I have also been on holiday in the area of Maastricht several times. More Valkenburg and Schin op Geul. But, what happened there in WW2 can still be found there. Just like the Military Cemetery "Margraten." That's so impressive that you come out of there with tears in your eyes.
Maas of course is Dutch for what the French and English-speakers call the Meuse. Tricht is derived from the Roman trajectum (It was alled Mosa Trajectum, Maas/Meuse Bridge), it was a Roman city. Liege is in the French-speaking part of Belgium, but just across the border.
I live here and never heard of this battle. Interesting! I just know that Maastricht was one of the first cities in the Netherlands that was recaptured by the allies and that the HQ was located here during the battle of the bulge.
Hi Charlie. Maastricht is my home. It made me so giddy to see you react to a video about my home! Maastricht has been occupied by every major power in Europe during its history. It's one of the oldest cities in the Netherlands. It was built there because it was the best place to cross the river Meuse. I recently read a lot about Maastricht's history during the German occupation in the 1940s. And I know on the outskirts of the district where my family lives, there is a monument. While the Germans were fleeing Maastricht, they executed a couple of resistance members on the hill overlooking Maastricht near Cadier en Keer. It's a story that gets told a lot and I've been to that monument many times ever since I was a child. It never fails to horrify me to see the destroyed bridges on pictures. When it comes to bombings, Maastricht had it easier than other places like Rotterdam. Although some of our districts did get hit. Most of our people hid in the Kazematten and the St Pietersberg caves when there were bombings. Or at least, the people that could. We also didn't have the Hunger Winter like the rest of the Netherlands because we were liberated long before the rest of the Netherlands.
I have been to that fort near Maastricht but it is big!!! And very interesting..fortunately there are good guides....I was born and raised in South Limburg....we have a rich history....i hope you will visit Limburg one day....greetings from the south!
4:10 that's called the "Waterpoort" there was never a bridge. what you see on the other side of the water is a hotelboat. "Botel" The very first bridge originaly is about half way from there to where the 'old bridge' (the one talked about in the video) is now.
The same person who posted this video has also posted a video about the fort of Eben Emael.This enormous underground fort was taken in a few hours by the Germans.They landed with glider aircrafts on the fort and put explosifs in the canons .As a Belgian soldier my father defended one of the maasbridges nearby the fort.But as the Germans were already on their side of the river they shoot in their back .My father had only a little wound on his head but most of the other soldiers were dead and he was taken prisoner the first day of the war. With the soldiers who were inside the fort they were obliged tot marche to a camp in the North of Germany .In Germany they had to cross a river and one of his friends felt into the river.He could not swim but the Germans said that they would shoot every person who would try to save him .They saw him drowning
the Dutch government did what they had to do to save Dutch lives. the Germans had bombed Rotterdam and threatened to do the same to the other big/important cities, if The Netherlands didn't capitulate. so the government capitulated to prevent that. because everyone knew that it was only a matter of time before The Netherlands would have been overrun and would fall anyway. this way the inevitable happened sooner than necessary, but (ten of) thousands of Dutch lives got spared the same fate as Rotterdam. and the Dutch people got the chance to continue the fight in the form of the countless citizens that joined the resistance. they made the Germans pay for the occupation, they helped hide the people that were hunted down by the occupiers and they assisted the allied forces up until the capitulation of Germany.
@@ChristiaanHWWe should have had proper weapons, not weapons from a century before. Would we have won? Probably not, but it could have cost the Germans dearly.
@ yes with better/newer weapons we would have been able to resist for longer. - but no country in Europe (the whole world even) had as advanced weapons as Germany did. so we still would have been vastly outgunned. - as said in the video: The Netherlands hoped to stay neutral in a new war. because most wars in Europe would be fought between the great powers. and The Netherlands was far from a great power. so the expectation/hope was that Germany would go after France and leave us be. - we had a great food crisis during the Great War, the global depresssion in the 1930's and the cost of building the Afsluitdijk in the 1930's. we didn't have the money available to buy new weapons for a war we didn't plan on being part in. - the resistance the Dutch forces did put up, delayed the Germans. and cost them a lot of planes and paratroopers. and those losses helped Britain in their struggle against Germany. so it might appear we didn't do much, but what we did do might have given Britain way better odds at repelling the German attacks. for the little flat country we were, we did put up one hell of a fight. just look at the things German commanders/officers wrote about the invasion. they all talk about how un-expectantly fierce the defenders fought. it's easy to look at moments in history from a modern perspective and say what they did wrong. but if you look at the information, resources and mindset of that time there isn't much that the Dutch back then could have done different. hindsight is often 20/20.
The reason that the Germans took the route via the south of the Netherlands as a lot to do with the defence line that France and Belgium had buildt after WW1, the so called Maginot line. They did not want to test that out and went around it. The Netherlands were neutral in WW1, and wanted to stay that, so no defence line and a small outdated army.
If you want to know a little more about Bluebeard, (Charles Perrault is inspired by a very controversial French character) I really advise you to discover the story of this very dark character in French history.(10 minutes)th-cam.com/video/x1Eg-nHNo1s/w-d-xo.htmlsi=4WHRdnx7u9GzEv0h
☕☕☕Do you know where Walt Disney's fairy tales come from, the answer is in this 6 minute video. It's for the French channel of course.th-cam.com/video/mLGOJHaE6oU/w-d-xo.htmlsi=obSld8sz3GBvE-ef
hi charlie, I saw your reaction to the beast of Gévaudan, there was an almost similar affair which was happening in the 70s, still in France. I would like to give you this 20 minute video which will introduce you to this story through this well-known TH-camr in France who carried out his own investigation. I loved it, shivered in front of this video so why not you?th-cam.com/video/h9ffLXNFPyw/w-d-xo.htmlsi=aBrX3YExQFBMwbsr
if you want a good documentary that will teach you everything about the real musketeers, I recommend this 50 minute video, French channel of courseth-cam.com/video/04DGhkHdJgM/w-d-xo.htmlsi=2x8yXygoBOv6i6kn
I have also been on holiday in the area of Maastricht several times. More Valkenburg and Schin op Geul. But, what happened there in WW2 can still be found there. Just like the Military Cemetery "Margraten." That's so impressive that you come out of there with tears in your eyes.
Maas of course is Dutch for what the French and English-speakers call the Meuse. Tricht is derived from the Roman trajectum (It was alled Mosa Trajectum, Maas/Meuse Bridge), it was a Roman city.
Liege is in the French-speaking part of Belgium, but just across the border.
I live here and never heard of this battle. Interesting! I just know that Maastricht was one of the first cities in the Netherlands that was recaptured by the allies and that the HQ was located here during the battle of the bulge.
so it really is a footnote
Hi Charlie. Maastricht is my home. It made me so giddy to see you react to a video about my home! Maastricht has been occupied by every major power in Europe during its history. It's one of the oldest cities in the Netherlands. It was built there because it was the best place to cross the river Meuse. I recently read a lot about Maastricht's history during the German occupation in the 1940s. And I know on the outskirts of the district where my family lives, there is a monument. While the Germans were fleeing Maastricht, they executed a couple of resistance members on the hill overlooking Maastricht near Cadier en Keer. It's a story that gets told a lot and I've been to that monument many times ever since I was a child. It never fails to horrify me to see the destroyed bridges on pictures. When it comes to bombings, Maastricht had it easier than other places like Rotterdam. Although some of our districts did get hit. Most of our people hid in the Kazematten and the St Pietersberg caves when there were bombings. Or at least, the people that could. We also didn't have the Hunger Winter like the rest of the Netherlands because we were liberated long before the rest of the Netherlands.
I have been to that fort near Maastricht but it is big!!! And very interesting..fortunately there are good guides....I was born and raised in South Limburg....we have a rich history....i hope you will visit Limburg one day....greetings from the south!
4:10 that's called the "Waterpoort" there was never a bridge. what you see on the other side of the water is a hotelboat. "Botel" The very first bridge originaly is about half way from there to where the 'old bridge' (the one talked about in the video) is now.
The same person who posted this video has also posted a video about the fort of Eben Emael.This enormous underground fort was taken in a few hours by the Germans.They landed with glider aircrafts on the fort and put explosifs in the canons .As a Belgian soldier my father defended one of the maasbridges nearby the fort.But as the Germans were already on their side of the river they shoot in their back .My father had only a little wound on his head but most of the other soldiers were dead and he was taken prisoner the first day of the war. With the soldiers who were inside the fort they were obliged tot marche to a camp in the North of Germany .In Germany they had to cross a river and one of his friends felt into the river.He could not swim but the Germans said that they would shoot every person who would try to save him .They saw him drowning
The dutch people never surrendert to any enemy the governement did
the Dutch government did what they had to do to save Dutch lives.
the Germans had bombed Rotterdam and threatened to do the same to the other big/important cities, if The Netherlands didn't capitulate.
so the government capitulated to prevent that.
because everyone knew that it was only a matter of time before The Netherlands would have been overrun and would fall anyway.
this way the inevitable happened sooner than necessary, but (ten of) thousands of Dutch lives got spared the same fate as Rotterdam.
and the Dutch people got the chance to continue the fight in the form of the countless citizens that joined the resistance.
they made the Germans pay for the occupation, they helped hide the people that were hunted down by the occupiers and they assisted the allied forces up until the capitulation of Germany.
@@ChristiaanHWWe should have had proper weapons, not weapons from a century before. Would we have won? Probably not, but it could have cost the Germans dearly.
@ yes with better/newer weapons we would have been able to resist for longer.
- but no country in Europe (the whole world even) had as advanced weapons as Germany did.
so we still would have been vastly outgunned.
- as said in the video: The Netherlands hoped to stay neutral in a new war. because most wars in Europe would be fought between the great powers. and The Netherlands was far from a great power. so the expectation/hope was that Germany would go after France and leave us be.
- we had a great food crisis during the Great War, the global depresssion in the 1930's and the cost of building the Afsluitdijk in the 1930's.
we didn't have the money available to buy new weapons for a war we didn't plan on being part in.
- the resistance the Dutch forces did put up, delayed the Germans.
and cost them a lot of planes and paratroopers. and those losses helped Britain in their struggle against Germany.
so it might appear we didn't do much, but what we did do might have given Britain way better odds at repelling the German attacks.
for the little flat country we were, we did put up one hell of a fight. just look at the things German commanders/officers wrote about the invasion.
they all talk about how un-expectantly fierce the defenders fought.
it's easy to look at moments in history from a modern perspective and say what they did wrong.
but if you look at the information, resources and mindset of that time there isn't much that the Dutch back then could have done different. hindsight is often 20/20.
Charlie what is your connection with the Netherlands, I really enjoy all the video's you make of my former fatherland, greetings Gerard.
The reason that the Germans took the route via the south of the Netherlands as a lot to do with the defence line that France and Belgium had buildt after WW1, the so called Maginot line. They did not want to test that out and went around it. The Netherlands were neutral in WW1, and wanted to stay that, so no defence line and a small outdated army.
If you want to know a little more about Bluebeard, (Charles Perrault is inspired by a very controversial French character) I really advise you to discover the story of this very dark character in French history.(10 minutes)th-cam.com/video/x1Eg-nHNo1s/w-d-xo.htmlsi=4WHRdnx7u9GzEv0h
i'm already folowing i'm not from maastricht but from zwolle
th-cam.com/video/w_HmH-iWsik/w-d-xo.htmlsi=LlDaXSCD7pGanrcD
US Cemetiary in Margraten the Netherlands. May 5 2025 80 years ago was the end of the War.
th-cam.com/video/YRBWrkxURSg/w-d-xo.htmlsi=yXiVm1cRgZjEg1iG
☕☕☕Do you know where Walt Disney's fairy tales come from, the answer is in this 6 minute video. It's for the French channel of course.th-cam.com/video/mLGOJHaE6oU/w-d-xo.htmlsi=obSld8sz3GBvE-ef
cool thanks!
Yeah ok, but don't lookup Srebrenica.
hi charlie, I saw your reaction to the beast of Gévaudan, there was an almost similar affair which was happening in the 70s, still in France. I would like to give you this 20 minute video which will introduce you to this story through this well-known TH-camr in France who carried out his own investigation. I loved it, shivered in front of this video so why not you?th-cam.com/video/h9ffLXNFPyw/w-d-xo.htmlsi=aBrX3YExQFBMwbsr
cool thanks, i think i already had that in my list actually!
@@ItsCharlieVestgreat🎉🎉🎉
if you want a good documentary that will teach you everything about the real musketeers, I recommend this 50 minute video, French channel of courseth-cam.com/video/04DGhkHdJgM/w-d-xo.htmlsi=2x8yXygoBOv6i6kn