John, I was 14 when the Berlin Wall went up. I never expected to live to see it come down. On the evening of 9 November 1989, I was at work when my wife called me. She said, 'You'll never believe what's happening!' She held the phone up to the TV so I could hear the audio. Tears came to my eyes. Soon, my desk was surrounded by co-workers as I relayed what I was hearing. It was an amazing night.
John, every time you mispronounce something polish you do so in a new and exiting way I never hear anyone done before. I salute you my friend, this is a true talent :D
“Hey we should cut taxes on the rich so they can innovate more” “Ok so what should we cut” “Oh education. The thing that gets learning people to innovate”
Education according to American politicians: Isn't that just our babysitting service? Why do we need to pay this much for babysitting? Cut! Cut! Cut! Also politicians: Why are we lagging behind our neighbors in Europe and Asia?
Well, if you're already rich, why would want a new generation of innovators to compete with? Better to slash education and crush people under student debt.
You sounded so sad when you said you needed to leave musical history and get back to European history. Maybe make a Crash Course music history series soon? :)
One interesting detail in the opening of the wall was, that it happened by mistake. The Spoke person for the East German government was giving a press conference, and they handed him a note saying the government is exploring ways to make travel to the west possible. However, it read as if this was a decision, not a discussion so he announced it as if the borders are open. And when asked when he looked at the note didn't find a date and said, "that must be now...." And little did he know how this opened the border.
When Easter Berliners lined up to cross the wall, the guards weren't sure whether they were allowed to. They called that spokesperson, but he had gone home for the day. Said the guards, Heck it! and they let EBers cross.
Thank you for mentioning Polish women. They are often neglected in our own narrative, while the textile worker strike was one of the biggest at the time, and countless women worked for Solidarity.
It's hard to overstate how unfathomable the breakup of the Soviet Union and the fall of the Berlin Wall were right up until they both happened. It's not that there were no signs but the signs weren't so different from the Prague Spring and such that had gone before and ultimately were crushed. I guess in some ways the "I can't believe this is really happening" factor wasn't so different from some of the things we're going through now, except the fall of Communism was quite a bit more removed from my day-to-day and seemed to reach a denouement quite a bit more quickly. Though come to think of it, the more removed-ness in those days might be why it seemed to be over more quickly. Perhaps those living under Communist regimes experienced those changes much the same way I'm experiencing our situation now. In any case, the end of the Cold War was really a relief for those of us living with the constant threat of nuclear annihilation and it was in the best sense of the words, interesting times.
Weird how different my perspective was: in my history class notebook in 1987 I wrote: "believe Germany will be reunified within the next 5 years". The wall fell in less than two.
Yep - and not only the Prague Spring. The Tiananmen massacre in early 1989 was still fresh on people's minds. I still remember that the fear of such a crackdown was still a major concern for reformers when the protests began in autumn in the GDR.
Great point, and I always thought that Russia deserves a lot of credit for not sending troops in to try to maintain the Soviet territory. It is clearly the most peaceful dissolution of an empire in history of the world. Any resistance to it, or internal conflicts were not supported by Russia itself. Amazing that this all even happened. And I am a firm believer that everyone won the Cold War. Including Russia, Ukraine, the Baltics, Poland, etc.
You forgot to include the greatest West German hero: David Hasselhoff, who played a concert while the Berlin Wall was falling and is still popular in Germany because of it
Yeah, "sung down the wall"... on New Years eve, practically 2 months AFTER the wall was opened and free travelling became possible... And you seem to have missed the "ironically" in front of the popular there.
The Eastern Bloc's fall was all but inevitable by the 80s, but it had about as soft a landing as anyone could've realistically hoped for and Gorbachev deserves a lot of credit for that. Not that it went perfectly, but it could've gone much, much worse. That whole area could've easily fallen into decades of civil war-- which in some areas it DID, regrettably, but I mean it could've happened EVERYWHERE in the former USSR.
I was born in September 1991, and so it never fails to awe me that something like the dissolution of the USSR happened as I lay in my new nursery. My mom gave birth to me and then held me as history unfolded around her. It always gives me chills
My goodness! You did this videp beautifully - thank you so much! I watched people silently protesting carrying torches through Leipzig in Danish television. And then - weeks? months after? - the miracle! The wall fell - I'm having tears in my eyes writing this!
I was a freshman in college when the Berlin Wall fell. I remember my American history professor saying this was a dangerous time because no one knew the rules anymore, and had a general decided to use their military to stop the fall of communism, it could have gone nuclear. The reason the Berlin Wall fell as fast as it did was because of a miscommunication. An East German spokesman went on TV that night to announce new travel regulations that were supposed to be effective the next day, but they never told him the last part. When a reporter asked when the new regulations would be effective, he said immediately. Everyone then rushed the border checkpoints to find the guards, who still had shoot-to-kill orders for anyone trying to cross the border, literally hadn't got the memo. The guards tried to call their bosses to see what to do, but couldn't reach them because they were at a play. The guards decided that the crowd was too massive, so they just opened the gates and let everyone through.
I am from Romania and my dad was in the capital during the 89' Revolution. It was a brutal revolution compared with what happened in other countries from the Eastern Block. Unhappily, even though the communist regime fell, after 45 years of communist many people didn't know what an investment is or that you are not allowed to sell things at random prices, because this will lead to an inflation. Many people sold their lands and properties for a six-pack of beer or a goat. My father happily didn't do that and now we earn some money from them.
Oh. My. God. I was 25 and working in California when this all went down. It happened at a hugely momentous time in my life (having just survived the Loma Prieta earthquake of 10/89). I remember watching this on the news and celebrated as if I was there. This brings back huge memories that to this day make the hairs on my arms stand straight out.
Can we get a Punk Rock Crash Course... or maybe music in general if we have to be inclusive... though Punk Rock should have at least a month of episodes
Both existed though arguably "we are the people "was the Slogan around 9th November 1989. Only after it quickly turned to "we are one people". Most east germans could hardly fathom the Wall coming down, never mind reunification. So "we are the people" was the chant of the peaceful Revolution.
That's actually interesting. It began as "we are one people" and later transformed into "we are the people " it shows how priorities within the protests shifted. It changed after a communist newspaper from Leipzig called the protesters "rowdys" in early October 1990. It was adopted by protests in all over eastern Germany in the following weeks.
The chant changed over time. "Wir sind DAS Volk" ("we are THE people") became more famous and was more widespread in the early weeks of the revolution. It was not only a declaration of strength but a rebuttal of the official line of "the communist party representing the will of the people". The other version ("Wir sind EIN Volk" - "we are ONE people") was there right from the start but became the dominating version in late 1989/early 1990 when the goal of toppling the SED regime was superseded by the goal of reunification.
I was a 16 year old high school student when the Berlin wall came down and it was just unbelievable that this was all happening so quickly-- and so quickly without violence no less. I worked alone a variety store in the evening part time and had my face buried in newspapers and magazines when I wasn't watching the news.
It’s important to note as well that Communism was still popular in the USSR even as it fell, the idea that republics wanted more independence but despised communism isn’t entirely accurate. Polls indicate a relatively strong support for the system they lived under, but believed reform was necessary and initially supported the idea of reform without an entire revolution to capitalism. Which to an extent explains why communist is still a party in Russia that would have more support if United Russia and Putin’s government weren’t suppressing political opposition
John, the same thing happened to me when I saw the Berlin wall fall. I was a little younger and didn't have as good an idea of what was going on, but my parents made a point to drive home to me just how significant the event I was watching was. Something I'll never forget.
2:44 This man carried by others is a corpse of 18 years old worker, shoted by commie police in his way to job *after the end* of protest in Gdynia Shipyard. This young death is a symbol of the Events of December '70 as we call it in Poland. He'd got memorial in the song "Ballada o Janku Wiśniewskim" - personaly I prefer this version of it: ruclips.net/video/uw9VRnfl9no/видео.html (from quite good film "Czarny czwartek. Janek Wiśniewski padł." (The Black Thursday. Fall(death) of Janek Wiśniewski).
I was six when the wall came down. My mother is German and I remember her crying and me asking her why. She said "We can be whole again. We can have a future. We can be safe."
I remember seeing the Wall come down too. I was 12 or 13, and what I remember most is, for some reason, David Hasselhoff in a leather jacket singing his heart out while people were hammering away at the structure and others were celebrating. And then, the next day, my mother and my Oma holding each other as my Oma wept and wept for hours, because she finally had been able to hear from a brother she hadn't seen in a decade by that point.
I was an ignorant child of 9 when the wall came down. Dad told me with great excitement that the war was finally coming to an end. I told him that I didn't know that we had been at war. Dad was an NSA employee. The state of that wall was symbolic of his mission. And keeping that war cold enough so that kids like me didn't need to know that we had been at war was exactly his mission. Not any sort of hero-worship just something I think about from time to time.
Fun fact Namenlos also released a song called "Kräschkurs" which directly translates to "Crash Course" in english! I can't determine if it was originally released in the late 80s or in 2007/8 as a re-release, but it is serendipitous lol (double post)
Thanks for the link to the song! Btw, about the remark about punk music history - I believe I have previously suggested crash course: history of music :D
The fact that a state as mighty and colossal as the USSR can fall apart without a single shot fired in the course of a few years still amazes me. I mean, when I was born in 1983 the Soviet Union seemed to be indestructible and here to stay for ages. When I was 10 this superpower was gone.
I barely remember the wall coming down. I was very young but the thing I am certain of was watching my dad cry. We apparently had family trapped in the soviet bloc. I got to meet them a few years later
Getting in in the 48 hour window! This was really good, got through so much. Thatcher is here in Scotland still widely held responsible for the destruction of industry and the working class
I was 21 when the wall fell but I agree with your assessment that prior to that moment it felt like the wall would always be there and we'd always be fearing a nuclear war with the Russians. I don't know where I was when it fell but I do remember watching it on TV. It felt like a huge weight was lifted and we just might survive. My next thought was, when will Pink Floyd perform The Wall since Roger Waters said he wouldn't play it again until the actual wall fell. That's my sense of humor.
That last part is sth my mother always says about the fall of the Berlin wall, that it seemed impossible and then it just happened, almost by accident. I was only four then and since we lived in the west I don't remember any drastic changes to our lives. But looking back at the event always gets me emotional. It's such an important part of our more recent history
Let me first say I love Crash Course and other sister channels but I do have, what I consider to be, a constructive criticism. I don't speak Polish so I thought that might really be how Wojtyła is pronounced but a quick search showed me my original pronunciation was correct. Unfortunately, this is not the only such mistake in this very video. It's not easy learning how to pronounce foreign names and I would've understood a mistake during a conversation. I'm sure a significant amount of time went into production of this video so I don't understand why is it so difficult to spend a few more minutes (it won't take more than that, especially for European languages) learning how to pronounce foreign names that appear in the script. A first few times wrong pronunciation is funny but after a while it's just wrong, which shouldn't be the case for and educative video. This does not apply only to Crash Course, rather it is an appeal to many youtubers - please do a quick Internet search before making a video with names from languages you don't speak.
The big picture here is that the collapse of the Soviet hegemony helped usher in an expansion of economic freedom that enabled a revolution in living standards all over the world. World poverty fell from 50% to 10%. For more details I highly recommend Johan Norberg's "Progress: Ten Reasons To Look Forward To The Future." But I guess I'm jumping ahead.
Now that you’re getting near the end of this series on european history, what is next for crash course history? Asian history perhaps? Or African history? Latin American History? In my opinion I think Asian History would make a great crash course. I’d like to see John and everyone who works on crash course tackle that long and well evidenced history. I’m a history student at university (in the UK) and I am focusing mostly on US history but I’d really like to see you tackle asian history as I’m interested in it but I can’t find podcasts or videos that deal with it in a very accessible way. Your history videos provide excellent introductions to topics, I just hope you continue to produce history content! Many thanks for what you do, Daniel Pickton-Allen
"I regret we have to leave behind punk rock history and have to return to non-musical history." Well, I guess we know the subject of your next series. :)
I am glad that you will talk about the war following the falling apart of Yugoslavia. I don't know of any videos discussing that part of European history, nor the terrible slaughter of civilians, including the genocide in Bosnia.
On May 25th, 1989, The Calgary Flames won the Stanley Cup. in November the wall came down. Your Welcome, Eastern Europe. Seriously, I admired Gorbachev so much that when the attempted coup happened I was very worried for him.
Man, I was too young to really know what was going on when the Berlin wall fell, and it's cool hearing all these stories in detail. I knew about Solidarity, but only the name, since it was a topic on nightly news and I think in one of my elementary school social studies classes. I do remember when we came back to school after winter break in 1991, our social studies teacher was really excited about the USSR dissolving because it was so historically important.
Shoutout to the picture of the book on Perestrojka which is totally a Danish translation for some random reason. Just about the most my country has appeared in this series :D
Your section of Margaret Thatcher is somewhat inaccurate. Public spending and welfare spending under the Thatcher government's increased almost year on year; further, while Thatcher's government did reduce the upper rates of taxation on the wealthy (causing revenues to increase. i.e. more taxes taken), her government also reduced income taxes on the lower end of the scale as well. As for your quote about poor people not contributing to growth - yeah, I've never heard this before and can't seem to find this quote. What is your source for this?
I hope they’ll at least touch on the history of Spain in the 20th century. It doesn’t necessarily fit into the larger narratives generally used to describe the last century of European history, but it’s so important and under discussed in the states.
When I was on a class trip, in sixth grade, to Iceland the tiamen square happened, or rather it started before we went but the military did their thing while away. Later the civil studies teachers had to tweek their course more of less daily.
John, I was 14 when the Berlin Wall went up. I never expected to live to see it come down. On the evening of 9 November 1989, I was at work when my wife called me. She said, 'You'll never believe what's happening!' She held the phone up to the TV so I could hear the audio. Tears came to my eyes. Soon, my desk was surrounded by co-workers as I relayed what I was hearing. It was an amazing night.
Crash Course Punk Rock History when? I'm throwing my vote behind that right now.
This is a very VERY dense topic, but I do wish you guys would have mentioned the Baltic Way or Baltic Chain also known as Chain of Freedom.
John, every time you mispronounce something polish you do so in a new and exiting way I never hear anyone done before. I salute you my friend, this is a true talent :D
“Hey we should cut taxes on the rich so they can innovate more”
“Ok so what should we cut”
“Oh education. The thing that gets learning people to innovate”
Then we cut healthcare so that talented and brilliant BuT nOt RIcH people can hardly innovate anymore.
Education according to American politicians: Isn't that just our babysitting service? Why do we need to pay this much for babysitting? Cut! Cut! Cut!
Also politicians: Why are we lagging behind our neighbors in Europe and Asia?
Well, if you're already rich, why would want a new generation of innovators to compete with? Better to slash education and crush people under student debt.
You sounded so sad when you said you needed to leave musical history and get back to European history. Maybe make a Crash Course music history series soon? :)
One interesting detail in the opening of the wall was, that it happened by mistake. The Spoke person for the East German government was giving a press conference, and they handed him a note saying the government is exploring ways to make travel to the west possible. However, it read as if this was a decision, not a discussion so he announced it as if the borders are open. And when asked when he looked at the note didn't find a date and said, "that must be now...."
And little did he know how this opened the border.
When Easter Berliners lined up to cross the wall, the guards weren't sure whether they were allowed to. They called that spokesperson, but he had gone home for the day. Said the guards, Heck it! and they let EBers cross.
Did you also find this out while listening to Noam? : )
This is incredible, I never knew this.
Thank you for mentioning Polish women. They are often neglected in our own narrative, while the textile worker strike was one of the biggest at the time, and countless women worked for Solidarity.
"Nothing is permanent in history." That's deep!
It's hard to overstate how unfathomable the breakup of the Soviet Union and the fall of the Berlin Wall were right up until they both happened. It's not that there were no signs but the signs weren't so different from the Prague Spring and such that had gone before and ultimately were crushed. I guess in some ways the "I can't believe this is really happening" factor wasn't so different from some of the things we're going through now, except the fall of Communism was quite a bit more removed from my day-to-day and seemed to reach a denouement quite a bit more quickly. Though come to think of it, the more removed-ness in those days might be why it seemed to be over more quickly. Perhaps those living under Communist regimes experienced those changes much the same way I'm experiencing our situation now. In any case, the end of the Cold War was really a relief for those of us living with the constant threat of nuclear annihilation and it was in the best sense of the words, interesting times.
Weird how different my perspective was: in my history class notebook in 1987 I wrote: "believe Germany will be reunified within the next 5 years". The wall fell in less than two.
@@edfagan4251 That's basically astrology - once in a while, someone is bound to "predict" something, just by accident. ;)
Yep - and not only the Prague Spring. The Tiananmen massacre in early 1989 was still fresh on people's minds. I still remember that the fear of such a crackdown was still a major concern for reformers when the protests began in autumn in the GDR.
Great point, and I always thought that Russia deserves a lot of credit for not sending troops in to try to maintain the Soviet territory. It is clearly the most peaceful dissolution of an empire in history of the world. Any resistance to it, or internal conflicts were not supported by Russia itself. Amazing that this all even happened. And I am a firm believer that everyone won the Cold War. Including Russia, Ukraine, the Baltics, Poland, etc.
You forgot to include the greatest West German hero: David Hasselhoff, who played a concert while the Berlin Wall was falling and is still popular in Germany because of it
Yeah, "sung down the wall"... on New Years eve, practically 2 months AFTER the wall was opened and free travelling became possible...
And you seem to have missed the "ironically" in front of the popular there.
Nobody in Germany would even know who David Hasselhoff is, if it wasn't for Americans always making jokes about it.
It's been years since I watched these in high school, but I have to say. The quality has gone up a lot since then!
I'm calling it now. Your channels gonna blow up!
I so appreciated this little excursion to East German punk rock. 🤘🏼
Some of that Russian music right before the dissolution was a jam. It’s got such a doomer atmosphere to it, I love it
Yeah, for example Viktor Tsoi and his band "Kino" were awesome.
If you love music history so much, perhaps do a series about it! There's an idea.
The Eastern Bloc's fall was all but inevitable by the 80s, but it had about as soft a landing as anyone could've realistically hoped for and Gorbachev deserves a lot of credit for that.
Not that it went perfectly, but it could've gone much, much worse. That whole area could've easily fallen into decades of civil war-- which in some areas it DID, regrettably, but I mean it could've happened EVERYWHERE in the former USSR.
while fall of eastern block might've happened sooner or later, fall of soviet empire wasn't as solid. Except maybe Baltic states
I didn't realize Gorbachev was still alive.
I was born in September 1991, and so it never fails to awe me that something like the dissolution of the USSR happened as I lay in my new nursery. My mom gave birth to me and then held me as history unfolded around her. It always gives me chills
My goodness! You did this videp beautifully - thank you so much!
I watched people silently protesting carrying torches through Leipzig in Danish television.
And then - weeks? months after? - the miracle! The wall fell - I'm having tears in my eyes writing this!
Punks in the church.😂 This killed me
Now I want a music history series! It's surprising how little we know about the music of the ancient world.
graduated college, still watching. Love you CC
I was a freshman in college when the Berlin Wall fell. I remember my American history professor saying this was a dangerous time because no one knew the rules anymore, and had a general decided to use their military to stop the fall of communism, it could have gone nuclear. The reason the Berlin Wall fell as fast as it did was because of a miscommunication. An East German spokesman went on TV that night to announce new travel regulations that were supposed to be effective the next day, but they never told him the last part. When a reporter asked when the new regulations would be effective, he said immediately. Everyone then rushed the border checkpoints to find the guards, who still had shoot-to-kill orders for anyone trying to cross the border, literally hadn't got the memo. The guards tried to call their bosses to see what to do, but couldn't reach them because they were at a play. The guards decided that the crowd was too massive, so they just opened the gates and let everyone through.
Thank you for sharing your memory of the fall of the Berlin Wall. It's one of my earliest memories ☺
Great Video! Excited to hear about the Yugoslav wars!
The 2 main interests in my life are history and punk rock music. So yeah, this was an awesome episode for me!
I am from Romania and my dad was in the capital during the 89' Revolution. It was a brutal revolution compared with what happened in other countries from the Eastern Block. Unhappily, even though the communist regime fell, after 45 years of communist many people didn't know what an investment is or that you are not allowed to sell things at random prices, because this will lead to an inflation. Many people sold their lands and properties for a six-pack of beer or a goat. My father happily didn't do that and now we earn some money from them.
Without sarcasm: really? For a sixpack!?
Oh. My. God. I was 25 and working in California when this all went down. It happened at a hugely momentous time in my life (having just survived the Loma Prieta earthquake of 10/89). I remember watching this on the news and celebrated as if I was there. This brings back huge memories that to this day make the hairs on my arms stand straight out.
Oh, and Thacher was a tool of the first order and did more damage to the UK economy than the Communists could have ever contemplated.
I can't wait to learn about how the Berlin Wall fell because of David Hasselhoff.
8:41 Wow they did a really good job depicting Dyatlov in that show didn't they
Can we get a Punk Rock Crash Course... or maybe music in general if we have to be inclusive... though Punk Rock should have at least a month of episodes
The chant wasn't "We are ONE people."
It was "We are THE people." Meaning our voices and our will is stronger than those/that of the few in power.
Translation differences.
Both existed though arguably "we are the people "was the Slogan around 9th November 1989. Only after it quickly turned to "we are one people". Most east germans could hardly fathom the Wall coming down, never mind reunification. So "we are the people" was the chant of the peaceful Revolution.
That's actually interesting. It began as "we are one people" and later transformed into "we are the people " it shows how priorities within the protests shifted. It changed after a communist newspaper from Leipzig called the protesters "rowdys" in early October 1990. It was adopted by protests in all over eastern Germany in the following weeks.
The chant changed over time. "Wir sind DAS Volk" ("we are THE people") became more famous and was more widespread in the early weeks of the revolution. It was not only a declaration of strength but a rebuttal of the official line of "the communist party representing the will of the people".
The other version ("Wir sind EIN Volk" - "we are ONE people") was there right from the start but became the dominating version in late 1989/early 1990 when the goal of toppling the SED regime was superseded by the goal of reunification.
I was a 16 year old high school student when the Berlin wall came down and it was just unbelievable that this was all happening so quickly-- and so quickly without violence no less. I worked alone a variety store in the evening part time and had my face buried in newspapers and magazines when I wasn't watching the news.
It’s important to note as well that Communism was still popular in the USSR even as it fell, the idea that republics wanted more independence but despised communism isn’t entirely accurate. Polls indicate a relatively strong support for the system they lived under, but believed reform was necessary and initially supported the idea of reform without an entire revolution to capitalism. Which to an extent explains why communist is still a party in Russia that would have more support if United Russia and Putin’s government weren’t suppressing political opposition
John, the same thing happened to me when I saw the Berlin wall fall. I was a little younger and didn't have as good an idea of what was going on, but my parents made a point to drive home to me just how significant the event I was watching was. Something I'll never forget.
2:44 This man carried by others is a corpse of 18 years old worker, shoted by commie police in his way to job *after the end* of protest in Gdynia Shipyard.
This young death is a symbol of the Events of December '70 as we call it in Poland. He'd got memorial in the song "Ballada o Janku Wiśniewskim" - personaly I prefer this version of it: ruclips.net/video/uw9VRnfl9no/видео.html
(from quite good film "Czarny czwartek. Janek Wiśniewski padł." (The Black Thursday. Fall(death) of Janek Wiśniewski).
“Nothing is permanent in history.” Very true.
You look & sound exhausted Mr Green.
PLEASE do a crash course music history!! It would make my musicologist heart so happy
I was six when the wall came down. My mother is German and I remember her crying and me asking her why. She said "We can be whole again. We can have a future. We can be safe."
I remember seeing the Wall come down too. I was 12 or 13, and what I remember most is, for some reason, David Hasselhoff in a leather jacket singing his heart out while people were hammering away at the structure and others were celebrating.
And then, the next day, my mother and my Oma holding each other as my Oma wept and wept for hours, because she finally had been able to hear from a brother she hadn't seen in a decade by that point.
I'm watching this just a few days after Gorbachev's passing. Do svidaniya, Gospodin Gorbachev.
Me: I hope he talks about the Balkans conflicts
John: We'll talk about this war in more detail in a later episode
I was just binging this series earlier, good timing.
I am so happy that you give so much space to modern European history as well. Thank you so much :D
I was an ignorant child of 9 when the wall came down. Dad told me with great excitement that the war was finally coming to an end. I told him that I didn't know that we had been at war.
Dad was an NSA employee. The state of that wall was symbolic of his mission. And keeping that war cold enough so that kids like me didn't need to know that we had been at war was exactly his mission. Not any sort of hero-worship just something I think about from time to time.
Fun fact Namenlos also released a song called "Kräschkurs" which directly translates to "Crash Course" in english! I can't determine if it was originally released in the late 80s or in 2007/8 as a re-release, but it is serendipitous lol (double post)
The Gulag Archipelago is till this day one of the most unforgetful books I've read
Excellent. I have been going down a Soviet Russia dissolution rabbit hole this week. I’m absolutely fascinated.
I'm so excited about John talking about the Yugoslav War also please talk about Brexit please
Crash Course history of music. That is an idea that I will support lol
I literally have an exam on this subject tomorrow. Not even kidding.
I wish Crash Course could focus on music. That would be awesome! History of Music?
Thanks for the link to the song! Btw, about the remark about punk music history - I believe I have previously suggested crash course: history of music :D
The fact that a state as mighty and colossal as the USSR can fall apart without a single shot fired in the course of a few years still amazes me. I mean, when I was born in 1983 the Soviet Union seemed to be indestructible and here to stay for ages. When I was 10 this superpower was gone.
I love your work.
I barely remember the wall coming down. I was very young but the thing I am certain of was watching my dad cry. We apparently had family trapped in the soviet bloc. I got to meet them a few years later
Getting in in the 48 hour window! This was really good, got through so much. Thatcher is here in Scotland still widely held responsible for the destruction of industry and the working class
Wonderful video.❤😀
On a side note, a music history series would be incredible
I was 21 when the wall fell but I agree with your assessment that prior to that moment it felt like the wall would always be there and we'd always be fearing a nuclear war with the Russians. I don't know where I was when it fell but I do remember watching it on TV. It felt like a huge weight was lifted and we just might survive. My next thought was, when will Pink Floyd perform The Wall since Roger Waters said he wouldn't play it again until the actual wall fell. That's my sense of humor.
Great content!
That last part is sth my mother always says about the fall of the Berlin wall, that it seemed impossible and then it just happened, almost by accident. I was only four then and since we lived in the west I don't remember any drastic changes to our lives. But looking back at the event always gets me emotional. It's such an important part of our more recent history
Seems like a perfect day for a picnic.
Let me first say I love Crash Course and other sister channels but I do have, what I consider to be, a constructive criticism.
I don't speak Polish so I thought that might really be how Wojtyła is pronounced but a quick search showed me my original pronunciation was correct. Unfortunately, this is not the only such mistake in this very video. It's not easy learning how to pronounce foreign names and I would've understood a mistake during a conversation. I'm sure a significant amount of time went into production of this video so I don't understand why is it so difficult to spend a few more minutes (it won't take more than that, especially for European languages) learning how to pronounce foreign names that appear in the script. A first few times wrong pronunciation is funny but after a while it's just wrong, which shouldn't be the case for and educative video.
This does not apply only to Crash Course, rather it is an appeal to many youtubers - please do a quick Internet search before making a video with names from languages you don't speak.
The big picture here is that the collapse of the Soviet hegemony helped usher in an expansion of economic freedom that enabled a revolution in living standards all over the world. World poverty fell from 50% to 10%. For more details I highly recommend Johan Norberg's "Progress: Ten Reasons To Look Forward To The Future." But I guess I'm jumping ahead.
Prepping for AP Eruo next year
ahh yes. John Green and CrashCourse. My favorite.
Now that you’re getting near the end of this series on european history, what is next for crash course history?
Asian history perhaps? Or African history? Latin American History?
In my opinion I think Asian History would make a great crash course. I’d like to see John and everyone who works on crash course tackle that long and well evidenced history. I’m a history student at university (in the UK) and I am focusing mostly on US history but I’d really like to see you tackle asian history as I’m interested in it but I can’t find podcasts or videos that deal with it in a very accessible way. Your history videos provide excellent introductions to topics, I just hope you continue to produce history content!
Many thanks for what you do, Daniel Pickton-Allen
Great episode, John :)
Would love a crash course music history!
"I regret we have to leave behind punk rock history and have to return to non-musical history." Well, I guess we know the subject of your next series. :)
punk rock history sounds like a good Crash Course series
I am glad that you will talk about the war following the falling apart of Yugoslavia. I don't know of any videos discussing that part of European history, nor the terrible slaughter of civilians, including the genocide in Bosnia.
Right here, right now
There is no other place I want to be
Right here, right now
Watching the world wake up to history
So punk rock and churches... interesting bit I didn't know about.
On May 25th, 1989, The Calgary Flames won the Stanley Cup. in November the wall came down. Your Welcome, Eastern Europe.
Seriously, I admired Gorbachev so much that when the attempted coup happened I was very worried for him.
Nice vid
Would it be possible to look at The Gulag
Archipelago in CC Literature?
Man, I was too young to really know what was going on when the Berlin wall fell, and it's cool hearing all these stories in detail. I knew about Solidarity, but only the name, since it was a topic on nightly news and I think in one of my elementary school social studies classes. I do remember when we came back to school after winter break in 1991, our social studies teacher was really excited about the USSR dissolving because it was so historically important.
Been watchin you and your bro for a minute, now. I *never* would've pegged you as a punk.
CRASH COURSE MUSICAL HISTORY PLEASE!!! Start with the classics to jazz and even hiphop and Kpop! I would love this so much!! GREENS ASSEMBLE!
And blues. You can’t talk about music in the 20th century without the blues
that ending is a chilling foreshadowing of our future
I feel like the concept of Neo-Liberalism is much more complex than just what essentially boils down to reaganomics in this video
Thanks for denouncing the soviet communist regime throughout the series.
Shoutout to the picture of the book on Perestrojka which is totally a Danish translation for some random reason. Just about the most my country has appeared in this series :D
Your section of Margaret Thatcher is somewhat inaccurate. Public spending and welfare spending under the Thatcher government's increased almost year on year; further, while Thatcher's government did reduce the upper rates of taxation on the wealthy (causing revenues to increase. i.e. more taxes taken), her government also reduced income taxes on the lower end of the scale as well. As for your quote about poor people not contributing to growth - yeah, I've never heard this before and can't seem to find this quote. What is your source for this?
In Soviet Crash Course, John Green interrogates YOU!
After this series, please do Crash Course Asian History.
I LOVE CRASH COURSE!!! SO MUCH BETTER THAN MY TEACHER'S CURRICULUM!!! RECOMMENDED THIS TO EVERYONE I KNOW. THANKS SO MUCH !!!
So when do we get crash course music history? Asking for a friend.
This video gives me the big sad, but it's important to learn about anyway.
Being Polish, hearing you say Wałęsa and Wojtyła reminded me how much pronouncing things isn't your thing.
It was my 38th birthday when the wall came down. Best present ever.
I hope they’ll at least touch on the history of Spain in the 20th century. It doesn’t necessarily fit into the larger narratives generally used to describe the last century of European history, but it’s so important and under discussed in the states.
Educational!
Best videos on youtube
When I was on a class trip, in sixth grade, to Iceland the tiamen square happened, or rather it started before we went but the military did their thing while away. Later the civil studies teachers had to tweek their course more of less daily.
Love yall
I think you have a missing episode (#42?)
What happened to it?