, you're guaranteed to learn some things you didn't know before.

I'm not sure how you'd go about getting hold of them but there are some early 00s BBC documentaries that are also well worth a watch, Battle for the Atlantic and War of the Century which is about the Nazi/Soviet war and is absolutely fantastic.

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1 hour ago, Gubbins said:

WW2 is endlessly fascinating. I'll second Beevors work as highly accessible. Stalingrad is probably his most famous book but Berlin is very similar and just as good/horrific. His mammoth book The Second World War is also very good and covers pretty much all the military theatres, you're guaranteed to learn some things you didn't know before.

I'm not sure how you'd go about getting hold of them but there are some early 00s BBC documentaries that are also well worth a watch, Battle for the Atlantic and War of the Century which is about the Nazi/Soviet war and is absolutely fantastic.

Berlin is on my list, bought it my dad a few Christmases back with the intention of having it off him once he'd finished. I need to get it off him. :D

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11 hours ago, Vlad the Fox said:

Was going to mention voices of the First World War myself. Fantastic podcast giving first hand experiences of many aspects of the war. If you like radio drama then tommies is a good listen as well, dramatising real days in WWI.

 

I think what makes these wars so fascinating is the total nature of it, not only were the soldiers mobilised but the home front that became vital in supporting the war effort and the changing world that evolved from all this.

If you enjoyed that podcast

 

try reading this

 

Passchendaele: The Story of the Third Battle of Ypres 1917 https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0241952417/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_owwxCbSNFV13X

 

Lyn McDonald also did another on the Somme

 

Amazing books 

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These are actually excellent videos for people (young and old) who don't really know much about World War II. They have a few other wars rounded up like this. Personally I think they're great starting points before people go on to do their own or are introduced to The World at War, possibly the best UK Television series ever produced.

 

 

 

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4 hours ago, Footballwipe said:

These are actually excellent videos for people (young and old) who don't really know much about World War II. They have a few other wars rounded up like this. Personally I think they're great starting points before people go on to do their own or are introduced to The World at War, possibly the best UK Television series ever produced.

 

 

 

Good YouTube channel them

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On 06/02/2019 at 22:10, Wymeswold fox said:

Is the battle over the past few years against the Islamic State group classified as WW3?

If the US and Russians don't behave and continue to annoy the West, there could be yet another one unfolding..

Nah, it isn’t classed as a war. IS are a group and neither side has declared war as such.

i can’t see another war happening, a lot of is war-mongering, this is more reminiscent to a Cold War, in that both the US and Russia are looking for influence. The development of nuclear technology will prevent any conventional war from occurring.

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2 hours ago, Matt_Lcfc said:

Nah, it isn’t classed as a war. IS are a group and neither side has declared war as such.

i can’t see another war happening, a lot of is war-mongering, this is more reminiscent to a Cold War, in that both the US and Russia are looking for influence. The development of nuclear technology will prevent any conventional war from occurring.

Apparently ww3 was supposed to happen this year ?

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On 07/02/2019 at 18:28, peach0000 said:

Coincidentally I was reading up on it last night and found some of the statistics absolutely baffling. The one that stood out for me was that the US air force managed to destroy more than 60% of all built up areas in Japan (pre nukes) and killed 900,000 civilians. The loss of life and suffering endured on the asian front is often overlooked but should always be remembered and never repeated. 

Yes there are some mind boggling figures.More people killed in one bombing raid of Tokyo than the entire blitz.More people killed in the siege of Leningrad than the whole of the British and US war death toll combined.Hard to get the head round it.

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14 hours ago, leicsmac said:

It's quite amazing how we find such horrifying times in history so fascinating and interesting, isn't it? Not to mention how such times are often a massive driver of scientific progress.

 

I wonder why that is?

For me, it shows that it was not exactly the "good vs evil" battle that you read in novels. Hitler was a nasty human but the nations who defeated him have their own rich history of ethnic/racial cleansing, colonising and stealing land, cultural deformation.. Etc. 

 

 

 

 

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24 minutes ago, the fox said:

For me, it shows that it was not exactly the "good vs evil" battle that you read in novels. Hitler was a nasty human but the nations who defeated him have their own rich history of ethnic/racial cleansing, colonising and stealing land, cultural deformation.. Etc. 

 

 

 

 

Interesting viewpoint!

 

History is definitely written by the winners, and winners often don't like depicting themselves warts-and-all, that much is true. And there definitely is no such thing as good and evil for what people are, only what they do.

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1 hour ago, leicsmac said:

Interesting viewpoint!

 

History is definitely written by the winners, and winners often don't like depicting themselves warts-and-all, that much is true. And there definitely is no such thing as good and evil for what people are, only what they do.

 as a man from a nation that lived through and experienced what it means to live under the sword of a coloniser (France). It's not easy to live as a 2nd class citizen in your own land. There were all kind of crimes committed against my people and that's why I have such opinion. Algerians were forced to fight in WW1 and WW2 even though there were treaties that forbid forcing people of occupied countries to participate in such wars like those but were they implemented? I guess not. 

 

 

It was a Blood tax for the Algerians. Fight for France and freinds and gain your freedom.

 

Do you mind guessing how France thanked the Algerians for participating in those wars, functioning as meat shields in the front lines? The massacre of the 8th of may 1945, that was the payment. Algerians peacefully protested after WW2 for freedom and said "hey, you were fighting for freedom and rights and all that... And you did promise so we thought that because we kinda helped a lot, we can get our land back...?". And boy was it the start of an open season on Algerians. Between 45-100 thousand people were killed and countless injured people.

 

 

The French had a very colorful imagination and they used it against the Algerians. Crimes varied from public executions, burning people alive, dropping people from aeroplanes and of course, French soldiers gutting pregnant women and betting on the gender of the yet-to-be-born child. France to this day refuses to admit most of their crimes. 

 

They have seen Hitler as a threat to their plans and that's why they didn't mind much when Germany was first expanding. But the moment Hitler touched their food, the flame of righteousness, honer, pride and fairness magically lit the oh-so-big kind-heart of theirs.

 

They didn't care much for Hitler's and Mussolini's ways of doing things until they were the ones effected. If there was an unoccupied 3rd world country that said countries weren't eyeing and Hitler went there and killed millions, do you think the USA, France..etc would've cared? They wouldn't because they've been doing the same thing for the longest time. 

 

In conclusion, I fail to find the smallest bit of empathy for such people, I don't think they are good people and I'm unapologetic about it.

 

 

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1 hour ago, the fox said:

 as a man from a nation that lived through and experienced what it means to live under the sword of a coloniser (France). It's not easy to live as a 2nd class citizen in your own land. There were all kind of crimes committed against my people and that's why I have such opinion. Algerians were forced to fight in WW1 and WW2 even though there were treaties that forbid forcing people of occupied countries to participate in such wars like those but were they implemented? I guess not. 

 

 

It was a Blood tax for the Algerians. Fight for France and freinds and gain your freedom.

 

Do you mind guessing how France thanked the Algerians for participating in those wars, functioning as meat shields in the front lines? The massacre of the 8th of may 1945, that was the payment. Algerians peacefully protested after WW2 for freedom and said "hey, you were fighting for freedom and rights and all that... And you did promise so we thought that because we kinda helped a lot, we can get our land back...?". And boy was it the start of an open season on Algerians. Between 45-100 thousand people were killed and countless injured people.

 

 

The French had a very colorful imagination and they used it against the Algerians. Crimes varied from public executions, burning people alive, dropping people from aeroplanes and of course, French soldiers gutting pregnant women and betting on the gender of the yet-to-be-born child. France to this day refuses to admit most of their crimes. 

 

They have seen Hitler as a threat to their plans and that's why they didn't mind much when Germany was first expanding. But the moment Hitler touched their food, the flame of righteousness, honer, pride and fairness magically lit the oh-so-big kind-heart of theirs.

 

They didn't care much for Hitler's and Mussolini's ways of doing things until they were the ones effected. If there was an unoccupied 3rd world country that said countries weren't eyeing and Hitler went there and killed millions, do you think the USA, France..etc would've cared? They wouldn't because they've been doing the same thing for the longest time. 

 

In conclusion, I fail to find the smallest bit of empathy for such people, I don't think they are good people and I'm unapologetic about it.

 

 

Powerful post.

 

Self-interest at a national level and the belief that Might Makes Right (otherwise known as realpolitik)...this is where such thought often leads.

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