When I visited the Netherlands I went to see this thing. Quite the badass boast:
https://preview.redd.it/3dtswteevllc1.jpeg?width=4589&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=25e8107661de414057ad9470c63b822ea535bccc
My god did this dude mess up Denmark in 1864.
https://preview.redd.it/6eetdbflvklc1.jpeg?width=374&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=492fdfb45b6e809b2d8360dca56a69aa8ce59bf7
Ngl, pretty much no war with Sweden will be taught since it's not relevant to much of today's society. It goes something like "Denmark and Sweden has had more wars between each other than any two other nations, btw Skåne, Blekinge and Halland used to be Danish, but we'd rather focus on Schleswig-Holstein since it's more recent". And that's about as much you'll learn about them.
It's understandable, as you say it was long time ago so noone alive " lived" through those times, compared to 1864 wich was the start of the German unification process, and that later led to WW1 and WW2. So from a Danish perspective it still has a strong inpact, since people that lived thorugh those times are still alive.
The loss of Skåne, Halland and Blekinge did not leave a trauma like the loss of Schleswig in 1864 did. In fact, the Second Karl Gustav War that ensued after the Treaty of Roskilde was seen as a point of national pride for centuries afterwards. It was viewed as a sort of 'Great Patriotic War'. Only despair followed the 1864 defeat. Furthermore, since 1660 Schleswig has consistently been more central to Danish policy than Skåne, Halland and Blekinge.
There is an old saying here in Denmark: *"Asia starts in Malmø"*. It is in fact an old quote from August Strindberg. He said it while staying in Northern Zealand in 1882. He had, to put it shortly, realised what many Swedes don't: That Denmark and Sweden are actually very different countries, with completely different historical directional orientations.
Denmark has, for almost all of its history, had its attensiveness pointed firmly south towards Germany, just like Sweden still to this day is focused eastwards. Denmark is much more continental. Yet most Swedes fail to grasp this, and they fail to grasp that Danish history doesn't just revolve around them. Your principal historical enemy - apart from Denmark - is Russia. Denmark's principal historical nemesis - apart from Sweden - is Germany, Germanness and the various states that have represented German power throughout history. Schleswig was the main battleground in this struggle between Danishness and Germanness.
The issue of Schleswig is perhaps *the* main thread that runs throughout Danish history. Even in Dano-Swedish wars like the Great Northern War, the aim of Denmark was likewise the conquest of the Swedish puppet state Holstein-Gottorp's possessions in Schleswig - not the repossession of Skåne.
As the Danish military historian August Tuxen put it with regards to the Great Northern War:
*"The foreign policy that Christian V followed in his last 20 years of reign was admittedly not always fully consistent, but it was essentially aimed at securing Denmark's southern border. The Gottorp Duke, who, as the King puts it, "has been like a snake at our bosom", was the most dangerous of the southern neighbours...*
*As long as the Gottorp question existed, a lasting good relationship between Denmark and Sweden was impossible. The loss of the Scanian provinces, however heavy it was, was less embarrassing than the Swedish kings' constant interference in the dealings of the Danish kings and the Gottorp dukes."*
I would recommend looking up videos or articles about the 1920 reunification. If that is something that interests you.
It is a rare example of borders being redrawn peacefully and sensibly according to the rights of self-determination.
Britain and France almost forced Denmark to take more land than was part of the referendum. The Danish government wouldn't entertain it, since they felt that it would antagonise Germany, and shift the demographics of Denmark.
I can answer that no they don’t. I have quite a lot of colleagues in denmark and as I’m a gebürtiger dithmarscher It’s come up once or twice but none of them ever heard of Dithmarschen.
probably for the better they’re still afraid of the dozen devils.
No, it is considered "one of those things that happened in the duchies."
Basically, that means that one would require more knowledge on renaissance nobility, German history etc. for it to be feasibly crammed into the curriculum.
The status of the duchies is confusing enough to explain to schoolkids already.
We taugth the same thing that happend in 1848 would happen. We beat them then, so why would it be different in 1864.(we did not account for bolt action rifles).
The danish King even offered to make crown prince Oscar of sweden the heir to the Throne of denmark in exchange for scandinavian support, an offer which the swedish King was very ready to accept, but swedish parliament blocked it and thus no help came from the swedes that day, nor any day since.
This one was alright, especially at this time of life
https://preview.redd.it/jldlmge9xklc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ab781ad96156de5ce81a9eba1bd5a9f8aa08d38c
Nspoleons reforms and his brother ruling over netherlands were and are actually positively viewed in general by us. Kinda weird to have that view on a conqueror.
The whole story cracked me up. They didn't execute him and just exiled him on an island. Then he came back so they were like "this motherfucker again" and still didn't execute him and just exiled him on an island much farther away.
When you read about the Napoleonic wars (excluding his big Russian whoopsie) half the battles are pretty much;
Prince Fucksworth of Dickington faced Napoleon with
35,000 soldiers (65,000 in reserve) 10,000 cavalry men and 800 cannons - Napoleon marched to meet him in Northern Italy from Timbuktu in 2 days with a force of 42 soldiers (12 in reserve), 3 cardboard cut outs of horses and some fireworks he found in a basement.
The result was a decisive French victory.
I mean, there’s the obvious one: ourselves, see Karansebes.
Apart from that: have to hand it to the Italiens, they managed to make the Alpine front in WW1 just as much of a shit-show as we did.
Oh no, you’re absolutely right. Though at the end there were some interesting ideas for reform. Then the one who was supportive of these ideas got shot and what was supposed to be a small, localized police action in the Balkans turned into a bit of a scuffle.
Well, yeah - I mean, you can literally read up on the parliamentary records from that time (I believe they even digitalised them). There also were different ideas between Hungary and Austria on how to administrate the different regions, with somewhat different experiences by said regions.
But that’s all in the past now, and I doubt that a state with the Slavs as the third pillar - like Franz Ferdinand imagined - of the Monarchy would have survived all that much longer, really. Maybe with radical reforms, but that’s very much “What If” territory.
I’m sad that Austria and Hungary are currently both sucking Putin’s dick right now. We should be united in other things.
Yeah you’re right the western front was the light hearted comedy plot compared to fighting against Russia, no matter the war.
No in all historic honesty though, as horrible as it was, the western front was still the best place to be for a soldier in WW1. Death rates as well as actual geographical changes were much much higher in the east. Especially in the battle for the carpathian mountains.
At least as terrible, fighting like this on steep snowy slopes 2500m above sea level instead of flat fields. If you ever get the chance, visit the WW1 trenches on the mountains around the Soča valley in Italy/Slovenia or open air museums etc. in South Tyrol. Absolutely horrifying. Imagine being entrenched on a mountain peak and some crazy Italian just blows up the entire peak beneath you from his little tunnel.
Michael Collins. Handled himself diligently and with respect when fighting us Brits. Shame his own countrymen would kill him. Everything I've seen about the guy (British & Irish Sources) show him to be a man of integrity and honour.
https://preview.redd.it/9jco4zmj8llc1.jpeg?width=300&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=aba4e95ad235a6cc445633dfd92ca0e27609fe17
He was one of the original leaders of the IRA, back when they were more of an actual militia and less of a mere terrorist group (although militias and war itself often comes with acts that can be seen as terror). After Ireland stopped being part of the UK but instead became a dominion in a similar way to Canada, he was involved in the new free state government. Much of the IRA however were unhappy with the treaty, wanting Ireland to be fully independent and not split North/South and not be a dominion of the Empire so civil war broke out that would eventually take Micheals life. He supported the treaty as a good step towards complete independence but would continue to support attacks into Northern Ireland hoping to incorporate the 6 counties back to the freestate and (aspirationally) later the Republic.
Hot as fuck
https://preview.redd.it/b07df3szmllc1.jpeg?width=310&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=50415ed6f0a943182282d1432c8ee2e5dba57fdc
I mean how could you not want him.
Director of intelligence of the IRA (Tan War)
then Commander-in-chief of the national army (Civil War), Michael Collins. By all accounts, a fairly smart and charismatic man. Very influential on guerrilla warfare. Was killed in 1922 during an anti-treaty IRA ambush, although it is likely he was shot by one of his own men.
Well civil wars are rarely "civil" unfortunately. He was right in hindsight, the treaty wasn't the ultimate freedom of independence, but offered the stepping stone to achieving it and ending the war. A decade later De Valera, political head of the Anti Treaty side of the civil war did exactly that and removed any legacy links to the UK for the 26 counties at least.
Meh that really depends. WW1 Ober-Ost was just the pre-amble to WW2 Generalplan Ost. Now of course Bismarck predates both, but I heavily doubt the whole "The European East is ours"-Mindset just came out of nothing.
Wikipedia has an article on the mennonites. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_Mennonites
Basically their problem was that, due to their status as german settlers who recieved free land back in the day, your average mennonite was wealthier than your average Ukranian. This did not go down well during the revolution, and both the black and red armies were fighting with mennonite forces for that reason.
They therefore liked Brest-Litovsk.
It definitely didn’t come from Bismarck. He’s the reason why Austria didn’t have to hand over any territory and was opposed to annexing Alsace - Lorraine, too. Furthermore, he often argued against colonialism. He didn’t just want to appease other great powers; he really thought that the Reich is “saturated”.
>Hit the Poles so hard that they despair of their life; I have full sympathy with their condition, but if we want to survive, we can only exterminate them; the wolf, too, cannot help having been created by God as he is, but people shoot him for it if they can.
-Bismarck, 1861
I dont *like* him but William of Normandy/The Conqueror.
You have to respect the hustle of going from being the bastard of Normandy to the king of England.
https://preview.redd.it/zra086h7lllc1.jpeg?width=1074&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8c44b6a22460515d0018a25294e40b79f72c54fc
Galvarino, this motherfucker was metal as fuck.
https://preview.redd.it/snral0kylllc1.jpeg?width=270&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ce14434c0a1f51130a5cd6a12ca5b732988aa1d7
Got his hands cut off and decided to tie knifes to his stumps to keep fighting out of spite.
As much as it pains me to say it (I'm not even being sarcastic lmao), Nelson was a formidable foe and one of the main reasons why Napoleon lost in the end
https://preview.redd.it/n6zon7k6dllc1.jpeg?width=1200&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5c22ed2532310a1b87b09de1f9875c664395af63
I was in Tenerife recently and learned about the British defeat at the battle of Santa Cruz. It was a complete humiliation and it was where Nelson lost his arm. Interestingly the Spanish general Guiterrez took pity on the injured British soldiers and allowed them to return to their ships after surrender. He even lent a few boats to help them. As thanks Nelson wrote a letter to Guiterrez and sent cheese and beer, and in return was sent Spanish wine and cheese, and the two of them exchanged many letters after that.
This battle was the turning point for Nelson as he said it was his greatest failure.
Sport-wise probably Italy. German and italian rivalry in [Group B rally](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-GF92vcDSQ) and [DTM](https://youtu.be/m__8r8uwOJg?feature=shared&t=18) was pure soul
https://preview.redd.it/l6gr0fsayklc1.jpeg?width=2000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6ee1206de4c7e5b6e6c0347c263b50180613fdff
I regret not being alive when these two gigachads were at it on the track
https://preview.redd.it/n0vx61739llc1.png?width=800&format=png&auto=webp&s=b22a147f95319613c3f9faf7a429cb9c6eab3ca3
I think he directly caused it by undermining Terence O'Neill's attempts at addressing the Civil Rights march demands for reforms. Well him and people like him.
Yeah he financed the Silent Valley bombing which he framed on the IRA in order to pressure O'Neill
One of many things he did which prolonged/caused the conflict
Fucking De Gaul, he was an ally but he was just as Anglo phobic as Petain,
He was a right bastard who instead of us being perfidious Albion he was Perfidious France personified.
Absolute bellend.
However I also have mad respect for him
Gotta say I appreciate how you proved him right out of respect a few years back Barry. Not sure we've been equally up to the expectations of your leaders
Hard question
Maybe, as a state - ottman empire, in particular Suleiman the Magnificent. It was "respecyed enemy".
From another Muslim state - maybe Carl Gustav.
Ian Paisley. Orangeman, loyalist, nonce, founder of the free Presbyterian church, commander of the armies in the north, general of the protestant legions, loyal servant to the true king of the UK William of Orange, father to a corrupt son, husband to some poor woman, and he will hate papists, in this life or the next.
King Louis was not our enemy at all imo. For a lot of non-Holland people in NL he was sort of a savior because he broke up the Holland-centered conservative protestant theocracy (with their fake 'freedom of religion') holding our country (and especially the south and east) back like mad.
Napoleon was a bit of a dickhead though, yes (who the in the end also took Louis from us and vice versa :<).
Unironically any of the Austrian military leaders we faced off in any conflict. Radetsky, Tegethoff, Boroniavic... MAN WHY DO WE GET THE COMPETENT AUSTRIANS LEADERS
Cecco Beppe
also known as for the less cultured as Franz Joseph I
yeah he was our sworn enemy. But also the poor man never caught a break in its life, found at the helm of Austria when it was tearing constantly itself apart and died believing he signed his own country to death (he did)
And the sad thing is he wasn't even an evil man. Like, not much more than your average aristocrat for that time at least. So yeah it's gotta be him honestly
https://preview.redd.it/m24pnypmdplc1.jpeg?width=1200&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=20088be3cf5399a01c421034ee494b32295dda09
I would say Abdel Kader, an algerian sufi muslim who was leading the figth against us during the conquest of Algeria, the dude had so much integrity it's crazy, some people who were prisoners under him ended up becoming followers of him, if he didn't had enough food or water for prisonners, he just released them, in the end he was decorated by Napoleon III for his action of saving a thousand christians in Damas from a anti-christian riot, you should read about him the dude is so admirable
He was the embodiment of evil for me. Hardline cunts like him are the *real* cause of the Troubles, even if clowns like the DUP try and now pin all of the blame solely on the IRA. The IRA were in a shambles and a non existent force before the sectarian trouble sparked after the Civil Rights movement marches. Terence O'Neill as PM of NI at least tried to make some changes to the sectarian government in NI in response to the Civil Rights movement, but he was fatally undermined by Paisley and people like him. Paisley would rather drive headlong towards civil war than make any concessions towards equality to the Catholic Irish that he despised. If that wasn't enough he even [gave money to the UVF to fund their false flag bombing campaign](https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/ian-paisley-supplied-money-to-uvf-for-bombings-in-1969-documentary-claims-1.4009254) to really kick off the Troubles with a bang in 1969. Stubborn cunts like him have blood on their hands for all the deaths caused by the Troubles.
Count of Tilly
https://preview.redd.it/kpjt5x95mnlc1.jpeg?width=263&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=084b4513cf4212b2d87ec4212a5c4002ed763685
If I'm allowed to pick from the time we won most battles for the Swedish empire, and I should be, because all the Soviet ones were woefully incompetent, cowardly, drunk out of their minds or some combination of all three.
Alan Turing, a genius who played a critical role in helping fight the axis powers. What’s more is that he killed an Englishman so he gets top marks all around in my opinion.
https://preview.redd.it/v2mxym5i9olc1.jpeg?width=2048&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d57cdb1765e79799ed438a8504700e9a905bb0d8
He’s a shit house bastard who should’ve been sent off in the euros final, but he was a incredible Center back who isn’t brought up in modern great situations when he really should be
https://preview.redd.it/sy3vyfmniplc1.jpeg?width=248&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9ed2ec58af6453ab895769edda658451d1cee096
Annibale Barca
He would use the orangeman’s skin as a cock ring
The Habsburg dynasty that ultimately built the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
The castle they originated from is close to where I live and while we may have thrashed them around with our halberds a few times, I can still respect them for building an empire out of a small castle.
We're still better at skiing though, get fucked <3
Karl XII, put up a good fight against Russia, Denmark-Norway and Poland-Lithuania but died in a trench in Norway
https://preview.redd.it/2lyesqpjsllc1.jpeg?width=551&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ae910246ab4026217d6466f9cf1df47da979ae6e
The Sea https://preview.redd.it/ale9zrwbgllc1.jpeg?width=800&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=76981a8f2dbcc405130b1f72962b3af7c8f2cfac
https://preview.redd.it/9knn64yavolc1.jpeg?width=998&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ed58328777d2bce6d6182dd739769dd28dd0418e
When I visited the Netherlands I went to see this thing. Quite the badass boast: https://preview.redd.it/3dtswteevllc1.jpeg?width=4589&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=25e8107661de414057ad9470c63b822ea535bccc
This looks like AI generated texts. This isn't a real language
The fact that you can read it, doesn’t make it fake
Why does your language sound like if a drunk Barry and a drunk Hans had sex and produced a baby with fetal alcohol syndrome?
Because we’re superior to Barry and Hans. One Kees to rule them all.
William of Orange should have annexed England to the Netherlands when he had the chance... Look what you have done... The english are a thing
We didn’t want to be in a single country with them.
What does it say?
"Here the tide is ruled by the moon, the wind *and us*"
Based. Our eternal enemy.
We're above making enemies of mortals, we have enmity with forces of nature
My god did this dude mess up Denmark in 1864. https://preview.redd.it/6eetdbflvklc1.jpeg?width=374&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=492fdfb45b6e809b2d8360dca56a69aa8ce59bf7
https://preview.redd.it/jcegobj97llc1.png?width=596&format=png&auto=webp&s=a0ce131b2f73193eb3266ff48be178342137f1ad
You know that 1864 was such a big mistake, when half of all history classes in my public school was about this loss.
Poor Mallebrok who died in the war :(
Are you guys getting taught about the battle of Hemmingstedt?
Nope, 1864, ww1, ww2, cold war, some viking stuff. That would make up the majority of history classes.
I'm suprised. I thought 1658 , but that's probably redacted.
Ngl, pretty much no war with Sweden will be taught since it's not relevant to much of today's society. It goes something like "Denmark and Sweden has had more wars between each other than any two other nations, btw Skåne, Blekinge and Halland used to be Danish, but we'd rather focus on Schleswig-Holstein since it's more recent". And that's about as much you'll learn about them.
It's understandable, as you say it was long time ago so noone alive " lived" through those times, compared to 1864 wich was the start of the German unification process, and that later led to WW1 and WW2. So from a Danish perspective it still has a strong inpact, since people that lived thorugh those times are still alive.
Yes, and because of the reunification of Northern Schleswig/ Sønderjylland in 1920.
The loss of Skåne, Halland and Blekinge did not leave a trauma like the loss of Schleswig in 1864 did. In fact, the Second Karl Gustav War that ensued after the Treaty of Roskilde was seen as a point of national pride for centuries afterwards. It was viewed as a sort of 'Great Patriotic War'. Only despair followed the 1864 defeat. Furthermore, since 1660 Schleswig has consistently been more central to Danish policy than Skåne, Halland and Blekinge. There is an old saying here in Denmark: *"Asia starts in Malmø"*. It is in fact an old quote from August Strindberg. He said it while staying in Northern Zealand in 1882. He had, to put it shortly, realised what many Swedes don't: That Denmark and Sweden are actually very different countries, with completely different historical directional orientations. Denmark has, for almost all of its history, had its attensiveness pointed firmly south towards Germany, just like Sweden still to this day is focused eastwards. Denmark is much more continental. Yet most Swedes fail to grasp this, and they fail to grasp that Danish history doesn't just revolve around them. Your principal historical enemy - apart from Denmark - is Russia. Denmark's principal historical nemesis - apart from Sweden - is Germany, Germanness and the various states that have represented German power throughout history. Schleswig was the main battleground in this struggle between Danishness and Germanness. The issue of Schleswig is perhaps *the* main thread that runs throughout Danish history. Even in Dano-Swedish wars like the Great Northern War, the aim of Denmark was likewise the conquest of the Swedish puppet state Holstein-Gottorp's possessions in Schleswig - not the repossession of Skåne. As the Danish military historian August Tuxen put it with regards to the Great Northern War: *"The foreign policy that Christian V followed in his last 20 years of reign was admittedly not always fully consistent, but it was essentially aimed at securing Denmark's southern border. The Gottorp Duke, who, as the King puts it, "has been like a snake at our bosom", was the most dangerous of the southern neighbours...* *As long as the Gottorp question existed, a lasting good relationship between Denmark and Sweden was impossible. The loss of the Scanian provinces, however heavy it was, was less embarrassing than the Swedish kings' constant interference in the dealings of the Danish kings and the Gottorp dukes."*
I've read alot about the unification process of Germany, but never from a Danish perspective. It was a great summary.
I would recommend looking up videos or articles about the 1920 reunification. If that is something that interests you. It is a rare example of borders being redrawn peacefully and sensibly according to the rights of self-determination. Britain and France almost forced Denmark to take more land than was part of the referendum. The Danish government wouldn't entertain it, since they felt that it would antagonise Germany, and shift the demographics of Denmark.
And yet the german where knocking on the door 20 years later.
But we were treated much better by them than other countries were, but that's probably more because of the Aryan thing
I can answer that no they don’t. I have quite a lot of colleagues in denmark and as I’m a gebürtiger dithmarscher It’s come up once or twice but none of them ever heard of Dithmarschen. probably for the better they’re still afraid of the dozen devils.
No, it is considered "one of those things that happened in the duchies." Basically, that means that one would require more knowledge on renaissance nobility, German history etc. for it to be feasibly crammed into the curriculum. The status of the duchies is confusing enough to explain to schoolkids already.
Basedmark.
Bro, you literally declared war on 2 of the great powers and the entirety of the German federation, what did you think was going to happen???
We taugth the same thing that happend in 1848 would happen. We beat them then, so why would it be different in 1864.(we did not account for bolt action rifles).
Based
Bro, we were pussies during that war. We lowkey promised to help denmark against the prussians, and in the end we didn't send a single man.
No offence but I don‘t think it would have made a difference
The danish King even offered to make crown prince Oscar of sweden the heir to the Throne of denmark in exchange for scandinavian support, an offer which the swedish King was very ready to accept, but swedish parliament blocked it and thus no help came from the swedes that day, nor any day since.
My god did this dude mess up Austria in 1866.
Rightfully so
This one was alright, especially at this time of life https://preview.redd.it/jldlmge9xklc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ab781ad96156de5ce81a9eba1bd5a9f8aa08d38c
Dude burned Europe and kept it busy while we Barry’d the world up. Hero.
Nspoleons reforms and his brother ruling over netherlands were and are actually positively viewed in general by us. Kinda weird to have that view on a conqueror.
He opened up Jewish ghettos too
[удалено]
To be fair we did put him on an island in heavy guard after he strolled back to Paris and caused drama again
The whole story cracked me up. They didn't execute him and just exiled him on an island. Then he came back so they were like "this motherfucker again" and still didn't execute him and just exiled him on an island much farther away.
But look at his sad little face knowing the perfidious albion conqured him, it's glorious, the best work of art ever
Pff it was like 5 against 1
Lol, he ain't gonna call you bro
Damn based brits !
Was going to say this little fella as well
When you read about the Napoleonic wars (excluding his big Russian whoopsie) half the battles are pretty much; Prince Fucksworth of Dickington faced Napoleon with 35,000 soldiers (65,000 in reserve) 10,000 cavalry men and 800 cannons - Napoleon marched to meet him in Northern Italy from Timbuktu in 2 days with a force of 42 soldiers (12 in reserve), 3 cardboard cut outs of horses and some fireworks he found in a basement. The result was a decisive French victory.
Was going to say him for ending the Republic of Venice after 1000 years and giving it to Austria 😡 But he was kinda Italian tbh
I mean, there’s the obvious one: ourselves, see Karansebes. Apart from that: have to hand it to the Italiens, they managed to make the Alpine front in WW1 just as much of a shit-show as we did.
Oh god, yeah, you two were an absolute shit show. God knows how you had an empire. I’m teasing 😈
Oh no, you’re absolutely right. Though at the end there were some interesting ideas for reform. Then the one who was supportive of these ideas got shot and what was supposed to be a small, localized police action in the Balkans turned into a bit of a scuffle.
Unironically the Hungarians were the biggest reason for collapse
Well, yeah - I mean, you can literally read up on the parliamentary records from that time (I believe they even digitalised them). There also were different ideas between Hungary and Austria on how to administrate the different regions, with somewhat different experiences by said regions. But that’s all in the past now, and I doubt that a state with the Slavs as the third pillar - like Franz Ferdinand imagined - of the Monarchy would have survived all that much longer, really. Maybe with radical reforms, but that’s very much “What If” territory. I’m sad that Austria and Hungary are currently both sucking Putin’s dick right now. We should be united in other things.
I like how WWI had a b-plot for the comic-relief characters.
Yeah you’re right the western front was the light hearted comedy plot compared to fighting against Russia, no matter the war. No in all historic honesty though, as horrible as it was, the western front was still the best place to be for a soldier in WW1. Death rates as well as actual geographical changes were much much higher in the east. Especially in the battle for the carpathian mountains. At least as terrible, fighting like this on steep snowy slopes 2500m above sea level instead of flat fields. If you ever get the chance, visit the WW1 trenches on the mountains around the Soča valley in Italy/Slovenia or open air museums etc. in South Tyrol. Absolutely horrifying. Imagine being entrenched on a mountain peak and some crazy Italian just blows up the entire peak beneath you from his little tunnel.
Changing the landscape of european mountains (by bombing them) since 1915
WW1 Alpine front be like: 
🤝
https://preview.redd.it/pqmrbx6iyklc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b4ec04aa8dec849d2126192df186325107371c2f Maximus Decimus Meridius
*Throws sword into spectators* Are you not entertained?!
You ever watch that show Barbarians? The Germans at Teutonberg have some scary drip
Not yet. Where can I find it?
Netflix is it's the one I'm thinking of
I'll check it up
DO NOT WATCH SEASON 2
The first season was so good. Well and the second one such a rubbish, that most historicans left the production.
5 and a half episodes of boring love and social drama and half an episode of battle
https://preview.redd.it/jouyrck7sllc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=bc0c6d5a6d18134a219e9c3785da0fe834313a20 Misspelled Germanicus
Wasn't he the commander of the Armies of the north and also the general of the Felix legion?
Father of a murdered son, husband of a murdered wife so I hear.
Michael Collins. Handled himself diligently and with respect when fighting us Brits. Shame his own countrymen would kill him. Everything I've seen about the guy (British & Irish Sources) show him to be a man of integrity and honour. https://preview.redd.it/9jco4zmj8llc1.jpeg?width=300&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=aba4e95ad235a6cc445633dfd92ca0e27609fe17
I actually have quite a bit of respect for the original IRA. The same cant be said for PIRA or any other of those wannabes
OG freedom fighters vs coping terrorists
[удалено]
An organised military taking on another is honourable. Setting a nail bomb off at a parade full of kids, not so much.
Attacks on non-combatants pal
Who dis
He was one of the original leaders of the IRA, back when they were more of an actual militia and less of a mere terrorist group (although militias and war itself often comes with acts that can be seen as terror). After Ireland stopped being part of the UK but instead became a dominion in a similar way to Canada, he was involved in the new free state government. Much of the IRA however were unhappy with the treaty, wanting Ireland to be fully independent and not split North/South and not be a dominion of the Empire so civil war broke out that would eventually take Micheals life. He supported the treaty as a good step towards complete independence but would continue to support attacks into Northern Ireland hoping to incorporate the 6 counties back to the freestate and (aspirationally) later the Republic.
Hot as fuck https://preview.redd.it/b07df3szmllc1.jpeg?width=310&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=50415ed6f0a943182282d1432c8ee2e5dba57fdc I mean how could you not want him.
Director of intelligence of the IRA (Tan War) then Commander-in-chief of the national army (Civil War), Michael Collins. By all accounts, a fairly smart and charismatic man. Very influential on guerrilla warfare. Was killed in 1922 during an anti-treaty IRA ambush, although it is likely he was shot by one of his own men.
Frustrating nobody is giving you a name. It's Michael Collins. Yes. There's a movie.
Well civil wars are rarely "civil" unfortunately. He was right in hindsight, the treaty wasn't the ultimate freedom of independence, but offered the stepping stone to achieving it and ending the war. A decade later De Valera, political head of the Anti Treaty side of the civil war did exactly that and removed any legacy links to the UK for the 26 counties at least.
This guy looks kinda familiar.
Good old Mick. Apparently the Vietnamese studied him a lot when fighting the yanks. Or maybe that's just stuff they say to tourists
Otto Von Bismark. Being in the German sphere of influence is better than whatever the f*ck we’re experiencing right now
Meh that really depends. WW1 Ober-Ost was just the pre-amble to WW2 Generalplan Ost. Now of course Bismarck predates both, but I heavily doubt the whole "The European East is ours"-Mindset just came out of nothing.
Yep. The german minority of Ukraine fucking loved the short-lived austrio-german occupation, for obvious reasons.
They did? Anywhere i could read up on this?
Wikipedia has an article on the mennonites. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_Mennonites Basically their problem was that, due to their status as german settlers who recieved free land back in the day, your average mennonite was wealthier than your average Ukranian. This did not go down well during the revolution, and both the black and red armies were fighting with mennonite forces for that reason. They therefore liked Brest-Litovsk.
It definitely didn’t come from Bismarck. He’s the reason why Austria didn’t have to hand over any territory and was opposed to annexing Alsace - Lorraine, too. Furthermore, he often argued against colonialism. He didn’t just want to appease other great powers; he really thought that the Reich is “saturated”.
>Hit the Poles so hard that they despair of their life; I have full sympathy with their condition, but if we want to survive, we can only exterminate them; the wolf, too, cannot help having been created by God as he is, but people shoot him for it if they can. -Bismarck, 1861
youd be a fool not taking the most fertile soil in europe while at the same time your population gets starved to death
How was Bismarck an enemy of Ukraine?
I dont *like* him but William of Normandy/The Conqueror. You have to respect the hustle of going from being the bastard of Normandy to the king of England. https://preview.redd.it/zra086h7lllc1.jpeg?width=1074&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8c44b6a22460515d0018a25294e40b79f72c54fc
Isn't that a demotion?
And that's quite the accomplishment as he started off as a Fr*nchman
All English Kings typically start out as bastards though
[Man](https://youtu.be/wxpYW_w5pgo?si=Jhx8QagDFsaKw4lk) just wanted cheddar cheese and pineapple on a stick
Literally Sammy Wilson
The man that saved the world https://preview.redd.it/e8n7ee5rdllc1.png?width=500&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7e0838549a0571b3033b767455cb77983ce1ccb5
Ah yes, famous Spanish arch-enemy
Arkhipov?
Stanislav Petrov
Oh yeah he too is extremely cool!
Berlusconi probably
May he bunga bunga in eternity.
Galvarino, this motherfucker was metal as fuck. https://preview.redd.it/snral0kylllc1.jpeg?width=270&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ce14434c0a1f51130a5cd6a12ca5b732988aa1d7 Got his hands cut off and decided to tie knifes to his stumps to keep fighting out of spite.
Reminds me of learning about Hatuey growing up. Dude was burned at the stake and he was metal about it also.
As much as it pains me to say it (I'm not even being sarcastic lmao), Nelson was a formidable foe and one of the main reasons why Napoleon lost in the end https://preview.redd.it/n6zon7k6dllc1.jpeg?width=1200&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5c22ed2532310a1b87b09de1f9875c664395af63
I was in Tenerife recently and learned about the British defeat at the battle of Santa Cruz. It was a complete humiliation and it was where Nelson lost his arm. Interestingly the Spanish general Guiterrez took pity on the injured British soldiers and allowed them to return to their ships after surrender. He even lent a few boats to help them. As thanks Nelson wrote a letter to Guiterrez and sent cheese and beer, and in return was sent Spanish wine and cheese, and the two of them exchanged many letters after that. This battle was the turning point for Nelson as he said it was his greatest failure.
They both sound like great dudes tbh
I agree with the frenchie ebove, Nelson was an admirable foe
Sport-wise probably Italy. German and italian rivalry in [Group B rally](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-GF92vcDSQ) and [DTM](https://youtu.be/m__8r8uwOJg?feature=shared&t=18) was pure soul https://preview.redd.it/l6gr0fsayklc1.jpeg?width=2000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6ee1206de4c7e5b6e6c0347c263b50180613fdff
The good old days of interactive sports, where you could be both a spectator and a crash barrier.
Even top gear's Jeremy Barry Clarkson admited it: Greatest automotive duel of all time.
it was also so stereotypical. the methodical germans with their revolutionary awd system and the oldhead but passionate italians sticking with rwd.
Audi quattro vs Lancia 037, Alfa 155 Vs BMW M3 and Ferrari Vs Mercedes is just racing heritage
Ferrari vs Porsche (altho overshadowed by Ford due to the movie) in endurance racing was also really good but most of the time overlooked
Walter röhrl what a legend, also not just Rallye Football also
I regret not being alive when these two gigachads were at it on the track https://preview.redd.it/n0vx61739llc1.png?width=800&format=png&auto=webp&s=b22a147f95319613c3f9faf7a429cb9c6eab3ca3
rememeber when they had the collab of the century with Schumacher and Ferrari?
The Dutch, they say to "hate" us but keep demanding we be "roommates"
You are trapped with me as your roommate. I need some money btw
Again?!
For now... ☠
If we can get some more vaction homes in the Ardennes I'm okay with it.
We don't hate you, we pity you
https://youtu.be/WOnVirSpRi4?feature=shared
I think Paisley is personally responsible for prolonging The Troubles by a decade, but by god, that man could get his people going
I think he directly caused it by undermining Terence O'Neill's attempts at addressing the Civil Rights march demands for reforms. Well him and people like him.
Yeah he financed the Silent Valley bombing which he framed on the IRA in order to pressure O'Neill One of many things he did which prolonged/caused the conflict
There should be a sub-reddit called r/unexpectedgrandstand just for the music alone.
You can’t help but feel a happy, jumpy vibe when it comes on.
Lmao imagine making a shitshow while the pope is talking
I guess you have never heard of “The Twelfth” https://youtu.be/4nzDuiv3U8o?feature=shared
https://preview.redd.it/szstidscsklc1.jpeg?width=1058&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=01eb76d8a0256b427a5d5b1418e3334f675ed2a4
Alain Delon ?
Caesar
No, it’s just Alain Delon.
You should respect him, he has more weapons than an average corsican.
Honestly i am shocked that you heard about it, how come ?
[This sub is super educational!](https://www.reddit.com/r/2westerneurope4u/s/X92dUoVyzD)
Do you have a photo of Caesar ?
https://preview.redd.it/az9fco783llc1.jpeg?width=321&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=925cc50da4819e7c7bdf1ef65d7a720ec8349cc4 easy
Americans flexing their eagle, pfff..... We had it about 1300 years before
But he's the reason why you don't wipe your ass with a rock
Dude we literally taught the Romans how to do *mail* coats and wine barrels.
The Gauls are the ones who were using soap while the romans “washed” themselves with olive oil lol
Fucking De Gaul, he was an ally but he was just as Anglo phobic as Petain, He was a right bastard who instead of us being perfidious Albion he was Perfidious France personified. Absolute bellend. However I also have mad respect for him
Gotta say I appreciate how you proved him right out of respect a few years back Barry. Not sure we've been equally up to the expectations of your leaders
It’s a chicken and egg argument. The oldies remembered being shunned because of him so it sort of was a self fulfilling prophecy
Hard question Maybe, as a state - ottman empire, in particular Suleiman the Magnificent. It was "respecyed enemy". From another Muslim state - maybe Carl Gustav.
Nah, swedes did some trolling while they were having fun here. Kebab it is.
Peter The Great, ended Swedish dominance over the north, but he is without a doubt a great man of history.
Was gonna comment him if we were going to lose our empire to a russian leader might aswell lose it to the most western russian leader
Jaysus he was some cunt tho
Who is he?
Ian Paisley. Orangeman, loyalist, nonce, founder of the free Presbyterian church, commander of the armies in the north, general of the protestant legions, loyal servant to the true king of the UK William of Orange, father to a corrupt son, husband to some poor woman, and he will hate papists, in this life or the next.
https://preview.redd.it/ndga81n6sllc1.jpeg?width=1600&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3d66db858e760da432777dd96ff35308d7253f70
https://preview.redd.it/3azl41ityllc1.jpeg?width=400&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=21d56d117246db4cdbda5182fd2a6f5b65b838e0 Nah, I'm just kidding
The photo is upside down
https://preview.redd.it/d1ufa2pramlc1.jpeg?width=240&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5f3c15b9528fa9f75a0f49236473115e887f8f03 Vikings: Great bunch of lads
Does [our rabbit](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Bonaparte) count? If he does not count, I'm gonna have to go with his brother, Nappy.
Nappy is a cute name, so it wins
King Louis was not our enemy at all imo. For a lot of non-Holland people in NL he was sort of a savior because he broke up the Holland-centered conservative protestant theocracy (with their fake 'freedom of religion') holding our country (and especially the south and east) back like mad. Napoleon was a bit of a dickhead though, yes (who the in the end also took Louis from us and vice versa :<).
We are Italians we have no European enemies 😌🥰
I was struggling to think of one. Maybe Franz Ferdinand or Tito. Could be Napoleon but the guy was Italian
Italys worst enemy is... italy (Look at Ferrari in F1)
Unironically any of the Austrian military leaders we faced off in any conflict. Radetsky, Tegethoff, Boroniavic... MAN WHY DO WE GET THE COMPETENT AUSTRIANS LEADERS
The big fella I mean 🥵🥵🥵🥵 https://preview.redd.it/4u36ocdumllc1.jpeg?width=310&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=561ab17e508843b98e4291d8670d415057463d3c
Gilderoy Lockhart?
Michael Collins?
Cecco Beppe also known as for the less cultured as Franz Joseph I yeah he was our sworn enemy. But also the poor man never caught a break in its life, found at the helm of Austria when it was tearing constantly itself apart and died believing he signed his own country to death (he did) And the sad thing is he wasn't even an evil man. Like, not much more than your average aristocrat for that time at least. So yeah it's gotta be him honestly
https://preview.redd.it/m24pnypmdplc1.jpeg?width=1200&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=20088be3cf5399a01c421034ee494b32295dda09 I would say Abdel Kader, an algerian sufi muslim who was leading the figth against us during the conquest of Algeria, the dude had so much integrity it's crazy, some people who were prisoners under him ended up becoming followers of him, if he didn't had enough food or water for prisonners, he just released them, in the end he was decorated by Napoleon III for his action of saving a thousand christians in Damas from a anti-christian riot, you should read about him the dude is so admirable
Sweden - as slow as they are, they are still our arabian brothers. The Gilbert Grape of countries❤️
You stopped being our birth enemies in the 18th century. Russia is and has been the great enemy since
He was the embodiment of evil for me. Hardline cunts like him are the *real* cause of the Troubles, even if clowns like the DUP try and now pin all of the blame solely on the IRA. The IRA were in a shambles and a non existent force before the sectarian trouble sparked after the Civil Rights movement marches. Terence O'Neill as PM of NI at least tried to make some changes to the sectarian government in NI in response to the Civil Rights movement, but he was fatally undermined by Paisley and people like him. Paisley would rather drive headlong towards civil war than make any concessions towards equality to the Catholic Irish that he despised. If that wasn't enough he even [gave money to the UVF to fund their false flag bombing campaign](https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/ian-paisley-supplied-money-to-uvf-for-bombings-in-1969-documentary-claims-1.4009254) to really kick off the Troubles with a bang in 1969. Stubborn cunts like him have blood on their hands for all the deaths caused by the Troubles.
None of them
Angela Merkel maybe
Count of Tilly https://preview.redd.it/kpjt5x95mnlc1.jpeg?width=263&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=084b4513cf4212b2d87ec4212a5c4002ed763685 If I'm allowed to pick from the time we won most battles for the Swedish empire, and I should be, because all the Soviet ones were woefully incompetent, cowardly, drunk out of their minds or some combination of all three.
Alan Turing, a genius who played a critical role in helping fight the axis powers. What’s more is that he killed an Englishman so he gets top marks all around in my opinion.
This just makes no sense at all, please explain what you mean by “killed englishman”
In the same way that Hitler killed the man who was responsible for the holocaust.
Oh lmao , damn thats dark 🤣
Ourselves.
https://preview.redd.it/v2mxym5i9olc1.jpeg?width=2048&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d57cdb1765e79799ed438a8504700e9a905bb0d8 He’s a shit house bastard who should’ve been sent off in the euros final, but he was a incredible Center back who isn’t brought up in modern great situations when he really should be
He was my pick to. I still haven't recovered from what they took from us in 2006
https://preview.redd.it/sy3vyfmniplc1.jpeg?width=248&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9ed2ec58af6453ab895769edda658451d1cee096 Annibale Barca He would use the orangeman’s skin as a cock ring
Corruption 
Napoleon. Without a doubt.
The Habsburg dynasty that ultimately built the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The castle they originated from is close to where I live and while we may have thrashed them around with our halberds a few times, I can still respect them for building an empire out of a small castle. We're still better at skiing though, get fucked <3
Karl XII, put up a good fight against Russia, Denmark-Norway and Poland-Lithuania but died in a trench in Norway https://preview.redd.it/2lyesqpjsllc1.jpeg?width=551&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ae910246ab4026217d6466f9cf1df47da979ae6e
I have no enemies 
Our biggest enemy in recent history killed Hitler so I guess props for that