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"The Limit." On the coast of Belgium, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany stands alone, staring out at the North Sea. The Kaiser asks, "What are the wild waves saying?" The waves reply, "We were just saying, 'Thus far, and no farther!'" During the race to the sea, the German army's offensive was halted at the Yser River and the English Channel coast, preventing Germany from seizing the ports of Calais and Dunkirk. Before the war, Germany spent vast amounts of German wealth building a High Seas Fleet. The goal was to challenge the British Royal Navy's global dominance. But Germany's expensive battleships were largely trapped in port, unable to break out. Even with material victory at the Battle of Jutland, Germany could not match Britain's command of the seas, and, importantly, of the North Sea. Britain's blockade of the North Sea strangled crucial imports which Germany's war industry and agricultural sector relied upon, as they didn't have a large colonial empire like Britain, nor ready access to sea lanes without passing through enemy waters. Thus, the very sea the Kaiser raced to would eventually strangle his sophisticated modern war machine, and with it, his throne.

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3 days ago | [YT] | 2,104

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Watch me play GeoGuessr: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1kri...

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After his abdication in 1918, Kaiser Wilhelm II retired to his wicker chair in the garden of Huis Doorn, Netherlands. He was known, in his later years, for his love of animals and more casual, contemplative personality. By 1940 (when this photo was taken) he had dashed all hope of the the Nazi Party restoring the monarchy, something he saw as a possibility in the 30s. In a notable 1938 interview (published in Ken magazine), he delivered a scathing assessment of Hitler. “There is a man alone, without family, without children, without God… He builds legions but he doesn’t build a nation. A nation is created by families, a religion, tradition… [Under Hitler] an all swallowing State, disdainful of human dignities and the ancient structure of our race, sets itself up in place of everything else… This man could bring home victories to our people each year without bringing them either glory or danger.” After Kristallnacht, he reportedly said, “For the first time, I am ashamed to be a German.” Here, again, Wilhelm was 81 and now living under German occupation after the Netherlands fell. He was apparently thrilled by German victories, especially the rapid conquest of France, and boasted that the successful generals were trained in “his” army and school. But he never warmed to the Nazi government or Hitler personally. He criticized them as gangsters. Wilhelm died at Doorn on June 4, 1941. He requested no Nazi symbols at his funeral and that his body not return to Germany until the monarchy was restored.

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Welcome back, your Imperial Majesty

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The Enthroned Washington is a massive marble sculpture commissioned by Congress in 1832 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of George Washington's birthday. It was created by American sculptor Horatio Greenough. Unlike the traditionally modest depictions of Washington, this statue was 11 feet tall, dressed in a Roman toga and was modeled after the ancient statue of Zeus at Olympia. He also offers the handle of a sheathed sword to the viewer, symbolizing how he gave up military power at the end of the Revolution. You might also notice that he is absolutely ripped, which actually sparked a lot of controversy as many people were uncomfortable “seeing the Father of the Country half naked.” One newspaper wrote that the statued Washington was desperately reaching up for his missing clothes. Actually this backlash reveals something, though. By the 1840s, the broader American public rejected the classical understanding that the Founding Fathers worked from that America was rooted in European values that stemmed from Greece and Rome. But by the mid nineteenth century, America had moved away from this conceptual view, believing itself a separate entity from European civilization, producing rising demand for a distinct American sort of heroic identity. Americans wanted their heroes depicted as real, practical, “salt of the earth” men, not ancient European gods and monarchs.

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This is the German Schütte-Lanz airship, specifically the SL2, bombing Warsaw in 1914 during World War I. Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin launched his first rigid airship, the LZ 1, over Lake Constance in 1900. From there, the airship became a fascination across Europe and America. The Imperial German Army and Imperial German Navy began ordering fleets of Zeppelins, and in 1913, Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz initiated a major five year expansion program for naval airships. Tirpitz assumed the British Royal Navy would enforce a close blockade of the North Sea, which was proven correct. This blockade had the capacity to starve Germany of vital imports (which it did when the war broke out, becoming the decisive factor causing Germany to lose the war), and thus Zeppelins could be used as German eyes in the sky to counter this. These were used for North Sea and Baltic patrol and intelligence gathering duties, working in often foggy conditions, such as during the Battle of Jutland. Zeppelins were also used for long range bombing, including on the British coasts. Zeppelins were also experimented with for long range shipping to replace naval routes controlled by the British. A 1917 Zeppelin mission to German East Africa undertaken by the LZ 104 (or L 59), nicknamed the Afrika-Schiff (or "Africa Ship"), was commanded by Ludwig Beckholt to deliver 15 tons of supplies and weapons to General Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck's forces fighting in the East African theater. The Zeppelin flew 4,200 miles in 95 hours. The whole flight, lasting roughly four days, remains the longest non stop military airship flight in history. However, though the L 59 nearly reached her destination, the ship was ordered to return to Bulgaria due to intelligence that the landing site was lost. Germany built around 100 military airships during the war, but the advent and use of fixed wing airplanes overshadowed the Zeppelin, and by wars' end it was obsolete.

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All four of these are on my to do list (in fact some are already fully scripted), but which do you like better?

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www.youtube.com/shorts/n-ZyPA...
Baron Roman von Ungern-Sternberg was a White Army general referred to as the "Mad Baron." During the the Russian Civil War, Ungern-Sternberg led the Asiatic Cavalry Division into Mongolia. In early 1921, his forces liberated the capital, Urga (which is today Ulaanbaatar), from Chinese occupation and restored the Bogd Khan to the throne. This painting of the moment shows the Baron wearing traditional Mongolian attire. Behind him flies his division's standard, featuring the Cyrillic letter M (for Michael, the Grand Duke) and the date 1921. He is flanked Russians, Mongolians, and Buryats, a Mongolic Siberian ethnic group. His short lived, albeit brutal rule helped to lead to Mongolia's eventual preservation as an independent state.

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King Alfred and the Danes depicts the baptism of the Danish King Guthrum and his Danes, sponsored by the English King Alfred the Great. Caught by surprise by the Danes, Alfred had retreated to the marshlands around the Isle of Athelney, before building his forces, and forging an army of men from Somerset, Wiltshire and West Hampshire. Alfred defeated the Danes at the Battle of Edington in AD 878, which led to the Treaty of Wedmore and established the Danelaw. The boundary of the Danelaw ran along mostly old Roman roads. King Guthrum and 30 of his followers were held by Alfred for twelve days, before Guthrum was baptised with the Christian name of Athelstan. The Danish army finally left in the autumn, moving to the kingdom of Mercia. Despite the victory, by 879, Wessex was the only Anglo Saxon kingdom free from Danish interference. This state of affairs allowed Wessex to eventually establish a unified kingdom of England. If you want to learn more, check out our video on the Anglo Saxons: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXHWd...

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