World War II, A War for Resources: Crash Course World History

In which John Green teaches you about World War II, and some of the causes behind the war. In a lot of ways, WWII was about resources, especially food. The expansionist aggression of both Germany and Japan was in a lot of ways about resources. There were other reasons, to be sure, but the idea that the Axis needed more food can't be ignored.
Citation 1: Lizzie Collingham. The Taste of War: World War II and the Battle for Food. Penguin. New York. 2011. p 30
Citation 2: Collingham. p 102
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Learn more about WWII in these other Crash Course videos:
Crash Course World History:
World War II (#38): • World War II: Crash Co...
Crash Course US History:
World War II Part 1 (#35): • World War II Part 1: C...
World War II Part 2 (#36): • World War II Part 2 - ...
Crash Course European History:
World War II (#38): • World War II: Crash Co...
World War II Civilians and Soldiers (#39): • World War II Civilians...
The Holocaust, Genocides, and Mass Murder of WWII (#40): • The Holocaust,Genocide...
Post-World War II Recovery (#42): • Post-World War II Reco...
Crash Course Black American History:
World War II (#31): • World War II: Black Am...
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[@gabesusman4592]

I miss john green's crash course history videos, it'd be nice if he made another series at some point, it's been way too long since crash course European history ended

[@colleengorman4878]

This was very eye opening. Told my students this was a different view I haven't heard before because of the focus on personalities and the story of good versus evil.

[@thomasphifer3054]

Lol John, you pronounced Lebensraum "Liebensraum," which means "loving space"

[@jbkjbk1999]

+Thomas Phifer Who wouldn't want some more loving space ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡° )

[@aelianaevergreen8955]

Mispronunciation is his THING

[@nickcrownshaw9034]

+Thomas Phifer and he threw in a cheeky "Hejenomy" rather than hegemony

[@kevinmcd7680]

+Thomas Phifer Turns out Hitler just wanted land to build brothels and cheap motels for more sexy time

[@kerryl7455]

pronunciation depends on where you're from, who your family is, and who you learn the language from in an L2 case.

[@livvyisawsum]

Lebensraum = living space You said 'Liebensraum' and I know mispronouncing words is your thing but I am laughing at what should be a very serious concept because. Liebensraum = loving room. :)

[@TOFKAS01]

Well, the "Lebensraum" would have been a "Liebesraum" for the arians........

[@disasterial]

Lol, yeah, it's "Lebensraum" not "Liebensraum"

[@danielolvera3944]

Livvy P he meant it, it was the scoodilypooping room

[@sjlee3438]

Because all you need is loving space

[@darrianweathington1923]

he says what he means and he means what he says

[@tobywilson]

It's very interesting to see a different point of view on such a well discussed topic. We're all taught about WW2, but rarely was it discussed in a way other than militaristic "good v evil". This is why I love crash course!

[@TheyCallMeGawd]

Wait, so who won the war? I hate it when stories have vague endings...

[@victor7gomez]

pretty sure those German guys they look tough

[@zoeburgess9264]

Okay so I'm pretty sure you'r a troll, but still for anyone else who may read this. No war is not a story, it's horrible thing that happened. It matters less who won and more for the effect overall that it had.

[@brittanyperkins2208]

America....duh

[@zoeburgess9264]

brittany perkins -.- the Allies.... duh

[@cOmAtOrAn]

Mongolia won. In early 1945 vast Mongol armies swept over China and the USSR, quickly defeating all of the major powers apart from Great Britain and the USA. However, they did get all of Britain's major colonies, so when the war ended Mongolia and the USA were the only ones with any negotiating power. (And the Mongols only left the western hemisphere alone because the US had developed nuclear weapons.)

[@franciscog4071]

Steps to world dominatiom 1.become mongols 2.invade russia in winter 3.SKIP JAPAN 4.good 2 go

[@Hartono25277]

8 hours ago.

[@reddeimon475]

you can defeat Japan by blocking its trade route, they dont have natural resources which mostly imported (US provide 40% of oil n iron) so you can exhaust them pretty quickly

[@reddeimon475]

n Japan never defeat the Mongols, it just happen to be storms in both of Mongols ocean invasion

[@gaiusjiau]

+Red Deimon Mongol invasion of Japan had a hidden motive to kill the numerous surrendered soldiers from Jin and Song.

[@FaaduProductions]

5. Disintegrate real quick due to being shitty at administration. 6.??? 7. Profit? 8. Not really

[@albusdu8069]

Or was it the british fear for running out of TEA!!!

[@zahidul6723]

You know that tea is grown in Asia

[@nicholasr-m1631]

@@zahidul6723 you just ruined the joke. give yourself a pat on the back.

[@joeychiappetta]

graveyard of the fireflies showed the japanese starvation pretty well

[@joeychiappetta]

Some chap called Paul still a good movie though

[@BumblingFool912]

Joseph Chiappetta Most definitely; but there are better Ghibli works imo.

[@joeychiappetta]

Some chap called Paul well obviously lol. Miyazaki (again spelling lol) has created so many great ones that come down to opinion as to which one is the best

[@BumblingFool912]

Joseph Chiappetta they are the best in their own right to be honest; and you got the spelling right this time, not to worry :P However, there are better /animes/ out there like Cowboy Bebop or even No Game No Life both of which I highly recommend if you haven't already.

[@joeychiappetta]

Some chap called Paul I would put them in a different category of anime honestly but again good. Love the Bebop soundtracks too

[@lostintashkent]

Dear John, thanks for broadening my perspectives about WW2. We Brits tend to neglect the negative aspects of our colonial history during school history lessons. Famine in East India is not something we mention, and never the fact that we might have been partly responsible.

[@kelvinlaihaocherng1258]

Love how John always relates world history to its valuable learning outcome for the betterment of our future.

[@Vrankxs]

I like how CrashCourse always try to look differently at history and gives the viewer a new or different perspective about events that happend in our history.

[@BazzBrother]

I like how dense the commenters are concerning his reference to "good vs evil". The ENTIRE point of the comment was to juxtapose the common view vs the reality, which most of you seem to have glossed over in order to be offended.

[@daest07]

THE TRUTH HAS BEEN SPOKEN! xD

[@Nonsense010688]

Well let's be honest: the reason that most missed the point is not as much lack of intelligence (happens too), but having a certain mind set/agenda own they own.

[@daest07]

Si Wi true...

[@kanklez]

I'm pretty sure the fact he says "and it is" at about 0:45 might have something to do with it too.

[@G4r0s]

What I miss even more is the discussion he stipulates at the end of video. How are we to act in a world of finite resources? What we have learned from WWII is that fighting over them makes everyone lose.

[@CONJOPI]

Could someone get me some water? I'm dying of first.

[@avamundar9614]

This would be funnier if you actually were

[@EatinCookiesAllDay]

Stop. That pun....

[@SmokeyEdits]

JUST TAKE IT! TAKE MY LIKE, YOU JERK.

[@GrantWitherspoon]

oh wow

[@SpazzyMcGee1337]

I'm missing a key reference.

[@Lily-mm7dq]

John Green: I hope you guys discuss this in the comments The comments: WhO eLsE iS wAtChInG tHiS tHe NiGhT bEfOrE aN eXaM

[@mallorysmith3273]

Lily more like during an online final essay😂

[@Lily-mm7dq]

@@mallorysmith3273 Yeah there's so much going on rn with essays and tests

[@jbhazard]

The Mongols running joke always gets me 😂

[@EmperorBeef]

I think you're wrong about WWII being about resources. As you said, Japan and Germany desired autarky not because they were facing a crisis, not because their people were starving or deprived, but because autarky would allow them to pursue even further conquest. It was conquest for the sake of conquest. Resources were the means by which the war was fought, but not the goal.

[@victor7gomez]

I agree on Germany but no Japan would have ran out of a lot of things if they didn't start an invading different countries or other countries actually start trading with them

[@RoScFan]

JACKPOT!!! DING DING DING! That is EXACLTY right. I'm glad I'm not the only one that sees that.

[@ValorPhoenix]

geth117 Yeah, Japan definitely needed resources. It wasn't food that was the initial driver, but their lack of industrial resources. Taking Indonesia and the Phillipines was mostly about oil and rubber, which was so vital they risked Pearl Harbor in the hopes they could hold out versus the US Pacific Navy. Manchuria however was primarily about food, but they already had that before Pearl Harbor. Japan needed more than just food, they needed industrial resources. Germany as well needed industrial resources, otherwise they wouldn't have tried to hold north Africa, not to mention the diversion during Barbarossa to capture the Russian oil fields instead of the capitol. It was more critical for Japan. The US blockade was crushing Japan, the atomic bombs only made the surrender more immediate due to Russian advances. Japan didn't even have a hope for breaking the blockade as they couldn't fuel their ships.

[@FELONIOUSBOLUSS]

I think what John said makes sense as the two main objectives for the invasion of the USSR were the oil fields of the Caucasus and Ukraine for the grain.Also,I HEARD(dunno if its true)that every german soldier was promised with a deed for a piece of russian land upon the end of the war.

[@someguysomeguy5874]

he is wrong for America and Britain it was freedom and democracy

[@ForeverRepublic]

This war was truly the darkest years of human existence.

[@kieranmolloy7687]

What about WW1?

[@Burkutace27]

+Mr Kiem3 Those two plus the years between = 31 years and 100 million + dead, Europe shattered forever and the world changed in ways we won't fully comprehend for centuries. Historians of the far future will view these wars in the same way we view the punic wars.

[@fuadsiregar]

how about ice age?

[@ForeverRepublic]

Rafuad Siregar That was the coldest.

[@fuadsiregar]

ForeverRepublic what a suprise

[@kemiyoshida]

The last minute of this lecture speaks volumes. Awesome stuff!

[@TheDavidLiou]

2:52 where's his basic gun safety training?

[@gardener68]

Liou David I thought that looked a little dangerous.

[@Trazyn_the_Infinite_40K]

In the Marines, your DI will do the same thing, the purpose is to ensure that the recruit has not just handed the DI a loaded weapon. Same principle there with the Japanese trainer.

[@TheDavidLiou]

Alex Warnke Isn't it like, dangerous to look into the barrel?

[@harrygrant4122]

Liou David the gun is unbolted, it would not be able to fire even if you pulled the trigger. i should know, i own a bolt action rifle.

[@TheDavidLiou]

Oh. Didn't know that it is unbolted.

[@Vkashu13]

Hey, I just want to say that this channel is pure gold. Your videos are so so funny and at the same time very informative. For last 5 hours I have been watching random stuff from you guys, and it does not happen to me very often that I get so interested in something, so I just had to say thanks for the awesome content. So, well, thanks!

[@DavidAkhter]

Awesome video and awesome explanation. This is an interesting new perspective to the war and sheds a lot of light on the motivations behind it.

[@GEdwardsPhilosophy]

This is excellent. May I recommend doing a history of the middle-east in terms of the availability of water.

[@SoljaChild]

I cannot lie, the way you explain things, is extremely hilarious and amazing. These are absolutely funfacts!!!!

[@dasarislavo]

This was great :)

[@Vespasiaan]

WE'RE NOT A COUNTRY, WE'RE 4 SEPERATE COUNTRIES!

[@andrewpaul2716]

+Mastah Playah Too bad you are now a whole country.

[@timtjtim]

+Andrew Paul Hu?

[@joegriffin2887]

+Mastah Playah Hahahahahaha

[@timtjtim]

Hugh Jenas Also don't forget the channel islands, and the overseas territories... :) CGP Grey has a great video about it.

[@imperialcrusader2647]

+Mastah Playah Three technically Northern Ireland is not a country it is a territory of the UK England, Scotland, and Wales are Northern Ireland is not.

[@marc-anthonymcgowan7910]

Thank you CrashCourse, this really helped me a lot

[@Guess963]

your videos are awesome i cant wait to see more. keep it up man

[@antwan1357]

So wait more people died because of food shortages then by the actual fighting. Man that is so real.

[@Alsterwasser]

German "food shortages" after WWI is kind of a euphemism. Due to the food blockade AFTER the armstice, hundreds of thousands of German civilians (children, women, elderly) were starved to death. - Therefore, the idea of gaining agricultural autarkie was reasonable enough. And still is.

[@erikjohansson4275]

Swan Maiden No, the blockade was during the war. However, things like the great depression combined with the french army forcing Germany to pay france by simply going into to Germany and directly taking/stealing german industrial output did contribute to some small scale food shortages.

[@Alsterwasser]

Eric Johansson No, you're uninformed. The blockade was also AFTER the armstice in order to force Germany sign the "Versailles Treaty". Look, it's even in Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blockade_of_Germany#Blockade_after_armistice Even the allied-written schoolbooks in FRG admitted ca. 800,000 civilians starved to death, mostly elderly, women and children. More detailed elucidation: www.wintersonnenwende.com/scriptorium/english/archives/articles/starvation1919.html What you are writing about are the 1920s, my remark referred to 1919.

[@erikjohansson4275]

Swan Maiden Okay.

[@michaeltariga5285]

Swan Maiden Nice, they didnt teach this in school.

[@Alsterwasser]

Mighty Roogna "History is written by the victors."

[@joaomatosgraca1013]

This is tremendously good. Thank you

[@yomamasofat413]

LOVE CRASH COURSE! Makes history much more appealing!

[@Wolksvagen-nr1lb]

When you realize that Japanese, not Soviet, was the one without food. "Them Hollywood lie to me!"

[@DiggingForFacts]

Good to see a youtube clip that actually highlights to some extent just how important resources were to the warring nations. Reading Adam Tooze's The Wages of Destruction will give an illuminating but harrowing look at how the German economy functioned during WWII. His conclusion: Germany started WWII because it was just no longer economically possible to postpone it.

[@knightfire1786]

I LOVE the thought bubble animations!!! they are ABSOLUTELY amazing!!!

[@joshuayough5514]

I know right Also TF2 SPHEE CREEPIN AROUND HERE

[@turgaysgc]

thank you for this video and for all your efforts. you folks bring us good material for learning and understanding the world.

[@nikipetrov635]

Hey, CrashCourse! I must say i absolutly love your show. Especially the History courses. You do such a great job in explaining the events without entering in complicated dates and furthermore you're not just going trough the history, you're tackling questions about the real importance of it all. I love that. It would be great if u mention my country Bulgaria more often(but I'm not suprised it has went back on your priorities xD).I was thinking that maybe a Balkan wars themed episode would work out, afterall it setted the stage in the Balkans for years to come. Nevertheless, even if you don''t turn to a similar topic I'm sure I'll continue to watch your show for years to come. Continue the awesome job Crash course ;)

[@DLWormwood]

I am surprised you didn’t mention that Germany was, in part, in dire need of resources due to the reparation situation of WWI and the economic damage caused by the fall of Weimar. Those were mostly how the Nazis came to power, after all, regardless of your moral opinion of that party.

[@joshua_sykes]

I never knew this viewpoint. Glad I watched it; thanks Crash Course!

[@thelifeofanasianamerican5673]

This was very helpful, thank you.

[@RamdomView]

3:17 It was an agronomist named Herbert Backe who developed the hunger plan.

[@ajitsingh71091]

in india we do not read ww2 as war between good and evil but a war between newly industrialized nations looking for colonies and markets and old empires not allowing them in their traditional sphere.

[@kalibos]

+omegasavant it's important to remember that ideologies based on racial and national superiority were very popular all over the world at the time, among both fascists and democracies.

[@teargass1849]

The Germans killed the Jews, the Japanese the Chinese, the Americans nuked japan and the U.K. and U.S. firebombed entire German cities of civilians into nothing the soviets (Who where on the "Good Guys Team") killed more than anyone else, with stalin killing pretty much everyone. no side was good.

[@bletwort2920]

India doesn't concern itself with the Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan, Britain and the allies. At the time, India was struggling to gain independence while suffering under the British occupation which pushed millions upon millions into starvation and death, it was a time when nationalism rose in India and efforts were made to take India back after a millennium of foreign rule and oppression.

[@lewisparrin3467]

And Soviets also stood by as Poles were massacred in Warsaw. Literally watched from across the river as it happened.

[@BifronsCandle]

+kalibos Except the racial ideologies NEVER reached the same heights as the Axis.

[@HistoryHustle]

I am really impressed by this episode. Never looked at it this way. Thanks!

[@Shoobadon52]

You guys are wonderful I really enjoy your videos. Thank you.

[@Stardweller1]

Now I'm hungry.

[@loomhigh]

so were the Western Australians after the Great Depression fuelled the Emu War

[@coolest_in_the_jung1e390]

It seems the Mongols are everywhere in Eurasian history.

[@tadhalpin1595]

THE MONGOLS!!!

[@torquesuburb178]

They're the exception.

[@YoHoOMirster]

Everywhere in World History. >:)

[@chaywen9240]

derpy man kirby hmmm I wonder why.........maybe because their country covered the entire continent

[@tadhalpin1595]

Chaylen Tejeda *Continents

[@spikeyfish]

Another great video, thanks Crash Course!

[@keenan1972]

really good quite eye opening thanks

[@history9115]

John Green you should make a video about the history of Ireland.

[@thelegendaryt]

"Aw Turkey" 😂😂😂😂😂

[@ahcokris]

A good episode. Lots to think about.

[@jerrybabiak1037]

Enjoyed the resource aspect presentation of that war.

[@superchacho777]

HOI4 IS OUT Also happy D-day

[@robertwhitfield9360]

you should do something on the Falklands

[@kevinmcd7680]

+Robert Whitfield go falk yourself

[@PenguinODoom]

+Kevin McD Tbh it would be intresting to hear about it, I wanna hear the argentianian side.

[@robertwhitfield9360]

maddad333 what we got our arses kicked:)

[@Bird_Dog00]

+maddad333 The argentinian side is rather simple: Argentina always claimed "las malvinas" for itself (even though as far as I can tell, they have little to substantiate that claim other than proximity) and going for it by force was thought by the regime to be a good way to spurr nationalistic sentiments in order to take the pepoles' minds off the domestic problems the country faced. Essentialy, Argentina tried to do what Britain has ben doing for a long time: "We hold it now, so it's ours."

[@makosan9]

+Robert Whitfield You army didn't look its best either, btw. Had all the bombs in San Carlos exploded, it would have been a fucking disaster for the jingos instead. :/

[@jamals211]

Love it, thanks Stan

[@con-fu3677]

A unique perspective, very cool.

[@Xlonian]

K, not trying to be butt hurt but I genuinely am becoming more and more convinced that Jon dislikes Britain to a particular level. He goes into great deal about the British colonial deaths (which were good awful) but brushes over the deaths of Manchurian peasants under this Japanese. Hell the Nazis are given a much more brief account of their war crimes than the British Empire. I love the series and I that the empire was bad but in this episode and others it just seems that Jon is particularly disposed against Brits.

[@BumblingFool912]

meh. if that's his view then so be it...I'm learning more than I ever did at school thanks to Jon and Hank...so...sure it's biased in a sense that he has a distaste if not a straight up disliking of us brits he's still presenting a good brief overview of an aspect of the second world war, which ultimately is what I came for.

[@boredboy1993]

Its kind of left out as well, I mean at school no one mentioned the millions of dead indians.

[@Democlis]

I believe he does that because the war crimes of the axis are all well known and documented but on the other hand the ones committed by the allies (specially GB in this case, since at the beginning of the 20th century they were THE major colonial power in the world) are usually ignored by our revisionist kind of history, specially in the decades AFTER a major war or historical event. As we distance ourselves from these more and more by the passage of time we can actually take a better look at them from a more neutral ground and actually see that this "good vs evil" mentality is just "too simplistic" to justify wars and such and that most of the times BOTH sides commit atrocities. Or are you gonna tell me that GB letting it's Indian and Sub-Saharan subjects die of starvation just out of fear it wouldn't be able to maintain the war going wasn't a nasty decision and an actual crime against those people? The thing is up to this day ppl around the world are still imbued with a lot of nationalism when it comes to their history and if you go on and touch on a sensitive subject to them they tend to feel offended even if you a more objective approach to it. In the end history was written by the victorious and when even centuries latter we try to take another look at it and see something different from what we learned we tend to get defensive and that can be said about pretty much EVERY country in the world.

[@RazlerofEsthar]

I thought he stressed the British colonial deaths to really show that WWII effected areas that didn't see any fighting, mainly because of resources(which was the entire point of the video) Asia and Europe were active warzones,(he did mention millions dead in concentration camps? Or the deaths attributed to Stalin) but India? Sub-Saharan Africa saw little fighting at all. Lets be honest here the Brits were horrendous people in the past with their colonialism even the most sugar coated versions of history still point to that.

[@TheBespectacledN00b]

Lamaking65 Compared to the competition, like the Spanish or Leopold of Belgium, or even Whilhelmine Germany, who wiped out an African ethnic group in reprisals. A lot of the administrators of the Holocaust were ex-colonial civil service. Does it excuse it, no. I understand John mentioning it, but again, from the POV of the Indians a Japanese or German victory would have been worse. There is a quote by Hitler somewhere about how "....one day, the Indians will look back on the good old days of British rule". Yes, some racism was involved. But also, you have to factor in the decision was probably made late at night, on not enough sleep and with dozens of other calls that needed taking. It's complicated.

[@SGMJ92]

Crash Course World History episode on the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth?

[@Twrecks92]

Excellent episode.

[@NathalieTravelMuse]

Great series. Love that is entertaining and has SUBSTANCE!! Not just the usual youtube drivel. I'm addicted!

[@NZCrypT]

As a historian you should know that no truly 'Good vs Evil' war will ever exist in human history

[@whoevencaresbrawecb1139]

Actually the war between me and acne is XD idk just like countering what everyone says

[@amanda40035]

then again, he's not a historian (fortunately)

[@BifronsCandle]

As a historian, you should know that oversimplistic maxims like this don't apply to human history.

[@keating_tyler2243]

+NZCrypT I agree. No matter what caused the war, no side is truly good. The Allies also committed atrocities against the Axis peoples, and even though the results were nowhere near as horrendous, a greater evil does not erase a smaller one.

[@blownspeakersss]

Millions and millions of innocent people were murdered by Germany and by USSR. That is evil. Any honest and sophisticated read of history will show that the Allied powers are clearly on the right side of history.

[@kenstr321]

"you can not invade Russia, unless you're the Mongols." And that's why Moscow has burned more times then Henry VIII was married? You can not "successfully" invade Russia... you know cause it has been invaded several times, but only conquered once. (by a foreign power)

[@matthewdentistry2814]

love your work people :) very good vid

[@astubbs1986]

these videos are sooo good !!!!

[@jferny96]

0:08 what kind of obsession do you have with number Seven? (the books) great videos btw Un saludo desde España

[@discountconsulting]

I'm surprised growing demand for tires and conflicts over the global markets for Brazilian rubber weren't mentioned. Model T Fords had reached a price level affordable to the masses and German automakers were gearing up to mass-produce VWs for the 'volk,' Industrialization and the growth of cities had already begun drawing people away from agriculture and the promise of greater food production and distribution with the help of motorized tractors and trucks was another factor. Ultimately, the New Deal was an effort to re-invigorate capitalism for the sake of structuring a new global society where agriculture and food-distribution would be more mechanized and industrialized, and the question is how this new vision for mass-societies evolved into WWII.

[@erikjohansson4275]

discountconsulting Are you proposing that Roosevelt's actions led to the second world war?

[@ishanpandey2328]

"We are the Exception" - Mongols Absolutely love it. Go John Green!!!

[@ananyav1896]

I liked this new take on the Second World War. It's one of my favourite topics in History and I always strive to know about different perspectives. Thanks for this video, Mr Green!

[@Lucy-ng7cw]

Wow...lots of stuff missing. I feel like there should be a second part or something

[@loomhigh]

there are about four videos on WWII in Crash Course where Australia still gets 2 sentences and every single ANZAC victory in the Pacific was called an American one.

[@FunkyHonkyCDXX]

God this show is good.

[@GQ1123ja]

this so on point a way to look at it that few do but it was a major motivation and actual effect on battles ect

[@ARBBFamily]

Excellent.... Never gave much thought to the feeding of the world population during the war or how the lack of food caused such misery for both soldiers and civiliasn. Absolutely enjoy to learn and Crash Course does it so well

[@OfficialManGo]

"Liebensraum" = Loveroom

[@tuxedopig7940]

Damn your making me hungry.

[@Windy3s]

Nice....Good episode

[@TirraOmilade]

Thank you! this is great! I use your videos to help my children learn in our homeschool.

[@carn941]

Oil, clothing, spare parts and manpower were also huge parts of the war.

[@loomhigh]

and so was wheat and its byproducts (he said to someone probably not getting the reference)

[@theoneilovemost]

" I later calculated that all of the destruction and wasted resources spent on that war could have easily accounted for every human need on the plane." ~Jacque Fresco 1916 to 2017

[@SteveMac110]

Love this series

[@RobMcCauslandArt]

I like your take on world war 2. Very interesting light on an often shadowy topic that gets left out of our history books..

[@emmaballz]

Or I could just remember the word autarchy as autarchy. I think that works.

[@LEOUSTET]

Polish also invaded Russia succesfully.

[@user-lu8vb1pm9p]

Not more successfull, than the Germans did.

[@MephLeo]

One of the best episodes of the series.

[@non_toxicgreen1967]

I wanted to clap at the end of this video ! Thankyou John green for being more education than a school could ever be.

[@xxxXOctaneXxxx]

lebensraum. liebensraum is loving space.

[@xxxXOctaneXxxx]

lebensraum pronounced "laybensrowm"

[@axelNodvon2047]

u need loving space too

[@ShyanTheLegend]

I thought it was living place

[@johnbenton4488]

ShyanTheLegend It's certainly what Israel seeks.

[@timlamiam]

British food is fine. I dunno why Americans love saying that it's bad. Just because it's more varied, and if you looked, there is some whack shit out there, does not mean it's bad. In fact, I've enjoyed dining out here in England waaaaaaay more than anywhere in America.

[@stormbringer2189]

+timlamiam that is your opinion but you do not have to be so regal about it its just food nothing more

[@sparklepawz1185]

+timlamiam it's mainly because the U.S (I'm guessing you mean U.S citizens not the Americas) over sweetens and over salts a lot of the food. I'm not saying that Americans (U.S.) are flawed or wrong when it comes to food but when food costs less because more high fructose corn syrup is in it, you have to realize that the amount of sugar a person is used to compared to the little amount Britain uses...well it'll taste bland at the least.

[@stormbringer2189]

Sparkle Pawz America has cut down on Corn syrup

[@sabafapbing2762]

+timlamiam I thought it was other Europeans that were saying it was crap. And to be fair, food with names like 'Bubble and Squeak' don't sound too appetizing.

[@salame462]

+timlamiam I love meat pies, shepherd's pie, and empire cookies. British/Scottish food is delicious.

[@amandaruzylo6736]

Great perspective! Shows that there were so many variables to the 2nd world war... not just the fighting. The war affected everyone.

[@hiccups55]

a very unique and interesting look on WW II.

[@Amatsaru29]

Wasn't the Treaty of Versailles, a cause for Ww2? The treaty of Versailles' unfair policies sent upon Germany from Great Britain and France wanting revenge on Germany?

[@hufflepunk9562]

Yes, it was a cause as it caused massive debt for Germany, which led to desperate people looking for a ANY solution and why so many German people bought into extreme ideologies.

[@joshschilmeister1934]

There were many causes of WW2. Many historians attribute at least part of Hitler's rise to power to the horrific devastation in the post WW1-Germany. And said devastation also fueled hyper-nationalism and xenophobia.

[@helenjovel6437]

I actually wrote an essay on how the Versailles Treaty of 1919 contributed to the start of WWII, my main point was that if they hadn’t messed up Germany so much, there really wouldn’t have been a WWII

[@zexal4217]

@@helenjovel6437 Most modern historians actually reject Versailles as causing WW2 and point out how it was actually relatively tame in terms of what it stipulated.

[@silverdarlin]

If you were in nazi Germany's during WWII then you would of said you were the good guys and the allies were the bad guys and vice-versa

[@duwak3359]

take the L

[@kevinmcd7680]

+silverdarlin Tried to sympathize with Nazis, gets immediate L

[@ChestOfDoom]

+Kevin McD I dont even know what the L is but i feel like he needs one

[@blewskidoo2110]

+silverdarlin according to my family members, you were trying not to get bombed.

[@ShinkF]

+TheRealAskic What about american civilians with Japanese ancestry? It's not always black and white..

[@AAA999XYZ]

More such videos, please!

[@stephenmason7549]

Awesome video, makes me want to go read Jim Penmans BioHistory again.

[@mininonja917]

The most interesting thing about this video is not the fallacy about being unable to invade Russia (Polish-Soviet War of 1919-1921), or even lumping all the countries of Great Britain together, but rather the fact that for the first time (At least as far as I am aware), there is finally some citation. History is open to many different interpretations, and the only way to make a valid claim is to defend it with cited evidence, something this show had failed to do in the past. However, there are still a few ways to make the historical analysis even more solid. First: Quantity of sources. I'm only in high school, but if I turned in a history paper with only one source (Both citations here are from the same book), it wouldn't even get graded. If anything, I could get expelled for plagiarism. And secondly: The counterclaim. One of the most effective ways to argue your point is to demonstrate that you understand the other side too, by presenting the opposing argument with its own valid evidence. This show has yet to do that without treating the counterclaim in an almost condescending manner. These are most prevalent in the Episodes on the American Civil War (Different series, yes, but also Crash Course History). John made a contentious claim, that the Civil War was fought over slavery, but then doesn't provide any evidence, or mention the fact that many people, both now and then, do not at all agree, and point to states rights and lack of representation, such as when Lincoln was elected without winning any Southern States. That is just not good historical practice, and raises serious questions about the validity of the show. To conclude, the inclusion of sources is an exciting step towards increased credibility, but their is still a lot of progress to be made to make the show even more credible. Because without credibility, what is really the point of discussing history?

[@lolpauve]

mininonja917 Explain to me how you get expelled for plagiarizing by just using one source. Not that I disagree with the overall idea but I just don't get the logic behind that part.

[@mininonja917]

lolpauve I am in the IB program, and an expectation there is constant and thorough use of sources. Every single point you make, or fact you use has to be cited. Additionally, you have to use a variety of sources. While there is no specific rule about the amount of sources that must be present, it is generally a good idea to have about 4 per claim, seeing as each claim should have around 4 pieces of evidence.

[@tootz1950]

mininonja917 That's not plagiarism. They're actually going to give you a degree?

[@lolpauve]

mininonja917 I get that, I don't get that whole plagiarism part. P.S. I don't think this show would work if there were that many citations for everything.

[@mininonja917]

tootz1950 Yes, it is. I quote from IB definitions of malpractice. "Plagiarism: this is defined as the representation of the ideas or work of another person as the candidate’s own". Not citing a source is presenting the work of someone else as your own. That definition can be found here: www.fcps.edu/RobinsonSS/ib-program/pdf/IB%20definition%20of%20malpractice.pdf

[@theunknowncorps22]

In my view 'good' and 'evil' are still valid concepts. It is important that while rejecting the traditional black and white definitions of those terms it is also important to use them to distinguish between right and (extreme) wrong. People are shades of gray but they can commit blatantly evil actions (usually) because they think they are doing the right thing. Especially if ideology (politics, religion) is involved. Such as in the case of Hitler. And yes the Allies were not entirely 'clean' in their conduct of the war... But please let us not reject the terms altogether and adopt pseudo-profound moral relativism (as I see some doing below) because moral relativism is a fact of history, *not* a basis for ethics/morals. It also falls to the 'tolerance-intolerance' contradiction and completely refutes itself as a political agenda. On top of that it also leaves us with nothing, only 'tolerance' but no direction morally.

[@joshschilmeister1934]

Yeah I mean the Allies weren't 'good guys'. Britain were still imperial bastards, the US was locking away the Japanese, and the don't get me started on the USSR. But doing horrible things in wartime, while never excusable, is a long way from the Japanese or the Germans. 2 things can be completely unacceptable and one can still be much worse than the other. The stance that 'Both were evil and so they're equal' is just as much nonsense as 'The Allies were angels fighting for freedom'

[@dactarik2615]

Everything is relative, assigning right or wrong, is an incorrect way to see the issue, as you deny the reason why did it happen, and become blind to to the pitfall that is in the other extreme; one that we foolishly call good

[@dextera-tx1099]

Yes, as an outsider i see the Nazis just wanted to colonize the allies or make the allies feel what is like to be colonized / invaded. I mean because of that, thanks to Nazis... I mean the event, we become a nation now. Sorry if I'm wrong.

[@bullrun2772]

Common Sense1776 really gosh

[@mark-yn8po]

John Green you are my hero and I love your book.

[@lusunni]

Good to know, thanks.

[@isaackim8976]

"i wanted a brain transplant but then i changed my mind"

[@madwarman1347]

KingIZAK ha lol

[@jasonhughes4903]

The Polish-Lithuanians and Germany in WW1 also invaded Russia with no probs. In winter. Against a larger army. So....

[@zmeyagosho]

Damn you John Green!!! stop being so interesting! I can't stop wathing your videos and i have to work!!!

[@harshithramsundararaman6943]

this really helped me