Officially known as the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the USSR was a one-party state, governed, controlled, and tormented by a single party rule. That of the Communist Party. No nation has inflicted such destruction on its own population in the name of progress. Power corroded the leadership, leaving the masses to suffer in the name of history. They very people who were supposed to be governing themselves. There are many factors that effected the Soviet Union's turbulent history, but the sheer ungovernable vastness of the country was inescapable. It was a nation the size of a continent stretching from Moscow to Vladivostok and from Leningrad to Stalingrad. What we might consider European Russia was dwarfed by the reaches of Siberia. Enacting any kind of policy took force. Complicated, contradictory figureheads would come and go, men who held this impossible country it seemed by sheer will.

@philipgrice1026

7 ай бұрын

Errrm. Have you ever visited a Native American concentration camp... ... I mean 'reservation'. The fake American 'democracy' has slaughtered tens and possibly hundreds of thousands of native Americans. We invaded Korea on false pretenses. We invaded Vietnam on false pretenses. We invaded Afghanistan on false pretenses. We invaded Iraq on false pretenses. We invaded Mexico on false pretenses. I'm sure there's more but that's all I can remember at the moment. The USA was and still is a terrorist nation, currently supporting the apartheid 'state' called Israel that occupies Palestine currently. Good grief!

@user-nx5ks3tl6w

6 ай бұрын

Бред сумасшедшего!

@goldgeologist5320

6 ай бұрын

USSR it was not a Union, it was not Soviet, it was not Socialist and it was not a Republic.

@marvinwilliams9697

5 ай бұрын

Individual rights nor freedoms exist in Russia nor China today nor back then. These governments built what they have by making sure their people know that they don't matter n only worthy of being soldiers in wars they so anxiously want to have. China nor Russia doesn't mind losing millions of their people during wars n will kill their own people themselves if they refuse or go against their dreams of ruling the world!!! Just because u have a million man military doesn't mean ur automatically a great power. If ur opponent can out general and out fight you then your garbage with a lot of superpower weapons.

Fantastic series. Thank you.

@FreeDocumentaryHistory

7 ай бұрын

so glad you are enjoying it and thanks for stopping by to let us know!

Thank you for this series.

This should be shown in schools great documentary

@FreeDocumentaryHistory

6 ай бұрын

thank you and I agree.

great series. thank you.

Fantastic doc!

5:32 No, the T 72 tank was not produced during WW2. Production of this tank was started in 1969 !!! 😒🤦‍♀🤦

@patd4u2

7 ай бұрын

give the old guy a break please 😂😂

@TheDavidlloydjones

7 ай бұрын

@@patd4u2 No, don't give the guy a break. Please! Please teach the children that incorrect sentences in documentaries are sometimes innocent mistakes. And sometimes they aren't. Judging which are which is a vital life skill. It is an important skill for our schools to hone.

@patd4u2

7 ай бұрын

@@TheDavidlloydjones yes, I agree with you 100%, it's a way they change history. here in the USA, we are taught we won World War II, not much mention of Russia. The US military could not of withstood the casualties the Germans took on the eastern front. Two out of every three German soldiers fought on the eastern front. And we had a hard time fighting them in France and they were not first line troops.

@jeremymerrifield7244

7 ай бұрын

I believe 8 out of every 11 German military deaths were by Russian actions@@patd4u2

@troyswierczek4517

7 ай бұрын

Was wondering the same thing.

History is written by the winners

43:36 Love that Leonid Brezhnev music at the end -- totally appropriate.

What’s crazy is that as a child of the 80s (and a history nerd) I was always told that Khrushchev’s exit among other things started with his “failure” during the crisis. And after the movie weird science had me in the library looking up missiles lol (rip Bill Paxton) even I knew we were wrong for having missiles there

Great Documentary, but it leaves out very important bits: 1)Richard Sorge told Stalin that Japan was not going to open a second front. SIberian troops were moved to defend Moscow. 2)Both US and USSR employed captured German Scientists to advance Space Programs. The US was not as astute or image building as the Soviets. Therefore, it came as a surprise to the masses, but not the Leaders at that time. 3)While controlling and or influencing a vast swath of the planet, the Soviet Union retrograde mindset failed to create a lasting economic advancement. Trade was mostly based on armaments and heavy industry in a mercantile manner. Whereas the US became both a consumer and exporter to the world building up upward mobility to the masses beyond its borders and continent.

@junglesuperstar9270

6 ай бұрын

1) not true . Actually it is a big tragedy for Russians as they had to keep quite many soldiers in East to protect borders and thus these soldiers could not help in west .

@augustusomega4708

4 ай бұрын

3 money printing and fraudulent mechanism of colonial dominance do not construe as lasting economic advancement, the US built a mafiosa business...straight outta the streets of brooklyn to the treasury

@FreeDocumentaryHistory

3 ай бұрын

first of all sorry for the delayed response and secondly, thanks for the extensive comment. In the doc’s defense, it’s almost impossible to put all nuances and political undercurrents in there and it’s appreciated when commenters like you add these things.

I've always wondered if the Soviets would have been able to defeat the Germans in Stalingrad, Moscow and Kursk if the Soviets had a different leader than Stalin. On the one hand, no Stalin meant no purges so the good generals would have remained when Germany entered. On the other hand, no Stalin no 'Not a Step Back' order so no hug the enemy at Stalingrad.

@Won4theTeam

4 ай бұрын

Stalin didn't start the "no step back" in the military - this became policy under Trotsky during the Russian Revolution amongst the Red forces. One must also consider the number of able-bodied men during WWII that were dedicated to the NKVD (precursor of the KGB) - continuing political purges, even during the war. In sum - Stalin was a horrible leader whose only desire was complete dominance. There was NOTHING good about him as a man or a leader.

@minastirith997

3 ай бұрын

@@Won4theTeamand that regime either. My country and people endured immense suffering and misery from that country. I’m glad it’s gone into the ashes of history

@Mentol_

Ай бұрын

​@@Won4theTeamIf Stalin had been a bad leader, then the USSR would not have had a large margin of safety during the Second World War.

I’m only 1:50 in and if they don’t bring up the lend lease agreement and how america supplied the hell out of Stalin for him to save russia I’m going to be disappointed

@myassizitchy

2 ай бұрын

I see they miss that in alot but bein that Simon Sebag is in this one im sure they do at some point

@erikriza7165

Ай бұрын

russia never wanted to admit that we helped them during WW II. We sent them many tons of everything thru Alaska.

5:20 - T-72 produced east of the Ural Mountains during WWII? With the German shells bouncing off of them? Didn't anyone check this for historical accuracy? A hint for the "historians" in this documentary: The letter T in the model designation means "Tank". The number is the year in which the design of the tank was completed, and the tank was ready to be handed to the Army. So the T-72 taking a part of the WWII is completely bogus, unless the WWII was still raging in Europe in 1972. A spoiler: the end of WWII in Europe was May 8th, 1945. It was a Tuesday, if anyone cares.

@derekjancart215

6 ай бұрын

Oh man shut the whole thing down, they mistook the T-72 for the T-34.

@zawiszaczarnysulima3700

6 ай бұрын

@@derekjancart215 Hyperbole much?

@junglesuperstar9270

6 ай бұрын

A lot of factories were moved to Siberia.

@zawiszaczarnysulima3700

6 ай бұрын

@@junglesuperstar9270 Yes, and they were making T-34s, not T-72s.

@CdaG22

4 ай бұрын

⁠@@derekjancart215its a pretty egregious mistake for a historian to make, given this is a documentary. It’s not just slightly wrong, it’s incredibly wrong.

Great documentary, thanks a lot for uploading! However, the story about Stalin having Kruschev´s son killed is presented here as a 100% fact, when in reality it is more like conspiricy theory. I had never heard about this, though I consider myself strong in Soviet history. Therefore started to do some research and it is very likely that Nikita´s son, Leonid, who was a fighter pilot actually was just shot down and killed in airbattle. Not that Stalin could not have done it, sounds like him. Should definitely mention that its a rumour, now I have to second guess every piece of new information in this documentary :D

@danalexandru3022

6 ай бұрын

true, there are a lot of conspiracy theorys that are presented as facts in this documentary.

@augustusomega4708

4 ай бұрын

"Not that Stalin could not have done it, sounds like him." it is bad enough the things i did are true, but even things i didnt do are given to my evil the credit.

24:34 This story of Kruschev's son being executed is NOT TRUE. Leonid Kruschev was most probably killed during an aerial fight with German planes. What this "historian" is claiming here is: 1. Kruschev's son flew to Germany to avoid being executed. 2. Was taken into German captivity. 3. Escaped back to Russia only to be executed again. Why would he do that? Doesn't make any sense. Anyway this is total BS, what this guy is saying. How can you let this kind of speculation in without fact checking?

@danielpaschjr3547

6 ай бұрын

Khrushchev's oldest son had accidentally killed a fellow soldier in a military hospital and as punishment had been sent to the front. His plane was shot down by the Germans.

@oneshothunter9877

5 ай бұрын

@@danielpaschjr3547 "Accidentally killed" 😀 How did that happen? He three him out a window expecting they were participants in a cartoon? Sorry, couldn't resist. But, honestly, how "accidentally"?

@5:30 The T-72 was most certainly NOT a ww2 production vehicle.

"Mankind is divided into rich and poor, into property owners and exploited; and to abstract oneself from this fundamental division; and from the antagonism between poor and rich means abstracting oneself from fundamental facts." -- Joseph Stalin

@strfltcmnd.9925

7 ай бұрын

That sounds like Brandon

@sten260

6 ай бұрын

and then he went on and made himself the largest property holder and exploiter in the world, greedier than any capitalist ever

T72 tanks in ww2???????? Ummm so there making things up now or did I forget that?

@southwestxnorthwest

23 күн бұрын

They're

T 72 was way after ww2

19:46 a turn of phrase based on the old brit empire saying about the peoples they had subjugated… “…for we have got the Maxim gun, and they have not.” 33:56 initially the Cuban revolution was not a “communist” one. Castro made overtures to the US, and was rebuffed by the Dulles brothers, who still exercised deep control over US foreign policy. it is worth remembering that the two of them had financial interests in Central America and the Caribbean, including Cuba. indeed, they had made fortunes in the so-called “banana” republics. that left Castro with no choice but to approach the Soviets. which has led to the ghosts of Dulles Bros. Inc. still exercising that control to this day.

Welcome to Africa... Again.... Thanks NYPD

The coverage of the Cuban Missile crisis is poor.

Um... Is there information here about how the United States was the first to create NATO without any real threat, and then put high-range missiles on Turkey? Thus giving rise to the Caribbean crisis.

@snapdragon6601

7 ай бұрын

There was a threat. Stalin didn't keep his word about allowing free and fair elections in Eastern and Central Europe. There was every reason for the rest of Europe to be nervous that they would be next.

@billotto602

6 ай бұрын

And they were medium range missiles. NOT high (assuming you mean LONG range).

@crazy_cl1ck52

6 ай бұрын

@@billotto602 The point is not in the naming, but in the fact that the Jupiter rockets had a radius and power. Such a missile, deployed in Turkey, could hit Moscow and Leningrad with a yield of almost 1.5 Mt.

gargantuan; gigantic massive large-scale

Stalin got to Berlin, but Alexander got to Paris.

In world war moscow and usa colwar result. No comme who best That new chapter iread that ussr crisis on hugary power of. Battle.

Yuri Gagarin hated his celebrity. All he wanted to do was fly planes. Ironically, he was chosen to pilot the first manned mission into space because of his small stature, which allowed him fit into the capsule. His growth was stunted as a consequence of growing up in Ukraine in the 1930s during the great famine. After his historic trip into space, Gagarin returned to being a test pilot. Sadly, he was killed short years later in an aviation accident. It's a small consolation, but at least he died doing what he loved.

@tatasto3809

4 ай бұрын

Летчик-космонавт СССР Юрий Алексеевич Гагарин родился 9 марта 1934 года в селе Клушино Гжатского (ныне Гагаринского) района Смоленской области.

One thing is all these guys loved their country..

The commercials are ridiculous

🤣 5:37 Russian tanks T-72 of which "shells bounce off them" ... 🤣Yeah we saw them in Ukraine, even saw T-72s' turrets flying 😂🤣😂

Such a good docu.

@whitemailprivilege2830

Ай бұрын

Yes, if you’re clueless about history.

Whats funny is the people who support communism today think that they'd be allowed to write poetry & smoke weed all day. 😂

@username19237

7 ай бұрын

How exactly is your comment relevant to any event discussed in this video or constructive in any way.

@HelberGalarga69

7 ай бұрын

@@username19237doesn’t it matter if his comment is irrelevant to the video? His opinion/statement is relevant, wasn’t the Soviet Union a communist country?

@real.mir_

7 ай бұрын

@@username19237Exactly

@username19237

7 ай бұрын

@@HelberGalarga69 considering how well constructed and researched this series of videos is, it’s confusing why someone would provide such an unsolicited and misguided opinion on a particular ideology, when their comment isn’t relevant to the video.

@danscott3880

7 ай бұрын

"You'll work hard with a gun in your back for a bowl of rice of day"....Dead kennedys

N. Khrushchev was much better at keeping the peace than J. Stalin. He wasn’t evil like Stalin in fact he denounced Stalin so he couldn’t be all bad! I’m a baby boomer and I can still remember the Cuban Missile Crisis and President Kennedy’s assignation. Those were some scary times!

19:10

when the soviet union fell it was one of the best times in the world did anyone else notice that terrorism around the world fell und rose again since russia is stronger?

Things that Americans are never taught: 1 - Yuri Gagarian was the 1st man in space. We only learn about Alan Shepherd, 2 - The U.S. placed missiles in Turkey before the Russians did in Cuba. 3 - Said missiles were removed from Cuba after the U.S. removed theirs from Turkey... and, as a favor to Kennedy, Kruschev agreed to not publicize this.

@jons4418

4 ай бұрын

This is false info.

@salvadorvizcarra769

Ай бұрын

@@jons4418 It's NOT!

@jons4418

Ай бұрын

@@salvadorvizcarra769 as I said before it is totally untrue. Every single one of those things is untrue. Number one we are taught that Yuri Gagarin was the first man in space number two I don’t only learn about Alan Shepherd number three. I know that missiles. were placed in Turkey. Number four they were not removed from Cuba after the Americans removed theirs they were removed before the Americans remove theirs in Turkey, but that’s how little you know. You are poorly educated, or just an out and out liar.

i always wondered how a communist style government would look like if it prospered and secede like how it would be for the people compared to a capitalism style mainly for the middle class

@oneshothunter9877

5 ай бұрын

Look at China of today.

39:38 just like today's Soviet Russia, the exact same crude rhetoric, accusing others of colonialism while they themselves colonialize the world.

@junglesuperstar9270

6 ай бұрын

Really . What colonies did the ussr have ? But check the meaning of the word colony first .

My heart breaks for the Russian people. I can't fathom living in a country that the wrong word to the wrong person, even a family member, could condemn you to horrors beyond description.

@abelradebe9644

6 ай бұрын

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 you are sick, I would rather be in Russia than in any western country not knowing if am a girl or boy, it's crazy that children are no longer safe because a grown adult male could wake up tomorrow and claim that his a little girl that's horrible.

@theshipoperator7227

3 ай бұрын

I can't believe how many people still think along these cliches. I have one word for them: Assange

@jons4418

3 ай бұрын

@@theshipoperator7227 Putin

@jons4418

3 ай бұрын

@@abelradebe9644 Are you trying to make sense?

@theshipoperator7227

3 ай бұрын

@@jons4418 all right two words: Snowden 🤣

😮

Yeah I bet FDR and Stalin did agree on a lot.

The space race was all about launching spy satellites. The rockets that "carried men into space" never happened. The rockets carried the spy satellites. How do I know, ... my father was one of the chief engineers for the government who developed the cameras on the spy satellites (rockets). There used to be an article about the cameras/satellites on the rockets on the Smithsonian website, but I am not sure it is still there.

So what have learned :)? Not much has changed.

They failed to mention the crazy amounts of equipment the US allocated for the Soviet Union, this documentary seems a little one sided.

40:13 Where can I find a video about this event, specifically about Khrushchev banging his shoe?

🇺🇸

I wonder why the Soviets didn't point their missiles toward Alaska.

Lenin: Hey man tell whoever’s in charge of giving people jobs not top let that jerk Stalin become the next leader. By the way who did I put in charge of giving people jobs? Guard: That would be Stalin sir. Lenin: Bleh *Dies*

[21:07] Taiwan turns red ??? Who does your editing ? Not the CCP I hope....

To much or to little.....🤥🤔... whack time...

Lots of people money they taken.... there are unbalance in society will happen

Thankfully, Churchill didn't take too long to see through Stalin.

@joegerhardusa9017

2 ай бұрын

Had Churchill not pushed for war over Poland and in general not demonized Germany then the British would have had a powerful ally in Germany to fight the Russians. Poland wouldn't have been destroyed and eastern Europe wouldn't have been taken over by the communist. Germany was offering an alliance with Britain and Poland for that matter against the Soviet union. All they wanted was Danzig. Instead Churchill and the British pushed for war with Germany. By doing this they destroyed their chance of saving Europe from the communist. They defeated a nation who wanted to be their ally just to have another country seize Europe anyway. All because the British were afraid of Germanys economic resurgence. Anthony Eden British foreign secretary literally said that's why they went to war. Churchill was a complete fool. And remember who did European peoples side with when Germany invaded Soviet union? They sided with Germany. Hundreds of thousands volunteered to fight alongside the Germans against the communist.

Please make all of your channels videos with a male commentary. It gives a feeling that sends chills down anyone spine and feels a lot more dramatic. Considering men have generally been apart of the war itself. It makes it a lot more enjoyable so please take this advice.

@TheTyTyXD

4 ай бұрын

Wtf?

@thegeniusgenie

Ай бұрын

@@TheTyTyXD do u rlly enjoy a womans voiceover

We pretend to work and they pretend to pay us.

They get them maps wrong a lot for a historical documentary.

The T-72 was made in the 70s what the hell is this guy talking about they had T-34s that weren’t superior to German tanks.

What iron when economy gotta be problem...both side...this people not the build...but the spending...iron become plastic...🤡

Lenin was a good man for his time and turbulent situations. Western historians try hard to forget that the West was colonial power back then, what democracy and civil liberty are been compared with Lenins Russia😂

@dalewier9735

Ай бұрын

That's the funniest thing I have heard said about Lenin,...ever! Thank you I needed that.

14:50 Wrontg answer pal. The Soviets were not more powerful than the "western allies." They were more powerful than the British and the French. The United States would have wiped the floor with them in the immediate aftermath of WWII. The Ruskies were extremely poorly equipped and they had no leadership. All they had was bodies and a complete disregard for human life. The only strategy available to them was to keep throwing bodies at the Germans until they ran out of bullets and gas for their tanks. The United States would not have run out of bullets and gas. On top of the obvious, we were just about to bring all of our forces back from the Pacific. If Stalin had started a fight, we would have slaughtered him. Why do you think he did not start that fight? Was he just being a nice guy to Winston?

USSR, and by default modern Russia, main attribute was their huge population and land. China is the same in population and land. Unfortunately due to their dictatorship governments, these two countries will be the end of our western way of life and liberty.

@johnlenin830

6 ай бұрын

Interesting fact: dictatorial communist China does not invade other countries or support coups d'état around the world, unlike the democratic US, which does it regularly. Yet, at the same time, Washington sees China as a threat. Washington sees Russia as a threat, even though Russia has never threatened the United States. Russia and China threaten the weakening of American hegemony, for the sake of which the U.S. is ready to do anything, for the sake of which it uses Ukrainians as cannon fodder.

@billotto602

6 ай бұрын

I pray daily that you're wrong. ❤️🙏❤️🙏❤️🙏

@kurzeful

6 ай бұрын

Every country has right to choose their government type. If America wants democracy, then their choice, if Russia or China prefer Autocracy, it's up to them. I don't see a problem with either. Neither types will make us humans live for thousand years.

@ManiaMusicChannel

6 ай бұрын

Nope, the end of this country (US, the west) will be itself. Capitalism is and has corrupted itself many times throughout the years and now we got to a new high point. Plus, all the hypocrisy the west promotes in the name of "Freedom", people know is not like in the old days.

"Toll" is a noun. It's singular form or "number" is "toll." Its plural number is "tolls," made by adding a S. "Death toll" is a noun-phrase or noun phrase, made by modifying the noun "toll" with another noun, called a noun in apposition, "death," which modifies it. Because the noun "toll" is singular," the noun-phrase "death toll," heard at about 8:49, is also singular. To say "the death toll in these battles "are" anything, using the plural verb with a singular noun doing the verb, is nonsense. It is evidence that the speaker, or the writer, or the documentary itself, has lost track of his or its subject. In a sense, we can say "The narrator," or not to personalise things, the notional author speaking through the film, "doesn't know what he is talking about." I write this not to be pedantic or clever but to make a very very important point about "history," the stories we tell ourselves about our past. This video, with it's emotion-stirring so-called "music" and bombastic background sound effects, is written and distributed for effect. It tells a take that we share among ourselves as part of the mythology by which we live our lives. Was the death toll of all these battles "absolutely enormous"? Or were it? "Were" feels better to the speaker's mouth and throat, and so it better serves his poetic purpose in carrying forward this bit of speech or narrative. I don't think there is any great political error being made here. There is nothing nefarious about saying "were enormous" when the fact is that the sum total of many many small battles and three or five big ones was enormous. But we can learn something very very important from this absent minded error. It is something worth teaching in the classrooms where this and many other good and competent films and electronically mounted scripts will be used to teach our children. It is that history is a body of stories we tell ourselves and each other. Sometimes it is a coherent story, supported in detail by precise and voluminous evidence. At other times, by contrast, it is rodomontade with which we thrill ourselves and exalt a moral tale with which we inspire. Here the tale, which is important, and moving, and in a sense profoundly "true," is that of the sacrifice of the Soviet peoples during WWII. Other histories tell other moving stories. Some of them are equally true. Many of them are not. This is a very important lesson for us to teach our children. The facts -- "One death is a tragedy, a million deaths are a statistic," (plural ==> singular, deaths ==> statistic), as Stalin is said to have remarked, supposedly quite offhand -- are one body of things that we can pass on to our children. The fact that "facts" change in the telling is another and quite different lesson we should be teaching them assiduously and with care, thought, and discussion.

@TheDavidlloydjones

7 ай бұрын

P.S. I suspect that children know this on sight. It takes teaching to make them ingest "the toll are."! And I suspect that the children figuring out one thing while teacher is saying something different is one small act of the creation of cynicism and distrust, which subvert our politics and thus our society. If they were taught that facts vary with time, place, and provenance, they would be able to deepen their mulch of understanding without becoming jaded or suspicious about them.

@strfltcmnd.9925

7 ай бұрын

You need to get out more often. Don't take life too serious.

@username19237

7 ай бұрын

Huh

@FreeDocumentaryHistory

7 ай бұрын

You know what? Be glad this information is accessible for everyone in the free world. Yeah yeah yeah - we’re not really free bla bla bla. I know. However, i doubt anyone in today’s Russia has access to this. And back in the day, they had no access whatsoever which has led the world to the dilemma with Russia. They have a lot of catching up to do and it can’t happen in a month or a year or even a decade. The growing pains can’t be sidestepped or avoided as we are seeing now. Anyways, dude I seriously suggest taking the advice of getting out more. Comment below.

@bundeswehr7676

7 ай бұрын

..I bet you’re fun at parties

😂 @ 23:40. Nikita Khrushchev was "badly educated."

@oneshothunter9877

5 ай бұрын

😁😂 Same goes for Stalin. A simple and uneducated thief. Obviously intelligent, though. Streetsmart.

This documentary is a very superficial and presents a simplistic view on the event of that time. Very poor job.

1922 Soviet Union was formed? You mean 1822.?

@FreeDocumentaryHistory

3 ай бұрын

The Soviet Union existed from 1922 until 1991.

@kahhowong3417

3 ай бұрын

@@FreeDocumentaryHistory OK thanks. I missed the difference between the Soviet and the Soviet Union.

Free doc is cursed with lies....

Please fix your maps! Germany already controlled much more territory by 1941 than you show!

ორი ... პატარა წყეული კაცუნა რომლებიც სათავეში მოექცა. !

Read the Bible.

@Sgreenenov13

2 ай бұрын

Fiction

@francoluissotomayor5521

2 ай бұрын

💯

@southwestxnorthwest

23 күн бұрын

Waste of time

Read the Bible for ultimate answers.

@ImSpun13

29 күн бұрын

🤦‍♂️

@Malfore

5 күн бұрын

👽🤣