The Man Who Almost Went to Prison for Saving the World - How History Works

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  • Опубліковано 23 вер 2022
  • Starting or preventing war can be as simple as making a tough decision and pressing a button. That’s a decisions that one mind had to make, one man who stood between us and complete, global annihilation…
    He was a simple man who believed in the common good. And it was this guiding instinct that convinced a regular soviet soldier that the computer warning flashing on his screen about an incoming nuclear missile attack was, in fact, a false alarm. If he was wrong, his motherland could be destroyed and a retaliation of missiles would be fired, creating a domino effect of nuclear explosions worldwide.
    But if he was right, then he’d save all of humankind. So what was it like in those crucial seconds? What was his thought process and why was he punished for preventing the end of the world?
    Well, it’s time to learn How History Works to understand everything that led up to this fateful decision, and how the world almost changed on a dime.
    It all went down on the 26th of September 1983 when a 44-year-old lieutenant colonel of the Soviet Air Defense Forces started his shift. His name was Stanislav Petrov and he was sitting at this terminal when the screen showed 5 nuclear missiles leaving the US and heading to Russia, his motherland. Presumably back then the graphics looked like something from an Arcade version of missile command, but for Petrov, it was all too real.
    ------
    #HowHistoryWorks #History #worldwar3
    Link To My Other Channel: / howmoneyworks
    Video Created By: Arun Singh
    Footage Courtesy of: Getty Images
    Music Provided By: Epidemic Sound
    For sponsorship inquiries, please contact sponsors@worksmedia.group

КОМЕНТАРІ • 92

  • @danielhale1
    @danielhale1 Рік тому +162

    Incredibly brave and intelligent man. It's too bad the Soviet Union was always too cowardly to honor him for literally saving the world.

  • @luciferpyro4057
    @luciferpyro4057 Рік тому +65

    Why the hell isn’t this guy in every world history textbook taught in every class around the world or at least as a small side note ?!?!
    Unless I wasn’t paying enough attention in class lol.

    • @GregBrownsWorldORacing
      @GregBrownsWorldORacing Рік тому

      I hate to think Lucifer (The Light Bringer) how many books you are named in, and this guy who could have really Brought the Light is not given a mention hardly anywhere.

    • @caucasiafrosephfrostar6239
      @caucasiafrosephfrostar6239 8 місяців тому +2

      What he did wasn't even made public until 1998.
      So if you went to school over 15 years ago there's a good chance your textbook was written before people even knew about it.

  • @ayushkulhari1120
    @ayushkulhari1120 Рік тому +39

    Knew about this story but goota watch your video so

  • @boowiebear
    @boowiebear Рік тому +44

    God Bless this man. Saving humanity should get him a good seat in Heaven.

  • @ariserusic
    @ariserusic Рік тому +19

    It's amazing to hear these stories about people who save the world without following orders.

  • @ALZlper
    @ALZlper Рік тому +50

    I just looked at the sub count. I kinda expected most people moved over here too, but I guess the "money audience" has different motivations than learning as much as possible. I enjoy both of your channels! 😀

  • @Oliver-ht4kx
    @Oliver-ht4kx Рік тому +44

    Super cool video, man. I hope this channel also picks up!

  • @chellybub
    @chellybub Рік тому +26

    This was cool, I knew about Petrov but i wanted to see how YOU did this. I liked it, very digestible. If you were going for that, you nailed it 😁

  • @EricRuskoski
    @EricRuskoski Рік тому +16

    wow! Thanks Stanislav Petrov! Your a Hero!

  • @AloisAgos
    @AloisAgos Рік тому +5

    Scary to think in that moment it was 11:59:59pm on the nuclear clock.

    • @GregBrownsWorldORacing
      @GregBrownsWorldORacing Рік тому +1

      And only maybe 20 people knew --- this is a guess of how many people were aware of the alarm.

  • @whatthepick
    @whatthepick Рік тому +3

    Thanks for not pressing the button true hero

  • @antoniojimenez7242
    @antoniojimenez7242 Рік тому +10

    Your content is great, congratulations!

  • @leoe.5046
    @leoe.5046 Рік тому +18

    I'm always surprised by how few people know about this story...

    • @mr.boomguy
      @mr.boomguy Рік тому +2

      Fortunenly, I knew about this beforehand.
      But it's always nice to revisit

  • @realname2566
    @realname2566 Рік тому +2

    Good video

  • @lordlynkz
    @lordlynkz Рік тому +1

    Wow, this was an interesting one

  • @lordvoldemort1985
    @lordvoldemort1985 Рік тому +1

    thank you for telling this dudes story

  • @theflagguy7704
    @theflagguy7704 Рік тому +6

    the thumbnail 😂

  • @gmansard641
    @gmansard641 Рік тому +1

    What's striking is that autumn 1983 had a television miniseries "The Day After" about the aftermath of nuclear war.

    • @basilmcdonnell9807
      @basilmcdonnell9807 11 місяців тому

      And that series changed Ron Reagan's attitude toward nukes and led to talks that helped end the cold war.

  • @sunnymodi4496
    @sunnymodi4496 Рік тому +7

    Even though his superiors might call him blyat ! He still saved the day

  • @aaronbecker5617
    @aaronbecker5617 11 місяців тому +1

    I remember a story about a Soviet Sub Officer who did a very similar thing

  • @blockofwood3925
    @blockofwood3925 Рік тому +4

    Any chance you could share your thoughts on mega corps style structures like those from cyberpunk 2077?

  • @GregBrownsWorldORacing
    @GregBrownsWorldORacing Рік тому +6

    Good thing he had a 'gut feeling' about software control and that even if written correctly (the odds are against the programmer) how the hardware is engineered can trick the software Example Boeing 737- MAX. Good software analysts, post production will still ask, Is this answer reasonable? We all know what can happen if you just trust the computer and so did Stanislav Petrov. I'm not sure he was > as an experienced engineer who thought: No, 5 is not a reasonable result, This is a bug and a false alarm. Did he save the world, Hell Yeah!

  • @Proclaimfame
    @Proclaimfame 11 місяців тому

    I can see this as the inspiration for "Dark Forest Theory" from Three Body Problem.

  • @islar7832
    @islar7832 Рік тому +6

    It is surprising that the soviet union saved the world twice. Once by the man in the story above and once by a navigator on a nuclear submarine also belonging to the soviets.

    • @shnake_case
      @shnake_case Рік тому +1

      Soviet union didn't save anything. A man who acted against protocol saved the world from the soviet union.

    • @jzdude01
      @jzdude01 11 місяців тому +1

      Yeah, I don’t know how he said that tensions had never been higher than after the Korean air flight being shot down. Especially when one dude shouting frantically into a phone hoping the right people would here him was literally the only thing stopping keys being turned in the ignition slots for a nuclear weapons launch.

  • @ChocolateMilkCultLeader
    @ChocolateMilkCultLeader Рік тому +2

    Respect to the man

  • @WikiTicky
    @WikiTicky Рік тому +1

    In a strange way it reminded me of the movie "Men In Black"... "not a UFO... thermal pocket... reflected the light from Venus..." commenting on the t=417 part (6m:57s) in the video

  • @anthonykoller4459
    @anthonykoller4459 4 місяці тому

    According to the multiverse, there is a world where he Phone the Warning up the chain of command and his world has been destroyed and everyone is living in caves and fighting over scraps. We are so lucky that we are living in this World.

  • @leonzhang7821
    @leonzhang7821 Рік тому +1

    The real swordholder.

  • @KingOfHithlum
    @KingOfHithlum Рік тому +1

    Do one video on USA's missing nukes! That will be interesting 😉

  • @tokugeeky2931
    @tokugeeky2931 11 місяців тому

    What a hero.

  • @KM-fl5jq
    @KM-fl5jq Рік тому +2

    Videos are from the movie: "The Man Who Saved the World".. Free on UA-cam..

  • @tracijones1247
    @tracijones1247 2 місяці тому

    I thank God for him!!!!!

  • @coolgabe64
    @coolgabe64 5 місяців тому +1

    This was under Able Archer

  • @boogeiyman
    @boogeiyman Рік тому +10

    And now there is Snowden standing for what's right against tyranny.

    • @shayaldwarka7907
      @shayaldwarka7907 10 місяців тому

      Snowden, Julian assange, Daniel hale. John Mark Dougan but not none of them are honoured

  • @andrewb5743
    @andrewb5743 Рік тому +1

    What about Vasily Arkhipov?

  • @JJ-k-c2t
    @JJ-k-c2t Рік тому

    In an alternative world we are all dead

  • @JamesBond-xx1lv
    @JamesBond-xx1lv Рік тому

    I really wouldn't be surprised if we were in a world war within a month of confirming there were no more nukes on earth.

  • @stayfree870
    @stayfree870 5 місяців тому

    AI doesn't care and won't hesitate to launch, just like Skynet.

  • @brianclark9948
    @brianclark9948 Рік тому

    The world's hero

  • @dubhekun
    @dubhekun 11 місяців тому

    With IA that decision could not have been occurred the way it did...

  • @HI-kb2cg
    @HI-kb2cg Рік тому

    and now there corruption and lack of respect for the truth is now biting them in the ass.

  • @armorbearer9702
    @armorbearer9702 4 місяці тому

    While I can understand keeping the incident from the public, it is worrisome that Russian leaders and scientists were more concerned about their pride than the potential nuclear war(8:02).

  • @anirbanpatra3017
    @anirbanpatra3017 Рік тому

    Petrov is geat.

  • @anon2034
    @anon2034 Рік тому

    The real Superman, not some imaginary guy in spandex or Marvel product.

  • @MideoKuze
    @MideoKuze Рік тому +5

    So I have some issues:
    1. The title is misleading, as you say in the video he never went to prison
    2. The gulag system no longer existed in the '80s, it was abolished by Khrushchev; obviously soldiers could still be imprisoned for insubordination, just not in a gulag
    Fact checking is important; I watch most of your videos, and I want to feel like I can trust them. Economics just isn't my area of expertise, so I rely on econ content to stay at least somewhat informed. Now I'm kind of questioning whether your methodology adequately supports your claims on topics where I don't have specific knowledge.

    • @shnake_case
      @shnake_case Рік тому +2

      Gulag still exists today, they just changed the name a couple of times.

  • @platoscavealum902
    @platoscavealum902 Рік тому

  • @babybear0067
    @babybear0067 Рік тому

    Make 2 other chanels and become a rival to mat pat.

  • @owowow7509
    @owowow7509 Рік тому +6

    Just FYI: GULAGs were disbanded after Stalin's death. There were no GULAGs in USSR in 80-s. So he would end in jail. Somebody who's doing history should know that.

    • @Victoria_Babenko
      @Victoria_Babenko 11 місяців тому +3

      Only on a paper. They stopped calling it GULAG, but still used infrastructure. And conditions stayed as horrible as the used to be

  • @reed-l-fisch
    @reed-l-fisch Рік тому +2

    Hi

  • @richardtjan4757
    @richardtjan4757 10 місяців тому

    One individualist in a country of yesmen. Lucky for the world.

  • @righteousviking
    @righteousviking Рік тому

    Keeeeev hahaha

  • @jzdude01
    @jzdude01 11 місяців тому

    4:13 My Brother In Christ have you heard of this event known as the Cuban Missile Crisis? I think the tensions between the two states may have been a bit higher then when both sides were literally scrambling trying to make sure nukes didn’t fly as the leaders both thought they were going to result to that in the next few days. I think it’s silly that you call this tensions being at an all time high when the Missile Crisis exists, and iirc a few other times where tensions were higher with nukes being put on high alert and getting armed and ready for flight.

  • @robobrain10000
    @robobrain10000 Рік тому

    What would have happened if Petrov was just sick that day and the Soviets did launch a strike against the US?

    • @hjuy4049
      @hjuy4049 Рік тому +1

      It would be over for everyone

    • @basilmcdonnell9807
      @basilmcdonnell9807 11 місяців тому +1

      Ka effing boom. But in fact I don't think Andropov would have ordered a strike. He would likely have ordered them to ride it out. Soviet systems were built to survive a first strike- at least in the sense of there being plenty left to shoot back.

  • @newone-gd9sk
    @newone-gd9sk 10 місяців тому

    The propaganda just doesnt stop, huh?

  • @aar0n709
    @aar0n709 Рік тому +2

    He didnt save anything. He just pussied out. He doesn't deserve respect or admiration

    • @Eddybo22
      @Eddybo22 Рік тому +2

      So would you have done what he didn't do?

    • @aar0n709
      @aar0n709 Рік тому

      @@Eddybo22 doesn’t matter it’s over now. But not following clear orders is deserving of a court marshal

    • @Eddybo22
      @Eddybo22 Рік тому +3

      @@aar0n709 it does since you raised the issue.

    • @deomedes7
      @deomedes7 Рік тому +3

      @aar0n pussied out you say. When it's exactly what he didn't do, since one of his options would have no direct consequences to him (that was the plain reporting of the incident) while the other was the one that evidently (although in hindsight) had no positive outcome for him personally. It should not be that way in the world and you must know it.

  • @joe9092410767
    @joe9092410767 Рік тому +3

    No good deed goes unpunished

    • @GregBrownsWorldORacing
      @GregBrownsWorldORacing Рік тому +1

      Well this was during the period of Kremlin funerals, Nobody stayed in charge long enough to do any thing about this guy ;) Yuri just died, who is in charge Now? I'm not sure if Constantine Chernyenko was out of the hospital for enough days to ever even hear about Stanislav Petrov. Looks like he had good timing to get punished.

    • @joe9092410767
      @joe9092410767 Рік тому +1

      @@GregBrownsWorldORacing still de-compresaing after stalin

    • @joe9092410767
      @joe9092410767 Рік тому

      @@GregBrownsWorldORacing but if reincarnation is a thing, I'm gonna be pissed if I have to come back to thiss ghetto-@$$ planet

    • @GregBrownsWorldORacing
      @GregBrownsWorldORacing Рік тому +1

      @@joe9092410767 It might be a thing but there may not be any planet left to reincarnate upon, that's why I want to be cremated, Of course if the bombs flew - vaporized. I mean what's the punishment of sending me to a place where I'm going to burn till the end of time if I'm already ashes. You just better hope, because all the other options are gone you don't get reincarnated into heaven where you and the snake handlers & street preachers with huge boom boxes can hang out together, till the end of time.

    • @joe9092410767
      @joe9092410767 Рік тому +1

      @@GregBrownsWorldORacing I'm not picky, I'll change galaxies if I must

  • @zloungeact
    @zloungeact Рік тому

    All these videos do is regurgitate information on Wikipedia.