France's Perfect Fortresses and Infallible Sieges (~1700 CE)
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- čas přidán 8. 05. 2024
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When it comes to siege warfare there’s no getting around one name. Sebastien Le Prestre de Vauban. This French military engineer changed the face of siege warfare profoundly and lastingly. He designed the most resilient fortresses ever seen up to his times and developed a nearly infallible offensive siege routine. When Vauban entered the stage of history in the middle of the 17th century, France was in a predicament. Spain and the Dutch Republic had both honed their siege skills in the Eighty Years’ War, a conflict in which most military action consisted of sieges. The French, however, had been making little progress. Their style of assault “amounted to little more than an ill-prepared storming of the work targeted for attack” , as the expert for the French army of the Grand Siècle John Lynn puts it. Soon, headlong frontal assaults, often involving unnecessary losses, were known as attack "a la française”, “the French way”. Vauban was the man to bring about change. Not only did he bring France to eye level with its adversaries, but he in fact established a routine of the siege attack that was to remain unaltered for almost two centuries. Even the manual “Military Engineering (Part II) Attack and Defence of Fortresses” which the British took to France in WW1 was still largely based on his principles. Moreover, Vauban perfected the bastion fort and equipped the French border with a line of fortresses that repeatedly proved their worth up until Napoleon’s times. Vauban was the first military engineer ever to rise through the ranks, thereby paving the way for a professional class of military engineers. Without further ado, let’s look at how Vauban changed the face of European siege warfare.
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#history #documentary #educational
Chapters:
00:00-02:54 Intro
02:54-11:00 Chapter 1: Infallible Sieges
11:00-15:32 Chapter 2: Vauban's Three Systems
15:32-19:31 Chapter 3: The Great Fortress Called France
Bibliography
Duffy, Ch., The Fortress in the Early Modern World 1494-1660, London 1979.
Lazard, P. Vauban, 1633-1707, Paris 1934.
Lynn, J., Giant of the Grand Siecle. The French Army 1610-1715, Cambridge 1997.
Oswald, J., Vauban under Siege. Engineering Efficiency and Martial Vigor in the War of the Spanish Succession, Leiden/Boston 2007.
Parent, Michel et Jacques Verroust. Vauban, Paris 1971.
Vauban, Sebastien le Prestre de, A Manual of Siegecraft and Fortification, trans. G.A. Rothrock, Ann Arbor 1968.
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🔴Well now isn't this gratifying --> been saying this guys name (along with *Menno van Coehoorn*) for the last year & a half at least🔴
keep it Sleuthin!🐾
Vauban obviously also learned from Georg Rimpler.
Can you try building the perfect bastion?
When people talk of Napoleon as Frances or the worlds greatest military mind they obviously know little to nothing!
Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban I Frances greatest military mind.
Everyone jerks off napoleon but he lost many battles unlike the French Louis-Nicolas Davout in the same period war's who was undefeated.
Louis-Nicolas Davout is the only undefeated French general beside maybe Philippe II, Duke of Orléans but his military career was not 1/2 as great for he was as much a politician in regency & court.
The 1 thing France lacked was Great admirals & captains in my opinion for on the continent till ww2 France was a military giant but outside of France militarily it was a mixed basket compared to other major colonial powers.
Britain has at least a dozen odd undefeated generals John Churchill 1 st Duke of Marlborough &
Arthur Wellesley 1 st Duke of Wellington
Sidney Smith (Royal Navy officer) was undefeated.
Napoleon Bonaparte in reminiscent of Sidney smith said I quote: "That man made me miss my destiny"!
Captain Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald. The man Napoleon called “Le Loup des Mers” (“The Sea Wolf”).
Many considered him the craziest captain in history at the time & even today.
Nelson of course never lost a fleet action so is undefeated but who doesn't know of Nelson?
Britain greatest siege engineer was inventor of the shrapnel shell prior to the Siege of Gibraltar.
Artillery officers really never get the look in they deserve.
Even if a lieutenant general Henry shrapnel to my knowledge was undefeated & improved Britain's military & naval weaponry considerably!
Britain & France are the big boys of war till Germany-Prussia formed to be a thing.
Russia had some great generals & admirals but they had far more awful ones.
I can't think of a single General from the New world worth mentioning as undefeated besides maybe 'George henry Thomas' but does a civil war & fighting a smaller forces of Mexicans et cetera really count?
Can you do a video on a blueprint for the perfect Star Fort.
You've done videos on how they were defended and how to lay siege and the most advanced sieges here.
But never how they are built. Materials shape thickness techniques.
« A city besieged by Vauban is a lost city. A city defended by Vauban is a saved one. »
Source of the quote : trust me bro
@@Raisonnance. Aurélien Fayet et Michelle Fayet, L'Histoire de France. Tout simplement !, Éditions Eyrolles, 2011, p. 145.
Its funny when you think about it. Vauban was only once besieged.
I visited several fortresses of him last year they still look good.
This quote is famous in France@@Raisonnance.
@@pialrathe trick random internet troll hate : sources
It is maybe interesting to look at his arch rival too. Menno van Coehoorn was a Dutch engineer and led the sieges of the Grand Alliance.
His strategy differed from Vauban in that he was willing to offer up more lives in order to make a siege quicker. The defensive lines he proposed in the Netherlands were also still used by NATO in the 1950s.
When Vauban met Coehoorn in the ruins of Namur after he captured it in 1692 he consoled him the fact that at least he had "the honour of being attacked by the greatest king in the world". Coehoorn replied that his real consolation was in the fact that he had forced his rival to move his siege batteries seven times during the assault.
What a villain
Didn't Coehoorn have more of a tendency to utilize the existing terrain, to Vauban's mathematical precision? I thought I'd read that somewhere.
Also, that'd be a great movie, although it'd probably never be made due to the limited audience.
Edit: It appears I may have got the two figures switched in my head.
Menno van Coehoorn is a great siege engineer.
I'd like a life summary video on him as many of his battles simply aren't translated to English & I don't speak Dutch!
Coehoorn was later employed by the nilfgaardian empire for the first and second northern wars.
@@eldorados_lost_searcher To be fair to Coehoorn, his works were based on the dutch landscape. One of his most famous works is even titled "Nieuwe vestingbouw, Op een natte of lage Horisont". Meaning New fortification building, on a wet or low horizon.
Probably the most fascinating french man of the reign of Louis XIV with d'Artagnan. Vauban wasn't only a great engineer but also a great mathematician who deeply cared for the people. He is the first one to have calculated what a military campaign costed in every matter like food, munitions, carts, replacement wheels, weapons, salaries, clothing... But also what it cost to the treasury each time a man was conscripted into the army instead of working the field or doing a job. All of this was to convince the king of the damages of senseless wars.
Also he was very saddened by the poverty of french commoners of his time and outraged at the inefficiency of french agricultural politics. He wrote papers to justify a new way to levy taxes that would be more efficient and less unjust for the people, by suppressing the unbelievable various taxes that existed since the middle age with a taxation system that would be proportional to the wealth of each household. He also considered that everybody had to pay, nobility and clergy included.
He also advises the kin to pay the peasants for their tool and a politic to expand the agricultural fields of France but once again he wasn't listened to.
He truly was an incredible man ahead of his time and if Louis XIV had followed his advice France would probably have been a better place. Sometimes I regret Vauban didn't have the destiny to be king.
Well the Sun King listened to him a lot and considered him one of his most important subordinates but Louis XIV also recognized the realities of his kingdom.
@@Emil.Fontanot True. There was a reason the king felt the need to keep France's nobles close to himself at Versailles. Taxing those people is not something they would've taken kindly.
well said
@@BountyFlamor Indeed, they wouldn't have taken it kindly. But Louis the XIVth wasn't the one to take dissent kindly either: one either had to be extra-diplomatic, have excellent points to make, or to flee.
Well, that's my impression about the Sun King's reign, at least.
He cared about people as long as they were white and straight...give me a break.
Vauban once perfected a fortress in Belgium that was vainly besieged by the best Dutch engineers. After a peace the fortress was returned to the Spaniards. In the next war Vauban besieged it and took it in a few weeks.
Namur was defended by the Dutch in 1692 under famous engineer Menno van Coehoorn with 6000 troops and besieged by Vauban with 120000, who took the fortress in about a month. After the siege Coehoorn and Vauban discussed the siege. Vauban modernized the defenses, but in 1895 the fortress was besieged by the Dutch under Coehoorn with 80000 troops and defended by 13000 French troops, it fell after a two month siege.
What did they expect lol. Vaubaun perfected it so he'd know its weaknesses
Nah bro he just hide a backdoor in the fortress so it can be hacked later
Vauban capturing fortresses he conquered giving a
medal to himself for making the very same fortresses impenetrable
Vauban is the only person in his era who could answer the question "What happens when an unstoppable object meets an immovable one".
And the answer is whichever side Vauban was on prevails
Your channel has become my favorite history channel. Your work is appreciated and the quality never ceases to amaze.
Glad you enjoy it! Thanks for the nice words!
I agree I would like to become more financially stable to be able to patreon
The animations and art style is absolutely fantastic, too. Very distinctive and memorable. This is easily one of the best history channels on here.
[11:18] That's one of my favorite quotes regarding design principles!
The version I found originally went:
""One does not fortify by systems, but buy good sense and experience."
I included it in a video game I developed back in 1984, called "Fortress"
(for the AppleII, Atari, & Commodore 64 computers).
its nice to have u as a cameo in the comments
Fun fact: Vauban's house stood more or less where Napoleon would put his cannons during the famous "whiff of grapeshot" incident. (For those interested: Rue Saint Roch in Paris. There's a Plaque to mark Vauban's house)
Actually his works stood the test of time even until 1870 : I come from a French town named Belfort (="beautiful Fort" in XVIIth century French). This city was the only fortress that could not be breached by the Prussian/ German invasion of 1870, even earned itself the nickname "Totmachine" (Machine of Death) in the German rank and file. And although yes, its defenses had been upgraded during the XIXth century, the groundworks of the citadel still were those of Vauban.
My engineering lecturer once says "to be innovating a completely new thing is a great thing. But most of the time the most effective way to innovate is to combine and organize what's already been invented and use to it's extent."
I look back at Vauban, he is indeed, effective.
Funny you say that! Europe went from wearing plated Armor to doing Pike and shot for formations. LOL Phalanx with the addition of guns.
@@williamalfonso1373
I don't see your point?
Only high ranking knights wear plated armor anyway. before 1600s armies has always rely mostly peasant spear levies. Because if it works, it works. Why would you change it for the worse?
But in the age of Vauban, pike and shot is almost obsolete, many become arquebusiers with bayonets.
It take many innovations to effectively use firearms and artillery, not just engineering new firearms but inventing how to integrate new units into existing formations until eventually, becoming line infantry. I don't see how that's not innovative at the time.
And yes, during time of pike and shot there are plated knights with guns.
@drawer_resp3858 perhaps I didn't phrase it properly. my point was that armies went back old formations of antiquity (Alexander the great) but added black powder weapons to the mix. Kinda what you said, take something that's already been invented but modify it.
When I visited Besancon in Franche Comte last year, the most impressive thing about the city are the fortresses in and around it. The citadel is like something out of a fantasy film (it has a zoo and menagerie in it now), also fort Vauban has magnificent panoramic views over the city. There are plaques to the US 3rd infantry Division that took the fortress. It was so impressive a fort even in WW2 it was difficult to assail and take.
Much less known than his fortresses, he also wrote several treatises on livestock management, on agricultural methods depending on the soil and even books dealing with financial management and taxes.
Not far from being a universal genius, Vauban.
Un homme de culture, rare son les gens au courant des autres talents et connaissance de Vauban.
_La Cochonnerie, ou le calcul estimatif pour connaître jusqu'où peut aller la production d'une truie pendant dix années de temps_
He even tells Le Roi-Soleil that even the nobles and the clerks have to pay taxes...!
Vauban is the greatest 40k character.
An honorary son of Rogal Dorn.
@@KaiHung-wv3ul more like his grand grand grand father
@@ledocteurgonzo Oh, right.
The Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch was a nice touch.
Perhaps also a Worms reference since it blows a crater?
"Pas mal non ? ! C'est français"
Star fortresses look so cool, especially perfectly shaped ones
I live not far from Neuf Brisach and highly recommend a visit there. The fortifications are still basically complete and you can freely walk around the - very small - town and see them. If you got there on a weekday outside the holiday season you even have the place all to yourself.
After seeing this video, I did a google streetview tour of the town. It does look nice,. I hope I have a chance to visit for real.
Greatest engineer in military history for me, a real genius.
Vauban's fortifications were some of the best in history without a doubt. In fact, some of them allowed the French army to stall the German and Italians during the disastrous spring of 1940. Not very well admittedly, but some places like Bergues were used to slow down and gain time and it's amazing to think that even centuries after his death, his walls would still be able to put up a fight even with technology marching on
A man with a reason and a heart: how to take or hold fortresses while puting at risk as few lives as possible.
That closing line neatly sums up exactly why this channel is so brilliant.
the level of detail and the well presented sources make your videos a pure joy to watch. thank you for all your hard work
Thank you very much!
I love the respect and care you show Vauban, even though he died 300 years ago
Are you guys ready for the "Star forts were made by Ancient Aliens/Atlantians" crowd turning up?
I believe its the Tartarian mud flooders that like to talk about star forts. They wont watch it, as it will ruin their story times.
The fucking what?
Literally Rogal Dorne
Warhammer 40k is inspired by our reality for the characters and units
@@bernardhemery8159 Especially of France and Rome as the Emperor of mankind is literally Napoleon
When the Unstoppable Force is *also* the Immovable Object.😅
I HAVE TO FORTIFY THIS POSITION
"You Must Construct Additional Pylons !! "
The OG chapter Master of the Iron Fists
Neuf-Brisach is a magnificent small town, always worth a visit.
It's such a dead town though. Any other small town in that region of france would have pubs and restaurants with nice outside seating in the town square. There is just nothing to do there except to look at the fortifications.
Really nice video and summary of Vauban's life and works! Also great to see my hometown Naarden shortly when Vauban's European counterparts are mentioned. Growing up within the walls there sparked a lifelong interested in fortresses, fortified cities and history; and I've visited and admired some of Vaubans works as well.
As someone who is a very keen student of the Baroque period in all it's facets, especially cultural and military, I love your videos. You always present things in a wonderful way, and the animations are pretty to boot!
Keep up the great work!
What a brilliant channel. Thank you and thanks to CZcams as a platform to enable such great work!
Our pleasure!
This video was especially cool for me because I just biked through Neuf-Brisach last week! I was aware it was a model fortress, but wasn’t aware of the significance beyond that. Great public drinking fountains and bakeries too!
I had heard of him but was unaware of how much he had done & how his influence had spread. Thanks for the video
I'm fascinated by this type of warfare and have heard of Vauban many times... thank you!
Oui! Finally, thank you man for making this I've waited 2 yrs for this.
Living in Solothurn (Switzerland) the city had a star fortress by Vauban. It ran around the whole city. It was torn away at the end of the 18 hundreds. But a full section was left in the north-east, the so-called Riedholzschanze (Riedholz meaning the village it is pointing at and Schanze meaning fortress) with the massive Riedholz tower and the Basel gate.
The old town of Solothurn is located on the north banks of the Aare river. On the south bank the largest fortifications were build to protect against Bern (in the south) the strongest power in the region at that times. There is also a small section still left on this south bank, the so-called Krummturmschanze, which, however, was build before Vauban.
Always top quality entertainment and information. Thanks man. Keep up the great work.
What people often seem to forget with the WW2 jokes is that France is the country with the most military victories in the world.
They don't just forget...the US waged propaganda campaigns against France to punish its refusing to join in the Iraq war in 2003. As a result Dien Bien Phu, Algeria and WWII were singled out for France to be ridiculed.
@@Hellston20a The US….def not the countries you’ve spent 1000 years fighting, but America, a young country is the one you blame? Shameless stinky French🤦🏼♂️
To be fair, a french state that self identifies as such has been around for ~1200 years, whereas the vast majority of competitors in the list of countries with most military victories have been around for a fraction of that time. Not sure how representative victory count numbers really are.
No denying the fact that france is, and largely has been historically, a major military powerhouse though. As a german I can say that while we do joke about the french a lot (hey, its tradition not bullying) we genuinely respect them.
@@abel_underwaterthe people henerally being hostile to us on the internet are mostly americans becuse of said propaganda campaigns, and i can see that you're clearly not immune to it
@@abel_underwaterYou own France for not being rosbeef, you nearly vote for the French as your country main language. And yeah go check the start of Iraq war, whith De Villepin speech who led to the "Freedom fries" and the white flag joke, how do you feel now, good to kill people for fake reasons? I'm sure you're very proud to see your country being hated by most of the world that you destabilized?
I'm someone who loves intellectualizing everything and finding out about Vauban's work into intellectualizing sieges is just amazing. I'm definitely going to look more deeply into his work. Fascinating!
This was absolutely fantastic. Well done!
Always informative and entertaining, great documentary!
Great video, as always mate. I think you are my favorite historical youtuber.
Awesome as always. This just makes me want to build terrain for a tabletop game.
I love the little hand that points to things on the map. Please use more often :).
Awesome video! Even as someone with little background knowledge in this topic, I found your explanations clear and easy to understand
This channel is a gem
There have been many siege experts throughout history(Demetrius the Besieger, Vespasian, Mehmet the Conqueror, Suleiman the Magnificent, Maurits of Orange, Ambrosio de Spinola, Marlborough, Eugene of Savoy, Peter the Great, Rochambeau, Suvorov, Ludendorff, etc.), but, in my opinion, Vauban was the greatest siege expert in world history.
Most of them were rulers who had men and rss to spare plus they hire some very good siege experts.On their own,i dont think they are to good.
Vauban was so op at sieges that he basically removed all suspense. Everyone knew that a fortress was doomed if Vauban was in charge of the attacking forces
Amazing as always!
Great video. I studied Louis XIV in history when I was in school, and Vauban was given some mention, but this was a comprehensive overview.
What a siege of a video. Congratulations and thank you very much! :)
Magnificent video, I was waiting for this topic for a long time and it was worth doing it, because the quality was splendid. Before Vauban, the art of sieges and the defenses of fortified cities were practically something handmade, it depended to a large extent on the way of conducting the war of each nation (it was all more experimental, although there were excellent great theorists, it was a matter of trial and error), its greatest exponents being the Spanish-Italians and the Dutch; but after Vauban, military engineering could be considered as a whole science, with well-established methods and rules, as well as being easily replicable, bringing together everything that had been experienced in his time and undoubtedly improving it. For me it is the high point of military and urban architecture, masterfully using geometry and creating true masterpieces of fortifications.
This was an incredible video. Thank you for teaching us all about this!
This was an exceptionally good docu
Best history channel by far!!
I love this channel so much
Awesome as always
Haha love the Worms Holy Hand Grenade reference!
🔴Well now isn't this gratifying --> been saying this guys name (along with *Menno van Coehoorn*) for the last year & a half at least🔴
keep it Sleuthin!🐾
Excellent video. Great military mind. Now I'm thrilled to find a video telling a story of Vauban method fail. There must be some siege that went wrong!
As always an incredibly good work, thank you so much.
bit sad the Vauban fortress of where i grew up wasn't talked about but considering the sheer number of such fortresses there are I cannot complain lmao
The defensive works on the Atlantic Coast to counter potential British invasions are still a very interesting subject, between Royan and La Rochelle the network of defensive works is virtually impenetrable and even the bay is full of forts built in the middle of the waters so that with the range of cannons at the time no passage was safe from their fire.
One of those, Fort Boyard, became useless simply by the fact the range of cannons increased with technological advancement and became a Prison, but the defensive works in the area were last used in ww2 as the nazis tried to hold out against Ally forces and French Partisans, who eventually liberated the whole area. at this occasion my great-uncle fired mortar rounds from a commandeered local oyster-gatherer's boat in a nazi-occupied Vauban fortress (in the town of le chateau d'oléron), which was eventually bombed by US air forces b-17s and the nazis surrendered.
Just saying, if your works are still used to some extent centuries after your death, it must be great work.
My life can go on !!! Love your work, it’s like waiting for your birthday 😊
Haha, good to hear, thanks :P
Nice!
Thank you! Cheers!
these are super fascinating scenarios
We really need a better name for this era than “early modern period”
The Modernieval Period.
Pre-Napoleonic period?
No we don’t. I like it
This is fantastic
Interesting Indeed. A very informative video, thanks.
Fantastic video!
Great video thanks!
A great man
Great man
First military engineering that rose through the ranks
Archimedes **hold my beer**
video on castillian siege warfare please!! during the times of El Cid and Reconquista! i've heard plenty that medieval Castille had perfected siege warfare for its time from various historians on youtube but none ever go into further detail
Great video
Yes !! Oh how I love Fortifications !!
Loved the Holy Hand Grenade in the mine hahaha
great content
So he invented the "perfect defence" and then wrote a book telling people how to beat it ... um
So he knows the subject
He's the immovable object and the unstoppable force.
Pas mal non? C’est français.
Ça monsieur, c'est la France!
Jolie Ref
I would advice you to take a look at Siege of Nagykanizsa 1601, as it is probably the most succesfull and perfect siege defense in history, it would be a great content for your amazing channel
very cool, great video!
Thank you! Cheers!
wow thanks man!
glad we can help :P
Very nice video thank you
Thanks, glad you liked it
Fun fact, Vauban didn't forget the Ardennes with the iconic Rocroi fortress...unlike his poor successors 250 years later...
14:02 my man actually said "hitherto"
Next part please 🙏
Thank You
You're welcome
I actually drove past neuf-brisach on way to colmar just a couple months ago and was like: wow, that's a star fortress, how neat. never would I have realized that it was actually vaubans masterpiece. should've taken a longer look lol
After all your videos on early modern siege warfare, I wondered when you'd get around to the man himself!
yeah, took us way too long!
@@SandRhomanHistory If you guys haven't been, _Les Invalides_ and the _Musée de l'Armée_ in Paris has a permanent exposition on scale models of Vauban fortresses, commissioned to show the king the state of his fortifications. Not only are they fascinating for what the detail they show about late 17th C fortresses in reliefs that are a couple of metres per side, they are a (historic) work of art in their own right!
@@QuantumHistorian That sounds amazing. On a side note, the fortress of Brisache mentioned in this video also has a Vauban museum.
So in other words, Vauban is kind of already having Napoleon's mind before Napoleon was even be born. Am I right?
Kind of yeah, this is why the tomb of Vauban lies next to Napoleon's grave at les Invalides.
I'm not sure that makes sense - Vauban is about fortifications and siege warfare. Napoleon is about artillery and battle tactics/logistics/campaign strategy. Or am I missing your point?
@@Dayvit78 Well, it an be described that Napoleon is good at the offensive campaigns while Vauban is good at the defensive ones.
@@Dayvit78 To me they are similar in at least two senses :
- They revolutionalized warfare
- Their profile is more analytics and based on engineering / mathematical fields. (Napoleon was excellent at math and artillery officer of formation which was the most technical field of the army)
@@lerneanlionVauban was very offensive minded though, he captured and destroyed a lot more enemy strongholds than he did defending his own
Vauban's Guide to Sieging a Star Fortress
Star's Guide to Sieging a Vauban Fortress?
Building and defending bastions could be a nice game concept ...
One minute of silence for all those poor musketeers who ate the bullets and sent to dig tunnels :D
I’m a clash of clans base designer, this video truly melts my heart.
Was going to listen to this as I’m going to sleep but I can’t waste the great animation on that
So the Maginot line was basically the same concept of Vauban's line of fortresses, adapted to the 20th century 😮
You can even go further back and speak about the roman limes.
Oh, znd the third major defensiv infrastructure is the Séré de Rivières, built after the franco-prussian war.
Not really, Vauban understood that any fortification, no matter how strong could be overcome with the proper amount of time and resources. His system was meant to delay and entangle any potential invader in this web of fortifications. The maginot line was intended to stop any invading forces dead in their tracks because it was thought to be impenetrable by French military theorists of the time
@@alabamaisyourdaddy6137 No, the Maginot line was not intended to be impenetrable. It was intended to direct the invasion on Belgium, where the main Franch armies could concentrate. Why ? Because Eastern France is much easily defendable ; so with strong fortifications, you can stop attacks ; but in Northern France, there are plains, so the armies must be concentrated there. In a sense, it worked : the Germans did attack through Belgium, although with a twist. If the Maginot line had not been done, the French would have had to stretch their lines along the whole border.
@@alabamaisyourdaddy6137it was not thought to be unbreakable. The Maginot Line was built to literally "use walls of concrete instead of flesh". The losses of the first World War were so traumatising for the French population that another bloody war was inconceivable. The idea of the Maginot Line was to save lives, use concrete bunkers, fortifications, forts, etc, that required less soldiers to maintain and defend and were as effective for protecting the border as thousands of young men were between 1914-1918.
I love this! This is exactly what I come to you for. Keep doing French military history in this time period. I love it!!
Was that a Holy Hand Grenade from the game Worms @8:10? I remember playing that game like crazy in the late 90s