This is stuff passing from common knowledge to history. Most of us would struggle with the big events of the Boer War.
WWII is/was taught about in schools. It was part of the life experience of the parents/grandparents of just about everyone who will post on MN. WWII has been the subject of many more dramas, films and documentaries than the Boer War. WWII shaped current politics to a far bigger degree than the Boer War does. WWII is relevant to current geography.
If you don't care about WWII, you don't care about your rights, freedom and humanity.
Dunkirk is one of the most effective bits of British propaganda ever. A resounding defeat was made into an amazing victory in the minds of the British.
Understanding this, is interesting psychologically about how the public can be manipulated into believing a particular narrative that is at odds with events. Thats pretty important even if you don't give a shit about history.
The Boer War, not being part of our National Psychology owes a lot to the politics of WWII and current politics - and not being particularly willing to own up to some of the rather nasty things we did under the name of Empire.
The Boer War (or to be pedantic, the 2nd Boer War), was when the term 'concerntration camp' became popular. They were set up as refugees camps, but the reality was the British in an attempt to flush out guerilla, operated a systematic scorched earth policy of destorying the property of civilian Boers such as farms and crops and forcing those civilians into the camps, where thousands died of disease due to the conditions being so poor. It was the first time such tactics had been used so systematically.
Of course, as soon as WWII came along, this really did become something we'd really rather forget as a nation because 'moral high ground'. We are all rather too happy to think concerntration camps are a Nazi invention. We weren't like that.
This is all rather important now more than ever, cos we have Donald Trump with his caged children. Which the Red Cross have been refused to access to.
We tend to 'forget' things which politicians don't want us to remember.
I know this thread's intent was to be funny, but parts of it really aren't funny tbh. Its really concerning.
Being ignorant of basic general knowledge is almost seen within British culture as a good thing with those who do know things being labelled with the pejorative of 'boring'. Its normalised and thought of as totally acceptable. Ironically it puts us all at risk of that ignorance being exploited by the unscruplous. Once upon a time, the miners built libraries. Why was that?
Yes, an overly serious post in a thread which was originally lighthearted, but there's a few posts that crossed a line and I think should be reflected on. There's a lot of rewriting of history (and geography) currently going on atm combined.
Sorry OP.