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🔴Well now isn't this gratifying --> been saying this guys name (along with *Menno van Coehoorn*) for the last year & a half at least🔴 keep it Sleuthin!🐾
When people talk of Napoleon as Frances or the worlds greatest military mind they obviously know little to nothing! Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban I Frances greatest military mind. Everyone jerks off napoleon but he lost many battles unlike the French Louis-Nicolas Davout in the same period war's who was undefeated. Louis-Nicolas Davout is the only undefeated French general beside maybe Philippe II, Duke of Orléans but his military career was not 1/2 as great for he was as much a politician in regency & court. The 1 thing France lacked was Great admirals & captains in my opinion for on the continent till ww2 France was a military giant but outside of France militarily it was a mixed basket compared to other major colonial powers. Britain has at least a dozen odd undefeated generals John Churchill 1 st Duke of Marlborough & Arthur Wellesley 1 st Duke of Wellington Sidney Smith (Royal Navy officer) was undefeated. Napoleon Bonaparte in reminiscent of Sidney smith said I quote: "That man made me miss my destiny"! Captain Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald. The man Napoleon called “Le Loup des Mers” (“The Sea Wolf”). Many considered him the craziest captain in history at the time & even today. Nelson of course never lost a fleet action so is undefeated but who doesn't know of Nelson? Britain greatest siege engineer was inventor of the shrapnel shell prior to the Siege of Gibraltar. Artillery officers really never get the look in they deserve. Even if a lieutenant general Henry shrapnel to my knowledge was undefeated & improved Britain's military & naval weaponry considerably! Britain & France are the big boys of war till Germany-Prussia formed to be a thing. Russia had some great generals & admirals but they had far more awful ones. I can't think of a single General from the New world worth mentioning as undefeated besides maybe 'George henry Thomas' but does a civil war & fighting a smaller forces of Mexicans et cetera really count?
Can you do a video on a blueprint for the perfect Star Fort. You've done videos on how they were defended and how to lay siege and the most advanced sieges here. But never how they are built. Materials shape thickness techniques.
It is maybe interesting to look at his arch rival too. Menno van Coehoorn was a Dutch engineer and led the sieges of the Grand Alliance. His strategy differed from Vauban in that he was willing to offer up more lives in order to make a siege quicker. The defensive lines he proposed in the Netherlands were also still used by NATO in the 1950s. When Vauban met Coehoorn in the ruins of Namur after he captured it in 1692 he consoled him the fact that at least he had "the honour of being attacked by the greatest king in the world". Coehoorn replied that his real consolation was in the fact that he had forced his rival to move his siege batteries seven times during the assault.
Didn't Coehoorn have more of a tendency to utilize the existing terrain, to Vauban's mathematical precision? I thought I'd read that somewhere. Also, that'd be a great movie, although it'd probably never be made due to the limited audience. Edit: It appears I may have got the two figures switched in my head.
Menno van Coehoorn is a great siege engineer. I'd like a life summary video on him as many of his battles simply aren't translated to English & I don't speak Dutch!
@@eldorados_lost_searcher To be fair to Coehoorn, his works were based on the dutch landscape. One of his most famous works is even titled "Nieuwe vestingbouw, Op een natte of lage Horisont". Meaning New fortification building, on a wet or low horizon.
Probably the most fascinating french man of the reign of Louis XIV with d'Artagnan. Vauban wasn't only a great engineer but also a great mathematician who deeply cared for the people. He is the first one to have calculated what a military campaign costed in every matter like food, munitions, carts, replacement wheels, weapons, salaries, clothing... But also what it cost to the treasury each time a man was conscripted into the army instead of working the field or doing a job. All of this was to convince the king of the damages of senseless wars. Also he was very saddened by the poverty of french commoners of his time and outraged at the inefficiency of french agricultural politics. He wrote papers to justify a new way to levy taxes that would be more efficient and less unjust for the people, by suppressing the unbelievable various taxes that existed since the middle age with a taxation system that would be proportional to the wealth of each household. He also considered that everybody had to pay, nobility and clergy included. He also advises the kin to pay the peasants for their tool and a politic to expand the agricultural fields of France but once again he wasn't listened to. He truly was an incredible man ahead of his time and if Louis XIV had followed his advice France would probably have been a better place. Sometimes I regret Vauban didn't have the destiny to be king.
@Emil Fontanot True. There was a reason the king felt the need to keep France's nobles close to himself at Versailles. Taxing those people is not something they would've taken kindly.
@@BountyFlamor Indeed, they wouldn't have taken it kindly. But Louis the XIVth wasn't the one to take dissent kindly either: one either had to be extra-diplomatic, have excellent points to make, or to flee. Well, that's my impression about the Sun King's reign, at least.
@@chamade166 people in france at the time were mostly white... As for the straight, I doubt he ever offended the notoriously gay brother of Louis XIV...
When I visited Besancon in Franche Comte last year, the most impressive thing about the city are the fortresses in and around it. The citadel is like something out of a fantasy film (it has a zoo and menagerie in it now), also fort Vauban has magnificent panoramic views over the city. There are plaques to the US 3rd infantry Division that took the fortress. It was so impressive a fort even in WW2 it was difficult to assail and take.
Vauban's fortifications were some of the best in history without a doubt. In fact, some of them allowed the French army to stall the German and Italians during the disastrous spring of 1940. Not very well admittedly, but some places like Bergues were used to slow down and gain time and it's amazing to think that even centuries after his death, his walls would still be able to put up a fight even with technology marching on
Vauban once perfected a fortress in Belgium that was vainly besieged by the best Dutch engineers. After a peace the fortress was returned to the Spaniards. In the next war Vauban besieged it and took it in a few weeks.
Namur was defended by the Dutch in 1692 under famous engineer Menno van Coehoorn with 6000 troops and besieged by Vauban with 120000, who took the fortress in about a month. After the siege Coehoorn and Vauban discussed the siege. Vauban modernized the defenses, but in 1895 the fortress was besieged by the Dutch under Coehoorn with 80000 troops and defended by 13000 French troops, it fell after a two month siege.
@@Freaky1928 But he also said he had a method for preventing a fort from being taken, but died before he can create the manual. His fort construction and defense protocols were exceptional.
[11:18] That's one of my favorite quotes regarding design principles! The version I found originally went: ""One does not fortify by systems, but buy good sense and experience." I included it in a video game I developed back in 1984, called "Fortress" (for the AppleII, Atari, & Commodore 64 computers).
I live not far from Neuf Brisach and highly recommend a visit there. The fortifications are still basically complete and you can freely walk around the - very small - town and see them. If you got there on a weekday outside the holiday season you even have the place all to yourself.
I live in Saarlouis, we got about a quarter of the original fortification work left. The most important change made by the Prussians was... Adding a bridge so that the greengrocers could get aspargus quicker.
So to summarize, he developed a guideline for sapping by digging at least 3 trenches toward the fort with zigzags so you cant be shot along it and brought the idea of firing in enfilade whilst also preventing it being used against you. Worked very well and was/ has been used since
My engineering lecturer once says "to be innovating a completely new thing is a great thing. But most of the time the most effective way to innovate is to combine and organize what's already been invented and use to it's extent." I look back at Vauban, he is indeed, effective.
@@williamalfonso1373 I don't see your point? Only high ranking knights wear plated armor anyway. before 1600s armies has always rely mostly peasant spear levies. Because if it works, it works. Why would you change it for the worse? But in the age of Vauban, pike and shot is almost obsolete, many become arquebusiers with bayonets. It take many innovations to effectively use firearms and artillery, not just engineering new firearms but inventing how to integrate new units into existing formations until eventually, becoming line infantry. I don't see how that's not innovative at the time. And yes, during time of pike and shot there are plated knights with guns.
@drawer_resp3858 perhaps I didn't phrase it properly. my point was that armies went back old formations of antiquity (Alexander the great) but added black powder weapons to the mix. Kinda what you said, take something that's already been invented but modify it.
Really nice video and summary of Vauban's life and works! Also great to see my hometown Naarden shortly when Vauban's European counterparts are mentioned. Growing up within the walls there sparked a lifelong interested in fortresses, fortified cities and history; and I've visited and admired some of Vaubans works as well.
Actually his works stood the test of time even until 1870 : I come from a French town named Belfort (="beautiful Fort" in XVIIth century French). This city was the only fortress that could not be breached by the Prussian/ German invasion of 1870, even earned itself the nickname "Totmachine" (Machine of Death) in the German rank and file. And although yes, its defenses had been upgraded during the XIXth century, the groundworks of the citadel still were those of Vauban.
It's such a dead town though. Any other small town in that region of france would have pubs and restaurants with nice outside seating in the town square. There is just nothing to do there except to look at the fortifications.
Living in Solothurn (Switzerland) the city had a star fortress by Vauban. It ran around the whole city. It was torn away at the end of the 18 hundreds. But a full section was left in the north-east, the so-called Riedholzschanze (Riedholz meaning the village it is pointing at and Schanze meaning fortress) with the massive Riedholz tower and the Basel gate. The old town of Solothurn is located on the north banks of the Aare river. On the south bank the largest fortifications were build to protect against Bern (in the south) the strongest power in the region at that times. There is also a small section still left on this south bank, the so-called Krummturmschanze, which, however, was build before Vauban.
I really appreciate these videos- easily some of the best history videos on the platform, and about a very under-covered topic in history as well, thanks for it mate and keep up the great work!
I'm someone who loves intellectualizing everything and finding out about Vauban's work into intellectualizing sieges is just amazing. I'm definitely going to look more deeply into his work. Fascinating!
As someone who is a very keen student of the Baroque period in all it's facets, especially cultural and military, I love your videos. You always present things in a wonderful way, and the animations are pretty to boot! Keep up the great work!
Fun fact: Vauban's house stood more or less where Napoleon would put his cannons during the famous "whiff of grapeshot" incident. (For those interested: Rue Saint Roch in Paris. There's a Plaque to mark Vauban's house)
Interesting to finally have this pop up in my youtube recommendations; I visited an exhibition on the Siege of Maastricht last year. Still hoping to see you cover that in detail some time.
This video was especially cool for me because I just biked through Neuf-Brisach last week! I was aware it was a model fortress, but wasn’t aware of the significance beyond that. Great public drinking fountains and bakeries too!
There have been many siege experts throughout history(Demetrius the Besieger, Vespasian, Mehmet the Conqueror, Suleiman the Magnificent, Maurits of Orange, Ambrosio de Spinola, Marlborough, Eugene of Savoy, Peter the Great, Rochambeau, Suvorov, Ludendorff, etc.), but, in my opinion, Vauban was the greatest siege expert in world history.
Vauban was so op at sieges that he basically removed all suspense. Everyone knew that a fortress was doomed if Vauban was in charge of the attacking forces
As always an incredibly good work, thank you so much. bit sad the Vauban fortress of where i grew up wasn't talked about but considering the sheer number of such fortresses there are I cannot complain lmao The defensive works on the Atlantic Coast to counter potential British invasions are still a very interesting subject, between Royan and La Rochelle the network of defensive works is virtually impenetrable and even the bay is full of forts built in the middle of the waters so that with the range of cannons at the time no passage was safe from their fire. One of those, Fort Boyard, became useless simply by the fact the range of cannons increased with technological advancement and became a Prison, but the defensive works in the area were last used in ww2 as the nazis tried to hold out against Ally forces and French Partisans, who eventually liberated the whole area. at this occasion my great-uncle fired mortar rounds from a commandeered local oyster-gatherer's boat in a nazi-occupied Vauban fortress (in the town of le chateau d'oléron), which was eventually bombed by US air forces b-17s and the nazis surrendered. Just saying, if your works are still used to some extent centuries after your death, it must be great work.
Awesome video! Even as someone with little background knowledge in this topic, I found your explanations clear and easy to understand
Рік тому+2
Magnificent video, I was waiting for this topic for a long time and it was worth doing it, because the quality was splendid. Before Vauban, the art of sieges and the defenses of fortified cities were practically something handmade, it depended to a large extent on the way of conducting the war of each nation (it was all more experimental, although there were excellent great theorists, it was a matter of trial and error), its greatest exponents being the Spanish-Italians and the Dutch; but after Vauban, military engineering could be considered as a whole science, with well-established methods and rules, as well as being easily replicable, bringing together everything that had been experienced in his time and undoubtedly improving it. For me it is the high point of military and urban architecture, masterfully using geometry and creating true masterpieces of fortifications.
🔴Well now isn't this gratifying --> been saying this guys name (along with *Menno van Coehoorn*) for the last year & a half at least🔴 keep it Sleuthin!🐾
Certains l'ont déjà mentionné mais outre ses éminentes qualités d'ingénieurs civil et militaire, il avait un projet de dîme royale, qui était une simplification du modèle fiscal alors en vigueur. Un modèle qui devait être appliqué à l'échelle du royaume pour assainir les dépenses, cela incluait la taxation des nobles et du clergé. Louis XIV a lu ce projet et semblait être en accord (Simon Surreaux dans son livre "Vauban") mais pour d'obscures raisons, ça n'a pas été mis en place. Peut être que la mort précoce du puissant Vauban en 1707 n'a pas permis à celui-ci de faire pression. Peut être aussi que le roi redoutait l'opposition que ça aurait pu causer parmi les nobles. Enfin il aurait été compliqué d'implanter ce système durant la guerre de succession d'Espagne et malheureusement, Louis XIV ne vivra qu'une année de plus après la fin de la guerre. C'est bien dommage, peut être qu'énormément de choses auraient pu être changées grâce à cette idée novatrice pour l'époque.
I actually drove past neuf-brisach on way to colmar just a couple months ago and was like: wow, that's a star fortress, how neat. never would I have realized that it was actually vaubans masterpiece. should've taken a longer look lol
Much less known than his fortresses, he also wrote several treatises on livestock management, on agricultural methods depending on the soil and even books dealing with financial management and taxes. Not far from being a universal genius, Vauban.
_La Cochonnerie, ou le calcul estimatif pour connaître jusqu'où peut aller la production d'une truie pendant dix années de temps_ He even tells Le Roi-Soleil that even the nobles and the clerks have to pay taxes...!
He was very much a renaissance man; in the meaning of having a wide range of skills and the ability to implement them - from engineering, to politics, to etiquette, to many more themes.
Kink Louis the XlV was able to delay the allied coalition during the War of Spanish Succession using Vauban's frontier fortresses, they basically saved France. The Siege of Lille was important to stall the Allies until winter came, which it accomplished. When the city fortifications were breached and stormed, the General and many of his men fell back to the citadel and held off for several additional weeks. This saw in the start of winter, and that ended the attempted invasion of France, which would not be possible with France having a season to prepare for it. Vauban was a great fort builder and even better at procedures to siege them.
There are days I think about starting a Kickstarter for a star fortress city. A real estate project for people to live in like a rent to own, I have land
We have 2 big star forts in Romania, one in Alba Iulia and one in Arad. Timisoara also had one, it was the biggest in SE Europe with 9 bastions, 3 lines of walls, covered way, 4 sluice gates for water management and a 950 m esplanade arround the fortification.
I was hoping you would mention his rivalry with Menno van Coehorn, with emphasis on that time they met at opposing sides (IIRC Vauban was besieger and Coehorn defender). Also that one time he failed to capture a fort (IIRC he led something like 33 sieges and captured fort 32 times, but I could be remembering it incorrectly).
I like the musical periods. Baroque, classical, romantic, industrial, modern and contemporany. It fits great with the political landscape that really change with every generation. Of course, it is too eurocentric for the eternal boundary breakers that would even tear down the mountains to pursue their flat and egalitarian historical narrative.
Excellent video. Great military mind. Now I'm thrilled to find a video telling a story of Vauban method fail. There must be some siege that went wrong!
I think he is talking about the Republican American whom start a campaign of frenchbashing in 2003. I have no Idea what it could be otherwise.@@fredjohnson9833
@@SandRhomanHistory If you guys haven't been, _Les Invalides_ and the _Musée de l'Armée_ in Paris has a permanent exposition on scale models of Vauban fortresses, commissioned to show the king the state of his fortifications. Not only are they fascinating for what the detail they show about late 17th C fortresses in reliefs that are a couple of metres per side, they are a (historic) work of art in their own right!
video on castillian siege warfare please!! during the times of El Cid and Reconquista! i've heard plenty that medieval Castille had perfected siege warfare for its time from various historians on youtube but none ever go into further detail
I would advice you to take a look at Siege of Nagykanizsa 1601, as it is probably the most succesfull and perfect siege defense in history, it would be a great content for your amazing channel
I’m a German and my car’s number plate starts with SLS which stands for Saarlouis, the fortress city Vauban built for and named after the french King Louis XIV.
![Lp. Сердце Вселенной #60 РОЖДЕНИЕ ЛОЛОЛОШКИ [Финал] • Майнкрафт](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/YoR0pAV9FVQ/mqdefault.jpg)
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🔴Well now isn't this gratifying --> been saying this guys name (along with *Menno van Coehoorn*) for the last year & a half at least🔴
keep it Sleuthin!🐾
Vauban obviously also learned from Georg Rimpler.
Can you try building the perfect bastion?
When people talk of Napoleon as Frances or the worlds greatest military mind they obviously know little to nothing!
Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban I Frances greatest military mind.
Everyone jerks off napoleon but he lost many battles unlike the French Louis-Nicolas Davout in the same period war's who was undefeated.
Louis-Nicolas Davout is the only undefeated French general beside maybe Philippe II, Duke of Orléans but his military career was not 1/2 as great for he was as much a politician in regency & court.
The 1 thing France lacked was Great admirals & captains in my opinion for on the continent till ww2 France was a military giant but outside of France militarily it was a mixed basket compared to other major colonial powers.
Britain has at least a dozen odd undefeated generals John Churchill 1 st Duke of Marlborough &
Arthur Wellesley 1 st Duke of Wellington
Sidney Smith (Royal Navy officer) was undefeated.
Napoleon Bonaparte in reminiscent of Sidney smith said I quote: "That man made me miss my destiny"!
Captain Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald. The man Napoleon called “Le Loup des Mers” (“The Sea Wolf”).
Many considered him the craziest captain in history at the time & even today.
Nelson of course never lost a fleet action so is undefeated but who doesn't know of Nelson?
Britain greatest siege engineer was inventor of the shrapnel shell prior to the Siege of Gibraltar.
Artillery officers really never get the look in they deserve.
Even if a lieutenant general Henry shrapnel to my knowledge was undefeated & improved Britain's military & naval weaponry considerably!
Britain & France are the big boys of war till Germany-Prussia formed to be a thing.
Russia had some great generals & admirals but they had far more awful ones.
I can't think of a single General from the New world worth mentioning as undefeated besides maybe 'George henry Thomas' but does a civil war & fighting a smaller forces of Mexicans et cetera really count?
Can you do a video on a blueprint for the perfect Star Fort.
You've done videos on how they were defended and how to lay siege and the most advanced sieges here.
But never how they are built. Materials shape thickness techniques.
It is maybe interesting to look at his arch rival too. Menno van Coehoorn was a Dutch engineer and led the sieges of the Grand Alliance.
His strategy differed from Vauban in that he was willing to offer up more lives in order to make a siege quicker. The defensive lines he proposed in the Netherlands were also still used by NATO in the 1950s.
When Vauban met Coehoorn in the ruins of Namur after he captured it in 1692 he consoled him the fact that at least he had "the honour of being attacked by the greatest king in the world". Coehoorn replied that his real consolation was in the fact that he had forced his rival to move his siege batteries seven times during the assault.
Didn't Coehoorn have more of a tendency to utilize the existing terrain, to Vauban's mathematical precision? I thought I'd read that somewhere.
Also, that'd be a great movie, although it'd probably never be made due to the limited audience.
Edit: It appears I may have got the two figures switched in my head.
Menno van Coehoorn is a great siege engineer.
I'd like a life summary video on him as many of his battles simply aren't translated to English & I don't speak Dutch!
Coehoorn was later employed by the nilfgaardian empire for the first and second northern wars.
@@eldorados_lost_searcher To be fair to Coehoorn, his works were based on the dutch landscape. One of his most famous works is even titled "Nieuwe vestingbouw, Op een natte of lage Horisont". Meaning New fortification building, on a wet or low horizon.
Imagine what fortresses would have been built, had these two worked together.
« A city besieged by Vauban is a lost city. A city defended by Vauban is a saved one. »
Source of the quote : trust me bro
@@Raisonnance. Aurélien Fayet et Michelle Fayet, L'Histoire de France. Tout simplement !, Éditions Eyrolles, 2011, p. 145.
Its funny when you think about it. Vauban was only once besieged.
I visited several fortresses of him last year they still look good.
This quote is famous in France@@Raisonnance.
@@pialrathe trick random internet troll hate : sources
Probably the most fascinating french man of the reign of Louis XIV with d'Artagnan. Vauban wasn't only a great engineer but also a great mathematician who deeply cared for the people. He is the first one to have calculated what a military campaign costed in every matter like food, munitions, carts, replacement wheels, weapons, salaries, clothing... But also what it cost to the treasury each time a man was conscripted into the army instead of working the field or doing a job. All of this was to convince the king of the damages of senseless wars.
Also he was very saddened by the poverty of french commoners of his time and outraged at the inefficiency of french agricultural politics. He wrote papers to justify a new way to levy taxes that would be more efficient and less unjust for the people, by suppressing the unbelievable various taxes that existed since the middle age with a taxation system that would be proportional to the wealth of each household. He also considered that everybody had to pay, nobility and clergy included.
He also advises the kin to pay the peasants for their tool and a politic to expand the agricultural fields of France but once again he wasn't listened to.
He truly was an incredible man ahead of his time and if Louis XIV had followed his advice France would probably have been a better place. Sometimes I regret Vauban didn't have the destiny to be king.
@Emil Fontanot True. There was a reason the king felt the need to keep France's nobles close to himself at Versailles. Taxing those people is not something they would've taken kindly.
well said
@@BountyFlamor Indeed, they wouldn't have taken it kindly. But Louis the XIVth wasn't the one to take dissent kindly either: one either had to be extra-diplomatic, have excellent points to make, or to flee.
Well, that's my impression about the Sun King's reign, at least.
He cared about people as long as they were white and straight...give me a break.
@@chamade166 people in france at the time were mostly white... As for the straight, I doubt he ever offended the notoriously gay brother of Louis XIV...
Your channel has become my favorite history channel. Your work is appreciated and the quality never ceases to amaze.
Glad you enjoy it! Thanks for the nice words!
I agree I would like to become more financially stable to be able to patreon
The animations and art style is absolutely fantastic, too. Very distinctive and memorable. This is easily one of the best history channels on here.
When I visited Besancon in Franche Comte last year, the most impressive thing about the city are the fortresses in and around it. The citadel is like something out of a fantasy film (it has a zoo and menagerie in it now), also fort Vauban has magnificent panoramic views over the city. There are plaques to the US 3rd infantry Division that took the fortress. It was so impressive a fort even in WW2 it was difficult to assail and take.
Vauban's fortifications were some of the best in history without a doubt. In fact, some of them allowed the French army to stall the German and Italians during the disastrous spring of 1940. Not very well admittedly, but some places like Bergues were used to slow down and gain time and it's amazing to think that even centuries after his death, his walls would still be able to put up a fight even with technology marching on
Vauban once perfected a fortress in Belgium that was vainly besieged by the best Dutch engineers. After a peace the fortress was returned to the Spaniards. In the next war Vauban besieged it and took it in a few weeks.
Namur was defended by the Dutch in 1692 under famous engineer Menno van Coehoorn with 6000 troops and besieged by Vauban with 120000, who took the fortress in about a month. After the siege Coehoorn and Vauban discussed the siege. Vauban modernized the defenses, but in 1895 the fortress was besieged by the Dutch under Coehoorn with 80000 troops and defended by 13000 French troops, it fell after a two month siege.
What did they expect lol. Vaubaun perfected it so he'd know its weaknesses
Nah bro he just hide a backdoor in the fortress so it can be hacked later
@@Freaky1928 But he also said he had a method for preventing a fort from being taken, but died before he can create the manual. His fort construction and defense protocols were exceptional.
Je n ai pas tout compris mais c'était bien y’m french.
[11:18] That's one of my favorite quotes regarding design principles!
The version I found originally went:
""One does not fortify by systems, but buy good sense and experience."
I included it in a video game I developed back in 1984, called "Fortress"
(for the AppleII, Atari, & Commodore 64 computers).
its nice to have u as a cameo in the comments
I live not far from Neuf Brisach and highly recommend a visit there. The fortifications are still basically complete and you can freely walk around the - very small - town and see them. If you got there on a weekday outside the holiday season you even have the place all to yourself.
After seeing this video, I did a google streetview tour of the town. It does look nice,. I hope I have a chance to visit for real.
I live in Saarlouis, we got about a quarter of the original fortification work left.
The most important change made by the Prussians was... Adding a bridge so that the greengrocers could get aspargus quicker.
saarland, beautiful piece of land
Saarlouis should be back on French hand after all it’s a French creation ordered by the Sun King 👑 🌞 ⚜️
the level of detail and the well presented sources make your videos a pure joy to watch. thank you for all your hard work
Thank you very much!
A man with a reason and a heart: how to take or hold fortresses while puting at risk as few lives as possible.
Star fortresses look so cool, especially perfectly shaped ones
So to summarize, he developed a guideline for sapping by digging at least 3 trenches toward the fort with zigzags so you cant be shot along it and brought the idea of firing in enfilade whilst also preventing it being used against you. Worked very well and was/ has been used since
Vauban is the only person in his era who could answer the question "What happens when an unstoppable object meets an immovable one".
And the answer is whichever side Vauban was on prevails
C'est MARÉCHAL Vauban, pas Vauban. C'est un peu irrespectueux ce que vous dites
My engineering lecturer once says "to be innovating a completely new thing is a great thing. But most of the time the most effective way to innovate is to combine and organize what's already been invented and use to it's extent."
I look back at Vauban, he is indeed, effective.
Funny you say that! Europe went from wearing plated Armor to doing Pike and shot for formations. LOL Phalanx with the addition of guns.
@@williamalfonso1373
I don't see your point?
Only high ranking knights wear plated armor anyway. before 1600s armies has always rely mostly peasant spear levies. Because if it works, it works. Why would you change it for the worse?
But in the age of Vauban, pike and shot is almost obsolete, many become arquebusiers with bayonets.
It take many innovations to effectively use firearms and artillery, not just engineering new firearms but inventing how to integrate new units into existing formations until eventually, becoming line infantry. I don't see how that's not innovative at the time.
And yes, during time of pike and shot there are plated knights with guns.
@drawer_resp3858 perhaps I didn't phrase it properly. my point was that armies went back old formations of antiquity (Alexander the great) but added black powder weapons to the mix. Kinda what you said, take something that's already been invented but modify it.
The Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch was a nice touch.
Perhaps also a Worms reference since it blows a crater?
That closing line neatly sums up exactly why this channel is so brilliant.
Nice!
Thank you! Cheers!
What a brilliant channel. Thank you and thanks to UA-cam as a platform to enable such great work!
Our pleasure!
Really nice video and summary of Vauban's life and works! Also great to see my hometown Naarden shortly when Vauban's European counterparts are mentioned. Growing up within the walls there sparked a lifelong interested in fortresses, fortified cities and history; and I've visited and admired some of Vaubans works as well.
Actually his works stood the test of time even until 1870 : I come from a French town named Belfort (="beautiful Fort" in XVIIth century French). This city was the only fortress that could not be breached by the Prussian/ German invasion of 1870, even earned itself the nickname "Totmachine" (Machine of Death) in the German rank and file. And although yes, its defenses had been upgraded during the XIXth century, the groundworks of the citadel still were those of Vauban.
Neuf-Brisach is a magnificent small town, always worth a visit.
It's such a dead town though. Any other small town in that region of france would have pubs and restaurants with nice outside seating in the town square. There is just nothing to do there except to look at the fortifications.
I know you spent alot of time doing all those inkarnate maps. Thanks for the huge work
Living in Solothurn (Switzerland) the city had a star fortress by Vauban. It ran around the whole city. It was torn away at the end of the 18 hundreds. But a full section was left in the north-east, the so-called Riedholzschanze (Riedholz meaning the village it is pointing at and Schanze meaning fortress) with the massive Riedholz tower and the Basel gate.
The old town of Solothurn is located on the north banks of the Aare river. On the south bank the largest fortifications were build to protect against Bern (in the south) the strongest power in the region at that times. There is also a small section still left on this south bank, the so-called Krummturmschanze, which, however, was build before Vauban.
I really appreciate these videos- easily some of the best history videos on the platform, and about a very under-covered topic in history as well, thanks for it mate and keep up the great work!
Glad you enjoy our content! Thank you for the comment!
I'm someone who loves intellectualizing everything and finding out about Vauban's work into intellectualizing sieges is just amazing. I'm definitely going to look more deeply into his work. Fascinating!
Vauban capturing fortresses he conquered giving a
medal to himself for making the very same fortresses impenetrable
Are you guys ready for the "Star forts were made by Ancient Aliens/Atlantians" crowd turning up?
I believe its the Tartarian mud flooders that like to talk about star forts. They wont watch it, as it will ruin their story times.
The fucking what?
Oui! Finally, thank you man for making this I've waited 2 yrs for this.
I love the respect and care you show Vauban, even though he died 300 years ago
Great video. I studied Louis XIV in history when I was in school, and Vauban was given some mention, but this was a comprehensive overview.
My life can go on !!! Love your work, it’s like waiting for your birthday 😊
Haha, good to hear, thanks :P
As someone who is a very keen student of the Baroque period in all it's facets, especially cultural and military, I love your videos. You always present things in a wonderful way, and the animations are pretty to boot!
Keep up the great work!
Fun fact: Vauban's house stood more or less where Napoleon would put his cannons during the famous "whiff of grapeshot" incident. (For those interested: Rue Saint Roch in Paris. There's a Plaque to mark Vauban's house)
Interesting to finally have this pop up in my youtube recommendations; I visited an exhibition on the Siege of Maastricht last year. Still hoping to see you cover that in detail some time.
This video was especially cool for me because I just biked through Neuf-Brisach last week! I was aware it was a model fortress, but wasn’t aware of the significance beyond that. Great public drinking fountains and bakeries too!
There have been many siege experts throughout history(Demetrius the Besieger, Vespasian, Mehmet the Conqueror, Suleiman the Magnificent, Maurits of Orange, Ambrosio de Spinola, Marlborough, Eugene of Savoy, Peter the Great, Rochambeau, Suvorov, Ludendorff, etc.), but, in my opinion, Vauban was the greatest siege expert in world history.
Most of them were rulers who had men and rss to spare plus they hire some very good siege experts.On their own,i dont think they are to good.
Vauban was so op at sieges that he basically removed all suspense. Everyone knew that a fortress was doomed if Vauban was in charge of the attacking forces
Vauban is the greatest 40k character.
An honorary son of Rogal Dorn.
@@KaiHung-wv3ul more like his grand grand grand father
@@ledocteurgonzo Oh, right.
This was an incredible video. Thank you for teaching us all about this!
i love that your titles dont have some weird clickbait algorithm crap in them (staggering)
"Pas mal non ? ! C'est français"
As always an incredibly good work, thank you so much.
bit sad the Vauban fortress of where i grew up wasn't talked about but considering the sheer number of such fortresses there are I cannot complain lmao
The defensive works on the Atlantic Coast to counter potential British invasions are still a very interesting subject, between Royan and La Rochelle the network of defensive works is virtually impenetrable and even the bay is full of forts built in the middle of the waters so that with the range of cannons at the time no passage was safe from their fire.
One of those, Fort Boyard, became useless simply by the fact the range of cannons increased with technological advancement and became a Prison, but the defensive works in the area were last used in ww2 as the nazis tried to hold out against Ally forces and French Partisans, who eventually liberated the whole area. at this occasion my great-uncle fired mortar rounds from a commandeered local oyster-gatherer's boat in a nazi-occupied Vauban fortress (in the town of le chateau d'oléron), which was eventually bombed by US air forces b-17s and the nazis surrendered.
Just saying, if your works are still used to some extent centuries after your death, it must be great work.
Awesome video! Even as someone with little background knowledge in this topic, I found your explanations clear and easy to understand
Magnificent video, I was waiting for this topic for a long time and it was worth doing it, because the quality was splendid. Before Vauban, the art of sieges and the defenses of fortified cities were practically something handmade, it depended to a large extent on the way of conducting the war of each nation (it was all more experimental, although there were excellent great theorists, it was a matter of trial and error), its greatest exponents being the Spanish-Italians and the Dutch; but after Vauban, military engineering could be considered as a whole science, with well-established methods and rules, as well as being easily replicable, bringing together everything that had been experienced in his time and undoubtedly improving it. For me it is the high point of military and urban architecture, masterfully using geometry and creating true masterpieces of fortifications.
I had heard of him but was unaware of how much he had done & how his influence had spread. Thanks for the video
Haha love the Worms Holy Hand Grenade reference!
I HAVE TO FORTIFY THIS POSITION
"You Must Construct Additional Pylons !! "
Always informative and entertaining, great documentary!
Awesome as always. This just makes me want to build terrain for a tabletop game.
🔴Well now isn't this gratifying --> been saying this guys name (along with *Menno van Coehoorn*) for the last year & a half at least🔴
keep it Sleuthin!🐾
Certains l'ont déjà mentionné mais outre ses éminentes qualités d'ingénieurs civil et militaire, il avait un projet de dîme royale, qui était une simplification du modèle fiscal alors en vigueur. Un modèle qui devait être appliqué à l'échelle du royaume pour assainir les dépenses, cela incluait la taxation des nobles et du clergé. Louis XIV a lu ce projet et semblait être en accord (Simon Surreaux dans son livre "Vauban") mais pour d'obscures raisons, ça n'a pas été mis en place. Peut être que la mort précoce du puissant Vauban en 1707 n'a pas permis à celui-ci de faire pression. Peut être aussi que le roi redoutait l'opposition que ça aurait pu causer parmi les nobles. Enfin il aurait été compliqué d'implanter ce système durant la guerre de succession d'Espagne et malheureusement, Louis XIV ne vivra qu'une année de plus après la fin de la guerre. C'est bien dommage, peut être qu'énormément de choses auraient pu être changées grâce à cette idée novatrice pour l'époque.
I actually drove past neuf-brisach on way to colmar just a couple months ago and was like: wow, that's a star fortress, how neat. never would I have realized that it was actually vaubans masterpiece. should've taken a longer look lol
Much less known than his fortresses, he also wrote several treatises on livestock management, on agricultural methods depending on the soil and even books dealing with financial management and taxes.
Not far from being a universal genius, Vauban.
Un homme de culture, rare son les gens au courant des autres talents et connaissance de Vauban.
_La Cochonnerie, ou le calcul estimatif pour connaître jusqu'où peut aller la production d'une truie pendant dix années de temps_
He even tells Le Roi-Soleil that even the nobles and the clerks have to pay taxes...!
He was very much a renaissance man; in the meaning of having a wide range of skills and the ability to implement them - from engineering, to politics, to etiquette, to many more themes.
Kink Louis the XlV was able to delay the allied coalition during the War of Spanish Succession using Vauban's frontier fortresses, they basically saved France. The Siege of Lille was important to stall the Allies until winter came, which it accomplished. When the city fortifications were breached and stormed, the General and many of his men fell back to the citadel and held off for several additional weeks. This saw in the start of winter, and that ended the attempted invasion of France, which would not be possible with France having a season to prepare for it. Vauban was a great fort builder and even better at procedures to siege them.
Fun fact, these walls had names:
- Wall Maria
- Wall Rose
- Wall Sina
There are days I think about starting a Kickstarter for a star fortress city. A real estate project for people to live in like a rent to own, I have land
@@MolGaeilge go watch the castle of GUEDELON in france !! its like your project, may be inspire you
@@francisfrenchkiss1310 I've watched it, but a bastion fort town not a castle court
Wow attack on titan took the names of the walls from Vauban ?
Best history channel by far!!
Amazing as always!
'Attaque à la française' ironically became 'Attaque à la russe' nowadays...
I love this! This is exactly what I come to you for. Keep doing French military history in this time period. I love it!!
Literally Rogal Dorne
Warhammer 40k is inspired by our reality for the characters and units
@@bernardhemery8159 Especially of France and Rome as the Emperor of mankind is literally Napoleon
I love the little hand that points to things on the map. Please use more often :).
I love this channel so much
This channel is a gem
We have 2 big star forts in Romania, one in Alba Iulia and one in Arad. Timisoara also had one, it was the biggest in SE Europe with 9 bastions, 3 lines of walls, covered way, 4 sluice gates for water management and a 950 m esplanade arround the fortification.
I was hoping you would mention his rivalry with Menno van Coehorn, with emphasis on that time they met at opposing sides (IIRC Vauban was besieger and Coehorn defender).
Also that one time he failed to capture a fort (IIRC he led something like 33 sieges and captured fort 32 times, but I could be remembering it incorrectly).
He failed to take Hulst
First military engineering that rose through the ranks
Archimedes **hold my beer**
Building and defending bastions could be a nice game concept ...
Vauban's walls around Ypres survived the 3 year long German bombardment in WW1 and provided the only real shelter for British troops in the city.
Great video, as always mate. I think you are my favorite historical youtuber.
these are super fascinating scenarios
a great video to have in your phone in case you end up in an isekai.
We really need a better name for this era than “early modern period”
The Modernieval Period.
Pre-Napoleonic period?
No we don’t. I like it
I like the musical periods. Baroque, classical, romantic, industrial, modern and contemporany. It fits great with the political landscape that really change with every generation. Of course, it is too eurocentric for the eternal boundary breakers that would even tear down the mountains to pursue their flat and egalitarian historical narrative.
Excellent video. Great military mind. Now I'm thrilled to find a video telling a story of Vauban method fail. There must be some siege that went wrong!
anglos in tears watching their propaganda falling apart
How so?
I think he is talking about the Republican American whom start a campaign of frenchbashing in 2003. I have no Idea what it could be otherwise.@@fredjohnson9833
@@dwalkon3565 odd
Always top quality entertainment and information. Thanks man. Keep up the great work.
This was absolutely fantastic. Well done!
After all your videos on early modern siege warfare, I wondered when you'd get around to the man himself!
yeah, took us way too long!
@@SandRhomanHistory If you guys haven't been, _Les Invalides_ and the _Musée de l'Armée_ in Paris has a permanent exposition on scale models of Vauban fortresses, commissioned to show the king the state of his fortifications. Not only are they fascinating for what the detail they show about late 17th C fortresses in reliefs that are a couple of metres per side, they are a (historic) work of art in their own right!
@@QuantumHistorian That sounds amazing. On a side note, the fortress of Brisache mentioned in this video also has a Vauban museum.
What a siege of a video. Congratulations and thank you very much! :)
video on castillian siege warfare please!! during the times of El Cid and Reconquista! i've heard plenty that medieval Castille had perfected siege warfare for its time from various historians on youtube but none ever go into further detail
Fun fact, Vauban didn't forget the Ardennes with the iconic Rocroi fortress...unlike his poor successors 250 years later...
Was that a Holy Hand Grenade from the game Worms @8:10? I remember playing that game like crazy in the late 90s
Special award for correct naming of Vauban, with silent 's'
I would advice you to take a look at Siege of Nagykanizsa 1601, as it is probably the most succesfull and perfect siege defense in history, it would be a great content for your amazing channel
This was an exceptionally good docu
Loved the Holy Hand Grenade in the mine hahaha
I’m a German and my car’s number plate starts with SLS which stands for Saarlouis, the fortress city Vauban built for and named after the french King Louis XIV.
I am Czech and my cars number plate starts with SS... well i cant say why but lets say i am from Sudetenland
wow thanks man!
glad we can help :P
I like the new animations. Reminds me of old Disney movies. Any chance Montalembert is next?
8:09 - 8:13 "One! Two! Five!" "No! Three Sir!" "Three!" (angelic singing) *BOOM*
8:10 holy hand grenade! Damn I’m old….
One minute of silence for all those poor musketeers who ate the bullets and sent to dig tunnels :D
When the Unstoppable Force is *also* the Immovable Object.😅
A comparison to this tactic to the earlier tactics of the Ottomans against European fortifications, castles, and cities would be neat
In my city founded in 1666 (Lorient city) under King Louis XIV there is a magnificent Vauban citadel, that of Port-Louis
Was going to listen to this as I’m going to sleep but I can’t waste the great animation on that
very cool, great video!
Thank you! Cheers!
Hello, what program do you use to make these fortress/city maps? Is it a special software?
Profesional and dedicated ❤❤❤