German Reunification Explained
2018 ж. 5 Қаң.
1 641 447 Рет қаралды
German Reunification almost didn't happen. It was opposed by nearly all world leaders.
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Sadly, the people living in Prussia didn't just get to be polish or Russian.. they were forced out of their homes and had to flee westwards. Do to the hard winter conditions many lost their lifes or were mistreated and murdered by Soviets
"Copare a crime with a crime, and you are no inch better"
Wrzem wrzem Nazi =/= Average Citizen Revenge =\= Moral
"they would never have been forcibly relocated if Germany hadn't committed one of the biggest crimes against humanity in world history in the first place. So what I'm trying to say is "sorry, but... not sorry" "Where did i equate nazis with average citizens? Did say i say revenge is moral?" *"sorry,but...not sorry"* I think you're a bit wrong mate.
Hardocore That's right. But you forget to mention what had been happening on Russian soil during the four years before that. Over twenty five million people lay dead on the fields.Of course it was a horrible disaster to the Russian and then the German population that were concerned in these areas.But politically and militarily it was just the boomerang that had come back to Germany.
Wrzem Wrzem Yet I do not like the idea of Polish nationalism coming up again. What is Poland actually ? Until WW1 you were not even on the map of Europe. During the Russian civil war Pilsudski tried to cut off territories from Russia, and to me it is not a surprise that Stalin has always been very suspicious about Polish policies. Even when signing the Ribbentrop pact with Germany in August 39. The Brits had guaranteed for the Poles but did nothing but holding speeches in London together with your so called exile government. Eventually it was Stalin whose soldiers had to liberate Poland doing all the dirty jobs, because there was nobody else to do it.I know history is contradictory and problematic, but in the end the Poles were given enough land and support to rebuild their nation again. Do you think Berlin, Hamburg, Cologne and Dresden were not in ruins ? Do you think you should have been presented a piece of Europe well wrapped in silk ? Poles usually tend to complain about what they have lost but never appreciate what they have received from other European peoples. My grandfather was born and lived in Silezia (Walbrzych/Waldenburg) until 45, and in the eighties I took him there again when he was about eighty. We were welcomed by the Polish family who had been deported from Wolhynia/Ukraine and who lived in the house of my granddad at Walbrzych. So both parties were refugees. And the lady baked cake, made coffee and meals, and we sat there talking for hours without any problems. Their daughter had an excellent command of English. And on the way back to Zgorzelec and Germany my granddad said to me "I am so happy there are such nice people living there today !"And he had overcome the dreary past - even at his age. That is the only way to get on with each other - make friends not war !Otherwise the whole shit from the last century will start again from its beginning. Sorry, I am not sorry for the politicians, but I am sorry for the people ! The Germans, the Polish, the Russians - no matter where they are from.
Now I get it. France, USA, Britain and the Soviet got so sick of Helmut Kohl saying “Germany will be united” they eventually gave in so he would shut up.
KöhlerSAStudios Ever heard of Gandhi?
Vindexproeliator America is -although not official- the name most people call the USA and everyone knows what they mean
Actually, it's the Soviets, Gorbachev let them reunite. BBC did about that video, check it. But, yes, almost of Europe was against of reuniting Germany. In ussr was a parade of independence. A lot of republics, even the RSFSR subjects had a sovereign rights.
You have to read books
Reeky Tortoise ngl your last reply ruined the vibe of your first reply
I will never forget that evening, when the wall came down. I was seven years old, on TV the were people dancing and singing and fireworks were going off. My mum was crying. I didn't understand then what was happening. But everybody was glad and hopeful and relieved. It was awesome.
This video is a fairy tale and lacks in the reality of the Unification. Please read my remarks.
No, I'm not gonna search for some comment that probably has nothing to do with my memories of the feelings right after the wall fell. And don't repost it here, I have no interest to read it, grinch. I also don't need someone from another country to wax about what went wrong. I lived through it, I seriously doubt you have anything to say that is pertinent to my understanding of it.
Yeah me too! There must have been lots of sex drugs and drinking going on for days, until the reality kicked in that the poor East will drain the richer West of it's resources before things smoothed out again
@@verdeboyo You from Italy? And you call US poor? With your little country lmaoooo
@@ok-he2ko from England UK. And most def not poor😆😅
Historically speaking, when Germany says "unite", the rest of the world gets a little nervous.
Except the US
Lebensraum
@@meltedicecreamsandwich trust me you fat piece of arrogant shit should be more anxious than the europeans they fought with courage since 38 you got later in to the ww 2 ask.UK& greece & and the soviets being the only one to either fight or resist the nazis or italians
They thought Germany was joking....but suddenly remembered that Germany has no sense of humor.
@@itsprometheus8938 Greece hahaha
It kills me how the border guards were like "we aint paid enough for this" and opened the gates lmao
They propaly wasen't even paid lol
Their problem was that they were rushed by thousands totally unprepared. And not the regular guys who always tried to sneak over the border at night, whom propaganda said were class traitors or western spys anyway, so they shot them like they were ordered, but literally the whole Berlin neighborhood that promptly packed a few bags and wanted to run to the west because the news (falsly) announced that it would be allowed now. The crowd was so big that the ones in front couldn't even have backed up if they wanted to, so the only option the border guards had other than just letting it happen, would have been using their automatic weapons and just mowing a few hundred of them down, hoping that the mass would then panick and disperse (and even then there would have been a chance that they would have just been overrun, tight packed crowds like that behave unpredictable when a panick breaks out). Thankfully, the guards weren't ready to cause a bloodbath of such proportions.
Some of those guards looked like they might tear up😢imagine not being able to see your friends and family because western powers couldn't decide if you were too dangerous to be united. It's a crazy story, but must have been a beautiful moment to live in.
That's communism for you 😂
Germany: can I be unified All of Europe: *war flashbacks* n o
iVls *sad german noises*
@Ska only first world In the rest of the world Germany and Germans are known for positive stereotypes
@Ska maybe because they did their shit in Europe unlike Britain, France, Spain and the US You know it's an unwritten rule to do your atrocities away from where the butchers live
A few years later Okay maybe sure
No please
Germany will be.....? I can't remember how it ends because you didn't say it often enough.
I don't either. Was it nuked? I think the word was nuked.
Yeah, I think that's it. Germany will be nuked. He should say it a few more times because it is not emphatic or profound enough.
Germany will be Remade?? I think that's it
Yes! I think that's it. Germany will be remade! Germany will be remade! Germany will be remade! Germany will be remade! Germany will be remade! Germany will be remade! Germany will be remade! Germany will be remade! Germany will be remade! Germany will be remade! Germany will be remade! Germany will be remade! I think I've said it enough times...
Head of the EU.
Margeret Thatcher: the dominant people in Europe would be German another person in the background: yey
@Renan_PS badass? Leeching popularity from the budget cut and diplomatically abandoned armed forces success at defending the Falklands is functionally evil, not badass.
@Renan_PS she wasn't tough just hateful towards her own people, Britain hasn't even been close to electing someone tough since the 30's when Mosley was imprisoned without charge for refusing to support a war that killed millions of britons.
MaSoNGaMeR115 millions lol ok
**Looks at a map of modern Germany** Otto von Bismarck: Look at how they massacred my boy.
Germany is richer and more powerful then ever so huh...
@@hannorasmusholtiegel6044 Ja
@@hannorasmusholtiegel6044 and Germans there are set to become a minority and eventually a non existent people from the past, definitely worth it
@@MaSoNGaMeR115 Nobody with any sense cares about your racialized ideas of who is or is not German, dude. Not in Germany, and not elsewhere. Give it half a dozen generations and intermarriage will solve whatever particular "heritage" problem you've decided to decry. If you really want to make sure there aren't long-term problems, just change the citizenship criteria from primarily _jus sanguinis_ to primarily _jus soli._
Technically you could argue his boy massacred himself, a couple times...
One man promised that Germany would be united: Otto Von Bismarck. LOL
Johan Jacobs lesser German solution
Otto... the Great
wonderful
thumbs up
thumbs up
Sorry I didn't get the Germany will be united part. Can you repeat it like another 100 times please?
I've added it to the next video for you so you'll get it then! :D
@@HistoryScope Isn't it united tho ?
@@SillyUwUBilly Currently? Yes Yes Yes and a lil tiny no.
@@victorviereck4117 What u mean by tiny no ?
@@SillyUwUBilly he probably means the existing divide in Germany. Look up a religion map for Germany for example or look at the average income. Or where the big companies are having their headquaters e.t.c.
Donald Trump: Man, it's hard to build a wall... Walter Ulbricht & Erich Honecker: First time?
Österreichischer Patriot you can’t compare the Berlin Wall to Mexican boarder wall
@@will6412 it's only a joke tho
They all failed, this what happend with the stupid Trump, he is already in the history of America as worst president ever
Klaus Kapalle Trumo sucks, I wish Obama like president comes.
bill Clinton and Obama are way worst
“These people were now Russian... polish” That’s a nice way to say millions of Germans were expelled and replaced by Russian/polish settlers.
Eh, these things happen
@@jamessalmon5109 yeah just like with the native Americans..
One of the most unheard humanitarian crimes of the 20th century
how many poles and Russians did the Germans expel from their lands during the War? The presence of Ethnic Germans in the east was one of the driving motivations of HItler's "lebensraum" efforts, and the nations ransacked by the Nazis didn't want anyone using the excuse "there are already Germans there!" again.
@Soundwave3591 the issue is not what was worse. but the video makes it sound like the local population was simply integrated into the soviet union and not expelled. wich is factually incorrect.
Who else cant get over the fact that all of this wouldn't have happened if some Serbs hadn't killed a austro-Hungarian guy
There would've been some other trigger for WWI 2 months later, probably.
@@acho8387 dafuq you smoking. Flo clearly said WW1
@nowai ................Dude. When the germans were occupying my country (belgium) during WWI they did horrors upon the people out of pure fear from them because their officers filled their minds with paranoid delusions that every belgian was a potential saboteur and a killer. It became so bad that when a drunk german soldier accidentaly fired at another german soldier in Leuven they burned the entire city down and shot 3/4 of the population of the city in the square right in front of the train station. They were convinced that there was an insurgency happening. XD People had the right to be angry at them.
History seldom has a clear cause. You could trace it all way back to the millitarism in Prussia, wich itself resulted alot from the 30 years war, and if you trace back the reasons for that, the church, christianity, and if you trace that back... Well, you see what I mean....
Sean Santos All of this because some Serb decided to get a sandwich and by luck saw Franz Ferdinand and killed him.
I wrote this comment, because... Germany will be united!
Szoszaty Germany is united idiot.
Galaxy Red r/woooosh
@@galaxyred7 Austria is Germany
@@galaxyred7 Germany isnt united! Look at the east provinces idiot
@@checkcommentsfirst3335 The what ?
I am from Berlin and I was there when the wall fell. The atmosphere was crazy. Everybody was so happy and full of hope. So many people openly cried tears of joy. But I only was 9 (or 10) at this time. So the real extent of this historical event wasn't clear to me back then. I mean: I was born in West-Berlin and grew up with 2 Germanies as the normality. I didn't know it differently. So it all felt like an adventure to me.
Fusilier Thresher fuck no
Gyoto Azimoto its really sad man
@Gyoto Azimoto the fuck do you mean "the allies won unfortunately"? Bro better take that shit back to 1945 when that idealogy surrendered.
@Thresher yes
@@appleslover indeed
Your drawing of Gorbachev is hilarious
Hollywood hair and no shitmark😂
I used this image, btw. www.google.com/search?q=gorbachev&client=ms-android-huawei&prmd=inv&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjBxZfMgPjjAhXSPOwKHYIOCVAQ_AUIFygB&biw=360&bih=518#imgrc=bQovboNKEovSpM
200th like on dis comment
Take a shot everytime he says G E R M A N Y W I L L B E U N I T E D
*dies*
german empire Anschluss?
@@thesuperean3008 yes
Oder ne Line ziehen :D
juancho albertonity i got alcohol poisoning
I was there in 89 working on the tv coverage. An amazing few days.
I hope korea gets reunified like this
cool, summer of 89 my government was shooting at the student's protestors with live bullets. Didn't stop capitalism from chasing the communists out or vice versa though. the two intermarry one another and coexisted. just wow.
@@MTC008Nah
@@OlBlow-qv6oz yes, it should be
@@MTC008 Kim Jong Un declared that North Korea would be Independent forever.
Massive like for correct pronunciation of Gorbachev
I need to correct you about something. When you talked about the kaliningrad oblast and the lands east of the oder neisse, you said that the people there now would live in russia and poland. But that's wrong, because shortly after the war almost all germans from these regions (and in general east europe) where expelled or killed, leaving only a small part in upper silesia and Transylvania
you're correct. This video was already getting pretty long so I cut all the material about what happened to previously German territories :(
@@HistoryScope Yeah, but this extra sentence would be pretty damn important
@@ducktube7473 but this is entirely it. He's basically making a propaganda film about the greatness of Germany. Germany is an artificially constructed state, not an organically moulded one like all other European countries. He's very forceful about how essential it is that German borders be drawn a certain way, just as lines on a map rather than for some over arching reason. This idea of Germany has done so much damage over the last 150 years.
@@benragaberplym Germany is as artifical as Italy or the us. So cut that bs. The idea of Germany caused harm? Are y that dumb? Beside the last Century all European nations were nearly constantly warring in different coalitions. Germany is a legitimate state with every right to be united. If you have a problem with that gfy.
@@ducktube7473 I do have a problem with that. The difference with Italy is that since unification, they haven't been the cause of every major conflict in Europe. When Italy is the cause of every major conflict in Europe then we need to look at it again. Germany is a series of countries that don't work together. The only thing that say Bavaria and the Ruhr Valley have in common are the language they speak. No one has asked the people if they want this. Not putting such things to the people and forcing unity anyway is a ticking bomb, but nah, you go ahead because when it blows up, and believe me it will, it isn't going to explode in my face. Not until Germany needs another distraction from its own problems and causes another world war anyway.
I'm watching this from Nigeria and no particular reason, but this was so informative and insightful
Greetings from Germany :=)
Yall have wifi?
Yes. the Internet is a few decades old and many poorer regions of the world also have access to Internet by now.
@@HistoryScope r/woooosh
Do you really think a country with skyscrapers would not have WiFi users...are you dumb or prejudiced
The explanation regarding Helmut Kohl´s decision not to demand those territories taken over by the Soviet Union and Poland is a bit misleading. It is true that he attempted to get back as much as possible. But he was aware that this would not have been possible and didn´t push too hard for that. He just needed to show certain organizations (representing those that had been expelled from these territories) in Germany that he did his best ... Otherwise Poland would have demanded back the territories that were taken by the Soviet Union (these territories are part of Ukraine today btw.) So, insisting on these territories by Germany would´ve created great chaos through shifting back various borders - without helping anybody since anything German in the western Polish and anything Polish in western Soviet Union / Ukraine is gone. So, returning "East Prussia" to Germany was not going to happen - under any circumstances - In particular in Kaliningrad area there´s very little German cultural heritage (e.g. housing, etc.) left and since it is a major Soviet/Russian navy installation they were never going to give it up again - ever. Helmut Kohl knew that. After the war the German inhabitants of the (now) western Polish territory and East Prussia (Königsberg/Kaliningrad) were expelled and had to leave behind everything they possessed. But - the same happened to the Polish people that lived in the area of the western Soviet Union (now western Ukraine). They were moved to the former German territory in western Poland. That´s a fact that these organizations of expelled people in Germany silently ignore all the time ... These Polish people had to suffer the same fate as the expelled Germans. So, we can´t turn it over all again without creating new tensions/problems. Germany got the max out of what was possible when the big wall fell. We´re lucky !!!
fuck you nobody will read that you fucking nerd
You're right but most the territories that were Polish now belong to Belarus not Ukraine
@@Hitman47IOI U mean piles of rocks dat were cities before war .
Nah germans lost so much rich land to minorities in their nation after ww2 I wouldnt call it max
It doesn’t even matter now with the freedom to live wherever they want in European Schengen zone as a EU citizen. Both Poles and Germans should work together to make EU stronger to curb the influence of old and emerging superpower like USA, Russia and China. The world needs some rebalancing.
UK: we will not create a powerful germany Germany: i dont think you get it we will be united
GERMANY WILL BE UNITED
Dont fall for it, this is propaganda. Helmut Kohl was an idiot who could sell himself pretty good but at the end of his chancellorship things where obvious and most people hated him but he managed to get elected once again by making generous promises to the East Germans and the people couldnt belive it. He also was greedy for power and by that he had a good influence on the media as well, he is really known by the power he had.
Yeah Prussia is next lol
I had to stop the video
GOD SAVE THE QUEEN
ANOTHER EXCUSE TO DRINK BEER
It was amazing watching this happen irl. One of the most memorable moments in my life, even as a young American boy watching it on TV.
2:55 the border guard officer: "i have just lost my sense of purpose"
I have been in Kaliningrad couple of times. And it amazes me how almost nothing of Germany is left there. Even if Germans, for some reason, would decide they want it (like Russia wanted Crimea), there will be literally nobody who would support that
Sure, nevertheless russian politicians in Kaliningrad want to rename it into the russion version of Königsberg, what Kjongsberg is, i guess. Interesting how relaxed people in Kaliningrad look at the topic of homeland.
It's because they kicked all the germans out of it after WW2, sent them to germany, and repopulated it with ethnic russians.
Yes, it’s called ethnic cleansing. It’s horrible, no matter who does it.
Well everything was bombed of course and the russians rebuild it.
The only thing that Orks from Moscow can do is Destruction&Poverty
I watched this video in my German Class and my teacher who is quite old born in West Germany was so happy watching this video as it gave her memories of when she heard the news of reunification.
hope she realized that this video gives a lot of wrong informations.
Was she so happy because her country annexed independent GDR?
Of course she was happy. Her life as she knew it wasn’t upended at all lol
@@stjaeger81such as?
Get someone who looks at you the same way Helmut Kohl looked at Germany.
helmut kohl: eggs and bananas east germany: where do i sign up
@elem arha Er macht Witze.
I’m not scared of the idea of a strong and independent Germany, the Second World War was 76 years ago and the modern day German people have been educated about their past mistakes and would never do such things again. I trust the German people (who I very much love) to manifest their own destiny in the ever changing geopolitical landscape of the 21st century.
There is a conflict brewing, though -- those in the political and academic areas want Germany to basically go full on EU and globalist, while the average German doesn't and is becoming more and more angry at what's happening with migration. The divide is growing. While the German people obviously have learned from their mistakes, it looks like their leadership hasn't. sigh
Much love from Germany! ❤
Our and the future of all of Europe lays in a strong and independent EU. The single states in the EU are to small to compete with China, India, the US and even Brazil in the future. Indonesia will surpass Germans economy in 1.5 to 2 decades. We just need to look at the UK after Brexit to see what will happen to us if we do work together. Future endeavours are to costly for the single states in Europe. I hope there won't be a strong and independent Germany outside of a strong independent EU else Germany will neither be strong nor independent.
@@LetoxxIant eu state is bad idea i dont trust my country politicians so why woud i trust a forigner politician to look out for my intrests
It’s never the people it’s just governments and people of Germany even 40 years after we’re effect by a war that happened 40 years ago when they were just innocent civilians
2:50 They essentialy had two choices open fire on civilians or let them through and there were no orders to kill the civilians which meant that if they did that they had to accept responsibility for it themselves. I don't think anyone has ever done that, taken it upon themselves to massacre civilians without being able to fall back on "I was just following orders".
Was Germany united? I think I missed that
not yet
@@therealslimshady3662 *chuckles* I’m in danger
@@Stack4Freedom ja, auch ihr werdet eines tages deutsch sein, keine sorge.
@@therealslimshady3662 I doubt that, Germany’s population is in decline because you sold out population growth for women’s rights. Also the west will soon be surpassed by the east. I’m more scared of China than Germany.
@@Stack4Freedom thats ok, at least our women are educated and able to drive cars without being stoned to death
Wow Helmut Kohl was pretty badass. He even wanted pre-WW2 territory back.
That is complitly wrong. In the former eastern part of Germany there are now polish and in the northern part of eastprussia russian people. Kohl made an agreement with Poland that Germany would not claim for giving back these terretories. Germany wants to have friends at the borders!
taking the piss imo millions died for those land yet this jobsworth thinks its his to take back
Very interesting, the mistake in the press conference and they let the people cross.
"Germany is united" You mean half of it
You right
where is the other half? i can't see any on map,and if you can,i think you need to start learning history
@@bobesponja7791 I would say that we're still missing, the German speaking population in the eastern part of Belgium, Austria, Pomerania and Silesia.
This is just my opinion
@@bobesponja7791 Not all German speaking countries are called "Germany"
1:30; You make it sound like the West built the wall. The West didn't build the wall to keep people out, the East built the wall to keep people in.
The west had build less visible walls nontheless. Like making a separate currency, to distance themself from the east and disturb their developement... That's often overlooked.
And it was not build between the two Germanies as implied but around the West Berlin sector which was a West Germany enclave in East Germany.
@@dionysg205 Nope. It was build along the whole border. Minefields, fences and all. Today most of it is a nature preserve forming a very long green belt.
@@dionysg205 That's just what you assume. Totally incorrect.
Actually there were two walls : one between West and East Germany (and between the other capitalist and socialist states) and another, after august 1961, around the French, US-American and British sectors of Berlin called West Berlin surrounded by the German Democratic Republic and the Soviet sector of Berlin which became capital of the GDR.
Germany gets one of the hardest beatdowns in history, gets split in two and still West Germany has a bigger economy than the victor Great Britain.
@Grivian ur right. Fraudsters never prosper.
Wow. Again, well researched and well presented. You got yourself another subscriber.
Instructions unclear: was Germany United or not? Edit: Instructions definitely unclear. Nukes were fired and Germany isn’t even there
Instructions Still Unclear Got Paper cuts instead of Reuniting
Depends on what you call Germany.
Actually, it's a Germany, minus BOTH Prussia and Austria.
@Johan Jacobs Valid point.
No it wasn't. Prussia is missing and mostly forgotten
You say Germany has been united. Politically and geographically yes, culturally and economically no.
wildsurfer12 true. Many eastern parts are still underdevelopted and the people in the west have much better income
Well, I guess you can't have it all at once. Created quite a bit of ugly consequences though. I was born in East Germany, served in the first international army division (German-French) and lived in Germany, Spain, US and now Netherlands. I now feel alienated in Germany though. Had to leave after another try for a year. I feel they are moving backwards instead of forward in history.
Matt Bargain Interesting. Why do you feel that way?
When I saw this picture de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bahnstrecke_Neumark%E2%80%93Greiz#/media/File:Bahnhof_Greiz_Aubachtal_(5).jpg first, I thought it is somewhere east, like poland or ukraine... It´s from 2017
Its getting better every year, you can't expect the cultural changes of East Germany to go away in just under thirty years, but I believe that it will be mostly gone in a decade or two.
Fun fact to the ending, later in the 90s Boris Yeltsin offered to sell Kaliningrad to Germany but then they refused.
Maybe it's for the best right now. It's Russia's only warm water port in the region IIRC, so it at least keeps some tensions down.
As nice as it would have been to get that piece of Germany back as well, it probably would have been more trouble than it was worth. Short term, kicking out all the Russians would have looked (and been) really bad. In the long run, having a piece of the Country that's separated is a conflict just waiting to happen.
Allmost a quarter century ago I served for a short period in Germany. I had to pay that “ solidaritats betrag“ from my income. I must admit that I enjoyed to pay this, just as a tiny contribution to the great German people to ease their unification. I wish the Germans prosperity and progress. God bless the Germans and all their Friends !
Thanks man, the solidarity contribution (Solidaritäts Beitrag) is still around actually. It's used for humanitarian purposes today.
Lies again? Grab Food USD SGD
@@NazriB No lie ! Germans, finest people !
A very interesting historical look at an event that I lived-through as an adult in the USA, paying so little attention as I did, as a young American, to events happening in Europe, (I had only visited France, Switzerland, and England before these events.) Thank you. In 1994, I went to Germany, to Berlin for several days, and learned so much history of Germany after WW II, frightening, very enlightening, but I still had much ore to learn, and, from your video, I guess I still do have much to learn. Thank you...you have succeeded where my teachers failed, to teach me important information about the German unification struggles around 1989-1990.
My grandmother was born in Tilsit, known as Sowetsk in Russia, in Oblast Kaliningrad, while my grandfather was born in Berlin.
He protecc He atacc But most importantly He got his Eastern half bac
Amazing video i subscribed with bells and liked the video for this amazing video
ONE MISTAKE WAS MADE. GDR anthem was not adopted.
That whiny piece was heavily tainted by the regieme abusing it...
@@Exodon2020 still it Sounds better and makes more Sense than the cutted West German anthem.
@@Soldner41 cut
The Nazis didn't use the third stanza though
No, "Deutschland über alles" is actually the first stanza. And despite the Nazis abusing it as a call for conquest it was originally meant very differently: as a call for unification. Germans should be putting aside their differences and working together to achieve one common goal - the only goal that mattered throughout the 19th century. The third stanza is the one left out by the Nazis as it is about unity, law and freedom being the foundation of happiness and thus a goal worth striving for - so basically the opposite of what the Nazis believed in.
That was interesting. I'll watch some more of your vids!
Correction - a wall was built in east Germany surrounding west Berlin to stop emigration out east Germany/ Berlin into West Berlin
No a single mention of David Hasselhoff and how he single-handedly reunited Germany
Wow, now that's a piece of music I didn't expect to hear as the backing track of an unrelated KZhead video: 'Franz Liszt's 3rd Symphonic Poem "Les Preludes"'. Has always been a favourite of mine, but unfortunately very few people know about Liszt's immense repertoire of top-tier music beyond Hungarian Rhapsody 2., Un Sospiro, his transcription(basically a rework in Liszt terms) of 'Stanchen' Serenade, by Schubert and 'La Campanella'. I recognised Les Preludes instantly, major Kudos for using it.
I liked the video, it was cool to see the German version of the event. Also the animation is very good. I just wish you had provided some sources, only because I was taught in my classes that the US's was the first power (following W Germany) to support reunification and that we pressured France and the UK to accept it.
How can I not like this! Thank you for clearing up things I needed to know.
So nato agreed not to expand in East Europe. Interesting
There was never any contract signed and since all the former states bagged to join Nato... it's almost like countries have a right to direct their own destiny.
I've always wondered about how this happened. This is your best video yet. Congrats!
There is a wonderful video about Kohl and his foreign affairs minister Genscher in Russia. After they signed the deal for billions of $ the mics are still open and you can hear them say: " yeah, now let's get drunk!" Funny footnote in history...
would be wonderful, if it would be correct..
Here is a source: www.focus.de/politik/deutschland/zeitgeschichte-milliarden-poker-am-telefon_aid_173810.html
sorry, but this the worst video ever on german unification. It is full of mistakes and desinformation.
@@MattBargain my answer was for Judit Kovacs, I didn't doubt your comment.
I served in West Germany in the early '80's. At the Headquarters US Army Europe, Heidelberg, we were a mere 90 miles from the border. A 600 mph jet could cover that distance in nine minutes. Missiles could be launched from miles away. Helmut Kohl flew into my airfield on a C-414 Chancellor. I always got a kick out of that. He was a BIG man!!
And a heavy man. I´m sure he had to sit in the middle because of the trim.
Nicely summarized video on on the historic events leading up to Germany's re-unification. Congratulations to all Germans as we approach the 30 year anniversary of their re-unification! That historic event reflected a tremendous achievement in human dialogue, international team work and mutual co-operation on an epic scale. Looking forward, I sincerely hope with all my heart to perhaps one day also see the re-unification of both Ireland and Korea, in my lifetime. The brothers and sisters of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland should look each other in the eyes, shake hands and become one Ireland for all time. Similarly, North Korea and South Korea are also members of the same family and should seek to end their conflict peacefully and become one again.
Oh, I misread. Ireland unifying with Korea would be pretty cool, though.
It's really so beautiful, and I pray for those nations to reunite as well.
getting support on reunification: US - easy mode, UK - hard mode
It's sad that east Prussia isn't Germany this territory was everyday German.
Well it kinda bounced around a lot, at first it was slavic territory conquered by the Teutons.
@@orpheonkatakrosmortarchoft4332 ok thank but the last 300 Years
Doesn't seems to be a problem to many Germans when talking about Alsace.
Not slavic. Baltic.
The soviets offered to sell it. But the USA wouldn't allow Germany to buy it.
German historian here. All in all I liked that video, and it gives a nice overview over certain events. However, some of the points are not totally "on spot", while others are a bit mis-represented, and others are missing. Here is my take on what I would've liked to see included and/or corrected. - The German reunification was set down in the West German Constitution (Grundgesetz). From that day on - basically 1949 - it was an imperative for all Bundeskanzler (German Chancellors) to do their best to fulfill this, and different policies were used over time, with the latest one being called "change through rapprochement" (Wandel durch Annäherung). Kohl was pushing for the reunification, but he was one of many in a long line of politicians before him, and the circumstances that led to the 1989 events had nothing to do with his policies, but rather with East German policies and structural failures. - The wall was build by East Germany and was called "antifascist wall" by the East German ruling party (SED). It was not meant to prevent poor East Germans to defect to the richer West - it was to keep people from leaving the East no matter the reason (officially it was meant to deter fascists to enter the "socialist paradise" that was East Germany). Most people fled because of the political oppression, not because they were poor, because indeed in East Germany, people were less wealthy than the West Germans but far from being poor - they had jobs, houses, food, some had cars, public transport, too. It was the political leadership that bancrupted the German Democratic Republic because Socialist planning economy cannot beat Capitalist market economy. People were not poor in East Germany. Despite trade sanctions from the west, they actually produced a lot of higher-end products, especially despitet he fact that the USSR after 1945 took the industrial infrastructure was reparations. - The thesis that the "peaceful protests" in East Germany did anything more than increasing the pressure on the SED regime is rejected by historians. It was not the common people who toppled the wall, it was a process of political power. The ideat hat the common people toppled the regime by peace is more wrong than correct. They played a role, but far minor than it seems. - A far more important role played Hungary, which opened its borders earlier (August '89) and was a de facto escape route through the iron curtain (via Austria). The fact that East Germans could leave the East Bloc despite the wall, made the wall far less powerful than the regime hoped, so they of course made amends so that they would not totally loose the grasp on their citizens and migration politics. De jure and de facto, Germany was re-united because Gorbachov and Bush agreed on it, with Germany paying loads of money to "finance the retreat" of the Russian USSR soldiers. Kohl bartered for it and had the "10 point plan", but he had almost zero political leverage "against" the other political powers. It was the *2+4 Treaty* (meaning: 2 Germanies, and the 4 occupational powers/former allied forces from WW2) that did it, meaning 6 parties had a say in it, with USA and USSR being the chief players. This is why Gorbachov especially is a hero for Germans because he is seen as a great liberal figure (Russians despise him because he basically destroyed the USSR - which is not quite right, because his reign started already in financial ruin). Same as with George Bush, who was probably the man of the hour.
Totally correct about Hungary, East Germans were already using it as an escape route to West Germany. It would have taken a little longer if the Berlin wall didn't come down, but East Germany would have eventually just about emptied out.
Nice recap of some crucial points
@Peter S No, on the very contrary. As the newly formed West Germany did, so did the East German regime: They "hunted" down the big guns and executed/jailed them, but left the large body of public officials (Staatsbeamte) as it was and in power, especially the courts and legal system in general. The East German regime put in place a sopecial court ruled by workers who gut crash courses in law, but after a few years and not that much "traffic" they were closed, and no one spoke of it again, and the whole nation declared itself "anti-fascist", implying that in the West the fascists were still in power, which partly was not wrong "technically" - in at least one case, the East German secret service send a dossier about a high ranking official in the west which contained evidence that said person has been a true Nazi. Both sides never did a deep cleanup, because they a) really did not want to and more so b) they could not. Because, what fact makes you a Nazi worth of punishment? A rhetorical question it is indeed because it cannot be answered. One side might argue you are a part of the system if you did not resist - but then, what exactly does resisting mean? One part argues that many people were not against the regime because they were afraid of the Gestapo, or that they just did not know of the holocaust. And as can be seen today, there are still Nazis in Germany today, and some affiliate themselves with a rising right-wing party called AfD. You cannot kill an idea, let alone forbid an idea. In West Germany, Adenauer, first chancellor of Germany who himself suffered at the hand of the Nazis, stopped every instance of "nazi-hunting" in West Germany because he said that the society should be united and at peace (Israel, for example, had other ideas about that, and so had other good people like Fritz Bauer!). The East German state simply declared itself anti-fascist, and never dealt with it. From the very late 1960's, i.e. after 10+ years of ignoring the fact that a lot of law enforcement, judicial staff etc. were Nazis, it only then became a public notion on how Germany should deal with its past, and it is a fruitful and ongoing nd very unique approach until this day.
@@Schmidt54 Could you elaborate your statement: The thesis that the "peaceful protests" in East Germany did anything more than increasing the pressure on the SED regime is rejected by historians. It was not the common people who toppled the wall, it was a process of political power. The ideat hat the common people toppled the regime by peace is more wrong than correct. They played a role, but far minor than it seems. At first glance it seems like you want to diminish the impact of the common people, but I think that's not what you intended to express.
@@fremejoker Indeed I do not want to diminish the fact that thousands of Germans faced a lot of danger and repression to demonstrate for a better life. That takes a lot of bravery. But it is a bit romantic to think that people protesting peacefully would move a real-socialism regime substantially - that never happened, even armed uprisings did not work (like in Hungary). It was clear that the mindset of a (substantial) portion of the citizens (not all though, there were true believers and many people who thought well of the regime, and still do so today) was set against the current regime, but beyond protesting, they had neither institutional nor institutionalized power: Police, military, Stasi/MfS, all backed the regime 100%. No totalitarian regime goes down without gunshots, so to say; one needs real power to enforce a new rule, this can be seen today in Syria and Venezuela, and historically it was shown in the (mostly successful) French Revolution and the (unsuccesful) revolution of 1848 in Germany. That said, it was a factor that put political pressure under the regime, which is one reason why they were not shot or massively incarcerated. Economic collaps of the DDR and the USSR were imminent while the West was going very strong, and the West German politics called "change through approach" (Wandel durch Annäherung) meant that there were actual political ties between the countries, so that conflicts of any sort were a very complicated matter. At the same time the USSR had a weakened position because Gorbatchev's Glasnost/Perestroika led to more productive relations (as the idea of the "House of Europe", a figure of speech also used by Putin), and without financial aid from the West the whole system would have broken down (as it did a short time later after Gorbatchev was removed by Yelzin and his oligarchic bandits). So in a nutshell: The protests were one factor, but a "soft" factor that could not move any politics of power, but pressured the regime in a more subtle and moral way.
1:00 the german people living in the now Polish and Russian regions didn’t become Polish or Russian they were forced out of their homes and had to flee to Germany. I know this because my grandmother was born in now Polish territories but back then were German territories until 1945 and they were ordered to leave their home within 6 hours or something. These were hard times for German people living in these territories and there are some details I’m not sure if I should go in to. But anyway great video.
I served in the British Army of the Rhine for 8 years in total spread between 1969 and 1982 at no time was the British Army an occupation force. The same can be said of the Canadian, Belgian, Dutch, French and US forces I served with and alongside. In 1949 as NATO was conceived the armies of occupation ceased to exist as such and became a joint NATO force as the Russians rearmed at an alarming rate. Six years later the Bundeswehr came into being.
Crazy how a press secretary could hasten German unification just by misspeaking. Secretaries have more power than we give them credit for...
Schabowski wasn't just a press secretary. It's a false friend translation. He was "Sekretär für Informationswesen" (Secretary for Information) . Secretaries in a communist state are kind of ministers within the communist party, which have the actual power instead of the real ministers within the actual administration (executive government). Often these positions are occupied by the same person. The central commitee of a communist party often mirrors the actual government cabinet regarding departments. The administration almost always has a minister for economy and in a communist state the central commitee will have a secretary for economy, and the latter has the actual power to make a decision. Anyway, even if he were just a press secretary back then, it would have had the same impact, because this was a statement in a governmental press conference with no single chance to take that back. Luckily.
Pure nonsense ! This video is a fairy tale and lacks in the reality of the Unification. Please read my remarks.
This was really interesting! Thanks for the video :)
You didn't show THE nost important part of the Scharbowski clip. The part where, when asked when this new rule would be implemented, he stuttered and said: "After my knowledge, now. Instantly."
Great video, keep it up
One thing is mistaken very often. The wall was only built around West Berlin. At the border between West and East Germany from the Baltic See down to the Czechoslovakian border, there was no wall, it was a fence, secured with snipers sitting in watchtowers, landmines and automatic shooting devices. But still, no wall ecxept for the one around West Berlin.
There is one important detail about the border wall that is very important, and needs to be mentioned, especially in the actual context where everyone wants to build walls : The German wall was not build by the west to not let the poorer East Germans in, but by the East to not let them out !
Are we not gonna talk about how he highlighted the falklands on the 1990 map? That's some big dedication.
With these animations, it feels like Extra History, but better
This really helped with my homework thanks :D
In 1970 West Germany signed treaties with the Soviet Union (Treaty of Moscow) and Poland (Treaty of Warsaw) recognizing Poland's Western border at the Oder-Neisse line as current reality,
You are right, what I should have said is that the new Germany hadn't given up claims to the former German regions of Poland :)
Why should it have remained divided?
Interesting. I wonder why West Germany recognized Poland's west border. What would Germany gain by doing this?
@@alanhowitzer Like a good relationship with Poland?
Maddinhpws Yeah seems a very profitable thing
nice video, subscribed!
G E R M A N Y W I L L BE U N I T E D
Königsberg germans faced the same fate as volga germans.
Except not really. Volga Germans and the rest of the Soviet Germans were expelled to Kazakhstan and Siberia, while East Prussian Germans were evacuated to West Germany.
@@klarobskyr Evacuated? Told to walk to the border.
@@klarobskyr My extended family were Volga Germans and got to starve to death under Stalin in 1933.
@@conveyor2 Well, that's just Communist things. All of my extended family is from the former USSR, I've got at least a dozen of relatives who got imprisoned, executed, expelled or starved. Pretty much every branch of it lost virtually all kind of the property it had prior to the 30s. My grandmas couldn't think of any male cousins they had, because very few made it throught the first decades of the Communist rule.
10:40 Westgermany gave up all the territories east of the Oder-Neisse-Line in the "Ostverträge". Chancellor Willy Brandt used this agreement for his "Neue Ostpolitik" (new east-policy), which started the process of reunification.
thats wrong he only agreed with poland the the borders from the görlitz agrement of 1950 wont be violated
@@rUckAmIng Brandt signed the Moscow Agreement in august 1970. West-germany recognized the existing borders with poland. In december 1970 he signed the agreement of Warsaw which reaffirms the agreement of Moscow. With the "Grundlagenvertrag" he reassured the Oder-Neiße-Line as the western border of Poland.
Brandt asured Poland and the Soviet Union that West Germany wouldn't demand those Territories back until a final agreement concerning the German borders has been made. This final agreement is the 2+4 Treaty
de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schweriner_Grenzvertrag
imagine being an East German guard watching all those people surge west... you'd be thinking; 'does my side suck this bad?' 😶
To me that mistaken press conference is the ultimate sign of just how powerful a mass movement of people is. Because it shows just how brittle power actually is because it’s based on divide and conquer and fear. When the reality could be quite different if you actually test the system on mass
So at about 1:40 you mention that "a wall was built between the two Germanies" in order to prevent East Germans from emigrating. This isn't exactly true. A wall was built around West Berlin for this purpose, but since it was entirely surrounded by East Germany, it wasn't "between the two." Instead, much of the border between these two countries was turned into a minefield for the same purpose.
A few inaccuracies on the pre-ww2 map of the British Empire! Libya and Italian Somaliland are both shown as British yet Egypt isn't. However one *could* argue that because Egypt was a dominion of Britain it wouldn't be shown, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, The Raj, and Malaya are all shown as Britain.
As far as I know, Egypt has not been officially part of the british empire, egypt was never annexed but instead was turned into a (british controlled) puppet-state.
A dominion you could say?
I have to admit that I do not really know the British definition for a Dominion. But to be a Dominion, does a country have to be part of the British Empire or not? My impression was that the Dominions were part of the British Empire with a lot of autonomy and independence, like Canada or Australia? The difference, in my opinion, is that Egypt was never annexed and was never part of the British Empire. Officially, Egypt was a sovereign nation whose government was later forced to enter into unfavorable treaties with Great Britain. This allowed the British representatives in Egypt to act as they wished and to have full control over the economy, politics and the army. Therefore I would call it a classic puppet state.
I love how the closing of the video was, "Now, it's time to party!"😂😂
REally liked it, mostly because it covered all the important aspects. In addition to that it also had current Brexit angle as well. Thank you :)
Thank you so much for sharing that.
Do you like incorrect information?
@Anonymous Person can I contact you somewhere else? KZhead id not good and sometimes I can read the answers.
1.There was only a wall in Berlin, around the allied sector. Common misconception. 2. And it was built by East Germany.
There was also a wall between the two germanies not just in Berlin You can still visit it in some places
Agreed. I‘m from the border of Sachsen-Anhalt and Niedersachsen and there still are some leftovers of the wall.
How did ww2 veterans (both Allied and German) react to German reunification?
Helmut Kohl was an interesting guy. He was truly Christian. He admired Poland and felt always profoundly sorry for his ancestors responsible for the war. He was often in Poland officially and privately. He gave all his support to Eastern Europe.
Actually the eastern regions of the old German Reich were never even a topic to be dicussed. West Germany allready accepted the border with Poland in 1970 under Chancellor Willy Brandt. The question of reunification was just about the two german states. Even when the Sowjet Union offered to sell its Kaliningrad province back to Germany, Helmut Kohl and the West German government declined, because it would have upset several other states that were still opposing the reunification, like Great Britain, for example. So this part isn't actually true.
Unfortunately, theres some wrong information in the video... For example, the opening of the wall was planned to be on the next day (10th november) instead of months away. So, saying that it was open immediatly, was only shortening it by a day, perhaps even less. The main problem just had been, that the border guards didn't knew about it wich made it potentially dangerous - the opening itself was a decision made in order to reform the GDR as a reaction to the massive protest. Then, the GDR wasn't broke. In fact, it had a relativly small international debt (about 1/3 compared to that of west germany) and they had gold reserves in the USSR worth more than the debt. So they were potentially "debt free". Of course there were other economic problems and they were depending especially on resources (like gas) from the USSR, wich at the time had been cut by alot. Also, most of the USSR milltiary had left east germany long ago, in contrast theres alot of the US millitary still stationed in germany today. Of course not as an occupant, rather as part of the NATO - still, they are there and to a large part never left. (so removing the US flag to present the unition is a bit ~) What i personally dislike, is that you only show the west german perspective of the reunition and not at all that of the east. Allthough it could only happen from both sides and the GDR was not as much of a USSR puppet as it often seems. So would have been nice, to show theyr perspecitve as well.
Very well said. It is the same when information about Berlin is posted; nothing is ever said about the development of Westberlin as a centre of spying and sabotage directed against the DDR, which lasted 1945 - 1961. This is completely concealed in modern history material and the internet.
@@TheRichardSpearman Well that's because it was eclipsed by the Stasi machine. That just makes it seem like it was concealed. History has plenty to say about NATO and Soviet spies. Practically none of that information is really hidden anymore. In the late 80's it was estimated that the Stasi had nearly 190k collaborators never mind full time staff. Furthermore, I doubt that more than a handful of people actually worry about it in anyway other than fear that it could ever happen again. That said, the video is definitely skewed, but all in all a pretty fair telling of the events that re-unified Germany. Now, I'm still waiting to see if the old West German NCO's and officers of the 80's cries that "The snow won't stop us next time!" can still be heard?
An interesting reference to NATO plans for the "armed anschluss" of the DDR, and other countries in the 1980s, which were often mentioned in DDR publications, but strenuously denied in BRD material.
History is written by the victorious.
Wow what a amazing video thx u saved my whole life
This was tremendous. Thank you! 🙂
Make the video faster every time he says Germany will be united
I don't think Germany will ever be united...
Europe will be united.
@Johan Jacobs it's not that hard. Germans were pushed out of Prussia same thing could be done with poles. Not saying they should but they can
Doge is Cool I agree The Berlin wall should've stayed up
+EnterTextHere_: "Sag' warum, René." ;)
No, fucking EU
Thanks for saying "Germany will be united" over and over, because I did not realize what video I was watching.
hi guys, thanks for the amazing video . can anyone help me with telling me what application can make such videos ?
Awesome video, as always!
2:04 turn on cc
You could've mentioned that the germans who lived in the now polish and russian areas mostliy fled from the soviet army with many of them dieing in the process or being killed by the soviets so there are very few originally german people who still live in these areas. And with reunification and the 4+2 contract Germany officially withdrew its claim on these originally german areas, before these areas were still considered as a part of Germany under occupation.
Oops, old video but never late than better or something like that. USSR actually and interestingly offered to accept a german unification on some occasions, most notably when they first applied for NATO. The main thing they demanded in return for a united germany was a demilitarized and permanently neutral one. The main part of the negotiation with the USSR and Gorbachev was that they would allow Germany to not only be united, but be united while also keep being a member of NATO.