TheEveryone: If you look into King Albert’s actions during and after World War One he really was a good leader, especially considering he wasn’t even meant to be a King. Also during the opening days of the war Belgium became this symbol of defiance too the Germans throughout the world. I highly recommend reading more into what Belgium did during WW1 and if you’re interested in more about the policies and strategies behind WW1 then also check out Guns of August by Barbara Tuchman.
dresden312: Its rumored the German soldiers were to afraid to shoot him put of fear of punishment. King Albert’s cousin was the leader of Germany.
MDStevo: Now that’s how Kinging is done!
wolf_khang: Son listed in infanty. Brave baby.
Lefty07603: I saw somewhere stating that war not affecting the rich much is a fairly recent development. For a very long time lords led battles and royal families lost members in war. Also even in past couple hounded years many rich families had traditions of military service.
Johannes_P: This is why King Albert I^(st) had been nicknamed the *roi chevalier*, or “Knight King.”
toml3030: …And this was crucial because Germans planned on Belgium surrendering quickly and capturing their railways intact so they could strike a massive blow through Belgium (France fortified its border with Germany but not the border with Belgium) to win the war quickly.
casfightsports: This is the guy who succeeded Leopold II? That’s an quite an impressive king quality delta right there.
warrenjames: But he probably never knew the agony of bone spurs….
WTF_HomeSlice: Came here looking for a Belgian prince photoshopped into WWI as a baby soldier, was disappointed.
proquo: The term “infantry” comes from the Roman practice of putting the youngest, least experienced soldiers up front while the older, wealthier soldiers were further back in positions that were both safer and required more personal equipment such as swords, armor or horses.
garysai: You could make an argument that the Belgian resistance set up Germany to ultimately lose the war. Germany’s plan was to blow through Belgium, and deliver a knock out blow to France before Russia, which had a mutual defense treaty with France, could mobilize and attack Germany. Instead the Belgians held long enough, that the whole thing mired down into a 4 year slugfest.
10_Eyes_8_Truths: So his father invented the prince Albert?
Sixshot87: so crazy fighting your own cousin.
Little_Napoleon7: Someone had to make up for the Congo
RUBI44: That’s what real humans do
Newfie-lander: TLDR; this whole thing was a long set up about their child soldiers being called the infant-ry.
Robo_Satan: And this is why the Schlieffen Plan failed. Because **the king wasn’t a posh old twat who sat in a chair all day and looked nice**.
spamTrollio: I know this is serious and all! And it is worthy of a royal family to stand side by side with its people.
BUT, this typo with a missing ‘r’ in infantry made me crack. 😀
makenzie71: There is a difference between a leader and a ruler.
BadassDeluxe: Nobility acting noble.
carnewbie911: did they all die in the war?
penchepic: How old is your child?
Erm. I’m not sure, he’s still infanty though.
MPRESive2: Listening to hardcore history podcast right now about the invasion of Belgium as we speak. Fascinating
RidiculousN: I recently went to Belgium because I listened to Hardcore History and because I love Belgian beer. I went to Liege to see the forts where the Belgians heroically attempted to defend their country against the Germans. Liege didn’t seem very touristy and these forts were not easy to get to and when I did get to one of the forts it turned out to be closed 🙁 I really wanted to pay my respects to these Belgians but it was difficult. I didn’t feel very welcome in Liege probably because I didn’t speak very good French but I’m still glad I got to see the area where this extremely important battle took place. Belgium is an amazing country to visit but I’d skip Liege if I went again. The Dutch part and Brussels were awesome and I had the best beer of my life there. 10/10 would visit again.
ipissonkarmapoints: Today the US commander in chief was a draft dodger, many times and not just once. How time have changed
PinkB3lly: … and the Trump boys look douchie in every picture.
gazongas001: Man the leaders of today’s world are pussy scum.
concernedcitizeness: I wonder how many of today’s world “leaders” would put their skin on the battlefield, or their spawns’.
Kaylo1999: Can you even imagine trump & family doing this?
Lovas93: A True king, #like #arthas
Nightmare_Pasta: cool
rocknrolljohnny: i think i have a postage stamp of this image
Scalder1441: His son must’ve still been pretty young, seeing as he enlisted in the *infanty* at the time
lachonea: That is not surprising. Before WWI nobility fought wars for more or less fun. It was a game to them. WWI was the “war to end all wars” because it changed to way people look at war. No longer would one nation wage war on another because someone was snubbed at a party, or some prince had hurt feelings. At the start of WWI that change hadn’t happened.
jimmywillow: Didn’t work out so well I when the Russians tried the same thing.
Gooftwit: Meanwhile our royal family said “fuck this shit” and went overseas to britain
technowizarddave: That’s a king I’d accept. I’d say serve, but in all honesty I’m just a peasant.
HardcoreBabyface: How fucking surreal would it be to be a soldier in the Belgian army, you get shot in combat and taken into an infirmary, and the nurse who bandaging your gunshot wound is the fucking Queen?
tommy4991: a true king leads his men into battle and fights along side them on the field.
HairyPotta: The Infanty were little fellows were they? Very young by any chance? nudge nudge.
biggumsmcdee: I’d love to see a hbo series based on this premise.
There was one based on the idea the Axis won ww2, but I think one where there never was a ww2 due to a German victory in ww1 could be more interesting.
The entire world would look so different.
It’s interesting you mention the Russian revolution – Carlin talks about the Russian revolution in part being caused by spread of information facilitated by the war.. who knows.
It’s an interesting rabbit hole.
lesbianbob: Are you trying to insult the Trump family, or does the truth do that on its own?
IMFINISHED: Both of Stalin’s boys served on the eastern front during WWII. One of his sons was captured by the Nazis. Stalin declared all Soviet POWs as traitors. He once said, “there are no prisoners of war, only traitors to the homeland.” He actually issues an order that states soldiers must shoot comrades attempt to surrender. When Stalin learned of his sons capture, he had military police separate his daughter-in-law with their three year old son and sent her to the gulag. Because Stalin considered POWs traitors, the soldiers families would pay the price. Many families of Red Army POWs were sent to the gulag while another large portion were straight up murdered.
Imagine being a Red Army soldier. You’re captured by the Nazis and sent to a concentration camp. Back home your family is punished because “there are no POWs.” If you’re happen to be of the “lucky” soldiers that survives the remainder of the war under the Nazis, you’d come home to a possible/probably dead family and then you yourself would be sent off to the gulags for allowing yourself to get captured in battle.
In summation: Stalin was a real piece of shit. Effective, but a real giant piece of shit.
DerpinyTheGame: Even better, The Tsar, The King of England and the German Emperor were all cousins.
Mike_B_R: The army of the infants, deadly but easily distracted.
NeverEnufWTF: Their son must have been very young.
elmwoodblues: What, no bone spurs?
[deleted]: [deleted]
Bike_lurker: I guess no “bone spurs” for him.
ivebeenhereallsummer: And his daddy, Leopold II, was the evil bastard that turned the Congo into a private money making venture that [killed millions of indigenous people.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopold_II_of_Belgium#Exploitation.2C_atrocities.2C_and_death_toll)
bigfranksinatra: Adam Sandler?
jbfrenchie: That’s a cool story and all, but I’m 90% that picture is Ryan Gosling with a mustache and pointy helmet.
87SanJunipero: meanwhile in the Congo …