American Reacts Why did the French Fail to Annex Saarland? | History Matters - McJibbin Reacts

Hi everyone! I'm an American from the Northeast (New England). I want to create a watering hole for people who want to discuss, learn and teach about history through YouTube videos which you guys recommend to me through the comment section or over on Discord. Let's be respectful but, just as importantly, not be afraid to question any and everything about historical records in order to give us the most accurate representation of the history of our species and of our planet!

Also my TikTok :)
TikTok: @mcjibbin

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[gazlator]

Weird final twist - the European Coal & Steel Community (ECSC), designed to solve the long-standing problem of the Saarland, was of course the origin of what later grew into the EEC.

[chrismackett]

Whilst agreeing that annexing other territories is not a good thing, apart from the westward expansion of the USA, America has a number of overseas territories such as American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Hawaii was once an independent country that was annexed by the USA. Taking other people’s land has not always been a monopoly by European countries.

[francis_p]

It is sometimes more beneficial not to annex lands from the defeated side and seek other kinds of compensation. Border changes create a strong incentive for revenge that can last decades.

[johnnyanderson-roblox]

Amazing video! Glad to see more history matters reactions.

[iKvetch]

At 2:20 you comment on the hypocrisy of other countries telling France they could not just take their neighbors land just because they wanted it...but I gotta push back a bit on that. For one thing, a great deal of effort, blood, and treasure had been expended over the course of the 19th century by almost all of the other countries in Europe in trying to get the damned French to stop taking bits of land from other countries in Europe...so it is not surprising at all that Britain might have a problem with the French going back to that behavior in the 20th century. In addition, in the early part of the 20th there was a push towards self determination for many areas of Europe, whether it was based on ethnicity, language, culture, whatever...and that just got ramped up in the aftermath of World War I. So there was very little chance that Britain was ever going to support the annexation of the Saar without some kind of vote by the Saarlanders as to whether they wanted to be French or German.

As for America, that was Wilson and his idiotic and racist notions about the USA being the protector of democracy, and applying those ideas only to Europe. He talked a fine game of self determination for some of the ethnicities of Europe, but was always a hypocrite when it came to pretty much any group outside Europe. We all know how awful Wilson was, so there should be no shock that he was a hypocrite in the case of the Saar. 🖖✌

[McJibbin]

Sorry about the cut video in the beginning guys I had to remove a copyrighted section

[Vince-Brennan]

I really enjoy your videos pal. There is a danger however, which I'm sure you're aware of, that is the difficulty of getting the entire and accurate information from a 20 minute video.
Sometimes the best way to get a thorough picture, is to read a good biography, like one of Patton or Churchill, or especially one on Alexander the Great.
Please don't take this as a criticism, . Also I would recommend the TV series, world at war, probably the most informed and detailed history of ww2.
Congratulations on your fantastic videos.

[panther]

Control over the resources of the Saarland was of huge strategic interest for France. After WW2, the French wanted to cripple Germany so that it might not rise to power again, threatening France for a third time in the 20th century. The crucial change came when french foreign minister Schumann proposed his plan for the ECSC in 1950. Shared control over all coal and steel resources would make it impossible for Germany (and Italy) to wage war again. This paved the way for french-german reconciliation and became the basis for the EEC and later EU. So yes, the process of european unification originally served one purpose: To make it impossible for Germany ever to wage war again against its neighbours. I think this development was the luckiest one in european history.

[alisonrandall]

Check out Eddie Izzard you need a flag. By the way the UK never sought to conquer various counties. It was more to do with trading around the world.

[mickmackem]

History of the entire world you love it and laugh

[melkor]

I was really confused by the beginning. With the animal part.

[omabrax]

Please react Please react to 🇪🇺 European Commissariat | stellaris invicta

[fritoss]

Bro you react to every history matter video lmao chill out