Reenacting, Atrocity, Politics, and Being Offended by All Three- Part 1/2
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- čas přidán 31. 05. 2024
- CORRECTION: I said in this video that slavery in the US lasted for 'over half' of its history, but this was a silly thing to say. I think I got caught up in the moment. I meant to say "over a third," if we count US history as starting in 1776. Still, the point is the same, but that's an important clarification!
Reenacting is a very strange hobby, we all must admit! And unfortunately, it is also a one which gets an awful lot of bad press, as the result of many portrayals being based around rather nasty figures. We've all heard the accusations that portraying a Confederate is racist, or a WW2 German is Anti-Semitic. So, in this two-part Patron-voted video, I would like to discuss this subject for a time. I apologize if this one is rambly, or ranty, but it's a very large topic, and a one which I only just scrape the surface of in this video.
This video subject was chosen by my supporters on Patreon, to whom I am most gracious! If you would like to learn more about becoming my Patron, please visit the website below:
/ brandonf -
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This video was made in support of The Native Oak. Learn more about our educational mission here:
www.nativeoak.org/
If you'd like to support the channel, please consider giving on Patreon,
/ brandonf
You can follow me on social media too!
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It's a re-enactment so I don't really see a problem. If you start popping down to the local Tesco or pub in your SS/red army gear then there might be a problem.
Oh
_*swiping off the soviet nkvd peaked cap_
Is that so?
The SS were volunteers, the Red Army were normal men just like the US Army or Wehrmacht.
@@andro7862 Poland, both the wehrmacht and red army massacred and raped people.
BuT IT WaS ONlY tHe SS (I’m joking I -hate- strongly dislike wehrboos)
In an SS uniform, Most certainly, But in a Red army uniform, Most people dont always Recognize it, And frankly, If we can educate them on it, That is really our Job.
I live in Poland, a country heavy affected by both Germans and Red Army. I remember, that my grandfather had a kind of very hard repulsive reaction when he heard someone speaking German. A memory of war atrocities is very present here... but the same time I truly never heard of anyone offended by people reenacting German or Soviet soldiers in an educational context, because it is vastly considered as part of preserving memory. However, I didn't have occasion to ask my grandfather what he thinks about it...
I'm a German Wehrmacht reenactor so I feel you buddy.
I pity the whermacht they were just conscripts following orders now they were still complicit in committing horrid and nearly unspeakable acts of genocide and other atrocities but i view them as soldiers just as I view the american army
Not really buddy, most of them were volunteers.
@@AkenValle there were abou 13 million ppl serving in the wehrmacht enroled in the Wehrmacht during the war, I would be very cautious about how many of them were actual war criminals.
@@AkenValle yeah, 1st its a generalization y don't know how many wehrmachtsoliders did warcrimes. Or do you have relieable data.
2nd if y think warcriminals should be shot that would include all powers participating in ww2 not only the axis.
@@ducktube7473 Every single one who join nazi side. Every single one knew what they were doing on Eastern front.
As it stands, reenactment is perfectly all right.There is no need to BE controversy. Anyone who believes that a reenactor must or does believe in anything other than having a bit of fun and learning history is projecting their own politics.
Unfortunately there is a significant overlap between politics and reenacting particularly when it comes to Confederate reenactors but it's a problem in legitimately the entire community
politics is a meaningless word, the fact is that a good portion of re-enactors have their very OWN "political" beliefs and I don't think that these Mountain Dew drinking inbreds are "Just playing devils advocate" every time. I think this whole thing is just a way to brush off the issue instead of actually dealing with it. Everybody reading this knows in their heart of hearts that a lot of civil war "reenactment" is just daughters-of-the-confederacy historical erasure and whitewash. Lots of ww2 reenactors are just call of duty Hitler fetishists. They'll never tell you outright that they hate brown people, but they'll absolutely tell you about ALL the ways Hitler COULD have won.
That doesn't mean that everybody who re-enacts as the baddies are bad people at all, I'm just saying it's an awfully convenient way to get your larp on, and I think everybody on the field knows it and ignores it.
Projection often turns to opinion. Opinion often influences law.
Everything is political, and to wave a flag and wear a military uniform is the definition of political action. Especially to someone who doesn't find reenactment in and of itself valuable, to explain to someone with a personal history being victimized by an ideology while wearing that ideology's badge that you're doing it for any reason is a hard sell.
"Being into puppy play doesn't have to be controversial, so why is everyone disgusted when I do it in public??"
Doing anything in public invites discussion, even if that discussion is criticism.
You wouldn't show up to a Holocaust survivor's house in an SS uniform, don't expect it to be ignored when you're in public and that survivor could just be trying to get their groceries.
Do you know what the best part of a war...
The end
Not really, the end could result in terrible situations and cause conflicts
@@Lakarak in the end the organized killing tends to stopc
Well the end of ww1 was terrible for the people of germany and thats why ww2 happen.
It could be argued that the best part of a war is the very beginning because people aren't quite sure what they're in for. The end is when the most death and destruction has happened and everybody's trying to politically screw each other.
To show you the might of Russia I sawed Berlin in half and repaired it with nothing but Communism.
Not only does Communism's powerful adhesive hold the city together, but it creates a super-strong prosperity-tight seal, so the population stays completely impoverished! Uraa!
Brandon F.
Oooooooooh
Even though you don’t show it that often, you possibly have THE best humor as a youtuber
Commissar looks at ruins of Berlin: "Thats a Lot of Damage ! "
@@BrandonF THAT'S A LOTTA FAMINE
You are one of the best historical youtubers ever!!!
Imagine being hired to portray Hitler in a movie. You go down to the barber and say, "Give me a Hitler." X-D
you'd be given makeup and haircuts on set.
@@humansvd3269 yea thats a joke
Jojo rabbit be lik
Like*
Just goes to show how horrible of a person Hitler was. He single handedly made a style of mustache so unpopular no one will ever wear it again.
AN AMERICAN WEARING A RUSSIAN UNIFORM?!
AN AMERICAN SPEAKING RUSSIAN?!
AN AMERICAN SPEAKING IN A BRITISH ACCENT?!!!!!!
T r i g g e r e d!!!!(not really though Brandon, I love your channel)
I hate to be that guy, but it's written "An American". When the following word starts with a vowel (a,e,i,o,u), you write "an" instead of "a".
agreed, definitely makes me cringe inside
Ну что же?
Derptank I have to say I’m used to seeing people say an American more than I am of people saying a American, but i think it could just be because of people saying that without knowing it’s inaccurate or just them not knowing.
brock T.M
I wasn’t mad though about the fact that our friend Brandon here was wearing a uniform resembling the common soldier in the Red Army.
This video shall, undoubtedly, prove exceptionally controversial. But I am sure we can all agree on one thing at least.
RIP Königsberg.
Could I get the discord link?
Keep doing what your doing! Your doing great!
I will be re-posting the Discord link within the next week or so after a significant reform of how we do things there. Sorry for the wait...but it will be a much better server when I make the public announcement and start re-posting the links!
Could I get the discord link, I'm a Major of of the 2nd NJ in the game War of Rights and a huge history buff, I was just want to talk about a lot of things regarding history 😄
I was born there, hospital was one of the few buildings that didn't get bombed to shit during the war.
See, in Russia those symbols have a different meaning. The red star, hammer and sickle, and the red banner, when used in a historical context, are a symbol of the russian nation within that timeframe, not of communism, of Stalin or of any atrocities. Every 9th of May, Moscow is filled with red flags, even the president speaks from a platform emblazoned with those symbols. Putin is under no suspicion at all of sympathising with the communists. The russians are aware of the awful things the red army and the soviet state did, but these particular symbols do not refer to that, but to the historic spirit of resistance of the russian people, and the particular act of resistance against the nazi invasion in the 40's.
I completely agree! They represent the spirit of a people willing to at least try and lift themselves out of serfdom and impove the rights of their fellow comrades. The cause may have been flawed and or hijacked by people just wanting to rule but it was a powerful message to the whole world and to every land lord, every member of the ruling class...that the workers right to dignity must be upheld and it did see a massive reaction around the world in terms of workers rights and treatment.....sadly at a heavy cost.
As a fellow reenactor, for the most part I agree with you. One thing I disagree with is apologizing. I have seen it time and time again, if there is a bunch of people taking offense, the worst thing you can do is apologize, because it will simply be taken as a sign of weakness. I for one, am not willing to sacrifice history for people's feelings.
Eh, it depends on who you are talking to. It's good to just be friendly and apologise for anyone that is say offended because you're wearing a certain uniform even if you yourself did nothing wrong. You can definitely argue that they came to an event knowing they might get offended by it and that it is there fault however simply telling them to essentially fuck off doesn't do anything to change their mind on the event. If you can emphasise with them you might just be able to change their perspective if they're a level headed headed person.
If they don't change their perspective and carry on having a personal grudge towards you then at that point you could just propose to them the idea of leaving the event. It really depends on what crowd you're talking about. Not everyone who gets offended by this kind of stuff are rabid extremists, it's pretty common say for the average person to question say German WW2 reenactment.
Bottom line is: Treat people the way you want to be treated. If a person shows you respect, show it back and vice versa. If a person doesn't treat you with respect, give them none in return.
Kurolus Rex I would normally agree, but it seems you are failing to take into account the "offense culture" problem. Many times, people will say they are offended simply as a maneuver to control the behavior of others around them. In such cases, apologizing is worst thing you can do. A good example of this is anyone who ever apologized to a feminist, ever.
Most definitely you should still take people as they present themselves to you and treat the accordingly, but even if they have no ulterior motives you should still stand your aground (with civility, of course). Rather than apologizing for what you're doing, perhaps say something like: "I'm sorry _you_ feel that way, but I disagree with your position and will carry on as I see fit".
I get your point and I wish you were 100% correct, but the culture war poisons everything and one must be on guard against the encroachment of "offense culture" at all times these days.
Cheers m8!
"I'm sorry you feel that way, but I disagree with your position and will carry on as I see fit" that's exactly word for word what i meant.
I'm glad we agree on that much. I really do think civility should be prioritized, because it is such a precious thing.
However, my point was that there are people who really should just be told to "Fuck off" and that, in such cases, apologizing is the very worst thing you can do.
Please don't take this as a bone of contention so much as a friendly warning. Those cases should still be rare, but lately they have become somewhat less rare. Basically saying not to be too trusting of certain people. After all, people who are too trusting of others are generally (although unfortunately) easy prey to malicious manipulation.
On the subject of "Treat people the way you want to be treated", there is some very interesting fine tuning that can be applied to that. There have been some very large studies around it. Here you'll get the gist of it:
czcams.com/video/puN_vAsWipQ/video.html
On that note, I thank you for your civility. Something relatively rare as far as CZcams comments are concerned and one of the reasons I enjoy this channel. Have a very nice weekend.
Facts and history should be elevated to much higher level then ones feelings
Speaking of the morality of depicting regimes one sees as evil , my cousin depicts a Tan in reenactments of the tan war. Despite the fact our family been active republicans (my generation is the first in my family to not have a member spend time in prison for republican activites since 1848).
But when I asked him why depict a tan ? He gave me two very interesting answers.
1: It allows him develop a greater appreciation for IRA generals like Barry and Aiken. This is because he learnt 'first hand' how out gunned and technology inferior they were to crown forces
2. He likes the hate he gets at history festivals .
On the morality of depicting a member of one of the most violent group to walk the earth his response was simple.
It's for education, what would be immoral would be justifying the actions of the tans.
Can I get a video or a link talking about, the war your discussing. I'm an American so please excuse I'm ignorance. I've never heard of a tan army, and IRA sounds familiar but I'm genuinely confused.
@@rancid7182 Tan is short for Black and Tan, which is a term for members of the Royal Irish Constabulary during the Irish War of Independence, named for their uniforms which were often a combination of dark green RIC gear, dark enough to look black, and khaki (tan) British army gear. The IRA is the Irish Republican Army.
@@rancid7182 Late reply, but the "Tan" that he's referring to would be the "Black and Tans", a british paramilitary organization in Ireland, esentially sent in to "clean house". Both sides were extremely brutal, however, the "Tans" attacked civillians *far* more often than the Irish Republican Army (IRA)
As a Confederate re-enactor I know how you feel
What you do is even more relevant now as people need to understand thr nuance of that time and not to turn it into a comic book depiction of good vs evil.....Its funny that the Yankees are depicted as the goodies when right after that war an imperial march west saw the slaughter of thousands of indigenous men, women and children.
At least the confederates didn’t do nearly as many war crimes as the Soviets. It would be more morally good to wear a confederate uniform than a Soviet one.
@@oktoberfest4424 That's complete Bullshit. The Soviet "crimes" are either greatly exagarrated or fabricated.
@@nikitakuznetsov8446 what drugs have you been taking
@@nikitakuznetsov8446 Tankie much?
What is the alternative to defending your homeland when another regime is pillaging it, or when forced to serve in the military under penalty of death?
Suicide? A honest question.
This is where the whole discussion of "How shall we judge those in the past" comes into play. On the one hand, by fighting for an evil regime (even if you had no other choice), you are aiding that regime and its evil actions. On the other hand, it would be very cold to condemn such a person when the alternative might have been worse than death (like having their family killed).
At that point, you have to start judging someone based on how they behaved regardless of factors out of their control--it's where you start to say that a not every German soldier in WWII was a bad person, but every last one of them fought for a terrible cause (the Nazi cause), regardless of their desire to do so. That distinction can often be difficult, especially when you look at stuff like Confederate soldiers (who primarily agreed with the cause of protecting slavery), but it's better than saying "They were all devils."
Reenactment is essentially historical live action role play, and role play is cooperative storytelling. Reenactment is easily compared to writing a historical book about these events, or making a movie about these events, only in a live action format. Are historical books or movies offensive? When you make a historical WW2 movie, *someone* has to play a the Nazis.
No, no, no. It's far easier and less controversial to take a soft stance on these things and deny they even happened so as to offend the least amount of people with the most asinine sensabilities. That way they never learn from history. Wait...
@The Martial Lord of Loyalty Imagine avoiding discussion of the Holocaust to avoid offending Germans. Imagine avoiding discussing the My Lai Massacre to avoid offending American service members like myself. What was your point? To pat yourself on the back, you wincing, cringing, little coward?
My mother implored me to watch a reenactment. Without any other explanation, and without understanding why, I simply obeyed.
As a result, I began to understand that particular setting, and the battles at that setting. Later, I bought a timeline book about the particular war which encompassed the battles at that setting.
Now I understand a lot about the war, and I find myself relating these pearls of wisdom to anyone who will listen. I learned keywords about the war so I can provide trustworthy sources for any information I share.
My mom died 20 years later of old age. By taking her advice in this regard, my life is richer. Thanks mom. And thank you reenactors.
In addition to the education, I see reenactment as a way of honouring the soldiers who fought and bled and died. If they believed in the cause they fought for or not is irrelevant. The soldier always deserves to be honoured for their sacrifice, no matter the cause.
The second half of this video will speak to this idea, or at least very closely to it.
As far as I'm concerned, everyone who tries to say that the CSA was just evil is retarded and ignorant.
[RANT-REDACTED]
Edalwulf Bergmann are you insane soldiers don't just deserve respect they have to earn it and their cause does matter quite a bit.
I love reenacting and I have plenty of respect for reenactors who portray Nazi German or Imperial Japanese soldiers but I don't have any illusions that those soldiers deserve to be honored for murdering hundreds of thousands of people. They're interesting to examine from a historical perspective and from a equipment perspective but that doesn't equate to respect
Most Imperial Japanese soldiers did not, in fact, murder hundreds of thousands of civilians, and most Wehrmacht soldiers also did not murder hundreds of thousands of civilians.
In both cases, they were predominantly just men doing their duty to their homeland.
To the Germans especially, they had seen that the world was against them and that it wished to make them suffer through the treaty of Versailles and its effects on Germany. They were doing what they thought was necessary to defend their home against a world that would see it destroyed. Remember: the Nazi party never had higher than 25% popular support. 3/4ths of soldiers didn't even like the Nazis, but they loved their home.
All soldiers deserve respect, honour, and glory for the fact that they fought and bled for their homes. I don't care what is associated with them or their homes at the time.
Would you be willing to fight and die for your homeland? Probably not. Most people aren't. Thusly, especially volunteer armies and conscripts that were fine with being called up deserve these things most of all.
@Igor Yunolaynen The point of reenactment is to teach others about the events being portrayed, not to experience the atmosphere.
This is kind of like how people wonder why I own old military rifles from the Axis and Soviets. Someone needs to keep the history alive. So long as you respect the past.
Can't play cops and robbers without robbers is the way I explain it to more of the rather "closed minded" visitors
Was going to write a longer comment, but frankly as it was all agreeing with you or merely adding additions to your general point it seemed pointless. Alas, I fear that there exist too many people in the hobby who, rather than examine there own views or research into the nastier elements of war, react with ahistorical bunk ("The SS were just an elite unite"), unhelpful what-about-ism ("the Germans/Soviet/Japanese/Norwegians were worse"), or a refusal to understand ("people who are offended are just stupid snowflakes").
i love that as a whataboutism...what about the Norwegians? So many people today seem to have no clue about Whataboutery..German WW1 invasion of Belgium..what about the Belgian Congo. Really drives me up wall
@@caractacus6231 I may just be dumb but what did Norway do? Besides colonialism I can’t think of anything during the 40s...
I was thinking of your comment “War is hell” when I remembered a quote from someone in history, unfortunately I forgot the name of the person who said it. But I’d want to know what your thought on it was anyways. It goes as the following, “War is not hell. Hell is Hell. No innocent person goes to hell, where as many innocent people are killed in war. No, War is not Hell. War is worse than Hell.”
Hawkeye Pierce I think. From the show M*A*S*H.
Hawkeye:
War isn't Hell. War is war, and Hell is Hell. And of the two, war is a lot worse.
Father Mulcahy:
How do you figure, Hawkeye?
Hawkeye:
Easy, Father. Tell me, who goes to Hell?
Father Mulcahy:
Sinners, I believe.
Hawkeye:
Exactly. There are no innocent bystanders in Hell. War is chock full of them - little kids, cripples, old ladies. In fact, except for some of the brass, almost everybody involved is an innocent bystander.
All these neo-comunnists could never survive in soviet russia.
All those neo-nazis would be killed under Nazism
@@levvy3006 nope because if they aren't gypsies jewish homosexual they wouldn't be killed so they would survive
@@salmon301 Communists were regularly murdered in Nazi Germany.
On the weekends I meet with friends online and we play games with each other and quite often we re-enact tank battles from WW2. (I often choose to re-enact on the German side) I recently joined a larger group and they said I couldn’t have any ties to the Wehrmacht re enactors. I once showed up and my in game avatar was still in his german tanker uniform and the Commander of my company ripped me a new one. (This was an American armored company)
He called me a Nazi, bigot, Hitler youth, (and many other things) and I was banned from participating in these larger events for this. I have however appealed this and apparently my old company commander who banned me was kicked out of the group due to him lashing out over stupid things. I mean we’re re-enactors showing up the wrong uniform which is a simple and common mistake. It’s just that it was a German uniform. People used to call me a Nazi when I was in public school only because I have a Pickelhaulbe and I re-enact mostly as a Wehrmacht soldier.
I’ve just grown used to it. I choose to dress how I want.
I can do as I want. I really just want people to stop complaining. If I do something that offends you tell me and I’ll refrain from doing it again. Unless it’s something ridiculously minor.
Well there's a time and place...
How do you afford this hobby? Any advice for beginners?
1. Make and keep friends. Join online forums to find others playing your game if there aren't that many locally.
2. Listen and learn how to make or locate affordable and proper gear in the beginning. To think of all the money and time spent on "close but not quite" crappy kit before I had the money to money to buy the right shoes, fabric, and properly fitting gear, I could have looked better sooner.
3. Be honest with your budget. Some groups, time periods, and impressions will cost more than others; whether it is due to availability of kit, or the level of authenticity.
4. While you are honestly evaluating your budget (#3), and learning how to assemble your kit (#2), politely ask your friends (#1)and mentors if there are things you can borrow. Don't expect to be fully kitted out on someone else's dime, or disrespect and abuse the borrowed items. Old timers want to help new people get started, and may often have hand-me-downs or duplicates they are willing to give away.
5. To do a higher ranking or noblemans impression is going to cost more. Start off by being a Private, peasant, or civilian.
6. As in (#4) ask to hitch a ride or share hotel space with others in order to get to events cheaper. You should offer gas money or help with camp cooking. Find some way to be helpful to repay the group's generosity.
Great advise Vickie, couldn't have put it better myself.
Prepare your ass.
One of my pet peeves about re-enactors especially on Instagram is they do an impression of a soldier after a famous battle and their uniform is clean and pressed. Get out and crawl in the dirt or something so it looks like your gear is actually battle worn. That’s my 2 cents.
People usually spend a lot of money on their kits and aren't too keen on rolling around in the mud in them which is pretty understandable
@@comradeamerican4393 well I guess they really aren’t that invested in history then lol
Here’s my problem with judging “ordinary” soldiers: Most of them had no choice. Even if they had a reasonable life choice that was not the military, and thus joined at least with a semblance of choice, the moment war began they did not have a reasonable choice. I was in the military for five years; if I had been deployed my choices were to do my job wether or not I agreed with some political point to be made or go to prison or face a court-martial and possible death. My life would have been ruined by not doing what my superior officer told me to do. That’s not a choice, not really. So I reserve judgment for the rank and file.
Brandon this says a lot for me. I’m an 82nd Airborne and German Wrechmacht reenactor, and I get people who are offended by me bearing the German eagle and swaztika. Thank you for someone finally to have the guts to make a full on video about this situation.
The political discussions around the American Civil War are particularly messy. People on both sides of the argument greatly exalt the virtues of their preferred side and greatly downplay its vices. It seems the War Between the States continues to split apart families to this day.
Benjamin Grist The problem with that war is that modern issues bleed into the past . I would strongly argue that there is more hate between modern southerners and northern than their ancestors who actually stood across fields literally killing each other . The root of those issues stem from northerners moving south for the lower taxes and better living conditions. They have a way of doing things and the southerners have a way of doing things and they clash .
Oh yeah some of the Confederate reenactors actually believe the Woodrow Wilson BS revisionist history.
Agreed. People say that Southerners are still fighting the war. But they move to the South, bringing their superior attitudes with them. THAT is what fosters resentment. They make fun the way and portray us as racists and dummies. And it REALLY pissed me off when stupid people call us traitors! (Um.... Patriots who opposed King George during the American Revolution were considered traitors! Talk about a double standard!) Spies are referred to as traitors. That is highly offensive! That is like comparing us to Benedict Arnold and Thomas Hickey! As a proud Southern woman, whose ancestors fought to protect our families and property, I do not appreciate it at all. The myth of the spoiled, pampered Southern belle is total bullcrap. Think about it: Someone had to protect their land and property while the men were off at battle. A REAL Southern girl can both be a lady and kick A$$ if necessary. The grey uniform did NOT represent slavery. There were issues between the North and South that had festered ever since the Revolutionary War. Less than 2 % of Southerners even owned slaves. The slaves that did escape were treated even worse when they moved up North! Most of the battles were fought on Southern territory. GENERALS Robert E. Lee and Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson were devout Christians. We don't believe in slavery, but if our families are threatened, we will fight tooth and nail to protect them. Harriet Beecher Store never even set foot in the South . She had no idea WTF she was talking about. The reason people in Andersonville prison were starving is because the whole region was starving! You don't see photos of his CONFEDERATE POW's were treated! It is all propaganda to vilify the South. Furthermore, we were treated horribly when the war ended. General Lee and Jefferson Davis didn't have their U.S. citizenship restored until the twentieth century! Some of the issues in our country today are the same ones we went to fight for! And you NEVER hear about the atrocities the Northerners committed against Southerners! History makes Sherman out to be a hero, when actually he should have been tried for war crimes! But my family still went to proudly serve in World War 2, Viet Nam, Korea, and Afghanistan. My point is: The only way to learn history is to talk to someone who actually experienced it. God bless America and heal our land. End of rant.
The idea that a person could live into adulthood without offending someone is unreasonable. Being offensive for the sake of being offensive is different.
Thank you for this video. As someone seriously looking into reenacting as either an SS soldier or just wermacht, it's hard for me to put my feelings about this in a better way. I think being able to single out specific aspects of war and separate them while still intending to remind the masses of the overall picture is so grossly important its hard to put into words. Me wearing a German uniform is solely meant in my eyes to preserve the German military history separate from the moral and ethical attrocities, or hell even the fact they killed thousands of my people, while still reminding you of that fact not as an endorsement of it.
"Me wearing a German uniform is solely meant in my eyes to preserve the German military history separate from the moral and ethical attrocities" ... Alas if you choose to portray as such you can't and you've got to be prepared historically and ethically. That national emblem changes everything and the normal rules applicable for other periods don't apply.
In all fairness, you can't fairly blame the Red Army for the actions of the NKVD. NKVD was a federal agency, like a secret police, if you will.
Hot take: being offended exclusively by a German or Soviet reenactor ignores the massive human rights abuses of British imperialism. Nazi war crimes were widely studied after WW2, likewise Soviet crimes were popularized during the cold war. British historians and intellectuals have little to say about their own history and the effects from British imperialism, they somehow got away with mass killings and the creation of an artificial famine in Ireland.
Tarkalark The famine in Ireland was hardly created by the British intentionally; the British just let it get worse through apathy and incompetence. Not saying that the British Empire wasn’t morally reprehensible at times, but saying it was as bad as or worse than Nazi Germany/Stalin’s Soviet Union seems like an exaggeration.
And let's not forget Belgian Congo! Something that's not even mentioned any longer.
I re-enact a British militia unit during the Napoleonic wars.
We don't shy away from discussing the terrible things committed by the British Empire.
One of our go-to displays is the shameless execution of Jean De Narde, an unarmed, 28 year old French officer that was committed by our Militia.
Being a british person re-enacting a british unit I do find, and it is a failing in education systems around the world, that a country is often blind to the crimes of itself. Schools teach about the great victories, like Waterloo and the Battle of the Nile... but they never mention the Rape of San Sebastian, or the aftermath of the fall of Badajoz.
Well the key two events people like to yap about (other than the Irish potato famine that has already talked about) is the bengal famine and the boer concentration camps. However the Boer concentration camps were inder the jurisdiction of the local colonial government aand were hardley orders from London itself and when the public found out via the media there was huge backlash because it truly is a horrible crime. The bengal famine on the otherhand was by no means the fault of the empire i can explain it to you if you want but you could just as easily find a million other videos saying the same i would personally recommended a video by Knowing better that talks about all kinds of WW2 misconceptions
Tarkalark I agree that all the nations atrocities should be brought forward so we can learn from then. The American fire bombing of Japanese and German cities, the British actions in India, the German genocides and mass war crimes, the soviets lack of regard for its own men and the mass rapes and murders and the actions take by the Japanese in China and the Pacific.
We should remember that all sides where fighting in the biggest confrontation in human history and ultimately all nations committed atrocities but its are job to learn from that.
This is like reenacting a confederate civil war regiment and being screamed at by karens.
Something that gets on my nerves is how wearing a russian uniform is fine but wearing a Nazi uniform and you are automatically called racist
Probably called racist because the person can't tell the difference between the SS and army uniform.
If it were the uniform of the SS then you probably get a few raised eyebrows and comments but a uniform of wermacht since the ordinary German solider suffered in places such as Stalingrad and ultimately left for dead after the collapse of the German offensive should be able to distinguish between the two .
Probably because the Nazis actually had an extermination order against the entire Soviet people, whereas the Soviets didn't in regards to the Germans. Just saying.
Imperator Salt Well the Soviets weren’t exactly racists who believed they were superior and that everyone else, aside from the few races they like, was sub human. They themselves were regarded as sub human by the Germans. Not surprising then that millions of soviets were killed just because of their race and as such, the Soviets sought for revenge. I know that murder is still murder but you can at least see why people don’t like Nazi uniforms and can sympathise with the Soviets.
Kilroy Yes because the SS were the only Nazis in all of Germany true fact. Oh and the Wehrmacht were just the same as the American and British armies! It’s the Soviets who were the bad guys! Trust me!
huzzah for making this. It Needed to be said.
For anyone who thinks the Heer was not complicit in committing atrocities, I would urge them to seek out a copy of Generation War.
German reseached, and did not shy away from referencing certain parts of the Wehrmacht in, "making Jews disappear" in the Wild East.
A very intelligent and professional individual, who knows a great deal in regards to history. Good show sir. However unfortunately in our time, people believe communism and Marxism were great systems of government, and are active trying to bring those systems back into play.
Honestly, as governmental systems they weren't bad. The USSR was a stable country and was a far leap forward from the Russian Empire. Sure, during the Stalin period it was an oppresive authoritarian country but after his death it was nowhere near the oppresive state it is portrayed as.
I'm of the opinion that attrocities should not be atributed to a specific ideology but to a specific regime.
@@michinomiyahirohito2746 As a russian I would say the uncle joe years made our country great. All these libs and cons kids equating us with the nzs. Smh. I wish they got invaded by germany see how it feels, those pesky virtue signaling westerners.
I don't go out to reenactment events, but I have a full Swiss army uniform. Truly the most neutral uniform of the Second World War era.
I suppose I'm lucky that way. The Roman Empire made the Soviets look like choirboys, but they're separated from us by 2000 years.
Which is more offensive? Re-enacting a historical army and actively roleplaying their prejudices and atrocities etc, or actively avoid them? I can see both as being questionable. The first could be seen as glorifying and making light, the second could be seen as whitewashing or lionizing.
Where did you get that uniform and hiw much did you pay for it
This may be a bit off topic but my question is how high we’re tax rates compared to income in the 1700s?
Great video, I have a teacher who I know pretty well who re-enacts the Civil War, as a Confederate Cavalryman. He’s not said much about people getting offended by it or anything, however I have seen people online and such call anyone who does so automatically racist, which is saddening. Anyway, I most certainly agree with most of what you said, and most of what I disagree on is probably more how you worded than actual belief. I also caught wind of a discord server, and if I’m not just crazy, I can’t wait to join.
I remember back at university there was a policy around re-enactment groups (which applied to any societies meeting or in any way connected to the university) that stated "No re-enacting anything from 1900 or later" which given I was attending in 2011-2014 was somewhat controversial as people wanted to take part in World War One re-enactments in ready of the centenary.
The reason given for the policy was "to keep the re-enactment events apolitical" with the logic being that events needed to be "family friendly" and while they did eventually update the rule to "No re-enacting anything from 1930 or later" I do wonder, is it actually doing a disservice to the history to present it in an "apolitical" way, as right or wrong the past happened.
Sadly as it is, it's almost impossible to speak about this things, because the grade of them being politicized devolves everything into a shitstorm. While Russia and Germany being the prime examples of this - in Germany the never-ending discussions about the Whermacht-Museum and the Bundeswehr, and in Russia - evaluation changes for the past events not only depending on the government and ideology in charge, but on the actual people with their personal preferences. Also disregarding factors like the ongoing brutalization due to extreme intensity of combat on the Eastern Front as the war went on and battle fatigue. Also the mentality of the Third Reich and the USSR as states themselves - one being heavily influences by the feeling of being mistreated after WW1 and suffering heavy consequences years after the war, the other being a state of people, many of whom believed to have finally lost the only thing they had to loose - their chains - and suddenly facing interventions by all kinds of nations, resulting in a "under siege with no friends" mentality which can be still (or maybe even stronger) felt today.
While a can not agree on all of Your statements (I am somewhat biased due to my origin, upbringing and family history), i think this video is great and hope for a long and glorious existence of Your channel.
I'd like to ask a question Brandon. How should reenactors of these organizations, red army. Confederate army and SS/Wehrmact in the context of the attempts to reframe history? With the attempts being made to rehabilitate this organizations to alter modern day perceptions of history? What role should reenactors play in this context? I ask as an ex british infantry reenactor of ww2
My dear Brandonovich, how good you look, did you get your Mosin polished? or was it that you got your uniform cleaned? How lucky you are my dear Brandonovich, how lucky you are.
Man, I think this rationale is solid! I think the people who are critical are those who take part in living history events because they have a fondness for the faction as much as the era... rather than trying to gain perspective. I think they're projecting their own motives.
Also, is it okay if I ask a totally random question here? I'm looking for a quality non-firing replica (I'm in Canada) of a Brown Bess or some kind of 18th C frontier rifle to hang on a wall in a classroom. I want the cocking mechanism to work, as well as the ramrod to detach. I found a huge range of prices from a few hundred bucks to many thousands. I am on a budget, but I'm not sure what the best place is to look. This awesome channel popped into my mind and I thought I might ask! (sorry for gumming up the comment section)
I know that "Denix" makes very popular/common replica pieces like that, but I couldn't possibly speak to their quality.
In general, never "many thousands" for a replica, when you can just buy a real one for probably between 1000-1300 USD. It's probably easier than you think to purchase one. In the US, they're not even considered firearms by the Federal Government (as I understand it), and in the UK it's just a matter of a shotgun license and black-powder certificate (or somesuch. Don't take legal advice from strangers on the internet.)
Thank you kindest sir! I'm going to check it out. I saw an example on one site that looked solid, but didn't have a removable ramrod - I really want the authenticity (I want the students to be able to go through most of the reloading process) so I'm willing to pay what it takes. This gives me some perspective, thanks again!
You can get a legitimate brown bess for about 250-300 cad and no PAL is required
Where would I get this? I've looked around and saw only replicas (with no removable ram rod, grrr) for that (on Denix)
@@beautanner8409 there are a few sites. You just gotta look for them. Try marstar. or go to a local gun shop they might be able to help you
Can you say all the ranks from Private to Commander/Leader
Including Officers or ignoring Officers and staying with Enlisted
In which army?
I think this is something reenactors share with stage actors to an extent--for example, just because you're playing the role of a mentally disturbed serial killer (Sweeney Todd) does not mean that you actually are a mentally disturbed serial killer. In acting and reenacting, someone has to play the "bad guy" (particularly in settings with nothing but "bad guys" as on the Ostfront) and oftentimes that someone is you, no matter your own political and moral beliefs. The only thing you can do is try to give your persona, the conflict, and the realities of war in general the complex and nuanced portrayal they deserve.
What music do you use in your intro and outro??
Where to start?
First, thanks for your candor and empathy, and the scrupulous care you take in your approach to history and its effects on the present. Secondly, I almost broke into reenacting with a Soviet GPW group a few years ago. Largely due to economy (there is no cheaper impression to equip especially when one is already awash in Mosins), but also with an intent to learn and then educate about the little-known enormity of Russia's contribution to the Axis defeat. I do not belittle or trivialise the atrocities they committed when pointing out that one out of every three deaths in WW2 was a Russian/Soviet citizen, and that Nazi Germany's downfall would have been at the end of a much longer, tougher road without their sacrifice. Few Americans are aware of this, and I would have been able to bring that to their attention, as well as (I think) something approaching the perspective of a regular guy swept up in events beyond his control, fighting on behalf of a regime he found personally repugnant, but seeing no alternative for the Mauser in his face and the Mosin in his back. An awful lot of atrocities are committed (and suffered) by people under such conditions, and while it never justifies them, it ought to temper one's rabidity to pass judgment on people who lived for years under conditions I cannot even begin to fathom.
Thirdly, too many people today have elevated themselves to lofty but illusory heights of moral supremacy and seek to prove themselves the biggest swinging Johnson in the locker room of virtue by seeking out every point at which an offence could conceivably be taken up and handing down stark, hyper-simplistic accusations without a shred of mercy - or the merest thought as to exactly how like their enemies they start to think and perhaps behave when they indulge in such orgies of judgment. This phenomenon, of course, has the net effect of obscuring the real, present, everyday struggles for peace and justice to participants and onlookers alike.
At any rate, thanks for this video and your channel, and the efforts you lavish on them and your pursuit of history.
The only reason this topic is controversial is because the vast majority of people have forgotten the actual history behind those things from the past that they consider evil...they take offense because they were taught that 'X" is offensive, often without truly learning WHY these things should offend the sensibilities of good people.
Reenactors provide an invaluable historical service to their communities. The events they portray should never be forgotten, good, bad or otherwise...lest they be repeated.
What do you think of the three episode series "Generation War"
Is it more fact or more farb?
Great video! I do Waffen-SS Reenacting, and I think this a lot!
Excellent video, as usual, Brandon. Just one point: the collar of your Russian tunic is entirely wrong for the period, sorry, they used a standing collar. Google images for "гимнастерка 1943 года", By the way, this "fashion" continued well into 1960s :-)
He wears the m35 tunic, this tunic was even used until the end of the war although it was mostly replaced by the standing collar m43 tunic after mid 43
Do you guys have history community on internet? Can i join? I am always interested in history and maybe i can learn more in community
I will be making a public Discord announcement soon!
Thank you for doing another video other than American revolution or Napoleonic it’s good to see that there is always a ww2 to video being put up now
May I suggest that you do a video about "Karoliner"... it is a type of soldier that is in the same era as the Redcoats but it is in Sweden and at that time they had new tactics and they were doing rather well for themselves. Also think you would like the look of those uniforms!
A very, very interesting topic to talk about. Good Video.
Brandon I mean no offense by the following statement but I would like to correct something that you said, and that is when you said, “Every soldier who wore the Nazi, or Soviet uniform supported the idea behind that country that the uniform supported.” That is incorrect because of conscription.
There are a number of fundamental problems, Brandon. The first is that even if their numbers are diminishing, there are still people alive who witnessed WWII and the atrocities it brought. And certainly a lot of people who lost large parts of their family in it. If they were to see someone waltzing around in a uniform of the SS-Totenkopfverbände, it may do much more than merely "offend" - it can re-traumatise them.
Secondly, and that's particularly a problem with the US side - except for members of the US military, war is something that happened in the distant past or far, far away. The experience of war, especially as a civilian, is completely alien except for those people who fled war to the US themselves. The experience of having foreign troops march through your cities is not one the US has experienced in living memory in any noteworthy scale, let alone as occupiers, and the same applies to the experience of cities razed by war. Conversely, in Europe, many cities still bear the scars. In Germany, the cityscape in major cities often allows to reconstruct the paths of attack of allied bombers by the age of the buildings. In France, the "Atlantikwall" and the u-boat bunkers still are witnesses of the occupation.
Lastly, and I see that regularly in a lot of representations of WW2 in various modern forms, a lot of people in the US seem under the impression that the Eastern Front was like the Western one, just with Soviets instead of Americans and British. That's a fundamental misjudgment and ignores both the very concept of a war of annihilation and the vicious cycle of atrocity and counter-atrocity that happened in the East.
Basically, when you're reinacting the Eastern Front, be it live or in video game form, and you're excluding atrocities, you're misrepresenting the very nature of that conflict and whitewashing it. Atrocities were not something that "happened", and not something specifically targeted at collaborators and saboteurs. They were a product of negating the very right to life of every single individual, soldier or not, of the other side, and an integral part of the operation.
Very good point about Americans being isolated from the effects of war. I'm American and I've been saying similar things for some time now. Also a good point about ww2 survivors
My brother was editor for a nepolonic sea adventure the ammount sheer denial of how things worked in that century caused the writer to claim
"No wonder we historians have no friends"
I feelthat given the way things worked out, the soviet regime winning the war was the lesser evil. I base this conclusion on the events after Stalin's death. He died, everyone in the soviet system dedicates themselves to undoing the damage he did and shutting down the gulags. Not saying things got better overnight, but at least rational enlightened people took over and realized what a horrible shithole Stalin was turning the Eastern bloc into.
Compare that to the nazis. Their whole system was dedicated to genocide and murdering the innocent. Even if Hitler died in his 60's-70's in a post nazi victory world, the next fuhrer who took over after him would probably be just as racially evil and it would be business as usual because of how that country was run and how the poison they spew had become commonplace and acceptable to everyone who lived under that regime.
People fight in those situations because they have to in order to defend their homes, family, friends and society. They are not making a moral choice nor are they supporting an ideology, once war has started those things have meaning any more. Opting out means watching everything you care about burn to the ground, and few men will do that.
It is easy to say don't go when you are conscripted, but in those sorts of regimes that means you get executed as a coward, maybe even your family as well. And once in battle, you fight for your friends around you. It ceases to be a choice if you are any sort of a man. It is Us verses Them. You are not there for ideology and ideology is irrelevant at that point.
Excellent job with a difficult subject. This is a discussion with many different sides and points of view and no one has all the right answers. But by discussing it we are confronting it and may yet bring to life some truth, understanding and healing.
Very good video as always looking forward to the next assassins creed video you turned around my friends opinion of the game
One need to remember that despite all the horrible things that the Soviet did to their own people and other people in the world like "gulag" one need to also remember what they contributed to the world. They've destroyed the majority of Axis land forces and elite divisions, put the first satellite, man and woman into space, advance scientific researches in many areas (although politically motivated for war). The Soviet Union, the Nazis, the Confederate and various Imperialist regimes are flawed and sometimes detestable, but imagine a world without them...imagine a world where we forget about them. We must not forget about these regimes and both the good and the bad that they contirbuted to the world, we must not be so offended that we tried our best not to look into a reality in history.
The only reason why I don’t see the hammer and sickle to be as bad as the Swastika only because it has been behind some good, such as labor laws and civil rights movements, as well as its relative lack of a racist or bigoted connotation, and not because of the lack of atrocities committed in its name. Great video though, and definitely something that needs to be said.
I definitely agree with that
Dat Fishe Boi communism had nothing to do with progressivism. You can thank the former for the policies you mentioned, and you can thank the latter for millions of undue deaths.
Chromosome Extract Yet communists have been involved with many progressive movements. I’m not saying they deserve all the credit, just that at least they’ve directly done some good
Hey Brandon, I wish you still ran that steam group that you ran a while ago.
Thank you for the interesting video. I agree that the purpose of reenactments shouldn't be politicized, but it has hard for people to distance themselves from reality and look at it as a learning experience. As a person coming from a country that was part of the former soviet union I disagree with you about the generalization of communism. People tend to us Stalin's atrocities as an example of communism, that's like taking the Vietnam war and summarizing American ideology based solely on those events. In order to accurately understand the world ( also applies to reenactments) one must not view events as "evil" or "good" since those are viewpoints based on induvial moral code. Events happen all the time in the world and its a person own frail viewpoint that allows him/her to be offended, to be proud , to sad, etc. With that said I believe you shouldn't apologize to anyone that is offended because they clearly don't understand the intention of the whole event, thus making there personal opinion on the matter completely irrelevant. People have the right to be offended only when an offense is actually made and meant, otherwise people could say they are offended by pretty much anything and we would be stuck in a never ending apologizing cycle. Thank you again for the interesting video.
I think that re-enactment is a responsibility. It is so important to be mature and educated when re-enacting.
I must say Brandon as a confederate reenactor I get cussed at people always call me names and all that but I just ignore them cause if they won't know the truth then they will be like that for the rest of their life.
What has you dressing up as a soldier who fought for slavery got to do with telling the truth. I honestly don't care what you do, I personally find re enactments to be sad, just my opinion and I'm not saying anyone should or shouldn't, each to their own. But trying to add a level of righteousness sounds like you think a reenactment is more than what it is, men playing with guns...
Love ya, man. History deserves to be remembered.
I'm a fan and I'd say that the nazis were slightly worse, I'm someone who's studied this in a class about wwii, both are horrific bloodthirsty regimes, but if you read generplanost the nazis were worse because the Soviet government never explicitly stated that it wanted all ethnic Germans to die
I am Ukrainian and Polish and my grandparents and great grandparents moved from both of those areas to the US to escape the Russians, but I am a ww2 Russian re-enactor, but I have never been offended of seeing people portray Russians or Germans (which actually, I was considering doing first before joining the Russian infantry I am in) but people are always more offended and feel they need to teach me about communism and how bad it was. I already know how bad it was, but I feel they just miss the point of why I am there: I'm there to teach, not promote the ideas, but I do not think people understand that idea and I think people dont want to even try to understand that idea and choose to ignore it out right and instead decide to berate and feel the need to 'teach' me. I have never met any German or Russian re-enactor that is with the political ideas of the country or solider they are portraying, and I just wish people would understand and listen instead of assuming. And another issue I have been through and seen so much is whenever there is a female re-enactor, people assume we dont know anything about weapons and think we need to learn from them. I just wish people felt the need to stop teaching re-enactors when we are there for teaching and showing them what the era we are re-enacting was like in that time
6:54 - What if you're reenacting the Christmas Truce in WWI?
Yes that's an exception
Brandon They were wrong. You have nothing to apologize for. Those that want to be victims will always find a way to be a victim. LOVE YOUR POSTS
What about the people who lost family at their hands
i have not thought about it this way . i just found it interesting and fun to watch .
It is a important subject!
Thats a difference between forget and forgive. We should forgive, unless we want to repeat it in a different way. But we shouldnt forget, because that it is a way to honor the past and the people that came before us.
I will say I get a bit triggered about the Rev War stuff since most of my family was part of it, even being in George Washington's Guard. But I still love the educational gain from this channel thanks Brandon!
All armies, everywhere and time, have committed atrocities in time of war.The only difference is some armies encourage those atrocities, either tacitly or officially, others condemn them. If the latter soldiers commit such atrocities and are caught, they are usually punished.
As for re-enactors offending people, well good. Lest we forget, after all. As long as they are not romanticizing/glorifying the events they portray.
As a fellow Soviet Reenactor I must ask. Where are your collar tabs my boi?
I agree with your perspective, but I want to flesh out a line of thinking.
Isn't it hypocritical to be wearing the uniform apolitically, but still saying that everyone who wore the uniform, regardless of individual ideals, was supportive of the regime that used them? Isn't the symbolism the same?
And if operating under the notion of education, why don't we have reenactments of terror attacks? Surely there is educational value in the actions of the IRA, or urban guerilla fighting in general. Surely those events were as culturally scarring as any other war?
A friend of mine in SW Missouri does reenactments with a confederate artillery battery, and has had his job threatened for posting/sharing pictures and information about the events he goes to on Facebook.
You say that the Third Reich and the USSR were bad but you forget all of the things every other country has done in their pasts
Western cappies always do. I am not a fan of the USSR but I'll not run into the open arms of capitalism, an ideology that has murdered more people even in a shorter period than communism. I grew up in poverty under capitalism just because my single father was disabled so fuck anyone who supports that system too.
He wasn't ignoring that. That had nothing to do with the video. If he spent the video listing crimes that every country (even ones that have nothing to do with the video) had done, he would never actually get to the point of the video.
Stop being offended because he isn't listing out every single atrocity that happened during the war on both sides.
To expand upon the overall unrelated minutia regarding Nathan's mentioning of hobnailed vs. not hobnailed boots: Hobnailed, hard soled boots like those worn by soldiers in the past were great for outdoor terrain, as the nails gripped into soil and the like and allowed soldiers to climb inclines with a lower likelihood of slipping. But they also fair poorly on hard paved surfaces like those in an urban environment, leading to people slipping and sliding the fuck around. Non hobnailed boots are superior for an urban environment. Modern rubber soled combat boots like the Bellevilles I wore in the Marine Corps offer the best of both worlds, as the cleats are hard enough to gain purchase on soil but also malleable enough to keep one from slipping on linoleum and the like...usually. This is actually extremely important to a soldier's combat effectiveness despite its mundanity.
Oh, and as for the point of the video, something something history denial bad. Burying heads in sand dumb. Grr. No like.
I would lpve to wear that uniform, it's not that i agree what they did but the time period is amazing and people should learn about it from you reenactment.
Great video!
Just a nitpick, though: The Soviet Union wasn't actually communistic. It can be claimed that Soviet leadership intended to reach communism in the future (though that is highly doubtful in Stalin's case), but at no point was there a real communist system in the Soviet Union. Also, the hammer and sickle as a symbol can be used outside of a Soviet context, as an international symbol of communism. Even someone who wears a hammer&sickle to show ideological support of communism may not necessarily support the Soviet Union and its atrocities. Anarchists (who are also communists) sometimes use a red hammer and sickle symbol, and you can be sure they definitely don't support the Soviet Union. The red star is also not necessarily a Soviet symbol, as it has been used by socialist and communist movements before the Russian revolution and is still used today by socialist Kurds in the Syrian civil war. So while being offended by a Soviet uniform is understandable, being offended by a hammer and sickle or a red star shows a lack of understanding of what those symbols represent.
le Beast terrible comparison
le Beast You need to improve your reading comprehension. The hammer and sickle and red star are NOT exclusively Soviet symbols. Even if you didn't know that before, I explain that in my original comment and you can look it up. They are communist/socialist symbols that were used by the Soviet Union because it wanted to present itself as a socialist state advancing towards communism, whether you believe that was true or just propaganda. The symbols themselves have a meaning outside of the Soviet context. The Nazi swastika, by contrast, is just a Nazi symbol. There is a similar symbol in Buddhism, but it's easy to tell when it's that and when it's the Nazi symbol.
Anarchism isnt communism
I don‘t mind wearing such symbols during a reenactment or something similar to that, like shooting a film. But what does make me angry are youths in my age wearing hammer and sickle as a t-shirt decoration, looking at communism as the solution for all problems and celebrating it with stupid memes. If someone would do the same with the Hackenkreuz and the national socialist ideology, he would (righteously!) be put to jail.
Black Simon nuffin wrong with hammer and sickle
Please excuse me for being harsh here, but you‘re nothing but blinded warmongers. If that "revolution" shall ever occur, the streets of this world would be covered with the blood of thousands of innocent individuals; just because of your arrogance and your greed.
@Pasha Staravoitau You seem to have no arguments but hyperbole, you can't support why communism is inevitable and the solution to the world's ills. You also can't refute the fact that historically, regimes that have espired towards your communism and espoused their belief in it, also hold responsibility for death on a magnitude in the tens of millions at the very least. You are an edgy authoritarian, just admit it.
Marx said pretty much the same thing. About the industrial revolution. JUST WAIT GUISE ITS GUNNA HAPPEN. Also nice atrocity denial
@Buttrape Bill The poor continue to get poorer and society is a complete mess but obviously capitalism works...
Bravo! I admire your bravery at taking this on. It raises interesting questions, and has no neat answers, which leaves people feeling very exposed. It is funny because when I have gone to civil war re-enactments I never got offended by the Confederate actors, because they are acting, even though my great grand father was a share cropper and his parents were slaves. I consider this entirely different then putting the Confederate Battle Flag on the State Flag, it means something entirely different.
2:00 I have to disagree. The hammer and sickle should not be controversial since its a symbol used by parties all across the world that stand for something much different than Joseph Stalin. The Nazi swastika (not the religious symbols) is the symbol of the Nazi Party, which was dedicated to extermination of non-Aryan people. The communists were not dedicated to mass atrocities. Stalin was. Stalin should offend people not the hammer and sickle. Shouldn't all symbols used in war be controversial then? The American flag could be offensive to Japanese people forced into internment camps, or to Vietnamese farmers who were often brutally executed by American soldiers for nothing but a feeling of hostility.
How do you feel about the Japanese Civillians that were given any weapons they could find in order to stop the American invasion of the home islands? The idea of the army forcing schoolgirls to carry arisakas, spears, swords, and young men that would be forced to do the same. The idea of children that would have been told to strap bombs to their chest and then crawl under enemy tanks. Are they at fault? What are they gonna do, say no? If they do they get visit from kempetai in middle of night. There was little choice, you fight and die, or you die.
I am a soviet sailor reenactor so i feal this but where are your ranks???????
One thing though, i find odd in this video is the fact that Brandon said that everyone who takes up arms for the Soviet helped the cause of communism. Well, say if the nazi started rape and mass-murder everyone in town, you presumably with the strength to fight would likely take up arms to defend your family and people and if the only orgnization capable of defeating the nazis and defend your family is Stalin's genocidal regime, you would fight for it. Same goes for the Germans and Wehrmacht. If your people is at war against another people, despite how unjustly the war is and despite who calls the first shot, you would be compelled to fight for your people just because they are your people and society.
I've already left one comment here, but I thought I'd leave another as it's of a completely different topic to my first. I respectfully disagree that serving in, say, the Wehrmacht is to be complicit in the atrocities of Nazi Germany as a whole. As you've already noted, the Wehrmacht didn't commit significantly many more war crimes than any other regular army force in WW2. Most of the war crimes and atrocities we know of today were committed by the men of the Schutzstaffel, with some exceptions, such as those carried out by Fallschirmjager forces during the 1940 invasion of Crete.
Even Western allied powers committed war crimes; a notable example might be the completely unnecessary and cruel bombing of Dresden (at the request of Stalin), by the combined RAF and USAF. I recall hearing an account from a friend of the family, that sometime in 1944 near where his father was stationed, a group of surrendered German POWs were executed by men of his unit. I'm afraid I can't recall the details, and even if I could, it's most likely just one example of a great number of similar such undocumented war crimes. A more famous, though similarly numerically trivial example is the alleged execution of six German POWs by Lt Speirs in 1944, shortly after the combined arms landings and air assault in Normandy carried out during Operation Neptune.
But even if we put that aside, many of the men in the Wehrmacht were not serving by choice, but were conscripted, and would've been executed as deserters had they attempted to flee their posts. Furthermore, I put it to you that in times of war, to fight for your country no matter the sins of your government, is never dishonourable or immoral merely by association. In times of war, no matter how much you detest your own government, you still have cause to fight as defeat by a foreign power is an inherently unfavourable outcome, and is by far the worse alternative for both you, and your friends, family and community.
Furthermore, you may not be fighting for party, politics or government. You may be fighting out of a sense of patriotism; to further the interests of your country, and your people. *Or, perhaps, merely to protect them.* Look at what happened when Germany was defeated; it was laid to waste by incessant bombing campaigns, partitioned and occupied by foreign powers, half of the country thrust under the iron curtain of an oppressive Communist regime. Any man who fought in an attempt to prevent such a fate befalling him and his kin, had honourable cause no matter the great crimes committed by his government and countrymen.
Kill3rCat excellent posting. And it should be pointed out that Rosevelt left the Germans and Japanese with little choice. His declaration of unconditional surrender only pretty much made a fight to the last man inevitable. The war could have quite possibly ended in 1943 if the Allies had been receptive to Germany’s various peace feelers. Certainly it could have ended in the West but FDR and his junta were too much attached to Stalin and his hellish empire to forge a separate peace.
Hasn't the idea that the Soviets requested the bombing been debunked already? I mean it is weird if true as the USSR actually argued against bombing civilians previously, whereas Churchill and Butcher Harris made it RAF policy.
It's important what you do. If we don't remind people of history they are bound to repeat it.
Talk about people being offended. The Yugoslavian Civil War during the 1990s opened up a lot of wounds from the past. The Yugoslavians were happy people after WWII up until when the country broke up again. This war brought murder and rape amongst once were peaceful and happy neighbors. They then were again enemies from their past and brought it to present. As if their leaders were incarnated demons wanting destruction and death. Today people have forgotten about that here in the US and parts of Europe. The people in the Balkan region have not forgot about it since those who have lived through it will never forget. I hope it will never arise again for the sake of peace. Never forget. The seeds of hatred are still planted into peoples minds.
I disagree that the SS and Red Army were equal. If your country is attacked and your people facing certain extermination it's your duty to your family and home to defend it. They weren't fighting for communism of Stalin, they were fighting to save their countries and people.
I don't know if it's okay from a morals standpoint or not in the reenactment community, but I want to reenact a very specific soldier - my own great grandfather, who fought in the war. He was a Soviet Guards Paratrooper.