France Before WW1 - La Belle Époque? I THE GREAT WAR Special

The time between the French defeat against Prussia in the Franco-Prussian War and the outbreak of the First World War is often described as the Belle Époque. But it certainly was a turbulent time for one of the major world powers too.
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» WHAT ARE YOUR SOURCES?
Videos: British Pathé
Pictures: Mostly Picture Alliance
Background Map: d-maps.com/cart...
Literature (excerpt):
Gilbert, Martin. The First World War. A Complete History, Holt Paperbacks, 2004.
Hart, Peter. The Great War. A Combat History of the First World War, Oxford University Press, 2013.
Hart, Peter. The Great War. 1914-1918, Profile Books, 2013.
Stone, Norman. World War One. A Short History, Penguin, 2008.
Keegan, John. The First World War, Vintage, 2000.
Hastings, Max. Catastrophe 1914. Europe Goes To War, Knopf, 2013.
Hirschfeld, Gerhard. Enzyklopädie Erster Weltkrieg, Schöningh Paderborn, 2004
Michalka, Wolfgang. Der Erste Weltkrieg. Wirkung, Wahrnehmung, Analyse, Seehamer Verlag GmbH, 2000
Leonhard, Jörn. Die Büchse der Pandora: Geschichte des Ersten Weltkrieges, C.H. Beck, 2014
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THE GREAT WAR covers the events exactly 100 years ago: The story of World War I in realtime. Featuring: The unique archive material of British Pathé. Indy Neidell takes you on a journey into the past to show you what really happened and how it all could spiral into more than four years of dire war. Subscribe to our channel and don’t miss our new episodes every Thursday.
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[@pimsou1]

So, Jaurès, the incarnation of French pacifism, was murdered by a man named "Villain" three days before the begining of WWI... If this was a work of fiction, critics everywhere would laugh at the author's heavy-handed symbolism.

[@jacques8221]

pimsou1. Reality surpasses fiction.

[@cwovictor3281]

Truth is stranger than fiction.

[@gcircle]

this truly is the dankest timeline

[@rlosable]

Fun fact, the lawyer who got him off was called Lawbender ;)

[@cd6xc]

"Yeah, the guy's name is villain, like that's ever gonna happen".

[@the_changerang]

Indy: "94% of the artillery shells fired by the French in 1914 were made in Germany" French in 1914: "Here! You can have your shells back!"

[@AFT_05G]

Germany:Nooo! You traitor prick!!!!??!!!

[@sebastianwolfmayr]

no refunds

[@CoolMan-ig1ol]

@@sebastianwolfmayr Pay back with interest from 1919.

[@ZKP314]

Ngl, sounds like a dark comedy joke.

[@markwolfshohl6562]

France....we surrender! National motto

[@gunnerr8476]

RED TROUSERS INTENSIFIES

[@jacques8221]

_Élan! instensifies_

[@perfectlyfine1675]

*Early war incompetence intensifies*

[@Gh0stClown]

Le pantalon rouge, c'est la France!

[@LuizAlexPhoenix]

Brilliant strategies that will end the war by Christmas intensify

[@ottomeyer6928]

they should have worn brauwn trousers in stead.

[@BraceletGrolf]

The last point was the main one. France fell behind when the population fell behind. And as a French, this is something that is never brought up, the power of France was always tied to its population.

[@michaelrider]

Damn inheritance legislation!

[@jacques8221]

Romain. Very true. If France is to ever regain its great power status, it will happen through a dinamic demography.

[@Marinealver]

Well that was often the power behind any Empire. Three things determined the strength of a nation back then: People, Land, Treasury. You need people to work the land (and they composed the armies that took them). The more land you have the more resources you tend to have access to. The more resources the larger the treasury you had to spend on your people. That was how many kingdoms and republics saw themselves back in the day.

[@gabrielheraud41]

A large and loyal population. Today population growth is due to migrants, who aren't loyal to France, they won't fight for France if it's needed

[@Unpseudopascommelesautres]

@@gabrielheraud41 may be or may be not

[@chandlerkivett40]

The death of Jean Jaures was especially tragic, both in the killing and the acquittal of the murderer, Raoul Villian, though he got his comeuppance in the Spanish civil war. I don't know how effective he could have been to prevent WW1, but his killing did not help matters.

[@bogdan6785]

It's even more tragic when you think that another figure who strongly opposed the war - Franz Ferdinand - was also murdered. It's as if that war HAD to happen.

[@hlynnkeith9334]

Hey! French horizon blue made great dress uniforms for their pilots. Give credit where credit is due. The French supplied the Entente with war materiel. Z.B. the French flew French planes; the Americans flew French planes; the Brits flew French planes; the Italians flew French planes; the Serbs flew French planes; and the Russians flew French planes. Even the Germans flew French planes (true story: a couple of German pilots flew captured French aircraft in combat). IIRC France produced more airplanes than Austria-Hungary, Germany, Italy, and Russia combined.

[@chrisd8866]

True, and this makes the poor state of the French Armée de l'Air in the years leading up to WWII even more tragic by comparison. This time, we had to rely partially on US planes to make up for the slow rate of our aircraft production, and we were also planning to equip a large part of our domestically-produced planes with US and British engines, since our own production was also slow and lagging behind technologically... To go from world leader in aircraft production to this in less that 20 years really shows that one can't expect to remain top of the class in anything if one neglects to invest time, money but also actual competence* in it. *I say competence, because incompetence is what comes to mind when you look at the decisions taken by our government and military regarding the modernisation of our air force: like the choice of the MS-406 fighter over the superior Nieuport 161, or the decision to delay the production of the Amiot 340 bomber for over a year just so the plane could carry one more superfluous crew member, thus effectively killing any chance for this excellent and modern plane to have any impact on the campaign in 1940... These are just one of many bad decisions taken by a leadership that failed us. Source : flashbackplanes.blogspot.fr/2012/02/nieuport-161-favored-contender-part-1.html flashbackplanes.blogspot.fr/2012/10/the-french-strike-air-forces-wasted.html

[@kckong7433]

The body of an airplane is the "fuselage". The small wing at the trail of main wing is the "aileron". The French were pioneers in aircraft engineering and supplied these terms that we still use today.

[@AFT_05G]

h lynn keith Actually false.France’s production was nearly 68.000.Germany’s production was 48.000 and İtaly’s 20.000,so France’s aircraft production equal with Germany-İtaly combined.

[@AFT_05G]

h lynn keith However Central Powers produced more guns(artillery) than Entente.And Germany’s global manufacturing output was World’s %16 total in 1914.France’s only %6.

[@silverpleb2128]

@@chrisd8866 "and we were also planning to equip a large part of our domestically-produced planes with US and British engines" Hispano Suiza is US or British? Gnome Rhone is US or British? Nice

[@baron_von_brunk]

"25% of the world's capital" That's a _lot_ of croissants.

[@amesbancal]

Always the same stereotypes, please be more imaginative !

[@vincivedivicilextalionas4036]

Over 400 million invested in white cloth.

[@DOPEdwarf]

@@amesbancal I wish my stereotypes were as funny and lighthearted as getting called a croissant. get over it

[@amesbancal]

@@DOPEdwarf but what are your stereotypes ?

[@DOPEdwarf]

@@amesbancal lol bro I'm a Palestinian. I wish people made jokes about us like they do with the french. It's just playful banter

[@benoitbvg2888]

2nd time in this series Indy pronounces Delcassé "Déclassé"... *pops champagne*

[@ottomeyer6928]

so what ?

[@romansans1581]

“France won 14 Nobel Prizes, second only to Germany” I am impressed.

[@awilbroappears]

My favorite quote from French marshall Ferdinand Foch: "L'arme la plus puisante qui soit sur terre est l'âme humaine lorsqu'elle s'enflamme." "The most powerful weapon on earth is the human soul on fire."

[@johnsproule1645]

Sadly, by the end of the war all nations learned instead that "L'arme la plus puisante qui soit sur terre fait le corps humaine enflamme."

[@thedripkingofangmar6778]

Maréchal Sacrebleu disgusting sign of the inefficient and dangerous idealism that pervaded military commanders at the time It's thanks to men like him that the war started, if you are French you should hate him

[@awilbroappears]

Gancio The Ranter Feel free to interpret it as you want. To me it is a quote about the value of morale, not mindless charges into machine guns. Food for thought.

[@PhiliusMaximus]

bullet beats soul

[@podoesljvc]

sike, it's German artillery shells

[@waltertaljaard1488]

Louis Fournier (1868-1914) Jacques (1888-1914), Claude (1890-1916) Bertrand (1892-1916) Louis jr. (1894-1918) on a war memorial from one single small town; a father and four sons. Imagine madame Fournier........ Not in a couple of French villages, but in thousands of them. Paris and the big cities survived, all be it badly scarred. But rural France DIED.

[@markmewordz6860]

There are many similar headstones up and down the shires here in England. Rural England was, likewise, decimated.

[@taylorwalker2814]

@Mallyoo He means that due to the "Pal's Battalions" system of recruitment, this led to entire battles worth of casualties being concentrated in the population of a few towns. Some towns in Britain had up to 90%+ of their adult male population killed.

[@aurageneral4053]

Do Germany before WW1 next

[@blackmichael75]

And then Britain and then Italy.

[@aurageneral4053]

Michael Black yup

[@Dreadnought26]

I think they might have already done Germany but idk

[@rezajafari6395]

+Fedp 50 IIRC he did Russia

[@johnware5025]

madagascar, uruguay, palau, all the big players

[@pricklydingus8604]

France was so devistated socially, and economically after WWI. Those who make fun of the French during WWII have no clue how much that country lost during their fight against the Germans during the Great War. No wonder they capitulated so fast during WWII.

[@RomainM-rv5rw]

You are right, 1/5 of the french male population died in the Great War. 58 % of french males born in 1894. France died during this war.

[@miskakopperoinen8408]

While there's truth to that claim, it forgets one central thing; namely that Germany was also a participant in the first world war, and suffered even more in terms of economics and population. I've never truly understood the logical fallacy that Germany somehow magically just erased the loss of men, industry and money after the first world war and thus towered supreme over all other European nations as if the great war never touched it, while in reality, Germany fought hard on multiple fronts and suffered heavily for it

[@RomainM-rv5rw]

Miska Kopperoinen partly false. In term of loose ratio the nations that most suffered from the war were Serbia (40%) and France (20%). Germany "only" lost 12,5 % of it male population and didn't have to fight on his soil

[@groteskowy8726]

Ure cute. See Poles, who was forced to fight against each others in 3 different armies and front was moving few times on Polish soil.....

[@miskakopperoinen8408]

Appreciate the numbers about the loss ratios. Still, Germany was economically strangled for the whole war, and was a wreck of a nation after it. Additionally, Germany had to pay war reparations, which was a further financial strain. France was certainly worse for wear after the war, but Germany was anything but untouched as well.Also, the fast capitulation in the second world war due to heavy losses and damaged economy doesn't quite work as the second world war Germany proved that a country can take devastating losses, alienate huge swathes of occupied territories that often had poor infrastructure, be short of almost everything and still have a few full years of fight in it before certain defeat. Seeing as France also had a respectably sized and reasonably well equipped army, with the best tanks at the beginning of the second world war, I'd attribute the French losses more to deficiencies on strategic level planning and failure to respond fast enough to Germans abusing those deficiencies rather than to French not having enough money and manpower to field a believable army.

[@Litany_of_Fury]

I'd love to see the UK before ww1. My grandad can recall great poverty in the industrial cities in the great depression and even worse in times before himself. Chimney sweeps come to mind.

[@F22onblockland]

What's up with this trend of those trying to stop catastrophe from happening either dying or being assassinated.

[@Betrix5060]

Because if they sucseeded in averting a catastrophe we wouldn't know how close we actually were.

[@PingasMonkey3rdClass]

Simple... FREEMASONS DUN DUN DUNNNN!

[@mazadancoseben4818]

@@Betrix5060,ok.Reality seems funny now.

[@jamesricker3997]

Hail Hydra...

[@PoorMan972]

4:13 "horizon blue uniform" was issued in 1915 I'm sure you meant the predecessor dark blue overcoat paired with the pantalon rouge.

[@jeanpierreragequit1726]

wrong.... september 1914

[@msotil]

The murderer of Jean Jaures - a semi-deranged, petty criminal Raoul Villain - was acquitted on the grounds that Villain "had done a service to his country" ( by murdering Jaures!). But this episode in the annals of French justice -not surprising given ample precedent - went further in ordering the widow of Jaures to pay for the costs of the trial! But the criminal could not escape his fate. Having fled France, escaping charges of passing false currency, he settled in the Spanish island of Ibiza and built a house where he lived and kept his loot. In 1936 Spanish Republican troops landed on Ibiza and the Frenchman promptly aroused the suspicions of the officer in charge (of being a spy for the Nationalists). He was detained and questioned and was confined to his house. His violent protests resulted in his being shot in the back. He was left where he fell without medical attention and died after suffering for two days. The local people gave him a decent burial.

[@matthewdockter2424]

This channel is awesome, but the economic highlights on each country, as you did here in France, was great! Thanks to all the staff!

[@GeistHeller]

Jean Jaurès was working on his own "J'accuse !" to denounce the war when he was assassinated, the French workers and peasantry were much more preoccupied with social issues than going to war for lost territories when the war broke out. The Military and some elements of the government were definitely itching for a fight, but the reality of rural France when the German declaration of war came was that they accepted the notion that the country had to be defended more than anything, it was the spirit of the "Union Sacrée" in defense of the Mère Patrie. Last but not the least, the war started during the harvest season, which put a lot of strain and anxiety on the peasantry, which as Indy pointed, made up the biggest bulk of the French population at the time. France is also often, wrongly, portrayed as being "stuck" in the Boulangist Era (1880-1890) pre-WW1, but had that been the case, General Boulanger would not have been undermined and ultimately ousted the way he did and the military would not have come to the conclusion throughout the later half of the 1890's that an offensive War against the Central Powers, even with Russian support, was unlikely to succeed. In a way, pre-WW1 and pre-WW2 France have a lot in common: a people more so interested in social reforms than war and a difficult geopolitical situation that did not allow for effective army reforms. The difference between the two is that a 4 years long bloodbath had not yet scarred the country. Also Indy, does this episode foreshadows the arrival of a French Infantry tactics special :D ? *wink* Great show as usual !

[@mblac19]

I'd like to expand the monarchist bits glossed over. The french royalists still had a very strong following in France, particularly in the first decade or so after Napoleon III abdicated. Napoleon III had died in exile in 1873, never really recovering from the defeat at Sedan. Like Luke and Leia though, there was another... However, by 1880 the power of the French monarchists severely waned. This would be because Napoleon III's only child, and heir, Napoleon IV died in 1879. As befitting the french of the time, he died bravely but really really stupidly. Having joined the British army, Napoleon IV pulled every string he could to get sent to Africa with the British Army so he could fight in a real war when the brits were busy trading massacres with the zulu nation. Desperate to see action the prince was sent to south africa after the intervention of his mother (ex-Empress) and Queen Victoria herself. The Prince then routinely exceeded orders, exhibited a lack of martial discipline, and tried his damnedest to get involved in fighting despite various orders restricting him to "safe" areas and to keep him strongly escorted. So of course, like a damn fool, he managed to get off on a scouting party that he forced to leave before most of his escort could assemble. After a nice lunch they were ambushed by a group of Zulus. The Prince, by all accounts, fought very bravely before dying to the Zulus; the Prince's escort party survived by running away. Admittedly it's unlikely a small group like that could have turned the tide against an alleged 40 zulu warriors but pulling a brave sir robin and leaving the last real hope of the bourbon dynasty to get speared to death did not go down particularly well with their fellow soldiers let alone her majesty's government. Napoleon IV's body had its own interesting journey and series of post-death burials and exhumations but he was the last real hope that monarchists ever had of restoring a catholic french king to the throne. Born in 1856, the crown prince was a great age to be perceived as tabula rasa; people could look at the prince and see whatever they wanted to believe and it was widely expected that he would eventually return to France and put an end to this third republic nonsense, replacing it with a third empire. Young, handsome, contacts with Queen Victoria, devout catholic, early years spent in France, not tainted by the loss in the Franco-Prussian war, formal military education, you could almost see him as a young Napoleon!

[@franzbodenmann4461]

As a "boche" I have a huge respect for french soldiers in world war 1. They fought with braveness in all battles and deserve to win this war. France was the principal block of the allies, helped the serbians, greeks ... In this war russia surrendered at the treaty of brest litovsk and france didnt, france fought untl the end. in ww2, it was the opposite, french surrendered ans russia was the principal block. Thats why i tell you that france was a lion in this war

[@christmar67]

Respect to German army from France

[@thomascatty379]

Franz Bodenmann Yeah, it goes both ways, respect from France

[@kiruuzua4967]

Vive la France !!!🇫🇷😂

[@abrahamanthony3011]

If it was just Germany vs France, Imperial Germany wins again

[@zlatko8051]

No doubt.

[@Pa_tience]

At 6:17, there is an error in the caption. "... led to an alliance between France and Germany in 1904" when it was between France and Great Britain

[@cwovictor3281]

That would've been some funky alternate history, let me tell ya

[@sulasaurus]

wasnt the triple entente(russia baguettes and tea-land) signed in 1904? edit:nvm that was 1907

[@nicolas314]

The MAIN problem of France in 1914 was that France had not had Demographic Transition like the rest of Europe ( and nobody knows why exactly ), so in 1800, France was the second most populated country in the world (30m) after China while England and Prussia never exceeded 15m, even the US and Russia were less populated than France ( 28m for Russia). In 1914, France had only 39m while Germany had 65m, England 45m and Russia more than 140m. If France had had its Demographic Transition, the country would have probably reached more than 80m and Germany would have been overwhelmed in a few month because of the two fronts...

[@warstater15]

Population of Russia in 1800 was 35.5 million. Source for that www.zum.de/whkmla/region/russia/eurrusdemhist17961917.html and www.tacitus.nu/historical-atlas/population/russia.htm For France ranges from 27-30 million. Sources for that are www.euractiv.com/section/social-europe-jobs/news/french-population-to-match-germany-s-by-2055/ en.wikipedia.org/wiki/France_in_the_long_nineteenth_century#Demographics dmorgan.web.wesleyan.edu/materials/population.htm

[@dr.wahnsinn9913]

And you also forgot that Prussian was in 1800 far away from being Germany it was a rural country with low population on it, before it´s get a lot of land and population after Napoleon and after the unification. Around 1800 the population was around 10 milion de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Königreich_Preußen#Bevölkerungszahl_und_Fläche

[@gabrielheraud41]

Wasn't Ottoman Empire more populated than France in 1800? I mean, it was huge, it sure had a larger population

[@nicolas314]

Ottoman Empire was 26m in 1800 while France ( without its empire ) was 30m : en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_population_in_1800

[@gabrielheraud41]

Nicolas CROIZE-POURCELET-GEOFFROY oh ok

[@salviniusaugustus6567]

Poland: "Marie Curie is not French, she's Polish, ethnicity is more important than nationality" France: "What about Chopin?" Poland: "......"

[@searchthewind99]

Chopin's father was French.

[@filipkopec525]

She was Polish living in France. Also, call her using her full name would you? It's Marie Curie Skłodowska

[@Morsificator]

@@filipkopec525 I'm sorry, but in the rainbow of European languages, I don't know any that have harder names to pronounce. I confess I don't know a lot about Lithuanian/Latvian/Estonian names, but other than that, even Hungarian and Finnish names are easier to read - and those languages are in a totally different language family than Indo-European! Really man, don't take it personally, your language is so damn hard to speak properly!

[@filipkopec525]

@@Morsificator" scwodovska" is it that hard or do people just tend to assume it is hard to say?

[@filipkopec525]

@@Morsificator and I know that it is hard to spell or read, but imagine cutting someones last name because it is hard to say

[@CNYahla]

"L’humanité est maudite, si pour faire preuve de courage elle est condamnée à tuer éternellement.[...]Le courage, c’est d’aimer la vie et de regarder la mort d’un regard tranquille ; c’est d’aller à l’idéal et de comprendre le réel ; c’est d’agir et de se donner aux grandes causes sans savoir quelle récompense réserve à notre effort l’univers profond, ni s’il lui réserve une récompense. Le courage, c’est de chercher la vérité et de la dire ; c’est de ne pas subir la loi du mensonge triomphant qui passe, et de ne pas faire écho, de notre âme, de notre bouche et de nos mains aux applaudissements imbéciles et aux huées fanatiques" Jean Jaurès

[@CNYahla]

“The human race is doomed if courage means it is destined to kill forever.[...]Courage is to love life and looking at death with a tranquil gaze ; It's to aim for the ideal and understanding the real ; It's to act and giving oneself to great cause without knowing how the deep universe will award you, or if there any reward at all. Courage is to seek for truth and reveal it ; it's to be immune to the great triumphant lie passing by and to not let our soul, our mouths and our hands echoing ignorant applause or fanatical jeers"

[@corsehaigazia]

"c’est de ne pas subir la loi du mensonge triomphant qui passe, et de ne pas faire écho, de notre âme, de notre bouche et de nos mains aux applaudissements imbéciles et aux huées fanatiques" ça représente bien ce que Jean Jaurès est un utopique applaudit par des imbéciles et des fanatiques.

[@markomihajlovic7091]

Made a trip to Lille for the NY and that's how I found out about Jean Jaures, just in time to really feel and understand this beautiful quote. First I made stops daily at Jean Jaures metro stop, then I learned about the picture of Jean Jaures in famous song - Les Corons - and finally this. Surely a voice that should have reached, many, many more before being shut out.

[@matshagglund3550]

GDP of nations in 1913: 1) USA 96,030 2) Germany 24,280 3) Britain 20,870 4) Russia 20,260 5) France 11, 810 6) Austria-Hungary 9,500 7) Italy 9,140 8) Japan 4,550 9) Spain 3,975 10) Canada 3,548

[@mitchjervis8453]

Would you also cover the other major players before the beginning of WW1, like Great Britain, Germany, Austria-Hungary or Serbia? Also, a Montenegro special would be great, since it's participation in WW1 is mostly overlooked.

[@warmasterbarron3046]

18 in coms and very interesting history of France

[@ciggy_]

Great video but I hoped there would be a mention of the Paris commune since hardly anyone knows about it, and it highlights the prevalence of socialism in Europe at the time

[@cv4809]

Douglas Lindström Irrelevant.

[@thedripkingofangmar6778]

Prevalence in large industrial cities or industrial powers, but hardly in rural areas or developing countries

[@chengyuzhang3397]

Hey Indy, Could you please do an episode about China as well? China also participated in the Great War in the Ally's side and provided overall 200,000 labours in both west and east front. The sacrifice of them should not be forgotten as well.

[@dhruv88mm]

Have you guys done anything on the Dreyfus Affair and its effect (if any) on France before and during the war?

[@Krypto-pz7el]

There is an out of the trenches episode where he explains about the affair. Although you may have seen it already.

[@PalleRasmussen]

@@Krypto-pz7el I recommend John Merriman's lecture on the affair.

[@wordsmithgmxch]

Great episode, Indy! Many thanks to you and your researcher, whose name I didn't catch, for crunching all that information into a very dense -- yet comprehensible -- nine minutes. What are the chances of a special on Jaurès? He was a truly great man, and one about whom far too little is heard today.

[@hamhobo123412]

Can we get one on Great Britain and Germany?

[@54macdog]

Another excellent episode. Barbara Tuchmann is my go to historian for this era.

[@wrightmf]

back to watch more episodes, an interesting summary of France before WW1. I also watched U-boats, Pershing, Rasputin, Lenin & Trotsky. Huge data load for my brain, I didn’t get it all the first viewing but it has given me better insight of the Great War and surrounding events. Excellent work by all on your team.

[@andreborges73]

brilliant brilliant video ! Loved IT !

[@oliversherman2414]

I love your channel keep up the great stuff

[@MrIllMatticc]

At 6:18 the captions inaccurately say that DeClassè created an “alliance between France and Germany” rather than “an alliance between France and Great Britain”. Please revise so that Deaf and HoH subscribers don’t receive wrong information. Thank you

[@joed3325]

2:05 a pedantic point here, foreign investment doesn't count in GDP. So it doesn't 'make up' 75% of GDP, but 'is worth' 75%.

[@TheGreatWar]

very pedantic

[@gromit8023]

wonder if they'll make this into a DVD when they're done . we all know how fickle youtube is

[@gromit8023]

for ease of rewatching. it would be a shame to find episode unavailable over time :)

[@fuzzyhair321]

Just set up their own website, easier than a dvd. I personally haven't bought a DVD in years

[@thefrenchkiwi9435]

A big thanks Indy. As a French man I appreciate this video. Not many people know about this part of are history. I would highly suggest to anyone reading this to go do some research on the Dryfus affair, Emile Zola and Jean Jores. Things that have marked our for beater or for the worst.

[@Sachskar]

Why are your videos so amazingggg...... just answer me give like some combination you use to make this channel fantastic...

[@brokenbridge6316]

This was a very interesting n informative episode. How nice. I like this series.

[@ruicesar2382]

Can you make an episode about the La lys battle please, thank you!!

[@ruicesar2382]

Indiana Neidell Thank you for the answer, keep up the great work, greetings from Portugal 🇵🇹! Oh and by the way a Portuguese soldier( Aníbal Milhais) a.k.a Soldado Milhões ( soldier millions) killed with his Lewis gun hundreds of german soldiers and helped the British and other troops to fall back in safety!

[@Tadicuslegion78]

Even though it's a super dense and long book, I must recommend Dreadnought by Robert Massie as one of the best histories about the events in Britain and Germany that led up to the First World War in regards to the geopolitical rivalry and the battleship arms race.

[@schoolssection]

Agree....an excellent history, although not everyone today accepts Massie's account of the role of Edward VII.

[@glennpettersson9002]

The voice of sanity in an insane time silenced. Thank goodness in these enlightened times we can't be dragged into a long bloody war by a desiccated coconut with a blood lust!

[@Titus921]

can you make one for every belligerent involve mainly Britain, Germany, US, and Russia. I love how the world was a different place before the war came and changed everything.

[@emperorspock3506]

8:12 Villain was acquitted on the grounds of his surname. 'They should have seen this coming', the judge said.

[@maxdurk4624]

6:46: Wow, a war between France and Germany? That sure would be terrible!

[@fbulsara24]

Thanks a lot to you, The Great War team, for making me a tiny piece of your immense adventure. I am delighted as to how the research helped the episode. I look forward to the next one(s?)

[@undergroundman6602]

wonderfully interesting video !

[@AFT_05G]

%94?OMG!So Germany was at the time was a dominant arms trader like US today.

[@STRlibertari]

You could talk about Germany pre-war situation

[@Sandouras]

Please do a similar video about Germany before the war. The society, the nobels, industry, etc.

[@erichvonmanstein1952]

World’s most nobel prize won country,World’s second largest domestic GDP and industry after the US and a country with most socialists in Europe.İnformations according to Wikipedia-German Empire.

[@FerMart115]

Hi Indy and team! Great work you doing here, lads. Just wondering, will wel see a week by week series about WW2 when the time arrives? Really love the show, keep up this awesome work.

[@seblikesrasta]

Just so you know for next time, the Exposition Universelle is called The World’s Fair in English. Love the channel!

[@samvolkers8093]

Does anyone have to source for the 94% number at 4:05? Not that I don't believe it, but I just want to read more about it.

[@jackfontana9319]

Indy didn't mention the failure of the Panama Canal Company in the early 1890's. Many poorer French put their life savings in the companies stock only to see it fail. This brought a great trial(s) which brought world attention to France in a not so favorable light.

[@ethanrepublic]

2:29 5:48 I LOVE these type of paintings do they have a certain name?

[@Cleisthenes607]

Après moi, le déluge. This was the peak of European power and prestige. It was like the golden age of Athens and the Greek city states only to destroy each other in a new Peloponnesian war and to become provinces of a new energetic republic from across the sea.

[@gideonhorwitz9434]

Source of pride that they had a regime that lasted more than a decade.

[@jackgalati1950]

I have to write an essay on this very topic tomorrow it's convenient that this episode came out today

[@knave91]

The "Collapse of the Third Republic" by William L Shirer is an excellent book on this subject.

[@wyllybona]

Picasso is spanish my friend

[@tetrahedronal2829]

Germans: wear non special colours to blend in France: *_Im blue da ba dee dabba da ba dee_*

[@KonradvonHotzendorf]

😂

[@threeone6012]

Thanks so much for your amazing channel!

[@mikestand5163]

it may not matter to ya, but because the show's name that is shown in the beginning is so much louder volume than the rest of your video i've started automatically skipping the first 35-45 seconds of every video, i wish you could adjust that so i dont have to skip forward, but oh well, thought i would try.

[@noobiedooby26]

Awesome thank you so much!!

[@xouxoful]

Great job 👍. Just one remark: I think you’re referring to the garance red trousers in 1914 rather than the horizon blue (as it was only adopted later -1915-).

[@schoolssection]

I think you are correct...who was it that proclaimed (in translation) 'the red trousers are France'?

[@nateniezgoda1964]

I’d love a series that covers first person accounts of the war. Describes the individual, where he was, what he did, and ultimately his fate.

[@kevinbyrne4538]

Great archive film clips !

[@TheExpatpom]

Hi guys. Only recently discovered The Great War Channel and playing catch up. My history O Level course at school went up to 1918 so it's bits of "oh yeah, I remember reading about that" with a lot of new stuff that I think probably wasn't in my textbooks 30ish years ago. Will you be returning to the art/artists of WW1 theme and if so any chance of covering the work of the Australian artist Will Longstaff, perhaps as part of the Who Did What In WW1 series? Menin Gate At Midnight moved me when I saw it at the Canberra War Memorial and I think at least one of his other 'WW1 ghosts' paintings was there at the time. I know he made the paintings some years after the war but I don't know much about Longstaff's service in the war itself beyond that he was at Gallipoli and later France. I'd be fascinated to see what Great War Channel could find out about him.

[@joechang8696]

there is a book on pre-war france. The government was not entirely stable in that the President/Prime Minister(?) could get very little accomplished as the opposition would do everything possible to sabotage the ruling party (more so than in the US today).

[@Ed-pn9id]

Another great job. Very interesting

[@qsywastooshort7451]

4:12 That's not the horizon blue uniform, that's the steel blue uniform. I'm sure it was just a lapsus but for those who don't know steel blue was the color used by the French army for all line infantry uniforms since before the Franco-Prussian war and until new trials were held in 1913. During the war it was replaced by the horizon blue, which was deemed a sufficiently patriotic replacement, also we totally didn't adopt it because we didn't manage to create a nice khaki die. Whatever the colonial troops can have this one.

[@Jarod-vg9wq]

I know the wars over but PLEASE talk about Germany before ww1

[@Ralphieboy]

My grandparents were all born in the Austro-Hungarian empire and I am glad that they all emigrated before the start of the First World War.

[@alphaxalex1634]

Last time I was this early the main news in the world was Cleopatra’s affair with Caesar

[@Marinealver]

AlphaxAlex Cesar: "Vidi (dat @$$), Vini (dat @$$), Vici (dat @$$)." A few years later "E'tu Tony?"

[@NeoIvan17]

Thank you for this video. Hoping for these kinds of videos for Germany and Britain.

[@silvioevan11]

"A grand word, a great word to set down when, after four nerve-racking years lived through in the anguished expectation of the worst, suddenly a voice is heard crying: 'It is finished.' The Armistice is the interval between the fall and the rise of the curtain. Hail to it and welcome." (Georges Clemenceau) Vive Clemenceau and vive la France.

[@janos_sziklay67]

Just sayin’, there is a mistake in the captions around 6:20, where Indy says alliance between France and Great Britain in 1904. In the captions there is France and Germany. Thank you.

[@kstreet7438]

So much peace smashed into a wall crazy.

[@therearenoshortcuts9868]

1980-2008 was our Belle Époque

[@jeroldproductions6367]

I found out recently that during the Franco-Prussian war France was an empire and had a second napoleon. Very fascinating. Then the French do what they tend to do dispose monarchs.

[@jacques8221]

Jerold Productions. Napoleon the third. The nephew of the First. He was also the first president France ever had.

[@philibertlehardi8054]

First President and last Monarch, how poetic.

[@Marinealver]

If they did it right the first time they wouldn't have any "second one".

[@syedferoz2188]

@@jacques8221napoleon the second was napoleons son with marie daughter of emperor of austria he died 14 years after napoleon bonapartes death napoleon the third though seeming incompetent brought abt most of frances development from redesigning cities to discovering aluminium and building railways the prussians had much larger investment before britain joined france and hence they beat him to it he even led his own troops like his uncle but was captured near alsace

[@andreborges73]

I would love to see the Germany and Ingland version of this video.Just to see who was more pepared for the war. Italy and Turky you can do it if have time, I know too little about these two countries during XIX and early XX century.

[@WetaMantis]

4:10 It seems you have mixed the horizon blue uniform from the end of the war with the red and blue uniform from the beginning.

[@malofremont7796]

WHY THERE IS NEVER FRENCH SUBTITLES ? ITS A VIDÉO WITH FRANCE AND THERE SPANISH SUBTITLES ?!?!?!?!

[@Jarod-vg9wq]

Talk about Germany before ww1 please!

[@Nintendofan570]

What was the likelyhood of a French soldier surviving from 1914 to 1918

[@GruntTV1776]

1 out of 10 i just made this up

[@iamaheretic7829]

1 in 100000

[@clementcharpentier9058]

Pixels From my data 100% made it back. After I only know about my grandfather and the fact that I exist may be a bias

[@Sourouy]

It would vary according to the unit, specialty, part of the front, etc. But to give an idea here's an example with the last two pre-war classes of Saint-Cyr officer academy: - 98th class (1913-1914): Made of 536 students, of which 291 died during WW1. - 99th class (1914): Made of 765~781 students, of which 406 died during WW1.

[@absoluteinfinity1197]

I think above 75% actually. however for about 50% chance you were atleast injured at some point. And then if you're not even injured you are definitely touched by the loss of your family and friends.

[@ethanrepublic]

8:05 yes

[@GERBERTH-r8y]

Is it me or did they wear there greatcoats always in all seasons???🤔🤔🤔

[@rapgabraham5288]

very interesting thank you to be honest you have given me a better opinion of the French

[@LukeVilent]

1:25 - the shot is not from France, it's Palace of Facets in Moscow Kremlin.

[@davididiart5934]

3:23 Just add more chickens and a few mountains and that'd be my family back then up in the Basque Pyrenees.

[@davididiart5934]

Lagging behind your sworn enemy in industrial capacity when an inevitable war is somewhere on the horizon would seem to indicate a failing of some variety.

[@ismireghal68]

6:19 he says great britain but the subtitles say germany. Nice video.Could you do a video on how the war changed art and literature?

[@MrTimebomb12]

And Indy has explained what my AP Euro class took a month to explain.

[@ultanmurtagh8439]

I was wondering during 1915 with the 100th anniversary of the battle of Waterloo was there any tension between the Brits and French and were there any celebrations or remembrance going on , or were the nation's of Europe to busty blowing each up to think about it . Thanks and love the show .

[@peletsoivre9110]

It's funny that you mentionned that because I just read some article wich says that for the hundred anniversary of Trafalgar, the royal family and officials didn't expressed publicly celebrations by fear of annoying the french, wich Rouvier(french minister of exterior) said that France did celebrate Fontenoy loudly anyway.

[@thomascazalis5780]

To adding to the non-French viewers, Villain, the surname of Raoul Villain, can be translated in English just as "Bad guy", ironic isn't it ?

[@buster117]

MORE of these episodes plz

[@Marinealver]

"Are We Going To Start a World War?" "BANG!"