While in Russian high school we were lectured about the beginning of Soviet union, we were told that there was Lenin and poof, Lenin died and Stalin rose to power, I was wondering how this happened, so I asked my history teacher. My question was ignored, I asked again, same ignorance. It only took me 4 years to find out, thank you
Same in Poland. Lenin, and after him Stalin, nothing between. I think it's just an oversimplifications to not bother students with all complicated conflicts in party.
@@lox000zavr History is written by the victors. In Russia history was changed to suit the communist party. What famine? There was no famine, only scattered food distribution problems. Long live Stalin.
@@TolKOZAK Гусейнов said that topic is complicated and with no clear answer, so it would be hard to easlily answer such question if asked in school. He recomends to search more about this topic on russian sources too, to see the topic from all sides.
When talking about General Pepelyaev’s epic march on Yakutsk,it’s worth to mention his opponent-Red Army detachment commander Ivan Strod by name. He was of Latvian (Latgallian) origin and a great character. Yes, both were repressed. This last noble fight of Civil War was covered by Leonid Yuzevovich in his great “Winter Road” book, worth to read,not sure if translated to English but, for sure, to French.
I'd like to see a video on Baron Ungern-Sterberg and the Mongol cavalry division. I heard Chita and was reminded of this. Its one of those weird stories from history that's stranger than fiction, and is part of the Russian Civil War.
I found him only thanks to Kaiserreich and after looking on information about him on Wikipedia I found it weird that people mostly ignore such weird, yet really interesting guy. Although Russian civil war was full of truly unique events.
@@alexeyb6129 Then again, this is their 15th video they have made on the Russian Civil War, and it explores the events that happened between late 1921 and 1928. Here's a list of all the episodes of the Russian Civil War they have released since 2019: - The Russian Civil War 1918-April 1919 - Baltic Wars of Independence Part 1: 1919 - Polar Bear Expedition (May 1919) - The Drive on Moscow (May-Sep 1919) - Baltic Wars Part 2: (Sep-Dec 1919) - The Tide Turns (Oct-Dec 1919) - Polish-Soviet War Part 1 (May 1920) - The Peasants Rise Up (July 1920) - Battle of Warsaw Part 2 (September 1920) - Russian Civil War: The Far East (Sep 1920) - Central Asia's Civil Wars (Oct 1920) - Polish-Lithuanian War (November 1920) - Kronstad Rebellion (Febuary 1921) - West Siberian Uprising (September 1921)
@@extrahistory8956 In all these episodes listed above the main point is that Red Terror was as itself without any reason. Not a word about White Terror and its precedence over Red Terror. Not a word about intervention of 14 countries which supported whites. Also strange statement about Stalin did not care about human lives during civil war...So white generals did care ? Or some american general during civil war in USA did care ? ))) It is was cruel war as any civil war including american
@@alexeyb6129 The Polar Bear Expedition episode is literally all about the foreign interventions, while the Far East episode starts with a long segment about the failure of said intervention... . The Baltic Wars part 2 has a segment dedicated to the terror and ineptitude of the German freikorp and Yudenich's White Army.
Around 14 minute mark, I am assuming "Soviet power" was translated from "советская власть". This term also means "council government", as elected councils (soviets) of local/regional/national deputies had legal authority over their respective jurisdiction.
Lenin didn’t think Stalin was smart? (Source: 2013?) Total BS. Commissar for nationalities was an important role in a new state that had 160 different nationalities. Stalins writings prove his intellectual capacity. His work ‘Marxism and the national question’ published in 1913 surely proved to Lenin he was the man for the job. Other notable works include ‘Foundations of Leninism’ and ‘Dialectical and Historical Materialism’.
If there are not enough ideological dividions otherwise found among the communists, the NKVD officers can always be relied on to produce enough confessions to meet the quotas of enemies of the people to be condemned after all the class enemies have been liquidated.
@@dg-ov4cf Don't say you are innocent! You have been implicated an enemy of the people by your neighbor, if we believe his word and why wouldn't we? A night in jail with the NKVD officers will get the truth beaten out of you. You will be an unperson!
@@andrestyles4 Stalin had quite a few works on Nationalities before the revolution. You can say he was an expert in that field (no other person on the left was more well known in that field). So he wasn't appointed for some 'unreasonable reason' that presenter mentions. In any structure you must prove that person is competent and reliable or there are no such people for that position so you can push someone into some position within some structure. There are other factors that can simplify that task (favors, respect/fear, etc.) but that's how it works in business and state institutions (if you've worked in a structure with hundreds of participants you could see that easily). If you can't then presence of that person would be damaging your position within that structure because that person (philosophically speaking it's part of you => you for others within that structure) most likely would be pushed around in Work-to-rule manner if you have great authority or directly spat on and ignored if you don't. To the script writer: If you build some hypotheticals cross check them using logic and fields of knowledge that your hypotheticals use. Otherwise people will feel fakeness in the story. Great movie makers try to distract from such holes in the story using visuals and audio but such professionals are rare. Better to avoid logical holes so viewers won't have 'fake news' attitude to your propaganda piece. Every piece of text written is propaganda of writers views. Probably there are more such logical holes but I haven't finished watching yet. That 'reasoning' collided with my knowledge of the field and created some logical errors so I did some quick research: what was Stalin famous for within russian left before becoming comissair for nationalities. This quick research resolved violation of logic in favor of my real life knowledge in the field. P.S. This piece of text is propaganda of my views (they still slowly evolve because I'm not dead, yet), be careful.
I sincerely love the content you make guys and even share your vids with my students. But, there are several points that are really either misinterpreted or narrated in a not so optimal way, like talking about creating the Soviet Union itself, like Trostky is Leon, but Kamenev is Lev (even though they both were called by the same name); talking about "troika" before the creation of Soviet Union, but it was formed in opposition to Trotsky in 1923, when the USSR was already present... After that you continue talking about plans of creation the Union and call Stalin`s plan as "Russian Federation", when in fact his plan was about a non-federative Soviet Russia, about creating autunomies, it`s even called "autonomization", in comparison to Lenin`s federalization (!) plan of creating a union of semi-sovereign republics. There was also a plan of making a Soviet Confederation as well. So I`ve watched 7 minutes and have already this to say, and I repeat, as a fellow historian I love your work and you make AWESOME content. Maybe something is missed in translation, maybe you think of these facts as not so important, but as we all know, devil is in the details. So, once again, thanks for your work, but I feel that you`ve slightly missed a mark in this specific one. But I want to pay you a big respect for talking about these events to a wider, english-speaking audience.
@@rhetoric5173 Ye and his project of autonomization was indeed more authoritarian. Stalin proposed the incorporation of the Ukraine, Belorussia, Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan as autonomies into Russia. Lenin disagreed with this plan of “autonomization" and defended a different formula: “a voluntary union of equal independent republics.”
To piggyback on this, it's a minor point, but when the narrator says he appealed to the people's love of "the fatherland" ... I've never heard Russia called the fatherland. It was always Mother Russia.
@@PCmor "Mother-Rissia\Родина-Мать" is more like a propaganda cliche, an image of a country as a "loving mother". There are most common "Motherland\Родина (Ródina)", or less common "Fatherland\Отечество (Otéchestvo)" in everyday speech.
@@murzepka I appreicate the reply, but I don't think it has anything to do with my comment. I've never heard Russians refer to Russia as the "fatherland," only the "motherland." At the very least, the latter is far, far more common, which you admit. Whether or not it's propaganda is a moot point. Thank you.
When you mentioned some of the White Russians ending up in California, I remembered that when I did research on my family history I found a census record from the 20's with my great grand parents and my grandmother. They had moved to California from Mexico but would end up living in a building (not sure if it was an apartment or tenement) full of Russians. I could tell by their names along with the language section of the census form saying Russian. There were quite a few Russians there and it was interesting to see my family share a common space with them during that time.
I think that Trotsky possibly would’ve ended the grain seizures, and would’ve definitely funded international communist movements in Europe and around the globe. But, Trotsky would’ve rapidly industrialized the USSR like Stalin.
Trotsky wasn’t any better then Lenin. Read autobiography called Forgive Me Natasha by Sergi Kourdakov. His grandparents were killed by Lenin’s men and his parents later on when Stalin died
I bought access to 16 days in Berlin when it was still in fundraising on their website, but lost access when it went to Nebula exclusively. I'm kina bitter about it.
It is a well narrated documentary and entertaining to watch though full of the usual Western anti Soviet talking points that are not back by primary source evidence. That said, Lenin's choice of Stalin as gen.sec. was logical not because Stalin was dumb but rather due to the fact that he was a safe, if not a competent, pair of hands. Lenin had worked with Stalin for the greater part of 2 decades, so he had ample time to study him and the latter had been loyal to Lenin throughout, despite a few open disagreements. Trotsky was a Johnny-come-lately to the Lenin train, so despite his very pivotal role in the revolution he was a bit of a gamble. Stalin agreed more with Lenin's vision, policies and practice than Trotsky did. Trivia: the DVR only came into existence after Lenin granted it independence - against the advice of some of his own supporters and indeed the DVR people themselves!
By the world war Germany had geopolitical integrity towards Poland and got split after it (now there is czechi etc) and the same happened to the URSS . This because both countries actually split poland in two during the war. Poland today maybe represents a reminder or even a compromise from the war (a harsh and igniting statement) about not making same mistakes again.
Thank you for the great offer to Curiosity Stream and Nebula! Just signed up and it was so easy and what great content! I so appreciate the documentaries and videos you do!!!!
Congratulations on a great channel. I recently subscrbed to CS and Nebula in order to support your work. Could you recommend a reading list for the history of the Ukraine? Say from the Kievan Rus to the present?
Kievan Rus is not only Ukraine history, it's also Russian and Belarussian history. Ukraine history (as an independent thing) starts from Galician and Volyn Principality
Surprisingly, yes. He took over the Party by subtle manipulations, the use of his office as secretary, showing himself as the "spokesman of the party line". That way, he showed radicals like Trotsky and Kamenev as opposing the party line. After the 14th congress, practically any critique against him was considered a critique of the party. Whenever backed into a corner he offered his resignation which was always rejected, First by the fears of Trotsky rising in his place, and later because the Party was so centered on him that removing him was removing Lenin's greatest successor. The matter of the Holodomor and the Purge came later, but his rise in the 1920s themselves was a boring and bureaucratic process.
@@parsahasselhoff7986 yes, yes he would. Stalin wasn’t book smart, yet his street smarts is scary impressive, and his people smarts is how he won in the end because guys like Trotsky forgot, doesn’t matter how famous you are or how popular you think you are, if the behind the closed doors powers and bureaucrats aren’t on your side, you lose.
@@Tadicuslegion78 By all accounts he was an absolutely voracious reader. He also had poetry published in a national Georgian publication long before Red October. It was well lauded. Confident in stating he was also book smart, though there are many stories that appear to make him also seem like a country bumpkin. Stalin likely encouraged both opinions. I think him a loathsome but very interesting character - so many conflicting reports on who exactly Stalin is. Also, based on my Orthodoxy, I and many others of the faith view him as an Antichrist, a prototype of that certain one which will eventually come to dominate the whole world one day.
@@parsahasselhoff7986 Stalin was very intelligent and actually contributed greatly to Marxist theory. Anybody remotely serious about understanding history knows this. Only people to not see it are bourgeois libs and Trots who only support every revolution that never succeeded
@@George-ur8ow lenin said he only was rude and somethig else,, if the last testamet is to be believed.Lenin had worse opionios of other party member. he also add 'someone like stalin, but less crass and rude' by all means stalin was a hard worker and a great party organizer\manager and he had the vision for what the socialis camp was about face. History will vindicate him.
17:01 This letter, though believed at the time to be true, is now, by many historians, considered a forgery by Lenin's wife who was one of many that didn't want to see Stalin take power. I don't remember the details, but the gist of it is that since Lenin's wife helped him write as he got weaker, at a certain point he was too far gone to be understood, and she just wrote in his name.
You must understand. The leading Bolsheviks who took over Russia were not Russians. They hated Russians. They hated Christians. Driven by ethnic hatred they tortured and slaughtered millions of Russians without a shred of human remorse. The October Revolution was not what you call in America the "Russian Revolution." It was an invasion and conquest over the Russian people. More of my countrymen suffered horrific crimes at their bloodstained hands than any people or nation ever suffered in the entirety of human history. It cannot be understated. Bolshevism was the greatest human slaughter of all time. The fact that most of the world is ignorant of this reality is proof that the global media itself is in the hands of the perpetrators. Alexander Soltynsyn
Shelbovsky Yeah, i mean, he went to the west and wrote of Soviet "excesses" shall we say. Ofc hes not gonna be well regarded in certain spheres/places. And people of certain persuasions will despise his other works too.
I think it gives all those people involved more credit than they deserve. It's like trying to analyze the leadership structure of ISIS or something. The words they were saying meant nothing at all. It was all a ruthless power struggle. Pretty much everyone mentioned in this episode is a mass murderer and should be remembered as such. I didn't know about the Yakuts. I'm part Yakut myself, so it kind of made me proud. What, do we let a Kalmyk to run the world? :)
Allot thanks the (great war) channel for sharing this amazing ,informative & clearly explained episode & interesting introducing.. it seems to me Lenin underestimated Stalin powerful and Stalin orchestrate leading Party communion against his competitors inside Russian communist party leaders...majority revolutionary parties around the world are proclaiming slogans ( revolutionary continuous argumentative ) they've destroing their comrades by severely Atrocious method...
Author, where did u find this material? Did you try to go deeper? It sounds like information from Wikipedia. I found huge amount of inaccuracies and lies🤦🏻♂️
You gotta remember that this is the 15th video they made about the subject, and that previous videos have gone intro greater depth about the foreign interventions and the White Terror, which largely took place between 1918 and 1920, not in 1921-1924, which are the years that his installment is largely focusing on.
Only time people had power was peasant war England 1300s the great German peasant war in like 1500s and the french revolution and maybe for a short time during American revolution
What about 1% of the richest people? They possess 90% of world capital. How much power do regular workers have nowadays? The possibility to work 12hours a day to pay mortgage for 20 years to have a place to live? Or mb a great chance to take a credit to pay for education or healthcare? That’s strong! Especially when your family don’t have a lot of money
@@saberwork9066so better when the government starves the population to death in name of "equality"? There's a saying in communist countries : some are more equal than others
better question: how did he escape assassination when he had literally made millions of enemies who hated him so much that any one of them would have been willing to risk death to murder this sadistic, psychopathic despot.
Because all of what you have said is different, second is Stalin should have been dead during his exile and imprisonment yet Stalin is a no target and considered a man that was lost in life. No one doesnt need to assasinate him, he was already in the hands of his own enemies and in fact locked to Petrograd or some places where he shouldve been died. Coz Stalin isnt evil, you folks are lost in history.
The cliché talking points of the internal struggle among the Soviet leadership listed in this video cannot stand after more careful inspections. The power struggles were a lot more about the future of RSFSR and USSR, and the prospects for revolutions across the globe, with the least about personal gains of the leaders themselves. The revolutions in Europe had mostly been ruthlessly crushed; Red Army's adventure into Poland in support of a second German revolution was thwarted; and RSFSR itself was in ruins after the civil war. What was the most urgent matter? The restoration of agriculture production, industrialization and modernization, supporting worldwide revolutionary activities, or defending itself against possible invasions? Resources were scarce and could not be spared for all of these at once, while the leaders had their own supporters from certain aspects of the society, further complexing the situation. Lenin at first could still held the party together with his role being the mediator and coordinator among different factions, and the ban on factionalism was his effort to stop the the endless arguments and get things going in a more concerted manner, though with little to no effect. Soon after Lenin died, things started to fall apart very quickly, and not one faction could persuade the others with ease. In the end, the power of bureaucratic bodies and urban industrial workers represented by Stalin won over the army (Trotsky), the Comintern and intelligentsia (Zinoviev), as well as the peasantry and the rising new bourgeois produced by NEP (Bukharin). The constant fear of a foreign invasion made the power struggles filled with paranoia and bloody repressions.
There was a famine that happened in large part because of Russian Civil War. I wouldn't mind a video on that famine so as to (hopefully) not see history repeating.
I don't know why, but for some reason I thought the thumbnail said "The best of Stalin" Like... Stalin raps his hits. "Ain't no party, like a communist party, cuz a communist party don't staaahp"
@@alphana7055 but Stalin was just erratic enough to incorporate that critique then murder you a month later He ruined what could have been a great experiment with his paranoia violence etc
Lenin: Hey Stalin I have a very important job for you. Stalin: Yes comrade....any job you give I will be willing to do my best. Lenin: And that kind of attitude is exactly why you're perfect for the job. Other comrades: Only Stalin was stupid enough to take the job of nationalities commissar. **Side note, Stalin would be kinda outplayed with a similar maneuver with Kruschev being reported as playing dumb to escape Stalin's violence until he became leader of the USSR after Stalin's death.
I realize this is unpopular opinion but ......Stalin was not a dictator. Calling him a dictator is just American propaganda. The CIA admitted this, it is even on their website today. Yes he was head of the party as General Secretary and head of the state, but that does not take away the fact that there was collective leadership.. And the most important aspect of a dictatorshio is the non ability to remove the leader or said dictator. In fact, the General Secretary of the communist party of the Soviet Union COULD be removed in reality. This is very important. The Central Committee DID have the power and the authority to remove the General Secretary of the party, as they did in 1964 when Kruschev was removed and replaced with Leonid Brezhnev.
Most of the people they called dictator nowadays isn't applied what dictator means on it's origin. Stalin could be nearly as a tyrant, but for me he is unique guy who could be harsh and soft at times if needed.
1. It was not just Red Terror, White Terror from the White (quasi-fascist/monarch) troops was just as brutal, perhaps even worse. A lot of Lenin's decrees during the war were a result of White brutallity 2. Stalin did not play a major part in the 1917 revolution itself, actually he was one of the party-members who opposed the removal of the Prov Governmt on 25 Oct
@@Game_Hero no. No.1 gives some context to the situation. Most people focus on the Reds, bc they won. But the Whites were just as brutal. Not a whataboutism, but additional facts. No.2 is a correction on what was said.
@@rhetoric5173 No, of saying "but look at them actual real baddies" to get off hands free in deflecting criticism in order to do an apology of the red terror.
That music at the middle of the first half was 𝙨𝙤 𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙡𝙤𝙪𝙙. The sort of emotionality that antecipatory music transmits--which is neurochemically identical to anxiety--actually hinders learning as the fornix floods the hypocampus with inhibitory synapses. And I feel that this channel often goes overboard with the music editing, specially by adding a lot of songs that are very common, and very loud, so that you can't help but devote your attention to them in detriment of the actual story being told. But the video is awesome... I just wish I hadn't needed to go back so much. I was very interested in this period, actually.
It didn't bother me at all, and if intend to use all the potential of your synapses in order for history learning, then I would suggest reading instead of a YT video. Despite the tireless research and effort of these history content creators to bring the spirit of history to the masses, its letter can best be understood from literature, primary documents and testimonies. Cheers.
Whoever wrote this is either a trotskyist or got their info from trotskyists because theres just so much liberal inaccuracie here I don't even know where to start lol.
Sad to see a nice production like this one with such weak research. The quality behind of it will make feel people like they reached the ultimate historical truth, when in reality the script might as well have been made by a highschooler late for his assignment.
@@rhetoric5173 I don't know, I;m asking @Alphana for specific examples. That said, I might just as well binge some of Mike Duncan's podcast episodes and then come back to compare what he said with what Jesse said.
There is actually no way to go back and watch any of these videos in chronological order anymore. UA-cam has removed the ability to sort by oldest. Your channel needs to stand up against UA-cam making these ridiculous changes that only give them more pennies in their pockets. This kind of horse S is going to push me away from ever giving money to a content creator. It's not the content creators fault but someone has to feel this pinch. Maybe if content creators stop making money they can band together against UA-cam/Google.
oh, the what-ifs.... Stalin may have been dim, but he was cunningly so... Trotsky was too easily taken in, too gullible and emotional... Lenin was neither, but his life until that point had made him paranoid... "great men" are, unfortunately, how we view history and write it, but it is really the actions of all of us that determine the course of events. Without the armies of men and women behind them, none of the great conquerers we idolize would have been able to accomplish anything.
5:34 Lenin killed the Soviet Union before it even started by creating exactly the sort of state which could be dismembered the instant one Boris Yeltsin type became the president of a major republic. Oof!
Watch 16 Days in Berlin on Nebula: nebula.tv/videos/16-days-in-berlin-01-prologue-the-beginning-of-the-end
While in Russian high school we were lectured about the beginning of Soviet union, we were told that there was Lenin and poof, Lenin died and Stalin rose to power, I was wondering how this happened, so I asked my history teacher. My question was ignored, I asked again, same ignorance. It only took me 4 years to find out, thank you
I think he got Covid-24.
Same in Poland. Lenin, and after him Stalin, nothing between. I think it's just an oversimplifications to not bother students with all complicated conflicts in party.
@@lox000zavr History is written by the victors. In Russia history was changed to suit the communist party. What famine? There was no famine, only scattered food distribution problems. Long live Stalin.
@@lox000zavr Sorry, I failed Russian at Brock University. My major was Gender Studies. But, I think your name means Goose fat or something.
@@TolKOZAK Гусейнов said that topic is complicated and with no clear answer, so it would be hard to easlily answer such question if asked in school. He recomends to search more about this topic on russian sources too, to see the topic from all sides.
Yakutians are based AF, they live in some of the most brutal conditions on earth and treat it like it's nothing to them. Genuinely incredible people.
When talking about General Pepelyaev’s epic march on Yakutsk,it’s worth to mention his opponent-Red Army detachment commander Ivan Strod by name. He was of Latvian (Latgallian) origin and a great character. Yes, both were repressed. This last noble fight of Civil War was covered by Leonid Yuzevovich in his great “Winter Road” book, worth to read,not sure if translated to English but, for sure, to French.
I'd like to see a video on Baron Ungern-Sterberg and the Mongol cavalry division. I heard Chita and was reminded of this. Its one of those weird stories from history that's stranger than fiction, and is part of the Russian Civil War.
I found him only thanks to Kaiserreich and after looking on information about him on Wikipedia I found it weird that people mostly ignore such weird, yet really interesting guy. Although Russian civil war was full of truly unique events.
I think this channel did a video on him a couple of years ago.
The Return of the Russian Civil War. Man, it's been a while since the last video on this war, so I'm glad the that your continuing the series.
No word about White Terror, not objective video
@@alexeyb6129 Then again, this is their 15th video they have made on the Russian Civil War, and it explores the events that happened between late 1921 and 1928. Here's a list of all the episodes of the Russian Civil War they have released since 2019:
- The Russian Civil War 1918-April 1919
- Baltic Wars of Independence Part 1: 1919
- Polar Bear Expedition (May 1919)
- The Drive on Moscow (May-Sep 1919)
- Baltic Wars Part 2: (Sep-Dec 1919)
- The Tide Turns (Oct-Dec 1919)
- Polish-Soviet War Part 1 (May 1920)
- The Peasants Rise Up (July 1920)
- Battle of Warsaw Part 2 (September 1920)
- Russian Civil War: The Far East (Sep 1920)
- Central Asia's Civil Wars (Oct 1920)
- Polish-Lithuanian War (November 1920)
- Kronstad Rebellion (Febuary 1921)
- West Siberian Uprising (September 1921)
@@extrahistory8956 In all these episodes listed above the main point is that Red Terror was as itself without any reason. Not a word about White Terror and its precedence over Red Terror. Not a word about intervention of 14 countries which supported whites. Also strange statement about Stalin did not care about human lives during civil war...So white generals did care ? Or some american general during civil war in USA did care ? ))) It is was cruel war as any civil war including american
@@alexeyb6129 The Polar Bear Expedition episode is literally all about the foreign interventions, while the Far East episode starts with a long segment about the failure of said intervention... . The Baltic Wars part 2 has a segment dedicated to the terror and ineptitude of the German freikorp and Yudenich's White Army.
Fingers crossed for another Russian civil war IRL.
Around 14 minute mark, I am assuming "Soviet power" was translated from "советская власть". This term also means "council government", as elected councils (soviets) of local/regional/national deputies had legal authority over their respective jurisdiction.
Lenin didn’t think Stalin was smart? (Source: 2013?) Total BS. Commissar for nationalities was an important role in a new state that had 160 different nationalities. Stalins writings prove his intellectual capacity. His work ‘Marxism and the national question’ published in 1913 surely proved to Lenin he was the man for the job. Other notable works include ‘Foundations of Leninism’ and ‘Dialectical and Historical Materialism’.
Stalins dictatorship proved he was not smart enough
@@exeexecutor He was smart and its foolish to deny it.
@@footisman2059 No you see how many stupid things he did which only hurt people.
@@exeexecutor Like what? The things he did saved people and improved their lives.
@@exeexecutor*cough cough* French Political Commissar in 18th century *cough cough*
I signed up to Nebula a month ago, when you offered that "deal" on Nebula and Curiosity Stream. You can't beat the price.
Nice fingerpointing there, Jessie :) You got it. Brought the image right back
Джесси! Я не знаю, что меня больше поражает: Ваши знания или ваш стиль. Вы фантастик!
This is why I love this channel the quality is always amazing
Well done. I'd like to hear more about the policy and ideological divisions.
If there are not enough ideological dividions otherwise found among the communists, the NKVD officers can always be relied on to produce enough confessions to meet the quotas of enemies of the people to be condemned after all the class enemies have been liquidated.
uhh what@@herptek
@@dg-ov4cf Don't say you are innocent! You have been implicated an enemy of the people by your neighbor, if we believe his word and why wouldn't we? A night in jail with the NKVD officers will get the truth beaten out of you. You will be an unperson!
Awesome video! Just wish the music was quieter :)
Excellent video
11th month on the 11th day on the 11th hour
Happy armistice day
Rip to all the soldiers who died for their country, lest we forget.
@@magivkmeister6166 many faught to keep their colonial power,disgrace
Wow, just wow.
This is even better than many so-called professional productions.
A lot of this is wrong
@@nope7389 how is it wrong
@@andrestyles4
Stalin had quite a few works on Nationalities before the revolution. You can say he was an expert in that field (no other person on the left was more well known in that field). So he wasn't appointed for some 'unreasonable reason' that presenter mentions.
In any structure you must prove that person is competent and reliable or there are no such people for that position so you can push someone into some position within some structure. There are other factors that can simplify that task (favors, respect/fear, etc.) but that's how it works in business and state institutions (if you've worked in a structure with hundreds of participants you could see that easily). If you can't then presence of that person would be damaging your position within that structure because that person (philosophically speaking it's part of you => you for others within that structure) most likely would be pushed around in Work-to-rule manner if you have great authority or directly spat on and ignored if you don't.
To the script writer: If you build some hypotheticals cross check them using logic and fields of knowledge that your hypotheticals use. Otherwise people will feel fakeness in the story. Great movie makers try to distract from such holes in the story using visuals and audio but such professionals are rare. Better to avoid logical holes so viewers won't have 'fake news' attitude to your propaganda piece. Every piece of text written is propaganda of writers views.
Probably there are more such logical holes but I haven't finished watching yet. That 'reasoning' collided with my knowledge of the field and created some logical errors so I did some quick research: what was Stalin famous for within russian left before becoming comissair for nationalities. This quick research resolved violation of logic in favor of my real life knowledge in the field.
P.S. This piece of text is propaganda of my views (they still slowly evolve because I'm not dead, yet), be careful.
Another great one 👍
I sincerely love the content you make guys and even share your vids with my students. But, there are several points that are really either misinterpreted or narrated in a not so optimal way, like talking about creating the Soviet Union itself, like Trostky is Leon, but Kamenev is Lev (even though they both were called by the same name); talking about "troika" before the creation of Soviet Union, but it was formed in opposition to Trotsky in 1923, when the USSR was already present... After that you continue talking about plans of creation the Union and call Stalin`s plan as "Russian Federation", when in fact his plan was about a non-federative Soviet Russia, about creating autunomies, it`s even called "autonomization", in comparison to Lenin`s federalization (!) plan of creating a union of semi-sovereign republics. There was also a plan of making a Soviet Confederation as well. So I`ve watched 7 minutes and have already this to say, and I repeat, as a fellow historian I love your work and you make AWESOME content. Maybe something is missed in translation, maybe you think of these facts as not so important, but as we all know, devil is in the details. So, once again, thanks for your work, but I feel that you`ve slightly missed a mark in this specific one. But I want to pay you a big respect for talking about these events to a wider, english-speaking audience.
But stalin was more authoritarian, how could he call for autonomization?
@@rhetoric5173 Ye and his project of autonomization was indeed more authoritarian. Stalin proposed the incorporation of the Ukraine, Belorussia, Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan as autonomies into Russia. Lenin disagreed with this plan of “autonomization" and defended a different formula: “a voluntary union of equal independent republics.”
To piggyback on this, it's a minor point, but when the narrator says he appealed to the people's love of "the fatherland" ... I've never heard Russia called the fatherland. It was always Mother Russia.
@@PCmor "Mother-Rissia\Родина-Мать" is more like a propaganda cliche, an image of a country as a "loving mother". There are most common "Motherland\Родина (Ródina)", or less common "Fatherland\Отечество (Otéchestvo)" in everyday speech.
@@murzepka I appreicate the reply, but I don't think it has anything to do with my comment. I've never heard Russians refer to Russia as the "fatherland," only the "motherland." At the very least, the latter is far, far more common, which you admit. Whether or not it's propaganda is a moot point. Thank you.
When you mentioned some of the White Russians ending up in California, I remembered that when I did research on my family history I found a census record from the 20's with my great grand parents and my grandmother. They had moved to California from Mexico but would end up living in a building (not sure if it was an apartment or tenement) full of Russians. I could tell by their names along with the language section of the census form saying Russian. There were quite a few Russians there and it was interesting to see my family share a common space with them during that time.
All that's left to talk about the Civil War is the brief conflict the Soviets had with Finland in 1921 and the Mongolian Revolution.
Video has great visuals
Should've toned the music way down - it distracts from the documentary rather than enhancing it.
Would have been interesting to see what the world would look like today if Trotsky was the supreme leader after Lenin
I think that Trotsky possibly would’ve ended the grain seizures, and would’ve definitely funded international communist movements in Europe and around the globe. But, Trotsky would’ve rapidly industrialized the USSR like Stalin.
Trotsky wasn’t any better then Lenin. Read autobiography called Forgive Me Natasha by Sergi Kourdakov. His grandparents were killed by Lenin’s men and his parents later on when Stalin died
Wouldn't matter.
It’d be different, I can’t say how. Perhaps, the 3rd reich would stretch to the other side of Poland still.🤷🏼♂️
@@troystaunton254 I think Germany would have maybe went communist instead of fascism, because Trotsky was a firm believer in spreading communism
I bought access to 16 days in Berlin when it was still in fundraising on their website, but lost access when it went to Nebula exclusively. I'm kina bitter about it.
All you have to do is to login in to the website to access it. I bought a streaming pass and accessed it many times via my Email account
Or you could ask for help on the Real Time History website, which has also worked for me.
I just checked and it's still on Vimeo, you just need the link from them.
It is a well narrated documentary and entertaining to watch though full of the usual Western anti Soviet talking points that are not back by primary source evidence. That said, Lenin's choice of Stalin as gen.sec. was logical not because Stalin was dumb but rather due to the fact that he was a safe, if not a competent, pair of hands. Lenin had worked with Stalin for the greater part of 2 decades, so he had ample time to study him and the latter had been loyal to Lenin throughout, despite a few open disagreements. Trotsky was a Johnny-come-lately to the Lenin train, so despite his very pivotal role in the revolution he was a bit of a gamble. Stalin agreed more with Lenin's vision, policies and practice than Trotsky did. Trivia: the DVR only came into existence after Lenin granted it independence - against the advice of some of his own supporters and indeed the DVR people themselves!
By the world war Germany had geopolitical integrity towards Poland and got split after it (now there is czechi etc) and the same happened to the URSS . This because both countries actually split poland in two during the war. Poland today maybe represents a reminder or even a compromise from the war (a harsh and igniting statement) about not making same mistakes again.
Thank you for the great offer to Curiosity Stream and Nebula! Just signed up and it was so easy and what great content! I so appreciate the documentaries and videos you do!!!!
"All is now against us. We are met with serf bullets. With nowhere to retreat, the Japanese sea is now behind us."
~some white army soldier
Oh, yes! Having an enterily reliable Cerberus is key! LOL!
@TheGreatWar how was the treaty on the formation of the USSR ratified by the 4 republics?
Amazing video and on the 104th anniversary of the armistice that ended ww1!
This is seriously one of the best videos relating to the Soviet Union I have ever come across. props to everyone who helped make this
Congratulations on a great channel. I recently subscrbed to CS and Nebula in order to support your work. Could you recommend a reading list for the history of the Ukraine? Say from the Kievan Rus to the present?
At least for the Kievan Rus period the source list would be similar to the Russian history (which is much easier to find).
Kievan Rus is not only Ukraine history, it's also Russian and Belarussian history. Ukraine history (as an independent thing) starts from Galician and Volyn Principality
Please someone tell me the title of the musical piece around 5:40. It is used in many videos and is a total smasher, but I can't track it down.
Sciophobia by Jo Wandrini
@@ZER0ZER0SE7EN thanks!
Oh boy I'm sure he took power in a nice and peaceful manner!
Yeah, he doesn’t seem like the guy to kill millions of people!
Ohh Yeah ! With folded hands
Surprisingly, yes. He took over the Party by subtle manipulations, the use of his office as secretary, showing himself as the "spokesman of the party line". That way, he showed radicals like Trotsky and Kamenev as opposing the party line. After the 14th congress, practically any critique against him was considered a critique of the party. Whenever backed into a corner he offered his resignation which was always rejected, First by the fears of Trotsky rising in his place, and later because the Party was so centered on him that removing him was removing Lenin's greatest successor.
The matter of the Holodomor and the Purge came later, but his rise in the 1920s themselves was a boring and bureaucratic process.
No terror or purges whatsoever 👌
Man im so hyped for this peaceful socialist revolutionary leader to take hold of the USSR
Great choice of music for this video, especially around 6:40
Hello, what was the disagreement about the status of Georgia ?
Exceptional content as always!
Stephen Kotkin’s 2 epics so far on Stalin are some of the best Russian/Soviet history I’ve ever read
I think Kotkin would take issue with the whole “Stalin dumb” narrative in this video.
@@parsahasselhoff7986 yes, yes he would. Stalin wasn’t book smart, yet his street smarts is scary impressive, and his people smarts is how he won in the end because guys like Trotsky forgot, doesn’t matter how famous you are or how popular you think you are, if the behind the closed doors powers and bureaucrats aren’t on your side, you lose.
@@Tadicuslegion78 By all accounts he was an absolutely voracious reader. He also had poetry published in a national Georgian publication long before Red October. It was well lauded. Confident in stating he was also book smart, though there are many stories that appear to make him also seem like a country bumpkin. Stalin likely encouraged both opinions.
I think him a loathsome but very interesting character - so many conflicting reports on who exactly Stalin is. Also, based on my Orthodoxy, I and many others of the faith view him as an Antichrist, a prototype of that certain one which will eventually come to dominate the whole world one day.
@@parsahasselhoff7986 Stalin was very intelligent and actually contributed greatly to Marxist theory. Anybody remotely serious about understanding history knows this. Only people to not see it are bourgeois libs and Trots who only support every revolution that never succeeded
@@George-ur8ow lenin said he only was rude and somethig else,, if the last testamet is to be believed.Lenin had worse opionios of other party member. he also add 'someone like stalin, but less crass and rude' by all means stalin was a hard worker and a great party organizer\manager and he had the vision for what the socialis camp was about face. History will vindicate him.
17:01 This letter, though believed at the time to be true, is now, by many historians, considered a forgery by Lenin's wife who was one of many that didn't want to see Stalin take power. I don't remember the details, but the gist of it is that since Lenin's wife helped him write as he got weaker, at a certain point he was too far gone to be understood, and she just wrote in his name.
You must understand. The leading Bolsheviks who took over Russia were not Russians. They hated Russians. They hated Christians. Driven by ethnic hatred they tortured and slaughtered millions of Russians without a shred of human remorse. The October Revolution was not what you call in America the "Russian Revolution." It was an invasion and conquest over the Russian people. More of my countrymen suffered horrific crimes at their bloodstained hands than any people or nation ever suffered in the entirety of human history. It cannot be understated. Bolshevism was the greatest human slaughter of all time. The fact that most of the world is ignorant of this reality is proof that the global media itself is in the hands of the perpetrators.
Alexander Soltynsyn
Like whom for instance in what university study or book?
@@Game_Hero
Alexander Soltynsyn
Two hundred years together
@@robertmitchell8630 Russian is here. In our country this man considered as falsifier of history by historians and refular citizens
Shelbovsky
Yeah, i mean, he went to the west and wrote of Soviet "excesses" shall we say. Ofc hes not gonna be well regarded in certain spheres/places.
And people of certain persuasions will despise his other works too.
Thanks for filling in these gaps of knowledge so edutainingly.
you should make a video on British India perhaps the 1919 great massecre
That video was already done. It came out in early 2021.
Leon Trotsky (image missing) disliked Stalin 🤷♀️
Exactly!
I live in Russia. This video is great, useful and very interesting. Thank you for your work)
Upbeat music is too distracting. This is not a movie trailer
I think it gives all those people involved more credit than they deserve. It's like trying to analyze the leadership structure of ISIS or something. The words they were saying meant nothing at all. It was all a ruthless power struggle. Pretty much everyone mentioned in this episode is a mass murderer and should be remembered as such.
I didn't know about the Yakuts. I'm part Yakut myself, so it kind of made me proud. What, do we let a Kalmyk to run the world? :)
Allot thanks the (great war) channel for sharing this amazing ,informative & clearly explained episode & interesting introducing.. it seems to me Lenin underestimated Stalin powerful and Stalin orchestrate leading Party communion against his competitors inside Russian communist party leaders...majority revolutionary parties around the world are proclaiming slogans ( revolutionary continuous argumentative ) they've destroing their comrades by severely Atrocious method...
Can someone tell the orchestra to calm down?
Author, where did u find this material? Did you try to go deeper? It sounds like information from Wikipedia. I found huge amount of inaccuracies and lies🤦🏻♂️
You gotta remember that this is the 15th video they made about the subject, and that previous videos have gone intro greater depth about the foreign interventions and the White Terror, which largely took place between 1918 and 1920, not in 1921-1924, which are the years that his installment is largely focusing on.
Stop lying about the West
Excellent video.
A lesson in how the apparatus of state power can go horribly wrong.
12:53😆he said the “Transcaucasian” SFSR😂I’ve heard tales of them there before🤯
musical score was great
pieces names?
City rooftop, summer nights
In your tank top, rainbow Stalin
To the beatbox, spinning round
And you looked so cute there rainbow Stalin.
Nice video
Always great, thanks for the content!
I see Jesse Alexander, i upvote!
Music seems a bit loud at times...
This single event drove world politics for over 100 years
2:05 I think you meant Marx and Engles, not Marx and Lenin?
Yes, but he's also wrong about NEP abandoning Marx and Engles' "economic principles" lol
Lenin and Trotsky severely underestimated Stalin, who was not the most intellectual and worldly type but was incredibly cunning.
Tone down the music.
Great video but it was hard to listen to Jessie from the 6 to 7 minute marks due to the loud music.
Peter "the great" tortured his son to death for embarrassing him.
Power to the people! Unless they have stuff we want and won't give it to us. Then it's murder to rhe people.
Thats the thing about communists.
The proletariat does not mean the peasantry.
Only time people had power was peasant war England 1300s the great German peasant war in like 1500s and the french revolution and maybe for a short time during American revolution
Based
What about 1% of the richest people? They possess 90% of world capital. How much power do regular workers have nowadays? The possibility to work 12hours a day to pay mortgage for 20 years to have a place to live? Or mb a great chance to take a credit to pay for education or healthcare? That’s strong! Especially when your family don’t have a lot of money
@@saberwork9066so better when the government starves the population to death in name of "equality"? There's a saying in communist countries : some are more equal than others
better question: how did he escape assassination when he had literally made millions of enemies who hated him so much that any one of them would have been willing to risk death to murder this sadistic, psychopathic despot.
He was a gangster
The more evil people are, the more fortunate they are. The gods favour those who cause the most suffering.
Because all of what you have said is different, second is Stalin should have been dead during his exile and imprisonment yet Stalin is a no target and considered a man that was lost in life. No one doesnt need to assasinate him, he was already in the hands of his own enemies and in fact locked to Petrograd or some places where he shouldve been died. Coz Stalin isnt evil, you folks are lost in history.
2:52 trotsky
The cliché talking points of the internal struggle among the Soviet leadership listed in this video cannot stand after more careful inspections. The power struggles were a lot more about the future of RSFSR and USSR, and the prospects for revolutions across the globe, with the least about personal gains of the leaders themselves. The revolutions in Europe had mostly been ruthlessly crushed; Red Army's adventure into Poland in support of a second German revolution was thwarted; and RSFSR itself was in ruins after the civil war. What was the most urgent matter? The restoration of agriculture production, industrialization and modernization, supporting worldwide revolutionary activities, or defending itself against possible invasions? Resources were scarce and could not be spared for all of these at once, while the leaders had their own supporters from certain aspects of the society, further complexing the situation.
Lenin at first could still held the party together with his role being the mediator and coordinator among different factions, and the ban on factionalism was his effort to stop the the endless arguments and get things going in a more concerted manner, though with little to no effect. Soon after Lenin died, things started to fall apart very quickly, and not one faction could persuade the others with ease. In the end, the power of bureaucratic bodies and urban industrial workers represented by Stalin won over the army (Trotsky), the Comintern and intelligentsia (Zinoviev), as well as the peasantry and the rising new bourgeois produced by NEP (Bukharin). The constant fear of a foreign invasion made the power struggles filled with paranoia and bloody repressions.
how did they win, the army had pointy sticks?
There was a famine that happened in large part because of Russian Civil War. I wouldn't mind a video on that famine so as to (hopefully) not see history repeating.
18th, 11 November 2022
And today (11/12/22) is the anniversary of Trotsky's expulsion from the Party.
Guys cool it on the dramatic inception music. You're just discussing political intrigues, this isn't a big epic war film
Music too loud
I don't know why, but for some reason I thought the thumbnail said "The best of Stalin" Like... Stalin raps his hits.
"Ain't no party, like a communist party, cuz a communist party don't staaahp"
Bro in the thumbnail stalin got that rizz
Jimo quente isso aqui
Por que?
Personally offend Stalin: get executed
Personally offend Lenin: "You should apologize for that, or we're no longer going to be friends!"
Never happened, Stalin encouraged critique
Yeah he wanted to find out who to kill or exile
@@alphana7055 but Stalin was just erratic enough to incorporate that critique then murder you a month later
He ruined what could have been a great experiment with his paranoia violence etc
@@6idangle He wasn't paranoid, lmao, if he was then the Trotzsk-Yazovev Terrorist Centre would never have formed.
@@alphana7055 Contrarian
Lenin: Hey Stalin I have a very important job for you.
Stalin: Yes comrade....any job you give I will be willing to do my best.
Lenin: And that kind of attitude is exactly why you're perfect for the job.
Other comrades: Only Stalin was stupid enough to take the job of nationalities commissar.
**Side note, Stalin would be kinda outplayed with a similar maneuver with Kruschev being reported as playing dumb to escape Stalin's violence until he became leader of the USSR after Stalin's death.
Despite the topic, I'm pretty sad that this video hasn't gotten a larger amount of views. Is UA-cam trying to hide it?
I realize this is unpopular opinion but ......Stalin was not a dictator. Calling him a dictator is just American propaganda. The CIA admitted this, it is even on their website today. Yes he was head of the party as General Secretary and head of the state, but that does not take away the fact that there was collective leadership.. And the most important aspect of a dictatorshio is the non ability to remove the leader or said dictator. In fact, the General Secretary of the communist party of the Soviet Union COULD be removed in reality. This is very important. The Central Committee DID have the power and the authority to remove the General Secretary of the party, as they did in 1964 when Kruschev was removed and replaced with Leonid Brezhnev.
Most of the people they called dictator nowadays isn't applied what dictator means on it's origin. Stalin could be nearly as a tyrant, but for me he is unique guy who could be harsh and soft at times if needed.
"The creation of the Soviet Union is a New Year's gift to the World Proletariat" and undertakers everywhere.
I do not think, they ever struggled for the status of Georgia
Truth mixed with lies and propaganda.
30 december 1922 USSR was established, it's liiterallly straight 100 years ago
1. It was not just Red Terror, White Terror from the White (quasi-fascist/monarch) troops was just as brutal, perhaps even worse. A lot of Lenin's decrees during the war were a result of White brutallity
2. Stalin did not play a major part in the 1917 revolution itself, actually he was one of the party-members who opposed the removal of the Prov Governmt on 25 Oct
whataboutism.
@@Game_Hero no.
No.1 gives some context to the situation. Most people focus on the Reds, bc they won. But the Whites were just as brutal. Not a whataboutism, but additional facts.
No.2 is a correction on what was said.
@@Game_Hero whats whatabiutism? A way to go around ignoring thine sins and condemning others?
@@rhetoric5173 No, of saying "but look at them actual real baddies" to get off hands free in deflecting criticism in order to do an apology of the red terror.
@@raymondhartmeijer9300 Fair enough, but there are people in this comment section doing just that for this very reason, though it was the same here.
That music at the middle of the first half was 𝙨𝙤 𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙡𝙤𝙪𝙙. The sort of emotionality that antecipatory music transmits--which is neurochemically identical to anxiety--actually hinders learning as the fornix floods the hypocampus with inhibitory synapses. And I feel that this channel often goes overboard with the music editing, specially by adding a lot of songs that are very common, and very loud, so that you can't help but devote your attention to them in detriment of the actual story being told. But the video is awesome... I just wish I hadn't needed to go back so much. I was very interested in this period, actually.
It didn't bother me at all, and if intend to use all the potential of your synapses in order for history learning, then I would suggest reading instead of a YT video. Despite the tireless research and effort of these history content creators to bring the spirit of history to the masses, its letter can best be understood from literature, primary documents and testimonies. Cheers.
What are you talking about
UdSSR bedeutet Freiheit recht and Frieden
Why don’t you mention about Lazar Kaganovich who helped Stalin became to government. When kaganovich as head of accountable vote made against Kirov!
Whoever wrote this is either a trotskyist or got their info from trotskyists because theres just so much liberal inaccuracie here I don't even know where to start lol.
And now we're celebrating 100 years of New Years gift to world proletariat - 100 years of terror and suffering. And their legacy is still alive.
Why i don't use any soviet sources? It's unfair
Sad to see a nice production like this one with such weak research. The quality behind of it will make feel people like they reached the ultimate historical truth, when in reality the script might as well have been made by a highschooler late for his assignment.
What about the script was particularly weak?
@@extrahistory8956 Half the video is discredited speculation.
@@alphana7055 Which half? The one about the dispute among the Bolsheviks?
tell us then, bearer of hidden knowledge
@@rhetoric5173 I don't know, I;m asking @Alphana for specific examples. That said, I might just as well binge some of Mike Duncan's podcast episodes and then come back to compare what he said with what Jesse said.
There is actually no way to go back and watch any of these videos in chronological order anymore. UA-cam has removed the ability to sort by oldest. Your channel needs to stand up against UA-cam making these ridiculous changes that only give them more pennies in their pockets. This kind of horse S is going to push me away from ever giving money to a content creator. It's not the content creators fault but someone has to feel this pinch. Maybe if content creators stop making money they can band together against UA-cam/Google.
They do have playlists, but yeah, I hate that UA-cam removed that option too.
UA-cam downst want people looking into the pasta md seeing how things have changed for the worst
Trots posting their Ls again, lmao
Great video man. Recently found your channel, new sub new fan
oh, the what-ifs....
Stalin may have been dim, but he was cunningly so...
Trotsky was too easily taken in, too gullible and emotional...
Lenin was neither, but his life until that point had made him paranoid...
"great men" are, unfortunately, how we view history and write it, but it is really the actions of
all of us that determine the course of events.
Without the armies of men and women behind them, none of the great conquerers we idolize would have been able to accomplish anything.
5:34 Lenin killed the Soviet Union before it even started by creating exactly the sort of state which could be dismembered the instant one Boris Yeltsin type became the president of a major republic.
Oof!
And you resume the end of soviet union with this? 😂😂😂😂😂 Genius
The more I look at Stalin, the more he looks like super Mario. Don’t even get me started when he wears that military hat
Fascinating history