How A Nuclear War Will Start - Minute by Minute

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  • Опубликовано: 21 авг 2023
  • This video was made possible through a grant by Open Philanthropy.
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    Mr. President! Nuclear missiles will strike our country in 14 minutes. I know it’s your first day in office so I’m going to walk you through it, but you’re the only one who can authorize our nuclear retaliation in response and you’ve only got a few minutes to make a decision!
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Комментарии • 15 тыс.

  • @kurzgesagt
    @kurzgesagt  8 месяцев назад +3456

    Join us over on Discord to discuss and share your thoughts: kgs.link/Discord

  • @deltalord6969
    @deltalord6969 8 месяцев назад +23666

    The fact that the entire explanation is said in extreme haste about only 5 minutes really amplifies the dread of the entire situation and how things can go south really quickly

    • @bencolbert6732
      @bencolbert6732 8 месяцев назад +386

      Well, all the explanation stuff would be left out because they would already know. so more real time info could be looked at.

    • @ccrossed4854
      @ccrossed4854 8 месяцев назад +70

      It only makes it harder for people to understand

    • @anthosm
      @anthosm 8 месяцев назад +285

      ​@@bencolbert6732who would already know what? On Trump's first day as president without any previous political experience you think he would already have any prior knowledge about any of this whatsoever?

    • @MrPaxio
      @MrPaxio 8 месяцев назад +27

      holy shit, a video from kurzgesagt, once again about nuclear war, but this time its 8 minutes instead of 50, 😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮 i might actually watch it....?? naaaaaah, thatd make me wack

    • @joshuabrigden4820
      @joshuabrigden4820 8 месяцев назад +13

      nah bill gates just isnt as interested in this topic and cut donations

  • @sp_ce.
    @sp_ce. 8 месяцев назад +5536

    The incredible part is that Vasili Arkhipov wasn’t even supposed to be on that submarine. I believe he had a choice and the fact he chose that one was a sheer coincidence, and one that may have saved millions or even billions.

    • @NniemandweiterR
      @NniemandweiterR 8 месяцев назад

      billions, and also quite likely finalise the extinction of our species. There are not enough easily accessible resources left on the surface of our planet to sustain a second industrial revolution. If we go back to the bronze age, there is no second chance for us to reach the space age and spead to other planets, which is the only way to make sure we do not inevitably go extinct. Eventually, our planet will become inhospitable to life one way or another, and then we are gone for good.

    • @ividboy7616
      @ividboy7616 8 месяцев назад +633

      I actually believe that moment was our encounter with the great filter and we passed it by sheer luck

    • @VenstaMusic
      @VenstaMusic 8 месяцев назад +180

      ​@@ividboy7616I wish it was. Sadly the nukes are still here proving me otherwise.

    • @ShapezPuller64
      @ShapezPuller64 8 месяцев назад

      The climate is our great filter imo - if we can't figure out how to keep it alive, we'll wipe ourselves out.
      The rich will die last, of course, but we won't make it. The filter claims another. Or maybe its first. Dumb way to die, either way.

    • @jacksonblack9408
      @jacksonblack9408 8 месяцев назад +181

      @@ividboy7616 I believe that was the world having a Quantum suicide moment, and the only reason we exist to be thankful for it is because we wouldn't exist in the other potential futures to have perceived it.

  • @crowsenpai5625
    @crowsenpai5625 4 месяца назад +1211

    It’s amazing/terrifying how the world is in a soft yet constant state of “on the brink of total annihilation” just because like 7 guys can’t get along.

    • @tobithiele2673
      @tobithiele2673 3 месяца назад +51

      That statement is very naive

    • @GYEODEURANGI_JJIREUGI
      @GYEODEURANGI_JJIREUGI 3 месяца назад +107

      ​@@tobithiele2673Well, then why don't you say something mature and insightful, Mr. book smart?

    • @MaDrung
      @MaDrung 3 месяца назад +38

      @@GYEODEURANGI_JJIREUGI he makes a good point. Public is usually naive as it's not their main subject of expertise. World is more complex than laymen realize.
      Therefore it's easy to make such beliteling statements, thinking you're smarter or more well intentioned then everyone else who's main occupation it is to deal with all this shit.

    • @GYEODEURANGI_JJIREUGI
      @GYEODEURANGI_JJIREUGI 3 месяца назад +32

      @@MaDrung So, do you mean that Tobithiele2673 and YOU have a "professional" understanding of the situation of people who are politically influential enough to start a nuclear war, and my accusations are not valid?
      To me, YOU and Tobithiele2673 seem to be a loser who feels superior and can't get the point straight by looking at a sentence simplified to help understand and thinking, "This guy is naive."

    • @d.robert8471
      @d.robert8471 3 месяца назад +25

      ​@@GYEODEURANGI_JJIREUGI"a loser who feels superior"
      this statement better describes yourself given your overblown and unnecessary defensiveness at a simple remark

  • @TheAdvertisement
    @TheAdvertisement 5 месяцев назад +305

    1:21 I like the detail that when the President peers to his left into the bunker, the general's voice pans to our right ear for a moment with headphones.
    4:36 Omg and the fact the, because the general's uniforms is green, his uniform is momentarily keyed out by the greenscreen before being fixed.

    • @nefariou5
      @nefariou5 Месяц назад +12

      the attention to detail is what makes this channel masterful

  • @NorthoftheBorder
    @NorthoftheBorder 8 месяцев назад +45622

    This was very informative and well done and I hated every single second of it.

    • @roycarney8854
      @roycarney8854 8 месяцев назад +948

      This is a crossover I never thought I’d see

    • @lightningbolt171
      @lightningbolt171 8 месяцев назад +235

      Hello man, love your vids

    • @toolbaggers
      @toolbaggers 8 месяцев назад

      We live in a world where a Donald Trump could kill the entire planet if they can't drink a dozen Diet Cokes per day.
      The US and Russia should not be allowed to have the ability for a single citizen from one of those countries to have the ability to end the world. The entire world needs to boycott these evil countries until they can behave and not selfishly threaten death for everybody.

    • @scientificnameofpigs
      @scientificnameofpigs 8 месяцев назад +101

      Me too

    • @mesa9724
      @mesa9724 8 месяцев назад

      This was not well done at all. They mention one single person (President) can launch a nuclear attack which is false and ridiculous. Just more fearmongering and ridiculousness.

  • @DrOSami
    @DrOSami 8 месяцев назад +4163

    Stanislav Petrov, 'The Man Who Saved The World' , a former Soviet military officer. In 1983, he was on duty when the Soviet Union's early warning satellite indicated the U.S. had fired nuclear weapons at his country. He suspected, correctly, it was a false alarm and did not immediately send the report up the chain of command. Petrov died at age 77.

    • @Roope00
      @Roope00 8 месяцев назад +417

      He was punished for his brave act because he didn't follow orders by his superiors who had no second thoughts.

    • @I-Stole-Your-Toast700
      @I-Stole-Your-Toast700 8 месяцев назад +167

      @@Roope00 I was bouta say, "Did he suddenly disappear one night with no traces of where he went?"

    • @BushidoBrownSama
      @BushidoBrownSama 8 месяцев назад +12

      Hero frfr

    • @amadeus.k331
      @amadeus.k331 8 месяцев назад

      The Soviets ... now Russians, seem to have quite a bit more maturity, common sense and yes, intelligence, than any "leaders" (I use that term loosely) found in NATO or the US, unfortunately. China's nuclear arsenal is insignificant, and is grossly overstated by the CCP to make them appear more powerful than they really are, where as the number of warheads (thermonuclear and nuclear) possessed by Russia and (probably) the US are understated, to make it seem that they actually followed that treaty to the letter - they did not. But as long as people are stupid enough to keep voting in leftist globalist deep state puppets, like they have over the last 50 years (only exceptions being Trump and Carter) who are hell-bent on starting useless wars, nuclear war is a mathematical certainty - not if, but when...

    • @vargasbasti
      @vargasbasti 8 месяцев назад

      America would have retaliated.
      America is evil. Ask Japan.
      Nuclear war is a thing only bc America. Thank you gringos

  • @Original1Thor
    @Original1Thor 6 месяцев назад +65

    Whenever I'm feeling down, the possibility of randomly being annihilated is calming. The days I spent eating the wrong foods, playing video games, hanging out with friends were worth it.

    • @ryatt1
      @ryatt1 6 месяцев назад +12

      "If we are unable to change ourselves through the discipline of changing our own actions, it becomes tempting to resort to wish for chaos to force change. Instead of waiting for disaster to hit us, it is better for us to take the leap and take control. We must initiate the change despite our habits and comforts. When we step into chaos, into the unkown on our own terms, we are able to change our lives and ourselves more effectively."

    • @sockpuppermcgee7920
      @sockpuppermcgee7920 8 дней назад +2

      That's nihilism talking my friend, doesn't have to be that way. What you did is not enough, your time is not done. What you will do is ever important. More moments with friends, more hobbies, more decisions, more living, always. Never give that up for anyone or anything, it's yours.

    • @Original1Thor
      @Original1Thor 8 дней назад +2

      @@sockpuppermcgee7920 I appreciate your comment. It's very thoughtful to read. It's ironic you think it's nihilism when the possiblity of not existing brings value to my memories.

    • @sockpuppermcgee7920
      @sockpuppermcgee7920 8 дней назад

      @@Original1Thor I suppose that's true, makes those moments more valuable in a sense.

  • @bernardoavila2471
    @bernardoavila2471 5 месяцев назад +55

    This is definitely the best you tube video I’ve seen. The production, the tension and the explanation is perfect, im really impressed.
    I’ve already seen it at least 10 times and get impressed all of them!

  • @MindinViolet
    @MindinViolet 8 месяцев назад +5219

    I find it both horrifying and moving to consider that we are only alive today because of a few good, sane people who made the decision in an intense situation not to act, not to launch.

    • @apex9806
      @apex9806 8 месяцев назад +479

      They were all sane. The ones who turned the key, and the one's who did not, all sane, had different reasons for the decision.
      Don't hate on the people who turned the key, they only had mere minutes to try to save millions before they too die in the next 5 minutes.
      The one's who didn't turn the key, the thought it's not worth killing more even if our survivors get invaded later on, if we are exterminated like ants in seconds, a complete genocide of our race, then so be it.
      Both are admirable decision, ones that I pray never get to be made by anyone, but you can never say either is wrong.

    • @BurntFaceMan
      @BurntFaceMan 8 месяцев назад +22

      Excellent point well made sir.

    • @tracytron7162
      @tracytron7162 8 месяцев назад

      "Good" people my fucking ass

    • @eggycarrot
      @eggycarrot 8 месяцев назад +37

      ​@@apex9806seriously you got it right although OP doesn't have nuance , being in that position far from black and white

    • @awbays
      @awbays 8 месяцев назад +163

      @@apex9806 Hard disagree. I hope the men who turned the key can't sleep at night knowing they almost ended our world with their idiocy.

  • @burneraccount122
    @burneraccount122 8 месяцев назад +2602

    The funny thing about the nuclear submarine during the Cuban missile crisis was that the system only needed 2 officers to authorize and both the captain and 1st mate agreed to do it but at that time there just happened to be a higher-ranking officer there at the moment and his vote overide the 1st mate so it didn't go through. absolutely pure coincidence and we were so lucky to have that man aboard at that time.

    • @Giotsche
      @Giotsche 8 месяцев назад +89

      In situations like this, I can't just think of coincidence

    • @fios4528
      @fios4528 8 месяцев назад +328

      @@Giotsche that's survivorship bias. You only have the ability to consider there being some grander reason behind this because the scenarios in which it didn't happen would be ones in which you wouldn't be around to contemplate how things ended up here.

    • @maymayman0
      @maymayman0 8 месяцев назад +16

      How do you "just happen" to be on a submarine???

    • @jpheitman1
      @jpheitman1 8 месяцев назад +32

      Vasiliy Alexandrovich Arkhipov, the man who saved the world.

    • @fios4528
      @fios4528 8 месяцев назад +126

      @@maymayman0 because you're assigned to it. He didn't materialize out of quantum foam

  • @jhwblender
    @jhwblender 5 месяцев назад +25

    Wow!! This was amazingly done. Immediately sucked me to the story. Love this animation style. Would love to see more of it.

  • @DeadBayt
    @DeadBayt 6 месяцев назад +6

    I love the different style of the video! It's really interesting seeing the narrator as an actual character

  • @corrupt1user
    @corrupt1user 8 месяцев назад +5665

    Vasili Arkhipov wasn't just an officer, but the head of the fleet; he had achieved fame previously during the "widomaker" incident.

    • @alpal4245
      @alpal4245 8 месяцев назад +298

      I may be mistaken but pretty sure he didn't even have to be on the submarine, like, it could've been possible that just the two officers and the nuclear option would've been used

    • @History_Boss
      @History_Boss 8 месяцев назад +53

      ​@@alpal4245it's True

    • @iplaygames8090
      @iplaygames8090 8 месяцев назад +305

      and it wasnt just because they didnt have contact with moscow but because US destroyers were dropping training depth charges on them.

    • @corrupt1user
      @corrupt1user 8 месяцев назад +315

      @@iplaygames8090 And the sub's air conditioning failed, the battery was low, and the CO2 levels elevated, making everyone on board absolutely panicky and giving them ONLY the options of "fire torpedo" or "surface/surrender" with no time to reason out the choices.

    • @jamesdinius7769
      @jamesdinius7769 8 месяцев назад +379

      In fact, him being the head of the fleet is the only reason his authorization was required. Standard protocol only required two authorizations, the ship's captain and the political officer. However, the fleet commander's authorization was also required if they were aboard.

  • @Efthimisko
    @Efthimisko 8 месяцев назад +2367

    Discussing about nuclear war in a vacuum might be grim enough, but seeing it unfold moment to moment really puts into perspective how gut wrenching the whole ordeal is. The first person point of view really helps sell the effect, I have to say.

    • @namantherockstar
      @namantherockstar 8 месяцев назад +4

      Nutshell inspires me.. My parents said if i get 50K followers They'd buy me a professional camera for recording..begging u guys , literally
      Begging...

    • @somedudewholikespixelartan7018
      @somedudewholikespixelartan7018 8 месяцев назад +19

      @@namantherockstarI’ve seen you before

    • @paulstelian97
      @paulstelian97 8 месяцев назад +3

      Those of us close to the Ukraine war and who took the Russian warnings of using nuclear retaliation shall Crimea be recovered by Ukraine take it even _more_ seriously. Hah.

    • @MaxSchity
      @MaxSchity 8 месяцев назад +1

      Yes, gripping to say the least.

    • @fffUUUUUU
      @fffUUUUUU 8 месяцев назад +1

      ​@@paulstelian97You well aware that this video is targeted at the Western people, right? In china RUclips is *NOT AVAILABLE!* In russia the 85% of people are supporting the war. So the whole point is aimed at western democracies to exploit free speech and undermine their nuclear deterrent forces. Is this anti-West channel now?

  • @3_ormorecharacters
    @3_ormorecharacters 6 месяцев назад +18

    5:14 "CAN WE LAUNCH?" dumbledore said calmly

    • @user-qe9jh5kj7v
      @user-qe9jh5kj7v 2 месяца назад

      Hahahaahahahahahahahahahahah😐😐

  • @Dancesonthesand2009
    @Dancesonthesand2009 6 месяцев назад +1

    I accidentally watched this on time and a half speed and it was so frantic! Good video!

  • @TimeBucks
    @TimeBucks 8 месяцев назад +919

    This video was eye opening.

  • @Desperajoe
    @Desperajoe 8 месяцев назад +1818

    Man, I am actually in VR and saw you guys uploaded 2 minutes ago. I hit the video up IN VR. And the start was so literally so bizarre. This couldn't have been better, lmao

    • @luff675
      @luff675 8 месяцев назад +23

      What VR set do you use?

    • @Louis14022
      @Louis14022 8 месяцев назад +23

      wait what
      you can whatch youtube in vr?

    • @ekokp
      @ekokp 8 месяцев назад +72

      that's an ultimate VR experience I guess haha

    • @Sophiebryson510
      @Sophiebryson510 8 месяцев назад +12

      ⁠@@Louis14022yes you can

    • @My_Honest_Reaction_1
      @My_Honest_Reaction_1 8 месяцев назад +12

      💀💀

  • @GCWFilms
    @GCWFilms 7 дней назад +1

    This video got to me! The pacing, the dialogue and the animation are insane! This 9 minute video made me feel more than most of the feature length films I’ve watched in my life. That’s why I love this channel!

  • @egames910
    @egames910 3 месяца назад +11

    Perfectly made video with great attention to detail. Quick and straight to the point, used fake countries to remove any controversy, and small details like the general's uniform disappearing and reappearing when they have a visual representation like it was actually a green screen. (4:42)

  • @Tjalve70
    @Tjalve70 8 месяцев назад +2108

    There was also the time when the US missile detection system in Greenland went live. The rising Moon was interpreted as a missile attack. And possibly the only reason why USA didn't "retaliate", was because someone remembered that Khrushchev was in New York at the time. And it was considered unlikely that USSR would launch an attack while their leader was in USA.

    • @jsl151850b
      @jsl151850b 8 месяцев назад +105

      Actually.... Two birds/One stone for a coup.

    • @Maaseruu
      @Maaseruu 8 месяцев назад +161

      @@jsl151850b if its a coup, then involving other country is just more problems to handle

    • @kimgkomg
      @kimgkomg 8 месяцев назад

      ​@@MaaseruuI imagine any coup would've probably wanted America on their side too. We would've been more than happy to sponsor a collapse of the Russian government

    • @Tjalve70
      @Tjalve70 8 месяцев назад +161

      @@jsl151850b"Yay! We have now killed the leader of our country, and we get to rule. Aaaand we're all dead."
      Not the most effective coup I can imagine.

    • @jokerchrist2545
      @jokerchrist2545 8 месяцев назад +17

      "Considered unlikely" more like flat out improbable.

  • @GarrettWatts
    @GarrettWatts 7 месяцев назад +1649

    This is a 9 minute feature film.

  • @Primslim101
    @Primslim101 6 месяцев назад

    Such a great video had me on the edge of my toilet while being super informative!

  • @SarafinaSummers
    @SarafinaSummers 6 месяцев назад +44

    I absolutely love how this episode was laid out. Well done. I was getting into it, gesturing and nodding and mouthing "Tell me more" and "Yes sir" and things like that. This was very engaging, even though I'm completely blind.

  • @aidanm8009
    @aidanm8009 8 месяцев назад +2940

    I’ll never forget Vasili’s name. He literally saved the entire world. Colossal bravery during a moment of unfathomable terror, all while trapped in a pressurized submarine.

    • @Dan-Simms
      @Dan-Simms 8 месяцев назад +254

      Yeah, the parallel universe where he didn't stand up is now all glass.

    • @imper1430
      @imper1430 8 месяцев назад +27

      He almost killed us all. The next time you're nearly hit by a car, don't forget to thank that driver. 😒

    • @kotzpenner
      @kotzpenner 8 месяцев назад +623

      @@imper1430 insanely bad take

    • @RutakoVon
      @RutakoVon 8 месяцев назад +379

      ​@@imper1430troglodyte take

    • @marc_frank
      @marc_frank 8 месяцев назад +5

      imagine the sub wasn't pressurized

  • @torch_k8110
    @torch_k8110 8 месяцев назад +1895

    I’m happy that you mentioned Vasili Arkhipov! He’s such an unknown the the average person. It is a miracle because the Soviets usually only had 2 people to make that decision, but because he was a high ranking officer the sub he was on needed his permission.

    • @atomicskull6405
      @atomicskull6405 8 месяцев назад +98

      Nobody is pointing out that russian subs don't need launch codes they can just do it independently of the chain of command. UK ballistic missile subs have a similar system in place, if london goes quiet they open a safe with the "letter of last resort" and follow the instructions.

    • @torch_k8110
      @torch_k8110 8 месяцев назад +77

      @@atomicskull6405 so true, pretty insane that only a couple officers in the field could’ve just decided to start a nuclear war

    • @Dramn_
      @Dramn_ 8 месяцев назад +25

      @@doncomputer5931 poor bait

    • @teamok1025
      @teamok1025 8 месяцев назад +2

      Read this comment twice
      Did you see the "the the"?
      Why do your brain ignore the 2nd the?
      Or are they?

    • @torch_k8110
      @torch_k8110 8 месяцев назад +1

      @@teamok1025 oh lol oops, the first one was supposed to be “to” idk what happened. Oh well. If it’s annoying I’ll change it

  • @za1pp
    @za1pp 5 месяцев назад

    the best videos ever. perfect content animation and music

  • @user-ej4ox8vg1u
    @user-ej4ox8vg1u 3 месяца назад

    Such a well thought out video, made me feel like a military general

  • @RealMaltigow
    @RealMaltigow 8 месяцев назад +1995

    We're lucky that Vasili Arkhipov was in that particular sub. It's not necessarily an heroic act as sometimes depicted, but certainly an excellent decision making under pressure from a proven officier. Firing was a lose-lose. If total war had already started, which was uncertain, it would've make next to no difference to launch. If it didn't, launching would've been the biggest mistake and crime a human has ever committed since using cream in carbonara.

    • @stephenlarson5875
      @stephenlarson5875 8 месяцев назад +130

      Or putting raisins in cookies.

    • @criarinobr2682
      @criarinobr2682 8 месяцев назад +98

      or putting pineapple on pizza

    • @b1ff
      @b1ff 8 месяцев назад +37

      @criarinobr2682 One of the biggest mistakes humanity has ever made, followed immediately by raisins in cookies.

    • @zhwzh_
      @zhwzh_ 8 месяцев назад +26

      Exaclty, how in the hell responding a nuclear assault with another one is the "sane" option

    • @Slurp_Durp
      @Slurp_Durp 8 месяцев назад +37

      ​@@b1ffPINEAPPLE PIZZA AINT BAD THO, Hawaiian pizza has pineapple with ham which is the better option but still!

  • @rebelgaming1.5.14
    @rebelgaming1.5.14 8 месяцев назад +2176

    Arkhipov is one of the greatest true heroes in global history. Without him on B-59, it's almost certain that nuclear war would've broken out. The man single-handedly saved the future of everyone alive today and he should be celebrated for that.

    • @mmdestiny3
      @mmdestiny3 8 месяцев назад +171

      Him and Stanislav Petrov.

    • @chrispoop
      @chrispoop 8 месяцев назад

      yes but russians are evill buuh buuh biden is good man :)...

    • @rajveerkanojiya2985
      @rajveerkanojiya2985 8 месяцев назад +57

      the biggest villains in human history cause of them I exist 😢😭cause of em I get every pain possible cause of them I gotta do homework

    • @rajveerkanojiya2985
      @rajveerkanojiya2985 8 месяцев назад +12

      ​@@mmdestiny3bro because of those 2. the raps ,the muders,the supsides happen just cause of them so very bad why they saved da World 😡

    • @user-iq3vu3mz6q
      @user-iq3vu3mz6q 8 месяцев назад +64

      ​@@rajveerkanojiya2985Existence is pain.

  • @illbet4589
    @illbet4589 Месяц назад +2

    So cool. Hope I live to see it

  • @jaylol7226
    @jaylol7226 6 месяцев назад +16

    The new approach for animation in this one is wicked awesome. Really like the first-person perspective Kurzgesagt video style, would love to see more of it where appropriate :D

  • @ericlin2611
    @ericlin2611 8 месяцев назад +1193

    As someone passingly familiar with the Cold War, the moment the general said the enemy wasn't using their entire nuclear hoard and that the satellite system was new, I had the sinking feeling it was a sensor glitch. This sorta uncertainty only adds to the terrifying stress someone would experience in this situation.
    Edit: yeah I know it was confirmed via other means afterwards, but it doesn't change the nagging feeling in the back of your head that this is all a mistake, and you may be the one to end humanity for it.

    • @adr2t
      @adr2t 8 месяцев назад +107

      Yea thats what I was looking out for. The small details to see if it was a mistake/glitch in the machine of many human errors.

    • @Dantick09
      @Dantick09 8 месяцев назад

      Using all their weapons would open them up to get nuked themselves by another country

    • @Dantick09
      @Dantick09 8 месяцев назад +81

      The enemy made it look like a glitch on purpose, timed it to the new system

    • @ddd4040
      @ddd4040 8 месяцев назад +48

      ​@@Dantick09Or did they?

    • @Iwneiwnwnorhwu
      @Iwneiwnwnorhwu 8 месяцев назад +35

      Oh well then I just killed humanity

  • @anothersquid
    @anothersquid 8 месяцев назад +1739

    I was in the air force in the '80s. This stuff was taken very seriously. We had regular nuke drills as part of the training and evaluation plan.

    • @myspam4454
      @myspam4454 8 месяцев назад +23

      thank you for serving

    • @Knightly_Mapping
      @Knightly_Mapping 8 месяцев назад +8

      what country?

    • @XG_
      @XG_ 8 месяцев назад +26

      I'm in the US Air Force currently and seeing this video is pretty spot on with how jam packed things can get durring missions. To be honest I couldn't imagine how stressful this would be for the officers and NCOd involved if this was real 😮

    • @kovona
      @kovona 8 месяцев назад +3

      Was it usually done before or after the lunch buffet?

    • @pc12gauge
      @pc12gauge 8 месяцев назад +1

      ​@@XG_ dont worry, they pretty much gonna be made into plasma without even notice. You too

  • @holisticselfinquiry2736
    @holisticselfinquiry2736 6 месяцев назад

    Such a relaxing video

  • @arslanahmed8504
    @arslanahmed8504 6 месяцев назад +15

    One of the MOST unbiased and informative videos i've seen in a while. Thank you

    • @Dancyspartan
      @Dancyspartan 4 месяца назад

      Well the only examples of mistaken nuclear war signs were chalked up to russian incompetence. While no other nuclear country apparently came close. Wonder how all of these stories passed around, with the infamous secrecy of the KGB & FSB being considered.
      Unbiased in the eyes of the easily fooled.
      Note: I'm not taking sides - but to believe the simple tale of 1 side bad and dumb other side good and smart is rich.
      I'm convinced the Soviet/Russian nigh-disasters took place, but I'm just as convinced the opposite has happened in the Allied countries.
      I 'spose those stories are less.... tasteful... to basoon out the airwaves.

  • @richtigmann1
    @richtigmann1 8 месяцев назад +1884

    jesus, this is actually terrifyingly illustrated, the panic, the millitary talk, the uncertainty, the rushed briefing, it's so well researched that it makes everything feel so real and actually horrifying to think about

    • @mesa9724
      @mesa9724 8 месяцев назад

      Well Researched? They mention a single person (President) can launch a nuclear attack which is hilariously false.

    • @rajveerkanojiya2985
      @rajveerkanojiya2985 8 месяцев назад +11

      nuclear war on August 25 2023 cause Russia's getting attacked by Ukraine

    • @Munchausenification
      @Munchausenification 8 месяцев назад +25

      So its just me who thinks this is their worst video so far? They use so little actual data on the topic, why be so speculative?

    • @Mohojo
      @Mohojo 8 месяцев назад +100

      @@rajveerkanojiya2985 Russia is getting attacked? You mean Russia's full scale and unprovoked invasion of its neighbor has gone bad and now Russia is helpless and now making excuses to use nuclear weapons?

    • @hungrykoala1293
      @hungrykoala1293 8 месяцев назад +28

      @@Munchausenification What was speculation here?

  • @ZR3009
    @ZR3009 8 месяцев назад +2247

    This POV style video for the first 5 minute really sales the desperate decisions feeling from the topic. Well done!

    • @Daniel-rd6st
      @Daniel-rd6st 8 месяцев назад +23

      Gives you some inside on how Stanislaw Petrow must have felt. All he had to go on was a detected launch from the satelite system and just minutes to decide to order a retaliation strike. He decided against it, because he fought, that if the USA should attack, they wouldnt just send a couple of warheads. Luckily he didnt know the NATO doctrine of sending in a couple of missiles first to neutralize high value targets (maybe hoping that the enemy would hesitate when detecting only a few missiles) before launching a full strike. And it got even worse, when the NATO conducted a military exercise called "Able Archer" on 9th November 1983, simulating a full scale nuclear exchange. Russia interpreted it as preparation for an immediate attack and basically made every nuke they had ready for launch. When the british secret service reported how extremly nervous Russia was GB and the USA made an effort to deescalate the situation. It was a turning point.
      I often wondered how i would react in Petrows position. But i always come to the same conclusion. When the missiles are already flying, the war is already over. I am dead. My family is dead. My friends are dead, most of the population is dead. Millions of innocents dead. The only thing i could do would be to do the same thing to the enemy. And not just the enemy. Because there is so little time targets are preprogrammed. You wouldnt just hit the country that launched the attack (which you might not even know, when the attack gets launched by submarines for example) you would hit any target considered a threat. Personally i dont think that i could hit the button. Because at the end, what would be the point?

    • @danisob3633
      @danisob3633 8 месяцев назад

      @@Daniel-rd6st none. no point.

    • @TheJaredtheJaredlong
      @TheJaredtheJaredlong 8 месяцев назад +5

      Can't imagine being the general in that situation trying to accurately explain everything as fast as possible. Part of me doubts the general would actually have that much restraint. If the general truly believed they may die at any moment and pushing the button was the only good option, they'd probably do it themselves.

    • @anderstermansen130
      @anderstermansen130 8 месяцев назад

      dont worry, a nuclear war is never going to happen.

    • @kaitlyn__L
      @kaitlyn__L 8 месяцев назад +6

      @@Daniel-rd6stoh damn, I didn’t know that bit about the NATO doctrine of misdirection.
      I’d always agreed with his thinking, and that’s probably why this video said hundreds of launches were detected to make it undoubtable, but knowing NATO planned around that really adds pathos. Because that means what he “should” have done was retaliate immediately since it matched the profile 😨

  • @Xavier-qd4jm
    @Xavier-qd4jm 2 месяца назад

    This was unbelievably well paced.

  • @gooo1762
    @gooo1762 7 дней назад

    Amazing video! Thanks!

  • @TheJerbol
    @TheJerbol 8 месяцев назад +1010

    The Vasili Arkhipov story is fascinating, a great wiki read for any interested. He was actually the regional commander of multiple submarines iirc, and because of this fact whatever submarine he was serving on was the _only_ one that needed 3 officers to sign off on, all the others only required 2. The circumstances are insane

    • @violetsisreal
      @violetsisreal 8 месяцев назад +41

      Hearts pounding

    • @beanapprentice1687
      @beanapprentice1687 8 месяцев назад +46

      Wow… humanity is so fucked up man.

    • @TheJerbol
      @TheJerbol 8 месяцев назад

      @@beanapprentice1687 agreed, but we're a pretty logical consequence of what 100k years of evolution versus 200 years of exponential technological growth have created. Nature plans for 20-30 years, modern humans live ~80, our brains are shit at this stuff.

    • @finlaycraig1810
      @finlaycraig1810 8 месяцев назад +3

      Things like this make me think maybe us humans will make it galactic eventually. So lucky

    • @w0ttheh3ll
      @w0ttheh3ll 8 месяцев назад +40

      @@finlaycraig1810 past luck is no indication of future luck. in fact, if you think about it, we wouldn't be here without having gotten lucky so, so many times in the past. so past luck is a necessary condition of our current state. but that doesn't mean anything for the future. If you toss a fair coin a hundred times and get heads every time, does that change the coin? No. You've still got 50-50 chances on the next toss.

  • @Asmallcorneroftheinternet
    @Asmallcorneroftheinternet 8 месяцев назад +1413

    My personal favorite near nuclear war story has to be that of Stanislav Petrov. Who, in 1983, had the litteral power of a God. He was the one who could decide whether or not to end the world. As his radar reported, five missiles headed straight toward major Russian cities. If he had followed his orders and reported this, he would've started a war. Except, he knew something, the U.S., if they were at war, would not only fire five missiles. In what has to be the most tense moment of his life, he simply stood there and let the "missiles" fall. What a shock. He was right. He reported the incident, and it forced the Russians to fix the system. If it had been literally any other man, we might not be alive.

    • @sushiwushi5335
      @sushiwushi5335 8 месяцев назад +111

      Even in a hellbent earth, with power hungry leaders glad their are still some sane people throughout history.

    • @Optimistas777
      @Optimistas777 8 месяцев назад +31

      This story is literally in the video, Petrov was the third man

    • @jhawk1229
      @jhawk1229 8 месяцев назад +78

      @@Optimistas777No that was Vasily Arkhipov

    • @lilith4961
      @lilith4961 8 месяцев назад +4

      ​@@sushiwushi5335thats what amazes me as well

    • @189Blake
      @189Blake 8 месяцев назад +22

      ​@@jhawk1229lol, I'm thankful our fate was in Soviet hands, taking into consideration Japan, I'm not sure if Americans would have been equally coldheaded 😅

  • @elihaiasher
    @elihaiasher Месяц назад

    Thank you for what are you doing

  • @couttsie
    @couttsie 3 месяца назад

    brilliant video

  • @deusexvesania1702
    @deusexvesania1702 8 месяцев назад +911

    Imagine a world where leaders have to fight each other, instead of compensating with giant missiles.
    Edit: Here a reminder that Plato, one of the greatest minds in history, was also a wrestler famous for his impressive stature.

    • @alexnguyen1284
      @alexnguyen1284 8 месяцев назад +90

      yeah like a celebrity boxing match, triller.

    • @LateNightCity
      @LateNightCity 8 месяцев назад +56

      That's like WW5 or some shit. Where there will be nothing left to use

    • @OddlyIncredible
      @OddlyIncredible 8 месяцев назад +26

      Two men enter, one man leaves.
      "Remember where you are - this is Thunderdome, and death is listening, and will take the first man that screams."

    • @blsm-burminilaicalseparati6214
      @blsm-burminilaicalseparati6214 8 месяцев назад +37

      "Why don't presidents fight the wars? Why do they always send the poor?"

    • @captianpicard1055
      @captianpicard1055 8 месяцев назад

      Soy

  • @eclipsezero6103
    @eclipsezero6103 8 месяцев назад +1118

    The fact that everything was summarized and you are given a decision immediately, especially in first person POV, makes everything much more stressful. Amazing.

    • @casualbird7671
      @casualbird7671 8 месяцев назад

      ​@@FantaGuyXLivego away

    • @dralberthofmann
      @dralberthofmann 8 месяцев назад +7

      I was so stressed watching that. Very effective.

    • @DLxxx
      @DLxxx 8 месяцев назад +6

      My anxiety was going crazy while watching this (especially since it caught me off guard). This was super informative, but NOT pleasant to watch, lol

    • @rubensabatini7265
      @rubensabatini7265 8 месяцев назад

      ​@@FantaGuyXLive🤡

    • @jakehix8132
      @jakehix8132 8 месяцев назад

      @@FantaGuyXLiveCan your parents make a channel so that I can follow them out of solidarity in not getting said camera?

  • @ThatGuyWhoCaresAboutYou
    @ThatGuyWhoCaresAboutYou 8 дней назад

    Oye 6,9M views! Great video btw and I totally respect your work❤!

  • @firenzarfrenzy4985
    @firenzarfrenzy4985 6 месяцев назад +19

    Wow. I wasn’t even told but you sold the idea of anxiety induced tension so well I thought I was being asked for the launch decision and not the animated man. It’s just 2D animation but the narration makes it so immersive. It’s terrifying. To have to make a choice in a game where the only winning move is not to play.
    I did a research assessment for the Cuban missile crisis and it’s one of the most interesting topics I’ve ever done in Modern History. The fact nuclear war came down to Vasili Arkhipov saying no was such a grim revelation to me. With all that’s happening in the world now with Ukraine, and now HAMAS, it’s important we stay educated anon the cost of nuclear escalation. Thank you Kurzgesagt.

    • @agent_sus3273
      @agent_sus3273 2 месяца назад

      You’ve watched WarGames a couple times, I’m guessing?

    • @firenzarfrenzy4985
      @firenzarfrenzy4985 2 месяца назад

      @@agent_sus3273 Bingo

  • @Enceladus335
    @Enceladus335 8 месяцев назад +1886

    Exactly what we needed first thing in the morning 😅

    • @scissorbanner9735
      @scissorbanner9735 8 месяцев назад +24

      Funny that, where I am this video was uploaded at exactly midnight.

    • @sandboxgamekid4932
      @sandboxgamekid4932 8 месяцев назад +4

      so true tho

    • @fire777.
      @fire777. 8 месяцев назад +3

      True

    • @Borbinator
      @Borbinator 8 месяцев назад +4

      Y..yes

    • @vinicius_ATC
      @vinicius_ATC 8 месяцев назад +11

      Just regular kurzsgesagt optimism

  • @IsmaGF85
    @IsmaGF85 7 месяцев назад +2823

    This was one of your best videos yet. And the fact that you mentioned Arkhipov, the man that actually saved humanity, was very special.

    • @oxymoron02
      @oxymoron02 6 месяцев назад +178

      I was hoping he'd be mentioned-- that single time was THE closest the world ever came to ending, and that amazing man took a second to think, "What if...", ultimately saving billions of lives not just from when it happened, but into humanity's future as well.

    • @T1me-wb4us
      @T1me-wb4us 6 месяцев назад +95

      But he was Russian. That means he's bb....bbb .. bad RIGHT?!

    • @xBintu
      @xBintu 6 месяцев назад +45

      ​@@T1me-wb4us🤦

    • @thegamingpuppet8381
      @thegamingpuppet8381 5 месяцев назад +24

      @@T1me-wb4usyou have a sight and vision of a rhinoceros or what

    • @corncob567
      @corncob567 5 месяцев назад +18

      @@T1me-wb4usyou should consider that he was still on the side that would’ve initiated nuclear war. He just had his head on straight considering they literally were just assuming nuclear war had begun.

  • @ronaldmcdonald8303
    @ronaldmcdonald8303 14 дней назад +1

    Cool video!

  • @jaseg5741
    @jaseg5741 2 месяца назад +1

    I legit got teary eyed from realief when yoinsaid that the amount of nuclear weapons went from 70,000 to 12,500. Its still way to many, but just knowing we made progress makes me so much less scared

  • @mx_cre8tivename
    @mx_cre8tivename 8 месяцев назад +1457

    This is by far the most frightening video you guys have made. It really hits on how dangerous and final a nuclear war would be. You guys are amazing keep it up

    • @gormauslander
      @gormauslander 8 месяцев назад +6

      It could literally happen today. We are never more than one slipup away from complete species extinction

    • @smallSphere69
      @smallSphere69 8 месяцев назад

      ​@@gormauslanderLet it happen.
      After 100 years of that war there'll be a golden civilization with few population and global warming free Earth.

    • @cinemasurge1851
      @cinemasurge1851 8 месяцев назад

      @@gormauslanderluckily even if that did happen there are some bunkers that would survive and keep at least some sneaky humans alive

    • @gormauslander
      @gormauslander 8 месяцев назад +3

      @@cinemasurge1851 lucky how

    • @CharaArmok
      @CharaArmok 8 месяцев назад

      They didn't talk about second strike capability. This video isn't how it would happen.

  • @YouThisReadWrong.
    @YouThisReadWrong. 8 месяцев назад +1441

    “The nuclear arms race is like two sworn enemies standing waist deep in gasoline, one with three matches, the other with five”
    -Carl Sagan
    Thank you guys for the dopamine, btw if anyone has any knowledge on how to increase my CTR on YT, advice would be appreciated.

    • @snubluemoons
      @snubluemoons 8 месяцев назад +39

      He was a pretty smart guy i think

    • @TheKoloradoShow
      @TheKoloradoShow 8 месяцев назад +23

      @@snubluemoonshe understood how unimportant humanity is in the universe

    • @nocturn9x
      @nocturn9x 8 месяцев назад +58

      ​@@TheKoloradoShowNo, he understood how unimportant our silly conflicts were. That's completely different.

    • @kennethfharkin
      @kennethfharkin 8 месяцев назад

      and so long as both sworn enemies value their own survival and know to strike out against the other is certain suicide then there will not be any wars between them.
      The issue is with those powers holding nuclear weapons who do not fear reprisal, either because their target is unable to do so or lacks the will to do so, or even worse because the idea of loosing millions or billions of their own population in a reprisal is a worthwhile exchange within their value system. Perhaps they are religious fanatics for whom the death of their own people is immaterial or they simply see their populations as expendable with the balance of exchange being a worthwhile transaction to them. THAT is when one must be worried.

    • @pedrochagas9903
      @pedrochagas9903 8 месяцев назад +1

      "That's pretty clever" Sun Tzu, The Art of War

  • @NoNameanonymusamogus
    @NoNameanonymusamogus 9 дней назад

    10/10 the Guide was very easy to follow

  • @Waynelolz
    @Waynelolz 2 месяца назад

    Nice i glad how u waited for x wars in world rn to make this video so u can prepare us

  • @grfrjiglstan
    @grfrjiglstan 8 месяцев назад +522

    I'm glad you mentioned that even though the old silo nukes may not all work, this is still an apocalyptic threat.

    • @twelvecatsinatrenchcoat
      @twelvecatsinatrenchcoat 8 месяцев назад +14

      Is that why they told you that?
      Or is this really not a nuclear war?
      In a nuclear war they would've fired everything they have. So why didn't they? You know there are infrared signatures "consistent" with launches in 20 of 100 locations. So what's actually happening?

    • @jordyboy62
      @jordyboy62 8 месяцев назад +60

      ​@@twelvecatsinatrenchcoatthat's kinda the point of the video. You don't have all the information and you have to make a decision. You don't have time to question why they didn't fire everything.

    • @twelvecatsinatrenchcoat
      @twelvecatsinatrenchcoat 8 месяцев назад +5

      ​@@jordyboy62 Yeah, that's why I exp- y'know, nevermind... Yup you're right guys, good job.

    • @kwikdahl
      @kwikdahl 8 месяцев назад +15

      @@twelvecatsinatrenchcoat Thing is many believe Russian nuclear missiles might be in the same sorry state as the rest of their army and that we shouldn't be afraid of their nukes. Even if 5% only work, that is still 5% too many.

    • @magnuswright5572
      @magnuswright5572 8 месяцев назад +9

      ​​@@twelvecatsinatrenchcoatNo tactical mind would ever decide to expend all their resources on a first strike, especially when 20% of the arsenal is probably already enough to literally end all life. The point is that it doesn't matter why they didn't launch them all, because launching more wouldn't change anything anyways.

  • @Wazzaja
    @Wazzaja 8 месяцев назад +1135

    I really like how the video simulates the uncanny and uncomfortable state the leader the video is in the perspective of by animating this in such a dramatically different way from Kurzgesagt's usual method. The vertigo-inducing camera movement and the fact the advistor's mouth is moving, put the viewer (especially those familiar with Kurzgesagt's prior videos) on edge, and keeps them there with the bombardment of information, just like how the leader in the video would be feeling at the time. Very excellent. Now, don't do that again! XD

    • @conifercatgirl
      @conifercatgirl 8 месяцев назад +46

      Yes I also like how there are a lot of small subtle things that indicate that it *could* also just be the RADARs/detection systems misreading what's going on (like the interference part specifically), or how not all of the warheads launched at once (which was part of how Stanislav Petrov determined that the US attack wasn't real, since he figured they would launch all of their warheads at once to cause as much initial damage as possible with the lowest chance of retaliation).

    • @lightvoid7089
      @lightvoid7089 8 месяцев назад

      But what's the point of launching back? You're just gonna kill more innocent people.

    • @imperatacylindrica8993
      @imperatacylindrica8993 8 месяцев назад +5

      ...let's not do that at all, please and thank you.
      Edit : I misread your comment, I thought it said "now, do that again" at the end

    • @Noxedwin
      @Noxedwin 8 месяцев назад +11

      There is a very dreamlike quality to the video. As the President is descending to the Bunker, the video starts getting dizzy, as well.
      A literal disassociating panic attack.

    • @bandiechannel4847
      @bandiechannel4847 8 месяцев назад

      Oppenhiemer momento.

  • @ok373737
    @ok373737 2 месяца назад

    Exceptional!

  • @theNacho4174
    @theNacho4174 2 месяца назад

    That will be a fight of who has the best Offensive strategy and defensive capabilities. Lot of those nukes would also be decoys to make the path clear for the real ones.
    This is not like just pushing one button. Both sides have a huge arsenal aswell as countermeasures. Both sides will send waves on each other to try to outsmart the other one

  • @SomethingZombie5476
    @SomethingZombie5476 8 месяцев назад +559

    The animation is so much more advanced compared to previous videos because of lip-synching. Truly an amazing display of talent in the team who worked on this

    • @jerrygreenest
      @jerrygreenest 8 месяцев назад +19

      They couldn't do lip-syncing when acting characters were ducks. It's an unusual episode with people in main role

    • @teamok1025
      @teamok1025 8 месяцев назад

      ​@@jerrygreenestye

  • @TheLeoPoint
    @TheLeoPoint Месяц назад

    Nice presentation 👍🏻 I think ppl also should build basement for fmly with minimum 1 month food stock

  • @Big_Caesar1
    @Big_Caesar1 6 месяцев назад

    Fun video while also being terrifying. What a thrill ride

  • @GL1TCH3D
    @GL1TCH3D 8 месяцев назад +596

    I've heard those close call stories before and it's incredibly chilling just HOW CLOSE we were to annihilation. So many times there were operators that, quick on their feet, realized that the timing didn't make sense for XYZ reason and decided not to act on the alarm.

    • @Alblaka
      @Alblaka 8 месяцев назад +77

      And this is also why clear and trusted communication is so invaluable... and why I'm deeply concerned about Russia and China: During the weather balloon incident, China's MoD specifically *did not pick up* the red phone the US MoD was contacting him on. Emergency communication lines are there for the precise reason that they will ALWAYS be accepted, thus always giving a way to talk things out. If you can't trust a country to honor that mutual communication agreement in a relatively benign incident, why would you spend even a second waiting when you have to worry about a nuclear war? And similarly, you cannot be untrustworthy: several countries pointed out the Russian army gathering at the Ukraine border, and very overtly asked Putin as to whether he's going to invade Ukraine. He publicly assured them it was just a training exercise, and 24h later the war started. If you're willing to lie that boldly, despite the other side very keenly insinuating that they're fully aware of your plans, what value does your word retain? Nothing. So if a nuclear war issue arises, how are you gonna talk things down when nothing you say can be trusted? (This can be applied in a similar vein with Trump, but at least he's no longer the sitting president.)
      Having country leaders who do not recognize the immense threat posed by their disregard for trust and communication, is probably going to be the final nail that starts nuclear war (if it ever comes to that).

    • @Dimitri88888888
      @Dimitri88888888 8 месяцев назад +34

      The one in the submarine was even more chilling, it wasn't anything rational that made them not launch it. The officer who refused to launch told the 2 others that even if the missiles had launched and the us had wiped out the Soviet Union, he asked that if it was even worth it to launch the nuclear missiles as there would be nothing to come back too anyways in the USSR, all family members and homes would already be destroyed and so there was no point in launching these anyways as it would not change the outcome of their loved ones. Aka it was already too late. This was enough to persuade the others.

    • @GalacticTommy
      @GalacticTommy 8 месяцев назад +5

      @@Dimitri88888888I’m totally being that guy but it wasn’t a nuclear missile on the sub. If you’re talking about the Vasili Arkhipov incident, he refused to fire a nuclear torpedo at the US ships. The submarine was a foxtrot class which did not carry nuclear missiles.

    • @nathansavage8692
      @nathansavage8692 8 месяцев назад +7

      The third guy on the sub wasnt even meant to be there! He was the sub fleet commander, if he was on another the wepons would have been used.

    • @QuickStudy4
      @QuickStudy4 8 месяцев назад +7

      ​@@Dimitri88888888Add in the fact that their sub was being thumped by depth charges the whole time, not knowing that they were training charges to try and convince them to surface.

  • @cxnqor
    @cxnqor 8 месяцев назад +948

    This was a crazy video to wrap my head around but…. that green screen transition with the generals clothes at 4:41 was insane 😂 Love the animators and their attention to detail ❤

    • @Christopher-qq4dl
      @Christopher-qq4dl 8 месяцев назад +15

      He had me on the video too lol

    • @michaelrhine3152
      @michaelrhine3152 8 месяцев назад +25

      Oh, I didn't notice that. Thanks for pointing it out

    • @muraliavarma
      @muraliavarma 8 месяцев назад +17

      I honestly thought that was an unintentional animation error lol

    • @Heroo01
      @Heroo01 8 месяцев назад +7

      @@muraliavarma bro what lmfao, how tf would that happen

    • @ckmv2858
      @ckmv2858 8 месяцев назад

      The reality of that was the scariest part of the video.

  • @TheAdvertisement
    @TheAdvertisement 5 месяцев назад +5

    Hearing the Kurzgesagt narrator's voice coming from a panicked military officer is an experience

  • @bob75896
    @bob75896 День назад

    I’m watching in VR on my meta quest 3 and what a view I love your game btw!!!

  • @1408Phantom
    @1408Phantom 8 месяцев назад +926

    Unfortunately, the reduction in nuclear arms is not an indication that there's a chance to eliminate them. The costs associated with their maintenance (and relative uselessness of having THAT many) is likely the only reason they've gone down so much since the height of the cold war

    • @salamanderred8148
      @salamanderred8148 8 месяцев назад +57

      IMHO, it's also for the good of self defense, there is also the lack of technology alternative to fight against Nuclear Warhead.
      "Si Vis Pacem Para Bellum"
      1. We can't shoot every warhead with 100% Certainty. To be hit with many is obviously disaster, but even one is still too much.
      2. Our choice of anti nuclear warhead is very limited.
      3. Attack is the best defense, or at least threat of an attack or Counter attack is one of the best defense there is, which lead to nuclear stalemate.
      4. While it's said that there is only 12.500 ish left, please allow me to doubt. Remember the said phrase, prepare for war. Even if officially every nuclear warhead is dismantled, somewhere someone someway, will hide a few nuclear warheads, either for true self defense, or just for last resort weapon if... They have a war, and losing is not an option, not when you have hidden nuclear warhead.
      5. Now apply the same to our side, we can't be sure that the opponent doesn't hide nuclear weapons, so we hide some too.
      6. Defense against Nuclear Warhead is in need of upgrades, and a lots of upgrades. Maybe super wide area laser that shoot down every single warheads, dummy or not. For example. Basically we need 100% effective anti nuclear, or we just stuck in nuclear versus nuclear.
      7. There is also our need of negating nuclear fallout, or nuclear radiation, which we don't know yet how to do that.
      Not hit with nuclear warhead is nice and all, but the radiation still hits hard, such is the dread of nuclear warhead.
      So unless our defense against Nuclear is 100% denying the power and effect of nuclear warhead ,our available option is only threatening each other with nuclear.

    • @macdjord
      @macdjord 8 месяцев назад +141

      Nuclear disarmament is very much a case of 'Great idea! You first.'.

    • @torrent5018
      @torrent5018 8 месяцев назад +58

      and unfortunately, even if we somehow did achieve complete nuclear disarmament, we’ll still always have the knowledge of *how* to make nuclear weapons. Any spike in geopolitical tension or the election/succession of a particular politician in any number of countries could bring them back pretty quickly

    • @macdjord
      @macdjord 8 месяцев назад +1

      @@salamanderred8148 Well, the advantage of disarmament is that, while you can certainly have secret nukes, you cannot maintain a massive end-the-world arsenal of them. If all the major nuclear powers were to agree to mutual disarmament, sure, they'd probably all keep a few bombs squirreled away, and there would still be the risk of a rogue nation like North Korea or Iran using one, but it would effectively end the risk of destroying humanity.

    • @caesarsalad1170
      @caesarsalad1170 8 месяцев назад +18

      @@macdjord And then whats to stop large conventional wars from happening again?

  • @FrotLopOfficial
    @FrotLopOfficial 8 месяцев назад +744

    This was easily the most intense and entertaining video you guys have made. The drama, so good

    • @ekkehard8
      @ekkehard8 8 месяцев назад +9

      I think this is because the military guy is explaining it as though you're senile 😆

    • @alessandrosilvafilho8527
      @alessandrosilvafilho8527 8 месяцев назад +4

      For a moment, I thought the explanation would take all the retaliation time.

    • @jessy1982
      @jessy1982 8 месяцев назад +6

      @@ekkehard8 Do you see how old most world leaders are? xD

    • @Thzyr
      @Thzyr 8 месяцев назад

      Agreed

    • @0_1_2
      @0_1_2 8 месяцев назад

      Maybe if you’re 16 years old, yeah. You should read more

  • @Scorch428
    @Scorch428 6 месяцев назад +1

    we would probably opt to lose our ground based silos in the 15-30 min decision
    cus ya gotta be sure about this kinda thing
    and we have submarine and air backup, part of the nuclear triad.

  • @angelpenarolo7408
    @angelpenarolo7408 5 дней назад

    The detail of the commanders jacket blending in to the green screen is insane

  • @Frost_on_YouTube
    @Frost_on_YouTube 8 месяцев назад +343

    “Mankind invented the atomic bomb, but no mouse would ever construct a mousetrap.”

    • @-opus
      @-opus 8 месяцев назад +16

      superior species though 🙃

    • @bertberw8653
      @bertberw8653 8 месяцев назад +41

      @@-opus Yes, I agree. Mice are superior to humans.

    • @islowclick
      @islowclick 8 месяцев назад +16

      The P in humanity stands for peace

    • @borgthepig
      @borgthepig 8 месяцев назад +9

      ⁠@@-opusas a dolphin I agree. Mice are far superior then humans. Like, what superior species would create things that destroy themselves?

    • @averagerobloxianwastaken
      @averagerobloxianwastaken 8 месяцев назад +3

      Fr why are we so evil? “Peace is good war is bad” - the few non-corrupted humans that are left

  • @natenelson9102
    @natenelson9102 8 месяцев назад +465

    I always thought the worst part of nuclear bombs is their incredible destructive power, but I think the biggest killer is the fact that a leader needs to make decisions that affect the entirety of the planet in less than a few minutes and with less reliable information than oann

    • @quintessenceSL
      @quintessenceSL 8 месяцев назад

      I've ponder this a bit and it always strikes me the obvious answer is NOT to launch.
      If a nation has launched missiles, the damage is already done, the area will be a wasteland not usable to them, and there is honestly nothing to be done.
      To respond in kind is just to doom the entirety of the human race. And for what? Revenge? You are already dead.
      Think of it as the anti-Prisoner's Dilemma.

    • @AmyDaisy69
      @AmyDaisy69 8 месяцев назад

      It's a simple and easy decision, every time. You simply do not use them at all. There is no good reason to ever use a nuclear weapon in any situation. They are indiscriminate killers that poison the planet, and who is to know how many of those bombs will salt the earth, because that's the level of degeneracy on display here. These people not only hate life itself, but they want to eradicate any chances of its resurgence.

    • @rajveerkanojiya2985
      @rajveerkanojiya2985 8 месяцев назад +1

      first of all nuclear weapons can't destroy whole planet but they can cause nuclear winter which can easily destroy all humankind in 2-3 years

    • @Munchausenification
      @Munchausenification 8 месяцев назад +10

      If you have a nuclear arsenal as a leader you probably be briefed on what to do on the day you are in power... This video is so lazy, I expect better from Kurzgesagt

    • @lazarusboi6289
      @lazarusboi6289 8 месяцев назад +79

      ​​@@MunchausenificationIf you would have watched the video, the premise of the fictitious part is that the leader in question was in their first day in office

  • @jesseH311
    @jesseH311 6 месяцев назад +2

    Wow this video hits different the last few days

  • @stargazingbeginner
    @stargazingbeginner 6 месяцев назад +6

    DEFCON players have been waiting for this moment their entire life

    • @the_algo_rhythm
      @the_algo_rhythm 7 дней назад

      There are still other DEFCON players out there? One of my favorites; been playing since the start.

    • @stargazingbeginner
      @stargazingbeginner 7 дней назад

      @@the_algo_rhythm DEFCON players don't die, they already know the winning move ;)

  • @FlameSoulis
    @FlameSoulis 8 месяцев назад +597

    As someone who played Defcon, I had no idea ICBMs had many mini-warheads in them. In some way, I guess that explains why countermeasures fail in-game.
    Edit: WOW, some really neat stuff in the responses. I also didn't expect this comment to blow up either.

    • @kaitlyn__L
      @kaitlyn__L 8 месяцев назад +71

      They were an innovation of the 60s, so if the game is simulating 50s ICBMs it’d be one warhead per rocket.
      That’s part of why the space race pushed toward larger rockets - bigger payloads could launch cluster warheads as in the manner described in the video!

    • @BorderlinePathetic
      @BorderlinePathetic 8 месяцев назад +24

      It's called MRV (Multiple Reentry Vehicle) or MIRV (Multiple Independently targetable Reentry Vehicle)

    • @bmouch1018
      @bmouch1018 8 месяцев назад +7

      I haven't played Defcon, but perhaps you'd be interested in the game ICBM on steam

    • @helikopterbojowyka-5234
      @helikopterbojowyka-5234 8 месяцев назад +5

      Yea the only way to defend from them is to shoot them down before they split
      Which is mostly very unlikely due to lack of time

    • @obiwankenobi4252
      @obiwankenobi4252 8 месяцев назад +2

      @@helikopterbojowyka-5234especially since they “split” mostly before re-entering the atmosphere

  • @ozzyhuxford4562
    @ozzyhuxford4562 8 месяцев назад +483

    There's nothing better to start the day with than a bit of dread.

    • @teamok1025
      @teamok1025 8 месяцев назад +6

      I live in philippines and its night time
      And i cant sleeep

    • @D.e.v.i.n
      @D.e.v.i.n 8 месяцев назад +3

      In Germany its 16:20

    • @scottmatheson3346
      @scottmatheson3346 8 месяцев назад +2

      I'm glad they're back to existential dread, all this treacly stuff about how there's hope for the future rubs me the wrong way.

    • @rajveerkanojiya2985
      @rajveerkanojiya2985 8 месяцев назад +1

      ​@@teamok1025it's 8pm here

    • @person8064
      @person8064 8 месяцев назад

      ​@@scottmatheson3346 don't worry, it's guaranteed that climate change will royally fuck the Earth's ecosystem and probably cause hundreds of millions of deaths while developed countries get off with minor inflation despite being the main cause of the problem!

  • @jesreelconde6908
    @jesreelconde6908 5 месяцев назад

    I have never been ever left distressed by a single video until this came along, thanks

  • @mathewgrover6455
    @mathewgrover6455 Месяц назад +1

    Just the thing to watch before going to bed.

  • @connorphares8157
    @connorphares8157 8 месяцев назад +713

    I found this surprisingly stressful to watch, but extremely informative.

    • @anderstermansen130
      @anderstermansen130 8 месяцев назад

      dont worry, a nuclear war is never going to happen.

    • @namantherockstar
      @namantherockstar 8 месяцев назад +4

      Nutshell inspires me.. My parents said if i get 50K followers They'd buy me a professional camera for recording..begging u guys , literally
      Begging...

    • @marcocasanova2543
      @marcocasanova2543 8 месяцев назад

      Same

    • @1989Nihil
      @1989Nihil 8 месяцев назад

      That was part of the point they wanted to make.

  • @CHANNEL.518
    @CHANNEL.518 8 месяцев назад +728

    Did y’all expand your team? The videos are coming out a lot more often, it seems. I’m totally here for it! 👍

    • @CheetahBoy-gx2dx
      @CheetahBoy-gx2dx 8 месяцев назад +19

      Who doesn't love fast Kurzgesagt videos

    • @supermaster2012
      @supermaster2012 8 месяцев назад +1

      Soros is now paying the bill, that's the difference. They have become just another propaganda arm of the new world order.

    • @twelvecatsinatrenchcoat
      @twelvecatsinatrenchcoat 8 месяцев назад +4

      They realized they have to compete with Mitsi Studio now and Mitsi is like the edgy 90's cool kid that rides a skateboard and says "dude" and wears sunglasses.

    • @hajfksdl
      @hajfksdl 8 месяцев назад +1

      ​@@twelvecatsinatrenchcoathardly, kurzgesagt has 20 million more subscribers than them

    • @demoncloud6147
      @demoncloud6147 8 месяцев назад

      Imagine Putin watching this while taking a dump ! 🤣

  • @garethwood6659
    @garethwood6659 3 месяца назад

    I remember watching threads in the early 80s it was terrifying. I never thought we'd be thinking about this again.

  • @onehappypepper8732
    @onehappypepper8732 6 месяцев назад

    Wondering if they'd ever make a sandbox learning tool like universe sandbox but in the style of these illustrations. Where you can look into detail on the science of objects too

  • @Gabrielbarsch
    @Gabrielbarsch 8 месяцев назад +111

    Imagine how fast life can change because like 16 people can’t get along

    • @The13thRonin
      @The13thRonin 8 месяцев назад +9

      Good. Launch em all baby.

    • @Kokorocodon
      @Kokorocodon 8 месяцев назад +19

      @@The13thRonin Touch grass

    • @The13thRonin
      @The13thRonin 8 месяцев назад +4

      @@Kokorocodon I'd rather touch the nuclear button, manlet.

    • @agustinvenegas5238
      @agustinvenegas5238 8 месяцев назад +10

      ​@@The13thRonincan you say that without crying though?

    • @RandomPerson-zg8lg
      @RandomPerson-zg8lg 8 месяцев назад +5

      ​@@The13thRoninchild

  • @cosmus2584
    @cosmus2584 8 месяцев назад +231

    That POV was really well done and does a really good job at making the viewer feel the pressure of that moment.

  • @haggis_insanis5713
    @haggis_insanis5713 5 месяцев назад +3

    Oh Crap... the whole start of the video I was shouting to myself, "JUST HIT THE BUTTON!" seeming it very much could have been a false alarm, I should never be in control of nuclear weapons. ever.

  • @Wrutschgeluck
    @Wrutschgeluck 6 месяцев назад

    You have to decide !!!
    -ad starts for a beer -
    Good Timing!

  • @yeeterskadeeter9400
    @yeeterskadeeter9400 8 месяцев назад +829

    The "There's nothing we can do for them" part actually sent a shiver down my spine

    • @danhtranquoc3745
      @danhtranquoc3745 8 месяцев назад +8

      ok

    • @Russian4647
      @Russian4647 8 месяцев назад +4

      At no point in the video does he say those words

    • @SHESA_PUNKROCKER
      @SHESA_PUNKROCKER 8 месяцев назад +11

      since radiation poisoning is so hard to treat on it's own, throw in millions of men, women, children and others all suffering from it with limited and small amounts of non-irradiated supplies, it is a true nightmare after the blast as well

    • @SHESA_PUNKROCKER
      @SHESA_PUNKROCKER 8 месяцев назад +29

      @@Russian4647 dude, watch the fucking part where they're talking about how the people in busy cities can't escape

    • @Russian4647
      @Russian4647 8 месяцев назад +4

      @@SHESA_PUNKROCKER rewatched and looked… here’s the time stamp: 2:01 “not much can be done for the people stuck in traffic” is similar, but not the same as “there’s nothing we can do for them” and the guy who posted this comment, used quotation marks… you know why they’re called that? Because they are used for quoting. He was ‘quoting’ the video but he quoted inaccurately..

  • @acrylicmarlin6356
    @acrylicmarlin6356 8 месяцев назад +789

    This was unimaginably distressing, but a sacrifice needed to fully understand how dire the situation is and how hopeless we would be if this would happen

    • @trevorday7923
      @trevorday7923 8 месяцев назад +11

      Then I recommend you DON'T watch "Threads" made by the BBC in the late 80s, which shows the buildup to a nuclear war then the attack in GRAPHIC detail, followed by the aftermath. It is, hands down, THE most disturbing thing you'll ever watch

    • @swedishwildlife916
      @swedishwildlife916 8 месяцев назад +4

      If i were the president i woud not press the button

    • @ferdinanddaratenas3447
      @ferdinanddaratenas3447 8 месяцев назад

      ​@@swedishwildlife916 I'd press the button so hard and fast that I might break it. I'm not afraid of dying, and I won't spare the enemy any destruction and suffering if they attack first. Although I understand that you came from Sweden, so self-hatred in ingrained in your culture.

    • @DLlama
      @DLlama 8 месяцев назад +1

      America is painfully unaware of the war that's going on around us, through media. Way too many are voting for our downfall, and millions more are passively sitting out. Meanwhile, the enemy marches every day

    • @LisaLeeMercer
      @LisaLeeMercer 8 месяцев назад

      @@trevorday7923 out of all the horror movies I’ve watched, Threads was by far the most frightening. Especially when I watched it after Day After Tomorrow. Ah the bomb drill days.

  • @danieljager4405
    @danieljager4405 2 месяца назад

    Best. Video. Yet.

  • @noamankhan2157
    @noamankhan2157 4 месяца назад

    This video was soo intense

  • @damsen978
    @damsen978 8 месяцев назад +359

    The animation got so much better from the most popular videos i seen on this channel. I'm so proud of the talent involved here, props to everyone who worked on this video.

    • @Tweedledee__
      @Tweedledee__ 8 месяцев назад

      Thanks!

    • @namantherockstar
      @namantherockstar 8 месяцев назад

      Nutshell inspires me.. My parents said if i get 50K followers They'd buy me a professional camera for recording..begging u guys , literally
      Begging...

  • @Milesprowerthegamer
    @Milesprowerthegamer 8 месяцев назад +552

    Ultimately the problem is this:
    Ideal number of countries with nuclear weapons: 0.
    Worst number of countries to have nuclear weapons: 1.
    Somehow we have to get the amount of nukes down to zero without any country lying and keeping some, without letting one country possess the entire world's supply of nukes, AND we have to somehow prevent weapons from ever being made again when the knowledge still exists.

    • @JD-wf2hu
      @JD-wf2hu 8 месяцев назад +22

      Exactly this

    • @chico9805
      @chico9805 8 месяцев назад +15

      Nuclear war is inevitable, only question is how devastating for civilization will it be?

    • @toolbaggers
      @toolbaggers 8 месяцев назад

      We live in a world where a Donald Trump could kill the entire planet if they can't drink a dozen Diet Cokes per day.
      The US and Russia should not be allowed to have the ability for a single citizen from one of those countries to have the ability to end the world. The entire world needs to boycott these evil countries until they can behave and not selfishly threaten death for everybody.

    • @mingaubr1417
      @mingaubr1417 8 месяцев назад +32

      Reality sucks

    • @tf5pZ9H5vcAdBp
      @tf5pZ9H5vcAdBp 8 месяцев назад

      The obvious solution is for a nation to launch all of theirs appropriately distributed to eliminate all of the others at the same time. Then there's no reason for the nukes and there's no nukes left. Win win!

  • @balangas3910
    @balangas3910 6 месяцев назад +6

    I’m juggling with the idea that the fact we have nuclear weapons in the arsenal of a couple powerful countries, from both sides, means that those sides won’t get to fight each other directly ever without annihilating each other, thus they don’t fight. If nukes didn’t exist I’d imagine NATO and the USSR would have had a full scale war at some point, Japan would maybe still be an empire… I don’t know if the threat of our end is actually keeping us from killing each other

  • @bulgingbattery2050
    @bulgingbattery2050 Месяц назад

    This can't happen soon enough.
    I'm stoked!

  • @Rechnerstrom
    @Rechnerstrom 8 месяцев назад +250

    Exactly this scenario happened during the Norwegian rocket scare 1995. Due to communication failures Russia wasn't notified of the start of a norwegian sounding rocket which had the mission to do high altitude research of the aurora. Unfortunately the rocket veered off course heading toward Russia on a course that coincided with the air corridor for Minuteman III missiles from North Dakota into Russia. The russian satellite based early warning system detected the launch of the unheralded rocket. A reentry course was calculated and it was determined that the missile had it's course set on Moscow. Still, it was just a single missile so the command center tried to estimate if this was a plausible threat. They only had minutes to judge and came to the conclusion that the missile showed all the characteristics for a submarine launched Trident missile launched near the Norwegian coast. At first it was judged that it could be a precursor attack to blind Russia's early warning systems enabling a massive missile strike.
    This got the chain of command on full alert and president Yeltsin was informed. Yeltsin at the time was stationed in the hospital for treatment of medical conditions stemming from alcohol abuse. The Nowegian rocket now separated from it's second stage and now looked on the early warning system like a MIRV attack on Moscow. It was now determined that this could be a decapiitation strike. A direct hit on the russian command center would disable Russia of a counterattack. This was deemed plausible as a NATO strategy, which adopted this kind of strategy during the Reagan aera.
    At the time Russia had a 6 eyes approach. A nuclear strike could only be launched if 3 people simultaneously gave the launch order. This was the president of Russia (Yeltsin), the defense minister and the commander of the strategic rocket forces. The defense minister and the commander already transmitted their permission and it only hinged on Yeltsin. Yeltsin turned the keys and the launch order for the retaliation strike was activated.
    Wikipedia is unfortunately a bit short on why we still exist. From the story I heard an encryption error occurred for transmitting the order. Missile command couldn't decrypt the order and asked for a repetition with the correct key. In those 2 minutes the rocket again changed it's course and headed out for the White Sea. The order wasn't repeated.
    Yeltsin later said they watched the missile until it finally plunged into the sea. This had been the scariest 20 minutes he ever had.

    • @dbrokensoul
      @dbrokensoul 8 месяцев назад +105

      A software error... We were saved by a software error. As someone in IT industry, never have I been this grateful for a bug or error.

    • @pikharov
      @pikharov 8 месяцев назад

      Wikipedia is short on reasoning of why we still exist, because it's a lie. Yeltsin didn't push the button, because he could not believe US would launch such an attack. And in a couple of minutes it was known that the rocket is not military, he said so himself in an interview. Though MOD really did vote for launch.

    • @AiSard
      @AiSard 8 месяцев назад +32

      Any sources on Yeltsin turning the key? Most of my google hits seem to say that no-one really knows what happened with Yeltsin during those minutes, and we are only left with what got revealed to the public later. Turning the key and/or a software error not seemingly reported.

    • @jokepp
      @jokepp 8 месяцев назад +8

      According to the German Wikipedia, the nuclear briefcase was made ready, but the order was not given.

    • @quoccuongtran724
      @quoccuongtran724 8 месяцев назад +8

      Russian leaders felt so much on the rope back at that incident
      it could have been dismissed with an arguement similar to the 1983 incident (6:28): if NATO (the USA) was gonna launch a decapitation strike at Moscow, it would have belonged to a larger first strike aimed at all of Russia's nuclear & military capabilities (silos, air bases,...) with roughly a hundred missiles at minimum;
      Stanislav Petrov (the guy at the early warning system in the 1983 incident) used the same reasoning to clear up the warning of 5 possible incoming missiles (that turned out to be sun glares) - it would have been more than that if the USA were to launch a preemptive strike

  • @SlimmerProductions
    @SlimmerProductions 8 месяцев назад +255

    If you want a fun “near miss” story, I recommend the one where a bear almost caused World War III during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Very long story short, a bear was spotted by a guard at an airfield, who mistook it for someone climbing the fence. Alert went out to all airbases to be on alert for saboteurs, except an Air National Guard base up in Wisconsin that due to faulty wiring were told “war has started, launch everything”. By the time they received the correct message the interceptors were speeding down the runway, the pilots absolutely convinced war had come, and all their planes armed with air-to-air nuclear weapons. They had to chase the planes down the runway and try to cut off their takeoff (either by making the first plane stop or running into the first plane to force it to stop).
    And there was also the time, according to one pilot for take it with a grain of salt, that Nixon was drunk and ordered North Korea to be nuked leaving a single F-4 on a South Korean tarmac, armed with a nuke, to wait for the go-ahead.

    • @hannahs.7297
      @hannahs.7297 8 месяцев назад +7

      lol get nuclear bear’d

    • @aurelienrodriguez3252
      @aurelienrodriguez3252 8 месяцев назад +1

      I just discovers the existence of the air-to-air nuclear missiles. I check wikipedia and find AIR-2 Génie missile.
      It would seem that the philosophy of the thing was to just pop an atomic explosion buble in the sky to "intercept" a large formation of fast bombers, since air-air targetting system of missile was not develop enough and bullets was inadapted. The worst that it's make sens! But they probably wanted to use that thing on top of the pacific ocean.

  • @tianlan6068
    @tianlan6068 4 месяца назад +1

    The General & the President has kept their cool in this intensely heated scenario.

  • @donloder1
    @donloder1 6 месяцев назад

    someone been taking notes from various 4x games.