The Cynical Historian - 2021-07-23
The Cold War defined the half century following WWII. Historians have argued its origin for decades. There is no clear answer. It all depends on not only how you define the Cold War and its beginning, but also your entire historical perspective. Are you a triumphal nationalist (orthodoxy), a condemning activist (revisionism), see a false dichotomy here (post-revisionism), or even go beyond such modern categorizations? Answering why the Cold War started defines how you see international politics today. Project MAD playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLjnwpaclU4wXW18I7joPDPXmfL1zepBNv ------------------------------------------------------------ See pinned comment and its replies for references, notes, responses, and errata since they can't fit here - but here is my paper on the British decision to intervene into the Russian Civil War: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ry4Uvv4ikeXJSWvyS0cpHcVHDFejHPUzB--euXWZgOc/edit?usp=sharing ------------------------------------------------------------ Connected videos: state rivalries: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLjnwpaclU4wVUfT9O-wI-T5W2ZCRCGcTL Great Depression lecture: https://youtu.be/tI6V2vKiXcM WWII lecture: https://youtu.be/hQZSAbiK2Cs Cold War lecture: https://youtu.be/m4Dfe-gn_Fs Russian Intervention: https://youtu.be/1mC1bmzbgxY Aftermath of WWI: https://youtu.be/G3vKUgoTghg 1919 Red Scare: https://youtu.be/S4Pi2nYcYNw nuclear near misses: https://youtu.be/mVIFmAae_8w Afghanistan causation: https://youtu.be/7Nwe0ehW2nY 2nd Great Awakening lecture: https://youtu.be/0AwHLRqX3Qk United States Postal Service: https://youtu.be/xu2RyBVC-Gk Orthodoxy vs Revisionism: https://youtu.be/xQGs3eYxGRw ------------------------------------------------------------ SUBSCRIBE FOR MORE VIDEOS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=CynicalCypher88 Support the channel through PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/CynicalHistorian or by purchasing MERCH: https://teespring.com/stores/the-cynical-historian LET'S CONNECT: Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/cynicalhistorian Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cynicalcypher88 Subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/CynicalHistory/ Discord: https://discord.gg/Ukthk4U Twitter: https://twitter.com/Cynical_History ------------------------------------------------------------ Chapters: 0:00 pertinent questions 5:28 defining origins 12:18 counterarguments 16:08 post-revisionism wins 17:01 going through the timeline 31:26 conclusion 32:42 outtakes Wiki: The Cold War originated in the breakdown of relations between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc, in the years 1945–1949. The origins derive from diplomatic (and occasional military) confrontations stretching back decades, followed by the issue of political boundaries in Central Europe and non-democratic control of the East by the Soviet Army. In the 1940s came economic issues (especially the Marshall Plan) and then the first major military confrontation, with a threat of a hot war, in the Berlin Blockade of 1948–1949. By 1949, the lines were sharply drawn and the Cold War was largely in place in Europe.[1] Outside Europe, the starting points vary, but the conflict centered on the US' development of an informal empire in Southeast Asia in the mid-1940s.[2] Events preceding World War II and even the Communist takeover of Russia in 1917, underlay older tensions between the Soviet Union, European countries and the United States. ------------------------------------------------------------ Hashtags: #history #ProjectMAD #ColdWar
Most people in the west seems to forget how utterly traumatized the post ww2 USSR was.
They had endured the extreme hardships of the first 5 year plans only to see its hard earned gains destroyed in an apocalyptic war.
The post-war Soviet political and military leaders were shaped by extreme societal trauma in a way that americans can't really understand. Even the US civil war pales in comparision.
Well it certainly reflects in their views. They viewed Truman as a warmonger despite him being the guy that stopped MacArthur from pulling out the nukes while thinking Ike was a good guy despite being even harsher to Russia than Truman was
@@henryfleischer404 The Fallen of World War II give you some perspective on the scale of Soviet suffering. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwKPFT-RioU
It definitely explains the harsh measures taken. The issue is too though that when such extreme trauma influences policy it can lead to some pretty bad things.
maybe, but I'm sure the Poles and the Czechs could...
Thugs took power, it's not that hard to understand.
This is just as much an explanation of the entire Cold War as it is an explanation of the causes. Well done!
Indeed, coming from a high school teacher's perspective, Cynical's videos offer a very good summary in excess of what most textbooks are capable, and also offer some intriguing perspectives.
It's like that one house that gave out full sized chocolate bars that one Halloween
Basically it's the one liner explanation of ALL of history... "People were stupid and instead of listening to each other they thought they knew better than the other side what each wanted and needed"
@@Ugly_German_Truths Well if you just trust what other people say you’ll get taken advantage of. Important to add this because it’s a bit more nuanced than “people are stupid”. It’s sort of a “this is why we can’t have nice things” thing
It’s simple. The USA and USSR where both on the sofa and neither wanted to get up to change the thermostat. Thus the Cold War.
You deserve far more likes
Getting up to change the thermostat is a bitch, tho. No lie
@BoyNamedSue that is hilarious
Alternative Metaphor -- they were an old married couple who kept getting off the sofa to change the thermostat, if only just to spite each other
One liked blue popsicles, one liked red popsicles…
There was a saying in my( former Warsow Pact) country: ”In capitalism, man is exploited by man. In communism, it is the other way around”
That one was pretty common around the world.
I have heard it before! Considering how popular it is, I would say that this is one of the greatest political jokes that came out of the Eastern Bloc... and they had a lot!
BO-RING. (Before or after Kruschev?)
best cold war joke.
"He's being annoying."
King Richard I does as he pleases; he cares not for your displeasure.
I have been waiting to be graced by his Feline Majesty 💖
And yes, I had to watch on 2 parts, but the video was well worth it. Great job Cypher.
We have gathered to praise tribute to king richard. Even if the intorduction by that bearded servant takes its time
It's a cat, if they are not annoying, they are actively planning your demise, little monsters!
I lost the heart on this comment because I edited it to fix the grammar. Oh well, C'est la vie.
'it's just a fantasy term for fiction authors who've lost any semblance of historical perspective,' DAMNNNNNNNNNNNNN! my man spittin' hot fire!
That he contradicts in regards to the Cuban missile crisis. Look for the unless, it's basically saying but.
I've learned more about history from this channel than from every history class I've ever taken in my life
because history classes in k-12 are designed to be general education that only cover the most majour points in history. if you want to learn more about a topic you have to take a specialised class for that.
@@magnusyarbrough5527 I mean, given that this dude covered all of this content in just 30 minutes or so, and the average high school class in the USA tends to be about 40 minutes per subject per day on a rotating schedule (although this can vary), I don't think it's unreasonable to expect that this quality and quantity of information should be provided in public schooling in order to provide a well-rounded education. Because, I mean, schools are technically supposed to educate people.
effluviah no, the school system is designed to prepare you for college and employment, its supposed to find your interests so you can pursue that path in college. not saying i agree with american education, but its purpose is far from trying to make everyone intelligent
Is a Cynical Centrist around the corner? It should be "I just want to grill" guy.
lol
He should also make seemingly inanely obvious statements, such as "I think Nazis and Tankies are both bad" and "I do not like war crimes"
I mean i'm sure if he had to pick between being room mates with Woodrow Wilson or John Brown he'd choose John Brown but still.
@@dimitrikusnetsov8731 Woodrow Wilson would be more cordial while scheduling a klan meeting, though. You can't have someone ranting and raving while we enjoy our cocktails.
@@donalny All fun and games until he's watching Birth of a Nation at 2 in the morning again
Now we will wait for the arrival of: Captain Contra, the Cynical Centrist
Wouldn't the Next step not be Commander Insufferably Arrogant (CIA) ?
Jreg can be heard reeing in the background
That ass, thats Contra's *ass*.
To me it almost feels like a perfect storm situation, both nations had managed to find some semblance of stability post WW2 and were dominant powers within it and as tensions slowly mounted between them they grew more wary and nervous. Combined with their own paranoia and fear of losing what stability they had they both entrenched heavily and viewed the other as something to be removed
Cypher: "Hey, Cypher here, and this is gonna be a long episode"
Me: finally
“A Study in Confusion” sounds like a great basis for a video essay.
“Blame” is kinda pointless. It’s just too big a thing to point a finger at any one actor. Stalin was still a terrible person, but we overlooked tyranny when it suited us often enough.
"The world is just that cruel" - Eren Jaeger
We are apes, it's what we do. Fight, kill, fuck and sling shit at each other.
I mean, we literally propped up communist governments when they opposed Stalin. Prior to completely collapsing in the late 80s, the Communist regime in Somalia spent its time just bouncing back and forth between the US and USSR.
I mean there’s a growing number of people calling for socialism and even Communism in America, sort of repeating the 70s but stronger, which after the Cold War is going to be incredibly hard to defend unless the U.S. vastly underplayed the crimes of the USSR. This topic is going to need to be talked about. Specifically who were really in essence the “good guys” in the Cold War, it shouldn’t be because it’s not as cut and dry as WW2 since the Soviets did nasty things and the U.S. also did nasty things, but it’s going to happen so long as we use the term socialism and spouting Marx in order to enact progressive policies. What the U.S. needs now more than ever is another Teddy Roosevelt. Someone who really gives off a Republican vibe, even to the point of being anti-socialist and ok with the existence of big business, but is willing to push heavier stronger more progressive policies that would tear down large billionaire companies, go out of his way to try and fix a lot of the problems around that time, enact healthcare, etc..
@@donalny Somalia would’ve been great had they won the Ogaden War. Soviet Union is against intervention/Imperialism yet they along with Cuba Intervened.
I really enjoy these history collab videos, really interesting and useful as a teaching tool to have several historians offer different kinds of videos on the same topic!
i am increasingly of the opinion that history happens almost entirely by accident
Love your work man. It can be hard to find the light of rationality amidst the ideological fog.
Germany didn't really support Finland yet in the winter war, that happened later in the continuation war.
I'm so tired of YouTube. If I didn't follow you or Mr. Beat on Twitter I would never know when y'all upload 🤦🏿♀️
I freaking love this channel. Thanks for the education Cipher!
It wasn't "cold" for the global south. And it definitely ain't over
Not once in highschool or early college even tried to explain things. Thanks for the efforts very much appreciated
Wow I love your channel and find it to be more educational than anything I actually learned in college, but then again I am a psychology major. Thanks again for such a great channel and I look forward to checking out all of your stuff.
This is outstanding work Sir! 👏👏👏 Standing ovation! We didn't even need to give you pointers and you have already matched and in many cases exceeded the contribution of your peers. Keep at it! We have got your back from here on out. Let's get this mess cleaned up! 👊
Remember, coordinated effort is key. Find others to join your collective. Collaborate big. Aim for total union.
For History we stand Revise we fall!
I love how you replaced any controversial symbols with youtube logos! XD
I may be a bit wary of using Nazism and communism to mock YouTube demonetization, but I must admit: as long as history videos lose their ad revenue, YouTube still deserves to be mocked!
Great job, man! I love your unbiased (at least as much as is possible, everyone has bias) takes on these sensitive, complex issues. Also, I wanna snuggle King Richard. Never thought I'd say that, but your kitty is adorable.
I'm so glad you made this video. You've inspired me to look further into much of this.
Great video. I wrote my senior thesis for my History Degree on the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan and the Carter Doctrine. The "misunderstanding school of thought" definitely rings true to me in a lot of ways, at least as it regards that specific set of events (both sides viewing their own actions in Afghanistan as, at base, defensive). However, I'm deeply skeptical that it can really be applied to the Cold War as a whole, despite it being true in a technical sense (citing, as you do, the archival materials of both powers) that the Soviets and Americans often misunderstood their respective goals to varying degrees and acted accordingly. I cannot help but sympathize with the overall idea that the Cold War was based, fundamentally, in irreconcilable differences in Ideology and Great Power Competition, at least as it regards the Soviet Union and United States specifically. As you rightly point out, the Cold War has much deeper roots than the immediate aftermath of WWII, and assigning responsibility for the Cold War to one of the two "sides" is essentially impossible. To the extent that an overarching narrative exists that I can support more readily, it's that the period from 1914-1989 represents the fall of Western Europe as the de facto rulers of the world and the reorganization that followed, guided by the competition between the two leading ostensibly post-nationalist ideologies of Liberalism and Marxism. No doubt that view ignores some things and overemphasizes others... but I find it accommodates more than it doesn't.
...and that struggle / tussle continues in 2023
I have to disagree with this assessment, mostly on the basis that prior to the October Revolution, Western Europe WASN'T the defacto leader of the world. The Russian Empire was one of the most powerful in the world, and had been for quite some time and were tied to the same exact families that ruled in the West. East and West were actually much more equal before these events and in fact, it was only for a very short time period during World War 2 itself that you could argue the West held most the power. And besides that, Germany and France had been the truly dominant powers in Western Europe up until then, and considering they were both seriously fucked after WW1 as well.......yeah, this idea that the "West Controlled the World" is silly. It didn't, still doesn't, and never really has.
I love when I wake up and theres a whole ass history youtube Avengers thing going on lol
Just found this thanks to Patrick Kelly's video about the EpiPen, and I'm gonna love this whole series! Nice effing job!
This has helped and even altered my view on the Cold War.
Very well put together video, I personally liked your point that the United States’ dominance in comparison to broken down Allied countries (including the USSR) being the cause for the creation and consolidation of Soviet power in the Eastern bloc (this was a new point I had never heard before). I also liked that you deconstructed both pro-west and anti-west interpretations of the Cold War, instead pursuing the misunderstanding approach which I believe is one of the best ways of looking at this time period.
It’s actually the House committee on UN American activities
Thank you for organizing this project, and for the great detailed video!
Really nice work, but with the cat, I'm sold. Subscribed.
Wow amazing work keep it up, love to learn.
A big factor was the nuclear bomb. The ability to delete a country from the map and keep it uninhabitable for years is a powerful motivator, and it was the start of mutuality assured destruction. World powers could no longer just fight wars, like in WW2. It was just make more and better nukes just in case they press that button. We’re all used to it by now, but that feeling of being constantly threatened by nuclear destruction must have been crushing.
8:15 you missed Colombia. We had the longest continuous armed conflict against communist guerrillas, and there are still combats going on against the ELN.
C-olumb-IA.
Hey Cynical Historian. Thank you for making these videos. I really enjoy them. We really do need to remember our history. I really enjoy history and I enjoy your videos. Thank you for making them.
I like the irony of project MAD. It's mutually assured success in that just one I follow introduced me to more.
It’s a good day when cypher publishes a video and it’s a better day when it’s a collab project
Thank you Cipher, I really do thnk I learned something new with this episode. This is not to say that you haven't managed to teach me anything new before, and I do follow your episodes quite rigorously, which you have, for the most part in getting more details in focus for me. But the whole concept of an allied intervention during and after WWI was new to me. As a german national I have been tought about Brest-Litovsk and that whole unholy conundrum that the Kaiserreich and the OHL caused there and as the son of former avid socialists I got a good dose of one-sidedness as well seeing that I did grow up in the area you so alloqently lay out here. SO thank you a huge bunch for opening new stratae in my on-going mission to become more knowledgable (pls excuse any and all mistakes in my English, I strife to get it right, but alas often I do fail, and google is no real option). Thank you ver much and keep up the good work.
Ideology was the excuse. Who gets what was the real reason. While causes for any conflict are myriad, at the end of the day it's always who gets what and they are not the same as I am so therefore they are a threat.
Precisely. This is simple imperial conflict of the sort that has been par for the course from Sumeria/ Babylon to Persian/Babylon to Greeks/Persia to Sparta/Athens to Rome/Carthage and on. When powerful imperial states exist at the same time conflict is certain. Only one thing prevented the Cold War from ending the way every single other one of these conflicts ended. Nuclear weapons finally created a world where it was no longer possible to win. If Carthage and Rome had both had hydrogen bombs they'd have managed to keep their conflict a COld war.
One weapon to end the world, and one to keep it under wrap, who would have thought
Cypher, loved the video and breaking down how both sides were at fault, with the biggest cause being the misunderstanding between the USA and USSR. A curious thing I would have liked to hear more about was your reference to overtures Stalin made to try improve relations prior to the Berlin Blockade. What did he do which was considered a possible olive branch or trying to reduce tensions?
The book i spoke of in the video
Great stuff like always
Thoroughly enjoyed both history lesson and kitty cuddles.
Know what this reminds me of?
The Fog of War, the documentary of Robert McNamara's recollections of his time being in the army air corps in WWII and secretary of defense under Kennedy and LBJ. Specifically, it reminds me of him talking about his encounter with Vietnamese military leaders in the 1990s and his realization that the war was, in more ways than just this one (it goes into Tonkin as well), based fundamentally on misunderstandings.
Thank you for starting off the playlist! What does everyone think was the most critical cause of the Cold War?
The existential threat to capitalism caused by socialism would be my broadest answer.
@@semajsga yeah thats become more apparent the more one reads up on the cold war. It can't be claimed that the west and the US in particular were trying to spread democracy and curb out authoritarianism caused by communists when they literally funded reactionary autocracies just because they were anti communist and the fact that European powers still tried to hold onto their imperialist ambitions in places like Algeria, Iran, and Vietnam
I think they were just bored and needed something to do.
@@Spongebrain97. But communist and socialist states were within the western alliance too.
For the first several decades or so of its existence the western ally Israel was run by socialist governments, while by the late cold war, the US strengthen ties with China with the two nations funding the same people to counter Soviet influence in the third world.
For that matter socialists also exercised great power within the capitalist states of the American sphere of influence and often did so to maintain their empires. In 1945-1951 the British Labour government under Clement Attlee helped found NATO, sent troops to fight in Korea, used the international courts to frustrate Iranian efforts to nationalise Anglo-Persian oil holdings and stripped the future democratic leader of Botswana, Seretse Khama of his power as a chief of Buchenanland to keep in the good graces of the apartheid South African government to get access to cheap gold and Uranium. The was also approval of the Briggs plan in Malaysia, which forcible relocated half a million peasants into camps to control the economy of countryside as a means of flushing out communist insurgents.
Ah I love the song eve of destruction, it makes me happy to hear it used.
Misread that as “ewe of destruction;” must be my knitting, lol
another sidenote: Italian fascism's rise can be attributed to Woodrow as well (he refused to let them claim Dalmatia)
@CynicalHistorian - 2021-07-23
Thanks for watching, and please consider supporting the channel by buying merch: https://teespring.com/stores/the-cynical-historian
Or by donating to my Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/CynicalHistorian
See following replies for corrections and additional info, but first, here are some related videos to check out:
Project MAD playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLjnwpaclU4wXW18I7joPDPXmfL1zepBNv
state rivalries: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLjnwpaclU4wVUfT9O-wI-T5W2ZCRCGcTL
Great Depression lecture: https://youtu.be/tI6V2vKiXcM
WWII lecture: https://youtu.be/hQZSAbiK2Cs
Cold War lecture: https://youtu.be/m4Dfe-gn_Fs
Russian Intervention: https://youtu.be/1mC1bmzbgxY
Aftermath of WWI: https://youtu.be/G3vKUgoTghg
1919 Red Scare: https://youtu.be/S4Pi2nYcYNw
nuclear near misses: https://youtu.be/mVIFmAae_8w
Afghanistan causation: https://youtu.be/7Nwe0ehW2nY
2nd Great Awakening lecture: https://youtu.be/0AwHLRqX3Qk
United States Postal Service: https://youtu.be/xu2RyBVC-Gk
Orthodoxy vs Revisionism: https://youtu.be/xQGs3eYxGRw
@CynicalHistorian - 2021-07-23
[reserved for errata]
@CynicalHistorian - 2021-07-23
References
My paper on the British decision to intervene into the Russian Civil War: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ry4Uvv4ikeXJSWvyS0cpHcVHDFejHPUzB--euXWZgOc/edit?usp=sharing
Campbell Craig and Sergey Radchenko, The Atomic Bomb and the Origins of the Cold War (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University, 2008). https://amzn.to/35cXFdF
Donald Davis & Eugene Trani, The First Cold War: The Legacy of Woodrow Wilson in US-Soviet Relations (Columbia, Mo.: University of Missouri Press, 2002). https://amzn.to/2ubZmoW
Lloyd C. Gardner, Arthur Schlesinger Jr., and Hans J. Morgenthau, The Origins of the Cold War (Waltham, Mass.: Ginn and Company, 1970). https://amzn.to/2LkOwZk
Origins of the Cold War: An International History, edited by Melvyn P. Leffler and David S. Painter (London: Routledge, 1994). https://amzn.to/3oj5tSz
The Cambridge History of the Cold War: Origins, edited by Melvyn P. Leffler and Odd Arne Westad (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010). https://amzn.to/3bbjCNM
Martin McCauley, Origins of the Cold War, 1941-1949, rev. 3rd ed. (1995; Harlow, UK: Pearson Education Limited, 2003). https://amzn.to/3bh5cvF
Jeremi Suri, “The Early Cold War,” in A Companion to American Foreign Relation, edited by Robert D. Schulzinger, 2nd ed. (2003; Malden, Mass.: Blackwell Publishing, 2006), 215-229. https://amzn.to/35gswG3
@USSChicago-pl2fq - 2021-07-23
loved that you put Barry McGuire's Eve of Destruction it is my one of my most favorite Vietnam War songs since I heard it play on an old A-Team episode
@BradyPostma - 2021-07-24
@@USSChicago-pl2fq My first introduction to The Eve of Destruction was when music YouTuber Todd in the Shadows reviewed it in a video.
@jakecode103 - 2021-07-27
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