The European Siege That Decided American Independence: The (Great) Siege of Gibraltar 1779–1783

Ironically, the loss of the American colonies resulted in Great Britain realizing that colonies were not particularly economically beneficial to the home economy, and that trade could continue without Great Britain having to pay for their defense and governance. Which was economically beneficial to GB.

Great video!

Histories of the American War of Independence always concentrate on what happened in the Americas themselves. In part, this is reasonable, since it tells the story of the origins of the sole superpower of the current day. But in many ways the effects of the war were even more profound on the European participants. The French were utterly bankrupted, which would lead to the bloodbaths of the Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars. The worst affected was perhaps Spain, whose own colonies took up the call to revolution and overthrew the oldest of the trans-Atlantic empires (with their erstwhile American allies finishing the job a hundred years later in the Spanish-American War). Despite being the apparent loser of the war, the British got off the most lightly of the European combatants. Britain lost her Thirteen Colonies, but would rebuild her Empire around India, with profound economic, sociological and cultural effects which are still felt in both Britain and India to this day.

And to think that, had a Royal Navy admiral made a different decision as to where best to deploy his ships - the blockade at Brest, or the siege at Gibraltar - all of that history may have been different. No United States of America, no British Raj, no Napoleon: the Butterfly Effect of history in action.

I love how the Ottoman Empire is right there and everyone is picking on little old England. 😂

Upper Management pushing for quick results no matter what the actual experts say. Even then, upper management managed to push too hard in order to satisfy onlookers ;)

Britain fought a lot other wars while fighting the American Revolution and War of 1812 with America

Over 600 years later, the Baron D'robotnique would again fail to take the rock of gibralter, but this time he used flying batteries. HEY OH! Thank you, thank you, I'm here until a heated shot hits me in the face because of this joke!

“Sotomayor” was mispronounced

It's crazy how this one siege led to so many military innovations.

I don't understand why Gibraltar was so important to the British. Seems like they could just simply sailed passed it without stopping. Or gone to a friendly port of another nation. Why did they need it so bad? It would not have mattered if they Spanish occupied it as the British could have sailed pasted it and not even been in sight of Gibraltar. It just seems like a complete waist.

amazing

great!

No other empire on Earth has ever made such a cacophony of bad decisions as those made by Great Britain. They continue this tradition to this day...

Gibraltar OR America
They basically have the same value 😅

Gibralter was a key post that saved Britain in world war 2. Malta another.

Do the trolls sue the government?

There was also the Battle Of The Saints, a naval battle where the British retook their position in the Caribbean by defeating a combined Spanish and French fleet, allowing the British to bow out of the US war of Independence without losing too much

Rule Britannia! We only lost the colonies because we were outnumbered 3 to 1!

This doesn’t mention the treaty where the Spanish ceded permanently the Rock to the British and what was agreed with them for this to happen.

This video can be described simply as: "the brits defend a rock they put a flag on"

The American revolution was the First World War. Britain, America, France, Spain, Prussian mercenaries and others

Very interesting. It has always surprised me that the British were unable to defeat the Colonial armies but this helps to understand why. Meanwhile Britain even if it had won the revolutionary war is unlikely to have maintained the US colonies until the present day whereas it still owns Gibraltar and is likely to do so for a long time to come.

Amazing work, i am Gibraltar born, and i can tell you this is the best documentary i have seen on the Great sieges. please make a part 2.
(World War 2) ironically a few hundred years later the USA came to save it for the British. from the fascist in Europe ...... :) Even USA President Eisenhower Started the Europe invasion from the Nazis in Gib...Thanks Again and Merry Xmass from The Rock to youall....:)

Price caps are the last thing you would want during a siege. The faster people consume resources, the sooner those resources disappear.

Ooh, that intro string riff would make for an absolutely KILLER intro to a symphonic black metal song ! Can anyone tell me the name of the piece ?

I consider myself an above ave. history buff especially this time period. How the hell did I miss this amazing piece of history?? Guess I am not such the history buff after all LOL!! This is perfectly done. SUBSCRIBED!!! Thank you for the education made my day!

The shrapnel shell was known as spherical case

Your map is fucked, where are the Louisiana territories? Also Corsica was already french.

solido stuffio

Excellent work, well done

very confusing!

Very interesting

Recuperamos Menorca y recuperaremos Gibraltar. En Malvinas casi perdio reino Reino Unido

Hello from Gibraltar🫡

This video shows how the Siege of Gibraltar was a pivotal event in shaping the outcome of the American Revolution. I hope you continue to explore more connections between European battles and the global impact of American independence.

Franco-Spanish jabronis are no match for the Rock

incredible

I wonder if the British empire would’ve expanded as much as it did without the US war of independence.

On the one hand it loses 13 colonies. On the other, it leads to a chain of events that cripple France and Spain and make the UK an unrivalled navel power for ~100 years.

Huh, the loss of the Americas was inevitable, but Gibraltar drained significant enemy resources for a relatively small investment.

As a Canadian I just had to listen to your "click baity " video. I had previously worked with a Canadian who fought in a Canadian/American regiment during WW2! It was a whole Regiment made up of Rural Americans and Canadians; trappers, lumbermen, northern farmers etc etc.. into a Mountain and Winter warfare special regiment called "The First Special Service Forces"... aka they were called "The Devil's Brigade" by the Germans! They were very successful! Canadians and Americans working together! That doesn't mean I want you to move in next door!!

But honestly, America has way... WAYYYY too much work to do on their nation for us to be interested in joining the U.S.!
What's with the U.S. Private-For-Profit Health Care system that is the MOST expensive system in the free world? Did you not know you could get buying power for all medical equipment and drugs if you ....say pool it in one organization rather than numerous profit driven private insurance companies and private hospitals? LIke really??? This was figured out a long long time ago.... and Americans don't want it because it is "evil socialism"... .ewww... who wants that? LOL And because of America's poor education, they don't even understand that socialism can be democratic as well... LOL

Look... before Trump even started developing a concept of a health care plan, or fixed America's expensive and low value educational system, or any other positive things to make life better for you in the U.S. he states to America's closest trading partners and allies that he wants to add a random tax on all goods made in Mexico and Canada? Really? Like What the Actual Fuk?
America has to fix its political system first! Canadians have Rule of Law... and we would NEVER allow a convicted felon to be our Prime Minister! (*although a lot of Canadians want to "trump up charges and arrest our Prime Minister" LOL_).
So how does a person like Trump, become the President of the United States, arguably the most powerful nation in the world?
That's the best you can do... really?... REALLY??
This is right from a weird science fiction or political satire comedy that you cannot even make up... The truth is really stranger than fiction! I blame the Public American educational system... but hey, what the fuk do I know? *Actually I know a friend of mine who immigrated into the U.S. with her family, and upon going to high school in the U.S. skipped two grades, she was so far ahead! She was a pretty good student in Canada...
I also had American teachers, draft dodgers from the Vietnam war America waged on communism. They were actually really great teachers... Americans who came to Canada for freedom.

So just like Putin could not entice Ukraine to move over to the great democracy of Russia... with all their beautiful political imprisonments, mass-murder of politicians and news station personal, many wars against neighbours all the time etc etc... The U.S. is not going to entice Canadians with Donald J. Trump as a boy-king President. Nope... it would never happen... he is not our type of people... Even though we are great friends with most Americans and have even formed militaries and fought fascist dictators together.
Look... the U.S. tried to "annex" Canada once before... and it really went off terribly for them in 1812. There were so many logistical and weather problems that they never even had a clue about. And at THAT time, the largest immigrant population to Canada were Americans!! True story! (*Sources "The War of 1812, by Pierre Berton).

Peace, Love and Laughter!

Awesome information. Awesome video

Vey few images of the spanish combatants. Cmooon. What did they look like ?

Defending a piece of rock instead of their colonies with abundant resources.

Your style and knowledge background I can only imagine you doing an episode about Vicksburg

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Gibraltar is a colony and needs to be handed back to the Spanish, it's been enough centuries where the british desperately cling to it to feel something in their loins.

great