If you're curious, HistoryMarche (who collabed with EHTV on this series) released a video detailing why Napoleon failed at Waterloo. Talks about all the spies, the exact troop movements, diversions, etc.
Yeah that video is great and really explains it all in more detail. He should probably watch that video if he wants a more detailed understanding of it all.
@@Tdog2354 I can totally see why you like Murat.. him and I share the same first name😁 but the swedish version ofcourse. Yes, with Lannes leading the vanguard for the later campaigns.. things could've been very different. Although I feel like there was never a way for France to achieve total victory, I have a feeling that Napoleon would've continued like he did, starting new conflicts over and over again until it all became unbearable but who knows. Maybe with more of his closest friends still with him.. maybe they could have kept him better in check.
@@Tdog2354 Murat is my favourite since I had the chance to meet his descendant at a ceremony, who is also called Joachim. He is also a great nephew of Napoleon, as Murat was married to his younger sister Caroline. The man told the story of his ancestor so well and so passionately that I quickly began to study this period.
Andrew Roberts, in his book Napoleon the Great, says this about the campaign: "In war" he (Napoleon) told one of his captors the following year, "the game is always with him who commits the fewest faults". In the Waterloo campaign that was Wellington, who had made a study of Napoleon's tactics and career, was rigorous in his deployments, and was everywhere on the battlefield. Napoleon, Soult and Ney, by contrast, fought one of the worst commanded battles of the Napoleonic Wars. The best battlefield soldier Napoleon had fought before Waterloo had been Archduke Charles, and he was simply not prepared for a master tactician of Wellington's calibre - one, moreover, who had never lost a battle. Page 757
Let me be the one who says here that there just aren't enough words of gratitude for you on behalf of all of us who didn't find History so interesting in places like High School or even University, and yet these videos and your comments on them keep us at the edge of our seats. Myself, I already started developing an interest when I was 17, but 11 years later you still remind me why History is so captivating and fascinating, not to say educational or an expert in raising awareness of our present day and its roots. It's not just that you can analyse the facts, but the psychology of the involved ones in it with almost at first sight. Greetings from Spain, Chris. I really wish each and every one of your trips to Europe leaves you as mesmerised as your videos do to us.
In high school, we were all given yearly diaries (called the logbooks), in which to record homework, deadlines, etc. The diaries always had a map of the world, the periodic table, and some other stuff like unit conversions and cyber safety tips. In 2014, the diaries contained maps and figures of the 1st world war to celebrate the centenary, and in 2015 the diary had a few pages dedicated to the battle of Waterloo. I think, despite living in England, those 3 or 4 pages were the most I ever learned in school about the Napoleonic wars. Thank you for introducing me to this series.
Thank you for this week of incredible Napoleonic wars reactions, it helped me through rough times, i just want to say that there is still epic history tv's Napoleon in Italy and also the battle of Toulon both in his early carrier, hope u check them after your trip to Europe, in fact epic history tv will release part 2 of Napoleon in Italy either this week or the next one.
I had a 6th great grandfather who fought in the French and Indian War, enlisting only one year after emigrating from England to Massachusetts. He was given a land grant in New Brunswick for his service, so he ended up becoming Canadian. He had 11 boys and 1 girl, and the family story I found when researching was that two of the sons fought in the War of 1812 and then at least one later fought at Waterloo, but I haven’t yet been able to prove that. I will keep digging!
This video still has a special place in my heart. It is probably the first video i have seen from Epic History tv and it is the video i used as an introduction to the battle at the evening before i gave my parent and girlfriend a tour on the battlefield many years ago
The problem with countering people who overblow events like Gettysburg and Waterloo is that sometimes we go too far with it. We don't know what would have happened if Lee had won at Gettysburg, and we don't know what would have happened if Napoleon won at Waterloo. Saying that a definite continuation of the conflicts was inevitable is nice, but ultimately, we don't know which is why those events get all of the publicity. What we do know is that Lee never went back into the North after Gettysburg And that Napoleon never had power again after Waterloo. They may not have been the definitive points in the conflicts that we think of them to be but to disregard them as not important takes away from the historical fact that people believe they were important and that's why they are remembered today.
I think with Waterloo when people say ‘Napoleon would’ve been beaten in the end anyway’ are missing the point. Yes, he likely would’ve eventually been defeated by the Austrian and Russian armies closing in on France. But the fact is that he was beaten at Waterloo, and it was his final defeat, that’s what makes it significant and important. It was the battle that ended an era, you have Europe before Waterloo and Europe after Waterloo
I can't really understand how people can minimize Waterloo so much. He already showed he could take on those armies previously, had the population back on his side, if he won the war would of dragged on several more years. He was beaten so completely no further battles were needed it was astounding.
Hey Chris, Just wanted to check in as I’ve been pretty ill over Christmas/New Year period, to the point where it’s put a real dampener on it for me. I’m a long time subscriber of yours, with a real interest in 20th century history, but with an appetite to learn more about great figures like Napoleon. I’ve found this series, and your contributions to it, absolutely fascinating. You’ve really cheered me up with your content over a pretty bad few weeks & I’ve throughly looked forward to, & enjoyed these videos. I shall definitely be checking out the 1970 Napoleon movie tonight, & you’ve also gained yourself a new Patreon. Keep up the great work & if you’re ever in Northern England it’d be great to meet up for a beer!
Another channel I recommend to you is the “the operation room” you mentioned Bastogne. The operation room made a 8 part series on the battle of the bulge in how the did the ally’s get caught off guard and a famous of how the 101st said they didn’t need saving from patton
Oh man, the last photos brought me close to tears. I wish I could interview the people, I would love to hear what happened from their mouths. What these eyes have seen, unimaginable for many people today.
Fun fact: King George III Prince Elector, later King of Hanover never visited the Kingdom of Hanover during his 60 year reign. Since he was diagnosed with dementia prior to Hanover being elevated to the status of Kingdom, it is unlikely that he even understood that he had gained an additional kingship.
To add to your point about Napoleonic bring from Corsica and mustache man from Austria, Stalin was from Georgia. So I’ve always found it interesting how the Austrian born Leader of Germany and the Georgian born leader of Russia would be bitter rivals in WW2
The Revolutionary/Napoleonic wars has always been my favorite subject of military history. I played a miniatures based Avalon Hill game years ago called Napoleons Battles that was awesome. I've seen the 1970 movie Waterloo offered on TH-cam and highly recommend it, if only for the massed cavalry scenes. They only had practical effects so all of the armies are human extras. The makers were fortunate in that the Soviet Union was basically co-producer so offered their own soldiers to provide free labor and were also one of the few armies in the world that still had actual cavalry brigades with trained cavalry troops. The battle scenes were filmed in present day Ukraine.
As usual great content ! Believe it or not, the Battle of Waterloo, bicycles, and Frankenstein by Shelley are all connected. Mount Tambora in present day Indonesia erupted on April 5th, 1815. It was the worst volcanic eruption in written history. Check it out. One of the results of the eruption was that Europe experienced a great deal of rain that spring. Yes, the rain that preceded Waterloo and made the ground too muddy for Napoleon's cannon and cavalry. It also cooled the earth so that fodder grains didn't grow, which required horses to be euthanized. That inspired a German in 1816 to invent a bicycle (without pedals), much like the strider bikes beginners use, because it was faster than walking.. It was also this rainy weather that forced Mary Shelley, Lord Byron, etal to shelter from the cold rainy weather. They challenged each other to write a scary story. I would also recommend "Wellington: The Years of the Sword" by Elizabeth Longford. This is one of twenty or so history books that everyone should own. I've read it at least 3-4 times. Makes a great present for yourself or the historian in your family. Save journeys !
I have a friend who grew up on St Helena and I can’t imagine growing up in a small town thousands of miles from anywhere else with very few ways to get off the island.
Love this series and your reaction and commentary simply makes it even more enjoyable. I know I'm probably not the only to suggest this, but the Napoleon's Marshals series definitely needs to be the follow up to this
A interesting sidenote of the battle of waterloo is the fighting of the Prussian Rearguard. Because the idea to elude him using the rearguard was intentional, and the prussian Rearguard fought Fiercely, with Elite Jägers standing their ground. I was at Waterloo and they talked about that fight aswell, and whilst its obviously more of a sideskirmish, it's a interesting dilemma for the French marshal. Disengage against elite Prussian troops and risk a rout or stand and fight, but be unable to support Napoleon. This was all thought of, by Johann Von Thielmann a saxon cavalry general. He also recognised way before the Battle of Wavre, that it was a pretty weak detachment. In terms of casualties it was a stalemate, but obviously it locked down troops that Napoleon couldnt afford to not have access to.
The other man with the mustache was also born elsewhere - although it's in the same cathegory, as Napoleon, being technically in the same country: born in Georgia (then part of the Russian Empire), leading the USSR, conquering Eastern and Central Europe.
An interesting fact, a recent study discovered that in the years after the batlle many of the soldiers where duge up. This was nog to give them a normal burial but they where grinded down in to bone meal and used in the local sugar industry. It was needed to purify sugar beets in to edible sugar. The local farmers also used it to fertilize fields.
It’s fascinating how blücher avoided capture as well, it’s written in personal accounts of the battle that his aide, immediately covered him up so non of his medals and ribbons would be visible
Epic History does a good job but there are some key things that they summarized quite brutally. The noon French attack was important because it nearly broke Wellington's left - it was quite dicey - and had the British cavalry not moved in, it was conceivable that Napoleon could have gotten onto the ridge and turned the flank before the Prussian's arrival. Ney's cavalry attack was in fact a long drawn out series of cavalry attacks in the afternoon, which apparently Napoleon didn't think much of; Napoleon thought highly of Ney's courage but not necessarily his tactical abilities. Napoleon also didn't commit his Imperial Guard until when he felt it was the last opportunity for him to try for a victory. Had Wellington not reacted quickly to the advance by concentrating his forces to take the attack, the Imperial Guard's march up the slope could have taken the casualties and driven home. Like Wellington said, it was a close-run thing.
Yep, its 'Braunschweig' in german and good pronounciation too. Funfact: in the regional 'dialect' (we are in a region with one of the most high german sounding german) the 'g' at the end is more softly pronounced as 'ch'. Greetings from Brunswick. Keep up the great work:)
Yeah, I've recently been thinking about how we actually talk in Northern Germany, compared to the actual "Standard German" way. Supposedly urban regions in the North have no real dialect, but we really mangle the language in very interesting way. (One of my favorite words has become "richtig", which we speak as two perfectly rhyming syllables.) Grüße aus Hammuich, wie die Hamburger sagen würden.
I say "ör" instead of "ir" in some words like 'körche' instead of 'kirche' (church), But this and the soft g at the end of words is kind of everything i have as a dialect:D
I have no idea why but I just can’t get enough of Napoleon right now. I’ve always gone through phases of liking history and Napoleon was never an interest, but now I can’t get enough of it. I have watched the Epic History series on him like 5 times in the same amount of weeks. Just got Napoleon Total War back too.
Thanks for the excellent reaction video. I highly recommend the video Wellington’s Victory at Waterloo by RUSI. It’s more focused about how the battle affected him for the rest of his life. Clear signs of PTSD.
Hey man I gotta say I love your content. Over the past three weeks you popped up with OverSimplified and Sam O’Nella and I love the additional content. May I also suggest channels that do historical movie reviews like History Buffs?
There are multiple factors that explain why Napoleon's return from exile was so "successful", but here are a few -Louis XVIII hadn't stepped foot in France since 1791 (he managed to flee when his brother Louis XVI got caught at Varennes), and a lot of people didn't really know him or like him, since he'd been brought back by France's ennemies and supported by "émigrés", nobles who'd fled the country, considered traitors. -The Restoration government had the unpopular tax of bearing the burden of both the postwar reconstruction and paying for the Allied occupation, while refusing either to borrow money or to raise taxes on large land estates held by nobles and royalist bourgeoisie. So they raised taxes and contributions on artisans and peasants - always a great way to make friends. -The king made a number of military reforms in the direction of austerity, like sacking many soldiers and leaving some officers on half a salary. Many military men had trouble returning to civilian life after over a decade or two of fighting glorious battles. Discontent in the army (also a great idea for a fledgeling regime) also grew when the king created a Royal Guard made up of inexperienced nobles. -The imperial elites had trouble integrating with the returning old French nobility, despite Louis XVIII's effort to merge the two in his Charter. They felt looked down on by aristocrats, when they'd earned their positions (mostly) through merit. That said, Napoleon's Hundred Days regime was on shaky ground. The merchants and the business class didn't want him back (because his wars had harmed French foreign trade), key members of the government didn't have any faith and openly plotted against him (namely Talleyrand and Fouché, his minister of police), and royalist uprisings in the Vendée and Brittany happened almost immediately, which meant he had to send thousands/tens of thousands of soldiers into the west to put those down. His concessions to liberal members of Parliament were not taken seriously, and he had little support overall.
Interesting that Napoleon didn't commit the Old Guard, but the middle one. He wanted a reserve after the battle. And it's possible that their mere presence allowed France to keep her pre-war borders.
If you want a deep dive into Waterloo, then you should read Christopher Bassford (Editor): "On Waterloo: Clausewitz, Wellington, and the Campaign of 1815". It contains Wellingtons official report on the battle, an analysis written by Clausewitz (the author of "On War", and chief of staff to Prussias 3rd corps during the campaign), and finally Wellingtons response to this analysis.
4:41 note how the spanish flag has alreafy changed to its mothern colors, rather than the Bourbon flags or the Cross of burgundy. The flag was chosen to be easily seen at sea, and was introduced in the Navy ant the en of the 18th century, but would later become more popular
Worth noting that blucher was trapped beneath his horse for several hours following the prussian defeat at ligny and so had to catch up to retake command. General von gneisenau was in the process of having the army fall back to the north east, closer to their supply base before blucher countermanded the order and had them keep closer to wellingtons army. Had he not escaped, the prussians might not have been available for support and wellington likely wouldnt have given battle at waterloo.
Marshal’s ranked by me in descending order. Davout, Suchet, Ney, Lannes, Soult. Weighting used in descending order: good decisions under overwhelming odds, respect commanded and loved by his troops, tactical genius, political savvy as commander of occupying force. If administrative/logistic genius is accounted for, Bethier is #1 followed closely by Davout.
Love the videos, watching from Wales in the United Kingdom! Enjoying the videos from this era of history history! Would you please do one on the battle of trafalgar as I love naval battles too! 🙏🏻
@@VloggingThroughHistory As a Brit it really made me proud visiting it, and I’m sure you’ll enjoy too! Thanks for the reply, and I look forward to some more brilliant content!
@@bifferstaff21 where are you in Wales? My wife’s maiden name is Watkins and her family comes from Blaina. My Croft family were just over the mountain from them in Ebbw Vale.
@@VloggingThroughHistory I’m originally from the South East of England but I live near Bridgend now in South Wales, Blaina is about 20 minutes away and Ebbw Vale about half an hour! If you ever get the chance to come down, there’s some great places to visit, the old coal mines are some of the deepest and famous in the world and supplied 75% of the coal used by the Royal Navy and the empire at its heyday, and the old Roman fort at Caerleon is arguably the best in the UK.
Just found you yesterday. Very much enjoying your vlog. Remind me if watching the history channel with my late husband, good part is that you can pause the program to react. ☺
Also, kinda sad fun fact: At Waterloo, the Irish Inniskillings and the Germans of the KGL were standing side by side against the French. Almost exactly 100 years later, they were brutally fighting against and killing each other at Passchendaele in the Great War.
Great video, as usual. Bernard Cornwall Sharpe's series has a great novel about Waterloo, with a captain's eye view of the battle. Remember, the line always beats the column!
if they ever did a modern napoleon movie i feel like they should use him that played him in night at the museum i feel like he did a great jop at playing the little corporal
Watching all these videos makes to get a better perspective of things Waterloo is British propaganda as its best. There were dozens of battle before. But what is the one most remember with Austerlitz? Waterloo. Actually most people don´t even know the battle of the nations which is much more important than this one. Thanks on the reaction
Hi, Chris, I'm really sorry that these have finished. I'll mention again Why did Napoleon really fail at Waterloo by Our History. It looks in detail at the topography of the battlefield, the effect the conditions had on the weapons and looks at Ney's state of mind. It is really interesting. I have voted in the poll and being a Useful Charts fan I have cast my vote accordingly unfortunately it doesn't look like they will win. Still I'm sure whatever wins will be good.
Fun fact about Wellington: he wasn’t particularly liked by Daniel O Connell, a famous Irish politician and patriot, who once remarked: *”The poor old duke… what shall I say of him. To be sure he was born in Ireland, but being born in a stable does not make a man a horse.”*
At 7:59. I don't think it was the weather that defeated Napoleon at Waterloo. Is that he didn't have his best marshals with him at this battle. Marshal Davout he made Minister of War and kept him in Paris--big mistake. An even bigger mistake--not having Marshal Berthier, Napoleon's chief of staff, at Waterloo. Berthier was the organizational genius behind Napoleon's incredible speed and dexterity on the battlefields. This was the only major battle since Lodi that Berthier was not a part of. And it showed--Napoleon's forces were more disorganized than usual at Waterloo.
@@abdihassan7208 Look up ABBA Waterloo song, they're probably the most famous band in Europe and made it a household name. People began asking themselves what's waterloo and it made history more popular.
One aspect of the French Revelolution and the Napoleonic wars is the Haitian Revolution. It is a fascinating that doesn't get enough attention. Alongside Russia and Iberia, Napoleon horrendously mishandled the situation. I don't recall many youtube videos covering the event; I think History with Hilbert has a video about the Polish population living in Haiti that sprung up after the revolution. Also, Epic History TV has a series on Belisarius that is really good. I think Belisarius belongs to the conversation about greatest generals; he wasn't as charasmatic as Julius Caesar or Napoleon, but his military victories were incredible given the situation. There is also a metal album dedicated to him called, "Let there be Nothing"; if you like Sabaton, you might like this. Greetings from a Michigander living in Germany :)
There's a French film you might be interested in called Le Souper (the Supper), which imagines a conversation over supper between Talleyrand and Fouché in the wake of Napoléon's defeat at Waterloo, in which the two men lay out the political future of France and discuss the revolution.
Reminds me of a cool anecdote about Wellington at a ball in Vienna, where a group of French officers turn their back on him in a sign of disrespect. Apon the apology of one of the women present, he replied "Tis of no matter, your Highness, I have seen their backs before."
06:25 One problem Wellington had was that the local populace weren't as inclined to provide intel as they were in Spain, so he first thinks that the attack at Charleroi was a diversion so Napoleon could cut-off his lines of communication by coming in through Mons. 12:00 At 10 o'clock Napoleon sends a communique to Grouchy: 'His majesty desires that you direct your movements on Wavre in order to draw near to us, place yourself in touch with our operations, and link up your communications with us, driving before you those portions of the Prussian army that have taken this direction and may have stopped at Wavre, where you should arrive as soon as possible. You will follow the enemy's column on your right, using some light troops to observe their movements and gather up their stragglers.' Looking at a map of the terrain between Charleroi and Brussels, can you see the fundamental flaw in these orders. 13:40 But it's his brother, Jerome, who's in command of the assault and, desperate to earn Napoleon's respect, decides to actually try and seize Hougoumont. 17:00 Another thorn in Wellington's side is the heir to the Dutch throne, Slender Billy, who's rank is granted without merit to keep the Dutch monarchy on side and has been ordering his men into line at the most inappropriate moments.
Two huge omissions in the narrative. First, absolutely no mention of Napoleon leaving the battle field due to illness later in the afternoon for a period of time, leaving Ney in overall command and the resulting mistake of the unsupported French cavalry assault against the formed British squares. And second, against what was considered common practice at the time and strongly pushed by his subordinates, Grouchy's refusal to "march to the sound of the guns" at Waterloo, instead continuing to search for Blucher's missing army many kilometers away. By marching to the sound of the battle, Grouchy would likely arrived prior to or around the same time as the Prussians, counterbalancing the effect of their sudden appearance and giving Napoleon a chance to salvage a victory, even if a very costly one.
Napoleon marshals is a interesting topic. Cause people focus on Napoleon decision to invade Russia and Spain and continental system as his reason for downfall. Granted it is true But Napoleon marshals is interesting cause it talks about how things went wrong due to the marshals. Napoleon made mistakes but his marshals has also left a lot what ifs
Wellington was actually not up to Napoleon's skill in strategy. In his own words; "Either the night or the Prussians must come". He was getting beat by Napoleon
Fact he was losing doesn't mean his strategy wasn't up to par. His force was more diverse and had many inexperienced soldiers while all the French were veterans. He also had 100 fewer cannons.
While I do agree that Waterloo was over-credited, I do think that, had Napoleon won, he may have actually won the war. You see, French armies of other fronts, such as Marshal Suchet's, had fended of other armies. Both the Spanish and Austrians were defeated on their borders with France. Murat had just joined Napoleon, proclaiming a war for Italian independence. I think that, had Napoleon won at Waterloo, defeating two of the coalitions best commanders in the process, he would have been able to come to some kind of beneficial agreement to France. What's more, previous French client states, such as Switzerland and northern Italy, now back under Austrian oppression, would have revolted, or at least would have had lots of support for him.
At the end of the Napoleonic wars, the Netherlands offered some land close to Waterloo to Wellington. Secondly the country would pay a generous sum every year to thank the Duke for his role in the defense of the Netherlands. After the Belgians gained independence, Belgium had to take over this yearly 'debt' to the Duke and his family. Appearently Wellington's decendants still hold the land around Waterloo today and still receive some sort of monetary benefits every year.
Not quite Napoleonic, but there is only one recording of a voice of someone born in the 18thC. It Helmut von Moltke (the Elder) from the wars 1864-1871. He was born in 1800 and was recorded in his late 80s.
A thing to also understand is that during this year and just a year after most war ends, Mount Tambora erupts 1815 and in 1816 just after the war is over, Europe goes into a SEVERE Weather that causes harvests to fail, i wonder if the war also made European powers so weak than people died from more Hungry and Disease to the volcanic winter, that's another thing to think about with this chapter of European History
I saw an interesting video that presented the theory that the Volcanic eruption of Mt Tambora (in modern day Indonesia), which is credited with lowering global temperatures by about 1 Degrees Fahrenheit (about 0.5 C) may have resulted in the rain in June the affected Napoleon's Waterloo campaign.
I mean you say Waterloo wasn't so important, and I get what you mean, but this IS Napoleon we're talking about; had he won at Waterloo, I would most certainly NOT put it past him to actually pull off at least a pyrrhic victory at the 'next Waterloos'.
Your point on leaders born outside of the country they led made me think about Stalin too and how he was born in Georgia, which I know was part of both the Russian Empire and the USSR but similar to both Napoleon and the other moustache man
Fun fact about the Congress of Vienna in the days running up to Napoleon's return. Britain had screwed Prussia over on Holland and the west German states. The irate Prussians declared war on Britain (who were still financing the Prussian military).. That all changed with the return from Elba. Having said that, this is why Gneisenau point blank does not want to march to Waterloo to aid the untrustworthy British.. Blucher had to physically order him to honour Blucher's promise
I agree with your comment on the importance of Waterloo but Normandy has more importance. It doesn't change German defeat but probably makes a big difference as to where the iron curtain ends up.
But people at the time did not know that. For them the danger was real, maybe terrifying. And Waterloo did prevent a repeat of 1814 and its massive death toll.
imagine sitting in Exile on some god forsaken hell hole of an island just recounting this battle every second of every day and all the ways you could have won
Not only this, but also the dramatic disaster of the Russian campaign, which was waged for no good reason and did nothing except to have him lose the largest European army to have ever existed up until then. He was probably sitting around, haunted by all the "what ifs" caused by his mistakes, failures, and sheer bad luck.
Fredrick the Greats arguably greatest victory, Leuthen, he won (2:1 odds) on his armies actual former training ground. Apart from his own garden, there was no place he could have possibly have known better. And he had mastered the art of using the terrain and the enemies expectations. He learned what every General learned about how to ...war at the time. But he then thought about how he could exploit that. Same, Meade did, wether on purpose or by accident with Lee's "napoleonic tactics".. Or top put it with some french dude: “The battle of Leuthen is a masterpiece of movements, manoeuvres and resolution. Alone it is sufficient to immortalise Frederick and place him in the ranks of the greatest generals. All his manoeuvres at this battle are in conformity with the principles of war.” -Napoleon
I feel like a big thing people forget about Waterloo is that even if he won the battle on paper, a bad enough phyrric victory could have literally ended the war with Waterloo and Napoleon being forced into a suicidal charge with what's left, surrender, or flight to somewhere like America (I guess China too? I'm not well informed on what was happening in China in the 1810s)
I think Napoleon was looking for a dramatic, visible victory over Wellington and Blucher for two reasons: first, to reignite the nationalism in the French people that the Napoleonic wars had gradually ground out of them; and second, to give him a bargaining chip against the other nations and try to sue for peace. Remember, the Alliance wasn't going to war against *France;* they were going to war against Napoleon himself. If he had managed to slam Wellington and Blucher, two of his most capable (Wellington) and experienced (Blucher) adversaries, it would have given the more wishy-washy nations (like Austria and possibly Spain) pause. Especially if his demands were fairly mild, along the lines of letting him remain in control of France if he promised really, really hard to be a good little boy. Whether he intended to abide by that or not would remain to be seen, but what it would do is allow him to consolidate his hold on France and work on building the country back up - either for peace or to put it back onto a war time footing.
If you're curious, HistoryMarche (who collabed with EHTV on this series) released a video detailing why Napoleon failed at Waterloo. Talks about all the spies, the exact troop movements, diversions, etc.
Yeah that video is great and really explains it all in more detail. He should probably watch that video if he wants a more detailed understanding of it all.
That video really helped me grasp how doomed Napoleon truly was.
what if I’m not curious
There are many factors for its defeat. Spies is one one fo them. But it’s not the main one.
Can’t wait for those Napoleons Marshals series!! Love your videos Chris
Please! I Hope he reacts to the marsals series as soon as possible!
Yes!! It's so good. It'd love to hear his opinions on each one and a bit of their story. Ney will always be my #1.
@@dahlizz99 Murat for me. If Lannes had lived and not died so early in the campaigns, I wonder if things what have been different.
@@Tdog2354 I can totally see why you like Murat.. him and I share the same first name😁 but the swedish version ofcourse. Yes, with Lannes leading the vanguard for the later campaigns.. things could've been very different. Although I feel like there was never a way for France to achieve total victory, I have a feeling that Napoleon would've continued like he did, starting new conflicts over and over again until it all became unbearable but who knows. Maybe with more of his closest friends still with him.. maybe they could have kept him better in check.
@@Tdog2354 Murat is my favourite since I had the chance to meet his descendant at a ceremony, who is also called Joachim. He is also a great nephew of Napoleon, as Murat was married to his younger sister Caroline. The man told the story of his ancestor so well and so passionately that I quickly began to study this period.
Andrew Roberts, in his book Napoleon the Great, says this about the campaign:
"In war" he (Napoleon) told one of his captors the following year, "the game is always with him who commits the fewest faults". In the Waterloo campaign that was Wellington, who had made a study of Napoleon's tactics and career, was rigorous in his deployments, and was everywhere on the battlefield. Napoleon, Soult and Ney, by contrast, fought one of the worst commanded battles of the Napoleonic Wars. The best battlefield soldier Napoleon had fought before Waterloo had been Archduke Charles, and he was simply not prepared for a master tactician of Wellington's calibre - one, moreover, who had never lost a battle.
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Really have been enjoying this series. Been following you for over a year now. Your commentary has always been great! keep up the good work Chris
Let me be the one who says here that there just aren't enough words of gratitude for you on behalf of all of us who didn't find History so interesting in places like High School or even University, and yet these videos and your comments on them keep us at the edge of our seats. Myself, I already started developing an interest when I was 17, but 11 years later you still remind me why History is so captivating and fascinating, not to say educational or an expert in raising awareness of our present day and its roots. It's not just that you can analyse the facts, but the psychology of the involved ones in it with almost at first sight. Greetings from Spain, Chris. I really wish each and every one of your trips to Europe leaves you as mesmerised as your videos do to us.
In high school, we were all given yearly diaries (called the logbooks), in which to record homework, deadlines, etc. The diaries always had a map of the world, the periodic table, and some other stuff like unit conversions and cyber safety tips. In 2014, the diaries contained maps and figures of the 1st world war to celebrate the centenary, and in 2015 the diary had a few pages dedicated to the battle of Waterloo. I think, despite living in England, those 3 or 4 pages were the most I ever learned in school about the Napoleonic wars. Thank you for introducing me to this series.
Thank you for this week of incredible Napoleonic wars reactions, it helped me through rough times, i just want to say that there is still epic history tv's Napoleon in Italy and also the battle of Toulon both in his early carrier, hope u check them after your trip to Europe, in fact epic history tv will release part 2 of Napoleon in Italy either this week or the next one.
I had a 6th great grandfather who fought in the French and Indian War, enlisting only one year after emigrating from England to Massachusetts. He was given a land grant in New Brunswick for his service, so he ended up becoming Canadian. He had 11 boys and 1 girl, and the family story I found when researching was that two of the sons fought in the War of 1812 and then at least one later fought at Waterloo, but I haven’t yet been able to prove that. I will keep digging!
This video still has a special place in my heart. It is probably the first video i have seen from Epic History tv and it is the video i used as an introduction to the battle at the evening before i gave my parent and girlfriend a tour on the battlefield many years ago
Love your reactions to this series and I really hope you’ll make reactions to the Marshals series as well.
Amazing how Epic History even 5 or 6 years ago was able to produce with such high quality.
One of their earliest videos no less
Believe it or not the Waterloo video is now 7 and a half years old - even more impressive!
The problem with countering people who overblow events like Gettysburg and Waterloo is that sometimes we go too far with it. We don't know what would have happened if Lee had won at Gettysburg, and we don't know what would have happened if Napoleon won at Waterloo. Saying that a definite continuation of the conflicts was inevitable is nice, but ultimately, we don't know which is why those events get all of the publicity.
What we do know is that Lee never went back into the North after Gettysburg And that Napoleon never had power again after Waterloo.
They may not have been the definitive points in the conflicts that we think of them to be but to disregard them as not important takes away from the historical fact that people believe they were important and that's why they are remembered today.
I think with Waterloo when people say ‘Napoleon would’ve been beaten in the end anyway’ are missing the point. Yes, he likely would’ve eventually been defeated by the Austrian and Russian armies closing in on France. But the fact is that he was beaten at Waterloo, and it was his final defeat, that’s what makes it significant and important. It was the battle that ended an era, you have Europe before Waterloo and Europe after Waterloo
I can't really understand how people can minimize Waterloo so much. He already showed he could take on those armies previously, had the population back on his side, if he won the war would of dragged on several more years. He was beaten so completely no further battles were needed it was astounding.
Hey Chris, I’m sorry about your grandpa. Thanks, for making content, it really is one of the best parts of my day.
Hey Chris,
Just wanted to check in as I’ve been pretty ill over Christmas/New Year period, to the point where it’s put a real dampener on it for me.
I’m a long time subscriber of yours, with a real interest in 20th century history, but with an appetite to learn more about great figures like Napoleon. I’ve found this series, and your contributions to it, absolutely fascinating. You’ve really cheered me up with your content over a pretty bad few weeks & I’ve throughly looked forward to, & enjoyed these videos.
I shall definitely be checking out the 1970 Napoleon movie tonight, & you’ve also gained yourself a new Patreon. Keep up the great work & if you’re ever in Northern England it’d be great to meet up for a beer!
Another channel I recommend to you is the “the operation room” you mentioned Bastogne. The operation room made a 8 part series on the battle of the bulge in how the did the ally’s get caught off guard and a famous of how the 101st said they didn’t need saving from patton
Oh man, the last photos brought me close to tears. I wish I could interview the people, I would love to hear what happened from their mouths. What these eyes have seen, unimaginable for many people today.
Your commentary combined with epic history tv is easily my favorite history content on TH-cam no competition
Really enjoyed this - I watch the film you mentioned , Waterloo, about every other year and always find it fascinating!
Great series! I love these reactions videos, it feels like you're in the room with me talking about these incredible historic events.
Thank you very for this series. I've been whatching these for weeks now, fantastic stuff!
Fun fact: King George III Prince Elector, later King of Hanover never visited the Kingdom of Hanover during his 60 year reign. Since he was diagnosed with dementia prior to Hanover being elevated to the status of Kingdom, it is unlikely that he even understood that he had gained an additional kingship.
To add to your point about Napoleonic bring from Corsica and mustache man from Austria, Stalin was from Georgia. So I’ve always found it interesting how the Austrian born Leader of Germany and the Georgian born leader of Russia would be bitter rivals in WW2
Stalin was still born in Russian empire. Hitler was not born in German
I’ve been tuning in to your channel every day. I’ve been eagerly following this series.
The Revolutionary/Napoleonic wars has always been my favorite subject of military history. I played a miniatures based Avalon Hill game years ago called Napoleons Battles that was awesome. I've seen the 1970 movie Waterloo offered on TH-cam and highly recommend it, if only for the massed cavalry scenes. They only had practical effects so all of the armies are human extras.
The makers were fortunate in that the Soviet Union was basically co-producer so offered their own soldiers to provide free labor and were also one of the few armies in the world that still had actual cavalry brigades with trained cavalry troops. The battle scenes were filmed in present day Ukraine.
As usual great content ! Believe it or not, the Battle of Waterloo, bicycles, and Frankenstein by Shelley are all connected. Mount Tambora in present day Indonesia erupted on April 5th, 1815. It was the worst volcanic eruption in written history. Check it out. One of the results of the eruption was that Europe experienced a great deal of rain that spring. Yes, the rain that preceded Waterloo and made the ground too muddy for Napoleon's cannon and cavalry. It also cooled the earth so that fodder grains didn't grow, which required horses to be euthanized. That inspired a German in 1816 to invent a bicycle (without pedals), much like the strider bikes beginners use, because it was faster than walking.. It was also this rainy weather that forced Mary Shelley, Lord Byron, etal to shelter from the cold rainy weather. They challenged each other to write a scary story. I would also recommend "Wellington: The Years of the Sword" by Elizabeth Longford. This is one of twenty or so history books that everyone should own. I've read it at least 3-4 times. Makes a great present for yourself or the historian in your family. Save journeys !
I have a friend who grew up on St Helena and I can’t imagine growing up in a small town thousands of miles from anywhere else with very few ways to get off the island.
Love this series and your reaction and commentary simply makes it even more enjoyable. I know I'm probably not the only to suggest this, but the Napoleon's Marshals series definitely needs to be the follow up to this
A interesting sidenote of the battle of waterloo is the fighting of the Prussian Rearguard. Because the idea to elude him using the rearguard was intentional, and the prussian Rearguard fought Fiercely, with Elite Jägers standing their ground. I was at Waterloo and they talked about that fight aswell, and whilst its obviously more of a sideskirmish, it's a interesting dilemma for the French marshal. Disengage against elite Prussian troops and risk a rout or stand and fight, but be unable to support Napoleon. This was all thought of, by Johann Von Thielmann a saxon cavalry general. He also recognised way before the Battle of Wavre, that it was a pretty weak detachment. In terms of casualties it was a stalemate, but obviously it locked down troops that Napoleon couldnt afford to not have access to.
The other man with the mustache was also born elsewhere - although it's in the same cathegory, as Napoleon, being technically in the same country: born in Georgia (then part of the Russian Empire), leading the USSR, conquering Eastern and Central Europe.
I have thoroughly enjoyed the Napoleonic Wars and other videos I have seen on your site.
What a fantastic series and thank you covering Napoleonic Wars. Fascinating subject.
An interesting fact, a recent study discovered that in the years after the batlle many of the soldiers where duge up. This was nog to give them a normal burial but they where grinded down in to bone meal and used in the local sugar industry. It was needed to purify sugar beets in to edible sugar. The local farmers also used it to fertilize fields.
It’s fascinating how blücher avoided capture as well, it’s written in personal accounts of the battle that his aide, immediately covered him up so non of his medals and ribbons would be visible
Been to Waterloo several times. Pity the original defensive ridge was removed to build the lion monument but Hougemont remains very evocative.
Epic History does a good job but there are some key things that they summarized quite brutally. The noon French attack was important because it nearly broke Wellington's left - it was quite dicey - and had the British cavalry not moved in, it was conceivable that Napoleon could have gotten onto the ridge and turned the flank before the Prussian's arrival.
Ney's cavalry attack was in fact a long drawn out series of cavalry attacks in the afternoon, which apparently Napoleon didn't think much of; Napoleon thought highly of Ney's courage but not necessarily his tactical abilities. Napoleon also didn't commit his Imperial Guard until when he felt it was the last opportunity for him to try for a victory. Had Wellington not reacted quickly to the advance by concentrating his forces to take the attack, the Imperial Guard's march up the slope could have taken the casualties and driven home. Like Wellington said, it was a close-run thing.
Yep, its 'Braunschweig' in german and good pronounciation too.
Funfact: in the regional 'dialect' (we are in a region with one of the most high german sounding german) the 'g' at the end is more softly pronounced as 'ch'.
Greetings from Brunswick. Keep up the great work:)
That flag seemed oddly familiar tho... hehe
Yeah, I've recently been thinking about how we actually talk in Northern Germany, compared to the actual "Standard German" way. Supposedly urban regions in the North have no real dialect, but we really mangle the language in very interesting way.
(One of my favorite words has become "richtig", which we speak as two perfectly rhyming syllables.)
Grüße aus Hammuich, wie die Hamburger sagen würden.
I say "ör" instead of "ir" in some words like 'körche' instead of 'kirche' (church),
But this and the soft g at the end of words is kind of everything i have as a dialect:D
I have no idea why but I just can’t get enough of Napoleon right now. I’ve always gone through phases of liking history and Napoleon was never an interest, but now I can’t get enough of it. I have watched the Epic History series on him like 5 times in the same amount of weeks. Just got Napoleon Total War back too.
Thanks for the excellent reaction video. I highly recommend the video Wellington’s Victory at Waterloo by RUSI. It’s more focused about how the battle affected him for the rest of his life. Clear signs of PTSD.
Thanks for this series chris, its been great learning about stuff that even i as a european dont learn enought about :)
You also had Stalin, born in what is now Georgia, becoming the dictator of Soviet Russia.
Hey man I gotta say I love your content. Over the past three weeks you popped up with OverSimplified and Sam O’Nella and I love the additional content. May I also suggest channels that do historical movie reviews like History Buffs?
There are multiple factors that explain why Napoleon's return from exile was so "successful", but here are a few
-Louis XVIII hadn't stepped foot in France since 1791 (he managed to flee when his brother Louis XVI got caught at Varennes), and a lot of people didn't really know him or like him, since he'd been brought back by France's ennemies and supported by "émigrés", nobles who'd fled the country, considered traitors.
-The Restoration government had the unpopular tax of bearing the burden of both the postwar reconstruction and paying for the Allied occupation, while refusing either to borrow money or to raise taxes on large land estates held by nobles and royalist bourgeoisie. So they raised taxes and contributions on artisans and peasants - always a great way to make friends.
-The king made a number of military reforms in the direction of austerity, like sacking many soldiers and leaving some officers on half a salary. Many military men had trouble returning to civilian life after over a decade or two of fighting glorious battles. Discontent in the army (also a great idea for a fledgeling regime) also grew when the king created a Royal Guard made up of inexperienced nobles.
-The imperial elites had trouble integrating with the returning old French nobility, despite Louis XVIII's effort to merge the two in his Charter. They felt looked down on by aristocrats, when they'd earned their positions (mostly) through merit.
That said, Napoleon's Hundred Days regime was on shaky ground. The merchants and the business class didn't want him back (because his wars had harmed French foreign trade), key members of the government didn't have any faith and openly plotted against him (namely Talleyrand and Fouché, his minister of police), and royalist uprisings in the Vendée and Brittany happened almost immediately, which meant he had to send thousands/tens of thousands of soldiers into the west to put those down. His concessions to liberal members of Parliament were not taken seriously, and he had little support overall.
Looking forward to your reactions to the Napoleon marshal series. Thanks for all that you do man.
Interesting that Napoleon didn't commit the Old Guard, but the middle one. He wanted a reserve after the battle. And it's possible that their mere presence allowed France to keep her pre-war borders.
This has been an excellent series!
If you want a deep dive into Waterloo, then you should read Christopher Bassford (Editor): "On Waterloo: Clausewitz, Wellington, and the Campaign of 1815". It contains Wellingtons official report on the battle, an analysis written by Clausewitz (the author of "On War", and chief of staff to Prussias 3rd corps during the campaign), and finally Wellingtons response to this analysis.
4:41 note how the spanish flag has alreafy changed to its mothern colors, rather than the Bourbon flags or the Cross of burgundy. The flag was chosen to be easily seen at sea, and was introduced in the Navy ant the en of the 18th century, but would later become more popular
Worth noting that blucher was trapped beneath his horse for several hours following the prussian defeat at ligny and so had to catch up to retake command.
General von gneisenau was in the process of having the army fall back to the north east, closer to their supply base before blucher countermanded the order and had them keep closer to wellingtons army.
Had he not escaped, the prussians might not have been available for support and wellington likely wouldnt have given battle at waterloo.
Marshal’s ranked by me in descending order. Davout, Suchet, Ney, Lannes, Soult. Weighting used in descending order: good decisions under overwhelming odds, respect commanded and loved by his troops, tactical genius, political savvy as commander of occupying force. If administrative/logistic genius is accounted for, Bethier is #1 followed closely by Davout.
Love the videos, watching from Wales in the United Kingdom! Enjoying the videos from this era of history history! Would you please do one on the battle of trafalgar as I love naval battles too! 🙏🏻
That’s something I definitely need to cover. Visiting Nelson’s tomb in a few days!
@@VloggingThroughHistory As a Brit it really made me proud visiting it, and I’m sure you’ll enjoy too! Thanks for the reply, and I look forward to some more brilliant content!
@@bifferstaff21 where are you in Wales? My wife’s maiden name is Watkins and her family comes from Blaina. My Croft family were just over the mountain from them in Ebbw Vale.
@@VloggingThroughHistory I’m originally from the South East of England but I live near Bridgend now in South Wales, Blaina is about 20 minutes away and Ebbw Vale about half an hour!
If you ever get the chance to come down, there’s some great places to visit, the old coal mines are some of the deepest and famous in the world and supplied 75% of the coal used by the Royal Navy and the empire at its heyday, and the old Roman fort at Caerleon is arguably the best in the UK.
If you are in Belgium there is a comic series called blue shirts it's about the civil war
Sergeant Chesterfield and corpral Butch
Just found you yesterday. Very much enjoying your vlog. Remind me if watching the history channel with my late husband, good part is that you can pause the program to react. ☺
Also, kinda sad fun fact: At Waterloo, the Irish Inniskillings and the Germans of the KGL were standing side by side against the French. Almost exactly 100 years later, they were brutally fighting against and killing each other at Passchendaele in the Great War.
Great video, as usual. Bernard Cornwall Sharpe's series has a great novel about Waterloo, with a captain's eye view of the battle. Remember, the line always beats the column!
if they ever did a modern napoleon movie i feel like they should use him that played him in night at the museum i feel like he did a great jop at playing the little corporal
Watching all these videos makes to get a better perspective of things
Waterloo is British propaganda as its best. There were dozens of battle before. But what is the one most remember with Austerlitz? Waterloo.
Actually most people don´t even know the battle of the nations which is much more important than this one.
Thanks on the reaction
Hi, Chris, I'm really sorry that these have finished. I'll mention again Why did Napoleon really fail at Waterloo by Our History. It looks in detail at the topography of the battlefield, the effect the conditions had on the weapons and looks at Ney's state of mind. It is really interesting.
I have voted in the poll and being a Useful Charts fan I have cast my vote accordingly unfortunately it doesn't look like they will win. Still I'm sure whatever wins will be good.
I hope they do the Waterloo video again with their new graphics and everything. This video is great but if redone would be top tier
This battle made for an amazing movie. The movie added to the reality of this battle.
Fun fact about Wellington: he wasn’t particularly liked by Daniel O Connell, a famous Irish politician and patriot, who once remarked:
*”The poor old duke… what shall I say of him. To be sure he was born in Ireland, but being born in a stable does not make a man a horse.”*
One daguerreotype of Wellington exists, taken on his 75th Birthday. Recently was used to create an ai image of what he may have looked like
ANY plans taking place in Belgium MUST take rain into account! ;)
At 7:59. I don't think it was the weather that defeated Napoleon at Waterloo. Is that he didn't have his best marshals with him at this battle. Marshal Davout he made Minister of War and kept him in Paris--big mistake. An even bigger mistake--not having Marshal Berthier, Napoleon's chief of staff, at Waterloo. Berthier was the organizational genius behind Napoleon's incredible speed and dexterity on the battlefields. This was the only major battle since Lodi that Berthier was not a part of. And it showed--Napoleon's forces were more disorganized than usual at Waterloo.
ABBA probably made Waterloo more popular and famous than any other.
how?
@@abdihassan7208 Look up ABBA Waterloo song, they're probably the most famous band in Europe and made it a household name. People began asking themselves what's waterloo and it made history more popular.
One aspect of the French Revelolution and the Napoleonic wars is the Haitian Revolution. It is a fascinating that doesn't get enough attention. Alongside Russia and Iberia, Napoleon horrendously mishandled the situation. I don't recall many youtube videos covering the event; I think History with Hilbert has a video about the Polish population living in Haiti that sprung up after the revolution.
Also, Epic History TV has a series on Belisarius that is really good. I think Belisarius belongs to the conversation about greatest generals; he wasn't as charasmatic as Julius Caesar or Napoleon, but his military victories were incredible given the situation. There is also a metal album dedicated to him called, "Let there be Nothing"; if you like Sabaton, you might like this.
Greetings from a Michigander living in Germany :)
Strongly agree with the 1970 Waterloo movie. So well done for the time.
There's a French film you might be interested in called Le Souper (the Supper), which imagines a conversation over supper between Talleyrand and Fouché in the wake of Napoléon's defeat at Waterloo, in which the two men lay out the political future of France and discuss the revolution.
Reminds me of a cool anecdote about Wellington at a ball in Vienna, where a group of French officers turn their back on him in a sign of disrespect. Apon the apology of one of the women present, he replied "Tis of no matter, your Highness, I have seen their backs before."
06:25 One problem Wellington had was that the local populace weren't as inclined to provide intel as they were in Spain, so he first thinks that the attack at Charleroi was a diversion so Napoleon could cut-off his lines of communication by coming in through Mons.
12:00 At 10 o'clock Napoleon sends a communique to Grouchy: 'His majesty desires that you direct your movements on Wavre in order to draw near to us, place yourself in touch with our operations, and link up your communications with us, driving before you those portions of the Prussian army that have taken this direction and may have stopped at Wavre, where you should arrive as soon as possible. You will follow the enemy's column on your right, using some light troops to observe their movements and gather up their stragglers.' Looking at a map of the terrain between Charleroi and Brussels, can you see the fundamental flaw in these orders.
13:40 But it's his brother, Jerome, who's in command of the assault and, desperate to earn Napoleon's respect, decides to actually try and seize Hougoumont.
17:00 Another thorn in Wellington's side is the heir to the Dutch throne, Slender Billy, who's rank is granted without merit to keep the Dutch monarchy on side and has been ordering his men into line at the most inappropriate moments.
7:40 its easy to say this with hindsight, but we must remember that several of Napoleon's victorious campaigns looked like no-hopers
What unbelievably colossal hubris.
Two huge omissions in the narrative. First, absolutely no mention of Napoleon leaving the battle field due to illness later in the afternoon for a period of time, leaving Ney in overall command and the resulting mistake of the unsupported French cavalry assault against the formed British squares. And second, against what was considered common practice at the time and strongly pushed by his subordinates, Grouchy's refusal to "march to the sound of the guns" at Waterloo, instead continuing to search for Blucher's missing army many kilometers away. By marching to the sound of the battle, Grouchy would likely arrived prior to or around the same time as the Prussians, counterbalancing the effect of their sudden appearance and giving Napoleon a chance to salvage a victory, even if a very costly one.
god every battle for napoleon is full of "but wait deeeeeeeaarrrss moar" lol
Napoleon marshals is a interesting topic. Cause people focus on Napoleon decision to invade Russia and Spain and continental system as his reason for downfall. Granted it is true
But Napoleon marshals is interesting cause it talks about how things went wrong due to the marshals. Napoleon made mistakes but his marshals has also left a lot what ifs
Davout and saint cyr
Wellington was actually not up to Napoleon's skill in strategy. In his own words; "Either the night or the Prussians must come". He was getting beat by Napoleon
Fact he was losing doesn't mean his strategy wasn't up to par. His force was more diverse and had many inexperienced soldiers while all the French were veterans. He also had 100 fewer cannons.
Doesn't matter if Napoleon won Waterloo or not he still would've lost the war
While I do agree that Waterloo was over-credited, I do think that, had Napoleon won, he may have actually won the war. You see, French armies of other fronts, such as Marshal Suchet's, had fended of other armies. Both the Spanish and Austrians were defeated on their borders with France. Murat had just joined Napoleon, proclaiming a war for Italian independence. I think that, had Napoleon won at Waterloo, defeating two of the coalitions best commanders in the process, he would have been able to come to some kind of beneficial agreement to France. What's more, previous French client states, such as Switzerland and northern Italy, now back under Austrian oppression, would have revolted, or at least would have had lots of support for him.
Epic History TV also has two videos detailing HMS Victory and what ships of that era were like to live/fight on
This series is nostalgic now, I will miss it
At the end of the Napoleonic wars, the Netherlands offered some land close to Waterloo to Wellington. Secondly the country would pay a generous sum every year to thank the Duke for his role in the defense of the Netherlands. After the Belgians gained independence, Belgium had to take over this yearly 'debt' to the Duke and his family. Appearently Wellington's decendants still hold the land around Waterloo today and still receive some sort of monetary benefits every year.
Not quite Napoleonic, but there is only one recording of a voice of someone born in the 18thC. It Helmut von Moltke (the Elder) from the wars 1864-1871. He was born in 1800 and was recorded in his late 80s.
Can't wait to see the Bastogne videos when they come out.
“The 72-yr old Blücher leads a cavalry charge in person”. Man, Prussians were built different.
A thing to also understand is that during this year and just a year after most war ends, Mount Tambora erupts 1815 and in 1816 just after the war is over, Europe goes into a SEVERE Weather that causes harvests to fail, i wonder if the war also made European powers so weak than people died from more Hungry and Disease to the volcanic winter, that's another thing to think about with this chapter of European History
I saw an interesting video that presented the theory that the Volcanic eruption of Mt Tambora (in modern day Indonesia), which is credited with lowering global temperatures by about 1 Degrees Fahrenheit (about 0.5 C) may have resulted in the rain in June the affected Napoleon's Waterloo campaign.
You should read about the Duchess of Richmonds ball the night! So fascinating
You know you are a bad ass when men come to arrest you and 5 minutes later they fight for you.
i have been enjoying this series!
I mean you say Waterloo wasn't so important, and I get what you mean, but this IS Napoleon we're talking about; had he won at Waterloo, I would most certainly NOT put it past him to actually pull off at least a pyrrhic victory at the 'next Waterloos'.
if you take a look Napoleon's Marshals also should look at Wellington
Your point on leaders born outside of the country they led made me think about Stalin too and how he was born in Georgia, which I know was part of both the Russian Empire and the USSR but similar to both Napoleon and the other moustache man
Fun fact about the Congress of Vienna in the days running up to Napoleon's return. Britain had screwed Prussia over on Holland and the west German states. The irate Prussians declared war on Britain (who were still financing the Prussian military).. That all changed with the return from Elba. Having said that, this is why Gneisenau point blank does not want to march to Waterloo to aid the untrustworthy British.. Blucher had to physically order him to honour Blucher's promise
I loved it and I watched the entire series 4 or 5 times! :)
I agree with your comment on the importance of Waterloo but Normandy has more importance. It doesn't change German defeat but probably makes a big difference as to where the iron curtain ends up.
Wellington had the battlefield using commands in the Irish language Gaelic.
What
@@AttyDouro22 Wellington had his regiments using Gaelic language in the battle of Waterloo.
But people at the time did not know that. For them the danger was real, maybe terrifying. And Waterloo did prevent a repeat of 1814 and its massive death toll.
imagine sitting in Exile on some god forsaken hell hole of an island just recounting this battle every second of every day and all the ways you could have won
Not only this, but also the dramatic disaster of the Russian campaign, which was waged for no good reason and did nothing except to have him lose the largest European army to have ever existed up until then. He was probably sitting around, haunted by all the "what ifs" caused by his mistakes, failures, and sheer bad luck.
Sandhroman history does tons of amazing 17th century battles
Yes, the Rain made Artillery absolutely to near useless being stuck in the mud.
BLucher was ridden over by 3 charges. The one in which he was downed, the French counterattack, and the Prussian counterattack to save him.
Fredrick the Greats arguably greatest victory, Leuthen, he won (2:1 odds) on his armies actual former training ground. Apart from his own garden, there was no place he could have possibly have known better. And he had mastered the art of using the terrain and the enemies expectations. He learned what every General learned about how to ...war at the time. But he then thought about how he could exploit that. Same, Meade did, wether on purpose or by accident with Lee's "napoleonic tactics"..
Or top put it with some french dude: “The battle of Leuthen is a masterpiece of movements, manoeuvres and resolution. Alone it is sufficient to immortalise Frederick and place him in the ranks of the greatest generals. All his manoeuvres at this battle are in conformity with the principles of war.” -Napoleon
I feel like a big thing people forget about Waterloo is that even if he won the battle on paper, a bad enough phyrric victory could have literally ended the war with Waterloo and Napoleon being forced into a suicidal charge with what's left, surrender, or flight to somewhere like America (I guess China too? I'm not well informed on what was happening in China in the 1810s)
I think Napoleon was looking for a dramatic, visible victory over Wellington and Blucher for two reasons: first, to reignite the nationalism in the French people that the Napoleonic wars had gradually ground out of them; and second, to give him a bargaining chip against the other nations and try to sue for peace. Remember, the Alliance wasn't going to war against *France;* they were going to war against Napoleon himself. If he had managed to slam Wellington and Blucher, two of his most capable (Wellington) and experienced (Blucher) adversaries, it would have given the more wishy-washy nations (like Austria and possibly Spain) pause. Especially if his demands were fairly mild, along the lines of letting him remain in control of France if he promised really, really hard to be a good little boy. Whether he intended to abide by that or not would remain to be seen, but what it would do is allow him to consolidate his hold on France and work on building the country back up - either for peace or to put it back onto a war time footing.