Events that sparked WWI | Hacker News Reader

Events that sparked WWI

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22 pointslumelet10 comments

I've started listening to the WWI episodes of Dan Carlin's podcast "Hardcore History." He does a good job of intensely conveying the mindset that got the European powers into that war.

Part 1: http://www.dancarlin.com//disp.php/hharchive/Show-50---Bluep...

Part 2: http://www.dancarlin.com//disp.php/hharchive/Show-51---Bluep...

Part 3: http://www.dancarlin.com//disp.php/hharchive/Show-52---Bluep...

Was just about to comment the same. Dan Carlins podcasts are great. Starting at Archduke Ferdinand oversimplifies

You wouldn't happen to have a pointer to a synopsis or transcript of this, would you? I'm afraid I don't have nine hours I care to commit to this right now.

Private Baldrick: No, the thing is: The way I see it, these days there's a war on, right? and, ages ago, there wasn't a war on, right? So, there must have been a moment when there not being a war on went away, right? and there being a war on came along. So, what I want to know is: How did we get from the one case of affairs to the other case of affairs?
Captain Blackadder: Do you mean "How did the war start?"
Lieutenant George: The war started because of the vile Hun and his villainous empire- building.
Captain Blackadder: George, the British Empire at present covers a quarter of the globe, while the German Empire consists of a small sausage factory in Tanganiki. I hardly think that we can be entirely absolved of blame on the imperialistic front.
Lieutenant George: Oh, no, sir, absolutely not.
Private Baldrick: I heard that it started when a bloke called Archie Duke shot an ostrich 'cause he was hungry.

Captain Blackadder: I think you mean it started when the Archduke of Austro-Hungary got shot.

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=641_1285524199

For a highly provacative and informative lesser-known history of WWI, see Robert Newman's History of Oil.

http://fixyt.com/watch?v=GIpm_8v80hw

The book (and PBS/BBC series) The Prize also includes some highly interesting aspects on both WWI and WWII and the role of oil in combat. Though the concerns over the Berlin-Baghdad Railroad Newman highlights aren't discussed.

http://fixyt.com/watch?v=ioazMpe1SHE (around 41m46s)

The BBC is broadcasting and publishing tons of stuff about WWI. Perhaps too much to be honest. However, for those who are interested in the history, they have some informative guides.

Today (June 28) is the day that Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assasinated in 1914:

37 Days: Countdown to World War One http://www.bbc.co.uk/timelines/zgy334j

As a Serbian, I see a lot of rewriting history in recent years where Germans want to shift responsibility for horrible acts of savagery to others, especially as EU does carry some of the nazi ideals.

On the other hand, having more balanced approach to events is certainly welcome. Britain for example is not completely innocent at all and prevailing sentiment was always to blame Germans for everything.

https://twitter.com/prchovanec/status/482813849876594689/pho...

I was expecting a more antique gun.

"Modernism" is much older than you'd think.

Look up Biedermeier school sometime:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biedermeier

That is the tedious history nonsense we tell children. This is HN, we have better discussions, for example:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baghdad_Railway#Role_in_origins...

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