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Most Britons have no idea about Waterloo
The Local (France) ^ | 20 Apr 2015 08:51 GMT+02:00

Posted on 04/25/2015 9:39:10 AM PDT by DeaconBenjamin

With the 200th anniversary of the famous Battle of Waterloo just two months away a survey in Britain has revealed that most ofthe public know little about it and some even think it's just an Abba song, while many thought the French actually won.

A survey of Britons published in the build-up to the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo found three-quarters knew little or nothing about it -- while many thought France won.

The poll of 2,070 people for the National Army Museum found 73 percent either knew nothing or next to nothing about the battle, one of the most important in the nation's history.

When asked what came to mind when Waterloo was mentioned, 54 percent of people aged 18 to 24 said the London railway station named after the battle, while 46 percent cited the Eurovision-winning song by Swedish pop group ABBA.

The Battle of Waterloo, fought outside Brussels in 1815, saw the Duke of Wellington lead the British and allied forces to a final, decisive victory over French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte.

But the survey found only 53 percent knew Wellington commanded the British troops.

The other 47 percent thought it could have been 16th-century navigator Francis Drake, Britain's World War II prime minister Winston Churchill, King Arthur, who ruled in the fifth century, and even the wizard Albus Dumbledore from the "Harry Potter" books.

Fourteen percent thought Napoleon actually won.

"Despite the Battle of Waterloo being an iconic moment in British history, UK public awareness is dramatically low," said Janice Murray, director-general of the National Army Museum.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; Government; United Kingdom
KEYWORDS: 1815; 18150618; gebhardvonblucher; historyeducation; militaryhistory; napoleon; unitedkingdom; waterloo; worldhistory
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To: Tennessee Nana

Very Clever


81 posted on 04/25/2015 1:30:24 PM PDT by Vendome (Don't take life so seriously-you won't live through it anyway-Enjoy Yourself ala Louis Prima)
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To: hanamizu

***The Japanese atrocities are pretty much already down the memory hole, ***

We are still hunting Nazi war criminals while many the Jap war criminals skate.


82 posted on 04/25/2015 1:31:30 PM PDT by Ruy Dias de Bivar (</P><P><)
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To: DeaconBenjamin

A country literally in its death throes.


83 posted on 04/25/2015 1:44:38 PM PDT by Viennacon
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To: TurboZamboni

LOL! I had to watch an ABBA video, as a youngster, to spark my interest as to what Waterloo was.


84 posted on 04/25/2015 1:47:33 PM PDT by rabidralph
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To: SoCal Pubbie

I’d bet that a lack of historical knowledge runs pretty wide across the globe....Yet the muzzies remember the exact day in 700 AD a Crusader killed his great, great, great Grand Uncle with a lance.


85 posted on 04/25/2015 2:01:15 PM PDT by Safetgiver ( Islam makes barbarism look genteel.)
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To: IronJack
"...archetypal Pyrric victory."

God, how I miss your writing.

I hope life is well for you Ironjack.

TS

86 posted on 04/25/2015 3:19:02 PM PDT by The Shrew (www.wintersoldier.com; www.tstrs.com; The Truth Shall Set You Free!)
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To: spokeshave

LOL, reminds me of this

Sean Bean Death Reel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sGR1-Wgo1M


87 posted on 04/25/2015 3:23:56 PM PDT by dfwgator
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To: DeaconBenjamin

“Most Britons have no idea about Waterloo”

They think it’s indoor plumbing.


88 posted on 04/25/2015 5:28:53 PM PDT by Spok ("What're you going to believe-me or your own eyes?" -Marx (Groucho))
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To: The Shrew

LOL! Hey there, stranger. It’s been a while. How are things with you?


89 posted on 04/25/2015 5:49:10 PM PDT by IronJack
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To: Dilbert San Diego

What was Napoleon doing in Iowa, anyway? He had already sold the Louisiana Territory to the US.


90 posted on 04/25/2015 6:55:52 PM PDT by Verginius Rufus
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To: DeaconBenjamin

“As you know...the Duke of Ellington said that the Battle of Waterloo was won on the playing fields of Elkton”—Babe Ruth


91 posted on 04/25/2015 7:37:53 PM PDT by Fiji Hill
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To: dfwgator

Yes, good point.


92 posted on 04/25/2015 7:46:26 PM PDT by max americana (fired liberals in our company last election, and I laughed while they cried (true story))
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To: Tennessee Nana

Francis Drake probably did not enter San Francisco Bay. It is believed that he landed at what is known today as Drake’s Bay in Marin County. San Francisco Bay was finally discovered not by mariners but by an expedition coming north from Mexico by land led by Gaspar de Portolà in 1769.


93 posted on 04/25/2015 7:52:17 PM PDT by Fiji Hill
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To: apostolic; DeaconBenjamin
Your post #79 of the lady talking to the taxi driver.

Called over my wife and she laughed. I will save it for my friend from the Elephant and Castle. All expats in Canada.

94 posted on 04/25/2015 8:04:17 PM PDT by Peter Libra
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To: DeaconBenjamin

Well, at least 53% of Brits knew what the the battle of Waterloo and that Lord Wellington was the victor against Napoleon.

Most Americans up to age 30 don’t know that Ronald Reagan
Reagan was president for 8 years, or that he was a Republican.


95 posted on 04/25/2015 8:18:55 PM PDT by Doc91678 (Doc91678)
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To: Tennessee Nana

Never forget what the Kiwis did in two world wars though.


96 posted on 04/26/2015 5:17:51 AM PDT by the scotsman
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To: the scotsman

I lost family in both wars..

3 great uncles at Gallipoli ..

an uncle in Italy, 1944...


97 posted on 04/26/2015 8:46:28 AM PDT by Tennessee Nana
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To: Tennessee Nana

I am so lucky, all my family came home from both wars, and that includes men who fought at Passchendaele, Normandy, Caen, served on the Malta and Arctic Convoys........


98 posted on 04/26/2015 9:02:49 AM PDT by the scotsman
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To: dfwgator

You’re probably right; Japan’s crimes against Allied POWs (and some civilians) will be airbrushed from history, the the Rape of Nanking will be in there because of the actual rapes involved.


99 posted on 04/26/2015 10:08:40 AM PDT by kearnyirish2 (Affirmative action is economic warfare against white males (and therefore white families).)
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To: PUGACHEV

I wouldn’t be surprised if they don’t believe her; the last fifty years have created such a divide between the WASP culture and those on the fringes (regardless of income). There is no longer a common national heritage, education standard, etc.; we are worlds apart.


100 posted on 04/26/2015 11:17:02 AM PDT by kearnyirish2 (Affirmative action is economic warfare against white males (and therefore white families).)
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