That moment in 1066 when you send your army to deal with the Normans in the south but they can't invade due to a storm but some Vikings invade the north so you send your army all the way up north and defeat them only to find out the Normans are invading in the south for real now and you get shot in the eye with an arrow and die.
Actually, He could've held against both sides with the strong wind support. The biggest blunder was that they thought the Normans were retreating when they got them beat and gave chase, which in turn they got surrounded instead with Norman cavalry.
BulletBill110 It's a historical unknown, all we know was it was a powerful windforce. Could have been a Typhoon, could have been a tornado, could have been the world's most powerful fart.
tYou might be more surprised to learn that the whole thing about the Spanish Inquisition is a myth created by the English, the Dutch and the French enlighmente. "Protestant inquisitions" killed way more people than the Spanish one. Look up Malleus maleficarum.
The Mongols came over, ready for war and then died in a tornado. but they tried again, and has nice time fighting with the Japanese and then died in a tornado
I'd say number 1 was the Arab conquests, they came from nowhere out of the desert and took on and defeated the two greatest powers of the time at the same time and went on to establish a new religion and the largest Empire ever before in less than a century.
It wasnt that suprising, the Persian empire and Byzantiens were fighting for years and exhausted all their resources, and by the time the arabs invaded it was to late.
Well number 10 is not as surprising as the Spanish invasions of England, and the three times the fleets were destroyed by storms. Another surprise would be the Spanish crushing victory of Cartagena de Indias, with only 3,000 men, the Spanish managed to win against the 30,000 and 160 ships British forces, which had already sent letters saying they won and had medals of the battle, but surprisingly they had a crushing defeat
That's exactly why there's a quote from an unknown british officer: “A los españoles por mar los quiero ver, porque si los vemos por tierra, que San Jorge nos proteja.” Basically praying for the spanish to come from sea instead of land
Jai 92 I always found it peculiar how they make such a deal about defeating the Armada Invencible when the only thing they did was block some ports and have the luck that a storm caught the fleet xD
I think on #11 I would add so-called "Miracle of the House of Brandenburg", when Prussia was on the verge of collapse during Seven Years War, but got saved by emperor Peter III, who not only stopped his army right before Berlin, but even gave some of his troops to Prussians, all because he fanboyed over Frederick II too much :)
The Germans didn't advance on Dunkirk because they couldn't. Their supply lines were overstretched because the Blitzkrieg worked so well that the infantry couldn't keep up with the armour. The Germans were also afraid of encirclement by the allies following the counterattack at Arras. Hitler didn't choose not to attack, he simply couldn't.
Yeah plus he told the luftwaffe to destroy the Dunkirk evacuation sure they didn't destroy it but definitely hurt the allied effort and also the 300K troops that did escape had almost no equipment so it will take a while to actually make them available
Did the Ming Chinese have the technology to cross the Pacific (or even the Atlantic, if they went the really long way) and discover the Americas? My idea is that even if they did find the continent, they wouldn't have been interested in establishing colonies in the same way the Europeans were and history would not have changed too much.
The Siberian and Manchurian lands offered almost nothing to the Chinese. While Europeans knew every port established was one port closer to India, the Chinese would have just seen Siberia as frozen wasteland leading nowhere. I do not know much about Chinese and maritime technology in general during this time period, but I would assume it would have been impossible to cross the entire Pacific. 100 years later, Magellan barely managed to do it. If the Chinese reached the Americas, they may not have been interested in the land. After all, they discovered the Phillipines but decided against contesting local leaders there, because the isles had little to offer for them. Maybe the Chinese would have set up tribute colonies if they discovered the new world's vast silver deposits.
The Chinese sailed a fleet around SE Asia, then visited East and then West India, then the Persian Gulf, then Africa , then back to China. They clearly had the ships, organization, technology and ability to go and discover/settle Pacific North America. Like you said, they just were not interested.
That doesn't say much on their open-sea capabilities. From what I've read, the large treasure ships of Zheng He would sink on the open ocean. You also can't be interested in something you don't know about.
What did we learn from this? If you want to make sure that Napoleon doesn't come back you have to banish him to an Island that's REALLY REALLY REALLY far away
I remember the day I fell in love with history. I was laughing my ass off while learning about Napoleon. It was fucking insane to me. I loved every minute of it.
Persia: Wow I can't believe we got beat by some not very irrelevant island nations twice Mongols: Hold my beer Mongols: Wow I can't believe our mighty massive empire got knocked out by a storm trying to invade a not really irrelevant island nation twice. This was crazy coincidence Spain: Hold my beer
I don't know if it is such a surprise. A ton of french generals became king/prince/president/emperor of something during the revolutionnary and napoleonic wars. The real success of Bernadotte was keeping his throne after Napoleon's defeat by joining the coalition.
I am not aware of any other of Napoleon´s marschals becoming a king, he usually granted them some small principality or duchy, but nothing major, he reserved the big titles for members of his family. Actually the only other general who became king was Murat, whom Napoleon made king of Naples, but that was only because he married Napoleon´s sister and was therefore part of Napoleon´s family. Bernadotte´s story is unique, he wasnt made king by Napoleon, he was elected by the swedish parliament itself, as Sweden happened to be in the midst of a succesion crisis right during the Napoleonic wars. Thats why he didnt lose his crown as soon as Napoleon was booted out of France. All because some swedish baron thought, for some reason, Bernadotte would be the best pick and managed to convince the swedish parliament. They could have chosen any prince or high noble. Bernadotte was a son of Parisian prosecutor, he didnt have any sort of royal or noble ancestry, let alone to Sweden. Napoleon himself thought it utterly bizare. It would have been extremelly unlike that someone like Bernadotte would have been picked for the possition of a king. Like beeign struck by a lightning while a shark is biting your leg off while winning in a lottery unlikely.
Empress Catherine died and the successor, Peter the III, was a giant fanboy of Frederick. The Russians were already victorious and were a march away from Berlin until Peter III ordered them to stop, signed a peace treaty with no reperation and change of borders from either side, and allied with Prussians in their fight against Austria and France, Russia's former allies.
What no expects is the massive genocide of natives in Australia and in North America (unlike in South America). Also no expects the famines created by the English in India or Ireland that killed millions of people. But whatever, you Anglos will keep talking about Spanish inquisition and nazis.
I'd throw in the Russo-Japanese War as an honorable mention; literally no western country had money on Japan in that one, and they gave the Russian Empire the "business."
Louis Colville when we look at the state of both forces, it was not really a surprise. The Russians were a dishevelled, low funded lot with no morale and outdated weapons. The Japanese had well trained and motivated troops as well as European weaponry of the time.
You should have honorable mentions as well. My personal favorite surprise moment in history was Oda Nobunaga´s victory at the battle of Okehazama in 1560, against Imagawa Yoshimoto, when his forces defeated an army which was about ten times as large as his army. After that battle he also gained a valuable ally, Matsudaira Motoyasu, later Tokugawa Ieyasu, the founder of the Tokugawa Shogunate some 40 years later.
Number 10 is really only surprising if you don't look into it that much, or don't know that much about the region. To say that the Mongols were not very good at seamanship is a gigantic understatement. On both occasions, the Mongols attempted to invade Japan by crossing the Sea of Japan during the typhoon season, with the second invasion occurring at the very height of typhoon activity. And then you have the fleet of the second invasion, which was launched with such haste that the Mongols used boats worthy only for river travel, again at the height of typhoon season. If anything, it's something of a miracle that they made it there at all, never mind got utterly wrecked when the inevitable finally occurred. I think one quote (that I am probably at least partially paraphrasing) best sums it up: "the army that conquered half the world on horseback suddenly decided it could launch an amphibious invasion". In my humble opinion, the end of the Mongol invasion of Europe was even more of a surprise, when the young and fit Genghis Khan dropped dead of a heart attack on the very doorstep of Western Europe. And then there's The Miracle(s) of the House of Brandenburg, where blind luck happened to save Fredrick II's Prussia not once, but _twice, in the same war_ when armies arrayed against him were literally right about to conquer his nation. That said, this was a good video and I enjoyed watching it.
Honorable mentions (ignoring unexpected military victories because there are so many of them): - Ancient Greeks getting surpassed by Rome despite all their famous Greek intellectuals and early power - Christianity taking over the Roman Empire despite the initial attempts to stop it - Europe not defending the Byzantines from the advancing Ottomans despite fighting the Crusades before - Spain not becoming the leading power of the world despite a long head start and huge size, especially in North America - The Soviet Union dissolving without a huge fight to keep itself together
Nope it was because he was outnumbered 2.5 to 1. The Romans had 100k troops at their disposal and could call upon more as they wished. You have to also remember that Hannibal wasn't a king, he was a general. Carthage was controlled by the rich aristocrats that prioritized trade and wealth even in the heat of war. He wasn't given any reinforcements, money, or assistance by the fatasses of Carthage Abd so he could only get this by looting the countryside. Going into the Roman heartland and attacking Rome would leave him vulnerable on all sides and the siege would take too long. His only choice was to defeat the romans in decisive battle, which he did over and over again, but he was called back to Carthage to defend the city.
That is no surprise. Hannibal needed siege weapons to seriously attack Rome , and he never got them. Plus his Gallic allies never really proved reliable as they were really there for the money. Hannibal always needed to stick his neck out to please his Gallic and Spanish allies. Although Hannibal defeated Rome 3 times it never occurred to Rome that he would actually win overall, since they had much more men and Hannibal was essentially on their turf. The Romans also had support in Carthage's government, which was half for and half against Hannibal.
His plan after crossing the alps was to get Rome's allies to turn on Rome and join Hannibal's army. This didn't work, Hannibal did not have the men or equipment necessary for siege. Hannibal's only logical options were retreat or a harrasment campaign where he could hope to distract the Romans enough to hamper their invasion of Carthaginian territory.
I think one of the biggest suprise in the history of Europe at least was when king of Poland Stanisław August Poniatowski after polish parliament adopted the constitution in 1791, joined the Targowica confederation which was against the constitution. In the result the constitution was reversed and the 2nd Partiotion of Poland occured.
The Confederates did not advance on Washington because they were also disorganized and exhausted with heavy casualties (for that time period). The Union army fled the field, but First Bull Run was only a tactical victory not strategic. The American Civil War is a long story about how neither side was able to secure any really decisive victories through individual battles.
You don't get it probably, beacuse this battle is greatly underrated. If Poland were to lose, the communism would be spreaded all over center europe and the way for it to go west would be open. Communist movement was already very popular back then all over europe and if they had a way to spread their propaganda even more, it may could lead towerds similar revolution in western europe. I'm not saying this battle saved europe from the soviets but rather from communism. That said, I understand that it is all speculation beacuse something like that never happened. Cheers!
felo7474 Speculation is always fun. In my opinion, the fall of Poland would eventually lead to the opposite of sceniario. With communists in the very heart of Europe, the red menace would have been viewed as a much greater threat, and so the reactions of the various great powers would have been much more serious as well. On the other hand in reality, the Soviets were halted and eventually pushed back by some secondary power, who just achieved independence. Doesn't seem so fearsome. (At the time)
The only reason why the Soviet invaded Poland was to reach the Communist uprising in Germany and help them. If Poland fell then Germany, Hungary, Austria, etc is almost guarantee to face a Red Army invasion
I would say a few more. 1) The Mongol Empire. I think this is more impressive than Alexander the Great. Phillip II had already set up the Macedonian Kingdom for Alexander to go to war with. So Alexander started with professional troops at his command. Temuljin started with nothing. He was the son of a low ranking noble, who died leaving him to be raised by a single mom and his siblings. They were then abandoned by their tribe to be left for dead. He went from that, to becoming a leader in other tribes, to defeating his opposition, outnumbered and led by his most trusted friends who betrayed him (Jamukha), then once he united them, he went after the tribes which had ruled over them and treated them like vassals i.e. the Tatars. After he did that, he went after the people who treated them like tributaries, Jin Dynasty China, and rapidly defeated them. Meanwhile, he also went westward, conquering the Kara-Khitai after they were taken over by one of the nobles who fled Genghis Khans wrath (they invited him, and he then usurped the throne and took over, a real asshole). Then the Khwarezmian empire insulted him, they felt like they could easily take on some steppe warlord, and he defeated them as well, expanding the Mongol Empire to the borders of Persia (people say he conquered Persia, but he really conquered the homeland of the conquerors of Persia i.e. Khwarezm, his successors would take Persia proper). Ending his life by taking out a Western Chinese state. Everything after is even more impressive, because after Alexander the Great died his empire fell apart, Genghis Khans fell apart more than 100 years after his death. Sure that's not great, it's not the Roman Empire, but it's better than the Soviet Union. It's even more impressive when you consider that the Mongols weren't the first nomadic steppe empire to try what they did, but they were the most successful. 2) The Roman Empire. Maybe this one is a bit different, but this wasn't some kingdom like Alexander which just decided to conquer everyone. They made enemies, conquered, then integrated them. They didn't have some grand design for conquest, they just gradually kept growing until they had an expansive empire. Pretty impressive for a state that was built by criminals and outcasts, and had to kidnap the women of a nearby tribe just to reproduce. 3) The Fall of the USSR and the Communist bloc. This one still baffles Communists to this day, since they resort to conspiracies as to why it actually fell (they blame America). But just 5 years earlier, it seemed as strong as ever. Then they voluntarily withdraw their forces from Eastern Europe, letting the Eastern bloc fall to protests. Then they themselves fall. It all happened way too quickly.
Looks like no one was surprised by a Galilean rabbi rising from the dead. Must have been the kind of thing that happened all the time back then, I guess.
frontal fun "Daddy, what does covfefe mean?" "Well, its the presidents word of ages past...now, can you get off youtube the bandwith is stuck in 8g..."
Considering the fact those soldiers were Napoleon's men not that long ago, and you said it yourself the French hated the Bourbons with a passion, is it really that mysterious why the armies defected?
Le Comte de Mirabeau the battle was a toss-up before the Prussians arrived, with Wellington having defeated Napoleon’s previously undefeated Imperial Guard.
The storms that stopped the Mongel invasions were called the kamikaze which translates to “God wind”. Also the Chinese didn’t just stop exploring the world. They destroyed the ships too.
Late to the party but I would argue against Dunkirk as a number of reasonable explanations have been offered. I would argue for Pearl Harbor as literally everyone was surprised by it. Also Constantine's conversion after the battle of Milvian Bridge was pretty surprising and probably the single most important event in modern Western history (IMO).
Great video but I have 2 tips for you: 1. The volume of the video was very low, I had to turn up all the way my headset to hear it properly. 2. Put some titles, fancy background and decoration on the screen because these pictures/paintings are cool but this looks very "low budget"-windows paint style. Just a tip to get the channel fresh and even more interesting. :)
One time I was at the store and my mom was like do you need any of your breakfast bars (things I ate before school) I said no, I have plenty at home. We return home and no breakfast bars... Biggest surprise in history
Yeah, Napoleon's return to power was so unexpected that Britain, France and Austria, prior to his escape from Elba, were working behind the scenes to create an anti-Russian coalition, fearing that emperor Alexander I might want to use his newfound power and leverage to become the most powerful man in Europe. Then, suddenly, Napoleon came in, unifying the would-be-enemies again him.
Neither of those are historically surprises. Teutoborg was an ambush and a well planned surprise but not HISTORICALLY a surprise- Arminius was certainly supposed to win.
Hey, EmperorTigerstar, can you please do the ambitions of the Axis video just like you did to the Central Powers? And please detail the Lebensraum if you do.
JohnnyElRed napoleon had beaten russia but they flew like pussies The wehrmacht had also beaten russia but the flew like pussies and if russia didnt had 3637262766363 millions soldier today they would speak german in russia
JohnnyElRed You can not remember more than three wars, where the winter played a role. And secondary and not the main thing. With hundreds of other defensive and expansionary wars, which led Russia. Propaganda-Boy.
The biggest 'surprise moment' in history I read about recently was the hilariously face-palm-inducing story of the tiny spontaneous coup that somewhat unintentionally replaced the democratic Brazilian monarchy with an authoritarian republican dictatorship. The 'Empire of Brazil' was the most democratic and stable country in South America at the time and was widely regarded by the international community as an emerging great power. Pedro II, emperor of Brazil, was at the peak of his popularity and almost universally loved by his people. So popular was the monarchy that the leader of the coup, who was himself a monarchist, expected to be immediately arrested and imprisoned. Most of the participants, including its leader in the initial stages, thought they were merely forcing a change of the cabinet. Instead the emperor, who had grown weary of his position after 58 years on the throne and didn't want his daughter to succeed him, refused to give the order to put down the coup and let them proclaim a republic so he could retire to Europe. Other than a few hard-line republicans, plantation owners who were angered by the recent abolition of slavery and, paradoxically, the emperor himself, nobody (including most of the coup's participants) had any real desire to abolish the monarchy.
The number one event with Napoleon is like that game of Risk where you go on this really long turn where you totally suck and lose a ton of troops and then you realize that you have a crap ton of cards so you redeem them and go on a crazy streak but lose again.
The Fall of Constantinople wasn't really much of a suprise. The Roman Empire had been on it's deathbed for around a century prior to that and had already been sieged twice by the Ottomans before 1453. The 4th Crusade was probably a bigger suprise, suprised that wasn't on the list.
2:45 i wouldnt call the German Army in 1940 a modern and fully equipped army. Some of the french equitment was arguably better than the germans. Also, a lot of their divisions were lacking in motorized transport and relied heavily (more than france and Britain) on horse drawn vehicles.
Where's the genocide of Tasmania? Where's the genocide in North America? Where are the famines created by the English in India that killed millions of people? That's more surprising.
Great video, but I have a few things to talk about. 1. Napoleon invaded Spain because the old king was going to abdicate, and the new one was heavily anti-French, as well as that anti-French sentiment was rising. 2. Hitler stopped Dunkirk because the Panzer Divisions were out of fuel, and exhausted, so yeah. 3. China stopped exploring all of a sudden because the king who encouraged had died, and everyone else was heavily isolationist.
I finally got around to making the video you voted for. Enjoy!
EmperorTigerstar 103th xD
:)
I AM THE 251th VIEWER !!
Definitely human shoulders.
6:10 And since they were fairly nearby, they could have found Australia many (not sure on exact number) years before the Brits did.
That moment in 1066 when you send your army to deal with the Normans in the south but they can't invade due to a storm but some Vikings invade the north so you send your army all the way up north and defeat them only to find out the Normans are invading in the south for real now and you get shot in the eye with an arrow and die.
Tobot Robot not a surprise.
Actually, He could've held against both sides with the strong wind support. The biggest blunder was that they thought the Normans were retreating when they got them beat and gave chase, which in turn they got surrounded instead with Norman cavalry.
Relateable.
Me: "Tornados never strike twice"
Mongols: "Hold my beer"
Faith Rox actually it was a typhoon
BulletBill110 It's a historical unknown, all we know was it was a powerful windforce. Could have been a Typhoon, could have been a tornado, could have been the world's most powerful fart.
+Faith Rox Typhoon is literally the chinese for "Strong Wind" a tornado that large wouldn't make sense either
@@FaithRox A tornado couldn't possibly have destroyed a fleet like that. And also they aren't that common in that area.
You should have put mongols insted of me and nature instead of mongols
As he talks about bloody wars and battles he just keeps that same smile...
Steve Because he is a cat
source: I have cats
if you read the 1st 6 warrior books you'd find it fitting
Steve
I am you're 💯 like
your welcome
Lol
Number 1: The Spanish Inquisition!
tYou might be more surprised to learn that the whole thing about the Spanish Inquisition is a myth created by the English, the Dutch and the French enlighmente. "Protestant inquisitions" killed way more people than the Spanish one. Look up Malleus maleficarum.
Jai 92 I Think he was refering to Monty Python
Jai 92 is referring to the documentary, I believe, which refers to the Monty Python episode a lot.
I DIDN'T EXPECT THAT!
Jai 92 Malaka it was a joke, as Stappart said.
Number 1# the Australians lost the emu war
Why is that a surprise. Australians are weak
Who'da thunk it?
Considering that they only took 10,000 bullets to deal with more than 20,000 emus it's not so supprizing they lost
that's not really surprising since they only had 2 men fighting in that war against thousands of emus that can withstand a lot of bullets
You do not wage a war against a noun
The Mongols came over, ready for war and then died in a tornado. but they tried again, and has nice time fighting with the Japanese and then died in a tornado
actually a Typhoon
actually a storm
vesteel lol history of japan
pk1225 what ?!?!?!?!?!
pk1225 stop
But they died in a tornado.
the sun is a deadly lazer
china is back together again
Elijah TheKing China is whole again... then it broke again.
4:46, Number 4
There goes the Bronze Age Collapse.
*Now the Phoenicians can get down to buisness!*
The Phoenicians make colonies. The Greeks copy their idea and make olonies. The Phoenicians make a colony so big it makes colonies.
I'd say number 1 was the Arab conquests, they came from nowhere out of the desert and took on and defeated the two greatest powers of the time at the same time and went on to establish a new religion and the largest Empire ever before in less than a century.
Croí Saor true
lap ja cReaTe MilLLions oF bRAInwasHEd TeRRorisT aS WElL
@lap ja, nah russia and usa did
+Blackwolfgoogol (Abdul54cp) If only things were so simple
It wasnt that suprising, the Persian empire and Byzantiens were fighting for years and exhausted all their resources, and by the time the arabs invaded it was to late.
channeling watchmojo with that title
foranyen what do you mean ?
foranyen XDDD LOLOL🇹🇷
*ecks dee*
Was he supposed to name everything listed?
another surprise : italy failing to conquer Greece in 1940 and getting their butts kicked.
Saillok Looking at their North African campaign and failure of defeating a small and weak British force in Egypt, its not really a suprise
Its Italy what did you expect.
Saillok Thats not a soyeuse since Italy and being good at war doesn't go yogheter
Emperor Palpatine they couldn’t take Ethiopia so I see why they would have a hard time with Greece
They failed due to awful leadership, mussolini was a dumbass, and so was the italian generals
Well number 10 is not as surprising as the Spanish invasions of England, and the three times the fleets were destroyed by storms. Another surprise would be the Spanish crushing victory of Cartagena de Indias, with only 3,000 men, the Spanish managed to win against the 30,000 and 160 ships British forces, which had already sent letters saying they won and had medals of the battle, but surprisingly they had a crushing defeat
Jai 92 True
Jai 92 wtf haha
That's exactly why there's a quote from an unknown british officer: “A los españoles por mar los quiero ver, porque si los vemos por tierra, que San Jorge nos proteja.”
Basically praying for the spanish to come from sea instead of land
Now the Spanish speakers are invading the English speakers on n.a now¡
Jai 92 I always found it peculiar how they make such a deal about defeating the Armada Invencible when the only thing they did was block some ports and have the luck that a storm caught the fleet xD
I think on #11 I would add so-called "Miracle of the House of Brandenburg", when Prussia was on the verge of collapse during Seven Years War, but got saved by emperor Peter III, who not only stopped his army right before Berlin, but even gave some of his troops to Prussians, all because he fanboyed over Frederick II too much :)
The Germans didn't advance on Dunkirk because they couldn't. Their supply lines were overstretched because the Blitzkrieg worked so well that the infantry couldn't keep up with the armour. The Germans were also afraid of encirclement by the allies following the counterattack at Arras. Hitler didn't choose not to attack, he simply couldn't.
Yeah plus he told the luftwaffe to destroy the Dunkirk evacuation sure they didn't destroy it but definitely hurt the allied effort and also the 300K troops that did escape had almost no equipment so it will take a while to actually make them available
Did the Ming Chinese have the technology to cross the Pacific (or even the Atlantic, if they went the really long way) and discover the Americas? My idea is that even if they did find the continent, they wouldn't have been interested in establishing colonies in the same way the Europeans were and history would not have changed too much.
In theory they could have just gone along the Russian Coast and crossed the Bering Strait with ease.
The Siberian and Manchurian lands offered almost nothing to the Chinese. While Europeans knew every port established was one port closer to India, the Chinese would have just seen Siberia as frozen wasteland leading nowhere.
I do not know much about Chinese and maritime technology in general during this time period, but I would assume it would have been impossible to cross the entire Pacific. 100 years later, Magellan barely managed to do it.
If the Chinese reached the Americas, they may not have been interested in the land. After all, they discovered the Phillipines but decided against contesting local leaders there, because the isles had little to offer for them. Maybe the Chinese would have set up tribute colonies if they discovered the new world's vast silver deposits.
The Chinese sailed a fleet around SE Asia, then visited East and then West India, then the Persian Gulf, then Africa , then back to China.
They clearly had the ships, organization, technology and ability to go and discover/settle Pacific North America.
Like you said, they just were not interested.
That doesn't say much on their open-sea capabilities. From what I've read, the large treasure ships of Zheng He would sink on the open ocean. You also can't be interested in something you don't know about.
I agree that if there were no kingdoms to give the Ming tribute, or at least establish trade, they were likely to ignore the Americas
What did we learn from this?
If you want to make sure that Napoleon doesn't come back you have to banish him to an Island that's REALLY REALLY REALLY far away
I remember the day I fell in love with history. I was laughing my ass off while learning about Napoleon. It was fucking insane to me. I loved every minute of it.
Best subject ever!
7:25
He was sent to an island.
But he came back!
Then he was sent to another island.
The kaiser isn't happy with you.
Ja so does my emperor
German Empire Hey, you bring back memories
rip
Austria Hungary Oh this is awkward.
German Empire You fuckers are the reason why im dead...
Persia: Wow I can't believe we got beat by some not very irrelevant island nations twice
Mongols: Hold my beer
Mongols: Wow I can't believe our mighty massive empire got knocked out by a storm trying to invade a not really irrelevant island nation twice. This was crazy coincidence
Spain: Hold my beer
Greece isn't an island nation though.
Nor is it irrelevant.
Well, it wasn't at the time...
Jean Baptiste Bernadotte becoming the king of Sweden
I don't know if it is such a surprise. A ton of french generals became king/prince/president/emperor of something during the revolutionnary and napoleonic wars. The real success of Bernadotte was keeping his throne after Napoleon's defeat by joining the coalition.
I am not aware of any other of Napoleon´s marschals becoming a king, he usually granted them some small principality or duchy, but nothing major, he reserved the big titles for members of his family. Actually the only other general who became king was Murat, whom Napoleon made king of Naples, but that was only because he married Napoleon´s sister and was therefore part of Napoleon´s family. Bernadotte´s story is unique, he wasnt made king by Napoleon, he was elected by the swedish parliament itself, as Sweden happened to be in the midst of a succesion crisis right during the Napoleonic wars. Thats why he didnt lose his crown as soon as Napoleon was booted out of France. All because some swedish baron thought, for some reason, Bernadotte would be the best pick and managed to convince the swedish parliament. They could have chosen any prince or high noble. Bernadotte was a son of Parisian prosecutor, he didnt have any sort of royal or noble ancestry, let alone to Sweden. Napoleon himself thought it utterly bizare. It would have been extremelly unlike that someone like Bernadotte would have been picked for the possition of a king. Like beeign struck by a lightning while a shark is biting your leg off while winning in a lottery unlikely.
You are right. Anyway, it is a major event in Swedenhistory, but not in the world history
Frederick the Great Literally who
Donald Trump Becoming President :V
World history is always an interesting topic, mainly because of all of the details that continue to be found to this day.
Who would win?:
1.The biggest empire in the world with thousands of men ready to die for the glory of their homeland
2.One macedonian boi
And that Macedonian's large army. It wasn't like he literally marched through and crushed the Persian completely alone
Weird that the Miracle of the House of Brandenburg didn't make it to the list.
Empress Catherine died and the successor, Peter the III, was a giant fanboy of Frederick. The Russians were already victorious and were a march away from Berlin until Peter III ordered them to stop, signed a peace treaty with no reperation and change of borders from either side, and allied with Prussians in their fight against Austria and France, Russia's former allies.
That definitely belongs on the list.
0:30 The mongols came over for war, and died in a tornado.
Gavin Luhezz Actually a thyphon*
They tried again and they had a nice time fighting the Japanese before dieing in a tornado
wowee my pfp
the English victory on the Spanish Armada in the 1580s and the victory in the battle of Trafalgar in 1803 were great surprises too
Pipsy Trafalgar was no surprise as Nelson controlled the battle from the beginning.
no one expects the Spanish Inquisition
What no expects is the massive genocide of natives in Australia and in North America (unlike in South America). Also no expects the famines created by the English in India or Ireland that killed millions of people. But whatever, you Anglos will keep talking about Spanish inquisition and nazis.
+Jai 92 uhhhhhhh...okay?...you know it was a joke right? it was a reference to a Monty Python skit
Jai 92
We are the exception
Napoleon is a badass.
"They vanished him to an Island"
"BUT HE CAME BACK!!!"
"Luckily they vanished him to another Island."
Napoleon is a deadly LAZER
Alexander conquering Persia would be like the President of Nicaragua conquering the United States in 2017.
Top #11 suprise: How come Ottoman Empire failed to conquer Vienna twice?
At the first time they didn't really try to
I love history, cartography, geography, tigers and CZcams video formats. Time to subscribe!
I'd throw in the Russo-Japanese War as an honorable mention; literally no western country had money on Japan in that one, and they gave the Russian Empire the "business."
Louis Colville when we look at the state of both forces, it was not really a surprise. The Russians were a dishevelled, low funded lot with no morale and outdated weapons. The Japanese had well trained and motivated troops as well as European weaponry of the time.
If I had a dollar every time he said "second time around"
Top 10 anime betrayals
10. Hitler invades Russia.
9. Japan attacks US.
8. America declares Independence.
7. America annxes Texan Republic.
6. Germany attacks US ship.
5. Ottomans sack Constantinople.
4. Greeks take annatolia.
3. Napolian takes Spain.
2. China fights USSR.
1. 9/11
0. Italy declares war on the Central Powers
-1. The new CZcams algorithm
-2. eNglAnD iS mY cItY
I swear I was thinking of that storm for Japan. I'm so glad it made it on your list
I'm surprised that the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact isn't on here.
You should have honorable mentions as well.
My personal favorite surprise moment in history was Oda Nobunaga´s victory at the battle of Okehazama in 1560, against Imagawa Yoshimoto, when his forces defeated an army which was about ten times as large as his army. After that battle he also gained a valuable ally, Matsudaira Motoyasu, later Tokugawa Ieyasu, the founder of the Tokugawa Shogunate some 40 years later.
Number 10 is really only surprising if you don't look into it that much, or don't know that much about the region. To say that the Mongols were not very good at seamanship is a gigantic understatement. On both occasions, the Mongols attempted to invade Japan by crossing the Sea of Japan during the typhoon season, with the second invasion occurring at the very height of typhoon activity. And then you have the fleet of the second invasion, which was launched with such haste that the Mongols used boats worthy only for river travel, again at the height of typhoon season. If anything, it's something of a miracle that they made it there at all, never mind got utterly wrecked when the inevitable finally occurred. I think one quote (that I am probably at least partially paraphrasing) best sums it up: "the army that conquered half the world on horseback suddenly decided it could launch an amphibious invasion".
In my humble opinion, the end of the Mongol invasion of Europe was even more of a surprise, when the young and fit Genghis Khan dropped dead of a heart attack on the very doorstep of Western Europe. And then there's The Miracle(s) of the House of Brandenburg, where blind luck happened to save Fredrick II's Prussia not once, but _twice, in the same war_ when armies arrayed against him were literally right about to conquer his nation. That said, this was a good video and I enjoyed watching it.
Honorable mentions (ignoring unexpected military victories because there are so many of them):
- Ancient Greeks getting surpassed by Rome despite all their famous Greek intellectuals and early power
- Christianity taking over the Roman Empire despite the initial attempts to stop it
- Europe not defending the Byzantines from the advancing Ottomans despite fighting the Crusades before
- Spain not becoming the leading power of the world despite a long head start and huge size, especially in North America
- The Soviet Union dissolving without a huge fight to keep itself together
What about Hannibal for some reason not attacking Rome but instead just ravaging the countryside?
Why would that be a surprise?
Willem Blom He lost his siege equipment in the Alps.
Nope it was because he was outnumbered 2.5 to 1. The Romans had 100k troops at their disposal and could call upon more as they wished. You have to also remember that Hannibal wasn't a king, he was a general. Carthage was controlled by the rich aristocrats that prioritized trade and wealth even in the heat of war. He wasn't given any reinforcements, money, or assistance by the fatasses of Carthage Abd so he could only get this by looting the countryside. Going into the Roman heartland and attacking Rome would leave him vulnerable on all sides and the siege would take too long. His only choice was to defeat the romans in decisive battle, which he did over and over again, but he was called back to Carthage to defend the city.
That is no surprise. Hannibal needed siege weapons to seriously attack Rome , and he never got them. Plus his Gallic allies never really proved reliable as they were really there for the money. Hannibal always needed to stick his neck out to please his Gallic and Spanish allies.
Although Hannibal defeated Rome 3 times it never occurred to Rome that he would actually win overall, since they had much more men and Hannibal was essentially on their turf. The Romans also had support in Carthage's government, which was half for and half against Hannibal.
His plan after crossing the alps was to get Rome's allies to turn on Rome and join Hannibal's army. This didn't work, Hannibal did not have the men or equipment necessary for siege. Hannibal's only logical options were retreat or a harrasment campaign where he could hope to distract the Romans enough to hamper their invasion of Carthaginian territory.
God damn Japan with their plot armour
I like these kinds of videos. keep up the good work
Great vid! Love how informative and entertaining it is, along with your others! New subscriber, and I'm glad I did ^^
this video is my biggest surprise
I think one of the biggest suprise in the history of Europe at least was when king of Poland Stanisław August Poniatowski after polish parliament adopted the constitution in 1791, joined the Targowica confederation which was against the constitution. In the result the constitution was reversed and the 2nd Partiotion of Poland occured.
I need part two of this
I found you from alternative history hub , and I'm glad I did.
The Confederates did not advance on Washington because they were also disorganized and exhausted with heavy casualties (for that time period). The Union army fled the field, but First Bull Run was only a tactical victory not strategic. The American Civil War is a long story about how neither side was able to secure any really decisive victories through individual battles.
i would add the Battle of Warsaw from 1920, when Poland defeated the Soviets literaly saving Europe form comunism.
felo7474 The Poles only defended themselves, not Europe.
You don't get it probably, beacuse this battle is greatly underrated. If Poland were to lose, the communism would be spreaded all over center europe and the way for it to go west would be open. Communist movement was already very popular back then all over europe and if they had a way to spread their propaganda even more, it may could lead towerds similar revolution in western europe. I'm not saying this battle saved europe from the soviets but rather from communism. That said, I understand that it is all speculation beacuse something like that never happened. Cheers!
felo7474 Speculation is always fun. In my opinion, the fall of Poland would eventually lead to the opposite of sceniario. With communists in the very heart of Europe, the red menace would have been viewed as a much greater threat, and so the reactions of the various great powers would have been much more serious as well.
On the other hand in reality, the Soviets were halted and eventually pushed back by some secondary power, who just achieved independence. Doesn't seem so fearsome. (At the time)
PotatoMasher1234 The problem is that while that man's house was temporarily saved from the fire, while the forest in the neighborhood still burned.
The only reason why the Soviet invaded Poland was to reach the Communist uprising in Germany and help them. If Poland fell then Germany, Hungary, Austria, etc is almost guarantee to face a Red Army invasion
Nice video, Napoleon sure is a sneaky bastard
I would say a few more.
1) The Mongol Empire. I think this is more impressive than Alexander the Great. Phillip II had already set up the Macedonian Kingdom for Alexander to go to war with. So Alexander started with professional troops at his command. Temuljin started with nothing. He was the son of a low ranking noble, who died leaving him to be raised by a single mom and his siblings. They were then abandoned by their tribe to be left for dead. He went from that, to becoming a leader in other tribes, to defeating his opposition, outnumbered and led by his most trusted friends who betrayed him (Jamukha), then once he united them, he went after the tribes which had ruled over them and treated them like vassals i.e. the Tatars. After he did that, he went after the people who treated them like tributaries, Jin Dynasty China, and rapidly defeated them. Meanwhile, he also went westward, conquering the Kara-Khitai after they were taken over by one of the nobles who fled Genghis Khans wrath (they invited him, and he then usurped the throne and took over, a real asshole). Then the Khwarezmian empire insulted him, they felt like they could easily take on some steppe warlord, and he defeated them as well, expanding the Mongol Empire to the borders of Persia (people say he conquered Persia, but he really conquered the homeland of the conquerors of Persia i.e. Khwarezm, his successors would take Persia proper). Ending his life by taking out a Western Chinese state.
Everything after is even more impressive, because after Alexander the Great died his empire fell apart, Genghis Khans fell apart more than 100 years after his death. Sure that's not great, it's not the Roman Empire, but it's better than the Soviet Union. It's even more impressive when you consider that the Mongols weren't the first nomadic steppe empire to try what they did, but they were the most successful.
2) The Roman Empire. Maybe this one is a bit different, but this wasn't some kingdom like Alexander which just decided to conquer everyone. They made enemies, conquered, then integrated them. They didn't have some grand design for conquest, they just gradually kept growing until they had an expansive empire. Pretty impressive for a state that was built by criminals and outcasts, and had to kidnap the women of a nearby tribe just to reproduce.
3) The Fall of the USSR and the Communist bloc. This one still baffles Communists to this day, since they resort to conspiracies as to why it actually fell (they blame America). But just 5 years earlier, it seemed as strong as ever. Then they voluntarily withdraw their forces from Eastern Europe, letting the Eastern bloc fall to protests. Then they themselves fall. It all happened way too quickly.
Is this first time we heard Tiger's voice? Its nice
No.
Alexander was a badass
Never thought I'd see a video titled like this in my sub box.
Hannibal crosses the Alps, Caesar marches on Rome, JFK is killed, 9/11
Top 10 saddest anime deaths
Wasn't just a storm... It was a flipping typhoon
Make a part two to this!!!
I actually enjoyed this list
Looks like no one was surprised by a Galilean rabbi rising from the dead. Must have been the kind of thing that happened all the time back then, I guess.
suprise mother..
..covfefe
frontal fun
"Daddy, what does covfefe mean?"
"Well, its the presidents word of ages past...now, can you get off youtube the bandwith is stuck in 8g..."
Lol, I like how Napoleon was able to snag TWO spots as history's top 10 biggest twists. That Napoleon guy is something else...
this may save me for the history bee I'm at :,)
Considering the fact those soldiers were Napoleon's men not that long ago, and you said it yourself the French hated the Bourbons with a passion, is it really that mysterious why the armies defected?
All those fully modern horse in the German Army.
Not once but twice, he truly is a legend...
Pompey not defeating ceasar when he had a chance definitely deserves to be on the list
Wait...... what about the Spanish Inquisition?
NOBODY EXPECTS THE SPANISH INQUISITION
Oh please do shut up! Enough of Anglos here saying the same thing! GET A BOOK
David Awakim wtf is up with the spanish inquisition??
Monty Python
It would be so funny if that one french soldier just shot Napoleon as he was talking.
Ouinn Ouinn alloed won at warteloo by pure luck so
Akrian Mapping haha that would have been hilarious indeed
England is the first french colony, 1066 Hastings no, the British led force was winning before the Prussians arrived.
@@oam6626 "Give me the night or give me Blücher".
You are false. Without the prussians, Wellington was going to retreat.
Le Comte de Mirabeau the battle was a toss-up before the Prussians arrived, with Wellington having defeated Napoleon’s previously undefeated Imperial Guard.
The storms that stopped the Mongel invasions were called the kamikaze which translates to “God wind”.
Also the Chinese didn’t just stop exploring the world. They destroyed the ships too.
As a french, i'm quite happy to see Napoleon appear 2 times in this video ^^
The mongols *died in a tornado*
you can make religion out of this
Tesser 4D no don't
They tried again. They had a nice time fighting the Japanese before dieing in a tornado
@@williamsledge3151 than the emporer overthrowed the shogun and the shogun overthrown them bag and loses Kyoto
@@AdamOnPCGaming they still let the emperor dresses like emperor if he want, that's fine
Ooh you're becoming WatchMojo now.
Late to the party but I would argue against Dunkirk as a number of reasonable explanations have been offered. I would argue for Pearl Harbor as literally everyone was surprised by it. Also Constantine's conversion after the battle of Milvian Bridge was pretty surprising and probably the single most important event in modern Western history (IMO).
almost 10 k wow you grown
also IV been watching you for awall but never commented so love your channel and finally sub
100k I mean
Great video but I have 2 tips for you:
1. The volume of the video was very low, I had to turn up all the way my headset to hear it properly.
2. Put some titles, fancy background and decoration on the screen because these pictures/paintings are cool but this looks very "low budget"-windows paint style.
Just a tip to get the channel fresh and even more interesting.
:)
Vive l'Empereur! Vive la France !
biggest future surprise, europe turning into a caliphate without any fights
It's thing's like this that make you realze just how different the modern world could be had just one thing gone differently in the past.
Hi tiger
Yahir Tapia Hello!
999 likes ? let me fix that
One time I was at the store and my mom was like do you need any of your breakfast bars (things I ate before school) I said no, I have plenty at home. We return home and no breakfast bars...
Biggest surprise in history
Yeah, Napoleon's return to power was so unexpected that Britain, France and Austria, prior to his escape from Elba, were working behind the scenes to create an anti-Russian coalition, fearing that emperor Alexander I might want to use his newfound power and leverage to become the most powerful man in Europe. Then, suddenly, Napoleon came in, unifying the would-be-enemies again him.
"Miracle of the Marne" and "Battle of the Teutoburg Forest" ?
Danilo Forgione The Marne isn't a miracle
Neither of those are historically surprises. Teutoborg was an ambush and a well planned surprise but not HISTORICALLY a surprise- Arminius was certainly supposed to win.
What's about Hannibal?
a lot of these would make great alt histories
Hey, EmperorTigerstar, can you please do the ambitions of the Axis video just like you did to the Central Powers? And please detail the Lebensraum if you do.
Winter is Russia's best general.
Storms are island nations best generals.
JohnnyElRed napoleon had beaten russia but they flew like pussies
The wehrmacht had also beaten russia but the flew like pussies and if russia didnt had 3637262766363 millions soldier today they would speak german in russia
JohnnyElRed You can not remember more than three wars, where the winter played a role. And secondary and not the main thing. With hundreds of other defensive and expansionary wars, which led Russia.
Propaganda-Boy.
Soviet Union could not invade Finland.
The biggest 'surprise moment' in history I read about recently was the hilariously face-palm-inducing story of the tiny spontaneous coup that somewhat unintentionally replaced the democratic Brazilian monarchy with an authoritarian republican dictatorship. The 'Empire of Brazil' was the most democratic and stable country in South America at the time and was widely regarded by the international community as an emerging great power. Pedro II, emperor of Brazil, was at the peak of his popularity and almost universally loved by his people. So popular was the monarchy that the leader of the coup, who was himself a monarchist, expected to be immediately arrested and imprisoned. Most of the participants, including its leader in the initial stages, thought they were merely forcing a change of the cabinet. Instead the emperor, who had grown weary of his position after 58 years on the throne and didn't want his daughter to succeed him, refused to give the order to put down the coup and let them proclaim a republic so he could retire to Europe. Other than a few hard-line republicans, plantation owners who were angered by the recent abolition of slavery and, paradoxically, the emperor himself, nobody (including most of the coup's participants) had any real desire to abolish the monarchy.
The number one event with Napoleon is like that game of Risk where you go on this really long turn where you totally suck and lose a ton of troops and then you realize that you have a crap ton of cards so you redeem them and go on a crazy streak but lose again.
NOBODY EXPECTS THE SPANISH INQUISATION!!
where is vienna or constantinople tho ?
The Fall of Constantinople wasn't really much of a suprise. The Roman Empire had been on it's deathbed for around a century prior to that and had already been sieged twice by the Ottomans before 1453. The 4th Crusade was probably a bigger suprise, suprised that wasn't on the list.
Winged hussars.
Indeed the Fall of Constantinople isn't a surprise in hindsight, but to Europeans at the time, it was a huge shock.
AND THE WINGED HUSSARS ARRIVED
Battle of Vienna wasn't really a big surprise either.
Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!
Number 1 is almost a cinematic moment.
2:45 i wouldnt call the German Army in 1940 a modern and fully equipped army. Some of the french equitment was arguably better than the germans. Also, a lot of their divisions were lacking in motorized transport and relied heavily (more than france and Britain) on horse drawn vehicles.
Where is the Spanish Inquisition?
Where's the genocide of Tasmania? Where's the genocide in North America? Where are the famines created by the English in India that killed millions of people? That's more surprising.
English =/= UK
+David Ndiulor What?
+Jai 92 I was ironic D:
Funny that literally no one got the reference.
What's most surprising about Alexanders achievment of conquering Persia, is that he did it in only 8 years.
Great video, but I have a few things to talk about.
1. Napoleon invaded Spain because the old king was going to abdicate, and the new one was heavily anti-French, as well as that anti-French sentiment was rising.
2. Hitler stopped Dunkirk because the Panzer Divisions were out of fuel, and exhausted, so yeah.
3. China stopped exploring all of a sudden because the king who encouraged had died, and everyone else was heavily isolationist.