Bertrand Russell - Great Interview with John Chandos - 1961
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- Опубликовано: 2 фев 2017
- Speaking Personally: Earl Bertrand Russell. 1961.
Interview with John Chandos.
Recorded on 11-12 April 1961 at Bertrand Russell's house in North Wales.
List of Topics:
Childhood and Earliest Memories
Life Begins at Cambridge
Eccentrics and Personages
Robert Browning and Alfred Tennyson
Mr Gladstone
Lytton Strachey and Family
Bertrand Russell in prison
Cause and Effects of World War I, H. H. Asquith
Approach to the Abyss
Man's Peril and Neutrality
Einstein's Last Act
A Meeting with Lenin
Scandal in New York
Christ versus Christianity
Morality and Hypocrisy
Lawrence, Shaw, Einstein, Conrad
Background to National Greatness
Original Thinking and Persecution
USSR and USA-the Conflict
Education and Tolerance
Survival and Unilateral Disarmament
Religion and Fear
LP
Label: Riverside Records
Russell is so eloquent I could listen to him talk about anything for hours
The first I heard of Bertrand was I read two of his quotes:
"Humans are born ignorant(empty), they are not born stupid...it is education by government that makes humans stupid."
When asked how Fascism starts, he said: "First, they fascinate the fools. Then, they muzzle the intelligent."
They tried but I refuse to wear the gov muzzle 😷🚫
@@nickieglazer7065 If you could refuse then it wasn't fascism
@@nickieglazer7065 dunning-Kruger effect at play
@@geegee1014 I didn’t say it was.
@@eII_gato There are over 70 scientific studies on the ineffectiveness of masks and derogatory effects they have on ones mental & physical health.
Dentists described a phenomena that they call ‘mask-mouth’.
Sadly, most prefer these days to get their programming from the tell-a-vision.
He met his grandfather who was born in the 1700s... and this interview is from 1961 and he died in 1970. Incredible.
his grandfather met napoleon
Levi Genes.
@@docholiday8315 lol you cant beat a good pair of Levis.
HAHAHAHA IT'S AMAZING ISN'T IT
THIS GUY IS A NUT. BUT IDIOTS BELIEVE IN HIS STUPIDITY.
“I am sometimes shocked by the blasphemies of those who think themselves pious-for instance, the nuns who never take a bath without wearing a bathrobe all the time. When asked why, since no man can see them, they reply: 'Oh, but you forget the good God.' Apparently they conceive of the Deity as a Peeping Tom, whose omnipotence enables Him to see through bathroom walls, but who is foiled by bathrobes. This view strikes me as curious.” Bertrand Russell.
Kind of silly, a man of Russell's genius being *shocked* by silly, mentally ill, or simply ridiculous, women. I guess we can all feel that way, however
@@S2Cents Pope is not excluded from that view probably😂
@@t5alx136 I doubt he shares the nuns' concerns about God seeing him nude etc., he has other issues no doubt.
a
Ah human beings, curiouser and curiouser
“No human being that I can respect needs the consolation of things that are untrue!” - Last sentence, absolutely priceless.
That is, if I believe it's untrue, it can't be consoling?
They considered themselves wise but became fools
Godel left the chat, laughing his ass off.
@@johnz8843 No, he's talking about people who believe such things to be true and are thus consoled by them. He is saying that a respectable person would not hold the position that they need to keep the beliefs for the purpose of consolation.
@@omp199Here's my take and it may be only a longer restatement of your comment. The person Russell can't respect is someone who'd prefer to be consoled by a belief rather than explore and honestly assess whether the belief is true. For example, if my father abandoned me as a child I'd rather believe he was too sick to care for me because it makes me feel better rather than at all examine whether that belief is actually true. -- Russell can not respect people who choose to be consoled by a religious belief (such as Jesus rose from the dead to bring eternal life to believers) rather than honestly assess its truth.
This is nuts. What a voice, what a perspective! He sounds like both Yoda and Palpatine.
😂💀
What a story-teller! Apart from his brilliance as a philosopher and all the other fields for which he is famous, he has such a way of imitating people's way of speaking and making them come alive for his auditors. Extraordinary.
Lord Russell would be delighted at the extent to which his views have been disseminated globally thanks to the power of social media. An historic recording. Thank you for sharing it with us. It was fascinating!
When I was a young man , in the 60s, any mention of Bertrand Russel was met with, Oh! that nut case. or words to that effect. What a TAVESTY!!! He was (and is ) a truly GREAT MAN.
He was a very tolerant person, and even campaigned for the decriminalisation of homosexuality. He was very ahead of his time for a Victorian.
I fell in love with Russell*s incisive clear writing when I first read it at age 18. My admiration for a man who won the Nobel Prize, British Order of Merit and spent 4 months in the slammer for opposing WW One has never dimmed. His breadth of knowledge is almost infinite.
I love his tenderness, his civility, his kindness...but he never knew anything about human consciousness: he thought he could use his analytical mind and science.
He never realized who he was.
I wish I could find the texts which Russell wrote in condemnation of Britain's involvement in WW1 but those writings seem to have been very well hidden.
@@dreamdiction Get his autobiography from the library. I have read every word plus an additional 18 volumes. Russell is my hero.
Once I saw the reading list for a post graduate class held by the University of Chicago every book had been written by Russr
Where upon every book had been written by Russell, which was misleading because it didn't include a comprohensive biography of Russell. Something every course in his philosophy should have begun with. You might have asked given the size and scope of mind his autobiographic study.
The anecdotes about the Victorian and Edwardian world are wonderful. That a man of his intellect could speak so naively about disarmament is an object lesson in human nature.
how would a man of your intellect approach the issue of disarmament?
He was the greatest philosophical Historian since David hume and JohnLocke. Bertrand Russell, David Hume and John Locke are my favorite philisophers.
AMAZING INTERVIEW !!...ABSOLUTELY AMAZING !!! 😃🙂👋👋👋
His voice reminds me of Robert Donat in Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939). Both the movie and this interview are wonderful.
My favorite philosopher. I never get tired of reading him.
My absolutely favourite human, I've learnt more from his works than from any other, the most necessary polymath for humanity because he was such a humanitarian with the most amazing ability to convey so thoroughly and succinctly.
Could you please recommend some reading from him?
@@semilio1 Here are a couple:
1. Why I am not a Christian
2. Power
3. The history of western philosophy
@@maxbuetler4064thank you, Sir.
A great analytical thinker. Deserves more recognition in history.
Despite the limitations of information and technology that we afforded today (google, you tube, instant media) to expand our intellect. For his time what he observed with his intellect of what was available to him then he was quite insightful. The future will always find errors in the past because the future has the advantage of things the last lacked.
I use this narration to softly listen and drift off to sleep ❤️
What a delightful man
What a remarkable man, he’s been my hero since I first read his work.
His mathematical paradox, which he was successful in circumventing, just an incredible mind!
His views on humanity if shared by humanity the world would be a far more wonderful place.
Which paradox did he circumvent? Russel-Zermelo? That's just one example of the problems of naive set theory. It can't be circumvented. There is no general set of rules that would allow us to identify and remove ill-defined naive sets from mathematics. First order logic is, of course, a solution, but one can't do much useful mathematics with first order logic. It can, for instance, not describe the natural numbers or the real line and with that much of algebra, number theory, geometry, analysis, topology and other interesting areas of mathematics are impossible. You can, if you want, amuse yourself with finite groups and such... if subsets of the permutation group are your thing.
Fun fact: My grand father saved Russel out of the airplane in Norway that crashed in 1948 , the then 76 year old was in good shape and he lived for another 22 years sharing his wisdom with the world.
Your granddad innocuous
If they want like fbi or cia they'll kill the engine
@Le Ed Yes true, they rescued most from the smoking cabin, imagine how lucky that was.
Bertrand Russel was an upper class elite shit turd snob
and a stupid ass who was disconnected from reality.
His opinions when examined after he died are exposed
to be utter rubbish. He was also a brainwashed imbecile
as are the billions of illiterate insects on the internet because
none of you know history.
When you do not know the past: you cannot know the present and have no vision of the past.
@@indrekkpringi How about backing up your vile language with some facts rather than throwing verbal hand grenades.
My philosophical Hero in true sense. Among the giants who walked the earth. Thank you for the video!
Such a Great Man! The epitome of intellect and integrity and one of my idols. The first book of him that I read was "Freedom and Organization" followed by "A History of Western Philosophy", both when I was in high school, and his other excellent writings. He was the greatest person who influenced me through his books and shaped my outlook on science, world, history, philosophy, etc. I became fond of exact sciences and pursued my studies because of his writings. Britain should be proud of him.
@rerevisionist oh, grow up. #SPAM ...
I must agree with you.
His popular books changed my life for ever.
History of Westen Philosophy is a great book, I read it in high school as well.
When reading Principia Mathematica, I am just baffled by BRs profound wisdom and unsurpassed depth of knowledge. A genius by all counts but with a rare humanitarian touch.
@@canonicalcritic _Principia Mathematica,_ described as "the landmark work in formal logic", written by Alfred North Whitehead and Bertrand Russell.
Sir Isaac Newton wrote a book with a similar title, just to confuse us. :)
@@canonicalcritic You're welcome.
The title of Russell's book was deliberately the same as some kind of homage to Newton or statement that the work was intended to be of similar ambition.
Noone reads that book.
formal history is one thing , but these personal rememberings are priceless
I love the way he talks, even if i didn't care about his ideas.His intonation and honest involvement with every word he utters is remarkable. Here is a man of integrity that i would respect even if his ideas were diametrically opposed to mine.
@Shannon L. Freng You see... my last reply to you mysteriously disappeared. The f&%#rs si oh nists are doing their best to gag anything exposing them. By the way i meant youtube cen sorship,, not yahoo, just my mistake.
One of his views is that the extermination of life by wicked politicians should be avoided.
@@tedgrant2
Russell's ideas and contributions to the formal sciences of logic and mathematics cannot be skipped; Bertrand's dedicated cause to logic and mathematics ought to be acknowledged (in my opinion).
@goognam goognws
So you don't care about his ideas regarding logic and mathematics? At least give him credit on those subjects.
@@goognamgoognw6637
Are you saying that all of his views are diametrically opposed to yours ?
Surely, you must agree that love is better than hate and facts are more important than fiction ?
Perhaps you believe that God spoke out of Balaam's ass in perfect medieval English ?
(Numbers 22:28)
Splendid to hear him now as an elder ... hard to imagine him shy ...
Also, I am trying to "explain" to people I deal with the many ways the 21st century completely differs from years in the past.
Wonderful interview. Apart from his great intellect and independent thinking, what an interesting contemporary recollection of Disreli, Lenin Shaw etc. Many thanks for posting!
Russell commented upon Gladstone. He did not comment in this interview upon Disraeli.
This is a treasure! Thank you for sharing.
Simply beautiful
A truly great interview.
Amazing voice. No one speaks like this today.
The idea that we should give up weapons of mass destruction upset many Christians.
He had the strange view that life on earth is worth preserving and for this he was put in prison.
He wasn't allowed to teach logic in New York because he thought love is better than hate.
I found that "Why I am not a Christian" is more convincing than the Bible and has the merit of brevity.
We are all grateful to this great man his clarity of thought and jovialness of spirit.
full of crap
@@paulgentile1024 I do not understand your comment...ASJ
unfortunately we don't have even few people like him in the whole world toady, we miss him so much
@Bruce23125145 "unfortunately we don't have even few people like him in the whole world toady, we miss him so much"
I disagree. Russells' humanity and humility and sense of perspective and history reminds me of Trump a lot.
@@SelfReflective Tell me you are being very Ironic!
@@AminTheMystic Ha ha, is it that obvious? Yes, of course I am.
We still have Noam Chomsky, another great guy. Science is so beautiful when it is represented by such great People.
Steven Pinker, Richard Dawkins and David Deutsch are just a few great public intellectuals that come to mind when thinking of great intellectuals today
This is one of the most incredible pieces of recording that I have ever heard.
Don't you mean "whom I have ever heard of?"
@Shannon L. Freng yes the recording as a thing in and of itself, the contents captured by the recording another thing entirely. I actually found the comment a shape pompous, aping the way Russell spoke, which belonged to that era, and so that was the thrust of my remark. I was sending up that slightly over elaborate way of speaking. I may have been a little harsh
@@Raggedblackbird You were sending up a "slightly over elaborate way of speaking", says the guy who responds unnecesarily with a "slightly over elaborate way of speaking".
@@RaggedblackbirdNo, whom comes from who, which refers to a person, while that refers to an object. You can't refer to a record as who.
I was kidding folks, correcting your grammar use with a split-infinitive like a dash of tobasco in the 👁️. 😉
Tennyson put water in his port...so we never mentioned him again.
My parents used to talk about the great man a lot. I was born in the year of this interview. Lived Half a mile from the American airbase at Greenham. As a kid I was taken on the first Aldermaston cnd march. I found this illuminating especially while talking about the UK instilling a compromise and a no nuclear no nato future. How relevant is this today! What a thinker.
Quite a lively mimic and performer, especially for someone that age.
One of the greatest minds in history
I hope so because I met him & I'm a damn sight more intelligent.
@@JimOverbeckgenius have you done any writing?
@@tima5033 The largest illustrated book since Leonardo. See the film The Lost Genius on RUclips.
@@JimOverbeckgenius Ah yes I see you have a deep love of art and extensive knowledge of it. Do you think anyone is a damn sight more intelligent than you?
@@tima5033 God is + anyone more loving, kind & gentle. The mind in the heart & the heart in the mind is Divine.
I will be very glad to have this video with subtitles, the content is truly interesting, but quality is problematic for non native speakers like me.
A brilliant thinker!
Great man with a free fearless and open mind. His concern to humanity was unique.very good interview.
i find Bertrand Russell perfectly tolerable. What a great man. Attending to the chimney whilst the interview for the comfort of his guest, even though it made later cough a bit.
wonderful piece...a look back into 19th century history...thank you.
We are here! We are here!
A quite fascinating man!
What an incredible human.
Bertrand Russell. .lives on ...
We need these men to keep us on the right track with their reasoning.
He was responsible for brainwashing the US feminist movement into smoking.
He called cigarettes ‘the torch of freedom’ and was heavily involved in secret societies.
One of Wales! greatest sons. 🏴 🏴 🏴
Who’s listening to this in 2020? 😁
I am listening in 1920
Wow! David Mitchell, Jimmy Carr and Bertrand Russell all were at Cambridge in 90s. Who would’ve thought?
A Wealth of Wisdom : Language; Literature, Logic and it's Contribution to Civilization. When men use reason we become better stewards rather than follow dogma. Grateful for you always Bertrand Arthur William Russell..
A philosopher king, and an extraordinary conversationalist.
So many snippets and snapshots
of great and/or famous people, events and ideas.
Plenty here to provoke thought,
if not conversation,
or even argument.
60 years ago - April 1961 - April 2021
Wow! This is personal history! Thank you.
What a decent man.
Ach, the riches of RUclips . . . just when I feel I am about to get disgusted by it, I bring up such a video as this, that keeps me in its shackles.
not2tees ,this is quality absolutely, and of course there is nothing in the world today remotely as engaging as this.....sad and awful is it not?
@@SarahJones-wy5us A video record of the important people of the past is something so new to the general population, and this itself is something in the world today that is truly excellent, though, wouldn't you agree?
@@not2tees There is always culture and intelligence in the world ,but the general fad today is rudeness ignorance hatred and greed ,sloppy attitudes,grab what you can ,It certainly is far from the intelligent portrayal of this interveiw.
This integrity and intelligence is a delight the open humour also, just of a much better mindset.Today this is very noticeably absent.
What a genius! What brilliance, clarity, lucidity! No one like him around today. Our environment is perhaps incapable of producing an intellectual Giant like him because unbeknownst to us we live in America within a rigid economic orthodoxy that militates against intellectual freedom unfettered from results based on profit.
the Bible says he was a FOOL!
_the fool has said in his heart there is no God_
ironically, he started life as a devout Christian but because of Darwinian drivel and Copernican crud, he abandoned his faith...
ruclips.net/video/LydGoPkwywE/видео.html ;
I wasn't aware I lived in America, so perhaps you're right.
Indubitably.
I don't think a Bertrand Russel can be explained by this unrelated leap into your views on America, or any other way, Silvio Frank.
You are being ironic I hope
Very excellent.
A _most_ remarkable conversation. Such wonderful memories too of his time in college and the notables he met and influenced!"
Adam Mangler yes a generosity that has not been met
notables coming out of the woodwork
Just 2 from Russell's Liberal Decalogue: #5 "Have no respect for the authority of others, for there are always contrary authorities to found". #7 "Do not fear to be eccentric in opinion, for every opinion now accepted was once eccentric".
Bertrand Russell was the greatest of Iconoclasts.
@40:13 Speaking truth to power. I can only imagine what he'd have to say about the world now!
I wonder what he'd have been able to foresee about the World Wide Web and if there is anything not sinister about it.
'May I request that gentleman who has, not once but repeatedly, interrupted the flow of my observations to extend me that large measure of courtesy which, were I in his place and he in mine, I should undoubtedly extend to him'
- Gladstone and the drunken man
Can you name today one politician in the entire world who could make such a remark extemporaneously?
I thought Wiliam James made that remark at one of his lectures.
He was, in my opinion, the best of men. The very first “philosopher” I ever read, back in 11th grade. Once I read “Why I Am Not A Christian” my entire world changed!
A great line when he spoke about GB Shaw - "By means of wit, he concealed the fact that he was silly." Indeed, Shaw was the useful idiot of Stalinist Russia.
That's it? Just a useful idiot?
Steve McCormack
I mean George Bernard Shaw also praised Hitler.
@@joellaz9836 Yes, Shaw was witty but there is no replacement for decency. A guy could have all the brains in the world and be dead wrong.
Steve McCormack Whilst you are speaking as a useful idiot of the collapsing US empire. And you dont even get the irony. Pompous moron
@@stevemccormack9948 And someone like you with no brains and is dead wrong. At least he had a brain.
Despite his heritage, he seems like that rare thing: a classless human being; he grasps the segragation of society in such a casual way---he knows!
What a man
What a bloody genius! AND, like most Great Men (& Ladies too!) incredibly modest and self-effacing.
Watch his interview on "Why I am Not a Christian" to see him utterly demolish ALL the same old nonsense trotted out by "Modern" Christian apologists like that, inexplicably popular, philosophical ConMan -- William Lane Craig!
His book religion and science is also extremely good. It's a survey of the conflicts between Christianity and areas of scientific knowledge.
You are random as much, you have such a name for such a comment on youtube
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bertrand_Russell BORN 1872 died 1970 wow ... 97 years old lived through the Victorian era Edwardian era so many memories he had we shall never be able to his links to royalty etc amazing interview
Thankyou Lord Russell
Listening to this great man I can't help but wonder if he was the inspiration for Paul Whitehouse's Fast Show creation the 13th Duke of Wyburne.
What a man ❤️
I love you Lord Russell.
Not sure if I fully agree with his opinion on education. He compares it to athletes, but surely they work extremely hard and train every day to achieve their position. I think that comparison only shows that education should be accessible to all. For all to have the opportunity to train themselves to be able to understand subjects of all kinds, not just be given to those who are ''gifted''. Separating them into a privatised form of education would only lead to further inequality in my opinion. Although I do understand his view to some extent. Some people do have an innate ability, and perhaps they do feel some form of boredom amongst people who don't, but surely, in order to gain full insight into life being amongst people who are different and have different abilities is important.
It seems to me that this manner of free thinking and effortless wit has all but vanished from English society. I hear it now and I absorb it thirstily.
I like the way you wrote that
It's not gone, just under PC wraps for now. The current pandemic is quickly tearing that BS apparatus apart as we speak.
Listen to Douglas Murray
Seems??? I know not seems
It hasn't entirely vanished but you certainly won't hear it on the BBC nor in many universities .
I had a lovely step grandfather who was brought up a catholic and occasionally would utter spasms of latin liturgical text. It would sound EXACTLY like this @21:13 . He was a factory worker all his life, so it is reassuring to hear that even eminent Cambridge dons suffered the same condition
Anyone else wonder how he could have remembered Browning when he (Russell) was only two when Browning came to visit?
I have a theory that extraordinarily gifted people often have more memories from early infancy than most do
Thomas Aitken
Interesting....
My theory is that it could be something much simpler, such as, someone older who actually witnessed Russell saying that, later told him that this is what he'd said about Browning when he was two years old when Browning came to visit.
he was dishonest, his views on Christ and organised religion/divorce are simply and objectively dishonest for example.
Nope
I can remember being about 3 so a great genius like this could possibly remember his 3rd year
Ah, Russell...pretty much the only philosopher in undergrad that seemed to be trying to say something.
I agree with the formation of the League of Neutrals- Meeting ASSP
Interesting how the nuclear threat was so consuming in the public conscious at this time.
Growing up, I used to have nightmares about it. Then I found out about "The Strategy of Tension."
the story of the don who believed sneezing in his presence was a piss take that warranted murder had me shrieking with laughter
Russell has an amazing way of bringing out the wonder which lies just below the surface of our everyday experience, and for such a genius to be able to do so in a way that pretty much anyone can understand is an incredible gift. Here's a nice video on his thoughts on Appearance vs Reality: ruclips.net/video/xBt-DN7T6C8/видео.html
Just got fired from my job as a set designer. I left without making a scene.
Fight on in life.
Never mind. All the World's a stage. Spread your wings ....
I think it's a joke.
@@wallflower1852 I always take life with a grain of salt. And a slice of lemon. And a shot of tequila.
@@mikeorclem That's kind of lovely. Whenever I try to make a cake and I fail, I turn it into a pudding instead. ♥️😉
Is there a transcript?
Anybody know what Cardigan Bay looks like through French windows ?
Anyone in possession of instructions that would eliminate or make tolerable the feedback?
Amazing interview. Os seus pontos de vista, parecendo por vezes candidos, vão directos à hipocrisia da sociedade em que ele viveu e ao cinismo da mundividência dos que almejam, nos píncaros da sociedade, pela guerra, pela manutenção dos privilégios.
What hypocrisy you are referring to? I know nothing about him
'You English have no equivalent for Gelehrte'. Yes we do, we c-c-call them 'prigs'. What a master of wit and humour!
Russell was Welsh not English.
Apologies, I didn't realise this was a quote from Russell himself.
We architects tend to think we cover philosophy very well while in turn, philosophers cover us. Who should i thank for, coder, programmer or AI? Living in deft and blind, i tend to think i am all if i could and should
4:37 Did I hear that part right?
His accent is so English it turned the water in my bottle into Earl Grey tea.
1:40:18 Apparently Bertrand did not think Christians ever stood firm unto death. I guess he missed the memo detailing the Catholic Inquisition.
enslavement to the domesticated mind, obedience to the surviving mind, freedom to the conditioned mind , freedom & existence to the struggling men 😥
Give me 3 minutes of the salient moments.
What books was Grandpa reading?
Sorry, could anyone clear up what he said at around 16:43?
"We have no word for Gelehrte"
"Yes we do, we say P?!?!?!?" what that p-word??
is it "prince" like the subtitles say? caus I dont understand what thats supposed to mean :O
The word was PRIG, Russell was being witty by stuttering the P. An old english word If you act like you're better than everyone else, they might start calling you a prig - a snobby and arrogant person. Hope that helps if you where still seeking an answer.
@@paulmc1176 Maybe I am not getting the joke because that is not what "Gelehrte" means in German. It means university educated person, scholar, usually referring to proper scientists. There is no negative connotation attached to it in German that I am aware of, although an uneducated person may, of course, use it sarcastically, thus showing his intellectual laziness.
@@schmetterling4477 agree it is lazy intellect, in England we have a saying you may have heard "sarcasm is the lowest form of wit". Also in BR's era the was an arrogance from the upper classes towards the commoners, and as a commoner myself I was always told as a child these were our betters. University educated toffs, example today is the likes of Boris Johnson, Jacob Reese Mog et al. Russell for all his works and efforts to connect with the commoners was still an elitist. A useful idiot and unbeknownst to him used as such. Research of his family's political and social standing would suggest as such, his grandfather was instrumental in the shift to the majority 2 party 'democracy". Another way the term PRIG was used as an insult towards higher interlect, again an old English tactic used to belittle a person, utilising group manipulation on his followers to hold his intellect higher than others, divide and conquer. Hope that explains the context of his quip? Thank you for messaging and blessings to you and your loved ones.
@@paulmc1176 That's my point. I didn't get the sarcasm in there. University education in classics and philosophy alone does not make you a "Gelehrter" in Germany and the word is not applicable to somebody like Boris Johnson.
While I understand the "class struggles" in Britain, which simply can't let go of its medieval past, that simply does not apply to German societal structure. You have to understand that the aristocracy in the 19th century in Germany was politically destroyed twice: once in the Napoleonic wars and a second time by Bismarck and the Kaiserreich. The Germans have very few titled aristocrats left and they are, except for a few tabloid story lines, basically without any consequence in German society. The comparison therefor simply doesn't apply. University education in Germany was actively modernized and opened to the middle class deliberately: Germany needed officers and other educated people for its ambitions on the world stage. So, if anything, the middle class took lead, rather than the upper class. I would not claim that this was actually better, given the outcome of WW I and II.
@@paulmc1176 thanks for clearing that up. it makes sense to me and I like the humour behind it :D