The Yser Front - The Belgian Front During the First World War 

WHY WW1 BROKE OUT: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-v_h03jDXuEw.html GERMAN INVASION OF BELGIUM (1914): ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-sM_D4nWj8G4.html BELGIUM ARMY 1914: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-cS9dgLl0dwg.html

I learnt about WW1 in History class at school which included a brief study of Belgium's efforts. Thank you for making clear the sacrifices that were made by and heroism of the Belgian forces during the long occupation of most of Belgium by the Germans. "Lest we forget".

Being a Briton i will of course have to pronounce Yser as WHY-ser. thankyou. Another great video about lesser known aspect of a campaign that seemed to be like a blitzkreig in summer 1914... after German victory in 1871 they must have fought the 1914 war would be just as rapidly ended.

Another awesome video as always! Mad respect for the Belgian King and his men who did all they could to hold onto their last stretch of nation until the end.

I knew a little about this topic but it's certainly interesting to learn some more details. For example, it was surprising to hear about the ways Ferdinand Foch was "motivating" King Albert. BTW fun fact about Foch; he technically was a marshal of three nations: France (since 1918), the UK (since 1919) and Poland (since 1923).

Albert one one the most unique Royal 🤴 rulers of Europe for being so down to earth and willing to lead his kingdom in war at the frontlines even when his homeland was mostly conquered.

Found you commenting on a video from TIK earlier today. Going against the grain of what I usually do (in the context of random people commenting on youtube), I decided to see what the channel was like. Scanning the videos, it seems like this might lead to a bunch of new starting points for further learning. Going to check a couple more videos now, if I like them, as I did this, there will be one more sub. Also, one of my goals as of late has been to increase the number of historians I listen to, who are from outside of the US or UK/commonwealth. The only real hindrance to this is that aside from English, the only other language I am fluent in is vulgarity >_>. Granted, Frisian aside, Dutch is about as close as you can get to English in terms of language. But each new place, a new vantage point, something I never really understood back when "history" was that standard western civ that is ubiquitous. Only really starting to appreciate it when I first started to take in world history (that didn't shy away from or try to take away from the achievements of any one time or place that is)...... Taking a breath and a step back in order to look at things in a wider scope.... that is a concept which applies to so many things. caveat: That said, the parts of history which interest me the most, would not be out of place in a western civ course. For the most part anyways.

I'm early to the presentation. Second one! Very interesting lecture.

🎵WE’RE KEEPING THE KINGDOM FREE!🎵

Came here from Sabaton's "Race to the Sea"

If I remerber correctly, Niel Fergusson says in his book The Pity of War: Explaining World War I, that it was a worthless war for Great Britain, in spite of the courage of the Belgians. He defends Great Britain should never had sent soldiers to help Belgium in the ground, Is that so? Obrigado! 🇧🇷

Thanks for the video. Thanks for letting everyone knows the heroic effort of the Belgian king which is not known to many. For years I had been wondering how the Entente power managed to defend this small part of Belgian territory throughout WW1 and I now know.

For king and for country, we are flooding the river Our stand at Yser will be, the end of the race to the sea The last piece of Belgium is free, we're keeping a sliver A cog in the war machine, October of 1914 For king and for country, we are flooding the river Our stand at Yser will be, the end of the race to the sea We're free! For king and for country we are flooding the river No more of our country lost, the line will be held at all cost!

Belgiums work is often overlooked in ww1

The Belgians should have just left out tons of beer, stoofvlees, frieten and mayonnaise for the Germans, who would have been so stuffed on food and drunk that they wouldn't have been able to move. Ding dong and take care.

King Albert I of Belgium - what a legend!I greatly admire the man for leading the very courageous defence of his small but very brave country. He is one of my favourite historical figures. Looking forward to more videos filmed in Belgium🇧🇪

I know this part of the world well having traveled through it many times. It really is flat and featureless, an absolute nightmare to defend.

Nice that you are showing something about this almost forgotten part of WW1. In Belgium they luckily do not forget this battle. You should also check out the Belgian series called "In Vlaamse Velden" (In Flemish Fields). It's about this period in Belgium and the first battles, but also the Yser Front are shown.

"For king and for country we are flooding the river, our stand at Yser will be the end of the race to the sea. The last piece of Belgium's free, we're keeping a sliver, a cog in the war machine , October of 1914."

Vorige week was ik er nog , er lag bij de stroom paal een grote bom . Om op gehaald te worden

Mijn grootvader was erbij, van '14 tot '19 (bezetting Rijnland). Verloor wel twee broers in '18. In WO II zat hij nog in het verzet, toen al de vijftig naderde. De brieven uit Wo 1 en het ooggetuigenverslag van de dood van één van de broers hebben we nog...

i was there in 2018 , very interesting indeed

Excellent video, great details. Thanks Bz. Few years back I read an article about the Korps der Congolese Vrijwilligers in the battle of Tervate.

For the algorithm good video.

The background foto at 2:26 is a photo that the belgians had Made on the wat from Sint-Truiden to Tienen (Tienen is also my city where I was Born and where I live)

Hi , nice channel and nice vid . I am french and i am living in Douai witch is on the map you showed in the vid so it's really interesting for me to learn about all those things . Thanks . ; )

Many Belgian refugees went to the UK. The most famous was of course. Hercule Poirot.😄

Stefan thank you for sharing your knowledge with us, you’re always a refreshing look into history’s forgotten battles ❤️

Thanks for another enlightening video. The wind noise on your microphone added the sense of battle noise in the background. Nice touch.

Been hoping for this one! Excellent!

EINDELIJK BEDANKT voor dit te maken ik leef dicht bij ze ijzer en ik had zin om aan u te vragen of je naar west-vlaanderen zou komen ik heb dat dan niet gedaan en ik heb nog een verhaal van mijn overgrootvader: Dus in 1917 was mijn overgrootvader 3 jaar oud en hij ging naar buiten om aardeappelen te nemen maar hij werd geschoten met een sniper in zijn hoofd. ECHTWAAR bedankt ik hou van dit kannaal

For King and for country We are flooding thr river Our stand at Yser will be The end of the race to the sea The last piece of Belgium free We're keeping a sliver Our cog in the war machine October of 1914

Who heard the song “Race to the Sea” by Sabaton?

Interesting 👍

Thank you 👍

Great video, but what about the Belgian government during World War 1? Did they go into exile?

You have forgotten: "Operation Strandfest" ,1917.

I've been to the 'dodengang' myself. Very impressive to see this and walked in to this 'gangs'. The museum there was also interesting.

Thanks again Stefan for an insightful video. King Albert was indeed an astute leader to refuse to participate in the slaughters of the futile frontal attacks, excelled at by Field Marshal Haig. But then again as you point out he had only 50,000 men that would’ve lasted a couple of days, if they were lucky!

This guy was a bad ass, sounds like one of the allied leaders I have the most respect for in this chaotic war

Interesting. Thank you.

As a Belgian, thx man!🇧🇪🇳🇱

Super interesting, 👍🍺

obligatory comment

Top it is Wednesday!

Thanks! ;)

Nice summary Stephan! If you want an interesting read, a mix of history, with a bit of a travelogue (on horseback) read 'Riding the Retreat' by Richard Holmes. I don't know if it's translated but it's certainly an informative and enjoyable book.

Wonderful video professor Stefan as usual! The Belgians were severely out matched against the Germans in the eyes of most people but in my opinion they should be considered one of the toughest armies of its time for what they were able to accomplish at Yser and also for their knowledge gained over years of being a formidable colonial power.

I wish i could find the specific casualties of the Yser Front, I want to know how many Belgians and Germans were killed there between 1914-1918.

Thanks for this story. I did not know these details of the confrontation in Belgium. Especially about King Albert's order to shoot anyone who tries to retreat. The same order was given by Joseph Stalin in 1942, this is known as "Order No. 227" or "Not one step back!" Terrible times lead to terrible decisions.

"Belgium": I have never understood the sense of such a state neither what makes people to fight for it. So maybe sometimes you can make a video about the real and ideal Belgian identity.

👍

The king of Belgium was a hero in ww1 too bad they didn't have a great king like that in 1940 Belgium

why would foch have anything to say of belgian kings position after war?

Very fascinating facts behind different actions in WW1.

Stefan, thanks for another fantastic on location video!

Great video!

This is a great video with amazing background stort. And your scarf is so cool! Keep up the good work.

Hi Stefan. Love watching your videos. There's an iconic picture of a Soviet p.o.w looking straight in the eyes of Himmler. Can you tell his story ? Thanks in advance

Good Video - Can you do one where the Yser Front ended at Nieupoort and the sea, how did the line actually end on the sea? how was it protected from flanking attacks etc?

Was the dissolution of the USSR undemocratic?