The Stab-in-the-back Conspiracy Theory
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- čas přidán 17. 06. 2024
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Everyone knows that Germany lost the First World War. Due to a combination of mistakes by the military, a lack of supplies and many other factors, German defeat only became a matter of time in 1918. After the war however, some contemporaries saw it a bit differently. They argued that the army could defintely have kept on fighting, had it not been stabbed in the back. This episode will tell you everything you need to know about the infamous stab-in-the-back myth, a conspiracy theory which circled around the young Weimar republic. Who invented it? Who spread it? Who believed it and why? And what role did it play in the end of German democracy?
Literature:
- Afflerbach, Holger: Auf Messers Schneide. Wie das Deutsche Reich den Ersten Weltkrieg verlor, München 2018.
- Evans, Richard: The Hitler Conspiracies. Oxford 2020.
- Geheran, Michael: Judenzählung (Jewish Census), in: 1914-1918-online. International Encyclopedia of the First World War, encyclopedia.1914-1918-online... (accessed on 08.05.2024)
- Groß, Gerhard P.: Das Ende des Ersten Weltkriegs und die Dolchstoßlegende, Ditzingen 2018.
- Krumeich, Gerd: Die unbewältigte Niederlage. Das Trauma des Ersten Weltkriegs und die Weimarer Republik, Freiburg et al. 2018.
- Lohalm, Uwe: Völkischer Radikalismus. Die Geschichte des Deutschvölkischen Schutz- und Trutz-Bundes 1919-1923, Hamburg 1970.
- Lüdtke, Christian: Hans Delbrück und Weimar. Für eine konservative Republik - gegen Kriegsschuldlüge und Dolchstoßlegende, Göttingen 2018.
Chapters:
0:00 What was the stab-in-the-back myth?
2:52 The Generals refuse to take the blame
9:46 A socialist conspiracy?
15:09 The role of antisemitism
18:34 Conclusions
21:38 Outro
My main takeaway is what I've always suspected: the Swiss are to blame for everything
They just can't be trusted
And sensationist journalists.
@@SirManateeetheir alibis, like their cheese are always full of holes.
Chaos can be profitable if you can stay out of it.
@@SirManateee *insert zapp brannigan neutrals quote here*
I want to just expand a bit on how utterly hopeless the strategic position had become immediately before the Armistice in 1918. It's mentioned that Bulgaria was the first Central Power to sue for peace in September after combined Entente forces broke through on the Salonika front, but it's almost difficult to grasp how swiftly the strategic position collapsed from there. By the end of October the entire Macedonian front, a million or so men had already reached BELGRADE, immediately on the Austro-Hungarian border. The Dual Monarchy had conducted a partial demobilization after the collapse of Russia as it's domestic economy simply could not handle that level of labor shortage outside of the army, and there was practically NOTHING preventing the Entente from simply sweeping into the Pannonian plain, and from there on it would have only been a matter of time before Germany was being attacked with force from it's southwest *completely disregarding the already collapsing Western Front.
This is of course assuming that Austria-Hungary continued to maintain itself as a polity which it wasn't. Throughout October Austria-Hungary began it's final throes of disintegration. In late September and early October, basically all of the South Slav political parties within the empire organized themselves as a national council and declared the State of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes which displaced the authority of Austria-Hungary so quickly that Austria still under the Habsburgs for a little time yet voluntarily handed over most of its remaining naval forces to this nascent state hoping to divide the nascent polity and the Italians who certainly desired the fleet as war spoils.
Simultaneously to this, the Italians broke through on the Isonzo after 3 years of stalemate as much the Austro-Hungarian army literally fell apart and deserted to their home countries mid-battle, offering the threat of ANOTHER 1.5 million troops from the South and Southeast.
It was an act of cowardice and blatant baldfaced lies to even pretend that the war was still winnable. Defeat was practically certain when the Spring Offensive failed, but it is truly an act of dishonor to pull the political equivalent of escaping the guillotine and shoving someone else in your place literally as the blade is dropping. The civilian population who bought into the myth can perhaps be understood given the extent of wartime censorship, but the Generals were truly pathetic wastrels no matter what airs of nobility they tried to put on then, and that which people still place on them retroactively
In regards to the Austria-Hungary situation Karl I had also already made attempts at reaching out to the Entente to sue for peace in 1917.
It seems to be a tradition among German generals to blame everyone other than themselves because they tried the same thing after WWII, but at least they didn't have much of a platform so only wehraboos believed them.
@@hedgehog3180 oh they were believed for quite some time, their lies have been relegated to Wehraboos in the past 20 years, but during the cold war they were barely disputed.
They even got to write the official history of the eastern Front for the US.
Every accusation is a confession.
From the southeast, not the southwest.
Other than that, completely correct. Much of the popular understanding of World War I mostly or even entirely disregards the importance of fronts other than the Western one (except, of course, in the countries affected by them).
I have to question why the germans didn't think that their allies were useless, and therefore blame them more than blame internal politics.
The motivation was to gain power. Attacking other countries doesn't help you gain domestic power. Demonizing your political enemies does.
It's postulated that the term "treulose Tomate" (unfaithful/disloyal tomato) that sprang up in the 1920s is a direct reference to the Italians who sided against Germany in WW1. There is also the term "Treubruchnudeln" (something close to treason noodle).
There was less political gain to blaming their allies post-war, because that by that point Austria-Hungary, the Ottomans and Bulgarians had already been dissolved or diminished. Blaming successor states like Austria which was arguably doing just as bad as Germany doesn't give the same satisfaction or further inflame tension like blaming Social Democrats. As established in the video elections are easier to win if you blame people closer to home then a nations that no longer exists.
Because they weren’t useless
German arrogance was a major factor in Central Powers defeat. For example, German leaders berated Austria-Hungary when Italy entered the war, but history does not record how Germany's allies responded when openly acknowledged, stupid German actions including trying to ally with Mexico drove the United States into the war, adversely repurposing the war and creating a crushing resource gradient long before thousands of American troops started to appear. Austria-Hungary was attacked by five neighbors and, with help, defeated all five in the field, but then again, Germany would not have lasted long alone in the war either.
It is little remembered that the proximate event chain ending in Bulgarian exit began with German refusal to entertain Bulgarian claims in Dobruja after Rumania was defeated, leaving Bulgarians rightly feeling trapped in a German war with no marginal Bulgarian purpose.
"We didn't really lose that war, and we're gonna prove it this time by getting DESTROYED" - Dr. Robert Citino on the stab-in-the-back myth.
“Were German troops not on enemy soil and therefore held the upper hand?”
(Laughs in Vietnamese)
What’s up Sam, you are literally my favorite history channel on CZcams.
The GOAT has commented
@@darzog9634Sure, some in the British government thought some Zionists had some sway over the US government when they were marginal even in the Jewish community.
That doesn't explain the myth, only that people in the government were painfully ignorant and/or willing to try anything.
@@darzog9634give it a rest dude!
Sam , thank God there are no more any ethno states hell bent on the displacement and disenfranchismeny another population... Right!?!?!??
im surprised and shocked as a Swiss person that part of the blame of the Dolchstosslegende lies in Switzerland and NZZ in particular
NZZ today is a quite reactionary news paper. I'm actually not surprised at all. When I have, in the past, taken a look into the news paper, whenever a news story touches on some kind of political code, that is engrained in the news paper (for lack of better words) all journalistic integrity fall away and makes place for pure demagoguery and untruthfulness. Weirdly enough, as long as that is not the case, it can have some pretty decent journalism, which kind of seems to confirm, that it's not actually bad journalism, that's the problem, but something else.
Man Ludendorff really is the original grim reaper of Germany for what he helped facilitate knowing what he did, truly a uniquely malevolent creature. Legitimately gives von Hotzendorf a run for his money
This is why when Germany surrender to the Allieds in Reims in May 7 1945 Stalyn oppossed to the signing of this surrender and demanded a surrender in Berlin and in front of the highest german military ranks. Nobody will question again that Germany was defeated by the Allieds military power.
CZcams:"DIE VERBORGENE GESCHICHTE" TEIL1////CZcams:THORSTEN SCHULTE mit "Der 1WK kein Krieg von Schlafwandlern"
CZcams:ROBERT SEPHER mit "The Hidden History of Zionism " and "Subversive Origins of Communism" 👍
Hans Delbrück taking the cake for biggest diss of the interwar period
His son would go on to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine and his son in law was one of the participants in the 20 July Plot to kill Hitler
Makes be wonder how he’d feel about Ludendorff’s depiction in wonder woman
I would imagine that General Ludendorff’s morale was high because unlike the common soldier, his uniform was clean, his bed was warm and dry, and his meals were always on time.
Germany lost the war the single moment the Royal Navy managed to impose the naval blockade.
Anyone who believes Germany could´ve won by 1918 its insanely dumb, let alone by late october when the Vardar Offensive forced the surrender of Bulgaria and the Ottomans and the battle of Vittorio Venetto disintegrated the already collapsing Austro Hungarian army.
But muh superior Prussian military tradition!
Germany lost the war when Moltke's advance towards Paris was stopped at The Battle of the Marne in September of '14. The only hope the Germans had of winning was a quick campaign with them taking Paris and forcing France to capitulate before the BEF arrived in force. That didn't happen and we instead had 4 years of attritional warfare that Germany could not win.
The Wehrmacht lost the moment they entered Belgium, for what the British would do afterwords was 100% predictable. Germany would have been better off just pushing throught the French fortifications.
Yeah probably not no
I genuinely love how niche this channel is. This is the first video I have seen debunking this myth and beforehand you made all those videos about Poland during the early 20th century and all that other stuff. Really love it! And it also is quite well researched, so keep up the good work!
"The Germans have a tremendous capacity for blaming their self made problems on others". William Shirer. Very excellent documentary. Thank You
More like every authoritarian nation
Clean your own porch....we,are all people....i am german
@@dagmarvandoren9364 My father saw a lot of Germany, from the air.
Ludendorff lost the confidence of the troops after succeeding in taking Amiens and not reinforcing the advantage of the success. Would Sir Manatee have an episode about Neuostprussen 1793-1807? This is an episode that is insightful because it shows vantage point never shown in any other discussion. Thank you again for outstanding explanation.
*1795, learn history before embarrassing yourself.
@@genovayork2468It’s 2 years touch grass
Germany lost the war because it ran out of troops. It is that simple. The policy of the German General Staff was predictaly "Send more troops!" whenever something went wrong instead of reassessing the wisdom of a failed offensive. That happened enough times that the German Army could predictably sacrifice huge numbers of "green" troops. Doing so ensured that the German Army would deny itself a huge number of non-commissioned officers indispensible in a protracted war.
The German General Staff saw the offensive as the sole "honorable" warfare, but each offensive wore down any potential for defense when things started to go wrong.
That, and the home front was facing famine and had been starving since 1915. Entente soldiers ate better food in their trenches than the families of German soldiers did back home in Germany and had equally a difficult time supplying those troops at the frontline.
To be fair, no general on any side reassessed the wisdom of a failed offensive. It was a running theme to keep throwing more meat into the grinder.
Babe wake up, manatee just posted
Another part of it comes from the same personality elements that would've seen Japan fight to the death in WW2. A perspective that you are not defeated until you and your own have all been wiped out.
Indeed, there were some similarities in their attitudes.
Which was put to the test during WWII and shockingly it didn't magically result in Germany winning, it just turned Germany to rubble.
@@hedgehog3180sure. They tested what that brings kk
"nice argument, Zürcher, why don't you back it up with a source?"
"my source is that I made it the fuck up"
Great video! Love your channel. Digestible videos on niche topics - I can learn something interesting, without having to listen to 90% stuff I know already, or some 2 hour semi scripted ramble!
One of your best videos yet - Other than the glorious goulash video ofc
You mentioned German troop morale was low and 10% surrendered but it should also be said the German army was defeated in the field and was falling back from France into Belgium, unable to hold the Allies.
It does warrant always mentioning that the 100 days offensive utterly broke the German army in the field vs the Entente
Maybe the Germans thought that an armistice would not annul Treaty of Brest and Litovsk . Or maybe they didn’t know armistice would have been softer and maybe even promised to be softer, and then they were stabbed in back
@salt27dogg The reality is they knew they lost, they knew brest litovsk was way too harsh and was going to be undone (Versailles was nowhere near as harsh). There was no stab in the back other than by Hitler destroying the German republic
This is now the second time Sir manatee uploaded a video, just shortly after I could have needed that exact video in school. It's like he wants to avoid the topics I need in school just to release them right after
Don't worry they will come back in the a levels 👍
Mate I promise, I'm not doing this on purpose
No I believe this is a targeted campagne against me as a person. There is no other way around it
Großartige Arbeit, so wie immer! Deine "Vorträge" hab ich immer gerne :)
Alles Beste
My grandmother‘s grandfather was a Prussian artillery officer in the war and a jew , when he was deported to Riga for extermination he entered the train wearing his uniforms
I disagree with the closing statement. The nuremberg trials didn't prevent a "new" Dolchstoßlegende. At least not the early stages of it.
The myth, at it's beginning, is the Generals shifting the blame to someone else. And the clean Wehrmacht myth is exactly that. The nuremburg trials didn't stop that at all. What they stopped was a shift of blame to minorities. But we did (and partially still do) have that new Dolchstoßlegende after WW2
Plenty of people also believe that the Wehrmacht was this amazing super army unable to lose even though it had numerous issues but just sorta got lucky at the start.
@@hedgehog3180basically their enemies were even more unprepared than they were.
I think the World War 2 version of the stabbed in the back myth is the Madman Hitler theory, which was also promoted by the memoirs of Wehrmacht generals shortly after the war.
@@baneofbanes Even unprepared, the Allies still could've destroyed Germany in the opening few years. Really, Germany's strength in WW2 came more from the arrogance of the early Allied leaders than it did from German effectiveness.
Copium in this chain of replies is at an all time high
I wish you explained a little bit more in depth how disastrous the military situation was, because even today I find people thinking that the Germn army could have still done something to at least mitigate the defeat. Other than that, cool video, good summary
Not sending armies across no man's land in futile attacks up until the armistice was signed that were nothing but an attempt at saving face is something they could have done to mitigate the defeat.
It's about all they could have done.
A very important topic to shine light upon.
Thanks for another nice vid Lord Manatee
The conspiracy theorists sources were basically we made it the fuck up.
Essentially, yes
It came to me in a medicinal cocaine fueled dream.
@@baneofbanes So the failed Austrian painter then 😂
And it led to disaster nearly 20 years later...
Deine Videos sind einfach toll. 🤗 Echt, riesiges Kompliment! Besonders bewundere ich dein Talent, alles so knapp wie möglich zu halten! Die Videos sind nie länger als sie unbedingt sein müssen. Und auch die Grafiken kommen ohne große Animationen oder Soundeffekte aus. 10/10
Vielen Dank für deine lieben Worte :) Ich schaue deine Videos auch total gerne, das letzte war echt klasse!
Du du du..
What about 109 is that a conspiracy theory too
Yes ,109 is actually lowballingn it. Thr trur number 1 would be Egypt btw (look up "Hyksos" to find out about their side of the Exodus story)
I believe it was Ludendorff that told Hindenburg that they could no longer supply the army at the level it would take to try and turn the tide. Many of the field Generals on the Entente side wanted to push the Germans back to Berlin and the Americans had just got into the fight. The field generals figured they could be in Berlin by mid1919 but the politicians on both side and the people were very war weary so Peace was struck. Had the politicians listened to the ones who knew, WWII might have been averted. Had the Entente pushed the Germans back over their own border then there could have been no’Stab in the Back’ theory.
It wouldve been so easily to blame it all on nazis and hitler, but you actually did proper analysis and research into the topic. Good job.
"The German Army was never defeated in WWI!!"
Ron Howard narrator voice: They were, in fact, defeated in WWI.
Great video! Glad to see you debunking myths
I'm deeply grateful for that thorough presentation of facts.
Thank you very much.
Great analysis! hope more people with different algorithms see this
Why did Britain drop leaflets of the Balfour agreement over the German front lines during WW1?
Source?
@@alfiejob6546 You could google "the hidden us role in the balfour declaration" and it is in the third last paragraph in the Times of Israel article.
What timing! I just recently finished my undergraduate thesis on the Dolchstoßlegende with relation to potential Greek literary influences. If anyone’s looking for another really good source, George Vascik’s “The Stab-in-the-Back Myth and the Fall of Weimar Germany” is a great place to start, combining primary source docs with broader commentary and contextualization.
Sounds very interesting. Congrats on finishing your undergraduate thesis! :)
Amazing analysis!
Enjoyed this. Growing up in the Commonwealth, there was little focus on the German experience, so little interest in things like the “Stab in the back” concept. Interesting to see what it was and which segments of German society adhered to it.
Tried to fight a two-front war under a naval blockade using a bollocks plan? They shot themselves in the foot.
They had made multiple treaties with Britain and France during the war.
@@hamzahnurreez8420What new insanity is this unsourced claim?
It's kind of funny that WWII almost had a "stab in the back moment" when the July 20th plot just kind of got a little unlucky. After crying about "being stabbed in the back" he almost got stabbed in the back himself for real. Well, not really "stabbing", more like "kaboom".
Briefcase under the table doesn't have the same ring to it as stab in the back 🤔
Another entertaining and educating video, gj
Very good video! Delbrück hears like a fascinating person that I've just heard off
Germans trying not to blame someone else for their own failures challenge(impossible)
It was not germans fault! It was the fault of the french, english and americans. Do your research! The english even used this war to end german monarchy against the wilth of the volk!
@@Ratselmeister "We would have won the war if our enemies hadn't cheated by fighting back!"
@@joemiller947 I like how you completely ignored what he said to spew your propaganda line
@@CivilizedWasteland Saying with contempt that it was the fault of your enemies that you lost a war rather than your own fault just makes you sound like a sore loser. Besides that, if he had provided additional details, I perhaps would have been able to give a more in depth reply.
Maybe you would like to speak on his behalf?
@@joemiller947 its pretty obvious to everyone that Germany took all of the blame for WW1 when every other country involved was equally responsible. Nothing more needs to be said.
Speaking of distorting historical events, The Mexican Government does that all the time
We are never taught what actually happened in the Mexican Revolution because the government wants to paint it as a glorious revolution that deposed a tyranical dictator instead of a civil war where literally everyone bacskstabbed one another
Sad that distoring history is such a common practice
what would happen if the people couldn't trust the revolutionary process and the institutions established by the Institutional revolutionary party?
@@williamboisdenghien2849 Well at the very least they would stop voting for a lot of parties, and would probably not hold the 1917 constitution as highly since it was only a political move to try to appease the other revolutionaries whilest effectively changing nothing
Even if not much changed, knowing your true history is never a bad thing, and it helps you not repeat it
You're gonna have to specify which Mexican Revolution.
@@hedgehog3180 From 1910 to 1917 (arguably up to 1921 though)
I'd call Ludendorff a loathsome little polyp, but that would be insulting to polyps.
Actually Hindenburg wasn't much better.
@@michaelburggraf2822 He was much better.
@@RuthvenMurgatroydboth can be bad
I can say the same for Churchill.
@@XheyPreferLatinx me too, I’m not even a Churchill fan lmao
German military defeat was inevitable. And Ludendorf and Hindenburg - later even president of the Weimar republic which he in effect had undermined - shifted the blame of the inevitable defeat. The German army WAS defeated, even when the allies not invaded Germany. With disastrous consequences. Hitler also believed this conspirary, overestimating German military power, ignoring the real reasons Germany lost the First World War (it simply couldn't win a war of attribtion against half of the world), Hitler therefore declared war on the US in december 1941, and it led Hitler to the crazy belief he would ever surrender and drag Germany into the Wagnerian abyss. In short, it made World War Two even worse and more fanatic ......
What's also ironic is that Hitler tried to creatie a reverse stab-in-the-back myth. While WWI was lost by the politicians according to the military, Hitler claims WWII was lost as his generals didn't follow his instructions. So WWII was not lost by the politician Hitler but by the military. Both complete nonsense of course.
Great video. Have you considered doing a video on Ebert himself, and whether he saved or hurt democracy because of his actions during the early Republic?
A Big Danke Schon too for your amazing Arbeit, Sir.
Grusse aus Frankreich
Merci beaucoup :)
15:12 first time I've heard you swear. Very fitting of the context
Couldn't restrain myself
Incredible video
What tipped the scales against Germany (including morale) was America's entry into the war in 1917.
Not at all. Germany was doomed from the beginning.
@@genovayork2468 Without the USA it could have been a draw, the French army was also in mutiny.
Great video bro
Poland was betrayed in WWII though
As was Baltija and all of Central Europe.
You are doing such a great job with these videos. It seems only the far right talks about these topics, and then people start to believe them. Keep it up!
Imagine losing a war and saying na aa.
You discussed all of the symptoms. But never the core reason of the myth. Question? Why did the Americans join the war so late? This fresh army out resourced the Germans.
Could have gone without the f-bombs. No warning and I was listening with my kids in the room.
It is kinda funny that for me video about Germany WWI surrender ended with my screen showing "A big thank you to:"
- Battle of Verdun;
- The Great Vowel Shift;
- European Conquest of America.
:D :D :D Although I am not sure how the second one is related to the topic. :D
Middle English could have never defeated the German Empire obviously.
The 'Stab in the back by civilians" was invented by that coward Ludendorff as an excuse to his precious army being beaten, something he didn't have the courage to admit.
They loved it when they attacked so quickly and devastated France and Belgium but when German land was threatened with what they had done to others, they gave up.
Just remember that the war started because those who "did to others" started encirling Germany on all sides after 1894, and continued doing so with Austria-Hungary (2-front war danger) by favoring Serbia.
@@ralphbernhard1757 Nit relevant to this video but it must be said Germany is not innocent in the encircling. Germany caused a lot of it herself by her arrogant Foreign policy which demanded any agreement HAD to favor Germany by a wide margin. 70-30 preferred. The idea of equality was anathama.
German policy of the time was to shove a mailed fist in another Country's face and "Friends now OR ?"
But as I said, after raping other countries land, they gave up when THEIR soil was threatened with what they did so happily to others.
@@ralphbernhard1757 Lmao boso, Germany and Austria-Hungary started the war by attacking Serbia, Russia, France and Belgium.
@@genovayork2468 Austria-Hungary and Serbija started the war.
Second tier responciblity goes to Germany and Russija.
And France and Great Britain have the third tier of it really wasnt them.
@@baltulielkungsgunarsmiezis9714I am going to smack the magic out of Gavrilo Princeps mouth when I get to hell
Great video! But weren't the far right nationalists also starving in Germany by 1918? Didn't they also hear the news of Austria-Hungary breaking apart? Despite all the horrible conditions, did the far right support the war at that point? Or did they just "forget" that they hated the war when it was convenient for them?
I think it was the shock of how harsh and how much a walk-back Versailles was to the initial conditions agreed to for the Armistice. I'm thinking some weird version of rose-colored glasses in hindsight.
The far right was and to some extent is still embracing the idea of ultimate loyalty and fighting for the honour and glory of the imperial fatherland at any cost. It' irrational in many ways and quite hypocritical and deranged. It's based on a fabricated mythology of a romantisized germanic nation and empire created in the 19th century in the aftermath of the Napoleonic wars and the Congress of Vienna.
Short answer: the far-right ideologues (the Pan-German League, the DLVP) supported the war until the very end but have very little popular support.
Long answer: Even the the more moderate right support the war. In Reichstag at this time it was dominated by the big business, industrialist National Liberal Party and the aristocrat, Junker Conservative Party. As you can imagine their voters were not gonna effect by the war much. Like before WW1, the right in Germany was very elitist, in 1918 they still supported major territorial annexations (Hindenburg Peace) and unrestricted submarine warfare. The workers were the ones who suffer the most and they overwhelmingly supported the SDP, which along with the People’s Progressive Party and Zentrum, called for peace at the end of the war.
There were some attempts among the far-right but it wasn’t until the Weimar that right-wing parties were able to expand into the working class.
Nationalism makes you do crazy things
Maybe i was to harsh on this channel the last time around. Very nice and interesting video.
You were too harsh!
Why were you so harsh?
The music in the background is the op. 62 coriolan overture from beethoven and then the 5th symphony also from beethoven
Saying the Kasier fled like a coward is kind of not true. He fled because the army told him to and the democratic government didn’t exactly want him around. Also Germany was dealing with many communist rebels all over the country, who wanted him dead and would have killed him. Even after those rebellions were crushed, he was blocked from returning to Germany. In 1933 the Nazis took power and they also didn’t like him. And by 1941 he was dead.
Imagine overthrowing a democracy and starting a world war over the sunk-cost fallacy.
Well from the German perspective, it was England/France rather than Germany. Because the affair with Poland should only have affected Poland, not the French or the British.
And then it was the British who attacked neutral Norway, prompting German actions in the baltics.
Outside of the war crimes, WW2 is just as complicated as WW1
@@Superhero18 I'm sure WWII seems reasonable from a Nazi perspective but I also don't give a shit about what the Nazis believed so that's irrelevant.
@@Superhero18 by the way, historical fact, the british did NOT attack norway in ww2
like ever
@@solaribtw As a matter of fact, indeed they did. Germany simply routed them out of Denmark and Norway to protect the ore supply coming into Germany.
You might want to brush up on the history of the war
@@Superhero18 i still don't see the norway part but denmark?? really??
the denmark that was defeated in 6 hours? that was the british stronghold in your opinion?
Based Sir Manatee
I wish there was content like this for every country on Europe at least. Old Brittania is closest for Britain but it focuses mostly on grand politics
Question. Between 1915-1917, how many factory strikes happened in Germany? How did that affect Germany's war effort?
If you want a wild ride you should do something on the Kapp Putsch
Fantastic idea
They literally were though
How were they betrayed and by who?
@@SwePol it’s like people forget about all the Marxist insurrections that took place at the end of the war
@@jdools4744The people were starving, lied too and their friends, families and neighbours were being killed in an unending stalemate. All of that sacrifice for an overweight king. You'd be absurd to not question communism in that situation.
@@Timoshemperoni Actually you would have to be insane to burn your own country down on behalf of Jewish communists also I think you mean “consider” not “question”
@@jdools4744and? The war was already lost, there was no way for them to win after the failure of the spring offensive.
When Germany surrendered in 1945, doenitz got on the radio and announced by saying the Wehrmacht fought honorably and was defeated in battle. This was to prevent another stab in the back myth from forming
Always good to see a video.
I would like to also ask a question what is your general area of interesnt in history, as there's topics I would like to recomend, but I want to make sure that it's at least something close to your interests.
Generally, I am interested in 19/20th century Europe. But on a more specific note, I am most fascinated by political, social and cultural history in Central Europe, especially Germany, Poland and Austria :)
AFAICT, the reason for the lack of a "stab in the back" legend after WW2 was that Germany was just so totally devastated by the war that it was hard to think of a plausible "we could have won, BUT" scenario.
Also Dönitz himself said that Germany was defeated if I remember correctly.
Question for Sir Manatee and his viewers.
Had Germany not resumed unrestricted submarine warfare and provoked the US into joining the war on the side of the Entente.
Could they have used the reinforcements from the Eastern front to push and end the war in the west or use them to shore up defenses along the Salonika or Italian fronts to prevent a collapse?
It wouldn't have changed much, really. By the time American troops actually arrive in significant enough numbers to have an outcome on the Western Front Germany has already gambled and lost much of their resources and reinforcements on the Kaiserschlacht. Three months later Bulgaria surrenders, a month after that Austria-Hungary both surrenders and ceases to exist and the German Revolution breaks out.
Even if France surrendered, which is unlikely to happen quickly enough before the surrender of Bulgaria, which would spell doom for Austria-Hungary and because the Kaiserschlacht simply couldn't have succeeded in any form, most of those reinforcements would have had to stay in France as an occupation force. All this while plundering what food they can from France in a desperate attempt to stay off starvation in Germany. For Britain it would simply be a waiting game before the Central Powers collapse into themselves, and they wouldn't have had to wait long.
Here’s something my students are gonna watch in future classes.
Nice one
Well, Italy and Romania were supposed to be allied with Germany, so it was stabbed in the back, but not in the way anyone uses that phrase.
The Italian Treaty didn't apply to the circumstances of the great war. And Romania was aligned only in far as their monarch was whose policy had given way to his pro entante son. Germany wasn't stabbed in the back by anyone other then their ass statemen, Emperor, and diplomatic corps whose total incompetence saw Germany isolated
@@bosscascade5566then again they had to back their weak allies from the Russians and Serbia otherwise they will be surrounded
@loverofyurigagarin1149 ya it's poor diplomacy that really killed the Empire. That and an insistence of total victory
@@bosscascade5566 you forgot to mention Greece and the British really wanting war
@@loverofyurigagarin1149 in large part from German aggression
Not really, but with their "allies" they didn't need any enemies.
Slightly unhinged…
I like it! 😊
Wow😱
what a coincidence that a video on CZcams also happens to agree with the only opinion allowed on CZcams on this topic 🤡
Explain all of the neo-Nazi channels then.
@@baneofbanes oh you mean the ones that don't exist?
@@mrwhips3623 if you think they don’t exist then you must be blind. Or a liar.
@@baneofbanes name one. I know of one that might meet your definition of "nazi" but he walks on egg shells. Clearly CZcams has him handcuffed
@@baneofbanes name one
Yes
The first "Big Lie" in post-1900 world history that had disastrous consequences for both those that believed in the myth and those that did not.
If this was true, no one would admit it. However, whats good about this theory is that it was so real it didn't need to be true to work.
The actual cause of defeat in Germany relating to WW1 was numerous. The Allied blockade strangled the German economy and its ability to produce goods and manufacture of weapons, medicines etc. The 'Turnip Winter' is a testament to this action from the allies. Then you have the incessant defeats (which you noted) involving Austria-Hungary. Bulgaria and the Ottomans. The Austro-Hungarians were exhausted by 1917 and the Emperor himself made covert moves to end the ruinous war behind Germany's back, which was exposed and this proved Austria's unreliability as well as its condition. Then you have the Brest-Litovsk Treaty, which demonstrated the lust and nature of the Germans in victory. All this did, was stiffen the resistance of the Allies. (Well done Germany!!! slow-hand clap) Then you have to throw in the industrial/economic and manpower the USA threw in, once they entered the war. Germany and its path to the continuance of the conflict was now on a timer, once America entered the war, brought about by Germany's unrestricted submarine warfare and its absurd Zimmerman telegram. The latter being the total responsibility of the Kaiser and the German High Command.
WW1 and Germany's defeat, with the addition of WW2 throws up a question in relation to Germany and its national character, as these events lay out one of Germany's real problem, which you could argue started in the defeat at the Battle of Jena. Which points to Germany and its rather strong reputation for being 'sore losers'.
In our own contemporary times, we see this characteristic in football. When England won the World Cup in 1966, W. Germany lost, which then sparked the Country transforming their approach to the game, utilising all manner of scientific and technical training to produce winning teams beginning in 1974. OK, winning those World Cups was great for Germany and its prestige, but football is supposed to be fun. Germany turned football into a science. Not exactly conducive to the 'spirit of the game', is it?
Anyway, a good production, but please note the 'blockade', which was a foundation stone in Germany's defeat in WW1, plus its lack of manpower and resources against 3 world powers in 1914-18 and to be joined by another in 1917. Replacing Russia with the USA, the most dynamic power in that period.
And to think, this ALL could've been avoided, if only someone could've placed the World map in front of Helmuth Von Moltke. who gambled the future of Germany on a battle in 1914. A battle that was to be lost at The Marne. Germany's war was over after that, where the Allies would utilise the time to bring its resources, empire, manpower to the conflict. A conflict from 1915 to its conclusion, would only end one way.
So I humbly make this request, can Germans please, please, please, look at maps when contemplating war. It sort of puts things in their proper perspective.
15:22 Everyone’s favorite scapegoat 🙃
Yes.
Look up: Corbett report WWI Conspiracy part one: To start a war
YES!
Germany lost WW1 because of the American Industrial and Economic Aid that kept the Entente Afloat and the American Intervention that drove them to launch the Fatal Spring Offensive of 1918 before the American Manpower overwhelmed them.
No, Germany was doomed from the start.
@@genovayork2468Yes, Germany was doomed from the start because of American Elite and Government Material, Military, and Fiscal proping up of the Entente.
The problem being cowards allowed to run things and not suffer for it. People should be forced to suffer some consequence for their actions and that includes leaders in all fields. Leadership has consequences.
The dissolution of the monarchy wasn't enough for you?
@@vaxrvaxr It wasn't Ludendorf who did that. He just asked the Kaiser to sue for peace and even said that "we will leave this mess to the politicians". and then ambled off to support revanchist bastards like NSPD.
Why this sounds familiar to what happened to Vietnam War?
Very real. It will be revealed soon.
Hello, thank you for your very informative videos. As an expansion of this video on the ‘Stab in the Back’ myth, would a video be possible on the social and psychological effects of WWI on the population (1918-1920s)? We talk more and more of PTSD and emotional wellbeing, but how did the population(s) of Germany discuss these issues (if at all) and then attempt to remedy them? Did National Socialism perform as a sort of “public therapy” for some (or many)? The war ended, but the psychic wounds certainly lived on, and found their ways into decisions and objectives seen with the next world war.
An example of the National Socialists attempt to "remedy" the psychological wounds of the war is the mass murder of thousands of German WW1 veterans suffering from PTSD during the T4 annihilation program against "unworthy life"
So when the Americans entered the war,Germany would loose. And who persuaded the Americans to cross the big ocean and enter the fray?
said germans who encouraged Mexico to try to invade the US
Germany did, by telling Mexico to invade America. That’s not cool.
let me guess, the zimmermann telegram was actually sent by jewish satellite probes?
@@joshuafrimpong244You really want to deny that England tried everythung to involve the US in the war? Are you british or just dumb?
Britain!
Germnay did have many chances to win especially early on
Imperialists and nationalist are at ods. One want to subjigate other peoples, the other wants self determination for all peoples.
That’s not even close to what nationalists want.
by their ambitions, yes!
how can anyone talk in politics & war about betrayal?
Lore of The Stab-in-the-back Conspiracy Theory momentum 100
Overtime the Kaiser became more and more dissatisfied with the Nazi’s especially when KristallNacht happened.
Germany was soundly defeated on the battlefield. Her allies had already been defeated and surrendered to which off course made Germanys situation even worse.