Extra History Topic: Great Northern War!

Great ...

And on that note. The supposed funny indecent of Carolus Rex trying to escape the Ottomans and tripping over his own shoes.

Alex Purchase

Are you going to do a bit on the Carolean death march? That was brutal.

Alex Purchase

Naturally. Long live Carolus Rex! And Joakim Broden!

Alex Purchase

I know the Great Northern War is after his reign, but I hope they cover at least a little bit about Gustavus Adolphus

Bryan (MightyAxeMan)

Glad to see I'm not the only one who thought of this song.

Ryhno11

Perhaps we could have runoff votes in the future if no candidate gets the majority of the votes? Then again, considering how many votes he got, Julius Caesar still wouldn't win if a runoff vote were implemented for this vote.

General Luigi

One of my favorite composers already wrote some relevant music. Heck, he wrote an entire opera dramatizing Mazeppa's unsuccessful rebellion. Something for the Kiner Brothers to consider when they do their piece. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDBihpLgPbw" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDBihpLgPbw</a>

General Luigi

Yes, his conquests did that... But if it wasn't Caesar, somebody else most likely would have. The dynamics of the late Roman republic was such that ambitious men were pushed to become generals and due to the change in the loyalty of soldiers, those ambitious men were incentivized to use their army for political gain back in Rome. It had happened with Marius, it had happened with Sulla, Pompey and Crassus both tried to do the same thing and it would happen again with both Augustus and Marc Anthony. Caesar was just the first to really be successful enough to actually break the republic, not some wholly unique person who did something entirely unprecedented that changed everything. The republic surviving and avoiding civil war was inconceivable by Caesar's, or rather Gaius Julius' since Caesar is a title and not a name and there were lots of Caesars, time, he just happened to be the one to kill it. I'm not a strict historical structuralist, I recognize that people and their choices have an impact, but Caesar is a bad case for that. He didn't do anything novel or have novel justifications or ideological points. He was just a success general turned military dictator. Alexander is a much better case to make there due to how unlikely his success was and how frankly daft his plan of conquering everything was, but even so everything he achieved is covered in layers upon layers of later history. I mean, people can't even decide his ethnicity anymore, that's how remote and indirect his impact was.

Christina Maria Jessen

Exactly!

Bryan (MightyAxeMan)

Well, maybe you can make a special poll composed entirely of previosly rejected topics that lost to a large margin ?

Iforgotmyname

I can't agree that *everyone* knows a lot about Caesar or Alexander; I feel that most people have heard the names, but a lot of folks don't know much more than that. Even if it was covered in schools, it may be forgotten by now. So I'd still love to see them get a chance on Extra History someday. I am however very happy to see the Great Northern War finally hit our schedule. Lots of people have been suggesting it for a long time, and it'll be fun to finally dig into it. Though I do wonder what the Great Northern War contingent will start suggesting now that their dream has been realized!

Extra History

Sounds like we're in for a heck of a ride. ;)

Extra History

Sorry, this is the US Articles of Confederation! Would love to do a bit of Canadian history someday, though.

Extra History

So you're saying we should ask the Kiners for a metal cover? ;)

Extra History

Yeah, I begin to suspect that if we ever want to cover those two, that we'll need to have a special poll (similar to our US-only one) so they are competing against other well-known figures or events rather than that enticing unknown.

Extra History

We do lean slightly Western and slightly modern because we want Extra History to be a resource for teachers and students, and most English-speaking schools are going to focus on Western history. But the hope is always that while we offer a broad enough scope of history to make it useful in schools, we also offer an introduction to a wide array of world history so this serves as a gateway into other topics.

Extra History

Not to mention, that Caesar and Alexander are extremely far in the past, their impact having not only been diluted immensely by other events, but also just so distant to not really be relevant in the modern day. There aren't border disputes over their actions, nor does anybody blame anybody else for what happened during their wars. It's by the very definition ancient history and very settled (except for the whole question of who the Macedonians were). The Great Northern War created the modern Eastern Europe we know, as the area unfortunate enough to be stuck between Germany and Russia. It definitively ended both Sweden and Poland as great powers, while propelling Russia to the position, helping set the political landscape in Europe that we live with today. Both world wars as well as the cold war would have been vastly different had the Great Northern War played out differently in ways that are much easier to tell than changes to Caesar or Alexander.

Christina Maria Jessen

I want to learn about them as well Martin. But they're right. I know everything already about Julius Caesar and Alexander. I actually voted for Talleyrand because my instant response was "Who's this? EH tell me who this is and why they matter." [click]

Sean Sarff

No, it isn't. It's an internet series that's designed to talk about often-obscure topics in history. More people wanted to hear about something that's largely untaught in American schools, and has implications for much larger events down the line. While Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar are immeasurably important figures, they both get taught extensively in schools, and people already know a lot about them. You don't need to get hyperbolic when all we're talking about is a series of internet videos.

Peter Melling

Hence why I said "usually".

Antti Björklund

Alexander and Caesar are too well known, the Great Northern War not so much.

Antti Björklund

Martin Verran

Not if you're Canadian at least. Besides its Canada's 150 year. I am allowed to get excited about the incredibly boring confederation of Canada (when compared to other countries)

James C

Ooh yeah! Hope you talk about the unresolved cause of death of Charles XII of Sweden!

Antti Björklund

"The Articles of Confederation" usually refers to, at least in english-speaking historiography, to the US and the period from about 1777 to 1787

Antti Björklund

About the next series, whose articles of confederation? Is it Canada's?

James C

"To the skiiiiiies, see Carolus rise!" <a href="https://youtu.be/P9V-tGUou-M" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/P9V-tGUou-M</a>

Bryan (MightyAxeMan)

As many people noted in the comments of the poll, Ceasar and Alexander are both very well known characters and many patrons seem to vote for topic they aren't familiar with. Also, it's a shame that Talleyrand "the limp legged devil" wasn't picked, the man is awsome in every sense of the word. For an another time I guess.

Iforgotmyname

Lol, finally those guys demanding the Great Northern War will finally get their series. I'm feeling sorry for Alexander and Caesar, the final two perennial candidates excluding the Wars of the Roses, always in third or last place by large margins. Somewhat of the pseudo-prequel to Catherine the Great, it will be a great series as usual. Still, I would like to see more variety in our topics for consideration. Now I think that's 9 of 21 series occurring in the Late Modern Period, the 18th and 19th centuries.

Marco Honrade