It's interesting that the narrator repeatedly mentions Détente in this documentary made in 1983, and yet Détente had died a death several years previously as the official policy of either side in the Cold War. The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in December 1979 and the coming to power of Ronald Reagan, amongst many other things, had put paid to any illusions of warming relations. Indeed, 1983 is now seen as the most dangerous moment in the Cold War in terms of potential nuclear showdown, with Able Archer 1983 almost inadvertently triggering a Soviet nuclear strike and often seen as even more dangerous than the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. Not sure if this referencing of Détente was wishful thinking by journalists and western audiences in general at the time or a deliberate attempt to positively spin the deteriorating situation. Still, much of what is said here - especially the ease of crossing the Hungary-Austria border - would prove to be true a few years later when East Germans started pouring across this border in the summer of 1989. Fascinating documentary - thank you!
It says 1983, but the clothes (for example of the cyclist and his interviewer) look earlier than '83. Bell bottom jeans went out of style with the end of the '70s, and so did the huge collars and lapels. If this were filmed in 1982 or 1983, people should have worn what was called "carrot jeans" then (loose fit around the leg, slim around the ankles). So I think this was filmed around 1978.
Weil der BRD GmbH und ihre komparsen die Arbeitskräfte ausgingen,deswegen wollten die Westdeutschen so schnell wie möglich die Wiedervereinigung Deutschlands!
@@mickimicki Yes, I agree with that approximate date. Looking at the various western cars (Fords, Mercedes, Audi, VW), there are none that I saw which post-date the mid/late-seventies, and I can find no other tech or hardware to challenge your fashion-based approach to dating the film. The producers clearly used lots of stock footage and what were then older recordings to make a film which was perhaps commissioned because of the subsequent collapse of Détente and heightened Cold War tensions in the early 80s.
As the documentary focused on cross-border relations, detente probably referred to the policy of the bordering countries as opposed to the larger geopolitical struggle between the "faction leaders" USA and the Soviet Union. The border policy must have been fairly locally governed, otherwise, there wouldn't have been such drastic differences between the GDR and Hungary for example. Therefore detente, easement of tensions, or at least attempts at it could well happen between the border countries, despite high tensions on a geopolitical/military level.
The sad thing is the situation today is worse than it was back 40 years ago. People are willingly build their own wall inside their homes and minds just because some one told them to do so.
Very interesting, thank you! I live in Austria - in Vienna and at Neusiedlersee which borders to Hungary. We crossed the border a couple of times in the 1980s and experienced the flow of mainly East Germans in I think 1989.
@@unmastered6154The West (This term is redundant now.) and commie China maybe? There is some justification as countries are trying to disengage with China. Well mainly the United States of America.
Haha! I hear you and I can't believe that's what we thought of as soothing and decent back then. Time is taking me by surprise despite the entire population warning me about it.. 🤣 🤣
I can remember them like yesterday and we thought it was cutting edge when in reality it was cutting satire and a phenomena I have seen repeated time and time again over my lifeline so far. On balance I have to say the 1970s beats the lot, what a hairy mess that decade was eh? 😂
both are east-german made vehicles from that era. hecc, sometimes I could still see them even to this day in rural areas in my country. altho barely anyone still operates Fortschritt machinery, often it just falls into disrepair or gets to be taken apart for spare parts. IFA on the other hand is still quite a common sight.
Imádom nézni ezeket a régi felvételeket. Bőven nem éltem még 83-ban, de nagyon fontosnak tartom hogy legalább a szüleim gyerekkorának idejével tisztában legyek
Are you kidding? Communists were all over the place even during those decades. They’ve been working actively in western countries since the early 1920s.
Why you dont ask Czechoslovakian troops why you cannot film?! 😅I see that Hungarian borders was not so safe , you are able to talk with another persons... that why i cannot film... those americans ...
omg i was 4yrs old and from Yugoslavia (now Slovenia) and didnt know that was so bad on hungarian, Bulgaria and Romania borders.. But it was 1989 and we travelled to Czhecoslovakia. I remember on border we were checked and you could feel some strange... We had socializem but it was not so bad, also you didnt have much choice in shops, but we had better standard then Eastern block... the prices in Czechoslovakia were low and that in Prague. Now is the same or maybe Czech republic have better Bdp then Slovenia at the moment. Rest of republics Yugoslavia are very poor, now (Bosnia, Serbia, North Macedonia, Montenegro). Croatia is little better, they have huge coast (Tourism). Now we have huge problems with migrants from Africa and Asia...
At around 13:50 just before the old man shouts at the others you can actually hear a woman say: "Grandpa don't talk to them". He is really bad at hiding the fact that he is interested in the crew recording him. I imagine he wanted to have a drink with them and talk.
This helps me grasp better what the thing is although I am rather surprised by the rhetoric in 1983. Ultimately, it seems to be to try accommodating the commies and not trying to beat them. That is a bit too much.
I went to DDR, behind the Wall on many occasions before it fell 1989. I visited my grandparents in West Germany many times, & as teen I made it a point to visit DDR because it made me appreciate returning home to the states even more. Once you passed through their security, you immediately noticed the Stassi agents watching to make sure you don't talk or get too close any East Germans ( they themselves knew to avoid Westerners). I kid you not, the only part of the city you could visit was like a Hollywood movie set. When you saw the storefronts you saw "modern" clothes and other such items, & often, if you looked behind the " fashionable" mannequins, far back in-between the gaps behind the display walls, you'd notice empty buildings. I loved that the food in restaurants was plentiful and cheap. Last time I went was 1983 I was 18 I went into a restaurant and I remember the young beautiful waitress who served me and our immediate and mutual attraction. I couldn't flirt, she couldn't let on and I had heard about and read books about the Stassi and they were no joke. I was a romantic, she made indelible impression! While sitting there eating, as well as in the years before the wall fell in 1989 I fantasized about rescuing her and bringing her home to Southern California. ( to bad California has staunchly turned to the very ideologies that created wastelands of Eastern Europe!) Note: Holidays during Covid I remember in California I remember neighbors turn on neighbors for having > 6 people over for Thanksgiving and Christmas. The same in the People's Republic of Portland, Oregon a person could smoke crack on the sidewalk downtown but having more 6 or 7 people over for holidays would result in $1400 fine and possible jail. Germans keep impeccable records and people originally citizens of the DDR can read their Stassi files. More often than not, people who have, wish they'd never have done it. For centuries governments have known they can easily motivate by using fear, and the Stassi were experts! Household family members told on their family, neighbors on neighbors but worse was children were deeply indoctrinated to do anything and everything for the state. Parents talked and whispered in soft tones knowing anything they say could be misconstrued. Before the Stassi sat a new witness down, they stapled a new cloth over their chair. When the witness or interrogation was finished the cloth was put in air tight mason like jar and labeled with their name etc. That way, police dogs could catch their scent if they ever had to search for them. Back on 10/22/21 a certain Russian Warns 'Wokeness' or (liberal-left ideology) Is destroying the West: Just as it once destroyed Russia. Leftist ideology is evil, it destroys values."
Pure idiotism to dub The interviewd. No tolerance for other languages whatsoever. I wish The bigger nations would realize that in the end i hope. Great doc though.
"Peasant" simply means farm labourer. In the eastern, "socialist republics of workers and peasants", the term was used to distinguish rural workers in state-owned or collective farms from urban factory or service workers. Since the fall of communism over thirty years ago, Hollywood seems to have changed the meaning of the word "peasant" into something closer to "slob" or "low-life", which is why so many young people seem to think that's what it means.
Man kann dazu stehen wie man will, aber das war wenigstens noch eine Staatsgrenze die ihren Namen verdiente und nicht so ein albernes gemache wie heutzutage.
Ich vermute ich weiß aus welcher Hälfte du stammst. Wenn es dir so gefallen hat versuch es mal in Transnistrien oder Belaruss. Da hast du dann das Retrofeeling das du so zu vermissen scheinst. Ich sag es mal so, DE hätte sich auch ein paar Billionen sparen können und hätte heute vermutlich weniger Probleme.
Putin has no interest whatsoever in recreating this. No idea where you got this fantasy but it's actually embarrassing. He wants a Ukraine independent of western interference - nothing more.
fast forward to the Romanian guy who said he was in Prison for three years in Bucharest at 20 minutes and the story with his infant child isn't adding up.
This music just makes me think wow and flutter is the key to horror
It's interesting that the narrator repeatedly mentions Détente in this documentary made in 1983, and yet Détente had died a death several years previously as the official policy of either side in the Cold War. The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in December 1979 and the coming to power of Ronald Reagan, amongst many other things, had put paid to any illusions of warming relations. Indeed, 1983 is now seen as the most dangerous moment in the Cold War in terms of potential nuclear showdown, with Able Archer 1983 almost inadvertently triggering a Soviet nuclear strike and often seen as even more dangerous than the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962.
Not sure if this referencing of Détente was wishful thinking by journalists and western audiences in general at the time or a deliberate attempt to positively spin the deteriorating situation. Still, much of what is said here - especially the ease of crossing the Hungary-Austria border - would prove to be true a few years later when East Germans started pouring across this border in the summer of 1989.
Fascinating documentary - thank you!
reminds me of cnn a cold war
It says 1983, but the clothes (for example of the cyclist and his interviewer) look earlier than '83. Bell bottom jeans went out of style with the end of the '70s, and so did the huge collars and lapels. If this were filmed in 1982 or 1983, people should have worn what was called "carrot jeans" then (loose fit around the leg, slim around the ankles). So I think this was filmed around 1978.
Weil der BRD GmbH und ihre komparsen die Arbeitskräfte ausgingen,deswegen wollten die Westdeutschen so schnell wie möglich die Wiedervereinigung Deutschlands!
@@mickimicki Yes, I agree with that approximate date. Looking at the various western cars (Fords, Mercedes, Audi, VW), there are none that I saw which post-date the mid/late-seventies, and I can find no other tech or hardware to challenge your fashion-based approach to dating the film.
The producers clearly used lots of stock footage and what were then older recordings to make a film which was perhaps commissioned because of the subsequent collapse of Détente and heightened Cold War tensions in the early 80s.
As the documentary focused on cross-border relations, detente probably referred to the policy of the bordering countries as opposed to the larger geopolitical struggle between the "faction leaders" USA and the Soviet Union. The border policy must have been fairly locally governed, otherwise, there wouldn't have been such drastic differences between the GDR and Hungary for example. Therefore detente, easement of tensions, or at least attempts at it could well happen between the border countries, despite high tensions on a geopolitical/military level.
The sad thing is the situation today is worse than it was back 40 years ago. People are willingly build their own wall inside their homes and minds just because some one told them to do so.
Very interesting, thank you! I live in Austria - in Vienna and at Neusiedlersee which borders to Hungary. We crossed the border a couple of times in the 1980s and experienced the flow of mainly East Germans in I think 1989.
Seriously, the music started and I had an acid flashback.
I shared on my fb
I travelled from Warsaw to West Berlin. Sad memories, it was a joy to see an American soldier
Das waren noch Zeiten. 🍺🖤❤️🧡
It was truthful historical coverage of iron curtain terms during the First Cold War ...thank you respectful (Mike Guardia) channel for sharing
‘The first cold war’??
@@unmastered6154lol these fetus’ man
@@unmastered6154The West (This term is redundant now.) and commie China maybe? There is some justification as countries are trying to disengage with China. Well mainly the United States of America.
As a truck driver during the 70's & 80's I criss crossed the eastern block all the time. Interesting times they were
where exactly?
When are you writing a book about it?
Out of curiosity, did police/traffic control stop you for checks randomly?
Love all your content on the late stages of the USSR and the Cold War. Thank you!
Very good thank you 👍
I spent "83 playing spades at Camp Lee and walking traces out of Op's Sierra and Tennessee. Allons!
Good old days, the east self contained and the west did prosper
Very nice topic, but the "music" is unbearable.😢
Haha! I hear you and I can't believe that's what we thought of as soothing and decent back then. Time is taking me by surprise despite the entire population warning me about it.. 🤣 🤣
@@DaveSCameronI doubt it was meant to be soothing... 😉
@@Daniel-yl8y you think?
You have not heard the beauty that is Turbofolk?
6 years later is was all over. In some extend thanks to changes in HUN ( we tore down the iron curtain... ) Greetings from HUN.
mullet at 7:29
I can remember them like yesterday and we thought it was cutting edge when in reality it was cutting satire and a phenomena I have seen repeated time and time again over my lifeline so far. On balance I have to say the 1970s beats the lot, what a hairy mess that decade was eh? 😂
15:27nél IFA meg a Fortschritt
Can't translate via yt here?
both are east-german made vehicles from that era. hecc, sometimes I could still see them even to this day in rural areas in my country. altho barely anyone still operates Fortschritt machinery, often it just falls into disrepair or gets to be taken apart for spare parts. IFA on the other hand is still quite a common sight.
Imádom nézni ezeket a régi felvételeket. Bőven nem éltem még 83-ban, de nagyon fontosnak tartom hogy legalább a szüleim gyerekkorának idejével tisztában legyek
No add blocker...don't bother....
ЗДЕСЬ ВСЕГДА ТРЕНИРУЮТСЯ ГЛАЗА СПЕЦИНАЗА ДА!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The woman in the field chopping ,harvesting was bending over too much in her short dress.
That woman in the white cape at 0:14 nearly did a Joe Biden
it was better to have kept the commies on the otherside of the fence tyen to have them everywhere today
Are you kidding? Communists were all over the place even during those decades. They’ve been working actively in western countries since the early 1920s.
Evil Soviet empire!!!!!👎👎👎
Why you dont ask Czechoslovakian troops why you cannot film?! 😅I see that Hungarian borders was not so safe , you are able to talk with another persons... that why i cannot film... those americans ...
I remember the cold war. And now its back with a vengeance.
It looks more like ww II with Nazi armor going east again...
holy frequency shift batman
🤯
Makes it sound retro
how much lfo do you want? ... yes!
@@ryans3074it is “retro” bozo 🤦♂️
Less than a decade later be like: 🪦
This was very interesting would love to see more like it!
Just 6 more years after this film was made the Iron Curtain would fall...
omg i was 4yrs old and from Yugoslavia (now Slovenia) and didnt know that was so bad on hungarian, Bulgaria and Romania borders.. But it was 1989 and we travelled to Czhecoslovakia. I remember on border we were checked and you could feel some strange... We had socializem but it was not so bad, also you didnt have much choice in shops, but we had better standard then Eastern block... the prices in Czechoslovakia were low and that in Prague. Now is the same or maybe Czech republic have better Bdp then Slovenia at the moment. Rest of republics Yugoslavia are very poor, now (Bosnia, Serbia, North Macedonia, Montenegro). Croatia is little better, they have huge coast (Tourism). Now we have huge problems with migrants from Africa and Asia...
Thanks for sharing
Titonun kıymetini bitmediniz şimdi bronzlaşın biraz
At around 13:50 just before the old man shouts at the others you can actually hear a woman say: "Grandpa don't talk to them". He is really bad at hiding the fact that he is interested in the crew recording him. I imagine he wanted to have a drink with them and talk.
this film was taken in 1983, no body expect the iron curtain was collapsed after 5 years later.
What a snapshot - fascinating. Thanks for sharing.
According to the map the capital of Finland is "Helsinski".
Because it is
It's a French map.
Who can tell about the terrible sufferance it has been?
just a few more years..
This helps me grasp better what the thing is although I am rather surprised by the rhetoric in 1983. Ultimately, it seems to be to try accommodating the commies and not trying to beat them. That is a bit too much.
I went to DDR, behind the Wall on many occasions before it fell 1989. I visited my grandparents in West Germany many times, & as teen I made it a point to visit DDR because it made me appreciate returning home to the states even more. Once you passed through their security, you immediately noticed the Stassi agents watching to make sure you don't talk or get too close any East Germans ( they themselves knew to avoid Westerners). I kid you not, the only part of the city you could visit was like a Hollywood movie set. When you saw the storefronts you saw "modern" clothes and other such items, & often, if you looked behind the " fashionable" mannequins, far back in-between the gaps behind the display walls, you'd notice empty buildings. I loved that the food in restaurants was plentiful and cheap. Last time I went was 1983 I was 18 I went into a restaurant and I remember the young beautiful waitress who served me and our immediate and mutual attraction. I couldn't flirt, she couldn't let on and I had heard about and read books about the Stassi and they were no joke. I was a romantic, she made indelible impression! While sitting there eating, as well as in the years before the wall fell in 1989 I fantasized about rescuing her and bringing her home to Southern California. ( to bad California has staunchly turned to the very ideologies that created wastelands of Eastern Europe!) Note: Holidays during Covid I remember in California I remember neighbors turn on neighbors for having > 6 people over for Thanksgiving and Christmas. The same in the People's Republic of Portland, Oregon a person could smoke crack on the sidewalk downtown but having more 6 or 7 people over for holidays would result in $1400 fine and possible jail. Germans keep impeccable records and people originally citizens of the DDR can read their Stassi files. More often than not, people who have, wish they'd never have done it. For centuries governments have known they can easily motivate by using fear, and the Stassi were experts! Household family members told on their family, neighbors on neighbors but worse was children were deeply indoctrinated to do anything and everything for the state. Parents talked and whispered in soft tones knowing anything they say could be misconstrued. Before the Stassi sat a new witness down, they stapled a new cloth over their chair. When the witness or interrogation was finished the cloth was put in air tight mason like jar and labeled with their name etc. That way, police dogs could catch their scent if they ever had to search for them. Back on 10/22/21 a certain Russian Warns 'Wokeness' or (liberal-left ideology) Is destroying the West: Just as it once destroyed Russia. Leftist ideology is evil, it destroys values."
Russians were spot on
They abused it during the Cold War: ruclips.net/video/w7AND6Us8qI/видео.htmlsi=RXpU2K_YTfyw8y4y
Pure idiotism to dub The interviewd. No tolerance for other languages whatsoever. I wish The bigger nations would realize that in the end i hope. Great doc though.
"Peasants" 😂 Unbelievable
"Peasant" simply means farm labourer. In the eastern, "socialist republics of workers and peasants", the term was used to distinguish rural workers in state-owned or collective farms from urban factory or service workers. Since the fall of communism over thirty years ago, Hollywood seems to have changed the meaning of the word "peasant" into something closer to "slob" or "low-life", which is why so many young people seem to think that's what it means.
A 'farmer' would imply ownership of land and right to use the produce as they see fit. They had none of it.
1:04 Anyone knows the name of the song? I wants to buy cd…
OP Alpha, Rasdorf ‘83.
the irain courtaan ayie
Forschritt E281 15:28
Man kann dazu stehen wie man will, aber das war wenigstens noch eine Staatsgrenze die ihren Namen verdiente und nicht so ein albernes gemache wie heutzutage.
Ja, man wurde beim Verlassen des Landes erschossen. Prima Sache!
Die Welt war damals besser als heute 👍👍👍
Ich vermute ich weiß aus welcher Hälfte du stammst. Wenn es dir so gefallen hat versuch es mal in Transnistrien oder Belaruss. Da hast du dann das Retrofeeling das du so zu vermissen scheinst. Ich sag es mal so, DE hätte sich auch ein paar Billionen sparen können und hätte heute vermutlich weniger Probleme.
And Putin would openly recreate this 'glory'? Fascinating to see the Elbe being navigated.
No he's not nor was ever trying. WW3 would have to come first and be in his favor. He never had that much illusion.
Putin has no interest whatsoever in recreating this. No idea where you got this fantasy but it's actually embarrassing. He wants a Ukraine independent of western interference - nothing more.
he'd have this back in a heartbeat, the only possible way russia can be a major power ever again, and it's not happening.
@@albertmontanes7705 not possible anywhere in the foreseeable future.
@@bman6065Putin wants the "glorious" Soviet Evil Empire back.
fast forward to the Romanian guy who said he was in Prison for three years in Bucharest at 20 minutes and the story with his infant child isn't adding up.
That's not necessarily the same child
Love the western propaganda
?
It wasn't the West who built the Berlin Wall