History Awesome / Sabaton

[[ForWantOfANail A cog in the war machine!]]\\

* "Lady of the Dark" delves into a relatively obscure, but very noteworthy combatant of World War I, and, in Sabaton's case, a very rare subject of discussion: a Serbian [[Action Girl HEROINE]]. Milunka Savić is the single-most decorated woman in the history of warfare, [[WholesomeCrossdresser who chose to dress as a man and go to war in the place of her brother]]. [[SamusIsAGirl By the time an injury caused for her true gender to be revealed]], she had become a highly-valuable soldier, and requested of her commanding officer to stay, willing to wait in place for his decision rather than leave. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AsRfcrZeUE Her story, and the song, can be watched here.]]

* "Lady of the Dark" delves into a relatively obscure, but very noteworthy combatant of World War I, and, in Sabaton's case, a very rare subject of discussion: a Serbian [[Action Girl HEROINE]]. Milunka Savić is the [[single-most decorated woman in the history of warfare]], [[WholesomeCrossdresser who chose to dress as a man and go to war in the place of her brother]]. [[SamusIsAGirl By the time an injury caused for her true gender to be revealed]], she had become a highly-valuable soldier, and requested of her commanding officer to stay, willing to wait in place for his decision rather than leave. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AsRfcrZeUE Her story, and the song, can be watched here.]]

* "Lady of the Dark" delves into a relatively obscure, but very noteworthy combatant of World War I, and, in Sabaton's case, a very rare subject of discussion: a Serbian HEROINE. Milunka Savić is the single-most decorated woman in the history of warfare, who chose to dress as a man and go to war in the place of her brother. By the time an injury caused for her true gender to be revealed, she had become a highly-valuable soldier, and requested of her commanding officer to stay, willing to wait in place for his decision rather than leave. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AsRfcrZeUE Her story, and the song, can be watched here.]]

* ''Union [Slopes Of St.Benedict]'' commemorates the [[TheAlliance Western Allies]]
struggling against the German Army during the invasion of Italy (specifically the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Monte_Cassino Battle of Monte Cassino]]). It emphasizes the BandOfBrothers nature of the Allied Forces and how they will [[EarnYourHappyEnding triumph despite the immense difficulties ahead]] and how the tide of the war is finally turning in the Allies' favor. It's especially poignant since the song it's [[SiameseTwinSongs paired with]] is considerably more depressing, and details the infamously brutal, [[AllForNothing and ultimately futile]] Battle of Passchendaele. Monte Cassino's conditions were rather similar to Passchendaele, but the Allies were ultimately victorious, meaning that the sacrifice the soldiers made ultimately lead to victory in the end.

* ''Union [Slopes Of St.Benedict]'' commemorates the [[TheAlliance Western Allies]] [[CurbStompBattle utterly demolishing]] the Italian Army during the invasion of Italy (specifically the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Monte_Cassino Battle of Monte Cassino]]). It emphasizes the BandOfBrothers nature of the Allied Forces and how they will [[EarnYourHappyEnding triumph despite the immense difficulties ahead]] and how the tide of the war is finally turning in the Allies' favor. It's especially poignant since the song it's [[SiameseTwinSongs paired with]] is considerably more depressing, and details the infamously brutal, [[AllForNothing and ultimately futile]] Battle of Passchendaele. Monte Cassino's conditions were rather similar to Passchendaele, but the Allies were ultimately victorious, meaning that the sacrifice the soldiers made ultimately lead to victory in the end.

*** Meta awesome: In 2020, Sabaton performed the song live in Moscow. They brought along Radio Tapok, a [=YouTuber=] who had done Russian-language covers of their songs, including "Attack of the Dead Men". That night, Radio Tapok became a PromotedFanboy by [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28utZHaRfdo taking the stage for the song]] and singing the verses in Russian. Sabaton even released a separate live version of the song.

--> [[{{Determinator}} All the way, until triumph or till judgement day,]] [[UndyingLoyalty we shall follow, and we shall not be lead astray!]]\\

--> [[{{Determinator}} All the way, until triumph or till judgement day, [[UndyingLoyalty we shall follow, and we shall not be lead astray!]]\\

[[YouShallNotPass To keep the last piece of Belgium free]]!\\

''It's time has come to an end''\\

''Sent over seas to be cast into fire''\\

[[YouShallNotPass To keep the last piece of Belgium free]]!

* A rather hilarious example, but "Screaming Eagles" incorporates the very response given by General [=McAuliffe=] of the 101st Airborne Division (their nickname of which the song gets its title from) during the [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII Siege of Bastogne,]] when two blindfolded German officers of the Panzer-Lehr requested that [[YourMagicsNoGoodHere the Americans surrender]]:

[[caption-width-right:350:They sound as awesome as this looks]]

* ''The Last Stand'', also from the eponymous album, deserves a mention as well. The song tells of the [[LastStand Stand of the Swiss Guard]] during the [[RapePillageAndBurn Sack]] [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge of]] [[KillEmAll Rome]] in 1527. After a massive Habsburg-affiliated mercenary force brought by Charles III of Bourbon to [[CarryABigStick negotiate]] [[{{Irony}} with the Vatican]] went [[UnstoppableRage berserk]] upon finding itself [[PersonOfMassDestruction a living and very an]][[FromBadToWorse gry]] [[AvertedTrope aversion]] of a DecapitatedArmy thanks to an [[NiceJobBreakingItHero overzealous local goldsmith]], the [[PraetorianGuard Swiss Guard]] pulled a HeroicSacrifice nearly to a man in order to save the Pope from these [[ArmyOfThievesAndWhores now-aimless mercenary raiders]] by escorting him to a secret escape route and [[WeNeedADistraction setting up a diversion]]. [[CadreOfForeignBodyguards The Swiss Guard]] being mercenaries themselves, one has to respect their [[IGaveMyWord commitment to duty]] in their willingness to march to certain death to [[HoldTheLine buy time for their contractor to escape]]. Not for nothing were the Swiss considered the [[TheDreaded finest mercenaries in the world]]. The [[ChewingTheScenery epically hammy]] closing version of the chorus, used as a teaser on the videos for the album's singles, does the affair justice.

-->[[UnexpectedlyObscureAnswer "NUTS!"]] [[BossWarningSiren The General's word, echo clear]]\\

Livgardet, our Royal Guard\\

From the march across the Belts, [[UsefulNotes/ScanianWar The battle at Lund,]] [[UsefulNotes/ScanianWar to the fields of Narva,]]\\

Marching across the Belt, [[UsefulNotes/ScanianWar crushing blow at Narva dealt,]]\\