In another scene Blackadder described the war as "Something that could have been more efficient if we just stayed at home and shot 50,000 of our own men every week"
@@Realpoweronearth Blackadder: For us, the Great War is finito, a war which would be a damn sight simpler if we just stayed in England and shot fifty thousand of our men a week. Episode: wars a horrid thing, ding a ling
@@FlyingSpaghettiMonster2000 Baldrick, probably the best Great War poet that never lived. Boom, boom, boom, boom Boom, boom, boom Boom! Boom! - Boom! Boom! Boom, boom, boom
"The war started because of Saddam Hussein and his Weapons of Mass Destruction!" "George, the US, at present, has enough nukes to blow up the entire planet several times over. While the extent of Iraq's WMDs consists of an ancient Persian battering ram currently being housed in Baghdad Museum."
"You see, the CIA believed that they could just fund freedom fighters in Syria and get rid of that pesky friend of Russia Assad." "But then, kind of, everything fell apart and the Islamic State committed terror attacks all over the globe and almost took over Iraq, isn't it, Sir?" "Yes, there was just a tiny flaw in the CIA's plan. It was bollox."
"I heard it started when a bloke called Archie Duke shot an Ostrich, because he was Hungary." Brilliant. Such a Polished performance and he Finnished it off really well.
"It was too much effort not to have a war". This phrase elegantly and simply sums up this whole show. It's funny, clever, and at the same time carries a great depth of political and social commentary.
Dealing with a german dominated europe was and still is going to be a nightmare for Britain. As he said ''too much effort'' Unfortunately nowadays, we have the german dominated EU but we cant go to war with them anymore because we don't have our empire to back us up haha
That they are a peaceful democratic state counts for something. Germany was always going to be a dominant force in Europe. The only question was : what kind of Germany?
@@kristianfagerstrom7011 Yeah. The UK has been speeding towards irrelevance for the past hundred years. Empire and global influence lost, they weren't content with losing just that and further sidelined themselves with the whole Brexit debacle.
*An ostrich **_WAS_** involved!* Archduke Franz Ferdinand was wearing a formal hat with green ostrich feathers when he got shot! xD A poor old ostrich _did_ die for nothing.. Brilliant stuff.
Well the truth is the British wanted a continental war to destroy the burgeoning power of Germany, which was rapidly overtaking them. Classic English strategy really: always ally with the weaker of the continental powers to bring down the stronger - and thus maintain hegemony... So they encircled Germany, made nice with the French and the Russians (their erstwhile enemies!), even turned Italy - and all it took was a spark. They didn't necessarily want to join in themselves, mind you (the limeys always prefer someone else do the dirty work)... but it turned out the Germans were just too strong and they'd have to do at least part of the difficult stuff. Though France and Russia of course still did the vast majority of it. The Germans themselves saw that they were being encircled, in particular that Russia was rapidly modernizing and would soon become too much for them, so they wanted to get it on sooner rather than wait for the British vise to well and truly close on them.
The writing is spectacular, and Rowan Atkinson's ownership of the character of Blackadder is equally as magical. It's one of the finest characters ever committed to celuloid, IMHO.
Interestingly, Atkinson used to have a slight stutter, made worse by nerves while performing. He overcame it, and like Churchill (who also had a slight stammer) turned an annoyance into an advantage. But certain letters he had to be careful with, especially the letter B. It's why the "bollocks" line is so well timed, or why Atkinson only has to say the name "Bob" in a sketch and it sounds deliberately amusing.
The essence of Blackadder Goes Forth. An intelligent man well aware of the course of events, ultimately totally unable to avoid being consumed by them.
The scary thing is, Blackadder's exactly right about how the idea being that having those military alliances in place was supposed to make it impossible to start a war, because it would result in mutual destruction. This is the exact same reasoning we're relying on to avoid a nuclear war.
The diffrence is that we got niclear weapons and back then them most distractive weapon was 100t of TNT under the building or to be practical 380mm naval gun. Everybody is knows how distraciv are nuclear weapons and they know it would be the end of civilization while then you got idiotic aristocrats like Haige and those french idiotic generals and Moltke jr. who never thought something else then throw man at the problem and front never moved for 4 years.
Exactly. With allies, countries think they can do whatever they want as long as their allies were with them. Austria had Germany, which encouraged it's assualt into Serbia, France and Russia joined together with Britain joining a couple weeks later when Belgium was attacked. If it was Austria alone, chances are the leadership would've backed down. Or if France didn't have Russia, Austria most likely would've been free from the Entente to invade Serbia. Confidence really didn't do too many favours when it came to alliances.
@@RhysCallinan-cg5ww Not to mention war was still a highly glorified and "refined" thing prior to WW1. Europe had yet to really experience an industrialized war. All the generals and leaders were old military men who still thought war was glorious calvary charges and whatnot.
@@AdamantLightLP "All the generals and leaders were old military men" And in the British case, a lot of the military rank came along with hereditary title, or otherwise bought. Competence and ability had nothing to do with it.
GrandSupremeDaddyo I believe that's because he had, or still has a speech impediment which made him stutter when using the letter B, so he had to force it out more. Can't remember where I heard that though...
The fact that my history teacher showed my entire class this episode just to summarize the war for us is more telling on how well this series was written
+russell campbell This (no joke) is because Rowan Atkinson suffers from stuttering, especially when pronouncing the "B" by actually putting emphasis on the consonant, he managed to overcome his stutter
I could ramble about block building bilateral contracts, hegemonian elites, imperialism, french-german-rivalry, rising Nationalism, the socialy devided austrian empire, simple-minded german diplomacy and Emperor Wilhelm II. but "It was too much effort not to have a war" pretty much is the best summary I heard to this date.
really it could have been avoided if german had remained a bit more diplomatic. Wilhelm was an idiot through and through, and instead of being the lynchpin of what could have been the European balance of power, He became intent on trying to become its master. instead he, trying to secure his legacy, did nothing big cause the biggest upset of politics in centuries burying monarchies dead and gone. also causing the politics of the west of be put out of balance, going from fascist and communist forces swinging, and more recently the war between the emerging new far right in europe and america and whatever weird post modern thing social justice culture even is. both extremes dangerous and bad for the society and even today we see no balance due to the sheer societal trauma sparked at the time.
I think the ending of this series he was also kind, when he admitted that Baldrick's plan of getting out of that charge was probably way better than his, before wishing his friends good luck as the whistle goes.
"Too much effort NOT to have a war" Perfectly sums up the reality of WW1. The 'reason' was so contrived, they all had these new weapons, equipment, tanks, guns ect and really really wanted to use them
Tanks weren't invented until the later parts of the war. But I agree, there was too much enthusiasm for war on both sides and no real idea of the kind of carnage modern technology would unleash on the battlefield on the poor men drafted to fight.
@@DelValle144 A YT channel i watch called History Matters used a phrase once which i agree with in regards to WW1 "World war 1 was a war of losers, even those who won lost"
Agreed. The Royal Navy and the high seas fleet were absolutely champing at the bit to put their shiny new dreadnought battleships against each other. Upper echelons of government though a big war was likely as early as pre-1910, and both sides stoked up their populace to accept it when it did.
I loved it when Private Baldrick inscribes his name on a bullet and brings it to the Captain exclaiming that he owns the bullet with his name on it, therefore he could never be hit by it. Totally amazing series and a very brave subject to write into comedy history.
I used the Archie Duke line in a WWI letter for an English lesson back in school. The English teacher was so confused she asked my mum (who she knew) about it and had to have Blackadder explained to her... My History teacher was much better. When she mentioned the Bishop of Bath and Wells, I asked "The baby eating one?" and she replied "No, he was 400 years later, in the Elizabethan period." The rest of the class had no idea what we were talking about, which I thought was a bit odd for an A-Level History class.
In the Bishop of Bath and Wells episode, there’s the line “There’s a man at my door at four in the morning? What is he, a giant lark?” I’ve always found the “giant lark” put down really funny, but it only works in the context of the scene. You can’t just call someone a giant lark. Believe me, I’ve tried.
My kids were very hip to Blackadder in the early 80's. The quotes abounded in my English classes. 'You have a woman's hands, my lord," being one of them.
"The real reason for the whole thing was that it was too much effort NOT to have a war." Dry, witty, sarcastic British humor at its finest. ALL sides had been gearing up for war and NO ONE was really surprised by it. The Archduke of Austria-Hungary, Franz Ferdinand, being shot by a Serbian nationalist was just the first of the dozens of shaky dominos falling and the alliances in Europe pretty much ensured that within a matter of weeks everyone would be at each other's throats. Austria-Hungary was pissed at Serbia, Russia stepped in to protect Serbia, Austria-Hungary mobilized against Serbia, Germany assured that it would support Austria-Hungary, Russia mobilized against Austria-Hungary, Germany mobilized as well and attacked Belgium and France to prevent a two-front war it couldn't win, Britain stepped in to protect neutral Belgium, etc. And I'm sure I missed something. The sad thing is that the whole alliance system which was supposed to balance the competing powers of Europe ensured that a total war was the only logical outcome. Half a century before, Austria-Hungary and Serbia would've slugged it out and the rest would've watched on the sidelines.
Only thing is that Serbia the country wasnt involved in assasination, and austro-hungary wanted insane demands as compensation. But it passed then, and opened door to future incidents : one criminal organization caused attack on world trade center in 2000, as response murica destroyed entire country that had nothing to do with it.
@@Ladovinka513 The fingerprints of the Serbian government was all over the assassination. That is why they blocked any investigation of the murder. The demands were not insane at all, and Serbia should just accept them.
@@Hallvor1976 Bully will always search for ways to justify their actions. Asking from another country to surpass it`s own constitution and laws is deffinition of occupation. And we see this today all over plaen from another empire, that finds their points of interest on any location on earth, and demand utter subjugation from others. Or else . . .
True WW1 was human stupidity in its greatest show arming 2 giant armies on the premise of no war because the will keep each other in check. Pretty much sneezing on the wrong soldier or important figure in Europe back then could've have started a war.
"It was bollocks" is a good answer, but not the whole one. Unfortunately everyone was also itching for a fight in 1914. When war broke out there was a rush to volunteer and join up in all countries. It seems that people were bored with peace... Perhaps nowadays we're smarter and wiser. One hopes so.
Here is how is all went down. **World War One as a Bar Fight** The Police Report, as Written by the Desk Sergeant on Duty for Use by the Night Court Judge Germany, Austria and Italy are standing together in the middle of a bar when Serbia bumps into Austria and spills Austria's beer. Austria demands Serbia buy it a complete new suit because there are splashes on its trouser leg. Germany expresses its support for Austria's point of view. Britain recommends that everyone calm down a bit. Serbia points out that it can't afford a whole suit, but offers to pay for the cleaning of Austria's trousers. Russia and Serbia look at Austria. Austria asks Serbia who it's looking at. Russia suggests that Austria should leave its little brother Serbia alone. Austria inquires as to whose army will assist Russia in compelling it to do so. Russia says France and Russia are like brothers. Austria says Germany and Austria *are* brothers, and Germany is the big brother. As it happens, Germany has been looking for a fight for some time, and aggressively tells Britain to back off. Germany further adds that France has been looking at it, and that this is sufficiently out of order that Britain should butt out. Britain, nettled, replies that France can look at who it wants to, that Britain is looking at Germany too, and what is Germany going to do about it? And Germany had better stop looking at France’s little brother, Belgium, too. Germany tells Russia to stop looking at Austria, or Germany will render Russia incapable of such action. Britain and France both ask Germany whether it's looking at Belgium. Germany calls on Turkey and Italy to watch its back, but Italy goes off in a corner. Turkey and Germany go off into a corner and whisper. When they come back, Turkey makes a show of not looking at anyone. Germany rolls up its sleeves, looks at Russia, looks at France, and sucker-punches Belgium. Germany then kicks Belgium when it is down. France and Britain punch Germany. Austria punches Russia. Germany punches Britain and France with one hand and Russia with the other. Russia throws a punch at Germany, but misses and nearly falls over. Japan calls over from the other side of the room that it's on Britain's side, but stays there. Italy surprises everyone by punching Austria. Austria punches Italy. Britain shouts for help and Australia runs in and punches Turkey, and gets punched back. There are no hard feelings because Britain made Australia do it. France gets thrown through a plate glass window, but gets back up and carries on fighting. Russia gets thrown through another one, gets knocked out, suffers brain damage, wakes up with a complete personality change, and staggers off. Italy throws a punch at Austria and misses, but Austria falls over anyway and goes all to pieces. Germany has been throwing furniture out the window at America to keep friend-of-Britain America from coming in, but America finally comes in. America waits till Germany and France are about to fall over from sustained punching, then walks over and smashes Germany with a barstool, then pretends it won the fight all by itself. By now all the chairs are broken and the big mirror over the bar is shattered. Britain, France, Italy and America agree that Germany threw the first punch, so the whole thing is Germany's fault. Besides which, Germany had stolen France’s Alsatian last week. While Germany is still unconscious, they go through its pockets, take its wallet by way of compensation, and buy drinks for all their friends.
Yes, it's almost surprising it didn't happen before now cause, well, the whole plan was bollocks, both pre-WW1 and the whole Cold War. Same idea essentially, both were bollocks, though I guess in technicality it worked for the latter...but not really, in my opinion.
"The idea was two vast opposing armies, each acting as the others deterrent. That way there could never be a war... " I'm so glad we learnt from history and didn't repeat the mistakes of the past, just imagine a world where we doubled down on our flawed ideas and created a world where two super blocks build vast opposing armies with enough destructive power to level the entire world with say bombs that could flatten entire cities and then believed that the idea of going to war would be enough of a deterrent to ensure peace....
@@LoneWolf2622. Yes, the nuclear powers have been very peaceful over the last 70 years, and there is no risk of those nuclear powers being drawn into ongoing conflicts as we speak.
"There was one time were there wasn't a war on and a time were a war was on but how did we get from the time when there wasn't a war to the time there was, so what I wanna know is how did we get from one set of affairs to the other set of affairs. "You mean how did the war start?" ".........................yeah :)"
At the same time, it's so sad, isn't it? It's like there being a war and there not being a war are two states of being so completely different to one another that it's impossible to imagine going from war to no-war or vice versa. The idea that these things could be caused, that rather than this being some kind of profound state it might be the consequence of things we can see and understand - Baldrick's not the cleverest sausage, but I can see how it would be difficult to imagine that, let alone put it into words.
Fuck off, you yankie-doodle-doofus. Huge Laurie is a comedic actor better known for English classics, and you bring up his US gig in some stupid, overrated TV medical drama? You have no refined taste.
JanetStarChild first off: not a yank. second off: first time I saw him was at flight of the phoenix. third off: Im aware of a bit of fry and laurie and I fucking love it. fourth off: its a fucking joke you dingus.
I'm always amused by George's open mouthed stare as he tries to follow the depths of Baldrik's thoughts. He knows he's in the presence of a mind beyond his ability to comprehend.
I know exactly what you mean about George 😁 Mad as a bicycle ! 😂 Cover me in eggs and flour and bake me for 14 minutes 😂 Don't slouch Darling 🤣 Do you remember what happened to Flossy? You shot him! It was an act of Mercy after that dog have been set on him your dog sir yes my dog and you have to remember he was also run over by that car your car sir yes my car ! 😂 You know they say that they say somewhere there's a bullet with your name on it 🤣 Ah, Cappuccino! You got any that brown stuff you sprinkle on the top? NO NO 🤣 I like every Blackadder but I the fourth is probably my favourite and THAT ending 😮
@@thefog7067 One of Baldrick's best lines; "You know how they say somewhere there's a bullet with your name on it?" "Yes." "Well, I figure if I owned the bullet with my name it I'd never be hit by it. Because I'd never shoot myself."
Blackadder: "Oh shame" 😂 Baldrick: "And the chances of there being two bullets with my name on them are very small indeed" Blackadder: " That's not the only thing that's very small indeed, if a hungry cannibal cracked your head open Baldrick there wouldn't be enough inside to cover a small water biscuit! So many great lines . . . "We've been stuck here for years and have advanced no further than an asthmatic Ant with some heavy shopping 🤣🤣🤣
Absolutely brilliant comedy, so well written and performed, always hilariously funny yet always with quite a meaningful storyline. The very last episode actually moved me to tears!!😢😢🇬🇧🇬🇧
Absolutely right. I've never felt the urge to see it again because of it's poignancy as you said and its power plus it is a helluva political statement and a comment on humanity well worth retaining. Makes one's eyes water, that does.
Yes! But the truth is that that final shot ended up that way because the scene they had planned didn't work. It wasn't believable because of budgetary constraints. So one of the editors had the brilliant idea to take what they already had and put a slow motion effect on it.
Otto Von Bismarck told the Kaiser on Bismarck's deathbed, that "the great conflagration of Europe" would come in 40 years if nothing changed, and that "some damn fool thing in the Balkans" would be what set it off. Nothing did change, it did begin in the Balkans, and his prediction was out by only 3 months His was a mind that moved Europe like a chessboard and created the modern German state, and he could see the complex interlocking schemes and geopolitical strategies of the European superpowers. "It was just too much effort not to have a war" isn't far off the truth. There were so many moments in the build up to mobilisation of forces where it could have been avoided. If Kaiser Wilhelm had stood up to his war-seeking parliament with more resolve. If the Austro-Hungarians had accepted the entirely reasonable settlement compromise offered by the Serbian government. If the British hadn't been worried of growing German power and influence, and so sought to cause unrest and weaken them to protect her own interests. But no-one wanted to avoid war enough. Which is both a sad state of affairs, and a consistent, fundamental truth of human history
A lot more truth in that than people will admit. I still give massive respect to those that gave their lives. The war to end all war though seriously. My Welsh Grandfather fought in both wars and I will assure you good men die for profiteers every day.
Why do you have respect for those who died in WW I ? The only proper cause of action was to refuse to enter military service. The people who did, and got punished for that have my respect. Not for the mindless fools who allowed propaganda to convince themselves, or the cowards who didn't dare to go against their culture or government.
Rutger, because a lot of the people who went to war were pressured into doing it. They wouldn't outright get told to do so, but it was a sign of being a coward if you didn't enlist. You should read up on what happened to the Hearts football team in WW1.
Yassin I am very sorry. But I can't accept cultural pressure as an excuse not to do the right thing. That's a very slippery slope, and we must avoid it at all cost. Every soldier that picked up a gun in WW I shares in the responsibility of the horrible tragedy that it was. I can't say if I would be brave enough to go against my culture, and risk legal punishment and being ridiculed and lose the respect of those close to me. Perhaps I too would fail to do the right thing. But that's the key part. Any soldier who fought in WW I failed as a human being. I understand that it was a difficult choice, I understand there was pressure, I understand they were badly informed, I understand why they failed. But that doesn't change the fact that they failed, and they don't deserve respect for that.
Rutger, if they hadn't chosen to enlist then the Germans would have won the war and we'd be speaking German right now. All we can do is thank them for their sacrifice and doing what was necessary.
@117101360477260191876 Nothing truly bad would have happened if the Germans won WW I, at least nothing as terrible as WW II. And none of the Central forces were aiming to take over large parts of European lands. The borders in Western Europe would hardly have changed. All we can do is study why they failed and started of the 20th century as a time of warfare. Of course that failure is the failure of all soldiers on all sides. EDIT: The September programm does show the German intend to extend their dominance over large parts of Eastern Europe. If that would have changed the 20th century history of Eastern Europe for the better or the worse is any ones guess.
damn. baldwick speaks like a mathematician! "if we consider a continuous function that is negative at one point and positive at another, then that means that there should be a point somewhere in between where the function would be zero!"
@@RKBock Sorry, missed the continuous part. But given an arbitrary equation, it might be impossible to tell, even with a sign analysis, where discontinuities exist, if the limits all check out.
@@DoctorScrimguard analytically? It's possible to check. Numerically? Given a finite interval and a minimum jump one would be ok with, it's possible using the Lipschitz criterion.
my summing up - 800, 000 british lives for a 4 year slow walk from one end of belgium to the other. (i think the original blackadder series set during the wars of the roses is a spoof of the 1970's series black arrow)
Oh God, after all these years still brilliant. I miss comedy like this. Seems we've lost it altogether since reality became too absurd to parody. Shame really.
Blame the evolution of ironic detachment from Gen X and on. In that regard, I hope it is also used as the ultimate deterrent to join any more wars, since all is now parody and therefore bollocks.
"Reality became too absurd to parody". Yeah it's gotten strange that's for sure. Used to love Blackadder back in the day. It's hard to see anything of that quality coming out these days.
Last great comedy was Mitchell and Webb in Ambassadors. If you klike this I suspect you will love that. 'however, all you have after is "spoof"like People Just do Nothing. Please understand that it is not passable. Honestly, it does not meet the standards! We were raised on The Day Today, Brasseye, I'm Alan Partridge, and The Friday Night Armistace. Shows where they would have a twenty minute skit to showcase a ten second gag. A routine where you get the audience in your hand by busting your ass with top-notch production values, and a camera filter that matches your subject matter 100%
George commenting about loving history, Henry the 8th an his 6 knives is such a hidden gem, showing that officers are not generally smart people (in those times)
When I was a young lad during WW2 in England I'd see left over posters advertising things that were no longer available, holidays by the sea, machines that gave out chocolate bars , etc that were now on ration . And I'd think, that must have been a golden age before the war, why did it change
Joe Cool I think were Britain went wrong was in adopting the welfare state after ww2. The US had a backlash against the wartime rogulations even before the end of the war, and the Repbulican controled Congress saw the end of wartime boards as a priority.
Not so. The physicals carried out on conscripted men age 18-35 in mainly WW1 but also WW2 revealed the appalling physical condition of the majority of male Brits that were supposedly in their prime. Living in squalid poverty in WW1, 60% failed the basic physical, few had any teeth for example and had stunted growth. It was a wake up call to the UK governments that led to government intervention in which free Health Care was priority. When I was a young lad we all had our teeth inspected once a year at school by dentist, we were all had to drink a small bottle of milk at recess, hot lunches diners were provided free to elementary children etc., vans toured the streets for any one that wanted X_rays their lungs - TB was endemic and much more All part of the Welfare system
I don't know what you mean but WW1 was the first time in its history that the health of all the young men in the UK was measured and recorded. And as I say, it was a wake up call for the government.
In order to prevent War in Europe, vast networks of cables and pipes were laid down between countries. Norwegian Gas and Dutch electricity for Brittain, Russian gas and oil, and French electricity for Germany and so on. The Idea was to connect the Nation's economies tightly, acting as an universal deterrent to everyone. That way there could never be a War. As before, there was a tiny flaw in the Plan...
When Tony Robinson was made a Sir I always remember someone saying "Tony Robinson was knighted today, he's best known as the halfwitted dishevelled presenter of Time Team" :o)
Its a total mystery to me how hugh Laurie and rowan Atkinson, who are brilliant, get passed over.. yet Robinson who I find consistently intensely annoying becomes a sir. Wtf ?!
Well for nukes it is actually working. Because unlike with a large army those people leading states are actually affected by nukes. And can't just watch from their homes as their men are slaughtered for the greater good.
My grandad dug up some weapons and other German equipment from ww2 and kept it in a glass cabinet and always warned me to never touch them, of course being a kid I had a burning desire to play with them each time I'd visit. One day I had an opportunity when no one was looking and took out one pistol that looked most intact out of the lot, some parts of it were missing including the trigger which I remember being disappointed about but it didn't stop me going outside and pointing it at all the kids. I think if it was in full working order and loaded I would've shot someone. You tend to remember the moment when you get a one in a lifetime bollocking.
@@gurpreetsingh-sk3rh Bollocks is an English expletive meaning foolish, rubbish or stupid. It is used to express contempt. Crap is another good example. It should not be confused with the phrase "Dog's Bollocks" which means something outstanding or great.
@@gurpreetsingh-sk3rh The original term refers to the lowest rank within the christian church hierarchy. It was a term of abuse used by those higher up in the church to abuse their inferiors. Over time it mutated to other forms of abuse and typically these days also refers to testicles.
In answer to this, One of them (The one with pencils in his nose) is Rowan Atkinson, who is one of the UK's comedy geniuses, and created Mr.Bean. The other is Tony Robinson who is most famous for Baldrick in this clip, propular comedy characters and also an amateur historian who presents a program called Time team in the uk, amongst other things. Neither are Monty Python.
truth is I didn't know hugh laurie was in House until recently, cause i never even watched that series. I only knew him from this and many other things he did in the british theatre and acting industry
Archie was standing in Kenya while holding the gun, but the ostrich had been earmarked to be made into sausage in Tanganyika, alongside the batwurts they made from wart hog and wildebeasts. Wildewurts.
I've told the ostrich joke in about every history class I've had. My teacher would be laughing on the floor for five minutes straight and everybody else is wondering what was so funny.
In another scene Blackadder described the war as "Something that could have been more efficient if we just stayed at home and shot 50,000 of our own men every week"
Don't remember hearing that.
@@Realpoweronearth Blackadder: For us, the Great War is finito, a war which would be a damn sight simpler if we just stayed in England and shot fifty thousand of our men a week.
Episode: wars a horrid thing, ding a ling
Nice :D
@@FlyingSpaghettiMonster2000 Baldrick, probably the best Great War poet that never lived.
Boom, boom, boom, boom
Boom, boom, boom
Boom! Boom! - Boom! Boom!
Boom, boom, boom
Who's going to miss a pigeon?
"The war started because of Saddam Hussein and his Weapons of Mass Destruction!"
"George, the US, at present, has enough nukes to blow up the entire planet several times over. While the extent of Iraq's WMDs consists of an ancient Persian battering ram currently being housed in Baghdad Museum."
This sounds legitimately like it came from Blackadder!
Brilliant haha
"You see, the CIA believed that they could just fund freedom fighters in Syria and get rid of that pesky friend of Russia Assad."
"But then, kind of, everything fell apart and the Islamic State committed terror attacks all over the globe and almost took over Iraq, isn't it, Sir?"
"Yes, there was just a tiny flaw in the CIA's plan. It was bollox."
A: we stole it
B: Saddam Hussein had used gas attacks during the Iran Iraq War
This would make for a gem of a audio book or radio play. Well done.
"I heard it started when a bloke called Archie Duke shot an Ostrich, because he was Hungary." Brilliant. Such a Polished performance and he Finnished it off really well.
i think it was "hungry", not Hungary
The fact that the germanised version of Austria is Österriech and people usually confuse Austria and Australia makes it even funnier.
@@sagnik2693 Austria is the anglicised version for Österreich, not the other way around.
@@timofiy98 Ahh, but that was the clever wink to the audience in the writing
@@68404 i know that it was all a "pun" i'm just saying that he got the quote wrong
"It was too much effort not to have a war". This phrase elegantly and simply sums up this whole show. It's funny, clever, and at the same time carries a great depth of political and social commentary.
Dealing with a german dominated europe was and still is going to be a nightmare for Britain. As he said ''too much effort''
Unfortunately nowadays, we have the german dominated EU but we cant go to war with them anymore because we don't have our empire to back us up haha
That they are a peaceful democratic state counts for something.
Germany was always going to be a dominant force in Europe. The only question was : what kind of Germany?
@@kristianfagerstrom7011 Yeah. The UK has been speeding towards irrelevance for the past hundred years. Empire and global influence lost, they weren't content with losing just that and further sidelined themselves with the whole Brexit debacle.
Because it was bollocks
@@ShadowGJ irrelevance is a bit hyperbolic but I agree with the general sentiment
So the poor old ostrich died for nothing...
yes
He kinda did actually..
yes and unfortunately millions died as a result.
theres always some risk of collateral
That's some pretty hefty collateral from stopping Archie Duke's hunger pangs!
*An ostrich **_WAS_** involved!* Archduke Franz Ferdinand was wearing a formal hat with green ostrich feathers when he got shot! xD
A poor old ostrich _did_ die for nothing.. Brilliant stuff.
Shh!
Don't let the truth get out.....
Well the truth is the British wanted a continental war to destroy the burgeoning power of Germany, which was rapidly overtaking them. Classic English strategy really: always ally with the weaker of the continental powers to bring down the stronger - and thus maintain hegemony... So they encircled Germany, made nice with the French and the Russians (their erstwhile enemies!), even turned Italy - and all it took was a spark.
They didn't necessarily want to join in themselves, mind you (the limeys always prefer someone else do the dirty work)... but it turned out the Germans were just too strong and they'd have to do at least part of the difficult stuff. Though France and Russia of course still did the vast majority of it.
The Germans themselves saw that they were being encircled, in particular that Russia was rapidly modernizing and would soon become too much for them, so they wanted to get it on sooner rather than wait for the British vise to well and truly close on them.
You don't know what the fuck you are talking about.
Sure I do. In the words of Viscount Palmerston: Britain has no allies or enemies, only interests.
That's true for everyone, Germany just happens to have lost(twice)
That last line in the end "it was bollocks" was complete genius. The timing, the build up, the delivery, the tone, literally everything. Pure genius
And with two giant Q tips up his nose!
Its scary because his response could be considered a critique of the Nuclear Deterrence theory
The writing is spectacular, and Rowan Atkinson's ownership of the character of Blackadder is equally as magical. It's one of the finest characters ever committed to celuloid, IMHO.
This is probably the greatest explanation for the outbreak of WWI ever
Right up there with the Horrible Histories version
What? A guy named Archie Duke shot an ostrich cos he was hungry?
@@takoo6189 Honestly it might as well have been
That poor ostrich died for nothing!
And why MAD will fail
That line about there being a tiny flaw in the plan is so beautifully timed. Brilliant Rowan Atkinson!
+Bob
Atkinson has a very melodic delivery. He almost sings his lines, and it makes for wonderful moments of comedy. George Carlin also "sang".
Interestingly, Atkinson used to have a slight stutter, made worse by nerves while performing. He overcame it, and like Churchill (who also had a slight stammer) turned an annoyance into an advantage. But certain letters he had to be careful with, especially the letter B. It's why the "bollocks" line is so well timed, or why Atkinson only has to say the name "Bob" in a sketch and it sounds deliberately amusing.
Sean Coyne In fact, all plosive consonants helped him in his quest for smooth delivery.
+Mark Richardson I must educate myself on Sean Coyne
czcams.com/video/wOdfNwD9cEA/video.html
The essence of Blackadder Goes Forth. An intelligent man well aware of the course of events, ultimately totally unable to avoid being consumed by them.
The scary thing is, Blackadder's exactly right about how the idea being that having those military alliances in place was supposed to make it impossible to start a war, because it would result in mutual destruction. This is the exact same reasoning we're relying on to avoid a nuclear war.
The diffrence is that we got niclear weapons and back then them most distractive weapon was 100t of TNT under the building or to be practical 380mm naval gun. Everybody is knows how distraciv are nuclear weapons and they know it would be the end of civilization while then you got idiotic aristocrats like Haige and those french idiotic generals and Moltke jr. who never thought something else then throw man at the problem and front never moved for 4 years.
not quite, in those times they thought they could win a war, with nukes we all know it is impossible.
Exactly. With allies, countries think they can do whatever they want as long as their allies were with them. Austria had Germany, which encouraged it's assualt into Serbia, France and Russia joined together with Britain joining a couple weeks later when Belgium was attacked. If it was Austria alone, chances are the leadership would've backed down. Or if France didn't have Russia, Austria most likely would've been free from the Entente to invade Serbia. Confidence really didn't do too many favours when it came to alliances.
@@RhysCallinan-cg5ww Not to mention war was still a highly glorified and "refined" thing prior to WW1. Europe had yet to really experience an industrialized war. All the generals and leaders were old military men who still thought war was glorious calvary charges and whatnot.
@@AdamantLightLP "All the generals and leaders were old military men" And in the British case, a lot of the military rank came along with hereditary title, or otherwise bought. Competence and ability had nothing to do with it.
I don't know if there has ever been a human with more entertaining pronunciation of his Bs than Rowan Atkinson.
GrandSupremeDaddyo I believe that's because he had, or still has a speech impediment which made him stutter when using the letter B, so he had to force it out more. Can't remember where I heard that though...
Agree. The funny thing is, most people worldwide know him as Mr.Bean. A character that almost never spoke.
Atkinson's other work was so much better than the single character, mr Bean. I think that Blackadder is so much better.
And Bean starts with a 'B'. Coincidence? I don't think so.
And Bean starts with a'B.' Coincidence? I hardly think so
"You see there was a tiny flaw in the plan"
"What was that sir?"
"It was bollocks."
Brilliant!!! Haha!
Arms Race in a nutshell.
@@samuelvimes7686 this dialogue can be found on the trope page for mutually assured destruction.
have fun reading it
Especially when they kept parts of it secret (France-Russia defense treaty). What is the point of having a doomsday alliance if it is secret?
@@currahee1782 3 miles up, 3 miles down.
@@RenegadeShepTheSpacer I see what u did there
The fact that my history teacher showed my entire class this episode just to summarize the war for us is more telling on how well this series was written
It was bollocks! always cracks me up!
Wonderfully succinct summary.
GaGrin
sums up EVERY war in 3 words :D
Renlentless Tourist No one says "bullocks" like RA. Or "Bob".
+russell campbell
This (no joke) is because Rowan Atkinson suffers from stuttering, especially when pronouncing the "B"
by actually putting emphasis on the consonant, he managed to overcome his stutter
I always thought he said "it was bullets" there, which also made a good joke
I could ramble about block building bilateral contracts, hegemonian elites, imperialism, french-german-rivalry, rising Nationalism, the socialy devided austrian empire, simple-minded german diplomacy and Emperor Wilhelm II.
but "It was too much effort not to have a war" pretty much is the best summary I heard to this date.
Yeah
You forgot the ostrich!
You forgot the other simple-minded heads of state.
really it could have been avoided if german had remained a bit more diplomatic. Wilhelm was an idiot through and through, and instead of being the lynchpin of what could have been the European balance of power, He became intent on trying to become its master. instead he, trying to secure his legacy, did nothing big cause the biggest upset of politics in centuries burying monarchies dead and gone. also causing the politics of the west of be put out of balance, going from fascist and communist forces swinging, and more recently the war between the emerging new far right in europe and america and whatever weird post modern thing social justice culture even is. both extremes dangerous and bad for the society and even today we see no balance due to the sheer societal trauma sparked at the time.
@soviet union you cannot blame it all on Germany. WW2 for sure but not WW1
‘Permission granted’ is possibly the nicest thing Blackadder has ever said to Baldrick. Given the context of all this, it’s actually quite touching.
I think the ending of this series he was also kind, when he admitted that Baldrick's plan of getting out of that charge was probably way better than his, before wishing his friends good luck as the whistle goes.
"Too much effort NOT to have a war"
Perfectly sums up the reality of WW1. The 'reason' was so contrived, they all had these new weapons, equipment, tanks, guns ect and really really wanted to use them
Tanks weren't invented until the later parts of the war. But I agree, there was too much enthusiasm for war on both sides and no real idea of the kind of carnage modern technology would unleash on the battlefield on the poor men drafted to fight.
@@DelValle144 A YT channel i watch called History Matters used a phrase once which i agree with in regards to WW1
"World war 1 was a war of losers, even those who won lost"
Agreed. The Royal Navy and the high seas fleet were absolutely champing at the bit to put their shiny new dreadnought battleships against each other. Upper echelons of government though a big war was likely as early as pre-1910, and both sides stoked up their populace to accept it when it did.
"but if we start the war first we could win before the other side even knows what is going on" - both sides of ww1
@@marxel4444 "Every time someone tries to win a war before it starts, people die" - Captain America
I loved it when Private Baldrick inscribes his name on a bullet and brings it to the Captain exclaiming that he owns the bullet with his name on it, therefore he could never be hit by it. Totally amazing series and a very brave subject to write into comedy history.
I used the Archie Duke line in a WWI letter for an English lesson back in school. The English teacher was so confused she asked my mum (who she knew) about it and had to have Blackadder explained to her... My History teacher was much better. When she mentioned the Bishop of Bath and Wells, I asked "The baby eating one?" and she replied "No, he was 400 years later, in the Elizabethan period." The rest of the class had no idea what we were talking about, which I thought was a bit odd for an A-Level History class.
Poker time!!!
@@stevebrown3559 Never, in all my years, have I encountered such cruel and foul-minded perversity! Have you ever considered a career in the church?
In the Bishop of Bath and Wells episode, there’s the line “There’s a man at my door at four in the morning? What is he, a giant lark?”
I’ve always found the “giant lark” put down really funny, but it only works in the context of the scene. You can’t just call someone a giant lark. Believe me, I’ve tried.
My kids were very hip to Blackadder in the early 80's. The quotes abounded in my English classes. 'You have a woman's hands, my lord," being one of them.
@@2wayplebney "You have a woman's bottom, my Lord!"
"The real reason for the whole thing was that it was too much effort NOT to have a war."
Dry, witty, sarcastic British humor at its finest. ALL sides had been gearing up for war and NO ONE was really surprised by it.
The Archduke of Austria-Hungary, Franz Ferdinand, being shot by a Serbian nationalist was just the first of the dozens of shaky dominos falling and the alliances in Europe pretty much ensured that within a matter of weeks everyone would be at each other's throats. Austria-Hungary was pissed at Serbia, Russia stepped in to protect Serbia, Austria-Hungary mobilized against Serbia, Germany assured that it would support Austria-Hungary, Russia mobilized against Austria-Hungary, Germany mobilized as well and attacked Belgium and France to prevent a two-front war it couldn't win, Britain stepped in to protect neutral Belgium, etc. And I'm sure I missed something.
The sad thing is that the whole alliance system which was supposed to balance the competing powers of Europe ensured that a total war was the only logical outcome. Half a century before, Austria-Hungary and Serbia would've slugged it out and the rest would've watched on the sidelines.
Only thing is that Serbia the country wasnt involved in assasination, and austro-hungary wanted insane demands as compensation. But it passed then, and opened door to future incidents : one criminal organization caused attack on world trade center in 2000, as response murica destroyed entire country that had nothing to do with it.
Did Gavrilo Princip wear a small hat I wonder?
So, the poor ostrich DID die for nothing!
@@Ladovinka513 The fingerprints of the Serbian government was all over the assassination. That is why they blocked any investigation of the murder. The demands were not insane at all, and Serbia should just accept them.
@@Hallvor1976 Bully will always search for ways to justify their actions. Asking from another country to surpass it`s own constitution and laws is deffinition of occupation. And we see this today all over plaen from another empire, that finds their points of interest on any location on earth, and demand utter subjugation from others. Or else . . .
"It was too much effort not to have a war"
Actually a very accurate explanation
Boldrick asks questions the way people write research papers.
"Not even our generals are mad enough to shell their own men. They think it's far more sporting to let the Germans do it."
Georges face when baldrick asks a semi intelligent questions gets me every time
Single most accurate answer to that question
True WW1 was human stupidity in its greatest show arming 2 giant armies on the premise of no war because the will keep each other in check. Pretty much sneezing on the wrong soldier or important figure in Europe back then could've have started a war.
No its not.
"It was bollocks" is a good answer, but not the whole one. Unfortunately everyone was also itching for a fight in 1914. When war broke out there was a rush to volunteer and join up in all countries. It seems that people were bored with peace... Perhaps nowadays we're smarter and wiser. One hopes so.
Andrew Francis only the Austrian and German generals wanted a war. No one else did it was very bad for business in Europe.
Russ only some Germans and Conrad von Hötzendorf, an Austrian, wanted a war and that was enough.
Here is how is all went down.
**World War One as a Bar Fight**
The Police Report, as Written by the Desk Sergeant on Duty for Use by the Night Court Judge
Germany, Austria and Italy are standing together in the middle of a bar when Serbia bumps into Austria and spills Austria's beer.
Austria demands Serbia buy it a complete new suit because there are splashes on its trouser leg.
Germany expresses its support for Austria's point of view.
Britain recommends that everyone calm down a bit.
Serbia points out that it can't afford a whole suit, but offers to pay for the cleaning of Austria's trousers. Russia and Serbia look at Austria.
Austria asks Serbia who it's looking at.
Russia suggests that Austria should leave its little brother Serbia alone.
Austria inquires as to whose army will assist Russia in compelling it to do so.
Russia says France and Russia are like brothers.
Austria says Germany and Austria *are* brothers, and Germany is the big brother.
As it happens, Germany has been looking for a fight for some time, and aggressively tells Britain to back off. Germany further adds that France has been looking at it, and that this is sufficiently out of order that Britain should butt out.
Britain, nettled, replies that France can look at who it wants to, that Britain is looking at Germany too, and what is Germany going to do about it?
And Germany had better stop looking at France’s little brother, Belgium, too.
Germany tells Russia to stop looking at Austria, or Germany will render Russia incapable of such action. Britain and France both ask Germany whether it's looking at Belgium.
Germany calls on Turkey and Italy to watch its back, but Italy goes off in a corner.
Turkey and Germany go off into a corner and whisper.
When they come back, Turkey makes a show of not looking at anyone.
Germany rolls up its sleeves, looks at Russia, looks at France, and sucker-punches Belgium.
Germany then kicks Belgium when it is down.
France and Britain punch Germany.
Austria punches Russia.
Germany punches Britain and France with one hand and Russia with the other.
Russia throws a punch at Germany, but misses and nearly falls over.
Japan calls over from the other side of the room that it's on Britain's side, but stays there.
Italy surprises everyone by punching Austria.
Austria punches Italy.
Britain shouts for help and Australia runs in and punches Turkey, and gets punched back. There are no hard feelings because Britain made Australia do it.
France gets thrown through a plate glass window, but gets back up and carries on fighting.
Russia gets thrown through another one, gets knocked out, suffers brain damage, wakes up with a complete personality change, and staggers off.
Italy throws a punch at Austria and misses, but Austria falls over anyway and goes all to pieces.
Germany has been throwing furniture out the window at America to keep friend-of-Britain America from coming in, but America finally comes in.
America waits till Germany and France are about to fall over from sustained punching, then walks over and smashes Germany with a barstool, then pretends it won the fight all by itself. By now all the chairs are broken and the big mirror over the bar is shattered.
Britain, France, Italy and America agree that Germany threw the first punch, so the whole thing is Germany's fault. Besides which, Germany had stolen France’s Alsatian last week.
While Germany is still unconscious, they go through its pockets, take its wallet by way of compensation, and buy drinks for all their friends.
This is great. Also it makes me wonder whether Eurovision is a very genteel proxy war.
Change the part about Britain at the beginning to "Britain tries to ignore it but gets dragged in anyway" and this is pretty much perfect.
Change the "Germany has been looking for a fight for some time" with Russia please.
I like how Blackadder knew what Baldrick was gonna ask but he still let him go all out.
"I heard that it started when a bloke called Archie Duke shot an ostrich ´cause he was Hungry!"
That line is brilliant in so many ways! :D
Hello from 2022, this is relevant again now.
Yes, it's almost surprising it didn't happen before now cause, well, the whole plan was bollocks, both pre-WW1 and the whole Cold War. Same idea essentially, both were bollocks, though I guess in technicality it worked for the latter...but not really, in my opinion.
"History doesn't repeat itself, but it does rhyme."
Tanganika....! Haven't heard that one in ages!
I'm more interested in the small sausage factory...
"The idea was two vast opposing armies, each acting as the others deterrent. That way there could never be a war... "
I'm so glad we learnt from history and didn't repeat the mistakes of the past, just imagine a world where we doubled down on our flawed ideas and created a world where two super blocks build vast opposing armies with enough destructive power to level the entire world with say bombs that could flatten entire cities and then believed that the idea of going to war would be enough of a deterrent to ensure peace....
scary isnt it? more so now
Except nuclear deterrents actually work, and have been working for the past 70 years.
@@LoneWolf2622. Yes, the nuclear powers have been very peaceful over the last 70 years, and there is no risk of those nuclear powers being drawn into ongoing conflicts as we speak.
@@DderwenWyllt is not like non nuclear armed nations will be used to fight proxy wars
Thing is though, it has worked for the nuclear equipped nations. Everyone else though? At the mercy of the nuclear equipped nations.
The best history lesson about the futility of war out there.
"There was one time were there wasn't a war on and a time were a war was on but how did we get from the time when there wasn't a war to the time there was, so what I wanna know is how did we get from one set of affairs to the other set of affairs.
"You mean how did the war start?"
".........................yeah :)"
At the same time, it's so sad, isn't it? It's like there being a war and there not being a war are two states of being so completely different to one another that it's impossible to imagine going from war to no-war or vice versa. The idea that these things could be caused, that rather than this being some kind of profound state it might be the consequence of things we can see and understand - Baldrick's not the cleverest sausage, but I can see how it would be difficult to imagine that, let alone put it into words.
Not just the ostrich, the poor turkey died also.
I think you mean the fight destroyed a perfectly good Ottoman.
True! Not perfectly good, though.
Imperator, I think u missed the bulgarian
Actually, turkey was born after the WWI. The sick man of Europe died with the war
"We are just about to go over the top. This is no time to discuss Poltry Baldwrick" LOL
One of the greatest series ever made. The satire is so sharp and close to the bone.
dr house high as fuck, fighting in World War 1 n' shit
Fuck off, you yankie-doodle-doofus. Huge Laurie is a comedic actor better known for English classics, and you bring up his US gig in some stupid, overrated TV medical drama? You have no refined taste.
JanetStarChild first off: not a yank.
second off: first time I saw him was at flight of the phoenix.
third off: Im aware of a bit of fry and laurie and I fucking love it.
fourth off: its a fucking joke you dingus.
JanetStarChild you need to take a seat and eat a Snickers. That was a bit harsh,
Sabrowsky I thought this was what happened when Jeeves couldn't find Wooster
***** not really no.
I'm always amused by George's open mouthed stare as he tries to follow the depths of Baldrik's thoughts. He knows he's in the presence of a mind beyond his ability to comprehend.
I know exactly what you mean about George 😁
Mad as a bicycle ! 😂
Cover me in eggs and flour and bake me for 14 minutes 😂
Don't slouch Darling 🤣
Do you remember what happened to Flossy?
You shot him!
It was an act of Mercy after that dog have been set on him
your dog sir
yes my dog and you have to remember he was also run over by that car
your car sir
yes my car ! 😂
You know they say that they say somewhere there's a bullet with your name on it 🤣
Ah, Cappuccino! You got any that brown stuff you sprinkle on the top? NO NO 🤣
I like every Blackadder but I the fourth is probably my favourite
and THAT ending 😮
@@thefog7067 One of Baldrick's best lines; "You know how they say somewhere there's a bullet with your name on it?" "Yes." "Well, I figure if I owned the bullet with my name it I'd never be hit by it. Because I'd never shoot myself."
Blackadder: "Oh shame" 😂
Baldrick: "And the chances of there being two bullets with my name on them are very small indeed"
Blackadder: " That's not the only thing that's very small indeed, if a hungry cannibal cracked your head open Baldrick there wouldn't be enough inside to cover a small water biscuit! So many great lines . . .
"We've been stuck here for years and have advanced no further than an asthmatic Ant with some heavy shopping 🤣🤣🤣
Hugh does gormless really well.
@@andrewmalinowski6673 fucking hilarious. Wtf has happened to British comedy.
An ostrich was involved! Franz Ferdinand had ostrich feathers in his hat on the day of his assassination.
And he was shot out of principle
so did his wife so the ostrich is to blame
Osterriech = Austria
Österreich. It takes a minute to find the proper name on Wikipedia.
That's why I copied the name from Wikipedia, ya doofus.
Probably my favourite short description of the causes of WWI. The "It was Bollocks" line has that perfect Rowan Atkinson comedic timing
Absolutely brilliant comedy, so well written and performed, always hilariously funny yet always with quite a meaningful storyline. The very last episode actually moved me to tears!!😢😢🇬🇧🇬🇧
Every. Time.
Along with millions of others. In a survey to find the best ever TV Finale. Blackadder`s finals scene won 23% of the vote.
The last episode and scene in this series was, and still is the most poignant piece of tv ever. If you’ve never seen it please watch it. ❤️❤️😢😢
Absolutely right. I've never felt the urge to see it again because of it's poignancy as you said and its power plus it is a helluva political statement and a comment on humanity well worth retaining.
Makes one's eyes water, that does.
Without doubt, it was masterfully written and executed.
It really summed up WW1.
Yes! But the truth is that that final shot ended up that way because the scene they had planned didn't work. It wasn't believable because of budgetary constraints. So one of the editors had the brilliant idea to take what they already had and put a slow motion effect on it.
The futility suffered by the masses to protect the interests of the few.
The brilliance of this show still shines bright.
Otto Von Bismarck told the Kaiser on Bismarck's deathbed, that "the great conflagration of Europe" would come in 40 years if nothing changed, and that "some damn fool thing in the Balkans" would be what set it off.
Nothing did change, it did begin in the Balkans, and his prediction was out by only 3 months
His was a mind that moved Europe like a chessboard and created the modern German state, and he could see the complex interlocking schemes and geopolitical strategies of the European superpowers.
"It was just too much effort not to have a war" isn't far off the truth. There were so many moments in the build up to mobilisation of forces where it could have been avoided. If Kaiser Wilhelm had stood up to his war-seeking parliament with more resolve. If the Austro-Hungarians had accepted the entirely reasonable settlement compromise offered by the Serbian government. If the British hadn't been worried of growing German power and influence, and so sought to cause unrest and weaken them to protect her own interests.
But no-one wanted to avoid war enough. Which is both a sad state of affairs, and a consistent, fundamental truth of human history
Great since Bismarck sowed the seeds of that war by his military aggression against Germany’s neighbors in the second half of the 19th century.
the only thing that can stop a bad guy with a superblock is a good guy with a superblock.
"so the poor old ostrich died for nothing" 🤣🤣🤣
"There was a tiny flaw with the plan; it was bullocks". Can't stop laughing.
it was bollocks
The look on George's face from 0:47-0:52 as he's trying to follow Baldrick's question is priceless !!
Ah yes, Henry VIII and his six knives..
A lot more truth in that than people will admit. I still give massive respect to those that gave their lives. The war to end all war though seriously. My Welsh Grandfather fought in both wars and I will assure you good men die for profiteers every day.
Why do you have respect for those who died in WW I ? The only proper cause of action was to refuse to enter military service. The people who did, and got punished for that have my respect. Not for the mindless fools who allowed propaganda to convince themselves, or the cowards who didn't dare to go against their culture or government.
Rutger, because a lot of the people who went to war were pressured into doing it. They wouldn't outright get told to do so, but it was a sign of being a coward if you didn't enlist. You should read up on what happened to the Hearts football team in WW1.
Yassin
I am very sorry. But I can't accept cultural pressure as an excuse not to do the right thing. That's a very slippery slope, and we must avoid it at all cost. Every soldier that picked up a gun in WW I shares in the responsibility of the horrible tragedy that it was.
I can't say if I would be brave enough to go against my culture, and risk legal punishment and being ridiculed and lose the respect of those close to me. Perhaps I too would fail to do the right thing.
But that's the key part. Any soldier who fought in WW I failed as a human being. I understand that it was a difficult choice, I understand there was pressure, I understand they were badly informed, I understand why they failed. But that doesn't change the fact that they failed, and they don't deserve respect for that.
Rutger, if they hadn't chosen to enlist then the Germans would have won the war and we'd be speaking German right now. All we can do is thank them for their sacrifice and doing what was necessary.
@117101360477260191876 Nothing truly bad would have happened if the Germans won WW I, at least nothing as terrible as WW II. And none of the Central forces were aiming to take over large parts of European lands. The borders in Western Europe would hardly have changed.
All we can do is study why they failed and started of the 20th century as a time of warfare. Of course that failure is the failure of all soldiers on all sides.
EDIT: The September programm does show the German intend to extend their dominance over large parts of Eastern Europe. If that would have changed the 20th century history of Eastern Europe for the better or the worse is any ones guess.
damn. baldwick speaks like a mathematician!
"if we consider a continuous function that is negative at one point and positive at another, then that means that there should be a point somewhere in between where the function would be zero!"
What about y=1/x?
@@DoctorScrimguard it is not continuous and has a pole/a singularity at X=0.
@@RKBock Sorry, missed the continuous part. But given an arbitrary equation, it might be impossible to tell, even with a sign analysis, where discontinuities exist, if the limits all check out.
@@DoctorScrimguard analytically? It's possible to check.
Numerically? Given a finite interval and a minimum jump one would be ok with, it's possible using the Lipschitz criterion.
@@RKBock What about a case like y=(-1)^x?
Aw, why didn't my history teacher never told me about that poor old ostrich?
My history teacher showed us this video to explain how it the war statted XD
He must have had his head buried in the sand.
Yes we watched all the episodes in history !
80 years later Baldricks grandson came back to this spot and dug it up for a tv show.
Unfortunately, not everyone who read that got the joke :D
@@FritigernGothly Ignorant bunch that lot, eh?!
@@FritigernGothly I was with him all the way.
my summing up - 800, 000 british lives for a 4 year slow walk from one end of belgium to the other.
(i think the original blackadder series set during the wars of the roses is a spoof of the 1970's series black arrow)
The Archie Duke comment will forever live rent free in my head
Oh God, after all these years still brilliant. I miss comedy like this. Seems we've lost it altogether since reality became too absurd to parody. Shame really.
Blame the evolution of ironic detachment from Gen X and on. In that regard, I hope it is also used as the ultimate deterrent to join any more wars, since all is now parody and therefore bollocks.
"Reality became too absurd to parody". Yeah it's gotten strange that's for sure. Used to love Blackadder back in the day. It's hard to see anything of that quality coming out these days.
Last great comedy was Mitchell and Webb in Ambassadors. If you klike this I suspect you will love that. 'however, all you have after is "spoof"like People Just do Nothing. Please understand that it is not passable. Honestly, it does not meet the standards! We were raised on The Day Today, Brasseye, I'm Alan Partridge, and The Friday Night Armistace. Shows where they would have a twenty minute skit to showcase a ten second gag. A routine where you get the audience in your hand by busting your ass with top-notch production values, and a camera filter that matches your subject matter 100%
Yes, strange epoch we're living...
Will smith has recently proved that the world has lost its sense humour.
Permission to ask a question sir.
Permission granted Baldrik.
As long as it isn't the one where babies come from.
Brilliant 👏 So funny.
George commenting about loving history, Henry the 8th an his 6 knives is such a hidden gem, showing that officers are not generally smart people (in those times)
You think that has changed since then?
@@markusklein1029 as i have never been in the armed forces i cannot answer that, sorry
"in order to prevent war, two superblocks developed"
This was probably meant to resonate with the audience when this show aired: during the Cold War
i believe the berlin wall fell the week after this went out - though i don't think the 2 things are related.
@@mrgobrien But what if... What if this episode actually caused the Berlin wall to come down?
The butterfly effect is a fickle thing.
History repeats itself. A LOT.
"it was bolocks" cracks me up every time
"Nah, there was definitely an ostrich involved, sir."
"Well, POSSIBLY."
Damn this is funny
actually there was! the archduke had ostrich feathers in his hat/helm
Very good explanation. The "prisoner's dilemma" in which participants chose the decisions with the worst outcome.
"This *is* a sort of a war, innit?"
A war hasn't been fought this badly since Olav the Hairy, highking of all vikings ordered 80000 battle helmets with the horns on the inside.
To be honest the Archduke Franz Ferdinand oy has himself to blame. He was the one saying "take me out"
Nice one :)
...he was also wearing ostrich feathers in his hat.....
*I know I won't be leaving here...* ♪♪
Thank god we arent still making the same mistakes and assumptions...... oh wait
This is West vs Russia 2022
Yeah...looks like another Ostrich died for nothing
Two powerful blocs, perfectly balanced so that there can never be another war... Yeah, we won't make that mistake again.
This episode I have to say is one of the best performance from British. So intense and meaningful, yet its a comedy.
When I was a young lad during WW2 in England I'd see left over posters advertising things that were no longer available, holidays by the sea, machines that gave out chocolate bars , etc that were now on ration . And I'd think, that must have been a golden age before the war, why did it change
Joe Cool I think were Britain went wrong was in adopting the welfare state after ww2. The US had a backlash against the wartime rogulations even before the end of the war, and the Repbulican controled Congress saw the end of wartime boards as a priority.
Not so. The physicals carried out on conscripted men age 18-35 in mainly WW1 but also WW2 revealed the appalling physical condition of the majority of male Brits that were supposedly in their prime. Living in squalid poverty in WW1, 60% failed the basic physical, few had any teeth for example and had stunted growth. It was a wake up call to the UK governments that led to government intervention in which free Health Care was priority. When I was a young lad we all had our teeth inspected once a year at school by dentist, we were all had to drink a small bottle of milk at recess, hot lunches diners were provided free to elementary children etc., vans toured the streets for any one that wanted X_rays their lungs - TB was endemic and much more All part of the Welfare system
Joe Cool So the it really is the welfare warfare state.
I don't know what you mean but WW1 was the first time in its history that the health of all the young men in the UK was measured and recorded. And as I say, it was a wake up call for the government.
Joe Cool how old r u
“Henry the 8th and his 6 knives all that”
When Historians spent years and volumes on the causes of WWI, Captain Blackadder, sums it up in a couple of lines....brilliant
#OstrichLivesMatter
this was the greatest Comedy of All Time.
"So, the poor old ostrich died for nothing!" (Baldric)
In order to prevent War in Europe, vast networks of cables and pipes were laid down between countries. Norwegian Gas and Dutch electricity for Brittain, Russian gas and oil, and French electricity for Germany and so on. The Idea was to connect the Nation's economies tightly, acting as an universal deterrent to everyone. That way there could never be a War.
As before, there was a tiny flaw in the Plan...
it's was ballocks
When Tony Robinson was made a Sir I always remember someone saying "Tony Robinson was knighted today, he's best known as the halfwitted dishevelled presenter of Time Team" :o)
Whoever said that clearly doesn't know the man.
@@SpeccyMan That was the point, it was a joke... everyone was expecting to hear Blackadder and he substituted Time Team
Its a total mystery to me how hugh Laurie and rowan Atkinson, who are brilliant, get passed over.. yet Robinson who I find consistently intensely annoying becomes a sir. Wtf ?!
@@davesmith9325 Mystery? Just look up why he was knighted
@@davesmith9325 They have all received awards, Tony has done more for social causes over his lifetime than the other two.
Favorite episode of Time Team, this.
His best work was "Tales from Fat Tulip's Garden"
The situation, succinctly put, into less than two and a half minutes.
The attitudes, the naivety, and the end reasoning. Brilliant script.
Rowan's face at 0:44!
"It was bollocks." Such perfect delivery. Bravo Rowan Atkinson.
Given the size of the flaw, was it tiny bollocks?
Almost like he practised it.
George Is like one of ur mates who’s been drinking all day and trying to keep up with the chat
Hahaha so true
Golden era of televison
2:13 Absolute classic brilliance!
After 2:08's sentence I'm worried, aren't nukes following the same principle!?
Well for nukes it is actually working. Because unlike with a large army those people leading states are actually affected by nukes. And can't just watch from their homes as their men are slaughtered for the greater good.
That is why they invented proxy wars. If Saddam really had those weapons of mass destruction he would still be in charge.
But nukes actually work as deterrent!
For now they are...until they end up in the wrong hands
They are in the wrong hands.
My grandad dug up some weapons and other German equipment from ww2 and kept it in a glass cabinet and always warned me to never touch them, of course being a kid I had a burning desire to play with them each time I'd visit. One day I had an opportunity when no one was looking and took out one pistol that looked most intact out of the lot, some parts of it were missing including the trigger which I remember being disappointed about but it didn't stop me going outside and pointing it at all the kids. I think if it was in full working order and loaded I would've shot someone. You tend to remember the moment when you get a one in a lifetime bollocking.
Were you ever caught and punished for it?
So the poor old ostrich died for nothing. 😢
My year 11 history teacher showed us this episode when we were studying world war one.
1:35 He's right, there was an Österreich involved.
“You see there was a _tiny_ flaw in the plan.”
“What’s that Sir?”
“It was bollocks.”
Can you explain what he meant by bollock
@@gurpreetsingh-sk3rh Bollocks is an English expletive meaning foolish, rubbish or stupid. It is used to express contempt. Crap is another good example. It should not be confused with the phrase "Dog's Bollocks" which means something outstanding or great.
@@gurpreetsingh-sk3rh "bollocks" are a slang term for testicles in the UK.
@@gurpreetsingh-sk3rh The original term refers to the lowest rank within the christian church hierarchy. It was a term of abuse used by those higher up in the church to abuse their inferiors. Over time it mutated to other forms of abuse and typically these days also refers to testicles.
A simpler and more accurate reasoning, than you will find in ANY History text.
Well, that pretty much sums it up.
1:21 - 1:45 best line sequence. (Love the "well, possibly")
Great history lesson by Blackadder
“There was a tiny flaw in the plan.”
“What’s that, sir?”
“It was bollocks.”
😂😵☠️
Dr House's ancestor in WW1
I hate that all anyone I know knows Hugh Laurie from is House
Timothy Creighton It's a joke. I think one of them is Monty Python and another is the guy who I forgot the movie name but it was quite funny.
I wasn't commenting on you. just on general people
In answer to this, One of them (The one with pencils in his nose) is Rowan Atkinson, who is one of the UK's comedy geniuses, and created Mr.Bean. The other is Tony Robinson who is most famous for Baldrick in this clip, propular comedy characters and also an amateur historian who presents a program called Time team in the uk, amongst other things. Neither are Monty Python.
truth is I didn't know hugh laurie was in House until recently, cause i never even watched that series. I only knew him from this and many other things he did in the british theatre and acting industry
Crazy video, Good Job. I am your 1k subscriber
Archie was standing in Kenya while holding the gun, but the ostrich had been earmarked to be made into sausage in Tanganyika, alongside the batwurts they made from wart hog and wildebeasts. Wildewurts.
I've told the ostrich joke in about every history class I've had. My teacher would be laughing on the floor for five minutes straight and everybody else is wondering what was so funny.
Yea, i believe you that really happened, right? And then everybody stood up and clapped, right?
@@gaymermoment "five minutes straight"
My teacher's response was more of a 'I will find a way to get you back for this.'