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Joined 1 year ago
Cake day: June 12th, 2023
  • abrasiveteapot@sh.itjust.workstoMemes@lemmy.ml•The Whole Fediverse is Wholesome [fixed]
    1·
    1 year ago

    don’t know if you’re aware, but we had our arses handed to us at the Eureka stockade. Anyone who didn’t die was hung.

    That is utterly untrue. Nobody was hung, they were acquitted. And while they certainly lost the shooting part when they ran out of ammo, they won public opinion and legal changes ( unfair/unjust treatment and taxes was the core issue)

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eureka_Rebellion

    “The fighting left at least 27 dead and many injured, most of the casualties being rebels”

    “Open rebellion broke out on November 29, 1854, as a crowd of some 10,000 swore allegiance to the Eureka Flag.”

    “A group of 13 captured rebels (not including Lalor, who was in hiding) was put on trial for high treason in Melbourne, but mass public support led to their acquittal.”

    Noting of the 10,000, only a thousand fronted to fight, and half those deserted to go get drunk during the night

    “After the oath swearing ceremony, about 1,000 rebels marched in double file from Bakery Hill to the Eureka”

    “Lalor was in charge, but large numbers of the men were constantly going out of the Stockade, and as the majority got drunk, they never came back … The 500 or 600 from Creswick had nothing to eat, and they, too, went down to the Main Road that night … Lalor seeing that none would be left if things went on, he gave orders to shoot any man who left.”

    The actually fighting force was a few hundred in the end.

    They did reasonably well until they ran out of ammo given they picked a really shit spot

    "For at least 10 minutes, the rebels offered stiff resistance, with ranged fire coming from the Eureka Stockade garrison such that Thomas’s best formation, the 40th regiment, wavered and had to be rallied. Blake says this is “stark evidence of the effectiveness of the defender’s fire.”

    Once they ran out of ammo they were quickly over run

    You guys eventually won,

    Who ? Are you calling me a seppo ? I’m an Aussie mate.

    whereas we were trapped into eternal service to the crown, which we still for some reason don’t want to step away from.

    So campaign for a republic, Johnny Howard may have managed to kick the can down the road but nobody likes wingnut, support is rising.