The Atomic Age - COLD WAR

Our series on the history of the Cold War period continues with a documentary on the creation of nuclear weapons in the aftermath of World War II
Consider supporting us on Patreon: / thecoldwar
Sources:
Richard Rhodes - The Making of the Atomic Bomb
Хуберт Мания - История атомной бомбы

[@TheColdWarTV]

We are eager to cover every crucial story of the Cold War period, but we need your help to keep the production going. Please, consider supporting us via patreon: www.patreon.com/thecoldwar

[@jmfs1701]

My notifications arnt working, ive subscribed and used the bell. I suscribed since the announcemnts of this channel. But im not getting updates.

[@LukeVilent]

Russian subs for this episodes are ready for review.

[@franciscomm7675]

Greek civil war, please

[@vlad-ns6yt]

I would love to know more about that as well!

[@enchantressdeath1289]

And seeing the Greek Nationalists/Royalists crack some commie skulls!

[@Armorius2199]

Yeah it would be great.

[@billyaepicgamer8642]

You might as well do a video on the secret agreement between Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin. Churchill agreed let Stalin have influence over Eastern Europe in return for Stalin leaving Greece alone.

[@jimtroy4380]

@@enchantressdeath1289 You mean 80.000 Brits and USAF babysitting Nazi collaborators from 50.000 Communists who fought and died for the fatherland. The same fascists are the ones who also sold Cyprus to Turkey. The far right always sell their country to enemies of the people

[@matthiasbindl7085]

will you comment the creation of the Steel and coal community? It´s the precursor of the EEC and the european union

[@---uf2zl]

I just wanted to tell you guys how much I appreciate the quality of your videos. The music plays a big role in making it even more enjoyable :D

[@rosswebster7877]

First Bomb Test Reactions. Oppenheimer: “I am become Death, Destroyer of Worlds.” Alexandria: “Relief. If it didn’t work, I would’ve been shot.”

[@Patrick_3751]

Fun fact. When the Soviet bomb was successfully tested Beria was so relieved/ecstatic that he hugged and kissed Kurchatov & said that "It would have been a great misfortune if it hadn't worked."

[@keldelmini8243]

I can't wait to see this channel covers Korean war and Soviet-Afghan war.

[@LukeVilent]

You have to learn waiting.

[@osz804]

Why the hell have you got so few views! Makes me mad since you're the best at what you do, present it very seriously and are clearly passionate for the content

[@ksotar]

Sadly you didn't mention the Potsdam conference and Truman's insinuation towards Stalin about that new weapon he now possesses. Stalin had no visible reaction on that and Truman decided that he just didn't get it. But the thing is, that Stalin already knew.

[@resileaf9501]

That anecdote was mentionned in the video on the Gouzenko affair.

[@adamfrazer5150]

Many, many thanks for the work bringing this series to life - I was amazed when I came across it and I'm stoked to take it all in !

[@antoniobarone99]

Hi guys, I'm wondering if you will talk about France/UK and Italy's immediate post-war period, will you? Thank you in advance

[@markusz4447]

their video about the marshall plan adresses these countries in post war (albeit only a little bit)

[@antoniobarone99]

@@markusz4447 I know, but I was interested on the political situation I hoped that they would cover those countries like they did with eastern Europe

[@markusz4447]

@@antoniobarone99 yes that would be great! Let's hope they do!

[@adamlatosinski5475]

They surely will. They wouldn't be able to talk about de Gaulle or european integration without looking at politics of Western Europe first.

[@blackpanda7298]

awesome, keep these coming and i'll watch everyone.

[@vlad-ns6yt]

I got the notification!!! Love your videos! Keep it up!!

[@abdoessam8634]

your style of narration is very impressive

[@blava3155]

4:32 hopefully you will cover it :)

[@razerone49]

There are numerous history channels on KZbin but this channel is my favorite. He speaks clearly, doesn’t give too much or too little information, doesn’t go off on confusing tangents and - most important to me - are nice and short for those of us with short attention spans. Even still, I’d love it if there were more

[@Daruliable]

Nice video, keep up

[@sshray1115]

Marvelous !!

[@potatoman5933]

Very good work as always I only have a small question, are you going to explore the Truman Doctrine and the Iron Curtain speech of Winston Churchill ?

[@ozgeozcelik8921]

Excellent ! also go watch Curtis's The Trap, to learn more about the underpinnings of MAD and game-theoretical approach to Cold War.

[@victorcabanelas]

Nice zoom in on that second "Right?"!!

[@12mkamran]

Great video guys. İ am happy 😄😄😄

[@hidof9598]

It's power continues to develop

[@pancakes3250]

I like it!

[@gravijta936]

The first atomic bomb was invented on a Taco Tuesday, and promptly detonated Wednesday morning.

[@louisswanepoel1614]

Based on a true story

[@EddieKMusic]

The flesh burning heat reached near sun surface temperatures

[@creatoruser736]

A congressional investigation into Soviet spy efforts into the Manhattan Project determined that it advanced their atomic development project by between 6 months to 2 years. Even if the Manhattan Project wasn't infiltrated they would have had a nuclear bomb relatively soon after the point in time they did.

[@zanychelly]

To this date, nuclear weapons help to maintain states sovereignty. I actually think, mutual fear is the best way to keep the peace. Unfortunately humans don’t respect each other differences in culture, politics and business.

[@SS-hw1ou]

Welcome to Asia

[@supa3ek]

@@SS-hw1ou Its the colonials that dont respect cultures not asians !!!

[@ShahjahanMasood]

This would make an excellen Podcast

[@lamolambda8349]

And you'll make a lucky man a great wife some day.

[@LukeVilent]

2:37 - Göttingen, St. James Church (Jakobikirche) viewed from St. John Church (Johanneskirche). What is it doing here?

[@josem.linero3845]

This guy is a legend is better than a history teacher ok?

[@eduardovaldivia5572]

Expecting a video on the Hydrogen bomb!

[@ksotar]

And, since here we are more on technological side, will there will be series on Sputnik and the whole space race impact on Cold War?

[@quedtion_marks_kirby_modding]

Are you going to change the leader portraits on the background each time the leaders of the USA or SovietUnion change?

[@rasaffa3751]

Sir..., Could u make any video on South Asian major conflicts??

[@SuperpowerBroadcasting]

The USA never should have allowed the USSR to get nukes.

[@karlbrundage7472]

Aside from greatly magnifying the actual effects of nuclear weapons on the surrounding environment and the Earth in general, this was a good episode. Keep it up...................

[@rooftop9088]

0:21 Metal Gear?! It cant be!

[@nameisblank2023]

This is me testing something. 5:00

[@nameisblank2023]

Wow, that was easy

[@shellshockedgerman3947]

Nice

[@Denis-fj1ky]

Ataturk please

[@M81_WOODLAND]

9:37 Oh, no. The Soviets would've definitely developed their own nuclear weapon in time. After all, it is physics. The intellegence gathered from the US-based Soviet spy ring just accelerated their efforts by a number of years.

[@TheBurninhead]

please make video about cover-up of nuclear disasters like Kyshtym disaster in Russia and Chrome Dome accidents in America

[@justsomeguy3931]

Is that a Fallout bobblehead in the Soviet hat on the right? It must be the + 10 to History!

[@OchotaJack]

Best episode so far. I hardly could believe Churchill was so assertive to US in physics. while all American ecomic and military concessions where granted making Britain de facto vassal state. You say he still believed dropping some made in UK nukes here and there could save empire? :)

[@DimensionsofChange]

🎵Uranium fever has done and got me down!🎵 🎵Uranium fever is spreading all around!🎵

[@lykuscerebros9480]

completly assured destruction We hope you enjoyed this viedeo best transition so far

[@Ace-uj4hj]

kingsdale gang

[@andersonandrighi4539]

I think this topic will come back when he talks about the space race between USSR and the US.

[@JosephKeenanisme]

How about one here or on the other chan about the use of chem warfare? Seems that their intentional use was ignored during the Cold War: Korean, Vietnam, ect. They were however used in international civil unrest and non proxy wars (Iraq/Iran war). They were however counted into some of the NATO war games.

[@hidof9598]

After WW1, leaders were reluctant to use them But you can't stop everything Funnily enough, Iran-Iraq war also had trenches

[@supa3ek]

The USA has actually used more chemical weapons (apart from japan) than anyone else on the planet. Even to this day they use harmful weapons like depleted uranium but conveniently call it something else !!

[@thurin84]

"borrowed" lol. of course the soviet union couldve eventually come up with an atomic bomb on their own. it probably wouldve taken decades, but they couldve eventually. food for thought. up until 1945 the number of deaths due to wars globally had been steadily rising exponentially with the introduction of ever more destructive weaponry. after 1945 the total dropped to roughly 1 million per year. this is almost certainly due to the introduction of nuclear weapons.

[@JonasUllenius]

Destroying the planet? Is make it uninhabitable what you mean?

[@artilleryman895]

At 1:49 I love the fact how Einstein is the only non-hungarian in that list

[@JonatasAdoM]

5:48 It was my understanding that the US only had those 2 bombs. Surely they were developing more but I don't think they would be able to just bombard Japan with them.

[@hareemnaz751]

0:35 by the same Nation against the same nation you might add that too

[@vexintersect1312]

Y

[@lamolambda8349]

Why state the obvious

[@RS-dw4ey]

The project was code named 'Tube Alloy' not 'Tube Alloy'

[@RS-dw4ey]

Not 'Alloy Tube'

[@prensavoz1000]

A video about Ogaden War between Somalia and Ethiopia (1977-1978). Somalia received United States Support and Ethiopia received Cuba and Soviet Union aid. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ogaden_War en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1982_Ethiopian%E2%80%93Somali_Border_War

[@cillian1408]

Chernobyl, please

[@petroskotsomytis5016]

Klaus Fucks?? Is that Fred Fucks' ancestor?

[@FlymanMS]

8:09 yeah, that looks like Poland to me.

[@philippeverhoosel2740]

One thing though, little boy and fat man are both uranium -bases but isotopes of Each other

[@NorthForkFisherman]

Er, no. One was U235, the other Pu239.

[@stalkinghorse883]

We cannot afford a mine shaft gap!

[@nurithegolden5755]

I’m from Kazakhstan and Russians always tested in Kazakhstan, Joseph Stalin was scared of Kazakhstan and wanted them to suffer

[@MrKIMBO345]

That is sad.

[@lamolambda8349]

🎵Number one exporter if uranium🎵

[@nurithegolden5755]

lamo lambda nice grammar

[@ksotar]

Well, I think that scarce population and vast steppes should also has something to do with that.

[@nurithegolden5755]

ksotar no

[@zight99user]

I love nukes

[@letsgojay6905]

.

[@mikhail2709]

Cold war about US and China!

[@dr.victorvs]

A discussion of "whether" they'd be able to do it, frankly, stinks of anti-Soviet sentiment. One is free to dislike the Soviets (and indeed has many reasons to do so), but polluting unrelated discussions is anti-intellectual. Obviously, the question is "when", not "whether".

[@TerrellThomas1971]

American Liberalism in the cold war..please

[@deniseforsythe8965]

Edit: I read somebody's comment below which says that the phrase "in anger" means "in the real world." If that's what you meant, then I understand your use here but FYI it will confuse your American audience. Original comment: 5:30 "The US became the only nation to use a nuclear weapon in anger." Sorry, you lost your credibility as a historian with that comment which reveals your personal bias, not any objective historical reality. The US used the atomic bomb to end a defensive war against an extremely aggressive country. The US had intelligence demonstrating that the Japanese were prepared to fight to the last man. Also, Operation Cherry Blossoms at Night was their plan to inflict bubonic plague on the west coast of the US which they had initially planned for late September 1945 but couldn't supply the equipment to do it.

[@gilwhitley6810]

I generally like your series, and show many of them to my high school students. I do feel you grossly mischaracterized Hiroshima and Nagasaki, however. "The US became the only nation to use a nuclear weapon in anger. Three days later, it doubled-down on this record... Although the Americans were prepared to conduct further nuclear strikes, the Japanese surrender in Aug 1945 prevented further nuclear use." To me, this seems to cast the US as the aggressor, and the Japanese as the wise ones who managed to stop our rampant atomic bombing. L:et's consider the facts: first, we only HAD two atomic bombs... our claims to have "many" were, by now, a well-known propaganda ploy to force Japan to surrender. Second, despite absolutely knowing they could never win WWII once Germany capitulated, the Japanese gov't was committed to a scorched-earth, "Kill as many as you can, never be taken prisoner under any costs, and suicide for all our women and children" approach. The Allied intel services calculated that easily over 1,000,000 US Marines would be killed trying to take the home islands. Potential Japanese civilian deaths would have been even higher. The atomic bombs killed one twentieth of that number, and ended the carnage forever. Lest you doubt Japan's fanatacism, let's note that they refused to surrender after the city of Hiroshima was all but vaporized... we had to wipe out a SECOND Japanese city three days before they finally gave in! Had they surrendered after Hiroshima, then Nagasaki would not have been necessary. (on a sidenote, the excellent first-person accounts being aired of the horrific mass rape of "comfort women" by the Japanese army did NOT end when Japan surrendered... in many cases, the captive girls and women were all shot to death by drunken Japanese soldiers before they fled into animity.) I know the modern cliche is to show the US as a racist nation hell-bent on victory, but though this is true, it ignores the fact that we were in a life-and-death struggle with a MORE racist nation, one with a apocalyptical death wish for every Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, American, Australian involved in the Pacific Theatre war. Only the atomic bombs ended it, after which, they became a model democracy and economic powerhouse... all thanks to the United States, and the US-funded Marshall Plan.

[@mrwednesdaynight]

It's a shame you don't have more likes on your well thought out statement. You're absolutely correct.

[@scottkrater2131]

Doubt you're going to see, your figures on US deaths are grossly over inflated. And the USMC was only a fraction of the invasion forces. Being mostly Army personnel. But that's not important. What is, is the approximately 100k to 400k Asian civilians that would have been killed every month the Japanese continued to hold out. Approximately 17 other Asian's died for every 1 Japanese civilian. That's the point. See Tower of Skulls or Downfall by Richard Frank.

[@iraqimapper8625]

The worst human invention

[@wailrimouche1171]

It prevented WW3 soo it ain't that bad.

[@wailrimouche1171]

@@teyrncousland7152 aren't 74 years without a ww good enough?

[@wailrimouche1171]

@@teyrncousland7152 It''s better than nothing.

[@SP-rt4ig]

@@wailrimouche1171 A Soviet submarine during the Cuban Missile Crisis almost launched a nuclear warhead when most of its crew thought that they were under attack by US destroyers, when in reality the destroyer had fired warning depth charges. Thankfully, 1 of the 3 launch officers, Vasily Arkhipov, did not provide clearance for the launch of the missile and humanity was saved from a nuclear war. Margaret Thatcher almost used nuclear weapons against Argentina during the Falklands War. The troop transports for the recapture of the Falkland Islands were especially vulnerable to Argentinian naval assets, and Thatcher's contingency plan in the event of their sinking was to launch a nuclear missile on Buenos Aires. Fortunately for Britain, its troop transports were mostly unmolested by the Argentine Navy, and the recapture of the Falklands was successful. In 1983, shortly after the Soviet Union shot down Korean Air Lines Flight 007, the Soviet nuclear early warning system indicated that a missile originating from the United States was bound for the Soviet Union. However, the duty officer, Stanislav Petrov, recognised this to be a malfunction and did not report this warning to his superiors. Had he done so, a retaliatory nuclear strike would have been launched, which would have triggered a nuclear war. Petrov's assertion was proven to be correct and humanity was saved from a nuclear catastrophe yet again. Nuclear weapons have had many close-calls and this brings the very fundamental philosophy of MAD into question. Fortune has so far been on the side of humanity; will it remain as such, or will another incident cause the crumbling of human civilisation as we know it?

[@gokaytorun9125]

Turkish langue please

[@lamolambda8349]

Ok: "Thü Ütümic Üge Cüld Würüüüüüü"

[@gokaytorun9125]

lamo lambda what u say ?

[@ninoivanov]

* sigh * factual errors: 1. Uranium is EASIER to work with than Plutonium - just not abundant in the desired isotope, whereas Plutonium can be generated; 2. Germany was never after a bomb - instead, it wanted nuclear reactors for submarines. And so on. Man, research stuff better!

[@duster0066]

Being as polite as possible I suppose when someone presents them self as an authority on anything they also expose them self to the possibility of demonstrating their bias and also in this case their ignorance of the subject. His assertions that we could have ever destroyed the entire world several times over blows all his credibility on this subject with me. His other obvious historical errors and omissions in this episode now causes me to doubt he is an authority on the Cold War. He presented an activists position that likely comes directly from his esteemed university teachers. No credible expert I have ever read even considering the worst case scenario of a nuclear winter thought all human civilization would be destroyed let alone the entire planet. This one sounded more like the angry rants of a teenager at an anti everything protest than that of a historian who carefully did his homework. The one pinned comment is his own begging for money. Not professional at all. imo

[@Mythyc]

Congratz on presenting an opinion. How is this better than what this video did, again?

[@duster0066]

@@Mythyc I'm not your teacher, nor did I make the video. If you can't tell what's wrong with the video it's on you and the maker of the video not me.

[@Mythyc]

@@duster0066 Great argument. "I can't defend my point of view but if you took the time and energy to do it yourself, I'm sure you could do what I'm trying to do for you" Get out of here with your pseudo-intellectualism

[@duster0066]

@@Mythyc I'm afraid you are confused. You can't give orders over the web while hiding behind a fake name. So in return to your silly command Captain Kirk, eat chit and howl at the moon. You'll accomplish the same thing your orders do.

[@hidof9598]

The destruction still exists

[@enchantressdeath1289]

Horrible atrocities on the part of the Americans...

[@enchantressdeath1289]

@only good communist are buried in forgotten graves Well, the Japanese were more than willing to reach a conditional peace, there was absolutely no need Besides, the whole reason there was a war in the first place, was because of US aggressive interference by the FDR regime, introducing sanctions and oil embargo, and indirectly warring against Japan by sending the damned American "volunteer" pilots to fight for China. Japan was forced into a position with no choice

[@SP-rt4ig]

@@enchantressdeath1289 Keep in mind that there were still many Japanese generals who were prepared to launch a coup in case of a Japanese surrender. Shortly after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Emperor Hirohito was to transmit the "Jewel Voice Broadcast", a message to the Japanese people urging them to understand that "the war situation has developed not necessarily to Japan's advantage". However, in anticipation of this, 1,000 military officers and soldiers under the leadership of Major Kenji Hatanaka had surrounded the Imperial Palace and had attempted to place the emperor under house arrest. It was only the intervention of General Shizuichi Tanaka that prevented the putschists from succeeding. The lack of military support for the putsch was a consequence of the atomic bombings and the realisation that if they continued to fight, their nation would be bombed to oblivion by single bombs that were unimaginably more powerful than anything they had witnessed. Even firebombs, which had devastated Japanese cities since early 1945, paled in comparison to the atomic bombings. Had the atomic bombings not been conducted, the military would probably have agitated to continue the war even further. Children were being taught how to wield a bamboo spear and use it against invading soldiers. The Japanese public was fanatically loyal and were prepared to go to any length to stave off an invasions. The firebombing of countless Japanese cities did not deter them; what did deter them was the realisation that a single powerful bomb can destroy an entire city. It was estimated that Operation Downfall, the planned Allied invasion of Japan, would have resulted in 20 million Japanese casualties, and more than 1 million for the Allies. While the atomic bombings were terrible, it may have indirectly saved the lives of millions. And I would consider it morally bankrupt to support an expansionist regime with absolutely no regard for the well-being of its subjects. Read about the Nanking massacre and Unit 731 and you will realise that the Japanese were not the anti-colonialist peaceful empire that you thought it was. "Hideki, are we the baddies?"

[@enchantressdeath1289]

@@SP-rt4ig So? There's a very simple solution. Don't invade Japan. Negotiate a peace. The whole war was unnecessary to begin with

[@SP-rt4ig]

@@enchantressdeath1289 Then Japan shouldn't have invaded its neighbours. The US had already told Japan to back out of China and French Indochina.

[@enchantressdeath1289]

@@SP-rt4ig Japan only declared war on China in 1937 because of persistent border skirmishes, the KMT regime's collaboration with the communists since 1934. The Nationalist Chinese let their territory become a base for bandits, terrorist guerrillas, and communist insurgents to raid, harass, and attack Japan's allies of Mengjiang (Inner Mongolia) and the Empire of Manchukuo, as well as the Japanese garrisons there