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Christmas truce of 1914 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_truce During the Great War in the days leading up to and including Christamas troops from both sides on the Western Front started easing hostilities and conversing from the trenches. There were christmas carols being sung, some people started venturing out into "No man's land" and there were joint burials. Gifts were even exchanged and there were rumours that football games even took place. After news broke in the papers the higher-up gave strict order that this sort of behaviour was treason and it was stopped. British and German troops hanging out.  Pretty crazy when you think about it. Must have taken some serious balls or a lot of liquor ration to be the first guy to get out of the trench and say hi.
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Jan 18, 2011 21:43
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Bobbie Wickham did an amazing job of covering this way back in the thread, but the story of Chairman Mao continues to this day. After living in China for a while, having Chinese in-laws, and doing a lot of reading on Chinese history (specifically the great leap forward/cultural revolution) I am continually amazed at the Chinese resolve to keep Mao on a pedestal. The info about his horrible actions and basic stupidity and insanity are out there for all to see. Even in China there is tons of information about the failures of the great leap forward and the horrors of the cultural revolution. Hell, a good percentage of the population had to live through it. My father in law had to go from the city of Harbin to some Podunk village in the middle of nowhere to till dirt and generally help all the other city boys fail at making a worthwhile harvest, yet he and his generation still see Mao as some manner of god that loved China and the Chinese people, instead of a power-hungry man who would do anything to retain power. A whole generation in China basically lost their shot at having a productive youth because they were told to go out into the boonies and work dirt for pretty much no gains (crops seldom grew well where they worked, and usually rotted because the infrastructure was so horrible). People who were well on their way to being doctors or engineers ended up leaving their universities and spending years toiling for no reason. When they were finished, “Surprise” there is no more room for you in this university, there are now younger more indoctrinated kids who are learning so why don’t you go back to working a shovel since you did such a “great” job doing that for so long. All of this assuming that the university still existed and wasn’t destroyed by brainwashed kids with red scarves looking to beat up their teachers and burn some textbooks. I visit Chinasmack.com a lot to see what’s new in Chinese netizen culture, and whenever a story about Mao comes up there are always tons of people (internet savvy people who know how to circumvent the great firewall) praising him. Brand new statue being built of the Chairman:  Another picture of a recently finished statue that give you some idea of the scale:  A girl climbs on a Mao statue with predictable comments from some, and others that will really surprise you. http://www.chinasmack.com/2009/pictures/girl-climbs-on-mao-zedong-statue-angers-many-chinese.html Some quotes from Chinese netizens on this incident: quote:I support the “lou zhu.” As the statue of the New China’s leader, it should receive the protection it deserves! Moreover, that girl went too far! quote:There are many different ways of showing one’s love, so there really is nothing to debate about. quote:What he [Mao] loved most was women riding/getting on him… quote:I truly feel sad that someone who sacrificed his entire family of 6 people for the people has his post-death statue climbed on be a mental retard. Even more sad and upsetting is that there are even more mental retards actually saying it is good! quote:I strongly suggest the Public Security Burean give these two people the death penalty as counter-revolutionaries! They have deeply hurt all of China’s 1.4 billion people’s feelings. If they are not killed, it will not be enough to calm the public’s anger! If they are not killed, it will not be enough to put right the people’s feelings! quote:Post-90s generation behavior, so shameless, so disrespectful. I find it funny that they didn't distance themself from Mao considering the horrible and stupid things he did. In the Soviet Union after Stalin died they started to really distance themselves from him, going as far as to remove his body from public display, and taking down a lot of his statues. Meanwhile Mao seems to be enjoying "Kim Il Sung" levels of staying power.
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May 9, 2011 21:03
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Patter Song posted:Chiang Kai-Shek was a pretty cold-blooded and vicious fellow with a monomaniacal obsession about the evils of communism (odd, to say the least, considering his ideological background and personal history). However, comparing him to the Imperial Japanese and lumping them together as twin "utterly horrifying" evils is a real injustice to the man, and an injustice in a different way to just how hosed-up the Japanese invasion of China was. When people point out how horrible life with "Mr Shek"  would have been I usually think about how liberal Taiwan is right now. I think that history would have been quite different had his government not been so corrupt and had he not tried to meet the Japanese on a level playing field, instead opting for a gurellia style war like the Communists.My biggest gripe with the Maoist praise is something along the lines of this... (actual quote from Mao) Mao posted:China was a feudal society where a small elite lived well and millions barely survived. In the cities opium addiction was widespread. In the countryside feudal landlords ruled like Kings and extorted punitive taxes. There were frequent peasant rebellions which were bloodily suppressed. Life was tough and brutal. Things sucked before the civil war, and got much, much better after it. China in the 50's and early 60's was really advancing and even quite liberal until Mao decided to go apeshit. How would you describe China during the Cultural revolution? quote:China was a The fact that over 1/3 of the Population lived through that and still praise him is really strange. It would be similar to Germans in the 1970's praising Hitler because he did so much "great stuff" from 1933-39, and just glossing over 1939-45. My father in law is a history buff and knows all this, but still praises Mao, while my grandmother in law (who lived under Japanese occupation) actually thought that they (the Japanese) were nicer than the red sleeved gangs of cummunists during the revolution. If you really want to read some  / stuff, check out one of Mao's first "Great" ideas. . . The War on Sparrows
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May 10, 2011 14:29
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Phanatic posted:Those Chinese commenters are probably getting paid by the government: Yup, familiar with the 50 cent brigade, althout I'm sure a lot of the people who post that kind of viewpoint also truly believe that. A lot of people don't know that the Chinese Governement actually pays (possibly +100,000 people to be a live firewall). I've been surfing news sites back when I lived there without issue, then half way through an article "click" and the page changes to the official "blocked content" site. It wasn't a case of the Great Firewall in action since I'd be reading an article for a few minutes before it was blocked (probably one of the blockers copy+pasting what I was reading into a translation tool to see what it was about).
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May 10, 2011 17:29
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Mullah Nasrudin posted:This is from a couple pages back, but I have to ask how China has more than a BILLION people today if they went nearly extinct in the last hundred years. I might be misinterpreting that quote you quoted, but when he said the extinction of Chinese/Tibet "Culture" and "Society" he might have been meaning the complete destruction of their history and customs. Mao had his brainwashed red guard destroy libraries, temples, relics, hundred year old signs on historic shops, book, family heirlooms, etc. Pretty much anything that predated 1949 (and in a lot of cases stuff that predated the Cultural Revolution but not 1949) was to be erased, destroyed, confiscated. If it wasn't for foreigners and the Nationalist Party removing so many relics and things from China, there might not be any examples left of certain artifacts and period peices. I think they said that the Museum and it's archives in Taiwan has more culturally signifigant pieces than the whole of China does (museum quality relics). The destruction and sale of artifacts to overseas buyers got so bad that high-ranking party members had to go behind Mao's back and issue a guide to preserve cultural relics. By the time this got out and was circulated the wholesale destruction and selling of cultural relics had been going on full force for a few years. Even people's personal items were not immune (very dependant on location and the local red guard). Even traditional wedding boxes were taken and smashed and burned. My grandmother in-law painted hers black so that it didn't stand out and look like anything special. She had a few books, and photos from her wedding and life that were bured because they were representative of the old ways. She had burned a few books before they showed up since they were of the kind that might have gotten her in trouble (books on traditions and customs). Pretty much the only book in print at this time was "Mao's Quotations". It was the only education you needed and if you believed in it's teachings hard enough you could do anything! There were many bridges, dams and buildings that failed because party believers were used to design and build them instead of engineers, who had long since been sent to re-education (slave labour) out in the country. Their crime was being educated and competent. A good source to read up on some of this stuff is the book, "Red Scarf Girl". It talks about a young girl growing up during the Cultural Revolution and how her family is pretty much destroyed because they were seen as "Evil Landlords" and how after so much pain, humiliation, and punishment by the red-whackos, she still worshipped Mao as a living god (at least until she grew up and moved out of China). If that quote did in fact mean "everyone in China could have died" well, not really possible, but a lot of them could have. Mao took 1966 China, and reverted the country back to 1920's China, technology, economy, and social wise. Instead of land barons and nobelmen they had incompetent party reps forcing the population to slave away. The organization that previously existed before the cultural revolution disappeared overnight since anyone with 1/2 a brain was labled a traitor and beaten up or sent for re-education. All that mattered was your devotion to Mao and the party. Work stopped for hours so people could sit around and tell each other how great Mao and the party were, while a red guard was watching to see if anyone might not be 100% sincere. As you can imagine production fell through the floor. Coupled with stupid ideas on agriculture, natural disasters and poor growing seasons, and you had one of history's largest starvations. If you can imagine it, North Korea sent aid to China! That's how poorly Mao was running things. It was only after Mao's death that they started to get back on track towards joining the latter 1/2 of the 20th century. p.s. Mao's grandson, obviously an able soldier. 
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May 11, 2011 14:20
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withak posted:Lots of loving. And already having a freaking huge population to begin with. 80 million people dying within a 50 year period doesn't really make much of a dent when you already have nearly a billion people to begin with.
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May 11, 2011 16:33
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Lobster God posted:An interview with him: So far the biggest criticism leveled against him has been his. . . handwriting? http://www.chinasmack.com/2011/pictures/mao-zedong-grandson-mao-xinyu-photos-handwriting-calligraphy.html To move one to more, "That happened?" Qin Shi Huang, first real emperor of China, unified the country, wanted to live forever and was constantly in search of "The Elixir of life", so that he would never die. So his doctors concocted said elixer for him which contained 150% of the recommended daily requirements of Mercury! More here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qin_Shi_Huang#Death_and_aftermath It's a good read, and really WTF with some of the stuff he did, and his government did after his death.
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May 11, 2011 18:03
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muscles like this? posted:It also helped that until rather recently a big part of China's culture was to have a large rear end family. This is really going to bite them in the rear end very soon. My wife has something like 18 aunts/uncles in total, and only 8 cousins. That's 2.25 people each kid has to support when they get old. (luckily some of the uncles are filthy rich), but you can see the problem. They have a population that is aging like crazy, and almost no social security or safety net for them. Their current healthcare is pretty bad, and has no chance of being able to support all these patients in waiting. The "One Child Policy" while good at stemming their population growth, but also has the aforementioned downside which should have been pretty clear. I guess they figured the Chinese life expectancy would have stayed the same as it was during the cultural revolution. . . not very great when you consider most doctors were beaten and told to go slave on a dirt farm in the country. Their replacements were typically morons who's only qualifications were owning a copy of Mao's book and believing really hard! Things were so bad that party members flew to Moscow and North Korea for medical treatment and even dental work. That's right. Mao's ideas were so stupid and destructive that North Korea was a better place and they even had soldiers patrolling the border to keep Chinese refugees out, something that has gone 180 degrees in recent times.
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May 12, 2011 13:42
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Oz Fox posted:It's always a bit depressing to think of how ten years ago History Channel was doing stuff like co-producing A History of Britain, now it's all Ice Road Truckers and 2012 stuff. The worst part is that all those shows like Ice road truckers, Deadliest Catch, Ice Pilots, Pawn Stars, etc. all become heavily scripted after the first few episodes or seasons. Those jobs, while interesting or dangerous are like most jobs, a routine so the viewers get tired of them. Then the producers start to recruit people to show up, stirr the pot, etc. They actually have auditions for a lot of them now. I believe they had ads in the paper to recruit people for Pawn Stars (customers). All the specialty channels have gone the reality route and it for the most part sucks. Hell Discovery Canada has loving "Cash Cab". It's a game show in a taxi cab where the driver asks the passengers questions for money. What are we discovering? What downtown Toronto looks like at night from the inside of a cab? Edit: forgot about "Swamp People". It's a show about retarded hillbillies hunting gators. . . How is that Historical?
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May 12, 2011 17:41
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Caedus posted:The best part is the host guy always seem so unimpressed by the people's antics, when they're absolutely flipping out over getting a question right or something. They should really rename it to "Retarded frat boys and screaming girls mobile trivia". That show is basically Jerry Springer with skilltesting questions. Here in Canada, Discovery's programming is 90% Mythbusters and Cash Cab. ***CONTENT*** Operation Ivy Bells: The US Navy taps underwater Soviet cables. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Ivy_Bells quote:During the Cold War, the United States wanted to learn more about Soviet submarine and missile technology, specifically ICBM test and nuclear first strike capability. When they realised that the Soviets were so sure of the cable's security that the info was unincripted, and of such a sensative nature they started tapping all the lines they could. AT&T even made a Nuclear powered recorder for them! The best part is that they concocted a believable cover story to tell their own sailors what they were doing, and spend so much time there that they actually accomplished it. (won't spoil it for you)
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May 12, 2011 20:26
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GodlessCommie posted:Am I the only one who got creeped the gently caress out when they saw the kid's drawing of the Nazi flag? It's only natural. How many kids have you seen doodle the US flag? The Union Jack, and other nation's flags. It's not like he was doodling it while stoking the ovens at Auschwitz. Also another show that pisses me off is Tank Overhauls. That poo poo is loving weak! I just watched the episode where they restored an Elefant tank hunter and honestly, what the gently caress! In the 45 minutes of actual content here was the breakdown. Good 1 minute - towing it into the garage 2 minutes - taking a track link pin out 2 minutes - pressure washing it 2 minutes - removing and then replacing the road wheels 2 minutes - painting 1 minute - towing it out of the garage Meh! 5 minutes - the history of the Elefant, about 1/3 of it flat out wrong. 5 minutes - the history of the T-34 . . . what? 5 minutes - talking about how heavy it is and all the difficulty that creates. gently caress off! 10 minutes - showing modern US mobile artillery vehicles 10 minutes - repeating the same three facts after every commercial break. I learned almost nothing about the restoration process. Since it was a static display tank they were obviously not going to do any engine or electrical work, but you could have at least showed something else.
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May 13, 2011 04:05
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Lolitas Alright! posted:Yeah, and Pawn Stars... You keep mentioning "the fat one" on Pawn Stars. . . is there a non-fat one?
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May 16, 2011 01:48
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bewbies posted:Minor historical event today in the vein of the Irish uprising: the Queen is visiting Ireland. It is the first time the monarch has visited Ireland since 1921. Well it's so far away.
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May 18, 2011 16:12
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/\/\ They will always be the undisputed queens of the sea. Airpower is just a fools errand that silly Billy Mitchell is just wasting everyone's time. Honestly, there is so much interesting history on the modern battleship it's hard to pick an area to start. I'd suggest starting with HMS Dreadnought and it's pretty much the first "Modern" battleship. After that move on to the Battle of Jutland. Between the wars the Washington Naval Treaty pretty much determined how many and how large Battleships would be for the next 15 years. After that period Germany and Japan just said, "gently caress it" and started creating huge monsters, and then the rest of the world followed suit. During WWII the battleship was pretty much second string to the Aircraft Carrier and the US used them to great effect as floating Anti-Aircraft Gun emplacements and shore bombarders. With the exception of the Sinking of the Yamato and the Battle of Leyte Gulf they didn't see much action except for a few isolated skirmishes in the South Pacific. The Pacific theatre is where most of the naval combat of WWII took place, and it was mostly a battle between cruisers, with the occasional BB thrown in. After WWII the Battleships were deemed too expensive and most were scrapped. The UK used one as a royal yacht for a while, and the a few were blown up at Bikini Atoll. The only real postwar action that Battleships saw was limited to the 4 Iowa Class and their actions in Korea, Vietnam, and Gulf War I. That's the Cliffnote's version.
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May 24, 2011 22:34
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Taerkar posted:I like how that also shows how good the Iowas (And the SoDaks to a lesser extent) were at the AA role, which is really what they were intended for more than big guns. The entire principle behind the 'Fast BB' was to be a carrier escort, using the big guns on anything close but mainly providing AA support against enemy planes. Which they could do a lot of. Another big factor is the Iowa classes exceptional speed and turning radius. It had the speed and turning radius of a heavy cruiser and was generally 6-10 knots faster than it's competition (Battleship wise). Combined with its excellent rate of fire, and long-range accuracy, and you have a ship that can not only determine when and how a fight occurs, but how long it wants it to continue. Another benefit was the general excellence of US Naval damage control and onboard firefighting. You have cruisers soaking up damage that would put Japanese battleships out of commission and Carriers that take direct bomb hits, and then hours later launching aircraft again. I think it was during Midway when a US carrier took a bomb on the flight deck, patched it up and the Japanese thought it was another carrier altogether because nobody could patch something like that up at sea. As for armour when it comes to Battleship vs Battleship dueling, that's not going to make a lick of difference since pretty much anything 14" or bigger is going to be able to penetrate even the Yamato's thick belt armour. This is when accuracy and rate of fire come into play, especially when deck armour is usually 1/2 the belt armour. I think they decided to skimp a little on the Iowa's armour since they realized this and assumed speed was a better tradeoff.
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May 26, 2011 21:44
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Phanatic posted:A "fleet in being" is a fleet that you're too scared to do anything with because you don't want to get it sunk. So long as you keep it safe in port, your enemy has to deal with the fact that you *might* deploy it and do some damage with it, but if you were to actually sortie it it might get eaten up so you just keep it safe in port. Tirpitz was possibly the best example of this. The amount of resources it tied up alone, and the number of bombing missions to sink it pretty much make it a success without firing a shot. Some of the road crews in Norway still use sections of the hull as temporary bridges when doing road work.
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May 27, 2011 00:42
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Rent-A-Cop posted:In addition to what's already been said, the Navy currently fields four Ohio class SSGNs that admirably fill that role. If whatever you need to kill can't be killed with 154 TLAMs then you are doing something very wrong. It's also cheaper to keep converting old SSBNs than it is to try to build brand new single-mission ships. Plus it's nice to be able to hide your missile platform a few hundred feet underwater if the need should arise.
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May 27, 2011 03:35
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Slo-Tek posted:The Germans liked to call their F-104's "Erdnagle" literally Earth Nail, or Tent Peg. Lots of pilots also referred to it as, "Missile with a man in it" due to the fuselage being huge and the wings being ridiculously small. The wings were also very thin and sharp. They wore special covers over the leading edges to protect ground crew from cutting themselves on them. Erich Hartmann was essentially booted out of the post-war Luftwaffe due to his vocal opposition of the F-104.
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Jun 2, 2011 06:53
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An F-15 pilot is escorting a B-52 and generally being a pain. He's hotdogging it, doing loops, barrel rolls, and won't shup up with his mindless banter on the radio. The B-52 pilot is just trying to ignore him until the F-15 pilot says, "Anything you do I can do better!" The B-52 pilot thinks for a second and says, "Hey hotshot, try this". The F-15 pilot pulls alongside the B-52 and watches silently, and waits, and waits. The B-52 is just flying straight and level. After a few minutes the F-15 pilot finally says, "What? What are you doing that's so special?" To which the B-52 pilot replies. . . "I just shut down two of my engines." Edit: For being so organized, the Japanese army had some pretty slow mail delivery when it came to giving garrison commanders new orders. Hiroo Onoda, holed up in the Philippines, resisting the American Occupation. Didn't surrender until 1974! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiroo_Onoda in 1945 the US was dropping leaflets to let these guys know that the war was over, and even had the Japanese commanders write out orders to that effect. Their cell found a few such letters and dismissed them as fakes and allied propaganda. Even photos and letters from their family did not convince them and they continued to have small skirmishes with the locals and police. It wasn't until his old commander flew out that that he finally gave up.
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Jun 2, 2011 17:16
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Been posted before, but timelapse video of Europe from Roman times to today. This shows the fracturing and joining of states, and the rise and fall of empires. Pretty Cool. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rvlp7cBWwIw Golden Horde Mongols controlled a hell of a lot of area, and it seems that France really got their poo poo together early on considering todays borders are visible hundreds of years ago as opposed to what we now call Germany, which used to look like the Risk map from hell with all the hundreds of little states.
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Jun 6, 2011 14:39
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Revener posted:Don't you ruin this slim moment of pride for my country Hulk Hogan Meatshoes! Hold your head up high my American neighbour! http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3416423&userid=0&perpage=40&pagenumber=2#post392288592  Content: Rudolf Hess: one of WWII's and the Cold War's strangest figures and stories. Hess was an early supporter of the Nazi party with Hitler and spent some time in jail with Hitler after the failed Beerhall Putsch. He became the deputy of the Nazi part and rose high in the ranks up until 1941. . . when he then stole a BF-110 and flew to Scottland to negotiate a peace treaty with Britain. He was promptly put in jail, and after the war tried at Nuremburg for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and crimes against peace. . . what? Anyway, given he bailed out in 1941 it was hard to make the warcrimes and crimes against humanity stick, so they had to settle for the "crimes agaisnt peace". He was locked away in Spandau Prison until 1987! After the only other prisoner was released in 1966 he was the sole prisoner there for 21 years. Finally in 1987 it was agreed that he should be released, but one day they found him dead by means of hanging himself with an electrical cord. It was assumed he was a big INXS fan. He was 93. The reason for his crazy-long imprisonment seems to be the fault of the Soviets (the prison was under 4 power guard, and everyone had to agree to release him). Churchill, the prosecutor from Nuremburg, and even Nixon all said that it was cruel to leave him to rot there when they really didn't have anything to pin on him. It was mentioned that important Nazi and Japanese leaders who had done worse were freed decades before him. It's beleived that the reason why he was not allowed to be released was the Soviet belief that he was trying to create an alliance with Britan against the soviet union. Many people believe that he was in fact murdered, since why would he kill himself (possibly weeks) before being released. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudolf_Hess
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Jun 6, 2011 18:38
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duckmaster posted:Well. Where did Marlon Brando fit into this?
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Jun 8, 2011 15:15
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Another problem with the Heer and SS was that a lot of the units were rotated off the Russian front to regroup, get organized and sometimes put on the Western Front. They'd been fighting a war of extermination with the Soviets (both sides fighting an utterly ruthless battle to the death) then when they came to the Western front they didn't really adapt to the "war with rules". Interestingly enough, SS units were often praised by Western Allied commanders early in the war for their willingness to risk themselves to take prisoners. Then the "Slavs are not human, just kill them" indoctrination took hold later and they brought it back west. Adding to this was the higher and higher numbers of young Hitler Youth joining the ranks who had just spent the better part of their lives being told they are the Master Race and to not take prisoners. I can't remember what book this was from, but a lot of the first-hand accounts from older Heer/SS commanders mentioned how these "brainwashed babies" were fanatical and in a lot of cases a liability. I think it might have been that actual book, "Das Reich: 2nd SS Panzer Division", but I'm also thinking it might have been a book from the late 60's as well. The general trend (if I remember) was that most atrocities committed by German units in the Western Front were done by Divisions that had pretty much been decimated by the Soviets then refilled with Hitler Youth. So you pretty much had a division comprised entirely of people who's been through some serious poo poo, losing a lot of their comrades and become extrememly desensatized by these kind of actions and younger people who are utterly brainwashed in the party rhetoric. Not that any of this is an excuse for the actions that were undertaken. Another source said that these kinds of actions on the Western Front were really frowned upon by the Generals because they though it would make it harder for the Germans and Western allies to overcome their differences and turn on the Soviets together. Some generals were trying to get their units to give up ground faster and leave more bridges intact so the Allies could take Berlin before the Soviets. It might have been Von Rundstedtd that was trying to siphon forces from the West to the East to allow the US and Britain to occupy Germany so the Soviets couldn't. Naturally Hitler (who was was micromanagaing so badly at this stage that he was dictating movements down the to platoon level) didn't allow this to happen and was intent on implementing a schorced earth policy on the western front as well. He actually ordered the destruction of Paris, but General Dietrich von Choltitz disobeyed him and the city was spared.
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Jun 10, 2011 19:44
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SeanBeansShako posted:Don't forget to read Berlin after Stalingrad that covers the last years of the Ostfront. Both of these are really good, and that might have been where I read that previous info regarding the atrocities on the Soviet Front. Pretty much anything by Antony Beevor is great. Just don't mention him in academic circles since history profs are pretty much just like SomethingAwful goons. As soon as something or someone is popular they have to hate it/them. He studied under John Keegan, but lucky for us his writing style isn't as dusty.
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Jun 11, 2011 01:44
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Nenonen posted:Beevor does not really bring up anything original, though. Anything he touches, he just repeats what has been said before. Bringing up "original" content on WWII is not an easy thing given the wealth of information on it out there. What he does do is present the information in a manner that is interesting, concise. Too many of the WWII historians out there should really take a creative writing course. I'm not saying they should embellish, but too many of them read like . . . "The SS attacked the Soviet positions and there were 33 casualties, 5 of which were fatalities, the offensive was not successful. The Soviets later attacked and sustained 150 casualties, 45 of which were fatal and the offensive was not successful. After sustained artillery (150mm) the Soviets attacked again and were successful in taking the position while sustaining 96 casualties, 20 of which were fatal. . . "
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Jun 11, 2011 02:43
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Comrade Koba posted:Inserting your own private views and opinions into your work is generally frowned upon in academic circles, yes. Begin rant: As long as he isn't fabricating or misleading most people are fine with him. The people who seem to take exception to his work are stuffy old profs who are jealous because nobody wants to read their 1500 page book, "Supply Depot: 3 years of requisition orders." or "Small Romanian platoon who saw no action during the war". Beevor, not really adding anything new (research wise) to the scene still does a thousand times more for the field by writing his books in a manner that is at least palatable. His books are big sellers and I've personally seen them responsible for people buying tons of others on the subject, then diversifying after that into different time periods. Meanwhile the new "super scholars" who never manage to sell their books outside their history classes ("you will need to buy my book to pass this course") are claiming they are real scholars because. . . why? They found a journal from a Russian soldier that says this war sucks? We already knew that. They found a receipt for 1000 rounds of .303 ammo? Wow! That must have changed the tide! Unless they're making an incredible discovery, they're still just rehashing as well and probably pulling from a lot of the same sources as Beevor. They're the same people who act like elitist pricks and scare a lot of uni students out of history because (and I quote from a friend, "that's the second stuffy old British rear end in a top hat Prof I've had, and I'm still first year. I don't think history is for me". Nenonen posted:But then on the other hand we have hacks like Ambrose who fabricate stories to get the reader's interest. Beevor isn't that bad, but I get the impression that he's just copy-pasting the works of others not even trying to get deeper than that. I think a good historian should be critical of his sources, which Beevor seldom seems to be in his hunger for a good story. I don't think being a good writer excludes being a good historian. I've never heard of people accusing him (Beevor) of fabrication, just more him being "history-lite" or something like that. But then again who says that history has to be so in depth? Sometimes there is a place for more leisurely or casual works of history, and I think he fills that niche. It's not like he's trying to claim his books are the definitive works on the subjects. Edit: now if you want to start a fight, bring up "Forgotten Soldier" amongst academics and step back and see the fists fly!
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Jun 11, 2011 14:05
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BlueDiablo posted:I have no problem with the stuffy guys, it's just when they get all butt-hurt and start raging on other writers because they "dumb it down a little" or at least make it readable from an entertainment point of view and not just a research point of view. I appreciate both types, but you won't see my reading "T-34 Transmission Serial Numbers: 1937-1955 Second Edition" for fun.
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Jun 11, 2011 22:56
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djssniper posted:I recently read that book, from what I get the poor bloke hardly knew where he was half the time, never mind people debating it 70 years after the fact, whats to argue about? But you see! Guy Sager said on April 14th 1944 they had the 15th Division to their south, when in fact it wasn't until the 17th that the division moved into that position. What a loving liar!
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Jun 12, 2011 04:38
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BlueDiablo posted:But back to your comments on "Absurdly specific strawman titles," I freely acknowledge that a lot of academic historians write stuff that is ridiculously specific, but like I said, it provides a groundwork from which others can build. I totally appreciate them and their work, it is needed. The only problem I have with them (the sperglord ones) is when they throw a big fit and start raging on anyone who even breathes a word about Beevor or similar authors. It's the ones who say that this manner of history book should not exist and the only books that should exist are ones like, "Analysis of Soviet Tertiary Roadways Summer 1940". Edit: I love making strawman titles
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Jun 12, 2011 15:35
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Drunk & Ugly posted:You should go read it, it's incredible. Or as he suggests, read it when you're sick and cold and tired so you can get a feeling of where he was coming from. He was like 16 upon enlisting and then went through hell so I pretty much excuse him for whatever nitpicking is brought up It's pretty much my favourite account of WWII. I just pray that Hollywood never decides to make a movie about it. . . Shia LaBeouf: "Nein Nein Nein Nein Nein Nein Nein Nein Nein Nein . . . . "
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Jun 12, 2011 15:49
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meme posted:Hitler was evil, we get it. He doesn't have to be every kind of evil at once Ugggg! This right here! How many sources have I seen or read that claim he was a pedo, an animal abuser, midget-short, a perv, only had one ball. . . and on and on. Beevor was English, and grew up during a time, and with a lot of people who believed all of that. I don't know why starting a war in Europe and exterminating millions isn't enough for your average Brit, but I can see how he could have picked a lot of that up from his formative years and believed it despite having no evidence. In university I took a course called, "The Hitler State" and my proff (old English guy) said at one point, ". . . and Hitler had only one testicle, blah blah . . . " Me: "Wait, that's confirmed?" Him: "Yes" Me: "Wow, what was the source, his autopsy by the soviets? Records made by his doctor? Him: "Uhh, no." Me: "Physical exam from his stint in Prison, or joining the army in the Great War?" Him: "Wow, I actually can't remember reading about that, that cites a source that would know. I'm going to look into that" Next Day: (first thing the Prof says to the class) "Hitler had two balls people, get the word out!"
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Jun 13, 2011 13:24
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Grizzly, the bear Polish soldier! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wojtek_%28soldier_bear%29 He was a motherfucking Pole in the forest who hunted with the bears. He even helped take down deer at the box-canyon ambush. Interestingly enough, he was from modern day Poland and managed to travel the forest with the bears. He lived until the ripe age of 82. Edit: thought you might be getting bored with the original version, so I mixed it up. This Bear story could be this threads "Aristocrats Joke".
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Jun 17, 2011 04:33
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One scientist was afraid that the first atomic bomb might have a really "BAD" unintended side effect.Wikipedia posted:Teller also raised the speculative possibility that an atomic bomb might "ignite" the atmosphere because of a hypothetical fusion reaction of nitrogen nuclei.[22] Bethe calculated that it could not happen,[23] and a report co-authored by Teller showed that "no self-propagating chain of nuclear reactions is likely to be started."[24] In Serber's account, Oppenheimer mentioned it to Arthur Compton, who "didn't have enough sense to shut up about it. It somehow got into a document that went to Washington" which led to the question being "never laid to rest".[25]
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Jun 19, 2011 00:54
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Acebuckeye13 posted:You can always try using the "Search the Forums" button. Not sure how well it works, but at the very least it's a good place to start. In all honesty I have no clue how the search function compiles results. It seems simple enough, but it never returns the results I was expecting. Example being, I typed "unintended" into the keyword option, and then added my username in the "username filter", the two results I got were from other threads, and not this one strangely enough since I just said unintended a few time in this post and above. (timetravel)
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Jun 19, 2011 05:15
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I think that the 163 could have been an effective fighter had they used this technology more.Wikipedia posted:A number of innovative solutions were implemented to ensure kills by less experienced pilots. The most promising was a unique weapon called the Sondergerät 500 Jägerfaust. This consisted of a series of single-shot, short-barreled 50 mm (2-inch) guns pointing upwards. Five were mounted in the wing roots on each side of the aircraft. The trigger was tied to a photocell in the upper surface of the aircraft, and when the Komet flew under the bomber, the resulting change in brightness caused by the underside of the aircraft could cause the rounds to be fired. As each shell shot upwards, the disposable gun barrel that fired it was ejected downwards, thus making the weapon recoilless. It appears that this weapon was used in combat only once, resulting in the destruction of a Halifax bomber,[10] though other sources say it was a Boeing B-17.[11][12]  Basically, you fly under a bomber and the photocells automatically fire some explosive rounds into the belly of the aircraft. The pilot could still have his forward weapons for attacking additional aircraft or finishing off a wounded one that didn't outright explode from the Sondergerät 500, which would have been a miracle since it had 10 50mm shells. The Luftwaffe said that on average 3 30mm rounds from a MK-108 cannon would bring down a large bomber, so it's very likely that 3 from the Sondergerät would be approaching 100% kill. The really nice (or bad if you are an allied bomber) thing about this weapon is that it required very little skill on the part of the pilot. All they had to do was fly under the bomber, and if it was a head-on attack then the odds of the gunners even getting a bead on something that small, closing at ~500-800mph was very unlikely. If the pilot and ground crew are having a good day they will have ample time to make a second attack on the bombers trip home. If a pilot was quite adept at flying under the enemy aircraft they could have rigged their tubes to only fire 1/2 their rounds a pass, saving the rest for another pass on a different aircraft. Since the program wasn't continued, I'm guessing there were issues with the firing mechanism or possibly just the 163 program in general.
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Jun 21, 2011 18:44
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SheepNameKiller posted:Carlin was definitely one of the best comics of his generation but what he's doing with that sentence is no different than what he is condemning, dumbing down a complex problem into something soft so the masses can digest it without thinking too much. I found him hit or miss, moreso miss in his later years. Take something that the general population will agree with. "Ex. Executing retarded killers is wrong" then raging against it for 15 minutes all the while talking to the audience like they are exceptionally thick 5 yr olds. Stewart Lee does a similar routine, but is actually funny all the time instead of the 5 minutes of gold in an hour performance like Carlin is. Bill Hicks on the other hand has never once made me laugh. He wasn't so much a comic as a pissed off guy who provided material for Dennis Leary to make money off of. Hell, half of his routines revolve around him recalling being booed off stage for ranting about poo poo people didn't come to a comedy club to hear about. Then again this is all about taste which is subjective. (ps. I also hate Dane Cook)
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Jun 21, 2011 19:09
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/\/\ The Japanese had one particular flyer they dropped on Guadalcanal which was just wank material and didn't even have a message except "give up".  http://i.imgur.com/lX1od.jpgThe general trend amongst a lot of the Japanese flyers was that the boys were missing out on some good sex while fighting abroad. On similar propaganda war lines: One of the Tokyo Rose broadcasters (who was a US citizen taken prisoner) would read her lines over the airways while using subtle sarcasm and emphasis on certain words to let the US soldiers know that it was all rubbish. She ended up in prison after the war for betraying her country.
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Jun 21, 2011 19:45
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Phanatic posted:Wait, which one are you talking about? Iva D'Aquino was a US citizen, but she wasn't taken prisoner by the Japanese, she just happened to be visiting Japan when war broke out and was declared an enemy alien when she refused to renounce her citizenship. She did do radio broadcasts, but she refused to broadcast anti-American propaganda and wasn't one of those "GIs, surrender, the superior Japanese fighting man will conquer California and gently caress your girlfriends and sisters" folks. I'm not sure which Tokyo Rose it was, but the interview I saw on TV (back before the history Channel became the Pawn/Iceroad/Swam channel) said that she used sarcasm and other inflections that the Japanese would not pick up on during broadcasts to let the GI's know it was not to be taken at Face Value. Also being forceably detained and then not allowed to leave sounds like being "taken prisoner" to me. Phyzzle posted:But there is also a literal shell sock condition, in that brain damage can be caused by a shock wave without piercing the skin or cracking the skull. It turns out that the shock wave travels in mainly through the eye sockets and echoes about inside. This can cause lifelong damage, but it's completely different from being shocked by stress and trauma. Soldiers working extra large artillery or who expected to be on the receiving end of it were instructed to keep their mouths open to help equalize the pressure so their eardrums etc. didn't burst.
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Jun 21, 2011 20:43
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SaintFu posted:It seems that every article or tv program I've ever seen about the Me 262 included a phrase like, "If Germany had been able to produce the Me 262 in large numbers, it might have changed the course of the war," which is a bit like saying, "If Germany hadn't been losing the war, they might have won the war." One thing that I always thought would have been a good idea was to install JATO type units to the bomber interceptors (rocket boosters to aid in takeoff). Taxi out, take off, start gaining altitude, then engage the rocket unit and point your nose straight up. That 10 minute This would have allowed the conventional aircraft like the 109s/190s to get to interception altitude much faster and you also wouldn't have the drawback or having to glide back to your runway like to 163. Even the 262 would have benefited tremendously from this since it wasn't a real good accelerator given the tenderness the throttle demanded. That ~15 minutes needed to get to 30,000 feet could have been chopped in half or even less, giving the pilot even more time to gain additional altitude or get into a better position to attack incoming bombers. You could also save fuel by either taking less with you or have a longer flight duration given the fuel you saved getting there. Hell, just taking two Nebelwerfer rounds, removing the warhead and placing them in supported racks that you could drop after expending the rockets doesn't seem that hard. Then again maybe I'm missing some manner of obstacle or airframe limitation that they encountered, or maybe they just never considered it.
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Jun 21, 2011 22:18
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| # ¿ Apr 25, 2024 07:29 |
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Another problem with Soviet era agriculture was their inefficiency and infrastructure. Huge yields of grain would be harvested and massive amounts of fertilizer would be shipped, only to sit and rot. The fertilizer would be sent out to collective farms by the trainload and then sit because they had no means to spread if (tractors or spreaders) grain would arrive at distribution depots and be left exposed to the elements or sit and start to go bad because the organization wouldn't be up to snuff. Not enough trains, not enough tracks, and military trains, no matter how small and insignificant would be given locomotive and line priorities. In more ridiculous cases seed would be sent to locations that had soil or weather conditions totally unsuitable for that specific crop and after all the wasted time shipping, planting and fertilizing an inferior harvest would eventually happen or more commonly, the crop would never grow. I'm sure the latter owe a lot to Mr. Lysenko. Sometimes collective farms would be given a quota they could never meet given the available land, seed and manpower. Whatever they grew had to be shipped off and in some cases the people that grew it were left with nothing for themselves. Failure to meet a quota was something that you really didn't want under Stalin. Overall Stalin gets my vote for worst dictator given his incredible paranoia about his own people and the ruthlessness in which he dealt with them. He was so paranoid that he would announce that he was going to bed and go into his bedroom, then sneak out and sleep in another one for fear of being killed while asleep. I think it was also mentioned that several meals were prepared for him by different cooks in different kitchens and he would eat a random one to lower the possibility of being poisoned. Dude also wore lifts in his shoes.
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Jun 22, 2011 02:06
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