Ten Minute History - The Decline and Dissolution of the Soviet Union (Short Documentary)

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This episode of Ten Minute History (like a documentary, only shorter) covers the USSR after the death of Stalin. It covers its peak under Khrushchev during the Cold War and the Space Race and his attempted reforms before his ousting after the Cuban Missile Crisis. His replacement, Brezhnev, attempted to undo these reforms but spurned the Era of Stagnation which saw the Soviet economy stall. Gorbachev took over and attempted many sweeping reforms which went awry which culminated in the sudden breakup of the USSR and the establishment of the Russian Federation under Boris Yeltsin.
Recommended Reading:
Tony Judt - Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945. Probably the go-to work on the Cold War in Europe. Particularly good for the Warsaw Pact. Highly Recommended.
Stephen Lovell - Soviet Union: A Very Short Introduction. A great overview of the entire USSR and its history. Recommended for any beginner to the period.
Geoffrey Hoskings - A History of the Soviet Union. This is an older work (from the 90s) and excludes some of the more recent discoveries since the opening of the Soviet archives. However, it's still the best one-volume work on the USSR available in my opinion.

[@KEVMAN7987]

"He came down with a case of being shot." That's a very fatal disease.

[@cyberdiver7076]

Lead is a helluva drug

[@TroelsF87]

that’s not great but it isn't horrifying

[@rock3tcatU233]

Just walk it off.

[@samuelmmmk181]

Also an effective preventative. Tends to ward off other potentially aggressive males

[@TotallyOriginality]

The Courier would like a word

[@fuzzydunlop7928]

"If we keep changing the name of the secret police, it will remain a secret."

[@ursa_margo]

You've got to admit that a "Ministry" sounds weird for a secret police. A "Committee" sounds much better

[@hitemhard1991]

Suupper seccret!

[@merlin2935]

You are a god damn genius

[@weebishusername9288]

3:10

[@henrik3291]

@@ursa_margo In the beginning all the ministries were called People's Commisariats, but Stalin decided that it sounded weird an renamed them ministries, with that all People's commissars were renamed ministers. NKVD renamed MVD (NK stands for Narodna Kommissariat somehting, which means Peopls's commissariats). VD actually stands for internal affairs, and so MVD was the ministry of internal affairs, and that kind of ministries are not that uncommon in the world.

[@kirschitz64]

"He transfered Crimea from the Russian authority to his native Ukrainian one" Yeah, sure, that won't cause problems later. No way....

[@kieranwalsh2058]

No problems whatsoever. None at all

[@kohrenhund]

Hyup. Nothing in particular.

[@jj70098]

He was Russian apparently not Ukrainian

[@isyraf9989]

This age like a milk

[@marcrohden8300]

the problems are still not visible

[@Eboreg2]

Khrushchev: "Let's implement freedom of speech!" Civilians: "You suck!" Khrushchev: "Not like that!" Gorbachev: "Let's implement freedom of speech!" Civilians: "You suck!" Gorbachev: "Yeah... I guess you're right."

[@salahabdalla368]

He was so naive, what works in the US wont work with everyone

[@lefroggy6233]

Tbh Gorbachev has a humiliation fetish

[@lcdream4213]

@@lefroggy6233 nah dude I blame boris yeltsin, he's the reason it all went to shit, Gorbachev was just trying to do his best to make the country better

[@ThePikminCaptain]

@@lcdream4213 I agree Yeltsin took advantage of Perestroika and Glasnost and dissolved the USSR

[@-ragingpotato-937]

For his own good Gorbachev should have made things improve or suck less before implementing freedom of speech.

[@CoffeeSuccubus]

Fun fact: For 10 days, Kazakhstan was the USSR

[@icecold1805]

As in, Kazakhstan was ALL of the USSR for those 10 days?.

[@Orrma]

Correct. Kazakhstan wasn't "The USSR," it was simply an SSR. The Union was dissolved and all the other member states had declared independence. Kazakhstan remained, for 10 days mind you, the only Soviet Socialist Republic left over from the Soviet Union.

[@cageybee7221]

@@Orrma Not True, Transnistria technically still exists and claims to be part of the USSR still. in practace though they do not have the old institutions of communism such as Gosplan (the economic planning agentcy) or the actual soviet governmental system. they did get left with a boatload of old guns though.

[@aguy3664]

The Doo-Wop Stop so you could call it soviet union

[@abbad707]

Cool thx

[@ericjamieson]

"We will bury you" wasn't actually intended as a threat. "Bury" was used in the sense of "be present at your funeral" e.g. "We buried my grandmother last week." It was based on a Russian saying and essentially meant "we will outlast you."

[@billvolk4236]

A great example of a tiny translation error/misunderstanding that had effects on a global scale. Props to the interpreters at the UN who have to translate speeches in real time and catch every cultural nuance perfectly in one go.

[@brandonlyon730]

Still a bit of a ironic statement considering the exact opposite had happened in 1991.

[@fenrirgg]

"I will dance on your grave" is less confusing.

[@bear8ful]

@@fenrirgg nah not really

[@johnw5584]

Then why bang his shoe on the table? No one did that when grandma died.

[@johnearle1]

I was in a grocery store back in 1992. A group of Russian sailors were there when one of them went beserk and starting shouting in Russian. He repeated one phrase over and over. I asked one of his friends what he was saying. He replied, “They lied to us! They said the line ups here were twice as long!” The sailor had grown up on a farm, and had never seen so much food for sale.

[@loganb7059]

IIRC part of the reason Yeltcin started his reforms was because he made an impromptu visit to a grocery store while on a diplomatic visit to the USA. As the story goes, he was stunned by the fact that it not only was fully stocked, but with multiple competing brands, and the products weren’t crap. Don’t know how true the story is. Edit: corrected, it was Yeltcin, not Gorbachev

[@jamespaquin5639]

What city ?

[@johnearle1]

@@jamespaquin5639 Stephenville, Canada.

[@anzelatoleikyte2083]

@@loganb7059, Yeltcin, not Gorbachev.

[@loganb7059]

@@anzelatoleikyte2083 thank you.

[@Missing_exe]

3:23 Entire world: *communist* Madagascar: BETTER DEAD THAN RED

[@auritro3903]

Yes

[@MrScruffels]

Agreed

[@kennethnwebb]

hahahahahhaha

[@casperhammerich356]

No No, the collective communist states of earth made Madagascar into a big psychiatric hospital

[@looinrims]

@@casperhammerich356 playing Pandemic? I can believe it

[@Loup-mx7yt]

People: the ussr dissolved because of an unstable economy Gorbachev: I want McDonald's.

[@smartcaja6681]

Pizza hut.

[@ln7929]

Pizza hut

[@quisqueyanguy120]

"Za Gorbachova!"

[@gabagooom]

Pitza Chwut

[@Gia1911Logous]

You mean PIZZA HUT?

[@kevinbyrne4538]

I'll never forget a sign that a little old lady held during a protest in Moscow as the USSR disintegrated: "70 years on the road to nowhere".

[@grrumakemeangry]

oww :/

[@kevinbyrne4538]

@tu tu -- Time magazine featured a photo of a large demonstration in Moscow during the death throes of the Soviet Union. In the photo was a little old lady with a sign, "70 years on the road to nowhere". A very fitting epitaph for the USSR.

[@thomasmaiolino]

@tu tu you buy it

[@comradewildcat1770]

@tu tu Whenever people say life in the Soviet Union was bad, they are often exaggerating it. The Soviet Union saw many achievements in increasing the standards of living for everyone, especially compared to Tsarist Russia. What ultimately led to it's demise was it's extremely inefficient bureaucratic mess and lack of light consumer industry, it couldn't compete with the capitalist rest of the world. I should ask you to consider why so many in the former USSR actually miss it, and also not believe all the things said about the USSR at face value.

[@MemeMaster-bg4mf]

Comrade Wildcat Most people that miss the USSR are the elderly that miss receiving their state pension and bitter Russian nationalists. They don’t miss the USSR itself per se, they just don’t like what came after it.

[@matthew416811]

RIP Mr Gorbachev, for your contribution in ending the cold war. ...and of course Pizza Hut.

[@aperson6242]

Pizza Hut? How?

[@NickIsSlick698]

he put the first pizza hut in the ussr

[@beans00001]

All hail to Gorbachev

[@thewafflehouse841]

A man who is revered by some but to some seen as the man who destroyed a great nation but to the man himself in his final few years he saw the many freedoms he had given to his people be stripped away and to be seen as a terrible leader he wasn't perfect sure but he genuinely believed he was helping and out of the few notable figures I would have wanted to meet and ask him about really his time in office and his ideas he had implemented and things he wish he could do differently may the man rest peacefully and I hope for the Russia people to have the freedom they had

[@richieflores6617]

​@@NickIsSlick698 He was even in a Pizza Hut commercial only aired in the USSR.

[@roadent217]

8:38 Ahh, yes, the two famous Baltic nations: -Lithuania -The Others

[@TheRightGayGuy]

It's true

[@goodluckokereke]

I hear more of Estonia that Lithuania

[@anon3631]

based

[@skat0rzZzz]

@@goodluckokereke depends on where you went to school

[@chrissy9469]

Latvia

[@Seohyunbias4]

Interesting side note, the secret speech and the Soviet communist party turning against the legacy of Stalin made Mao incredibly paranoid about his legacy and was a big part of what led to the Sino Soviet Split

[@SoulDuckling126]

Well, china change a lot but even deng xiaoping and pooh never touch him. PRC a Communist county with billionaires & millionaires!

[@dickmonkey-king1271]

Is his legacy that he is a complete twat too?

[@robbieaulia6462]

@@dickmonkey-king1271 I mean to be fair, if there is anyone who deserves "The highest kill count record" it would be Mao. Just think about it, he directly responsible for 55 million death meanwhile Hitler is only directly responsible for 12 million death.

[@dickmonkey-king1271]

@@robbieaulia6462 Reminds me of the 'bodycount' wars between Arnie and Stallone in the eighties. But you're right... no-one touches Mao. He was supreme dick of the 20th century.

[@hgos7211]

@@robbieaulia6462 Hitler launched wars, invasions and genocides. Mao was partly responsible for a famine that had a very high body count. Still very different.

[@samiamrg7]

When Kruschev visited the US in 1959, he requested to specifically make a stop in Iowa so he could see some American farmland and how we do it. This is because Iowa has a fairly similar climate to places throughout the USSR, and so Kruschev thought he could gain valuable insights by visiting.

[@headcanon6408]

No wonder he became obsessed with corn

[@pokemaster123ism]

I mean, he did say that corn initially did very well, and it was the bad weather that did it in, so Khrushchev was definitely onto something

[@gengis737]

@@pokemaster123ism Monoculture is a sure way to disaster when you try to adapt foreign agriculture. A soviet joke says that Kruschev identified the four problems of soviet agriculture: winter, spring, summer and autumn.

[@Nerad137]

He stayed in a particular room at the Hotel Fort Des Moines. My wife and I stayed in the same room on our honeymoon. Because we couldn't possibly not...

[@LamborghiniDiabloSVPursuit]

He should have also paid a visit to Ireland. Maybe he could have figured out why your entire country relying heavily on a single crop for food and trade was a bad idea.

[@CJ-dw3dr]

To sum up, things that led to the decline and dissolution of the USSR: 1. Economic stagnation 2. Corruption and overspending 3. James Bissonette

[@Void_Wars]

Sounds like the US

[@kindadumb916]

@@Void_Wars yeah, James Bissonette is going to burn the country down.

[@StraightEdgeSieghart]

4. Kelly Moneymaker

[@bsadewitz]

One thing led to the dissolution of the USSR: Gorbachev ordered the government to stop threatening/killing citizens.

[@stevenmaginnis1965]

The USSR was the old Russian empire in a new package. The communists set up separate soviet socialist republics in four ethnic homelands in the old empire - Russia, Belorussia, Ukraine and Transcaucasia. Russia and Transcaucasia were federations of numerous ethnic groups. These first four soviet socialist republics were united to form the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Ethnic enclaves in Central Asia within the Russian Federation were formed into union republics, then the Transcaucasian Federation was split into Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia, then the Baltic States were annexed and made union republics, and then Moldavia was created out of Bessarabia, which Romania was forced to annex to the Soviet Union. After the war, Karelia (along the border with Finland) was demoted from union republic status to a republic within the Russian Federation, bringing the final number of union republics to fifteen. These ethnic homelands had long wanted to be independent from Czarist Russia and the Russian-dominated USSR, and Lithuania got the ball rolling. Karelia will never be an independent country, though. I don't think there are that many Karelians left.

[@graham8552]

Would love to see a sequel to this video showing Russia’s evolution from post USSR reform to Vladimir Putin’s rise. Your ten minute histories were the best and most entertaining historical content on KZbin and I’d subscribe to the patreon to get them back

[@Godslayer5656]

Would as well, but feel that may be too recent, really the last marking point we’ve had in history 1991, we’re still in a US dominanted world, maybe after another firm point in history has been marked.

[@brettsnyder5858]

yesssssssss! i was looking for one

[@anguswaterhouse9255]

We going to need one about pitons fall soon

[@probablysomedingus75]

@@Godslayer5656 lol we'll see how the year goes...

[@mckenziestrib9187]

@@Godslayer5656 i think we've had one now.

[@bvthebalkananarchistmapper5642]

Kazakhstan was the last to officially declare independence from the USSR (yes, even after Russia).

[@russiaball7447]

Russia: The Union is dead. Kazakistan what are you doing? Kazakistan: I AM THE SOVIET UNION

[@michaelweston409]

They wanted to be masters of the new empire

[@eliasheikkila8307]

@@russiaball7447 Is it a union then? Though, "I AM THE SOVIET" doesn't have the same ring to it...

[@russiaball7447]

@@eliasheikkila8307 yeah, you are right, i did it just for the joke

[@iron60bitch62]

Why do you think

[@Matt620]

"He came down with a fatal case of being shot." This is why I love this show.

[@sabribeser2268]

communism takes over the world madagascar:no

[@georgeamesfort3408]

"We don't do that here "

[@Custerd1]

A fatal case of lead poisoning.

[@josephD32]

Ah, killed to death.

[@feonor26]

Another politician accidentally cut his own head off while shaving.

[@chrisanagn.3584]

"Back in the USSR" and shows Paul McCartney in the Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band uniform. Just too good man, just too good

[@the1sponge]

Ikr I thought I was the only one to notice that

[@nerfherder4284]

Got that one too. The animations are hilarious 😂

[@MikeMorton]

Loved this.

[@sargentrowell81]

I love the funny phrases like "came down with a fatal case of being shot," and "a little bit assassinated." Brilliant writing.

[@theprussianmink]

It's a bit ironic that the Brezhnev character here doesn't have eyebrows.

[@WG55]

That bothered me. "Where are the eyebrows?!"

[@POCLEE]

Or medals.

[@theworldoverheavan560]

@Judy G. Lol

[@oilersridersbluejays]

Brezhnev eyebrows were visible from Helsinki.

[@nigeh5326]

Ludwig van Beethoven ‘visible from Helsinki’ they were visible from space wobbling round the Kremlin

[@averageboi5195]

Khrushchev actually said “we will see you be buried” but his translator was a little special in the head

[@sandygehrmann6309]

*Khrushchev

[@sonicbro6446]

@@sandygehrmann6309 Dank Kushchev

[@masadda7]

What I've heard is that it was meant to say we will outlast you as in communism will outlast capitalism but the original translation stuck in the heads of everyone.

[@kles44]

That means something different than what is quoted in English.

[@zoedanforth7932]

@@yousefghuniem5575 bro why are you unnecessarily throwing a tantrum?

[@azanianikhomanisi8713]

2:25 Joe Biden, is that you?

[@garrisonnichols807]

I thought the same thing 🤣

[@adamstevens5070]

The fact that Brezhnev's eyebrows didn't make it into the animation is disappointing...

[@imperatorcaesardivifiliusa2158]

The Death of Stalin was hilarious, Zhukov stole every scene he was in.

[@kastiloshepherd1892]

Fact ^

[@ComradeHellas]

Are you talking about the movie?

[@KCJ1999]

I fucked Germany I think I can take a fucking fleshlump in a waistcoat

[@Erik-ko6lh]

Zhukov had balls.

[@MrBolas33]

“Saddle up cowboy!” 🤣

[@Hannodb1961]

There is one MASSIVE omission in your representation of Soviet history: You ommited Brezhnev's monobrow

[@ruturajshiralkar5566]

Unibrow

[@Hannodb1961]

@@ruturajshiralkar5566 Uberbrow.

[@ruturajshiralkar5566]

@@Hannodb1961 His Brows merged to become a one Supreme Being

[@Hannodb1961]

@@ruturajshiralkar5566 It must've complicated negotiations. Brezhnev: I must protest against the increasing presence of the US military in West Germany! US diplomats: Mooonsteeerbrooow!

[@ricardokowalski1579]

So unfair. Stalin got a mustache, but Brezhnev got his epic eye brows ommited.

[@Technobabylon]

I'm almost surprised that the video didn't end with Kazakhstan standing around confused as the last (and only) member state of the USSR for a brief period

[@Luboman411]

The first 1/10 of this video is hilariously depicted in the recent 2017 movie, "The Death of Stalin." People should definitely watch it. Khrushchev was quite the sneaky schemer...

[@mysticsharp2053]

3:23 With communisim spreading through the earth, Madagascar is the last bastion of hope for the worlds capitalists

[@amerain1729]

MysticSharp And it is the global center of exonomy

[@arthas640]

Reminds me of Hearts of Iron and similar Paradox Games. Sometimes you can take over a country and their government will be relocated somewhere random, I'm currently at war with England and after I took the British Isles their colony of Pakistan became the leader of the free world, ruler of the global British Empire, and Karachi became the global hub for trading. Luckily for me Goa is a friendly port and I have all these lovely Marines sitting around...

[@Hardrian_Hardrada_Cicero]

SHUT EVERYTHING DOWN

[@christianbuffum-robbins8904]

Fun Fact: NYET

[@mecha7419]

Пет

[@classic952]

*no*

[@darthXreven]

another fun fact Nein

[@jakartagamer6188]

@@darthXreven jajajajajajajajaj

[@rookieodst1376]

jakarta gamer - superintendent!!!

[@martinmorles1]

RIP Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the USSR It's shocking that throughout its eighty ish history they only had 7 leaders !

[@Suksass]

Well, it existed for less than a hundred years so no surprise there.

[@martinmorles1]

@@Suksass most countries have at over a dozen leaders by then or more the USA had 23 presidents by the time it reached 100.

[@Suksass]

@@martinmorles1 USA was a democracy where no president could serve for longer than two terms, 4 years each. USSR was dictatorship.

[@matthewmiller6987]

@@Suksass western rome in the fifth century only lasted 76 years and had 11 rulers (2 of which ruled for a combined 50 somthing years” the Soviets had pretty good stability once a leader actually took power

[@Suksass]

@@matthewmiller6987 which leader? Cause Soviet Union had to contend with uprisings for entirety of its existance. Soviet Union was a powder keg of instability.

[@tomross4599]

You said that a couple of tanks led to the construction of the Berlin Wall, which would have made it a defensive structure. That’s not at all what most historians would say. 4 million Germans had fled from East to West Germany between 1949 and 1961, a quarter of the population. This ruined the economy and social infrastructure (think doctors and engineers). The Berlin Wall was built to lock up the remaining population, not to protect it from Western tanks. Important distinction.

[@davespiller684]

'Fled'. They moved because pay was better in the West, because the East spent its (far more limited) money on maintaining jobs and services for the poor. It's like saying Indian doctors in Britain 'fled' here.

[@looinrims]

It’s more the case of communist citizens had a way to compare their life to western life and the communist governments realized it was way worse so they had to stop them

[@davespiller684]

@@looinrims The citizens who were doctors and engineers, yes. For the people at the bottom of German society, the West was arguably worse.

[@looinrims]

@@davespiller684 the west wasn’t arguably worse How many people fled to the east? How many people make garbage rafts to escape capitalism and go to socialist or communist nations? Which system gets the ‘refugees’ of places? Exactly, as the quote goes “we don’t need to build walls to stop our people from leaving”

[@davespiller684]

@@looinrims You should maybe think about which nations went socialist and why, and then look at which capitalist countries people migrate to. Venezuelans aren't heading to Liberia.

[@killerOfMoons]

All the thuds when they die are hilarious.

[@nigeh5326]

And the Sgnt Pepper reference, although 'back in the USSR' is on the white album not Sgnt Pepper

[@TheBluetwo26]

I want a video of just reading off a date and name of a person followed by “ was dead.” Just like that but for like a thousand different leaders through history.

[@livethefuture2492]

The thud when Stalin died was probably the most wonderful sound ever heard by the people of the USSR and the world.

[@aninditapaul9291]

@@livethefuture2492 *saddest

[@nishiharach.]

Mikhail Gorbachev also opened Pizza Hut in Russia. All hail Gorbachev!

[@szahmad2416]

Also went on a commercial for Pizza Hut because he needed money.

[@suomi5475]

All hail Gorbachev!

[@Memelander]

*Oversimplified

[@AbdulRasyidPangrango-qr9dt]

hey ive seen this before...

[@nishiharach.]

@@AbdulRasyidPangrango-qr9dt you have, yes.

[@isoni9430]

3:22 I'm glad to see madagascar is immune to communism.

[@Konmonachi]

Based madagascar

[@lukecash3500]

"1953 and Joseph Stalin... is dead." The most thoroughly satisfying thing you've ever said.

[@amir-ng6jv]

It's a sad reality that he could only die once

[@aceofr3ap3r21]

It is a big relief

[@maxwellweiss9849]

3:23 Madigascar would never submit.”, *King Julius Holds the Line*

[@joshuajoe1419]

lol Madagascar reference

[@HaxeRoxas13]

Julian >:(

[@kdarkwynde]

*Julien

[@yakuisa6558]

@@kdarkwynde you're*

[@GamingWithChf]

James Bissonette protects Madagascar.

[@Kez_DXX]

Corn wasn't Khrushchev's only secret weapon for food success. He also had red king crab specimens brought from the Pacific and were introduced to the waters around Murmansk.

[@shipaskof8371]

Never knew hed a case of the crabs

[@jasonbourne1218]

"A fatal case of being shot." One of the greatest lines ever

[@manolokonosko2868]

Gorbachev didn't make the country worse. A freer press simply reported what was previously suppressed on how really bad things were, so for people used to believing the lies of the previous governments that "all things are good", to be made to realize that they were horrible, would unfortunately and unfairly, make Mikhail Gorbachev's government look "bad". The same happens in many other, including "democratic" countries, when a new president from a different party allows the press to uncover the shit. He will be inevitably be blamed for "ruining the country ". People just don't think. They react.

[@marcnassif2822]

Fun fact: My mom was in Lvov in Ukraine during the Chernobyl disaster and only found out when her freaked out brother called From the US (Both had emigrated)

[@Bartonovich52]

I still think it’s amazing that the first the western world heard of the Chernobyl disaster was when radiation alarms went off in a Swedish nuclear power plant 1000 km away.

[@freddy4603]

@@Bartonovich52 that's what happens when you have an authoritarian government.

[@eksdee2170]

Fun (maybe not so fun) fact: My mom lived in Ukraine as it happened (since we're from Ukraine) before we moved to Sweden in 2004 and my grandfather was called in to help dealing with the disaster, he declined thankfully orelse he would be dead much sooner. Nothing serious happened to my mom tho or the rest of the family, but some nerve damages. Was born in '98 with slight mental problems, such as autism but not sure if that's related or not.

[@slappy8941]

He was delusional, because RBMK reactors don't explode.

[@eksdee2170]

Slappy Not great, not terrible, I’ll still rate your comment 3.6/69 roentgen

[@charliespurr7325]

Lol 3:41 Stalin's picture was replaced with corn 🌽

[@antonzhdanov9653]

Pretty accurate and a joke itself. Khrushev was a conductor of destalinization policy and of intensifying of extensive agriculture by planting of corn and cultivating of more land for corn fields. Actually that provoked the biggest anthropogenic disaster till Chernobyl happen. - Devastation of millions square meters of fertile soil in Russia, Kazakhstan and other middle Asian countries. Bcs, Stalin actually supported very correct farming policy of correct irrigation and mixed tree/fields agriculture areas. But Khruschev was kinda obsessed with doing everything not like Stalin and when you do something in area where you are not expert and don't listen actual experts..... Khruschev by first profession was a farmer but not an expert in agronomic area. Well, this would end ugly if you don't know what you do. And, oh, it turned ugly.

[@charliespurr7325]

@@antonzhdanov9653 I know that's why it's so funny 😂

[@Kiwoeoe]

yeah its Khrushev we called him Kukuruznik meaning Cornman xD

[@charliespurr7325]

@@Kiwoeoe that's great 😂

[@StLouis-yu9iz]

@@antonzhdanov9653 not to mention the draining of the Aral Sea :(

[@Jake3121225]

The Paul McCartney appearance when he says “back in the USSR” is AWESOME!

[@Tennischamp450]

Fun fact, Gorbachev blamed the TV show Dallas for the collapse of the Soviet union more than anything. He said in just that half hour where someone snuck the show on the air caused viewers to think thats how Americans were living.

[@smilingearth5181]

Soviet history in nine words: "He came down with a case of being shot"

[@arthas640]

Replace "shot" with "had an accident and instead of cream he added cesium 137 to his tea" and you've got modern Russia in a nutshell

[@anonUK]

"Severe case of hypothermia due to a prolonged stay anywhere North or east of Moscow."

[@SportyMabamba]

Russian history in 4 words: “Then things got worse”

[@skeletonjanitor]

@@SportyMabamba sadly trye

[@robbieaulia6462]

@@SportyMabamba Yeah the Russian empire before the Crimean war is pretty much Russia at the height of it's power.

[@BadMouseProductions]

I thought you were gonna try something twisty at the beginning like "Its 1953 and Stalin... is still alive"

[@levus_]

This video was underscoring and unfunny..

[@ahmedabokar4786]

Eeeeeey ur back! Keep makings vids man, I loved them

[@maximusmedia8412]

BadMouseProductions hello there comerade mouse

[@DaisyGeekyTransGirl]

Oh, hey, comrade, you a fan too?

[@bulldogmadhav5762]

Wow I didn’t expect to see you here

[@taskfroce80th95]

1922 Dec 30th ~ 1991 Dec 26th = 68 years 360 days We were on the edge of perfection, we were this close to 69

[@flying_tsar]

"Back in the USSR" I loved this Beatles reference!

[@TheDarkever]

In the end, it's always economic failure that makes countries fall. Not lack of democracy, not riots and revolts, not bad press. When there isn't enough money, that's when everything comes crushing down.

[@MrHAH-cd9ku]

@@SaintGuyKenny The government’s incompetence made the country poor and the poor country promptly died.

[@starwarzchik112]

Unless you’re North Korea.

[@MrHAH-cd9ku]

@@starwarzchik112 North Korea was actually doing better than South Korea in the beginning. It was Famine that mainly led to it becoming one of the shittiest places to ever be born in, though losing the respect of fellow communist countries made it even worse.

[@robbieaulia6462]

@@MrHAH-cd9ku Yeah if anything most Decolonized country are better off staying as colony of Europe since most European empire after WW2 decided that their colonies require just as much living standards as Europe itself.

[@SeanUCF]

You can't really have one without the other. Bad economies lead to dictatorships and dictatorships lead to bad economies.

[@grantm6933]

God damn I hate these premieres. You get excited for a video only to discover it doesn't exist yet.

[@trisha6161]

Top 10 anime plot twists

[@jalmaritammela8642]

Yeah! Its annoying.

[@HistoryMatters]

Agreed. I wanted to see what the fuss was about but it only seems like an excuse for regular creators (non-streamers) to get Superchats. I won't be using them again. Silly idea.

[@jalmaritammela8642]

Thank you.

[@cronoros]

@@HistoryMatters you could have said it was a premiere for the soviet premier

[@PotionsmasterDyne]

I love how Khrushchev frolics through corn instead of daisies.

[@Gia1911Logous]

Gorbachev is really very underrated He is by far the most pro-democratic leader that Russia ever had Glasnost Perestroika may have eventually caused the break up, but as Gorbachev said once, "Peace is not unity in similarity but unity in diversity, in the comparison and conciliation of differences." Truly the most progressive man in Russia's bloody history

[@ufhb6649]

I find it kind of stupid that the Soviet Union could have become a big powerful democratic state but everyone decided to go « screw you everyone, I’m going my own way now ».

[@looinrims]

@@ufhb6649 half of them weren’t apart of the nation by choice, if you recall their histories

[@Themehsofproduction]

I hate him with every cell in my body

[@falconlewitteducation4941]

If Yeltsin never did a thing and if those communist hardliners never staged a coup d'état, the USSR would have survived and it would have followed Democratic Socialism. And citizens of all non-Baltic republics would not have faced such immense problems like poverty and and war.

[@photlam9769]

@@Themehsofproduction Why? He literally gave people freedom of speech to which people formed there own states

[@bigbootros4362]

Madagascar stays capitalist whilst the whole world becomes communist? Damn imperialist Malgache !

[@jimmytang8131]

god bless madagascar

[@carso1500]

King Julien will not cede his throne to those filthy comunists

[@torgeirstrnnes6487]

It's just proof that communism is an infectious disease :D

[@anonymousdetective3786]

@@carso1500 Gold comment, made my day. :)

[@tkraccoon1368]

So what is the joke?

[@jacobtanner486]

“You weren’t shot, you just lost your jobs” sounds very familiar to a similar country that was a rival with the USSR

[@jacobtanner486]

@@Godslayer5656 actually they’re mega corporations, all owned by 6 different companies, and all of them help influence political candidates and ideologies, selling not only products but their ideas, an oligarchy and communism are one in the same, except in communism the elite are supposed to give back, which never happens, so they are both the same thing, all the power Is owned by 6 people and the government, and the 6 people work with the government to increase their revenue while screwing the average person over, the difference is that we don’t have a planned economy, if we did we’d be starving rn, but the private sector is not private, it sure as hell isn’t a free market, it can never be a free market with 6 people producing about every single product we use

[@daver18qc]

The quick thump of the dying cartoons crack me up every single time xD

[@MrZachary246]

Everytime an animated character waddles out with a sign saying something different I die of laughter. Well done man haha

[@adamromero]

The characters are hilarious!! 🤣

[@underconstruction6436]

2:28 Khrushchev looks like he’s about to make a pun straight out of CSI Miami with those shades.

[@themightyranger6321]

It's time to... Make reforms *puts shades on*

[@azh698]

He should hold up a sign saying: YYEEAAAAAAH!

[@McRocket]

4:48 - 'He did get to live though. So that was nice.' 🤣

[@missrakshakeller]

And later he died on September, 11, 1971

[@mansfieldlou]

In 1964 Khrushchev was ousted from power. "He did get to live though, so that was nice." Love this channel for those clever quips.

[@Feffdc]

I laughed for some reason "Kruschev was a little obsessed with corn"

[@karolmorales9027]

😂😂😂😂

[@aninditapaul9291]

(Not so) fun fact: I am a little (very) obsessed with wheat.

[@Alpha1200]

Wasn't the "we will bury you" thing a mistranslation or miscommunication or something?

[@sceerane8662]

I think the intended meaning was "We will live to see you buried"

[@themightyranger6321]

@@sceerane8662 kruschev was saying that socialism would bury capitalism, not that they would nuke the usa

[@robertjarman3703]

He was referring to a phrase Marx used in which capitalism inevitably sows the seeds of its own collapse. He had in mind that the American working class would overthrow the American government and substitute a Marxist state in its steed.

[@themightyranger6321]

@@robertjarman3703 exactly

[@serioussamosa3780]

@@sceerane8662True, what khrushchev meant was along the lines of "we will outlive you"

[@archiethomson9982]

i’m not sure if you will see this but i really enjoy your videos! they are so educational and interesting and your channel made me inspired to learn more about history! keep up your really brilliant work!!

[@harrish9021]

When I was first learning about the Berlin Wall back in middle school I didn’t quite know where Berlin was… and I didn’t notice that West Berlin was completely surrounded by Eastern Germany And so I just assumed that the Berlin Wall stretched from the Baltic, down along the Eastern and Western German border, and ending at Austria So the fact that the Berlin Wall was set up so quickly astounded me a lot more than it really should have 😅

[@Choppytehbear1337]

You're not alone.

[@ThePharaoh44]

Brezhnev without eyebrows is not normal.

[@riddlie787]

*YOU’RE TEARING ME APART LISA*

[@huge7800]

Oh hi Mark

[@themightyranger6321]

@@huge7800 *hai dogi*

[@louisjohnson3888]

I did not hit her. It's bullshit! It's not true! I did not hit her! I did not.

[@themightyranger6321]

@@louisjohnson3888 i wish you could have ruled the ussr

[@louisjohnson3888]

@@themightyranger6321 so do I, comrade. So do I.

[@Lew114]

I'm old enough to remember all this as it was happening. I grew up during the Cold War, constantly afraid of nuclear annihilation. When Gorbachov started his reforms we became hopeful. When the Berlin Wall came down we were all ecstatic. No more cold war fears. No more B-52s flying over our house (we lived near a SAC base). We all assumed that they'd become a democracy and that would fix everything. We thought they'd turn into another Germany, France or Britain. Just another free, prosperous nation. I was young and naive then, but I still don't completely understand how things went so horribly wrong. It seems like one of the biggest missed opportunities in human history. For a brief moment between Stalin and Putin a window opened for Russia to have peace, freedom and prosperity. I wish things had gone differently. Could you do a video on how they managed to mess it all up?

[@desertphnox]

They MIGHT have been able to be prosperous if the person who came after Gorbachev wasn't a incompetent drunk like Yeltsin. Russia has plenty of resources and enough farmland and people to be a world power on the same scale as the USSR but Yeltsin caused a recession, hyperinflation, and the rise of Putin simply stamped Russia's fate

[@looinrims]

You need only look at France to see what it would take for Russia to be anything remotely nice, France had to suffer not one but two humiliating politically destructive military defeats, one with Napoleon the 1st and the other with Napoleon the 3rd, and even still it took an enemy more powerful than it very close to it (Germany, Soviet Union) to keep it in line, knowing it couldn’t weather the storm alone Germany and Japan if you recall had to be destroyed, literally, to discredit to everyone with a pair of eyes and two brain cells their expansionist revaunchist ideals. Russia has not suffered any consequences until its second invasion of Ukraine to its revisionist history and aggression, and frankly these consequences have not bothered the elite of Russia so much which is where it would need to happen. Proles can get riled up about anything and forget about it just as quickly. Until Russia is humiliated in some radical way that sees political downfall for its then ruling elite, only then can we hope for any form of change for the better…more likely they’ll just end up a Chinese puppet state

[@Lew114]

@@looinrims Good points. If I had to bet on Russia’s future, I’d put my money on some form of subservience to China.

[@BWing-kn5us]

Madagascar will never fall.

[@slavicvasenin6685]

0:00-0:44 main story of "The Death of Stalin" movie

[@polandballhistorian8537]

3:22 Ahh, Madagascar... always so defiant.

[@sevenshadesofsmooth]

It was an expensive 10 year disaster USA: Hold my beer

[@ZhangtheGreat]

What I learned from this channel is that everyone in history communicated by holding up various signs

[@nigeh5326]

Great touch ‘back in the USSR’ and the character wearing a Sergeant Pepper Beatle uniform 😊

[@Poopdahoop]

8:30 You don't know how lucky you are, boy.

[@androzani]

An Unlikely Whale, The Moscow girls really knock me out.

[@PhilWood82]

@@androzani Leave the West behind.

[@thepufferfishguy3467]

3:18 "The March of Progress would inevitably end with capitalism losing out to communism" *Madagascar proceeds to defeat communist expansion*

[@RJones-es7ur]

This content is so good; I can go on History Matters rabbitholes for hours!

[@melonlord7443]

To show you the power of flex tape I dissolved the USSR and repaired it with only flextape

[@TryinaD]

I didn’t think Phil Swift was pro socialism

[@vaimantobe3034]

Not even flex tape could fix the 90s version of the USSR

[@MrCarpelan]

The Cuban missile crisis was actually more the other way around. It was the Americans who were aggressive by putting ICBMs in Turkey, the Soviets only followed suit by placing nukes on Cuba. It also stopped thanks to the Soviet's accepting the short end of the stick to preserve world peace.

[@docsavage8640]

Total b.s.

[@Burning_Dwarf]

@@docsavage8640 why do you think that?

[@DoglinsShadow]

6:40 scared the heck out of me haha

[@user-ni2dp7rr1o]

I LOVEEE your videos!! Please keep them going

[@HELLBOY-ur4st]

He was 1 second away of getting another add opportunity... this channel has gained so much respect from me

[@matheusdal8110]

I really like how you do these videos fast enough and stating facts. They're short and go right at what matters concerning the truth of what happened. It isn't entertaining but is actually pretty helpful. I've lost count how many times I came back here whenever I had an insight watching something else or reading and wanted to go for full facts.

[@purinat_sun]

7:00 Of course, I believe that.

[@thenationaltimelyactionhou9328]

As always, this was a great video!

[@FlymanMS]

Khrustchev in his famous speech actually said an ideomatic phrase meaning "We'll show you!", it was just misinterpreted and the wrong translation stuck.

[@danielfried4896]

FlymanMS I don’t believe so because he would latter on embrace the line saying in other speech “I once said we will burry you, and got in trouble with it. Of course we will not burry you with a shovel. Your own working will burry you”. This implies he wasn’t threatening nuclear war though he was implying that socialism will triumph capitalism and that we (socialist) will destroy capitalist nations from with in.

[@docsavage8640]

False

[@Zapinc9]

Gorbachev sacrificed everything to end tyranny. The absolute stones of that man.

[@allisondoak9425]

Urban Meadows didn’t end tyranny tho

[@cornguy1514]

Yeah about that...

[@kensukefan47]

People from Russias 90's will absolutely agree (no)

[@davis4555]

He was really just kinda inept and didn't understand that communism relies on everyone acting as an arm of the government at all times. That why they would brutally crush any dissenting ideas and people. If people are allowed more freedom (as the should be) they are free to NOT act as a hivemind, and they will fall away. He was raised in the USSR, and I think he really believed that people would all choose to stay commie. Well, they didn't.

[@kensukefan47]

@@davis4555 well they didn't want to stay commie so much that they wanted to bring it back in 1993.

[@kormagogthedestroyer]

"Please move my body." -Stalin's Ghost

[@anthonyrodriguez7950]

Outstanding. Also, extra points for the "Back in the USSR" gag. Brilliant

[@MisterKnightly]

"Back in the USSR." I see what you did there.

[@winchesterchua7600]

Timestamp?

[@MisterKnightly]

@@winchesterchua7600 8:29 I believe

[@MisterKnightly]

@@Account-jn7xu Made a Beatles reference.

[@MisterKnightly]

@@Account-jn7xu Oh well, check out Back in the USSR, great song. You won't regret it.

[@hans3000]

You dont know how lucky you are, boiiiiiiiiis

[@Sly88Frye]

Thank you for all your research and everything you do. I really appreciate this channel a lot. I for one half study some history but I forgotten so much of it and I don't think I really have looked that deep into history. I appreciate when guys like you do a ton of research and keep us well informed.

[@ocudagledam]

The thing that definitely didn't help was Gorbachev's mishandling of economy. One spectacular flop was his attempt at tackling alcoholism - he ordered much of the production halted and vineyards were actually destroyed, wiping out a surprising chunk of USSR's budget (as alcohol was one of the things that were not subsidized and the state was actually making a ton of money off it) and, more locally, completely devastating the economies of certain agricultural regions. He would reverse his decisions after a couple of years, but, by that point, a huge amount of damage had been done, inflation had started etc.

[@yoshu4221]

The photo of Comrade Corn at 3:43 was a nice touch.

[@DanielgtaLaw]

0:51 "Please move my body"-Stalin to Khrushchev

[@TheologyChad22]

I was why his corpse was still lying around till then 😂

[@royharel2147]

You should have given Brezhnev bushy eyebrows just for jokes...p.s I loved the video, great work!

[@espvp]

7:01 i thought you were gonna say "because of a mild case of being shot" or something along those lines. Love this channel

[@johnzengerle7576]

I wonder if we would be better off if Gorbachev had won reelection. He seems more competent then Yeltsin and less evil than Putin.

[@justnoob8141]

Most of USSR leader: *Die from old age* Officer: Oh great, is there anybody who didn't born in Russia Empire? Gorbachev: Uhh... I was born in USSR Officer: Ok, you're now in charge Gorbachev: Ok :|

[@zyopera]

Gorbachev: Ok guys, so........we did bad but with those new reforms i'm giving you the instruments for fixing our problems finally working together in peace and making our super power prosperous again. Everyone: wOw I CaN LeAVe NoW!1!!!1!!!

[@smaggich]

This is so true

[@ivario]

That is a blunt version of what the Baltic states said since they finally could have a chance in restoring their independence.

[@hawsrulebegin7768]

To cram all that info and detail into 9.59 mins takes some ruthless organisational skills. You could have been a great asset to the party.

[@Jarod-te2bi]

Your Doing the world a great service by making these videos.

[@DefenderofFuture]

That "back in the U.S.S.R." joke is so quick but so great.