June 01, 2015
Two Hours Well Spent
Here is an FPRI panel with three scholars giving talks on on the First World War. The whole thing is worth your time. The first covers just how unexpected the disaster was and why that was. The second talk (25 and a half minutes in) is also quite interesting, with Rutger's Kate Epstein debunking some long held misconceptions about the British Empire's position and strategy at the beginning of the war. To me the third is particularly fascinating. In it, John R. Schindler (who blogs at Double Cross Committee) goes into detail about role Austria-Hungary played in the genesis of the catastrophe. That one starts about 43 minutes in.
I was aware that things went to worms for the KuK early on, but Schindler makes it clear that their setbacks were far worse than is generally supposed, making the fact that held on till the end a fairly impressive feat.
The Q&A is generally worthwhile too.
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at
10:48 AM
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1
Great panel; after listening to Mr. Schindler's segment, I went back and watched the whole thing. Fascinating stuff. Coincidentally , I sat down with Hitman (dunno if I've mentioned him much before) for a boardgame about WWI. By the end of September 1914, I was having to redirect German armies to prop up the Austro-Hungarians, who'd come to grief in the exact same area as history showed--after an initially successful offense turned into a disaster. The KuK really do need that 7th army.
Posted by: ubu at Tue Jun 2 15:22:21 2015 (GfCSm)
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Origins (the gaming convention) traditionally has a really good military history/contemporary military discussion track. One year they did several presentations on WWI Canadian stuff, which was fascinating. I had NO IDEA that Canadians invented motorcycle blitzkrieg.
In people's heads, WWI seems to be associated more with stereotypes than facts, sad to say.
In people's heads, WWI seems to be associated more with stereotypes than facts, sad to say.
Posted by: Suburbanbanshee at Tue Jun 2 20:55:13 2015 (ZJVQ5)
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Oh, and I forgot to say that Brandon Hedges has a pretty darned decent WWI novel he's been writing and serializing on his and his wife's blog.
Right now it's called <A HREF="http://www.thegreatwaranovel.com/p/volume-one.html">The Great War</a>, but I don't know if he'll be changing the title.
Right now it's called <A HREF="http://www.thegreatwaranovel.com/p/volume-one.html">The Great War</a>, but I don't know if he'll be changing the title.
Posted by: Suburbanbanshee at Tue Jun 2 21:05:44 2015 (ZJVQ5)
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Er, sorry about that. I always forget how to link here. Lemme try that again.
The Great War. The blog is at darwincatholic.blogspot.com, but the link has it in reading order and not all dispersed as blog posts.
The Great War. The blog is at darwincatholic.blogspot.com, but the link has it in reading order and not all dispersed as blog posts.
Posted by: Suburbanbanshee at Tue Jun 2 21:07:58 2015 (ZJVQ5)
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