My grandmother had befriended a German officer in Båtsfjord - Finnmark (northern Norway). When the Germans retreated they left most people in Båtsfjord behind because there was not time to force evacuate every city, so the German officer gave my grandmother a huge stack of food, which she shared with the whole town after the Germans retreated. My grandmother was such a good person, and it also comes to show that not every German soldier was evil, just because they were being run by an evil regime. That German officer came back visiting my grandmother and grandfather when my dad was little, and he's the one who told me this story. The people of Båtsfjord didn't like to have a German back there again, even if he was a good person, which also shows that not only the Germans could judge people by your nationality.
The Nordic peoples were not seen by the Nazis as racially inferior, they were actually seen as perfect germanic allies, so they didn't treat them nearly as bad as the slavic nations, jews and roma. If your grandmother would have been slavic, that German officer would likely not treated her like that.
@@lupen_rein Yes. That is true. But bare in mind, Hitlers orders to burn down Finnmark and some parts of Troms county, and he was specific that this would be done in a ruthless fashion They force evacuated many tens of thousands of people, and many people died on the boat ride to its destination. When people from northern Norway told people in the south what the Germans had done to them, and their homes snd cities, the people in the south were laughing, and calling them liars. Because they had not experienced the ruthless side of the Germans. Except for those who openly oposed the Germans of course. The guy who befriended my grandmother had no racial views, he was just a German army officer. Not a SS guy. The SS were the ones who had the tasks of treating the eastern Europeans badly, most German army soldiers were disgusted by the SS's treatments of people.
@@Nomis3586 Collaborate? You had 2 options when the Germans invaded your nation. 1. Find work to get food on the table. 2. Dont work, and starv. The Germans needed people to work, and the Germans also treated Norwegians quite well. Fishing boats were being hunted by Russian planes, so everyone in Finnmark needed to work together to get the days going. No one was happy that the Germans had invaded Norway, but people just tried to get trough every day safely.
@@luke2r2r You forgat about the third option (3). Not to fraternize with the enemy, and to do what you can to secure your country`s fate. The french cut the hair of women who had fratinized with the enemy after the occupation. What did your grandma tell this german officer? Even civilians can have knowledge, and tell a`lot of information to the enemy. Even tough if they dont even know what they are talking about. For example it could be the position of naval bases, airports, and other civilian communications across the country.
Wow! I am very glad my friend recommended your channel. The history is correct, and the jokes are great as well. Could you maybe talk about Danish Greenland? As that was the only thing you didn't mention. Keep up the good work. 👍
well can you make some video about thailand i want to know why they in axis but don't have to pay any (major) war reparation? and how they survive from the third indo-china war?
It would be interesting for us to see. I can fill you in for this one. I'm Thai Thailand had a bloodless coup which took down absolute monarchy in 1933. Reducing it to a ceremonial figure. And the head of state have been replaced with a military dictator "Plaek Phibunsongkhram" which made alot of reforms to shape the country to what was Germany was doing at that time. Thailand did joined the Axis after the Japanese invasion during 1941 Through Indo-China and a couple of landings in southern and eastern Thailand, and after little fighting, The Thai government at that time allied themselves with the Japanese. Because the Japanese offered us lost territories that was lost due to western colonialisim. This declaration of war against the Allies was unpopular among the population which lead to the Thai ambassador in the US discreditting the government and forming the "Free Thai" Movement. Based From what I read the free thai movement conducted sabotages and provided the Allies with intel on Japanese movement mainly with the US. After the war Britain and France demanded reparation from Thailand as the loser from the war. But the US had interest in Thailand (Hence our role during the Vietnam war), they negotiated with France and UK to relax their demands quite alot. To the US Thailand is seem as an occupied country(Like France). What ended up happening was Britain demanding The Thai government be modelled after the British system with monarchy and stuff, returning territory gained during WW2 And pay minor reparation. TLDR: Joined both sides of the war. Being treated like an occupied country even though we clearly joined the Axis Thailand was the only South East Asian nation to be spared fron Japanese atrocities which looking back. They were in a really bad place. There was no way for them to win against the Japanese nevermind getting Allied aid. So yeah that's all for my knowledge of this topic.
In northern Norway, around Kirkenes, there is an iron mine that one would think would be attractive to the Russians. After the Russians liberated the area from the Germans, how did Norway ever get it back? It's an interesting area. There are patrols on the Norwegian side and strict signs about not provoking the Russians, but other than the border markers there is nothing to suggest a major border in the region. I've stood an arms length from Russia. When the Germans left they leveled Kirkenes and the surrounding area. Thereare still German concrete rivetments near the Kirkenes airport.
@@gb-channel1880 That is true, a history very similar to Canada's treatment of indigenous peoples. There was a systematic program of cultural genocide against the Sami peoples reaching back at least to the 19th century. That program did end, though, and today Norway's Sami populations have some degree of limited sovereignty, including their own parliament. The modern Norwegian state has instituted programs to try and protect Sami culture and identity, even though it probably should do more. The situation is also complicated by the degree of intermingling between Norwegians and Sami in traditional Sami regions. For example, my uncle is Sami, and my mother is not. The difference? My uncle chose to register with the Sami parliament, and my mother did not. (My own Sami ancestry comes from a Sea Sami population that ceased to exist as a culture over a hundred years ago, so any representation of that people that exists to this day is exclusively through people like my family. My mother feels like the Sami parliament does not pay much attention to people in out position, and so has refused to join on principle. The rules are based mainly on language, and our language is long dead.)
I was thinking this channel.... You were not to get political ? So it should be ok for me to say you are totally clueless. You want a old white guy, That never, ever has had a real job ? So You want a another PROFESSIONAL Politician ? The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over, and expecting different results......
@@knutdergroe9757 Yeah an old white whose only qualification for the job is fighting for social and economic justice for all of his adult life is clearly an insane choice for president. Who knows how we'll all cope. Lol.
And the thousands of military police troops who entred and took control of Norway after Germany had surrendered were also trained and housed in Sweden.
Funny story. When Iceland declared independence apparently the king of occupied Denmark congratulated them. Probably the first time in history a monarch has "high-fived" decolonization.
I was impressed when I first heard how swiftly Norway recovered from the war. And I can respect how the rest of Scandinavian countries felt about both sides. My compliments to all those who made this video a reality.
You didn't mention the part where Sweden tried to form a Nordic defense alliance, which was rejected by Denmark and Norway, nor did you explain why Sweden remained formally neutral despite cooperating with NATO against the Soviet union.
@Lasse Riise I guess you mean USA, the UK was a junior partner in NATO. Sweden was effectively an ally of the USA during the cold war. The reason Sweden didn't join was the same reason they tried to establish a Nordic defense league, a security solution that would allow Finland to remain independent and not provoke the Soviets. If they turned Finland into a satellite state, Sweden would join NATO. A massively dis favorable strategic shift for the Soviet's compared to the offered "neutral" status quo.
the nords basically did everything right during the cold war: a heavily regulated market economy w/ strong welfare and an active but broadly neutral foreign policy
it benefited them politically & economically, but from a moral perspective, staying neutral was like turning a blind eye when someone is bullying another, in this case, the communist regimes suppressing dissidents. I thought the Nordic countries pride themselves in being the advocates of human rights? Anyway, please know that I'm not saying the US-led NATO was entirely just and righteous in their cause.
@@maximilianogarciachirinos3663 With government control of important industries such as oil in Norway and mining in Sweden (LKAB), higher taxes on top earners (though Norway's is only slightly higher than the US top tax bracket), excellent social services and free post secondary education.
@@TheECSH They protested the bullying from both sides. Like when the US waged war in Vietnam. Sweden is very popular in Vietnam, because they supported the Vietnamese more than most countries. They also protested against Soviet bullying. Staying neutral doesn't mean you will shut up about injustice.
@@carpetclimber4027 To me protesting verbally is just as useless. Did verbal protests in international affairs ever achieve anything? I don't mean you always have to resolve to use military. You could also use economic sanctions or recall your ambassadors. Did they do that?
A minor point but where you mention the trials in Norway after the war one of the clips is of a German general at a nazi show trail after the plot to assassinate Hitler. Also, controversial point, but Norway was probably the only country to benefit from nazi occupation as their slave labour organisation (Todt) built the rail and road infrastructure that would never have been built otherwise. Its possible to hike around Oslo and come across tragic memorials to Yugoslav and Soviet prisoners worked to their deaths
I live in Vadsø Finnmark. My grandma and grandpa hid out in a cave during the evacuation of Finnmark, and they even got a lot of food from a German officer that wanted to help them because they were friends. My grandma and grandpa shared the food with the city of Båtsfjord after the evacuation, which prevented a lot of starvation.
Yeah, the Germans weren't all evel as history is told. The Germans who were stationed in Sogn og Fjordane, where my grandparents lived. They were well mannered and nice people. So after the war, the German whose name was Fritz, came back to Norway visiting the place he had been stationed before. They became friends and visited each other many times until my grandfather died in 2016.
@@Vaegar Yes, the German officer visited my grandparents in Båtsfjord again when my dad was little. The people of Båtsfjord didn't like it that much, to have a German back there again. But he was a nice man.
No mentioning of Greenland? Though it’s not part of Scandinavia it’s still part of the Danish kingdom and was a Danish colony at the time around Second World War. It played a part in the Cold War with danish government forcing local population to move because of the expansion of the American Thule base and the issue wether Danish government knew the Americans had nuclear weapons in Greenland or not. You should really do an episode about Greenland and it’s role in the Cold War. It still plays a big role nowadays with super powers being very interested in the arctic area.
The last two videos were great.just by adding humor coldwar documentaries have become far more enjoyable. Passed the time in which I got bored after ten minutes👍
An unknown fact. The Norwegian government did consider getting nuclear weapons during the 1950s and 1960s if i remember correctly. They considered it because they knew that if ww3 broke out the soviet union would have them outnumbered in a 2:1 margin or more, and planned to use them against the armies that would be moving toward Norway. They scrapped the idea though, and it have been largely forgotten by the people and parts of the state.
Andreas Tveranger Yes Norway did research nuclear power. Both Denmark and Norway had Nike-Hercules missiles. It was acknowledged in Denmark that they were only useful with nuclear warheads. Denmark was pressured to not have nukes in peacetime, so they we stored just over the border in Germany (land jut). Therefore I suppose it is likely Norway also had a plan to be supplied with nuclear weapons in a conflict. It also seems neither part expected Denmark to be inhabited after a conflict:-) Read more here www.military-history-denmark.dk/Forsvaret-Stevns/Stevns_dk/Ramme_Sigerslev_dk.htm
*For all of Scandinavia at that time with their very low population with high taxes, low military budget no nukes,staying out of other countries business reviving the economy fast was a no brainier.*
You quite incorrect about low military budget. Especialy during the cold war Norway, Sweden and Finland all had relative high military budgets for being small countries. Not to mention having relatively high conscriptions. Even today the nordic countries are more "militarised" then many other European countries.
Sweden had a huge military in general terms for its size. It had the world's 4th largest air force during the Cold War. Also, it did pursue nuclear weapons and were ready to manufacture weapons by the late 1950s. But decided against it.
Gerhardsen did stand down as PM between 1951 to 1955, to finally regain his strength. Being active in the resistance movement during the occupation, he was both tortured by Gestapo and survived four years in various camps, including Sachsenhausen.
It was Montgomery who sent the Scots Greys and Canadian paratroopers to stop the Russian advance inside Germany before the Soviets could enter Denmark.
Sweden attempted to form a Nordic Defensive Alliance prior to 1939, but Finland and Norway both rejected it... Sweden also warned Finland and Norway that their defensive budgets were far too small and that it invited attack. And then Finland and Norway were attacked a couple years later. Sweden did much to help Finland without outright becoming involved militarily, with a lot of material support direct from its own arsenals. So much so that when Norway was invaded a month after the Winter War ended, Sweden had little left to give Norway and was in absolutely no position to resist the Germans. It is unfortunate that that the alliance was not created. It might have given pause to both Hitler and Stalin.
Great video! After the Soviets liberated Eastern Finnmark in late October 1944 the German Army started burning down the rest of Finnmark county. An area the size of Denmark with 75000 Norwegians becoming refugees. My grandfather, and his family were one of these 75000 people. Because of that in my family today we have only two pictures of my granddad's life prior to 1944. The Russian left Finnmark in august 1945; and Finnmark the Danish island of Bornholm were the only two European places in the Red Amy's possesions of 1945, that were handed back to the country's original owner before the USSR itself ended up in the history books. That something for Russians to remember today, with Putin's seemingly atempt to recreate the USSR today.
Iceland is not a part of Scandinavia but it is a part of the Nordic. The very definition of Scandinavia is Denmark, Norway and Sweden. When it comes to geografic Scandinavia is Norway and Sweden but the Scandinavian peninsula is Norway Sweden and North-Western Finland.
@@zeroeffortmemes Well no. When it comes to ethnicity the Nordic, excluding Finland is Germanic. The reason why Scandinavia is only Denmark, Norway and Sweden is because of the common culture, language and history which Iceland does not share. I guess you could say that Scandinavia when defined by culture is those three countries.
@@tetrahedron1000 I don't really know all to much about the cultures, but if I'm not mistaken the story about the law of Jante originated in western Norway and culturally applies to Sweden and Denmark too. But looking at history Denmark, Sweden and Norway has always influenced each other and their languages are fairly similar. I did look this up at local sources, being primarily written by Norwegian professors, and the information I got was that Scandinavia consist of only the three countries. It is my guess that this is because of the history as Finland and Iceland has quite consistently in history been isolated from the rest culturally and linguistically speaking. I'm not really a man of culture so I'm afraid that's the best answer I can give.
I think today east Germans would like the Nordic model over their current west German model today. It's not socialist like them, but not excessively competitive. Swedish Welfare system is a mix of socialism and capitalism but as progressive on social issues like germany.
I would say that Scandinavia is a lot more market-oriented than Germany, especially today. It has a history of liberalism and export-driven economies since the 19th century.
The Scandinavians had some shape or form of ethnic groups such as karelians who attended weekly Bible talks and attended Orthodox Churches churches. So, they didn't consider the Russians to be the enemy unlike Slavic Poles. Finns were braver than Soviet soldiers. President Kallio during the treaty signing ceremony at the end of the winter war said something insignificant to his five negotiators who actually signed the Winter war agreement. Mr. Kallio says he spent time in Karelian villages learning medieval Russian, unlike other Finns and Swedes who didn't leave for Sweden after independence. after the treaty was signed, Mr. Kallio's luck changed for the worse, and had paralysis and and lost his hand as per legend. He said Karelia was conquered from Russian Novgorod province by Sweden, who next called the language of the locals of Karelia dialect a fictional oorgic-Finnic language. Sweden told the Finns to lie and say that Karelians language is a Ugric Finnic language. Actually Karelian language was similar form of ancient form of medieval Russian language, he said. Karelian language is to Russian language as Shakespearean medieval English is to modern English of England. Karelians say they can adjust to anu conqueror, Finns, Swedes or Russians. Karelians consider themselves to adhere to the American Amish form of village life, while speaking a vintage form of Russian at home. Including mercenaries and Karelians, Finland had a population of 3.65 million souls, including Swedes and Karelians. Just a few Aboriginal Inuits and Eskimos formerly livin well to the north of the arctic circle hand have since been removed on reindeer driven sledges to Greenland, another icy continent by previous European kings. He said Finland will be still a large country of uninhabited pine forests and birch woods and that the negotiators should still give away South Karelia, in return for keeping north karelia and West karelia and the rest of Finland. The five co-signers agreed. In fact, /President Kallio reasoned, Soviets will let us retain North Karelia.
Pretty good video overall, but I do want to correct you about south Schleswig. It's not that there was a significant German speaking population there when there wasn't before. Both Northern and southern Schleswig had Danish and German populations for ages. The second world war changed nothing in this regard. It wasn't the policy of the Nazis to drive out Danes or to settle Germans there to bolster German claims. Schleswig is complicated and has been populated by both Danes and Germans for ages. South Schleswig was majority German and North Schleswig was majority Danish, that's why they voted in a referendum before the war over where they would be citizens.
@Lasse Riise Yeah after WWI there was also quite a strong sentiment in Denmark for taking back all of Slesvig, either by getting it from the Brits or through an outright invasion. The Foreign Minister at the time however favored the vote and we are probably lucky that this was the outcome because otherwise we might still have conflicts over that area.
@ Dennis Reimer In the end of WWII and the years immediately following, South Schleswig had a huge influx of ethnic German refugees - both people willfully fleeing from the war-torn areas of eastern Europe and people literally expelled from the former German areas taken over by Poland and the Soviet Union. That made a theoretical small German minority (of people used to living in a borderland) into a much bigger problem in the event of a Danish takeover of South Schleswig.
Finland was neutral if Soviets or anybody asked. In reality trading with the west and selling western quality consumer goods to USSR. Finland wasn't allowed to have Marshall aid or get too close to the West. After 1991 Finland wanted to join EU and joined 1995 with Austria and Sweden. Sweden and Finland have not joined NATO yet. I guess wars in former Yugoslavia,Afghanistan and Iraq wasn't the best PR for joining NATO.
They also don't need to join NATO really, Sweden is part of the EU and the Scandinavian Union which both have alliances in them and Finland is part of the EU. So that means that despite not actually being part of NATO they're for all intents and purposes part of it because they're in alliances with NATO countries.
Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland should have stuck together. The loss of their neutralities to NATO is really against their principles. Luxembourg, The Netherlands and Belgium should also have regained their neutralities. Sweden didn't have a lot of choice with their neutrality as did Finland. The occupied Nordic countries and Luxembourg clearly loved neutrality.
Einar Gerhardsen wasn't the primeminister in London! It was Johan Nygaardsvolds! Einar Gerardsen was arrestert by the Germans an was in arrest in Norway!
Nordic model being funded by the United States, thats pretty ironic. Would have appreciated hearing how the Danish king was percieved after the liberation, as he surrendered after 6 hours! Whilst our grand king Haakon, said NO!, and we would continue the struggle. Anyways, love you Danes. Love you too David.
Denmark was in no position to resist, they had no defensive positions and land to retreat back in to. Not to mention they were neighbours with Germany.
Actually they traded iron ore for German coal, the only energy source available to Swedish industry. even if Germany hadn't invaded, it would have made neutrality impossible to do otherwise.
To be precise, Scandinavia is the three countries of the Scandinavian peninsula - Norway, Sweden, Denmark - that share tight ethnic, cultural, and linguistic ties. "The Nordics" are a broader term, including Finland, Iceland, The Faroe Islands, and Greenland. The last two are semi-autonomous but belong to Denmark. They are not Scandinavian though, and have their own languages. You can also use the term Fennoscandia to refer to Scandinavia + Finland.
Finnmark was never occupied by the Soviet union. It was liberated by the red army which unlike In central and eastern Europe returned at the end of the war.
Kind of but not really. :D The symbol is actually an ancient Roman one, where fasces (stick bundles with an axe) were carried before magistrates like the consul, to smybolise the power of their office. Because of that, the fasces were often used to symbolise republicanism and freedom (coming from a rather idealised view of the Roman Republic). You'll also see lots of fasces in US-American official logos and symbolism, for that reason. Later, Italian right-wing groups used the fasces as a symbol ( _fascio_ still meaning "bundle" in Italian), and those were formed by Mussolini into the Fascist Party (which is where the name comes from). It also had the additional benefit of going back to the glory of the Roman Empire. So it's two different ways that the ancient symbol was used in modern times, and because it's so closely connected to fascism, the other meaning has fallen out of favour nowadays.
During the war, the danish Conservative party leader John Christmas Møller made a government in exile in the UK after being chased out for not acknowledging the collaboration government led by the center-left parties. He was made foreign minister in the unity-government formed after liberation. He was the main architect in getting Bornholm back from the USSR. He is not really remembered today, but he has a few some town squares and a few statues in his honor. After the war the danish political left made sure to erase any memory of their collaboration with the nazi’s and many resistance groups that was not from the left, was washed away from history. Maybe free and democratic again, but Denmark in 45-55 was a disgrace with people fighting over the power vacuum and even using German teenagers(and children) to remove the mines the Wehrmacht had put up on the western shores. Basicly kidnapping Greenlandic children to impose the Danish way if life on them before they would know what Greenlandic lifestyle their parents had and many could only return home after turning 18. My own grandmother was one of those children who was kidnapped in that experiment.
I struggle with delineating the difference between social democrats and eastern europe "communist". The only difference I see is that the social democrats will actually leave if you vote them out, but the communist wouldn't.
Social Democrats are democrats (free and fair elections and such), while communists are not. Social Democratic economy is basically capitalistic one with private enterprises, but with a lot of social welfare programs and regulations (like minimm vacation days, maximum work hours, healthcare and job programs), usually financed through higher taxes. It's not at all a planned economy that you find in communist countries, where the government is running the economy.
I Know That It Has Been Said Multiple Times Before. But Iceland Is Not A Scandinavian Country (Even Thought They Were A Part Of The Danish Empire/Grand Kingdom).
@@0000-z4z Icelandic and Norwegian is not very similar. Both based on Old Norse yes, like Danish and Swedish, but very similar no. However Danish, Norwegian and Swedish are quite similar.
@@0000-z4z Icelandic is a lot more similar to Old Norse than modern Norwegian is. These days Icelandic is completely impossible for any Scandinavian to understand.
Because one David is clearly not enough! As they say in Russia - "there should be more of a good person"!
So what is it ?
More good or more person ?
Guys, I really like the background score. Can i get it somewhere? RUclips, spotify?
A tip for better pronounciation in all langueges, not just the nordic ones. Is to pronounce every letter's sound except for 'sh' and 'ch'.
A clear, concise and entertaining historical narrative. I look forward to many more programs like this.
Thank you. :)
Vi är inte en del av NATO!
My grandmother had befriended a German officer in Båtsfjord - Finnmark (northern Norway).
When the Germans retreated they left most people in Båtsfjord behind because there was not time to force evacuate every city, so the German officer gave my grandmother a huge stack of food, which she shared with the whole town after the Germans retreated.
My grandmother was such a good person, and it also comes to show that not every German soldier was evil, just because they were being run by an evil regime.
That German officer came back visiting my grandmother and grandfather when my dad was little, and he's the one who told me this story.
The people of Båtsfjord didn't like to have a German back there again, even if he was a good person, which also shows that not only the Germans could judge people by your nationality.
The Nordic peoples were not seen by the Nazis as racially inferior, they were actually seen as perfect germanic allies, so they didn't treat them nearly as bad as the slavic nations, jews and roma. If your grandmother would have been slavic, that German officer would likely not treated her like that.
@@lupen_rein Yes. That is true.
But bare in mind, Hitlers orders to burn down Finnmark and some parts of Troms county, and he was specific that this would be done in a ruthless fashion
They force evacuated many tens of thousands of people, and many people died on the boat ride to its destination.
When people from northern Norway told people in the south what the Germans had done to them, and their homes snd cities, the people in the south were laughing, and calling them liars. Because they had not experienced the ruthless side of the Germans. Except for those who openly oposed the Germans of course.
The guy who befriended my grandmother had no racial views, he was just a German army officer. Not a SS guy.
The SS were the ones who had the tasks of treating the eastern Europeans badly, most German army soldiers were disgusted by the SS's treatments of people.
Sounds like treason to me and nothing you should be proud of. Why would she collaborate with the enemy?
@@Nomis3586 Collaborate?
You had 2 options when the Germans invaded your nation.
1. Find work to get food on the table.
2. Dont work, and starv.
The Germans needed people to work, and the Germans also treated Norwegians quite well.
Fishing boats were being hunted by Russian planes, so everyone in Finnmark needed to work together to get the days going.
No one was happy that the Germans had invaded Norway, but people just tried to get trough every day safely.
@@luke2r2r You forgat about the third option (3). Not to fraternize with the enemy, and to do what you can to secure your country`s fate. The french cut the hair of women who had fratinized with the enemy after the occupation. What did your grandma tell this german officer? Even civilians can have knowledge, and tell a`lot of information to the enemy. Even tough if they dont even know what they are talking about. For example it could be the position of naval bases, airports, and other civilian communications across the country.
Icelanders hearing us mentioned in anything ever.
THEY ACKNOWLEDGE OUR EXISTENCE!! 😂
Canadians react the same way 😂
Svo satt!
Iceland is a lie.
- Denmark
@@Escritorez Don't believe the Danish propaganda!
In reality they're all pastry ;)
@@The_Daily_Tomato ;P
LOL, loved the humor and of course the great review, thanks David and team.
Together we are strong! Warm greetings to all Nordic brothers and sisters from Finland 🇫🇮🇸🇪🇸🇯🇩🇰🇮🇸
Can Estonia into Nordic?
@@tylerbozinovski4624 🇫🇮❤️🇪🇪
@@tylerbozinovski4624 no
The Prussian Commie Slayer no
Nordic brotherhood 💛❤️💛
I love this video series.
Great job guys, keep it up!
I didn't know that David had a twin brother. This man is full of surprises.
Yep. You may see more Davids if you like and share this video. 1 like = 2 Davids. 1 like and share = 3 Davids.
@@TheColdWarTV Damn, I just saw the 3rd one.
Wow! I am very glad my friend recommended your channel. The history is correct, and the jokes are great as well. Could you maybe talk about Danish Greenland? As that was the only thing you didn't mention. Keep up the good work. 👍
Wow didn't expect you to be here.
Congratulations on getting to 300 subscribers!
@@randomperson135 Thank you! I am actually 299 subscribers as of right now but hopefully I will reach that soon!
@@acermations4368 Just put you at 300 :) will be watching through your content
@@DedMan516 Thank you! You're awesome! I shall try my best!
The bobblehead by the camera - yes! Clearly, it gives you +10 to History - because yet again you did great work
well can you make some video about thailand
i want to know why they in axis but don't have to pay any (major) war reparation? and how they survive from the third indo-china war?
It would be interesting for us to see. I can fill you in for this one. I'm Thai
Thailand had a bloodless coup which took down absolute monarchy in 1933. Reducing it to a ceremonial figure. And the head of state have been replaced with a military dictator "Plaek Phibunsongkhram" which made alot of reforms to shape the country to what was Germany was doing at that time.
Thailand did joined the Axis after the Japanese invasion during 1941 Through Indo-China and a couple of landings in southern and eastern Thailand, and after little fighting, The Thai government at that time allied themselves with the Japanese. Because the Japanese offered us lost territories that was lost due to western colonialisim.
This declaration of war against the Allies was unpopular among the population which lead to the Thai ambassador in the US discreditting the government and forming the "Free Thai" Movement.
Based From what I read the free thai movement conducted sabotages and provided the Allies with intel on Japanese movement mainly with the US.
After the war Britain and France demanded reparation from Thailand as the loser from the war. But the US had interest in Thailand (Hence our role during the Vietnam war), they negotiated with France and UK to relax their demands quite alot. To the US Thailand is seem as an occupied country(Like France). What ended up happening was Britain demanding The Thai government be modelled after the British system with monarchy and stuff, returning territory gained during WW2 And pay minor reparation.
TLDR: Joined both sides of the war. Being treated like an occupied country even though we clearly joined the Axis
Thailand was the only South East Asian nation to be spared fron Japanese atrocities which looking back. They were in a really bad place. There was no way for them to win against the Japanese nevermind getting Allied aid. So yeah that's all for my knowledge of this topic.
@@PotatoAlmanac That was really educational, I’d never thought about it but that was a great question by the OP and a great explanation!
great job guys - thanx!
Humor approved! :) You are getting visibly better with each episode.
In northern Norway, around Kirkenes, there is an iron mine that one would think would be attractive to the Russians. After the Russians liberated the area from the Germans, how did Norway ever get it back?
It's an interesting area. There are patrols on the Norwegian side and strict signs about not provoking the Russians, but other than the border markers there is nothing to suggest a major border in the region. I've stood an arms length from Russia.
When the Germans left they leveled Kirkenes and the surrounding area. Thereare still German concrete rivetments near the Kirkenes airport.
What about rights what Saamis have in Scandinavia. We are under occupation and colonisation.We have been victims of Norways nazi policy.
@@gb-channel1880 That is true, a history very similar to Canada's treatment of indigenous peoples. There was a systematic program of cultural genocide against the Sami peoples reaching back at least to the 19th century. That program did end, though, and today Norway's Sami populations have some degree of limited sovereignty, including their own parliament. The modern Norwegian state has instituted programs to try and protect Sami culture and identity, even though it probably should do more.
The situation is also complicated by the degree of intermingling between Norwegians and Sami in traditional Sami regions. For example, my uncle is Sami, and my mother is not. The difference? My uncle chose to register with the Sami parliament, and my mother did not.
(My own Sami ancestry comes from a Sea Sami population that ceased to exist as a culture over a hundred years ago, so any representation of that people that exists to this day is exclusively through people like my family. My mother feels like the Sami parliament does not pay much attention to people in out position, and so has refused to join on principle. The rules are based mainly on language, and our language is long dead.)
Of course I get a Bernie ad on the video about Scandinavia, never change Bernie, never change.
I was thinking this channel....
You were not to get political ?
So it should be ok for me to say you are totally clueless.
You want a old white guy,
That never, ever has had a real job ? So You want a another PROFESSIONAL Politician ?
The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over, and expecting different results......
RUclips comments, amirite.
I know right? bring up a silly coincidence, and all of sudden some folks feel the need to bring up shit that has nothing to do with the video.
@@knutdergroe9757 Yeah an old white whose only qualification for the job is fighting for social and economic justice for all of his adult life is clearly an insane choice for president. Who knows how we'll all cope. Lol.
what? wtf are you talking about?
The Norwegian troops that were sent to Finnmark had actually been trained in and sent from Sweden and not England
And the thousands of military police troops who entred and took control of Norway after Germany had surrendered were also trained and housed in Sweden.
This is an impressive channel. Good work.
Do Operation Gladius.
Keep up the good work. This is a great channel. 👍
Funny story. When Iceland declared independence apparently the king of occupied Denmark congratulated them. Probably the first time in history a monarch has "high-fived" decolonization.
I was impressed when I first heard how swiftly Norway recovered from the war. And I can respect how the rest of Scandinavian countries felt about both sides. My compliments to all those who made this video a reality.
What I take from this is that Social Democracy works and Communism does not
You didn't mention the part where Sweden tried to form a Nordic defense alliance, which was rejected by Denmark and Norway, nor did you explain why Sweden remained formally neutral despite cooperating with NATO against the Soviet union.
@Lasse Riise I guess you mean USA, the UK was a junior partner in NATO. Sweden was effectively an ally of the USA during the cold war.
The reason Sweden didn't join was the same reason they tried to establish a Nordic defense league, a security solution that would allow Finland to remain independent and not provoke the Soviets.
If they turned Finland into a satellite state, Sweden would join NATO. A massively dis favorable strategic shift for the Soviet's compared to the offered "neutral" status quo.
the nords basically did everything right during the cold war: a heavily regulated market economy w/ strong welfare and an active but broadly neutral foreign policy
However, they are now one of the most open market economies in the world.
it benefited them politically & economically, but from a moral perspective, staying neutral was like turning a blind eye when someone is bullying another, in this case, the communist regimes suppressing dissidents. I thought the Nordic countries pride themselves in being the advocates of human rights? Anyway, please know that I'm not saying the US-led NATO was entirely just and righteous in their cause.
@@maximilianogarciachirinos3663
With government control of important industries such as oil in Norway and mining in Sweden (LKAB), higher taxes on top earners (though Norway's is only slightly higher than the US top tax bracket), excellent social services and free post secondary education.
@@TheECSH They protested the bullying from both sides. Like when the US waged war in Vietnam. Sweden is very popular in Vietnam, because they supported the Vietnamese more than most countries. They also protested against Soviet bullying. Staying neutral doesn't mean you will shut up about injustice.
@@carpetclimber4027 To me protesting verbally is just as useless. Did verbal protests in international affairs ever achieve anything? I don't mean you always have to resolve to use military. You could also use economic sanctions or recall your ambassadors. Did they do that?
The casual Stalin in the background always cracks me up.
The Cod Wars: coming soon
I don't know, sounds fishy to me
Very fitting for this, the Cod Wars channel
Keep up the good work,love you guys
A minor point but where you mention the trials in Norway after the war one of the clips is of a German general at a nazi show trail after the plot to assassinate Hitler. Also, controversial point, but Norway was probably the only country to benefit from nazi occupation as their slave labour organisation (Todt) built the rail and road infrastructure that would never have been built otherwise. Its possible to hike around Oslo and come across tragic memorials to Yugoslav and Soviet prisoners worked to their deaths
I live in Vadsø Finnmark. My grandma and grandpa hid out in a cave during the evacuation of Finnmark, and they even got a lot of food from a German officer that wanted to help them because they were friends.
My grandma and grandpa shared the food with the city of Båtsfjord after the evacuation, which prevented a lot of starvation.
Yeah, the Germans weren't all evel as history is told. The Germans who were stationed in Sogn og Fjordane, where my grandparents lived. They were well mannered and nice people. So after the war, the German whose name was Fritz, came back to Norway visiting the place he had been stationed before. They became friends and visited each other many times until my grandfather died in 2016.
@@Vaegar Yes, the German officer visited my grandparents in Båtsfjord again when my dad was little. The people of Båtsfjord didn't like it that much, to have a German back there again. But he was a nice man.
What cool stories about good German soldiers, guys. I'd tell you how they mass executed people in my town, but I don't want to spoil the mood here.
Love your channel
When will we see somting about the Netherlands ?
Btw I realy like your movies !!!
Keep up the good work !
Einar Gerhardsen was not Norways prime minister between 1951 and 1955, when Oscar Torp (also Arbeiderpartiet, or "Labour") held the office. FYI.
Very good channel
No mentioning of Greenland? Though it’s not part of Scandinavia it’s still part of the Danish kingdom and was a Danish colony at the time around Second World War. It played a part in the Cold War with danish government forcing local population to move because of the expansion of the American Thule base and the issue wether Danish government knew the Americans had nuclear weapons in Greenland or not. You should really do an episode about Greenland and it’s role in the Cold War. It still plays a big role nowadays with super powers being very interested in the arctic area.
There's also the whole accidentally dropping a nuke on Greenland thing and one of them getting lost in the ice.
@@hedgehog3180 That would be interesting to know more about.
The last two videos were great.just by adding humor coldwar documentaries have become far more enjoyable. Passed the time in which I got bored after ten minutes👍
Really nice episode! Not much is heard from Scandinavian countries.
Can you do the Benelux next?
More countries than I was expecting.
An unknown fact. The Norwegian government did consider getting nuclear weapons during the 1950s and 1960s if i remember correctly. They considered it because they knew that if ww3 broke out the soviet union would have them outnumbered in a 2:1 margin or more, and planned to use them against the armies that would be moving toward Norway. They scrapped the idea though, and it have been largely forgotten by the people and parts of the state.
Andreas Tveranger
Denmark was ready to receive and use nukes. Are you sure Norway was not also ready to receive Nukes?
@@Jakob_DK Im honestly not sure, but they did research in getting nuclear power plant
Andreas Tveranger
Yes Norway did research nuclear power.
Both Denmark and Norway had Nike-Hercules missiles. It was acknowledged in Denmark that they were only useful with nuclear warheads. Denmark was pressured to not have nukes in peacetime, so they we stored just over the border in Germany (land jut).
Therefore I suppose it is likely Norway also had a plan to be supplied with nuclear weapons in a conflict. It also seems neither part expected Denmark to be inhabited after a conflict:-)
Read more here
www.military-history-denmark.dk/Forsvaret-Stevns/Stevns_dk/Ramme_Sigerslev_dk.htm
@@Jakob_DK Denmark also had functioning nuclear reactors early on in the Cold War but they were scrapped as the anti-nuclear movement gained momentum.
hedgehog3180
Yes the 3 research reactors at Risø. They we used for materials research and had no use for weapons production.
I served in a Marine unit that had Polar bears on the Howitzers. They first used the symbol when they were in Iceland and temporarily in Greenland.
New favorite channel btw!!!
*For all of Scandinavia at that time with their very low population with high taxes, low military budget no nukes,staying out of other countries business reviving the economy fast was a no brainier.*
Low military budget? Not for Sweden during the Cold War.
You quite incorrect about low military budget. Especialy during the cold war Norway, Sweden and Finland all had relative high military budgets for being small countries. Not to mention having relatively high conscriptions. Even today the nordic countries are more "militarised" then many other European countries.
Sweden had a huge military in general terms for its size. It had the world's 4th largest air force during the Cold War. Also, it did pursue nuclear weapons and were ready to manufacture weapons by the late 1950s. But decided against it.
Please eventually do a video on the Border War in Southern Africa, a great example of cold war proxies.
One ammendment: Gerhardsen received the nickname "Landsfaderen" (father of the country)
2:37 And that, boys, is how men used to sharpen their scythe, before harvesting the field. .... Those crops have no idea what's about to hit them.
Interesting to get to know a bit about Iceland after the war 👍
Iceland is very militarily strategic.
For americans seeking to exert influence in other democratic nations like a nation of hypocrites would :P
Watching this guy makes me miss Indy nidal
Love this series, do you have a video about the netherlands after ww2
Gerhardsen did stand down as PM between 1951 to 1955, to finally regain his strength. Being active in the resistance movement during the occupation, he was both tortured by Gestapo and survived four years in various camps, including Sachsenhausen.
Scandinavian countries are strong when together....
You went way north, can you go way south and do an episode on South Africa during the Cold War?
What about Greenland?
Can you imagine what the Soviet Union would have done the population of Denmark if they got their hands on the country.
We could guess the same things they did to all the others.
As they did with the Baltic states?
It was Montgomery who sent the Scots Greys and Canadian paratroopers to stop the Russian advance inside Germany before the Soviets could enter Denmark.
Can you make a
video on Non-Aligned Movement?
Sweden attempted to form a Nordic Defensive Alliance prior to 1939, but Finland and Norway both rejected it... Sweden also warned Finland and Norway that their defensive budgets were far too small and that it invited attack. And then Finland and Norway were attacked a couple years later. Sweden did much to help Finland without outright becoming involved militarily, with a lot of material support direct from its own arsenals. So much so that when Norway was invaded a month after the Winter War ended, Sweden had little left to give Norway and was in absolutely no position to resist the Germans. It is unfortunate that that the alliance was not created. It might have given pause to both Hitler and Stalin.
please make a video about Italy!!
Great video! After the Soviets liberated Eastern Finnmark in late October 1944 the German Army started burning down the rest of Finnmark county. An area the size of Denmark with 75000 Norwegians becoming refugees. My grandfather, and his family were one of these 75000 people. Because of that in my family today we have only two pictures of my granddad's life prior to 1944. The Russian left Finnmark in august 1945; and Finnmark the Danish island of Bornholm were the only two European places in the Red Amy's possesions of 1945, that were handed back to the country's original owner before the USSR itself ended up in the history books. That something for Russians to remember today, with Putin's seemingly atempt to recreate the USSR today.
What about eastern Austria? It was occupied by the Soviet Union but given back in the 50s.
@@0000-z4z True indeed. Austria was divided up like Germany was, and the occupation ended in the mid-50s in both cases. Right?
@@hantykje3005 Right
@@hantykje3005 What nonsense. Germany remained occupied until the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.
@@tetrahedron1000They're discusing 'Austria' a separate country from Germany 😂
Awesome channel!!
Mmmm sorry, ice...what???
Greece please
I'm glad that you didn't forget my home country ICELAND
It was close
Not a word about Greenland? Did I miss it somewhere?
You guys always forgeting Iceland, and winter it's coming ;)
Code wars
Code wars
Code wars
Code wars
Code wars forever
🇮🇸🇮🇸🇮🇸🇮🇸🇮🇸🇮🇸🇮🇸🇮🇸🇮🇸🇮🇸🇮🇸🇮🇸🇮🇸🇮🇸🇮🇸🇮🇸🇮🇸🇮🇸🇮🇸🇮🇸🇮🇸🇮🇸🇮🇸🇮🇸🇮🇸🇮🇸🇮🇸🇮🇸🇮🇸🇮🇸🇮🇸🇮🇸🇮🇸🇮🇸🇮🇸🇮🇸🇮🇸🇮🇸🇮🇸🇮🇸
@@jersood9059 Cod* wars
What's with the green tint in this video? Luv the vids!!!!!!
BUT WHAT ABOUT GREENLAND
Since you are looking at northern countries during the Cold War, what about Canada?
What about Canada? We live there.
Brilliant, David. I shall now cease from referring to you as "a poor man's Indy Neidel!"
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
I think had a podcast on the Roman Empire, isn’t that right?
Sweden got marshall aid despite never joining the war?
*cries in Finnish*
Marshall aid was soft diplomacy to secure the american economy and to stop the soviet union
@@sundhaug92 Exactly, the money wasn't exactly free. It came with some demands.
Can't wait for the Cod Wars!
I Trout the Salmon will see too it!
Iceland is not a part of Scandinavia but it is a part of the Nordic. The very definition of Scandinavia is Denmark, Norway and Sweden. When it comes to geografic Scandinavia is Norway and Sweden but the Scandinavian peninsula is Norway Sweden and North-Western Finland.
Aren't Icelandic people part of the same ethno-linguistic group as Norwegians/Swedes and Danes? Wouldn't that make them Scandinavian by definition
@@zeroeffortmemes Well no. When it comes to ethnicity the Nordic, excluding Finland is Germanic. The reason why Scandinavia is only Denmark, Norway and Sweden is because of the common culture, language and history which Iceland does not share. I guess you could say that Scandinavia when defined by culture is those three countries.
@@lnt.helmuth What is the difference between Scandinavian and Icelandic culture?
@@tetrahedron1000 I don't really know all to much about the cultures, but if I'm not mistaken the story about the law of Jante originated in western Norway and culturally applies to Sweden and Denmark too. But looking at history Denmark, Sweden and Norway has always influenced each other and their languages are fairly similar. I did look this up at local sources, being primarily written by Norwegian professors, and the information I got was that Scandinavia consist of only the three countries. It is my guess that this is because of the history as Finland and Iceland has quite consistently in history been isolated from the rest culturally and linguistically speaking.
I'm not really a man of culture so I'm afraid that's the best answer I can give.
I thought it was supposed to be about Scandinavia.
Find it funny that Norway is part of NATO but not the EU while Sweden isn't part of NATO but is part of the EU.
I think today east Germans would like the Nordic model over their current west German model today. It's not socialist like them, but not excessively competitive. Swedish Welfare system is a mix of socialism and capitalism but as progressive on social issues like germany.
I would say that Scandinavia is a lot more market-oriented than Germany, especially today. It has a history of liberalism and export-driven economies since the 19th century.
@@mikaelbohman6694 it's that the nordic model spends a lot more from the free market than Germany.
I heard three Norwegians instead of Free Norwegians and I wondered for a bit how three Norwegian would be able to occupy the whole of Finnmark :P
The Scandinavians had some shape or form of ethnic groups such as karelians who attended weekly Bible talks and attended Orthodox Churches churches. So, they didn't consider the Russians to be the enemy unlike Slavic Poles. Finns were braver than Soviet soldiers. President Kallio during the treaty signing ceremony at the end of the winter war said something insignificant to his five negotiators who actually signed the Winter war agreement. Mr. Kallio says he spent time in Karelian villages learning medieval Russian, unlike other Finns and Swedes who didn't leave for Sweden after independence. after the treaty was signed, Mr. Kallio's luck changed for the worse, and had paralysis and and lost his hand as per legend. He said Karelia was conquered from Russian Novgorod province by Sweden, who next called the language of the locals of Karelia dialect a fictional oorgic-Finnic language. Sweden told the Finns to lie and say that Karelians language is a Ugric Finnic language. Actually Karelian language was similar form of ancient form of medieval Russian language, he said. Karelian language is to Russian language as Shakespearean medieval English is to modern English of England. Karelians say they can adjust to anu conqueror, Finns, Swedes or Russians. Karelians consider themselves to adhere to the American Amish form of village life, while speaking a vintage form of Russian at home. Including mercenaries and Karelians, Finland had a population of 3.65 million souls, including Swedes and Karelians. Just a few Aboriginal Inuits and Eskimos formerly livin well to the north of the arctic circle hand have since been removed on reindeer driven sledges to Greenland, another icy continent by previous European kings. He said Finland will be still a large country of uninhabited pine forests and birch woods and that the negotiators should still give away South Karelia, in return for keeping north karelia and West karelia and the rest of Finland. The five co-signers agreed. In fact, /President Kallio reasoned, Soviets will let us retain North Karelia.
Aww, no mention of the mysterious Isdal Woman? Maybe it's a topic for a different day.
We couldn't possibly cover that story better than the "Death in Ice Valley" podcast. Highly recommended if you haven't already listened to it.
@@TheColdWarTV Wow! Thanks!
Pretty good video overall, but I do want to correct you about south Schleswig. It's not that there was a significant German speaking population there when there wasn't before. Both Northern and southern Schleswig had Danish and German populations for ages. The second world war changed nothing in this regard. It wasn't the policy of the Nazis to drive out Danes or to settle Germans there to bolster German claims. Schleswig is complicated and has been populated by both Danes and Germans for ages. South Schleswig was majority German and North Schleswig was majority Danish, that's why they voted in a referendum before the war over where they would be citizens.
@Lasse Riise Yeah after WWI there was also quite a strong sentiment in Denmark for taking back all of Slesvig, either by getting it from the Brits or through an outright invasion. The Foreign Minister at the time however favored the vote and we are probably lucky that this was the outcome because otherwise we might still have conflicts over that area.
@ Dennis Reimer In the end of WWII and the years immediately following, South Schleswig had a huge influx of ethnic German refugees - both people willfully fleeing from the war-torn areas of eastern Europe and people literally expelled from the former German areas taken over by Poland and the Soviet Union. That made a theoretical small German minority (of people used to living in a borderland) into a much bigger problem in the event of a Danish takeover of South Schleswig.
Finland was neutral if Soviets or anybody asked. In reality trading with the west and selling western quality consumer goods to USSR. Finland wasn't allowed to have Marshall aid or get too close to the West. After 1991 Finland wanted to join EU and joined 1995 with Austria and Sweden. Sweden and Finland have not joined NATO yet. I guess wars in former Yugoslavia,Afghanistan and Iraq wasn't the best PR for joining NATO.
They also don't need to join NATO really, Sweden is part of the EU and the Scandinavian Union which both have alliances in them and Finland is part of the EU. So that means that despite not actually being part of NATO they're for all intents and purposes part of it because they're in alliances with NATO countries.
Finland also traded a non-negigible amount with the Soviets - their economy was severely hurt by the collapse of the Union
Three...or four, very influential small nations.
Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland should have stuck together. The loss of their neutralities to NATO is really against their principles. Luxembourg, The Netherlands and Belgium should also have regained their neutralities. Sweden didn't have a lot of choice with their neutrality as did Finland. The occupied Nordic countries and Luxembourg clearly loved neutrality.
Scandanavia and the Road to NATO
me in 2023: this one aged well
Einar Gerhardsen wasn't the primeminister in London!
It was Johan Nygaardsvolds!
Einar Gerardsen was arrestert by the Germans an was in arrest in Norway!
Nordic model being funded by the United States, thats pretty ironic. Would have appreciated hearing how the Danish king was percieved after the liberation, as he surrendered after 6 hours! Whilst our grand king Haakon, said NO!, and we would continue the struggle. Anyways, love you Danes. Love you too David.
Denmark was in no position to resist, they had no defensive positions and land to retreat back in to. Not to mention they were neighbours with Germany.
Greenland?
Can't help but think those 400,000 soldiers in Norway could've been useful out east against the Soviets....
yes they would have been destroyed by the soviets in short order
"Sweden had been untouched by the ravages of the Second World War." Yeah because they gave Germany their iron ore in exchange for not invading them.
And freely opened the door so they could get access to their neighboring countries as well.
Sweden didnt give away any steel, they sold it. Profit.
fyi they also helped the allies
Actually they traded iron ore for German coal, the only energy source available to Swedish industry. even if Germany hadn't invaded, it would have made neutrality impossible to do otherwise.
@CreatorUser Gave? No, they obviously traded it.
But... what is Scandinavia?
To be precise, Scandinavia is the three countries of the Scandinavian peninsula - Norway, Sweden, Denmark - that share tight ethnic, cultural, and linguistic ties. "The Nordics" are a broader term, including Finland, Iceland, The Faroe Islands, and Greenland. The last two are semi-autonomous but belong to Denmark. They are not Scandinavian though, and have their own languages. You can also use the term Fennoscandia to refer to Scandinavia + Finland.
Nordic countries close proximity to USSR gave me a lot of socialists ideas to experiment on.
Don't wanna catch the clap, even if it's a viking clap....
For Konge og fedreland
LOL Iceland is not part of Scandinavia I wonder what more has been wrong :(
Finnmark was never occupied by the Soviet union. It was liberated by the red army which unlike In central and eastern Europe returned at the end of the war.
7:45 - Isn't that the fascist symbol "fasces" in the background of the logo?
Kind of but not really. :D
The symbol is actually an ancient Roman one, where fasces (stick bundles with an axe) were carried before magistrates like the consul, to smybolise the power of their office.
Because of that, the fasces were often used to symbolise republicanism and freedom (coming from a rather idealised view of the Roman Republic). You'll also see lots of fasces in US-American official logos and symbolism, for that reason.
Later, Italian right-wing groups used the fasces as a symbol ( _fascio_ still meaning "bundle" in Italian), and those were formed by Mussolini into the Fascist Party (which is where the name comes from). It also had the additional benefit of going back to the glory of the Roman Empire.
So it's two different ways that the ancient symbol was used in modern times, and because it's so closely connected to fascism, the other meaning has fallen out of favour nowadays.
*sad Greenland noises*
During the war, the danish Conservative party leader John Christmas Møller made a government in exile in the UK after being chased out for not acknowledging the collaboration government led by the center-left parties. He was made foreign minister in the unity-government formed after liberation. He was the main architect in getting Bornholm back from the USSR. He is not really remembered today, but he has a few some town squares and a few statues in his honor. After the war the danish political left made sure to erase any memory of their collaboration with the nazi’s and many resistance groups that was not from the left, was washed away from history. Maybe free and democratic again, but Denmark in 45-55 was a disgrace with people fighting over the power vacuum and even using German teenagers(and children) to remove the mines the Wehrmacht had put up on the western shores. Basicly kidnapping Greenlandic children to impose the Danish way if life on them before they would know what Greenlandic lifestyle their parents had and many could only return home after turning 18. My own grandmother was one of those children who was kidnapped in that experiment.
I struggle with delineating the difference between social democrats and eastern europe "communist". The only difference I see is that the social democrats will actually leave if you vote them out, but the communist wouldn't.
Social Democrats are democrats (free and fair elections and such), while communists are not. Social Democratic economy is basically capitalistic one with private enterprises, but with a lot of social welfare programs and regulations (like minimm vacation days, maximum work hours, healthcare and job programs), usually financed through higher taxes. It's not at all a planned economy that you find in communist countries, where the government is running the economy.
We hand out the Nobel Award to Obama when the US and Norway bombed the snot out of Afghanistan, Serbia and Libya. Very peaceful we are..
I Know That It Has Been Said Multiple Times Before. But Iceland Is Not A Scandinavian Country (Even Thought They Were A Part Of The Danish Empire/Grand Kingdom).
But ethnically they are descents of Norwegians. The languages are even very similar.
@@0000-z4z Icelandic and Norwegian is not very similar. Both based on Old Norse yes, like Danish and Swedish, but very similar no. However Danish, Norwegian and Swedish are quite similar.
@@0000-z4z Icelandic is a lot more similar to Old Norse than modern Norwegian is. These days Icelandic is completely impossible for any Scandinavian to understand.
"Nude Kristensen"