The Origins of French Centralisation

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France is famous for having a heavily centralised and big state with a huge buerocracy. In many ways France invented the modern buerocratic state. In this video, a collaboration with my friend @RavignonCh we try to tell the story of how the centralised french state came to be.
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You might be interested in this video too: • How the Greeks created...
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[@Kraut_the_Parrot]

Go to ground.news/kraut to stay fully informed. Subscribe through my link for *40% off unlimited access or try it for less than $1 this month

[@garmia1839]

Could you make a video in response to Fredda? I don’t believe many of his claims but I’d like to see what you think about his criticisms.

[@user-gr9fq9gt9w]

11:59 It was so important that he tried it twice! Maybe you would like to re-upload?

[@raquetdude]

@Kraut did you watch any of the dozen of lectures from Yale about this exact subject? Edit: after watching till the end yes, yes it was a source for this video

[@Kraut_the_Parrot]

@@garmia1839 I have a rule to not do any drama videos. I also don't engage with political extremists or pro-Russian propagandists.

[@shzarmai]

​@@Kraut_the_Parrot Please include the sources for this video for further reading please 🙏

[@CivilWarWeekByWeek]

You know this video is made with love because its a German speaker talking about buerocracy

[@Kraut_the_Parrot]

hey man. nice to see you around again. hope you are well, and keep up your great work.

[@aitorgallegobereziartua4798]

He Austrian tho

[@M0rmi]

​@@aitorgallegobereziartua4798 "German speaker"

[@CptManboobs]

​@@aitorgallegobereziartua4798 there is a joke about a certain Austrian Painter in here somewhere.

[@srikrishnak196]

​@@Kraut_the_Parrot hey kraut! Hope you are doing well, from a long time follower

[@Clapbox1]

Now you know: when there are protests or riots in France, it means that the system is working as intended

[@misschauffarde5112]

Yes if you can complain about it so freely ot means that the sistem is made by you for you

[@Jonas_M_M]

Intensions can be negative.

[@kwanlinus6999]

If these don't exist, France will be as democratic as Russia or China. P.S. Isn't it better to actually give institutional means to the people to voice their needs so that they don't need to use such non-institutional means? Like in Britain (arguably) or in much of Scandinavia?

[@thepolishnz]

Or it's tuesday

[@ElectrostatiCrow]

The croissant people are just having fun.

[@Dadscap]

11:59 & 12:08 The fact Louis XIV tried to establish a French church was such an important point Kraut repeated it TWICE to REALLY bring it home! Brilliant!

[@Kraut_the_Parrot]

I actually repeated myself by mistake and it is kinda embaressing

[@Dadscap]

@@Kraut_the_Parrot This is what I call creative GENIUS! So humble can't even admit the brilliance and passes it off as a simple mistake. Incredible!

[@Jonas_M_M]

The British monarchy did much the same.

[@xeixi3789]

I thought I was tweaking

[@user-bi7xd8ry5p]

I thought I had accidentally double tapped the screen 😅

[@pomtubes1205]

"an apathetic society, with such an enormous state, could look very different" is the defining difference

[@pomtubes1205]

24:37

[@MattY-ed1ep]

This historical path to centralization could have easily ended up with a European version of modern China..and not in a good way.

[@rkortak]

​@@pomtubes1205 27:05

[@Just-lz7tl]

Russia be like

[@paratame105]

@@MattY-ed1ep How exactly is it not a European version of modern China?

[@ChrisCleg]

I feel like you forgot include the economic rent seeking behavior that characterized the feudal relationship between lords and peasants.

[@Kraut_the_Parrot]

you are right.

[@potatosalad9085]

Could you elaborate?

[@kozmaz87]

Also that it is coming back. The reason modern democracies need to optimize and cut social spending comes about in part from the fact that landlords bankrupt everyone because most countries did not regulate access to residential properties well enough so now investment funds and landlords own houses and extract rent from the economy that is effectively missing from it thereby destroying productivity. The money you lost on rent goes to the caymans and will not be spent on products and services.

[@nicholasgutierrez9940]

@@potatosalad9085 He means that the relationship established between lord and stinky peasant was the back bone of society. Which also means it is the status quo. One that allowed for stability but also heavy de-centralization. Since it was a direct contract between the lord and poor person. The king can’t really interfere with his vassal’s vassal (usually). Which means said lord and acquire lots of power out of reach of his lord. That leads to stuff like the Burgundians leaving France. Which almost lead to France breaking apart when paired with the English invading. Alternatively: it means the power dynamic between lord and peasant was also established. During the Black Death, lords were better protected from dying. But not the peasants. And they were not serfs. The lord needed the peasants to generate income. The peasants just needed a home. So peasants come just go to another lord with a better deal. So for a bit of time, the peasants had more bargaining power in this contract. And they got a better deal in the end. Especially in Bohemia.

[@kozmaz87]

@@nicholasgutierrez9940 Interesting, I never knew about this nuance in France that the peasant was free to go elsewhere. Most of European feudalism worked with serfs who were essentially property and could not move away. If they tried the lord could hunt them down and execute them if the lord so wished. The lord was judge jury and executioner and the serfs were his property basically. There were few exceptions where the serf could escape to a town and if managed to stay there long enough would become a citizen of that town and the lord could theoretically no longer come after them any more. Let's face it a single serf was probably not worth the trouble and the lord would just execute someone else to make an example to discourage anyone else following the fugitive.

[@Simon45499]

The sutble shift from the French flag to the Russian flag while referencing societies and state gave me tingles

[@starmaker75]

Yeah have to say, who did that art transition deserved an extra paid there

[@riddhimansingh677]

Timestamp?

[@wildfire9280]

@@riddhimansingh677 11:12

[@Simon45499]

@@wildfire9280 Nah I was talking about 24:25

[@letefte]

As someone who is studying French Law, I can say that the constantly changing and evolving bureaucracy is doing severe damage to my grades.

[@knpark2025]

In Seoul the Gyeongbok Palace looks quite massive for the country it was meant to serve. Namely it is too big to fit in just the King's residence and the seat of the royal court, in context of the country Joseon's relatively small size. Rather, it was meant to contain most of central government organizations within its structures. Put simply, the Gyeongbok Palace was built by Confucian ideology to be the place where the King and his government do their job of ruling the whole country. And for the first half of Joseon Dynasty's duration it was the seat of the entire central government with all officials and bureaucrats commuting to and from it. Joseon's central government sent hand-picked governors from Hanyang (modern Seoul) to each provinces when Japan was ruled by feudal Daimyos. When Toyotomi Hideyoshi invaded Korea he delegated his war to a collection of his most loyal feudal lords, but Yi Sun Shin was a hand-picked general sent from the northern frontier all the way to the southern shores of Joseon by King Seonjo's direct orders. Korea copied a lot of its homework from Chinese government over the history, and copying a Byzantine bureaucracy from a country that is a couple orders of magnitude bigger than itself meant that Joseon ended up with a central bureaucracy that is both grossly oversized for the country's size, but way ahead of its time in the level of micromanagement because of it. The government in Hanyang published one of the earliest newspaper on recorded history. It was to distribute policy decisions and current events, it was in hand-written and hand-copied form, and it was distributed to all corners of the country in days. Its official court record "Sillok" is just as large as its Chinese equivalent, meaning that the Korean Sillok is far denser in its detail, with a lot of micromanagement on its local governors recorded in its contents. There is even a different journal other than the royal court's one, and this collection of archived documents, Seungjeongwon Ilgi, was kept by the centeal bureaucracy and it is several times bigger than the Sillok itself. It is so big, it is still not fully translated into modern Korean yet. Germany is famous for its obsession to bureaucracy, but we Koreans secretly joke of ourselves as being obsessed with everything that has to do with archives. Something had to fill all those empty archives, and it was filled well by Korean bureaucrats. Now, after a tradition of massive centralized bureaucracy for more than six centuries, Seoul and its surrounding metropolitan region accounts for half of South Korea's population, and more than half of its economy. Seoul and its satellite cities have virtually everything you can find in this country, and things are seldom exclusive to other regional cities. "This (country) is Republic of Seoul" is a well-spoken term to describe (and sometimes lament) South Korea's super-high centralization. *If the history and size of a country's bureaucracy impacts the level of concentration at the country's capital region, then it neatly explains why modern Seoul is practically South Korea itself.*

[@knpark2025]

Oh, by the way, The South Korean government has my fingerprints. Not because I was naughty, but because it is mandatory. Our administrative form for creating a universal ID card at age 18 includes *all ten fingerprints.*

[@tavernburner3066]

This does a lot to explain why those northern fortresses yi sun-sin had to command were in such a terriable state when he was assigned to them.

[@ethanc1121]

Thank you for this!

[@budakbaongsiah]

@@knpark2025 holy shit, all ten? my country only force to give one

[@justinf9855]

It would also go a long way to explain why the South Korean birth rate is so low. With Seoul basically being South Korea and being so dense. Why have children in such a highly competitive environment? It also doesn't help that Confucianism is the way it is. It has its benefits, but also its drawbacks. May I wrong back this?

[@PakBallandSami]

“Rulers who destroy men's freedom commonly begin by trying to retain its forms. ... They cherish the illusion that they can combine the prerogatives of absolute power with the moral authority that comes from popular assent.” ― Alexis de Tocqueville,

[@ThunderTheBlackShadowKitty]

Alexis was wrong. He failed to see the difference between right wing authority and left wing morality. When a ruler is ideologically right wing, they become inherently authoritarian. When a ruler is left wing, they become inherently libertarian. Right wing ideology relies on negative freedom and negative liberty, while left wing ideology relies on positive freedom and positive liberty.

[@trueblueclue]

​@ThunderTheBlackShadowKitty "The Soviet Union was libertarian" 💀

[@ThunderTheBlackShadowKitty]

@@trueblueclue That's a strawman, that's not what I said.

[@CedarHunt]

​@@ThunderTheBlackShadowKittyIt is a logical conclusion of your nonsense claim. Or are you going to try claiming that the communist Soviets were actually secret right wingers? 😂

[@StanfordChiou]

@@CedarHunt"State capitalism" is another way of saying "not actually socialist".

[@cathakjordi]

I very much disagree with the statement that the french noble casualties in Agincourt would be such a significative point in the French centralization process. Apart from the fact that only nobles from one particular faction of the French civil war (the 'Armagnacs') were involved is one factor that must be taken in account... and in any case the captured and killed nobles in the battle is still nothing truly significant compared to a lot other factors. If you follow a decent and extensive enough history of the 100 years war (say, Lord Sumption's), in fact Agincourt did not have as much signifcance in this particular regard as it had with Poitiers. In fact, you have years later Verneuil which was a victory just as devastating as Agincourt (and in many ways just as decisive) and you can see that not only does not stop the power of the noblity and the noble parties of the moment, but in a way it exacerbates it. If you consider French the nobles in the Burgundian or the semi independent side of things (like the Bretons or the Gascons) in fact this victory actually inforces regional nobility away from the French crown. In fact the French civil war that Henry V capitalized on to invade France killed way more key nobles than Henry V could ever aspire to off in a pair of battles. If I had to single out a *truly* significative millstone for this process first it should be the reign of Philip IV ('le Bel' or more significately 'le roi de fer') both the use of low nobility in his govern and his incorporation of upper Navarre, and the final stages of the Albigesian crusade helped to neutralize in a very significative way a key sector of independent enough nobility in Southern France, a part of this country that might very well could have gone apart on its own under other circunstances (for a start, considering it had a different language back then). The neutralization of both regional powers *and* nobility in this reign is basically unprecedented, That and indeed his confrontation with the Papacy that would detooth major religious interference in French policiy for generations (and would never actually recover fully, this is actually the main precedent and historical base for gallicanism). After this, from the 100 years war it's not Agincourt what really marks the thrust for centralization of the power in the Crown's hand, but Poitiers and the Black Prince and Duke of Lancasters 'cheuvachees', the ransoms to be paid for the king and other nobles after Poitiers and the utter devastations of these military operations that could be considered crimes of war even in their own time period was what truly made the French regional parlaments to agree to the raising of semipermanent great new taxes (the 'Taille' and others) that the reign of Charles V would actually turn permanent 'de facto' and truly give the basis for a start of true centralization in France. As you can see, Agincourt and the noble casualties in it have very very little to do with it. Even then, this is the start of the process. The fight to supress the Burgundians would take several generations (and be inherited by the Habsburgs), and as far as the later wars of religion and then the Fronde with Louis XIV you still have the process ongoing (and then indeed I agree with you that the court politics was indeed one of the key factors and solutions of the monarchy against the regions and the surviving nobles). Funny enough it would be actually the First Republic the government to really rip out the full benefits of the culmination of this centralization process, even more than the Sun King himself.

[@dale6947]

One of the downsides of Kraut videos is that you just have to put up with the gross oversimplifications.

[@amguardia]

Nicely explained. Don't blame Kraut too much, it's hard to fit the whole picture of century spanning history in a youtube video. But indeed, history rarely have simple, single causations like 'all the noblety died at this battle, so the king had his ways'.

[@cathakjordi]

@@amguardiaOh, don't get me wrong, I am not blaming anybody. I mean, I am here in the first place because I *really* like Kraut videos and explanations. Just that point in particular made me blink and felt it would be useful to explain a bit how I saw it.

[@theliato3809]

@@dale6947that’s why you make multi parters

[@thebandofbastards4934]

I would say that it was instead the 100 years war itself that centralized France rather than any particular battle as the existence of an external threat forced the nobles to hand over their privileges and work with the king than against him. Most importantly, it legitimised and reinforced the king's authorithy in the eyes of the peasantry which made them hold greater loyalty to the king rather than the regional nobles. And to add to my claim, the same thing happened with states such as England with the Vikings, Russia with the Golden Horde and Germany with the French.

[@pan-demics8015]

Although completely different circumstances, this reminds me of the effect Athens has on Greece. Half the country's population in one place, with all the ministries and administration, basically sucking the life out of the rest of the country. Outside of the 2 major cities, Crete and (maybe) the south-eastern islands, the rest of Greece is empty because everyone left and the people who remained don't have children.

[@randomguy-tg7ok]

I'd posit that it might be a problem throughout all of Europe. London has rebounded in population to where it was before a huge push to get people out of it after WWII, and sucks the Home Counties practically dry, with the main purpose of many cities and towns around it being as commuter towns for London. The London Metro Area has 15 million people, a full quarter of the UK's population. The urbanised parts of Spain are the coast and Madrid. Most of the Spanish countryside is dangerously empty, and has been since the 1960s. The Copenhagen Metro area has about a quarter of Denmark's population. The Vilnius Metro is a quarter of Lithuania. Even in other countries, where the examples aren't cherry-picked, it still seems like a tenth of the population at minimum lives in the Capital's metro area. Is that level of centralisation really sustainable?

[@bruh87877]

Its a common problem in the Post Soviet states. In Georgia majority of the population lives in Tbilisi and there are really only two cities outside of it (Batumi and Kutaisi). The country is becoming completely depopulated and you don't any real opportunities unless you live in the capital. Same in Armenia AFAIK

[@letefte]

As someone who lives in one of the small towns of northern Greece, I can tell you that nearly all my close relatives have moved to either Athens or Thessaloniki. Up here we tell a joke that goes like this “It’s not the Greek State, it’s the Athenian State.”

[@juniorjames7076]

The city of Cairo is basically the COUNTRY Egypt.

[@jinjunliu2401]

@@randomguy-tg7ok Germany is kind of a counterexample to that. Berlin metropolitan area does not reach the ten percent and there's quite a lot of other big cities and areas which have quite an economic and cultural pull. Hamburg with their huge port, Ruhr-Rhine area with a big industrial position, Frankfurt the financial capital. Then the Netherlands is in some ways also different. Albeit that almost half the population lives in the Randstad area, but that's not to be seen as Amsterdam's metropolitan area, rather it's an agglomeration of the metro areas of the four biggest cities. Then there are some cities closer to the borders which are of some importance as well because they are close to bigger cities/ areas across the border.

[@RavignonCh]

Can't believe we released a flying object in the first three days of the month.

[@onur62dersimos]

How is your comment 8 hours old when this video was released minutes ago....

[@PakBallandSami]

hiii

[@chadgoose7886]

Don’t get it

[@RavignonCh]

@@onur62dersimos bureaucracy.

[@rotmistrzjanm8776]

Is it some kind of refference? In game Genshin Impact in land inspired by France there is law that forbids relising flying objects within first 3 days of the month. I thought it was just plot relevant joke but you've got my curiousity there

[@FredoRockwell]

This video made me realize that my European History high school class (which was an entire year and was excellent in many ways) just assumed the rise of the centralized nation-state was just an inevitable thing, the causes of which didn't need exploring or explaining. Or, as this was in the US, perhaps no one wanted to give any credit to the French! Great video - thank you!

[@raquetdude]

There’s two great Yale lecture series that I’d recommend, one on The Rise Of Nationalism and another on the history of France. The series is literally mentioned at the end.

[@ThunderTheBlackShadowKitty]

American here. I learned very early on that France was responsible for sparking modern European history more than any other nation. The importance of the French Revolution cannot be overstated.

[@jdkessey]

Australian here, got a similar treatment for European history back in history class.

[@hollister2320]

@@ThunderTheBlackShadowKitty same, and I’m American too, although one can argue so did our revolution which inadvertently lead to the French one

[@shortdrink873]

The way history is taught in schools (more or less globally as far as I’m aware) unfortunately does tend to give a sense of inevitability to so much of history when literally none of it ever was. Which explains why our civil societies are so stupid at interpreting their own histories.

[@BanCommies_Fascists]

Damn England and France had drastically different progression of central authority. English (or more precisely Anglo-American) history is filled with events limiting the power of the King or other forms of government and binding them in the limits of a written or unwritten constitution. The Anglo-American concept of liberty is free from external interferences that Includes the government while French idea of liberty is also free from external interferences which is granted by the government. The French revolution didn't stop the iron fisting it merely transferred from the King to newly formed Republican government and done in the name of "Granting Liberty".

[@dale6947]

Yes, you may want to read de Tocqueville's 'The Old Regime and the Revolution' which emphasises the continuity of substance (if not form) between the kingdom and republic.

[@kwanlinus6999]

@@ArawnOfAnnwn Not to the same degree Paris has

[@comlitbeta7532]

Unable to make the Just strong, we made the Strong just.

[@pierren___]

Exactly, the state must protect you from foreign threats. This is very continental to be honest.

[@kwanlinus6999]

@@pierren___ then what protects you from domestic threats?

[@keegandecker4080]

The new art style certainly is a choice

[@bebus6884]

Its way better

[@keegandecker4080]

@@bebus6884 we’ll just have to agree to disagree

[@MrAhoura]

its so trash 😭

[@134343]

Bit of a mixed bag sometimes I have no clue what I am looking at.

[@strawberrykun6136]

It was a bit different during the start but later it became kinda like old

[@hothoploink1509]

Small nitpick: At Agincourt the french didn't ride in on horseback, they'd already learnt that lesson at Crecy, only a small force fought on horseback.

[@typicalmovie7329]

In addition the mud made it near impossible for a cavalry charge

[@boarfaceswinejaw4516]

its part of the flavorful myth of agincourt. "hordes of french knights on horseback were mowed down by a handful of english archers" when reality was more even and realistic.

[@hothoploink1509]

@@boarfaceswinejaw4516 To be fair the Battle of Crecy 70 years earlier was pretty much what you described ^^

[@user-co7fo]

That would be one lesson to learn from Crecy, I thought maybe the lesson would be to not start a fight without proper preparation and to straighten out logistics, as the Genuese mercenaries were sent in without their "shields", and were consequently outclassed by the welsh longbowmen, as these items were at the back of the army trail, not with the Genuese mercenaries at the front. Without the range support, the french knights were beaten by the Welsh as well.

[@hothoploink1509]

@@user-co7fo I just love how many people here know so much about ancient battles

[@leobibi123]

The comparison with the US talks lore about France versus USA rather than the difference between a decentralised state and a centralized one. Switzerland can be considered to have the same perks as the ones listed for France (efficient railway network, walkable cities, great healthcare and almost free universities) whilst having a very decentralised state. One could say France and Switzerland have a population difference of one order of magnitude but the same is true vis-à-vis France and the US.

[@Croz89]

I think the first two are more functions of geography than society. The US has so much space that people naturally spread out, and that makes the first to difficult (or in the latter case, maybe even undesirable) to achieve.

[@leobibi123]

@@Croz89 Geography definitely plays a role for the rail network (and even in France where the network is partly defined by Paris like the video claims but also the fact that ... well it's quite unprofitable to link up Lyon and Bordeaux) but there are some major population centers in the US which could be linked. As for the walkable cities, it seems to be a product of how cities evolved. Most European countries wether centralised or not, have walkable cities.

[@Croz89]

@@leobibi123 It's partly because most European cities are old, so increased in population before the car, and partly because there's just a lot of space to expand into. Many European cities are surrounded by valuable agricultural belts and villages that will put up a stink if a city encroaches on their local area. It means cities in Europe tend to be more dense, and high density is a requirement for walkability. In the US many cities have space to spread out pretty much as far as they want, because everything is just much further apart. They don't need to be dense, and a lot of citizens don't want them to be dense either.

[@emptyhermit7524]

The bit at the end makes me wish for a comparison of French and Russian societies. At least I didn't catch why in France people are more politically engaged. Besides that, I was always convinced it was the Jacobins pushing for a centralized and homogeneous France, this surprised me.

[@sircatangry5864]

Good question, because both were centralised states in their time, but this centralisation came through different ways. In France it was slow process of declining the feudal lord authority, while in Russia, it is up for debate was there even a feudalism to begin with, and then mongols came with their tribal system, but with advanced taxation, so everything directly belonged to tsar itself.

[@starmaker75]

​​​@@sircatangry5864 also with my thoughts with the French revolution despite the results for more democratic being later , however it did make the commoner being more politically engage despite the government not wanting that and being annoyed by it. while with Russia, it the political engagement has been only quite somewhat recent.

[@AntonPavlovich2000]

Part about centrality of capitals certainly suits Russia well -- the difference being that Russia has two 'capitals', and even though it's currently centralized around Moscow (heavily, like, everything is here, all the HQs, all taxation), it still has a very pronounced "second best" city with a history of being imperial capital. Many Petersburgers kinda don't like that the city's status is decreasing and it becomes a beautiful decoration, but it's inevitable. Jokes that Moscow is another, separate country circulate for quite a long time and for a reason. Also, interesting part is that the "main guy" can never be from Moscow. All Soviet leaders were born elsewhere, Eltsin is from Ural, and Putin & Medvedev are both from Saint-P. Somehow it just happens that Moscow residents can't be in charge.

[@Hatypus]

@@sircatangry5864With Russia, I'd say it's because in part the creation of the Tsardom required the crippling of the Boyars and other Princes in the first place.

[@sircatangry5864]

@@Hatypus Ivan the terrible just used the mechanisms for nobility suppression that already were there, and put them at maximum effectiveness. So there were reasons before, that created this system of boyar suppression.

[@awesomehpt8938]

Press F to pay respects to Howl for all the chimney taxes he has to pay

[@seneca983]

He can evade taxes by moving his castle from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Normal people have to avoid taxes by more traditional methods. I think there was a case in England where some guy made a hole in the wall to use his neighbor's chimney to avoid a chimney tax. It resulted in a fire that killed more than one person.

[@twelvecatsinatrenchcoat]

@@seneca983 Does youtube also think you're a libertarian and keeps recommending Reason videos?

[@seneca983]

@@twelvecatsinatrenchcoat I don't think so. I don't recall seeing many Reason videos being recommended, although it's possible that I've just not paid attention to them. I do have seen (and even watched) some videos by some libertarian youtubers but not that many. If you were thinking about the chimney-fire due to tax evasion, I came across that in a book, not a video.

[@twelvecatsinatrenchcoat]

@@seneca983 They have a great series called "Great Moments in Unintended Consequences" about the ways that government policies backfire. Very funny.

[@marktaylor6491]

1. Crecy was where 'The Flower of France' comment came from. The process by which the old medieval French army was replaced by an early modern one was as long as The Hundred Years War. 2. The other great impact of Hundred Years War was gunpowder. You cannot overstate the importance of gunpowder. It gave the centralised state the means to enforce its authority.

[@Inaki199595]

Here in Spain have a similar problem with Madrid: It sucks all the resources of the rest of the country, specially both Castilles. Barcelona, Valencia and Seville stands up as a sort of secondary powerhouses, being Barcelona the most powerful of the three at competing with Madrid. Railroad system in Spain is also centralized around Madrid: Many important ways go through Madrid.

[@tadesubaru1383]

Don't forget Bilbao!

[@nicbahtin4774]

It's natural that most countries develop big mega city that everything surround it. Moscow, Tokyo, Bagdad, Cairo, Tel Aviv, London, seoul. It's just natural

[@andrescastejon5090]

I was actually going to comment about this since it's really funny that policies centered around decentralization had the absolute adverse effect in the present day. Madrid was built from the ground up to provide a centralised system no one can debate that, centuries later though and we see that decentralist policies ( Letting each Comunidad autonoma define their tax brackets), making Madrid a more attractive place to either work or set up enterpise, since it has lower Income tax, no inheritance tax, etc etc which the other communities/provinces cannot rival. You could also include the decentralizational policies introduced in Cataluña that gave birth to Puigdemont's 10 second independence as another win for madrid; Since the political instability it created created a HUGE exodus of enterprises who had HQ in Barcelona, fearful of the current political climate and being as Merkel put it "kicked out of the eu". When all of this happened dozens of large companies set their HQ up in Madrid. In conclusion, decentralization is just a measure of the agency a certain territory has over itself, use that agency to scare away the businesses and workers, and you will be unadvertendly drive them towards economic centralization.

[@gonzalo8213]

Tremendos cojonazos... España con las autonomías está mucho más cerca de ser como EEUU o Alemania que Francia.

[@kwanlinus6999]

@@andrescastejon5090 It doesn't help that most modern movements calling for regional decentralization are left-wing, many of which have a rather adverse attitude towards capitalism

[@jerrymacctheukrainanlorema7659]

I saw the video title and surrendered to this offer immediately

[@Kraut_the_Parrot]

lmao

[@jerrymacctheukrainanlorema7659]

@@Kraut_the_Parrot Just seemed as a fitting thing to do for some reason

[@Kraut_the_Parrot]

@@jerrymacctheukrainanlorema7659 Do you know why so many rivers flow through France? Because they take the path of least resistance.

[@Otek_Nr.3]

@@Kraut_the_Parrot Damn, you can't just say something like that! This definitely crosses the Maginot line!

[@smal750]

​@@Kraut_the_Parrot thats why austria was obliterated at saint Germain 😊

[@Galnar]

Wake up babe, Kraut just uploaded a new video

[@talesofunity]

Captions for the National Assembly debate on religious freedom (In French): *yelling subsides* "But surely you cannot possibly believe"- *yelling resumes* "ANY belief is far more Justified than your"- *screaming begins* "You would destroy this country!" *screaming intensifies* *something Incomprehensible*- "baguette!!" *yelling* "Your mother too - AND ALL of your family!" *screaming / yelling*

[@mariannerichard1321]

I wouldn't say Versailles is a McMansion, it's more like a convention center + a hotel + a showroom. The decor is maximalist because it needs to exhibit every high end goods you can order to decorate your own Versailles replica in your home country (for foreign diplomats) or your country palace (for local nobility). About these mirror doors, it was the biggest mirror ever made back then, when you open them, there are glass doors by the same design, also the biggest glass panels at the time. It just look gaudy to our modern eyes, but it was revolutionary back then. And I'm only mentioning the technology behind the fountains of the garden, but the entire palace is a show for very high end, both technologically and luxury wise, the country was producing back then. The McMansion would be the Petit Trianon on the same premise.

[@juniorjames7076]

Would argue that the UAE and Dubai function as modern versions of Medieval Versaille for thier rulers?

[@tibsky1396]

The factor Agincourt is quite overestimated. The roots of nobility was powerful in France, and they were numerous enough. The nobles dead at the battle still had children, and big heritage behind them. This somewhat crippled the kingdom for a short while at this moment, but was quickly recovered afterward. In fact, the effects of the civil war between Armagnacs and Burgundians were more devastating for nobles at this point than the battle itself. Even after HYW, The Kings of France still had struggle establishing their authorities with Feudal lords. Louis XIV had to face a big revolt of many lords in France as a child ("Les Frondes" 1648-1653), hence his wish to control them after this trauma.

[@KnowHistory]

As I am currently working on a study on various romance languages throughout time, seeing a video about the same topic from you being recommended was probably the best thing that happened to me today

[@Kraut_the_Parrot]

Hey hey. Nice seeing you again. Hope you are well.

[@1425363878]

I never learned any of this in history in my German school. We just had Hitler, the Romans, Hitler, China, Hitler, the French Revolution and Hitler.

[@Pouimatiom]

In welchem Bundesland bist du zur Schule gegangen? Wir hatten den NS erst ab der 9. Klasse und teilweise noch im LK, natürlich ist ein Fokus darauf verständlich (man schaue sich in den USA mal an, wie viele Menschen nichts über den Ausmaß den Holocaust wissen), aber bei uns war deutlich mehr als nur der NS in Geschichte

[@seneca983]

School history classes don't have infinite time available to them.

[@user-bi7xd8ry5p]

At least you had China. School in Greece is like "we have a very long history and *boy* are we ready to use it"

[@nicolaswohrer2272]

In that order ?

[@wurzel9671]

@@seneca983 didn't stop my school from doing a Hitler regurgitating the same stuff for like 3 years in a row

[@CelestinWIDMER]

I’m a French student. The "course" I want to study in next year (prépa MPSI) is present in one single high school in my whole région (three if you count the new larger régions with no identity or personnality), but this course is present in FOURTEEN schools in the single city of Paris, and about as much around Paris. In my region, there is about 1 school per 1 000 000 inhabitant, but there is 1 school per 350 000 inhabitants around Paris.

[@kwanlinus6999]

Just asking, does this inequality in resources lead to anti-Parisian sentiment for non-Parisians?

[@ghirahimlefabuleux8984]

​@@kwanlinus6999 It's a common joke that everyone that doesn't live in Paris actively hates Paris. But from experience it is somewhat based on reality.

[@bretonneux3389]

​@@kwanlinus6999 kind of. But not that much. People move too often from Paris or to Paris, and there is not a real parisian identity. Identity fractures are not really among regions (except in small remote regions that are basically nations, aka Corsica or the Basque country) and it's not either Paris/the countryside as the different parts of "la province" (the countryside) but rather in the ethnicities (native french, and different communities of immigrants, either born in France or direct immigrants ("blédards") and social classes, and all are present in Paris and every big city of France, ethnicities that are real, despite the denial of the left and the fact that ethnic statistics are forbidden in France, so there are no official ethnicities in France. In fact, the old model of french assimilation that erased both the regional identities and the previous generations of immigrants, was supposed to absorb all ethnicities in the french ethnicity, but that model has been progressively dumped since the 1970's, due to americanization, globalization, too high immigration, and the new EU laws. Today many people in France, want to restore it, as it's obviously the cause for current ethnic and religious divisions in France, along economic inequalities, but it seems difficult : immigrants don't want it, immigrant descendants don't want it, the left don't want it, many native french among the upper classes who enjoy travelling abroad, having dual citizenship, and feeling their identity tied to another country, don't want it either, plus this model is condemned by the EU laws.

[@chadgoose7886]

12:20 he says the same line twice in a row on accident lol

[@desertfox55]

As an American if local, state or federal offices attempted to regulate any of the things listed in from 18:25 to 19:18 they would either be protested or not obeyed in the slightest

[@BlueGamingRage]

and rightfully so

[@alekm5646]

In most of Europe too, this kind of "democratic authoritarian" state is really kind of unique to France.

[@pierren___]

​@@BlueGamingRagewrongfully. Your governement must help you defend yourselves against anti-system minorities

[@pierren___]

​@@alekm5646its not authoritarian

[@guigui11001]

Two videos about my country lets gooooooo 🇨🇵🇨🇵🇨🇵 About french centralisation, i am what frenchies call a "ch'ti", a term used to describe a bunch of different peoples (french flemish, picards, french wallons etc) living near the border with Belgium. The picard culture was crushed by industrialisation, centralisation and also bc picard is seen as a backward, working class, digusting accent, poor etc. Flemish culture on the other hand was erased even more with the death of the few last flemish speaking peoples in French Flanders. Other french dont know the difference between flemish and picards (they are all "Ch'ti" remember) and the belgians with whom we share more cultural similarities than with other frenchies consider us as just other dirty snobish frenchies. The vast majority of inhabitants of the départements of Nord and Pas-de-Calais consider themselves French before anything else. And i think that is my case. But just look at the names of the départements. It is not "Flandre" or "Artois" or "Hainaut". There is a Picardie further South tho. But my point is that from a XVIIIth century parisian perspective, these regions were only the border with the Austrians, and later, a region fit for industrialisation.

[@helioslegigantosaure6939]

Flemish are very smell^#*y

[@tomasvrabec1845]

Two videos?

[@holygooff]

True. In the Middle Ages Picardie, Flandres and Artois were some of the most developed places in all of France with a very high culture. You can't miss it if you learn about medieval history of France or the Low countries. Nowadays the North of France (most of current Hauts-de France) until you get closer to Paris feels very familiar to me as Belgian. Especially the very north (Flandre, Artois), but also large parts of Picardie until you get closer to Paris, where the brick architecture starts to disappear in favour of the more standard French architecture. The landscape also is very similar, even though it's much more sparsely populated once you reach Picardie. I really like this region! 😍 But you're right. In the end the north of France is still very French in culture and mentality. There are many things in common with Belgians, but also a ton of differences.

[@guigui11001]

@@holygooff Haha i love Belgium i have some relatives who live on the other side of the border. When i was a kid, some things like celebrating Saint-Nicolas just before Christmas, burning a wooden statue representing the "père fouettard", seeing giant statues representing historical and fictional characters of a specific city during carnival, the beffrois in like every cities, even some words that my grandparents used to say in patois. All these things, i thougt were french. But later when i travelled around my own country, i realized that they were traditions of my own region. I am a bit bitter against the costs of French centralisation. The systematic purge of everything that is not republican enough like patois and regional identities. But it could have been worse. France still treats its overseas territories as colonies and the parisian scorn against them is outrageous.

[@TheResidance]

Le savoyard est 100% d'accord haha! I'm very happy that the french are slowly starting to remember their regional identities. While the french identity is something to be respected, I think a lot of nuance about the regional identities and needs are really lost when politicians choose to focus on having a single "french" (cough Parisian cough) identity. Each region has its own long history and diverse culture that often has more overlap with neighboring countries than with the Ile de France region (see: savoy, Brittany, Alsace, corsica...). And I honestly don't think it helps in political debates of modern issues where there are attempts to force what can seem like an outside idea of what it means to be french. Like there is such a genuine fear in french politics that the slightest differentiation between what it means to be french will lead to the total collapse of the entire political system.

[@markflorimbio5699]

Can't wait to see what you have in store next. Keep up the great work

[@cdcdrr]

*Henry V:* Your armies are weak, madman. *Charles VI:* You can't win, English. If you strike me down I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine. England then proceeded to kill all those recalcitrant nobles, and allow Charles VII to create an administrative monarchy capable of outfighting England.

[@Yellow-kp9gs]

It’s very interesting that Henry V was able to do so well because of a mentally ill king and then the French recovered during Henry VIs reign who was also notorious for his mental health problems.

[@nicolaswohrer2272]

@@Yellow-kp9gs Suppose it runs in the family

[@noah8690]

Sorry, u got Swedish absolutism wrong. The peasantry were the greatest in favour of absolutism, to together crush the power of the high nobility. The parlamentet of 1680 in Stockholm shows this.

[@noah8690]

I even wrote my dissertation on this. The financial and thus political intrest of the and king and peasentry were the same.

[@LivingIronicallyinEurope]

It's commendable that you're trying to evolve & improve your art style, & I can see what you were going for, but I don't think it works that well for your video. The art in the first half is maybe too abstract & it's not very pleasant to look at.

[@Kraut_the_Parrot]

Yeah. I noticed. I wont be using that style again.

[@ryans5073]

You didn’t just go straight from Robespierre to napoleon the 3rd did you? You sure there wasn’t anyone else involved in centralization?

[@shzarmai]

Please include the sources for this video somewhere for further reading please 🙏 📚 📖 📙 📘

[@ldelgg]

Yes!!!!!!

[@tuotuolu2805]

First : 19:45 FURINA Second: wasn't the idea of popular sovereignty first achieved in Europe under the execution of Charles which was at least 100 years before the french revolution

[@Jay_Johnson]

Tbh it is a pretty debatable point. You can argue that the use of popular sovereignty as justification for ordinances by the parliament during the civil war and commonwealth ‘achieved’ popular sovereignty. This was overruled on the restoration of the monarchy and has never been used since. In contrast whilst France may have used it later during the French Revolution the reasoning behind it was ideological not pragmatic and the French have in their many constitutions reiterated it. I guess the term ‘Achieved’ gives ambiguity as to whether it is first to use it or first to have been continually using it.

[@pierren___]

Peoples sovereignty was developed by french writers La Boetie & Jean Bonin inn 1500s. So yeah it spread to Europe after

[@simply_john]

Awesome video, nice to see a collab. Keep up the good work :)

[@imperiumgraecum9126]

Fun fact at 5:31 : recording and imposing taxes based on (smoking) chimneys originated in mid-8th century ERE.

[@civilengineer3349]

I've seen in three documentaries about the Middle Ages that suggest most homes just had open hearths rather than chimneys. Smoke just went out the window or through the thatched roof. Im guessing the chimney tax mostly cost the rich, namely landlords and some townsmen

[@thecactusman17]

Can't wait for my shift to finish so I can listen on my way home! Was just wondering yesterday when the next Kraut video would release!

[@s.kurosawa8958]

Great video, as always. Thank you for your hard work.

[@westonwadsworth8177]

Great video! Please keep making more! Ravignon’s art style was better but holy crap please buy a better microphone. It’s such a sharp drop in listening enjoyability in the switch from Kraut to Ravignon.

[@mechs_with_hands]

France will always have my undieing gratitude for the role it played in founding the US, however I feel the development of our countries will never feel completely similar. Culturaly I think there is too wide a margine between acceptance of centralization between France and the US. Most of the US is leery of overly empowering the central government, whereas many of the protests in France seem to be rebuking steps already taken by the central government (please correct me if I'm wrong). Is it the Frontier Thesis in action, or a deeply entrenched Conservative movement, I don't know I'm just a 32 yr old with an AAS in Diesel Tech.

[@Croz89]

France helped in the revolutionary war, but it didn't knock the British cultural mindset (of the time) out of the Americans.

[@barmybarmecide5390]

None of the protests in recent years have been any sort of rejection of the strong centralised system, only of how it works for them. As mentioned in the video, this model is popular in France, on the left and right. They only disagree on specifics, questions of who and how much rather than whether

[@mechs_with_hands]

​@@barmybarmecide5390 The idea I was trying say was what you just said, unfortunately I tried to say it after a pint or two of beer. Sorry.

[@pierren___]

Paradoxaly, the demonstrations are due to decentralised government. France doesnt have centralisation today which leads to massive incoherence.

[@savabout6487]

The French court and the notion of jostling for position at court has its roots in the Eastern Roman Empire. The system of titles, honors, and ceremonies were all lifted directly or indirectly from Roman(Byzantine) Empire traditions. These customs were brought gradually but exponentially grew with the Crusades. Particularly the 4th, which saw Latin, mostly french, lord coop Roman practices to legitimize their conquest. I'd recommend "Book of Ceremonies of Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos" for anyone who wants to learn more about east roman rituals and traditions.

[@savabout6487]

However, unlike French despotism, the Roman Vasilis (Βασίλης) was not tied to the person themselves, rather it was an office to be held. Even though the Roman Vasilis was "ordained by God," he could also lose favor with God, so to speak. If an Emperor was not popular or incompetent, the court could remove him under the guise of losing favor with God . This wasn't "legal" perse, but it was a common practice. A sort of coup d'état democracy. In France, the person who was king was entitled to his throne by being born. The man was inseparable from the office.

[@elgirl19]

Little bit of a timeline error. Absolutism did not exist in the 1400s or the 1500s it was more around the 1600s where absolutism became popular. That is 200 years after the battle of Agincourt. And Versailles expansions were built around a similar time. So while Agincourt did kill a lot of nobles feudalism was still going strong in France for a few more centuries.

[@LarthV]

I mean, you can definitely see the first ideas of absolutism forming in the 1400s with Francis I (or for that matter, English Henry VIII or several others). As far as I know, France was already on a path to some proto-absolutist state since the Albigense Crusade at the beginning of the 1200s, when the power of the Occitan nobility was all but shattered, significantly increasing the direct control of the king.

[@MrJethroha]

I think it should be mentioned that, though the premise of the Civil Constitution of the Clergy claims authority from popular sovereignty, if it had been put up to a public referendum and the peasants were allowed to vote, it would have surely have been defeated. Its passage led to uprisings all over France and the eventual collapse of the Jacobin government in the Thermidorian reaction. So people at the time thought it was overreaching too.

[@fjooyou]

Don't like the change of narrators, especially when audio quality/settings changes. Feels like I'm suddenly watching another video, so that's what I'll do: close this one and watch something else.

[@safruddinaly5822]

Thank you for uploading again, welcome back

[@m.a.9571]

Man my day gets better whenever you make a new video ❤

[@motionpictures6629]

Everybody always forgets that Versailles was inspired by Kyoto.

[@tpalmer4757]

I feel like in the UK despite it being a lot less centralised than France, a lot of the power is still in Westminster and a lot of the economy.

[@EarthForces]

Consider the massive influence of the "City of London" (the financial centre) as a big basis for that.

[@Croz89]

I think if you consider England by itself, it might be *more* centralised than France.

[@andresmartinezramos7513]

Croz is making a good point. London very much acts towards England as Paris does to France.

[@barmybarmecide5390]

Oh my god will we ever move past the "Haussmann anti-riot boulevards" and "Agincourt crippled the french aristocracy forever!" myths

[@AhNoWiC]

You're at 102k views already man., congrats on hitting it big with this one.

[@phraya_techapit9910]

Babe wake up, Kraut uploaded a new video

[@Fewrfreyut]

Ah the classic “states make war and war makes states” thesis. Even now it’s a pretty well-supported thesis, and i’ve yet to see a systematic counter-thesis that more thoroughly resolves centralization and statehood questions.

[@shivamchakraborty9573]

Literally yesterday I was searching if any new videos came out of this channel and was disappointed it did not, and finally today he uploaded!!

[@bdellovibrioo5242]

Only just started watching but I've got to compliment the artwork in this one, very beautiful and well thought out

[@MisterTidster]

I have never been able to spell bureaucracy correctly, but now it’s so much easier now that I learned it’s from La Bure. Getting the first four letters correct at least gives me a fighting chance with spell check!

[@-fridericus2251]

Tho competent in general. This video as many others falls into the wide oversimplification which in turn leads to straight away foolishness (on topic of Agincourt in particular)

[@jaredmartinez7323]

Had to look you up manually from time to time cause youtube aint letting me know if a new vid's up. Nice to see something recent. Damn youtube for doing this shit

[@maciek4729]

The artwork is beautiful, fun change from the country ball format. Great job mr Kraut

[@jorgemariosanchezrodriguez7527]

As always it’s a pleasure to discover your videos. Interesting points, but as always for the last 2 years, TO MANY SHORCUTS ! To many oversimplifications and généralisations that tend to give a rather incomplete picture of the subject. But, finally some progress :D

[@davidescristofaros2241]

You should list your sources in the description. The books you read, maybe even cite the precise pages and lines you used for a certain piece of information you explained in the video.

[@UkuKeller-vs7dj]

The cool thing about Kraut uploading so rarely is that it makes one happier than channels who upload once a week

[@beckettshort]

Great stuff, keep it up man.

[@pollbun7490]

Wohoo! New kraut video!!

[@menmenm]

Cool video and topic, but I'll say it, please get a better mic for the collab. It was jarring to listen to compared to Kraut.

[@ldelgg]

Please put your sources for the video on the description 🙏

[@onig9999]

Great video, as always.

[@andrejoshuamahinaybahian6687]

Today, Kraut published a video. Today is a good day.

[@chrislovick4903]

He’s backkkk!!!

[@spaguettoltd.7933]

I love the new art style!!! It looks so cool

[@mariomouse8265]

Is over-centralization a problem in Japan as well? Where the majority of economic activity and infrastructure is concentrated around Tokyo-Osaka-Yokohama?

[@peter_de_Jong817]

Nice clear citation of sources...

[@lolfert]

It's the first thing I looked for lol

[@logangustavson]

This is a Kraut video. Cmon bro. Just sit back and vibe.

[@dale6947]

If you want sources, why are you using KZbin? You may as well complain about the quality of food in a McDonalds.

[@peter_de_Jong817]

@dale6947 Some people care to know if someone is speaking the truth and not pulling it out of their arse.

[@dale6947]

@@peter_de_Jong817 If you are relying on KZbin videos to learn about this then you would not be able to judge if the sources used are reliable or helpful anyway. You might as well trust them or just do something better with your time.

[@Norrieification]

Thank you!! The Peace of Westphalia thing always grinds my gears. Imagined Communities by Benedict Anderson is brilliant for understanding the origins of nation states.

[@rbeckett791]

Friday evening, see a video about French centralisation, long week at work but this has made my day!

[@memes7237]

Nice Furina reference there, especially with the rain :D

[@obamabinladen4109]

12:06 Isn't it interesting that the English had already managed to do this 140 years earlier?

[@SebiSuper9mil]

Great video, I learned a lot about French bureaucracy

[@casparcoaster1936]

REally enjoyed this, thanks much!!

[@gaspardfrileux1816]

De retour pour nous combler !

[@philippbaumann9113]

Really amazing Artwork for this one.

[@SuiuS1]

Love the new art style.

[@rafaw387]

This realisability in the centralisation correlates a lot with my home country of Argentina

[@ryzziktrognesou1]

I'm halfway through the video, and it's really interesting :) I'd just like to say something about the drawings (seen up to 9:00). I think they're very beautiful and do often a good job of illustrating what you're saying, but there were moments where they were really too abstract or too much about trying to make a reference (like Howl's Moving Castle). Still my opinion, but also, the drawing (like the one illustrating the king) lacks the sobriety that Polandballs could have had. I understand the desire to move away from Polandballs, if only to respect new sensibilities, but I think it would be a huge plus to try and draw characters that are as easy to read as the old ones.

[@darkfool2000]

Ravignon sounds like he has a bone to pick with Americans. His digs at America and Americans come out of left field, apropos of nothing.

[@glennpro4323]

Quality video as always i don't have more to say.

[@captainfatfoot2176]

You guys did a good job on this one

[@user-zi9hg]

im sorry but calling versailles a mcmansion is the wildest take i've heard this year. not french nor monarchist but am for some reason deeply offended

[@andresmartinezramos7513]

Perhaps because while it is indeed a massive display of money and power it is not a monument to capitalism as a McMansion would be?

[@lassassindu5071]

24:00 I am a French citizen without a driving license and must warn you : NO. Travel without a car in France is a challenge, yearly life without a car is only possible in cities, employment without a car is almost impossible.

[@gjk282]

This is brilliant. Very insightful.

[@raquetdude]

Arguably the sovereign state came from the rebellion against absolutism, which was first in England and Netherlands rather than France.

[@pomtubes1205]

bruh whispering in my right eear for an advert wth

[@pomtubes1205]

btw luv ur vids

[@Kraut_the_Parrot]

sorry for screwing up the audio

[@pomtubes1205]

@@Kraut_the_Parrot nah bro its fine its making my ears all tingly and stuff lmao (holy sh he replied)

[@Thinkingnamesishard]

This glosses over the origins of French centralisation and is about description of French centralisation

[@hmlegegend]

YES, today is going to be a good day.Kraut has uploaded.

[@noahhess4955]

Yes new video! 👍

[@gammajunkie2984]

yo the art is a bit too goofy at times the content is great tho