Stephen Kotkin: Stalin's Rise to Power | AI Podcast Clips

[@guy6567]

I'm starting to think lectures should have 2 profs and be podcast style, so much more interesting when you get to the roots through conversation and not just monotone powerpoints

[@glemoine14]

Lecturers are supposed to articulate their ideas in a coherent structure, then you ask the questions. We just may not craft our questions as well as Lex.

[@KeithanFunk]

This is the best point on youtube

[@freelectron2029]

Ah, this is how people learnt all through history. Until the "education system" was developed. Wisdom then became rare.

[@leeward6762]

The more perspectives that you could hear the better.

[@kl3mm3r86]

This was how knowledge and wisdom were previously conveyed prior to industrial compulsory education.

[@mabboyz4lyf]

This guy sounds like the Joe Pesci of history

[@farsea1542]

Unreal 😀

[@jasonmelo1974]

Oh crap I just posted that I should have looked at the comments first. Lol

[@Donstefanaki]

Hahahahq unreal! I read your comment before hearing his voice 😂

[@andreitiberiovicgazdovici]

Underrated comment

[@jrrtt25]

Suuuuuuuper accurate comment, haha

[@chicopeterson1613]

Amazing! You should have more Historians on your show.

[@martinc8084]

Seconded!

[@tesstiggle]

indubitably

[@thamyth13]

I agree

[@nikollatesla6635]

Yes!!! Especially a matchine/technology historian

[@jamesguy1030]

Chico Peterson ~ Yeah, if you liked this as much as myself, Then you should check out the amazing documentary series called = “EUROPA THE LAST BATTLE” All Ten episodes are well worth watching. Removed and Banned from KZbin, However you can still find it if you look hard enough (it’s also available on DVD) it’s one of the most important & fascinating documentary series to come out this decade and should be shown in our schools and colleges worldwide. (Most people find it on Bitchute) if it was shown on the mainstream media then we would Live in a completely different world virtually over night if the public knew the Truth. We Now have some very important & Powerful Documentary Footage & we all must do our best to spread the Truth and wake our people up from a very deep sleep. So if you can, Please share it with as many people as possible before it gets Removed & Lost Forever. The Censorship Continues but OUR WEAPON IS TRUTH ! God Bless (Bitchute) The Truth will always leak, No Matter What they Do. The Truth Can Prevent Hate, And Not the other way around. . .

[@eirikbelisarius1100]

Stephen Kotkin is a brilliant historian and writer. I'm on the second of three books on Stalin. They are not easy to read, but his knowledge of this regime and man is very impressive.

[@keyrex1111]

u can read books directly from stalin, he has written a few. also the 1936 stalin constitution

[@eirikbelisarius1100]

@@ZoneofA Hope you one day wake up and smell the coffee. Stalin's system killed millions of Soviet citizens. You don't need to be a genius to understand what is meant by "class warfare". And what about the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact? A real smart move...

[@eirikbelisarius1100]

@@ZoneofA So the Moscow-trials never happened? The collectivization didn't starve millions of people? The Molotov-Ribbentrop-pact was just British propaganda? The Gulag camps never existed? Beria was more of a grandfather figure? Khrushchev lied about Stalin? The fact that they didn't have democratic elections between 1917 and 1990 counts for nothing? And what about Mao, Pol Pot or the Kims in North Korea? Why did they build the Berlin wall? To stop tanks rolling in from the city of West-Berlin? The Soviet system was a vampire that fed on Russian blood. You're an idiot ZoneofA.

[@eirikbelisarius1100]

ZoneofA Which of these events are fabricated?

[@eirikbelisarius1100]

@@ZoneofA You're right. I didn't fathom what a rat infested nest the Soviet communist party was pre-1936 when half the officer corps and 70 percent of the members of the Party Congress of 1934 were arrested and executed for being Nazi agents. A good thing Stalin cleaned the mess and shot all those traitors.

[@CoolStoryBro455]

Lex always gives off the impression that he is super hammered

[@LordLotman]

HahHa great call

[@josephreinard2373]

Lol!!

[@christopherboxford26]

I've seen him super hammered and it's much worse.

[@lachlanmclennan2188]

I'm guessing he's probably medicated.

[@smartyjonez5470]

Not to be out of line and I’m Sorry if this offends anyone but this Stalin character seemed like a real jerk !

[@Jorbz150]

I read this comment in Norm's voice.

[@smartyjonez5470]

Jorbz150 The internet is truly an amazing place. There are so many more famous comics out there then Norm, yet no matter what video I post this comment on - so many people get the Norm reference. Good stuff

[@danielswing3068]

At least he wasn’t a hypocrite

[@Earthad23]

The more I hear about him the less I like him

[@mrzed2349]

The man was a psychopath pure and simple.

[@rikweeds2306]

When Stephen talks, i tend to find myself hanging on every word. The cadance and timing to emphasize and build the dialogue is great. Incredible public speaker

[@midge_gender_solek3314]

As a Russian man from a family that suffered greatly because of this man (as many did), I really appreciate Kotkin's skills at explaining history. Too bad many people in my country don't know any of this.

[@Jimmy_Jazz]

@Dmitry Terek interesting perspective

[@elonmuskel9461]

@Dmitry Terek He made terrible policy decisions and stayed in power through terror and mass murder... sounds like a monster to me

[@electriceyeswatching4415]

@Skitalets An apologist for a murderous authoritarian . I appreciate your honesty.

[@electriceyeswatching4415]

@Skitalets Perhaps my ignorance is getting in the way and I misinterpreted. My apologies.

[@nlabanok]

After listening to him through this, I half expected him to break into "I'm funny how? I mean funny like a clown. Do I amuse you?".

[@lylewalker5681]

And then Lex responds, 'You're bringing so much fucking heat to this podcast, it's fucking unbelievable.'

[@jmatando5105]

for real lol joe pesci vibes to the max

[@udaykalyan3130]

Just Amazing To Listen This Gentleman Speak On Different Historical Events. Please Bring Him Frequently !!

[@urosmarjanovic663]

This guy is crap. The way he speaks Latin phrase "de jure" is enough to know.

[@DamianReloaded]

Love the narration. Now I'll have to listen the whole thing!

[@alejava]

A brilliant historian. I can listen to him for hours. I obviously go for the "full episode" right away

[@SJ23982398]

I like the matter of fact way this guy speaks

[@jamesj9537]

Clear, plain-spoken, knowledgeable. Gotta love it.

[@TheGodlessGuitarist]

Hitchens and Service have a great discussion on Trotsky at Hoover Institution, for those interested.

[@TheGodlessGuitarist]

@@JohnKobaRuddy He was definitely not Neo-Con. He did share the Neo-Con's pathological fear of Islam and the Muslim world but that's where the similarities end

[@TheGodlessGuitarist]

@@chriscarlone527 Pretty sure he would have backed Bernie in preference to anything the Reps have to offer these days. The Clintons are despicable so would have been interesting to hear his view and preference on Trump vs Clinton, particularly as a hypothetical contest for Trump's second term bid, given the systematic smearing and lying from the establishment left vs Trump's actual evils and ongoing destruction of the Justice dept, EPA. postal service, education dept. etc. *I never really fully trusted him* I think you should always retain your skepticism no matter who is speaking. I believe he was an honest man, but despite being very well read and intelligent, and like everyone else, he was not infallible.

[@YiannisANO1911]

I think i learned more about Stalin and Russian history in these 20 minutes than any other time i tried learning about it. Another brilliant mind speaking to a brilliant host

[@eamonwright7488]

You should most definitely read Kotkins 2 volumes of Stalin's biography. He's the worlds leading expert in Soviet history in my opinion.

[@benjamindouglas862]

So you don't read books?

[@YiannisANO1911]

@@benjamindouglas862 i read but on other topics

[@ozgeozcelik8921]

I've read Kotkin's both books, waiting for the third one...this is an extremely good interview...

[@ozgeozcelik8921]

I wish I would make a clever comment about what if Stalin had today's mass data collection tools and our all individual consent of data sharing with ubiquitous pocket devices(social credit system, rise of digital authoritarianism)... then compare all of those to Stalin's time analog eavesdropping journalistic conspiratorial coercion based NKVD terror...

[@jamesguy1030]

Jim lastname ~ Yeah, i think that it’s very important that the public gets both sides of the debate and the other side of the propaganda. Please check out the amazing documentary series called = “EUROPA THE LAST BATTLE” All Ten episodes are well worth watching. Removed and Banned from KZbin, However you can still find it if you look hard enough (it’s also available on DVD) it’s one of the most important & fascinating documentary series to come out this decade and should be shown in our schools and colleges worldwide. (Most people find it on Bitchute) if it was shown on the mainstream media then we would win our fight for freedom over night. We Now have some very important & Powerful Documentary Footage & we all must do our best to spread the Truth and wake our people up from a very deep sleep. So if you can, Please share it with as many people as possible before it gets Removed & Lost Forever. The Censorship Continues but OUR WEAPON IS TRUTH ! God Bless (Bitchute) The Truth Will Always Leak, No Matter What They Do. The Truth Can Prevent Hate, And Not the other way around. . .

[@jenpsakiscousin4589]

When I was a kid, in East Germany we were taught that Stalin was the smartest, most perfect person and without his vast knowledge we would not have this wonderful paradise we call socialism.

[@IMPERATOR-EL]

Well he was smart, but used it for personal gain.

[@dangerpants1]

Isn't it great.

[@IMPERATOR-EL]

@C A all politiicans do it. Its just authoritarians are less subtle about it.

[@freestyla85]

Propaganda at its finest, just like today I'm sure they are teaching kids in school that Joe Biden / Obama / Bush Jr were great Presidents

[@pinth]

Lex Fridman, this is an amazing channel. Subscribed

[@iaminvisible2889]

Same he is one of the best interviewers with some of the best guests. You can actually learn here and think. exercise your mind. ✌️

[@mr.9754]

11:48 "You can get a position..." made me think of how useless Kamala Harris is...and how nice it'll be when she's pushed aside.

[@George-ur8ow]

LoL I wonder how this comment will age 80 days out from the election in '24

[@jmf5246]

The dynamics of jewish bolsheviks in the greater party and their rise and fall is a topic worth more discussion. The linkage with american jews support of the ussr after stalin took over always seemed strange to me as well. Complicated interactions in the old russia.

[@veneficus582]

OY VEY SHUT IT DOWN

[@Sosarchives]

same reason why they support trump, it’s only about them

[@christianwestling2019]

Many jews in America fleed tsarist russia. Which is also why their ancestors hate Putin, because it reminds them of what their great grand parents fleed.

[@jazura2]

@@Sosarchives Most Jews in the USA are Democrats. Now that is strange

[@Achxlx]

lex has a lot right wing weirdos Stalin was not even Jewish.

[@ernstthalmann4306]

I'm reading the first volume, can't wait to finish the first two and read part three coming out next year! Truly the most excited I've been to read a book series since I was a little kid reading Harry Potter. What an incredible author.

[@RRRRobbbb]

Lex dresses like a Beatle 24/7.

[@jamesguy1030]

Rob ~ Yeah, Check out the amazing documentary footage called = “THE WINGED BEATLE” He is Definitely featured in that documentary footage. . Ha Ha ! You Won’t Be Disappointed.

[@MrRjozefiak]

He said he dresses like Richard Feynman.

[@dbcoco]

he also has an air of very orthodox jews.. he is jewish but not orthodox obviously. just an observation.. but he seems to care to look polished as a sign of respect to both his guests and his podcast viewers..

[@jingalls9142]

Or a Reservoir Dog...just sayin...

[@MrDaddynomates]

The Russian Mafia assassin look.

[@monkeyrater]

I love how he throws in as a side note: "...and they won a civil war" at 5:31min in order to push his idea that Lenin defeated "other leftists" and not the very popular white army which comprised of both left wing and progressive white wing elements.

[@SolarBear666]

Trotsky, Stalin, Lenin..you must be careful around those Presbyterian revolutionaries...

[@TheStoneblogs]

Hey Lex, amazing content! One thing that always bothered me about JRE Clips is that they don't mention the time period they are taken out of from the original podcast. Could you do that in the future so we could continue listening from where we left off? Thanks!

[@magfromrags2873]

Hey Friend, sometimes if you hover the time bar on the full episode it has chapter clues which might save some time :)

[@mzeemoo1124]

Russia of course participated in WWI. The Revolution of February 1917 that overthrew the Tzar was led by Kerensky that wanted more liberal transformations than those governed by Bolsheviks. Kerensky managed even to constitute the Republic of Russia in September 1917, that got overthrown by Lenin wirh his Bolsheviks already in November 1917 (so called The October Revolution, because of Gregorian calendar). It wasn’t Lenin that removed the Tzar. He just kidnapped an ongoing revolution and turn Russia in dystopian disaster of Soviet Union.

[@satansearwax5374]

This dude seems super brilliant and chill at the same time .....

[@maggyfrog]

imagine if your history teachers in high school were more like stephen kotkin and dan carlin. people would be much more informed about the past and therefore are much less prone to being manipulated by the government and politics and most of mainstream media. people would actually care about elections and wouldn't fall prey to charming debaters trying to sow seeds of division.

[@jdcoughlin]

Fabulous upload

[@Berzerk-cr2cy]

Enjoyed the podcast. I'm doing a degree in History and have done two modules on the Russian Revolution and am just confused as to why Kotkin guy doesn't mention Trotsky, either extremely convenient for the point the he's trying to get past or just a very strange interpretation. Either way my only other criticism is that his view of communism and the intellectual context of the Russian Revolution is not very nuanced. Doesn't even mention the ideological battles over communism within leftist circles and hell even within the Bolshevik leadership that formed around Lenin. For Christ sake Trotsky got exiled for being cynical of Stalin's true motives and belief in and understanding of communism, this part isn't even historically contentious. There are piles of letters, books, documents detailing Trotsky's exile. I'm always careful when reading literature about the Russian Revolution as it either ends up being tankie propaganda or heavily manipulated American propaganda, it's very hard to find nuance. There is also an aesthetic component of historical analysis that seems to simply eludes him. The metaphors he chooses are impossible, and one wonders where he comes up with these and other examples. Anyway not surprised that he takes the views on Putin that he does, he seems to be particularly bad at incorporating historical context, intellectual history or nuance into his writing or speech. Also I know this is secondary but I have a roommate who read the book and found that the portrayals of Trotsky, in many cases when looking at the bibliography, were drawn from Stalin supporters and Stalin himself. If true poor, poor, poor history from a Princeton professor, or even (dare I say) bias.

[@benevolentnick1]

Kotkin is full of bs. People laud him but he omits so much detail makes him and his career highly suspect.

[@Berzerk-cr2cy]

@@benevolentnick1 Completely agree. Been reading more of him and he seems to be a historian whos entire career is based on toeing the line for a very binary view of the East. One that basically fits western constructions of Russian History.

[@ivanvoronov3871]

Exactly,it wasn't solely the bolshvisks that seized power. It was 5 different parties. This historian is very inaccura

[@jojorilu]

I totalt agree with everything you said, it's beyond me how he left out Trotsky, since he has such a vital part in Stalins story.

[@jojorilu]

Hadn't Chomsky been so extremely boring to listen to, he would have told this story to a degree that would have made Kotkin look like a 1st grader in history

[@nqinadlamini]

Wow loving Dr Kotkin and the line of questions from Lex

[@youtubedrifter5594]

Stalin was efficient. Efficiency creates a low entropy. Entropy relies on work applied over time. If one is to be effective over time, work must be done to control the entropic reality over time.

[@GIBKEL]

Power through fear and cunningness-right place, right time and a brutality that is faceless and carried out by neighbors.

[@jamesguy1030]

Pre War ~ Yeah, Very Similar to what is taking place right now with the Scamdemic . Please check out these two very important videos = 1 - “A Film That KILLED it’s Own Film Maker : David Crowley,,, Gray State” By Steve Kanterakis Followed by the amazing short video footage called = 2 - “The 5G Virus & Fear Based Programming” By ODD TV They are almost a mirror image of each other, So share it with your Nearest & Dearest. David Crowley was murdered because he was trying to warn us about what is happening right now! We all must do our best to spread the Truth and wake our people up from a very deep sleep. So if you can, Please share it with as many people as you can before it gets Removed & Banned from KZbin. The Censorship Continues but OUR WEAPON IS TRUTH ! God Bless (Bitchute)

[@jamesguy1030]

Pre War ~ Yeah, The first 20 minutes are a bit boring, Just getting us to know the different individuals involved. But the rest was Just a Little Bit to Close to the Truth.

[@GIBKEL]

James Guy-you are callus. I’ve lost friends to this pandemic and I know of folks that killed their when the quarantined with them. Both mother and father died. So, my advice is to listen more, and don’t let your politics tell you how to see, hear, or speak. You hit up the wrong man. This is very much in my front yard as my wife has to work with and around folks that are sick with the virus. I am immunocompromised so I’m right up there with who is vulnerable. I didn’t need the news to tell me all this, it played out in front of my own eyes. The nerve.

[@poweraccountabilityleague6877]

Attributing Hitler or any statist dictator to the right would be incorrect (using a contemporary definition of the right). Dinesh D'Souza correctly pointed out in one of his documentaries that Hitler believed people were property of the state just like Stalin and Mao. This belief that the state should have more power than an individual, is not a belief of the right or center. It is the central tenet of the secular religion known as leftism/statism/communism/socialism/collectivism/totalitarianism/Pelosism/etc etc etc. All these words mean the same thing: SLAVERY to a government run by psychopaths.

[@Ye4rZero]

This guy economy of speech is incredible, he can express huge detail in very few words.

[@Demosophist]

The key to the *form* of government that evolved in Germany and Russia was the transition from a telegraph-enabled press to the radio and loudspeaker. Because historians only look at content they overlook the "naked effect" of the medium itself.

[@Demosophist]

@joe jitsu It is already "retrieving" all previous eras, including that one. Everything is here "all-at-once". But this era is like no other before it, or will ever be again. Monsters, dragons, heroes, demons, and fools, all merging into a new body with a new spirit, in the resonant node.

[@Demosophist]

@@SnailHatan If you were certain of that you wouldn't have been compelled to respond at all. The worm that flies at night will getcha!

[@Demosophist]

@@SnailHatan So, what's your reason for saying that?

[@Demosophist]

QED

[@OldSkoolUncleChris]

The loudspeaker later gave us rock n roll

[@nickd4310]

Prof. Kropkin says that Stalin's rise to power was contingent. But how else could Russia achieve industrialization without capital and faced with reaction from the old aristocracy in alliance with Western powers? The same type of government would also develop in China and although they were milder in Vietnam and Cuba.

[@nickd4310]

@Dmitry Terek There was very little U.S. investment in the USSR and Maoist China. My point is that foreign and domestic capital were insufficient to industrialize the USSR, so they relied on forced labor and patriotism to build factories.

[@nickd4310]

@Dmitry Terek There was very little U.S. investment in either country. The U.S. withheld recognition from the USSR and later China. Look at all the 3rd world govts the U.S. overthrew because they had land reform, nationalized companies or spent too much on social welfare programs. There was no option between Stalinism and colonialism.

[@nickd4310]

@Dmitry Terek If you want to build a dam you also need money to buy equipment and hire people. Except for a few cases, there was no money available, so the USSR used forced labor and underpaid Communist Party supporters to make the equipment and build the dams, factories, etc. necessary for economic development..

[@nickd4310]

@Dmitry Terek The U.S. and other Western powers have overthrown every 3rd world government that digressed from what they wanted them to do. You know that. They expected that each country would remain under its traditional elites, produce what the West wanted and buy what they wanted. Stalinism was their only alternative.

[@nickd4310]

@Dmitry Terek So you believe that if each country followed the U.S. model of the its founding fathers, that they would have achieved the same outcomes without any interference from the U.S. or other Western powers. History doesn't show that but you are free to believe it if you wish.

[@d0p3t]

I remember researching and writing a long essay in high school about Stalin vs Hitler in terms of "evilness". Stalin's story is very interesting and also...more evil.

[@FrancoJ-c7p]

d0p3t spot on.

[@IMPERATOR-EL]

Hitler killed more people or the same amount in 4 years as Stalin did in 30.

[@Waithuhh]

I do not think thats true at all. While Stalin was evil, had Hitler had his way with the world and won or was just not stopped in Russia, the amount of deaths would have been unimaginable

[@IMPERATOR-EL]

@@Waithuhh he wanted to wipe out all slavic people to make room for German settlers. Easily would of killed 100-200 million more had they won.

[@jazura2]

Obviously dont know much about Hitler's legacy and his plans

[@b.griffin317]

"Lenin needed somebody to run this new regime" Interesting as Mao thought he could run his new regime and this is the origin of all the catastrophes during his time.

[@matrix3509]

For all intents and purposes, Lenin didn't want to bother with the nitty gritty day-to-day details of actually running a government. He considered himself what you would call an "ideas man" on the level of Marx himself. He would be the man who would articulate the dogma of communism, while Stalin would be the man who figured out how to actually implement that dogma. For instance, when Lenin declared all kulaks to be parasites, it was Stalin who went about depriving all the kulaks of their land, collectivizing the land, and shipping the kulaks off to Siberia to freeze to death.

[@jamesguy1030]

matrix3509 ~ Yeah, Well Said my friend, i think that it’s very important that the public gets both sides of the debate and the other side of the propaganda. Please check out the amazing documentary series called = “EUROPA THE LAST BATTLE” All Ten episodes are well worth watching. Removed and Banned from KZbin, However you can still find it if you look hard enough (it’s also available on DVD) it’s one of the most important & fascinating documentary series to come out this decade and should be shown in our schools and colleges worldwide. (Most people find it on Bitchute) if it was shown on the mainstream media then we would win our fight for freedom over night. The new young Marxists are getting a foothold in the United States and Europe, Brainwashed by their Communist teachers. So Hopefully we can win some of them back again. We Now have some very important & Powerful Documentary Footage & we all must do our best to spread the Truth and wake our people up from a very deep sleep. So if you can, Please share it with as many people as possible before it gets Removed & Lost Forever. . The Censorship Continues but OUR WEAPON IS TRUTH ! God Bless (Bitchute) The Truth Will Always Leak, No Matter What they Do. The Truth Can Prevent Hate, And Not the other way around. . .

[@eamonwright7488]

His so-called "Useful Idiots" =p

[@nosouponhead]

Communism was the origin of all the catastrophes.

[@eamonwright7488]

@@jamesguy1030 A really great documentary on the subject is a 4 part documentary called “Messengers of Moscow” it shows the forming of the Lublin Committee in Poland, the Ulbrecht Group in Germany, Stalin’s acceptance of Mao, Stalin’s betrayal of Mao regarding Korea, Kruschev’s blunder in China, foothold in Cuba and Latin America, the blunder in Afganistan and the subsequent fall of the Soviet Union. It’s here on KZbin. I have all 4 parts on a playlist titled “Russia’s War”.

[@papadocsamedi2544]

Because of Stalin's early position in the party, while Lenin was still alive, made it possible for him to put in place a lot of officials. Officials who owned their position to Stalin. That's how he built he's powerbase.

[@disconnected22]

There is a Stalin book by a different author called Court Of The Red Tsar. Definitely worth looking up.

[@dreamtobeapolyglot8444]

Holy shit and interview where the interviewer does nothing interrupt and actually lets the guest speak! Fantastic interview and intriguing subject matter. I do have a question.... do you think in the US we have been taught to be fearful of people like Hitler and rightfully so yet we have not been taught to also acknowledge the grave danger behind communism and socialism for example with dictators like Stalin and Lenin?

[@Null-Red-Blue]

8:06 Lenin was shot in the neck a few years before the stroke. The bullets upon examination werent able to be removed. 11:42 Stalin was a charismatic moron with cunning insecurities. He was not successful in most of his endeavors, the despotism was built upon a corruption of personal ideology and total elimination of any individual or entity that challenged his views and power. A lot of his closest allies were purged simply because their self-actualization and progress in society was a detriment and problem to his image of the nation he wanted. He had a geniuses murdered and installed idiots. The famines were caused because he was convinced by a pseudoscientist that planting seeds close to each other was better than early Mendelian agriculture genetics because it was more comprehensible(despite killing crops and being a failure that did not work yet it was enforced upon farmers that even knew better but had no choice against authority) 18:03 Ironic that the Nazis managed to successfully incriminate hundreds of thousands of soviets by sending letters to Soviet names and addresses with propaganda. Falsely incriminating them to torture and execution based on misinformation. Communists were killed by their state and neighbors simply for receiving mail correspondence they had no idea about in the first place.

[@deltafalcon1]

Love your channel. Thank you for your content, keep it up!

[@heinrichwonders8861]

Kotkin? Fantastic! Imma gonna watch the shit out of this!

[@Doc_Tar]

Reading "Hitler and Stalin: Parallel Lives" by Alan Bullock now and Mr. Kotkin's observations not only agree with Bullock's related history, but add more understanding of who Stalin was and how he took control of the Soviet Union. Excellent discussion.

[@TrenElZombie]

XD

[@jordanbolm8517]

18:15 now in the end communism was significantly worse

[@habitualproductions1582]

I love these kind of podcast Lex keep these coming In today's time ........ perfect

[@buzzcrushtrendkill]

Cunning, ruthless, wholly dedicated to pursuit of power, use of underhanded methods to destroy opposition. The methods of holding power have never changed in human history.

[@grantperkins368]

Absolutely correct! he could have been talkin about any government in history... And now the goose is writing his third book on Stalin. He completely forgot to mention that the main people who have benefited from the last 50 years have been the Chinese and the Russians, who are now no longer peasants. And who no longer die of starvation in the winter time. Unlike the poor Americans, who seem to be subjects in some stoned psychopath's experiment

[@buzzcrushtrendkill]

@@grantperkins368 The benefits of Communism is that they no longer starve their people? Your trying too hard to rationalize your jealousy of America.

[@christiannewaye7306]

Also Kotkin leaves out the fact that most of the Western world benefit it directly from. Colonization and basically enjoyed massive social programs from the extraction of wealth from the Third World. If you just look at life expectancy rates between colonize peoples and the colonizers you can see that stark reality

[@iyziejane]

A key distinction is that Stalin was owned by the same international banking cartel that owned (and owns) the UK and USA. Germany banished the cartel and that is why they were marked for destruction.

[@oc5058]

xD xD xD what you be smokin?

[@iyziejane]

@@oc5058 After the war, General Patton was vocal about the fact that we fought the wrong enemy. He was upset that we aided these brutal communist, who had already slaughtered +10 million civilians in their own territory. The bankers who controlled the US president demanded Patton to be fired, and then killed him in a car crash a few months later. We all live under the brutal tyranny of the bankers who won WW2.

[@c_rock3512]

@@iyziejane the bankers force Germany to invade all these countries?

[@iyziejane]

@@c_rock3512 You mean the territories that were part of Germany 30 years earlier? Why did the warmongering UK declare war on Germany for taking Western Poland, but allied with Stalin who took Eastern Poland? Because of the banking cartel, of course.

[@c_rock3512]

@@iyziejane yes because the banking cartel was real cozy with the communists🙄🙄 and we’re just gonna ignore how the nazis invaded France? Go simp for the nazis somewhere else.

[@armandssakne1868]

I’m lucky to be able read Solzhenitsyn in Russian. That gives me some insight of rise of Bolshevism and transformation in to Communism. As we like to call it “red plague”.

[@kidneyyThieff]

LOVE the historian guests lex I need more!!

[@ruckerrc]

Stalins loyalty to Lenin as his right hand man .......shriveled up like his own right hand....man. lol

[@flawns]

this helps to learn the background behind the on going war in Nagorno-Karabakh. Both countries are confused who owns what. Thanks Stalin

[@yasirkhalif4484]

We all know who owns it, Azerbaijan

[@eamonwright7488]

Can't wait for Vol 3! Thank you Dr Kotkin for all your tireless research!

[@YoutubeChannel-ol7zx]

Nice profile picture ✌️

[@MagnusAnand]

Kotkin speaks so clearly

[@marselluswallace6]

This man needs to be more wide spread. The liberals are far too unseasonable at the moment. There needs to be balance. Tearing things down and doing the polar opposite of current society never works.

[@offthegridliving3339]

Fascism was opposed to capitalism and nationalized a major industries. Japanese Imperialism was not capitalism.

[@dimaughsilvestris5941]

Kotkin fails to mention · how Stalin defeated the nazis (the USA only joined the war once the Soviets were already crossing German borders). · how the USSR, beginning with Stalin, took one of the poorest, most backwards places in Earth at the time, and turned it into a nation capable of competing against the USA, industrializing and modernizing the USSR in half a century, at a pace that has only been rivaled by China. · lifted millions out of poverty, which should be any nation's first priority yet rarely is. · actually tried to resign several times, to have the party reject his resignation. · how Stalin is still immensely popular in Russia.

[@someguy-bv3il]

He talks about this things in his other interviews you can check them out

[@Priceluked]

At the cost of millions, including millions of Russians, Poles, Estonians, Lithuanians, Tatars, etc.

[@frankiehunter.]

​​@@PricelukedThe Soviet Union was attacked by the biggest army, numbering 5 millions soldiers, of all times. So the victims on both sides were inevitable. At the end of war 8 millions of German soldiers died in the battles, many later in working camps, not to mention many civilians in bombardments in Germany from the Allies.

[@milztempelrowski9281]

I know it's a very bot/simp thing to say, but his 'Anarchist Handbook' is the most thought-provoking book I have ever read. And I have read quite a few more than five! Really recommend getting it. A book that wouldn't be allowed in many past and some current states.

[@LarsPW]

For Germany the war strategy payed off: The Russian tsar gots overthrown and the bolshevists accepted a (for Germany) advantageous peace treaty in Brest-Litowsk. But after the second world war Germany payed with 44 years of Eastern Germany as the GDR under occupation and regime of Soviet Union.

[@thesatisfiedcustomer4869]

I studied Stalin’s rise to power when I did my history degree. It’s not well explained. He is a bureaucrat with a thirst for power & a ruthless streak he just knocks all the opposition out of the way.

[@daveberntson4081]

Great video! I figured out that Stalin was an ideologue (of the Communist variety) when I heard that he told Churchill that 10 million died during "collectivization" . At first I wondered if he was bragging or complaining. After thinking about it for a while, I concluded that it was both. Because he was a "true believer", a communist ideologue. I "liked" this video. Edit: Some say it was actually closer to 20 million died during collectivization.

[@HomoludensNomad]

Отличный анализ профессор. Браво!

[@markleblanc6870]

Lex, quickly becoming one of my favorite Channels... Love the guests..

[@yaretador]

So refreshing to see an accurate and nuanced analysis of this place in time. I feel so much discussion about it is perverted by 21st century politics and propaganda.

[@jamesguy1030]

Andy Gertner ~ Yeah, i think that it’s very important that the public gets both sides of the debate and the other side of the propaganda. Please check out the amazing documentary series called = “EUROPA THE LAST BATTLE” All Ten episodes are well worth watching. Removed and Banned from KZbin However you can still find it if you look hard enough (it’s also available on DVD) it’s one of the most important & fascinating documentary series to come out this decade and should be shown in our schools and colleges worldwide. if it was shown on the mainstream media then we would win our fight for freedom over night. (Most people find it on Bitchute) We Now have some very important & Powerful Documentary Footage & we all must do our best to spread the Truth and wake our people up from a very deep sleep. So if you can, Please share it with as many people as possible before it gets Removed & Lost Forever. The Censorship Continues but OUR WEAPON IS TRUTH ! God Bless (Bitchute) The Truth Will Always Leak, No Matter What they Do. The Truth Can Prevent Hate, And Not the other way around. . .

[@GuestYouTubeUser]

I hope to one day become leader of Mexico. Eventually, Latin America including Brazil. Studying history of leaders to see how they did it. While building wealth to fund my campaign.

[@IMPERATOR-EL]

Pan-Latino!!

[@wubzy968]

Lol. Study Che Guevara.

[@pamirbadakhshan9934]

Stalin had two sons, both fought in WW2 one got captured by the nazis, and they proposed to exchange him with a nazi general that the soviets captured, Stalin refused that deal, saying “we don't exchange generals with solder”.

[@mitchcoop1]

Lex...thanks for all your good work

[@emjay2911]

His analysis is spot on from what i learned in International Relations

[@joshharvey-du2vj]

Im not gonna watch just gonna guess you neglect to mention the jewish involvement. Someone else can let me know.

[@johnmclaughlin1347]

He only refers to them as Bolsheviks then communist

[@bing4126]

There are a lot of minorities in a party that defended the human rights of minorities???!!! hmmm how odd 🤔. My inbred 3 brain cell brain cannot comprehend why this might be the case

[@joshharvey-du2vj]

@@bing4126 there wasnt a lot of minorities leading that party. There were a lot of jews who made anti semitism a crime punishable up to death. Yeah the bolshevic communists were all about fighting for minorities. Gtfoh

[@alexanderleeart]

somehow my mind was confused by the thumbnail and I thought Lex was Stalin

[@Xonline9]

cool talk - I can imagine getting drunk at a bar with this guy and he turns and goes 'know thy enemy' out of nowhere

[@naybobdenod]

This video is just brilliant

[@Mr196710]

Any mention of Bolsheviks?

[@BobTheSlayer333]

Challenge you to get Peter Thiel on, to talk in detail the early PayPal days, Lex!

[@TheFatMob]

Wow, it's refreshing to see a Western historian not painting Stalin as a bloodthirsty maniac, but just a product of his time and circumstances.

[@JackSparrow-nq5wh]

But..... He was a bloodthirsty maniac. His policies killed millions

[@penitentone6998]

We all are a product of our times and circumstances. That doesn't excuse evil.

[@mayabergsdottir9622]

Be brave. Listen to your heart & soul dear Lex.

[@princemishkin1601]

This is my new favourite KZbin channel. Thank you Lex!

[@dannynesbitt7056]

Stalin didn't want to build a better world. He was a sadistic, psychopath bent on revenge.

[@frankiehunter.]

It seems you described yourself.

[@NathanCline12-21]

I will never understand why people think that Nazi's are right wing, collectivism in all of its forms communism, socialism (national or democratic), fascism are the same coin with the same ends.

[@emil2168]

Learned a lot...Thanks!

[@malcolmnicoll1165]

"Ideology always leads to atrocity." -Terence McKenna

[@rexdrabble4988]

He had ideals but they were his image of how a society would operate that HE BUILT AND OWNED' No matter how many had to die for it. At NO POINT was he a part of it. His world had EVERY FREEDOM

[@Gloryboiii]

This man needs to take a sip of water with all that gulping lmaoo

[@naraicnag2380]

And we all know who was behind that monster Lenin but we dare not say

[@EmperorOab]

Comin to this after some Black Ops Cold War Beta. Wonderful mix of the night!

[@daricklapaglia4337]

Should be called call of duty operation gladio

[@gcoffey223]

How is the game so far

[@BobLablah88]

Always an awesome show Lex... Always

[@brettervonkanada6102]

This is a surprisingly poor analysis of Stalin's personality. He was not driven by ideals at all! He didn't care about the Russian state, he didn't even speak Russian properly when Lenin gave him the position, and the only Russian place he'd ever been until then was Siberia. You can understand this very clearly by reading his writings which have never been translated from Georgian to Russian because the communists didn't want his twisted personality to be revealed. He was ONLY driven by his lust for power. His writings are purely nihilistic, where he expresses no desire in living if he doesn't stand on top of humanity. He was a sociopath who admitted never loving his wife and kids, and stated that he felt nothing after his wife's death and that he wished he'd torture the members of his family (which was later falsely translated as him feeling pain and torture after his wife's death). His writings aside, his politics is also a clear indicator of that. Constant repressions and genocides for no idealistic reasons but simply "logistics" as he claimed. His strategy in WW2 which was simply buying time by throwing living soldiers at the marching Reich army without proper weapons or ammunition, and his internal politics, surveillance and the tradition of killing the 'neighbours' of criminals. Also Mr Kotkin doesn't mention why he was sent to Siberia in the first place, atrocities he committed in Georgia as a simple thug was same as he did as a dictator of the Soviet State but on the smaller scale. He was just given a lifeline by the Bolsheviks while in Siberia and he took it because it led him to power. He'd support any cause and his beliefs had nothing to do with it. That man was the biggest monster to ever live, he had no shred of human emotion in him, just a devil incarnate.

[@giorgimerabishvili8194]

What a primitive propaganda...

[@brettervonkanada6102]

@@giorgimerabishvili8194 If you see denouncing Stalin as propaganda, you have serious problems. I state facts, but the analysis in the video is completely based on speculation, from researchers who think that Stalin's life started in 1917. I don't think you even understand what propaganda means... Even if you interpret the facts differently (which means you're just biased), when a man changes his allegiance 3 times from 1910-1917 in the span of less than a decade, from devoted orthodox, to Georgian nationalist, to Georgian socialist and then communist, any discussion about ideology is completely and uterly baseless. A chameleon fits any background to find its prey. That's what Stalin did, he switched his allegiances based on convenience because he was a sociopathic predator. I'm a Georgian like you, and I would want whole heartedly to be proud of a fellow Georgian historical figure and justify his actions, but truthfully, it brings me shame that I share nationality with such a monster. When Georgians keep defending Stalin because of denial and national pride, მაშინ ვხვდები რომ ტრაკში ვართ.

[@George-ur8ow]

God gave the Georgian people the gift of Saint Gabriel. Perhaps precisely because Stalin was also Georgian. A mystery of God, one cannot know for sure.

[@novailoveyou]

I'm Russian, Stephen did a great job but skipped a huge part called Execution of the Romanov family

[@memcore1312]

they deserved it 🤣

[@joemackay740]

You mean cold blooded murder?

[@novailoveyou]

@@joemackay740 Exactly

[@pauljamilkowski3672]

The scary thing to me is that this horrible person that became a dictator was just a natural result of the socialist movement. This is what I tell me friends who dabble in entertaining socialism. This is what they should expect.

[@philipemendes6026]

stalin is also the most influent person of the 20th century. all politics today follow his ideas.

[@AlexG-tp2ik]

Fidel Castro might have something to say about that.

[@elenacartagena1224]

Stalin’s rise to power is so interesting as spelled out here, are there any similarities in the “fertile soil” of Bolshevik Russia that led to his introduction and ascent that can be seen in the western world today, post-pandemic?

[@weewee2169]

no

[@pavelrott311]

They basically skipped about 10-12 years of internal infighting within the leadership - with Trotsky (Bronshtein), Kamenev (Rosenfeld), Zinoviev (Apfelbaum). General Secretary position initially was just a managerial position. Stalin has not consolidated his leadership until 10-12 years later.

[@sabaiordanishvili2060]

not even close

[@maggyfrog]

i wonder how many historical "villains" there are to which we can attach the maxim "the road to hell is paved with good intentions" ... ...

[@sebastiansuberville919]

Awsome Vid, Anyone else think guest looks like robert durst?

[@helmutsecke3529]

Brother Kotkin’s lost weight. Hope yer in fine form boyo!?

[@TylerMcConnell]

19:41 - Luckily, capitalism will never fail people EVER AGAIN! 😅🇺🇸📉 “Socialism is capitalism’s shadow.” -Richard Wolff 🚩🇺🇸📈

[@aromero385]

I have a doubt..Was not Lenin shot for a woman dissident that finally caused his demise ?.

[@bokkenrijder172]

I’m eagerly awaiting Stalin Part III by Stephen Kotkin!

[@eamonwright7488]

Next month rumor has it!

[@bokkenrijder172]

@@eamonwright7488 something to read during the next lockdown... 🙄😱

[@eamonwright7488]

@@bokkenrijder172 Most definitely!

[@bokkenrijder172]

@@eamonwright7488 p.s. nothing available yet on Amazon for pre-ordering.

[@eamonwright7488]

@@bokkenrijder172 Yeah, I’ve been checking it often. *Fingers crossed* It’ll show up soon enough.

[@lovev9904]

Thank you!!