I hope you enjoy this short documentary looking at the Austrian response to the French Revolution, continuing our Habsburg Series. Apologies for the delay, was a bit ill for a few weeks and was then left with a lingering cold that made recording decent audio a challenge. This video consequently isn't my best work imo, but I've been messing with it for so long now it was beginning to drive me a bit crackers. Hopefully there's something to enjoy in it anyway.
I seem to recall you made a video that mentioned British subsidies to Russia before the Seven Years War, and how a disagreement over it contributed to Russia's decision to side as it did, but it's now nowhere to be found. Am I having a Mandela Effect moment or what?
@@hashkangaroo Think you’re probably referring to pre-American Revolution rather than pre-Seven Years War? I believe the ‘Unsplendid Isolation’ video talks about it.
@@OldBritannia The real youtuber teaches even in the comments. Also Love the lengthy new great game video, some don't want to watch a long video but thats the kinda stuff I can Relax or Revise to.
@@therearenoshortcuts9868 Austria did hold the coalition that defeated france together and its introduction into the war in 1813, along with manoeuvring the situation so that the war would almost universally be viewed as napoleons fault, rupturing the coalition of the rhine and the crushing most french popular resistance, should be ignored for their effects.
@@rc8937 Although there’s was a far more Pyrrhic victory, for while they won in Europe, the wars ultimately led to so much of their empires breaking away
Often when trying to understand the Napoleonic Wars i have this problem where either i find a super short and shallow video or a 3 hour marathon that is indigestible. This video, altho it only convers the first years of the war, strikes the perfect balance. The images chosen are also of a very pleasing style. Thank you for the video.
this man was 83yrs old when he finally died in 1794. I can't imagine what it would be like to turn 70, let alone 80yrs and more in a world with virtually no doctors who knew what they were doing, let alone helpful medicine (drugs) or any sort of useful utilities helping them to make an informed diagnosis. no sanitary appliances to speak of, very taxing forms of transport or communication. and don't start with cleanliness in the kitchen when the staff prepared meals. even safe drinking water was hard to come by.
@@embreis2257lil bro one guy lived to 90 in Alexander the great’s time his name starts with a D but I forgot his exact name lol he asked Alexander to cover the sun as his only wish though Idk what his exact name is but he died at 90 in 323 bc I think his name is Diomedes?
@@AdvancedGamer- age claims for people that far back in time should be viewed with caution. unless they are royalty or of similar importance improving the chance of proper record keeping. we don't even know the exact dates of birth from some early medieval kings.
@@embreis2257 nah it’s real his name started with a D I think it was Diomedes Search him up he died at 80-90 He has an exact death date but his birth is off by 10 years So he either died at 80 or at 90
Truly, Austria is not getting the recognition its deserve. They were the one and true ennemy of Revolutionary France, disaster after disaster, yet they adapted, concluded alliances, played their diplomatic cards very well, and won in the end. Not only speaking about Napoleonic era, but all over history in general, Austria had been a flamboyant country.
Yeah your right, Austria in it's life time had to deal with France in the west, Russia in the east, Prussia or Scandinavia, and the ottomans and the other countries before it.
As a french, I love how France is pretty much the most diabolical, bloodthirsty, revolting monster and international pariah in every Old Britannia essay😂💀
@@kingofcards9 France was already an expansionist power with ambitions in Italy and Low Countries, just look at Louis XIV or the Polish and Austrian wars of succession.
Thanks enjoyed your show. My family members served as senior leaders with Andreas Hofer. Several were shot on the personal orders of Napoleon. The Hapsburgs abandoned us even though my family had served as their personal secretaries, Head of the HRE Supreme Court, teacher to both Leopold and Joseph, as well as their sister. Neither our titles, lands or homes were restored.
@@konradvonschnitzeldorf6506 to those who were loyal even giving their lives for the crown, the duty of the Hapsburg family to those who had served should not have been in question. After the restoration of the Tyrol and northern Italy again to the Austrian government, the families who were loyal should have had their titles restored. This is a matter of honor and faith. The Hapsburgs failed in their duty.
@@zorandusic7079 they were done away with and the Hapsburgs no longer recognized the old order, particularly families who received nobility from the Prince/Bishop. Many of these titles had been granted over 300 years ago and recognized by the Crown.
@@ekesandras1481 it’s an older form. p and b were interchangeable in German for a long time. And spelling in Vienna was very different to the modern Prussianised German we are used to. It was heavily influenced by Italian. Use of ‘Hapsburg’ in English probably a survival from an older era of diplomacy
@@dawoifee - which is where the imperial court was, for many centuries. as I say, modern Prussianised German spelling is very different from that of the Viennese court
I was just rewatching your old videos these past few days to try and satiate my hunger for this kind of content, what a delight to see this in my notifications box
I cannot understate how much I appreciate your uploads. I was watching your videos in the background the other day and it just blew me away how well you summarize and pin point important events that occur during important periods in history like this. Thank you for doing what you do.
Genuinely great video, I think your austrian series is definitely my favorite, just one small thing. I think it would be very beneficial for you to add the date of the events after the rest of the title, like you did with the first 2 videos of the subject, I at first was not even sure if this was a continuation of the Habsburg monarchy series.
Part of why Suvorov was made the overall commander despite Russian troops being a minority in the Coalition Army was because he was undefeated in every major battle he'd ever fought and was regarded as one of the most brilliant Russian Generals of the 18th Century that made those ruinous Sixth and Seventh Russo-Turkish Wars a forgone conclusion.
Your channel has made me appreciate Austria as one of the pivotal great powers much more than before. I had always wondered how the Hapsburgs despite a fairly modest and heavily divided economy and population base could punch so far above their weight
@maximilianbeyer5642 He was actually completely a commoner with no relation, in fact he was the first commoner to rise to the rank of Foreign Minister.
17:50 Had a magnficiently-timed advert... "France was to take the left bank of the Rhine, most of Northern Italy, including the rich province of Lombardy. Austria would be compensated with-" DOMINO'S PIZZA
You guys have them spamming the living shit out of your mailboxes too? I swear to God, in Poland I've been scared to open a refrigerator over the possibility of seeing a Domino's leaflet inside, as of recent.
A very good video, and minor visual jolts are nothing to worry about for me. It is very interesting to learn about how quickly Leopold II stabilised the situation and his sudden death. Francis I does seem to have been a well meaning monarch with a steady pair of hands on the ship of state but lacked the proactivity of his father, having now read a bit about Leopold's work in Tuscany, Austria might have been a very different empire in the early nineteenth century.
Thank you for continuing your narrative of the hapsburgs through the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries! I am looking forward to discussion from here to the treaty of tilsit. I hope you are looking at more of the less well understood (by American audiences) periods of European history to expand on after that!
Best channel historywise, the depth, the topics, also i feel like at the court or in a vienniese coffeehouse listening to some guy explaining the world.
Thanks for this. My only quibble would be that Clausewitz didn't think Germany was the quickest route to Vienna. He thought the Italian was the Achilles heel of Austria.
I am currently taking a class on the 30 years war at uni. While the circumstances are obviously very different, it amazes me how the Habsburgs always seem to exist constantly on a precipice of geopolitical catastrophe but somehow manage to salvage the situation both then and during this time until the eventual weight of WW1 crushes the multi-national empires of Europe. Truly an incredibly fascinating entity that’s worth all the study it gets and more, great video 👌
Great video 😊 The next obvious video about the austrian empire is the conference of vienna, where the austrian empire gained a lot and their foreign minister von metternich conducted european affairs for half a century and his system remained for a century just before world war 1.. Please make a video about how austria went about the conference of vienna
A thoroughly explained transition from 18th century imperial views of power politics to the Napoleonic employment of nass citizenry. I do not really do "what if" but there potential for a Hungarian empire was not far off happening. Not too much deviation off theme to look at the Holy Roman Empire, but sticking to the Hapsburg empire and its interactions. Impressive.
@OldBritania can you please arrange all videos into playlists so its easier to binge ? Something like 1 playlist for all 19th century; 1 playlist for Britain; 1 playlist for Austria; etc
I will never completely understand why, after repeated victories over Austria in the first, second, third AND fifth coalitions, France didn't just utterly dismember them at some point. Especially when the revolutionaires and later Napoleon had made it quite clear repeatedly that they couldn't care less about the balance of power and wanted to truly dominate the continent, if not the world, and with an INSANE amount of men and guns at their disposal (it still shocks me how effective the levee en masse was, Carnot really should be put on a pedestal right next to Bonaparte imho) clearly believed they could just steamroll the old regimes that stood in their way, and other than Russia they were pretty damn correct. Especially after Austerlitz and the victories over Prussia and Russia a year later, why not just forcibly break the Habsburg realms into a dozen states roughly drawn along cultural and linguistc lines? Sure those in the cores of Austria and Hungary will hate it, but they've just been repeatedly crushed and occupied and are not exactly in a position to bargain. Imagine going to the Czechs and Romanians and offering them not just their own states under french "protection" (like in Germany and Italy, hardly some doomsday scenario for the former subjects even if still not quite true independence), but to be the garrisons in Vienna and Buda respectively to keep the old elites in line. Who's going to stop it? Russia is far away and either neutral or just defeated (depending on after which war the french say "enough is enough!" to the Habsburgs), Prussia is neutral or occupied, Spain and Denmark-norway are french allies, Italy and Germany have been subjugated, and Poland is either a firm ally or in the process of rising up in eager alliance with France (BTW, imo Napoleon should have just not cared about Russian feelings after Friedland, still given them the same lenient peace terms, but give Poland all its pre-first-partition land back from Prussia as well as dominion over east Prussia and put a polish garrsion in or near Berlin. If the Prussians are making it very clear that they're now your mortal enemies, then treat them as such). The Brits can sit on their island tearing their hairs out about how the evil, no-good french are destroying the wonderful and totally-not-beneficial-for-us-we-swear balance of power all they want, but they're not in a position to do anything but shout into the void if such a dictat is delivered to the Habsburgs. Well I guess they can "blockade even harder!". Yeah, good luck with that. Looking back I really am surprised that the one enemy who the french seemed to still desire something resembling a "balance" with (arguably Russia as well but that's a different story), was the one power where it made the least sense for them to do so (as in the easiest power to carve up along internal lines in accordance with revolutionairy ideals), and the one power that they stomped into the ground more times than any other as well. You'd think that at some point they'd just throw up their hands and at least give it a try... (My apologies for any heartattacks that reading this essay may have caused among Metternich fans)
This is a question I also thought about a lot. My best guess is that completely destroying an integral part of Europe and ending the reign of a highly prestigious dynasty would have made everyone in Europe hate France, in turn making it impossible to forge a long lasting hegemony of France over Europe. I think Napoleon actually planned on marrying a Russian princess at some point, but something got in the way. After that Metternich's lenient policies toward France were just the right thing to bolster Napoleon's legitimacy as the Emperor of the French, but this all happened after all the wars Napoleon had won against Austria. I just think you can't just destroy on of the Great Powers of the world, even if you're Napoleon and especially not if you're trying to boost your legitimacy.
Simple, he didn’t need to do that he was capable of doing that (just ask Prussia). More importantly neither Russia or Britain and even napoleons German allies would have wanted something like that it would be to much. Even more importantly napoleon already damaged Austria enough and contained her after the fifth coalition. Austrian access to the sea was cut off the most lucrative provinces of the Austrians were taken away from them all that was needed was time then there would be nationalist uprisings ( more specifically a Hungarian one) that would either result in its collapse or being constantly dependent on napoleon to keep their empire intact. All napoleon needed was to ,make peace with Britain after 1809 and resolve the economic problems created by the long time in warfare if he swallowed his pride and gave Britain some actual assurances he might have succeeded.
At the end of the Italian Campaign, Bonaparte was still only a general - he was already exceeding his mandate by negotiating the treaty of Campo Formio - dismembering Austria wasn't on the table. During and after the Austerlitz Campaign, Napoleon was keenly aware of the threat of Prussia - he'd given them a pretext for war by violating Prussian territory during the march on Ulm. If his demands on Austria were too harsh and the Austrians refused to surrender, Prussia could come into the war before he was able to defeat them, and all the momentum he'd gained since Austerlitz would be lost. In 1809, Napoleon was firmly under the belief that he could secure a longstanding alliance with Russia, aimed at countering British influence - he was even trying to get a marriage with the Tsar's sister. Dismembering Austria and disrupting the balance of power could have pushed Russia away - obviously Russia never seriously considered itself allied to France, but Napoleon was under the impression that it could be done.
Adding onto what @philipsalmna8083 said, after the alliance with Russia fell through and he instead turned towards invading Russia, Napoleon used the other European nations as his puppet-allies, and they were fairly important for making sure things didn't completely fall through as they all provided a fairly substantial number. Although he could have had more 'allies' through splitting Austria, it was theoretically still a great power while it was a single nation, and a single unpopular monarchy would have been easier to control than multiple strong and nationalist kingdoms or republics. There's also the fact that Napoleon was severely unpopular with Germans, and there were rebellions against him in Tyrol and Germany itself, plus Germans found their ways into other armies when they could, like when the Prussians pretty quickly deserted his army in Russia after he started losing. So, essentially, he needed to keep these groups on his side for as long as possible, and no amount of Poles or Hungarians could have effectively made up for the Prussians and Austrians declaring war on him after all. The simple fact is that he would have been delayed in any invasion of Russia for months if not years, he would have had resources taken away from Iberia, and Britain could just continue to support the coalition as it liked.
Do bare in mind that throughout the consulate and empire until erfurt, the french foreign minister talleyrand, very much cared about the balance of power and had counselled against imposing harsh treaties every single time. Talleyrand was very powerful within the regime until after austerlitz where napoleon had a lot more confidence in completely disregarding him so he would have been a balancing factor in terms of internal confidence. The other issue is that the napoleonic system relied upon stability in europe. The creation of a new nobility, the construction of a new fabulous paris and the maintenance of a colossal army for frances defence and the subjugation of its satellites and neighbours was horrifically expensive. The system was paid for by their vassals and defeated foes. Instability would lead to the money banks' economies collapsing and with them, frances own incomes. So it was a balancing act of keeping them subjugated but not destroying them outright too soon since the fallout would prove even more expensive. After the spain fiasco, decline of order in local regions showed themselves to be very difficult and expensive to deal with. The revolt in the tyrol proved a nasty pain during the war of 1809 and further such revolts looked more likely in the future if austria, which had through the habsburgs a system for keeping these minorities in a stable nation, was further dismembered.
One has to wonder how much more successful, united and efficient could the Habsburg empire have become if Leopold II was allowed to rule for as you said at least one or 2 decades more. I Think it would have almost become a certainty that the Habsburgs would have in the future united Germany, and gained a much more powerful, stable and preeminent position in the balkans.
When Napoleon started winning battles against Russia, the russians deeply lamented that Suvorov had recently passed away, for they thought he'd be a match for the french emperor
The Austrian Empire in the Napoleonic war is like that one kid that keeps getting curb stomped and beat up, yet just doesn't give up, no matter how many times they get wrecked until they finally get bailed out by their big brother (Russia)
The Austrains inflicted and suffered far more casualties than Russia during the Napoleonic wars. Austria along with the British navy were the two most important factors.
@@arpandey698 France would have nearly 2 million more men spare without the Austrian effort. More French died fighting Austria than Russia. Without the English blockade France would never have had to invade Russia in the first place.
The Hapsburgs definitely had a lucky star guiding them as a family. At each critical juncture in their long dynastic history, they kept coughing up competent rulers. Maybe they were right to inbreed so much-this family had a magic touch with rulers. Lol. Or as Waldemar Janusczak so impishly put it, “God, in his infinite wisdom, saw something he liked about the Hapsburgs. So he gave them half the known world to rule over.” He was talking specifically about the Spanish Hapsburgs. But this could also apply to the Austrian branch.
I view them separately. Tend to just use the Spanish pronunciation/style: "Habsburgo". I don't have much regard for their talents after Philip II, and Charles II was just unfortunate
Your choice of background Music is always so good. Do you have a list of all the pieces you use? I'd really like to listen to some of them on their own.
11:08 While the Tuileries was stormed on 10 August 1792 and Louis XVI imprisoned on the 13th, he was only formally deposed and a republic declared on 21 September, the day _after_ Valmy.
It is easy to look "incompetent" against the God of War himself. Is there a nation that did not appear incompetent at some point in these wars? Like the British at Walcheren...?
I hope you enjoy this short documentary looking at the Austrian response to the French Revolution, continuing our Habsburg Series. Apologies for the delay, was a bit ill for a few weeks and was then left with a lingering cold that made recording decent audio a challenge. This video consequently isn't my best work imo, but I've been messing with it for so long now it was beginning to drive me a bit crackers. Hopefully there's something to enjoy in it anyway.
Honestly my favourite history TH-camr
I seem to recall you made a video that mentioned British subsidies to Russia before the Seven Years War, and how a disagreement over it contributed to Russia's decision to side as it did, but it's now nowhere to be found. Am I having a Mandela Effect moment or what?
@@hashkangaroo Think you’re probably referring to pre-American Revolution rather than pre-Seven Years War? I believe the ‘Unsplendid Isolation’ video talks about it.
@@OldBritannia The real youtuber teaches even in the comments. Also Love the lengthy new great game video, some don't want to watch a long video but thats the kinda stuff I can Relax or Revise to.
Glad to have you back
The Habsburg's ability to survive disaster after disaster was truly remarkable.
They were the Byzantines of the Early Modern Era. Vienna is the Third Rome.
@@Cesarhiguera664 They were kaisers after all.
Likewise is the seemingly infinite points in history where the habsburg’s could’ve been completely different if they just did one thing/differently.
Shame their luck finally ran out in 1918
By 1809 the French must've been like "How the fuck are you still alive"
>britain's only contribution was to urge austrians to fight harder
lmao
Completely on brand for them
Perfid Albion, they say.
Similar to the strategy they’d use with the French 140 years later. .
It’s like changing your profile pictures in FB with the Habsburg Flag
Based.
You know it's a good day when OldBritannia uploads a video especially on Austria.
The Austrians suffered every hardship, every humiliation, every disgrace...
Yet they fought on and in the end stood victorious over France
Austria didn't beat France
France fucked itself... and Austria just made it survived long enough to enjoy the ending
@@therearenoshortcuts9868 Austria did hold the coalition that defeated france together and its introduction into the war in 1813, along with manoeuvring the situation so that the war would almost universally be viewed as napoleons fault, rupturing the coalition of the rhine and the crushing most french popular resistance, should be ignored for their effects.
They stood victorious over Napoleonic France, but the French Revolution and its Ideals would haunt them for the next 100 years
The same could be said of Portugal and Spain.
@@rc8937 Although there’s was a far more Pyrrhic victory, for while they won in Europe, the wars ultimately led to so much of their empires breaking away
"Imagine you ruled over an empire of twenty-five million people"
Encouraging your viewers to daydream is not healthy!
That's a nightmare, not a dream
@@Hurmeriand that is why nobody will ever remember your name
@@Rildarwhat?
@@AdvancedGamer- I assume he means 'you gotta have some ambitions and dreams in you'.
@@AdvancedGamer- it is what Achilles says in the movie Troy to a little boy
Often when trying to understand the Napoleonic Wars i have this problem where either i find a super short and shallow video or a 3 hour marathon that is indigestible. This video, altho it only convers the first years of the war, strikes the perfect balance. The images chosen are also of a very pleasing style. Thank you for the video.
Exactly
I can’t believe Kaunitz was still alive and in power at this point
this man was 83yrs old when he finally died in 1794. I can't imagine what it would be like to turn 70, let alone 80yrs and more in a world with virtually no doctors who knew what they were doing, let alone helpful medicine (drugs) or any sort of useful utilities helping them to make an informed diagnosis. no sanitary appliances to speak of, very taxing forms of transport or communication. and don't start with cleanliness in the kitchen when the staff prepared meals. even safe drinking water was hard to come by.
@@embreis2257
Exaggerated
@@embreis2257lil bro one guy lived to 90 in Alexander the great’s time his name starts with a D but I forgot his exact name lol he asked Alexander to cover the sun as his only wish though
Idk what his exact name is but he died at 90 in 323 bc I think his name is Diomedes?
@@AdvancedGamer- age claims for people that far back in time should be viewed with caution. unless they are royalty or of similar importance improving the chance of proper record keeping. we don't even know the exact dates of birth from some early medieval kings.
@@embreis2257 nah it’s real his name started with a D
I think it was Diomedes
Search him up he died at 80-90
He has an exact death date but his birth is off by 10 years
So he either died at 80 or at 90
Truly, Austria is not getting the recognition its deserve. They were the one and true ennemy of Revolutionary France, disaster after disaster, yet they adapted, concluded alliances, played their diplomatic cards very well, and won in the end. Not only speaking about Napoleonic era, but all over history in general, Austria had been a flamboyant country.
Yeah your right, Austria in it's life time had to deal with France in the west, Russia in the east, Prussia or Scandinavia, and the ottomans and the other countries before it.
As a french, I love how France is pretty much the most diabolical, bloodthirsty, revolting monster and international pariah in every Old Britannia essay😂💀
@@antonius1864 the channel name is Britannia I would expect something like that, but its still entertaining.
That's because they were.
Revolutions do that to good countries.
@@kingofcards9 France was already watched with a weary eye before the Revolution. That, and a Corsican fellow, unlocked its true potential : godmode
@@kingofcards9 France was already an expansionist power with ambitions in Italy and Low Countries, just look at Louis XIV or the Polish and Austrian wars of succession.
I mean, if you look at it from the perspective of *anyone* but a French 'Jacobin'/Bonapartist France is the heel.
Your contributions to public knowledge of Habsburg history is a great one! I am so glad channels like yours exist.
Thanks enjoyed your show. My family members served as senior leaders with Andreas Hofer. Several were shot on the personal orders of Napoleon. The Hapsburgs abandoned us even though my family had served as their personal secretaries, Head of the HRE Supreme Court, teacher to both Leopold and Joseph, as well as their sister. Neither our titles, lands or homes were restored.
By the tme of the 3rd battle on the Bergisel, the whole fight was desperate and no help was expected to be honest
Sad days.
@@konradvonschnitzeldorf6506 to those who were loyal even giving their lives for the crown, the duty of the Hapsburg family to those who had served should not have been in question. After the restoration of the Tyrol and northern Italy again to the Austrian government, the families who were loyal should have had their titles restored. This is a matter of honor and faith. The Hapsburgs failed in their duty.
@@robjus1601 who recieved these titles instead?
@@zorandusic7079 they were done away with and the Hapsburgs no longer recognized the old order, particularly families who received nobility from the Prince/Bishop. Many of these titles had been granted over 300 years ago and recognized by the Crown.
At last he has returned!
As ever, your Habsburg series is a gem.
The hapsburgs have to be the most interesting and impressive dynasty and nation ever
I don't get why in the English speaking countries the wrong spelling with "p" instead of Habsburg is so prevailing.
@@ekesandras1481
it’s an older form.
p and b were interchangeable in German for a long time.
And spelling in Vienna was very different to the modern Prussianised German we are used to. It was heavily influenced by Italian.
Use of ‘Hapsburg’ in English probably a survival from an older era of diplomacy
The heroic Habsburgs. 🇦🇹
@@overworlder The b instead of p is more of a bavarian dialect thingy.
@@dawoifee - which is where the imperial court was, for many centuries. as I say, modern Prussianised German spelling is very different from that of the Viennese court
Can I just say your voice is super satisfying to listen to? Would love to see you do a full series on the Napoleonic Wars!
I love the dry humor too. "Leopold listened intently to Kaunitz, the way Joseph and Maria Teresa had done, and then ignored him"
was just about to say how much i appreciate his writing style! the voice just fits in. excellent work
He's already making one, it's reached the invasion of Russia
@@generaltom6850Jesus, it escalated quickly...
I was just rewatching your old videos these past few days to try and satiate my hunger for this kind of content, what a delight to see this in my notifications box
gabagool
I cannot understate how much I appreciate your uploads. I was watching your videos in the background the other day and it just blew me away how well you summarize and pin point important events that occur during important periods in history like this.
Thank you for doing what you do.
Genuinely great video, I think your austrian series is definitely my favorite, just one small thing. I think it would be very beneficial for you to add the date of the events after the rest of the title, like you did with the first 2 videos of the subject, I at first was not even sure if this was a continuation of the Habsburg monarchy series.
Part of why Suvorov was made the overall commander despite Russian troops being a minority in the Coalition Army was because he was undefeated in every major battle he'd ever fought and was regarded as one of the most brilliant Russian Generals of the 18th Century that made those ruinous Sixth and Seventh Russo-Turkish Wars a forgone conclusion.
“Paul, always schizophrenic in his policies, took Russia out of the war” LMAOOOOOO
Your channel has made me appreciate Austria as one of the pivotal great powers much more than before. I had always wondered how the Hapsburgs despite a fairly modest and heavily divided economy and population base could punch so far above their weight
Great work as always filling in the details far too often overlooked in these grand historical events 👍
super interesting video, I have never seen a video on Austria specifically during the French Revolution. I hope to see what is next!
Yeah, truly astounding considering that they were France's main enemy
15:49 A real life Chad. .
i thought the same
He must be related to the Habsburgs with a jaw like that
@maximilianbeyer5642 He was actually completely a commoner with no relation, in fact he was the first commoner to rise to the rank of Foreign Minister.
17:50 Had a magnficiently-timed advert...
"France was to take the left bank of the Rhine, most of Northern Italy, including the rich province of Lombardy. Austria would be compensated with-"
DOMINO'S PIZZA
You guys have them spamming the living shit out of your mailboxes too? I swear to God, in Poland I've been scared to open a refrigerator over the possibility of seeing a Domino's leaflet inside, as of recent.
@@yarpen26
Awful. I'm sorry.
Thank you so much. Looking forward to your next project
This is a really good video! I love how you explain the political treaties but also the reasonings behind them. Very good job! Keep publishing
Leopold: I hear you Kaunitz, you are heard... and ignored.
A very good video, and minor visual jolts are nothing to worry about for me. It is very interesting to learn about how quickly Leopold II stabilised the situation and his sudden death. Francis I does seem to have been a well meaning monarch with a steady pair of hands on the ship of state but lacked the proactivity of his father, having now read a bit about Leopold's work in Tuscany, Austria might have been a very different empire in the early nineteenth century.
my third Austrian video this evening. first time here. thank you
Loving your Austrian series!
Best channel on TH-cam, instantly click every new video as soon as I see them, thanks for your heroic effort.
2 months was too long to wait for your awesome work
Please never stop doing this ! Been watching since ur first videos.
I am convinced this will be another great video. Thank you for your content!
Amazingly well done video!
How is it possible to make such great videos? 23mins and it ended in a blink. More!
Excellent and insightful video!
Great video as always!
Thank you for continuing your narrative of the hapsburgs through the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries!
I am looking forward to discussion from here to the treaty of tilsit.
I hope you are looking at more of the less well understood (by American audiences) periods of European history to expand on after that!
Best channel historywise, the depth, the topics, also i feel like at the court or in a vienniese coffeehouse listening to some guy explaining the world.
Great video thank you
Another excellent display of quality history content. Keep it up. 😎👍
What a way to follow my last day of work 🎉
Crazy how long a lot of period defining diplomats and chancellors lived, from Kaunitz to Metternich to Bismarck.
Very enlightening, thank you!
Beautifully edited
Thanks for this. My only quibble would be that Clausewitz didn't think Germany was the quickest route to Vienna. He thought the Italian was the Achilles heel of Austria.
Always exceptional at bringing history to life.
Amazing detail short historical documentary on a part of Austrian History I am trying to fully understand
I am currently taking a class on the 30 years war at uni. While the circumstances are obviously very different, it amazes me how the Habsburgs always seem to exist constantly on a precipice of geopolitical catastrophe but somehow manage to salvage the situation both then and during this time until the eventual weight of WW1 crushes the multi-national empires of Europe. Truly an incredibly fascinating entity that’s worth all the study it gets and more, great video 👌
Brilliant video as always
Best channel on YT RIGHT NOW!!
Old Britannia uploading a video is a sure-method of brightening up my day.
Another video about beloved Austria
Thank you for feeding my Habsburg obsession! Love all your videos, thank you 🙏 ❤
Great video 😊
The next obvious video about the austrian empire is the conference of vienna, where the austrian empire gained a lot and their foreign minister von metternich conducted european affairs for half a century and his system remained for a century just before world war 1..
Please make a video about how austria went about the conference of vienna
very interesting video.
Amazing as always ❤
A thoroughly explained transition from 18th century imperial views of power politics to the Napoleonic employment of nass citizenry.
I do not really do "what if" but there potential for a Hungarian empire was not far off happening. Not too much deviation off theme to look at the Holy Roman Empire, but sticking to the Hapsburg empire and its interactions. Impressive.
One thing I always noticed is that the aristocrats are always a bigger pain to Monarchs than the people.
Great vid as always!
Miss the uploads!
I've never seen this period in History so clearly described from an austrian position! Really interesting
The strangest thing I learned is that one of my local caves is named for a Napoleonic battle. (Marengo)
What are you, a bat? Go home bat!
@OldBritania can you please arrange all videos into playlists so its easier to binge ?
Something like 1 playlist for all 19th century; 1 playlist for Britain; 1 playlist for Austria; etc
great quality
An 'ancient history documentary' about Austria: come for the history, stay for the epic yodeling soundtrack! 🎶🗻
Great vid man
Keep up the good quality vids! Also part 2?
I will never completely understand why, after repeated victories over Austria in the first, second, third AND fifth coalitions, France didn't just utterly dismember them at some point. Especially when the revolutionaires and later Napoleon had made it quite clear repeatedly that they couldn't care less about the balance of power and wanted to truly dominate the continent, if not the world, and with an INSANE amount of men and guns at their disposal (it still shocks me how effective the levee en masse was, Carnot really should be put on a pedestal right next to Bonaparte imho) clearly believed they could just steamroll the old regimes that stood in their way, and other than Russia they were pretty damn correct.
Especially after Austerlitz and the victories over Prussia and Russia a year later, why not just forcibly break the Habsburg realms into a dozen states roughly drawn along cultural and linguistc lines? Sure those in the cores of Austria and Hungary will hate it, but they've just been repeatedly crushed and occupied and are not exactly in a position to bargain. Imagine going to the Czechs and Romanians and offering them not just their own states under french "protection" (like in Germany and Italy, hardly some doomsday scenario for the former subjects even if still not quite true independence), but to be the garrisons in Vienna and Buda respectively to keep the old elites in line.
Who's going to stop it? Russia is far away and either neutral or just defeated (depending on after which war the french say "enough is enough!" to the Habsburgs), Prussia is neutral or occupied, Spain and Denmark-norway are french allies, Italy and Germany have been subjugated, and Poland is either a firm ally or in the process of rising up in eager alliance with France (BTW, imo Napoleon should have just not cared about Russian feelings after Friedland, still given them the same lenient peace terms, but give Poland all its pre-first-partition land back from Prussia as well as dominion over east Prussia and put a polish garrsion in or near Berlin. If the Prussians are making it very clear that they're now your mortal enemies, then treat them as such). The Brits can sit on their island tearing their hairs out about how the evil, no-good french are destroying the wonderful and totally-not-beneficial-for-us-we-swear balance of power all they want, but they're not in a position to do anything but shout into the void if such a dictat is delivered to the Habsburgs. Well I guess they can "blockade even harder!". Yeah, good luck with that.
Looking back I really am surprised that the one enemy who the french seemed to still desire something resembling a "balance" with (arguably Russia as well but that's a different story), was the one power where it made the least sense for them to do so (as in the easiest power to carve up along internal lines in accordance with revolutionairy ideals), and the one power that they stomped into the ground more times than any other as well. You'd think that at some point they'd just throw up their hands and at least give it a try...
(My apologies for any heartattacks that reading this essay may have caused among Metternich fans)
This is a question I also thought about a lot. My best guess is that completely destroying an integral part of Europe and ending the reign of a highly prestigious dynasty would have made everyone in Europe hate France, in turn making it impossible to forge a long lasting hegemony of France over Europe. I think Napoleon actually planned on marrying a Russian princess at some point, but something got in the way. After that Metternich's lenient policies toward France were just the right thing to bolster Napoleon's legitimacy as the Emperor of the French, but this all happened after all the wars Napoleon had won against Austria. I just think you can't just destroy on of the Great Powers of the world, even if you're Napoleon and especially not if you're trying to boost your legitimacy.
Simple, he didn’t need to do that he was capable of doing that (just ask Prussia). More importantly neither Russia or Britain and even napoleons German allies would have wanted something like that it would be to much. Even more importantly napoleon already damaged Austria enough and contained her after the fifth coalition. Austrian access to the sea was cut off the most lucrative provinces of the Austrians were taken away from them all that was needed was time then there would be nationalist uprisings ( more specifically a Hungarian one) that would either result in its collapse or being constantly dependent on napoleon to keep their empire intact. All napoleon needed was to ,make peace with Britain after 1809 and resolve the economic problems created by the long time in warfare if he swallowed his pride and gave Britain some actual assurances he might have succeeded.
At the end of the Italian Campaign, Bonaparte was still only a general - he was already exceeding his mandate by negotiating the treaty of Campo Formio - dismembering Austria wasn't on the table.
During and after the Austerlitz Campaign, Napoleon was keenly aware of the threat of Prussia - he'd given them a pretext for war by violating Prussian territory during the march on Ulm. If his demands on Austria were too harsh and the Austrians refused to surrender, Prussia could come into the war before he was able to defeat them, and all the momentum he'd gained since Austerlitz would be lost.
In 1809, Napoleon was firmly under the belief that he could secure a longstanding alliance with Russia, aimed at countering British influence - he was even trying to get a marriage with the Tsar's sister. Dismembering Austria and disrupting the balance of power could have pushed Russia away - obviously Russia never seriously considered itself allied to France, but Napoleon was under the impression that it could be done.
Adding onto what @philipsalmna8083 said, after the alliance with Russia fell through and he instead turned towards invading Russia, Napoleon used the other European nations as his puppet-allies, and they were fairly important for making sure things didn't completely fall through as they all provided a fairly substantial number. Although he could have had more 'allies' through splitting Austria, it was theoretically still a great power while it was a single nation, and a single unpopular monarchy would have been easier to control than multiple strong and nationalist kingdoms or republics.
There's also the fact that Napoleon was severely unpopular with Germans, and there were rebellions against him in Tyrol and Germany itself, plus Germans found their ways into other armies when they could, like when the Prussians pretty quickly deserted his army in Russia after he started losing. So, essentially, he needed to keep these groups on his side for as long as possible, and no amount of Poles or Hungarians could have effectively made up for the Prussians and Austrians declaring war on him after all. The simple fact is that he would have been delayed in any invasion of Russia for months if not years, he would have had resources taken away from Iberia, and Britain could just continue to support the coalition as it liked.
Do bare in mind that throughout the consulate and empire until erfurt, the french foreign minister talleyrand, very much cared about the balance of power and had counselled against imposing harsh treaties every single time. Talleyrand was very powerful within the regime until after austerlitz where napoleon had a lot more confidence in completely disregarding him so he would have been a balancing factor in terms of internal confidence.
The other issue is that the napoleonic system relied upon stability in europe. The creation of a new nobility, the construction of a new fabulous paris and the maintenance of a colossal army for frances defence and the subjugation of its satellites and neighbours was horrifically expensive. The system was paid for by their vassals and defeated foes. Instability would lead to the money banks' economies collapsing and with them, frances own incomes.
So it was a balancing act of keeping them subjugated but not destroying them outright too soon since the fallout would prove even more expensive. After the spain fiasco, decline of order in local regions showed themselves to be very difficult and expensive to deal with. The revolt in the tyrol proved a nasty pain during the war of 1809 and further such revolts looked more likely in the future if austria, which had through the habsburgs a system for keeping these minorities in a stable nation, was further dismembered.
One has to wonder how much more successful, united and efficient could the Habsburg empire have become if Leopold II was allowed to rule for as you said at least one or 2 decades more. I Think it would have almost become a certainty that the Habsburgs would have in the future united Germany, and gained a much more powerful, stable and preeminent position in the balkans.
Ok Old Britannia posted that means im not sleeping just yet
I can’t wait for a potential series on what the Spanish were up to and their potential French style Revolution.
Austria to France:I don't have to stop you I just have to wear you out.
Please make a video about the Tyrolean rebelion and Vendée
Would love to see a detailed video about Charles’ Rhine campaign in 1796
HE'S BACK!!!!
When Napoleon started winning battles against Russia, the russians deeply lamented that Suvorov had recently passed away, for they thought he'd be a match for the french emperor
Thought? They knew!
I suggest the thumbnail be altered slightly, just to move 'Austria' a little to the right, so some of the 'A' shows
What’s your process for doing the maps for these videos? I love your style and I was thinking about making similar maps for a video
The Austrian Empire in the Napoleonic war is like that one kid that keeps getting curb stomped and beat up, yet just doesn't give up, no matter how many times they get wrecked until they finally get bailed out by their big brother (Russia)
The Austrains inflicted and suffered far more casualties than Russia during the Napoleonic wars. Austria along with the British navy were the two most important factors.
@@bennyklabarpan7002 It was the Russian invasion that ended Napleon. All other factors were minor compared to that one mistake.
@@arpandey698 France would have nearly 2 million more men spare without the Austrian effort. More French died fighting Austria than Russia. Without the English blockade France would never have had to invade Russia in the first place.
@@arpandey698not true
@@bennyklabarpan7002also peninsular war
I LOVE THIS
Can you do a video about the Early Weimar Republic 🥺🙏🙏
Leopold's daughter, Leopoldina, would later become Empress of Brazil
Many great houses have fallen with one catastrophe,
the Habsburgs continued to live with dozens of catastrophes and defeats.
Babe wake up Old Britannia uploaded
The Hapsburgs definitely had a lucky star guiding them as a family. At each critical juncture in their long dynastic history, they kept coughing up competent rulers. Maybe they were right to inbreed so much-this family had a magic touch with rulers. Lol. Or as Waldemar Janusczak so impishly put it, “God, in his infinite wisdom, saw something he liked about the Hapsburgs. So he gave them half the known world to rule over.” He was talking specifically about the Spanish Hapsburgs. But this could also apply to the Austrian branch.
I view them separately. Tend to just use the Spanish pronunciation/style: "Habsburgo". I don't have much regard for their talents after Philip II, and Charles II was just unfortunate
The dissections of German petite and haute aristocratic land ownership was Boni’s greatest stroke.
Your choice of background Music is always so good. Do you have a list of all the pieces you use? I'd really like to listen to some of them on their own.
Thank you for this! Habsburgs are the best
I'm more positive on Francis I&II than you are though, haha
2.5k views in one hour for a pretty niche subject, that's good going on a Saturday night!
Love these maps!!!
always a good day when theres an old britannia video 😎
What a treat!
11:08 While the Tuileries was stormed on 10 August 1792 and Louis XVI imprisoned on the 13th, he was only formally deposed and a republic declared on 21 September, the day _after_ Valmy.
New video from Old Britannia ❤
It is easy to look "incompetent" against the God of War himself. Is there a nation that did not appear incompetent at some point in these wars? Like the British at Walcheren...?
Austria mentioned! What is nationalism, RaaawHHH!!!🇦🇹🦅🇦🇹