Bismarck's Rise: Schleswig Wars 1848-1864

Get a NordVPN with a 2-year plan plus 4 additional months with a huge discount and 30-day money back guarantee: nordvpn.com/realtimehistory

I had a Great Grandfather who Danish, and was also in the Prussian Army in the early 1860's He enjoyed Army life because it was a time of peace. When the Schleswig War was ready to start, he decided that he didn't want to shoot any Danes and didn't want any of them trying to shoot at him. He deserted, got on a ship, and eventually worked his way to Chicago.

As a Dane, this is really great work! I am happy that this is told in such a way, that is it only the bare historical facts that is important. Despite the troubled history, Denmark and Germany today are very close allies, and close to the border there is still many Germans in Denmark and Danes in Germany. I hope that this close relationship always will exist.

The history of Denmark is like a Risk player starting out by rolling a lot of sixes, and then suddenly a whole lot of ones.

As a dane, I'm glad to see this war get more coverage, as it's surprisingly unknown, despite how important it was in our national development

During the war of 1864 the 80 years old General von Wrangel was the commander in chief of the prussian army. This old man was so confused and so doting he couldn't overlook the military operations so the army was led by his junior officers. Soon afterwards some nasty jokes were told in the streets of Berlin. Here's one example: In the morning General von Wrangel mounts his horse in the wrong way. A soldier comes up and tells the General that he is sitting on his horse in the wrong direction. The General angrily replies: Shut up you bugger, you don't know in which direction I want to ride also I can turn around my horse at any time.😂💥

What a pleasure to get Danish history through foreign eyes. It's not an opportunity given often. And then from such a sober and competent source. Thank you very much!

Having a host that can properly pronounce names and locations is such a delight. Kudos to Jesse for being able pronounce Danish names without suffering a stroke in the tongue.

My ancestors left the current Denmark/Germany border region & emigrated to New Zealand after that war. They were Danes who spoke German. They sailed out from Hamburg. The resulting border change made it that our family were split on both sides of the border.

To anyone interested in more, I strongly recommend watching the miniseries '1864'. It is a dramatized retelling of the events of the second war. The production level is amazing, the acting stellar, and the fact that everyone speaks their native languages instead of just English, is particularly appreciated.

My mothers ancestor's emigrated to IOWA from this area to escape this war, Our local newspaper was published in German until 1918

That send-off was epic. Whoever came up with it is a genius. Jesse's delivery was superb, too.

Really well done as always. I watched a dramatic mini series covering the 1864 war several years ago, called "1864". It's nice to learn the real history behind the dramatized events. Thank you Jesse!

Fun fact: Two Austrian soldiers lie buried in Wyk auf Föhr on the North Frisian Island of Föhr. They didn’t die in combat, but rather stabbed each other to death over a local girl

I just recently discovered that a German ancestor of mine who came to the U.S. in 1848 was actually from Schleswig. I don't know if this war was why he left for the U.S. but it does seem likely.

Looking forward to watching this 😀 Lord Palmerston: Only three people ever really understood the Schleswig-Holstein question. One of them was a German professor and he's gone mad, another was the Prince Consort and he's dead, and the third was myself. And I've forgotten all about it.

I'm from todays german state of Schleswig-Holstein and I always wondered, why so many history channels on Youtube have never made a video about this war, although it had so much impact on Europe! I'm also astonished on why so many claim, that this wasn't part of their education. We had this topic in history and in politics, back in school. The way how we settled down the problems with germans in Denmark and danes in Germany, was also taught to me at the university, because it was seen as some type of benchmark, regarding how to avoid conflicts between majorities and minorities!

I read somewhere that during the battle of Översee/Oversø in 1864 between the danes and austrians, the first official field hospital under the flag of the recently founded red cross was established in the oldest tavern in the area. (The tavern was called "The historic jar / Historischer Krug / Den historiske kro") Many years came past the Överseegasse in Graz and never knew where the name came from. By shear coincidence i read something about this war a few years ago and the name Översee came up. ->Most of the austrian soldiers in that battle had their garrison in Graz, so the city got an alley named after the place of the battle. (Usually roads and alleys here are named after some long gone "celebrity" or a direction it leads to eventually, like vienna or triest, so it's rather unique in that regard)

Another oft-forgotten yet important European conflict treated with the clarity and depth we have come to expect from this great channel. Thanks RTH, once again I've learned a lot! 👍

Danes: "How foolish to attack a sea power on its own coast!" Exceptionally cold winter of 1863-4: "I'm about to end this sea power's whole career"