Author Topic: Anyone else feel WWI doesn't receive the attention it deserves?  (Read 15428 times)

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Offline Olafson

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Re: Anyone else feel WWI doesn't receive the attention it deserves?
« Reply #30 on: June 07, 2013, 10:41:32 am »
We had to do powerpoint presentations about it. I still remember all that horrible inaccuracies in my classmates presentations.
Two of the groups showed pictures from Call of Duty 2... One of them said that after the first world war, Berlin was completely destroyed and showed a picture of it. One group showed color pictures of American sherman tanks in France. Almost everyone just talked about the western front, all other parts of the war were completely left out.
Surprisingly, my teacher thought that their presentations were good and gave them good marks. After that we watched this horrible 1979 version of "All quite on the western front". Thats all we did.

But I am quite happy, at least we talked about it. Napoleonic Wars, 30 years war, Franco-Prussian war, basically all the important wars for the history of Germany were just completely left out. We learned 0 seconds about it. Not that we learned much anyway... My teacher was a retard who didn't know anything about history anyway.
But thats Germany. You learn alot about Nazis and how bad they are and how guilty you should feel, but you don't actually learn anything proper about Germanys history. (In the part of Germany where I live, might be different in other parts.)
« Last Edit: June 07, 2013, 10:44:35 am by Olafson »

Offline Duuring

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Re: Anyone else feel WWI doesn't receive the attention it deserves?
« Reply #31 on: June 07, 2013, 10:47:08 am »
Are you really teached to feel guilty? :p

Offline Olafson

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Re: Anyone else feel WWI doesn't receive the attention it deserves?
« Reply #32 on: June 08, 2013, 12:29:41 pm »
Not directly, but their intention behind it is to let us feel guilty for it. They obviously do not say: "you should feel guilty!" but indirectly they do.

Offline Docm30

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Re: Anyone else feel WWI doesn't receive the attention it deserves?
« Reply #33 on: June 08, 2013, 12:45:44 pm »
It's still better than the Japanese method of teaching that they've never done anything wrong at all.

Offline Olafson

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Re: Anyone else feel WWI doesn't receive the attention it deserves?
« Reply #34 on: June 08, 2013, 01:52:41 pm »
True. Though, people also seem to forget that the Japanese or Russians committed war crimes as well. Might be because Germany is the only country actually telling people about the crimes and actually feeling sorry for it.
« Last Edit: June 08, 2013, 01:58:11 pm by Olafson »

Offline MazZ

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Re: Anyone else feel WWI doesn't receive the attention it deserves?
« Reply #35 on: June 08, 2013, 02:59:45 pm »
What I as a Belgian saw in history classes about WW1:

- Trench warfare
- How Belgium got raped multiple times
- Start of the holocaust (visiting museums and such)
- Generally what countries that were involved
- How it all started
- And maybe a few things about the guns and machines they used back then and some battles but nothing to spectacular really


Offline Duuring

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Re: Anyone else feel WWI doesn't receive the attention it deserves?
« Reply #36 on: June 08, 2013, 03:36:48 pm »
Unless you mean the Armenian genocide, I'm not sure what the Holocaust has to do with WW1.

Offline Jefferson

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Re: Anyone else feel WWI doesn't receive the attention it deserves?
« Reply #37 on: June 09, 2013, 12:57:39 am »
Not directly, but their intention behind it is to let us feel guilty for it. They obviously do not say: "you should feel guilty!" but indirectly they do.

Heh, it's the same for British schools with the Slave Trade, and I have a sneaking suspiscion that the whole British Empire based unit I'm taking next year will have a similar vein.

Offline Docm30

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Re: Anyone else feel WWI doesn't receive the attention it deserves?
« Reply #38 on: June 09, 2013, 01:24:12 am »
That's odd; the Kingdom of Britain was the second country in Europe (after Poland-Lithuania) to ban slavery and did far more than any other country in history to end the global slave trade. You'd think the British would, in their typical fashion, teach that they were among the least worst when it came to slavery. Not good, certainly, but far from the worst.

Offline Duuring

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Re: Anyone else feel WWI doesn't receive the attention it deserves?
« Reply #39 on: June 09, 2013, 01:27:59 am »
We are learned we (The Dutch) started it, and then they explain how the trade worked. Good attention is given how much these people suffered, but I don't remember anything even remotely hinting we should feel sorry about it.

Offline Hadhod

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Re: Anyone else feel WWI doesn't receive the attention it deserves?
« Reply #40 on: June 09, 2013, 01:54:34 am »
Are you really teached to feel guilty? :p

Yep, we are not directly but you can see it in the way we concentrate on the subject National Socialism etc. (just like Olafson said already).
I guess it still has to be done, I mean in the eyes of many people outside of Germany we are seen as Nazis, especially our politicians...

Offline Suede

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Re: Anyone else feel WWI doesn't receive the attention it deserves?
« Reply #41 on: June 09, 2013, 09:48:11 am »
Since we here in Ukraine had more important wars and events when Austria-Hungary and Russian Empire crashed at the end of WW1, and were in USSR for several decades - yes, it doesn't

Offline Jelly

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Re: Anyone else feel WWI doesn't receive the attention it deserves?
« Reply #42 on: June 09, 2013, 02:56:42 pm »
Here in the UK we learnt very little about WW1, in fact I can't even remember being taught it at all. My brother was once told who was on each side, but he insisted that Italy was in the Central Powers so I doubt they taught him well... When I chose to do GCSE History (High school qualification) we spent quite a bit of time on Treaty of Versailles, St. Germain, Neuilly, Sevres etc etc. Nothing on the actual war itself though.

Same. Damn British Education! They only teach us about Britain no other countrie's History!
Actually, for GCSE, we've done about Germany, Hitler's rise to power and the League of Nations, nothing about Britain!

Offline Harry

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Re: Anyone else feel WWI doesn't receive the attention it deserves?
« Reply #43 on: June 09, 2013, 03:09:24 pm »
When I did my GCSE we did the British Liberal reforms in the late 19th/ early 20th century as well as German domestic and foreign policy 1918-1939. Then we did the same with the Russians. Military history is always glossed over and never really done at all but I cannot blame them for doing so as they need to make the subject more appealing for various student demographics.

Offline Riddlez

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Re: Anyone else feel WWI doesn't receive the attention it deserves?
« Reply #44 on: June 09, 2013, 03:22:55 pm »
Well. Riddlez History lessons about WW1 and WW2 were taken here.

Where Riddlez goes to school (Holland), we are only told politics. Nothing. Else. It it such a pain in the arse!
The word 'tactic' is barely used. Only reasons for war, and the effects of it.

And that also goes for: Napoleonic wars, Russian Revolution, Afghan war, Israeli wars.

It's the reason Riddlez didn't choose Hostory as a subjec. While Riddlez enjoys history very much, but, war history.

AFAIK, the only place where military history is taught, is at the military academy.
Probably one of the very few old-timers here who hasn't been a regimental leader.