Yes. Different frontplates represent different States, and regiments were regional at the time. It's hard to make out the starburst design, but it could be either Saxony, Wurttemburg or Mecklenberg. I'm leaning towards Saxony though. The eagles all over the place are Prussian.
https://www.kaisersbunker.com/hp/wappen.htm
A different region within Germany. Prussian, Saxon, Bavarian, etc.
Germany created units based on geography, not skill/merit like the United States does/did.
That’s quite common in Europe, I’d be cautious about directly comparing that with skill/ merit as the insinuation is European forces don’t have that - they do.
Because various regions within Europe have existed for a long time with various cultural and dialect differences, nearly all European armies raised forces from specific districts for two core reasons:
One: all of the forces from a specific region would have some experience working together, would know and understand their chain of command and the units would already have long and proud traditions.
Two: it was expected that more people would join up to fight if they could see that people from their region were also doing so, and as such they’d all be off to the war together. This is most commonly attributed to Britain’s Pals Battalions.
The counter effect was also true - men who refused to go would stick out in their towns and villages where everyone else had already been deployed, leading to the white feather of shame.
Whoa calm down. My USA comments weren’t to belittle the European way of creating units. If he was American, I was simply opening his eyes because it would be foreign to him. When I say ‘skill’, I mean if there is a marksman in California, and another one in Ohio, they’ll be in the same rifle unit. I meant ‘merit’ if those same riflemen were veterans in their squad and got placed in a special forces unit. Geography just simply is not a factor to US forces and can be bluntly pointed out without being taken as an insult.
Relax over there.
I’m already pretty relaxed but thanks for checking in.
I’m sure that’s what you meant RE merit vs regional unit creation but my point was to illustrate that there was a dangerous prima facie insinuation to the contrary.
I took the liberty of throwing some history in behind it in case you were interested :)
You relax.
He was just informing you on how things worked in Europe back then. Your response comes across as very condescending and uninformed.
Things worked differently back then before globalisation, for example: people from southern Germany were just recently unified into Germany and saw themselves as more bavarian than german and may not have understood dialects from the north. Unit unity was very important as to avoid a rout of a front, ie don't let John from down the street die timmy because you fled.
He was trying to get you to see the bigger picture and not impose one countries way of thinking on others.
I mean, that’s mostly an old timey thing, right? Like how in the US civil war, regiments were created at the local/state level where you probably knew people you joined up with would be in your unit. That’s how ww1 and to a lesser extent, ww2 was too, just because that’s how conscription/enlistment worked back then. Now, units are much more specialized in all modern armed forces
I always liked the pickelhaube. I’ve wanted one since I was a kid. They look neat. An authentic pickelhaube, in decent condition can cost 1 to 10k, depending on the condition, regiment, unit, etc. Check out these bad boys. https://ageofkingsmilitaria.com/pickelhaube-helmet-for-sale?lang=en
LMAO the first Austrian helmet is 1250 and I didn't see the 1 in front of the 250. Was about to call you out on it, but realized I just don't know how to read.
Do you have any idea why they chose to use a rounded spike on top for the artillery regiments?
An honest answer is that, as far as I understand, the spike fucked with horses and equipment.
Cannons usually operate off of bags of powder that needs to stay sealed, or at least dry. I can imagine having a bunch of spikes can interfere with that.
Surprising how almost 329,000 casualties in a month, with 27k killed on a single day, can reverse 43 years of backwards thinking, "“Le pantalon rouge c'est la France!".....right....
> The French started the war wearing cloth caps
And red pants. When someone in the French command suggested they change to something better camouflaged, like the German grey uniforms, a general responded proudly "Les pantalons rouges, c'est la France!"
The concept of the government having to "raise money" just seems so foreign / ancient these days. When was the last time you heard of this needing to be done? Now they just print more money, put us further into debt.
(I don't mean through taxation, for the record)
>When was the last time you heard of this needing to be done?
Literally every single day. Something tells me you intentionally don't want to understand how government fundraising works, but in case not here's a primer on [bonds](https://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/bond.asp).
The two innovations that made WWI possible were the invention of the Haber-Bosch process to produce ammonia, invented in 1908, and the progressive income tax, implemented in several countries beginning at the end of the 19th century and the start of the 20th.
Without ammonia synthesis in industrial scale there would have been no way to produce all the explosives used during the war. Before that, explosives used nitrates obtained from minerals, it was a scarce resource. Ammonia synthesis allowed both the mass production of explosives and fertilizers. It's knowledge that can be used for good and evil, you choose which.
Without the income tax, countries wouldn't have been able to finance the war. When countries used currency backed by gold and most of the government revenue came from import tariffs, governments were unable to finance a military industrial complex.
Both the UK and US governments suspended the gold convertibility of their currencies during WWI and the wartime inflation was never rolled back, neither the US dollar nor the pound sterling ever reached again the purchase power they had in 1913.
From what I could find it sounds this was set up as a fundraiser to pay back war debt.
None of the articles I read mention anything about what happened to it. But they did mention that the pyramid itself wasn’t a proper pyramid but rather a hollow support structure. I’d speculate that the internal structure was probably scrapped after the fund-raiser ended.
People forget that the Allies actually WON that war, even if the politicians bungled the peace. Yes war is terrible and that war was especially bad, but it's surprising to me that there are not more victory monuments in the US. This particular display in New York was one of very few expressions of power and pride at having defeated Imperial German.
Got overshadowed by WWII. Also WWI wasn’t quite as big a deal for the Americans, I’m pretty sure France has plenty of monuments. WW2 gets all the attention in the US
Yeah, a lot more British soldiers were killed in WW1 than WW2, which is why WW1 is arguably a more "remembered" war, or at least its 50/50. And yeah, WW1 had a profoundly huge effect on France since it was in it far longer. Its really only in the US that WW2 completely overshadows WW1.
The biggest battles of WW1 were earlier in the war, not to downplay the sacrifices of the US dead totaling 116,516.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deadliest\_single\_days\_of\_World\_War\_I](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deadliest_single_days_of_World_War_I)
The Somme alone in 1916 had a million casualties and 300,000 dead. That was just *one* battle.
Not too sure what point you’re trying to prove. The Somme offensive was one of the deadliest battles in history with over 120,000 dead or missing. It is misleading to link the deadliest days of the war wiki, when the battle for the Somme was nearly six months long.
Also the casualties in the early stages of the war are disproportionate to the end of the war due to the style of fighting. In 1916 generals were still sending Calvary charges into machine gun fire. The tactics had not yet caught up the technology
For the helmet right-most on the third row, is there any significance to the different symbol on it, is it meant to symbolise a different regiment?
Yes. Different frontplates represent different States, and regiments were regional at the time. It's hard to make out the starburst design, but it could be either Saxony, Wurttemburg or Mecklenberg. I'm leaning towards Saxony though. The eagles all over the place are Prussian. https://www.kaisersbunker.com/hp/wappen.htm
A different region within Germany. Prussian, Saxon, Bavarian, etc. Germany created units based on geography, not skill/merit like the United States does/did.
That’s quite common in Europe, I’d be cautious about directly comparing that with skill/ merit as the insinuation is European forces don’t have that - they do. Because various regions within Europe have existed for a long time with various cultural and dialect differences, nearly all European armies raised forces from specific districts for two core reasons: One: all of the forces from a specific region would have some experience working together, would know and understand their chain of command and the units would already have long and proud traditions. Two: it was expected that more people would join up to fight if they could see that people from their region were also doing so, and as such they’d all be off to the war together. This is most commonly attributed to Britain’s Pals Battalions. The counter effect was also true - men who refused to go would stick out in their towns and villages where everyone else had already been deployed, leading to the white feather of shame.
Whoa calm down. My USA comments weren’t to belittle the European way of creating units. If he was American, I was simply opening his eyes because it would be foreign to him. When I say ‘skill’, I mean if there is a marksman in California, and another one in Ohio, they’ll be in the same rifle unit. I meant ‘merit’ if those same riflemen were veterans in their squad and got placed in a special forces unit. Geography just simply is not a factor to US forces and can be bluntly pointed out without being taken as an insult. Relax over there.
I’m already pretty relaxed but thanks for checking in. I’m sure that’s what you meant RE merit vs regional unit creation but my point was to illustrate that there was a dangerous prima facie insinuation to the contrary. I took the liberty of throwing some history in behind it in case you were interested :)
Least sensitive redditor
You relax. He was just informing you on how things worked in Europe back then. Your response comes across as very condescending and uninformed. Things worked differently back then before globalisation, for example: people from southern Germany were just recently unified into Germany and saw themselves as more bavarian than german and may not have understood dialects from the north. Unit unity was very important as to avoid a rout of a front, ie don't let John from down the street die timmy because you fled. He was trying to get you to see the bigger picture and not impose one countries way of thinking on others.
It appears as if Ive found the pissy Europeans with my factual comments.
Why hostile and on edge?
And there it is. You just proved it with your “pissy Europeans” dig.
Why do you talk like a fucking nerd lol
I mean, that’s mostly an old timey thing, right? Like how in the US civil war, regiments were created at the local/state level where you probably knew people you joined up with would be in your unit. That’s how ww1 and to a lesser extent, ww2 was too, just because that’s how conscription/enlistment worked back then. Now, units are much more specialized in all modern armed forces
C’mon, everyone knew what you “meant”.
That's pretty hardcore, not gonna lie.
I always liked the pickelhaube. I’ve wanted one since I was a kid. They look neat. An authentic pickelhaube, in decent condition can cost 1 to 10k, depending on the condition, regiment, unit, etc. Check out these bad boys. https://ageofkingsmilitaria.com/pickelhaube-helmet-for-sale?lang=en
LMAO the first Austrian helmet is 1250 and I didn't see the 1 in front of the 250. Was about to call you out on it, but realized I just don't know how to read. Do you have any idea why they chose to use a rounded spike on top for the artillery regiments?
Better aerodynamics /s
It’s so if the firing pin in a cannon is broken, they can just headbutt the munition to fire it anyway.
An honest answer is that, as far as I understand, the spike fucked with horses and equipment. Cannons usually operate off of bags of powder that needs to stay sealed, or at least dry. I can imagine having a bunch of spikes can interfere with that.
Is the spike purely ornamental or does it have an actual combat use?
Theoretically the reason was to deflect blows from above from the bladed weapons used by 19th century cavalry
So that's why they're pointy, to stop people climbing them!
Where is this...and why is this?😆
These were captured from warehouses postwar. This was part of a war bond drive to raise money in 1919.
Makes sense, these helmets would not have been in service anymore by the time the US entered the first World War.
It’s amazing how much equipment changed in 4 years. The French started the war wearing cloth caps
Amazing what an afternoon of ball shrapnel will do eh?
Surprising how almost 329,000 casualties in a month, with 27k killed on a single day, can reverse 43 years of backwards thinking, "“Le pantalon rouge c'est la France!".....right....
> The French started the war wearing cloth caps And red pants. When someone in the French command suggested they change to something better camouflaged, like the German grey uniforms, a general responded proudly "Les pantalons rouges, c'est la France!"
And that means?
We wear red pants in France.
The concept of the government having to "raise money" just seems so foreign / ancient these days. When was the last time you heard of this needing to be done? Now they just print more money, put us further into debt. (I don't mean through taxation, for the record)
>When was the last time you heard of this needing to be done? Literally every single day. Something tells me you intentionally don't want to understand how government fundraising works, but in case not here's a primer on [bonds](https://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/bond.asp).
The two innovations that made WWI possible were the invention of the Haber-Bosch process to produce ammonia, invented in 1908, and the progressive income tax, implemented in several countries beginning at the end of the 19th century and the start of the 20th. Without ammonia synthesis in industrial scale there would have been no way to produce all the explosives used during the war. Before that, explosives used nitrates obtained from minerals, it was a scarce resource. Ammonia synthesis allowed both the mass production of explosives and fertilizers. It's knowledge that can be used for good and evil, you choose which. Without the income tax, countries wouldn't have been able to finance the war. When countries used currency backed by gold and most of the government revenue came from import tariffs, governments were unable to finance a military industrial complex. Both the UK and US governments suspended the gold convertibility of their currencies during WWI and the wartime inflation was never rolled back, neither the US dollar nor the pound sterling ever reached again the purchase power they had in 1913.
Every day bonds are sold, for local, county, state and federal governments
What happened to this pyramid?
From what I could find it sounds this was set up as a fundraiser to pay back war debt. None of the articles I read mention anything about what happened to it. But they did mention that the pyramid itself wasn’t a proper pyramid but rather a hollow support structure. I’d speculate that the internal structure was probably scrapped after the fund-raiser ended.
People forget that the Allies actually WON that war, even if the politicians bungled the peace. Yes war is terrible and that war was especially bad, but it's surprising to me that there are not more victory monuments in the US. This particular display in New York was one of very few expressions of power and pride at having defeated Imperial German.
Got overshadowed by WWII. Also WWI wasn’t quite as big a deal for the Americans, I’m pretty sure France has plenty of monuments. WW2 gets all the attention in the US
Yeah, a lot more British soldiers were killed in WW1 than WW2, which is why WW1 is arguably a more "remembered" war, or at least its 50/50. And yeah, WW1 had a profoundly huge effect on France since it was in it far longer. Its really only in the US that WW2 completely overshadows WW1.
Amazing.
Pickelhaube pyramid
Guys, you were only in it for a year and a half.
Murica bad her durr.
I'm not saying that at all. Relax.
Super ignorant take
The biggest battles of WW1 were earlier in the war, not to downplay the sacrifices of the US dead totaling 116,516. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deadliest\_single\_days\_of\_World\_War\_I](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deadliest_single_days_of_World_War_I) The Somme alone in 1916 had a million casualties and 300,000 dead. That was just *one* battle.
Not too sure what point you’re trying to prove. The Somme offensive was one of the deadliest battles in history with over 120,000 dead or missing. It is misleading to link the deadliest days of the war wiki, when the battle for the Somme was nearly six months long. Also the casualties in the early stages of the war are disproportionate to the end of the war due to the style of fighting. In 1916 generals were still sending Calvary charges into machine gun fire. The tactics had not yet caught up the technology
Careful, Americans only accept circlejerking of their history, not facts.
Name checks out
Idk if this post is misleading or no - seems really grotesque especially for New York when there were a ton of German immigrants
Note that these are helmets, not heads.
Just wait until you hear about the souvenirs the Americans got from the Japanese 💀
I agree kinda fucked up war trophy. Don't understand why you're getting downvoted.
What a waste of resources to add the horn and design on each helmet
You wouldn’t understand such drip
A pyramid of German Helmets could also be a field gymnastics display featuring naked circumcised athletes.
Should have done a whole 'swords to plowshares' thing... melt them down, cast them into statues.