Well. Tolkien did fight himself in the trenches (in the battle of the Somme) so its not impossible that the quote "You shall not pass" is him honouring his comrades in arms.
i believe he was pulled out of the lines with Trench Fever before his unit was sent to the Somme and was almost wiped out in the fighting and he lost a few of his close classmates in that battle
"It's been 4 days now and I haven't slept yet because there are some guys wearing camouflaged pants singing in front of our trench day and night." - An unknow French soldier (c. 1916)
Fun fact: “The Price Of A Mile” was the first ever Sabaton song I heard, so it was really special when they played it at the first ever Sabaton concert I went to (In Seattle, October 2019)
The french had a system where they would rotate troops in and out of Verdun. So nearly every soldier in the french army go to experiencing the fighting there at one point or another.
Philippe Petain set up that rotation plan, where the British were having men at the front for a week or more, Petain's plan was to minimize it to between 3 and 5 days depending on the severity of that particular line's combat. And then rotated back for two weeks resting and supporting that front in non-combat operations. Petain was credited with that and respected immensely by the common soldier. So much so, I'd believe, that had he not been in command whatsoever, or somewhere else, Verdun would have fallen, and the French would have likely mutinied due to poor conditions and the irreverent disregard of their officers in the rear.
As a french i can say i have great grandfather who have survived of battle of verdun and i say to my grandfather battle of verdun was the moment of humanity create hell in earth
Je me souviens avoir vu une témoignage d'un survivants de Verdun dissant "si l'enfer exite elle est a Verdun" "I remember a testimony of a Verdun survivor who say'd "if hell existed it would be at Verdun""
I am French too and I do not know much of my grandfather but I do know he also fought in the "Battle Of Verdun" but he was kill in the Trenches by artillery.
Tolkien himself was in WW1 and a lot of his characters in the Lord of the Ring's book where inspired by many of the soldiers that fell. I believe that Frodo was inspired by men that went ot war and came home changed. Golemn was inspired by those that fell in war (or where consumed by PTSD) and I believe Sam was inspired by the young, eager men, that went off to war completely changed. I could be wrong but I know a quick google search of the inspirations in Lord of the Rings helped a great deal. Great reaction as always :)
The movie Tolkien goes into the story of his service in WWI with flash backs of his growing up. You can see the imprint of several characters, like Sam in his friends and companions during the war.
I remember reading somewhere that he started writing extensively on the development and framework of the Silmarillion (or at least its early form) as a way of coping with his own experiences in the war, sort of a self-tharapy. It was this background lore that later led to the bedtime stories he told his sons, which formed the rough inspirations for The Hobbit, and eventually LOTR (it would not surprise me either if "You shall not pass!" was indeed a direct reference to Verdun, though this is only speculation on my part). So, in a very tangible way, Tolkien's work was significantly influenced by his time during The Great War. Makes you wonder how many other amazing stories never got told because the author-to-be died on the battlefield.
recently, when I listend to the Red Baron song I noticed how the battle of the fellbeasts and the eagles seems very much inspired by the battle of the aces over the trenches. When the LotR character look up in awe to those flying beasts, I feel like this must have been what a simple soldier must have felt seeing the battle in the air taking place above the trenches. I mean most men were simple farmers or craftsmen, they most likely had never seen a plane in their lifes before.
The "1 million shells were fired" yeah, but that was JUST the opening.... It was mindblowing..... I live near Verdun, Gravelotte, Douaumont, etc... And the ossuary is definitely a place worth visiting, with all the museums, trenches, destroyed villages, etc....
"Ils ne passeront pas!" is the direct translation to "They shall not pass". "On ne passe pas" would be closer to the black knight of monty python "None shall pass"
.... I was thinking "ohh no one has translated "They shall not pass", it's time for me, french girl to shine"... and I saw your comment ... Damn I'm 1 year too late xD
I live in Verdun and I've been to the Douaumont Ossuary, the forts, the cemeteries and museum, it is impressive. You can see the metal bunkers that normally are underground but they have been dug up by the thousands of shells that exploded around them, there are also the dead villages that were never rebuilt, there is a lot to see.
One of the facts about the battle of Verdun thats most impressive to me personaly is that the artillary barrage was so heavy you could hear it at the swiss border...
The French saying was ''On ne passe pas'' and I believe Tolkien has been inspired by this saying as he fought in the war himself and used that line for the Lord Of the Rings. He was starting to write them during the war
Something worth to notice also is the fact that 70% of the entire French army fought at Verdun (they created a rotation system to make sure that cohesion and rest was provided to soldiers). You should also look into the "taxis de la Marne" story (even if it is a bit overrated)!
The opening scream for this video was actually unsettling to a few folks I’ve shown the video to, but let’s be honest. Who wouldn’t wake up like that when bullets are flying for days on days?
I've decided to visit Verdun if/when I go to Paris again... and other memorials/monuments from historical battles and wars and part of the reason for that is Sabaton
The Germans knew the French had to defend Verdun, since it is such a cultural icon. The British were tied down at the Somme. The goal was to bleed the French white, but that quickly became a mutual consequence of the battle...
Actually the goal stated by Falkenhayn to bleed the french army in a battle of attrition was probably an excuse to mask his failure to fulfill his military objectives. The goal was most likely to take Verdun and its surrounding since it was a very strong point in the french defensive line. And either way, both armies suffered roughtly the same amount of casualities and stratigically Germany lost the most since it has engaged ressources she could ill afford to waste.
A couple of points in the other direction. He had somewhat isolates the French army by bogging the British down at the Somme. Also, he chose a target that he knew the French national pride would not allow them to lose and so they would defend it to the bitter end. However, the French forts proved slightly stronger then the Belgian ones had. On the other hand, Verdun was an attractive target since it was a salient in the German lines, and thus beneficial for the Germans to eliminate.
Just to point out, WHY Gandalf says "You shall not pass" was absolutely a reference to Verdun. Tolkien actually fought in the Battle Of The Somme and even if he wont admit it, it influenced his writing (how could it not; a human persona only exists as a reflection of its experiences filtered through its own thoughts and emotions. That's just how consciousness works.)
This battle had an immense cultural and symbolic impact on both France and Germany. You have to remember that it was in Verdun (Treaty of Verdun in 843) that the Frankish Empire of Charlemagne was split into West Francia (which would become France), and East Francia (which would become the HRE and then Germany)*, setting up a rivalry that would last more than 1100 years and shape the History and borders in the European continent... *PS : there was also Middle Francia, which was actually the most prestigious part of the partition, but it soon diseappeared after its creation
That are is only slightly larger than Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The drumbeat reference was talking about how the artillery was so constant that is resembled a random and perpetual drum beat. What gets me is that as hellish as Verdun was the Battle of the Frontiers was worse. 220,000 French dead in 2? weeks. The Somme offensive really did work well to take pressure off Verdun and the Germans screwed themselves pretty badly by sinking more and more resources into it.
You have introduced me to Sabaton and I absolutely LOVE their sound! As a trained musician my first reaction to their music, thanks to your videos, was "Daaaanggg....they're tight" which in musician language means they play great together as a unit, as one band. Each member compliments the others with their skill and musicianship. High level of musicianship for sure! Great Music, Great Musicians and Great Videos! Thank you for your efforts on this channel!
Sadder fact: the line about trenches filling with water, is about how heavy rains filled trenches and fox holes forcing troops to choose either to drown or ger shit by enemy bullets.
Also, in the first world war when the Romanian army had been cornered by the iron army of the Germans , the Romanian army made the line Marasti-Marasesti-Oituz and said "Pe aicea nu se trece!" which means something like "They shall not pass!". Even though they were out gunned, out numbered and out trained, they managed to hold and win , even though the Russians (the only allies we had) bailed out because of the Bolshevik revolution.
I have been to the Ossuaire once and it was a very special experience for me. I have been interested in history for my whole life and it's one thing if you visit a museum and casually look at some guns or a tanks, but I was shocked when I saw that the area around Verdun still had the scars of the war left after 100 years. The trenches and bomb craters are still present everywhere! There is a field overgrown by grass not far from the Ossuaire I believe and there are still the craters are far as the eye can see.
"And the judgement has begun" is actually a rather clever line as the battles name was "Operation Gericht" in german translating to "operation judgement"
Douaumont and its surroundings is really worth visiting. Been there twice and I haven't seen everything yet. Haunting area. There are forts to visit, bunkers, shelters, museums, the remains of totally annihilated villages, etc. Plus Verdun itself is a beautiful small city to recover from the WWI visits in the surrounding areas.
Thanks for sharing all that info at the end after the song was finished. I've never heard of that place but is now on the growing list of places I would love to visit.
"Can't imagine what it must've been like on the front lines in World War 1" Soldier: *Screams* Me: "Yeah, I think he gives a pretty good impression of what it was like"
I have also learned that the battle of Verdun was called “the blood bath of verdun/ the blood pump of verdun” in history class (Hungary/Austria attended history in both countries)
When I was younger I idolized WWII and thought it was amazing. When I was 14 I traveled to Europe and went to the cemetery at Omaha beach where over 9,000 are buried and it was a very sobering and humbling experience that books and data on a page fail to truly capture. I wish everyone could have similar experience.
Great grandfather was on the front lines at Flanders just as bad from stories told he was injured and sent back home apparently a grenade went off by his head completely destroying the hearing on his left side that's all I know of him and a single picture seen of him in his uniform
I once read the story of a german corporal at verdun, he described charging at a french trench and having his brothers falling beside him, him standing eye to eye with a French soldier and realising that he was after his life, as he was after the french soldiers life and before the french soldier could react he thrust his bayonette through his stomach killing the french soldier. He wrote how horrified he was.
The guy turning his head at 2:07 is Igor Górewicz of the Polish Viking reenactment group Tryglow/Tryglav. *Really* nice guy. In fact all the French soldiers here, are portrayed him and his group. They know Sabaton through other work, and got hired for this job as well. And had a lot of fun.
Verdun... been there a while ago, only tangentially while going to eastern Spain's Basque country, but even from a cursory visit, it is an *incredibly* creepy place. You *can not* just wander around, there is munitions in the earth everywhere, I mean I'm kind of used to unexploded ordonance from the air war of the *Second* World War over Germany being found every other week (there's a reason why the German munitions disposal teams are among the best in the world.. they have *practice* ... ;) ), but there you can not take a walk in the woods without running a serious risk of being killed by 100+ years old munitions... The place is really bit insane - the whole area is full of trenches, some heights simply *don't exists* any-more because they where levelled by concentrated artillery over a year and you can see the trench lines, overgrown and all that but still *profoundly* unnatural geometric structures that go on for *miles* when you encounter them, it's almost "post apocalyptic" in feel. There is even a German word *Verdunisieren* - "to Verdun-ize", used in the second World War but coming into existence a bit earlier in the interbellum ("The peace that was not" ;) ) meaning "To reduce an area to rubble by massive firepower"... yeah, it's this kind of word... If you see these things, these areas and all the other European monuments to human bestiality (I was a both at KZ Buchenwald and KZ Theresienstadt) and grow up in a city the face of which was *profoundly* and *substantially* changed by the massive air raids ( *Frankfurt* in this case, but there are command bunkers and AA battery setups even around the commuter community I now live in 15km north of Frankfurt, part of the *Luftverteidigungsgürtel Südliche Wetterau* - "Air defence belt southern Wetterau") you start to get why Europe has grown weary of war - we (meaning "Europeans" in this case) had gotten so good at it in such a small area of the world that even without nuclear weapons the next European War would probably have laid a complete waste to the whole continent... I mean the last one almost did already. Anyhow, *love* your videos, definitely check out the Sabaton History to this one since Indy Neidell did "The Great War - Week by Week" from 2014 to 2018 before and it deeply in tune with the material. If you are *really* bored, check it out, it's *awesome* , one of *the* best didactic series on youtube (The Great War that is, the follow up as well, and Sabaton History is also really cool and a nice introduction to whatever field it touches). (I'm a 10-years academically educated historian, English teacher and History Teacher myself...who works as a Orthopaedic Shoe Technician ;) so here's the reason I spout "factlets" at the slightest provocation...^^ ) Best regards Raoul G. Kunz
Hello, i'm a french man and after watching your video it came to my attention that there was a need for precision. It was (theoretically) Erich von Falkenhayn who came up with the plan to attack Verdun. He believed that if forces up the northern part of the western front were drawn to a specific location, the weakened defenses to the north could be breached and thus (as Falkenhayn puts it) "peace could be achieved before summer 1916". Verdun was what he believed to be a strong position to attack because he thought that the french could not afford to lose such a place (out of sentimental value for the civilians, of propagandistic value for the government or simply out of strategic value since there stood the fort of Douaumont). Thing is, chief of staff Joseph Joffre didn't really care, if defenses could not be held on the eastern part of the river Muse then they'll set up stronger defenses on the western side. This is what Falkenhayn feared : a war of attrition that he could only lose. After winning ground over the span of months (Falkenhayn bleeding the Kaiser's army dry with his desperate attempt to draw out forces from the north) they came to a sudden stop at the town of Souville... This is where french general Robert Nivelle gave his famous order "Vous ne laisserez pas passer, mes camarades" (which translates to : "you shall not let them pass, my comrades") which was then later shortened to "Ils ne passeront pas !" (They shall not pass !). And they do not : what took months for the german army to take in their slow but unstoppable advance, it now took mere hours for the french to reclaim. I strongly recommend you watch the Sabaton History on the battle of Verdun (and as a french man watching Americans.... it is hilarious to see their pronunciation of my native tongue). I still very much enjoy your videos I cannot wait to see the next sabaton reaction
To have an idea of the casualties during this battle, if you place all the dead shoulder to shoulder, you'll be able to cover a distance from Paris to Verdun (260 km). And, if Verdun was the longest battle of WW1, it wasn't the deadliest (Battle of the Somme: 1M casualties, spring offensive: 1,5M casualties, ...)
As a Brazilian fan of your channel, i need to ask you to react to Smoking Guns, the Brazilians army history in the conquest of Italy. Please, if you can, do a reaction about it. It is such a great history and moment of WW2 that is almost forgoten! Keep it up and Stay Awesome!
The Marshal who was charged with the defense of Verdun was Marechal Petain, he was called the 'Lion of Verdun' and was instrumental in the victory at Verdun, unfortunately, because of his role in Vichy France he has lost a lot of respect in France, In Verdun where I live there is a statue dedicated to the 'Hero of Verdun' who should be Petain but he has been replaced. He is one of those fascinating historical people who tend to be seen in black and white terms but are more complicated than that in reality. Fun extra facts, the Home town of Joan of Arc, Domremy is less than 100 km from Verdun and during WW2 the flag of the Free French Army was the Cross of Lorraine which was Joan of Arc's personal Banner.
After the war when France were selecting their unknown soldier to be placed into the tomb of the soldier, a number of battles were chosen for one of the dead to be taken from but there was one battle in which the French couldn’t take an unknown soldier as it couldn’t be identified if the unknown soldiers were German or French. It was never officially released which battle this was but it highly believed to be Verdun.
Chilling photos. I've never been to Verdun, France, but in the Montreal neighbourhood called Verdun, there's a monument to WW1 soldiers (they added the parts about WW2 and the Korean War later): www.waymarking.com/gallery/image.aspx?f=1&guid=7e9b0e6f-344b-44e6-ae1f-030a4af5a96d&gid=3 On a lighter note, ever since I heard this Sabaton song, the lyrics "FIELDS OF VERDUN! AND THE BATTLE HAS BEGUN!" pop into my head when I walk through the (quite peaceful!) lakeshore park in *this* Verdun.
A lot of tolkiens writings in the lord of the rings were shaped by his time in the trenchs partically his dislike of writing any large battle seens at all ( all major conflicts took place away from most characters or the in the case of the hobbit he had his main character knocked out for the entire battle ) the phrase you shall not pass being one he lifted and changed to be spoken by gandalf
the soundtrack version, I think, captures the atmosphere so much better. Especially near the end with the chior chiming in, really captures the feelmof the utterly futile two-way excersize in insanity of what amounted to a senseless mutual slaughter.
i guess one might even attribute the casualties of the somme to Verdun, as if i remember correctly the Somme offensive was launched specifically to help relieve pressure on the French at Verdun, or perhaps to take advantage of the Germans concentrating on Verdun
Designed in December 1915, by Joffre, Commander-in-Chief of the French armies, the Somme offensive had to be amended due to the outbreak of the Battle of Verdun on February 21, 1916. Foch was tasked by Joffre with its implementation. The French, who had to provide the main effort, exhausted by the battle of Verdun, had to entrust it to the British. However, the French were also at the Battle of the Somme. They even broke 10 kilometers before turning back, as many young British conscripts had been killed on the first day.
I would recommend Seven Pillars Of Wisdom reaction. Its one of my personal favorites as well as being a super interesting telling of Lawrence Of Arabia
@@VloggingThroughHistory And I just watched it :) Its very nice..I watched actually all of your reactions now from Sabaton..I am huge Sabaton fan and I got into history with all those songs.I like to see you react more on most of they songs since I like the way that you give some info of history aswell on the topic ... Anyway keep the good work.
Highly recommend Blood of Bannockburn, Rourke's Drift, and The Last Stand as some more great Sabaton highlighting older history. Rourke's Drift really brings to mind conversations about "one man's terrorists are another man's freedom fighters." In that so much of how we see historical events is very much a consequence of "History is written by the victors."
On a side note, whilst on UN duty in Bosnia/Croatia. i was in a base taking Arty rounds, and as Detcmdr of a 501 Satcomm det I was 10 mins from blowing up the det. The cost at that time was approx 7 million pounds. If only.
Since this is a battle you know a bit less about, maybe you could react to the Sabaton History episode on Verdun. Sabaton History is an official channel of the band that collaborates with Indy Neidell to talk about history behind the songs.
@@VloggingThroughHistory I second that. As I am currently watching your reaction and do not know the ending comments, I also suggest you react to the history videos of Sabbaton. I certainly will find it very interesting :) Happy New Year from Athens, Greece.
I was at the fields when I was 14 and saw names and dates from boys about 16/17 years old that died there in horror and pain as they were trapped in the bunkers or trenches - they were as old as my brother was that time... vision of my brother might have been one of them haunted me for days (while his main thought was about selling his skatebord to buy rollerskates or not - "the mercy of a late birth" )
I had a great great grandfather who fought at Verdun. Not the surprising part since I think just about every French soldier at the time fought there but he also survived.
The worst weapon i came across studying WW1 was one introduced by the Germans called the Vitriolic thower . Like a flamethrower but it shot a stream of Hydrochrolic Acid . Appalling.
I visited Fort Douaumont and the surrounding battlefields of Verdun in the summer of 2019. It was a harrowing and sobering experience. Just an FYI, Verdun is literally in the middle of nowhere. Just a lot of rolling hills and forests and sparsely populated. I will never forget that place. There were areas that looked like grass covered egg cartons from all the shell craters. There are still trenches that can be seen from all over the place.
If I’m not completely mistaken, the video is recorded in the actual fields of Verdun. I remember them saying that in the episode on Sabaton History, but I could be wrong...but I don’t think so
I accidently found your channel. I like it. The way you tell the stories thats awesome. Can you maybe do Sabaton - Miday ? I am verry into Naval History. The Grey Ghost also known as the CV-6 USS Enterprise. I am not sure if Sabaton has a song about that one but I am pretty sure they do have a song about the Battle of Midway.
The french saying is "On ne lais lesse pas passé" In English it "We shall not let them pass" Fun little fact about Verdun : Germany would have likely won the war if Verdun did not hold. Millions of soldiers would have to fall back and hundreds of thousands of equipment would be abandoned. In WWII, the same move was pulled by Germany but was successful this time around. They broke through and pushed to the shores of Calais, trapping hundreds of thousands of soldiers and equipment in Belgium with but 1 way out. The sea.
@@VloggingThroughHistory Lol Again you catch me Sirrah, and I cannot even bite my thumb.. I guess you'll just have to keep me honest with my old folly. Thank you.
They have lots of cool stories on their older albums also. White death, the deadlinest sniper in history. Soldier of three armies (Larry Thorne/Lauri Törni). Winter war, Soviet Union attacking Finland and getting their buts kicked.
It said "Ils ne passeront pas !" "They shall not pass." And it was said by General Nivelle. Which for the record, is very disliked in France as he is considered an incompetent bastard who wasted thousands and thousands of soldiers lifes in pointless offensives in several battles. He was a strong believer in the doctrina of the "Attaque à outrance", which, I guess, would translate as "Full attack", and never saw anything wrong with that strategy, even as machine gun were already well known and very efficient in defensive warfare.
Late to the party but still. There is a mistranslation there, "On ne passe pas" literally translates to "We do not pass" . But to the french it means something more like "Nothing passes". It's a promise that nothing from in front of them will come through. Some took that literally, even shooting animals.
You should check out Iron Maiden. The Trooper or Aces High would be good. They don't go into as much detail as Sabaton does, but if you're enjoying the solos... well... they're half the song for Iron Maiden.
The Spanish communist resistance against Franco used to say that too. “No pasaran“ in Spanish. One of the fascist commanders replied “we have already passed”. Or so says the legend at least.
I've been to Verdun memorial as a kid. It always struck me as an oddly peaceful place, given it's history. The memorial is beautiful, and a bit macabre. However, it is extremely quiet out there until the bells toll at the top of the hour and the half hour mark.
Time for some Swedish history, perhaps?!☺️ Check out Sabaton's "Carolus Rex" (lyric video English version), "Lion from the North" (official music video), "Long live the King" (official lyric video), "Carolean's prayer" (official lyric video) and "En livstid i krig" = A Lifetime of war, (live from Gothenburg, 2020. It's the Swedish version, so captions on!). Or check out "Lifetime of war" (official lyric video, English version. But the story is different between the Swedish and the English versions). Great reaction btw!🤘
Great reaction , you might want to look at behind the scenses as they actualy have some historians and other youtube historie channels interviewing them.
Correction: I mention 700,000 dead near the beginning. It was 700,000 total casualties (killed, wounded, missing)
FYI there is meme parody of this song: czcams.com/video/LObY2kHVb_U/video.html
I recommend ”The Last Battle”, about when American, French and German soldiers fought along side against the SS!
Please react to The Lost Batallion
i would recommend the "price of a mile"
Eduard Klíma really thought I was getting rickrolled
Well. Tolkien did fight himself in the trenches (in the battle of the Somme) so its not impossible that the quote "You shall not pass" is him honouring his comrades in arms.
Great point. I wonder if that was the inspiration. It wouldn't surprise me at all.
It was. I believe that Tolkien wrote TLOR as an allegory to WWI
i believe he was pulled out of the lines with Trench Fever before his unit was sent to the Somme and was almost wiped out in the fighting and he lost a few of his close classmates in that battle
@@VloggingThroughHistory "One does not pass" & "You shall not pass" do sound rather similar don't they?
@@bobburris4445 iirc the Silmarillion is WW1 and LotR is WW2, with a bit of overlap. :)
"It's been 4 days now and I haven't slept yet because there are some guys wearing camouflaged pants singing in front of our trench day and night."
- An unknow French soldier (c. 1916)
An older song was "price of a mile", i think you will like that one
Do you remember who it's by? jw.
@@Jm-pb2rz also sabaton
@@kossakken thanks!
One of my favorite songs by them.
Fun fact: “The Price Of A Mile” was the first ever Sabaton song I heard, so it was really special when they played it at the first ever Sabaton concert I went to (In Seattle, October 2019)
The french had a system where they would rotate troops in and out of Verdun. So nearly every soldier in the french army go to experiencing the fighting there at one point or another.
Philippe Petain set up that rotation plan, where the British were having men at the front for a week or more, Petain's plan was to minimize it to between 3 and 5 days depending on the severity of that particular line's combat. And then rotated back for two weeks resting and supporting that front in non-combat operations.
Petain was credited with that and respected immensely by the common soldier. So much so, I'd believe, that had he not been in command whatsoever, or somewhere else, Verdun would have fallen, and the French would have likely mutinied due to poor conditions and the irreverent disregard of their officers in the rear.
As a french i can say i have great grandfather who have survived of battle of verdun and i say to my grandfather battle of verdun was the moment of humanity create hell in earth
Wow! I'm glad he was able to survive. I can't imagine what that experience must have been like for him.
Je me souviens avoir vu une témoignage d'un survivants de Verdun dissant "si l'enfer exite elle est a Verdun"
"I remember a testimony of a Verdun survivor who say'd "if hell existed it would be at Verdun""
I am French too and I do not know much of my grandfather but I do know he also fought in the "Battle Of Verdun" but he was kill in the Trenches by artillery.
mine sadly didnt make it
How old is your grandfather?
My great-grandfather fought in Verdun. He was shot in the lung, but survived, and lived to be 87. RIP Wilhelm Krevet II.
RIP
RIP
Tolkien himself was in WW1 and a lot of his characters in the Lord of the Ring's book where inspired by many of the soldiers that fell. I believe that Frodo was inspired by men that went ot war and came home changed. Golemn was inspired by those that fell in war (or where consumed by PTSD) and I believe Sam was inspired by the young, eager men, that went off to war completely changed. I could be wrong but I know a quick google search of the inspirations in Lord of the Rings helped a great deal.
Great reaction as always :)
The movie Tolkien goes into the story of his service in WWI with flash backs of his growing up. You can see the imprint of several characters, like Sam in his friends and companions during the war.
I remember reading somewhere that he started writing extensively on the development and framework of the Silmarillion (or at least its early form) as a way of coping with his own experiences in the war, sort of a self-tharapy. It was this background lore that later led to the bedtime stories he told his sons, which formed the rough inspirations for The Hobbit, and eventually LOTR (it would not surprise me either if "You shall not pass!" was indeed a direct reference to Verdun, though this is only speculation on my part).
So, in a very tangible way, Tolkien's work was significantly influenced by his time during The Great War. Makes you wonder how many other amazing stories never got told because the author-to-be died on the battlefield.
Couldnt agree more. If you care to read my comment, youll see my take on it.
recently, when I listend to the Red Baron song I noticed how the battle of the fellbeasts and the eagles seems very much inspired by the battle of the aces over the trenches. When the LotR character look up in awe to those flying beasts, I feel like this must have been what a simple soldier must have felt seeing the battle in the air taking place above the trenches. I mean most men were simple farmers or craftsmen, they most likely had never seen a plane in their lifes before.
The "1 million shells were fired" yeah, but that was JUST the opening....
It was mindblowing.....
I live near Verdun, Gravelotte, Douaumont, etc...
And the ossuary is definitely a place worth visiting, with all the museums, trenches, destroyed villages, etc....
"Ils ne passeront pas!" is the direct translation to "They shall not pass". "On ne passe pas" would be closer to the black knight of monty python "None shall pass"
Also used in the Spanish civil war "¡No pasarán!"
General Robert Nivelle is credited with the quote
.... I was thinking "ohh no one has translated "They shall not pass", it's time for me, french girl to shine"... and I saw your comment ... Damn I'm 1 year too late xD
I live in Verdun and I've been to the Douaumont Ossuary, the forts, the cemeteries and museum, it is impressive. You can see the metal bunkers that normally are underground but they have been dug up by the thousands of shells that exploded around them, there are also the dead villages that were never rebuilt, there is a lot to see.
One of the facts about the battle of Verdun thats most impressive to me personaly is that the artillary barrage was so heavy you could hear it at the swiss border...
Subscribing since first Sabaton reaction 😂
Well. Alot to react to, perfect for you. :)
Sabaton mixes history and music.
me too
Same here!
The French saying was ''On ne passe pas'' and I believe Tolkien has been inspired by this saying as he fought in the war himself and used that line for the Lord Of the Rings. He was starting to write them during the war
Something worth to notice also is the fact that 70% of the entire French army fought at Verdun (they created a rotation system to make sure that cohesion and rest was provided to soldiers). You should also look into the "taxis de la Marne" story (even if it is a bit overrated)!
I recommend "The Last Battle" or "Resist and Bite" as some good choices of next songs from Sabaton to react to if you decide to. 😁
Excellent choice! Resist and bite is just great!
JRR Tolkien, Author of the Lord of the Rings fought in WW1, in the trenches at Somme.
The opening scream for this video was actually unsettling to a few folks I’ve shown the video to, but let’s be honest. Who wouldn’t wake up like that when bullets are flying for days on days?
I've decided to visit Verdun if/when I go to Paris again... and other memorials/monuments from historical battles and wars and part of the reason for that is Sabaton
4:10
I think it was „Ils ne passeront pas!“
Yeah that's right way to say it in French
The Germans knew the French had to defend Verdun, since it is such a cultural icon. The British were tied down at the Somme. The goal was to bleed the French white, but that quickly became a mutual consequence of the battle...
Actually the goal stated by Falkenhayn to bleed the french army in a battle of attrition was probably an excuse to mask his failure to fulfill his military objectives. The goal was most likely to take Verdun and its surrounding since it was a very strong point in the french defensive line. And either way, both armies suffered roughtly the same amount of casualities and stratigically Germany lost the most since it has engaged ressources she could ill afford to waste.
A couple of points in the other direction. He had somewhat isolates the French army by bogging the British down at the Somme. Also, he chose a target that he knew the French national pride would not allow them to lose and so they would defend it to the bitter end. However, the French forts proved slightly stronger then the Belgian ones had. On the other hand, Verdun was an attractive target since it was a salient in the German lines, and thus beneficial for the Germans to eliminate.
I would recommend one of their older WW1 songs as a sort of followup to this, "Angels Calling." Also "Cliffs of Gallipoli."
Trench warfare Events like this is What brought about the Creation Of The Tanks
perfect timing! I was just thinking of this song while playing bf1 and then you posted this reaction!
Verdun, that battle that bleed both france and Germany near white.
If anyone is curious “They shall not pass” in french is either “Ils ne passeront pas!” or “On ne passe pas!”
Just to point out, WHY Gandalf says "You shall not pass" was absolutely a reference to Verdun. Tolkien actually fought in the Battle Of The Somme and even if he wont admit it, it influenced his writing (how could it not; a human persona only exists as a reflection of its experiences filtered through its own thoughts and emotions. That's just how consciousness works.)
This battle had an immense cultural and symbolic impact on both France and Germany. You have to remember that it was in Verdun (Treaty of Verdun in 843) that the Frankish Empire of Charlemagne was split into West Francia (which would become France), and East Francia (which would become the HRE and then Germany)*, setting up a rivalry that would last more than 1100 years and shape the History and borders in the European continent...
*PS : there was also Middle Francia, which was actually the most prestigious part of the partition, but it soon diseappeared after its creation
Great song. I listened to price of a mile almost every day walking to work a few years back.
That are is only slightly larger than Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
The drumbeat reference was talking about how the artillery was so constant that is resembled a random and perpetual drum beat.
What gets me is that as hellish as Verdun was the Battle of the Frontiers was worse. 220,000 French dead in 2? weeks.
The Somme offensive really did work well to take pressure off Verdun and the Germans screwed themselves pretty badly by sinking more and more resources into it.
You have introduced me to Sabaton and I absolutely LOVE their sound! As a trained musician my first reaction to their music, thanks to your videos, was "Daaaanggg....they're tight" which in musician language means they play great together as a unit, as one band. Each member compliments the others with their skill and musicianship. High level of musicianship for sure! Great Music, Great Musicians and Great Videos! Thank you for your efforts on this channel!
Sadder fact: the line about trenches filling with water, is about how heavy rains filled trenches and fox holes forcing troops to choose either to drown or ger shit by enemy bullets.
Also, in the first world war when the Romanian army had been cornered by the iron army of the Germans , the Romanian army made the line Marasti-Marasesti-Oituz and said "Pe aicea nu se trece!" which means something like "They shall not pass!".
Even though they were out gunned, out numbered and out trained, they managed to hold and win , even though the Russians (the only allies we had) bailed out because of the Bolshevik revolution.
I have been to the Ossuaire once and it was a very special experience for me. I have been interested in history for my whole life and it's one thing if you visit a museum and casually look at some guns or a tanks, but I was shocked when I saw that the area around Verdun still had the scars of the war left after 100 years. The trenches and bomb craters are still present everywhere!
There is a field overgrown by grass not far from the Ossuaire I believe and there are still the craters are far as the eye can see.
"And the judgement has begun" is actually a rather clever line as the battles name was "Operation Gericht" in german translating to "operation judgement"
Seeing people discover Sabaton for the first time makes me so happy :D
Douaumont and its surroundings is really worth visiting. Been there twice and I haven't seen everything yet. Haunting area.
There are forts to visit, bunkers, shelters, museums, the remains of totally annihilated villages, etc. Plus Verdun itself is a beautiful small city to recover from the WWI visits in the surrounding areas.
I'm not a mystic guy but that place is the only one that gave me chill.
Thanks for sharing all that info at the end after the song was finished. I've never heard of that place but is now on the growing list of places I would love to visit.
"Can't imagine what it must've been like on the front lines in World War 1"
Soldier: *Screams*
Me: "Yeah, I think he gives a pretty good impression of what it was like"
I have also learned that the battle of Verdun was called “the blood bath of verdun/ the blood pump of verdun” in history class (Hungary/Austria attended history in both countries)
I rlly love ur reactions on Sabaton
Since Tolkien fought in the great war i wouldn't be surprised to learn that's were he got it.
Fun fact: white wizard himself wanted to join winter war 1939 as volunteer. His request was declined because he doesen't had skill to ski.
When I was younger I idolized WWII and thought it was amazing. When I was 14 I traveled to Europe and went to the cemetery at Omaha beach where over 9,000 are buried and it was a very sobering and humbling experience that books and data on a page fail to truly capture. I wish everyone could have similar experience.
Vlog I hope you get your chance to go to the Ossuary.
Great grandfather was on the front lines at Flanders just as bad from stories told he was injured and sent back home apparently a grenade went off by his head completely destroying the hearing on his left side that's all I know of him and a single picture seen of him in his uniform
I once read the story of a german corporal at verdun, he described charging at a french trench and having his brothers falling beside him, him standing eye to eye with a French soldier and realising that he was after his life, as he was after the french soldiers life and before the french soldier could react he thrust his bayonette through his stomach killing the french soldier. He wrote how horrified he was.
The guy turning his head at 2:07 is Igor Górewicz of the Polish Viking reenactment group Tryglow/Tryglav. *Really* nice guy. In fact all the French soldiers here, are portrayed him and his group. They know Sabaton through other work, and got hired for this job as well. And had a lot of fun.
Verdun... been there a while ago, only tangentially while going to eastern Spain's Basque country, but even from a cursory visit, it is an *incredibly* creepy place.
You *can not* just wander around, there is munitions in the earth everywhere, I mean I'm kind of used to unexploded ordonance from the air war of the *Second* World War over Germany being found every other week (there's a reason why the German munitions disposal teams are among the best in the world.. they have *practice* ... ;) ), but there you can not take a walk in the woods without running a serious risk of being killed by 100+ years old munitions...
The place is really bit insane - the whole area is full of trenches, some heights simply *don't exists* any-more because they where levelled by concentrated artillery over a year and you can see the trench lines, overgrown and all that but still *profoundly* unnatural geometric structures that go on for *miles* when you encounter them, it's almost "post apocalyptic" in feel.
There is even a German word *Verdunisieren* - "to Verdun-ize", used in the second World War but coming into existence a bit earlier in the interbellum ("The peace that was not" ;) ) meaning "To reduce an area to rubble by massive firepower"... yeah, it's this kind of word...
If you see these things, these areas and all the other European monuments to human bestiality (I was a both at KZ Buchenwald and KZ Theresienstadt) and grow up in a city the face of which was *profoundly* and *substantially* changed by the massive air raids ( *Frankfurt* in this case, but there are command bunkers and AA battery setups even around the commuter community I now live in 15km north of Frankfurt, part of the *Luftverteidigungsgürtel Südliche Wetterau* - "Air defence belt southern Wetterau") you start to get why Europe has grown weary of war - we (meaning "Europeans" in this case) had gotten so good at it in such a small area of the world that even without nuclear weapons the next European War would probably have laid a complete waste to the whole continent... I mean the last one almost did already.
Anyhow, *love* your videos, definitely check out the Sabaton History to this one since Indy Neidell did "The Great War - Week by Week" from 2014 to 2018 before and it deeply in tune with the material. If you are *really* bored, check it out, it's *awesome* , one of *the* best didactic series on youtube (The Great War that is, the follow up as well, and Sabaton History is also really cool and a nice introduction to whatever field it touches).
(I'm a 10-years academically educated historian, English teacher and History Teacher myself...who works as a Orthopaedic Shoe Technician ;) so here's the reason I spout "factlets" at the slightest provocation...^^ )
Best regards
Raoul G. Kunz
Hello, i'm a french man and after watching your video it came to my attention that there was a need for precision.
It was (theoretically) Erich von Falkenhayn who came up with the plan to attack Verdun. He believed that if forces up the northern part of the western front were drawn to a specific location, the weakened defenses to the north could be breached and thus (as Falkenhayn puts it) "peace could be achieved before summer 1916". Verdun was what he believed to be a strong position to attack because he thought that the french could not afford to lose such a place (out of sentimental value for the civilians, of propagandistic value for the government or simply out of strategic value since there stood the fort of Douaumont). Thing is, chief of staff Joseph Joffre didn't really care, if defenses could not be held on the eastern part of the river Muse then they'll set up stronger defenses on the western side.
This is what Falkenhayn feared : a war of attrition that he could only lose. After winning ground over the span of months (Falkenhayn bleeding the Kaiser's army dry with his desperate attempt to draw out forces from the north) they came to a sudden stop at the town of Souville... This is where french general Robert Nivelle gave his famous order "Vous ne laisserez pas passer, mes camarades" (which translates to : "you shall not let them pass, my comrades") which was then later shortened to "Ils ne passeront pas !" (They shall not pass !). And they do not : what took months for the german army to take in their slow but unstoppable advance, it now took mere hours for the french to reclaim.
I strongly recommend you watch the Sabaton History on the battle of Verdun (and as a french man watching Americans.... it is hilarious to see their pronunciation of my native tongue).
I still very much enjoy your videos I cannot wait to see the next sabaton reaction
Thanks Romain!
@@VloggingThroughHistory you're very welcome :) thank you for taking the time to read ^^ and keep up the great videos :)
I still remember their live performance video. When Joakim said next song was about French military history, the crowd went nuts. Hahaha.
To have an idea of the casualties during this battle, if you place all the dead shoulder to shoulder, you'll be able to cover a distance from Paris to Verdun (260 km).
And, if Verdun was the longest battle of WW1, it wasn't the deadliest (Battle of the Somme: 1M casualties, spring offensive: 1,5M casualties, ...)
As a Brazilian fan of your channel, i need to ask you to react to Smoking Guns, the Brazilians army history in the conquest of Italy. Please, if you can, do a reaction about it. It is such a great history and moment of WW2 that is almost forgoten! Keep it up and Stay Awesome!
The Marshal who was charged with the defense of Verdun was Marechal Petain, he was called the 'Lion of Verdun' and was instrumental in the victory at Verdun, unfortunately, because of his role in Vichy France he has lost a lot of respect in France, In Verdun where I live there is a statue dedicated to the 'Hero of Verdun' who should be Petain but he has been replaced. He is one of those fascinating historical people who tend to be seen in black and white terms but are more complicated than that in reality.
Fun extra facts, the Home town of Joan of Arc, Domremy is less than 100 km from Verdun and during WW2 the flag of the Free French Army was the Cross of Lorraine which was Joan of Arc's personal Banner.
After the war when France were selecting their unknown soldier to be placed into the tomb of the soldier, a number of battles were chosen for one of the dead to be taken from but there was one battle in which the French couldn’t take an unknown soldier as it couldn’t be identified if the unknown soldiers were German or French. It was never officially released which battle this was but it highly believed to be Verdun.
Chilling photos. I've never been to Verdun, France, but in the Montreal neighbourhood called Verdun, there's a monument to WW1 soldiers (they added the parts about WW2 and the Korean War later): www.waymarking.com/gallery/image.aspx?f=1&guid=7e9b0e6f-344b-44e6-ae1f-030a4af5a96d&gid=3
On a lighter note, ever since I heard this Sabaton song, the lyrics "FIELDS OF VERDUN! AND THE BATTLE HAS BEGUN!" pop into my head when I walk through the (quite peaceful!) lakeshore park in *this* Verdun.
It makes sense, since Tolkien was at Verdun and the Somme
IT was actually filmed in verdun you should check the Sabaton history vidéo on this song
This is on of my favorite Sabaton music vids.
A lot of tolkiens writings in the lord of the rings were shaped by his time in the trenchs partically his dislike of writing any large battle seens at all ( all major conflicts took place away from most characters or the in the case of the hobbit he had his main character knocked out for the entire battle ) the phrase you shall not pass being one he lifted and changed to be spoken by gandalf
the soundtrack version, I think, captures the atmosphere so much better.
Especially near the end with the chior chiming in, really captures the feelmof the utterly futile two-way excersize in insanity of what amounted to a senseless mutual slaughter.
Sabaton song 4859 and the story is amazing
i guess one might even attribute the casualties of the somme to Verdun, as if i remember correctly the Somme offensive was launched specifically to help relieve pressure on the French at Verdun, or perhaps to take advantage of the Germans concentrating on Verdun
Designed in December 1915, by Joffre, Commander-in-Chief of the French armies, the Somme offensive had to be amended due to the outbreak of the Battle of Verdun on February 21, 1916. Foch was tasked by Joffre with its implementation. The French, who had to provide the main effort, exhausted by the battle of Verdun, had to entrust it to the British. However, the French were also at the Battle of the Somme. They even broke 10 kilometers before turning back, as many young British conscripts had been killed on the first day.
I would recommend Seven Pillars Of Wisdom reaction. Its one of my personal favorites as well as being a super interesting telling of Lawrence Of Arabia
"One does not simply pass through the French line".
Nice reaction :) Next would be nice Red Baron or White death..both Sabaton songs :)
I did the Red Baron about a week ago!
@@VloggingThroughHistory
And I just watched it :) Its very nice..I watched actually all of your reactions now from Sabaton..I am huge Sabaton fan and I got into history with all those songs.I like to see you react more on most of they songs since I like the way that you give some info of history aswell on the topic ... Anyway keep the good work.
Highly recommend Blood of Bannockburn, Rourke's Drift, and The Last Stand as some more great Sabaton highlighting older history. Rourke's Drift really brings to mind conversations about "one man's terrorists are another man's freedom fighters." In that so much of how we see historical events is very much a consequence of "History is written by the victors."
On a side note, whilst on UN duty in Bosnia/Croatia. i was in a base taking Arty rounds, and as Detcmdr of a 501 Satcomm det I was 10 mins from blowing up the det. The cost at that time was approx 7 million pounds. If only.
Since this is a battle you know a bit less about, maybe you could react to the Sabaton History episode on Verdun. Sabaton History is an official channel of the band that collaborates with Indy Neidell to talk about history behind the songs.
Yeah I mentioned that near the end :)
@@VloggingThroughHistory I second that. As I am currently watching your reaction and do not know the ending comments, I also suggest you react to the history videos of Sabbaton. I certainly will find it very interesting :) Happy New Year from Athens, Greece.
I was at the fields when I was 14 and saw names and dates from boys about 16/17 years old that died there in horror and pain as they were trapped in the bunkers or trenches - they were as old as my brother was that time... vision of my brother might have been one of them haunted me for days (while his main thought was about selling his skatebord to buy rollerskates or not - "the mercy of a late birth" )
I had a great great grandfather who fought at Verdun. Not the surprising part since I think just about every French soldier at the time fought there but he also survived.
" Awesome solo " it is, it is 🤣💯🤌
Knowing the casulties and the area if your parcticular grime you can caculate the exacct cost of a mile in human lives
This reminds me of battle Field 1
The worst weapon i came across studying WW1 was one introduced by the Germans called the Vitriolic thower .
Like a flamethrower but it shot a stream of Hydrochrolic Acid .
Appalling.
I visited Fort Douaumont and the surrounding battlefields of Verdun in the summer of 2019. It was a harrowing and sobering experience. Just an FYI, Verdun is literally in the middle of nowhere. Just a lot of rolling hills and forests and sparsely populated. I will never forget that place. There were areas that looked like grass covered egg cartons from all the shell craters. There are still trenches that can be seen from all over the place.
Wow...hope I can do the same someday. Thanks for sharing your experience!
If I’m not completely mistaken, the video is recorded in the actual fields of Verdun. I remember them saying that in the episode on Sabaton History, but I could be wrong...but I don’t think so
I accidently found your channel. I like it. The way you tell the stories thats awesome. Can you maybe do Sabaton - Miday ? I am verry into Naval History. The Grey Ghost also known as the CV-6 USS Enterprise. I am not sure if Sabaton has a song about that one but I am pretty sure they do have a song about the Battle of Midway.
I'll check it out. I'm sure I'll get to all of them eventually! Glad you found it.
I think they even filmed the music video for the song on location in Verdun.
for every kill you are descend to darkness
The french saying is "On ne lais lesse pas passé"
In English it "We shall not let them pass"
Fun little fact about Verdun :
Germany would have likely won the war if Verdun did not hold.
Millions of soldiers would have to fall back and hundreds of thousands of equipment would be abandoned.
In WWII, the same move was pulled by Germany but was successful this time around. They broke through and pushed to the shores of Calais, trapping hundreds of thousands of soldiers and equipment in Belgium with but 1 way out. The sea.
Sabaton - Soldier of 3 armies
Lauri Törni the story of her live amazing song and story 👌
My grandfather was in the navy during the Cold War, but he was discharged because he was allergic to the woollen clothes
You should watch the last battle and Resist and Bite
I think it's awesome that heavy metal has become more education than seaseme street.
JRR Tolkien fought as a British Officer in the battle of Verdun.. the 303 days of the battle is the LONGEST single Battle in Recorded History.
The British weren't at Verdun. Tolkien was fighting with the British at the Somme.
@@VloggingThroughHistory Lol Again you catch me Sirrah, and I cannot even bite my thumb.. I guess you'll just have to keep me honest with my old folly. Thank you.
@@Fuilleverte is all good...I make plenty of such mistakes
They have lots of cool stories on their older albums also. White death, the deadlinest sniper in history. Soldier of three armies (Larry Thorne/Lauri Törni). Winter war, Soviet Union attacking Finland and getting their buts kicked.
It said "Ils ne passeront pas !" "They shall not pass."
And it was said by General Nivelle. Which for the record, is very disliked in France as he is considered an incompetent bastard who wasted thousands and thousands of soldiers lifes in pointless offensives in several battles. He was a strong believer in the doctrina of the "Attaque à outrance", which, I guess, would translate as "Full attack", and never saw anything wrong with that strategy, even as machine gun were already well known and very efficient in defensive warfare.
Late to the party but still. There is a mistranslation there, "On ne passe pas" literally translates to "We do not pass" . But to the french it means something more like "Nothing passes". It's a promise that nothing from in front of them will come through. Some took that literally, even shooting animals.
You should check out Iron Maiden. The Trooper or Aces High would be good. They don't go into as much detail as Sabaton does, but if you're enjoying the solos... well... they're half the song for Iron Maiden.
In French it’s “Ils ne passeront pas.” In the video, it says “On ne passe pas”, which actually means “We will not pass.”
The Spanish communist resistance against Franco used to say that too. “No pasaran“ in Spanish. One of the fascist commanders replied “we have already passed”. Or so says the legend at least.
Apocalyptica did a cover of this song (it's a instrumental) and the footage is from the ossuary, well worth a look
I've been to Verdun memorial as a kid. It always struck me as an oddly peaceful place, given it's history. The memorial is beautiful, and a bit macabre. However, it is extremely quiet out there until the bells toll at the top of the hour and the half hour mark.
As quiet as a graveyard
Time for some Swedish history, perhaps?!☺️ Check out Sabaton's "Carolus Rex" (lyric video English version), "Lion from the North" (official music video), "Long live the King" (official lyric video), "Carolean's prayer" (official lyric video) and "En livstid i krig" = A Lifetime of war, (live from Gothenburg, 2020. It's the Swedish version, so captions on!). Or check out "Lifetime of war" (official lyric video, English version. But the story is different between the Swedish and the English versions). Great reaction btw!🤘
This one's a bit of a heartbreaker for me...
So, he's a genealogist, a historian, and a guitar player, what does this man not do?
Dance. I most definitely cannot dance. I can cook though!
Should really check out the War Thunder cinematic trailers, as well as the one for Warpath.
I highly recommend Cliff of Galipoli. It's the most underrated song and you should check it out!!
Where the hell did they find that many 1886-m95 lebel rifles???
Great reaction , you might want to look at behind the scenses as they actualy have some historians and other youtube historie channels interviewing them.