Trafalgar (7 Viewers)

[GordoDeCentral]

Today marks the bicentennial anniversary of the battle of trafalgar
here's an excerpt

The Battle of Trafalgar was to witness both the defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte's plans to invade Britain, and the death of Admiral Lord Nelson. It was never going to be any ordinary battle, and quickly acquired a heightened, almost magical, reality.

During the engagement at Trafalgar, on 21 October 1805, the Royal Navy annihilated the greatest threat to British security for 200 years, but lost Britain's national hero in the process. Little wonder the battle transcended the mundane calculation of ships and men, victory and defeat. It guaranteed Britain's control of the oceans, the basis of her global power for over a century.



on a side note nelson once said: You must hate a frenchman as you hate the devil.

 

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[Menace]

Don't hate, love, its easier

 

[Slagathor]

At that point in history it was just one evil taking over from the other, really. Nothing much changed...

 

[Slagathor]

Exactly and as a result, it's barely a rivalry at all. Unlike Portugal-Spain and Holland-Germany; where the feelings of rivalry are mutual.

 

[Slagathor]

That's a tiny rivalry though. But at least both sides kinda care

 

[swag]

++ [ originally posted by Erik ] ++
Exactly and as a result, it's barely a rivalry at all. Unlike Portugal-Spain and Holland-Germany; where the feelings of rivalry are mutual.

Agreed.

Though neither of those rivalries produced anything like London's greatest phallic symbol.

 

[mikhail]

++ [ originally posted by swag ] ++
...London's greatest phallic symbol.

 

[Slagathor]

++ [ originally posted by mikhail ] ++

 

[swag]

++ [ originally posted by Kaiser Franco ] ++


Nelson's willy!

How can anyone miss the 185-foot tall homage to Nelson's manhood topped by a 17-foot image of the man himself?? :dazed:

 

[GordoDeCentral]

++ [ originally posted by Kaiser Franco ] ++


The funny thing is : while the Brits seem to think they are bound by duty to hate the French, the feeling really isn't mutual. At worst, the French simply don't give a damn.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/4353794.stm

It wasnt a;ways like (the normans, the 100 year war); but i could definitely see that rivalry changing, from the french perspective, towards their north-eastern neighbors: les "boch"

 

[Slagathor]

++ [ originally posted by Kaiser Franco ] ++
Have you ever heard that song by Paolo Conte about the great cyclist Gino Bartali? I think it contains two verses that pretty much summarize the Italo-French relationship :

Oh quanta strada nei miei sandali
quanta ne avra' fatta Bartali
quel naso triste come una salita
quegli occhi allegri da italiano in gita
e i francesi ci rispettano
che le balle ancor gli girano
e tu mi fai dobbiamo andare al cine
vai al cine vacci tu

Yeah heard it. Also saw Fiorello's (the comediant, you know him?) mocking of the French. Not bad at all.

++ [ originally posted by swag ] ++
How can anyone miss the 185-foot tall homage to Nelson's manhood topped by a 17-foot image of the man himself?? :dazed:

I'm still lost I'm afraid

 

[swag]

++ [ originally posted by Erik ] ++

I'm still lost I'm afraid

In case you're actually serious, Erik.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nelson's_Column

 

[GordoDeCentral]

++ [ originally posted by Kaiser Franco ] ++


Nah, the French are too busy admiring themselves to bear any real resentment against the Germans (I prefer the nickname "schleuh" btw :cheesy.

do you know the etymology of "schleuh" ?

 

[GordoDeCentral]

++ [ originally posted by Kaiser Franco ] ++
schleu - 1939 ; de chleuh 1891 : "peuple berbère"

exactly, it's really funny they made that connection. what are the pejorative terms used to describe belgians, nothing comes to mind thats weird

 

[Roverbhoy]

Although The Duke of Wellington defeated Napolean face to face, then went on to become PM, Nelson is still regarded as Britains greatest military hero...isn't it amazing how many of histories great men are tainted by their sexual transgretions - Kennedy, Churchill, Augustus, Alexander...

 

[GordoDeCentral]

++ [ originally posted by Roverbhoy ] ++
Although The Duke of Wellington defeated Napolean face to face, then went on to become PM, Nelson is still regarded as Britains greatest military hero...isn't it amazing how many of histories great men are tainted by their sexual transgretions - Kennedy, Churchill, Augustus, Alexander...

or maybe everyone 's got their little emma it's just not highlighted when you're wallowing in posterity

 

[Roverbhoy]

++ [ originally posted by Altair ] ++


or maybe everyone 's got their little emma it's just not highlighted when you're wallowing in posterity

...perhaps it's a pre-requesit to greatness

 

[Roverbhoy]

...and, of course, if Alexander had just had a little Emma, then things would have been ok

 

[GordoDeCentral]

++ [ originally posted by Roverbhoy ] ++
...and, of course, if Alexander had just had a little Emma, then things would have been ok

hey man with the greeks back then if it were little it could not have been an emma

 

[Slagathor]

++ [ originally posted by Kaiser Franco ] ++
I don't know of any derogatory term applied to the Belgians either tbh. It's weird coz they use a few themselves for their neighbours. For instance the Dutch are the "kazen" (the cheeses). Anderlecht fans here in Brussels also welcome Dutch teams with chants of the "Hollandse boeren" (Dutch peasants) variety.

They do? Again too one-sized to be a rivalry then I suppose...

The problem with the Belgians is that they're very complex. Here you have a nation with three official languages, quite a number of differing cultures and a complex history... It's too hard to think of something derogatory I suppose so everyone else in Europe decided to just not care