History Summarized: French Empire (Ft. Armchair Historian!)

Check out the Armchair Historian channel for more on French Vietnam and the battle of Dien Bien Phu: • The Battle of Dien Bie...
Dubious morality, drawn out timescales, intricate royal politics, worldwide stages - Colonialism be like that sometimes. And by "Like That" I mean impenetrably complicated. I did my best, I'll say that, but oh man is history a mess in the 15-1900s. This stuff is the reason I had so much trouble with history for so long. It's just so DENSE.
ANYWAY, join Blue and Griffin the Armchair Historian for a look into the history of the multiple successive French Empires. Listen carefully as Blue makes imperceptibly subtle commentary about his extremely non-biased opinions on this chapter in history, and laugh together as we analyze the historical significance of Napoleon Bonaparte's anime hair.
NOTE on 6:14 - I say Napoleon became Emperor in 1802. That's a mistake. In 1802, the constitution of France was amended to make the position of Consul permanent, but Napoleon did not become the Emperor until 1804, when he declared the French Empire. That's my bad.
NOTE on 11:25 - French Guiana, on the northeast coast of South America, remained part of France following the decolonization of Africa. That's a mapping mix-up.
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[@TheArmchairHistorian]

Hey OSP, it was great working with you! Great job on those maps too.

[@sosobo2991]

Hi

[@isnitjustkit]

Player Of Nothing Comic hi

[@gregorywalter2540]

I agree, the Age of Vanity sounds much more interesting, and accurate.

[@napoleonbonaparteempereurd4676]

Without Napoleon, France would have been overrun and the disastereos Monarchy would have been restored. France under Napoleon was stronger then it was under the Bourbons after his demise

[@gandalfthegrey2592]

white guilt is killing europe. Stop this dumb liberal sh*t. The Colonial Powers were fine. They treated their local populations very well. All of this forced labor is a lie, all this sh*t never happened. Its just meant to insult the white men

[@pridelander06]

"I nearly flopped AP European History back in High School" Top Ten Anime Plot Twists

[@BonaparteBardithion]

Not so much. It was neither Roman nor (for the most part) domed.

[@me0101001000]

I mean, same. European history was a goddamn nightmare.

[@yudhiadhyatmikosiswono9082]

Agree. Without NAZI occupying France, those colonies never aspire to go independent from France.

[@miylacrystal9938]

Guys we’re missing the biggest reason... it’s the American education system, as someone who is currently living in it it’s a failure it’s been a failure since public education finally became a thing in the US (be it because of teachers not having the resources to educate or common core being a failure depends on the time You’re researching)

[@EC100_]

Plot twist, eh?

[@MrRemicas]

"Why is the emperor of France a shonen protagonist?!" Not surprising there's a manga about Napoleon and none about George III.

[@yaumelepire6310]

I mean, the only interesting things about George III were that he lost America and his mind. You can't really make a shonen from that...

[@wanderingrandomer]

Never fear, the rules are here

[@yaumelepire6310]

@@wanderingrandomer Yeah, definitely! But that's a pretty dry shonen right there... XD

[@jasonblalock4429]

@@yaumelepire6310 Sure you can. We'll call it Geo Geo's Bizarre Adventure!

[@MrSafior]

Because anglo-saxons protagonist are boring compare to French ones.

[@kaiad6786]

When he says 7 wars, he means over this. If you've never gotten too much into history, France and England have the passion of Romeo and Juliet, but in terms of absolute loathing.

[@slynthehedgehog8061]

France bankrupted itself to help the creation of the U.S.A JUST to mess with England. And England made themself the best military power on the sea JUST because France was the best on land. Calling us the Romeo and Juliet of absolute loathing is at worst an euphemism.

[@kaiad6786]

@@slynthehedgehog8061 Hehehe

[@lilz_relixx5913]

complete with the killing their own empires at the end

[@starryeyes1190]

Loathing~🎵! Unadulterated loathing~🎵!

[@CapitalCLYDE]

I wrote one paper on an aspect of English-French relations and my notes basically said “frenemies” over and over again

[@christopherg2347]

4:45 "The incenstous, literal clusterfuck that is the Habsburgs." Yes. That is what they do.

[@camramaster]

Almost literally.

[@napoleonbonaparteempereurd4676]

And I married one of them...

[@pizzacart4805]

By god

[@freeturnity1]

When your family tree looks like a ladder

[@floot1919]

Napoleon, 1799: no more kings, France shall be a free nation where all are equal. Napoleon, 1804: *crowns self emperor of Europe*

[@josephchristopherdeboulogn2365]

So what?France was a free nation and after 1804 and most of the French were equal.

[@camilledasse4331]

Well, the guy had a weird obsession for Caesar, so I guess we could have seen it coming...

[@josephchristopherdeboulogn2365]

@@camilledasse4331 yup

[@jackyoh971]

@@josephchristopherdeboulogn2365 free? As he put slavery again in the Caribbean...

[@josephchristopherdeboulogn2365]

@@jackyoh971 What do you mean saying that he put slavery again in the Caribbean?His predecessors used slavery as a boost for the french economy.I can see that you forgot about the Spanish and the English which also used slaves back then.The french had only Haiti and some islands,not all of the Caribbean.Also I didn't say anything about free slaves.I said free NATION.Why everyone don't understand my comments?The things that I am talking about are very simple. To conclude with,your comment is a big mistake.

[@nadiavazquez2846]

2:13 You can hear his soul leaving his body in horror

[@BetterThanYouXuD]

he sounded like mario

[@joannassienkiewicz1997]

Does he have asthma? 'Cause damn, that wheezing...

[@gandalfthegrey2592]

white guilt is killing europe. Stop this dumb liberal sh*t. The Colonial Powers were fine. They treated their local populations very well

[@paulwagner688]

Bullshit.

[@lexicus1275]

@@gandalfthegrey2592 Two words for you : Belgian Congo.

[@Matt-cz6ti]

11:25 Blue, I’d like to offer a correction here. Your map shows France decolonising French Guyana, but that is still a French territory to this day

[@MiadasSchaf]

Also while the African colonies managed to get independence, they are still owned by French companies who have taken over the colonial project with the military support of France. So it wasn't real decolonization but instead a change of tactic and privatization of the entire thing much like the early days of Indian colonization where it was private companies doing it.

[@Diego-zz1df]

@@MiadasSchaf That's because the african colonies didn't "get" independence, France anticipated the breakup of its african holdings and rather than let it happen or stubbornly resist like its european neighbors, it negotiated a formal independence that allowed France to maintain control through several neocolonialist mechanisms: - It created a monetary union between all the new african states and France through the CFA, a single currency controlled by the french central bank and tied to whatever currency France uses for itself (previously the french franc, now the euro) - It signed a series of unequal free trade agreements that gave french corporations full access to african resources with no local oversight, no labor or business regulations and almost no taxation - It signed a series of defense cooperation agreements that allowed France to maintain its military presence in the region and granted it the right to intervene in the defense of its "allies" (see the recent french military operations in Mali) The incomparable benefit for France is that they keep all of their economic and military interests intact while outsourcing all of the costs of maintaining their empire to the new local elites, all of them heavily dependent on french economic and military aid to maintain their power. France can act as king maker, choosing which factions to support whenever social conflicts erupt.

[@soundwavegamer2321]

@@Diego-zz1df and people wonder why I consider France the enemy of the world. Well it’s that and their brutal revenge on Germany after the Great War.

[@tvre0]

@@Diego-zz1df As a popular author once said, "Sometimes I think France forgets it's no longer an 18th century world power."

[@themarvelousemafia4457]

@@Diego-zz1df As horrible as this sounds, you got to admit it is kind of genius!

[@buckyrogers7019]

It's funny being both French and English and hearing both sides of French history, specifically around Napoleon since in France he is basically a hero and in England he is a short comedic villain… Just an interesting observation :D

[@metarcee2483]

As an American, he's the political backdrop for two of my favorite French novels, Les Mis and The Count of Monte Cristo.

[@CollinBuckman]

"Age of Vanity" sound like an era in some fantasy setting where the once great and mighty empire slowly descended into decadence and greed before collapsing or being taken over by a super evil emperor or something.

[@radiantred4158]

This is a very interesting setting to write for!

[@shoobydoobydoooo]

Eldars - not even once!

[@TheFiresloth]

Damn Numenoreans.

[@novameowww]

Oddly specific yet accurate. I'm going to steal that.

[@lucarse5051]

Rule Britannia!

[@dehavillandvampire2190]

Blue: Don’t do colonialism! Venice: *hides Adriatic/Aegean colonies*

[@shaderunner8220]

"Why is the emperor of france a shounen protagonist" That was honestly my thought about nepoleon (and alexander) when i first read about them in my high school history books. "People this badass actually exist? holy shit...."

[@LEGOMANIAC419]

"Why is the Emperor of France a *shounen protagonist?!"* I mean, you're not wrong.

[@Imperiused]

The real question is: Why don't we have a shounen anime based on Napoleon yet?

[@danghostman2814]

The twist finale arc where the shounen protagonist makes the huge comeback from behind, sweeping up in an incredible move toward victory bringing back all the glory that you remember from the start when he just began this whole adventure... And then loses. Permanently.

[@Prich319]

@@danghostman2814 Napoleon's Bizarre Adventure.

[@Remi_Lin]

Imperiused (distant manga artist cackling)

[@curemilkythecurebeanouwu9527]

@@Remi_Lin interesting... need a hand for the manga ?

[@Petrico94]

Is Charlemagne worth a video? Imperial France is interesting but I'd also like to hear about the early franks

[@neilsulit7465]

Blue gets the historic version while Red gets the myth and legend version with his paladins.

[@anonymousfellow8879]

Hee. And they constantly interrupt eachother to tell both versions in a way that’s wonderfully chaotic and sarcastic while still somehow making complete coherent sense

[@yaumelepire6310]

You mean the Late Franks, since it wasn't that long after Charlemagne that the Franks became way more French than Frankish.

[@Edmonton-of2ec]

*Imperial

[@phantasosxgames8488]

@@neilsulit7465 it would be great.

[@bizzaroid2021]

11:23 there is an error, French guyana is still a french territory, it even has the status of an official french region so it should not disappeared in the decolonization montage.

[@Obi-Wan_Kenobi]

-Hello There- Wait a second, that won't do. This video as about France... *Bonjour There!*

[@Cancoillotteman]

"Salut par ici !" ;)

[@discmanthecdlord]

*MONSIEUR KENOBI*

[@Cancoillotteman]

@@discmanthecdlord Vous êtes un téméraire !

[@montea_816]

Zacharie Guillerey m e r c i I don’t know French that’s like the only world I know

[@Cancoillotteman]

@@montea_816 well then you maybe should know "s'il vous plaît" as well, since it means "please" X)

[@DanteTheDemon7]

You now, when I woke up this morning I never expected or wanted to hear the words “Why is the Emperor of France a shonen protagonist?” but I’m glad I did.

[@myri_the_weirdo]

Me too

[@nirtrous4465]

11:22 France never abandoned French Guyana it is still part of france

[@waylandwarner7727]

there are several things wrong with this episode, such as all of French Equatorial Africa except Gabon supported the Resistance and fought the Nazis in Africa. Also, France today still has control over not just French Guiana but also Wallis and Fortuna, French Polynesia, the Clipperton Islands, New Caledonia, Reunion and several other islands all around the world.

[@johnaustin5677]

You need to take his content with a grain of salt, it borders on misinformation wrapped in witty quips. And clearly he has left wing political leanings, but as a summary I enjoy his content from a macro view prospective.

[@waylandwarner7727]

@@johnaustin5677 The problem is, I think he needs to read more history from books, show bibliography and also look at history through the eyes of the people at the time, not just the ones who suffered or Greece or Rome. Also he shouldn't label himself a historian, he's a history enthusiast like me, he just doesn't realise it.

[@t.b.cont.]

“I don’t want to get into the moral implications of colonialism”

[@tjcaranese5533]

proccedes too get into the moral implications of colonialism

[@felixluevano7895]

You forgot to mention the Second Mexican Empire, which was a French client State. Part of the strategy of Napoleon III to make a United Latin world under French leadership, with Mexico and Brazil as the other States. So yes it doesn't really count as colonialism, it does as imperialism. There's a very clear difference between the two terms. Still love your videos, both of you and red.

[@lapisleafuli1817]

11:24 French Guyana dissapeared? Blue.....I am disappointed in you and your lack of knowlage about the most forgotten part of modern france.

[@strider04]

Right I saw that and I was like what the heck, blue they never left

[@camilledasse4331]

I think that the reason it disappeared of the map is because it is no longer considered as a colony. It is now a “département”, which could be roughly translated as a “county” But a lot of them want to leave. When the government asked them if they wanted to leave in November last year, 43.3% said yes, so I guess they’ll end up leaving eventually

[@jackyoh971]

@transylvanian actually guyana people have the same legal right than European French it not the case with Puerto Rico only Hawaii can compare.

[@sarahk.8473]

@transylvanian While I do see where you're coming from, I'd like to point out for clarity's sake that the interests of native peoples play second fiddle to those of the white population on the US mainland too. It's definitely not isolated to Hawaii.

[@seneca983]

@@camilledasse4331: "I think that the reason it disappeared of the map is because it is no longer considered as a colony. It is now a “département”, which could be roughly translated as a “county”" But doesn't that make it even more of a part of France (at least until they possibly leave) since it's at least in theory as much France as any département in metropolitan France?

[@dustymiller8752]

So.... The Vietnamese learned from Napoleon when the French didn't. "God is on the side with the best artillery." I doubt I said that right.

[@unepintade]

I mean 1945 france didn't have a strong military

[@nathanielleack4842]

@@unepintade 1945 France as it often did throughout history had the best people. Citizens willing die not just for their victory but to defend the very concepts of France and French culture. The whole meme of them being surrendering cowards is bs anyway. Their governments have often been filled with cowards. But not their citizenry

[@unepintade]

@@nathanielleack4842 I was talking about their military not the country in itself, because of the occupation between 1941 and 1944, france didn't have enough time to retrain an entire army able to defend metropolitan france aswell as its colonies

[@eastlaosempire999]

@@unepintade fact : U.S has give a lot of money ... or i mean ( super huge money ) for france to this war with vietnam . The money that Vietnam was sponsored by China is just like a drop of water, while the money that U.S gave to france was like a waterfall ( some general of france said that when Dien Bien Phu battle end ) .

[@eastlaosempire999]

@@unepintade yes france is very weak after ww2 but they still a no5 or 6 global super power + money U.S give to france to buy weapon , belive me , in that time they still so strong with nomal country except vietnam ( a undefeated country )

[@hatemtatanaki4264]

The age of mythology music

[@sinvector8020]

Yo, Blue finally talked about Vietnam, my home country! I'd love for you to delve deep into Vietnamese history one of those days, it's really cool :D

[@theyoungottoman3533]

"I want Liberty and Equality to reign in Saint Domingue...I hoped out of the fire of slavery, our French brothers would see us as full men, but the veil of empire is a heavy one." - - Toussaint Louverture, general of the Haitian revolutionaries

[@alexandrub8786]

Isn't he the guy who leac the revolt who killed french men,woman and children of that island or it was an another one?

[@aliragehbarreh6178]

that's Dessalines. he lead the second stage of the revolution after Napoleon betrayed Toussaint.

[@christelheadington1136]

Just about the only place French slavery is generally mentioned.

[@adamcurtis8754]

@@christelheadington1136 Well, there were plenty of slaves in Louisiana and the other Caribbean colonies too, though Saint Domingue was France's chief consumer (even in a horrific literal sense) of slaves

[@biliminsrlar5752]

Aren't you the ~15 year old Sultan killed by Janissaries?

[@emeraldashborers4261]

The difference between the French Empire and the Spanish Empire: One fades into irrelevancy right after Napoleon, but still remains stable. The other begins fading into irrelevancy almost immediately and ultimately kills itself as an effect of starting its own golden age.

[@jackyoh971]

@@louisadaway1716 +1 the rest of the French empire make it th second largest country on sea.

[@grimaldus1523]

Spain remained a superpower for 200 years, and a Great power for 100 more.

[@grimaldus1523]

@Rick K Spanish Empire started in 1492 and ended in 1898. It was a superpower since 1515 and stopped beinga superpower in 1714 and and still lasted a great power until 1825.

[@RupinderKaur-sh3cv]

Luis Padilla Napoleon called it a backwards nation

[@grimaldus1523]

@@RupinderKaur-sh3cv Napoleon got his ass kicked in that backwards nation.

[@steeltitan6691]

"The only person who could defeat Napoleon was Napoleon" Wellington and von Blücher: Are we a joke to you?

[@lecoureurdesbois86]

Yes

[@nono-kr7um]

He didn't lead at the battle of Waterloo, he was way too sick

[@ct3686]

@Michael Terrell II Napoleon defeated himself at waterloo because he wasnt as bold and agressive as he was 10 years ago. If he had deployed the old guard much earlier and told Ney to hold the cavalry he couldve won. But he took too much time and the prussians arrived

[@captainsalif4752]

Ottomans you forgot

[@unemusiqueunjour]

@@captainsalif4752 The Ottomans only won 2 battles against Napoleon (they didn't do a think it was essentially the Brits). Napoleon won more than 20 battles against them (and the mameluks) even if ultimately the campaign of Egypt failed.

[@davididiart5934]

7:37 "One Napoleon was already way too many" You say that like a damn Brit. Perfidious Albion!

[@michaelscott6022]

Before Empire: "Master of the House." After Empire: "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables."

[@dustymiller8752]

Les' Miserables reference?

[@michaelscott6022]

@@dustymiller8752 Seems to fit, all things considered.

[@dustymiller8752]

@@michaelscott6022 just wanted to check. Been a bit since I've watched that one. 👍 thanks

[@devreed5931]

Michael Scott niiiice

[@seneca983]

I thought it was a reference to the Empty Chair Crisis: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hallstein_Commission#Empty_chair_crisis

[@poweroffriendship2.0]

_You're mother is a hamster and your father smelt like elderberries..._ *~ French Guard (Monty Python and the Holy Grail)*

[@dylanchouinard6141]

“Fetchez la vache”

[@Cancoillotteman]

@@dylanchouinard6141 quoi ? Fetchez la vache !

[@dylanchouinard6141]

Zacharie Guillerey “I have been more than reasonable, and-“ *MRROOOOW* “JESUS CHRIST!”

[@Cancoillotteman]

@@dylanchouinard6141 Run away ! Run away !

[@francescoazzoni3445]

I fart in your general direction

[@darkraven5106]

Blue: Don’t Do colonialism, everybody looses. Great Britain: Am I a joke to you?!

[@tjcaranese5533]

true. while a fair few colonies were money sinks because the europeans refused to invest in them. what colonies really offered the Europeans and especially the British too really dominate the modern world was their ability to control global trade. which is why until two world wars happened Britain was the richest country on the planet.

[@juliansenfr]

Also Blue: Speaks English*

[@Punaparta]

Ireland: Yes.

[@darkraven5106]

Nerdytimes Britain: Shut up, you where still under me for nearly 1000 years

[@alexanderjohn1112]

Britain eating natural resources from Africa:*stops chewing and swallows hard* "Y...Yeah, don't do it guys, I got nothin'"

[@my4818]

Blue you did a mistake 11:24 french Guiana in South America is still part of France and is an official department of France. French Guiana is the reason France longest border is with Brasil.

[@IceQueen975]

"Why does Napoleon look like a Shonen protagonist?!" Because God has a sense of humor and knew anime was coming, Blue.

[@aztecaz547]

Mark the date blue just coined the age of vanity

[@lukascielocaminante257]

He coined nothing lol use the terms people use instead of thinking you're an historian who can coin terms like that.

[@justas423]

I love this channel because of how relatable and down to earth this channel is.

[@stereorapier7919]

Me: Oh ne mentioned Napoleon the third, maybe he will talk about the second french intervention. Blue: doesn't mention Mexico once. Me: Le gasp

[@RohenBlackwolf]

Why did you show French Guianan being decolonized? It is still a part of France.

[@stormbringer2840]

Yeah but it's not a colony anymore , people have the same right of the continental french and are members of european union .

[@orestpaja2531]

Also they use euros

[@RohenBlackwolf]

@@stormbringer2840 Sorry maybe I sayed it wrong, I meand that it looked like French Guianan was granted independance.

[@stormbringer2840]

@@RohenBlackwolf Oh ok . Well to be fair they were proposed independence but declined it in favor of being implemented i the territory of France .

[@orpheonkatakrosmortarchoft4332]

@@joelongo450 But French Guyana is the richest of the three Guyanas nowdays. They made the right call.

[@warrenlehmkuhleii8472]

HON HON HON! Here comes ze French.

[@2yoyoyo1Unplugged]

Warren Lehmkuhle Ze women, zey do not le shave!

[@saritabalaji2354]

Hon Hon Hon Je parle main character Je ne parle pas FILTY Casual

[@devinsweeting4978]

@Vernon Roche *knock knock knock* Here's Brittain!

[@Shadow-gc6le]

in the distance : hon hon hon *Oh no*

[@warrenlehmkuhleii8472]

sixstringpsycho Hon Hon Hon. I am American.

[@ogrejd]

FYI, Quebec wasn't the only colony in the northern end of New France - there was also Acadia, consisting of what are now the three Maritime Provinces (Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island), some of eastern Quebec, and the US State of Maine, down to the Kennebec River.

[@respublica4373]

HERE COMES SAINT DOMINGUE! Edit: Ok so apparently nothing about the Haitian Revolution....... sad!

[@samlund8543]

11:24 don’t they still control French Guiana in South America today?

[@Alexandre-sc3no]

Yes

[@TheMyuken]

yes but it is 99% trees anyway

[@Hypernefelos]

The other 1% is Europe's spaceport so... yeah. Kind of important.

[@riri3531]

@@TheMyuken And out president thinks it's an island *sighs*

[@steeltitan6691]

Yes, and a fair number of highly populated islands. All of them are now departments of France.

[@Quonzer]

"The Age of Vanity" I like it, we should make it a thing.

[@falconJB]

Yeah I love "The Age of Vanity" as the new name.

[@nikki607]

Agreed

[@farmerboy916]

Honestly, no. It makes too many presumptions and implications about a historical period, is somehow even more eurocentric than the previous name, and yet also less descriptive. You'll note that historians already have been trying to get away from the older period names that have implied value judgements like "the dark ages" for a while.

[@farmerboy916]

Besides "early modern period" as used does not stretch nearly as far to the present as Blue makes it seem here.

[@vivarino1521]

EGBrandan why not just say, Age of Western Vanity, to lessen the Eurocentric aspects, considering the whole world was under western hegemony at the time, it’s kind of fitting

[@JKG52]

I appreciate all the maps Blue. It's what attracted me to your videos in the first place

[@doodlebug4360]

USA: "hehe yeah, don't do colonialism" (Looks over nervously at Porto Rico and the Philippines)

[@lolloblue9646]

Hawaii, Cuba... the Panama Canal...

[@savyskunk6683]

Latin America and Asia countries

[@invisibleman4827]

And Okinawa.

[@Edmonton-of2ec]

Ever thought about doing Imperial Russia?

[@Cato_of_Georgia]

Napoleon: I will conquer all of Europe Russian Winter : I’m about to end this mans whole career

[@perfectlyfine1675]

It's interesting to spell "Kutuzov's scorched earth tactics" as "Russian winter". I wonder which English dialect is that.

[@christelheadington1136]

The origin of the Napoleon complex.

[@nateskinner97]

France: Swiggity Swooty I'm comin for Djibouti.

[@Naushikaa]

As per usual, great video. As a French, I feel obliged to commend you on your pronunciation, there weren't many French names, but they were all pronounced very well. Keep it up, your videos are awesome (oh, and yeah, we still have french guyana)

[@Edmonton-of2ec]

Bless my Soul, Nap was on a roll Person of the week, in every Polish opinion poll

[@greekmyths8804]

Sleepy herc

[@baydiac]

greek myths *looks at your username* yep, checks out.

[@sanguiniusonvacation1803]

I'm going to use that bit about Napoleon being a Shonen protagonist

[@sanguiniusonvacation1803]

Update , my two French weeb friends gave me a horrifying look of realization .

[@samanthafisher4368]

Small suggestion: I've always been fascinted with royal or important figures (mainly queens) throughout history and I know that your explanations would make learning about them and their accomplishments, for better or worse, really fun. Or heck make another philosophor type music video but with said important/royal figures instead! Have fun with it! Still love your videos no matter what they're about :)

[@Kevin-jb2pv]

I think using literary and cultural type period names for things works well and breaks down the periods better. Using terms like "enlightenment", "early-industrial", "romantic", etc... era names helps break down the periods into smaller and more descriptive chunks than just lumping it all together. Maybe not exactly those terms, but there are several period names that cover various times in the range you're describing that can be used and that also bring to mind different associations that can be helpful in describing that time period.

[@dracone4370]

Speaking of France, there's another French monster that hasn't been discussed on this channel yet, I'm sure Red will get a kick out of this one. Its name is Garguille (pronounced Ghar-Ghoul) and is described as being a giant serpent with the power to DRINK RIVERS DRY. That all said there are a lot of interesting monsters from mythology all over the world that really don't get all that discussed here in the western world, like the Vritra from Vedic and Hindu mythology. From what I've managed to gather on it, the Vritra is a colossal demonic serpentine dragon that is so massive it can wrap around mountains (granted Jourmangondr from Norse mythology is still bigger since he can wrap around the world but he still has nothing on this bad boy) and is described as being so gluttonously hungry that "it seeks to swallow the sky." Now for a little backstory on the thing, according to the lore on it, the Vritra actually is older than our world and contained "all the water in the world within its stomach" but when the world was created one of the Hindu (or Vedic) deities cut open its stomach and spilled all the waters of the world on the earth, then the Vritra ended up in a fight with divine beings and was sealed away somewhere that is supposedly secure for a ludicrously long amount of the fact freaking deities can not just opted to put for into an incredibly long and powerful sleep. Can you imagine if this thing actually managed to wake up and break free? Our entire world is practically one big appetizer because clearly being covered with more stuff than anywhere in the solar system means everything upon our world is barely more than a light snack that will keep it satiated for a hot minute if the cosmos is lucky.

[@victorjacquet2627]

If it is pronounced "Ghar ghoul" the orthograph is probably "Gargouille" because Garguille is pronounced "Ghar Gille" in french.

[@dracone4370]

@@victorjacquet2627 I was unaware of that, every time I've seen it spelled with pronunciation it was as I wrote above

[@VanVelding]

"They simply deprived natives of citizenship rights and forced them into low wage gruntwork." *Sighs deeply in modern American politics*

[@Edmonton-of2ec]

The Mexicans aren't natives!

[@coreytaylor447]

except not matter how you look at it, white people are not native (but obviously have citizenship), the actual natives (what little are left anyway) have citizenship, and immigrants who are legally allowed to enter still have citizenship. and illegal immigrants cant get any good paying jobs because those all need a documented past and background checks (which they cant pass for obvious reason. missing a work visa or citizenship)

[@AnansisLibrary]

AnnoyinglySalty actually most latinx citizens are direct descendants of native Americans So yea.

[@jayasuryangoral-maanyan3901]

@@AnansisLibrary they're not native to any US lands

[@ginkiba3]

​@@Edmonton-of2ec about 1/4 of the USA used to be part of Mexico; the vast majority of Latinos in general have some Amerindian ancestry with a full 20% of Mexicans being fluent in one or two indigenous language alongside Spanish. Mexico is literally named after an indigenous people, the Mexica. They're native.

[@coledouglas1817]

Ayeeeee, amazing vid blue! Now red should do a summary on Tale of Two Cities!

[@WOLF36554]

11:23 your map is wrong. France still holds French Guiana to this day.

[@Taneth]

"No flag, no country, those are the rules that I've just made up."

[@kevinhixson1586]

You should do prussia and it's roots in the Teutonic order as well as the pruss people who lived their before that

[@artski09]

most governments have an army the Prussian army has a government

[@luckiller019]

>bunch of crusaders to lazzy to go to hollyland go instead "baptize" bunch of balts/slavs pagans in north great swamp... sorry Baltic Old Prussia >but only because Hungary kicked them first out of Transylvania >they build some cool castles and are pain in the ass for the Russians and Poles for next two centuries >literally their most famos battles are the one they lost >first German state to convert Protestant >became German meme every time when about to go in war >thx to Hittler, in one war he undone 8 centuries of German colonization of Eastern europe >become 21 centuries meme for "we wuz Dus vult" for right > be part of leftwing bogeyman "we would have reached Rousseau utopia if it weren't for you meddling christians" here done, I just saved twenty minutes

[@michaelpothoven1041]

"I'm not going to opine about how bad Europeans were." *Proceeds to do just that the entire video* Well then...

[@Stryker1297]

Eh. Not like he's wrong.

[@Stryker1297]

@Jesus Christ +1. Lmfao

[@bensaidmahmoud9513]

Like they didn't earn it!!!😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡 Talking from experience.

[@michaelpothoven1041]

@@bensaidmahmoud9513 no bias at all I see ;)

[@anselmareich3549]

Blue: Why is the emperor of France a shonen protagonist?! Napoleon I: Parce que je peux! B) (Because I can)

[@williamleonardreesejr.1992]

I'm shocked that Blue never took the time to mention the time when a Bonaparte ruled the Mexican Empire. Surely that would be considered part of French Imperialism non?

[@camramaster]

I don't think a Bonaparte nipping out for some mexican food counts.

[@JohnnyElRed]

"The Age of Vanity" That... doesn't seem like a very imparcial and objective name.

[@Gstrangeman96]

Maybe passing moral judgement using today's metrics on societies that ended over 200 years ago isn't the right way to do history.

[@tjcaranese5533]

yeah especially as it skimps over a lot of context which while still leaves europe quite shitty no where as bad as we would view it without modern sensibilities

[@totalwartimelapses6359]

@@tjcaranese5533 Disagree, european colonialism was uniquely cruel and no one group of people before (except the mongols) were as brutal and murderous as the colonialists were, we should totally judge Europe in particular for becoming MORE brutal and genocidy than people in general were before colonialism started which nullifies the moral relativity argument...a lot of old conquerers didn't treat the conquered people this badly, some even treated them benevolantly

[@tjcaranese5533]

@@totalwartimelapses6359 i wasn't trying too say they weren't shitty they certainly were bad and you make an excellent point for them being the worst but i also think that may come out of reach the europeans much like the mongols were quite deadly because how wide spread their empires became. also i do think we have to rember one of the biggest killers in their early empires of america was disease now while made worse by their actions them just showing up would of dealt incredible damage. now this isn't trying too excuse their actions. but context makes and breaks most history we also have to not that i would say there were empires just as bad in the way they operated just didn't work on the same scope for variety of reasons. on thing that comes to mind is the arab conquests which were no cherry yes it did lead to a golden age but it was also built on the largest slave network at the time something that was outright illegal in christian Europe. another would be the huns and romans both brutal to extremes with societies driven by slaves and worked off exploiting the natives of a land and stripping them of land too give too their soldiers. hell these are the same civilisations which burnt entire cities to the ground and salted the earth to ensure total destruction. TlDR: my main point is that humans are shitty. certainly amazing but also can be incredibly shitty. the thing that defined the later European empires wasn't particularly the methods but the scale take that away they aren't particularly worse then most empires by human sensibilities. However, the age of imperialism nah you are just straight up right in every way because at that point Europe was too high on their own supply but still comes down to scale they would be considered bad but not the worst without that scale.

[@Peecamarke]

Funny how eager people are to invalidate the shittiness of an empire by saying everyone was that shitty or that someone was bound to do it if it wasn't them, like, what's intent of pointing that out? It's like saying, this person is bad but so was everyone so let's not focus on them or if they didn't do it someone else was BOUND to, so that makes it okay?

[@LichsuhoathinhDrabattle]

Amazing video. Videos of channel helps linking so many little historical anecdotes together and interesting✨😎‼

[@AoiLucine]

One of the only territories in North America that was left to France after the 7 Years War was the small group of islands known as St Pierre et Miquelon, off the south coast of Newfoundland. My dad's side of the family is from there.

[@lordedmundblackadder9321]

"What happens when France wants a whole Empire?" England won't let them, that's what.

[@Alias_Anybody]

Sometimes you just have the urge to jump into a ship and ram your flag into some foreign lands. It's really satisfying!

[@camramaster]

As the Apollo missions proved.

[@komalahayes1535]

😂

[@Shockprowl]

My first OSP video! Lead to you by Armchair Historian. Superb video, thank you (and superb maps! I love maps...). I laughed out loud three times. Now Subscribed.

[@exodud5016]

I really liked the video, but I would still like to nitpick a bit : Louisiana was indeed lost in the 7 years war to Spain, and with Spanish being an ally to Napoléon, they gave it back. On that note, Slavery was officially abolished in France in 1793, the bill was brought and defended by a black MP. Napoléon then used the reason of State to put it back in French American colonies to develop French louisiana. When that failed, louisiana was sold to the US, and Haïti took advantage of British naval domination to revolt and become independant. Treatement of French colonies after that was a mix between neo-colonialism and how Puerto Rico is currently being treated by the US. Jump to the Vietnam War : Independance was granted fairly soon in the conflict, however it was to friendly governements rather than the communists. After that the conflict was being paid for by the US as a War against communism, however France made sure the money went to them instead of the newly formed nations, and since nobody cared about the conflict back home, the government didn't add much budget to the US funds. At that final battle, one of the generals said : "What happened is what happens to every unpregnable fort that never recieve relief, it fell." Whether he said that as an excuse or he was serious, I don't know. Sub-saharan Africa was let go on the condition that the countries kept a part of their treasury as French money, making them closely linked to French economy and interests. Due to the high value of the Euro right now, it is considered that most people in those countries barely ever see a coin of their state's money (Franc CFA) Finally, French Guyana is still part of France, as a departement (that's just an administrative zone) and region (another administrative zone). Thanks again for the video. Please feel free to nitpick me

[@cloverhal2284]

Just for info French Guyana is still part of France (11:28) and a region nonetheless so it has the same status as Normandy or Alsace or any other metropolitan region

[@SporkDeVille]

"Le Grand Oof" fully tickled me

[@DarkFriday1408]

Really nice video! Any chance of doing a video about the Habsburg dynasty? That could also lead to some interesting content and video.

[@bananatv3017]

Great video! As always :) However, why isn´t French Guiana in the last frame? It´s one of the very few colonies of post WWII France that was given substantial (which at that time was obviously still not enough) increase in rights and became a fully fledged departement. Which, concluding my thoughts, it still is today.

[@gussyd1000]

"If a flag isn't waving it's free for enslaving" pretty well summed it up.

[@mrsupremegascon]

Except that Europeans rarely enslaved people and mostly freed them. I mean before European came, slavery was everywhere in Africa and America. Now, not so much.

[@gussyd1000]

@@mrsupremegascon are you serious?

[@mrsupremegascon]

@@gussyd1000 Yeah, what, you think its false ? Wtf. Tell me, how many slaves were in the Aztecs and Inca Empire ? How many slaves in North Africa and West Africa Empires ? How many slaves in South East Asia. All those places were filled with slaves until Europeans came. Of course some Europeans wanted to continue their slavery pratice, but we fought them as well and won. I know that hating Europeans and biasing history is kinda trending right now (like Blue did, "'Age of Vanity", lol). But it doesn't erase the reality of slavery around the world before and after European colonization.

[@gussyd1000]

@@mrsupremegascon my God...you don't know basic history. Please leave.

[@mrsupremegascon]

@@gussyd1000 You do realize you look like a religious guy being introduced to science in the 16th century ? "You wrong, please stop". I encourage you to learn about pre colombian civilization in America, about slaver cities in North Africa, about slaver kingdoms and Empire of West and East Africa, about tribes in Central Africa, about social hierarchy in East Asia. Europeans are guilty of many "sins", but slavery is not one of them.

[@phillipcosentino37]

"Why is the Emperor of France a Shonen protagonist?" I can never unsee that now

[@xxlil_freshxx9183]

Osp you may have gotten my email but I just wanted to say thank you. Thank you for teaching me and helping with my depression. Blue, your like the son wokong (spelt it wrong probably) of history. Red, your sense of comedy and overall common sense has cheered me up. Plus your song covers a amazing. Thank you

[@erinshetler3688]

Ok imma be honest, I normally watch the history vids on Ancient Civ. bc idk I think It’s just more interesting. HOWEVER I loved this one, which I wasn’t expecting! Great job Blue!

[@erinshetler3688]

I’m now learning about it in school, video is still great, school sucks

[@MonsierBlack]

Should've mention the Berlin Confrence, when you we're explaining the french expanding into africa in the 1800's.

[@KarelPletsStriker]

Quick correction at 11:22 French Guyana is still a part of France but is now a department (basically like a US state) of France

[@nibiruan7]

Well you got me with the soundtrack alone. Well played son, well played.

[@gamagos_1459]

I used your video for my school presentation it was very helpful

[@pavelmarinov8361]

Pls do history of bulgaria next! Love your videos btw

[@youtubeuniversity3638]

"Age of Vanity" needs made official, by force if required.

[@cristianvillanueva8782]

They shall learn our peaceful ways, by force.

[@samrevlej9331]

6:13 Napoleon proclaimed himself Emperor in 1804. He made himself First Consul for life in 1802, which was a precursor, but officially, France was still a republic (granted, this was a façade for a dictatorship, but still, dates are important).

[@ashleyhansen4479]

No one: Absolutely no one: Napoleon in this video: "Don't mess with me! I have the power of God and anime on my side! AHH!!"

[@shanetaylor5403]

"Hubris is like a beartrap tenderly placed in the seat of a chair. It likes to bite people in the ass." Ah, yes, my new favorite way of saying that

[@beambea7355]

In Québec, even tho we didn't like England trying to assimilate us, if we were still under France, we would be a 3rd world country. France had a bad habit to NOT develop their colonises beyond the strict minimum to extract ressurces.

[@popkhorne5372]

Il faut bien l'admettre. En dehors du nord de l'algerie.

[@snipergod5216]

Wtf? And you think England developed its colonies? Look at how they deindustrialized India or addicted China w Opium

[@azenxhlaalu6338]

r/badhistory

[@robertevbayekha6639]

True

[@unbonfrancophone1539]

En tant que québécois d'origine française je sais pas comment réagir

[@timushpetru1112]

Ahhhhh AC 3 music while listening to colonizing, why is it so relaxing?

[@carncats07]

The best part about visiting countries that were formally French colonies is the food. The food has it's local flavour with a French twist. Especially in Africa where I found the cuisine in former French colonies far superior to former British ones.

[@tonyhawk94]

Yup, in Vietnam it created the Banh mi which is a baguette sandwich filled with typical vietnamese veggies and sauce. :)

[@AverytheCubanAmerican]

Armchair Historian and Overly Sarcastic Productions?! This is the ultimate baguette

[@mobiushelldoctor1423]

as a French this video was an illarious ride, love seeing my country as a guy with a sword and anger issue

[@DepressedSkorpion]

I will always love the Age of Mythology music y'all use for your history videos

[@vazak11]

The Age of Vanity seems very fitting, solid vid!

[@lolloblue9646]

"Don't do Colonialism, everyone loses" IDK, it appears to me like the US made a lot out of it. Y'know, the purchase of French Louisiana, Russian Alaska, the Mexican-American War, the Spanish-American War...

[@lolloblue9646]

What I'm saying is that they made a lot of bucks and international importance out of it

[@francoisdaureville323]

Thats more Like expansionism not really colonialism because theres nobidy exploiting those lands and are all part of the united states they arent far away places people go to extract resources, línea colonial empire

[@Raptortastic]

"bless my soul, Nap was on a roll" Was my take away from this one. Gotta love some Herculean song and dance XD

[@bangtang1717]

You made a mistake in that last map with the dissipating French empire, because French Guiana is still a part of France as a overseas Department.

[@kevinsullivan3448]

Best TED Talk I've ever watched.

[@birgirbirgisson5901]

"If a flag isn't waving... it's ripe for enslaving!" This is the most on-point observation on the cruelty of colonialism I've ever seen.

[@Valencetheshireman927]

It’s funny how well that sums up 16-19th century colonialism. Before they banned slavery .

[@VarangianGuard13]

The bear-trap analogy is as beautiful as it is bitingly direct. Really helps nip those bad ideas in the bud..

[@VarangianGuard13]

@OverlySarcasticProductuons: Thank you so much for the heart, keep up the great work and the best of luck in all of you current and future endeavors.

[@MasterofLaziness]

I never learned much about the Hapsburg family itself in high school, only the shit that happened because of them. That moment at 4:45 told me all that I needed to know.

[@robbieturner2411]

I don't think there is enough appreciation for the map titles produced here. My personal favourite being at 6:39 with "Bless My Soul, Nap Was On A Roll"