Thanks to Bespoke Post for sponsoring this video. New subscribers can get 20% off their first box with the promo code HISTORIAN20 at checkout bspk.me/armchair Sign up for Armchair History TV today! armchairhistory.tv/ Promo code: FIGHTBACK for 50% OFF Merchandise available at store.armchairhistory.tv/ Check out the new Armchair History TV Mobile App too! apps.apple.com/us/app/armchair-history-tv/id1514643375 play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=tv.uscreen.armchairhistorytv Discord: discord.gg/zY5jzKp Twitter: twitter.com/ArmchairHist
Von Lettow-Vorbeck is genuinely one of the greatest military leaders of the 20th century that nobody talks about. Forcing the British to keep 250,000 men tramping around East Africa for 4 years when they could have been used elsewhere.
But that's the fact a lot of British soldiers in Africa were from colonies like India. Indian soldiers were deemed unfit for Western Front if I put it bluntly because of the cold weather compared to the subcontinent. And these soldiers were best used against ottomans in Iraq and African colonies. So it was basically Britain could afford tying up these soldiers here which Germans certainly could not.
Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck was really a great general. Look at the battles he was involved: Battle of Tanga - 1K Germans vs 9K British Battle of Jassin - 244 Germans vs 800 British Battle of Mahiwa - 3K Germans vs 5K-6K British Battle of Ngomano - 1.5K-2K Germans vs 900 Portuguese Battle of Lioma - 1.6K Germans vs 3K British All these battles were German victories, with the last battle a successful retreat avoid getting fully destroyed by the British. WW1 in Africa is a truly underrated topic.
While he allowed his enemies to "hold the field" (sometimes abandoning positions minutes before the British could catch up) which British propaganda played up as victories, the generals in charge (Smuts, van Deventer) were practically obsessed with him because they knew they had never truly defeated him on the field.
Von Lettow-Vorbeck was probably one of the best Generals of WWI, holding out against all odds and defending until the end of the war itself. A German Victory could've been achieved in WWI. While the battles were small and unimportant on the greater scale, Von Lettow-Vorbeck diverted thousands of troops and thousands of tons of war material to deal with him, weakening the front lines in Europe. Honestly, since Britian never truly occupied Deutch Ostafrika, the Weimar Republic should've been allowed to keep it.
An Austrian is shot by a Serbian in Europe, so you, an Indian male, are sent to Tanzania to defeat the German army stationed there, in the name of the British King, and bees attack you
And not even because the British are directly involved with the death of the Austrian, no. It is because they are allies with the Belgians, who are between the French and the Germans, who are trying to invade France through Belgium because France is allied with the Russians, who are allies with the Serbians, whose enemies are the Austrians, whose allies are the Germans.
The British colonial troops: NOT THE BEES! NOT THE BEES!! The German African troops: HAHAHHA THEY RUN IN FEAR OF SUCH TINY ENEMIES... 10 minutes later: The German troops: OW! OK THE BEES HATE BOTH OF US!
Great video! One reason why the Germans suffered less of tropical diseases as result of insect bites was their uniforms. The Germans wore long trousers and jackboots and had high collars contrary to the British we had open shirts and were wearing shorts.
@@wesleydjodo8823 Yeah i suspect If they kept the soldiers hydrated and didn't push them much when It comes to marching the heat would be at least manageable. When It came to battles though...
Also most of the German forces had been there for some time. They'd already been through those diseases and developed resistance to them. Many of the Allied troops were new to the area and had no such resistance.
There's an interesting story about Von Lettow-Vorbeck's Men after the war: in the 1960's, the West German government went down to the former colony to pay the Askari Native Colonial troops their Back-Dated pay. Roughly 350 or so men showed up, but few of them could prove they'd actually served as German troops during the war. One of the German officials had an idea and fetched a Broom, whereupon they asked the men to use it to perform their rifle drill. All of the men who had come performed it flawlessly, and received their Military pay from the German government. Von Lettow-Vorbeck himself apparently had a large degree of respect for the Askari under his command, and his fluency in Swahili and appointing of natives as officers earned him a great deal of loyalty from them. He also refused to cooperate with the Nazis later in his life which earned him surveillance from the Gestapo. He was welcomed as a hero in a 1953 visit to the capitol of Tanzania, and upon his death in 1964 the West German government flew two of his Askari in as state guests at his funeral. All in all a remarkable man.
I do believe I heard somewhere that when Lettow-Vobeck visited in 1953 the british had planned for a millitary band to play german WWI marches in his honour. What they didn't plan for was that several hundred of his Askari's were to show up in uniforms that they had kept hidden for all those years. The British were stunned at the sight of them marching thorugh the city towards the welmoming comité, but soon shock it off and with classic british stiff upper lip played the german tunes they had rehearsed. It causeed great jubilation from the askaris and the british authorities could breath easily again, for a second there they had thought a rebellion was brewing. Not to far fetch an idea considering the Mau Mau uprising up in Kenya at the same time.
@@DushanBauerI think this was also mentioned on the great war channel, they usually do their research very well, maybe they have the source for this somewhere.
@@hermannvonsalza1912 Wasn’t there also a Maji Maji rebellion that had been squashed by Germany a few years before the war? The askaris had little issue with that but the (now british) colonial authorities feared they’d rebel?
Won Lettow Vorbeck is a commander with a truly terrific military genius. However, it should not be forgotten that 'DESERT TIGER FAHREDDIN PAŞA', who was the commander of the unit that defended Medina until 1919 and 'put down the last weapon' in the 1st World War even after the war was over. he resisted more troops than won lettow vorbeck for 5 years! God bless your soul, Big Man!
At my school SACS (oldest in South Africa) we have a memorial wall with the names of almost 200 men who died in this war. Each year we commemorate them with a commemoration day parade. They shall not be forgotten
Fun fact: The African German troops were so well trained that, when the Western German goverment tried to pay them veteran benefits in the 60's, most of the remaining veterans could be identified by asking them to perform the manual of arms.
@@sharpkniveinlatvian1746 Eh not really... Germany was responsible for genocide in South West Africa. They killed members of the Herero and Namaqua tribes... Thousands of them. So while the German officers that trained and led their African soldiers may have respected them. Germany was still responsible for an atrocity against South West Africans just prior to WWI If I recall correctly. South West Africa of course now being Namibia after gaining independence from South Africa in 1989/1990 at the end of the South African Border War.
@@springbok8876 well that was pretty normal. -Congo Free State (Wikipedia: en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atrocities_in_the_Congo_Free_State) -British to Boers/Natives who didn’t comply (Wikipedia: en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Boer_War_concentration_camps) Those are just the ones I could FIND. There was many others as well!
Von Lettow Vorbeck only mustered at max 14’000 men against a combined force of 300’000 men and never lost. Lettow Vorbeck is definitively the greatest guerrilla warfare commander in history.
@@lesdodoclips3915 Yeah, he knew how to pick his battles, a quality that German generals tended to lack in the sequel, or were overruled if they tried to by some Austrian whose name I cannot entirely recall, but makes me think of a punch. Um, Hitface? No, no. Uh, Jabhead?
@@srikrishnak196 Does he really count if his enemy were only ever allowed to fight defensively? Like they weren't even allowed to march towards the North.
@@sonicdash761 My paternal greatgrandfather was an Indian and was fighting the Japanese in WWII . He was captured by them but managed to escape and had a hard time convincing his family that he wasn't a ghost to visit them after the war😂😂.
My grand Dad worked for the British home office in Nairobi in the 50s as a telex exchange clerk.....he told me he used to type up those awards and commendations
My great great X2 grandpa died for Pedro the II and my great great grandpa joined ww1, and my great grandpa joined the BEF My other family side idk if Trindad and Tobago served in ww2. Might research and ask my dad Edit: my grandpa never served in the BEF I was gonna ask him but he died from Covid 3 years ago, I thought I saw he did cuz I saw him in a milltary uniform, turns out he was in the dictator ship in the milltary. Might explain more couldn’t get more info. Sorry I lied
Funfact: When the West German government went to Tanzania to pay the Askari their government pension in the 1970's, none of the 85-90 men who showed up could prove they'd been part of the colonial forces. one of the Germans had the idea of using a broom to have the men perform their rifle drill. Every Askari that had come performed it flawlessly, and they all received their pensions.
As a Portuguese it saddens me to see how little is told about Portugal during this events. Especially when considering that far more man died in Angola and Mozambique fighting the Germans than in Flanders itself. It really was a disaster.
Oh yes I feel you but you found India that's good right there's saying which goes something like this every spainsh dream ends with portuguese completing it and napoleon's inavison of Portugal and the Lisbon earthquake in the 1755 really started the decline Portugal but you were a pinacle for others your empire was bigger than the roman empire but your empire did commit a lot atrocities in Indian region of Goa killing a lot people force conversation of Christanty and destroyed thousands of Hindu temples but still a lot of people admire Portugal for what you did you were just a small country and yet you went down in history as one of the biggest empires in the world
As a Boer who's great grandfather's fought with Maritz against the British, I do applaud your excellent work! If possible please make a WW2 in Africa video!
I m from East Africa, My great great grand father was probably among the troops who fought along with Von lettow. Anyway I want to thank u for the African well edited videos you did. No other American YTB channels made more video about Africa than You.
I used to love soldiering when the pre-requisite of a campaign was that the enemy should under no circumstance have guns, even spears made us think twice.
The Afrika Corps fighting the British and Amercans across North Africa is one exception. Most geographers include Libya and Egypt as part of the Middle East.
@@battleaxejak6494 All im saying is you cant cover the non looked battles in the middle east in ww2 when there werent any action, what could they make, an oil factories tour of saudi arabia?
There was a famous story about Lettow-Vorbeck that he used a small German army and defeated the Brits at battle of the Bees. Later, he was well known for using guerrilla tactics against the Allied forces (including Belgium, French and British)
I think you should do one on the Greek revolution, It is so complicated and I think it is very interesting. It also arguably start the long decline of the ottoman empire.
Average Desert Fox fan: -Nazi -Uses tanks -Has tactic Superiority -Loses anyway Average Lion of Africa Enjoyer: -What’s a tank? -More than 10k army, what’s that? -Supplies? What’s that -Wins anyway
I’m a boy from Louisiana and I have a lot of French and French Canadian blood, but I have to admit lettow vorbeck was a very smart,resourceful,and great military leader who defeated the British and Portuguese in gurilla battles and retook an entire colony from French, British, and Belgian forces amazes me.
Fun fact: The German military tried to send an airship (LZ 104) from a Bulgarian hangar to German East Africa to resupply Lettow Vorbeck's army in 1917, but by the time it went to the capital of Sudan, it was facing heavy winds that made the trip dangerous and nearly crashed it. It received an "abort mission" message after nearly 4 days of flying and returned back to Bulgaria.
Alternativ Reality: Wilhelm II:Take 68 divisions and defeat France Lettow-Vorbeck:Give me 1000 Tanzanian Troops and bees and I destroy French, Brittish, Canadian, Australian, Indian and African troops, occupie France, stop a Normandy landing and make UK sue for peace
Imagine the fact that humans are always fighting and no matter their skin colours or origins everyone was almost always in war with someone else. Imagine that the skin colour had no influence whatsoever. Haha I'm kidding... But imagine
@@Baul3680 @Pancho Halo Western front, D-day, Battle of Britain, Invasion of Italy, Operation Barbarossa...So many human beings lost their lifes in those conflicts and you make a freaking joke out of them based on the colour of their skin? You digust me, double-standard anti-racist racists. My own great-grandfather almost lost his life in WW2, came back home traumatized and you spit on him? Shame on you, racialists.
I have been trying to read what I can find about this topic, but I couldn't find much sources. Its nice to see a well researched unbiased history video nowdays, cheers for your effort.
I've watched almost all your videos and I'm simply amazed.. the way you put things in perspective from both sides make you the world's only historian that does that that I've seen in my lifetime.. I thought I knew history in Africa but I clearly had no idea how deep the rabbit hole goes
I love how whenever the military commanders planning an operation expect an easy victory, it somehow always ends up blowing up in their face, whether or not they end up winning anyways.
There are so many amazing stories from East Africa. The SMS Koningsburg for instance, a cruiser that took refuge in a river delta and took months for the Royal Navy to flush out. And then the Mimi and Tutu, a pair of gunboats that the British hauled overland through the Belgian Congo to fight a German gunboat on Lake Tanganika
Actually in East Africa the German colonialists were 'better', more humane and kinder than their british counterparts. My greatgrandfather told us of how they used to cross over to the German side for food and to get more rest. He was conscripted on the British side when the war broke out
Were they really? I guess you haven't heard of the Herero and Namaqua genocide. Genocidal massacre, starvation, concentration camps, human experimentation, extermination through labour. The Germans have officially recognised this genocide
@@northwesteastsouth7437 who cares? The original comment tried to make out German colonialism treated them better than Britain and I simply stated that wasn't true.
There is an interesting story with the veteran german askari’s from WW1. In the 60’s, the west German government had decided to pay the back pay of the Askari. Very few could produce the paper work to show they had served, with many instead providing their uniforms or parts of them. Eventually, a German banker got the idea to test each one by giving him a broomstick and having him perform the manual at arms in German. Not one failed.
Read an extremely interesting account of the East African fighting by a North Schleswig sailor who arrived on a supplyship in 1915. The availability of quinine was crucial for the fighting, and just a couple of homemade landmines on roads could stop an army or at least facilitate sweeping. In my mind, one of the most interesting campaigns of WW1.
I’m so happy that you did this because the War in Europe is really the only focus when talking about WW1 even though it was a world war, and it’s just so refreshing to see how the fighting in Africa unfolded at Trench warfare would scar Europe forever
إن الظلم يجعل من المظلوم بطلا، وأما الجريمة فلابد من أن يرتجف قلب صاحبها مهما حاول التظاهر بالكبرياء. - عمر المختار "Oppression makes the oppressed heroes And it makes the heart of the one who committed the oppression tremble, no matter how much he tries to hide it or act proud" - Omar Al Mukhtar (Libyan freedom fighter who fought Italian Fascists)
you know watching history especially the wars throughout history sometimes makes me think of star wars and some of the characters on it. Such as Grand Admiral Thrawn compared to the german general in east Africa. Does anyone else sometimes think that?
I read in "African Kaiser: General Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck and the Great War in Africa, 1914-1918" that the German Schutztruppe was unique among all colonial forces in that while the officers were white, it was the only colonial military unit where it was regularly possible to find white rankers being commanded by askari (native) NCOs.
@DANIEL BIN OMAR - Because we want to preserve our racial and cultural identities and not let any random groups claim to be us or our culture, we have nations and borders for a reason
A much needed video for an often overlooked theater of World War 1. It would be great if you did a follow up series of videos going into greater detail covering the battles. Keep the WW1 videos coming!
Dude, Germany shined almost *everywhere* in this period. - Fought the Royal Navy to a draw - Went full badass with U-boats and surface commerce raiders - Took down Imperial Russia (with some help from internal issues) - Fought France AND the UK to a standstill on the Western Front - Kept Austria-Hungary from losing - Nitrate supply from Chile and the Pacific colonies blockaded? No biggie, we'll just INVENT a process to make our own (Haber-Bosch process) - The Red Baron. (Need I say more on this?) - Singing "Silent Night" together with their *enemies* on Christmas Eve. If France hadn't been such crybabies, Hitler would never have come to power and SO much of world history would be *very* different.
@@evryatis2853 In their other 3 tiny African colonies, yes. In East Africa, Von Lettow-Vorbek made the Vietcong guerilla resistance look like Girl Scouts on a day hike. On the Eastern European Front, Germany had already WON - look up the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. It wasn't until the US hopped in and bolstered the Western Front that Germany saw it couldn't sustain things any longer. And when all was said and done, total Allied losses were far, FAR greater than the total Central Powers losses. And all over a Serbian black ops (secretly government-sanctioned) assassination of the Austro-Hungarian heir apparent. *Serbia* (an Allied power) started the war, but the Allies made Germany pay for it and accept responsibility for it. In that sense, the European Allies rather deserved what was to happen two decades later.
Because of the slow methods of communication to Africa, von Lettow-Vorbeck's army only surrendered on 25 November, which many in the region insist on marking as the true end of the Great War instead of 11 November.
@@ThatOneGuyHereRn The native tribes in Portuguese East Africa actually welcomed Lettow-Vorbeck's Schutztruppe as liberators because after Belgium, Portugal was the worst colonial power in terms of brutality and mismanagement.
Thanks to Bespoke Post for sponsoring this video. New subscribers can get 20% off their first box with the promo code HISTORIAN20 at checkout bspk.me/armchair
Sign up for Armchair History TV today! armchairhistory.tv/
Promo code: FIGHTBACK for 50% OFF
Merchandise available at store.armchairhistory.tv/
Check out the new Armchair History TV Mobile App too!
apps.apple.com/us/app/armchair-history-tv/id1514643375
play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=tv.uscreen.armchairhistorytv
Discord: discord.gg/zY5jzKp
Twitter: twitter.com/ArmchairHist
yes
Please show the sacrifices of millions of indian soldiers fighting for British Empire in the world wars .
Great video as always 👍🏻 Africa is too often a forgotten battleground during the war
Can you do a video on how and why ottamen empire was weak and why it joined central powers during ww1
You forgot about Liberia's entry into the war.
Von Lettow-Vorbeck is genuinely one of the greatest military leaders of the 20th century that nobody talks about.
Forcing the British to keep 250,000 men tramping around East Africa for 4 years when they could have been used elsewhere.
Afterwards, he became friends with Smuts, the opposing general
@@vonnazareth8119 and he denied Hitlers request to be a ambassador! (I think)
@@Orenorchard thats uncool tho
But that's the fact a lot of British soldiers in Africa were from colonies like India. Indian soldiers were deemed unfit for Western Front if I put it bluntly because of the cold weather compared to the subcontinent. And these soldiers were best used against ottomans in Iraq and African colonies. So it was basically Britain could afford tying up these soldiers here which Germans certainly could not.
Massive chad energy
Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck was really a great general. Look at the battles he was involved:
Battle of Tanga - 1K Germans vs 9K British
Battle of Jassin - 244 Germans vs 800 British
Battle of Mahiwa - 3K Germans vs 5K-6K British
Battle of Ngomano - 1.5K-2K Germans vs 900 Portuguese
Battle of Lioma - 1.6K Germans vs 3K British
All these battles were German victories, with the last battle a successful retreat avoid getting fully destroyed by the British.
WW1 in Africa is a truly underrated topic.
While he allowed his enemies to "hold the field" (sometimes abandoning positions minutes before the British could catch up) which British propaganda played up as victories, the generals in charge (Smuts, van Deventer) were practically obsessed with him because they knew they had never truly defeated him on the field.
@@viverinacielvoss3707 Interesting.
yes
Von Lettow-Vorbeck was probably one of the best Generals of WWI, holding out against all odds and defending until the end of the war itself. A German Victory could've been achieved in WWI. While the battles were small and unimportant on the greater scale, Von Lettow-Vorbeck diverted thousands of troops and thousands of tons of war material to deal with him, weakening the front lines in Europe. Honestly, since Britian never truly occupied Deutch Ostafrika, the Weimar Republic should've been allowed to keep it.
ok kaiserboo
An Austrian is shot by a Serbian in Europe, so you, an Indian male, are sent to Tanzania to defeat the German army stationed there, in the name of the British King, and bees attack you
I'd rage quit
Technically, the British Indian Army was volunteer only. Too many Indians were ready to volunteer for the money offered.
And not even because the British are directly involved with the death of the Austrian, no. It is because they are allies with the Belgians, who are between the French and the Germans, who are trying to invade France through Belgium because France is allied with the Russians, who are allies with the Serbians, whose enemies are the Austrians, whose allies are the Germans.
@@tektoastium7241 yes
@EMPEROR WARU Google then
British: These Germans stand no chance
The Bees: LeeeeeeeeeeeRooooooy Jenkinnnnnns!
The British colonial troops: NOT THE BEES! NOT THE BEES!!
The German African troops: HAHAHHA THEY RUN IN FEAR OF SUCH TINY ENEMIES...
10 minutes later:
The German troops: OW! OK THE BEES HATE BOTH OF US!
@@Commrade-DOGE The bees have no allegiance heheh
Thanks captain obvious
Thanks captain obvious
@@piperjj4486 lol
The animation quality for this channel has increased faster than GameStop stock
fr tho 🤯🤣
Ha
🚀🚀
💎🙌
Are you sure about that, I mean GameStop stocks are rising pretty quickly
Great video! One reason why the Germans suffered less of tropical diseases as result of insect bites was their uniforms. The Germans wore long trousers and jackboots and had high collars contrary to the British we had open shirts and were wearing shorts.
The german uniforms must be hot asf
@@jmgonzales7701 better hot than sick ig
@@wesleydjodo8823 Yeah i suspect If they kept the soldiers hydrated and didn't push them much when It comes to marching the heat would be at least manageable. When It came to battles though...
@@leonardofranzinribeiro4220 that region of east africa is not really too hot except in summer which wont be long
Also most of the German forces had been there for some time. They'd already been through those diseases and developed resistance to them. Many of the Allied troops were new to the area and had no such resistance.
There's an interesting story about Von Lettow-Vorbeck's Men after the war: in the 1960's, the West German government went down to the former colony to pay the Askari Native Colonial troops their Back-Dated pay. Roughly 350 or so men showed up, but few of them could prove they'd actually served as German troops during the war. One of the German officials had an idea and fetched a Broom, whereupon they asked the men to use it to perform their rifle drill.
All of the men who had come performed it flawlessly, and received their Military pay from the German government.
Von Lettow-Vorbeck himself apparently had a large degree of respect for the Askari under his command, and his fluency in Swahili and appointing of natives as officers earned him a great deal of loyalty from them. He also refused to cooperate with the Nazis later in his life which earned him surveillance from the Gestapo. He was welcomed as a hero in a 1953 visit to the capitol of Tanzania, and upon his death in 1964 the West German government flew two of his Askari in as state guests at his funeral.
All in all a remarkable man.
I do believe I heard somewhere that when Lettow-Vobeck visited in 1953 the british had planned for a millitary band to play german WWI marches in his honour. What they didn't plan for was that several hundred of his Askari's were to show up in uniforms that they had kept hidden for all those years. The British were stunned at the sight of them marching thorugh the city towards the welmoming comité, but soon shock it off and with classic british stiff upper lip played the german tunes they had rehearsed. It causeed great jubilation from the askaris and the british authorities could breath easily again, for a second there they had thought a rebellion was brewing. Not to far fetch an idea considering the Mau Mau uprising up in Kenya at the same time.
And he was one of the war’s best generals
Us there any article or documentation of such event?
@@DushanBauerI think this was also mentioned on the great war channel, they usually do their research very well, maybe they have the source for this somewhere.
@@hermannvonsalza1912 Wasn’t there also a Maji Maji rebellion that had been squashed by Germany a few years before the war? The askaris had little issue with that but the (now british) colonial authorities feared they’d rebel?
No one:
Bees: -"We serve to the German Empire."
Ramree Island Crocs: “We serve the Allied forces.”
@@raptordoniv6779 🤓
@@raptordoniv6779 the talking rhinoceros in Punjab: I serve the imperial Sultanate of India
I’ve always wanted to see this topic done by you. One day you should do a video on what was happening in the Asian Pacific in WW1
Hi Vanissan
It was the equivalant of Letof, German east asia squadron raiding from India to the falklands.
Halo 3 profile picture never seen that befor but cool
Not much really happened it was like Japan took islands in the Pacific and Australia taking German New Guinea
@Polandball Cruiser, the SMS Emden. It was sunk by the HMAS Sydney
@Polandball ruclips.net/video/XlcRnS-lXhU/видео.html
UK : we're gonna take german east africa
von Lettow-Vorbeck : I'm about to end this man's whole career
End of the War: not so fast
Imagine having to defeat an empire to take a small colony defended by a army of no more that 40 thousand men.
@@CaptainApathetic your profile picture is heavily cursed
Won Lettow Vorbeck is a commander with a truly terrific military genius. However, it should not be forgotten that 'DESERT TIGER FAHREDDIN PAŞA', who was the commander of the unit that defended Medina until 1919 and 'put down the last weapon' in the 1st World War even after the war was over.
he resisted more troops than won lettow vorbeck for 5 years! God bless your soul, Big Man!
@@senisevmek1993 very impressive
At my school SACS (oldest in South Africa) we have a memorial wall with the names of almost 200 men who died in this war. Each year we commemorate them with a commemoration day parade. They shall not be forgotten
Awesome im also in South Africa.Where is this memorial?
That’s so cool
Cape Town best town
@@dude9318 Lekke man , thats how we do it here in SA 🇿🇦✌🔥
@@hencokotze3820 Cape town sure is lit 🇿🇦✌
Imagine chilling on a whole different continent, then being dragged into an war, fighting under an occupants flag.
*I like your PFP. Perkele.*
My countrymen had to fight for the British in both the world wars.
If they did a topic on Lettow Vorbeck, they definitely should include that perspective because it’s an awkward result of colonialism and nationalism
@@Kabutoes *I feel like I have seen you before.*
@@jasdeepsingh7874 hi i am indian too
Fun fact: The African German troops were so well trained that, when the Western German goverment tried to pay them veteran benefits in the 60's, most of the remaining veterans could be identified by asking them to perform the manual of arms.
Kinda ironic how the Germans treat the blacks better than the Allies in WW1
(though, I may be mistaken here so correct me if I'm wrong)
@@sharpkniveinlatvian1746 Lol. In the war, the Germans treated their soldiers like soldiers... But outside, Germany was a crappy colonial power
@DANIEL BIN OMAR - Nigerian war campaigns in East Africa were the most impressive on the African theatre
@@sharpkniveinlatvian1746 Eh not really... Germany was responsible for genocide in South West Africa. They killed members of the Herero and Namaqua tribes... Thousands of them.
So while the German officers that trained and led their African soldiers may have respected them. Germany was still responsible for an atrocity against South West Africans just prior to WWI If I recall correctly.
South West Africa of course now being Namibia after gaining independence from South Africa in 1989/1990 at the end of the South African Border War.
@@springbok8876 well that was pretty normal.
-Congo Free State (Wikipedia: en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atrocities_in_the_Congo_Free_State)
-British to Boers/Natives who didn’t comply (Wikipedia: en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Boer_War_concentration_camps)
Those are just the ones I could FIND. There was many others as well!
World war starts
Europe: Africa you are invited to join
Not invited you have to join
Yes or yes
And you can't say no
You're being invited please don't resist
It does really have a choice
Von Lettow Vorbeck only mustered at max 14’000 men against a combined force of 300’000 men and never lost. Lettow Vorbeck is definitively the greatest guerrilla warfare commander in history.
Because it’s not entirely true “he never lost” he frequently left the field in the enemies hand, but was never destroyed
Ho Chi Minh : *Laughs from commie heaven*
@@lesdodoclips3915 Yeah, he knew how to pick his battles, a quality that German generals tended to lack in the sequel, or were overruled if they tried to by some Austrian whose name I cannot entirely recall, but makes me think of a punch. Um, Hitface? No, no. Uh, Jabhead?
Then again, he was losing men with each battle and was likely to be worn down at some point.
@@srikrishnak196 Does he really count if his enemy were only ever allowed to fight defensively? Like they weren't even allowed to march towards the North.
as a Kenyan My great grand father fought in this war, he even got a medal
Awesome. From what I heard, my maternal grandfather fought in WWII. He’s a Ghanaian, btw.
@@sonicdash761 My paternal greatgrandfather was an Indian and was fighting the Japanese in WWII . He was captured by them but managed to escape and had a hard time convincing his family that he wasn't a ghost to visit them after the war😂😂.
My grand Dad worked for the British home office in Nairobi in the 50s as a telex exchange clerk.....he told me he used to type up those awards and commendations
My great great X2 grandpa died for Pedro the II and my great great grandpa joined ww1, and my great grandpa joined the BEF
My other family side idk if Trindad and Tobago served in ww2. Might research and ask my dad
Edit: my grandpa never served in the BEF I was gonna ask him but he died from Covid 3 years ago, I thought I saw he did cuz I saw him in a milltary uniform, turns out he was in the dictator ship in the milltary. Might explain more couldn’t get more info. Sorry I lied
Funfact:
When the West German government went to Tanzania to pay the Askari their government pension in the 1970's, none of the 85-90 men who showed up could prove they'd been part of the colonial forces. one of the Germans had the idea of using a broom to have the men perform their rifle drill.
Every Askari that had come performed it flawlessly, and they all received their pensions.
Damn
Germany didn't own Tanzania for long that's why german bureaucracy was never used which means colonial conscripts were almost never documented
The east African German troops: HELP WE ARE OUT NUMBERED AND OUT GEARED!
Nature: I got you homie
The tsetse fly killed more South African horses than all of the Schutztruppe combined.
I was rooting for the German Empire in this one, they managed to hold on their territories for 4 years while being outgunned.
They knew they would lose so they choose sneak attacks which were very effective in Africa's harsh terrain.
@@pecadodeorgullo5963 The Ottomans should of helped in conquer Egypt more all they did was fund a rebellion. They should of sent a sizeable force.
@@danielshifron5672 maybe they were a bit distracted with things like Gallipoli^^
@Bernard Alcantara 2 Because an airplane by the British cause them to loss the surprise of the attack and made them loss
@@granville7 Britain was really cocky on that attack
Africa: Exists
Europe: is for me?
is for me
Its *Ours*
@@ITSMYSTERYPLAYS69 *UNITED FOREVER IN FRIENDSHIP AND LABOR*
Yes it is.
Europe: it's a free real estate....
France, Britain: Taking Africa will be easy!
German East Africa: I'm going to stop you right there
its time to make African ww1 Vietnam!
nice to see you here, I like your channel
@@okey289 i heard it was started when a bloke called archie duke shoot an ostrich cause he was hungry
@@okey289 : This started wwl, but was not the reason.
@@The_Deliverer Baldric,is that you?
“But now we shall both surely die.” Said the British soldier.
“Lol.” Said the Kaiser Bee. “Lmao.”
They gave Non-aligned Germany a free +1 general
Puppet Rush is a hell of a drug
I mean the Kaiser gives a hell lot of buffs so an extra general is obviously a perfect fit...
Because of his Performance Germany should keep East Africa
You can't take what you didn't Conquer
The German divisions had logistics and maintenance support companies too
As a Portuguese it saddens me to see how little is told about Portugal during this events. Especially when considering that far more man died in Angola and Mozambique fighting the Germans than in Flanders itself. It really was a disaster.
Oh yes I feel you but you found India that's good right there's saying which goes something like this every spainsh dream ends with portuguese completing it and napoleon's inavison of Portugal and the Lisbon earthquake in the 1755 really started the decline Portugal but you were a pinacle for others your empire was bigger than the roman empire but your empire did commit a lot atrocities in Indian region of Goa killing a lot people force conversation of Christanty and destroyed thousands of Hindu temples but still a lot of people admire Portugal for what you did you were just a small country and yet you went down in history as one of the biggest empires in the world
@@glocksmith226 portugal 🤝 dutch
small superpower
The most deadly weapon in Ww1, *the nature.*
Yes
Disease, disease everywhere
Waifriends
Hi friend
@@dirckthedork-knight1201 hello
Allies: *invade Tanzania*
Germans: ya like jazz?
Ya like bees?
Grammar german here: In the name Lettow- Vorbeck the „w“ is close to silent. You say it more like „Lettoh- Vorbeck.“🤪
Thanks!
@@TheArmchairHistorian You are welcome!
Didn’t want to say grammar nazi lol
@@hiraeth4408 . Yup.😜
Echt jetzt, Jörg???
As a Boer who's great grandfather's fought with Maritz against the British, I do applaud your excellent work! If possible please make a WW2 in Africa video!
african lands with a small tribe
europe: this land is my land this land is my land
🎵And you can’t have it.🎵
God has given it to me
@@capncake8837 🎵because it’s my land🎵
@@saradadhakal4748 HE GAVE IT TO ME!!!!
@@AbandonedChan8l No he didn't. He personally told that to me
I live in South Africa and we never got taught this in history class.
We’re starting a module on WW1, idk if they will discuss the war in Africa or not, hope they do though.
Same for me
That's really strange since Jan Smuts was not just a general in WWI but also became Prime Minister of the Union of South Africa, twice.
Damn it’s sad not more died... well I hope COVID will clear the case ✌️
I don't know what you are talking about but I was definetly taught about it in school
I m from East Africa, My great great grand father was probably among the troops who fought along with Von lettow. Anyway I want to thank u for the African well edited videos you did. No other American YTB channels made more video about Africa than You.
British be like : i never know that small sausage factory in tanganyika would become a trouble for us
Hello Darling! 😉
(King Edmund III.) Just in case. 😄
That is a top quality reference there.
"Good luck against those elephants"
I used to love soldiering when the pre-requisite of a campaign was that the enemy should under no circumstance have guns, even spears made us think twice.
Not many people cover Africa during ww1, same with the Middle East during ww2. Great video
Because there was basically no action in middle east in ww2, what do you want
What about "Lawrence of Arabia" ?
The Afrika Corps fighting the British and Amercans across North Africa is one exception. Most geographers include Libya and Egypt as part of the Middle East.
@@daviddobi6938 all I’m saying in my opinion for me it’s interesting to learn about the non looked at battles, again my opinion.
@@battleaxejak6494 All im saying is you cant cover the non looked battles in the middle east in ww2 when there werent any action, what could they make, an oil factories tour of saudi arabia?
Africans: Who are those people? Why are they fighting in my house?
Europeans: *Our house* and by “ours”, I mean mine.
@@sonicdash761 communism
( ಠ ͜ʖಠ)
name 1 house in africa (that was owned by africans) in 1914
@@MeatGoblin88 The whole continent.
@@MeatGoblin88 my family residence in Asaba Nigeria
There was a famous story about Lettow-Vorbeck that he used a small German army and defeated the Brits at battle of the Bees. Later, he was well known for using guerrilla tactics against the Allied forces (including Belgium, French and British)
He was a badass, he was outnumbered tremendously but still wasn't defeated until Germany signed an armistice.
@@Sceptonic True.
I loved how the portrait moved at 2:40
Africa you are invited to fight in ww1!*
*participation is mandatory
*resistance will be crushed
This topic in a nutshell: “You are trying to kidnap what I have rightfully stolen."
Gaming
They just chilled by the beach, maybe hanged out with some friends, a normal 4 year long conflict.
You did not mention this but Portugal joined WW1 after almost 1 year of being involved in an undeclared war against the Germans in Africa.
I think you should do one on the Greek revolution, It is so complicated and I think it is very interesting. It also arguably start the long decline of the ottoman empire.
British: let's give Jerry 3 hours to surrender
Lettow-Vorbeck: *laughs in Heia Safari*
I am 100% sure that the British were not able to capture the German general in East Africa because of his gigantic titanium balls
And he only had one working eye!
YESS!!! thank you so much for listening to my suggestion!!!!
Commonwealth Army: "We've taken over your province, there's nowhere for you to run now!"
Vorbeck: _"I'm gonna do what's known as a pro-gamer move."_
Mosambique:Is chilling
Lettow-Vorbeck:Hello there
Happy 1 million Subscribers!! I've started watching you a month ago
Average Desert Fox fan:
-Nazi
-Uses tanks
-Has tactic Superiority
-Loses anyway
Average Lion of Africa Enjoyer:
-What’s a tank?
-More than 10k army, what’s that?
-Supplies? What’s that
-Wins anyway
I’m a boy from Louisiana and I have a lot of French and French Canadian blood, but I have to admit lettow vorbeck was a very smart,resourceful,and great military leader who defeated the British and Portuguese in gurilla battles and retook an entire colony from French, British, and Belgian forces amazes me.
Fun fact: The German military tried to send an airship (LZ 104) from a Bulgarian hangar to German East Africa to resupply Lettow Vorbeck's army in 1917, but by the time it went to the capital of Sudan, it was facing heavy winds that made the trip dangerous and nearly crashed it. It received an "abort mission" message after nearly 4 days of flying and returned back to Bulgaria.
As the British and Germans fought in the forest, a terrifying sound filled the air that sent shivers down their spines...
"Ya like jazz?"
Holey Moley the animation just got even better!
Frrance and britain: germany is so cruel and expansive
Also france and britain: has over 3x more colonies than germany
Not really.
Or do you mean combined?
@@Tobi-ln9xr combined
YESSS finally
*BEES*
i happended
@@ЛюбовьщенокЛюбовьщенок I love your pfp
@@joshf7321 why?
@@joshf7321 you Like apartaid flag...
My great-grandfather's brothers fought in Mozambique against the Germans that were doing guerilla fighting. (I'm Portuguese)
Nice🇵🇹🇵🇹🇵🇹🇵🇹🇵🇹🇵🇹🇵🇹
Portugal was already at war with Germany in Africa even before the official declaration of war. 🇵🇹
Your English is pretty good honestly
@@ironhorsehistorian9871 who was that meant for? 🤣
@@realhawaii5o I don’t remember
*History Summarized:*
Place + Time Period = The British are involved
Yæs
Seems right
A side of the war that is rarely mentioned, perfect!
6:39 This made me die. This is why I love Armchair 😂
Lmfao bro that’s true XD
I love how the background changes depending on the topic
Europe: *colonises Africa*
Ethiopia: “haha, no.”
italians did it after loosing hundred thousands anyway smh
Also Liberia
@@berkeihlamur4160 no. Ethiopia was not colonised.
@@whosasking9655 if was tho during 1935 to 1936, it was effectively colonized meanwhile haile selassie was hiding in his house in England
@@francescoboselli6033 liberia is an American colony
British Army about to take Tanga
Kaiser Wilhelm : " _the time has come...execute ORDER 66..._ "
Bees: * *_it will be done Mein Kaiser_* *
Alternativ Reality:
Wilhelm II:Take 68 divisions and defeat France
Lettow-Vorbeck:Give me 1000 Tanzanian Troops and bees and I destroy French, Brittish, Canadian, Australian, Indian and African troops, occupie France, stop a Normandy landing and make UK sue for peace
Imagine your homeland turning into a chaotic warzone because some white boys had beef.
Imagine the fact that humans are always fighting and no matter their skin colours or origins everyone was almost always in war with someone else. Imagine that the skin colour had no influence whatsoever. Haha I'm kidding...
But imagine
@@parodyclip36 Imagine white people lmao crazy
@@panchohalo2158 now imagine white people fighting lololol
Edit: /s because someone didnt understand my meagre attempt at sarcasm
@@panchohalo2158 Yeah just imagine. That would be wild
@@Baul3680 @Pancho Halo Western front, D-day, Battle of Britain, Invasion of Italy, Operation Barbarossa...So many human beings lost their lifes in those conflicts and you make a freaking joke out of them based on the colour of their skin? You digust me, double-standard anti-racist racists. My own great-grandfather almost lost his life in WW2, came back home traumatized and you spit on him? Shame on you, racialists.
I have been trying to read what I can find about this topic, but I couldn't find much sources. Its nice to see a well researched unbiased history video nowdays, cheers for your effort.
Africa: Exists*
Europe: "It's a free real estate"
Original
@@daviddobi6938
Nope
Ghana: Exists
Ghanaians: Free real estate
@@joshuafrimpong244 They mad expensive now 😭😭
when the "European" colonial powers arrived, Ottomans were already controlling the North Africa (and some parts of East Africa)
I've watched almost all your videos and I'm simply amazed.. the way you put things in perspective from both sides make you the world's only historian that does that that I've seen in my lifetime.. I thought I knew history in Africa but I clearly had no idea how deep the rabbit hole goes
Africa: We Are Okay
Europe: "fights"
Africa: We are not okay
I love how whenever the military commanders planning an operation expect an easy victory, it somehow always ends up blowing up in their face, whether or not they end up winning anyways.
7:47 British Army: "For Her Majesty, The Queen!!"
Bees: "Foh Ze Kaisahhh!!!!!
Yahhhhhhh!!!!!!
There are so many amazing stories from East Africa. The SMS Koningsburg for instance, a cruiser that took refuge in a river delta and took months for the Royal Navy to flush out. And then the Mimi and Tutu, a pair of gunboats that the British hauled overland through the Belgian Congo to fight a German gunboat on Lake Tanganika
Actually in East Africa the German colonialists were 'better', more humane and kinder than their british counterparts. My greatgrandfather told us of how they used to cross over to the German side for food and to get more rest. He was conscripted on the British side when the war broke out
Were they really? I guess you haven't heard of the Herero and Namaqua genocide.
Genocidal massacre, starvation, concentration camps, human experimentation, extermination through labour. The Germans have officially recognised this genocide
@@IrishCinnsealach and wich colonial countries doesn't doing that at that time
@@northwesteastsouth7437 who cares? The original comment tried to make out German colonialism treated them better than Britain and I simply stated that wasn't true.
@@IrishCinnsealach yeah that was true
The armchair historian gives people the perfect amount of time to read the fun facts , especially for people that read slightly slower .
There is an interesting story with the veteran german askari’s from WW1. In the 60’s, the west German government had decided to pay the back pay of the Askari. Very few could produce the paper work to show they had served, with many instead providing their uniforms or parts of them. Eventually, a German banker got the idea to test each one by giving him a broomstick and having him perform the manual at arms in German. Not one failed.
Read an extremely interesting account of the East African fighting by a North Schleswig sailor who arrived on a supplyship in 1915. The availability of quinine was crucial for the fighting, and just a couple of homemade landmines on roads could stop an army or at least facilitate sweeping. In my mind, one of the most interesting campaigns of WW1.
Hell yeah love these vids right before bed
"AH NO NOT THE BEES! NOT THE BEES! AAAAAAAAAH!!!!"
Inspirational Quotes taken from the Frontline of the war to end all wars
Congratulations on 1 million subs keep up the good work
How someone normal plays in ARMA 3: Play tactically
how I play ARMA 3: 6:38
Wow, Lettow Von Vobeck, and german east africa deserve respect for that
2:41 the guy in the painting walking away killed me xD
Great video thanks
Belgian Congo is truly sad. They got away it’s some of the worst atrocities in history
Your animations get better each video
Ayyy 1 mil good work!
Lets celebrate
These videos just keep getting better
8:22 bro he even took the sikh's turban.
Ive loved seeing how your videos have evolved and form into a professional looking Production in just 2 or 3 years.
Damn that German general that held up all that time was such a damn badass
I’m so happy that you did this because the War in Europe is really the only focus when talking about WW1 even though it was a world war, and it’s just so refreshing to see how the fighting in Africa unfolded at Trench warfare would scar Europe forever
إن الظلم يجعل من المظلوم بطلا، وأما الجريمة فلابد من أن يرتجف قلب صاحبها مهما حاول التظاهر بالكبرياء. - عمر المختار
"Oppression makes the oppressed heroes And it makes the heart of the one who committed the oppression tremble, no matter how much he tries to hide it or act proud"
- Omar Al Mukhtar (Libyan freedom fighter who fought Italian Fascists)
11:05
The little Detail that u wrote the German Colonies by their german Name like Kamerun (Cameroon) 👍🏼
you know watching history especially the wars throughout history sometimes makes me think of star wars and some of the characters on it. Such as Grand Admiral Thrawn compared to the german general in east Africa. Does anyone else sometimes think that?
Thank you for covering this theatre of the war, it’s often overlooked when discussing WW1
Did not know that Germany had colonies in Africa. I learn all kinds of things watching your videos.
The snow speaks finnish,
The trees speak vietnamese,
And the bees speak German.
My Friend: There were no Black German Soldiers
Me as German: *Dummkopf!*
I read in "African Kaiser: General Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck and the Great War in Africa, 1914-1918" that the German Schutztruppe was unique among all colonial forces in that while the officers were white, it was the only colonial military unit where it was regularly possible to find white rankers being commanded by askari (native) NCOs.
I think he means there were none in the European theater then.
there were no black "germans" there were only blacks who fought for Germany's colonial forces
@DANIEL BIN OMAR -
>German
>Black
Pick one
@DANIEL BIN OMAR - Because we want to preserve our racial and cultural identities and not let any random groups claim to be us or our culture, we have nations and borders for a reason
A much needed video for an often overlooked theater of World War 1. It would be great if you did a follow up series of videos going into greater detail covering the battles. Keep the WW1 videos coming!
Germany : Finally, its my time to shine in this period.
Dude, Germany shined almost *everywhere* in this period.
- Fought the Royal Navy to a draw
- Went full badass with U-boats and surface commerce raiders
- Took down Imperial Russia (with some help from internal issues)
- Fought France AND the UK to a standstill on the Western Front
- Kept Austria-Hungary from losing
- Nitrate supply from Chile and the Pacific colonies blockaded? No biggie, we'll just INVENT a process to make our own (Haber-Bosch process)
- The Red Baron. (Need I say more on this?)
- Singing "Silent Night" together with their *enemies* on Christmas Eve.
If France hadn't been such crybabies, Hitler would never have come to power and SO much of world history would be *very* different.
@@grantjohnson5785 most i'm retaining is that the germans lost, and lost heavy
@@evryatis2853 In their other 3 tiny African colonies, yes. In East Africa, Von Lettow-Vorbek made the Vietcong guerilla resistance look like Girl Scouts on a day hike. On the Eastern European Front, Germany had already WON - look up the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. It wasn't until the US hopped in and bolstered the Western Front that Germany saw it couldn't sustain things any longer. And when all was said and done, total Allied losses were far, FAR greater than the total Central Powers losses.
And all over a Serbian black ops (secretly government-sanctioned) assassination of the Austro-Hungarian heir apparent. *Serbia* (an Allied power) started the war, but the Allies made Germany pay for it and accept responsibility for it. In that sense, the European Allies rather deserved what was to happen two decades later.
@@grantjohnson5785 yeah but the blockade still happen
Because of the slow methods of communication to Africa, von Lettow-Vorbeck's army only surrendered on 25 November, which many in the region insist on marking as the true end of the Great War instead of 11 November.
Just goes to show, that the allies weren't liberators during WW1.
WW1 wasnt war of liberation anyway. Nothing more than a king's war
@@ThatOneGuyHereRn The native tribes in Portuguese East Africa actually welcomed Lettow-Vorbeck's Schutztruppe as liberators because after Belgium, Portugal was the worst colonial power in terms of brutality and mismanagement.
@@viverinacielvoss3707 brutality?!!
@@viverinacielvoss3707 English colonialists were worse than the Portuguese
Love to see the animations get more detailed with more funny bits sprinkled in. Keep up the great work.