What caused the Cold War?

[@CynicalHistorian]

Thanks for watching, and please consider supporting the channel by buying merch: teespring.com/stores/the-cynical-historian Or by donating to my Patreon: www.patreon.com/CynicalHistorian See following replies for corrections and additional info, but first, here are some related videos to check out: Project MAD playlist: kzbin.info/aero/PLjnwpaclU4wXW18I7joPDPXmfL1zepBNv state rivalries: kzbin.info/aero/PLjnwpaclU4wVUfT9O-wI-T5W2ZCRCGcTL Great Depression lecture: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qnqZh2WsgM6Lma8 WWII lecture: kzbin.info/www/bejne/noK9hHSYnrBledU Cold War lecture: kzbin.info/www/bejne/o2Wnl5hjnNOSfNU Russian Intervention: kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z56mYpWjr8earrs Aftermath of WWI: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fWTZfIidpLmansk 1919 Red Scare: kzbin.info/www/bejne/iWWzmmWkjsiMhNk nuclear near misses: kzbin.info/www/bejne/o4esd6B3lsqSbtk Afghanistan causation: kzbin.info/www/bejne/bX_almObnbxlpLs 2nd Great Awakening lecture: kzbin.info/www/bejne/ZnLaeX-Ipr1mh80 United States Postal Service: kzbin.info/www/bejne/rqaVg6x4i6hgfc0 Orthodoxy vs Revisionism: kzbin.info/www/bejne/roKqpGabjt16iNk

[@CynicalHistorian]

*[reserved for errata]*

[@CynicalHistorian]

*References* My paper on the British decision to intervene into the Russian Civil War: docs.google.com/document/d/1ry4Uvv4ikeXJSWvyS0cpHcVHDFejHPUzB--euXWZgOc/edit?usp=sharing Campbell Craig and Sergey Radchenko, _The Atomic Bomb and the Origins of the Cold War_ (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University, 2008). amzn.to/35cXFdF Donald Davis & Eugene Trani, _The First Cold War: The Legacy of Woodrow Wilson in US-Soviet Relations_ (Columbia, Mo.: University of Missouri Press, 2002). amzn.to/2ubZmoW Lloyd C. Gardner, Arthur Schlesinger Jr., and Hans J. Morgenthau, _The Origins of the Cold War_ (Waltham, Mass.: Ginn and Company, 1970). amzn.to/2LkOwZk _Origins of the Cold War: An International History,_ edited by Melvyn P. Leffler and David S. Painter (London: Routledge, 1994). amzn.to/3oj5tSz _The Cambridge History of the Cold War: Origins,_ edited by Melvyn P. Leffler and Odd Arne Westad (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010). amzn.to/3bbjCNM Martin McCauley, _Origins of the Cold War, 1941-1949,_ rev. 3rd ed. (1995; Harlow, UK: Pearson Education Limited, 2003). amzn.to/3bh5cvF Jeremi Suri, “The Early Cold War,” in _A Companion to American Foreign Relation,_ edited by Robert D. Schulzinger, 2nd ed. (2003; Malden, Mass.: Blackwell Publishing, 2006), 215-229. amzn.to/35gswG3

[@USSChicago-pl2fq]

loved that you put Barry McGuire's Eve of Destruction it is my one of my most favorite Vietnam War songs since I heard it play on an old A-Team episode

[@BradyPostma]

@@USSChicago-pl2fq My first introduction to _The Eve of Destruction_ was when music KZbinr Todd in the Shadows reviewed it in a video.

[@jakecode103]

⁰⁰

[@BoyNamedSue4]

It’s simple. The USA and USSR where both on the sofa and neither wanted to get up to change the thermostat. Thus the Cold War.

[@jackbrunton9833]

You deserve far more likes

[@legoworksstudios1]

Getting up to change the thermostat is a bitch, tho. No lie

[@RachaelMarieNewport]

@BoyNamedSue that is hilarious

[@warlordofbritannia]

Alternative Metaphor -- they were an old married couple who kept getting off the sofa to change the thermostat, if only just to spite each other

[@mtn1793]

One liked blue popsicles, one liked red popsicles…

[@iammrbeat]

This is just as much an explanation of the _entire_ Cold War as it is an explanation of the causes. Well done!

[@hiltibrant1976]

Indeed, coming from a high school teacher's perspective, Cynical's videos offer a very good summary in excess of what most textbooks are capable, and also offer some intriguing perspectives.

[@Noms_Chompsky]

It's like that one house that gave out full sized chocolate bars that one Halloween

[@Ugly_German_Truths]

Basically it's the one liner explanation of ALL of history... "People were stupid and instead of listening to each other they thought they knew better than the other side what each wanted and needed"

[@1495978707]

@@Ugly_German_Truths Well if you just trust what other people say you’ll get taken advantage of. Important to add this because it’s a bit more nuanced than “people are stupid”. It’s sort of a “this is why we can’t have nice things” thing

[@TheKarotechia]

Most people in the west seems to forget how utterly traumatized the post ww2 USSR was. They had endured the extreme hardships of the first 5 year plans only to see its hard earned gains destroyed in an apocalyptic war. The post-war Soviet political and military leaders were shaped by extreme societal trauma in a way that americans can't really understand. Even the US civil war pales in comparision.

[@Lightscribe225]

Well it certainly reflects in their views. They viewed Truman as a warmonger despite him being the guy that stopped MacArthur from pulling out the nukes while thinking Ike was a good guy despite being even harsher to Russia than Truman was

[@PTFM-v9m]

@@henryfleischer404 The Fallen of World War II give you some perspective on the scale of Soviet suffering. kzbin.info/www/bejne/eqiugXmKYrecpbc

[@chickensandwich8808]

It definitely explains the harsh measures taken. The issue is too though that when such extreme trauma influences policy it can lead to some pretty bad things.

[@雷-t3j]

maybe, but I'm sure the Poles and the Czechs could...

[@dennisfarris4729]

Thugs took power, it's not that hard to understand.

[@alexandrad3158]

There was a saying in my( former Warsow Pact) country: ”In capitalism, man is exploited by man. In communism, it is the other way around”

[@donalny]

That one was pretty common around the world.

[@Hand-in-Shot_Productions]

I have heard it before! Considering how popular it is, I would say that this is one of the greatest political jokes that came out of the Eastern Bloc... and they had a lot!

[@nektariosorfanoudakis2270]

BO-RING. (Before or after Kruschev?)

[@mind_onion]

best cold war joke.

[@Contra_Mundum]

"He's being annoying." King Richard I does as he pleases; he cares not for your displeasure.

[@RachaelMarieNewport]

I have been waiting to be graced by his Feline Majesty 💖 And yes, I had to watch on 2 parts, but the video was well worth it. Great job Cypher.

[@JosipRadnik1]

We have gathered to praise tribute to king richard. Even if the intorduction by that bearded servant takes its time

[@Ugly_German_Truths]

It's a cat, if they are not annoying, they are actively planning your demise, little monsters!

[@Contra_Mundum]

I lost the heart on this comment because I edited it to fix the grammar. Oh well, C'est la vie.

[@Numbtoitall]

I've learned more about history from this channel than from every history class I've ever taken in my life

[@magnusyarbrough5527]

because history classes in k-12 are designed to be general education that only cover the most majour points in history. if you want to learn more about a topic you have to take a specialised class for that.

[@effluviah7544]

@@magnusyarbrough5527 I mean, given that this dude covered all of this content in just 30 minutes or so, and the average high school class in the USA tends to be about 40 minutes per subject per day on a rotating schedule (although this can vary), I don't think it's unreasonable to expect that this quality and quantity of information should be provided in public schooling in order to provide a well-rounded education. Because, I mean, schools are technically supposed to educate people.

[@magnusyarbrough5527]

effluviah no, the school system is designed to prepare you for college and employment, its supposed to find your interests so you can pursue that path in college. not saying i agree with american education, but its purpose is far from trying to make everyone intelligent

[@jurtra9090]

Now we will wait for the arrival of: Captain Contra, the Cynical Centrist

[@Ugly_German_Truths]

Wouldn't the Next step not be Commander Insufferably Arrogant (CIA) ?

[@redjirachi1]

Jreg can be heard reeing in the background

[@TywinLannister666]

That ass, thats Contra's *ass*.

[@Darkstar1484]

To me it almost feels like a perfect storm situation, both nations had managed to find some semblance of stability post WW2 and were dominant powers within it and as tensions slowly mounted between them they grew more wary and nervous. Combined with their own paranoia and fear of losing what stability they had they both entrenched heavily and viewed the other as something to be removed

[@seandawson5899]

Cypher: "Hey, Cypher here, and this is gonna be a long episode" Me: finally

[@bryanmcgucken7209]

“Blame” is kinda pointless. It’s just too big a thing to point a finger at any one actor. Stalin was still a terrible person, but we overlooked tyranny when it suited us often enough.

[@ASTROPLANET13]

"The world is just that cruel" - Eren Jaeger

[@elias_xp95]

We are apes, it's what we do. Fight, kill, fuck and sling shit at each other.

[@donalny]

I mean, we literally propped up communist governments when they opposed Stalin. Prior to completely collapsing in the late 80s, the Communist regime in Somalia spent its time just bouncing back and forth between the US and USSR.

[@littleferrhis]

I mean there’s a growing number of people calling for socialism and even Communism in America, sort of repeating the 70s but stronger, which after the Cold War is going to be incredibly hard to defend unless the U.S. vastly underplayed the crimes of the USSR. This topic is going to need to be talked about. Specifically who were really in essence the “good guys” in the Cold War, it shouldn’t be because it’s not as cut and dry as WW2 since the Soviets did nasty things and the U.S. also did nasty things, but it’s going to happen so long as we use the term socialism and spouting Marx in order to enact progressive policies. What the U.S. needs now more than ever is another Teddy Roosevelt. Someone who really gives off a Republican vibe, even to the point of being anti-socialist and ok with the existence of big business, but is willing to push heavier stronger more progressive policies that would tear down large billionaire companies, go out of his way to try and fix a lot of the problems around that time, enact healthcare, etc..

[@nivlacsenoj6264]

@@donalny Somalia would’ve been great had they won the Ogaden War. Soviet Union is against intervention/Imperialism yet they along with Cuba Intervened.

[@benhenderson1595]

Is a Cynical Centrist around the corner? It should be "I just want to grill" guy.

[@twonumber22]

lol

[@warlordofbritannia]

He should also make seemingly inanely obvious statements, such as "I think Nazis and Tankies are *both* bad" and "I do not like war crimes"

[@dimitrikusnetsov8731]

I mean i'm sure if he had to pick between being room mates with Woodrow Wilson or John Brown he'd choose John Brown but still.

[@donalny]

@@dimitrikusnetsov8731 Woodrow Wilson would be more cordial while scheduling a klan meeting, though. You can't have someone ranting and raving while we enjoy our cocktails.

[@dimitrikusnetsov8731]

@@donalny All fun and games until he's watching Birth of a Nation at 2 in the morning again

[@michaelgj23]

“A Study in Confusion” sounds like a great basis for a video essay.

[@jose.montojah]

It wasn't "cold" for the global south. And it definitely ain't over

[@hiltibrant1976]

I really enjoy these history collab videos, really interesting and useful as a teaching tool to have several historians offer different kinds of videos on the same topic!

[@ren17x50]

Not once in highschool or early college even tried to explain things. Thanks for the efforts very much appreciated

[@johncarter7264]

Love your work man. It can be hard to find the light of rationality amidst the ideological fog.

[@zusanlist3623]

I freaking love this channel. Thanks for the education Cipher!

[@CrazyTiffany86]

I'm so tired of KZbin. If I didn't follow you or Mr. Beat on Twitter I would never know when y'all upload 🤦🏿‍♀️

[@KeijoKeittaja666]

Germany didn't really support Finland yet in the winter war, that happened later in the continuation war.

[@livethefuture2492]

I love how you replaced any controversial symbols with youtube logos! XD

[@Hand-in-Shot_Productions]

I may be a bit wary of using Nazism and communism to mock KZbin demonetization, but I must admit: as long as history videos lose their ad revenue, KZbin still _deserves_ to be mocked!

[@lmcg9904]

In my opinion, i've learned that the truth is often in the middle. Right smack dab in the middle.

[@christianehmling5080]

I love when I wake up and theres a whole ass history youtube Avengers thing going on lol

[@soulmechanics7946]

This is outstanding work Sir! 👏👏👏 Standing ovation! We didn't even need to give you pointers and you have already matched and in many cases exceeded the contribution of your peers. Keep at it! We have got your back from here on out. Let's get this mess cleaned up! 👊

[@soulmechanics7946]

Remember, coordinated effort is key. Find others to join your collective. Collaborate big. Aim for total union.

[@jackthorton10]

For History we stand Revise we fall!

[@obitwokenobi9808]

This has helped and even altered my view on the Cold War.

[@Notllamalord]

A big factor was the nuclear bomb. The ability to delete a country from the map and keep it uninhabitable for years is a powerful motivator, and it was the start of mutuality assured destruction. World powers could no longer just fight wars, like in WW2. It was just make more and better nukes just in case they press that button. We’re all used to it by now, but that feeling of being constantly threatened by nuclear destruction must have been crushing.

[@MrWheelman82]

Small correction, Nazi Germany did not support Finland in the Winter War, they actively tried to prevent aid from reaching Finland. Military History (not) Visualized has a good video on the topic. While I do agree with the sentiment that the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact was most certainly not an alliance, as seen by both sides preparing for war with the other, Germany tried to keep the pact going until they were ready for war, hence the refusal to support the Fins

[@mongolballempire8664]

They did there are photos of nazi airplanes in Finland 1939 to proof that

[@anthonyioane4438]

@@mongolballempire8664 Those are Finnish swastikas unrelated to the NSADP in color they're blue.

[@mongolballempire8664]

@@anthonyioane4438 just because its blue doesn t change meaning

[@anthonyioane4438]

@@mongolballempire8664 it's a good luck symbol pre nsadp

[@anthonyioane4438]

@@mongolballempire8664 1918 was when the Finnish air force adopted the swastika

[@mikeor-]

My grandfather said that: "Comrade Stalin was more to us than a god. He was THE GOD, and we thought he could do no wrong. But the Cold War was his mistake, not Roosevelt's, not Churchill's, and not Truman's." Yes, Stalin was a god. But as I learned more, I think it was actually the fault of all of the Big Three.

[@warlordofbritannia]

“His most regal and purrfect Majesty, Lord of Meowland, King of the Kittons, and Holy Emperor of Litterbox, King Richard hereby declares to His Commons that all Conspiracists, Racists and Bigots shall be banned from this Comment Section. Issued in the year of our lord two thousand and one and twenty, and witnessed by His Majesty’s most leal servant, Cypher the Cynical Historian. Amen.”

[@GillisLowry]

Thank you for organizing this project, and for the great detailed video!

[@jeremydunn3976]

Wow I love your channel and find it to be more educational than anything I actually learned in college, but then again I am a psychology major. Thanks again for such a great channel and I look forward to checking out all of your stuff.

[@Shantari]

Thoroughly enjoyed both history lesson and kitty cuddles.

[@grandadmiralzaarin4962]

Ideology was the excuse. Who gets what was the real reason. While causes for any conflict are myriad, at the end of the day it's always who gets what and they are not the same as I am so therefore they are a threat.

[@PlinyTheWelder]

Precisely. This is simple imperial conflict of the sort that has been par for the course from Sumeria/ Babylon to Persian/Babylon to Greeks/Persia to Sparta/Athens to Rome/Carthage and on. When powerful imperial states exist at the same time conflict is certain. Only one thing prevented the Cold War from ending the way every single other one of these conflicts ended. Nuclear weapons finally created a world where it was no longer possible to win. If Carthage and Rome had both had hydrogen bombs they'd have managed to keep their conflict a COld war.

[@jackthorton10]

One weapon to end the world, and one to keep it under wrap, who would have thought

[@eduardotrillaud696]

Just found this thanks to Patrick Kelly's video about the EpiPen, and I'm gonna love this whole series! Nice effing job!

[@mauriziogiusti1769]

Really nice work, but with the cat, I'm sold. Subscribed.

[@michaelwerkov3438]

man its nice to see it not reduced to capitalism vs communism, and the acknowledgement that every form of democracy, commumism, and "free market" capital was bastardized

[@bingisbahn3374]

It’s actually the House committee on UN American activities

[@ItsJustMe0585]

Great job, man! I love your unbiased (at least as much as is possible, everyone has bias) takes on these sensitive, complex issues. Also, I wanna snuggle King Richard. Never thought I'd say that, but your kitty is adorable.

[@felonfrank2689]

Wow amazing work keep it up, love to learn.

[@fluviusOptio]

21:00 No no no... Nazi Germany did NOT support Finland during the Winter War. Germans actually supported the Soviets (diplomatically). In fact the Germans tried to stop Italy from giving help to Finland. You are propably confusing the Winter war (1939-40) with Continuation War (1941-44). Germans only started to allay/ support Finland militarily after the Battle of Britain, when Hitler started to prepare operation Barbarossa

[@aluminiumsandworm]

i am increasingly of the opinion that history happens almost entirely by accident

[@mishapurser4439]

I'm so glad you made this video. You've inspired me to look further into much of this.

[@CarsoN648]

Very well put together video, I personally liked your point that the United States’ dominance in comparison to broken down Allied countries (including the USSR) being the cause for the creation and consolidation of Soviet power in the Eastern bloc (this was a new point I had never heard before). I also liked that you deconstructed both pro-west and anti-west interpretations of the Cold War, instead pursuing the misunderstanding approach which I believe is one of the best ways of looking at this time period.

[@andresarguelles6507]

8:15 you missed Colombia. We had the longest continuous armed conflict against communist guerrillas, and there are still combats going on against the ELN.

[@icecreamjesse6549]

C-olumb-IA.

[@douglasdea637]

I remember reading an article, I think it was in Harper's Magazine ten or fifteen years ago, written by a man who had wandered around Eastern Europe and Russia during the 50s. He wrote that he knew then the Soviets would never "bury" us. He could easily see the inefficiencies and lack of materials, manufacturing and even basic roads was hobbling the country. People have a tendency to think Russia was somehow equal to the US. It wasn't, still isn't. It was devastated by WW2 and took decades to rebuild from that disaster. Russians also see roads as avenues for invasion, so they didn't build highways like the US did. Furthermore Russia is north of the US, it's where Canada is. Moscow is further north than any Canadian city. Soviet food production capability is minimal at best. (The first paved road that connected Moscow with Vladivostok on the east coast didn't open until after 2000 I think.) The CIA knew all of this, even in the earliest days. They kept most of it hidden and played the story that the USSR was a mighty empire on par with, perhaps even stronger than, the US. The arms manufacturers, the "military-industrial complex" Ike warned us about, approved of this as it meant a steady desire for more and newer weapons. Thus America now has 10 carrier battle groups while the rest of the world has a total of zero. So while not causing the Cold War the lies of the CIA and the greed of the arms manufacturers goosed it along.

[@williamfrancis5367]

Does the Military-Industrial Complex need to be invoked? Westerners of all stripes had grossly overestimated soviet capabilities throughout the cold war, often taking their propaganda at face value. It's not hard to see why, with national income growth at 6% a year between 1928 and 1960. In 1961 the Nobel prize-winning economist Paul Samuelson had predicted the USSR would overtake the USA in national income by 1984 or 1997 by the latest. The west had similar fears about Japan in the 1970s and 1980s when it became the second-largest economy on earth. In any case what kind of intelligence agency would want to underestimate a geopolitical rival nation? That's just a recipe for cutbacks.

[@pfacka]

I kind of agree with the premise, but there are many factual misinterpretations in your post. Moscow is at north but Soviet Union or even Russia have large territories south of Moscow of very fertile land. Even now is Russia largest exporter of wheat in the world with twice the production as US. The problem was lack of mechanization not geography. Going back to 50's Stalin was pure psychopath. The Soviet Union as we remember it was founded by Khrushchev. Their approach was to use central planning and large public spending to speed up economic growth. It worked as it worked for Japan, South Korea or later for China. That's said US embraced large public spending just as much see e.g. Interstate high way act of 1956 and it didn't stop there. USSR by mid 1970's rivaled US economy by size (although certainly not on per capita or quality of live basis). There was no fear of USSR invading US as in movies. Cold war was war for global dominance and is not over. Soon it will be US and Russia working together to counter balance China's influence. Some degree of global Influence is vital for US domestic economy - or any economy of that size. The argument is that it can be done smarter, with less spending and less dead bodies. Great example of what not to do is invasion of Iraq. That wasn't CIA's doing either. It was Donald Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney and Paul Wolfowitz.

[@williamfrancis5367]

@@pfacka. Not sure it's accurate to describe Japan, South Korea or China's economic booms as products of central planning. Japan embraced a form of dirigisme like the French. Same with South Korea though the Park regime left the chaebos alone beyond subsidising their exports and forcing them to compete in global markets. China's boom came as a product of relaxing Mao era restrictions and only started embraced planning again fairly recently.

[@WaywardVet]

I like the irony of project MAD. It's mutually assured success in that just one I follow introduced me to more.

[@christianmartinez774]

Great stuff like always

[@amk4956]

I’m going to Vegas next weekend, can’t wait to see ciphers stomping grounds

[@CynicalHistorian]

I'm headed back there next week too

[@amk4956]

@@CynicalHistorian well I hope you have a good time and be sure to find some shade… The heat looks insane but at least it’s not 80% humidity like in Nebraska.

[@RachaelMarieNewport]

@@amk4956 or 90 plus F with 95 to 100% humidity for at least 5 months a year that is called Tennessee lol. I lived there for 3 years and moved to Buffalo NY to escape it.

[@CynicalHistorian]

@@RachaelMarieNewport if you think that's bad, try going to Vegas where it's supposed to hit 117°. Couple weeks ago, they hit 119° - an all time high. I've been in Kentucky and Indiana when it was nearing 100° with 90% humidity, and i can say beyond a shadow of a doubt: Humid days cannot get as oppressively hot as Vegas does every single summer

[@RachaelMarieNewport]

@@CynicalHistorian I grew up in Oakdale near Modesto California. I can take dry heat, but the humidity kills me. At least in dry heat you can run a swamp cooler. But yeah I would rather not have triple digits at all. Summers here in Buffalo are mercifully short even with the humidity. If I could live on the coast of California where it doesn't hit the triples very often and had plenty of shade trees plus a good swamp cooler I would love it. I lived in San Jose for 3 years and loved it there. Tennessee winter weather is not too bad, but there other factors which make it a bad fit for me. Snow is an issue here, but at least once my business really gets going, I will be able to afford to buy a house around here. That would be an impossibility in California as much as I love my home state.

[@baileyduggan3659]

Ah I love the song eve of destruction, it makes me happy to hear it used.

[@bryanmcgucken7209]

Misread that as “ewe of destruction;” must be my knitting, lol

[@scottzumsteg4314]

Love the corner error dummy thing

[@gregorymckenna2727]

23:00-23:15 It's a minor point, but Operation Unthinkable was also fundamentally unworkable, "cooler heads" or not. Even the planners knew it was militarily impossible, as the strength of the Red Army was too much and their own populace's enthusiasm for it simply would not support it, and essentially spelled it out in those terms. They ultimately came to the conclusion that the supposed "vulnerable position" did not exist, at least not in military terms. Not for nothing did they subsequently redraft Unthinkable as a defensive plan wherein the Soviets overran Western Europe and they had to figure out how to defend the British Isles. The Red Army having a advantage in conventional military power, in Europe at least, throughout the majority of the Cold War was one of several asymmetries that persisted throughout the Cold War.

[@雷-t3j]

perceived imbalance. we don't actual know if the soviet military would've been able to beat the west, especially once you consider how much the rest of the Warsaw pact would be willing to fight

[@gregorymckenna2727]

@@雷-t3j We have a pretty good idea. Of course, the Cold War lasted for a lengthy amount of time and the capabilities of the respective sides shifted during it as well, as did the loyalty of the various Warsaw Pact armies. But general historical consensus is that the conventional balance of power did tilt in their favor until well into the 80s. The fact remains that - even on a theoretical level - offensive action to drive the USSR from Eastern Europe in the opening stages of a war was never deemed a realistic possibility until the late-80s.

[@thomasjenkins5727]

Cypher casts shade on KZbin by superimposing the KZbin symbol over the Nazi symbol...

[@Hawkatana]

The one critique I have of this video is that no leftist in their right mind (and even many who aren't) would *ever* defend Kruschev. Many leftists, including the most pro-USSR of tankies utterly despise him and claim he's when everything turned to shit.

[@superduperfreakyDj]

Kruschev was an imperialist, the only good thing he did was the destalinisation

[@Hawkatana]

@@superduperfreakyDj Destalinisation was a mixed bag, tbh. Him disbanding what little actually remained of Soviet Socialism was unequivocably bad, but everything else was fine.

[@robfl100]

Imagine loving Stalin but hating Khrushchev

[@cv4809]

@@superduperfreakyDj stalin was arguably the most imperialist of the Soviet leaders

[@superduperfreakyDj]

@@robfl100 who said I "hate" Kruschev? I only hate Gorbachev

[@bellamaz1972]

Ominous music accompanying King’s kissing your face is an interesting juxtaposition :)

[@CynicalHistorian]

I never thought of that, lol

[@QwertyCaesar]

Know what this reminds me of? The Fog of War, the documentary of Robert McNamara's recollections of his time being in the army air corps in WWII and secretary of defense under Kennedy and LBJ. Specifically, it reminds me of him talking about his encounter with Vietnamese military leaders in the 1990s and his realization that the war was, in more ways than just this one (it goes into Tonkin as well), based fundamentally on misunderstandings.

[@jtsg464]

Cypher, loved the video and breaking down how both sides were at fault, with the biggest cause being the misunderstanding between the USA and USSR. A curious thing I would have liked to hear more about was your reference to overtures Stalin made to try improve relations prior to the Berlin Blockade. What did he do which was considered a possible olive branch or trying to reduce tensions?

[@CynicalHistorian]

The book i spoke of in the video

[@seanlubecki5918]

Hey Cynical Historian. Thank you for making these videos. I really enjoy them. We really do need to remember our history. I really enjoy history and I enjoy your videos. Thank you for making them.

[@NormanPrather]

The best answer to "Why" is simply: Fear makes fools of us all.

[@jwil4286]

another sidenote: Italian fascism's rise can be attributed to Woodrow as well (he refused to let them claim Dalmatia)

[@Constructivecynicism]

Love the kazoo cover of the Soviet national anthem 😂

[@Hand-in-Shot_Productions]

The kazoo anthem sure sounds funny! Like you said: 😂

[@srdjan455]

One part that I think goes unexplored about the cold war is how the military and weapon industries of both nations pressured politicians to "keep it going" so to say

[@williamfrancis5367]

Or domestic political competition in the US. Kennedy used the rhetoric of a supposed missile gap to make the GOP look weak on communism, while the GOP used the rise of Mao in China as a stick to beat the Democrats with. It's also worth noting that the American presidents who made the most progress in reducing tensions with the communist world were Nixon and Reagan who had impeccable anti-communist credentials in the eyes of the public. Whereas when Ford continued Nixon's detente he received a primary challenge from Reagan for being a weak in the Soviets while his advisor Kissinger was attacked by Reagan ally William Leob III (the editor of the Manchester Union leader) as a "bootlicking supplicant of the communists".

[@theshenpartei]

It’s a good day when cypher publishes a video and it’s a better day when it’s a collab project

[@amirbrandon5011]

Benn Steil, economist, historian, and the author of the Marshall Plan: Dawn of the Cold War has argued if there's going to be a firm date for the Cold War it would be July 7th, 1947. When the two diplomatic relations became even more polarized when the USSR ordered its buffer states to refuse aide from the Marshall Plan, further consolidating their sphere of influence while the United States was consolidating theirs.

[@pfacka]

That's correct. But that was also bound to happen. This is how Russian Empire operated, so did Soviet Union and so does current Russian Federation. There are some variations but the strategy is more or less same: occupy territory, tie it's economy and infrastructure directly to Moscow/Russia and minimize ties between their neighbors (or remote allies), make them dependent on your central power and exploit local resources. Russian Empire began expanding into new territories around 16/17th century to solve problem of their vulnerable geography which later turned into battle to retain those territories.

[@NunSuperior]

I still remember hearing the air raid sirens that would be tested every month. It was a huge relief when the wall fell and Germany was reunited.

[@CynicalHistorian]

Plenty of cities in the US still test them. I've lived in two that do

[@PremierCCGuyMMXVI]

Thanks for this video, very fascinating, also at 20:17 got me thinking about how in 1943 a Soviet spy was wanting to live in Canada and declassified tons of information about USSR espionage in places such as the USA, Britain, and Canada. This probably also caused a sour in the relationship between the WW2 allies. Just shows there was no clear transition from WW2 to Cold War, everything kind of blends. 32:31 But for me I’d say the Cold War began officially in 1945. Right after Germany surrendered in Europe and Berlin becoming the gate way between the democratic west and communist east. Because right after WW2 ended and definitely after the Japanese surrender in September four months after the Germans surrendered (I think the US really nuked Japan in a show of force against the USSR and Japan surrendered to the Americans because they feared a Soviet takeover more than getting nuked), a power vacuumed opened up left by the dying colonial empires of Britain, France, Portugal, and Japan. Two new superpowers with newish different types political ideologies (although America and the Soviet Union had both pretty mixed economies and both had some form of democracy and republicanism like you said although the USA was probably more democratic and capitalistic than the Soviet Union) filled the power vacuum which were the United States of America and the Soviet Union. Both these nations started supporting proxy conflicts the first two being civil wars in Greece and China followed by proxy wars in Korea and Vietnam. Both sides, especially US involvement in Latin America, doing imperialism and trying to grow their influence. But it’s so shady and there is definitely no exact moment the Cold War began. Same with the end of the Cold War, Cuban Missile Crisis resolves in 1962, SALT Agreement in 1969, USA-Soviet space dock in 1975, Detente in the 1970s, Gorbachev comes to power in 1985, Reagan’s Berlin Wall Speech in 1987, Revolutions of 1989 in Eurasia, Berlin Wall collapse in 1989, German reunification in 1990, Lithuania leaves USSR in 1990, Warsaw Pact disbanded in 1991, USSR collapses in 1991. In some cases some may say it never ended and that Putin is just a continuation or maybe we are in a second Cold War (or third depending on how you view American-Soviet relations before WWII), and this time it’s the United States against Russia and China. And I like what you said why the Cold War happened, I also think it was more of a battle over power than a battle over ideology.

[@HistoryandHeadlines]

Thank you for starting off the playlist! What does everyone think was the most critical cause of the Cold War?

[@semajsga]

The existential threat to capitalism caused by socialism would be my broadest answer.

[@Spongebrain97]

@@semajsga yeah thats become more apparent the more one reads up on the cold war. It can't be claimed that the west and the US in particular were trying to spread democracy and curb out authoritarianism caused by communists when they literally funded reactionary autocracies just because they were anti communist and the fact that European powers still tried to hold onto their imperialist ambitions in places like Algeria, Iran, and Vietnam

[@CarrotConsumer]

I think they were just bored and needed something to do.

[@williamfrancis5367]

@@Spongebrain97. But communist and socialist states were within the western alliance too. For the first several decades or so of its existence the western ally Israel was run by socialist governments, while by the late cold war, the US strengthen ties with China with the two nations funding the same people to counter Soviet influence in the third world. For that matter socialists also exercised great power within the capitalist states of the American sphere of influence and often did so to maintain their empires. In 1945-1951 the British Labour government under Clement Attlee helped found NATO, sent troops to fight in Korea, used the international courts to frustrate Iranian efforts to nationalise Anglo-Persian oil holdings and stripped the future democratic leader of Botswana, Seretse Khama of his power as a chief of Buchenanland to keep in the good graces of the apartheid South African government to get access to cheap gold and Uranium. The was also approval of the Briggs plan in Malaysia, which forcible relocated half a million peasants into camps to control the economy of countryside as a means of flushing out communist insurgents.

[@kmaher1424]

A Cold War Orphan appreciates this presentation. Slight correction: Army aircraft did not fly the Berlin Arrlift. The USAF had become a separate service in 1947. I think some Navy planes helped, too.

[@erinmac4750]

Just finished watching exceptionally well presented documentary on the Cold War...."Ooh, kitty kisses!!!" 😹

[@williamfrancis5367]

21:15 I am surprised how few people bring up German oil shortages as a primary reason for the invasion of the USSR by the Nazis.

[@williamfrancis5367]

@@ohauss. It is true that invading the USSR was a key Nazi war aim from before it came to power, but the timing of Hitler's invasion was heavily rooted in oil shortages. If they had waited any longer an invasion wouldn't have been possible.

[@varana]

@@williamfrancis5367 How much that played a role in the decision, is still heavily debated (even though it has gained some traction on KZbin...) There were a lot of other factors involved in the timing of Barbarossa. Mentioning _only_ the oil, like this video does, is incredibly reductive to the point of being just wrong.

[@Mark-qq9cd]

Thanks!

[@CynicalHistorian]

And thank you

[@Aljomito]

Thank you Cipher, I really do thnk I learned something new with this episode. This is not to say that you haven't managed to teach me anything new before, and I do follow your episodes quite rigorously, which you have, for the most part in getting more details in focus for me. But the whole concept of an allied intervention during and after WWI was new to me. As a german national I have been tought about Brest-Litovsk and that whole unholy conundrum that the Kaiserreich and the OHL caused there and as the son of former avid socialists I got a good dose of one-sidedness as well seeing that I did grow up in the area you so alloqently lay out here. SO thank you a huge bunch for opening new stratae in my on-going mission to become more knowledgable (pls excuse any and all mistakes in my English, I strife to get it right, but alas often I do fail, and google is no real option). Thank you ver much and keep up the good work.

[@phoenixshadow6633]

One nation has Siberia. The other nation has Alaska and Midwestern winters. They wanted to see who had it worse.

[@uuhhhmicrotone2435]

Bruh thats not even a contest, alaska at its worst is siberia at it’s best

[@Hand-in-Shot_Productions]

I find this to be quite an interesting video! For instance, I didn't realize that "the Height of the Cold War" is just something made up by unimaginative fiction authors! If I ever need to satirize the Cold War's popular culture depictions, I will be sure to turn to that phrase!

[@AmySavage6]

Great video, cold war (concept apparently not used in the East) is such a vast and multi-faceted era of world history that simplifying it does a real disservice to our understanding of it and how modern day came to be. Also why the past tense with nukes? There's still plenty enough to end everything...

[@jackthorton10]

The Card Holders changed but the cards remain the same

[@jasnmeade9487]

Coming out of WWII, there were going to be two big dogs. And those two dogs were going to growl at each other through the fence. Ideology be damned.

[@goatass3402]

i just found your channel today and i love it. your videos help me understand history by mentioning the little details that are often left out but are extremely important when accumulated

[@grimmportents8951]

I see those Will Durant books back there and I approve. Cause I know you were wondering.

[@davidtrindle6473]

About 1960 Krushchev announced I believe at the UN, “we will bury you.” We took that literally.

[@LoraCoggins]

Imagine if the diplomats went to group therapy.

[@LOLquendoTV]

Damn, was this what that Twitter poll a couple of months was about?

[@CynicalHistorian]

I do a lot of Twitter polls, one of which is referenced in this video

[@LOLquendoTV]

@@CynicalHistorian fair enough. Have a good one

[@Black-Sun_Kaiser]

"Terror-Famine" , truly a horrifying phrase.

[@ChristianLemon]

Great video

[@MarcumSalty]

I love your content. How does the business of arms sales and the fact both sides were competitors factor in?

[@ame0420]

The fact that we realized how good the war business was and how powerful fear was as a mechanism to control popular opinion.

[@alexj7440]

I have to hand it to right wing capitalists. They’ve figured out how to manipulate the working class, having them gleefully fight against their own interests all by creating a caricature of “others” who they scapegoat.

[@martinhumphreys4891]

Thank you for explaining that Kruschev did not, in fact, wave his shoe at the UN.

[@PlinyTheWelder]

I don't really see how it's even a debate. Throughout history bi-polar imperial set ups have been fundamentally oppositional. Sparta/Athens, Rome/Carthage, Britain/France/ etc. Certainly there was an ideological component but even without the economic differences there would have been conflict. At the end of WWII two nations stood as immense, dominant miltary powers. Both of them wanted to extend their influence as far as possible. The USSR rightly considered the west a threat and the West rightly considered the USSR a threat. The Soviets had centuries of experience that showed buffer states were needed to prevent invasion and the West responded to the extension of the Soviet Empire the same way it responded to 1914 Germany, 1939 Germany and 1941 Japan. And the same way it's starting to respond to 2021 China. This is basic power politics. First comes the realisitic geo political realities, then comes confrontation over dominance, then comes ideological excuses for why the confrontation is needed.

[@Hand-in-Shot_Productions]

In other words, it is basically a struggle for power on the world stage. The ideologies being excuses for geopolitical struggle sure explain how the USA can call itself the "Free World" but back authoritarian regimes from Chile to South Korea, or how the USSR can call itself a "people's democracy" and _be_ an authoritarian regime!

[@mytopicsopinions2840]

I remember in high school learning about the cold war the only thing I remember being total was the Cuban missile crisis

[@ExcretumTaurum]

That A-Bomb sound effect set my dog barking randomly around the house

[@brandontaylor8957]

Stalin didn’t let Harry Truman jump on Churchill’s belly

[@hunterwestbrook9949]

Please do a presidential tier list!

[@TrainmasterGT]

Comrade Chyka is my new favorite character!!

[@chrismcmichael1242]

I adore the cynical proletariat. Very funny. Great video. :-)

[@joshuawertman8711]

I feel like most bloodshed through history could have been solved with understanding your so called enemy is not so different from yourself.

[@lynnjacobs9885]

An excellent discussion. In assigning blame for the Cold War, however, one must consider that at first the US consistently kept far ahead of the Soviet Union in nuclear capability.

[@bukowski9526]

5:13 is this new? That's a banger

[@ghyuty17]

14:31 good one

[@TheHavnmonkey]

I'm commenting early on in the video and by no means am I a historian... It has always been my opinion that the friction between east and west (political, economic and social ideologies) began before WWI when wealthy British persons felt threatened by worker organizations. Hitler's rise to power and WWII was kind of an unexpected deviation from a brewing battle between the eventual parties of the Cold War.

[@upintheairstudio]

Cypher, Chyka and Crypto....Get these guys a sitcom!

[@KnightlyNerdandDork]

Everyone: Say the line, Cypher Cypher: 18:25 Everyone: YAY!

[@Sonickeyblade00]

Here I am in 2022 and some people are debating whether the "Cold War" ever ended or if it just took a 30 year break, due to what's happening in Ukraine.