Thread by @MyDoncaster

Have you heard about the time the Hapsburg army got drunk and attacked itself in 1788?

Yeah, it wasn’t cool.

It’s time for another #coronavirus history lesson from Doncaster Council.

Our story begins in September 1788, when the HAPSBURG EMPIRE was at war with THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE

For those who don’t know, a ‘war’ is normally fought between two different sides. Every now and again, though, it seems that people forget that.

In this particular war, both sides were in a deadlock in a town called Karansebes.

After an almighty effort, the Hapsburgs managed to claim the area, a landmark moment in the battle to take the Danube river.

(We should explain at this point that the Ottoman Empire contained mainly Turkish soldiers, whilst the Hapsberg army actually contained soldiers from Austria, Germany, France and Poland. It’s QUITE important that you know they all spoke different languages.)

On 17th September, some Austrian soldiers were sent out to look for Ottoman spies. While they were out, they decided to stop for a drink.

What harm could one drink do, eh? It'll be fine.

It almost certainly won’t end up in the deaths of hundreds of our own men.

After a while drinking, the soldiers were approached by others who asked to join them. The problem was, these soldiers were speaking a different language.

(And remember, Google Translate wasn't invented until 1789, just one year later).

The strangers' request to join the drinking session was refused.

The soldiers got in to a bit of a scuffle.

Here’s where people REALLY started having bright ideas.

Bright idea 1: Someone fired a shot in to the air during this altercation.

Bright idea 2: Some of the drunk soldiers started yelling that the enemy had rocked up. They were wrong.

The shot was heard by the Hapsberg soldiers in the town of Karansebes, who were on high alert.

Pretty soon, the cries of an impending invasion were spreading throughout the town too.

These were heard by other Hapsberg soldiers on the other side of the river.

The scuffling soldiers returned to the town, but it was too late. It was absolute chaos – people were fleeing thinking that the Ottomans were advancing in the middle of the night, and panic was abound.

From over the other side of the river, the soldiers returning from the scuffle had been mistaken for the Ottoman army that everyone had been screaming about, so people started firing at them. They fired back, thinking that the Ottomans had overthrown the other side of the river.

Things got even worse when, before long, a General ordered artillery fire.

Because of the language barriers, no-one could understand the frantic babbling of the people they were shooting at, so they just kept fighting.

During the battle, it’s estimated that at least 1,000 Hapsberg soldiers were killed or wounded fighting…

themselves.

To cap this ridiculous story off, the REAL Ottoman soldiers arrived a few days later to find that the town was almost defenceless, and they reclaimed it easily.

SO, here’s the bit where we shout the #coronavirus lessons from this story a little bit louder for the people in the back:

1: You might be itching to get back to the pub, or join your friends for a barbecue in their garden this weekend – but look how much damage one little drink can do!

DON’T DO IT.

2: Throughout history, people have had ‘bright ideas’, and shouted things. That doesn’t mean they’re right.

Shouting unsubstantiated nonsense kills people.

3: When the REAL opponent is as powerful as #coronavirus is, STOP FIGHTING EACH OTHER.

That means we all #StayHome, keep our distance and be patient.

It's as simple as that.