World War II Civilians and Soldiers: Crash Course European History #39

Our look at World War II continues with a closer examination of just how the war impacted soldiers in the field, and the people at home. For many of the combatants, the homefront and the warfront were one and the same. The war disrupted life for millions upon millions of people. You'll learn about the different experiences of the populations of various combatant states.
In other news, we've partnered with Arizona State University for a new bunch of video series! Check out Study Hall: • Study Hall: Composition
Sources
-Kent, Susan. A New History of Britain: Four Nations and an Empire. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017.
-Krylova, Anna. Soviet Women in Combat: A History of Violence on the Eastern Front. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010
-Mazower, Mark. Hitler’s Empire: How the Nazis Ruled Europe. New York: Penguin, 2008.
-Overy. Richard. Russia’s War. London: Penguin, 1997.
-Riding, Alan. And the Show Went On: Cultural Life in Nazi-Occupied Paris. New York: Vintage, 2011.
-Smith, Bonnie G. Europe in the Contemporary World, 1900 to the Present, 2nd ed. London: Bloomsbury, 2020.
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[@Pfhorrest]

I really like how all Crash Course history videos avoid focusing on the glorification of warfare, and instead focus on the experience of the ordinary people and the systemic social things that lead to war.

[@carniestyle6454]

@Pfhorrest The Great War and World War Two (same people different channels) do the same. Two channels I highly recommend.

[@skykid]

The moment you become enthralled by the notion that history is just people being people in countless times and places is the moment you truly become a historian. War is one situation to be in, but the situations leading up to war, or following war, or in the midst of a war are all equally fascinating when it teaches you about those people. Tactics and logistics can also be quite interesting and even worth learning about for future application, but they tell you much less about yourself and the story of humanity, they have much less ability to predict the path humanity will take.

[@ChenAnPin]

as JG said, there's enough stuff out there about the "hard" aspects of warfare, but stuff like the homefront and access to food and resources is not widely known or mentioned in history classes.

[@Ludix147]

That's how we do history in Germany, too. It seems absurd to me to glorify warfare. I mean, sure, sometimes war is the only option left, but it's not glorious.

[@pete9320]

Gonna be honest - if a historian focuses on something else, it's either military history or a biased historian. It's very common to focus on the systemic social elements, hell the historical method is made to make sure that you're able to see how life was for people previously. If this is not how you're taught history in high-school, then good grief.

[@anilatarannum]

I'm so glad you covered the Bengal Famine. It's so often overlooked, especially because of the "heroistic" cult surrounding Churchill.

[@sarahkendle7564]

Being English and having studied history for all of my life I am saddened that I never learnt about the Bengal Famine, even in my History of the British Empire modules, which I studied twice (once for my A levels and again at university). It was never mentioned and we studied in great detail India's battle for independence. I can assure you now, a lot of British people will not have heard of this famine, nor understand that it was caused by our own government at the time.

[@FlyingNimbus601]

Atleast the UK did something right in the war

[@lostintashkent]

TOTALLY AGREE. It's not by coincidence that an American is telling this now to the world. I also went through the UK education system and never once heard about the Bengal famine. In the same way we never learnt about Daniel O'Connell, what happened to the Australian aborigines etc.

[@Daveza2]

UK education system is notorious for underplaying the horrors of colonialism. The fact that Rhodes is still celebrated in spite of being one of the worst mass murderers in history is quite telling.

[@joshs2176]

Very true. We learn a surprisingly small amount about the colonial era in general. Most of what we learn outside of the two world wars is either the Tudors or civil rights (latter also being an important topic, to be fair).

[@mankytoes]

@@Daveza2 I did history A level in England and Rhodes was never mentioned, let alone celebrated.

[@redwanrizvi]

I'm from Bangladesh, back then Bengal was a province of greater India. Our ancestors were very poor and uneducated to understand the cause of the '43 famine. Even now our history books dont put blame on anyone for that mass-starvation (bangla: পঞ্চাশের দুর্ভিক্ষ). I would suggest paintings of the famous Joynal Abedin for some rare glimpse of the sufferings of Bengalis during that time. I appreciate that John and his team has put credit where it is due...that our people gave their lives directly and indirectly to defeat Nazism and Fascism.

[@mortuos557]

Back then your people sacrificed all these lifes to stop fascism, and today you try to remove Muslims from the country. You build "detention camps" and have people prove their proper hindu-ness. I might be projecting the next episode in there, and I desperately hope I'm wrong. But it worries me greatly.

[@ayushsharma7995]

@@mortuos557 wow now i realise how flawed western media's portrayal of facts can be 🤔🤔

[@joshuakevinserdan9331]

@Robert Apostu Hey thanks! I'm not from your country and I'm not a Muslim, but yeah, I'm kind of worried for the Muslim there. I hope you continue fighting against that bill. And take care mate!

[@mortuos557]

@Robert Apostu I'm sorry, I didn't mean to presume everyone was pro this. I meant you in a collective sense, and didn't want to insult you.

[@mankytoes]

@Robert Apostu I can't argue with the depiction of my people's brutal exploitation of India, all I can say is millions of Britons today are truly grateful for the incredible sacrifices the Indian people made, especially in the wars. I hope the Japanese also take a fair share of the blame, as it was their aggressive colonial practises that actually were the initial cause of the famine, something increasingly overlooked on all sides.

[@simonburda2021]

'Evil starts when you begin to treat people as things" - Esmeralda Weatherwax

[@EcceJack]

Sir Terry Pratchett at his finest

[@pavarottiaardvark3431]

My uncle used to tell stories of the flimsy labels at 5:50 They'd shake the various cans to try and work out what food stuffs might be in them. They had to eat whatever they opened, whether or not it went together...

[@leotheecreator]

Please do Caribbean/Latin American/African histories 🥺🥺🥺 I never, never learned of their histories and I want future generations to know where they came from

[@gurgelurk]

First reference to a living person in this series... of course it was that guy.

[@radagastwiz]

Aah, Putin!

[@TsukiraLuna]

Honestly surprised it wasn't the Queen of England.

[@chrayez]

Erim Valphira I believe her majesty was in one of the images earlier in the episode (alongside prince Philip?)

[@juliusnoahsiebert1906]

Putin showed that a person just becomes what it and it's surroundings experienced

[@yourcompanero]

to be fair a lot of the civilians and soldiers are still alive today.

[@volk551]

A famine isn't a lack of food it is a lack of access to food.

[@DanielVCOliveira]

Something tells me next episode will not have many jokes

[@melonlord1414]

There is an Italian movie about holocaust that I saw in school. That movie made us laugh a lot. It's a great reminder, that even people in horrible situations have still things to live for. The name of the movie is "La vita è bella" or "Life is beautiful" in english

[@Quesoman1]

@@melonlord1414 that movie made me cry buckets

[@alexcallender]

The whole episode is a joke.

[@harleyquinn5774]

You were right.

[@harleyquinn5774]

Alex Callender piss off, Holocaust denier.

[@erraticonteuse]

I am so happy you mentioned the Leningrad scientists! So few people know their story and it is *incredible* .

[@matthewmcneany]

The most dangerous thing about fascism that people seem to forget is that it takes two types of people to run a fascist society. Yes you need people who believe they are superior and have a right to rule, but it also takes many more people happy to subordinate both their own and other people's freedom for the promise of some form of security.

[@ericdevito9383]

Matthew McNeany essentially trump 2020 will be facism

[@Fuckingboredrn]

Isn't that all government tho?

[@Jay_Johnson]

@@Fuckingboredrn yes, with that line of reasoning you end up with anarchism. I would willingly give a little liberty, (taxes and laws) to have some security (NHS, Military, police, social security)

[@Fuckingboredrn]

@@Jay_Johnson yep, me to.

[@melonlord1414]

When a democracy can't provide the security that people want, they will turn to antidemocrats.

[@TupacMakaveli1996]

In Pakistan, we had a chapter in high school english on Churchill. The chapter was focused on him being poor and hard working and how he succeed in become the person he was. Never told us he was racist and caused that many deaths for his own agenda.

[@TuomasKivisto]

How is what you are taught in Pakistan the agenda of Churchill? You are independent nation that can determine what is taught in schools in Pakistan.

[@TupacMakaveli1996]

@@TuomasKivisto You didn't understood my point. Our books never told us the truth, is what I am saying. I am saying that my government praised Churchill. Maybe they just wanted us to motivate to keep hard working cause that was the meaning I was getting that regardless which background you coming from, if you keep working hard you'll achieve success and status.

[@miakay3403]

When speaking about allied bombings Dreseden is nearly always mentioned and rightfully so. But little is known about the city which, proportionally, was hit second hardest: My hometown of Wiener Neustadt (which is not a part of Vienna). It was the starting point for nearly every major European car manifacturer, its "Raxwerke" were the biggest factory for trains in the third Reich and it also was among the biggest manifacturing hub for fighter planes. Needless to say it held tremebdous strategic value. It was levelled to such an extent that the industry was only fields of rubble and only 14 civilian houses were left undamaged. There is a pub in Camebridge where RAF pilots wrote the names of their mission targets onto the walls and ceiling. When I visited this pub I found the name of my hometown so many times that I could not help but feel horrified. Don't get me wrong: I am greatful that the allies freed Austria and ended the war. It is just disheartening to know all that and still be able to see these actions scars in your city today.

[@cathykeller8551]

David, thanks for sharing. I am a consultant for the series and went through Wiener Neustadt on occasion when I lived in Hollabrunn in 1999-2000. I didn't know this about the town! It's amazing how heavily so much of Europe was bombed in WWII, and it has always struck me as a vital difference between European and American experiences of the war. I was excited to see Hollabrunn mentioned in War in Peace.

[@miakay3403]

@@cathykeller8551 Last year Wiener Neustadt was chosen for Lower Austrias state exhibition, which brought substential funding to the local museums and landmarks. Historic works were also funded. I am pretty sure that at least some new scientific works concerning this period were released. Another tidbit: Tito worked for Austro Daimler (predecessor of Mercedes) in Wiener Neustadt as a testdriver for new cars in 1912. Due to this he was granted residence right in Wiener Neustadt, which is why he was conscripted into the Austro-Hungarian army in 1913. Oh and another thing: Do you know the famous V day kiss foto in which a Navy officer kisses a nursd in Times square? The nurse, Greta Zimmer, was a jewish women born in WN in 1924. She she emigrated (closer to fled) when only 15 years in 1939 with her sisters, having to leave her parents behind, because they did not have enough money.

[@cathykeller8551]

David Geicsnek cool details! I’ll have to visit WN next time I’m in Austria. I went back with my family in 2018, but we were only in Vienna for four or five days. (Note the picture in my profile :)

[@sakakaka4064]

WOW you're grateful that the Allies destroyed your town and killed your people. You are brainwashed beyond my imagination.

[@miakay3403]

@@sakakaka4064 Please read my comment again and think of the historic ramifications.

[@grapeshot]

My grandfather served in the ETO. 452nd Anti Aircraft Artillery Battalion US Army. During World War II and he told me what happened to civilians. My great-uncle was a Montford Point Marine. He fought in the Battle of Peleliu and Okinawa.And on Okinawa he told me many many civilians were killed in the crossfire and the brutality of that battle.

[@AverytheCubanAmerican]

I’ve been loving and watching this European History series ever since it began. Especially the most recent episodes like this one, I find them fascinating. I learn something new in every episode

[@deejmalik]

I’m a British person of colour from the town Churchill was originally an MP for, thank you so much John for covering the Bengal famine, so often we see him lauded as the great orator and war leader while the inconvenient reality of his evils in Ireland, India, the Middle East and honestly towards anyone he considered inferior are swept under the rug and written out of popular history, people are seldom one note and Churchill amongst the least

[@ASLEFshrugged]

He wasn't too keen on the working class in Britain. In 1919 during a strike by the National Union of Railwaymen Churchill suggested placing machine guns on trains and at key locations like tunnels to prevent the strikers from disrupting the railways.

[@deejmalik]

ASLEF shrugged 100% my maternal family have been in the Labour movement since Peterloo, Churchill’s name was mud in my great grandma’s house because of 1919. It’s why I said anyone he considered inferior as that definitely included the British working class as well as the Irish and people of colour

[@melaineeyh]

Watching these Crash Course videos has made quarantine more enjoyable and educational. Thank you!

[@PedroG78]

When you thought John Green's series can't get better. Wow.

[@cometmoon4485]

Thank you for shining a spotlight on the terror of Churchill and the Bengal Famine. So often, it's just brushed aside as a footnote, if even mentioned at all.

[@megancastle5573]

I really appreciate that the title card music is quieter than John's speaking voice. Much less jarring.

[@mg4361]

Honestly, watching this video was hugely therapeutic, it puts the current situation in perspective. People somehow survived WW2, we will survive this. This time at least we are all on the same side, kind of.

[@SonofCaesarRTW]

Many people didn't survive those times. We shouldn't rest on the idea we will get through this. Because we will only get through this is we start making some serious changes now.

[@mg4361]

@@licheong I don't disagree that though times are ahead. I am painfully aware that not everyone will survive the current epidemic, that this will precipitate the rise of nationalism and disunity, that we are whitnessing America's Suez moment, which China will probably try to capitalize on, to the joy of dictators and detriment of democracy everywhere. But honestly, as someone whose grandparents survived WW2 pretty much in its epicentre and as someone who personally whitnessed the collapse of Yugoslavia, the Croatian War of Independence and an incredibly brutal economic recession that accompanied it, I cannot help being a little bit less phased by this, sorry.

[@LeeCzere]

@@licheong I'm hoping, because of people like you, who can see that as a viable path for the future, we can head it off at the pass by promoting unity before scapegoating

[@shivaumesh1129]

m g Yes, so true

[@mkratos17]

@@licheong worst case scenario much 😅 maybe instead this shows people in the us that socialism is need to tackle our ages problems maybe we get lucky and China implodes and becomes fragmented 😂

[@paulineshulman7320]

Crash course has always been an amazing source of digestible information that combines facts and humor when it can. I look forward to every "Green" post and thank you for getting me through what feel like the hardest of times. But you remind me, "Are they the hardest or do we just have very short memories?". I appreciate you both and the team that must work tirelessly to bring a little light and much needed knowledge.

[@andrewsmith3081]

Bengal Famine: well played. As they say: "Lest we forget"

[@burrito-town]

My goodness, this video is full of fascinating ideas to think about. The idea I come away chewing on the hardest: "Evil is not exceptional."

[@lpburrows]

If you like that, you should check out Hannah Arendt's _Eichmann in Jerusalem_, about the Shoah, when she coined the phrase "the banality of evil," which is certainly one of the voices inspiring John here.

[@elsalaiho1699]

About women's role in war - Finland had the Lotta Svärd organization. It predated the war as the female groups of the White Guard, and before the war it only allowed those who hadn't supported the Reds in the civil war, as Finland was still (and would be for decades more) divided by the civil war, but during wartime it began allowing any women who wanted to join. The different divisions of Lotta Svärd supported the military, allowing the men to mostly only do the active soldier stuff. The medical division ran the field hospitals, transported the wounded, and put the corpses of the fallen into coffins to be sent back home, as well as seeing to the wounded animals. One division saw to making the food for the soldiers in basically everywhere but active battle. One handled the equipment (such as clothing and weaponry) and its distribution to the soldiers. Some handled paperwork and communications, worked as radists and telephone dispatchers, and yet one division watched the sky for air raids, and so on. Lottas weren't involved in active combat, but they ran basically everything other than it.

[@Hoidienvietnam]

*Crash Course (sometimes stylized as CrashCourse) is an educational KZbin channel started by John and Hank Green (collectively the Green brothers), who first achieved notability on the KZbin platform through their VlogBrothers channel.[1][2][3] Crash Course was one of the hundred initial channels funded by KZbin's $100 million original channel initiative. The channel launched a preview on December 2, 2011, and as of February 2020, it has accumulated over 10 million subscribers and 1.2 billion video views.[4] The channel launched with John and Hank presenting their respective World History and Biology series; the early history of the channel continued the trend of John and Hank presenting humanities and science courses, respectively.[5] In November 2014, Hank announced a partnership with PBS Digital Studios, which would allow the channel to produce more courses. As a result, multiple additional hosts joined the show to increase the number of concurrent series. To date, there are 38 main series of Crash Course, of which John has hosted nine and Hank has hosted seven. Together with Emily Graslie, they also co-hosted Big History. A second channel, Crash Course Kids, is hosted by Sabrina Cruz and has completed its first series, Science. The first foreign-language course, an Arabic reworking of the original World History series, is hosted by Yasser Abumuailek. The main channel has also begun a series of shorter animated episodes, called Recess, that focus on topics from previous Crash Course series. A collaboration with Arizona State University titled Study Hall began in 2020, which includes less structured learning in its topics.*

[@tonyrosa4750]

Your a very GIFTED TEACHER and staying true to the fullest and important parts of history. Great works to all that produces your videos and displays your integrity of work. Blessings to you and your families.

[@Inucroft]

Not really, as they are teaching mistruths and propoganda mixed with truth

[@chillsahoy2640]

I remember a heartbreaking moment in an episode of The Brain Scoop, where Emily visits the Natural History Museum in Berlin. And while a large portion of their specimens are still viable, the East Wing was bombed by the Allies and that resulted in the destruction of priceless specimens. Human casualties of wars are, of course, awful, but when we're done mourning the lives lost, we look for comfort in our cultural and scientific wealth, only to find that we also suffered losses in that area.

[@theghostofchristmaspast293]

Thank you for talking about the Bengal famine, it is one of the worst kind of famine seen in human history, and many people don't know much about it.

[@Vhlathanosh]

Posted 42 seconds ago. Video is 14 minutes long and already 1 dislike. Some people need help.

[@shottajay22]

9min now and at 4dislikes

[@de-nis4703]

Nazi did this

[@VashdaCrash]

And they didn't even get to the quote "From Vlad to worse" when they depicted Vladimir Putin lol. Seriously though, this episode was beautiful, I love the last comments from the host.

[@varana]

I've come to the conclusion that there must be people running a script over a variety of KZbin channels automatically downvoting every video as soon as they come up. :D

[@shirajbaral5602]

Might be the touch screen. Sometimes my touch screen automatically touches the dislike button and i have to undislike some videos

[@augustus331]

Here we see the sacrifice our ancestors had to make as civilians in a war they did not start. The only sacrifice we're asked to make now is to stay home, should be do-able!

[@shadowhawk320]

while we sit at home, to do the right thing for everyone; governments pass more laws, and grow their power. I fear that before this is all said and done we will sacrifice much more than ever should have been allowed. Remember that at the heart of every massive large scale famine, is a massive large scale government.

[@augustus331]

@@shadowhawk320 In the case of the US, the government is lead by an incompetent president, that combined with a faltering healthcare system and you have something much worse to worry about than "big government"

[@shadowhawk320]

@@augustus331 the president actually has berry little power. I'm more worried about the house, and the Senate. More than that the only reason healthcare is broken is because of the over reach of the government. Free markets is the only way to keep power in check.

[@augustus331]

@@shadowhawk320 Well, the US system is basically free-market ruled right now, isn't it? Here in the Netherlands we also have some free-market aspects to healthcare but the prices are kept low, so that no-one pays a dime more for whatever care they need than their deductibles. Whether they need asthma medication or brain surgery.

[@shadowhawk320]

@@augustus331 no, I would describe our healthcare system as croney capitalist. Government makes it law that doctors must accept an insurance company. Government also make it law that insurance companies must cover pre-existing conditions. Company's never pay, and doctors raise their prises resulting in expensive healthcare. These entities need to be freed from the government. Don't even get me started on drug regulations.

[@malavisengupta9555]

Thanks for talking about the Bengal famine. My grandma survived it, and she spoke about how people would literally beg for the water that they boiled rice in, and sometimes the family just gave away their rice. I was thinking about this the other day while draining my rice.

[@defyingblueprints6914]

This series is so, so, so, good and insightful!

[@sudhirpatel7620]

If you had 12 kids you were awarded the medal of Wow that is one hell of a bloody womb.

[@erik-ic3tp]

Really?

[@MKPiatkowski]

If you had 12 kids you'd be dead.

[@sayondeepchoudhury7558]

The Golden Bear winning Bengali film 'Ashani Sanket' (Distant Thunder) directed by Satyajit Ray is set during the Bengal Famine. In the film as the people are starving and growing desperate for food, the nature is depicted in its full glory showing that the famine was indeed man made and not natural. It is a wonderful film.

[@harshpatel1972]

Please keep going with this series! It really helps during quarantine.

[@biscuitbitch5608]

Wow John has changed since 2012

[@sisyphusvasilias3943]

Yet another excellent installment of what has become my pick for the best series on this platform.

[@donnahenley7112]

You are always awesome. So is Hank.

[@justasomeone461]

Somehow you manage to lift my soul from the fact we are all one and we can overcome and yet punch my heart black and blue from telling the truth or the other way around or both and then both again.

[@Izzy-ec4qq]

I watched this whole series before writing the finnish matriculation exam in History and I wrote the same test in the autumn but wasnt happy with the results so I re wrote it. Got 81 points (or, according to my teacher, it might still get better as they tend to be stricter just in case) and in autumn I got 54 so thank you! Thanks to this I might get an E witch means I'm in the top 30% that wrote it this year!

[@kelvinnguyen6048]

Thank you for the perspective friend.

[@reduser3731]

7:31 Тёмная ночь is the name of the song for those who wonder.

[@thesmilingmercenary937]

Those 37 dislikes I'm seeing? They would have eaten the edible seeds.

[@leniepenie3419]

I´m sure you too would´ve been that brave starving hero that wouldn´t have eaten the seeds am I right?

[@thesmilingmercenary937]

@@leniepenie3419 I honestly have no idea.

[@redwanhasan1721]

Or big fan of Churchill

[@thesmilingmercenary937]

Redwayou wouldn't have thought he was a big fan of starvation to look at him.

[@thethirdjegs]

Mispressed

[@nima1336]

Unbelievably informative! Thank you!!

[@ianalvord3903]

I just watched the movie "The Platform." It's a good parable about what you say at 1:58.

[@juancholompizano9312]

I just watched an episode of the series cosmos where i learn about the scientist soecialized in seeds in leningrade... total respect for those woman and men!!! Also... im a big fan of crash course and what i like the most is the unbiased view of the Chanel !! Keep the hard work john! Gratings from argentina!

[@ericcloud1023]

Thanks for keeping us entertained during quarantine! California sends it's appreciation

[@JohnVance]

Thank you so much for what you and Hank do.

[@artkoenig9434]

Most eloquent. Thank you!

[@donbrunodelamancha1927]

Master John, that was a great piece. Very well rounded on the effects of the war on the least of the people‼️. Bravissimo‼️‼️‼️💯💯💯✊🏼✊🏼✊🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼

[@theMOCmaster]

France and Soviet Russia had the same medals for having a lot of kids

[@only_sleeping7276]

occupied france or...?

[@aaroncastro9029]

Fiona Catherine regular France, they still have them

[@Tfin]

We're sending your husbands off to war. You stay home, and have as many kids as you can.

[@Wolfsgeist]

Yeah, I think we Germans copied them from the French.

[@blackthorn2254]

Speaking for my whole AP World History Modern class, WE LOVE YOU JOHN!

[@JeepWranglerIslander]

John: "We don't talk enough about food!" Steve1989: "Am I a joke to you? Why don't you stay in your lane and let me handle this"

[@gilbertogonzalez5179]

Finally I found your channel after a couple of years (somehow I couldn’t find it). Your channel is so f.... awesome! Entertaining AF and we learn SO MUCH. Thanks to that “combo” your channel is way better (more effective) than school. Thank you

[@courthebrave]

I literally just started my world war 2 essay and i found this video. This is super helpful! Thank you! :)

[@toolbaggers]

Humanity: "what's the difference between a civilian and a soldier?" USA: "civilians don't return fire."

[@andrewgutmann9432]

Gypsy Salami You’ve clearly never been to the South

[@johnbarker8305]

USA, really? Y'all just gonna ignore the Einsatz, the USSR commissars, the VC who chopped off peoples' arms who had been vaccinated (cooperating with the enemy)... Whereas the US has strived to not fire on civilians even when thie foes hide among them?

[@sabinasabino141]

John Barker The US carpet bombed a good chunk of Europe. The Soviets killed their own soldiers fleeing. The Nazis, we all know what they did. There are some, if not many, clear villains in war, but more than that war itself is the villain. That joke could have been told with any nation involved, and it still would be accurate. I think talking about who did less evil is unproductive, we can, however, denounce the ideologies that did such evil. Stalinism, fascism, even the horrors that were brought upon by the “good side” of the war are worthy of our contempt.

[@LeeCzere]

@Intellectual Ammunition why did you say that? Dude has a point. It's pure whataboutism, but, still a point.

[@juliusnoahsiebert1906]

@@sabinasabino141 thats the most intelligent comment I read I my whole damn life. Thank you for that!

[@camiloiribarren1450]

And now more graphic realities of the second world war, something that we need to learn

[@annarose3354]

Wow what a video! This is probably my favourite so far

[@arindamchatterjee0110]

As a Bengali , I am thankful that u shed some light on the issue of 1944 famine which is usually ignored during glorification of British and Churchill

[@poop2861]

Ok this is coool I watch this for my school

[@ummmad]

Glad to see you talking about the Bengal famine although it is still sad to see that this barbaric event is largely unspoken. BTW, you are my hero.

[@expectationofplenty]

THANK YOU. THANK YOU FOR TALKING ABOUT THE BENGAL FAMINE

[@Anatolia909tv]

Bravo, great work.

[@srikanthrajkumar8274]

Love to see the message of pre-independent Bengal resonating through all India blood spread throughout the world even till today.

[@cielrobinson]

the photo at 10:14 got me... they look so young and have such bright smiles

[@martinholden2281]

Thank You, John Green- Take Care.

[@lildramatic4760]

the armed services editions were a thing that i didn’t know about until recently & thanks to the baader-meinhoff phenomenon (or as my friend and i call it the Mary Beard phenomenon) it has been mentioned in several places recently. i think it’s both fascinating and bizarre that the books given to indoctrinate & educate young soldiers are still the ones we consider the canon. that, i think, begs much consideration.

[@joshuaaudiedepositario3041]

Thanks for this. Please stay safe guys. :)

[@shamsalfarabi6107]

Thank You Very Much, John Green! For bringing up the Bengal Famine 1943!

[@fuzzyhair321]

Yeah another video from crash course that wants to make me cry

[@Nikkidanst1]

As a Dutch person it’s very funny to hear John pronounce ‘Piet Mondriaan’. We pronounce ‘Piet’ kind of like the English ‘Pete’, but John’s version makes it sound much fancier :D

[@MuzPhilip]

Sweet Vonnegut shout out!

[@ciarandolan7695]

Have you guys seen the World War Two series its really informative. Not to mention The Great War both together cover the interwar years in incredible depth, like for example even though everyone "agreed" to not use poison gas on the battlefield just about everyone was using them against the populaces of rebellious colonies. The rift rebellion, The Iraqi rebellion, The third Anglo Afghan war and on, and on, and on, just after the official end of the first world war there were already around 36 wars erupting all over the world the 20th century really was a century of genocide.

[@10schicks]

Further reading on this topic, I recommend: A Women of No Importance

[@cborders]

Wow, that was a downer. Can't wait for the Holocaust episode to really brighten my mood...

[@user-wl3rj8pd9l]

Ah, the starvation of India. A sad and not well known part of the war. Hell, I've only learned about it when a an exchange student from Oxford told me about a British officer who was at the Yalta Conference and said: "How can they sit together with this monster?", and the monster was Churchill. I'd say it's strange that I didn't learn this at school, but hey, he didn't know much about the Soviet famine until I told him. You'd think it would be the other way around, but no. Probably the right thing, since you should know about your country's mistakes before judging others, but still. P.S. In the original comment I accidentely wrote that he didn't know about the Invasion of Poland. So here's another lesson for you be careful when reciting distant memories about conversations. Also, Toby, if by some coinsidense you'll find this video and this comment -- sorry, didn't want to cause trobles :)

[@m2heavyindustries378]

A student from OXFORD and he didn't know about the Invasion of Poland, arguably the major event that kicked off WW2 in Europe? Are you sure he wasn't just some bum off the street? What an implausible story.

[@user-wl3rj8pd9l]

@@m2heavyindustries378 definitively from Oxford, though I'll admit, maybe I made a mistake -- it was four years ago. I remember we talked about invasion of Poland and that I've told him about an event that he didn't know about. Maybe I'm getting my memmories mixed up.

[@user-wl3rj8pd9l]

@@m2heavyindustries378 Hold on! I remember now (at least I hope I do). I told him about the Soviet famine and cleared some misconceptions about it. So that's what happened. Thanks for helping with the mistake!

[@RNmedicSeniorservice]

When he talks of the Bengal famine it is Post moedrnist nonsense backed by zero objective evidence, and only a few anecdotes. The facts is that Churchill did everything he could in the midst of a world war to save the Bengalis; and that without him the famine would have been worse. Indian politicians ignored the problem as it developed, denied the problem when it became serious, and failed to act to resolve it for a year. Evidence: Cultivators and farmers and landlords in India, merchants and traders, and provincial governors hoarded supplies, paralyzed the Indian markets for rice, and blatantly profiteered as the famine progressed. The US War Department and Army denied food allocations and shipping space to Britain (forcing Britain to ration food at half the level rationed to American civilians, causing Britain to absorb foodstocks from the Empire), and diverted shipping to support for US and Allied military operations. The Bengal winter rice harvest of 1942 largely failed due to warm, humid and cloudy weather. Incipient famine in border areas of Bengal were worsened by measures to hinder Japanese exploitation of Bengal when it appeared that Japan might conquer the region. A tropical cyclone in October, 1942, destroyed rice crops in Bengal, causing the first wave of starvation. Bengal famine was caused by natural disasters (cyclone, 3 storm surges, brown spot disease on rice), poor administration by Indian officials, poor sanitation, exploitation of the Caste system, oh and a World War that diverted or destroyed (uboat sinkings) said resupplies and aid, air raids on Calcutta by the Imperial Japanese, ...... Read the BENGAL FAMINE ENQUIRY COMMISSION.

[@monkaround7830]

I've only seen this guy in videos from 2012 wow he looks good!

[@martanoconghaile]

Vladimir Putin's father was Vladimir Spiridonovich Putin (1911-1999), (hence, Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin). Viktor and Albert were his older brothers: Albert died in infancy and Viktor died of diphtheria at Stalingrad. V.S. Putin's father Spiridon was Lenin's cook for a time. V.S. Putin was a soldier in the NKVD, a predecessor of the KGB.

[@WindFireAllThatKindOfThing]

We also tend to ignore the effect of Reserve components being pulled out of the civilian landscape to fill in manpower for long, drawn out conflicts. In America, the Civil War and drawn out War on Terror mobilizations register for leaning heavily on militia compared to commonly-accepted Draft periods from the early to mid 20th century.

[@IkeOkerekeNews]

In the War of Terror case, it had already been a strategy to forego military conscription and to move towards an all volunteer force.

[@WindFireAllThatKindOfThing]

@@IkeOkerekeNews It's been an all-volunteer world since '73, what made the WoT a notable disparity was that by mid 2008, nearly half of the manpower in Afghanistan and Iraq was composed of federal Reservists and Guard, who are generally older with established families and careers, rather than young Regular component service members fresh out of high school/college. Of which there were 3 times as many serving in the Regular component, but both were constantly rotating in and out of country, subject to Stop Loss and High Tempo deployments being extended. The life and effect on society of a young PFC full timer is much different than that of a 26 year old Spec 4 Mafia trooper who's an X-Ray tech in a hospital back home. You look at Vietnam and Korea, most of those troopies were 19 or thereabouts. You look at Iraq, most of them were around 25+. You look at pics from the civil war, and they all looked like they were damn near 40. Or they might have been 30 and worn down hard by 19th century life.

[@printvapour]

It`s the first time i've heard about the Bengal Famine...

[@nehalmahmudkhan1549]

Actually Bangladesh was more hit than India due to Bengal Famine, although at that time Bangladesh was part of British India but you should have mentioned about that. But anyways, kudos to John and the team for mentioning the troubles people of Indian subcontinent

[@kellynbotha]

The President of my country has said that we are at war against Covid-19, and if we take that to be true, then not since WW2 has such an all-consuming, global crisis affected people so completely. We are all involved. We are once again in what this episode refers to as "Total War". Given the changes to government, economic and social structures that came with it, and the changes to the media, I think we can safely say that, to some degree or another, we will emerge out of this pandemic a different society.

[@tcbobb1613]

sadly it is going to depend on how many people die in this from Covid-19. how much stuff change.

[@ianalvord3903]

I did not know about Churchill taking food from India. I won't forget it though.

[@Applepopess]

Oh my God, I have never, ever heard of that horrible famine in India that Churchill was responsible for! I'm genuinely shocked how this was never discussed anywhere in all the accounts of WWII I've encountered!

[@geoffreywinn4031]

Educational!

[@RDR12344]

It really is

[@oscars7948]

Green always tells it how it is...even if it hurts.

[@milaberntsen3392]

Please do a video of all the events that have happened so far in 2020

[@FiisforMichael]

really glad you mentioned the humanitarian crimes of Churchill alongside crimes of the axis and Comintern. Growing up in the UK not nearly enough people know about these things

[@John77Doe]

I had no idea, the US government sent copies of The Great Gatsby for US servicemen to read. 😮😮😮😮😮😮

[@stephanieperry1119]

Is that it became a staple of high school at least by 1980s or 1990s and maybe before that?

[@John77Doe]

@@stephanieperry1119 I don't know if it is a staple. I read it at my public high school, where one of our teachers opened up his graduating year book and showed us the photos of all the members of his class that died or were permanently maimed in Vietnam. My daughter read it at her exclusive private high school school that doesn't have a football team, only a Lacross Team, and offers Summer Tours of Eastern Orthodox Onion Dome Churches in the Western Ukraine. So it appears to transcend American class boundaries. 😐😐😐😐😐😐😐😐😐

[@stephanieperry1119]

@@John77Doe Ok I know that many schools In California do it my High school but sure many high schools don't.

[@varana]

@@John77Doe "Summer Tours of Eastern Orthodox Onion Dome Churches in the Western Ukraine" That is both great and hilariously posh at the same time. :D (I don't know the Americanism for the British "posh"...)

[@John77Doe]

@@varana Like Mrs. Bucket pronouned Mrs. Bookay. "Kulturney." Preppie like in Prep School, which it is. Opposite of hoi polloi. Yuppie?? Originally, the tour just said Ukraine and parents panicked. Then the tour sponsor modified the description to Western Ukraine. 😐😐😐😐😐😐😐

[@joryjones6808]

0:29 "Guns and Ships and so the balance shifts. We will rendezvous with Rochambeau Consolidate their gifts."

[@patrickwalsh3652]

8:12 Claus von Stauffenberg (Operation Valkryie)

[@maxgullberg9733]

Thank you for highlighting the Bengal famine! The Churchill-myths sorely needs some nuance!

[@archibaldmoore4514]

It gets a lot of things wrong though. Seemingly in an attempt to demonize Europeans. A recurring theme with this series.

[@maxgullberg9733]

@@archibaldmoore4514 what does it get wrong with the Bengal famine?

[@El_Jefe_Maestro]

@@archibaldmoore4514 Lol. Europeans can take no criticism. It is historical FACT.

[@grantm6933]

@@archibaldmoore4514 Well, they deliberately seemed to ignore the impact that the Japanese invasion of Burma had on Bengal, both directly and indirectly. Further, the impact of natural disasters and diseases that impacted upon crop production. Merchant vessels that did travel to India were often sunk, resulting in significant losses, and discouraging further convoys. This is not to suggest poor governance, apathy, or outright racism is not involved, merely that the situation is a lot more complicated than this video allowed for.

[@archibaldmoore4514]

@@maxgullberg9733 It wasn't the USA who offered aid. It was Canada. Also the Aid wasn't denied because of some sick desire to crush the Indian spirit. It was denied because of the logistical problem of getting aid from Canada. If you're still not convinced it was the RAF who relieved the famine. This topic exposes the problems with this series as a whole. It has both careless mistakes like the USA Canada mix up and things that can only be called lies such as the other mistake.

[@rayceeya8659]

I remember a time when I was in college and I was looking for a copy of Fahrenheit 451. It was actually out of print. At least that's what Barns and Noble told me. Don't know if it's true but I found a nice hardbound copy in a used book store a week later. Anyway, talk about a book to "Go out of Print" right?

[@brendanchapman3]

God damn you're good John Green.

[@ryanweaver962]

Important stuff

[@abdillahfamilychannel8418]

I love this series My Grand Mother told me how Japan massacred my Village, prisoned her, and labored forced her Dad. I am from Indonesia in West Java...

[@weilu6088]

“Famines on that scale are almost never natural and are almost always inflicted by humans on each other”. It reminds me of the famine in China around 1960. Sadly the actual death figure was never revealed to public, and the cause of it was said to be “natural disaster” by our government.

[@laportaho1793]

Good Angle