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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: DeaconBenjamin

Perhaps they should make a Waterloo branded gin or vodka.


21 posted on 04/25/2015 10:14:57 AM PDT by SpaceBar
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To: DeaconBenjamin
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.

How about Stonewall Jackson's 1959 hit, Waterloo? There's also an English version by the Mudlarks, from the same year. The young Britishers ought to listen to this song, because it describes what happened at the Battle of Waterloo (in Stonewall Jackson's version, Napoleon lost his pants; in the Mudlarks' version, he lost his chance).

22 posted on 04/25/2015 10:15:02 AM PDT by Fiji Hill
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To: DeaconBenjamin

Time to re-release the 1970 movie WATERLOO with Christopher Plumber and Rod Steiger.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waterloo_%281970_film%29

Sergei Bondarchuk also did the Russian language version of WAR AND PEACE, eight hours worth!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergei_Bondarchuk

“His first English language film was 1970’s Waterloo, produced by Dino De Laurentiis. In Europe the critics called it remarkable for the epic battle scenes and details in capturing the Napoleonic Era.”


23 posted on 04/25/2015 10:19:36 AM PDT by Ruy Dias de Bivar (</P><P><)
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To: Politicalkiddo

There is an old joke about the Frenchman who applied to become a British citizen. It horrified his friends and they could not understand why.
When he was granted British Citizenship, he told his friends why...”Yesterday, Waterloo was a defeat. Today, it is a VICTORY!”


24 posted on 04/25/2015 10:23:14 AM PDT by Ruy Dias de Bivar (</P><P><)
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To: Politicalkiddo
The Napoleonic Wars is one of my favorite historical subjects.

Mine too. I especially like the Battle of Borodin, the dress rehearsal for Napoleon's disastrous retreat from Russia, and the archetypal Pyrric victory.

25 posted on 04/25/2015 10:25:49 AM PDT by IronJack
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To: DeaconBenjamin

Few (younger) Americans have any idea about the American Revolution either.


26 posted on 04/25/2015 10:26:26 AM PDT by JimRed (Excise the cancer before it kills us; feed & Ifwater the Tree of Liberty! TERM LIMITS NOW & FOREVER!)
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To: DJ Taylor

True, but why is it that somehow only Americans are portrayed as ignorant of history? I’d bet that a lack of historical knowledge runs pretty wide across the globe. At least in Western countries.


27 posted on 04/25/2015 10:26:58 AM PDT by SoCal Pubbie
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To: DeaconBenjamin

Doesn’t surprise me.

Most Americans don’t understand why we attacked Japan after Germany obliterated Pearl Harbor...


28 posted on 04/25/2015 10:33:15 AM 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: TurboZamboni

Thnx!!!

Always had a thing for that blonde.

She could’ve been a California girl.


29 posted on 04/25/2015 10:36:17 AM 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: Sasparilla

You just wonder what their “Beef” was...


30 posted on 04/25/2015 10:36:51 AM 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: Dilbert San Diego

“Stonewall” wasn’t that a gay rebellion against the straight establishment in NYC back in the 60s?

Or were you referring to LTG Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson of the American civil war?

I’m guessing most lgbt-alphabeters know only of the former.


31 posted on 04/25/2015 10:41:36 AM PDT by GreyFriar (Spearhead - 3rd Armored Division 75-78 & 83-87)
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To: Zhang Fei

Most Britons are drunk.


32 posted on 04/25/2015 10:42:37 AM PDT by heye2monn
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To: DeaconBenjamin

bfl


33 posted on 04/25/2015 10:44:54 AM PDT by Skooz (Gabba Gabba we accept you we accept you one of us Gabba Gabba we accept you we accept you one of us)
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To: DJ Taylor

Ho Lee Chit!!!

I made it through the first two black kids and they had no fooking idea who won “The Great War”???

Blasphemy and I can’t freaken see how they got to college.

Just a bunch of Beauregard Shiloh.

I wouldn’t think it possible to be that stupid but, there it is and glaringly...


34 posted on 04/25/2015 10:45:16 AM 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

Definitely; revisionist historians will completely gut those topics to suit their agendas.

WWII will disappear because not only was the military segregated, but blacks weren’t used as combat troops. Not that some didn’t end up in combat; they simply weren’t assigned to combat units, but instead to support roles.


35 posted on 04/25/2015 10:47:06 AM PDT by kearnyirish2 (Affirmative action is economic warfare against white males (and therefore white families).)
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To: DJ Taylor

Geesus!

Who did we gain our independence from?

Maybe someone counts cadence so these idiots know when to breath....


36 posted on 04/25/2015 10:48:32 AM 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: Vendome

People don’t understand how uneducated our urban population is; I had a black co-worker tell me he had just seen the movie “Titanic”, and when I commented that is was a high ration of passengers that had drowned, he asked: “That relly happened?”.

At the time he was thirty five years old, a proud product of Jersey City’s public school system.


37 posted on 04/25/2015 10:50:12 AM PDT by kearnyirish2 (Affirmative action is economic warfare against white males (and therefore white families).)
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To: Dilbert San Diego

I think just about everyone has heard of Gettysburg.

I suspect not many know that casualties on both sides were just about even. Some say one side lost more and others say the opposite. I think the best sources say the Union lost more.


38 posted on 04/25/2015 10:59:53 AM PDT by yarddog (Romans 8:38-39, For I am persuaded.)
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To: IronJack
***I especially like the Battle of Borodin,***

Then get the RUSSIAN CINEMA COUNCIL version of Bondarchuk's WAR AND PEACE.

In the Henry Fonda version the battle barely lasts ten minutes.

In the Bondarchuk version, Bordino lasts over an hour with much leading up to the battle.


39 posted on 04/25/2015 11:00:04 AM PDT by Ruy Dias de Bivar (</P><P><)
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To: DeaconBenjamin
I love Duke Ellington! Things any what they used to be! (1962)

https://youtu.be/pOePGV9Utrk

See tag line.

40 posted on 04/25/2015 11:03:27 AM PDT by outofsalt ( If history teaches us anything it's that history rarely teaches us anything.)
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