Why didn't Germany invade the Netherlands in World War One? (Short Animated Documentary)

Germany famously invaded France via the Netherlands and Belgium in World War Two. Yet in the First World War Germany choose to avoid the Netherlands and only invaded via Belgium and Luxembourg. So why did it do this? To find out watch this short and simple animated history documentary.
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[@Quin_Ram]

Because Wilhelm II needed a backup place just in case he went into exile.

[@sskuk1095]

And plan Biene would have been Denmark right?

[@Nikki-tx6kh]

That's a good one.

[@susannguyen6234]

Damn

[@denzilponisammy4483]

When I saw the thumbnail I just knew someone would say that

[@orangebear6214]

Or he had Switzerland

[@twinfeathers]

Belgium, the most popular highway for armies for hundreds of years

[@statelyeel]

*cough cough poland cough cough*

[@morbidsearch]

Handies not so much

[@MarkoFTW]

*laugs in Balkans*

[@themouthofsauron6926]

That'd be the Balkans actually

[@Mylifesuckslol]

Luxembourg being forgotten be like:

[@FogelTheVogel]

There is a fourth reason: The Dutch fortifications basically read "flood the country and make the enemy fight in the mud" Mud is, as most military experts put it, the worst. It would have been disproportionality costly to fight their way through the Netherlands. This tactic no longer worked in WW2 because Germany simply flew over the mud and bombed Rotterdam, then threatened to flatten the rest of the cities.

[@ernestvanophuizen461]

It's a good thing they avoided all that mud by going through Belgium then, eh? ^^

[@knuppel8875]

The waterlinie wouldnt prevent germany from circling towards belgium all that much though. It pretty much only prevents you from entering the Randstad. ninjaedit voor als je gaat googlen. De ijssellinie is pas in 1950 na wo2 ontworpen.

[@the_tactician9858]

I think it is more accurate to say that the German advance had been too rapid to properly deploy the water line. The Grebbeline, which was meant as a stopgap defensive line to give time to inundate the low-laying land, broke after a fierce but short struggle, and it seems very likely that the Germans would have made it deep enough into the water line to not suffer too badly. Add to that the honestly deplorable state of the military back in 1940, and it is almost a miracle that we held out for 5 days. Rotterdam was most likely the proper excuse needed for the army to end a useless struggle for the time being: with the government and the royal family safely evacuated, and no hope of victory in sight, there was no reason to keep up the fight other than ideologically, and for that it would be better to escape to England than to die in the Netherlands.

[@nvelsen1975]

@@knuppel8875 Yeah, but one look at a map tells you that would leave a rather angry part of unconquered Netherlands behind the Waterlinie, to threaten the flank. It wouldn't do. They would've had to force a capitulation, and the Germans believed the Dutch defenses would work decently well and be worth something. (they wouldn't have)

[@DenUitvreter]

Exactly, they could take a lot of the country, but not the part with the most harbours and naval bases, which would fight back. The waterline was too deep to march trough, to shallow to sail through and the defences had all the lines of fire open, no cover whatsoever. The few houses there were from timber by law so they could be burned down so the enemy couldn't hide and were sitting ducks. Only with WWII planes, bombers especially, the waterline became far less effective

[@TheBlackhawk123]

Crushing the Netherlands was not considered easy actually. Before WW1, German spies reported that defeating the New Dutch Waterline, a series of fortifications and territories that could be flooded during an invastion, would not be worth the losses in men and material. It was better to not bother with having a war with the Dutch and keep them neutral for the other reasons you mentioned.

[@qlum]

Another thing is, it is not really possible to dig trenches in wetlands, this makes advancing on fortifications with machine guns quite a big deal. In WW2 it was less problematic, still the Netherlands would have been hard to take if it's military was actually well equipped.

[@timoverdijk3176]

Also we had quite a decent army during ww1, not so much in the 2nd one though.

[@mikerodrigues9822]

Netherlands also surrendered because of the threat of mass bombings, something that wasn't possible in WW1.

[@abcdedfg8340]

As i recall, the belgians held the germans up for awhile, so going through the netherland may have delayed them.even more?

[@naevan1]

Source : Your dutch grandpa

[@grzegorzbrzeczyszczykiewic5937]

The real reason Germany didn’t invade the Netherlands to outflank Belgium was because Germany then would have had to invade the ocean to outflank the Netherlands.

[@TheOmegaXicor]

they have U-Boats, it's not impossible...

[@MColby-ie6rh]

And to outflank the ocean, Germany would have inevitably invaded Germany.

[@TheOmegaXicor]

@@MColby-ie6rh cue the doctor from Captain America "people forget the first country the nazi's invaded was their own" so they did go all around the world to invade Germany, it just took them until the 30s

[@thelastprussian6491]

So keeping the idea up, Denmark might a good place to outflank the ocean? Flanking the flanking Flank with a flanked Flank?

[@MColby-ie6rh]

@@thelastprussian6491 and add to THAT might as well invade Sweden to get to Denmark.

[@galatheumbreon6862]

I always wondered why imperial Germany didn't invade the netherlands, this video really did help alot, I also had a feeling it was being of good relations with the royal houses

[@alphacommander428]

I think Berlin had even close relations with Sweden and Spain. Romania had even a German king.

[@royale7620]

@@alphacommander428 Spoiler all kings are German lmao not just Romanias.

[@somethinglikethat2176]

It would've also tied down a number of German troops in the early days too. Around 60,000 if memory serves me correctly. The reason the original plan called for it was a couple of rail lines ran through Dutch territory.

[@dalstein3708]

The Belgian king also had German ancestry, but that didn't prevent an invasion.

[@chiensyang]

I think James Bisonette bribed German Empire not to attack helped too.

[@sevenprovinces]

There is a fascinating biographical series about Anthony Fokker (Fokker Aerospace and the designer of the highly succesful tri-plane flown by Baron von Richthofen) and the founder of KLM or Royal Dutch Airlines; Albert Plesman. The Netherlands not picking sides and delivering military hardware to both Germany and France and England also had a part to play for sure. Before WWII started, Albert Plesman actually petitioned Hitler, through Herman Göring to not start an all-out war, and came with a proposal of appeasement that would have made Neville Chamberlain blush. The series in question is called 'Vliegende Hollanders' or, you guessed it, The Flying Dutchmen. It is actually quite a tragic story. Albert Plesman would leave his mark on history, not only by creating the oldest commercial airliner in the world, but laws are still in effect today exempting large commercial airlines from taxes due to their supposed role of 'connecting the world and its citizens, thereby promoting peace and understanding', which was heavily argued for at the time by Albert Plesman. It was his hope that he could convince Göring, another 'airplane man' of this mindset, and so stave of war. Plesman proved to be an excellent early 'CEO', and KLM even today is still known as one of the best airliners in the world, but his dabbling in global politics proved him to be a well intentioned, but hopelessly naïve pacifist. Anthony Fokker for his part strongly lobbied during the making of the Treaty of Versailles for the Germans to not be punished too harshly, as it would upset European economies and create 'possible problems down the road'. He would have had no idea how right he was.

[@maximus13161]

What is the name of the series?

[@michiru2hell]

@@maximus13161 "Vliegende Hollanders" (Dutch for "Flying Dutchmen"), the comment mentions this

[@hansniessen8976]

Hitler werd hetzelfde kunstje geflikt als wat "ze" nu Poetin geflikt hebben: hem dwingen dat te doen (inval in Polen/inval in Oekraine)wat het voeren van oorlog tegen hem (Hitler/Poetin) rechtvaardigt. Wanneer U overigens met all-out war" wereldoorlog " bedoelt: van wereldoorlog was pas sprake nadat de VS zich in de strijd mengden via false flags, in de eerste wereldoorlog de aanval op het schip de lusitania, in de tweede wereldoorlog met "pearl harbor " waarvoor "wraak " genomen werd met twee atoombommen

[@MegaUMU]

As a fellow Dutchmen im definitely gonna watch this

[@a.vanwijk2268]

But is it historically accurate? I believe there were quite a few liberties taken.

[@matsreinderink4994]

My history teacher always said that it was because his grandfather was stationed in Limburg and personally kicked out any German who tried to cross into the Netherlands

[@USSFFRU]

"Hey hey, very funny, get back to your posts" - Your history teacher's grandfather

[@Ronaldthefarmer]

Vaderlands finest.

[@sneezyfido]

This reminds me of the Jaap Fischer song

[@classicallpvault8251]

This is absolute BS. Plenty of Germans made the crossing succesfully and were interned instead of deported. My great-grand-uncle was among them.

[@DarkValorWolf]

As someone from Limburg this is spot on.

[@sevenprovinces]

Also not to be ommitted..there was, up until WWII, a large sense of kinship between the Dutch and the Germans. With the exception of the bishops of Köln and Münster, who unsuccesfully invaded the Netherlands along with England and France in 1672, the Dutch and Germans never been at war with each other. In fact, in 1672, some other German princedoms also helped the Netherlands and declared war on the bishops of Köln and Münster. During television interviews many years after WWII, Adolf Hitler's secretary even related that: "Everyone was full of optimism at the start of WWII, we couldn't loose and the Führer could do no wrong. It wasn't until he (Hitler) invaded the Netherlands that people started wondering "These people (the Dutch) never did us any wrong, why are we doing this?"

[@aaronmarks9366]

That's a fascinating detail of the WWII era

[@thundereagle4130]

In Hitlers eyes the Dutch where't a legitimate state. They saw the Dutch as brothers and part of the "Germanic race".

[@sevenprovinces]

@@thundereagle4130 to a degree, lesser than actual 'Germans' though. His plan was to resettle the Dutch as colonists in eastern Europe once it was conquered and have the Netherlands be for the 'truest of Aryans'. A funny sentiment for a black haired man with an embarrassing birth defect.

[@janvandemaas4148]

Another “fact” but lost in the English language is “Dutch”, Diets and “Deutsch” = same “tribe” as far as language and culture are concerned. By the way there is no country called Germany or its people called Germans.Most are germanic “ .

[@thundereagle4130]

@@sevenprovinces Basically a reshuffle of different ethnicities just like Stalin did in the USSR. He wanted to delude the ethnic Dutch people in the Netherlands so they wouldn't revolt.

[@peperoni_pepino]

I feel like you ignored one actual fourth reason in this video: Back during WW1, the Dutch army was actually quite capable. During the interbellum the Netherlands thought that they would be able to keep this neutral position forever and slowly the army got worse, but during WW1 the army was not only a reasonable size but also counted as one of the most mobile armies on Earth, as the entire army had bicycles and our roads were well-kept. Furthermore, the Dutch had the secret weapon of the water line, which back at the start of WW1 still was a real deterrance.

[@TomSistermans]

Winter would quickly end the water defences though lol

[@tigervv6437]

German unification in 1871 send a big shock through the Netherlands and they started modernizing the army and defences. A waterline with modern forts defended by inundations would be total hell for any attacking army. This was definitvely a reason why the Germans rather kept the country neutral, so they could also reap some benefits.

[@AwoudeX]

During the interbellum, militairy spending was cut because of the deep recession. By the time the Netherlands realised it needed to rearm, guns were hoarded and materials to build them were hard to come by. It wasn't that the Netherlands believed that just neutrality would keep them safe that time around. In short: it were financial reasons that made the militairy decline as it did, and not the way you put it.

[@RedbadofFrisia]

Well, these videos are usually just a light reading of a wikipedia page, so don't come here expecting to be fully informed on a topic.

[@laszlokiss483]

@@TomSistermans Winter doesnt equal frozen solid and traversable rivers idk why people run with this faulty assumption. The temperature needs to drop to -5°C or below for 1 or 2 weeks to get natural ice (natuurijs) thick enough to skate on and this is just individual ice skaters not tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of men all crossing a point marching in unison all carrying heavy packs and not the mention the carts of supplies and beasts of burden. If it was as simple as you think the Netherlands wouldnt be a thing as it is today.

[@mitchell5368]

Funny how the province of Flevoland keeps blinking in and out of existence on the different maps haha

[@mavadelo]

WWI: Nothing to see there, justwater WWII: Noord Oost polder ready, First homes in "Dorp A" (Emmeloord) occupied in 1943 (yes, during the war strangely enough) So, funny and accurate.

[@laustudie]

Dutch also had the "waterlinie" , which involved flooding to land to prevent invasions. In the second worldwar this waterlinie was no longer effective because of airpower which allowed it to be easily bypassed.

[@tigervv6437]

Not really. A fully prepared „waterlinie“ with only a few possible approaches would still be a formidle foe. Even with air power. Thing was: in 1940 no preperations were made at the „waterlinie“, because the Dutch government deemed it too expensive to build two defensive lines. They forced high command to focus on one, which would be the „Grebbelinie“ and „Betuwelinie“. This conflict actually led to the resignation of one of the best allied generals of the early ww2 period. The Germans already had some serious struggles with those lines, which was mostly without inundations. So imagine this with inundations. Sure the German paratroopers took the Moerdijk bridges, but with stronger forces present there this could have been prevented. Given how easily the German paratroopers where pushed out of their other objectives.

[@RedbadofFrisia]

@@tigervv6437 yeah, it might have looked quite different, however this would likely mean a great number of Dutch cities would be turned to rubble if they had resisted for a longer time, thanks to German air supremacy. (Not that terror bombing is effective at doing anything else than that).

[@tigervv6437]

@@RedbadofFrisia Sure, the Germans resorted to terror bombing when they realised breaking military resistance would take them atleast a few more days. Rotterdam being just the start. In the end this was of course a valid reason to give up the struggle. Besides, the air force was gone, so where the AA ammo supplies.

[@MegaUMU]

@@tigervv6437 if I remember even with Hindsight bias. Wasnt the Netherlands in a Recession or atleast economically it wasnt too great, therefore making war preps not desirable?

[@tigervv6437]

@@MegaUMU We were coming out of a recession yes, so that explains the budget cuts in the twenties and early thirties. It does not explain the utter unwillingness to spend money in the period from the mobilisation in 1939 and the first months of 1940. When basically every alarmbell was ringing. It was clear that if neutrality was breached the Netherlands would resist and this was government policy. This means you should also have the means to do so. General Reynders knew from the moment he assumed command that the Netherlands would be involved in the next war, simply because the now motorised and armoured German army needed the operational space of the Limburg and Brabant provinces. Basically no one in politics believed him. Explaining the toxic relationship between the military and the government. The area in front of the Grebbe and Betuwe lines were not cleared of obstacles, which was needed to have a clean line of fire and depriving the enemy of cover, because the government was unwilling to compensate the owners. Stating that years of hard labour would not be undone, to which an officer replied that the lives of young men would be undone as a result of it. I'll leave to you who was right. The government was unwilling to lock down military sites, because it would intervere with trade and work, so needed compensation, allowing the Germans to visit them and exactly draw out every single position. And last but not least, the military was not given the money needed to build proper defenses. Bunkers on the Grebbe hill were made of cheap concrete so German 20mm weapons would just straight up shred it. We did know how to do it, as Kornwerderzand shows. Which was paid for by Rijkswaterstaat and not Defense department, so it actually had proper funding. These are just a few examples. With the resources that were at hand it is surprising that the fighting lasted for 5 days and in such extreme intensity.

[@alexdemoya2119]

“the russians showed the world their military wasnt as mighty as they let on”, history repeats

[@thegamingwolf5612]

It sure does

[@OJViews]

You took my comment before I thought of it 💔

[@Valencetheshireman927]

The Ukraine war is basically a repeat of the Soviet-Finnish war. It’s playing out the exact same way. Edit:Soviet instead of Russo

[@nunny5070]

@@Valencetheshireman927 Amazingly I was thinking the exact same today when reading about the Winter War.

[@dabbasw31]

As in 1853-56, 1917/18, 1940, partly 1941-1943*, 1989. *When Hitler for some reason thought it was a good idea to colonize Eastern Europe in a world with colonialism already on decline for long. 😶 Putin can feel like a czar: His military successes are just like the successes of the last ones. 🙃

[@schelfie1986]

Just one mistake: The river Schelde never passes Brussels. It goes from Antwerp to Ghent. It's the Zenne (a tributary of the Rupel, who's a tributary of the Schelde) that flows through the capital. You also have the "Kanaal van Willebroek" which flows from the Schelde through Brussels and goes further to Charleroi...

[@Dingezz_Visuals]

just one? i didn't know The Netherlands looked like this during WWI..

[@schelfie1986]

@@Dingezz_Visuals Also True. You can even see a little bit of Zeebrugge poking out on the Belgian Coast, which was only build in 1985, Or the East Cantons (Eupen - Malmedy) which were given by Germany to Belgium in 1919 after Versailles. :D But i find the mistake of the Scheldt flowing through Brussels far worse then a map which isn't 100% accurate. Perhaps he did it so that people can recognise the Netherlands, cause it looked quite different in 1914 with the absence of Flevoland, Wieringenpolder, and the Maasvlakte.

[@wvdh]

​@@schelfie1986 The east cantons are marked correctly on the maps, compare the 1940 map at 00:03 to the 1914 map at 00:51. But it was the Schelde mistake that brought me to your post. :)

[@vectorbass9679]

Another reason for Netherlands to remain hesitant to help the British was because of anti-British sentiment. A whole lot of Dutch people actually were pro-German because of the Boer Wars in South Africa, where Dutch decendents and Dutch people fought against the British. Many Dutch and German volunteers travelled to South Africa to aid the Boers.

[@Nictator42]

weird that they'd be so anti british tho when most of the british monarchs for the last 200 years previously were either dutch or hannoverian

[@vectorbass9679]

@@Nictator42 Yeah well that is all the rich elite. The Dutch aren't loyal to any monarchy. It doesn't matter who is king or queen, the British were murdering Dutch people in Africa and put innocent women and children in horrible concentration camps.Dutch people were fighting the British in Africa together with Germans, Scandinavians and French farmers. Loads of Germans also so yeah. It is only logical many Dutch people would still be hurt from that period and side with the Germans.

[@sneezyfido]

Not to mention lots of fighting on the seas. The English used piracy, not the Germans

[@Daglizzh]

Th is guy needs a award for the most simple yet amazing art

[@MichaelMantion]

I like the subtle but edgy humor that the Karens somehow miss.

[@Daglizzh]

@@MichaelMantion ye lol

[@FloridaMan30569]

German reasoning for the Netherlands in WWI: We’re so much better, so we won’t bother Germany in WWII: We’re still better, so just do it.

[@sillygoose9791]

Manstein was history's first Hoi4 map painter

[@DrJones20]

Yeah that's not the reason though

[@chr1642]

@@DrJones20 it's just a joke

[@thundereagle4130]

That is actually not correct. Hitler didn't saw the Netherlands as a legitimate state, and saw the Dutch as part of the "Germanic race" (hmm, sounds familiar to nowadays conflict in Ukraine). Even if Hitler won WW2 and gave some of France back, he would've never let go of the Netherlands. The Kaiser never had such fantasies.

[@MeaXXBlack]

@@thundereagle4130 Nonsense, the idea of ​​the 3 Reich was to unite all ethnic Germans. to form a line of tradition with the Holy Roman Empire, which fell in 1806, and the German Empire founded in 1871. since the netherlands were part of the holy roman empire for a long time and dutch is a kind of german language. the idea was much more than a "fantasy"

[@KokkiePiet]

The Port of Rotterdam grew immensely during Ww1, Dutch trade was vital for Germany and they really got into problems when the US entered the war and the first thing they did was to “chain” Dutch ships, not allowing them to sail.

[@KokkiePiet]

@@snuurferalangur4357 Breaking the neutrality or not, it sure helped a lot to speed up the demise of the German army.

[@Deveonn]

The port seemed less important in WW2

[@KokkiePiet]

@@Deveonn They had Spain for that, loads of stuff going through Spanish ports to Germany.

[@Deveonn]

@@KokkiePiet what about the mountains, the overal distance, lack of infrastructure and passage threw France? Seems very unlikely.

[@KokkiePiet]

@@Deveonn Trains?

[@rubywest5166]

Remember: the Schlieffen plan wasn’t meant to be a “This is how we crush France” plan, it was meant to be a “This is how we crush France... If we build up our armed forces beforehand” Of course it seemed to promise swift victory: it was a pitch for strengthening Germany’s army!

[@thebravegallade731]

and they didn't, not enough apparently. in WW2 they were, at least compared to france

[@alanpennie]

The Schlieffen Thought Experiment, often wrongly referred to as a "plan". More accurate, but a bit tedious to say.

[@alanpennie]

@@thebravegallade731 The German Army were reluctant to conscript the socialists from the cities, fearing they would be anti - militarist.

[@gamerz1172]

0:36, Damn history really do be repeating itself

[@harveya1a952]

It was because it was under the protection of James Bisonette

[@emeraldfinder5]

Fair, I wouldn’t invade either then

[@pabcu2507]

I thought it was Kelly moneymaker

[@crocs4304]

Jan Bijsonet

[@YankeeOneSix]

@@crocs4304 LMAO

[@connorgrieshaber4047]

@@pabcu2507 despite being rival superpowers, they agreed on that they would both garauntee them, to ensure Dutch neutrality

[@cicero2410]

Great video as always, but I would say you forgot the most important consideration Germany had early in WW2: Molotov-Ribbentrop. With food and fuel coming from the USSR, the economic constraints faced in WW1 (indeed, why the Schlieffen Plan even existed) had been addressed before the first shot was fired in Europe. That left Germany free to fight as aggressively as it desired. I would argue that THAT paradigm shift was what drove Germany overconfidence (at least until they started stacking truly impressive military victories).

[@henrygaylordswanson]

I was just watching your 2019 New Year q/a and panicked when I realized that I wasn’t sure if you still made content and it said “18 Minutes ago” I felt such relief. You are an upstanding channel that always answers questions I didn’t know I had. I can sincerely say that your channel is my favorite.

[@itzadam9359]

Video idea as a loyal Patreon supporter: Why was Finland 🇫🇮 given autonomy in the Russian Empire?

[@allgomesareevil6121]

I could try give an answer, but okay if you prefer History Matters version.

[@periklisgermanos6488]

@@allgomesareevil6121 can you please give me an answer? I would be really interested in it. If you want to of course.

[@AttackHelikopter-qx9dl]

Short answer is that they would just revolted and that would give Sweden a reason to invade. The rebelion would also be aided by The United Kingdom bcz they were rivals and also sweden cuz they wanted the lands back rom them! There you have your answer hope that i helped!

[@somethinglikethat2176]

They tried russification, the Finns got very upset so the Russians were forced to compromise.

[@periklisgermanos6488]

@@AttackHelikopter-qx9dl thanks for your simple, yet effective answer. Have a good day 😊

[@kloon9699]

An interesting, but little-known, fact: There was a chance that the Netherlands would have entered the First World War on Germany's side. In 1918, no less. On March 20th of that year, the US and UK confiscated almost the entire Dutch merchant marine to use it for troop and weapon transport. This news of the "schepenroof" reached the Netherlands on March 21st, the same day the German spring offensive started. This news, combined with the initial success of the German offensive, meant that Queen Wilhelmina wanted to issue an ultimatum to the Americans, demanding that they return the confiscated ships. Refusal would have meant a Dutch entry into the war on the German side. This didn't happen because Prime Minister Cort van der Linden threatened to collapse the cabinet if the ultimatum went through.

[@RobinvT2000]

Interesting, do you have a source for this? I’ve never heard this before, I want to read more about this topic!

[@thesaviorofsouls5210]

​@@RobinvT2000 im sure googling schepenroof should get you there :)

[@chriswetering79]

I thought it was because both Germany and UK accused NL of trading with the other, thus violating our neutrality, and both threatened with invasion because of it and that parliament had chosen to side with Germany because of better relations with them throughout pretty much all of history than with France and UK (and obviously because of close ties between Dutch and German royal families) and that it was queen Wilhelmina whose veto'd it, proclaiming NL would remain neutral until either side would force us into the war

[@QuintusFabiusMaximusVerr-vf9sb]

To be fair joing the world war in 1918 on the side of the central powers would probably not be a good idea, before the year would be out there would be british troops swarming into the Netherlands and hundreds of RN battleships bombing the crap out of your coastal cities

[@thesaviorofsouls5210]

@@QuintusFabiusMaximusVerr-vf9sb you would be suprised how well the Netherlands does at defense of their small little country, i swear sometimes it doesnt make any sense but they keep pulling it of.

[@xzayroh9914]

I love your videos. They are always interesting and answering questions only a few would even think about.

[@OscarLT321]

I visited Willhelm's exile 'house' in Doorn a while back. It still was a massive property. It's hard to realize that the German hate was mostly after WW2 and that the Netherlands really was neutral in WW1. He was in fact not allowed to leave the property, but man that's still an insane living space

[@netherly29]

I have been waiting for this for ages! Thank you for answering!

[@thenationaltimelyactionhou9328]

As always, your videos are both educational and entertaining! 👍

[@canuckprogressive.3435]

I always forget to slow down the playback. It goes far too fast for me to remember anything of it.

[@Teunslang1999]

Great vidoe. One correction: you show the artificial province of Flevoland on the map of the Netherlands, but this wasn't built yet until much later in the 20th century, mostly during/after WW2.

[@chriswetering79]

I am always annoyed by this. In almost all war movies, both ww1 and ww2, if they show a Dutch map they show a modern Dutch map. At least do some homework before showing the map!

[@deryabaygan-robinett1220]

Very exited to see this video finally arrive! Continue making great stuff guys

[@stephmod7434]

Belgium is like puberty, you have to go through it.

[@tommunism8778]

Love it when he uploads

[@Dalynx09]

Flank Flanking Flank has to be one of the best ever Military Strategies known to man... if it had actually worked exactly as intended

[@joaoonda]

Thank you so much for another great video! I always wondered why they were not invaded on WW1. And again, now I know, thanks to you :D

[@dryalga4000]

Also, invadin the Netherlands would have meant that the German Army would have faced De Nieuwe Hollandse Waterlinie (The New Dutch Water Line). This was a heavily reinforced line of defenses and forts with overlapping fields of fire in front of plains that would be flooded. This made it virtually impregnible. If the Germans would have invaded, they would have lost countless soldiers trying to breach it.

[@martijnb5887]

Which is beside the point if your goal is to quickly outflank French defenses.

[@m136dalie]

Dutch pulling one of history's smartest moves and staying neutral

[@somethinglikethat2176]

Seemed like more luck than anything else.

[@Spinnie1]

That didn't last them a second round though.

[@AwoudeX]

@@somethinglikethat2176 not luck, for it's time in 1914 the Dutch army wasn't all that bad and would have been an extra hassle for the Germans facing 2 sides already. In 1939 after recession and cuts in military spending, there wasn't much of an army left to protect neutrality, especially given the advancements made with machine guns, tanks and planes.

[@0cypher0]

@@Spinnie1 the Dutch defences still cost the Germans so many transport planes and paratroops that they lacked the number needed for the airborne assault that was required to support the planned amphibious invasion of Britain. The Germans didn't anticipate any sort of serious fight in the Netherlands and expected to be welcomed like they had been in Austria. The loss of 1,300 paratroopers and 250 Ju-52 transport aircraft limited the number of available forces for the essential air assault to a little over 3,000 strong compared to the 7-8,000 Student was expected to deploy for the capture of Hythe and Folkestone and was one of the factors that led to the postponement of the invasion of Britain.

[@Spinnie1]

@@0cypher0 And yet the Dutch fielded cannons dating back to the napoleonic era.

[@lucianoosorio5942]

“France has tons of forts in the German border, and Germany can’t waste time dealing with. So Germany decide to go around them, through Belgium. Belgium is neutral and Germany wants to march 750,000 thousand troops to get around France’s defenses.”

[@zawarudo1161]

"They thought that they would just let it go and do nothing about it but they don't. They fight back and they're pretty good at it so they slow the Germans down."

[@richardeastman9846]

"Let the last man on the right brush the channel with his sleeve" -- Gen. Alfred Graf von Schlieffen, 1905 A flanking operation across the unexpected and unfortified Belgium border permitting another quick 1871-like victory before the ponderous but slow Russian army could effectively deploy in the east.

[@MatheusLB2009]

@@zawarudo1161 "What's worse is that Britain shows up, and they are pretty pissed that Germany is invading neutral countries"

[@hammer3721]

@@MatheusLB2009 Meanwhile Britain in Iceland:

[@artanisplays3982]

@@hammer3721 I mean, was iceland really neutral in WW2

[@WolfenX4]

I swear your videos are always improving. I absolutely love your work

[@tonyfussy5720]

Flank the flanking flank, I love your humor in these videos!!

[@MF-zj3zl]

Germany, WWI: Don't invade the Netherlands. We do not want Deutsch being confused with Dutch. Germany, WWII: Eh, never mind.

[@puppetguy8726]

2:29 That's a map of modern Netherlands though

[@mryasaa7213]

Straight to the point, tells what you need to know and doesn’t beat around the bush. Definitely a sub

[@korok3169]

I was actually just wondering about this so thank you for this

[@TychoRasch]

Interesting video, I wondered why we were allowed to stay neutral. One tidbit: your map of the Netherlands includes Flevoland, a province made of land which was reclaimed in the 50s and 60s.

[@thundereagle4130]

It's not 100% correct tough. Hitler never saw the Netherlands as a legitimate state. And the Dutch where part of the "Germanic race". The Kaiser never cared about that and besides fighting in the mud is costly, the Kaiser just preferred a good relationship with the neutral countries.

[@ems4884]

Flevoland. When the Dutch said "Hello sea! Today we will be like Moses and move you. We need more space please." (In Dutch accent)

[@chriswetering79]

One tidbit on your tidbit: the reclamation of the northern part of Flevoland, the Noordoostpolder (N.O.P.) (North East Polder) started in the late 1930s and was finished in 1942. N.O.P. even became known in ww2 as "Nederlands Onderduikers Paradijs" (Dutch Hiders Paradise)

[@scottbuker6282]

I’ve always wondered about this!

[@pedrigonzalez293]

Short and to the point, great videos!

[@cardenuovo]

This is such a good question that I actually have wondered before a few times.

[@SGwyn95]

“The Russian Army wasn’t as strong as they let on” where have I heard that before?

[@dragosstanciu9866]

Because it really wasn't strong. The Russians lost the Crimean War in 1856 and the war with Japan in 1905.

[@mappingshaman5280]

@@dragosstanciu9866 bruh you do know there's 60 years between the crimeam war and world war 1? Also they won many wars after the crimean war, primarily the russo turkish war of 1878. Using the crimea war as an example to say their military was bad as of world war 1, is even more silly than using the franco prussian war to say the French military was bad in world war 1.

[@brandonlyon730]

I mean the Turks weren’t at there best in the 1800’s either (hence sick man of Europe) so that’s not much to write home about. Even the Italians took control of Libya away from them.

[@HerrKendys_Kulturkanal]

The Netherlands are cool. Greetings from Germany

[@harambe4656]

thanks germany to greeting from netherlands

[@chriswetering79]

Fortunately all hostilities are behind us and we are now even closer than before ww1 (of course not counting during European and world championships). Greetings from the Netherlands and I hope to visit Germany again soon

[@knightofhistory]

I love these videos. I've been a massive fan for years! So much so that I actually made my own channel (it focuses on History as well) thank you for the inspiration!

[@anoddlyspecificnamepart2]

Your the best channel for a “I wonder why” question we occasionally have but never answer

[@tarasradetsky9242]

Welcome to another episode of “I knew it, never really asked why it was so but now I’m interested”

[@jimmeearle]

James Bisonette is Dutch and they didn’t want to lose his patronage

[@awesomelegion9950]

They had to keep James Bissonette's trading ports open.

[@dendostar5436]

Always love your work.

[@lordbonney9779]

If James Bissonette lead Germany’s military the Schlieffen plan would’ve worked.

[@wouteralbert7276]

Completely missing the 'Nieuwe Hollandse Waterlinie'... makes me wonder how this clip came together in the first place

[@funz7293]

Another good video.

[@sacamp8952]

“Plan Biene” 😂 You got me there, History Matters. You got me right in the funny bone.

[@connorgolden4]

A question i definitely wanted answered.

[@ganymedes1985]

Greetings from Belgium! Tiny geography error: the river Scheldt (Schelde) doesn't run down to Brussels (but to Ghent), however there is a canal... so... yeah it's minute little detail Keep up the good work!

[@gabykoynkuli5704]

There is also a river

[@gregetter6137]

I caught that the trade goods showed moustache wax, which in WWI was definitely an important commodity for all parties involved.

[@klayersgaming191]

Please never stop doing these

[@princedank]

The Netherlands after the allies win the war: "I was a buisenessman, doing buiseness"

[@0cypher0]

The Dutch built up an air force during WW1 by confiscating any aircraft that had veered off course and landed on Dutch soil no matter whose side the aircraft belonged to. The pilots were then stuck in poorly guarded POW-camps from which they routinely escaped but without their flying machines.

[@nunodossantos3362]

HMS Erin, on top, 1:33.

[@sskuk1095]

1:43 That is the best thing i've ever seen on this channel!

[@prakashghumaliya2002]

Thank you for video sir

[@claytonbenignus4688]

By not invading the Netherlands, Kaiser Bill had a place to abscond to when the War went bad. As he fled in November 9th,1918, he was obviously thinking "Thank Goodness that I did not make enemies with the Hollanders!" as the Hollanders later refused to extradite him. This kept him alive for another 23 years. Surviving WW2 would have been problematic for him.

[@charlesburgoyne-probyn6044]

He died in 1941 ironically in 1940 he was offered asylum in Britain by Winston Churchill but declined

[@avantelvsitania3359]

Suggestion: How did the Netherlands reacted to the Boer Wars?

[@carlireland5049]

Same way as the rest of the world: basically everyone (except the United States to an extent) supported the Boers so overwhelmingly that it helped force Britain to end its traditional foreign policy of isolationism and start looking for allies.

[@djdewaal289]

From what I've read from a History book of basically the entire history of the Netherlands (Nederland, written by Han van der Horst) and Geert Mak's brilliant De Eeuw Van Mijn Vader (the century of my father): They felt that the Boers were still somewhat Dutch, being related to old Dutch settlers. So seeing the English destroy them the way they did, made the Dutch so anti-English that they were mostly pro-German in WW1 as a result. In short: they didn't like it, but the Dutch also couldn't do much about it.

[@adamkaufman724]

STILL love your work.

[@Dante-ob5mh]

IDK why but I always wait around til I hear Spinning 3 Plate's name in the Patreon mentions. Something about 'em.

[@Paulski25]

If I remember correctly, German troops did pass trough the smallest part of Limburg and the government of the Netherlands did not feel they had the option to refuse the Germans as it is the lesser of two evils. Edit: I stand corrected: On the way to Belgium in 1914 they went around Limburg but over a road that was partly in the Netherlands. On the way back in 1918 they went through Limburg with permission of the Dutch government.

[@derkhaslol]

And the funny thing is, the road was so small. That it actually was the most risky operation for Germany. Where they caught they would have been stopped right there by the allied forces.

[@richardhughes8111]

There's also a lot of evidence in Schlieffen's journals that the plan was not actually one meant to be used, and was a war game scenario to demonstrate the difficulties in fighting a two-front war against two great powers.

[@leonpaelinck]

I thought it wasn't even supposed to be used for a two-front war. Simply for a quick victory against france without Russia breathing down their neck

[@alanpennie]

I'm afraid the erroneous term Schlieffen Plan will never be eliminated as it's now regarded as simply another way of saying "German plan to invade Belgium in 1914" and is certainly quicker to say than that.

[@akamiguelsanchez9985]

I really wish KZbin would 1. Notify me when you upload and 2. Actually show your videos in my sub box

[@HamzaShafiq629]

The first topic in which I thought about it and know you explain it.

[@martthvdb9701]

I think the New Dutch Waterline (Nieuwe Hollandse Waterlinie) was a factor as well.

[@userofthetube2701]

The idea of spending a long time in a swamp to dig out a well fortified enemy did indeed not particularly appeal to the German high command. Although that's exactly what would ultimately happen in Flanders anyway...

[@martthvdb9701]

@@userofthetube2701 Flandres is above sea level.

[@userofthetube2701]

@Mart tHvdB Below sea level or not, it can still get pretty swampy.

[@bjarniyt1402]

The Germans wouldn’t have to get near that. They would have gone through Limburg and Noord-Brabant

[@martthvdb9701]

@@bjarniyt1402 making yet another enemy, without actually knocking him out and giving the British (and later Americans) a staging ground to launch an attack on North Germany.

[@gilles111]

Also very important, the Dutch had their Waterlinie defense system to protect the western part of the country. By flooding the surrounding area the German forces would stand on water to deep to walk/ride trough but too shallow to cross by boat. It would be very hard or nearly impossible to get to Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Den Haag, Utrecht and conquer the airport an ports of The Netherlands. The big difference between the first and second WW is the kind of weapons the Germans had available; more long range mortars and also a lot of planes so the unbeatable Waterlinie was no longer a problem.

[@ianrogerburton1670]

I absolutely love the summary of reasons on the blackboard. School kids should be taught to finish their essays like this.

[@7swordsinc909]

great video! +1 like :)

[@Hypophreniac]

When I finished rewatching one of your videos I legit just thought about why the Netherlands wasn’t invaded

[@savagedarksider]

You are the history teacher we need but not the one we deserve.

[@zooman_expeditions8984]

Thank you History Matters for uploading this video I have been dying to find out why Germany didn’t invade the Netherlands! Thank you History Matters and keep up the fabulous work! ❤

[@bartjozef15727]

There was a fourth reason, wich was its Airforce: The German Airforce used airplanes made by the company Fokker, wich was a Dutch one. So during the period of the invasion of the Netherlands Germany could not replace its airplanes for combat.

[@PyroBlaze202_alt]

2:06 you didn’t highlight the river Scheldt, that’s the Scheldt up to and a bit past Antwerp. But from that point on you highlighted the tributaries called the Rupel and the Zenne. The Scheldt flows from Ghent, more to the West, to Antwerp.

[@Silence_stp]

He didnt say that this is the highlight of the river scheldt

[@PyroBlaze202_alt]

@@Silence_stp, he said: " ... the Dutch closed the river Scheldt, which runs trough its territory here to Antwerp and later to Brussels." I assume he meant that Brussels was connected to the Scheldt by its tributaries, but that is most definitely not what he did say. He implies that the graphic shown on screen is the river Scheldt.

[@carlireland5049]

There’s also the fact that invading the Netherlands would have made the invasions of Belgium and France take longer since the Imperial German Army would have had to march for much longer distances through marshy terrain against a better-trained opponent. Don’t forget that the Schlieffen Plan as executed was already wildly overly ambitious for the time.

[@LichsuhoathinhDrabattle]

This Channel is an oasis in the desert of KZbin content for history lovers💥💥🎞

[@HistoryHustle]

Was just planning to research this for myself. You beat me to it. Great production!

[@JustAPintOfMilk]

because the Kaiser wouldnt be able to go into exile in the netherlands if he had invaded them earlier.

[@jouniairplanevideos]

2:21 we also had massive miltairy structures wich couldn't be occupied. So basicly 4 reasons

[@jannetteberends8730]

This was something I often wondered.

[@tomcotton8800]

20/10 for not mentioning the term "Magineaux Line"...

[@alessandroolivieri7]

In the video there is a huge mistake about the actual German General (Field Marshall) that had made up the plans to invade France... it was Von Moltke! Also the Kaiser actually asked Von Moltke to not invade Belgium to avoid British intervention, but the over-confidence of German/Prussian army was sure that they could have easily beat 3 major power all at once...

[@silgoedhart5506]

Great video! I am however saddend to see that a history channel makes a error in the video. You used a example of the Netherlands after the building of "de Afsluitdijk" and the creation of the new province "Flevoland". Which only happend AFTER the second World War. History does indeed matter, historical accuracy however does to

[@theothertonydutch]

Perhaps, but it is a minor detail and it doesn't really have a lot to do with the video.

[@mavadelo]

Wilhelmina being a niece of the Kaiser was a reason as well (not just "friendly with eachother"). As others mentioned, the Waterlinie was very much a things as well

[@G0kia]

I was thinking about this very question yesterday lol

[@basreiziger6689]

How about the 'Nieuwe Hollandse Waterlinie' being a feared line of defense?

[@oesypum]

There's also the small fact that the Netherlands were providing explosives, and the chemicals necessary for their manufacture.

[@MCsCreations]

Pretty curious history indeed!

[@antoniogomespereira6667]

Maginot line and the Ardennes.