How to Win the Cold War | BlueJay | History Teacher Reacts

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Why the US won the Cold War is a topic for debate. What exactly led to the collapse of the Soviet Union? BlueJay breaks down different ways the Cold War was won, including some wild stories you may not have heard of. Mr. Terry talks history along the way.
Original Video: • How to Win the Cold War
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[@MrTerry]

What was the biggest reason the Soviet Union collapsed?

[@cervanntes]

They let McDonalds in. McDonalds opens in Soviet Russia in 1990, the country collapses in 1991. Not a coincidence! I still sometimes hear people giving Ronald Reagan credit for initiating the collapse of the Soviet Union, but I still suspect it was actually a very different Ronald, one with white face paint and a giant, sinister red smile.... As a side note, when I visited Moscow about a decade ago, I stopped by a McDonalds. They had Big Macs topped with caviar. And the lines in Moscow weren't bad at all. The McDonalds in St. Petersburg, on the other hand, had lines so long that they had employees with walkies going down the lines taking advance orders. It was kind of interesting. We didn't stick around, though, since the Burger King across the street was much quieter. It was so surreal seeing all our fast food chains just blocks from the Winter Palace and the Peter & Paul Fortress. Lenin is definitely spinning in his grave! On the other hand, Peter the Great is probably tickled pink by the westernization of his beloved city. In all seriousness, though, there were a lot of reasons it collapsed, but if I had to pick one as being the biggest, I'd say overextending themselves trying to compete with the West. Their economy just wasn't able to keep up with what was being demanded of it. Gorbachev's reforms certainly hastened the demise but by the time he came around I think it was inevitable and just a question of when and how bloody.

[@WanderingWriter]

Laika's ghost haunted them to collapse, obviously

[@14Rocket]

Probably because the United States won every Civilization victory since the game never ends.

[@Alexandros.Mograine]

I think its clear that its because the other soviet republics started and were allowed to get more independent ideas. once that train started, there was no stopping it. couldnt stop it by force, couldnt stop it with promises. it was just over. Ofc that was gonna happen eventually anyways.

[@nontrashfire2]

reasons

[@DanGamingFan2846]

I don't know what's more insane about the tale of Mathias Rust, that he actually thought his plan would work, or that he got as far as he did. Also, a nuclear bomber that kills a lot of it's pilots and has vodka for coolant is the most Russian thing I've ever heard.

[@supervegito2277]

If that guy isnt on the tvtropes page for "Refuge in Audicity" he definitely should be... goddamn

[@Gannet-S.4]

If you want to know more about the bomber a Chanel named Paper skies made an excellent video about it called the Supersonic booze carrier, he goes into more detail and it’s design is more stupid than you thought.

[@nakuvamp]

America made a shoulder mounted nuke.....that would almost definitely kill the user

[@oddvillainnetwork]

I think the most problematic thing about this video was that you had the AUDACITY to give a platform to milk-first cereal people. We lived in a society once. A PROPER SOCIETY!!!

[@TheLibermania]

Milk first leads to Splash damage and uneven usage in the milk-cereal mix.

[@Merennulli]

Paper Skies has a couple videos on the alcohol from planes, with a dedicated Tupolev TU-22 "supersonic booze carrier" video and a broader "How Soviet Pilots Drank Alcohol from Planes" video. He goes into a lot more detail in the second one that I think you would appreciate about how the alcohol from those planes integrated into the lives of the Soviet people beyond just alcoholism. His father was a Soviet pilot, so he has a personal connection to what he explains in the video as well.

[@grahambuckerfield4640]

That is a superb channel.

[@CoffeeAcorn]

With the Cold War I feel like it's the same as Napoleonic France with it being a blanket term for the era, spanning a long time over many different fronts with "peace time" between the wars

[@Merennulli]

Agreed. The Cold War was the overarching policy environment, with all the various proxy wars as conflicts impacted by it.

[@toomanykatsu]

You missed the "Hitler's best painting" joke 😂

[@daltongalloway]

I guess it's not really a part of the space race but Americans did the two voyager missions. So they were the only country to ever send probes to Uranus and Neptune. And the furthest things traveling out in space are American built.

[@Adiscretefirm]

The space race was always really a missile race, and it was all about proving your side could put a nuke down a chimney from a continent away.

[@cervanntes]

My family has time-lapse pictures my grandfather (a professional photographer) took of Sputnik I flying overhead. He and my mother confirmed that people really were freaked out by the fact the Soviets appeared to have gotten ahead of us technologically and had something in space flying overhead out of our reach. The Cold War could be quite scary at times!

[@KarmasAB123]

31:50 I like the reference to Major Tom here XD

[@darrellmarcks6304]

Not a cat, Khrushchev gave Kennedy a puppy from one of the Sputnik dogs which had puppies themselves, so that lineage might still be alive in the US

[@professorwhat2704]

If you want your own plushie, you could always do a Frankie plushie.

[@randallcraft4071]

Mr. Terry, the British do use miles that use a blended system much like the Canadians of customary and metric. They are just as easily done in inches and miles as well as kilometers and meters they also use pounds and Stone but also use grams, And they also use leaders as well as pints and gallons And they also use tons but it's funky

[@valimardorrin6869]

Love how he portrayed the spy kitty thing. “Blue Jay “ love that channel.

[@arceuslord1365]

The Cosmosphere in Hutchison Kansas called the Space Race "WWIII's pressure relief valve", or something like that.

[@jameslars7391]

The only time its acceptable to put milk before the cereal is for when you are going for round 2 of cereal

[@Nolroa]

33:11 Interesting question, but at the same time, at that time, atomic explosions were a kind of attraction in Las Vegas. They say: “Whatever happens in Las Vegas stays in Las Vegas” including the effects of radiation I guess.

[@trevorjrooney]

I have seen one person in my life put milk in before cereal, they do exist. My thing is, if the reason you're doing that is you don't want the cereal to get soggy, why not just eat it dry? And if that doesn't work because you still want the cereal wet, why not put it in a strainer and pour milk over it? You could even save that milk for reuse.

[@Newvamp]

o7 for the cat? More like oo7 for the cat I'll see myself out.

[@MegaMerlin2011]

I need that plushie! :D

[@swag31556]

I would buy a Mr. Terry's face plush

[@alexanderkalex877]

To answer your question: In my opinion, the Cold War began when President Roosevelt died.

[@Reindan]

Czechoslovakia and Yougoslavia actually started making their own colas in the 50s-60s. Respectivelly Kofola and Cockta. They still exist but they only really sell in those ex-countries because they taste different from regular cola.

[@AudreyJean-22]

I love your videos

[@kingstraga7214]

That pole on the nose of the plane is used actually as a speedometer

[@davidbenedict5617]

Ive done pouring milk before cereal. I like to measure how much milk im drinking, rather than how much ceareal im eating to get my daily calcium juice.

[@cerberus144]

Crystal Pepsi was amazing, signed, an old man who was a kid in the 80's and 90's

[@Nolroa]

As a man in his 40s who was a child in the 80s and a teenager in the 90s, I can also vouch for how delicious Pepsi Crystal was.

[@Harukonnichiwa]

I think there could be multiple arguments to be made for when the Cold War really began. I think the earliest time people would consider to be the start could take place before World War 2 when the allies were thinking about how the post war world would look like and came to realize that the world (Europe specifically at that point) would be split between the Allies and the Soviet Union. There is also a reasonable argument to be made that the Cold War officially started when the Warsaw Pact was founded, as it was created to act as a sort of counterweight to NATO and served as a further divide between western and eastern Europe. Another starting time, albeit relatively late would be in the conclusion of the Cuban Missile Crisis, when both sides realized that it would not be worth it to go to war since it would cause global annihilation, and as such the Cold War between the two superpowers became mostly about proxy wars and espionage rather than direct confrontation. For me personally I often think of the Cold War as starting right after WW2 ended, around the time when Churchill made his Iron Curtain speech. I feel like at that point, the cooperation between the two nations following the war had ended and tensions started to settle in.

[@daltongalloway]

The Cold War could have started during any of the meetings of the allied leaders. Id say the Potsdam Conference for sure but some would argue the meetings in Tehran or Yalta as well. Since these meetings were all about the shaping of the post-war world

[@ferky123]

Paper Skies has more tales of Soviet aviation.

[@danpearson3404]

this, paper skies is a hidden Gem of stories from the soviet union. would recommend

[@Merennulli]

His videos are currently a big chunk of my playlist on Nebula. It's amazing hearing about life in the Soviet Union from someone who grew up in the immediate aftermath of it and he's a very good storyteller.

[@CoffeeAcorn]

I don't know why people would go milk first, for me personally you start with the bowl

[@endervatta9907]

On my second bowl I pour cereal into my milk 😂

[@valimardorrin6869]

I was taught by a retired air force colonel, that the Cold War was cold but got got a few times. He was an Ace from Vietnam. He talked about the difference between Soviet Pilots and Vietnamese. They called the Soviets Honcho pilots.

[@EPIC2X_]

(@ 27:43) COMMIE!!! Man, i kinda want a bottle of commie-cola now...

[@Nolroa]

*_Commie-Cola_* _“The flavor for all the comrades”_

[@hank780]

17:28 That's a thing I never understood. Why does the order matter? You are still gonna eat it, so (in my opinion) it doesn't matter if you put the milk or the cereal first

[@TheLibermania]

Splash damage.

[@WanderingWriter]

Frankie plushie when?

[@tiberiusbrain]

Yes. Before ww2 ended. Id say during the last meeting between roosevelt, churchill and stalin when it becqme clear stalin was going to occupy easter europe. As churchill later described the iron curtain

[@DankeDummkopf]

To answer your question about Rust's flight path, Bluejay explained during a stream that Mathias first tried to meet Gorbachev at a summit in Iceland, but when that didn't happen Rust flew to Moscow instead.

[@MyNameIsAdam7]

17:50 I am an actual milk before cereal person

[@lynngriffin2106]

I was born after the fall of the USSR but the more I read about history the more it seems obvious that the Cold War was well underway before the end of the European theatre. There was great mistrust amongst the allies to the point they divided up Germany before they ever went in, to avoid the possibility of further conflict. No one agreed to help the US fight Japan and when the soviets started making moves to join the pacific theatre the United States promptly and swiftly ended hostilities. Although it isn’t formally mentioned in history, it’s very clear the US wanted to curtail any additional Soviet expansion in any direction

[@redpanda2949]

I think the Cold War technically began with D- Day as after the invasion it became a race to Berlin as everyone knew at that point Germany was going to lose and it was pretty much who can grab the most land between the Soviets and other Allies. Not to also mention that D day isnt the ending point for the Germany like alot of people think but mostly what is the catylst that decided how the post war world would look like and be influenced .

[@fourtyfivefudd]

Speaking of Coca-Cola and the Soviet Union, I had known about that fun piece of coke history, so I was quite surprised that there is currently zero mention of it at the CocaCola Museum in Atlanta, Georgia.

[@num1otori143]

I'm not sure if everyone was dumber during the cold war but the leaded gasoline probably didn't help.

[@LMixir]

Regarding the "when did the cold war start" question, for me, just like the French and British troops stationed in France in 1939, a war doesn't REALLY start until shots are fired ( the whole"The phoney war" thing). So, by that logic, and talking metaphorical shots: if my mental timeline of events are right, it would be the Berlin airlift, or more specifically, the Soviet road closures leading to the Berlin airlift, that started the cold war.

[@LordDaret]

The Cold War’s seeds were planted when the Comintern and the Allies were planning out the division of Europe. The USSR was spying on the Allies during WWII, but it was not a war yet. I agree with you that the war truly began with the isolation of Berlin and the Berlin Airlift.

[@romanc189]

6:40 in my opinion Cold war started somewhere between 1943 and 1944 in Moscow conference (1944) where they agreed to split Europe. Allies agreed (rumors) that they don't care about east and balkans, they wanted only half of Germany a Greece. The rest could be under Stalin influence. The only point was free election. The reality of Stalins influence on free election is different story.

[@Lunara_2.0]

I make no distinction between milk of cereal first, I just do whatever I grab first

[@stampede122]

I actually know the NCIS episode being referenced

[@Dallen9]

Well I think the thing to note is direct conflict being the key thing in a straight Hot war and a Cold War. cause in the Wars against Empires there were always Cold wars and hot wars still happening it just wasn't as brutal as the American-Russian cold War of the 20th century. And I'd argue the Cold war started in the 1920's with the first Red Scare and went full swing in the late 1940's with the fall of the Iron curtain.

[@benmaguire1729]

There was a pretty heavy intelligence "war" going on throughout the war, double agents at Bletchley Park passing info to soviets as well as anti Stalin factions that were passing info to the West. Also, Stalin kept advancing far past and faster the agreed zones in places like hungary, Romainia, etc. and that was during the war, he did this to set up the largest buffer zone possible. KGB was better at humint and counter intelligence while CIA was better at technology, code breaking things like that.

[@carbonwolf3865]

The point that i would say the cold war started would have probably been The Berlin Airlift, i mean that in a 'the single event that sparked it' type way. Id argue that tension between the USSR and the allies were kind of building throughout the 2nd World War. Things like differences on decisions, the Soviets not being keen on recognizing the rules of war set by the Geneva conventions up to that point, (specifically treatment of prisoners of war in accordance with the july 27 1929 convention) and the majority of axis surrenders were to the US and UK forces duing the Battle of Berlin. Just my two cents

[@ualnomis99]

There are people who actually pour milk first. I'm not one of them, but I know one.

[@bm9727]

06:43 I’d say the tensions definitely began before the war ended. Churchill wasn’t exactly in love with communism and knew Russian domination would sweep up the whole continent if it wasn’t stopped.

[@SephiraPhantom]

"What?! There was commie Cola?!" just broke me. Also, yes, bring back Crystal Pepsi, dang it.

[@nontrashfire2]

the only reason to pour milk first is when you don't have enough milk or its a second portion of cereal

[@4partharmony208]

Wow, even for Bluejay, those Hitler and Kennedy jokes were DARK

[@bnotapplicable7000]

It started under Stalin in the 20s. The US tried to open official relations with new(ish) USSR however, Stalin had spoken many times how the west and particularly US was anachronistic to the Soviet culture, economics, and politics.

[@Moldy1984]

My guess for the beginning of the cold war was the moment klaus fuchs was hired into the Manhattan Project?

[@ub5168]

I think the Cold War began right after or right on the same day as the victory parade in Berlin after winning the war. The Soviet Union was already seen as a possible threat before that day but its mainly that on that day the west got shocked by the militarily technological advancement of the Soviet Union thanks to the IS-3, a heavy tank with so impressive statistics and such intimidating looks that it sent the west into a tank development frenzy, starting the military technological race at that point, since before that point It was ~ let’s make a better weapon then the enemy, and then it became, let’s make a better weapon then the east/west U could also say the most accepted beginning of the Cold War is the moment when nato got established.

[@wombat4191]

Blue Jay and Oversimplified posting so close to each other. What, a new Sam O'Nella video next thrsday?

[@samuellawrencesbookclub8250]

In the UK a manifesto is the document used by politicians to out line their policies. Naturally, this Brit finds you comments about manifestos leading to violence both humourous and accurate

[@vasilzahariev5741]

I put the bowl first.

[@troyv8302]

Most of our lives were influenced by the Cold War back then. It was prevalent in things like movies/TV and music (especially in the heavy metal genre). Heck, in high school in the 80's, I had a class called American Survival. It taught us how many nukes each country had. The teacher said the best way to survive a nuke was not to. He said drive as close as you can to the epicenter to get it over quick and avoid the slow painful death the survivors would have. Good times.

[@SuperLb14]

22:23 while the soviets were the "first" people the differences between soviet technology and american is insane, america build a proper base to learn more about space and study it, Russia were just "I DID IT FIRST, I DID IT FIRST, I DID IT FIRST!"

[@bryanbytes]

Poor manifestos, they need a rebrand

[@wombat4191]

I'd say cold war begun when East and West started competing who's gonna get to Berlin first. Like, that's such a cold war thing to do. But my knowledge is probably limited, there might have beeen signs of it way earlier.

[@kineuhansen8629]

you gotta love blue jay

[@hydraco.9423]

Id say the cold war started in the late 1910's when the soviet revolution was taking place, the US sent troops to fight the communist in Russia and Woodrow Wilson did not try to make relations with them afterwards. A lot the same elements were there in the 1910s-1920s as there were in the 50's and 60's.

[@Paltse]

Well, at the very least the sprouts of the Cold War were there as the end of the combat operations does not mean a state of war has been formally ended so WW2 end dates range from August 15th -45 to 1947 in most of minor Axis nations in Europe to 1951 with Japan to 1990 with German unification rounding it out, so... From my Finnish perspective, yes, Cold War began in some sense before WWII was resolved between all parties.

[@nontrashfire2]

if i become a member I wouldn't know that its 2pm EST

[@stumblepuppy606]

the official story for the end of Acoustic Kitty was that it was not run over and went t o live on a farm upstate. Seriously, that's the official story.

[@ronmaximilian6953]

I remember German kid flying to Moscow. I heard about it when it happened. My father was stunned that the Soviets didn't shoot it down. Four years earlier, the Soviets had shot down a Korean airliner for going a few miles into Soviet airspace by accident.

[@TheBuddel]

Learning from mistakes

[@MisterMick113]

The term cold war arises because the soviet union and US weren't directly involved in conflict with each other. Also, I would say it didn't really start until after WW2. It was sort of like WW1, where the stage was set up and there was a long buildup to full on conflict. The soviets worked with the UK in dividing up influence in Europe post WW2 and also seemed amenable to most western ideas. While the seeds of animosity were sown during the war and the relationship was always tenuous at best, it didn't fully degrade until after the war and tensions surrounding the occupation came to a head. By the berlin airlift I would agree that the cold war was in full swing and I would also agree the stage was set during WW2, perhaps even before.

[@frostyguy1989]

Soviet intelligence services were incredibly sophisticated and well worth the fear shown towards them in their prime. In New Zealand where I live, it only came to light a couple of years ago that Soviet agents had been mapping out our cities and towns to an incredible level of detail. Military bases, government buildings, civil defence and the usual stuff, but they were so meticulous in their mapping that they even included individual trees, boulders and other miscellaneous landmarks that had no real strategic significance at all.

[@ShadeShadoWalker]

I'm a milk-first guy! But not just a milk-first guy, it's usually milk and coffee, and only then do I add the cereal! We do exist ^^

[@cyberus1438]

My grandfather was a navy officer which was involved with nuclear testing in Hawaii, he was so convinced that the Soviet Union was going to launch the nukes that he had built a rather badass underground nuclear shelter and insisted that all his grandchildren and closer relatives possess radios that he would be able to talk to us after a nuclear assault from said bunker to include specific storage instructions to protect said electronics from EMP pulse

[@user-je4nq6he5o]

HBO's Chernobyl is full of so many stereotypes about the USSR that perceiving it as good coverage of the Soviet state is also not the best idea.

[@sphinx3r]

The Hacker Manifesto is still safe. I don't think Loyd Blankenship ever hurt anybody.

[@magicpyroninja]

If they leave it up to the people, it's not an inevitability. That's why some people are so dead set on starting a world war They're looking at what they consider the bright side of it. They can make a ton of money and get rid of a ton of people

[@prussia4428]

6:45 I think the Cold War started by the time the Allies and soviets were pushing to Berlin.

[@Profgill596]

I feel like you could argue once the question was "Who was going to get to Berlin first?" was when the Cold War really started. So... Early 44' maybe? Definitely after Stalingrad 100%

[@fourtyfivefudd]

Absolutely the Cold War began before WW2 ended. During WW2 Russia was already trying to steal and copy our weapons and vehicles of what we had was better, and then continue to improve upon it so they can one up us. A common example is the Russian Tupolev Tu-4. It is almost a clone copy of the American B-29 Superfortess. A number of B-29s had to make emergency landings in Russia, and while crews were always allowed to make repairs and fly home, they were first often kept on Russian base and questioned about their aircraft as it was being copied bolt by bolt. Just because you’re fighting the same enemy, dosent mean your allies.

[@Niper777]

Milk first is the normal thing to do here in Spain and, as far as I know, in Europe.

[@TheLibermania]

Nope it's not.

[@oliversherman2414]

Is Sputnik still floating around in space?

[@Nolroa]

No. Sputnik-1 made 1,440 orbits (circles the planet Earth) and on January 4, 1958, 92 days after its launch, it disintegrated in the atmosphere.

[@oliversherman2414]

@@Nolroa Thanks for letting me know (also, I know what you meant by "orbits")

[@JohnDoe-xz1mw]

WHY would you try to make an acoustic kitty? im no expert but im like 80% sure dogs existed back then.

[@Nolroa]

Cats are more agile and can get into places that dogs can't go. (Or that's what was thought)

[@dalrunin4138]

Manifestos: I would say the reverse. If you feel the need to write one, do it and get out into the public. Then society knows you need help and to watch how you conduct yourself.

[@Aki-kh2qe-StreetKidZZZ]

You keep using the word incel, i don't think it means what you think it means Holy shit, i died with the cat😂

[@prestonjones1653]

I'd argue that the "Cold War" started right after Lenin's revolution actually worked. Remember, the Kaiser sent him back to Russia to cause mayhem, not to succeed. After that, it was a madhouse in Europe and North America with the Germans, British, Austro-Hungarians, and Americans, who were all currently at war with eachother, setting aside battalions to go and help eachother invade the Soviet Union to put the Tsar back in power.

[@tjbjornson154]

I say the cold war started between German Surrender in WWII and USA forcing Japan surrender in WWII before the USSR could join the fight.

[@lunatheskeptic9578]

I pour my milk before cereal first so I know we have milk in the house

[@hypoaktivnaovca]

Still no one catching the David Bowie reference ...

[@pebblebrookbooks4852]

And this is why we don't order vodka coke at the bar. We drink it at home when we have nothing else.

[@DJLthoughts]

Don't agree with the military assessment, but fun video nonetheless!

[@Man_Emperor_of_Mankind]

Milk before the cereal is dumb. I want my cocoa pebbles soggy

[@brandonhorwath6351]

Crystal Pepsi did taste different. It wasn't supposed to. I don't miss it...

[@JKingSniper]

Pepsi was almost the 6th largest naval fleet ah, was an good story.

[@mr.waffles8739]

I had a girlfriend who put the milk first, she said it was so she could put more cereal in the bowl, which I very much don't understand

[@Nostripe361]

The Russians were better at person to person spying while the us was better at electronic spying

[@MrTriangle987]

12:42 The funniest part ever😂😂

[@josiaho5927]

Milk first and proud of it! Sock shoe, sock shoe!

[@samhouston1979]

i remember Crystal Pepsi