The End of Civilization (In the Bronze Age): Crash Course World History 211

[@MauroEnfermoDeLepra]

Moral of the Story: Intereconected and interdependant globalized societies based on trade and diplomatic treaties should be wary of the sea people.We should start fearmongering and maybe, just maybe, invade the sea and call it a "preventive invasion". Even if it's the wrong sea

[@terryosborne2964]

No we need to build a wall around the sea people and make them pay for it and then have a travel ban, banning all sea people. Then we will be great again.

[@seannolan9857]

Don't forget to collect the all-important seashells!

[@biggusdickus2643]

I think it was Caligula who declared war on Neptune. Mayby he was actually trying to attack the sea people.

[@ChadDidNothingWrong]

@@terryosborne2964 Well that might actually help via the side effect of walling off all nations to unsupervised immigration, thereby protecting against unintentional cultural decay

[@napolien1310]

Sea people in this case are aliens

[@BowNow]

Came from the sea, burned the land and changed everything? Fire Nation =_=

[@mab7727]

I taught that was Colonial Europe ...

[@wildfire9280]

@@mab7727 I taught I taw a putty cat!

[@mohammadmirzaei305]

the massive conflagration from Greece to India valley. the like genocide

[@Ryanlexz]

@@mab7727 I thought that was Arabs. Mmmm...🤔😂

[@MustafaKulle]

I miss crash course world history. I have learned so much from them. Season 3 please.

[@sogghartha]

There's lots of South American history in a series about Bolivar on Extra Credit youtube channel. Check it out!

[@jenkins_onpiano]

^^^ and it's fantastic. Also Mike Duncan's Revolutions podcast goes more in depth than extra credits

[@PenguinsKill_l]

The future is dark

[@marciorps]

"Singlehordedly" gotta be best word since the bronze age, certainly.

[@Novelboy2112]

I would take singlehordedly over earthquake storm.

[@OpDownfall93]

"Might I recommend an American film Transformers: Dark of the Moon?" No, John. You cannot.

[@ArturBriones]

But he was right it was the end of the modern civilization

[@Figgy_Jub]

God, that movie really hurts a refined mind.

[@Kenshi_2900]

Fucc Micheal bay

[@flakmoppen]

@@Figgy_Jub It was really hard on my unrefined mind as well tbh.

[@jbkjbk1999]

Plot twist: the sea people were actually underwater archaeologists.

[@ΣτέργιοςΚατσογιάννης]

Totally Not A Cylon I'm pretty sure they were the Mongols !

[@joeyerkenbrack5116]

Στέργιος Κατσογιαννης

[@milennikolov7554]

The Mongols apperead years later,more accurate answer will be the Phillistines.They were great sailors.

[@ΣτέργιοςΚατσογιάννης]

Milen Nikolov I know man ! I was just kidding :)

[@mookooy]

Milen Nikolov it was philistine mongol underwater archaeologists dun dun dun!!!

[@foxymetroid]

Like WWI, it could have been the result of a chain reaction. Droughts and/or earthquake storms weaken civilizations -> Sea People respond by going nomadic and begin supporting themselves via successful raids -> One success against a kingdom weakened by mentioned droughts and/or earthquake storms weakens said kingdom's trading partners -> they fall more easily to Sea People -> With enough kingdoms taken out, whole system of kingdoms collapses.

[@MickeyMouse-lx3nw]

Basically Vikings but we don’t know where they come and we have little information on them expect all we now they raided cities and caused the collapse of major Bronze Age civilizations.

[@MisterJasro]

As sea-people one can also argue that they might have run a decent gig as pirates. A rather crippling thing, since most trade in bulk goods like grain, oil and other living commodities tended to be carried by ship whenever possible. Plus they might not have needed to take out entire kingdoms. They just had to burn enough that peasants might question their divine rulers capacity to protect them. Cities could form local militias or armies in order to defend themselves but this further strains the fabric that holds these kingdoms together as it breaks the rulers monopoly on violence. In many ways I think that a lot similarities can be seen in the decline and fall of the western half of the Roman Empire. Just take the Vandals. A big sour as they plundered through Gall and Spain, but a crippling problem when they took to raiding the Mediterranean. Especially as metropolitan Italy couldn't supply itself and was dependent on grain shipments from North Africa, a region the Vandals conquered next before continuing on to the sacking of Rome.

[@johnlogan6682]

1177 BCE by Eric Cline, he thinks that

[@arddermout6946]

@@MickeyMouse-lx3nw its not a big stretch to imagine scandinavians were among the seapeoples. I can't prove it though.

[@kevinclass2010]

@@arddermout6946 The Goths came from Scandinavia.

[@dalevlog]

My professor suggests that famine, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions caused an unstable region that made agricultural production incredibly difficult. To feed oneself, people often formed groups and raided others that were doing more well off (hence the sea people). these raids would displace more people who often would have to resort to raiding themselves for subsistence when governments were weak. It was a vicious cycle.

[@5to22a]

Thanks, that cleared up a few things for me.

[@Wolfenkuni]

I was thinking the same. Big events don't happen for a single reason. Assume you have a famine due to a dry period. This drives people to become pirates (or sea people). Then earth quakes hit the cities leading to less trade and weakened defenses so the increasing number of Pirates could now raid the cities.......

[@ManBearPiglet]

Sea people... boat people... pirates/refugees... I could totally see that.

[@erfanmoshtagh]

ManBearPiglet pretty much, just like the vikings

[@hariman7727]

The Bronze Age also saw the first known mass irrigation and farming systems, but they likely didn't know about soil depletion and crop rotation, which probably led to decreased crop yields and famines. Combine that with even a couple of Earthquakes in the region, and the loss of a Soldier/Warrior class due to warring with each other and with desperate pirates and invading raiders for extended periods of time. That doesn't even cover the loss of the Scribes and most of the writing, so that the recordings of technologies and other methods was lost too. So many factors, and so much of it pinned on having an interconnected web of diplomacy, trade, and central control.

[@mirodigital1]

I have only just discovered you wonderful series of online films. I wish as a 50 year old man that Mr Green had been my History teacher. I would have become a kickass archeologist, historian or teacher instead of wasting 30 years working in mainstream media. You are insightful, humorous and above all human. Love you all and more power to you. Mike Sampey, Tasmania.

[@NWatkins85]

1177 BC: The Year Civilization Collapsed was a great book.

[@ChalkyTown]

Was looking for that comment ! Great book indeed !

[@tyroneslothdrop9155]

Nothing raises my level of anxiety quite like Crash Course World History.. Thank you, John Green. Thank you for reminding me that a life altering catastrophe occurring within my lifetime is not only plausible, but likely. Best wishes.

[@srvaudiau]

I love Spongebob, Aquaman, and Admiral Ackbar in the Sea People animation at 5:15 . Finally Aquaman does something bold, and Spongebob is ready to kick some ass!

[@Thought-Cafe]

Stephan Vaudiau We thought it was about time they got to show their true colours! -James

[@srvaudiau]

Thought Café When you were talking about destruction of cities and the animation at 6:45 is that a reference to Avatar the Last Airbender and the Air Nomad Genocide?

[@Thought-Cafe]

Precisely. -James

[@srvaudiau]

Thought Café Avatar the Last Airbender is an absolutely amazing series.

[@Timberhawk]

“Nation-states like war, city-states like commerce, families like stability, and individuals like entertainment.” - Nassim Nicholas Taleb

[@alexwang982]

Timberhawk Cells like glucose

[@MisterJasro]

Well I guess that explains the Venetian-Genoese wars... wait. Paloponnesian war. No. Euhm ... Well if he got 3 our of 4 that's not bad. :p

[@ChadDidNothingWrong]

I like the idea of city-states. It makes your government more accessible. ...meanwhile everybody wants to make the most impactful laws at the federal level....the part of government which was designed to be outward looking, not inward. (National defense, diplomacy, etc.), despite it being the states and cities which are meant to look inward (at you). ...Hence why even in a state the size of *Texas,* you could, even in 2007, stroll right into the capital, up to AG office, and if you didn't mind waiting, get a 5 minute meeting with the Attorney General himself, (Greg Abbott at the time). (My dad knew a guy whose business was getting jerked around by some regulatory courts in Austin. So, two years in, after exhausting all options, he just went to the AG's office (and to his surprise), got to talk to the man, who then gave him a number for someone who was able to sort things out). A Fortune 500 company couldn't even do that with the Federal government.

[@fuzzydunlop7928]

Theory: The 'Sea People' were actually refugees and migrants fleeing unfavorable climatic conditions and the resulting famines and unrest the conditions caused, this irritated by seismic disturbances and 'peasant uprisings' led to various states being unable to fend for themselves, let alone the tide of the refugees and the lack of any consolidated response to this meant that as each civilization fell, they too would join the droves of migrants and refugees seeking respite. It wasn't military decimation, it was economic decimation exacerbated by unfavorable climatic conditions.

[@OwlKami]

"Single-horde-dly brought down a civilization." Oh John, always making me smile.

[@SuperSt0ne]

Ugh. That pun is an ugh.

[@Ryan-Gartland-Ryan-Gartland]

"it is a good idea to be suspicious of a single cause imagining why historical events happened" Great point John!!! History is far too complicated to ever accept a single cause, as the study of history (as I tell my students) is far too plural to accept single causes and single results.

[@TheIronDrapery]

What if the Sea People were actually,... ALIENS. -a History Channel writer

[@iainhansen1047]

The Iron Curtain hahahahahahahahahahah................... .....this is sad

[@Px828]

I was looking for a video on Bronze Age history and came across this one, thinking, "John Green will tell me the truth."

[@crashcourse]

In which John Green teaches you about the Bronze Age civilization in what we today call the middle east, and how the vast, interconnected civilization that encompassed Egypt, The Levant, and Mesopotamia came to an end. What's that you say? There was no such civilization? Your word against ours. John will argue that through a complex network of trade and alliances, there was a loosely confederated and relatively continuous civilization in the region. Why it all fell apart was a mystery. Was it the invasion of the Sea People? An earthquake storm? Or just a general collapse, to which complex systems are prone? We'll look into a few of these possibilities. As usual with Crash Course, we may not come up with a definitive answer, but it sure is a lot of fun to think about.

[@user-rn5kr3ol6x]

It was definitely sea people. It is interesting to think about, but how can/will stuff that could bring down such civilizations affect us? A single economic or political problem could ravage our would due to our interdependence. Perhaps it's our interdependence that helps us stay out of problems like that. What I am certain of however, is that the only way we'll be able to stop Earth from looking like Venus (or at least major suffering) will be our globalization and unification of goals.

[@9365fall]

I think the sea people are the Atlantians, and i liked how one of the names in the sand was that :D What i think went down is basically what the story that became atlantis might have been before Plato told it, without the 10 kings and Athens defeating Atlantis; in that there was a series of invasions from a sea faring people and that they where finally stopped when the island they sided on was destroyed by a volcanic eruption, with the volcanic eruption being the cause of the earthquake storm, which would have further destabilized a war-torn bronze age civilization, pushing said civilization from the edge collapse from the the invasion and environmental damage due to their dependence on interconnected trade

[@michaelpesavento8268]

Forest Clevenger Hi, Wouldn't there be some archaeological evidence in what ever home country or island that the sea people had come from. Stories of conquest and ships full of bootie and slaves with stories of their former kingdoms. I would think something like that would be chronicled by the winning side for generations. Thanks.

[@TheExalaber]

David Sedkethran I was under the impression that this was literally true, to an extent. As far as I know the consensus is that the Minoans inspired Atlantis, and that their civilisation was disrupted by a giant explosion from underneath one of their cities (volcanic island) that blasted the island it was on into 4 small chunks and created volcanic winter as far away as China. Maybe they where the sea people too.

[@gabestarling8081]

The "civilization" you speak of which wasn't a civilization simply a economy dependent on bronze more over tin, exactly in the same way our civilization is dependent on gasoline or more over oil, anyways these civilizations were already in economical decline when the sea people arrived that's why they were not able to field the army to fight. Them back as they once might have been able to do. As for the sea people who knows who they originally were, but as they sacked more and more cities refugees would join them in a quest for loot and a place to live, they probables began as refugees fleeing economical decline them selves.

[@kibble24]

I've found the Bronze Age collapse very interesting for years but our current crisis (speaking from June 2020 in the United States) has really reignited my interest in the topic anew. I'm a buyer, and so I have an on-the-ground perception of the global supply chain and I'll be honest, I am mildly horrified at how fragile it is. It's unnerving to see how delicate the strings that hold our society up really are.

[@sonnybrown4758]

Sponge Bob invaded Egypt. I'm done.

[@moustafadawod7577]

oof

[@renel8964]

*SpongeBob laugh *

[@cedricvelarde]

"I'm ready! I'm ready!" While marching to destroy a civilization

[@greyarea6688]

Sorry to be a pain, John. There always appears to be a lack of volume in your recordings, whether this is due to compression of your sound files or your recording equipment I do not know. Great show as always, keep up the good work.

[@danielhong262]

What History Channel scientists would say for the sea people: ALIENS!!!

[@preachist8274]

*The FIRE NATION Attacked*

[@austinbehel2753]

These animators are so funny.

[@chenanigans]

+Austin Behel...the spongebob sea person made me literally lol.

[@ratatouille1682]

+heatmopwho And aquaman

[@ZLScratch]

I found Spongebob running out to attack ancient civilizations hilarious.

[@orlandobotney1359]

John, as an underwater archaeology student at ECU, thanks for that awesome shout out!

[@NickGreyden]

Ok, seriously! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE Stan and/or Brandon reduce the volume on the intro as the volume is super high. I literally have to mute it because it is so loud compared to everything else.

[@onlychild37]

or you can just turn down your volume on you computer or on the video

[@onlychild37]

when the intro comes on i turn mine down even when im not wearing headphones, there's a simple solution on our end to the loud audio and i gave it to me it the intro audio sounded the same to me

[@onlychild37]

i just gave a simple solution to a problem thats all, so if its not a huge deal then drop it

[@NickGreyden]

onlychild37 Ok how is this then. It is just bad editing. I don't want to hold a remote in my hand and constantly adjust the volume while watching a movie or tv show and I don't want to have to constantly adjust the volume while watching KZbin. I don't mind setting these volumes. I don't mind setting them across applications. I often don't mind setting them PER video. But when you have to adjust within a video, it gets more than a little annoying and is tacky, something I know Stan to be better than. All this is to say, much like those who review books and tell you something is wrong, there is a problem that needs to be address. Increase John's voice, lower the intro volume, click the button that says "audio normalization" I DON'T CARE but there is a problem with the intro being relatively FAR too loud and it is not only annoying but unprofessional.

[@onlychild37]

i again for the 3rd time gave a simple solution to a problem on one video. the other person said it wasnt a huge deal so i just said drop it. this is why they make volume buttons so you can adjust according. what is so wrong about giving a simple solution to a freaking problem because thats all i did

[@jordanfranklin6271]

Rewatching this video in 2023 is a real mind trip

[@lyndseykey3711]

I always enjoy this series, but I especially love how much calmer he is in these more recent videos. It makes it easier to keep up.

[@SoulRippster]

How about the 'Sea Peoples' being the last nail in the already broken coffin?

[@matthewgoodman7588]

When structures are broken joining a militant group looks more inviting. One could have caused the other.

[@barbarianjk2355]

SoulRippster maybe they were the very people that lived in this civilization, desperately looking for resources and food amidst the collapse.

[@kevinclass2010]

Not sure. The Mongols destroyed very strong empires. The kind of collapse of bronze age civilizations looks more political than economic: droughts don't cause illiteracy, killing priests and nobles will. The destruction of culture was so bad that the original Greek syllabaries were forgotten.

[@AtticusAmericanus]

The Sea People weren't a unified group, so they should be called The Sea Peoples, as the archaeologists call them. Off all the major theories regarding the Sea Peoples, none of them involves them not being real. The Boghaz Keui Hittite inscriptions mention The Sea Peoples raiding their southern cities, and this inscription was dated as being contemporary with the Egyptian records of the raids. These people were active long before the Bronze Age collapse, being mercenaries to whatever nation would have them. They are described raiding during the reign of Akenhaten, and were defeated by Ramesses II as well. They were a real people, most likely a confederation of displaced Mycenaeans (resulted from the Dorian Invasion) and western Mediterranean tribes. Did they cause the Bronze Age collapse? No. They were a product of the collapse.

[@AtticusAmericanus]

I usually don't nitpick and whine, but please don't discount a century of historical and archaeological research and the existence of an entire people because it doesn't fit into your historiographical philosophy.

[@gelasson]

Hadrian Augustus I've been told by my ancient art teacher that mycenaeans seemed to be very peaceful people. This opinion is based on their world-loving roundish wavy art. There were dolphins and stuff... oh, and they were matriarchal. Of course, the destruction of their culture could've brought some changes, but I do have a stereotype (and I am aware of the cons of having stereotypes) that mycenaeans were a peaceful people. I could also be confusing them with someone else

[@skaduskitai8721]

gelasson I think you are thinking of the Minoans. The Mycenoans took over Crete after a catstrophic vulcanic eruption had weakened the Minoans and it was most likely not a very peaceful takeover.

[@SonofSethoitae]

gelasson No, the Mycenaeans were emphatically NOT matriarchal. You're thinking of the Cretan Minoan civilization.

[@SonofSethoitae]

It was Rameses III that defeated the Sea Peoples, the victory stele is in his temple at Medinet Habu.

[@Arkantos117]

Maybe sea people was a mistranslation of sea armies which was a way of describing tsunamis.

[@00volcom00diesel00]

That's a good point but why would that explain the fires that the letter talks about?

[@Arkantos117]

00volcom00diesel00 Another mistranslation. Maybe they said the cities were razed and razing is usually linked to fires.

[@RBuckminsterFuller]

Arkantos117 Maybe it was the fantastic four on shrooms.

[@fuzzyhair321]

00volcom00diesel00 volcanoes during that time there was a really bloody big explosion

[@mitchelldubeau7006]

So earthquakes lead to tsunamis which lead to loss of food which lead to starvation which lead to peasant riots which lead to city's being burned down? actually that can be true. thank you professor sloth

[@ArakkoaChronicles]

So here's my theory - all of these factors contributed. There were earthquakes and climate change, and famine and all that fun stuff, which lead to an upheaval in the Western Meditarranean. That uprooted a bunch of tribes that had some advanced knowledge of ship-building and lack of food forced them to migrate east in search of it. Thus, they became the Sea People, raiding the stronger civilizations, which were still weakened by the same factors that uprooted the Sea People.

[@fristi61]

While there is no record left by the Sea Peoples themselves, there are records left by the Egyptians. Ramesses III (considered to be the last great New Kingdom pharaoh) fought many foreign invaders, among whom the Libyans and the Sea People. Three succesful campaigns (considered to be bona fide) against the Sea Peoples are recorded, and a personal favorite bad-ass quote: "As for those who reached my frontier, their seed is not, their heart and their soul are finished forever and ever. As for those who came forward together on the seas, the full flame was in front of them at the Nile mouths, while a stockade of lances surrounded them on the shore, prostrated on the beach, slain, and made into heaps from head to tail." So there is definitely truth to the Sea Peoples, although their exact origing and nature is not clear. I would say that it is indeed a bit too easy to consider these a single, unified people, rather I would think it's more likely that it's a catch-all term used to refer to any foreign people that invaded through sea. But I agree that it sounds unlikely that the Sea Peoples are the sole reason for the collapse, although they definitely seem to have played a part in it, (perhaps they took advantage of the already weakened civilization to invade and deal the finishing blow? there's many possible scenarios here) Either way, the Mitanni, Mycenaean and Hittite cultures were destroyed, the Egyptians survived and fought off many foreign invasions (did they survive because they fought off the Sea People, or did they manage to fight off the Sea People because they survived?), although it was much diminished (and for this I would indeed argue that it is a result of the collapse of other Empires). The Sea People definitely had a part to play and were not wholly a myth, although the extent of their actions is uncertain. Also, the Minoan civilization had already declined and been mostly absorbed into Mycenean civilization at this point. The reason for that seems to indeed have been a natural disaster of some sort, indeed possibly an earthquake. But this was around 1450BC, at least 200 years before the Bronze Age collapse.

[@obscure-cultist1709]

Someone on comments on this particular video summed up the Sea Peoples relation to the event very nicley, it went something like this: "The Sea Peoples were a symptom of the end on the Bronze Age, not its cause."

[@MisterJasro]

I think historians take a grain of salt before citing that source. Rulers have a tendency of not being completely factual when writing their own press releases. It is a great source for saying that there were "sea people", as the idea must have come from somewhere and must have been believable enough for the intended audience. That audience where the other rulers in the region, whom should therefore have had to deal with a similar thing, as well as the subject of the ruler. But I wouldn't put to much stock in how successful those victories were. After all sea raiders tend to return to the sea after a raid anyway. So where they routed by the army? Did they bale as they caught wind of the army? Or did the army arrive late, but that wasn''t a good story?

[@bullrun2772]

fristi61 I disagree with sea poeple being false

[@rysiskailepai]

This video hits different after covid and supply chain issues become prevalent

[@unvergebeneid]

I never trusted Spongebob anyway. He always looked fishy to me.

[@RustyShackleford1066]

Sea sponges aren't fish....

[@BudCharlesUnderVlogs]

ciao wutang Blasphemy!

[@Lord_Pilaf]

Üzerime Un Dök Bebeğim You're so...HANDSOME

[@ThislsYusuf]

Expectation: Giant transforming cars that turn into robots Reality: *Coronavirus*

[@MerveTuysuz]

Wow, watching this in March 2020, with the covid19 situation going on, collapse of economy in a globalized world seems relevant.

[@Y2KNW]

Love that you use Canada as the bubble for "Confederation". :)

[@seigeengine]

Slightly confusing though. Canada is most certainly not a confederation as it's generally understood.

[@darthmortus5702]

Did someone say Crab People?! Oh, you said Sea People? ... Sea People, Sea People, Sea People...

[@overlord165]

+Darth Mortus Dude that would be awesome. Only if Historians were good at naming things (The Great Bath can go and fuck itself)

[@sulla175]

+Darth Mortus Sea People plus semen equals sea-ciety.

[@wendystewart8191]

deep lol

[@ishaaqsultan9040]

Darth Mortus body like sea... brain like people ( I dont remebe if that's how the chant went i haven't seen that episode in the longest time)

[@shmuelp4504]

Darth Mortus OMG that's exactly what I was thinking

[@CleanShavenPuffin]

Sooooo... Terror From The Deep?

[@StrokeMahEgo]

call xcom

[@hoseadavit3422]

We will be watching

[@kylemullen1139]

Call the kerbals

[@deliciousd2]

John Green I would really like to see you do videos on mythological history. History that isn't actually real per se. It can be argued that fiction has just as real consequences as fact anyways. After all who are our planets named after?

[@TheMitchy27]

deliciousd2 You got your wish...

[@covenawhite4855]

Crash Course Mythology

[@VenseyNess]

6:05 PUPPYCAAAAT

[@mestre12]

Hooray

[@ragnkja]

That entire picture is just adorable.

[@AlL-tk6kw]

their is also Steven from Steven universe

[@CommissarTails]

Oh shit it Puppycat!

[@heatherwanderer777]

Nillie totally!!so adorbz on so many levels!

[@declanellery8500]

Most historians and theories I've seen concerning the collapse at the late bronze age put the blame on a mix of these things, stating that that the Sea peoples were more of a finishing blow to a group of nations devastated by natural disasters and a collapse of their inter connectivity

[@almondsss]

John Green is the coolest person ever.

[@gmdille]

Audio is super low, fine on other videos, fine on other media. Anyone else?

[@AbsurdJosh]

Yes

[@GoRepairs]

I wonder what our age will be called? I'm inclined to agree with Karl Pilkington - "it's the age of pissing about". :)

[@chasepatton3363]

Age of confusion

[@DeHerg]

don´t we already have a name? "the information age"?

[@MRawash]

Silicon Age?

[@MRawash]

DeHerg It has to be a periodic table element.

[@Actheman1978]

Plastic age

[@Zerepzerreitug]

I really liked this episode. It was a perfect combination of humor, interesting questions and facts I didn't know about. Great work

[@darylblancaflor732]

"come from the sea, burn the land." everything changed when the fire nation attacked

[@sabr3cat188]

Mr. Green, I have SEVERELY underestimated you!! Never would I have guess you to be the same man that wrote "The Fault in Our Stars"! It seems judging books by their covers takes new shapes once more, because I am both surprised and impressed. Well done!

[@billygoatideas]

Is it just me or have there been issues with the sound the last couple of episodes? Like the whole video is too quiet, but at the end the outro music is too loud and so it drowns John out.

[@KelsaRavenlock]

Not just you I can't hear a thing on this episode. At 100% volume I can maybe make out half the words

[@alexandrujuncu]

Yeah, also having this issue.

[@Gillsing]

Me too. I can't understand how a show with such high production values can miss something like proper sound levels.

[@KelsaRavenlock]

Perhaps it is a problem on KZbins side I know they are always messing up the volume on anything that's had leveling done. Are there any other sites that stream this show?

[@sorensenobd531]

No probs when I played it... *shrug*

[@greenunbidden9867]

6:48 Fire Nation ship?

[@Thought-Cafe]

Humza Bokhari Yup.

[@adamcamacho5328]

Was looking to see if anyone else caught that. XD I'm huge Atla fan.

[@ShnoogleMan]

Humza Bokhari And on an even darker note, there was the Air Nation symbol on fire.

[@AyubuKK]

Elite Strategist true

[@AyubuKK]

Flying Bald Lady Yep

[@xdeser2949]

Gotta say, the Bronze age (and more specifically the transition from the Bronze to Iron Age) is one of the most fascinating times to study in world history 12:20 That and the Migration of the Huns and Germanic tribes into the Western Roman Empire ;P

[@swunt10]

huns are not a germanic tribe

[@xdeser2949]

swunt10 And thats why I differentiated the two

[@swunt10]

***** "Huns and other Germanic tribes" is like saying 'texas and other US states', 'labradors and other dog breeds' or 'yogurt and other milk products'

[@xdeser2949]

swunt10 Fuck, fine I'll edit it. sorry I caused you so much distress... Jeez...

[@HoundDogBlue]

I prefer recent and modern history, although it's filled with a ton of assholes with their own dumbass biases.

[@jasonschneijder2012]

Before I watch this vid I have to say I'M SO EXCITED. this is exactly the thing I'm covering for my History assignment!

[@frankolivier2847]

Hey John/ Stan If you guys ever do another episode on British colonization/ trade please could you cover South Africa? Or do an episode on SA even? It has a fascinating history, and I feel like Africa could b represented a bit more in these lessons. Thank you so much for the great episodes so far!

[@Edit-nk6nb]

I thought that the Sea people explanation was a going to be a gag. THEY EXIST, BURN THE SEAS!

[@krim7]

Someone get BP on the line! Too soon? yeah, probably too soon.

[@audreygange]

I like the way John challenges viewers to realize the presumptuous categorization of peoples and nations, so that we may think of the world and it's happenings more flexibly. :D Sometimes it helps to categorize, but let's not get stuck in those lines we draw.

[@archdukeferdinandofthe3rdc9]

Go forth, lead the sea army, Spongebob!

[@alexhood2886]

Pooping on Spongebob.?!!!!

[@whoaminow100]

you lost me when you recommended watching transforners

[@xalamon]

I was going to watch Transformers 3 just for the apocalyptic genre, then I read wikipedia's synopsis, Dark of the Moon is not even about the end of civilization, with so many other films that are: The World's End, Mad Max, Oblivion, The Road, The Matrix, I Am Legend, 28 days, Waterworld, Terminator; any of these would have been a more fitting choice for a mock-recommendation.

[@Brian_S_O_Tuireann]

Its the most funny of the three.

[@1503nemanja]

Odd to leave out the volcanic eruption of Santorini especially when many historians think the Sea Peoples could have been displaced Minoans (who were attacked by the Mycenaeans after the devastating eruption).

[@MrCordycep]

Except it the eruption of Santorini occurred several hundred years before the bronze age collapse.

[@bullrun2772]

MrCordycep actually it happened close to the Bronze Age

[@bullrun2772]

1503nemanja actually it is not odd to leave it out because those sea did not come from the eruption and that islands event happened around the fall Minoans so to me your theory which is a cool one is probably wrong I think they are early Phoenicians

[@patorikkoh]

Hi everyone, I've decided to do you all a favour and recommend Dan Carlin's Hardcore History. For me, as a history lover, his podcasts are just pure bliss. I would also like to recommend Extra History, the new series from Extra Credits guys, also very good and here on KZbin. You're welcome =D

[@CottonDrifting]

I'm on both of them. They're both covering WW1 at the moment. I'd add Mike Duncan's Revolutions podcast too.

[@patorikkoh]

Max White Cool, I'll check that out!

[@spider909999]

Padhra If you like Mike Duncan's Revolutions, give his history of rome a look in as well, just be prepared for a long jounrey.

[@Gewehr_3]

Hmm.. I'll take you up on it my English brother.

[@Guitardrumr]

You added that last bit just so you could say 'single horde-idly', didn't you? I approve.

[@rdehn5799]

well done and entertaining, thanks alot for the modern historical perspective

[@DarrylLive]

That keyblade... This show just keeps getting better and better

[@mlola74]

How an awesome way to learn History and English at the same time! Thank you very much!

[@shaun7096]

Wait a second, I just realized you are the dude That wrote the Fault In Our Stars

[@TheCowgirlgem]

Yes indeed. :) Have you seen his videos with his brother Hank on the Vlogbrothers channel? Don't forget to be awesome!

[@lgvereor]

Here's my Theory: Earthquake Storm destroyed island nations forcing a mass exodus to primarily the Levant while damaging the defenses and security of the regional civilization leaving them open to more territorial losses to the invaders. This cut off and destabilized those surrounding empires causing a collapse in communication in the process; killing off the Mycenaean and Hittite cultures who didn't have fertile riverbed civilizations and heavily weakening the Egyptian one into divided city-states, leaving only the Aramaeans and Assyrians who weren't a centralized empire or as dependent on trade. Which broke the balance of power and later resulted in the rise of the Eastern Semito-Iranian age of civilization which in my opinion lasted from the Assyrian Empire through Alexander's conquest and Seleucid Empire, ending with the Sassanian Empire and rise of the fourth "Middle-East" civilization; the Islamic Civilization which lasts to this day.

[@bullrun2772]

Joshua Elie Blachier actually some of your points are are wrong

[@robertglenn5398]

Whenever one asks, "What was the cause of World War Two or the current mess in the Middle East, I always say, "Track back to the first war ever fought and there you go!"

[@paul_chandler3082]

That is very true

[@Kes22497]

+robert glenn We didn't start the fire. It was always burning since the world's been turning.

[@joshuachun9213]

+Kes22497 Dude... that was pretty poetic. Nice one!

[@sulla175]

+robert glenn The World Wars were caused by Sea People.

[@Scorponizer]

+Joshua Chun Look up Billy Joel - We didn't start the fire.

[@SanghoBose5]

The analogy of Bronze Age with the present was really great. Please continue to do awesome stuffs :)

[@GenBloodLust]

Crash Course, in your last 2 videos who started WW1 and this one the audio levels have been super low compared to all your other videos. Just wanted to let you guys know it was noticeably quieter. I love the videos and often run them while i am doing other work that is how i noticed I couldn't hear them over the running water when the others were perfectly fine. any way keep up the good work love the videos.

[@scumbagel8518]

Where can I get a "Mongols: We're the exception." shirt? :P

[@PanicbyExample]

dftba.com/product/10g/crashcourse-mongols-shirt

[@scumbagel8518]

Thanks! :D

[@cowboyarchangel]

From where did the "John Green From The Past", arise? I ask because it is an ingenious mechanism. Being of roughly the same generation as Mr. Green, I find it personally, as well as generally, appealing and effective.

[@adoredpariah]

I really love the discussions and theories around the "bronze age collapse", I agree with so much you said here, but I had not considered the potential severity of something like an "earthquake storm" occurring and the obvious effect that would have on power structures of the time, and you introduced me to a profession I never new about in archaeoseismology, interesting stuff, and yes agreed again on the point of the relevancy of interconnected and interdependent economic systems today. History rhymes and repeats too often to ignore it.

[@elisenguyen9861]

LOL I love how Spongebob just appears in the middle of a informational video about civilization! XD I don't even really like Spongebob but I love that!

[@prowler477]

Really helped my project and my professor shows these all the time in class. Thank you for being helpful and entertaining!

[@wanderingbird8758]

Scrolled down to count how many comments were made about Atlantis. They were all about Spongebob. I feel old as the sea itself.

[@volcryndarkstar]

But then, everything changed when the Sea People attacked.

[@jonnygloryofficial]

Earthquake storms: The Fault In Our Tectonic Plates.

[@navarunjagatpal]

John was trying to come up with a good name for this combined civilization. How about The Bronze Network?

[@its0KagemanxD]

I really appreciate how you always make room for a mongols reference

[@22steve5150]

Well if a large populated area is hit with 50+ years of major earthquakes, trade collapse, famine, and drought all at the same time, it makes sense that increased warfare and political strife would be one of those "circling the drain" results, not only caused by the other problems but also contributing to those problems to make things even worse, which leads to even more famine and more war and so on until the civilization is in utter free fall.

[@22steve5150]

well we know that the region suffered multiple major earthquakes in a short period of time, we know that one of the results was that one of the major rivers that agriculture was dependent on shifted it's course (and thus untold square miles of farmland and expensive irrigation infrastructure was rendered useless almost overnight, we know that there was a surge in volcanic activity in the region for around 100 years that also affected much of Southern Europe, we know that for a couple of hundred years local climate dried out (and likely caused mass waves of refugees fleeing from parts of Southern Europe and probably becoming militaristic when these empires are unable or unwilling to help them), we know that populations suffering extensive long term famine also become far more prone to disease outbreaks and that trade routes help such disease outbreaks spread very quickly, and we know that the assyrian empire to the east (which wasn't suffering as badly as these empires were and wouldn't meet it's own decline for another 100 years) was putting tremendous pressure on these civilizations, particularly on their trade dominance, and we know that regional trade had 2 central commodities, food (which due to localized climate change described above was likely not enough to feed everyone anymore) and bronze, which relies on tin to be produced, and tin is a shockingly rare element and in this part of the world there was maybe only 2 worthwhile sources of tin to be found, and we know that each of these empires used highly centralized command economies (and modern examples of authoritarian governments with command economies suffering massive economic collapse (like the USSR) demonstrates how fast things can turn sideways once the administrative/beaurocratic state cannot function any longer). Finally, as the institutions of society start to break down in various locations in these empires, you will have desperate people and opportunists take up arms and fight over the remaining resources, which perpetuates the downward spiral even after the effects of the natural disasters wane. So yeah, I figure it wasn't any one or two big things, it was a "death by a thousand cuts" scenario, with a multitude of related problems over a span of decades combining to destroy their social order, which then results in the very citizens of those empires tearing what's left of their civilizations down until either an impotent shell of the former state exists (like what happened in Egypt) or society breaks down until all that remains are isolated fortified city states like what happened to the Myceneans and Hittites.

[@Bronxguyanese]

Mongols conquered 4 civilizations, islamic Persia China, Christian Russia and Islamic Arabia centered in Baghdad. The affects of the mongol empire can still be felt in these regions today. Mongol conquest of the East allowed the western civilization to dominate the world for the next 500 years from trade, technology, science industry, empire building, education and so on. Can the Eastern civilization make a come back and dominate the world as they did in the past?

[@MakroTeh]

Nope. 1. West had it's 30years wars and such too 2. Not everywhere was the damage done by Mongols equally large for example Southern China suffered much less 3. They still left a lot unconquered 4. It didn't look like the rest of the world would develop with this exponential growth as Western Europe

[@Bronxguyanese]

of course the west had its share of problems but much of it was only restricted to Europe only. Europe did get hit with global hiccups such as the black death in the 14th century. One 1 or more civilizations decline other civilizations replace. A good example of this was the Greeks which was replaced by the Romans and the Muslim civilization which replace the Greco-Roman civilization in the near East. Western civilization has dominated the world since the Renaissance and birth of over sea empires by Spanish and Portuguese explorers and traders.  but I agree with you.

[@saint_matthias]

They are already making a come back. China. China is overpowering any other Western States except the US. Their economy is now 4 times bigger than Russia. I came to the conclusion that Major 4 areas of the world ruled the world for thousands of years. It's like a scientific law and rarely changed.(Except the Mongols.) These 4 parts are Mediterranean Basin, Fertile Crescent, Indian Subcontinent, and China. You said the Last 5 centuries of the world was very different but if we just count Spain, Portugual, France and Italy as Mediterranean Basin civilizations then it's fine for about 200 years. I mean until 1700. Until 1700, this rule of history was unbreakable. But Last 300 years were really erroneous. Rise of Anglophone world and Russia you know. Basically England and Russia changed law or code of World History and that is where we are now.(No place for Germans here. LOL)

[@Sam-xd9xt]

'Sea People'? 'That's it? What am I supposed to imagine. But nonetheless very interesting.

[@N0N0111]

"A New History for Humanity - The Human Era" i saw that and search for an answer... sea people. Nah i keep my theory of Aliens.

[@dffdfdfd100]

Crab people, crab people

[@joelcarver8932]

Glad you credited Eric Cline, I just watched a lecture of his on 1177bc and he's who I was thinking of when you had other explanations than sea people and drought.

[@EmilReiko]

I would imagine that an earthquakestorm might lead to serious disruptions in the trade systems in a multitude of ways.

[@Woodenfan]

You know, the assassination of the Archduke Francis Ferdinand really, really, REALLY indirectly caused us to be at war with Japan. Not sure if that was the joke.

[@joelshort2907]

Nah, the point was that the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand caused WWI, in which Japan was involved.

[@Woodenfan]

I was thinking World War Two, but oh well. :P

[@RustyShackleford1066]

Well, world war one did kinda lead to world war two

[@Woodenfan]

hence my point ;)

[@Woodenfan]

That's true, too!

[@nathanielhellman6952]

So am I the only one who say puppycat and Chris' bee (Bravest Warriors) at 6:08?

[@matt70269]

Nope. And there's a portrait of Steven from Steven Universe in the background

[@nathanielhellman6952]

Matheus Campos I missed that one. Nice catch.

[@matt70269]

No problem!

[@assyriancomedycentral1753]

+John Green, Mesopotamia the best civilization where life began. Can you make more videos on Assyrians please and Babylon? Because if you see ISIS is destroying Aramaic history nice videos tho!

[@scattygirl1]

Much as I love how KZbin tutorials don't waste time in the same way that tv shows do, I'd prefer it if they slowed down just a little. I know that viewers can easily repeat bits, but that interrupts the narrative - and flow - of taking in the information. And god knows how people with ESL cope when clips don't have subtitles.

[@timduce6638]

This is what I Learned at school😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎➕💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖➕😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍➕💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋➕✋✋✋✋✋✋✋✋✋✋✋✋✋✋✋✋✋✋✋✋✋✋✋✋✋✋✋✋✋✋👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊✋✋✋✋✋✋✋✋✋✋✋✋✋✋✋✋✋✋✋✋✋✋✋✋✋✋✋✋✋✋✋👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊✋✋✋✋✋✋✋✋✋✋✋✋✋✋✋✋✋✋✋✋✋✋✋✋✋✋✋✋✋✋✋👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊

[@UdyKumra]

I feel like in World History 2, Crash Course World History became less "teaching" and more "persuading", and John Green is so eloquent that it is extremely easy to fall into the trap of thinking you're learning (which you are, some) and not being convinced to a certain point of view. It's not a bad thing, but we should be wary of this.

[@LilBlAcK76]

Sea Peoples !! Haha Now it makes sense why Caligula declared war on neptune !!

[@xoxoizzie365]

that thought bubble was the most alice i have ever seen

[@minimooster7258]

I'm planning on going through P4A livestreams to see if i can fjnd her

[@Matt-cz6ti]

My own theory on the Bronze Age Collapse is that it was triggered by a combination of factors. At around the same time - about fifty years from 1200 to 1150 BCE - I think that the Near East was subject to: 1. A massive volcanic eruption, bordering on a supereruption, from the Greek island of Santorini. This would have caused huge earthquakes, tsunamis, climate change on an enormous scale and devastated crops and fish stocks. 2. Outside invasion from the Sea Peoples. Where the Sea Peoples came from I have no idea, but this could have been an enormous migration, on the order of hundreds of thousands of people, easily enough to overwhelm the cities and armies of the established civilisations. 3. Political upheaval at home and the collapse of Palace Economics. This was a system whereby revenue was brought to a central authority, usually the king in his palace, and it was then redistributed to the people. Kings tended to keep a massive proportion of this money for themselves, and it's understandable that this would cause rebellion.

[@General12th]

I love that Steven Universe poster!

[@the-chillian]

At the time of the Bronze Age collapse, there wasn't really a distinct Minoan state, as implied around 5:00. From around 1420 BC Crete was dominated by the Mycenaeans.

[@deadpoolgr7467]

+Lytrigian guess some1 told them "there is more than enough gold in Egypt please leave us alone!" ?

[@sirmiles1820]

"There is no east and west on a globe." - this words, is one of the most beautiful and intellectual answers.

[@MajoraZ]

Can you guys please please please do one or more episodes focusing on precolumbian history?

[@richielomas9564]

Yeah, for a series that proposes to challenge the marginalizing practices of mainstream textbooks, they did exactly what other world history book do, which was sum up pre-columbian America with a couple paragraphs that reduce thousands of years of civilization to nothing more than a prologue for the Spanish Empire

[@JenxRodwell]

Richie Lomas Right, it's almost as if this series is trying to tie itself to the subjects taught at schools so it could be used as a learning aid...oh wait. Mind you, I would love me some mesoamerican history in this, but let's be realistic - they can not cover everything and everyone on crash course, at least not in one go. Hell, if it was up to me there would be an entire *season* dedicated solely to the bronze age civilizations, with this video being the final one. Everyone has their preferences on what they want to see, and claiming that Crash Course are somehow being malign by not talking about the ones that interest you is just silly.

[@richielomas9564]

right, but the second season was supposed to be where they plugged the holes from the first season. the history of two whole continents seems like it should at least get a mention...

[@JenxRodwell]

Richie Lomas And are you 100% sure it will not? Because I don't recall a full episode list being released somewhere, but that just might be me being out of the loop.

[@richielomas9564]

I'm hoping they will. My talk about all the sticking to the textbook stuff was rather saying they should hopefully do mesoamerica, not that they won't

[@tomaalimosh]

"Singlehordedly" ... kills me every time!

[@chrisgray7320]

Thanks John, now I have to worry about sea people too. Run for the hills, just don't do it in waves- I suspect sea people like waves