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German veteran talks about his first kill in WW1
- Thread starter Romulus
- Start date
TheContact
Member
if anyone's interested in ww1 (it's horrifyingly awesome from a history perspective), i recommend listening to dan carlin's hardcore history - blueprint for Armageddon series. also, if you have HBO max, they have a 5 or 6 episode documentary on the war called Apocalypse: WW1
Camaway2
Member
Another reccomendation is Peter Jackson's They Shall Not Grow Old. The restored footage makes the horrors of WWI shockingly contemporary.
Reality Czar
Banned
WWI seems especially grueling, being the first really modern war, the first post-industrial revolution. Tanks and planes and all kinds of new technology being introduced, So many new guns and bombs and mechanical weaponry. In the mist of all of that you had huge masses of people thrown into trench warfare, it is almost impossible to imagine a modern 18 year old having to deal with that, living in a hole in the ground for weeks, with gunshots and bombs going off constantly, knowing all of it is meant for you and your friends. Catching all kinds of horrible diseases living in these filthy conditions, just months of absolutely abject human misery and suffering.
There was a draft then, as has been the case for most of history, it is usually expected of adult males to come together when a community needs to call to arms in order to defend itself. We are very privileged to live in an age of volunteer military service and most of us will never have to deal with any of it.
We should be thankful that we have it so good now.
There was a draft then, as has been the case for most of history, it is usually expected of adult males to come together when a community needs to call to arms in order to defend itself. We are very privileged to live in an age of volunteer military service and most of us will never have to deal with any of it.
We should be thankful that we have it so good now.
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ipukespiders
Member
And to be fair, I think we (as a whole) are thankful. I certainly am.
TheContact
Member
keep in mind, they didn't know what PTSD was. medical doctors couldn't make sense of it and executions of soldiers for crimes related to their PTSD (such as desertion/cowardice) took place unfortunately.
but yea it is cool to see how the war technology advanced. you would see french officers in the beginning basically looking like they did in napolean's army with bright white hats and gloves--easy targets. it took way too long for soldiers to even get metal helmets to deal with the shrapnel. the worst part was the mad charging into machine gun fire and just how long it took some generals to either change their tactics or get fired and replaced by someone who wasn't a butcher. life in the trenches must have been fucking brutal. we have ww1 to thank for LoTR actually. the brutality and hellish landscapes was inspired by tolkien's part in the war
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Hulk_Smash
Banned
The footage is a visual feast but fair warning to anyone not from the UK: You will have one hell of a time understanding the voiceovers.
There is very little in the way of exposition either vocally or in written form. This drags the film down in my opinion. It’s difficult knowing what’s going on from one voice over to the next.
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nkarafo
Member
But what if that person is from the attacking side and you have to defend your own home and family?
What if that person was, dunno, some fanatic who wants to push his theocracy/rules on you?
Nobody sane really wants to kill another person but sometimes its not like you have a choice.
Prison Mike
Banned
Alter_Fridge
Member
Hmm... I don't want to discount, but surely he would have had tears rolling down remembering the horrors of war
Camaway2
Member
It's true that the regional accents, especially coming from people that were born 130 years ago can be challenging, maybe subtitles can help. At the same time hearing the horrors of the war you see on screen narrated by the people that lived it rather than from some poncy historian really had a harrowing effect on me.
Batiman
Banned
He probably cried the first 100 times he explained that story. Maybe never. Some people express their emotions differently
manfestival
Member
That was fascinating to listen to. It really does make you think.
Romulus
Member
lol, not everyone cries. Lots of veterans with confirmed kills talk about killing people and don't cry.
Alter_Fridge
Member
He spoke super well but I didn't correlate the words coming out his mouth with his facial emotions
Especially because he spoke numerous times they could be friends otherwise.
But I'm just speculating. Everyone is different. He could be numb to it all.
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Romulus
Member
Try living life for about 70 years. You gain a perspective on things you can't imagine at this point, even if you're 40.
Alter_Fridge
Member
I know. I shouldn't have even have tried to put myself in his shoes. But everyone fucks up
DKehoe
Gold Member
Must be bizarre to have to live the rest of your life after that. To go through something traumatic, a true life or death situation that on some level is going to define you, then just go back to the regular world and try and reconcile what happened with your every day life going forward. To see the sort of cruelty that's in normal people, including within yourself, and to know that the guy at the shop who just served you with a smile would have killed you if you had met under different circumstances. I generally try and stay pretty positive and optimistic in trying to see the good side of people. But something like that would really shake you to your core.
You often see people these days lament that more recent generations weren't toughened up by going through something like the world wars. But thank fuck we didn't have to go through that. No one should have to.
You often see people these days lament that more recent generations weren't toughened up by going through something like the world wars. But thank fuck we didn't have to go through that. No one should have to.
EverydayBeast
ChatGPT 0.1
TheContact
Member
I don’t think going WW1 hurt Dice in BF1, four years later I still have no problem with the decision but nothing against the war it’s usually skipped in gaming for WW2, and it’s elite weapons. Older crowds won’t like this post but USA couldn’t of sat out of either of those world wars.
america did very little combat in ww1, and the combat they did participate in wasn't very effective. america entered the war because we sold a shit ton of materials to the allied powers and if germany won, they wouldn't be getting any of that back. plus the attacks on the merchant vessels and ultimately the zimmerman telegram is what brought the US to the war, and i'm not discounting that the added manpower was helpful and also helped allied morale, but the allied powers would have still won without america's physical presence. in the end, it brought us into the world stage and it was the right decision. ww2 absolutely would have been lost without america's help though
QuantumZebra
Member
Kenpachii
Member
I will move
nkarafo
Member
So you will give up your home for someone who just decided to take it?
I mean, if you don't really have a home of your own, or a family, or your current life is miserable, you hate your country, i get it. But i think most people wouldn't tolerate this.
Kenpachii
Member
Yes i will because i have no loyalty to my house or my country the same as they have zero loyalty to me. The only ground i own is under my nails. Its all material shit.
If my country will radicalize to the point it wants war and conflict and want me to do the dirty work for them? i am out.
And no my life isn't miserable and yes i own my own home.
Let me explain why.
Look my grandpa told me his story's about ww2 and nazi germany and how fucking trash the goverment here was. He wasn't afraid of the Germans as much as he was for the dutch goverment. Why? because they wanted to recruit his ass ( lol not recruit more like enslave his ass ) to get pushed in a uniform to the boarders to germany in order to defend the great nation against this german warmachine meat grinder that was right at the boarder. Guess what happened? he bailed, he took my dad and moved away as far as fucking possible then hid himself ( no we aint jews ). Guess what, the war was over my dad had a great life after it with his dad, guess what my grandpa's buddy's all did "there job defending the country like the great dutchmen they are" and what happened?
Do you think the queen gave a fuck about those and there kids that where left behind? read further ( spoiler, not a single fuck )
And for what? so this piece of shit queen straight up bailed the netherlands to the other side of the planet when hitler even mentioned netherlands for 1 second.. Endless preaches from canada "keep it up guys u doing the great works for our country i am proud of you guys". Then the war is over and the shitter goes back to the netherlands and guess what? That shitter queen decided to straight go into war again with india because we need our plantages back. It took the fucking US who liberated us to slam that shitter down from sacrificing another shit ton of dutch citizens for the greater good. And that all while half the netherlands if not 90% was starving to death as everything was destroyed.
That's the cold hard reality.
But hey atleast it was kingsday today. all those brainwashed retarded dutchmen and woman happily celebrate that piece of shit family that straight up exists out of the lowest tier scum of the society ( mass murderers / top tier mafia ) 40m every year getting paid to be glorious ( lol his kid at 16 gets 1,6m and even got a raise this year ). Isn't that nice?. talking about equality and fairness all day long. U think the oscars is bad? just look at this shit, and its not even a joke its real.
Sorry man, the reality is simple. U own nothing, u are nothing and u will realize the moment war breaks out u will be culled and u will be slammed in a boat to be shot down at the other side of the planet killing a man u never even saw in your life. exactly what the guy in the video says.
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Ixion
Member
Different countries have different values and ways of life. A just war is fought over the preservation of those values and way of life. Sure, two soldiers on the opposite sides of the war will never really have a personal vendetta against each other, but you're fighting to protect the land that gave you and your family freedom. If you were born in a certain other country, you could have been born into slavery, heavy restrictions, or something else that would have prevented you and your family from living their lives or even from existing at all. That's why wars are fought: to protect the way of life that let you be the person you are in the first place.
What I just said is the theoretical nature of war however, and as we all know, many wars are unjust. That's essentially what it comes down to. Is it a war where you're fighting off an invasion for example? Or are you just fighting a war that is designed solely to plump up the war economy or some other BS reason?
What I just said is the theoretical nature of war however, and as we all know, many wars are unjust. That's essentially what it comes down to. Is it a war where you're fighting off an invasion for example? Or are you just fighting a war that is designed solely to plump up the war economy or some other BS reason?
Insane Metal
Member
I would post a thread but here's more material about wars and crime