After twenty years of educating the metal masses about military history, what is the logical next step? Sabaton did something intelligent, they started their own history channel on youtube.com, simply called “Sabaton History”.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaG4CBbZih6nLzD08bTBGfw
The formula for the series is they take a Sabaton song and discuss it in two parts; first historian Indy Neidell talks about the historical event depicted in the Sabaton song, then Sabaton member, will talk about the song’s history. This is brilliant. Exactly what we all needed.
Now, I have good working knowledge of European history, better then most, but inferior to any actual historian, but even before Sabaton started taking me to school, I did know that Poland was a warrior nation. In the education system I grew up with, Poland mostly gets talked about as a prime victim of warfare, sandwiched between Germany and Russia, two mega powers vying for control of Polish land. The Warsaw patch being the start of World War Two gets a fair amount of attention, and that is pretty much it. So not everyone realizes how much worse it really was for Poland. The Pols have seen war more, or less, nonstop; not just battles the Germans and Russians, but also the Austrians and the Swedish and probably everyone else in the region. The resilience of the Polish people is truly incredible, and the fact that Poland even exists as a country is testament to that.
So, I knew a little bit about Poland’s military history, naturally I know a lot more now since listening to Sabaton. For example, I knew the Polish forces put up a good fight against the Nazis, but were ultimately overwhelmed, but I did not know to what extent. I did not know any of the major battles, so when I first heard “40:1” I was not caught off guard by the history lesson. Nonetheless, I still learned a lot.
It just so happens the first episode on “Sabaton History” is about “40:1.”
The real-life event that is the story for “40:1” is the Battle of Wizna. While the actual numbers of the soldiers in the battle are unknown, Polish folklore holds the ratio to be something in the range of forty to one in their disfavor. Making matters force, the German’s were attacking with more then three hundred panzer tanks and the Polish soldiers had no anti-tank weaponry. Yet somehow, they managed to drag the fighting out for three days. This battle is sometimes referred to as the Polish Thermopylae.
This comparison to the three hundred Spartans is included in Sabaton’s “40:1” chorus:
“Baptized in fire,
Forty to one.
Spirit of Spartans,
Death and glory.
Soldiers of Poland,
Second to none.”
The history of the song “40:1” is also interesting. Initially Sabaton was not overly popular in Poland, but a song like “40:1” would logically strike a chord with Polish fans. How things played out was through a fan made youtube video. This fan made music video included scenes from one of more war movies, presumably depicting Polish soldiers defending their country. Copyright strikes caused the video to be taken down, but it was too late, it had gone viral in Poland, and was reuploaded over and over, spreading “40:1.”
Long story short, Polish metal fans now love Sabaton, Sabaton have to play “40:1” at every Polish concert, and the Archbishop showed up to gift Sabaton a sword.
As I type this out, I have only watched the first two Sabaton History videos, so I got some homework. In the meantime, do yourself a favor and listen to some Sabaton, not only are they one of the best metal bands in the world right now, but you will learn a bunch of history. History is important, we should always remember.
“Always remember, a fallen soldier,
Always remember, fathers and sons at war.
Always remember, a fallen soldier,
Always remember, buried in history.”
- King of Braves
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