WEBVTT 00:00:00.726 --> 00:00:04.142 (light orchestral music) 00:00:05.849 --> 00:00:08.070 - We need to look at something astounding 00:00:08.070 --> 00:00:10.769 that happened over the course of like a hundred years. 00:00:11.640 --> 00:00:13.050 This is the final chapter, 00:00:13.050 --> 00:00:15.870 and what I think is the most mind-boggling chapter, 00:00:15.869 --> 00:00:17.879 in the story of how Europe took over the world. 00:00:17.879 --> 00:00:19.199 The reason why it's so mind-boggling 00:00:19.199 --> 00:00:20.820 is because this is the part of the story 00:00:20.820 --> 00:00:23.609 where the map goes from looking like this in 1800 00:00:23.609 --> 00:00:26.309 with Europe controlling like 35% of the world's land, 00:00:26.309 --> 00:00:29.739 to looking like this by 1914. 00:00:29.739 --> 00:00:33.156 (light orchestral music) 00:00:34.530 --> 00:00:38.160 With 84% of the Earth being controlled by the people 00:00:38.159 --> 00:00:39.689 or the descendants of the people 00:00:39.689 --> 00:00:42.809 from this once isolated continent in Europe. 00:00:42.810 --> 00:00:45.903 84%, how on Earth did this happen? 00:00:49.679 --> 00:00:51.030 A huge part of this next chapter 00:00:51.030 --> 00:00:53.700 has to do with this continent, 00:00:53.700 --> 00:00:55.109 the second largest continent on Earth 00:00:55.109 --> 00:00:56.850 and the part of the world that the Europeans 00:00:56.850 --> 00:00:58.250 hadn't really carved up yet. 00:01:00.390 --> 00:01:02.579 So this is where the whole story comes together. 00:01:02.579 --> 00:01:05.370 It shows us how technology and different ways of thinking 00:01:05.370 --> 00:01:07.410 helped these people take over the world, 00:01:07.409 --> 00:01:10.409 and in the process, shaped the world we live in today. 00:01:10.409 --> 00:01:13.229 The way that we trade, where we get our stuff, 00:01:13.230 --> 00:01:15.600 the language I'm using to speak to you right now, 00:01:15.599 --> 00:01:16.859 and most of you understand it 00:01:16.859 --> 00:01:19.170 even though you don't live anywhere near the place 00:01:19.170 --> 00:01:20.040 where it was invented. 00:01:20.040 --> 00:01:22.710 I'm telling you, this isn't far away history anymore. 00:01:22.709 --> 00:01:24.449 This is the world we currently live in. 00:01:24.450 --> 00:01:26.909 So let me show you the third and final chapter 00:01:26.909 --> 00:01:28.503 of how Europe stole the world. 00:01:29.629 --> 00:01:32.546 (orchestral music) 00:01:39.742 --> 00:01:43.649 Another video, another set of beautiful printed maps. 00:01:43.650 --> 00:01:44.483 And I'm telling you, 00:01:44.483 --> 00:01:46.560 this is the chapter where the maps get really good. 00:01:46.560 --> 00:01:48.000 Cartography really took off. 00:01:48.000 --> 00:01:49.709 Okay, let's get up to speed on where we're at. 00:01:49.709 --> 00:01:51.929 Remember it all started with Spain and Portugal. 00:01:51.930 --> 00:01:54.660 They ramped up this colonialism thing back around 1500 00:01:54.659 --> 00:01:57.060 and this led them to divide the world between them 00:01:57.060 --> 00:01:59.640 until other European countries got in on it, too. 00:01:59.640 --> 00:02:01.230 Then the real competition started. 00:02:01.230 --> 00:02:02.969 The Dutch created the modern corporation, 00:02:02.969 --> 00:02:05.129 which allowed them to speed all of this up. 00:02:05.129 --> 00:02:07.409 The world quickly turned into a giant marketplace 00:02:07.409 --> 00:02:10.169 run by Europeans with boats and guns 00:02:10.169 --> 00:02:12.329 and incentives to bring profits 00:02:12.330 --> 00:02:14.122 to the shareholders back home. 00:02:14.122 --> 00:02:16.560 (playful music) 00:02:16.560 --> 00:02:18.060 This is all a huge part of the story, 00:02:18.060 --> 00:02:20.789 but I'm telling you, when it comes to scale, 00:02:20.789 --> 00:02:23.250 imperialism is just getting started 00:02:23.250 --> 00:02:25.620 and that's because Europeans are about to level up. 00:02:25.620 --> 00:02:27.780 We're gonna call this Imperialism 2.0, 00:02:27.780 --> 00:02:29.669 a new way of taking over the world, 00:02:29.669 --> 00:02:33.299 fueled mostly by technology and a rare cooperation 00:02:33.300 --> 00:02:34.893 between all of these empires. 00:02:36.270 --> 00:02:37.800 One British prime minister described 00:02:37.800 --> 00:02:39.000 this Imperialism 2.0 as, 00:02:39.937 --> 00:02:42.390 "the vulgar and bastard imperialism 00:02:42.389 --> 00:02:44.399 of irritation and aggression, 00:02:44.400 --> 00:02:47.426 of grabbing everything even if we had no use for it." 00:02:48.599 --> 00:02:50.159 But let me tell you, if you're like me 00:02:50.159 --> 00:02:52.049 and you kind of have a low key implicit belief 00:02:52.050 --> 00:02:54.000 that European domination was inevitable 00:02:54.000 --> 00:02:55.590 and that this was gonna happen no matter what, 00:02:55.590 --> 00:02:58.530 I'm here to tell you that it almost didn't happen. 00:02:58.530 --> 00:03:00.750 That's because by the end of the 1700s 00:03:00.750 --> 00:03:02.810 revolution was in the air. 00:03:02.810 --> 00:03:06.227 (light orchestral music) 00:03:07.770 --> 00:03:10.050 Empires were losing their colonies, 00:03:10.050 --> 00:03:11.730 starting with a group of Europeans 00:03:11.729 --> 00:03:14.579 who were done having a king and declaring independence 00:03:14.580 --> 00:03:16.440 for themselves in the late 1700s. 00:03:16.439 --> 00:03:18.419 Soon you had a bunch of Spanish colonies 00:03:18.419 --> 00:03:19.829 declaring independence. 00:03:19.830 --> 00:03:22.140 And then over here in Haiti you had enslaved people 00:03:22.139 --> 00:03:23.969 who were organizing and rebelling 00:03:23.969 --> 00:03:25.590 against their French masters, 00:03:25.590 --> 00:03:27.780 throwing them out and starting their own country. 00:03:27.780 --> 00:03:30.030 These empires weren't only losing their colonies. 00:03:30.030 --> 00:03:33.479 Back in Europe, one ruler even lost his head in all of this. 00:03:33.479 --> 00:03:35.519 The empires were losing their grip 00:03:35.520 --> 00:03:37.710 and soon they were fighting with one another 00:03:37.710 --> 00:03:38.730 like never before. 00:03:38.729 --> 00:03:41.009 It was chaos and it totally freaked 00:03:41.009 --> 00:03:42.389 these European rulers out. 00:03:42.389 --> 00:03:43.919 Are they losing their empire? 00:03:43.919 --> 00:03:45.929 Are they gonna lose their reigns on power? 00:03:45.930 --> 00:03:48.840 Is the era of abundance and domination coming to an end? 00:03:48.840 --> 00:03:51.240 No, we can't let this happen. 00:03:51.240 --> 00:03:53.850 So they start doing something that was kind of unheard of. 00:03:53.849 --> 00:03:56.189 Instead of fighting and competing with each other, 00:03:56.189 --> 00:03:57.270 like they've always done, 00:03:57.270 --> 00:03:59.580 the European powers start talking to each other. 00:03:59.580 --> 00:04:00.870 Their empires were in jeopardy 00:04:00.870 --> 00:04:02.400 and they needed to collaborate, 00:04:02.400 --> 00:04:04.740 find ways to share power both at home in Europe, 00:04:04.740 --> 00:04:06.270 but also on the world stage. 00:04:06.270 --> 00:04:09.240 Soon, this new culture of diplomacy and collaboration 00:04:09.240 --> 00:04:11.580 would turn to focus on the one continent 00:04:11.580 --> 00:04:13.740 that none of these European powers had carved up yet. 00:04:13.740 --> 00:04:15.390 The new imperial frontier. 00:04:15.389 --> 00:04:16.919 Certainly full of resources, 00:04:16.920 --> 00:04:18.947 but not yet conquered. 00:04:18.947 --> 00:04:21.780 (whimsical music) 00:04:28.110 --> 00:04:29.910 I mean, the maps tell the story here. 00:04:29.910 --> 00:04:33.000 The maps were like a record of what Europeans knew 00:04:33.000 --> 00:04:34.439 and didn't know about the world. 00:04:34.439 --> 00:04:37.410 I mean, this one British map from 1800s says it all. 00:04:37.410 --> 00:04:38.243 Look at this thing. 00:04:38.242 --> 00:04:40.110 Europeans were definitely familiar with Africa, 00:04:40.110 --> 00:04:42.030 especially here in the coast, 00:04:42.029 --> 00:04:44.039 where for hundreds of years they had trading posts, 00:04:44.040 --> 00:04:46.319 and of course, the Atlantic slave trade. 00:04:46.319 --> 00:04:49.019 But look how they mapped the interior of the continent. 00:04:49.019 --> 00:04:50.459 It literally just gives up 00:04:50.459 --> 00:04:54.000 and is like inland parts almost entirely unknown, 00:04:54.000 --> 00:04:55.350 which is pretty rare for this time period. 00:04:55.350 --> 00:04:57.420 At this point, the Europeans had really mapped 00:04:57.420 --> 00:04:58.253 a lot of the world, 00:04:58.252 --> 00:04:59.519 but this place was off limits. 00:04:59.519 --> 00:05:02.219 It was the stuff of legend, of myths. 00:05:02.220 --> 00:05:04.020 The caption here on the map says that 00:05:04.019 --> 00:05:07.289 this interior part of Africa "may be considered 00:05:07.290 --> 00:05:10.740 as absolutely unknown or completely unexplored. 00:05:10.740 --> 00:05:13.019 All we know," says the map, "is that 00:05:13.019 --> 00:05:16.019 its immense and arid sands are intersected 00:05:16.019 --> 00:05:19.680 with complete collections of the most ferocious beasts 00:05:19.680 --> 00:05:22.199 and most uncivilized men." 00:05:22.199 --> 00:05:23.707 That's all they know. 00:05:23.708 --> 00:05:26.208 (light music) 00:05:28.800 --> 00:05:30.240 There was a very good reason for this. 00:05:30.240 --> 00:05:33.300 The fact is that soldiers and explorers from Europe 00:05:33.300 --> 00:05:34.740 who went into this area, 00:05:34.740 --> 00:05:35.670 a lot of 'em didn't come home. 00:05:35.670 --> 00:05:38.040 Up to 40% died from diseases 00:05:38.040 --> 00:05:40.319 like the mosquito-borne illness, malaria. 00:05:40.319 --> 00:05:42.959 So much so that this part of the map 00:05:42.959 --> 00:05:45.359 became known as the White Man's Grave, 00:05:45.360 --> 00:05:46.620 totally off limits. 00:05:46.620 --> 00:05:48.490 But that soon changed. 00:05:48.490 --> 00:05:51.156 (playful music) 00:05:56.790 --> 00:05:59.370 Two giant things happen that change everything, 00:05:59.370 --> 00:06:01.560 completely redirect what Europeans can do 00:06:01.560 --> 00:06:02.939 with their mounting power. 00:06:02.939 --> 00:06:04.980 First, these two French guys are able 00:06:04.980 --> 00:06:06.480 to take the bark of this tree, 00:06:06.480 --> 00:06:07.800 which had been used for a very long time 00:06:07.800 --> 00:06:08.850 for a variety of purposes 00:06:08.850 --> 00:06:11.610 and isolate a vital chemical called quinine. 00:06:11.610 --> 00:06:15.300 It combats malaria, the major killer of Europeans in Africa. 00:06:15.300 --> 00:06:17.310 They now have a white man's shield 00:06:17.310 --> 00:06:19.800 to protect them from the White Man's Grave. 00:06:19.800 --> 00:06:22.050 The door is slowly creaking open. 00:06:22.050 --> 00:06:24.449 Second, this guy happens. 00:06:24.449 --> 00:06:27.420 King Leopold II, he's the king of this new country 00:06:27.420 --> 00:06:29.819 called Belgium, and it existed for like 40 years. 00:06:29.819 --> 00:06:31.290 It's kind of a minor place in Europe, 00:06:31.290 --> 00:06:33.330 nothing like these OG colonizers. 00:06:33.329 --> 00:06:36.419 So it's like 1875, and King Leopold wants to play 00:06:36.420 --> 00:06:37.290 with the big boys. 00:06:37.290 --> 00:06:38.610 He wants a colony. 00:06:38.610 --> 00:06:40.770 So he literally goes around and starts asking 00:06:40.769 --> 00:06:43.319 these major colonial powers for like some of their land. 00:06:43.319 --> 00:06:45.569 Like he goes to the OGs, Spain and Portugal, 00:06:45.569 --> 00:06:47.069 and he's like, "Hey guys, I know you're in decline. 00:06:47.069 --> 00:06:48.599 Can I have one of your colonies?" 00:06:48.600 --> 00:06:49.710 And they're like, "No." 00:06:49.709 --> 00:06:51.007 So then he goes to the British and he's like, 00:06:51.007 --> 00:06:52.740 "Hey guys, I know you have New Guinea, 00:06:52.740 --> 00:06:54.030 maybe you don't have any plans for it. 00:06:54.029 --> 00:06:55.169 You could give it to me." 00:06:55.170 --> 00:06:56.850 And they're like, "No, Leo. 00:06:56.850 --> 00:06:59.160 Don't you realize how hard we worked to steal this land? 00:06:59.160 --> 00:07:00.600 We're not gonna give it to you as a handout." 00:07:00.600 --> 00:07:03.570 So King Leopold decides to take matters into his own hands. 00:07:03.569 --> 00:07:06.689 He turns to the map and decides this part of the map, 00:07:06.689 --> 00:07:08.939 the parts unknown, where none of the colonizers 00:07:08.939 --> 00:07:12.240 have arrived to yet, is a prime place for his colony. 00:07:12.240 --> 00:07:15.360 King Leopold sets his sight on the White Man's Grave. 00:07:15.360 --> 00:07:17.460 A quick reminder that this 00:07:17.459 --> 00:07:19.859 is kind of the fantasy of the Europeans 00:07:19.860 --> 00:07:20.699 who haven't explored this. 00:07:20.699 --> 00:07:22.050 In reality, at this point, 00:07:22.050 --> 00:07:24.120 Africa looks a lot more like this. 00:07:24.120 --> 00:07:26.370 But in the mind of King Leopold and other Europeans, 00:07:26.370 --> 00:07:30.273 it's a big, blank canvas with unlimited possibilities. 00:07:32.670 --> 00:07:35.550 So Leopold sends explorers to like the dead center 00:07:35.550 --> 00:07:37.050 of this blank canvas. 00:07:37.050 --> 00:07:38.699 And they're armed, not only with some 00:07:38.699 --> 00:07:40.110 of the latest and greatest weapons, 00:07:40.110 --> 00:07:42.120 but also with medicine that shields them 00:07:42.120 --> 00:07:44.129 from these killer tropical diseases. 00:07:44.129 --> 00:07:45.689 These Belgian explorers arrive 00:07:45.689 --> 00:07:48.480 and are able to make agreements with the locals, 00:07:48.480 --> 00:07:50.129 laying claimed to this land. 00:07:50.129 --> 00:07:52.350 King Leopold now has his own little colony 00:07:52.350 --> 00:07:54.300 in the center of the White Man's Grave. 00:07:55.410 --> 00:07:57.393 And of course, they start mapping it. 00:07:59.910 --> 00:08:02.220 This is a map from a bunch 00:08:02.220 --> 00:08:04.350 of Belgian cartographers and explorers 00:08:04.350 --> 00:08:07.830 when they first arrive to this center part of Africa. 00:08:07.829 --> 00:08:09.539 Very little detail here at the beginning. 00:08:09.540 --> 00:08:10.770 This is 1880. 00:08:10.769 --> 00:08:12.329 They basically got this river, 00:08:12.329 --> 00:08:13.229 some of the offshoots, 00:08:13.230 --> 00:08:16.230 but they don't really know what's going on in here yet. 00:08:16.230 --> 00:08:18.987 This becomes the frame that Leopold uses 00:08:18.987 --> 00:08:20.867 to build his colony. 00:08:20.867 --> 00:08:24.149 (light music) 00:08:24.149 --> 00:08:26.069 Now of course, this freaks the French out 00:08:26.069 --> 00:08:29.099 because they're like, "Hey, what's Belgium doing in Africa? 00:08:29.100 --> 00:08:30.689 Why are they exploring all this land?" 00:08:30.689 --> 00:08:32.700 So they decide to send their own explorers 00:08:32.700 --> 00:08:34.290 to claim their own bit of land. 00:08:34.289 --> 00:08:35.730 After all, they've got the medicine, 00:08:35.730 --> 00:08:36.990 it's not nearly as dangerous, 00:08:36.990 --> 00:08:38.220 and the Belgians are doing it. 00:08:38.220 --> 00:08:40.170 Well, of course now the British are waking up. 00:08:40.169 --> 00:08:41.490 They're sending people, too. 00:08:41.490 --> 00:08:43.889 And even the new kid on the imperial block, 00:08:43.889 --> 00:08:45.299 Germany is chipping in, 00:08:45.299 --> 00:08:48.811 and now suddenly we've got a scramble on our hands. 00:08:48.812 --> 00:08:52.229 (tense orchestral music) 00:08:53.226 --> 00:08:54.876 "But wait," say the European powers, 00:08:54.876 --> 00:08:56.309 "Let's learn from our mistakes. 00:08:56.309 --> 00:08:57.449 Instead of the old days where we always 00:08:57.450 --> 00:08:58.680 had to fight over things, 00:08:58.679 --> 00:09:01.019 in this era of revolution and warfare, 00:09:01.019 --> 00:09:02.519 remember that we're trying to be better 00:09:02.519 --> 00:09:03.960 about talking to one another? 00:09:03.960 --> 00:09:05.850 Coordinating, remember?" 00:09:05.850 --> 00:09:07.649 So it's 1884 and all these big, 00:09:07.649 --> 00:09:10.919 Africa hungry European empires get together in Berlin. 00:09:10.919 --> 00:09:12.360 I mean, there's amazing painting 00:09:12.360 --> 00:09:13.800 of just them all sitting here, 00:09:13.799 --> 00:09:15.659 looking at this big beautiful map, 00:09:15.659 --> 00:09:18.089 which would be like an amazing activity to do 00:09:18.090 --> 00:09:19.889 until you realize what's actually happening here. 00:09:19.889 --> 00:09:21.480 You've got the chancellor of Germany, 00:09:21.480 --> 00:09:23.370 you've got the OG colonizers, 00:09:23.370 --> 00:09:25.200 Portugal explaining this place 00:09:25.200 --> 00:09:27.120 to Belgium and France and Italy, 00:09:27.120 --> 00:09:29.279 and you've even got the new country, the United States 00:09:29.279 --> 00:09:31.860 who showed up kind of new to all this imperial stuff, 00:09:31.860 --> 00:09:34.440 but quickly learning how power really works 00:09:34.440 --> 00:09:35.610 on the international stage. 00:09:35.610 --> 00:09:37.590 Basically, anyone in Europe who didn't have 00:09:37.590 --> 00:09:39.629 an empire yet got in now. 00:09:39.629 --> 00:09:43.110 Oh, and crucially, they didn't invite any African leaders. 00:09:43.110 --> 00:09:45.539 And to be clear, this painting isn't like exaggerated, 00:09:45.539 --> 00:09:46.860 like it's not a political cartoon. 00:09:46.860 --> 00:09:49.200 This is literally a bunch of European dudes 00:09:49.200 --> 00:09:52.200 in a room in Berlin in 1884 00:09:52.200 --> 00:09:55.020 discussing and coordinating how they're going to carve up 00:09:55.019 --> 00:09:56.519 and take this continent. 00:09:56.519 --> 00:09:58.769 And they decided that there was gonna be one big rule 00:09:58.769 --> 00:10:00.360 for this new scramble for Africa. 00:10:00.360 --> 00:10:01.259 No pretending. 00:10:01.259 --> 00:10:04.230 None of this only on the map, fake imperialism thing 00:10:04.230 --> 00:10:06.240 that the Pope arranged for Spain and Portugal 00:10:06.240 --> 00:10:07.590 a few hundred years previous. 00:10:07.590 --> 00:10:09.570 You actually have to control the land 00:10:09.570 --> 00:10:10.500 if you're gonna claim it. 00:10:10.500 --> 00:10:12.539 So they divide up the map on who gets what, 00:10:12.539 --> 00:10:14.189 they leave the conference, 00:10:14.190 --> 00:10:15.240 and they get to work. 00:10:16.470 --> 00:10:18.660 The French start moving in quickly from West Africa. 00:10:18.659 --> 00:10:20.519 The British begin taking over Sudan 00:10:20.519 --> 00:10:23.129 and expanding north from down here in South Africa 00:10:23.129 --> 00:10:24.720 to take over all of this land. 00:10:24.720 --> 00:10:26.490 The Germans really start establishing themselves 00:10:26.490 --> 00:10:27.899 here and over here. 00:10:27.899 --> 00:10:29.429 Italy starts occupying all this land up here 00:10:29.429 --> 00:10:30.779 in the north and east. 00:10:30.779 --> 00:10:32.970 And Leopold, well, he got his colony. 00:10:32.970 --> 00:10:34.830 77 times the size of Belgium, 00:10:34.830 --> 00:10:36.270 here it was as a blank canvas 00:10:36.269 --> 00:10:38.879 when they first started exploring in 1880. 00:10:38.879 --> 00:10:40.830 Here it is 14 years later. 00:10:40.830 --> 00:10:43.800 Little Belgium down here, giant Congo up here. 00:10:43.799 --> 00:10:47.099 The blueprint is filled out, the conquest is complete. 00:10:47.100 --> 00:10:49.409 With his new colony, King Leopold, of course, 00:10:49.409 --> 00:10:50.699 went on to do horrible things, 00:10:50.700 --> 00:10:53.370 exploiting, pillaging the resources from this place 00:10:53.370 --> 00:10:55.440 and wreaking horrible havoc on the people. 00:10:55.440 --> 00:10:57.270 And it is horrific and it is horrendous, 00:10:57.269 --> 00:10:58.559 and I made a whole other video 00:10:58.559 --> 00:10:59.639 that kind of goes into it more. 00:10:59.639 --> 00:11:01.799 I'll link to it and go to the sources 00:11:01.799 --> 00:11:02.879 in the description, please. 00:11:02.879 --> 00:11:06.750 Okay. (intense orchestral music) 00:11:06.750 --> 00:11:09.539 All of these empires were carving up this map, 00:11:09.539 --> 00:11:11.549 coming in, mapping it very beautifully. 00:11:11.549 --> 00:11:13.439 It's like literally the opposite of what it was. 00:11:13.440 --> 00:11:15.210 It's unknown and now it's totally known. 00:11:15.210 --> 00:11:16.920 Pillaging the resources, bringing it back home, 00:11:16.919 --> 00:11:19.110 making record profits, et cetera, et cetera. 00:11:19.110 --> 00:11:20.940 And all of this, this carving, 00:11:20.940 --> 00:11:22.912 it happened really fast. 00:11:22.912 --> 00:11:26.495 (intense orchestral music) 00:11:31.200 --> 00:11:32.970 But wait a minute, hold on, pause. 00:11:32.970 --> 00:11:35.580 How does this make any sense? 00:11:35.580 --> 00:11:37.650 Like it made sense when it was all like on water 00:11:37.649 --> 00:11:39.149 and there were ships and there was domination 00:11:39.149 --> 00:11:40.649 and trading ports and all of that, 00:11:40.649 --> 00:11:42.990 but this, this is an incredibly, 00:11:42.990 --> 00:11:45.659 logistically ambitious thing to do. 00:11:45.659 --> 00:11:47.399 Like this was actually a central question for me 00:11:47.399 --> 00:11:49.199 that led me to make this series 00:11:49.200 --> 00:11:51.990 because I just didn't understand how these countries, 00:11:51.990 --> 00:11:53.610 in a matter of a few years, 00:11:53.610 --> 00:11:57.419 could completely carve up the second largest continent? 00:11:57.419 --> 00:11:58.829 Well, the answer to that question 00:11:58.830 --> 00:12:00.120 isn't that surprising. 00:12:00.120 --> 00:12:01.919 These Europeans now had a leg up. 00:12:01.919 --> 00:12:03.440 They had new tools. 00:12:03.441 --> 00:12:05.759 (upbeat music) 00:12:05.759 --> 00:12:08.370 Remember they had invented capitalism to make them rich. 00:12:08.370 --> 00:12:10.409 That gave them time to do science, 00:12:10.409 --> 00:12:12.329 which gave them technology that they used 00:12:12.330 --> 00:12:15.090 to make their capitalism better and more effective, 00:12:15.090 --> 00:12:16.110 more productive. 00:12:16.110 --> 00:12:19.080 This cycle repeated itself over and over and over, 00:12:19.080 --> 00:12:20.850 giving Europeans a further 00:12:20.850 --> 00:12:22.920 and further leg up technologically, 00:12:22.919 --> 00:12:26.099 until soon they had stuff like this, a steamboat. 00:12:26.100 --> 00:12:27.659 You didn't have to worry about the wind anymore 00:12:27.659 --> 00:12:28.492 to keep going. 00:12:28.493 --> 00:12:31.182 You could just steam your way all the way up African rivers. 00:12:31.182 --> 00:12:32.177 - Or the old African queen. 00:12:32.177 --> 00:12:35.970 - Or the railroad, quick way to transport food and troops. 00:12:35.970 --> 00:12:37.080 Like you can see this map, 00:12:37.080 --> 00:12:39.960 all of this red is either railroads that they put in 00:12:39.960 --> 00:12:42.330 or railroads that they were constructing at this time. 00:12:42.330 --> 00:12:43.800 This allowed Europeans to level up, 00:12:43.799 --> 00:12:45.779 not just in Africa, but everywhere. 00:12:45.779 --> 00:12:47.759 I mean, here they are in India. 00:12:47.759 --> 00:12:50.909 The British quickly taking over this entire subcontinent 00:12:50.909 --> 00:12:53.459 of what today's India and Pakistan and Bangladesh 00:12:53.460 --> 00:12:56.040 with this massive complex rail system 00:12:56.039 --> 00:12:58.469 that they built basically in no time. 00:12:58.470 --> 00:13:00.240 They also invented the telegraph, 00:13:00.240 --> 00:13:02.639 which could now relay messages in a matter of minutes 00:13:02.639 --> 00:13:03.840 instead of weeks. 00:13:03.840 --> 00:13:06.120 I mean, this political cartoon really personifies 00:13:06.120 --> 00:13:07.620 how powerful this was. 00:13:07.620 --> 00:13:10.547 And of course, what we've been looking at this whole time. 00:13:10.547 --> 00:13:13.129 (upbeat music) 00:13:15.110 --> 00:13:16.932 They made maps. 00:13:16.932 --> 00:13:17.909 (orchestral music) 00:13:17.909 --> 00:13:20.909 Big, beautiful juicy maps showing the geography 00:13:20.909 --> 00:13:24.269 and the people and all of the land that they had conquered. 00:13:24.269 --> 00:13:25.500 In addition to technology, 00:13:25.500 --> 00:13:27.450 these empires had also perfected the art 00:13:27.450 --> 00:13:29.610 of allying with local power holders 00:13:29.610 --> 00:13:31.627 and turning the people against each other. 00:13:31.626 --> 00:13:32.849 "Divide and conquer," 00:13:32.850 --> 00:13:35.220 which allowed a small group of Europeans 00:13:35.220 --> 00:13:37.290 to control millions of locals. 00:13:37.289 --> 00:13:40.464 And of course, they had these. 00:13:40.465 --> 00:13:43.382 (orchestral music) 00:13:45.779 --> 00:13:47.399 These refined killing machines 00:13:47.399 --> 00:13:49.559 that allowed small groups of European soldiers 00:13:49.559 --> 00:13:52.709 to rip through truly formidable African armies. 00:13:52.710 --> 00:13:54.540 Like look at this painting from Sudan 00:13:54.539 --> 00:13:56.099 where the British used their guns 00:13:56.100 --> 00:13:59.580 to slaughter 10,000 enemies with just a few hundred losses. 00:13:59.580 --> 00:14:01.590 And hear this casual caption 00:14:01.590 --> 00:14:03.187 showing that these savages were now 00:14:03.187 --> 00:14:06.000 "mowed down by these modern weapons of war, 00:14:06.000 --> 00:14:08.307 clearing way for civilization." 00:14:10.830 --> 00:14:12.450 Now, it wasn't this easy everywhere. 00:14:12.450 --> 00:14:13.980 Descendants of white Dutch settlers 00:14:13.980 --> 00:14:15.629 held off the British for a long time 00:14:15.629 --> 00:14:16.799 down here in South Africa, 00:14:16.799 --> 00:14:19.109 and the Ethiopians were able to hold off the Italians 00:14:19.110 --> 00:14:20.310 from conquering their land, 00:14:20.309 --> 00:14:23.909 making it the only place in Africa to never be colonized. 00:14:23.909 --> 00:14:25.889 But listen, in the midst of all this bloodshed, 00:14:25.889 --> 00:14:28.230 we have to talk about something that doesn't fit cleanly 00:14:28.230 --> 00:14:30.000 into our narrative of good versus evil. 00:14:30.000 --> 00:14:32.490 Because the presence of these Europeans in this continent 00:14:32.490 --> 00:14:34.409 also brought really positive things. 00:14:34.409 --> 00:14:36.000 Remember those French dudes that discovered 00:14:36.000 --> 00:14:37.139 the treatment for malaria? 00:14:37.139 --> 00:14:38.699 Well that was tested in the field 00:14:38.700 --> 00:14:40.740 in French Algeria, a colony. 00:14:40.740 --> 00:14:42.659 It changed medicine forever, 00:14:42.659 --> 00:14:45.299 giving us our modern understanding of mosquitoes 00:14:45.299 --> 00:14:47.429 and the diseases they spread. 00:14:47.429 --> 00:14:50.009 This scramble into Africa helped push forward 00:14:50.009 --> 00:14:53.100 our understanding of health and disease and medicine. 00:14:53.100 --> 00:14:55.529 These and tons of other medical developments 00:14:55.529 --> 00:14:57.659 help these Europeans conquer land, 00:14:57.659 --> 00:15:01.439 but it also brought innovation that we still use today 00:15:01.440 --> 00:15:03.933 that has saved countless lives. 00:15:03.932 --> 00:15:06.432 (light music) 00:15:08.370 --> 00:15:11.580 Okay, so technology was a major defining factor, 00:15:11.580 --> 00:15:12.840 but it wasn't just technology. 00:15:12.840 --> 00:15:14.519 Once again, we see in this chapter 00:15:14.519 --> 00:15:15.750 what we saw in other chapters. 00:15:15.750 --> 00:15:17.669 That Europeans had to develop new, 00:15:17.669 --> 00:15:19.889 sophisticated mental inventions 00:15:19.889 --> 00:15:21.600 that allowed this all to go down. 00:15:21.600 --> 00:15:23.519 The popular story that they were telling themselves 00:15:23.519 --> 00:15:26.069 at this time was that all civilization 00:15:26.070 --> 00:15:28.890 could be ranked according to the level of development. 00:15:28.889 --> 00:15:30.659 And look, according to this analysis, 00:15:30.659 --> 00:15:32.279 they placed themselves at the top 00:15:32.279 --> 00:15:33.899 and they could tell themselves very easily 00:15:33.899 --> 00:15:36.029 that they were the enlightened people of the world. 00:15:36.029 --> 00:15:37.709 This new colonizing story 00:15:37.710 --> 00:15:40.379 was the most sophisticated and tantalizing yet, 00:15:40.379 --> 00:15:41.820 and it's one that's still kind of embedded 00:15:41.820 --> 00:15:43.020 in a lot of our brains still. 00:15:43.019 --> 00:15:45.480 That the enlightened civilization had a burden 00:15:45.480 --> 00:15:48.000 to bring civilization to the rest of the world. 00:15:48.000 --> 00:15:49.889 And for that, they kind of needed 00:15:49.889 --> 00:15:51.600 to stay on top and control. 00:15:51.600 --> 00:15:52.560 And the reason why this story 00:15:52.559 --> 00:15:54.029 was so believable and tantalizing 00:15:54.029 --> 00:15:55.529 is because at this time 00:15:55.529 --> 00:15:59.279 it was being blended with actual real objective science 00:15:59.279 --> 00:16:00.779 that was being done by Europeans. 00:16:00.779 --> 00:16:02.579 Like this guy, Charles Darwin, 00:16:02.580 --> 00:16:04.200 someone who changed the way that we think 00:16:04.200 --> 00:16:05.370 about the natural world. 00:16:05.370 --> 00:16:07.769 He had just put out a book about how animals evolved 00:16:07.769 --> 00:16:10.590 into hierarchies with different capabilities and traits. 00:16:10.590 --> 00:16:12.960 Well, if that applies to all animals, 00:16:12.960 --> 00:16:15.509 then it must apply to humans themselves 00:16:15.509 --> 00:16:17.730 and their societies and their civilizations. 00:16:17.730 --> 00:16:19.649 So then they go out into the field with their maps 00:16:19.649 --> 00:16:21.179 and they start gathering observations 00:16:21.179 --> 00:16:22.919 that confirm this story. 00:16:22.919 --> 00:16:24.809 And soon, they're measuring people's skulls 00:16:24.809 --> 00:16:25.829 all around the world. 00:16:25.830 --> 00:16:26.910 They're keeping notes, 00:16:26.909 --> 00:16:28.829 they're developing theories and terms, 00:16:28.830 --> 00:16:30.270 they're writing academic papers, 00:16:30.269 --> 00:16:32.850 all of this to define a pretend set 00:16:32.850 --> 00:16:34.769 of pseudo-scientific ideas, 00:16:34.769 --> 00:16:37.289 the idea that we're all part of a different race, 00:16:37.289 --> 00:16:39.750 all with different natural capabilities. 00:16:39.750 --> 00:16:42.450 And that is what must explain 00:16:42.450 --> 00:16:45.180 why some people have the resources and the technology 00:16:45.179 --> 00:16:46.349 and others do not. 00:16:46.350 --> 00:16:49.170 Like the previous stories that Europeans told themselves, 00:16:49.169 --> 00:16:50.969 this one was intoxicating. 00:16:50.970 --> 00:16:52.920 Think of all the generations that passed 00:16:52.919 --> 00:16:54.329 where this story could be ingrained 00:16:54.330 --> 00:16:56.280 into the minds of the people. 00:16:56.279 --> 00:16:58.379 But again, remember that I'm not saying 00:16:58.379 --> 00:17:00.149 that these Europeans are telling themselves 00:17:00.149 --> 00:17:01.199 this story every day. 00:17:01.200 --> 00:17:02.580 We're now talking about the great, great, 00:17:02.580 --> 00:17:05.549 great grandchildren of like the original colonizers. 00:17:05.549 --> 00:17:08.759 The individual people didn't have the grand plan in mind 00:17:08.759 --> 00:17:10.109 to go carve up Africa. 00:17:10.109 --> 00:17:12.179 They were just responding to what they knew, 00:17:12.180 --> 00:17:13.860 what they'd been told was real, 00:17:13.859 --> 00:17:15.779 what they wanted to believe. 00:17:15.779 --> 00:17:17.250 It was a way of life. 00:17:17.250 --> 00:17:18.930 It was a way of thinking. 00:17:18.930 --> 00:17:20.670 And if we think that we're somehow exempt 00:17:20.670 --> 00:17:23.130 from a similar type of mental model that we don't see 00:17:23.130 --> 00:17:25.170 but that dictates our behavior, 00:17:25.170 --> 00:17:26.130 we're tricking ourselves. 00:17:26.130 --> 00:17:27.810 I mean, listen to one of these British imperialists, 00:17:27.809 --> 00:17:29.159 Cecil Rhodes. 00:17:29.160 --> 00:17:31.860 He says, "We happen to be the best people in the world 00:17:31.859 --> 00:17:34.139 with the highest ideals of decency and justice, 00:17:34.140 --> 00:17:35.400 liberty and peace. 00:17:35.400 --> 00:17:37.350 And the more of the world we inhabit, 00:17:37.349 --> 00:17:39.569 the better it is for humanity." 00:17:39.569 --> 00:17:42.598 Okay, Cecil has made up his mind. 00:17:42.598 --> 00:17:43.649 (orchestral music) 00:17:43.650 --> 00:17:45.269 Okay, so let's look at the map 00:17:45.269 --> 00:17:47.129 in like the early 1900s. 00:17:47.130 --> 00:17:48.660 Africa looks like this, 00:17:48.660 --> 00:17:51.029 completely carved up by European powers. 00:17:51.029 --> 00:17:52.559 Over here, the Dutch had conquered 00:17:52.559 --> 00:17:54.329 the entire Indonesian archipelago. 00:17:54.329 --> 00:17:55.859 The French completely taking over 00:17:55.859 --> 00:17:57.299 this part of Southeast Asia. 00:17:57.299 --> 00:18:00.029 But the real kingpin in all of this taking over land stuff 00:18:00.029 --> 00:18:01.349 was the British Empire. 00:18:01.349 --> 00:18:03.659 In addition to all this stuff they had in Africa, 00:18:03.660 --> 00:18:06.509 they occupied the huge Indian subcontinent. 00:18:06.509 --> 00:18:08.309 They also had a few of these important ports 00:18:08.309 --> 00:18:10.079 like Hong Kong and Singapore. 00:18:10.079 --> 00:18:12.359 I mean, I can't go over all of the stuff they took over 00:18:12.359 --> 00:18:13.439 'cause it's just too much. 00:18:13.440 --> 00:18:14.279 At the peak of their empire, 00:18:14.279 --> 00:18:16.559 they ruled over 412 million people, 00:18:16.559 --> 00:18:18.299 which was a ton for that time. 00:18:18.299 --> 00:18:21.690 Their domination had spread to almost 25% of the globe, 00:18:21.690 --> 00:18:25.320 making Britain this rainy set of islands in Europe 00:18:25.319 --> 00:18:27.779 the biggest empire that ever existed. 00:18:27.779 --> 00:18:29.670 In doing so, they spread their people, 00:18:29.670 --> 00:18:31.769 their ideas, their economic system, 00:18:31.769 --> 00:18:34.680 their fringe language to every corner of the world, 00:18:34.680 --> 00:18:36.029 including where I'm sitting right now. 00:18:36.029 --> 00:18:38.160 Because remember, the US is just one expression 00:18:38.160 --> 00:18:39.120 of the British Empire, 00:18:39.119 --> 00:18:40.619 the branch of the empire that went on 00:18:40.619 --> 00:18:42.419 to become the most powerful country in the world 00:18:42.420 --> 00:18:45.000 to influence how the world order would look. 00:18:45.000 --> 00:18:49.435 By 1914, Europe had successfully taken over the world. 00:18:49.435 --> 00:18:51.269 (light music) 00:18:51.269 --> 00:18:53.639 They were deathly rich compared to the rest of the globe. 00:18:53.640 --> 00:18:56.220 And their ideas, both good and bad, 00:18:56.220 --> 00:18:58.650 were deeply embedded in the international system. 00:18:58.650 --> 00:19:00.540 But suddenly, all of this technology, 00:19:00.539 --> 00:19:03.450 all this industrialization that made them so effective, 00:19:03.450 --> 00:19:05.819 turned away from conquering faraway lands 00:19:05.819 --> 00:19:07.928 and was turned on each other. 00:19:07.929 --> 00:19:09.158 (cannon explodes) 00:19:09.157 --> 00:19:11.069 (orchestral music) 00:19:11.069 --> 00:19:13.649 Over the next 30 years, hundreds of millions of people 00:19:13.650 --> 00:19:16.860 are killed in the two most destructive wars ever 00:19:16.859 --> 00:19:18.659 made possible by all the same things 00:19:18.660 --> 00:19:20.790 that allow Europeans to take over the world, 00:19:20.789 --> 00:19:22.920 sophisticated weapons in technology 00:19:22.920 --> 00:19:25.140 that Europeans are now turning on each other. 00:19:25.140 --> 00:19:27.300 The so-called sophisticated race 00:19:27.299 --> 00:19:29.099 is now slaughtering one another 00:19:29.099 --> 00:19:30.929 on an unprecedented scale. 00:19:30.930 --> 00:19:32.700 These wars didn't do the image 00:19:32.700 --> 00:19:35.069 of the civilized Europeans any good. 00:19:35.069 --> 00:19:38.039 And Western-schooled local elites decided that 00:19:38.039 --> 00:19:41.039 they didn't wanna be ruled by foreign forces anymore. 00:19:41.039 --> 00:19:44.220 They were able to rally their people around common language 00:19:44.220 --> 00:19:46.950 and birth to national identity that didn't include 00:19:46.950 --> 00:19:49.440 being ruled by white people from some faraway continent. 00:19:49.440 --> 00:19:51.269 And they pushed the colonists out, 00:19:51.269 --> 00:19:54.150 sometimes peacefully, but most often with force. 00:19:54.150 --> 00:19:57.480 The Europeans had built this insane global project 00:19:57.480 --> 00:19:59.099 for more than 400 years, 00:19:59.099 --> 00:20:01.905 and yet they saw it crumble in a matter of decades. 00:20:01.905 --> 00:20:05.490 (tense orchestral music) 00:20:05.490 --> 00:20:09.779 So, today, the map has been severely redrawn. 00:20:09.779 --> 00:20:12.480 Former colonies are now mostly independent countries. 00:20:12.480 --> 00:20:15.480 There are still a ton of weird, idiosyncratic holdovers 00:20:15.480 --> 00:20:16.500 from the colonial period. 00:20:16.500 --> 00:20:17.880 I've talked about those many times 00:20:17.880 --> 00:20:19.830 and I will continue to talk about them. 00:20:20.932 --> 00:20:23.432 (light music) 00:20:24.480 --> 00:20:25.920 I wanna finish this up, 00:20:25.920 --> 00:20:28.230 finish this video and finish this series up 00:20:28.230 --> 00:20:29.640 with my last thought here, 00:20:29.640 --> 00:20:32.919 which is something that the map doesn't tell us much about. 00:20:32.919 --> 00:20:36.240 (light music) 00:20:36.240 --> 00:20:38.970 Even though all these countries became independent 00:20:38.970 --> 00:20:41.579 and they can claim their own sovereignty, their own borders, 00:20:41.579 --> 00:20:43.109 their colonizers are gone. 00:20:43.109 --> 00:20:44.159 They didn't actually. 00:20:44.160 --> 00:20:45.570 Not only were there loads of borders 00:20:45.569 --> 00:20:47.700 that were literally drawn by colonizers, 00:20:47.700 --> 00:20:50.850 I mean, see basically all of my previous work. 00:20:50.849 --> 00:20:51.682 But by the end of this 00:20:51.682 --> 00:20:55.079 it was the Europeans that had tied the whole world up 00:20:55.079 --> 00:20:57.240 into an interconnected system 00:20:57.240 --> 00:20:59.370 that still kind of echoed the old one. 00:20:59.369 --> 00:21:01.589 The Dutch invention of the shareholder corporation 00:21:01.589 --> 00:21:02.459 didn't go away. 00:21:02.460 --> 00:21:04.376 Private companies didn't suddenly stop looking 00:21:04.376 --> 00:21:06.480 for the same far off places 00:21:06.480 --> 00:21:08.730 to find resources, to find labor, 00:21:08.730 --> 00:21:11.610 to feed increasing demand among their people back home. 00:21:11.609 --> 00:21:13.919 And European rulers and their offspring 00:21:13.920 --> 00:21:17.759 didn't stop using their big metal guns and their technology 00:21:17.759 --> 00:21:20.279 to get what they wanted In faraway lands. 00:21:20.279 --> 00:21:22.019 Occasionally talking to each other 00:21:22.019 --> 00:21:24.389 and occasionally fighting with each other. 00:21:24.390 --> 00:21:27.000 Fighting to control land, to control people, 00:21:27.000 --> 00:21:29.490 to control ideas, and perhaps most powerfully, 00:21:29.490 --> 00:21:33.480 the idea that our enlightened way was indeed the best way. 00:21:33.480 --> 00:21:35.730 - We will stand with the new leaders of Iraq 00:21:35.730 --> 00:21:37.950 as they establish a government of, 00:21:37.950 --> 00:21:41.580 by, and for the Iraqi people. 00:21:41.579 --> 00:21:43.600 - Certainly it has not gone away. 00:21:43.601 --> 00:21:46.050 (light music) 00:21:46.049 --> 00:21:47.759 And yet, if it were only that simple, 00:21:47.759 --> 00:21:49.920 a simple narrative of good and bad, 00:21:49.920 --> 00:21:51.779 greedy Europeans take over the world 00:21:51.779 --> 00:21:53.190 and do anything to stay ahead, 00:21:53.190 --> 00:21:55.080 that would be a lot easier in some ways, 00:21:55.079 --> 00:21:56.099 but it's not. 00:21:56.099 --> 00:21:57.689 Europe taking over the world 00:21:57.690 --> 00:22:00.690 has also thrust humanity into an age of peace 00:22:00.690 --> 00:22:03.299 and prosperity where people live longer, 00:22:03.299 --> 00:22:05.009 suffer less in a lot of ways, 00:22:05.009 --> 00:22:06.269 have more food to eat. 00:22:06.269 --> 00:22:07.650 I mean, the very moral lens 00:22:07.650 --> 00:22:09.240 that you and I are using right now 00:22:09.240 --> 00:22:11.940 to evaluate the good and bad of this history, 00:22:11.940 --> 00:22:14.400 that was a lens that was cultivated and developed 00:22:14.400 --> 00:22:16.410 by the same cultures that pillaged 00:22:16.410 --> 00:22:18.990 and subjugated their way around the planet. 00:22:18.990 --> 00:22:21.120 These ideals of justice and equality 00:22:21.119 --> 00:22:23.309 and human rights and representation, 00:22:23.309 --> 00:22:25.799 social equality and self-determination, 00:22:25.799 --> 00:22:28.200 those ideas permeated the globe 00:22:28.200 --> 00:22:30.750 alongside the colonizers who carved it up. 00:22:30.750 --> 00:22:34.140 And yet, it was this conquest that put these people 00:22:34.140 --> 00:22:35.880 on top of the whole system 00:22:35.880 --> 00:22:39.420 giving us the power and the advantage, 00:22:39.420 --> 00:22:42.115 the default power holders in our world. 00:22:42.115 --> 00:22:45.531 (light orchestral music) 00:22:48.779 --> 00:22:51.029 These three parts have been a story 00:22:51.029 --> 00:22:53.670 of how an isolated group of farming people, 00:22:53.670 --> 00:22:55.230 some of them my ancestors, 00:22:55.230 --> 00:22:57.120 left their shores to explore, 00:22:57.119 --> 00:22:59.429 discovering a vast world that eventually 00:22:59.430 --> 00:23:01.080 they would find a way to control. 00:23:01.079 --> 00:23:03.059 And in the process, setting the rules 00:23:03.059 --> 00:23:04.502 for how things work today. 00:23:06.059 --> 00:23:07.919 What's slightly scary to me about this 00:23:07.920 --> 00:23:10.769 is how easy it is to look back on this whole history 00:23:10.769 --> 00:23:12.539 and feel like it was gonna happen 00:23:12.539 --> 00:23:13.619 this way no matter what, 00:23:13.619 --> 00:23:14.549 that it was inevitable. 00:23:14.549 --> 00:23:16.559 That of course Europeans took over the world. 00:23:16.559 --> 00:23:17.609 They were always more adept, 00:23:17.609 --> 00:23:19.199 they were bound to control the planet. 00:23:19.200 --> 00:23:20.400 But if there's anything I've learned 00:23:20.400 --> 00:23:23.340 diving into this broad tour through European imperialism 00:23:23.339 --> 00:23:26.069 is that this idea is just hindsight bias. 00:23:26.069 --> 00:23:29.129 This didn't happen because of some superior DNA 00:23:29.130 --> 00:23:32.580 or because God wanted these people to take over the world, 00:23:32.579 --> 00:23:34.949 but rather it happened to because a bunch of people 00:23:34.950 --> 00:23:36.690 happened to be at the right place 00:23:36.690 --> 00:23:38.610 that allowed them to start a chain 00:23:38.609 --> 00:23:40.289 of millions of little decisions 00:23:40.289 --> 00:23:42.240 that pushed them to do whatever they could 00:23:42.240 --> 00:23:44.579 to procure more and more resources. 00:23:44.579 --> 00:23:47.220 They got ahead because of lucky circumstances. 00:23:47.220 --> 00:23:48.990 And yet today in our modern world, 00:23:48.990 --> 00:23:52.200 we continue to do whatever we need to to stay ahead 00:23:52.200 --> 00:23:54.029 while simultaneously believing 00:23:54.029 --> 00:23:56.215 that it was always gonna happen this way. 00:23:56.215 --> 00:23:58.715 (light music) 00:24:13.890 --> 00:24:14.883 It's over. 00:24:15.960 --> 00:24:16.793 It's over. 00:24:16.792 --> 00:24:18.269 I mean, the series is over, 00:24:18.269 --> 00:24:20.400 but the year is over. 00:24:20.400 --> 00:24:21.900 I deserve this. 00:24:21.900 --> 00:24:24.120 Not only is it the end of the Europe series, 00:24:24.119 --> 00:24:25.229 it's the end of the year 00:24:25.230 --> 00:24:27.210 and what a year it has been. 00:24:27.210 --> 00:24:30.240 By the way, this video is not sponsored by anyone, 00:24:30.240 --> 00:24:31.559 probably because we're in a recession. 00:24:31.559 --> 00:24:33.419 And so I'm gonna take this time 00:24:33.420 --> 00:24:36.779 to just reflect a little bit on what this year has meant 00:24:36.779 --> 00:24:38.759 for me as a storyteller and a journalist 00:24:38.759 --> 00:24:42.180 and for our team and what we are gonna do next. 00:24:42.180 --> 00:24:43.980 I think for me, the big thing I learned this year 00:24:43.980 --> 00:24:48.329 was that we can build a big operation. 00:24:48.329 --> 00:24:49.679 Like for a long time it was just me 00:24:49.680 --> 00:24:51.390 kind of pushing buttons on a laptop 00:24:51.390 --> 00:24:52.740 and like making stories. 00:24:52.740 --> 00:24:54.900 And this year, it actually became a team. 00:24:54.900 --> 00:24:56.730 We now have lots and lots of people 00:24:56.730 --> 00:24:59.490 making really, really cool stuff, a very talented team. 00:24:59.490 --> 00:25:02.579 And we're doing journalism on a level that we've never done. 00:25:02.579 --> 00:25:06.419 We go really deep on every fact that we say on this channel, 00:25:06.420 --> 00:25:07.830 and that requires a lot of work. 00:25:07.829 --> 00:25:09.269 Sometimes that feels really tiresome, 00:25:09.269 --> 00:25:11.460 but a lot of the time that feels exciting. 00:25:11.460 --> 00:25:14.819 That we on YouTube can be doing like hardcore journalism 00:25:14.819 --> 00:25:16.439 and fun stuff too, obviously. 00:25:16.440 --> 00:25:18.870 We got to do a few in the field documentaries this year, 00:25:18.869 --> 00:25:20.129 which was really amazing. 00:25:20.130 --> 00:25:23.790 I went to Paris and Korea and Switzerland. 00:25:23.789 --> 00:25:25.889 We printed a lot of amazing maps 00:25:25.890 --> 00:25:28.560 and showed you what maps were like over the years 00:25:28.559 --> 00:25:29.819 and what they were used for. 00:25:29.819 --> 00:25:32.639 Oh, and my hair got really long 00:25:32.640 --> 00:25:34.080 'cause I decided for the first time in my life 00:25:34.079 --> 00:25:34.980 not to cut it, 00:25:34.980 --> 00:25:38.490 and that's making my whole no shampoo thing 00:25:38.490 --> 00:25:39.690 a little more complicated. 00:25:39.690 --> 00:25:41.279 Maybe I'll make a video about that. 00:25:41.279 --> 00:25:44.403 Anyway. (romantic music) 00:25:47.250 --> 00:25:48.809 I eat a lot of Doritos. 00:25:48.809 --> 00:25:50.759 Like a lot of Doritos. 00:25:50.759 --> 00:25:52.230 Like I really like Doritos, 00:25:52.230 --> 00:25:53.730 even after I know how they're made. 00:25:53.730 --> 00:25:55.890 But in my mind, this is kind of just the beginning. 00:25:55.890 --> 00:25:57.360 Like I want this to be the beginning. 00:25:57.359 --> 00:25:58.956 I want like four years from now to look back and be like, 00:25:58.957 --> 00:25:59.790 "Oh yeah, 2022. 00:25:59.789 --> 00:26:01.769 That was the year that we really started to ramp up." 00:26:01.769 --> 00:26:02.700 And that gets me to the thing 00:26:02.700 --> 00:26:04.769 that I'm really excited about that we launched this year, 00:26:04.769 --> 00:26:07.170 which is a community on Patreon called The Newsroom. 00:26:07.170 --> 00:26:09.440 A place where people like you support us 00:26:09.440 --> 00:26:10.620 in what we're trying to do here 00:26:10.619 --> 00:26:11.639 and allow us to grow. 00:26:11.640 --> 00:26:14.730 More and more, and especially during economic downturn 00:26:14.730 --> 00:26:16.410 and unpredictability, 00:26:16.410 --> 00:26:19.620 this work that we do relies on community support, 00:26:19.619 --> 00:26:22.289 on people like you showing up and supporting us. 00:26:22.289 --> 00:26:24.329 And it's our Newsroom supporters that are allowing us 00:26:24.329 --> 00:26:26.339 to do better work, to do more of it, 00:26:26.339 --> 00:26:27.750 and I'm very grateful for that. 00:26:27.750 --> 00:26:30.873 In addition to supporting independent journalism, 00:26:32.347 --> 00:26:33.181 Newsroom members also get access to a bunch of cool stuff, 00:26:33.181 --> 00:26:34.230 like a behind the scenes vlog, 00:26:34.230 --> 00:26:35.519 an extra video every month. 00:26:35.519 --> 00:26:37.500 There's a lot of really talented, 00:26:37.500 --> 00:26:38.970 interesting people behind the scenes. 00:26:38.970 --> 00:26:41.339 And every month you get a vlog where you see 00:26:41.339 --> 00:26:42.329 how it's all done. 00:26:42.329 --> 00:26:45.210 You get access to music from our composer Tom Fox. 00:26:45.210 --> 00:26:47.250 You get access to my scripts. 00:26:47.250 --> 00:26:50.160 Like occasionally we do Q&As where we get to chat. 00:26:50.160 --> 00:26:52.380 I do polls where I get story ideas. 00:26:52.380 --> 00:26:54.810 It's become a really cool community of supporters 00:26:54.809 --> 00:26:57.599 and just a kind of a sounding board for cool ideas. 00:26:57.599 --> 00:26:58.679 Oh, and here's a big one. 00:26:58.680 --> 00:27:01.080 We've started publishing our videos over on Nebula, 00:27:01.079 --> 00:27:02.849 which is a creator-owned platform 00:27:02.849 --> 00:27:05.519 where you can get our videos a week early. 00:27:05.519 --> 00:27:07.680 There's a link in my description that explains all that. 00:27:07.680 --> 00:27:08.940 If you wanna support the channel 00:27:08.940 --> 00:27:10.680 and you're like a production person, 00:27:10.680 --> 00:27:12.600 then we have LUTS and Presets, 00:27:12.599 --> 00:27:14.730 which help us color our videos and photos. 00:27:14.730 --> 00:27:16.380 And if you don't wanna support the channel 00:27:16.380 --> 00:27:18.030 and you just wanna keep watching, 00:27:18.029 --> 00:27:18.990 that's fine, too. 00:27:18.990 --> 00:27:21.150 I'm not here to tell you to give me money. 00:27:21.150 --> 00:27:23.730 I'm here to make cool stories 00:27:23.730 --> 00:27:26.160 and I hope that you're learning from these videos 00:27:26.160 --> 00:27:28.200 and I appreciate you being here in the first place. 00:27:28.200 --> 00:27:32.220 So, let's raise a glass to a wonderful year 00:27:32.220 --> 00:27:35.759 of learning and growth and amazing stories, 00:27:35.759 --> 00:27:39.569 and look forward to a 2023 that I hope 00:27:39.569 --> 00:27:41.819 is gonna be full of even more growth. 00:27:41.819 --> 00:27:44.970 Not only growth in the number of people that are here, 00:27:44.970 --> 00:27:47.730 but also a growth in our desire 00:27:47.730 --> 00:27:49.829 to like understand this world, 00:27:49.829 --> 00:27:53.009 to understand the story of how we all got here 00:27:53.009 --> 00:27:54.660 and how it works today. 00:27:54.660 --> 00:27:56.820 I will continue to be the curious storyteller 00:27:56.819 --> 00:27:58.559 who tries to bring those stories to you 00:27:58.559 --> 00:28:00.210 in the best way possible. 00:28:00.210 --> 00:28:02.490 I appreciate all of those who are here supporting, 00:28:02.490 --> 00:28:07.200 and cheers to a great 2023 of curiosity 00:28:07.200 --> 00:28:08.370 and a lot of maps. 00:28:08.369 --> 00:28:09.989 Bye everyone. 00:28:09.990 --> 00:28:13.073 (light upbeat music) 00:28:18.471 --> 00:28:21.054 (gentle music)