@@seronymus punishing the Netherlands for being neutral is not reasonable? It would be like punishing Switzerland or Sweden for being neutral. It will set a horrible precedence that you need to pick a side, and demanding land from the Netherlands would just alienate and antagonize the Netherlands in the future. Doing so would've probably had the Dutch joining Germany in WW2 instead.
@@ninonysoft6865 nah I mean firstly consider the butterfly effect, there would have likely been no WW2 at all, God knows. Plus I mainly meant Belgium getting land from Germany. The Entente should have just made a smaller Kingdom of the Germans.
fun fact: a 110 years later these parts are still speaking German and don't give a toss about the Flemish vs French speaking struggles, basically making them the happiest out of all the Belgians
Yep they are called "the last Belgians" bc they were final to join, but also bc they are said to be the last ones to fully believe in the concept of a Belgian indentity, at is means they don't have to be Germans...
@@SubNL96They still speak German and I doubt they would ever switch to Flemish or French, also their ancestral history and culture is mostly with Germany not the Low Countries. They are only Belgians because of current politics.
@@AnasSaahirHuq-or9bv Correct. I've had an ex that lived near Eupen, both German speaking parents. If they wanted to do something special, usually they would go to Germany. Especially when it came to things like the movies or leisure stuff. They also spoke a bit of Dutch and French. And from Eupen you are "close" to Maastricht, Liege and Köln. Most German speaking Belgians go to Germany at least once during the Christmas holidays. Especially since the Köln X-mass market is world famous. Their nationality is Belgian, but their culture very much feels German. Just like the other groups in Belgium, they all share a nationality, but have their own separate Culture, language, tv stations, etc. Since the German part is so small, many to most German speakers tune into the German TV stations. That might be part of the explanation why the German speakers aren't as politically involved as they could be. Also it's demographical. There are not even 80 000 German speakers in Belgium on a total of 11 000 000 people. For people not knowing this. The German community in Belgium has their own government and a decent degree of autonomy. And if you look at their political parties, you can clearly see that it doesn't line up with the rest of Belgium.
Fun fact: The Belgian city of Eupen is where the parliament for Belgium‘s German-speaking population is located. The cultural region of Ostbelgien or East Belgium is the name given to the areas where this community is concentrated.
Fun fact II: Eupen is a town with less than 20,000 inhabitans. If it belonged to Germany today it would probably be a small town in Germany hardly anyone would know or care about.
I’ve went to Eupen for a music festival, worth the visit. If you go into a shop the workers will speak either French or German, if you respond with a dumb look they will switch to the other language in a half second.
@@jrcat2258 Why would they? It wouldn't contribute much to Germany and has already been Belgian for over 100 years. Seems like a lot of bureaucratic hassle for some town.
2:19 Belgium getting Rwanda (and Burundi) led to them establishing a minority Tutsi ruling class over the Hutu majority, which was one factor causing hatred against the Tutsi which culminated in the 1994 genocide. Great job Belgium, managing African colonies splendidly as usual.
Don't forget that that genocide wouldn't have been possible (or at least not nearly as destructive) without the direct military aid the French were giving to the Hutu.☠️ maybe it's the language
I had this subject at my exam two weeks earlier. It's REALLY MORE COMPLICATED THAN THAT, and all the thing between Hutu and Tutsi begins even BEFORE the arrival of germans and belgians (Belgians didn't help it though, they had an european vision about the people, not an african vision, really complicated topic...) it's a MESS. I wanted to cried during the exam because of the three documents that we have to analyse were so complicated 😭😭
@@CCCPRusRus Key word: Nikola, the King of Montenegro, had been protesting for several years after the end of the war that the Serbs usurped his throne. But sure, go ahead and ignore all the irregularities, legal or othwerise, with Montenegro's integration within Yugoslavia. Looking at your user name, I shouldn't be reall surprised, though.
@@bluecontroller6857 he is straight up lying it was cuz of wafles remember when randam belgian said we need rhineland because wafles were ocupied and stolen into germany by germans
There was a famous song by Georgian-Russian singer-songwriter Bulat Okudzhava about a war where they won and took pryaniki (honey gingerbread cookies) as loot. Doesn't sound too implausible for Belgium :D
Good video ideas: - Did Belgium really have no government in 2010? - Why does Namibia have a panhandle? - Did pharaohs really put curses on their graves? - Why does Venezuela claim half of Guyana? - Why did France keep French Guiana, New Caledonia, and Réunion? - How did America’s adversaries react to 9/11? - Why does India own the Andaman Islands? - Why did Germany support Ethiopia in 1935? - How did Spain survive the 1848 Revolutions? - Why did Montenegro declare war on Japan in 1904? - Why do Nebraska and Maine split their votes? - Why was Portugal allowed to join NATO in 1949 despite not being democratic? - Why are Rwanda and Mozambique in the Commonwealth?
"Why does India own the Andaman Islands?" The wildest part of that is Andaman Islands were Danish colony until 1868. And they were Austrian colony for 6 years because they thought Denmark abandoned these islands.
@@cynicat74 apparently, Montenegro declared war on Japan in 1904 as a sign of support for Russia. While there was no official fighting, a Montenegrin killed a Japanese samurai in a fight
- Did Belgium really have no government in 2010? We indeed did not for over a year, however the system states that the old government stays in place until a new one is officially formed and accepted by the king (this is 99.99% ceremonial but wathever). The old government is called 'government of current affairs" until the new one is sworn in. SO no new laws, higher appointments, trade deals, etc. for 400+ days indeed.....Many of us remember it as the smoothest time the country ever ran
You should make teritorial gains on maps in a different colour, not just the before and after picture in the same. Sometimes its really hard to see what new one percent got added to a complex shape. Nice video overall though :)
The reason why there were thoughts about Belgium annexing Luxembourg after the war was not "to punish Luxembourg for being invaded" but because Grand Duchess Marie Adelaide of Luxembourg was accused of collaborating with Germany during the war (and eventually had to abdicate mainly for that reason). Ultimately Belgium found little to no support among its allies, UK and France, for its grand designs so they had to be abandoned.
1:10 They wanted the mouth of the Scheldt river for a reason. It commands the entrance to the port of Antwerp. But as the estuary is held by the Netherlands, it was closed at the outset of the war to respect neutrality, thus hurting the Belgian effort. Also the Dutch were suspected of trying to suffocate Antwerp to make more business for Rotterdam.
Also we allowed German troops to pass through Limburg. Hence why I kinda get why Belgium was angry and why in the reverse Kaiserreich in hoi4 (I forgot the name, anyway it is if the Entente winning alt history of Kaiserreich) Belgium actually holds those lands
Also we allowed German troops to pass through Limburg. Hence why I kinda get why Belgium was angry and why in the reverse Kaiserreich in hoi4 (I forgot the name, anyway it is if the Entente winning alt history of Kaiserreich) Belgium actually holds those lands
Another reason the Entente wasn't so keen on giving Belgium any land was because they didn't fight with the Entente in their large (and also very deadly) offensives. Albert I, Belgium's king, only wanted his soldiers to fight to protect Belgium, but not the other Entente members. This was because he kept holding on to the idea that Belgium must stay neutral, even when 90% of it was occupied. During the war Belgium was seen as a poor and defenseless country that was being raped by the Germans, garnering lots of sympathy abroad. But after the war had ended the Entente leaders weren't so happy Belgium didn't really help them. If the ming had send his men to help in the great offensivea he probably had more sway in gaining some of the claimed lands, but the Belgian army would have suffered much greater losses. The reason Belgium claimed so much land was in the hopes that they would at least get the bare minimum they actually wanted. Asking a lot and getting a little was better then asking little and getting nothing. Also, a little fun fact. Belgium claimed the region of Palestine after the partition of the Ottoman Empire because Godfrey of Bouillon was born in a place that is now Belgium. Godfrey was the first crusader to be the ruler of the kingdom of Jerusalem, and therefore some in the Belgian government thought that they had a claim to the region.
Funny as they gave German speaking South-Tyrol to Italy. Even the South-Tyrolians did not wanted that. And the Dutch part against the coast is called Zeeuws-Vlaanderen. Dutch speaking part of Belgium is called Vlaanderen. Also to get to the Antwerp harbor from the North-sea, you need to go over the Westerschelde and both the land on the north and south side of that (sort of river), is within the Netherlands. So basicly the Netherlands could block acces to the Antwerp Harbor.
Well, that was Italy's war goal, just like German speaking Elsaß was France's. Self determination was only for neutral countries. Remember in WW1 every side was the bad guy ;)
@@Carewolf The US wanted that countries were about, who spoke the same language, so it was not what the US initially wanted. But it was done as the current border with high mountains was easier to defend (Brennerpas).
@@arjenh7214 Not that simple. If you look in County, yes it was part of County Flanders. But as County it became part of the Low Countries (Bourgondische Nederlanden), then that became the Habsburgse Nederlanden. Then it became the Spanish Netherlands. Then the Dutch Revolt started and the 80 year war for independence.
@@KGI_KlikoNL Yeah and? It was part of the county of Flanders and thus, as the Habsburgs hold the title of the county, personal Habsburgian lands. Habsburgian Netherlands, Bourgondian Netherlands or Spanish Netherlands (as they refer to non-nation states and are just geographical connotations) has nothing to do with the Netherlands after the 80 year war (first nationstate) except for the name. It has been a sham ever since the Dutch claimed the geographical title of "netherlands" for their own nationstate....which was a logical thing to do, as the territory of the Dutch republic had been a marginalized area without no real economical or historical meaning until the late 16th century. Using the term "Netherlands" made it easy to claim some fictional ancestory and succes connected to the geographical term, succes which was mostly due to the achievements of what is now Northern France and Flanders. Ironical all territories outside of the nationstate.
A rare flag error! At 0:30, the stars are in the pattern from the 1908-1912 flag, prior to the admission of New Mexico and Arizona, i.e. with only 46 states/stars.
Earlier this year I went to Eastern Belgium for a day whilst on a Europe trip and specifically went to go see the German speaking part. Took a bit of a scenic route; a train up from Luxembourg to St. Vith, then a bus to Malmedy, and then another bus from Malmedy to Verviers, then the train from Verviers to Helgerath in the German speaking part. I then walked from Helgerath to Kelmis and did the tour of Neutral Moresnet before walking up the Vaalserberg (the tripoint of Limburg, Belgium, and Germany) and descending down the Dutch side. The countryside of Eastern Belgium was stunningly beautiful. All the chapels and cathedrals I saw had plaques to the men who died in the first world war (and second for the more firmly Belgian parts), on both sides. The fields and paths were beautiful, Kelmis was beautiful... It was somewhat refreshing to be in German speaking part because its so small and also I don't speak French. I wanted to do the railcar ride on the Belgian railroad that cuts off Germany but unfortunately it was closed for the season. It's a rural area, but if you like history, and like deep travel, I highly recommend.
1:10 Perhaps interesting to add, at the treaty of London in 1839, the definitive borders were established, and Belgium renounced its claims on Zeeuws-Vlaanderen, in exchange for receiving the western half of the duchy of Luxembourg. The historical claim they renounced was from when Zeeuws-Vlaanderen was part of the duchy Vlaanderen, before the 80 years war. Ultimately, the Belgian plans to annex Zeeuws-Vlaanderen led to the rise of anti-annexation groups, and the writing of the Zeeuws-Vlaamish anthem. Nowadays, the conflict might seem resolved. Or is it? In recent decades Belgian farmers started buying up farmland, at this time 25% of the farmland is owned by Belgians. And every year, over 600 Belgians (without even doing their inburgeringscursus!) invade Zeeuws-Vlaanderen to buy a house. Perhaps they are executing a nefarious plan to retake Zeeuws-Vlaanderen by buying it polder by polder. Who knows?
Before watching the video my assumption is that the reason is- Their King was a good man and knew that too much punishment wouldn't solve anything. Edit- boy was I wrong.
Your assumption is right though. Albert I didnt want Germany being punished so harschly as it was with the versailles treaty. And thats why the allies punished Belgium by giving it little to nothing. The bickering of Belgian politicians (still going strong on that front till this day) will have been a factor aswell but Albert forgiving nature was a thorn in the side of those greedy politicians. If they had just listened to Albert I. Round 2 would have never happened and the western world would be in a better state as it is now.
@@BerstalinIncredible how the king of the Belgians, who actually fought on the battlefield, resented the germans less than the politicians who sat pretty doing nothing useful the entire war
0:44 The Flemings wanted this part of France as much if not more than the Walloons. It borders the modern Province of West-Vlaanderen, was part of the historical County of Flanders and (albeit decreasingly) Flemish speaking.
@@edmerc92 I don’t disagree. I was only pointing out it was the Flemish politicians, as much & likely more than the Walloon politicians, advocating for it.
@@mevrouw28 Yes, but why does that matter? Flemish isn't a language it's a dialect. I have nothing against the Flemish and their culture, I love their culture even. But by that logic all the dialects in the Netherlands would be considered a language aswell, which would mean that nobody even speaks Dutch.
I believe the channel The Tim Traveller explored the strange rail line border (the Vennbahnweg, which no longer has rails) with Belgium in the middle and Germany surrounding both sides of it.
In hindsight he did Belgium a big favor. There is a certain fella that 20 years later would've had a big problem with Belgium having a very large German population...
@@FragLord he still did even with the minor bits of land we gained. In WW1 one of the largest universities in the country was also burnt down, along with some of the largest cities, in retribution for Belgium not instantly surrendering. That same university, after years of fighting for permission, added a small line of text to the building to remember the tragedy. Can you guess who had the whole thing vandalised a few years later...?
@@AmyElnah I don't care, your stupid story isn't relevant. Also you have not presented any evidence to support your outrageous claim. The war wasn't as bad for Belgium as Belgium pretended it to be. Historians researching German Army records have discovered 101 "major" incidents-where ten or more civilians were killed-with a total of 4,421 executed. 4400 executions are 4400 executions too many. But let's not pretend this was a holocaust. You are complaining about a fucking library and a fucking university. When the entire northern border of France and many major cities, industries were reduced to rubble and a total wasteland... On top of that France lost 16% of it's male population, Germany 12% , Italy 10.5% , UK 8%. Belgium 2.3%... Of course Belgium got way less, it was overrun, hardly defended itself and the Belgian king making the most outrageous and ridiculous claims after the war made everybody realize what Belgium is. A JOKE
I went to the German part of Belgium for football, during the break they weren't even talking about the Belgian league on the speakers but about the Bundesliga... I'd just give those parts back to Germany
Another problem would have been that a bigger German ethnic minority in Belgium could have further destabilized their socitey which already struggled with its Flemish and French speakers' in-fighting
The problen would more so have been German Nationalists. Belgium has the perfect framework for incorporating a new language group into their country, at the cost of National government functionality
Sally Marks, An Innocent Abroad: Belgium at The Paris Peace Conference (1981) is an excellent source on Belgian haplessness. Incidentally, i know this is short but I think thete should be some mention of Neutral Moresnet. Its SUCH a cool name.
Reminder that if you have the time, you should definitely put the highest resolution you can and pause to read every newspaper in History Matters videos.
But that was kinda funny, because the Netherlands probably could've gotten cleves and Frisia due them both being either Frisian or Dutch (don't know if cleves was Dutch in 1900, but it was in 1850)
I have to admit: "make me Pope" was pretty funny. There are Simpsonesque secondary and tertiary gags (e.g. "please visit only with your own prisoner") that enhance the experience considerably, thank you.
Slight correction: The region of The Netherlands that you say they had no historical claim over. Is known as Sealandic Flanders and used to be a part of Flanders, which is the Dutch part of Belgium. The dialect and culture is also more closely aligned with Flanders than Holland
At least "Holland" - for those bears just wearing shirts, or the Netherlands - for those in a suit, has a solid explanation for it's existance. Belgium is just a bug that hasn't been patched.
The Politician thing also counts for Germany, people nowadays always say if Germany won ww1, then they would get this territory and this and that, but in the end not everyone was like this, like Wilhelm Ⅱ that didn't pursuit any territorial expansions in Europe, while some German politicians thought differently.
One thing important to notice is that Luxembourg at the time was in the middle of a HUGE controversy about the grand-duchess' role (Maria-Adelaide) in the german occupation, since she was of german ascendance herself and had authoritarian political views which made Luxemburg a potential candidate for german statehood and a unofficial collaborator of Germany, which turned into both an internal crisis in which the government asked for Maria-Adelaide's resignation, and an international crisis in which in spite of the refusal for said resignation, both Belgium and France claimed that because of its collaborationnist stance Luxembourg should be punished by annexation The main reason why this didn't happened is because in the end Belgium, France and Britain all agreed that it was overhaul better for them to have Luxembourg independant as a sort of neutral spot
Great video. A few remarks: 1:08. This part of the Netherlands actually has a strong connection with Belgium and there is historical claim. It was part of Flanders until 1600 and it still has strong ties with Flanders/Belgium. It is still called Zeeuws-Vlaanderen in both Belgium and the Netherlands. 0:45: This part of France was also part of Flanders until around 1700. The region is still called Frans-Vlaanderen in Belgium and 'Flandres' in France. It is a rich region, which forms an economic metropol with the adjacent Belgian cities of Kortrijk and Tournai and it has the second biggest city of France (Lille) after Paris. The cities in this part of France much resemble Flemish medieval city infrastructure with a belfry in the center. Until recently some Flemish was still spoken there. These suggestions weren't crazy from a historical, cultural or economic perspective. The only crazy thing is that France was an ally and the Netherlands were neutral and helped our refugees. Fun fact: 2:29. This railway is now gone and replaced with a not economically important cycletrack but we're still not giving it back, lol.
1:10 there's actually a great little story there. The higlighted part of the Netherlands is called 'Zeeuws-Vlaanderen'. It is not connected by land to the Netherlands and fully connected to Flanders, but it is still Dutch. This is because when Belgium became independent in 1830, the Dutch had a big incentive to keep control of both banks of the Schelde river. That way, in the event of future wars, the Dutch would still have the power to easily blockade the port of Antwerp, which is the major economic hub in Belgium. So the Belgians are dependent on the Netherlands for sea access. No wonder the Belgians wanted to claim it, to break this iron grip. As the negotiations for the Treaty of Versailles were going on, the Dutch minister of Foreign affairs caught wind of the secret Belgian claim to the lands of Zeeuws-Vlaanderen. He jumped on the first train to France to convince the Allies personally of the fact that these were Dutch people and Dutch lands, and always had been. Giving them to Belgium after Dutch neutrality would be madness. He won the argument so Zeeuws-Vlaanderen, while not connected to the Netherlands by land, remains Dutch to this day.
Trivia note: The U.S. game show The Amazing Race has been on for 36 Seasons, & yet they have been to Belgium for just 2 of them; Season 19 & Season 30.
Silesia mostly remained German after WWI. Danzig became a Free City because Poland should gain access to a Baltic Sea port not under control of a foreign power. The plebicite of Eupen was in fact rigged. The parts of West Prussia which fell to Poland after WWI were mostly settled by Polish or Kashubians.
You mean when the channel used to do 10-minute history videos? Those were great! But the reality is that the UA-cam video community is populated by ADHD people who won't click on anything that long.
Denmark after the entente/allies push to give them more land they don't want: "guys stop" Belgium after the entente wants to give them a fair share: "T H I S I S N O T F A I R"
In hindsight he did Belgium a big favor. There is a certain fella that 20 years later would've had a big problem with Belgium having a very large German population...
In hindsight he did Belgium a big favor. There is a certain fella that 20 years later would've had a big problem with Belgium having a very large German population...
Fun part is. Baarle-Hertog enclaves within the Netherlands, where the only part of Belgium, not occupied by Germans during World War I. As Dutch did not allow crossing their land.
That bit of Dutch territory in the southwest that they wanted is called Zeeuws-Vlaanderen, Zeelandic Flanders. It was also part of the county of Flanders until the Dutch conquered it in the Eighty Years War. Militarily important as controlling the coast means protecting the entrance to the port of Antwerpen. So they had some more valid reasons to want it than just for the fun of it.
What were those Belgian politicians thinking when they demanded land from France, their co-belligerent? Did they really think that was ever going to happen? I have heard that asking for too much is a tactic, so then you can haggle until settling in what you actually wanted from the start, but this example is waaay too bonkers to be the case.
To be honest all the claims are completely valid. The part of France they claimed is historically flemish and all the town names and last names are Flemish, then the german part they got was historically Belgian before being annexed by Prussia, and the dutch/Luxembourg parts were also Belgian but were stolen by the Brits in 1839 to give them to the Netherlands
Yes it is and I am rather happy that we did. It is a beautiful area and I am happy that it is part of our country. As far as I am aware, the people there also consider themselves Belgian (more than a lot of people in the rest of the country )
@@rodjones117 I can't speak for all of them. But many of them consider themselves more Belgians then German. I think it is even the region with the highest Pro Belgian sentiment. I do seem to remember a study about it some time ago, but can't remember where it was from. An important thing that might influence their more Belgian sentiment is that this region suffered a lot during WWll. They were forced into German service as Hitler considered them German and the region had a lot of fighting. So it might be that this played into them identifying more with Belgium than Germany after the war. Besides that, for somethings they have a separate gevernment just for the German speaking regions (hard to explain, Belgian politics is a mess), so they might feel more represented in Belgium than what they would in Germany. No idea how much of this is correct, we need somebody from the German speaking parts to confirm or deny it.
@@jorenbosmans8065 Fair comment, but I see a lot of French langauge roadsigns overwritten in German - "Republique Federal Allemagne" rewritten as "Bundesrepublic Deutschland", and as a German speaker, trust me they all speak German.
0:20 I love that the newspaper actually has readable text this time. I hope Dave's son liked his new pointy helmet.
The newspapers usually have readable text.
And are *well* worth reading!
I hadn't read it until I saw this comment. Omg, it was hilarious.
Dave? Even Dave?
Today’s weather: look outside, idiot.
This one was unusually unreadable for me (((
Least insane Belgian politicians:
We still have them with 6 government today now 💀
Idk in hindsight they seemed pretty reasonable
MAKE ME POPE!
@@seronymus punishing the Netherlands for being neutral is not reasonable? It would be like punishing Switzerland or Sweden for being neutral. It will set a horrible precedence that you need to pick a side, and demanding land from the Netherlands would just alienate and antagonize the Netherlands in the future. Doing so would've probably had the Dutch joining Germany in WW2 instead.
@@ninonysoft6865 nah I mean firstly consider the butterfly effect, there would have likely been no WW2 at all, God knows. Plus I mainly meant Belgium getting land from Germany. The Entente should have just made a smaller Kingdom of the Germans.
That newspaper at 0:20 is some top quality journalism
there is a typo (France will get the place if lost -> it lost) but definitely great stuff
If only it were readable.
@@2LinksHow can you be sure that's a mistake?
@@Ggdivhjkjl how would it not be when they're referring to Alsace-Lorraine? genuinely curious how it could be anything but a typo
@@rosiefay7283 Maybe you need to get some better glasses, mate. Or not watch it on a 5 inch screen.
Belgian politicians couldn't agree in what they want. Some things really never change.
You’re right about that one
And the more they change the more they stay the same.
Ikr
😭
I have a belgian mate I used to mock about him being without a government longer than Iraq after the invasion...
fun fact: a 110 years later these parts are still speaking German and don't give a toss about the Flemish vs French speaking struggles, basically making them the happiest out of all the Belgians
Yep they are called "the last Belgians" bc they were final to join, but also bc they are said to be the last ones to fully believe in the concept of a Belgian indentity, at is means they don't have to be Germans...
@@SubNL96 Interesting, didn't know that !
@@SubNL96They still speak German and I doubt they would ever switch to Flemish or French, also their ancestral history and culture is mostly with Germany not the Low Countries. They are only Belgians because of current politics.
@@AnasSaahirHuq-or9bv Correct. I've had an ex that lived near Eupen, both German speaking parents. If they wanted to do something special, usually they would go to Germany. Especially when it came to things like the movies or leisure stuff. They also spoke a bit of Dutch and French. And from Eupen you are "close" to Maastricht, Liege and Köln. Most German speaking Belgians go to Germany at least once during the Christmas holidays. Especially since the Köln X-mass market is world famous.
Their nationality is Belgian, but their culture very much feels German. Just like the other groups in Belgium, they all share a nationality, but have their own separate Culture, language, tv stations, etc. Since the German part is so small, many to most German speakers tune into the German TV stations. That might be part of the explanation why the German speakers aren't as politically involved as they could be. Also it's demographical. There are not even 80 000 German speakers in Belgium on a total of 11 000 000 people.
For people not knowing this. The German community in Belgium has their own government and a decent degree of autonomy. And if you look at their political parties, you can clearly see that it doesn't line up with the rest of Belgium.
There's happy Belgians? My whole world is rocked.
"Today's weather: Look outside idiot". Had me rolling :)
wait, time stamp?
@@galatheumbreon6862 read the paper😂
@@galatheumbreon68620:19
i gotta get me a copy of that newspaper.
Russian revolution "not a big deal"
Lol
Fun fact: The Belgian city of Eupen is where the parliament for Belgium‘s German-speaking population is located. The cultural region of Ostbelgien or East Belgium is the name given to the areas where this community is concentrated.
Fun fact II: Eupen is a town with less than 20,000 inhabitans. If it belonged to Germany today it would probably be a small town in Germany hardly anyone would know or care about.
I’ve went to Eupen for a music festival, worth the visit. If you go into a shop the workers will speak either French or German, if you respond with a dumb look they will switch to the other language in a half second.
@@jackpavlik563 Kinda like in Disneyland Paris. While I was still trying to understand the spoken French they already spoke in English to me. 🙃
Can't they give it back already?
@@jrcat2258 Why would they? It wouldn't contribute much to Germany and has already been Belgian for over 100 years. Seems like a lot of bureaucratic hassle for some town.
2:19 Belgium getting Rwanda (and Burundi) led to them establishing a minority Tutsi ruling class over the Hutu majority, which was one factor causing hatred against the Tutsi which culminated in the 1994 genocide. Great job Belgium, managing African colonies splendidly as usual.
To clarify, Tutsi domination of Hutus was not invented by the Belgians. But they sure threw their whole weight behind it.
Don't forget that that genocide wouldn't have been possible (or at least not nearly as destructive) without the direct military aid the French were giving to the Hutu.☠️ maybe it's the language
I had this subject at my exam two weeks earlier. It's REALLY MORE COMPLICATED THAN THAT, and all the thing between Hutu and Tutsi begins even BEFORE the arrival of germans and belgians (Belgians didn't help it though, they had an european vision about the people, not an african vision, really complicated topic...) it's a MESS. I wanted to cried during the exam because of the three documents that we have to analyse were so complicated 😭😭
Its easy to blame the colonizer of a genocide that happened 30+ years after independence
@@jeremybertz796good explanation. Hope the exam went well!
"Well, first of all a lot of things that some politicians are asking for are nuts!" - Best descrition of a regular politician ever!
'The Entente was never going to punish Luxembourg for being invaded.'
Montenegro: Wait, wait! That was an option?!
Different scenario. Both Serbia and Montenegro agreed on uniting to form Yugoslavia.
@@CCCPRusRus That's why 100 years later the Parliament of Montenegro declared that the union had been in breach of Montengrin law?
@@hammer3721 Keyword: 100 years later
@@CCCPRusRus Key word: Nikola, the King of Montenegro, had been protesting for several years after the end of the war that the Serbs usurped his throne.
But sure, go ahead and ignore all the irregularities, legal or othwerise, with Montenegro's integration within Yugoslavia. Looking at your user name, I shouldn't be reall surprised, though.
@@hammer3721 montenegro and serbia are basically the same it's honestly surprising they didn't just assimilate after being annexed for 100 years
It’s due to James Bisonette being spiteful to Belgium
Kelly Moneymaker sold the land for cash
James Bisonette ? Who is he ? And why he hated Belgium ?
Dont forget Kushowolf 🤭🤭
Can't say I blame him to be fair
Who wouldn't?
“They accept we will occupy everything west of the rhine and steal everything not nailed to the ground.”
Saarland: “he’s not kidding”
They wanted more waffles, not land
They actually wanted land lmao did you even watch the video
I know, its a joke I made
@@bluecontroller6857 he is straight up lying it was cuz of wafles remember when randam belgian said we need rhineland because wafles were ocupied and stolen into germany by germans
@@bluecontroller6857u missed the joke.
There was a famous song by Georgian-Russian singer-songwriter Bulat Okudzhava about a war where they won and took pryaniki (honey gingerbread cookies) as loot. Doesn't sound too implausible for Belgium :D
Chocolate waffles, mmm
The weather section of the London news is always accurate
"Give us the Moon"
I laughed. Out loud, even.
And don't forget Kyushu (one of Japan's main islands).
Anyone familiar with MetaBallStudios knows that is not a good thing.
Good video ideas:
- Did Belgium really have no government in 2010?
- Why does Namibia have a panhandle?
- Did pharaohs really put curses on their graves?
- Why does Venezuela claim half of Guyana?
- Why did France keep French Guiana, New Caledonia, and Réunion?
- How did America’s adversaries react to 9/11?
- Why does India own the Andaman Islands?
- Why did Germany support Ethiopia in 1935?
- How did Spain survive the 1848 Revolutions?
- Why did Montenegro declare war on Japan in 1904?
- Why do Nebraska and Maine split their votes?
- Why was Portugal allowed to join NATO in 1949 despite not being democratic?
- Why are Rwanda and Mozambique in the Commonwealth?
"Why does India own the Andaman Islands?"
The wildest part of that is Andaman Islands were Danish colony until 1868. And they were Austrian colony for 6 years because they thought Denmark abandoned these islands.
"Why did Montenegro declare war on Japan in 1904?" - WHAT
I need to know this, too, now.
@@cynicat74 apparently, Montenegro declared war on Japan in 1904 as a sign of support for Russia. While there was no official fighting, a Montenegrin killed a Japanese samurai in a fight
- Did Belgium really have no government in 2010? We indeed did not for over a year, however the system states that the old government stays in place until a new one is officially formed and accepted by the king (this is 99.99% ceremonial but wathever). The old government is called 'government of current affairs" until the new one is sworn in. SO no new laws, higher appointments, trade deals, etc. for 400+ days indeed.....Many of us remember it as the smoothest time the country ever ran
@@justtheilluminativ282
The japanese are very lucky that montenegrin space marines didn’t actually end up fighting in the far east
You should make teritorial gains on maps in a different colour, not just the before and after picture in the same. Sometimes its really hard to see what new one percent got added to a complex shape. Nice video overall though :)
Definitely! I was feeling the same thing
2:04 The fine print get smaller, but we can still see it !!
I was imagining the Looney Tunes Rubber Band music playing while I read it.
They did at least ask the Irish and the Poles at the end of WW1, which is when they came up with this rule
Using the Magritte at the end was a nice touch
To be fair, he always uses that background for the credits. But it fits especially well when the video is about Belgium.
Also, Tintin would be copyright. And Jean Claude van Damme would just be silly.
@@Elitist20 How about Hercule Poirot then?
The reason why there were thoughts about Belgium annexing Luxembourg after the war was not "to punish Luxembourg for being invaded" but because Grand Duchess Marie Adelaide of Luxembourg was accused of collaborating with Germany during the war (and eventually had to abdicate mainly for that reason). Ultimately Belgium found little to no support among its allies, UK and France, for its grand designs so they had to be abandoned.
1:10 They wanted the mouth of the Scheldt river for a reason. It commands the entrance to the port of Antwerp. But as the estuary is held by the Netherlands, it was closed at the outset of the war to respect neutrality, thus hurting the Belgian effort. Also the Dutch were suspected of trying to suffocate Antwerp to make more business for Rotterdam.
+ there is a historical claim as it was part of historical Flandres, when it was still a County of France
Also we allowed German troops to pass through Limburg. Hence why I kinda get why Belgium was angry and why in the reverse Kaiserreich in hoi4 (I forgot the name, anyway it is if the Entente winning alt history of Kaiserreich) Belgium actually holds those lands
Also we allowed German troops to pass through Limburg. Hence why I kinda get why Belgium was angry and why in the reverse Kaiserreich in hoi4 (I forgot the name, anyway it is if the Entente winning alt history of Kaiserreich) Belgium actually holds those lands
2:03 - I love the fine print at the bottom.
What does it say? I cannot make it out on my screen
@@ixlnxs offer does not apply to Africans, Asians, Polynesians, North and South Americans, Irish, and, up until just now, the Polish.
what i love the most in these videos is to pause at the newspaper and read the articles
Another reason the Entente wasn't so keen on giving Belgium any land was because they didn't fight with the Entente in their large (and also very deadly) offensives. Albert I, Belgium's king, only wanted his soldiers to fight to protect Belgium, but not the other Entente members. This was because he kept holding on to the idea that Belgium must stay neutral, even when 90% of it was occupied. During the war Belgium was seen as a poor and defenseless country that was being raped by the Germans, garnering lots of sympathy abroad. But after the war had ended the Entente leaders weren't so happy Belgium didn't really help them. If the ming had send his men to help in the great offensivea he probably had more sway in gaining some of the claimed lands, but the Belgian army would have suffered much greater losses. The reason Belgium claimed so much land was in the hopes that they would at least get the bare minimum they actually wanted. Asking a lot and getting a little was better then asking little and getting nothing.
Also, a little fun fact. Belgium claimed the region of Palestine after the partition of the Ottoman Empire because Godfrey of Bouillon was born in a place that is now Belgium. Godfrey was the first crusader to be the ruler of the kingdom of Jerusalem, and therefore some in the Belgian government thought that they had a claim to the region.
0:20 you know he had fun writing these headlines
"Today's weather. Try looking outside. Idiot."
Lol
I was just wondering this the other day!
Funny as they gave German speaking South-Tyrol to Italy. Even the South-Tyrolians did not wanted that.
And the Dutch part against the coast is called Zeeuws-Vlaanderen. Dutch speaking part of Belgium is called Vlaanderen. Also to get to the Antwerp harbor from the North-sea, you need to go over the Westerschelde and both the land on the north and south side of that (sort of river), is within the Netherlands. So basicly the Netherlands could block acces to the Antwerp Harbor.
Most importantly, it was also part of the county of Flanders until the Dutch conquered it in the Eighty Years War.
Well, that was Italy's war goal, just like German speaking Elsaß was France's. Self determination was only for neutral countries. Remember in WW1 every side was the bad guy ;)
@@Carewolf The US wanted that countries were about, who spoke the same language, so it was not what the US initially wanted. But it was done as the current border with high mountains was easier to defend (Brennerpas).
@@arjenh7214 Not that simple. If you look in County, yes it was part of County Flanders. But as County it became part of the Low Countries (Bourgondische Nederlanden), then that became the Habsburgse Nederlanden. Then it became the Spanish Netherlands. Then the Dutch Revolt started and the 80 year war for independence.
@@KGI_KlikoNL Yeah and? It was part of the county of Flanders and thus, as the Habsburgs hold the title of the county, personal Habsburgian lands. Habsburgian Netherlands, Bourgondian Netherlands or Spanish Netherlands (as they refer to non-nation states and are just geographical connotations) has nothing to do with the Netherlands after the 80 year war (first nationstate) except for the name. It has been a sham ever since the Dutch claimed the geographical title of "netherlands" for their own nationstate....which was a logical thing to do, as the territory of the Dutch republic had been a marginalized area without no real economical or historical meaning until the late 16th century. Using the term "Netherlands" made it easy to claim some fictional ancestory and succes connected to the geographical term, succes which was mostly due to the achievements of what is now Northern France and Flanders. Ironical all territories outside of the nationstate.
Said railway is called "Vennbahn" and it is quite a strange border.
Fun fact: the rail was disused 20something years ago and is now a bike path on Belgian territory surrounded by Germany.
I think a video on why south korea has been through so many republics would be cool
actually good idea
Military coups.
Imperialist occupation causes instability.
Because Republics are pretty unstable.
@@Ggdivhjkjl" imperialist " 🤓🤓 clown 16 y/o redditor
2:24 - You can tell this is peacetime because the fire isn't consuming a little square running man for a change.
A rare flag error! At 0:30, the stars are in the pattern from the 1908-1912 flag, prior to the admission of New Mexico and Arizona, i.e. with only 46 states/stars.
Earlier this year I went to Eastern Belgium for a day whilst on a Europe trip and specifically went to go see the German speaking part. Took a bit of a scenic route; a train up from Luxembourg to St. Vith, then a bus to Malmedy, and then another bus from Malmedy to Verviers, then the train from Verviers to Helgerath in the German speaking part. I then walked from Helgerath to Kelmis and did the tour of Neutral Moresnet before walking up the Vaalserberg (the tripoint of Limburg, Belgium, and Germany) and descending down the Dutch side. The countryside of Eastern Belgium was stunningly beautiful. All the chapels and cathedrals I saw had plaques to the men who died in the first world war (and second for the more firmly Belgian parts), on both sides. The fields and paths were beautiful, Kelmis was beautiful... It was somewhat refreshing to be in German speaking part because its so small and also I don't speak French. I wanted to do the railcar ride on the Belgian railroad that cuts off Germany but unfortunately it was closed for the season. It's a rural area, but if you like history, and like deep travel, I highly recommend.
Belgium got James Bizonette to shut them up
This time it was Gustav Swann and boogilee woogilee
1:10 Perhaps interesting to add, at the treaty of London in 1839, the definitive borders were established, and Belgium renounced its claims on Zeeuws-Vlaanderen, in exchange for receiving the western half of the duchy of Luxembourg.
The historical claim they renounced was from when Zeeuws-Vlaanderen was part of the duchy Vlaanderen, before the 80 years war.
Ultimately, the Belgian plans to annex Zeeuws-Vlaanderen led to the rise of anti-annexation groups, and the writing of the Zeeuws-Vlaamish anthem.
Nowadays, the conflict might seem resolved. Or is it? In recent decades Belgian farmers started buying up farmland, at this time 25% of the farmland is owned by Belgians. And every year, over 600 Belgians (without even doing their inburgeringscursus!) invade Zeeuws-Vlaanderen to buy a house. Perhaps they are executing a nefarious plan to retake Zeeuws-Vlaanderen by buying it polder by polder. Who knows?
Buy or take , huge difference. They took and Belgians buy back what 's historilic there's.
A salute to HM, who probably went back & forth in the map editor adding/subtracting these proposed border changes.
Really needed that hug. Thank guys ❤
The Rules about Land are both tragically true and hysterically funny (in the context of the video). Another great piece of work
Can’t wait for more historical content from this channel!
Those gains led to a marvelous video by Tim Traveler called 'Venbahn: The World's Weirdest Border".
Before watching the video my assumption is that the reason is- Their King was a good man and knew that too much punishment wouldn't solve anything.
Edit- boy was I wrong.
Good of you to leave the wrong prediction up, though.
Your assumption is right though. Albert I didnt want Germany being punished so harschly as it was with the versailles treaty. And thats why the allies punished Belgium by giving it little to nothing. The bickering of Belgian politicians (still going strong on that front till this day) will have been a factor aswell but Albert forgiving nature was a thorn in the side of those greedy politicians. If they had just listened to Albert I. Round 2 would have never happened and the western world would be in a better state as it is now.
@@BerstalinIncredible how the king of the Belgians, who actually fought on the battlefield, resented the germans less than the politicians who sat pretty doing nothing useful the entire war
@@bruhbruh-us6gl That tends to happen when you meet the other side.
He was a good man, but had only a ceremonial function
0:44 The Flemings wanted this part of France as much if not more than the Walloons. It borders the modern Province of West-Vlaanderen, was part of the historical County of Flanders and (albeit decreasingly) Flemish speaking.
But the Entente was not going to ask France to give up land after fighting that bloodbath on its own soil for four years.
@@edmerc92 I don’t disagree. I was only pointing out it was the Flemish politicians, as much & likely more than the Walloon politicians, advocating for it.
Flemish isn't a language, it's a dialect of Dutch.
@@__Timmerman__ Are you Dutch?
@@mevrouw28 Yes, but why does that matter? Flemish isn't a language it's a dialect. I have nothing against the Flemish and their culture, I love their culture even. But by that logic all the dialects in the Netherlands would be considered a language aswell, which would mean that nobody even speaks Dutch.
I believe the channel The Tim Traveller explored the strange rail line border (the Vennbahnweg, which no longer has rails) with Belgium in the middle and Germany surrounding both sides of it.
I feel like if James Bissonette was a Belgian diplomat he could’ve persuaded the entente to allow Belgium to annex Germany whole.
I would say it is impossible for us to take over a much longer country, but euhm history and stuff.
It would have been the Belgermaustrian Schwetherlands by now.
In hindsight he did Belgium a big favor. There is a certain fella that 20 years later would've had a big problem with Belgium having a very large German population...
@@FragLord he still did even with the minor bits of land we gained.
In WW1 one of the largest universities in the country was also burnt down, along with some of the largest cities, in retribution for Belgium not instantly surrendering. That same university, after years of fighting for permission, added a small line of text to the building to remember the tragedy. Can you guess who had the whole thing vandalised a few years later...?
@@AmyElnah I don't care, your stupid story isn't relevant. Also you have not presented any evidence to support your outrageous claim. The war wasn't as bad for Belgium as Belgium pretended it to be.
Historians researching German Army records have discovered 101 "major" incidents-where ten or more civilians were killed-with a total of 4,421 executed. 4400 executions are 4400 executions too many. But let's not pretend this was a holocaust.
You are complaining about a fucking library and a fucking university. When the entire northern border of France and many major cities, industries were reduced to rubble and a total wasteland... On top of that
France lost 16% of it's male population, Germany 12% , Italy 10.5% , UK 8%.
Belgium 2.3%...
Of course Belgium got way less, it was overrun, hardly defended itself and the Belgian king making the most outrageous and ridiculous claims after the war made everybody realize what Belgium is. A JOKE
I went to the German part of Belgium for football, during the break they weren't even talking about the Belgian league on the speakers but about the Bundesliga... I'd just give those parts back to Germany
Another problem would have been that a bigger German ethnic minority in Belgium could have further destabilized their socitey which already struggled with its Flemish and French speakers' in-fighting
The problen would more so have been German Nationalists. Belgium has the perfect framework for incorporating a new language group into their country, at the cost of National government functionality
@@sebe2255 yeah that is complety correct
These should be played in museums.
Sally Marks, An Innocent Abroad: Belgium at The Paris Peace Conference (1981) is an excellent source on Belgian haplessness.
Incidentally, i know this is short but I think thete should be some mention of Neutral Moresnet.
Its SUCH a cool name.
Thanks for that. Neutral Moresnet made for interesting reading!
Reminder that if you have the time, you should definitely put the highest resolution you can and pause to read every newspaper in History Matters videos.
another belgium video, i like this whole focus you have on belgium, very interesting country methinks
it's always a good day when history matter uploads
(upload 3 of asking you to release your maps NOW PLEASE)
Another amazing video
Reminds me of that video from 2 years ago on why the Netherlands didn't get more land after WW2.
But that was kinda funny, because the Netherlands probably could've gotten cleves and Frisia due them both being either Frisian or Dutch (don't know if cleves was Dutch in 1900, but it was in 1850)
"Shut up and deal with it" is pretty good advice in many situations.
I have to admit: "make me Pope" was pretty funny. There are Simpsonesque secondary and tertiary gags (e.g. "please visit only with your own prisoner") that enhance the experience considerably, thank you.
0:20 - Point 5 - typo at "laugh at the Kaiser's silly moustache"
I love these scripts
There isn't any typo there, though there are a couple in other sentences.
@@WaterShowsProd The text in the video says "[...] will blame Germany for the war and laugh and the Kaiser's silly moustache."
Yeah, typo
@@TheFrenchClipper Oh, yes, you're right. My mistake. Well, they can laugh at me, too. :)
I always love reading the newspaper when it shows up in the videos. Always hilarious.
Slight correction: The region of The Netherlands that you say they had no historical claim over. Is known as Sealandic Flanders and used to be a part of Flanders, which is the Dutch part of Belgium. The dialect and culture is also more closely aligned with Flanders than Holland
Exactly
God Belgium as a state was a mistake
At least "Holland" - for those bears just wearing shirts, or the Netherlands - for those in a suit, has a solid explanation for it's existance. Belgium is just a bug that hasn't been patched.
please dont say that about us. it hurts
What would Homer say about that?
I noticed the detail of the trench background was much better than the last time you used that background. It’s cool to see how you improve your art
The Politician thing also counts for Germany, people nowadays always say if Germany won ww1, then they would get this territory and this and that, but in the end not everyone was like this, like Wilhelm Ⅱ that didn't pursuit any territorial expansions in Europe, while some German politicians thought differently.
One thing important to notice is that Luxembourg at the time was in the middle of a HUGE controversy about the grand-duchess' role (Maria-Adelaide) in the german occupation, since she was of german ascendance herself and had authoritarian political views which made Luxemburg a potential candidate for german statehood and a unofficial collaborator of Germany, which turned into both an internal crisis in which the government asked for Maria-Adelaide's resignation, and an international crisis in which in spite of the refusal for said resignation, both Belgium and France claimed that because of its collaborationnist stance Luxembourg should be punished by annexation
The main reason why this didn't happened is because in the end Belgium, France and Britain all agreed that it was overhaul better for them to have Luxembourg independant as a sort of neutral spot
Something something James Bissonette Something something
Something something ironic comment something something
Something Something oh stop it already with this James Bissonette joke something something
Was not expecting "The Son of Man", 1946 by Rene Magritte but is amazingly and cleverly appropriate.
If Belgium actually gained that large swat of land West or the Rhine, German would be the most spoken language in Belgium today.
Great video. A few remarks:
1:08. This part of the Netherlands actually has a strong connection with Belgium and there is historical claim. It was part of Flanders until 1600 and it still has strong ties with Flanders/Belgium. It is still called Zeeuws-Vlaanderen in both Belgium and the Netherlands.
0:45: This part of France was also part of Flanders until around 1700. The region is still called Frans-Vlaanderen in Belgium and 'Flandres' in France. It is a rich region, which forms an economic metropol with the adjacent Belgian cities of Kortrijk and Tournai and it has the second biggest city of France (Lille) after Paris. The cities in this part of France much resemble Flemish medieval city infrastructure with a belfry in the center. Until recently some Flemish was still spoken there.
These suggestions weren't crazy from a historical, cultural or economic perspective. The only crazy thing is that France was an ally and the Netherlands were neutral and helped our refugees.
Fun fact: 2:29. This railway is now gone and replaced with a not economically important cycletrack but we're still not giving it back, lol.
Hey History Matters sugestion make a video about the western saharaa.
All the maps will say "no data"
1:10 there's actually a great little story there. The higlighted part of the Netherlands is called 'Zeeuws-Vlaanderen'. It is not connected by land to the Netherlands and fully connected to Flanders, but it is still Dutch. This is because when Belgium became independent in 1830, the Dutch had a big incentive to keep control of both banks of the Schelde river. That way, in the event of future wars, the Dutch would still have the power to easily blockade the port of Antwerp, which is the major economic hub in Belgium. So the Belgians are dependent on the Netherlands for sea access. No wonder the Belgians wanted to claim it, to break this iron grip.
As the negotiations for the Treaty of Versailles were going on, the Dutch minister of Foreign affairs caught wind of the secret Belgian claim to the lands of Zeeuws-Vlaanderen. He jumped on the first train to France to convince the Allies personally of the fact that these were Dutch people and Dutch lands, and always had been. Giving them to Belgium after Dutch neutrality would be madness. He won the argument so Zeeuws-Vlaanderen, while not connected to the Netherlands by land, remains Dutch to this day.
Really interesting, thanks:)
You should do a video on Operation Margarethe. Why did Germany invade its own ally during WWII, Hungary, while already losing the war?
Trivia note: The U.S. game show The Amazing Race has been on for 36 Seasons, & yet they have been to Belgium for just 2 of them; Season 19 & Season 30.
"the allies valued self determination"
Silesia, Danzig, Eupen Malmedy, West Prussia: Am I nothing to you?
Silesia mostly remained German after WWI.
Danzig became a Free City because Poland should gain access to a Baltic Sea port not under control of a foreign power.
The plebicite of Eupen was in fact rigged.
The parts of West Prussia which fell to Poland after WWI were mostly settled by Polish or Kashubians.
Those we're already agreed upon which is also why Belgium hot so little, to not further upset the Germans
Hungary too. Along the entire Hungarian border with their neighbours, there are Hungarian minorities.
Dont forget about elzas lötheringen
@@daanwolters3751 The inhabitans of Alsace-Lorraine would have probably voted for France.
Have you ever considered doing longer form content again? I enjoyed those videos a lot.
You mean when the channel used to do 10-minute history videos? Those were great! But the reality is that the UA-cam video community is populated by ADHD people who won't click on anything that long.
Denmark after the entente/allies push to give them more land they don't want: "guys stop"
Belgium after the entente wants to give them a fair share: "T H I S I S N O T F A I R"
Denmark: "That land's no good, it has too many Germans in it."
It's not a fair share though. Belgium wanted to get their rightful land back
Belgium al so got Neutral Moresnet , something not covered in the video .
By that time, their hands off approach in the Congo probably affected the allies' decisions.
"hands off" you say? 😬
Love the newspaper gags.
Is that an independent Cornwall at 2:18?
Its worse, it's Belgian Cornwall
2:36 so like, why didn't belgium just take all lands up until that road?
Belgium didn't need more because they had funding from James Bissonette
In hindsight he did Belgium a big favor. There is a certain fella that 20 years later would've had a big problem with Belgium having a very large German population...
0:20 “Todays weather: Try looking outside, Idiot” 💀
Belgium didn’t get more land as Kelly Money Maker didn’t shake her Money Maker hard enough.
Because James Bisonnete would only fund the Marshall plan in exchange for smoll Belgium
Marshall plan was after WW2 though.
@@hanswoast7he’s an immortal time god.
In hindsight he did Belgium a big favor. There is a certain fella that 20 years later would've had a big problem with Belgium having a very large German population...
At 1:10 , There was a historic claim to the region, It was once part of the County Of Flanders. As a Fleming, that kinda upset me a little
1:37 those eyes have seen some things fhey wish they hadn't
I loved the footnote.
Because it isnt real
it’s as real as you are
Glory to North France, West Germany-Luxembourg, and South Netherlands
@@Thanadeez uh oh
It's more real than the bog dwelling to the north.
And those castles built on sand, fall in the sea, eventually."
True
Please do a video on the Battle of Samar. It doesn't really fit with lesser known events in history but it's a cool story nonetheless.
0:35 the map is off I think. Walloon Brabant speaks french, not dutch
He probably wanted to use historical provincial borders
A humble request: What type of softwares are you using to make these animations and videos.
Please.
So long story short, Belgium was in absolutely no geographical position to take anything from anyone and no one was willing to risk that border gore
Belgium is living border gore. It has border irregularities with all neighbours, as you do.
calling Dr. Howard Dr. Fine Dr. Howard will never fail to make me laugh
1:47 give us the moon lol 😂😂😂
Explain Baarle-Hertog and Baarle-nassau next!
Fun part is. Baarle-Hertog enclaves within the Netherlands, where the only part of Belgium, not occupied by Germans during World War I. As Dutch did not allow crossing their land.
Yoo what is this Belgium grind!
Just wait until you learn how our farmers recently tried to expand Belgium into France 😂
@@jorenbosmans8065 That seems.. intresting🤣 And that was an legit event?
@@coolguy... yeah, there was a whole controversy around it, basically making belgium a bit bigger and france a bit smaller
@@coolguy... Yeah, to be honest he just moved the landmark because it was in his way. No land expansion reason behind it 😂
@@jorenbosmans8065 I really need to check this shit out🤣
That bit of Dutch territory in the southwest that they wanted is called Zeeuws-Vlaanderen, Zeelandic Flanders. It was also part of the county of Flanders until the Dutch conquered it in the Eighty Years War. Militarily important as controlling the coast means protecting the entrance to the port of Antwerpen. So they had some more valid reasons to want it than just for the fun of it.
Make a video on Novogrod Republic or pre 1750 democracies.
You didn't mention the weirdest German enclave resulting from this land transfer: Rückschlag, which is....just a single house.
What were those Belgian politicians thinking when they demanded land from France, their co-belligerent? Did they really think that was ever going to happen?
I have heard that asking for too much is a tactic, so then you can haggle until settling in what you actually wanted from the start, but this example is waaay too bonkers to be the case.
But half of this stuff was done by nationalist who wanted a greater Belgium, and they probably wouldn't have backed down either way
Presumably in exchange for Belgian support for French territorial claims elsewhere.
To be honest all the claims are completely valid. The part of France they claimed is historically flemish and all the town names and last names are Flemish, then the german part they got was historically Belgian before being annexed by Prussia, and the dutch/Luxembourg parts were also Belgian but were stolen by the Brits in 1839 to give them to the Netherlands
@@imwinningthisone7613 All of Belgium (and Luxembourg) belongs to the Netherlands. I'd say they gotten off easy by just losing Limburg.
@@OnionChoppingNinja and why would you think that?
1:12 the name of the region is 'Zeeuws-Vlaanderen'. The name gives it away; it was historically a part of Flanders.
Denmark got those lands back after WWI because the population was predominantly Danish.
I love the fact that the newspaper at :20 actually has legible articles
A Level History 1984-86 taught me that Belgium received Eupen and Malmedy. I assume that this is still correct?
😊❤😊
Yes
Yes it is and I am rather happy that we did. It is a beautiful area and I am happy that it is part of our country. As far as I am aware, the people there also consider themselves Belgian (more than a lot of people in the rest of the country )
@@jorenbosmans8065 They are still very much German speakers, so I doubt that they consider themselves assimilated Belgians.
@@rodjones117 I can't speak for all of them. But many of them consider themselves more Belgians then German. I think it is even the region with the highest Pro Belgian sentiment. I do seem to remember a study about it some time ago, but can't remember where it was from. An important thing that might influence their more Belgian sentiment is that this region suffered a lot during WWll. They were forced into German service as Hitler considered them German and the region had a lot of fighting. So it might be that this played into them identifying more with Belgium than Germany after the war. Besides that, for somethings they have a separate gevernment just for the German speaking regions (hard to explain, Belgian politics is a mess), so they might feel more represented in Belgium than what they would in Germany. No idea how much of this is correct, we need somebody from the German speaking parts to confirm or deny it.
@@jorenbosmans8065 Fair comment, but I see a lot of French langauge roadsigns overwritten in German - "Republique Federal Allemagne" rewritten as "Bundesrepublic Deutschland", and as a German speaker, trust me they all speak German.
Wait was that a cartoon Grand Duchess Marie-Adelaide? If so nice attention to detail, even we tend to forget she existed.