We rely on a lot of great people with a lot of creative power to make this show happen the way we do. Some of them have great solo-projects, which offer new and additional perspectives on many topics that we cover here. So if you're a true history buff, you should definitely check out some of these pages: Eastory makes our maps - kzfaq.info Julius colorizes many of our portraits - facebook.com/JJcolorization/ Dememorabilia also colorizes a lot for us - instagram.com/dememorabilia/ We have our own WW2 day-by-day page on Instagram - instagram.com/world_war_two_realtime/ They all deserve your follow! Go check them out! Cheers, Joram *RULES OF CONDUCT* STAY CIVIL AND POLITE we will delete any comments with personal insults, or attacks. AVOID PARTISAN POLITICS AS FAR AS YOU CAN we reserve the right to cut off vitriolic debates. HATE SPEECH IN ANY DIRECTION will lead to a ban. RACISM, XENOPHOBIA, OR SLAMMING OF MINORITIES will lead to an immediate ban. PARTISAN REVISIONISM, ESPECIALLY HOLOCAUST AND HOLODOMOR DENIAL will lead to an immediate ban.

Bulgaria: *Joins Axis* Greece: "Uh...we're still cool, right?" Bulgaria: "Yeah, we're cool." Greece: "Ok, good." Bulgaria: *Closes Borders* Greece: "Uhh..."

Legends say U-47 sustained only light damage but sank instantly due to Prien's balls of steel

This might be Indy's worst tie yet. I love it.

Bulgaria: joins Axis Yugoslavia: there goes the neighborhood

So there still is the chance of U-47 suddenly surfacing in 2020, asking for Diesel?

Stalin-"The Germans aren't going to invade" Everyone else-"They are and here's proof" Stalin-"I didn't see that."

While "This is total war" seemed to be the catch phrase for "The Great War" series, "What could possible go wrong?" is strongly in the running for the catch phrase for "World War Two" series. Talk about a loaded statement.

The way Indy laughs, "that was some good shit" It is the simple things in life that inspire joy. This channel never fails to deliver.

Tsar Boris III died suddenly in 1943, after returning from a visit to Germany. His son succeeded him as Simeon II. He was deposed by the communists in 1946. He spent the next fifty years in exile, and served as prime minister of Bulgaria from 2001 to 2005. He is still alive today.

Little did they know, Bulgaria would become AFK for the rest of the game

Truly, poetical words about the Nigerian advance into Abyssinia.

Is it even possible to make those maps more awesome? Excellent work, Eastory!

Thanks a lot Indy Niedell for talking about the Nigerian contribution to WWII. Unlike the French, the British made it a policy to try to hide the contribution of West African commonwealth troops, to their war effort. Only Canadian, Australian, Indian and Nepalese troops are ever honoured by their historians. Cheers 👍🏿

Learning about things such as ths Nigerian advances in East Africa and that description are why i love this channel. You never hear about that in hardly any other rssource about the war. So informative, and gives light to all those who contributed to the war and those who it affected.

Boris had his conditions: 1- Bulgaria would only use their army for occupation in certain parts of Greece and Yugoslavia; 2- German troops could use the Bulgarian rail system provided they gave an itinerary 48 hours in advance to the Transport Ministry; 3- Bulgarians would not fight the Red Army in the field. Hitler grumbled, but reluctantly agreed.

9:23 That is seriously some good poetry there. Never knew the British Ministry of Information had some good poets!

I'm Bulgarian, my grandpa considered himself a communist, but he barely understood political ideologies, he was very impressed by the German soldier he saw as a boy. He said: the soldiers were passing through, they didn't hurt anyone, didn't steel and did no harm, but once a soldier shot a duck probably for fun, then someone from the local people complained to the German officer. The officer called for the whole platoon to gather and punished them all. Bulgaria's military doctrine since the early 1900's was always with Germany never against Russia.

KZfaq: demonetizes history content Indy: Guess I can swear now!

Country in the balkans: *exists* Germany: join the axis or die.

Cool trivia: the Free French at Kuffra swore an oath to keep fighting until the French flag was raised above the Cathedral of Strasburg. Their leader was Philippe Leclerc, who would become general and liberate Starsburg in 1944.

I find it mad that in 4 years time I'll still be watching this, imagine how long the years seemed for them

Germany: Don't worry Turkey, you had my back in the last war so You get a pass...for now.q

This series is better than any series on WWII that has ever aired on TV. I'm constantly blown away by the quality and quantity of content on this page.

10:01 "What a barren featureless desert!" (General Melchett)

Yes Indy, that really was some good shit.

Bulgaria: joins Axis Turkey: I prefer to observe this time. I feel Iike coping Swiss neutrality

>title >Insert HoI4 Join Faction Sound

It's a nice Saturday morning with the sun shining as I sit in my college dorm with a cup of coffee. I open KZfaq to see a new upload from Indy and the crew. Life is good. Just taking a moment to appreciate the good times in life and thank you Indy for contributing to that.

At first I thought Indy was making some weird X-MEN reference in his phone call about the Wolverine and I was like I don't think he's talking to Luigi anymore. But then you mentioned the ship Wolverine and I was like dang it there goes my comment.

9:46 this should have been an impregnable barrier. did they run out of bottles to finish the defences?

Your delivery is priceless. I look to it as much as entertainment.

And thousands of British children cheer at seeing all that cod liver oil going up in flames.

*_SIDES AT PRESENT:_* *_World War Two_* *Allies:* _Albanian resistance,_ Australia+, Bahrain-, Belgium*+, Canada, Chechnya-Ingushetia^, China^^, Czechoslovakia*, _Danish resistance, Estonian resistance’, Ethiopian Arbegnoch,_ Free France+’’, Greece, Iceland~’’’, _Latvian resistance’,_ Luxembourg*, Nepal, Netherlands*+, New Zealand+, Norway*+, Oman-, Poland*, South Africa, United Kingdom+ *Axis:* Germany+, Italy+, Japan+^^^, Manchukuo~, Mengkukuo~, _Ngolok Tibetans^^^^,_ Reorganized ROC~, Slovakia~, USSR’’’’, Vichy France+’’ *3rd Parties:* Denmark’’’’’, _Lithuanian resistance’_, Thailand^^^^^ _Italics:_ Non-state forces ~puppet *occupied with a government-in-exile & resistance movement. +Includes the country’s colonies, overseas territories, or reichskommissariats -self-governing protectorate or territory ‘The official governments of the Baltic States reluctantly accepted the USSR’s ultimatums, resulting in their occupation & the installation of new Soviet friendly regimes. This led to the creation of irregular national resistance movements, though it would take time before they became formal organizations. As the Estonian & Latvian resistance forces are fighting the USSR-who is a co-belligerent of Germany at this time-they are listed with the Allies. Although the exact date that Polish & Lithuanian resistance forces began fighting each other for control of the land around Vilnius/Wilno is unknown, they do so throughout the war as well as fight Germany & the USSR. For this reason, I’m placing the Lithuanian resistance in the 3rd Parties list. *_SPOILER WARNING:_* After Operation Barbarossa, I will reassign them based on the new front between Germany & the USSR. ‘’When newly appointed Prime Minister Philippe Pétaind announced his intentions to seek an armistice with the Axis powers, General Charles de Gaulle established a government-in-exile that would continue the war on the Allied side. French colonies had to decide whether to remain loyal to the Vichy Regime or join the Free French. Chad under Governor Félix Éboué was the first to join De Gaulle & *_SPOILER WARNING:_* soon all of French Equatorial Africa was in Free French hands, with its capital Brazzaville serving as headquarters for the movement. By late 1943, all French oversea possessions except in Indochina were controlled by Free France. Although the French government in Vichy is officially neutral, I have placed them with the Axis. The main reason being that Allied forces would continue to attack & occupy the territory it claimed throughout the war. At the same time, the Vichy government collaborated with Germany by providing war materials, allowing them use of their territory for strategic operations, & in implementing the Holocaust. ‘’’Although the Icelandic government issued a formal protest, the British invasion was not contested because Iceland lacked a military to fight back with & so told its people to treat the occupiers as guests. Even to this day, the "Lovely War" is controversial. Many Icelanders view the Allied occupation very negatively for the loss of their country’s sovereignty & for foreign troops fraternizing with local women. Others point to economic & infrastructural benefits the happened during the war. *_SPOILER WARNING:_* Iceland’s occupation is transferred to the Neutral USA on July 7th, 1941. At that point, I will take Iceland off the overview until Pearl Harbor. ’’’’I have the USSR on the Axis side because both Germany & them are currently at war with Poland(The Soviets invaded on September 17, 1939), divided Poland between themselves pre-invasion, are working together to end the Polish resistance, & are trading war materials. This is all detailed in the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, the German-Soviet Frontier Treaty, the German-Soviet Credit Agreement, & the German-Soviet Commercial Agreement. *_SPOILER WARNING:_* After Operation Barbarossa in June 1941, I will move them to the 3rd parties list(See my policy on country placement below) & then move them to the Allies after the signing of the Sikorski-Mayski agreement in July 1941 between the Polish government-in-exile & the USSR. ‘’’’’In the 2nd week of April, both Germany & the United Kingdom invaded & occupied parts of Danish territory(Germany occupied Denmark proper & the United Kingdom occupied the Faroe Islands) to “guarantee their independence & neutrality.” Everyday life went on mostly as before with Local authorities in both areas cooperating with the occupiers. Hitler hoped that Denmark would be “a model protectorate” that would aide his larger goals. Despite this, the Danish national government resisted calls by Germany for legal discrimination against Jewish Danes, the death penalty, & German military courts to have jurisdiction over Danish citizens. The Danish colony of Greenland(being de facto independent at the time) asked the neutral USA to protect them from invasion by the warring powers. Throughout this time, Denmark remained officially neutral despite having Axis & Allied forces on its soil. *_SPOILER WARNING:_* On August 29, 1943, after refusing to submit to any further German demands, the Danish government was dissolved & the German military took direct control of the country. At that point, I’ll take Denmark off the 3rd parties list & replace the Danish resistance with Denmark(with an occupied disclaimer). ^The Provisional Popular Revolutionary Government of Chechnya-Ingushetia is currently engaged in a guerrilla war against the USSR for independence. Since I have the Soviets in the Axis for reasons stated above, I‘m placing Chechnya-Ingushetia with the Allies *_SPOILER WARNING:_* until Operation Barbarossa, when I will move them to the Axis. ^^The Kuomintang & Communist Parties have signed a truce to fight the Japanese as part of the Second United Front lead by Chiang Kai-shek, but coordination is minimal & both deeply mistrust the other. ^^^I’ve combined the European & Asian wars at this point because Japan has now officially joined a military alliance with Germany & Italy in the form of the Tripartite Pact & is occupying Northern French Indochina, which is land the Free French government recognizes as its own. Despite the government in Vichy agreeing to the occupation after months of pressure, impatient Japanese forces rushed across the border & clashed with their Vichy French counterparts in the first few days. Since the fighting stopped before this week’s post, Vichy France & Japan are listed together as part of the Axis. ^^^^The Ngolok rebellions were a brutal ethnic conflict fought in Qinghai/Amdo between Ngolok Tibetans & the Hui dominated Ma clique who were loyal to the Kuomintang government of China. Despite having a common enemy in the Kuomintang, the Ngolok Tibetans & Japan were only co-belligerents as they didn’t have a formal alliance & didn’t coordinate in military planning. ^^^^^After a few months of border skirmishes, full on war broke out between Vichy controlled French Indochina & Thailand on January 5th, 1941. Despite only fighting against Vichy forces, I’m placing Thailand in the 3rd parties list. The reason for this is since I placed Free France with the Allies & Vichy France in the Axis for reasons stated above & As both claim to be the legitimate government of France, they both claim to be the rightful owners of the disputed lands in Indochina, thus both would regard Thailand as a belligerent because Thailand is trying to take back land that it lost to France previously. An armistice was proclaimed on January 28th & *_SPOILER WARNING:_* Peace treaty signed on May 9th. *_MY POLICY ON COUNTRY PLACEMENT_* If a country declares war on or attacks another country & at least one of them is already involved in World War II, I’ll list the other as a part of the opposing faction. That is why the events of the Winter War are included in the main World War II list & the events of the War of ‘41(Ecuador vs. Peru) will not be. The countries listed in the factions above are comprised of both official members & co-belligerents. The terms “Allies” & “Axis” are used for both kinds of belligerents as a convenient way to distill the world war & it’s adjoining conflicts, with disclaimers used to elaborate on some of the more complicated situations. If a country or resistance movement is at war with at least one country form both factions, I’ll add them to the 3rd parties list with a disclaimer. The 3rd Parties list is not a faction, but a collection of warring parties who act independently of one another. I have to consolidate factions along co-belligerency or else the number of factions will balloon out of control. Finally, each post only represents the factions as they were 79 years ago to the day. Many countries will join, leave, or switch sides before the war ends for various reasons & I strongly encourage you to look into the situation of each country for yourself.

I have not missed an episode. Awesome show. Just have to say thanks

Great work you Guys!

My Grandpa turns 79 today, meaning that these events occurred on the date of his birth .

“Somebody at the information ministry missed their calling as a poet, huh, because that’s some gooooood shit, huh?!?” I died..

I heartily enjoy your delivery and this channel.

Great work per usual. Take that KZfaq algorithm

This week in the Greco-Italian War: A public release of names of Italian combat casualties in Albania by March 1, 1941, listed 32,552 KIA, WIA, MIA & POW. On March 2, Mussolini flew a plane to Albania himself, in order to participate in the planning, and supervise the new Italian offensive, codenamed 'Operazione Primavera' (Operation Spring), a major attack against the Greek defence line at the central sector. By the end of February 1941 the Italian army in Albania was 400,000-strong, and by mid-March would reach 501,800 all ranks. 13,166 wheeled vehicles served alongside 65,000 horses and other pack animals. The Greek army amounted approximately to 350,000 men. Οn the same day, the German 105,000-strong, XII. Army, under General Wilhelm List, moved into Bulgaria. On March 4, Sq. Ldr Marmaduke Pattle, claimed three Italian Fiat G.50bis fighters of 24th Gruppo. On March 18, Pattle would receive a bar to his Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) for his actions on March 4. On Wednesday, March 5, 1941, 'Operation Lustre', the despatch of allied troops and supplies from the Middle East to Greece, in response to the approaching German invasion, began. Four Commonwealth units: British 1st Armoured Brigade (Brig. Charles Willoughby Moke Norrie), 2nd New Zealand Division (Maj. Gen. Bernard Freyberg), 6th Australian Infantry Division (Maj. Gen. Iven Giffard MacKay), followed by the 7th Australian Division (Maj. Gen. John Lavarack) were transported from Alexandria, Egypt, while the Polish Independent Carpathian Brigade ('SBSK' under the overall command of Gen. Stanisław Kopański) was to be transported to Greece from Haifa. 60,364 Commonwealth troops would arrive in Greece. The last unit, the 2/8th Australian Infantry Battalion (Lt. Col. John Wesley Mitchell) would arrive on April 3. The British and ANZAC would take part in the battles against the Germans in April, under the overall command of British Gen. Sir Henry Maitland Wilson. The Polish Brigade would never arrive in Greece as the Germans entered Athens before even the first of its elements embarked on the ships. Also on March 5, an emergency meeting of the chiefs of three Greek armies in Albania (Lieutenant-General Markos Drakos of T.S.E ('Epirus Army Section'), Lieutenant-General Dimitrios Papadopoulos of B' Corps, Lieutenant-General Georgios Kosmas of A' Corps), with the Greek C-in-C General Alexandros Papagos, took place at General HQ, in the Greek capital, Athens, four days before the Italian Spring Offensive. During the meeting, the three chiefs declared unanimously that Greece should officially reject any British and Commonwealth force less than 100,000-stong, as a smaller force would prove both ineffective and inefficient to resist the Germans, and would act as pretext for Hitler to invade. If the German invasion is inevitable, the three chiefs continued, 'it will be better if the Greek forces resist alone, and fall to the last man in the field of honour, rather than provide the enemy with political and military excuse for war' (sic). Papagos accused the three chiefs of insubordination, and on March 7, just 48 hours before the Italian offensive broke out, with a not-that-unusual 'Papagean' unpredictable and impulsive decision, they were relieved of their command, and replaced by Lt. Gen. Panaghiotis Demestichas (A' Corps), Lt. Gen. Georgios Bakos (B' Corps), and Lt. Gen. Ioannis Pitsikas (T.S.E.). On Saturday, March 8, 1941, just 24 hours before the Italians opened their major offensive, the Greek 34th Infantry Regiment (Col. Alexandros Tsingounis) from II Infantry Division (Maj. Gen. Georgios Lavdas), assaulted hills 739 and 1000, located NW of Peshtan near Tepelenë, occupied by elements from 1st Alpini Division 'Taurinense' (Brig. Gen. Giovanni Maccario). At 739 the Greeks engaged in a savage hand-to-hand combat with the Italian 3rd Alpini Regiment (Col. Umberto Fabbri). Men on both sides were locked together and fought with every weapon at hand possible, including rocks. Dozens of alpini were killed and wounded,~300 made prisoner. The Greek regiment took both hills at a very high cost.

Me encanta éste canal!!!!!

I love researching these older videos

Never stop those phone call intros. They literally make my day.

As always...excellent job everyone

Bulgaria faught on the losing side both during WWI and WWII as a German ally. The communism however proved to be much more devastating than losing two world wars. The XX century was quite disastrous for my country...

i have benn avid reader of 20th century military history for over 15 years and i consider mr neidell a great source of excellent information, great narrative skills , amazing research and outstanding source of information ... keep going i wisjh now a series called korean war week by week and then vietnam war week by week and then likely iran - irak war wek by week ...

Great vid 👍

I haven't watched the video yet but I know I will love it.

Excellent show.

Keep up the fantastic work 😁👌

Lmao got the notification for this as I was catching up with the past 2 videos that I missed!

Congrats on 420k subs!

>Legionnaires Bulgaria joined the Axis.

Wolverine is just like Erwin Rommel. He always wins, even when he loses!

Loved that obscure bit about the advance of the Nigerians. Congrats on digging that up. Enjoying this series.

Helping with the algorithm

I am SO pleased you said that General Wilson was a LEFtenant-General and NOT a LOOtenant-General! A small point indeed, but one which shows the care you are taking to be accurate. Congratulations!

Richard Sorge was a legend. Ian Fleming has certainly heard of him and may have been one of his inspirations for James Bond.

7:06 That image with the British soldier with a drum-fed Tommy Gun brings a smile to my face.

It is worth remembering that Paul of Yugoslavia hated Nazis. He was a proper English gentleman running a country that didn't understand him. I sincerely hope that, when you start covering the April War in Yugoslavia, you consult the historical documents not written in post war Yugoslavia. My country, Serbia, is even today tasked with reconstructing our war and post war history, since lot of it was counterfeited.

Finally you made the video about my country joining

As the Tsar said: "Always with Germany and never against Russia!"

I would be very much interested in hearing more about the British Long Range Desert Force, maybe in a special episode or something :)

This week wasn’t good for the axis I would say

Good shit!

Why there are no ads! Its only way i can support this channel.

there is a book called the Forgotten 500 which is about 512 Allied airmen trapped in Yugoslavia in 1944 but also talks about the country's fall and about the 2 groups of resistance fighters there

I can’t wait for the operation Rheinubung Bismarck be Hood episode in may!😄

Thanks for those X-Men Origins flashbacks, Indy >:(

Ok that microfilm graphic was slick

You missed something big at Kuffra. It's a feat from a french hero : Phillipe "Leclerc" de Hautecloque. An oath was took, there, to fight till the end !

Two uploads of the same week?

Must be your inmate number😂. Great idea to put pictures with the quote, really brings it alive!

Hey Indy and team, do you guys intend to cover Raoul Wallenberg and his mission to save Jews in Hungary? This guy was extremely brave even crossing paths multiple times with Eichmann. He saved many lives and it seems like he doesn't get much if any real recognition, I'd loved to see you guys cover him.

"what could possibly go wrong"....... Um.... I think things already have gone wrong!

7:07 the lend lease program and roosevelt's 'surplus equipment' legislation was some months ago but only now we're seeing the goods start making it onto film

Nice

how am i just discovering this when you have 420k subs?

You really gotta tell this video guy to wait until you're done with your calls before he starts filming

The German reprisals following the Lofoten raid is the subject of a poem by Inger Hagerup titled Aust-Vågøy "They burned our farms / They killed our men" The Poem is commonly read at Norwegian war memorials. I myself read it at a May 17th war memorial ceremony when I was in middle school.

That excerpt at the end has even more relevance after decolonization, the empires of Europe fading in memory, and new African nations rising from the rubble, Nigeria as Ethiopia gaining more and more power in the continent.

"What could possibly go wrong!?" Yugoslavia could go wrong.

This video is in the playlist twice

Il watch it twice on both links. Hope it helps

Love Bulgaria from Croatia ❤

So, monetized again, good for the channel.

I think it would be good to show the number of casualties of every week to get away from these abstract fighting and by that show how there are solidiers dying every weekend

YEZ ive been refreshing KZfaq for a while

Are you going to have another amazon book selection just like with the World War One series?

It has to be said Indy that there is nothing like the descriptivenes of the English Language and your right whoever penned that short passage about Italys Abbysinian farce missed his calling! Cheers DG

On the 2nd of march 1941 my great grandfather, on my mother's side, master of steam merchant SS Pacific died when it was sunk by U-95.

Indy never says goodbye on his phone calls

I would be so sure Indy. Wolverine get's Worfed a lot.

Maybe you could do a sepcial series covering the exploits of Soliders who won either a Victoria Cross, Medal Of Honour or a Cross Of Iron during WW2?

Now the tide has truly turned.

That Prien character surely had it coming if he messed with Wolverine!

And today, 79 years later, Greece is more worried what might come from the east than what might come from the north. Oh how the turntables...

The attack by HMS Wolverine whitch was thought to have sunk U-47 was actually against U-A, U-A survived the attack and returned to base. There is currently no explanation for the loss of U-47.

I don't want to spoil anything with whis comment but tbh it's hard to spoil history. But I really want to see the future videos when Barbarosa happened and everything would look as grim or even worse than it looked when you guys were covering WW1. Kind of miss the sad pathetic tone of that series but this war had the allied who's cause will never seem pathetic to us. Good job Indy and all of time ghost as always! Love your work