American's First Time Reaction to "Rorke's Drift" by Sabaton
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- čas přidán 25. 08. 2024
- In this video I will be doing a deep dive into the song "Rorke's Drift" by Sabaton. I will watch a lyric video, the Sabaton History lesson, and a fan made music video.
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16:15 the zulu were empire builders and had taken much of their land from other tribes, just had the misfortune of running into a bigger and more powerful empire.
Every Sabaton weekend, we draw closer to The Race To The Sea.
Not if Indy doesn't get off his butt and finish the history for it.
@@TouchyReactions maybe we should pressure him to speed up the process? 😉
@@TouchyReactions He already has its out on sabaton history patreon by now should come on CZcams sooner or later at this point since it’s out on their patreon.
@@TouchyReactions It’s out now you can react to Race to the sea the history vid is out
I've done it. Its up on the Patreon right now.
The Zulus were an extremely aggressive expansionistic empire, it wasn't their land any more than anyone else's.
You could say the same thing about almost any fight against a colonial force but to say it wasn't their (the Zulu's) land any more than anyone else's is a gross misreading of the facts and I'll dismantle your statement very easily: In a region, country, area or nation in Africa where the general population is BLACK a bunch of heavily-armed white guys in bright red uniforms stick out like a sore thumb and not because of their uniforms. They stick out because they AREN'T SUPPOSED TO BE THERE! And remember, that was the same excuse we used in America to slaughter the plains Indians and Indians in general, a thing often referred to as GENOCIDE. In short, if the ZULU'S wanted to practice expansionism that's their prerogative, it's just called war and conquest. But for the British to sail across the sea and march inland to engage the Zulus so they could take their shit and steal resources, well, that's called being assholes.
Two empire's fighting for land that wasnt theirs.
16:15 Yes, but at the same time, attacking a location that is primarily a hospital is a big no-no.
Correct me if I’m wrong, the Zulu were also an empire too
@@Loowee__ There were really no rules like the Geneva convention at this time. The Zulu war was engineered to remove the threat of the Zulu empire on the boarders of Natal. The group who attacked the Drift were disobeying their own Kings orders - he had told them not to cross into Natal. The King was right, since Isandlwana and Rourke's Drift gave the British the excuse they needed to destroy the Zulu empire.
@@HankD13 I’m aware the Geneva convention or such a treaty (?) didn’t exist. I read quite a bit on the conflict and yes, the Zulu at Rorke’s drift were led by the prince, who decided to attack the station despite the king not giving him permission to conduct the raid (for lack of better words). I appreciate you taking your time to explain, though. Majority of people aren’t fully informed or educated on certain historical events which aren’t the major conflicts such as WW2 (pretty much just only ww2 lol, the general person wouldn’t care about ww1)
The footage is from a movie called zulu, its a classic, definetily should check it out (there was a sequel which doesn't get as much praise but still enjoyable)
The main movie focuses on rorkes drift, the sequel focuses on the major battle that occurred previous to rorkes drift (if my memory is correct)
My favourite thing about the movie Zulu is that every single Zulu wariior that appears in it was actually a real Zulu warrior. The director went to the Zulu king, explained that he was making the movie, and asked the king if he could provide some of his warriors for the movie. The next day, about 4,000 legitimate Zulu warriors turned up on set.
The sequel wich is actually a prequel shows the british defeat against the zulu, it´s called "Zulu dawn"
@@Moja421 zulu dawn is on ISANDLWNA
Not surprising they thought it'd be an easy victory. No one expects the hospital to come under attack, because it's a dishonorable target, even if it's one of the smartest ones to take out.
14:04 Rorke's Drift is a stunning example of British discipline in action.
Definitely a controversial topic to be sure, and while I do feel that on a moral level the British were
the ones in the wrong, as is the case with the majority of colonization efforts in history, It's hard
to ignore the bravery and spirit of those that defended that position that day for not just the land
or the supplies but also the wounded who couldn't fight or be evacuated.
When it comes to the Zulu it isn't as simple as that. The Zulu were a warmongering tribe that conquered and subjugated many nearby tribes, so it is not just your average battle of European imperialists coming to take over some tribes traditional lands. You can argue that the British should not have been there to start with, but even though there were technological differences this was a war between two expansionist states with a well developed military.
@@vakistania Yes that is true and something that is often overlooked.
@@vakistania Yeah, it was basically high-tech colonialism vs. low-tech colonialism.
Edit: Besides which, whatever the politics involved, all that really matters to the soldiers on the ground is *surviving.*
The Zulus were NOT good guys lol
oh yeah! The one and only Sabaton song about events in my country! Thanx again!. I'm guessing there is no live because they never here before.... although the people here would have preferred them doing a song about Bloedrivier (Blood river), this song is really good though.
The footage they use for the video is from a movie, Zulu (1964) which was filmed on the actual location, and I would highly recommend watching it.
BTW the view around here is that it's the Brits that caused the Zulu-Boer wars. Until then the Boers were buying land from the Zulu and Sesotho, but then the Brits attacked, and in their mind mind a white man is a white man and they turned against the Boer.
Oh and that rapid drumming.. that sounds like the beating of the assegaai against the shields.
Very cool
So to comment on this:
So to give some wider context to this event.
At this time of colonial Africa the British Empire was in the process of creating (as we know it today) South Africa. In this area there were several dozen groups of people - some African and some European such as the Boers.
Having used diplomacy and war - some tribes were traded gifts and brought into the empire, some kings touted with the British Royal Family and were brought in as semi-equal servants/rulers, and some were conquered.
The Zulu empire and British empire had both been semi… neutral to one another even trading and agreeing to boarders. However when diamonds were found in the area and an influx of both souther Africans and Europeans moved more into Zulu land areas to start mining this started to cause major tensions.
Funnily enough the British governor of South Africa at the time wasn’t actually supposed to start a war with the Zulu, he on his own personal rational decided to coax the Zulu into a war with him by sending demands asking for them to disarm their military and had back their guns after several attacks on settlers in Zulu land.
When the conditions were denied said governor invaded - he did petition parliament… just he sent the message and then immediately invaded before he could actually get a reply thinking that if he won quickly he’d probably get a slap on the wrist but Parliament wouldn’t be able to do much after the fact.
- however let’s also talk about the Zulu somewhat here as it does come off quite natural for people in this era when they hear of these African tribes to think they were completely harmless people and major initiative of their own.
The Zulu tribe initially was similar to many African tribes but after Shaka Zulu… well they didn’t form their own empire through peace talks at all. Shaka taught them the horns of the buffalo as a tactic to get close and slaughter their enemies cause nobody actually knew how to deal with that at the time - standard combat during and before his era was to meet at the borders of your tribes land, toss spears at distance from one another and continue till one side gives up (very little casualties and only small trades of land and values) - these tactics proved so good some groups tried to copy but failed and many were just overrun.
In addition the reason the zulu tribe had such a native population to their land was that when they did start taking over their neighbors they didn’t just adopt their people in. Shaka had them execute all males over the height of about a 4 year old toddler and those few that lived were adopted into the tribe. Women - many now widows - were taken to be given as wives to those warriors that had just conquered them and slaughtered there people. And this was pretty much standard for the Zulu nation even up to the war.
In addition, the Zulu weren’t just sitting about doing nothing before Britain’s invasion. They were in many ways actually planning to move into allied to the British and also expand further up north too.
The reason I say this is because many people just square this away as Europeans vs peaceful local African tribes; compared to what it truly was, two vast empire squaring up and very much the underdog going down - doesn’t excuse Britain actions or role in starting the war, but always remember both here aren’t really the “good guys” of any story.
- tho to be fair there were many on both sides who fought in this war and completely rejected it. One famous one is a British Captain who was also an MP (Member of Parliament) that was killed at the battle of Isandlwana who thanks to his letters home actually detested what they were doing and was asking that Parliament sanction the whole thing and the Governor.
So back the war. To note the battle of Isandlwana was not only a very decisive Zulu Victory it was also a defensive victory that was very useful to actually ending the war if talks with parliament actually opened up - tho in reality due to the complete humiliation and the fact that they slaughtered everyone and took zero prisoners… it’s likely Britain would have snuffed the peace talks as both the military, Parliament, crown and populace would be angered over such a humiliation and loss of men.
However, while this was a decisive defensive victory, the battle of Rorke’s Drift was very very different.
For one Rorke’s Drift wasn’t on Zulu Land but actually on British territory. Not only that it was both a monastery and hospital - and even by this point most European powers had the care not to fire on these places as they were not considered combatants and those guarding them were just there to fend off bandits/looters.
However, the Zulu formation led by the kings younger (can’t remember if brother or cousin) attacked Rorke because like Indy said they wanted to actually get a victory in against the British - tho it’s likely they didn’t know about Rorke at all until stumbling upon it while chasing the retreating native cavalry.
- yes the British used Native Cavalry at the time. Being that they didn’t have many experienced stable men in Africa, nor a good collection of experienced cavalrymen suited to Africa’s terrain, nor did they have that large of a native European upper class/middle class to poach its cavalrymen from - yes the British cavalry even up till WW1 was made mainly from the upper and middle classes. The reason why was that these men usually had the money to finance themselves and their horses (yes British cavalrymen brought there own horses to war and the army usually wanted men who could cater to multiple as that’s what cavalrymen need - if one is killed, wounded or more common becomes blown, they can quickly trade to another and continue their actions as needed - plus they wanted men who already had riding experience and likely shooting and melee experience on said horses too - a common pass time of this era was fox hunting so many men coming from these classes usually had prior shooting experience while mounted and it was common for men to mock duel and joust on horseback. As such the army preferred these types to that of commoners having to be supplied and trained - a reason why the British cavalry of these eras was usually known as the most Nobelist of all cavalry.
However back to the main point, Rorke’s Drift wasn’t on Zulu land but on British land. This single action pretty much doomed Zulu land and actually was the complete opposite of what the king had both ordered and wanted - win a defensive war and you can claim moral superiority for just defending your land; crossing the boarder to raid a monastery/hospital is not what a “defending” party does.
As such when the battle was won, it was this action that ended up giving the British Government of SA the justification to March into Zulu land again and completely conquer it.
- a small side note. After Zulu land was conquered the British didn’t actually overthrow or de-crown the Zulu kind but actually brought him back to England to meet Victoria, party with the gentry and be treated to what was British civility - essentially this was a double sided thing. On one it was “see we are civilising the savages” but also “he’s royalty, so treat him as your supposed to - you better”.
Sad part was, after he returned to Zulu land he was pretty quickly assassinated with those doing so saying he had been converted from their culture and would try the same to them - from the kings writing it looks like he wasn’t. It actually looks like he was going to keep to a more middle road with both keeping parts of the Zulu culture alive while also changing some parts to align with a more modern age. With his death also ended that corporation and the final nail in the Zulu empire with the British SA government marching in and reinstating the original crown line but at the same time forcing them into what would later be South Africa.
And a few interesting facts about this battle:
Of the British 20,000 rounds at the start of the battle only 900 remained by the end - yes for only around 800-1000 casualties 19,100 rounds were expended.
When it also comes to this battle it’s actually widely recognised and held in high regard by both Zulu and British servicemen and the public. It’s considered the battle of equals - the Zulu warrior fighting for his was of life against a foreign invader vs the British infantryman fighting for his life, country and both standing and wounded comrades against unbelievable odds - neither side really calls the moral superiority on the battle as it was an attack on a hospital which didn’t need to happen if the British had not started a war. But what we all agree on is the bravery of both sides soldiers - the Britain still revear the Zulu warrior as the most honourable and noblest warriors they have ever faced - and it’s still very common for British servicemen to honour the Zulu warrior and people just like how we honour the Gurkhas.
Another fun fact, the 1964 movie Zulu was filled on location and you can actually still visit Rorke’s Drift and Isandlwana and get tours around them - and I believe one of those tour guides is an actual Zulu descendant (you can catch an interview with him if you look at Little War TV).
Also an interesting note on the Victoria Crosses handed out in this battle, was that it was quite a surprise to the public when they got the list and saw the men awarded them cause… not all of them were prim and proper soldier. Some were as could have been described “scum”. It was actually a very interesting mix of men who received the crosses from “gentlemen to scum”.
As to finish this off:
1. A recommendation to watch Jeremy Clarksons video on the Victoria Cross if you haven’t seen it.
2. A recommendation to check out a couple Little Wars TV battle reports - there a miniature wargaming group but also vivid historical lover - and I’d love to see your reaction to their battle recreations on tabletop and how they played out.
Wow, thank you for taking the time to share all of this with us.
The Zulu were conquerors themselves. Just on a smaller scale than the British empire.
Still amazes me throughout history no matter how much tech has advanced there is always a battle where a primitive group has success of a more powerful enemy
Story aside, I love melody of this song - it makes a splendid accompaniment for jogging.
I hope you have enjoyed the rhyming in this song, great reaction as always
Yes! Thank you!
Im going to see them live today 🤘
Sweet. Have a blast
As normal with foreigners, they assume the British wanted to just land grab regions of Africa to expand an empire.
They mainly colonised the African regions to STOP SLAVERY.
The Zulus traded in ivory and SLAVES!!
The British new this was going to be no easy task due to the well structured and size of the Zulu army.
Also remember that a European had a very short life span in Africa without medication for malaria. (about a year).
Great song (and movie). Not enough react to this. A true heroic stand by the british. 150 men against 4000 or something.
Crazy
The movie ‘Zulu’ is a great war movie… and I believe, the first starring role for Michael Caine. One of my favorites…I highly recommend it.
2 good movies for this "Zulu Dawn" (the follow up movie) & "Zulu" (1964) is about the battle and is Sir Michael Caine's 1st movie role. yes the movie footage is used for the fan made video
Thank you for sharing
@@TouchyReactions you know i think it would be fun to watch you do some movie reactions and "Zulu" would be a good test 1
I have thought about doing movie reactions sometime in the future. My problem is, I'm a huge movie fan. So most of the movies people would like to see reactions to, I have already seen. Plus, the editing needed for a whole movie reaction would take several hours per film. One day maybe.
When you hit the 100,000 subs mark I will be able to say I was one of the 10,000 - keep going brother
Thanks Laredo
Yup its called Zulu ,and the Zulu warriors seen are actual direct ancestors of the Zulus who fought in the battle of Rourke's drift.
Here is the thing about "your land" if you can defend it you can keep it, a rule as old as time.
Footage from fan made video from 1960 movie Zulu starring Michael cane He's the blonde guy
iirc one of the people who took part in the actual event died only 10-15 years before the movie came out.
also because of some racial bs the producers of the movie couldn't properly pay the black actors so instead they bought a bunch of cattle that was used in the movie and at the end of it gave the cattle to them instead of giving them money.
also iirc the actors themselves were actual zulu warriors as the producers got in contact with the then zulu king to ask for people to make the movie with
i can't remember if all of this was true but it's something i remember hearing about it.
Wow
@@TouchyReactions Yup all that is true, and the king was even a descendant of the king who fought the actual war. For the time being, the movie was very forward thinking and wanted to portray the events accurately both when it came to the zulus and the actual battle. Lovely little song and one of my low key favorites, I shudder even imagining the dread and fear the brits must have had seeing all those warriors, knowing from experience that they would hack you to pieces if they got to you. Extremely brave soldiers on both side of this battle.
Oh look it is my morning alarm.
The film is "Zulu" starring Stanley Baker and Michael Caine. The end is fiction.
My all-time favourite, I think. Thanks a lot!
My pleasure!
There will probably be no live of this song as the subject is sensitive and controversial, especially in Europe where the racialist movements make strong lobbying. For example, some demand to destroy all the statues of belgian king Leopold II, who owned Congo before selling it to Belgium. Like Indie said in the history episode, the dreams of the British was to have continued colonies from Cairo to the Cape (the famous C to C), while the Germans tried to have a continued colony from east to west. As they were ruling Tanzania, the annexion of Belgian Congo would have made it a reality. At the end of WW1 the British annexed Tanzania and finalized the C to C. I was born in the protectorate of Ruanda-Urundi, a german colony until 1919.
The big thing is that this wasn’t Zulu land, the Zulu were an empire that conquered other tribes in Africa, the fighting with British wasn’t on Zulu land at all, it was land that the Zulu wanted
Its actually a movie, called Zulu!
👌As always Touchy!
And a big shoutout to #AndreDeAth for making the suggestion.
Thank You Mia.
The movie is called Zulu it has Michael Caine it is a great movie
Thanks, and may the force be with you...
Hey, i recommend a video called History Buffs: Zulu. He explains the history behind the event and the movie. Really interesting.
The Boers were Dutch, German, or Huguenot settlers in Africa. There is a thing called Clausewitz’s trinity which states that to start and keep a war effort going you must have support of the government, of the people and of the military itself. If you are missing any of these three it will fail. I have a history book that goes over the history of the world and one portion of it was dedicated to the colonization of Africa. I can remember in this section a picture of a Zulu warrior and a British soldier. History is a bit like storytelling because you can tell it from one side of a war, comprehensively, or focus on a point in time but it’s certainly an open dialogue between many people.
While I do sympathize with those whose land was taken by the British, I have a hard time rooting for people who'd hack apart the wounded and sick.
very interesting I really don't get how the zulu lost really but who knows
Like the Alamo but we won.
I’m sure your feelings about trying to take over the native inhabitants’ country also refers to the white man and the Native Americans….? Easy to judge and react to emotional responses but sometimes we need to stand back and look at bigger pictures and with a sense of reflection on the times and other experiences.
I 100% agree with you. America has many demons in our history and that is one of the biggest.
React to Smoking snakes, amazing Sabaton song !!!!
It is on my Patreon channel right now. Will be on CZcams in mid may
A country song about colonization would be crazy 💀
All of a sudden Morgan Wallen starts yapping about Zulus
Well US had their war the same year, Great Sioux War of 1876. So the respect for original inhabitants was not that great at that time.
I picked that point up also. This guys remarks are as we Brits say "The pot calling the kettle black" Typical lack of education or ignorance.
also imo you should do the music video versions first, makes for a better impression and then you can go into the lyrics
The Genocide in the Congo is absolutely horrifying besides the Holocaust obviously
this song makes me want to watch Tears of the Sun not sure why not much of a connection between them
Yes, it was wrong of the British to just go and colonise everything. But as Joakim always says, Sabaton doesn’t glorify they war, they honour the soldiers.
Touchy Reactions - as said your routing for the Zulus I wont be watching you again! You think it was just the British wanted to land grab? The Dutch were there too in S Africa and Belgium too! but nobody says anything about them! The Zulus traded in slavery and ivory, the British were always anti-slavery.
I was born in Peterborough England 🏴
Im asuming you think the same way about your country aswell. Because this is what happened when you slaughtered the native Americans. This is South Africa. Not holding any grudge to you, but you are saying you are roting for the zulus. What would happened to your beeing if the natives had won?
I do actually. What we did to the native American people was despicable.
@@TouchyReactions ok, thank you for the response.
Do not be so hard on the guy as he is just the standard American educated on Hollywood history and not the failure in every war the US has caused even with their superior weaponry.