How the two Germanies dealt with each other before the Berlin Wall - Cold WAR DOCUMENTARY

[@tng2057]

Konrad Adenauer took pride of being a West German since his Weimar Republic politician days, partly due to his Rhineland roots. Bonn being the capital was his idea. Despite his anti-GDR stance in the 50s, he actually loved the idea of cutting off but co-exist with a separate eastern Germany which he saw as a backward country. Adenauer’s mindset shaped the FRG / GDR relationship for 4 decades.

[@alexk6343]

It wasn't an east-west division for him. Adenauer was not a fan of "prussian" Germany and was a champion of the liberal traditions that were tied to Rhineland and crushed under the Prussian boot for decades. It was more about identity than anything material or geography.

[@manuelmeyer4228]

@@alexk6343 He also was a Catholic, and Prussians were protestant. He resented Prussia to the point where he joined an effort to establish an independent 'Rhine Republic' as a French puppet state in 1919.

[@stefanodadamo6809]

Well, he had been a quasi-separatist under Weimar

[@tng2057]

In one occasion in the 20s when Adenauer travelled by train crossing River Elbe to eastern Germany, he remarked to people accompanying him: ‘We are now in Asia’…

[@vandeheyeric]

@lati long "Interesting point on Adenauer's cultural background. One reason why Hitler downplayed direct references to religion was the Catholic v Lutheran rivalry." It was also because Hitler wasn't a Christian and probably hadn't been one since his early life (when he was under the influence of his beloved mother, who was a devout Catholic). Which is why those in Hitler's inner circle who knew him best like Goebbels privately identified him as being fiercely anti-Christian (since he regarded it as a mutation of Judaism). Personally his religion was probably closer to...this really indescribable form of really bloodthirsty and racist Neo-"Nordic Heathenism" and Animism. that he and some close fellows like Goebbels did. However- like Mussolini (who probably was..if not an outright atheist at least closer to being agnostic, hence his "Vero Eretico" writings)- he recognized he was ruling over a primarily Christian country with many Christian allies (such as the Ustasha of Croatia). And that more than a few were prominent and loyal supporters of the Party, like the odious mass-murderer Erich Koch. So Hitler and Mussolini both believed they would need to put religious policy on the back burner and work to gradually reduce the power and independence of the major churches rather than outright try and destroy it. "Some post-2000 revisionists, with little knowledge of this background, mistook it as Nazis being "atheists".'" It wasn't just post-2000s revisionists with little knowledge of the background. Otto Strasser's conflicts with Hitler usually get portrayed through the lenses of his economic and social policies- and with fair reason- but one thing he did mention to his brother was “We are Christians; without Christianity Europe is lost. Hitler is an atheist." So it wasn't just modern revisionists or Hitler's public enemies bellyaching from pulpits that saw Hitler's odd theology and mistook him as an atheist. In part because his beliefs were so radical, unusual, and home-brewed. Perhaps the best book I've seen on the religious beliefs of Hitler and much of the inner circle in the Nazi Party was Weikart's "Hitler's Religion", which also talks a fair bit about Germany's religious history and how Hitler tried to navigate politically in it.

[@luisfelipegoncalves4977]

A midweek Cold War episode? A surprise but a welcome one to be sure

[@Artur_M.]

I know. I also simultaneously got a notification from another channel that usually uploads on Saturday and was confused for a second.

[@hamishneilson7140]

Wow... That footage at 9:50 of the swimmer escaping the border police by just seconds is absolutely amazing. I love the archive footage this channel uses in the background, I get to see all sorts of interesting things inadvertently.

[@Barwasser]

15:33 "Noone has the intention to build a wall" This is the most famous lie in German history and has become a common saying whenever a politician makes a bogus promise

[@seanhastings4432]

Sounds like the German version of “pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.”

[@herptek]

Normal countries have to build walls to keep people out. Communist countries have to build walls to keep people in.

[@brokenbridge6316]

Nice to know how these two Germanies viewed each other during the Cold War. My compliments to all those who made this video a reality.

[@Yuhon100]

I was a great video; I grew up knowing that there were two Germanys, until the united Germany in 1990.

[@haidera.2391]

Interesting and informative video. For the records, the first GDR embassy in Africa, was with The Peoples Republic of Zanzibar. And when Tanzanian was created at the instigation of the Western block, there was a diplomatic crises, that eventually was resolved, by switching the GDR embassy to a GDR Consulate in Zanzibar, and a GDR Consulate-General in Dar es Salaam.

[@privatepyle2639]

You deserve a lot more likes and followers for what you do! Keep up the great work!

[@daveallentown6868]

On one side was GDR; on the other was GDP.

[@taivaankumma]

So how about the third German speaking country? What kind of relationship did Austria have with the DDR?

[@noobster4779]

Simple. Post WW2 Austria denied ever beeing german in any way. When it came to the nazi topic austrias official policy was basically "nazis are germans, austrians arent germans = no nazis in austria"....this fell apart when they nearly made a former nsdap party member their state president and the fake bubble crashed down.

[@itzikashemtov6045]

@@noobster4779 Thats rich coming from a country that Hitler was born lol

[@Game_Hero]

What about the fourth German speaking country? What kind of relationship did Liechteinstein have with the DDR?

[@canman5060]

@@Game_Hero They hide all the escapees from DDR who don't feel safe in West Germany.

[@canman5060]

@@itzikashemtov6045 And Napolean was born in Italy and crowned himself the King of France !

[@ekgrulez1]

David I know there's alot of documentaries on the Vietnam War, but I was wondering if/when you're going to do an episode related to Vietnam, as Cold War politics did play a big role in U.S. involvement there.

[@seanhastings4432]

They just did one on the air war over Vietnam. It’s too large a topic to cover in just one video.

[@Albert8044]

For future episodes on your channel I know. Professional sports in and during the Cold War. The CSKA Moscow aka the Central Red Army Hockey Club was the top and best Hockey team under the iron curtain followed by Dynamo Moscow, Soviet Wings and SKA St. Petersburg and just to name a few.

[@sabflash]

Thanks a lot for this very interesting topic

[@TheColdWarTV]

Glad you liked it!

[@OlssonDaniel]

A great episode. As always. Keep up the good work!

[@EJG3553]

Well Done! Very well done

[@TheColdWarTV]

thank you!

[@tylerbozinovski427]

Reunification in the 1950s was also rejected due to the desire to regain the eastern lands lost after WWII. But in the end, they never ended up getting them back (or at least yet?).

[@mwolfgr01]

It won’t happen anytime soon either..

[@manavgrover1428]

Soon,my friend.

[@vandeheyeric]

Nah, reunification was rejected in the 1950s because the West German government and the Allies lacked confidence Stalin would follow through with his side of the bargain on the whole "NEUTRAL, independent, united Germany" thing. And it's easy to see why. To be honest the video plays up the Stalin Note as a chance at unification far more than it probably deserves, since IIRC the scholarly consensus is it was mostly an attempt to divide and conquer by splitting the Western Allies and West Germans. A good example of the problems with the Stalin Note comes in Austria, which had to make PUNISHING sacrifices in order to get the Allied occupation troops- and PARTICULARLY the Soviets and their tendency to support militant Austrian communists- out and return to being an independent, united country that was actually neutral, not unlike how the Stalin Note claimed Germany would be. But from then on the Soviets consistently treated Austria as a mostly hostile nation, sort of like how they regarded Sweden.

[@stefanodadamo6809]

@@vandeheyeric Stalin thought a Finlandized and whole Germany as desirable and far safer than a smaller "Soviet Prussia" as the DDR. It was a clever idea, but the West by then was no less paranoid than him and wouldn't cede an inch of Germany after fighting so hard to crush it.

[@vandeheyeric]

@@stefanodadamo6809 "Stalin thought a Finlandized and whole Germany as desirable and far safer than a smaller "Soviet Prussia" as the DDR. It was a clever idea," The problem is that Finlandization stretches the boundaries of what is still "neutrality" and "independence", with a resentful Finland rearming to some degree (including with Soviet weapons purchases) and accepting a lot of overly invasive Soviet influence on its internal politics but never really being reconciled to this or loyal to the Pact like most of the post-WWII governments were. The problem is that for a country far larger in every way than Finland, didn't have the memories of three devastating and pyrrhic conflicts with the Soviets, and generally was harder to isolate from non-Soviet influence than Finland, "Finlandization" was never very likely to be sustained and certainly wouldn't be that popular. Much as it wasn't really loved in Finland so much as accepted. We also have the track record the Soviets had in Austria, which saw similar issues. " but the West by then was no less paranoid than him and wouldn't cede an inch of Germany after fighting so hard to crush it." No, they were significantly less paranoid than him, they could simply observe the past (to some degree). The Stalin Note happened in 1952. The Czechoslovak Coup happened in 1947, to name just a few, as had decisive Communist-rigged elections in Poland and Hungary. And indeed the Korean War itself had started "properly" in 1950, after a few years of abortive guerilla and subversion efforts by local sympathizers and Northern infiltrators (which Rhee crushed with his characteristic brutality). The Western leadership didn't need to be prophets or geniuses in order to figure out how Communist strategy towards a united, neutral Germany would go after a series of Communist Party takeovers in supposedly free and democratic countries East of the Elbe. Especially in a country whose interwar history had been marked by several abortive KPD attempts to take power, both by the ballot box and putsch. history.sfsu.edu/sites/default/files/EPF/1999_James%20Cartnal-ilovepdf-compressed.pdf

[@haenselundgretel654]

Again a very good episode! Cheers mates!

[@TheColdWarTV]

Thank you!

[@900108Chale]

@@TheColdWarTV *Hey Comrade!* You should REALLY REALLY take a deep dive into German-German relationships. It's not "the Wall" as most understand... *TRADE and Utilities!* Were a biggie for BOTH regimes. Start by looking into West Berlin's isolation and how they dealt with their limited resources, how the Ossies assisted them and counter-wise. *Why was the Dresden Messe wo HUGE for both countries?* How much Tech was the GDR able to generate in reality? *What if the GDR was FRG's "China Sweat Shop"?* Excellent work my friend! LOVE your Channel!

[@900108Chale]

@@TheColdWarTV ALSO if you want to enter quite an interesting "cold war Rabbit Hole" go investigate what _German Professors_ found out about NATO and the Soviets AFTER the reunification. Once they got their hands on the documents no one knew of in the West.. *This outrage hit YT in it's early years, but those conferences took place in the mid 2000s or so.* It was later silenced cause: "current German Justice system..." another "peculiar German way" to address inconveniences (on both sides). I'm 1/4 Mexican 1/2 German and 1/4 Swiss. My family got hit by both WWs badly. From being close and personal to the Kaiser to being torn apart by the wall. Most of the family vanished in WWI and its aftermath. Last century caused them so much pain that they hardly ever spoke about it. *So, me, being the eternal rabbit hole digger did a lot of investigation on my own.* I say this in case you want to use some of the non-official reality of Germany's 20th century in your work. I'd do it voluntarily not expecting anything, just would like to assist you. Don't have the time or discipline to start my own YT channel, although I tried, BUT my Investigation skills are very good. I got a personal understanding of matters (not the "historical" printed material from the West). Just an offer, it could ad some "spice" to your research. *Like:* - Russian Concentration Camps in the DDR AFTER the war? - How come The Reunification happened ONCE Western Germany paid of its debt to the US? The German Gold, where it went how did Merkel get it back, why was the return process sooo slow and painstaking? I'm not sure they have finished it yet... - What did the 1929 Crash have to do with Germany's "defeat" in WWI? - How was the "Jewish Problem" be going to be dealt with BEFORE "A lunatic" murdered a German diplomat in Paris? (Funny how ONLY "lunatics" murder relevant people). - Ivans, Mongols and Soviet ex-prisoners at war, differences; purpose... CHEERS MATE! Great Work!

[@sargesacker2599]

Video starts at 2:00

[@tommo8993]

Trying to get into the channel. Any chance of a playlist in chronological order? Would make it so much easier to watch.

[@quadfoliumrepensv2539]

You can sort a channel’s videos oldest to youngest. Not a playlist, but close.

[@GeorgeTheDinoGuy]

A relative of mine was a soldier on the border of West Berlin, he told me that if they ever discovered a Russian spy the bombs would go off, idk if that’s true but still really puts things into perspective

[@vandeheyeric]

It's not true, or at least not that far. The Western Allies and Federal German security services actually found a lot of Soviet spies in West Berlin during the Cold War. What's more is that relatively little happened to them since when found they'd 99 times out of 100 present their formal Soviet identity cards showing they were a member of *insert Soviet intelligence service here* and thus entitled to certain rights and protections as one of the "Big Four" occupying forces. At which point the Western Allies would simply deport the unlucky Soviet back to their sector, which would ruin their career and possibly end their life depending on how vindictive the higher ups in "the Organs" were feeling, but certainly not cause a world war. I remember reading a book by an American intel operative- though I can't for the life of me remember- talking about how it went, and how they had a trophy wall of the photographs and credentials of Soviet spies they successfully caught in West Berlin. Just about the worst case scenario is that the spy gets REALLY unlucky and is ventilated by some jumpy soldiers, the Soviets lodge a diplomatic complaint (that gets promptly ignored/rebutted) and launch some kind of clandestine retaliation. Hardly Bombs Fall territory.

[@arjunmadan318]

That is kinda exaggerated. In fact, I don't even blame you or your relative for believing that. In fact , post cold war interpretation of the cold War era is kinda faulty in aggravating and dramatizing the dangers of the situation and it ignores the vast machinery and channels both sides created to allow conflicts to be solved in a level headed manner without escalation. During the cold war, it often happened that the soviets chanced upon American spies and the Western NATO allies chanced upon soviet operatives. Often when this happened, the country/faction from which the spy came from used every available resource from their vast political and diplomatic reserves to secure their release. Thus the spies were usually traded off on shady and obscure locations and perforations in the Iron curtain, particularly in sections of the Iron curtain bordering less prominent Warsaw pact nations; or exchanges happened through neutral nations, Austria in particular. Often the spies had a sense of confidence and surety in the fact that someone would be willing to go tooth and nail to secure best conditions for them. Notable exceptions did exist, but most cases were dealt with in the aforementioned manner. Source: articulated sections from 'The Mitrokhin Archives Volume I'

[@zackkilgore528]

“Created the Impression that it was an impoverished state” yeah it was just an “impression” and not an observable fact that we can still see today

[@empirednw6624]

This. No offense to the creator of these videos, but he does sometimes come off as a Soviet\communist apologist.

[@tremorsfan]

I didn't know there was film footage of the soldier leaping the wall.

[@hughmungus1767]

That's classic footage that has been shown in many documentaries; stills of that exact East German border guard escaping have appeared in many books. I believe he was the first border guard to escape over the Berlin Wall as the earliest version of the wall was being built.

[@vasilerogojan4520]

How about the events in Cuba ? I'm still wainting for months.

[@mikethespike7579]

It's amazing how fascination for this wall, 30 year after it fell, has suddenly started to grow. I live in Berlin and was here when the Wall was still a thing. I knew a few people who had managed to escape over it, some of them under the back seats of cars and one using a counterfeit passport. I even knew someone who had helped to dig a tunnel under the wall. There were also some who were actually thrown out of East Germany. This happened when a person flatly refused to work, was a street vagrant, a hopeless alcoholic or drug addict or constantly expressed right wing opinions. They'd all been in prison before they were finally kicked out of the workers paradise and most times continued their way of life on the western side. Some though did actually manage to pull themselves up by their boot laces and make something of their lives.

[@greenlightstudio5302]

@Lex Bright Raven east Germany was a shithole honestly can't believe west Germany didn't teach east Germany a lesson and just militarily consolidate it. And kick the the commies out.

[@eyesofisabelofficial]

Rock star and punk upstart Nina Hagen managed to get herself thrown out (an affair with an older man/film director) she immediately landed a record contract with CBS Records.

[@swanpride]

I am old enough to remember too. I have family in West Berlin, and it was always a hassle to organise them being able to visit us. They in turn had friends who could travel to the east and we sometime donated some stuff which was then brought over the border. Still have a letter from an east German somewhere who thanked us profusely for finally owning a proper winter coat which would really keep him warm.

[@mikethespike7579]

@Lex Bright Raven As far as I understood the East Germans who visited the west and in particular West-Berlin, most were more or less satisfied with their lot in the East. As long as you didn't have too much ambition outside of the party and didn't stand out in anyway, say dyed your hair red, carried a ghetto blaster around with you turned on full volume or, god forbid, publicly disparaged the regime you were generally left alone. It was more the lack of freedoms, the apparent differences in living standards between the majority of citizens and the regime functionaries and the fraudulent elections that angered people and in the end caused the downfall of the Honecker regime.

[@Game_Hero]

Could we have an episode about arts and animation in Czechoslovakia?

[@rustyrazor1853]

WHAT!? A WEDNESDAY VIDEO? IS THIS GONNA BE A REGULAR THING???????? YESSSSSS

[@ZontarDow]

I know it's just a sponsor but ground news has a very long way to go before it gets functional

[@MisterKackhaufen]

Honest question: Why do you translate the abbreviations into english (FRG instead or BRD and GDR instead of DDR) ? I watched multiple of your videos now and noticed how inconsistent this is. Sometimes you stick to the original non-english names, sometimes you translate them but it seems very random to me. Maybe there is a reasoning behind which I didnt get yet.

[@baneofbanes]

Because both are used in English language media all the time.

[@MisterKackhaufen]

@@baneofbanes Okay thats fíne for this one, but in general I feel like there is no rule on what he translates and what stays original. Or maybe im just too stupid to see the pattern.

[@baneofbanes]

@@MisterKackhaufen There is no pattern. Either is generally held as acceptable.

[@bushit123456]

What the hell was Otto Grotenwohl meaning by breaking monopolies "because this was stipulated by the Allies in the Potsdam Agreement" (5:00)?

[@St4rTr3v1Ut10n]

Love the sponsor: Coverage bias *left* Coverage bias *left* Coverage bias *mostly gray, but skews left*

[@lodickasvlajeckou]

This was neutral If it was biased towards left he would say different things.

[@peterkroger7112]

My grandfather, a WW2-vet, always and untill its last days, refered to the GDR as "the eastern zone" or simply "the zone". Making clear that for him the GDR was only a part that was taken away from Germany and occupied by a hostile power. This view was quiet common among elderly West Germans back than.

[@Numba003]

I didn't know western Germany just basically didn't recognize eastern Germany through a lot of the Cold War. I hope the Koreas manage to peacefully reunify one of these days too. Thank you for another very informative episode! God be with you out there everybody! ✝️ :)

[@anegaute]

@Nathan Wilson Look at certain maps. If I recall correctly, WG was not onn the maps.

[@snapdragon6601]

That's not gonna happen while the Kim dynasty is still in charge of the North. Can you picture them ever willingly relinquishing power? I sure can't. 😄

[@Numba003]

@@snapdragon6601 Unfortunately, you're probably right, at least concerning the rule of the current Kim anyway. I don't know much about the other living members of the family.

[@12tanuha21]

That's why the constitution of West Germany was called Basic Law (Grundgesetz) . Calling it Constitution would have seen as recognizing East Germany as an own country.

[@snapdragon6601]

@@Numba003 Kim Jong Un has a sister who is reportedly even more vicious than him. He apparently has a daughter too and finally revealed her to the public last year. Not sure exactly how old she is but she looked to be around 8-9 in the video clip I saw.

[@michaelfodor6280]

I wonder if you guys are going to cover some of the escapes from East Germany. The Germans were some truly mad lads escaping in an Isetta (think Smart Car but smaller), hot air balloons and ultra-light aircraft.

[@hughmungus1767]

The museum at Checkpoint Charlie covered these escape attempts quite nicely when I was there in 1991. I'm not sure if it still does. But of course a video covering these escapes would also be welcome for those who can't readily go to Berlin to check out the museum :-)

[@swanpride]

I liked the women who was allowed to travel to the west regularly for her job, because they figured she wouldn't leave her toddler son behind. She escaped by hiding her son in a trolley. The people who simply kidnapped a subway were also pretty bold. The "Berliner Unterwelten" have a really interesting tour about underground flights.

[@steifan]

And a sidenote is which countries kept a Prussian military traditition (marching/uniforms) after the partition.. GDR/DDR, Sweden & Chile.. funny enough.

[@bandygamy5898]

Nazbolgang

[@nrw64]

After reunification, Germany also kept Prussian traditions. just not many.

[@mstcrow5429]

My paternal grandparents had a chunk of the post-Fall Wall. Don't know where it is now.

[@canman5060]

Worth millions now ! I only have one piece stuck on my stein beer mug.

[@hughmungus1767]

I have one too from my 1991 visit but I'm not sure it is authentic despite the enclosed certificate of authenticity. There was a rumour that "entrepreneurs" had taken random bits of concrete from any old place and spray-painted a random bit of graffiti on each piece, then printed certificates of authenticity then sold them to gullible tourists.

[@erik_griswold]

Be careful with it as the concrete contained asbestos

[@abrahamwilberforce9824]

"Niemand hat die Absicht eine Mauer zu bauen." or in English "No one has the intention to build a wall." has become a meme in political or politically interested Germany. Its what you say when someone who denies having an intend to do something clearly show intend do do that thing or to express your distrust of that person.

[@t.terone522]

Dude thats what communist crap is all about. Lies. Reverse psychology, manipulation etc. Antifa? Being the most fascist assholes on the planet basically. GDR German Democrati Republic? Democratic? how? Democratic Republic of North Korea? Democratic? how? BLM using black people to get rich not helping them but making life worse for them and instead of spending money on them the people demonetized to original founder and bought themselves mansions for millions of dollars. All intersectional nonsense is communist and is using stupid drones to make money as long as it works to weaken democracy create chaos and then takeover. LGBTQ and immigrants are viewed by communism as "scum to unleash on society". They use them and when the commies have what they want these people will be the first to get removed from society.

[@ryhanzfx1641]

@@t.terone522 i think its more fair and balance to see the sentiments of all these without going full reactionary, it fuels some naratives the same thing you propagate right now

[@matthewkopp2391]

"I would build a great wall, and nobody builds walls better than me, believe me, and I’ll build them very inexpensively. I will build a great great wall on our southern border and I’ll have Mexico pay for that wall." Auf Deutsche: "Ich würde eine große Mauer bauen, und niemand baut besser Mauern als ich, glauben Sie mir, und ich werde sie sehr kostengünstig bauen. Ich werde eine große Mauer an unserer Südgrenze bauen und ich werde Mexiko für diese Mauer bezahlen lassen. " In the USA, perhaps a bit stranger. It would be bragging about the intention of doing something completely stupid, then doing something completely stupid, and then after doing more stupid things bragging about how great your stupid accomplishment is.

[@12tanuha21]

"Niemand hat die Absicht, eine Mauer zu errichten!“ GDR head of state and party leader Walter Ulbricht said this sentence on June 15, 1961 in a press conference. Two months later the Berlin Wall is built - and Ulbricht stands out as one of the biggest liars in history.

[@joebombero1]

He may not have known. Remember, in any Totalitarian state, Communist or Fascist, people are directed what to say without the ability to question or investigate.

[@danielryan9126]

Excellent episode!

[@ukrainiipyat]

All the teases for future episodes of a very fascinating subject - the suspense is killing!

[@ada6220]

My grandfather used to mock the East Germans as "second Germans" but the Germans said that Germany is one. 40 years later the Germans were right

[@aleksiantila3038]

Now they have the same situation

[@canman5060]

@@aleksiantila3038 Under Angela Merkel East German policy !

[@hughmungus1767]

Erich Honecker, the then leader of East Germany said in January 1989 that the Berlin Wall would still be standing in 50 years. Later that same year, the Wall started coming down....

[@salsheikh4508]

Great Episode.

[@lynnmaners9165]

In Berlin there is an interesting Museum of the DDR.

[@canman5060]

Lots of information you can find there.

[@totalwar57]

The bell button jokes 😂 always something unexpected

[@MrVeryfrost]

I have a question, so far I didn't get an answer. Why did Easter germans try to go through Berlin rather than the countryside border?

[@dylans8198]

They say in the video. It's because they controlled the border in the country, but were restricted by agreement with the allies to prevent free movement in Berlin.

[@noobster4779]

The inner german border was far heavier fortified before the Berlin wall went up then Berlin itself. Remember the border is basically the frontline of the cold war patrolled by the military and in a lot of cases mined. Meanwhile Berlin was basically open 24/7.

[@chozer1]

@@noobster4779 just join the military and defect. Big brain

[@enark8233]

The countryside border was already closed and fortified in 1952 - I think after Adenauer rejected Stalin's proposal for a unified Germany - but the internal borders in Berlin stayed open until 1961. When you were East German, once you were in West Berlin, you could get a West German passport (West Germany considered all East Germans as its own citizens throughout the divide) and travel freely to the rest of West Germany.

[@hughmungus1767]

@@chozer1 It wasn't that easy. After the first East German border guard hopped the fence and escaped, they made sure that border guards worked in teams of two and they were careful to always pair each guard with someone he didn't know. It was extremely risky to just propose to a stranger that you try to escape together: the other guy was more likely to arrest you on the spot so that you'd spend the next several years in prison. I heard about one case where two guards escaped together but a scheduling error had put two men together who actually knew and trusted one another, otherwise it almost certainly would have turned from an escape attempt into an arrest.

[@nikola_tomic]

What is the music that u guys use at the end of your videos? :)

[@anegaute]

I know I am late, but could you cover some more W-German chancellors? As a Norwegian, I know Willy Brandt was popular over here. Also how did States bordering the USSR feel about it?

[@justinaskulakauskas2937]

Could you make any episodes about Czechoslovakia and/or Poland during Cold War? Not about Prague Spring or Solidarnosc. Something about society, geopolitics, etc. For example how come in Poland there were many churches built during the Cold War when there was more rigid persecussion of religious people in USSR.

[@tempestosfugi9846]

This is something that I often see in Cold War channels and topics. They rarely talk about other Eastern Bloc countries, while a lot of interesting and wildly important things happened there as well. By the way, I would say that the existence of Solidarnosc was a lot more important than the fall of the Berlin Wall while very few people in the world know about this and Cold War related videos and articles dont seem to cover it much

[@hughmungus1767]

@@tempestosfugi9846 I'm Canadian and I remember lots of stories about Solidarnosc and Lech Walesa in the mainstream media in the 80s .

[@tempestosfugi9846]

Hugh Mungus yeah, that was in the 80s.

[@Arbiter099]

Wait, the IOC really made them hold hands and pretend to be one team? Has this ever happened with Korea?

[@NunoVippan]

I think it has happened maybe once but not because of IOC, rather their own national Olympic committees agreed to participate together at the 2018 Winter Olympics held in Pyeongchang in South Korea.

[@kylejacobson9587]

North Korea refused, and hold their own Olympics

[@MrArgus11111]

I'm sure that app you guys are selling supplies a lot of really, really incisive and important facts and doesn't just push ads and crap MSM outlets in their customer's faces.

[@CasperEgas]

Good channel. Maybe ask for some coaching to be able to pronounce the German phrases better though.

[@joechretien5968]

was fairly young, actually, growinng up in West Germany. My father was in the U.S. Army and my mother was German. From what I understand the, West Germans did away with ALL laws put into place by the Nazis. In the East, however, this was not the case and there were more selective. This created a situation where the post-1933 government required bakeries to close on Sundays. (Obviously, this was only one of the businesses closed on Sundays, but it's what I remember.) This allowed bakers in East Germany to send their products across the border on, obviously Sundays since the GDR did not keep the law in place…

[@greenfingernaildirt356]

your comment literally makes no sense

[@lequack6373]

@@greenfingernaildirt356 Use your brain a little bit. Sunday in Germany is generally considered to be a free day (thanks to the church), which mean that pretty much NO stores open. During the war, due to wartime necessity, Sunday is no longer a break day. The FRG abolished that rule afterward, while the GDR didnt, which mean that East's bakeries open on Sunday while West's close.

[@todortodorov940]

Jut bring the "Nazi card" to boost the popularity your posting :/ The law that governs when shops may stay open or have to close may have been introduced during the Nazi era, but has nothing to do with Nazi ideology. Similar laws regulating the working hours of shops and bakeries exist in Germany today and a restrictive version of it existed in Denmark until the mid 2000's. And no, Denmark was not ruled by Nazis in the 1930's, nor when the law was introduced. If you do little research on European history and politics, you will find out that those laws were put in place to protect the workers, either on the insistence of the social democrats or the Church.

[@gulliverthegullible6667]

You'd be surprised how many laws the FRG kept from Nazi times and how many Nazis had top positions in the FRG.

[@todortodorov940]

@@gulliverthegullible6667 If the law made sense, why revoke it? Just because it was passed under the Nazi regime?

[@canavar1435]

It used to be "dreigeteilt niemals!" ,"never divided in three!" ,refering to the territories of east prussia, for quite some time.

[@milesjolly6173]

I watched the movie “Goodbye Lenin!” about a year ago which is about a family living in what was then East Germany in the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s before, during and after the process of reunification. Interesting film, would definitely recommend.

[@loganbaileysfunwithtrains606]

Something I’ve often thought was “what if East Germany didn’t want to reunify with West Germany, and I mean not remain communist but adopt their own federal republic with capitalism, would there forever be two Germanys or would their be a forceful annexation of east Germany, I’ve often wondered about that as I’ve thought about what would’ve happened had West Virginia been reunited with Virginia after the civil war, knowing the history and being a resident of WV I know it wouldn’t have been seen as a popular choice and it would’ve been pretty bloody which is why it most likely didn’t happen, still the idea of a independent sovereign East Germany must’ve been intriguing for some living there to think that they could plot out their own future without having some other government come in and change everything your accustomed to

[@hughmungus1767]

One could ask the same question with regards to the Koreas. Would the fall of the Kim dictatorship in the North inevitably mean reunification of the two Koreas under a democratic model? I was surprised to see a video from North Korean activist Yeonmi Park state her preference for an independent North Korean democracy rather than a reunified Korean peninsula.

[@loganbaileysfunwithtrains606]

@@hughmungus1767 yes exactly, at what point is there the right to reunify people that might not wish to be reunified

[@TheBooban]

@@loganbaileysfunwithtrains606 there is no point if they don’t want to reunify. Koreans are well known for not liking each other. That’s not the case in Germany. Eastern Germany is arguably more German than western, except much of it disappeared under Poland.

[@happynowfarms]

That question was asked at the time when the Wall dropped in 1989. The economic differences were vast to say the least. An American Soldier visiting East Berlin was basically rich as hell while the same dollars spent in West Berlin did not go as far. Adopting the East meant having to upgrade their infrastructure to Western Standards.

[@bobettethedestroyerthebuil1034]

@@TheBooban West Germans were mixed. Some saw it as a backwater that would simply hinder their nation. Others, especially refugees from expelled regions, wanted to go back home, and possibly even see Germany push’s against Poland to reclaim lost land.

[@Robbi496]

Just a minor "quibble" is that the German names of the two countries are Bundesrepublik Deutschland (West) (BD) and Deutsche Democratische Republik (East) DDR)

[@meisterrohrich8961]

Would be better without that typo in "Deutsche Demokratische Republik".

[@ebn222]

i love the new ending with the subscribe skit on the videos haha

[@TheCimbrianBull]

10:40 I didn't know that Konrad Adenauer was a Khajit!

[@jbkhan1135]

Great video! Also, Ground News is (pun intended) news to me, so I will check it out. Seems like a great concept, especially if they truly are neutral and unbiased.

[@hughmungus1767]

The only way they could be truly unbiased is if they were staffed by robots and even then they'd have the biases of the human programmers. The best you can realistically hope for is that the facts they present are as thoroughly researched as possible by editors that generally want to present TRUTH, rather than a narrative. Opinions need to be clearly labelled as such to distinguish them from facts. Opposing opinions should be tolerated, not suppressed, as is currently far too common. Even then, you have to accept or reject individual items based on your own life experience, not accept them unquestioningly. These reports are not handed down by the gods, they are written by human beings, creatures that are subject to bias, passion, and manipulation by any number of methods.

[@gsuhz41]

10:40 haha, Skyrim?

[@ThugShakers4Christ]

Groundnews sounds like an excellent way to manufacturer consent

[@olivierwurmser7175]

Great video, David. May I suggest you, if can German, reading former East German diplomat (and later journalist for Der Spiegel) Klaus Behling's Leben In Der DDR. You'll learn GFR had already plans for a GDR takeover from the 50'sbaming many other things.

[@blobloblaw12]

lol those requests for pressing the bell icon are ridiculously funny

[@igorzkoppt]

Someone played Skyrim ^^ By the way, did you notice that the most common Khajit voice sounds like an impersonation of Yasser Arafat ?

[@travelsofmunch1476]

Fuck yeah we Stan Ground News!

[@mstcrow5429]

Electrical engineers love Ground News.

[@canman5060]

They are a lot safer this way.This is why I am a Civil Engineer !

[@kchall5]

I always wondered how well East Germany fit into the Warsaw Pact, not just financially and politically, but culturally and ethnically. I always viewed them as outliers, ethnic Teutons among their primarily Slavic comrades. I picture Germany, pre-war as well as today, as western-oriented, taking their cues from France and the UK, while others in the bloc were traditionally more eastward-looking. Having a large cohort of their Germanic brethren pitted against them certainly didn't help their cause, either.

[@hansrobzen6007]

Good question about East Germany as an outlier in the Warsaw pact. But from your view of Germany I'd say, there is quite a cultural, economical and political difference of East and West Germany, that still (kinda) persists to this day and your view of Germany might be more related to the former BRD (Westgermany). (Just my impression speaking as a mid-20 year-old bavarian)

[@BHuang92]

The Soviet Union saw the GDR as a necessary buffer between the West but then again, the whole Warsaw pact alliance was only good on paper.

[@alnerisoldier8081]

@@BHuang92 not only good on papper.. it was not as they said it was but like all systems it had its goods and bads. My parentes lived in the most bad communist country of bulgaria ,or one of the badest. But it is mixed feelings cause even there somethings were better ,but more things were bad them good

[@可爱包-c4v]

Oh, this surprised me. As a person living in a communist country, I always think that the Soviet Union is the red Czar, East Germany is the Red Queen, the Soviet brother gives us weapons, and the East German sister gives us cars. As an Asian, I think East Germany is so similar to the Soviet Union. They all like cucumbers, potatoes and sausages. East Germany has participated in Soviet military operations many times, such as the African revolution with Cuba. East Germany also provided medical services for Soviet soldiers in the Soviet war in Afghanistan. In fact, the Warsaw Pact did nothing but fight Czechoslovakia

[@HeilAmarth]

I think most East German soldiers would have joined their Western brothers in case of a large conflict.

[@gregcampwriter]

Yes, but who grounds the Ground News?

[@canman5060]

The USSR. 100% Ground State News.

[@jordanmagpiebulletYT7978]

The Cold War can I ask you something?

[@FirstNameLastName-tg3rc]

Can someone explain how the Paris accords restored full West German sovereignty, yet at the same time members of the Bundestag from West Berlin couldn't vote in the Bundestag due to Berlin's status?

[@tylerbozinovski427]

West Berlin was not considered to fully be a part of West Germany. It was instead an occupied city-state with a close relationship with them.

[@FirstNameLastName-tg3rc]

@@tylerbozinovski427 Thank you for explaining that.

[@wolvernight206x8]

10:41 “sheathe those claws, khajiit.”

[@joebombero1]

You need to remind your viewers that the US has never removed its occupying troops from Germany (West Germany initially). Thus in the 1950s and 60s, East and West Germany had a kind of nominal independence, but both nations still had many thousands of occupying foreign troops stationed within its borders.

[@macariomatira3234]

Can you do a feature episode about the Philippines under Ferdinand E. Marcos

[@Saabsut]

Your advertising is too long

[@PedroBournigal-kk4ib]

Best show of history 😁 ever gosh is amazing ☺️ impressive just the best history teacher ever 🙂

[@buffymcmuffin5361]

My Dad served as one of the soldiers tasked to block a protentional Red Army invasion through West Germany.

[@andrejmucic5003]

@10:49: You have glossed over the period before the Wall quite quickly, it requires far more attention! It might confuse your middle class German regulars.

[@JenniferinIllinois]

My bell button is on the wrong side of the Inter KZbin border. I will have to attempt to cross said border in order to press it.

[@TheColdWarTV]

watch out for the mines and the dogs. and the dogs with mines

[@JenniferinIllinois]

@@TheColdWarTV 🤣🤣🤣

[@cjwars2828]

kinda funny same things as roam but new and old deal love it

[@masterimbecile]

10:40 I see what you did there.

[@baddudecornpop7328]

Das ist, der Kalte Krieg!

[@lowersaxon]

Not completely wrong but it would be very vague to call the Sovietification of the later GDR intense denacification. They called it so but things would have been exactly the same if, say, they overruled a democratic government, ie collectification and so on would have been no different. „Denacification“ was more sytematic in the western parts of the country I would argue. If former NS party members of the medium and lower ranks „without blood on their hands“ openly broke with the past and switched over to the socialist/communist ideology they were equally welcome in the east. See only some of the leading military experts of the later NVA (national peoples army), the army of the GDR. Nevertheless, thanks for this contribution on my country and keep on the valuable work.

[@noobster4779]

You are clearly very misinformed. Denazificationw as definitly more intense in east germany then in west germany. In west germany the denazification was eccentially a big scam. For example one of the west german political parties, the FDP, literally had a group of former Gaul-Leiter (high nazi officialy) in the party in high positions. The only part of west german society that was somewhat denazified intensively was the army later on. When it comes to thinks like the teachers, judges, police forces, gouvernment officials west germany was more or less the exact same as nai germany in its personal. East germany didnt denazify itself as strong as they claimed eather, but it was definitly more intense then in west germany. Beeing a former member of the nsdap was basically a reason not to get hired in any gouvernment organizations. Both definitly had far less denazification then they self proclaimed but saying west germany did it more then east germany is simply factual wrong. Denazification in west germany basically came down to "please write in this paper what you did during the ns rule and swear you didnt do anything bad" and after that you were "no longer a nazi".

[@lowersaxon]

@@noobster4779 No, sorry, what I tried to say was that denazification before the two states of west and east Germany were founded in the west was far more intense on a personal level than in the east. „Being a former member … „, yes, from 1945 to 1947, of course, but not after the formation of the state GDR. And I think it is actually completely biased to argue that the western powers ‚made peace somehow‘ with a huge crowd of former Nazis. Seems that you strangely enough believe in what was told in Moscow and East-Berlin. Your narrative, in fact, you could hear on a daily basis from eastern propaganda, ie that the western state was as fascistic as the NS state, built up by US imperialism. Propaganda, propaganda while former military experts and other NS people built up the new NVA. Btw, somehow both sides relied to a certain degree on qualified personell to run their new state. You would have recommended what? Execution of hundred of thousands? Right? Yes.

[@lkrnpk]

more like three, wasn't West Berlin kinda indepedent?

[@baneofbanes]

No. It was entirely a part of the West Germany.

[@apollon6870]

dont forgett that there was also unofficially a third germany after the war called austria

[@natsgreatoldgamereviews6271]

Neat

[@dafonline]

Is that Konrad a Khajiit? 👀

[@jjhendo]

The DDR sounded like such a ramshackle country. Did they really think they were on the same footing as the Federal Republic? What a clown show!

[@benjaminstorace6699]

At first I read InterGerman as Integer Men. Beware the numberers.

[@patriotenfield3276]

What if Japan got split in two after a supposed Operation Downfall would have taken place instead?

[@canman5060]

Highly unlikely happen to Japan. Japan is the world most homogenous nation you can find.

[@vandeheyeric]

Unlikely. The Soviets were highly dependent on the Western Allies and especially the United States for the naval and amphibious equipment AND training to make the rather modest amphibious assaults in the Far East that they did (which they generally didn't fare that well at). Project Hula remains the largest transfer of naval equipment in human history to this date for a reason. At the absolute MOST I could see the Soviets getting Sakhalin and perhaps making some kind of "Peoples' Republic of Ezo", but beyond that a partition of Japan just isn't that tenable, no matter how much I love Ring of Red. KOREA and much of China, on the other hand... a protracted war due to Downfall would probably see the Soviets expand far more there.

[@patriotenfield3276]

@@canman5060 umm i meant an alternate history where "reality can be whatever i wish for".

[@vandeheyeric]

@lati long "I presume you are referring to Hokkaido? In real life, the SU, which already had North Sakhalin, retook South Sakhalin in 1945. All of Sakhalin is still part of RF." Yes, you are right in one. This was me derping out. The kicker is I know better, and have talked about how they successfully secured Southern Sakhalin historically (albeit with more difficulty than one might expect, which they managed to break by outflanking the main mountain chain defenses with a landing down South). I was just being a big dumb-dumb head. "I remembered reading an article by a Russian who claimed to be living in the Russian Far East as of around 2005. His study of known Red Navy resources and Hokkaido terrain led him to conclude that Soviets had no chance of launching a successful D-Day as of Aug - Sep 1945." That's fascinating, and I haven't heard of that before. And that sounds about right, albeit I might be a bit more generous in part because the Western Allies- and particularly the USN- were committed to supporting at least limited Soviet operations in Northern Japan. But the Soviets in some ways both ahd more difficulty than people often think seizing the Northern Pacific islands (though by no means crippling difficulty) and were also victims of their own success, having advanced too far for an easy followup that wasn't overstretched. Still, I imagine within a couple months they would have reorganized their amphibious and naval forces enough to contemplate a successful campaign in Hokkaido, even though they'd likely have most of their resources bogged down fighting the stronger IJA forces in the Northern Chinese Plain. Hokkaido would be a difficult campaign for the Soviets compared to what they had dealt with before, probably a good several weeks if not months to put down all the resistance. Still, I can't imagine the Japanese actually winning or even drawing against a military as competent as the late war Soviets, and Hokkaido is one Pacific island the Soviets have had prior experience that'd help a lot. "The only hypothetical possibility of a "Peoples' Republic of Ezo" was that the Japanese in Hokkaido surrendered to the Soviets before the USA had a chance to take control. At the same time there was no critical mass of Hokkaido Reds to resist the Americans and to maintain Soviet dominance. So I agree with you that a divided Japan in this scenario is very unlikely. 😎" Agreed, but the fact that the Soviets had seriously considered landing on Hokkaido to take it and the US had actually committed to supporting it makes it somewhat possible IMHO. The fact that there weren't a bajillion Communists in Hokkaido probably doesn't matter too much because when the Soviets put boots down and start administering those who are alive there'll naturally be some incentive to cooperate. The fact that Dark Valley Fascist Japan actually had some institutions that were remarkably similar to Soviet ones (I know Kishi actually patterned some imperial industrial and economic bureaus after Soviet ones) and that a lot of the people in Hokkaido had reasons to be disgruntled with the Empire's government- especially the large convict population sentenced to internal exile- probably helps. It's still outside ballpark sure, but I figure a Communist Hokkaido is at least possible.

[@AlexanderDeprez95]

A lot of details are left out here. For example the sudden currency reform in the West which devaluated the Mark in the East causing inflation thus making the East even poorer than it already was. Besides that the two sides didn’t start on equal footing. Where the West was supported and got money poured into it by the Marshall Plan, the East had to pay reparations to the Soviet Union even though Eastern Germany as well as the Soviet Union suffered immensely more damage from the war than the West ever did. For people interested there’s a great book I’d recommend on this topic named ‘Stasi State or Socialist Paradise: The German Democratic Republic and what became of it’ by Bruni De La Motte & John Green

[@baneofbanes]

The United States offered to include the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe in the Marshal Plan. Stalin refused.

[@AlexanderDeprez95]

@@baneofbanes Since it was part of the Truman Doctrine.

[@juanmagm]

Bravooo! It's amazing how little we have been told about the past, especially in Latin America (Like if we were Romans), i appreciate you guys sharing all this info.

[@t.terone522]

Terrible bed time story? You mean perfect dream.

[@jovicamateric7756]

Don't forget that the East paid the whole of German war debt for WW2 to the USSR, the West simply refused to pay.

[@scottkrater2131]

So? The Soviets only paid about half of their war debts to the US and refused to pay the rest. And only about 800 million in cash, most was paid in grain.

[@anegaute]

​@@scottkrater2131 I think it was meant more as a commentary on East Germany, than the USSR

[@scottkrater2131]

@@anegaute Yes, it was. I simply brought up the point that while the West Germans may not have paid their war reparations to the Soviets. The Soviets just refused to pay their entire war debts to the US. The US had to write off what the Soviets didn't repay.

[@andrejmucic5003]

@15:51: Britain has a channel, The US has it's two Oceans. They both include and exclude as it is convenient. Please argue? The GDR does the same, and this person evolves the moral argument for clicks. Only source of income is it?

[@Sequoia204]

Nice bed-time story. So did the two Germanies live happily ever after?

[@jlvfr]

A Civil Cold War...

[@canman5060]

Not really.

[@andrejmucic5003]

@10:48: how did East Germans has convertible currency that would cause inflation in West German if they came over? How does this work exactly? Here you are getting investing, don't stop!

[@jayklink851]

👍👏

[@kylebritt1225]

Would have liked the airlift to be tied in.

[@papaacorn9479]

I spent way too long reading this as “Integer Man” instead of Intergerman

[@andyrob3259]

Note to host and others: it’s is ‘there was no real chance of unification ‘anyway’. Not ‘there was no real chances of unification ‘anyways’. There is no plural of ‘anyway’. This is not the ‘hood’

[@blxvkpxndx]

2 a week now 🤯 I hear for it fr

[@Shadowkiller-dq2ju]

I love Germany so much I want to see two of them

[@edmundcampion9888]

This is quotation from Mauriac.

[@hughmungus1767]

You would have absolutely loved Europe three or four centuries ago when there were as many as THREE HUNDRED "Germanys" (mostly small duchies, statelets, etc. but also some quasi-countries like Prussia).