How Esperanto *Almost* Took Over The World

In 1887 L.L. Zamenhof created the Esperanto language with just a simple pen and paper. It was intended to bridge the gap between miscommunication and promote world peace. You might have realised that you are realising this in English and not Esperanto - so what happened? Well the reality is that had things gone differently, you and I might just have ended up speaking it. From world peace, to two World Wars to Adolf Hitler, the United Nations, Grand Theft Auto and even Duolingo... this is the story of the most fascinating language you might not have heard of. Subscribe if you enjoyed this video as there will be more. Get in touch: [email protected] Chapters: 0:00 Intro 0:22 The Man Behind The Language 1:34 How It Works 2:44 How It Sounds 3:02 Early Beginnings 4:24 Going Global 5:15 The Vote That Changed Everything 6:42 The Downfall 8:24 Hiding In The Corners Of History 9:18 The Surprise Comeback Corrections: 0:22 *In what is now Poland 1:53 -as ending is present tense -is ending is past tense -os ending is future tense Thanks to The Smithsonian Archive, Wikitongues, The Met, Library of Congress, Texture Labs, and Mapal amongst others.