Why Didn't Germans Just Go Around the Berlin Wall?

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This animated history video explains for Americans why Germans didn’t just go around the Berlin Wall. It may sound silly, but many Americans don’t know the full history of the Berlin Wall, why it was erected, or why it was important to German History.
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So here is a nice explanation of everything from the wall’s construction, to JFK’s famous, ‘ich bin ein Berliner’ speech. Keep an eye out for future videos which chronicle the rest of the story of Germany’s division.
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29 июн 2024

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Комментарии : 6 тыс.

@massaweed420 6 лет назад

"Why didn't Germans just go around the Berlin wall?" Because in Soviet Union, wall goes around you.

@spaltmass 5 лет назад

The best I’ve ever read of these

@boeman6702 5 лет назад

Something that actually makes sense xD

@1337fraggzb00N 5 лет назад

In Soviet Russia, wall build you!

@_SamC_ 5 лет назад

in soviet Russia ice cream truck chase kids

@_SamC_ 5 лет назад

in soviet Russia dance breaks you

@donovaneverett1493 7 лет назад

Churchill once said "if hitler invaded hell, I'd side with the devil"

@TUkrLad 7 лет назад

Kennedy once said "If I make deal with the devil, Rick will take away the curse using science"

@vladtheimpaler1570 7 лет назад

And at the end of the war, Churchill said "we slaughtered the wrong pig" Good job.

@Ulkomaalainen 7 лет назад

Overly nitpicky here, but he didn't go that far. He only promised a favorable reference to the devil in the house of commons.

@odethious5639 7 лет назад

Procyon Well, the devil killed less people than God in the bible. I'd side with the lesser of two evils, the one who didn't kill millions.

@bucephalus1257 7 лет назад

Abraham Lincoln said "Never trust quotes you get from the internet. Unless John Oliver posts them. He's actually a decent guy."

@alasdairwatson712 5 лет назад

Speaking as a 61 year old British man who can remember the Wall going up, I found the whole video instructive, but the very last part, when you compare the applause for Stalin with that for Kennedy very moving. Too many people on the Left have forgotten or have never known of Stalin’s Terror. Possibly, like the Nazi holocaust, it’s magnitude defies our comprehension.

@Kamadev888 5 лет назад

Or possibly, like the Allied bombing of Dresden, being a British man, of a city which had no military installations, killing hundreds of thousands of women and children with firebombs, has eluded you 'cos noone told you that your lovely PM did it.

@HaroldBrownJr 5 лет назад

You mean like saturation bombing of Poland and London in 1939-40 which was well before Dresden? Bombing them because that was where the population was. Tokyo at the end of the war was being firebombed for one reason, force Japan to surrender. Declaring war does not come without risk, and should be done when there is no other choice, but once in it you fight it to win and win quickly.

@sfperalta 5 лет назад

Alasdair correctly points out that Stalin was a pure monster directly responsible for the death of millions of his own countrymen even before the Germans invaded the Soviet Union. As far as the Allied bombing of Hamburg (40,000 deaths) and Dresden (25.000 deaths), these are truly horrible beyond compare -- unless you compare them to the millions of civilians killed by the Nazi's before and during the war, including the round up and extermination of Jews, Gypsies and political dissidents by Nazi death squads. Sometimes you need to fight fire with fire in order to prevail, and Hitler and his Nazis were not going to give up until all of Germany was scorched earth.

@aleksandarnikolovski9518 5 лет назад

All sides did horrible things and warcrimes. That's a pure fact. Pointing the finger at one another an exaggerating one's warcrimes compared to your country's and others doesn't make you inoccent. From allied bombings of cities ( even some historical landmarks), atomic bombs dropped on civilians, nazi's concentration camps, holocaust, mass executions, soviet destruction of cities, rape, gulags, japanese mass executions, rape of Nanking and extreme cruelty, overall mistreatment of POWs you can see that during war nobody follows the articles of the geneva convention and yet only few people on the losing side were tried for warcrimes (mostly nazis and few japanese). And to anybody saying who is worse communism or fascism, I'll say you that they are nearly the same. Both are authoritarian, use police to spread fear on whoose basis they rule over the people, spreading of propaganda, people worshiping of the leader, political supression. I hope with education and more close connection between different people groups, we will not make the same mistakes as our forefathers and we will strive to overall peace and humans' prosperity.

@Dahrenhorst 5 лет назад

There is no war without war crimes, without rape, torture and mass-killing of non-combatants. Never was, never will be. The only thing to end this, is putting an end to wars.

@AGSammy 5 лет назад

why don't the North Koreans just go around the DMZ?

@stevenattanasso2003 5 лет назад

lazy

@chokesmc 5 лет назад

Cos its easier to cross the River border in the North into China and take your chances from there

@stevenattanasso2003 5 лет назад

Isn't that kinda' going around .....

@AGSammy 5 лет назад

Steven Attanasso it’s impossible that’s the point. Ain’t how it works

@stevenattanasso2003 5 лет назад

People have gotten out , So , it isn't impossible .... right ?

@jonkro1282 7 лет назад

Nice job! Being born in West Berlin in 1981, and raised there, too, I remember the wall quite well. My family was divided in 1961, grandma lived in the western part, her sister in the East. As I kid, I crossed the wall with my parents several times a year, we were searched intensively each time. I remember how there was graffiti all over the western side of the wall -- eastern property, so the western police wouldn't care, and the eastern police didn't have access. And of course, I remember the day of the fall of the wall (that is, the 10th of November 1989, late on the 9th I was already sleeping) and the incredible atmosphere in the city that followed after. You can imagine that history, and especially the history of Berlin has always been an important topic in my family. In case you're doing further research on the topic, I'd be happy to answer questions you might have. Cheers!

@williamcfox 7 лет назад

I appreciate it! Was there any fear of the wall going 'back up' or the soviets reversing course? -Will

@jonkro1282 7 лет назад

An interesting question. There were many East Berliners who came to West Berlin in the night 9th to 10th November 1989 because they thought it was a one time opportunity, and Easterners and Westerners celebrated on the streets all night. Many people didn't go over right away out of fear not to be able to go back home. The next day, the border was still open and more and more people dared to move across. In the following months, people moved from the East to the West in big numbers, which is usually explained with economic incentives, but could of course partially be explained with a fear of reinstallment of the old regime. (Numbers see at the end of this article: www.bpb.de/geschichte/deutsche-einheit/lange-wege-der-deutschen-einheit/47253/zug-nach-westen?p=all) From the Western perspective, I don't think that many people thought such a comeback would be possible. People believed the words of Gorbachev (who is still highly respected in Berlin, across the political spectrum). The East German political system collapsed too quickly. I remember my dad taking me to Brandenburg gate at some point in winter 89/90 where regular people were busy hammering away at the wall. Through one of the cracks, 8 year old me asked one of the anxious soldiers standing on the death strip what he was still doing there. He couldn't answer the question.

@williamcfox 7 лет назад

This is great insight! Thank you so much! I was in your city at the start of october and cant wait to go back. History is alive there like no other place ive ever visited!

@jonkro1282 7 лет назад

In case you don't know them yet, I highly recommend the guided tours by Berliner Unterwelten (berliner-unterwelten.de/home.1.1.html) which allow you to enter historic sites hidden underneath the surface of the city. I've been on 3 of their tours, and it was each time fascinating. (They offer tours in German, English, and other languages, but if you're comfortable with it, take a tour in German -- you might be lucky and get an older tour guide who might not speak English but can tell the most incredible stories first hand.) Tour M seems particularly appropriate for the subject at hand.

@williamcfox 7 лет назад

I read about that. Absolutely on my list! I'm also interested in Teufelsberg and the location of the Wansee conference

@MadTad 7 лет назад

Why won't Mexicans just go around the Trump Wall?

@opilator7962 7 лет назад

Too much water.

@_____._..--_ 7 лет назад

Zazozi Turtle To many tacos

@opilator7962 7 лет назад

Zonrox Bleach Too heavy tacos to swim

@christianknuchel 7 лет назад

+Mad Tad : They will. People cross the Mediterranean sea to get to European shores and Cubans take to the gulf to enter the US. Neither wall nor glorified fence will stop people from doing the same once the Mexican border becomes too arduous to cross. In that light, Trump's infrastructure project is little more than a giant gift to the human trafficking business.

@krashd 7 лет назад

Mexicans will go under it, like they already do. Mexicans have become so good at tunneling that the London Underground just swapped a Tunnel Boring Machine for 50 Mexicans and progress on the new HS2 line has doubled!

@Joekool88 6 лет назад

"How many times" That heartbreaking greeting

@superchacho777 4 года назад

Meanwhile German soldiers asked each other "How many?"

@SiVlog1989 3 года назад

One of the most extraordinary escape stories is Holga Bithcke. His brother, Ingo, swam to freedom over the Elbe River, waited for him in an empty building in the West, directly opposite the wall from the building he was using to escape from. He fired a wire across to the building opposite and zip wired across to the West. The extraordinary thing about his escape from East Germany was that he and his Brother stumbled upon a blind spot between watch towers, so the Stasi got the East German authorities and through it the Soviet Union to build another watch tower in the area where the escape occurred, to make sure it couldn't happen again

@wolfplayer7815 7 лет назад

You see when Germany had a wall they didn't have illegal immigrants.

@sparlerainbow 7 лет назад

WolfPlayer godamn nazi

@AqierDesigns 7 лет назад

WolfPlayer cupple of thousand dead, tortured, unfree people on the other side tho. and even tho they killed people who tried to pass, some did it. so a wall is no help

@FlygisTheFlygis 7 лет назад

Doctor Fallout ...what

@velianlodestone1249 7 лет назад

Let's not give Trump the idea to ditch building a wall, but building a minefield instead..

@yoloswaggins1579 7 лет назад

Because nobody wanted to go to the fucking DDR.

@CatNolara 7 лет назад

My grandfather knew a guy who escaped to west germany by swimming through the baltic sea. He could easily die or be killed, but somehow managed to survive the escape.

@dillon5906 7 лет назад

Klaufmann "escaped west germany"

@bebri123 7 лет назад

@Dillon "escaped TO west germany "

@EmulatorNoob 7 лет назад

What if he was a very hardcore communist? (Communists were usually persecuted in the west)

@CatNolara 7 лет назад

No, he wasn't, he just wanted to be free and flee from the communists

@EmulatorNoob 7 лет назад

Klaufmann Then he ran TO West Germany

@TechDeals 5 лет назад

Older video, watching in 2018, but it earned you a sub... time to see what else you have made! :)

@hello-friend990 4 года назад

November 2019 here

@instagramstar5928 3 года назад

2021 here

@jamesphillips3789 3 года назад

@@hello-friend990 ³

@antoniod 5 лет назад

To add to such confusion, if you took the "Subway" or the "Elevated" trains(the U-Bahn and S-Bahn), they went right though the forbidden zones! Western trains went through East Berlin, and vice versa! One could see out-of-bounds places right out the window!

@GoodVideos4 5 лет назад

I read that there were two U-Bahn stations in East Berlin that closed. It was because a West Berlin train ran through them.

@maxnoerenberg6370 5 лет назад

@@GoodVideos4 yeah many subway stations were def closed and in quite disrepair...and the subway just passed through it in slow motion....even right in the center of Berlin!

@maxnoerenberg6370 5 лет назад

and dont forget U-Friedrichstrasse back in those days, which was a main hub for us West Berliner to get cheap smokes ( nowadays we have the Vietnamese ha ha ) and alcohol....we could walk on a certain designated path and go to the Intershop to buy all the goodies with Deutsch Mark.

@ajaibanerji6677 Год назад

@@GoodVideos4 Several stations on two lines.

@psammiad 7 лет назад

Note: Churchill and the other allied generals argued furiously with Roosevelt and Eisenhower to push onward to capture Berlin and the rest of Germany, but the Americans didn't want to upset their "Russian Allies". How bitterly ironic given the American anti-communist hysteria of the post-war era, a massive case of shutting the door after the horse has bolted. The Cold War was entirely America's fault.

@williamcfox 7 лет назад

+psammiad exactly. Churchill was furious at the America decision to sweep Bavaria rather than 'go for the kill'

@jonhendrickson1382 7 лет назад

If by "Upset their Russian Allies," you mean "Completely abrogate the Tehran and Yalta agreements, and start a whole new war in the middle of fighting Japan when we really are hoping the Soviets will attack the Japanese in Manchuria", then you'd be right. But, you're not. The Cold War is the fault of the US? That's.. well, so wrong, it's not even right.

@riploljustforfu9929 7 лет назад

psammiad Because Russia would have had a great chance of winning that conflict.

@riploljustforfu9929 7 лет назад

Michael How many A-bombs would you have dropped and on what targets?

@jonhendrickson1382 7 лет назад

Yeah, that's all pretty much fantasy, and not historically feasible. Not enough bombs, and that's assuming the bomber can get through the heavily contested airspace between the bomber bases and the targets. (And assuming any airfields in Europe can handle a Sliverplate B-29...). Throw in the fact that the Soviets have a 4:1 advantage in men and a 2:1 advantage in tanks... well, there's a reason they called it Operation Unthinkable. Not to mention you still have a war against Japan to win. Not to mention you have to sell this war to the population of the US and the UK. So, yeah, this is pretty much just fantasy.

@aholyspanner3651 6 лет назад

the structuring of the how long do you clap thing was genius. props to you sir

@dam7196 5 лет назад

i cried when he said they clapped 20 min for JFK

@listenhealthily 5 лет назад

everyone's a genius these days. He just knows how to structure a story.

@shimes424 5 лет назад

@@listenhealthily everyone's a narcissist these days. You just didn't like the way he was complimented.

@doggSMK 5 лет назад

And yet, 'Muricans murdered they president... Sorry, but I wouldn't clap 20 min to that

@influencing 5 лет назад

@ Ron Jitter :| eep

@wtffinger 6 лет назад

in germany we've always had the conflict between west (wessis) and east (ossis) germans. i was born in munich in 1999 and i have always wondered why this competition between the sides existed. i have realised that even though some people may seriously despise the other part of my country, unity is the reason for the competition. we were a country divided by walls, borders and political ideals and we aren't deniing that. the fact that we make jokes about ossis being stale and wessis being spoiled is because we acknowledge that we were separated and culturally devided by the times. but the wind of change tore the wall down and we were united again as brothers and sisters, but not as the same people we were before. the wall will always remain in our minds as a horrible wound but acknowledging the scar it made helps. it shows that we survived after decades of tyranny and opression. so as a citizen of munich i hereby declare: ich bin ein berliner.

@petter5721 5 лет назад

We have major problems with socialist/communists in Sweden today!

@Surferant666 5 лет назад

@@petter5721 Extreme left is a huge problem all over Europe...

@Surferant666 5 лет назад

@Nick Pease labour parties are left wing sdp liberals anyone from centre right to far left are nazis.

@Surferant666 5 лет назад

I guess it takes one to know one ^^

@Surferant666 5 лет назад

unlike you I am Protestant and clearly you are confused who really made this Europe...

@wgoulding 6 лет назад

At the end of March 1945, the allies had crossed the Rhine, with Berlin 300 km away with the Elbe river in the way. The Soviets, however, were 30 km away at that point. There was no way that the allies could have been the first to reach Berlin after the failure of Operation Market Garden, whose object was to seize a bridge over the Rhine in the Netherlands via airborne landings in September of '44, remembered as "The bridge too far". Additionally, Hitler took large numbers of men and equipment off the Eastern front and threw them at the allies in the Battle of the Buldge, in a hopeless attempt to repeat the 1940 strike through the Arden that resulted in the encirclement of the British Expeditionary Force and the Cream of the French army that ended in Dunkirk and French surrender. The hope was to defeat the allies and then concentrate everything on the Soviets, but it only resulted in the Soviets capturing more of Europe. So the allies didn't "Give" the Soviets Berlin, just as much as the didn't give them Poland, whose independence was the whole reason the war started for Britain and France in the first place. Actually, it's incredible that the allies actually ended up with 3/4 of it. In the end though, what was Berlin really worth? The allies captured most of the country, and most importantly, the industrial center that is the Ruhr valley, creating the prosperity that made West Germany recover so well.

@aidsencondomletsplays353 5 лет назад

How many kilos are in a mile?

@nathanrobinson1099 5 лет назад

Yeah they did give the Soviets a lot of land. Consider Poland.

@popydev 5 лет назад

Poland wasn't "given". Soviets put a puppet regime in place, just like USA planned to do in France. The allies considered the option of going to war against USSR to free Poland (Operation unthinkable)

@kalyka98 5 лет назад

The allies left the soviet advancing because they seem not to care about casualties, there were more people killed taking Chzechoslovakia than all the casualties of the occupation since it's invasion, absurd given what was left of Germany. The allies were way more careful about the losses while Zuckov said "The russian women will make more children". It takes a monster to defeat a monster

@popydev 5 лет назад

@@kalyka98 again, that is false, it is well known that the allies tried to rush to berlin as they already distrusted Stalin

@mystuff8602 7 лет назад

The "Ich bin ein Berliner"-quote is great in and of itself, but its so much more awesome, when it's set up right

@fremejoker 7 лет назад

Explain to a German, when it is set up right, when not in this speech.

@ellisartwist 7 лет назад

i think he meant with the context and tone of the video. The guy set up the moment well so it seems more meaningful.

@leninmeister. 7 лет назад

holy shit I didn't expect this video to be so damn deep

@williamcfox 7 лет назад

+The Generic WoLF glad you liked it

@Phelie315 6 лет назад

same! From the title I expected a shitpost like "duh why didn't they just walk around it these dumbasses" but then it turned out to be actual historical insight and I was pleasantly surprised XD

@AmyAnnLand 6 лет назад

👓 Same here. I learned quite a bit as well. Definitely subbed.

@kvandermeersch5753 6 лет назад

I don't know how to deal with this feel.

@moneyadams3751 6 лет назад

Yeah same

@obu90210 5 лет назад

Good video! I hope everyone in west will watch it and not because of the Wall only - everyone in the world must understand the price of freedom. Its not granted. I'm 40 years old and from Estonia, one of the Baltic states. I remember. Its good to be on the other side of the iron wall/curtain now :)

@johng7410 6 лет назад

Just found this video from a link to a link. You did it so well. The finale of the applause time was such a fantastic payoff from the entire story. You have an excellent presentation style and I hope to see all your other videos. Really well done.

@azlanroni8525 6 лет назад

love the 20 mins reference compared to 11 mins, brilliantly done.

@baphometos 6 лет назад

20 min of free demonstration against 11 min forced

@eusupporter8438 6 лет назад

How many minutes would Mr. Trump get?

@googlpls1150 5 лет назад

For many Trump's victory represented a successful strike against american communists who already did a lot of harm.

@MagnusSkiptonLLC 7 лет назад

I learned in German class that the whole "I am a jelly donut" thing is something of a myth. The people who were there understood what he meant just fine.

@fremejoker 7 лет назад

You learned right. ;-)

@rapturedmourning 7 лет назад

It's not a myth that he said "I am a jelly donut". But the crowd knew what he meant, in the same way you know what someone means when they incorrectly use their/they're/there.

@rapturedmourning 7 лет назад

My main source is a German teacher (who was German) that was an adult in Germany in 1963. I see Wikipedia calls it a misconception, but goes on to confuse that with talk about regional differences. Think about this: "I am English" vs. "I am an English" ... an English what? One might think "muffin". Though German sentence structure is different. Some things don't translate precisely. "May I be permitted?" = "may I help you". Translation can be an art. But in determining what Germans listening to the speech thought, I would go with Germans who listened to the speech over Wikipedia.

@varana 7 лет назад

No one understands "we'll have turkey for dinner" as "we'll have Turkey for dinner". Just the same with Kennedy. You would think he said "I'm a donut" only if he visibly looked like one. Also, "ein Berliner" with the indefinite article ("a" in English) is completely correct in German, you don't need something after it. :)

@fremejoker 7 лет назад

rapturedmourning It's a myth created by a book author and spread by an English newspaper years after the speech. There is no single German newspaper of that particular time, that reported about this issue, because there was no issue. There were also a ton of Germans, do you think, Kennedy didn't ask at least one of them, if this sentence is correct? Kennedy quoted "civis romanus sum", said "All free men are citizen of Berlin" and spoke in German "Ich bin ein Berliner.". The context is therefore clear. The myth is focussing on the indefinite article, which should be left out, but there is no need to leave it out, because the indefinite article does not change the meaning from a citizen to a donut, the context does. Kennedy could have said "Ich bin Berliner.", but in my opinion, as a German, I would always add the indefinite article to emphasize, what Kennedy really meant.

@DonWoschto 5 лет назад

10:31 "the spying eyes of the Stasi" is a helicopter from west German border patrol ;-)

@robertthomas5906 5 лет назад

1976, I had a 6th grade school teacher that argued with me about the wall. She asked if I believed there is a physical wall there. I said yes, she said I was stupid. There is no wall. My father, a WWII Army soldier was up there the next day to have a little talk with them. She was made to apologize to me in front of the whole class and admit a 6th grade student was smarter than she is. I see this type of stupidity even today, in schools and elsewhere.

@mossandthesea 5 лет назад

A teacher should at least have their kids show research, rather than tell them that they are wrong. This is why schools are so bad these days. Good for you.

@ngastakvakis4425 5 лет назад

The teacher didn't apologise to you for being stupider than you, that's pretentious, she apologised for miseducating young minds.

@ngastakvakis4425 5 лет назад

And how do you know I wasn't there? You weren't there... Stupid logic.

@ngastakvakis4425 5 лет назад

But you also weren't there to confirm... Only a child would reply to this in that way.

@ngastakvakis4425 5 лет назад

With balance of probability it shouldn't be hard to listen to the reason in my sentence.

@izdagrimeyone 6 лет назад

It was never the wall that kept them in, but the rifle.

@dave2885 6 лет назад

izdagrimeyone well kilometers of self shoting fences are keeping them in. So it was the wall

@sycophanticthing2658 6 лет назад

Da Ve well people could simply use other means like a tall ladder or simply digging under but it was the rife that was going to shoot them if they popped their heads out that stopped them.

@dave2885 6 лет назад

March 22nd 2013 sure. Or mines. Or the self shooting fences. Or if they had still family in the DDR.

@KM-nd3rp 6 лет назад

March 22nd 2013 they also had methods against the digging. And a lot of dangerous dogs...

@catlover1986 6 лет назад

+da ve, there were no "self shooting" fences. Rather, trip-wire based mines that acted like a cannon for a single shot.

@iammrbeat 7 лет назад

Wow, this video is about so much more than what the title implies! Stalin, man. I never knew the story about the applauding. That is crazy!

@NetAndyCz 6 лет назад

It is kind of opposite of clickbait:)

@BenHall289 6 лет назад

Mr. Beat that clapping story is about all I remember being taught about Stalin at school.

@ViewThis. 6 лет назад

Clap or die...Wow. A different type of "Bow down and worship or else."

@MrThndrkiss75 6 лет назад

That's Democratic Socialism for you... mass murdering people since 1917

@heyyou5189 6 лет назад

Katrina S The path of socialism is paved with tyranny and terror.

@kingofthejungle3833 6 лет назад

A very well made doco. Having been born in '72, I grew up in a world with 2 Germanies, I always found it rather ironic, and (when I was much younger, quite confusing) the East Germany's official name was the German Democratic Republic. It was quite a surreal period in time, watching how all the Eastern Bloc countries, took back their citizenship, so to speak. To all those too young to remember or to have seen it with their own eyes, albeit on TV in my case, watching the East Germans chipping away at the Berlin Wall, back in October '89, it was a sight to behold!!! It also took a lot of getting use to, the fact that there was one Germany again. I have a circa 1987 world globe, all the old borders, country names, etc. How the world has changed in just the last 30 years.

@ArmchairMagpie 6 лет назад

Berlin, biggest city in western Thuringia, lol. I grew up in divided Germany living in a so-called Sperrgebiet in what is today the Wartburg county (back then Eisenach county in the Erfurt district) - in the area where you actually placed Berlin.

@williamcfox 7 лет назад

@williamcfox Other Interesting Videos About Berlin! ***“Berlin [full 1 hour version] (Rew Boss) **ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-IZQbTEZdM_g.html** *** BBC Doc, History of Berlin: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-ds12det7jZk.html Berlin 1945 in HD & Color: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-R5i9k7s9X_A.html “Why Was A Wall Built Around West Berlin” (Seeker) ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-W7YE-N448fg.html

@RespawnM 7 лет назад

Great video! Thanks for the history lesson :D

@williamcfox 7 лет назад

+Riley The Ultronist thank you for watching! More to come

@ulrichlehnhardt4293 7 лет назад

great video. I am impressed of your knowledge. It is good to see that young people are educated and know the stuff we had to live through. Keep on going - greetings from Berlin!

@ian1064 7 лет назад

Political Junkie its DDR not GDR

@ulrichlehnhardt4293 7 лет назад

***** in English it is called GDR

@HeinDuckdich1 7 лет назад

Hey, I am born in late 1965 in former West-Berlin and lived there for almost 11 years, as my parents decided to move to Western Germany. Your Video shows a very good job in historical facts about this city! Chapeau!

@peterzwegat2621 6 лет назад

Scheiß Ossi

@hook-ch6dq 6 лет назад

Scheiss Wessi

@Uli_Krosse 6 лет назад

Mal ohne Witz - ist das dein Ernst?

@hook-ch6dq 6 лет назад

Meinst du mich

@Uli_Krosse 6 лет назад

Nein.

@Magrat_Knoblauch 6 лет назад

Soo... I'm a complete Ossi. Both my parents were born in East Berlin and by the time the Berlin Wall fell, my dad was in the National Folksarmy, which he was basically bullied to go into. He had to serve for I believe 2 1/2 years and when the protests in East Berlin and Germany got more and more heavy around 1989, there were rumours going on that his division would be used to forcefully crush the protests. He told me that all of them sat down (of course not the higherranking ones) and decided that they would collectively disobey any such order, should it come. But he also told me that one of his school friends, who volunteered for the army, was completely hooked for the GDR and would have gladly fought against civilians for it. I'm just glad such an order never came and the Wall fell so... well, peaceful in the end.

@kavalerdivacom 5 лет назад

I visited East Berlin before the wall came down and it was quite interesting. You could get to West Berlin by train through East Germany but the train only stopped in a couple places and there were troops with machine guns at each stop. Same with the U-bahn (subway) that ran from West Berlin to East Berlin and back to West Berlin - they dug no new lines - but at each East Berlin stop there were a handful of troops with machine guns to prevent anyone from the East from jumping onto the subway train. You could enter East Berlin through a handful of checkpoints, the most famous being checkpoint Charlie, where you had to exchange 80 West DM for 80 East DM (black market exchange rate was 1 to 40. Nothing to buy for 80 East DM but canned fish, sports books, and beer. I ended up giving the balance to some East German girls I met there who said of my mirrored sunglasses "If we wore these we would be arrested. The authorities must be able to see your eyes." (in German).

@bliglum 7 лет назад

BUILD THE WALL!! BUILD THE WALL!!!!!! Oh wait, different wall..

@MrIzzy5466 7 лет назад

bliglum its nowhere near the same thing. This was a wall to Isolate, Trumps wall (Which is stupid) is just to stop illegal immigration (Which will still happen since most illegal immigrants come in legally and just outstay their Visa

@bliglum 7 лет назад

MrIzzy5466 Well yeah, that's why I said "different wall".. You're right though, Trump's wall is stupid. A 19 billion dollar project that could be defeated by a 19 dollar ladder! Haha!

@MrIzzy5466 7 лет назад

By your original comment I thought you were saying that its a different wall but the same concept which as you know is clearly not the case.

@mycount64 7 лет назад

+MrIzzy5466 both walls are built on fear and control of the masses.

@MrIzzy5466 7 лет назад

No. Trumps wall is a display of power that he hopes will keep out illegal immigrants. It has nothing to do with fear nor control of the masses

@tommytomthms5 7 лет назад

Came to this video thinking "well duh, the wall was a circle around the entire city..." after watching the video I thought "how is Berlin still an actual city today and not like a giant cemetery?"

@h0ckeyd 6 лет назад

It's quite a fine city. You should visit...but watch for that Berliner nose.

@lenn939 6 лет назад

Berlin is far from an economic powerhouse. It’s still eating up a lot of German tax money from other regions, even though it’s the capital. infographic.statista.com/small/11515_b.jpg

@BooksandCaffeine 6 лет назад

There were highways and railways that could be used for travel to West Berlin from the rest of West Germany, and an airlift of needed goods when those were sealed off for a while.

@TheHomeless080 6 лет назад

+This could be your advertisement Now you know (part of) the reason why Berlin can not be really compared to other German cities economically.

@beaubobitbobo 6 лет назад

Berlin is a city many would consider the most interesting city to visit in not only Europe but the world. It's brimming with history, culture, activities, arts, music, everything. But more importantly is that for the capitol of such a wealthy country, Berlin is incredibly run down and poor. It has this certain grimey-ness to it, like it still is long from recovering from WW2 and Soviet control. Do yourself a favor and go there, but you'll need at least a week just to get your toes wet.

@WolverinStudio 5 лет назад

In 1985 did a 30 day rotation in Berlin while stationed in Baumholder, Germany and I was still in Germany, another duty station, when the Berlin Wall was torn down. Areas between the perimeter barriers of the Berlin Wall were mined, not the entire thing. Thousands of them were dug up as they deconstructed the Wall. Portions of the concrete Wall on the inside were also topped with glass and metal shards embedded in the concrete and bridges (even though they ended at the Wall on the opposite bank) that crossed the Rivers Spree and Panke were packed with demolitions that had to be removed during the deconstruction. There were also thousands of land mines between the perimeter barriers of the Inter-German Border. Again, not along the whole thing but in patches that were occasionally removed and moved (or were they?).

@shulskeezy 5 лет назад

Wow, from 2:30 to 7:30 I completely forgot I was watching a video about the Berlin Wall. For those 5 minutes I drowned in your WW2 history and illustrations. Outstanding!!

@Soliloquy084 7 лет назад

I had the same misconception about east and west Berlin's location when I was young.

@GylleTheGreat 7 лет назад

Love your videos :)

@dodovomitory3496 7 лет назад

yea same

@SlyPearTree 7 лет назад

I had it until a few years ago when my sister's family went to Berlin. I was born in 1963 and my only excuse is that this was a really strange situation.

@averagepolishguy3730 7 лет назад

Soliloquy I actually knew that Berlin was far to the east, but I assumed that the borders of West and East Germany were also far east, at Berlin. Meaning that West Germany was a lot larger.

@motherintoronto 7 лет назад

My Dad was in the British military, I visited West Berlin as a child in the 80's. I saw the wall went right around West Berlin. I saw this long open space going around the city and I thought they should turn it into a race track, like the Indy 500 with super fast cars. Just a couple of years later, the wall came down. I was so disappointed when they didn't turn it into a race track. My mother had papers and we drove through East Germany to meet up with my father in Berlin one time. I didn't really understand but the drive was really quiet. The place was atmospheric and I felt relief when we got to West Berlin. I didn't have to understand to know everything about this felt wrong.

@martonlerant5672 7 лет назад

They weren't seeking retribution. If that were the case, Berlin would be the only city having suffered such fate, but the same thing happened in other capitals, that were overrun by the read army, regardless of their contribution to the war. (Not to mention the encouragement of rape and looting, Stalin's personal approval (and enjoyment) of prolonged torture, assisted by medical care to nurture up the victims for another round... you are simply painting Stalin's world in an unrealistically bright light)

@NS66561 7 лет назад

all sides committed atrocities. Terror bombing being the worst imo.

@FlamingAnimation 7 лет назад

Imo gang raping eight year olds is way more evil than bombing.

@4f52 7 лет назад

The Ghastly Varangian nope

@martonlerant5672 7 лет назад

The Ghastly Varangian Said eight year old has a chance to recover, dead people don't. Also 1 eight year old matter less than hundreds of thousands or millions.

@martonlerant5672 7 лет назад

4f747265626f72 The USSR was member of the allies. Thus their war crimes count into the allied total, beginning with mass executions of polish elite (in tens if not hundreds of thousands), then continuing with intentional starving of ukraine, and mass rape and looting in every major city the red army "freed". But even if you don't count soviets you still have war crimes in all but name committed by the allies. Ms bombing of civilian areas to destroy morale, is nothing more or less than genocide. Look up firebombing raids against japan, or bombing of major german cities. Singular raids killed more civilians than the total number killed during the London blitz. You are either an ignorant fool, or an ideologically motivated hypocrite.

@fghdrdthtgfghjhdf2540 4 года назад

You're really amazing, you're not just providing facts, you're actually telling stories. Really inspiring.

@jerry3790 3 года назад

This is a great video with a phenomenal ending. It’s so great I’ve actually come back to it after watching a couple years ago. Ich bein ein Berliner!

@CivilAviation1 7 лет назад

Quite sad that I learned more about this part of history of my country online than in all of the history classes I had. All we ever got to hear was how bad we germans are for having started the 2nd world war.

@calebsone1630 7 лет назад

look at the world now. I would say some one was on to something.

@CivilAviation1 7 лет назад

calebsone1 What are you trying to say?

@1pcfred 7 лет назад

Germany did not start the Second World War. France, and England did. They both declared war on Germany. Not the other way around. What Germany was doing in Poland was none of either of their business. Technically it was the bastards that drafted the Treaty of Versailles that planted the seeds of WW2. Which is why WW2 ended much differently.

@calebsone1630 7 лет назад

CivilAviation1 I am saying globalist ran banking was the greatest threat and the only way to build a nation is to re-build from with in.

@CivilAviation1 7 лет назад

calebsone1 Oh, yeah. He had good intentions but the wrong solution.

@russelltimmerman3771 7 лет назад

wonderful hook, the applause length...

@AmiCapella 5 лет назад

This video is a beautiful example of someone trying to tell his story by picking out some facts that would fit to present his story, paint them in a color that suits and align them in your head so you all can happily hate together. Thank you forr this very simple minded example about inventing history ; )

@lizhumble9953 6 лет назад

I just found your channel. Thank you for this in-depth video and the book and film recommendations scattered throughout. I like the short video formats like youtube, but I also love to more in depth research on my own.

@helloweener2007 7 лет назад

You missed the point that the USA gave their "permission" or at least they said: Hey, you guys can do this. From Wikipedia about J. William Fulbright: On 30 July 1961, two weeks before the erection of the Berlin Wall, Fulbright said in a television interview, "I don't understand why the East Germans don't just close their border, because I think they have the right to close it." Kennedy subsequently refused to distance himself from Fulbright’s observation, which suggests that he asked Fulbright to make this statement as a way of signaling to Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev that the building of a wall would be viewed by the United States as an acceptable way of defusing the Berlin Crisis.

@akosbarati2239 6 лет назад

According to Dean Rusk, they were ironical about Fulbright's comments. Southerners had seen commitments to other countries as a drag

@MrLukasboys 7 лет назад

10 minutes of applauding is still totally normal in at least one of the partys here in Germany.

@MrLukasboys 7 лет назад

***** A mixture, I guess.

@AqierDesigns 7 лет назад

NexoFX ISKU yeah in the fucking AfD. they'll clap n clap n clap. the first one who stops looses their social security = starvs to death, cause they all have no jobs lol.

@busybee19 6 лет назад

Thanks for this video! My first time on your channel and I've learned so much!

@MePeterNicholls 4 года назад

I've just discovered this video, in the year of the 30th anniversary of the wall's collapse. I'm very interested to see what else you've published on this. And wonder if there is a 30th anniversary edition you'd like to make? Maybe a compilation or something special?

@titanuranus3095 6 лет назад

Why didn't Colombus just go around the Atlantic?

@cv4809 6 лет назад

Titan Uranus He tried,but America blocked his way

@mikamuller7807 6 лет назад

Becuase it would take him 3 weeks just to go around it

@titanuranus3095 6 лет назад

Colombus didn't cross the atlantic?

@titanuranus3095 6 лет назад

Why didn't he just go around it?

@trevmac8362 6 лет назад

Colombus was Americans first real authentic serial killer

@KvatchIsInDanger 7 лет назад

Did I just find the Vsauce of history?

@professoreisenoxid9882 7 лет назад

KvatchIsInDanger Hmm..I dont think so. Vsauce is.. I dont know all of RU-vid but I bei Vsauce is unique in every way (e.g. there are many gaming and commedy channels). He associates science with philosophy in his own style. I cant explain it and because you know Vsauce you know what I am talking about. :D Some videos step so deeply in fundamatal questions of live, thinking, etc without mentioning the issue itself (compare his latest video). This video and the producer definitely handle things other (other(!) not bad but also not like Vsauce).

@andrelunaisatuna 7 лет назад

Professor Eisenoxid Yeah. Michael's not like an expert, he's just really good at creating content that involves facts which weave together nicely and amazingly.

@pabrodi 7 лет назад

The hyperlink style of writing is similar. The difference is this guy manages to be on topic.

@yoloswaggins1579 7 лет назад

KvatchIsInDanger STOP! YOU VIOLATED THE LAW!

@TheReaper569 7 лет назад

No. Vsauce is more of a popular info not pure intellectual info. So its for everyone, like dummies to like. This is more specilized.

@PrernaPalekar 5 лет назад

Loved the way you connected dots n gave a good perception of history. Keep it up! Thank you for sharing :)

@CJWarlock 6 лет назад

I've just found this video. Good job. Helped to fill in the gaps and finally get how the building of this wall even happened.

@Frosmad 6 лет назад

This video is straight up 10/10.

@eXTreemator 6 лет назад

Frosmad this video is full of bs

@Frosmad 6 лет назад

why is that?

@Uli_Krosse 6 лет назад

Because that wall wasn't erected "in secret", just for starters. Hiding a construction project of that magnitude is impossible to hide, even the host should realize that. The title of the video alone is an atrocity.

@imho4990 6 лет назад

You regretted the Germans, but you forgot that the West betrayed Poland and gave the whole country to Stalin.

@paullarzazs9601 6 лет назад

Frosmad - If this video is so great, then WHY does he use an image of the US M113 APC (adopted in 1960) when talking about WWII? There's sufficient BS in this video if you don't know history.

@bobd9193 7 лет назад

Very well done young man, My hat is off to you. As a long retired military veteran it does my heart good to see a young person take such a serious interest in history. Your information and delivery was spot on and very professional. I only wish that more of America's youth had the discipline and respect that you show for such an important subject. Keep up the good work, you have yet another subscriber and I look forward to what is to come. MM1 Robert Davis, US Navy, Retired.

@DigitalAshTCG 6 лет назад

This is such a well made video! Your voice is perfect for this type of heavy video. I had a similar misconception about the Berlin wall, though i assumed it was threat of violence while trying to escape that prevented people from attempting.

@thelitterbug7624 6 лет назад

Just found you mate, found you through Brightinsight. Unbelievable video man, so good, as factual and as dry as Mike Duncan, can’t wait to watch more!

@defective6811 7 лет назад

Earned yourself a sub. You're just a tad under 16k right now, I don't doubt you will be at 30, 50, 100k before we know it.

@williamcfox 7 лет назад

+Defective happy to have earned it. I hope to keep it. Thank you for the kind words. -Will

@dieterwillemse7782 7 лет назад

So many Titch memes everywhere PogChamp

@hackhenk 7 лет назад

Hah, almost 3k subs in a few days! Here good sir, have another one.

@Playcon404 7 лет назад

29k 14 hours later...

@YammoYammamoto 7 лет назад

31k mark beaten. :)

@FoxGoalie 6 лет назад

I never knew the context of JFK's quote. I actually had shivers going down my spine when I heard it.

@garrettbleeker5299 6 лет назад

FoxGoalie you mean that time jfk tried to speak german and accidentally called himself a jelly donut?

@imachangedname2978 6 лет назад

ChizBiz OMFG WHERE IS THAT?

@HTFDUDEHTF 6 лет назад

+Jakob Kendall Ich bin ein Berliner.

@martinheath5947 6 лет назад

+MMIGhost Had he been in Frankfurt he might have said "Ich bin ein Frankfurter" Either way "ein Berliner" was common parlance, at the time, for a hot dog sausage. Oops!

@z3lop59 6 лет назад

Martin Heath hot dog sausage??? No!!! A Berliner is a something like donut without the hole and jam inside it

@TheRobertralph 5 лет назад

Really great video. You did some great research... I learned a lot. You are a good presenter!!! Keep it up.

@CloudandZack1st 6 лет назад

I have never come across your channel before, but your videos sure are entertaining. Great explanation!

@James--Parker 7 лет назад

Taking Berlin would have cost 100,000 men. The allies decided they would rather it be 100,000 Soviets, so they didn't march on the city.

@wach9191 7 лет назад

Ever heard about "Race for Berlin"?

@kognak6640 7 лет назад

There was no race, that's just propaganda for troops and public. Occupation territories were already agreed and set between allied powers in Yalta. And taking Berlin would not cost no where near as much for western allies as it did for soviets. At that point germans hadn't much will to fight except against soviets because they knew what was coming for them(by soviets). Americans reached Elbe weeks before battle of berlin and turned south to occupy future american zone. Crossing Elbe was prohibited by Eisenhower to avoid any problems with Soviets.

@James--Parker 7 лет назад

Kognak There was a race, but it was between rival leaders of the Soviet military. Each wanting the prestige of taking the city. But you're correct the allies never tried to take the city. They could have gotten their first if they chose to, but 100,000 men was to high a price to pay.

@cs0345 7 лет назад

If the Western Allies were to have taken Berlin, they would have lost way less men then the Soviets due to better military strategies. The Soviets killed off so many of their generals in Stalin's purges, that they weren't able to defend against the German invasion, and as a result, they lost millions of more soldiers and civilians than they had to.

@1pcfred 7 лет назад

If we cared about lives we'd have never gone into the war to begin with. Another 100,000 dead was nothing that was going to dissuade us from another campaign. In hindsight we did the wrong thing. It is as simple as that. But at the time the Allies did not completely understand the Soviet threat.

@Mokona127 7 лет назад

As a German who has had that topic every half a year from fifth to thirteenth grade, this was fascinating to me. I totally see how you'd fill in the gaps and go, Berlin must be here, and the wall divides the city state, not the country, so just walk around. And seeing the views on this, it seems to be a common misconception, so thank you very much for clearing that up.

@williamcfox 7 лет назад

+Mokona127 thanks for watching and commenting. It seems like people are divided- many shared the misconception, and many think I'm an idiot for ever having the misconception. I'm glad I didn't fully understand because it allowed to to explore the topic more as an adult.

@Mokona127 7 лет назад

I just told my flatmate about the premise of the video, and he said he always thought so, too, being a native German with a decent education and all. So no worries about that. ^^ Btw, I just wrote you an email for translation stuff, in case you revisit German history or politics at any point. (I also got my linguistic youtubers NativLang and Name Explain confused, I apologize.)

@williamcfox 7 лет назад

+Mokona127 just responded. I really appreciate the offer to help!

@MrVvulf 6 лет назад

I think (hope?) it's only younger generations (born after 1975) that don't know the wall circled the entire western side. My sister was born inside that wall.

@paulheinke9856 6 лет назад

Thank you for this great exploratory video, that makes me as a Berliner understand my own history better.

@coordenacaobelem649 6 лет назад

What an exploration!! Not click bait at all, great videos with a lot of actual content about something interesting, many youtubers could learn from you!!!

@ahouyearno 7 лет назад

10:00 some of these towers and other fortifications still stand there. If you drive to Berlin over the A2 Autobahn, it's impossible to miss them. I get shivers over my spine every time I cross the "border". 15:00 and those words always give me tears in my eyes.

@2010Temperato 7 лет назад

ahouyearno i recently visited Berlin this summer, i arrived by train in what was once East Berlin. As I walked from that train station to visit the Brandenburg Gate I came across what I thought was a park with some kind of art fencing around it. As I continued to walk I noticed a date 1961 on the side of a building, I looked behind me and a line was drawn where this fencing was currently standing. It was then the gravity of the situation hit me, I had walked from East Berlin into West Berlin. I can not tell you just how powerful that moment was too me, as an American who had only read about the division of Germany; to be there in person and see it first hand blew me away. I agree with Kennedy when he said Ich bin ein Berliner. I hope Germany continues to be a becon of hope for all Europe, do not let fear tear your country apart.

@ahouyearno 7 лет назад

John Temperato Indeed. Have you seen checkpoint charlie too? The actual inner city border crossing? It's surreal. Also surreal is the fact that Germany is currently the least racist country in the world while the USA has a presidential candidate that is closest to Hitler than anyone in living memory. I personally believe that "wir schaffen das" is just as significant as "ich bin ein Berliner"

@williamcfox 7 лет назад

That's how I felt when I visited Berlin. It really hits you hard when you see in pictures the same place your embassy now stands, but fenced in and guarded by Soviets. Amazing city and I can't wait to go back!

@ahouyearno 7 лет назад

Political Junkie it's by far the most beautiful capital city of western Europe (imho). Coupled with history that's relevant to this day ... Have you read Chrisitane F? We also walked along the Babystrich at the K'Damm and it's sad to see that nothing has changed in that regard for over 30 years :(

@williamcfox 7 лет назад

ahouyearno I haven't read it. What is it?

@kobathedread 7 лет назад

Listening to JFK speak and you realise how a leader in the Free World should communicate

@Tubemax68 7 лет назад

The "free" world.

@2011Fatman13 6 лет назад

A very good Doc on the wall.Many did go around the wall.In the 1980s I worked with several Russians and one Czechoslovakian man.They all escaped the same way.Thru Yugoslavia.Most of the border guards there were on the take.If you couldn't afford the bribe,you waited in the woods till nightfall.Then avoiding the patrols,walked across.No fence,no mines.

@m4noenk 6 лет назад

Man, I like how you compose your video, well done!

@Blaybay123 7 лет назад

As a German I already knew all this but it's always nice to refresh my knowledge on that topic. It's a really well made video! Good job!

@eXTreemator 6 лет назад

MrsCitty did you know as a treu deutce das panzerkamphwagen s43.3kwz was made out of plastic and Kan schissen mit die popsicles. Das is how much truewarcheit dies video hast

@henningbartels6245 Год назад

@@eXTreemator most stupid comment.

@kushantaiidan 7 лет назад

My Mother was born in 1942 in Berlin, her father died the same year in the winter near moscow. My grandmother that lived through the hell of the Russian occupation died this year a few months ago peacefully aged 95 among loving family here in Australia. Berlin is my favorite city, and a huge part of my family's history. I've read much about this topic, but it was nice to see a video summing up what happened to Berlin quite well. I miss my Oma.

@williamcfox 7 лет назад

I currently teach a small group of German Seniors every other week, and the stories they have of that time are incredible. I'm sure your Oma was a treasure chest of history. Cheers. -Will

@kushantaiidan 7 лет назад

Thank you Will. She was. I had grandparents on both sides of the war, almost literally fighting each other. Aussie Grandfather captured by the Germans, and German grandfather fighting the Russians. Yet against all odds, here I am. Thank you for your reply and for running an awesome channel. - Mick

@williamcfox 7 лет назад

+Tree my grandmother was a nurse on the American side. That's was a very dark time for everyone but it's great love stories like your parents that put a little light in the future. Have a good one, Will

@williamcfox 7 лет назад

Grandparents, I mean!

@Hrafnskald 6 лет назад

A great video, thanks for being willing to go in depth on this and give it the exploration it deserves. I had the privilege as a young man to visit the Museum at Checkpoint Charlie in Berlin after The Wall came down, and it was truly moving to see how willing so many were to put their lives on the line to reach freedom. We got to meet some former inmates at the nearby political prison who similarly suffered for their desire to be free. This is a topic that deserves to be remembered, so we do not repeat the same mistakes.

@galebailey5583 3 года назад

Wow. History II in high school never actually told us that the wall completely circled West Berlin! Thanks for making this video!

@marcustulliuscicero5443 7 лет назад

Just a small tidbit, West Berlin was technically not part of West Germany. It had the same laws, institutions, and all that, but was de jure a seperate state. Made it a popular destination for young men who didn't want to serve in the German military, as citizens of West Berlin weren't conscripted by the Bundeswehr.

@scootza1 7 лет назад

Cuz they didn't have Dora the Explorer

@Alex-if1hc 7 лет назад

@aerojetrocketdyners-2538 7 лет назад

E X T R A T H I C C dora the rapist

@jeffreymanhattan9375 7 лет назад

@furinick 7 лет назад

if you have a fetish for latin kids its nice

@horrorhuhnhater370 5 лет назад

Wow this is a really well researched and thrilling video. Thank you very much I got goosbumps at the end :)

@DavidCaldicottMedia 6 лет назад

Powerful stuff brother. Thank you for your work!!

@inzerc814 7 лет назад

"i am a jelly doughnut" - JFK

@hart3172 6 лет назад

yep lol

@ryderpham5464 7 лет назад

In soviet russia, hands clap YOU!

@jarkolimbo9268 5 лет назад

Good info and excellent delivery. Big Up! thanks

@influencing 5 лет назад

thanks bro i really enjoyed how you put all this stuff together. you are a great teacher in my eyes and i will check out your other vids!

@halloichbinfly5562 7 лет назад

Really good video, I am from Germany my self and this video is really moving. Also you did an amazing job of presenting everything

@williamcfox 7 лет назад

+Trickster Key vielen dank, Trickster. That's very nice of you to say. See you for the next video!

@nilshenrichsen9742 7 лет назад

JFK: I am a donut The words of a true hero

@luisdknob 6 лет назад

Uow! Nice video! For a non-english native, your speech is clear and with a good pause! Great content btw.

@Purpleroseann 6 лет назад

Thank you for this video. I was a child when I learned of the Berlin Wall, shortly after it had been erected. I remember it well, it was in a popular magazine my older brother had brought home. I still recall the feelings I had, unable to comprehend how a government could do this to their people. I have learned over the years that any government, anywhere in the world, can and does treat their citizens badly at times. I was so glad on the morning I woke to hear the wall had come down.

@AlejandroLZuvic 6 лет назад

Whoever have gone to Berlin and saw the wall could see that the actual wall is actually not a big deal. The problem was the booby traps and guardians surrounding it.

@timberwoof 6 лет назад

I saw the Berlin Wall in 1986. I also saw the border between West and East Germany. The wall would not have been a big deal if that's all there was to it and you had a ladder. But well-motivated soldiers with machine guns were a pretty good deterrent. I remember the lady at the border crossing who carried a machine gun and asked me if I was carrying any illegal transmitters or explosives. By 1986 they had removed the horrifying explosives in the Eastern side of the wall: shaped charges that blasted dozens of 4mm cubes of iron at anyone who tripped the wires. Anyone who says this was to protect East Germany from the evils of Capitalism is a liar.

@shnyfan6609 7 лет назад

4 minutes in the talk about Stalin. Some people really need to google and find what Churchill really did, during and even before WW2. It literally was just one brutal guy in slightly better system, braising another brutal guy in a worse system

@DathCoco 5 лет назад

Disclaimer: I am german: I have heard this stories so many times already, but still how this was delivered,.. touching!

@SunriseLAW 5 лет назад

My father worked at RAND in Santa Monica with top secret clearance. My aunt worked at the embassy in Bombay. As a boy c. 1962, I listened intently as my aunt explained that thousands upon thousands of people were streaming south out of the Soviet Union at any given time, many had cameras, photos, etc and they all said the same thing: no massive Soviet buildup which was opposite of what her brother (dad) was told by authorities and the media.

@ykr786 7 лет назад

This has to be one of the best video I've seen. Applaud to the host

@Firithfenion 7 лет назад

I grew up in East Berlin and I still live in Berlin. What I hated most about the communist was the constant absurd propaganda. You were constantly told that you have to be thankful because you live in the "paradise of the working class". Communists never used the word "Mauer" (Wall) they cynically called it the peace-border, made to protect worldpeace and the people of the GDR. However, in Berlin we had at least the opportunity to secretly receive and watch West German Television and Radio programs, so we had some access to free information.

@iminthatweirdpartofyoutube2687 7 лет назад

Firithfenion thank you for the fascinating insight!

@bleed2blue1 7 лет назад

Well in the stories of my parents, who lived during that time in Thüringen (Thuringia, today right in the middle of Germany) Television and Radio signals were so strong that nearly the whole GDR could receive some west German programs

@statinskill 7 лет назад

Firithfenion Staatsgrenze West! Love that name. Hopefully in the US we get a Staatsgrenze Süd soon.

@Jasonandsonsgarage 5 лет назад

Your videos are super awesome. I have watched your video on the Berlin airlife like 6 times

@Narwhil 6 лет назад

Ok but the 20 minute applause part put nothing but a smirk on my face. Amazing use of story telling. Keep up the great work!

@johnqpublic2718 Год назад

11 minute?

@MrTohawk 7 лет назад

As a German: This video moved me to tears. Literally.

@evgeniymamchenko9582 6 лет назад

The Stalin Note, also known as the March Note, was a document delivered to the representatives of the Western allied powers (the United Kingdom, France, and the United States) from the Soviet Occupation in Germany on March 10, 1952. Soviet leader Joseph Stalin put forth a proposal for a reunification and neutralization of Germany, with no conditions on economic policies and with guarantees for "the rights of man and basic freedoms, including freedom of speech, press, religious persuasion, political conviction, and assembly" and free activity of democratic parties and organizations. And guess what te US did? They rejected. They do not need neutral Germany they want it occupied. And it is occupied even today.

@beattinflame898 6 лет назад

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stalin_Note "This led to an exchange of notes between the Western allies and the Soviet Union, which eventually ended after the Western allies' insistence that a unified Germany should be free to join the European Defence Community and be rearmed, a demand which Stalin rejected." Neither of those"

@evgeniymamchenko9582 6 лет назад

Nicola D'Aniello, that just proves my point, the West insisted that Germany must be a part of anti-Soviet military block i.e. rejected Stalin's offer of united and neutral Germany. So Germany could be united in 50ths, but wasn't. Germans should be grateful to the US for that.

@kacywatson6314 6 лет назад

MrTohawk Germany 🇩🇪 United forever 1 country

@usynnstradler 6 лет назад

Marc Bondura idiot

@Zizzily 6 лет назад

I always knew Berlin was in the former GDR, but I guess that's because I remembered learning about the Berlin Airlift, which was a pretty amazing feat that I think everyone should be more aware of. Also, I'm surprised some of the atrocities carried out by Russia before, during and after the war weren't more well-known, including literally starving out entire towns and even countries. It's truly tragic.

@tobiashoflich4403 6 лет назад

Alany Walany so what about holodomor? ???

@pscoelho 6 лет назад

First video I see in your channel and it's amazing. Congrats

@aborne 5 лет назад

Wow- great video!

@kristofferhaugstad7616 7 лет назад

how hard was it to cross the border between east and west Germany? (not berlin)

@alberich3099 7 лет назад

Because there too was a border. The whole German border was 1400km long. Soldiers of the NVA and policemen of the StaSi were patroling them. This and the knowlage of what happens to the people beeing caught, caused a drop in fugitives. However there were many attempts made, many succseeded many did not.

@alberich3099 7 лет назад

Sry missread the question. Well it wasn't as hard as in Berlin, but it wasn'T easy either. The border all thorughout Germany was highly guarded, because russia not only feared an exudus but also the US troops comming across. So these borders were guarded. And another big thing was the StaSi. At that time everyone was spied on. Most people were used as IM (infromal members of the StaSi) that meant the StaSi would apporach somone, and uced pressure to make them talk about neighburs and family. With that system the StaSi had everyone spying on everyone, making it therefore nrealy impossible to talk about fleeing, and with nobody talking about it, noone would get enough infomation(where patrols were, when to flee, who to talk to) in order to cross the border. Most attempts were stopped long before they tried. However there was a small group within the BND and the CIA (German and US secret agencies) who risked a lot to get across the border to smuggle high value targets out of East Germany.

@kristofferhaugstad7616 7 лет назад

Was I possible to trable by water to sweden Or denmark?

@kristofferhaugstad7616 7 лет назад

Travle*

@Ulkomaalainen 7 лет назад

There were actually quite a few - not really many in the grand scale of things - who went with tiny craft (rowboats or similar) or even swimming towards international waters, hoping to get picked up by some western or at worst Finnish ship (Finland was leaning heavily towards the west at that time but had to keep up appearance with their big neighbor USSR, look up "Finlandization"). A relative of mine swam until getting picked up by the Finjet.

@duende29 7 лет назад

How many times? Yeah, calling BS that rape victims would so casually speak about it with each other in a food queue.

@lcbp2009 7 лет назад

Well if rape becomes a casual thing I don't see why it's impossible for people to talk about it casually.

@allyshire9397 7 лет назад

Soviets and Nazis, both are awful in their own ways.

@ThatBoomerDude 7 лет назад

Juan López is an inhuman fool. People who undergo trauma look for support where they can get it. And nobody said anything was "casual."

@80slady69 5 лет назад

*The Pink Floyd concert after the wall was torn down was perfect. Sinead O'Connor singing Mama gives me chills every time I watch the video.*

@themightyquinn1343 6 лет назад

Thank you, I had the same misconception about this until I found this video a few months back. For some reason I remembered about it today and thought I'd check it out again. Fantastic video.