My grandpa who fought on both sides of the war (With the CNT and latter with the Carlists,) said: If it wasen't for the tragedy of death it would have been a hilarious war.
@@AmericanImperium1776 the carlist mouvement ended supporting workers ownership of the means of production for a small time in the '70, going back to the cnt values lmao
Orwell: "Goddammit I just want to kill Fascists. Why did I have to be paired with these people who don't know how to fight?" Kemp: "The Civil War was pretty funny. We charged at goats one time lmao."
but who's to judge the right from wrong when their guard is down I think they both agree that violence breeds violence but in the end it has to end these way
Nah I think the polish Soviet war 1919-1921 was the Pinnacle of the interwar period. Although I will admit there were a lack of tanks in the conflict so eh.
I think I have to agree with Exu here, not that the Polish-Soviet War didn't contribute to modern history. While the Polish-Soviet War basically drew the line of where the Soviets could spread Communism into Europe, the Miracle on the Vistula is more of a demonstration of how a highly-motivated people could push back their invaders. Or at least, demonstrates how terrible the Soviet Red Army was early on, as well as highlighting the corruption in the army that can still be seen today. Oh, and how the Soviets lost to the famed Polish cavalry. That was a nice skirmish. However, the Spanish Civil War was nearing the end of the interwar era, and everyone had their special toys that they needed to experiment on such as propeller fighters, biplanes, and light tanks. As you have said, Demicleas, the lack of tanks in the Polish-Soviet War is an 'eh',' armored warfare was still a thing in its in fancy, though it didn't necessarily mean an army of tanks as armored cars were doing the job just as well (look up the Ford FT B if you want to see a funny looking Polish invention), and plenty were bought, welded, shipped, and stolen during the Russian Civil War - such as Peerless, Putilovs, and Austins.
The stalinists where the only ones who did something more complicated than organize a ragtag militia with a union boss as an officer and a bunch of kiddos as soldiers
@@nikoclesceri2267 They are and always have been Although Stalinists and Stalinism doesn't exist as Stalin's political theory is merley part of Marxist Leninism and those who support Stalin's policies and his literature are Marxists leninist not supporters and members of some seperate Idealology
I dont know if reducing Spanish Legitimism (Carlism) to "banning women from the throne" is too large of a simplification or an absolutely based summary
Yo one king had an obscenely long dick, her wife couldnt fuck with him properly.He had 2 daughters, the thrown was supposemto go to his brother and then he changes his mind and allowed womans to inherit the trone and then the line of who is suppose to be the legitimate ruler diverged, but the point was pretty much retaking los fueros and get rid of the woman
Peter Kempt at the time of the war, in his book, put that Carlism had two camps, the Absolutists and the Traditional (ones supporting the Fueros that limit absolute monarchy and instead opts for regionalism as was Old Spain before the Bourbons centralised the State.) The Absolutists justified their cause mainly that they needed a central figure to suppress Republicans and Liberals (including Isabelline monarchists) and then work from there to establish ideals of Carlism which the Traditional opt for (decentralised monarchy). The Socialist camp came later in the 70s.
Orwell: “The civil war was horrible, we failed again and again, my fellow men were incompetent, but the atrocities were… fine I guess?” Kemp: “Lmfaoooo the civil was was fucking hilarious wtf do you mean?”
“guess she used to put the horns on him quite a bit. Anyway, about three months ago, just after this war started, she gave him the bird-finally and for good. So he came to Spain to forget his broken heart in the hell and shellholes of Ávila” ― Peter Kemp,
@@In_Our_Timeline if you don't mind can I ask some questions about Pakistan politics,more specially about imran khan ,since you are from there and would be far more credible then any foriegn newschannel
Thankfully, Orwell changed up and got based near the end of his life. Orwell, by the end of his life, became a right-winger, reporting communists to MI6 and foreshadowing the development of Reaganism in publications like Partisan Review.
@@douglasmacarthur702 he was always a socialist and reported communists to MI6 because Stalin was a dickhead and many socialists including me would agree
George Orwell in a French Town which is pro nationalist and all adore Napoléon, shit talks them and calls them fasicst is the most British thing ever, hating the French, I think he missed out something that in the cafe there was a photo of Napoléon, I think it's not there in many versions but in some it's there,I don't know which one is real, but take it with the pinch of salt.
Orwell's experience with the POUM in Homage to Catalonia sounds like that one VRChat interview with the US Army vet guy who fought for the YPG in Syria but way less able to laugh about what a shitshow it was.
the POUM actually had a very similar ideology and structure to the YPG. Both are anti-authoritarian collectivists that have a strong focus on local democracy and they both use a similar militia structure with minimal hierarchy /unit democracy.
@@sardolar9235 they are not racist against Turks. They only exist because of Turkish racism. Turkey made it illegal to speak Kurdish in public, teach Kurdish in schools, and publish books in Kurdish for decades. Referred to Kurds as mountain Turks and tried to erase their culture and assimilate them. that's like saying the IRA are racist against the English or the Black Panthers are racist against white people.
@@chase55431 there is a kurdish party in parliament its lie about speaking kurdish in public i live in turkiye my kurdish friends even teach me some words i dont know if you ever been in istanbul but you will notice nobody is there speaking turkish and if you want to know you supporting a terrorits are killed its own people Yeah live in europ see pkk as freedom fighters why dont you guys take them all we saved 1.5 million kurds from saddam
the experience that George Orwell had in spain were really interesting and it changed this mind on socialism as a whole and i really do love learning about that man some time is just so interesting the whole thing worth looking into imo
Socialism ≠ socialism. That's what I learned from informing myself in general. They're libirals socialists, market socialist, radical socialist, democratic socialists etc.. The left is devided in general, between tankies or hardliners and more liberals. For me it started with that book too.
You think that's Crazy ? The french writer Louis-Ferdinand Céline was a staunch socialist doing your typical social commentary etc, then in 1937 he traveled to the USSR, then when he went back he wrote a pamphlet called "Mea Culpa" and then he did a whole 180, became staunchly anti socialist, antisemitic, became INCREDIBLY racist (to the point of calling the Occitans (southern french for those who don't know) ni****s) and then he collaborated with the Germans (granted, even if he didn't switch he still would have done it as most socialist did pre Barbarossa, and a few still did even after) and he went above and beyond, up to travelling to Germany etc THAT'S what I call character development
It didn’t change his mind on anything. He remained a socialist, he just saw the danger of authoritarianism in person, and remained opposed to it with renewed vigour.
Though you are right about Orwell's attitude throughout the book, I think you should mention a huge theme found within it. You should fight for a cause you believe in no matter how small a chance it has at success. It kinda culminates in Catalonia when he mentions the scene in France where he and his wife look at each other and recall everything they went through in the last few months and instantly both wanted to go back to Spain.
@@dekuthetechpriestoflondon6791 fighting even though you know it's a lost cause is very heroic in fantasy. In reality it's just a waste of human lives.
@@tavernburner3066 It isn't stupid. The Second Republic were fighting for basic human rights that you and I take for granted. Many of them were working people like sheep herders, coal miners, factory workers, fisherman or what historians called "peasants" going up against the General of the Army of Spain who denied them their rights. A person would rather die free then live a slave.
Their is a book out there, Homage to Oceania, which is an analysis of Orwell's life and work. (written in the 1960s, i think.) The title is an homage to Homage to Catalonia. 10/10 recommended reading
@@Casc. (I know, tone is lost on the internet so that's my bad but I was trying to make a joke that I couldn't see the homage in Homage to Oceania to 1984)
Orwell & Kemp’s paths rapidly diverge after their experiences in the Spanish Civil War on both sides. Orwell would still refer to himself as a Socdem but he worked with the British government to out the communist infiltrators & their network’s to the police and was one of the few vocal critics of the Soviet Union & Stalinism to the point where he feared assassination. Kemp would fight for British special forces in the Balkans & then latter in the pacific for mop up operations. He would see the duplicitous nature of Stalin & the USSR. For example, he witness the betrayal of the chetniks (Royalist partisans) to the communist Yugoslav partisans and be locked up by the NKVD. With the US showing indifference and/or hostility to Britian & Frances extended empires (eventually alongside the Soviets, forces them to decolonized) Kemp had to scrap for forces in the pacific, both friends and foes, to keep the peace.
Betrayal?! The chetniks were nazi collaborators in all but name, they cared more about fighting the communists than the nazis, they deserved whatever came to them.
@@nanleri1167 All groups in that region did to different extents, as they were as frequently fighting eachother as they were the Nazi's. It hardly was a simple affair, and I'd argue blandly saying Chetniks were collaborators really over-simplifies it into falsehood.
@@bewawolf19 Well, if even tthe staunchly anti-commie western allies consider Titos partisans better alliey than you because you collaborate with the Nauis, there might be a readon for calling you a collaborator
Glad Mr. Kemp is getting some attention now. His books are great reads. He actually had a three part series, first starting with MWOT, then a read set in ww2 (the best one imo) and the last in the east indies attempting to reassert dutch rule in the area
Yeah, its the 2nd time he does it. To be fair, he does make some good poimts in making Orwell look lile the stereotypical british man lmao. He might be exaggerating at times tho. Ive not seen him say a single good thing anout Orwell's book the entire video, and altough i havent read it, i doubt there isnt at least something good about it.
@@benwilson1088 Im not left leaning and its still recommended to learn from Orwell. He kind of puts an end to these stupid stereotypes of fascists and communists.
@@Trollge398 Free Speech is good, but every society has either directly or indirectly cracked down on any dissident speech. That’s just the reality & nature of power. *Dictatorship
*💬Bonus reading below: Kemp on the Bombing of Guernica.* 🥰Patreon: www.patreon.com/CallMeEzekiel ▶RUclips Memberships: ruclips.net/channel/UCnZ1r94_Ptz_1gN5VBnE0Mgjoin ⭐SubscribeStar: www.subscribestar.com/CallMeEzekiel 🙏PayPal: www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=EAQPBZ8VHGFL6 📚Main sources: 🔴Homage to Catalonia: amzn.to/3DS3YF7 ⚪Mine Were of Trouble: amzn.to/3flPKD7 Note: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Crypto: 💸 🟠BTC: bc1qj2szqj0h0rj2zz5x0zdhr8fzrh85zmatwxht26 🔵ETH: 0x0344A4aF3eCe5F8E5C0f65FC4c7eB667bf31cD60 You can also watch us on... 👀 ❤Odysee: odysee.com/@CallMeEzekiel 💚Rumble: rumble.com/CallMeEzekiel *💬Bonus Reading:* First, a fact that didn’t fit anywhere else: Just like Orwell, Kemp suffered a throat wound, although Kemp’s was far less serious. And now… the Bombing of Guernica. In Mine Were of Trouble, Peter Kemp gives a heterodox account of the Bombing of Guernica. The common story goes that the open town of Guernica was destroyed by the German Condor Legion (who were fighting for the Nationalists) in a terror bombing targeting civilians. Kemp’s story is quite different. Kemp doesn’t claim to have witnessed the event himself. But he records the account of a man who was on the scene right as the Nationalists took the town. According to him, the town was not burned by the German Condor Legion but by the Republicans who were practicing a scorched earth policy. This was consistent with the fact that the Republicans had also burnt Irun, Eibar, and Amorebieta for similar reasons. Kemp’s source on the ground even claims that the Republicans stole all of Guernica’s food and clothing on the way out and that he saw the locals wearing nothing but sacks. Kemp goes on to say that while the bombing definitely happened, it was not to murder and terrorize civilians but to attack Republican troops while they were still in the town. He closes this account by saying: “It seems to me that nothing illustrates better the superiority of Republican propaganda over Nationalist than the Republican story about Guernica was given immediate and world-wide publicity, and is still generally believed; whereas the Nationalist case scarcely received a hearing.”
I'm glad you didn't include this section of Kemp's writing in the video, because during the war my grandfather lived in Amorebieta (Zornotza in Basque). Later on, my Mother was born and grew up there and every time they talked about the destruction of the town or showed photographs explained how the Nationalists took the town from Republicans because it is on the road to Bilbao, a center of industry, population, and shipping. Guernica by comparison was out of the way and strategically unimportant, like out the middle of nowhere important. My family has plenty of stories like how my grandfather never ate garbanzo beans after the war because of the rationing, the impressment of child soldiers, and even when the bombing of Guernica happened my grandfather remembered hearing the bomb sirens and finding out about the destruction later that day. A ton of photographic evidence also exists from Amorebieta, Bilbao, and Guernica of before, during, and after the fighting. I'm glad you didn't include this passage because Kemp's war crime apologia gives too kind to the Nationalists and unsympathetic to the victims of the bombing. Lastly, while the Republicans did do some scorched earth tactics evidence says it was very rare since until the end they still hoped to win the war.
@@alexdeo4962 Cheers! That extra reading really is hit or miss, as he chalks it up to being a "do you believe the Fascists or the Communists," whose to say whether Kemp had heard truthful recounts. But of course someone who supports a side that commits war crimes is likely to take the easy way out by denying the existence of such actions, as to maintain their own reputation and, indirectly, the reputation of those who may have committed the war crimes or at least supported the conducting of such actions as well. Or y'know...maybe my beliefs are just some product of "Stalinist propaganda."
There's also a funny hospital visit between him and a Spanish patient sharing the same room. A nun kept coming in to check on them, which left the spaniard writhing in agony because of his injuries. After the fourth time, Kemp woke to the sound of a gun shot, shattering glass and a woman screaming. The patient had shot out the light, and said something like "I'm a religious man, but so help you if you turn that light on again!"
Bought both the of the books soon after watching this video about a month ago and I can say that while i haven't read Homage to Catalonia yet, Mine Were of Trouble is certainly a riot. For example, when Peter Kemp's parents come to see Peter off before he boards the ferry to France, Kemp's father wonders if Kemp would want to borrow a rifle from him. If you want to check the quote yourself, it's on page two of chapter one and reads "I rejected my father's offer of his .275 sporting Männlicher carbine as being likely to cause trouble with customs." A wise decision for many reasons, but primarily because I imagine the Spanish army isn't too interested in making supply exceptions for plucky brits who decide to bring along their father's rifle chambered for a sporting cartridge.
@@BallsItchReal it’s a very good book still have to finish, but I do think my version it’s a little diferente since it adds some extra stuff like letters and other types of stuff, also think that it kinda represents the horrible conditions of the war pretty well
@@AmericanImperium1776 does not make your bias correct. have you even read any Orwell? have you even read a book for that matter? or are you getting all you info from this guy's youtube channel in regards to Orwell?
@@oliversherman2414- Regardless of who he fought for, Kemp was a great soldier and an excellent writer. There are so few English language accounts from the Francist faction that his insight into their thinking is doubly valuable.
One of the greatest books i have read about the civil war is Juan Eslava 'una historia de la guerra civil que no le va a gustar a nadie'. It pictures both sides of the war as human beings at war, no side is the good or the bad.
To be fair one should read both books, but I think Kemps would be the better one. Both men start as idealist, but Orwell is also pretty naive and full of himself, and he gets in so much shit due to that. At the end he is just a cynical man full of himself. Kemp is more grounded and at least attempts to connect with the world and take their visions. I mean, this could be just my interpretation, but it seems that while both joined the side they politically identified with, Kemp joined to help end the war opposed to Orwell joining to kill fascists in a country he knew nothing about
Orwell kind of sounds like some self-described Western “Revolutionaries” who go off to countries they don’t know about too go “fight for the Revolution”.
@@AmericanImperium1776 Orwell reminds me of people that I have seen after a wave of protest a couple of years ago in my country. Sure, the protesters had good points, but it was often violent, political polarization is the highest in decades, we are writing a new constitution that is a convoluted mess and it caused an economic recession that the pandemic turned to all out crisis
Can we PLEASE get a full version of “The only thing I know for real” with Spanish Civil War clips like the beginning of the video? The editing was super hype.
Seems like Orwell was just like the average modern American college student in his early days. This kinda gives me hope for the future, as apparently people do grow out of their youthful delusions (he’s the same guy who wrote 1984 and Animal Farm after all)
Didn’t he leave his very wealthy family to go live as a tramp? I would have to disagree he seemed like the average modern American college student, on many many levels
Orwell had a lot more life experience than the average American college student. Though born in a wealthy part of Britain, he served in the colonial administration in Burma for several years, slummed it in Paris for two years, and spent long spells in the early 1930s travelling through the poorest, most depressed areas of England. He was 33 when he went to Spain.
This video ended up convincing me into making my English literature college coursework based on George Orwells "Homage to Catalonia" and Ernest Hemingways "Butterfly and the Tank", where I got my first A*. I am extremely grateful for the great content on this channel!
I generally love your videos Ezekiel, and while this one isn't the worst, I still believe it could've been so much better. Generally, both sides of this Civil War are simplifed to the point that people believe they were homogenous. This isn't the case in either side. A big reason as to why the Republicans lost was infighting, something imo you should've explored a bit more outside Orwell's work. But the Nationalists had also a lot of infighting, especially when it came to leadership. Franco came to be the leader months later after the coup, and at first he wasn't even really in the coup as a member, but rather as an asset (and an unreliable one). His ascend to power is nothing short of interesting, and he also played a factor in lengthening the war (not just the international brigades in Madrid, partially untrue). Also, many didn't like him, and especially not as a leader of the movement. Personally, you were soft on Kemp, and while his work is incredibly interesting, it's also not completely reliable in its portrayal of the conflict. It's refreshing, and actually quite a good read, but I feel like you left out some bits of Nationalist regression on Republicans. Likewise, you left out some important bits of the Republican side (the Barcelona shootings of May, the socialist groups that ravaged the countryside killing priests and looting churches, the infiltration of Soviet assets). Also, I don't think Orwell is that terrible, having read most of Homage to Catalonia (I have put out reading it for too long), I think he was almost forced to be where he was, and also, the government was incredibly fractured and very poorly coordinated which made the Republican side much weaker and ineffective, Orwell's battallion and all. All in all, could be better, but at least it's pretty cool to see some Carlists riding against goats.
Republicans werent actually united, the anarchists and the socialists werent really all that coordinated. Republican army tended to give the worst armored vehicles to anarchists for instance, they were more of a separate force. also, the nationalist forces werent fascist. Falange were the fascists (nationalsyndicalist), a tiny group within who wasnt even in the right wing coallition in the 1936 elections, and falange were hated by most of the conservatives. Franco and Primo de Rivera despised each other. Most of the right wing where conservatives, catholics, monarchists... far from those fascist ideas that seemed like socialism to some of them. Theres a big misconception of the "2 spains" when there were in fact many more groups than just 2 sides, ideologically speaking. But when it came down to war, the nationalists managed to be mostly coordinated, while republicans were mostly a rag-tag bunch of different militias under different political parties, who misused the armored superiority they had with soviet tanks and carried on suicidal attacks. In barcelona there was even shootings between anarchists and socialists. In the book owell looks like bad
@@schneejacques3502 Yeah... this is exactly what I'm saying. There was a big division in all sides, just the Nationalists managed to cooperate more effectively, and the Republicans were too preoccupied with their own petty fights
I feel like we watched a completely different video, yes there was a bit about republican infighting and child soldiers but did you also notice the raid part were they noticed both were underequipped? or how he referenced both nationalist and republican atrocities? How could you miss those? And most of all the point of this was to point out that Orwell was a socialist radical know-it-all who actually didn't know anything and learned almost nothing from this experience. Pretty much only thing that seems to have affected his later work is further hate on nationalist types and in addition hating communists because they betrayed his unit. I mean Cmon, calling a person with napoleon on his wall a Fascist? Fascists are effectively nationalist syndicalists AKA national socialists. Hmm actually now that I think of it maybe its not that far off... though sticking modern political labels to people before that is cringe.
@@castor3020 Well, he did explore somewhat those things, but I would've liked the vid to be expanded a bit to properly lay out the foundations, even if it's about literary works only. They're memoirs of a war, and as such, laying the proper foundation of the war and its background would've been nice, although I understand time and efficiency is key in RUclips Also, yeah. This video is mostly to compare experiences of both sides through literature, and yeah, Orwell can sometimes be a crybaby. But yeah, I suppose I might've been a bit too harsh on Ezekiel for that. Also imagine calling someone with a Napoleon portrait fascist... Napoleon literally reformed the legal system of France, rebuilt its economical workings and made it the strongest nation in Europe proper. Pretty cringe ngl.
yesnt of course the republicans/communists/whatever, would use a different argument, considering their asses were "saved" by foreign assistance. and in regards to the "nationalist" side, they obvs were also more than happy to let foreigners fight for them aswell, so they certainly are somewhat hypocritical... I guess civilians would be just as upset with them, as theyd be with the spaniards killing each other.
It's also wrong. The German Nazi's and Italian Fascists were involved in the war before this point-see the battle of the Toledo and the Condor Legion; hell Germany is the one who transported Spain's Army of Africa during the starting phases of the war;
@@Lord_Plasma_3 true. if the germans hadnt carried the army of africa by air (as the troops in spanish morocco were the best in the spanish army) the nationalists wouldve been at a disadvantage, as the army of africa wouldve been blockeade by the republican navy
Division Azule is a perfect representation of veterans from the Civil War, They were a Spanish Volunteer Unit that fought on the Eastern Front against Communists in WWII and the majority of their unit consisted of Veterans from the Civil War. Reports say that the Wehrmacht extremely resented them outside of combat for their lack of discipline, gun management, and the fact that they spent their time on the Eastern Front when not fighting usually drunk or chasing after the skirts of local women, But when the fighting came they fought ferociously and had the communists fear them. I believe they were made up of several units from the Requetès
I think the reason Peter Mant MacIntyre Kemp does not get branded as a fascist is simply because he went back home and fought hitler's armies. It gives us a look into the Spanish movement without it just being blanketed as fascist as they always do.
Kemp was very young when he went to Spain (unlike Orwell) and went there in search of adventure and life experience as much as anything else. He chose the Nationalist side because its army seemed so much more professional than the chaotic Republican army. He wasn’t really political but if anything was on the side of the “establishment”.
Spain had support from Germany and Italy en masse, far more than the Russians ever afforded them, even when counting in the international brigades, which by then made up the bulk of the fighting. They were in fact undermined so much by the Russians that the Nationalists marched into Madrid to a city that was at war literally with itself.
Since you are talking about civil wars, why not the Chilean civil war of 1891, when one side was support by the USA and the other by the UK? (Chilean army vs Chilean navy, respectively) Love from Chile!
Orwell didn't say he approved of the atrocities. But it's clear that he didn't blame socialism for them but blamed "Stalinism" instead and said he was still willing to fight for "democratic socialism." Not malice, just inherent contradiction of the socialist worldview.
Dude I've been reading about the Spanish Civil war and it is unironically one of the most brutal and merciless wars that have ever been fought. In other wars you tend to see humanity, but the Spanish Civil war was just a slaughter that 90% of it was done completely voluntary by the soldiers instead of being ordered by some higher up. I believe it was Kemp who escribed it as if the men were possessed. Actually part of the reason the Communists lost was because of how clownishly brutal they were to the civilian population that even though they were (in theory) fighting for them, they just ended up being hated by the very people they were supposed to fight for
@@trato-jm3fx kinda like Weimar Germany or the U.S. nowadays. The radical left go around larping like they're for the people but they maintain order and control buy bullying and intimidating them, then they just piss people off and run them into the hands of the reactionaries and facist.
This video is great! I loved it, what Cancella said to Kemp about the international brigades is very true and it can be seen in other books like Linea De Fuego, as a spaniard, the war hits very differently, they were fighting enemies on the streets since 1931 when democracy was re established until 1939, the last 3 years were just the conclusion. Also the Legión isn't a foreigners troop, it was based on the french foreign legion, maybe that's why you confused it.
Not really, he makes several factual errors in his recounting. One, at the Battle of Madrid the international brigade plaid a negligible role, and made up an extremely small fraction of the defenders. They wouldn’t really come out in force until Jarama. Also the nationalists had foreign support pretty much from day one, whereas the Republicans didn’t receive it till September (and even then Soviet help was extraordinarily limited compared to German and Italian aid.)
It isn't true at all, even if his claim that foreigners made the war last longer is, the fault for the war still lies in the ones that started it, the Nationalists.
@@paranodrum9171 there was going to be a war anyways. The right wing made the coup beacause they lost, but if they had won the 1936 elections, the left would've made the coup (Even Largo Caballero, the left's most important figure at the time said that if the left lost the elections, there would be a civil war, as they already tryed in the Asturias revolution)
Fun Fact: During the 1940's he started a list of suspected communists and was going to report them to the British government, then shortly after that he started complaining about Big Brother.
@@commisaryarreck3974 Welcome to anyone further left than the most mild. They don't see anything wrong with methods, only with the targets. For the man who INVENTED the concept of doublethink, Orwell was completely incapable of realizing that he himself employed and suffered from it.
yeah was Orwell not to call out extremist Marxist psychos? was he to do the "based" thing and let them infiltrate influenced and take over the British left? these people he told big brother to a lot of the time were spies on the kremlin's payroll out for industrial espionage, divide the public and push soviet/marxist propaganda. these victims of Orwell have no respect for the democratic process what so ever. Orwell was a sensible moderate first socialist second. he never supported any system that hurts people. all those people were little stalins. if they had their way uk would be air step one from 1984.
@@accountreality1988 I mean it was a good thing he reported spies working for an Authoritarian regime, but he reported people part of Britain's Communist Party and even Paul Robeson, which he said he was "very anti-white"
From how you described it, Homage to Catalonia sounds like a real life version of The Luck of Barry Lyndon, where the titular Barry serves in the seven years war and does nothing but complain about everything around him without reflecting on his own choices and mistakes that have only made him more miserable. And both of the books in the video sound really interesting, thank you, I'll have to check them out.
This may as well be a hit piece against Homage to Catalonia. He misrepresents the book completely. Orwell went exclusively to fight and correspond. He didn't "join the first group", he joined a group that was affiliated with his group in London. He met plenty of people his age or older, and he made friends everywhere he went. He spoke Spanish well enough to communicate and he mentions plenty of times how his British sensibilities gave him a prejudice against the more lax Spaniards that he was trying to overcome.
@@WillyShankspeare Yeah, the bias is so clear and evident if you read the book at all. Shame someone so blatantly biased against it is getting so many views.
@@TheDrunkenHetzer What you talking about? I read Catalonia for a college paper and I barely finished it because I was getting pissed off on how annoying and an asshole Orwell was. Thank goodness his Animal Farm was written much better. Gonna read that other guys book. Sounds much more exciting
To be honest Orwell's decision to join the POUM turned out to be the right decision in the end considering that they were hunted down for not enforcing tyranny. I don't think you were being overly mean but you could cut guys some sack at least - He definitely deserved to survive that neck wound.
Why cuz he wrote 1984. The more i learn about him, the more I realize he was just another cringe lefty or even a proto-cringe Anti-fag. He rationalized autrocities because he believed in the revolution. The fact he spreged out over that waiter shows this. If he was really about "muh principle" he could've stoppes at anytime but was to busy larping.
@@evannlorman7926 More you learn about him? Did you actually read his books or do you count watching videos like this one, which is clearly very much against him, as "learning"?
My family and I are from Catalonia, and one of my family members was part of the Civil War. He was in the republican's side, barely 15 when he joined near the end of the war. I wasn't told much of his experience there, but I do know he lied about his age to join (minimum was 16) because he loved his country so much ('country' referring to Catalonia, that's the way I was told this story) and would do anything to help, even if just a little bit, to stop the fascists. He made it out alive, but he had a permament scar on his leg. My father told me he would always explain his time there with joy, as it was something he desired and not only did because he felt forced to. He and his family later moved to France to seek a safe place, as they didn't want to stay in a fascist Spain, even more considering how they treated catalans after they won the war.
Im just gonna copy and pasta this: You might not see this. But it'd be cool to see this to be a video about political polarization. & how it ruins a society.
4:25 NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! You didn't mention the greatest of sacrifices! Having to leave something as pristine as...a TELESCOPE! -behind for the Fascists to reclaim. Truly the greatest loss of all!
10:51 Now correct me if I'm wrong...but did Orwell's leave/break from the Aragon front not coincide with the May fighting in Barcelona (where the Communists/Government Assault Guards/Police tried to wrestle control of the city's key industries from that of the Anarchists/CNT? Were he to transfer, the records for his fighting with the POUM would have been brought up, and likely garnered him an overcrowded prison cell full of other POUM fighters and party members, and perhaps a bullet to the upper body (a more lethal one that is). You said it yourself, the Stalinists were hunting down the POUM survivors, and others of the POUM (like at the Aragon front) were also arrested or put under control/discipline of Government army ranks. I don't see there being much chance of Orwell having missed the May fighting, just my two cents anyway.
My grandpa who fought on both sides of the war (With the CNT and latter with the Carlists,) said: If it wasen't for the tragedy of death it would have been a hilarious war.
sounds like he was trying to get both of the achievements
Anarcho-monarchism moment
Based Transition.
@@AmericanImperium1776 the carlist mouvement ended supporting workers ownership of the means of production for a small time in the '70, going back to the cnt values lmao
@@samirnodormir3097 What does that have to do with Agrarian Peasants, also if it wasn’t clear, I’m not a Communist.
Orwell: "Goddammit I just want to kill Fascists. Why did I have to be paired with these people who don't know how to fight?"
Kemp: "The Civil War was pretty funny. We charged at goats one time lmao."
Underrated comment
@Charlie fun
Poor fool, Kemp didn't knew what the Carlist do to goats, let's say Carlist are partially albanian
Orwell: “UUHFFHHHSHS I HATE MY ARMY.”
Kemp: “lmfaoooooooo I did a little trolling and got away with it XD”
should've joined the CNT
Standing there Orwell and Kemp realized they were alike, trying to make history
but who's to judge the right from wrong when their guard is down I think they both agree that
violence breeds violence
but in the end it has to end these way
@@Trollge398 Orwell carved his own path, but Kemp followed his wrath but maybe we're both the same
@@haroldearlgray5629 yet standing across these barren wasted land
I feel new ideology will born and the old ones will be forgotten
Making the mother of all books Orwell, can't fret over over every goat
@@nbewarwe Not when you're purging the Irish, right?
The entire Spanish Civil War is the pinnacle of the Interwar period, where both Modern and Old tactics are used
Nah I think the polish Soviet war 1919-1921 was the Pinnacle of the interwar period. Although I will admit there were a lack of tanks in the conflict so eh.
I think I have to agree with Exu here, not that the Polish-Soviet War didn't contribute to modern history.
While the Polish-Soviet War basically drew the line of where the Soviets could spread Communism into Europe, the Miracle on the Vistula is more of a demonstration of how a highly-motivated people could push back their invaders. Or at least, demonstrates how terrible the Soviet Red Army was early on, as well as highlighting the corruption in the army that can still be seen today.
Oh, and how the Soviets lost to the famed Polish cavalry. That was a nice skirmish.
However, the Spanish Civil War was nearing the end of the interwar era, and everyone had their special toys that they needed to experiment on such as propeller fighters, biplanes, and light tanks. As you have said, Demicleas, the lack of tanks in the Polish-Soviet War is an 'eh',' armored warfare was still a thing in its in fancy, though it didn't necessarily mean an army of tanks as armored cars were doing the job just as well (look up the Ford FT B if you want to see a funny looking Polish invention), and plenty were bought, welded, shipped, and stolen during the Russian Civil War - such as Peerless, Putilovs, and Austins.
@@Demicleas there were tanks used by polish forces. also armored trains by both sides.
I feel like World War One was the birth of modern tactics and weaponry though, not necessarily they were used but like I said, they were born there
*Up next we will be talking about another civil war. A slavic variety.*
Do you have the slightest idea how little that narrows it down?
Russian Civil War?
I hope so, Hail Wrangel!
@@AmericanImperium1776 does yugoslav wars count as a civil war?
Or maybe some stupid uprising in Poland before Germany became facist
@@RomGe336 Yes, I would count it.
Pilsudski's successful coup against the 2nd Polish Republic?
@@sebastianbosek5222 i dont really know much after Germany defeat in ww1 to Germany's invasion of Poland
Counterpoint: If your unit *isn't* being hunted down by Stalinists, I think you're in the wrong unit.
The stalinists where the only ones who did something more complicated than organize a ragtag militia with a union boss as an officer and a bunch of kiddos as soldiers
God I need to read better, I thought you were saying that the Stalinist were in the right
I may be a socialist, but even I agree with you, Stalin was a… evil man
@@nikoclesceri2267
They are and always have been
Although Stalinists and Stalinism doesn't exist as Stalin's political theory is merley part of Marxist Leninism and those who support Stalin's policies and his literature are Marxists leninist not supporters and members of some seperate Idealology
@@tyberiusmartyn38 yea, putting everyone you don't like into camps really make me think they are good people
I dont know if reducing Spanish Legitimism (Carlism) to "banning women from the throne" is too large of a simplification or an absolutely based summary
Yo one king had an obscenely long dick, her wife couldnt fuck with him properly.He had 2 daughters, the thrown was supposemto go to his brother and then he changes his mind and allowed womans to inherit the trone and then the line of who is suppose to be the legitimate ruler diverged, but the point was pretty much retaking los fueros and get rid of the woman
Peter Kempt at the time of the war, in his book, put that Carlism had two camps, the Absolutists and the Traditional (ones supporting the Fueros that limit absolute monarchy and instead opts for regionalism as was Old Spain before the Bourbons centralised the State.) The Absolutists justified their cause mainly that they needed a central figure to suppress Republicans and Liberals (including Isabelline monarchists) and then work from there to establish ideals of Carlism which the Traditional opt for (decentralised monarchy).
The Socialist camp came later in the 70s.
@@thekingshussar1808the socialist camp came about because the heir was a socialist
@@jonathanwilliams1065Well his sister was or something.
@jonathanwilliams1065 wait really? Thats so ironic
Orwell: “The civil war was horrible, we failed again and again, my fellow men were incompetent, but the atrocities were… fine I guess?”
Kemp: “Lmfaoooo the civil was was fucking hilarious wtf do you mean?”
Kemp didn't care for the atrocities though.
“guess she used to put the horns on him quite a bit. Anyway, about three months ago, just after this war started, she gave him the bird-finally and for good. So he came to Spain to forget his broken heart in the hell and shellholes of Ávila”
― Peter Kemp,
I am seeing your comment in every single channel discussing history and ideologies.Are you actually from Pakistan ?
@@Trollge398 yes man
@@In_Our_Timeline great
Its actually quite rare found any south asian here in the comment section
@@In_Our_Timeline if you don't mind can I ask some questions about Pakistan politics,more specially about imran khan ,since you are from there and would be far more credible then any foriegn newschannel
@@Trollge398 k
Ezekiel is on an orwell-hate-train right now, he is literally unstoppable
Thankfully, Orwell changed up and got based near the end of his life.
Orwell, by the end of his life, became a right-winger, reporting communists to MI6 and foreshadowing the development of Reaganism in publications like Partisan Review.
@@douglasmacarthur702 he was always a socialist and reported communists to MI6 because Stalin was a dickhead and many socialists including me would agree
@@douglasmacarthur702 bullshit, he didn't become a right winger. He just became cynical.
@Douglas MacArthur yeah Orwell was just sort of soyboy rage.
@@douglasmacarthur702 He was always a dem soc. His experiences only made him aggressively critical of authoritarians.
I feel like George Orwell is going to be the Woodrow Wilson to your Cynical Historian
The cynical historian is not a historian.
Cynical historian used to make good content
@@hitithome3138 Woah what happened to him ?
@@John_winston he portrayed his opinions as history
@@hitithome3138 ah yes,man that's a mistake.Shouldn't it be neutral as possible
George Orwell in a French Town which is pro nationalist and all adore Napoléon, shit talks them and calls them fasicst is the most British thing ever, hating the French, I think he missed out something that in the cafe there was a photo of Napoléon, I think it's not there in many versions but in some it's there,I don't know which one is real, but take it with the pinch of salt.
Also, typical Marxist Socialist, sh*talking townsfolk and calling them F**cist, despite claiming to represent them.
Based Orwell hating on the French
@@radmandude3925 Nah.
I choose to believe you.
England will be sea anyway
Orwell's experience with the POUM in Homage to Catalonia sounds like that one VRChat interview with the US Army vet guy who fought for the YPG in Syria but way less able to laugh about what a shitshow it was.
the POUM actually had a very similar ideology and structure to the YPG. Both are anti-authoritarian collectivists that have a strong focus on local democracy and they both use a similar militia structure with minimal hierarchy /unit democracy.
@@chase55431 ypg is the literally terrorist orginasition they are the pkk but in syria that pkk killed 40000 civillians
@@chase55431 and dont forget pkk is literally racist againts turks t
@@sardolar9235 they are not racist against Turks. They only exist because of Turkish racism. Turkey made it illegal to speak Kurdish in public, teach Kurdish in schools, and publish books in Kurdish for decades. Referred to Kurds as mountain Turks and tried to erase their culture and assimilate them. that's like saying the IRA are racist against the English or the Black Panthers are racist against white people.
@@chase55431 there is a kurdish party in parliament its lie about speaking kurdish in public i live in turkiye my kurdish friends even teach me some words i dont know if you ever been in istanbul but you will notice nobody is there speaking turkish and if you want to know you supporting a terrorits are killed its own people
Yeah live in europ see pkk as freedom fighters why dont you guys take them all we saved 1.5 million kurds from saddam
the experience that George Orwell had in spain were really interesting and it changed this mind on socialism as a whole and i really do love learning about that man some time is just so interesting the whole thing worth looking into imo
Socialism ≠ socialism. That's what I learned from informing myself in general. They're libirals socialists, market socialist, radical socialist, democratic socialists etc.. The left is devided in general, between tankies or hardliners and more liberals. For me it started with that book too.
@@Emel_unlegit True. No political Ideology is monolithic.
You think that's Crazy ?
The french writer Louis-Ferdinand Céline was a staunch socialist doing your typical social commentary etc, then in 1937 he traveled to the USSR, then when he went back he wrote a pamphlet called "Mea Culpa" and then he did a whole 180, became staunchly anti socialist, antisemitic, became INCREDIBLY racist (to the point of calling the Occitans (southern french for those who don't know) ni****s) and then he collaborated with the Germans (granted, even if he didn't switch he still would have done it as most socialist did pre Barbarossa, and a few still did even after) and he went above and beyond, up to travelling to Germany etc
THAT'S what I call character development
It didn’t change his mind on anything. He remained a socialist, he just saw the danger of authoritarianism in person, and remained opposed to it with renewed vigour.
@@Emel_unlegit
At least one part remains universal when it comes to socialism
They're all leeches that will bring everyone down to ruin
Though you are right about Orwell's attitude throughout the book, I think you should mention a huge theme found within it. You should fight for a cause you believe in no matter how small a chance it has at success. It kinda culminates in Catalonia when he mentions the scene in France where he and his wife look at each other and recall everything they went through in the last few months and instantly both wanted to go back to Spain.
That's stupid
@@tavernburner3066 it depends on what you believe to you it's stupid but to me it sounds adorable.
@@tavernburner3066 don't care, didn't asked
@@dekuthetechpriestoflondon6791 fighting even though you know it's a lost cause is very heroic in fantasy. In reality it's just a waste of human lives.
@@tavernburner3066 It isn't stupid. The Second Republic were fighting for basic human rights that you and I take for granted. Many of them were working people like sheep herders, coal miners, factory workers, fisherman or what historians called "peasants" going up against the General of the Army of Spain who denied them their rights. A person would rather die free then live a slave.
"Very based"
The absolute giggle you've given me, mate. Considering becoming a patron now.
@@LucasLombardo-ck8fc I'm a man of simple tastes, sir. Elites like you will forever tower over us.
His delivery on that line was golden.
Their is a book out there, Homage to Oceania, which is an analysis of Orwell's life and work. (written in the 1960s, i think.) The title is an homage to Homage to Catalonia. 10/10 recommended reading
prob to 1984 too
@@Casc. Hmmm, nah I don't see it.
@@thethirdsicily4802 1984 took place in airstrip one of *oceania*
@@Casc. (I know, tone is lost on the internet so that's my bad but I was trying to make a joke that I couldn't see the homage in Homage to Oceania to 1984)
To be fair, I'd be pissed off all the time too if I was surrounded by stinky untrained teenagers 24/7
I see Ezekiel is an MGS fan, the music is absolutely stellar in this video
In the dystopia video , at the end there is colective consciousness
@@szymonpinkowski256 yeah, he was talking about the "unenlightened masses" after all
Orwell & Kemp’s paths rapidly diverge after their experiences in the Spanish Civil War on both sides.
Orwell would still refer to himself as a Socdem but he worked with the British government to out the communist infiltrators & their network’s to the police and was one of the few vocal critics of the Soviet Union & Stalinism to the point where he feared assassination.
Kemp would fight for British special forces in the Balkans & then latter in the pacific for mop up operations. He would see the duplicitous nature of Stalin & the USSR. For example, he witness the betrayal of the chetniks (Royalist partisans) to the communist Yugoslav partisans and be locked up by the NKVD. With the US showing indifference and/or hostility to Britian & Frances extended empires (eventually alongside the Soviets, forces them to decolonized) Kemp had to scrap for forces in the pacific, both friends and foes, to keep the peace.
Betrayal?! The chetniks were nazi collaborators in all but name, they cared more about fighting the communists than the nazis, they deserved whatever came to them.
Tbf the chetniks turned into more like collaborators than partisans. That's why the Allies eventually sided with the communists over the chetniks
Well, your point about the Chetniks is weak, considering they collaborated with the Nazis...
@@nanleri1167 All groups in that region did to different extents, as they were as frequently fighting eachother as they were the Nazi's. It hardly was a simple affair, and I'd argue blandly saying Chetniks were collaborators really over-simplifies it into falsehood.
@@bewawolf19 Well, if even tthe staunchly anti-commie western allies consider Titos partisans better alliey than you because you collaborate with the Nauis, there might be a readon for calling you a collaborator
Glad Mr. Kemp is getting some attention now. His books are great reads. He actually had a three part series, first starting with MWOT, then a read set in ww2 (the best one imo) and the last in the east indies attempting to reassert dutch rule in the area
Plis nameof each book
@@caudillo234 the one set in www is titled no colors or crest. Fantastic book.
@@hussite7235 thanks bro
Cheers mate.
I'm starting to think Ezekiel doesn't like Orwell
I mean he did behave like abslute retard during civil war, but his later work can be seen as a redemption arc of sort
Yeah, its the 2nd time he does it. To be fair, he does make some good poimts in making Orwell look lile the stereotypical british man lmao. He might be exaggerating at times tho. Ive not seen him say a single good thing anout Orwell's book the entire video, and altough i havent read it, i doubt there isnt at least something good about it.
@@hartingtherealone I encourage every left leaning youth to read it.
@@benwilson1088 Im not left leaning and its still recommended to learn from Orwell. He kind of puts an end to these stupid stereotypes of fascists and communists.
@@hartingtherealone He misrepresents it completely. I've read it twice and so much of what he said is blatant lies.
Two sides of the same conflict really paint different pictures.
One is based the other is soy
@@AdrianoFerreiraPaes Kemp😎👍>>>Orwell😭
@@AmericanImperium1776 never ask a Francisco Franco supporter what happen to the Spanish jews during ww2
@@AdrianoFerreiraPaes yeah men I am probably sure people of Spain *loved* Franco dectatership and crackdown on freespeech
@@Trollge398 Free Speech is good, but every society has either directly or indirectly cracked down on any dissident speech. That’s just the reality & nature of power.
*Dictatorship
*💬Bonus reading below: Kemp on the Bombing of Guernica.*
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*💬Bonus Reading:* First, a fact that didn’t fit anywhere else: Just like Orwell, Kemp suffered a throat wound, although Kemp’s was far less serious. And now… the Bombing of Guernica.
In Mine Were of Trouble, Peter Kemp gives a heterodox account of the Bombing of Guernica. The common story goes that the open town of Guernica was destroyed by the German Condor Legion (who were fighting for the Nationalists) in a terror bombing targeting civilians. Kemp’s story is quite different.
Kemp doesn’t claim to have witnessed the event himself. But he records the account of a man who was on the scene right as the Nationalists took the town. According to him, the town was not burned by the German Condor Legion but by the Republicans who were practicing a scorched earth policy. This was consistent with the fact that the Republicans had also burnt Irun, Eibar, and Amorebieta for similar reasons. Kemp’s source on the ground even claims that the Republicans stole all of Guernica’s food and clothing on the way out and that he saw the locals wearing nothing but sacks.
Kemp goes on to say that while the bombing definitely happened, it was not to murder and terrorize civilians but to attack Republican troops while they were still in the town. He closes this account by saying: “It seems to me that nothing illustrates better the superiority of Republican propaganda over Nationalist than the Republican story about Guernica was given immediate and world-wide publicity, and is still generally believed; whereas the Nationalist case scarcely received a hearing.”
Poggers
Hey man, keep up the great work, would you consider doing a video on Corporatism and also on the Populist Huey Long?
Fantastic video. 😎👍
that extra reading reminds me of Snake Island story...
I'm glad you didn't include this section of Kemp's writing in the video, because during the war my grandfather lived in Amorebieta (Zornotza in Basque). Later on, my Mother was born and grew up there and every time they talked about the destruction of the town or showed photographs explained how the Nationalists took the town from Republicans because it is on the road to Bilbao, a center of industry, population, and shipping. Guernica by comparison was out of the way and strategically unimportant, like out the middle of nowhere important. My family has plenty of stories like how my grandfather never ate garbanzo beans after the war because of the rationing, the impressment of child soldiers, and even when the bombing of Guernica happened my grandfather remembered hearing the bomb sirens and finding out about the destruction later that day. A ton of photographic evidence also exists from Amorebieta, Bilbao, and Guernica of before, during, and after the fighting. I'm glad you didn't include this passage because Kemp's war crime apologia gives too kind to the Nationalists and unsympathetic to the victims of the bombing. Lastly, while the Republicans did do some scorched earth tactics evidence says it was very rare since until the end they still hoped to win the war.
@@alexdeo4962 Cheers! That extra reading really is hit or miss, as he chalks it up to being a "do you believe the Fascists or the Communists," whose to say whether Kemp had heard truthful recounts. But of course someone who supports a side that commits war crimes is likely to take the easy way out by denying the existence of such actions, as to maintain their own reputation and, indirectly, the reputation of those who may have committed the war crimes or at least supported the conducting of such actions as well.
Or y'know...maybe my beliefs are just some product of "Stalinist propaganda."
There's also a funny hospital visit between him and a Spanish patient sharing the same room.
A nun kept coming in to check on them, which left the spaniard writhing in agony because of his injuries. After the fourth time, Kemp woke to the sound of a gun shot, shattering glass and a woman screaming.
The patient had shot out the light, and said something like "I'm a religious man, but so help you if you turn that light on again!"
Bought both the of the books soon after watching this video about a month ago and I can say that while i haven't read Homage to Catalonia yet, Mine Were of Trouble is certainly a riot.
For example, when Peter Kemp's parents come to see Peter off before he boards the ferry to France, Kemp's father wonders if Kemp would want to borrow a rifle from him.
If you want to check the quote yourself, it's on page two of chapter one and reads "I rejected my father's offer of his .275 sporting Männlicher carbine as being likely to cause trouble with customs."
A wise decision for many reasons, but primarily because I imagine the Spanish army isn't too interested in making supply exceptions for plucky brits who decide to bring along their father's rifle chambered for a sporting cartridge.
Okay now for the most challenging philosophical problem Ezekiel, truly your most arduous mount to climb.
*How do I talk to a woman?*
even philosophers like Socrates could not find an answer to it
You don't
Pretend they bros.
Walk up. Make sounds. String them together in a meaningful way.
@@brutusthebear9050 Preferably sounds starting with "The industrial revolution and its consequences..."
Funny thing been reading homage to Catalonia recently great book and also great video, really like to see some diferente opinions than mine from books
well waddya think of it so far. I've heard about it describing anarchist spain pretty nicely.
@@BallsItchReal it’s a very good book still have to finish, but I do think my version it’s a little diferente since it adds some extra stuff like letters and other types of stuff, also think that it kinda represents the horrible conditions of the war pretty well
@@RandomGuy-xr6ll nice
Top-notch video, I love how these two Englishmen were so different.
I call it the Based and Cringe of English Society, although 1984 is a good book.
@@AmericanImperium1776 or this guy is bias.
@@accountreality1988 Everyone’s got a bias.
@@AmericanImperium1776 does not make your bias correct. have you even read any Orwell? have you even read a book for that matter? or are you getting all you info from this guy's youtube channel in regards to Orwell?
@@accountreality1988 I have read Orwell’s 1984 and Animal Farm, but yes I have read other books/listened to Audiobooks, so don’t assume.
I would probably make more sense if Orwell just united with the CNT/FAI, as they had better chances while still being anti-Stalinists.
I’m a big fan of Kemp, but sadly, don’t see him discussed too often. Thanks for this.
I personally am not a big fan of him because he fought for the fascists and I'm a socialist. But I guess it's your opinion
@@oliversherman2414- Regardless of who he fought for, Kemp was a great soldier and an excellent writer. There are so few English language accounts from the Francist faction that his insight into their thinking is doubly valuable.
One of the greatest books i have read about the civil war is Juan Eslava 'una historia de la guerra civil que no le va a gustar a nadie'. It pictures both sides of the war as human beings at war, no side is the good or the bad.
There definitely was a good side and a bad side. What you meant to say is that there were good people on both
@@ssach7 which side was the good side? I only see two bad sides.
The side of Stalin definitly was the bad side
Commie side bad side
“very based” 0:42 -CallMeEzekiel
To be fair one should read both books, but I think Kemps would be the better one. Both men start as idealist, but Orwell is also pretty naive and full of himself, and he gets in so much shit due to that. At the end he is just a cynical man full of himself. Kemp is more grounded and at least attempts to connect with the world and take their visions. I mean, this could be just my interpretation, but it seems that while both joined the side they politically identified with, Kemp joined to help end the war opposed to Orwell joining to kill fascists in a country he knew nothing about
Orwell kind of sounds like some self-described Western “Revolutionaries” who go off to countries they don’t know about too go “fight for the Revolution”.
@@AmericanImperium1776 Orwell reminds me of people that I have seen after a wave of protest a couple of years ago in my country. Sure, the protesters had good points, but it was often violent, political polarization is the highest in decades, we are writing a new constitution that is a convoluted mess and it caused an economic recession that the pandemic turned to all out crisis
@@javieraravena5345 The US's BLM riots and aftermath do come to mind.
@@benwilson1088 Can't even hate them anymore, I just feel pity for the poor bastards.
@@javieraravena5345 Chile?
Can we PLEASE get a full version of “The only thing I know for real” with Spanish Civil War clips like the beginning of the video? The editing was super hype.
YES
Seems like Orwell was just like the average modern American college student in his early days. This kinda gives me hope for the future, as apparently people do grow out of their youthful delusions (he’s the same guy who wrote 1984 and Animal Farm after all)
Didn’t he leave his very wealthy family to go live as a tramp? I would have to disagree he seemed like the average modern American college student, on many many levels
He was always a cringe leftie, his 1984 and animal farm werent critiqes of socialism as i previously thought but of moscows socialism
Orwell had a lot more life experience than the average American college student. Though born in a wealthy part of Britain, he served in the colonial administration in Burma for several years, slummed it in Paris for two years, and spent long spells in the early 1930s travelling through the poorest, most depressed areas of England. He was 33 when he went to Spain.
Saying "Is it gonna have some consequences" while showing a Nationalist with a gun is the most unsubtle while the most subtle way of foreshadowing
This video ended up convincing me into making my English literature college coursework based on George Orwells "Homage to Catalonia" and Ernest Hemingways "Butterfly and the Tank", where I got my first A*. I am extremely grateful for the great content on this channel!
NO WAY YOU LITERALLY USED JETSTREAM SAM'S BATTLE SONG WITH THE SPANISH CIVIL WAR NO GOD DAMN WAY
11:26 when your waiter won't let you order off the kid's menu.
The Thumbnail: Homage to Catalonia | Mine Were of Trouble
How I read it: Homage to Mine Were Catalonia of Trouble
Since you've been doing Orwell's books and now you're covering the Russian Civil War (presumably) you should do Animal Farm!
I concur
A wonderful video, probably my second favorite after the Czechoslovak Legion videos. The painting at 10:15 with the Francoball in a coat is genius.
But Orwell didn't make much enemies. He describes himself as having very few negative encounters with locals and how even his enemies were nice.
The Falangists were the weirdest mix of Fascism, Communism, Liberalism (Agrarian Society), and Capitalism.
Absolutely fantastic video. Quality is on a whole new level! 100k soon fren
I still can't believe that I originally subscribed to this channel for Vic2 tutorials
I'm not complaining by any means. Great vid👍
I generally love your videos Ezekiel, and while this one isn't the worst, I still believe it could've been so much better.
Generally, both sides of this Civil War are simplifed to the point that people believe they were homogenous. This isn't the case in either side. A big reason as to why the Republicans lost was infighting, something imo you should've explored a bit more outside Orwell's work. But the Nationalists had also a lot of infighting, especially when it came to leadership. Franco came to be the leader months later after the coup, and at first he wasn't even really in the coup as a member, but rather as an asset (and an unreliable one). His ascend to power is nothing short of interesting, and he also played a factor in lengthening the war (not just the international brigades in Madrid, partially untrue). Also, many didn't like him, and especially not as a leader of the movement.
Personally, you were soft on Kemp, and while his work is incredibly interesting, it's also not completely reliable in its portrayal of the conflict. It's refreshing, and actually quite a good read, but I feel like you left out some bits of Nationalist regression on Republicans. Likewise, you left out some important bits of the Republican side (the Barcelona shootings of May, the socialist groups that ravaged the countryside killing priests and looting churches, the infiltration of Soviet assets). Also, I don't think Orwell is that terrible, having read most of Homage to Catalonia (I have put out reading it for too long), I think he was almost forced to be where he was, and also, the government was incredibly fractured and very poorly coordinated which made the Republican side much weaker and ineffective, Orwell's battallion and all.
All in all, could be better, but at least it's pretty cool to see some Carlists riding against goats.
Republicans werent actually united, the anarchists and the socialists werent really all that coordinated. Republican army tended to give the worst armored vehicles to anarchists for instance, they were more of a separate force.
also, the nationalist forces werent fascist. Falange were the fascists (nationalsyndicalist), a tiny group within who wasnt even in the right wing coallition in the 1936 elections, and falange were hated by most of the conservatives. Franco and Primo de Rivera despised each other.
Most of the right wing where conservatives, catholics, monarchists... far from those fascist ideas that seemed like socialism to some of them.
Theres a big misconception of the "2 spains" when there were in fact many more groups than just 2 sides, ideologically speaking. But when it came down to war, the nationalists managed to be mostly coordinated, while republicans were mostly a rag-tag bunch of different militias under different political parties, who misused the armored superiority they had with soviet tanks and carried on suicidal attacks. In barcelona there was even shootings between anarchists and socialists.
In the book owell looks like bad
@@schneejacques3502 Yeah... this is exactly what I'm saying. There was a big division in all sides, just the Nationalists managed to cooperate more effectively, and the Republicans were too preoccupied with their own petty fights
This video is not about the civil war is about the authurs expiriences in it
I feel like we watched a completely different video, yes there was a bit about republican infighting and child soldiers but did you also notice the raid part were they noticed both were underequipped? or how he referenced both nationalist and republican atrocities? How could you miss those?
And most of all the point of this was to point out that Orwell was a socialist radical know-it-all who actually didn't know anything and learned almost nothing from this experience. Pretty much only thing that seems to have affected his later work is further hate on nationalist types and in addition hating communists because they betrayed his unit.
I mean Cmon, calling a person with napoleon on his wall a Fascist? Fascists are effectively nationalist syndicalists AKA national socialists. Hmm actually now that I think of it maybe its not that far off... though sticking modern political labels to people before that is cringe.
@@castor3020 Well, he did explore somewhat those things, but I would've liked the vid to be expanded a bit to properly lay out the foundations, even if it's about literary works only. They're memoirs of a war, and as such, laying the proper foundation of the war and its background would've been nice, although I understand time and efficiency is key in RUclips
Also, yeah. This video is mostly to compare experiences of both sides through literature, and yeah, Orwell can sometimes be a crybaby. But yeah, I suppose I might've been a bit too harsh on Ezekiel for that.
Also imagine calling someone with a Napoleon portrait fascist... Napoleon literally reformed the legal system of France, rebuilt its economical workings and made it the strongest nation in Europe proper. Pretty cringe ngl.
7:49 this really puts foreign volunteers in a different light for me. to spanish civilians, the volunteers mustve seemed like an invading army.
yesnt
of course the republicans/communists/whatever, would use a different argument, considering their asses were "saved" by foreign assistance.
and in regards to the "nationalist" side, they obvs were also more than happy to let foreigners fight for them aswell, so they certainly are somewhat hypocritical...
I guess civilians would be just as upset with them, as theyd be with the spaniards killing each other.
This is what foreign volunteers really are
Invaders with no regard for civilians
Mercenaries are even worse
Both deserve the same treatment
It's also wrong.
The German Nazi's and Italian Fascists were involved in the war before this point-see the battle of the Toledo and the Condor Legion; hell Germany is the one who transported Spain's Army of Africa during the starting phases of the war;
@@Lord_Plasma_3 true. if the germans hadnt carried the army of africa by air (as the troops in spanish morocco were the best in the spanish army) the nationalists wouldve been at a disadvantage, as the army of africa wouldve been blockeade by the republican navy
@@Lord_Plasma_3 He was quoting an spanish officer.
The officer probably didn't know or decided to ignore the german and Italian support.
I actually got Mine were of trouble for christmas and I am loving it so far.
Thank you callmeezekiel for the recommendation.
Division Azule is a perfect representation of veterans from the Civil War, They were a Spanish Volunteer Unit that fought on the Eastern Front against Communists in WWII and the majority of their unit consisted of Veterans from the Civil War.
Reports say that the Wehrmacht extremely resented them outside of combat for their lack of discipline, gun management, and the fact that they spent their time on the Eastern Front when not fighting usually drunk or chasing after the skirts of local women, But when the fighting came they fought ferociously and had the communists fear them. I believe they were made up of several units from the Requetès
Good old Spanish soldiering
And by sending them to certain death in the Eastern Front, Franco got rid of some of the most hardline national syndicalists.
@@yuck298it was a volunteer unit
George Orwell just trolls ppl one book u see him trashing reds and in another book u see him glorifying them
It’s not hypocrisy, it’s called “we do a little trolling.”
He trashes communists everytime.
I think the reason Peter Mant MacIntyre Kemp does not get branded as a fascist is simply because he went back home and fought hitler's armies. It gives us a look into the Spanish movement without it just being blanketed as fascist as they always do.
Kemp was very young when he went to Spain (unlike Orwell) and went there in search of adventure and life experience as much as anything else. He chose the Nationalist side because its army seemed so much more professional than the chaotic Republican army. He wasn’t really political but if anything was on the side of the “establishment”.
Spain had support from Germany and Italy en masse, far more than the Russians ever afforded them, even when counting in the international brigades, which by then made up the bulk of the fighting. They were in fact undermined so much by the Russians that the Nationalists marched into Madrid to a city that was at war literally with itself.
Since you are talking about civil wars, why not the Chilean civil war of 1891, when one side was support by the USA and the other by the UK? (Chilean army vs Chilean navy, respectively)
Love from Chile!
And the Navy won, lmao
@@Pabloski483 well chile is just a long line along the coast
Hazlo tu mismo para de simpear por extranjeros
A war between the army and navy? How do they even fight that?
Thank you for introducing me to 'Mine were of Trouble' its such an enjoyable read and has many interesting insights, much appreciated
That was truly a good video
Keep the good work
Orwell's time in Spain formed his critiques of communism that came later in his life.
as a catalan, yes, carlists are based
bro the art in this is amazing!
I love the mgr soundtrack sprinkled in there, you really are “making the mother of all omelets, Jack”!
I can't believe you didn't mention "For whom the bells toll"
Orwell, in this age gets dunked on from all sides, and only applause from those he would dispise.
Absolutely not true! He’s always been held in the highest esteem among people who detest totalitarianism.
WOAH, THIS IS SO SICK! That intro is fucking sweet, good job.
Ur like my most favourite youtuber ever your videos are always so informative and entertaining especially the literature reviews
Orwell didn't say he approved of the atrocities. But it's clear that he didn't blame socialism for them but blamed "Stalinism" instead and said he was still willing to fight for "democratic socialism." Not malice, just inherent contradiction of the socialist worldview.
Correction: Kemp didn’t serve in the International Brigades (a Republican formation!) but rather in the Spanish Foreign Legion.
6:20 sounds like how the war of independence in Colonial Latin America went.
Like, what was going on with the Spanish and warcrimes at the time?
Dude I've been reading about the Spanish Civil war and it is unironically one of the most brutal and merciless wars that have ever been fought. In other wars you tend to see humanity, but the Spanish Civil war was just a slaughter that 90% of it was done completely voluntary by the soldiers instead of being ordered by some higher up. I believe it was Kemp who escribed it as if the men were possessed.
Actually part of the reason the Communists lost was because of how clownishly brutal they were to the civilian population that even though they were (in theory) fighting for them, they just ended up being hated by the very people they were supposed to fight for
@@trato-jm3fx kinda like Weimar Germany or the U.S. nowadays. The radical left go around larping like they're for the people but they maintain order and control buy bullying and intimidating them, then they just piss people off and run them into the hands of the reactionaries and facist.
As a Spaniard I think these two books are great, although Homenage to Catalonia fails to sum up the situation.
De los 2 libros,que no me he leído ninguno, el de peter kemp me llama mucho la atención (especialmente por la parte de las cabras)
I can already hear "My dad is a war criminal" playing in the distance lol.
This video is great! I loved it, what Cancella said to Kemp about the international brigades is very true and it can be seen in other books like Linea De Fuego, as a spaniard, the war hits very differently, they were fighting enemies on the streets since 1931 when democracy was re established until 1939, the last 3 years were just the conclusion.
Also the Legión isn't a foreigners troop, it was based on the french foreign legion, maybe that's why you confused it.
Not really, he makes several factual errors in his recounting. One, at the Battle of Madrid the international brigade plaid a negligible role, and made up an extremely small fraction of the defenders. They wouldn’t really come out in force until Jarama. Also the nationalists had foreign support pretty much from day one, whereas the Republicans didn’t receive it till September (and even then Soviet help was extraordinarily limited compared to German and Italian aid.)
It isn't true at all, even if his claim that foreigners made the war last longer is, the fault for the war still lies in the ones that started it, the Nationalists.
@@paranodrum9171 there was going to be a war anyways. The right wing made the coup beacause they lost, but if they had won the 1936 elections, the left would've made the coup (Even Largo Caballero, the left's most important figure at the time said that if the left lost the elections, there would be a civil war, as they already tryed in the Asturias revolution)
wow, you're telling me the anarchists did things that were illegal? that's crazy, wtf
After hearing about Orwells experiences in the war I lost all respect for him. Waiter should have pissed in his coffee
Fun Fact: During the 1940's he started a list of suspected communists and was going to report them to the British government, then shortly after that he started complaining about Big Brother.
@Anonymer Nutzer
Merely a socialists nature my friend
@@commisaryarreck3974 Welcome to anyone further left than the most mild. They don't see anything wrong with methods, only with the targets. For the man who INVENTED the concept of doublethink, Orwell was completely incapable of realizing that he himself employed and suffered from it.
@@Archris17 He hated stalin supporters for obvious reasons. Generally did he move away from the radical left. I can understand his actions.
yeah was Orwell not to call out extremist Marxist psychos? was he to do the "based" thing and let them infiltrate influenced and take over the British left? these people he told big brother to a lot of the time were spies on the kremlin's payroll out for industrial espionage, divide the public and push soviet/marxist propaganda. these victims of Orwell have no respect for the democratic process what so ever. Orwell was a sensible moderate first socialist second. he never supported any system that hurts people. all those people were little stalins. if they had their way uk would be air step one from 1984.
@@accountreality1988 I mean it was a good thing he reported spies working for an Authoritarian regime, but he reported people part of Britain's Communist Party and even Paul Robeson, which he said he was "very anti-white"
''to ban women from the spanish throne, PRETTY BASED!!'' - CallMeEzekiel 2022
From how you described it, Homage to Catalonia sounds like a real life version of The Luck of Barry Lyndon, where the titular Barry serves in the seven years war and does nothing but complain about everything around him without reflecting on his own choices and mistakes that have only made him more miserable. And both of the books in the video sound really interesting, thank you, I'll have to check them out.
This may as well be a hit piece against Homage to Catalonia. He misrepresents the book completely. Orwell went exclusively to fight and correspond. He didn't "join the first group", he joined a group that was affiliated with his group in London. He met plenty of people his age or older, and he made friends everywhere he went. He spoke Spanish well enough to communicate and he mentions plenty of times how his British sensibilities gave him a prejudice against the more lax Spaniards that he was trying to overcome.
@@WillyShankspeare Yeah, the bias is so clear and evident if you read the book at all. Shame someone so blatantly biased against it is getting so many views.
@@TheDrunkenHetzer What you talking about? I read Catalonia for a college paper and I barely finished it because I was getting pissed off on how annoying and an asshole Orwell was. Thank goodness his Animal Farm was written much better. Gonna read that other guys book. Sounds much more exciting
Shout out to whoever called this war a diary writing contest with casualties
To be honest Orwell's decision to join the POUM turned out to be the right decision in the end considering that they were hunted down for not enforcing tyranny. I don't think you were being overly mean but you could cut guys some sack at least - He definitely deserved to survive that neck wound.
Why cuz he wrote 1984. The more i learn about him, the more I realize he was just another cringe lefty or even a proto-cringe Anti-fag. He rationalized autrocities because he believed in the revolution. The fact he spreged out over that waiter shows this. If he was really about "muh principle" he could've stoppes at anytime but was to busy larping.
@@evannlorman7926 More you learn about him? Did you actually read his books or do you count watching videos like this one, which is clearly very much against him, as "learning"?
Once again, another fantastic video.
Never heard of your channel before this video but im hooked now!
"very based" 💀
So is Kemp the Storm of Steel to Orwell's All Quiet on the Western Front
1:58 seconds into the video i already love it
My family and I are from Catalonia, and one of my family members was part of the Civil War. He was in the republican's side, barely 15 when he joined near the end of the war. I wasn't told much of his experience there, but I do know he lied about his age to join (minimum was 16) because he loved his country so much ('country' referring to Catalonia, that's the way I was told this story) and would do anything to help, even if just a little bit, to stop the fascists. He made it out alive, but he had a permament scar on his leg. My father told me he would always explain his time there with joy, as it was something he desired and not only did because he felt forced to. He and his family later moved to France to seek a safe place, as they didn't want to stay in a fascist Spain, even more considering how they treated catalans after they won the war.
Very good choice in music, the game’s themes match the history you are talking about well
This is probably your Best video yet
its always good when you go home and CallMeEzekiel has uploaded
1:45 this was not in the original video but i am glad u added it :D
Between this and the video about Brave New World vs 1984, I get the feeling that you really don't like Orwell all that much.
I gotta read Mr. Kemp's book, it must be really funny.
Very well done video I really enjoyed it, Arriva Esapña!
MGRR ost timeline
1:18 The only thing I know for real
5:08 stains of time
11:05 It has to be this way
I love how the second the chance was given, Orwell started think innocent people were fascist
“Innocent.” Wrong. They’re French.
Im just gonna copy and pasta this:
You might not see this. But it'd be cool to see this to be a video about political polarization. & how it ruins a society.
Ah yes the Spanish civil war which is very interesting to me thanks for covering on it :)
It seems bizzare that you are so critical of Orwell, seem to give vibe based crisisms of him and seemingly ignore the experience he went through
Your content is AMAZING dude!! You always such interesting topics, keep it up!
4:25 NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! You didn't mention the greatest of sacrifices! Having to leave something as pristine as...a TELESCOPE! -behind for the Fascists to reclaim. Truly the greatest loss of all!
10:51 Now correct me if I'm wrong...but did Orwell's leave/break from the Aragon front not coincide with the May fighting in Barcelona (where the Communists/Government Assault Guards/Police tried to wrestle control of the city's key industries from that of the Anarchists/CNT? Were he to transfer, the records for his fighting with the POUM would have been brought up, and likely garnered him an overcrowded prison cell full of other POUM fighters and party members, and perhaps a bullet to the upper body (a more lethal one that is). You said it yourself, the Stalinists were hunting down the POUM survivors, and others of the POUM (like at the Aragon front) were also arrested or put under control/discipline of Government army ranks. I don't see there being much chance of Orwell having missed the May fighting, just my two cents anyway.
I'm Spanish and I liked your video
Video immediately gets my like with the inclusion of the song "the only thing i know for real"