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Nelson was so revered that after his death a statue of the great Admiral was commissioned and placed on a column so high only the Pidgeon's who use him as toilet can see him.
Napoleon made a terrible mistake by sending his Polish troops to crush the Haitian rebellion. Poles, seeing that Haitians are fighting for freedom, were very often deserting and switching sides to help them win their independence. Two polish infantry battalions were formed under the Haitian banners. Many other Poles were fighting as irregulars. After successful rebellion many Polish legionaries stayed in Haiti as they were accepted as Haitian citizens. Polish minority exist in Haiti to this day.
Can you imagine the overwhelming welcome Nelson would have recieved upon his return to Great Britain had he survived. He'd have been hailed as Royalty. But something tells me Nelson would have preferred it to happen just the way it did. Going out in a blaze of glory, surrounded by his men, having secured one of the greatest victories in British history.
Am irish , Nelson pillar was blown up in Dublin in 1966..but I respect his dedication..and England should honor, and respect him... get out if u don’t .!!, it’s still his country he died for.!
@@christiancristof491 Well, we shouldn't be complaining. Getting rid of Napoleon was for the better of every nation involved, including France herself - it's just a shame that so much blood was wasted.
abc def it’s hard to call Napoleon the bad guy. When he he and France were invaded attacked by a total of seven coalitions. England was the real bad guy. Napoleon screwed up invading Russia and Spain.
I feel the need to point out that duel between HMS Victory and Redoutable was not a normal one, as Redoutable closed her gun ports and had all available men move topside to engage in a musket duel with HMS Victory. This unorthodox tactic took Nelson by surprise, as tradition dictated that he stay topside with his men. With the medals on his uniform glinting in the sun, he was a sitting duck to the French sharpshooters, which rendered the topdeck of HMS Victory a no-mans-land. So it isn't quite correct to say that Redoutable had badly damaged HMS Victory, but rather had silenced HMS Victory's guns, and took her out of the fight.
@Edax [edited after I was corrected from "Edax" as describing both ships as "first"s while trying to be more succinct than able] Both ships had 3 decks of guns simply putting "everyone" in the yards would not put out the main gun decks as they are "below" the cover of the Top deck. Victories guns were never "Silenced" far less from ...Sharpshooters ! Nelson was not surprised nor was it an unorthodox tactic, slightly unusual to this degree but reason given below(*1). Victory suffered horrendously on the final approach as the British fleet deliberately allowed itself to be "T"d in order to not just "Put themselves along side" but to put themselves between and cut the French Fleet in to piece meal sections. Victory led from the front and took the brunt of fire from many ships broad sides. She tried to smash between Bucentaure, Santisima Trinidad and Redoutable and put herself in a position the use both sides to rake bows and sterns freely. But she had to crash into Redoutable as there was not enough room between the 3 French ships. They locked together, their rigging become entangled with the other, and the momentum of the powerful collision carried them both out of the line. The French historically tended to shoot high to try to damage masts and rigging rather than target the hull, so were less effective at causing gun deck casualties and hull damage when doing so. Once in close the superior rate of British fire told as she raked the Redoutable's gun decks terribly, the horrific casualties this caused effectively disabled Redoutable's ability to fire, ...... no gun crews no guns! Redoutable's hull had been all but destroyed, and almost every man on her lower decks was injured or dead. She closed her ineffective gun ports to prevent the British from using them as entrances through which to board.
I'm American but I've always been fascinated with British naval history and particularly lord nelson. Last month I visited London and saw his statue in st pauls and then his tomb in the crypt. I'm not ashamed to say I was moved to tears standing in front of his tomb thinking of his final moments and the incredible bravery he displayed.
If you every come back to the UK I recommend you visit Portsmouth Historic Naval Dockyard where you can visit HMS Victory and a whole exhibit dedicated to Lord Nelson (this includes uniforms, personal letters and personal affects - it's really interesting). I have probably visited HMS Victory over 20 times and every time I go there I learn something new. The Historic Dockyard also allows you to visit HMS Warrior, a WW1 Monitor Ship, the Mary Rose (separate admission), HMS Alliance (WW2 submarine), Explosion Museum (former gun powder storage - exhibit focused on marine guns), a boat tour of the Naval Harbor and many other interesting exhibits.
@@federicoperi6806Solid advice. I can only second that. The experience of learning about the Tudor navy by seeing the wreck of the Mary Rose and walking around on Nelson's Victory is something otherworldly.
@@HoriaNeagu It definitely is an amazing experience. It's a bit of a "shame" at the moment as HMS Victory is undergoing major restoration work and will be encased in scaffolding for the next 11 years... But I can't wait to see what she'll look like once they've finished!
I was able to visit the English Maritime Museum in London. They have the uniform Nelson was wearing at the Battle of Trafalgar. Being an American this may sound weird, but the sight of it had me a bit teary eyed. Something about the man’s sense of honor makes him a hero to those who love European / English history.
It a sad that often our hero's to not match up to our ideals. He was indeed a great hero and naval man but a terrible husband as he treated his wife terribly
likesmilitaryhistory Alan Moore can you blame him? Imagine coming home after all that sailing and fighting and she's on your case right away "where have you been?" "We should go out for dinner" "you didn't do the dishes 8 months ago". On a serious note fuck his wife, he advocated slavery, that's a lot worse in my opinion.
@@timsyoutube6051 'Great man' does not equal 'good man'. It's unfair to make that confusion. We know who the good men of history are. The great men had a different role that had little to do with goodness.
@Matthew Smith yes and no. You move away and you'd be amazed at what you miss. I'm in Hong Kong. I'm surrounded by Michelin restaurants. But there are times (lots of them) I'd give my soul for a bacon and egg sandwich. And I've been completely unable to find a decent source of buffalo wings. The great food is great, but for whatever reason, it's not what you miss. Sometimes you want high class fare, other times you want to pig out on something rough.
Nelson's incredible victory at Trafalgar single-handedly (no pun intended) saved the United Kingdom from a French invasion (that the British would almost certainly lose). He's a national hero on the level of Alfred and Churchill, without a doubt.
@ royal navy gun crews were known across the world as the most experienced,well trained and quickest crews on the seven seas but it was thanks to nelsons navy reforms that happened, he made it so his sailors were trained multiple times and trained hard to make them that, he was a hero and respected and loved by any man that sailed in his navy
The Royal Navy was defeated multiple times by the Spanish Navy, but History omits it. Francis Drake, was defeated in Veracruz in the battle of San Juan de Ulua in 1568. The Invincible English, invasion fleet sent by Isabel I to defeat to the Spanish navy, was defeated by Spain and its navy in 1589. Edward Vernon was defeated in Cartagenas De Indias by Blas de Lezo in 1741. Horacio Nelson, the great victor of Trafalgar, was defeated in Tenerife, Spain, 25 of July of 1797.
@@stanleyrogouski Have you ever read the book 'Letters to England' written by the famous french philosopher Voltaire? He chose England over France during a similar period and wrote extensively about their differences in culture. I think you should read it.
This is a great animation. So nice to see the little flags on the ships, the shooting ships, the burning ships and at least the half-destroyed ships with de sails in the water. ^^
I've been re watching this for an hour and it slowly dawned on me the genius of Lord nelson. The tactic of having the first ship pick the enemy flagship to go against while the captains behind him are there to support this thrust and overwhelm the enemy locally at close range is aggressive in a battlefield that demands conservative tactics. That he died yet his ship fought on and his second was able to command the fleet accordingly without losing moral while the enemy fleet was broken after their admirals loss makes him a legend. I do wonder if he was truely able to know he had won the day and the age for his empires navy or if he died too soon.
Thanks for rewatching our video :-) Indeed, the idea is ingenious. Give them very little to shoot at and then close in and use both boards to shoot. Very easy. And, obviously, no one thought about it before. :-)
He must have been an incredible man. Just imagine that you are on the first ship of the line (badum tsss) and you know you're gonna get shot at from both sides and potentionally even from front yet you fight because your admiral is here with you and you'll fight for the British Empire!
Against a more skilled navy with a better-drilled gun crew, it would likely have been a disastrous tactic, with the Victory and/or the second ship in the line taken out in quick order and ensnaring the advance. But, it was splendid for breaking the morale of the numerically superior French-Spanish fleet, because the Spaniards at this point in time were not up to par in their gunnery.
@@eggtarts286 Absolutely one of the highest risk maneuvers ever attempted in warfare. I put up there with Hannibal crossing the alps. It was near insanity to attempt this! The fact they didnt lose a single ship is awe inspiring.
Admiral Nelson insisted on having cloth versions of his war medals sewn into his uniform, making him stand out and be an obvious target for the sharpshooters. He also insisted on being out in the open, which was also how he lost his arm earlier in his career.
The Spanish admiral, Federico Gravina on his death-bed said these words; "I am a dying man, but I die happy; I am going, I hope and trust, to join Nelson, the greatest hero that the world perhaps has produced."
@@hanyu_dada According to Wikipedia he did indeed say this. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federico_Gravina "I am a dying man, but I die happy; I am going, I hope and trust, to join Nelson, the greatest hero that the world perhaps has produced." I cannot find any primary sources but many secondary sources do indeed claim that he said this, I cannot speak Spanish so my inability to find primary sources is not very surprising.
Great Alexander The Spanish sources don’t say that,so it’s probably just propaganda,but it’s fine we Spaniards have some dumb non sense nationalist propaganda too. Rule Britannia. Sincerely,a sPAINtard.
Change ¨Nelson¨ for ¨Alvaro de Bazán¨ or any other great spanish sailor and it could be true, but Nelson? sounds like the tipical english twist of History...
French Admiral Villenurve was one few survivors from Battle of Nile in 1798 , there was not much compatent French admirals or captains left after French Revolution. After Trafalgar Napoleon started a new shipbuilding programme to overwhelm Royal Navy but couldn't find enough crewmen to handle them. When Napoleon was finally surrendered to Royal Navy after Battle of Waterloo in 1815 and taken on ship of line HMS Bellaphoron he observed how efficient , orderly and quiet Royal Navy sailors were compared to noisy French crews
The French officers were mostly royalists. They fleed the country after 1792. Before that the Marine Royale inflicted terrible defeats to the Royal Navy during the American War of Independence
If England were not an island, like Iceland, the British would have seen 300,000 silent soldiers of Napoleon enter in London, 100,000 soldiers of Philip II of Spain and 2 million soldiers of Germany in the 19th and 20th centuries. But the first invasion would have been enough. So Elisabeth, Nelson and Churchill would be smoking a cigar in Australia.
@steve hammond We don't know that. Even great commanders lose. We do know, however, that Villeneuve was a poor and hesitating commander. The french navy had much better officers. But the fact remains that french sailors lacked training.
These Videos are immense, EXACTLY what i look for when learning history, great animations, colored projections of empires territorial extent, battle tactics and leaders names and strategy's !. and your narrator has one hell! of a narrators voice! ... GOOD rant over.
Great work once again in brining a historical naval battle to life. I hope that you will soon cover one of the engagements that occurred in the infamous Haitian Campaign, as the events on that island had a global impact which still reverberates to this day.
There were solid reasons for Britain’s more professional seamanship. Britain is an Island, who’s economy was and still is dependent on trade. So we had a massive merchant fleet. The Royal Navy took much of its manpower from those skilled experienced professional seamen. For both warrant officers and commissioned officers, the Navy offered a career, that could transform the life of a smart men from modest middle class backgrounds. Good pay with the prospect of prize money (When an enemy ship was captured, its value was shared amongst the crew, with officers getting more). Then came social climbing. Lord Nelson was one of the twelve children of a country priest. When he married, his best man was navy officer and future king George 1V. Like Nelson many officers joined the navy at the age of 12. Their whole Education and culture was based on seamanship and aggressive naval action. The French Navy did not have such a large pool of skilled men to choose from. They would even make up the numbers by drafting soldiers. Many of the French senior offices had been lost due to political reasons.
Your version varies greatly from the official Royal Navy and other historical versions, Temeraire did not sail between Victory and Redoubtable because those two had locked masts, Nelson ordered Victory's gunports closed so that the gunners could go on the main deck and shoot at the Redoubtables infantry, who were attempting to board Victory. Temeraire raked the Redoubtables starboard side with cannonade, killing most of her 643 crew. Throughout the battle Nelson and Collingwood had the wind, the Allied ships were poorly trained and failed to turn into the wind to stop Nelsons move of 'crossing the 'T''. Nelson had refused to engage them in 'line battle, and fire broadsides, instead his plan was to split the line of allied ships in three and rake them from stem to stern, the most vicious form of attack, it meant that he could bring all his ships guns to bear as they sailed through the line, the allies would be unable to bring any of theirs to bear, due to having to have to turn into the wind, a manoever that needed a lot of space and skill on the part of the crews, they would also need to tack in order to make forward progress, again movements that demanded a lot of space and skill. Only one allied ship was actually destroyed, the remainder were captured, although some of these were taken back by their crews in the storm that followed
Yep, Villeneuve was probably one of the last remaining representatives of the old aristocracy in the Napoleonic army. That probably made him nervous about losing his job.
Yeah It really works in The Pirate: The Caribbean. But there are some counters for ramming but the British would be surprised if the the French used the ramming tactics and there are almost none who ram the enemy in the 17th to 18th century..
This was the charter. The charter of the land, And guardian angels sang this strain: "Rule, Britannia! Britannia rule the waves: "Britons never never never will be slaves."
For me, Nelson is in the same league as Hannibal or Alexander, in the tier just below Napoleon and Julius Caesar. Admittedly he won less battles, but he won some of the most decisive naval battles ever with novel tactics. The Royal Navy was a ruthless machine back then.
@@secktuss9610 I’d abandon the idea of silly lists like this altogether; none of these historical figures are really directly comparable, especially Nelson whose string of victories were all at sea.
I gotta say, this video really brought to light how much tactical responsibility Nelson had in this battle as well as how competent the officers and crews of the Royal Navy were. Of course, the mistakes and bad luck of the enemy also added to their demise.
I'd just discovered this channel and I really love it. Just a short comment: in the video it is said that the eastern line of the allied fleet were not able to join the western line in order to help those ships, but I think it was much more decisive the fact that the British vessels were able to enable fight in groups of three or more. I particularly saw the lack of this decisive data in the minute 9:50, because the narration gives the impression that the "Neptune" itself took out of the fight the "Santísima Trinidad", but this ship was ruined and forced to surrender by the combinated attack of EIGHT British vessels! The whole tactic planned and driven into practice by Nelson was wonderful, but I think this detail of the combinated attacks should be commented, because it was one of the keys of the battle, together with other facts: the superiority of training and combat skills of British crews, and the poor state of many vessels and crews in the allied fleet (particularly among the Spanish, which had great commanders, but suffered a big lack of trained sailors). Acabo de descubrir este canal y me encanta. Solo un breve comentario: en el vídeo se dice que la línea oriental de la flota aliada no pudo unirse a la línea occidental para ayudar a esos barcos, pero creo que fue mucho más decisivo el hecho de que los buques británicos pudieran luchar en grupos de tres o más. Particularmente vi la falta de este dato decisivo en el minuto 9:50, porque la narración da la impresión de que solo el "Neptuno" derrotó al "Santísima Trinidad" y lo rindió, pero esta nave fue arrasada y obligada a rendirse por el ataque combinado de hasta OCHO barcos! Toda la táctica planeada y llevada a la práctica por Nelson fue genial, pero creo que hay que comentar este detalle de los ataques combinados, porque fue una de las claves de la batalla, junto con otros hechos: la superioridad en entrenamiento y habilidades de combate de las tripulaciones británicas, y el mal estado de muchas embarcaciones y tripulaciones en la flota aliada (particularmente en los buques españoles, que tenían grandes comandantes, pero carecían de marineros avezados).
Santíssima Trinidad was the heaviest-armed ship in the world when rebuilt, and bore the most guns of any ship of the line outfitted in the Age of Sail! About the battle: "Due to her great bulk, her helm was unresponsive in the light winds on the day, contributing to her ineffective service in the combined fleet's cause. Her great size and position immediately ahead of the fleet flagship Bucentaure made her a target for the British fleet, and she came under concentrated attack by several ships. She lost her mast and eventually surrendered to the Neptune, a 98-gun second rate commanded by Captain Thomas Fremantle. She was taken in tow by the 98-gun second rate Prince,[4] but was eventually scuttled by her British captors northwest of Cádiz"
I was in my 20s when the Battle of Austerlitz took place, so... should've used a younger version of me as my image in the video. Nevertheless, this video is SPECTACULAR, and I look forward my "fabulous" appearance in your next video. By the way, thanks for not mentioning my role in my father's assassination, for some even thought that I'm the mastermind behind the incident, though I took no part in it. Keep up the GREAT WORK!
Amazing video guys! Great pictures, graphics, and maps. I am a HUGE fan of these videos! I am donating to your channel because of this video and how much I enjoyed it. Keep up the great work!!!!
Sometimes we forget how slow movement can be. The conditions that day was a light wind. The ships were maneuvering at a walking pace, literally. The ability of sailing ships to turn is dependent on the speed of the ship. While Villeneuve had a numerical superiority, Nelson achieve a modest numerical superiority at the point of contact. One third of the Allied fleet was sailing away from the battle. To engage the British, the Spanish fleet had to turn into the wind under light winds. This is an extremely difficult maneuver with these big lumbering ships. Worse, the Spanish crews were inexperienced. It took literally hours. By the time the Spanish made the turn, the battle was effectively over.
Yep. And the wind died down even further. The windward van got stalled and took some serious punishment, particularly the Victory, since Nelson lead from the front. The leeward van had already engaged the Allied fleet. However, ships of the line are pretty tough. A ship usually surrenders due to crew losses than the danger of the ship sinking. While the wind is light, the British had the winds on their back. The Allied fleet never did. Also, the British were much better trained.
He wasn't killed by a cannon ball, but by a sharpshooter. If he didn't insist on wearing all his medals, be might have been less likely to be picked out among the crowd. Of course, he his plan was extremely daring and I guess he needed to instill confidence in his crew.
I don't know how the Spanish sailor was, but I know in good ink that the Spanish commanders had much more experience in the naval war than the French, one of the great problems of the allies, since before this battle, was the continuous clash of doctrines, between French and Spanish, in Trafalgar it was no less.
No os olvidéis que el mando total era Villeneuve. Los mandos españoles no estaban de acuerdo con Villeneuve. En esta batalla hubo un mal mando,y como todos sabéis, en una batalla se obedece la estrategia del Almirante,en este caso Villeneuve. Los mandos españoles sabían y se lo habían comunicado a Villeneuve ,que no era momento de salir del Puerto de Cádiz ,ni la estrategia era la correcta.
@@VITOLLFOTOGRAFIA You are right. The battle was lost by the Spanish on the political level as King Carlos IV submitted to Napoleon and accepted the unconditional lead by the French who had the worse track record in sea battles against the British. The Spanish flagship, built by an Irish naval engineer in the Havana shipyards was a technichal masterpiece at it's time, being the only four-decker in the battle. This ship was worn down by four British ships, including the Victory, only when two thirds of her manpower were either dead or wounded. Trafalgar under the command of admiral Gravina instead of Villeneuve could have produced a completely different outcome. Damn Bonaparte...
Thank you for putting together this polished video regarding the battle. I'm always on the lookout for more detail regarding my ancestor (yes, we did verify the direct link via geneological research). Seeing how you present the battle and the events leading up to it helps to put things into better context for me and is appreciated.
:) As I too am, for mine. Greetings from Australia. :)). And yes, we verified our line down from his brother, Robert, though it would seem not the brother who got the 100k pounds from the govt!! :(
@@dennis771 did Nelson changed anything? Besides of been a great admiral he is only well-known because of British propaganda. On the other side Blas de Lezo who achieved a major victory is forgotten and in some cases reviled because here in Spain we only know how to forget our great admirals and generals
@@albertogarciaprieto4637 de Lezo battle is important to the people of Colombia, Panama & Venezuela. It didn’t stop the british American colonies or Jamaica or Caribbean holdings. Trafalgar was a decisive battle that change the napoleon war which affected Europe for almost 130 years and made the royal navy master of the seas going forward. However, I understand where you are coming from Alberto.
@@albertogarciaprieto4637 youbare delusional to think without trafalger napoleon won’t had invaded Britain and most likely changing the world forever. I see your issue is not education but culture. You are probably educated but your culture is probably what’s holding you back from having common sense and being realistic instead of overthinking & overestimating and in some cases being a language imperialist
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Thanks, that was the best moving of the battle i ve ever seen.
Admiral Collingwood was a great sailor & Hero too, his monument & some of the cannons from the Royal Sovereign are placed beneath it, near the mouth of the Tyne
Giản dị, thật thà , điều mà anh chị đã làm được trong lòng tất cả mọi người. Thật sự tôn trọng và ngưỡng mộ 2 anh chị. 2 anh chị luôn giữ cái cảm xúc này luôn nhennnnn 💋💋❤️❤️❤️
In the movie Master and Commander, the British sailors still think Admiral Nelson was alive and talked very fondly of him. Of course the educated viewer would have known that Nelson was dead already at Trafalgar and Capt Jack and his crew could not have heard about it. It was a nice narrative decision for the filmmakers.
@@inigobantok1579 true but I'm pretty sure the screenwriters mentioned the nelson stuff because of his death. which the crew did not know of. dates are not important in Hollywood films, so many examples.
A wonderful video! But one suggestion - if the ships from the different sides had been different colors, it would have been easier to follow, on a visual level.
What a blunder for the French and Spanish. They really had opportunities to counter the British. Can't wait for the next video for one of the greatest battles in history!
French leadership, Spanish already defeated nelson in some battles in the past. Also Spain could not put in danger the whole fleet because they had possesion in America to protect
It's refreshing to know that back then- at least in the navy- the admirals were always in the vanguard and walked the decks like peacocks advertising their status. Compared with say, WWI where the generals were so far back, they didn't even understand the battle situations they'd put their men into.
People keep talking about Villeneuve ignoring Napoleon's orders. Napoleon could order a Corps to 'X' and expect it to move out immediately. Ordering a fleet to move in defiance of wind and wave is ludicrous. They can't sail when the winds blow to the inland. They can't sail against the tides, regardless of the winds. Neither navy, French or Spanish, was seasoned, both having been locked up for years under blockade. Villeneuve had been dealt a poor hand and Napoleon kept telling him to go 'All in' without any consideration for his reliance on external factors to be favorable in order to perform a simple exit in the face of a blockade.
Brilliant...great description of a very titanic sea battle! Not until the battle of Midway over a century later would a sea battle have such huge implications for the course of history
Impressive, different battles throughout history are the most exciting things to look back on for me. I just discovered your chanel and I subbed immediately! Great work, I hope you get big and have your own show/magaznie someday. Well, that's probably not going to happen, cuz TV and paper are dying, but that's beside the point... Big thumbs up!
What's often forgotten about this battle is that the British crews were in a different league to the French and Spanish crews. They'd spent months at sea, drilling manoeuvres and batteries, while their enemy fleet was blockaded in port. They were firing at a rate their enemy couldn't match even at the best of times, and it wasn't the best of times for them. A French sailor was claimed to have said of the British fleet; "The devil loaded their guns." That's why Royal Sovereign, when duelling with both the Fougueux, and Santa Ana, inflicted 4 casualties for every casualty sustained.
It is to be said that the crewmembers on board HMS Victory stored Nelsons body in a barrel of wine. I was lucky enough to go on board Victory in Portsmouth and stood where Nelson was hit. It was a wonderful experience.
Sure thing, your presentation of the content is by far my favourite in a while, keep it up! (However, I do like numerical data a lot, maybe an interesting feature to add to the visuals, not a necessity though.)
Si se leen los libros de historia la cosa es un poco mas complicada. A parte que la virada de Villeneuve perjudicaba la punteria de los cañones, pues la marejada que habia impedia disparar con precision, dejaba claro a la flota que no queria entablar combate. Villeneuve no formo dos lineas de batalla sino una sola, pero mal formada debido a la falta de tripulacion experimentada. Una regla del combate naval decia que nunca se debia realizar una virada con el enemigo a la vista, cosa que Villeneuve olvido, al parecer. El almirante Gravina solicito actuar de forma independiente, para cortar los barcos de Collingwood, pero Villeneuve lo denego. Al Santisma Trinidad le rodearon 7 navios ingleses, pero aun asi sotuvo el combate durante horas, cosa que el video no cuenta y solo un barco ya lo deja fuera de juego, como si el navio español de cuatro puentes fuera inoperante. Por ultimo recordar que el numero de cañones de navio de linea no importaba, lo importante es el numero de puentes. A mas puentes, mas altura, a mas altura mas efectividad de los cañones de la bateria superior. Siempre me hace gracia el menosprecio a la flota española por parte de las fuentes anglosajonas cuando recordemos que los franceses no tenian navios de tres puentes, mientras que España tenia 7 en Trafalgar, mientras que los Britanicos tenian 9. Recordar ademas que en los libros de historia no se suelen consultar los cuadernos de bitacora de los buques españoles, cosa graciosa cuando se busca la imparcialidad en los juicios historicos. Muchas Gracias.
The biggest factor in British naval superiority was its disciplined, professional officers and crew, its frequent gunnery pracitce. French naval captains were likely to be aristocrats plucked untrained from drawing rooms, while British officers, no matter how high-born, all went through apprenticeships as midshipmen. They were QUALIFIED for their roles; they'd run up the rigging, and knew how the ship worked. NO contest!
The most important factor of British naval superiority after of 1713 (and before!), is above all the ISLAND. The British could invest in the fleet (Royal Navy!) and have a small infantry army. Spain and France had to share the budget (infantry and naval). That is why the British were systematically defeated when they got off the ships. Nelson, for example, lost 3 times against Spain, in Cádiz, Central America and Tenerife, where he lost his arm and was captured. After Trafalgar 1805, Spain defeats the redcoats in Argentina and Uruguay 1806-07, capturing the British generals.
@@Gloriaimperial1and yet we still helped your colonys free themselves held onto gibralter and then won you your inderpendance from france with Portugal you can make an argument for Spanish superiority when we still to this day own the southern tip of your country
@@danielsmith9476 Gibraltar is a very complex and politically inherited situation. Spanish world expansion began 200 years before the English one, and our power ended, logically, earlier. Now we are in a time of British decline, which we began in the 19th century, and stabilization, so that each decade Spain is getting closer to the British and French in economy, industry, science and military power. In 1782, the year of the last war for Gibraltar, Spain easily defeated the British in Florida, Louisiana, the Bahamas, Central America and Menorca, in addition to Spain's naval blockade in England, with the capture of two fleets of 24 and 55 ships. , which sank the London stock market. But Gibraltar was an impregnable rock, like Cartagena de Indias, Colombia, where the Royal Navy suffered the biggest defeat in its history, in 1741. Spain had a plan to invade Australia with 100 frigates, in 1788. It was easier to invade Australia, than invade Gibraltar. But the French revolutionary era arrived, and Spain had complex wars from 1792 to 1831, without rest: war against revolutionary France, war against England and Portugal, invasion of 300,000 soldiers by Napoleon, war of independence of Spanish America, civil war (liberal-absolutist ), first Carlist war. That was devastating for Spain. The UK was an island, and that is why it avoided Napoleon's invasion, and the infiltration of revolutionary agents, which did destroy half of Europe. This coincides with the British expansion as the first imperial power after 1815, when Europe was destroyed, but not the islands. The war against Napoleon alone sank the Spanish economy by 80%, with half a million dead, destruction of industry, the fleet in port, livestock, agriculture, and roads. 2 million emigrants to America... That makes it impossible to recover Gibraltar. Spain also has an enclave within France, Lliria, and we have Olivenza, which belonged to Portugal until 1801, and those countries are not going to declare war on us, because there are treaties and peace between us. Spain has 2 cities in North Africa, and a war with the UK (impossible in the context of the European Union and NATO against a partner like the UK) would provoke a war with Morocco over Ceuta and Melilla, at the same time. We cannot fight two wars at the same time. Spain is like a giant aircraft carrier that would immediately absorb Gibraltar, but it would be an aggression condemned by all democracies. Furthermore, the dictatorships of the 1930s and 1940s, such as Germany, Japan, Italy and Spain, were penalized for arming themselves with nuclear bombs by the international community. We can remove the clause that forces the UK to return the rock to Spain (Treaty of Utrecht) if Gibraltar wants to become independent from the UK. 99% of Gibraltarians want to belong to the European Union, and tax havens, which steal money from the social services of other countries, are going to be increasingly persecuted. But it is a difficult situation to resolve now.
I'm literally only here due to my interest in our maritime history and our heroes, in these wars alone we were blessed with characters such as, Pellew, Collingwood, Cochrane and of course Nelson, (I think I missed a few). It's a shame that many non-Brits are unaware of most of them... :( But I'm glad I stumbled on this video, it's a good channel and I do have an interest in all aspects of our history as well. :)
Great video, well-summed up. However, Villeneuve had actually set up this double-line in order to counter the british tactic of cutting the enemy line in half, as they had already done that on several occasions against both the french and the spanish. However, the lack of coordination between the two fleets led to mass confusion, allowing the better-trained british to crush them. Now, it is commonly believed that Trafalgar saved the British Isles from a french invasion. While it is a great british victory and decisively confirmed their naval superiority, it didn't considerably changed the strategical naval overview. They were the superior navy, and Trafalgar confirmed that more than anything. Also the main part of the french army was somewhere in actual germany, having just defeated an important austrian army in the battle of Ulm for very few french casualties. *I have a french bias, btw*.
Good point. :-) I also have a French bias - I am a big Napoleon fanboy. :-) You are correct that Villeneuve's attempt to get into formation failed. Probably should have stayed back. Regarding the naval overview, you are, once again correct. However, I believe that this loss forced Napoleon to be more radical about his Continental Blockade and that created a broader alliance against him.
It must not be forgotten that England was an island. That is a decisive advantage. Napoleon defeated two empires at Austerlich a month later, and Spain defeated the British Redcoats in Argentina and Uruguay in 1806, capturing General Beresford. Spain and France needed to budget for large armies of infantry and the protection of the Spanish empire. The British, with their low-investment trading empire, could invest heavily in the fleet. But when they got off the boats... they lost systematically.
@@Gloriaimperial1 I’m assuming you’re Spanish, and I’m certain you’re familiar with the Peninsular War, so I’m quite confused about your assertion of the British Army losing ‘systematically’
@@charliereader3462 The British expeditionary army in the Iberian Peninsula had between 35,000-70,000 soldiers. That is between 6 and 7 times fewer troops than the French army, the best army in the world at that time (Napoleon being the best strategist and general in history). 300,000 soldiers. It is impossible for the British army to beat the French on the peninsula in a direct war. To win that war, 4 factors were necessary: that Spain had 500,000 soldiers and guerrillas at war, at all times and throughout the territory, fighting. That Wellington made some sporadic offensives (in coordination with Spain and Portugal, leaving Portugal, and calculating that the French did not have a large concentration of troops). That Napoleon went to Russia with the best part of the French army. And that the empires of Austria and Prussia rebelled in the rear, after the trip to Russia. The British had the best fleet in the 18th century. But on land, and when they got off the ships, they were systematically defeated by the Spanish in America. Cartagena de Indias 1741 (greatest defeat of the Royal Navy in its history, with 50 ships lost). Defeats in Louisiana, Florida, Bahamas, Central America and Menorca, between 1779-82. 3 defeats for Nelson, in 1797 (Cádiz, Central America and Tenerife, where he lost an arm and was taken prisoner). Another defeat of the British landing fleet, in Puerto Rico, that year. British defeat in Argentina and Uruguay 1806-1807... We can talk about countless British defeats in the 16th-17th centuries. There are also Spanish defeats. But I am exposing how difficult it is to attack a land fortress. It's 300 years of war, the British capture 1 in 400 parts of the Spanish empire, after more than 100 attacks. Spain also had great difficulty invading England during our naval hegemony. We sent 10 invasion fleets to the British Isles in 4 centuries. The Royal Navy only appears twice. But storms prevent most invasions. Although 4 Spanish invasions were successful. Plus two special operations.
@@Gloriaimperial1 ah, I think I’m right in saying you are referring specifically to amphibious assaults instead of expeditionary forces (ie Wellington) in which case I apologise for my misunderstanding, I thought you were referring to the performance and ability of the British Army of the period in general
Kings and Generals. Bless you man! although your narration was clear and crisp but the total wars soundtrack was abit loud to be easily distracted. I would like if you lower down the music volume alitttleee abit. Thanks! :)
Kings and Generals. hahahha, well thats my opinion as a third person viewer. I rewinded the video multiple times to listen properly what you were saying. But whatever you think works best for most of the people and you both
This shows that training , superior seamanship , funding , naval infrastructure ans supply system and most imortantly leadership counts most to win a decisive victory.
Lord Nel, probably Britain's greatest hero. A flawed genius, like so many of them. Fortunately for freedom (such as it was back then) he'd done his best and smashed greater odds. RIP ❤
Villeneuve committed suicide a few months after this defeat. To be fair he was in a difficult position. The attack was a total surprise for him. Also the french navy was in really poor shape after the french revolution, the navy was a royalist bastion (to this day the French navy still has the nickname "la Royale"), most officers were aristocrats and many of them fleed France during the Revolution, most sailors were from very royalists parts of France like Vendée or Bretagne which suffered crippling demographic blows during their various royalist insurrections. So the French fleet at Trafalgar wasn't an organized squadron but a gathering of what was left, thus the men and officers weren't trained to fight together. Add to this the fact that a huge part of the fleet was Spanish, making communications even more difficult and you have all the ingredients for a defeat.
The greatest problem the French faced was languishing in port under RN blockade. While the RN was keeping station on a lee shore on the west coast and doing gun drills almost daily the French were probably in the pub or with a mistress! The British fired at a much higher rate which was a force multiplier of great value. The French also tended to try to fire at the masts to dismantle the enemy so they could board whereas the British fired at the hull to smash the enemy gun decks. All of these differences counted in their own way. But British tars’ toughness and seamanship for long periods at sea was what made the greatest difference.
After Napoleon's catastrophic loss at Trafalgar, he censored any mention of it. Many in the First French Empire didn't even hear about the battle until 1814, according to historian Andrew Roberts.
The truth is Santísima Trinidad fought against several english vessels at the same time. Some chronicles say against 7 english vessels. You know, the English always write the history in its own way. And is also truth, Santisima Trinidad was a galleon which suffers big problems of stability and in Trafalgar battle his crew was untrained, the english had better timing of fire.
@Robert Cawley English had better gunnery but not as much as legend says. They fount in Trafalgar a bad retreating fleet, a horrible French commander and an unexperienced crew. Saying Blas de Lezo, "el glorioso", the battle of tenerife... Bigger british fleet were destroyed. maybe with a Spanish general and a " Normal crew" The result of the battle would be different, who knows. Nelson T tactic has weak points.
@Robert Cawley jajaja much more french soldiers die in guerrillas fights than in the battle. You helped your interest, and in some way the Portuguese and also the Spanish. Dont forget when battle turned against, you always decide to scape, like you did in Coruña. But the English werent the liberators of nothing, you helped sending troops, guns and money, but were the spanish and the portuguese who liberate themselves. The "english lies about history" Confront what we know about our own history
@Robert Cawley 😂😂😂 not at all try to belittle your history, just saying you wrote the history by your point of view. Its said, history is written by the victors, and GB is the most victorius in history.
I am French and Dutch. I am a big fan of your channel and I hope you receive more subscribers in the future. I wish France and Spain won the battle. It would be even better if they took over England. But, I'm not complaining. It is just history.
Ah nelson! True British hero you shall forever remain in glory. I wonder what he would say if he saw what England was like now I doubt he would of even given his life
I would say that the English need to be proud of their heritage and remember my legacy! All Europeans need to fight back against the destruction of their cultures!
![⭐️( ลอยกระทง 2024 ) Ver. แดนซ์ Remix BY [ ดีเจกิต รีมิกซ์ ]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/rMWOLhgXUHc/mqdefault.jpg)
![เปิด อาณาจักร หมื่นล้าน "สาระตั้ม" l [Nickynachat]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/3XE0nPF4YkQ/mqdefault.jpg)
Sorry for the late upload, we had a problem with the render time. :-) Thank you for all your support! Hopefully, you may decide that we deserve more in order to improve our content and produce more of it. You can support us on Patreon: www.patreon.com/KingsandGenerals or Paypal: paypal.me/kingsandgenerals
Kings and Generals gr8 video as always, really enjoyed watching it :)
Thank you, my friend :-)
Kings and Generals watched it in one breath
Thanks a lot
+kilo grami happy to hear that! Thanks for watching!
Kings and Generals can u guys post video about tippu sultan
I love how Nelson died just after receiving the news of the victory, at least he died knowing he fulfilled his duty.
He probably thought they were lying to him to make him feel good before he died. 😢
@@kevin6293 nah, no doubt the admiral trusted the men he served with
His last words included “Thank God I’ve done my duty.”
Myth
@@schwerpunkt7687 LEGEND
Dying just after finding out you won possibly the greatest naval battle in history, is one badass way to go. Nelson is the definition of a great man.
Nelson was so revered that after his death a statue of the great Admiral was commissioned and placed on a column so high only the Pidgeon's who use him as toilet can see him.
Patrick Kelly
Dick head
@@PatrickKelly-lz3pv Imagine being so incredibly stupid that you think the plural of 'pigeon' is 'Pidgeon's'.
Copy from Admiral Yi one of the greatest generals
@Jack Tangles You are looking in the wrong places
Napoleon made a terrible mistake by sending his Polish troops to crush the Haitian rebellion. Poles, seeing that Haitians are fighting for freedom, were very often deserting and switching sides to help them win their independence. Two polish infantry battalions were formed under the Haitian banners. Many other Poles were fighting as irregulars.
After successful rebellion many Polish legionaries stayed in Haiti as they were accepted as Haitian citizens. Polish minority exist in Haiti to this day.
Seems that no one understood what Poland was all about. Even the French revolutionaries. :-)
Kamil Szadkowski how did not know that, very interesting.
+Kings and Generals Well, these french revolutionaries in future will sabotage Polish uprisings in XIX century.
It happens all the time, doesn't it? Seems that we have to be dicks to someone at any point in time. Otherwise, we can't live with ourselves...
Yeah, it seems so. Although the French probably deserve some additional dick points for how vicious they were.
Can you imagine the overwhelming welcome Nelson would have recieved upon his return to Great Britain had he survived. He'd have been hailed as Royalty. But something tells me Nelson would have preferred it to happen just the way it did. Going out in a blaze of glory, surrounded by his men, having secured one of the greatest victories in British history.
He would have been but likely his fame wouldn't have lasted that long sadly as his affair with Emma Hamilton was scandalous
He always said things like " victory or Westminster abbey" meaning victory or the crypt
And now the communists want to tear it down. Not when I can still breathe.
@@charliekenyon9723 the communists?
Am irish , Nelson pillar was blown up in Dublin in 1966..but I respect his dedication..and England should honor, and respect him... get out if u don’t .!!, it’s still his country he died for.!
When your commander is napoleon and you still disobey orders...
Old aristocracy was not fond of Napoleon, obviously.
Was not fond of winning battles too, apparently.
@@christiancristof491 Well, we shouldn't be complaining. Getting rid of Napoleon was for the better of every nation involved, including France herself - it's just a shame that so much blood was wasted.
abc def it’s hard to call Napoleon the bad guy. When he he and France were invaded attacked by a total of seven coalitions.
England was the real bad guy. Napoleon screwed up invading Russia and Spain.
@@abcdef-cs1jj the Chinese, Irish, Indian, and Polish peoples could disagree with you...
I feel the need to point out that duel between HMS Victory and Redoutable was not a normal one, as Redoutable closed her gun ports and had all available men move topside to engage in a musket duel with HMS Victory. This unorthodox tactic took Nelson by surprise, as tradition dictated that he stay topside with his men. With the medals on his uniform glinting in the sun, he was a sitting duck to the French sharpshooters, which rendered the topdeck of HMS Victory a no-mans-land. So it isn't quite correct to say that Redoutable had badly damaged HMS Victory, but rather had silenced HMS Victory's guns, and took her out of the fight.
That is a good comment! Once again, thanks for allowing to use your machinima!
HMS Victory thrashed Redoutable
Am I right in thinking he took his medals off in order to be unidentifiable by sharpshooters or is that what he should’ve done?
@@Edax_Royeaux oh that’s cool. I really should’ve known that
@Edax
[edited after I was corrected from "Edax" as describing both ships as "first"s while trying to be more succinct than able]
Both ships had 3 decks of guns simply putting "everyone" in the yards would not put out the main gun decks as they are "below" the cover of the Top deck.
Victories guns were never "Silenced" far less from ...Sharpshooters !
Nelson was not surprised nor was it an unorthodox tactic, slightly unusual to this degree but reason given below(*1).
Victory suffered horrendously on the final approach as the British fleet deliberately allowed itself to be "T"d in order to not just "Put themselves along side" but to put themselves between and cut the French Fleet in to piece meal sections.
Victory led from the front and took the brunt of fire from many ships broad sides. She tried to smash between Bucentaure, Santisima Trinidad and Redoutable and put herself in a position the use both sides to rake bows and sterns freely. But she had to crash into Redoutable as there was not enough room between the 3 French ships. They locked together, their rigging become entangled with the other, and the momentum of the powerful collision carried them both out of the line.
The French historically tended to shoot high to try to damage masts and rigging rather than target the hull, so were less effective at causing gun deck casualties and hull damage when doing so.
Once in close the superior rate of British fire told as she raked the Redoutable's gun decks terribly, the horrific casualties this caused effectively disabled Redoutable's ability to fire, ...... no gun crews no guns!
Redoutable's hull had been all but destroyed, and almost every man on her lower decks was injured or dead. She closed her ineffective gun ports to prevent the British from using them as entrances through which to board.
I'm American but I've always been fascinated with British naval history and particularly lord nelson. Last month I visited London and saw his statue in st pauls and then his tomb in the crypt. I'm not ashamed to say I was moved to tears standing in front of his tomb thinking of his final moments and the incredible bravery he displayed.
Thank you mate. We appreciate your interest in our history 🇬🇧🍻🇺🇲
If you every come back to the UK I recommend you visit Portsmouth Historic Naval Dockyard where you can visit HMS Victory and a whole exhibit dedicated to Lord Nelson (this includes uniforms, personal letters and personal affects - it's really interesting). I have probably visited HMS Victory over 20 times and every time I go there I learn something new. The Historic Dockyard also allows you to visit HMS Warrior, a WW1 Monitor Ship, the Mary Rose (separate admission), HMS Alliance (WW2 submarine), Explosion Museum (former gun powder storage - exhibit focused on marine guns), a boat tour of the Naval Harbor and many other interesting exhibits.
@@federicoperi6806Solid advice. I can only second that. The experience of learning about the Tudor navy by seeing the wreck of the Mary Rose and walking around on Nelson's Victory is something otherworldly.
@@HoriaNeagu It definitely is an amazing experience. It's a bit of a "shame" at the moment as HMS Victory is undergoing major restoration work and will be encased in scaffolding for the next 11 years... But I can't wait to see what she'll look like once they've finished!
Winston Churchill was quite a fan too.
Napoleon said of the Royal Navy “Wherever wood will float there you will find the British “ He was right 🇬🇧
I was able to visit the English Maritime Museum in London. They have the uniform Nelson was wearing at the Battle of Trafalgar. Being an American this may sound weird, but the sight of it had me a bit teary eyed. Something about the man’s sense of honor makes him a hero to those who love European / English history.
It a sad that often our hero's to not match up to our ideals. He was indeed a great hero and naval man but a terrible husband as he treated his wife terribly
likesmilitaryhistory Alan Moore can you blame him? Imagine coming home after all that sailing and fighting and she's on your case right away
"where have you been?" "We should go out for dinner" "you didn't do the dishes 8 months ago". On a serious note fuck his wife, he advocated slavery, that's a lot worse in my opinion.
@@timsyoutube6051 'Great man' does not equal 'good man'. It's unfair to make that confusion. We know who the good men of history are. The great men had a different role that had little to do with goodness.
Oh look, another American who has never heard of Britain!
@@B-A-L huh
Britain's ultimate weapon
Tea, biscuits and Lord nelson
And their terrible food! Probably they throw their foods as their ammunition
@@arifhendriyana4399 Some of it's alright, like fish and chips, but yeah we have a lot of shit food.
@@arifhendriyana4399 We'll invade your shit country and force you to eat it if you keep getting fresh.
@@arifhendriyana4399 yet we've got more mitchilen star chefs and restaurants in london than you do in your entire country lol
@Matthew Smith yes and no. You move away and you'd be amazed at what you miss.
I'm in Hong Kong. I'm surrounded by Michelin restaurants. But there are times (lots of them) I'd give my soul for a bacon and egg sandwich.
And I've been completely unable to find a decent source of buffalo wings.
The great food is great, but for whatever reason, it's not what you miss. Sometimes you want high class fare, other times you want to pig out on something rough.
Nelson's incredible victory at Trafalgar single-handedly (no pun intended) saved the United Kingdom from a French invasion (that the British would almost certainly lose). He's a national hero on the level of Alfred and Churchill, without a doubt.
"single-handedly (no pun intended)"
Lmao
@ royal navy gun crews were known across the world as the most experienced,well trained and quickest crews on the seven seas but it was thanks to nelsons navy reforms that happened, he made it so his sailors were trained multiple times and trained hard to make them that, he was a hero and respected and loved by any man that sailed in his navy
The Royal Navy was defeated multiple times by the Spanish Navy, but History omits it.
Francis Drake, was defeated in Veracruz in the battle of San Juan de Ulua in 1568.
The Invincible English, invasion fleet sent by Isabel I to defeat to the Spanish navy, was defeated by Spain and its navy in 1589.
Edward Vernon was defeated in Cartagenas De Indias by Blas de Lezo in 1741.
Horacio Nelson, the great victor of Trafalgar, was defeated in Tenerife, Spain, 25 of July of 1797.
Stanley Rogouski “the monarchy would’ve been abolished” oh I don’t know, Napoleon crowning himself Emperor seems awfully similar to me
@@stanleyrogouski Have you ever read the book 'Letters to England' written by the famous french philosopher Voltaire? He chose England over France during a similar period and wrote extensively about their differences in culture. I think you should read it.
This is a great animation. So nice to see the little flags on the ships, the shooting ships, the burning ships and at least the half-destroyed ships with de sails in the water. ^^
Thank you! :-)
Kings and Generals ;-)
Out fucking standing
@ I knew something was missing..lol
I've been re watching this for an hour and it slowly dawned on me the genius of Lord nelson. The tactic of having the first ship pick the enemy flagship to go against while the captains behind him are there to support this thrust and overwhelm the enemy locally at close range is aggressive in a battlefield that demands conservative tactics. That he died yet his ship fought on and his second was able to command the fleet accordingly without losing moral while the enemy fleet was broken after their admirals loss makes him a legend. I do wonder if he was truely able to know he had won the day and the age for his empires navy or if he died too soon.
Thanks for rewatching our video :-) Indeed, the idea is ingenious. Give them very little to shoot at and then close in and use both boards to shoot. Very easy. And, obviously, no one thought about it before. :-)
He must have been an incredible man. Just imagine that you are on the first ship of the line (badum tsss) and you know you're gonna get shot at from both sides and potentionally even from front yet you fight because your admiral is here with you and you'll fight for the British Empire!
@@kasparjuracek1317 you are late
Against a more skilled navy with a better-drilled gun crew, it would likely have been a disastrous tactic, with the Victory and/or the second ship in the line taken out in quick order and ensnaring the advance. But, it was splendid for breaking the morale of the numerically superior French-Spanish fleet, because the Spaniards at this point in time were not up to par in their gunnery.
@@eggtarts286 Absolutely one of the highest risk maneuvers ever attempted in warfare. I put up there with Hannibal crossing the alps.
It was near insanity to attempt this! The fact they didnt lose a single ship is awe inspiring.
Nelson- England expects that every man do his duty.
Scottish, Welsh and Irish sailors- guess we can sit back and relax today lads.
England expected its celtic servant boys to do their duties too.
At the time England meant the UK it wasn't until later in the century that these identities really came out.
@@Pawn2e4 Scottish have a good amount of Germanic blood
@@xIBEASTYFUNK they're more Celtic than the English
@@xIBEASTYFUNK scottish is a anglo-saxon? I do not know that
Admiral Nelson insisted on having cloth versions of his war medals sewn into his uniform, making him stand out and be an obvious target for the sharpshooters. He also insisted on being out in the open, which was also how he lost his arm earlier in his career.
The Spanish admiral, Federico Gravina on his death-bed said these words; "I am a dying man, but I die happy; I am going, I hope and trust, to join Nelson, the greatest hero that the world perhaps has produced."
Really???
I looked for that font and didn't find a word from him to Nelson
@@yourboss001 Because it's bullshit
@@hanyu_dada According to Wikipedia he did indeed say this.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federico_Gravina
"I am a dying man, but I die happy; I am going, I hope and trust, to join Nelson, the greatest hero that the world perhaps has produced."
I cannot find any primary sources but many secondary sources do indeed claim that he said this, I cannot speak Spanish so my inability to find primary sources is not very surprising.
Great Alexander
The Spanish sources don’t say that,so it’s probably just propaganda,but it’s fine we Spaniards have some dumb non sense nationalist propaganda too.
Rule Britannia.
Sincerely,a sPAINtard.
Change ¨Nelson¨ for ¨Alvaro de Bazán¨ or any other great spanish sailor and it could be true, but Nelson? sounds like the tipical english twist of History...
French Admiral Villenurve was one few survivors from Battle of Nile in 1798 , there was not much compatent French admirals or captains left after French Revolution. After Trafalgar Napoleon started a new shipbuilding programme to overwhelm Royal Navy but couldn't find enough crewmen to handle them. When Napoleon was finally surrendered to Royal Navy after Battle of Waterloo in 1815 and taken on ship of line HMS Bellaphoron he observed how efficient , orderly and quiet Royal Navy sailors were compared to noisy French crews
I have to think those men were under strict orders not to be noisy considering their cargo.
The French officers were mostly royalists. They fleed the country after 1792. Before that the Marine Royale inflicted terrible defeats to the Royal Navy during the American War of Independence
@@walideg5304 Chesapeake Bay yes a strategic win for French but Battle of Saintes was a British defeat ?
@@walideg5304 french fleets are clearly no match for the royal navy even when the brits are over extended and at war with most of europe
If England were not an island, like Iceland, the British would have seen 300,000 silent soldiers of Napoleon enter in London, 100,000 soldiers of Philip II of Spain and 2 million soldiers of Germany in the 19th and 20th centuries. But the first invasion would have been enough. So Elisabeth, Nelson and Churchill would be smoking a cigar in Australia.
So basically Villeneuve was leading the fleet without Napoleon's permission?
His replacement was already in Madrid.
Kings and Generals who was he?
Francois Etienne de Rosily-Mesros
@steve hammond what about admiral Yi
@steve hammond We don't know that. Even great commanders lose.
We do know, however, that Villeneuve was a poor and hesitating commander. The french navy had much better officers. But the fact remains that french sailors lacked training.
These Videos are immense, EXACTLY what i look for when learning history, great animations, colored projections of empires territorial extent, battle tactics and leaders names and strategy's !. and your narrator has one hell! of a narrators voice! ... GOOD rant over.
Thank you, good sir! You and your rants are always welcome, even if you decide to point out our mistake or criticize us. :-)
Great work once again in brining a historical naval battle to life. I hope that you will soon cover one of the engagements that occurred in the infamous Haitian Campaign, as the events on that island had a global impact which still reverberates to this day.
Thank you, my friend! :-) I really hope this series is popular. Because if it is, we can cover every part of the Napoleonic wars.
I do believe this has aged quite well!
There were solid reasons for Britain’s more professional seamanship. Britain is an Island, who’s economy was and still is dependent on trade. So we had a massive merchant fleet. The Royal Navy took much of its manpower from those skilled experienced professional seamen. For both warrant officers and commissioned officers, the Navy offered a career, that could transform the life of a smart men from modest middle class backgrounds. Good pay with the prospect of prize money (When an enemy ship was captured, its value was shared amongst the crew, with officers getting more). Then came social climbing. Lord Nelson was one of the twelve children of a country priest. When he married, his best man was navy officer and future king George 1V. Like Nelson many officers joined the navy at the age of 12. Their whole Education and culture was based on seamanship and aggressive naval action. The French Navy did not have such a large pool of skilled men to choose from. They would even make up the numbers by drafting soldiers. Many of the French senior offices had been lost due to political reasons.
Watched more than 90% Videos of this Channel, my favourite channel till now. Thanks, Kings and Generals, for great content, Cheers...
Thanks for watching!
@@KingsandGenerals Wow, thanks for the reply. Will always be watching your videos and BTW Watching Right Now, Napoleon 3rd Episode.
Please make video series on Mughal Empire in India.
Your version varies greatly from the official Royal Navy and other historical versions, Temeraire did not sail between Victory and Redoubtable because those two had locked masts, Nelson ordered Victory's gunports closed so that the gunners could go on the main deck and shoot at the Redoubtables infantry, who were attempting to board Victory.
Temeraire raked the Redoubtables starboard side with cannonade, killing most of her 643 crew. Throughout the battle Nelson and Collingwood had the wind, the Allied ships were poorly trained and failed to turn into the wind to stop Nelsons move of 'crossing the 'T''.
Nelson had refused to engage them in 'line battle, and fire broadsides, instead his plan was to split the line of allied ships in three and rake them from stem to stern, the most vicious form of attack, it meant that he could bring all his ships guns to bear as they sailed through the line, the allies would be unable to bring any of theirs to bear, due to having to have to turn into the wind, a manoever that needed a lot of space and skill on the part of the crews, they would also need to tack in order to make forward progress, again movements that demanded a lot of space and skill.
Only one allied ship was actually destroyed, the remainder were captured, although some of these were taken back by their crews in the storm that followed
I really like these maps. Representing the water in black makes the graphics show up very clearly.
I've never been one for naval battles, I'm always the land lover and land battles guy.
BUT THIS WAS AWESOME, THANK YOU!
Thank you, noble Achillez! Same here, not a big fan and never considered myself an expert, but there is a certain charm to them. :-)
If only the French admiral wasn't so stubborn......
Yep, Villeneuve was probably one of the last remaining representatives of the old aristocracy in the Napoleonic army. That probably made him nervous about losing his job.
If only the French admiral uses roman tactics by ramming the British ships they would won the battle
John Carlo Abella. haha true. I wonder if it couldve worked centuries later
Yeah It really works in The Pirate: The Caribbean. But there are some counters for ramming but the British would be surprised if the the French used the ramming tactics and there are almost none who ram the enemy in the 17th to 18th century..
:-) These ships were not built to ram, but I am not an expert in the naval warfare. :-)
This was the charter. The charter of the land,
And guardian angels sang this strain:
"Rule, Britannia! Britannia rule the waves:
"Britons never never never will be slaves."
Yes, one of the best patriotic songs out there! :-)
@S billings Oh fuck off, you boring shill
@@simonhowles3646 he has a point though
@@MegaTamer111 Nah just another fool
@@simonhowles3646 says the SJW
For me, Nelson is in the same league as Hannibal or Alexander, in the tier just below Napoleon and Julius Caesar. Admittedly he won less battles, but he won some of the most decisive naval battles ever with novel tactics. The Royal Navy was a ruthless machine back then.
Alexander the great....?
i'd put him below hannibal and alexander
@@secktuss9610
I’d abandon the idea of silly lists like this altogether; none of these historical figures are really directly comparable, especially Nelson whose string of victories were all at sea.
You’d put Napoleon above Alexander the Great, a general who never lost a battle?
@@siliconjim2554 Ong, that’s what I was thinking. But I’m curious to hear his angle…
I gotta say, this video really brought to light how much tactical responsibility Nelson had in this battle as well as how competent the officers and crews of the Royal Navy were. Of course, the mistakes and bad luck of the enemy also added to their demise.
What a Victory. Two of the worlds best Admirals Nelson & Collingwood.
I'd just discovered this channel and I really love it. Just a short comment: in the video it is said that the eastern line of the allied fleet were not able to join the western line in order to help those ships, but I think it was much more decisive the fact that the British vessels were able to enable fight in groups of three or more. I particularly saw the lack of this decisive data in the minute 9:50, because the narration gives the impression that the "Neptune" itself took out of the fight the "Santísima Trinidad", but this ship was ruined and forced to surrender by the combinated attack of EIGHT British vessels!
The whole tactic planned and driven into practice by Nelson was wonderful, but I think this detail of the combinated attacks should be commented, because it was one of the keys of the battle, together with other facts: the superiority of training and combat skills of British crews, and the poor state of many vessels and crews in the allied fleet (particularly among the Spanish, which had great commanders, but suffered a big lack of trained sailors).
Acabo de descubrir este canal y me encanta. Solo un breve comentario: en el vídeo se dice que la línea oriental de la flota aliada no pudo unirse a la línea occidental para ayudar a esos barcos, pero creo que fue mucho más decisivo el hecho de que los buques británicos pudieran luchar en grupos de tres o más. Particularmente vi la falta de este dato decisivo en el minuto 9:50, porque la narración da la impresión de que solo el "Neptuno" derrotó al "Santísima Trinidad" y lo rindió, pero esta nave fue arrasada y obligada a rendirse por el ataque combinado de hasta OCHO barcos!
Toda la táctica planeada y llevada a la práctica por Nelson fue genial, pero creo que hay que comentar este detalle de los ataques combinados, porque fue una de las claves de la batalla, junto con otros hechos: la superioridad en entrenamiento y habilidades de combate de las tripulaciones británicas, y el mal estado de muchas embarcaciones y tripulaciones en la flota aliada (particularmente en los buques españoles, que tenían grandes comandantes, pero carecían de marineros avezados).
Santíssima Trinidad was the heaviest-armed ship in the world when rebuilt, and bore the most guns of any ship of the line outfitted in the Age of Sail!
About the battle:
"Due to her great bulk, her helm was unresponsive in the light winds on the day, contributing to her ineffective service in the combined fleet's cause. Her great size and position immediately ahead of the fleet flagship Bucentaure made her a target for the British fleet, and she came under concentrated attack by several ships. She lost her mast and eventually surrendered to the Neptune, a 98-gun second rate commanded by Captain Thomas Fremantle. She was taken in tow by the 98-gun second rate Prince,[4] but was eventually scuttled by her British captors northwest of Cádiz"
Lord Horatio Nelson.. One of the bravest men in history.
Can't argue with that!
One of how many?
Thefacelessman: So true.
No your imagining things
*man
men it's when there is several of them
Kings and Generals, you are a great Napoleonic Wars history teacher. Good Job
Went there last sunday.. it should be on everybody’s bucket list!!!!
I’m now fascinated with the whole subject..
This Trafalgar upload was epic but I just know your next video (Austerlitz) will be one of my favourite TH-cam videos!
We really hope that it will be. :-)
I was in my 20s when the Battle of Austerlitz took place, so... should've used a younger version of me as my image in the video. Nevertheless, this video is SPECTACULAR, and I look forward my "fabulous" appearance in your next video.
By the way, thanks for not mentioning my role in my father's assassination, for some even thought that I'm the mastermind behind the incident, though I took no part in it.
Keep up the GREAT WORK!
Thank you, Александр Павлович! :-)
Amazing video guys! Great pictures, graphics, and maps. I am a HUGE fan of these videos! I am donating to your channel because of this video and how much I enjoyed it. Keep up the great work!!!!
Thank you very much for your support! Hope, we won't disappoint you! :-)
Sometimes we forget how slow movement can be. The conditions that day was a light wind. The ships were maneuvering at a walking pace, literally. The ability of sailing ships to turn is dependent on the speed of the ship. While Villeneuve had a numerical superiority, Nelson achieve a modest numerical superiority at the point of contact. One third of the Allied fleet was sailing away from the battle. To engage the British, the Spanish fleet had to turn into the wind under light winds. This is an extremely difficult maneuver with these big lumbering ships. Worse, the Spanish crews were inexperienced. It took literally hours. By the time the Spanish made the turn, the battle was effectively over.
Yep. And the wind died down even further. The windward van got stalled and took some serious punishment, particularly the Victory, since Nelson lead from the front. The leeward van had already engaged the Allied fleet. However, ships of the line are pretty tough. A ship usually surrenders due to crew losses than the danger of the ship sinking.
While the wind is light, the British had the winds on their back. The Allied fleet never did. Also, the British were much better trained.
He wasn't killed by a cannon ball, but by a sharpshooter. If he didn't insist on wearing all his medals, be might have been less likely to be picked out among the crowd.
Of course, he his plan was extremely daring and I guess he needed to instill confidence in his crew.
I don't know how the Spanish sailor was, but I know in good ink that the Spanish commanders had much more experience in the naval war than the French, one of the great problems of the allies, since before this battle, was the continuous clash of doctrines, between French and Spanish, in Trafalgar it was no less.
No os olvidéis que el mando total era Villeneuve. Los mandos españoles no estaban de acuerdo con Villeneuve.
En esta batalla hubo un mal mando,y como todos sabéis, en una batalla se obedece la estrategia del Almirante,en este caso Villeneuve. Los mandos españoles sabían y se lo habían comunicado a Villeneuve ,que no era momento de salir del Puerto de Cádiz ,ni la estrategia era la correcta.
@@VITOLLFOTOGRAFIA You are right. The battle was lost by the Spanish on the political level as King Carlos IV submitted to Napoleon and accepted the unconditional lead by the French who had the worse track record in sea battles against the British. The Spanish flagship, built by an Irish naval engineer in the Havana shipyards was a technichal masterpiece at it's time, being the only four-decker in the battle. This ship was worn down by four British ships, including the Victory, only when two thirds of her manpower were either dead or wounded. Trafalgar under the command of admiral Gravina instead of Villeneuve could have produced a completely different outcome. Damn Bonaparte...
In Trafalgar, the best men of the Royal Navy fought against the best men of the Armada Real led by the worst man of France, Pierre Villeneuve
Thank you for putting together this polished video regarding the battle. I'm always on the lookout for more detail regarding my ancestor (yes, we did verify the direct link via geneological research). Seeing how you present the battle and the events leading up to it helps to put things into better context for me and is appreciated.
:) As I too am, for mine. Greetings from Australia. :)). And yes, we verified our line down from his brother, Robert, though it would seem not the brother who got the 100k pounds from the govt!! :(
Great video and fantastic victory of U.K.!! 👍👏
Greetings from Spain!!
Greetings from Canada, thanks for watching! :-)
No eres más tonto porque no te entrenas!
@@hoselui No tiene nada de malo mostrar respeto
🏴🤝🇪🇦
Nelson lost an eye, an arm and finally his life fighting French and Spanish... That was the price he had to pay...
Well, very similar to Blas de Lezo
@@albertogarciaprieto4637 almost 100 years earlier but de blasio might had been useful for colombia but it change nothing world wide
@@dennis771 did Nelson changed anything? Besides of been a great admiral he is only well-known because of British propaganda. On the other side Blas de Lezo who achieved a major victory is forgotten and in some cases reviled because here in Spain we only know how to forget our great admirals and generals
@@albertogarciaprieto4637 de Lezo battle is important to the people of Colombia, Panama & Venezuela. It didn’t stop the british American colonies or Jamaica or Caribbean holdings.
Trafalgar was a decisive battle that change the napoleon war which affected Europe for almost 130 years and made the royal navy master of the seas going forward.
However, I understand where you are coming from Alberto.
@@albertogarciaprieto4637 youbare delusional to think without trafalger napoleon won’t had invaded Britain and most likely changing the world forever.
I see your issue is not education but culture. You are probably educated but your culture is probably what’s holding you back from having common sense and being realistic instead of overthinking & overestimating and in some cases being a language imperialist
Thanks, that was the best moving of the battle i ve ever seen.
Admiral Collingwood was a great sailor & Hero too, his monument & some of the cannons from the Royal Sovereign are placed beneath it, near the mouth of the Tyne
Battle of Lepanto soon please. 😀
It will happen within our series on the Ottomans :-)
my ancestor fought that one
it will be interesting because i haven't seen a documentary of the battle of lepanto.
This channel will become bigger and bigger each month mark my words.
I really hope so, thank you for your support! :-)
R.I.P. Hoartio Nelson, one of the greatest heroes of Britain !
I mean, he was wounded multiple times, lost an eye, lost one arm and still was right there on the top deck. That is some remarkable spirit.
Kings and Generals Yup !
Denis Costiniuc Nelson mondialu maaaaai
Tovarasul Ceausescu XDDDDDD Da, asta este una bună =)))))
There is a fine line of being brave and stupid.
Giản dị, thật thà , điều mà anh chị đã làm được trong lòng tất cả mọi người. Thật sự tôn trọng và ngưỡng mộ 2 anh chị. 2 anh chị luôn giữ cái cảm xúc này luôn nhennnnn 💋💋❤️❤️❤️
It would be great to watch an animation about Cartagena de Indias battle in your channel :D
Great video!
A video of the Spanish Armada in 1588 would be much better.
@@daneelolivaw602 counterarmada 1589 better
@@daneelolivaw602 hahaha counter armada would be greater since in that battle we fight against you and not the weather.
@@daneelolivaw602 any of the four failed Spanish Armadas would be interesting
Great video, guys!
Thank you!
In the movie Master and Commander, the British sailors still think Admiral Nelson was alive and talked very fondly of him. Of course the educated viewer would have known that Nelson was dead already at Trafalgar and Capt Jack and his crew could not have heard about it. It was a nice narrative decision for the filmmakers.
That is nice.
No the film takes place in April 1805 which is 6 months before trafalgar Nelson is pretty much alive before then
@@inigobantok1579 true but I'm pretty sure the screenwriters mentioned the nelson stuff because of his death. which the crew did not know of. dates are not important in Hollywood films, so many examples.
@@Azzeyman25 The crew mentioned him because after the battle of the Nile he was already a national hero.
I think after ottoman and napoleon series you should cover 30 years war or the great northern war
Yes-yes, planned. :-)
POLTAVA
Arcralf NARVA
Both. :-)
Great northern War
I can't believe that such high quality documentaries were on youtube 5 years ago
By far the most immersive video on Trafalgar!
Thank you very much!
A wonderful video! But one suggestion - if the ships from the different sides had been different colors, it would have been easier to follow, on a visual level.
Thank you, noted! :-)
Clicked faster than german invasion of poland in ww2
You weren't there. :-)
clicked faster than soviet invasion of 3rd Reich. XD
Clicked faster than the german invasion of Denmark
Pretty sure he was there for at least some time in charge of Hitler's bodyguard sooo..
After 17 days Soviet invaded. That was ur blitzkrieg
What a blunder for the French and Spanish. They really had opportunities to counter the British. Can't wait for the next video for one of the greatest battles in history!
Thank you for watching! Indeed, the next video should be very interesting! :-)
they didnt. the british where better
French leadership, Spanish already defeated nelson in some battles in the past. Also Spain could not put in danger the whole fleet because they had possesion in America to protect
@@thedictationofallah You also had Gibraltar not too far from Trafalgar. That little piece of Spanish land saved your asses more than once lol
@@castellanos6436 It saved our dicks more than two times
Revising for my Life in the uk test and these videos are helping to add to my revision 🙏🏽
U get to learn about this crap, lucky.
Thanks for the subtitles!
Clearly portrayed background, rationale of battle, and maneuvering illuminates a pivotal sea battle. Bravo !
It's refreshing to know that back then- at least in the navy- the admirals were always in the vanguard and walked the decks like peacocks advertising their status. Compared with say, WWI where the generals were so far back, they didn't even understand the battle situations they'd put their men into.
Damn that Nelson was a brave fella. That maneuver...
The best narrative I have seen in history documentary
Thank you very much! Stop by Devin's channel and say "hi". :-)
I've watched this video at least a hundred times and I still cry everytime. Nelson had so much conviction. Our leaders could learn from him.
Beautiful. Loved every second
Great to hear! :-)
People keep talking about Villeneuve ignoring Napoleon's orders. Napoleon could order a Corps to 'X' and expect it to move out immediately. Ordering a fleet to move in defiance of wind and wave is ludicrous. They can't sail when the winds blow to the inland. They can't sail against the tides, regardless of the winds. Neither navy, French or Spanish, was seasoned, both having been locked up for years under blockade. Villeneuve had been dealt a poor hand and Napoleon kept telling him to go 'All in' without any consideration for his reliance on external factors to be favorable in order to perform a simple exit in the face of a blockade.
Brilliant...great description of a very titanic sea battle! Not until the battle of Midway over a century later would a sea battle have such huge implications for the course of history
Thank you!
Can't agree more!
Impressive, different battles throughout history are the most exciting things to look back on for me. I just discovered your chanel and I subbed immediately! Great work, I hope you get big and have your own show/magaznie someday. Well, that's probably not going to happen, cuz TV and paper are dying, but that's beside the point... Big thumbs up!
Thank you very much! Hopefully you will continue enjoying our content. :-)
Thank you much (belatedly) for this perspective and "autopsy" of such an important battle. I have learned much and salute your endeavours.
What's often forgotten about this battle is that the British crews were in a different league to the French and Spanish crews. They'd spent months at sea, drilling manoeuvres and batteries, while their enemy fleet was blockaded in port. They were firing at a rate their enemy couldn't match even at the best of times, and it wasn't the best of times for them.
A French sailor was claimed to have said of the British fleet; "The devil loaded their guns."
That's why Royal Sovereign, when duelling with both the Fougueux, and Santa Ana, inflicted 4 casualties for every casualty sustained.
I love these videos. You guys do such a great job!
Thank you very much! Really appreciate the comment :-)
I hope they eventually do some of Wellington's battles. Wellington's probably my favorite Napoleonic era general.
Yes! There will be at least 2 episodes on the Peninsular War.
Kings and Generals
Prime Minister Sir Aurthur Wellesly is supposed to be seen in Indian History too for his role in Mysore.
It is to be said that the crewmembers on board HMS Victory stored Nelsons body in a barrel of wine. I was lucky enough to go on board Victory in Portsmouth and stood where Nelson was hit. It was a wonderful experience.
Damn, what a great channel!!! I am really glad I stumbled upon this!
Seem here, we are happy, you have found us. :-) Now, tell your friends, please! :-)
Sure thing, your presentation of the content is by far my favourite in a while, keep it up! (However, I do like numerical data a lot, maybe an interesting feature to add to the visuals, not a necessity though.)
Thanks for the feedback, will think about a way to implement it!
Kings and Generals No problem and thank you!!
Si se leen los libros de historia la cosa es un poco mas complicada. A parte que la virada de Villeneuve perjudicaba la punteria de los cañones, pues la marejada que habia impedia disparar con precision, dejaba claro a la flota que no queria entablar combate.
Villeneuve no formo dos lineas de batalla sino una sola, pero mal formada debido a la falta de tripulacion experimentada.
Una regla del combate naval decia que nunca se debia realizar una virada con el enemigo a la vista, cosa que Villeneuve olvido, al parecer.
El almirante Gravina solicito actuar de forma independiente, para cortar los barcos de Collingwood, pero Villeneuve lo denego.
Al Santisma Trinidad le rodearon 7 navios ingleses, pero aun asi sotuvo el combate durante horas, cosa que el video no cuenta y solo un barco ya lo deja fuera de juego, como si el navio español de cuatro puentes fuera inoperante.
Por ultimo recordar que el numero de cañones de navio de linea no importaba, lo importante es el numero de puentes. A mas puentes, mas altura, a mas altura mas efectividad de los cañones de la bateria superior.
Siempre me hace gracia el menosprecio a la flota española por parte de las fuentes anglosajonas cuando recordemos que los franceses no tenian navios de tres puentes, mientras que España tenia 7 en Trafalgar, mientras que los Britanicos tenian 9.
Recordar ademas que en los libros de historia no se suelen consultar los cuadernos de bitacora de los buques españoles, cosa graciosa cuando se busca la imparcialidad en los juicios historicos.
Muchas Gracias.
Nelson Iq was definitely 160+. He was a genius
AUSTERLITZ INCOMING!! That’s all I’ve ever wanted to hear. Please give it lots of detail, the Emperor deserves no less coverage! Viva la France!
+DCDevTanelorn will do! Glad that you are excited! :-)
It should be a great video
It should be. :-)
Yes, England surrendered as early as 1066, lol
The biggest factor in British naval superiority was its disciplined, professional officers and crew, its frequent gunnery pracitce. French naval captains were likely to be aristocrats plucked untrained from drawing rooms, while British officers, no matter how high-born, all went through apprenticeships as midshipmen. They were QUALIFIED for their roles; they'd run up the rigging, and knew how the ship worked. NO contest!
The most important factor of British naval superiority after of 1713 (and before!), is above all the ISLAND. The British could invest in the fleet (Royal Navy!) and have a small infantry army. Spain and France had to share the budget (infantry and naval). That is why the British were systematically defeated when they got off the ships. Nelson, for example, lost 3 times against Spain, in Cádiz, Central America and Tenerife, where he lost his arm and was captured. After Trafalgar 1805, Spain defeats the redcoats in Argentina and Uruguay 1806-07, capturing the British generals.
@@Gloriaimperial1and yet we still helped your colonys free themselves held onto gibralter and then won you your inderpendance from france with Portugal you can make an argument for Spanish superiority when we still to this day own the southern tip of your country
@@danielsmith9476 Gibraltar is a very complex and politically inherited situation.
Spanish world expansion began 200 years before the English one, and our power ended, logically, earlier. Now we are in a time of British decline, which we began in the 19th century, and stabilization, so that each decade Spain is getting closer to the British and French in economy, industry, science and military power. In 1782, the year of the last war for Gibraltar, Spain easily defeated the British in Florida, Louisiana, the Bahamas, Central America and Menorca, in addition to Spain's naval blockade in England, with the capture of two fleets of 24 and 55 ships. , which sank the London stock market. But Gibraltar was an impregnable rock, like Cartagena de Indias, Colombia, where the Royal Navy suffered the biggest defeat in its history, in 1741. Spain had a plan to invade Australia with 100 frigates, in 1788. It was easier to invade Australia, than invade Gibraltar. But the French revolutionary era arrived, and Spain had complex wars from 1792 to 1831, without rest: war against revolutionary France, war against England and Portugal, invasion of 300,000 soldiers by Napoleon, war of independence of Spanish America, civil war (liberal-absolutist ), first Carlist war. That was devastating for Spain. The UK was an island, and that is why it avoided Napoleon's invasion, and the infiltration of revolutionary agents, which did destroy half of Europe. This coincides with the British expansion as the first imperial power after 1815, when Europe was destroyed, but not the islands.
The war against Napoleon alone sank the Spanish economy by 80%, with half a million dead, destruction of industry, the fleet in port, livestock, agriculture, and roads. 2 million emigrants to America... That makes it impossible to recover Gibraltar.
Spain also has an enclave within France, Lliria, and we have Olivenza, which belonged to Portugal until 1801, and those countries are not going to declare war on us, because there are treaties and peace between us. Spain has 2 cities in North Africa, and a war with the UK (impossible in the context of the European Union and NATO against a partner like the UK) would provoke a war with Morocco over Ceuta and Melilla, at the same time. We cannot fight two wars at the same time. Spain is like a giant aircraft carrier that would immediately absorb Gibraltar, but it would be an aggression condemned by all democracies. Furthermore, the dictatorships of the 1930s and 1940s, such as Germany, Japan, Italy and Spain, were penalized for arming themselves with nuclear bombs by the international community.
We can remove the clause that forces the UK to return the rock to Spain (Treaty of Utrecht) if Gibraltar wants to become independent from the UK. 99% of Gibraltarians want to belong to the European Union, and tax havens, which steal money from the social services of other countries, are going to be increasingly persecuted.
But it is a difficult situation to resolve now.
Thank you so much for uploading this video. It is helping me get through the pandemic!
Trafalgar and Austerlitz in the same year, in just about one month..
That's too much excitement to handle for people living in 1805
Straight to the point! Thanks, next time different colours for the ships please!
Thank you for this interesting video!! I hope you will do more of the sea battles, because I'm more of the ''sea guy''
Thanks for watching! :-) That is a rarity, most prefer land battles :-)
Kings and Generals Oh! Do Japanese Joseon campaigns! Both land and sea battles!!!
Will think about it. :-)
I'm literally only here due to my interest in our maritime history and our heroes, in these wars alone we were blessed with characters such as, Pellew, Collingwood, Cochrane and of course Nelson, (I think I missed a few). It's a shame that many non-Brits are unaware of most of them... :(
But I'm glad I stumbled on this video, it's a good channel and I do have an interest in all aspects of our history as well. :)
+Thoroughly Bemused we are happy that you have found us. :-)
Great video, well-summed up.
However, Villeneuve had actually set up this double-line in order to counter the british tactic of cutting the enemy line in half, as they had already done that on several occasions against both the french and the spanish. However, the lack of coordination between the two fleets led to mass confusion, allowing the better-trained british to crush them.
Now, it is commonly believed that Trafalgar saved the British Isles from a french invasion. While it is a great british victory and decisively confirmed their naval superiority, it didn't considerably changed the strategical naval overview. They were the superior navy, and Trafalgar confirmed that more than anything. Also the main part of the french army was somewhere in actual germany, having just defeated an important austrian army in the battle of Ulm for very few french casualties.
*I have a french bias, btw*.
Good point. :-) I also have a French bias - I am a big Napoleon fanboy. :-)
You are correct that Villeneuve's attempt to get into formation failed. Probably should have stayed back.
Regarding the naval overview, you are, once again correct. However, I believe that this loss forced Napoleon to be more radical about his Continental Blockade and that created a broader alliance against him.
It must not be forgotten that England was an island. That is a decisive advantage. Napoleon defeated two empires at Austerlich a month later, and Spain defeated the British Redcoats in Argentina and Uruguay in 1806, capturing General Beresford. Spain and France needed to budget for large armies of infantry and the protection of the Spanish empire. The British, with their low-investment trading empire, could invest heavily in the fleet. But when they got off the boats... they lost systematically.
@@Gloriaimperial1 I’m assuming you’re Spanish, and I’m certain you’re familiar with the Peninsular War, so I’m quite confused about your assertion of the British Army losing ‘systematically’
@@charliereader3462 The British expeditionary army in the Iberian Peninsula had between 35,000-70,000 soldiers. That is between 6 and 7 times fewer troops than the French army, the best army in the world at that time (Napoleon being the best strategist and general in history). 300,000 soldiers. It is impossible for the British army to beat the French on the peninsula in a direct war. To win that war, 4 factors were necessary: that Spain had 500,000 soldiers and guerrillas at war, at all times and throughout the territory, fighting. That Wellington made some sporadic offensives (in coordination with Spain and Portugal, leaving Portugal, and calculating that the French did not have a large concentration of troops). That Napoleon went to Russia with the best part of the French army. And that the empires of Austria and Prussia rebelled in the rear, after the trip to Russia.
The British had the best fleet in the 18th century. But on land, and when they got off the ships, they were systematically defeated by the Spanish in America. Cartagena de Indias 1741 (greatest defeat of the Royal Navy in its history, with 50 ships lost). Defeats in Louisiana, Florida, Bahamas, Central America and Menorca, between 1779-82. 3 defeats for Nelson, in 1797 (Cádiz, Central America and Tenerife, where he lost an arm and was taken prisoner). Another defeat of the British landing fleet, in Puerto Rico, that year. British defeat in Argentina and Uruguay 1806-1807... We can talk about countless British defeats in the 16th-17th centuries. There are also Spanish defeats. But I am exposing how difficult it is to attack a land fortress. It's 300 years of war, the British capture 1 in 400 parts of the Spanish empire, after more than 100 attacks. Spain also had great difficulty invading England during our naval hegemony. We sent 10 invasion fleets to the British Isles in 4 centuries. The Royal Navy only appears twice. But storms prevent most invasions. Although 4 Spanish invasions were successful. Plus two special operations.
@@Gloriaimperial1 ah, I think I’m right in saying you are referring specifically to amphibious assaults instead of expeditionary forces (ie Wellington) in which case I apologise for my misunderstanding, I thought you were referring to the performance and ability of the British Army of the period in general
God damn am in love with your channel. I like the diversity of the history battles that you cover.
Thank you, my friend, that is great to hear! :-)
Kings and Generals. Bless you man! although your narration was clear and crisp but the total wars soundtrack was abit loud to be easily distracted. I would like if you lower down the music volume alitttleee abit. Thanks! :)
Will look into it :-) There are two of us, and that is the thing we often fight about. :-)
Kings and Generals. hahahha, well thats my opinion as a third person viewer. I rewinded the video multiple times to listen properly what you were saying. But whatever you think works best for most of the people and you both
+Ali thanks for understanding! :-)
This shows that training , superior seamanship , funding , naval infrastructure ans supply system and most imortantly leadership counts most to win a decisive victory.
Lord Nel, probably Britain's greatest hero. A flawed genius, like so many of them. Fortunately for freedom (such as it was back then) he'd done his best and smashed greater odds. RIP ❤
Villeneuve committed suicide a few months after this defeat.
To be fair he was in a difficult position. The attack was a total surprise for him. Also the french navy was in really poor shape after the french revolution, the navy was a royalist bastion (to this day the French navy still has the nickname "la Royale"), most officers were aristocrats and many of them fleed France during the Revolution, most sailors were from very royalists parts of France like Vendée or Bretagne which suffered crippling demographic blows during their various royalist insurrections. So the French fleet at Trafalgar wasn't an organized squadron but a gathering of what was left, thus the men and officers weren't trained to fight together. Add to this the fact that a huge part of the fleet was Spanish, making communications even more difficult and you have all the ingredients for a defeat.
That is a good comment.
Good videos attract good comments I guess.
Thanks for the praise.
The greatest problem the French faced was languishing in port under RN blockade. While the RN was keeping station on a lee shore on the west coast and doing gun drills almost daily the French were probably in the pub or with a mistress! The British fired at a much higher rate which was a force multiplier of great value. The French also tended to try to fire at the masts to dismantle the enemy so they could board whereas the British fired at the hull to smash the enemy gun decks. All of these differences counted in their own way. But British tars’ toughness and seamanship for long periods at sea was what made the greatest difference.
He was found with 6 stab wounds in his chest. I very much doubt it was suicide.
After Napoleon's catastrophic loss at Trafalgar, he censored any mention of it. Many in the First French Empire didn't even hear about the battle until 1814, according to historian Andrew Roberts.
Abhinav Tiku
So did the British censor Cartagena de indias,but I mean history is like that,humiliating defeats are censured.
@@su_morenito_1948
Get over it, sad man, this is about Trafalgar.
Now this is getting extremely ecxciting ;-; ! More of it plzzzzz
In 2 weeks :-)
Big Fan of your work. Keep it up.
Thanks, we will!
again a epic video!!!
Thank you! :-)
Battle of The Three Emperors next? :D (Austerlitz)
Yes, in 2 weeks. :-)
How did ships communicate with each other. It's not like you can simply send a messenger across the sea
very enjoyable.... although you missed out HMS Africa
This playlist is going to blow up now that a Napoleon movie is coming out!!
I'm enjoying this series. I look forward seeing you again at the Pratzen heights. ;)
+IVB ARPG thanks! :-) hopefully, on the same side. :-)
9:58 Impressive, as Trinidad was the most powerful warship in the world at the time.
The truth is Santísima Trinidad fought against several english vessels at the same time. Some chronicles say against 7 english vessels. You know, the English always write the history in its own way. And is also truth, Santisima Trinidad was a galleon which suffers big problems of stability and in Trafalgar battle his crew was untrained, the english had better timing of fire.
@Robert Cawley English had better gunnery but not as much as legend says. They fount in Trafalgar a bad retreating fleet, a horrible French commander and an unexperienced crew. Saying Blas de Lezo, "el glorioso", the battle of tenerife... Bigger british fleet were destroyed. maybe with a Spanish general and a " Normal crew" The result of the battle would be different, who knows. Nelson T tactic has weak points.
@Robert Cawley jajaja much more french soldiers die in guerrillas fights than in the battle. You helped your interest, and in some way the Portuguese and also the Spanish. Dont forget when battle turned against, you always decide to scape, like you did in Coruña. But the English werent the liberators of nothing, you helped sending troops, guns and money, but were the spanish and the portuguese who liberate themselves. The "english lies about history" Confront what we know about our own history
Our countryes are allies and we are talking like if they were enemies 😂😂😂
@Robert Cawley 😂😂😂 not at all try to belittle your history, just saying you wrote the history by your point of view. Its said, history is written by the victors, and GB is the most victorius in history.
I am French and Dutch. I am a big fan of your channel and I hope you receive more subscribers in the future. I wish France and Spain won the battle. It would be even better if they took over England. But, I'm not complaining. It is just history.
Thank you very much!
Geckoman2018 Yeah,Ok mate
Just you go on and be under the Yolk of the EU.
Good Luck with that.
Only a handful of men in history die knowing he secured his country's future.
There is no greater honour.
The Napoleon Total War OST in the background is an absolutely epic touch
Ah nelson! True British hero you shall forever remain in glory. I wonder what he would say if he saw what England was like now I doubt he would of even given his life
I would say that the English need to be proud of their heritage and remember my legacy! All Europeans need to fight back against the destruction of their cultures!
@@horationelson8173 :|