Hi I'm Indy Neidell and this is another exciting episode of our Great War special, Out of the Trenches.
Where I sit here in the chair of wisdom and answer all of your questions about the first World War.
Okay, NintendoShyGuy writes, "Which Latin American countries were the most concerned with this war?"
Um,...well I wish this was a little bit more specific, but in general.....
Mexican oil was very important for the British navy, though Mexico was neutral.
And the Zimmerman telegram was a big deal, but to be a big jerk, I'm not going actually say what that was right now.
And you can look up the Zimmerman Telegram yourself.
Nicaragua was occupied by the US in 1912
And shortly before the war was ended, officially declared war on Germany.
Let me see, um the Panama Canal opened two weeks after the war started and though anyone could use it officially.
The blockade meant that only the Allies did
And when the US joined the war, Panama did sever diplomatic ties with Germany.
El Salvador was neutral, Guatemala had alot of reasons to join the US against Germany actually.
Which it did at the end of the war.
See, German money had built up and dominated the Guatemalan coffee industry.
And dictator and military strongman Estrada Cabrera had a big problem with that since he was...you know...a dictator.
And all that foreign influence wasn't helping him out.
Honduras was actually the last country to declare war on Germany, doing so in mid 1918.
Thing is while Honduran president Bertrand was pro US, there was a strong German community there and they obviously not pro US.
So, he was actually overthrown with that community's help a year later.
Costa Rica joined the war against Germany and interned German citizens.
Cuba did the same, although they also interned Austrian citizens.
Am I missing someone? Well, whatever, well that's Central America, we can do South America another time.
Andy Martin writes, "What happened to all the prisoners taken?
What were the logistics involved in the taking of 5000 prisoners of war in a single day?"
Okay, well this is way too complicated to be covered in just a few sentences.
But I happen to know there's a really good online resource for this.
And you can find that link in the comments below, which we're going to put there.
(speaking to offscreen) Which we're going to put there? Right? I'll give it to you. Okay.
We will very definitely do a special episode on P.O.W. stuff
Arjan Visser writes, "Dear Indy, first my complements for you and your team.
To tell us about this war and its impact on, I know my country was neutral during the great war.
But here I read or heard about things in the Netherlands for a few months.
I noticed that it was a hard time for the Dutch people to be neutral in a strategic place, between Germany and the United Kingdom.
Could you give me some more detail about the effects of the Great War in the Netherlands.
Also I want to know why this strategic, small country remained neutral during the war.
Yeah, tt was tough for them, the British blockade really effected imports, Dutch imports.
And the Dutch government was eventually forced to ration food.
Now the Germans had no need to invade Holland at the beginning of the war
Since their battle plan, the Schlieffen plan. Called only for passing through Belgium.
This of course meant, loads of Belgium refugees heading for the Netherlands, which further strengthened food supplies in the long run.
But because of the blockade, and the Allied attempts to restrict Dutch trade with Germany.
As well as cultural ties, there was a lot sympathy for Germany.
Hang on.......Spoiler Alert! Okay so turn it off if you don't want any spoilers.
It was the Dutch that eventually offered the Kaiser asylum and refused to hand him over to the Allies after the war.
And there was alot of post war Dutch support for Austrian and German charities.
But there was...well there wasn't any reason to join the war. If they'd joined the British, Germany would've invade them in the same manner that they invaded Belgium.
And if they'd joined the Germans, the British Navy would just pound the crap out of Amsterdam and Rotterdam.
And all that either of those things would have produced would be Dutch corpses.
JohnTrawn, hup, he comments on all of our stuff, JohnTrawn writes, "You guys should do a video showing all the people that worked on the show."
Because each one of them deserves to be thanked individually. This show is top notch.
And more from our editor Fio. This is the same question from Reddit, but a bit funnier. Maybe you want to take that one.
Just, a weird quick question, but who are you guys? Professors or just World War One buffs who wanted to share your knowledge?
Am I going to end up in a cult if I watch this?
You will indeed end up in a cult, my child. And and you shall live communally in great poverty and yet I have 50 Rolls Royces.
For some bizarre reason. And there shall be loads of sex.
But seriously though, I..me am a historian by education, and actor by career.
And the other guys, who work on the show, are guys who like to make videos.
Um....look how handsome they are!
Hi guys, my name is FIo and I'm the community manager from the Great War Youtube channel.
Hi, my name is Bojan, and I'm the sound guy
Hi, I'm David and I'm the director and producer, of the show, the Great War
Hey and I'm Tony the editor of the Great War, and now...back to you Indy.
Steven P writes, "Wow, you cover many topics. How about the food, was a standard ration given, and did starvation play any role in World War One?"
Although actually we did actually talk about rations in the trenches in a special episode about trench warfare.
You could check out that episode right here.
Aaand, you should definitely not forget to subscribe to see the Great War, each and every week.
And also, like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter. I'll see you Thursday for our regular episode.