History YMMV / TheGreatWar

* {{Anvilicious}}: No matter how gloriously heroic the deed, Indy never misses a chance to remind you how much the war just ''sucked'' for everybody, and especially in the first two years Indy ends almost every episode essentially saying YouBastard to his audience. While SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped, it can still get rather repetitive to hear the same sermon every week, especially when re-watching or binging to catch up. Thankfully, Indy gets more subtle and sparing with this starting around 1916.[[note]]The SpiritualSequel ''WebVideo/WorldWarII'' goes a step further and spins off coverage of the worst atrocities of that era into the "War Against Humanity" subseries, hosted by Spartacus Olsson (who perhaps not-so-coincidentally also produced the more anvilicious early years of ''The Great War'').[[/note]]

* SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped: After all, this ''is'' the war that shattered the world's notions of WarIsGlorious, and showed that nobody was safe from modern war. Portraying it as anything but horrific is, as Indy repeatedly points out, dishonest at ''best''.

* TooBleakStoppedCaring: The series explores in detail one of the most brutal and pointless conflicts in human history, and does not shy away from the atrocities, brutality, and tragedies of the war, and Indy treats it with appropriate gravity. It does ''not'' make for easy watching. This is very much a [[InvokedTrope deliberate choice]]; Indy ends nearly every episode reminding viewers that the "Great War" [[WhatASenselessWasteOfHumanLife was as pointless as it was brutal]], and the only thing you can reliably count on with a new week is more people dying. Even the war's small acts of heroism and humanity are often deconstructed by putting them in perspective of the rest of the war raging around such acts.

* Anvilicious : After all, this ''is'' the war that shattered the world's notions of WarIsGlorious, and showed that nobody was safe from modern war. Portraying it as anything but horrific is, as Indy repeatedly points out, dishonest at ''best''.

* SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped: After all, this ''is'' the war that shattered the world's notions of WarIsGlorious, and showed that nobody was safe from modern war. Portraying it as anything but horrific is, as Indy repeatedly points out, dishonest at ''best''.

* DarknessInducedAudienceApathy: The series explores in detail one of the most brutal and pointless conflicts in human history, and does not shy away from the atrocities, brutality, and tragedies of the war, and Indy treats it with appropriate gravity. It does ''not'' make for easy watching. This is very much a [[InvokedTrope deliberate choice]]; Indy ends nearly every episode reminding viewers that the "Great War" [[WhatASenselessWasteOfHumanLife was as pointless as it was brutal]], and the only thing you can reliably count on with a new week is more people dying. Even the war's small acts of heroism and humanity are often deconstructed by putting them in perspective of the rest of the war raging around such acts.

* MoodWhiplash: As stated in DarknessInducedAudienceApathy, nearly every episode ends with a suitably grim reminder that WarIsHell... immediately followed by a chipper recommendation of one of their other episodes on a similar topic, celebrating a Patreon supporter of the week, requests for likes and subscribes, and promotions of the channel. An understandable necessity for keeping a show with a significant support staff running, but jarring nonetheless.
** Special note must be made of the one at the end of the final weekly episode. Indy finishes off the segment by mentioning that whatever joy was felt from the end of the war and the soldiers returning was quickly swallowed up by a feeling of grief for the soldiers that would never come home. Shortly after Indy notes that making the series was the most fun he's had in his entire life.

* {{Squick}}: Beyond the sheer amount of deaths caused by shells and bullets, the show also dives into the more grotesque elements of trench warfare. Rotting corpses, dismembered corpses, mud, vermin, disease, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking general lack of sanitation]] are all touched upon, primarily through quotes of first-hand accounts. One episode that touches on a ship overloaded with men suffering extreme dysentery is nasty enough for Indy to give a special warning to viewers about it. A few other episodes--for example, have also kicked off with warnings about the content being particularly more gruesome than is normally depicted.

* {{Anvilicious}}: No matter how gloriously heroic the deed, Indy never misses a chance to remind you how much the war just ''sucked'' for everybody. Then again, SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped: After all, this ''is'' the war that shattered the world's notions of WarIsGlorious, and showed that nobody was safe from modern war. Portraying it as anything but horrific is, as Indy repeatedly points out, dishonest at ''best''.

** In an episode entitled "Austo-Hungarian House of Cards", which highlights a bunch of backroom dealing and backstabbing that was going on, Indy ends by quipping that you might be tempted to think is a [[Series/HouseOfCardsUK House of]] [[Series/HouseOfCardsUS Cards]], but due to the severe death toll it's really a Series/GameOfThrones.

%%* SugarWiki/FunnyMoments: Pretty much all of the outtake videos. Though one imagines that Indy and the crew do them just to keep themselves sane, given the weight of the material they cover ...

* InternetBackdraft: The Great War team generally avoids being the target of this, but UsefulNotes/MisplacedNationalism tends to flare up really badly in the comment sections of certain videos. Given the subject matter, though, it's impressive that such things don't happen ''more'' often. Some examples:
** On certain videos that touch on the topic of Armenian Genocide, The Great War team had to go as far as to close the comments from the sheer vitriol that ensues. Other videos that more generally involve the Ottoman Empire, or specific figures thereof, can get flooded with very zealous Turkish nationalists.
** One or two episodes detailing individuals from the Balkan nations have also had to have their comment sections closed due to the flame wars that kick up.
** On the episode concerning Zionism during World War I, The Great War team left an announcement in the comments predicting that they would ''have'' to close the comments, and hoped that the commentators could prove them wrong. The bulk of the comments then turned out to mostly be people ''also'' predicting that the comments section would be a festival of cringe--though The Great War team did say they were deleting some of the nastier comments. In fact, the most heated debate seemed to be over where the line should be drawn in regards to touchy subjects and why some kind of remarks get more of a pass than others. A few went so far as to call for the banning of anyone making even the mildest of {{National Stereotype|s}} jokes.
** Any mention of [[{{Eagleland}} the United States of America]] has a good chance of causing this, often for the most inexplicable reasons:
*** The series covered Eugene Jacques Bullard, the first African-American fighter pilot. He flew for the French Air Service [[OldShame but wasn't allowed to join the United States Army Air Service because he wasn't white]]. This elicited highly-upvoted accusations that America was and is "the most racist country in the world." As if the multiple acts of ''ethnic cleansing'' by other nations and rampant racism in places like Austria-Hungary and the Balkans somehow didn't happen or were just not as appalling.
*** The episodes covering the formal declaration of war on the Central Powers by the U.S. have had upvoted comments with harsh words for Americans in general. In particular, one rather upvoted comment went as far as to treat Americans as some sort of undesirable lower class, concerned that the comments section would get far worse now that "''those'' people" are here. The Great War team actually responded to this fellow, pointing out that a very large portion of the audience is and has always been American.
*** Some non-American viewers seem very determined to paint the American audience as [[AmericaWinsTheWar believing they won the war all by themselves]] and will take even the briefest reference to America as an excuse to make condescending lectures, chiding Americans for their supposed ignorant Boorishness. In truth, there has been ''very'' little PatrioticFervor from Americans, in earnest or in jest, in videos since the U.S. declaration of war. Compare that to episodes leading up to the the Russian Revolution(s), which are ''full'' of ([[MemeticMutation mostly in jest]]) flag waving on behalf of the future USSR.

* AwesomeMoments: On a meta level, the dedication put into the series and its RealTime look at events. It literally could not have been done any earlier, and it is the closest thing for us in the modern day to see the war as it actually happened, and appreciate the sheer scale of it.

* FunnyMoments: Pretty much all of the outtake videos. Though one imagines that Indy and the crew do them just to keep themselves sane, given the weight of the material they cover ...

* InternetBackdraft: The Great War team generally avoids being the target of this, but MisplacedNationalism tends to flare up really badly in the comment sections of certain videos. Given the subject matter, though, it's impressive that such things don't happen ''more'' often. Some examples:

* {{Squick}}: Beyond the sheer amount of deaths caused by shells and bullets, the show also dives into the more grotesque elements of trench warfare. Rotting corpses, dismembered corpses, mud, vermin, disease, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking general lack of sanitation]] are all touched upon, primarily through quotes of first-hand accounts. One episode that touches on a ship overloaded with men suffering extreme dysentery is nasty enough for Indy to give a special warning to viewers about it.

* {{Anvilicious}}: No matter how gloriously heroic the deed, Indy never misses a chance to remind you how much the war just ''sucked'' for everybody. But then again, SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped; After all, this ''is'' the war that shattered the world's notions of WarIsGlorious, and showed that nobody was safe from modern war. Portraying it as anything but horrific is, as Indy repeatedly points out, dishonest at ''best''.

* FunnyMoments: Pretty much all of the outtake videos. Though one imagines that Indy and the crew do them just to keep themselves sane, given the weight of the material they cover...
* MoodWhiplash: As stated in DarknessInducedAudienceApathy, nearly every episode ends with a suitably grim reminder that WarIsHell... immediately followed by a chipper recommendation of one of their other episodes on a similar topic, celebrating a Patreon supporter of the week, requests for likes and subscribes, and promotions of the channel. An understandable neccesity for keeping a show with a significant support staff running, but jarring nonetheless.

* DarknessInducedAudienceApathy: The series explores in detail one of the most brutal and pointless conflicts in human history, and does not shy away from the atrocities, brutality, and tragedies of the war. It does ''not'' make for easy watching. This is very much a [[InvokedTrope deliberate choice]]; Indy ends nearly every episode reminding viewers that, even though the war had acts of heroism and humility, these ultimately mattered little in the big picture and at best meant a few less people suffered and died in any given day, and at worst, they inspired even more to sign up and die in the meatgrinder.
* {{Squick}}: Beyond the sheer amount of deaths caused by shells and bullets, the show also dives into the more grotesque elements of trench warfare. Rotting corpses, dismembered corpses, mud, vermin, disease, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking general lack of sanitation]].

* DarknessInducedAudienceApathy: The series explores in detail one of the most brutal and pointless conflicts in human history, and does not shy away from the atrocities, brutality, and tragedies of the dawn of modern war. It does ''not'' make for easy watching. This is very much a [[InvokedTrope deliberate choice]]; Indy ends nearly every episode reminding viewers that, even though the war had acts of heroism and humility, these ultimately mattered little in the big picture and at best meant a few less people suffered and died in a day, at worst, they inspired even more to sign up and die in the meatgrinder.

* {{Anvilicious}}: No matter how gloriously heroic the deed, Indy never misses a chance to remind you how much the war just ''sucked'' for everybody.
** SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped
* AwesomeMoments: On a meta level, the dedication put into the series and its RealTime, weekly schedule of the events. It literally could not have been done any earlier, and it is the closest thing for modern viewers to see the war as it actually happened, and appreciate the sheer scale of it.
* DarknessInducedAudienceApathy: The series explores in detail one of the most brutal and pointless conflicts in human history, and does not shy away from the atrocities, brutality, and tragedies of the dawn of modern war. It does ''not'' make for easy watching. Of course, this is very much a [[InvokedTrope deliberate choice]] - after all, this ''is'' the war that shattered the notions of WarIsGlorious, and showed that nobody was safe from modern war.

* DarknessInducedAudienceApathy: A series that explores in detail one of the most brutal and pointless conflicts in human history does ''not'' make for easy watching.

* DarknessInducedAudienceApathy: WWI is regarded these days as one of most brutal and pointless conflicts in history, so a series that follows it's events in detail isn't exactly going to make you feel real good.
* SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped: But then again, the First World War is regarded as one of the most pointless conflicts that has ever been fought.

* {{Anvilicious}}: No matter gloriously heroic the deed, Indy never misses a chance to remind you how much the war just ''sucked'' for everybody.

* Anvilicious: No matter gloriously heroic the deed, Indy never misses a chance to remind you how much the war just ''sucked'' for everybody.