Weimar Republic | Why did people follow Hitler? 

This guy needs a LOTT more people watching him Incredible acting 👍🏻

People are so easy to say 'Learn from the mistakes of history' but they never say 'What would I do if shit hit the fan and my life and those I love was at stake?'. Thank you for the video my friend.

Very well written , acted and great makeup the scar looks real . Powerful piece . All sides of every conflict need to be told.

"What did our government do? Useless. Printed more and more paper bank notes." History rhymes.

"Mind you, I've never heard of anybody... returning... reeducated. Have you?" The delivery of this line, the pauses, the facial expressions... Excellent.

Very well done. It's a powerful piece that conveys how total loss and desperation could turn a country into what it became.

All the Treaty of Versailles did was choose sides for WW2. Extremely powerful video. I have shared with several friends who enjoy History.

Oh my god. This story is so great especially when he said he asked about the uniform and gun, the Colonel replies: "Take them with you. This business is not over yet". Goosebumps.

Kevin should win an Oscar. Great acting.

This is a fascinating way to present history! I really admire this kind of detailed storytelling.

It's sad that only few people saw this amazing high quality historical documentary/story. This deserves at least a million views

Absolutely nothing happens without a reason, behind every bad act, there is a broken man. Great History

I really like this. The story makes you feel awful for this guy, greatly humanizes him, but doesn’t pull its punches with the less amazing things man believes.

Regarding WW2 and the events leading up to it so many American students ask why and how. Never have they been taught anything that was brought to light in this video. Our public schools at the high school level completely disregard educating our students on true history, because it isn’t happy and full of daisies. True history is raw and will shake one to the core. What a great video!

This side of the story is long lost to the victors history. And when the future generations look back, with no insight to the German side we assume they were easily manipulated. Not realizing you take away everything thing from a society, you leave a vacuum. And into that vacuum comes a immoral leader, but with no hope you accept the deal. This is a great view of the why, and needs to be further taught to prevent it from happening again. But we are not and history has a way of repeating! Great video and I subscribed as well.

In War both sides see enemies in front of them, heroes beside them, and homeland behind them. I've recently made it a point to show my wife these sides to humanity in history to further understand not just what happened, but why. Why I'm genuinely frightened around any form of dehumanization of people from history. When we try to remove the humanity from someone else, to create an enemy or a demon, we often come to understand things like the nazi regime from an uncomfortable closeness, mostly without realizing. Kevin, I'm very proud to live in a world with scholars like you. You're a fantastic actor, and you're doing such good work in representing history accurately. I have no doubts you will continue your great labor.

What a magnificent film! Many other videos focus on "what" happened while neglecting "how" and "why", giving us content without context. Maximum kudos for not only providing proper perspective but also outstanding production and craft, the lighting and editing in particular. The painstakingly thorough research is quite evident, as is the formidable production value of the film itself. These past 6 or 7 years have seen the word 'nazi' thrown around willy-nilly, many times without justification or accuracy. This film brings us the truth. Horrifying? Certainly. Regrettable? Undoubtedly. Understandable? Yes, sadly... You've given us some much-needed understanding; it wasn't the case that an entire generation of otherwise-reasonable German people just woke up one day & went mad. Others would have us believe that they had the Beer Hall Putsch, then the Berlin Olympics, then Auschwitz with nothing in between. Thank-you, HIstory Squad!

It’s scary how as a viewer you can absolutely slip into almost softly nodding your head as though this all makes perfect sense. And yet it’s the birth of an evil. Crazy good work.

I just realized that I'd seen videos of Kevin shooting muskets and longbows at Blenheim and Bolsover years ago! While watching this video I never clued in that this is the same bloke! Brilliant! A testimony to great acting, superb writing and spot-on wardrobe. I was so captivated that I couldn't discern the man from the role! Well done, Kevin and crew! Very well done!

Absolutely INCREDIBLE the way you work your emotions into your voice. I can hear the passion the sadness, the grief and the pride. Absolutely inspiring, amazing acting. You are living history and a model for all

Unbelievable! This needs to be shown in history classes. Beautiful beautiful work!

This feels like something I’d see at a history museum, extremely well done!

Your conveyance of Germany’s perspective is fascinating. I especially enjoyed the uniform. Very compelling. Please continue sharing history and stories like this. It means so much more than most realize.

How does this only have 2400 views???? The production value of this is insane

Wow... I'm so glad I stumbled across your channel. You bring history to life in such creative and potent ways. Whether it's through more dramatic means like this video, or solely through your words, it's like you transport me back in time and I get to witness history first hand. It's like seeing black and white footage from the early 1900s upscaled to 4k 60fps and colorized, for lack of a better analogy. Your love of history and your extensive research shows very clearly through the use of your many talents of which you bring these stories and characters from the past to life. I'm quite the history buff myself and I find myself learning something new, having a deeper understanding, or even having a completely new and different understanding or appreciation of particular events after each video that I watch. Most importantly, you have a way of making history resonate in such a way that sticks with you and makes one reflect deeply upon these events and on to things like: how we can be better human beings, how we can better our society, or how we can prevent terrible things from the past from happening again. You really give a much needed breath of fresh air into the teaching of history and I have a strong feeling that your channel is going to blow up because of that. Deservedly so. The more people who can watch your content and learn from it, the better. Anyway, I'm sorry for being so long winded. All that and I still don't think my words did you or your work justice though lol. Thank you for what your doing, I look forward to getting caught up on your videos and watching the new ones to come. Take care and best wishes!

"and one day for no reason at all Hitler rose to power"

Absolutely awesome video, in my opinion its very satisfying hearing you speak, the pauses and just the way you say things, excellent job.

As someone who had a grandfather that had been part of the Waffen-SS (Gau Essen) and a great-grandfather in the Wehrmacht (Captured after WW2 and brought to the Rheinwiesenlager Büderich), I'm proud to have listened to their stories when I was young. Some stick to you for the rest of your life and some get lost in time. It's weird listening to their stories growing up and hearing something completely different in school and in media. Most likely due to the fact that victors get to tell the story, whilst most Germans never had the chance or had the interest in listening to their elders tell their side of what happened.

Wonderful i first got to your channel by the arrow head removal by far my favorite one and now I’m determine to watch all your vids keep up the good work

Just discovered your channel and immediately subscribed - honestly surprised you don’t have way more

Absolutely brilliant. That was captivating! You are a very good actor. Thank you!

Bravo! Stupendous acting and fantastic set design. I will be telling more people about this channel. Good luck in your endeavors, and may you find continued success!

You deserve an award for the quality of your videos. I can tell you work hard and it's appreciated!

If we do not learn from history we are doomed to repeat it. Great stuff Kevin

Spot on! As a child, born into a Naval Intelligence family, I had a chance to meet some interesting individuals. These included a Finn who fought the Communists, widows who’d survived the communist onslaught (two from Berlin) and married Americans, the daughter of a UBoat crewman (one of the lucky few to survive), and a naturalized intelligence officer who’d fought on the eastern front- recruited for his combat experiences against communists. That one became my mentor for a while. He told me about growing up starving, waking up in the garbage dump with rotting potato peels in his mouth. Every German hated the Treaty of Versailles. They used it as target practice for sling shots and BB guns. (They’d have used it for bum fodder, but rumor had it the French poisoned the ink!). They knew Germany had been forced to take responsibility for starting the Great War, when it was the Serbian assassination of the Austrian-Hungarian crown prince. (At first, the world blamed the Serbs, and newspapers in America, Britain and France called for the total destruction of Serbia.). Then, the Russians, repeating their cry of the 1870s (Our Slavic brothers are being oppressed! To war!), mobilised. That act caused everyone else in Europe to follow suit. Nobody except France welcomed war. (The French blamed the Franco Prussian war on the Germans, conveniently forgetting they attacked first, not the other way around.)

I've now watched every single one of your videos. Your content is perfect. Accurate and thought provoking and wonderfully written. You make history so engaging and personal. You are an artisan of your craft. Don't ever stop.

Wow…. The script. But man the narration. 10/10. You did an amazing job at humanizing and giving context to this terrible regime. Thank you for this.

This is really amazing I deeply enjoy all the videos you make keep it up :)

This was excellent. Amazing script and very well acted. It certainly gave a side I’ve never even thought of before. Bravo.

Fascinating seeing history and so very well acted and presented!! tThank you very much Kevin

A keen insight into the subject matter and the courage to express it, well done.

What an amazing channel. Thank you for all the hard work you put into these fantastic films.

Kevin wow. I have watched your complete library from your newest Q/A about arrow logistics just 3 hours ago, to all the way here, to your first video. I am simply blown away by your knowledge and passion for history. I had to take a second glance cause I honestly didn’t know that was you. Your acting was nothing short of perfect. I wish you great success!

I’m starting from the beginning of your channel and going in order. I listen to RU-vid during my commutes. I’m real excited to listen to all your videos!

I have came across this channel by accident although I have seen Kevin Hicks in other history related stuff. Superb story telling, well written and acted and I found this very poignant, it is easy to view from the side lines or even as victors that we were right and they wrong. In war, nobody wins and this shows us the feelings or emptiness, loss and a feeling of helplessness. This is why the end of WWII the allies helped to rebuild Germany and Japan, errors had been slowly realised and that vacuums of power must never be allowed to be filled by singular ideals that can blossom into fanaticism. Well done The History Squad!

Your work is genuinely incredible. The quality of this channel reminds me of good old days of RU-vid. I hope your passion will last and that the channel will get as successful as possible. Truly unique and some of the best history stuff I've seen someone put out for free.

Thank you for all the effort and planning you put into your channel. Your performance was compelling as well as chilling.

This is one of the most captivating videos I have ever seen on this website since 2008. Very well done, you've earned another subscriber.

Good stuff. A lot of people don't realize the price Germany had to pay after WW1. I read about some of them turning to cannibalism due to starvation. Now the whole world is on a fiat system. I wonder how those with gold faired during those times in that area of the world.

Vary interesting to hear German history like this but if were being honest no amount of our own suffering should ever mean we can slaughter steal and plunge the world into chaos

Incredibly done. Just found your channel today having seen you years ago demonstrating archery. Off work sick today so gonna binge this channel.

I believe Mark Twain said something along the lines of, "History doesn't repeat, but it sure does rhyme" Understanding why and the reasoning behind what happened in the years leading up to 1933, is an extremely important lesson we simply ignore today. Excellent representation of what had driven the German people almost 100 years ago. You are indeed a man of many talents.

Incredible performance and very accurate. He does mention 'them' and I understand it is RU-vid but I feel this aspect is greatly understated. The same people are in control now as patterns are being repeated. Once you learn who is behind it all the rest of this story comes together. A very glaring fact which cannot be ignored and unfortunately YT is not a free speech platform.

The kalergi plans the population replacement plan of the UN. Is the reason such ideologies still have an appeal. Think what it would like to grow up a white minority in many places in Europe. This influences the European youth to become more ethnocentric. I grew up a minority and when young most of my friends weren't white due to circumstances. I found that they maintained ethnocentric attitudes, and these attitudes rubbed off on me in regards to my own race. I am not a nazi as they are too statist for my taste. But they have an appeal, they project strength and have a nice aesthetic. The swastika for example symbolizes a spinning wheel, the wheel of history, the north star and the seasons. The rotation of the wheels of a charoite that spanned across Europe and asia during the aryan expansion. Epigeneticcally such symbolism is very alluring.

The acting gave me goosebumps, great video!

fantastic presentation, I’ve discovered your channel very recent and it’s been a true pleasure, thank you

Wow! very well done. I love the way you present history. This performance was very well acted. Thank you for the video.

Wow that was outstanding. Good to get the "other side" of the coin to such powerful effect. Again you made this "come alive".

Your passion for history is always appreciated and the quality of the content you put out is just fantastic

Just subscribed, great job and I find your channel really engaging. Your clear direct tone makes learning new stories from history feel as if you were right there back in time. Can’t wait for your next upload and in the meantime I’ll be binge watching ur channel 😂😅

It feels like something we are starting to experience today. Old people starving who can't afford to heat their homes, inflation going through the roof...people are becoming desperate. Very well written and acted...love your channel. From a Nazi major to a 15th century bowman in 5 mins..brilliant stuff, thanks Mick

Amazing channel sir 👏👏keep up the great work, this is how history should be taught

Brilliant! Truly an in-depth understanding with the ability to capture every emotion in order having you feel sympathy but quickly reminding you who and what the subject matter is, and returns you to the point of repulsion. Amazing talent. Thank you so much.

Kevin Hicks embodies history on this app. I don’t know how I came upon your channel at the end of 2023, but I’m so happy I did!!

Broken men who lost their world in the matter of years,then trying to gain what they lost and fortify it so they would never lose it again, killing innocent people and becoming a fully fascist country seemed like a small price to pay for another shot at regaining everything they lost, the story of these men is heartbreaking and videos like this teach us so much about humanity and how we should or shouldn’t act so we don’t make the same mistakes as those before us. Thank you

Bravo! Well written and performed. The ''other side'' of the chosen narrative is absolutely vital to understanding and learning from history. Most westerners have it ingrained in them that propaganda is something that only happens in ''other'' countries. It always takes two to tango.

Really well produced as always. Love the feeling of the film. Makes you feel as you are there

It's not 3 o'clock yet, just wanted to tell you Kevin, ol' bean, I got a lot of feelings right now mate. I'm glad I found your videos and look forward to more, love you, brother. God bless.

Hey man this was awesome ! well done !!

And that my friends is how you pull yourself out of the Great Depression without colonies or extracting war debts from other countries. While simultaneously disregarding international banking and the gold standard, and being wildly successful in doing so. But really pissing off the countries that rely on all those exploits to run their world empires in the process lol

Can you please do more of this kind of stuff? Idk why man but you’re an amazing actor and teach me history very well, this and the arrow retrieval surgery are some of the best historical teachers I’ve found on RU-vid.

Well done! Best video I've seen you do as of date

Very underrated channel.

What a great channel!

You are amazin, Kevin. You are such a light in the abyss of disinformation and clickbait on this platform. Your history lessons are full of the most essential aspect of teaching people: being relatable to the audience. You teach history like a human, talking about other humans, and your passion comes through in every video. ❤

The acting and story writing is absolutely Immersive I love these videos

My god, what a potent and well written dialogue! You can get a sense of the attitudes of the times, and such misleading messaging!

Had a family member serve as a u boat commander during WW2 for the Germans. It was such a interesting family piece of history having both families in the US and in Germany.

Such an effective and well produced video, puts things into a strange perspective! Great work.

Stunning work as you give the other POV. We can't hope to have a better future without understanding the past. It happened. It can't be erased or ignored. And so important to see how someone could fall in line like this. Great work!

Amazing video,loved it!

Kevin you really are superb, you combine knowledge and acting in a heart moving way, I wish I got to see you while you were a bowman here in England, you are truly a British gem 💎

Well done! As a history teacher I feel it’s so important to create projects and assignments that help to put my students in the shoes of the people in the particular time period we’re covering. Those are the kind of assignments that will stick with then for much longer than any test etc.- and more meaningful.

I really enjoyed this. It’s so important to understand the causes and sequence of events that gave rise to Nazi Germany so it doesn’t happen again, and you summarized the frustration and anger of political climate at the time very well. People should understand that many of the German people seemingly had no other hope. I don’t want to get political on your channel but I’m genuinely worried the same angry climate is beginning to take shape across America right now (it’s been there for decades but boiled over onto for the world to see on 1/6/2021).

I saw you at Warwick Castle when I was about 10 on holiday with my grandparents, I'm 27 now and still have a keen interest in history, if we had more engaging, charismatic people with a passion for history, like yourself, maybe more people today would realise the mistakes and lessons in our history. But yeah, cheers mate. Keep up the good work.

Beautiful works, but most importantly, beautiful History lesson. Earned yourself a well deserved subs

This channel needs more exposure. 11/10 Content.

Very well done! My father was a Jew and I’m no apologist for Hitler but it’s important to listen and learn from history. The truth is often uncomfortable.

Wonderful, absolutely amazing speaking and view point sharing, I appreciate the east for their version of English and how clear they can portray a message even through acting.

Just found your channel recently and have loved every video! You have such a talent for sharing information in a captivating way! keep up the amazing work

Wow this is your BEST So far m8 Well done 👏 ide join you

your a good actor along with archer. thank yew gary

That was a great watch! Learnt some stuff as well, its strange to see things from the other side sometimes.

I remember watching a Lex Fridman podcast and he once asked, "How does someone be a 'hero' back in 1933?" And I remember being upset at how naive he seemed. People need to understand how this all happened; the only narrative we have is how "evil" it all was without knowing what drove this society to do what it did. Another great film to watch is "Look Who's Back." It hits this point right on the nose.

Keep up the amazing videos and work on your RU-vid channel every video and story's you tell are amazing to hear will you be telling more stories about the time your army there wonderful stories to listen to

Weimar conditions lead to Weimar solutions

Great presentation and explanation of the german perspective of how they were treat after the first ww War and why Hitler took control

Wow, this is the most real and truthful video I’ve ever seen on RU-vid. This video deserves an award

Brilliant video as always Kevin 👏 👌

Seriously, this really scares me...mind you I lived under the shadow of communist insurrection in our country in the 60's to 90's...their fanaticism and zealous blood thirst are no different than a Nazi SS...brought back many scary memories. You really managed to fully act, it felt so real. I remember touching the bullet wound scar on my grandfather's shoulder. It is horrible for commoners to live under inhumane oppression. Fortunately Malaysia was lucky to escape the fate of Cambodia under Pol Pot's communist regime...yet we paid for it with a river of blood and tears...thankfully fighting side by side with British, ANZACs and other commonwealth soldiers for our freedom... I pray may nobody else have to live in a world governed by this kind of madness ever again.