Brazillian here, with an oversimplification. The only reason Dom João, King of Portugal, came to Brazil with his royal family was because he was scared shitless of Napoleon. Once here, since a king can't just live in a mere colony, Brazil was promoted to the status of a Unite Kingdom, and Dom João made plenty of improvements around here, he helped tremendously in laying the foundations of what could have been a great country. Without Napoleon, the Portuguese royal family never leaves Portugal, Dom Pedro I (João's son and heir) likely never comes to Brazil and the Independence movement would not happen around him. It could have taken much longer for independence, and it would have come in a different shape, probably much more violent, possibly the territory would not even have become a single state, and who knows how much longer it would take for slavery to end. All because Napoleon didn't invade Portugal.
It's very likely it would become several small republics. The fact that Brazil kept its size for so long is a miracle. I'm pretty sure it's the biggest colony to ever exist.
@@alex-rs6ts Brazil is only huge country, by South American standards, but not by Colonial/Imperial standards, and also, you have to know that, every time some state or region of Brazil tried to separate from the rest, it was crushed, something that happened frequently between the Colonial and Imperial period, and some even happened in the start of the Republic, which is interesting, because some of these conflicts were successful for a while.
yeah, argentine here, same thing. Napoleon had influence on our formation years to the point we had people thinking about freeing him from the british. We would possibly have had to wait way longer before the revolution and the independence process and I'm not quite sure if the british would have tried again to take over buenos aires
@@b-don7930 considerando que, los Británicos solo invadieron las Provincias Unidas del Río de la Plata, porque los Españoles aún mantenían una alianza con la Francia Napoleónica, entonces, probable, pero no 100% cierto.
@@VloggingThroughHistory It reminds me of one of my Gym Teachers who also taught history at my elementary school and brought back alot of good memories, it helps your voice is perfect for stories, to be honest I sort of want to hear you just narrate a book.
@@VloggingThroughHistory You should react to whatifalthis I think I spelt that right¿ video on what if Germany won ww1 and what if the the ottomans survived it is different then alternate history hub it’s the same channel that has what if teddy Roosevelt won the 1912 election (I really like your videos)
Without Napoleon, the field of history itself might look quite different, as the Rosetta Stone might have not been discovered until much later (if at all). It helped revive European interest in the ancient world, and spawned Egyptology in the British Empire which led to some crazy stuff.
Are you sure? I am pretty confident it is the diminutive of Guerra. Basically it means Small War, and refers to the asymmetric, low level nature of the Peninsular War.
@@Elmarby According to my quick and limited research, "guerra" does in fact mean war. The English "guerilla" probably came from simplifying the Spanish words for individual male and female fighters, "guerillero" and "guerillera" respectively.
Regarding the unification wars, it's worth noting that within a decade you had: - The American Civil War - The Confederation of Canada - The Italian Unification - The German Unification - The Meiji Restoration It was a very active decade when it came to internal shifts and identity. And while some of that can be traced to Napoleon, it's hard to believe that these core questions of identity weren't well on their way to occurring. We can only begin to guess what it might have looked like. There's an interesting different question though: the second wave of Liberalism in the 1830s, would it still have happened. On the one hand, you have the abject failure of the French Free State never mattering before ultimately snuffed out. On the other hand, you have probably an extra decade of the post-French Experiment era for the liberal movements to recharge. It's conceivable that the second wave could've come even earlier. It's conceivable it could come even later.
You mentioned being a youth minister in the past and I can see that in your demeanor. You bring so much energy and excitement to the content you cover, with your own insights and anecdotes. Your videos never fail to put me in a good mood, and teach me something new, so thank you for that and your hard work. Also please do more alternatehistoryhub.
Can’t wait till you make it out to the Battle of Little Bighorn. I’m 22 now, but growing up, my Grandmother had a cabin in Montana. Every summer I was blessed to be able to escape California on a road trip with her up there. One year, we went on an “extra” trip to South Dakota, then to Deadwood and Rushmore. Also to Crazy Horse’s memorial they’ve been carving for nearly a hundred years. On the way there however we visited Bighorn, and seeing all those crosses… wow. Just an absolutely phenomenal experience. Ever since I was 7-8 I have been captivated by history as a subject, and absolutely cannot wait until you report in on that amazing piece of American history. Thank you again for the content you provide!
I live in Aachen and I can tell you it has soo many great things to see and learn about from a historical standpoint. Besides the cathedral you might also want to visit the "Kaiser Friedrich III. Reitstandbild" and the Elisenbrunnen, the famous hot sources of Aachen. I bet you will like the city overall.
In my History of Warfare class sophomore year of college, my professor stated that Napoleon was one of the few men in history who could successfully combine the roles of general, diplomat, and statesman. Give credit where credit is due: the man was a military genius, respected and feared by his enemies.
Lovely video! Interesting how the histories of the US and Mexico completely shift because of.the time Spain could collapse. On a serious note, it would be nice for you to react to: "The Lost Colony of Roanoke" by LEMMiNO
First thing that came to mind for things he didn't mention are all the infrastructure improvements Napoleon made. Such as: Sewage system: Many cities including Paris were brought up to date on their sewage lines and made healthier from it, and without him those projects would have been delayed probably for a while and the people may have remained more so in the countrysides as the cities systems were already way over capacity when Napoleon arrived. The guild system would still be in place. Missing roads and water systems that he was the direct reason for being built. The education system in France would not have been updated. He restarted the primary schools, created a new elite secondary system of schools (called lycées), and established many other schools for the general populace. He promoted education for girls and greatly improved teacher training. Literacy levels in France soared under Napoleon’s reforms, and that wouldn't have happened. Our modern day street shape and labeling: the system of plaques bearing street names and house numbers (even numbers on one side and odd on the other). Napoleon decided the shape of the pavement, slightly convex with gutters along the edges of the sidewalks.
Not to mention a lot of advancements in science and engineering since one of the reasons of his military success was his search for practical advantages and pragmatism reasoning
7:50 I find this framing fascinating since, to the Americans, it was a Revolution since the word referred to a cyclical change, like the revolution of a wheel. That’s where the term comes from. Both the Glorious Revolution of 1689 and the American Revolution of 1776 were not meant to be wholly new, they were meant to be restorational in nature and go back to the way things were before the tyranny they were in came about. The French Revolution was what represented something different and a change of the framing of the word from going back to a prior point on the cycle to “breaking the wheel,” so to speak and creating a wholly new social and political climate which had never existed before, far more revolutionary than any movement which had existed before them as even looking at the most radical English puritans, they harkened back to the Early Church before the Papacy, so continuing in that trend of revolutions of a wheel. 1789 was the first to buck that trend, and no one has followed the prior pattern of a cyclical revolution since, and yet we keep the term “Revolution” even though it’s ironically very ill fitting for the social events it’s describing.
@@maximilianolimamoreira5002 Yet was framed as a "free democracy" The only thing that happend was people got to elect their leaders The country was still extremely racist, and left most people at a disadvantage
@@kingmac6638yeah, people should be more honest when they proclaim independence from someone, a similar thing happened in GB, in 1688, Parliament promised to grant religious freedom for non Anglicans, and ended up denying this right, for a long time, until it gradually happened under King George the third.
This is late, but I’m almost 100% sure it’s simply because the American Revolution was so short lived before turning into a War of Independence. In 1775 they revolted, hence the flag of the revolution maintaining the Union Jack and the rebels only demanding their rights as Englishman and reform in general. It was Thomas Paine who changed everything, ironically a Brit who really wanted a country separate from British rule. His pamphlet “Common Sense” is still the best selling American title ever to this day.
Imagine if Napoleon left Moscow after finding no one there. A withdrawal without dealing with winter probably allows him to return with a much larger part of his army. This, in turn, probably allows him to stay in power. Who knows what his next move would have been.
@@matthewrussell8590 They are not I’m 6’1 and 16 and I live in the UK and I’m considered pretty tall, he’d be below average for somewhere like Ireland or the Scandinavian countries
I'm curious too, how would the lack of Napoleon on a strategic level would have changed the way battles and wars were fought? Napoleon revolutionized the way we use artillery on the field, and restructured his forces into the modern Corps system, changing the way wars were fought on a grand scale. Would Napoleon still have had an effect on these if he wasn't in control of France? How would that affect future wars, like the Unification or American Civil War? Just super interesting to think about.
I love that you use your donations to make historical trips. You don't have to, but its a real good way to enhance the content you produce while also giving you some great experiences. Especially when your talking about historical battles, actually being at the place can sometimes help give you a sense of the context of what went on. Its one thing to say someone charged up a hill, its another to be there yourself and see how steep it is.
Thanks for a good laugh during your introduction. You mentioned World War 1 and Napolean's Battle of Waterloo. Add in your Scottish heritage and I chuckled. Just before watching I was reading about Greenock Scotland manor house called Lindores Manor (built by the Lyle family of Tate and Lyle sugar refiners in 1800s). The house was used as a hotel till 2009 and then used as the boarding house in the BBC tv school drama "Waterloo Road". During World War 1, the manor house was used as a convalescing hospital. Sweet how several topics can be connected - history, Scotland, Waterloo, World War 1.
You should definitely check out the channel 'Voices from the past', it is basically a guy reading historical accounts of individuals living in different time periods. Not sure if it would be a good reaction, but it is very informative.
We went to the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, and France in late 2019. Visited the WW1 sites in Flanders. In some ways, they still live with WW1 every day there. There are WW1 cemeteries and memorials all over the place. And they still dig up shells and bodies all the time. We stopped by a farm where they had laid out the shells they dug up that week for collection. We also visited a German cemetery where are guide mentioned they had just buried 3 more soldiers just a few days before. The great powers may have left long ago, but the war remains.
Totally love the content you put out these days man, this channel is a blessing for Historical enthusiasts like us....and can I request the "Roman Conquest of of Greece" by Kings and Generals ? It's so detailed and thorough, deserving of the Event's significance...or Justinian's Restoration by Extra History...please do consider reacting to any of these two some time soon, because i really love these two Historical events and would love to see your reaction on these two..not only do you react but you also add upon the content, draw relevant comparisons, analyse things through the lens of different point of views, I can go on and on on how unique and better your "reaction" is..so I wanna see your reactions on these two important events
Napoleon tried to get a powerful navy by allying with Spain (which had the 2nd largest navy in the world and officers with lot of experience), but then screwed things up by having a French admiral in charge of the combined fleet despite the Spanish admiral (Gravina) having more experience in naval warfare (and outranking him).
Also didn’t help that Admiral Nelson managed to decimate their naval fleets before they had even started to challenge the Royal Navy “You can’t lose naval battles if you just destroy every foreign navy you encounter” - Britain, probably
The French of the period had a favourite colour, Paris Green. The green was produced using arsenic salts. It was used in green wallpaper and green jackets for the cavalry regiments known as chasseurs a cheval, Napoleon`s favourite jacket. As army commander he could wear any uniform he wanted and he preferred the chasseur green. He may have died of arsenic poisoning, but it may have been self inflicted.
Hopefully while visiting WW1 battlefields in France you get to check out Vimy ridge, I got the chance to go in 2017 to the 100th anniversary ceremony. The monument there I found to be quite an amazing sight! And you can still see the effects the artillery had on the ground there
Interesting topic! If Napoleon never gained all that power, then we wouldn't have had Waterloo, which had a big impact on military history. I love videos like this! It's like, what if Marty McFly let the Doc die in 1885. Would he still have known him in 1985? Of course that's a thing of fiction, but fiction or real, I love videos like this one!
I'd recommend doing a reaction to Historia Civilis videos. whether its his videos on the fall of the Roman Republic and the rise of Caesar or his vids on the english civil war or whether or not animals can commit crimes
Yeah I love Historia Civilis. The videos on Rome got me much more interested in Roman history...to the point where I am learning Latin so I can read the original sources for myself.
Alternative history is interesting, but mostly it's difficult to extrapolate the results of a change beyond more than one or two generations. There are some historical "forks" which are as you said bigger than others and yes the Napoleonic period is one such fork because so much changes in just a short period between 1792 and 1816. Some events in human history are fixed because they are natural disasters (; my example is Mt Tambora errupting in 1815 would still have caused that world-wide famine, but it would have been less severe in a Europe not trying to recover from 2 decades of constant warfare! ). It would be an interesting series to discuss what people think are the most important 10 forks in the road in the past 2000 years. Some will be religious (Rome accepting Christianity as it's state religion, Mohammed becoming the prophet for Islam) but many will be political (Siege of Vienna....yes the winged hussars arrived...stopping the Ottoman empire expansion into Europe!). I think a live stream with ranking of 10 major forks would be fun?
It may be difficult to extrapolate the results of a change even beyond the bifurcation point itself as it completely change causality of every followup decision.
With my own Rant out of the Way, Chris I agree with your Statment & Love seeing these Reaction Vids you are Doing, keep it up :) if no Napoleon.. what does it mean for World War one, World War 2 & back & forth... it all comes togheter in Circle.
This was very interesting to think about. Even from just a US perspective. How it could have changed our history is really interesting. Such good content from the channel all the time!
I am just loving the accidental Exposure warhammer has been getting as of late. They use an old image for a joke but in doing so they open a Pandora's box for those who look deeper. That said, FOR THE EMPEROR!!!!
Another effect to think about too: The US national anthem would be different too. No Napoleon also means no War of 1812, at least not in the same way we remember it.
Oh have fun with your trip trip through Western Europe. Are you going to visit some other places in Belgium (since you visit some frontlines in France, I highly recommend attending the last post in Ypres what is a tradition that takes place every evening) or just a quick drive to Waterloo?
Oh, and a couple tips I'd offer for Europe: -If you take the trains, buy tickets ahead of time online (the night before is usually fine), and I would go with first class as it isn't that much more expensive. -If eat at a restaurant, they are usually much more hands off than we are used to. You'll often need to tell them you are ready to order and almost always need to explicitly ask for the check or they will NEVER bring it. You also generally don't get free refills. -For cash, you can generally just use your bank card in an ATM...don't worry about exchanging a whole lot at the airport. -Otherwise use a credit card (visa should work), but notify your card company that you will be overseas so they don't cancel it on you. You'll also want a card with a chip, though that's not as much of an issue anymore. -Most people speak at least some English, but you may want to pick up a little French if possible.
You should try to visit sites of the Franco-Prussian war too! Maybe the battlefield near Sedan where Napoleon was captured? Been watching a running series on that war recently incase it wasn’t obvious 😅
@@thadmeboy1129 honestly who else I’m sure Austria would have a vested interested as the y did when Prussia went at it. I doubt France or Russia would push the matter
@@issaicx If they unified Germany, they would have had to relinquish their hold over their own imperial holdings due to some particular minutiae regarding Germany being a unification of Germans. As such, I'd imagine that Prussia would still be the one to unify Germany if it occurred at all, because the Hapsburgs were not going to give up their heritage over the promise of hegemony over a fabricated nation. The unification would just happen later on.
Do AlternateHistoryHub's Teddy Roosevelt alternate 1912. It's a colab with Cypher the Cynical Historian. Much more detailed than WhatIfAltHist's senario.
Napoleon did have his secret police (under Fouche) that stamped out counter revolutionary plots (though so did the Bourbons). He may not have been open and democratic, but he was certainly no Stalin.
It would be interesting to research if there is any history related to Achenbach's Bakery in Lancaster/Brownstown, PA, and Achen. Also, I love studying Napoleon and Halleck's maxims!
24:44 He probably wasn't poisoned, I took a course in toxicologie that discussed the reshearch around his dead, aparently his bedroom had a special paint that contained heavy metals, in the european climate (where the paint came from) this was pretty harmless since the paint would just stay put, but the in the climate on saint helena part of the paint would evaporate and slowly make napoleon sick, leading to his death
Thanks to Napoleon, many nations were made. Because of his actions in Spain, is the reason some nations took advantage to become independent, or became independent on "accident".
Going to throw another pitch for a reaction video to Drachinifel's Battle of the Hampton Roads - The Fury of Iron and Steam and/or his video: CSS Alabama - Sweet Home Forever At Sea
You should react to whatifalthis I think I spelt that right¿ video on what if Germany won ww1 and what if the the ottomans survived it is different then alternate history hub it’s the same channel that has what if teddy Roosevelt won the 1912 election (I really like your videos)
You should do an alternate history video were you deep dive more into what would happen to the US if Napoleon never came to power. Since that's your expertise I think you can give really good theories and predictions as to how the 1800s might go. Also, I find it fascinating that Napoleon is probably the most important figure in modern world history yet his impact hardly taught about in American schools.
You might be interested to know that this guy, Cody, he wrote a novel about an alternate history scenario where the dammed the strait of Gibraltar and drained the Mediterranean Sea, which is apparently something that some European countries were actually considering at one point in history. I haven’t read it but it does sound like an interesting albeit completely wacko premise..
Even though Napoleon didn't does not participate in the coup d'état of 18 Brumaire, Sieyes mastermind it and he would have found another general (Moreau for instance). When do you react to the Napoleonic Wars part 7 to 15 by Epic History TV ? It's just awesome
Moreau wasn't as brilliant commander as Napoleon, so he might not've been able to conquer most of Europe and spread revolutionary ideas as far as Napoleon did.
@@VloggingThroughHistory Start with "Can Monarchs Commit crimes?" which goes through the facts of the case, a brief overview of the civil war, ect. Then "The trail of Charles the First" covers the actual trial.
If I can speak for myself and I think most Dutch people we didn’t see Napoleon as a Tyrant. The French time in the Netherlands (1795-1813) was a time with a lot of good reforms. The only bad thing of Napoleon in my view was that in his last years he took to much areas. First the Netherlands and for example northern Italy where still in some ways independent nations. But later he just took it for France.
@Spooky Gangster A flood yes. he was quite popular indeed. But because he wanted to carry out Dutch interests and went against his brother Napoleon. That's the only pity about Napoleon. He went too far in trying to control everything.
@Spooky Gangster He was indeed also busy getting to know the Netherlands and, for example, also the language. One of the most famous things people know about Louis Napoleon is that he gave a speech where he pronounced the Dutch word 'koning' (king) as 'konijn' (rabbit). he said: I am the rabbit of Holland. And indeed His brother and other high french people thought indeed that he was to much busy with being more Dutch. They wanted to stay french.
36:37 there would probably still be "Unification Wars", but you'd have to think there wouldn't be the Levée en Masse, total mobilization probably wouldn't be as early an innovation, and Napoleonic "pseudo-Blitzkreig" (oversimplification) wouldn't be as widespread. For a while, you'd still probably see Kings quarreling with chess piece armies over small territories at a time, like before the Wars of the Coalitions. It's hard to say when or how the Unification Wars would errupt, but the appearance likely wouldn't represent 1880s-1950s warfare. Eventually Industrialization would lead to things like the Maxim Gun, and then armored vehicles and heavier weapons, but I think you'd see kingdoms inherently weary of employing mass conscription in fear of an overthrow. There was no Great Evil in Napoleon to kickstart it for the rest of Europe.
As an Argentinian we're told in school (or at least I was some years ago) that the main reason why we're independent today is because of Napoleon. Probably not 100% accurate but the moment of our independence war is just after Napoleon puts his brother in charge of all of Spain. By doing that he kinda messes up because his brother (according to spanish history) is a drunkard and doesn't really seem to bother about the colonies all that much. He ends up letting people like San Martín in the south and Bolívar in the north take care of Southamerica while all the viceroyalties fail to stop the fighting and then that's that.
It’s pretty accurate. The Latin American independence movements were indirectly caused by Napoleon invading Spain and Portugal, and it happened so quickly it was a contemporary part of Napoleons own lifetime
@@archivesoffantasy5560 exactly, it definitely paved the way for most of Latin American independence movements, my country also owes it's existence as a independent country to his invasion of the Iberian peninsula, but it also was a bit different from other Latin American countries, because Brazil's independence was declared by a Prince from the Portuguese Royal family, and the reason for this was because he was fed up with reactionary Portuguese deputies, who wanted to make Brazil a colony once more, throwing in the trash bin all progress made.
I did a quick Google search, and the average height in France in the early 1800s seems to have been 5'4"...so, Napoleon was actually above average, even if you took the common view which put him at 5'4" (which IIRC had to do with the difference between the French units and English units of measurement...another common issue :p).
If Napoleon fails, another general would take power. The most likely candidate is Jean Moreau, the victor of the Battle of Hohenlinden. The Austrian defeat at Hohenlinden is what ended the war of the 2nd Coalition and was far more strategically significant than Napoleon's near run win at Marengo.
But Moreau wasn't as good general as Napoleon (he was pretty soundly beaten at Cassano). so I doubt that french influence would reach as far as under Napoleon.
I would love to hear your take on Alternate history hub's video on Woodrow Wilson never winning the presidency. He talks about how almost every major bad event of the 20th century can be directly tied to Wilson's policies/
Funny thing about the "American revolution": Am pretty sure it is called like this literally nowhere outside the US^^. Here in Europe it is normally just called the American War of Independence^^.
Hey Chris, I'm relatively new on your Channel but I highly appreciate your Videos. So i'd Like to ask that when you're going to Verdun and Aachen if there's a possibility to join you? I'm from Western Germany myself and studying History at the University of Trier and I've been there a time ago.
7:37 Oh my god! I'm an early high schooler and as something to ask my teacher for American history, I said in an essay, (note that I watched this video 1 hour later after they graded it) why do we call the American Revolution a revolution when it was a war for independence and so on. And here I am, 1 hour later, seeing my true go-to history guy, talking about that very thing, like the divine history folk noticed my call to understand words and history alike. Thank you for the video, but the very moment I heard that I busted up laughing.
It really no joke when the French allowed equality amongst different groups of people Napoleon not the only non French general there's also the black death or Thomas Alexandre Dumas.
yeah, but that is because that general earned his freedom, otherwise it would be harder, because the legislation about treating slaves decently in France, was not respected that much.
@@maximilianolimamoreira5002 True the man was a slave sold by his father to the Nobles who later comes to the ideas of free and equally unlocked his true talents then later gets stabbed in the back and and watches the man who did it rise to power.
@@maximilianolimamoreira5002 One of the last Roman general I was bron in Sapareva Banya What we call nowadays modern day Bulgaria one part of the Byzantine empire or Eastern Roman Empire.
guess how impactful Napoleon was that his actions reached faraway places such my country. Argentina started it's revolutionary process in part thanks to Napoleon takeover of Spain. And, at one point, the argentine navy considered to rescue him from his impresioning. Gonna oversimplify that last point: Hipolito Bouchard was one of the two founding fathers of the argentine navy. He was part of a plan that consisted on attacking spain's ports on the pacific in order to weak them for San Martin to move on to Chile and Peru with less oposition during the independence wars. Bouchard also had permission to attack brittish ships, and had a crew formed of spanish, argentine, french, malasyan and hawaiian men. Actually got Kamehameha to be the first ruler to recognize argentine independece and took over California for about a week before leaving it to mexico and is the reason why all those central american countries have the same flag. Bouchard was french and planned on freeing Napoleon but decided against it as it was virtually impossible with the forces at his disposal.
German unification i think we take it for granted but im not sure it was set in stone on whether or not it happens even under Bismarck it wasn't for certain remember it took the Spanish kicking out there monarchy and offering the crown to someone related to the king of Prussia for the Franco-Prussian war to happen. Im not sure Germany unifies especially if the HRE continues to exist
It more probably may unify AS Austrian led HRE. As german nationalism would have grown stronger pressure would've been put on local rulers to cooperate more closely and with HRE still as semi-functional legal framework it would have been turned into actual federation. So... United States of Germany anyone? 🤔
I love looking at the causes of things in history. Like you mentioned, WW1 and 2 and the Cold War were directly influenced by the napoleonic wars and Napoleon, Napoleon came to power through a revolution, the French Revolution was directly inspired by the US independence movement, the US independence war was brought on by the taxes and lack of representation after the 7 years war, the 7 years war caused these taxes, and the seven years war was spurred on by George Washington's attack on the French fort (I forget the name). If you really wanted to, there is a genuine justification to say that George Washington caused the world wars and the Cold War, although they're too far apart in history for that to really be a valid point, but the consequences of Washington's actions in America led to all these things which led to the whole 20th century, which has led to where we are at today in the Middle East and in Europe. Crazy to think about really
I always wondered from an American standpoint. Jefferson always supported the French revolutionaries but did he change his perspective on democracy/republic after the French Revolution? If I lived during his time I would have probably questioned this whole people governing thing. Does anyone have book recommendations? And did monarchs after the French Revolution use this as propaganda to stabilize themselves ? Also whatalthist for me has better alternate history timelines but his more recent stuff is on geopolitics and philosophy if you want to check that out but it may be too political for a reaction. But he dives into how somethings in the past are good indicators of the future.
about the point of the other Europeans monarchs reinstating the monarchy it is a pretty big possibility since that's what they did in real life. 1st time for a few months between the 2 reigns of Napoleon and then until the "Restauration" was overthrown by the 2nd republic in another revolution which was itself overthrown by the 2nd Empire under Napoleon the third (nephew of Napoleon 1st). Then the 2nd Empire felt during the franco-prussian war to leave the 3rd republic until WW2
With a delay for the American Civil War, that conflict would've seen a much larger casualty count. Cartridge weapons and Gatling guns were just starting to be developed at the end of our real ACW.... a decade or so later, and the armies most likely would've been armed with lever-actions. But Spain holding onto the Louisiana Territory is a fascinating wild card that indeed would've affected how the US developed. We may have well seen an earlier Spanish-American war, one over western territories. Spain may have also been an ally to either the North or South had we been destined for a civil war, or Spain may have taken advantage of a weakened US and attempted an invasion following our conflict. In Europe, without the events early in the 19th century, all those monarchies may have behaved very differently. No Austria-Hungary, and Germany may have only united regionally (Bavaria ruling most of the southwest, Prussia ruling most of the east). Russian would likely have been trailing behind in technology, and Poland may never have emerged again as a country if a WW1 never occurred. And speaking of, if no WW1, then no WW2.... Hitler would never have came into the scene. Europe may well have been locked in a continual cycle of smaller border conflicts well into the 20th century. The atomic age would've arrive a lot later as well, with no WW2 to call for the development of The Bomb. Which would've set back everything now.... we'd likely be living in a world more resembling the 1950's or 60's now.
I think it would make sense for Britain to invade France in the event of no Napolean and the British would take full control of France as they’ve wanted since the 100 years war.
Im a massive Napoleon 'fan' for lack of a better word, but I don't think things would quite be as different if he didn't come to power. French Revolutionary warfare wasn't just Napoleon, having soldiers not fighting due to force allowed much better speed and manouvre etc, especially if Napoleon is still part of the army in this timeline. Internal policy decisions like mending relations with the Vatican probably still would have happened, and the ideological cat was out the bag in terms of enlightenment liberal government. The Holy Roman Empire probably would have carried on, but actually I believe the process of consolidating most of the smaller statelets in the empire into bigger ones, which was a crucial part of the empire falling apart was already in motion when Napoleon took power, from the treaty he'd previously negotiated with the Austrians. Things would be very different if Napoleon hadn't come to power, but not as radically different as you might expect
"Probably a decent ruler" is about right, the Napoleonic legal codes are held up on a pedestal more often than not, sometimes in comparison to the importance of Roman law in shaping European legislation
Yeah I try really hard to avoid extremes. The only thing I'll grant him in that regard is he absolutely should be in the conversation for greatest military leaders of all time (though far from perfect).
Well 40 countries worldwide based their legal systems off his code. Making napoleon one of the greatest law givers in history He’s both oppressor and liberator
@@VloggingThroughHistory with all respect, I think that’s overlooking Napoleon’s influential reforms to say you’d only grant he’s a great military man. Perhaps I misinterpret you, and you’re saying a great general is the only thing you’d grant as an absolute ? Isn’t this also a change of tone, at the end of the oversimplified videos you said you thought he could be considered a good political leader too. One can recognise Napoleon’s reforms empowered millions, and shaped much of the modern world, without undermining any atrocities he committed and thus “avoid extremes” 40 nations worldwide used aspects of Napoleonic code when making their legal systems. Serfdom and what was left of feudalism in Europe was abolished, national banks and welfare programs were set up, which stamped out hyper inflation and bread shortages (whole reason for revolution in the first place) he granted freedom of religion, Napoleon emancipated Jews who were still kept in ghettos (open prisons) all over Europe. He opened up secular schools, and made them more accessible, which meant the literary rate soared in France. And merit based promotion was introduced. There’s a quote to summarise what I’m trying to say by the best Napoleonic historian Andrew Roberts From Wikipedia Napoleon instituted various reforms, such as higher education, a tax code, road and sewer systems, and established the Banque de France, the first central bank in French history. He negotiated the Concordat of 1801 with the Catholic Church, which sought to reconcile the mostly Catholic population to his regime. It was presented alongside the Organic Articles Napoleon had an extensive impact on the modern world, bringing liberal reforms to the numerous territories that he conquered and controlled, especially the Low Countries, Switzerland, and large parts of modern Italy and Germany. He implemented fundamental liberal policies in France and throughout Western Europe.[b] His lasting legal achievement, the Napoleonic Code, has been highly influential. Historian Andrew Roberts says, "The ideas that underpin our modern world-meritocracy, equality before the law, property rights, religious toleration, modern secular education, sound finances, and so on-were championed, consolidated, codified and geographically extended by Napoleon. To them he added a rational and efficient local administration, an end to rural banditry, the encouragement of science and the arts, the abolition of feudalism and the greatest codification of laws since the fall of the Roman Empire."[13] The Napoleonic code was adopted throughout much of Continental Europe, though only in the lands he conquered, and remained in force after Napoleon's defeat. Napoleon said: "My true glory is not to have won forty battles ... Waterloo will erase the memory of so many victories. ... But ... what will live forever, is my Civil Code".[291] The Code influences a quarter of the world's jurisdictions such as those in Continental Europe, the Americas, and Africa.[292 (Back to me) I’d personally rank Napoleon alongside the greatest law givers throughout history: Hammurabi, Cyrus the Great, Justinian the Great, Henry II (English common law) James Madison etc and of course many more. However, whilst Napoleon was more progressive than his contemporary monarchs (by some distance) his progressivism was limited. Women lost rights under Napoleon, and there’s the huge hypocrisy of a man who abolishes serfdom in Europe, but re-instates slavery in the French colonies (the main atrocity I was referring to before) Therefore the man is very hard to summarise. Napoleon did everything on an enormous scale, his successes, his reforms, his disasters. I think it’s more or less a fact, rather than an opinion, that he’s one of the greatest law givers in history though.
Brazillian here, with an oversimplification. The only reason Dom João, King of Portugal, came to Brazil with his royal family was because he was scared shitless of Napoleon. Once here, since a king can't just live in a mere colony, Brazil was promoted to the status of a Unite Kingdom, and Dom João made plenty of improvements around here, he helped tremendously in laying the foundations of what could have been a great country. Without Napoleon, the Portuguese royal family never leaves Portugal, Dom Pedro I (João's son and heir) likely never comes to Brazil and the Independence movement would not happen around him. It could have taken much longer for independence, and it would have come in a different shape, probably much more violent, possibly the territory would not even have become a single state, and who knows how much longer it would take for slavery to end. All because Napoleon didn't invade Portugal.
Wow that’s actually a very interesting point thanks for the insight
It's very likely it would become several small republics. The fact that Brazil kept its size for so long is a miracle. I'm pretty sure it's the biggest colony to ever exist.
@@alex-rs6ts Brazil is only huge country, by South American standards, but not by Colonial/Imperial standards, and also, you have to know that, every time some state or region of Brazil tried to separate from the rest, it was crushed, something that happened frequently between the Colonial and Imperial period, and some even happened in the start of the Republic, which is interesting, because some of these conflicts were successful for a while.
yeah, argentine here, same thing. Napoleon had influence on our formation years to the point we had people thinking about freeing him from the british. We would possibly have had to wait way longer before the revolution and the independence process and I'm not quite sure if the british would have tried again to take over buenos aires
@@b-don7930 considerando que, los Británicos solo invadieron las Provincias Unidas del Río de la Plata, porque los Españoles aún mantenían una alianza con la Francia Napoleónica, entonces, probable, pero no 100% cierto.
I would like to say your content has really boosted my love of history, and I learn a lot more details on the subject.
Awesome. That’s what I love to hear.
@@VloggingThroughHistory It reminds me of one of my Gym Teachers who also taught history at my elementary school and brought back alot of good memories, it helps your voice is perfect for stories, to be honest I sort of want to hear you just narrate a book.
@@VloggingThroughHistory You should react to whatifalthis I think I spelt that right¿ video on what if Germany won ww1 and what if the the ottomans survived it is different then alternate history hub it’s the same channel that has what if teddy Roosevelt won the 1912 election (I really like your videos)
Same here!
@@chancellor1055 whatifalthist is awesome
Without Napoleon, the field of history itself might look quite different, as the Rosetta Stone might have not been discovered until much later (if at all). It helped revive European interest in the ancient world, and spawned Egyptology in the British Empire which led to some crazy stuff.
Woah, I’ve always wondered who uncovered the great pyramids of Giza. Where they always visible?
@@eutropius2699 they last it for over 4000 years
@@painvillegaming4119 what do you mean?
@@eutropius2699 the pyramid where around for around 4000 years am surprised they could find it
Imagine 4000 years of human history
@@painvillegaming4119 Were they covered in sand like the Sphinx and if so when were they rediscovered?
This is probably one of the most difficult alternate history to actually predict. Just shows how influential Napolean was.
Napoleon not rising to power wouldn't have effected Bismark at all because as we all know Bismark ALWAYS had a plan!!
22:00 Fun fact, the ‘guerrilla’ in guerrilla warfare is actually Spanish for warfare, so “guerrilla warfare” actually means “warfare warfare.”
WOW I didn't know that. That makes no sense LOL
Are you sure? I am pretty confident it is the diminutive of Guerra. Basically it means Small War, and refers to the asymmetric, low level nature of the Peninsular War.
@@Elmarby According to my quick and limited research, "guerra" does in fact mean war. The English "guerilla" probably came from simplifying the Spanish words for individual male and female fighters, "guerillero" and "guerillera" respectively.
Regarding the unification wars, it's worth noting that within a decade you had:
- The American Civil War
- The Confederation of Canada
- The Italian Unification
- The German Unification
- The Meiji Restoration
It was a very active decade when it came to internal shifts and identity. And while some of that can be traced to Napoleon, it's hard to believe that these core questions of identity weren't well on their way to occurring. We can only begin to guess what it might have looked like.
There's an interesting different question though: the second wave of Liberalism in the 1830s, would it still have happened. On the one hand, you have the abject failure of the French Free State never mattering before ultimately snuffed out. On the other hand, you have probably an extra decade of the post-French Experiment era for the liberal movements to recharge. It's conceivable that the second wave could've come even earlier. It's conceivable it could come even later.
These vids are so fye bruh. Like I do my homework while watching VTH almost everyday.
You mentioned being a youth minister in the past and I can see that in your demeanor. You bring so much energy and excitement to the content you cover, with your own insights and anecdotes. Your videos never fail to put me in a good mood, and teach me something new, so thank you for that and your hard work.
Also please do more alternatehistoryhub.
Can’t wait till you make it out to the Battle of Little Bighorn. I’m 22 now, but growing up, my Grandmother had a cabin in Montana. Every summer I was blessed to be able to escape California on a road trip with her up there. One year, we went on an “extra” trip to South Dakota, then to Deadwood and Rushmore. Also to Crazy Horse’s memorial they’ve been carving for nearly a hundred years. On the way there however we visited Bighorn, and seeing all those crosses… wow. Just an absolutely phenomenal experience. Ever since I was 7-8 I have been captivated by history as a subject, and absolutely cannot wait until you report in on that amazing piece of American history. Thank you again for the content you provide!
I live in Aachen and I can tell you it has soo many great things to see and learn about from a historical standpoint. Besides the cathedral you might also want to visit the "Kaiser Friedrich III. Reitstandbild" and the Elisenbrunnen, the famous hot sources of Aachen. I bet you will like the city overall.
In my History of Warfare class sophomore year of college, my professor stated that Napoleon was one of the few men in history who could successfully combine the roles of general, diplomat, and statesman. Give credit where credit is due: the man was a military genius, respected and feared by his enemies.
Lovely video! Interesting how the histories of the US and Mexico completely shift because of.the time Spain could collapse.
On a serious note, it would be nice for you to react to: "The Lost Colony of Roanoke" by LEMMiNO
I just mentioned in the stream that I'd be doing that one soon. It's coming.
First thing that came to mind for things he didn't mention are all the infrastructure improvements Napoleon made. Such as:
Sewage system: Many cities including Paris were brought up to date on their sewage lines and made healthier from it, and without him those projects would have been delayed probably for a while and the people may have remained more so in the countrysides as the cities systems were already way over capacity when Napoleon arrived.
The guild system would still be in place.
Missing roads and water systems that he was the direct reason for being built.
The education system in France would not have been updated. He restarted the primary schools, created a new elite secondary system of schools (called lycées), and established many other schools for the general populace. He promoted education for girls and greatly improved teacher training. Literacy levels in France soared under Napoleon’s reforms, and that wouldn't have happened.
Our modern day street shape and labeling: the system of plaques bearing street names and house numbers (even numbers on one side and odd on the other). Napoleon decided the shape of the pavement, slightly convex with gutters along the edges of the sidewalks.
Exactly, a lot was overlooked
Not to mention a lot of advancements in science and engineering since one of the reasons of his military success was his search for practical advantages and pragmatism reasoning
7:50
I find this framing fascinating since, to the Americans, it was a Revolution since the word referred to a cyclical change, like the revolution of a wheel.
That’s where the term comes from. Both the Glorious Revolution of 1689 and the American Revolution of 1776 were not meant to be wholly new, they were meant to be restorational in nature and go back to the way things were before the tyranny they were in came about.
The French Revolution was what represented something different and a change of the framing of the word from going back to a prior point on the cycle to “breaking the wheel,” so to speak and creating a wholly new social and political climate which had never existed before, far more revolutionary than any movement which had existed before them as even looking at the most radical English puritans, they harkened back to the Early Church before the Papacy, so continuing in that trend of revolutions of a wheel.
1789 was the first to buck that trend, and no one has followed the prior pattern of a cyclical revolution since, and yet we keep the term “Revolution” even though it’s ironically very ill fitting for the social events it’s describing.
Yeah no kidding to the Americans it was a revolution but to everyone else it was simply an uprising which it really only was
@@kingmac6638 yeah, it excluded poor white men, women and blacks from voting.
@@maximilianolimamoreira5002 Yet was framed as a "free democracy"
The only thing that happend was people got to elect their leaders
The country was still extremely racist, and left most people at a disadvantage
@@kingmac6638yeah, people should be more honest when they proclaim independence from someone, a similar thing happened in GB, in 1688, Parliament promised to grant religious freedom for non Anglicans, and ended up denying this right, for a long time, until it gradually happened under King George the third.
This is late, but I’m almost 100% sure it’s simply because the American Revolution was so short lived before turning into a War of Independence. In 1775 they revolted, hence the flag of the revolution maintaining the Union Jack and the rebels only demanding their rights as Englishman and reform in general. It was Thomas Paine who changed everything, ironically a Brit who really wanted a country separate from British rule. His pamphlet “Common Sense” is still the best selling American title ever to this day.
Cody’s videos are always good. And your input always awesome! Keep ‘em coming!
Imagine if Napoleon left Moscow after finding no one there. A withdrawal without dealing with winter probably allows him to return with a much larger part of his army. This, in turn, probably allows him to stay in power. Who knows what his next move would have been.
Napoleon was definitely average height for the time
yeah, he just liked to be surrounded by taller, and heavier built men, for reasons of protection.
if he was 5'8" he's average height today
@Funstun 123123 and where is 5ft 8 average height ? Certainly not in the west. The young lads in Britain must be pushing on average 6ft these days
@@maximilianolimamoreira5002 so like Floyd Mayweather 😄
@@matthewrussell8590 They are not I’m 6’1 and 16 and I live in the UK and I’m considered pretty tall, he’d be below average for somewhere like Ireland or the Scandinavian countries
I love these videos you do - Napoleon, WW1 & WW2 are my favourite parts of history to learn and study.
I'm curious too, how would the lack of Napoleon on a strategic level would have changed the way battles and wars were fought? Napoleon revolutionized the way we use artillery on the field, and restructured his forces into the modern Corps system, changing the way wars were fought on a grand scale. Would Napoleon still have had an effect on these if he wasn't in control of France? How would that affect future wars, like the Unification or American Civil War?
Just super interesting to think about.
I love that you use your donations to make historical trips. You don't have to, but its a real good way to enhance the content you produce while also giving you some great experiences.
Especially when your talking about historical battles, actually being at the place can sometimes help give you a sense of the context of what went on. Its one thing to say someone charged up a hill, its another to be there yourself and see how steep it is.
Thanks for a good laugh during your introduction. You mentioned World War 1 and Napolean's Battle of Waterloo. Add in your Scottish heritage and I chuckled. Just before watching I was reading about Greenock Scotland manor house called Lindores Manor (built by the Lyle family of Tate and Lyle sugar refiners in 1800s). The house was used as a hotel till 2009 and then used as the boarding house in the BBC tv school drama "Waterloo Road". During World War 1, the manor house was used as a convalescing hospital. Sweet how several topics can be connected - history, Scotland, Waterloo, World War 1.
Yeah, that one was incredibly fascinating. Napoleon left such a big mark on history.
You should definitely check out the channel 'Voices from the past', it is basically a guy reading historical accounts of individuals living in different time periods. Not sure if it would be a good reaction, but it is very informative.
That flowing, young-Napoleon hair can conquer anything...
We went to the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, and France in late 2019. Visited the WW1 sites in Flanders. In some ways, they still live with WW1 every day there. There are WW1 cemeteries and memorials all over the place. And they still dig up shells and bodies all the time. We stopped by a farm where they had laid out the shells they dug up that week for collection. We also visited a German cemetery where are guide mentioned they had just buried 3 more soldiers just a few days before. The great powers may have left long ago, but the war remains.
Totally love the content you put out these days man, this channel is a blessing for Historical enthusiasts like us....and can I request the "Roman Conquest of of Greece" by Kings and Generals ? It's so detailed and thorough, deserving of the Event's significance...or Justinian's Restoration by Extra History...please do consider reacting to any of these two some time soon, because i really love these two Historical events and would love to see your reaction on these two..not only do you react but you also add upon the content, draw relevant comparisons, analyse things through the lens of different point of views, I can go on and on on how unique and better your "reaction" is..so I wanna see your reactions on these two important events
Napoleon tried to get a powerful navy by allying with Spain (which had the 2nd largest navy in the world and officers with lot of experience), but then screwed things up by having a French admiral in charge of the combined fleet despite the Spanish admiral (Gravina) having more experience in naval warfare (and outranking him).
Also didn’t help that Admiral Nelson managed to decimate their naval fleets before they had even started to challenge the Royal Navy
“You can’t lose naval battles if you just destroy every foreign navy you encounter” - Britain, probably
The French of the period had a favourite colour, Paris Green. The green was produced using arsenic salts. It was used in green wallpaper and green jackets for the cavalry regiments known as chasseurs a cheval, Napoleon`s favourite jacket. As army commander he could wear any uniform he wanted and he preferred the chasseur green. He may have died of arsenic poisoning, but it may have been self inflicted.
Hopefully while visiting WW1 battlefields in France you get to check out Vimy ridge, I got the chance to go in 2017 to the 100th anniversary ceremony. The monument there I found to be quite an amazing sight! And you can still see the effects the artillery had on the ground there
Norwegian exchange student living in aachen her, Big fan love your content
Are you planning on watching Napoleon's Marshals, Ranked, by Epic History TV? Love the content!
Definitely checked out the original content.
Another VTH video, nice.
Interesting topic! If Napoleon never gained all that power, then we wouldn't have had Waterloo, which had a big impact on military history. I love videos like this! It's like, what if Marty McFly let the Doc die in 1885. Would he still have known him in 1985? Of course that's a thing of fiction, but fiction or real, I love videos like this one!
I think Napoleon's biggest impact on military history was Austerlitz. Waterloo was simply the epilogue but Austerlitz was his masterpiece
Waterloo was his last battle, but compared to the many other battles I can't see it as an important (militarily) one
@@spiritfoxmy6370 Well point was the impact on military history would not have been as significant as it was with Napoleon in power
I'd recommend doing a reaction to Historia Civilis videos. whether its his videos on the fall of the Roman Republic and the rise of Caesar or his vids on the english civil war or whether or not animals can commit crimes
Yeah I love Historia Civilis. The videos on Rome got me much more interested in Roman history...to the point where I am learning Latin so I can read the original sources for myself.
This was very interesting. Thanks!
Alternative history is interesting, but mostly it's difficult to extrapolate the results of a change beyond more than one or two generations. There are some historical "forks" which are as you said bigger than others and yes the Napoleonic period is one such fork because so much changes in just a short period between 1792 and 1816.
Some events in human history are fixed because they are natural disasters (; my example is Mt Tambora errupting in 1815 would still have caused that world-wide famine, but it would have been less severe in a Europe not trying to recover from 2 decades of constant warfare! ).
It would be an interesting series to discuss what people think are the most important 10 forks in the road in the past 2000 years. Some will be religious (Rome accepting Christianity as it's state religion, Mohammed becoming the prophet for Islam) but many will be political (Siege of Vienna....yes the winged hussars arrived...stopping the Ottoman empire expansion into Europe!). I think a live stream with ranking of 10 major forks would be fun?
It may be difficult to extrapolate the results of a change even beyond the bifurcation point itself as it completely change causality of every followup decision.
If you visit Paris, you'll see the letter N everywhere.
With my own Rant out of the Way, Chris I agree with your Statment & Love seeing these Reaction Vids you are Doing, keep it up :) if no Napoleon.. what does it mean for World War one, World War 2 & back & forth... it all comes togheter in Circle.
Such a cool story. Great video👍
This was very interesting to think about. Even from just a US perspective. How it could have changed our history is really interesting. Such good content from the channel all the time!
I am just loving the accidental Exposure warhammer has been getting as of late. They use an old image for a joke but in doing so they open a Pandora's box for those who look deeper. That said, FOR THE EMPEROR!!!!
Another effect to think about too: The US national anthem would be different too. No Napoleon also means no War of 1812, at least not in the same way we remember it.
Oh have fun with your trip trip through Western Europe. Are you going to visit some other places in Belgium (since you visit some frontlines in France, I highly recommend attending the last post in Ypres what is a tradition that takes place every evening) or just a quick drive to Waterloo?
Oh, and a couple tips I'd offer for Europe:
-If you take the trains, buy tickets ahead of time online (the night before is usually fine), and I would go with first class as it isn't that much more expensive.
-If eat at a restaurant, they are usually much more hands off than we are used to. You'll often need to tell them you are ready to order and almost always need to explicitly ask for the check or they will NEVER bring it. You also generally don't get free refills.
-For cash, you can generally just use your bank card in an ATM...don't worry about exchanging a whole lot at the airport.
-Otherwise use a credit card (visa should work), but notify your card company that you will be overseas so they don't cancel it on you. You'll also want a card with a chip, though that's not as much of an issue anymore.
-Most people speak at least some English, but you may want to pick up a little French if possible.
You should try to visit sites of the Franco-Prussian war too! Maybe the battlefield near Sedan where Napoleon was captured? Been watching a running series on that war recently incase it wasn’t obvious 😅
Imagine a world without Otto von Bismarck. A Germany formed under the Austrians is a interesting history
It would never happen because Austria didnt want to form one germany
@@thadmeboy1129 true but all the smaller states still wanted to form something
@@issaicx yes but it wouldnt be under austria
@@thadmeboy1129 honestly who else I’m sure Austria would have a vested interested as the y did when Prussia went at it. I doubt France or Russia would push the matter
@@issaicx If they unified Germany, they would have had to relinquish their hold over their own imperial holdings due to some particular minutiae regarding Germany being a unification of Germans. As such, I'd imagine that Prussia would still be the one to unify Germany if it occurred at all, because the Hapsburgs were not going to give up their heritage over the promise of hegemony over a fabricated nation. The unification would just happen later on.
Love Alternate History Hub. You should react to the videos they did on Harry Turtledoves southern victory series.
Do AlternateHistoryHub's Teddy Roosevelt alternate 1912. It's a colab with Cypher the Cynical Historian. Much more detailed than WhatIfAltHist's senario.
Are you going to continue the Napoleonic Wars series by EpicHistoryTV?
Ah Holy Roman Empire was neither holy, nor Roman, nor even an Empire. - Voltaire
Napoleon did have his secret police (under Fouche) that stamped out counter revolutionary plots (though so did the Bourbons). He may not have been open and democratic, but he was certainly no Stalin.
Can't wait for Waterloo
It would be interesting to research if there is any history related to Achenbach's Bakery in Lancaster/Brownstown, PA, and Achen. Also, I love studying Napoleon and Halleck's maxims!
24:44 He probably wasn't poisoned, I took a course in toxicologie that discussed the reshearch around his dead, aparently his bedroom had a special paint that contained heavy metals, in the european climate (where the paint came from) this was pretty harmless since the paint would just stay put, but the in the climate on saint helena part of the paint would evaporate and slowly make napoleon sick, leading to his death
Thanks to Napoleon, many nations were made. Because of his actions in Spain, is the reason some nations took advantage to become independent, or became independent on "accident".
Going to throw another pitch for a reaction video to Drachinifel's Battle of the Hampton Roads - The Fury of Iron and Steam and/or his video: CSS Alabama - Sweet Home Forever At Sea
You should react to whatifalthis I think I spelt that right¿ video on what if Germany won ww1 and what if the the ottomans survived it is different then alternate history hub it’s the same channel that has what if teddy Roosevelt won the 1912 election (I really like your videos)
10 Napoleons would result in 10 Napoleons fighting for power and it'll either be a 10 year battle of wits of a 2 day blitzkrieg
You should do an alternate history video were you deep dive more into what would happen to the US if Napoleon never came to power. Since that's your expertise I think you can give really good theories and predictions as to how the 1800s might go. Also, I find it fascinating that Napoleon is probably the most important figure in modern world history yet his impact hardly taught about in American schools.
could you continue with the epic history napoleon series? there's already a part 7 to 15 and a video about napoleon's marshals
You might be interested to know that this guy, Cody, he wrote a novel about an alternate history scenario where the dammed the strait of Gibraltar and drained the Mediterranean Sea, which is apparently something that some European countries were actually considering at one point in history. I haven’t read it but it does sound like an interesting albeit completely wacko premise..
Now that I think about it 1789 is a massive year in history overall.
Bill & Ted wouldn’t have passed their class that’s what!
Even though Napoleon didn't does not participate in the coup d'état of 18 Brumaire, Sieyes mastermind it and he would have found another general (Moreau for instance).
When do you react to the Napoleonic Wars part 7 to 15 by Epic History TV ? It's just awesome
Moreau wasn't as brilliant commander as Napoleon, so he might not've been able to conquer most of Europe and spread revolutionary ideas as far as Napoleon did.
Making a trip to (The Rhine) where the intense battles of the 19th and 20th centuries (Waterloo, Belgium)
Jeff Goldblum: Bismarck finds a way
16:27 one does not simply gloss over the Rosetta stone like that.
the most underrated youtuber
React to Historia Civilis trial of King Charles the first.
I second this
Ooh interesting because Cromwell is an uncle of mine and an ancestor of mine signed Charles’ death warrant.
@@VloggingThroughHistory Start with "Can Monarchs Commit crimes?" which goes through the facts of the case, a brief overview of the civil war, ect. Then "The trail of Charles the First" covers the actual trial.
If I can speak for myself and I think most Dutch people we didn’t see Napoleon as a Tyrant. The French time in the Netherlands (1795-1813) was a time with a lot of good reforms. The only bad thing of Napoleon in my view was that in his last years he took to much areas. First the Netherlands and for example northern Italy where still in some ways independent nations. But later he just took it for France.
@Spooky Gangster A flood yes. he was quite popular indeed. But because he wanted to carry out Dutch interests and went against his brother Napoleon. That's the only pity about Napoleon. He went too far in trying to control everything.
@Spooky Gangster He was indeed also busy getting to know the Netherlands and, for example, also the language. One of the most famous things people know about Louis Napoleon is that he gave a speech where he pronounced the Dutch word 'koning' (king) as 'konijn' (rabbit). he said: I am the rabbit of Holland. And indeed His brother and other high french people thought indeed that he was to much busy with being more Dutch. They wanted to stay french.
36:37 there would probably still be "Unification Wars", but you'd have to think there wouldn't be the Levée en Masse, total mobilization probably wouldn't be as early an innovation, and Napoleonic "pseudo-Blitzkreig" (oversimplification) wouldn't be as widespread. For a while, you'd still probably see Kings quarreling with chess piece armies over small territories at a time, like before the Wars of the Coalitions. It's hard to say when or how the Unification Wars would errupt, but the appearance likely wouldn't represent 1880s-1950s warfare. Eventually Industrialization would lead to things like the Maxim Gun, and then armored vehicles and heavier weapons, but I think you'd see kingdoms inherently weary of employing mass conscription in fear of an overthrow. There was no Great Evil in Napoleon to kickstart it for the rest of Europe.
are you going to continue the epic history tv napoleon series?
As an Argentinian we're told in school (or at least I was some years ago) that the main reason why we're independent today is because of Napoleon.
Probably not 100% accurate but the moment of our independence war is just after Napoleon puts his brother in charge of all of Spain. By doing that he kinda messes up because his brother (according to spanish history) is a drunkard and doesn't really seem to bother about the colonies all that much. He ends up letting people like San Martín in the south and Bolívar in the north take care of Southamerica while all the viceroyalties fail to stop the fighting and then that's that.
It’s pretty accurate. The Latin American independence movements were indirectly caused by Napoleon invading Spain and Portugal, and it happened so quickly it was a contemporary part of Napoleons own lifetime
@@archivesoffantasy5560 exactly, it definitely paved the way for most of Latin American independence movements, my country also owes it's existence as a independent country to his invasion of the Iberian peninsula, but it also was a bit different from other Latin American countries, because Brazil's independence was declared by a Prince from the Portuguese Royal family, and the reason for this was because he was fed up with reactionary Portuguese deputies, who wanted to make Brazil a colony once more, throwing in the trash bin all progress made.
I think it’s important for history to have someone like napoleon who bring changes or we might not have grown as a species
I did a quick Google search, and the average height in France in the early 1800s seems to have been 5'4"...so, Napoleon was actually above average, even if you took the common view which put him at 5'4" (which IIRC had to do with the difference between the French units and English units of measurement...another common issue :p).
If Napoleon fails, another general would take power. The most likely candidate is Jean Moreau, the victor of the Battle of Hohenlinden. The Austrian defeat at Hohenlinden is what ended the war of the 2nd Coalition and was far more strategically significant than Napoleon's near run win at Marengo.
But Moreau wasn't as good general as Napoleon (he was pretty soundly beaten at Cassano). so I doubt that french influence would reach as far as under Napoleon.
I would love to hear your take on Alternate history hub's video on Woodrow Wilson never winning the presidency. He talks about how almost every major bad event of the 20th century can be directly tied to Wilson's policies/
I'm pretty sure he's already reacted to that video
Funny thing about the "American revolution": Am pretty sure it is called like this literally nowhere outside the US^^. Here in Europe it is normally just called the American War of Independence^^.
Hey Chris,
I'm relatively new on your Channel but I highly appreciate your Videos. So i'd Like to ask that when you're going to Verdun and Aachen if there's a possibility to join you? I'm from Western Germany myself and studying History at the University of Trier and I've been there a time ago.
Yes I will definitely plan to do a meetup when I'm over there. Once I have a trip planned, I'll announce the details.
7:37 Oh my god! I'm an early high schooler and as something to ask my teacher for American history, I said in an essay, (note that I watched this video 1 hour later after they graded it) why do we call the American Revolution a revolution when it was a war for independence and so on. And here I am, 1 hour later, seeing my true go-to history guy, talking about that very thing, like the divine history folk noticed my call to understand words and history alike. Thank you for the video, but the very moment I heard that I busted up laughing.
I didn't know it was called revolution in the US.
In France it's called US's independence war.
@@ebenezer576 same i Norway
Britain always refers to it as the American War of Independence. Never Revolution.
the cream rise to the top, oohh yeah.
I am waiting for the day he will go to Dresden in Germany
It really no joke when the French allowed equality amongst different groups of people Napoleon not the only non French general there's also the black death or Thomas Alexandre Dumas.
yeah, but that is because that general earned his freedom, otherwise it would be harder, because the legislation about treating slaves decently in France, was not respected that much.
@@maximilianolimamoreira5002 True the man was a slave sold by his father to the Nobles who later comes to the ideas of free and equally unlocked his true talents then later gets stabbed in the back and and watches the man who did it rise to power.
@@AKAZA-kq8jd and fathered a great writer, though.
@@maximilianolimamoreira5002 Now I really want to read the count of Monte cristo!
@@maximilianolimamoreira5002 One of the last Roman general I was bron in Sapareva Banya What we call nowadays modern day Bulgaria one part of the Byzantine empire or Eastern Roman Empire.
This as up to date as it gets everything seems to be months old
thanks napoleon you made belgium!!!!
guess how impactful Napoleon was that his actions reached faraway places such my country. Argentina started it's revolutionary process in part thanks to Napoleon takeover of Spain. And, at one point, the argentine navy considered to rescue him from his impresioning.
Gonna oversimplify that last point:
Hipolito Bouchard was one of the two founding fathers of the argentine navy. He was part of a plan that consisted on attacking spain's ports on the pacific in order to weak them for San Martin to move on to Chile and Peru with less oposition during the independence wars. Bouchard also had permission to attack brittish ships, and had a crew formed of spanish, argentine, french, malasyan and hawaiian men. Actually got Kamehameha to be the first ruler to recognize argentine independece and took over California for about a week before leaving it to mexico and is the reason why all those central american countries have the same flag. Bouchard was french and planned on freeing Napoleon but decided against it as it was virtually impossible with the forces at his disposal.
9:00 ... not forgetting the metric system .... *cough* 'murica...
German unification i think we take it for granted but im not sure it was set in stone on whether or not it happens even under Bismarck it wasn't for certain remember it took the Spanish kicking out there monarchy and offering the crown to someone related to the king of Prussia for the Franco-Prussian war to happen. Im not sure Germany unifies especially if the HRE continues to exist
It more probably may unify AS Austrian led HRE. As german nationalism would have grown stronger pressure would've been put on local rulers to cooperate more closely and with HRE still as semi-functional legal framework it would have been turned into actual federation. So... United States of Germany anyone? 🤔
@@090giver090 possibly
German nationalism didn't really take off until the Napoleonic wars but maybe later it would form
I love looking at the causes of things in history. Like you mentioned, WW1 and 2 and the Cold War were directly influenced by the napoleonic wars and Napoleon, Napoleon came to power through a revolution, the French Revolution was directly inspired by the US independence movement, the US independence war was brought on by the taxes and lack of representation after the 7 years war, the 7 years war caused these taxes, and the seven years war was spurred on by George Washington's attack on the French fort (I forget the name). If you really wanted to, there is a genuine justification to say that George Washington caused the world wars and the Cold War, although they're too far apart in history for that to really be a valid point, but the consequences of Washington's actions in America led to all these things which led to the whole 20th century, which has led to where we are at today in the Middle East and in Europe. Crazy to think about really
i wonder how the whole scramble for Africa would develop in this alternate scenario
I always wondered from an American standpoint. Jefferson always supported the French revolutionaries but did he change his perspective on democracy/republic after the French Revolution? If I lived during his time I would have probably questioned this whole people governing thing. Does anyone have book recommendations? And did monarchs after the French Revolution use this as propaganda to stabilize themselves ?
Also whatalthist for me has better alternate history timelines but his more recent stuff is on geopolitics and philosophy if you want to check that out but it may be too political for a reaction. But he dives into how somethings in the past are good indicators of the future.
about the point of the other Europeans monarchs reinstating the monarchy it is a pretty big possibility since that's what they did in real life. 1st time for a few months between the 2 reigns of Napoleon and then until the "Restauration" was overthrown by the 2nd republic in another revolution which was itself overthrown by the 2nd Empire under Napoleon the third (nephew of Napoleon 1st). Then the 2nd Empire felt during the franco-prussian war to leave the 3rd republic until WW2
With a delay for the American Civil War, that conflict would've seen a much larger casualty count. Cartridge weapons and Gatling guns were just starting to be developed at the end of our real ACW.... a decade or so later, and the armies most likely would've been armed with lever-actions. But Spain holding onto the Louisiana Territory is a fascinating wild card that indeed would've affected how the US developed. We may have well seen an earlier Spanish-American war, one over western territories. Spain may have also been an ally to either the North or South had we been destined for a civil war, or Spain may have taken advantage of a weakened US and attempted an invasion following our conflict. In Europe, without the events early in the 19th century, all those monarchies may have behaved very differently. No Austria-Hungary, and Germany may have only united regionally (Bavaria ruling most of the southwest, Prussia ruling most of the east). Russian would likely have been trailing behind in technology, and Poland may never have emerged again as a country if a WW1 never occurred. And speaking of, if no WW1, then no WW2.... Hitler would never have came into the scene. Europe may well have been locked in a continual cycle of smaller border conflicts well into the 20th century. The atomic age would've arrive a lot later as well, with no WW2 to call for the development of The Bomb. Which would've set back everything now.... we'd likely be living in a world more resembling the 1950's or 60's now.
I think it would make sense for Britain to invade France in the event of no Napolean and the British would take full control of France as they’ve wanted since the 100 years war.
Yey new vid!
Im a massive Napoleon 'fan' for lack of a better word, but I don't think things would quite be as different if he didn't come to power. French Revolutionary warfare wasn't just Napoleon, having soldiers not fighting due to force allowed much better speed and manouvre etc, especially if Napoleon is still part of the army in this timeline. Internal policy decisions like mending relations with the Vatican probably still would have happened, and the ideological cat was out the bag in terms of enlightenment liberal government. The Holy Roman Empire probably would have carried on, but actually I believe the process of consolidating most of the smaller statelets in the empire into bigger ones, which was a crucial part of the empire falling apart was already in motion when Napoleon took power, from the treaty he'd previously negotiated with the Austrians. Things would be very different if Napoleon hadn't come to power, but not as radically different as you might expect
"Probably a decent ruler" is about right, the Napoleonic legal codes are held up on a pedestal more often than not, sometimes in comparison to the importance of Roman law in shaping European legislation
Yeah I try really hard to avoid extremes. The only thing I'll grant him in that regard is he absolutely should be in the conversation for greatest military leaders of all time (though far from perfect).
Well 40 countries worldwide based their legal systems off his code. Making napoleon one of the greatest law givers in history
He’s both oppressor and liberator
@@VloggingThroughHistory with all respect, I think that’s overlooking Napoleon’s influential reforms to say you’d only grant he’s a great military man. Perhaps I misinterpret you, and you’re saying a great general is the only thing you’d grant as an absolute ?
Isn’t this also a change of tone, at the end of the oversimplified videos you said you thought he could be considered a good political leader too. One can recognise Napoleon’s reforms empowered millions, and shaped much of the modern world, without undermining any atrocities he committed and thus “avoid extremes”
40 nations worldwide used aspects of Napoleonic code when making their legal systems. Serfdom and what was left of feudalism in Europe was abolished, national banks and welfare programs were set up, which stamped out hyper inflation and bread shortages (whole reason for revolution in the first place) he granted freedom of religion, Napoleon emancipated Jews who were still kept in ghettos (open prisons) all over Europe. He opened up secular schools, and made them more accessible, which meant the literary rate soared in France. And merit based promotion was introduced.
There’s a quote to summarise what I’m trying to say by the best Napoleonic historian Andrew Roberts
From Wikipedia
Napoleon instituted various reforms, such as higher education, a tax code, road and sewer systems, and established the Banque de France, the first central bank in French history. He negotiated the Concordat of 1801 with the Catholic Church, which sought to reconcile the mostly Catholic population to his regime. It was presented alongside the Organic Articles
Napoleon had an extensive impact on the modern world, bringing liberal reforms to the numerous territories that he conquered and controlled, especially the Low Countries, Switzerland, and large parts of modern Italy and Germany. He implemented fundamental liberal policies in France and throughout Western Europe.[b] His lasting legal achievement, the Napoleonic Code, has been highly influential. Historian Andrew Roberts says, "The ideas that underpin our modern world-meritocracy, equality before the law, property rights, religious toleration, modern secular education, sound finances, and so on-were championed, consolidated, codified and geographically extended by Napoleon. To them he added a rational and efficient local administration, an end to rural banditry, the encouragement of science and the arts, the abolition of feudalism and the greatest codification of laws since the fall of the Roman Empire."[13]
The Napoleonic code was adopted throughout much of Continental Europe, though only in the lands he conquered, and remained in force after Napoleon's defeat. Napoleon said: "My true glory is not to have won forty battles ... Waterloo will erase the memory of so many victories. ... But ... what will live forever, is my Civil Code".[291] The Code influences a quarter of the world's jurisdictions such as those in Continental Europe, the Americas, and Africa.[292
(Back to me) I’d personally rank Napoleon alongside the greatest law givers throughout history: Hammurabi, Cyrus the Great, Justinian the Great, Henry II (English common law) James Madison etc and of course many more.
However, whilst Napoleon was more progressive than his contemporary monarchs (by some distance) his progressivism was limited. Women lost rights under Napoleon, and there’s the huge hypocrisy of a man who abolishes serfdom in Europe, but re-instates slavery in the French colonies (the main atrocity I was referring to before)
Therefore the man is very hard to summarise. Napoleon did everything on an enormous scale, his successes, his reforms, his disasters.
I think it’s more or less a fact, rather than an opinion, that he’s one of the greatest law givers in history though.
1812 would have ended up different.