Belgian Army History, Part 1

In this first of a long-ish series of videos from Belgium, we we meet Mr William Testaert who will be our guide over the length of the country, and we start at the Royal Military Museum in Brussels, and go over initial Belgian military history.
This is the first batch where I have invested in bringing along a cameraman/editor, goes by FixItInPost, and as you can imagine, he doesn't work for free. Any financial support you can throw in below would be greatly appreciated. This was a test case to see if it's economically viable.
Belgian Linkies:
warheritage.be/en
belgiumbattlefield.be/
Facebook: / thechieftainarmor
Twitter...erm.. X: / chieftain_armor
Instagram: / chieftain_moran
And TikTok (Not that there's much on it yet) / the_chieftains_hatch
Financial donations:
Patreon: / the_chieftain
Direct Paypal: paypal.me/thechieftainshat
Or just use the KZread Thanks feature.
Merchandise (The carousel below seems dodgy)
the-chieftains-retail-hatch.c...

Пікірлер: 411

  • @asdic888
    @asdic8885 ай бұрын

    "And so we got fed up with the Dutch, and so we threw them out." He seems very pleased making that statement.

  • @Emdee5632

    @Emdee5632

    5 ай бұрын

    And then for the next century (and a half) the Dutch speaking part of the Belgian population (the Flemish) were dominated by the French speaking part (the Wallonians).

  • @mr_boo.

    @mr_boo.

    5 ай бұрын

    @@Emdee5632 false :)

  • @Scar-L-light

    @Scar-L-light

    5 ай бұрын

    @@Emdee5632 yeah but no its was more about the rich speaking french in wallonia a lot of people were not speaking french but walloon or other patois

  • @kurtkesters6043

    @kurtkesters6043

    5 ай бұрын

    @@mr_boo. How so? it was well after ww2 before Dutch got any sort of legal status in Belgium. How is that not dominating?

  • @mr_boo.

    @mr_boo.

    5 ай бұрын

    @@kurtkesters6043 because the elite spoke french both in wallonia and in flanders, but the walloons weren't any more powerful or dominating than the flemish. it's not a region problem, it's social class. french was simply the language of the upper class.

  • @johnrodgers4795
    @johnrodgers47955 ай бұрын

    Finally a series of videos on Belgium. I am a 14th Cav Trooper from the 1950's who was stationed in Bad Hersfeld, Germany. As a result, I developed a fondness for Belgium. Such a fondness over the years that I now own the "Boss Rodgers" Café in Adinkerke, Belgium - next to the French border and about 15 km from Dunkirk, France. When you make your second visit to Belgium, you will have sufficient time to finally visit the great WW I battle sites near me, and perhaps, drop in for a Belgian Beer - the best beer in the world.

  • @genmontgomeree9888

    @genmontgomeree9888

    21 күн бұрын

    Do you happen to speak West-Flemish or Flemish in general? Please don't say you only know French, you'll break my heart. P.S. I'm a local from the area near Bruges.

  • @rotwang2000
    @rotwang20005 ай бұрын

    I had the immense honour of meeting the Chieftain when he visited. And he is A LOT cooler than you think because he can sing Ying tong diddle I po !!!

  • @Simon_Nonymous
    @Simon_Nonymous6 ай бұрын

    Oh this was such a great surprise to see and watch - thank you Nick, but also to the nice chap from the museum, and of course - the lovely Belgian people themselves.

  • @robertneven7563

    @robertneven7563

    2 ай бұрын

    the Britsch the U S the Canadian the brave Kiwi s the lovely Aussis and the Belgain army frinds in arms in the first and the second W War

  • @wvrails
    @wvrails5 ай бұрын

    15:00 Given the Naval heritage of the first tanks, "float your boat" is a rather cleaver history reference.

  • @Alendo
    @Alendo5 ай бұрын

    Leo1 engine is probably the best sound in the world. 🤤

  • @XSharkdarkX
    @XSharkdarkX5 ай бұрын

    As a Belgian historian I'm so happy to see someone making videos on Belgian history and with the WHI is so great and the fact that person is the Chieftain is even more awesome. Thanks for your amazing job, I'll wait for the next one.

  • @ageingviking5587
    @ageingviking55875 ай бұрын

    Belgium has a lot of interesting history ! It may not have always been called Belgium but, the areas history is very heroic. Thanks for doing this chieftain . I hope you grabbed some delicious chocolate while you were there but, if not; you have another reason to go back . Thanks again !

  • @pietervonck3264

    @pietervonck3264

    5 ай бұрын

    It was called gallia belgica on roman maps, on early medieval maps, rennaisance maps and napoleonic maps. Belgium has always been known as belgium, the austrians called us belgians during the 1700's. It's mainly ignorant religious conservatives, who divide between flanders and walloon

  • @genmontgomeree9888

    @genmontgomeree9888

    21 күн бұрын

    Wuk zegde gij nu? Maybe the Austrians already called us Belgians, but the people back then considered themselves largely just with their historical region/county/duchy or even city. Flanders, Luxemburg, Brabant, Namur, Liege etc. were largely what people associated with themselves and in Walloonia still do next to their national identity of Belgian. Flemish identity is largely created to distinguish them from the filthy protestant Dutch and later due to domination and superiority-complexes of the French speaking elites against French-speakers and (is some cases) the Belgium state because it has always been and intended to be a French-speaking state. Founding fathers like Charles Rogier and Alexandre Gendebien wanted to get rid of this "Germanic element". Gendebien even stated that the Flemish were one of the inferior races of the world. I suggest reading the English wiki page on the Flemish movement, it contains more information. The Walloon identity only came into existence as a reaction against the Flemish movement, see wikipedia but if not read 'the story of Walloonia' by Alain Gerlache, it's probably only in Dutch but the author is a Walloon journalist for rtbf.

  • @ihorbychkov8742
    @ihorbychkov87425 ай бұрын

    Thank you for your hard work Nicholas ! Quite exited about upcoming episodes ! BTW upgraded video quality is a welcoming change , hope it stays !

  • @TheChieftainsHatch

    @TheChieftainsHatch

    5 ай бұрын

    It's down to the economics. We'll see after a couple of months

  • @Real_Claudy_Focan
    @Real_Claudy_Focan5 ай бұрын

    So proud and so hyped ! Thanks !

  • @thegodofhellfire
    @thegodofhellfire5 ай бұрын

    Fantastic video, can't wait for the next part!

  • @Davey-Boyd
    @Davey-Boyd5 ай бұрын

    That was fascinating, can't wait for the next episode!

  • @residentgeardo
    @residentgeardo5 ай бұрын

    That was a great video! Very interesting, looking forward to the rest of the series!

  • @LuGer212
    @LuGer2125 ай бұрын

    yessss, what a cool idea for a video series - very much looking forward to it :)

  • @nuts4ships
    @nuts4ships5 ай бұрын

    Looking forward to the future installments of the Belgian museum series. Thanks.

  • @Allan_aka_RocKITEman
    @Allan_aka_RocKITEman5 ай бұрын

    Great video, Nick...👍

  • @stephenlabbe8715
    @stephenlabbe87155 ай бұрын

    Great presentation!! Looking forward to the next videos.

  • @stevebarrett9357
    @stevebarrett93575 ай бұрын

    This video was a great and wonderful surprise. Thank you for producing it.

  • @patricksomerville8484
    @patricksomerville84845 ай бұрын

    Huge fan of the production quality!

  • @chartreux1532
    @chartreux15326 ай бұрын

    The Chieftain doing a Series on Belgium? Or as my Grandfather and other German WW2 Vets in my Family called it "Shortcut to France" (in a joking way of course) I'm excited! I hope you will manage to do more Series like this. Army History of other European Countries in the Future! While i work as Historian here in Germany i mostly focus on German/Austrian/Swiss History so i will definitely learn something with this Series! Prost & Cheers from Berchtesgaden in the Bavarian Alps

  • @Neves1789

    @Neves1789

    5 ай бұрын

    Haha shortcut to Frace is a good one! Cheers from a Belgian historian ;)

  • @mikethetexan76
    @mikethetexan766 ай бұрын

    I'm pretty excited about this series. Looks like a fun one.

  • @JoshuaC923
    @JoshuaC9235 ай бұрын

    Oh wow I'm looking forward to this series!

  • @StrangelyBrownNo1
    @StrangelyBrownNo15 ай бұрын

    That was far more interesting than I anticipated - thank you!

  • @russcelt1
    @russcelt15 ай бұрын

    If the rest of this series is on par with this part one, it will be brilliant. Thank you for what you do.

  • 5 ай бұрын

    Very nice Video and very nice Museum to visit. Looking forward to the rest of the series

  • @4nthr4x
    @4nthr4x5 ай бұрын

    Well, this made me definitely sub. Excited to see the series. Greetings from Belgium

  • @Colin21233
    @Colin212335 ай бұрын

    Already love the opening!

  • @larryjohnson7591
    @larryjohnson75915 ай бұрын

    I love history so I will love hearing about the Belgian Army. Can't wait for the next segment. Thanks Chief.

  • @neilwilson5785
    @neilwilson57855 ай бұрын

    Oh boy, this is so interesting. Thanks for doing this.

  • @warci
    @warci5 ай бұрын

    never expected our little country to get so much attention! Great stuff, looking forward to the coming videos

  • @JaimeWulf
    @JaimeWulf5 ай бұрын

    Very interesting piece, can't wait to see the rest...

  • @peartree8338
    @peartree83385 ай бұрын

    This summer my son and I visited the military museum in Brussels. I've got hundreds of photos. The place is absolutely huge!

  • @charlesmerrifield1734
    @charlesmerrifield17345 ай бұрын

    you sir are the best, thank you for sharing your understanding of technical things, history and expertise, and your narration is music to my ear thank you chiefain

  • @roberttalarsky4238
    @roberttalarsky42385 ай бұрын

    Great job thanks for your hard work, very interesting and helpful

  • @russwoodward8251
    @russwoodward82515 ай бұрын

    Wow. Great stuff. Thanks.

  • @tmdblya
    @tmdblya5 ай бұрын

    What a blast from the past. I lived in Brussels as a kid and absolutely loved going to that museum, plus other locations like Bastogne. Looking forward to the series!

  • @tommyblackwell3760
    @tommyblackwell37605 ай бұрын

    Very interesting video, M Testaert seems to be a walking font of knowledge. Thanks so much to all involved, I'm looking forward to more!

  • @Alwinb1rd
    @Alwinb1rd5 ай бұрын

    Oh my god! Thank you very much for that video and the upcoming ones in forward! I have been keen and looking forward to learn about exactly that area of history of Belgium, but couldn't find satisfying videos/documentaries. It is and may sound odd to mention it, but I shed a joyful tear while listening to this video and learning more about that aspect of Belgium... , probably because my mother is from Belgium (french speaking part) although I was born in Germany. Thanks again!

  • @johnnieangel99
    @johnnieangel995 ай бұрын

    Loving this. Thank you

  • @roelvandenbergen611
    @roelvandenbergen6115 ай бұрын

    Yes this float my boat. Thank you verry much dear Sir.

  • @thomasfelten23
    @thomasfelten235 ай бұрын

    Super happy of this series of video ! I'm Belgian, seing the passionates that keep the tanks going and our history having a bit of the highlights world wide is very welcomed 🙌

  • @maxmustermann6612
    @maxmustermann66125 ай бұрын

    Really nice Video! As a german I have been on quite a few battlefields in Belgium and love the country!

  • @mikkoveijalainen7430
    @mikkoveijalainen74305 ай бұрын

    I'd love to see museum and battlefield tours on your channel. Keep up the good work.

  • @pfg72
    @pfg725 ай бұрын

    The big smile on your face at the beginning of the video was priceless. You do love riding on those huge hunks of metal, don't you?

  • @66kbm
    @66kbm5 ай бұрын

    Looking forward to this.

  • @generalhades4518
    @generalhades45185 ай бұрын

    i for one am elated to see this! looking forward to the rest of the series. belgium has so much history crammed into the country, and it's just a lovely place to wander about!

  • @genmontgomeree9888

    @genmontgomeree9888

    21 күн бұрын

    Yeah but the majority is just local history and not Belgian history, since Belgium only exists since 1830.

  • @Jargolf86
    @Jargolf865 ай бұрын

    Liege, or Lüttich as we Germans say, is maybe the City with the greatest Name in Firearms- History in Europe. You nearly cant watch a Episode of C&Arsenal Videos without hearing the Name of this City at least once =)

  • @jeff7.629

    @jeff7.629

    5 ай бұрын

    Or Forgotten Weapons.

  • @jwenting

    @jwenting

    5 ай бұрын

    It's called Luik. Just as Bastogne is called Bastenaken.

  • @martijn9568

    @martijn9568

    5 ай бұрын

    ​@@jwentingThe best way to upset no one with Belgian place names is to use all the Dutch, French and German names😅

  • @robundy4015
    @robundy40155 ай бұрын

    My son and I really enjoyed this video!

  • @sasirut
    @sasirut5 ай бұрын

    Love that you went to the museum, it was about 1km from where I used to live, spent many an hour there. Very nostalgic for me :)

  • @milanstragier6142
    @milanstragier61425 ай бұрын

    Belgian here, i love the new camerawork, thanks for visiting this country, ehm yea, waffle and fries or smth, great video

  • @joeTheN
    @joeTheN5 ай бұрын

    Fabrique Nationale Herstal, Belgium: Browning Hi-Power, FN FAL, FN BARs, FN MAG, FN Minimi, plus a few other guns and vehicles.

  • @robertneven7563

    @robertneven7563

    3 ай бұрын

    dont forget the P 90 the S C A R

  • @robertillston2350
    @robertillston23505 ай бұрын

    Sounds like a great series.

  • @Cam64viper
    @Cam64viper5 ай бұрын

    Ah, so you hired the editor you were talking about! It's a welcome change, but there'll always be a place in my heart for the dry but interesting information videos, should you need to go back :D

  • @Uberyankee
    @Uberyankee6 ай бұрын

    M4A1(76) HVSS my beloved. Nice to see that particular variant might get a bit of coverage if it hasn't already.

  • @dennisvandermarkt8263
    @dennisvandermarkt82635 ай бұрын

    Can't wait to see that stuff chieftain.

  • @MajesticDemonLord
    @MajesticDemonLord5 ай бұрын

    Is it by The Chieftain? Yes. Will it involve a Tank at some point? Almost Definitely. Will I therefore enjoy watching? Most likely.

  • @aymonfoxc1442
    @aymonfoxc14425 ай бұрын

    Looking forward to seeing the rest of this series! Belgian military history is quite the niche subject.

  • @kylehardman9135
    @kylehardman91356 ай бұрын

    The belgian army actually reformed in the town I work in , Tenby and we recently hosted some commemorations

  • @jonesy279
    @jonesy2792 ай бұрын

    That is a gorgeous building!

  • @coldwarrior78
    @coldwarrior785 ай бұрын

    Looking forward to this series. Spent some time looking around Bastone and Bulge battlefields where ny father fought.

  • @Aleksejev
    @Aleksejev6 ай бұрын

    I like the camerawork, you should consider doing this more. It adds to the documentary work.

  • @fnamelname9077
    @fnamelname90773 ай бұрын

    This video really floated my tank!

  • @waynemayo1661
    @waynemayo16615 ай бұрын

    You probably are one of the only people who use the word "musea" and not "museums". Well done. Looking forward to more in this series.

  • @cmck472
    @cmck4725 ай бұрын

    I'm looking forward to this, great idea Chieftain. I never knew Belgum and The Netherlands had such an acrimonious history.

  • @robertneven7563

    @robertneven7563

    3 ай бұрын

    Hello, in the 1 W W ar the dutch let the german army past to going In to Belguim the dutch di nt to a fuck In the firts W War

  • @KO4FYC
    @KO4FYC5 ай бұрын

    Will be there in May 2024, Im very excited.

  • @CapnDan57
    @CapnDan575 ай бұрын

    Oh this is gonna be awesome. Looking forward to this whole series. If I ever run into you, would like to buy you a pint and share a bit o' banter.

  • @erwin6395
    @erwin63955 ай бұрын

    Thank you. I grew up around Cologne and, being Dutch, my parents sent me to the schools belonging to the Belgian NATO forces. And also the boyscouts, which had their camps inside the military baracks. So I've been quite immersed in their army culture and will enjoy the upcoming series very much!!!

  • @SuperHero1234123
    @SuperHero12341235 ай бұрын

    Whomever this editor is, well done! Noticeable difference! Never seen an Irishman in HD before. Bit unnerving, that.

  • @HamiltonStandard
    @HamiltonStandard5 ай бұрын

    abdolutely fascinating!

  • @supermagicalcookie2400
    @supermagicalcookie24005 ай бұрын

    That video editor you hired was a great investment. He did a really good job. Just wished he turned the music down just a hair.

  • @andrewosborne8993
    @andrewosborne89934 ай бұрын

    I had not heard of the Belgian steam powered attack drone until this video. Thank you. 👍

  • @TheShrike616
    @TheShrike6165 ай бұрын

    Hope you had a good time here!

  • @patricksomerville8484
    @patricksomerville84845 ай бұрын

    Thanks!

  • @shaider1982
    @shaider19825 ай бұрын

    This video series’ timing is quite good: the WW2 in real time’s will be covering the Battle of the Bulge this December.

  • @lewiswestfall2687
    @lewiswestfall26875 ай бұрын

    Thanks Nick

  • @williamharvey8895
    @williamharvey88955 ай бұрын

    Float your boat, what a Drachinefel thing to say. 😂

  • @LuvLikeTruck
    @LuvLikeTruck5 ай бұрын

    @15:00 i vote the chieftain coin the term, "If that's the kind of thing that tensions your tracks"

  • @chipholland9
    @chipholland95 ай бұрын

    Mom & I went to the barracks/museum in Bastogne a few years ago and got a private tour by a Belgian Paratrooper. Super nice guy, and he arranged for Mom to get a certificate due to Dad being in the 99th ID during the battle of Elsenborn Ridge. They had a Stug III under restoration in their garage. :)

  • @bartweijs
    @bartweijs5 ай бұрын

    I live in Belgium; and I recently took my kid to Bastogne ... I love that huge IS-152 positionned so you look down that huge barrel when you enter :D Absolutely great museum. The one in Brussels is also huge, and having a forging steel hobby; I found the plaque's where the show how they made the pattern-welded steel barrels ... awsome (and also unique in the world). I'm not sure, but did you pass the Weapon-school in Liege too ? They are smaller and are not a part of the war-heritage museum group, but they have a nice museum hall too.

  • @BoerChris
    @BoerChris5 ай бұрын

    I look forward to subsequent videos. I have always had a soft spot for Belgium and its people, having lived just across the border in the south of the Netherlands.

  • @robertneven7563

    @robertneven7563

    3 ай бұрын

    hello Maastricht ?????

  • @BoerChris

    @BoerChris

    3 ай бұрын

    @@robertneven7563Nee, Tilburg.

  • @janboen3630
    @janboen36305 ай бұрын

    I learned something new about my own country and military as a 35+ year reserve officer so I look forward to more.

  • @MaddEndd
    @MaddEndd5 ай бұрын

    Hmm, the engine sound of the Leopard 1 will always be my favorite.

  • @Morkhard
    @Morkhard5 ай бұрын

    thank you

  • @michaeldenesyk3195
    @michaeldenesyk31955 ай бұрын

    Great to see some new content and cool videos. Have you ever been to teh Arsenal in Copenhagen, Denmark? It is called the Tojhuset ( Pronounced Toy Hosset) museum.

  • @marcquickly5111
    @marcquickly51115 ай бұрын

    Danke!

  • @waltergolston6187
    @waltergolston61875 ай бұрын

    always enjoy your presentations. I am a bit more keen for this set of presentations.

  • @craigevans6156
    @craigevans61565 ай бұрын

    Having visited the museums at the Cinquantenaire, I can certainly recommend the air and army museums

  • @jisellan
    @jisellan5 ай бұрын

    Wow Im not Belgium but I live here. Love to see you here learning at the history of Belgium.

  • @JamesLaserpimpWalsh
    @JamesLaserpimpWalsh5 ай бұрын

    lol. Chieftain in the commanders position like great big long legged spider hah. Cheers for the vid.

  • @SonnyBurnett02
    @SonnyBurnett025 ай бұрын

    That intro :O I replayed it several times.

  • @pex_the_unalivedrunk6785

    @pex_the_unalivedrunk6785

    5 ай бұрын

    Me too...that up-armored Leo 1 is sexy af! 😍 Over 50 years old, and still looks dangerous.

  • @archiegeorge3969
    @archiegeorge39695 ай бұрын

    Great video. Is there going to be a section on how to convince our spouses to make a trip to Belgium and include time for the museums? You may really help us out if you include a video on selling the trip to them!

  • @btyrreddagger2065
    @btyrreddagger20655 ай бұрын

    I can see the updated quality

  • @thanksfernuthin
    @thanksfernuthin5 ай бұрын

    Boat floated. Getting other perspectives on important world events is really enjoyable to me.

  • @randyhavard6084
    @randyhavard60845 ай бұрын

    What a fantastic looking place

  • @michaelwright2986
    @michaelwright29865 ай бұрын

    I really did hear it right: "Musea". Except that if you're going to use that obsolete plural (so obscure that in a life spent reading early English and Latin, I've never met it before}, I'm sure you were mentally spelling it "Musaea". Very interesting video, and I look forward to the series. Belgium is, as every one says, famous for being a place where other people have fights, so the average punter doesn't think about Belgium's own armed forces.

  • @garyryman7595
    @garyryman75955 ай бұрын

    I had the opportunity to spend 3 weeks in Brussels back in 1999. The Belgians definitely appreciate their history, and especially their WWII allies. I spent a couple of Saturdays wandering the neighborhoods around the hotel, and any corner with open space had a statue of Patton, Eisenhower or Montgomery set on it. I went to the Military museum and an awesome car museum in the same "park" (Parc du Cinquantenaire). The scale of the Military museum is impossible to show on camera. When you can display full sized bomber and transport aircraft inside, you've got some space. Looking forward to the rest of the series.

  • @andreasm.7552
    @andreasm.75525 ай бұрын

    Seems like he got new sound equipment. It sounds much, much, much better now.

  • @Jpdt19
    @Jpdt195 ай бұрын

    Lovely stuff. Very much looking forward to seeing more :).

  • @chrissheffield5468
    @chrissheffield54685 ай бұрын

    Napoleon Bonaparte was not harmed during the making of this motion picture.

  • @alanmoffat4454
    @alanmoffat44546 ай бұрын

    THIS IS A GOOD FORMAT 😮. 😊