Good War Movies

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2009-06-06 10:37:36

Bradt3hleader: Care [ ] - Don't care [x]; +121|5952

cl4u53w1t2 wrote:
- of course they almost everytime had artillery preparation (?) before launching an attack (sometimes they did not bec of the surprise factor)
- the german artillery preparation before attacking verdun in 1916 lasted for 9(!) hours, but did not have that much of a tactical (not to speak of a strategical) effect
- fortifications (fortresses, bunkers, trenches) in ww1 were already very sophisticated so that even massive artillery attacks did not have too much effect

Oh okay, thanks!

Do you know any more trench assaulting tactics they used? Just curious...

2009-06-06 11:52:00

cl4u53w1t2: Salon-Bolschewist; +269|6489|Kakanien

german front officers developped the famous stoßtrupp- (sturmtrupp-) tactics = raiding patrol/assault team (stormtroops?)

they wanted to break the static warfare/battle of material and return to mobile warfare

2 sidenotes:

- the famous german sichelschnitt (sickle-cut = the attack via the ardennes) in the war against france 1940 was kind of stoßtrupp-tactics on a larger (= operational and even strategical) scale
- one of the inventors of stoßtrupp-tactics was felix steiner, later a famous waffen-ss-general (yes, that steiner, who didn't attack the russian forces surrounding berlin in march 1945 bec his army was too weak, which made hitler, as you can see in der untergang/the downfall, go mad)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2oh3h3DvY0

2009-06-06 13:06:47

CrazeD: Member; +368|6689|Maine

I just watched Defiance the other day, and oh my god what a fucking awesome movie. Highly recommended.

2009-06-06 13:24:03

Doctor Strangelove: Real Battlefield Veterinarian.; +1,758|6484

Bradt3hleader wrote:
kylef wrote:
You need watch Band of Brothers (World War 2) and Generation Kill (Iraq). Both are series, and have won multiple awards to recollection.
Agreed! But where can I get Generation Kill?

I've been searching all the stores in Switzerland and I can't seem to find it. Could I maybe buy it online and DL it? How big would it be ?

Edit:

Oh and yeah the Russians would should their men if they retreated. You can be sure your men are going to go foward then. At least you have a chance if you go foward, though it's slim.

Yeah I agree the Germans were pretty bad at defending. As for Russia, I would have to think Hitler would have actually stood a chance in WW2 if he didn't turn against them. He did the same mistake as in WW1, fighting a war on two fronts when you don't have the men or logistics.

If all else fails, torrent it. Generation Kill is worth your time.

It doesn't portray the Marines as evil baby killers (well except for this one guy), but the guys are for the most part very gray characters, with only one of them being what I would consider a hero.

2009-06-06 14:57:33

Lai: Member; +186|6167

Flecco wrote:
cl4u53w1t2 wrote:
Flecco wrote:
Brad in WW1 the Germans didn't have a choice. The rather complicated web of alliances and treaties forced them into war against Russia, which dragged in the French and British.
didn't have a choice is somehow wrong.

historians agree that germany was the main causer of ww1 (by unconditionally supporting austria-hungary in its advance against serbia)

but you're right on the other hand. when it was clear that there was going to be war, germany had no choice bec of the alliance system (that's what the schlieffen-plan was all about: rapidly defeating france in the west, then defeating russia in the east)
I'd argue the Russians jumping in on the side of the Serbs for ethnic solidarity or w/e the hell reason they decided to mobilise against Austria, in what should have been a minor war was the cause. We all know how well WW1 ended for Tsar Nicolas II. Being slightly drunk also hampers my ability to remember facts but I was pretty sure it was Russian support of the ethnic Serbs that kicked the shit off in the Balkans, which caused Germany to jump in on the side of Austria, which brought France and Britain in on the side of Russia as per the details of the 'Triple Entente' or w/e the fuck the alliance was called. The Schlieffen Plan was brought into effect with the hope of knocking France out of the war and making a cross channel invasion incredibly difficult, if possible at all, but only because Germany knew that the British and French would seize upon the opportunity to cripple Germany so that his colonies would also be available to take in Africa if they could. Germany going to war with Russia being a perfect pretext for the British and French to do this.

The whole war has its roots in the resurgence of European Imperialism in the colonies during the late 1800s and pre-1914 1900s. Germany was partly to blame, but to ignore the fault of the entire fucking continent in being expansionist, greedy and interventionist is ridiculous.

Probs got the whole thing wrong but meh, to try pin the blame of a war on one side or the other is ridiculous. Personally I like the idea that was expressed in 'All Quiet on the Western Front', the one about letting the politicians have it out in a boxing ring without getting whole generations of young men involved in wars started by them for their own reasons.

The problem was Germany wasn't an Imperial power at all, consisting of various bureaucratic kingdoms untill united by Otto von Bismarck. As soon as they were they developped colonial ambitions.

If we look directly at WWI we should also not forget the long dispute about the Elzas-Loraine between France and Germany. Basically the whole of Europe was eager for war and entered it with a huge sense of optimism. Nobody ever expected it to turn out the way it did.

2009-06-06 15:38:09