Why didn't Germany annex more of France in 1871 (Animated History Documentary)
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Date: 2024-11-25
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Comments and reviews: 20
chareuxzero
I see some people in the comments thinking Lorraine was mostly a German speaking country, while it's the other way around.
I think many people (even in France) don't know the history of Lorraine, especially the most crucial part, during the Thirty Years' War. So, here's some context.
The Duchy of Lorraine was a French-speaking region long before it was annexed by France. In fact, Lorraine even fought against both France and the Holy Roman Empire for a long time. During the Thirty Years' War, France (under Richelieu and Louis XIII) decided to tame the duchy by killing its inhabitants. They feared that Lorraine would side with the Holy Roman Empire because of the Habsburgs.
France financed the Swedish army to maximize civilian casualtiesroughly 60% of the population was killed. We can even add the plague and famine of this period, which brought the death toll closer to 80%. Richelieu rejoiced at seeing so much death among them (it's written in his diary, I kid you not. The Duke of Lorraine sought help from the Holy Roman Empire but received none.
Cowards on both sides. And some still pretend, centuries later, that this land and its people belong to them.
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I see some people in the comments thinking Lorraine was mostly a German speaking country, while it's the other way around.
I think many people (even in France) don't know the history of Lorraine, especially the most crucial part, during the Thirty Years' War. So, here's some context.
The Duchy of Lorraine was a French-speaking region long before it was annexed by France. In fact, Lorraine even fought against both France and the Holy Roman Empire for a long time. During the Thirty Years' War, France (under Richelieu and Louis XIII) decided to tame the duchy by killing its inhabitants. They feared that Lorraine would side with the Holy Roman Empire because of the Habsburgs.
France financed the Swedish army to maximize civilian casualtiesroughly 60% of the population was killed. We can even add the plague and famine of this period, which brought the death toll closer to 80%. Richelieu rejoiced at seeing so much death among them (it's written in his diary, I kid you not. The Duke of Lorraine sought help from the Holy Roman Empire but received none.
Cowards on both sides. And some still pretend, centuries later, that this land and its people belong to them.
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embreis2257
technically, the stated reasons in the clip for this 'moderation' are not wrong - though annexing French land was never an important issue. the unification of Germany was and the both pompous and overly confident French emperor, emboldened by his atrocious acts of war in earlier years, believed he had a right to deny the unification of Germany. therefore, Bismarck was looking for an opportunity to settle the matter.
Alsace-Lorraine hasn't been French for a long time. French kings were encroaching on Germany's eastern borders for centuries and used German disunity to expand until they reached the river Rhine. both Alsace and Lorraine were inside the HRE for centuries and the population spoke German. by the end of the 18th century France finally managed to get both provinces under her control. it was a shock when Strassbourg became French, e. g. Goethe expressed his profound exasperation back then. it was considered unjust, a result of French manipulation etc.
in 1871, Alsace-Lorraine was interesting economically for its coal and steel industry too. another reason to get it back and risk the ire of future French governments.
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technically, the stated reasons in the clip for this 'moderation' are not wrong - though annexing French land was never an important issue. the unification of Germany was and the both pompous and overly confident French emperor, emboldened by his atrocious acts of war in earlier years, believed he had a right to deny the unification of Germany. therefore, Bismarck was looking for an opportunity to settle the matter.
Alsace-Lorraine hasn't been French for a long time. French kings were encroaching on Germany's eastern borders for centuries and used German disunity to expand until they reached the river Rhine. both Alsace and Lorraine were inside the HRE for centuries and the population spoke German. by the end of the 18th century France finally managed to get both provinces under her control. it was a shock when Strassbourg became French, e. g. Goethe expressed his profound exasperation back then. it was considered unjust, a result of French manipulation etc.
in 1871, Alsace-Lorraine was interesting economically for its coal and steel industry too. another reason to get it back and risk the ire of future French governments.
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MagiconIce
At the time, It's lands was rather questionable. Alsace and Lorraine where once settled with Almanian Germans, which dates back to like Holy Roman Empire of German Nation Times, at least.
So back then, both, France and the Germans/German Empire viewed Alsace Lorraine as traditionally their territory.
Expanding further west was not prudent, since further West without a doubt to anyone was core French Land.
2 World Wars and people being driven off their ancestral lands once later, this question is settled for the foreseeable, very long future and Alsace and Lorraine are firmly french.
As a German, I'd say, that is good. Europe is stronger with France and Germany working together as best friends instead of being at each other's throats.
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At the time, It's lands was rather questionable. Alsace and Lorraine where once settled with Almanian Germans, which dates back to like Holy Roman Empire of German Nation Times, at least.
So back then, both, France and the Germans/German Empire viewed Alsace Lorraine as traditionally their territory.
Expanding further west was not prudent, since further West without a doubt to anyone was core French Land.
2 World Wars and people being driven off their ancestral lands once later, this question is settled for the foreseeable, very long future and Alsace and Lorraine are firmly french.
As a German, I'd say, that is good. Europe is stronger with France and Germany working together as best friends instead of being at each other's throats.
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Marcus_K
Bismarck's goal was the unification of Germany. Germany back then was still a patchwork quilt of numerous independent states of varying sizes and agendas. It wasn't yet a modern nation state, like some of its neighbours such as France or the UK. Bismarck thought that it could only be achieved by uniting the german states against a common enemy, which at the time was France, due to the devastation that the Napoleonic wars had previously caused in Germany. It ultimately worked and once France was defeated in the 1870 war, he had no intention to pursue the war further.
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Bismarck's goal was the unification of Germany. Germany back then was still a patchwork quilt of numerous independent states of varying sizes and agendas. It wasn't yet a modern nation state, like some of its neighbours such as France or the UK. Bismarck thought that it could only be achieved by uniting the german states against a common enemy, which at the time was France, due to the devastation that the Napoleonic wars had previously caused in Germany. It ultimately worked and once France was defeated in the 1870 war, he had no intention to pursue the war further.
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dj1NM3
. although, to be fair: the rematch in 1914 went horribly for France, at least until the USA became involved and poured massive numbers of fresh troops and materiel into the conflict.
If you think that I'm wrong, just look at how close to Paris (within 150km) the front lines had become by early 1916, with mutinies of French troops becoming a problem, but for some reason managed to be kept a secret from German military intelligence and swept under the rug (ie: not written about in history books) until at least the late 1980s or early 1990s
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. although, to be fair: the rematch in 1914 went horribly for France, at least until the USA became involved and poured massive numbers of fresh troops and materiel into the conflict.
If you think that I'm wrong, just look at how close to Paris (within 150km) the front lines had become by early 1916, with mutinies of French troops becoming a problem, but for some reason managed to be kept a secret from German military intelligence and swept under the rug (ie: not written about in history books) until at least the late 1980s or early 1990s
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comptpublic8149
GERMANY DIDN'T PAID INDEMNITY AFTER 1918
Thank you for explaining that the French entirely paid the indemnity of war in 2 years while the Germen that destroyed half of France in 1914-1918 didn't paid the indemnity that was of the same amount.
It prooves that France was richer than Germany and that Germany made 3 wars to try to destroy France thanks to its allies: Austrian Empire, Ottoman Empire, Arab States, Spain, Italy and others in 1940.
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GERMANY DIDN'T PAID INDEMNITY AFTER 1918
Thank you for explaining that the French entirely paid the indemnity of war in 2 years while the Germen that destroyed half of France in 1914-1918 didn't paid the indemnity that was of the same amount.
It prooves that France was richer than Germany and that Germany made 3 wars to try to destroy France thanks to its allies: Austrian Empire, Ottoman Empire, Arab States, Spain, Italy and others in 1940.
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history_matters
I don't think there is a more peak France than the Third French Republic. From 1870 until 1940, the whole country was on a rollercoaster, conquered more land than Napoleon ever could, and had finally defeated their longtime rival at what seemed like was the height of their power. And then the 1920s happened, France did not escape the 1920s in time for 1940.
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I don't think there is a more peak France than the Third French Republic. From 1870 until 1940, the whole country was on a rollercoaster, conquered more land than Napoleon ever could, and had finally defeated their longtime rival at what seemed like was the height of their power. And then the 1920s happened, France did not escape the 1920s in time for 1940.
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Avo7bProject
Something of a missed opportunity in this vid, to explain why Strasbourg wasn't restored to being an independent city state. That was so much of the underlying contention between Germany and France since Louis XIV annexed it. Strasbourg might have become something like Luxembourg or Belgium, a buffer state for major powers to use to keep each other separated.
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Something of a missed opportunity in this vid, to explain why Strasbourg wasn't restored to being an independent city state. That was so much of the underlying contention between Germany and France since Louis XIV annexed it. Strasbourg might have become something like Luxembourg or Belgium, a buffer state for major powers to use to keep each other separated.
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ZakkWyldeman
Seems like Germans instead of a compromizing peace they went fo classical vea victis towards the French. It is interesting to think about what would happened if the resolution after the war wouldn't be that harsh on France, and Germany would not take AlsaceLorraine instead made the place as buffer state such as Luxembourg perhaps
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Seems like Germans instead of a compromizing peace they went fo classical vea victis towards the French. It is interesting to think about what would happened if the resolution after the war wouldn't be that harsh on France, and Germany would not take AlsaceLorraine instead made the place as buffer state such as Luxembourg perhaps
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spointz8936
Alsace and Lorraine were native Germanic and German speaking lands though and a parts of the Holy Roman Empire for the longest time. It’s not accurate to characterize them as purely core French lands when they were only annexed by the French via aggressive expansionist wars within the preceding 150 years
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Alsace and Lorraine were native Germanic and German speaking lands though and a parts of the Holy Roman Empire for the longest time. It’s not accurate to characterize them as purely core French lands when they were only annexed by the French via aggressive expansionist wars within the preceding 150 years
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BartlomiejDmowski
Video idea: Why Bosnia and Albania are Muslim I know, because Ottoman Empire and jizya tax. But hey, other Balkan nations remained Christian and proud at that. It feels random
So, why Bosnians and Albanians converted, but Serbs, Montenegrins, Bulgarians, Romanians, Greeks etc did not
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Video idea: Why Bosnia and Albania are Muslim I know, because Ottoman Empire and jizya tax. But hey, other Balkan nations remained Christian and proud at that. It feels random
So, why Bosnians and Albanians converted, but Serbs, Montenegrins, Bulgarians, Romanians, Greeks etc did not
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AAAA-lt9hq
Spain: the political football of Europe since 1815.
First the Bourbons tried to unify them with the French, then the Hohenzollerns tried to unify them with Germany.
But once, once, the Spanish ruled themselves. And Portugal. And the Netherlands. And a good chunk of Italy. And.
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Spain: the political football of Europe since 1815.
First the Bourbons tried to unify them with the French, then the Hohenzollerns tried to unify them with Germany.
But once, once, the Spanish ruled themselves. And Portugal. And the Netherlands. And a good chunk of Italy. And.
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eggy6815
Germany- Pay us 6 million billion gajillion morbillion German marks
France- Okay (pays off their debt)
Germany- Wait
France- (remilitarises) Btw we want our land back and will dedicate decades of time into getting it back, see you in hell Germany
Germany- WAIT NO
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Germany- Pay us 6 million billion gajillion morbillion German marks
France- Okay (pays off their debt)
Germany- Wait
France- (remilitarises) Btw we want our land back and will dedicate decades of time into getting it back, see you in hell Germany
Germany- WAIT NO
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PretendMe
Ah, the French. Eternally arrogant, althought they don't have much to be arrogant about nowadays. The love to trashtalk and then. lose
They were pansies during WW2, let's hope that when WW3 breaks out, their men pull up their knickers and at least TRY to fight
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Ah, the French. Eternally arrogant, althought they don't have much to be arrogant about nowadays. The love to trashtalk and then. lose
They were pansies during WW2, let's hope that when WW3 breaks out, their men pull up their knickers and at least TRY to fight
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michaelathens953
The more I learn about Germany and Europe in general during the 1800s, especially after the coalition wars, it's more and more obvious that WW1 was never NOT going to happen. I'm actually a little surprised it took until 1914 to fully kick off.
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The more I learn about Germany and Europe in general during the 1800s, especially after the coalition wars, it's more and more obvious that WW1 was never NOT going to happen. I'm actually a little surprised it took until 1914 to fully kick off.
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marquisard9138
The biggest ever military debt a country had to pay after being defeated was France in 1815, after Napoleon's ultimate defeat. 700 Million Francs at the time. It was paid back in only three years and France became a European power once more
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The biggest ever military debt a country had to pay after being defeated was France in 1815, after Napoleon's ultimate defeat. 700 Million Francs at the time. It was paid back in only three years and France became a European power once more
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Staufi82
The occupied land was just German for centuries. Napoleon I took it from a weak German Empire and started with that act the catastrophical Erbfeindschaft. Look at a map and read the names of that towns and villages there. Most of them are German.
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The occupied land was just German for centuries. Napoleon I took it from a weak German Empire and started with that act the catastrophical Erbfeindschaft. Look at a map and read the names of that towns and villages there. Most of them are German.
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augth
Annexating Alsace-Lorraine was actually A LOT. At the time the territory's textile industry was bigger than that of the whole Germany. It was one of the most prosperous territories in the world. The loss was severe for France.
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Annexating Alsace-Lorraine was actually A LOT. At the time the territory's textile industry was bigger than that of the whole Germany. It was one of the most prosperous territories in the world. The loss was severe for France.
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arizona1287
its crazy that if ww1 would have just been an other 1v1 between France and Germany France would have been crushed again. its hard to imagine how, when or even if france could have ever truly recovered from that.
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its crazy that if ww1 would have just been an other 1v1 between France and Germany France would have been crushed again. its hard to imagine how, when or even if france could have ever truly recovered from that.
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girlbuu9403
Because the tiny bit they did take caused huge head aches for the next half century and they knew it would be worse if they took more. The point of the war was to unify Germany, anything else was just a bonus.
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Because the tiny bit they did take caused huge head aches for the next half century and they knew it would be worse if they took more. The point of the war was to unify Germany, anything else was just a bonus.
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