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For America at the time the 'War of Independence' was the main match. For Britain at the time it was a minor side issue in a larger world wide war against France. Something I suspect American histories 'overlook'. 😄

Gibraltar held a referendum in 2002 on whether they should join Spain or remain with the UK, the voting was 187 for joining Spain and 17, 900 for staying with the UK. Very decisive result. English is the official language as well.

Why does Spain own land in Morocco, America own Alaska etc. America owns many 'rocks' around the world, very likely more than the UK. So do France and others. Nobody seems to question them.

8:04 Spanish and French troops helped the independent army defeat the British army in British America, British America expanded to Canada as well. Remember the top three colonial armies at the time were, British, French and Spanish. Britain took on the French, Spanish and American Independence troops. The British lost as they had less troops. France and Spain and the Dutch all lost in the long run. France had a revolution and was without money. Spain had independence problems in South America. Dutch lost trade with France and Spain nations due to them being without money. Britain gained more losing the American independence war. They gained more French and Spanish colonies later on and gained more control of the seas. The US turned on their Spanish allies and declared war on Spain to control Florida and pushed for more Spanish territory. The US then did the dirty with France and Napoleon sold French America to the US so Napoleon had money to wage war in Europe as Napoleon saw the Americas as too far to defend and too much to control, Europe mainland was his prize. That is why the US got French America. Al in all the US turned on its masters, the British. Turned on its allies the French and Spanish. And took on the British again to control Canada and lost. The big take away here is don't trust America.

If you used to think Gibraltar was an island, that could be confusion with Malta. Malta also has strong historical links with Britain. It is an island in the Mediterranean, between Italy and Tunisia, with a fascinating history of its own.

The war of independence to the British at the time was basically a side-show to what was going on in Europe.

Spain were also fighting us during your war of independence. I know its taught as a great american victory in history classes over there but in reality it was a small revolt that would have been crushed were it not for the help of the 2nd and 3rd most powerful countries in Europe at the time.

What you have to remember basically, is an this point their really isn't such a thing as "America" its just a bunch of European powers battling over colonies all across the globe. At times chasing each other across whole oceans. UK, Spain and France had their slice of "the new world" and it was a kind of "My enemies enemy is my Friend". So any rebellion such as the uprising in British America will always be supported by the rival powers. Attacking Gibraltar at this time was effectively just opening up another front against the British, stretching their Navy. (All the Europeans wanted a piece of the action everywhere, its why you see places like Hong Kong, British territory, and Macau, Portuguese territory along side each other in China.... Or in South America, Guyana, formerly British Guyana, Suriname, formerly Dutch Guyana and French Guyana alongside each other) Same Story in the US with Spain having the west coast, French centrally, setting up New Orleans to control the Mississippi & Quebec etc and British having the East coast. (If there's one thing I've learned though, its that whenever anyone was onto a good thing, the British generally rocked up not long after to take control...For example a French man set up the Suez canal company and did the digging, once the British realised how good an idea it was they took control of Egypt and whole Aden peninsula...Albeit in more modern times but it was the same old story)

I did my Army basic training over 30years ago and I trained with lads from the Gibraltar Regt. They all considered themselves Brits even though some of them had quite strong Spanish accents, some were ex pats, but they were all proud to be part of the British Army.

Yeah History Matters was saying Britain lost the American Revolutionary War. What a lot of Americans don't realise is that Britain had a lot more on it's hands than just the Americans during the Revolutionary War. America had almost total backing from the French who sent soldiers, money, weapons and advisors to help the Americans, whilst also sinking British ships heading to America and directly fighting the British in multiple places across the globe. Then there was the Spanish who also sided with America and used the opportunity to siege Gibraltar, though unsuccessfully. So Britain was never able to direct it's full attention towards the American colonies since it had the French and other European nations like the Dutch as well creating inconveniences for them which affected their war effort. Plus the British public was against the war, didn't see the point in it and the British government even had a hard time recruiting soldiers to fight in it to the point where they had to reduce the amount of servecing time a soldier would be obligated to do in order to entice people to fight the Americans.

Gibraltar has been a British possession (1713 - ) at least 50 years longer than it was a Spanish possession (1462 - 1713).

Spain’s continued demands for the return of Gibraltar is in contrast to its attitude towards Ceuta and Melilla, two colonial possessions in Morocco that Spain maintains control over!

In American Revolution War there were many countries against Britain: - France - Spain - Poland-Lithuania - Russia - Netherlands - Morocco

Just a quick point, Italy wasn't a united country at this time, the blue bit on the 'boot' was the kingdom of Naples, i think Italy became a unified country about 1870.

5:47 It is odd that he never verbally highlights it. Gibraltar is basically a mountain called 'the Rock'( the white hill. looks like the white cliffs of dover with windows, in the background of the cartoon) with port facilities clinging to it on either side. Its a natural fortress with very narrow land access and miles of tunnels within.

Another reason for the failure to take Gibraltar, is British turned "The Rock" as the British nicknamed it into bascially a Ship of the Line on land, if you ever go to Gibraltar you'll find its covered in gun posistions. Also rather unknown fact but during WW2 the British had a plan called Operation Tracer, the idea was if Gibraltar ever fell to the Germans or Spain joined the Axis and took it for the Germans, the British was to bury a small group of men alive with enough food and water to last a year or two and their job was to radio back an Axis shipping movements with the hope of trying to take "The Rock" back before their supplies ran out.

The italian territories are: Duchy of Savoy against France (the Duchy of Savoy end up forming Italy in 1860 like Prussia forms Germany in 1870), and with France: the Duchy of Milan (north) and the Kingdom of Naples (south). Both Milan and Naple swere Spanish possesssion since the the XVI century. After the War of Spanish Succession, both were handed over to Austria; Naples become independent but under Austrian protection some years later; both will be conquered by the Savoy dinasty in 1859-60 (Italian "Risorgimento", the birth of the modern Italian nation-state that still exists today).

I first lived in Gibraltar as a member of the UK Army, after my time in the Army I left Gibraltar and returned to the UK. Five years later I was back in Gibraltar working in the famous Rock Hotel. I stay for about 5 more years before returning to the UK to spend the rest of my life. In a NUTSHELL, Spain lost the War against the UK and the Treaty of Utrech was signed by both Countries Permanatly signing the Rock over to the UK FOREVER.

Today Gibraltar is a very useful staging post into Africa and the Mediterranean for the British armed forces. Additionally It also has a significant naval dockyard and plays an important role in signals intelligence (SIGINT).

Gibraltar is nicknamed "The Rock", since it is a mountain, and it was not easy for Spain to come across a narrow peninsula across open terrain when they were facing fortified artillery positions on the high ground. The Royal Navy was too strong for them to attempt landing operations anywhere, so they could only attack along that narrow front.

I’m from Gibraltar. Calling us Spaniard is like calling Canadians Americans

It's also a little smaller than Florida when you compared on the map - It has an area of 2.6 miles, and the airfield mentioned is unusual - as it crosses the main road or the main road crosses it. When a plane is coming to land barriers drop like you would see at a railway crossing to stop the cars - there are plenty of videos of it.

We don`t own Gibraltar, it`s a British territory. I have been to Gib quite a few times. I asked why they prefer to stay British and not Spanish. Everyone that I spoke to said that they prefer to be a British territory, rather than a Spanish one. One woman said to me, it`s like having 2 grandmothers. One is always there for you if you need her, she lets you get on with your life. The other grandmother constantly tells you what to do, how to live your life. Britain is the `good grandmother`. lol

Britain held it for three reasons. 1, our superior military 😂 2, our navy could resupply the troops with no problems as we had sea superiority, an 3, by no means the least there was a bloody great rock in the way so the only easy passage to invade the Spanish could use was by sea. Go back to point 2. It’s that simple. Besides, the Spanish gifted this land to us, and we didn’t take it by force to begin with. As we still possess one of the most effective navies in Europe, it’s probably a good geopolitical and strategic move to let us hold on to it for the good of all Europeans.

OK, so when the American War of Independence occurred, Britain was already at war with France and Spain. The French and Spanish supported the Americans, not because they particularly cared about American independence (they were imperial powers themselves, terrible precedent), but because they needed to open a second front against the British. The war he's talking about is this wider European war, in which the War of Independence was one theatre. Britain didn't really fight too hard to keep hold of the Thirteen Colonies largely in part to the wider conflict, but also because there wasn't really the popular support for it in Britain. The Americans of 1775 were still very much our cousins and sometimes brothers in a literal as well as a figurative sense. The islands you couldn't thinkof the name for are called the Balearics, by the way.

GIB is strategically very important to us because it's the gateway to the Med & it's reckoned we have sophisticated underwater sonar equipment that can track unfriendly countries subs in & out of the Med.

i have recently started to use yt I found you reportihg about the uk and was fascinated i have since checked loads of your content and find it very entertaining. Keep up the good work and educating others and learning as you go.

In 41 Spain allowed it's troops to fight for Germany so long as they only fought Russia and not western allies

Britain has historically had the same mindset towards the French that us Danes have had against the Swedes: If you get the chance to smack them around a little, you better believe you carpe that diem. Which is the true reason they went against Spain, a rich and powerful France is one thing, a super rich and powerful France + Spain, would be entirely unacceptable to the British.

A former manager of mine is married to a lovely Spanish lady. When their first child was born, my colleagues and I bought them a bib for a baby with "GIB IS BRITISH" plastered all over it. They weren't too amused with us. At least the comments here will be mild compared with an equivalent video explaining why the Falkland Islands are British.

My friend from Gibraltar was so proud to be British.

3:05 The blue part of Italy was the kingdom of Naples, which belonged to Spain at this point in history. After the war of 1701-1714 it became an Austrian territory.

Gibralter is quite important to local Spaniards, about 4,000 of them go to work in Gibralter every day.

Actually the Spanish king had intended to inherit his Empire to the Bavarian prince Joseph Ferdinand from the House of Wittelsbach (it ruled Bavaria from 1180 to 1918 and also a bunch of other places were ruled by it during the centuries). The Spanish king wrote in his will in 1698 that Joseph Ferdinand should inherit the entire Spanish Empire, but the prince died the next year at the age of 6. His father was the Bavarian Elector Maximilian II. Emanuel, who was pretty ambitious. He fought as an ally of the Austrians against the Ottomans during the Great Turkish War (1683-1699) and also against France during the Nine Years War (1688-1697). In the War of the Spanish Succession (1701-1714) he allied Bavaria with France. After the defeat at the Battle of Blenheim in 1704, in which troops of France and Bavaria were defeated by the allied troops commanded by the Duke of Marlborough and Eugene of Savoy, Bavaria was occupied for the remaining duration of the war.

I love your channel keep up the great stuff!!!

Gibraltar is one or was one of the great runs ashore in the Royal Navy, along main street Irish town, Catalan Bay, I speak from personal experience have served there for a year in 76/77 at the Royal Naval Hospital when the border was shut, then subsequently on many visits with the grey funnel line.. have nothing but fond memories throw in the obligatory race up the Rock on a Sunday morning whilst usually hungover . Character building

Love your passion for history Sarah im English living in scotland and love my history x

The American war of Independence. Was fought by French, Spanish and Germans (mostly mercenary’s) vs the British. When we (Uk) said we lost we were also at war with Spain. Cause Spain helped The colonies along with a large amount of funds from France. It lead to a negotiation in Europe.

I was born in the UK and live in Gibraltar if you ever have any questions on it. Long story short, the only way into the middle east by sea is via the Straights of Gibraltar. It's position means it's ideal for refuelling and resupplying ships that have sailed from the UK.

Gibraltar is in an extremely important strategic location as it controls the entrance into the Mediterranean. Britain's navy in the 18th century was superior to Spain's and it eventually became the largest navy in the world. The American war of independence was, in fact, a European war for control of possessions in North America. That's why it spilled over into other areas outside of North America.

During the conflict in Florida the UK and Spain fought for the land and in the end it is taken by Disney

The land border between Gibraltar and Spain is very short, not much more than 1000 yards as I recall. Spain laid siege to the territory (hardly half heartedly) at the same time as the American war of independence. The Royal Navy had to keep lifting the siege and this was a major distraction which contributed to Britain's eventual defeat in North America. Spanish attempts to retake Gibraltar failed though. It's hard to get troops across a short land border under withering artillery fire, especially when it's raining down from high on the Rock. I've been a couple of times and it's not hard to see why Gibraltarians want to remain under UK rule. Economically booming, largely self governing with London far away and mostly left to their own devices. And Spain being a dictatorship for much of the 20th century didn't help their image much.

I've been watching your videos for a while now, so how have I completely missed that you also have a star trek podcast!? I should pay more attention, I'll definitely be binging on that later!

On that map of Spain and France vs everyone else at 3:17, those areas in Italy actually belonged to Spain's monarchy at the time, including 'that blue patch' at the top that you weren't sure where it was lol, thats why they were in blue as well. Italy was still split into several smaller regions at this point, not a united country.

Just subscribed to your tribbles and transporters podcast Good luck for 2022

Went to Gibraltar in September last year, amazing place . The WW2 and Great Seige Tunnels and gun batteries are amazing, walking along the top of the " Rock " to O'Hara's battery , what a stunning view.

Hi again Sarah you will soon be celebrating 40K subs, very well deserved, well done.

Us brits were able to hold out against the Spanish at Gibraltar in various ways. One way to hold out was to keep supply cache's inside gibraltar rock and take advantage of the cave system. Tunnels were built to supply guns placed in and around the rock for defensive purposes. It's an interesting place to explore. Thesedays theres a cavern that is used as an opera house.

Those areas you mentioned are part of Italy now. I see that you had a lot of difficulties with the map. You thought Poland, eastern Germany and Romania where Russia (you are somewhat right in the Cold War 😉). That whole red area was the Holy Roman Empire and Austria-Hungary (wasn’t called so at that time but for reference).

When i explained to a German friend that the airport runway in Gib cut across the high street and they would have to stop road traffic so that planes could land she accused me of telling porkies until she googled it. I believe you mentioned that you have an Irish ancestry, has anyone ever mentioned that you talk like a Northern Irish person? It's not the accent or grammar, it's the shape of your mouth when forming your words. To imitate a Northern Irish accent as opposed to an Irish one, is to keep the top lip stiff ( i hope you are trying this at home). Maybe your next song would be Simple Minds's Belfast Child, it would be most fitting.

I believe the country that you can't name were Prussia, the Holy Roman Roman Empire, the Habsburg Monarchy (archduchy of austria, Hongary, Bohemia),the Kindom of Naples in Soutern Italy, Duchy of Mantua in North Italy and the Duchy of Savoy.

England always wanted to control sea choke points so that it could rule the seas. In the Mediterranean, the west side is controlled by Gibraltar, in the middle was Malta from 1813 until it became independent in 1964 and in the east was Cyprus, Egypt and the Suez Canal. After Naser's Egypt kicked the British out in 1956 and nationalized the Suez Canal, the British still maintain two large bases in the Island of Cyprus, controlling the East Med and the Middle East from there (you may want to check the Suez Canal crisis and the failed British and French attempt to take it back, along with the second Arab Israeli war of 1956). These two bases were formally established after Cyprus became independent in 1960 after a 5 year bloody guerilla war against Britain and like Gibraltar they are British sovereign territories. Of course the Cypriots paid for their audacity by Britain reintroducing the Turks in the affairs of the Island as a guarantor power, because 18% of the population were Turkish Cypriots, something that led to a number of crises in 1963, 1964, 1967 and finally the Turkish invasion of 1974 that partitioned the Island to north and south by occupying 36% of Cyprus to this day. These are videos regarding the 1974 events : kzfaq.info/get/bejne/eraorKam36yrf4U.html kzfaq.info/get/bejne/ja6ce9F03KzUZZc.html kzfaq.info/get/bejne/hp1glcyWut7JZIk.html kzfaq.info/get/bejne/rdyRnNOHz8WRn4k.html

It's kind of like the Falklands and Argentina, when Argentina or Spain has some domestic problems they find these territories a useful shift of focus. While Spain hasn't invaded Gibraltar they have blockaded it and stopped transport to Spain several times causing problems for the people living there. The EU in their Brexit papers called it a colony, trying to invoke imperialist Britain. Spain gets a lot of money from British tourists but it's hard to really call them an ally. I suppose some just see the UK as an easy target, I doubt anywhere would try that stuff on America.

We have a huge Royal Marine base in Gibraltar.

The 18th century was an almost constant war-zone. Excluding skirmishes which lasted less than one year, of which there were several, Britain was at war for 57 years during this century. I count 9 major wars that included Britain. There were also several wars which Britain did not involve itself in. Each peace treaty brought a redistribution of colonial assets. Colonies were also traded in peacetime for economic advantage. Both war and economy led to an ever changing geo-political landscape. It is little wonder that you are struggling to keep up!

They’re talking about the War of Independence. But remember with Napoleon, Spain didn’t like being pushed around by France so Spain relied on the British to kick Napoleon’s rather short ass.

It's inconceivable to imagine that the UK would ever give Gibraltar back to the Spanish without a fight (literally), it's considered to be far too important strategically to ever give up. After all the Spanish did give it to the British voluntarily and "IN PERPETUITY", besides which Gibraltar's inhabitants overwhelmingly wish to remain British, and the UK government's policy is always to defend the wishes of the local people - witness: The Falkland Islands. Over many years Spain has huffed, puffed, dripped and bleated about Gibraltar being "returned" to them as if the UK somehow had illegal ownership. But it's interesting to note that Spain themselves occupy Ceuta and Melilla - two enclaves of Morocco which Moroccans consider belong to their country - but which they have no apparent intention of returning to Morocco. Seems quite a hypocritical attitude to be taking.

You must understand: every alliance in europe always depended on the ruling noble families. If the same noble family rules france as well as spain that means that normally these two countries are allies. Exceptions are possible.

This video was a great idea!

Gibralter is a wonderful place, I got married there 6 yrs ago, they are very loyal to the UK crown, have a look at Ceuta, something Spain don't mention, its a a spanish part of North Africa, those Islands in the med by Spain are the Balearic Islands, very popular holiday spots for the European peoples.Even this week Spain find a reason to kick off, the USS Albany drops in and Spain complain.

The island of Malta is also an important base in the Med. Cyprus too.

A friend of mine who retired to Gibralter, described it as 1000's of alcoholics clinging to a rock.

if you're surprised about Gibraltar, I can't wait for you to learn about overseas France

The war at the start of the 18th c when Gibraltar was first taken by the British is commonly referred to by historians as The war of Spanish Succession. Thats the one where John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough did very well against the French and was awarded Blenheim Palace for his efforts. Why did the Spanish not re-take it? They certainly tried. If you look at pictures of Gibraltar ( which the film didn't show) you'll see that most of it is a large rock, or mountain. This is honeycombed with tunnels and gun positions, so it is a natural citidel. The film did point out that Britain's dominant navy could resupply the rock easily. It's been held because it is sited at such a strategic position. It was vital in WWII to enable supplies to get through to Malta ( an island fortress in the Med. that proved a thorny issue to the axis countries ) - It bottled up the axis navy and shipping in the Med. preventing them from slipping out into the Atlantic. - The docks there proved useful for resupply and repair of damaged ships. - Escaped PoWs who made their way to Spain could cross into Gibraltar and get repatriated. Going back to the war of US independence, the rebel colonial's were only successful because the rest of Europe were supporting them. Particularly France, but also Spain, Denmark, Austria. The only European states on Britain's side at the time were a few of the German states. Britain really had its hands full. You would have become independent sooner or later, but probably through dominion status, like Canada and Australia.

Hi, Sarah, I enjoyed that History Matters is a good channel, would enjoy seeing you react to more.

Making sense of the map is difficult as a LOT of Europe's borders have changed since 1713. To summarize, the blue bits are France & Spain, the (Italian) kingdom of Naples, and the (Italian) kingdom of Milan. The Italian bits were allied with Spain as these shared a king with Spain. The red bits to the right of France were the Holy Roman Empire, consisting of most of what is now Germany, Austria, and Hungary. Modern Italy and Germany didn't exist as political states back then. The added complication is that just before this conflict Belgium and Holland (now shown in red) would have been allied with Spain as they were effectively Spanish territories, but they had been mostly lost to the reformer movements influenced by German nobles and Britain. If you want to make sense of the political state of Europe from 1600 onwards it is worth looking at the influence of the Hapsburgs, as that explains a lot. If you think this is confusing, the map got even messier through the 18th Century, in the wake of the French revolution, their intrigues in Italy, and the rise of Prussia foreshadowing the unification of Germany.

In the sixies Local Authorities used to organise Educational Cruises around the Med where about 1500 children and 200 teachers spent two weeks on a ship visiting historical sites in Malta, Italy, Greece and Turkey (parents paid about half the cost). We were only in Gib for a couple of hours so four of us, all pre-teen, hired a taxi for a tour (Gib isn't big, you can walk round it in a couple of hours). The driver took us right up to the chain-link fence at the runway and said, "And this is where Franco closed the border," and spat out of the window :-)

Spain owned Florida and Dutch also allied to US during AWI as well as France

The Spanish ceded Gibraltar and Minorca (may be spelled Menorca - it's one of the Balearic islands) in the Treaty/Peace of Utrecht (1713 - 15) in perpetuity. They should think themselves lucky we gave Minorca back after the American Colonial War. Gibraltar is stategically far too important to ever give back.

Gibraltar is a British overseas territory a bit like Bermuda or the Fulkland Islands. I've been there a few times and it's a cool place

I used to work with a Spanish guy. He claimed that Gibraltar belonged to Spain because it was joined to Spain. I countered that the same argument would mean that Spain belonged to France. Also working at the same place, was a Gibraltarian man who told the Spaniard to mind his own business.

Lol. It’s a heck of a lot smaller than Florida 😂 Gibraltar has the only airport runway in the world where regular traffic crosses it when no planes are taking off.

America and France fought Britain in the America’s France and Spain fought Britain whilst in Europe Britain having to deal with two superpowers at the same time as well as deal with the a revolution at the same time

Hi SoGal, for something much further back in British history why not have a look at 'Viking Invaders and Settlers' by the captivating Neil Oliver. It's a very interesting short film about the influence that the Vikings had on English life and particularly our language that is still with us today.

Why does the US "own" Hawaii? Equally valid question.

Both Gibraltar and more recently the Falkland Islands were given a referendum to see who they wanted to be part of and both said by more than 99% Britain ! We should give the US a referendum :)

It is an interesting place to visit. Gibraltar is heavily fortified so it is difficult to take it. The Spanish tried to retake it. So confident Spanish spectators came to watch them win. The Spanish fleet was decimated by the British launching cannon shot that had been heated red hot and burned the fleet and batteries. The Rock is a maze of tunnels, so was easier to move around to resupply. On top of the Rock is an artillery battery that looks towards Morocco, which is in sight, so it is strategically very important

With Gibraltar, the Mediterranean remains open - without it, the Mediterranean is closed according to Spain's will. It meant more to Britain than those barely profitable American colonies ever did.

3:26 you point to Switzerland. 4:03 Germany and Austria 4:16 France and Italy

Try the Falklands if you haven't already 🙂

The red patch east of Southern France would be the Duchy of Savoy, and the blue patch in Northern Italy would be the Duchy of Milan, which was in Spanish hands before the War of Spanish Succession. In Northern Europe, there would be Prussia, and other German states.

The siege of Gibraltar (1779 - 1783) was the longest in British history, & came to climax when the French & Spanish built floating batteries to bombard the defences from the sea. The British responded with red hot shot, rapidly heated in furnaces fueled with coal from Newcastle in England. The rate of fire was so great that the metal devices to carry the hot shot was not sufficient, so they employed wheelbarrows filled with wet sand (the shot weighed 32 lb). The hot shot was used to set off the cannon charge directly (that must have been exciting for the loaders!). The hot shot stuck to the sides of the floating batteries & caused internal fires that proved impossible to put out- by midnight all were ablaze. So ended the siege- due to the availability of coal. Information taken from "Gibraltar- The Greatest Siege in British History, Roy & Lesley Adkins 2017.

Gibraltar is at a strategic position and was part of a chain of naval Stations for the British. Gibraltar, Malta, Cyprus, Alexandria, Aden. It was ery valuable during the 2nd WW. That the British held Gib and Malta and also Alexandrai was instrumental in the defeat of the Axis forcees in North Africa and the Med.

The red patch in Northern Italy is Savoy. The blue next to it is Milan which was under Spanish Control.

Fun fact: Gibraltar has now been British for longer than it was ever Spanish (Castile, later the core of Spain, took it from the Muslims in 1462 after an earlier abortive attempt). If anyone has the ultimate claim to Gibraltar, it's the Neanderthals - Gibraltar is thought to be the last place they inhabited, many years after they died out elsewhere.

Portugal has the longest running - still active treaty recognised with England. _The treaty of alliance between King Richard II of England and King John I of Portugal was ratified at Windsor on the 9th May 1386_

Basically Gib is a staging post to any given Mediterranean mission, or as the Falklands showed, further Atlantic missions. The UK won't give it up due to its strategic importance. Spain wants Gib to make the map look pretty, But over 80% of Gibs do not want Spanish rule. And lets remember... America, China, UK, India... and many others.... own tiny islands in strategic positions.

Great Britain got Florida from Spain in 1763 after the Seven Years' War (when the French territorial claims in North America had been abolished and and both the British and Spanish claims there made contiguous - the Mississippi River having become their border, leaving Florida to the British side), but Spain considered it valuable enough to be taken back along with the aforementioned Gibraltar and Menorca (the latter both having been under British control since 1713). After joining the American War of Independence with France, Spain was able to physically conquer Florida and Menorca, justifying their formal return to them in 1783 - unlike Gibraltar, where the British held out.

And then Brexit happened, so more changes. It's a lovely place though, and you can walk from end to end quite easily Worth having a quick Google for the monkeys which live on or near the rock. Interesting airport as well as the runway is basically also the main road. When a aeroplane comes in (or sets off), traffic and pedestrians literally clear the runway like its some sort of rail way crossing.

One thing all Americans miss is the fact that in the 1700 your population was only 2 million or so , about the size of a large European city Your population was also spread over a fairly large area trying to establish its self against an indigenous people and hostile landscape , you had no formal armed forces and where mainly farming stock , refugees from a battle worn Europe . There where no maps to show what size America was , if there had been I’m sure we would have put up a better fight to keep you under our Flag Great video I must say Iv watched most of what you do and love your take on what you learn . Iv been to Gib , my son is in the Royal Navy and as most of your replies state it is a very British place . Red letter boxes and telephone boxes , Policemen dressed as in Britain . And as any Sailor will tell you it holds a special place in there history including the famous bar the Donkys Flip Flop , it’s a right of passage to have drunk or get drunk in it Stay safe and keep up the good work 👍👍👍👍

The British were also at war with India during the Maratha Wars 1775-82 and again the 2nd Anglo-Mysore War 1780-1784. The 4th Anglo-Dutch War 1780-83 . So we were kind of busy against 5 countries Fance, Spain, US, Dutch Republic and India not bad for a small Island.

It's used as a meme "Rock of Gibraltar" because ... it is so hard to take. Reliable and dependable !

You also need to appreciate that the current maninland European contries are very recent, some are VERY recent indeed. The only constants over the past 100's of years (actually far longer), are England, Scotland, and Wales.

One major reason for the Spanish failure to regain Gibraltar in 1783 was the Battle of the Saintes, a major naval victory for Britain in the West Indies in 1782. Peace negotiations were under way by this time and the outcome of the battle had a big impact on those talks. The British victory gave them a new resolve to resist various American and French demands for British territory outside of the main North American theatre, and caused the French to encourage Spain to make peace and abandon their claim on Gibraltar instead of launching further naval campaings in the West Indies.

At the moment I'm watching Cops on the Rock, about policing Gibralta, there may be an episode on youtube you could watch to get a feel of the place.

Britain’s strategy during this period and beyond when it came to continental Europe was always to ensure that no one country became too powerful. Therefore we (U.K.) always opposed the strongest European power when it appeared one had an advantage over the others I.e the Napoleonic wars, WW1 etc. it was strategically better for Britain to keep Europe divided.

in Gibralta there seems to be many Maltese and others who came to work in the royal navy docks which closed in the 1970s I think the British kept it as it guarded the main trade route with India the only battle honour on the colour of the Royal Marines is Gibraltar, but they fought with honour in a lot of other places

At 11:55, the “Insert Earth Here” logo in the background, relates to Lorum Ipsom, Unity World, which nowadays would be the UN (United Nations), 🇬🇧😎👍🏼

Gibraltar is of vital strategic importance militarily. As one general put it: "Whoever controls Gibraltar also controls the movement of ships into and out of the Mediterranean.