WCF

History, politics, and culture articles and forum discussions.

Germany

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Phoney Paris (almost) constructed to fool German bombers during WWI

I was wondering if bombers would have been fooled by a fake city when bombing from low altitudes, but it seems that it was only initially that Zeppelins bombed near the ground (3000 ft).  Eventually they got to the height of 20,000 ft.  It makes sense, then, that the fake city would be built toward the end of the war.

During World War I, the French created a dummy version of Paris to the city’s immediate north. The plan was to fool German planes into thinking the Potemkin city was the real thing, thus leaving the City of Lights untouched by bombs.

During World War I, France built a fake Paris to fool Germany

Well, the creation of Faux-Paris must have remained in the minds of the French, as the war ended before the plan could be completed:

Fortunately, the plan was never put to the test. The war ended before the fake city was finished. Both the real Paris and the fake one escaped significant damage.The fake version has long since disappeared, though photos of it remain.

I suppose if you want to see Fake Paris today, you simply need to visit Vegas.

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The Man in the High Castle

I recently watched Amazon’s new episode/series entitled, “The Man in the High Castle“.  The series is one of those “web only” ones which Amazon will continue to produce if it users like it more than other “web only” series it’s crafting.  The only actor I recognized from it was Rufus Sewell, who seemed to have almost dropped off the face of the acting earth for a good decade or so after what I thought was a decent acting career in the early 2000s.

Without giving too much away, TMITHC is about America in the 1960s…if it had lost World War II.  The United States is divided into the “Greater Reich” (basically everything east of the Rockies) and the the Japanese Pacific territory (West Coast).  There is a strip of land separating German and Japanese holdings called something like the “Neutral Zone”.

It’s an interesting attempt at creating a dystopian future America, even if I was not overly compelled by the storyline.  If Amazon does pick up the series I may watch it, but after the first episode I cannot say that it is must-see historical fiction.

WCF