8:58 for those wondering why they skipped from Louis the 16th to the 18th, there was a Louis the 17th, who became "King" in the middle of the French Revolution. Because it was in the middle of the French Revolution, he never actually ruled, and died at the age of 10 from an illness.
Louis the 17th was the son of the executed monarch. He was supposedly given to a peasant family to have been raised a member of the proletariat but he died from illness after only a few months. It’s also very possible he was simply murdered.
@@JimmySailor😂😂😂 it's amazing how you guys whitwash the revolution. He was tortured they payed prostitutes to have r*pe him so that he would contract ilness.
Currently watching every video first to last; it's really interesting how the sound quality and general narrative structure of these videos keeps improving over the years, but the art style we all love stays basically the same.
why did we help then then after that the Americans had the war of 1812 we should of told jefferson to get stuff you kick us out so why should we help you out that what should of been said to the Americans them the all of history could of change and french wouldn't have money to fight plus save loads of lives and no war of 1812. as that kicked off because the Americans aid the french the British stop on then because we was at war with France
@@ahpchagi1 Because money, America was more useful to Britain as an independent state. After the war of 1812 Britain could have basically done anything it wanted to with the US but they left it, America just wasn't worth the trouble it caused at the end of the day... Cotton and Tobacco was about all it was worth whereas India, China and Africa had diamonds, gold, tea, opium and trillions of dollars worth of trade in todays money
MrcabooseVG not really the 13 colonies produced more wealth than all those territories combined just not resources even today the former 13 colonies have a gdp of around 6 trillion dollars
Napoleon should have just stopped invading at either 1808 (Spain) or 1812 (Russia) and just given up on bankrupting England. If he had simply held onto power and defeated occasional British invasions, he could have become something of a Czar Peter the Great type figure; vastly improving his empire through a successful war of conquest and force of personality.
France still had problems at home, the invasions helped keep napoleon in power and the attention of the french people away from economical hardships at home
He should've held onto power and the states he established, I totally agree with you. The embargo was a bad idea, and the invasion of Russia too, but what do you want, he was a conquerer, he wanted to..; Conquer, but politically he wasn't the best, even if he did great moves in France to achieve his power, he shouldn't have sold the Louisiane, should've consolidated all of those puppet states and after a while he would've managed to beat england. What would the world look like if he did that ? Nobody could tell haha.
Friedrich Wilhelm III is what is widely considered by german historians, to be the most incompetend ruler in the history of Prussia. Not because he was a bad person (he was actually the ideal husband and father), but because he was possibly the worst choice, to be in charge of Prussia during the Napoleonic Wars! Friedrich Wilhelm III was known since his days as a crown prince, as a shy and modest individual. Which is probably what attracted his beloved wife, Queen Luise of Mecklenburg, to him (we will be talking about her in full detail later). Friedrich Wilhelm III and Queen Luise are perhabs one of history's most underrated couples. Not only did they have close connections to the commoners, like inviting both rich and poor to parties, which made them extremly popular with the prussian people. But they relationship was basically like yin and yang. Friedrich Wilhelm III was a very shy, pessimistic and sometimes grumpy guy and Queen Luise was outgoing, optimistic and a total sweetheart (the prussians nicknamed her "Queen of Hearts" because of how much they have fallen in love with her). They were the perfect match. With that said, when Napoleon Bonarparte arrived, Friedrich Wilhelm III's popularity started to decline, while Queen Luise's popularity heavily increased, in Prussia. You see, Friedrich Wilhelm III did everything to keep Prussia neutral during the Napoleonic Wars (hence why Prussia only enters the scene in the Fourth Coalition). However, Queen Luise pushed for her husband to declare war on Napoleon Bonarparte, because she hated Napoleon and viewed him as the devil incarnated. If you think that Queen Luise was being naiv, you're wrong. She came up with the idea to gain Alexander I of Russia as they ally and was basically the reason why Alexander I stayed mostly loyal to Prussia during the Napoleonic Wars. Because Friedrich Wilhelm III and Alexander I did NOT get along at all! However, the real kicker was Friedrich Wilhelm III's domestic politics. Because the Battle of Jena and Auerstedt was basically Old School Prussia vs Post-Revolution France. Prussia was still structured in an old-fashioned way. Not just in it's military. So, in order to keep up with France, without going through that disastrous revolution, the "Revolution from above" was put into place. Which includes things like: - jews being granted citizenship - end of serfdom - cities financing themselves And many other ideas, which is why german historians often say "The old Prussia died at Jena and Auerstedt and was replaced by a new Prussia". The reason why I'm bringing this up is because not only was the "revolution from above" not an idea that Friedrich Wilhelm III didn't come up with and barely contributed to, but Friedrich Wilhelm III was offered those ideas SIX MONTHS before the Battle at Jena and Auerstedt and REJECTED the ideas. Why? Because Friedrich Wilhelm III was a guy who was hestiate about decisions and liked skipping things for tomorrow. If he did actually sign the deal, the fight against Napoleon Bonarparte would have never been as disastrous for Prussia as it was. Because if Prussia's only victory during the Fourth Coalition (the Battle of Kolberg) was held by a few soldiers and untrained citizens, than there's clearly something wrong with the prussian army! If that wasn't enough, Friedrich Wilhelm III had to be a total fool when he met Napoleon! I once read that because Napoleon Bonarparte was a huge fan of Friedrich the great, he was extremly disapointed when he met Friedrich Wilhelm III. And that's where Queen Luise steps in. Napoleon Bonarparte had spread some of the nasties rumors about her, after she declared war on him. And the fact that she lost against him on the battlefield didn't strengthen his opinion of her. But once he did meet her, he took everything back he once said about her. Queen Luise managed to melt Napoleon Bonarparte's heart, when she was begging him to spare Prussia. And then, unable to wait any longer, her husband burst and Napoleon decided not to keep his promises to the Queen. Napoleon Bonarparte would later say that Queen Luise did manage to convience him, until her husband came in. Queen Luise would eventually tragically die and Napoleon Bonarparte said that Friedrich Wilhelm III lost his best adviser with her death. Friedrich Wilhelm III was basically the Tsar Nicholas II of the Napoleonic Wars (both were by no means bad people, but they were bad leaders), the biggest difference is however, that Friedrich Wilhelm III actually managed to redeem himself in the end. Meanwhile, Queen Luise went on to be remembered as one of Prussia's greatest leaders, alongside Friedrich the great and Otto von Bismarck. Becoming sort of the national hero of Prussia. And later, when the German Empire was formed, she was hailed as "the mother of the german nation". One of her kids, the future emperor Wilhelm I, was a mommy's boy and visited his mother's grave, before leaving to fight in the Franco-Prussian War. He also made the cornflower the national flower of Germany, because it reminded him of his mother. Queen Luise went on to keep her position as Germany's most popular female ruler, until 1945. Because she was just a mother, trying to do what's best for her family and country. Not a strong warrior like Boudicca or Joan of Arc. And that's what drew people to her and still draws people to her. A woman, standing up against the most powerful man at the time, in a world where women didn't have that much power. Meanwhile, Friedrich Wilhelm III ended up in the shadow of his wife, with not that many people speaking fondly of him (Wilhelm II actually has his fair share of defenders, unlike Friedrich Wilhelm III). Friedrich Wilhelm III and Queen Luise are some of the most fascinating characters of the Napoleonic Wars. It's a shame that Prussia's role in the Napoleonic Wars is often overlooked.
Queen Luise was a bloody fool who pushed her country to war vs a country who fights for liberty, equality and fraternity and not for a teutonic old tradition. She never has the heart of Napoleon, it's a prussian legend for german telenovela, i know they did an episode on here, but the memories of Napoleon are pretty clear on her. She was foolish and pushed here country to a war which ended in a complete disaster however her husband was not for the war at the begining, and other fool like the Duke of Brunswick pushed him on war vs the Grande Armée. The Duke was killed (he deserved it.) Prussia was defeated and humiliated, if Napoleon was clever he would have destroyed it (he could) but he prefered to consolidate his family for the future by not destroying nations. He wanted to found a dynasty. It was a fatal error. Prussia should have been destroyed completly IMO. It's this country which has leaded to Bismarck, the 1870 humiliation for France with annexation of Alsace and Moselle, and then the first world war. Prussians officers were then the most Hitler favorable in the Werhmarcht during the second world war. Prussia should have been destroyed for the good of humanity. Meanwhile other german states were peaceful and changed in a postive way. Bavaria supporter Napoleon, along with Saxony, Westphalia, and started to implement the changes. Only Tyrol revolted for religious reasons and under pressure of Austria.
@@freewal how fair, equal and liberal can you actually be if you only wanted it for your own group? The only difference between monarchies and French republics are titles.
@@freewal Revolutionary France, like all such political movements of it's kind, fought for the right to commit genocide. Nothing more. The Drownings at Nantes is everything you need to know about that horrible nation and people.
9:07 Brave King Louis ran away "Non!" Bravely ran away away. "Je ne pas!" When danger reared its ugly head, he bravely turned his tail and fled. Yes brave King Louis turned about and quite valiantly he chickened out
"He is chugging it in and plugging it up And sneaking away and buggering off And chickening out and pissing a pot Yes bravely *he* is throwing in the sponge"
@@idotso u make more weapons u make more cannons u make more horses i dont make horses then who makes horses horses make horses explain how oh when the daddy horse loves the mummy horse too much oh yes go on then the daddy horse im sorry Napoléon u are 43 i thought u know this stuff don touch me im gonna be sick
Really fun XD I would just like to nitpick and say that in France, we learn (in school obviously) that the Egyptian campaign was actually because French higher-ups wanted to squash that little Napoleon upstart and send him far away to be defeated. However, he earned a lot of popular support back in France thanks to : 1 - all of his archaeological findings, like the Rosetta stone for example 2 - because the first real defeat was the fleet being burnt, which was outside of his command 3 - because when the French army was finally defeated in Egypt, he wasn't in command since he had just came back to France to make his coup
The Egyptian campaign was in fact successful - both Upper and Lower Egypt were subjugated and Murad Bey was driven into Sudan. Next, an Ottoman army was destroyed at the Battle of Mount Tabor, securing the conquest. The stalemate of the Siege of Acre prevented further expansion, but that hardly qualifies as a disaster. Napoleon did not 'abandon' his troops. He was ordered to return to France by his commanders because the military situation was deteriorating quickly. All of his conquests in northern Italy had been lost to the Austrians, for example. His return lead to French victory in the War of the Second Coalition. Kleber was left behind in Egypt and successfully defended it from invasion while Napoleon was away, until he was assassinated.
6:30 Lol, the British funded an invasion of themselves, oh politics :D. Awesome video, really loving your channel, you've earned a long term subscriber ;).
TCC Yeah, but what invasion? You said: 'the British funded an invasion of themselves, oh politics :D' but they were never invaded. France just wished they could. So in reality, they got some money and that's about it. Hence, what invasion...
Even.Ways Music I was quoting the person that made the video. Technically British bankers did fund an invasion of England, likely because as you say, it failed. The bankers likely knew it would fail, otherwise I doubt they'd risk being executed for treason just to make a quick buck.
And it was meant to be, it even applied to slavery, which was abolished in 1794 by the Republic, only to be restaured a few years later in 1803 by Napoleon. Like for the Americans and their bill of rights, this is what led the French people to thinking that they had almost like a kind of divine duty of spreading liberty and freedom across the world, this was one of the reasons Napoleon thought he had to invade Europe, or that they thought they had to rape Africa with all of their european friends in the first place.
btw, Napoleon "escaping" Elba was at least partly motivated by the fact that the French crown didn't pay the pension that was promised to him as part of the deal...
Informative, concise, comprehensible and thank you very much for not adding the ubiquitous distracting background music that the curse of so many UA-cam channels now.
Napoleon didnt invade Russia just for the sake of invading, he acted as he always had : striking first when war is unavoidable. Russia signed and alliance with France and gained some prussian lands with the treaty of Tilsit but then decided that they prefer the UK in the end so broke the alliance and declared war on France, so France invaded.
I'm late but Napoleon was also becoming unpopular at home, he needed a war to unite the people and get them to rally behind him again. The Russians were the most likely target seeing how everyone else was at his mercy and the British were untouchable due to their ruling of the sea.
This is great! :D The animation style is awesome and the attention to detail is almost unbelievable! It truly makes a visible difference when the "teacher" is interested in the subject ;)
Love this video and channel. I will note however that the painting at 1:00 is actually depicting Gen. Burgoyne’s surrender at Saratoga (1777), not Gen. Cornwallis’ surrender at Yorktown (1781).
Because they were revolutionaries who had removing the king as the goal, rather than an obstacle, not any long term plan, thus chaos ensued and people sought someone to bring order. Same thing happened to Germany after WW1.
Karl Karlos Yeah but he does it really well, his videos are informative and high quality. If your so proficient in internet etiquette do your own channel.
I keep wondering why so many videos on the Napoleonic era forget to mention his Great Sanhedrin. After learning how Jews wanted to interact with Christians, Napoleon guaranteed them the full protection of the Republic, both physically and religiously.
The 7 coalitions are interesting to me. Europe had united against Napoleon 5 times and lost severely each time. But they kept getting back up again partially because the alternative was submission. Eventually after Napoleon effectively broke himself against the Russian wall of ice, Europe's armies also learned how to break him. Napoleon spent his reign telling everyone else "Git gud noob" and finally all of Europe could look him in the eye and say "We did".
Could you do a video specifically on Napoleons retreat from Russia. I recently read Napoleon by Andrew roberts and their is so much more to that story than the Russians burned everything and Napoleon forgot about winter
Two things that would be good sub subjects related to this how napoleon amazingly kept the French army stable and able fight and win wars during all the turmoil and lack of funds created by the revolution, and how napoleons escape from Elba and subsequent threat to Britain essentially kept the United States, directly or indirectly depending on how you see things, from being overthrown and annexed by England.
I’ve spent years reading about the Revolution & Napoleon & all I can really remember can just about be compressed into this short animated clip..... honestly, these downloads always impress me, if only they had been around when I was studying for my exams, but unfortunately they didn’t even have mobile calculators back then, let alone phones or UA-cam etc. The content of these films never fails to impress me. Marvellous. 🇬🇧😁
Nice video, but at the start the soldiers are wearing the tricolor, which troops didn't use until 1789 after the storming of the Bastille, in which the national guard was formed.
@History Matters - TY. We've made good English subtitles for this video. YT have a new policy that only you can add subtitles. Therefore, please can they be added? Here they are: 0:00:00.000,0:00:03.360 1774 and King Louis XV of France 0:00:03.360,0:00:04.300 1774 and King Louis XV of France is dead 0:00:04.300,0:00:06.940 and his grandson Louis XVI succeeds him. 0:00:06.940,0:00:10.920 France, at this point, was Europe's greatest power, something which they wished to continue. 0:00:10.920,0:00:13.880 Keeping this position from other European powers was costly 0:00:13.880,0:00:17.480 and led to a series of expensive wars which essentially bankrupted France. 0:00:17.480,0:00:22.780 At the top of the French government sat the King, the clergy, and the nobles who together are known as 'the ancien régime'. 0:00:22.780,0:00:28.000 The ancien régime mostly didn't pay taxes which meant financing France's position fell to everyone else: 0:00:28.000,0:00:29.100 mostly, the poor. 0:00:29.100,0:00:31.600 This period also saw the height of the Enlightenment. 0:00:31.600,0:00:37.320 Prominent French political philosophers such as Montesquieu, Rousseau and Voltaire were challenging the political status quo. 0:00:37.320,0:00:40.760 1 major aspect of this was 'the King's Divine Right to Rule', 0:00:40.760,0:00:44.900 which meant: 'the King was King because that was what God wanted so therefore shut up and do what he says'. 0:00:44.900,0:00:48.940 Ideas that challenged 'Divine Right to Rule' came from Britain with its constitutional monarchy, 0:00:48.940,0:00:53.040 and from the newly formed 'United States' who had decided that kings really weren't that necessary. 0:00:53.040,0:00:59.000 France's aid to the American Revolution had secured independence for the colonies and had struck a blow against France's great rival. 0:00:59.000,0:01:03.340 This, however, was not a cheap blow and threw France into even greater economic hardship. 0:01:03.340,0:01:06.880 Louis appointed a series of finance ministers to fix the country's tax woes, 0:01:06.880,0:01:11.300 but all failed simply because they couldn't get the clergy or the nobility to pay taxes. 0:01:11.300,0:01:15.560 The peasantry were now starting to get restless since these tax problems hit them the hardest. 0:01:15.560,0:01:19.020 A harvest failure led to the price of bread skyrocketing and riots broke out. 0:01:19.020,0:01:21.980 France was now in crisis and so Louis called for the assembly of: 0:01:21.980,0:01:27.200 'the Estates-General', which was a major legislative assembly which had not met for over 150 years. 0:01:27.200,0:01:29.560 It represented the 3 great 'Estates' of France: 0:01:29.560,0:01:30.960 the 1st Estate - the clergy 0:01:30.960,0:01:32.380 the 1st Estate - the clergy the 2nd Estate - the nobility 0:01:32.380,0:01:34.120 the 1st Estate - the clergy the 2nd Estate - the nobility and the 3rd Estate: everybody else. 0:01:34.120,0:01:39.080 No solution could be found so in order to speed things up, King Louis simply locked the 3rd Estate out, 0:01:39.080,0:01:41.000 because they were the ones who wanted change. 0:01:41.000,0:01:46.680 The 3rd Estate then gathered in a nearby tennis court where they swore to continue meeting until a new Constitution was established. 0:01:46.680,0:01:50.500 Unsurprisingly, King Louis opposed all of this but the people were much more supportive 0:01:50.500,0:01:55.960 and formed 'the National Guard' to protect the 3rd Estate now called 'the National Assembly', against violent retaliation. 0:01:55.960,0:01:59.980 To do so, they famously stormed the Bastille to free prisoners, but mostly to get guns. 0:01:59.980,0:02:03.140 The National Assembly (now called 'the National Constituent Assembly') issued: 0:02:03.140,0:02:07.920 'the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen' which established the rights of the French people. 0:02:07.920,0:02:12.040 What makes this so important is that these rights came from the people not from the King or God. 0:02:12.040,0:02:15.660 The bread situation did not improve and as such, more riots broke out. 0:02:15.660,0:02:21.360 A rumor started the Royal family were hoarding food and as such, rioters (mostly women) marched on the Palace of Versailles. 0:02:21.360,0:02:28.980 After a stand-off and some violence, the King and his Austrian wife, the disdained Marie Antoinette, agreed to return to Paris where they'd be closer to the people. 0:02:28.980,0:02:31.980 The Revolutionaries started to punish the clergy and the nobles. 0:02:31.980,0:02:37.120 The Church could no longer levy taxes and the Revolutionaries also introduced a non-religious calendar. 0:02:37.120,0:02:41.140 Many nobles fled to neighboring countries and had their lands and wealths confiscated. 0:02:41.140,0:02:44.140 These Revolutionaries should not be seen as unified, however. 0:02:44.140,0:02:46.480 They had different ideas on what France should be. 0:02:46.480,0:02:50.260 Most Revolutionaries, such as the Marquis de Lafayette, wanted to keep the monarchy, 0:02:50.260,0:02:54.620 but the Jacobins, led by a certain Maximilien Robespierre, wanted its complete abolition altogether. 0:02:54.620,0:02:57.340 After 2 years back in the capital with much less power, 0:02:57.340,0:03:02.260 Louis decided to flee to the protection of his brother-in-law, Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II. 0:03:02.260,0:03:07.540 The royal family were recognized on the way and sent back to Paris where they were seen as 'Enemies of the Revolution', 0:03:07.540,0:03:08.660 which they were. 0:03:08.660,0:03:14.040 Louis and his wife's close ties with Austria meant that the Revolutionaries were becoming concerned with external threats. 0:03:14.040,0:03:18.080 To make matters worse, the Austrians and Prussians issued: 'the Declaration of Pillnitz' 0:03:18.080,0:03:20.680 which gave their support to Louis against the Revolution. 0:03:20.680,0:03:24.720 This Declaration was used as a pretext to war, (although Robespierre opposed it), 0:03:24.720,0:03:30.020 and in April 1792, France invaded the Austrian Netherlands beginning 'the War of the 1st Coalition'. 0:03:30.020,0:03:33.600 This was a victory for France with only Britain refusing to make peace. 0:03:33.600,0:03:36.660 France annexed the Austrian Netherlands and invaded the Dutch Republic, 0:03:36.660,0:03:43.040 which, after a popular uprising, became 'the Batavian Republic' - 1 of France's sister republics, (which were essentially puppet states). 0:03:43.040,0:03:47.900 Shortly afterwards, a 2nd coalition - this time with added Russia, would declare war on France, 0:03:47.900,0:03:49.540 but again, it was a French victory. 0:03:49.540,0:03:52.820 Back in France, the Revolution also cracked down on internal threats. 0:03:52.820,0:03:56.280 In 1792, the King was deposed and a Republic declared. 0:03:56.280,0:03:59.900 He was later put on trial for treason and sentenced to death by 1 vote. 0:03:59.900,0:04:03.240 Louis was beheaded by guillotine in January 1793 0:04:03.240,0:04:05.540 and Marie met the same fate shortly afterwards. 0:04:05.540,0:04:08.780 Louis's death will be the 1st in the most famous phase of the Revolution: 0:04:08.780,0:04:09.900 The Reign of Terror. 0:04:09.900,0:04:14.600 This was a period of mass suspicion where neighbor would accuse neighbor of betraying the Revolution. 0:04:14.600,0:04:17.580 Not seeming supportive enough was enough to have you arrested. 0:04:17.580,0:04:22.020 The period also saw the execution of over 40,000 people - many by guillotine. 0:04:22.020,0:04:26.260 Power at this point rested with 'the Committee for Public Safety', which was led by Robespierre. 0:04:26.260,0:04:30.520 The Terror became more and more paranoid until Robespierre himself was arrested and executed, 0:04:30.520,0:04:32.560 but not before being shot in the face. 0:04:32.560,0:04:37.940 After the fall of Robespierre, there was a period of stability when a new government, 'the Directory', was formed. 0:04:37.940,0:04:41.280 This would last for 5 years before it was overthrown by a famous general: 0:04:41.280,0:04:45.260 Napoléon Bonaparte who was subsequently declared '1st Consul of France'. 0:04:45.260,0:04:48.720 Napoléon had risen to prominence due to his successful military career. 0:04:48.720,0:04:52.720 He 1st defeated the British at Toulon, before leading a successful invasion of Italy. 0:04:52.720,0:04:57.200 He was not always successful, though, as demonstrated by his 1798 invasion of Egypt, 0:04:57.200,0:04:59.660 which was rebelling against rule by the Ottoman Empire. 0:04:59.660,0:05:03.800 Napoléon wanted Egypt to act as a launch pad for invading British colonies in Asia,
2nd part of subtitles: 0:05:03.800,0:05:08.060 but harassment by Ottoman and British forces meant that he had to return home achieving nothing 0:05:08.060,0:05:11.640 After his coup, Napoléon oversaw a series of domestic reforms. 0:05:11.640,0:05:17.740 1 of the greatest changes to the government was that the bureaucrats and military officers were now promoted based on merit, not birth. 0:05:17.740,0:05:20.620 To ensure the loyalty of those promoted, Napoléon created: 0:05:20.620,0:05:25.100 'the National Order of the Legion of Honor' which people were admitted into based upon good service. 0:05:25.100,0:05:29.640 He also sought to undo some of the harm done to the Church by the Revolution by restoring some power to it, 0:05:29.640,0:05:31.380 but ultimately, it answered to him. 0:05:31.380,0:05:34.320 Some of Napoléon's most important changes were to the military. 0:05:34.320,0:05:38.800 The French army was composed of conscripts who were gathered using France's efficient bureaucracy. 0:05:38.800,0:05:43.180 The French army saw its administration improved, specifically: how orders were relayed. 0:05:43.180,0:05:47.320 The army developed a more effective medical service - able to stem the outbreak of epidemics, 0:05:47.320,0:05:52.340 as well as a sophisticated supply train, which meant that the soldiers no longer had to live off the land as much. 0:05:52.340,0:05:55.340 In 1804, Napoléon was declared 'the Emperor of the French', 0:05:55.340,0:05:59.240 formally ending the 1st French Republic and beginning 'the 1st French Empire'. 0:05:59.240,0:06:01.600 The next year, he had himself crowned the 'King of Italy', 0:06:01.600,0:06:04.720 which would act as a catalyst for another coalition against France. 0:06:04.720,0:06:10.100 This war: 'the War of the 3rd Coalition', was the 1st of the Napoleonic Wars and 1 of the most famous. 0:06:10.100,0:06:12.280 Britain had been an enemy of France since 0:06:12.280,0:06:13.000 forever 0:06:13.000,0:06:15.360 and Napoléon was keen to knock it out of the War. 0:06:15.360,0:06:18.160 To do so, he amassed a huge army on France's northern coast. 0:06:18.160,0:06:22.060 But for an invasion to happen, Napoléon had to neutralize Britain's greatest strength: 0:06:22.060,0:06:23.220 the Royal Navy. 0:06:23.220,0:06:28.640 Interestingly, in order to finance the war, Napoléon sold his North American territories to the United States. 0:06:28.640,0:06:31.600 The United States borrowed some of this money from British banks, 0:06:31.600,0:06:35.180 which meant that the British were, essentially, funding a French invasion of themselves. 0:06:35.180,0:06:42.280 Any hope of invading Britain was ended when the French and their ally Spain's combined fleet was destroyed at the 1805 Battle of Trafalgar. 0:06:42.280,0:06:45.900 Napoléon fared significantly better on land against the Continental powers. 0:06:45.900,0:06:49.320 The army waiting to invade Britain marched into the Holy Roman Empire 0:06:49.320,0:06:55.540 and, after some clever maneuvering, managed to secure the surrender of an Austrian army with very little bloodshed, before capturing Vienna. 0:06:55.540,0:06:59.280 The remnants of the Austrian army joined up with the Russians under Emperor Alexander. 0:06:59.280,0:07:05.280 Napoléon gave the impression that his army was in shambles, which made the allies confident enough to meet him at the Battle of Austerlitz. 0:07:05.280,0:07:09.140 Here, Napoléon won 1 of his greatest victories securing an Austrian surrender. 0:07:09.140,0:07:13.940 This victory also saw the end of the Holy Roman Empire which was dissolved shortly afterwards becoming: 0:07:13.940,0:07:16.760 'the Confederation of the Rhine', another French puppet state. 0:07:16.760,0:07:21.520 French dominance would upset the Prussians who would shortly afterwards begin 'the War of the 4th Coalition'. 0:07:21.520,0:07:22.460 Bad idea. 0:07:22.460,0:07:28.720 French victory here saw the creation of a semi-independent Polish state called 'the Duchy of Warsaw' which was carved from Prussian territory. 0:07:28.720,0:07:34.000 At this point, Napoléon had a firm grip over most of Europe and he demanded that all those under his influence join: 0:07:34.000,0:07:38.360 'the Continental System', which was essentially a trade embargo aimed at bankrupting Britain. 0:07:38.360,0:07:46.860 Portugal, (Britain's closest ally), was reluctant to join and so the French with their Spanish allies invaded in 1807, forcing the Portuguese Royal family to flee to Brazil. 0:07:46.860,0:07:53.120 Spain was undergoing its own problems and sensing weakness, Napoléon invaded Spain itself and installed his brother, Joseph, on the throne. 0:07:53.120,0:07:57.980 The British then landed in Portugal where both nations teamed up with the Spanish rebels against the French, 0:07:57.980,0:08:00.820 beginning the Peninsular War which would last for 6 years. 0:08:00.820,0:08:08.560 Simultaneously, the Austrians undeterred by France never losing began 'the War of the 5th Coalition' which France shockingly won giving them this territory. 0:08:08.560,0:08:13.200 3 years later, Russia was getting sick of being told what to do and so started trading with Britain again. 0:08:13.200,0:08:18.560 Napoléon's support for the neighboring Duchy of Warsaw also made Tsar Alexander nervous of a possible French invasion. 0:08:18.560,0:08:24.160 This fear was well-founded since, in 1812, the French invaded Russia with a huge army numbering over half a million. 0:08:24.160,0:08:26.980 Napoleon won many costly victories and occupied Moscow. 0:08:26.980,0:08:30.500 The Russians, however, had destroyed everything of value as they retreated 0:08:30.500,0:08:34.620 and when winter came around, Napoleon's army froze and starved forcing him to retreat. 0:08:34.620,0:08:42.080 Napoleon's failure in Russia led to the major powers of Europe plus the now-independent United Netherlands forming a 6th Coalition against the French. 0:08:42.080,0:08:45.540 This time the coalition managed to defeat Napoleon and occupy Paris. 0:08:45.540,0:08:50.320 The Peninsular War also ended with an allied victory and Spain became an independent nation again. 0:08:50.320,0:08:54.320 Napoléon then abdicated and was subsequently exiled to the island of Elba. 0:08:54.320,0:08:59.980 Shortly afterwards, Louis XVI's brother, also called Louis, (because why rock the boat at this point?) was crowned 'Louis XVIII', 0:08:59.980,0:09:03.340 but unlike the previous monarchy, this 1 was bound by a Constitution. 0:09:03.340,0:09:07.700 Strangely, Napoleon was not happy with his exile and managed to escape Elba and returned to France. 0:09:07.700,0:09:12.000 Louis XVIII bravely ran away to Britain and Napoléon resumed his position as Emperor. 0:09:12.000,0:09:17.040 The countries that had just defeated the French were none too happy about this and so formed the 7th Coalition. 0:09:17.040,0:09:23.140 The Coalition was victorious and Napoléon suffered his most famous defeat here by a joint Prussian-British army at Waterloo 0:09:23.140,0:09:29.040 and shortly afterwards, was exiled to St Helena off the coast of Africa, where he remained until his death in 1821. 0:09:29.040,0:09:35.920 Afterwards, the main powers of Europe established 'the Act of Vienna' which removed France's conquests and tried to establish a balance of power in Europe. 0:09:35.920,0:09:40.420 The idea was to prevent a single nation from becoming too powerful and to prevent future wars, 0:09:40.420,0:09:41.580 which went swimmingly. 0:09:41.580,0:09:47.040 The legacy of the French Revolution was a fundamentally different France whose Republican ideals would never go away. 0:09:47.040,0:09:51.800 It made Napoléon's rise to power and the subsequent wars possible, which saw France rise to its highest heights, 0:09:51.800,0:09:55.880 but its downfall would leave Britain almost unchallenged for the next 100 years. 0:09:55.880,0:10:00.260 I hope you enjoyed this video and thank you for watching.
"Because why rock the boat at this point?" Lol... Brilliant I do say so sir, brilliant! Had you been a scholar in ancient times I believe the world would be just a bit more lighthearted.
8:58 for those wondering why they skipped from Louis the 16th to the 18th, there was a Louis the 17th, who became "King" in the middle of the French Revolution. Because it was in the middle of the French Revolution, he never actually ruled, and died at the age of 10 from an illness.
Louis the 17th was the son of the executed monarch. He was supposedly given to a peasant family to have been raised a member of the proletariat but he died from illness after only a few months. It’s also very possible he was simply murdered.
More like died of neglect.
@@JimmySailor He was thrown into prison and died there.
@@JimmySailor😂😂😂 it's amazing how you guys whitwash the revolution. He was tortured they payed prostitutes to have r*pe him so that he would contract ilness.
I love the sarcastic quips in these videos. especially the scene about balancing power then quickly pans to Germany lol
That's depressing mate!!
it worked like... 60 years? it seems a win for me
Germany always comes back
@@thelad9434 Hopefully not for round 3.
@@leomanolis8701 yeah but the graphic showed Bismarck who made the Germanic Empire
In conclusion: France vs everyone (including France)
"Congratulations. You [burned] yourself."
France: "I know"
@@stevemc01 USA to France: are we doing it the right way ?
You, sir, just summarized the entire history of France since creation in just 5 words. Congratulations!
France vs everyone (including France): Won 5 times in a roll
@@guifdcanalli baguette supremacy
Currently watching every video first to last; it's really interesting how the sound quality and general narrative structure of these videos keeps improving over the years, but the art style we all love stays basically the same.
It's almost surreal to watch a History Matters video that doesn't thank James Bisonette at the end.
7:55 The way that british soldier just faceplants into the sand makes me laugh.
France: we won Russia now surrender
Russia: no
France: but we have Moscow
Russia: **burns Moscow**
France: wtf
thats some game of thrones shit right there
The lesson here is NEVER FUCK WITH RUSSIA.
What Moscow? No proof.
The fires may have been just accidents.
@@Lieutenant_Dude hitler really should have listened to that advice
"he was arrested and executed, but not before being shot in the face" Lmao, I love your narrations.
I didn't know that British banks funded the Louisiana Purchase.
Barings (London) and Hopes (Amsterdam)
www.baringarchive.org.uk/features_exhibitions/louisiana_purchase/
Barings which was bankcrupt by a rougue trader
why did we help then then after that the Americans had the war of 1812 we should of told jefferson to get stuff you kick us out so why should we help you out that what should of been said to the Americans them the all of history could of change and french wouldn't have money to fight plus save loads of lives and no war of 1812. as that kicked off because the Americans aid the french the British stop on then because we was at war with France
@@ahpchagi1 Because money, America was more useful to Britain as an independent state. After the war of 1812 Britain could have basically done anything it wanted to with the US but they left it, America just wasn't worth the trouble it caused at the end of the day... Cotton and Tobacco was about all it was worth whereas India, China and Africa had diamonds, gold, tea, opium and trillions of dollars worth of trade in todays money
MrcabooseVG not really the 13 colonies produced more wealth than all those territories combined just not resources even today the former 13 colonies have a gdp of around 6 trillion dollars
Napoleon should have paid more attention to his aggressive expansion, no suprise that a coalition formed
7 coalitions*
should've returned to west europe before the winter in russia
Extrawarot he hit over 100% overextension
yeah he should have gone for mali to wait for it to come down
He was going for that sweet WC and was running short in time.
"Louis Xviii bravely ran away to England..." Xd
I hope he had time to get his minstrels to follow him.
Like what they did in WW2...
they did to return and win the wars ;) ( with the help of the ally ofc )
He was not afraid to die,
Oh brave King Louis.
He was not at all afraid
To be killed in nasty ways.
Brave, brave, brave, brave King Louis.
He literally says Britian yet you still say England. What is wrong with people?
Napoleon should have just stopped invading at either 1808 (Spain) or 1812 (Russia) and just given up on bankrupting England. If he had simply held onto power and defeated occasional British invasions, he could have become something of a Czar Peter the Great type figure; vastly improving his empire through a successful war of conquest and force of personality.
France still had problems at home, the invasions helped keep napoleon in power and the attention of the french people away from economical hardships at home
that's quite true rather funny how they all had delusions of grandure aswell and saw themselves like gods on earth.
chapman5578 Well they did a good part of the job anyway lol
He should've held onto power and the states he established, I totally agree with you. The embargo was a bad idea, and the invasion of Russia too, but what do you want, he was a conquerer, he wanted to..; Conquer, but politically he wasn't the best, even if he did great moves in France to achieve his power, he shouldn't have sold the Louisiane, should've consolidated all of those puppet states and after a while he would've managed to beat england.
What would the world look like if he did that ? Nobody could tell haha.
Napoléon attacked Russia the 24 June 1812. (so in Summer...). He just kept at it for way too long...
Committee of Public Safety:
0 days without an execution.
Lol
AvaintTF ThePyro
DELETE THIS COMMENT NOW
Laquelectro delete this reply now!
@Tempoptart haha i know right
Public's safe to me
@Tempoptart delete this reply
your drawings always put a smile on my face :)
Wow, over 250 likes and not a single repl- oops I broke it.
@@matthewy1111 and you didn't even break it with an infinity war référence. Shameful
@@victortisme Why did you keep accents?
@@ateium2409 because they look cool.
Nah, it was autocorrect ;)
"Basically, the British funded an invasion of themselves"
Congratulations, you played yourself
Plot twist: Britain did it on purpose to kill France's navy
Id explain it to you but i dont want to be anti-semitic
Please do speak your mind/truth....what do you know?
@@tomchch please i want to hear about the jewish conspiracy, i havent had a good laugh today 🤣🙄
sam1370 invaded Canada or Great Britain?
These videos are really great, some of the best I've seen of these animated educational/history types of videos. I hope you continue making them.
Yes
Friedrich Wilhelm III is what is widely considered by german historians, to be the most incompetend ruler in the history of Prussia.
Not because he was a bad person (he was actually the ideal husband and father), but because he was possibly the worst choice, to be in charge of Prussia during the Napoleonic Wars!
Friedrich Wilhelm III was known since his days as a crown prince,
as a shy and modest individual.
Which is probably what attracted his beloved wife, Queen Luise of Mecklenburg, to him (we will be talking about her in full detail later).
Friedrich Wilhelm III and Queen Luise are perhabs one of history's most underrated couples.
Not only did they have close connections to the commoners, like inviting both rich and poor to parties, which made them extremly popular with the prussian people.
But they relationship was basically like yin and yang.
Friedrich Wilhelm III was a very shy, pessimistic and sometimes grumpy guy and Queen Luise was outgoing, optimistic and a total sweetheart (the prussians nicknamed her "Queen of Hearts" because of how much they have fallen in love with her).
They were the perfect match.
With that said, when Napoleon Bonarparte arrived,
Friedrich Wilhelm III's popularity started to decline, while Queen Luise's popularity heavily increased, in Prussia.
You see, Friedrich Wilhelm III did everything to keep Prussia neutral during the Napoleonic Wars (hence why Prussia only enters the scene in the Fourth Coalition).
However, Queen Luise pushed for her husband to declare war on Napoleon Bonarparte, because she hated Napoleon and viewed him as the devil incarnated.
If you think that Queen Luise was being naiv, you're wrong.
She came up with the idea to gain Alexander I of Russia as they ally and was basically the reason why Alexander I stayed mostly loyal to Prussia during the Napoleonic Wars.
Because Friedrich Wilhelm III and Alexander I did NOT get along at all!
However, the real kicker was Friedrich Wilhelm III's domestic politics.
Because the Battle of Jena and Auerstedt was basically Old School Prussia vs Post-Revolution France.
Prussia was still structured in an old-fashioned way.
Not just in it's military.
So, in order to keep up with France, without going through that disastrous revolution,
the "Revolution from above" was put into place.
Which includes things like:
- jews being granted citizenship
- end of serfdom
- cities financing themselves
And many other ideas, which is why german historians often say "The old Prussia died at Jena and Auerstedt and was replaced by a new Prussia".
The reason why I'm bringing this up is because not only was the "revolution from above" not an idea that Friedrich Wilhelm III didn't come up with and barely contributed to, but Friedrich Wilhelm III was offered those ideas SIX MONTHS before the Battle at Jena and Auerstedt and REJECTED the ideas.
Why? Because Friedrich Wilhelm III was a guy who was hestiate about decisions and liked skipping things for tomorrow.
If he did actually sign the deal, the fight against Napoleon Bonarparte would have never been as disastrous for Prussia as it was.
Because if Prussia's only victory during the Fourth Coalition (the Battle of Kolberg) was held by a few soldiers and untrained citizens, than there's clearly something wrong with the prussian army!
If that wasn't enough, Friedrich Wilhelm III had to be a total fool when he met Napoleon!
I once read that because Napoleon Bonarparte was a huge fan of Friedrich the great, he was extremly disapointed when he met Friedrich Wilhelm III.
And that's where Queen Luise steps in.
Napoleon Bonarparte had spread some of the nasties rumors about her, after she declared war on him.
And the fact that she lost against him on the battlefield didn't strengthen his opinion of her.
But once he did meet her, he took everything back he once said about her.
Queen Luise managed to melt Napoleon Bonarparte's heart, when she was begging him to spare Prussia.
And then, unable to wait any longer, her husband burst and Napoleon decided not to keep his promises to the Queen.
Napoleon Bonarparte would later say that Queen Luise did manage to convience him, until her husband came in.
Queen Luise would eventually tragically die and Napoleon Bonarparte said that Friedrich Wilhelm III lost his best adviser with her death.
Friedrich Wilhelm III was basically the Tsar Nicholas II of the Napoleonic Wars (both were by no means bad people, but they were bad leaders), the biggest difference is however, that Friedrich Wilhelm III actually managed to redeem himself in the end.
Meanwhile, Queen Luise went on to be remembered as one of Prussia's greatest leaders, alongside Friedrich the great and Otto von Bismarck.
Becoming sort of the national hero of Prussia.
And later, when the German Empire was formed, she was hailed as "the mother of the german nation".
One of her kids, the future emperor Wilhelm I, was a mommy's boy and visited his mother's grave, before leaving to fight in the Franco-Prussian War.
He also made the cornflower the national flower of Germany, because it reminded him of his mother.
Queen Luise went on to keep her position as Germany's most popular female ruler, until 1945.
Because she was just a mother, trying to do what's best for her family and country.
Not a strong warrior like Boudicca or Joan of Arc.
And that's what drew people to her and still draws people to her.
A woman, standing up against the most powerful man at the time, in a world where women didn't have that much power.
Meanwhile, Friedrich Wilhelm III ended up in the shadow of his wife, with not that many people speaking fondly of him (Wilhelm II actually has his fair share of defenders, unlike Friedrich Wilhelm III).
Friedrich Wilhelm III and Queen Luise are some of the most fascinating characters of the Napoleonic Wars.
It's a shame that Prussia's role in the Napoleonic Wars is often overlooked.
Really interesting comment, I never heard about all that
Queen Luise was a bloody fool who pushed her country to war vs a country who fights for liberty, equality and fraternity and not for a teutonic old tradition. She never has the heart of Napoleon, it's a prussian legend for german telenovela, i know they did an episode on here, but the memories of Napoleon are pretty clear on her. She was foolish and pushed here country to a war which ended in a complete disaster however her husband was not for the war at the begining, and other fool like the Duke of Brunswick pushed him on war vs the Grande Armée. The Duke was killed (he deserved it.)
Prussia was defeated and humiliated, if Napoleon was clever he would have destroyed it (he could) but he prefered to consolidate his family for the future by not destroying nations. He wanted to found a dynasty. It was a fatal error. Prussia should have been destroyed completly IMO. It's this country which has leaded to Bismarck, the 1870 humiliation for France with annexation of Alsace and Moselle, and then the first world war. Prussians officers were then the most Hitler favorable in the Werhmarcht during the second world war. Prussia should have been destroyed for the good of humanity. Meanwhile other german states were peaceful and changed in a postive way. Bavaria supporter Napoleon, along with Saxony, Westphalia, and started to implement the changes. Only Tyrol revolted for religious reasons and under pressure of Austria.
german cope
@@freewal how fair, equal and liberal can you actually be if you only wanted it for your own group? The only difference between monarchies and French republics are titles.
@@freewal Revolutionary France, like all such political movements of it's kind, fought for the right to commit genocide. Nothing more. The Drownings at Nantes is everything you need to know about that horrible nation and people.
9:07 Brave King Louis ran away
"Non!"
Bravely ran away away.
"Je ne pas!"
When danger reared its ugly head, he bravely turned his tail and fled.
Yes brave King Louis turned about and quite valiantly he chickened out
The French part doesn't mean anything... "Je n'ai pas" means "I don't have"
"He is chugging it in and plugging it up
And sneaking away and buggering off
And chickening out and pissing a pot
Yes bravely *he* is throwing in the sponge"
Mr Random It’s french. Fuck it.
* “Je ne fais pas!”
btw, well done on this comment 👏😆
Watch the new interesting and funny animation about Napoleon
8:28 is that Zarya from Overwatch?
"The kings divine right to rule"
"This meant that the king was king and that was what God wanted so shutup and do what he says" 😂😂
Lmao
@Ed Joaquin Castro People have always abused religon for political ends. It's happening to this day.
@@janpiorko3809 Exactly that has always happened
@@zhcultivator "always has been"
@Jan eve Siazon Religion is and always has been a great tool to manipulate and decieve.
At 5:08 the "Change (Or else)" poster gets me every time.
The times before James Bissonette conquered this channel.
Man I really love revisiting the older videos as they're fantastic but you've really found you flow in the last year or so. Thank you for what you do
*french flag appears*
What's that doing there?
"Hey ,fellow monarchs!"
*intense panic*
I poop my pants again screaming
@@idotso woah, it’s a stumpy little manlet
@@idotso u make more weapons u make more cannons u make more horses i dont make horses then who makes horses horses make horses explain how oh when the daddy horse loves the mummy horse too much oh yes go on then the daddy horse im sorry Napoléon u are 43 i thought u know this stuff don touch me im gonna be sick
OooOOoH nNoooOo
@@Gordonjamesheneryproductions bahhhhhhh
This video helped me get a good understanding of France and the napoleonic wars while being funny amazing job! :) loved the Zarya at 8:30 haha
Had to pause because I almost spat out my drink in surprise hahaha
Really fun XD
I would just like to nitpick and say that in France, we learn (in school obviously) that the Egyptian campaign was actually because French higher-ups wanted to squash that little Napoleon upstart and send him far away to be defeated. However, he earned a lot of popular support back in France thanks to :
1 - all of his archaeological findings, like the Rosetta stone for example
2 - because the first real defeat was the fleet being burnt, which was outside of his command
3 - because when the French army was finally defeated in Egypt, he wasn't in command since he had just came back to France to make his coup
I’m a fan of the “efficient supply chain” which is just a cart filled with baguettes.”
The Egyptian campaign was in fact successful - both Upper and Lower Egypt were subjugated and Murad Bey was driven into Sudan. Next, an Ottoman army was destroyed at the Battle of Mount Tabor, securing the conquest. The stalemate of the Siege of Acre prevented further expansion, but that hardly qualifies as a disaster.
Napoleon did not 'abandon' his troops. He was ordered to return to France by his commanders because the military situation was deteriorating quickly. All of his conquests in northern Italy had been lost to the Austrians, for example. His return lead to French victory in the War of the Second Coalition. Kleber was left behind in Egypt and successfully defended it from invasion while Napoleon was away, until he was assassinated.
However it was ultimately forced to surrender and the general objective of the campaign failled.
Get a life
Kota what sort of success is that?! That’s hardly a success!
@@jamiengo2343 he didnt lose he merely failed to win
6:30 Lol, the British funded an invasion of themselves, oh politics :D. Awesome video, really loving your channel, you've earned a long term subscriber ;).
TCC The invasion didn't actually happen so what we really funded was an amassed Franco-Spanish fleet which we then destroyed at Trafalgar
I believe it was the Rothchild's that funded it. Not Britain herself. Moreover, what invasion?
Even.Ways Music Go to 6:30? I even listed in the time in my original comment you mongoloid. Fucking read.
TCC Yeah, but what invasion? You said: 'the British funded an invasion of themselves, oh politics :D' but they were never invaded. France just wished they could. So in reality, they got some money and that's about it. Hence, what invasion...
Even.Ways Music I was quoting the person that made the video. Technically British bankers did fund an invasion of England, likely because as you say, it failed. The bankers likely knew it would fail, otherwise I doubt they'd risk being executed for treason just to make a quick buck.
"La déclaration des droits de l'homme et du citoyen" was suppositivly universal.
And it was meant to be, it even applied to slavery, which was abolished in 1794 by the Republic, only to be restaured a few years later in 1803 by Napoleon. Like for the Americans and their bill of rights, this is what led the French people to thinking that they had almost like a kind of divine duty of spreading liberty and freedom across the world, this was one of the reasons Napoleon thought he had to invade Europe, or that they thought they had to rape Africa with all of their european friends in the first place.
Absolument.
Who else thought their screen in dirty at 7:00?
ikr
Well I had just sneezed blood on my screen seconds earlier, so I really couldn't tell.
Oof
@@MaxwellAerialPhotography oof
Why?
btw, Napoleon "escaping" Elba was at least partly motivated by the fact that the French crown didn't pay the pension that was promised to him as part of the deal...
0:00 A legend has been born
I only watched this video because it's his first and I wanted to see if James Bizonnete existed at that time too
Same here, lol.
Fun fact: No.
shout out to marquis de lafayette, everyones favourite fighting frenchman
LAFAYETTE!
I remember him joining the American Revolution in the cartoon Liberty Kids.
I actually live in a city in America named after him
Only downside is that he wanted a Constitutional Monarchy
Why is that a downside?
Informative, concise, comprehensible and thank you very much for not adding the ubiquitous distracting background music that the curse of so many UA-cam channels now.
"which went swimingly" XD lol I love your videos! they are simple but give a nice overall idea and they are very entertaining!
When he said that
The monty Python reference made my day. Thank you good sir.
Zhee Fraunch fawrt een you-er zghenerahl deerection!
Biggus
Ze-Dongus😉😛
Amazing how the channel has come along. I'd like to see this redone closer to the newer style.
With the blessings of James Bisonnette and Kelly Moneymaker I bet new version will be epic!
Napoleon didnt invade Russia just for the sake of invading, he acted as he always had : striking first when war is unavoidable. Russia signed and alliance with France and gained some prussian lands with the treaty of Tilsit but then decided that they prefer the UK in the end so broke the alliance and declared war on France, so France invaded.
I'm late but Napoleon was also becoming unpopular at home, he needed a war to unite the people and get them to rally behind him again. The Russians were the most likely target seeing how everyone else was at his mercy and the British were untouchable due to their ruling of the sea.
Meh
Zarya @ 8:27
I was wondering who that was
@@aaronmarks9366 it's an overwatch character
FIRE AT WILL
A great history person was born here.
This is great! :D The animation style is awesome and the attention to detail is almost unbelievable! It truly makes a visible difference when the "teacher" is interested in the subject ;)
Das war ein befehl
The first comment on an Amazing Channel
Ey ohne dregg alder
The modern day classes in society: plutocrats, politicians and common day people. People never really change, only labels and goals do.
ARKOVZ At least they don't say God made them rule, which is slightly better
Yep, that is so true!
transylvanian You can still be rich
Example Marc zuckerberg or Bill gates
You could become a noble in France during the rule of King Louis XVI if you paid enough money to buy yourself a title.
I got elected by knocking on doors but okay.
Love your videos. I learn a lot. And even if I already knew something - your presentation looks great and can be humourous to boot.
Great stuff.
Love this video and channel. I will note however that the painting at 1:00 is actually depicting Gen. Burgoyne’s surrender at Saratoga (1777), not Gen. Cornwallis’ surrender at Yorktown (1781).
French revolution : ends monarchy
Napoleon : *allow me to introduce myself*
Because they were revolutionaries who had removing the king as the goal, rather than an obstacle, not any long term plan, thus chaos ensued and people sought someone to bring order. Same thing happened to Germany after WW1.
5:07 it’s nice to see that Napoleon time-travelled when he returned home
"Status of waves: ruled" XD I'm fucking dying.
0:00 a legend was born
Why do you have so little subscribers?!
And a quite unoriginal too. There a docent of similar UA-cam channels who do exactly the same stick.
Karl Karlos Yeah but he does it really well, his videos are informative and high quality. If your so proficient in internet etiquette do your own channel.
Radicoly
Lol. Why should I? You probably should just keep watching different stuff to get a bigger picture.
Karl Karlos Which is exactly what he is doing, he's another channel that does history in a unique way.
Radicoly
But it's the opposite of "unique".That's my whole point. It's not bad but not original at all.
Thank you for this witty primer on a quarter century of turbulence!
awesome videos, deserves way more views, hopefully in the future this becomes more popular so more get made!! thanks brutha !!
Learning this in class and I’ve learned more from this video than I did form a week of studying this
"Not seeming supportive enough was enough to have you arrested."
Little has changed in politics it seems.
Lol.
The overwatch reference is hilarious as a Zarya player 😂😂😂
I keep wondering why so many videos on the Napoleonic era forget to mention his Great Sanhedrin. After learning how Jews wanted to interact with Christians, Napoleon guaranteed them the full protection of the Republic, both physically and religiously.
Because of your videos you have educated me with so much of world history thank you please continue to make more
0:02 Got some bounce to that death XD
00:00
A legend was born
1:35 hilarious that "censored" sign
This has my vote for best video on UA-cam
The 7 coalitions are interesting to me. Europe had united against Napoleon 5 times and lost severely each time. But they kept getting back up again partially because the alternative was submission. Eventually after Napoleon effectively broke himself against the Russian wall of ice, Europe's armies also learned how to break him.
Napoleon spent his reign telling everyone else "Git gud noob" and finally all of Europe could look him in the eye and say "We did".
they kept getting back up because britian was paying for everything. Its easy to fight a war when you don't get stuck with a bill at the end
8:30 - Overwatch reference!
This, ladies and gentlemen, is the official beginning of a legend.
the Monty Python reference at 9:07 is absolute gold
lol I love the little overwatch reference at 8:25
you deserve more subs, bro. Do britans empire part two.
Now he has 500k
Could you do a video specifically on Napoleons retreat from Russia. I recently read Napoleon by Andrew roberts and their is so much more to that story than the Russians burned everything and Napoleon forgot about winter
Fantastic read. One of my favorites. I particularly enjoyed the Russian retreat as you mentioned and ‘Zenith.’
I'm glad I found the UA-cam channel. I've been watching these videos on tiktok.
We need more UA-cam channels like you😀
What a great video. Please keep this up and consider creating a patreon.
Your channel should get much more attention, this is one of the best history youtube channels I've seen.
9.59 you sir, are a good man. There is no ads. A like and a sub for that!
The fact that Robespierre had to sit in his cell nursing a jaw wound before being beheaded is poetic justice
Napoleon calling himself "first consul" should probably have been a warning sign
i love how you depict the death of individuals in these videos...just falling over. so simple yet so hilarious!
Always be wary of standing next to the screen's edge if you want to survive a SH video
@@BirdRaiserE oh boy has it been 5 years already?!
@@sksShadow1987 yep
It's time for YT to slip these masterpieces randomly in people's feeds
Well done...great as a brush-up or first intro...or a summary of what I have been reading of late...thanks.
the birth of a legend
I rewatch your videos so much. Love the animation. Keep up the good work my friend.
There is nothing we can do
Two things that would be good sub subjects related to this how napoleon amazingly kept the French army stable and able fight and win wars during all the turmoil and lack of funds created by the revolution, and how napoleons escape from Elba and subsequent threat to Britain essentially kept the United States, directly or indirectly depending on how you see things, from being overthrown and annexed by England.
great video and all, but at 8:28 you see zarya from overwatch lmao
remarkable! was falling alseep looking at enormous wikipedia pages for French Revolution & this saved me!!
I’ve spent years reading about the Revolution & Napoleon & all I can really remember can just about be compressed into this short animated clip..... honestly, these downloads always impress me, if only they had been around when I was studying for my exams, but unfortunately they didn’t even have mobile calculators back then, let alone phones or UA-cam etc.
The content of these films never fails to impress me. Marvellous. 🇬🇧😁
Fuckingn Zarya coming out of nowhere at 8:26 xD brilliant, i love these videos so much
One of your best.
The Revolution era, aka France going berserk against everyone, all because there wasn't enough bread in Paris 😄.
Luc Fauvarque Beserk? No I believe the word you’re looking for is hangry. They were hungry and angry
@@indianasquatchunters which made them berserk.
Arnold K. Yes hangry leads to berserk. You are correct my friend
The French take their baguettes very seriously
Luc Fauvarque No bread, no life
Good video
Roman empire : Monarchy => Republic => Empire => Collapse
French empire : Monarchy => Republic => Empire => Collapse
Roman empire : *MY SON*
True heir of Rome
He went from 10 minute videos to short animated documentaries, I like it
The most understandable and concise explanation of the French Revolution ever.
Except for oversimplified that is
I already knew quite a bit about the Napoleonic era............. but I still learned some new stuff, thanks.!.!!!.
I came back to this after oversimplified made a video about napoleon
Concise and complete. Great job!
Nice video, but at the start the soldiers are wearing the tricolor, which troops didn't use until 1789 after the storming of the Bastille, in which the national guard was formed.
Fun Fact 0:00 my favorite History UA-cam channel and a comedy legend was born
to think there was a time before James Bisonette
@History Matters - TY. We've made good English subtitles for this video. YT have a new policy that only you can add subtitles.
Therefore, please can they be added?
Here they are:
0:00:00.000,0:00:03.360
1774 and King Louis XV of France
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1774 and King Louis XV of France
is dead
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and his grandson Louis XVI succeeds him.
0:00:06.940,0:00:10.920
France, at this point, was
Europe's greatest power,
something which they wished to continue.
0:00:10.920,0:00:13.880
Keeping this position from other European powers was costly
0:00:13.880,0:00:17.480
and led to a series of expensive wars which essentially bankrupted France.
0:00:17.480,0:00:22.780
At the top of the French government sat
the King,
the clergy, and the nobles
who together are known as 'the ancien régime'.
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The ancien régime mostly didn't pay taxes which meant financing France's position fell to everyone else:
0:00:28.000,0:00:29.100
mostly, the poor.
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This period also saw the height of the Enlightenment.
0:00:31.600,0:00:37.320
Prominent French political philosophers such as Montesquieu, Rousseau and Voltaire were challenging the political status quo.
0:00:37.320,0:00:40.760
1 major aspect of this was
'the King's Divine Right to Rule',
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which meant:
'the King was King because that was what God wanted
so therefore shut up and do what he says'.
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Ideas that challenged 'Divine Right to Rule' came from Britain with its constitutional monarchy,
0:00:48.940,0:00:53.040
and from the newly formed 'United States' who had decided that kings really weren't that necessary.
0:00:53.040,0:00:59.000
France's aid to the American Revolution had secured independence for the colonies and had struck a blow against France's great rival.
0:00:59.000,0:01:03.340
This, however, was not a cheap blow and threw France into even greater economic hardship.
0:01:03.340,0:01:06.880
Louis appointed a series of finance ministers to fix the country's tax woes,
0:01:06.880,0:01:11.300
but all failed simply because they couldn't get the clergy or the nobility to pay taxes.
0:01:11.300,0:01:15.560
The peasantry were now starting to get restless since these tax problems hit them the hardest.
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A harvest failure led to the price of bread skyrocketing and riots broke out.
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France was now in crisis and so Louis called for the assembly of:
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'the Estates-General',
which was a major legislative assembly which had not met for over 150 years.
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It represented the 3 great 'Estates' of France:
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the 1st Estate - the clergy
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the 1st Estate - the clergy
the 2nd Estate - the nobility
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the 1st Estate - the clergy
the 2nd Estate - the nobility
and the 3rd Estate: everybody else.
0:01:34.120,0:01:39.080
No solution could be found
so in order to speed things up,
King Louis simply locked the 3rd Estate out,
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because they were the ones who wanted change.
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The 3rd Estate then gathered in a nearby tennis court where they swore to continue meeting until a new Constitution was established.
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Unsurprisingly, King Louis opposed all of this
but the people were much more supportive
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and formed 'the National Guard' to protect the 3rd Estate
now called 'the National Assembly',
against violent retaliation.
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To do so, they famously stormed the Bastille
to free prisoners,
but mostly to get guns.
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The National Assembly
(now called 'the National Constituent Assembly')
issued:
0:02:03.140,0:02:07.920
'the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen'
which established the rights of the French people.
0:02:07.920,0:02:12.040
What makes this so important is that these rights came from the people not from the King or God.
0:02:12.040,0:02:15.660
The bread situation did not improve and as such,
more riots broke out.
0:02:15.660,0:02:21.360
A rumor started the Royal family were hoarding food
and as such, rioters (mostly women) marched on the Palace of Versailles.
0:02:21.360,0:02:28.980
After a stand-off and some violence, the King and his Austrian wife, the disdained Marie Antoinette, agreed to return to Paris where they'd be closer to the people.
0:02:28.980,0:02:31.980
The Revolutionaries started to punish the clergy and the nobles.
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The Church could no longer levy taxes and the Revolutionaries also introduced a non-religious calendar.
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Many nobles fled to neighboring countries and had their lands and wealths confiscated.
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These Revolutionaries should not be seen as unified, however.
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They had different ideas on what France should be.
0:02:46.480,0:02:50.260
Most Revolutionaries,
such as the Marquis de Lafayette,
wanted to keep the monarchy,
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but the Jacobins,
led by a certain Maximilien Robespierre,
wanted its complete abolition altogether.
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After 2 years back in the capital with much less power,
0:02:57.340,0:03:02.260
Louis decided to flee to the protection of
his brother-in-law,
Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II.
0:03:02.260,0:03:07.540
The royal family were recognized on the way and sent back to Paris where they were seen as
'Enemies of the Revolution',
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which they were.
0:03:08.660,0:03:14.040
Louis and his wife's close ties with Austria meant that the Revolutionaries were becoming concerned with external threats.
0:03:14.040,0:03:18.080
To make matters worse,
the Austrians and Prussians issued:
'the Declaration of Pillnitz'
0:03:18.080,0:03:20.680
which gave their support to Louis against the Revolution.
0:03:20.680,0:03:24.720
This Declaration was used as a pretext to war,
(although Robespierre opposed it),
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and in April 1792,
France invaded the Austrian Netherlands
beginning 'the War of the 1st Coalition'.
0:03:30.020,0:03:33.600
This was a victory for France with only Britain refusing to make peace.
0:03:33.600,0:03:36.660
France annexed the Austrian Netherlands
and invaded the Dutch Republic,
0:03:36.660,0:03:43.040
which, after a popular uprising, became
'the Batavian Republic' - 1 of France's sister republics,
(which were essentially puppet states).
0:03:43.040,0:03:47.900
Shortly afterwards,
a 2nd coalition - this time with added Russia,
would declare war on France,
0:03:47.900,0:03:49.540
but again, it was a French victory.
0:03:49.540,0:03:52.820
Back in France,
the Revolution also cracked down on internal threats.
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In 1792, the King was deposed
and a Republic declared.
0:03:56.280,0:03:59.900
He was later put on trial for treason
and sentenced to death by 1 vote.
0:03:59.900,0:04:03.240
Louis was beheaded by guillotine in January 1793
0:04:03.240,0:04:05.540
and Marie met the same fate shortly afterwards.
0:04:05.540,0:04:08.780
Louis's death will be the 1st in the most famous phase of the Revolution:
0:04:08.780,0:04:09.900
The Reign of Terror.
0:04:09.900,0:04:14.600
This was a period of mass suspicion where neighbor would accuse neighbor of betraying the Revolution.
0:04:14.600,0:04:17.580
Not seeming supportive enough was enough to have you arrested.
0:04:17.580,0:04:22.020
The period also saw
the execution of over 40,000 people - many by guillotine.
0:04:22.020,0:04:26.260
Power at this point rested with
'the Committee for Public Safety',
which was led by Robespierre.
0:04:26.260,0:04:30.520
The Terror became more and more paranoid until Robespierre himself was arrested and executed,
0:04:30.520,0:04:32.560
but not before being shot in the face.
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After the fall of Robespierre,
there was a period of stability when a new government, 'the Directory', was formed.
0:04:37.940,0:04:41.280
This would last for 5 years before it was overthrown by a famous general:
0:04:41.280,0:04:45.260
Napoléon Bonaparte
who was subsequently declared '1st Consul of France'.
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Napoléon had risen to prominence due to his successful military career.
0:04:48.720,0:04:52.720
He 1st defeated the British at Toulon,
before leading a successful invasion of Italy.
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He was not always successful, though,
as demonstrated by his 1798 invasion of Egypt,
0:04:57.200,0:04:59.660
which was rebelling against rule by the Ottoman Empire.
0:04:59.660,0:05:03.800
Napoléon wanted Egypt to act as a launch pad for invading British colonies in Asia,
2nd part of subtitles:
0:05:03.800,0:05:08.060
but harassment by Ottoman and British forces meant that he had to return home achieving nothing
0:05:08.060,0:05:11.640
After his coup,
Napoléon oversaw a series of domestic reforms.
0:05:11.640,0:05:17.740
1 of the greatest changes to the government was that the bureaucrats and military officers were now promoted based on merit, not birth.
0:05:17.740,0:05:20.620
To ensure the loyalty of those promoted,
Napoléon created:
0:05:20.620,0:05:25.100
'the National Order of the Legion of Honor'
which people were admitted into based upon good service.
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He also sought to undo some of the harm done to the Church by the Revolution by restoring some power to it,
0:05:29.640,0:05:31.380
but ultimately, it answered to him.
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Some of Napoléon's most important changes were to the military.
0:05:34.320,0:05:38.800
The French army was composed of conscripts who were gathered using France's efficient bureaucracy.
0:05:38.800,0:05:43.180
The French army saw its administration improved, specifically: how orders were relayed.
0:05:43.180,0:05:47.320
The army developed a more effective medical
service - able to stem the outbreak of epidemics,
0:05:47.320,0:05:52.340
as well as a sophisticated supply train,
which meant that the soldiers no longer had to live off the land as much.
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In 1804, Napoléon was declared
'the Emperor of the French',
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formally ending the 1st French Republic
and beginning 'the 1st French Empire'.
0:05:59.240,0:06:01.600
The next year,
he had himself crowned the 'King of Italy',
0:06:01.600,0:06:04.720
which would act as a catalyst for another coalition against France.
0:06:04.720,0:06:10.100
This war: 'the War of the 3rd Coalition',
was the 1st of the Napoleonic Wars
and 1 of the most famous.
0:06:10.100,0:06:12.280
Britain had been an enemy of France since
0:06:12.280,0:06:13.000
forever
0:06:13.000,0:06:15.360
and Napoléon was keen to knock it out of the War.
0:06:15.360,0:06:18.160
To do so, he amassed a huge army on France's northern coast.
0:06:18.160,0:06:22.060
But for an invasion to happen, Napoléon had to neutralize Britain's greatest strength:
0:06:22.060,0:06:23.220
the Royal Navy.
0:06:23.220,0:06:28.640
Interestingly, in order to finance the war, Napoléon sold his North American territories to the United States.
0:06:28.640,0:06:31.600
The United States borrowed some of this money from British banks,
0:06:31.600,0:06:35.180
which meant that the British were, essentially,
funding a French invasion of themselves.
0:06:35.180,0:06:42.280
Any hope of invading Britain was ended when the French and their ally Spain's combined fleet was destroyed at the 1805 Battle of Trafalgar.
0:06:42.280,0:06:45.900
Napoléon fared significantly better on land against the Continental powers.
0:06:45.900,0:06:49.320
The army waiting to invade Britain marched into the Holy Roman Empire
0:06:49.320,0:06:55.540
and, after some clever maneuvering, managed to secure the surrender of an Austrian army with very little bloodshed, before capturing Vienna.
0:06:55.540,0:06:59.280
The remnants of the Austrian army joined up with the Russians under Emperor Alexander.
0:06:59.280,0:07:05.280
Napoléon gave the impression that his army was in shambles, which made the allies confident enough to meet him at the Battle of Austerlitz.
0:07:05.280,0:07:09.140
Here, Napoléon won 1 of his greatest victories securing an Austrian surrender.
0:07:09.140,0:07:13.940
This victory also saw the end of the Holy Roman Empire which was dissolved shortly afterwards becoming:
0:07:13.940,0:07:16.760
'the Confederation of the Rhine',
another French puppet state.
0:07:16.760,0:07:21.520
French dominance would upset the Prussians who would shortly afterwards begin 'the War of the 4th Coalition'.
0:07:21.520,0:07:22.460
Bad idea.
0:07:22.460,0:07:28.720
French victory here saw the creation of a
semi-independent Polish state called 'the Duchy of Warsaw' which was carved from Prussian territory.
0:07:28.720,0:07:34.000
At this point, Napoléon had a firm grip over most of Europe and he demanded that all those under his influence join:
0:07:34.000,0:07:38.360
'the Continental System',
which was essentially a trade embargo aimed at bankrupting Britain.
0:07:38.360,0:07:46.860
Portugal, (Britain's closest ally), was reluctant to join and so the French with their Spanish allies invaded in 1807, forcing the Portuguese Royal family to flee to Brazil.
0:07:46.860,0:07:53.120
Spain was undergoing its own problems and sensing weakness, Napoléon invaded Spain itself and installed his brother, Joseph, on the throne.
0:07:53.120,0:07:57.980
The British then landed in Portugal where both nations teamed up with the Spanish rebels against the French,
0:07:57.980,0:08:00.820
beginning the Peninsular War which would last for 6 years.
0:08:00.820,0:08:08.560
Simultaneously, the Austrians undeterred by France never losing began 'the War of the 5th Coalition' which France shockingly won giving them this territory.
0:08:08.560,0:08:13.200
3 years later, Russia was getting sick of being told what to do and so started trading with Britain again.
0:08:13.200,0:08:18.560
Napoléon's support for the neighboring Duchy of Warsaw also made Tsar Alexander nervous of a possible French invasion.
0:08:18.560,0:08:24.160
This fear was well-founded since, in 1812, the French invaded Russia with a huge army numbering over half a million.
0:08:24.160,0:08:26.980
Napoleon won many costly victories and occupied Moscow.
0:08:26.980,0:08:30.500
The Russians, however, had destroyed everything of value as they retreated
0:08:30.500,0:08:34.620
and when winter came around,
Napoleon's army froze and starved forcing him to retreat.
0:08:34.620,0:08:42.080
Napoleon's failure in Russia led to the major powers of Europe plus the now-independent United Netherlands forming a 6th Coalition against the French.
0:08:42.080,0:08:45.540
This time the coalition managed to defeat Napoleon and occupy Paris.
0:08:45.540,0:08:50.320
The Peninsular War also ended with an allied victory and Spain became an independent nation again.
0:08:50.320,0:08:54.320
Napoléon then abdicated and was subsequently exiled to the island of Elba.
0:08:54.320,0:08:59.980
Shortly afterwards, Louis XVI's brother, also called Louis,
(because why rock the boat at this point?)
was crowned 'Louis XVIII',
0:08:59.980,0:09:03.340
but unlike the previous monarchy,
this 1 was bound by a Constitution.
0:09:03.340,0:09:07.700
Strangely, Napoleon was not happy with his exile and managed to escape Elba and returned to France.
0:09:07.700,0:09:12.000
Louis XVIII bravely ran away to Britain
and Napoléon resumed his position as Emperor.
0:09:12.000,0:09:17.040
The countries that had just defeated the French were none too happy about this and so formed
the 7th Coalition.
0:09:17.040,0:09:23.140
The Coalition was victorious and
Napoléon suffered his most famous defeat here by a joint Prussian-British army at Waterloo
0:09:23.140,0:09:29.040
and shortly afterwards,
was exiled to St Helena off the coast of Africa,
where he remained until his death in 1821.
0:09:29.040,0:09:35.920
Afterwards, the main powers of Europe established 'the Act of Vienna' which removed France's conquests and tried to establish a balance of power in Europe.
0:09:35.920,0:09:40.420
The idea was to prevent a single nation from becoming too powerful and to prevent future wars,
0:09:40.420,0:09:41.580
which went swimmingly.
0:09:41.580,0:09:47.040
The legacy of the French Revolution was a fundamentally different France whose Republican ideals would never go away.
0:09:47.040,0:09:51.800
It made Napoléon's rise to power
and the subsequent wars possible,
which saw France rise to its highest heights,
0:09:51.800,0:09:55.880
but its downfall would leave Britain almost unchallenged for the next 100 years.
0:09:55.880,0:10:00.260
I hope you enjoyed this video and thank you for watching.
1:58 Actually, they already had guns, but no ammunition. They stormed the Bastille to get ammo.
"Because why rock the boat at this point?" Lol... Brilliant I do say so sir, brilliant! Had you been a scholar in ancient times I believe the world would be just a bit more lighthearted.