How Enemy At The Gates Lies To You: Saving Private Ryan, Othering, And Cold War Narratives

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Recommended reading on Stalingrad: Jochen Hellbeck, Stalingrad: The City That Defeated The Third Reich
Shaun's video on Nagasaki and Hiroshima: • Dropping the Bomb: Hir...
Other sources
Vassili Zaitsev, Notes Of A Russian Sniper
www.washington...
www.hrw.org/ne...
www.tandfonlin...
multipolarista...
www.jstor.org/...
www.howardzinn...
lenta.ru/kino/...

[@deefpaladin]

I like how you reference Zaitsev's notes, before mentioning the film portrays him as illiterate. It got me to go "Of course that's false" when it came up.

[@stablefellow1023]

"Communism can't happen because she won't let me seize her means of reproduction, Vasily!" -Movie Danilov, probably

[@LeoKuz19683]

"Dali... there's a word from America, that I learned.... and it's called threesome..." -Vasily, probably (I'm just joking, ok mate)

[@SerfsUp1848]

I mean there do be a lot of bros that this happens to 😂😂😂 one even became president

[@LeoKuz19683]

@@SerfsUp1848 Lmao can't imagine it XD

[@SerfsUp1848]

@@LeoKuz19683 if only lol

[@LeoKuz19683]

@@SerfsUp1848 Aahahhaha XD for reals mate XD

[@jacksonduruy4303]

Should be noted, order 227 only specified that soldiers should not retreat PAST their current position. If you advanced on the enemy, met too strong of a resistance and then fell back to your original position, that wasn't considered a violation of the order. Even if you did fall back farther and were caught by barrier troops, the officer was put before a tribunal, if he had a good tactical reason for falling back they usually let them go, there's records of officers providing a good reason for falling back and being allowed to return to command with no or little reprimand from the tribunal.

[@munanchoinc]

Add to this, majority of soldiers who actually retreated due to cowardice were actually often than not sent back to the frontlines. They couldn't just waste resources on killing a soldier or sending said soldier to prison.

[@Nosliw837]

Until that one time where Stalin's son's artillery battery was overrun and would not command the unit to retreat because of his relation to his father. However, I think this action took place before Order 227. Stalin's dislike for retreat and surrendering units was known and maybe this was some of the impetus behind 227? World War II Russia is not an area that I'm super familiar with, so if anyone else knows, holler! And perhaps I'm going out on a limb, in my mind, Yakov Dzhugashvili was most likely a better man than his father.

[@nmeister007]

@@Nosliw837 The impetus for 227, as the video says, was that panic was beginning to set into the Red Army as a result of the fact that the Wehrmacht were making rapid gains during the opening stages of Barbarossa, and Stalin and the Politburo realised something had to be done to ensure morale remained high and emphasise the fact that the war against the Nazi invasion was one not just of political survival, but survival of the entire Slavic ethnicity in the face of a planned genocide. Besides, of those detained as a result of Order 227, the overwhelming majority were sent back to their units because the majority of those caught by barrier troops were either separated from their units and lost during a retreat or had retreated further than expected and had a tactical reason to do so. A smaller proportion were punished by being sent to a penal battalion or, a lesser punishment, being demoted if it was felt there was no justifiable reason for the retreat. A very small percentage of the total number of soldiers caught by Barrier Troops were actually executed, and even then it was for repeatedly deserting from, what the Soviets rightfully understood, was a fight for the very survival of Slavic people and every other ethnicity in the USSR and other Socialist states.

[@kazaddum2448]

@@nmeister007 Another interesting tidbit is that veterans of the Red Army from back then remember this order as being exactly what they needed and made them decide to make their stand against the until then undefeated german summer offensives.

[@mememachine6022]

order 227 was only appliable to officers ordering unauthorized retreats. The regular soldier wasnt affected by it

[@plaguedoctorjamespainshe6009]

'"We liberated Europe from fascism, but they will never forgive us for it'- Marshal Zhukov: The movie"

[@someblackguy7371]

Zhukov... Zhukov, the guy Stalin is envious and fearful of, the guy Stalin himself hates and erases all mentions in his Blockbuster Soviets films featuring Stalin as hero. the Guy who also killed all of Stalins second hand men after discovering Beria is a pedo. That Zhukov? I like the guy, but I doubt he's all that ideological. What's next? Kissinger and China wasn't all buddy buddy against the Soviet Union? hah, Communists sure are funny.

[@davemccage7918]

The Japanese empire not valuing life the same as everyone else is actually historical based. It’s not racist if it’s true.

[@The4thResidentofEvil]

There are still leftists who despise the U.S. for liberating Asia-Pacific from fascism. Quit being such a hypocrite, fool!

[@loveandforward]

@@davemccage7918 Don't you know that the woke mentality is "if it's racist, it can't be true."

[@The4thResidentofEvil]

It's pretty clear from their newest video that Kay and Skittles have still never forgiven the U.S. Military for liberating East Asia from Fascism and stopping genocide. And you probably haven't, either.

[@Wendigoon]

This is a fantastic video. As a child, I watched Enemy at the Gates over a dozen times, and it drove part of my interest in history that I have today. As I grew and especially as I began to make content regarding history, I realized how much of the content that motivated me was hilariously off the mark, but there was always a nugget of truth and I find that once I learned the real history, the tales of our past are so much more intricate and interesting than the flat narratives of good and evil. Loved your video and can't wait to see more.

[@luckyrostik7378]

Wendigoon? Didn't expect to see you at a video like this, but nice to see you here

[@XDapologist]

Love your channel!

[@lonely_light]

Wendigoon! You should do more film criticism too. Especially ones like these that perpetuate a false myth

[@suarezguy]

He seems to think the movie just shouldn't have been made unless it was willing to portray Zaitsev as Communist rather than just a general, apolitical patriot-which a US film wouldn't have been willing to do. I think having a mainstream US movie about the battle with a few unsurprising omissions and exaggerations is valuable rather than outrageous and I think the movie did depict the Soviet soldiers as heroic and the battle as a big achievement even while still being against the Communist system and leaders.

[@maxmustermann-zx9yq]

it's kind of a crap video, it takes some unsupported statement so outlandish that even the talkshow host wants to yeet himself out of a window it would be like quoting the japanese suicide cults leader that caused the terrorist attack on the subway and then talk about how it reflects japanese society also enemy at the gates is already infamous for inaccuracy in germany part of post war history is denazification (or more accurately the failure of) including taking wehrmacht generals memoirs at face value, as well as transferring alot of former Nazis into positions of power in military, secret services, justice system and government

[@TransSappho]

Fictional Danilov basically: “The state should distribute girlfriends”

[@caad5258]

Based and Redpilled

[@nataschavisser573]

This movie cemented my dislike for whathisname, the inferior Fiennes brother.

[@gnas1897]

State assigned wife

[@MrEd8846]

Vasily: she's my girlfriend Danilov: our girlfriend!

[@charkini7243]

Incan communism at its best

[@redtexan7053]

Ah yes, the movie about Stalingrad that spends more time denouncing the Soviets than the Nazi invaders trying to exterminate them. Hollywood, ladies and gentlemen.

[@elonmusksellssnakeoil1744]

Hollywood films _routinely_ portray the Germans in WWII as empathetic and "not all bad", and barely even portray the Soviets _at all._ That basically sums it up - the USA is a fascist state.

[@Dorian_sapiens]

*All liberals and most self-described "leftists", ladies and gentlemen.

[@redtexan7053]

@@Dorian_sapiens Same difference

[@АнтонДегидонов]

I'm from Russia myself. I may surprise you, but this is the leitmotif of 99% of films about the war shot after the collapse of the USSR in Russia. A considerable number of left-wing bloggers in Russia already specialize in critic analysis of such films (for example, Badcomidian, Tagany, Rebel Jack, Red Cynic, etc.) , and even joke about the fact that it has become a kind of a single cranberry sinematic universe. So the fact that foreign filmmakers are far behind in the matter of shitting on our history. What can I say, capitalists are the same everywhere. I am glad that now someone outside the CIS has begun to review these films. It will be funny if you get to modern Russian films, in this regard, you can even use the sketches of the above-mentioned bloggers.

[@mikeyorkav4039]

America was hitlers inapirstion and main financier so no surprise...america loves fascists

[@munanchoinc]

What confuses me the most is that majority of the USSR countries got more than sufficient literacy rates than most countries at the time because of the communal education system. So it honestly baffles me when they're treated as illiterate morons compared to the west. Even countries who adopted Communist ideals outside the USSR had literacy skyrocketed like Cuba.

[@prickly10000]

What is up with communist sympathizers and mentioning literacy rates. As if the ability to read somehow makes you smart. You have to be able to read to understand Karl Marx but that doesn't mean anything that moron had to say led to anything but poverty. I don't know, maybe being able to read is a big deal in communist countries because they definitely can't think

[@somerandofilipino6957]

That was primarily done to ensure the populace moves up from entirely ignorant peasants to mostly ignorant peasants who now know Marx and the occasional state propaganda.

[@SteveOnlin]

Algeria had a literacy rate of 3% after independence, now it has 82%

[@LjubicaServaas]

Anti-communist propaganda spread by capitalists to paint socialism as evil.

[@abhorrentabsconder]

No shit. You can't consume theory if you can't read.

[@justasimplenobody2666]

"Communism can't work cuz I'm a huge incel" made me laugh tbh. It is pretty messed up how this movie portrayed a real person tho..

[@BarryHart-xo1oy]

Quite true.

[@The4thResidentofEvil]

Imagine being foolish enough to think that the USSR would've won the war without western support...Even Stalin admitted how crucial lend lease was!

[@asanali8124]

BIG THANK YOU from a descendant of Red Army's WW2 veterans! I'm glad that someone broke down this garbage movie for English-speaking audience! You won't believe how many "Enemy at the gates"-style movies we having now in post-Soviet countries. I assume this movie started the whole thing. And our young west-oriented generation believes in those lies. So once again thank you 👍

[@TheSundayShooter]

Oops, Ukraine is a meat grinder and Putin refuses to stop! I suppose it was not so removed from reality after all ツ

[@DinoCism]

It's so depressingly unsurprising to see that NATO shares the ideology of the Azov battalion. I just finished watching a documentary on the battle of Kursk and it is so sobering to think that these same villages are being fought for today by Russians fighting sieg hieling, black sun and wolfsangel wearing, Stephan Bandera worshiping fascists. Almost a century later and Germany is still imperialist, still fascistic (oppressing both Palestinians and non-zionist Jews as well as the so-called "Orcs"). Fuck NATO. Fuck Germany and the USA.

[@clarasnow6579]

I remember being taught the "soviets shot their own troops if they retreated" and the 1 gun for 2 people thing in school. The fact that this was apparently sourced from a movie is so pathetic I want to laugh.

[@LexYeen]

Why laugh when you can weep instead?

[@АнтонДегидонов]

The funny thing is, many modern history teachers and all sorts of media figures in Russia also broadcast this nonsense.

[@mikeyorkav4039]

They were so desperate for guns that they gave machine guns to barrier troops... the logic....

[@justinwatson1510]

That’s American education for you.

[@margotpreston]

@Hiazro Kailindo At a smear campaign of BS propaganda being perpetuated as fact.

[@inciaradible7144]

What I feel like is also warranted to point, as you briefly mentioned, is that Stalingrad wasn't important becaused it was named after Stalin, but rather because being able to keep it would prevent the Nazis from occupying the oil fields in the Caucasus. People think that Barbarossa was just Hitler being dumb or something, but well, first, not invading the USSR wasn't an option because he was Hitler, and second, people forget that wars are about resources, which includes stuff like gas, oil, and all those other pesky things we need to construct and run things. Like, it's not just about who has the coolest tanks and the most fantastical technology. This is precisely why I wanted to elaborate on this because people never talk about that and just go 'well, if Hitler didn't just go invade Russia like that...'

[@KayAndSkittles]

Very true! Not to mention the Germans were BADLY in need of oil for much of the war.

[@interloper2610]

@Zoomer Stasi yes, but the point being made is that nazi ideology demands a purge of subhumans i.e. the population of the soviet union, therefore destruction of their state was considered necessary

[@shellshockedgerman3947]

@Zoomer Stasi I think you have that flipped around. Halder still wanted to chase his own objectives in ending the war, and no doubt the higher ups were doing the same thing. It was Hitler who was focused on taking the resource rich area of Ukraine and the Caucuses. Halder intentionally sabotaged the operations in the southern theater precisely because he wanted the army to focus on Moscow.

[@jryan2552]

Hitler wanted to invade the USSR because he wanted to colonise Eastern Europe. The point of the war against Western Europe was just a ‘tool’ he need for his real objectives in the East.

[@Tjthemedic]

I think it's important to point out that the reasons for invading the USSR were more than just ideological 'he was Hitler' stuff - the entire point of the war, really, was to secure territory, 'lebensraum', to support a new German economy that could resist capitalist collapse. Generalplan Ost was explicitly a plan to enact settler-colonialism on the territories of the USSR, massacring the populace and replacing them with 'wehrbauer' peasant settlers, which would vastly reduce the power of not only socialism in the USSR, but of the German proletariat, by shifting so much of the economy out of their hands and opening up fresh new domains for the expansion of capital. The war, the genocide, everything, was the direct and logical result of capitalism in deep and final economic crisis - and having already faced numerous socialist uprisings within its own borders.

[@Capcahable]

This movie seems to draw imagery from WW1 and then assigning it to Stalingrad-era red army. On the beginning of WW1 major supply problems with Russia and outdated doctrine of bayonet charging resulted in several documents assaults where soldiers were expected to pick up arms of fallen soldiers. But besides the supply issue, early WW1 was a massacre for almost every party involved, as the old charge doctrine faced machine guns and artillery. The First World War by Martin Gilbert documents suicidal charges by Germans, Austrians and Austro-Hungarians. Luigi Cadorna, the Italian commander, was famous for throwing man at the meat grinder and blaming the losses on "lack of fighting spirit" My guess is that the director used these events of the WW1 as inspiration for the movie, in a blatant disregard to historical accuracy.

[@KayAndSkittles]

Very interesting point!

[@LolGamesTeam]

There is a phrase that is often used to describe this situation during WWI as "one rifle for three soldiers", which many people remember since school, but they forget that it was applied to WWI, and will use it to describe WWII. And many anti-soviet stories start to build their narrative on this fallacy. You will find too many people in post-soviet countries believing it, along with many other myths. Post-modern at it's best.

[@exu7325]

The primary inspiration for Enemy at the Gates is Stalingrad, written by a British "gentleman historian", Antony Beevor. Just like the movie, the book is more interested in smearing the legacy of the USSR than any factual recounting of history.

[@pyatig]

The director used those events for one reason only and you know what that reason is

[@georgekostaras]

Yeah I think the one man rifle one man ammo thing was actually done in czarist Russia

[@feelshowdy]

That "I will not be surprised if Spielberg gets an Academy Award. Did not Kissinger get a Nobel Prize?" finisher is an absolute mic drop, goddamn.

[@carsonm7292]

This movie's influence on later depictions of the Eastern front in Western fiction cannot be overstated. I remember one of the opening scenes of one of the earlier Call of Duty games being practically a shot-for-shot recreation of the opening of Enemy at the Gates. When Relic Entertainment made Company of Heroes 2 set on the Eastern Front, they billed it as an authentic depiction based on exhaustive historical research, when in reality they obviously just watched Enemy at the Gates and made a video game about it. On the other hand, most media out of Russia about the war, like Battle for Sevastopol and The Dawns Here Are Quiet (entertaining though they are), are propagandized from their own perspective. There's very little popular media that I'm aware of about this time and place in history that isn't colored by propaganda.

[@DEVAEGIR]

Though some are much better and nuanced, than others. For the Eastern Front, the best to me, and the one I am advising my students to watch in one of my courses, is 'Come and See' (1985). Try it. Fair warning: it is a very tough film to watch, almost unbearable.

[@Galloglaigh.]

I remember watching EatG in GCSE History class and my teacher uncritically reinforced it's message. There is no doubt in my mind that thousands if not millions of English-speaking peoples first and lasting introduction to the Soviet Union and Eastern front was this movie. All those redditors calling Russians 'orcs' and 'subhuman' are thinking of this movie.

[@ovahlord1451]

calling a human being an "Orc" because of their nationality is crazy

[@justinwatson1510]

Many white Americans will jump at any chance to be racist.

[@mikhaelgribkov4117]

They got their title orc for being straight up genocidal in Ukraine and breaking some records in war crimes while being dumb enough to make trenches in Chornobyl. Is calling nazi "pigs" bad now? You ruzzian suckers would change a tune when you have this orcs calling you "small ruzzians" for 8 years and desiring your genocide.

[@雷-t3j]

The actions of modern Russia also have a lot to do with that.

[@deusvultpictures6550]

@@雷-t3j Nazis are bad unless they are Ukrainian, right?

[@pssurvivor]

This is interesting. In India, that has had a long history of Soviet collaboration, the story we absorbed is of an intrepid Russian army, fighting against a much superior german army, the latter done in by its own arrogance against an army it considered not worthy enough. It dovetails quite nicely with india's own colonial encounter and the massive effort it took to overthrow british rule

[@mikhaelgribkov4117]

Yet India now forgets about colonialism when it gets stuff from ruzzia.

[@mikhaelgribkov4117]

@Swarmpope well, this is playbook for "special military operation" .

[@elliotyourarobot]

@@mikhaelgribkov4117 India is actually doing the smart thing for its people instead of virtue signaling.

[@justiron2999]

Everyone loves an underdog story, fighting against all odds and barely winning solely due the bravery and sheer determination of an army.

[@elliotyourarobot]

@@justiron2999 the Red Army fitted that description perfectly.

[@SJKlapecki]

I really like Enemy at the Gates from a standpoint of it just being, you know, a movie. Taken on its own, a lot of the scenes genuinely are cool and get a hell of a rise out of me. But seeing how many people's understanding of Eastern Front history is basically wholly formed by it has soured me on it.

[@flippydaflip5310]

You might want to try some Russian cinema that deals with WW2, then. Try "White Tiger" - it's a (very) fictitious story, but it still manages to feel far, far more authentic than this piece of trashy propaganda.

[@chriss780]

@@flippydaflip5310 also "come and see" if you want probably the most moving portrayal of the horrors of war.

[@olserknam]

@@flippydaflip5310 White Tiger does end with a rather nationalist notion that Russia is in inherent state of antagonism with the rest of the world, who are potentially just as evil as the Nazis for wanting nothing more than to take advantage of the poor Slavic people, and the general "well that's just how things are!" mindset. Which is the same kind of nationalism and propaganda condemned in the video, only from another side.

[@flippydaflip5310]

@@olserknam I think you may need to watch the ending of that movie again... you may have misinterpreted it.

[@olserknam]

@@flippydaflip5310 Now I'm curious, what is your take on it?

[@captaincorleone7088]

Enemy at the Gates received bad reviews at the time of its release and when I watched it on home video a year later, I could see why. A wasted opportunity that fails to convey the magnitude of the situation - which is particularly annoying because Annaud is aware of this and said in an interview that had Stalingrad fallen, he'd be speaking German. I'm embarrassed to admit that I wasn't aware that Zinn had reviewed SPR, likewise that I've only just discovered your channel. Better late than never!

[@victorsamsung2921]

Time for a more proper Hollywood representation of Zaitsev and the heroic defenders of Stalingrad. Albeit, showing more the casualties of war, rather than glorify it etc. This German 1993 movie about Stalingrad does a much better job.

[@anthonylucas2622]

A meme that I love is: "When they tell you that only half of the Soviets have rifles, but it was because the other half had SMGs"

[@retardcorpsman]

The saying is hyperbole, but its interesting to note that most soviet battalions had a company specifically equipped entirely with SMGs like the PPS41 and PPS42 by mid war. Special "tank rider" battalions more so, with 4 companies being equipped with such. Assault engineer battalions were equipped with automatic weapons alone.

[@RoomRar]

cool video skittles. You're always such a good writer. _also I guess kay did a good job reading your script_

[@ninjasheep7492]

The population in the territory held by the axis was larger than that of the soviet union by the battle of Stalingrad. The Nazis alone outnumbered the soviets in military personnel early in the war. The heavier losses on the soviets side were largely due to severe logistical difficulties due to the extremely large and sparse territory of eastern europe as well as nazi massacres of civilians and POWs. No army in WW2 was just like "lol, we have infinite people so it doesn't matter who dies".

[@michimatsch5862]

Try explaining that to "history buffs" who like playing "realistic" games or "learning" about the war. Believe me, I tried.

[@MxCheefah]

@@michimatsch5862 HOI4 playing, Cheeto dust covered and Nazi sympathizing mfs.

[@shanefoster2132]

Ya, this WW2 was a massive logistical and resource intensive war. Some say it is a reason for Nazi swiftness in tactics is that once started they rapidly would need to secure access to resources like oil. I dunno for sure but regardless resources management was paramount for all involved. This included manpower. This was an industrial war. Hell, even the US had rationing during the war and the war wasn't taking place on their soil.

[@ninjasheep7492]

@@shanefoster2132 yup. The reason Stalingrad was considered a big deal was it would cut off soviet logistics to the south and allow the nazis to seize the southern oil fields to solve their oil shortage. Because it was a soviet victory the Axis would suffer from a crippling oil shortage for the rest of the war which would force them to not only reduce production of military vehicles but even start scrapping tanks and trucks they already had built due to not even being able to fuel them.

[@shanefoster2132]

@@ninjasheep7492 holy shit, just looked at a map. It just struck me how far they had pushed. Before now I thought of it more as above the Black Sea but it's above the Caspian almost Central Asia. I guess cuz of the meme/myth of invading Russia in winter was still in the back of my head.

[@ThatDangDad]

I remember really liking EatG when it came out, I'm a sucker for tense sniper movies. But wow, I would've never picked up on all this back then. Great video!

[@zetetick395]

Our troops have 'indomitable fighting spirit' The oppositions troops have an 'cruel implacable mentality'

[@mynamejeff3545]

It's kind of insane to me how prevalent the idea has become that the USSR's massive loss of life during WWII was because human life was not valued and soldiers were "cannon fodder", instead of ya know, the USSR having to bear the brunt of the Nazi's assault as well as the genocide that was the General Ostplan. It's even more annoying vecause you just know that if it was any of the Western powers who lost that many people in battle, it would be all about the incredible bravery and self-sacrifice of those who fought for the liberation of Europe

[@GeeNo_]

Ivan's War by Catherine Merridale is a great book to read if you're interested in the lives many Soviet Infantry had during WW2. It's a non-fictional book telling real stories based on diaries, wartime records, and personal accounts. I think it compliments this video pretty well.

[@firstname_lastname840]

I have recently finished "Lenin on the Train" from her and wanted to check out some of her other books. Thank you for the recomendation.

[@GeeNo_]

@@firstname_lastname840 Haven't read "Lenin on the Train", I'll have to look into it. Appreciate the comment :D

[@achristiananarchist2509]

So, as a US Navy vet, I think I can shed some light on the reasons behind the weird plot of Saving Private Ryan. The military does actually have a series of policies in place that are designed to get people out of combat if all of their brothers are killed in action. It's and old timey rule that is less about lessening the pain of a grieving mother than it is about ensuring that the "family line" is preserved. The example we always learn about in the Navy is the case of the Sullivan brothers, who were all serving on the same ship when it was destroyed, killing all five brothers. In response to this, the Navy made a new policy that siblings can no longer serve on the same ship during wartime and it also caused a military-wide codification of the already unofficially in use "Sole Surviving Son Policy", which says that if you are the sole surviving son of a family where at least one of your brothers had died in combat, then you were exempted from military service, whether in peace or wartime. If all the sons in a given family were serving in the military, and all but one of them died, the surviving son was usually sent home and made to finish out their service behind a desk somewhere, and there are a number of stories of this happening during WW2, when it wasn't uncommon for whole families to sign up. I think Spielberg probably heard these stories and thought "What's the worst case scenario for getting one of these kids home?" and then ran with it.

[@jordrider1917]

My grandpa was in basic training preparing for the Korean War. His father who was a farmer, was struck by a barn door in a wind storm and died. My grandpa was sent home as the only male in the family. None of his friends from basic survived.

[@deusvultpictures6550]

that happened to the Niland brothers, on which SPR is loosely based. With the Nilands though, two of the brothers actually survived - the eldest was shot down over Burma and a POW who returned home after Japan's surrender, but he was MIA presumed dead so the sole survivor rule was invoked for the youngest brother to be repatriated.

[@Mariner797]

IIRC that policy was in effect even before the Sullivans, but it was ignored and was proven why it existed.

[@johannaldbrecht1594]

It's almost like the maker of this video ignored that, so he could jab at Spielberg and the US.

[@themanformerlyknownascomme777]

@@deusvultpictures6550 I remember that

[@deathdoor]

One infuriating detail about this "stereotype" that the soviets were always killing their own people is that the germans also killed a lot of their own people. Their "undesirables" included not only civilians but also "coward" soldiers that had suffered trauma during combat.

[@suabalzanita1598]

But aren't germans the bulwark of the civilized white race?!?😨😨😨

[@deathdoor]

@Swarmpope No, there are people that do, someone did that recently.

[@deathdoor]

@ERRATAS 0202 Should be common knowledge. The nazis had euthanasia programs even for their own population in Germany. As for what you questioned, they choose to ignore the existence of PTSD in their units. Them soldier and civilians suffering from it to the point of needing medical attention could turn victims of the euthanasia programs for being considered "disabled". If you want to know more about these things you could start watching the channel "World War II" that it's covering the entire war week by week. They have several specials and series like "War Against Humanity" that will tell and show you everything everyone did during those years.

[@SaraphDarklaw]

@ERRATAS 0202 Did you really miss the whole Holocaust thing? It’s kind of a big deal.

[@hashtagunderscore3173]

I’m not sure what your point is. Are you saying that the Germans also killed their own people, and so it was located the Soviets did it? I don’t think that’s what you’re saying but I’m not sure what your point is.

[@River_StGrey]

I can't tell you how many times I had that argument with my uncle at family gatherings. Like imagine the outrage from Americans if the USSR had depicted the boys at Iwo Jima as hapless, illiterate fools who were being fed lies by powerful tyrants so as to manipulate them.

[@tevarinvagabond1192]

There's plenty of American movies that portray US soldiers as dumb hicks...that's the thing I find hilarious about people like you, you get outraged at some minor examples of inaccuracies in film (as if entertainment should be always fully realistic...like come on, we watch movies to have fun, not to always be inundated with facts...we have entertainment to ESCAPE from reality not be doused in it) while there are many examples of movies trying to be as realistic as they can. That's the thing, the West has a myriad of sources in media and entertainment..sure, you can find a lot of spurious BS, misinformation, propoganda, etc..but you also can find the shocking truth as well, all freely available. In Russia you just can't...war movies there are right-wing propoganda showing the wars Russia fought in as glorious conflicts where Russia never did anything bad, and to this day the Russian government still airs such movies in cinemas to stoke nationalistic spirit and bans movies that show the reality of the situation

[@hans4120]

Twitter would riot

[@VladimirLorenzo-k4k]

didnt clint eastwood make a movie with more or less that same premise

[@jrus690]

No good analogy of Stalingrad in the Pacific other than maybe the Japanese pushing America out of the Philippines or the Dutch in what is now Indonesia.

[@DinoCism]

It's also worth remembering that Soviet troops *welcomed* the "not a step back" policy because they knew they had to make a stand somewhere. These were people with families who they didn't want to die in concentration camps. They were massively invested in the liberation of their country in the way that only the threat of total annihilation can make you be. They didn't want to just go home and beat off while waiting for their entire family to be killed.

[@lucasartore161a]

Italian chiming in on the so-called "blocking detachments" : in WW1, italian military police, the Carabinieri, were infamous for tracking down and executing deserters. The war movie "Uomini Contro" shows this well. And as far as I know, such policies were not uncommon in WW1. Now the video may be about WW2 but I find it odd that so many western people are keen to paint the brutality of total war with a broad brush when it comes to the "other" and try to pin it on socialism not valuing lives or some such, yet few remember when these things happened among European states not long before, and not to stop fascist genocide as in WW2, but to fill the pockets of the war industry and to honor intricated war treaties as in WW1.

[@namulit]

@@nikolamilicevic1040 'Decimazione' too?

[@DinoCism]

France was infamous for doing this in WW1. Kubrick made an entire movie about it.

[@catmate8358]

"Uomini Contro" is a masterpiece. Extremely heart breaking depiction of the horrors of war.

[@VictorKB96]

I highly recommend everyone to watch Russian/Soviet war movies. They have nothing to do with American war movies. Not that there are no amazing American war movies, of course. But these are focused on the soldiers and their heroism. Soviet war movies, on the other hand, show very few war scenes. The few we see show no pride in even killing the Nazi soldiers (unlike they do in Inglorious Basterds), and most movies are centered in soldiers AND the civilians. In the USSR, everyone was involved 24/7 in the war effort, whether in the front or in factories. The moral of every movie was to send an anti-war message. 'The Cranes are Flying' of 1957 by Kalatozov would be a great start to Russian war cinema

[@EmonWBKstudios]

Communism is when I can't get laid so I became a proud boy.

[@engelbrekthaakansson4100]

"If you don't sleep with me, don't you get it, I'm gonna TURN NAZI"

[@nikasamwkusvili9345]

hply shit man this just made my day

[@martinlatour9311]

Reddit rtards spotted in the wild

[@torismegistos7111]

Fallacy of association, anything else?

[@ericb.4313]

I saw this movie when I was 8, I think, but now I find the better film about Operation Barbarossa is the Russian film "Come and See" where the director actually lived that experience and it's at least ambiguous as to what villages/cities are present. Not that the villages or cities really matter.

[@ascendedbro1828]

Lmao comment section is filled with raging nazis. They really didn't like it lol

[@lalouchevibritannia539]

I feel like Enemy at The Gates is closer in some ways to a Warhammer 40k live action film, in principle, than anything resembling the red army.

[@bengallup9321]

Regarding that EU official......for a German to be using such obviously dehumanizing language about slavs should ring numerous alarm bells. It is actually chilling considering the fact the Nazis genocided millions of slavs in their occupied territories (worth noting when the roles were reversed, there was no such genocide against Germans.) Also, yet another reason to loathe the EU.

[@BrorealeK]

The actual genocide going on right now maybe should chill you a little more than a normal European being fashy.

[@musicaleuphoria8699]

It seems that this anti-Slavic sentiment may go back as far as the Holy Roman Empire expanding eastward if not further, occupying territory via divine destiny,

[@theodorevibritannia7988]

TBH, I loathe both EU and Russia. The later for having Christian ethno-nationalism (arguably the most destructive ideology humanity has ever seen). The former for being a centralized body that is used to perpetuate western imperialism and suppressing the rise of socialism within its border.

[@Nosliw837]

@@musicaleuphoria8699 It absolutely does. One of the reasons The Battle of Tannenberg (WWI) was also known as The Second Battle of Tannenberg was for propaganda reasons surrounding the Teutonic loss at the Battle of Grunwald 500 years prior, in the same spot, against the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Bigotry runs deep.

[@johnmarks9994]

physical displacement is also genocide. Look what happened to Konigsberg/Kaliningrad. The Russians living there weren't the Germans who had been for over a thousand years.

[@vespiaryb]

This is definitely a super duper American movie. It goes full Western in the final scene before the epilogue, when Jude Law faces down Ed Harris in the railyard. Sun's shining through the smoke, he's got a poncho that waves in the wind, a high whistle sounds as he's revealed between the train cars. That's what really slapped me in the face back when I first saw the film with "this is an American movie! get it??" The comparison with Private Ryan is very important

[@empatheticrambo4890]

This was very challenging and important to hear. I can’t say I heard much of the anti-Russian narratives in my media, but I did have some of these biases rattling around in my head. I’m going to have to keep reflecting

[@blackrav3n659]

As a soviet reenactor for wwii i am so glad to say out loud to everyone "finally someone said it!" I'm so glad you made this video. As much as I love enemy at the gates. It is a disgusting portrayal of Stalingrad and the ussr as a whole. Its needs to get out there that this is truly how it is in this day and age.

[@robertodell9193]

The Soviets tortured and murdered 50 MILLION of their own people and sent millions of others to forced labor camps. The USSR WAS disgusting.

[@ΒασίληςΒλάχος-τ3κ]

why do you love it then?

[@jaycewood7071]

The idea that the justification for the dropping of bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki was the kamikaze fighters is actually taught in American schools. Still.

[@lkeke35]

Yeah, that whole Americans care about human life was deeply ironic considering how many "Americans" were being lynched at picnics in this country at the time that was asserted!

[@mikhaelgribkov4117]

Well, yeah ruzzia is better than that. It just developed segregated zones and throws poor minorities in front.

[@8301TheJMan]

Western/American hypocrisy with regards to foreign policy is sickening at this point. Listen, Im not gonna defend Russia invading another country, nevertheless doing so without being attacked first, however your comment reminded me of some other things that is discussed incessantly on mainstream media about this war that absolutely infuriates me. We're suddenly all flipping shit about Ukraine's sovereignty, when we to this very day still are partly occupying almost a third of Syria alongside our Kurdish proxies. Us being there in the first place without the legal government having invited us there, (regardless of what you think of said government), is a violation of it's sovereignty and therefore illegal. Not to mention the fact that we flooded the Syrian civil war with weapons which literally fueled it into the warzone it had been for nearly a decade and now, even though the war is over and our regime change attempt was thwarted, (once again, regardless of what you think of Assad, we most certainly were deliberately fueling this conflict to overthrow him), we are still sanctioning the shit outa the government because our side lost and we don't wanna let the country rebuild. Hell, when it comes to Ukraine - we literally backed and helped direct a coup of the corrupt but democratically elected Yanukovych government back in 2014 and helped install a virulently anti-Russian government so as to peel Ukraine away from Russia's influence and weaken our adversary. And suddenly now we care about democracy and sovereignty. There was a study that came out like a year ago, that found that Ukraine is more corrupt and less democratic now than it was prior to that "revolution". But of course, us backing Ukraine has nothing to do with helping the Ukrainians being slaughtered, it has everything to do with the exact same reason we backed the Mujahidin in Afghanistan against the Soviet Union and Communist Afghan government, it's done to bleed Russia. In other words, our political class in this country are willing to fight Russia to the last Ukrainian. But of course media in the west leaves all this out, this current conflict is instead framed as if Russia one day woke up and decided to conquer Ukraine without any actual historical or geo-political context being provided, because if they did people wouldn't tolerate sending 60 billion dollars worth of weapons to fuel a proxy war while economy is still in shambles as a result of covid. And just like we did with all our adversary/enemy nations in the past, we reduce them down to their evil leader, that of course being in this case - Putin, just like we did with Saddam for Iraq, Assad for Syria, and so on and so on.

[@stuglife5514]

Yup. I’m Pennsylvanian Deutsch/Dutch, and even though DROVES of us joined in on the war effort to help liberate our homelands, we were treated like the enemy. We went to fight our own brothers, and at home we were treated like we were the ones who caused it. It seriously damaged our culture. Most PA Deutsch aren’t fluent in german anymore or very in touch with our culture because of the extreme racism. Even in school growing up I dealt with discrimination from it because me and my family had a different language, and this was at the peak of WW2 shooters like MoH and CoD.

[@Gilberto90]

@@stuglife5514 Says the Wehraboo

[@stuglife5514]

@@Gilberto90 I’m not a wehreboo. I’m PA Deutsch. If you have nothing intelligent to say, leave this conversation. Imagine calling someone a wehraboo because their ethnicity. Tf is wrong with you

[@star2705]

Gotta say, "inside train" is definitely my preferred state vs. "outside train" once a train hits speed.

[@allypoum]

The depiction of Stalingrad in Enemy at the Gates is pure black propaganda. There's a nerdy YT channel called Stalingrad Battle Data (I think) which uses primary sources to demonstrate this with abundant clarity. Great video by the way!

[@allypoum]

*maybe I should have said "white" propaganda given that the sheer venom of the anti-communist messaging in the film brings some heavy-duty civil war era White energy with it...

[@ruedelta]

@@allypoum White Russians (monarchists) and White Terror also fit.

[@allypoum]

@@ruedelta yeah that's what I was referring to.

[@aaltuxov]

Probably the channel you've mentioned is TIK channelwhere guys taking different sources from all sides and by comparing them and putting on a big map giving like the full view on the Battle of Stalingrad

[@allypoum]

@@aaltuxov It's a different channel but it has done some stuff with the one you mention. Pretty sure it's called StalingradBattleData or similar. Nope have just checked it's now called Armageddon lol. Probably helps the algorithm.

[@Celtics-x4w]

And then they make a movie on the racist, fascist, colonialist, imperialist Winston Churchill, and never show anything bad about him even once. US/UK oligarchy has completely warped history in their favor.

[@andreykuzmin4355]

My grand-grandfather, who served in RKKA air force logistics corps, likely rolls in his grave every time, when somebody watches the infamous "one rifle, one clip" scene.

[@therupoe]

This was a great video and I'm shocked that the events depicted in Enemy at the Gates were almost completely made up. I had absorbed the "not one step back" and "every other man gets a gun" bits as fact. Interestingly, they were further reinforced in Call of Duty (I think? Maybe Medal of Honor) and you actually play out many of the scenes depicted in the movie (they were heavily... uh inspired by the movie) And this is just Stalingrad... so many other real-world battles and scenarios have been depicted in popular media and I've never really questioned the facts bc... why would they lie? Its all historical and they can just get events from historical accounts, right? Right? Saving Private Ryan also kicked off HBO's Band of Brothers and The Pacific. I've never really looked at it from the perspective of that quote you included (I forget the name). That these movies change war from being "always hell" to "sometimes good". As an American, our society is so steeped in military conflicts and it's hard to get the full picture.

[@DiscoPickle102]

Company of Heroes 2 does the same thing. It's pretty disturbing how big of an influence this flick has had.

[@TheCourtJack]

I liked how Call of Duty: World at War handled the Russian campaign. While there is a sniper battle in Stalingrad, it doesn't feel like a rip off of Enemy at the Gates and fighting through Berlin was awesome and unique as WW2 shooters go. There is brutality (mostly done by Gary Oldman hamming it up) but it's always at Nazis and you understand why in the game's narrative ( and history obvs). There is an objector to the violence but I don't remember if he was anti-communist.

[@ВасилийМедведев-з5в]

Funny thing - some of those myths are even present in modern-day russian movies about the war - which means either that this propaganda is so widespread even Russians believe it, or that russian moviemakers also want to depict the USSR bad to make sure people don't think about trying that whole thing again

[@richardvlasek2445]

i find it kind of funny how cod1's soviet campaign was so insanely stupid that cod2 kind of tried to make up for that by actually portraying the red army as competent except for the tutorial where you throw potatoes instead of grenades on the range lol

[@АнтонДегидонов]

​@@DiscoPickle102 I wonder if anyone besides Badcomidan has talked about historical lies in this game? Well, at least he made an English-language version of this review in those years, or else I think, no one would have found out about that nonsense in the game.

[@armenianrussian]

Listening to the words of Florence Gaub is actually scary. Scary to me, at least. Because I'm from Russia. I was born here, I live here. My country is the biggest in the world. We have Asian part and European part. Not divided by race, but simply by geography. And all of my life I lived in the European part. And when I travelled with my family to Europe... it wasn't different. Yes, different people, different culture, I got it. But it felt a lot like Moscow and St.Petersburg. Of course I heard that even before War Europeans saw us differently than we see ourselves. But... I didn't ever think that it was like this. That we are less human to them. It's actually scary. I'm used to anti-soviet, anti-communist propaganda. Just because our government give money to produce films like "Enemy At The Gates". But it didn't actually come to me before that to Europe Russians and Soviets are the same people. Not Ukrainians for now, of course. The lies about Holodomor and war between Russia and Ukraine help it. Thanks for opening my eyes. Damn, that sounds weird considering massive anti-communist TV Show and book "Zuleikha Opens Her Eyes". But still. Thank you, Kay and Skittles. P.S. Could you, please, do a video about the politics of BioShock? It's interesting to hear what you have to say.

[@edward9674]

What lies about the holodomor?

[@bababooey5755]

​​@@edward9674 The Holodomor has been heavily propogandized as being a campaign of purposeful directed genocide by the Soviets against the Ukrainian people. In reality the Holodomor was a horrible tragedy that affected many soviet citizens including the Ukrainian people, caused primarily as a result of the following- 1. Weather problems crippling harvests. 2. Improper handling of the crisis by the Soviet government as a result of the soviets still advancing from the feudal economy that was Tsarist Russia and the primitive practices implemented during Tsarist times. 3. Influence of Kulaks i.e. wealthy land owning bourgeois and petite bourgeois peasants, primarily in the hoarding and destruction of resources like grain stocks as a reaction to implementation of collectivism. It is also important to note that similar famines had historically occurred during the Tsarist era as well in much greater frequency, compare this with the Soviet response which would result in the end of such crisises post WWII. While the USSR made some mistakes and could have handled the situation better, the decades of historical revisionism and propaganda by bourgeois governments and "historians" such as Robert Conquest and the group responsible for "The Black book of Communism" have left much misinformation surrounding the event. For more details about the famine I would recommend this video- kzbin.info/www/bejne/rKaYXqenfa2nl68

[@АняПетрова-х9н]

Hey! Another russian here. Nationalism and xenophobia are popular in russia, so saying that we're divided by geography rather than nationality/race is a false statement. And yeah what lied about holodomor?

[@armenianrussian]

@@АняПетрова-х9н nationalism is popular in Russia, yes. But Russians live in both parts. You can’t say that in the European part live Europeans and in the Asian part - Asians. That is what I wanted to say. Holodomor is presented as if the government deliberately let people die of hunger. Not by mistake. And this concept is false. Yes. There was a hunger. Yes. People died. Yes. This is a tragedy. But so are hungers that we’re quite popular in Russian Empire. Also the hunger in other countries at the time. Holodomor wasn’t an intentional genocide, like it is presented in media.

[@armenianrussian]

@@edward9674 Holodomor is presented as if the government deliberately let people die of hunger. Not by mistake. And this concept is false. Yes. There was a hunger. Yes. People died. Yes. This is a tragedy. But so are hungers that we’re quite popular in Russian Empire. Also the hunger in other countries at the time. Holodomor wasn’t an intentional genocide, like it is presented in media.

[@heatth1474]

Good video. I've just recently started playing Partisan 1941, a tactical stealth game about partisans in occupied Russia. I actually didn't know that when I started, I thought it was about the French resistance as it is a more common subject. I got caught by surprise by the earnest positive military nationalism that is displayed in the game by the main characters, with a good boy commander protagonist who all he wants is to protect his nation and communism. It is not something that Russians are usually allowed to have in Western media, so it is very illuminating. I am still not comfortable with it, the same way I am not comfortable with the nationalism in American war movies, the military its its version of nationalism is pretty much bad everywhere and the game is very much not interested in analyzing too deeply the ideology of any main character. But, the point is this sort of thing from a Soviet perspective is so rare to me it was refreshing.

[@TheKeyser94]

If you want something more easy to shallow play Starship Trooper Terran Command that is based in Paul Verhoeven movie, even that is science fiction and have a touch of satire, really show the brutality of war, because the Command not give a fuck about their soldiers.

[@Miraihi]

I'd like to add that even the contemporary Russian war movies about WW2 rarely display soldier and officers in a good light. So the game was a breath of the fresh air even for us. I mean, they've made NKVD officer a good guy, what's essentially have never been seen in any work of fiction so far.

[@heatth1474]

@@TheKeyser94 Thanks, but from screenshots the gameplay is not similar at all and it is the type of game I don't like to play. I am not a fan of RTS as a rule, Partisan 1941 works for me because it is a *stealth* tactical game, with a focus on very small teams. Anyway, the game politics aren't particularly hard to shallow. That was my point, though I guess I didn't make it clear. It is par for the course for most media with military protagonists and the those protagonists are Russian make it a bit more novel if anything. It is not good politics but it is fun as it is and no worse than most stuff out there.

[@АнтонДегидонов]

As a Russian, I was also pleasantly surprised by the release of this game. Russian games about the war have not been released for many years, and post-Soviet works of art in which the Soviet army and people look like heroes literally for the first time. Although the number of heroism in that war of worthy games and films is literally limitless. And the secret turned out to be simple, the game came out without any support from the modern anti-Soviet state (it would not have released such a game in life and would not have financed it), purely by enthusiasts.

[@noheroespublishing1907]

You should watch Come And See directed by Elem Klimov, it's a Soviet film about the war from a partisan POV and it's free on KZbin.

[@Nikolai-l1i]

I am sorry, i got upset by the German woman at the beginning of your video. Obviously she forgets that under the austerity measures by IMF to Greece period 2008 onwards, the Greek hospitals did not have money to provide bandages to the patients. That was predominately imposed by the Germans who wanted to 'punish' the lavish Greek State. So, where was the solidarity of EU and mainly the Germans? I am sorry, but Russia had to cut gas supply to Germany. Let them pay now 4 times up the US LNG.

[@SolarFlareAmerica]

You mean company of heroes 2 was just.... a buttload of anti-soviet propaganda? Imagine that 😂

[@Mirage-pz]

I mean , isnt it obvious? Same message, same vibe and scenario with enemy at the gates?

[@jeffreyfoley1009]

​@@Mirage-pz Company of heroes just took enemy at the gates, and regurgitated it to become the campaign

[@MaksFaks-kl1zj]

Indeed, not only that, but it unfaithfully portrays ROA as complete German bootlickers who speak damn German in the first level of the game.

[@ashemountain]

Since moving left politically some 15 odd years ago, I keep learning and unlearning new things. A lot of propaganda. Every so often, a new bit of info pops up, either to show a new view entirely or to expand my understanding of something, and I just have to take a minute and look at the effect that thing has had. It is occasionally astounding just how hardcore the propaganda machine worked with regard to the USSR. Not just during the cold war but (as demonstrated by this movie) the reverberations from the initial impacts. The Red Scare lives on today. How many folks are convinced Russia is still a communist country?

[@timothygoodwin3287]

a lot and you can see how the Red Scare is still happening in a way with how a lot of people call people on the left Communists even if they aren't just another Us vs them

[@justinwatson1510]

I’ve had a similar journey. If you want to just cut to the chase, read Capital and you’ll be communist by the end.

[@ashemountain]

@@justinwatson1510 Oh man, that ship sailed a long time ago. Way ahead of you. Didn't even have to read Capital, I just looked at my life.

[@SaraphDarklaw]

Tankies.

[@ashemountain]

@@SaraphDarklaw What about them?

[@AlexGreat87]

One thing that never appears in American movies during WW2 is how brutally racists Americans and the American army were. Remember, that was segregation era, but during not even one movie or series during WW2 there is a single reference to racism.

[@amadeusvgaming1992]

Red Tails (2012).

[@seileen1234]

Usual racism in WW2 movies it's like: -Marines boxing in a aircraft carrier for money, black person being the big winner while beating the only racist white guy who challenged him or the reverse. -Black soldier being called the n-word one time and later saving the only racist sacrificing himself. Here it is the big "racism" in Hollywood ww2 movies

[@pambower5431]

The pacific

[@jijajijen463]

Hi. Sorry for low-level English. As an anti-war activist who still stay in Russia I can say that our «интеллигенция»/liberal so called intellectuals also have cold-war-mindset. So it's our inner problem too. They only make an exception for cool true european middle class opposition while poor and non-slavic russians portraits as a stupid evil sovetish crowd. And that caused a lot of problems for resistance for years. (But yes, we also have crazy shitty tankies from other side of opposition.) Thanks for your video!

[@АнтонДегидонов]

I'm glad that I'm not the only Russian left who watches this channel =))). And yes, peace to the huts, war to the palaces!

[@jerbs5346]

This comment section has a lot of ignorant comments.

[@HAUEhuaheau91]

Unknown5 has a video explaining the situation on the eastern front. Only a handful of soldiers were executed during the war. Incredibly many soldiers were convinced to go towards the front.

[@catsthemovie4692]

I always tell people to go watch a Chinese film called "Wolf warrior". You will never take these self important western war movies seriously again because when you see another country doing the exact same self congratulating, it becomes hard to ignore it. It's like holding up a mirror to yourself.

[@ruedelta]

Try watching The Eight Hundred. Wolf Warrior is supposed to be more Rambo. The Eight Hundred is more WW2 reflection.

[@joshuabonilla3491]

You know wolf warrior is like a action flick it’s not a reflection of reality. It’s like taking a James Bond film or Rambo film seriously.

[@catsthemovie4692]

@@joshuabonilla3491 the point is the jingoism smh 🙄

[@chcknpie04]

Yes! An upload from my favorite KZbinr!

[@carterburkhart4336]

CoD 1 and Enemy at the Gates really form a modern mindset of the Soviet army being incompetent post-Barbarossa

[@Psytinker]

The Soviet campaign in CoD 1 basically IS Enemy at the Gates. Which makes CoD:UO and CoD 2 toning it down rather strange. kzbin.info/www/bejne/qZzChHhqjtZ0brM

[@70rn]

Whilst quite a lot what you said is true, putting Japan into the mix does nothing for your argument. Japanese nationalism had led to a substantive disregard for life amongst the leadership classes that was quickly transferred down the chain to the lower military echelons and, by the end of the war, the broader civilian population. Japanese infantry were expected to, and did, carry out costly frontal assaults against entrenched positions with very low chance of survival for the individuals involved. Similarly the civilian population, indoctrinated by their own government to see the Americans as brutes incapable of mercy, engaged in mass suicide on a number of occasions. Horrendous Chinese casualties both in WW2 and the following Korean war probably did nothing for subsequent US attitudes to "orientals". It's important to understand why people at a given time made specific decisions/carried out specific actions, because simply writing them off as 'those racists of old' ends up becoming it's own kind of bigotry and ignorance.

[@Srijit1946]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/iHS1hZqqpahgfdE

[@Oscar_Lasco]

I learnt about the Nanking massacres by the Japanese imperial army. It's one of the most inhumane and evilest things in human history. I didn't watch movies about this tragedy (just glimpses) but it's near impossible to faithfully describe by art, the sheer horror Japan inflicted on China. And a lot of Japanese still deny these crimes.

[@70rn]

@@Oscar_Lasco Yes I agree, and the IJA campaign across the pacific campaign was notable for such almost reflexive atrocity. 4 Million are said to have died during their occupation the dutch east indies (Indonesia), which is remarkable given that archipelago was on the outer extent of their expansion, and the force was probable no more than 100 - 150 000 troops, diminutive compared to the eastern front formations. The China campaign saw the adoption of the "Three Alls" policy by the Japanese, Kill All, Burn All, Loot All. Highly concentrated and unyielding violence.

[@baileygregory9192]

I'm a Conservative and even tho I imagine we would disagree on a fair few things I Full agree with your point on dehumanisation and how the elits use propaganda to justify hating the "enemy" and to start wars

[@TechMik3LP]

What do you think about the elites using conservatism to withhold ressources from the lower parts of society

[@maciejsosnowski5742]

Spoiler - the war has already started. And it was not propaganda that bombarded Muriapol.

[@shahramtondkarmobarakie1824]

many people start on the right much like you since thats what dominates todays politics. may i recommend the channel, "second thought" ? hes a fairly good introduction into modern issues of society and leftism

[@baileygregory9192]

@shahramtondkarmobarakie1824 Thanks but ive seen and watch second thought, i dount know about right wing being defual tho in the uk form what I've seen people are pretty center/center left these days. Like in school if any one was political it would be left wing and I've actively gotten right-wing over the years, even polling shows that younger people start out more left wing. I just agree with some left wing ideas and that because I'm not dogmatic and realise that people of all political Persuasion will have some points that are worth considering and agreeing with.

[@user-xsn5ozskwg]

I... Jesus, that audio from Gaub is just fucked on *so* many levels.

[@a1a2a3a4a528]

Token Bulgarian tm here, unfortunately confirming that ppl just be like that in this country and the fact that Kiril Petkov said that surprised no one of intelligence unfortunately.

[@Eleven-nv5ly]

Excellent video! Happy you are refusing to fall into the anti-communist claptraps about the USSR, and the teardown of that horrid movie is very entertaining.

[@michimatsch5862]

Yeah, the loudest people on the USSR sometimes (not always) seem to be either Tankies or people just saying everything connected to the USSR is bad. It's never that easy. There were great achievements and great injustices both committed in large quantities there, imo.

[@uanime1]

@@michimatsch5862 Given how many countries wanted to join the EU instead of Russia's alternative union it seems the USSR didn't have that many great achievements.

[@VoonNBuddies]

@@uanime1 They won the space race for starters. They largely improved literacy rates (especially for women.) They drastically reduced homelessness. They brought down homelessness to virtually 0. No serious person will argue that the USSR was perfect, but to ignore their achievements is silly.

[@Salsmachev]

@@uanime1 Russia at the start of the revolution was an absolute monarchy based on the same basic system of pre-industrial peasant feudalism that had been outdated for at least a century, and had just been ravaged by the first world war (which was far more destructive on the Eastern Front than on the Western Front because the Russian Empire used outdated equipment and strategy). From that shitshow, the USSR managed to build a geopolitically powerful, comparatively democratic, industrialised, scientifically prolific world power in only about twenty years, at which point they had to stop briefly to be the most important player in the defeat of the Nazis before going on to stand toe-to-toe with the United States as one of the two most powerful countries in the world for another forty years. Yeah no achievements there.

[@michimatsch5862]

@@uanime1 Russia !=USSR. Either you are terribly misinformed, or this is really weak bait.

[@MarchKatze]

11:27 hey (hellbeck) he was my professor! he actually discussed this film and the same fallacies you picked up on in class! Great guy and he often offered us to go out for coffee and had a plethora of stories from his time spent interviewing russians

[@Hekateras]

I'm Russian-Ukrainian and I'd never even heard of this movie until now, I had no idea how much it had contributed culturally. Holy shit, this is what you guys (generalised) all believe happened during that battle? So many of our people died in that war - twenty million by some counts - and you all think it's the result of stupid shit like THIS? Are you telling me every time I've had some internet argument with a Westerner about how no, we didn't lose twenty million people by just being bad at fighting and it was the price of blood of turning back the Nazis, they had THIS propaganda reel playing in the back of their head? Oh my god...

[@marksalmoneussorcerersupreme]

Appeals to America's goodness goes back farther than that, from The Revolution, to The Civil War, to WW2, lots and lots of Appeals to that "American Virtue" were told that Americans have. But as George Carlin puts it, the founding Fathers we're hypocritical, they owned slaves and started a Revolt so they can have financial autonomy, The Civil War ended Slavery, The Union became the Federal government that despite ending slavery was very much ok with Segregation and allowed the the Institution of Slavery that so many people on both sides died for to be replaced by a billion dollar prison industry... So the truth is, we are honestly no better than any empire that has ever existed and they thought they were all swell people too.

[@randomjunkohyeah1]

Actually, as Knowing Better informed me and many others in such disturbing detail, it was the _onset of WW2_ that finally ended traditional chattel slavery of black people in America. What can I say but yikes.

[@БаццкоБудённый]

I hate enemy at the gates. It's the most disgusting propaganda piece i have ever seen

[@georgekostaras]

I remember even as a kid, I was shocked by the anti soviet bias of enemy of the gates. And this was just from casual reading at the library

[@Ome99]

She is an EU official and a NATO adviser? WTF!!!

[@PalestinMohammed]

Actual toddlers in the comment sections, don't look there

[@howardzhang5421]

Prowling the comments section to destroy ignorant westerners

[@cka4ok51rus8]

Спасибо большое, у нас этому фильму давно вынесли негативную оценку. Не надеялся, что ктонибудь на западе будет продвигать адекватную критику.

[@guysmith411]

I recently rewatched Saving Private Ryan after having watched Band Of Brothers, I felt that BoB gave a way better depiction of the war because it showed guys succumbing to PTSD, people mourning friends, bickering and smack talk between soldiers that made me think “damn, nothing really has changed that much in the Army”, but the one thing that stuck at the most was how eager everyone was in the beginning to go and fight in the war, and throughout the series you see them become more and more upset that they have to keep fighting and just want it to be over with. Maybe I’m wrong on this, it just from what I picked up on it. Wasn’t really jotting down notes at the time to compare the two lol. But it struck me as odd as how overly heroic so many of the characters were in saving private Ryan, and I’ve always hated that with WW2 films or shows. It’s cringy and in my opinion does a disservice to those who fought and died.

[@cptkeely]

Watch the pacific the series is more dark than band of brothers and also shows how soldiers are affected by the war

[@plaguedoctorjamespainshe6009]

Saving private Ryan was an script about an schlocky action movie on the style of WW2 movies from the 50s and 60s But Spielberg changed it to be more grounded an well, the masterpiece that it is today While Band of Brothers was from the beginning an adaptation of the reports of actual veterans from Easy Company, so is sometimes bordering on documentary

[@BlagJager]

11:03 "One rifle for two/three soldiers" is about Russian Empire in WWI. There was enough rifles in the Red Army during WWII (Great Patriotic War).

[@sonoar0ckmans939]

Speilberg dedicated ww2 movie for his father meanwhile the french guy have no motivation and potray the movie based on general belief of eastern front.

[@champisthebunny6003]

One of the many absurdities in this film, was the scene where Koulikov is talks about how he was accused of being a German spy at some point, and how his interrogators knock all his teeth out with a hammer for....what again? Then, after taking pretty much every tooth he has, they give him a mouth full of false teeth and made him a sniper. Because commies are that dumb and inconsistent I guess? I dont know, but this entire films anti-soviet messaging is about as subtle as a hammer to the teeth, and it pretty much starts at the very beginning of the film and hardly ever lets up. And, no, in case anyone is wondering < not 'pro-soviet here', I am pro-honesty though.....

[@colonelweird]

This is a great video - thank you for making it. At one point you dig into the possible historical sources for the lies and distortions in the film. I think it would be just as interesting to dig into the propaganda sources. In other words anticommunists were probably saying these things before they were written into this screenplay. So where exactly did the screenwriter get these ideas? Or did he just invent some things?

[@mikearchibald744]

This is a topic I find interesting. We know there is propganda in american movies. We know that writing changes....a lot. So WHO exactly is in there saying "Ok, we need the russians to look really really bad". Since the hero is russian and its a 'good story', then I wonder if at some stage there is an exec that says "OK, we can do the movie, but you can't make russia look good" because, well, you never know when we may need them bad again. I'm canadian and this was even MORE blatant in whatsisnames "Argo" where canadians impact was largely minimized, when in fact it was mostly a canadian operation.

[@TheSundayShooter]

​@@mikearchibald744 "Argo fug y'self"

[@breezeshooter42]

Saving Private Ryan isn't quite that whitewashed though. American atrocities are depicted, and the mission to save Ryan is generally depicted as the higher ups being wildly out of touch with the average soldier. The movie still has plenty of problems and there's plenty of valid criticisms made, but comparing Spielberg to Kissinger is ridiculous lol

[@M1MyRifle]

Agreed, SPR showed Americans shooting un-armed POWs, it definitely did not place the US on the moral high ground, soldiers fighting for the US did some evil shit too and it was portrayed. Including the scene where most of the guys wanted to shoot Steamboat Willie. No one was innocent during the War.

[@tranbachuyen6655]

SPR make to reforce the ideal US military fight for good reason , maximum humane to the point they willing to use valueable military resoure (entire highly trained and veteran US army ranger squad) just to make a single american mom feel better . it never about whitewashed war crime

[@pz_faust6866]

whitewashed???

[@bobybot9320]

Also while it's part of the dynamic, the movie is solid and does something valuable without going into patriotic speeches about how america's perfect, you can enjoy the movie and know all about america's misdeeds without any contradiction, same with the following miniseries, BOB and The Pacific. (though allied crimes were not on the same scale as the axis', no both sides here)

[@mikearchibald744]

But thats part of the propaganda model. You are allowed to show individual officers 'out of touch', thats common in american movies, but if you ask veterans its largely not true. Joseph Heller said his plot of Catch 22 was more appropriate to the vietnam war than world war 2. And thats how these things are managed. In todays world nobody even in america will accept a John Wayne war movie, it would be ludicrous. But there are certain ways of depicting such 'atrocities' in order to rationalize them, and of course NOW we know almost ANYTHING in war can be rationalized. Hell, a guy in buffalo was telling me his Thai grandmother was beaten up because somebody thought she was chinese...which is supposed to be better?

[@Knightstruth]

4:25 To be fair, the atrocities committed by Japan in WWII equaled or possibly even surpassed anything that happened in Europe during WWII. To say the Imperial Japanese did not value life is not racist. It's pretty accurate. How many innocent Chinese did they execute after the Doolittle raid? 200,000 was it? And the Imperial Japanese Navy and Army hated each other only slightly less than they hated their enemies. Often to the point of letting the other take casualties rather than supporting them.

[@bootleggedmoonshine8505]

They would rather die than be captured i think

[@Knightstruth]

@@bootleggedmoonshine8505 I'd rather die than be captured by Imerial Japan also. Those guys were brutal af.

[@simonriley4131]

@Roniixx finally someone fucking said it, sick of the "two sides" bullshit that pops up more and more in regards to WW2. People think it's ancient history and play devil's advocate just for the hell of it

[@SuperGman117]

Yeah, this guy seems to think that any attempt to highlight differences in culture and philosophy between different countries (who, mind you, are different countries *for a fucking reason*) is "racist". No. People can be conditioned to accept nearly anything as "good" and "proper", no matter how insane it may seem to you.

[@kurkuruza]

I think the important difference is whether you attribute this extreme degree of cruelty to nationality or not. That difference is at the heart of the double standard Kay mentioned: some people - us - are essentially decent but are driven to evil by historical circumstances, mistakes, whatever. That's probably the way the lady in the video views Nazi Germany and how the Americans feel about their war crimes. But the other people - them - are evil just cause it's in their blood/culture. It is specifically the latter approach that makes you dispense collective punishment, even against the people who left their country ages ago. Because you think it's "in their blood". So no amount of horror the Japanese state inflicted made detaining the immigrants in America justified. So it is accurate to say that the government of WW2 Japan fostered and promoted general disregard for human life and dehumanization of the enemy that led to a warped culture of death ideation and many atrocities. But it is very much not an instristic Japanese value because they're "just not like us", stating something like that would be racist. Like saying that the Russians are doing terrible things because they're "not like us", and not because of the violent autocracy that's been stamping out opposition for over 10 years now

[@IaminfactKarlMarx]

23:24, Imagine doing this to a real human being. Using an actual persons lived experience to ham in your anti-communist message

[@Syndie702]

Another nugget of truth: In Junior Lieutenant Mansur Abdulin's fantastic memoir Red Road From Stalingrad, he notes that his division was chronically short of rifles and had less than half their authorized number. So instead, most soldiers used Submachine Guns. This is notable because the Soviets had entire SMG battalions (the only country to deploy them organically, en masse) but Mansur's division was a rifle division.

[@4X10S]

First of all Soviets were on defense in Stalingrad.. The idea that they would send human waves without weapons as a defense tactic is so laughable.. Just shows you how much the western world was and still trying to portray Russians as some barbarians. At this point entire Soviet Union was working day and night at factories pumping out enormous amounts of ammunition, weapons and armored vehicles, Russian tanks were literally swarming Germans often overwhelming them 3 to 1. I believe the myth about No Guns but a lot of ammo came cause of PPSh-41 which fired rounds very fast and more often the situation was 180, they needed more ammo than the guns, so Soviets had crates with ammo delivered very often, Germans and Romanian soldiers were joking about Russians seen with ammo crates more often than with a gun in their hands. Hell, they are still saying same shit, the famous Russian human waves in Ukraine, or that soldiers have no weapons and literally have to fight with shovels. At some point propaganda is so stupid you can't help but laugh, all while it's so tragic.

[@dfmrcv862]

Russians literally used human wave tactics in Ukraine, like... we have FOOTAGE of this.

[@jeffreyfoley1009]

​@@dfmrcv862 Saying we have footage doesnt mean jack shit if we dont have footage

[@MAGATRUMPET]

@@jeffreyfoley1009 the soviets lost most of stalin grad

[@musicaleuphoria8699]

"Communism doesn't work because I'm a huge incel." -Commissar Danilov

[@GrandArchPriestOfTheAlgorithm]

This video is officially certified by the Recommending Ones & Zeros.

[@ragdaj]

Chernobyl, unfortunately, does the same mistakes, as Enemy at the Gate. Even though it is talanted crafted series, the propaganda spoils everything.

[@LeonidSaykin]

Typical propaganda movie from the Hollywood.

[@TankHammer]

I was still in my teens when this came out and seeing as how it was a dramatized version of stories my dad or grandpa would have told about the red army in WWII (as you accurately framed it in the video), I had no reason to question it at the time. It may as well have been an only slightly-dramatized historic account.

[@AlbeitBasilisk]

there's alot more to atomic bombings of Japan that can't be just pinned on racism

[@Sgtcrispytoast]

On Saving Private Ryan I feel like it's somewhat disengenious to leave out the scene where the U.S soldiers execute surrendering conscript soldiers. Like yeah it's a small scene, and perhaps doesn't greatly change the movie, but I think it's worth mentioning at least.

[@notniloc8253]

Also, I'm pretty sure the surrendering troops are actually conscripted Czechs, not Germans in that scene, but because it isn't explicit people tend to just shrug it off as Germans getting what they deserve.

[@tatianadashkova2143]

That scene it’s so short and easy to miss I think it should rightfully to be ignored

[@MohamedRamadan-qi4hl]

@@tatianadashkova2143 no it isn't these soldiers weren't even Germans they were Czech. Which tells you the amount of thinking that went into that scene. Also there are many of these types of scenes as well like when Americans throw molotovs at Germans and they let them burn insited of mercy shooting them

[@tatianadashkova2143]

@@MohamedRamadan-qi4hl Doesn't change the fact that it's short, unmemorable and incredible easy to miss, which is my point

[@tatianadashkova2143]

@Roniixx Doesn't change the fact that it's short, unmemorable and incredible easy to miss, which is my point

[@rtasvadam1776]

Stalingrad 1993 is a superior Film

[@amilasampathsubasinghe6023]

war of rats author clearly mentioned tanya is a imaginary person who he created.

[@TheCourtJack]

Good video. I will say part of what makes the opening of Saving Private Ryan good is that there are moments where Americans are bad or have a crisis of faith at D-Day. One is when one soldier ( I think the same one who gets slowly stabs later) breaks down upon realizing that the fascists are sending Hitler Youth to the front, shown by a knife on a corpse. Another is when two surrendering soldiers are shot by Americans while begging for their lives in a foreign language. Not only is it uncomfortable if you only speak English, but the two are speaking Czech, saying, at least in the fiction of the film, that they were pressed into service. If Enemy at the Gates had actually tried to empathize with the Soviet soldiers or why people would fight for it beyond survival, it could have also had moments that show the brutality of the war that is inescapable by any force committing it.

[@kostajovanovic3711]

Too bad SPR crumbles as it goes on, following the Omaha beach scene

[@0th_Law]

18:16 You should do it _because_ it would be silly.

[@inciaradible7144]

I remember watching this film, and aside from the sniper stuff, I did not like it very much at the time; it always left a bad taste in my mouth. This film, and many fiction surrounding Stalingrad and the Eastern Front, do a serious disservice to the USSR, the soldiers who fought and died there, and Georgy Zhukov; it seriously throws these brave people under the bus because the filmmaker doesn't agree with the ideology of the state they happen to be fighting for. What equally gets me is when gamers go ‘having a woman there is unrealistic’ just because the West is so keen on ignoring all these women who fought in the Red Army, fulfilling all kinds of roles; in fact, an American by the name of Joseph Beyrle served under a Russian female tank commander-look up his story; it's bonkers-and there are many women who were awarded the Hero of the Soviety Union, the highest honour one could be granted. A film I saw around the same time, but which came out later; in 1993, is the German film Stalingrad, which follows some German soldiers as they are sent off to fight. I feel like it depicts the horrors of war really well and is definitely more interesting than Enemy at the Gates. It obviously doesn't centre on the USSR as a force to defeat evil, but it is nevertheless an interesting film. Anyway, fantastic video; I personally completely forgot about this film, but it certainly is interesting to see how relevant it still is. That is, the metanarrative of this film; not really the film itself.

[@uanime1]

Russian women mainly fought in guerilla warafre, not the front line. In other nations women didn't fight at all.

[@inciaradible7144]

@@uanime1 I suppose that would depend on what you define as ‘mainly,’ as there is a substantial number of women who were awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union for actions at the front; considering that's just the highest award, we can extrapolate that a substantial amount of women must've fought in the army, at the front, which has been documented. But even if the bulk of women (in the army) did different things, that doesn't warrant the total exclusion of women in WWII coverage, be it fictional or historical.

[@uanime1]

@@inciaradible7144 "I suppose that would depend on what you define as ‘mainly,’" What percentage of the army at the front was male. "as there is a substantial number of women who were awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union for actions at the front" That doesn't prove anything as awards by all countries are often given for political reasons. "But even if the bulk of women (in the army) did different things, that doesn't warrant the total exclusion of women in WWII coverage" That depends on where the game is set. In hospitals you'd expect a large number of female nurses but at the front lines it would be unrealistic to show any female soldiers. Especially since even in modern armies female soldiers in these roles are very rare.

[@punic4045]

@@uanime1 Women were in tank crews, pilots, snipers, radio operators, combat medics, and more. When you say "guerilla warfare" I assume you mean partisan women, in which you would be correct in that they did exist, but those were not of the Red Army. So it's not unrealistic to see a woman soldier near or at the front, though it would be rare. There are 2 notable cases, such as entire units of women being formed to be trained in sniping, and the famous all-female regiment of night bombers, regiment 588, nicknamed the Night Witches.

[@uanime1]

@@punic4045 "Women were in tank crews, pilots, snipers, radio operators, combat medics, and more." What percentage of those were men and what percentage were women? Also what percentage actually saw combat as many women weren't involved in combat situations. "When you say "guerilla warfare" I assume you mean partisan women in which you would be correct in that they did exist, but those were not of the Red Army." Then you're probably not thinking of what I said. "So it's not unrealistic to see a woman soldier near or at the front, though it would be rare." More like only occurred in very few battles that are unrepresentative of the entire war. "There are 2 notable cases, such as entire units of women being formed to be trained in sniping" Citation needed. "the famous all-female regiment of night bombers, regiment 588, nicknamed the Night Witches." At its largest it had 40 two-person crews. In 1942 the 4th Air Army, to which it belonged to, had 208 aircraft and 437 crews. As there were 18 Air Armies this means that the regiment was only a tiny part of the whole airforce.

[@ismaelnehme379]

30:50 I completely disagree. If anything, the opening scene discourages most sane people from war. There's no patriotic music or epic Hollywood charge, just the sound of lead, screaming, and corpses hitting the floor. The insane loss of life, the 14 year old boy holding his guts in and crying for his mother, the German soldier being lit on fire, most people who watched this didn't feel a soaring sense of patriotism, but rather a deep sense of dread and thankfulness that the horrible war ended

[@Sotrudnik_fonda]

Спасибо тебе, товарищ, от всех коммунистов России и СНГ!

[@rafraf893]

Never any doubt in Saving Private Ryan that the cause is just? Have we all seen the same movie? The core theme of the movie is examining the senseless and meaningless nature of war, with key characters having to come to terms with finding their own meaning outside of god, king, and country. I have never known anyone to come out of that movie thinking war had a good name, quite the contrary. Why lie about this?....oh because this is also propaganda.....got it....

[@timothygoodwin3287]

So I do agree with what you said but I do want to point out that the US did in fact have a policy to bringing home sole survivors of a family. This was was done after all 5 Sullivan brothers were killed during the sinking of USS Juneau. And Pvt. Ryan was based off Fredrick Niland who had 2 of his 3 brothers killed with the 3rd MIA and presumed dead but was actually in a Japanese POW camp. But Order 227 is definitely portrayed wrongly here in the West because it does make the Soviets look barbaric you see it in movies and video games despite like you said it having more to do with officers as opposed to the rank and file

[@rafaelneumann8365]

The policy is of course believable, the part that is unbelievable is actually mounting a rescue mission in order to fulfill the policy when they needed every officer and platoon. The policy only meant an officer would go to the surviving son and give him the news while dismissing him from the front lines. If the surviving son was unreachable that was it. Now going behind enemy lines to fulfill the order is bonkers, it is SAFER to not send anyone as an unit in this position's best chance of survival is to remain hidden. Then you're likely to lose many men rescuing the one man, which is also insane as much as American movies try to paint as heroic. And the guy they were sent to rescue REFUSING IT is utterly laughable. Even as a kid I knew that was bullshit and Tom Hanks would be validated from executing Ryan on the spot for being so arrogant and a glory-chaser.

[@timothygoodwin3287]

@@rafaelneumann8365 I didn't argue that they would send a team to get them. It was true I was just correcting the part of where he states that the bring back Pvt. Ryan is fictional while it it's based on a true story and he doesn't mention it so I'm filling in that gap by explaining the real policy and the story of Fredrick Niland who is the person Pvt. Ryan is based on and Sgt. Niland did actually at first refuse to go home at first like Ryan does but he does go home soo yeah..... the executing part seems a bit much

[@rafaelneumann8365]

@@timothygoodwin3287 causing the death of your brothers in arms is one of the most common causes for execution in armies throughout history. By refusing to follow orders to go back (which 100% supercedes the orders to protect a bridge) he basically causes the deaths of almost everyone. Execution is a bit much, yes. But wouldn't be so out of the ordinary. Soldiers have been executed for far less.

[@cjclark2002]

Russia recently invaded Ukraine!? This is news to me! I’ll send my excess javelins ASAP.

[@jawadkazmi5327]

The amount Russophobia is sickening these days in UK and all of the western Europe.

[@MaksFaks-kl1zj]

More like Slavophobia, the only reason it is more prevalent to hate Russians is because they do not want to bow down to the western cultural influence. As soon as Ukraine decides it does not want to do the similar shtick either, the west will turn on them too.

[@maxfieldstanton5411]

Apart from making the Soviet leadership seem cartoonishly cruel and indifferent to human suffering, they also purposely made them appear incompetent. For one, in the opening sequence Russian soldiers are brought in to attack an entrenched German position. Shouldn't it be the opposite? They're directed to make a straightforward charge, half without weapons, while they are mowed down by machine gun fire. When they naturally retreat, their own commanders mow them down instead. Strategically, this makes no sense, and accomplishes nothing. It is entirely wasteful to the point of absurdity.

[@jeffreyfoley1009]

"In Soviet Russia, we want to lose the war!" -badcomedian The idea of Soviets doing this is so incredibly stupid

[@therupoe]

The cinematography in this video was TOP NOTCH.