Eastern Europe Consolidates: Crash Course European History #16

[@ОлегКозлов-ю9т]

Facts you may find interesting about Ivan the IV: 1. During his childhood Ivan witnessed a murder of some family members during power struggle between noble clans. As a result he gradually developed psycologic conditions which worsened with age. 2. Ivan was the longest-ruling head of Russia: more than 62 years! 3. Ivan was deeply in love with his first wife. It was said she was the only one who could calm his anger. When she died, he became notably paranoid. 4. Ivan invented the first secret service in Russia: "oprichnina". It worked very much like KGB of its time. A word "oprichnik" is still used as a swear-word for state terror. 5. Ivan won several wars against foreign states but also burned down some Russian cities as he thought they were too independent. 6. In his old age he often prayed to God for forgiveness of his sins. He even established a pension for the families of his executed political rivals. Enough for now, I'll write the rest if someone cares =)

[@lucas446607]

Go on, please

[@appleslover]

He was terrible..

[@yamenarhim9336]

I am interested too, but still, he was terrible ...

[@Liquessen]

Could that word be one of the origins of "oppressive"?

[@varana]

@@Liquessen No, that comes from Latin, and had that meaning for a long time before.

[@jigurd]

"...Not the last time that Ukraine's abundant farmland would make it a center of expansionist attention." Well, that aged well.

[@matthewmcneany]

'In 1654 Russia joined the Russo-Polish war' That must have been a somewhat one sided war before 1654.

[@overtsaturn]

The war started as a rebellion against the Poles in the Ukraine

[@kamilkrupinski1793]

Exactly. Before 1654 it was a war between Poland and its subjects (Cossacks) - civil war.

[@coriejoelsutherland702]

hahahahaha!!!

[@istanbulite6382]

Just wanna amend two things : 1- As everybody mentioned, it was Mehmed II who conquered Constantinople ( hence the nickname "Mehmed the Conqueror" 2- The method of killing a dynasty member was strangling, not stabbing as showed in the thought bubble. You cannot spill the blood of a dynasty member. The rest of the Ottomans section was surprisingly objective and thank you for your dedication. DFTBA.

[@fattahrambe]

That's interesting. You can't spill the blood of your own brother so strangle him instead.

[@DeHerg]

"The rest of the Ottomans section was surprisingly objective" Brown-nosing might be a better term. Claiming that merely having a different religion was punished by burning to death in the rest of Europe while it only resulted in additional taxes in the ottoman empire. Reality: that punishment was reserved for apostasy or "harmful witchcraft", "crimes" the ottoman empire deemed to be punishable by death just as much as christian europe (no surprise given that both drew from the old testament). Then claiming that, women could in absence of their husband fulfill administrative roles, to be something unknown in the rest of the continent when again in reality that was commonplace on both sides. And on both sides of the aisle women(generally) couldn't outright overrule decisions made by their husband or father. So in effect his comparisons were disingenuous at best manipulative lies at worst.

[@Rudero3]

Yeah, traditionally the other siblings were strangled by special deaf mutes who served the sultan. I don't believe the assassins were eunuchs. Though I know a few were killed brutally but it was generally during that Ottoman Interregnum after Sultan Bayezid I was captured by Emir Timur. That was a situation that wasn't repeated though. Sultan Mehmed I had to fight his brothers and cousins in open war.

[@muhamedmahmutovic6639]

@@DeHerg There were literally masive ethnic cleansing toward other religions in Christian world in that time while in Ottoman Empire they just needed to pay taxes so that was a huge difference, not to mention that Jews from Spain and Austria migrated to the Ottoman Empire and that there were a lot of Jews and Christians in administration of Ottoman Empire.

[@DeHerg]

@@muhamedmahmutovic6639 If by ethnic cleansing you are referring to the reconquista, you might want to take a look at what the Almoravids were up to in that same time and area. And forced conversion did also happen in the Ottoman empire. Moreover you seem to forgetting(or ignoring) that a lot of the Jews from Spain and Austria migrated to Poland instead of the Ottoman empire. Ever asked yourself why would that happen if the latter was such a tolerant paradise compared to the christian european hellhole?

[@viliussmproductions]

Hey, Eastern Europe in a Crash Course video! Finally!

[@AbbeyRoadkill1]

To be fair, CrashCourse covered the Ottomans (and a good bit of Russian history, too) in their "World History," "World History 2," and "Big History" series.

[@viliussmproductions]

@@AbbeyRoadkill1 Yeah, I remembered their episodes on Russia, but how many times have you heard Poland, Bohemia or Hungary mentioned on CC?

[@ArawnOfAnnwn]

@@AbbeyRoadkill1 Eastern Europe in general tends to get a very short shrift in European history, apart from the Russians and Ottomans. Even here, they just condensed three entire long-lived empires into one episode, after spending entire episodes on just one in the western half.

[@tassosxenakis8599]

I'm pretty sure that you're referring to Mehmed the second, not the first - he was the one to conquer Constantinople.

[@ikhsanmnoor8589]

Yes me too, think so

[@captainbacon9668]

I also believe he meant sultan Selim II not the first

[@revieman1]

bilgoin yep that’s right

[@NoeHernandezPe767]

Yes, was about to write the same, Mehmed II Fatih

[@joryjones6808]

Tassos Xenakis correct, Mehmed the sequel was much better than the original.

[@scopophobemusic7555]

As someone from south eastern Europe I think that it is important to understand that the ottoman devshirme or the blood tax wasn't just drafting or levying. The age that people were taken was often 8-10. A lot of the times you had people forcibly maim their children to avoid being ripped away from their family while other families did give away their sons typically because they were already poor and opportunities were limited. After being taken these kids often didn't get to see their families until they rose up high enough in the ranks to win some form of autonomy. This is a sore subject in the region and is not well known in many western European countries or in america and I think it is important that anyone that is trying to understand this from the outside know that the issue is pretty complex.

[@mehmettalhakurt4776]

I have read a little about this topic in quora and like you mentioned some say (let say anti-ottomans) that it was a forcefull act and others (let say pro-ottomans) said that families were willing to give away their sons, in order to give them more opportunities in life. Also the pro-ottoman ones claim that the vezirs where building social structures in their respective hometowns like schools etc. But the comments were usually from turkey or western europe. If you have further information or detailed articles about this topic I'd like you to share them. Also great novel would be awesome to read since I think they give more perspective about the people who lived at that times. Side note: in highschool (Turkey obviously) we were thought that this system was established to prevent the ruling families to fight over the throne (in 13th century after the Selçuks collapsed there where many kingdoms/princeships all around Anatolia and the Ottomans conquered them eventually). If you compare the ottoman and european history unlike europe the ottomans were ruled the whole time by a single family. Fast forward to 19th and 20th century after Ottomans lost their land in the Balkan peninsula there were no more christian boys to devşir and schools were established to raise governors and generals

[@beth8775]

Judging by how people are today - and people have always been people - it would have been a bit of both. Some parents would have been more willing than others to give up their sons.

[@mehmettalhakurt4776]

@@scopophobemusic7555 thanks for your answer and I agree with you. It is a complex topic and you can not sum it up in a youtube comment but it gives hope to see people without bias and trying to be fair. The topics are being heavily studied in our country but I am not aware if they are translated to english. Nevertheless you can search for İlber Ortaylı, he is much respected historian in Turkey and I guess he should have some english publications. You can also look up for Halil İnalcık which was İ.Ortaylı's teacher. Stay curious and DFTBA :)

[@scopophobemusic7555]

@@mehmettalhakurt4776 thanks for the recommendations I look forward to reading them and hope you have a wonderful day as well.

[@sodinc]

@@mehmettalhakurt4776 i would say that it was rather clever politic and it had accelerated an assimilation of conquered peoples. Not great, not terrible if you know what i mean. And it was way better then russian experience with crimean tatars, who has kidnapped and enslaved more then 10 million people during ~2 centuries of contact.

[@chrissr318]

When ever I'm watching other crash courses most of the time all I hear is "Hi, I'm Not John Green and this is Crash Course."

[@DB-thats-me]

“No life is lived in the long run, including yours.” This should be taught to all. Both those in power and those who simply want to live their lives. Most inspirational sentence I have heard in a long time.

[@Epic0Studios]

this ukraine stuff really aged well huh

[@ofthehunt4243]

"Iron Hand"?? So you're saying they weren't as tough as rules who use a Topaz Fist.

[@TheTariqibnziyad]

No they werent that powerful.

[@samrevlej9331]

Or, you know, possibly, that's where Colossus from the X-Men made his début as enforcer of order. That would give the expression a whole new sense.

[@TheMichchaal]

Okay, but bear in mind that in Poland queen is only the wife of a king, and Jadwiga, which you mentioned earlier had the title of the king of Poland. just fun fact

[@martynasareo4674]

I was waiting for somebody to point it out ;> REX HEDWIG

[@nycstamps]

Great as always; will there be a chapter on Southeastern Europe/The Balkans?

[@georgeaksich9017]

Let's not.

[@roryokane5907]

I was waiting for the “AGH! PUTIN!” moment. I was not disappointed.

[@matthias8122]

Ahhh, I always wondered why there used to be so many Jewish people in Poland.

[@erraticonteuse]

Any time a country has a lot of Jews, it's because of long traditions of religious freedom and pluralism. That's also why over a quarter of the world's Jews lived in the US at the beginning of WWII.

[@TapOnX]

About 2/3rds of the World's total Jewish population. Given how the Jewish community in Poland probably had more rights than most Europeans at the time, it's easy to see why.

[@TheQueerTailor]

You might be interested in the folktale of Po-Lin which describes Jews coming to Poland, it’s very interesting

[@Artur_M.]

And keep in mind that Commonwealth was (as mentioned in the video) a large multiethnic state that also covered modern Lithuania, Belarus and most of Ukraine. That also explains why there were seemingly so many Jewish people in Russia. They didn't come to Russia, the Russian Empire conquered the formerly Polish-Lithuanian territories they were living in. BTW Poland's unusual for a Christian realm tolerance towards Jews dates back to the Statute of Kalisz issued in 1264 by Bolesław the Pious, one of the regional Polish dukes during a period of fragmentation. Later ratified for the whole reunited kingdom in 1334 by Casimir III the Great.

[@TheQueerTailor]

Artur M. Yep! There’s some very interesting Jewish folklore regarding King Kazimir. Other folklore shows an interesting dichotomy of Jewish isolation and integration in Poland, for example you have “The Rooster Prince of Breslov” which includes a Jewish doctor to the prince, but you also have the Chelm stories which show linguistic and cultural singularity from other Poles

[@wargriffin5]

An interesting note: - The King of France was seated on the "Holy throne of God" of the CATHOLIC world - The Tsar of Russia was seated on the "Holy throne of God" of the EASTERN ORTHODOX world.

[@bearholdensharkslux4791]

Gotta love religion

[@uur3n]

I think the point is that the people on such "Holy Thrones" said they were the *only* "Holy Throne of God". The Catholics and Orthodox Christians didn't see one another as compatible religions. They considered each other heretical.

[@boyanpenev9822]

Hey, claiming that you have a divine mandate helps the authority of a state. Plus, it gives +5 to public order and look good on a plaque /jk . However, for most Orthodox people then the most prestigious patriarchal seat was that in Constantinople as it was far older and most Orthodox Christian people had taken the faith from Eastern Roman missionaries. This is also why the Russian Tsars so long tried to conquer it one way or another. They also had a thing about being "the third Rome" and taking over Byzantium's mantle as defender of the faith.

[@Frahamen]

They claim the throne of the same alleged god, though

[@kreol1q1q]

And all the while, Holy Roman Emperors kept trying to figure out exactly when other monarchical titles got holier than theirs.

[@abhinavtiku4501]

Sorry to be the nitpicky historian here, but Mehmet II took Constantinople, NOT Mehmet I.

[@moondoggarvey4282]

Don't apologize for that, facts count in history.

[@johnnywoodson4231]

No joke, John straight up looks and sounds happier when he's not talking about West Europe.

[@LlamaCourt]

More Eastern European Crash Courses please! This was so interesting

[@SupremeLeaderKimJong-un]

I love Eastern Europe, especially during the Cold War

[@MGFBrasil]

The Mehmet who conquered Constantinople was Mehmet II, not the first

[@tytube3001]

Also why is the Sultan shaking his head like he's Indian

[@oza801]

Yes shocking !! Someone talking about history makes a major mistake 🤨🧐concerning a lot. Also why that head-shaking😬 the guy who prepared this is limited very much with mostly on perspective where he is coming from. He probably has no idea who Fatih Mehmet (mehmet ii was). He was true intellectual of his time few people in the whole world could compete with him. Spoke and wrote in italian, greek , persian and arabic in addition to turkish. Can you image what it could mean? He saw himself new romans also he had byzantine blood too from mother side. Really tired of seeing wrong stuff told in these videos as lessons 😬😬😬

[@TheTariqibnziyad]

@@oza801 please shut up, John Green is not a eurocentric, it's the opposite.

[@jofelux7359]

Finally, I'm polish and I was a bit surprised that there was nothing about central Europe in your course. It was either the French or the brits that were discussed or the middle or far east with a glimpse on Russia..

[@cardenasr.2898]

Obvious as it should be, I didn't see the connection between Cossacks and Kazaks

[@TimoteiUA]

Transcription is pretty random thing, but it's actually Kozaks. I guess it may be due to fact that they both fought against and allied with almost all neighboring states (mostly because they weren't accepted as equal part of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth).

[@doppelkammertoaster]

Thanks for covering the Commonwealth! We usually learn about France being the first republic but usually not about the Commonwealth having the first constitution.

[@robertjarman3703]

Doppelkammertoaster France being the first republic?

[@doppelkammertoaster]

@@robertjarman3703 Usually yes, they focus on France more, I know it is not correct.

[@Livlikeliv]

The Ukraine jokes have aged interestingly...

[@CliffCardi]

13:45 Then the Winged Hussars arrived!

[@mariiatkachova570]

Thanks for the video! As a Ukrainian, I'm glad you mentioned: - fertile land in Ukraine, -cossacks, - a Ukrainian woman Hurrem, and some parts of Ukraine that are occupied by Russia.

[@thejessejoint]

Johns comments on ukraine take on a different light today.

[@IvyJau]

Hey! Lithuanian here. 🙋🏼‍♀️🇱🇹 I’ve been waiting for an episode that includes Central/Eastern Europe for YEARS! “European history” is usually just Western Europe, but there’s so much more to tell than that. 🤷🏼‍♀️ the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was introduced way in a nutshell, but hey! it’s something. Hope to see more videos on CEE! 🙊🙏🏼

[@Theacornisnuts]

Me too! I’m not from Eastern Europe- I’m from the US- but I’m very interested in Lithuanian culture and history(as a pagan nation/during the Commonwealth time/during the Cold War/etc)! It’s a fairly recent interest, but I’d love to know more! (😅😅🤞You mentioned that you’re Lithuanian yourself. Would you happen to know any good sources(books, videos, articles) you could recommend? Sorry to bother you!; I really appreciate it 😊!!)

[@ОлегКозлов-ю9т]

We are mentioned in European history, uraaaaa!

[@arinadaze5160]

* mentioned

[@ОлегКозлов-ю9т]

@@arinadaze5160 htank yuo! =)

[@markoboredguy6911]

after 16 episodes!!! hahahaha

[@ArawnOfAnnwn]

Eastern Europe in general tends to get a very short shrift in European history, apart from the Russians and Ottomans. Even here, they just condensed three entire long-lived empires into one episode, after spending entire episodes on just one in the western half.

[@RobinWootton]

Good job, John and team. I'm finding this Crash Course European History really well made.

[@rachzen]

I'm so glad to see the Ottoman Empire being coveted by Crash Course. It was always glossed over in school, usually by history teachers that were uninquisitive or dismissive of its importance in world history.

[@Azknowledgethirsty]

Yeah and usually anatolia and the balkans aren't enev considered european in history No matter your continent definition or muslimness, they've always been involved in Europe...

[@mr98christian]

@@Azknowledgethirsty by involved you mean invading Europe, if the ottomans hadn't invaded Europe no Muslims would have lived in the Balkans or today, expectations being extremely small numbers of immigrants

[@takod323]

@@Azknowledgethirsty muslims dont belong in europe

[@haganekazuki2241]

​@@takod323 Christians don't belong in Europe, Europe was pagan just like: Roman Republic, Greek City States (Athens, Thessalia, Sparta etc.) Russian City States (Novgorod Republic, Suzdal, Vladimir, Kievan Rus etc.) Germanic Tribes, Celtic Tribes, and so on.

[@varana]

@@haganekazuki2241 Lumping all "pagan" religions together is also not really doing them justice. :D

[@md.musathidhasanrafi8803]

Man, can't wait for you to dive in to the 18th Century European History. It's so eventful especially with French Revolutions, The reign of Catherine The Great, The Modernization and reforms of Russia. It's going to be awesome.

[@markpapenfuss1111]

03:20 Ah yes, the benevolent Ottomans. “Heavy Taxes” (ahem, slavery, forced servitude, forced conversions-see also Janissaries). Then goes on to talk about ‘kingmaking’ being kinda messy. And wait, how’d they get into Hungary again? Kindheartedness compared to the locals? Thanks, John, sugar coating it really helps the narrative.

[@alexandrub8786]

@@islamisthetruth3402 u don't know about Bosnia and Albania also usually after a group of people is religiously converted is sooner or later culturaly converted also in the late 19 and 20 century in balkans and middle-east population exchange happened. You know that western Anatolia used to be greek until the end of ww2?

[@alexandrub8786]

@@islamisthetruth3402 so i need to understand that christian arabs are not christians? I told they were greeks i don't know their religious make-up in those days,also i don't think the muslims wanted their taxes (on christians to disapear) but in islam i am pretty sure that was a tactic of convesion also i heard that beside army in some muslim countries you couldn't be part of biroucracy if you aren't a muslim or don't know the sultan personall.

[@zOgOs48]

Thank you, Mr. Green and CC. Couldnt afford college this semester and this helped me stay going.

[@ahtisimolaido1670]

You are welcome to continue your education in Europe

[@keithmichael9965]

Absolutist monarchies claimed the mantle of the leader of Christiandom to increase their legitimacy. It wasn't a "shoehorning" of religion into government. It was government using religion.

[@thesleepyviking4126]

He was referring to how Jesus was not a political leader, nor did he endorse political leaders, but political leaders nevertheless used the Christian faith as part of their governing strategy. The shoehorning is that kings were using the name of a god who never endorsed any kind of political leadership to increase their government's legitimacy.

[@culwin]

Yeah that's what he's saying.

[@andreimoga7813]

3:45 Mehmet II Oh my God, is everyone amending that? History is awesome

[@sleepynidzyy]

Finally some talk about Eastern Europe not only Western Europe, we are really underrated

[@benas_st]

Well, for most of history Eastern Europe wasn't too influential on the rest of the world (only the Ottomans/Turks and the Russians) so it does make sense that we'd be look over quite a bit.

[@Fankas2000]

@@benas_st The same can be said about western Europe. You think England in the 11 century was influential? Western Europe only got important with the industrial revolution.

[@pmc609]

@@Fankas2000 I disagree....Western Europe was important from the early 16th century when colonization began

[@Fankas2000]

@@pmc609 So you think 16 century England could take on China? The new world was easy pickings, they had no steel and diseases absolutely wrecked them. Any European or Asian country could have taken all of the Americas, it wasn't a great accomplishment. But once the steam engine was invented Western Europe truly entered a class of its own.

[@pmc609]

@@Fankas2000 Not at all. I'm just saying that Europe first had an important historical impact on the rest of the world starting with colonization. Europe won the economic game early when it began colonizing the Americas, only the end result was apparent after several generations. Although they wouldn't have been able to defeat the Chinese in the 16th century, they did have a huge impact on the world then and began a process that resulted in them being able to beat China in battle several times during the 1800s.

[@sanildefanso]

They Might Be Giants songs 1 and 2: 1. Ana Ng 2. Doctor Worm

[@GilgameshEthics]

Doctor worm yes, ana NG as number one. Ng...

[@-Lindol-]

I dunno, I’d put Birdhouse in your soul up there.

[@danielmasny1587]

Fantastic video, as a Ukrainian American I am heartened by your inclusion of one of the largest ethnic groups in Europe.

[@DuranmanX]

So what are the top two They Might be Giants songs?

[@TheSmegPod]

"Fortunately, arguments over Ukrainian land had at last been resolved."

[@AverytheCubanAmerican]

Eastern Europe evolved from that to gopniks, glorious

[@MrDanishninja]

oi blin

[@Newbmann]

Adidas track suit squad

[@userWCFL]

Hi

[@tombkings6279]

Hey

[@Trippster100]

Are you like the new Justin Y?

[@isidorrokotnitz9868]

finally a crash course video with poland🇵🇱🇵🇱

[@mustthopasultanovachalih2843]

Henry Manelski frum indonesia 🇵🇱🇵🇱

[@Cythil]

Well Terrible used to mean Fearsome (And sometimes still do depending on context, if a but archaic when used like that) and that is how I have interpret his name for a long time. I do not think the Translation is really that wrong. Just that the meaning of Terrible, like Awesome, has changed with time.

[@mlc4495]

The successes of the Dutch Republic and Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth just proves why a diverse and pluralist society is so important.

[@oo3380]

Uhh. Seems to me that Poland-Lithuania ended badly.

[@hauntedmasc]

I'm so glad this exists. I can't imagine what a boon this would have been when I was in APEH.

[@jamesbohannon5506]

I love CC, but Suleyman the Magnificent (3:59) expanded the Ottoman's holding in southeastern Europe, not southwestern Europe. Still much better job than what I can do.

[@MrAzul99]

3:29 yes but if you didn’t pay the tax your head would get cut off! That’s why they called it a “head tax”.

[@macrossMX]

And people thought ISIS was the first to do such a thing.

[@Tundramonkey5]

Not paying taxes is a crime. And death penalty for crime was very common in the 1600s

[@malekmohamed1918]

No they were just kicked out

[@JackZeroZ]

In addition, the tax was applied to the entire population, and burning people at stakes rarely happen. You can't compare the two.

[@absentmindedshirokuma8539]

1. it's called head tax because it was count per head, literally the meaning of words, also it was progressive, the amount depend on your wealth. and they can't surpass 10% of their yearly income . 2. common misconception is that muslim is an exception to the tax, no. they still get tax, they just tax lower because they expected to paid mandatory alms called zakat. also non muslim didn't expected to have military conscription (hence why they forced christian kids to be muslim, because they couldn't force military conscription otherwise). however in overall, they do paid lower. 3. not paying texas will more likely result in expulsion if anything, which is not special to non muslim. heck, muslim treated more harshly since it could be a sign of treason (see egypt and hijaz revolt). again, if it's harsh, it make no sanse for religious prosecuted people to run into ottoman realm if it was worse for them.

[@JorgeGomez-um9qb]

One of the weird twists of History: Hurrem is kinda popular in Hispanic America, this because she features prominently in some turkish soap operas which are really popular in the Southern Cone and Peru. Like, my mom knew who she was, and she discovered what the ottomans were, in a region where there are almost, no muslims.

[@franciscomm7675]

Bamidele, why? Because he doesn't represent islam as pure evil as you want him to do? His videos about islam thought me many things, and althought it is obvious that islam is, like all religions, a complex topic that can't be completly covered in a few videos

[@takod323]

@@franciscomm7675 islam good christianity bad

[@Audifaram]

@@takod323 in that timespan, this was actually quite true...

[@JemLeavitt]

Good video. 👍

[@enesozel]

3:42 "Mehmed I" should be "Mehmed II".

[@Tfin]

Not so much a mistranslation into the word "terrible" as it is a changing of the meaning of the word terrible. Also, you'd take higher taxes over death? How very very un-American of you.

[@Manas_Kunder_]

Thanks A lot for this video 💓💓💓💓

[@laportaho1793]

I cannot really digest this episode. There are too many seemingly disconnected facts. I just remember he talks about the Ottoman Empire and the Russian Empire, but don't really understand how the central theme(the extent of state power?) relates to the two empires. Perhaps it is due to my unfamiliarity of the eastern european history. I wonder if anyone shares my confusion.

[@jackdalton2538]

You kinda missed the biggest thing about the ottoman stability. As the sultan came to the end of his life he would order the death of his other sons, ensuring that his chosen heir had no competition. That's why in the entire ottoman history there were only 3 civil wars, which was a whole lot less than other states in Europe at the time.

[@Oxtocoatl13]

You're not wrong but I feel like pointing out that they did compensate in the number of palace coups and murder sprees, particularly later, when the janissaries became an influential political group.

[@Fankas2000]

I don't think it is worth preserving a culture/country were it is expected for a father to murder his sons.

[@amadexi]

Just a side note, the song Constantinople by "they might be giants" is a cover of the eponymous song by The Four Lads.

[@MurderousEagle]

For those of you wondering, #2 is "I'm impressed" and #1 is "Raincoat"

[@jony4real]

I was about to write a correction for 5:10, but then I did a quick Wikipedia check and found out I was wrong and the video was right. Yay for learning something new about Istanbul! (I thought the change to "Istanbul" was from the 1453 conquest... it turns out that Istanbul has been used since the 10th century, but in 1930 Turkey officially told everyone to stop using Constantinople, which is what the song is about.)

[@ofi1238]

@CrashCourse The episode "English Civil War: Crash Course European History" is not in the playlist and possibly missing the #14 in the title?

[@Biotechen]

Is there a petition to bring you from the past back? I’ll sign that 100 times!

[@Mr.Beauregarde]

Build a little birdhouse in your heart

[@moondoggarvey4282]

"Istanbul (not Constantinople)" was written in 1953, with words by Jimmy Kennedy and music by Nat Simon. Recorded by Canadian group The Four Lads in the same year, it was their first gold record.

[@wellimeantosaywhat]

Still can’t get over The Jaden Smith Studio

[@EarthChampion_TophBeifong]

This episode was Great! I wish you guys covered the Swedish Empire a little bit more but I'm glad you did mention the Ottomans

[@rparl]

Extra Credit has a sub series called Extra History which has covered Sweden, the Ottomans, and others.

[@franciscomm7675]

@@rparl both are nice series. Besides, i think that sweden is considered part of northern europe

[@loczek1965]

1:35 Jadwiga wasn't a Queen, but a King.

[@paullindley2]

So... What are the first and second best They Might Be Giants song?

[@KentuckyKid84]

Maybe “Particle Man” is in there?

[@arrestmenot]

3:46 It is actually Mehmed II, not the first.

[@simonkemfors]

Are you going to cover the Swedish Empire closer?

[@ZoeAlleyne]

John Green is a coward: still won't tell me what the two BEST They Might Be Giants songs are.

[@davidrich27]

I'm convinced he said just to irk people like you and me. "Don't Let's Start" is a better song though.

[@woolsweater6489]

1. Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Theme 2. Birdhouse In Your Soul 3. Istanbul (Not Constantinople)

[@Nadia1989]

I'm a simple person: I see my granddad's country mentioned, I give a thumbs up.

[@dominykassimonis2180]

2:56 i dont think prussia was ever held by the swedes

[@Oxtocoatl13]

Prussia wasn't. It's probably meant to represent Pomerania. Overall, Swedish holdings in Germany were always very small on the map, though they did include a number of hanseatic trade cities and the mouths of the Weser, Oder and Elbe.

[@DaDunge]

No but it was Sweden who in a peace with Poland demanded that the duchy of Prussia become independent form Poland.

[@EnderMcCloud]

OK, John Green. You've said the They Might Be Giants song is their third best twice now. What is their second and first best according to you?

[@sprinter768]

Another great episode. Good job and thanks.

[@TheMadisonHang]

@10:50 i can very faintly hear an echoing of communism and that buddist reconciliation of hierarchical social power that everyone has a tier, and every tier has to answer to someone, kinda makes it all even. i get it that's cool! never had it explained like that, thanks

[@mr.bluesky8554]

He has returned

[@LashknifeTalon]

Dude, can we start calling Ivan IV "Ivan the Awesome"? That's just an excellent appellation!

[@msgnomi9727]

Great episode, nobody ever talks about eastern Europe.

[@Rico-Suave_]

Great video, thank you very much , note to self(nts) watched all of it 15:13

[@flamedragon07]

I like the way they threw in the Putin joke. So funny.

[@ameerhamzaibrahim5047]

Correction: Jizya tax was lower than the Islamic Tax(Zakat) and it did not include people with good income

[@gibranhenriquedesouza2843]

This gave me lots of ideas for new Age of Empires campaign...

[@edwood7hv]

As a Lithuanian I'm thankful and I respect that you gave attention to our region as It usually falls short in Europen history books. But why did'nt you pronounce any names? It would have been real treat to hear how you mispronounce our native language. Keep up the good work team, your content is one the best youtube has to offer!

[@rayceeya8659]

I just gotta know John, What are the two better TMBG songs? I'm awful fond of "Particle Man", and "Birdhouse in Your Soul".

[@erraticonteuse]

"Independent Film" fan here.

[@natoman123]

The one they use for malcome in the middle opening theme is pretry good

[@shlokbhagwat]

We need a crash course related to stock markets

[@Omnigreen]

Great episode, hope to hear some more about Eastern Europe next time.

[@alexhunter8872]

This is incredibly informative. Thank you for giving me a starting point for eastern European history instead of British 🙄. I love the commentary on religion though 😂😂

[@sensibleb]

5:10 I need to know what TMBG's best two songs are, and if one of them is "Spider".

[@boesvig2258]

"There was a lot of war in Europe in the 17th century..." Yeah, it was tough. But at least we handled it within that one century, so there was no war in Europe before or since.

[@sansankambou7099]

what about WWI and WWII?

[@mobiggcro]

Sarcasm 😂

[@brandonkozak9696]

FYI, They Might Be Giants were not the first to record "Istamble, not Constantinople". That song was originally recorded by early to mid-50s vocal group The Four Lads.

[@YadraVoat]

For a moment, I was afraid I might be the first person to notice this today! :-)

[@MKPiatkowski]

The choir school boys!

[@paulheitzenroder4499]

I’m curious what is the #1 and #2 song by “They Might Be Giants”. Older? Particle Man?

[@fredleckie5880]

I quite like "Birhouse in Your Soul"

[@danukil7703]

Thank you for talking about the Ukrainians!

[@Woloh]

Kudos to you guys on covering Eastern Europe, as opposed to a widespread distorted view that the European history is only the history of its Western part. However, I should point out that mixing in the Ottoman and the Russian empires into it is confusing to a viewer. It's like adding a Brittish and a Dutch history into the history of, well, Asia. Just because at some point of time those civilizations captured some parts of it, doesn't mean they are representative of those parts. It would probably be more appropriate to present Eastern Europe through the prism of what is called today Jagiellonian kingdoms, i.e. kingdoms ruled at some point of time by the Jagiellonian dynasty: Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Hungary (and Croatia), Kingdom of Bohemia, and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, as well as their various dependencies. There were many more similarities between those - like freedoms of religion, democratic elements, causes of their internal conflicts and decline, etc. If you look at Eastern Europe as a big stretch between Sweeden and Turks, it looks too confusing. If you look at Eastern Europe as a complex gentrified organism that was trying to withstand the pressure from all four sides, occasionally coming together from the fields of Grunwald to Varna to Breadfield, etc., while also producing intellectual responses from religious, like Hussites and Unitarians, to legal like Serbian Zakonnik, Hungarian Tripartitum, Lithuanian Statutes, and Ukrainian Consitution of Pylyp Orlyk - then it starts to look a bit more organized.

[@alexandrujuncu]

The map at 2:13 has an unusual mistake: it mixes Walachia with Moldavia

[@jewishjedi]

I’d really like to know what TMBG’s best and second best songs are.

[@arinadaze5160]

And then suddenly Putin appears lol

[@mattbenz99]

Not suddenly. His reign is a very logical continuation of where Russia was heading. The Soviet Union covered up a massive amount of Russian issues which were laid bare when it collapsed. The Russian federation was forced to confront everything from poor agricultural policy, a deeply religious and conservative culture, a 400 year old history of state sponsored alcoholism (the Tsar actually ran the alcohol industry and Stalin reopened it), to general Russian pessimism. Putin was the likable strong man who came along to try and fix some of these issues, and in many ways, his reforms succeeded. The male life expectancy in Russia bottomed out in the mid 2000s at 58. Putin managed to bring that up to almost 70 in just under a decade.

[@paulmoskal3438]

Some real pretty paintings in this video! Anyone know the name of the one at 10:00?

[@Tundramonkey5]

Sorry john, really should've been a topaz hand.

[@FC_DINDEYA]

What is that from? I cant remember and its driving me insane

[@Tundramonkey5]

@@FC_DINDEYA an episode crash course world history

[@shawnhanf7273]

I'm curious what TMBG's top two best songs are, according to John.

[@jean-francoisdelacroix8268]

Extraordinary!