Why did the USSR hand over West Berlin? (Short Animated Documentary)

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  • Опубликовано: 18 дек 2022
  • Just after World War 2, the USSR handed over West Berlin to the western allies despite having conquered it all on its own. So why did it do this? To find out watch this short and simple animated history documentary.
    A special thanks to my Patreon supporters below:
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Комментарии • 1,7 тыс.

  • @ahistoric_gamer9716
    @ahistoric_gamer9716 Год назад +9067

    I love that what equates to making life difficult is a Soviet soldier flashing a light in an American soldier’s face 😂

    • @answerman9933
      @answerman9933 Год назад

      Let me flash a light in your face and you see how you like it.

    • @ahistoric_gamer9716
      @ahistoric_gamer9716 Год назад +140

      @@answerman9933 hence why it’s funny. Cos it does 😂

    • @victorrenevaldiviasoto9728
      @victorrenevaldiviasoto9728 Год назад +321

      It is very annoying

    • @ahistoric_gamer9716
      @ahistoric_gamer9716 Год назад +88

      @@victorrenevaldiviasoto9728 I know it is. I found it funny that was chosen as an example

    • @bebedor_de_cafe3272
      @bebedor_de_cafe3272 Год назад +343

      If im not mistaken they actually flashed lights into the american occupation zone to make sleeping difficult

  • @bzqp2
    @bzqp2 Год назад +6849

    The Soviet guy annoying the Western guy with a flashlight was an actual fenomenon on the Berlin Wall. Eastern watchtowers would regularly blind the Western posts with strong searchlights just to annoy the hell of them (or perhaps to see what was happening there).

    • @xymos7807
      @xymos7807 Год назад +630

      Makes me wonder how many shit talking battles the two sides got into, or if they even had some instances of getting drunk together just to shit talk one another.

    • @SILOPshuvambanerjee
      @SILOPshuvambanerjee Год назад +32

      @@xymos7807 Point

    • @MrTJPAS
      @MrTJPAS Год назад +199

      So it was like The cold war predecessor to aiming a laser pointer in the face of pilots then?

    • @varana
      @varana Год назад +331

      @@xymos7807 None. The situation at the wall was fucking tense - East German guards were required to shoot at trespassers, and for a while the West German guards fired back to help refugees. There are (afaik) five incidents when children fell into the river at the border but couldn't be saved because emergency services couldn't enter the river (which was officially East German territory) and they would've been in danger of being shot at; and several East German guards were killed by trespassers, West German guards, or friendly fire.

    • @StonedWidowOnDoom
      @StonedWidowOnDoom Год назад +93

      A bit sad, the eastern soldier were not very happy on their side. They had a lot of issues (Stuff you are not allowed to discuss on RUclips) and conditions were harsh. Western soldiers didn't need to annoy them. They were annoyed and fed up anyway.

  • @samueldesta2151
    @samueldesta2151 Год назад +1669

    "He forgot the sky existed." I love that line

    • @sail2byzantium
      @sail2byzantium Год назад +37

      I laughed out loud!

    • @funguy183
      @funguy183 Год назад +119

      “Sup nerd”

    • @jackturner5117
      @jackturner5117 Год назад +6

      @@sail2byzantium Me too!

    • @cpob2013
      @cpob2013 Год назад +14

      Tbf it didn't work at stalingrad

    • @fallendown8828
      @fallendown8828 Год назад +9

      Flight was few dozen years old yet changed history drastically, so fascinating

  • @richardfalls1379
    @richardfalls1379 Год назад +3535

    As a fellow history freak, I can happily say this channel is answering all my obscure questions

    • @thunderbird1921
      @thunderbird1921 Год назад +45

      Honestly, the Berlin Blockade is what changed American opinion toward the Cold War significantly. Part of the reason that Operation Unthinkable never happened is because the US public (or at least a large number of them) at the time saw the Soviets as a real ally (partially thanks to FDR's propaganda), and also because many of them still held an isolationist mindset. When the Soviets blockaded Berlin and seemed to be acting provocative, that all changed. Distrust and anger grew, and when the 1949 Soviet nuclear test happened, the Cold War in the eyes of the American public was on. The outbreak of the Korean War a year later was just the icing on the cake, from that point forward the Communists were a full on enemy.

    • @balabanasireti
      @balabanasireti Год назад +9

      Cringe

    • @luizcsn89
      @luizcsn89 Год назад

      Same here

    • @Bramble451
      @Bramble451 Год назад +4

      Heck, it's answering all the obscure questions I didn't know I had!

    • @kloothommel6569
      @kloothommel6569 Год назад +2

      The division of Berlin and why the Soviets gave half the city away in the first place is not an obsecure footnote

  • @TheNorthie
    @TheNorthie Год назад +2467

    2:14 my grandfather was a doorman for the transport planes during the Berlin Airlift. He only volunteered for that because he didn’t want to go to Korea. He said he was always scared the Soviets were gonna shoot him out of the sky and start another war. Other than that, he loved being in Germany

    • @jacob4920
      @jacob4920 Год назад +264

      History tells us that was absolutely the better of two choices...

    • @tankle
      @tankle Год назад +13

      🇰🇵🇰🇵🇰🇵

    • @TheNorthie
      @TheNorthie Год назад +127

      @@jacob4920 his brother had to go to Korea and he was messed up after the conflict.

    • @dimitri6171
      @dimitri6171 Год назад +2

      @@tankle 🤮🤮

    • @thunderbird1921
      @thunderbird1921 Год назад +98

      My Great-Uncle also went to Korea, US Army infantryman KIA in 1951 (may he RIP). A brutal war is what that conflict was, probably second only to the Pacific Theater of World War II in how violent the battles got. At least we saved South Korea and got a decent result, unlike the later sh*tshow that was Vietnam.

  • @ItsElvisOsceola
    @ItsElvisOsceola Год назад +2939

    The USSR wanted all of Berlin, but James Bisonette convinced them to share the city.

    • @DrZirdrz
      @DrZirdrz Год назад +176

      @Alpex and what about boogely woogely

    • @theonetheonlyjoey
      @theonetheonlyjoey Год назад +118

      With legal advice from Spinning three plates

    • @balabanasireti
      @balabanasireti Год назад +8

      Cringe

    • @tankle
      @tankle Год назад +2

      🇰🇵🇰🇵🇰🇵

    • @bigblue6917
      @bigblue6917 Год назад +40

      @@theonetheonlyjoey I think it was Spinning Thee Plates who sealed the deal.

  • @grzegorzbrzeczyszczykiewic5937
    @grzegorzbrzeczyszczykiewic5937 Год назад +443

    The Soviet soldier repeatedly flashing the Allied soldier in the eyes with a flashlight together with the sound effects is the funniest shit I’ve seen on this channel so far.

    • @anthonymanderson7671
      @anthonymanderson7671 Год назад +4

      😂😂

    • @Peachrocks5
      @Peachrocks5 Год назад +8

      I dunno I still think Queen Elizabeth being deployed in the Falklands is still top.

    • @ek3197
      @ek3197 Год назад +4

      @@Peachrocks5 I agree, Queen Elizabeth II being deployed from an aircraft and shooting a gun was the funniest yet. It was so good it replayed at the end of the video.

    • @Tony-.
      @Tony-. Год назад +2

      the soldier’s pupil even narrows, but he still doesn’t blink 🤣

  • @andreass2301
    @andreass2301 Год назад +387

    West Berlin as an island in the middle of East Germany is fascinating. What a strange place it must have been to live in.

    • @woufff_
      @woufff_ Год назад +124

      It was, I was living there for a couple of months in the middle of the 70s. Seeing the DDR soldiers pointing machine guns at you when you approached the city limits too close was... an interesting experience 😉

    • @texaswunderkind
      @texaswunderkind Год назад +50

      Being an island also meant families hoping to escape to the West could simply cross the street in Berlin. Thus, the Berlin Wall.

    • @slewone4905
      @slewone4905 Год назад +8

      I was told the famous scene of World war Z, was based on Berlin, during that time period. Instead of Zombies, it was Germans scrambling over each other to get over the wall.

    • @hannahk1306
      @hannahk1306 Год назад +27

      There's a BBC archive news clip from this time (before the wall was built), showing how easy it was to cross and how you could tell which part of the city you were in (from the differences in shops, food, clothing, etc). It's a really interesting watch if you want to see a window into that piece of history.
      There are also tonnes of other archive clips from really trivial things to big news stories and lots of them are now available on RUclips.

    • @lukemarshall1701
      @lukemarshall1701 Год назад +27

      I lived there for a few months in 1979. It felt a bit claustrophobic - go a few miles and then the wall. Most locals happy to meet someone from UK, though - perhaps made them feel less isolated.

  • @TheJhouston
    @TheJhouston Год назад +595

    It's a small detail, but I truly appreciate how the weapons in the video are depicted accurately by nation and time period. Like at 2:49 where the American is holding an M14, the British soldier has an L1A1, and the Soviet has an AK-47. The quality of the drawings are impressive as well. You can tell a lot of care and attention is given to these videos.

    • @rhedosaurus2251
      @rhedosaurus2251 Год назад +56

      Don't forget how the French soldier has a MAS 49/56. A solid rifle in its own right. Heavy, but very reliable.

    • @abdullahrizwan592
      @abdullahrizwan592 Год назад +16

      Yes, these incredibly small attentions to detail are really good on this channel. I love it!

    • @ar0568
      @ar0568 Год назад +14

      2:33 the american soldier’s pupils dilates and undilates as the flashlight turns on and off

    • @catfacecat.
      @catfacecat. Год назад +5

      I don't know anything about weapons but it's interesting that the Soviets invented the AK-47

    • @TheJhouston
      @TheJhouston Год назад +2

      @@catfacecat. Why do you find that interesting?

  • @mybodyisamachine
    @mybodyisamachine Год назад +1113

    Next, could you maybe do an episode on why Sudan split in half? It's actually a more complicated question than you think, because countries like Nigeria, Chad and even Tanzania also suffer from a divide between Christians and Muslims. I wanna know what was so different about the Sudan situation that caused them to have two civil wars and eventually separate while the others didn't.

    • @StonedWidowOnDoom
      @StonedWidowOnDoom Год назад +27

      Doesn't the whole continent suffer from deviance? Nevertheless, I want to hear from it all.

    • @Slaktrax
      @Slaktrax Год назад +23

      @@StonedWidowOnDoom All countries in Africa suffer from that!

    • @Slaktrax
      @Slaktrax Год назад +9

      The US Government has the answer (clue, oil)

    • @2hotflavored666
      @2hotflavored666 Год назад +122

      @@Slaktrax Not an answer, since the US doesn't need any oil. Nor is the US involved in the situation, so why you even mentioned the US is beyond me.

    • @theforsakeen177
      @theforsakeen177 Год назад +11

      @@2hotflavored666 why are they so pissed at saudi arabia wanting to join the brics then?

  • @r.a.acosta6528
    @r.a.acosta6528 Год назад +426

    2:32 - 2:39 had me laughing so hard. The soldier repeatedly flashing the light on the other one's face was funny enough. But then the examples just get exponentially more petty and passive aggressive.
    This channel never disappoints.

    • @pinkiepain1291
      @pinkiepain1291 Год назад +30

      What makes it even better is that the pupil of the eye in the light beam actually reacts as well

    • @pwnmeisterage
      @pwnmeisterage Год назад +3

      A firmly-entrenched bureaucracy is indeed a mighty obstacle.
      Soviet apparatchiks are legendary adversaries. They are essentially the government on the ground, they decide what does and does not happen, and anyone who troubles them too much ends up getting "interviewed" by the police.

    • @Tab1300
      @Tab1300 Год назад +5

      It also actually happened but with searchlights.

    • @llywrch7116
      @llywrch7116 2 месяца назад

      @@pwnmeisterageThere is also the German tradition of Ordnung -- a law, rule, or regulation for everything. Even the Germans find this tradition annoying.

  • @Levelistchampion
    @Levelistchampion Год назад +145

    I absolutely LOVED the ice ax inching towards Trotsky from just out of frame.

    • @finnmoog7187
      @finnmoog7187 Год назад

      Just commented the exact same thing a minute ago 😂 that had me cracking up

    • @Tony-.
      @Tony-. Год назад +4

      what mean the revolver that appears at same place lately, at 1:05 ?

    • @ricardokowalski1579
      @ricardokowalski1579 Год назад +1

      Pinky promise😅

  • @jayfeather31
    @jayfeather31 Год назад +76

    0:46
    Just the bit of the icepick slowly approaching Trotsky was an amazing and hilarious detail.

  • @rostafori
    @rostafori Год назад +37

    It flashes quickly, but that joke at 2:38 is hilarious "Form 22J: Must not be submitted after form 17E. Form 17E: Must not be submitted before form 22J"

    • @goldeagle8051
      @goldeagle8051 3 месяца назад +4

      It would even be funnier if the second one said: "Form 22J: Must not be submitted before or together with form 17E."

    • @christianvirgil
      @christianvirgil 3 месяца назад

      @@goldeagle8051 😆

  • @Judah132
    @Judah132 Год назад +589

    Since I'm living in the former French Zone (Reinickendorf+Wedding) it is worth mentioning, what the French Army build in my part of the city:
    - a sailing club ("Club Nautique Francais de Tegel" and "Club de Pêche e.V.")
    - a cultural center ("Centre Français de Berlin")
    - a public and military airport (“Flughafen Berlin-Tegel)
    - a train station ("Gare Francaise Berlin-Tegel")
    - a church for the French military, today used by the Bundeswehr ("St. Louis")
    - a cinema with a hotel ("L'Aiglon Cinema")
    - a few neighbourhoods, incl. schools (Cité "Foch", "-Guynemer", "-Pasteur" and "Joffre")
    - as well as occupying former German buildings.
    Unfortunately two of the neighbourhoods (Cité Foch and Cité Guynemer) got a bit torn down and lost some of their historic buildings. The city-centre and church of Cité Foch got completely demolished.

    • @andrewbyrne2173
      @andrewbyrne2173 Год назад +40

      Danke for sharing.

    • @hrotha
      @hrotha Год назад +68

      Bit cheeky to call these French neighbourhoods in Germany 'Foch' and 'Joffre'

    • @benoitbvg2888
      @benoitbvg2888 Год назад +18

      @@hrotha Even Guynemer fought the Germans. And I'm wondering whether "Aiglon" (Eaglet?) isn't a cheeky reference to the German Eagle.

    • @Anis-zc9rw
      @Anis-zc9rw Год назад +28

      @@benoitbvg2888 no i think it's a reference to Napoleon's son who was nicknamed "l'aiglon".

    • @nlpnt
      @nlpnt Год назад +16

      There was a similar British complex, mostly around Olympiastadion in Charlottenberg and an American one in Dahlem centered on Clayallee north of the Oskar-Helene-Heim U-bahn station. The new British NAAFI was built on the site of Spandau Prison and opened just in time for the Forces to start pulling out and is now a dead mall, the American AAFES/Commissary complex had parking in front like any other American strip mall and was replaced/supplemented with a new build more in tune with a major European city. North of it, the movie theater is now a museum. The US Embassy still uses the part of the complex on the east side of Clayallee for consular services while the "main" embassy near the Brandenburg Gate is mainly for intergovernmental functions. There were also two school complexes, the regular army-brats-only one run by DoDEA and the John F. Kennedy school run as a joint venture between the State Department and the Berlin school district and open to locals and the children of American civilians as well. The latter still exists. There was also a "satellite" American base at Tempelhof Airport.

  • @Robert53area
    @Robert53area Год назад +24

    I love how you actually have the clicking sound of an old soviet flashlight. That's pretty good

  • @dondrbeto
    @dondrbeto Год назад +52

    The quality of the animation in this video is superb.
    Did you noticed that the western soldier's pupil contracts and dilates with the light (at 2:33)?
    Definitely Oscar worthy visual effects.

    • @adamw9021
      @adamw9021 3 месяца назад +2

      Yes and it's kinda funny 😂

  • @bcvetkov8534
    @bcvetkov8534 Год назад +47

    1:04-1:06 with the gun showing up behind that guy pointing to capitalize was so funny. Big props to History Matters as a whole for making his videos amazing as always.

  • @BrkCntkn
    @BrkCntkn Год назад +62

    Out of all the funny moments in this video the one in 1:05 is by far my favorite. Shock, anger, purge whatever you need just in one funny and hard to realize moment. Awesome job mate

    • @The_whales
      @The_whales 4 месяца назад

      A good play in words, he would have lived if he used “communlise”

  • @michaeltamke8542
    @michaeltamke8542 Год назад +73

    The amount of eastereggs possible in a 3:30 minute long video is ever to be increased by this channel. JUST AWESOME!!!

    • @jackturner5117
      @jackturner5117 Год назад +4

      Yes!! The slow moving ice axe! 😂😂😂

  • @albens5852
    @albens5852 Год назад +41

    0:34 I always thought it was bold to give Indonesia a piece of Germany, but given their instrumental part in the death of Hitler, it makes sense.

    • @edwardblair4096
      @edwardblair4096 Год назад +3

      That's not the flag of Indonesia. The white area is a continuation of the Polish flag, and the red area is a continuation of the flag of the USSR. That's Koenensberg/Kalliningrad (sp?).

    • @fandemusique4693
      @fandemusique4693 Год назад +22

      @@edwardblair4096 That clearly was a joke.

    • @CyrogenicNation
      @CyrogenicNation Год назад +13

      Indonesia wasn't given a piece of Germany. That's obviously Monaco's share of Germany.

  • @geezlers
    @geezlers Год назад +26

    Love the detail at 2:50 to give each soldier the respective battle rifles of their nations.

  • @Guilhem74
    @Guilhem74 Год назад +322

    There's actually a small mistake on your map of Berlin showing the different occupation sectors. You inverted the British and French sectors. The British one was in the middle of west Berlin, sandwiched between the American sector in the Southwest and the French one in the northwest.

    • @oysteinalsaker
      @oysteinalsaker Год назад +104

      Which was good because the french had plans on blowing up the victory column because it commemorated the victory over France in 1870, but since it was in the British zone, they couldn't do it.

    • @Lp-army1
      @Lp-army1 Год назад +13

      @@oysteinalsaker was that a reason they set the British and French sectors like that?

    • @christopherwhite5244
      @christopherwhite5244 Год назад +12

      That isn't a small mistake!

    • @tylerbozinovski427
      @tylerbozinovski427 Год назад +5

      @@oysteinalsaker That's the kind of crap that can happen when you let your enemies occupy your country. The Soviet War Memorial in the heart of Berlin is another example of that.

    • @Dave_Sisson
      @Dave_Sisson Год назад +16

      @@Lp-army1 Originally American and British sectors were planned for Berlin, Germany and Austria. Then the nationalistic French showed up and demanded that they get sectors as well. Both the Americans and British were tired and short of money after a long war, so they happily gave parts of their sectors to the French which saved the Yanks and Brits money and allowed them to demobilize more troops.

  • @Kreze202
    @Kreze202 Год назад +7

    I hope people notice the gun coming from the left at 1:05 when it says "We must capitalise" lmao such a nice touch

  • @harveya1a952
    @harveya1a952 Год назад +293

    Because they wanted James Bisonette to own it

    • @mattbaker3569
      @mattbaker3569 Год назад +24

      Not Kelly Moneymaker?

    • @harveya1a952
      @harveya1a952 Год назад +38

      @@mattbaker3569 Kelly Moneymaker got East Berlin

    • @st1ssl214
      @st1ssl214 Год назад

      @@harveya1a952 but he’s a traitor to the communist people….

    • @MomMom4Cubs
      @MomMom4Cubs Год назад +11

      Too bad Skye Chappelle isn't selling her majority stake!

    • @nickmacarius3012
      @nickmacarius3012 Год назад +10

      Ah, there it is! The obligatory James Bisonette reference in the comments section. No History Matters video is complete without this!

  • @jamesbissonette8002
    @jamesbissonette8002 Год назад +178

    Big thank you to HM for an awesome year of uploads and of course the shoutouts at the end!

    • @youtubeadministration8037
      @youtubeadministration8037 Год назад +24

      A blessing from the Lord!

    • @dog811
      @dog811 Год назад +20

      Why are you thanking her majesty

    • @Bustycat
      @Bustycat Год назад +8

      So true my king

    • @tremedar
      @tremedar Год назад +9

      @@dog811 Could be thanking *his* majesty, the deliverer of wise-cracks and nuggets of historical knowledge you never knew you wanted to know.

    • @tsarman2182
      @tsarman2182 Год назад +5

      I love you

  • @emperornapoleon6204
    @emperornapoleon6204 Год назад +6

    The ice pick moving menacingly toward Trosky’s head represents all the little things I love about this channel.

  • @Captain_Happy
    @Captain_Happy Год назад +60

    The comedic genius of this channel is just amazing! Subtle jokes easy to miss just kill me every time, while still being educational!

    • @finnmoog7187
      @finnmoog7187 Год назад +2

      Agree 100%!!!

    • @The_whales
      @The_whales 11 месяцев назад +2

      1:04 we must capitalize *gun slowly moves to head*

  • @RaggedDan
    @RaggedDan Год назад +46

    I love history for just this kind of content, as I'm watching the more and more I realise the importance of the question and the simplicity of the reasons, as well as their bigger place in the historical period.
    Thanks again!

  • @exploshaun
    @exploshaun Год назад +16

    Leaning history at school, they never told us about these tiny obscure details, but they are all very interesting questions that I never knew I had.

  • @tenszuabaki830
    @tenszuabaki830 Год назад +6

    I love your videos man. All great information. Always a good experience especially with your characters. Keep up the good work. I look forward to every upload.... I miss the 10 minute ones though =]

  • @Apeiron242
    @Apeiron242 Год назад +61

    I lived in Berlin in 90 to 92 as an American teen.
    We rode public transportation for free, our housing was free.
    It was a super cool time to live there.
    I have one of those "you are leaving the American sector" signs.
    The Duty Train between Frankfurt and Berlin was a hoot.
    Driving through The Corridor was also interesting. My dad did some under the table trades with a Russian guard.

    • @supa3ek
      @supa3ek Год назад +7

      Under the table trades lol.
      War is war ...but people are people !!!!

    • @Apeiron242
      @Apeiron242 Год назад +5

      @@supa3ek the Russian guards want Levis, playboy and western booze. They gave us Russian army uniform items like belts and hat brass.

    • @questerperipatetic4861
      @questerperipatetic4861 Год назад

      I'm very curious. Did you watch the American officer with his interpreter trade salutes with the Soviet officer at Marienborn before going in to that little room to get your flag orders stamped? What did it make you think about?

  • @ChessedGamon
    @ChessedGamon Год назад +61

    USSR: "Have you ever tried Lighting Warfare?"
    US: "You mean Lightning Warfare?"
    USSR: 2:33

  • @Laucron
    @Laucron Год назад +14

    Insane K/D ratio on that japanese rifleman. You make the emperor proud man

  • @nik65stgt60
    @nik65stgt60 Год назад +1

    You do such a great job on these history presentations!

  • @CocoHutzpah
    @CocoHutzpah Год назад +12

    One of my buddies was (and might still be) a pilot for one of the planes that took part in the Berlin airlift. A few years ago, The Spirit of Freedom, a C-54, landed at the airport next to my house and he invited me aboard. It was loudest plane I've ever heard take off from that airport and just about rattled everything off the shelves.

  • @indefatigable8193
    @indefatigable8193 Год назад +48

    This is a question I’ve always had and the rationale for why there was an island of capitalism in a sea of red is still inadequately explained by historians. Thank you!

  • @BrammBass
    @BrammBass Год назад +6

    Another year of many interesting and cool videos! Thanks a lot and I look forward for the many smiles you will put on our faces with your jokes, flashing USSR-soldiers and informative videos!

  • @wcd2848
    @wcd2848 Год назад +6

    The little gun that comes in frame for a second when the Russian guy is saying "we must capitalize" on the situation is amazing

  • @josephosheavideos3992
    @josephosheavideos3992 3 месяца назад

    Your attention to detail in your short video is outstanding; particularly, that you changed the cartoon representations of the various leaders as the years passed in the 13 years in the time frame of your video.

  • @tarheel7406
    @tarheel7406 Год назад +41

    Seems like Western troops occupied some German territory at the end of hostilities that was already agreed would be Soviet controlled post war. If Stalin had not honored the Berlin agreement, the West may not have left those other territories.

    • @hijdiegaapt
      @hijdiegaapt Год назад +9

      Indeed, should have been in the video

    • @eurodoc6343
      @eurodoc6343 Год назад +4

      True, the US was well into Saxony when the war ended.

    • @Osterochse
      @Osterochse Год назад +8

      I writing this from the city of Leipzig which was liberated by the United states but came under soviet control since those were the agreed borders of the occupation zones.
      Always funny when you read things like that while beeing in precisely ond of these places in the very moment.
      PS: if they had actually just drawn the lines along the places tha were liberated then parts of czechoslovakia would have come under allied control as well.

    • @eurodoc6343
      @eurodoc6343 Год назад

      @@Osterochse Hey, Leipzig, one of my favorite cities in Germany!

    • @Osterochse
      @Osterochse Год назад

      @@eurodoc6343 nice to hear that you liked it here. :)
      IF they had kept the occupation zones the way they liberated it, i would be crossing that border daily on my way to work. ^^

  • @lucianoosorio5942
    @lucianoosorio5942 Год назад +45

    “Listen West Berlin is ours, East Berlin is yours that’s just the way it is.” John F Kennedy

    • @Imulti
      @Imulti Год назад +4

      A man of culture

    • @tahamuhammad1814
      @tahamuhammad1814 Год назад +5

      Oversimplified

    • @slewone4905
      @slewone4905 Год назад +8

      I thought his famous speech about Berlin was that he called himself a Donut.

    • @aleksandarvil5718
      @aleksandarvil5718 Год назад +1

      *"ICH BIN EIN BERLINER !!!"* ~ JFK

  • @Domass96
    @Domass96 Год назад +1

    I literally woke up with this question this morning, perfect timing for the video!

  • @CanadaMMA
    @CanadaMMA Год назад +5

    Not only this is a great educational channel, it's one of the funniest on youtube

  • @thetrueintruder1210
    @thetrueintruder1210 Год назад +12

    2:35 the pupil of the soldier contracts when exposed to the flashlight. That's attention to detail.

  • @anthonyrowlands1238
    @anthonyrowlands1238 Год назад +9

    Gotta love the little details they put into these videos, like the fact that the US soldier's pupils constrict and dilate with the torch being flashed in them. Really shows that they put the effort in, even with the little jokes.

  • @dzvinkaNadia
    @dzvinkaNadia 8 месяцев назад

    Very charismatic video! thanks a lot, the subject became clear to me

  • @whatsreal7506
    @whatsreal7506 Год назад

    Love these videos!

  • @DiarrheaMusketeer
    @DiarrheaMusketeer Год назад +5

    He forgot the sky existed! That's a line that will linger long in the memory. I love this channel!

  • @d0rryx274
    @d0rryx274 Год назад +4

    Love the little gun pointing out at 1:06

  • @MrGermanpiano
    @MrGermanpiano Год назад

    Always love your videos

  • @Kuac85
    @Kuac85 Год назад

    Great stuff! As always. :)

  • @danreed7889
    @danreed7889 Год назад +17

    Was in East Berlin in '88 as a Young soldier and we were instructed to salute any Russian officers if we saw any as technically in East Berlin we were still "allies".

  • @samdumaquis2033
    @samdumaquis2033 Год назад

    Awesome vid as usual

  • @lmgutie
    @lmgutie Год назад +1

    I really liked this chapter. Thanks!

  • @john98765333
    @john98765333 Год назад +4

    I like how in the flashlight flicking scene, the soldier's pupil actually gets smaller when the light is flashing on it, like how a real eye would act, lol. It is the little details like that that really make things come together.

  • @galatheumbreon6862
    @galatheumbreon6862 Год назад +67

    Stalin to Trotsky: I won't murder you
    *Ice pick slowly creeps up behind*

    • @tremedar
      @tremedar Год назад

      He never told a lie, stalin did not in fact murder him....one of his hired assassins did.

    • @Hellenic_Empire
      @Hellenic_Empire Год назад

      He was correct tho... he didn't "murder" him someone else hit his head

    • @ashleyoasis7948
      @ashleyoasis7948 Год назад

      In a Mexican Condo

    • @lawrencedoliveiro9104
      @lawrencedoliveiro9104 Год назад

      Trotsky didn’t go without a fight. He managed to inflict fatal injuries on his assassin.
      What tickles me is that he and Frida Kahlo might have had a thing going.

    • @zeked4200
      @zeked4200 Год назад

      ​@@lawrencedoliveiro9104 That's not true. First, Trotsky *did* fight the guy off and live, but it was his bodyguards who almost beat the guy to death...until they were told by Trotsky to keep him alive.
      Second, "fatal injuries" mean the person died from the injuries...which the guy didn't. After serving 19+ years for the assassination, he returned to the USSR a hero and lived to be almost 70. Should've just let the bodyguards do their thing...
      And third, it's not they "might have" had a thing...they *did* have a thing, for a while...and it's pretty well known about too 😂

  • @robbabcock_
    @robbabcock_ Год назад

    Great topic!

  • @karinwolf3645
    @karinwolf3645 Год назад

    I love you guys!! ❤❤❤ Happy Solstice! 🎀🎄💋🎉😁

  • @seductive_fishstick8961
    @seductive_fishstick8961 Год назад +6

    "at least they would have had Stalin not made one tactical blunder. He forgot the sky existed" pure gold

  • @masterchinese28
    @masterchinese28 Год назад +6

    I still remember my high school German teacher telling us about the hours of delays and stalling they went through before their bus was allowed to get on the highway to visit West Berlin from West Germany. The wall would fall a few years later.

  • @anthonymanderson7671
    @anthonymanderson7671 Год назад

    Really educative video!

  • @nasis18
    @nasis18 Год назад +1

    History Matters always answering questions I never really thought about, but still very interesting nonetheless.

  • @shadowstorm114
    @shadowstorm114 Год назад +4

    Forgetting the air wasn’t really a blunder, the Berlin airlift was a logistics miracle.

  • @ethanoffenbacher4829
    @ethanoffenbacher4829 Год назад +14

    I like how you show the White House being renovated under Truman, nice touch.

  • @icehawk3442
    @icehawk3442 Год назад +2

    The clicking torchlight to annoy the guards on the other side is exactly the kind of petty I imagine their officers to be at every hostile front during the Cold War and in Korea

  • @jeanvonestling7408
    @jeanvonestling7408 Год назад

    Another great one.

  • @kamikazekoe96
    @kamikazekoe96 Год назад +14

    Love the small videos we had over the last few years, although I also miss the 10-minute history videos. Any chance that we ever gonna see one again? I can remember the video where he explained why he made the chance, but can't remember if he said that there will never be a other 10 minute video or not. What ever the answer is, keep up the good work in long or short videos, i exactly don't give a fuck

  • @natejones902
    @natejones902 Год назад +4

    One of the funniest stories I heard of a US soldier on the border/Berlin wall area was this. He said I had just arrived at my unit, and the Sgt took me on a tour of our AOR. As we re going along, we stop at this one point, and he pulls a package from the jeep and throws it over the wall. A few mins later, a package comes back over from the other side. Inside was a write-up of east German and soviet units in the area, Intel, from the east Germans. The guy as his sgt, what was in the package he threw over? Sarge said, "Jack Daniel's and playboys"

  • @WWFanatic0
    @WWFanatic0 Год назад +2

    I love the attention to detail on the rifles at 2:51 with not just the M14 and L1A1 rifles but also the MAS-49/56 with the clip on its magazine the held it in place.

  • @HarvestStore
    @HarvestStore Год назад

    Great video.

  • @sumansaxena2277
    @sumansaxena2277 Год назад +128

    We should all thank James Bissonette for suggesting Gorbachev to reunite Berlin and Germany. A true hero of our hearts ❤️❤️❤️

    • @Phateagle262
      @Phateagle262 Год назад +3

      What, no love for Spinning Three Plates? 😄

  • @Rocketsong
    @Rocketsong Год назад +5

    Honestly, the Berlin Air Lift (Berlin Sky Bridge in German) would be a great subject for a 3-4 minute video.

  • @lol_iyoutube
    @lol_iyoutube Год назад

    The small detail of the pupil dilation to the flashlight is hella appreciated

  • @haplon33
    @haplon33 Год назад +1

    great summary of a rarely discussed event of incredible importance

  • @aperson22222
    @aperson22222 Год назад +12

    Think of all the great spy fiction that wouldn’t exist if Berlin hadn’t been divided.

  • @westtxtapper
    @westtxtapper Год назад +8

    "Leave Berlin or we'll do...something." That was gold.

  • @markusskram4181
    @markusskram4181 Год назад

    Cool vid

  • @TheSilverCanine_R3D-H
    @TheSilverCanine_R3D-H Год назад +2

    I love the small details for both assassinations of one with a pick and the other with a revolver

  • @flavivsaetivs5738
    @flavivsaetivs5738 Год назад +4

    >We need to *capitalize* on that
    NKVD agent: *Missisipi queen starts*

  • @realhawaii5o
    @realhawaii5o Год назад +8

    1:06 Comrade Molotov, watch out!

  • @ketsuekikumori9145
    @ketsuekikumori9145 Год назад

    I like the slight change in pupil size with the flickering flashlight/torch.

  • @bennywestside15
    @bennywestside15 Год назад

    commenting for the algorithm because man, you deserve it

  • @ianrogerburton1670
    @ianrogerburton1670 Год назад +6

    "He forgot that the sky existed". I also forgot that I was holding a beer until I dropped it then.

  • @ericauskewneut5598
    @ericauskewneut5598 Год назад +7

    Entertaining content as always, the Soviet soldier blinding the American one with a flashlight was hilarious lol

  • @michaelfritts6249
    @michaelfritts6249 6 месяцев назад +1

    Travelled to West Berlin fom West Germany with my exchange student back in '82. We stayed at his cousins place.
    Had a great time! Lots of fun, lots of good conversations.
    It also threw a bit of reality directly into my 17yr old eyes..
    "See that?" said his cousin
    We were on a platform looking over the Wall near the Brandenburg Gate.
    He was pointing out a guard tower..
    "Always 3.. a guard to watch the guards.."
    Happy to see that is no longer the case..
    Be Well!! 😀

  • @fusionreactor7179
    @fusionreactor7179 Год назад +9

    0:17 USSR’s occupation zone looks like a map of USSR itself, or Turkey

  • @Whynotmini
    @Whynotmini Год назад +6

    the flashlight part at around 2:30 had me dead lmaoo

  • @Osterochse
    @Osterochse Год назад +169

    As a German I have to say that the air bridge to supply western Berlin always has been one the most emotional things in all of german history. Whenever I have visited a place that is commemorating the supply of this starving city it brings tears to my eyes. At that point in history the second world war was only 2 years ago and the united states could have easily decided to let things be the way they were, but they actually stood by the people of west Berlin. The people were supplied by aircrafts that could have dropped bombs just a few years ago.
    I do not take this for granted and I thank the American people to make such a humanitarian decision. it is not forgotten. Thank you for standing strong with the free world. I hope at least a few Americans read these lines. In this moment you can be really proud of your country.

    • @DrJones20
      @DrJones20 Год назад +14

      Ok, but don't start any more world wars.

    • @thomaslove6494
      @thomaslove6494 Год назад +41

      As an American I have to read so much hate aimed at my country on a regular basis... I know we've made many mistakes in our past.... And it's easy to look back from the future and criticize... But anyway... I just wanted to say thank you for this... It's nice to read something nice about America for a change.

    • @john98765333
      @john98765333 Год назад +7

      @@DrJones20 It was Austria's fault for both.

    • @onsholo
      @onsholo Год назад +9

      There was nothing humanitarian about that. They were supplying their own people in these zones.

    • @RevengeOfTheKaizer
      @RevengeOfTheKaizer Год назад +29

      @@onsholo Lol no. They fed and powered all of West Berlin. Pick up a book sometime.

  • @tribblier
    @tribblier Год назад

    I have been wondering this for so long! No-one every could answer it!

  • @Lucas-ge2pi
    @Lucas-ge2pi Год назад +1

    Love your videos and also could you make a video about the swedish empire or swedish polish union? Would be really interesting

  • @vostroyanfirstborn
    @vostroyanfirstborn Год назад +12

    2:33 “get out of Berlin, or I’ll click this flashlight several more times!”

  • @constantineceasar
    @constantineceasar Год назад +5

    I really love your videos they are informative and really interesting. Keep making content and never stop. I love your channel. Much love from Russia. ❤️❤️❤️

  • @anonymousunknown4811
    @anonymousunknown4811 Год назад +2

    Repeatedly turning the light on & off while it was pointing at your face is incredibly annoying yet he held firm

  • @CCaptinnemo
    @CCaptinnemo Год назад

    Thank you James Bizzinett!

  • @Thecrownswill
    @Thecrownswill Год назад +6

    The reason Bissonette has all that money is because he outsmarted the red tape.

  • @Homer-OJ-Simpson
    @Homer-OJ-Simpson Год назад +3

    0:47 Leon Trotsky with Mexico map and Stalin saying “I won’t murder you” while a weapon slowly emerges behind Trotsky. Peak History Matters!

  • @cliffdog2004
    @cliffdog2004 Год назад +1

    Thank you. 🙏

  • @jynnvynn7562
    @jynnvynn7562 Год назад +5

    “He forgot the sky exists.” Lmao

  • @ShasOSwoll
    @ShasOSwoll Год назад +12

    0:59 Giant Gundam soldier sinks a US battleship with a single shot