and one must add, USA (the powerful people in it) never wanted a full collapse of USSR, it would be USA without an enemy and people cannot be terrorised with red terror and repressed that easily
Ironically, the Chernobyl disaster was first detected was when the Swedish nuclear power plant technician discovered that the radiation levels were higher outside then inside the reactors containment building.
You made me look at his view and subscriber counts and I had to do a double-take. I've watched several of his videos without even noticing. I always just assumed he had hundreds of thousand or millions of viewers like many other similar channels.
If they keep it going, this thing is going to take off eventually. It is well made, it is very interesting if you just listen to it, but quite fun if you watch it too. I haven't fact-checked it yet so much, but production alone the content is very nicely done.
If you had told anyone in Western military or intelligence agencies in the late 1980's that the Soviet Union was going to come apart and cease to exist within the next few years in a peaceful way, they all would have laughed at you. Yet, it definitely happened. Who would a thunk it??? I am sure that they were glad to have been wrong about this one. Another great video! Please keep the outstanding videos coming and God bless you, my friend!
Eh between the gerogian invasion in 2008 Ukraine in 2014 and 2022 it wasn't technically peaceful just not immediate. Oh yeah Armenia and Azerbaijan are increasing hostilities again.
Imagine the faces of CIA employees when they were betting on violent civil war but that one guy who was laughed at everyone turned out be right in predicting peaceful transition of power
Well, he wasn't right either If you call massive protests, tank blocakdes, people getting killed and soldiers shooting in the air and beating civilians with the butt of their rifles as "peaceful" then yeah
There were some fights, but were small compared with the size of the USSR, because at that point only the hardliners thought the Union could be saved and they also didn't have full control of Russia. The USSR was already dead at that point.
In my opinion, collapse of ussr is like a slowed bomb. Conflicts did not appear immideatly, but they began appearing in 1992 in Moldova, 1996 in Chechnya, 2008 in Georgia and in 2014 in Ukraine
Well it matches the end of Gorby's reign, the following leaders (the kleptocrats Eltsin and Putin) were no more to consider imperialistic war and human suffering as a no go zone. The only very very bad thing that Gorbatchev has done was that pizza-hut ad, it killed his legacy for russians and abroad
All of those are completely made up and could have been avoided. That is the main difference between Gorbachev and Yeltsin/Putin. Gorbachev tried to prevent them (most of the time). Yeltin didn't care. And Putin thrives on conflicts and deaths.
@@shmoola Yeltsin manufactured Transnistria because Moldova was keen on joining Romania. This was dangerous for Russia. Same with 2008 Georgia and 2014 Ukraine = West oriented nations means they move away from Russian ownership. This is why Russia manufacturers these conflicts, and it's not exclusive to Putain. It's Russia that is this way
@@multidoor6928 this is all comlete bullshit, all we want is be a normal part of humanity without being fucked with like Iraq or Yemen or Sudan or Syria or dosens of other sovereign countries US coldbloodedly broke and robbed.
Wow, recognizing that the aftermath of the events that happen 30 years ago are still currently playing out is a trip. It’s crazy to realize that I’m almost as old as the current Russian government.
Isn't that just everything though? I mean if you go back far enough, we are witnessing the aftermath of the birth of Rome leading to much or modern western language and society. I mean just about every event in history is connected.
As a russian i always expect some propagandistic kind of viewpoint when a western youtuber talks USSR’s history, but this vid is quite objective and the statements are based on facts. That’s great, keep it up!
Don’t worry … the US history is full of holes … historians makes it seem like the US was empty before the US came from England … no one even knows how mexico lost half its country to the US… slavery in the US isn’t event taught well… but on another note, this vide did predict Ukraine in 2022 with scenario #1
@@docouchi7929 slavery isn’t taught in school? What school did you go to man slavery was like the one of the three things I learned about in history class the other two being the revolution and civil war.
@@twomp5613 this is what they taught… slaves were brought, civil war happened, slaves were freed and everyone lived Happily ever after … didn’t teach much about anything else… and i went to public school in LA lol … public school system was soooooooo Garbo … in college when you see people from other schools you see exactly how bad it really was
@ This same thing in Canada. I see someone share some post on social media saying we were never taught X and Y yet I sat in the same classrooms as them which taught that very same thing. Probably some of it was on the test too.
Which is... pretty much what anyone could have done of course - they were also preparing the fallout and operations if those scenarios happen, it isn't just sitting around and "well.. i think this is gonna happen" at their job
the first thing they teach intelligence analysts is not to predict the future. that isn't their job it's to give policy makers the possibilities they need to handle whatever decision happens
In my opinion, the idea of "what if Gorbachev's rebranding of the USSR succeeded" is probably the most underrated alt history question this side of WWII.
Of all the history videos I have watched, these are some of the best. I say… how the hell have I not seen you before ? Subbed immediately. Only wish I found you sooner
5:24 fired in what instance? Was it a sarcasm? Right 1991 started with Russian OMON attacks on Lithuania with deaths of civilians and border patrols (the only one terrorist attack in history of Lithuania). And Lithuania got out easily compared to mess in the South.
Apologies for not being clearer; the line you're referring to talks about the state of affairs at the end of 1990, before the Vilnius attacks. You're correct that bullets had been fired up until then, in Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, so I should've added the word "almost" to my statement. Nevertheless, most of these deaths were cases of ethnic violence between republics, so I would hesitate to put 100% of the blame on the central government here.
@@SideQuestYT Great videos. But I would say the background music was too loud for this one. I'm of the opinion that background music is NOT necessary. People want to hear you talk/get information not hear generic background music.
The fact that identifying the song in the background isn't the main, consistent commentary challenge for alleged "fans" of this channel (at least as it seems from the comments) is beyond me. It's probably the most interesting, challenging, subtle, and nuanced things about the channel... but nobody seems to notice? I've watched maybe 6 or 8 of these videos now and they consistently take amazing musical works (many, frankly, a bit esoteric but usually quite well known or genre defining), but then shift them in timing/key and instrumental timbre/pitch, but somehow nobody seems to notice (or care). Regardless of what you might have noticed and appreciated, there's some audio producer/editor out there punting out fucking genius level golden nugget tracks that is criminally under appreciated.
I just wanted to mention that the “collapse without a single bullet” claim is not completely correct. Sure, there was no war between the USSR and the newly independent republics (though for example the Bloody Sunday in Lithuania might be seen as such) but there was a plenty of fighting within the republics prior and post independence. The war between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno Karabakh and the war in Moldova would be the most notable examples (and they are definitely not the only ones, war in Georgia would be another one, potentially even the Tajik civil war, as it was a direct implication of the collapse in influence from Moscow). So yes, you are absolutely right that it might have been much worse but it was not as peaceful as it might seem from this video. :) Nevertheless, I love your channel, keep up the good work! :)
Do collabes and help spread the word about your channel. Reach out to those history channels similar to yours like Overly sarcastic and Extra Credits and ask them to work on a 2 video series with you to help their audiences find out about you as I'm sure they'd come back for more. You can even offer to help write the scripts or whatever they want.
"Not a single bullet was fired" is a bit of an understatement, as there were invasions into the Baltic and Caucasus states by the USSR as they were going for independence. Nevertheless, a great video and everything you do :)
The young reformers weren’t communists. They claimed to be but when Gorbachev reformed the Soviet system they proved themselves to be quasi neo liberals by simple metric of their voting patterns.
Everything looks right except the election part. First of all there has always been an "election" with only one candidate where you could only agree or disagree. But what Gorbachev did is a real election between parties and communist party won with 80%, but hardliners still saw it as a loss
Whoever the voice actor for this channel is, you're doing a brilliant job. Its got that perfect public school/upper class/ posh c**t tenor to it, that i have absolutely no trouble understanding you, but i expect youre going to do something that i won't like very much.
The relatively peaceful transition of power took everyone by surprise. In its aftermath, in the field of international relations, the social constructivism school of thought took shape.
In the three or four days since I discovered this channel, your number of subs has more than doubled. Congrats on the success and cheers for plenty more to come
No one really could predict that the Union would break up, a majority of people wanted it to stay together and up until the KGB coup it was nearly assured that Russia would enter into a new type of Union.
I don't think anyone could have predicted that the historically brutal and oppressive soviet union would dissolve peacefully, but its really wonderful that it did.
Really? So, why did they mess it up, predicting every scenario but what actually went down? And if it's just CIA being bad at their jobs, when and how (in some specifics) do you think the government of China's going to fall? How about Vietnam? Or even Cuba?
What's scary is to think, what if this happened in America? Not a civil war, but a division among the people so strong that lead to the dissolution of the Union and the end of the United States.
Half the country thinks that the other half are racist, bigoted homophobes, and that same half thinks that the other are baby murdering pedophiles. It's not out of the question, and is certainly a terrifying prospect, not just for those in the US but globally. The US is the backbone of the world economy and the greatest military force on the planet. Without it as it is, the status quo is sent spiraling.
The one key fact you failed to mention that actually started the ball rolling towards the downfall of the Soviet union was the Soviets withdrawal from Afghanistan in 1989. And not to mention was brought on by the C.I.A. giving support to the freedom fighters in Afghanistan just as they are currently doing in the Ukraine to topple the current Russian leader Putin. Most of the Soviet states seen the afghan retreat as a server weakness and took full advantage of it.
>by that point was foregone Not to those signing Belovezha accords just a few weeks earlier. According to (recently passed) first President of Ukraine Kravchuk, Yeltsyn still tried to persuade him to sign new union accord, but Kravchuk was like "dude, I literally referendum results on hands that want independence. How would I look to my voters?" After that story, according to one of the interviews, goes like this: Night, Kravchuk returns from Belovezha via some roundabout ways, and sees 2 soldiers near his home. First thought: "guess that is it, Gorbachev has enough power left to arrest me..." "Comrade President, we are from nearby base, we were ordered to guard you just in case"
that's actually an intelligence officer's job. not to predict the future. but give policymakers the tools they need to make decisions no matter what happens
Actually CIA were right, they prepared for worst scenario. Hardliners made very big mistake by not arresting not just Gorbachev, but Yeltsin as well. If Yeltsin were captured(what he actually expected) he could not persuade army on peoples side, so then bloodshed would be inevitable. Everybody actually expected that, people in breakaway states as well. Only by some lucky miracle hardliners made that big mistake on there side. Very lucky mistake for all other.
The soviets had elections all the time. Just because they were different then American style team red vs team blue even though both teams serve corporate interests, didn’t mean they didn’t have elections at all. Weird detail to just gloss over.
@@josephmagana6235 how were they not 'free or competitive'? Everyone could vote, which the US at the time could not say the same, it hardly can today. I also doubt the accuracy of the soviet leadership seats not being up for election.
@@IncaWarrior. You could vote for or against the party candidate, with enough against votes the candidate would be withdrawn and another nominee would be put up for election. Based on their merit and pure policy. Far more honest than choosing between 2 corporate backed candidates on team red or team blue presenting you with illusion of choice when in the end either choice leads to less money in your pocket and more in the pockets of the bourgeoise
@@iansosa3855 That's one way to cope lol. It sure was so free and fair that the citizens sure weren't upset about only having to vote for one party in the Eastern block. Oh wait
The XX Congress of the CPSU in 1956 was the back of capitalism in the Soviet Union. The state capitalism, and with Gorbachov was liberalization of the economy.
Did you go past 1991 in your video and into the Great Gulf Wars of 1990 and 2010 in Iraq??? 🇮🇶 I really loved this story in the USA! 🇺🇸 And then oh man there was 9/11 which was just sad 😞. And Sacramento could be a West coast puppet federal government after the bittersweet covered up 2021 Insurrection. But I am getting ahead of myself. Thanks man for allowing us autonomy across Russian and Through the historical heartlands of Japan and China 🇨🇳. A series of combined videos like this will be fun 😂!!! But… I guess it’s hard to understand your idea for the direction of the channel but I will respect your decision. You seem like a good British History RU-vidr just as powerful as Extra History and Oversimplified. Suggestions besides World War 2: The Gulf war
So I'm listening to the British guy talk and I'm increasingly noticing that that piano player is serious. I mean it starts off on a Russian theme, then the left hand goes ragtime and then he takes you to a journey of 20th century jazz threw Latin America via Michelle Camilo. By the end he's doing stuff that's calling Robert Glasper the 21st century. Really good player. I really would like to know who that is.
Some numbers. Chernobyls cleaning cost 20 billions. Anti-alcohol campaign made 600 billions YEARLY hole in budget. The budget disaster was blamed on the plan. And the rest followed. In reality people voted to keep the union, although the question asked was not-direct and deceiving, you can check it for yourself. Overall the video is so-so.
To give the CIA some cover, it's basically useless for an intelligence agency to predict that things will go better than they turned out. That doesn't give decision makers options on how to influence things to the better, and in any way that your prediction fails, you will be criticized.
It wasn't all peaceful then really and you could say that the USSR's demise is still happening and the war in Ukraine is part of that course of events. So on a broader perspective it's not peaceful at all.
