In this video we look at the German borders, where they lie, why they lie exactly there, and how they have developed historically.
We first discuss the borders Germany shares with its western neighbours, namely the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, and France. Then we go on to talk about the borders to its German-speaking neighbours in the south, Switzerland and Austria. Finally we analyse the history of the eastern borders towards Czechia and Poland, and the small northern one towards Denmark.
We are aware that giving exact dates for a physical expression like a country border can be tricky and prone to oversimplification, so we welcome any constructive criticism and debates in the comments and our Discord server.
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Sources:
Heinz Duchhardt – “Der Westfälische Friede. Diplomatie – politische Zäsur – kulturelles Umfeld – Rezeptionsgeschichte.”
Gabriel Popescu – “Bordering and Ordering the Twenty-First Century: Understanding Borders”
Emmanuel Brunet-Jailly – “Theorizing Borders: An Interdisciplinary Perspective”
https://treaties.un.org/doc/publication/unts/volume%20508/v508.pdf
Manfred Enssle – “Stresemann’s Territorial Revisionism: Germany, Belgium, and the Eupen-Malmédy Question, 1919-1929”
http://geosite.jankrogh.com/vennbahn.htm
US Department of State – “International Boundary Study. Belgium – Germany Boundary”
David Fernbach – “Marx: The First International and After”
Wolfram Siemann – “Metternich: Strategist and Visionary”
Ernst Gagliardi – “Geschichte der Schweiz: Von den Anfängen bis auf die Gegenwart”
Gregor Metzis – “Sigismund I. und der Oberlausitzer Sechsstädtebund in den Hussitenkriegen (1419–1437)”
Klaus Alberts – “Volksabstimmung 1920. Als Nordschleswig zu Dänemark kam.”
25 Comments
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Alsace is Swabian, and nothing will ever change that.
But we (czechs) had those exact borders even before 1526, with only small changes in the areas bordering Saxony.
Maybe it was a bad idea to choose germanys border for the first such video. The concept is good, the border of my fatherland is one of the most complex ones neighboring 9 countries. This explaines my dissatisfaction because of mistakes and inaccuracies.
Examples:
1. If you argue that the border to Austria dates to 1945 as highlighted in the map, thats also true for the border to Czechia, as Sudetenland was also annexed. Either this or that, no mixture please!
2. There is a remaining part of Silesia, part of northern Saxony today. So its untrue all of Silesia was lost. premodern territories raraly had borders at rivers so thats no surprise. Its no small piece, it contains Görlitz.
3. The Alsace-Lorraine / Esaß-Lothringen Region is mixed in Language. It was part of the HRR before 1648. Just to mention that despite all the bla-bla of german-french friendship the country of France is the only neighbor without any minority rights for german speakers or culture.
4. It is debated if Belgium needs to give back the Vennbahn-territory. The treaty gives them the right over the railway. But the railway is gone. germany posseses bridges over the railway for example, because the treaty only states the railway, not the territory per se.
5. The referendum on the border to denmark was biased. It was not counted by village etc, but in two regions. Denmark gerrymandered this regions this way, that germany was disadvantaged. Otherwise they would have lost Tondern. As this referendum was forced upon germany after WW1 where denmark did not even participate it is seen as Denmark being a vulture. Not fighting, but afterwards stealing from the looser. Same was true for the referendums in Upper Silesia after WW1, but that did not play an important role in your video of course.
6. The border to the Netherlands is disputed where the Ems flows into the north sea. There are other videos about such borders on youtube, which i would advice to watch and rethink before covering the same topic. This way you could simplify by purpose if necessary, without getting critique for poor knowledge.
I would really like a video on the deluge in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and how they lost their territory over time and ceased to exist.
Okay, 1648, but these borders were already older. How did the various Dutch provinces of the time get their borders: Groningen, Gelre, Drenthe (which was for a long time a possession of the Bishopric of Utrecht).
Love the new format.
Good work! Please show the plan while you speak; otherwise, we're lost. Many thanks!
Staring a talk about Germany's eastern border with the year of our Lord 1914 is genuinely misinformation.
Polish-German border is roughly a return of how it was in 10th-12th century.
8:42 when talking about the 'infamously contested region of Alsace-Lorraine' it would help to understand this topic much better than to begin with the 1871 swap. France has been pushing its border eastwards for centuries and the way it finally acquired all of the region in the 18th century is crucial in understanding what let to the 1871 decision of taking it back. 😔
Poor Germany 🙁
5:44, je bedoelt, remains a part of the Netherlands untill this day.
0:33 Belgium doesn’t look like that? 😅
"the unholy consequences"
Oh dear, what a phrase…
Even Holstein was effectively ruled by Denmark for a good while, when the Kings of Denmark were also the Dukes of Holstein.
Though the Duchy of Holstein was still part of the Holy Roman Empire. Like how the Kings of England were also the Kings of Hanover, which also remained part of the Holy Roman Empire and not Great Britain.
2:53 slow zoom-in to broken Belgium noo NOOOOO
The border between the Netherlands and Germany in the north (Dollart bay) is disputed, but is shared peacefully
Jesses Gott ! Alsace mentionned ! Btw, wasn't Saarbrucken und Saarlouis french during monarchy ?
10:48 I walked along this part of Mosel…
5:48 you mean the Netherlands. Might be a good idea to add a caption at that timestamp pointing out the error.
Did you know that there is a region in Austria, inhabited by about 5000 people, that can be entered by road only from Germany? It’s the Kleinwalsertal valley. So it’s a „kind of“ enclave.
Scholz is looking to annex The Netherlands again.
A very informative and well presented video. I fairly enjoyed it.
I just wish it had even more insight into the history of some of the borders, as it fell a little short in that regard. Especially the history behind the borders to Alsace-Lorraine and Czechia could have been explained in more detail.
The part about the Austrian Border was also a little confusing as you mentioned that it's origin lies in 1815 but marked it as 1945 because of the German annexation pre WW2.
Another part that fell a little short was the Polish border, but I am looking foward to it in a future video, as you mentioned that.
It also would have been nice to have the history of the Danish border and Schleswig explained a bit more in detail, but in the end I guess there is only so much that can be talked about in a 20 minute video.
I suppose the time is just not enough for a more in depth dive into this topic. I for myself would be up to watch even a 2 hour video on such a topic, going into even more detail, if you ever feel up to making such a long video.
Anyway, wishing you the best and looking foward to future videos!
Correct pronunciation would help: Eupen, Duivel…