Why did the League of Three Emperors fail twice? (Short Animated Documentary)

In the late 19th century there were two (almost three) attempts by Germany to build an alliance comprising of itself, Austria-Hungary and Russia with the sole purpose of isolating France. This alliance, the League of the Three Emperors failed to take hold twice but given how strong it would have been why did it fail? To find out watch this short and simple animated history documentary.
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[@menitobussolini659]

"The Swedish and anyone who isn't Denmark alliance" God I love this channel.

[@cybersnake16]

Best video of all, it is now glorius.

[@galatheumbreon6862]

The Swedish-Danish rivalry is very strong isn't it?

[@gezzarandom]

I didn’t know the rivalry ran that deep. 😂

[@brandonlyon730]

@@galatheumbreon6862I think they had the most wars with each other than any other 2 rival states in known history ever since the fall of the Kalmar Union.

[@scotandiamapping4549]

Was that a joke or was he being serious?

[@amk4956]

That actually explains a lot why Bismarck thought that Europe would be drug into a massive war due to some damn thing in the Balkans, it literally kept wrecking his foreign policy goals

[@doncarlin9081]

And Europe was dragged into a massive war, and due to some damn Balkan thing.

[@fhffvgju6299]

Well if he had stuck with his ally russia and promoted big Bulgaria then nothing would've happened. So it's his fault. That like french and british people wondering why the middle east and Africa are a mess today.

[@riograndedosulball248]

@@fhffvgju6299 however, let's remember that the Greek royal family was a part of the Wittelsbach royal family. Giving away that much Greek land was going to upset the Greek king, which in time would upset the Bavarian king, and all southern Germany for that matter. It was a lose-lose situation. Thank you small Balkan nations, you doomed us all

[@fhffvgju6299]

@@riograndedosulball248 greek lands? Bruh those were Bulgarian lands. A little before 1878 the ottomans allowed bulgarians to have a separate church from the greek one and all those territories voted(yes the voted) to be part of the Bulgarian church. Most greeks at the time were in western anatolia. Learn history before you talk u imperialist dork

[@OtherDAS]

@@fhffvgju6299 Like there was no history before that point when they were Greek Lands. (and before that... infinatum.)

[@kargalith7026]

"The Balkans happened". A phrase that sums up so much history.

[@oenrn]

Napoleon + the Balkans = explanation for all European history in the last 200 years.

[@germankoga8640]

@@oenrn underrated comment, also you forgot the British

[@VladTaushanov]

@@germankoga8640 the fundamental rule of warfare is to always let the British win.

[@riograndedosulball248]

@@germankoga8640 Napoleon + Balkans are at least 50% eternal Anglo involvement anyways

[@saguntum-iberian-greekkons7014]

The Balkans, kinda the middle east of Europe

[@galatheumbreon6862]

"he would try again but he was too busy being fired" that killed me, bloody well done

[@planescaped]

Should really consider Kaiser Wilhelm the Dumbass for his nickname.

[@sharkronical]

@@planescaped Wilhelm the Second? more like Wilhelm the second to go to the dumbass club 1914

[@sharkronical]

@@night6724 his doctrine was too much of "Germany shall conquer Europe and victoriously dominate the continent," a very unrealistic thing to do without a proper alliance (considering WW1 and WW2 Germany has been memed for not having any good ally). Wilhelm was hot-headed, quick to act without thinking, and just generally didn't have enough security to lead a nation, especially in the early 20th century. Bismarck was still able to predict things like "The Balkans would be the one starting a war" and "The kaiser will lose his power 20 years from my death" even when he was in the old days. Bismarck was a professional diplomat, Wilhelm was not. Twice Germany fought a two front war, and twice they failed. Wilhelm was not an idiot (I was just playing), but he was certainly not the best leader by any means.

[@sharkronical]

@@night6724 also, The Ottomans and Austria-Hungary was also bitter to each other, yet still could be held together by Germany. I think a deeper sanctions on Austria and more compromise with Russia would end up nicely. Or at least could stop Russia from just so blatantly supporting France. Also, Your Majesty, how is it being a Sun King in the afterlife?

[@anglo-deutsche-egyptian7831]

We need a vedio for that one, why did the kaiser fire Bismarck

[@napolien1310]

The brilliant thing about Bismarck is that when they started winning against Austria he didn't continue and humiliat them he immediately asked for peace after he showed how strong they are so he can ally Germany to Austria in case France or Russia try to declare war on them.

[@abhiprakash74999]

He was afraid France would join the fray against Prussia (which still didn't have all the smaller German states in it's orbit completely) and there was no way Prussia could win a war on two fronts. The longer the war lasted the greater the chance of a 2 front war. So he pulled his punches after some objectives were reached.

[@napolien1310]

@@abhiprakash74999 that's true, but before starting the war he already started negotiations with france about a case of war against Austria and if I'm not mistaken France didn't respond or kinda brushed it off, also Italy joined with Prussia even tho they didn't have that big of an impact.

[@blackpowderuser373]

@@napolien1310 France just decided to stay neutral, which was enough for Prussia.

[@Ihatechoosingnames242]

@@abhiprakash74999 he achieved all his goals and he bought france of beforehand, of course if he would have demanded too much he would upset the balance of power which would have ended in war against the rest of europe but he achieved all his goal so it wasnt"just some objectives"

[@napolien1310]

@@blackpowderuser373 exactly, they did nothing

[@Vyrene]

The fact that Bulgaria was the main reason why the league of the three emperor's alliance failed twice is the most balkan thing they've done

[@alanpennie8013]

We should give some credit to Bosnia as well.

[@InternetTaliban]

ok so Russia is supporting bulgaria but germany doesnt want a balkan supperpower that is an russian ally and makes everything possible to stop it and it makes the relations of the 3 nations that want to ally bad

[@cones914]

Actually it was France because if they didn't do French things like preparing for war they would never push Germany into forming the league of the three emperors and thus it couldn't have failed.

[@andrewgates8158]

Remember Bulgarian is the MOTHER TONGUE of the Russian language.

[@capncake8837]

@@andrewgates8158 Really? Are you sure you don’t mean the alphabet?

[@pagansbasin6657]

Russia, Germany, Austria-Hungary: we’re scared of change Also them: radically changes two seconds later

[@jakekn7304]

He was referring to democracy and letting minorities have self determination

[@planescaped]

I mean, that's pretty much the story of every nation from the 1700's onward. Change tended to start coming whether you wanted it or not due to changes in technology and society. The old mindsets of the middle ages going back to the classical/roman era were finally coming apart. The pilgrims were the original rebels who were sick of everyone's shit and the slow progress of change in Europe, and were gonna go do their own thing, -with blackjack and hookers-

[@lalehiandeity1649]

@@planescaped Continuing to the present.

[@jonathanwebster7091]

@@planescaped I mean, you're leaving out the whole "English civil war" and Magna Carta thing if we're talking about rebellion against absolute royal authority. Not the mention the 'Glorious Revolution' of 1688 that ousted James II.

[@alexander-mauricemillamlae4567]

ACTUALLY it was like 3.85 seconds. source: am german

[@AuroraBoost]

"Swedish, anyone who isn't Denmark alliance" I love this guy's humour

[@clefton3112]

Come to Britain then mate!

[@LexlutherVII]

@@clefton3112 How about you,come to Sweden,😉

[@jk-gb4et]

@@LexlutherVII COME TO BRAZIL (sorry I had to)

[@fanbuoy9234]

@@jk-gb4et Hell, I haven't left the country in two years. At this point I'd consider a vacation in Syria, so don't go tempting people with Brazil.

[@clefton3112]

@@LexlutherVII ay if i could i would, Sweden sounds like a lovely place and i hope to visit someday

[@docterzero1503]

As a Dane, I can firmly say we would make a Denmark - anyone who isn't sweden alliance as well.

[@seneca983]

Didn't that kind of happen during the Great Northern War?

[@flamingrubys11]

i love how sweden and denmark stoll absoluteky hate eachother hundreds of years later

[@thedarkdragon1437]

Except that Estonia doesn't like either of you lol.

[@oilersridersbluejays]

Estonia 1.0 didn’t even exist until after World War I, got annexed in 1940, and Estonia 2.0 has only existed for 30 years.

[@TheManofthecross]

but if you were forced to ally with sweden what would you do then. would you die alone or at least take the swedes as a ally which is a better then nothing approach?

[@WayOutGaming]

"Once again it was Bulgaria..." Bulgaria: "What can I say? I'm a catalyst. I make things happen"

[@Admiral45-10]

What happened? The Balkans happened.

[@BrandonVout]

Serbia: "Hold my Dunjevača."

[@wordsmith451]

@@BrandonVout Serbia: hold on one sec while I make a false alliamce with the Croats to suppress Bulgarian nationalism and enforce a pan-Slavic dictate to control anybody among us who doesn't see us as the mater race. Let's support separatism and the creation of a fictional irridentist state so that we might win more territory regardless of rightful claim.

[@user-vm2wi8no1s]

@@wordsmith451 Damn, someone's pissed.

[@morbidsearch]

Makes sense. Bulgaria is shaped like a cat.

[@KonigGustavAdolph]

"Help each other suppress revolts" Poland bursts into flames.

[@Janoip]

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[@rathinmajumder441]

Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth* not Poland mind you

[@hkezbbpb]

@@rathinmajumder441 flames literaly only on Polish part :v

[@lukasz1kier]

Considering that in years 1794-1864 there were 6 Polish uprisings, it sounds about right.

[@vrsjwjwjwhwj2326]

@@lukasz1kier *More than 10.

[@connorgolden4]

I’ve never heard of this alliance or why it failed but I’m glad that question is being answered!

[@capncake8837]

Same.

[@Dara-wk5ty]

I guess you only learn about it in Germany (and Austria)

[@konradsobieszek3751]

and Poland

[@genovayork2468]

And Romania.

[@jonathanwebster7091]

And Britain.

[@andrewmacdade1636]

This reminds me of the intro to the Extra History miniseries on Bismarck. The last time Otto speaks to Wilhelm II he tells him the German Empire will collapse within 20 years because of “some damn stupid thing in the balkans.” Now it makes sense why he’d think that so early on.

[@Ugglehjelm]

Know it all makes sense!

[@ecurewitz]

It's always something in the Balkans, isn't it and that was a great series too

[@christiantarnoski1231]

@@ecurewitz It's just like Napoleon... is always Napoleon.

[@ecurewitz]

@@christiantarnoski1231 Napoleon and the Balkans! Sounds like a great name for a band

[@christiantarnoski1231]

@@ecurewitz thier motto could be "create havoc and let everyone else to deal with the consequences"

[@ARN012]

Germany, Austria and Russia: "we have achieved peace in Europe!" Bulgaria: "Ahem, excume me..." Germany, Austria and Russia: "Oh coitus, we forgot about the Balkans!"

[@blackpowderuser373]

A man of culture, I see

[@witalian1]

It was austira's fault that aliance failed. Bulgarians have every right to fight for independence, but austrians for some reason think they are entitled to have a sphere of influence over slavic people on the balkans and so they saw expansion of russian influence as a threat.

[@witalian1]

@علي ياسر lol, no.

[@AntonDDimov]

@@witalian1 true

[@witalian1]

@@themanbehindtheslaughter7633 Austria took over bosnia and made serbia go fight against the other balkan countries as a compensation. Fuck Austira.

[@knuppel8875]

"So when it comes to alliances in the late 19th century, Germany was fairly promiscuous" had me laughing. Great channel.

[@mikespearwood3914]

With the fishnet stockings as well! XD

[@kilotun8316]

Everyone wanted a piece of that bratwurst.

[@J0hnHenrySNEEDen]

Shirtless with a Lederhossen on

[@robertrichard6107]

The liebfraumilch was so titillating.

[@nikobellic570]

Bismarck in fishnet stockings - best depiction of a country willing to ally ever

[@philip911]

You have to appreciate this guy being on KZbin He makes golden content

[@navaryn2938]

ikr, there are few youtubers that make me actually think "i am really grateful for your work"

[@jamesbissonette8002]

So glad this amazing channel is up over 1M subs.

[@Wiggyam]

For free, nonetheless

[@JADE-vc3dt]

Yeah this Chanel and few others are really doing good job here 😊😊🙏

[@georgecostanza9440]

I love his videos I just wish he ad a series of longer videos

[@therae4988]

The Balkans: -Violence is not the answer... -Violence is the question and the answer is YES.

[@cowboybeboop9420]

It`s kind of the West`s fault for screwing up the borders though. If they had just given us our ancestral lands where our people live we`d all be chill and watch from the sidelines. It`s not like the West is any better. France had a colonial empire the size of a continent and fought in WW1 over two shits of land on the German border that were ethnically German anyway. Germany literally put Hitler into power after getting the treatment Balkan nations have been receiving for centuries. Britain has waged countless wars over literal rocks in the middle of the ocean.

[@therae4988]

@@cowboybeboop9420 Sure man, name the borders o the ancestral land of serbia.

[@cowboybeboop9420]

@@therae4988 That`s pretty easy. I`d say basically modern Serbia without Voivodina and a few Bulgarian villages but with some of the lands in Bosnia and Montenegro.

[@therae4988]

@@cowboybeboop9420 Wow, then if everyone could agree to those borders there woldnt have been any war. How easy problem solved it's just the us and the Eu saying what borders should look like in the balkans.

[@NotAnAlex_Guy]

“The question we never ask, but we give the answers to” should be the motto of History Matters.

[@mar71n32n0v1lLL0]

I'm surprised Bismark never even considered offering an alliance with Great Britain, since their policy since the 1500 or so had been "France can't have nice things"... One would assume that both powers would actually vibe together, also forcing France to consider a war on two fronts...

[@theoutlook55]

Part may have been that there wasn't much that Germany could offer Britain, except hindering future German colonial expansion.

[@darth0tator]

there actually were attempts...especially since the royal families were also closely connected...but that was also a problem because the royals didn't like each other also germans efforts to play a role as a colonial power really pissed of the british...especially the part where the germans would need a ships to protect their trade... so there were a lot of things connecting germany and GB but there was also a lot going against that

[@thanhhoangnguyen4754]

@@darth0tator Here i thought German Industry would offer the British Empire more opportunity for their Empire especially in ship building industry. If those get in alliance like that wonder how other would feel

[@shadowlord1418]

The reason was personal Wilhelm did not like the English

[@yarpen26]

Bismarck did everything in his power not to stand in the way of the British interests, but his greatest political project in and of itself had put a nail in this ambition: the unification of Germany. Having Central Europe absolutely trimming with statelets ever at each other's throat was the cornerstone of the beloved British tenet of continental power balance. Getting allies to keep France at bay in those circumstances was cheap and easy. Now, Britain had _two_ powers to worry about just across the sea. It's often forgotten that the precursor to Well's War of the Worlds was the invasion literature, bestselling between 1871 and 1914, which detailed instances of countries being invaded by others. In the case of the UK, the invader was always either France or Germany. And if these two were ever to team up (unlikely because of Alsaice and Lorraine, but still), then the British Empire would quite possibly face utter annihiliation.

[@nickmacarius3012]

*England: 1000 years of "To Hell with France!"* *Germany:* "To Hell with France! Want to be friends, England??" *England has switched teams to the "To Hell with Germany!" club.*

[@sabhishek9289]

England switches teams there because Germany (Kaiser Wilhelm) stupidly builds a massive Navy that poses a serious threat to England. In reality, the Kaiser never wanted to be enemies with England but he was an idiot so all the decisions he took backfired on him spectacularly. One of these decisions was to side with the boars against the English in South Africa as the boars were not worth anything in terms of alliance.

[@albertwayne2323]

@@sabhishek9289 So the seas are English property and no country can develop itself a large Navy beacuse that will upset England? That was the fail of the German emperor?

[@sabhishek9289]

@@albertwayne2323 Dude, I'm talking about diplomacy from the perspective of Germany here. From the perspective of Germany who wanted to be allies with the UK, the Kaiser deciding to build a powerful Navy that would obviously threaten Britain's sole dominance over the seas was a really dumb idea. Germany should have just respected Britain's dominance over the sea and they genuinely had good options when considering alliance with Britain. And Britain would have been a really good ally for Germany. The British were bitter enemies against France for centuries and the British was also having "The Great Game" which was basically a cold war between Britain and Russia. So Germany's enemies were Britain's enemies. But the Kaiser (being a dumb And idiotic Tsundere) managed to screw up everything by building a massive Navy that threatens Britain's monopoly over the sea and also supporting the Boars against the British which was the last straw that pissed off the British so much that Britain decided to ally with France and Russia against Germany.

[@RedXlV]

@@albertwayne2323 Well from the English perspective? Pretty much yes. That's exactly what they thought. For centuries, England's very survival had depended on dominance of the seas. If the kaiser had been building a navy that was clearly aimed at challenging *France* there would've been no problem. Even in the 1930s, Britain made it clear they were fine with that in the form of the Anglo-German Naval Agreement (basically a cancellation of the Versailles restrictions and letting Germany into the London Naval Treaty system without bothering to ask France's permission). The fact that the Germany Navy was so blatantly aimed at challenging Britain's naval dominance was seen as an existential threat, and Britain would do anything to maintain that dominance. Even create an alliance with their most ancient enemy. This was a colossal blunder on Wilhelm II's part, and all because he was jealous of his cousin's impressive fleet.

[@Senzawa69]

It's like hey UK pick your partner France Germany Russia UK: ummmm

[@Metal00m]

I paused to read that article at 1:40. From doming French nerds to a vast locust swarm I've never heard about, it's really great stuff - Love the channel!

[@tommykawaii]

Not to mention the issue between Russia and Japan over some islands which never ever ever happened again ever … 🤭

[@Kathkere]

Thanks for pointing that one out, I would not have thought to read it otherwise. Good stuff!

[@Admiral45-10]

The only newspaper not spreading fake news...

[@j.a.weishaupt1748]

That’s just great dedication. Writing an entire frontpage only to show it for 0,3 seconds so almost no one will read it but it’s great for the few who do.

[@ChallisVenstra]

Where the hell is Missouri anyway?

[@gideonmele1556]

Swedish foreign policy reminds me of the treasured English pastime of “do anything and everything to annoy and screw over the French”

[@goranpersson7726]

we have much of the same type of relation with them as the english do with the french, stemming from quite similar reasons aswell, the english with being pissed at france for trying to assert domminance back when the english kings still technically owed fealty to the french and the swedes with them being upset about the danish treatment of swedish nobles

[@LexlutherVII]

@@goranpersson7726 Lol,😂

[@johan8969]

@@goranpersson7726 I dont think the french/english has a history of genocides like the ones in Skåne/Halland/Blekinge though

[@mohdadeeb1829]

@@goranpersson7726 Swedes and Danes never fought alongside unlike English and French.

[@GhostOfArtBell0935]

Johan The harrowing of the north was pretty grim

[@Artur_M.]

1:20 "To help each other suppress revolts". Gee, I wonder why that region where the three empires bordered each other was frequently on fire? It's almost like they partitioned something big that was there for centuries.

[@rathinmajumder441]

Ya yaa the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth

[@Universe2]

i sense a great loathing of three empires from you and a great love of one commonwealth

[@Artur_M.]

@@Universe2 ; )

[@Vitorruy1]

Sad nobody really learns about the commonwealth outside of poland, really underrated nation.

[@t3hmaniac]

I guess when Otto Von Bismark said that disaster would come from some damn foolish thing in the Balklands he was speaking from experience.

[@catmonarchist8920]

Makes you understand why they formed Yugoslavia in the end

[@TheStarcoMarco]

You know that Slavic-Germanic rivalry never ends.

[@RmsOceanic]

Bismark was treated as super insightful for saying the next big war would be over "some damn foolish thing in the Balkans", when in truth that prediction came from personal experience.

[@YujiroHanmaaaa]

Balkan was even then a hotspot, it had so many different ethnicities who wanted their own land and don't get ruled by foreign powers such as Ottoman Empire, Austro-Hungary etc. It was known as Europe's Powder Keg back and even today...

[@yarpen26]

@@YujiroHanmaaaa Not really today, no. Just about the whole region is either firmly inside NATO and/or, in the case of Serbia, despite outwardly cordial relationship with Russia, almost completely reliant on trade with the EU (chiefly Germany). Russia and China in practice have little access there and certainly no way to ship armed forces. No real conflict can erupt there today without full approval of Washington. Today's powder keg for Europe would be Ukraine and for the world, South China Sea.

[@zylen3167]

علي ياسر hong kong used to be eu territory thx to british

[@austrakaiser4793]

@@yarpen26 Alright one powder keg sparked, when you bet the other one's gonna blow?

[@Vitorruy1]

@علي ياسر If Anerica goes to war with china europe will have to back it up

[@imperatortiago]

We learned that France's true ally is Bulgaria

[@geoffreycharles6330]

The real question is is France Bulgaria's true ally?

[@imperatortiago]

@@geoffreycharles6330 Maybe

[@Marl3421]

“To help each other against revolts” Shows all of Poland rebelling

[@Admiral45-10]

Yeah, it was mostly against it.

[@yarpen26]

To an extent, the Polish lands acted as something of a unifying enemy for all three. Had there being ethnically "pure" German, Austrian and Russian lands directly adjacent to one another, we probably wouldn't have waited so long for WWI.

[@andromeda331]

That was hilarious! "To hell with France." "The Swedish anyone who isn't Denmark." "Too busy getting fired." "Germany being to promiscuous" Thank you for putting that image in my head.

[@morbidsearch]

Great, now all I can see is Hetalia fan art

[@rechinikov4978]

What a coincidence. Bulgaria ruined the League of Three Emperors twice. They also single-handedly ruined my first Ironman HoI IV campaign by declaring war on Greece and by extension the allies despite my fucking expert diplomatic maneuvering which had allowed me to avoid war with the Allies completely and pummel the Soviets. Damn you, Bulgaria!

[@witalian1]

Actually it was austria and serbia that ruined the League of Three Emperors.

[@alternativebassist]

I never realised how badly I needed a picture of Bismarck in fishnets saying “hey boys” in my life…

[@IfdesHerzog]

And did you see that other dude's smile? That was pretty gay though.

[@LT_Silver]

From what I heard the main reason as to why the alliance between Russia and Germany broke was that Wilhelm the seacond for some reason refused to renew the alliance when it was reaching it's deadline.

[@gilbert8162]

He decided not to renew because he was account sharing with Austria and didn't see a need to pay for his a second membership.

[@blafoon93]

@@gilbert8162 Plus the Russian Tsar was his cousin so he assumed that in case of a serious war the Russians would naturally join his side.

[@mr.nobody2191]

He thought personal diplomacy with his cousin would be enough to keep his alliance with Russia

[@thunderbird1921]

Well, the alliance was always a rocky one. Austria and Russia had a roller coaster relationship dating decades, for example when Austria didn't assist their "official" ally Russia in the Crimean War, The Czar was furious and refused to give support to Franz Joseph in his struggle against France in the War of Italian Unification. This naturally led to mutual anger and also humiliation for the Austrians as Napoleon III and the French bulldozed them in the war. Add in the Balkans conflicting interests of the two powers, and the Russo-Austro-German alliance stood little chance of lasting.

[@northmeister]

Bismarck was brilliant in domestic economic policy and foreign affairs. The kaiser an idiot.

[@axelgyllin250]

As a professional swede i can confirm the opening statment. We are still a little unsure about Norway but atleast they have oil

[@mnxs]

As a professional Dane, I feel I must remind you that the Norwegians threw you guys out, and then asked *us* to provide a prince for their new royal dynasty. And we also have oil, and you don't 😘 /end of obligatory teasing

[@ducembarr7057]

Bismarck in fishnets is something I never expected to see 🤣🤣 0:34

[@heathrobertson2405]

I really believe that Bismarck was possibly one of the best diplomats of all time, he always knew the best way to maximise german success not just in the short term but looking many years down the track

[@jackturner5117]

I agree, but I think Putin may have surpassed him. Bismarck was playing a much stronger hand than Putin holds, yet Putin has manouevered Russia into a position of strength and influence beyond what should be its capacity. Great men are rarely good men.

[@muhammadHassan-kj1jy]

I think Putin isnt as good, because he is 1 of a number of factors that have made modern russia's government so corrupt. Also, massive wars dont happen anymore which is why i think Putin has gotten away with so many things

[@crimsoncrusader4829]

@@jackturner5117 Putin have nukes, it's an entirely different game with nuke around.

[@Eisspitze]

@@jackturner5117 Aged like milk

[@jackturner5117]

@@Eisspitze Funny you say that. I was thinking this AM, this time, he’s Napoleon III. Let himself be goaded into a foolish and self-defeating war.

[@joshuafrimpong244]

Bismarck: failure once, shame on me Wilhelm: failure twice, shame on you YOU'RE FIRED!

[@scanida5070]

Despite the Balkans being at the other end of Europe, they still manage to always upset Germany’s plans, one way or another...

[@kostam.1113]

Balkans are not that far from Germany They are basically its backyard

[@crusadersamerica3730]

Among things I never thought if see: "Otto Von Bismarck in fishnet stockings"

[@OHFORPEATSAKES]

1:39 Reading the 'news paper' is hilarious! Also the price of the news paper is priceless 🤣👍

[@wookiethegreat]

Bismarck in fishnets is something I will never be able to unsee

[@mikroflax5929]

0:07 Yeeeees so true

[@jonathancurran5366]

"When there are five be one of three" - basically the idea behind the Dreikaiserbund.

[@Nordisk11]

Now I want to see an alternate history scenario where the League of Three Emperors succeeded

[@ls200076]

Austria-Hungary and the Russian Empire would still collapse. The Russian Empire had an incompetent leader and the people of Austria-Hungary were divided.

[@markusz4447]

@@ls200076 I don't see Russia collapsing without ww1 losses in territory and men. They had a pretty strong grip on the people (atleast before the Russo-Japanese war). Austria on the other hand I mostly agree.

[@kostam.1113]

We probably wouldn't have WW1 And in worse case scenario there would be some regional conflict on much smaller scale

[@adamsaneh8454]

there would have been a need for compromise between austria and russia on the balkans which neither wanted each other in it. russians were for a yugoslav union but if he got his way austria hungary would have started collapsing a whole lot faster not to mention that in it of itself russia would destroy any alliances or pacts that could damage their foothold in the balkans

[@oilersridersbluejays]

The Central Powers would have won. There would have been no naval blockade of Germany or Austria-Hungary because Russian ports would have been available for use. All of Germany’s troops would have been in France. Austria-Hungary’s troops also would have all been in France (unless Italy was still against them, then would have committed a lot of troops to the Isonzo Front. Russia would have been much more successful in the field fighting alongside the Germans and Austro-Hungarians. If the Ottomans were also allied with the Central Powers, that would have been even more troops available. If you exclude the Ottomans (say they were neutral) and even if Italy was still on the side of the Allies, I don’t see how the Allies could have beat Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Russia. France and Belgium would have been overran even with British aid. As the Austro-Hungarians and Russians were fighting alongside each other, there would have been a lot fewer desertions and surrenders of Slavic troops in the Austrian army. It would have been seen as a great German-Slavic alliance. German tactics and equipment, Russian numbers, and most Austro-Hungarian troops more willing to fight, the Allies would have had little hope.

[@economicerudite4924]

All good but I think the role of Wilhelm II is being understated. Wilhelm, for a good number of reasons, refused to renew the reinsurance treaty with Russia, also firing Bismarck, which prompted Russia to begin talks with France (eventually leading to Entente-Cordiale). To be fair to Wilhelm, one of the major reasons was the growing influence of the SPD in Germany who were pressuring Wilhelm into not renewing the treaty. The SPD did not want an alliance of absolute monarchies. But then there are Wilhelm’s personal failures. Unfortunately, the man was an idiot. He was a poor diplomat, very personally insecure and continually provoked people. He congratulated the Boers over their early success against the British whilst also competing colonially and allowing Germany to compete with the Royal Navy. This ended one of the oldest informal alliances in history. Prussia and Britain had been allies for centuries by this point (given that they were both Protestant nations who grew to become great powers around the same time, upsetting the same old powers in the process - France, Austria and Spain). There is absolutely no way that Britain and Germany should have been on bad terms. In-fact, if you break down the three countries in the triple entente, you realise that none of them should have been allies and Germany (specifically, Wilhelm) must have really messed up to create that scenario. Britain and France had been enemies for centuries. They were natural rivals. Britain and Russia were competing in the great game, with Britain concerned over Russian interests in the Middle-East and Afghanistan - so close to India (and Britain eyeing up Mesopotamian oil). Plus, Britain was on good terms with Japan who had just beaten Russia in a war. Britain themselves had defeated Russia in the Crimea. And France and Russia were complete opposites. France was a modern, industrial, French-liberal republic whilst Russia was an agricultural, pre-industrial absolutist monarchy. They had themselves been in conflict over the Crimea. The fact that these three ended up allies against Germany, when only France had any natural reason to oppose Germany in the first place, is astonishing.

[@CaptainDynamite110]

If you look up some commentary from They Shall Not Grow Old, several of the British vets thought that they shouldn’t have fought the Germans, but rather they both fight France….it’s a damn shame really

[@shadowlord1418]

Bravo good commentary

[@pablodiazgarcia5940]

Great comment pal, you summed up the sitation so good it looks like a Phd resumee. Congratulations!

[@Morskoy_Velican]

Отличный ролик, дал понять причину развала этого союза, то-есть пересекающиеся интересы России и Австро-Венгрии на Балканах. И в конце концов, пришёл момент когда Германии пришлось выбирать между двумя конкурентами, и выбор пал на Австро-Венгрию. Интересно как бы сложилась история, если страна отдала бы предпочтение России.

[@thecandlemaker1329]

Выиграли бы первую мировую, очевидно же.

[@valera4176]

@@thecandlemaker1329 россия проиграла ее даже будучи в Антанте, странно думать что она бы выиграла её в менее сильном союзе

[@warbrain1053]

@@valera4176 Германии бы не пришлось голодать и воевать на два фронта. Россия может добить Австрию а Германия всеми силами Францию

[@Red1Green2Blue3]

Yes.

[@happyelephant5384]

@@valera4176 так менее сильный союз - это тот, в котором не было Росси )))

[@markmarano913]

A cartoon Otto von Bismarck in fishnet stockings is not something I was expecting to see today, but I have no complaints.

[@ronmaximilian6953]

1. Bismarck tried to get around the issue of the Balkans on multiple occasions. He famously said "The Balkans aren't worth the life of a single Pomeranian grenadier." Unfortunately, wars in the Balkans would cost a lot of Pomeranians and other Germans too. 2. Kaiser Wilhelm II and Czar Nicholas II were idiots.

[@kevinsworldK.w69]

TRUE THAT

[@mr.politics1388]

Yes, you got it

[@silenthunteruk]

2. Both ended up on the throne earlier than anticipated due to their fathers dying early; neither were exactly prepared for rule. Nicholas II less so.

[@kevinsworldK.w69]

@@silenthunteruk Ok And?

[@ronmaximilian6953]

@@silenthunteruk They were respectively 26 and 29 upon assuming the throne of the relative countries. That's not exactly childhood.

[@SirAntoniousBlock]

Napoleon: You can't blame me for this one!

[@MCorpReview]

The channel would probably say he’s too busy being dead 💀

[@SirAntoniousBlock]

@@MCorpReview Fun fact!

[@HolyKhaaaaan]

It's fascinating how this attempts to make alliances led to the so-called "war to end all wars". And actually there was a precursor to this war: the Holy Alliance. Austria and Russia look very familiar; the third member was actually Prussia, and that was about 70 years before Bismarck unified Germany.

[@riograndedosulball248]

An Austria-Russia-Germany alliance against France and whatever quasi-puppet country along with it (coof coof Italy) was their natural path, given how much bad blood the three of them had with France. But, of course, the damned Balkans had always to get in the way

[@HolyKhaaaaan]

@@riograndedosulball248 Those wacky Balkans. Always up to no good.

[@Everydayfunguy]

They kind of oversimplified the ending. Czar Alexander III did dissolve the alliance in 1887 because of Austria, (I didn't know until this video it was because Austria was aiding the Serbs against Bulgaria in their war.) Bismarck was able to compromise the secret Reinsurance treaty with Russia, in which Germany would be neutral in any conflict between Russia and Austria. This treaty was due for renewal in 1890, but Kaiser Wilhelm II wanted to rule his own way, and so fired Bismarck. At the time, the Kaiser wanted a firm straightforward alliance with Austria, which is why he didn't renew the treaty and Russia allied with France for protection against the Dual Alliance. The Kaiser would try to seek an alliance with Russia years later, but the Russians had been so economically tied to France, (and kind of distrustful of Germany, still,) that they wouldn't break with the Franco-Russian alliance.

[@pr0faka]

The First Balkan War was in 1912

[@CarthagoMike]

To think Bismarck not only was fully aware of the devastation of a two-front/three-front war, but even made successful counters to it... makes you wonder even more what History would have looked like if Wilhelm II wasn't... well, Wilhelm II.

[@marzbanofmerv2324]

He was quite old and senile by the time willy "fired" him, he wouldn't have changed much, willy just spared him the embarrassment his continued chancellorship would have caused.

[@alexzero3736]

It's actually not just Wilhelm fault. He was under great pressure from military staff, Naval race idea came from Von Tirpitz for example.

[@szymonpajak4102]

​@@alexzero3736Yeah. Willy and his couson Nikolai were only people willing to stop The Great War at the beginning. Heck. Souering relation between UK and Germany were fault of Wilhelm's uncle. Which even his mother, Queen Victoria, despised.

[@DavidYoung81]

🤣 Love the Trade Mark on "League of the three emperors™"

[@Ghostkilla773]

"To hell with France" was the funniest thing I heard on this channel.

[@TeaMsGu]

"The Swedish and anyone who isn't Denmark alliance" is an amazing line XD

[@user-jg6wz8tm4w]

That alliance is real

[@MrFiltry69]

I LOVE how you say: "to help each other suppress revolts" and you put the fire in Poland LOL.

[@lotr15]

The "Liberté, Egalité, Germané" at 1:35 almost made me spit up my food, thanks

[@belgrademapper635]

3:07 The guy who is wounded is Serbian prince/king Milan, who fell into the big depression after he lost the war, which led to him resigning as a king.

[@geoffreycharles6330]

Why did he attack then?

[@belgrademapper635]

@@geoffreycharles6330 Because he was pushed by Austria-Hungary, also he wanted some glory.

[@alanpennie8013]

@@belgrademapper635 He may have been afraid that The Bulgarians would claim Serbia too ( or Macedonia as a minimum). The Russians had hoped that their Big Bulgaria would rule The Balkans.

[@Renonere5]

“Germany didn’t want to fight a two front war” is the funniest thing about this video

[@spdutahraptor777]

"Dome those French nerds if they try anything" Damn...i love how much effort you put into details like the newspaper articles

[@lui5149]

Respect for not starting the video with an ad.

[@quidam_surprise]

That's mostly possible thanks to the generous help of James Bissonnette and the likes.

[@Musydid911]

Thank you for the great educational history videos

[@lavacloud9189]

I love the effort you put into the newspapers. I always pause to read them

[@CA999]

I am sure you were glad that Kuril Islands dispute was finally settled. Forever!

[@Deltaflot1701]

"To help each other suppress revolts" like Poland after the three Partitions of Poland

[@Admiral45-10]

With 6 Up-Risings in 1794-1918

[@eacalvert]

Once again the amount of work that goes into the details is just pure amazing and magic

[@citinox1778]

The sight of Otto von Bismarck in fishnet stockings is one of the many, many reasons I love this channel.

[@thecakeisalie6392]

0:15 I'll try to maintain this alliance in Victoria 3 as Prussia/Germany when the game comes out

[@serbiaknight8190]

Try adding Bulgaria and Serbia to allience so it would be 25x harder

[@morfov_daniel]

I’m so proud to be bulgarian. I love how me and my balkan cousins/neighbours f with the rest of europe every 30 years

[@serbiaknight8190]

From Serbia I agree

[@aaronmarks9366]

Bismarck in fishnets. Never thought I'd see perfection.

[@davidbrennan3396]

Nice to see the German perspective on the three ideals of the French Revolution - liberté, egalité, Germané

[@ssbobence3644]

I never realized my country(Bulgaria) had such effect on 3 of the strongest empires in the world.

[@user-ix3ny9ms1v]

Ми то верно :D Ама ся и нещо друго има . Войната срещу сърбия не е спечелена без пуши защото новоосвободена държава няма военна икономика с която да победи сърбите а с ръце не става интересно но факт русия ни е дала 10к кона и 100 к пушки така че армията ни е победила сърбия имено заради руското уръжие

[@alanpennie8013]

Bulgaria has had a disproportionate influence on history.

[@kieragard]

Those three empires are not really of any note. They have very little influence on the world scene. Persian, Greek, Roman, Mongolian, Spanish, and English empires are the real empires in history.

[@bread5049]

​@@kieragardyeah sure they had no influence very legit

[@FantomBloth]

2:06 - Southern Dobruja was part of Principality of Bulgaria after 1878 2:55 - an autonomous province of the Ottoman empire called Eastern Rumelia to be more precise. 3:02 - Bulgaria didn't declare independence until 22 September 1908 Other than that excellent video! :)

[@fusionreactor7179]

Bulgaria is an illegitimate garrison state

[@gurgur0076]

@@fusionreactor7179 what do you mean?

[@sktt1488]

Who cares about this Micro details

[@gurgur0076]

@@sktt1488 I, but it isn't dramatic

[@alanpennie8013]

@@sktt1488 They are of some interest. When Bulgaria declared its independence its ruler assumed the title not of king but of tzar, implying a highly dangerous claim to Constantinople.

[@Stormy_Boi]

Hope you have a great Christmas and keep making these amazing videos with all the cheeky humour 🥺

[@elirothblatt5602]

Very enlightening, thank you!

[@Gonzalouchikari]

One of my favourite historical cliches. "The Balkans happened".

[@serbiaknight8190]

What do i have to say We shit And we make shit things happen Its not that much complex

[@the1grove]

"too busy being fired" Kaiser Wilhelm be like: we do a little trolling

[@barrettpendleton3998]

Great video. Love this channel’s content.

[@kacprosPL]

i like they way your videos are animated sooooo groovy

[@meawwow]

No wonder Bismarck said “One day the great European War will come out of some damned foolish thing in the Balkans.”

[@frenssu9350]

First of all, great video as usual, I was actually searching more about this alliance some time ago so it very informing to watch this summary. Secondly, I've seen some people giving suggestions on video ideas, so I think it would be very interesting if you made a video about the time Japan almost adopted Islam as their official religion. I'm not sure if this is true or not, but if it isn't you could debunk it like you did on your Pepsi's Navy video.

[@mailfergal]

Oooohh that was a good one! Never knew any of this, well done sir.

[@oliversherman2414]

I love your channel keep up the great stuff!!

[@samueldesta2151]

Denmark: Exists Sweden: Anyone want to help me destroy Denmark?

[@timawaviking526]

Sweden: Exists Denmark: Time to kill the nobility!

[@pavarottiaardvark3431]

Germany and Austro-Hungary: Let's add Italy to our alliance. That'll def work well!

[@TheStarcoMarco]

*In 1915* Germany and Austria-Hungary: Hey Italy. Join the war. Italy: Okay. *Joins the war on the side of the Entente* Germany and Austria-Hungary: Dammit Italy!!

[@pavarottiaardvark3431]

@@TheStarcoMarco *in WW2* Germany (which now includes Austria): Ok Italy do you promise you won't change sides this time? Italy: Ye. Germany: Italy what are you doing in Cassibile? Italy: lol

[@TheStarcoMarco]

@@pavarottiaardvark3431 Yep, that's how Italian culture looks like...... Lose every battles and changing sides.

[@akramgimmini8165]

Amazing Content and Humor as Always

[@v0ss1b4r]

Loved this episode! ^^

[@brandonlyon730]

Since it was brought up in the video I’ll asked the question once again: How did the Catholic world react to the French and Ottoman alliance especially the Pope.

[@kokojambo4944]

Not happy.

[@ls200076]

That's why you need to be Orthodox or Protestant

[@alanpennie8013]

@@kokojambo4944 The Hapsburgs consistently represented The French as heretics.

[@freakboy220]

So most of this can summed up this way: But Bismark had a plan. BISMARK ALWAYS HAD A PLAN!

[@Admiral45-10]

..but he was too busy being fired

[@mr.nobody2191]

Until Wilhelm screw it up

[@DemitriVladMaximov]

Classic Extra History.

[@masterrodriguezgaming8587]

This is my absolutely favorite history channel on KZbin

[@malikrath9503]

I freakin' love this channel.

[@AquaranSocialistRepublic]

2:49 *The Balkans happened.* - History Matters 2021

[@katzereich1467]

The cool thing about bulgaria is that they were absolutely against the whole "balance of power" stuff and would play actually a very important and underrated role in European affairs. From their liberation they were smacked down by the European powers but still continued to defy the balance of power. They were a main player in the balkan wars and in WW1 despite being so unheard-of. Bulgaria embodied a true powderkeg.

[@cowboybeboop9420]

As a Bulgarian I have to say we didn`t care two shits about the balance of power or the bullshit affairs of the great powers. All we wanted was to gain political and religious independence and unite all our historic lands and the lands where ethic Bulgarians were still living in. We almost succeeded too if it wasn`t for the Americans and king Ferdinand.

[@mihailrangelov8343]

@@cowboybeboop9420 ?? Why the Americans?

[@katzereich1467]

@@mihailrangelov8343 Probably because of WW1

[@mihailrangelov8343]

@@katzereich1467 But the Americans supported Bulgaria at Versailles - Wilson literally opposed Bulgaria being split in 3 parts as punishment, and he is held in very high regard by the Bulgarians because of that, he has a couple of streets named after him and a little statue in Sofia as a sign of gratitude

[@cowboybeboop9420]

@@mihailrangelov8343 WW1 was really our last great hurrah. If San Stefano Bulgaria was ever going to happen it had to happen then. At the time there were more volunteers than the Bulgarian government had guns and we won. The Eastern front was fucking won. We had beaten the Russians, the Serbs, the Romanians.....EVERYONE!! All that was left was for the Germans at this point to just mop up a bunch of leftover rag tag armies on the Western front that were ready to surrender. Then the Americans joined out of nowhere and beat the Germans and so we ate shit. Lots of great powers had screwed us before but this was really the final nail on the coffin.

[@jjsshenanegans]

I seem to learn more from you, than anyone else. Thank you

[@dxniel__hd6758]

Can you make videos about every century? I love your content and your tipe of describing matters

[@sfecgtt6084]

Wow I completely forgot that the alliance existed. Thanks for explaining it to me again

[@mohdadeeb1829]

"Sweden-Anyone who isn't Denmark alliance" That line made me realize that they actually never fought alongside in any single war. UK-France in WW1 and WW2 Serbia and Bulgaria in first balkan war USA and Mexico in Franco-Mexican war Argentina and Brazil in Paraguayan war Korea and Japan in both Korean and Vietnam War Turkey and Greece in various Balkan, Caucasus and Middle Eastern conflicts Spain and Portugal in Napoleonic wars Arabs and Persians rised up against ottomans several times Kurds, Armenians and Turks have fought against Russia several times. But Denmark and Sweden never fought alongside.

[@ffarkasm]

Ye, not even in the Thirty Years' War. In the second phase Denmark led the anti-Habsburg side, but that time Sweden didn't really participate yet, then in the third phase Sweden led the anti-Habsburg side, but by that point Denmark participated on the Habsburg side - and lost again. So even though they were both prominent players on the anti-Habsburg side at various times of the conflict, they've never been allies, even still.

[@mohdadeeb1829]

@@ffarkasm It's because of 2 reason. Most of the things I mentioned happened in mid-to-late 19th century, 20th century and even 21st century but Sweden has been neutral since 1815. Second reason is because Sweden and Denmark never had same goals. For example UK and France were intimidated by Germans so they fought alongside. Denmark fought 3 wars with Germany, while Sweden was also intimidated by Germany, unlike UK-France alliance, cannot single handedly defeat Germans. The closest they came to fighting alongside was during Estonian Soviet war in which thousands of Danes and Swedes mercenaries fought alongside.

[@mnxs]

As a Dane, I'll tip in some thoughts (which are not based on any proper historical analysis, just some speculation). If there is a meme about British/French wars, then *oh boy* is there one about Danish/Swedish wars. We've been at each others throats from the early middle ages (basically ever since there were Danish and Swedish national states) basically until the 20th century and, I believe, hold the record for most wars fought between two countries. For how much bitching our countries have been up to, it's actually remarkable how friendly we've become since then. Sure, we still give each other shit for the fun of it, but I think we've all just come to the realisation that we're much more alike than we've previously cared to admit. The only reason we've not fought alongside each other in the modern period is simply because of Sweden's chosen neutrality in all matters.

[@mohdadeeb1829]

@@mnxs I think Sweden and Denmark did fight alongside in 7th coalition.

[@muhammadHassan-kj1jy]

Would u guys include the Kalmar union period? Then again, that was well before the early modern period

[@rubencarva]

It's been a while since I watched one of your videos. Glad to see James bizanet is still here

[@Jagzeplin]

i just wanted to say that this has become my favorite YT channel

[@geographygamer1245]

Nicholas the II: "Thanks for the alliance!" Also Nicholas the II: "My father died lol." Kelly money maker is still standing strong.

[@leonardoleo5740]

With three jokes, I lost my air laughing out loud. Congrats History Matters, you are a genius. Continue like this.

[@billykorando6820]

Great now I have the mental image of Otto von Bismarck strutting around in fishnet stockings burned into my memory.

[@sakshamrai1803]

I love these late 19th century and early 20th century videos