What's so intriguing about WWII?

[Lone Wolf]

WWII is so unaesthetical, with all these barbaric metallic tanks and airplanes, boring-looking uniforms, and yawn-inspiring leaders (okay, Stalin's moustache isn't that bad, but it isn't enough). Why so many threads on that forum discuss it? Surely, other eras are a lot more pleasing. The colonial wars of 18-19th century are so interesting - attractive uniforms (love the British red!), exotic locations (Spicy Seringapatam sounds so much cooler then boring Moscow or even El-Alamein), interesting economic and social dynamics of colonialism. Napoleonic wars are very nice, too - the uniforms are much sexier, the image and story of Napoleon can be presented as very romantic. While Zheng He references are very annoying, Chinese history isn't limited to him only. And the Middle Ages - all that romanticism of Western Europe (owning much to Romantic movement of later centuries, but whatever), the Byzantine imperial bling.

 

[privatehudson]

I find it interesting because my grandparents served in it, speak to people every week who lived through it and because it crosses a number of subject areas, for example local history due to the likes of air raids. There's elements of the last one to the likes of the Napoleonic Wars but none of the first two.

It was also a fairly central event to those six years of people's lives due to the worldwide and total nature of the conflict. There's an annecdote about the English Civil War where a Parliamentary officer reported meeting a labourer who, when question whether he was for King or Parliament replied "Be them two fall'n out then?". Its hard to imagine finding anyone in the UK in 1941 who was not aware there was a war going on. Its possible therefore for the average person to be ignorant of the impact of say the fall of Rome on history and the modern day but a lot harder to ignore the impact of World War 2.

 

[Glassfan]

Mokusatsu...

 

[privatehudson]

I said it was a lot harder, not impossible

 

[Tee Kay]

World War II is about as close to an "epic" war as it gets in modern times.

 

[say1988]

It had a huge impact on the entire world and was the most recent large war and, compared to WWII, there is better (and colour) video fotage, it doesn't matter if Wellington was a more interesting person than Monty, we have more direct access ot Monty in audio and visual recordings, whereas with Wellington you just have a text description or other people describing/acting.

As for Eastern History, most people I see here are western, so obviously they tend to look at history that relates to them, their family, and their homes, not unconnected Chinese history.

 

[Tee Kay]

As for Eastern History, most people I see here are western, so obviously they tend to look at history that relates to them, their family, and their homes, not unconnected Chinese history.

Yeah, 'cause World War II had no effect on Asia.

 

[say1988]

Where did I say that? Go to the US, there is as much about the war with Japan as Germany (depending on where you are, of course, eastern areas more involved with Europe focus more on Europe while California will have more focus to Japan). That was a reference to Eastern history beyond that where Western involvement is minimal (note that even British campaigns in India are more widely known than soem Mughal campaigns agianst other Indian states).
And for, say Britian, the Germans bombing their cities is more impactful on the people back home than the Japanese attacking some colonies.

 

[Communisto]

A mixture of clearly perceived lines of "us" v. "them", massive scale, clash of ideologies and the effect on living memory.

 

[SG-17]

The colonial wars of 18-19th century are so interesting - attractive uniforms (love the British red!).

Yeah those bright red uniforms were very attractive.

Especially to sharpshooters.

 

[Dachs]

World War II is about as close to an "epic" war as it gets in modern times.

It defined the trope, really. One of the (very) few downsides of Ace Combat 04, for instance, was that the story is essentially the Second World War.

 

[Flying Pig]

Yeah those bright red uniforms were very attractive.

Especially to sharpshooters.

Right. I have to say this a lot so I'll say it once.

Red coats, line formations and flying colours were not a stupid idea borne from incompetant generals who cared more about parades than keeping men alive. They came basically from these considerations:

• There was almost no communication in those days which did not involve someone physically relaying a message to the recipient, face-to-face. As such, it was very difficult for a soldier or junior officer on the battlefield to keep track of where his friends were; which could be very dangerous indeed when a block of troops came into view in firing range - do we engage them and hope they're the enemy, or wait and pray they're not? Red coats meant that a British officer could clearly see who was on his side and whom he needed to fight, and vice-versa.

• Personal weapons were very innacurate. This meant that an individual rifleman could not hope to reliably hit another individual rifleman at any meaningful distance. Fighting in large blocks meant that the commander could tell roughly where the shot would fall and effectively direct it, rather than randomly spouting shots which would rarely hit anything. Furthermore, the amount of smoke that comes off a rifle from that period meant that once you fired it would be painfully obvious where you were anyway, so there was little point in camoflage anyway. The smoke also meant that flags and bugles were used as tools to rally the men and direct them, since they can be picked out amongst the noise and confusion of battle.
• Finally, cavalry was a dominant force. A unit fighting in loose formation could expect to attract the unwelcome attention of a French battalion of chasseurs and be cut to ribbons. By forming dense squares, infantry could be reasonably well-protected from that and did not require constant shadowing by cavalry units, which would have rendered the latter almost useless. Obviously, a big block of men is never going to be camoflaged no matter what it's wearing, and therefore there was little point trying to hide, so wearing easily-identifiable clothing which instilled regimental, national and military pride was the next best thing.

 

[say1988]

I would just add on that, the only time where it was much of a disadvantage was in a guerilla campaign, and I am sure that insurgents in Iraq thank Allah for the distinctive clothing that American, Iraqi, and other troops wear today. Sure it may be hard to see an individual person in cover, but when ambushing groups of soldiers in built up areas, the camoglauge doesn't matter.

 

[Joecoolyo]

EDIT: nvm

 

[Phrossack]

It defined the trope, really. One of the (very) few downsides of Ace Combat 04, for instance, was that the story is essentially the Second World War.

Ah, a fine game. Good memories.
Anyway, WWII isn't a dead horse that's merely been beaten; it's been utterly vaporized. Besides, in the modern era, different cultures tend to have basically the same weapons. In pregunpowder times, there was real variety. The total lack of extensive body armor in WWII also contributes to its dullness.

 

[bombshoo]

What I find interesting about it is that was not that long ago. Having been fortunate enough to live in a relatively peaceful time, I find it very sad yet intriguing that within my grandparent's lifetime the world was wrapped up in the biggest conflict it had ever seen.

 

[ParkCungHee]

Ah, a fine game. Good memories.
Anyway, WWII isn't a dead horse that's merely been beaten; it's been utterly vaporized. Besides, in the modern era, different cultures tend to have basically the same weapons. In pregunpowder times, there was real variety. The total lack of extensive body armor in WWII also contributes to its dullness.

Also, no heads of state were lured away from the conflict with the promise of alcohol, which makes it objectively worse than the nine years war.

 

[Dachs]

Also, no heads of state were lured away from the conflict with the promise of alcohol, which makes it objectively worse than the nine years war.

Or indeed the Russian settlement of Siberia

 

[Yui108]

maybe it was, maybe it wasn't, but the majority of the public believes it to be a clear-cut example of good vs. evil with a happy ending. Is the allure so hard to see?

 

[Perfection]

You want sexy uniforms and tropical locations? I think you're looking for a porno, not a war.