Make everyone gay and/or Black and you’ll have something.
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I would like to see a full budget film go to the slugging match between John Paul Jones and the crew of the USS Bonhomme Richard versus Captain Richard Pearson and the HMS Serapis. The battle took place off Flamborough Head. Either that, or a full feature of the USS Constitution during the War of 1812.
But I have always thought John Paul Jones is a fascinating character in the story of American independence.
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Here’s a balanced take on the new Ken Burns American Revolution documentary. I still haven’t finished it, but this article explains how modern “woke” narrative-weaving made its way into what could have been a rather definitive account. 80 percent of the scaffolding is very solid and well-supported. The remaining 20 is modern identity politics (which Burns makes no secret of supporting in his personal life), where flimsy sources are presented to bolster the white oppressor narrative, along with the omission of counterfactual information.
(1) @amuse on X: “How Ken Burns Turned The American Revolution Into Woke Propaganda” / X
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I would love too see a series on every President of the U.S.
Not a documentary…but a made for TV series with no restrictions
He and Daniel Morgan I hold in similar regard. The things they did are absolutely bonkers. The size of those guys balls is insane. The history reads like something an 8 year old makes up while playing war.
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I agree with most of the article. It wasn’t that Indian, black or female stories were included, but which and how they were included. You obviously cannot exclude any of these stories because they are sewn into the fabric of the revolution. But when I heard the Iroquois nation referred to as a democracy, I laughed and thought “here we go.”
The Sullivan Expedition was covered to make it sound like the Iroquois or other native tribes were innocent. Run to the hills type of stuff.
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For those who like Medieval History/battles and underdog stories, this one was as good as it gets. Have the Spamiards ever won a major battle/war?
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I am not an expert, but El Cid pulled off a few wins. Cortez was the catalyst to empire. They had a hard time with the English however.
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You can’t forget Reconquista, either. But to the Portugese @darnell_becker’s point, Spain hasn’t had the best military track record lately.
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Yeah, I was doing the “French are surrendering monkeys” kind of thing. I’m sure you guys understand the urge
Still, the Invincible Armada is always good for a laugh.
The Moors have made a comeback, though.
And now they’ve made it beyond the Peninsula. All the way to France, Uk Germany, Maine… through direct invitation, no less.
But that’s another topic for another thread.
Speaking of Maine and Spanish military losses - Remember the Maine, twojar.
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I’m guessing the Spamiards usually get eaten for lunch.
It’s been a long time since I had Spam. My parents used to use it when I went camping as a kid - but bought off brands like Kam, Klik and Swift Premium. Those square cans were weird - you don’t see those anywhere else.
In addition to colonialism, Spain won the Italian Wars, War of Spanish Succession and eventually defeated Napoleon in the Peninsular Wars.
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I can’t imagine what it took to design and build this.
The mechanisms are so intricate and they didn’t have the benefit of CAD or electronic guidances back in the 40s
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I haven’t finished the very cool video you linked yet but I know enough about the Stug, manufacturing, and Germany to take a stab at imagining how they did it.
It took broad know-how across a lot of different industries and scientific pursuits, along with a highly literate population. The average German who went along with National Socialism wasn’t an ideological fanatic, but a well-fed parasite according to Gotz Aly in Hitler’s Beneficiaries. On top of basic reading comprehension, we’re also talking about a population with a much better understanding of mathematics and applied science than the average Mainer or even American has today. A population with the ability to quickly comprehend things like engineering prints and manufacturing instructions has a big advantage. Most people are capable of learning basic algebra, trigonometry, and geometry applied everyday across all industries, and a whole lot of Germans had a really good core academic foundation compared to many Americans today. Calculus and beyond is no less applicable, but now you’re starting to talk about difficult subjects, like a 600lb deadlift.
Core academics were explained well in Weimar Germany and Imperial Germany before that. They had good public institutions built up over a long time. According to Leonard Piekoff in The Cause of Hitler’s Germany, their problem was all of the over-hyped German philosophers who led them into collectivism and accepting a Fuhrer.
Objectively speaking, the average German who went along with National Socialism was far more educated than the average person in Maine is today. Our best definitely know more today than their best 100 years ago, but our literacy rates compare poorly. Very poorly. Germany’s public institutions were a big part of how they achieved that, and that’s why the Nazis were so intent on capturing every public institution possible with their broad policy of Gleichschaltung.
The Stug was a true workhorse of the German war effort, and a comparatively efficient use of resources compared to a lot of their other platforms. A lot of the resource-hogs like The Tiger and King Tiger seem more sensible when you remember that they weren’t planning to lose the war.
I hope you’re having a merry Christmas and spending some quality time with loved ones to learn more stuff about tanks and 20th century totalitarian dictators.
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Merry Christmas!
It’s 100% underrated.
The tiger was a nightmare of a prototype IMO but king tiger was a marvel. It went almost as fast and far as a panther despite the size and resolved a lot of the mechanical issues the tiger had
Honestly, a lot of their “crazy” plans were cutting edge and a good idea outside the context of losing a war and fuel shortages. it’s like how some companies have cutting edge tech, but can’t make the business work
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Yeah. More Stugs and less Tigers would have been good.
Finland also used Stugs, there’s one left as a memoir not far from where I live.
I remember vaguely that there was a a situation where a platoon of King Tigers hold of a swarm (over 100?) of Shermans. Most Königstigers were actually left to enemy unharmed when they ran out of gas/ammunition.
The problem was that these tanks were almost unmatcher tactically, but they did not serve well strategically. They were slow, clumsy and too expensive to produce en massé could not be everywhere at once. It was better to have +50 ”good” tanks than 10 super tanks.
I’ve been reading this book:
Makes an argument for southern secession during the civil war.
Interesting read.
One of my favorite quotes was Tennessee governor Isham Harris’s response to Lincoln asking for aid:
Sir:
Your dispatch of the 15th Inst. informing me that Tennessee is called upon for two Regiments of Militia for immediate service is received.
Tennessee will not furnish a single man for purposes of coercion but 50,000 if necessary for the defense of our rights and those of our southern brothers.
Isahm G. Harris, Governor of Tennessee
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yeah, they were a bad choice strategically in the context of Germany’s situation.
I think the “slow and clumsy” is more an effect of not being able to train crew properly to work the complex machinery.
the actual specs were pretty comparable to the “heavy” tanks of other countries despite being more heavily armoured.
I don’t think Germany would ever have been able to resolve this issue. To some extent, they still haven’t.
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Yeah. And if you compare the resources and production amounts between allied (particularly US and Soviets) to Axis it’s clear that it was hopeless endeavor from the start.
Interesting, but not surprising if you look late war Germany’s situation in general.
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