being from Slovenia, a former member of Yugoslavia ("Southslavia") it is heartbreaking seeing our blood brothers from russia and ukraine fighting each other
Fun Fact: On November 4th every year Russia celebrates "Unity Day", which commemorates the day the Russians who had no tsar to lead them expelled the Polish-Lithuanian occupation forces from Moscow in 1612. This date is considered to be the end of the "Time of Troubles". The monument to Minin and Pozharsky in Red Square commemorates the two individuals that raised a volunteer army and repelled the Polish occupation force from Moscow.
Строго говоря польской оккупации Москвы не было. В город пустили царевича Лжедмитрия 1, войско которого составляли по преимуществу польские наемники. Пустили именно царя. Когда в народе пошел слух, что "царь не настоящий", то Лжедмитрия 1 убили, а польских наемников выгнали из Москвы.
Just to add a little bit to how much vikings contributed to the current Slavic cultures, Russia and Belarus get their name from the Russ. The Russ were Swedish pagans that settled and eventually integrated into the Slavic cultures. Didn't finish the video before I typed this, so if that's covered, here's a separate tidbit that's unrelated. There's strong evidence that the Goths who settled northern eruope/sacked Rome emigrated from the Scandinavian peninsula.
I'm not sure how much evidence there is to support the idea that the Goths originated from Scandinavia, but Sweden's largest island, located in the Baltic Sea, is called Gotland. Linguistically speaking, the name of the island and its people (gutes) seems interchangeable with goths. However, the same can be said about the Danish island Jylland. That name derives from Jutland, which also seems related. And the Jutes are the forgotten people in the Anglo-Saxon part of English history because Anglo-Saxon-Jute just doesn't roll off the tongue as easily. ;)
Vladamir not only adopted Orthodox Christianity, he ensured its independence as a religion. Curiosity Stream covered this on their documentary of Orthodox iconography
Half true, while he did ensure its independence in Europe it did not ensure it much elsewhere. For example the Axum Empire had adopted Orthodox Christianity long before Russia had and that ensured Orthodox Christianity in Africa. But hey, im not the best historian so if I make a mistake do sure to correct me
@@MrSigmatico Your question confuses me but are you asking “Did Ethiopia always stay Christian? Were they ever Muslim” and the short answer is no and yes. They were never muslim but they were not always Christian. They became Christian from trading with Europeans. This is also why Europeans considered most of Africa besides North and West Africa “Ethiopia” Edit: they became Christian in the 600’s
fun fact, this phenomenon of different names being used by foreign and local people is called exonyms and endonyms, a good example is how Miklagard is the exonym that the vikings used for istanbul
Мне тоже нравится, что западные начали популяризировать нашу историю. Хотя даже большинство русских не знают свою историю) Советую Минаева посмотреть и бушвакера
@@AxionenMLwesterners are into Russian history to understand why your country constantly invades your neighbors… Perhaps you should stop being barbarians.
I’m so glad you’re starting this series! I’m 1/4 Russian, but I never knew too much about the ancient history of the area, so it’s really interesting to hear you talking about it. Keep up the great work!
Only been watching this channel for a few months now and I gotta say, it’s one of the best channels I’ve found on RU-vid. I’ve learnt so much from your videos and I’ve just genuinely really enjoyed it. Thanks heeps and please continue what you’re doing. Love from New Zealand peeps
This is a great history to keep in mind. I feel like we Americans forget how old/ingrained/intertwined the culture and geopolitics are in Europe and other parts of the world.
How true, if you were taught history at all. How many now days haven't a clue as they aren't exposed to anything any of this. Schools are just full of nonsense about gender equality and social justice, they can't even add 1+1 these days as the answer is what ever is relevant to you, what you want it to be. No wonder we keep repeating mistakes from the past and not learn....
Yes same, I’m currently talking AP World but even that doesn’t start until the 1200s and you can’t really cover the history of the world in that time. Also my teacher made genghis khan seem much nicer than he was 😭. We did ancient civilizations but usually just the big ones like Egypt, Rome, Greece, China, and India
What I'm most impressed by is that you don't avoid a topic most wouldnt touch with a ten ft pole, and then handle it with care and respect. What the rest of the world needs now more than anything is accurate and unbiased information.
I love how you said, to get more people excited by history. It just hit me, because you did the same thing for me. I was always fascinated by history but I just never realized it, and now I live your reactions
As an American, it's hard for me to appreciate just how long Russian history is. The Romanov dynasty dates all the way back to Jamestown. And that leaves out 800 years of history from the dynasty beforehand! Russia's first dynasty isn't much younger than England or France, but their dynasties were more stable than England or France.
I can't describe to you how much I enjoy your content. My honest opinion is that your commentary is legendary, perfectly placed in a way that allows me to enjoy learning about any historical topic. I have always loved US history, but have been reluctant to make the jump into any world history. Keep up your awesome content! I hope to be here when you hit 500k 1M, etc. Easily one of my favorite channels.
Kinda funny, was never interested in history before but found your Oversimp WW2 video react and just loved the smal extra pointers of the history, been a big fan ever since and love the content your making! Keep it up!
“History doesn’t repeat itself, but it rhymes.” How many times has an invading force arrived while the children of a fallen leader are attacking each other for power.
10:30 It's very fascinating to see the multi-ethnic compositions of pre-nationalism militaries. You see this in much of pre-modern Mainland Southeast Asian history (Burma, Ayutthaya, Lan Na), as well as in states like the Ottoman Empire. It also perhaps points to the lack of manpower the Mongols had, or the high amount of toleration they had for other cultures, keep in mind that this was before the concepts of nationalism and the idea that countries are mainly a single ethnic bloc.
Another important point that led to the decline on of the Mongol rule was that everytime a new Khan was coronated, every single member of the army had to go back to the homeland for the ceremony. This actually saved places like Egypt from suffering an invasion
То, что другие народы объявляются неполноценными и им нужно "принести демократию" характерно в основном для германских народов. Гитлер и его концепции порождение западно-европейской цивилизации. Тот же Рим был более терпим к варварам и не устраивал этнических чисток. А на русской (среднеевропейской ) равнина даже в эпоху первобытно-общинного строя находят захоронения с территориально-соседской общиной, а не моноэтнические. География - это судьба.
Great video, i knew very little and atleast in Australia were never taught any of this in school Your insight on top of these videos is always incredble Chris. Didn't realize now ever heard how Ukraine/Kyin was a potental spark plug for WW3 or of such importance to even modern day Russia
A lot of Ukrainians ended up here in Oz after the war. I sold a Monaro to a Kev from Kiev back in '74 when the oil crisis hit. He was chasing a hefty heifer called Ludmilla and needed the extra horsepower. I told him you don't wanna be rushin' round after round Russians in this gas-guzzler mate. She'll break ya back AND ya bank balance!
I love your statement about how nations did not exist until recently. The most common mistake I hear history RU-vidrs make is to apply nationality to times and places where there was no such concept.
Very excited to see you delving into one of my favorite realms of history, and my compliments on your choice of videos. I do think this is extremely important, because, as you say, we're not going to truly understand what's going on today without understanding the literally centuries of history behind it. While I'm not going to go into it here, both for the sake of length and not to get too much into a hot button issue, understanding the history of Kievan Rus is one of many factors that have built up the idea that many have held down the centuries of Ukraine being an integral part of Russia (NOTE: My mentioning that is not an endorsement in any form; I'm simply pointing out the historical point.) For quite a long time, Kyiv was the most important city of the Slavic/Russian world. A couple of notes about individuals discussed in the video today: Alexander Nevskiy's impact can't be overstated, and his name is still seen frequently in Russia. For example, Nevskiy Prospekt, the main street of Saint Petersburg, and the monastery at its eastern end both bear his name. As for Ivan the Terrible, it's the choice of English words that gives much of the impression that people have today. I don't think it's unfair to say that he was an evil man, and he certainly had increased struggles with mental health and bouts of anger as he aged, but the idea of his being totally unhinged that many have is, I feel exaggerated, as he was actually quite an effective ruler. Both "awe-inspiring" and "formidable" have been offered as better translations, and I think either of them would be more appropriate, considering the intended meaning. By the way, the word translated as "terrible" is Groznyy, which is also the name of the capital of Chechnya. I'm very much looking forward to the rest of this series. Great job as always!
@@sfjordan79 That's an interesting thought. While I think his current behavior is par for the course at its core, I can see a strong argument that it's getting more aggressive. What's further interesting about it is that historical Russian leadership always seems to go in a related cycle anyway.
Так Иван Великий (Иван Грозный, Иван 4) выгнал англичан из России. Точнее он очень сильно ограничил деятельность Московской компании. Позднее англичане создадут Ост-Индскую компанию с помощью которой разорят, расчленят и разграбят Индию. Иван 4 предотвратил такой сценарий для России. Понятно, что англичане стали называть его "ужасный". Здесь же начинается история европейской русофобии.
Whatever happens regarding the war in Ukraine, I think we in the west can all stand back and admire the courage and tenacity of the ordinary citizens taking up rifles and fighting for their homes. It really is astounding to see, as befitting a people with such a rich history
There is one big problem with that, what do you think will happen when these ordinary citizens with rifles try to take on trained soldiers with AKs, machine guns and armored vhieacles? Nothing good! They will die, very fast. In my oppinion it was a big mistake from the ukranian government to give guns to the civilian population and will lead to even more viollence and suffering.
@@Тестканал-н7ю you forgot one thing . guerilla warfare against an invader is about hit and run, shooting once then disapearing in the surounding . And the only response a military force can have is repression and more oppression of the local, making more of them go join the guerrilas . The point of resistance is not to win ground, it is to make the occupations to costly for the invader to keep . And yes, many will die . But guess what, freedom is not free, and many will fight and die to keep it
@@cobracommander8133 Ukraine like any other nation has an army with people who were trained to fight in a war. And if that army is incapable to protect Ukraine from invasion what good could a bunch of armed civilians do???
I’m glad you are doing this series- it’s a nice way to talk about current events. We have to understand what’s happening now through the lens of what happened before.
Started watching with your Oversimplified series and have really been enjoying the channel since then. Im glad you’re taking about Russian and Ukrainian history. It’s important that people understand how far-reaching the consequences of historical events can be, especially with the situation between those countries being what it is right now. Cheers!
Have you watched the oversimplified videos as well because they are all sweet and worth a watch. Still pisses me off that I am according to the locals here living in a free country aka the UK but do I see the Hitler series on oversimplified well I do not so how free is this shithole when it all comes down to it? They also keep claming that they have a democracy here, a thing I find hard to believe because they can somehow say they are a democratic country and at the same time post electionparticipation of around 54%, how is this possible?
I would like to add a quote "Russia is an isolated power because she is inaccessible, but the access to other States is constantly open to her, she is, by the nature of her position, always aggressive and therefore always invasive. She may well engage with other states by ties of common interest, but these interests will be for her only accidental, secondary and fragile [...]. Russia does not need her friends, her allies to defend itself." Report of Count d'Hauterive (1824) Napoleon's former secretary of state and French diplomat. After you watch the Russian history, I suggest you finished the Napoleonic Wars serie by Epic History TV because it's ABSOLETLY amazing !
Age of Empire 4 actually does a great job in representing the rise of Grand Duchy of Moscow from a city to an empire. It also had a Mongols campaign that told the story from a different side so I heavily suggest checking out this game purely for its campaign
Just to add some extra information. Here in Russia we are told about two theories: norman and antinorman. So, some believe that Rurik was a scandinavian chieftain and others believe he was a Slav. But it is touched so deeply only in universities and colleges, in schools we are just told he was from Scandinavia.
@@andriandrason1318 that's one aspect of discussion between believers of norman and antinorman theories. Now that means in Russian just a colour of hair (something between blonde and brown)
Regarding Ivan the terrible killing his own son there’s a famous painting of Ivan cradling his sons’s body after calming down and realizing what he’s done.
Great stuff I didn’t know much about that part of the world until recently after watching all of those Neapolitan wars on this channel interesting stuff thanks for sharing
It’s funny…I was just talking to a friend yesterday about how all the reporters seemed to be mispronouncing Kiev. Nice to see you also didn’t realize the cultural distinction. Thanks for clearing that up. And great work in general! Love your history commentary!
Beautiful reaction as always VTH! Can't wait for the next part. I also wanted to suggest you a really well made video behind the current invasion of Ukraine by Russia that was made some days ago by the channel RealLifeLore with the title "Why Russia is invading Ukraine". It helped me personally a lot to understand many things behind what's going on. Keep up the good work!
During the time of problems, Poland and Russia were very close to establishing a union and merging into one country. But the Polish king Zygmunt III refused to let his son convert to Orthodoxy, which was necessary for Władysław IV to become tsar. He had the title of tsar from 1610-1613 during the Polish occupation of Moscow but never ruled Russia. As a Pole, it would be very interesting to see such a state composed of two great powers at that time.
When you said about the video format and the need to grow the channel i felt bed cause I usually watch your stuff in-between doing something else so i don't usually comment and help the algorithm, but I'll try to do better. And another thing, no worries you certainly don't need getting ME more excited about history than i already am 😃 but I'm all for proselitising 🤭
Thank you for your work. Great video, much needed context to events of the past linked to present times. About the toponyms -- quite a big chunk of those in slavic languages are literal translations. For example, "Novgorod" is literally "New city", because it was, well, new. You were right about "Ivan the Terrible" being viewed very differently: in Russian he is known as "Ivan Grozny", Ivan the Formidable. He is not revered in any way, but he represents the "strong governing hand", the symbol of ultimate autocracy (*not seen as a bad thing). That notion of "ruling with an iron fist is necessary" goes throughout the whole history of Russia - from Grozny to Peter the Great to Joseph Stalin to current times.
@@VloggingThroughHistory This war will be taught and the Ukrainian valour will be remembered for decades. Zelenskiy, a former comedian that turned out to be a men of highest quality steel, "Русский военный корабль, иди на хуй' with strong Waterloo vibe and also from military point of view regarding combination of Western arms and intelligence, U.S. military training and Eastern morale in fighting superior force. It would be fascinating if there weren't people suffering so much
@@VloggingThroughHistory Yeah, assuming that's true, it would be a great song. I highly doubt anybody has had time to truly confirm any of the rumors. The Ukranians are focused on way more important things. Also, a song about the defenders on Snake Island would be great as well. We're only a few days in and the Ukranians are already giving Sabaton a ton of material for songs when this war is over.
Kiev is common name for it and yes it's from Russian. Kyiv is Ukrainian name for it. That's all. Capital of my country is Prague.. all people call it Prague, Prag, Praag etc. but we call it Praha. Same goes with Kiev/Kyiv and both are both correct.
Before I've even started watching I liked the video because it couldn't have been a better time to talk about this subject considering the circumstances, however I do know that the origins go back to the Viking era.
Pretty sure the impression of Ivan the Terrible being a bad ruler and dictator comes mostly from the nickname, which I'm pretty certain is a wrong or dubious translation of the Russian version of the nickname
So important that everyone learn history. So many conflicts of the past and current, including modern day Ukraine, are not random, but just a continuation of events. So many people do not know this.
When you have mentioned Ugoslavia I thought you would go into more details about it. Since it is one of the very important things leading to current events in my understanding.
@@mustafakantar3846 I'm not a linguist but I believe that terrible used to have that meaning just as awful used to be about inspiring fear(literally full of awe) and its meaning shifted at some point.
I started thinking you were biased during a presidents video. But I figured out you’re really not. It’s just your generation. Your videos are great and I enjoy them greatly. Ivan the terrible was the beginning of where Russia is even today.
The Norwegian way of saying Norwegians is saying nordmann (single person) or nordmenn (2+ people) which has been a thing since the 800’s. Another fun fact! "Norweg" in Norweg-ians is the "original" form of saying Norway And it means "Nord (north) Weg (way) so Nordweg.
A comment on the Kiev / Kyiv. The name of the city comes from the name of its legendary founder named Kiy. Basically, the city name means “Kiy’s something (presumably, city)”. And the difference in the city name pronunciation comes from the difference between Russian and Ukrainian grammar. Say, if you want to say “Kiy’s plane” in Russian it will sound something like “Kiev samolet”, but in Ukrainian it would sound like “Kyiv litak”. So the pronunciation is just driven by the grammar about word endings. Therefore the city is called Kyiv in Ukrainian and Kiev in Russian. Notably, Russian-speaking Ukrainians say “Kiev”, I believe. Just like German-speaking Americans would probably say Munich, not Munchen.
Good video, hello from Russia btw, but just wanted to a little bit correct several interesting moments: 1) While it is commonly believed even here in Russia, that the Ryrik (Рюриковичи) dynasty ended up in 1598, it is...not entirely true. Yes, the ''main'' line, or ''Moscow'' line to be more proper, did ended up in 1598, but there were still many-many other Ryrikovich lines (there are thousands, if not tens or hundreds of thousands, may be more) of their descendants after up till today, and the last Ryrikovich Tsar to rule was Vasiliy Shuiski (Василий Шуйский), who ruled in 1606-1610. With his removal Rurikovichs no longer ruled the Russia as monarchs - though, as I've mentioned before, there were tons of them still alive and present, so they were still very prominent, and, well, ''ruled'' the Russia anyway - but with a lesser roles than it was before. 2) It's important to note, that the name of the ''Kievan Rus'' is absolutely artificial, created by Russian scholars to differentiate this period from the periods, where Moscow or other principialities like the Vladimir were major ones. The only name of the state was just ''Rus'' (Русь, or ''Роусь'', how it was written back in time, cause ''оу'' were considered as a one letter, and separate letter ''у'' did not existed yet), Latter it became ''Rusland' in Dutch, ''Russland'' in German or ''Russia'' in English (and so on), and we Russians themselves...picked up Hellenized version of this name - ''Rossiya'', cause Greeks called us ''Ros'' instead of ''Rus''. Greek culture and language were very prestige here for obvious reasons. Though, it became only name of the country, our ethnicity, nation, language, etc, are still being called ''русский/русские'' (russkiy/russkiye, single and plural forms respectively), coming from the same root ''Rus''. 3) About name of our capital - Moskva/Moscow, it is very interesting to note, that...English language spelling is more archaic in that regard that Russian one is. It was called ''grad Moscov'' in ancient times, which basically means ''Moscov town/city'' - and the Moscow's name just have got changed in time. I hope this does not sound like too critique, cause video is excellent, and I just wanted to add some more details for those curious in the Russian history.
About the romanov dynasty, according to useful charts the agnatic house of the dynasty did not last many years. After a while, although the name stayed romanov, the ruling house was the house of holstein-godorp that was a brarch of the oldenburg dynasty that ruled danemark for many years. This is something that is most of the time forgotten or is not even known by some people.
