I've always heard Hitler walked out during the French terms but didn't know that's what Foch did to the Germans in WW1. Every other "historian" that has told the story is so obsessed with demonizing Hitler, they leave out that the French started this insult game. Felton does a tremendous job.
I'd arguably blame France for the rivalry with Germany to begin with. It started with Napoleon III declaring war on Prussia in the 1800's. It turned into a back an forth game ever since, ending with WWII.
There’s an awful lot of that bias in regard to WWII and especially with Germany. Objectivity is almost nonexistent. 90% of people are absolutist on the ally side and about 10% are absolutist on the Nazi side. Hitler was either satan incarnate or the world’s savior. No in between
@@finsfan90 Bismarck provoked it, so it goes both ways, 1 super power snd another emerging power to take the place will always cause a rivalry or even a conflict of sorts.
@@MarkMuhammad190 Sure Bismarck provoked it, no question about it. That was because there was no other way to have a united german nation, without France messing up southern german states.
i know the armistice site has been rebuilt, but seeing it the exact same today as it was then is just eerie, standing in the exact spot where the world changed twice and knowing who once stood there must be creepy
@@xraywatch1943 even if you don't believe in ghosts or anything like that, standing there with no one around but yourself you really would expect to hear voices of the past
The spot outside the Fuhrer bunker where they initially buried and burned his corpse is a street corner, hope there's a fire hydrant so every passing dog leaves him a little something.
I was always under the impression that the train car was blown up shortly after the surrender ceremony. So once again Dr. Felton manages to teach me something about a topic which I thought I was knowledgeable about. Not the first time either I might add.
"The French had the last laugh"..........pretty sure nothing is more humiliating in terms of history than being a global power and getting conquered in 3 weeks flat.
Fest steht und treu die Wacht, die Wacht am Rhein. The French bullied the German states every chance they got from the Middle Ages on through Napoleon. I am no Nazi, but the French deserved every bit of what they got.
To be fair, the Germans did use tactics that were never heard of and had many advanced weaponry against the French....but then again the French could've also struck Germany at its weakest whenever the war first broke out in 1939 and left the entire western front lightly guarded and wouldve been a cakewalk to Berlin. Unfortunately, that's not the timeline we live in, and unfortunately France was capitulated in such a small timeframe.
@@dmitripazlov491 the French didn't do that and ze French didn't fight hard because they knew that a European Empire was beneficial for them so there wasn't much spirit in fighting against it
@@jackbrady9738 I'm not sure where you read that at, but I was referring to the Saarland offensive in 1939 whenever the french and british had the war in their hands and let it slip because they were too confident in the Germans military might and the Siegfried line. But the complete western front was lightly armed and defended against allied forces since most were busy in poland. 2 weeks and germany would've fallen if they pressed forward. Not too much of a mighty empire if it can topple in 2 weeks if you ask me.
@@freedomisslavery6840 the victors write history, ok, The MILLIONS of witnesses words from all countries, from all ages, including germans in uniform, and from all political spectrum in all those countries matter more than a few stupid revisionists and neonazi deniers opinions.
What Germany did to France in WW2 was only right. America and the British wanted a long lasting peace in the Versaille treaty, the French however were only looking to humiliate the Germans, they are basically responsible for the hyper inflation in Germany in the 1930s
The WW1 treaty created WW2. The WW1 treaty destroyed the Prussian Empire and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. When the monster Napoleon was defeated was France destroyed...no. Hitler started the war in order to recreate those empires in eastern Europe. Then the idiot French and British declared war on Germany. Hitler's whole mindset was toward the east, not the west.
The fact that a simple German soldier of the First World War was able to achieve, as Chancellor of Germany in 1940, to invade France and destroy a French and English merged army single-handedly in just 6 weeks, which even in the First World War Germany did not manage to do in 4 years, is why this is already an achievement And sometimes, by the way, Hitler had a sense of humor, the Compiègne wagon was one of them
I call it the paradox of tyranny. When a tyrant manages to make good decisions, he wins everything as in poker. The problem is when tyrants start to make bad decisions, they ruin their entire country fast. Hitler did it later with Germany, Napoléon did it in France and Europe with his disastrous campaign in Spain and then ofc Russia where he abandoned the entire French Army which was decimated. But before that, with the stroke of a pen, Napoléon was most enlightened leader in Europe and turned France into the #1 country in Europe in terms of arts, advancements, philosophy, etc.
Fun Fact: Hitler said after visiting Napoleon's tomb “That was the greatest and finest moment of my life,” He also returned the remains of Napoleon ll from Vienna
I think it should be mentioned Hitler didn’t view Napoleon as French, as he regarded the French as racially inferior but thought better of the Italians, he made sure to point out Napoleon was Corsican.
Yeah, Hitler and Napoleon were very much alike. And when Hitler decided to invade the Soviet Union. Army Group Center used the very same road that Napoleon used to start his invasion of Russia. Even the start days for their invasion of Russia were separated by two days. Napoleon invasion started on June 24th. Barbarossa started on June 22nd.
Think about how amazing that moment in a man’s life was. Hitler, the communication runner for 4 years in WW1, personally ruined by German defeat.... gets to bring that enemy nation to it’s knees and personally take the glory. Seriously, what an AMAZING story arc!! Imagine his emotions. It’s incredible.
@@davecopp9356 The nazis benefited from the element of surprise in the beginning, that's all. Halfway through the war it was already clear that the Soviet Union alone could have dealt with them. And it's fallacious to argue it was just "tiny Germany" fighting all these superpowers when a) they had allies and their population increased with the annexations, b) Germany alone was a superpower, so it's no surprise at all that they could keep a war going for a while at least, c) your characterisation of Hitler as the lion directly contradicts the small size you attribute to Germany compared to the "superpowers", after all the lion is bigger than the jackal. So what is it? Is it the big lion fighting small jackals, or is it the brave little jackal fighting the big lions? You can't have it both ways. Personally I think he acted more like a snake (if we want to attribute classic animal tropes to the participants in this war), became the leader of a pack of hyenas and made decisions like a donkey which ultimately dictated the cowardly end of his life. Nice hero you have there.
One has got to admit that this insult to the French is priceless. I would have given anything to witness this entire spectacle on June 22, 1940. Thanks for the story.
without your amazing videos and stories, so many facts about war would just be a paragraph in a forgotten dusty book. You bring the facts to life and your thorough research brings so many new parts to light. Thank You Dr. Felton.
Mark you might want to cover the truly amazing story of Gunther Plüschow. The only man to escape from Britain in either WW1 or WW2. He started his journey to freedom in a German colony in China and travelled the world seeking to get home. His story is jaw dropping. He is remembered in my home Town due to the fact it's where he escaped from. There is a memorial to him and why a film has never been made is beyond me. You need more information please let me know as I'm in contact with those who have spent years ensuring his story is told...
You completely missed that Hitler sat there for 15 minutes without saying a word just staring at them making it even more uncomfortable and painful for them, then he just upped and left
Another interesting tale is the fact that the occupying Germans kept most WWI memorials and gravesites completely intact. Some, such as the Cross of Reconciliation at Lizerne, a memorial dedicated to the victims of a German gas attack in 1915, were destroyed. Another statue at Mount Saint Quentin featuring an Australian soldier bayonetting an Imperial German eagle was also smashed. However, these were mostly isolated incidents, and Hitler ordered Great War sites to be protected. For propaganda purposes, Hitler visited the Canadian war memorial at Vimy Ridge on the 2nd of June 1940 with foreign journalists invited. The Waffen SS were tasked to guard the monuments, and they remained safe for the duration of the German occupation.
I know that another moment was destroyed in Reims. It was dedicated to African soldiers who fought in the French Army in WWI. Surprisingly I think that no WWI Jewish military graves, either German nor Allied were destroyed or damaged. At least you can still walk into the military cemeteries still today and see clearly the Jewish graves as they use a David star instead of a cross, and they are with the same stone used for the other graves.
@@laurenceetfredericgaillot4727 I think as a veteran of that hell on Earth, even Hitler would've been horrified at desecrating the graves of the other poor bastards who didn't survive, on either side
I'm not saying what Hitler did was right, BUT, was anyone really shocked over his actions in 1940 after what originally occurred in 1918? Thanks again for a great video Mr Felton.
@@HooDatDonDar How was Hitler or Germany the bully? England and France were the bullies pre-WWI. They were threatened by Germany's rising power and wanted her crushed.
"...after what originally occurred in 1918?" What occurred was the close of 4 years of bloodshed initiated by Wilhelm II's antagonism of the international order for 15 years and his manipulation of his allies in Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire to help provide a buffer of blame so the war wouldn't be pinned on him when all was said and done. Didn't exactly work out that way in the long run, tho.
@jodlad8343 Yeah, that was the immediate catalyst that led to the war. The tensions in Europe had been building since the mid-19th century with all its wars and the shifting balance of power towards Germany. Wilhelm enflamed these tensions immensely in the 15-20 or so years leading up to the war. Also, not to mention, one of the core reasons Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia at all was because of the Kaiser's blank cheque during the July Crisis. Wilhelm wanted war. He was chomping at the bit to go to war with the rest of Europe. He just didn't want to be the one to make the first declaration. The death of the Archduke was the trigger he needed to further manipulate Austria-Hungary into declaring war on Serbia.
Of course two wrongs don't make a right, but in a way I can't blame Hitler considering the humiliating terms handed to the Germans in 1918. The French and the British should have remembered it's governments that make war, and the Kaiser's government was gone. If you look at the film of the carriage's interior you can see Hitler at least was gracious enough to stand as the French delegation entered and also returned their salutes. Oh, there were no Americans present at the Armistice negotiations in 1918. I'm not saying an American presense would have mitigated the proceedings, but it was strictly a British/French show.
Ww1 was so atrocious.. im surprised they let Germany still be a country. Should of just divided it up between other nations in 1918. Would of saved alot more lives, hindsight huh.
@@chrisinkles5857 Well, the Germans didn't start WW1 but they fought it more agressively and successfully than the rest of the Central Powers did. If the Allied powers were going to be as harsh as they were at Compiegne they should have gone all the way and demanded a German surrender (with terms) and demanded Hindenburg's presense at the proceedings.
@@chrisinkles5857 Sometimes i think my IQ could be higher, then i read stuff like you wrote and i see that there are ppl wayyyy waaay dumb3r than i am.
@@wayneantoniazzi2706 1) The Central Powers stared the War with an attack on Serbia and then Belgium. 2) It was an Armistice, ie cease fire, - agreed with the new German Government and NOT a surrender or peace treaty - that was at Versailles later. 3) What the Armistice led to was the Myth of the Stab in the Back, the German Army had been defeated in the field, as had the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian which caused the over throw of their Imperial systems and the new governments were led to seeking terms.
Felton Productions keeping the itches alive I’ve been wanting to scratch since the days of the history channel and childhood satellite TV programs alike, that are no longer. I remember WW2 In Color inspiring my history interest. Thanks, Mark.
Of the many heinous things done by the German regime in WWII, this _wasn't_ one of them. France went so far out of their way to humiliate Germany in the Versailles Treaty that even the UK and US were aghast and feared (correctly) that it would lay the seeds for another war. This 'cosmetic' insult in turn wasn't undeserved.
Yay, lets parrot some more 1921 german propaganda and historical revisionism. The Versailles treaty wasn't harsh by any contemporary measure. The war responsibility clause is literally a technical clause to allow the payment of reparations for the stuff THEY DESTROYED. The payment was tied to Germany's capacity to repay over time. Meanwhile, in 1871 Germany made France pay the entirety of the gold reserves at once or risk permanent occupation. They. Deserved. Worse. And the only reason they could rise again after is because it wasn't harsh enough because of US meddling.
You sound like you've never visited one of the hundreds of WW1 battlefields and graveyards in France nor read of the price it had to pay for being invaded.
Do you consider that the way Germany was treated by the Allied in 1945 was more respectful ? Same for Japan. The Versailles treaty was proportional to the losses France took. German did a good job in 1920 to promote their view on the Versailles treaty, which at the end was only a small reduction of the size of the country, and a repayment of debt that never happened.
@@FredericGaillot Hmmm, 40 invasions over 400 years by France of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nations, what is Germany today. And you (France) have the temerity to whine and moan when finally, the German Nations are united and fight back hammer and tongs against any and all attacks. The moral is very simple and straight forward: Do not declare war on Germany!
I’ve watched so much WWII content, especially since really getting into RUclips during the pandemic. A lot of WWII content on RUclips is redundant but Felton’s work is always uncovering something fascinating and otherwise not covered that makes the conflict seem so much more pertinent and fresh
Watch Smithsonian Channel documentary (Spectrum 77) about D-Day and you will be shocked what really happened. Some French leaders surrendered to maintain their 😢 cities & culture, and people. It worked so well we can visit them today. Europe suffered greatly in WW2. 😢
Hitler been dead for 80 years and still winning. He even said his spirit would rise from the grave and the world would know he was right. So yeah, there ya go.
@@theswede5402That is very true, for better or worse. Just in the Nazis' case, it was INDISPUTABLY for the worse. But go ahead and keep glorifying your hateful ideology that LOST. Just like the Communists, the Nazis LOST and will always be seen as the losers, forever and all time.
I would have done the exact same thing. The Elsaß-Lothringen statue would have been destroyed completely, but I probably would have also took Foch’s statue to Berlin, facing the might Brandenburg Gate, as a reminder of who is boss.
@@oilersridersbluejays The highest the pride, the highest the fall. Hitler got smacked by the French, so if he had tried to do more of this kind of stuff, his humiliation would have been even greater at the end of the war.
Please consider doing more videos on strategically important battles and operations in the last year of the war with Germany. It's quite satisfying to be able to reconstruct the narrative from, say, D-Day all the way to Victory Day, one video at a time.
Definitely would love to see that 1944-45 was the most important time for the Germans to turn around there terrible D-day performance and the liberation of France which was atrociously defended there were so many interesting battles between then and VE Day
The French were defeated by their top-heavy slow to respond command system, there was nothing wrong with the French troops or their weaponry. In fact, Hitler and his General Staff were a bit apprehensive about invading France in 1940. Being WW1 veterans they all remembered how the French fought like hell in 1914. The French collapse in 1940 surprised them as much as anyone else.
I hadn't known the fate of the Armistice train car after the June 1940 ceremony. Thanks for filling in the gap so completely. On another note, the video reminded me how stunning and rapid was France's defeat in WWII. It's difficult to imagine how it was possible. The French had just the one enemy to worry about, and they had been watching them like a hawk, with unlimited suspicion, since for the 20 years since the Treaty of Versailles, for more than half of which Germany operated under significant military restraints.
Well... compare the populations and the damage inflicted in WWI; consider the lack of support from former Anglo-Saxon allies -and their alienating the USSR, the presence of Right-wing dictatures in Spain, Portugal, Italy, etc.; the neutrality of Belgium and the Netherlands; Poland moving away from the alliance. Many French personalities saw things clearly at the time, but their voice was not strong enough. (Of course, I am French...) PS: you might also check several sources that will show you that if France was forced to an armistice after six weeks, many French soldiers still fought very hard in spite of a failed strategy by the French High Command. (Dyle plan -Breda variant)
This is bringing back memories of a school history trip through parts of France and Belgium many years ago that included a visit to this restored site. The fact that it had played a role in both world wars, been ravaged then rebuilt to what we were seeing, just added to the fascination
Thank You for sharing this. I had assumed the train was blown up shortly after the French surrendered. How humiliating it was indeed for them. i also consider myself lucky I wasn't born in that part of the world during the time,. What a scary time it would have been to be alive then, especially if you were one of the undesirables in the eyes of the Germans.
@@paulkoza8652 I think being a Jew or other person considered an undesirable in that part of the world during that time is far scarier and worse than anything we have experienced yet.
Not the train car but the site where the 1918 surrender was signed. What I didn't know was that Foch's statue was allowed to stand to look over a barren land, that must've been in Hitler's mind for a while.
It’s hard to describe the level of humiliation this entailed…but here’s a sports analogy for reference; You enter a boxing fight against a suitable opponent, after 8 rounds he finally beats you into submission and forces you to sign the gloves that he wore when he beat you for the championship…..then years later, you enter another championship against the same boxer, and knock him out cold in the first round…and then you FORCE him to stay in the ring and sign the SAME gloves that once knocked you out. It’s petty, it’s sending a message, and it’s definitely something that a dictator would do.
Always found the story of this railway car fascinating...before the internet it was nearly impossible to find out what happened to it. Always thought I'd do my doctoral on this car someday! Dr. Felton you're the best channel in RUclips! Many thanks for your tireless work!
I like the quote from the German tank commander after the fall of France when he was surveying the incomplete Maginot line, "Astounding! They've had twenty years and it's still not finished."
@@e-curb Hadn't heard that one - cool. The Maginot Line could never be finished anyway - it stopped at the Belgian border - the French couldn't isolate them like that.
@@e-curb I agree with you, but at least part of the reason Luxembourg and the Dutch did not, is they figured total neutrality was their best defense, as their armies were tiny. They would have been concerned that allying with the French on a bigger Maginot Line would have been provocative towards Germany.
Ya know, it isn't difficult to understand how Nazi Germany happened when you consider the abject mistreatment Germans suffered in defeat and the resulting era of national and cultural debasement that was Weimar. The victors of WWI were petty bullies in defeat. Germany hardly deserved all it got but the victors were out to make an example out of someone and Germany just happened to be in the wrong place. Germans were victims of circumstance. Not to suggest that the nazis were in any way justified, of course, but it simply reasons that such a thing happens after you subject an entire country and its people to such hardship and humiliation for so long. People just don't take it very well. And their backlash tends to be exponential in its extreme.
You know Austria was punished harsher than Germany? And the terms were largely the same that Germany imposed on France after 1871? Germany always tries to blame it's own internal bullshit on the world
When I was a kid riding a bike with my friends in the 1960s, Hitlers revenge referred to a VW. When spotted coming towards us, the cry would go out, "Make way for Hitler's revenge!" and all us kids on bikes would go from middle of road to the sides until the Beetle had passed us.
It's quite interesting that the same France which, under Napoleon, conquered almost the entire Europe, fought against multiple nations at once six-seven times is today teased as the surrender nation. The world should give the Austrian painter his due credit for this.
To be fair, Napoleon fought the other great powers of europe one after another but never really at the same time The british spend most of the coalition wars on their island with only small armies send out to harass the french in periphery regions The Austrians, Prussians and Russians usually got defeated one after another. The only time France fought all major powers at the same time was in 1813 after the failed invasion of Russia and Napoleon got compleatly defeated at Leipzig The only country that fought three or more great pwoers at the same time for several years with all thre sending their full military force against them would be Prussia under Frederick the Great during the seven years war. That war had several Waterloo type all or nothing battles that Prussia won against the odds that safed them (for a time, until the next wave of russian, french and austrian armies would arrive). The seven years war is where Prussia reputation came from after all and even emberassing times like the desaster agaisnt Napoleon 1807 or WW1 couldnt tarnish the Prussian reputation for beeing good at war. Meanwhile France took a compleat nose dive after Napoleon died and went from desaster to desaster. The Crimean War that wasnt exactly great, the Mexico failure, the compleat desaster of getting crushed and the emperor surrendering to Prussia in a month in 1870, etc. French reputation was already not so great before WW2 and had barely recovered a bid after France not collapsing in WW1 and holding their ground. WW2 just returned the french military reputation to the pathetic meme it was after 1871 debacle. Frederick the Great was the only one, alongside I think Caesar, who Napoleon himself considered one of the greatest generals of all time. But all of them had no issue sending hundreds of thousands of people to their death and killing millions of civilians for their personal glory so we shouldnt idolize them.
@@noobster4779 "Hats off gentlemen. If this man was alive, we would not be standing here today." -Napoleon to his Marshalls at Frederick The Great's tomb.
Mark, you are a great story teller. Your English dialect is especially pleasing to listen to as an American. European/British English is so much softer, gentler to listen to.
I have read Shirer's account of the French surrender in the glade and never thought to look for footage of it. Thanks for bringing this fascinating story to us!
Too late. We've repeated this mistake by humiliating Russia by moving NATO, not only into their backyard, but right up to its front door. Seems like America and her vassal states are trying to do the same with China as well. American diplomat George F. Kennan is reckoned to have laid the Cold War's intellectual foundation with his "long telegram" from Moscow in February 1946. In 1996, the 92-year-old Kennan warned that NATO's expansion into former Soviet territory was a "strategic blunder of potentially epic proportions."
@lsq78 France was being completely arrogant. Practically every historian agrees that the Treaty Of Versailles was much too harsh, and Germany getting its revenge was inevitable because of it. France got humiliated and deservedly so.
Not that I'm a fan of Hitler but making France surrender in that car was actually pretty genius. He was a sick evil bastard but one thing you can't take away from him was how powerful he rebuilt Germany in such a short amount of time.
@@kevinthompson2308Praising Hitler for making France surrender in the rail car, perhaps? You don't compliment a bully for hurting your 'friends', do you?
A word on this supposed ‘rebuilding’ by the Nazis. The government was borrowing huge amounts of money for rearmament, creating a massive increase in the national debt. (And for the record, most of that money was paid to private industry, and was very profitable for them. Nazi Germany had a capitalist economy, even if it was state-regulated rather than free market.) Normally this would lead to inflation, but that was kept in check by strict price and wage controls. Instead, the falling value of money meant that goods disappeared from the store shelves - except for the black market - as suppliers no longer found it economic to produce and sell their goods at the low prices enforced by the government. Another factor in this was the strict import and export controls imposed by the government. Nazi economic theory (such as it was) promoted autarky; the country should be self-sufficient as far as possible, to reduce its vulnerability to a blockade when war came, Raw material for industry was the priority: consumer goods were not. On the upside, the Nazi government did succeed in bringing in full employment - partly through increased public spending on weaponry and projects such as the autobahns, partly by recruiting several million young men into the army, and partly by make-work schemes. They also used a combination of financial incentives, propaganda and laws to push women out of the workforce, so they wouldn’t show up in the unemployment statistics anymore. Jews were also banned from many jobs, or had their property confiscated and were forced to emigrate; which opened up new jobs for unscrupulous Aryans taking their places. All this meant that ordinary people had money in their pocket from wages, but there was little in the shops for them to spend it on. For several years they invested it instead in government bonds, which is how the Nazi government was able to borrow so much money in 1933-38. However, by late 1938 the bond issues were bringing in less and less money as people‘s savings were already fully committed, and many of the loans were coming due; which is why Germany was hovering on the edge of bankruptcy by 1939 unless it could plunder the wealth from its conquests. To outsiders, who saw only the full employment, the booming munitions factories, and the budget figures which cunningly concealed exactly how much debt the government was running up, German economic policy in 1933-39 ;looked like a great success. But it was a pretty mask covering a rotting body.
@@HooDatDonDar Yes, people forget the Nuremberg laws which disenfranchised the Jews allowed a huge amount of Germans to become suddenly employed, it was good for those finally getting back in the workforce so the big opposition to those moves didn't come from the people who couldn't put food on their tables just one week prior.
It is amazing how Mark picks topics that I'm not only interested in currently but are things that I've often wondered about years and years ago but few people seem to take the time to create content to cover them. This is fascinating, and I was drawn by the fact that the SS/ Germans cared enough to destroy it towards the end of the war. Reminded me of the fact that they also took time and all the chaos to remove hindenburg's remains before they blew up tannennberg, I've always wondered why they didn't do something similar to the famous heroes Von Blücher and von Moltke's remains, and just let the Russians run over, ruin and scatter the remains of these German heroes. Mark if you're there I don't often request videos, but I think something on Moltke (elder) and Blucher's final resting places being left to be desecrated would be an interesting video as well, and I'm just left wondering why the Germans missed evacuating those remains while they apparently can take the time to destroy the real carriage or move Hindenburg and his wife.
@@tictac2therevenge291 Polish troops fighting alongside the Red Army hoisted their flag on top the Siegessäule on May 2, 1945 after winning the battle of Berlin, two months before the Allies arrived in Berlin, after which the French put their flag on a monument they didn't secure, of course with the permission of the big boys. In 1946 the French petitioned the US and Britain for permission to destroy the monument but were denied! The only flags that deserved to be there belonged to those who won the Battle of Berlin.
@@SirAntoniousBlock Exactly. The French resistance consistently attacked the SS panzer divisions headed to Normandy from the south of France. These divisions were set to blast away the Allies' toehold on the beaches. But thanks to the resistance's relentless attacks on the way there, they arrived decimated and two weeks late. I'd say the French resistance really redeemed France with this campaign.
Not really... the probable most correct course of action to prevent WW2 was to break Germany into multiple pieces like they did to Austria Hungary... Hitler thus could've risen to power in Bavaria, Prussia, Hannover or whatever names those states took... but he'd have a long hill to climb in first reuniting those former states which would all have their own governments and political issues.
@@vincentyeo88 Yep. That's for sure. Blew my mind the first time I realized that after Normandy, the war would be over in 11 months. Third Reich: 1933-45. WWII: 1939-45. Those six years alone saw an explosion in technological and medical innovation, and historical events that will be studied for generations.
I low key respect just how petty and humiliating he made the French surrender. And now there’s a lasting legacy of France having a weak military that will surrender at the first opportunity.
Excellent piece of History Mark You are a outstanding Historian of the World Wars of our past. Thank you for all your information of facts of WW2. It is so interesting. Keep doing what you are so good at ! 👏
I've always heard Hitler walked out during the French terms but didn't know that's what Foch did to the Germans in WW1. Every other "historian" that has told the story is so obsessed with demonizing Hitler, they leave out that the French started this insult game. Felton does a tremendous job.
I'd arguably blame France for the rivalry with Germany to begin with. It started with Napoleon III declaring war on Prussia in the 1800's. It turned into a back an forth game ever since, ending with WWII.
There’s an awful lot of that bias in regard to WWII and especially with Germany. Objectivity is almost nonexistent. 90% of people are absolutist on the ally side and about 10% are absolutist on the Nazi side.
Hitler was either satan incarnate or the world’s savior. No in between
"There is nothing more frightening in this world than the bloodlust of a nation that has suffered injustice."
@@finsfan90 Bismarck provoked it, so it goes both ways, 1 super power snd another emerging power to take the place will always cause a rivalry or even a conflict of sorts.
@@MarkMuhammad190 Sure Bismarck provoked it, no question about it. That was because there was no other way to have a united german nation, without France messing up southern german states.
In all the clips you’ve shown us I don’t think I’ve ever seen hitler as happy as he was here.
Euphoria would have been an understatement in germany
He liked war and destruction more than pussy - to be honest he didn't liked pussy at all.
Thats the idol of many boys.
He wasn’t a happy person in general.
He’s downright beaming. 😜
@@xiaoka I mean is that a bonafide knee slap? I dunno if I’ve seen a person that genuinely happy in real life.
A surreal story of revenge and shows the distinct connection between WW1 and WW2...Some see it as the same conflict.
I saw France fold like a napkin, and Petain surrender in the same railcar that France used on Germany in WW1 😆
@@optimusprinceps3526 No one cares
also franco prussian war
@@balabanasireti USA under that Alzheimer's ridden, International Weakling and Laughingstock, counterfeit President Biden is just another France 🤣
@@balabanasireti Bon Appetit Frenchie 🤣
i know the armistice site has been rebuilt, but seeing it the exact same today as it was then is just eerie, standing in the exact spot where the world changed twice and knowing who once stood there must be creepy
I have been to the site and it is creepy. I went over to touch the statue of Foch as it was a witness to history.
Not much. I‘ve been to the Casino in Salzburg and walked up the stairs Hitler and Musolini went up too.
@@xraywatch1943 even if you don't believe in ghosts or anything like that, standing there with no one around but yourself you really would expect to hear voices of the past
Let's find out
The spot outside the Fuhrer bunker where they initially buried and burned his corpse is a street corner, hope there's a fire hydrant so every passing dog leaves him a little something.
I was always under the impression that the train car was blown up shortly after the surrender ceremony. So once again Dr. Felton manages to teach me something about a topic which I thought I was knowledgeable about. Not the first time either I might add.
I heard it was destroyed in an air raid. So now I know.
Same. I recall when I was younger seeing footage of a train car being blown up after the surrender.
Same here. I distinctly remember a b/w newsreel in which the wagon had been blown up by the germans shortly after the armistice... :|
Looks like we hopped timelines 😂 thanks CERN!
@@flaviogiuliano5019 Me too. What was that News Reel of I wonder?
"The French had the last laugh"..........pretty sure nothing is more humiliating in terms of history than being a global power and getting conquered in 3 weeks flat.
Plus loosing the status of global power for good and instead being remembered as the country that got dumped on by germany
Fest steht und treu die Wacht, die Wacht am Rhein. The French bullied the German states every chance they got from the Middle Ages on through Napoleon. I am no Nazi, but the French deserved every bit of what they got.
To be fair, the Germans did use tactics that were never heard of and had many advanced weaponry against the French....but then again the French could've also struck Germany at its weakest whenever the war first broke out in 1939 and left the entire western front lightly guarded and wouldve been a cakewalk to Berlin. Unfortunately, that's not the timeline we live in, and unfortunately France was capitulated in such a small timeframe.
@@dmitripazlov491 the French didn't do that and ze French didn't fight hard because they knew that a European Empire was beneficial for them so there wasn't much spirit in fighting against it
@@jackbrady9738 I'm not sure where you read that at, but I was referring to the Saarland offensive in 1939 whenever the french and british had the war in their hands and let it slip because they were too confident in the Germans military might and the Siegfried line. But the complete western front was lightly armed and defended against allied forces since most were busy in poland. 2 weeks and germany would've fallen if they pressed forward. Not too much of a mighty empire if it can topple in 2 weeks if you ask me.
As much as Hitler is despised, I can't blame him for the humiliation he meted out to the French during this surrender ceremony.
Oh really, I've visited WW1 battlefields of Somme Ypres and Verdun and only a black hearted Nazi or an imbecile would make such a comment.
He is 'despised' because the victors write the history books and control the propaganda, not because of who he actually was.
@@freedomisslavery6840 _Vae Victis,_ suck it up.
@@freedomisslavery6840 the victors write history, ok,
The MILLIONS of witnesses words from all countries, from all ages, including germans in uniform, and from all political spectrum in all those countries matter more than a few stupid revisionists and neonazi deniers opinions.
What Germany did to France in WW2 was only right.
America and the British wanted a long lasting peace in the Versaille treaty, the French however were only looking to humiliate the Germans, they are basically responsible for the hyper inflation in Germany in the 1930s
Can't understand WW2 without understanding WW1. Great stuff like always Mark.
You will not understand neither of them without diving deep into the economy of the era.
@@heyhoe168 very true so pretty much going back to the beginning of the 20th century
The WW1 treaty created WW2.
The WW1 treaty destroyed the Prussian Empire and the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
When the monster Napoleon was defeated was France destroyed...no.
Hitler started the war in order to recreate those empires in eastern Europe.
Then the idiot French and British declared war on Germany.
Hitler's whole mindset was toward the east, not the west.
it really all leads back to Charlemagne's empire being divided upon his 3 sons
Nahh it all began with the fall of Western Roman Empire @@housesports000
The fact that a simple German soldier of the First World War was able to achieve, as Chancellor of Germany in 1940, to invade France and destroy a French and English merged army single-handedly in just 6 weeks, which even in the First World War Germany did not manage to do in 4 years, is why this is already an achievement
And sometimes, by the way, Hitler had a sense of humor, the Compiègne wagon was one of them
I call it the paradox of tyranny. When a tyrant manages to make good decisions, he wins everything as in poker.
The problem is when tyrants start to make bad decisions, they ruin their entire country fast. Hitler did it later with Germany, Napoléon did it in France and Europe with his disastrous campaign in Spain and then ofc Russia where he abandoned the entire French Army which was decimated. But before that, with the stroke of a pen, Napoléon was most enlightened leader in Europe and turned France into the #1 country in Europe in terms of arts, advancements, philosophy, etc.
@@russjiao-long5387 Anyone who is "inspired" by Hitler should just skip right to the final step and find a bunker to 🫡🔫
@@reneguenon7824 .
Who is us? He was a maniacal thug. Art school reject through and through..
Sense of humor? You mean he was petty af. It’s in his queer blood. I wouldn’t be surprised if he had AIDS, with all the men he slept with.
Really…Really?
Fun Fact: Hitler said after visiting Napoleon's tomb “That was the greatest and finest moment of my life,” He also returned the remains of Napoleon ll from Vienna
Thats... nice.
I think it should be mentioned Hitler didn’t view Napoleon as French, as he regarded the French as racially inferior but thought better of the Italians, he made sure to point out Napoleon was Corsican.
@@ousarlxsfjsbvbg8588 Who cares about the delusional racial views of a manlet.
Yeah, Hitler and Napoleon were very much alike. And when Hitler decided to invade the Soviet Union. Army Group Center used the very same road that Napoleon used to start his invasion of Russia.
Even the start days for their invasion of Russia were separated by two days. Napoleon invasion started on June 24th. Barbarossa started on June 22nd.
Well that makes up for everything
Dr. Felton, I could watch your videos for hours. Thanks for another informative video on WWII.
Think about how amazing that moment in a man’s life was. Hitler, the communication runner for 4 years in WW1, personally ruined by German defeat.... gets to bring that enemy nation to it’s knees and personally take the glory. Seriously, what an AMAZING story arc!! Imagine his emotions. It’s incredible.
Glad he enjoyed it for a bit. Five years later the story arc came back full circle.
It did indeed.
@@davecopp9356 Right, I guess the true victory in WWII was the battles Fritz won along the way before being ultimately crushed.
@@davecopp9356 The nazis benefited from the element of surprise in the beginning, that's all. Halfway through the war it was already clear that the Soviet Union alone could have dealt with them. And it's fallacious to argue it was just "tiny Germany" fighting all these superpowers when a) they had allies and their population increased with the annexations, b) Germany alone was a superpower, so it's no surprise at all that they could keep a war going for a while at least, c) your characterisation of Hitler as the lion directly contradicts the small size you attribute to Germany compared to the "superpowers", after all the lion is bigger than the jackal. So what is it? Is it the big lion fighting small jackals, or is it the brave little jackal fighting the big lions? You can't have it both ways. Personally I think he acted more like a snake (if we want to attribute classic animal tropes to the participants in this war), became the leader of a pack of hyenas and made decisions like a donkey which ultimately dictated the cowardly end of his life. Nice hero you have there.
@@davecopp9356 A bunch of hunters can bring down a rouge elephant.
Thanks for setting the record straight on the background of this French railway carriage used in two surrender ceremonies.
One has got to admit that this insult to the French is priceless. I would have given anything to witness this entire spectacle on June 22, 1940. Thanks for the story.
Haha😂
The 1918 Versailles treaty led exactly to this moment..
And Germany’s declaration of war on France in 1914 led to the Versailles Treaty.
@@jzcovers fair but two wrongs..
@@jzcovers WW1 was really no one's fault
Versailles wasn’t harsh
@@Heisenberg882 Yes it was
2:30 how happy Hitler is. He looks like he's bragging to his friends about the toy that his mother bought him.
without your amazing videos and stories, so many facts about war would just be a paragraph in a forgotten dusty book. You bring the facts to life and your thorough research brings so many new parts to light. Thank You Dr. Felton.
Mark you might want to cover the truly amazing story of Gunther Plüschow.
The only man to escape from Britain in either WW1 or WW2. He started his journey to freedom in a German colony in China and travelled the world seeking to get home. His story is jaw dropping.
He is remembered in my home Town due to the fact it's where he escaped from. There is a memorial to him and why a film has never been made is beyond me. You need more information please let me know as I'm in contact with those who have spent years ensuring his story is told...
His book is excellent.
@@ethan9868 Which one?
@@Freigeist2008 Gunther Plüschow's book - "my escape from donington hall"
Just shows you how secure Britain was as a country and even then only 1 escaped compared to Germany and there prisons.
@@ChrisCrossClash Britain is an island, as opposed to the rest of continental Europe.
You completely missed that Hitler sat there for 15 minutes without saying a word just staring at them making it even more uncomfortable and painful for them, then he just upped and left
Well done, Dr. Felton. Thanks for filling in all these details about the basic story that we all know so well.
Another interesting tale is the fact that the occupying Germans kept most WWI memorials and gravesites completely intact. Some, such as the Cross of Reconciliation at Lizerne, a memorial dedicated to the victims of a German gas attack in 1915, were destroyed. Another statue at Mount Saint Quentin featuring an Australian soldier bayonetting an Imperial German eagle was also smashed. However, these were mostly isolated incidents, and Hitler ordered Great War sites to be protected. For propaganda purposes, Hitler visited the Canadian war memorial at Vimy Ridge on the 2nd of June 1940 with foreign journalists invited. The Waffen SS were tasked to guard the monuments, and they remained safe for the duration of the German occupation.
I know that another moment was destroyed in Reims. It was dedicated to African soldiers who fought in the French Army in WWI. Surprisingly I think that no WWI Jewish military graves, either German nor Allied were destroyed or damaged. At least you can still walk into the military cemeteries still today and see clearly the Jewish graves as they use a David star instead of a cross, and they are with the same stone used for the other graves.
@@laurenceetfredericgaillot4727 I think as a veteran of that hell on Earth, even Hitler would've been horrified at desecrating the graves of the other poor bastards who didn't survive, on either side
@@saucyduckglobalomnihyperme7510 LOL yeah as if he would have cared
@@saucyduckglobalomnihyperme7510 I don’t think so, otherwise he would’ve left those monuments.
I've read that the Normans statues were not allowed to be touched either.
An absolutely fascinating story! Thank you Dr. Felton!
I'm not saying what Hitler did was right, BUT, was anyone really shocked over his actions in 1940 after what originally occurred in 1918?
Thanks again for a great video Mr Felton.
No. When a bully is humiliated for his actions, he always wants revenge. Injured pride.
@@HooDatDonDar
How was Hitler or Germany the bully? England and France were the bullies pre-WWI. They were threatened by Germany's rising power and wanted her crushed.
@@HooDatDonDar Not glorifying Hitler but how was Germany the bully in ww1?
"...after what originally occurred in 1918?"
What occurred was the close of 4 years of bloodshed initiated by Wilhelm II's antagonism of the international order for 15 years and his manipulation of his allies in Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire to help provide a buffer of blame so the war wouldn't be pinned on him when all was said and done. Didn't exactly work out that way in the long run, tho.
@jodlad8343 Yeah, that was the immediate catalyst that led to the war. The tensions in Europe had been building since the mid-19th century with all its wars and the shifting balance of power towards Germany. Wilhelm enflamed these tensions immensely in the 15-20 or so years leading up to the war.
Also, not to mention, one of the core reasons Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia at all was because of the Kaiser's blank cheque during the July Crisis.
Wilhelm wanted war. He was chomping at the bit to go to war with the rest of Europe. He just didn't want to be the one to make the first declaration. The death of the Archduke was the trigger he needed to further manipulate Austria-Hungary into declaring war on Serbia.
Of course two wrongs don't make a right, but in a way I can't blame Hitler considering the humiliating terms handed to the Germans in 1918. The French and the British should have remembered it's governments that make war, and the Kaiser's government was gone.
If you look at the film of the carriage's interior you can see Hitler at least was gracious enough to stand as the French delegation entered and also returned their salutes.
Oh, there were no Americans present at the Armistice negotiations in 1918. I'm not saying an American presense would have mitigated the proceedings, but it was strictly a British/French show.
"Versailles was too harsh" is literal 1921 german propaganda still being parroted by morons who don't get the nature of the war responsibility clause.
Ww1 was so atrocious.. im surprised they let Germany still be a country. Should of just divided it up between other nations in 1918. Would of saved alot more lives, hindsight huh.
@@chrisinkles5857 Well, the Germans didn't start WW1 but they fought it more agressively and successfully than the rest of the Central Powers did. If the Allied powers were going to be as harsh as they were at Compiegne they should have gone all the way and demanded a German surrender (with terms) and demanded Hindenburg's presense at the proceedings.
@@chrisinkles5857 Sometimes i think my IQ could be higher, then i read stuff like you wrote and i see that there are ppl wayyyy waaay dumb3r than i am.
@@wayneantoniazzi2706 1) The Central Powers stared the War with an attack on Serbia and then Belgium.
2) It was an Armistice, ie cease fire, - agreed with the new German Government and NOT a surrender or peace treaty - that was at Versailles later.
3) What the Armistice led to was the Myth of the Stab in the Back, the German Army had been defeated in the field, as had the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian which caused the over throw of their Imperial systems and the new governments were led to seeking terms.
Thanks! Your videos are ALWAYS interesting....
Probably the only time I agree with him.
It's our natural task to humiliate France.
🤣👏
agreed.
🇫🇷:🤢🤮
🇩🇪:😎😎
"La Grande Nation" must be forced on its knees again and again.
Aryans?
Brilliant as usual. Thank you Dr. Felton.
Felton Productions keeping the itches alive I’ve been wanting to scratch since the days of the history channel and childhood satellite TV programs alike, that are no longer. I remember WW2 In Color inspiring my history interest. Thanks, Mark.
I learned about this event in my high school euro history class. It's symbolic power impressed a lasting, profound memory about it.
Of the many heinous things done by the German regime in WWII, this _wasn't_ one of them. France went so far out of their way to humiliate Germany in the Versailles Treaty that even the UK and US were aghast and feared (correctly) that it would lay the seeds for another war. This 'cosmetic' insult in turn wasn't undeserved.
Yay, lets parrot some more 1921 german propaganda and historical revisionism. The Versailles treaty wasn't harsh by any contemporary measure. The war responsibility clause is literally a technical clause to allow the payment of reparations for the stuff THEY DESTROYED. The payment was tied to Germany's capacity to repay over time. Meanwhile, in 1871 Germany made France pay the entirety of the gold reserves at once or risk permanent occupation.
They.
Deserved.
Worse.
And the only reason they could rise again after is because it wasn't harsh enough because of US meddling.
Please list 2 heinous things, along with verifiable forensic evidence in support thereeof, that Germany is supposed to have done. Thank you.
You sound like you've never visited one of the hundreds of WW1 battlefields and graveyards in France nor read of the price it had to pay for being invaded.
Do you consider that the way Germany was treated by the Allied in 1945 was more respectful ? Same for Japan. The Versailles treaty was proportional to the losses France took. German did a good job in 1920 to promote their view on the Versailles treaty, which at the end was only a small reduction of the size of the country, and a repayment of debt that never happened.
@@FredericGaillot Hmmm, 40 invasions over 400 years by France of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nations, what is Germany today.
And you (France) have the temerity to whine and moan when finally, the German Nations are united and fight back hammer and tongs against any and all attacks.
The moral is very simple and straight forward: Do not declare war on Germany!
Great video! I dragged my wife to Compeigne during a business trip to Paris in 1989. I wish I had known all these details you mentioned back then.
I’ve watched so much WWII content, especially since really getting into RUclips during the pandemic. A lot of WWII content on RUclips is redundant but Felton’s work is always uncovering something fascinating and otherwise not covered that makes the conflict seem so much more pertinent and fresh
Mark, you ever heard the saying “ignorance is bliss”, most probably not.
Watch Smithsonian Channel documentary (Spectrum 77) about D-Day and you will be shocked what really happened. Some French leaders surrendered to maintain their 😢 cities & culture, and people. It worked so well we can visit them today. Europe suffered greatly in WW2. 😢
Obviously not a fan of Hitler as a human but I always thought this was funny as hell.
you should watch Arthur Steptoe's return to the WWI battlefield with Harold in a Steptoe and son episode.
You sound like a real friend of the French. *Sarcasm*.
Yeah, I gotta admit. Irony is very sweet.
Thank You Dr. Felton
Always Enjoy Your Videos !!
Thanks for your Expertise
One of Deutschlands most glorious moments for sure.
The glory was not to last, as is often the case...
@@Ingremance Evil won this time but you can kill a man but not an idea.
Hitler been dead for 80 years and still winning. He even said his spirit would rise from the grave and the world would know he was right. So yeah, there ya go.
@@theswede5402That is very true, for better or worse. Just in the Nazis' case, it was INDISPUTABLY for the worse.
But go ahead and keep glorifying your hateful ideology that LOST. Just like the Communists, the Nazis LOST and will always be seen as the losers, forever and all time.
@@theswede5402greatly said, u may have my salute 🙋♂️
I have to admit it...I sort of respect this.
I feel like many people would do the exact same thing if they were in his position
I would have done the exact same thing. The Elsaß-Lothringen statue would have been destroyed completely, but I probably would have also took Foch’s statue to Berlin, facing the might Brandenburg Gate, as a reminder of who is boss.
@@oilersridersbluejays I like that idea.
We all do most just don't have the will to admit it
@@oilersridersbluejays The highest the pride, the highest the fall. Hitler got smacked by the French, so if he had tried to do more of this kind of stuff, his humiliation would have been even greater at the end of the war.
Please consider doing more videos on strategically important battles and operations in the last year of the war with Germany. It's quite satisfying to be able to reconstruct the narrative from, say, D-Day all the way to Victory Day, one video at a time.
I like to see videos on the battle of Rhineland, battle for Ruhr pocket in particular.
Watch Time Ghost History WW2 channel.
Week by week coverage.
Definitely would love to see that 1944-45 was the most important time for the Germans to turn around there terrible D-day performance and the liberation of France which was atrociously defended there were so many interesting battles between then and VE Day
@@shawnr771 I like the Ghost History channel, but I would much prefer Mark's renditions of the events.
@@PurpleCat9794 I will check that one out.
Do you watch The History Guy?
On Ghost do you mean the TimeGhostArmy with Indy and Spartacus?
To be fair the French did crumble like a croissant. Although most countries had very little defence against German blitzkrieg.
Ukrainain theater looking about the same nowadays with Odessa falling and Kiev teetering
Looking at you Denmark
What Putin is doing in Ukraine is hardly a blitzkrieg. Accepting massive casualties because you outman and outgun your opponent is not impressive.
The French were defeated by their top-heavy slow to respond command system, there was nothing wrong with the French troops or their weaponry. In fact, Hitler and his General Staff were a bit apprehensive about invading France in 1940. Being WW1 veterans they all remembered how the French fought like hell in 1914. The French collapse in 1940 surprised them as much as anyone else.
@@panzerschreck3726 How did the replies to my comment lead to Vladimir Putin?
One of the coolest moments in modern history.
are you serious ?
You never cease to amaze Dr. Felton. Another informative video.
I hadn't known the fate of the Armistice train car after the June 1940 ceremony. Thanks for filling in the gap so completely. On another note, the video reminded me how stunning and rapid was France's defeat in WWII. It's difficult to imagine how it was possible. The French had just the one enemy to worry about, and they had been watching them like a hawk, with unlimited suspicion, since for the 20 years since the Treaty of Versailles, for more than half of which Germany operated under significant military restraints.
Well... compare the populations and the damage inflicted in WWI; consider the lack of support from former Anglo-Saxon allies -and their alienating the USSR, the presence of Right-wing dictatures in Spain, Portugal, Italy, etc.; the neutrality of Belgium and the Netherlands; Poland moving away from the alliance.
Many French personalities saw things clearly at the time, but their voice was not strong enough.
(Of course, I am French...)
PS: you might also check several sources that will show you that if France was forced to an armistice after six weeks, many French soldiers still fought very hard in spite of a failed strategy by the French High Command. (Dyle plan -Breda variant)
I mean, this was kind of a boss move from old Adolf to be fair.
This is bringing back memories of a school history trip through parts of France and Belgium many years ago that included a visit to this restored site. The fact that it had played a role in both world wars, been ravaged then rebuilt to what we were seeing, just added to the fascination
Your content never fails to impress. Thank you.
Dr Mark. Your stuff is great and very entertaining. Thank you. From South Africa.
Thank You for sharing this. I had assumed the train was blown up shortly after the French surrendered. How humiliating it was indeed for them. i also consider myself lucky I wasn't born in that part of the world during the time,. What a scary time it would have been to be alive then, especially if you were one of the undesirables in the eyes of the Germans.
Well we live in a scry time now. So may be you are witnessing history.
@@paulkoza8652 I think being a Jew or other person considered an undesirable in that part of the world during that time is far scarier and worse than anything we have experienced yet.
Same, I knew the train car was blown up but always assumed it was just after signing the surrender. Truth be told that would be even more humiliating.
"How humiliating it was indeed for them." Almost sounds like you are enjoying this.
Not the train car but the site where the 1918 surrender was signed. What I didn't know was that Foch's statue was allowed to stand to look over a barren land, that must've been in Hitler's mind for a while.
@3:46
That is a new level of revenge to where I’m speechless.
It’s hard to describe the level of humiliation this entailed…but here’s a sports analogy for reference;
You enter a boxing fight against a suitable opponent, after 8 rounds he finally beats you into submission and forces you to sign the gloves that he wore when he beat you for the championship…..then years later, you enter another championship against the same boxer, and knock him out cold in the first round…and then you FORCE him to stay in the ring and sign the SAME gloves that once knocked you out.
It’s petty, it’s sending a message, and it’s definitely something that a dictator would do.
Thank you dr Felton these videos are amazing 🙌
Excellent video and interesting subject matter as always. Bravo Dr. Felton.
7 minutes online = 1800+ views. Well deserved Dr. Felton
Always found the story of this railway car fascinating...before the internet it was nearly impossible to find out what happened to it. Always thought I'd do my doctoral on this car someday!
Dr. Felton you're the best channel in RUclips! Many thanks for your tireless work!
1:35 Marshall Foch said “In twenty years, there will be another war’. He said this……in *1919*
I like the quote from the German tank commander after the fall of France when he was surveying the incomplete Maginot line, "Astounding! They've had twenty years and it's still not finished."
@@e-curb Hadn't heard that one - cool. The Maginot Line could never be finished anyway - it stopped at the Belgian border - the French couldn't isolate them like that.
@@joeylawn36111 Their mistake was not getting the Dutch, Belgians and Luxembourg on board.
@@e-curb I agree with you, but at least part of the reason Luxembourg and the Dutch did not, is they figured total neutrality was their best defense, as their armies were tiny. They would have been concerned that allying with the French on a bigger Maginot Line would have been provocative towards Germany.
@@joeylawn36111 Was Belgium with them in that stance?
In hindsight, they needed to have been a member of a NATO-type alliance.
Excellent video. Always a pleasure to watch and learn!
Another great video, thanks Dr. Felton!
Once again, a fine video Mark.
The surrender signing is one of the most interesting stories of the war. Karma from end to end. Enough for everyone.
"It had been preserved in a French museum in Paris" I'm sure the French delegation wasn't thrilled to climb aboard such a well preserved carriage.
The timing is amazing! I fell asleep last night to Laurence Olivier briefly mentioning the train carriage in his narration of the world at war.
You're a great documentary Guy. Probably my favorite
Once again Dr. Felton strikes with a very informative and interesting video.
Ya know, it isn't difficult to understand how Nazi Germany happened when you consider the abject mistreatment Germans suffered in defeat and the resulting era of national and cultural debasement that was Weimar.
The victors of WWI were petty bullies in defeat. Germany hardly deserved all it got but the victors were out to make an example out of someone and Germany just happened to be in the wrong place. Germans were victims of circumstance.
Not to suggest that the nazis were in any way justified, of course, but it simply reasons that such a thing happens after you subject an entire country and its people to such hardship and humiliation for so long.
People just don't take it very well. And their backlash tends to be exponential in its extreme.
You know Austria was punished harsher than Germany? And the terms were largely the same that Germany imposed on France after 1871? Germany always tries to blame it's own internal bullshit on the world
When I was a kid riding a bike with my friends in the 1960s, Hitlers revenge referred to a VW. When spotted coming towards us, the cry would go out, "Make way for Hitler's revenge!" and all us kids on bikes would go from middle of road to the sides until the Beetle had passed us.
Many hippies drove VW vans in the late 1960s. ✌
@@vincentyeo88 My grade school principle had one.
@@chrishoff402
Those were the good old days.
It's quite interesting that the same France which, under Napoleon, conquered almost the entire Europe, fought against multiple nations at once six-seven times is today teased as the surrender nation. The world should give the Austrian painter his due credit for this.
For beating the French momentarily and then losing it all?
Britain would like a word.
@@1882osr Brits are nothing but Top Gooners today
@@1882osr True. But when they are teased like that, mostly people refer to WW2. Besides, Britain and France became strong allies, so it's a tie.
To be fair, Napoleon fought the other great powers of europe one after another but never really at the same time
The british spend most of the coalition wars on their island with only small armies send out to harass the french in periphery regions
The Austrians, Prussians and Russians usually got defeated one after another.
The only time France fought all major powers at the same time was in 1813 after the failed invasion of Russia and Napoleon got compleatly defeated at Leipzig
The only country that fought three or more great pwoers at the same time for several years with all thre sending their full military force against them would be Prussia under Frederick the Great during the seven years war. That war had several Waterloo type all or nothing battles that Prussia won against the odds that safed them (for a time, until the next wave of russian, french and austrian armies would arrive). The seven years war is where Prussia reputation came from after all and even emberassing times like the desaster agaisnt Napoleon 1807 or WW1 couldnt tarnish the Prussian reputation for beeing good at war. Meanwhile France took a compleat nose dive after Napoleon died and went from desaster to desaster. The Crimean War that wasnt exactly great, the Mexico failure, the compleat desaster of getting crushed and the emperor surrendering to Prussia in a month in 1870, etc.
French reputation was already not so great before WW2 and had barely recovered a bid after France not collapsing in WW1 and holding their ground. WW2 just returned the french military reputation to the pathetic meme it was after 1871 debacle.
Frederick the Great was the only one, alongside I think Caesar, who Napoleon himself considered one of the greatest generals of all time. But all of them had no issue sending hundreds of thousands of people to their death and killing millions of civilians for their personal glory so we shouldnt idolize them.
@@noobster4779 "Hats off gentlemen. If this man was alive, we would not be standing here today."
-Napoleon to his Marshalls at Frederick The Great's tomb.
Great video. Thanks
Mark, you are a great story teller. Your English dialect is especially pleasing to listen to as an American. European/British English is so much softer, gentler to listen to.
I have read Shirer's account of the French surrender in the glade and never thought to look for footage of it. Thanks for bringing this fascinating story to us!
3:48 Hitler left the statue of Foch to bear witness to France’s humiliation. That’s gangster.
2:31 you feel the joy he felt
Yes as fellow humans we have the same kind of happiness as he did. Good point.
I happily snuggle in with your new video and it's over in five minutes! I would love to have some lengthier offerings. I really like your channel.
Thank you Mr Felton. The history lessons you teach need to be kept alive lest we repeat these mistakes.
Too late. We've repeated this mistake by humiliating Russia by moving NATO, not only into their backyard, but right up to its front door. Seems like America and her vassal states are trying to do the same with China as well.
American diplomat George F. Kennan is reckoned to have laid the Cold War's intellectual foundation with his "long telegram" from Moscow in February 1946. In 1996, the 92-year-old Kennan warned that NATO's expansion into former Soviet territory was a "strategic blunder of potentially epic proportions."
Too late, Germany was allowed to exist, so the mistake is already repeated.
No matter what, it's a major boss move to go from a corporal in the trenches of ww2 to humiliating your enemy in such a manner
Perhaps if he had ultimately won, and not in course of such a complete ultimate defeat brought European civilisation to its knees
@@cybersurf5 No. It's still a boss move to even reach the point where the French came crawling
Its unique and very interesting indeed, but so what, there are things that matter more, like what he was.
WW1*
This clearly shows he loved his country and took revenge of ww1 humiliation
And He certainly rubbed it France's face, by using the same railcar for Petain's humiliation and surrender
Technically not his country...Hitler was AUSTRIAN by birth.
The humiliation was deserved. Versailles was a disgrace.
@@briandouglas2123 Versailles was more than deserved. The only disgrace is the literal 1921 german propaganda being parroted about it to this day.
@lsq78 France was being completely arrogant. Practically every historian agrees that the Treaty Of Versailles was much too harsh, and Germany getting its revenge was inevitable because of it. France got humiliated and deservedly so.
Another Felton masterpiece!
With all due respect! Yours is the only best in-depth source on RUclips related with the world war history! A fan and an admirer from Pakistan.
Thank you, Dr. Felton.
Imagine being to guys tasked with moving that around knowing the war wasn’t going well.
It's like a railroad version of "Weekend at Bernies."
Wow...I live in France. I have studied the history of both war surrenders, but I never knew all the details as presented here.
Enlightened, thank you.
Not that I'm a fan of Hitler but making France surrender in that car was actually pretty genius. He was a sick evil bastard but one thing you can't take away from him was how powerful he rebuilt Germany in such a short amount of time.
Reading comments like this makes me realize why the French question the idea of Americans being their 'friends. '
@@TheRyan4778 what is it about that which makes you realize that?
@@kevinthompson2308Praising Hitler for making France surrender in the rail car, perhaps? You don't compliment a bully for hurting your 'friends', do you?
A word on this supposed ‘rebuilding’ by the Nazis.
The government was borrowing huge amounts of money for rearmament, creating a massive increase in the national debt. (And for the record, most of that money was paid to private industry, and was very profitable for them. Nazi Germany had a capitalist economy, even if it was state-regulated rather than free market.)
Normally this would lead to inflation, but that was kept in check by strict price and wage controls. Instead, the falling value of money meant that goods disappeared from the store shelves - except for the black market - as suppliers no longer found it economic to produce and sell their goods at the low prices enforced by the government.
Another factor in this was the strict import and export controls imposed by the government. Nazi economic theory (such as it was) promoted autarky; the country should be self-sufficient as far as possible, to reduce its vulnerability to a blockade when war came, Raw material for industry was the priority: consumer goods were not.
On the upside, the Nazi government did succeed in bringing in full employment - partly through increased public spending on weaponry and projects such as the autobahns, partly by recruiting several million young men into the army, and partly by make-work schemes. They also used a combination of financial incentives, propaganda and laws to push women out of the workforce, so they wouldn’t show up in the unemployment statistics anymore. Jews were also banned from many jobs, or had their property confiscated and were forced to emigrate; which opened up new jobs for unscrupulous Aryans taking their places.
All this meant that ordinary people had money in their pocket from wages, but there was little in the shops for them to spend it on. For several years they invested it instead in government bonds, which is how the Nazi government was able to borrow so much money in 1933-38. However, by late 1938 the bond issues were bringing in less and less money as people‘s savings were already fully committed, and many of the loans were coming due; which is why Germany was hovering on the edge of bankruptcy by 1939 unless it could plunder the wealth from its conquests.
To outsiders, who saw only the full employment, the booming munitions factories, and the budget figures which cunningly concealed exactly how much debt the government was running up, German economic policy in 1933-39 ;looked like a great success. But it was a pretty mask covering a rotting body.
@@HooDatDonDar Yes, people forget the Nuremberg laws which disenfranchised the Jews allowed a huge amount of Germans to become suddenly employed, it was good for those finally getting back in the workforce so the big opposition to those moves didn't come from the people who couldn't put food on their tables just one week prior.
Another Home Run!!!! Fantastic! Can always count on a Mark Felton production to be extremely interesting & relevant!
Thank you for your painstaking work.
It is amazing how Mark picks topics that I'm not only interested in currently but are things that I've often wondered about years and years ago but few people seem to take the time to create content to cover them. This is fascinating, and I was drawn by the fact that the SS/ Germans cared enough to destroy it towards the end of the war. Reminded me of the fact that they also took time and all the chaos to remove hindenburg's remains before they blew up tannennberg, I've always wondered why they didn't do something similar to the famous heroes Von Blücher and von Moltke's remains, and just let the Russians run over, ruin and scatter the remains of these German heroes. Mark if you're there I don't often request videos, but I think something on Moltke (elder) and Blucher's final resting places being left to be desecrated would be an interesting video as well, and I'm just left wondering why the Germans missed evacuating those remains while they apparently can take the time to destroy the real carriage or move Hindenburg and his wife.
A cool and creative way to sign the armistice. Love it
I hate to admit it, but that stunt with the train was kind of brilliant, in a move against the French. Really interesting piece of history.
Another great video! Many thanks!
Fantastic story, thank you!
It always put a smile on my face, but i also hope that the new friendship between germany and france will stay for a long time!
Yes let's hope finally this friendship remains. Big challenges coming soon for the Euro and the energy shortage in the EU.
What is there to smile about? In the end the french flag was on the Siegessäule
@@tictac2therevenge291 yes indeed, but this moment was one of the greatest revenges ever in my opinion!
@@tictac2therevenge291 Polish troops fighting alongside the Red Army hoisted their flag on top the Siegessäule on May 2, 1945 after winning the battle of Berlin, two months before the Allies arrived in Berlin, after which the French put their flag on a monument they didn't secure, of course with the permission of the big boys. In 1946 the French petitioned the US and Britain for permission to destroy the monument but were denied! The only flags that deserved to be there belonged to those who won the Battle of Berlin.
@@gabrielbaynunn2418 Point being?
I love Fridays but they are even better with a dose of WW2!
2:29 American newspaperman lied, Hitler was happy, jovial, victorious and proud.
Until he wasn't. 😂
Mark. Thanks for providing my Friday Night entertainment!
Thank you sir for sharing all these details.
Great , spectacular moment for Germany
And it didn't last long.
@@PurpleCat9794 Not because of France that’s for sure.
@@PurpleCat9794 If youre british or french you dont even deserve to say anything.
S0viets and Muricans saved your asses 2 times.
@@ivanskirchak4935 Everyone played their part, and you'd know that if you had any knowledge on the subject.
@@SirAntoniousBlock Exactly. The French resistance consistently attacked the SS panzer divisions headed to Normandy from the south of France. These divisions were set to blast away the Allies' toehold on the beaches. But thanks to the resistance's relentless attacks on the way there, they arrived decimated and two weeks late. I'd say the French resistance really redeemed France with this campaign.
Its never a good idea to humiliate the vanquished. Grace and generosity in victory is the only path to peace.
There's no respect to pay an invader who failed.
Not really... the probable most correct course of action to prevent WW2 was to break Germany into multiple pieces like they did to Austria Hungary... Hitler thus could've risen to power in Bavaria, Prussia, Hannover or whatever names those states took... but he'd have a long hill to climb in first reuniting those former states which would all have their own governments and political issues.
The "vanquished" were invaders.
@@MrShobar how is that relevant?
We spend a lifetime studying this period in history. Difficult at times to remember that it all took place - from rise to fall - in just 12 years.
Such a short period of time was packed with epic events of biblical proportions beyond anybody's imagination.
It was one hell of a rollercoaster ride of history.
@@vincentyeo88 Yep. That's for sure. Blew my mind the first time I realized that after Normandy, the war would be over in 11 months.
Third Reich: 1933-45.
WWII: 1939-45. Those six years alone saw an explosion in technological and medical innovation, and historical events that will be studied for generations.
Keep 'em coming Mark!
Such great content. Thank you so much.
I low key respect just how petty and humiliating he made the French surrender. And now there’s a lasting legacy of France having a weak military that will surrender at the first opportunity.
Se tornar coma ta maire es anada en çò mieu per me chucar ?
France has the highest number of military victories in the word
@@julien3331 Not as many as Britain/England.
One humiliation for a humiliation.
Why would Hitler give a break to France do people not remember what the Treat of Versailles did to Germany and its people.
Another perfectly useful history lesson brought to us by Mark Felton.
Excellent piece of History Mark
You are a outstanding Historian of the World Wars of our past.
Thank you for all your information of facts of WW2. It is so interesting.
Keep doing what you are so good at ! 👏