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I won't comment on gameplay as a whole but graphics at least with regards to ships model is outright bad compared to how war thunder models looks like.
One side effect of the war was that, thanks to Napoleon III having to withdraw troops,it allowed Italy to finally capture Rome and complete Italian unification
@@nuraby_9228 Italy told Germany in 1936-39 that it wasn't ready for war and needed time to prepare, but Germany attacked Poland in 1939 anyway without even a single day of warning to the italians. Germany played itself in ww2 just like did in ww1
@@nuraby_9228what are you talking about 😂 France was absolutely destroyed in WWII, conquered by USA and losses all the colonies after that. Italy wasn't really happy to have to deal with a new continental military superpower, and tried to build a way to go outside the Mediterranean sea well conscious that it was a problem for Germany. Plus, papal state was a strong ally for France, after that they lose influence on the Italian peninsula
@@Augustus_ImperatorGermany would not have gained anything by waiting, Britain, France, the Soviets and especially the USA had ramped up military production in anticipation of a war. There is no way they could have kept scaling up the size of their military to match
@@Sam-es2gf A competent military ally in the geographical position of the center mediterranean might have proven very useful instead of facing everything and everyone alone. The last things the US wanted was a new war in Europe and France didn't want a war either and wasn't preparing for one because the people didn't want it. If Germany after taking Austria and Czechoslovakia would have better integrated their economies in a single block and gave time for Italy to prepare things might have ended up better for them. That's from a purely military perspective of course, from an historical prospective a German victory would have been disastrous for humanity, luckily they lost the war.
This war also affected the evolution of the Japanese army. Japan used France as the model army to develop the Japanese army. There were many French military advisors hired by Japan. Even the Japanese Army theme march was written by a French. But after France lost, the Japanese switched to the Prussians as the model army. Even though Japan and Germany were on opposite sides in WW1 and Japan annexed the lost German colonies, Japan had a favorable view of Germans.
Humm, model for the last samurai 's😁storytelling is a French military, artillery. Even thought they have switched over, Japanese have already known the legendary French instructor. Unfortunately, it is not a storytelling for uneducated US people and moreover so for the rest of the world and Hollywood's is a good brain washer. Concerning Europe and France, all movies are historically known as trash.
Wasn't the Continental Army (and subsequently the U.S. Army) modeled, to no small degree, by a certain Captain of the Prussian Army? I believe, he is still celebrated with a holiday and an annual parade in New York. ;)
Hmm. So, France had a smaller economy? A smaller population? A smaller army? Were outnumbered on the battlefield? Demographics effects things overall in a small way it hardly makes for a French defeat against Prussia a guarantee. It is more an explanation for why France fell further behind the new German Empire even if that was bound to happen in anycase.
France had quite a high baseline population. In the Middle Ages for instance it had about 20M inhabitants vs 2M for England. Germany was absolutely ravaged during the 30 years war and remained a regular battle ground.
@@michaelthomas5433 *In 1820, France had 30 million inhabitants, compared to the 22 million of the future German empire (not counting Alsace Lorraine).* *In 1914, the French population was 40 million compared to the 67 million of the German Empire (counting Alsace Lorraine).* *If France had had demographic growth equal to that of Germany, its population would have been at least double, 80 million.* *Interestingly, in 1820 France was already suffering low birth rates (effects of early secularization and the massive casualties of the Napoleonic Wars).* *In fact, in 1870 the French population was 38 million and Germany's 41 million (not a very large disparity).* *I estimate that if France had not suffered low birth rates, its population would have been in the region of 50 million in 1870.*
@@vandalosafadis7489 And I said as much. I also said that was not why France lost the war to Prussia which is true. You're playing the "what if" game. And that game can be rigged to favour anyone's view.
I will answer in French : non, c'est une erreur de votre part. La France fut longtemps plus peuplée que la Germanie. Les troupes françaises avaient l'habitude d'avancer en terre allemande, où elles étaient rejointes par leurs traditionnels alliés contre les prussiens, les bavarois et d'autres pays allemands. La démographie française a changé au 19ème siècle, et les régiments bavarois sont traditionnellement des troupes d'élite. Les français de cette guerre ne sont pas aussi rudes que leurs prédécesseurs. Et leurs officiers sont mauvais. En bref rien de commun avec le passé, à cet instant t, il s'agit d'une rupture.
@@FriggeriJean-Marc-bl5kfwasn't france always more sparsely populated than germany? It's moreso that the disunity of german states kept them weak and that frances strong centralization made them strong than it has anything to do with population size. As the saying goes "Prussia is not a state with an army but rather an army with a state." Similarly France was moreso a city with a state than a state with cities. That impressive centralization made France incredibly strong. Only in the late 18th and early 19th century did other states catch up.
@@verySharkey historically speaking france was alaways more densely populated than germany, only after the napoleonic wars did Germany catch up and eventually overtake france in that regard
@@dario-zg1jy Okay I just had to google that now and it turns out you are correct! So thanks for clearing that up for me. There are some considerations to be made that see German lands have greater population than france though. Starting in 1000. AD if we consider all the lands inside the holy roman empire as German then here those lands would be more populous than france. Similarly just around 15000 Germany is about to overtake France in population growth and the simple addition of Austria or the lowlands would see Germanys population eclipse frances only for the 30 years war to reduce german population by a fourth.
@@verySharkey please make sure of this. France was more populated since the times of Gallia and thus many German countries were politically connected to France, like Baden wurtemberg, Bavaria, bar le duc, Metz, Nancy, because of territories attached to their kings or prince's more than to a nation. Prince's of France owned a part of Italian territory, which was not a nation.
Bismarck certainly was waiting for an opportunity to unite German south by defesnive war with an outside enemy (France). He didn't orchestrate it to be this specific occassion but when the situation became a crisis he did what he could to making it a war.
@@electricspeedkiller8950 Well, at first he was against the Kaiser trying to promote a German King in Spain and talked him out of it. The topic was almost settled until Bismarck realized the Frenchs' nationalist press campaign again just the mere scenario of it happening. It wasn't until then that Bismarck saw and exploited the opportunity in full and begun spinning the further development which ultimately led to the Ems depeche, that played exactly on the French nationalist press and the French Defense Minister's(?) arrogance and incompetence.
Fun Fact: The French people who left Alsace-Lorraine after the Franco-Prussian War found new homes in Algeria, where the colonial government granted them the lands they seized from the Amazigh tribes that revolted against the French colonial authority as spoils of wars and have the local Amazigh tribes that partiticipated in the insurrection deported elsewhere, namely to France and New Caledonia.
@@Wanwan-mq3jw My guess is that they would have been reclassified as “Pied-Noirs”. There’s a bit of a political rabbit hole there I read up on years ago but barely remember now.
The outcome war of 1870/71 should have been clear from the start actually. Firstly, the French were so bold - or rather stpuid - to give Bismarck what he wanted. They declared war first, thus bringing the southern german states into the conflict on Prussias side - since they feared a victorious france. Second, the prussian army had fought 2 succesful campains a few years prior. First against the danes and then against the austrians. So most of their soldiers had gained crucial combat experienced. Needles to say that their equipment was top notch and tested in battle. So in the end, the french were outmanned, outgunned and outmanouevered. Actually, i cannot fathom how Napoleon III and his advisors thought they could beat Prussia in an open conlict.
This is todays perspective and one sided, too. 1st: German states needed time to mobilize whilst French had their army of the Rhine ready at the frontier. 2nd: French Chassepot rifle was seen as superior and in fact it was on almost every aspect. Also French were proud of Mitrailleuse though it had nothing more than some propaganda effect, because it was used with unfitting tacticts, seen as artillery instead of infantry strongpoints. 3rd: First battles - especially the one at Wissembourg - were lost due to leadership failures. To be more precise the lack of leadership. They weren't outgunned at all. The Army of the Rhine still waiting for orders to cross the German border was still in offensive position when German troops attacked. Nevertheless Wissembourg - the battle which ended all dreams to invade Prussia - shows in detail that French equipment did its job well. They were outnumbered, but especially for Bavarian troops it was hell. Still when battle started they could've sent reenforcement, but noone gave order. So, for me in both wars, 1870 and 1940, high command failed to do its job properly.
The south Germans didn't fear a french victory. They feared a Prussian victory without their involvement or even against a French-South German alliance. Bavaria estimated that a french victory would lead to them losing the Pfalz (Palatinate), a Prussian victory without Bavarian involvement would lead to the end of Bavaria just like Hannover was annexed 5 years prior.
Napoleon impulsively declared war because he thought that Austria-Hungary and the southern German states would ally with him owing to their own enmity with Prussia. Napoleon miscalculated badly because: 1. His declaration of war actually caused the southern German states to ally with Prussia/The North German Confederation. Why? Among other things, they feared the possibility that if France won the war, then what was to stop the French from going after them next? 2. Franz Joseph did consider allying with France,but the Hungarians wanted no part of the war,so he sat it out The Prussian military had better leadership,they were better organized, and could get troops and equipment to the frontlines faster due it's advanced(at the time) system of railroads. The end of the war forced France to rebuild its military from the ground up,it had the #2 army in the world by 1914.
@@thoth5689 On his foreign policy in the end, he made fatal mistakes, it's true. But on his domestic policy, he is the man who massively transformed France into a modern nation.
World Of Warships is NOT a historical naval game at all. It's an arcade game, there is nothing 'historical' about it apart from some ship models of ships that actually existed mixed in with many that didn't.
The reason why Austria-Hungary chose not to join the war on France's side was because the Hungarians wanted no part of it. Also a big part of why Napoleon III impulsively declared war was because he thought that the south German states would be on his side owing to their long standing enmity with Prussia
@@davidwarburton2915 He was being very impulsive to say the least. I can only imagine the conversation when the southern German states entered the war: French official: "Sire,I have good news and bad news." Napoleon III: "What's the good news?" French official : "The south German states are entering the war." Napoleon III: "What's the bad news?" French official: "They're siding with Prussia." Napoleon III: "Merde, there goes the empire."
Napoleon III himself was very much uninterested in war. His cabinet and wife were at the forefront of the warmongering. His political situation was precarious already (as u can tell with his capture leading to the overthrow of his government.) He was already sick and aware that he had to strengthen his government to assure his son could follow him to the throne. His wife especially pushed him towards war because she desired for her son to be secured as the next emperor. Napoleon III even went so far as to suggest peaceful negotiations to resolve the crisis however shortly after his ministers ans wife convinced him to give in and declare war. A win in war would secure his governments legitimacy and empower them to stop their rivals.@@davidwarburton2915
You forget that austria didn't loose any land when they lost the austro prussian war. They ended the conflict in good terms. Therefore there was nothing to take back and furthermore reduces the will to join france.
Also to point out: It wasn't Bismarck's idea to annex Alsace-Lorraine,but rather the army's. Bismarck knew it would really piss France off something fierce and he was right as it necessitated putting together a system of alliances to isolate France
@@rezaganjizadeh4263 no a major factor of France revenchism was for alsace-loraine if Germany don t take it After a few year France would forget it and would je more easy to apease everyone about the might of Germany
The founder of the German Empire Otto von Bismarck was always spelled with ck at the end. The Palatinate north of Alsace was Bavarian, not Prussian from 1815 on and thus not part of the North German Confederation.
France had powerful innovations in politics and economics. These reforms gave it the power to repeatedly beat Germany. Half a century later, the Germans had learned modern nation-state management, and bested the French. By world war I, the Germans would even be more powerful than the mighty British Empire. The rise of Germany is always worth studying about and changed the course of modern history.
Malheureusement cette puissance détruisait tout sur son passage, et même les pays bas neutres dans cette WWI était pro français, émus par la résistance de l:armée française et par les destructions faites suite à l'avancée des troupes allemandes. Ces mêmes allemands qui ont laissé des champs de ruine, et des immeubles minés. Ils ont mécontente même ceux qui avaient des sympathies pour eux, et qui savaient que cette guerre avait été désirée par la Grande Bretagne, la Russie et la France. Une guerre WWI qui est le suicide des européens, et l'enrichissement des profiteurs de guerre, ainsi que l'organisation de la reddition des troupes allemandes décidée par les politiciens. C'est sûr que le soldat allemand a reçu l'ordre de se rendre sans avoir été vaincu, mais le minage des bâtiments et hôtels qui vont exploser entraînant des morts supplémentaires dans les départements de france occupée et désertée par les allemands montrent que la guerre est sale et rend les hommes salauds, où complètement défaillant comme le pauvre héros de "à l'ouest, rien de nouveau".
Si il fallait unir tout les germains d'Europe, il faudrait aller un peu partout de l'Espagne à la Roumanie, des territoires du nord Est de l'Europe d'où les populations allemandes ont été chassées, du Sud de la Scandinavia à la grande Bretagne qu'on pourrait appeler la Battenbergia. On pourrait même y ajouter un peu de Russes de Saint Petersburg, et quelques nord Africains descendants des invasions germaniques, sans oublier Rome et Naples qui furent souabes. La Bretagne française eut un sueve comme roi ainsi que la Galice espagnole :Ludwig. Ludwig est transformé en Louis en France. On en a eu seize, sans compter les autres dont des Charles et des François.
Ironically, Bismarck had been saved from drowning by a Frenchman named Pierre Lafleur in 1862 off the coast of Biarritz, in the Basque Country. I wonder if the rescuer morally made the right choice, but if it pissed off Bismarck to have been saved by a Frenchman.
Right. After the total defeat of Napo I, Napo III establish a country similar to former East Germany Democracy : behind everyone, informers and policemen making reports of diary activities and speeches of any French citizen. Under this regime, French poor increase was growing fast, and jails were full of people who looked alike kolyma's prisoners.
3:55 its so funny that we blame the germans for "provoking" a war, but dont consider the french demands that preceeded it a provocation at all... Its like hearing flat-earthers do mental gymnastics.. If germany declares war its germanys fault, if someone declares war on germany its germanys fault Imagine a world where the french Emperor didnt declare war on north germany, how anyone can say he had no other choice is in a realm beyond logic and reason.. The other choice was to not attack Its plainly obvious that the french emperor wanted the rhineland, they wanted european dominance, its not about the EMS dispatch, thats pure propaganda
Napoleon III definitely wanted more than he could handle. And since he was the one that technically declared on NGF, it was a lot easier for the Germans to stop other countries from supporting France (since they were seen as the aggressors)
France was an aggressive empire and it attacked parts of the HRE empire regularly starting in the 1600s if not earlier. The Alsace had been annexed by about 1700. The castle in Heidelberg is a ruin because the French didn't want it to stand, so they invaded and tore it down. Same with the city of Mannheim. Napoleon Bonaparte continued the expansion eastward and basically conquered all of Germany. The Prussians were holding out in the extreme Northeast. After Napoleon's failure in Russia, the various German states mobilzed and their rulers switched sides. German history calls those the "Wars of Liberation" that eventually led to Waterloo. After that, the German wanted Alsace back, which they got after the Franco- Prussian war. My ancestors left Alsace and SW Germany when Napoleon Bonaparte wanted to conscript them to go fight the Russians.
I didn’t get that impression. France were the aggressors, he even mentioned how the French Empress was war hungry as well. I see Napoleon III as having an inflated ego (looking at his blunders in Mexico too) and Bismarck being a shrewd leader who’s not going to give up an opportunity to turn an enemy blunder to his advantage.
@@TheCsel *The narrator tries to sound neutral at first by saying "whether Germany provoked France into war or not is still debated amongst historians", but then went on with the video outright stating it as though it was a fact. Not to mention blaming the Germans for the French being "insulted" by their demands being refused.* The war between the brothers was started by the French, and provoked entirely by the French.
It's always the case just look at WWI & WWII Germany was defensive in both and tried to call for peace talks yet gets blamed for everything. At astounds me how many people take propganda as history.
Another fact ist that the "German" army was an army of conscripts. The french army was an all professional army. But it is something different to fight Arabian tribes or an determined people which want to end centuries of french invasions forever. At least they ended them for nearly 44 years and started the best times for Germany in history
Don't feel bad for the people of Paris they wanted to continue the fight they were hiding in the city, and they fortified it and they didn't even think about peace until it got way too bad for them
considering how badly france was already losing the war they probably wouldnt want to surrender and potentially give up french sovereignty in a war that they started
Bismarck very well noted a characteristic of ALL dictatorial government in the government of the second French empire. "A dictator never takes someone more intelligent than himself into his government, for fear that he will overthrow him." and no one has ever said that Napoleon III was very exceptionally intelligent...... Moreover, Napoleon III, weakened by illness, was unable to stop some of his less intelligent ministers and none saw Bismark's maneuver. Result: less than 15 days between the incident and the declaration of war, it is very very short Another BIG shortcoming of France, the high French military hierarchy was not necessarily very competent; certain ranks of colonel, commander or even general being "offered" like one distributes candy, and not at all according to the real and proven skills of the candidate.....
After the napoleonic wars they couldnt imagine Prussia that strong. Moltke and Bismarck had prepared this long ago by building railroads.. so their deployment was much faster. They stepped into a trap
They lost the land they originated in They don't own any of the original Prussian lands, just the lands Prussia unified under itself Poland currently owns a majority of Prussia
They only really have now are the lands that were unified by Prussia through bloody wars, such a shame really, loosing the very land of Germany where it all started.
@@Zeroneii3Germans didn't orgiginate in Prussia, Prussia originated in Prussia. If you tell a German here in Bavaria that they originated from Prussia they'd spit in your face
people still think germany was the agressor in ww1, austria hungary declared war first, and after gotten too lose in that war they called germany as an ally in, germany just joined their ally, got punished for it and too this day is seen by many as the agressor in ww1. if austria did not call the german in gemany wouldn`t be part of ww1 at all.
One word and cause : demography. It explains by itself much of the victories and defeat of any countries. Why France was so victorious throughout history ? Because 1/3 of the europeans were French. Why Germany won over France since Napoléon ? Because Germany as a higher demography than France since that time. Of course other factors came into acount, but it's the major one.
the qing empire had 30% of the world population yet lost against european powers whit 30million people each… sometimes you just gotta admit they sucked
France and the German states had a similar demographic in 1870. French mobilization however was much slower, and less effective in raising the needed number of people.
From accounts I have read, losing this war plunged France into such a depressed mental state, it was a deep trauma that lasted years, and really motivated France’s vindictive attitude during the Great War’s resolution.
No, the harsh terms the French wanted were never applied. Does this quote ring a bell to you : "This is not peace. It is an armistice for 20 years” ? That's what Marshal Foch of France said as the treaty was being signed. This is the whole story : Marshal Foch considered the Treaty of Versailles to be "a capitulation, a treason" because he believed that only permanent occupation of the Rhineland would grant France sufficient security against a revival of German aggression. However, the British Prime Minister David Lloyd George and the American President Woodrow Wilson objected to the detachment of the Rhineland from Germany so that the balance of power would not be too much in favour of France, but agreed to Allied military occupation for fifteen years, which Foch thought insufficient to protect France. Marshal Foch added later during an interview with the New York Times : “Next time the Germans won't make any mistake. They will invade France from the north and will seize all the ports on the Channel. From there, they will launch attacks against England. We will lose everything if we are not on the Rhine." I would call that a remarkable moment of foresight.
But the Treaty of Versailles was not that harsh, quite the contrary, it was precisely because it was too inconsistent that the Second World War was possible. Over time, the treaty was not respected and was softened during 15 years. “If there is reason to be pessimistic for Europe after the treaty, it is from another point of view than the British economist Mr. Keynes. Indeed, the economic chaos is profound. But the political chaos is even more so. Among a melee of nationalities, there remains Germany, the only homogeneous one, whose weight risks tipping the entire continent. All the considerations of economists will not change the effects of this essential imbalance. As for German militarism, it is intact, and all that will be missing is the opportunity and the man who will set it in motion” _ Jacques Bainville, Historian - 1920.
@@phlm9038 At the same time, the French occupation of the left bank of the Rhine, although provided for by the treaty as you said, is castigated by the Anglo-Saxon media, and part of the leftist French press. In 1929, the German economy - closely linked to that of the Americans - collapsed, the Wall Street stock market crash plunged the Germans into a serious crisis: Crisis on which the Nazi Party prospered to reach power in 1933. Faced with Western democracies sclerotic by fifteen years of pacifism, the Nazis re-initiate massive rearmament. Germany spends - for its rearmament alone - Seven times the sum demanded by France in the Treaty. They took advantage of this to annex territories populated by “Germans” - willingly or by force.
@@tibsky1396 Why did you put "Germans" in your last sentence? Most territories annexed had a german majority or at least a strong german minority in them and could be considered German, with the exception of Bohemia and the inner core of Poland.
"Bismark pinned the french as the agressors" France declared war because a note to their ambassadors was considered "rude". If that isn't enough to be considered the aggressor but it was "pinned" on you, I don't know what will make you the aggressor.
Kinda disagree with the portrayal that the Germans had as a goal to actively push the French into a war. That is just a hypothesis. But the fact that Germany was uniting, and this sending them with a collision course with France, does not mean that the Germans *wanted* a war with France.
Exactly Bismarck had a famously flexible foreign policy and would have preferred France not to be antagonized. But when the opportunity revealed itself he used it
A great fictional rendition of the Prussian siege of Paris may be found in the Gary Jennings novel "Spangle." Buckle up, this is a huge novel, and it takes quite a while to get to the part about the Paris Siege, but the journey is worth it!
@@TheModeler99 La Commune de Paris was a rebellion that happened during that period of time in 1871 and is directly linked to those events between France and Prussia. It lasted 72 days and promoted several progressive laws. It endend in a massacre called la Semaine Sanglante (Bloody Week).
Another possible factor in why France was willing to go to war against Bismarck was a broken promise. See in order to assure France's neutrality during the Austro-Prussian War, Bismarck agreed to support French claims to Belgium and Luxembourg. After the war, France tries to cash in the promise made to it by Bismarck. Bismarck's response: "Yeah, about that..." So France was pretty much itching for a fight
another possible factor was that the french desired the saar and rheinland. France had no legitimate claims to Belgium or Luxembourg, neither had ever been parts of france, and aside from the walloons in belgium had no french speaking population
@@rezaganjizadeh4263 no... flanders are flemish speakers, a germanic language. Flanders is north belgium. Walloons (from wallonia) speak french, like i mentioned in my original comment
@@BorrelaasExcept that, according to History Matters, Bismarck promised to support French claims to Belgium and Luxembourg if they stayed neutral during the Seven Weeks War
French diplomatic victory over Prussia over Spanish succession should be enough compensation. No Belgium for France, no Spain for the Prussian Hohenzollerns. Pretty fair trade if you ask me.
Extremely it was a wonderful historical coverage video about french-prussian war 1875 .created a German empire as a superpower in the heart of the European content
🤣🤣🤣 you are embarrassing yourself. If it weren’t for the Brits\Canadians holding the northern line and US entering the war later the Germans would have marched the streets of Paris three times…go back to school yourself
France beat Prussia in two weeks during Napoleonic Wars, Germany beats France during the Franco-Prussian war, France beats Germany in WWI and would have even without the US since German soldiers had already started breaking before they got involved, no need to talk about the British that mainly did support and logistics (still useful btw not to diminish their usefulness), finally Germany beats France during WWII by winning a dangerous gamble on a massive fluke. That's 2-2 for France against Prusso-Germany, and being very generous considering most conflicts before that got easily won by the French but since it wasn't against what we would consider "modern" Germany it would be a bit unfair to keep that score, no need to fuel German insecurities more than they already are.
True if your understanding of history and international relations hasn't progressed since middle school. The balance of power theory in international relations suggests that states may secure their survival by preventing any one state from gaining enough military power to dominate all others. If one state becomes much stronger, the theory predicts it will take advantage of its weaker neighbors, thereby driving them to unite in a defensive coalition. Germany by having the higher industrial output and high population was able to dominate that period of history.
@@grandmanitou6563 I didn't mention Napoleon, who beat everyone until his Russian Campaign, and as far as WW1 I did not mention the US. Had it not been for Britains\Canadians holding the northern line France loses WW1.
By being the underdog for the last several centuries, Germany thought it might want to step up it's Game and stop being a playground for European Powers.
You mean rare German W ? They usually only won against minor powers and lost every major conflict expect this one and the 7 years war which they barely survived by the skin of their teeth cause the new Russian Tsar was a Prussian fanboy and decided to pull out of the war as soon as he got on the throne. Remember those are the people that got completely conquered in 13 days by the First French Empire.
Great video although from the title, I thought there would be more of an emphasis on the battles and the war itself. The video was more focused on the diplomacy leading up to the war and the cunning of Bizmark to draw France into a war that was both unnecessary and served as the catalyst towards unification.
It's Napoleon who destroys the Holy Roman empire but it's also a Napoleon who created Germany. You lose once you destroy everything your ancestors have accomplished.
But the reverse is even more true, without the French, the Brits and the Americans wouldn't have even dare to send any expeditionnary forces in Western Front. The French maintained the majority of the front for 4 years. Otherwise the British would have experienced a Dunkirk 30 years earlier than expected, and the Americans were only in their infancy as modern army. Basically almost no one could have fought alone...Germany was the big continental power as France was during Louis XIV or Napoleon I's times.
France, Great Britain and Russia had previously concluded a pact to eliminate Germany. Why should they have remained neutral? Germany knew this and had developed the Schliefen Plan to survive the future war on two fronts. However, the Russians had misjudged their troop movement options and as they acted in coordination with the French and invaded East Prussia at the same time, troop contingents were tied up in the east that were lacking in the west for the successful implementation of the Schliefen Plan. Incidentally, the British were aware of the Schliefen Plan, which envisaged a march through neutral Belgium, to which Great Britain had given security guarantees, and so they were quite innocently involved in the war with their Empire.
Rome: we are the absolute power, nobody can take us down. Germanic tribes: hold my beer. French: we are the dominant power in Europe. Habsburg holy Roman empire: Hold My beer French: Ok I swear this time we're the most dominant. German Empire: hold my beer. French: ok if you're going to prove something again please don't be as bad as the great world war. We are too weak to do anything. Nazi Germany: Hold my keg.
Alsace and Lorraine is Germán. French tried European conquest as much as Germans. Not since Charlamenge has she had a good leader. The French origin King Baldwin the 4th of the Kingdom of Jerusalem cannot count because he was bigger than Frankish French, he was one of Christiandoms greatest Kings and defenders after Lord Jesús. We English at that point should have demanded our Territory back, Normandy and the entire Coastline of France down to the Básque Región of France and Spain.
@@lahire4943 i do not drink, smoke, drink Coffee, take medications including Cannabis or illegal hard drugs. Your generalisations are terrible. Many Muslims drink Alcohol and smoke weed without a medical reasons, smoke shisha and take Cocaine or worse yet crack and medical drugs like Xanax or Valium without permission. I see it daily especially with Algerians and Pakistanis and according to Saudí consensus Up to 8% of Muslims there admit to alcohol consumption.
Actually the agreement for annexing Luxembourg had been signed between France and Prussia to ensure France remain neutral during the Austro Prussian war but after the Prussians betrayed their word.
prussia did not own luxembourg and had no power or right to give it to france. That is like me being mad at my sister because she doesnt support me stealing my brothers bike Pure insanity
@@Borrelaasindeed Prussia didnt own Luxembourg. The Netherland did. And they were willing to selling it to France. Prussia initialy agreed to that in exchange for France neutrality. And after threatened with war....
@@leowilly29 i just read up on the topic, the question of luxembourg was settled in the treaty of london of 1867, a treaty france signed where they agreed to luxembourgs neutrality How is that in any way a justification for war on Prussia/North germany?
@@leowilly29 Prussia never agreed that france would have luxembourg. There was never anything written and nothing was formalized The matter was settled in the treaty of london of 1867 anyway How is this relevant?
I think a detail that is missing is that the austrians probably would have joined the french attack, if the prussians would have taken territory off them in the austro-prussian war. If I remember right from my history lessons in school, bismark even threatened to quit if Wilhelm the first would have insisted in humiliating the austrians, by taking territories.
Objectively, the nation and later on the nation-state of France has won more battles and wars in recorded human history... Hell, even English/American is 20% French because of the French-Norman invasion of England of 1066. Lets take a brief look at the military vocabulary in English : battalion, dragoon, soldier, marine, grenadier, guard, officer, infantry, cavalry, army, artillery, corvette, musketeer, carabineer, pistol, fusilier, squad, squadron, platoon, brigade, corps, sortie, reconnaissance/reconnoitre, surrender, surveillance, rendezvous, espionage, volley, siege, terrain, troop, camouflage, logistics, matériel, accoutrements, bivouac, latrine, aide-de-camp, legionnaire, morale, esprit de corps, cordon sanitaire, nom de guerre... All French words. France and England, later Britain, fought 41 wars against each other between the first Anglo-French War in 1109 and the Hundred Days in 1815. In total France won 24 wars, England/Britain won 11 and 6 were a tie. During its history France has participated in 168 major European battles, out of which it won 109, drawn 10 and lost 49, making the country the most successful military power in European history.
@@franckbushbaum9653 Yep, France has the most successful military history on the planet just for that legacy to be utterly destroyed in 1940. Now France is seen as cowardly in popular culture and will probably never get rid of that image. German tankers still meme about it. To be fair the Manstein Plan is among the most successful military operations in history.
@@franckbushbaum9653 how old is germany and how old is france? how many battles did france win how many did germany? while u compare all those numbers please think about that prussias numerous victories arent even included there. you wanna now why your country is a at the top of war statistics? because your an old nation, nothing more nothing less. quantity instead of quality some might say
@@grandmanitou6563 we won every 1v1 we didnt called for help every time we start a war like you britains saved you more than once without the brits you had zero chances
France losing almost Everytime to Germany and even to the UK Napoleon was France only Victor and Hope He alone put down nations 😅 buh he wasn't there again
UK never beat France apart from 7 years war. France had best army in history and beat all European powers combined most of the time since The Franks. Louis XIV, 30 years war, all the wars in the Middle Ages, First World War, Charlemagne etc
Not at all, even before Napoleon since the Frankish periods, Facing France was not considered as fun party. Bonaparte relied largely on a continental power which had already proven itself in previous centuries. He just modernized it during his time. UK always needed coalitions to win a major war, since they hadn't a powerful land army. And German states were too divided to pose a real long-term threat, especially after Thirty Years War. Only the emergence of Prussia was the starting point for Germany as a threat in 19th Century.
@@nuttygeezer708 WW1 is not a good example of "France had best army in history and beat all European powers combined" when they were constantly on the defense against Germany, with the help of the rest of the Entente. The Franks were also a germanic tribe, attributing the Frankish Empire completely to France and not at least also Germany is stupid.
@@ellidominusser1138 It is a very good example as 85% of the western front was manned by the French army. France had army of 8-9 Million on the Western Front, whilst Britain had 4million. France lost 1.7M killed and Britain 750,00. Germans can’t get over the fact they lost to their enemy so try and water French involvement down to make themselves feel better. That’s why they started a Second World War.
They won, it wasn't "so badly". After the first push which was clearly in favor of Prussia, the front stabilized, it simply stabilized in disfavor of France, so they accepted Prussia terms.
@@semiramisubw4864 Your DNA is full of ale and cheddar, and empty of good wine and exquise cheese thats smell tasty French art de vivre. And you ate this pudding last year on even, the which one you are ready to eat on next even, oops so disgusting Mister Johnny English.
impossible if you want to form Germany. Noone just lets Germany peacefully form, the other german states needed a reason to form Germany with Prussia, and France was the reason. mere diplomacy was not gonna get them to join.
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Early on France devastated Prussia with the Chassepot even in defeat but eventually Prussia overwhelmed France with superior numbers and superior artillery
France remained a superpower in the Top 3 anyway, but Germany just took their place as main continental power. Before it was France in Louis XIV and Napoleon I's times, now it was Germany until the fall of the Third Reich.
England always wanted that neither France nor Germany should be the only one continental superpower. And they spied on Russia, too. They gave money to Austria and Hungary to fight against France. They relayed on Turkey and Poland to make a borderline with Russia. Russian nobility was related and allies to Germany, and normally not keen to attack their homeland. The reason were geopolitically correct, however everytime England was responsible for the wars.
The French army sent orders and train tickets to each soldier to summit at certain barracks. There they received their uniforms and a second ticket with which the soldiers travelled to a certain arsenal. There they received their weapons, amunition and a third ticket with which the travelled to their assembly point near the border. So after the declaration of war thousands of soldiers travelled across the land. Nobody had planned to feed the soldiers on their way and soon thousands of soldiers begged for food. It was a big mess all over the country. On the other hand Prussia called the soldiers to meet at certain barracks where they received their entire equipment. Then they marched in platoons to the next train station where they entered trains which ran according to a special military timetable. During the mobilisation all other train transporting had been shut down. The prussians had learned the lessons from the American Civil War with the new key factor of military operations by train. And the french leaders where very bigheaded as the Prussians had perform their former mobilisation during the Austro-Prussian War in 1866 in the same way as in 1870 and the French commanders where aware of it.
European history before the 21st century is confusing as hell but still cool to kinda know. Like what are German states? German type countries that speak German with some differences in the language but oppose them being united? Why? Politics? What if European monarchies all still rules like it was the height of their power?
it was like the current arab league, united by language and common culture but seperated by politicians and foreign interests. imagine all 21 arab states and kings uniting without invested foreign powers invading to stop it, thats how crazy bismarck accomplishment is and way so many respect hes statecraft.
@@Jack-he8jv Well there was a very strong movement for unification in all German states so it wouldn't really be comparable to Arab nations spontanously uniting. Still impressive don't get me wrong.
It was no Franco-Prussian War, but a Franco-German War. This is a common mistake in the Anglo-Saxon World, because all german states fought against France in that war.
Do not forget that the German espionage had obtained the French battle plans which will facilitate things for the Germans and what will explain, the French having had later knowledge, the psychosis that seized France a few decades later in the Dreyfus case where a French officer was unjustly accused of having communicated plans of the staff to the Germans. The declining demography of France compared to Germany is to be linked to the erratic foreign policy of Napoleon III who did not draw the consequences of the French demographic decline and did not understand that"while France, which was the most populous in Europe until 1800 ahead of Russia, which until then allowed it to face alone gigantic coalitions of several European countries against it, no longer has this demographic advantage in 1870 because his youth was bled by 23 years of continuous wars under the revolution and Napoleon I between 1792 and 1815, so that many European countries now have a superior demography like Russia, the"Germany and the United Kingdom; Thus, Napoleon III instead of seeking military alliances with other European countries to compensate for the French demographic decline (as the 3rd Republic would later do in 1914 by allying with the United Kingdom and Russia against Germany demographically superior to France)fell out with its potential allies.France fell out with Russia during the Crimean War in 1854-1856 and with Austria during the war in Italy in 1859-1860. It has displeased Italy, which owes it its reunification because Napoleon III, who needs the support of French Catholics domestically, by having an army stationed in Rome to protect the Pope’s states, prevents the kingdom of Italy from completing its unification. Finally, the inauguration and takeover by the French of the Suez Canal in Egypt masterful geopolitical coup of Napoleon ,the British because France controls the route of their colony in India and the commercial traffic because the ships no longer need to bypass Africa to access the"'Europe but this new world trade route now controlled by the French displeases the British especially since the British dynasty is of German origin and the daughter of Queen Victoria married to the heir of the Kingdom of Prussia. The Prussian Chancellor Bismarck who wants the war against France in order to unify Germany around the kingdom of Prussia will deftly provoke the French by trading a telegram, "a red cloth" in order to excite "the Gallic bull" as he will say so that provoked France will declare war on Prussia, so that the secret defensive alliance concluded by Prussia with the other German states, particularly in the south, such as Bavaria and Saxony, which were rather favourable to France, but France being presented as the aggressor of Prussia, would join Prussia, so that Napoleon III, believing that he would declare war on the Kingdom of Prussia alone, would end up with all the German states allied against France, that is 800,000 soldiers when France could only line up 300,000, so that France will have to fight the whole conflict in numerical inferiority to one against three. The French numerical inferiority will be aggravated by the fact that the Germans thanks to the use of the railway will mobilize faster than the French at the borders and that the best French troops are far, an army stationed in Rome to protect the pope from the Italians and another army being occupied to subdue a significant rebellion in Algeria, so that when his troops return partly on French territory, Napoleon III will have capitulated to Sedan . The capitulation of Napoleon III on September 2, 1870 at Sedan which will lead to the fall of his regime and the appearance of the 3rd republic will also have its impact because several French officers who took the oath to Napoleon III will refuse to serve under the republican regime, Marshal Bazaine besieged in Metz with the most important French army and who thus fixed several German armies decided to capitulate in order not to serve the republican regime, he will later be tried for high treason and sentenced to death, his sentence being commuted to life in prison.
France lost any major war I can think off - WW2, WW1, 1870, Napoleon's aggression - so this is not surprising, no? It is amusing that they built an "Arc de Triomphe", and no French see the humor in that!
The Napoleonic wars were in fact 7 separate wars. France won 5 of them: the wars of the first, second, third, fourth and first coalition. France also won WW1. So that’s already 6 wars that France won of the few that you can think of.
Never realized the French and German flags looked so similar both tricolors 😊kinda sad 😔 that All of napoleon’s close circle ⭕️ kept egging him on? Didn’t France realize. That Bavaria and other southerners would help Prussia?😮
One thing that the non-french seems to not know is that Napoleon III *didn't* want that war to happen. *At all*. But he was *forced to declare war* towards Prussia. I remember from my High School time that Napoleon knew declaring war towards Prussia was a very bad idea. Because most of the German State feared as much France that they feared Prussia. Both France and Prussia knew that declaring war toward the other could tilt the German State the other way. Basically, if Prussia declared war on France, the German State (mostly those closer to France) wouldn't side with Prussia. Doesn't mean they would side with France either, they just wouldn't send troops to help Prussia. The other way around was true too. So Von Bismarck, in a completely genius political move, created the "Ems Dispatch". A complete lie, in fact. Because the french ambassador felt that the discussion was great, that he did his job excellently. But Von Bismarck lied and sent the Ems Dispatch, basically saying that the French Ambassador was completely humiliated. This dispatch angered the potilicians, the army... And the people, which wanted a war to wash that humiliation. And Napoleon couldn't refuse, because France was still at a time of political instability. Refusing could at least just make him seems weak and untrustworthy of an Emperor by the people, at worst destituted and exiled/executed. This also would show France as a kind of pushover country. So apoleon had no choice but to declare a war, fully knowing that it would be lost from the beginning, because the German State, fearing the aggression of France, join Prussia's side. And the rest is now history.
Fun Fact: The Empire of Japan decided to copy alot from Prussia's political system because they saw Prussia totally beat France. Before that, they were more inclined to adopt the more democratic French system. If France hadn't lost, the modern history of Asia could have been quite different.
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@@simon2493 the graphics of the actual game are better but the game play and generally the company is terrible, do not play world of warships.
Can You Tell about history of Amazighian Peoples in North africa ( Tamazgha)
One side effect of the war was that, thanks to Napoleon III having to withdraw troops,it allowed Italy to finally capture Rome and complete Italian unification
and then Italy went on to be an absolute anchor for the Germans in WW2. France played the long game.
@@nuraby_9228 Italy told Germany in 1936-39 that it wasn't ready for war and needed time to prepare, but Germany attacked Poland in 1939 anyway without even a single day of warning to the italians. Germany played itself in ww2 just like did in ww1
@@nuraby_9228what are you talking about 😂 France was absolutely destroyed in WWII, conquered by USA and losses all the colonies after that. Italy wasn't really happy to have to deal with a new continental military superpower, and tried to build a way to go outside the Mediterranean sea well conscious that it was a problem for Germany.
Plus, papal state was a strong ally for France, after that they lose influence on the Italian peninsula
@@Augustus_ImperatorGermany would not have gained anything by waiting, Britain, France, the Soviets and especially the USA had ramped up military production in anticipation of a war. There is no way they could have kept scaling up the size of their military to match
@@Sam-es2gf A competent military ally in the geographical position of the center mediterranean might have proven very useful instead of facing everything and everyone alone. The last things the US wanted was a new war in Europe and France didn't want a war either and wasn't preparing for one because the people didn't want it. If Germany after taking Austria and Czechoslovakia would have better integrated their economies in a single block and gave time for Italy to prepare things might have ended up better for them. That's from a purely military perspective of course, from an historical prospective a German victory would have been disastrous for humanity, luckily they lost the war.
"The great questions of the day will not be settled by the means of speeches and majority decisions, but by Iron and blood"
- Otto von Bismarck
This war also affected the evolution of the Japanese army. Japan used France as the model army to develop the Japanese army. There were many French military advisors hired by Japan. Even the Japanese Army theme march was written by a French. But after France lost, the Japanese switched to the Prussians as the model army. Even though Japan and Germany were on opposite sides in WW1 and Japan annexed the lost German colonies,
Japan had a favorable view of Germans.
Humm, model for the last samurai 's😁storytelling is a French military, artillery. Even thought they have switched over, Japanese have already known the legendary French instructor.
Unfortunately, it is not a storytelling for uneducated US people and moreover so for the rest of the world and Hollywood's is a good brain washer. Concerning Europe and France, all movies are historically known as trash.
The Japanese modeled their army after the German army and their navy after the Royal Navy.
I think a similar case goes for the Ottomans too
Wasn't the Continental Army (and subsequently the U.S. Army) modeled, to no small degree, by a certain Captain of the Prussian Army? I believe, he is still celebrated with a holiday and an annual parade in New York. ;)
@@aoife1122Yes, Becoz Prussians were Highly Disciplined & Organised,Hence The Armies Derived from Prussia eventually became Superpowers
*The fact that France had low demographic growth in the 19th century is also an interesting factor.*
Hmm. So, France had a smaller economy? A smaller population? A smaller army? Were outnumbered on the battlefield? Demographics effects things overall in a small way it hardly makes for a French defeat against Prussia a guarantee. It is more an explanation for why France fell further behind the new German Empire even if that was bound to happen in anycase.
France had quite a high baseline population. In the Middle Ages for instance it had about 20M inhabitants vs 2M for England.
Germany was absolutely ravaged during the 30 years war and remained a regular battle ground.
@@michaelthomas5433 All of those things you just stated were related to the aging demographics of the Nation, these are not separate issues.
@@michaelthomas5433 *In 1820, France had 30 million inhabitants, compared to the 22 million of the future German empire (not counting Alsace Lorraine).*
*In 1914, the French population was 40 million compared to the 67 million of the German Empire (counting Alsace Lorraine).*
*If France had had demographic growth equal to that of Germany, its population would have been at least double, 80 million.*
*Interestingly, in 1820 France was already suffering low birth rates (effects of early secularization and the massive casualties of the Napoleonic Wars).*
*In fact, in 1870 the French population was 38 million and Germany's 41 million (not a very large disparity).*
*I estimate that if France had not suffered low birth rates, its population would have been in the region of 50 million in 1870.*
@@vandalosafadis7489 And I said as much. I also said that was not why France lost the war to Prussia which is true. You're playing the "what if" game. And that game can be rigged to favour anyone's view.
France had strange habit of declaring war to Germany and then staying on defensive.
I will answer in French : non, c'est une erreur de votre part. La France fut longtemps plus peuplée que la Germanie. Les troupes françaises avaient l'habitude d'avancer en terre allemande, où elles étaient rejointes par leurs traditionnels alliés contre les prussiens, les bavarois et d'autres pays allemands. La démographie française a changé au 19ème siècle, et les régiments bavarois sont traditionnellement des troupes d'élite. Les français de cette guerre ne sont pas aussi rudes que leurs prédécesseurs. Et leurs officiers sont mauvais. En bref rien de commun avec le passé, à cet instant t, il s'agit d'une rupture.
@@FriggeriJean-Marc-bl5kfwasn't france always more sparsely populated than germany? It's moreso that the disunity of german states kept them weak and that frances strong centralization made them strong than it has anything to do with population size. As the saying goes "Prussia is not a state with an army but rather an army with a state." Similarly France was moreso a city with a state than a state with cities. That impressive centralization made France incredibly strong. Only in the late 18th and early 19th century did other states catch up.
@@verySharkey historically speaking france was alaways more densely populated than germany, only after the napoleonic wars did Germany catch up and eventually overtake france in that regard
@@dario-zg1jy Okay I just had to google that now and it turns out you are correct! So thanks for clearing that up for me.
There are some considerations to be made that see German lands have greater population than france though.
Starting in 1000. AD if we consider all the lands inside the holy roman empire as German then here those lands would be more populous than france. Similarly just around 15000 Germany is about to overtake France in population growth and the simple addition of Austria or the lowlands would see Germanys population eclipse frances only for the 30 years war to reduce german population by a fourth.
@@verySharkey please make sure of this. France was more populated since the times of Gallia and thus many German countries were politically connected to France, like Baden wurtemberg, Bavaria, bar le duc, Metz, Nancy, because of territories attached to their kings or prince's more than to a nation. Prince's of France owned a part of Italian territory, which was not a nation.
France trying not to be destroyed by germany every 50 years: impossible
France during 500-800 AD??
Lol
@@BLOCKYCFBREAL what? France and Germany didn't even exist between 500 and 800 AD
@@BLOCKYCFBREAL the franks were germanic people
Goes back as far as the Roman the Germans could never be conquered and if it was it never lasted long.
Bismarck certainly was waiting for an opportunity to unite German south by defesnive war with an outside enemy (France). He didn't orchestrate it to be this specific occassion but when the situation became a crisis he did what he could to making it a war.
On the other hand, france thought that the kingdoms of Wurtemberg and Bavaria would stay neutral. A fatal misjudgement.
Uhm, he did. The Prussian prince to Spain, the French insult, german respone and then the declaration of war after?
@@electricspeedkiller8950 Well, at first he was against the Kaiser trying to promote a German King in Spain and talked him out of it. The topic was almost settled until Bismarck realized the Frenchs' nationalist press campaign again just the mere scenario of it happening. It wasn't until then that Bismarck saw and exploited the opportunity in full and begun spinning the further development which ultimately led to the Ems depeche, that played exactly on the French nationalist press and the French Defense Minister's(?) arrogance and incompetence.
Fun Fact: The French people who left Alsace-Lorraine after the Franco-Prussian War found new homes in Algeria, where the colonial government granted them the lands they seized from the Amazigh tribes that revolted against the French colonial authority as spoils of wars and have the local Amazigh tribes that partiticipated in the insurrection deported elsewhere, namely to France and New Caledonia.
Interesting. After algerian Independence where did they Go? Back to alsace?
@@Wanwan-mq3jw I wanted to know about that too.
@@Wanwan-mq3jw My guess is that they would have been reclassified as “Pied-Noirs”. There’s a bit of a political rabbit hole there I read up on years ago but barely remember now.
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Helmut Von Moltke (Prussia military leader) was a keyfigure to the military reform in Prussia. He's a main factor to the victory of Prussia.
Quick point of correction Bismarck was not the chancellor yet he was the minister president of Prussia
He was the chancellor of the north German confederation a title held in personal union with minister president of Prussia
@@karlfranzemperorofmandefil5547 I didn’t know that. Thanks for sharing
The outcome war of 1870/71 should have been clear from the start actually. Firstly, the French were so bold - or rather stpuid - to give Bismarck what he wanted. They declared war first, thus bringing the southern german states into the conflict on Prussias side - since they feared a victorious france. Second, the prussian army had fought 2 succesful campains a few years prior. First against the danes and then against the austrians. So most of their soldiers had gained crucial combat experienced. Needles to say that their equipment was top notch and tested in battle. So in the end, the french were outmanned, outgunned and outmanouevered. Actually, i cannot fathom how Napoleon III and his advisors thought they could beat Prussia in an open conlict.
This is todays perspective and one sided, too.
1st: German states needed time to mobilize whilst French had their army of the Rhine ready at the frontier.
2nd: French Chassepot rifle was seen as superior and in fact it was on almost every aspect. Also French were proud of Mitrailleuse though it had nothing more than some propaganda effect, because it was used with unfitting tacticts, seen as artillery instead of infantry strongpoints.
3rd: First battles - especially the one at Wissembourg - were lost due to leadership failures. To be more precise the lack of leadership. They weren't outgunned at all.
The Army of the Rhine still waiting for orders to cross the German border was still in offensive position when German troops attacked. Nevertheless Wissembourg - the battle which ended all dreams to invade Prussia - shows in detail that French equipment did its job well. They were outnumbered, but especially for Bavarian troops it was hell. Still when battle started they could've sent reenforcement, but noone gave order.
So, for me in both wars, 1870 and 1940, high command failed to do its job properly.
>>> Nappy III was NOT too bright! Look how he got Maximillian shot in Mexico
The south Germans didn't fear a french victory. They feared a Prussian victory without their involvement or even against a French-South German alliance. Bavaria estimated that a french victory would lead to them losing the Pfalz (Palatinate), a Prussian victory without Bavarian involvement would lead to the end of Bavaria just like Hannover was annexed 5 years prior.
Napoleon impulsively declared war because he thought that Austria-Hungary and the southern German states would ally with him owing to their own enmity with Prussia.
Napoleon miscalculated badly because:
1. His declaration of war actually caused the southern German states to ally with Prussia/The North German Confederation.
Why?
Among other things, they feared the possibility that if France won the war, then what was to stop the French from going after them next?
2. Franz Joseph did consider allying with France,but the Hungarians wanted no part of the war,so he sat it out
The Prussian military had better leadership,they were better organized, and could get troops and equipment to the frontlines faster due it's advanced(at the time) system of railroads.
The end of the war forced France to rebuild its military from the ground up,it had the #2 army in the world by 1914.
Dude thought he was Napoleon 😂
Technically he was a Bonaparte.
@tibsky1396 😄 Just because one carries a name doesn't mean he carries the spirit
@@thoth5689 On his foreign policy in the end, he made fatal mistakes, it's true. But on his domestic policy, he is the man who massively transformed France into a modern nation.
@tibsky1396 well, Prussians are the doom hammer of Bonapartes
@@tibsky1396when was france not a modern nation lol
World Of Warships is NOT a historical naval game at all.
It's an arcade game, there is nothing 'historical' about it apart from some ship models of ships that actually existed mixed in with many that didn't.
Oh yes please trash that game more.
You aren't wrong.
WOWS player count at 4am monday > WT naval friday night and weekends.
@@electricspeedkiller8950 but i still dont get the WT naval battles....
i prefer WoWs over WT!
The reason why Austria-Hungary chose not to join the war on France's side was because the Hungarians wanted no part of it.
Also a big part of why Napoleon III impulsively declared war was because he thought that the south German states would be on his side owing to their long standing enmity with Prussia
Seems like something Napoleon should have clarified before declaring war.
@@davidwarburton2915 He was being very impulsive to say the least.
I can only imagine the conversation when the southern German states entered the war:
French official: "Sire,I have good news and bad news."
Napoleon III: "What's the good news?"
French official : "The south German states are entering the war."
Napoleon III: "What's the bad news?"
French official: "They're siding with Prussia."
Napoleon III: "Merde, there goes the empire."
Napoleon III himself was very much uninterested in war. His cabinet and wife were at the forefront of the warmongering. His political situation was precarious already (as u can tell with his capture leading to the overthrow of his government.) He was already sick and aware that he had to strengthen his government to assure his son could follow him to the throne. His wife especially pushed him towards war because she desired for her son to be secured as the next emperor. Napoleon III even went so far as to suggest peaceful negotiations to resolve the crisis however shortly after his ministers ans wife convinced him to give in and declare war. A win in war would secure his governments legitimacy and empower them to stop their rivals.@@davidwarburton2915
You forget that austria didn't loose any land when they lost the austro prussian war. They ended the conflict in good terms. Therefore there was nothing to take back and furthermore reduces the will to join france.
Which is not really dumbfounded, because just a few years previously the southern German states were at war with Prussia in alignment with Austria
Also to point out:
It wasn't Bismarck's idea to annex Alsace-Lorraine,but rather the army's.
Bismarck knew it would really piss France off something fierce and he was right as it necessitated putting together a system of alliances to isolate France
france was going to get pissed no matter because they were humiliated very badly so why not take something from them
The goal and soul philosophy of germany back then was the unification of all german speaking territories. Alcase loraine was 90% german at that time.
@@Theteebeutler Germanic, but not German.
@@rezaganjizadeh4263 no a major factor of France revenchism was for alsace-loraine if Germany don t take it After a few year France would forget it and would je more easy to apease everyone about the might of Germany
@@wakpuissant5780 Something Bismarck was aware of
The founder of the German Empire Otto von Bismarck was always spelled with ck at the end.
The Palatinate north of Alsace was Bavarian, not Prussian from 1815 on and thus not part of the North German Confederation.
France had powerful innovations in politics and economics. These reforms gave it the power to repeatedly beat Germany. Half a century later, the Germans had learned modern nation-state management, and bested the French. By world war I, the Germans would even be more powerful than the mighty British Empire. The rise of Germany is always worth studying about and changed the course of modern history.
Malheureusement cette puissance détruisait tout sur son passage, et même les pays bas neutres dans cette WWI était pro français, émus par la résistance de l:armée française et par les destructions faites suite à l'avancée des troupes allemandes. Ces mêmes allemands qui ont laissé des champs de ruine, et des immeubles minés. Ils ont mécontente même ceux qui avaient des sympathies pour eux, et qui savaient que cette guerre avait été désirée par la Grande Bretagne, la Russie et la France.
Une guerre WWI qui est le suicide des européens, et l'enrichissement des profiteurs de guerre, ainsi que l'organisation de la reddition des troupes allemandes décidée par les politiciens. C'est sûr que le soldat allemand a reçu l'ordre de se rendre sans avoir été vaincu, mais le minage des bâtiments et hôtels qui vont exploser entraînant des morts supplémentaires dans les départements de france occupée et désertée par les allemands montrent que la guerre est sale et rend les hommes salauds, où complètement défaillant comme le pauvre héros de "à l'ouest, rien de nouveau".
Bismarck knew what he was doing
Finally... My favorit war story
Have u watched house of history’s series on it? Very well made and worth a watch
@@nathanbot5373That one is about the Austro-Prussian War, isn’t it?
@@Hugo16071 I was mistaken I thought he had some videos on the Franco-Prussian war
@@nathanbot5373 yes... But i need more visualization about Franco Prussian war. Because there are no films about this war.
My mother, who grew up in Schwäbisch Gmünd, told us they call this "The War of Unification".
Yeah. In Vic 2 it's a casus belly that you can use to go to war against countries with your culture but refused to join the nation.l
Si il fallait unir tout les germains d'Europe, il faudrait aller un peu partout de l'Espagne à la Roumanie, des territoires du nord Est de l'Europe d'où les populations allemandes ont été chassées, du Sud de la Scandinavia à la grande Bretagne qu'on pourrait appeler la Battenbergia. On pourrait même y ajouter un peu de Russes de Saint Petersburg, et quelques nord Africains descendants des invasions germaniques, sans oublier Rome et Naples qui furent souabes. La Bretagne française eut un sueve comme roi ainsi que la Galice espagnole :Ludwig. Ludwig est transformé en Louis en France. On en a eu seize, sans compter les autres dont des Charles et des François.
Im living near Schwäbisch Gmünd and I’ve never heard that, even schools call it the German-French War
@@realiascailtI went to school in Baden-Württemberg and our history teacher called them "die drei Vereinigungskriege"
Ironically, Bismarck had been saved from drowning by a Frenchman named Pierre Lafleur in 1862 off the coast of Biarritz, in the Basque Country. I wonder if the rescuer morally made the right choice, but if it pissed off Bismarck to have been saved by a Frenchman.
Of course he made the right choice morally. How could you even wonder about that???
Right. After the total defeat of Napo I, Napo III establish a country similar to former East Germany Democracy : behind everyone, informers and policemen making reports of diary activities and speeches of any French citizen. Under this regime, French poor increase was growing fast, and jails were full of people who looked alike kolyma's prisoners.
3:55 its so funny that we blame the germans for "provoking" a war, but dont consider the french demands that preceeded it a provocation at all...
Its like hearing flat-earthers do mental gymnastics.. If germany declares war its germanys fault, if someone declares war on germany its germanys fault
Imagine a world where the french Emperor didnt declare war on north germany, how anyone can say he had no other choice is in a realm beyond logic and reason.. The other choice was to not attack
Its plainly obvious that the french emperor wanted the rhineland, they wanted european dominance, its not about the EMS dispatch, thats pure propaganda
Napoleon III definitely wanted more than he could handle. And since he was the one that technically declared on NGF, it was a lot easier for the Germans to stop other countries from supporting France (since they were seen as the aggressors)
@@ellidominusser1138 he wasnt only "technically", it was practically as well. There is no way they can pin this on the germans
France was an aggressive empire and it attacked parts of the HRE empire regularly starting in the 1600s if not earlier. The Alsace had been annexed by about 1700. The castle in Heidelberg is a ruin because the French didn't want it to stand, so they invaded and tore it down. Same with the city of Mannheim. Napoleon Bonaparte continued the expansion eastward and basically conquered all of Germany. The Prussians were holding out in the extreme Northeast. After Napoleon's failure in Russia, the various German states mobilzed and their rulers switched sides. German history calls those the "Wars of Liberation" that eventually led to Waterloo. After that, the German wanted Alsace back, which they got after the Franco- Prussian war. My ancestors left Alsace and SW Germany when Napoleon Bonaparte wanted to conscript them to go fight the Russians.
@@bassafarside6071 very true, our culture has no grasp on history being built on events that preceeds it
*I especially loved the way this narrator tried to make the Germans "the bad guys" despite the French starting the war.*
Old habits die slow.
Well, Bismarck was the belligerent of his time. War War War.
@@Unpseudopascommelesautres
_"Well, Bismarck was the belligerent of his time. War War War."_
I didn’t get that impression. France were the aggressors, he even mentioned how the French Empress was war hungry as well. I see Napoleon III as having an inflated ego (looking at his blunders in Mexico too) and Bismarck being a shrewd leader who’s not going to give up an opportunity to turn an enemy blunder to his advantage.
@@TheCsel
*The narrator tries to sound neutral at first by saying "whether Germany provoked France into war or not is still debated amongst historians", but then went on with the video outright stating it as though it was a fact. Not to mention blaming the Germans for the French being "insulted" by their demands being refused.* The war between the brothers was started by the French, and provoked entirely by the French.
Not a mention to the Paris Commune.
It's about how France was destroyed by Prussia.
@@miguelgo4039 The Commune is an episode of this war.
@@tibsky1396Not really that relevant for the defeat.
The video is on how Germany wiped France
I love how Germany is always to blame when it was clearly the other side that stared a war with Germany.
It's always the case just look at WWI & WWII Germany was defensive in both and tried to call for peace talks yet gets blamed for everything.
At astounds me how many people take propganda as history.
Another fact ist that the "German" army was an army of conscripts. The french army was an all professional army. But it is something different to fight Arabian tribes or an determined people which want to end centuries of french invasions forever. At least they ended them for nearly 44 years and started the best times for Germany in history
Let's go another banger sending love from Chicago keep up your amazing work my brother it's valued & appreciated greatly ❤❤
Don't feel bad for the people of Paris they wanted to continue the fight they were hiding in the city, and they fortified it and they didn't even think about peace until it got way too bad for them
I don't think anyone feels bad for us.
considering how badly france was already losing the war they probably wouldnt want to surrender and potentially give up french sovereignty in a war that they started
Bismarck very well noted a characteristic of ALL dictatorial government in the government of the second French empire.
"A dictator never takes someone more intelligent than himself into his government, for fear that he will overthrow him."
and no one has ever said that Napoleon III was very exceptionally intelligent......
Moreover, Napoleon III, weakened by illness, was unable to stop some of his less intelligent ministers and none saw Bismark's maneuver.
Result: less than 15 days between the incident and the declaration of war, it is very very short
Another BIG shortcoming of France, the high French military hierarchy was not necessarily very competent; certain ranks of colonel, commander or even general being "offered" like one distributes candy, and not at all according to the real and proven skills of the candidate.....
After the napoleonic wars they couldnt imagine Prussia that strong. Moltke and Bismarck had prepared this long ago by building railroads.. so their deployment was much faster. They stepped into a trap
Napoleon got nerfed in that last update
lol
Seeing Germany's borders back then compared to now is shocking to me just how much land they lost
They lost the land they originated in
They don't own any of the original Prussian lands, just the lands Prussia unified under itself
Poland currently owns a majority of Prussia
@@Zeroneii3 true
They only really have now are the lands that were unified by Prussia through bloody wars, such a shame really, loosing the very land of Germany where it all started.
@@Zeroneii3Germans didn't orgiginate in Prussia, Prussia originated in Prussia. If you tell a German here in Bavaria that they originated from Prussia they'd spit in your face
@@leopoldmackow5123 I'm not saying Germans originated in Prussia, I'm saying Germany as a country originated in Prussia
If the words machiavillian suit anyone its Otto von Bismarck.
6:13 it ain't William, it's Willhelm
It’s 6:12 Not 6:13
people still think germany was the agressor in ww1, austria hungary declared war first, and after gotten too lose in that war they called germany as an ally in, germany just joined their ally, got punished for it and too this day is seen by many as the agressor in ww1.
if austria did not call the german in gemany wouldn`t be part of ww1 at all.
It was serbia
was it really like this:
1870: Franco-Prussian War
1914: 2nd Franco-Prussian War
1940: 3rd Franco- Prussian War
The OG Napoleon rolling in his grave after this War.
One word and cause : demography.
It explains by itself much of the victories and defeat of any countries. Why France was so victorious throughout history ? Because 1/3 of the europeans were French.
Why Germany won over France since Napoléon ? Because Germany as a higher demography than France since that time.
Of course other factors came into acount, but it's the major one.
the qing empire had 30% of the world population yet lost against european powers whit 30million people each… sometimes you just gotta admit they sucked
France and the German states had a similar demographic in 1870. French mobilization however was much slower, and less effective in raising the needed number of people.
@@TacitusSempronius surely, but France had more old person.
That's my last sentence : other factors came into acount.
@@deggho5877 bro read my last sentence : other factors. I thought it would be enough.
@@flamma_larnaque demographic wasnt that important at all its just an excuse
From accounts I have read, losing this war plunged France into such a depressed mental state, it was a deep trauma that lasted years, and really motivated France’s vindictive attitude during the Great War’s resolution.
Now we know why France made the treaty of Versailles as harsh as it was after WWI
No, the harsh terms the French wanted were never applied. Does this quote ring a bell to you : "This is not peace. It is an armistice for 20 years” ?
That's what Marshal Foch of France said as the treaty was being signed. This is the whole story :
Marshal Foch considered the Treaty of Versailles to be "a capitulation, a treason" because he believed that only permanent occupation of the Rhineland would grant France sufficient security against a revival of German aggression. However, the British Prime Minister David Lloyd George and the American President Woodrow Wilson objected to the detachment of the Rhineland from Germany so that the balance of power would not be too much in favour of France, but agreed to Allied military occupation for fifteen years, which Foch thought insufficient to protect France.
Marshal Foch added later during an interview with the New York Times :
“Next time the Germans won't make any mistake. They will invade France from the north and will seize all the ports on the Channel. From there, they will launch attacks against England. We will lose everything if we are not on the Rhine."
I would call that a remarkable moment of foresight.
But the Treaty of Versailles was not that harsh, quite the contrary, it was precisely because it was too inconsistent that the Second World War was possible. Over time, the treaty was not respected and was softened during 15 years.
“If there is reason to be pessimistic for Europe after the treaty, it is from another point of view than the British economist Mr. Keynes. Indeed, the economic chaos is profound. But the political chaos is even more so. Among a melee of nationalities, there remains Germany, the only homogeneous one, whose weight risks tipping the entire continent. All the considerations of economists will not change the effects of this essential imbalance. As for German militarism, it is intact, and all that will be missing is the opportunity and the man who will set it in motion”
_ Jacques Bainville, Historian - 1920.
@@phlm9038 At the same time, the French occupation of the left bank of the Rhine, although provided for by the treaty as you said, is castigated by the Anglo-Saxon media, and part of the leftist French press. In 1929, the German economy - closely linked to that of the Americans - collapsed, the Wall Street stock market crash plunged the Germans into a serious crisis: Crisis on which the Nazi Party prospered to reach power in 1933. Faced with Western democracies sclerotic by fifteen years of pacifism, the Nazis re-initiate massive rearmament. Germany spends - for its rearmament alone - Seven times the sum demanded by France in the Treaty. They took advantage of this to annex territories populated by “Germans” - willingly or by force.
@@tibsky1396 Why did you put "Germans" in your last sentence? Most territories annexed had a german majority or at least a strong german minority in them and could be considered German, with the exception of Bohemia and the inner core of Poland.
@@CC-re9df To support the fact that Hitler was focused on his idea of Pan-Germanism above all else.
"Bismark pinned the french as the agressors"
France declared war because a note to their ambassadors was considered "rude". If that isn't enough to be considered the aggressor but it was "pinned" on you, I don't know what will make you the aggressor.
Kinda disagree with the portrayal that the Germans had as a goal to actively push the French into a war. That is just a hypothesis.
But the fact that Germany was uniting, and this sending them with a collision course with France, does not mean that the Germans *wanted* a war with France.
Exactly Bismarck had a famously flexible foreign policy and would have preferred France not to be antagonized. But when the opportunity revealed itself he used it
A great fictional rendition of the Prussian siege of Paris may be found in the Gary Jennings novel "Spangle." Buckle up, this is a huge novel, and it takes quite a while to get to the part about the Paris Siege, but the journey is worth it!
Prussia is the coolest nation in history change my mind
Hope you tackle La Commune de Paris next!
whats La Commune
@@TheModeler99 La Commune de Paris was a rebellion that happened during that period of time in 1871 and is directly linked to those events between France and Prussia.
It lasted 72 days and promoted several progressive laws. It endend in a massacre called la Semaine Sanglante (Bloody Week).
@@Leslie-Risse Thanks, I had never heard of it
@@TheModeler99 It's not much taught, even in France.
Another possible factor in why France was willing to go to war against Bismarck was a broken promise.
See in order to assure France's neutrality during the Austro-Prussian War, Bismarck agreed to support French claims to Belgium and Luxembourg.
After the war, France tries to cash in the promise made to it by Bismarck.
Bismarck's response:
"Yeah, about that..."
So France was pretty much itching for a fight
another possible factor was that the french desired the saar and rheinland. France had no legitimate claims to Belgium or Luxembourg, neither had ever been parts of france, and aside from the walloons in belgium had no french speaking population
@@rezaganjizadeh4263 no... flanders are flemish speakers, a germanic language. Flanders is north belgium.
Walloons (from wallonia) speak french, like i mentioned in my original comment
@@BorrelaasExcept that, according to History Matters, Bismarck promised to support French claims to Belgium and Luxembourg if they stayed neutral during the Seven Weeks War
French diplomatic victory over Prussia over Spanish succession should be enough compensation.
No Belgium for France, no Spain for the Prussian Hohenzollerns. Pretty fair trade if you ask me.
@@phlm9038 what is your point?
Extremely it was a wonderful historical coverage video about french-prussian war 1875 .created a German empire as a superpower in the heart of the European content
as a world of warship long time player i highly recommended for you all to play its fun challenging game
i very much recommend no to play this cursed game, unless you hate yourself.
Any real long time player of WoW would tell you to not start playing it.
So what you’re saying is France got its ass handed to it by Germany three wars in a row. Only by the actions of allies did it get saved in WW1 and WW2
WW1, go back to school and learn.
🤣🤣🤣 you are embarrassing yourself. If it weren’t for the Brits\Canadians holding the northern line and US entering the war later the Germans would have marched the streets of Paris three times…go back to school yourself
France beat Prussia in two weeks during Napoleonic Wars, Germany beats France during the Franco-Prussian war, France beats Germany in WWI and would have even without the US since German soldiers had already started breaking before they got involved, no need to talk about the British that mainly did support and logistics (still useful btw not to diminish their usefulness), finally Germany beats France during WWII by winning a dangerous gamble on a massive fluke. That's 2-2 for France against Prusso-Germany, and being very generous considering most conflicts before that got easily won by the French but since it wasn't against what we would consider "modern" Germany it would be a bit unfair to keep that score, no need to fuel German insecurities more than they already are.
True if your understanding of history and international relations hasn't progressed since middle school.
The balance of power theory in international relations suggests that states may secure their survival by preventing any one state from gaining enough military power to dominate all others. If one state becomes much stronger, the theory predicts it will take advantage of its weaker neighbors, thereby driving them to unite in a defensive coalition.
Germany by having the higher industrial output and high population was able to dominate that period of history.
@@grandmanitou6563 I didn't mention Napoleon, who beat everyone until his Russian Campaign, and as far as WW1 I did not mention the US. Had it not been for Britains\Canadians holding the northern line France loses WW1.
And thus ended the tradition of emperors leading their troops into battle.
Another German W
How you guys capable such things?
By being the underdog for the last several centuries, Germany thought it might want to step up it's Game and stop being a playground for European Powers.
You mean rare German W ? They usually only won against minor powers and lost every major conflict expect this one and the 7 years war which they barely survived by the skin of their teeth cause the new Russian Tsar was a Prussian fanboy and decided to pull out of the war as soon as he got on the throne. Remember those are the people that got completely conquered in 13 days by the First French Empire.
@@grandmanitou6563😂 Aside from WWI & WWII what did they lose? All their wars were among themselves.
Napoleon I can only fight germans when it was diverse unlike french in 1870 who have many colonies and still defeated @@grandmanitou6563
Great video although from the title, I thought there would be more of an emphasis on the battles and the war itself. The video was more focused on the diplomacy leading up to the war and the cunning of Bizmark to draw France into a war that was both unnecessary and served as the catalyst towards unification.
+5 discipline
Really interesting short documentary on the Franco Prussian War
Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Luxembourg, and Liechtenstein should unite into Greater Germany!
some guy with a silly moustache already tried that.
@@SeArCh4DrEaMz you need to study history. In ww2 switzerland and liechtenstein were never invaded
This is precisely what caused them to be divided in two by a wall for 50 years.
@@Borrelaas it's a joke.
@@ellidominusser1138 not really
The French forgot not only they have to fight northern german condeferation they also have to fight southern german allies of prussia. 💀
It's Napoleon who destroys the Holy Roman empire but it's also a Napoleon who created Germany.
You lose once you destroy everything your ancestors have accomplished.
I'm surprised britain didn't bumble itself into that one...
Because they were both still rivals at the time. And Britain was busy in other parts of the world
And the germans could have done the same thing against France in ww1 if Russia and Britain chose to stay neutral
But the reverse is even more true, without the French, the Brits and the Americans wouldn't have even dare to send any expeditionnary forces in Western Front. The French maintained the majority of the front for 4 years. Otherwise the British would have experienced a Dunkirk 30 years earlier than expected, and the Americans were only in their infancy as modern army.
Basically almost no one could have fought alone...Germany was the big continental power as France was during Louis XIV or Napoleon I's times.
@@tibsky1396 yeah fair.
France, Great Britain and Russia had previously concluded a pact to eliminate Germany. Why should they have remained neutral? Germany knew this and had developed the Schliefen Plan to survive the future war on two fronts. However, the Russians had misjudged their troop movement options and as they acted in coordination with the French and invaded East Prussia at the same time, troop contingents were tied up in the east that were lacking in the west for the successful implementation of the Schliefen Plan. Incidentally, the British were aware of the Schliefen Plan, which envisaged a march through neutral Belgium, to which Great Britain had given security guarantees, and so they were quite innocently involved in the war with their Empire.
Rome: we are the absolute power, nobody can take us down.
Germanic tribes: hold my beer.
French: we are the dominant power in Europe.
Habsburg holy Roman empire: Hold My beer
French: Ok I swear this time we're the most dominant.
German Empire: hold my beer.
French: ok if you're going to prove something again please don't be as bad as the great world war. We are too weak to do anything.
Nazi Germany: Hold my keg.
Alsace and Lorraine is Germán. French tried European conquest as much as Germans. Not since Charlamenge has she had a good leader. The French origin King Baldwin the 4th of the Kingdom of Jerusalem cannot count because he was bigger than Frankish French, he was one of Christiandoms greatest Kings and defenders after Lord Jesús.
We English at that point should have demanded our Territory back, Normandy and the entire Coastline of France down to the Básque Región of France and Spain.
Good luck with that
Stop alcohol.
@@historylover7355 wont happen because It did not happen. I was speaking in hindsight and past tense.
@@lahire4943 i do not drink, smoke, drink Coffee, take medications including Cannabis or illegal hard drugs. Your generalisations are terrible. Many Muslims drink Alcohol and smoke weed without a medical reasons, smoke shisha and take Cocaine or worse yet crack and medical drugs like Xanax or Valium without permission. I see it daily especially with Algerians and Pakistanis and according to Saudí consensus Up to 8% of Muslims there admit to alcohol consumption.
thats so stupid to the point it is laughable
To quote History Matters:
France had no desire to be encircled by a German/Spanish alliance... again.
Actually the agreement for annexing Luxembourg had been signed between France and Prussia to ensure France remain neutral during the Austro Prussian war but after the Prussians betrayed their word.
prussia did not own luxembourg and had no power or right to give it to france. That is like me being mad at my sister because she doesnt support me stealing my brothers bike
Pure insanity
Bismarky was a liar, also to its own people. a politician…
@@Borrelaasindeed Prussia didnt own Luxembourg. The Netherland did. And they were willing to selling it to France. Prussia initialy agreed to that in exchange for France neutrality. And after threatened with war....
@@leowilly29 i just read up on the topic, the question of luxembourg was settled in the treaty of london of 1867, a treaty france signed where they agreed to luxembourgs neutrality
How is that in any way a justification for war on Prussia/North germany?
@@leowilly29 Prussia never agreed that france would have luxembourg. There was never anything written and nothing was formalized
The matter was settled in the treaty of london of 1867 anyway
How is this relevant?
I know this is such a minor little thing. But why are you using a musket from the 1600s century at 4:29 When this conflict is set in 1800s.
Hi! The musket is just for illustration. Sorry for the confusion.
I mean they could even use sword .. it's just a metaphor
Ah, France. The troublemaker.
I think a detail that is missing is that the austrians probably would have joined the french attack, if the prussians would have taken territory off them in the austro-prussian war. If I remember right from my history lessons in school, bismark even threatened to quit if Wilhelm the first would have insisted in humiliating the austrians, by taking territories.
Hm.
Skill issue, probably.
Ask the Germans at Spicheren, Mars-la-Tour, Bazeilles, Gravelotte, Reichshoffen...
I would like Second part. The fall of Prussia/Germany.
The Germans are just better at fighting than the French. It’s a built-in culture thing.
Then why did they lose almost every major conflict they fought in while the French have the most battles won out of any country in history ?
Objectively, the nation and later on the nation-state of France has won more battles and wars in recorded human history... Hell, even English/American is 20% French because of the French-Norman invasion of England of 1066.
Lets take a brief look at the military vocabulary in English :
battalion, dragoon, soldier, marine, grenadier, guard, officer, infantry, cavalry, army, artillery, corvette, musketeer, carabineer, pistol, fusilier, squad, squadron, platoon, brigade, corps, sortie, reconnaissance/reconnoitre, surrender, surveillance, rendezvous, espionage, volley, siege, terrain, troop, camouflage, logistics, matériel, accoutrements, bivouac, latrine, aide-de-camp, legionnaire, morale, esprit de corps, cordon sanitaire, nom de guerre... All French words.
France and England, later Britain, fought 41 wars against each other between the first Anglo-French War in 1109 and the Hundred Days in 1815. In total France won 24 wars, England/Britain won 11 and 6 were a tie.
During its history France has participated in 168 major European battles, out of which it won 109, drawn 10 and lost 49, making the country the most successful military power in European history.
@@franckbushbaum9653 Yep, France has the most successful military history on the planet just for that legacy to be utterly destroyed in 1940. Now France is seen as cowardly in popular culture and will probably never get rid of that image. German tankers still meme about it.
To be fair the Manstein Plan is among the most successful military operations in history.
@@franckbushbaum9653 how old is germany and how old is france? how many battles did france win how many did germany? while u compare all those numbers please think about that prussias numerous victories arent even included there.
you wanna now why your country is a at the top of war statistics? because your an old nation, nothing more nothing less. quantity instead of quality some might say
@@grandmanitou6563 we won every 1v1 we didnt called for help every time we start a war like you britains saved you more than once without the brits you had zero chances
Very interesting 👏👏🇩🇪🇩🇪
France losing almost Everytime to Germany and even to the UK
Napoleon was France only Victor and Hope
He alone put down nations 😅 buh he wasn't there again
UK never beat France apart from 7 years war. France had best army in history and beat all European powers combined most of the time since The Franks. Louis XIV, 30 years war, all the wars in the Middle Ages, First World War, Charlemagne etc
Not at all, even before Napoleon since the Frankish periods, Facing France was not considered as fun party. Bonaparte relied largely on a continental power which had already proven itself in previous centuries. He just modernized it during his time.
UK always needed coalitions to win a major war, since they hadn't a powerful land army. And German states were too divided to pose a real long-term threat, especially after Thirty Years War. Only the emergence of Prussia was the starting point for Germany as a threat in 19th Century.
@@nuttygeezer708 WW1 is not a good example of "France had best army in history and beat all European powers combined" when they were constantly on the defense against Germany, with the help of the rest of the Entente. The Franks were also a germanic tribe, attributing the Frankish Empire completely to France and not at least also Germany is stupid.
@@ellidominusser1138 It is a very good example as 85% of the western front was manned by the French army. France had army of 8-9 Million on the Western Front, whilst Britain had 4million. France lost 1.7M killed and Britain 750,00. Germans can’t get over the fact they lost to their enemy so try and water French involvement down to make themselves feel better. That’s why they started a Second World War.
You are ignorant of history
They won, it wasn't "so badly". After the first push which was clearly in favor of Prussia, the front stabilized, it simply stabilized in disfavor of France, so they accepted Prussia terms.
because superior genes
Chill, Adolf
Oh yeas, genetics also explain why germans stayed decentralized for centuries
Wow wow wow chill and im a German myself jeez
@@TheGero95 Germanics were better fighters though.
@@ChrisCrossClash so good in fact that they lost
ngl even tho were friends today with france.. the urge to laugh and joke about france is somehow in our DNA
@@semiramisubw4864 Your DNA is full of ale and cheddar, and empty of good wine and exquise cheese thats smell tasty French art de vivre. And you ate this pudding last year on even, the which one you are ready to eat on next even, oops so disgusting Mister Johnny English.
Brilliant man would find a way not to fight the war
He won so he deserves a 8 out of 10
impossible if you want to form Germany. Noone just lets Germany peacefully form, the other german states needed a reason to form Germany with Prussia, and France was the reason. mere diplomacy was not gonna get them to join.
I like how the queston in the title is just not answered.
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Early on France devastated Prussia with the Chassepot even in defeat but eventually Prussia overwhelmed France with superior numbers and superior artillery
France weak lol
France remained a superpower in the Top 3 anyway, but Germany just took their place as main continental power. Before it was France in Louis XIV and Napoleon I's times, now it was Germany until the fall of the Third Reich.
@@tibsky1396I'll level with you I didn't watch the video I just wanted to make a funny comment
England always wanted that neither France nor Germany should be the only one continental superpower. And they spied on Russia, too. They gave money to Austria and Hungary to fight against France. They relayed on Turkey and Poland to make a borderline with Russia. Russian nobility was related and allies to Germany, and normally not keen to attack their homeland. The reason were geopolitically correct, however everytime England was responsible for the wars.
The French army sent orders and train tickets to each soldier to summit
at certain barracks. There they received their uniforms and a second
ticket with which the soldiers travelled to a certain arsenal. There
they received their weapons, amunition and a third ticket with which
the travelled to their assembly point near the border. So after the
declaration of war thousands of soldiers travelled across the land.
Nobody had planned to feed the soldiers on their way and soon
thousands of soldiers begged for food. It was a big mess all over
the country.
On the other hand Prussia called the soldiers to meet at certain barracks
where they received their entire equipment. Then they marched in platoons to
the next train station where they entered trains which ran according to
a special military timetable. During the mobilisation all other train
transporting had been shut down.
The prussians had learned the lessons from the American Civil War with
the new key factor of military operations by train.
And the french leaders where very bigheaded as the Prussians had perform
their former mobilisation during the Austro-Prussian War in 1866 in the
same way as in 1870 and the French commanders where aware of it.
It's PREUßEN not Prussia.
That's the translation into English
@@ryanm.2930 which is bad. Original name is Preußen, which sounds completely different.
@@IIXxSLAYERxXIIthen should we call china "Zhōngguó" because its the original?
@@Volkspanzer different area, idc.
This dude 💀
great explanation sir
European history before the 21st century is confusing as hell but still cool to kinda know. Like what are German states? German type countries that speak German with some differences in the language but oppose them being united? Why? Politics?
What if European monarchies all still rules like it was the height of their power?
it was like the current arab league, united by language and common culture but seperated by politicians and foreign interests.
imagine all 21 arab states and kings uniting without invested foreign powers invading to stop it, thats how crazy bismarck accomplishment is and way so many respect hes statecraft.
@user-cv2lh3wu2q ok bot
@@Jack-he8jv Well there was a very strong movement for unification in all German states so it wouldn't really be comparable to Arab nations spontanously uniting. Still impressive don't get me wrong.
Germany is still made up of various federal states.
2:20 You mispelled Bismarck's name...
It was no Franco-Prussian War, but a Franco-German War. This is a common mistake in the Anglo-Saxon World, because all german states fought against France in that war.
In German the name of the war is the third war of German liberation/ unification
Most TH-cam videos that have a question in their title, don't give a direct answer.
Great video
Do not forget that the German espionage had obtained the French battle plans which will facilitate things for the Germans and what will explain, the French having had later knowledge, the psychosis that seized France a few decades later in the Dreyfus case where a French officer was unjustly accused of having communicated plans of the staff to the Germans.
The declining demography of France compared to Germany is to be linked to the erratic foreign policy of Napoleon III who did not draw the consequences of the French demographic decline and did not understand that"while France, which was the most populous in Europe until 1800 ahead of Russia, which until then allowed it to face alone gigantic coalitions of several European countries against it, no longer has this demographic advantage in 1870 because his youth was bled by 23 years of continuous wars under the revolution and Napoleon I between 1792 and 1815, so that many European countries now have a superior demography like Russia, the"Germany and the United Kingdom; Thus, Napoleon III instead of seeking military alliances with other European countries to compensate for the French demographic decline (as the 3rd Republic would later do in 1914 by allying with the United Kingdom and Russia against Germany demographically superior to France)fell out with its potential allies.France fell out with Russia during the Crimean War in 1854-1856 and with Austria during the war in Italy in 1859-1860. It has displeased Italy, which owes it its reunification because Napoleon III, who needs the support of French Catholics domestically, by having an army stationed in Rome to protect the Pope’s states, prevents the kingdom of Italy from completing its unification. Finally, the inauguration and takeover by the French of the Suez Canal in Egypt masterful geopolitical coup of Napoleon ,the British because France controls the route of their colony in India and the commercial traffic because the ships no longer need to bypass Africa to access the"'Europe but this new world trade route now controlled by the French displeases the British especially since the British dynasty is of German origin and the daughter of Queen Victoria married to the heir of the Kingdom of Prussia.
The Prussian Chancellor Bismarck who wants the war against France in order to unify Germany around the kingdom of Prussia will deftly provoke the French by trading a telegram, "a red cloth" in order to excite "the Gallic bull" as he will say so that provoked France will declare war on Prussia, so that the secret defensive alliance concluded by Prussia with the other German states, particularly in the south, such as Bavaria and Saxony, which were rather favourable to France, but France being presented as the aggressor of Prussia, would join Prussia, so that Napoleon III, believing that he would declare war on the Kingdom of Prussia alone, would end up with all the German states allied against France, that is 800,000 soldiers when France could only line up 300,000, so that France will have to fight the whole conflict in numerical inferiority to one against three. The French numerical inferiority will be aggravated by the fact that the Germans thanks to the use of the railway will mobilize faster than the French at the borders and that the best French troops are far, an army stationed in Rome to protect the pope from the Italians and another army being occupied to subdue a significant rebellion in Algeria, so that when his troops return partly on French territory, Napoleon III will have capitulated to Sedan .
The capitulation of Napoleon III on September 2, 1870 at Sedan which will lead to the fall of his regime and the appearance of the 3rd republic will also have its impact because several French officers who took the oath to Napoleon III will refuse to serve under the republican regime, Marshal Bazaine besieged in Metz with the most important French army and who thus fixed several German armies decided to capitulate in order not to serve the republican regime, he will later be tried for high treason and sentenced to death, his sentence being commuted to life in prison.
France lost any major war I can think off - WW2, WW1, 1870, Napoleon's aggression - so this is not surprising, no?
It is amusing that they built an "Arc de Triomphe", and no French see the humor in that!
The Napoleonic wars were in fact 7 separate wars. France won 5 of them: the wars of the first, second, third, fourth and first coalition. France also won WW1. So that’s already 6 wars that France won of the few that you can think of.
bro why is the music so tense🙏🙏🙏
Never realized the French and German flags looked so similar both tricolors 😊kinda sad 😔 that All of napoleon’s close circle ⭕️ kept egging him on? Didn’t France realize. That Bavaria and other southerners would help Prussia?😮
The French were overconfident?! Surely not!
well yes, at least Napoleon III was overconfident, which, since he was the ruler, counts as "the French" in this case. Unless I'm missing something.
One thing that the non-french seems to not know is that Napoleon III *didn't* want that war to happen. *At all*. But he was *forced to declare war* towards Prussia.
I remember from my High School time that Napoleon knew declaring war towards Prussia was a very bad idea. Because most of the German State feared as much France that they feared Prussia.
Both France and Prussia knew that declaring war toward the other could tilt the German State the other way. Basically, if Prussia declared war on France, the German State (mostly those closer to France) wouldn't side with Prussia. Doesn't mean they would side with France either, they just wouldn't send troops to help Prussia. The other way around was true too.
So Von Bismarck, in a completely genius political move, created the "Ems Dispatch". A complete lie, in fact. Because the french ambassador felt that the discussion was great, that he did his job excellently. But Von Bismarck lied and sent the Ems Dispatch, basically saying that the French Ambassador was completely humiliated.
This dispatch angered the potilicians, the army... And the people, which wanted a war to wash that humiliation.
And Napoleon couldn't refuse, because France was still at a time of political instability. Refusing could at least just make him seems weak and untrustworthy of an Emperor by the people, at worst destituted and exiled/executed. This also would show France as a kind of pushover country.
So apoleon had no choice but to declare a war, fully knowing that it would be lost from the beginning, because the German State, fearing the aggression of France, join Prussia's side. And the rest is now history.
Fun Fact: The Empire of Japan decided to copy alot from Prussia's political system because they saw Prussia totally beat France. Before that, they were more inclined to adopt the more democratic French system. If France hadn't lost, the modern history of Asia could have been quite different.
Not really. Up until now the Japenese are quite racist and unrepentant genociders.
The professional General Staff
I’ll tell ya this much, Preußens Gloria is BLASTING right now
Good video.
Back in the day when massive empires fought each other because they were massive empires.