The Fall of the Monarchies

Between 1905 and 1922, five of the world's most powerful monarchies--the Habsburgs of Austria-Hungary, the Hohenzollerns of Germany, the Romanovs of Russia, the Osmanlis of the Ottoman Empire, and the Aisin-Gioros of China--were all brought down by a spectacular chain reaction of events that were unprecedented in an earlier age. This deep dive video tells the story of how these five dynasties, who at the beginning of the 20th century controlled the fates of a third of the world's population, lost their power through the series of wars and revolutions that marked one of the most chaotic periods in human history, which included World War I, the Chinese and Russian Revolutions and much more.

Sources for this video include Edmond Taylor The Fall of the Dynasties: The Collapse of the Old Order, 1905-1922 (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1963); Barbara Tuchman, The Guns of August (New York: Ballantine Books, 1994 ed.); Robert K. Massie, Dreadnought: Britain, Germany and the Coming of the Great War (New York: Ballantine Books, 1991) and Nicholas and Alexandra (New York: Random House, 2011 ed.); Alexander Rabinowitch, The Bolsheviks Come to Power: The 1917 Revolution in Petrograd (New York: W.W. Norton, 1976).

Chapters:
00:00-07:50: The Assassination of Franz Ferdinand
07:50-23:35: The Monarchies
23:35-33:57: Age of Revolutions
33:57-45:42: Unbalancing Europe
45:42-54:43: Big Unhappy Family
54:43-1:05:30: The 1905 Revolution
1:05:30-1:15:00: The Young Turks
1:15:00-1:26:11: Double Ten
1:26:11-1:34:21: The Tinderbox
1:34:21-1:43:39: The July Crisis
1:43:39-1:54:59: World War I
1:54:59-2:05:21: The 1917 Revolution (First One)
2:05:21-2:17:21: The 1917 Revolution (Second One)
2:17:21-2:22:45: World War I (Continued)
2:22:45-2:31:41: The Final Days
2:31:41-2:39:33: The Cellar
2:39:33-2:45:46: The End of the Ottomans
2:45:46-2:57:50: What Happened to Everyone
2:57:50-3:00:47: Conclusion

[Numbchicken]

Such a great video, I love the inclusion of China, they are often overlooked when talking about the most powerful monarchies with one of the biggest downfalls. Thank you for blessing us with two uploads at once!

[annakonda]

So you explained most of the big crises around the globe of the 19th and 20th century and also managed to intertwine them under a common theme. The video is only 3 h long despite the sheer amount of events and locations, yet you kept it understandable. Just wow! This must have been so much effort - thank you for that!

[atticus]

i never majored in history, which was my passion since a kid, but your videos really brought back that magic i had in learning history. so many youtube content creators these days focus on the basics and biases to make a point, you literally lay it all out from the bottom to the top to understanding and breaking down these tough subjects.

youre like the history professor ive always wanted in my college, thanks again for these videos and always helping me learn more cool things!

[Edmonton-ofec]

For anyone wondering, only one assassin sent an apology to the Archduke and Duchess’s (as in Duchess, Sophie had been made one by Emperor Franz Joseph) children, and they later sent a reply. Of their 3 children, their daughter (also named Sophie) lived longest, while both of Franz Ferdinand’s sons (Maximilian and Ernst) would endure and survive Nazi concentration camps due to their opposition to Anschluss. Maximilian would later go on to serve two terms as mayor of Artstetten in the Soviet occupied zone of Austria, and his grandson Nikolaus is the current head of the Hohenberg family, the name taken on by Franz Ferdinand and Sophie’s children.

[LAK_]

I love the presentation style. Fast-paced and concise, conversational, but hits all the right points and presents a relatively dense narrative. You can hear the professionalism and personal knowledge in comparison to other history channels reading bullet-point scripts. The dry humor helps a lot too.

[benx]

It's so good to have access to content made by someone with actual knowledge on a subject, rather than some guy reading a wiki page trying anything to get likes. Thank you for this. It was very educational and entertaining. (If I'm watching a 3 hour video, I must be entertained.)

[jeannedouglas]

I hope there are alot more of your types out there Sean. No sugar coating history anymore. So we actually learn from the horrors of the past and break the cycle of always repeating the game of without natural affection.

[Edmonton-ofec]

36:35 One should also note that Frederick William IV did not think that the Frankfurt Parliament had the right to offer him an imperial crown, and that only the various monarchs of the German states could make that offer (which they hadn’t). He essentially refused to take a “crown from the gutter”

[kevinshepard]

Watching now. Youre hands down THE best history channel on youtube. No one is close. You are a LEGEND. Excellent deep dives every time.

[gringostarr]

I think I came across your channel when trying to further understand the Iran-Contra. Been a fan ever since. Thanks for the incredibly diligent videos, such depth!

[KristianWontroba]

Someone might think that Theodore Roosevelt serving ice water was him being cheap. But actually, ice served in water was a luxury back then because ice at the time was rare and rather expensive.

[adamtrott]

The fact you were able to make this entire 3 hour video plus another hour video the same day that might as well be part of it, IN ONE MONTH, WHILE TEACHING MIDDLESCHOOLERS AT THE SAME TIME blows my fucking mind.

There are other history channels that do deep dives live this, and it can take them up to A YEAR to finish something of this scale.

I feel like a spoiled chile

[Valicroix]

Thank you for an excellent, informative and completely enjoyable video.

As an additional note, Kaiser Wilhelm II now lies in an above ground coffin in a small mausoleum in the Netherlands. According to the terms of his will his body is to be returned to Germany upon the restoration of the Prussian monarchy.

[denizifran]

As a Turkish person I am obliged to say that Mustafa Kemal didn't choose the surname himself but the parliament have decided by vote to give him the surname. It was a suggestion of a member.

[blackphoenix]

I just wanna say thank you for the amazing content. I am a huge history buff and have never met someone who has a depth of understanding like yours. I know your channel hasn’t blown up yet but please don’t stop making great content!

[moreisallyouneed]

I agree with the comments wishing you were our history teacher - your visuals and narration are educational and make complicated topics way easier to understand with many avenues for further reading in each section without making it seem like we're missing so much information. Kudos and thank you. I hope you cover some more world war and modern war topics and/or Amway style shenanigans. I love it all.

[markjager]

It astounds me how much I learn in your videos no matter how much I thought I knew before watching them! It shows how thoroughly you research the material and your ability to cut to the heart of the matter and also avoid the wrongly held beliefs that exist. Such great production quality and delivery keeps me coming back for more, including watching the videos more than once! This is a great service that your rational and soothing voice is providing.

[FreiheitHistory]

Came here from Kennedy/Iran Contra and I've loved it!

As someone who is also currently working on a 3 hour long historical video, likely much less well researched than yours, I can definitely feel the pain lol
Keep up the good work!

[xp]

I've been a history buff since the 1980's and I have been on YouTube since it started in 2006 but I only discovered this channel a few weeks ago and it's become my favorite history channel on the whole platform, you have an excellent understanding of the material you present and a fantastic delivery style, keep up the great work brother, your channel is criminally undersubscribed to but hopefully the algorithm will realize and solve that problem by promoting you more soon

[kforkokonut]

In undergrad, I took an international relations course largely understood to be an easy A because the professors podcasted all his lectures (pre-COVID) and the finals were open note essays. Reading for this class was entirely optional, as all necessary information was provided in those lectures. Regardless, I read Peter Hart’s The Great War out of genuine interest in military history, probably in my top ten favorite non-fiction books of all time. If this video hits for you as it did for me, I recommend giving it a read.