Post-War Rebuilding and the Cold War: Crash Course European History #41

Sometimes, friendship isn't forever. At the conclusion of World War II, the old structures of power were a shambles. The traditional European powers were greatly weakened by years of total war and widespread destruction. The USSR was looking to expand its sphere of influence in Eastern Europe, and at the same time, the United States was assisting with the rebuilding of Western Europe (with some hegemonic strings attached). As two nuclear-armed superpowers emerged, the world entered the Cold War.
Sources
-Anslover, Nicole L. Harry Truman: The Coming of the Cold War. New York: Routledge, 2014.
-Burleigh, Michael. Small Wars, Faraway Places: Global Insurrection and the Making of the Modern World, 1945-1965. New York: Viking, 2013.
-Feinberg, Melissa. Curtain of Lies: The Battle over Truth in Stalinist Eastern Europe. New York: Oxford University Press, 2017
-Smith, Bonnie G. Europe in the Contemporary World, 1900 to the Present. 2nd ed. London: Bloomsbury, 2020.
-Westad, Odd Arne. The Global Cold War : Third World Interventions and the Making of Our Times. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2017.
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#crashcourse #history #europeanhistory

[@robertgr0077]

“Three main powers... and France.”

[@HashSl1ng1ngSlasher]

France was only a major power once, in the 1600s. Like a bad breakup, they never got over it when their time passed.

[@raghul0078]

@@HashSl1ng1ngSlasher 1600s, didn't you read history books. France once again rose as a great power under Napoleon in 1800s. Only after battle of Waterloo did France became weaker

[@HashSl1ng1ngSlasher]

​@@raghul0078 Right. My bad.

[@julioservantes8242]

@@HashSl1ng1ngSlasher France was the strongest country in Europe for a long time during the middle ages.

[@raghul0078]

@Bihan JAYATHILAKE I only told facts

[@crashcourse]

Hi all. We had a map error in the original version of this episode, so we uploaded it again. Sorry if you got double notifications. Thanks for watching! -stan

[@Objectsided]

CrashCourse cool!

[@danielhann37]

we stan stan

[@akshaygowrishankar7440]

Question: although it seems like COVID-19 hasn't really affected your content, has it though?

[@renepaniagua4882]

CrashCourse i thought I was having a dejavú there

[@danielhann37]

@@akshaygowrishankar7440 I imagine these episodes were filmed sometime last year. they've most likely been done for months now

[@garyermann]

I know the "Hiding behind the desk" thing is often made fun of, but I feel like the trope of criticizing it often distracts from the rationale behind the tactic. Certainly, if you are directly in the main blast of a nuclear attack, it won't do much. But it's not like bombs draw a big circle where everyone inside instantly dies, and everyone outside is completely uninjured. There's always an outer limit where people directly exposed to the bomb will be severely injured, and those who take some amount of cover will survive with lesser wounds. We can look to the tragic accounts of survivors from Hiroshima and Nagasaki: there are many reports of people surviving the blast strangely uninjured compared to those around them, simply because they happened to have been in places that offered even the smallest amount of extra protection. Learning from these lessons, if your job is to prepare a city for a possible atomic attack, wouldn't the best approach be to teach everyone to go to the best cover they could find? It won't save everyone, but it will certainly make a difference.

[@gzer0x]

It’s also as equally “do something so you don’t think about how you can do nothing about it.”

[@CaptainBohnenbrot]

One word: "fridge"

[@FalbertForester]

Excellent points. I also wanted to mention that my schools never did atomic bomb or air raid drills, during the 1970s and 1980s, despite only being a dozen miles from a SAC base with B-52s. Used to watch those big bombers flying low over the forests, practicing their "stealthy approaches to the target". Ha!

[@stephenwilhelm]

Totally agree, but we can identify three blast radii for a nuclear bomb. The smallest is the fireball, not much chance of survival. The second has lots of radiation and a shockwave, duck and cover can save your life, but injury is almost guaranteed. In the third the shockwave is lessened enough that your biggest concern is flying debris rather than collapsing buildings, duck and cover is really important here (and make sure you aren't in sight of a window).

[@DontMockMySmock]

+

[@michaelmangano1732]

This “unless you’re the Mongols” never gets old

[@Bejunckt]

0:19 that is a very friendly soldier

[@TheMurmuringGolem]

Actually it's a typical Russian greeting

[@YoUtUbEhAnDlEsArEgReAt]

Such gay times they were.

[@KristianPietroOfficial]

T C it’s all about context

[@TheGawdessDravidienne]

You could have discussed the Non Alignment Movement too.

[@diptendubt19]

What about the Non-Aligned Movement? Yugoslavia as communist yet non-Eastern block?

[@cikalujo]

Yeah, it's very strange that it never gets mentioned, and it wasn't an insignificant factor. It's probably some of the most interesting stuff about the cold-war era, and it shows how some of the countries that managed to take a third option actually had the best 50 years of their history.

[@Descanlin]

Hopefully they get to that later; the next video is still set in the Cold War, so they're not done in these 40 years.

[@MartinKyral]

@The Yangem Not just a middle finger: read the infamous letter from Tito to Stalin. Simon Whistler named it the most badass letter of all times - and it really is ;)

[@DarkAngelEU]

I would love to learn more about this movement. Apparently the leader is the ONLY person to have ever smoked a cigar inside the White House!

[@xerex21212]

Non Aligned Movement.

[@beatrizcostenaro6759]

I love all the crash courses on history humanize history. It's a way of seeing history that you'll never learn in school and even if you know the subject it's worth watching for this new perspective.

[@MASSPrime]

Can you do a crash course: African history?

[@DarkAngelEU]

C O L O N I Z E D

[@ShidaiTaino]

Ordinary Sessel 50% of history is from legends and oral traditional, which are very accurate.

[@EarlGreyLattex]

@@Ghost-Rider667 the oldest continuously inhabited continent will result in "One short video"? Your ignorance is showing

[@EarlGreyLattex]

@Ordinary Sessel they weren't deemed reliable before. Now we know we can corroborate events in oral history to real events they're a lot more reliable now. BBC Africa has a whole series on KZbin on African history, you might learn something new and less bigoted about the continent if you give it a watch. Expand your knowledge past western centricity 🙄

[@EarlGreyLattex]

@Ordinary Sessel again your lack of knowledge is predictable. Coming from such a bigot I'm not surprised. Africa has written history. You just lack the critical thinking to be objective away from your strongly held belief of Africa being without written history. We've moved on from 19th century anthropological ideas

[@FLOWLEDGE]

Thanks to quarantine, the planet is recovering so much that the Mongols returned

[@FLOWLEDGE]

​@@FlamingBasketballClub yeah, partially. Primarily about international relations

[@LP-zc4gy]

“The Earth is healing. WE ARE THE MONGOLS.”

[@vincentpellegrino789]

Thanks for the Mongol's clip. I've missed them.

[@katiebolger4705]

YOU POSTED THIS THE DAY BEFORE MY EUROPEAN HISTORY EXAM BLESS YOU CRASHCOURSE

[@manaalwajidali3408]

YES "UNLESS YOU'RE THE MONGOLS" ITS BEEN SO LONG SINCE IVE SEEN THAT MAH HEART😭😭😭😭

[@dauf69]

Being 2AM and sleepy, I was so confused when I saw this video on my feed, "didn't I watched this like a few hours ago?" Thanks for the late night confusion guys.

[@penguinolord548]

ME TOOO IT THOUGHT I WATCHED THIS

[@k-panga]

2AM? Where are you from?

[@Argacyan]

They took down the original upload for whatever reason.

[@dauf69]

@@k-panga I'm from Indonesia dude

[@Onkipasmode]

I came after years. He speaks slower and seems much calmer now. I appreciate the change as english is not my first language 👍👍

[@nunooliveira1728]

I feel like altough this is a course on European History, you still focus too much on the United States. That bit where you talk about schools doing exercises on how to react in the case of nuclear war is not an european experience, or at least where i live in.

[@julioservantes8242]

In soviet occupied Europe it was talked about but they didn't do any drills. In soviet russia everything was "fine" all the time.

[@shockingheaven]

After crying my heart out last episode, I was relieved to see the Mongols here

[@stevekarr5]

Congratulations Crash Course. You guys are the best thing on KZbin. I just love your presentation, your facts, graphics, and John Green. I understand why you turned off the comments for EP 40, but that was one of the most deeply moving, important videos I have ever seen.

[@VladSvitlychnyi]

10:52 At this point I almost started crying out because it's just ridiculous and so American-centric There's no way Western and Eastern families would have similar TV sets, radio and other home appliances, and it was extremely hard for an ordinary Soviet family to get a car

[@DarkAngelEU]

Despite John Green's criticisms on American Exceptionalism, he's still an American.

[@oconnorkevin]

But is that American centric or too uncritical of the Soviet Economy? They weren't equal, the west's economy was better. My father told me once that now there was a technology in the Soviet Union that made stale bread edible. It was called a toaster. It was the 1980s.

[@sherailin]

@@oconnorkevin This is a fair point, but the notion was based on the fact that every soviet household did have a radio. Think back on the times when Nazi Germany did everything it could to have a radio in every family's home for their own purpose. Both the US and the USSR weren't much different, but the extent and way of provision did vary immensely, and it did look like that wasn't highlighted very well.

[@allthenewsordeath5772]

Mark Ouwerkerk When will communists learn that if you wanna provide consumer goods for an elastic market, capitalism is the best.

[@plifal7799]

@@allthenewsordeath5772 when will capitalists learn that efficiency is a fair price to pay for relative equality and access to essential services

[@jordisaura6748]

The kiss at 0:20... How much i hate confinement!

[@SaratChandran]

He seems like he does NOT want to be kissed lol

[@jordisaura6748]

@@SaratChandran those images totally require some context

[@derpyderpy6269]

@@jordisaura6748 in eastern europe kissing was a form of greeting until late 80s. Plus it's probably the footage from the meeting of soviet and western soldiers in spring of 1945, which meant that the war was coming to an end, and that made people very excited and emotional.

[@jordisaura6748]

@@derpyderpy6269 which is even funnier

[@Loremastrful]

I hope you can shine a light on decolonization and the break up of Euorpean empires in the next one. Its one of those issues where the world impacts Europe and Europe impacts the world.

[@jesseberg3271]

I expect that's the episode after the next one.

[@victorbruant389]

Rebuilding is much easier if your Vault has a G.E.C.K.

[@markeos7753]

Having an immortal man by the name of Mr house with an army of robots also helps.

[@Nayshjin]

@@markeos7753 Or just get frozen before the bombs, wake up and become a literal God

[@SerhiiMartyneko]

@@Nayshjin Sounds like South Park reference, but I'm sure it is not.

[@Nayshjin]

@@SerhiiMartyneko Fallout references

[@SerhiiMartyneko]

@@Nayshjin I can't remember anyone who was frozen and became godlike in fallout.

[@airimania2000]

I am Japanese . I watch this channel to study English and get much knowledge .

[@WaltRBuck]

What I heard... "The media was good at causing mass hysteria." .. nothing's changed.

[@spirosd.angelou7992]

Fun Fact: When the German's occupied Greece in 1941 many Generals, Lieutenants and people from the armed forces, the government, the police and the clergy were eager to work alongside the Nazi's. The Communist party created ΕΑΜ (National Liberating Front) and fought back the German's and their allies (Greeks, Italians, Bulgarians), delivering major victories against them and helped inspire the Greeks during the devastating famine which killed the 1/7 of all people in Greece. After they pushed (alongside some help of the UK and to a much lesser extent a right partisan group) the Germans out of Greece it was the beginning of the Civil War were many Greeks that worked with the Nazi's fought for the American side and later held key places in the state. It was also one of the first use of Napalm bombs that were provided by the American's. I LOVE YOUR HISTORY VIDEOS and I hope in one you are going to mention the military junta that the Americans helped facilitate in Greece in 1967. And that's the truth in my country Greece. :)

[@ulfasplund3514]

in 1969 my family lived in Novisibirsk as a part of a science exchange. My father was a mathematician and considered "harmless" without strategic knowledge. It was interesting as a western kid to live in the USSR for a while.

[@DavidJamesHenry]

I still think this episode should have focused more on Europe. I didn't learn anything more in this video than in US History or World History

[@stephanrichard7006]

There are a lot of interesting things that happened in Europe in the 10 years after 1945, too bad non were mentioned here.

[@georgelane6350]

You realise that the eastern bloc contained well over half of all europeans right?

[@ShidaiTaino]

RobotGoggles Europe was literally a pile of rubble under the thumb of the US

[@macsandsquid528]

This episode quickly became about the United States vs USSR, and not about Europe. I understand the US held great influence during this time, but more information about what Europe and their leaders were doing would be more appropriate for a series about Europe. Mayhaps it was easier to research?

[@villehursti]

As an European, this was a lousy episode.

[@darkrai6543]

It's worth noting that the USSR is European (and Asian but hey), but I see what you mean. It'd have been better to have more emphasis on more than just Russia during this time.

[@PedroG78]

110% agree. There was so much to say about what was going on on Spain, France, Greece, Portugal and many other countries and how every one tried to rebuild itself after WW2 and why. And even though at the end John says the next episode will deal with it, I'm afraid it's been too much time lost to the US stuff

[@JukeboxTheGhoul]

This was much like what my teachers taught me in a British secondary school.

[@PermanentNightfall]

I agree with you. However, I feel like this episode might be setting the stage for upcoming ones. The next one that gets teased at the end of this episode sounds like it will be much more about domestic politics and the economy and therefore should be more about Europe itself. So I'm willing to give CrashCourse the benefit of the doubt that the contents were chosen carefully and intentionally with the upcoming topics in mind.

[@flapdrol134]

Cant wait for next week!! Great video :)

[@mortuos557]

The Luftbrücke with their Rosinenbomber was one of the biggest reasons for the support of the western Germans of the US, they had demonstrated that they would do whatever it takes to save the lives of German citizens in Berlin. This was vital in reducing the amount resistance to the occupation.

[@Social_Mechanic]

@6:00 You forgot that the West, especially the U.S., also took scientists away from the Nazis. That's a big miss John.

[@ddiesel1836]

Operation papaer clip.

[@ShidaiTaino]

Preposterous Altercation honestly what is wrong with you

[@lakrids-pibe]

Yeah I remember the weekly test of the airraid alarm. Every wednesday at 12. We didn't hide under the table, though.

[@clickbaitcabaret8208]

Great episode as always.

[@colarfn5106]

Thanks for the lesson Jone Green.

[@ilanastrauss7510]

"It also captured the reality of life during what seemed like a never-ending conflict that perpetually threatened to be apocalyptic." Can't imagine what that's like :/

[@audreyr5389]

Watching all of your videos during quarantine❤️ got tired of mind numbing Netflix shows. Thank you

[@pongop]

I totally thought about 1984 like two minutes before John mentioned it.

[@kevinkerkhoff6670]

I already watched the first upload, but watched it again to keep the numbers high

[@miki_cz]

Love the shoutout to Milada Horáková!

[@DontMockMySmock]

Good thing I know about all these events from Twilight Struggle (a board game about the superpowers' fight over influence in the world during the cold war)

[@AverytheCubanAmerican]

Speaking of Cold War, I’ve always wanted to do a Trabant tour of Berlin. That would be fun

[@darkhorse12233]

Why did we move away from the desk/open letter / mystery document/ talking to Stan set up? They jumped the shark on this one.

[@microsondo2]

Thought this was second video in one day and I was jazzed. :(

[@thetruth8412]

Could you make a history book that includes the actual first sources and what they mean

[@The1234567890ashish]

As a person living in a country which was a part of the Non-Alignment Movement, I have few questions. What do Americans have against communism? Do they understand the actual meaning of the word? Or the reason why people chose it? Do they know that after the war, some countries had to start from zero? I wonder if their stance would change if American infrastructure was destroyed in the war as well. I'd like to know some view points. Thanks :)

[@fatimahilyass2640]

amazing video

[@guitarislife01]

I'm mentally exhausted from all the learning I've done during the quarantine

[@ChintsuuDorimu]

Why there is no mention of the oparation Paper Clip?

[@AthAthanasius]

11:40 - 'Jam' in a SpaceBalls style, eh ?

[@schlirf]

Yep, it was lots of "fun" at Camp Pittman and OP Alpha.

[@kilmoretimmyg]

I've been watching this guy for years and only just leant he wrote 'the fault in our stars'...

You should do a series on historiography.

[@obamamii1790]

i haven't watched crashcourse in so long and john looks so different

[@ryanweaver962]

We don’t really need an “enemy”… the work helps.

[@deLumren]

Can anyone tell me what the Private video before this one was about? And was it hidden since publication or did something force the channel to put it away?

[@daniel3231995]

I'm finally caught up omg watched the whole thing in a week, superhard to digest every episode. a little sad the views get lower but I guess the rest of you are hardcore fans too if you got this far! :P

[@jedcartledge6888]

I prefered it when he talked faster

[@ryanweaver962]

Fascinating stuff.

[@holaamigos8552]

meow:) my cat and i watch you every weekend she naps alot during it

[@alarcon99]

When and how did the nuclear drills end in schools in the USA? Which state was the last state to have such drills? Or did they all stop at the same time?

[@owenpeak1350]

Is there any more Crash Course Literature coming soon? :)

[@bingus516]

*Hey, I've seen this one before!* *What do you mean you've seen it, it's brand new!*

[@fredrickreloaded4488]

where can I find that video from 00:16 of the soldiers kissing after winning the war?

[@stevenmcdaniel6820]

Thanks for the Mongol montage Stan

[@hgp2461]

my grandfather was in the Korean war he never told his sons (one being my dad) so that they don't want to go to war, it did not work, he told this to my mom about how he was on the front lines and how he saw the faces of those he shot at he had to go back after the war when we said we would rebuild, he was an engineer and later helped plan the D.C. metro, they gave him a plaque to thank him and of course money but not once did I hear him speak of Korea he was very young when he was drafted.

[@bigbobtank1563]

My mom:you are not a failure Me:league of nations

[@sominboy2757]

STAN? STAN LIVES? God its good to hear him talk to stan again

[@PsychoSocialCreation]

The Marshall plan seemed like a bribe most definitely 😏😏😏

[@renaissanceweeb]

Hey a bribe is better than a coup.

[@josemvacar]

@@renaissanceweeb America all around the world since (and even before): "Hey, why not both?"

[@jacoblinde7486]

It still helped millions of people. I agree that the intentions probably had more to do with winning over European countries, but it doesn't change the fact that it did lots of good.

[@renaissanceweeb]

@@jacoblinde7486 Well also i think of it like this, "wining over european countries" wasn't something they did just for the sake of it. They did it because they thought the Soviet system of economy and politics was ruinous, and as the video says, "evil". It's not like the US was planning on establishing colonies in france or something like that. The US's actions in the cold war almost all connected to a single, simple motivation: Prevent the further spread of the Soviet Union's system of government and economy.

[@jacoblinde7486]

@@renaissanceweeb I'd argue that the Soviet economic and political system was well worth containing. There were, and still are, obvious flaws with the American model, but I'd still rather live under a relatively representative form of democracy where I have mostly free speech and a chance at some success than live under Stalin, a man who, through his own incompetance and paranoia, killed millions of his own people. (I'm not trying to argue with you, I just felt like elaborating. I agree with your point)

[@torimallory9499]

I love your channel and videos😍

[@cfv7461]

"the three main powers... and france"

[@GlobeTrotter267]

Best comment of the episode

[@ddiesel1836]

France was not a player.

[@Gwest555]

I just started reading 1984 and took him pointing it out for me to realize that constant visible warfare is in fact dystopic

[@CuriousFrog]

Hiding under the desk was to stop the glass shards from the windows injuring you

[@The6thelement9413]

Well done…thank you!

[@dylankirby3935]

I hope that the Eurovision Song Contest gets a mention 😁

[@SamAronow]

The *First* Cold War, John.

[@appleslover]

Second?

[@muntadar1655]

@@appleslover Iran vs saudi arabia, coming from an Iraqi,and oh the syrian civil war has corona knocking on it's door EDIT: hey it actually rhymed

[@furrywarriors]

What do you mean, first. It never ended

[@DarkAngelEU]

@@furrywarriors I have that feeling too, but I'd love to have a historian's pov on that.

[@jiangciyang3860]

@@muntadar1655 then you must also call the situation between the koreas a cold war

[@StellarTuness]

I have to watch this for school now that school shut down for me.

[@hogofwar0]

plz do episode on balfeur decleration

[@marcopastormayo8248]

9:30 Aahh what a miss, you should’ve said: “Budgets for arms and missiles SKYROCKETED!” Hahaha

[@hallamhal]

11:08 ahh that classic European city: Orlando, Florida...

[@YoUtUbEhAnDlEsArEgReAt]

3:39 lol what is that footage? Random guy with a camera greenscreened in.

[@andrewkinzie5221]

​​​ ​​​​​​ ​ ​​​ ​​​​​​ accually no people had cameras taking photos of army’s for propaganda

[@YoUtUbEhAnDlEsArEgReAt]

@@andrewkinzie5221 Have a look again, he's much smaller than the troops, moves at a different speed to the camera panning, in completely different focus, and higher resolution than anyone else.

[@YoUtUbEhAnDlEsArEgReAt]

@@andrewkinzie5221 and most damning of all is he stays the same size, despite being in the foreground, while the troops become bigger as the camera pans over.

[@LittleCiaraCat]

Please do a crash course european history on the republic of Ireland’s independence (1916 rising, civil war ect) !

[@safir2241]

Did you guys see that spicy kiss in the beginning of the video?

[@alonealien1474]

The division of Berlin reminded me of "The Third Man".

[@Oxtocoatl13]

For some reason they never mention how Vienna was similarly divided up. The third man still run three times a week at one Viennese movie theater.

[@pete9320]

The US and USSR are incredibly important in the period, I believe the focus is justified. But it is European History. First and foremost the wording regarding the Soviet occupation of Eastern Europe is - controversial. Communist parties were to some degree popular, but very far from any universality. Secondly; why not dwelve into the consequences of war on the different nations. It's the step before the Cold War, and was the marking of "the lines". I, I am actually severely disappointed. I expected a three or four parter about the aftermath of the war. Since the aftermath is essential for the development of the EU and all, why - how, how could that not be the focus?

[@Argacyan]

I think the closer we get to modern day times the more do ongoing politics define how accurate the info we get will be. For instance I do not believe we'll be told that in 1989/90, the dissolution of the Soviet Union was against the will of most people - I don't even think it will be discussed how in many member states such as Russia, this can be boiled down to nationalist coups essentially. I do not think that we'll be hearing much about how many post war countries employed nazi collaborators in post war governments - the Nuremberg Trials in Germany is probably as detailed as it'll get. We will not hear about things such as the Greek Civil War in which Great Britain established a right wing puppet dictatorship in Greece. And so on and so forth.

[@bladfadsfblaadsfsadf900]

Pete9320 keep in mind, these Crash Course videos are formatted to help those who are taking the Advanced Placement program in the US. Don’t criticize John and the team. Criticize the US education system and it’s formatting for higher level courses. You’ll see this with any AP history class. Broad strokes.

[@georgelane6350]

In what world do you think John won't do an entire episode on the formation of the EU!?

[@EverythingScience]

I think that reupload was just a tease to make us want it more...

[@LegoLordPro]

I want to see more of the show, I'm way more interested in seeing how the rest of the 20th century went for Europe.

[@snaps4kappu]

Seen various comments below indicating what you could have included. But this crash course has provided me more info than the entire lesson I had in my 8th grade. Thanks for the video. Looking forward to support on patreon The coolest takeaway though was James Bond Vs Max Otto ;)

[@perceptiondeceptiondeletio4342]

can we get crash course literature 5? it's been 64 years

[@teen-at-heart]

Operation Vittels was called in German: Luftbrücke = air bridge

[@artistsometimes2729]

That was excellent, congratulations on not pushing propaganda :P As John Green recalls, most history and TV shows tend to be drenched in jingoism for either side, although we get a very pro-USA view in the 'West'. However, it would be interesting to discuss the non-aligned movement as well :)

[@idonno21]

Nice

[@SupremeLeaderKimJong-un]

Cold War? My grandpa is coming

[@neemapaxima6116]

They say you are a goner, how do you feel?

[@penguinolord548]

Didn’t I watch this already like 3 hours ago

[@ellisd3165]

People downvoting a 10 min video when its been online for 90 seconds

[@sinjinaskins4974]

this is the best video

[@Dayglodaydreams]

Don't we have VOA still?

[@stephanrichard7006]

It is supposed to be European History yet the US was mentioned more than England, Germany and France put together. On top of that there was nothing about the Coal and Steel Community, Adenauer, Gaul and Schuman! There is no postwar european history without these people. I hope the treaty of rome is atleast mentioned in the next video

[@jesseberg3271]

Arguably, the whole point of WWII (in the Atlantic Theater, at least) was to _prevent_ Europe from having any more history for the time being.

[@stephanrichard7006]

@@jesseberg3271 it was to stop the war and prevent any other future wars. There is a lot more to history than war.

[@jesseberg3271]

@@stephanrichard7006 So, your asking why a video entitled "The Cold War" focused on war and related things to the exclusion of things not related to war?

[@stephanrichard7006]

@@jesseberg3271 no ofcourse not, I'm just disappointed when the series is supposed to Eurocentric yet the most important events and people of postwar Europe weren't even mentioned.

[@jesseberg3271]

@@stephanrichard7006 He covered the Warsaw Pact and Nato in this one. Next one is going to be looking at the civilian side of things, so I'm sure he'll discuss the EEC in that. That said, you really can't talk about that period of European history without talking about how the Continent was dominated by the two Superpowers. The US may not have handed down the order of Western European government and society from Washington, the way the Soveits did from Moscow, but that doesn't mean Western Europe wasn't being controlled by the US through more subtle means. The whole structure of international finance set up at Bretton Woods ensured that Western Europe would basically do what the US wanted it to, if not in specific details then at least in general.

[@homewardboundphotos]

I think it's really cute how in your animation showing both sides trying to "out do" each other in terms of comfort and advancement, you make it looks like they were on equal footing. The soviet side should have looked like a bunch of poor starving people, not a comfy home with a nice radio and TV.

[@varana]

While living conditions in the Eastern bloc were certainly not on par with the West, "starving" is massively out of place for the post-50s Soviet Union (or the rest of the East).

[@homewardboundphotos]

@@varana the Soviets posted notices telling people it was wrong to eat their own children. I think there was plenty of starvation happening in the Soviet union.

[@varana]

@@homewardboundphotos Err... could you point me to those notices? Again, post-war, not 1930s.

[@parmesan6133]

definitely one of my favourite topics of history

[@parmesan6133]

i’m talking like interesting wise, i don’t want it repeated

[@alexandrujuncu]

I've seen this video before somewhere :p

[@aam9368]

Same