To Save the Soviets: Russia's Last Communist Coup Attempt

The Soviet Union was one of the defining institutions of the 20th century. From the overthrow of the Tsar in 1917, to the second World War, to the Cold War, Space Race, and long, slow decline, the overarching story of the 1900s is, in many ways, the Soviet Union’s story.
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[@okphalmer6596]

Most of the soviet officers during the coup refused to open fire on the protesters. One exception was Captain Sergey Surovikin whose troops shot 3 protesters. Aftermath in the early 1990's Russia those killed protesters were celebrated as heroes and martyrs of the democracy. It is pretty ironic (or fitting) that their killer General Surovikin is now the commander of the Russian invasion forces in Ukraine and the official state media hails him as the great Russian hero.

[@cyberfunk3793]

Not the commander anymore, we was demoted last week and Gerasimov is now in charge.

[@ryanturner5649]

@@cyberfunk3793 true, he is still Gerasimov deputies though.

[@carlireland5049]

Also makes it even more ironic when the Western far-right defends the war.

[@Cba409]

Based

[@bjarkiengelsson]

@@carlireland5049 Ouch. Tough break. Maybe stop listening to conspiracy theories?

[@huwenkai440]

Well, this is when a coup went wrong. I remembered my grandpa talked about the Soviet coup when he was in Shanghai. And he predicted that whatever happened to the coup, the remaining communist nations will never be the same again. Indeed, this occurred. Russia's communist coup in 1991 proved to be a decisive point, this forced remaining communist autocrats like in China and Vietnam to increasing the use of secret police and enhancing domestic propaganda aimed at legitimising the party, as well as promoting communist-based patriotic education. In reality, they wanted to avoid a similar coup, even when that Russian coup in 1991 was communist-based. Ironic.

[@brandonlyon730]

Even democratic nations aren't immune to this either. Just last December Peru had a coup with there former president basically trying to dissolve his entire government with zero constitutional authority to do so just because he was threaten to be basically impeached by the legislative body. Course he did all of that without even consulting the military leadership or really anyone else important for that matter so he had less of a foundation than the conspirators to the Soviet coup, and predictably he was just arrested and kicked out of office for the whole thing barely a day later.

[@michaelsinger4638]

It’s fascinating how Yeltsin came out of this looking like a big hero. And then how badly things would fall apart later on with him.

[@throwback19841]

Yeltsin is the Underpants Gnome of leaders. Step 1: overthrow communism Step 2: Step 3: Profit He didn't have a step 2 when he became leader, and then he realised: Step 1: overthrow communism Step 2: Steal everything Step 3: Profit

[@arthas640]

Not hard to see with the benefit of hindsight. Most of the Soviet leadership were little more than fall down drunks who maintained a strong public image thanks to the secrecy of the Soviet union and the benefit of a massive propaganda machine. Frankly with how many leaders drank its amazing the USSR lasted as long as it did, older alcoholics in former Soviet states somrtimrs complain about vodka being weaker and more expensive then under the Soviets and despite that they've still got an insane alcoholism problem and even by Russian standards many of the Soviet leadership were heavy drinkers. It's a big reason why so many of them have glassy, bug eyed looks to them ans why they often look sweaty and sallow skinned.

[@silentvoiceinthedark5665]

When you are drunk as a fart 24/7 just like a clock you too can be correct twice a day

[@electricspeedkiller8950]

Idk what this mutt spews but Yeltsin was a criminal. He broke the constitution 2 times and opened fire on gov't buildings. The Supreme Soviet were mostly commies, and Yeltsin was a democracy advocator, who was breaking his own rules and constitution and eventually laid down the rules that Putin would exploit to become just like Yeltsin, dictator scum. Yeltsin is no hero.

[@robertortiz-wilson1588]

He really tired.

[@cavalryscout9519]

I was stationed with US forces in Germany when this all happened. It caused a bit of a panic because even though Germany was united, there were still Soviet troops (who weren't getting paid) in the eastern part, and no one knew what those troops were going to do. My unit drew weapons and prepped out vehicles to move; we ran our engines every hour or two and had to stay within 15 minute of the motorpool until the coup ended as NATO kept very careful watch on those Soviet bases. We didn't know at the time how little working equipment the Soviets actually had, and we couldn't know whether those troops might try to force their way back to Russia.

[@scottkrater2131]

That's SOP, I was in West Germany in the late 80's and we went on Alert over the Berlin discotheque bombing and the Libyan problem. Except we stayed with our vehicles and weapons in the motor pool until the Alert was canceled.

[@throwback19841]

Not sure how much forcing they would need to do; surely everyone west of moscow would just open the gate and say "Moscow's this way lads, feel free to go there anytime and don't come back!"

[@MrAxlfun]

@@throwback19841 Yes, because all of those now once again independant countries would welcome the endless rows of oppressor's tanks and other vehicles coming through. It was all too vast to move away quickly with military planes. The Russian military's last leg of forces left my country in 1994 as a sidenote

[@z0phi3l]

I was stationed in Alaska at the time, and we were slightly more alert, we ran through to make sure our gear was ready and staged if needed, but not much else, went to work like normal otherwise

[@arthas640]

With the benefit of hindsight its almost funny how ill prepared for war the Soviets were white Reagan and others thought they could match or exceed the west in most fields and it took everything the Soviets had to just maintain an illusion of control over their own country and prevent breakaway states tearing the USSR apart even as they celebrated the anniversary of their eternal union.

[@ignitionfrn2223]

1:40 - Chapter 1 - Backdrop 4:00 - Chapter 2 - Conspirators 7:10 - Chapter 3 - Coup 10:00 - Chapter 4 - Failure 12:55 - Chapter 5 - Repercussions 15:55 - Chapter 6 - Aftermath

[@BojanMilic84]

Thanks.

[@batticusmanacleas510]

F

[@gtbkts]

Ty

[@itsblitz4437]

Thank you for adding these timestamps it really helps.

[@randompillow5146]

I love how this channel covers less talked about but still very interesting events.

[@just_another_nerd]

Thank you, Simon, for telling the story. I was a little girl in a small town in USSR when this happened. I remember that well because it was the first time when ppl in a queue for bread were talking to each other. Oh those infamous soviet queues... As a child it was a part of my daily shores to stand through the bread queue. Usually it was a silent affair but that day the queue was buzzing with excitement, ppl repeating rumors that Gorbachev is dead, etc. In hindsight, it was a mistake to pardon the "putchists". Perhaps, there was a chance to turn history to a better path if only in the aftermath of the failed coup d'etat there were real changes: elimination of KGB as an institution, opening of all KGB archives for study, lustration for party officials, prison time for criminals like Surovikin. BTW, it is a pity Simon doesn't mention him: Surovikin is responsible for deaths of three demonstrators in August 1991. Surovikin walked free back then and now we know him as a butcher of Aleppo and one of those responsible for indiscriminate bombing of Ukranian cities as he was appointed to lead the invasion of Ukraine in October 2022.

[@electricspeedkiller8950]

Why do you want to rape your nation and not just make better rules? A diasporak that talks about how his country should be run from his appartment in Germany is disgraceful. Even for someone as "progressive" as you you still focus on dumb shit like armies and war criminals. Focus on how to pvrevent leaders from starting random wars of aggression. Isn't that orders of magnitude more important?

[@itsblitz4437]

Well Surovikin will get his comupence one day.

[@yahweh2787]

Why were the bread queues quiet?

[@CompatibilityMadness]

@@yahweh2787 You wanted to get by quietly and not "causing a scene", because no one wanted to go to "police station" and be asked about stuff you talked about (that includes everyone that heard it). You could be accused of being a spy or a traitor pretty easily, and even if they released you some hours later, you could still easily lose some of the priviliges that were given to you by working hard and by being silent up to this point (if you had any, some examples : reset to bottom list for a new flat/new car, problems at getting paid or straight lowering pay with demotion, etc.).

[@Steyr32]

Capitalist bot. The USSR was a socialist paradise don't lie about this made up fake stories.

[@davidtaylor5204]

I remember after the coup leaders fled, a faux commercial appeared on television where a supposed reporter followed by a bouncing camera ran across a tarmac toward a group of eight men queing up to board a jet: "Comrades! Your coup has failed and the people are demanding freedom! Where are you going?" And in unison the men turned toward the camera, donned Mickey Mouse caps and replied, "We're going to Disneyland!'

[@jackspade5316]

That is hilarious

[@ExUSSailor]

I remember watching this live, on the news. I can still picture Boris Yeltsin standing on top of a tank outside the Kremlin.

[@mr.afrikaans1747]

No, you can’t. Why would you come on the internet and lie?

[@sircarl2stlordofcarltoncou74]

@@mr.afrikaans1747 how do you know?

[@vega469]

@@mr.afrikaans1747 my guy this was less than 40 years ago, there are billions of people old enough to remember this, why the doubt?

[@affor3]

I was 11 years old watching these events unfold on early morning CNN, and I remember them vividly. The fall of the Berlin Wall, the protests and changes in Romainia, Chechezlovakia, etc, the Tianamen Square Massacre, even the 1st Gulf War as it happened. Each and every morning, usually narrated by Christiane Amanpour on site. So yes, there are people who actually lived through and witnessed these incidents.

[@tsartomato]

@@mr.afrikaans1747 lol even i remember all that. are you like 3?

[@Freebird1994]

I don’t know if you guys have done this on another channel, but in some relation to this video, could you guys do a video on the attempted coup that happened in Japan in the final days of WW2?

[@holyfordus]

The Kyūjō incident definitely needs a spot on this channel. The channel “AN Productions” has an hour-long documentary which explains what happened almost to the minute

[@cyrilio]

First time hearing about this. Yes please an episode on this.

[@demef758]

Simon already did that one, but maybe on another of his 2,407 other channels.

[@Sh_rib]

You've previously done a video on the Russo-Japanese war, can we get a video about the Battle of Tsushima specifically please? 👍

[@williamcostigan91]

Oh we need fact boi to tell the tale of the whole glorious voyage.

[@Sh_rib]

@@williamcostigan91 now thats a whole video on its own lol

[@williamcostigan91]

@@Sh_rib a long journey with stealthy torpedo boats and binoculars littering the ocean all the way.

[@user-dg9pu4pe9d]

Best told as a cold read so we can all enjoy Simon's reactions to the many misadventures.

[@clutchr6688]

@@williamcostigan91lmao didn’t the admiral of the fleet have to have a guy with a box of binoculars by his side at like all times💀

[@m00se37]

It’s poetic That the premiere That brought down the Soviet Union was the only premiere Born in the Soviet Union rather than the empire

[@vic5015]

True. Stalin was Geirgian (the country not the state) and Krushchev was from what is now Ukraine. Not sure about Brezhnev, Andropov, Lenin, and the rest. Unless I'm mistaken Gorbachev was from the Moscow area. ETA; according to the internet, Brezhnev was another Ukranian.

[@LordInquisitor701]

Soviet union was basically build off of fear the moment the people stop fearing the Soviet union the moment it dissolved unlike the US where it doesn’t really need fear to hold its self together hell tsar Russia will probably would have been much better believe it or not Ukrainians was the most loyal to the Russian empire, along with Finland just think if World War I would not have happened and tsar remain in power then Russian people probably be better off

[@brandonlyon730]

@@vic5015 I think he is referring to the fact he was born when the Soviet Union actually existed, rather than the others who were all born in the Russian Empire.

[@vic5015]

@@brandonlyon730 oh.

[@paulgoodridge2269]

I have to give mad respect to Gorbachev typically leaders in his position when they lose power they lose their heads with their power. He is the exception and that is why I have mad respect for him.

[@deviusprojects]

Man, I love your voice. I'd listen to you talk about anything. Cheers

[@gregspencer9842]

Again - AWESOME video. Very well done. I love these!

[@BamBamSr]

Excellent doc👍 oh and I can't believe I'm actually complimenting a KZbin commercial, but that Grip6 belt commercial was bordering on hilarious 😂 🤣

[@luisbarrasabengoa8289]

A really interesting topic to cover in a video would be the 23 of February of 1981 Coup in Spain

[@thomasmyers9128]

The fall of the Soviet Union gave freedom to several hundred million people….. a date that should be celebrated around the world.

[@raymondhartmeijer9300]

It got better for the Baltics (who were illegally annexed in the first place) and Ukraine, but not much elsewhere, i'm afraid

[@Subsandsoda]

Make no mistake, the decisions Gorbachev took prevented the loss of MILLIONS of lives around all former Soviet countries. It's hard to calculate lives that weren't lost, but he's an unsung hero.

[@rejvaik00]

He's a hero in everywhere BUT Russia

[@xanderalaniz2298]

This is why I pray for this man. Gorby needs all the support he can get.

[@tokyosmash]

@@xanderalaniz2298 he’s dead

[@xmaniac99]

Not really, those lives where lost anyway. Crime rates surged, health care collapes, alcohal and drug abuse became endemic. An absolute disaster.

[@SilentTraveller21]

@@xanderalaniz2298 he died soon after the Ukrainian invasion began

[@voidwizard2067]

Good commentary.

[@alessandrapirelli7040]

The Soviets ... that awful stain on humanity that has happily gone the way of the Dodo.

[@CallieMasters5000]

Gorbachev was hanging out at Dachau?! 😳 You come up with the weirdest stuff, Simon!

[@nadiap.5900]

I am a huge fan of your channels, Simon. Thank you and your team for all the hard work and research. Tiny correction regarding the word Dacha) The ch sounds like the ch in change. Cheers!

[@eaphantom9214]

02:10 - RIP Mikhail Gorbachev ✌️ A man who lost an empire 🇨🇳 But tried to make the Soviet Union what it should've been in the first place - Equitable Socialist - Mikhail Gorbachev 👇 02/04/1931 - 30/08/2022 ☠ 1 week before the Queen's death!

[@tsartomato]

dissolved?

[@eaphantom9214]

@@tsartomatoCorrect 02:15

[@tjitse3916]

Might make that 2022 instead of 2021…

[@eaphantom9214]

@@tjitse3916 Whoops 😅 Corrected

[@jesenjin8467]

@@eaphantom9214 honesty, would have been better for him to have died in 2021... As it stands, he saw the attack of Russia on Ukraine. I am certain he died a bit inside each day after the 24th of February...

[@gabrielapierattistellato7030]

Loved the video. Do the Brazilian 1964 + 1968 coup!

[@Contrajoe]

It's so strange that Kino/Victor Tsoi recorded "Zvezda" AND "Konchitsya Leto" shortly before this played out. Tsoi died in August 1990 but these songs (along with "Mama, we're all very sick") would describe what was to come.

[@juh2445]

And his song невесёлая песня perfectly captures whats happening now, he was really far ahead

[@anemoiatrippin]

Yes and кукушка

[@Deus-Vult_Against_the_bots]

I love the irony of situations such as this. Attempting to prevent something almost always brings it about.

[@olehbulba287]

Love your videos! It's just ch in dacha is pronounced like ch in chest f.e.) daha is pretty funny thou)

[@BruceMusto]

Simon, just finished the Midway video. It was good. Couple of mistakes and maybe you should work on the pronunciation of some names, (like Spruance) but it was good. Suggestion. Battle of Samar and the sacrifice of Taffy 3. Battle of Samar was part of the Battle of Leyte Gulf which would probably take a couple of episodes or a real long one to do justice to.

[@stephenwright8824]

Don't expect Simon Whistler, the bald Brit in Prague, to spend any time learning how to pronounce any words he doesn't already know. Spoiler alert: he won't, full feckin' stop.

[@SianaGearz]

This is not how you pronounce Dacha. This was not the last communist coup attempt in Russia. There was another in 1993.

[@MarionStevensJr]

Yeah, almost forgot about that one. It involved an attempted takeover of the Russian "White House" didn't it? I don't remember the details, but I think the head of the Russian Communist Party was involved.

[@MrMalimer]

It's maddening how little people know about these events...

[@lolcatjunior]

That one wasn't a communist coup, it's was a coup by Yeltsin when the Russian congress tried to remove him from power because he let the oligarchs loot the country and let inflation run rampant.

[@jenniferclark9842]

Oh yes, that little incident where Yeltsin fired a tank at the “White House” in Moscow.

[@EpicGamerWinXD69]

Russia in 2023: “Should I remake this?”

[@stc3145]

The two previous empires failed. Maybe they think third times the charm

[@taavidude]

@@stc3145 I see they are taking notes from Germany.

[@obi0914]

It could be the greatest Anime comeback

[@BonShula]

@@taavidude Germany is thriving today. Germanies GPD is 3x that of Russia

[@chadimirputin2282]

​@taavidude yes, removing the german ideology from Ukraine.

[@Balthorium]

Notice Belarus had their old flag that was red and white instead of red and green which is similar to the USSR era flag. The Russian pawn dictator changed it.

[@jenniferclark9842]

Picked a funny time for it to be recommended.

[@yourroyalchungusness]

It still blows my mind that fortunately this was a bloodless coup. Imagine if this had gone in different way

[@carlireland5049]

That’s largely because the reforms were already so far along. The Gang of Eight did plan to use the KGB to reassert state control of media and arrest any potential dissidents during the first few days. The problem is, the criticism of the Soviet system allowed during perestroika was so widespread that there was no simply no way to arrest everyone who had said something which would have been impermissible before Gorbachev. At the same time, the fear that they would gave the majority of the Russian public personal stakes in opposing the coup.

[@Mrakros666]

This is going on now. Its just was delayed for 30 years.

[@Ruosteinenknight]

Had Brezhnev or Andropov or Chernenko been in Gorbachev's place when uprisings in Eastern block started, blood would've ran on the streets. Don't get me wrong, no matter how harsh measures those three would've taken, it wouldn't have saved the soviet union. But it would've gotten awful lot of people killed.

[@just_another_nerd]

Let's not forget Vladimir Usov, Dmitry Komar, and Ilya Krichevsky, who did die defending the parliament against military troops that followed unlawful orders of the putchists. The coup wasn't bloodless but, I agree, it could be much worse.

[@YKKY]

It was far from bloodless

[@deadasfak]

5:35 lol I thought his name was Vasily Starofdubstepsev, had to check it again

[@kaarel545]

2:06 Gorbachev was technically the only president of the Soviet Union

[@multiyapples]

Fascinating.

[@denisonsmock5456]

Has this channel done a video on the Sino Soviet split?

[@throwback19841]

dont know, but the Cold War channel has several EXCELLENT videos on the subject.

[@ryanmclellan8740]

Boris Pugo had quite the haircut...

[@physetermacrocephalus2209]

"Commitee for the state of emergency in the USSR" Yeah my dude. Those guys are definitely assasins

[@jmanj3917]

Great topic, Brain Boy...I was wondering when you'd get to this, and on which channel. Just a quick note: Glasnost is better understood as meaning "transparency", similar to how the free world has been demanding more transparency from our governments and our financial sectors.

[@chriflu]

I can't be the only to secretly flirt with the idea of staging some sort of coup, or civil war, or minor invasion for the sole purpose of having it narrated by Simon Whistler.

[@anemoiatrippin]

You should do Black October too

[@ex-navyspook]

When I woke up and saw tanks rolling on Dzerzhinski Square in Moscow on the news, I thought, "It ain't May Day, and it ain't Victory Day!! What the HELL is going on, and why are those tanks there?" Definitely an interesting time to be alive.

[@tsartomato]

7:20 yeah and chair is khair

[@5055hunter]

I lived through the fall of the Soviet Union, while serving in the USAF. I never knew there was a last-ditch coup attempt.

[@Balthorium]

It was all over the news in Summer 91. I couldn’t understand most headlines in Europe where I was but I remember Gorbachev went on vacation and some generals took over. I don’t remember thinking it was communists particularly but they said hard liners.

[@user-ue4nq3kc3j]

I believe you knew about it but forgot. It was heavily televised.

[@electricspeedkiller8950]

Sad you lived through it.

[@5055hunter]

@@user-ue4nq3kc3j I certainly knew about the fall, but not the subject of this video - the last ditch coup attempt.

[@tsartomato]

@@electricspeedkiller8950 living through dissolution of a criminal terrorist state without much bloodshed was the best time to be alive until the putler came and since day 1 started wars and terror

[@godzgoliath]

"Big thanks to sky chappelle, boogily woogily, Erin Lightfoot, Izzy?......"

[@bakthihapuarachchi3447]

Spinning three plates

[@michibosire5000]

Who is the bearded guy talking to Gorbachev at 3:42?

[@johnecoapollo7]

I love the little tidbit about the conspirators being surprised that Gorbachev showed backbone and strength against them. To put it in context, they were all men that had to navigate the Soviet Political establishment, backstab friends, enemies plot and scheme with the best of them to get to their top positions and Gorbachev was precisely just like them, grew up like them, came up with them, he was one of them. Despite all that they believed that since his ideas were "weak" he was weak as well. Ideology blinds people to the obvious reality in front of them

[@anemoiatrippin]

Well, the strength was really fronted by Yeltsin and in truth, Khasbulatov standing behind him.

[@IAmTheOnlyLucas]

Great vid Simonographics, I'd known the Soviet Union dissolved slowly and almost without bloodshed but not many of the details of the final effort to keep the Soviet dream alive. I think that future historians will have a strong case to make that the Russo-Ukrainian War is the violent end of the Soviet Union, delayed by ~30 years.

[@JillLulamoon]

You guys should cover that time the Warsaw Pact invaded itself! The Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia

[@mgabrysSF]

What about the Oct 1993 coup?

[@frankieseward8667]

Simon can you do the First Sino Japanese War?

[@tastymochalatte7699]

He already had done File through his playlist, it's there

[@currypablo]

Frigging Soviets were the only proletariat who wore two-piece suits. 👇 w/communism!

[@afcgeo882]

A Russian summer country home is a DACHA, not daha. The “ch” sound is the same as in “Challenger”.

[@lfsracer79]

He's really bad at pronouncing anything but English.

[@KaiserMattTygore927]

@@lfsracer79 shocking, someone that doesn't speak another language is bad at speaking that language. I'm shocked and confused.

[@gr5535]

Hubba Hubba Pavlov , that's some Suit you've got on . did you get a free bowl of Soup with it ? 😆😅🤣😂

[@hg60justice]

music is to ,loud in between your speaking parts. barely hearing you speaking then it wakes the house up. like cable tv with commercials.

[@bswihart1]

Why are all last names ending with V? Ov or Ev

[@weedfreer]

I lived through the 80s...Calvin Harris references aside, I always remembered Gorbachev being pronounced Gorbach-off. Who's right then? Is this another Ki-ev (incorrect western pronunciation) versus K-ee-ve (correct Ukrainian pronunciation) situation? 🤔

[@electricspeedkiller8950]

In more than half of the Slavic languages it's Kiev/Kiyev. And butchering our names with the ending -off is a anglo classic, it's not new.

[@ehrldawg]

Up next; Belleau Woods

[@maplesyrup7959]

Does a thirsty Boris Yeltsin make an appearance in this? 😅 Damn, Mikhail Gorbachev did at least seem to have his heart in the right place 🙁

[@RasVoja]

He lives on as French votka. Yes Yeltzin was held in some dacha (resort villa)

[@ahmedsaleh9509]

i agreeee

[@maplesyrup7959]

@@RasVoja Russians are well known globally to enjoy booze 🍻🍷🥃🍸 But Boris Yeltsin was an extreme drinker by Russian standards - why I called him thirsty 🤣

[@RasVoja]

@@maplesyrup7959 Correction all Slavic people incl. Polish, Serbian, Czecz etc. yes Boris was ALWAYS drunk! So today I have French votka with his name! :D

[@johnny5805]

July 2021 is "a little more than a year ago" ? How old is this "17 hours old" video ?

[@KaiserMattTygore927]

Do the math.

[@demef758]

I remember when the fax machine became popular, and how revolutionary it was in the Soviet Union. People could communicate digitally, which made it impossible for the government eavesdroppers to monitor and censor telephone calls. Now all they could hear were modem tones, not human voices. That simple machine helped open up the Soviet Union

[@patrickcurrie7440]

Russia didn't Soviet coming.

[@BojanMilic84]

That pun and communism have one thing in common.

[@jonhall2274]

@Bojan Milic yeah, and the common denominator is that they both suck, and both fail.🤷😂😆

[@BojanMilic84]

@@jonhall2274 Yeah, that's what I meant: They don't work.

[@CTimmerman]

@@BojanMilic84 I thought it was about Nazis and totalitarianism in general which works using forced labor.

[@callumjohnston858]

Gorbachev has become something of a tragic figure in my eyes. Some of his reforms were literally done by Lenin years earlier and succeeded in improving the economy (the NEP offering a sort of limited capitalism at smaller scales). But while Lenin had won the revolution and had a somewhat more free hand to reform his new systems, Gorbachev had to contend decades of frankly fascistic and conservative inertia from Brezhnev's stagnation and as a result couldn't do enough. He held to his ideals and tried to enact the ideals the USSR should have stood for, despite what it had become. I'm not sad the USSR is gone, but I am curious about the what if: what if Grobachev had remained in power, and enacted his reforms? Would the USSR still be here, if only in Russia, or would it have crumbled under the weight of inertia?

[@theawesomeman9821]

The failure of the coup seems like Karma.

[@csleuthone6385]

Gorbachev, truly a great man.

[@johnashleyhalls]

Note that my rondel is NATO/Warsaw Pact 1980. Strangely, part of me feels sorrow for Russia, more specifically, Russia citizens. Serfdom, that is slavery, was not ended until 1917. The Revolution was a type of civil war that few civilizations have suffered throughout history. Surviving Stalin and Hilter, barely, leading to Kruschev who, kind of, resuscitated the nation(space race et al). Then they had to deal with the atavistic rule of Leonid Brezhnev's kleptocracy and police state, when Putin was twenty something. I long expected to die from nuclear war before I was 30 years old and I pray that it won't happen now that I'm looking at 60.

[@sayuas4293]

If only Russians showed the same kind of bravery today

[@user-sz1jj7xm2k]

Sounds a bit hypocritical.) Many Western (and not only) societies have shown courage in similar situations?) The West benefits from China, which forces the Uyghurs to sew sneakers for them for a penny, or the Saudis, who dissolve journalists in embassies, but give cheap oil). Germany, USA, Finland, Czech Republic are the main supplier of equipment for dispersal of demonstrations and wiretapping of Internet traffic for the secret police.

[@sayuas4293]

@@user-sz1jj7xm2k Your government is directly genociding people (and also killing over 100k Russians) is different from buying resources you literally need to survive, but i agree we should move away from fossil fuels so that we dont have to buy anything from countries like yours.

[@user-sz1jj7xm2k]

@@sayuas4293 Well, the accusation of genocide sounds strained, you should not scatter such words. My friends from Vietnam and Iraq (students) call what your government did (napalm, agent orange) genocide, you can also cite Libya, Afghanistan as an example, you can remember the opium wars). I, like most young people, are quite westernized, but I have a wild laugh calls from citizens of Western countries to overthrow something there, at a time when Western countries even now supply equipment and make money on this situation (for example, sanctions have been lifted on surveillance equipment so that this market is not occupied by China), trade through Turkey, Saudi Arabia, expel those fleeing from mobilization, extradite oppositionists and not only. If we had other managers, then no one would sell cheap resources and export capital with a dark history to the West, but such are unprofitable for the West. At the moment, Turkey, the Saudis are doing about the same thing, but they are allies of the United States and they can, China can also do something that looks like genocide with the Uighurs, as they sell lithium and sneakers. Western countries have lost the moral high ground and are doing the same thing, but more skillfully. Society in the Russian Federation, which was very pro-Western at the age of 40, now, looking at all this, it really begins to consolidate around the flag, because there are no human rights, but there are our own, who can and strangers, who cannot.

[@sayuas4293]

@@user-sz1jj7xm2k i am not american, and i agree they also committed genocide, is that all you can say? That seems like the only argument russians can make "its ok to genocide cuz muricans did it"

[@user-sz1jj7xm2k]

@@sayuas4293 Despite all that genocide is happening, it is a different and incomparably more terrible thing. No need to turn it into a cliché. I speak as a person who read the definition and has in his family those who were repressed in the Soviet era and the occupation of Nazi Germany. And yes, if Americans and others can, then why can't the rest?) You should not look at all this from the point of view of morality and ideas about it, unfortunately the real world works like this and there is no justice in it. And yes, deviating from the topic, the same thing is happening all over the world as we have. It only happened to us in 2011, and in the future the whole world will be a sort of China with social sorting, and we'll see how you will find courage in yourself.

[@LukeKinzel]

It's pronounced "dacha" with a hard "ch" sound, like in "check"

[@jacobedward2401]

Oh... From the title "save the Soviets" I thought this was about the workers councils, called Soviets, which were disbanded by Stalin. IMO that was when the Soviet union stopped being a union of soviets and became a full dictatorship.

[@johnkaligandis5941]

Great vid with a lot of info but what is up with that picture of the gang of eight press conference? It looks like it was photoshopped by a child

[@overwhelmingapathy721]

Love the bombastic titles of soviet politicians.

[@reyhaz]

"... and in 1989 revolutions wept across the Eastern Block [...] Hungary ..." FYI The last revolution in Hungary was in 1956. There weren't any in 1989, nor the following years. The political problems that today's Hungary face is pretty much because we've got our freedom by diplomatic ways (even that is a bit of an overstatement as the USSR just collapsed over our head) and not by actually doing (****) about it. We never fought for our freedom, we got it as a present for behaving as good lambs. And since the people here learnt, that being a good lamb is better than fighting for your own freedom. That's why we have this despot named Orban ruling over us.

[@lighterlight3448]

Hello from Finland! We are obviously the most one country, that had putin cheese. Was very cheap at the time. Wow.. What a world.

[@lazermaniac]

Minor nitpick - it's pronounced "Dacha", not "Dakha". I have a vague recollection of being on a walk in Moscow with my mom and seeing a column of army trucks roll past. Being a kid, I was pretty excited about the cool looking vehicles and asked what was up. With a look of disdain on her face she replied, "Oh, that's commies going off to die." Thankfully that time around it wasn't exactly true. Then Chechnya/Gulf War/Kosovo rolled along and we got nothing but dead soldiers on TV for the rest of the decade. And Argentinian soaps.

[@uveisa]

It makes you wonder, where did that desire of freedom go in Russia. Russian people risked their lives and came out to fight for their freedom, but 30 years later no one seems to have the balls to fight for their rights, principals and especially for their freedom. Respect for anyone who stands for their liberty and chooses good from evil. SLAVA UKRAINI

[@LaDeXi]

Hundreds of years of history show how Russian people seem to want to be ruled by more or less oppressive dictators.

[@morgwai667]

the power of propaganda...

[@throwback19841]

Putin has constructed a pretty fearsome apparatus for internal repression. Power is concentrated almost solely in his hands. In a lot of ways, the old USSR had more checks and balances than modern Russia does. At least he had to work with the politburo in the USSR.

[@cc0767]

the thing is they remember pretty well how bad this "freedom" went for them, life in russia was absolutely miserable and still is. It was better for them during soviet times.

[@electricspeedkiller8950]

@@morgwai667 Propaganda about how much better life will be rings hollow when life just bacame unrecognisingly miserable in just a day.

[@asafoster7954]

Day 1 of asking you to do a video on the German invasion of Crete

[@Willindor]

4:57 THE GREAT TRIAL AWAITS!

[@quartztemplar3676]

If only

[@broccanmacronain457]

Putin was a member of the KGB. What was his positioning during the Coup?

[@MrAxlfun]

After the reunification of Germany Putin returned to Russia, was in a bit of a limbo state regarding the KGB active duty and took another post (the actual accounts of dates vary) .

[@bokiNYC]

And how many people did he kill and ordered to be killed?

[@MrAxlfun]

@@bokiNYC As KGB, probably none to a couple, he was quite low level. As a dictator? Too many to count.

[@kingdedede333]

At the start of his political career Putin was pro west, he even said in an interview in the 90's that he was in favor of installing a Pinochet style dictatorship in Russia that was friendly to the US

[@BajaTym]

He was the last and ONLY president of the Soviet Union.

[@_Ben___]

Almost a century, OK then

[@sebastiangarla8558]

It's a good chance that the same thing might await Putin. He's just to wrapped up into himself right now to see it coming....

[@zombieranger3410]

"and then after the death of the Soviet union went on peacefully"... until 1993 that is

[@KawaiiKasai]

Boris Yeltsin is dead... right?

[@brianjones2899]

Dacha. Ch pronounced as in check rather than ka.

[@gregoryferraro7379]

It can be argued that, while the dissolution of the USSR was initially fairly peaceful, its aftermath has not been. The rise of Putin, and his actions against Georgia, and now Ukraine, and also the continued hostilities between Azerbaijan and Armenia are all examples of how the breakup of the USSR is now devolving into violence after the fact. Whatever happens in Russia due to the war in Ukraine will be more offshoots of that initial "peaceful" collapse.

[@willnill7946]

Are they supposed to let every country surrounding them become hostile American puppet states

[@bolter65]

What's with the migraine inducing light in the background? Please remove it

[@Blackops321100]

Why does most of these pictures look like there photo shopped?

[@SianaGearz]

You'd think someone from Prague would have a better grip on the correct pronunciation of Russian names.

[@donsandsii4642]

Cannot find 80s song: The ABC's of dead Russian Leaders

[@albin2232]

The KGB still rule Russia

[@Andy-te1mw]

To see what may have happened if the soviets stayed in power....watch "for all mankind" pretty interesting show.

[@irish2772]

Has anyone here watched the movie "The Death of Stalin?" Best movie ever made.

[@carlclouseriii8519]

Just remember Putin and a lot of his people were kgb. I think the last kgb coup took 30 years but it did succeed

[@silentvoiceinthedark5665]

When one continues to force a round peg in a square hole, one will eventually come to the realization that it may be easier or at the very least the same as trying to keep an ice cube frozen in hell. Thus was the situation of the continuity of the USSR. On the other hand Pinochet suffered from no such delusion.

[@aSSGoblin1488]

USSR peaceful (relatively) disollution was a miracle. transfer of power is usually messy just like iraq

[@cramcram7860]

>Dmitry Yazov Hoh boy.

[@foxdavani4091]

Gorbechev was one of my childhood hero's. He still is. He wasn't perfect but he was a good man. He had a heart. A good heart.

[@ABanRocks]

He was a CIA spy. No man did more damage it USSR or Russia than him. He destroyed it from the inside. He gave up the empire without a fight. Which is bullshit when he had one of the biggest military in the world.

[@terraflow__bryanburdo4547]

Brainwashed Marxist though. Probably how he survived.

[@kingdedede333]

Gorbachev ran programs and interviews on Soviet TV talking about how great Thatcher was. That alone makes him a horrible person