Oh! What a Lovely War - Belgium put the kaibosh on the Kaiser

Belgium put the kibosh on the Kaiser,
Europe took a stick and made him sore,
On his throne it hurts to sit,
And when John Bull starts to hit,
He will never sit upon it any more....

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• Oh!What
• Lovely
• War
• WW1
• Great

[ukulazy]

PonteFractus, are you from Pontefract by any chance?

[PonteFractus]

No, I'm from Leeds just exiled in Ponte! :-)

[ukulazy]

@PonteFractus Haha... I'm from Ponte, but have temporarily escaped to Lancaster! It's actually very similar to Pontefract, except the castle is completely intact. :p

[PonteFractus]

I think the good citizens of Ponte asked for the castle to be dismantled after the civil war 'cos they were sick of been besieged, tho' I could be wrong. :-) I had a mate called Adam who moved to Lancaster from Ponte, it's not you is it?

[PonteFractus]

Glad this important part of our history is being kept alive in schools. Good luck with the play. :-)

[PonteFractus]

That's correct mgarmais, the song is about the start of WW1 in the west which started when Belgium 'kaiboshed' the Kaisers plans.

[TylerMaple3009]

Germany > Belgians

[jonjamg]

Jean-Pierre Cassel

[GusF]

"Whilst Ireland seemed unsettled,

'Ah' said he 'I'll settle John',

But he didn't know the Irish

Like he knew them later on.

Though the Kaiser stirred the lion,

Please excuse him for the crime,

His lunatic attendant

Wasn't with him at the time."

This verse was omitted from this version, which is hardly surprising given the ever worsening situation in Northern Ireland at the time.

[puppethouseuk]

Our marionettes were in the last frames of this clip on the roundabout. my mother had spent months making them so could not face breaking them up, someone else had to do the deed. But we repaired most of them and I still have them!

Lovely piece of film and loved all the comments Ann from puppethouseuk

[HoundogAlex]

@x42brown almost right except Russia was already in. Britain Brought in her Empire and Japan post the German invasion of Belgium which all the powers declared to protect when she gained indepnedece from the Netherlands in the 1830's.

[HoundogAlex]

@x42brown except Russia was already in. 

[x42brown]

@monkeytypistAll the people in the scene are meant to be French. The uniforms are all French as are the Ladies outfits. The song has to do with the complex system of alliances that brought countries into that war. Before Germany attacked Belgium France was facing Germany close to alone. The attack committed Britain and through them The Empire, Russia and Japan. Hence Belgium put the kibosh on the Kaiser by bringing France a pile of allies giving rise to a false optimism.

[Gight77]

3:28

it's only a model

[monkeytypist]

@Chriseycarlyeah324 I know, I know how important the BEF was. And I know many Belgians speak French.  But they don't wave French flags - that's like saying that people from the UK should wave American flags because they both speak English. I still don't understand why the movie has a frenchman singing the song.

[Chriseycarlyeah324]

the original is by Mark Sheridan the lyrics are different.

well if it was not for the BEF the germans would have taken paris with in mouths which they almost did. at one point in the war you could hear the artillery from paris. also most of the fighting done in the west was done in french territory. by the time belgium was invade most of it was occupied by the time the BEF had landed. also alot of people of belgiums speak French.

[monkeytypist]

@Chriseycarlyeah324 i have to say i'm suspicious of the 1st point. Why would the French sing about how great the British Empire was? And indeed the British joined the war because of Belgium - which is why I don't understand why a Frenchman (as opposed to a Belgian) sings it.

[Chriseycarlyeah324]

the song i think that is based on is a French song, and the song is explains why British joined the war because Germany invaded Belgium.

[monkeytypist]

Why is it a French flag rather than Belgian?

[monkeytypist]

Why is it a French flag rather than Belgian?

[ukulazy]

@PonteFractus Yeah, though when I tell that anecdote to people, I usually say it was because "they were sick of all the bloody foreigners invading..." And no, I'm not Adam haha.

[gregapugh124]

man the see where the comonder stares in horror at his men cut down on the carrlosell is so tragic and moving

[TheTeej08]

Oh! what a lovely War. Studied it in A-Level English. It quickly became my favourite play.

[tobz5050]

@Finglesham Sorry about that.