The German Mistake That Changed the 20th Century

Comments · 676

• AD

  @AdamMisnik · 1 year ago

  The Kaiser was a guest for pre-war (1912) Swiss army maneuvers.  He was asked to judge a marksmanship contest during these maneuvers. When giving the medal to the winner, he asked the man “How many are there like you in the Swiss Army?” The Swiss replied “250,000 of us, sire.” The Kaiser asked a second question: “What if I were to invade with 500,000 men?” The man replied, “Then we would each have to shoot twice.”

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• ST

  @sta8807 · 1 year ago

  You guys are so British. You will laugh at any tragedy. Love you.

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• TE

  @TeamTooter · 1 year ago

  The stormclouds of stormclouds are stormclouding

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• TH

  @ThomasEdgerley-gk6ho · 1 year ago

  It's so cool when 2 people who have dedicated their lives to history are left to chat about it, the history comes so easily to them that it lets them tell the story.

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• AL

  @AlphaCetauri69 · 1 year ago

  Will Ferrell and John C Riley as Ludendorff and Hindenburg would the funniest ever omg😂😂😂😂 I’m dead

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• AL

  @alexsbt · 1 year ago

  In his memoirs, Von Kluck said about the French counter attack from Paris : <b>&quot;That men who had been retreating for ten days, men lying on the ground and half dead from exhaustion, could pick up their rifles and attack at the sound of the bugle is a possibility that was never discussed in our military academies&quot;</b>

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• HA

  @HappyHopperII · 11 months ago (edited)

  Swiss here with a passion for WW1. <br><br>There were quite few reasons neither the french nor germans went through Switzerland. One was the the swiss high command was essentially anticipating it, fortifying the northwest of switzerland from 1914 onward. Unpractical terrain played a large part too. The directest route for either side would have been through the Jura. While it‘s a relatively small/short mountain range, it‘s hard to move a million men through it quickly. The germans would have had to capture Olten, a major railway point, which was mostly useless though with having the rest of Switzerland to connect to it. France would have had to move through the „great green border“, a flatland south of the Jura, just to meet the german forces which by that time would likely have taken position in the jura mountains. That would have made the situation for combat similar to that in eastern Alsace: hilly, brutal, barely moving. Quite impractical if you want to avoid exactly that on the Western Front. <br><br>Then you had all able bodies men up to 50 years old (I think, could‘ve been 35, not sure) meaning the manpower on the swiss sides was there, along with some impressive marksmanship due to mandatory annual shooting training for all military personnel. This was however negated by insane amount of alcoholism. Over 3000 court martials because of drunkenness on post were put out between 1914-1918. <br><br>Anyway I hope I could provide some insight for anyone who took the time to read this. I could go on but this is already a large comment. Thanks for reading :)

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• MA

  @MamaMicah · 1 year ago

  “I think that’s the single most boring fact we’ve ever had.” 😂 I love this show.

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• RO

  @rob7718 · 1 year ago

  The bit where John French commits his men to the plan brought a tear to my eye. Amazing moment told in such an eloquent and British way.

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• SH

  @shealey9763 · 1 year ago

  &quot;I&apos;m not a fan of a Renault car, but there you go&quot; I&apos;m just picturing Dom in his flashy French uniform in 1914 Paris as it pulls up saying &quot;I&apos;m not getting in THAT!&quot;

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• BR

  @briester510 · 1 year ago

  I love that you guys argue about what is the most boring fact on The Rest is History. Makes me love this show all the more.

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• AN

  @AndrewMarshall-e7n · 1 year ago

  As an Englishman living in the Jura …its mountains …the south eastern corner of France which shares the border with Switzerland is straddled by the Jura mountains. Switzerland has always made itself not worth attacking, making the cost greater than the gain. But the answer in WW1 was try marching across mountains, you’d end up with a front like that between Italy and Austria.

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