History Matters

The US declared war on both the German Empire and Austria-Hungary in 1917 but the Ottomans were left out and the United States ignored them for the entire duration of the war. But why did they do this? To find out watch this short and simple animated history documentary.

For the past few centuries there have been two Mongolias. Outer Mongolia, better known as just plain old Mongolia and Inner Mongolia which is a part of China. Historically these two regions were seen as indistinguishable and were overwhelmingly Mongolian in their make up. So why are the two separate and why is Inner Mongolia a part of China and not Mongolia? To find out watch this short and simple animated history documentary.

You all know Yugoslavia for its nasty break up with many people seeing its end as unfortunate but inevitable because of the country's ethnic tensions. Given that looking back its doom seemed all but guaranteed, why did anyone bother to make a Yugoslavia in the first place? To find out watch this short and simple animated history documentary.

In 1808, Napoleon Bonaparte decided that his close ally Spain needed to be conquered. Given that good friends are hard to come by, why did Napoleon do this? Why his betray Spain? To find out watch this short and simple animated history documentary.

In 395 the Roman Empire was split into two halves. With Rome (later Ravenna) in the west and Constantinople in east playing capital to what was essentially two distinct empires. But given how Roman emperors liked having power and how in the past imperial division had only been temporary, why was this time permanent? To find out watch this short and simple animated history documentary.

The only major power that didn't get involved in the Napoleonic Wars was the Ottoman Empire which managed to avoid becoming France's ally or enemy. So how did the Ottomans do this and why didn't they try to capitalise on Europe being preoccupied and expand? To find out watch this short and simple animated history documentary.

Spain handed Florida over to the United States in 1821 and in return was left with absolutely nothing in compensation. This seems a bit odd so why did Spain just give it away? To find out watch this short and simple animated history documentary.

Throughout its existence, the Weimar Republic was saddled with massive reparations from Germany's defeat during WW1. As you'll know these caused massive problems across Germany so why didn't its politicians just try to default and what did they do to reduce Germany's massive debts? To find out watch this short and simple animated history documentary.

When Charlemagne founded the Holy Roman Empire, it included the vast majority of what's now France. In the centuries that followed, the Holy Roman Empire had moved away from these lands into central Europe. So why did this happen? Why did France, named for the Franks, separate from the territories ruled by Charlemagne's imperial successors? To find out watch this short and simple animated history documentary.

When France and Prussia went to war in 1870, one of the most notable things about said conflict was the fact that none of the other great powers got involved. So why not? Why didn't they help one side or the other? To find out watch this short and simple animated history documentary.

In 1867 the Dutch king William III tried to sell Luxembourg to Napoleon III of France. This created quite a storm and after the other great powers intervened the sale was forbidden and Luxembourg would remain in a union with the Netherlands until 1890 when it became independent. So why did this happen and why were the Dutch banned from selling Luxembourg. To find out watch this short and simple animated history documentary.

When President James Monroe declared in 1823 that Europeans were no longer allowed to crush revolting colonies or expand further into the Americas, the US wasn't exactly powerful enough to enforce it. In spite of this, European attempts to colonise the region reduced massively and many kept to the Monroe doctrine's demands. But given that they didn't have to why did they and what did the US do when some Europeans broke it? To find out watch this short and simple animated history documentary.

When Mexican conservatives were searching for an Emperor to lead their country, they ended up settling on Archduke Maximilian von Habsburg of Austria. Which seems like an odd thing to do so why did they? Why did the Mexicans pick an Austrian to be their Emperor? To find out watch this short and simple animated history documentary.

During the Napoleonic Wars, Emperor Napoleon was quick to make his brothers monarchs of France's client states because he felt they were the few people he could trust to rule them. However in 1810, Louis Bonaparte was ousted as the King of Holland and his brother soon annexed it into the French Empire. So why did he do this to his brother? To find out watch this short and simple animated history documentary.

James Buchanan is considered to be one of, if not the, worst US Presidents of all time. Much of this comes from the fact that it was under his watch that the South began to secede and the American Civil War was set in motion. However the time from South Carolina making for the exit and Lincoln taking over was three months. So what did Buchanan do during that time to keep the south in the Union and did he do anything to help the Union fight the war when it broke out? To find out watch this short and simple animated history documentary.

The USA dropped two atomic bombs on Japan which brought about the end of World War 2. The two cities targeted were Hiroshima and Nagasaki, both middling cities which weren't vital to the Japanese war effort. But given that there were much larger cities, notably Tokyo, that were left untouched why did the USA opt for these two. Why didn't the USA nuke Tokyo or any of the other large Japanese cities? To find out watch this short and simple animated history documentary.

Communists and Capitalists picked their sides during the Cold War and for the most part they all got along. However in the late 1970s, Communist Vietnam invaded its neighbour and fellow hammer and sickle enthusiast Cambodia in order to topple its government. So why did this happen? Why did Vietnam invade and occupy its fellow communists next door? To find out watch this short and simple animated history documentary.

In 1918, the Russian government signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk which yielded massive amounts of land, people, farmland and factories to the central powers. This treaty was massively damaging and humiliating which makes it odd that the Russians didn't do more to negotiate and keep more of Russia. So why did they agree to such a terrible treaty? To find out watch this short and simple animated history documentary.

In the lead up to the Gulf War, Iraq and its leader Saddam Hussein had five months to back down and avoid an armed conflict altogether. This never happened and as you'll likely know Iraq was swiftly crushed by a US-led coalition in 1991. But given how Saddam never really stood a chance, why didn't he try to back down and avoid war? To find out watch this short and simple animated history documentary.

Stalin was famous for ousting and disappearing everyone who opposed him. Many of those he specifically targeted were high-ranking members of the Party or the military. But didn't any of these soon-to-be purged try to fight back and stop Stalin by removing him? To find out watch this short and simple animated history documentary.

China under its former Imperial Dynasties used to control hundreds of thousands of miles of territory in what's now Siberia. As you'll know though, Siberia is now in Russia and China has relinquished control of astronomical amounts of territory to it. So why did the Chinese give up so much land? To find out watch this short and simple animated history documentary.

Mexico is one of the top nations in history for losing large quantities of its territory. 25 years afters its territorial peak in 1823 it had lost the majority of its territory and was at great risk of losing even more. So why did this happen and did Mexico try to reclaim any of it. To find out watch this short and simple animated history documentary.

King John is often considered to be one of, if not, the worst king of England and by extension Britain. His reign is seen as one of embarrassment, cruelty, political crises and military failure but just how much was all of this really John's own fault and how much of it was down to circumstance? To find out watch this short and simple animated history documentary.

In 1939, during the opening days of the Second World War, France had the opportunity to invade Germany whilst its forces were busy in Poland. What happened wasn't a major offensive but instead a tiny, localised push into the frontier of Germany that ended before it really began. So why didn't the French commit to a grander offensive and why did they just wait and watch as Poland was conquered? To find out watch this short and simple animated history documentary.

The 1876 election was a hotly contested one with results from numerous states contested with both candidates claiming victory. During the 4 months leading up to the inauguration tensions grew massively and many people across the Unites States feared the breakdown of the government and the beginning a second Civil War in 1876/1877. But how realistic were these fears? Was the USA actually close to another civil war in after the 1876 election? To find out watch this short and simple animated history documentary.

After rebelling against the Ottoman Empire in the 1830s, Egypt was able to become all but independent, massively increasing the size of its borders and dominating large parts of Arabia and the Levant. During this time it continuously defeated its Ottoman overlords and was even a threat to the Sultan himself. Yet, in spite of its victories, in 1840, the Great Powers of Europe intervened and forced it to hand back all of its gains to the Ottomans. So why did this happen and why didn't Egypt do more to resist? To find out watch this short and simple animated history documentary.

Throughout the Cold War, US-Cuban relations weren't exactly great. Castro, Cuba's leader, never acknowledged the US' ownership of the Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay as legitimate but during the decades after he took power he never made a single concerted effort to get it back. So why not? To find out watch this short and simple animated history documentary.

As many of you will know, when Africa was Scrambled by the European powers (and Belgium) in the late 19th century, France got a massive chunk of it all to itself. But given that France was seen as the great enemy of Europe and went through long periods of imposed Isolationism, why did it get so much? Why did France get so much of Africa and why didn't the other great powers do anything about it? To find out watch this short and simple animated history documentary.