on the topic of Romania and the Axis i'd love a video about the small Axis powers, their leaders, and what life was like in them. Slovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria, and of course Romania. I think it's one of the least-discussed topics in WWII and it was awesome to see this video being in the same spirit.
My Great Grandfather was a German living there. He married a French woman. He couldn't speak French and she refused to speak German. Also he refused to fight in another one of the Kaiser's wars, so they packed up and came to America where they both had to learn to speak English.
Which of those wars are you talking about? Germany didnt have any major wars between 1871 and the First World War. There was the Intervention in the Boxer Rebellion and the Namibian war against the local colonial people but those any had very limited participation by German troops.
As someone who used to live in the region (Strasbourg), I noticed the locals are quick to point out that Alsace and Lorraine are very different one from the other linguistically, culturally and geographically. Alsatian dialect is much closer to German and they have relatively flatland with the Rhine running by. Lorraine is mountainous and isolated by comparison.
Strasbourg is in a flat aera, but Alsace is not totally flat! You forgot too much that a large part of the Vosges Mountains are in Alsace and the southernmost part of Alsace, Sundgau, my homeland, is hilly! :D
Hi, I am from Alsace-Lorraine. Parents from Mosel region (Lorraine) and lived my entire life in Alsace. Nice vid! I would just add that the Germans built amazing cultural buildings such as opera or theatres. Also rebuilt the Haut Koenisbourg castle. In the end, alsacians also find themselves as being an exception in France and usually refer the rest of France as “the France of the inside” (France de l’intérieur).
I'm also from Alsace-Lorraine, but from the area of Mulhouse! Just a remark, Germans built effectively beautiful buildings in Metz and Strasbourg... but sniff... they replaced the previous buildings destroyed by German bombardement during the sieges of these cities in 1870/1871! And Alsace is effectively an exception in France, mainly because this French-German history! :D
Lol for the modern world we live in, where bloody conflicts occur over a tiny bit of disputed land, it is just absolutely absurd to think how monarchs use to give away their land, divide colonies up with random straight lines, or sell their territories like they were nothing
@@killianweisedesbois Diffrence is, the germans did that to 10% of the population the french did it to 90% of the popultion. And also the Germans didn't ban french until 1914 and would likely have permitted it again after the end of the war had they won.
I live close to the German/French border and it always amazes me how this region is now at peace. We're in the C-19 pandemic at the moment and French patients are routinely treated in German hospitals. Also, the German dialect is still widely spoken over the border, which surprised me.
As someone who was born in lorraine(in Moselle) I have never seen someone speaking German, they teacher german(as a secondary language obviously) but that all.
@@Korschtal i was born in Strasbourg and have always lived there but I’ve only rarely met people who speak alsacien and they were all 50 or older and lived in the countryside. Sadly, this dialect is dying notably because we can’t learn it in school because of French centralization.
For more context: The Alsace-Lorraine territory has gradually been annexed by France from the Holy Roman Empire (and also provinces that left the HRE prior) between roughly 1550-1800 and as such the region was (and to some extent still is) home to a sizeable German speaking population.
People don’t speak German to much anymore, maybe as a third language. People their speak the local Germanic dialect the local dialect (alsacien) and french. When I speak with my grandparents in Germans and they switch to alsaciens, it sounds very different and I can’t understand.
The German language is pretty much dead there. Seriously Germany did everything to make the people there to hate being German after the second world war it was settled that Elsass and His inhabits are french.
In short: Bavaria wasn't a Reichsland but a Kingdom. Bavaria kept its own army, its own foreign policy and a level of autonomy, which Alsace-Lorraine did not have.
@@A_annoying_rodent Bavaria was pretty much a carbon copy of Austria (I mean the actual modern Austria + South Tirol, not the Austrian half of the K.u.K.). They were both Catholic and rural German-speaking areas that never really industrialized (almost the entirety of Austria's industry lay in Bohemia) but which profited tremendouslyafter WWII from the economic shift from the industry onto the service sector. The same thing happened around the same time with the Republic of Ireland (at the expense of Northern Ireland) or Flanders (at the expense of Walloon).
wait, could you maybe explain the industrial growth in ireland, because nearly the entire time the republic (south) and the north were seceded (while Waloon & Flanders acted as one)
Some of my ancestors were amongst the 50,000 that chose to leave rather than become German. They owned a small textile factory, and when the Germans took over they relocated it in Normandy, with most of the employees choosing to come with them.
My family lived in Alsace, they were German and at the end of the first world war they became French, of the lesser, of the rejection of France. In 1940 when Alsace became German again, they refused to become Nazis, they joined the Centre national de la résistance (CNR) but was captured in Paris in 1943 and then sent to the camp of Mauthausen
@@darklysm8345 why would they be traitor when as video pointed out, German state has been discriminating alsace people? Why they demanded to be loyal to a country that didn't even protect them?
@George Nathanael even Bavaria has to face kulturkampf to some degree even they are autonomy kingdom under Prussia. Alsace who always has been Catholic never get such oppression on their religion even under French Republican. Heck, this very reason was main cause Liechtenstein never wiant to be under Prussia or greater germany.
@@CatnamedMittens Yeah it was pretty horrible my father told me he ate his id paper not to get caught but he ended up in the tambov camp. He learned a bit of russian he was then able to say he was french. When he came back after a long travel home where there was nothing to eat but frozen potatos in the ground he said you could count the rescaped on the finger of your hand. Plus when the other came home they ate a lot after being starved and their stomack exploded. My grand father started slowly by eating a bit of soup to let the stomack adapt.
When did he fight at Leningrad? Was it around 1944 (when the city was liberated)? That means he must have undergone quite some Soviet attacks at 18 (?) years old. That is a lot for such a young age.
One thing this cartoon doesn't mention is the large amount of industrialization which took place in the Moselle (German Lorraine) region during this time. The Moselle was full of natural resources, namely iron ore, which was a significant reason as to why Germany wanted to control the region so badly. It was right after annexation when Berlin began pouring tons of money into the Lorraine mining and steel industries, not only to create more output but to win over the local population (states don't just use the stick, sometimes they use the carrot). I've lived in this exact region before and know the local history.
My ancestors were German speaking Catholics who lived in Elsass for generations until the French Revolution in the late 1700s, when the French took over their land and expelled them. They then travelled by ox cart across Europe to the Ukraine where they established a farming commune called Elsass, near to the Black Sea. It's a whole thing--the Black Sea Germans--you can look it up. My grandfather fled from there, circa 1900, when as a young man he was being pressed into the Tsar's army and would likely have died on some battle field against people he had no grievance with. He then came to Canada, to a German speaking farm community on the prairies.
I appreciate the local perspective. Especially the detail "not all germans wanted to be part of germany." My family mostly live in Denmark now, but were originally danish-oriented, but low-german speaking Schleswig-Holsteiners. Their opinion was formed from a political standpoint rather than a cultural one; they viewed the Danish monarchy as the more liberal and democratic of the two. The formation of Germany very often boils down to "Prussia vs. Austria," but the political awakening within the HRE is a fascinating topic in off itself.
@Hugin Sorry mate, I had German in school but I haven't used it in something like 13 years. You folks are too good at English now for it to be a useful language to remember. I'd like to pick it up again some day though :) I can still understand some, to some degree. The reason why I ask you to do English wasn't on that part. If I had to guess then I think you said something along the lines of "Liberalism and demokracy was bad for the Germans. Germans remain brothers and belong toegther," or something to that degree. Feel free to correct me!
“What flag flies in Strasbourg now?” “The Tricolor flies there.” “Ah, so they won. They had their revanche. That must have been a great triumph for them.” “It cost them their life blood,” I said.” From the Dream by Winston Churchill.
Just a little mistake I noticed: Elsass Lothringen is written with a "o" and not a "ö". On the other hand you pronounced the ö quite nice, a thing most people don't, thinking these two letters are interchangeable. Regardless I think this video covers a less known topic very well.
My Grand Grandpa fought together with solidiers from Alsace Lorraine but he said they werent less brave then others. However he said the Austrians and Chechz behaved shit and snitched often in The POW Camps
@@11Survivor Austrians and chechz were fighting alongside the germans i think, not against them? Just like the Rumanians and Fins did too. I think (in case i remember it wrong I AM RLY SRY) xd. So it would rather have been a KGB or redarmy officer threatening them inside a POW Camp. Also their families were not with them there. Edit:wait are we talking first or second WW here?
@@hubertsavio9356 Im not trying to generalize, these are heavily subjective Impressions. However it seems logical that the Czechs were leaning more to that, considering they were subjugated under Habsburg Rule
@@edmerc92It's a German dialect. The emergence of standard German as an everyday language happened primarly after the invention of mass media. Btw. that's what is true for almost every standard language.
Sorry, but Franco-German relations were not permanently bad starting with 1871. The Napoleonic wars that completely destroyed the German states were not popular in Germany either. It's safe to say that it has had a long history.
Most of germans before 1812 liked France very well because we brought political progress. And few random guy not really famous like Hegel, Kant or Goethe were all huge fans of Napoleon.
But there were individual German states that were pro-French, especially the south. This ended with the unification of Germany, where Prussia now set foreign policy.
The local dialect in Lorraine/Lothringen is also a Germanic dialect. It belongs to the model-franconian dialects and is by no means further away from German dialects than Alsatian. Alsatian belongs to the Alemannic dialect group whereas Lorraine to the Franconian. That's the main difference. Even though, there aren't that many speakers. Both have been widely wiped out by French.
Alsatian isn't even german. It's a common misconception. As an indigenous alsatian, I can tell you the language, orally, sounds a lot different to the guys on the other side of the river. Additionally, alsatian actually predates german.
@@uekiguy5886 They wished to be part of France, as evidenced by the 'elected protestors' they'd elect as their representatives. I'm alsatian by birth, by name, and by family history, my great-grandparents were there.
My 3X great grandparents immigrated from Alsace in 1872. There name was Lueckel and they ended up in Tell City / Cannelton Indiana. I've always wondered what was their reason to pack up and move half way across the planet to rural Indiana. Thank you for sharing this.
47 years (1871-1918) of Prussian rule achieved what the previous 200 years of French rule could not: it made even the German-speaking Alsatians into enthusiastic citizens of France.
@@ericmiller6056 Laicism and the spread of socialism had alienated catholics from France, the Dreyfus-affair alienated the jews from France while at the same time A-L was given more autonomy and rights within Germany, plus the rapid economic growth and wealth convinced people to accept Germany.
and after ww1 when Alsace Lorraine was annexed by France they occupied it militarily and cleansed it from the german dialect, german culture and german history up until fairly recently when people were allowed to use the german alsacian dialect again. The dialect is still having a hard time as a result of decades long repression.
@@kartoffelmensch519 he is right you know. It all started under the nazis and their school reform. They wanted to get rid of dialects to make people forget that we were actually a federation of hundreds of different people and make us become one people instead. So no more bavarians, ripuarians and saxons, but only germans. You also find it everywhere in the propaganda of the time. (Ein Volk, ein Reich, ein Führer - one people, one empire, one leader) sadly that trend was continued after the war and even the generation of my father still got the dialect literally beaten out of them in school in the 70s and 80s. Even in my generation (1992) we were still shunned for even using mundart, so high german with a strong accent, not to speak of dialect, as most of us never learned to speak it to begin with.
Reschi I can confirm. My family emigrated from Thurgau and Appenzell to Elsass after the Thirty Years War. I never met my great grandparents who emigrated to the US after the Franco Prussian War, but my Dad said that the German they spoke was very different from the German spoken in their neighborhood in St. Louis.
@@reschi56 Elsass would have one big time, with the view of current history. But there are many dialects of German in Switzerland. My buddy speaks German but it sounds like Italian.
@@reschi56 you do realize that if any country was given Alsace it would have most likely went to war with France. So if they wanted to stay neutral, they would have refused the offer.
My great grandparents came from Mulhouse (Mülhausen) in the early 1900’s. My grandpa told me that they generally considered themselves as Germans and we consider ourselves a family of German immigrants. But on our records they put down their nationalities as ‘Alsatian’ all the way up to the 1960’s. It’s almost as if they didn’t even consider themselves Germans or French at all. I could tell they had a lot of love and pride for Alsace and I can relate too for being proud of being from the southern United States. I hope I get to visit this region soon and Europe.
My great-grandma changed nationality four times in her lifetime despite never going anywhere: Deutsches Reich until 1921, independent Saargebiet 1921-1935, Deutsches Reich again 1935-1947, independent Saarland 1947-1957, and German Federal Republic until her death.
My great grandfather was born there, I know his father and brother lived with him. He was born around 1835, but by about 1870, he'd married a woman in Canada. He was German (very German first and last name, but I read somewhere that he said that he was French. Some of this is from free ancestor information sites online, so I don't know if he really thought himself French. But moving from Alsace to Canada might mean that he wanted to stay French. The woman he married had the last name Nichols, I believe she was German, also. I had wanted to live there for years, then finding that he was born there, maybe I'm meant to go back?
I m from India.. I studied a chapter on my 12th class (the last lesson) which is written by Alphonso daudet.. Where a little boy name franz telling his last day of his France language school.. After studied that chapter i feel so sad about France people who lived in 1871..
France conquered the region in 1648. When the army was in vienna to defend the city from the turks france invaded the kingdom of lorraine who was a german ally AND alsace. peace to india and hope there wont be fight with china
@@ishouldbestudyingrightnow5368 Yes bro.. And bro this is Record that india doesn't attack first to any Country... And if Anyone Attack first to india Then we will Destroy that Country Just like Corona Country China and Pakistan...
One of My Great-Great grandfather (3 out of 8 were Alsacians) was a "Malgré-nous". That means "Against-us". It was the name that alsacians gave to those of them who were enrolled against their will in the Deutsches Heer. The two others hid for years in a barn or in a cellar to avoid being enrolled in the German army.
@Clear Kim why should it? Alsace lorraine was german speaking since the end of the roman empire and the french conquered it in 1700 when the HRE was weak and couldn't defend it.
Impact to life for Frenchmen in the Alsace Lorraine after annexation by Germany? The first thing that came to my mind is THE LAST LESSON by Alphonse Daudet. I learned about this story when I was in junior high and made a deep impression on me. It fascinated me so much that I went on to learn about the Franco-Prussian War and the unique history of the Alsace Lorraine region.
Wasnt the last german veteran of ww1 actually a Elsasser,his name was Karl something,when Elsass became Alsace again he changed his name to Charles and i think he joined the French army in ww2 Bizarre times.
The video contained some important facts, but not all of them. The most important: When France first occupied Alsace and the german-speaking part of Lorraine, they were part of the first reich. That was during the 1600s. It seems that France had (like Prussia/Germany) a drang nach osten (drive to the east). And mind you: The german term for Lorraine is Lothringen - not 'Löthringen' .)
Great sum-up. What do you think about a video about Alsace Lorraine's neighbour Saarland, who was passed between french and german controll as well, under "french"/international control/influence after WW1 and WW2? ^^
was mostly used by France as war reparation and coal mining . Unlike Alsace Lorraine, france never seriously planned on anexing the territory as it was 100% german.
@@Marhakon I know (I'm from the region), but still things like Hitler's effort to regain the territory and especially and especially the way it was handled after WW2 and the election over the "Saarstatut" (the idea europe-isation of the region as neither german nor french) still make for an interesting topic nonetheless^^ (Though there were people and groups with that goal in mind)
@@Marhakon not what I heard, after WW2 they did start making all the streetsigns in french and invested money in the region to persuade them to become french..
Life in Elsaß 0500: Alemanns 0700: Franks 0843: midfrank 0870: german 0913: french 0925: german 1648: french 1871: german 1918: french 1940: german 1945: french .. thats why you should think things through, when writing the last will. (i am looking to you Louis the Pious) ^^
My great great grandmother was borned french, under german rule in lorraine and died in the 60's. When people Ask her about german she used to say :" oh the germans we know them every 30 years they Come steal our silverware"
You can suggest an idea and but ultimately he lets the community (sometimes patreon sometimes youtube) vote on what gets made. He might list it as a voting option.
I wouldn’t exactly call it “Britain’s Vietnam” because unlike the Americans, they comparatively succeeded, and no communist regime ever ruled in Malaysia
Sams I know, but after seeing like 100 000 comments of kaiserboo, it starts to be annoying (i live in alsace lorraine) and anyway, Germany and France are good friends, and no one in Europe want to start another war..
Solar Dwarf it’s for your own good ;) let’s just focus on being friends and stop fighting over this, there are no borders between our countries anymore
Could you do one about the Germans who were deported from eastern Germany e.g. Pomerania after WWII ? I understand that most of them were killed. Related video could be about how Poland was redrawn westward.
In Lothringen people clearly wanted to be French but in Elsaß a majority (at least in 1914) wanted to stay German. The video also omits that the people were unhappy with their treatment by some of the soldiers there but were very much not so with the Emperor (maybe out of necessity but who knows)
not true the germans there are happy to be ignored and most have dual citizenship and go to aachen for shopping and to german universities for higher education. It is closer to the german life than to the belgium (I met some and their french was non existing).
What does being Belgian even mean? You live in the land that is called belgium and have papers saying you have a right to be there? That’s all it means to be Belgian?
Small correction to the whole video, it is Alsace-Moselle which was annexed and not Alsace-Lorraine (80% of Lorraine remained French, only a small part, Moselle was annexed).
Yes, but in fact the annexed part was called "Alsace-Lorraine/Elsaß-Lothringen" by both countries between 1871 and 1919! The notion of "Alsace-Moselle" is more a post-Great War concept, maybe for describing the body of laws specific to the departments of Alsace (Haut-Rhin/Bas-Rhin) and Moselle : "Droit local d'Alsace-Moselle".
@@nicolas2419 Lorraine or Lothingen in German has a thousand year old history before the annexation and its territory has never had anything to do with Moselle alone (the historical capital of Lorraine being even Nancy, not in Moselle), in short to speak of the concept of Alsace-Lorraine remains a historical error even if this error was common at the time and to continue to convey it is rather problematic (I am from Lorraine and I am a little tired of explaining that my ancestors were not German at that time)
I live in Strasburg and the problem has always been that Germany base it's identity on an ethnic criteria while in France we base ourselves on an 'alliegance' criteria. - Alsace though being culturaly Germanic without a doubt is purely French. - The region was one of the bggest contributor of the French revolution - The French anthem was first sang in Strasburg - The Marshal Kellerman of Alsace led the French army to defend it against Austrians and Prussians at the battle of Valmy which was a founding battle in the revolutionary imaginary. - After that the region was one of the most pro-Empire, at a point that Napoléon III tried his first coup in Strasburg - And after the anexation, the kaiser whilhelm admitted himself that the re-Germanization of the region was a failure. - Finally in WW2, one of the first resistance group that pledged alliegance to Général De Gaulle was "La main noire" in Strasburg.
@@Raisonnance. Tiens, c'est cadeau (Ou pour les suivants qui parlent pas trop anglais) : J'habite à Strasbourg et le problème a toujours été que l'Allemagne base son identité sur des critères ethniques alors qu'en France, nous nous basons sur des critères d' "alliegance". - L'Alsace, bien que culturellement germanique sans aucun doute, est purement française. - La région a été l'un des plus grands contributeurs de la révolution française. - L'hymne français a été chanté pour la première fois à Strasbourg. - Le maréchal Kellerman d'Alsace a conduit l'armée française à la défendre contre les Autrichiens et les Prussiens lors de la bataille de Valmy qui fut une bataille fondatrice dans l'imaginaire révolutionnaire. - Par la suite, la région fut l'une des plus favorables à l'Empire, à tel point que Napoléon III tenta son premier coup d'Etat à Strasbourg. - Et après l'annexation, le kaiser whilhelm a admis lui-même que la re-germanisation de la région était un échec. - Enfin, lors de la seconde guerre mondiale, l'un des premiers groupes de résistance à avoir prêté serment d'allégeance au Général De Gaulle fut "La main noire" à Strasbourg.
Why has France tried to assimilate the German speakers by forbidding the German language in school for example? I mean why would they do that if the population identifies as french? For me it seems that the French government tried to destroy the germanic parts of the regions culture.
@@nopenein5514 I think it's partially for the same reasons as the Germans did : To prevent anti-french spies and to force the German-speaking populations who emigrated there during german occupation to assimilate faster into the Republic. Mind you Alsace-Lorraine is not a specific case ; forcing a national French language has been going on in all other regions of France for centuries, to facilitate local trades and to unite the country under a single banner. Also, it takes way more than banning a language to destroy a culture. If it was so easy, the other regions of France wouldn't be so distinctly different from each other (Just compare Occitania to Normandy, for example.)
@@nopenein5514 This is a misconceptions for several reasons : 1 - Alsace was annexed in 1648, before the revolution all the regions of France had their language or dialect and nobody cared. The shift occured decades after the French revolution with something called "Jacobinism" which aimed at centralizing and formating all the regions. As a consequence the regional dialect disapeared not only Alsatian (Breton, Occitan, Franco-provençal,...). 2 - Overall France didn't try to destroy the local culture, for instance, most building destroyed during the wars have been rebuilt as they were during the Holy Roman Empire period. If they had wanted, they could've rebuild Parisian style with massive avenues etc, but they didn't they kept they local architecture. PS : Alsatian don't speak German, the dialect is intelligible with Southern German (Swäbisch, more precisely there is inter-comprehension in the Black forest region and Stuttgart but not further) but Northern German (Hochdeutsch) cannot communicate much with Alsatian from my experience.
My great-great grandfather was from Alsace. His surname (my mom's surname) was Koenig. They identified as French, however, and were Catholics. I guess when tensions got high, he left Alsace and immigrated to the US, settling in Cajun country south Louisiana. Not sure if he had associates and relatives in Louisiana, or just ended up at the port of New Orleans by coincidence and decided to stick around. His name was Alphonse Koenig (my grandfather was Claude Koenig)...if any distant Alsatian relatives are here, would love to connect.
Very interesting video ! I am Alsacian, and I live in Alsace. We mostly speak French out but inside the house and with family, Alsacian is used, combined with some French words. The older Alsacian said that they feel always French, no matter the years or centuries, no matter if they are German. They always want to be French.
What is true for your family is not necessarily so for the others yes there are many who feel French For others it doesn't matter and some would have preferred to remain German especially before the Nazi period France like Germany brought us both their share of misfortune so above all we are Alsatians /
To be fair, when France took Elßas Lothringen in the palatin heritage war 1697 after 900 years in the german empire, it was also not very helpfull for the relations between the countrys...
@@mathieuvigne7336 brittany was also not a indipendent county but france was pretty furious when england took it with the help from the french principality of gascogne and calais.
@@jojo-bl1dj Principality of Gascogne (duchy of Guyenne maybe?) doesn't exist, neither does the Principality of Calais. And it was more than 200 years before, and even tho Britanny wasn't French, it was a vassal of the French king. The matter wasn't about gaining or losing territories, but losing vassals. Exept Germany wasn't a country, because when every states is independant it's not called a country.
@@mathieuvigne7336 im very sorry that my english is not good enough to differentitate the royal dependences of medieval france but next time when i learn a new language i try to set my priority right. And btw all german states of the HRE were technically vassals of the emperor. And why it shoud matter if it happend 200 years before. Genocide is a crime wich dosnt expire.
0:28 "though the majority of them spoke German, that didn't mean they wanted to be part of Germany." Well that's certainly true. Most of my ancestors were from that region and fled around the time of the Franco Prussian War.
Le Macaron Most of the German Alsatians came from Switzerland, invited by Louis XIV, to repopulate Alsace after the population was decimated during the Thirty Years War. They had their own distinct dialect, Elsass, just as Flemish or Dutch are distinct dialects. My family was among them, coming from Thurgau and Appenzell.
Don't forget that along with Bavaria, with the German Revolution of 1918, an Soviet/Council Republic of Alsace-Lorraine was proclaimed in November 1918 and disbanded by the French army.
The mother tongue of the people in Elsass-Lothringen was and will always be German. It should be no problem for the great Europeans in Paris to establish a second language in that region like in Luxemburg, Belgium or Switzerland.
@@KaimarkLifestyle no : Alsacian for the people of Alsace... I live in the lorraine part but I know damn well that alsacian hate to be called german. We can still learn german and alsacian in school.
@@mrgreenfr6216 I never said that Elsass-Lothringen shall go back to Germany. The people will make their own decision without Paris or Berlin. The roots of the people there is German and not French, that is a fact. Hating and denying the own roots is never a good idea. The history of Germany is much more than the time between 1933 and 1945.
Under a purely border's beautifulness prospective it's hard to decide who should have this region: The German Empire's border feels incomplete without it, but France's border looks ugly without it.. maybe giving them Wallonia as compensation could set it better.
Hi all, next week's episodes will be: 'Why did Britain abolish slavery?' and 'Why did Romania Join the Axis?'
Hope you enjoy.
Yay Romania!!!
Why not kill two birds with one stone and make a video about "Why Did Britain Abolish the Axis?"
on the topic of Romania and the Axis i'd love a video about the small Axis powers, their leaders, and what life was like in them. Slovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria, and of course Romania. I think it's one of the least-discussed topics in WWII and it was awesome to see this video being in the same spirit.
Yasss Romaniaaaa
Finally there is something about Romania
All because a thousand years ago, Charlemagne's grandsons couldn't share.
No, all because Louis XIV annexed it against the people's will in 1648. But no one talks about that. :-)
@@herrwagnerianer1739 people's will did not mean anything in 1648.
@@fcalvaresi and still not matter
This is why we need federalism.
Karl der Große
I knew a women named Lorraine once. She worked at Subway and was in charge of all the sauces. That's the only All-Sauce Lorraine I recognize.
Bahdum tsk
BOOOOOOO
BRUH
Here's your coat, this way to the door ->
*slow yet hearty clap*
My Great Grandfather was a German living there. He married a French woman. He couldn't speak French and she refused to speak German. Also he refused to fight in another one of the Kaiser's wars, so they packed up and came to America where they both had to learn to speak English.
@@deprogramm they spoke luxembourgish obviously
@@deprogramm (They probably spoke alsacian)
@@deprogramm either huge baguette or huge wallette
@@deprogramm Being unable to speak a language isn't the same as being unable to understand it.
Which of those wars are you talking about? Germany didnt have any major wars between 1871 and the First World War. There was the Intervention in the Boxer Rebellion and the Namibian war against the local colonial people but those any had very limited participation by German troops.
Life in Alsace Leraine
1900: German
1920: French
1940: German
1960: French
2060: Luxembourgish
Lotharingia 4eva!
2060 syrian*
All of the world will be Luxembourg in 2060
ThomasTurner69
It will be a prized possession of the intergalactic empire of Liechtenstein
ThomasTurner69 2100: Portuguese
0/10 Kaiser Wilhelm II is shown using both arms perfectly
*I want to know your location*
@@kaiserwilhelmll.3634 Ja, mein Kaiser!
Normie
Sir Uranos What are you talking about, the Kaiser is perfectly healthy!
*Angry Imperial German Noises*
Spot on
"What are you, French, German?"
"Ferman"
"Luxembourgisch"
@@kaffohrt9858 Nice try Ferman
Grench
Sherman xD
@@BeryAb I like that one the most. 😄
As someone who used to live in the region (Strasbourg), I noticed the locals are quick to point out that Alsace and Lorraine are very different one from the other linguistically, culturally and geographically. Alsatian dialect is much closer to German and they have relatively flatland with the Rhine running by. Lorraine is mountainous and isolated by comparison.
Strasbourg is in a flat aera, but Alsace is not totally flat! You forgot too much that a large part of the Vosges Mountains are in Alsace and the southernmost part of Alsace, Sundgau, my homeland, is hilly! :D
@@nicolas2419 That is a very nice part of Alsace!
Alsace also has nicer dogs.
@@lawrencedoliveiro9104 what do u mean?
Yes it s exact correct
Hi, I am from Alsace-Lorraine. Parents from Mosel region (Lorraine) and lived my entire life in Alsace.
Nice vid!
I would just add that the Germans built amazing cultural buildings such as opera or theatres. Also rebuilt the Haut Koenisbourg castle.
In the end, alsacians also find themselves as being an exception in France and usually refer the rest of France as “the France of the inside” (France de l’intérieur).
I'm also from Alsace-Lorraine, but from the area of Mulhouse!
Just a remark, Germans built effectively beautiful buildings in Metz and Strasbourg... but sniff... they replaced the previous buildings destroyed by German bombardement during the sieges of these cities in 1870/1871!
And Alsace is effectively an exception in France, mainly because this French-German history! :D
Bonjour chère compatriote Lorrain
@@nicolas2419 its the first time i have somebody else from mulhouse !
Ah Moselleland!
I've been to Haut Koenisbourg before, the view is amazing!
Wait they seriously wanted to give alsace to switzerland?
Switzerland could have annex a lot more territory in the XIX, like part of savoy. And yes alsace Lorraine also
same german dialect
Lol for the modern world we live in, where bloody conflicts occur over a tiny bit of disputed land, it is just absolutely absurd to think how monarchs use to give away their land, divide colonies up with random straight lines, or sell their territories like they were nothing
@@Grityom SAVOIA
@@IlGab02 Savoie?
Could you also do a video about the germans living in Alsace Loraine after ww1?
Agree!
They had a choice : stay here, learn French and become French or get out.
@@killianweisedesbois I know, but it would be intresting if he could go a little bit more in depth
@@killianweisedesbois Diffrence is, the germans did that to 10% of the population the french did it to 90% of the popultion. And also the Germans didn't ban french until 1914 and would likely have permitted it again after the end of the war had they won.
@@DaDunge The Republic did that to the entire French population, including the one in Alsace and Lorraine.
I live close to the German/French border and it always amazes me how this region is now at peace. We're in the C-19 pandemic at the moment and French patients are routinely treated in German hospitals.
Also, the German dialect is still widely spoken over the border, which surprised me.
Probably because German language is as strong as French so it is hard to erase the way they did with Occitant, breton, etc.
As someone who was born in lorraine(in Moselle) I have never seen someone speaking German, they teacher german(as a secondary language obviously) but that all.
@@Cigmacica Possibly because it's further across into France. I tend to cycle in the Colmar/Neuf Brisach region and the dialect is very common there.
@@Korschtal its also spoken be a lot of people in mulhouse
@@Korschtal i was born in Strasbourg and have always lived there but I’ve only rarely met people who speak alsacien and they were all 50 or older and lived in the countryside. Sadly, this dialect is dying notably because we can’t learn it in school because of French centralization.
0:55 Well. Literally a well. Nice.
Well. Literally a well. Aint that swell
@@TheUaxington Well. Literally a well. Ain’t that swell. What’s that smell?
@adamkerman475 it's a late gale
For more context: The Alsace-Lorraine territory has gradually been annexed by France from the Holy Roman Empire (and also provinces that left the HRE prior) between roughly 1550-1800 and as such the region was (and to some extent still is) home to a sizeable German speaking population.
People don’t speak German to much anymore, maybe as a third language. People their speak the local Germanic dialect the local dialect (alsacien) and french. When I speak with my grandparents in Germans and they switch to alsaciens, it sounds very different and I can’t understand.
Oui ne pas oublier qui nous sommes , Elsass frei 🇮🇩
@Karl Von Lytovski je suis alsacien 🇮🇩 , ich bin Elsässer 🇮🇩
The German language is pretty much dead there. Seriously Germany did everything to make the people there to hate being German after the second world war it was settled that Elsass and His inhabits are french.
Correct. The territory never belonged to France before Louis XIV's conquest.
Wasnt Bavaria also Catholic? How was life there right after unification?
In short: Bavaria wasn't a Reichsland but a Kingdom. Bavaria kept its own army, its own foreign policy and a level of autonomy, which Alsace-Lorraine did not have.
Bavaria was rather poor during that time, in fact the rich bavaria we all know only appeared after ww2, up to 120k people left bavaria for the USA.
@@A_annoying_rodent Bavaria was pretty much a carbon copy of Austria (I mean the actual modern Austria + South Tirol, not the Austrian half of the K.u.K.). They were both Catholic and rural German-speaking areas that never really industrialized (almost the entirety of Austria's industry lay in Bohemia) but which profited tremendouslyafter WWII from the economic shift from the industry onto the service sector. The same thing happened around the same time with the Republic of Ireland (at the expense of Northern Ireland) or Flanders (at the expense of Walloon).
wait, could you maybe explain the industrial growth in ireland, because nearly the entire time the republic (south) and the north were seceded (while Waloon & Flanders acted as one)
Rhineland is also catholic. South and west are catholic, north and east are protestant.
A vid about the Latvian colony in Africa or the USS Pueblo Incident (when DPRK captured a US spy ship) would be nice
It was a Polish-Lithuanian colony. It's unfair to call it just Lithuanian
Gabe D Technically it’s neither, it’s Latvian
Technically yeah, but the whole livonian region was basically a satellite of the Commonwealth
Gonna love the fact that @@SupremeLeaderKimJong-un knows about the Latvian Colony in Africa, he is just such a well educated man.
Do you mean the duchy of Courland? The prince ruling it was not Latvian and it was also a vassal of the PLC.
Some of my ancestors were amongst the 50,000 that chose to leave rather than become German. They owned a small textile factory, and when the Germans took over they relocated it in Normandy, with most of the employees choosing to come with them.
*_... I for one welxome our new german overlords - Otto from Schonhausen_* im dead lol
I came here to say that. Glad to see some else saw the reference. 😁
what its die reference?
@@corincowley1351 google simpsons overlords
welxome
My family lived in Alsace, they were German and at the end of the first world war they became French, of the lesser, of the rejection of France. In 1940 when Alsace became German again, they refused to become Nazis, they joined the Centre national de la résistance (CNR) but was captured in Paris in 1943 and then sent to the camp of Mauthausen
traitor family
@@darklysm8345 why would they be traitor when as video pointed out, German state has been discriminating alsace people? Why they demanded to be loyal to a country that didn't even protect them?
@@darklysm8345 They may be traitors, but that isn't always a bad thing.
@@absentmindedshirokuma8539 the amount of kaiserboos in this comment section is astounding tbh.
@George Nathanael even Bavaria has to face kulturkampf to some degree even they are autonomy kingdom under Prussia. Alsace who always has been Catholic never get such oppression on their religion even under French Republican. Heck, this very reason was main cause Liechtenstein never wiant to be under Prussia or greater germany.
I live there near strasbourg. Its a beautiful region. My great father had to fight for germany in ww2 on the eastern front near leningrad. 1924-2001
Possibly one of the worst places ever to fight?
@@CatnamedMittens Yeah it was pretty horrible my father told me he ate his id paper not to get caught but he ended up in the tambov camp. He learned a bit of russian he was then able to say he was french. When he came back after a long travel home where there was nothing to eat but frozen potatos in the ground he said you could count the rescaped on the finger of your hand. Plus when the other came home they ate a lot after being starved and their stomack exploded. My grand father started slowly by eating a bit of soup to let the stomack adapt.
@@romainwalter4593 smart man
Deadly sieges World War II.
When did he fight at Leningrad? Was it around 1944 (when the city was liberated)? That means he must have undergone quite some Soviet attacks at 18 (?) years old. That is a lot for such a young age.
One thing this cartoon doesn't mention is the large amount of industrialization which took place in the Moselle (German Lorraine) region during this time. The Moselle was full of natural resources, namely iron ore, which was a significant reason as to why Germany wanted to control the region so badly. It was right after annexation when Berlin began pouring tons of money into the Lorraine mining and steel industries, not only to create more output but to win over the local population (states don't just use the stick, sometimes they use the carrot). I've lived in this exact region before and know the local history.
I love how you end every video as though it was a happy ending forever after and then show hitler or napoleon. A nice pinch of foreshadowing.
My ancestors were German speaking Catholics who lived in Elsass for generations until the French Revolution in the late 1700s, when the French took over their land and expelled them. They then travelled by ox cart across Europe to the Ukraine where they established a farming commune called Elsass, near to the Black Sea. It's a whole thing--the Black Sea Germans--you can look it up. My grandfather fled from there, circa 1900, when as a young man he was being pressed into the Tsar's army and would likely have died on some battle field against people he had no grievance with. He then came to Canada, to a German speaking farm community on the prairies.
Very interesting story, makes me want to know more.
I appreciate the local perspective. Especially the detail "not all germans wanted to be part of germany."
My family mostly live in Denmark now, but were originally danish-oriented, but low-german speaking Schleswig-Holsteiners. Their opinion was formed from a political standpoint rather than a cultural one; they viewed the Danish monarchy as the more liberal and democratic of the two. The formation of Germany very often boils down to "Prussia vs. Austria," but the political awakening within the HRE is a fascinating topic in off itself.
@Hugin If the video and the comment is written in English, then you probably should do so too.
@Hugin Sorry mate, I had German in school but I haven't used it in something like 13 years. You folks are too good at English now for it to be a useful language to remember.
I'd like to pick it up again some day though :)
I can still understand some, to some degree. The reason why I ask you to do English wasn't on that part. If I had to guess then I think you said something along the lines of "Liberalism and demokracy was bad for the Germans. Germans remain brothers and belong toegther," or something to that degree. Feel free to correct me!
@@Nikolaj11 Your right.
But I would say the German Empire wasn't as undemocratic as often said.
These videos are a wonderful intermediate primer on historical events with the cute cartoon figures and sardonic humor.
My Great-Great-Grandfather lived in Alsace-Lorraine prior to WWI. He was an engineer in the textile industry.
Elsaß-Lothringen is written without an Ö. Is that a joke?
apparently it isn't written with an ö. it's Alsaß-Lotharingen and not Alsaß-Lötharingen
Anyway you wrote the wrong orthograph too, it's Alsace Lorraine
@@sganarellelevalet7479 we are talking about the German version of it aren't we? so raus.
@@TheChosenFailure german. Boy. Its german and it is correct the way I spell it cause I'm German.
@@TheChosenFailure
In german: Elsaß-Lothringen
In french: Alsace-Lorraine
From a native german :)
“What flag flies in Strasbourg now?”
“The Tricolor flies there.”
“Ah, so they won. They had their revanche. That must have been a great triumph for them.”
“It cost them their life blood,” I said.”
From the Dream by Winston Churchill.
Isn't it the blue one with the yellow stars?
fernando jose gonzalez olguin no, Strasbourg.
@fernando jose gonzalez olguin Stromboliniberg.
@fernando jose gonzalez olguin that ain’t real
@fernando jose gonzalez olguin Fuck Luxembourg, glory to the Republic of Alsace Lorraine.
Just a little mistake I noticed: Elsass Lothringen is written with a "o" and not a "ö". On the other hand you pronounced the ö quite nice, a thing most people don't, thinking these two letters are interchangeable.
Regardless I think this video covers a less known topic very well.
Elsaß-Lothringen was the öld German spelling. Nöw yöu just göt the new Anglö spelling: Elsass-Löthringen. Lol
Löl
@@seethrough_treeshrew Lmaö
Could it possibly add a certain "gothic" charm, putting 'Umlaut'-dots where they don't belong?
Metal bands: YES!
@@batonnetdecannelle ë
My Grand Grandpa fought together with solidiers from Alsace Lorraine but he said they werent less brave then others. However he said the Austrians and Chechz behaved shit and snitched often in The POW Camps
Having a Gestapo officer personally threaten your family can be quite the motivator...
@@11Survivor Austrians and chechz were fighting alongside the germans i think, not against them? Just like the Rumanians and Fins did too. I think (in case i remember it wrong I AM RLY SRY) xd.
So it would rather have been a KGB or redarmy officer threatening them inside a POW Camp. Also their families were not with them there.
Edit:wait are we talking first or second WW here?
@@J-IFWBR Second WW
In Alsace, they threatened deportation for the families of those who refused to present themselves for conscription
Not true, my tip grand father got several medals!!!
@@hubertsavio9356 Im not trying to generalize, these are heavily subjective Impressions. However it seems logical that the Czechs were leaning more to that, considering they were subjugated under Habsburg Rule
When people say "Alsace-Lorraine" instead of "Alsace-moselle"
It's not Alsace-moselle too because Belfort was french in 1871
IT'S ELSASS LÖTHRINGEN DU SCHWIEN HUND 😎
@@soderfjarden3197 Actually its "Elsaß-Lothringen", with an Eszett and no Ö
@@soderfjarden3197 Alsace-Loraine for you prussiaboo
ELSASS LOTHRINGEN FOR YOU DU SCHWEIN HUND 😎
So, Germany annexed an area which was 90% German speaking and the Kaisers, mostly Wilhelm II, managed to screw that up.
They spoke Alsatian, which is a Germanic language but not quite the same.
@@edmerc92It's a German dialect. The emergence of standard German as an everyday language happened primarly after the invention of mass media.
Btw. that's what is true for almost every standard language.
History matters: The channel that made "Sky ship hell" a legit name.
I am probably gonna name my kid that.
SkyChapelle *
Oof
Next: Life in the Saar Region (Short Animated Documentary)
Later: the Meuse-Rhine Euroregion
Maggi!
U get married to ur sister.
Life in paris
Sorry, but Franco-German relations were not permanently bad starting with 1871. The Napoleonic wars that completely destroyed the German states were not popular in Germany either. It's safe to say that it has had a long history.
Not to even mention the division between west and east Francia
Most of germans before 1812 liked France very well because we brought political progress.
And few random guy not really famous like Hegel, Kant or Goethe were all huge fans of Napoleon.
@@jacobinfier9407 We all saw and keep seeing what that "progress" was truly for and it's anything but glorious...
@@jacobinfier9407 nah bismark and the like held resement over french domination over german lands int he Napoleonic age
But there were individual German states that were pro-French, especially the south. This ended with the unification of Germany, where Prussia now set foreign policy.
The local dialect in Lorraine/Lothringen is also a Germanic dialect. It belongs to the model-franconian dialects and is by no means further away from German dialects than Alsatian. Alsatian belongs to the Alemannic dialect group whereas Lorraine to the Franconian. That's the main difference. Even though, there aren't that many speakers. Both have been widely wiped out by French.
Most of Lorraine didn't speak a Germanic dialect, only the department of Moselle did (and even then, the city of Metz did not)..
Can you make the video on the Polish-Lithuanian Commanwealth like you said you were before? Love your vids by the way.
What place of poland are you from?
@@sopmodo8122 Białystok area, by Sokółka
@@sopmodo8122 Wrocław
@@Ponanoix Breslau*
@Thomas Meyer Wrocław**
I had a chapter in English class in high school called "The last lesson". The story revolved around this annexation.
This is a proof that loyalties to a state goes beyond of merely “speaking the same language”.
Alsatian isn't even german.
It's a common misconception.
As an indigenous alsatian, I can tell you the language, orally, sounds a lot different to the guys on the other side of the river.
Additionally, alsatian actually predates german.
Yep
@@11Survivor -- At that point in history, did the majority of Alsatians wish to be part of France or Germany? Thank you.
@@uekiguy5886 They wished to be part of France, as evidenced by the 'elected protestors' they'd elect as their representatives.
I'm alsatian by birth, by name, and by family history, my great-grandparents were there.
@@11Survivor -- I see. Thank you so much for taking the time to answer. Hello from Kansas, U.S.
My 3X great grandparents immigrated from Alsace in 1872. There name was Lueckel and they ended up in Tell City / Cannelton Indiana. I've always wondered what was their reason to pack up and move half way across the planet to rural Indiana. Thank you for sharing this.
47 years (1871-1918) of Prussian rule achieved what the previous 200 years of French rule could not: it made even the German-speaking Alsatians into enthusiastic citizens of France.
That's just anglo-saxon bullshit propaganda
@@karlscher5170 no that's true.
Actually by the 1900s loyalty to France had diminished completely.
@@mikaelb.2070 What's your evidence?
@@ericmiller6056 Laicism and the spread of socialism had alienated catholics from France, the Dreyfus-affair alienated the jews from France while at the same time A-L was given more autonomy and rights within Germany, plus the rapid economic growth and wealth convinced people to accept Germany.
i love those "soon" plates
and after ww1 when Alsace Lorraine was annexed by France they occupied it militarily and cleansed it from the german dialect, german culture and german history up until fairly recently when people were allowed to use the german alsacian dialect again. The dialect is still having a hard time as a result of decades long repression.
Argacyan German teaching was allowed again in 1952, but Yeah « decades of oppression »
the germans were the ones who banned alsatian
@@LessnoIVe
How did they ban Alsatian?
@@r.v.b.4153 Forcing everyone to speak Hochdeutsch instead of Alsatian dialect, I imagine.
@@kartoffelmensch519 he is right you know. It all started under the nazis and their school reform. They wanted to get rid of dialects to make people forget that we were actually a federation of hundreds of different people and make us become one people instead. So no more bavarians, ripuarians and saxons, but only germans. You also find it everywhere in the propaganda of the time. (Ein Volk, ein Reich, ein Führer - one people, one empire, one leader) sadly that trend was continued after the war and even the generation of my father still got the dialect literally beaten out of them in school in the 70s and 80s. Even in my generation (1992) we were still shunned for even using mundart, so high german with a strong accent, not to speak of dialect, as most of us never learned to speak it to begin with.
Switzerland: Oh no, you're not drawing me into this mess!
Giving Elsass to Switzerland would've probably been the best decision as the people in Elsass spoke the same dialect as people in Switzerland.
@@reschi56 imagine ww1 and ww2 then when theres a switzerland is cucking you out of the country you're attacking
Reschi I can confirm. My family emigrated from Thurgau and Appenzell to Elsass after the Thirty Years War. I never met my great grandparents who emigrated to the US after the Franco Prussian War, but my Dad said that the German they spoke was very different from the German spoken in their neighborhood in St. Louis.
@@reschi56 Elsass would have one big time, with the view of current history. But there are many dialects of German in Switzerland. My buddy speaks German but it sounds like Italian.
@@reschi56 you do realize that if any country was given Alsace it would have most likely went to war with France. So if they wanted to stay neutral, they would have refused the offer.
I love how History Matters clears up things in minutes that I've wondered about for years.
Sadly moping through the flower field was a fantastic subversion of your own running joke!
Keep it coming, HistoryMatters! You're the best!
Nice video. Do you plan on talking about either the Algerian War, the Sino-French War or the Paris Commune ?
Yesss, Sino-French war was nuts
Français ne soyons plus esclaves!
FYI it's pronounced al-zass, and the language spoken there is one of the alemanche dialects, more similar to Swiss German than to German.
Alsace-Lorraine: We're french again
Adolf: Hold my Munich beer
245 likes?! WOW thank you so much!
@@pancakemacbuttery9142 Hitler, I apllied a bit of autocensorship, just in case
@@pancakemacbuttery9142 Really man?
Charles de Gaulle: Hold my wine!
Winston Churchill: Let go of my whiskey!
I thought Bulldog was more a brandy-type
My great grandparents came from Mulhouse (Mülhausen) in the early 1900’s. My grandpa told me that they generally considered themselves as Germans and we consider ourselves a family of German immigrants. But on our records they put down their nationalities as ‘Alsatian’ all the way up to the 1960’s. It’s almost as if they didn’t even consider themselves Germans or French at all. I could tell they had a lot of love and pride for Alsace and I can relate too for being proud of being from the southern United States. I hope I get to visit this region soon and Europe.
French men: bonjour🙂
German soldier: Also hast du den Tod gewählt🔫😑
I'm swiss and can you imagine how interesting it'd be if the Kaiser said yes.
I live in alsace and I also wonder alot
100% chance France would have tried taking it back
My great-grandma changed nationality four times in her lifetime despite never going anywhere: Deutsches Reich until 1921, independent Saargebiet 1921-1935, Deutsches Reich again 1935-1947, independent Saarland 1947-1957, and German Federal Republic until her death.
Why did you call modern Germany by its english name, but earlier states by their german name
My great grandfather was born there, I know his father and brother lived with him. He was born around 1835, but by about 1870, he'd married a woman in Canada. He was German (very German first and last name, but I read somewhere that he said that he was French. Some of this is from free ancestor information sites online, so I don't know if he really thought himself French. But moving from Alsace to Canada might mean that he wanted to stay French. The woman he married had the last name Nichols, I believe she was German, also. I had wanted to live there for years, then finding that he was born there, maybe I'm meant to go back?
I m from India.. I studied a chapter on my 12th class (the last lesson) which is written by Alphonso daudet.. Where a little boy name franz telling his last day of his France language school.. After studied that chapter i feel so sad about France people who lived in 1871..
France conquered the region in 1648. When the army was in vienna to defend the city from the turks france invaded the kingdom of lorraine who was a german ally AND alsace.
peace to india and hope there wont be fight with china
@@ishouldbestudyingrightnow5368 Yes bro.. And bro this is Record that india doesn't attack first to any Country... And if Anyone Attack first to india Then we will Destroy that Country Just like Corona Country China and Pakistan...
@@ishouldbestudyingrightnow5368 Lorraine was not a kingdom but a duchy. The duchy didn't rule all the Lorraine area.
@@ishouldbestudyingrightnow5368 Vienna wasn't threatened by the Turks in 1648. It was in 1683.
One of My Great-Great grandfather (3 out of 8 were Alsacians) was a "Malgré-nous". That means "Against-us". It was the name that alsacians gave to those of them who were enrolled against their will in the Deutsches Heer. The two others hid for years in a barn or in a cellar to avoid being enrolled in the German army.
"Totally settled forever " 🤣🤣🤣
The french when Germany invades Alsace Lorraine:
"Stop, you're trying to kidnap what I've rightfully stolen!"
@Clear Kim Elsaß Lothringen is german
@@MrDonut-ch8dr Elsass is Elsass, not german, not french, Elsass
@Clear Kim why should it? Alsace lorraine was german speaking since the end of the roman empire and the french conquered it in 1700 when the HRE was weak and couldn't defend it.
Elsass Frei
@Clear Kim at what point did the world stay like it was?
Literally never in History
Impact to life for Frenchmen in the Alsace Lorraine after annexation by Germany? The first thing that came to my mind is THE LAST LESSON by Alphonse Daudet. I learned about this story when I was in junior high and made a deep impression on me. It fascinated me so much that I went on to learn about the Franco-Prussian War and the unique history of the Alsace Lorraine region.
Wasnt the last german veteran of ww1 actually a Elsasser,his name was Karl something,when Elsass became Alsace again he changed his name to Charles and i think he joined the French army in ww2 Bizarre times.
If this is true we NEED a video immediatly 🤯
@historymatters
0:55 “well”
The video contained some important facts, but not all of them. The most important: When France first occupied Alsace and the german-speaking part of Lorraine, they were part of the first reich. That was during the 1600s. It seems that France had (like Prussia/Germany) a drang nach osten (drive to the east). And mind you: The german term for Lorraine is Lothringen - not 'Löthringen' .)
The not-skipping through flowers at 1:11 is great lol.
Stay well out there everybody, and God bless you friends. :)
Great sum-up.
What do you think about a video about Alsace Lorraine's neighbour Saarland, who was passed between french and german controll as well, under "french"/international control/influence after WW1 and WW2? ^^
was mostly used by France as war reparation and coal mining . Unlike Alsace Lorraine, france never seriously planned on anexing the territory as it was 100% german.
@@Marhakon I know (I'm from the region), but still things like Hitler's effort to regain the territory and especially and especially the way it was handled after WW2 and the election over the "Saarstatut" (the idea europe-isation of the region as neither german nor french) still make for an interesting topic nonetheless^^
(Though there were people and groups with that goal in mind)
@@geheimleise it would be a nice subject to study on nonetheless
Nice idea, I always wondered what really happened during the French occupation of the Saarland after WW2.
@@Marhakon not what I heard, after WW2 they did start making all the streetsigns in french and invested money in the region to persuade them to become french..
Life in Elsaß
0500: Alemanns
0700: Franks
0843: midfrank
0870: german
0913: french
0925: german
1648: french
1871: german
1918: french
1940: german
1945: french
.. thats why you should think things through, when writing the last will. (i am looking to you Louis the Pious) ^^
The alsace area is amazing to visit, definitely worth a couple of days if you're ever close by!
My great great grandmother was borned french, under german rule in lorraine and died in the 60's. When people Ask her about german she used to say :" oh the germans we know them every 30 years they Come steal our silverware"
My dad's side of the family is from this region they moved to the USA in late 1800s. What a turbulent place in 19th and 20th centuries.
Please make a video on the Republic of China from 1911 to 1949. Please accept my request.
You can suggest an idea and but ultimately he lets the community (sometimes patreon sometimes youtube) vote on what gets made. He might list it as a voting option.
Ekmal Sukarno bro there are tons of videos on that in the Between Two Wars series from Timeghost’s channel
dare to make a video about Germany between 1945 and 1951, especially 1945 to 1948
Maybe do a video on the british vietnam, the Malay emergency.
Definitely.
@@HistoryMatters Wooo thats the first Heart i've gotten from a youtuber, love your videos keep up the great work!
That sounds interesting...
more interesting than the Aden bloodbath
I wouldn’t exactly call it “Britain’s Vietnam” because unlike the Americans, they comparatively succeeded, and no communist regime ever ruled in Malaysia
There's just something about the looming "Soon!" signs.😁
I love your channel keep up the great stuff!!!
"The issue is settled forever."
For now.
Next time France take rhenanie too, as it should be.
Sams Alsace Lorraine don’t want to be german and Germany don’t have the power to take it.
@@colonelkurtz5397 It's just a joke bro. And moreover, nothing is set in stone.
Sams I know, but after seeing like 100 000 comments of kaiserboo, it starts to be annoying (i live in alsace lorraine) and anyway, Germany and France are good friends, and no one in Europe want to start another war..
@@colonelkurtz5397 I don't know what kaiserboo is and I won't even ask since it sounds like bad news. Here's to continued peace in Europe, tschüss!
First I wondered, what you mean by "Alsace Lorraine", but then it hit me, "Aaaaah", you meeeaan "Elsass Lothringen"! 😂👌
Cope
I'm from Alsace Lorraine
Solar Dwarf Not anymore
Solar Dwarf it’s for your own good ;) let’s just focus on being friends and stop fighting over this, there are no borders between our countries anymore
Solar Dwarf ok then just have fun with your unrealistic fantasies
Solar Dwarf forgive me senpai
Solar Dwarf Wololo
Could you do one about the Germans who were deported from eastern Germany e.g. Pomerania after WWII ? I understand that most of them were killed. Related video could be about how Poland was redrawn westward.
Been really enjoying these styles of videos recently!
What about "Life in Carpathian Ruthenia"?
Dear god
Same story with german speaking Belgians. The regian looks very German and got German influences but they say they are more proud to be Belgian.
In Lothringen people clearly wanted to be French but in Elsaß a majority (at least in 1914) wanted to stay German.
The video also omits that the people were unhappy with their treatment by some of the soldiers there but were very much not so with the Emperor (maybe out of necessity but who knows)
not true the germans there are happy to be ignored and most have dual citizenship and go to aachen for shopping and to german universities for higher education. It is closer to the german life than to the belgium (I met some and their french was non existing).
If someday Belgium breaks away Germany could take the land back.
What does being Belgian even mean? You live in the land that is called belgium and have papers saying you have a right to be there? That’s all it means to be Belgian?
Small correction to the whole video, it is Alsace-Moselle which was annexed and not Alsace-Lorraine (80% of Lorraine remained French, only a small part, Moselle was annexed).
Yes, but in fact the annexed part was called "Alsace-Lorraine/Elsaß-Lothringen" by both countries between 1871 and 1919! The notion of "Alsace-Moselle" is more a post-Great War concept, maybe for describing the body of laws specific to the departments of Alsace (Haut-Rhin/Bas-Rhin) and Moselle : "Droit local d'Alsace-Moselle".
@@nicolas2419 Lorraine or Lothingen in German has a thousand year old history before the annexation and its territory has never had anything to do with Moselle alone (the historical capital of Lorraine being even Nancy, not in Moselle), in short to speak of the concept of Alsace-Lorraine remains a historical error even if this error was common at the time and to continue to convey it is rather problematic (I am from Lorraine and I am a little tired of explaining that my ancestors were not German at that time)
@@nifixer7026We say Elsaß-/Elsass-Lothringen (Alsace-Lorraine) because we don't care about artificial French Départements.
I love that "totally settled forever" with a strange little mustached guy saying soon😅
0:09 It's Elsass-Lothringen in german.
I live in Strasburg and the problem has always been that Germany base it's identity on an ethnic criteria while in France we base ourselves on an 'alliegance' criteria.
- Alsace though being culturaly Germanic without a doubt is purely French.
- The region was one of the bggest contributor of the French revolution
- The French anthem was first sang in Strasburg
- The Marshal Kellerman of Alsace led the French army to defend it against Austrians and Prussians at the battle of Valmy which was a founding battle in the revolutionary imaginary.
- After that the region was one of the most pro-Empire, at a point that Napoléon III tried his first coup in Strasburg
- And after the anexation, the kaiser whilhelm admitted himself that the re-Germanization of the region was a failure.
- Finally in WW2, one of the first resistance group that pledged alliegance to Général De Gaulle was "La main noire" in Strasburg.
Tu aurais pu faire la traduction française =/ pour les handicapés comme moi qui malgré mon niveau anglais plutôt bon, n'arrivent pas à traduire
@@Raisonnance. Tiens, c'est cadeau (Ou pour les suivants qui parlent pas trop anglais) :
J'habite à Strasbourg et le problème a toujours été que l'Allemagne base son identité sur des critères ethniques alors qu'en France, nous nous basons sur des critères d' "alliegance".
- L'Alsace, bien que culturellement germanique sans aucun doute, est purement française.
- La région a été l'un des plus grands contributeurs de la révolution française.
- L'hymne français a été chanté pour la première fois à Strasbourg.
- Le maréchal Kellerman d'Alsace a conduit l'armée française à la défendre contre les Autrichiens et les Prussiens lors de la bataille de Valmy qui fut une bataille fondatrice dans l'imaginaire révolutionnaire.
- Par la suite, la région fut l'une des plus favorables à l'Empire, à tel point que Napoléon III tenta son premier coup d'Etat à Strasbourg.
- Et après l'annexation, le kaiser whilhelm a admis lui-même que la re-germanisation de la région était un échec.
- Enfin, lors de la seconde guerre mondiale, l'un des premiers groupes de résistance à avoir prêté serment d'allégeance au Général De Gaulle fut "La main noire" à Strasbourg.
Why has France tried to assimilate the German speakers by forbidding the German language in school for example? I mean why would they do that if the population identifies as french? For me it seems that the French government tried to destroy the germanic parts of the regions culture.
@@nopenein5514 I think it's partially for the same reasons as the Germans did : To prevent anti-french spies and to force the German-speaking populations who emigrated there during german occupation to assimilate faster into the Republic. Mind you Alsace-Lorraine is not a specific case ; forcing a national French language has been going on in all other regions of France for centuries, to facilitate local trades and to unite the country under a single banner.
Also, it takes way more than banning a language to destroy a culture. If it was so easy, the other regions of France wouldn't be so distinctly different from each other (Just compare Occitania to Normandy, for example.)
@@nopenein5514 This is a misconceptions for several reasons :
1 - Alsace was annexed in 1648, before the revolution all the regions of France had their language or dialect and nobody cared. The shift occured decades after the French revolution with something called "Jacobinism" which aimed at centralizing and formating all the regions. As a consequence the regional dialect disapeared not only Alsatian (Breton, Occitan, Franco-provençal,...).
2 - Overall France didn't try to destroy the local culture, for instance, most building destroyed during the wars have been rebuilt as they were during the Holy Roman Empire period. If they had wanted, they could've rebuild Parisian style with massive avenues etc, but they didn't they kept they local architecture.
PS : Alsatian don't speak German, the dialect is intelligible with Southern German (Swäbisch, more precisely there is inter-comprehension in the Black forest region and Stuttgart but not further) but Northern German (Hochdeutsch) cannot communicate much with Alsatian from my experience.
I'm 50% Corsican 50% Alsacien(don't know how to say in english). still 100% Baguette
My great-great grandfather was from Alsace. His surname (my mom's surname) was Koenig. They identified as French, however, and were Catholics. I guess when tensions got high, he left Alsace and immigrated to the US, settling in Cajun country south Louisiana. Not sure if he had associates and relatives in Louisiana, or just ended up at the port of New Orleans by coincidence and decided to stick around. His name was Alphonse Koenig (my grandfather was Claude Koenig)...if any distant Alsatian relatives are here, would love to connect.
It's a nice surname which means king it has two spellings in German König Koenig
Koenig is a very common surname in Alsace.
Soon!!!!
Very interesting video !
I am Alsacian, and I live in Alsace. We mostly speak French out but inside the house and with family, Alsacian is used, combined with some French words.
The older Alsacian said that they feel always French, no matter the years or centuries, no matter if they are German. They always want to be French.
But before ww1 i think the most people not
@@0msreactiontime it is the same since centuries, even Alsace was German
What is true for your family is not necessarily so for the others yes there are many who feel French For others it doesn't matter and some would have preferred to remain German especially before the Nazi period France like Germany brought us both their share of misfortune so above all we are Alsatians /
I’m glad these historical points of friction are settled forever. Don’t want it to bleed over into another episode.
Hey thanks for this video and the Franco Prussian war video both of these are helping me HUGELY on my final history project
To be fair, when France took Elßas Lothringen in the palatin heritage war 1697 after 900 years in the german empire, it was also not very helpfull for the relations between the countrys...
Exept Germany wasn't a country. France even had help from German state such as Bavaria
@@mathieuvigne7336 brittany was also not a indipendent county but france was pretty furious when england took it with the help from the french principality of gascogne and calais.
And germany was in that time nearly as much as a federalist country as the usa in the early 19century
@@jojo-bl1dj Principality of Gascogne (duchy of Guyenne maybe?) doesn't exist, neither does the Principality of Calais. And it was more than 200 years before, and even tho Britanny wasn't French, it was a vassal of the French king. The matter wasn't about gaining or losing territories, but losing vassals. Exept Germany wasn't a country, because when every states is independant it's not called a country.
@@mathieuvigne7336 im very sorry that my english is not good enough to differentitate the royal dependences of medieval france but next time when i learn a new language i try to set my priority right. And btw all german states of the HRE were technically vassals of the emperor. And why it shoud matter if it happend 200 years before. Genocide is a crime wich dosnt expire.
0:28 "though the majority of them spoke German, that didn't mean they wanted to be part of Germany." Well that's certainly true. Most of my ancestors were from that region and fled around the time of the Franco Prussian War.
*Alsace-Moselle
Agreed, Moselle was mostly french as Alsace was mostly german.
Le Macaron Most of the German Alsatians came from Switzerland, invited by Louis XIV, to repopulate Alsace after the population was decimated during the Thirty Years War. They had their own distinct dialect, Elsass, just as Flemish or Dutch are distinct dialects. My family was among them, coming from Thurgau and Appenzell.
@@Marhakon No, they were both French. And still are.
@@Marhakon Nope, in Moselle we were spoken a germanic dialect
@@11thstalley96 the Alsatian dialect is also close to the Alemannic dialects spoken in Baden
Don't forget that along with Bavaria, with the German Revolution of 1918, an Soviet/Council Republic of Alsace-Lorraine was proclaimed in November 1918 and disbanded by the French army.
Have an alsatian friend. He feels french in his blood
The mother tongue of the people in Elsass-Lothringen was and will always be German. It should be no problem for the great Europeans in Paris to establish a second language in that region like in Luxemburg, Belgium or Switzerland.
Yes.
Lol, they speak french
Clear Kim Their mother tongue is German.
@@KaimarkLifestyle no : Alsacian for the people of Alsace... I live in the lorraine part but I know damn well that alsacian hate to be called german.
We can still learn german and alsacian in school.
@@mrgreenfr6216 I never said that Elsass-Lothringen shall go back to Germany. The people will make their own decision without Paris or Berlin. The roots of the people there is German and not French, that is a fact. Hating and denying the own roots is never a good idea. The history of Germany is much more than the time between 1933 and 1945.
Fun fact:Otto Von Bismarck are against the annexation of Elsaß-Lothringen.
I agree. Bismarck did not want gave France a reason to take revange. His goal was the unification of Germany under the leadership of Pressia.
I remember my NCERT English lesson "The Last Lesson" (Actually the first lesson of the book)
The well gag was so fast it took me a few to process it and finally sensibly chuckle at it
Under a purely border's beautifulness prospective it's hard to decide who should have this region:
The German Empire's border feels incomplete without it, but France's border looks ugly without it.. maybe giving them Wallonia as compensation could set it better.
But then both french and german borders look weird
give me all up to the rhin itll look magnificent !
@@Marhakon *Wacht am Rhein intensifies*
Old reflexes...
France without is just...impossible
The Germans did get back the Saarland via a referendum. Saarland had historically been ruled by France in one way or another.
0:05 semi automatic cannon
Mitrailleuse