The Cold War in Asia: Crash Course US History #38

In which John Green teaches you about the Cold War as it unfolded in Asia. As John pointed out last week, the Cold War was occasionally hot, and a lot of that heat was generated in Asia. This is starting to sound weird with the hot/cold thing, so let's just say that the United States' struggle against communist expansion escalated to a full-blown, boots-on-the-ground war in Korea and Vietnam. In both of these cases, the United States sent soldiers to intervene in civil wars that it looked like communists might win. That's a bit of a simplification, but John will explain it all to you.
Hey teachers and students - Check out CommonLit's free collection of reading passages and curriculum resources to learn more about the events of this episode. While The Vietnam War was happening very far away from home, it had a major impact on American soldiers and civilians: www.commonlit.org/texts/intro...
Americans with televisions had the war broadcasted right into their living rooms, leading to an immense Vietnam War resistance effort: www.commonlit.org/texts/resis...
Want to learn more about the Cold War? Check out these other videos from Crash Course:
USA vs USSR Fight! The Cold War: Crash Course World History #39:
• USA vs USSR Fight! The...
The Cold War: Crash Course US History #37:
• The Cold War: Crash Co...
George HW Bush and the End of the Cold War: Crash Course US History #44:
• George HW Bush and the...
The Cold War and Consumerism: Crash Course Computer Science #24:
• The Cold War and Consu...
Post-War Rebuilding and the Cold War: Crash Course European History #41:
• Post-War Rebuilding an...
Chapters:
Introduction: The Cold War in Asia 00:00
The Korean War 0:28
Eisenhower's Election 3:05
Cost of the Korean War 3:20
Mystery Document 4:18
Ho Chi Minh 5:19
American Involvement in Vietnam 5:55
The Gulf of Tonkin Incident 7:02
Operation Rolling Thunder 8:13
Fighting in Vietnam 8:41
Public Opinion and the Vietnam War 9:38
Nixon's Plan to Leave Vietnam 10:34
Anti-War Sentiments 11:19
The End of the Vietnam War 11:52
Credits 13:09
--
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Facebook - / youtubecrashcourse
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Instagram - / thecrashcourse
CC Kids: / crashcoursekids

[@user-ho5qf5ou5p]

A Chinese student has climbed over the Great Fire Wall and is currently enjoying the Great Crash Course lol😂

[@declanli9043]

@the lost star warrior hhh，me

[@UGMD]

High five

[@chenhu2128]

same here

[@wenyujiang8206]

@Flamebuster32 here as well

[@equinoxtabu9763]

🤣

[@huaningwang4676]

Actually the Chinese are watching! I was very surprised the last time I went to Beijing and found my uncle watching Crash Course World History. He's a big fan.

[@conho4898]

Huaning Wang wait, youtubes there??

[@willgoogletakethisname3963]

Tim Tran There's always a way. May not be legal but there is always one.

[@jinchizhou7968]

Kev In Lol when i was in China I was able to get on youtube

[@shaojiewu9805]

Jinchi Zhou So was I!!

[@petrucci15]

Huaning Wang well....i would say like 1% of chinese bother to use youtube, because they dont get it.

[@luisageorge7114]

"But the Vietnamese weren't fighting for communism. They were fighting for Vietnam" I didn't expect you guys to know this :)

[@lamberrytv8845]

+Thuy Nguyen Excellent us of historical evidence. John Kerry's speech?

[@shanearnold7781]

It made me happy when they said that

[@TheGhost-zo7po]

+Shane Arnold Me too, I agree.

[@Bourne1710]

+Shane Arnold why?

[@shanearnold7781]

Bourne1710 Because, as an American, I am continuously disappointed with how my peers think that the Vietnamese were the evil communists that wanted genocide, when meanwhile they just wanted to be free. It was neat to hear another American acknowledge that.

[@flagcoco69]

I'm glad John brought up the fact that Ho's primary concern was to see an independent Vietnam. Ho was a nationalist who, as a young man in France, when to Versailles to petition the Allies after World War One to declare French Indochina free, to which he was laughed out of the room. Understanding the West didn't take his request seriously, he turned to the USSR, which was all too happy to help. In the 20s and 30s he learned techniques for propaganda and guerrilla fighting, waiting for the right time, which came in 1945 after the French military had left to fight in Europe and the Japanese ran amok; when the Japanese left, between that time and the reinstallment of the French by the Allies who believed France had suffered enough in WWII and shouldn't be deprived of her colonies. It's an oversimplification, but the communists led by Ho were the most powerful faction and, with help from the Soviet Union, were able to keep France from retaking the country. After Dien Bien Phu in 1954, the war only changed in that the US took over from France, and as France saw the war as a reconquest, the US saw it as a crusade against communism. For Vietnam, they had been fighting the Chinese and the French for a thousand years for independence, and THAT is what the US government couldn't wrap their heads around; they saw Vietnam as just another Cold War theatre, Yankee vs. Russkie. The reason why the war became unpopular is because Americans not only didn't see the need to die there, some actually did their homework and realized the struggle for democracy was secondary to Vietnam; independence was their goal, and that should have been something every American could empathize with. This theme of not understanding the cultures we go to war with had been a common thread in our foreign policy ever since, which is why we can't win these wars we keep fighting, because we don't bother to understand the people and their history. Ho was a nationalist and a Vietnamese patriot who, because the Allies didn't take him seriously, sought help that would.

[@Matt-um5sb]

Well said.

[@lebien4554]

Bravo my friend, bravo from vietnam

[@Sinklair8]

Or they could just use paragraphs to divide up the text. that wall is very overwhelming xD

[@user-yc3yv8lr2k]

Well China was ignored again. The most powerful support during the war against France and the U.S. for Vietnam actually came from China, not the USSR. Thousands of Chinese soldiers died for this foreign independent war, not to mention the huge quantities of supplies China gave during his most difficult time. In fact, the Vietnam troops were directly commanded by a Chinese general called 韦国清 during the battle of Dien Bien Phu.

[@jonahbert111]

Yes, but how do we know what the true intent of the Rulers of the US had in going to war? The first rule of US war seems to be to kill lots of civilians and destroy stuff, particularly infrastructure. The second rule is to make lots of money for the Congress Military Industrial Complex while greasing the gears of corruption in the US. The third rule is to give the US reconstruction and mineral concerns a leg up in later reconstructing the country and cashing in on mineral deposits, particularly oil. And with that, the war (pick one) was a great success. Note that each succeeding war seems to succeed in dropping many more bombs than the last war, as if dropping bombs was the only conceivable solution to "conflicts". And in leading up to the war, the opposing country can be great friends. And after too! You would think these wars were contrived by racist psychopaths concerned only with money or something.

[@TheTigerfan99]

"We love you China. Just kidding. You're not watching because of the Great Firewall!" Me, showing my Chinese students this in our history class in China: "Well, that's awkward."

[@Cyranek]

what is this man's shirt collar doing?

[@westsidegunn2898]

What are you doing here lmao

[@ani2628]

ecks dee wat da 'ell bru

[@StephenHudakJr]

fixes itself at 8:15 ish

[@sign.language.l5765]

Cyranek it doesn’t know what’s it’s doing, it’s okay.

[@hassangoli8080]

jerking around.

[@hiepdoshin7846]

As a Vietnamese, this is the first time ever I could identify a Mystery Document.

[@ducdoan7933]

The relationship between Vietnam and America was really bad during the Vietnam war. However, not a lot people know we had a really good relationship before that. During WW2, when the Japanese replaced the French and occupied Vietnam, the Viet Minh worked together with America, rescued American pilots and reported Japanese troop movement. We were allies, fighting together against the Japan Empire. The Vietnam Independent Declaration in 1945 was written based on America’s 1776 Declaration of Independence.

[@aztec0996]

And imagine being from Vietnam, having looked up to the United States and it's declaration of independence just for them to give you the boot for trying to do the same lol damn.

[@bluebird5173]

^ If I'm not mistaken, after the Vietnamese and Americans joined forces to defeat the Japanese Empire, Ho Chi Minh hoped their shared struggle would bond the two and actually asked the Americans to help Vietnam gain independence from French rule once and for all. Imagine the kick to the gut when the U.S. took France's side instead.

[@aztec0996]

Blue Bird pretty shameful on our (American) side. Funny how they didn't stop to think that colonialism was as invasive to the Vietnamese as communism was to Americans

[@marielaorozco7219]

wow im sad

[@danielphung6146]

@@spencer5028 The expansion of the Chinese territory is horrifying. They are declaring the sea to the right of Vietnam theirs, even Western geography textbooks acknowledge that it is "South China Sea". In Vietnam, we have never called it the "East Vietnam Sea" or just "Vietnam Sea", we call it the "East Sea", because it is a communal space. Even though it is an area of sharing, countries still would have to set their borders in case of an invasion. Which has been violated recently by the Chinese government who are conquering the seas, violating human rights and slowly invading Vietnam by playing Monopoly. Houses are being bought under lower class Vietnamese people of which the money was given by Chinese investors to keep this alarming movement "unnoticed". Why would these people sell their loyalties for cash? It could be due to lack of education or just simply too poor to care.

[@trantrungnam612]

"But the Vietnamese weren't fighting for communism . They were fighting for Vietnam" I cry everytime i heard this ;_; Like seriously ;_;

[@Soulrrr]

Same here ;_; one of favourite lines in all of KZbin

[@florenmage]

khai do Yeah.It kills my heart to hear it. = (

[@trantrungnam612]

30/4/2015 marked the 40th year since Saigon liberation .

[@homeofthemad3044]

khai do i cant tell if you are criticizing that line or what but know this Ho chi minh was at the signing of the treaty of Versailles that ended WWI he supported wilsons 14 points and was fighting for independence from France after they reoccupied the colony following WWII

[@trantrungnam612]

Johnny Pintozzi I knew . It was the U.S who trained Vietminh troops during the time Japanese occupied Vietnam.I guess everyone is just a tool for them , to use if it serve their goal and betrayed them when they are no longer of use .

[@CNX625]

You know I realized something, in world history class, we never learn about the history of Southeast Asia. And the many wars and kingdoms in Southeast Asia.

[@Sinklair8]

That's true, but it would still be nice to have to take a class that focuses more on "not america" (or wherever you live haha). While it's definitely more important to learn the history of your own country first, they world is more connected than it ever has been and its becoming increasingly important to understand the history of other countries as well -- especially when that history affects us.

[@Sinklair8]

Belal DarkneSS I'm not necessarily talking about dressing codes or something specific like that. I'm talking more about just general history. For example, in the U.S. we don't learn a lot about the middle east. In my experience, we sort of skimmed it, but we aren't really taught why things are the way they are or given time to understand anything, and considering we were involved over there, you would think that would be relevant and important. I don't think we even had any questions about it on the big end-of-the-year test, and that was in a world history class, mind you. Actually, we tend to skim over everything that happened with the natives too. We've either taught a dumbed down version that doesn't include all the shitty things that happened, or it's a footnote in a bigger chapter about westward expansion. I MEAN, that's even more important because that's history about our own country. I think that was sort of OP's point. We focus a lot on all the white people in history (at least over here), and we don't give a lot of time to other cultures and people when their history is absolutely intermingled with ours and important for us to learn too. (That's how I took it anyway xD) I don't doubt that our countries are different, but considering we only have "like 300 years of history," you would think we would be able to focus more on "not America."

[@dsahgkg]

Geminisign123 you can take those kind of history class in college or universities, where they have class focus exclusively on said region or country.

[@alpinthor]

because our history (i'm Indonesian btw) before the western colonialism are full of legends and myths.

[@akhmalamaluddin8649]

I'm learning about Southeast Asian history in my Syllabus rn.Its very complicated since it encompasses from the Early ADs and has too many details 😭😭

[@valkyrie8029]

Really needing a Crash Course on The Vietnam War itself. This was great.

[@gabbybirraroblox2556]

Me:Why does Vietnam like the USSR Friend:Easy, they were Communist Me:No because they were SoViet

[@Aerith0823]

NO GOD PLEASE NO NO NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[@taani]

Oh my god why did I come across this comment🙄😂

[@cyberyoutabe5995]

Comrade Turkey Got His Vodka Well There communist because of desperation they were weakened so they just have to join Plus I get the joke

[@chaelisa]

I'm so sad. My teacher bothered exactly 5 minutes to explain this topic and quickly moved on to the next one. Like, I waited 11 school years to learn about my CULTURE and you give me 5 minutes??

[@nonoun9619]

Huyen Nguyen Wanna learn about your culture? Go do it in your own time

[@MLH134]

like honestly this topic is something that America is not really proud of, so Its ez to understand why ....

[@crimsonsea3447]

It's complicated...5 minutes is better than 5 years of confusion. Just remember this, Vietnam No.1! Ok, move on. :v

[@y33tboy97]

Nonoun exactly

[@envyling2461]

More than 40 years after the Vietnam War ended & it's still a very sensitive topic to bring up in America that could easily spark a fight...

[@rustwolfian6682]

As a Vietnamese i approved the content in this video,a lot of people misunderstood the reason why we were fighting but you nail it Crash Course,good job and awsome video as as always

[@jblackburn]

11:34 onwards is gold. "How did that work out Stan?" "Ahhh.... not great."

[@mordant221]

I still trust my government... to repeat history

[@zlatko8051]

F

[@kimarous]

This taught me more about the Vietnam War than I ever learned from school. Granted, I'm Canadian and the study of American wars is minimal at best hereabouts, but it's nice to finally "get" what that conflict really was.

[@omarcillo060]

Over here at Mexico as well, this video is quite enlightening for a topic so controversial and messy.

[@trungd8131]

Hi, I'm Vietnamese and I live in Vietnam. I really want to watch this video when I found out this Crash Course series. I would like to share that understanding history is really complicated, but we should keep reading and asking questions. Born in 1993, it is hard for me to imagine where I live used to be fierce battleground.

[@gjkeenan123]

It’s interesting that the Korean War is seen as “the forgotten war” is very much an American thing. In Ireland, we learned about Korea, Vietnam and the Cuban Missile Crisis as one whole unit of study in Cold War history.

[@areeshahasan8665]

so ask yourself this: if the US gov lied about an incident in order to go to war in Vietnam, what other incidents are they lying about that victimize/harm other groups for US's benefit?

[@dannyc1982]

Love the work John, but one sentence really stood out as being lazy a little arrogant. The UNC forces consisted of troops from: Republic of Korea (South Korea) - 590,911 United States - 302,483 United Kingdom - 14,198 Philippines - 7,468 Thailand - 6,326 Canada - 6,146 Turkey - 5,453 Australia - 2,282 New Zealand - 1,385 Ethiopia - 1,271 Greece - 1,263 France - 1,119 Colombia - 1,068 Belgium - 900 South Africa - 826 Netherlands - 819 Luxembourg - 44 A visit to the Korean War Museum in Seoul would let you know how thankful Koreans are to each and every solider and medic who came to their aid from all over the world. Rarely has such a diverse force been united to help what was effectively a civil war in what was (at that time) a third world country. By the way - 44 Luxembourgers? That's no small sacrifice on their part!

[@clhughes1000]

I'm glad you mentioned what happened with Cambodia. A lot of people my age don't know that we were indirectly responsible for the Khmer Rouge coming to power. I spent about 2 and half weeks there this summer and you can still see the effects it has on Cambodian society today.

[@wondledonkey]

Did you know we dropped more ordnance on Cambodia alone during the war then all the Allies did on axis powers in WW2? We obliterated a whole nation and set the stage for decades of massacre. I don't think that campaign was ever acknowledged publicly by the US government.

[@EmperorTikacuti]

Don't spread American imperial ideology or you're gonna get killed for working with dictators.

[@clhughes1000]

DW42536387384 The ordnance number is unsurprising. However, to my knowledge, we did not bomb the whole country, "just" the northern part (where, you know, all of the temples and the extremely old and beautiful things are...) We certainly set the stage for the Khmer Rouge. There are 2 great movies about this: The killing fields and the tenth dancer. Also, I think we did acknowledge it publicly, if not it certainly became widely known by the public.

[@occasional_doomer]

DW42536387384 Hello again, you really are tireless.

[@ry-hn3em]

"he doesn't write his own books because he's so busy with his secret career" i'm crying the Shade at james patterson omfg

[@MaiPham-gk3rb]

12:47 "But the Vietnamese weren't fighting for communism. They were fighting for Vietnam."

[@Bennamar1997]

I hate the cold war. It led to the division of Korea, nuclear weapon race, and the thing that concerns me, as a Moroccan, and have caused a lot of problems to us : the creation of Polisario.

[@nebulavortexhd8007]

who's watching this because of school ?

[@SamsonZhangTheSalmon]

1:12 No, we're watching, because piracy!

[@zhennixu476]

Yup

[@xukaili8272]

When u migrate to some other countries, you can watch yt. I did

[@thingthought9930]

And virtual private network, im actialy watching that from shanghai

[@deitnerb6382]

XD when I visited China I had the virtual network on all the time. EXPLOITS BITCHES

[@thingthought9930]

Deitnerb I lived there for 3 years, it made my inernet soooo laggy

[@evelunn8410]

"How does that work out, Stan?" "Not great." "Pfft yeah! I'll say"

[@connorschultz380]

What happened?

[@davidmihal6279]

@@connorschultz380 Gulf War, Panama Invasion, Balkan Wars, Iraq War, Afghan War, Syrian Intervention.

[@WWIIUK]

You do know that other countries were in the korean war. these countries were involved too :- ›United Kingdom ›Australia ›Belgium ›Canada ›Colombia ›Ethiopia ›France ›Greece ›Luxembourg ›Netherlands ›New Zealand ›Philippines ›South Africa ›Thailand ›Turkey so it was not just the USA and south korean in the krean war

[@dvoicer6785]

Yeah, but about 90% of the UN forces that were sent to korea, which is what those soldiers were a part of were US soldiers.

[@deliciousbutter6077]

You could say that for basically every war that America has fought

[@WWIIUK]

Deliciousbutter no. The US civil war was against the north and south and had nothing to do with anyone but americans. other than arms trade between britain. That war was 100% american. there for not every war that America has fought in has been 90% of americans soldiers fighting. as well WWI it was probably 20% american and 30% british and 50% french and belgum. that dos not equel 90% americans.

[@racoonknux49]

This is Crash Course: US History, not Crash Course: Britannia Rules The Waves

[@WWIIUK]

Yes. But it's all America America America to US citizens. There’s a whole world other than America you know. History is told by the victors of wars not by the losers. And in this case it was a UN effort to perfil an American ideology set by harry s Truman called the Truman doctoring as well as the policy of containment. So I’m telling history how it was. not through the eyes of an American. Also the Korean War has not been won or lost so there is no victor to tell it from there side.

[@TheImpiroGirl]

Greetings from Suzhou, Jiangsu, CHINA, Asia. Believe me we are watching ;) Nearly all of us have VPN here.

[@Asianese]

oo thats my hometown!!! gotta love dat VPN

[@TheImpiroGirl]

That's awesome :)

[@TheBlackstarrt]

TheImpiroGirl That is fantastic. Also, very glad to hear it. I am always happy to hear that people from China, can get away from censorship. That way you all can know what is going on in the world, like, the Good USA does as well as the bad. But, I doubt the chinese government is just spending all day telling the chinese people how bad americans are lol.

[@thickerthanwater42]

What's VPN?

[@justinegan6342]

Good stuff!!!

[@augustokonrad3572]

10:37 "Let's local troops do our job while we pull out slowly" Is that Vietnam war or Iraq war?

[@mobius1iun662]

both.

[@TheTariqibnziyad]

or the Afghan war

[@l.jboylan6704]

america didnt fight

[@ruthpastor1986]

Digital Emperor true , they're always saying they fight for our freedom but they aren't , they just letting our own army to finish the war , then they're always saying that they save our country but the true heroes is our army not them , anyway from Philippines.

[@envyling2461]

Sadly Vietnam War History now repeats itself in Iraq & Afghanistan & perhaps Syria too...

[@JP-yf2bg]

I now hate crash course because my teacher is making it mandatory to watch these to complete our assignments...And my slow brain can't keep up with these videos....

[@kamakazibob]

My grandfather fought with the Viet Minh during the 40's when the Japanese occupied the area. His understanding of the US's support at the time was that they would help establish Vietnam as an independent country no longer controlled either by the Japanese or the French. But when that didn't happen, and when the Viet Minh ideology turned more communist, he decided that was enough fighting and lived in Saigon until he evacuated with his wife on April 29, 1975. This is the first time someone outside my family has taught the history of the US's involvement while acknowledging that it was a little two-faced in its motivations. Good job John!

[@Hyde-fi_Audio]

Dear John and other crash course members, I just wanted to let you know that I appreciate your videos. The educational system around where I live (western Quebec) is lacking a severe amount of diverse historical content in the curriculum. These videos help me grasp a little more info that I've always been curious about with plenty of honesty and insight. They also help me to get started on my quest to google search further detail. Thanks so much. Please, feel free to review the history of every corner of the world. -Reilly

[@52wbending52]

This episode always makes me cry. The more I study East Asia and Southeast Asia the more difficult it becomes to separate myself emotionally from history. Thank you. You really helped pave my interest in Asia and human rights.

[@zehuizhao7844]

The great fire wall means nothing to us!

[@griggsgibs3933]

little mistake. "North Korean patrol boats attacked US warships." 7:23

[@zorq2]

I noticed that too and it confused me for the entire time he was talking about the gulf of Tonkin resolution. They really need to fix that.

[@dontaskwhy9x]

Just a typing error :) CrashCourse should fix this line

[@flagassault9715]

Griggs Gibs more like big mistake, you don't mess with America

[@crimsonsea3447]

clearly, someone skipped straight to comment

[@sank8760]

I thought only me who noticed this

[@MigraiineRMN]

You guys really should do an episode on the British Empire and The East India Trading Company

[@jayman327]

you should put all on these videos in audio on Spotify. I'd love to listen and get caught up when I'm driving.

[@thepurplebunnyx5825]

I'm learning more in 13 minutes than I have in the last 3 weeks in my history class xD

[@TACOINSURANCE]

I think the "mostly American and South Korean" line was off-colour and out of touch. Here in Canada we actually recognise the war for what it was an honour the fallen as part of Remembrance Day every year. We sent over 26,000 troops and lost over 500 men.

[@yogsothoth7594]

"Basically America and south Korea". American always seem to forget the people that help them so quickly. Load of people like you Canadians and us British were in that war.

[@simonsmith2373]

Gareth Brooks-Martin But in no where near as much soldiers as either USA or South Korea

[@inkbuss]

I think that the reason that he didn't mention other nation's soldiers participating is that you can only cram so much info into a 14 min. long video , not to mention the fact the he was talking about the Cold War in Asia in general and wasn't covering the Korean War specifically ......

[@zorq2]

Peak SK forces in Korea:590,911 Peak US forces in Korea:325,270 Peak UK forces in Korea:14,198 Peak Canadian Forces in Korea: 6,146 John Green correctly assessed the troop levels.

[@rich64bit]

This is one of my favorite videos, the Vietnam war was the first major war to be on tv so now everyone is pretty aware of what mistakes to avoid, may not always work out that way though

[@EviljelloX]

hi

[@SamTochelliDzn]

>What mistakes to avoid Except our political leaders.

[@seanhuffert500]

8:50 Gotta love those Apocalypse Now references

[@blacktongs]

Thank you for this video. I am a young Vietnamese-Australian. The Vietnam war has permanently changed my life and the lives of those closest to me. I still have so many unanswered questions. As a Southern Vietnamese descendent should I hate the Viet Cong? Should I hate Ho Chi Minh? Why did we leave? What does it mean for those left behind? I believe by understanding why such a tragedy as the Vietnam War occurred I can look past the hate, prejudices and vengefulness and hope for a better more peaceful Vietnam.

[@crashcourse]

In which John Green teaches you about the Cold War as it unfolded in Asia. As John pointed out last week, the Cold War was occasionally hot, and a lot of that heat was generated in Asia. This is starting to sound weird with the hot/cold thing, so let's just say that the United States struggle against communist expansion escalated to full-blown, boots on the ground war in Korea and Vietnam. In both of these cases, the United States sent soldiers to intervene in civil wars that it looked like communists might win. That's a bit of a simplification, but John will explain it all to you. The Cold War in Asia: Crash Course US History #38

[@DarkadeTV]

You just know CrashCourse wants to quote that damn Katy Perry song. xD

[@ig7157]

Testing if i can comment.

[@benkompar8720]

Ian Glascock lol yes it worked

[@ciracienio7157]

Gotta love that Intro #Intro

[@joshluu7356]

Jahanam9994 i hated viet school for that statement

[@MistaOneGuy]

I wish he had touched more on Vietnams exclusive role in overthrowing the khmer rouge, to the distaste of China.

[@jfridy]

Yeah, but by then we were out of the region, and this one is focused on US actions.

[@MistaOneGuy]

touche

[@jfridy]

Did you ever watch Vietnam, the 10,000 day war 1945 - 1975? It's a 10 hour documentary series. Quite informative.

[@jfridy]

It's more about the Indo-China wars in general. I don't know any shows about the Vietnam/Cambodia fight, or the China/Vietnam fight.

[@jfridy]

***** Which was a surprise to many, because for years the US had believed that the Soviet Union controlled the actions of pretty much every Communist nation and movement. Even after the China/Soviet Split it was thought that China was the Puppeteer. Seeing a crack like that would lead to real diplomatic gains for the in the late 70s and 80s. But this is pretty far off this course's subject, a general study of US history.

[@mjb4126]

The key lesson from this episode is that Stan is in fact a real person...

[@notgia6984]

"Asia! , not my best work" *flips table during intro*

[@IronCandyNotes]

Actually Ho-chi-minh asked the USA for help... but they choose to be on the side of british-french-imperialism.

[@janetngantran]

That is why we chose to stand alone!!

[@jfridy]

Ngân Trần We sided with the French, and they thanked us by leaving NATO. You made the right choice.

[@FishCakeIce]

just found my 1994 kid's world atlas and it's pretty cool in the new countries section are all of the u.s.s.r. nations and the yugoslavia area is all still one country. i am surprised because it has czech republic and slovakia as two separate countries and germany as one. it's an atlas from kind of in the middle of everything changing. funny, it boasts completely updated edition on the front xD

[@-SUM1-]

Hahahaha

[@MUSTASCH1O]

FishCakeIce It's an artifact!

[@jamessayers2153]

I bought my first atlas then it was out dated the next day when Russia annex Crimea, bad timing I guess.

[@FishCakeIce]

James Sayers oops xD

[@phthedude1]

James Sayers nobody recognises it as russian by international standards its korrect

[@stackofpancakes]

Hi I'm Chinese and watching this in China 👋 we love you too crash course!

[@ilaibavati6941]

At 30secs that reminded me of Columbus, he thought he'd reach Asia but it ended up landing on the Americas.

[@raymondtong6592]

Sorry dude, but I'm Chinese and we can watch KZbin... you just have to use different browsers and a few skills of using loopholes!

[@TrueLifeRetelling]

Raymond Tong Incredible

[@tpac83]

Welcome!

[@datfisheboi6519]

A surprise, but a welcome one to be sure

[@chrissalas8712]

My mother teaches Chinese students English, so I know this already XD

[@ghostxxxrebirth]

as a history major, my senior thesis is the truman administration's relationship with south korea from 1945-1948. this video confirms why i love this topic. thanks guys.

[@peter1542004]

oh Truman, the common sense guy, who does not know that Stalin has already unlocked U.S's Atomic bomb secret.

[@chrismarco17]

8:47 The mission accomplished sign in the background. Well played, Mr. Green. Well played.

[@othmanechenguiti8119]

They are a lot of easter eggs in this video, including the Full Metal Jacket "BORN TO KILL" helmet

[@inhtonminhuc3339]

I’m Vietnamese and I like the way he explained the reason why our people fought the war.

[@Magunnnny]

I've watched every episode...twice. Thank you to returning my love for history. Please continue this. I really really hope you aren't running out of time periods to review on or maybe becoming disinterested. Because this is high quality videos and I know it will be picked up or gain twice as many views as you continue. Keep it up. You got a fan base!

[@bestqualitydivaboo1098]

7:23 you guys meant North Vietnamese patrol boats right..? not North Korean patrol boats LOL

[@peterfrengel3964]

Yes, he mispoke there. Please fix this little glitch!

[@dot7543]

8:19 i hear “rolling thunder,” i think of nishinoya

[@batignolles-chatillonchar2906]

I really like the M3 Lee in the background at 8:46 . In one of the world war 2 videos from crash course I noticed that people were calling the platoon of M7s a "Bunch of M4s". They clearly can't distinguish the turrets LOL.

[@Ashadow700]

9:20 More bombs then _ALL_ of World War 2?!?! HOLY SH--!?

[@lehoang3532]

Yes If I'm corrected, total number of bombs that American dropped in Vietnam had equal power to five nuclear bomb (the one they dropped to Hiroshima or Nagasaki). And that doesn't included artillery from ground, sea and ammunition from guns

[@somewony]

This was a really great episode, one of the only ones i've added to my favourites. I found it really interesting, because as a Belgian i hadn't learned a lot about i yet, and it really made me look up some of the things you mentioned, like the My Lai massacre. Also, i though the ending was really beautifully done. It reminds me of the current situation in Afganistan.

[@angiepierre6710]

Just saw Dr. Manhatten in the backgroud at 7:34 and I'm loving it

[@blazemacarthur3555]

+Crashcourse 7:25 North *Korean* Patrol boats?

[@alexcharlick4740]

+Blaze MacArthur I just noticed this and it totally threw me off

[@noahhamrick7255]

+Alexander Charlick I know me two

[@jordanjain7578]

HELLO! :D I'm probably the only one who actually watches this series for fun and for a love of history

[@EmperorTikacuti]

History is fun :)

[@computercube123]

you mean other than me?

[@EmperorTikacuti]

What's is your problem?

[@AxinInvaxion]

I am Chinese and I am watching you, John Green... Closely...

[@theknightofbadassness301]

:)

[@captain959]

i'm north korea and watching you

[@theknightofbadassness301]

I'm just happy to9 be here.

[@Anilkumar-or5jv]

This helped me a lot to revise for my gcse history exam tomorrow.

[@anthonyelg9232]

these videos are so much better than any of the reading materials provided by my professors. Thank you for being my primary learning resource CrashCourse

[@KingCronan]

Once you are done with Crash Course U.S. history I think it would be really good to do Asian history. It wasn't touched on very much during the World History series and i think its an area a lot of us westerners don't know much about. :)

[@nereidafilomena4438]

And Canadian history!

[@brixtonkiwi]

I like this idea! I did a paper on Asian History at Uni as was fascinated by how much we don't know in the west!

[@FlyingDwarfzz]

Wait, Americans forget about the Korean war? In Australia, you cant mention Vietnam without mentioning Korea. Weird.

[@BHuang92]

Yeah, Americans that that stupid or ignorant.....

[@mimipeahes5848]

It just didn't leave as big an impact I suppose.

[@OOZ662]

BHuang92 We have a lot of those, unfortunately.

[@lmao2302]

You called Americans idiots yet you said that, twice in a row. If your going to insult us then at least be self aware, you idiot.

[@canond7537]

That's why we Koreans have a love and hate relationship with them. We're like the forgotten brothers to them. Most Americans would rather worship some genodical empire like 1945 Japan

[@benschmidgall3077]

I have been watching you for a long time and just today I figured that you wrote the fault in our stars and paper towns. I’m shook

[@nofilazar5441]

i love you john. i started watching these videos a couple months ago and ive been acing history ever since. also your litterature thing is pretty dope

[@chrisliffrig5603]

John I often disagree with your political views ( which are oft apparent in your videos); but this time I personally think you were spot on. And I was sincerely hoping that you would read one of Ho Chi Minh's/Nguyen Ai Quoc's many letters to U.S. Presidents, appealing for liberation from colonization. Not a defender of Ho by any stretch, but you are right in that we we're fighting against people fighting for liberation, and we thereby precipitated the rise of Communist influence in the region. The irony. A self fulfilling prophecy. Hopefully we learn from this lesson; but if our war on terror is any indication, history is repeating itself. Thanks for the vid.

[@CommanderOshawott]

So in the making of this episode they were all just like "We're talking about the Vietnam war at one point right?" "Right" "THEN USE AAAALLLLL THE APOCALYPSE NOW REFERENCES!!!!"

[@TheSignalTower]

4:42 Charizard lol

[@tennvolsman]

+Minta Loua WE'RE GONNA EVOLVE!

[@kathrineahmed7211]

hey really enjoyed this series, I just want to keep coming back for more!

[@richardehrich6866]

May I suggest you do a Crash Course Archaeology in this really cool series? This wouldn't be another recounting of ancient history (you already did that really well in World History), but a look at the history of the discipline itself and thereby at how we deal with material remains of our distant past and how narratives about that past changed over time - from the beginnings of antiquarianism and imperialist looting of colonial riches to the development of techniques and refinement of theoretical constructs right down to cutting-edge stuff like aerial laser scans or decoding the Neanderthal genome (which would be a great way to get Hank involved). Current issues of archaeology like cultural protection in war zones, the fight against organized trade of looted antiquities - a main source of funding for terrorist organizations -, or excavations of modern remains to learn more about our current material culture should get a lot of people excited, as would the illustrious characters involved in its history such as the cunning archaeologist/entrepreneur Heinrich Schliemann or the dashing archaeologist/secret agent T. E. Lawrence. And while, yes, it might be true that what Indiana Jones does has little in common with actual archaeology, the sense of adventure conveyed in these and other movies is certainly a big part of it! I'm currently a grad student of archaeology, mostly specialized in Chinese archaeology, but well versed in many other regions around the globe, and I'd be thrilled to lend a hand on the research side of this!

[@ieuanhunt552]

And what army came in and put a stop the the massacring in Cambodia. The Vietcong

[@gr6373]

It wasn't the Viet Cong, it was the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. The Viet Cong were guerrillas, they wouldn't be able to successfully stop the Khmer Rouge.

[@ieuanhunt552]

Greedii G Yes but saying they were different armies is like saying that the Mujahideen are different from the Taliban. They have a different name but the soldiers, particularly the officers just moved from one army to another.

[@gr6373]

Ieuan Hunt I get the example but it goes more toward the NVA becoming the VPA.

[@ieuanhunt552]

Greedii G All I'm saying is that the Vietcong deserve respect. They saved a lot of lives,

[@ieuanhunt552]

Tin Han Or american propagandists who ignored it because they lost.

[@xw5419]

Heyloo~~~ from Beijing. Actually I'm not only watching CC but watching it on my living room TV by my Chromecast! and I'm a big fan of Crash Course myself, the courses of US history, world history, and the non-Green US politics are my favorites. I'm introducing the show to a lot of my Chinese colleagues and friends through the years.

[@ChristianPitter1]

Great job! Entertaining and informative, as always.

[@emilynetherton5208]

Who else is watching all of these videos in preparation for the AP US history test on Friday?

[@RotundoSawesome]

STAN HAS A VOICE!?!?!?! I don't think I can handle this.....

[@EmperorTikacuti]

Wonder what his face looks like.

[@BenjaminAlexander]

he once voiced an opposition to John Green's tantrum "I want to be a professor of the Dark Arts". It must have been in World History, "The Dark Ages".

[@evildoctortaco]

Knowing that the mystery document was Ho Chi Minh made me feel smart thank you Crash Course

[@ethan6118]

I have an exam on asian cold war tomorrow. This was really helpful!

[@Aanzeijar]

Can someone explain this Red Scare thing to me? It may have made sense during and following WWII but I don't understand how it can keep so popular even today. Everything associated even distantly with socialism or even communism is by definition beyond redemption. It almost surprises me that no one has voted to abolish social security by now, it has social in the name!

[@spamthecatcher]

The brainwashing was too good. I grew up in the Red Scare generation, and for decades was convinced that the Commies were going to take over. Even today, I have to take a step back and think for a second before I respond on the subject. The propaganda was intense, and compelling. The far right still pushes that agenda today, with the "slippery slope" argument that any movement that they perceive as socialist will result in the gov't stripping away our civil liberties completely. It's insane, but thinking men and women can overcome the training if we try.

[@sweginswegin]

Great video as always! I wish, though, that to accompany this one there was also a "Cold War in Latin America" episode. Arbenz, Castro, Allende, Contras...

[@samuelmarconett1979]

Hated being forced to watch these in high school, but I am returning for a 300 level college course lol they truly are valuable resource.

[@MAX_TAC]

Gotta love those Apocalypse Now references. Charlie Don't Surf!

[@cashewcatz]

My school loves to watch your crash course videos!!!!

[@Imagine-Baggins]

I feel like the dominant phrase in this lesson is "In retrospect, this seemed like a good idea, but..."

[@melissaprice5002]

My US History final has led to me watching this video like 43 times. I feel like I've memorized the whole video.

[@erikmerrill8280]

How did the United States definitely lose Vietnam when they weren't even in the war when it was lost? In fact the provisions of the Paris Peace Accords in 1973 kept the Saigon government intact with all of its territory which was the goal of US involvement. This treaty was signed by the VC and North Vietnamese. The reason the North Vietnamese were able to take South Vietnam was because the US did not give aid to the South Vietnamese effectively going back on their word during the peace talks because Nixon was forced to resign.

[@nguyenhoangphucluan8059]

So you never heard vietcong destroyed 66 B-52 plan with rocket launch ?

[@leosheehan7574]

My shitty world history teacher just plays crash course videos for class. Jon you are my real history teacher thank you.

[@seeifthisoneworks]

7:20 North Korean patrol boats, are you sure?

[@seeifthisoneworks]

Before you all get your Jimmies rustled, I know what he meant, it actually took me several times of watching this to even catch it ;)

[@jjstrongarms3720]

Good catch, I didn't even notice it.

[@FutureMatrioshkaBrain]

Rewatching this is like rewatching a blast from the past. A few of the information here is out of date but its still 80% accurate

[@icytadbull]

6:57 actually it was not Ho Chi Minh who was the ultimate NVA military tactician but Võ Nguyên Giáp, self-taught general. The ARVN had 1 prominent general well-regarded by his US counterparts, Ngô Quang Trưởng.

[@nolanthiessen895]

"He doesn't write his own books because he's too busy with his secret career, being a historian" Sounds like John Green to me.

[@joshuadurant1250]

In 2005, an NSA report on the records from the night of the Gulf of Tonkin incident concluded that the event was blown out of proportion on purpose, which is pretty significant, since the NSA was the one who did the initial blowing. According to the report, "It is not simply that there is a different story as to what happened; it is that no attack happened that night." Yes, the North Vietnamese attack that started the Vietnam War didn't actually happen, and American officials knew it almost immediately.

[@joshuadurant1250]

A Vietnam civil war was happening but not the American Vietnam war. We some of our advisers killed. The Gulf of Ton-kin incident is what sparked our full involvement and us entering the war on the side of the South Vietnamese.

[@thepens7kr232]

Hello, CC John Green, I wish you have a video about Korea more because it has many amount of things that happened until now. Such as gojoseon, gokureo, bakjae, sinra, balhe, korea, joseon, and colony of japan. I'm using this video for studying, so wish you made one video Thank you, and good day!

[@jeffbrna4336]

It's 12:41 a.m. And I got an AP test in the morning, God bless john green