Battle of Blenheim 1704 | Miracle on the Danube

I've been wanting to start a series on this conflict for a long time. This war brought about a new balance of power in Europe, and it shook throughout the world. Buckle up and relax as we begin a dive into the battles, odd politics, and personalities of War of the Spanish Succession like never before on KZbin.
Up until now, the Bourbons have been gaining ground and now threaten the capital of the Holy Roman Empire, Vienna. Already under pressure from defeats in the Rhineland and revolts in its eastern realms. The Duke of Marlborough and Prince Eugene hatch a scheme to beat the French and save the Empire.
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Music from:
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References:
Upton, George, December 2017, Jovian Press, Prince Eugene of Savoy
Falkner, James, Pen and Sword, November 2014, Marlborough’s War Machine 1702-1711
kronoskaf.com/w...
Tincey, John, 25 Jul 2004, Osprey Publishing, Blenheim 1704 | The Duke of Marlborough's Masterpiece

[@FieldMarshalYT]

Minor Errors: -Eugene's path to Blenheim is inaccurate, he did not march through the Tyrol in 1704, at least not to my knowledge. -Tallard marches a bit north of the Black Forest in the video. -There are some fast and choppy transitions, excuse me for those.

[@FieldMarshalYT]

Its called a regional dialect, also this video is very old so forgive me. Look forward to a remaster in the future

[@stephenmcdonagh2795]

It's a bit odd that the French cavalry were still using flintlock pistols as a primary weapon about sixty years after Cromwell's cavalry had dismissed them as a primary weapon in favour of the sabre. I think there's a saying about the cavalry being there to add a bit of colour to the battle- or something to that effect.

[@militaryorchid7937]

- maps with present day political borders are used for the 18th century empires. I am sorry but I really find it quite strange when talking about history.

[@stephenmcdonagh2795]

Is his name pronounced YOO-JEEN or OY-GEN?

[@FieldMarshalYT]

@@stephenmcdonagh2795 Eugene, though it is pronounced Oygen in German

[@csl7972]

Imagine Condé, Turenne and Luxembourg still alive and young enough to Face Marlborough and Eugene. Would be a spicy battle.

[@thealeph165]

Marlborough actually served under Turenne for a while. On one occasion, he was asked by Turenne to recapture an area during a battle that had previously been lost. He bet that Marlborough could retake the area with 2x less than the men who had lost it, and Turenne won that bet. Source: Longueville, Thomas. Marshal Turenne. Wentworth Press, 2016.

[@GrudgeyCable]

I definitely would’ve changed a few things even if Villars had higher command and more say so over the French army as a whole I’d say it would’ve went better for France than it did in real life that’s my opinion at least

[@currentofthesnake8486]

Montmorency-Luxembourg was already quite overpowered during the War of the Palatinate Succession. Never lost a battle, with an uncanny sense of the climax of a battle. And at the time of his greatest victories he was already over sixty. ​

[@NobleKorhedron]

Those were all commanders from the #ThirtyYearsWar, I believe?

[@charlesiragui2473]

This seems to be a battle where tactical generalship played the highest role. The two sides were evenly matched in number, training, experience. Neither had an advantage of terrain or surprise. Tallard made repeated mistakes and Marlborough exploited them. The French were only fortunate that Tallard was captured and thus removed from doing further damage.

[@wyrdstone85]

This is well put together, but it’s difficult (as an Englishman and French speaker) to listen to the Americanised pronunciation of the names of the Commanders on each side

[@tTantPisForFrance]

Deal with it. I'm English and I fully accept American English is a naturalised branch of it's mother language.

[@maconescotland8996]

@@tTantPisForFrance Marlborough is not pronounced like the brand of Philip Morris cigarettes.

[@AD65]

​@@maconescotland8996it's pronounced Marlburra

[@maconescotland8996]

@@AD65 Indeed.

[@GrudgeyCable]

Great video! So happy someone took the time and put in the effort to animate and explain the war of Spanish succession. It’s so interesting and yet so over looked by historians and those interested in early modern European history. Thanks so much and I can wait to see more!

[@CivilWarWeekByWeek]

Ladies and gentlemen the moment you have been waiting for

[@justinrusso7313]

Very well done.Excellent images on uniforms and maps. Thankyou.

[@FaramirsRangers]

i rewatched this series last night so looking forward to this episode!

[@chrispaulmills9169]

Excellent video. Chandler's edit of Parker and Merode- Westerloo is a must read for insight of first hand accounts of combat of this period of war.

[@FieldMarshalYT]

I'll need to check those out.

[@thealeph165]

I just got that book a few days ago, and it is very good. I like how he does the footnotes, i.e the way he tends to point out when Parker or Merode-Westerloo are lying/inaccurate in their claims, and the way he puts the dates in brackets if they're not mentioned or if they're wrong. Appendix 2 is also very good, as it is a table of the casualty figures of sieges across the War of the Spanish Succession.

[@chrispaulmills9169]

@@thealeph165 The Comte makes an more entertaining account as Chandler says. Very down on Marlborough and Eugene, while obviously very confident of his own ability. Was sure of his capability to surpass both in skill, lol. Such an interesting view, jaded bastard as he was!

[@deteon1418]

Great video! I cannot believe your channel isn’t bigger.

[@anishchowdhury4510]

I thank my good fortune that i found your channel.. Excellent video..

[@Antonnick]

I would recommend reading the book "Blenheim" by Charles Spencer ( princess Diana's brother) who expounds in great detail and clarity on the whole battel scene and that leading up to it. For example, the Duke of Marlborough and Prinz Eugen were good freinds and totally trusted each other's ability . As breifly mentioned in the video, Marlborough requested through a despatch rider that Eugen send his cavalry to help and Eugen without pausing immediately complied. For other generals there would likely have been a hesitation but Eugen knew that if his friend Marlborough requested something, it was because he was in need and as such reacted without any hesitation, possibly saving the day. In 2006 I drove to visit the battlefield which is now a peaceful rural farming area, little changed from that time. In Germany we refer to the event as the Battle of Höchstädt and there is a permanent Museum there, well worth a visit. The village of "Blindheim" has however hardly any notifications of its epic history apart from a small plaque.

[@rule3036]

Well said , it is an interesting informative and easy read coming from a family of soldiers in the (Grenadier) 1st Footguards it was a must read as the war of the Spanish succession gave many battle honours. Now where is it ? Need to read it again🙂

[@paulbantick8266]

I recommend James Falkner and John Hussey.

[@trevorfuller1078]

@Antonnick: Probably, the absence of any substantial commemoration is due to the fact that Bavaria, where Blenheim is actually located, was then allied to the French side during this conflict, the War of Spanish Succession?

[@Antonnick]

@@trevorfuller1078 Not really. The museum in permananent display in Höchstädt is a clear indication of the historical importance attributed - it is just that less emphasis is given to Blindheim than the British do.

[@trevorfuller1078]

@@Antonnick: Yes, locally there in Southern Germany, that would probably be a correct historical observation to make! However, in the contemporary Anglo-sphere historical, geopolitical & military terms, Blenheim (In 1704) is considered one of the four supreme military achievements of the British (Or English, in earlier manifestations of its identity) Army, placing it in the same level of importance as Agincourt (1415); Waterloo (1815) & the Final Hundred Days (1918) that had each projected British military & geopolitical power to the top of either or both European & World dominance & prestige! That is to highlight its historical significance to all English-speaking peoples not only in Britain!

[@csl7972]

This might blow up. There's not much animated stuff on blenheim

[@CivilWarWeekByWeek]

I hope it does, this is quality content

[@FieldMarshalYT]

I wish, but in the end, I just do this for fun.

[@thrrashed2423]

@@FieldMarshalYT Unfortunately too many KZbinrs Do not You deserve more subs for doing it as a passion.

[@WyomingTraveler]

I am enjoying your series War of the Spanish Succession. I think that war was one of the major conflicts of the world. In 2004 I had a chance to visit the battlefield. It was disappointing, there were no markers or other features to mark the battle. The museum, however, was interesting and there was a large digram of the battlefield with light explaining the troop movements. Unfortunately, everything was in German, which I could not speak or read, so I did not get much out of my visit other than to say I visited the site of the great battle. Europeans do not preserve or great battlefield sites like we do in the US. Waterloo is the only battle site that has been preserved.

[@FieldMarshalYT]

If the Europeans preserved every battlefield. The entire continent would be nothing but tourist attraction, lol

[@WyomingTraveler]

@@FieldMarshalYT You are right and I said the same thing to several of my European friends

[@maximkretsch7134]

Strange to see German explanations posted in a German museum.

[@WyomingTraveler]

Wirklich sehr seltsam

[@ianmorton140]

John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough. It’s not pronounced Mal-bro. It is Marl-ber-ah.

[@FieldMarshalYT]

Noted for future content.

[@Gigas0101]

A man so deadly they named a cigarette brand after him. No one soother than Marlborough.

[@JohnMeyer-b9p]

The Prince Eugene ,his battle cruiser was in inspired lol

[@geoffhunter7704]

Since 1642 the British Army always paid in gold and silver for their supplies and on this epic march when they reached a town or village the people would have a market ready knowing the British-Dutch Army was disciplined and paid for billets and board unlike Bounaparte 100 yrs later who was infamous for stripping any area they descended upon enraging the people making implacable enemies!

[@rhysnichols8608]

Kind of not true, the French issued coupons which could be cashed in after the campaign, and the goods would be restored or an equal price would be paid. This didn’t always happen and in more desperate times outright pillaging did take place, but it was effective, Napoleon was able to defeat multiple Europe wide coalitions due to his speed of manoeuvre. Also the British did engage in pillage too on many occasions. It’s not black and white

[@geoffhunter7704]

@@rhysnichols8608 Kind of not true!!! Honestly it is true there were a dozen diarists on that epic march including a woman soldier she notes that Gen Churchill kept strict discipline on his army on the March through his Company Commanders and NCO's when i was in the Army i and other senior NCO's kept discipline with Churchill again he had to keep morale up and any transgression was quickly suppressed and there were single figure Floggings and hangings for the few trouble makers.Even in NAM THERE WAS BREAKDOWN IN DISCIPLINE WITH "UNPOPULAR " Officers and NCO's being fragged through defeat and illicit drug use,As previously stated the British Army did not rely on foraging as plentiful supplies and paid for sex makes a happy 18th/19th soldier.

[@rhysnichols8608]

@@geoffhunter7704 You have given the specific case of the British army under the duke and Marlborough, which I do not dispute, but we are talking about a large time frame here, you mentioned the date 1642 and then ended your comment with a comparison to the Napoleon wars. That’s a 150 year period. The French practice of living off the land was used primarily under Napoleon, your comment attempts to contrast the honourable fair good old British paying for goods, then you compared that to the Bonapartist regime which allegedly pillaged everywhere it went, which is a very unfair comparison and not accurate. You’ve given a very specific example of the duke of Marlborough’s conduct, then compared that to Napoleon who came 100 years later. My comment was referring to the British conduct in the Napoleonic wars, which is a more fair comparison, after the siege of Badahoz the British raped and pillaged for 2 days until Wellington could get control of them, there are many other examples too and the British doing this, mean while Napoleon was paying locals for provisions and issuing coupons so they could be paid. We can both cherry pick examples, there are of course many times Napoleons troops pillaged and committed atrocities too, and there are many times the British acted very proper! However your comment is far too cartoonish and portrays things in a very bias light.

[@geoffhunter7704]

@@rhysnichols8608There is no point in having a serious discussion with a cartoon historian like youGoodbye!

[@baldy3405]

Was there a British army them, did not Britain join together in 1707

[@wolftinfilmcartography2620]

Merode was so upset his mike freaked out

[@richardcooper9417]

"Blenheim" is a nickname. The real Blenheims were silk-weavers who wove the silk for gentleman's waistcoats (Pepys was a customer). Each one cost the equivalent of £1,000 in modern terms. The awkward name "Blindheim" was simplified to the familiar "Blenheim".

[@FieldMarshalYT]

Didn't know that

[@paulkirk7120]

Really good except that it doesn't address a large and very important chunk of Marlborough's military career. I think there is a tendency to lionise the man despite his turncoat nature which led him to abandon one King, fall out with another despite victories in Iteland and Flanders. This later falling out isolated him militarily and politically. His attempts to ingratiate himself back with the first King is believed by some to have been the cause of the failed Grand Alliance attack on Brest and the death of his rival, Thomas Tollemache.

[@arslongavitabrevis5136]

Very good observation Paul. He betrayed James II and tried to justify his action on religious grounds. As the great historian David G. Chandler said: "it is difficult to absolve Marlborough of ruthlessness, ingratitude, intrigue and treachery against a man to whom he owed virtually everything in his life and career to date"

[@stuartdandybenchillboy]

And this is the reason why John Churchill is Britain's greatest ever soldier. And to achieve all that whilst juggling Parliamentary frictions, an unstable queen and his wife's intrigues at court makes it all the more remarkable. Any other contenders in anybody else's opinion? And why please. 🤔

[@avnrulz8587]

I found a history of this battle in a second-hand book store and bought it to add to my library.

[@thrrashed2423]

Yes amazing video :DDDD

[@liberatumtaiwanae3580]

Excellent vid. Love from Taiwan. I do wonder why the all Allied units were willing to faithfully follow Churchill's command. Did he promised reward? Prepaid handsomely before the campaign?

[@FieldMarshalYT]

Not explained well in this older version, but Marlborough always made sure his troops were well-supplied, fed, and paid. He would manage to maintain that on his long march to the Danube. He led by example.

[@thathistoryiscoolguy]

I really don't know what to comment

[@FieldMarshalYT]

Any comment boosts the algorithim.

[@janboen3630]

Background sound is too loud and makes listening more difficult, certainly for older listeners.

[@metarus208]

thanks for covering this

[@MrCytree]

Great video. I go have one small criticism though. The music was so loud it drowned out your voice and since your commentary is 90% of the value you may want to just do away with music entirely.

[@FieldMarshalYT]

I've solved this issue since the Turin video. The music is still there but never really gets higher than my voice at all.

[@PyrrhosOfEpeiros]

Do you plan to continue this series?

[@FieldMarshalYT]

Yes, just very busy Irl. Im going all the way to the Siege of Barcelona in 1714.

[@PyrrhosOfEpeiros]

@@FieldMarshalYT Nice, thanks! Good job and best of luck!

[@rhysnichols8608]

Really good video, thanks for covering this war in detail where no one else has. My only complaint is the voice over is a little mumbling and the battle background noise is too loud at times. Please speak a bit more clearly and slightly slower and tone down the sound effects!!

[@FieldMarshalYT]

This is an old video. A remake of Blenheim should come later next year.

[@iainclark5964]

Moat military historians consider Ramillies (1706) Marlborough's greatest victory.

[@Narrator_of_Tarikh07]

What's the name of the music at 00:20 ?

[@LordUhtred1]

Very good - but MarlBURA - not Boro

[@FieldMarshalYT]

Fixed since this video came out.

[@shawn6669]

Prince Eugene of Savoy's name is pronounced "yu-zhane" not "oy-gen"

[@derptrolling4740]

French or German Pronunciation

[@stephenmeier4658]

Hard to make out certain spoken words as they tend to run together

[@golden.lights.twinkle2329]

Agreed. Narrator is a very poor speaker.

[@brittakriep2938]

A sidenote: Before 1803 the Region of Hochstädt was no part of Bavaria, the current bavarian district Schwaben, belonged in HRE to Reichskreis Schwaben.

[@Palimbacchius]

Good video, but it might have been an idea to find out how to pronounce Marlborough (Marl-bruh).

[@FieldMarshalYT]

This was fixed in later videos.

[@golden.lights.twinkle2329]

I wish the narrator would speak more clearly. And why put text over a map so it is impossible to read it?

[@ShirleyWheeler-j2o]

185 Autumn Mission

[@grahamward3504]

Why not do battle of Oudenarde?

[@FieldMarshalYT]

I did Oudenarde, check my playlist.

[@thefulanichad]

👏🏾👏🏾

[@scottygdaman]

good video,,a bit rushed. Please let your text rest a bit more,, good meals like good victories should be savored not gulped.

[@paulbantick8266]

Marlborough is pronounced 'Marlborah' Not 'Marlboro' Why do people from the US find it hard to pronounce anything ending with 'ough' or 'burgh' (as in Edinburgh)?

[@peterchessell28]

300 million illiterate people.

[@josephlongbone4255]

Let me break it down like this: though through cough rough plough ought borough All of these words use the o u g h, and are all pronounced completely differently, so yeah I think it's fair enough that some people find this difficult.

[@paulbantick8266]

@@josephlongbone4255 So! They have difficulty spelling them too do they? Because they also seem to have a habit of omitting the 'ugh' in those place-names too. Edinburgh looses a 'gh' but gains an 'o' It's ignorance pure and simple. And just to pin the context. They are place-names not your list of everyday words. And those words used everyday are used in their fullest extent and context....Even by Americans.

[@josephlongbone4255]

@@paulbantick8266 American English uses different spellings for several words, like Colour and Color. In large part this is because play split from English authority 200 years ago or so. One of the funniest and more petty things is dropping H's, historically many English words dropped their H's as these words usually descended from French words brought over by the Normans. The French supported American independence, and the Americans still say things like "Erb" which in many ways is more correct and historical. In response to the Americans, the British had a big PR campaign where they added the H sound back into several words where it was silent, which is why we now say Herb. Language is relative and fluid, varies from country to country and is generally not worth getting angry over, and if you really want to prove your English credentials, how do you pronounce Torpenhow?

Gave up trying to understand what the narrator is saying.

[@sumazdar]

dziękuję

[@gerrytyrrell1507]

Most of Europe to beat France

[@FieldMarshalYT]

Indeed, France had a huge professional army. Even when it got involved in numerous disasters early in the WSS, it bounced back.

[@Delogros]

Yet the French army still outnumbered the Allies, it's also worth pointing out an army from a single country with a single language is much easier to control having a few thousand troops from all over the place can to some degree be a disadvantage.

[@rhysnichols8608]

France is the OG big boi, they peaked in the Napoleonic times, but really for the last 200 years have fallen from grace. They were noticeably less powerful throughout the 1800s after Napoleon was disposed, Germany kinda took their spot as the powerhouse of mainland Europe. Still, France has an undeserved reputation for being weak due to ww2 (arguably ww1 as they relied on every major world power to back them up just to halt 2/3 of the German army, and the Franco Prussian war) but for several centuries they were very powerful.

[@Boblaure32459]

@@rhysnichols8608well, uk did not show capable force before 1916 and the US had only 100 k men fighting from July 1918. Don’t overemphasize the other allies effort, the vardar offensive, for instance, was a key to end ww1.

[@gandigooglegandigoogle7202]

@@Boblaure32459 ......why the English are always in coalition...they are never alone, simply because they paid for the foreign blood they bought.

[@someguy-cv9jd]

holy fuck how do you know all this, you must read a lot of books

[@jamesmoyon5264]

Although an interesting video, the fast monotone narration and mispronunciations make it hard to follow. For the record, Eugene is pronounced as follows: "eu" as in "burr", and "gene" as in "gentry" (but with a soft "g", not the "dj" sound).

[@joea4936]

Elocution

[@johnsmith-sg9wy]

The 'Miracle" was the team work of logistical planning between Godolphin and Marlborough to get the British from the Low Countries all the way to Bavaria in perfect battle ready kit, fully supplied, AND out maneuvering 2 French Marshalls all along the Rhine. Do your home work. Get rid of the superfluous irritating soundtrack.

[@FieldMarshalYT]

Did I not make it clear in the video?

[@thefieldmarshal8682]

Hey there great video! I just noticed that our channel names are very similar. Anyway, you received an extra subscriber today!

[@FieldMarshalYT]

Thanks!

[@taketimeout2share]

You got it right. I got it wrong. IT IS OY GUN. In English its , er, pronounced YOU GENE. But apparently we English get it wrong. So you get a higher mark. Well done. This is edited because I showed my ignorance. Sorry people.

[@FieldMarshalYT]

The German pronunciation is Oy-genn

[@taketimeout2share]

@@FieldMarshalYT Well if that is so important why dont you call Louis Ludwig? Aha! Got you there. (No one expects the War of Spanish Succession. Or something like that).

[@FieldMarshalYT]

@@taketimeout2share If you listen to a lot of songs about Prince Eugene, he is always pronounced as "Oy-Genn" so I just pronounce it that since it sounds cooler.

[@Antonnick]

@@FieldMarshalYT It seems that the 20th Century led to the popular anglifisation of many German names, prefering to follow the French pronunciation, not to mention that english speakers do have great difficulty as a rule in getting their tongue around the german.

[@angrydoggy9170]

It is correctly pronounced. Finally someone is bothering to use the correct pronunciations, most English speakers tend to butcher foreign names and words.

[@michaelnaretto3409]

Not even 7 minutes in and already there were two commercial breaks. This makes this unwatchable...

[@bremCZ]

He's not a cigarette company. Pronounce his name correctly.

[@smal750]

half of europe to face the french 😂 why are europe girlies so scared by the french 😂

[@TheFearsomePredator]

@@smal750 because they are coward weaklings, especially the "Brits🤢"

[@angloaust1575]

Troubles with the french again Later it was the germans with The americans in between 1776 and 1812 not to forget the spanish armada Jesus was right when he said I havent come to bring peace to the world wars and rumours of wars!

[@johndunn9952]

sadly lacking information on the diagrams and what a monotone IT voice. Shame as history has much to teach us.

[@-VOR]

Not how you pronounce Blenhiem my dude.

[@IVIasterKush]

I'm English - it's pronounced Blenum ... we won we get to say 😂

[@beernd4822]

The background noise threw me of, I am out of here

[@joelqp1]

Subtitles suck!

[@Notorious_C.J.P]

Great video but its pronounced U-gene Not oigen

[@Antonnick]

I am afraid , "oigen" is indeed the correct pronunciation of the German

[@golden.lights.twinkle2329]

'oigen' is correct!

[@DrivermanO]

@@Antonnick Quite right. As the German heavy cruiser of the 2nd World War - Prinz Eugen. Not Prince Eugene!

[@angrydoggy9170]

No, it’s not. It’s a German name not English nor french.

[@andreoliveira685]

I beg you!! improve ur narrator skills... couldn't whatch the whole thing

[@FieldMarshalYT]

Keep in mind this video is about 2 years old

[@fredflinstone6601]

Poorly narrated

[@FieldMarshalYT]

What do you expect from a year-old video?