"Germany exists" controversial take, would like to see some evidence first before I believe it myself. Edit: After watching the video it's not the craziest conspiracy... 8.5/10 hypothetical country, needs more chocolate related national dishes.
LOL Yeah, my first response was, "Wait, was this in doubt?" :D I'm pretty sure my grandfather knew it was really, really real when the army sent him over to Britain eighty years ago. :) P.S. But now we love you, Germany!
but it was essentially forced by napoleon. It is untrue but it gets the point across. no nopleonic wars, holy roman empire mb sticks around another century
@@hurgcat maybe thay would work if he didn't give his motive for dissolving the hre moments before, which makes it kinda hard to claim the he inadvertently did it excuse
@@michaelsurratt1864 the prestige was immense abd would have went a long way to legitimize his rule over Germany. The abolition of the hre before he could take the title caused it to lose most of its legitimacy, and thus made the title usless
Germany is an extreme example where you should never, ever use modern borders to talk in a non-colloquial way about its history. It has numerous differences across time and there is almost not one bit of its border where another country hasn't either split off or partitioned or occupied a part of the region of Germany into itself. Poland has a similar problem in this video, using post-WW2 borders at times which has nothing to do with pre-WW2 Poland.
1:00 a bit misleading, it was not german states simply uniting to form the holy roman empire, instead it was more the holy roman emperor giving out land to nobles, but due to internal struggles the emperor had to deal with these nobles became more and more autonomous until effectively becomming independant states who paid lip service to the emperor
31:33 Actually, it was actually the Kingdom of Sardinia that was trying to unify Italy, not the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. Otherwise great video as usual!
1:39 "The German people didn't see themselves as German just because they spoke the same language." That's not really accurate at all and is a massive oversimplification. Germany was united (as East Francia) in the HRE. There was still the framework of the "Kingdom of Germany" still in place as well. It started off more united than France and fragmented gradually until it fully fell apart with the end of the Hohenstaufen dynasty. Part of the main arguments levied in favor Charles V's election as Emperor was that the electors saw him as one of them whereas Francois I of France and Henry VIII were considered foreigners. And even before Napoleon when French Kings invaded the Rhine, there was a sense of common "Germanic" identity that bound the Empire together even during the 30 years war and after it. When the Empire was dissolved by Kaiser Franz there were riots all across Germany and just because there were multiple different regional identities that didn't necessarily mean a common "German" identity in some form didn't exist.
I was born just a year or so before the unification. It's been one country for as long as I've known of it, and it still astonishes me that I just missed out on knowing it as two. To any Germans older than me who see this comment, I hope that the day your country reunified was a good one for you :)
I was about to say “Wow, you must be the oldest living person ever!” before I realized you meant East and West Germany. 😂 (I was born a few days before the Berlin Wall began to come down, myself.)
My father is 97 years old,I live in America now but He told me he was there when the Soviets destroyed what was left of Prussia we hold today in Saxon lands and desecrated our women and children and that he was there when he kissed a woman from the east a week after the wall fell,Regardless of anything,He knows Germany has a breaking point after which it will rise again
Just want to tell you that I think your timing for this video is amazing! I had nothing planned for today (public holiday in Germany). But now I have something fun, interesting, and even fitting for the holiday's occasion, to watch. You saved my afternoon haha
I wouldn’t say they treated Prussia like a minor power. A regional power to be sure in fact, they needed pressure to be stronger to help balance out the power of Austria and France.
BIIIIG Issue is you portray austrians as non germans here, at the time Austrians where seen as a central part of germany and ger,man nationalists wnated the german parts of austria and some non gemren parts to be part of germany, you constantly use the small german solution as a visual example but tahst just not what peopel wanted. In a similar light german unification wanst about independence but about beeing german together, austria was seen as oppressive but not an occupier because of how they held mroe power in the confederation, but still the austrian monarch was as far as I know, not asked to be the german king, because of theri multiple non gemran titles. This video in the beginning does an incredibly poor job at portraying who was seen as german and who wasnt, austrians, werent a thing then, they were germans in austria.
@@HistoryScope You do but the portrail in the beginning and maps you use paint a picture that they were not considered "German", the term austrians shouldn't have been used. there are two main reasons for that teh first beeing teh austrian national identety came only really about after ww1 and cemented after ww2, secondly the swiss are in the same boat as "german speaking people", but they were never intended in the original proposals for a german nation, not even in the greater german solution. Hell one could even argue the dutch would've fallen in that term at the time due to the multiple gemran dialects in the north considered gemran which ahd more in common with dutch than modern high german. As such I find at least personally taht you present the german Austrian distinction as more solid and present than it was. As such the use of "austrian" as a national identety paints in my opinion a very wrong picture especially due to your multiple claims german nationalism was about liberation from under the austrian boot (which it wasn't, it was about german unity, it was the german states leadership which soiught more idependence from Vienna but that was also true againgst Berlin, at the time german nationalists wanted all german people to be in one state, the failure of 1848 was mainly that no one agreed on how taht germany would look like and who would lead it). Idk if I made my point more clear I don't mean to discredit your work and maybe I misunderstood something or am myslef in error but in my personal opinion with the knwoledge I ahve I think it was a stark misremresentation in the beginning of the video between austrians and germans. Especially the maps you used undelrined taht for me.
8:24 uhh, no. They did not, this is remarkably bad history im not going to finish this video. While often described as the weakest of the great powers , prussia had a seat at the table amoung the rest of the great powers. They where heavily involved in the drafting of the treaty of vienna, and even took half of Saxony despite heavy protest from austria, in fact them and russia are usually considered the most expansionist countries in the entire Congress.
The video is awesome! Make sure to pay attention to the comments, there are some minor mistakes that people point out and some very interesting additional information as well!
Sorta, albeit "German" is a national category, kinda like "Swiss" or"Austrian" etc. The Dutch were and continue to be Germanic, They're today not "German" simply because it's a separate country.
1:13 I know this isn't about the Netherlands, but, I gotta add that, at the times the Dutch peoples didn't really exists as it's own thing, but was culturally and ethnically part of the Franko and Saxon cultures that extended throughout modern Germany. One could argue that the Frisians might be a bit of a special case, still very much Germanic, but they did have a certain level of autonomy from the rest of the HRE in the Friesche Vrijheid. OK tidbit infoblob out of the way, let's watch the rest of this video
Loved the video but why were the Germany maps so inaccurate. I get that the nation state didn’t exist for most of it but why did half of the German maps not show Prussia owning Prussia? There were other examples of this but this was the biggest one.
@MichaelTreadwell-jo9bi no its a different language (Plattdeutssch or Nedersassisch) spoken in the former Saxon area and the coast in general (lower Saxony, Westphalia, Eastphalia, Schleswig-Holstein and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern as well as in Bremen and Hamburg. Nowadays it's mainly spoken by old people and it's nearly extinct because the prussians tried to eradicated it. High German is based on the midde German dialects from today's Saxony (it has nothing to do with the orginal Saxony except the name) but it's spoken all over Germany as a lingua franca. In Bavaria they speak high German (even with a strong accent) and the dialects that where spoken there where called high German before slandered German took this name.
Video Chapters: 0:15 Chapter 1 - The Fall of the Holy Roman Empire 4:18 Chapter 2 - The German Confederacy 7:50 Chapter 3: The Rise of German Nationalism 12:18 Chapter 4: The Rise of Prussia 15:13 Chapter 5: The Prussian Customs Union 19:50 Chapter 6: The German Economy 23:21 Chapter 7: Realpolitik (1848-1860S) 32:33 Chapter 8: Austria vs Prussia 38:19 Chapter 9: United Germany
What is that map??? Why is Schleswig missing? Why is there a little part of Czechia included? Why is the Poland border so straight? And don't get me started on the Low Lands border. What happened there?
I as a native german speaker think it is actually not Deutsch Einigung but Deutsche Vereinigung but thats only if theres not some annoying grammar rule again. also very nice video and thanks for talking about germanic culture as an austrian this makes me smile.
Germany's history is rich with pivotal events, but one fascinating fact often highlighted in history documentaries is its role in the invention of the printing press. In 1440, Johannes Gutenberg, a German inventor, revolutionized the spread of knowledge by creating the first movable-type printing press. This innovation paved the way for the mass production of books, most notably the Gutenberg Bible, which transformed education, religion, and the entire course of European history.
Hey, so an issue with part 1: Germany was never governed by the Roman Empire any farther than the Rhine in the west and the area south of the Rhine and Danube rivers' beginnings in the south. While they were highly influenced by it (and a myriad lived in a series of states that were de fact Roman Tributaries; "allies" the Romans called them), they were certainly not governed by them seeing that many of the Germans would go on to invade Rome and topple it. Should you wish to see a supposed fusion of Roman and Germanic societies, look at the French and Lombards. The title of Holy Roman Emperor was first given to Charlemagne by the Pope for political reasons, and then was revived by one of his descendants for similarly political reasons. And the "unification" of the Germans into one 'state' is... misleading, as they were conquered by Charlemagne and given to his descendants. The idea that the Germans fused with the Romans was a thing that largely was passed around either Nationalist German groups or used as political legitimacy by the Holy Roman Emperors... Odd to see it here, I won't lie. In short, the Germans didn't fuse with the Romans. They took the title for the prestige.
I honestly believe the downfall of the German state was two demoguges with physical deformities (Kaiser Wilhelm Hitler) who gained power through bloodline (Wilhelm) and economic/social turmoil (AH). Due to their extremely low self esteem both overcompensated by seeking and nearly achieving world domination. As we know Germans are extremely capable people, scientifically, militarily etc... The difference between ww1 and ww2 most importantly was idealogy. National Socialism was so embedded into German society by 1939 you had millions of extremists, brainwashed and willing to fight and die for that idealogy
The roman empire only briefly controlled germania, and even before that, the people there spoke a similar language, which then started to become more unified with the formation of the holy roman empire, the romans didn't create germans by mixing with them, they just categorized them as germani, I think you might have mixed up germany and france, which DOES come from a mixed culture of Latins, Gauls and Germans.
All mayor cities of the HRE were Roman cities: Köln (Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium), Mainz (Mogontiacum) , Koblenz (Confluentes) Trier (Augusta Treverorum) just to name the cities with arch bishops. At least 95% of the Urban population of the HRE was Roman. All other German cities were started by priest send from those roman cities along the Rhine into the "wild east". The only two mayor cities of the early HRE that were not roman were Magdeburg and Quedlinburg, but both of those cities were only started under the Ottonians. There is a famous story About Attila and Köln. Attila asked the people of Köln to hand over the Romans, but everybody in Köln was at least half roman and the people of Köln declined. The coat of arms of Köln shows 11 tears, one for each of the 11 virgin girls that went to Attilas camp to ask him to leave Köln alone. They were all raped and killed, but Attila did not attack Köln.
"Since the treaties of Vienna, our frontiers have been ill-designed for a healthy body politic. Not through speeches and majority decisions will the great questions of the day be decided-that was the great mistake of 1848 and 1849-but by iron and blood" --- Otto von Bismarck, September 1862
Great video as always! I took German as a minor in university and did a study abroad in Bonn to learn more about the culture and history of Germany. Just wanted to point out a few quick things. I understand from a political understanding and in many ways a cultural standpoint, the removal of the Holy Roman Empire brought about the required nationalism to unify the German state. However, through study on the subject, I would argue that the 30 Years War brought about the first real form of proto-nationalism. Religion is a form of cultural expression, resulting in German states unifying together in much the same way as they did against France almost 200 years later in both the Napolionic Wars and the Franco-Prussian War. The 30 Years War saw both religious and political alliances between the German states, resulting in a sharing of culture and the first seeds of nationalism being planted. I also wanted to give a quick mention of the Frankfurt Parliament. Though often seen as a great expression of freedoms for Germans at the time and a major step to liberal democracy. It turned out to be very corrupt and unequal in its application. I only learned of such from reading a friend's capstone historical paper concerning it. Certaintly worth discussion. I was also a bit supprised not to see mention of Großdeuchland vs. Kleinedeuchland be mentioned. The argument to add Austria and Bohemia to a greater Germany was incredibly important in regards to both German unification, and the future actions of Germany within World Wars 1 and 2. Songs such as "Was ist des Deutschen Vaterland" and other works depicting a greater Germany roused supporters all amongst the German states. Though I undertsand it to be a minor thing within the context of solely German unification, the idea of the inclusion of Austria within Germany would help fuel later German expansionism. I wanted to thank you for looking deeper into the economical aspects of German unification. Often Germany is seen as to have only been unified through skillful (or lucky) use of military might, but very rarely are economics given the light they deserve. Vielen Dank für das Video, as a History major and a German minor, this video hit right where my studies taught me. It was a well written thesis that encapsulated the road to the unified German state we know and love today. And thank you for putting your sources in the description, though I would personaly prefer a more diverse selection of sources that include both primary and secondary accounts along with page numbers, I undertand that this is a youtube video, not a collegiate dissertation. Keep up the great work, I look forward to your future videos.
23:10 Talking about Germans creating a common German identity from becoming increasingly connected - to what extent could that be happening with Europe today, that as increasingly Europeans connect and communicate with each other in English, we form a common European identity, which starts to rise in importance relative to our national identities
Wow, such an amazing video. Could you make one about Poland? I am polish but I am sure it would be amazing to combine these two in my mind to have a better understanding of what has been happening in Europe.
i love all of your videos, my roommates always sit down with me whenever I have one of your videos on while I'm working. Would you ever consider doing a history of Palestine video?
Just a heads up, a few repeats of the same mistake where you say Austria in Prussia's place in audio, subtitles have it correct. Great video regardless
Regarding the context of this video, it's excellent BTW, Germanys geography was both a positive and detriment. For the simple fact despite it's fairly large size it's positioned right in the middle of Europe, consequently they always had reservations about being surrounded by enemies (France, Poland, Russia) on either side
France was never enemy with the germans (it allied multiple times with german states such as baden palatinate bavaria and prussia against austria) the germans made the french into vicious enemies after 1870 when they went provoking a war with france (lets say it was normal at that time) but worse trying to humiliate them as much as possible for litteraly no reason other than hatred and also take large sums of money as well as kill many civilians. The traditional ennemies of france before 1870 were austria spain britain but that event radicalized the french which were already very nationalist as the first modern state to adopt nationalism as its ideology.
A HUGE mistakes in the video: Napoleon did not dissolve the HRE, it was the very Holy Roman Emperor, Francis II who did so for preventing Napleon to become HR Emperor. Also, a bit strange not a single direct mention to Naploeon III, King Fredrick Wilhelm IV, Emperor Franz Joseph or the German Emperor himself, Wilhelm I
Correct me if I'm wrong but at 37:50 shouldn't it be the "Russians were friends with prussia" and not Austria and also that "the french were trade partners with prussia" and not Austria
Funny thing about the HRE, it's Emperor was elected by Prince Electors particularly the elector of Brandenburg, saxony, Bohemia (what is now Czechoslovakia) and many other principalities of distinguished historical note.
There’s another fairytale by the Grims about disrespecting an authority figure. But this one ends in the main protagonist successfully becoming independent. I’m of course talking about Repunzel, which the Disney movie Tangled is very heavily based on.
The documentary highlights how, before unification, Germany was a patchwork of independent states and principalities, often fragmented and in conflict. Key figures like Otto von Bismarck played a crucial role in orchestrating this unification through a mix of diplomacy and warfare. Bismarck's clever manipulation of events, like the Austro-Prussian War and the Franco-Prussian War, helped to rally the German states under Prussian leadership. The film also touches on the rising sense of nationalism among the German people, who longed for a unified identity. As the documentary unfolds, it showcases the various political, social, and economic factors that contributed to this monumental change. By the end, viewers get a clear picture of how a combination of strategic alliances, military victories, and growing national pride brought about the birth of the German Empire, forever changing the landscape of Europe. The engaging visuals make the complex history easy to grasp and really bring the story to life.
Germany before its unification was like mixture of today’s Nato and European Union having defensive treaty and individual government but under the umbrella of of a super government
"Germany exists" controversial take, would like to see some evidence first before I believe it myself.
Edit: After watching the video it's not the craziest conspiracy... 8.5/10 hypothetical country, needs more chocolate related national dishes.
Italy in the corner....🤫
germany as a country might be new......it went the ruins to powerhouse as fuck more than thrice.
Bielefeld is in Germany
Bielefeld doesn't exist
Bielefeld doesn't exist QED
LOL Yeah, my first response was, "Wait, was this in doubt?" :D I'm pretty sure my grandfather knew it was really, really real when the army sent him over to Britain eighty years ago. :) P.S. But now we love you, Germany!
Bismarck has a plan, Bismarck always have a plan
- Extra History
Otto van der Linde
He has some god damn faith@@scotterbean1278
Germany annexed schleswig-holstein which had been under the Danish realm since the viking age.
@@scotterbean1278 he has faith
*Bismarck
4:00 uhh, no. Napoleon did not dissolve the holy Roman empire, emperor Francis did to prevent him from usurping his title
Exactly!
but it was essentially forced by napoleon. It is untrue but it gets the point across. no nopleonic wars, holy roman empire mb sticks around another century
@@hurgcat maybe thay would work if he didn't give his motive for dissolving the hre moments before, which makes it kinda hard to claim the he inadvertently did it excuse
Napoleon wanted nothing to do with the title…. he could’ve taken it if he wanted to, but he had absolutely no use for it
@@michaelsurratt1864 the prestige was immense abd would have went a long way to legitimize his rule over Germany. The abolition of the hre before he could take the title caused it to lose most of its legitimacy, and thus made the title usless
Germany is an extreme example where you should never, ever use modern borders to talk in a non-colloquial way about its history. It has numerous differences across time and there is almost not one bit of its border where another country hasn't either split off or partitioned or occupied a part of the region of Germany into itself. Poland has a similar problem in this video, using post-WW2 borders at times which has nothing to do with pre-WW2 Poland.
and russia
1:00 a bit misleading, it was not german states simply uniting to form the holy roman empire, instead it was more the holy roman emperor giving out land to nobles, but due to internal struggles the emperor had to deal with these nobles became more and more autonomous until effectively becomming independant states who paid lip service to the emperor
Germany WILL BE UNITED
First time said; rough timestamp: 0:11 .
This made a lot of people upset.
Deutschland wird vereint sein
Thanks OvB
Germany annexed schleswig-holstein which had been under the Danish realm since the viking age.
31:33
Actually, it was actually the Kingdom of Sardinia that was trying to unify Italy, not the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.
Otherwise great video as usual!
Sardinia piedmont
Yes, I noticed that too. Must have been a minor slip that escaped edit
1:39 "The German people didn't see themselves as German just because they spoke the same language."
That's not really accurate at all and is a massive oversimplification. Germany was united (as East Francia) in the HRE. There was still the framework of the "Kingdom of Germany" still in place as well. It started off more united than France and fragmented gradually until it fully fell apart with the end of the Hohenstaufen dynasty.
Part of the main arguments levied in favor Charles V's election as Emperor was that the electors saw him as one of them whereas Francois I of France and Henry VIII were considered foreigners. And even before Napoleon when French Kings invaded the Rhine, there was a sense of common "Germanic" identity that bound the Empire together even during the 30 years war and after it.
When the Empire was dissolved by Kaiser Franz there were riots all across Germany and just because there were multiple different regional identities that didn't necessarily mean a common "German" identity in some form didn't exist.
Karl Franz also only did it out of desperation as a power move
Rather then ceding it to Napoleon he broke it
In 20 years you can make a Video about the Frisian Unification, I'm on a mission right now. And in 40 years about the Frisian Empire.
And in 45 years a video about the decline and fall of the Frisian Empire. 😁
Short yes frisky….that will be the subtitle!
I hope u make it
New History Scope, let's go! 🥳
Germany's history is like watching a window break itself apart and put itself back together over and over again
Ah yes, the Chinese Empire Special
I was born just a year or so before the unification. It's been one country for as long as I've known of it, and it still astonishes me that I just missed out on knowing it as two. To any Germans older than me who see this comment, I hope that the day your country reunified was a good one for you :)
I was about to say “Wow, you must be the oldest living person ever!” before I realized you meant East and West Germany. 😂
(I was born a few days before the Berlin Wall began to come down, myself.)
My father is 97 years old,I live in America now but He told me he was there when the Soviets destroyed what was left of Prussia we hold today in Saxon lands and desecrated our women and children and that he was there when he kissed a woman from the east a week after the wall fell,Regardless of anything,He knows Germany has a breaking point after which it will rise again
Nice, uploaded on our national holiday "Tag der deutschen Einheit" (Day of German Unity)
New history scope video let’s go!!!
Just want to tell you that I think your timing for this video is amazing! I had nothing planned for today (public holiday in Germany). But now I have something fun, interesting, and even fitting for the holiday's occasion, to watch. You saved my afternoon haha
I wouldn’t say they treated Prussia like a minor power. A regional power to be sure in fact, they needed pressure to be stronger to help balance out the power of Austria and France.
I was thinking about your channel today hoping you'd upload. I'm lucky
15:01
Jokes on the Germans, I'm watching this video instead of doing my schoolwork.
Bismarck provoking the French into a war so Germany can look the victim. Sounds so much like modern politics.
0:26 Apparently, Denmark was part of Rome?
Loved the "Yes, minister" reference, it was a nice easter egg
I was hoping people would notice
GERMANY. WILL. BE. UNITED!!!
It is already United
Ein. Berliner. Will. Be. Eaten!!!
Fun fact my mom's birthday is today
Happy birthday to your mom
Happy birthday to your mom
Idk the rest of the lyrics
Happy birthday to your mom
Love love love your videos
BIIIIG Issue is you portray austrians as non germans here, at the time Austrians where seen as a central part of germany and ger,man nationalists wnated the german parts of austria and some non gemren parts to be part of germany, you constantly use the small german solution as a visual example but tahst just not what peopel wanted. In a similar light german unification wanst about independence but about beeing german together, austria was seen as oppressive but not an occupier because of how they held mroe power in the confederation, but still the austrian monarch was as far as I know, not asked to be the german king, because of theri multiple non gemran titles.
This video in the beginning does an incredibly poor job at portraying who was seen as german and who wasnt, austrians, werent a thing then, they were germans in austria.
I say multiple times that Austrians were part of the German speaking people...
@@HistoryScope You do but the portrail in the beginning and maps you use paint a picture that they were not considered "German", the term austrians shouldn't have been used. there are two main reasons for that teh first beeing teh austrian national identety came only really about after ww1 and cemented after ww2, secondly the swiss are in the same boat as "german speaking people", but they were never intended in the original proposals for a german nation, not even in the greater german solution. Hell one could even argue the dutch would've fallen in that term at the time due to the multiple gemran dialects in the north considered gemran which ahd more in common with dutch than modern high german.
As such I find at least personally taht you present the german Austrian distinction as more solid and present than it was. As such the use of "austrian" as a national identety paints in my opinion a very wrong picture especially due to your multiple claims german nationalism was about liberation from under the austrian boot (which it wasn't, it was about german unity, it was the german states leadership which soiught more idependence from Vienna but that was also true againgst Berlin, at the time german nationalists wanted all german people to be in one state, the failure of 1848 was mainly that no one agreed on how taht germany would look like and who would lead it). Idk if I made my point more clear I don't mean to discredit your work and maybe I misunderstood something or am myslef in error but in my personal opinion with the knwoledge I ahve I think it was a stark misremresentation in the beginning of the video between austrians and germans. Especially the maps you used undelrined taht for me.
That Germania drawing is a prime lesson in how to activate monke neuron with nothing but geometry and shiny lines
3:21 france had a king, not an emperor before the revoulation
ah yes, the revoulation
@@smal750 oh... misspelled
8:24 uhh, no. They did not, this is remarkably bad history im not going to finish this video. While often described as the weakest of the great powers , prussia had a seat at the table amoung the rest of the great powers. They where heavily involved in the drafting of the treaty of vienna, and even took half of Saxony despite heavy protest from austria, in fact them and russia are usually considered the most expansionist countries in the entire Congress.
HES BACK
The video is awesome! Make sure to pay attention to the comments, there are some minor mistakes that people point out and some very interesting additional information as well!
1:12 Weren’t the dutch considered german for a vast majority of their existence?
Considering that we're speaking low german yeah...
I don't know if this is oversimplification for the sake of brevity or just poor research
@@commisaryarreck3974 they also use modern borders quite a lot
Exactly
@@commisaryarreck3974 Low German is Saxon while Dutch is Low Franconian
Sorta, albeit "German" is a national category, kinda like "Swiss" or"Austrian" etc. The Dutch were and continue to be Germanic, They're today not "German" simply because it's a separate country.
1:13 I know this isn't about the Netherlands, but, I gotta add that, at the times the Dutch peoples didn't really exists as it's own thing, but was culturally and ethnically part of the Franko and Saxon cultures that extended throughout modern Germany. One could argue that the Frisians might be a bit of a special case, still very much Germanic, but they did have a certain level of autonomy from the rest of the HRE in the Friesche Vrijheid.
OK tidbit infoblob out of the way, let's watch the rest of this video
Loved the video but why were the Germany maps so inaccurate. I get that the nation state didn’t exist for most of it but why did half of the German maps not show Prussia owning Prussia? There were other examples of this but this was the biggest one.
You got my like by 0:11
Great video as always!
Low german is a different language from high German we only got assimilated after we got conquered by the Prussians
this
Something something ‘language’ is just a dialect with an army 😅
@@Pausi10_00 Is low German a dialect in Bavaria? What part of Germany is high German spoken?
@MichaelTreadwell-jo9bi no its a different language (Plattdeutssch or Nedersassisch) spoken in the former Saxon area and the coast in general (lower Saxony, Westphalia, Eastphalia, Schleswig-Holstein and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern as well as in Bremen and Hamburg. Nowadays it's mainly spoken by old people and it's nearly extinct because the prussians tried to eradicated it. High German is based on the midde German dialects from today's Saxony (it has nothing to do with the orginal Saxony except the name) but it's spoken all over Germany as a lingua franca. In Bavaria they speak high German (even with a strong accent) and the dialects that where spoken there where called high German before slandered German took this name.
@@Pausi10_00Very interesting. Thank you for your explanation.
Awesome, Loved it. Outstanding
Been wanting this video for a while now!
Love the quote from "Yes Minister"!
A few paragraphs about Kalergi and his plan should have been the end of any history book from this point onwards about Germany. Morgenthau at least.
Great video, very informative!
Video Chapters:
0:15 Chapter 1 - The Fall of the Holy Roman Empire
4:18 Chapter 2 - The German Confederacy
7:50 Chapter 3: The Rise of German Nationalism
12:18 Chapter 4: The Rise of Prussia
15:13 Chapter 5: The Prussian Customs Union
19:50 Chapter 6: The German Economy
23:21 Chapter 7: Realpolitik (1848-1860S)
32:33 Chapter 8: Austria vs Prussia
38:19 Chapter 9: United Germany
I love the part where we excluded Austria
What is that map??? Why is Schleswig missing? Why is there a little part of Czechia included? Why is the Poland border so straight? And don't get me started on the Low Lands border. What happened there?
He uses a mix of modern maps and older maps in this video
@@omg_julius5294 But the first map (0:00), like that doesn't look good at all. It looks like it's supposed to be a modern map, but it looks terrible.
Somehow i assumed that this would refer to reunification post cold-war lol
he already did that video you see
"And slowly the national identity of individual states were replaced with the identities of a common german identity"
Bavaria: hahahaha no
There are so many oversimplifications in this video that some of it is just straight up wrong
I as a native german speaker think it is actually not Deutsch Einigung but Deutsche Vereinigung but thats only if theres not some annoying grammar rule again.
also very nice video and thanks for talking about germanic culture as an austrian this makes me smile.
I heard somewhere that the first casualty of the Franco-Prussian war on the German side was a Scot from Badania or Würtenberg.
Germany's history is rich with pivotal events, but one fascinating fact often highlighted in history documentaries is its role in the invention of the printing press. In 1440, Johannes Gutenberg, a German inventor, revolutionized the spread of knowledge by creating the first movable-type printing press. This innovation paved the way for the mass production of books, most notably the Gutenberg Bible, which transformed education, religion, and the entire course of European history.
best educational videos ever, thanks a lot
Hey, so an issue with part 1: Germany was never governed by the Roman Empire any farther than the Rhine in the west and the area south of the Rhine and Danube rivers' beginnings in the south. While they were highly influenced by it (and a myriad lived in a series of states that were de fact Roman Tributaries; "allies" the Romans called them), they were certainly not governed by them seeing that many of the Germans would go on to invade Rome and topple it. Should you wish to see a supposed fusion of Roman and Germanic societies, look at the French and Lombards. The title of Holy Roman Emperor was first given to Charlemagne by the Pope for political reasons, and then was revived by one of his descendants for similarly political reasons. And the "unification" of the Germans into one 'state' is... misleading, as they were conquered by Charlemagne and given to his descendants. The idea that the Germans fused with the Romans was a thing that largely was passed around either Nationalist German groups or used as political legitimacy by the Holy Roman Emperors... Odd to see it here, I won't lie.
In short, the Germans didn't fuse with the Romans. They took the title for the prestige.
Top tier content ❤👏🏻
I honestly believe the downfall of the German state was two demoguges with physical deformities (Kaiser Wilhelm Hitler) who gained power through bloodline (Wilhelm) and economic/social turmoil (AH). Due to their extremely low self esteem both overcompensated by seeking and nearly achieving world domination. As we know Germans are extremely capable people, scientifically, militarily etc... The difference between ww1 and ww2 most importantly was idealogy. National Socialism was so embedded into German society by 1939 you had millions of extremists, brainwashed and willing to fight and die for that idealogy
Your videos are amazing! The only thing is that the color palette of the maps makes them hard to look at, specially to distinguish sea from land
The implication of Germany existing bound by its current borders is misleading.
The roman empire only briefly controlled germania, and even before that, the people there spoke a similar language, which then started to become more unified with the formation of the holy roman empire, the romans didn't create germans by mixing with them, they just categorized them as germani, I think you might have mixed up germany and france, which DOES come from a mixed culture of Latins, Gauls and Germans.
All mayor cities of the HRE were Roman cities: Köln (Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium), Mainz (Mogontiacum) , Koblenz (Confluentes) Trier (Augusta Treverorum) just to name the cities with arch bishops. At least 95% of the Urban population of the HRE was Roman.
All other German cities were started by priest send from those roman cities along the Rhine into the "wild east".
The only two mayor cities of the early HRE that were not roman were Magdeburg and Quedlinburg, but both of those cities were only started under the Ottonians.
There is a famous story About Attila and Köln. Attila asked the people of Köln to hand over the Romans, but everybody in Köln was at least half roman and the people of Köln declined. The coat of arms of Köln shows 11 tears, one for each of the 11 virgin girls that went to Attilas camp to ask him to leave Köln alone. They were all raped and killed, but Attila did not attack Köln.
Pretty sure that the Dutch considered themselves and were considered by others as "German" in the days of the HRE.
Argentina is older than Germany. LOL
"Since the treaties of Vienna, our frontiers have been ill-designed for a healthy body politic. Not through speeches and majority decisions will the great questions of the day be decided-that was the great mistake of 1848 and 1849-but by iron and blood" --- Otto von Bismarck, September 1862
Germany is rightful polish land btw
Great video as always! I took German as a minor in university and did a study abroad in Bonn to learn more about the culture and history of Germany. Just wanted to point out a few quick things.
I understand from a political understanding and in many ways a cultural standpoint, the removal of the Holy Roman Empire brought about the required nationalism to unify the German state. However, through study on the subject, I would argue that the 30 Years War brought about the first real form of proto-nationalism. Religion is a form of cultural expression, resulting in German states unifying together in much the same way as they did against France almost 200 years later in both the Napolionic Wars and the Franco-Prussian War. The 30 Years War saw both religious and political alliances between the German states, resulting in a sharing of culture and the first seeds of nationalism being planted.
I also wanted to give a quick mention of the Frankfurt Parliament. Though often seen as a great expression of freedoms for Germans at the time and a major step to liberal democracy. It turned out to be very corrupt and unequal in its application. I only learned of such from reading a friend's capstone historical paper concerning it. Certaintly worth discussion.
I was also a bit supprised not to see mention of Großdeuchland vs. Kleinedeuchland be mentioned. The argument to add Austria and Bohemia to a greater Germany was incredibly important in regards to both German unification, and the future actions of Germany within World Wars 1 and 2. Songs such as "Was ist des Deutschen Vaterland" and other works depicting a greater Germany roused supporters all amongst the German states. Though I undertsand it to be a minor thing within the context of solely German unification, the idea of the inclusion of Austria within Germany would help fuel later German expansionism.
I wanted to thank you for looking deeper into the economical aspects of German unification. Often Germany is seen as to have only been unified through skillful (or lucky) use of military might, but very rarely are economics given the light they deserve.
Vielen Dank für das Video, as a History major and a German minor, this video hit right where my studies taught me. It was a well written thesis that encapsulated the road to the unified German state we know and love today. And thank you for putting your sources in the description, though I would personaly prefer a more diverse selection of sources that include both primary and secondary accounts along with page numbers, I undertand that this is a youtube video, not a collegiate dissertation.
Keep up the great work, I look forward to your future videos.
I almost ignored this thinking it was a remake of the REunification video
30:57 Yes Minister!
Man of culture
Correction: on 5:55 Russia had control of the baltics not the balkans.
30:11 The Prussians still used the Dreyse needle gun in the 1870 Franco-Prussian war, which had to be reloaded after every shot.
23:10 Talking about Germans creating a common German identity from becoming increasingly connected - to what extent could that be happening with Europe today, that as increasingly Europeans connect and communicate with each other in English, we form a common European identity, which starts to rise in importance relative to our national identities
Wow, such an amazing video. Could you make one about Poland? I am polish but I am sure it would be amazing to combine these two in my mind to have a better understanding of what has been happening in Europe.
Afghanistan liberated Poland.
Bismarck had a plan. Bismarck ALWAYS had a plan.
i love all of your videos, my roommates always sit down with me whenever I have one of your videos on while I'm working. Would you ever consider doing a history of Palestine video?
Just a heads up, a few repeats of the same mistake where you say Austria in Prussia's place in audio, subtitles have it correct. Great video regardless
Regarding the context of this video, it's excellent BTW, Germanys geography was both a positive and detriment. For the simple fact despite it's fairly large size it's positioned right in the middle of Europe, consequently they always had reservations about being surrounded by enemies (France, Poland, Russia) on either side
France was never enemy with the germans (it allied multiple times with german states such as baden palatinate bavaria and prussia against austria) the germans made the french into vicious enemies after 1870 when they went provoking a war with france (lets say it was normal at that time) but worse trying to humiliate them as much as possible for litteraly no reason other than hatred and also take large sums of money as well as kill many civilians. The traditional ennemies of france before 1870 were austria spain britain but that event radicalized the french which were already very nationalist as the first modern state to adopt nationalism as its ideology.
31:00 that’s a line from “Yes, Minister” when Sir Humphrey described Britain’s foreign policy 😂
Holy Roman Emperor: this lack centralized power is leaving me vulnerable to the growing strength of my neighbors!
Poland: hold my piwo.
Why your map of Germany missing Schleswig-Holstein?
Would you or could you ever do a poland will be divided scope video on how they were torn apart and later reunited?
37:52 i think you said it wrong with Austria instead of prussia
Can you do a histroy of central africa please i think itll be grewt for a histrotuber like you to cover it?
Germany will be UNITED!
I missed you!!
A HUGE mistakes in the video: Napoleon did not dissolve the HRE, it was the very Holy Roman Emperor, Francis II who did so for preventing Napleon to become HR Emperor.
Also, a bit strange not a single direct mention to Naploeon III, King Fredrick Wilhelm IV, Emperor Franz Joseph or the German Emperor himself, Wilhelm I
Correct me if I'm wrong but at 37:50 shouldn't it be the "Russians were friends with prussia" and not Austria and also that "the french were trade partners with prussia" and not Austria
I'm curious... at 20:30 he says the germans connected rivers with canals in the 1920s, but he mean to say 1820s?
Funny thing about the HRE, it's Emperor was elected by Prince Electors particularly the elector of Brandenburg, saxony, Bohemia (what is now Czechoslovakia) and many other principalities of distinguished historical note.
0:01 What cursed map of Germany is that?
3:21 you mean king?
There’s another fairytale by the Grims about disrespecting an authority figure. But this one ends in the main protagonist successfully becoming independent. I’m of course talking about Repunzel, which the Disney movie Tangled is very heavily based on.
So many inaccuracies in this video, starting with the maps. LAZY!
21:19 interesting centres of trade... really interesting
The documentary highlights how, before unification, Germany was a patchwork of independent states and principalities, often fragmented and in conflict.
Key figures like Otto von Bismarck played a crucial role in orchestrating this unification through a mix of diplomacy and warfare. Bismarck's clever manipulation of events, like the Austro-Prussian War and the Franco-Prussian War, helped to rally the German states under Prussian leadership. The film also touches on the rising sense of nationalism among the German people, who longed for a unified identity.
As the documentary unfolds, it showcases the various political, social, and economic factors that contributed to this monumental change. By the end, viewers get a clear picture of how a combination of strategic alliances, military victories, and growing national pride brought about the birth of the German Empire, forever changing the landscape of Europe. The engaging visuals make the complex history easy to grasp and really bring the story to life.
Good timing
15:00 for Americans, you can blame Horace Mann for compulsory education.
I'm both dizzy and exhausted.
6:49 the Reichstag existed?
What is that butchered Germany map from the beginning of the video?
I love how in a History Scope video GERMANY always SHALL BE UNITED
Love the reference to Yes, Minister
15:01 He sure read my mind.
"Killing your customers is bad for business." Classic.
17:06 it's not Macklenburg-Schwerin, it's Mecklenburg-Schwerin.
Germany before its unification was like mixture of today’s Nato and European Union having defensive treaty and individual government but under the umbrella of of a super government
"Germany exists."
Proceeds showing a map of a Germany that never existed in this form.