The Victoria Lines: Defending Malta on a tight budget
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- Опубликовано: 30 май 2021
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Malta is small, but not so small that you can fortify it all, but it's not big enough to station an army on, so what do you do to keep it safe? The Victorian British found a way.
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Picture credit: Egyption canal map
By annie brocolie (original) - original 2018-07-31, CC BY-SA 2.5, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
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Lindybeige: a channel of archaeology, ancient and medieval warfare, rants, swing dance, travelogues, evolution, and whatever else occurs to me to make.
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WHOOPS! At 5:20 I make a big slip and say 1878 instead of 1798 for Napoleon's invasion of Egypt. I have absolutely no idea why I made this mistake, since I definitely knew it was 1798, and I also managed to miss it in editing, which is embarrassing. Sorry. Elsewhere in the video I get this date correct.
Haha, I just got to that point in the video and skipped back thinking I'd misheard it. Pinned comment to the rescue, full steam ahead!
It's been only one mistake and you're talking free-style.
You're doing awesome, don't worry! :)
What happened in 1878 that made you slip so Freudian-ly? Do you need to tell us something?
Probably not a popular or easy topic what about the Tartarians? What if any information can you muster up about that culture and how Russia wiped their history from the books?
@@ominousmaximus what books?
"Napoleon didn't endear himself to the Maltese"
So, I guess you could say he made the Maltese cross.
Nice!
Sacrebleu!
**facepalm**
😅
Ba dum tss!!
I feel a bit silly that in the middle of the video I forgot 'having a huge navy' was the answer to 'how to defend an island'.
Took me about 32 minutes
It was in fact a large part of how Britain defended Britain at the time too.
When you're an island, walls made of wood are stronger than walls made of stone.
especially "on a tight budget"
@@Qilue This idea was also used in Vienna, Stone walls crumble when hit by cannon fire or blown up, Wooden walls splinter and make the lives of anyone aiming to climb the rubble very, very unpleasant
Today I learned:
- Ending the Cold War was good
- Climbing hills while grenades are being dropped on you is bad
- And for the love of all that is good, PAY ATTENTION TO HEDGEHOG.
And Napoleon was worse than Hitler but not chairman mao
The British ignored Hedgehog once and almost lost the entire island for it.
Yes the global capitalism having free reign to exploit the world is very good
@@yungyahwehwhat does that have to do with hedgehogs
Ignore Hedgehog at your peril!
British commander: What do we have to defend this island?
His assistant: 4 cannons, 7 barrels of shot and powder, a bit of string, a ham sandwich, and this IOU from the Knights of Malta
And the royal navy!
there you go, now it's about right. :P
But they always had Faith, (and Hope and Charity). Those were the names of three Gloster Gladiator biplanes that flew against the Italian air force in June 1940.
Well, Constantinople was one of the greatest fortified city-states ever, and lasted for a cool millennium or so. No one really wanted to try that hard in Malta, that's all it is... Hehee, hoohoo!
@@jh1859 Ah, yes. The cool millennium. One of my favorite units of measure. Right up there with the Beard Fornight.
@@abrahamlincoln9758 You mean 'fortnight'? Heehee, hoohoo!
A few things stand out when listening to Lindybeige.
He likes beige, which is Malta's predominant colour.
He doesn't care for Napoleon.
He _may_ be pro British.
*Waiter:* "Would you like the strawberry napoleon with crème anglaise?"
*Lloyd:* "No! I mean, yes! I mean, give me a minute…"
@@WG55,
Changed my mind. I'll have the pastizzi instead.
🤣🤣 that may be a bit of an understatement, what?
*perhaps*
I'd go as far as to call Lindybeige an anglophile.
So, the title should be more like "how the British defended Malta with only a tight budget + the largest and most expensive navy in the world"
Well, yrs, but the navy had to defend a lot of other places as well. Our empire really was spread wide at the time.
I reckon that did come in handy too.
Malta was so strategically important that everyone wanted control of it.
That was why the Malta budget was tight. Ships of the Line don't pay for themselves.
The wealth was for the select few in the chain of command. The people that did the physical work were fed reasonably well for the time. But no pension plan or realistic financial security..
I don't know why, but something tells me Lloyd doesn't like Napoleon.
I’ve heard that Napoleon was probably French. Maybe that’s why. ;)
@@3.k Well he was an absolute rotter & a bounder to boot!
@@3.k he was in fact Corsican
@@hazzmati For Lindy, that’s French enough. xD
He was just doing his job.
Bit of a slip around 5:20, Lindy. Napoleon's invasion of Egypt began in 1798. I know you don't like the man but even you would have to be impressed if he'd invaded Egypt fifty years after his death.
Mega slip lmao
Yeah was very confused there, 1878 1798, you can see how easy the mistake is while trying to explain so much. He also gets the correct date later on in the video, just a slip of the tongue
He did have a talent for getting out of prison, I wouldn't be surprised if he got out of hell.
You beat me to this.
@@brainletmong6302 And got reincarnated as Xi Jinping?
"How did British troops defend Malta..."
They wore beige!
Oh yes - and that!
May count as camouflage to be fair.
If you wear beige in Malta, you would be nearly invisible against the backdrop!
cringe
As a french, i love the relation with english people, it's like we fight together to be at peace for fighting each other like teen brothers
As an American we feel like the kid brother that grew up to be bigger than both of you and stronger but never as smart, fun or cool.
@@mikedrop4421 hey we're cool, we've got guns and big loud vehicles and all that!
And how great it is that we are all allies now 🇫🇷🇬🇧🇺🇸🇨🇦
@@mikedrop4421 we invented the Internet. We are clearly the smartest here.
@@mikedrop4421
You're like the young brother who never went to college but made a load of money instead. 😄
"And nuns abound!" is one of the most strangely entertaining phrases I've encountered in a while
Private Baldrick: You know my dad was a nun.
Captain Blackadder: No he wasn't.
Private Baldrick: He was too, sir. Cause whenever he was up in court and the judge asked "occupation", he'd say "none".
I imagine someone having a lay over there and looking out the window and going: "Yup, that's the whole country."
Its pretty funny although you have to go to Imdina to do that
Liechtenstein?
@@IamOutOfNames I see your Liechtenstein and raise you a Singapore, sir!
Honestly, I have a hard time imagining waking up and driving from one end of my country to the other end without sleep. It can be done but it would be painful.
@@ColonelSandersLite now imagine your country spans an entire continent, takes multiple days to drive across the united states
This channel is a gem. Nothing like history and humor combined. Much appreciated good sir!
I vove this channel. Cause now i dont have to go to Malta or Gottland cause ive already seen the most interesting parts.
Yeah Lloyd is a well good bloke. Old school RUclipsr as well.
@@garrysekelli6776 did ya smell the nuns? Well, you missing out.
I quite like this channel too. Jay Foreman is quite good too! Map Men is a great show of his.
Around 5:20 he made a statistical error the date is supposed to be 1798 the invasion of Egypt, not 1878.
"The British sank the ship" makes it sort of sound like the Maltese treasure might be recoverable. It isn't. L'Orient's magazine exploded in a most spectacular manner, and the biggest piece of her that remained, a short chunk of mainmast, was used to make Nelson's coffin.
Did they inscribe it with an apt 'screw you Malta all your nana's belongings are now lost forever thanks to the Royal Navy's inept cannonry!!' moniker?
@@AppleSauceGamingChannel I don't know if 'inept' is fair, given that they were chucking around red-hot shot they must have been more concerned with the 'sink or destroy' part of their orders to 'seize, sink or destroy' the King's enemies.
@@AppleSauceGamingChannel
First time I've heard gunnery destroying an enemy fleet, and blowing up the flagship, described as inept. 😄
They sank many many little pieces of the ship.
@@gerryjamesedwards1227 You happen to be quite wrong. A part of why royal navy was such successful, was a huge incentive for captains to take opportunities and risks o seize ships, because a large percent (like, perhaps, a half, but I don't remember exactly) of the worth of the captured ship, was awarded as a prize to the whole crew, with the captain getting a lion share of it. Nelson himself perhaps was well off and dedicated enough for it to not be a deciding factor, but for the fleet by and large, very much so.
"They decided to end the Cold War, which was nice."
Shades of the Fast Show, and nicely done
My Grandfather was RM Commando, defended Malta during the siege and ran intelligence and raids outta there. Just he and his mate took it upon themselves during the siege to lead the supply ships by dingy, through the sea mines to port. He was awarded the Maltese Cross for this. He got his medal in the 90s. They didn't have any medals left at the time, as everything was melted down to make ammo.
Lindy “Napoleon was worse than Hitler” Beige
Lindy "Napoleon was _almost_ as bad as Mao" Beige
I like him but god danm is that a bad take.
Yep Napoleon is no where near the same league of mass murder as Stalin. Mao or Hitler.
@@johnknight7296 Exactly, he's a power hungry demagog. Not an insane mad man.
@@AKUJIVALDO ill add this, if hundreds of thousands were cremated at a *certain* place show me the forensic studies showing amounts of ash in the soil in the surrounding area.
"I don't think it's Roman... I think it's Phoenician" made me laugh out loud
Hi,
Thanks for this interesting post, I would like to mention 3 points.
Firstly, the Victoria lines actually built on a fault, rather than a ridge or escarpment. This fault in the rocks splits the island in two. There are loads of faults on the island, some of which created the Dingli cliffs, as well as the island (rock) of Filfla which was visible in the clip discussing the cliffs
Secondly, Gharghur is actually pronounced 'ARAWWR' (sorry, I do not know phonetic alphabet). The GARGUR pronounciation became popular amongst locals who got tired of explaining what they menat as a location when talking to the British (Similarly Siggiewi, was pronounced as SIGGI-WIGGI on British Forces Radio).
Thirdly, at 30:00 when you where showing the Ground Satellite Stations and joking about Phoenician or Roman, there could be seen another British Military innovation that was used to defend Malta in the second world war against air attack from Italy. It is known locally as "il-widna" or "the ear" and this was a large parabolic wall that focused sounds coming from Italy's direction to a microphone placed in front of it. It was meant to warn the defenders of increased air activity coming from that direction (a precursor to the Radar I suppose).
Kind regards,
Malcolm
As for how the Royal Navy would affect the existence of an invading army on Malta in the early nineteenth century: probably not by bombardment at all (impractical, easy to get army out of range or sheltered by terrain) but simply by cutting its supply lines and saying “Ahaa!”
The main things would be landing a relief force, and cutting off/destroying the invader's fleet. Anything within sight of the coast could be shot at, including the landing areas, and they could do indirect fire a bit too.
@@lindybeige That is a viable alternative, but never underestimate the power of "Ahaa!"
And let loose the Royal Marines
"Catholicism has broken out on all sides"
Lmao Lindy
Lindy: The Pharaos,the Ptolemys, the venicians, the ottomans, Napoleon!
Trajan: How dare you forget about me you puny britannian!
We don't count Hispanians
@@tomaspabon2484 What about Illyrians? *looming Aurelian*
As a Brit living in Malta, and a steadfast lindyfan, this is the perfect content!
Tailored to fit, RUclips tutorial. I grew up with a Maltese family as neighbours. They treated me like one their son’s. Never forgot their compassion.
Oh wow! Now I know how to defend a strategically important not-too-small island in the 18th century! Thank you Lindybeige!
My Dad was a "German" soldier killed in the film 'The Guns of Navarone' part of which was filmed in Gozo. He got a crate of beer as payment along with other Matelots taking part.
Did he get a special kill? One of the sailors? The guard on the cliff? The one shot in the back with a silencer by Gregory Peck? One of the sniping kills?
@@doug6500 sadly no. The briefest of cameos 😄
Sorry for your loss
OK. "Paying my mortgage since 2020" was quite funny
Reasons to become a pirate:
-Shoulder pets
-Everyone loves the accent
I saw the title and thought: "Great! I have always wanted to know more about the career of the Roman general Pompey!"
Lindybeige would find a circular argument in that...
"I'm sure that was entirely fair and... I'm not bitter." LOL
“Sponsored by corses plus... we will get to them in due corse”
Well played lindy >.> well played indeed sir
of course
It hurts that you misspelled course twice.
@@5hiftyL1v3a I blame auto correct. Auto correct and typing quick because I was watching a lindybeige vid
As someone who is Maltese I must say I'm really impressed with your pronunciation of Maltese place names they are spot on!! Great video as always
5:18 In 1879 Napoleon became so evil that he returned from the dead.
Too late even for the 3rd
I think he meant 1779
@@fabianfenech7391 duh...
I've always wondered what he would have said to his nephew... Mind you, most historians agree that 1879 is later than 1872, which does rather change the picture. Still one of the most underrated monarchs in European history though, good old Napoleon III.
@@fabianfenech7391 Napoleón was 10 years old in 1779
How about some new "Lloyd Rants", or something like that, to tide us over in the ever increasing interims between long form videos?
Cheers Lloyd! As a Maltese I can assure you, tea is still the main fuel for many, drudging on the daily grind.
Well you guys were a British Colony tea is the life of Britain. No one else gets it apart from the British empire.
As a Maltese in Australia, I was told by a Turkish friend, " what is it with you Maltese, British and Australians drinking tea WITH MILK"!
I generally skip thru the advertising... but on this channel I wouldn’t dream of it. Even the ads are so darn entertaining!
That outback hat looks good on you Lindyana Jones.
Your hat looks quite fine on you too, assuming your profile picture is not some rando
@@ggrasten Nah, that's me.
My favorite thing about Catholicism is how subtle their traditions are.
Stand sit kneel repeat
Always confused by what I heard about Jesus and the contradictory way Christians behaved. Then found out that after 200 years of persecuting it’s followers and sticking with the Greek Gods. The Romans designed their own version. Changing the worshipping the poor the the rich. Creating the perfect empire building controlling autocratic system. Still starting wars and preventing practical thinking today.
Always something informative to see here. Especially appreciate it when you mention our small island.
Love these long form videos. Really interesting. My wife and I love Malta and can't wait to go back and look at all the bits of history we didn't have time to see.
Curiously enough, Genoa was also fairly important for the UK for reaching the Suez canal. So much that man British men had a stable foot in the city. So many that they imported a notorious sport right there for the first time, with was football. Even more interesting is that in the local language, Genoese, football is named "Ballon" pronounced like the English word "Balloon" whereas for the rest of Italy it was named "Calcio" meaning Kick. Also in Liguria many gergal words related to football are in English, contrary to the rest of Italy.
I reckon Genoa tried any desperate maneuver to avoid unification with the ever hated Savoy, even asked to be assimilated to the United Kingdom à la Gibraltarian way. It would have beeen fun to have an Italo-british reality nowadays I believe. Anyways, we would have saved on flags!
I sometimes forget how much I desperately need and thoroughly enjoy a Lindybeige video.
absolutely love your channel ,keep up the great work
Thank you Lindybeige, for your quality historical lectures. Cheers from across the pond, and take care over there.
I travelled to Malta in April 2019. I visited those places. I feel special watching this video
When the crusaders sacked Constantinople doing The fourth crusade in 1204, the succesful attack (on the most fortified city in the world) was from water. The crusaders tried an attack from both land and sea first, but the attack on land failed so badly that the next attack only came from water. Of course you could argue that attacking from The Golden Horn doesn’t count as attacking from the sea, but just saying succesfull naval city invasions do happen.
They attacked on land as well.
@@weeewoooooooo Not doing the the second attack (the one that was successfull).
Fascinating as always. Was incredibly interesting to listen to you!
Love your videos man. Way to make history that much more interesting
“Catholicism has broken out on all sides”. The horror!
Especially for the little boys.
And the indigenous Americans
@@andrescrespo2514
Given the Inca, mayan, and Aztec "gods" not so much.
@calvingreene and @andres
crespo The British Anglicanism, Methodism and Presbyterians can't really throw stones on either point.
@@calvingreene90 are you about to go r/atheist on all gods or are we just going to ignore all the atrocious things all human civilizations have done in the name of god? Because if we want to talk about some of the most atrocious things humans have ever done I point you to Europe with Christianity and Catholicism.
5:17 Truly the most ambitious corpse in the world
Love the way he describes everything. He has a very particular way of speaking and I love it
Lovely to see you again Lindy.
Only a Britishman would refer to Napoleon as being on the level of Mao.
And worse than Hitler.
im british and quite like napoleon. He was a horrible, destructive bastard who got a lot of people killed, but back then who wasnt?
His troll-fu is mighty.
A bit unfair on Mao indeed.
@@fidur2 I was surprised he thought mao was more evil than Hitler
Another handy thing that comes with having the Royal Navy at your side, the ships carrying your loot are much more likely to carry their cargo back to Britain intact.
Merħba! I'm from Malta and a fan of this channel! This video was very fun to watch and educational, I hope you enjoyed your stay here!
haven't seen this guy for years on RUclips! just disappeared from my feed completely! so glad to have found you again.
Is the Hannibal project still active?
Yes, he posts regular updates on the funding page.
@@TechWechSech Huzzah!
@@TechWechSech I don't have a horse in this game but I checked the update page and it's nothing that I would call "regular." Sporadic, more like. I've seen worse though (no updates whatsoever).
If there were significant progress Lindy would have posted it. He hasn't, therefore there isnt... :(
@@TechWechSech Right, one post every half year is regular in a way.
I backed it, I don't mind it taking this long, but regular is really a generous term.
Tordenskjold's attack on Dynekilen in the Great Northern War, although perhaps intended as a raid, is an example of the succesful capture of a fortified city from the sea. A story worthy of an episode!
Amazing video your old Malta videos inspired me and some of my friends to holiday there in 2017
A new Lindybeige... just in time for my morning coffee! Excellent
Just found this channel and I love it. History, humor and that accent all in one, count me in. If he had been one of my professors maybe I'd be doing more then cutting grass to make ends meet and streaming videogames for charitys.
I went to school with a boy from Malta. He proudly told me square mile for mile as result of WWII Malta holds the record for the most bombed state in the world. I didn't question this. It was pre-internet and i was fourteen and polite. His name was Kevin; top of the school in maths he wanted to be a jet fighter pilot when he grew up. I hope he achieved his dream.
Love that he is still making videos at this quality. Makes me happy.
Thank you The Great Courses Plus, and thank you Lindy
Before becoming an actor, David Niven served on Malta. He wrote in his autobiography about the horrendous and seemingly ceaseless ringing of the bells on Malta - glad to see that almost a century later things haven't changed!
If only we’d accepted Malta perhaps I could get a decent holiday.
Crazy how they wanted to be incorporated but the British government was not onboard that idea,
@@milste In 1956 even France wanted to become British, with the Queen as head of state. Prime minister Sir Anthony Eden said no.
We still own calais
Go to the Baleares like the rest of the UK.
@@sunscream4525 Wtf are you talking about ?
Yay! A lindybeige video. Knowledge + tangents = entertaining. Glorious.
Yes! More Malta videos, after 5 years!
Thank you!
When Lindybeige announces The Great Courses Plus as the video’s sponsor, I’m really looking forward for the ad segment. ^^
Lloyd you're an absolute legend! We need more videos! ❤️
Excellent video Mr Beige, the perfect accompaniment to ones morning repast.
Love your travel history videos like these
Parallel waving or "Air Accordion" as our musical friends call it.
Bro... Can you please finish Hannibal! Everyone had paid you YEARS in advance!
Almost forgot that existed.
Amen . Oi Lloyd you knob, do the work you were paid to do.
I was just wondering if anyone would mention it in the comments as I clicked
Did something happen between him and the artist?
You have been well and truly scammoxed! (trademark me as of now)
Love you Sir!! Wish you'd been my history teacher at school!. Thank you for explaining clearly and making this engaging and informative. G.
Welcome back from a rather long hiatus....
It's good to hear your epic waffling!
YAY, a Lindybeige video!
I'm no Napolean defender, but only a Brit could put him higher on the level of evilness than Ghenghis Khan, Pol Pot, Stalin, Lenin, and even Hitler. At least you still put Mao above him though.
Keep up the great videos.
I wonder how high on a list of evil dictators would he be ?
And how would we actually measure it ?
I'm not sure where I would put him .
@@nair.127 quite a ways down. Every monarch during his day was just as bad as him. His betrayal of spain is perhaps the most evil thing he did and that is no where near as evil as the things other dictators have done. His massacre at or around acre? Literally just as bad as Henry V at agincourt (napoleon killed a decent bit less than Henry) and Lindybeige himself has excused Henry on that as he had too few men and too few supplies, exactly like napoleon. You would never hear a British person ever call it the massacre of agincourt. Durning the wars against napoleon the British were quite literally enslaving American sailors into the navy but old bonny is the evil one
Napoleon is nowhere even close to those people in "evilness" to think so is beyond absurd. Was he a good man? Anyone at that level of power is never a good man but you could do a 1000x worse than napoleon. You don't take over your country less than a year after being deposed without firing a shot by being that evil
Seriously what the hell was up with that? If deciding you want to 'conquer the world' and pillaging cities makes you the most evil person in the world, a lot of people fit that criteria!
Other notable mentions: Timur, Vlad, Himmler
Dude look into Churchill's sick racism against Indians which led to him letting more than two million people in Bengal die in a famine during WW2
He always amazes me. Great story telling, one continuous shot.
The Great Courses Plus is MY favorite advertisement since it always comes from you!
Being Maltese, I'm glad that at least one big RUclips channel semi-regularly remembers we exist
Speaking of which, interesting story for you, here in Ireland I used to work for Methode Electronics and years later had a dream I was back working for them on my first night on holidays in Malta.
The next day while on the bus to the capital, I saw a fixed truck with the logo on the side.
I swear this is the only channel where i see a long run time and immediately watch it
Right? The one and only channel where I see an hour-long video and say, "Yes!"
Thanks for the great content, mr loyd.
Very interesting and entertaining as always!
"Napoleon was worse than Stalin" - just a reminder he actually said this
Certified Britbong Moment
I'd say you had to see this in the historical context. Napoleon did quiet a job considering the potential of his time. And so did the british in india or the americans with the natives, to name a few more... I do not like setting off killed people and so I would never judge who was the worst - there have been many people in history that were not that different...
You have to love how Anglo lindybeige is
and vlad the impaler geghis khan, all the other mongols khans, Timur, the emperors of China etc.
"You should never grade evils, for if one is the worst, then you might be tempted to kinship with the least!"
I can sum up the British plan to defend Malta with what they had, and their Strategic thinking.
"Hold until relieved. Hold until relieved."
Another part of British history I never knew about. Thanks Lloyd!
Hahahaaaa, the ad break.... "Knowledge!"
very enjoyable, Thank You!
I happened to check at the best time to see this new video! Was only 6 seconds old whenI found it
My, hasn't it grown up big and tall and beige!
You were only 6 seconds old when you found the video? Well, that is precocious.
Lovely island, was there with my British friends and I expected to do some historically interesting sight seeing, but I soon realized I was with British men and we went boozing for 7 days straight...
must the two be mutually exclusive?
they make flasks for a reason.
There's a beer, or whatever independent entrepreneur, vendor within 20ft anywhere in the Mediterranean .... Lost train of thought
Vet in Germany during the cold war, here. Story checks out, can confirm.
Cisk?
🍻 Hurrah!!!
I love the way you assess the lecturers
These videos always feel like the brilliant BBC2/BBC4/CH4 historical documentaries you used to get 10-30 years ago. Marvelous work.
YOu got the napoleon dates wrong, it's not 1879, it's 1798 o4 something like that
Thanks for saving my night of insomnia 👍
More videos more often please, love your storytelling 👍
When I was in the U.S. Navy Malta was a liberty port for the ship I was on. I've been to several places you were showing in your video there I enjoyed seeing it again.
Lindybeige, finally admitting which is his favourite -child- sponsor.
As a Maltese I thank you for shining light on our country.
As an Englishman, we thank you for your endurance, and salute your George Cross.
@@Anti_Woke Thank you for providing the artillery to shoot at the Italian and German planes
As an American, I used to think your island was a giant fortress.
Turns out I was right and wrong. Looks like a really beautiful place though, just from what I've seen in Lindy's shots. Has that "Hi, I'm in the Mediterranean" aesthetic that just hits right.
Very fun and interesting vid, thank you!
Thanks... another brilliant lecture!