The War - Ken Burns Series on PBS

[Blarg]

I can see what you're saying. I just think the stark crazed horror of the WW1 trenches, and its utter pointlessness, is hard to top as a sort of peak human experience -- of a negative kind. Heck, the french shelled their own troops when they didn't want to go soak up machine gun bullets just to wear out the enemy's ammunition stores. How insane is that?

Plus, there was the coming of the tank, which must have been mind-boggling and fearful, and those daring young men in their flying machines. And zeppelins! And this at a time when even the leading nations of the world had only a fraction of their roads paved, and some soldiers and many citizens still used horses, and most people lived on farms. What an odd dissonance, what a crazy coming of age the early part of this century was.

By contrast, so much of WW2 seemed to make sense.

[27offsuit]

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My beef with WWII documentaries is that none of them tells the whole story that ties the roots of WWII to today's conflicts. Even Wold at War starts with the Battle of the Atlantic, IIRC.

To wit: the British and American deal to grant Iraq the appearance of independence in the late 1930's while retaining control of Iraqi oil production that lead to a failed coup in Iraq and armed conflict. Colonialism may not be as dead as we think.

Little is said in most WW2 documentaries of the Stalin/Hitler prewar agreements vis the partitioning of Poland and Finland or the whacky German strawman attacks said to have been conducted by Poland that Hitler used as a premise. And the series of wars between the Russians and Japanese in the early 20th century, fought over warm water ports and colonial ambitions, planted the seeds for the Sino-Japanese war that led to the outbreak of widespread war in the Pacific theater in 1937 - the start of WW2.

WWII converted US production into a war machine. Recall Eisenhower's farewell address. He cautioned against a sustained "military-industrial complex" and its ambitions. Haliburton, Blackwater, Raytheon, Cheney, Rumsfeld, and Bush are all precisely what Ike told us to watch out for.

We could very well be on the precipice of another global conflict. There are many similarities between Ahrmadinejad and Hitler. Iran even has a fuhrer: Ayatollah Khamenei.

All this stuff interests me, but by far the concept of Total War is the most fascinating. That is the difference between WW2 and all other modern conflicts.

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Wow, I just learned a lot in this post.

Boldface is so true.

[sharkbitten]

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I'll watch it for sure if it gets to the UK.

You guys ever get the British documentary series 'The World At War'?

It's really great. I've toyed with doing an ep by ep discussion thread, but doubt it'll get any interest.

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World at War aired every so often on PBS for quite a while, but I haven't seen it aired in a while.
Excellent series. I remember watching it the first time in 1973 or so when I was 9. I've been a WWII buff ever since. I've seen a lot of other documentaries on the war, but none can hold a candle to World at War. I finally bought the whole series about 15 years ago on video tape.
I'm looking forward to Burns' documentary though. He did such a great job on Civil War, Baseball, and Jazz. I don't see his new one being very comprehensive in only 7 episodes, but you never know.It should still be a good documentary. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Edit:
I forgot to mention, I would be interested in an ep by ep discussion of World at War. But you're probably right, interest may be limited.

[diebitter]

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Edit:
I forgot to mention, I would be interested in an ep by ep discussion of World at War. But you're probably right, interest may be limited.

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If one other person wants to, the three of us could discuss one a week for the next 6 months...

[SL__72]

I like Ken Burns. I'll definitely be catching this.

/edit Thanks for the heads up!

[KilgoreTrout]

27 - check this out:

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A vital element in keeping the peace is our military establishment. Our arms must be mighty, ready for instant action, so that no potential aggressor may be tempted to risk his own destruction.



This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence — economic, political, even spiritual — is felt in every city, every statehouse, every office of the federal government. We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources and livelihood are all involved; so is the very structure of our society.


In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.


We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals so that security and liberty may prosper together.


President Eisenhower, January 17, 1961


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Full text.

[CharlieDontSurf]

There is a lengthy discussion about it in the new Newsweek
Given the amount of camera footage he found for it should be a great watch

[DoubleDealDecker]

World War II was just World War I, Part 2. Please discuss.

[KilgoreTrout]

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World War II was just World War I, Part 2. Please discuss.

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Not really. Yes Versailles played a role, but there was much more going on than that. Do your own homework assignment.

[sethypooh21]

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World War II was just World War I, Part 2. Please discuss.

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To the extent that Iraq is Vietnam Part II (or even Iraq part II, depending on how psychoanalytical and oedipal you want to get), I agree...