Who opposed German Reunification? (Short Animated Documentary)
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- čas přidán 10. 06. 2024
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Sources:
Kohl and the German Reunification Era by Diethelm Prowe
Imperial Overstretch: Germany in Soviet Policy from Stalin to Gorbachev by Hannes Adomeit
Beyond the National Narrative: Implications of Reunification for Recent German History by Konrad H. Jarausch
A Concise History of German (Third Edition) by Mary Fullbrook
Chalres V holy Roman emperor: "I love Germany so much I prefer to see 143 of them"
Habsburgs: I love Germany so much I want to see *approximately 1800* of them
But the HRE consisted of many Dutch, Swiss, and northern Italian states also.
Good ol’ Carlos
Hahaha lool
@@brandonlyon730 the Dutch would identify as Diets/Duitsch at that time (the reason why we are called Dutch), which basically means that they saw no real distinction from themselves and Germans, since they hadn't really been put on the road to nationhood.
This is a historically accurate video. Lots of younger people may not realize it, but during the late 1980s, world leaders communicated with signs on sticks.
Many humans stilll rely on sticks for communication. They're called police officers.
@@PATTHECATMCD .....what?
@@PANZERFAUST90 the technical term is "percussive adjustment".
@@PATTHECATMCD That's pretty stupid of you. I mean you're really grasping for straws with that one.
@@PANZERFAUST90 You are suggesting that police batons are purely ceremonial? Despite many hours of video evidence clearly displaying they are not?
Germany unification 1871: OH NO, THEY WILL DOMINATE US MILITARILY!!!
Germany unification 1989: OH NO, THEY WILL DOMINATE US ECONOMICLY!!!
The US was not worried at all.
@@kevinbergin2225 Yes, G.H.W. Bush's contribution is not forgotten. After the biggest western power had shown its support, it was much harder for the others to continue their obstruction.
@@kevinbergin2225 um...the word there is "us" - come on.
True both times xD
@@kevinbergin2225 why should they ? Germany is now best eu body
Germany: Reunification
France and Belgium: starts putting speed bumps on roads, to slow down panzers...
And widening the streets of Paris too
France has the nukes and can destroy Germany
You should know.germany has its own nukes. I dont mean the american ones.
@@basedkaiser5352 oh boy Germany is investing on nukes now
See invasion from the North Atlantic in the Normandy....again. *sike. In reality is with the opening of LIDL and ALDI all over the world
It’s interesting to learn that a leader of a western democracy wanted the Soviets to increase troop numbers in East Germany.
Ben Gahzi Jr. in the end it’s just Realpolitik in action, states have no room for ideology or empathy, mad innit.
calling the british democratic is a bit of a stretch
@@kevinaumiller9781 And the best peace time PM she's ever had
@@peter5530 lmao not exactly a high bar dude
@@kevinaumiller9781 Still is
West Germany: "Let's reunify"
Margret Thatcher: *change team*
I don't blame thatcher for being worried about a new Germany, someone close to her should have told her it would never happen. Never the less that woman was the best damn PM in the world right next to President Regan as one of the best influence world leaders.
She was half right. Germany didn’t try to retake its olds lands but it 100% dominates Europe economically.
I hope this video shows some of our people who the true enemies are.
Der Alman'ach and who would that be?
MPHJackson7 it was mainly East Germany that asked and voted for reunification, not West Germany. West Germans hadn’t a say on the question, but their constitution obliged them to accept the application of the GDR to join the Federal Republic.
I love how instead of „Soon“ Kohl hold up „Bald“, the German word for Soon
I love those clever momentary Easter eggs don't you?
True. I also like that "Heidi" features on The Wall. Finally: Here at last is one of History Matters' USSR episodes where, you know, nobody got shot...
Horrible, arrogant man.
@@martinfranzer2254 Kohl
I was so confused thinking it meant bald head or something
Giulio Andreotti was known for his irony and witty remarks. His most rembered quote is "power wears out those who do not have it" which was used in the Godfather III movie. However, my personal favorite is "In a madhouse one can find two kind of people: those who believe they are Napoleon and those who believe they can solve the financial situation of Ferrovie dello Stato (Italy's train state company)"
He sounds like a great man to hang with.
I mean, the high speed rail ended up becoming a powerhouse.
...it just bankrupted Alitalia (the national airline) instead!
"Thatcher feared that a reunified Germany would economically dominate the continent."
I mean, she wasn't wrong.
Thatcher was a typical little Englander who was jealous of Germany's postwar success!
I’d rather a Democratic Germany lead Europe then the dodgy UK that follows the U.S like a lost dog.
@@paulyb7267 bullshit, many in Europe feel exactly the same way
@TheFranksConqueredEurope They acted purely for themselves in the coronavirus, Macron taking masks bought for by the UK so hospital staff in the UK ended up dying.
@@plzfixwolves955 England has always preferred a weak divided europe and still holds onto to the delusion that they are a great power. You can understand why no one likes them.
“Love Germany so much, I prefer to see two of them”.
Wait till that guy finds out about Austria.
Wait till you find out about Liechtenstein
Wait till he finds out about Luxembourg and Switzerland
@@Lots17 These Countries are not German. Swiss isn't really a nationality. and Luxembourg has its own Language.
@@zwiebelface185 I couldn't agree more
@@zwiebelface185 they are former HRE
Actually in the EU only the Spanish were completely for a German reunification without conditions.
Probably because everyone in Spain would be like "If there can be 2 germanys maybe there can be a few spains?"
Who would have thought, the previously fascist nation wanted german reunification. Now that's fitting.
@@blauwbeer556 actually a socialist PM supported German reunification.
@@schusterlehrling do...do you know what previously means?
@@blauwbeer556
I know, but Felipe Gonzalez actively opposed the Falange and Franco. To indicate he would like Germany more because of a facist past is exactly the opposite of his mindset. And he had no fears against a democratic united Germany.
Interestingly, both France and the UK publicly favored German reunification, until that szenario became realistic, then they opposed it.
Politic rhetoric is great until it is demanded to be policy.
@@jerm70 depends on who is in power also. One issue(kinda) with regular elections is the inconsistency in policy.
Ah, like Darth McCain voting to repeal Obamacare umpteen times until the day his vote would have actually repealed it, and then on that day voting to uphold it because he was a vindictive cuck who hated Trump more than he cared about his country.
"I would like to reunify Germany"
*Poles sweating*
*Czechs sweating*
*Dutch sweating*
*Danes sweating*
*Belgians sweating*
*Austrians sweating*
*Luxembourgs sweating*
*French sweating*
Russians and Lithuanians were also nervously sweating since they both still hold ex German/Prussian territory.
In the early 1950s the USSR had proposed reunification but the West rejected it.
@Kyril J Well, for that very reason the Germans had to agree on accepting their current border as definite ones. And nobody seriously questions that except for some Nationalist nutcases. But it's not like those wouldn't exist in your own country either.
The Allies start the war and then they sweat
@@kostam.1113 Prussia were a Balts land ,stolen by Germans.
“I love Germany so much, I prefer to see two of them.”
😂
Two is better than one
@@welshinc5782 no 8 is better west germany east germany northern east germany south east germany north west germany south west germany.
We have Austria :)
"This is getting out of hand, now there are ONE of them!"
Apparently German chancelour told italys prime minister at a meeting of those nations invovled "You have no say in this matter". Shows how insignificant their influence was.
2:14 Ghost Hitler, the scariest form of Hitler 👻
I completely missed that, although I have watched this video once every year. Thank you!
Geistler
I never noticed that before.
Me neither
😂💀
Fun fact at 1:37 you know that the economies are West Germany, France, England, and Italy even though none of them are labeled.
Yea that's how colors work
@@siangchengpang772 somehow even if colours aren’t labelled we still understand which they are meant to be
Thanks Paradox.
@@minutemansam1214 *Yellow Prussia intensifies*
It's called Britain but ok
Lol, I like how Hitler's ghost is right behind Helmut Kohl at 2:15.
Good eye. I needed to rewatch twice. 😁
Didn't catch that the first time thanks
Dam I didn't even see it until you mentioned it. Good job
Lol I was looking through the comments making sure I wasn’t the only one 😂😂
Nice catch!
The "I love Germany so much I prefer to see two of them" is one of the greatest things I ever heard
Its just soo italian))
When I said I supported equal voting rights; I meant men shouldn’t vote either. -Benito Mussolini
There are already like 4 of em. Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Liechtenstein.
@@snipingflute4346 gotta give it to mussolini. he's eloquent and poetic, like most italians xD
@@user-hc6vy2vm8y well, it's been originally said by a French (François Mauriac)
1:57 using subtitles i nearly spat my coffee out.
Omg what are the chances 🤣
Oh no
Oh how ironic
The Jewish Mark. That's always been Germany's problem. ; )
Thatcher was wiser than the FA. She knew very well that once West & East Germany were reunited, the chances of England winning the World Cup again was eternally over! And sadly she turned up to be quite right.
Yes it was a wise stance but maybe now there's a new King, England will finally win the world cup. 2026 maybe??
Well. If the FA had played in the FIFA World Cups before WWII, then England could have grabbed some of these too. :P
Fun fact: the USSR was the first major nation to recognize German reunification.
@wayne Of course the US put a stop to it! Why would anyone want to live under Stalinist rule?
Fun fact, the USSR kept East Germany under its thumb till they was forced to leave.
wayne he already did, just like the allies, except unlike them, he controlled east Germany as a puppet state with no freedom.
Look up the Stalin Note. Stalin wanted a reunified, neutral Germany like Austria. Why? It’s all a matter of Realpolitiks. A neutral buffer state between West and East would have been great for Stalin, as it meant that there was no direct border to the USA-controlled Europe (which by the way also kept Western Europe under its thumb), a bulwark against US military and economic expansion and not having to deal with creating socialism in a hostile environment. The USA refused, for they would have lost their interests in West Germany.
@wayne Stalin also said the eastern europeans would have free elections.
“We’ve beaten them twice and now they’re back”
-Margret Thatcher on German unification
And here comes Merkel for the German's third attempt to destroy Europe
I don't blame thatcher for being worried about a new Germany, someone close to her should have told her it would never happen. Never the less that woman was the best damn PM in the world right next to Regan.
And now the Germans dominate Europe through the hand of the EU...
@@jankubiak324 and you want to know why the UK wants to leave the EU
@@attiepollard7847 I wouldn't say that Brexit would be a loss to Germany, as it got rid of its competitior within the Union, allowing the germans to hold a tighter grip over the EU, but also allowed them to push the UK into political turmoil, which is bad for British businesses and firms both within and outside the country... It's as if the UK was "pushed out" of the union..
Margaret Thatcher: Yo we need more commies here
USA and USSR: 😐
These were confusing times
After that still now are confusing times
I think she meant fewer Germans. 😂
"This is getting out of hand,now there's two of them"
Both Germans: Let's change that, shall we?
Rest of Europe: Oh, shit, now there's one of them! :O
“I love Germany so much, I prefer to see two of them.”
One of the best quotes ever.
And he got his wish as at the time there was 3 of them West Germany, East Germany and Austria (South Germany)
@@IceWolfLoki Sadly nothing last forever.
@@IceWolfLoki There's another: Liechtenstein
@@DeutschlandMapping Don't forget about Swiss!
Said by Francois Mauriac not Andreotti
Remember German Reunification only happened 30 years ago.
Paul Blart Is it 30 years already. Damn
Paul Blart *29 years ago.
No the Real Germany died in 1945. Idk what you're talking about.
@@valiatus6719 The real germany died in 1919
the real germany was born in 1871
My 2 favorite words in international agreements are "eternal" and "permanent".
:))))
Don't forget "indefinitely"
You mean 66 years?
I’ve tried to read your comment very thoroughly, but the only words I can see in it are 99 years
I'm German and I didn't even know there were so many oppositions to the reunification even though German history class basically only consists of WW2 and the reunification nowadays.
@Heinrich Heinrich We got it tought, also the real political reasons behind some other stuff as well, like the Morgentau Plan or backgrounds of the Marshal Fund.
So I am not sure what you talk about.
German alliances to the West were and still are based on the geopolitical concept of "Westbindung". Just google it, there is no secrecy surrounding that topic.
@Heinrich Heinrich Just because most ppl do not propperly educate themselves (btw, self education is a cornerstone of our democracy, that is also why so much internal government stuff is openly publicised compared to other countries) does not mean it is a secret.
I mean, even Wikipedia has an article about it.
The biggest was the USA that blocked reunification in 1954. The Soviets proposed a demillitarized reunified Germany.
@@rankok8418 bcz zionists doesnt liked Germans they lobbied western govts to destroy German people
I was similarly surprised when I learned that Belgium occupied Rhineland in the early 20s to prevent them from splitting from Prussia.
Got to love Thatchers directness. We want German unity, who's with us?
Italy: erm... We love Germany so much that we prefer two!
France: Only if we can economically shackle them with a common currency!
UK: No
Dan Rickard wtf italy hates germany
@@r.o.b8728 just 50% less don't like and 50%+ like
Baron Marseille imagine how much worse it would be if that happened. Italy can barely stand as it is despite being a literal boot
Did you actually watch the video? It was Thatcher who direct about having Germany NOT reunify. The US was the only one who was all for it! I’m sorry, but how in tf did you get that flipped around?!
@@kurttrahan5892 yea... Thats what I said
UK = Thatcher.
Seriously, how tf did you get that flipped around?
Can you talk about the federal kingdoms in the German Empire?
But every single one of them :D
@Trz Some of them had armies.
@GameB Awesome what is a federal kingdom, that's the most conflicting title I've ever heard.
@@yourlocalmailman8456 Germany was created by around 20 german states unifying and their rulers didn't lose their titles but kept ruling their states while they were under the empire(the kaiser also ruled Prussia which had about half of the German lands in it).
Luka Tomaš There were 25 States and Prussia took about 65% of the surface (without the colonies), to be exact.
You forgot to mention the name of the man who teared down the wall and unified Germany: David Hasselhoff
Well... Nobody in Germany really likes him, we treat him more like the "they think we like him, ahaha" meme
He's actually on the greetings part! Notice the curly hair.
In my book that accomplishment is Günther Schabowski's.
Ahh that pisser ! !
He threatened Gorbachev with a signed LP 😱
Those banners at the hands of people are the most iconic and relatable thing in this channel.
West Germany: Let's reunite!
Margaret Thatcher: No, I won't let you-
*Germany has reunited*
@fredit _yt Speak for alot of Brits aswell, nobody liked Thatcher.
fredit _yt Most Brits hate her too.
fredit _yt she hasn’t been wrong yet.
she was such a bitch
fredit _yt don't worry, brits probably hate her more, unless you burnt effigies and got 'ding dong the witch is dead' to number one when she died as well
Feels like you could have covered so much more in this video! Please make new 10 minute history videos again :)
True...there is so much missing, like how a situation in which Reunification even became a topic evolved, the important role Genscher played in making it possible and how Germany basically paid off the Russians and France in order to get them and the US (which was kind of pleased about the notion anyway) outvote the UK.
When he said “Deutsche Mark” why did the caption say he said “The Jewish Mark” 🙃
Shut it down, He knows too much.
It's insane how much territory Germany had lost since WW1.
They lost allenstein (Olsztyn) Gleiwitz (gliwice) Breslau (Wrocław) Danzig (Gdańsk) Gdynia, oppeln (Opole) küstrin (Kostrzyn) Stettin (Szczecin) köslin (Koszalin) all to Poland, and they lost Konigsberg to Russia
@@Vneosjwfk Ironically Stettin is west of the current designated river border between Germany and Poland, yet it is still Polish, despite the river flowing to the east of the area.
@@TheZett as I pole i have crossed that border many times before, I always find it satisfying, today I live very close to the old german Polish border close in Silesia
Especially compared to how much territory they had way back in 1870... Oh wait, they didn't have any territory back then since they weren't a nation. 😉 That all changed in 1871 because a united Germany seemed like a good idea t the time. Then they went on a "castle" building frenzy to gain a "medieval" heritage and we got the insane construction of Neuschwanstein, followed by the Kaiser, followed by millions dead, followed by the Fuhrer, followed by even more millions dead, followed by a Germany with split personality disorder. 😅
I have to admit I kinda miss the longer videos, specialy the English & British History ones.
These small ones don't feel the same.
I do as well, but I still enjoy the channel
It feels like we are going through a huge list of topics he wanted to talk about but couldn't fit into a 10 min video. We will get longer videos eventually and I like the shorter ones being more frequent than the longer ones being more apart (if we're only getting one type that is).
Give him some time eventually they would come
Yeah, But these have grown on me so though luck.
Germany wasn't United 1.7.1990.
Day of official reunification was the 3.10.1990, the "day of German unity ".
In July they only joined economically.
That is correct.
D-Mark for GDR from 01.07.1990 onward. You could say it was the start of the incorporation of the unification and ended on 0.00 am 03.10.1990 when the GDR ceased to exist.
@@TheDunbartxeen They should have put the Stasi through a Nurnberg trial and hanged them for crimes against humanity
MultiEpique That was on August 23, 1990 when a treaty of two Germanies as West and East Germany announced to reunite on October 3, 1990. Then nearly three weeks later on September 12, 1990, the four powers (🇺🇸 + 🇬🇧 + 🇫🇷 + 🇷🇺) signed up to renounce their claim into a treaty to make Germany to become a full sovereign state on March 15, 1991.
First of July; Third of October
correction - we officially reunited on 3 October 1990 - however the currencies were reunited on 1 July 1990. happy unification - so happy about this!
Thatcher: No land for Germany.
Also Tatcher: Goes to war against Argentina over small island.
Argentina invaded British territory while Germany had been spilt in two as a way to reestablish a sort of balance of power.
People still feared German nationalism and not without reason. Shortly after the reunification there were far-right riots in both Western and Eastern Germany due to the German parliament refusing to change the laws on asylum seekers.
And honestly, Thatcher was right that a unified Germany would pose an obsticle to British interests.
@@sirnilsolav6646 We get it, you hate Germany. Now please go away!
@@sirnilsolav6646 tbh Argentina was being comanded by basically fascism, but Argentina was claiming for that territory since 1833 when Argentine settlers were fought off the previously unpopulated island.
Sorry, but you brits shouldnt be go around defending colonialism so lightly lol
@@felipea1399 This little Englander obviously hates and is jealous of Germany.
@@paulyb7267 yeah and I dont get it but whatever. Tbh its weird that I ignored all the anti German part of the commebt
2:00 “I love Germany so much I prefer to see 2 of them” who said that politicians don’t have a sense of humor? 😂😂😂
Terrorists phoned him one december saying they will kill him on January.
He answered: good, this means I'm going to have a peaceful Holy Christmas...
Other notable quotes:
"Better to be a dictator than be gay" - Lukashenko
"Unfuckable lard-arse" - Berlusconi on Merkel
"I don’t want to be rude but, really, you have the charisma of a damp rag and the appearance of a low-grade bank clerk." - Farage on van Rompuy
The last time germans had fun the whole europe had to be saved again
@@michaelk4896
actually, mr.B never said that.
Another famous quote from Andreotti goes: "to think bad of someone, you commit a sin, but you guess right."
I gotta say, I would really love to see a ten minute version for German Reunification.
There is one
Me too! Because it's much more complicated than that! It would be really interesting to speak about the different point of views at the time and especially in East and West Germany where everyone was not for a reunited Germany (like with the question of the Third Way).
History Scopes made a good video on it
@@jacobjohnson4785 Thanks for the tip!
Andreotti was famous in Italy for his witty remarks, but of course most of them can only be understood in the context of Italian politics. For instance, there was a state owned society, Ferrovie ("rail system") which famously ran at a loss for most of its history. Andreotti once said: "there's only two kinds of crazy people, the ones who believe they are Napoleon and the ones who believe Ferrovie can run at a profit".
Also is worth noticing that Felipe Gonzalez and Spain in General did fully support german reunification. Felipe did not attend on purpose a meeting of the CE (precursor of UE) issuing a declaration to recognize (and pressure) only the modern German-Polish frontier. Gonzalez had entire meeting with Kohl about the possibility of the (Re)union with Austria. The King Juan Carlos I did visit Helmut Kohl several times during the process.
Now image if Austria was included the gap between Germany and the rest would massive.
1:55 "[...] instead of continuing with the use of the strong DEUTSCH Mark."
Subtitles say: "Jewish mark"
Oof...
Well, that really is a bad automatic translation!
Speaking of, there was never such thing as a "Deutschmark", it was just a "Deutsche Mark" or simply "Mark". The former was coined by Anglos trying to show off their German.
Bruh.
Wow
Based
I wasn't expecting a quote from Andreotti
Nobody expects the Span-err... Andreotti!
France:Wants the Euro so that Germany doesn't have too much influence in Europe
Germany:Increases its influence in Europe thanks to the Euro
Just like the maginot line 😂
Sometimes Machiavellian plans have the opposite effect of what was expected, the USA is a master of this (I'm not referring to terrorism, that's exactly what they wanted).
@@charles2521good, as you know USA has alot of German descendants, even Bush sr have German ancestry. So by a margin, its only juts ethnic brethren supportive of each other, look up the largest immigrant group in US, it is Germans
Another great and precise video about my country. Much thanks for spreading knowledge in this kind of presentation!
I am amazed that Thatcher worried about German revanchism and actually asked the Soviets to attempt to prevent reunification militarily. I never knew that.
well, the thatcher government also comissioned a study on "the german mental condition/mindset" that claimed that "the german mental condition" is one of revangism, glorification of past greatness, militarism etc.
kinda what everybody else thinks about the UK.....
fun thing about that is, that this internal study got leaked and resulted in a political scandal and souring of german-british relations.
And the UK pushed for legal limitations on german military size, stockpile sizes etc, wich now result in the german army being incapable of doing its constitutional job of being a NATO Defense Army.
Somehow it seems that the UK was the problem in post war europe all along.
Vladimir Putin was in East Germany at the time, and was all in on a plan of his boss, to put down the reunification demonstrations with machine gun fire. Also known as "Tiananmen Square". There was some little thing which I forget now that messed up communications and before the squads could be organized the walls and fences were down.
"Accidental Czar: the life and lies of Vladimir Putin" graphic novel biography.
Lmao Thatcher was right about Germany economically dominating Europe
Still, the nerve of her to ask Gorbatchev to send troops to east germany
I mean she meant it more in a "fourth reich" kind of way rather than EU, which is kind of the opposite of what their opponents expected: most thought germany was gonna tarnish any attempts of european unification to instead rely on being an economic powerhouse among weaker separate european nations, but the opposite is what happened.
@@icecold1805 She exacly know that Germany would dominate Europe economicly. And she was tottaly right.
@UCHeZ60wbygvIyE3ZW3xT2GA funnily enough, that description applies to a couple of historical figures. I know you mean Hitler but sure bismark had a mustache and unified the majority of Germans, you could also make an argument for Otto I
Francisco MM sending soldiers to suppress people is what Margret Thatcher does best
I've lived in Germany since 1985 and seen it all happen. Hard to believe it's been so long!
The question remains "who is James byzenette? "
Pssst, you forgot to add Flevoland to the Netherlands.
It Didnt Exist Back Then
@@themgamer9152 Not true. Flevoland was finished in 1968, and this video is about events in 1989.
@@Yokuyin i knows only my comment wouldnt delete😥
Maybe, Giulio Andreotti was a fan of Holy Roman Empire, or, at least, German Union...
"I love Germany so much I prefer to see two of them. But do you know what's even better than two Germanies? Two thousand Germanies."
I love your channel keep up the great stuff!!!
"Every leader of the USSR had strongly opposed any notion of a unighted germany"
Well, that's not true, just google "Stalin's note"
You think he was actually serious about that?
@@Godslayer5656 even if not, thats not obvious
@@Godslayer5656 Stalin had every reason to be. His proposal for unification was premised on the new, unified Germany becoming neutral. Considering the difference in population between West Germany and East Germany, taking both of them out of the Cold War would have been a net gain in relative power for the Warsaw Pact.
@@anderskorsback4104 Well the issue there is that it still wouldn’t really be neutral. It would mostly likely still be democratic, and capitalist. Hell I could see this backfiring for Stalin, west Germany alone already was the strongest economy by the end of The Cold War, if from the start had east Germany incorporated into it, and both would build each other at the same time, that would be an incredibly powerful Germany. An incredible powerful Germany that would show democracy and capitalism works really well.
@@Godslayer5656 well Austria ended up being neutral so ist could have worked.
I love how the maps are accurate, as a historian it always bugs me when a video has inaccurate maps.
The Netherlands is missing Flevoland, which finished reclaimation in the 70's.
The people too....totally accurate 😂
The borders of the US at 1:27 are incorrect, they are pre Gadsden purchase
>All Soviet leaders post-WWII opposed a unified Germany
Stalin did propose the idea of a unified and permanently neutral Germany in the early 50s. Now, it's arguable if he was actually serious about it or if it was just deceptive political maneuvering, but I wanted to throw that out there.
@pondblank pondblank
Wrong on the last count. STALIN wanted a neutral Germany.
@pondblank pondblank Ah yes, because history is black and white and there is no depth in a persons actions.
Stalin did probably actually want a neutral Germany as it would serve as a buffer zone between the East and the West much like what the Allies [ including the USSR ] did with Austria. The flat Eastern European plains were a big problem for the USSR as this region was most vulnerable to foreign invasions as the Nazis had proven during their initial invasion of the USSR.
You can have any opinion you want about people like Stalin but painting them off in such a simplistic way is stupid.
Nazism was too strong back then, they had to wait a few decades for it to die down or WWIII would happen
By "neutral," did Stalin really mean "puppet?"
@@ressljs More than likely yes.
Clever!
Thank you🙏
Some would say that rather than a "reunification", it was West Germany annexing East Germany, which isn’t entirely inaccurate.
I believe that's what literally happened, from a "legal" point of view. I mean, I'm not expert in geopolitical laws, but I remember reading that the official, bureocratic and formal way the unification was reached was really with West Germany annexing East Germany. Or, at the very least, East Germany voluntarily dissolving itself into West Germany.
I’m really loving these shorter history videos focused on a question. Really great and informative work, thank you!
Forgot to mention reunification was supported by Ireland, who held the EEC Presidency in 1990
Ciarán Maher A country still waiting for its own unification.
Oh. That changes everything then.
A certain Charles J Haughey was involved in these negotiations. This was something good which Haughey did. Haughey it must be said could be a gangster at the best of times.
Well ireland was always nice.
@@louismart which might happen now after Brexit
Fascinating! Thanks!
I did enjoy this episode, thanks for asking
2:27 - **"The boys are back in town" starts playing**
As a German I wish this one episode was not a Minute History but an Hour History video.
Reunification was the right thing for Europe ultimately.. i think,
The positives was it marked the end of the cold war and Germany could finally move on from what happened in the 1930's and 1940's
(In some areas Germany to this day has trouble moving on from that troubled past)
France being greedy as they historically have been wanted something out of it, and the Euro would of failed by now if not for Germany and UK. Although it might fail anyways.
The most important thing is the bringing of family's back together and making it whole again. Korea will eventually need this to happen as well, but things take time.
Some of the negative things are Germany has become very culturally soft as a result,
Thus things like migrants are destroying the nation from within over time and no one seems to want to stand up for century's of their culture.
German GDP is very high and they are on the border to eastern Europe, however
they totally rely on the United States for protection. Out of the 1st world Economical powerhouses they contribute some of the lowest amounts of capitol to shared and domestic defense.
They have some really strange ideas of what is a good idea, such as 50% of their energy grid running off of solar and wind, when France just sells them excess nuclear energy
which is what they should of just built in the first place.
And only time will tell if Merkel was good or bad for Germany overall.
But it will be interesting to see how it transforms to a world power and a dominant power of Europe over the next three decades.
@@bobjackson4287 migrants are not destroying Germany, they are enriching it. And I say that as a German who's family lives in Germany for many centuries.
@@Schunderful ich weiß auch nicht was diese ganzen Vollpfosten immer meinen wenn sie sagen das Deutschland von Immigranten zerstört wird. Nur weil in den Städten jetzt n paar mehr dunkelhäutige rumlaufen ist auf einmal Deutschland kaputt?
So bescheuert diese Menschen die das behaupten
@@fuckinantipope5511 Zumal es in Kunst und Kultur so viele tolle Migranten gibt. Serdar Somuncu, Abdelkarim, Mai-Thi, um nur einige ganz wenige zu nennen. Ich empfinde solche Menschen als eine Bereicherung für unsere Gesellschaft.
@@Schunderful ist halt vor allem. Ironisch wenn Stimmen ausm Amiland sagen Deutschland wird von Immigranten zerstört, die Amis aber alle von Immigranten abstammen die wirklich das Land zerstört haben :D
Und ja, gebe dir recht. Natürlich sollte deutsche Tradition und Kultur gewahrt werden (und das wird sie auch sehr intensiv), das heißt aber bei weitem nicht das man alles fremde einfach rausschmeißen soll.
So viele hirnlose Idioten in den Kommentaren hier
Short answer: Our „friends“
:))
Nice touch with Baywatch Man at the end!
A "prequel" on who opposed the formation of the German Empire would be really interesting!
Everyone
france because france fought the prussians
There is one on the reaction to German unification
@@ancaconstantin8667 This comment was made 2 years before the German unification video
@@danieltsiprun8080except germany*
*except some states
Also West Germany offered the Soviet Union some money in exchange for East Germany, something that Gorbachev ofc agreed to.
"some" money. It was a vast sum.
@kostas_misa This is not true. Germany agreed to pay the cost of withdrawal of Soviet troops from east german territory plus expenses for housing, vocational training and job placement service for the soldiers for a period of two years. Nothing else.
@@peterparker219 since East Germany was like a soviet occupied state, and they paid for the withdrawal of the Soviet troops from there, they like paid the USSR to free the GDR, which meant now East Germany was kinda independent, which meant it could choose for itself (reunification). Which means the FRG paid the Soviet Union for the reunification.
@@kostasmisa2380 Big difference to your first comment though. You wrote "money in exchange for East Germany" and that's wrong.
That's the most capitalist shit ever. Literally buying the other half of the country lmao.
I remember back in 1989, the thought of a reunified Germany really gave me the creeps, as it was *constantly* being talked about in the news media at that time. I guess retrospectively my fears were really unfounded.
With Nukes there will never be a WW3.
@@Crashed131963 we are a disgusting race. the primary reason for the fall of humanity will be nuclear war
It's been 'only' 30 years since the reunification, so....
@@Crashed131963 Well there won't be a World war 4 at least.
@@joeyjojojrshabadoo7462 As long as MAD keeps doing a fantastic job like it has for 60 years.
It only works if both side do not like dying.
A suicidal dictator (North Korea) or Religious fanatic (Iran) can upset that system .
"Thatcher feared that a unified Germany would economically dominate the continent".
Sorry to break it to you but...
*becomes number 1 exporter of goods in the world*
@@El.Gatito. no it no.3 bro
..but when compare to population...Germany is impressive country
But what
@@ethanbaker8616
Germany is the most powerful country in Europe today.
@@TheKumarImpressions until 2009 they were. But sadly no anymore.
I absolutely love that all his resent videos have been on really interesting topics and questions that no one ever points out and so when ever I see the video title I’m like “huh that’s a good question, why haven’t I thought of that?”
I love your videos so much I prefer to see more of them.
Gorbachev wrote in his book that there was no promise that NATO wouldn’t expand
I can't help but picture Churchill's ghost having an aneurism when Thatcher proposed increasing Soviet troops in East Germany...
Love the details you often put in your work. Not just the obvious port-wine stain on Gorbachev's head, but especially things like the graffiti on the Berlin wall saying "glasnost", and even better: actually writing it in Cyrillic! 👌🏻 Cheers!
What do you get when the two Germanys unite?
Out of the way.
America loved Germany so much we wanted to see one of them.
Only on that allowed their military defacto permanent occupation. They rejected unification of a demilitarized Germany in 1954, proposed by the Soviets
@@rankok8418 The same Soviets who had an affair with Ethnic Purges, Gulags, and Progroms. The very same Union who split Germany in two to beginning with, yeah no wonder the US wanted Germany defensible.
@@rankok8418 no shit. The soviets wanted a communist Germany and the Americans a capitalist one, that was the entire point of their conflict there
America so loved Germany that we said "haha suck an egg, Britain"
It's odd forgetting sometimes just how recent some of the moments that shaped the current political landscape really are.
I was never a slouch when it came to history but feudal times were always my favorite to learn about so I have this huge blind spot from 1970 to 2008.
"I love Germany so much, I prefer to see two of them."
-Gandhi, probably.
Charlie Spurr I Iove Germany so much i prefer to see a thousand of them
-every hre emperor ever
"I love Germany so much, I prefer to see non of them" France, through entire history
Its Gandhi
@@tejasmohite2651 thanks
@@anne.andromeda Yep! It's easier to grap land of them. That was the french idea behind...
Andreotti's quote was great
Just realised I have a photo of him just right in front of me in a book XD
Casteddu. Carlo il sardo ne sarebbe orgoglioso
@@radiomilano2346 lol Mi sono appena reso conto che sei tu XD
weeeee
@@IlMappatoreGenovese ciao pesto
Ho l'ascensore rotto
In pratica è bloccato tra un piano e l'altro perché si è aperta la porta in mezzo
@@casteddu6740 NON MORIRMI
Incredible, I didn't think that Andreotti could appear in one of your videos
Nice clip, the Dutch prime minister was hesitant as well at the time. The Reunification didn’t happen on 1 July 1990 though, it was 3 October 1990. On 1 July the GDR adopted the Deutsche Mark as currency.
I never really considered the opposition based on the fear that Germany may start a war. Sounds some some good alternate history.
Chubby Catfish I agree. All I remember are economic concerns.
It wouldn't have gone anywhere, NATO and the Soviets had massive forces in the area and were both nuclear powers. Not to mention Germany had already gone 0-2 in world wars so they weren't exactly ready to rematch.
@@mandalorian_guy to be fair it was 10 to 1 or 10 to 2 if you count Japan in ww2
@@mandalorian_guy Fears need not be rational.
Also, there was quite a bit of panic in the West that the Soviet Union was imploding so fast, they might sell out their former satelites for some of that hard currency West Germany had in abundance.
Sure, those fears weren't really rational either, but as I said before...
Hitler just comes back to life "hmmm... I still have some... *unfinished business* "
Love these short 3 minute videos
Yes, you can quickly get some information and move on. I actually realy like it, because other videos on CZcams are always so long that I never have the time to watch them in one turn😅
Thank you!
The animation of Yeltsin poking his head out over the top of the other leaders was hilarious.
*"Germany. Will. Be. United."* - Helmut Kohl.
Glad I’m not the only one who thought of that.
We need Helmut Kohl back. - mtlicq
Normie.
Helmut Kohl had a corruption problem. But people continued to love him, cuz he reunited Germany. But in fact, its Gorbachev in discuss with Kohl, said what he wanted reunite Germans. And other countries was against (France, UK, Austria). They was afraid, and we can understand that.
How ironically, its was communists who reunited Germany and created modern EU.
@@mtlicq Hell no! Fuck Kohl! Because of him East Germany is still a Mess, Internet Connection is something you know from Sci-Fi Movies and overall he was a corrupt Piece of Shit. May he burn in Hell. Schmidt>Kohl.
"Russians go home" - is that a Monty Python reference?
Perhaps but "Ruskies go home" was a legitimately popular slogan in the Eastern block, at least in Hungary.
it's the most famous slogan used during the 1956 hungarian revolution
if it were i'd prefer it with incorrect grammar as in "People called Russias they go the house"
*THANK YOU!*
“James bizzonet” a legend
0:23 Khrushchev creeping in the back
Actually that was Chernenko. Khrushchev is between Stalin and Brezhnev.
I've always loved history channels...
And this one has been the best so far!
This is such a great comment section, with absolutely no politics whatsoever.
2:13 Hilter looks mad at thatcher....
I wonder why...
I mean 2:15
While I appreciate that these 3 minute videos let you cover a whole host of historical topics, it feels as if these videos are somewhat superficial. Personally I'd prefer fewer videos overall but each being longer.
lol 1:20
I see what you did there 😂😂🇩🇪🇩🇪
Such a droll & wonderful series
Another thumbs up to History Matters . . .