Why Germany Lost the Battle of Verdun (WW1 Documentary)

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2 ай бұрын

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The Battle of Verdun represents the worst of trench warfare and the suffering of the soldiers in the minds of millions - and for many, the cruel futility of the First World War. But why did Germany decide to attack Verdun in the first place and why didn't they stop after their initial attack failed?
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» SOURCES
Bourlet, Michaël. Verdun 1916. La guerre de mouvement dans un mouchoir de poche. 2023.
Krumeich, Gerd. «SAIGNER LA FRANCE»? MYTHES ET RÉALITÉ DE LA STRATÉGIE ALLEMANDE DE LA BATAILLE DE VERDUN, » Guerres mondiales et conflits contemporains, No. 182 (Avril 1996), pp. 17-29
Holstein, Christina. “The Battle of Verdun” Salient Points, vol 2 (12): 35-45.
Horne, Alastair. The Price of Glory. Verdun 1916. 1993 (1962).
Eberholst, Nicolai. “Ragnarok”. Salient Points, vol 2 (12): 65-70.
Lyons, Alex. “Twelve Days in Hell.” Salient Points, vol 2 (12): 77-84.
Bruce, Robert B. “To the Last Limits of Their Strength The French Army and the Logistics of Attrition at the Battle of Verdun 21 February - 18 December 1916.” Army History, no. 45, 1998, pp. 9-21.
Julien, Elise. “Verdun, Site of Memory.” International Encyclopedia of the First World War, 1 Apr. 2021, encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/verdun_site_of_memory.
Martin, William. Verdun 1916: “They Shall Not Pass.” (2001).
von Mellenthin, H. H. “Verdun: The Epic of the War.” Current History (1916-1940), vol. 4, no. 3, 1916, pp. 432-37.
Maufrais, Louis, et Martine Veillet. J’étais médecin dans les tranchées. 2008.
Afflerbach, Holger. Auf Messers Schneide. Wie das Deutsche Reich den Ersten Weltkrieg verlor (2018)
Lunn, Joe. Memoirs of the Maelstrom. A Senegalese Oral History of the First World War. (1999).
Osburg, Rolf-Rüdiger. Hineingeworfen. Der Erste Weltkrieg in den Erinnerungen seiner Teilnehmer. 2009.
Hart, Peter. The Great War 1914-1918. 2014.

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»CREDITS
Presented by: Jesse Alexander
Written by: Jesse Alexander
Director: Toni Steller
Editing: Philipp Appelt
Motion Design: Philipp Appelt
Mixing, Mastering & Sound Design: above-zero.com
Research by: Jesse Alexander
Fact checking: Florian Wittig
Executive Producer: Florian Wittig
Channel Design: Yves Thimian
Contains licensed material by getty images, AP and Reuters
Maps: MapTiler/OpenStreetMap Contributors & GEOlayers3
All rights reserved - Real Time History GmbH 2024

Пікірлер: 407

@TheGreatWar 2 ай бұрын

Support Gilded Destiny on Kickstarter: www.kickstarter.com/projects/gildeddestiny/gilded-destiny-a-grand-strategy-game?ref=16arxn Wishlist Gilded Destiny on Steam: store.steampowered.com/app/2189430/Gilded_Destiny/

@TeddyBelcher4kultrawide 2 ай бұрын

I gotta watch

@craiglakatos3742 2 ай бұрын

Two things: 1) I’m sure you hear this all the time, but Jesse your pronunciation of non-English names are excellent 2) love how you consistently mix in primary source material and cite your sources in the description. Keep up the great work!

@jessealexander2695 2 ай бұрын

Thanks!

@Sean_Barry 2 ай бұрын

The line "I don't hate you. I don't hate anyone." made me tear up a bit. I really appreciate the way this channel always weaves in the people as more than just statistics.

@johncox2865 2 ай бұрын

Of course he didn’t hate them. They had his gun !

@criscabrera9098 2 ай бұрын

Time stamp on where he said that

@deadlyknights1119 2 ай бұрын

@@johncox2865 Bro, most soldiers don't want to go through any of this. They are being ordered to, refusal would lead to a cowardice charge, which leads to an execution. I hate that people have a belief that we humans thrive more from misery than happiness. A line from "The Great Dictator": You are not machines, you are not cattle, your men, you have the love of humanity in your hearts, you don't hate, only the un-loved hate, the un-loved and the un-natural"

@justalpha9138 Ай бұрын

@@johncox2865 When you go through that much misery and suffering, you just want it all to end. Also keep in mind, that aside from the uniforms and the languages, these were literal 18-20 guys brutally destroying each other...

@Kruppt808 Ай бұрын

People hate the suffering, the comrades getting killed for reason X by some old entrenched powerful person far away in a nice building, ordering the youth of his country into certain death and or disfigured/disabled.😢

@alexs_toy_barn 2 ай бұрын

Everyone sleepin' on 3:25 Konstantine Schmidt von Knoblesdorf, the greatest-named human being of all time

@RobertLocksley385 2 ай бұрын

Almost as great as our own Royal Navy Admiral The Honourable Sir Reginald Aylmer Ranfurly Plunkett-Ernle-Erle-Drax. No, really. I kid you not. Look him up.

@Allwin-lz6yj Ай бұрын

Nah Yves saint laurent best name of all time

@Dayvit78 Ай бұрын

That is an awesome name. Before hearing it, my favorite German name is August Wilhelm Antonius Graf Neidhardt von Gneisenau, which made for a pretty awesome ship name, too.

@antoinedoyen7452 2 ай бұрын

What a massacre...my grand father was 17 at Verdun...stayed 3 days in a hole of water and mud...then deeply wounded by german combat gas. He died at 50 yo ...he never really healed .

@Thug-12Na 25 күн бұрын

It was such a awfull time n so much distruction death and mentaly insane

@francisp7609 13 күн бұрын

My grandfather was also 17. He fought at Le Mort Homme, Le Chemin des Dames, le Fort de Vaux and Douaumont. He was decorated for capturing a German machine gun on his own. He was also gased. He died at 75 years old. Ils ne sont pas passes!

@KPW2137 2 ай бұрын

This summer I visited Verdun and fort Douamont. It's beyond incredible, you can see all signs of the battle everywhere even though it's been over a century now.

@mattkuhn6634 2 ай бұрын

I was there for the centennial of the armistice - it’s sobering still seeing the evidence of trenches and shell craters in the preserved areas.

@KPW2137 Ай бұрын

@@mattkuhn6634 yes. And these preserved areas aren't small.

@captintinsmith3774 2 ай бұрын

My great grand uncle Adrien survived this terrible Battle of Verdun..... Alas, his brother Camille, was killed at the Second Battle of Artois in September 1915.....

@sgtdex3634 2 ай бұрын

You are of French descent ?

@captintinsmith3774 2 ай бұрын

@@sgtdex3634 Indeed I am.... My father was French .....

@sgtdex3634 2 ай бұрын

@@captintinsmith3774 ohhh nice I live in France my self I thought so because those names are French haha! Either ways I thank them for their service and sacrifice for this nation a million times even though I’m an immigrant I just can put my self and imagine what they went through not even speaking of Verdun I thank them !

@captintinsmith3774 2 ай бұрын

@@sgtdex3634 I come from a long line of French Patriots..... My father was with the "Premiere Armee" under DeLattre De Tasigny and participated in Operation Dragoon .... I also have all of my ancestors "carnets militaires" going back to the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71..... I emigrated to the United States 43 years ago from Europe..... Anyways, my Great Grand Uncle Camille served in the 90th Infantry Regiment as a Sargent and is buried in Barly in the Artois region ..... I still have a sister in France that lives in the center near Chateauroux..... Anyways, Greetings from Kennesaw Georgia USA!👌😎

@levimccarthy1259 2 ай бұрын

What is your last name if you dont mind my asking

@andrewsoboeiro6979 2 ай бұрын

Jesse Alexander is one of the great battle-narrators of our time; I could listen to him narrate Borodino, Leipzig, Alamein, & now Verdun over & over!

@kohtalainenalias 2 ай бұрын

there's enthusiasm in the tone and it's clearly articulated and pronounced

@jessealexander2695 2 ай бұрын

Thank you!

@andrewsoboeiro6979 2 ай бұрын

@@jessealexander2695 thank YOU!!

@Nik-xi2ri 2 ай бұрын

Yeah actually

@arslongavitabrevis5136 2 ай бұрын

Jesse is very professional, you can tell by how he takes pains to pronounce German and French names correctly. I have never seen/heard anyone like him. He is a born storyteller.

@hlynnkeith9334 2 ай бұрын

Verdun gave birth to the fighter pilot. Oswald Boelcke flew at Verdun and started his Dicta Boelcke there. He organized communications with artillery units to alert him when and where French airplanes were in the air so his Feldfleger Abteilung could rise to meet them. This practice later became standard with the Luftstreitkräfte. But first it was done at Verdun.

@andresemilior.gonzalez 2 ай бұрын

Falkenhayn makes me think of the meme of the dude crying with rage but with a smiley mask in his face: "Yes, bro. I totally wanted to bleed the french white. I never even wanted to take Verdun, bro. Trust me"

@michaelneuwirth3414 2 ай бұрын

Falkenhayn is a perfect example of the kind of person who in civilian life would be committed to an insane asylum for their speeches and opinions. The worst thing is that such people are even left in command during a war.

@wleeclark7696 2 ай бұрын

Read the Mosier book on Verdun. Falkenhayn broke the morale of the French military which resulted in mutinies in 1917. Also, Falkenhayn's strategy was designed for the typical French general who believed in "Elan" attacks overcoming massed machine guns - Petain did not believe in "Elan", he was a defensive general. It just took awhile for the French troops to decide not to be cannon fodder for the German artillery that was slaughtering them and the French General Staff who was throwing their lives away. As Mosier points out, the German army invested in advanced hydraulic howitzers perfect for trench warfare; the French at best had the flat firing 75 cannon - useless for trenches.

@rjbmarchiac8693 2 ай бұрын

@@wleeclark7696 Doesn't this Mosier know that by 1915, the French had started to produce trench guns and hotwizers ("canons courts")?

@wleeclark7696 2 ай бұрын

Read Mosier's book - it describes the infighting in the French military "chapels" over "Elan" conquering machine guns????, the delays in getting modern howitzers approved for service, and why the French were stuck for most of the war with the bulk of their artillery made up of obsolete non-hydraulic cannons or useless flat firing 75mms. Your phrase sums up the problem "started in 1915 to produce howitzers" (very slowly) - the German Army was equipped with them before the war started.@@rjbmarchiac8693

@jarroddivens8339 2 ай бұрын

@@wleeclark7696 exactly. Mosier's books change my entire perspective on the war and really brought to light the total failures of the French and British doctrines.

@francoisfoue 2 ай бұрын

The amount of industry is beyond belief: in 1916, France + GB + Italy produced together 600 000 75mm amunitions per day, France almost 300k, GB above 200k, Italy 100k

@keithplymale2374 2 ай бұрын

I have been to Verdun. You can still see the signs of what happened there many decades later. When you go into the Douaumont Ossuary you will see along the top of the walls the city symbols of all the cities where men who came to fight for France and died there came from. Among all the French ones you will see Chicago and New York. That is because this was the first place the Lafayette Escadrille flew, fought and died.

@user-jy3io4iz2p 2 ай бұрын

There are villages completely whiped of the face of the earth. Only signs and bit imagination remind us about these "village detruit".

@skippygatten8572 2 ай бұрын

I visited Verdun. I hiked all around including Dead Man's Hill. Every few feet I was walking in and out of a shell crater. Trees are growing sideways because of the slope of the shell holes 100 years later. I also saw some bones which looked human.

@ThePizzaGoblin 2 ай бұрын

Trees know which way is up

@tj4234 2 ай бұрын

@@ThePizzaGoblinI imagine he means growing sideways out the ground. Like trees do on a hill.

@silasmerzenich 2 ай бұрын

Which year have you been there?

@skippygatten8572 2 ай бұрын

@silasmerzenich I went in November 2018. I went to the Somme on Nov 11 for the 100th anniversary of the Armistice. I spent 2 weeks visiting the entire Western Front from the English Channel to the Swiss border.

@skippygatten8572 2 ай бұрын

@ThePizzaGoblin what I ment was the trees were growing on the up and down slope of the shell crater. Yes the trees were pointed up😅

@jota6262 2 ай бұрын

For Americans, our great battlefields, like Gettysburg, are picnic grounds, with manicured lawns. But if you want a taste of industrial war, spend an afternoon at Verdun- death is everywhere. Shell craters lip-to-lip for miles, old pillboxes and barbed wire strewn along your way, and even bones and live ordnance if you are unwise enough to stray from the trails. You will be face-to-face with the ghosts of landsers and poilus and you won't forget it.

@StephenLyons-tl8ie 2 ай бұрын

True. I visited some years ago; just tragic.

@Swellington_ 2 ай бұрын

do you have some kind of weird reverse inferiority complex? And you sound as if its a bad thing the battlefields of the past in America are,well idk,something,but just because theirs no shrapnel or a live round or the yard gets mowed regularly,doesnt make it less or whatever your point is not being rude or whatevr but your comment just seemed a little.....odd

@capablemachine 2 ай бұрын

@@Swellington_ I think the point is you can still see the carnage 11 decades later on a huge area. The landscape is permanently scarred by the ridiculous amount of ordinance and the scale of the battle. The difference between Gettysburg soldiers who would have seen themselves more like the Napoleonic era as compared to the hyper industrialised battle fields of world war 1. Can you even imagine a million shells fired? I can't.

@chrismorgenstern4352 2 ай бұрын

If you were killed or traumatized or lost a leg at Gettysburg or at Verdun, there is no difference.

@jota6262 2 ай бұрын

@chrismorgenstern4352 True, but we are all observers here, not participants. If you wish to see the effects of modern war, I would recommend Verdun (or Ukraine) over Gettysburg.

@Gorboduc 2 ай бұрын

I'd love to see a video about the Red Zone, or "Zone Rouge", which is the area of the Verdun battlefield which is still so poisoned by shells and other toxins that nothing can grow or live there. Artillery rounds, though, are still dug up in quantity, and apparently every few years an unlucky tourist or collector gets blown up by one.

@erichluepke855 Ай бұрын

What I love about this channel is the integration of strategic/tactical events and on-the-ground accounts of the horrors of war. To me, this is the essence of war. You can't get the whole story without both. The soldier account may let us see war as terrible and disgusting, but also as a tragic/heroic story of self sacrifice. If you look only at the strategy and tactics, you would never believe such fairy tales, but then you wouldn't understand why people would even do it.

@jessealexander2695 Ай бұрын

Thanks!

@martincohen155 2 ай бұрын

I visited last year. There's a feeling there. It's unmistakable. Rest their souls.

@extrahistory8956 2 ай бұрын

These videos are such a nice reminder of the events from the main series.

@owen1079 2 ай бұрын

Thank you for all your work. It's depressing these don't have MILLIONS of views. Your documentaries are painstakingly well made👍

@samarkand1585 2 ай бұрын

German commanders and lying in post-war memoirs, name a more iconic duo

@toadtheparakeet8541 2 ай бұрын

This man comments some anti-german propaganda on every video and TheGreatWar likes it every time...?

@samarkand1585 2 ай бұрын

@@toadtheparakeet8541 I comment factual stuff, might be why. Also, you don't seem to understand what imperative means

@jonahthejedai4973 2 ай бұрын

Think World War Two and the myth of the clean Wehrmacht. Generational, this is

@toadtheparakeet8541 2 ай бұрын

@@samarkand1585 You’re just depressed because your country couldn’t accomplish anything in World War I without the aid of 3 other nations, a blockade, as well as numerical superiority by 13 million!

@samarkand1585 2 ай бұрын

@@toadtheparakeet8541 And yet here you are screeching under all of my comments. Need an autograph or something?

@hadial-saadoon2114 2 ай бұрын

I spent a couple of days at Verdun in 2016, the centennial of the battle. The moonscape of shell craters endures after a century. Our first stop was Colonel Driant's bunker. The remnants of the trenches are still visible around it.

@gabespiro8902 2 ай бұрын

I read somewhere that the Gorlice-Tarnow offensive may have influenced Falkenhayn’s thinking There, the Germans and Austrians used local numerical advantage and overwhelming firepower to cause a break in an entrenched enemy line and the breakthrough was so devastating it caused the entire Russian line to collapse and what started as a limited offensive to relieve pressure on the Austrians turned into a huge victory for the central powers I think Falkenhayn figured that if he could recreate those conditions on the western front he could cause a similar catastrophic collapse in the French army, one that wouldn’t happen in Russia owing to their massive army and large interior.

@KarlBunker 2 ай бұрын

A beautifully put together video. Informative and moving in equal measure.

@ManuelSalomon-pr1pi 2 ай бұрын

Thank you so much. I've been wanting you to do a video of verdun for a long time.

@huntertrum3658 2 ай бұрын

I watched this channel all throughout highschool, and it helped me immensely! I was in highschool from 2014-2018; the dates of WW1 100 years later. when the war started, I was a Freshman, and by the time the war would have ended I was graduated. I remember it was very late into my Junior year, and just so happens that were were learning about WW1 and how the United States got involved. I remember is exact day, April 6, 2017. Why? Two reasons. that was the day the Americans joined the war 100 years ago, and this channel released a video on just that topic! I was amazed, it felt as if I was living through history (in my own weird little way lmao)

@TheGreatWar 2 ай бұрын

10 year anniversary this year

@autodidact537 2 ай бұрын

@@TheGreatWarOne of the problems that attackers faced in WW1 was that offence was on foot but defense could be mobile (rail or trucks).

@robbygood3458 2 ай бұрын

I'm really loving these videos focusing on specific battles nd offensives. Could do make a video on the Carpathian campaign in 1915. It's such a forgotten front for the absurd amount of men lost there.

@konradvonschnitzeldorf6506 2 ай бұрын

Yeah, as a Tyrolian, in every little village you go here, on the graveyard, most of the men who died in the first world war died in Galicia in the first 2 years of the war. It's were Austria lost its best men.

@nathangilbert7850 2 ай бұрын

I always love these videos

@amoryhall1796 2 ай бұрын

Great presentation and analysis of an epoch-defining battle.

@Digmen1 2 ай бұрын

Thanks Jesse this is one of the best presentations on Verdun that I have read or seen. And I have read and seen a lot!

@jessealexander2695 2 ай бұрын

Thanks!

@schepvogelk5971 2 ай бұрын

'Nice' video. Informative! Well put together.

@andrewsoboeiro6979 2 ай бұрын

Fitting this should come out só shortly after Jesse’s “Fall of France” documentary- you can’t appreciate the tragedy of the Third Republic without seeing our hero in its prime!

@theedslanky1235 2 ай бұрын

I love in Dan Carlins series when he talks about how france would give up just about anything in 1940 to have the first world War leadership, the more I learn on the subject confirms it for me too

@dansmith4077 2 ай бұрын

Great video thanks

@fonzieke2933 2 ай бұрын

I hope you can keep making great videos like this !

@akend4426 2 ай бұрын

I’ve never been this early to one of your videos before!

@micahistory 2 ай бұрын

Interesting video, this was certainly a pivotal moment of the war

@sonnyb7612 2 ай бұрын

Great video. Exactly the type of WW1 battle documentary that I like. Luckily/sadly there's plenty to make in this conflict.

@effexon 2 ай бұрын

generals just calculating hundreds of thousands losses like daily tomato.

@keithjohnston4488 2 ай бұрын

great documentary, bravo

@2serveand2protect Ай бұрын

TOP NOTCH STUFF, fellas! Thank You very much!

@user-jy3io4iz2p 2 ай бұрын

Been to Verdun and surroundings. Seriously impressive. Don't forget to sit and have a café at the bank of the Meusse river.

@MrSabram07 2 ай бұрын

Great video!

@HistoryHaty 2 ай бұрын

Love Great War and Real Time History. Love studying the World Wars. Some might call me a nerd.

@seandail1 2 ай бұрын

Nothing wrong with being a nerd like the rest of us!😊

@HistoryHaty 2 ай бұрын

@@seandail1 Thank you so much👍👍👍.

@bigsarge2085 2 ай бұрын

Always learn something new!

@johnhenry4844 2 ай бұрын

Clicked so fast

@amotaba 2 ай бұрын

@forgetfulfunctor1 2 ай бұрын

Same lol

@kohtalainenalias 2 ай бұрын

.. and fought so hard, but in the end it doesn't even matter

@jessealexander2695 2 ай бұрын

Nice. @@kohtalainenalias

@mohammedsaysrashid3587 2 ай бұрын

RTH channel is one of the best historical coverage channels 🙏👍🏻

@flashgordon6670 2 ай бұрын

Dear Jesse Alexander: We’d all love to see a collaboration with you and Tino Struckman. You telling the story and interspersed with Tino, touring the battlegrounds. Showing the landscapes as they are today and merging them into the WW1 story, maps and photographs. Not sure how that would work, but just an idea that came to me. You are both 2 of the greatest historians and treasures on YT and deserve the Medal of History. 🎖 I salute you. Thanks a Million!

@michaelsinger4638 2 ай бұрын

The ultimate response to anyone clown who claims that “French soldiers cannot fight:”

@Malik-Ibi 2 ай бұрын

Great video, thank you very much. Are you including this video in your playlist 'All Videos from The Great War - chronological order' ? Are you still updating that list?

@iloveSUVs 2 ай бұрын

Excellent documentary. I was most impressed with Jesse Alexander's French and German pronunciation.

@porcine83 2 ай бұрын

Excellent as always. Germans motto for the 20th century could be "Tactical success, but strategic defeat."

@seabrain1212 20 күн бұрын

This wasn't even a tactical success.

@Atreides1GDI 14 күн бұрын

@@seabrain1212it was

@welcometonebalia 2 ай бұрын

Thank you.

@user-py5gc5dn7t 2 ай бұрын

Cool video

@awkc63 2 ай бұрын

I love the whole history of both World Wars, this one is likely my favourite WWI battle. The Battle of Verdun started. The battle took place on the hills North of Verdun-sur-Meuse in North-Eastern France. Although this battle wasn't the largest, or had the most casualties, it is remembered for a few different reasons. 1. More people died per square Kilometre during this campaign than in any other campaign during World War I. (31 people per KM²) 2. In the initial offensive, 2 out of 5 men were buried alive due to buildings collapsing from shelling. 2 more were injured in some way… and the fifth man, was awaiting his fate. 3. More flamethrowers were used by the Germans in one offensive than any other offensive in war history to date. This was the first campaign where a flamethrower offensive happened in such a big way. A total of 96 flamethrowers were used by the Germans during this time. 4. An estimated 65 million shells were fired from both sides during the 9 month campaign, making it the most during World War I. 5. A slogan used by the French during this campaign was used as Propaganda to help encourage more to enlist. This slogan was also the most used during the war. Ils ne passeront pas! (They shall not pass!) It was believed that if Verdun were to fall, then all of France would fall to the Germans. A total death count from both sides is approximately 305,000. Approximately another 552,000 - 650,000 were injured, captured or lost. The campaign lasted 302 days, to put these numbers into perspective, anywhere from 2,837 - 3,162 people were killed, injured, captured or lost PER DAY throughout the battle. This is one of the longest and most costly battles in human history.

@Mplkjo15 Ай бұрын

22:19 arguably? the french stopped a massive german offensive designed to pierce the front as a last ditch assault of 1915 (cf. 1:05). It IS a strategic defensive victory as it managed to stop a two year assault, there are no counter arguments possible.

@mohammedsaysrashid3587 2 ай бұрын

Another wonderful historical coverage episode about Germans Verdant salient offensive during WW1. In the western front. Thank you 🙏( RTH) channel for sharing this magnificent episode.

@jdbb3gotskills 15 күн бұрын

“I don’t hate you, I don’t hate anyone” that hits hard 😢

@xDemon1cx 2 ай бұрын

The flags of France, Germany and the European Union flying on the top of the ruins of Douaumont are an unbeliavably powerful symbol. Whatever your thoughs on the EU are, it is just mind-boggling that it has managed to become a reality and make war between France and Germany (or any of the other members) a mad nightmare of the past

@Duececoupe Ай бұрын

There's documentaries about the Great War, then there's The Great War channel....👍🏻👌🏼👏🏻

@KAISERSCHL8 2 ай бұрын

What a waste of brave young men from both of these great nations. Truly shows the horror of The Great War. Thank you for sharing, top tier quality, this channel never disappoints!

@thomasboyd119 2 ай бұрын

Awesome

@MrDaviyd 2 ай бұрын

Excited to watch this!

@bodavidson2804 2 ай бұрын

"several Alsatian deserters revealed the coming attack" Man they're smart dogs .....

@dano4996 2 ай бұрын

As a matter of fact, the majority of Alsatians were sent to the eastern front to avoid this

@bodavidson2804 Ай бұрын

@@dano4996 poor dogs 😔

@lorpot Ай бұрын

As a French, I am still moved by the shakehand between President Mitterrand and Chancelor Helmut Kolh at the Douaumont Memorial. Three wars and now we are friends and allies. At last.

@yvesremaur4504 Ай бұрын

Je traduis en anglais: "as a French" : as a Frenchman. "the shakehand" : the handshake.

@lorpot Ай бұрын

@@yvesremaur4504 @yvesremaur4504 Ce n'est pas pour vous vexer mais il n'y a que les fats français qui s'amusent à corriger les commentaires sur les réseaux sociaux. Même dans une conversation orale, un Américain trouverait impoli que vous le rattrapiez sur un mot. Ils se contentent gentiment que vous soyez globalement intelligible. Cela vous démangeait tant que ça de montrer à quel point vous m'êtes supérieur plutôt que donner votre avis sur le fond ?

@indianajones4321 2 ай бұрын

Fields of Verdun intensifies

@alexandrefernandes5008 2 ай бұрын

Yes

@doctordetroit4339 Ай бұрын

EVERYONE lost at Verdun......including the Allies.

@friedrichtellberg7676 2 күн бұрын

Thank you for so many beautiful and interesting episodes. You are a unique voice. Mein Englisch ist weniger gut als mein Deutsch, Ich finde Ihren Umgang mit Quellen super. Unterstütze Sie gerne. Herzlichen Gruß aus Belgien.

@user-ue4nq3kc3j 2 ай бұрын

Best narrator on KZfaq

@catholicmilitantUSA 2 ай бұрын

In Alistair Horne I read about the sheer horror of the Tavannes Tunnel (not just the September fire disaster, but the living conditions there.)

@UncleJoeLITE 2 ай бұрын

That man's words [nation unimportant] 19:17 summed up this whole disaster for me: 'I don't hate you...'

@Angrymuscles 2 ай бұрын

We need an RTH episode about Bulgaria in World War 2. One among many forgotten or ignored warring powers, none of whom we should forget.

@bachtruongson9408 2 ай бұрын

Small correction with the map at 1:02: Germany is supposed to own Memel

@peterjensen2483 2 ай бұрын

Father and son fall one by one - fields of Verdun

@oldesertguy9616 2 ай бұрын

It's amazing that someone who is a career Army officer starts an attack with the idea that maybe some miracle will happen, and without any endgame strategy. And shame on his superiors for letting him.

@Rayan2Musikahan 2 ай бұрын

I can't believe i forgot ww1 was also a war where chemical weapons were used normally.

@IvanIvanov-pl8bm 2 ай бұрын

it would be great if you could make a clip or two about the congress of vienna 1815 and the two treaties of paris but it would be nice to touch on everything, especially the german question, the italian question, the saxony poland crisis, the river treaties, the colonial changes, the return of the old dynasties , the changes in Denmark and Sweden, the slave question not settled but beginning, the Netherlands, who are the Great Powers, how France comes in, the role of Sweden, Portugal and Spain, the small entry of Spain into the Great Powers and why it is removed from them, why the ottoman empire is not allowed, the secret agreements and the holy alliance

@tomslade98 2 ай бұрын

23:12 Can anyone find the exact name of the de Mazenod who gave this quote? It looks like it might be a Pierre de Mazenod of the 44th artillery brigade, but I can't find out for sure. I'd like to use the quote in a game mod.

@varovaro1967 2 ай бұрын

Falkenhayn had nightmares until his deathbed

@petershorney7504 Ай бұрын

I really like the clarity of this presentation and the emphatic delivery. Well done. Verdun remains a symbol of French determination. To ease pressure on the French at Verdun, the British launched their own offensive on the Somme in July 1916 - this battle remains to the Brits what Verdun is to the French. All in all totally worthless loss of life on all sides. As usual, a small elite on each side led their generation to slaughter.

@sterlingpratt5802 2 ай бұрын

One of the biggest questions I have still about the war-“Why did Falkenhayn attack at Verdun? And why did he stay?”

@lorgaraurelian5104 2 ай бұрын

My boy Jesse Alexander on another channel!

@Ukraineaissance2014 2 ай бұрын

I agree that the role of verdun was lied about after the war by german commanders. They simply didnt have the resources to take on the entente/allies, especially on the attack which swallows up far more men and weapons than the defense. This fact was the basis for the schlieffen plan which relied on winning the war through quick manouevre before the greater population and industry of the entente powers could have an effect.

@delboy1727 Ай бұрын

I have visited Verdun a few times, and one of the statistics that I still find difficult to comprehend, is the number of artillery shells fired by both sides. If the shells fired was averaged out over the 10 months of the battle, it's the equivalent of 1 being fired every 3 seconds. 1 shell, non-stop, every 3 seconds for a period of 10 months. Obviously that's not how the battle was fought, and there would have been peaks and troughs in the shelling, so I can't imagine what it was like during the times of peak bombardment.

@andrewklang809 2 ай бұрын

France lost more men in the greater Battle of Verdun than Germany did, and Germany had more men to lose. But history is rarely determined by a battle, even a several-month battle. The French did what they needed to do - hold on. The Germans failed at what they needed to do - break the French. France had stronger allies than Germany did, and not by a quirk of fate, but by superior diplomacy. Math can only take you so far. Context is everything. The German Army was second-to-none on the tactical and operational level. But, strategically, they were led by arrogant fools.

@dano4996 2 ай бұрын

I quite agree with that. The French victory in WW1 has been greatly favoured by an efficient diplomacy which achieved to have alliances with Britain and Russia. it's a very classical trap that France used in many wars against a Germanic power (Austria, Prussia...)

@kennethloo7447 3 күн бұрын

Decorated hero- Angel of Verdun Sgt Rita Vrastaski was here.😮

@Wladyslaw_Raginis 2 ай бұрын

My polish great grandpa fought there in the side of the germans.

@alexandrefernandes5008 2 ай бұрын

Did he survived or he was a father before the war?

@levimccarthy1259 2 ай бұрын

Do you happen to know his name

@MBP1918 2 ай бұрын

Whoa

@Doc_Tar 2 ай бұрын

Excellent history of Verdun. I didn't notice any mention of the Somme or was it not the factor that the Allies hoped it would be on relieving all the pressure placed on Verdun?

@alexandrefernandes5008 2 ай бұрын

Not an expert, but I think it did

@azimisyauqieabdulwahab9401 2 ай бұрын

The deadliest war for all time

@TheGreatWar 2 ай бұрын

you will learn soon in our Somme video ;)

@alexandrefernandes5008 2 ай бұрын

@@TheGreatWar I AM waitinnnggg

@EricEscander 2 ай бұрын

@TheGreatWar you guys are awesome!

@billyyank2198 2 ай бұрын

At what point did the German command say, "We're ver-Done with this battle" ?

@sebmrtdem 2 ай бұрын

First of all, as a French guy, kudos to your french accent when you mentionned names and cities. Also, Great video. To give you an idea of the slaughter that Verdun was, 2 of my great great grandfathers died during the battle, and another one was left a cripple for the rest of his life, after having lost a leg during the shelling. I usually don't take the usual jokes about French soldiers being cowards well, but to me, Verdun is no joke at all. Again, great content. My thoughts also go to those german and allies soldiers who lost their lives in this pointless war.

@jessealexander2695 2 ай бұрын

Thanks - and I am from Quebec so that explains the French. :)

@GhostBear3067 2 ай бұрын

People tend to forget that in 1940 the world's reaction to the fall of France was less "lol cheese eating surrender monkeys" and more "HOLY S**T DID YOU SEE WHAT THEY DID TO FRANCE?!! WE ARE F***ED!!!"

@MrFinds71 2 ай бұрын

Alternate interpretation: Falkenhayn knew the allies would launch an offensive in the summer of 1916 (they thought in Picardy). He was also aware of the inexperience of the English army. He decided on the offensive in Verdun, cause he knew the French would fight to the end for it. Therefore attracting the French army into Verdun so that England would have to take a greater role in their summer offensive. Falkenhayn was convinced he would beat the English easily. The two stage plan (first weakening the French army at Verdun, then annihilate the English when they attack) would turn the tide in favor of Germany. That plan somewhat succeeded. The french army fought better than expected and inflicted almost as much casualties to the Germans… but England did suffer at first catastrophic losses in July)

@hanspick5511 2 ай бұрын

Those damn cowardly French! Too frightened to retreat or surrender. Fighting themselves to death because it was the eaeaeasy option and they lacked the courage to properly submit to superior forces! Always the same story with them, all through history.

@TheGreatWar 2 ай бұрын

see what you did there

@smal750 2 ай бұрын

reverse coping

@Helvetia-1 2 ай бұрын

Yesss I've been waiting for this one!

@empereurrenard3636 2 ай бұрын

4:14 it's Joseph not Josef

@Dav1Gv 2 ай бұрын

I'm tempted to argue that it was a pity the French counter-offensive was so successful as it led to Nivelle being made C-in-C of the French Army and his attack on the Chemin des Dames, which was a major cause of the mutiny (or strike, perhaps) of the French Army. This certainly contributed to the prolonging of the Battle of Arras and perhaps Third Ypres (to be fair Haig had always wanted to attack near the coast so perhaps not) and increased British losses.

@Elongated_Muskrat 2 ай бұрын

The definition of insanity……

@omaha-republican 10 күн бұрын

Crazy how effective the germans were. A casualty rate of less than 1 (attacker vs defender) is very impressive.

@jessealexander2695 8 күн бұрын

The French were attacking for a while at the later stages though.

@lennart266 2 ай бұрын

Funny when the sponsor Gilded Destiny looks more indepth than Victoria 3.

@khornateberzerker5439 2 ай бұрын

I'd like to add something to the reasons of German failure: 1) Poor German preparation - Lack of dedicated assault units or even specialized tactics meant to exploit the initial advance. 2) Over-cautious leadership - The entire idea of the assault on Verdun was to destabilize the line and force it back into a more 'fluid' state, conductive for mobile warfare. It was an imperative, given the slow death of Germany, courtesy of the British Naval Blockade. 3) Lack of coordination - You've drawn the majority of the available French reserves in a deadly stalemate, forcing them to expend available manpower, ammunition and locking them down. And yet there is no additional attack elsewhere to take advantage of it, no greater plan. This isn't just lack of communication with the Austro-Hungarians, but a complete systemic failure to realize the scope of operations they COULD have executed, rather than focusing on single, 'decisive' engagement.

@thateconguy 2 ай бұрын

Aside from great history, I'm impressed he seems completely fluent in English, French, and German.

@user-iq2hy4ug4y 2 ай бұрын

How might the war have turned if Falkenhayn gone all out in the opening stage of the war and if the weather hadn’t delayed the start a week, giving France valuable time to bring up reserves?

@konradvonschnitzeldorf6506 2 ай бұрын

A bit like 1877 maybe

@AnimaDweller 2 ай бұрын

Not sure if you guys will read this comment. But I'm really interested in WW1 history. Would like to know what would be some great books about WW1.

@statenthusiast3382 Ай бұрын

way too many to list. General overviews?

@AnimaDweller Ай бұрын

@@statenthusiast3382not sure, I've read All quiet on the western front however I'm more interested in history from The Great War era. I'm from México and that war isnt as talked about as it should.