France Still Has An Empire

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  • เผยแพร่เมื่อ 7 มิ.ย. 2024
  • France has some interesting territories. Many from its colonial days.
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  • @layalumpar4218
    @layalumpar4218 3 ปีที่แล้ว +5420

    Unlike US's treatment of Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands and American Samoa, all of the French overseas territories that has a civilian population have full representation to the French Parliament. So French Guyana, French Polynesia, New Caledonia, etc. are to France what Hawaii is to the US. And that's one reason why half the population of these territories want to remain with France. They have representation. France subsidizes their government. The French military and science programs create jobs on their islands. And perhaps the most important thing, the French citizenship and passport. They can go to mainland France (and EU by extension) and work there and all they'll need is the plane ticket. They don't need visas nor work permits to do that. The French passport is very powerful too. They can visit most of the nations in the world visa-free.

    • @cyber_baudelaire9962
      @cyber_baudelaire9962 3 ปีที่แล้ว +598

      LOUDER. I'm tired of this hypocritical speech coming from the US. Their country's also not blameless...

    • @magdelanax2122
      @magdelanax2122 3 ปีที่แล้ว +199

      @@cyber_baudelaire9962 Are you serious? Many people try to keep up a consistent awareness about colonialism and racism in America. If we are surprised France has an Empire or that Belgium enslaved the Congo its not a hypocritical insult, its just surprise. I mean, for most of my life I was unaware of the initial colonialism in Vietnam. Americans mostly focus on our own role in events.

    • @shreenathjraman3619
      @shreenathjraman3619 3 ปีที่แล้ว +92

      @@cyber_baudelaire9962 I think you'll realize very quickly that the only thing American about Johnny Harris is where he lives.

    • @mikemartin6748
      @mikemartin6748 3 ปีที่แล้ว +286

      ​@@shreenathjraman3619 And his entire worldview. Clearly very non-French. He gives many reasons for New Caledonia wanting to remain part of France, but ignores the most obvious: French patriotism. They're French and they love La France et la culture française

    • @brunosanchez3427
      @brunosanchez3427 3 ปีที่แล้ว +13

      @@mikemartin6748 ???????

  • @nightbotisahuman7388
    @nightbotisahuman7388 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3904

    France has 12 time-zones while Russia has 11.

    • @valac7820
      @valac7820 3 ปีที่แล้ว +84

      Vengeance for berezino🇫🇷😅

    • @michaelkeaton5394
      @michaelkeaton5394 3 ปีที่แล้ว +20

      @@valac7820 hoooo un jean !!

    • @Hatbot-vn4py
      @Hatbot-vn4py 3 ปีที่แล้ว +31

      That can all change in time

    • @valac7820
      @valac7820 3 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      @@michaelkeaton5394 heyyyy😁😁

    • @equaals7552
      @equaals7552 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      huh

  • @carldindial5369
    @carldindial5369 ปีที่แล้ว +242

    From french Guiana, currently living in nyc. Thanks for the shedding some light on french Guiana. Even though we are a continent away, we identify ourselves strongly as french.

    • @marcelo497
      @marcelo497 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      DO people from French Guiana identidy as Latin Americans or South Americans? Here in Brazil we barely have contact with Suriname, Guiana and French Guiana so it's curious to see one of you

    • @carldindial5369
      @carldindial5369 ปีที่แล้ว +20

      @Marcelo in French Guiana, like any other country we do identify ourselves as French. I think this is a nationalistic bubble, but we are also aware that we are in Latin America, surroundedby Braziland Surinam. In French Guiana we have a lot of Brazilians. My neighbor was Brazilian. Very lovely and sweet people.

    • @marcelo497
      @marcelo497 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      ​@@carldindial5369 Nice, didn't know about Brazilian imigration to French Guiana, but that makes sense as most of the country don't get many news from Amapá

    • @isaacthegoat1432
      @isaacthegoat1432 5 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      What a lie.

    • @frenchy2410
      @frenchy2410 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

      Not everyone there. Out of all the territories, Guyana has some of the strongest independentist movement.

  • @rahmountaharzakaria115
    @rahmountaharzakaria115 2 ปีที่แล้ว +233

    This video geographically accurate , historically not so much

    • @underpressure1954
      @underpressure1954 2 ปีที่แล้ว +35

      it's geopolitically inaccurate too

    • @jetaddicted
      @jetaddicted 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      This video is just another exemple of an Anglo thinking he is depicting an honest version of things while he is in fact spreading English born anti French fallacies.
      And they wonder why we piss on them…

    • @nwlf34i1c4
      @nwlf34i1c4 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      it is pretty accurate historically

    • @axel6269
      @axel6269 2 ปีที่แล้ว +57

      @@nwlf34i1c4 Portraying the people of la Reunion, a deserted island before the French arrived, as "oppressed locals who would be better off out of France" is as historically inacurrate as it gets.

    • @traveller596
      @traveller596 ปีที่แล้ว +26

      Of course it is not historically accurate. This guy is one of these superficial and woke minded Yankee keen on practicing French bashing.

  • @mathieuvitasse3280
    @mathieuvitasse3280 3 ปีที่แล้ว +674

    2:15 That’s not correct: Only 6 French overseas territories are part of the European Union as either fully part of the French Republic (Martinique, Guadeloupe, Guyane, Mayotte, Reunion) or under a special status (St Martin). The other overseas territories are associated and often administered directly by France but are not part of the EU. For example French Polynesia where my family lives, I can live there as a French Citizen but someone from Germany or Italy would not have an automatic right to live there as it is not part of the EU.

    • @1121494
      @1121494 3 ปีที่แล้ว +63

      And even bigger Fauxpas, Greenland is very specifically not part of the EU after having very clearly voted themselves out of the EU by their 1982 referendum.

    • @dinguswattle
      @dinguswattle 3 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      Been looking if someone already commented this as to not double comment

    • @byblispersephone2.094
      @byblispersephone2.094 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      AkCUtaLLy...

    • @Birdylockso
      @Birdylockso 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@dinguswattle , same here.

    • @mathisrenier
      @mathisrenier 3 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      Yes to make things clear the people living there are still European citizens though.

  • @Criegrrunov
    @Criegrrunov 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3107

    I can't sleep at night peacefully anymore knowing that France has a whole army of King Penguins.

    • @mehdigourai911
      @mehdigourai911 3 ปีที่แล้ว +138

      Emperor, actually.

    • @Raphael-
      @Raphael- 3 ปีที่แล้ว +144

      We will conquer you, not thanks to our nukes... But thanks to our Penguins

    • @ardugaleen2231
      @ardugaleen2231 3 ปีที่แล้ว +17

      be aware

    • @chucku00
      @chucku00 2 ปีที่แล้ว +36

      Manchots Empereurs, please.

    • @financialproblems9308
      @financialproblems9308 2 ปีที่แล้ว +40

      Hopefully they dont have a penguin guillotine

  • @FredericGaillot
    @FredericGaillot 2 ปีที่แล้ว +407

    It sounds so awkard to speak on behalf of 3 million people, without knowing them, and telling they are under "the rule of France". The fact that there is no territorial continuity does not mean that people who live in these territories have no rights or no pride in being citizen from the same country. I recommend you travel in these places and meet people before you talk on their behalf. You will most likely be surprised on how much the connections between "Metropole" and these territories are strong and how long is the History in common.

    • @AD-ry7br
      @AD-ry7br 2 ปีที่แล้ว +105

      Let's call his opinion for what it is honestly: *it's racism.* These islands have been French for much longer than many of metropolitan regions have. Heck, at the time of the French Revolution, only people who lived in Paris and its close vicinity even spoke French at all. The majority in other regions originally spoke in their own dialects, so Paris technically "colonized" them. Meanwhile, the people of color of the overseas regions weren't even natives, they were brought there from other continents (many of them by force I concede but the point still stands). The only reason why he doesn't see our DROM as legitimate French land is because, *no matter how woke he probably thinks he is, in his mind, a French person has to be white.*

    • @marchapar4859
      @marchapar4859 2 ปีที่แล้ว +24

      He forgot one thing : France don't own the overseas territory, France is defined by its overseas territories

    • @gestiongmcg3717
      @gestiongmcg3717 ปีที่แล้ว +43

      Être français, ce n'est ni une langue, ni une race, ni une religion. C'est quelque chose qui ne peut être compris par quelq'un qui vie dans une société racialisée comme aux USA.
      Ce youtubeur croit juste bien faire en dénonçant des faux problèmes.

    • @tsenavi7389
      @tsenavi7389 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@AD-ry7br facts

    • @heroe1486
      @heroe1486 9 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      ​​@@gestiongmcg3717 La France est évidemment racialisée, personne ne croit à l'hypocrisie ambiante qui se limite à de belles paroles.
      Les USA sont juste un pays où la reconnaissance des différentes communautés est quelque chose de normal, ce qui s'explique par l'histoire et la réalité démographique du pays.

  • @frosum179
    @frosum179 2 ปีที่แล้ว +627

    Ironically those territories that remain part of a European nation have enjoyed greater freedoms, far better democratic representation, and more prosperous livelihoods than those that sought independence. It turns out that being a single island does not provide much in the nation building without extensive natural resources or a developed-nation sugardaddy.

    • @adriench.7148
      @adriench.7148 2 ปีที่แล้ว +15

      I think it can be more than that. A least two french territories have lot of ressources that can help them if they will hypothetically want to become independant. I speak about french Guyana and New Caledonia. The first have gold and great place for space launch or astronomy and the second have nikel mines. But they're still part of France territory. Why ? Maybe France can share a very integrative model despite of its imperfection.

    • @jjqq9456
      @jjqq9456 2 ปีที่แล้ว +26

      My french sugar daddy 😳

    • @hellblazersharif
      @hellblazersharif 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Yea but look what happened to Algeria

    • @gamermapper
      @gamermapper 2 ปีที่แล้ว +21

      @@hellblazersharif Algeria became French during colonialism, they didn't have equal rights, plus Algeria is too big, if Algeria had equal rights like those territories do, they'd outnumber the French

    • @merlinthefrenchie
      @merlinthefrenchie 2 ปีที่แล้ว +22

      @@gamermapper Well no they wouldn't outnumber the French ( 43.85 million for Algeria and 67.39 millions for France ). The size wasn't the problem, it was the lack of equal right. I come from a Kabyle ( Berber people in Algeria ) family and was born in France and they think that if they had equal right, they would be better with France than with the current Algerian government.

  • @perryli8296
    @perryli8296 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3176

    I'm from Reunion Island and we actually are patriotic to France. We consider ourselves and we are French citizen. We can vote for the president and all kind of stuff so it's not like France conquered us or what not. The French discovered this Island with nobody and sure they bought slaves and plantations to here but the Creoles here hold no anger against the "Europeans". Actually this island is so mixed that we have a strong Asian (Indian and Chinese) community too!
    Edit: 20/12 was actually the annual Slavery Remembrance Day( Abolition of Slavery) of Reunion. It shows how we still remember our past and understand it but we don't go beat up white people or the descendants of slave traders for it.
    It's in the past and we continue moving forward. Being French is a nationality, and not a ethnicity. We are French. Now I cannot say the same for the other "outre-mer territoires" because there were indigenous people living there before colonization but keep in mind that there were nobody living in Reunion island before the Europeans came.

    • @anthonygianfrancesco6548
      @anthonygianfrancesco6548 3 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      Langetso ma. Bousto liki mama

    • @JTProductions3
      @JTProductions3 3 ปีที่แล้ว +42

      Bonjour! Johnny Harris oublie l'île de Réunion !

    • @perryli8296
      @perryli8296 3 ปีที่แล้ว +60

      @@JTProductions3 ouai té nous lé francais aussi! Bena la oublie à nous (C'est kreole😉)

    • @cyka4075
      @cyka4075 3 ปีที่แล้ว +133

      Croissant baguette

    • @JTProductions3
      @JTProductions3 3 ปีที่แล้ว +21

      @@cyka4075 bahaha. Yeah my French is a little rusty. Definitely cant speak Creole

  • @benjaminverdier3122
    @benjaminverdier3122 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3248

    Those territories have voted many times against independence and all of their citizens have French citizenship and rights (as opposed to American territories like Puerto Rico or guam)

    • @BobbyAlThor
      @BobbyAlThor 2 ปีที่แล้ว +103

      Thanks for clarifying it !

    • @EJK2099
      @EJK2099 2 ปีที่แล้ว +88

      Last I heard, Puerto Ricans are in a way citizens and they were given independence referendum multiple times

    • @seybertooth9282
      @seybertooth9282 2 ปีที่แล้ว +11

      Exactly.

    • @estebanod
      @estebanod 2 ปีที่แล้ว +171

      And most of them feel French, as much as people living on metropolitan France

    • @FroyourHistory
      @FroyourHistory 2 ปีที่แล้ว +64

      @@EJK2099 Yes Puerto Ricans are US Citizens. In every referendum Independence has lost with Status Quo and Statehood beating it in referendums. The latest 2020 Referendum had 52.34% in favor of statehood.

  • @leonardopistolato9775
    @leonardopistolato9775 2 ปีที่แล้ว +71

    Just two things to point out:
    - Greenland is presented in the map as part of the EU, but it is only an associated territory due to the fact that it's part of Denmark. To represent it as part of the EU in the map is a bit questionable.
    - France hadn't even begun colonising six centuries ago, it certainly couldn't have started decolonising before colonisation

    • @oppositeswitzerland1058
      @oppositeswitzerland1058 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      🤓

    • @ryklii9039
      @ryklii9039 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@oppositeswitzerland1058?

    • @heroe1486
      @heroe1486 9 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

      It's an associated territory of the EU because Denmark is part of the EU, what is controversial here ?

    • @zockercam8122
      @zockercam8122 6 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      ​@@heroe1486Greenland voted to leave the EU quite a long time ago. This means:
      Denmark proper = EU
      Greenland = Not EU
      Greenland = part of Denmark

  • @paulinel8805
    @paulinel8805 2 ปีที่แล้ว +197

    Decolonization isn't "leave or it's still a colony". That's a rather simplistic way to look at it and a bit patronising toward the native people of those places who made a choice for themselves. And while this is also going to be simplified, I think it's better to look at it in the sense of local population having a right to self-determination. All of those area have voted many times for their independance. In the case of New Caledonia, only a very specific group of people even has a right to vote in this referendum (I think they need to have lived in NC since the nineties so it's not like France can just send new people to skew the result), and it will be voted 3 times over.
    All of that to say that the tone of this video seem a bit disingenous to me, implying France still has colonies it won't let go of just like in the ninteenth century isn't true, and saying "locals living under France's rule" is downright insulting when those are french citizens living in France (some of those places have been French for longer than Nice, and yet nobody would say Niçois are "locals living under french rule"). Decolonization can take many shapes, and that include people from those places chosing more integration and gaining the same citizenship status as in the mainland (which is the case here, it's not the same as what Puerto Rico is to the USA). Mayotte is an interesting case to look at in that sense; a tiny island off the coast of Madagascar who decided to remain with France unlike its three neigbouring sister islands and has voted for even more integration within France in 2009.
    Just to be clear, I'm not saying France has been an angel here, I'm saying that this issue is more complex than this video implies as it seems to view decolonization in only one way.

    • @addyred1861
      @addyred1861 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      No disrespect, they get afraid of the growing pains like the one with Madagascar where there is famine like situation.
      Freedom is the way most will choose if the choice don't end causing watching ur child die of hunger.
      There's a reason west doesn't like China, China is the global south options.
      China ain't an angel but it is giving people options.

    • @karanaima
      @karanaima ปีที่แล้ว +15

      @@addyred1861 you look at it with such an outsider perspective, you have no idea just how much people living in our oversees territories feel and identify as french people the exact same way people living in mainland france do, and everyone in the mainland considers them to be french just as much as themselves. you have obviously no clue what the situation is in actuality

    • @sillygooberment
      @sillygooberment ปีที่แล้ว

      Cope. They are colonies. you invaded them.
      cope.

    • @helioslegigantosaure6939
      @helioslegigantosaure6939 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      @@sillygooberment nah you never understand

    • @Nemesis5197
      @Nemesis5197 9 หลายเดือนก่อน

      The thing is, while I don't mind New Caledonia being a part of France, some of the people who voted in NC independence referendums were ethnic French people. So naturally they voted to stay a part of France. The result of the last referendum may have been different if the ethnic French was not allowed to vote.

  • @larrends8297
    @larrends8297 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1433

    My geography teacher : where is france located ???
    Me: EVERYWHERE😌

    • @tavdy79
      @tavdy79 3 ปีที่แล้ว +14

      Ditto the UK. We still have an empire upon which the sun does not set - although given the way politics is going here right now, there won't be a UK to have an empire for all that much longer, so what do you do with an empire when there's no central state to rule it?

    • @sinoroman
      @sinoroman 3 ปีที่แล้ว +29

      close your eyes and pick a random spot on the map, 50/50 chance you might land on france

    • @haroonabassbatt
      @haroonabassbatt 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      😂😂😂

    • @vm6756
      @vm6756 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@zn783 Hahahahahhahahahahaha

    • @lemmino1846
      @lemmino1846 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@tavdy79 the future is now old man

  • @ishanbaichoo7294
    @ishanbaichoo7294 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2447

    I answered a comment, but let me put this here also :
    I am french, and I am Reunionese, so let me expand :
    Réunion island was a paradisiac island with a population of zero until europeans on the route to india found it, and used it as a water-and-food replenishment stop, for about a century. It changed hands, being owned by britain, France, and, if I'm not mistaken, the dutch at some point. Still with no continuous inhabitants, until it was used as a prison by europe. The contemporary population is a mix of descendants of various groups and cultures : the european sugar cane and coffee plantation owners, the slaves that worked in those plantations, from africa, the indian workers who kinda replaced part of the slave workforce when slavery was abolished, people from various islands of the indian ocean, mauritius and the comores archipelago, also a number of people of asian descent and finally new emigrants from metropolitan France.
    Nobody got colonized, because nobody was here, and nobody got brainwashed because we have a very strong local culture. But most of us aren't dumb, and know we are economically much better off with France and the EU subsidizing our crops. We get french education, french healthcare, and are very happy about it. Now, not everything is perfect, the unemployment rate is pretty high, but it is a piece of paradise on earth.
    We elect representatives to the french senate and parliament. We directly elect the french president (which is better than New Yorkers can say about their president - pardon my snarkiness) we have access to the french higher education system and schools with the same status as a parisian. We have french nationality, can travel and work around the EU like metropolitains.
    Now, I understand you don't want to do a very in-depth video. But presenting statements as undeniable facts when they are poorly researched at best and your conclusions with a righteous tone is, at best, very poor taste. Also Reunion island, which you bundled up with places with just scientists and wildlife, has a population of 860 000.

    • @TrafficPartyHatTest
      @TrafficPartyHatTest 3 ปีที่แล้ว +116

      We gotta get Johnny to see this

    • @Agnitlafr
      @Agnitlafr 3 ปีที่แล้ว +107

      The most populated French overseas département... Only place in the world where so many religions coexist in peace, I wish this could inspire Mainland France and other countries in the world.
      (My mother is from Guadeloupe, beautiful archipelago as well 😉)

    • @Ihavebeenwatchingyou
      @Ihavebeenwatchingyou 3 ปีที่แล้ว +158

      That's the difference you are French citizens with equal rights, unlike say the American empires treatment of it's territories like Puerto Rico.

    • @lucasgrey9794
      @lucasgrey9794 3 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      @Mr M EVERYONE has an agenda.

    • @Agnitlafr
      @Agnitlafr 3 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      @@Raisonnance. *certains Arabes (je dirais même certains musulmans vu que tous les terroristes ne sont pas Arabes)

  • @claragraal9762
    @claragraal9762 2 ปีที่แล้ว +115

    I usually love your videos, but this one is sadly full of bias and misinformations...
    As a french person, I can tell you that most, if not all of those territories voted to stay french instead of being independant. The citizens of those places are french and feel french, nobody is forcing them.

    • @JL_Lux
      @JL_Lux 2 ปีที่แล้ว +11

      I mean we know what happens to a former colony if they leave and make you guys upset *cough cough* Haiti

    • @andresjaramillofigueroa3025
      @andresjaramillofigueroa3025 2 ปีที่แล้ว +17

      @@JL_Lux Haiti is the worst case, but also from a different era. Try a more recent case, like Guinea. When Guinea declared independence from France, France burned EVERYTHING on their way out to set an example for what it means to leave the French empire.

    • @Jag3rKhan
      @Jag3rKhan 2 ปีที่แล้ว +18

      @@andresjaramillofigueroa3025 Indeed, as a french citizen, it's sadly funny to see all the comments saying "they choose to stay", "they feel french" or "if they want they can leave".
      It's oversimplifying the different situations those countries are in today and simply forgetting about History.

  • @danguid2753
    @danguid2753 2 ปีที่แล้ว +23

    We feel a touch of bitterness in his words. France does not leave indifferent we love it or hate it. US President Thomas Jefferson said ,Every man has two countries his own and France.

  • @regiltube7932
    @regiltube7932 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1810

    Imagine going to Antarctica and saw a bunch of penguin 🐧 Argue in French

    • @bigchungusdriplord2301
      @bigchungusdriplord2301 3 ปีที่แล้ว +72

      Why did You drop the croissant LE PENGUIN
      BECAUSE I WANT LE BAGUETTE

    • @GuilhemBARRIERE
      @GuilhemBARRIERE 3 ปีที่แล้ว +21

      Je veux une baguette de pain. You have to learn french.

    • @redpandax-wing_8317
      @redpandax-wing_8317 3 ปีที่แล้ว +20

      Me trying to touch a penguin because they are cute.
      The penguin : *Don't tuch my BAGUETTE !!*

    • @bigchungusdriplord2301
      @bigchungusdriplord2301 3 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      @@redpandax-wing_8317 uhm... is that a weird sexual reference or just a normal stereotypy joke

    • @redpandax-wing_8317
      @redpandax-wing_8317 3 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      @@bigchungusdriplord2301 I intented it as a normal stereotype joke but yeah, if you consider the baguette as something else It can be darker.

  • @TerrickMansur
    @TerrickMansur 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2450

    Coming from a Dutch island (Aruba), regardless of history, I must say there comes a lot of benefits to being part of these European countries. You get a European passport, meaning you can work freely in Europe, and you are also protected militarily. If there will ever be a vote on leaving The Netherlands, I would vote to stay in.

    • @alvaroop6307
      @alvaroop6307 3 ปีที่แล้ว +106

      Do you also get financial aid for studying? I lived in Den Haag for a while and basically all of my friends were from Aruba. They were in The Netherlands studying on scholarships granted by the Dutch government.
      Fun fact: one of the guys was from Curaçao and he used to get shit from the boys ALL the time. It was all in good spirits, but so funny to watch!

    • @TerrickMansur
      @TerrickMansur 3 ปีที่แล้ว +387

      @@alvaroop6307 Yep, you get everything someone that was born in the Netherlands gets. There is no distinguishment legally.

    • @snowy3896
      @snowy3896 3 ปีที่แล้ว +303

      Thank you for explaining it. The way he portrayed the situation in the video made it sound like France is still running an exploitative, ruthless empire. It's for everyone's benefit, both of our on the continent, and of everyone away, to stay together. In varietate concordia :)

    • @krateproductions4872
      @krateproductions4872 3 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      Are there any reasons why you would vote to be in?
      And why do some vote for independence (other than historical/cultural reasons)?

    • @AeromaticXD
      @AeromaticXD 3 ปีที่แล้ว +150

      @@snowy3896 it is and was formed under exploitative conditions. The French Empire was formed under racist ideologies and it’s important to understand that; even considering the benefits of a European passport. We must acknowledge WHY a European Passport is strong, and Colonialism helped that.

  • @Tortuex_
    @Tortuex_ ปีที่แล้ว +5

    "the queen of not letting go" okay let's just mention England - as you might have guessed, I'm french

  • @tygret
    @tygret ปีที่แล้ว +26

    9:50 96% voted to stay with France, not 53%

    • @user-ni1dm2oc5v
      @user-ni1dm2oc5v 2 หลายเดือนก่อน

      No one wanted to stay in France!

  • @chrisa3661
    @chrisa3661 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3622

    Fun facts, those pinguins have better social security than US citizens.

  • @worldpoint3279
    @worldpoint3279 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2126

    2:20 "France should have decolonized 6 centuries ago"
    6 centuries ago was 1420 and they did not even start to colonize places let alone decolonize places. I think you meant 6 decades ago.
    Edit: Thank you for so many likes!

    • @gutsjoestar7450
      @gutsjoestar7450 3 ปีที่แล้ว +104

      no, i think he meant what he meant,
      like colonisation shouldn't have happen
      but if you're hsitory nerd
      you'd know it was really crucial for the west's survival

    • @justinh6651
      @justinh6651 3 ปีที่แล้ว +56

      Yeah. Probably 1960 is what ge means.

    • @bredrick.
      @bredrick. 3 ปีที่แล้ว +172

      @@gutsjoestar7450 In order to decolonize, one first has to conolize. Someone who does not work cannot be fired, someone who is nude cannot undress.

    • @Dan-mu5oy
      @Dan-mu5oy 3 ปีที่แล้ว +59

      @@gutsjoestar7450 " like colonisation shouldn't have happen " America would not exist without it!

    • @gutsjoestar7450
      @gutsjoestar7450 3 ปีที่แล้ว +23

      @@Dan-mu5oy yes , true, if there wasn't colonisation
      we wouldn't know the sweet sweet taste of Sugar, potatoes, tomatos, spicies, the raw materials of north america; Hudson bay's fur trading

  • @gengis737
    @gengis737 2 ปีที่แล้ว +28

    Strange to speak of Guiana as a prison colony, when it was a plantation colony most of the time. And to forget about the Kourou spatial base, a strategic asset for European spatial industry (a launch base close to equator).

  • @siddharthsaroj3368
    @siddharthsaroj3368 2 ปีที่แล้ว +16

    It is wrong to say french empire
    France respect all of its citizens.
    Love from India 🇮🇳

  • @SOS_JA
    @SOS_JA 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1431

    Be careful world... Because France🇫🇷 has an entire penguin army

    • @rahhoujihane63
      @rahhoujihane63 3 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      I LOVE THIS

    • @PeterBuvik
      @PeterBuvik 3 ปีที่แล้ว +11

      So does Norway The uk Australia New Zealand Chile and Argentina too plus Norway has a Polar bear army

    • @feister2869
      @feister2869 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      see see we would probably kill those penguins with the country’s smoke and carbon emits before they even can fight

    • @baptistebrigand5882
      @baptistebrigand5882 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@seesee2132 .

    • @Drskopf
      @Drskopf 3 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      Kowalski, private, Ricco and skipper probably will try to sabotage them!!

  • @epicrandomperson1998
    @epicrandomperson1998 3 ปีที่แล้ว +397

    To give a perspective on the way the French think of their overseas holdings. I was in Lille train station just before covid hit, and a drunk man walked up to someone and asked "what country are you from?"
    He replied "France."
    The drunk man said "ah me too! Which part of France?"
    "Guadeloupe."
    "Ah really, Guadeloupe is beautifu!l"
    I find this interaction reveals quite a bit. If somebody from Gibraltar or the Falkland Islands got asked what country they were from, they would reply with "Gibraltar" or the "the Falkland Islands". But to the people from the overseas departments of France, they are not islands colonised by France, the ARE France.
    The best parallel for understanding this is Hawaii. Most people in Hawaii don't think of the place as a colony of the United States, but as a PART of the United States as much as Vermont or Oregon. The French have a similar attitude with Guadeloupe, Martinique, Reunion, French Guiana, etc.

    • @ravendrapratama372
      @ravendrapratama372 3 ปีที่แล้ว +34

      Perhaps, that is why many don't want independence. If this is true, then french has learned a lot of lessons from the Territories it lost, in this, how to treat people in their outer territories. Very good indeed.

    • @fdsdh1
      @fdsdh1 3 ปีที่แล้ว +12

      The British ones are all self governing so it changes the relationship quite a bit.
      The French one seems weird to me as a Jerseyman. We have all our own laws and there is no way the UK could govern us properly, they can't even govern the UK most of the time.

    • @epicrandomperson1998
      @epicrandomperson1998 3 ปีที่แล้ว +22

      @@ravendrapratama372 from my understanding, sentiment for independence is a bit higher in New Caledonia and French Polynesia but very low in the rest of Overseas France, though if somebody else who knows more than me, they can correct me.
      In 2011, Mayotte voted to change from an 'Overseas Community' to a full département of France, equal to Paris or the Dordogne. The referendum passed with 95% support

    • @epicrandomperson1998
      @epicrandomperson1998 3 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      @@fdsdh1 it is true that the difference in status changes perspectives. But I'd also suspect that there is little support for any of the Crown Dependencies or Overseas Territories to become a 'core' part of the UK. They are quite happy being self governing territories with separate identities and laws. Whereas, as mentioned in my previous comment in this thread, Mayotte voted to become a département 9 years ago

    • @daan8052
      @daan8052 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      THIS 👏

  • @ComradeHistorian
    @ComradeHistorian 2 ปีที่แล้ว +42

    Good to see the comments calling you on your bull. Our "empire" consists of solely French citizens who voluntary remain under French rule.

    • @thijsverweij9824
      @thijsverweij9824 ปีที่แล้ว

      His worldview probably doesn't go much farther than "white ppl bad"

    • @adam974fr
      @adam974fr ปีที่แล้ว +1

      J'adore comment tu présente le truc 😂

  • @teddytete.mp3
    @teddytete.mp3 11 หลายเดือนก่อน +6

    As an official Saint Pierre et Miquelon 🇵🇲 expert there's a few things wrong with this video i would like to clarify:
    -The french spoken there has nothing to do with European french even though is not 100% super quebecoise (i would say 85%) , so it's the only EU place where Quebec french is spoken. Even though the majority of the people living there are ethnically Basque and they have that culture there, Basque is not spoken on the archipelago, probably because the French area of the Basque country speak a lot more french than basque, unlike in the Spanish part of the Basque country where Basque is spoken normally.
    -Saint Pierre et Miquelon is an archipelago and oddly enough the big island pointed out in this video is not Saint Pierre, is Miquelon-Langlade, and only 100 people out of the almost 6000 that live on the whole archipelago, live on that big island, the small one, Saint Pierre, where the capital is located is where most people live.
    - You forgot to mention in this video that Saint Pierre et Miquelon is probably one of the few places in the world (not only in Overseas France) where there was no colonization, due to the fact that there was not an original population there when the french arrived. If you take a look at the flag you can see it's made up of a bunch of flags, including The Basque flag, the Norman flag and the Brittany flag. People (mostly fisherman) from those regions of France went on to populate the island and there was nothing there when they came so they started from the bottom!
    -It is a very french place... To a degree. If you Google pictures or whoever visits there will soon realize that the houses are very colorful and are built in a Nordic sort of danish style... Just like the houses in rural areas of Canada, such as Newfoundland. So it's a very interesting mix of both cultures! ☺️

  • @dramasoldier8669
    @dramasoldier8669 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2678

    Just a reminder that most of us are not "locals who live under France's rule" but simply French citizens living in France just as Normans are French citizens living in France.

    • @tonyhawk94
      @tonyhawk94 2 ปีที่แล้ว +346

      Thanks you for stating the truth.
      Merci fréro, force à tous les compatriotes ultra-marins, j'en peux plus de ce genre de vidéo c'est hyper insultant...

    • @chucku00
      @chucku00 2 ปีที่แล้ว +83

      @@nickarjoma5350 The status of the collectivity and the level of autonomy might change but all people who are born in overseas French territories are French citizens nonetheless. IE, all Neo Caledonians are French citizens but not all French people living in New Caledonia are Neo Caledonian citizens (only those who were living in NC since at least Nov. 8 1998, or any adult born after this date whose at least one parent is a New Caledonia citizen).
      Native French Guiana tribes people (Amérindiens de Guyane, around 10,000 persons) are also French citizens, even their territory status is specific.
      French Polynesia people are also French citizens, even if French Polynesia isn't in the Eurozone ( they still use the Franc Pacifique currency (CFP)), just like New Caledonia.

    • @dramasoldier8669
      @dramasoldier8669 2 ปีที่แล้ว +11

      @@nickarjoma5350 You seem to have misunderstood my comment. I never claimed that, and there is a reason I said « most of us »

    • @chucku00
      @chucku00 2 ปีที่แล้ว +15

      @@nickarjoma5350 Wrong : Puerto Rico citizens aren't real US citizens because They can't vote to elect the US president. Nobody claimed in this thread all French overseas territories are governed exactly like metropolitan France, only that every inhabitant who is born is these territories are French citizens with the same prerogatives than people who are born in metropolitan France. And they can vote to elect the French president.

    • @chucku00
      @chucku00 2 ปีที่แล้ว +24

      ​@@nickarjoma5350 "Complete bullshit, PR citizens can absolutely vote, just not in Puerto Rico" so they can't elect the US president when they reside in Puerto Rico. It's not BS, then. You"re answering in bad faith since I gave you the Neo Caledonian example, you knew exactly what I meant.
      And you don't even know there are also regional, senatorial, departmental, cantonal and municipal elections in France. So every French department, region and overseas territory has a governmental representation.
      To the contrary of Puerto Rico with the US parliament :
      "As a result of Puerto Rico's status as a U.S. territory, the citizens of Puerto Rico do not have any voting representation in the U.S. Federal government. Instead of outright representation through Senators and House Representatives, Puerto Rico has one non-voting Resident Commissioner in the House of Representatives."
      There's one bullsh!tter here, but it's not me.

  • @camembertdalembert6323
    @camembertdalembert6323 2 ปีที่แล้ว +859

    "locals who live under France's rule" this is so wrong... they are french and they live in France.

    • @ntvm4749
      @ntvm4749 2 ปีที่แล้ว +9

      not new caledonia we have our own government.

    • @stephanvelines7006
      @stephanvelines7006 2 ปีที่แล้ว +90

      “local Americans who live under US rule” would be something Americans would never say ironically

    • @Spectre_T24
      @Spectre_T24 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      No no no

    • @zure9295
      @zure9295 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Well technically but sometimes the law isn't applied the same way

    • @elisabethbuchet-deak1795
      @elisabethbuchet-deak1795 2 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      Si tu regardes ça du point de vue du colonisateur, ouais

  • @ikarosav
    @ikarosav ปีที่แล้ว

    comin back to my all time fav of your vids here, the format switching joke at 7:00 is just so good. map style, pacing, serious music, close up vo, it's just such a detailed execution of the joke

  • @ruralhobo
    @ruralhobo 2 ปีที่แล้ว +74

    The main reasons France wants to hold on to its overseas possessions are not economic or military at all. Economically they cost more than they bring in. Militarily France is mostly present in Africa and its biggest bases outside the Hexagone are in other countries, not in overseas territories. No, it's prestige, for a large part, and also fondness. And the reasons the local populations want to remain a part of France is because they paid the price in the past, and in the present have mostly benefits in the form of better opportunities and a better passport.

    • @l_l8362
      @l_l8362 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      that youtuber is an incult

    • @adbt7502
      @adbt7502 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@l_l8362 🇲🇫 Putain mais oui, vive la France, Grande et Puissante 🇲🇫

    • @ad3l547
      @ad3l547 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      And also in Indian see there are Comores that wanted independance...The results ? Well, really poor.

    • @GRbobkaina
      @GRbobkaina 9 หลายเดือนก่อน

      Prestige?? All those places makes France with the 2nd most maritime power

  • @alexre5611
    @alexre5611 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1366

    GB : "The sun never sets on the British Empire"
    France :"Hold my beer"

    • @Nuclear241
      @Nuclear241 3 ปีที่แล้ว +80

      France: the sun never sets till today

    • @t.3465
      @t.3465 3 ปีที่แล้ว +62

      Well, the sun technically never sets on the British, French, or American empires

    • @t.3465
      @t.3465 3 ปีที่แล้ว +31

      @@Luca-nu2zg well, if you count American foreign military bases and defacto American vassal regimes around the globe, then, no, the sun doesn’t set on the Empire.

    • @t.3465
      @t.3465 3 ปีที่แล้ว +9

      Because foreign American military bases, I’m pretty sure, are still federal property, and follow US laws, things like that. And the US government has overthrown and installed too many puppet regimes around the world to count. So, America is indeed an empire on which the sun never sets.
      But how long will it last... ?

    • @sircoloniser5454
      @sircoloniser5454 3 ปีที่แล้ว +18

      The sun still doesn’t set on the British empire or its commonwealth

  • @france5074
    @france5074 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1167

    Those territories are the remains of the French Colonial Empire, just like UK, USA, Netherlands...
    But comparated to USA, those territories vote to stay or leave France. For example, French Polynesia is a part of France but still have a lot of autonomy.
    French polynesia have also a King, which makes France the only country in the world to have a President and a King in the country.

    • @prussianowl233
      @prussianowl233 3 ปีที่แล้ว +10

      This

    • @kapudanuderya
      @kapudanuderya 3 ปีที่แล้ว +81

      Still France commited tons of genocides and war crimes.

    • @Mr92Lmc
      @Mr92Lmc 3 ปีที่แล้ว +195

      Tons of genocides it's a bit exaggerated, but yes we did some as every others colonials powers, and it's a shame. Now what should we do next ? This is the true question

    • @wiktoriajanecka675
      @wiktoriajanecka675 3 ปีที่แล้ว +252

      @@kapudanuderya and which country didn't?

    • @shelv9538
      @shelv9538 2 ปีที่แล้ว +32

      @@wiktoriajanecka675 Monaco?

  • @AverytheCubanAmerican
    @AverytheCubanAmerican 2 ปีที่แล้ว +47

    France still has monarchs too! A country well known for its revolution that ousted a monarchy, has monarchs. Because of Wallis and Futuna, an overseas collectivity. Wallis and Futuna is ruled by three kings. The King of Uvea, Alo, and Sigave. Three times the irony
    Also the last "really beautiful island" that you showed at 8:54 is Rarotonga, which is NOT French but rather a part of the Cook Islands (a self-governing country in free association with New Zealand). And those "weird islands" off of Canada is the last remaining vestige of what was once New France. So while it doesn't look like much, they're still very unique.

    • @TheHugolob
      @TheHugolob ปีที่แล้ว +1

      French here didn't know about that ! An other unknown fact about France and Monarchs is that the french president (Macron currently) is the co-prince of Andorre with the king of Catalonia if i remember right

  • @maximedumoussaud9042
    @maximedumoussaud9042 2 ปีที่แล้ว +42

    I think it's a problematic video because of the referential you used. Yes, if you view the french overseas territories through american exceptionalism, it's bad. Some of them have shady pasts, or even semi active independence movements, but their situations is mostly solved, and they're not culturally suppressed anymore. Moreover, I think those independence referendums hinged on the fact that the only positive outcome of independence for a tropical island is to get your own flag ; everything else, you're dependent on the outside. I don't think french people from Réunion or Guadeloupe are alienated by centuries of colonial oversight, just that they think they have more freedom in being a french citizen than in becoming independent and basically risking becoming a failed state. If you want to see a revolting situation, look at the influence of France over its former african colonies (and then at the growing influence of Russia and China, which manage to somehow make the former colonial power with active military presence on the ground look good by comparison).
    Sure, a point could be made about the "American Empire", but I think a better comparison would be if a French youtuber made a video on the systematic political and economical oppression in the US. Not about race or inequality, but about its rigid dogma of "the private sector is better by default" and "Socialism is inherently evil".
    I guess it would sound ludicrous to a US viewer and be a non-issue, but it would make a lot of sense for a french viewer who experienced the 20+ years of public service degradation since the French government started to privatize its public sector. That and the fact that socialist policies (and, gasp, even communist at a local level) were rather effective until the 1980-1990s in France. Using a "french exceptionalist" point of view, you could easily picture the US as evil for things US viewers would see as inherent advantages.

  • @acebalistic1358
    @acebalistic1358 3 ปีที่แล้ว +826

    Fun fact: French Guyana in South America is home to the EU space agency launch pad, so the European Unions space agency only launches craft from South America

    • @tigroujungle6287
      @tigroujungle6287 3 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      civil war in ivoiry coast
      the licorn force of the foreign legion arrived to defend the north part
      a giant production of ? cola ! it was the only production for pepsi cola !
      and the bigest production in world ... 100 per cents fo the pepsico production
      who decide to put a part of the production in indonesia after that
      to make a diversification ...
      when the americans and france defend wattara against bagbo
      the french foreign legions was just defending the most big production of cola in world , for pepsi cola
      americans speaks about what they don t know really
      75 per cents of the cacao is coming from ivoiry coast too ... i saw , the americans and french working together there ...
      first investor ? usa .... wake up ... interest of usa ans france and african west countries ? stop the chinese
      this month , different african west country enter in a economical war with their chinese investors that are ;;;;worst ;;; really worst for them
      the american service stopped since a long times to put the disorder there , now , its the russians
      in mali ? mines ? first investors ? usa
      the 90 s are finish boys wake up

    • @tigroujungle6287
      @tigroujungle6287 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      in Vientiane
      you have a restaurant from belgium on the mekong
      300 hundreds kinds of belgium beers , trappist beers ... french speakers ...
      i command a steack tartar made with french beef from limousin
      the 2 americans couple near me was nearly to vomit
      fresh beef meat uncooked ... it was not their cup of thea hahahaha
      the girl put her hand on her mouth like ho my god
      it was so funny ...
      they are doing french bread , a french delicatessen sooooo good
      english tell me , its the best pigs i never eat hahahaha
      the americans still don t know the french charcuterie is the best in the world and a so important part of the french food
      they have french cows , french beef , charolais ...
      the japanese know very well the beef of bazas near bordeaux is the only for them they can compare with the kobe beef
      its super expensive too ... the french massage and put music for the beef since a long time ...
      french cereals , african threes , brasilian threes ? in lao , they still have portuguese radios to listen the benfica match hahaha
      so funny
      but now they have french charolais limousin and other in japan , portugal , spain , korea ... seoul have more than 350 schools of french cooking
      the asians learn really more fast than the americans , and now the japanese are eating real french cheese when the americans still have no one idea of what are the best cheese of the world

    • @tigroujungle6287
      @tigroujungle6287 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      chinese japanese understood what not understood the americans about french food
      first they are proucing now french fois gras
      they are now eating french cheese , especially japanese
      we deliver cheese in 48 hours in bangkok london hong kong tokyo especially
      the americans are still with their gouda and other shit hahaha
      the asians discovered the french charcuterie
      when the americans still don t know that
      and man , impossible to not speak about that , don t come to compare with the german delicatessen
      i make try french charcuterie to some american friends of the us army they was under the schok
      english friends are addict now
      www.bing.com/images/search?q=charcuterie%20fran%C3%A7aise&qs=n&form=QBIR&sp=-1&pq=charcuterie%20fran%C3%A7ai&sc=3-19&cvid=6B2B2D45C46142DBBDE2263F0C6F2C54&first=1&tsc=ImageBasicHover

    • @tigroujungle6287
      @tigroujungle6287 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      are you stupid
      kourou base is french
      french spatial programm
      you transfert all the americans space satellits here during 20 years during the times you change the american space shuttle
      a lot of american test was made there
      eu ?
      its french not eu , the eu programm is french
      the first french spationaut , jean loup chretian , is working for the nasa , he just took his retirment , he was number 2 of the nasa
      interessant fact , he is the only man in world to have the most high ussr decorations and americans too , and french too
      he is the only man decorated of the most high national medals in ussr and usa i know

    • @tigroujungle6287
      @tigroujungle6287 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      french military base
      look italian space programm there too
      th-cam.com/video/5shz3teGIYQ/w-d-xo.html
      its the first base of launching for the usa during 20 years
      yes its where is the euro space programm
      but its just the french historical base of the french psatial programm
      and its just a french military base
      one of the most protected in the world
      who send your satellits before space x
      but they still sending a lot of american stuff , not only satellits
      the americans are working there ...
      wake up man
      th-cam.com/users/results?search_query=kourour+guyanne+usa+programm

  • @aubinmonteil2336
    @aubinmonteil2336 3 ปีที่แล้ว +691

    I just think your video was very incomplete. First you didn’t mention that those territories elect their local gouvernement and also vote directly for the french president and assembly.
    I also didn’t like your ton of speaking when referring at « they want to » or other thinks like this. Those people have total right to vote, to demonstrate or even to form political parties. They also joy from the same liberty of speech than France metropolitan citizens, something that hasn’t always been liked everywhere.
    You also mention Guyana as a touristic destination which is not right, yes they are tourist but the island are more widely recognised as touristic destinations.
    Lastly, you have talked about lost of this island without mentioning their name such as the Réunion or others.
    You also didn’t mention that every big develop country share a part of Antarctica.
    At the end I just think you tried to tell the story you wanted it to be and not the complex history that lies between France and it’s overseas territories.

    • @dkby
      @dkby 3 ปีที่แล้ว +131

      My thoughts exactly. He seems to be quite narrowminded and hypocrit.

    • @diceman3219
      @diceman3219 3 ปีที่แล้ว +113

      @@dkby he's just American journalist.

    • @diceman3219
      @diceman3219 3 ปีที่แล้ว +10

      @Nouglas Terpine ok so, we should ignore fake news on the biggest video platform on the internet? Is that what you're saying?

    • @yanistouhlali4571
      @yanistouhlali4571 3 ปีที่แล้ว +27

      YES this is a not neutral at all

    • @architmodi3031
      @architmodi3031 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      dude ever heard about a personal perspective?

  • @ThomasLeRuineur
    @ThomasLeRuineur ปีที่แล้ว +6

    The dude is saying that France rules over "those people" wtf, they have right to vote like any other French citizen! And they voted to remain French citizens!

  • @Hugo-kt8hm
    @Hugo-kt8hm 2 ปีที่แล้ว +14

    I'm amazed that you didn't mention the KOUROU spaceport in French Guyana. It is home to the launch of European Spacecrafts via the ESA (European Space Agency), which makes it incredibly valuable not only to France, but to the EU as a whole.

  • @hamzapetridis206
    @hamzapetridis206 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1081

    At least everyone in the “empire” has the citizenship, a French passport and can vote in the elections, go cover the American empire, oops, American territories.
    Also Jon I hope you noticed with the comments that your claim that people in those places live “under the rule” of France is pretty obviously wrong. Since they are French just as much as any of us in the mainland.

    • @reinhart114
      @reinhart114 3 ปีที่แล้ว +93

      He did, you should look at it. Actually he got like a series of "How the USA stole.." whatever your brain can imagine ( including, but not limited to guano, bat shit ).

    • @hamzapetridis206
      @hamzapetridis206 3 ปีที่แล้ว +79

      @@reinhart114 will check it out, but I’ve seen so many mistakes and approximation in this video that I’m pretty sure I’ll have to double check everything he publishes now.

    • @ramola5784
      @ramola5784 3 ปีที่แล้ว +81

      I wonder if getting the French passport balances out the stealing resources and exploitating land.

    • @simonjames9481
      @simonjames9481 3 ปีที่แล้ว +10

      @@hamzapetridis206 Can you name his mistake?

    • @reinhart114
      @reinhart114 3 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      @@hamzapetridis206 I'm not a French aficionado, so I can't deny your claiming, however I can assure he does his best to remain neutral, but when talking about Switzerland 😅( the irony ).

  • @DanielCupakTUR
    @DanielCupakTUR 3 ปีที่แล้ว +293

    Fun facts no one asked for: 1) Saint Pierre and Miquelon was the only thing that was left to France to have from Canada after the Seven year's war 2) Euro currency was first used on Reunion

    • @anne12876
      @anne12876 3 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      Other fun fact, Newfoundland was only part of Canada in 1949. Before that, it was a British dominion.

    • @robertwisla1669
      @robertwisla1669 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      Its also one of only a few places where people can go to without a passport (or at least Canadians as far as I know)

    • @anne12876
      @anne12876 3 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      @@robertwisla1669 You don't need a passport if you're Canadian and you're arriving from Canada. But you need a valid governmental ID. Anyone else need a passport, even French, since you have to pass through Canada to get there.
      While fact checking, I tumbled on this : www.newfoundlandlabrador.com/trip-ideas/travel-stories/5-really-cool-things-about-saint-pierre-and-miquelon

    • @chaffee5792
      @chaffee5792 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      someone has also watched newest the grand tour special

    • @abteen05
      @abteen05 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      My father taught English in St. Pierre while studying French at Memorial University of Newfoundland in the 70s and 80s

  • @hannahboebanna
    @hannahboebanna 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    i really loved the dialogue between you and you as your voiceover. nicely done 🤙🏼

  • @kylefm1893
    @kylefm1893 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    You're so good at this brother, amazing.

  • @peachezprogramming
    @peachezprogramming 3 ปีที่แล้ว +588

    France: nukes islands 200 times
    US: that’s cute

    • @MsTribus
      @MsTribus 3 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      Yeah but France is like one state big.

    • @rehatbir.
      @rehatbir. 3 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      @@MsTribus yeah it's about the size of Texas.

    • @antoinerasata3863
      @antoinerasata3863 3 ปีที่แล้ว +19

      the US did worse in the Pacific:
      www.latimes.com/projects/marshall-islands-nuclear-testing-sea-level-rise/

    • @akrammaad7609
      @akrammaad7609 3 ปีที่แล้ว +26

      They nuked the Algerian desert too, near to zones where there were algerian habitants. The test is called "Gerboise Bleue" it's 3 times more powerful then the US nakasaki.
      Untill this day, there are people who are born with damaged DNA and with all of kind slickness and paralyzed parts or missformed.
      It's a subject that nobody adresses.

    • @dragonlord1225
      @dragonlord1225 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@rehatbir. What does that have to do with anything? France is one State...

  •  2 ปีที่แล้ว +857

    Difficult topic. I'm French with many relatives living in La Martinique. Most of these territories have different status and ties with mainland France (we say, France métropolitaine not France métropole). Beside the fact of being French, one strong argument against any independent movement is the fear of becoming a new Haiti since most of these territories aren't self sustainable. Some of the islands next to Martinique and Guadeloupe are independent and really poor.
    One good example that maybe should have been discussed is Mayotte/Comore. The archipelago has voted for its independence in the 70's except one of its island: Mayotte. So the Comores except Mayotte became independent. However now Mayotte has to deal with a large influx of illegal immigrants from the rest of the Comores. To summarise: 1) most of us feel French and ARE French. Then 2) we know what will happen if we decide to be independent.

    • @ryubix5724
      @ryubix5724 2 ปีที่แล้ว +87

      Et le pire c'est que les Comores tentent de récupérer Mayotte, et refusent de comprendre que ce n'est pas la France, mais Mayotte qui ne veut pas! x)

    • @MyMelody5
      @MyMelody5 2 ปีที่แล้ว +15

      But isn’t Guadeloupe and Martinique still poor even if it’s a part of France and wow, you guys really have no confidence. You automatically think you will fail without even trying.

    • @ryubix5724
      @ryubix5724 2 ปีที่แล้ว +83

      @@MyMelody5 Haiti tried and see where they are now. Multiple African countries are now poorer than during French control. Also, independence also means lack of protection against local powers that would likes to expand themselves. If New Caledonia or French Polynesia leaves us they will likely suffers from either USA, Japan, Australia or China's influence or even control.

    •  2 ปีที่แล้ว +105

      @@MyMelody5 They are not "poor" they are poorer than some area in mainland France but not really poor. There living standards are pretty much equal. You maybe need to know that the entire economy is "funded" by mainland France, everything is imported. But then, the most important thing above all, what do you want us to "try" to go for independance if we don't want?

    • @Hodoss
      @Hodoss 2 ปีที่แล้ว +118

      @@MyMelody5 Many think Brexit was a terrible idea, well the same applies here.
      They have French and EU citizenship, they can go to mainland France and EU whenever they want.
      They have good living standards compared to surrounding "independent" countries (often unofficially under the thumb of another power).
      They have social security, universal healthcare and so on.
      I grew up in French Guiana, same story. Illegal immigrants from Haiti and Brazil seeking refuge on French territory. You tell them about "independence" they get upset, they didn’t come to be yet in another failing or exploitative country. Some wish their own country or region would be annexed by France.
      I know it’s counter-intuitive to the politically correct idea of "colonisation bad", but that’s the realities of our time,

  • @evanslemont8999
    @evanslemont8999 9 หลายเดือนก่อน +5

    This is a good video . France has good positioning all over the world still.

  • @alexm9903
    @alexm9903 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    Vive la France 🇫🇷 !!!

  • @badrtaib730
    @badrtaib730 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1211

    "France still has an empire"
    Africans: You don't say !

    • @l.k5244
      @l.k5244 3 ปีที่แล้ว +86

      Neocolonialism is enabled by corrupt African politicians though.

    • @JusdoinstuF
      @JusdoinstuF 3 ปีที่แล้ว +115

      the french exploitation of west africa needs to end now. and needs more attention.

    • @rauhaan.
      @rauhaan. 3 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      most real comment ever

    • @joelGi
      @joelGi 3 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      @@l.k5244 no it was law to back all foreign reserves in france and pay colonial tax and use the french lira until very recently regardless of the leaders

    • @damienpeladan481
      @damienpeladan481 3 ปีที่แล้ว +31

      @Hamid Hussein yes, Chirac said this once. However, this is not really supported by the facts, especially not today. Without African ressources, France would take a huge economical blow, no doubt, but it would never be enough to turn it into a third world country. It would probably be more akin to what a no deal Brexit will do to the British economy (something like a 5% recession according to economists).

  • @guguss3804
    @guguss3804 3 ปีที่แล้ว +978

    When you say that a lot of people in these territories want independence. This is actually not true, or at least it really depends where. The only french overseas territories with a really strong independence movement are New Caledonia and French Polynesia. And even in those 2, the independence movements are still a minority as you explained with the last vote in New Caledonia being 53% pro France. Other overseas territories with inhabitants are all hugely in favor of being part of France. The last vote in Mayotte (a french island in the Indian Ocean) in 2009 for example, 95% voted to become fully part of France. Most of these french islands in the Indian Ocean have nothing to do with french military activity by the way. Most are uninhabited, it's just that France regularly sends a ship to patrol the area and protect the waters from illegal fishing for example. The islands near Antartica have no military use too. They are just home to scientific missions. In fact the whole territory and huge part of its territorial waters are a protected natural reserve.
    I think you are mixing a lot of unique situations into a bag of "France's empire of evil". The story behind these overseas territories is way more diverse and complex than that. These territories are still part of France because its inhabitants actually decided to remain part of France and they all have the same rights as any french citizen. I get it that in your view, France should not have these territories because it conquered them. But for a lot of them, there was actually nobody there at the time and french people just settled there. For others, yes they were conquered, but that does not mean France should leave them today if the people living there do not want to and feel french. Otherwise, every country could just let go every territory it once conquered. The question is not "Should France give up these territories since it conquered them ?", it is "Do the people living in these territories want to be part of France ?", so far the answer is yes.

    • @guguss3804
      @guguss3804 3 ปีที่แล้ว +75

      @@ts8404 What does that have to do with french overseas territories ?

    • @naner9443
      @naner9443 3 ปีที่แล้ว +84

      It should also be noted that the modalities of participation in the referendum on the independence of New Caledonia are very specific.
      The Kanaks (mostly independentists), represent only 39% of the New Caledonian population. This is why it was decided to exclude a large part of the people who have arrived in New Caledonia in the last twenty years, mostly French nationals from mainland France who were opposed to independence.
      These modalities, contrary to ordinary French electoral law, explain this result of "only" 53% of votes refusing independance.
      At least 15,000 New Caledonian residents have thus been excluded from the right to vote, for an issue as fundamental as the independence of the territory where they live, and to which they are attached.

    • @theh5099
      @theh5099 3 ปีที่แล้ว +51

      @@naner9443 The model has been put this way during the negotiation for the Nouméa accord, as a way to ensure that mainland France wouldn't try and dump a shitton of mainland immigrants on the island as a way to swing the vote.
      As such, it's only the inhabitants who have been on the island since the 80's IIRC that can vote.

    • @meggy6300
      @meggy6300 3 ปีที่แล้ว +19

      merci ! We needeed some comments to qualify the subject !

    • @h0wdyy
      @h0wdyy 3 ปีที่แล้ว +21

      Google don't know everything...unfortunately for some salty American

  • @randallshughart
    @randallshughart ปีที่แล้ว +3

    If you ever have the chance to travel to all these french so called colonies, you would see how happy those people are to be part of France, and how much it helps them to grow their communities and sustain their culture and way of life. Dig deeper mate.

  • @oraange
    @oraange 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Actually I'm french , your video made me more interested to visit its overseas territories. Thanks again for the great video, you rock it!

  • @adithyanarayanrs
    @adithyanarayanrs 3 ปีที่แล้ว +234

    2:21 He says "decolonised 6 centuries ago". Doesn't he mean 6 decades?

    • @PHlophe
      @PHlophe 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      Aaditia, no even 6 decades yet

    • @fid29801
      @fid29801 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      No.

    • @simetric6551
      @simetric6551 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      Yes

    • @yashsalwan7680
      @yashsalwan7680 3 ปีที่แล้ว +13

      Bro as an Indian, I legit had the same thought lmaoo

    • @jasoncola6071
      @jasoncola6071 3 ปีที่แล้ว +19

      Nah, he just wanted France to remain a bunch of decentralized medieval duchies.

  • @jscorpio1987
    @jscorpio1987 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2289

    The fact that he appears to consider this an earth shattering discovery is hilarious.

    • @zied6456
      @zied6456 3 ปีที่แล้ว +296

      He was like "Oh wow France have overseas territories!"

    • @ScorpionBear_AG
      @ScorpionBear_AG 3 ปีที่แล้ว +364

      "Brutal, greedy, racist" lmao welcome to the real world France ain't the first, aint the last, wasn't even the worst 😂

    • @IMG343
      @IMG343 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@ScorpionBear_AG Aa

    • @jazzyjune5809
      @jazzyjune5809 3 ปีที่แล้ว +19

      I never knew this

    • @uriNATE14
      @uriNATE14 3 ปีที่แล้ว +122

      A lot of us Americans have been taught that only America is an evil colonialist empire.

  • @darkhumour.9218
    @darkhumour.9218 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    WW3 started
    China, USA, UK, INDIA, JAPAN, RUSSIA : We got the biggest Army!
    French Penguins : *Bonjour!*

    • @hicetnuncmonamour
      @hicetnuncmonamour 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      it's nearly 3 AM, you made my night ! ;-)

    • @francoise9056
      @francoise9056 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@hicetnuncmonamour He made me laugh too

    • @francoise9056
      @francoise9056 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      🐧🐧🤣🤣

  • @mexicanbeautyqueen7988
    @mexicanbeautyqueen7988 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    Love ur videos ur super knowledgeable and u make it kind of fun thank u

  • @jeroenl8352
    @jeroenl8352 3 ปีที่แล้ว +790

    Actually the reason France still has French Guyana is hecause the ESA (European Space Agency) has a space center there. Because of it' close location to the equator it is cheaper and easier to launch rockets here instead of mainland Europe. When looking for a place to build the ESA space center the EU (at that time the EC) it would be either Suriname (a Dutch former colony) or French Guyana. In the end they didn't chose for Suriname because it had a large independence movement and French Guyana didn't.

    • @lowwastehighmelanin
      @lowwastehighmelanin 3 ปีที่แล้ว +9

      Whoa that's wild

    • @David12scht
      @David12scht 3 ปีที่แล้ว +28

      Because you were talking about the EU you had me confused there for a while, because the EU wasn't formed until Suriname was already independent. That said, the launch site was built before independence, so you're correct on that part

    • @David12scht
      @David12scht 3 ปีที่แล้ว +48

      Acutally I just looked it up and ESA is seperate from the EU and has several non-eu members

    • @andrewcding
      @andrewcding 3 ปีที่แล้ว +31

      I made a video on my channel about this detailing all the reasons why Europe's Spaceport is in French Guiana, some reasons include angular velocity and its position in relation to the Atlantic.
      I would appreciate it you could check it out!

    • @arthurdiserbeau1736
      @arthurdiserbeau1736 3 ปีที่แล้ว +9

      It's one of the reason, it's not the only one for sure

  • @CNHFTC2010
    @CNHFTC2010 3 ปีที่แล้ว +511

    There are two significant reasons why New Caledonia voted against independence.
    1. New Caledonia has a large population (about 30% or so of the total) of ethnic French who are descendants of prisoners and other colonists. They have remained strongly loyal to the motherland.
    2. The French welfare state. Once ties to France are cut, so is all that money.

    • @jerryjerraldy6440
      @jerryjerraldy6440 3 ปีที่แล้ว +109

      exactly! and why would they want to loose their french/ european citizenship? a lot of them are going to france to study and work were they have way more opportunities.

    • @mr.anderson2241
      @mr.anderson2241 3 ปีที่แล้ว +98

      @@jerryjerraldy6440 that’s true, as harsh as the French may have been to the locals in the past nowadays there’s more benefits to staying than leaving

    • @lhb2108
      @lhb2108 3 ปีที่แล้ว +37

      Yep. My country was a France's colony. I wish we was still a part of France.

    • @shyamashyam391
      @shyamashyam391 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@lhb2108 which one?

    • @damienpeladan481
      @damienpeladan481 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@lhb2108 which one is that ?

  • @maq1492
    @maq1492 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    When I watch your videos, someting pushes me to study international relations.
    THANK YOU johny

  • @ericcccccable
    @ericcccccable 2 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    You have a very simplistic view of the French overseas territories. They are not colonized peoples, but French people, with the same rights as the French people in mainland France. Why do you want them to ask for their independence? To fall into extreme poverty like Haiti or the Comoros? So don't be so sure of yourself, because you still have a lot to learn instead of exposing your mistaken view of the world.

  • @sebinvarghese4909
    @sebinvarghese4909 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2213

    *Every time I see this guy, I feel so motivated to study better and research deeper, then I procrastinate it for his next video* 😵😂

    • @cprow0997
      @cprow0997 3 ปีที่แล้ว +26

      I watch this guy before I do homework, it weirdly helps

    • @milankuruvilla9199
      @milankuruvilla9199 3 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      സെബിൻ ജോണി ഹാർരിസ് ഫാൻ ആണോ

    • @chaitanyadandale4569
      @chaitanyadandale4569 3 ปีที่แล้ว +9

      Ya man his accountable excitement was such a motivation for me to continue japanese but now I'm just watching shot on iphone memes and I want to know who is Linda h

    • @sebinvarghese4909
      @sebinvarghese4909 3 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      @@milankuruvilla9199 😍😍😍 ആണല്ലോ😂😂😂 മലയാളത്തിൽ Type ചെയ്തത് പൊളിച്ച്😎😎

    • @itshenrique1753
      @itshenrique1753 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Me too bro, me too

  • @mateoenjalbert9494
    @mateoenjalbert9494 3 ปีที่แล้ว +476

    This tension you are talking about is not quite the same in all the French island. For example Réunion island never claimed for independence and nobody there is thinking about it. (I lived there for 10 years)

    • @maazkalim
      @maazkalim 3 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      Because Portuguese were there just only about less than a 100 years at max SO WHY WOULD THEY?
      It was originally uninhabited!

    • @noem7157
      @noem7157 3 ปีที่แล้ว +67

      Non mais faut pas chercher les gens sont très heureux dans ces îles et on est très heureux d’avoir c’est personne faisant partie de la France , les américains toujours obligé de bâcher tout le monde alors qu’il sont loin d’être parfait

    • @Raisonnance.
      @Raisonnance. 3 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      Certaines îles sont absolument inutiles à la France. Saint Martin, Sainte Barthélemy, Mayotte.
      Des poids lourds financiers qui servent à rien.
      Pour les autres, certes c'est du vestige des empires mais ces îles sont bien bien contentes d'être sous protection française.
      Quand on voit le résultat des îles des Caraïbes pauvres on se dit que la Guadeloupe et la Martinique sont bien contents.

    • @baptistebrigand5882
      @baptistebrigand5882 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@Raisonnance. .

    • @noem7157
      @noem7157 3 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      @maria de la vega del sol si de Nouvelle Calédonie 🇳🇨 et je n’ai jamais dit que la France et la métropole était parfaite . Chacun sont point de vue , je voulais nuancer par rapport au point de vu du mec de la vidéo il est américain à qu’elle moment il sait ce qu’il ce passe en France et plus particulièrement dans les îles

  • @jtanderson479
    @jtanderson479 ปีที่แล้ว

    This guy makes learning things so cool

  • @plooh5316
    @plooh5316 2 ปีที่แล้ว +8

    Watched the first minute and was surprised that you didn't know that French overseas territories existed and had never learnt about any of them in Secondary school world geography.

  • @Hexstream
    @Hexstream 3 ปีที่แล้ว +308

    New Caledonia decides to stay with France.
    France: "C'est nickel!"

    • @sanguinarium1614
      @sanguinarium1614 3 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      Si tu pouvais éviter ....

    • @Hexstream
      @Hexstream 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@sanguinarium1614 C'est un fait accompli. ;P

    • @whyzbt
      @whyzbt 3 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      This comment should have a lot more likes :D

    • @samrevlej9331
      @samrevlej9331 2 ปีที่แล้ว +24

      For those of you who don't understand, "C'est nickel" is an expression in French which roughly means "Fantastic". However, nickel, the mineral, is also found in large quantity in New Caledonia, which is being mined for that purpose.

    • @legiopatrianostra4702
      @legiopatrianostra4702 2 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      😂 😂 😂 perfect one ☝🏼

  • @didiRlebon
    @didiRlebon 3 ปีที่แล้ว +315

    Hi, french guy here from La réunion in the indian ocean !
    We as french are proud of ours storie, we know we have been ruled througth the colonisation. But this time is over and cultur of ours is still alive. French gouvernement put efforts to keep it, and now it's not like we are colonised but a part of the french culture and his futur in history.

    • @infinityxtanishq8712
      @infinityxtanishq8712 3 ปีที่แล้ว +17

      Soooo you’re basically colonised and brainwashed.....got it

    • @MasteIsIllmatic
      @MasteIsIllmatic 3 ปีที่แล้ว +48

      @@infinityxtanishq8712 Bruh everybody is colonized and brainwashed. You think your current culture was the culture of your ancestors? Your ancestors have been beaten, tortured and raped for thousands of years. Each time being forced to change their culture to the one that conquered them.

    • @deluser7
      @deluser7 3 ปีที่แล้ว +13

      @@infinityxtanishq8712 oh no ! did the europeans really go and conquer a native empire that was enslaving its neighbors, practicing human sacrifice and canibalism, teach them to read and write, convert them to Christianity and give them modern ideas of sanitation? did they really DO that? how DARE THEY ! i feel so sorry for you guys.

    • @sivmatt
      @sivmatt 3 ปีที่แล้ว +28

      @@infinityxtanishq8712 how can we explain to you that the island was empty when the french arrived ?
      colonised and brainwashed by who ? xD

    • @ishanbaichoo7294
      @ishanbaichoo7294 3 ปีที่แล้ว +30

      @@infinityxtanishq8712 I am french, and I am reunionese, so let me expand :
      Réunion island was a paradisiac island with a population of zero until europeans on the route to india found it, and used it as a water-and-food replenishment stop, for about a century. It changed hands, being owned by britain, France, and, if I'm not mistaken, the dutch at some point. Still with no continuous inhabitants, until it was used as a prison by europe. The contemporary population is a mix of descendants of various groups and cultures : the european sugar cane and coffee plantation owners, the slaves that worked in those plantations, from africa, the indian workers who kinda replaced part of the slave workforce when slavery was abolished, people from various islands of the indian ocean, mauritius and the comores archipelago, also a number of people of asian descent and finally new emigrants from metropolitan France.
      Nobody got colonized, because nobody was here, and nobody got brainwashed because we have a very strong local culture. But most of us aren't dumb, and know we are economically much better off with France and the EU subsidizing our crops. We get french education, french healthcare, and are very happy about it. Now, not everything is perfect, the unemployment rate is pretty high, but it is a piece of paradise on earth.

  • @vickomen3697
    @vickomen3697 ปีที่แล้ว

    Johnny Harris, THANK YOU! I know hard work, determination and passion when I see it. You have it all.

  • @_LianaHardy
    @_LianaHardy 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    That’s one cool crest! This island is a Dreamland indeed!

  • @heimlershistory
    @heimlershistory 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3333

    Johnny, well done on this one. Your ability to show us what you mean rather than just tell us is freshly astonishing every time. And what’s more, you’re able to enchant a normally dull subject like geography in a way that makes our hearts beat fast. I’m very grateful for you...

    • @bhsiao9352
      @bhsiao9352 3 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      Hi heimler :o

    • @simonkimberly6956
      @simonkimberly6956 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Hey heimler.

    • @kay6096
      @kay6096 3 ปีที่แล้ว +43

      Geography is not dull. I'm triggered. 😂

    • @Whatsayoutuber
      @Whatsayoutuber 3 ปีที่แล้ว +15

      whoever is teaching geography dully is teaching it wrong! 😋

    • @michaeltnk1135
      @michaeltnk1135 3 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      My history teacher always uses your videos

  • @Beyonder1987
    @Beyonder1987 3 ปีที่แล้ว +468

    All of these French owned islands have full representation and acess to free health care and income support as ordinarily french people. So non of them want to leave.

    • @niepowaznyczlowiek
      @niepowaznyczlowiek 3 ปีที่แล้ว +56

      Makes sense. What will independence give them? A new flag?

    • @mtk77621
      @mtk77621 3 ปีที่แล้ว +37

      Meanwhile in America they still have territories without representation...

    • @enzodimasi8248
      @enzodimasi8248 3 ปีที่แล้ว +45

      @@mtk77621 yup. 3.5 million Americans who can’t vote. It’s a national disgrace that not enough Americans talk about.

    • @johndoe-cd9vt
      @johndoe-cd9vt 3 ปีที่แล้ว +37

      Don't break the dreams of ppl who like to bash France...

    • @oscartheamazing6745
      @oscartheamazing6745 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@enzodimasi8248 People in the territories can still vote, the territories just don't get electoral votes.

  • @mowilatiko
    @mowilatiko 3 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Thanks for learning me things about my country that I never heard before

  • @prashantdahiya711
    @prashantdahiya711 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    You are incredible data analyst and a journalist, and a story teller, you are just awesome.

  • @lordcanard4428
    @lordcanard4428 3 ปีที่แล้ว +88

    I am french, my father was in the navy and got assigned to a ship (l'albatross) in Reunion Island so I grew up there, from living on a DOM (Département d'outre mer) I have to say that you got a lot of facts wrong in this video. First of all the were colonies indeed but became an integral part of france as they are recognised as either Department or Territory the difference is just wether it has a bit more independance or not. The DOM-TOM have their own local government and can vote for the presidential elections. you really pushed on the idea of "not letting go" our territories as if we are still in the colonial era so let me tell you this : most Islands that we still hold on didn't have any native population when we arrived there. In case of Reunion Island it was french mutineers who where the first to live on the island so no reason to abandon it. About the military presence in our waters well, my father as i said was in the navy, most of his operations were pirate hunting in the indian ocean and humanitarian missions. as of the TAAF (the antartic islands) we do not really exploit these islands, in fact the military there is exclusively there to prevent illegal fisherman to fish species into extinction and to help scientists by bringing them food and supplies from Reunion Island. So yeah thats a long text, but i can't stand people having any clue whatsoever trying to tell their story on this complex subject

  • @sivmatt
    @sivmatt 3 ปีที่แล้ว +411

    Hi, i'm from Reunion Island (FR)
    just wanted to say this island was unhabited when the french discovered it around 1600 and colonized it around 1700 (lots of piracy back then in the indian ocean , it's famous for that)
    so there is no decolonization needed there , since it's ... well ... us
    the way france colonized this island in the first place is that they sent prisoneers and slaves to rot there. but as they saw that they were actually doing pretty well cause this island is plenty ressourcefull , they decided to live there as well . many reunioneers from now are decendents from slaves there and became french when slavery was ended .
    also wanted to point your little mistake cause reunion island is also a department like guadeloupe and martinique with the full french administration.
    we're basically like corsica but further away. and even if yes many reunionian child were send to france , they were french since at least
    200 years... they got through the end of the french monarchy , the island changed name a few times ... also , slavery , not as an excuse but as a context.
    not saying that it was fine cause they fucking separated famillies and again slavery was still a thing back then if i remember ... but ye i just want to make sure there is no mistakes about this.
    over the years , african , asian , indian , and many other communities migrated to this island and now we all live together and it's a pretty good exemple of tolerance and harmony amongst plenty of origins. that's not called Reunion Island for nothing.
    it is a wonderful place and i'm very glad to live there.

    • @maazkalim
      @maazkalim 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Wrong about the “discovery” part!

    • @maazkalim
      @maazkalim 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      *P.S.* I'm upset that "@Creeping Tornado" had to delete their comment.

    • @alinhatnean6438
      @alinhatnean6438 3 ปีที่แล้ว +9

      @@maazkalim Yea, Portugal was first there but they abandoned tho. So France took it

    • @dominictoretto9645
      @dominictoretto9645 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      @@alinhatnean6438 but before Portugal Arabs were there. It was largely uninhabited though and only the French populated it.

    • @alinhatnean6438
      @alinhatnean6438 3 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      @@dominictoretto9645 There are no records about arabs populating Reunion before the portugese

  • @french_government
    @french_government 10 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    Great Video Young Man 😉

  • @teddytete.mp3
    @teddytete.mp3 11 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    We don't talk enough about Saint Pierre et Miquelon 🇵🇲😭

  • @julesthouzet4725
    @julesthouzet4725 3 ปีที่แล้ว +216

    France is the country which have the most time zones in the world

    • @vanessaroper3028
      @vanessaroper3028 3 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      Interesting way of seeing it

    • @a-z6806
      @a-z6806 3 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      France has 13 different time zones
      With its overseas territories, while China is just one big time zone

    • @foxpickaxe
      @foxpickaxe 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      but remember
      The sun never sets on british empire

  • @billypilgrim1
    @billypilgrim1 3 ปีที่แล้ว +245

    Johnny, I can't believe you missed out on telling France's crazy conflict with Mexico over the island of Clipperton, the story of that island alone deserves a video of its own.

    • @uriels4097
      @uriels4097 3 ปีที่แล้ว +17

      Yes and how the Marine National regulary travel to the island just to take down all the flags and rise the French flag, it's like a dance

    • @constantinekorkousky3363
      @constantinekorkousky3363 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Is that the one with Maximilian?

    • @billypilgrim1
      @billypilgrim1 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@constantinekorkousky3363 no, it happened at the beginning of the 20th century and it was solely a diplomatic conflict that went through a very long arbitration process.

    • @billypilgrim1
      @billypilgrim1 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@uriels4097 yes! Crazy stuff

    • @johnnyharris
      @johnnyharris  3 ปีที่แล้ว +54

      Oh man. I almost went way into it. Gotta cut it off somewhere. But yeah it’s wild.

  • @le_souverainiste_francais7420
    @le_souverainiste_francais7420 2 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    Vive la France 🇨🇵
    Vive l'Empire Coloniale Français 🇨🇵 🇩🇿 🇲🇦 🇹🇳 🇲🇬 🇲🇱 🇲🇷 🇳🇪 🇹🇩 🇨🇫 🇨🇲 🇹🇬 🇧🇯 🇧🇫 🇨🇬 🇬🇦 🇸🇳 🇬🇳 🇻🇳 🇱🇦 🇰🇭
    Vive la France D'Outre-Mers 🇨🇵 🇬🇫 🇳🇨 🇹🇫 🇼🇫

    • @Haroldkd
      @Haroldkd 2 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      Conséquence : immigration massive

    • @dims7672
      @dims7672 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Ptdrr va dormir

    • @neutralboi1984
      @neutralboi1984 ปีที่แล้ว

      Germany

  • @FCUS100
    @FCUS100 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    A fresh glass of Johnny Harris's tears, thank you

  • @cahilljoe
    @cahilljoe 3 ปีที่แล้ว +600

    "The European Union actually looks like THIS..."
    *cries in British when the UK doesn't turn blue*

    • @cainraby166
      @cainraby166 3 ปีที่แล้ว +35

      *celebrates in British

    • @lordmiraak8991
      @lordmiraak8991 3 ปีที่แล้ว +78

      @@cainraby166 after that shitshow i dont think a majority is celebrating.

    • @ilFrancotti
      @ilFrancotti 3 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      They are going to have fun with Canzuk, they say.

    • @fazeelzubair2787
      @fazeelzubair2787 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      British monarch got independence from European colony

    • @the0ne809
      @the0ne809 3 ปีที่แล้ว +20

      The UK is about to impose sanctions against itself. Thanks to brexiteers!

  • @presidentbobo1284
    @presidentbobo1284 3 ปีที่แล้ว +605

    Hello, I am French and I come from Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean. So as not to go into details, and without any nastiness, you are talking strictly nonsense. A Martinican, Guadeloupean, Polynesian, Reunionese, or Guyanese will be proud of his origins and feel perfectly integrated into the hexagon. I find it particularly shameful this kind of video that discriminates against France as a "colonial empire that still exists". We are part of the European Union and this has brought us incredible economic development. In 1970, at the Réunion there were no buses or tractors for the sugar cane revolts. In short, for all foreigners who see this comment, don't trust this video and you are welcome in the territory of the eldest daughter of the church, in metropolitan France or elsewhere 😊

    • @gutemberguefelix7108
      @gutemberguefelix7108 3 ปีที่แล้ว +113

      Americans get crazy if they are not dictating the rules.

    • @tristanlotivio9501
      @tristanlotivio9501 3 ปีที่แล้ว +20

      @@gutemberguefelix7108 TRUE. I think the big thing is we project because of our territory’s mistreatment in the form of Puerto Rico.

    • @benjaminlamey3591
      @benjaminlamey3591 3 ปีที่แล้ว +15

      same for other parts of metropolitan france. I come from Alsace, I am alsacian and french and european, my mother languages are both my local language and french, I am french + so to say, and for our fellow citizens in other area of the world it´s the same.

    • @tejasmisra9115
      @tejasmisra9115 3 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      Are you of European descent?

    • @edipires15
      @edipires15 3 ปีที่แล้ว +9

      @@tejasmisra9115 what does that have to do with anything?

  • @FF-ch9nr
    @FF-ch9nr 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Everybody gangsta until the penguins start speaking french

  • @memestagram4028
    @memestagram4028 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    1:37 the two New Zealands frightens me

  • @wdlaw4204
    @wdlaw4204 3 ปีที่แล้ว +563

    If an island is uninhabited and the French got there first aren't they technically the natives of that island?

    • @Daniel-jm7ts
      @Daniel-jm7ts 3 ปีที่แล้ว +122

      Yes they are. Also it wouldn't make sense anyway for those to be independent, their economies and populations are too small

    • @EEGmaghrabi
      @EEGmaghrabi 3 ปีที่แล้ว +22

      @Harley Ed It were the Dutch who came to australia first

    • @kamanashiskar9203
      @kamanashiskar9203 3 ปีที่แล้ว +11

      @@EEGmaghrabi It was the Polynesian natives who were first then it was the Dutch, then finally the British.

    • @wdhyrhrj4414
      @wdhyrhrj4414 3 ปีที่แล้ว +18

      @@kamanashiskar9203 they're not polynesians. The indigenous people of australia are the closest to the melanesians. Also after the indigenous inhabited the continent, the Austronesians (Bugis) explored the area (especially the northern part) and established fishing villages.

    • @rory6984
      @rory6984 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      @Angelo River anyone could rock up at any.time with a boat and a big gun and just do whatever they want. They're better off taking their chances with France since even by threatening secession they can force france to give them more subsidies, greater autonomy and more representation. Unless they find a huge amount of oil they're probably better off with france and even then they might still be.

  • @MrAlkylation
    @MrAlkylation 3 ปีที่แล้ว +356

    It's really a wrong point of view to talk about an Empire. It's more or less like thinking that Scotland is a colony of England in the United Kingdom...
    Please do some investigations.
    France proposed to all those countries to become independent many times with votes of people citizens. They all wanted to stay in France because there are more advantages.
    Just being honnest is not so hard....

    • @miss42310
      @miss42310 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Technically it is ..England did the same thing to Scotland and where ever they went.. forced them to give up their language traditions culture and clothing and be more like the English.. they want to be a country

    • @MrAlkylation
      @MrAlkylation 3 ปีที่แล้ว +48

      @@miss42310 In France they are not forced to stay with France, France propose them to leave anytime they want but nobody want to leave. So to talk about colony in that situation is not honnest.
      We cannot judge a situtation today with the historical context 400 years ago.
      I don't mind about England by the way.

    • @maiw4348
      @maiw4348 2 ปีที่แล้ว +9

      @@miss42310 that’s not exactly true. Scotland’s never been subjugated state, the Gaelic language was outlawed after the Jacobean revolt, but the monarchy in charge of that decision was of Scottish decent rather than English. Scotland was already involved in colonialism before the union; voted to become part of the union and then participated and benefited from the empire. There was then a referendum in 2014, during which they voted to stay in the union. So it’s not like this whole things been forced on them.

    • @maiw4348
      @maiw4348 2 ปีที่แล้ว +11

      @@miss42310 I’ve actually just looked this up and it appears the Scottish parliament led by James 6th of Scotland outlawed Gaelic and other highlander customs, because it saw them as barbarian and unchristian. So not sure why you are blaming the English for that one.

    • @melvincretois8734
      @melvincretois8734 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      @@miss42310 go to vacations in French polynesia , you'll understand why you can't compare France and Britain at this point

  • @cecilelpt5808
    @cecilelpt5808 2 ปีที่แล้ว +19

    Seeing Americans judge other territories for not wanting independance, just because they did centuries ago piss me off.
    It's not colonialism anymore! Listening to him, you almost believe slavery is still present in France. He judge their decisions but completly look past the fact that those people have more freedom than a lot of americans, they have a better health care system, protection from not only the mainland but also the EU, an europeen passport allowing them to study, live, travel all over europe.
    A lot of school are only present in Metropolitan france because there is not enough inhabitant in those islands to open specific school that can maintain themselve financialy, and the mainland help them to be able to settle in metropolitain France so that they can afford acces to higher education. That's WAY more than american propose to american student after high school.
    For example, i did podiatry studies, and in my classes, we had a girl from Tahiti, one from Martinique, one from Guadeloupe, one from the Reunion, and not one person, with no exeption, considered them less french.
    Of course it's not all butterflies and some territories have issues with French government, but a lot of metropolitan french too, so...only making them more French

    • @JL_Lux
      @JL_Lux 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      I love how all the Europeans get so defensive about this. These are colonies. Like Hawaii and PR and Guam is to the US. Your just mad because you can be self righteous

    • @alessandro.calzavara
      @alessandro.calzavara ปีที่แล้ว +3

      You are right, more often than not Americans from all the political spectrum act like they know what's best for the rest of the world. Dear Americans, you're not the only ones who matters

  • @tenka2894
    @tenka2894 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    Interesting this video came in my recommendation. I was just (10minutes ago) going over map book with Mt 5 year old discussing these very same territories. What a coincidence

  • @youisstupid2586
    @youisstupid2586 3 ปีที่แล้ว +329

    France still has an empire.
    Africa: yes we know.

    • @kedarjoshi518
      @kedarjoshi518 3 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      gosh.....ahahaha...aww im going to hell.

    • @hmedkom1794
      @hmedkom1794 3 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      @Koolkid are there still people that don't know about what france did to algeria/morocco/syria/lebanon??

    • @inaworldfulloftrashbagsbet2023
      @inaworldfulloftrashbagsbet2023 3 ปีที่แล้ว +19

      @@hmedkom1794 Algerian here, and let me tell you that the 132 years of French colonialism left aftereffects that still ripples in Algeria both economically and culturally

    • @jasimzoobi2340
      @jasimzoobi2340 3 ปีที่แล้ว +9

      As someone who currently lives in a French West African country, i can tell you that the stuff France does to Africa is horrendous

    • @clovemartin
      @clovemartin 3 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      @@jasimzoobi2340 At least they gave you guys electricity, modern medicine, running water, modern education and a chance to compete in the industrialized world. You should be blaming your African leaders for the failures and not France.

  • @kizo
    @kizo 3 ปีที่แล้ว +280

    A few facts:
    -The EU uses French Guyana to launch rockets under the ESA because of it being close to the equator
    -France possess the largest exclusive economic zone (#2 is the US and #3 is australia, which shows the fact that the country doesn't have to be the biggest in the world to have the biggest eez)

    • @Rekkamoa76
      @Rekkamoa76 2 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      The ESA isn't a EU agency mate, it's merely an intergovernmental institution

    • @karanaima
      @karanaima ปีที่แล้ว +2

      I've always thought that france was second but you made me realize it's first lmao

    • @shpeeva
      @shpeeva 9 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      @@Rekkamoa76 ok, EUSPA also uses Kourou

  • @patrickcloutier6801
    @patrickcloutier6801 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    The French Caribbean island of Martinique, was a subject of the Humphrey Bogart movie, "Martinique".

    • @modo1896
      @modo1896 ปีที่แล้ว

      "To Have and Have Not"

  • @ademmansar3692
    @ademmansar3692 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    You forgot Wallis and Futuna in the Pacific Ocean. It is also part of France

  • @Alexandre-qz4uu
    @Alexandre-qz4uu 3 ปีที่แล้ว +269

    You forgot to speak about "Mayotte" and "Wallis et Futuna" which are significantly populated island and interesting territories to talk about.

    • @Yakodindar
      @Yakodindar 3 ปีที่แล้ว +47

      he also forgot to speak about La Réunion that has almost 1/3 of the french overseas population

    • @tristan177771
      @tristan177771 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@Yakodindar not true..

    • @Hugo-cn9no
      @Hugo-cn9no 3 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      @@tristan177771 of course true check datas, la réunion was 800 000 pop. 2 years ago and is going by 2025 to reach 1 millionn

    • @MadManchou
      @MadManchou 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@Yakodindar mdrr Yanis. Bonne année :p

    • @loickpelaud8392
      @loickpelaud8392 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Wayne is right La Réunion is 1/3 of french oversea citizen

  • @meneither3834
    @meneither3834 3 ปีที่แล้ว +374

    Eh ? French's having oversees lands is controversial now ? I thought this was going to be about french presence in Africa.
    The oversea's territories of France are there from their own volitions, most of them have had referendum to leave or not, many of them were actual empty lands when french came to them. People living there have french (and European) citizenship and vote in french elections.
    All in all it's very comparable to Hawaii.
    The only possibly controversial one is new Caledonia but they got an Independance referendum coming in a while.

    • @AlexC-ou4ju
      @AlexC-ou4ju 3 ปีที่แล้ว +55

      and new caledonia have had three referendum in 25 years, It's not like France is keeping them against their will.

    • @samrevlej9331
      @samrevlej9331 2 ปีที่แล้ว +14

      @@AlexC-ou4ju To be completely honest (I'm French), if you take into account the fact that the native Kanak population of the archipelago has become a minority due to past illnesses and massacres, not to mention confinement to reservations in the northern half of the island in the 19th century, and the European Caldoches have now become a still growing majority due to immigration, you can't really say native Caledonians want to stay in France. Add to that the fact that the Kanaks were given lesser education, were expropriated from much of their lands and were kept away from the economic opportunities of the mining industry, and you can understand why there was (and still is to some degree) such a desire for independence from them.
      I'm not passing judgement or saying one side is evil and the other is good, I'm just relaying an analysis of the situation I've come across.

    • @AlexC-ou4ju
      @AlexC-ou4ju 2 ปีที่แล้ว +18

      @@samrevlej9331 I'm also French and I think this may be a little bit of an overly cynical view my friend, ultimately the referendums are only being voted on by 'natives', people who have lived there since 1998. According to wiki 'Vote restriction restricts the voting power of recent inhabitants-derogatively known as Zoreilles-and enlarges the voting power of native Kanaks' , This was a demand from the FLNKS ( independentists), that was agreed to by the French authorities. Suggesting that the votes in the last two referendms were done by natives as per FLNKS requests. Also the date of the last referendum was also pushed back by the french government at the request of the independence movement (presumably so that people wouldnt feel compelled to vote to stay with France just because they felt they would need it's Coronavirus support then and there). Futhermore the Noumea accords specified 'only' three more referenda 2018,2020 and 2022 but another one has already been agreed on top of the for this year 2021. I really don't think it can be argued that France is holding them against their will and instead rather France is giving new caledonia every opportunity to leave should they choose to.

    • @samrevlej9331
      @samrevlej9331 2 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      @@AlexC-ou4ju All right. Honestly, I don't think I have enough information on the subject to argue convincingly about it.

    • @AlexC-ou4ju
      @AlexC-ou4ju 2 ปีที่แล้ว +13

      @@samrevlej9331 I respect that, more people should be able to admit to things they don't know about more regularly ( myself definitely included).Otherwise it leads to polarisation. I hope you have a lovely rest of the week.

  • @logic5168
    @logic5168 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    So, it's not weird to say I'm a Latino French of South America.

  • @veronicalogotheti5416
    @veronicalogotheti5416 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    Thank you
    I like your sofa and decoration

  • @laurentdrozin812
    @laurentdrozin812 3 ปีที่แล้ว +710

    Whaaaat, he said almost nothing about Réunion! Almost a million French live there!

    • @valac7820
      @valac7820 3 ปีที่แล้ว +115

      La logique des anglo-saxons 🤷‍♂️

    • @Kookanoodles
      @Kookanoodles 3 ปีที่แล้ว +211

      Réunion doesn't fit the narrative because it wasn't colonized from anyone, there were no natives. Better to just gloss over it.

    • @rangv733
      @rangv733 3 ปีที่แล้ว +14

      @@Kookanoodles Kinda true I guess

    • @xenotypos
      @xenotypos 3 ปีที่แล้ว +55

      @@Kookanoodles He seemed to consider it the same as the uninhabited islands in Antartica, as if it was just some random places for scientific purpose. Reunion island is the most populated French oversee territory... They sure didn't keep it just to have some "presence" in the area, but for far more reasons.

    • @LegoBoy0132
      @LegoBoy0132 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Just watch the grand tour special for more info on that :))

  • @scygnius
    @scygnius 3 ปีที่แล้ว +372

    I’m assuming by “centuries” you meant to say “decades”

    • @Groaznic
      @Groaznic 3 ปีที่แล้ว +20

      Not sure he understands the difference.

    • @tyvandm
      @tyvandm 3 ปีที่แล้ว +22

      yeah... 6 centuries ago France had only recently finished the 100 years war; the hexagon had only just taken shape..

    • @vsaucepuppet697
      @vsaucepuppet697 3 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      yeah, I heard that part and I was like... what????

    • @unoriginal9299
      @unoriginal9299 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @Who taught You To Hate Yourself your grammar my man

    • @Nosirt
      @Nosirt 3 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      He is making a joke about how colonialism shouldn’t have happened. But given that the collective IQ of this comment section is 2 digit, I didn’t expect most to understand the joke

  • @cob6648
    @cob6648 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    Im french canadian and my ancestors arrived in the 1600s I been able to retraced and really want to visit it sometime .

  • @HyButchan
    @HyButchan 2 ปีที่แล้ว +16

    France brings peace and stability to these places, not to mention social benefits like universal health care. If you look at these territories and then look at the independent countries neighbouring them, you will see the difference in wealth, GDP, income, living standards etc. France protects them, provides financial support and gives them autonomy to rule themselves. All France expects in return is for the people to stay officially French but of course they are New Caledonians first, Guianians first, Tahitians first and French second. There may be a time for independence for some of these territories in the future; it is up to the people to decide but staying with France for the time being in these uncertain times economically is, in my opinion, the wiser of the two options. I've been to Reunion island and it is probably the most developed, least corrupt and has the the highest standard of living of all of Africa (if you consider it Africa). It is the most ethnically diverse place I've ever been to where racist is unthinkable. It is a model of ethnic integration.