How A Nuclear War Will Start - Minute by Minute
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Mr. President! Nuclear missiles will strike our country in 14 minutes. I know it’s your first day in office so I’m going to walk you through it, but you’re the only one who can authorize our nuclear retaliation in response and you’ve only got a few minutes to make a decision!
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Holy shit, y’all were some of the first in a KZhead video🔥🔥🔥
@@mystii- second?
2nd
4th
5th
The fact that the entire explanation is said in extreme haste about only 5 minutes really amplifies the dread of the entire situation and how things can go south really quickly
Well, all the explanation stuff would be left out because they would already know. so more real time info could be looked at.
It only makes it harder for people to understand
@@bencolbert6732who would already know what? On Trump's first day as president without any previous political experience you think he would already have any prior knowledge about any of this whatsoever?
holy shit, a video from kurzgesagt, once again about nuclear war, but this time its 8 minutes instead of 50, 😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮 i might actually watch it....?? naaaaaah, thatd make me wack
nah bill gates just isnt as interested in this topic and cut donations
I find it both horrifying and moving to consider that we are only alive today because of a few good, sane people who made the decision in an intense situation not to act, not to launch.
They were all sane. The ones who turned the key, and the one's who did not, all sane, had different reasons for the decision. Don't hate on the people who turned the key, they only had mere minutes to try to save millions before they too die in the next 5 minutes. The one's who didn't turn the key, the thought it's not worth killing more even if our survivors get invaded later on, if we are exterminated like ants in seconds, a complete genocide of our race, then so be it. Both are admirable decision, ones that I pray never get to be made by anyone, but you can never say either is wrong.
Excellent point well made sir.
"Good" people my fucking ass
@@apex9806seriously you got it right although OP doesn't have nuance , being in that position far from black and white
@@apex9806 Hard disagree. I hope the men who turned the key can't sleep at night knowing they almost ended our world with their idiocy.
It’s amazing/terrifying how the world is in a soft yet constant state of “on the brink of total annihilation” just because like 7 guys can’t get along.
That statement is very naive
@@tobithiele2673Well, then why don't you say something mature and insightful, Mr. book smart?
@@GYEODEURANGI_JJIREUGI he makes a good point. Public is usually naive as it's not their main subject of expertise. World is more complex than laymen realize. Therefore it's easy to make such beliteling statements, thinking you're smarter or more well intentioned then everyone else who's main occupation it is to deal with all this shit.
@@MaDrung So, do you mean that Tobithiele2673 and YOU have a "professional" understanding of the situation of people who are politically influential enough to start a nuclear war, and my accusations are not valid? To me, YOU and Tobithiele2673 seem to be a loser who feels superior and can't get the point straight by looking at a sentence simplified to help understand and thinking, "This guy is naive."
@@GYEODEURANGI_JJIREUGI"a loser who feels superior" this statement better describes yourself given your overblown and unnecessary defensiveness at a simple remark
1:21 I like the detail that when the President peers to his left into the bunker, the general's voice pans to our right ear for a moment with headphones. 4:36 Omg and the fact the, because the general's uniforms is green, his uniform is momentarily keyed out by the greenscreen before being fixed.
the attention to detail is what makes this channel masterful
This was very informative and well done and I hated every single second of it.
This is a crossover I never thought I’d see
Hello man, love your vids
We live in a world where a Donald Trump could kill the entire planet if they can't drink a dozen Diet Cokes per day. The US and Russia should not be allowed to have the ability for a single citizen from one of those countries to have the ability to end the world. The entire world needs to boycott these evil countries until they can behave and not selfishly threaten death for everybody.
Me too
This was not well done at all. They mention one single person (President) can launch a nuclear attack which is false and ridiculous. Just more fearmongering and ridiculousness.
Stanislav Petrov, 'The Man Who Saved The World' , a former Soviet military officer. In 1983, he was on duty when the Soviet Union's early warning satellite indicated the U.S. had fired nuclear weapons at his country. He suspected, correctly, it was a false alarm and did not immediately send the report up the chain of command. Petrov died at age 77.
He was punished for his brave act because he didn't follow orders by his superiors who had no second thoughts.
@@Roope00 I was bouta say, "Did he suddenly disappear one night with no traces of where he went?"
Hero frfr
The Soviets ... now Russians, seem to have quite a bit more maturity, common sense and yes, intelligence, than any "leaders" (I use that term loosely) found in NATO or the US, unfortunately. China's nuclear arsenal is insignificant, and is grossly overstated by the CCP to make them appear more powerful than they really are, where as the number of warheads (thermonuclear and nuclear) possessed by Russia and (probably) the US are understated, to make it seem that they actually followed that treaty to the letter - they did not. But as long as people are stupid enough to keep voting in leftist globalist deep state puppets, like they have over the last 50 years (only exceptions being Trump and Carter) who are hell-bent on starting useless wars, nuclear war is a mathematical certainty - not if, but when...
America would have retaliated. America is evil. Ask Japan. Nuclear war is a thing only bc America. Thank you gringos
5:14 "CAN WE LAUNCH?" dumbledore said calmly
Hahahaahahahahahahahahahahah😐😐
Whenever I'm feeling down, the possibility of randomly being annihilated is calming. The days I spent eating the wrong foods, playing video games, hanging out with friends were worth it.
"If we are unable to change ourselves through the discipline of changing our own actions, it becomes tempting to resort to wish for chaos to force change. Instead of waiting for disaster to hit us, it is better for us to take the leap and take control. We must initiate the change despite our habits and comforts. When we step into chaos, into the unkown on our own terms, we are able to change our lives and ourselves more effectively."
That's nihilism talking my friend, doesn't have to be that way. What you did is not enough, your time is not done. What you will do is ever important. More moments with friends, more hobbies, more decisions, more living, always. Never give that up for anyone or anything, it's yours.
@@sockpuppermcgee7920 I appreciate your comment. It's very thoughtful to read. It's ironic you think it's nihilism when the possiblity of not existing brings value to my memories.
@@Original1Thor I suppose that's true, makes those moments more valuable in a sense.
The incredible part is that Vasili Arkhipov wasn’t even supposed to be on that submarine. I believe he had a choice and the fact he chose that one was a sheer coincidence, and one that may have saved millions or even billions.
billions, and also quite likely finalise the extinction of our species. There are not enough easily accessible resources left on the surface of our planet to sustain a second industrial revolution. If we go back to the bronze age, there is no second chance for us to reach the space age and spead to other planets, which is the only way to make sure we do not inevitably go extinct. Eventually, our planet will become inhospitable to life one way or another, and then we are gone for good.
I actually believe that moment was our encounter with the great filter and we passed it by sheer luck
@@ividboy7616I wish it was. Sadly the nukes are still here proving me otherwise.
The climate is our great filter imo - if we can't figure out how to keep it alive, we'll wipe ourselves out. The rich will die last, of course, but we won't make it. The filter claims another. Or maybe its first. Dumb way to die, either way.
@@ividboy7616 I believe that was the world having a Quantum suicide moment, and the only reason we exist to be thankful for it is because we wouldn't exist in the other potential futures to have perceived it.
The funny thing about the nuclear submarine during the Cuban missile crisis was that the system only needed 2 officers to authorize and both the captain and 1st mate agreed to do it but at that time there just happened to be a higher-ranking officer there at the moment and his vote overide the 1st mate so it didn't go through. absolutely pure coincidence and we were so lucky to have that man aboard at that time.
In situations like this, I can't just think of coincidence
@@Giotsche that's survivorship bias. You only have the ability to consider there being some grander reason behind this because the scenarios in which it didn't happen would be ones in which you wouldn't be around to contemplate how things ended up here.
How do you "just happen" to be on a submarine???
Vasiliy Alexandrovich Arkhipov, the man who saved the world.
@@maymayman0 because you're assigned to it. He didn't materialize out of quantum foam
This is definitely the best you tube video I’ve seen. The production, the tension and the explanation is perfect, im really impressed. I’ve already seen it at least 10 times and get impressed all of them!
Wow!! This was amazingly done. Immediately sucked me to the story. Love this animation style. Would love to see more of it.
I’ll never forget Vasili’s name. He literally saved the entire world. Colossal bravery during a moment of unfathomable terror, all while trapped in a pressurized submarine.
Yeah, the parallel universe where he didn't stand up is now all glass.
He almost killed us all. The next time you're nearly hit by a car, don't forget to thank that driver. 😒
@@imper1430 insanely bad take
@@imper1430troglodyte take
imagine the sub wasn't pressurized
Man, I am actually in VR and saw you guys uploaded 2 minutes ago. I hit the video up IN VR. And the start was so literally so bizarre. This couldn't have been better, lmao
What VR set do you use?
wait what you can whatch youtube in vr?
that's an ultimate VR experience I guess haha
@@Louis14022yes you can
💀💀
I love the different style of the video! It's really interesting seeing the narrator as an actual character
I accidentally watched this on time and a half speed and it was so frantic! Good video!
Vasili Arkhipov wasn't just an officer, but the head of the fleet; he had achieved fame previously during the "widomaker" incident.
I may be mistaken but pretty sure he didn't even have to be on the submarine, like, it could've been possible that just the two officers and the nuclear option would've been used
@@alpal4245it's True
and it wasnt just because they didnt have contact with moscow but because US destroyers were dropping training depth charges on them.
@@iplaygames8090 And the sub's air conditioning failed, the battery was low, and the CO2 levels elevated, making everyone on board absolutely panicky and giving them ONLY the options of "fire torpedo" or "surface/surrender" with no time to reason out the choices.
In fact, him being the head of the fleet is the only reason his authorization was required. Standard protocol only required two authorizations, the ship's captain and the political officer. However, the fleet commander's authorization was also required if they were aboard.
Arkhipov is one of the greatest true heroes in global history. Without him on B-59, it's almost certain that nuclear war would've broken out. The man single-handedly saved the future of everyone alive today and he should be celebrated for that.
Him and Stanislav Petrov.
yes but russians are evill buuh buuh biden is good man :)...
the biggest villains in human history cause of them I exist 😢😭cause of em I get every pain possible cause of them I gotta do homework
@@mmdestiny3bro because of those 2. the raps ,the muders,the supsides happen just cause of them so very bad why they saved da World 😡
@@rajveerkanojiya2985Existence is pain.
This video got to me! The pacing, the dialogue and the animation are insane! This 9 minute video made me feel more than most of the feature length films I’ve watched in my life. That’s why I love this channel!
Perfectly made video with great attention to detail. Quick and straight to the point, used fake countries to remove any controversy, and small details like the general's uniform disappearing and reappearing when they have a visual representation like it was actually a green screen. (4:42)
There was also the time when the US missile detection system in Greenland went live. The rising Moon was interpreted as a missile attack. And possibly the only reason why USA didn't "retaliate", was because someone remembered that Khrushchev was in New York at the time. And it was considered unlikely that USSR would launch an attack while their leader was in USA.
Actually.... Two birds/One stone for a coup.
@@jsl151850b if its a coup, then involving other country is just more problems to handle
@@MaaseruuI imagine any coup would've probably wanted America on their side too. We would've been more than happy to sponsor a collapse of the Russian government
@@jsl151850b"Yay! We have now killed the leader of our country, and we get to rule. Aaaand we're all dead." Not the most effective coup I can imagine.
"Considered unlikely" more like flat out improbable.
Discussing about nuclear war in a vacuum might be grim enough, but seeing it unfold moment to moment really puts into perspective how gut wrenching the whole ordeal is. The first person point of view really helps sell the effect, I have to say.
Nutshell inspires me.. My parents said if i get 50K followers They'd buy me a professional camera for recording..begging u guys , literally Begging...
@@namantherockstarI’ve seen you before
Those of us close to the Ukraine war and who took the Russian warnings of using nuclear retaliation shall Crimea be recovered by Ukraine take it even _more_ seriously. Hah.
Yes, gripping to say the least.
@@paulstelian97You well aware that this video is targeted at the Western people, right? In china KZhead is *NOT AVAILABLE!* In russia the 85% of people are supporting the war. So the whole point is aimed at western democracies to exploit free speech and undermine their nuclear deterrent forces. Is this anti-West channel now?
Such a great video had me on the edge of my toilet while being super informative!
Hearing the Kurzgesagt narrator's voice coming from a panicked military officer is an experience
I’m happy that you mentioned Vasili Arkhipov! He’s such an unknown the the average person. It is a miracle because the Soviets usually only had 2 people to make that decision, but because he was a high ranking officer the sub he was on needed his permission.
Nobody is pointing out that russian subs don't need launch codes they can just do it independently of the chain of command. UK ballistic missile subs have a similar system in place, if london goes quiet they open a safe with the "letter of last resort" and follow the instructions.
@@atomicskull6405 so true, pretty insane that only a couple officers in the field could’ve just decided to start a nuclear war
@@doncomputer5931 poor bait
Read this comment twice Did you see the "the the"? Why do your brain ignore the 2nd the? Or are they?
@@teamok1025 oh lol oops, the first one was supposed to be “to” idk what happened. Oh well. If it’s annoying I’ll change it
We're lucky that Vasili Arkhipov was in that particular sub. It's not necessarily an heroic act as sometimes depicted, but certainly an excellent decision making under pressure from a proven officier. Firing was a lose-lose. If total war had already started, which was uncertain, it would've make next to no difference to launch. If it didn't, launching would've been the biggest mistake and crime a human has ever committed since using cream in carbonara.
Or putting raisins in cookies.
or putting pineapple on pizza
@criarinobr2682 One of the biggest mistakes humanity has ever made, followed immediately by raisins in cookies.
Exaclty, how in the hell responding a nuclear assault with another one is the "sane" option
@@b1ffPINEAPPLE PIZZA AINT BAD THO, Hawaiian pizza has pineapple with ham which is the better option but still!
Such a well thought out video, made me feel like a military general
the best videos ever. perfect content animation and music
jesus, this is actually terrifyingly illustrated, the panic, the millitary talk, the uncertainty, the rushed briefing, it's so well researched that it makes everything feel so real and actually horrifying to think about
Well Researched? They mention a single person (President) can launch a nuclear attack which is hilariously false.
nuclear war on August 25 2023 cause Russia's getting attacked by Ukraine
So its just me who thinks this is their worst video so far? They use so little actual data on the topic, why be so speculative?
@@rajveerkanojiya2985 Russia is getting attacked? You mean Russia's full scale and unprovoked invasion of its neighbor has gone bad and now Russia is helpless and now making excuses to use nuclear weapons?
@@Munchausenification What was speculation here?
As someone passingly familiar with the Cold War, the moment the general said the enemy wasn't using their entire nuclear hoard and that the satellite system was new, I had the sinking feeling it was a sensor glitch. This sorta uncertainty only adds to the terrifying stress someone would experience in this situation. Edit: yeah I know it was confirmed via other means afterwards, but it doesn't change the nagging feeling in the back of your head that this is all a mistake, and you may be the one to end humanity for it.
Yea thats what I was looking out for. The small details to see if it was a mistake/glitch in the machine of many human errors.
Using all their weapons would open them up to get nuked themselves by another country
The enemy made it look like a glitch on purpose, timed it to the new system
@@Dantick09Or did they?
Oh well then I just killed humanity
I absolutely love how this episode was laid out. Well done. I was getting into it, gesturing and nodding and mouthing "Tell me more" and "Yes sir" and things like that. This was very engaging, even though I'm completely blind.
no you're no5
Bot comment
cringe
The detail of the commanders jacket blending in to the green screen is insane
Exactly what we needed first thing in the morning 😅
Funny that, where I am this video was uploaded at exactly midnight.
so true tho
True
Y..yes
Just regular kurzsgesagt optimism
I was in the air force in the '80s. This stuff was taken very seriously. We had regular nuke drills as part of the training and evaluation plan.
thank you for serving
what country?
I'm in the US Air Force currently and seeing this video is pretty spot on with how jam packed things can get durring missions. To be honest I couldn't imagine how stressful this would be for the officers and NCOd involved if this was real 😮
Was it usually done before or after the lunch buffet?
@@XG_ dont worry, they pretty much gonna be made into plasma without even notice. You too
DEFCON players have been waiting for this moment their entire life
There are still other DEFCON players out there? One of my favorites; been playing since the start.
@@the_algo_rhythm DEFCON players don't die, they already know the winning move ;)
Amazing video! Thanks!
Imagine a world where leaders have to fight each other, instead of compensating with giant missiles. Edit: Here a reminder that Plato, one of the greatest minds in history, was also a wrestler famous for his impressive stature.
yeah like a celebrity boxing match, triller.
That's like WW5 or some shit. Where there will be nothing left to use
Two men enter, one man leaves. "Remember where you are - this is Thunderdome, and death is listening, and will take the first man that screams."
"Why don't presidents fight the wars? Why do they always send the poor?"
Soy
This video was eye opening.
Nice
Very nice
Nice
Nice
👍
I legit got teary eyed from realief when yoinsaid that the amount of nuclear weapons went from 70,000 to 12,500. Its still way to many, but just knowing we made progress makes me so much less scared
Oye 6,9M views! Great video btw and I totally respect your work❤!
This POV style video for the first 5 minute really sales the desperate decisions feeling from the topic. Well done!
Gives you some inside on how Stanislaw Petrow must have felt. All he had to go on was a detected launch from the satelite system and just minutes to decide to order a retaliation strike. He decided against it, because he fought, that if the USA should attack, they wouldnt just send a couple of warheads. Luckily he didnt know the NATO doctrine of sending in a couple of missiles first to neutralize high value targets (maybe hoping that the enemy would hesitate when detecting only a few missiles) before launching a full strike. And it got even worse, when the NATO conducted a military exercise called "Able Archer" on 9th November 1983, simulating a full scale nuclear exchange. Russia interpreted it as preparation for an immediate attack and basically made every nuke they had ready for launch. When the british secret service reported how extremly nervous Russia was GB and the USA made an effort to deescalate the situation. It was a turning point. I often wondered how i would react in Petrows position. But i always come to the same conclusion. When the missiles are already flying, the war is already over. I am dead. My family is dead. My friends are dead, most of the population is dead. Millions of innocents dead. The only thing i could do would be to do the same thing to the enemy. And not just the enemy. Because there is so little time targets are preprogrammed. You wouldnt just hit the country that launched the attack (which you might not even know, when the attack gets launched by submarines for example) you would hit any target considered a threat. Personally i dont think that i could hit the button. Because at the end, what would be the point?
@@Daniel-rd6st none. no point.
Can't imagine being the general in that situation trying to accurately explain everything as fast as possible. Part of me doubts the general would actually have that much restraint. If the general truly believed they may die at any moment and pushing the button was the only good option, they'd probably do it themselves.
dont worry, a nuclear war is never going to happen.
@@Daniel-rd6stoh damn, I didn’t know that bit about the NATO doctrine of misdirection. I’d always agreed with his thinking, and that’s probably why this video said hundreds of launches were detected to make it undoubtable, but knowing NATO planned around that really adds pathos. Because that means what he “should” have done was retaliate immediately since it matched the profile 😨
The Vasili Arkhipov story is fascinating, a great wiki read for any interested. He was actually the regional commander of multiple submarines iirc, and because of this fact whatever submarine he was serving on was the _only_ one that needed 3 officers to sign off on, all the others only required 2. The circumstances are insane
Hearts pounding
Wow… humanity is so fucked up man.
@@beanapprentice1687 agreed, but we're a pretty logical consequence of what 100k years of evolution versus 200 years of exponential technological growth have created. Nature plans for 20-30 years, modern humans live ~80, our brains are shit at this stuff.
Things like this make me think maybe us humans will make it galactic eventually. So lucky
@@finlaycraig1810 past luck is no indication of future luck. in fact, if you think about it, we wouldn't be here without having gotten lucky so, so many times in the past. so past luck is a necessary condition of our current state. but that doesn't mean anything for the future. If you toss a fair coin a hundred times and get heads every time, does that change the coin? No. You've still got 50-50 chances on the next toss.
This was unbelievably well paced.
Oh Crap... the whole start of the video I was shouting to myself, "JUST HIT THE BUTTON!" seeming it very much could have been a false alarm, I should never be in control of nuclear weapons. ever.
My personal favorite near nuclear war story has to be that of Stanislav Petrov. Who, in 1983, had the litteral power of a God. He was the one who could decide whether or not to end the world. As his radar reported, five missiles headed straight toward major Russian cities. If he had followed his orders and reported this, he would've started a war. Except, he knew something, the U.S., if they were at war, would not only fire five missiles. In what has to be the most tense moment of his life, he simply stood there and let the "missiles" fall. What a shock. He was right. He reported the incident, and it forced the Russians to fix the system. If it had been literally any other man, we might not be alive.
Even in a hellbent earth, with power hungry leaders glad their are still some sane people throughout history.
This story is literally in the video, Petrov was the third man
@@Optimistas777No that was Vasily Arkhipov
@@sushiwushi5335thats what amazes me as well
@@jhawk1229lol, I'm thankful our fate was in Soviet hands, taking into consideration Japan, I'm not sure if Americans would have been equally coldheaded 😅
I'm glad you mentioned that even though the old silo nukes may not all work, this is still an apocalyptic threat.
Is that why they told you that? Or is this really not a nuclear war? In a nuclear war they would've fired everything they have. So why didn't they? You know there are infrared signatures "consistent" with launches in 20 of 100 locations. So what's actually happening?
@@twelvecatsinatrenchcoatthat's kinda the point of the video. You don't have all the information and you have to make a decision. You don't have time to question why they didn't fire everything.
@@jordyboy62 Yeah, that's why I exp- y'know, nevermind... Yup you're right guys, good job.
@@twelvecatsinatrenchcoat Thing is many believe Russian nuclear missiles might be in the same sorry state as the rest of their army and that we shouldn't be afraid of their nukes. Even if 5% only work, that is still 5% too many.
@@twelvecatsinatrenchcoatNo tactical mind would ever decide to expend all their resources on a first strike, especially when 20% of the arsenal is probably already enough to literally end all life. The point is that it doesn't matter why they didn't launch them all, because launching more wouldn't change anything anyways.
Nice i glad how u waited for x wars in world rn to make this video so u can prepare us
Such a relaxing video
This is a 9 minute feature film.
Hello
Deez
Ikr
TAAAAAAAAAAA
Perfect way to put it xD
The fact that everything was summarized and you are given a decision immediately, especially in first person POV, makes everything much more stressful. Amazing.
@@FantaGuyXLivego away
I was so stressed watching that. Very effective.
My anxiety was going crazy while watching this (especially since it caught me off guard). This was super informative, but NOT pleasant to watch, lol
@@FantaGuyXLive🤡
@@FantaGuyXLiveCan your parents make a channel so that I can follow them out of solidarity in not getting said camera?
10/10 the Guide was very easy to follow
Cool video!
The animation is so much more advanced compared to previous videos because of lip-synching. Truly an amazing display of talent in the team who worked on this
They couldn't do lip-syncing when acting characters were ducks. It's an unusual episode with people in main role
@@jerrygreenestye
This was one of your best videos yet. And the fact that you mentioned Arkhipov, the man that actually saved humanity, was very special.
I was hoping he'd be mentioned-- that single time was THE closest the world ever came to ending, and that amazing man took a second to think, "What if...", ultimately saving billions of lives not just from when it happened, but into humanity's future as well.
But he was Russian. That means he's bb....bbb .. bad RIGHT?!
@@T1me-wb4us🤦
@@T1me-wb4usyou have a sight and vision of a rhinoceros or what
@@T1me-wb4usyou should consider that he was still on the side that would’ve initiated nuclear war. He just had his head on straight considering they literally were just assuming nuclear war had begun.
You have to decide !!! -ad starts for a beer - Good Timing!
so the leader screw us up and they go hide in the bunker!
This is by far the most frightening video you guys have made. It really hits on how dangerous and final a nuclear war would be. You guys are amazing keep it up
It could literally happen today. We are never more than one slipup away from complete species extinction
@@gormauslanderLet it happen. After 100 years of that war there'll be a golden civilization with few population and global warming free Earth.
@@gormauslanderluckily even if that did happen there are some bunkers that would survive and keep at least some sneaky humans alive
@@cinemasurge1851 lucky how
They didn't talk about second strike capability. This video isn't how it would happen.
I've heard those close call stories before and it's incredibly chilling just HOW CLOSE we were to annihilation. So many times there were operators that, quick on their feet, realized that the timing didn't make sense for XYZ reason and decided not to act on the alarm.
And this is also why clear and trusted communication is so invaluable... and why I'm deeply concerned about Russia and China: During the weather balloon incident, China's MoD specifically *did not pick up* the red phone the US MoD was contacting him on. Emergency communication lines are there for the precise reason that they will ALWAYS be accepted, thus always giving a way to talk things out. If you can't trust a country to honor that mutual communication agreement in a relatively benign incident, why would you spend even a second waiting when you have to worry about a nuclear war? And similarly, you cannot be untrustworthy: several countries pointed out the Russian army gathering at the Ukraine border, and very overtly asked Putin as to whether he's going to invade Ukraine. He publicly assured them it was just a training exercise, and 24h later the war started. If you're willing to lie that boldly, despite the other side very keenly insinuating that they're fully aware of your plans, what value does your word retain? Nothing. So if a nuclear war issue arises, how are you gonna talk things down when nothing you say can be trusted? (This can be applied in a similar vein with Trump, but at least he's no longer the sitting president.) Having country leaders who do not recognize the immense threat posed by their disregard for trust and communication, is probably going to be the final nail that starts nuclear war (if it ever comes to that).
The one in the submarine was even more chilling, it wasn't anything rational that made them not launch it. The officer who refused to launch told the 2 others that even if the missiles had launched and the us had wiped out the Soviet Union, he asked that if it was even worth it to launch the nuclear missiles as there would be nothing to come back too anyways in the USSR, all family members and homes would already be destroyed and so there was no point in launching these anyways as it would not change the outcome of their loved ones. Aka it was already too late. This was enough to persuade the others.
@@Dimitri88888888I’m totally being that guy but it wasn’t a nuclear missile on the sub. If you’re talking about the Vasili Arkhipov incident, he refused to fire a nuclear torpedo at the US ships. The submarine was a foxtrot class which did not carry nuclear missiles.
The third guy on the sub wasnt even meant to be there! He was the sub fleet commander, if he was on another the wepons would have been used.
@@Dimitri88888888Add in the fact that their sub was being thumped by depth charges the whole time, not knowing that they were training charges to try and convince them to surface.
brilliant video
I’m watching in VR on my meta quest 3 and what a view I love your game btw!!!
“The nuclear arms race is like two sworn enemies standing waist deep in gasoline, one with three matches, the other with five” -Carl Sagan Thank you guys for the dopamine, btw if anyone has any knowledge on how to increase my CTR on YT, advice would be appreciated.
He was a pretty smart guy i think
@@snubluemoonshe understood how unimportant humanity is in the universe
@@TheKoloradoShowNo, he understood how unimportant our silly conflicts were. That's completely different.
and so long as both sworn enemies value their own survival and know to strike out against the other is certain suicide then there will not be any wars between them. The issue is with those powers holding nuclear weapons who do not fear reprisal, either because their target is unable to do so or lacks the will to do so, or even worse because the idea of loosing millions or billions of their own population in a reprisal is a worthwhile exchange within their value system. Perhaps they are religious fanatics for whom the death of their own people is immaterial or they simply see their populations as expendable with the balance of exchange being a worthwhile transaction to them. THAT is when one must be worried.
"That's pretty clever" Sun Tzu, The Art of War
I really like how the video simulates the uncanny and uncomfortable state the leader the video is in the perspective of by animating this in such a dramatically different way from Kurzgesagt's usual method. The vertigo-inducing camera movement and the fact the advistor's mouth is moving, put the viewer (especially those familiar with Kurzgesagt's prior videos) on edge, and keeps them there with the bombardment of information, just like how the leader in the video would be feeling at the time. Very excellent. Now, don't do that again! XD
Yes I also like how there are a lot of small subtle things that indicate that it *could* also just be the RADARs/detection systems misreading what's going on (like the interference part specifically), or how not all of the warheads launched at once (which was part of how Stanislav Petrov determined that the US attack wasn't real, since he figured they would launch all of their warheads at once to cause as much initial damage as possible with the lowest chance of retaliation).
But what's the point of launching back? You're just gonna kill more innocent people.
...let's not do that at all, please and thank you. Edit : I misread your comment, I thought it said "now, do that again" at the end
There is a very dreamlike quality to the video. As the President is descending to the Bunker, the video starts getting dizzy, as well. A literal disassociating panic attack.
Oppenhiemer momento.
I have never been ever left distressed by a single video until this came along, thanks
Fun video while also being terrifying. What a thrill ride
There's nothing better to start the day with than a bit of dread.
I live in philippines and its night time And i cant sleeep
In Germany its 16:20
I'm glad they're back to existential dread, all this treacly stuff about how there's hope for the future rubs me the wrong way.
@@teamok1025it's 8pm here
@@scottmatheson3346 don't worry, it's guaranteed that climate change will royally fuck the Earth's ecosystem and probably cause hundreds of millions of deaths while developed countries get off with minor inflation despite being the main cause of the problem!
Exceptional!
Thank you for what are you doing
I always thought the worst part of nuclear bombs is their incredible destructive power, but I think the biggest killer is the fact that a leader needs to make decisions that affect the entirety of the planet in less than a few minutes and with less reliable information than oann
I've ponder this a bit and it always strikes me the obvious answer is NOT to launch. If a nation has launched missiles, the damage is already done, the area will be a wasteland not usable to them, and there is honestly nothing to be done. To respond in kind is just to doom the entirety of the human race. And for what? Revenge? You are already dead. Think of it as the anti-Prisoner's Dilemma.
It's a simple and easy decision, every time. You simply do not use them at all. There is no good reason to ever use a nuclear weapon in any situation. They are indiscriminate killers that poison the planet, and who is to know how many of those bombs will salt the earth, because that's the level of degeneracy on display here. These people not only hate life itself, but they want to eradicate any chances of its resurgence.
first of all nuclear weapons can't destroy whole planet but they can cause nuclear winter which can easily destroy all humankind in 2-3 years
If you have a nuclear arsenal as a leader you probably be briefed on what to do on the day you are in power... This video is so lazy, I expect better from Kurzgesagt
@@MunchausenificationIf you would have watched the video, the premise of the fictitious part is that the leader in question was in their first day in office
This was a crazy video to wrap my head around but…. that green screen transition with the generals clothes at 4:41 was insane 😂 Love the animators and their attention to detail ❤
He had me on the video too lol
Oh, I didn't notice that. Thanks for pointing it out
I honestly thought that was an unintentional animation error lol
@@muraliavarma bro what lmfao, how tf would that happen
The reality of that was the scariest part of the video.
One of the MOST unbiased and informative videos i've seen in a while. Thank you
Well the only examples of mistaken nuclear war signs were chalked up to russian incompetence. While no other nuclear country apparently came close. Wonder how all of these stories passed around, with the infamous secrecy of the KGB & FSB being considered. Unbiased in the eyes of the easily fooled. Note: I'm not taking sides - but to believe the simple tale of 1 side bad and dumb other side good and smart is rich. I'm convinced the Soviet/Russian nigh-disasters took place, but I'm just as convinced the opposite has happened in the Allied countries. I 'spose those stories are less.... tasteful... to basoon out the airwaves.
I remember watching threads in the early 80s it was terrifying. I never thought we'd be thinking about this again.
This was easily the most intense and entertaining video you guys have made. The drama, so good
I think this is because the military guy is explaining it as though you're senile 😆
For a moment, I thought the explanation would take all the retaliation time.
@@ekkehard8 Do you see how old most world leaders are? xD
Agreed
Maybe if you’re 16 years old, yeah. You should read more
Unfortunately, the reduction in nuclear arms is not an indication that there's a chance to eliminate them. The costs associated with their maintenance (and relative uselessness of having THAT many) is likely the only reason they've gone down so much since the height of the cold war
IMHO, it's also for the good of self defense, there is also the lack of technology alternative to fight against Nuclear Warhead. "Si Vis Pacem Para Bellum" 1. We can't shoot every warhead with 100% Certainty. To be hit with many is obviously disaster, but even one is still too much. 2. Our choice of anti nuclear warhead is very limited. 3. Attack is the best defense, or at least threat of an attack or Counter attack is one of the best defense there is, which lead to nuclear stalemate. 4. While it's said that there is only 12.500 ish left, please allow me to doubt. Remember the said phrase, prepare for war. Even if officially every nuclear warhead is dismantled, somewhere someone someway, will hide a few nuclear warheads, either for true self defense, or just for last resort weapon if... They have a war, and losing is not an option, not when you have hidden nuclear warhead. 5. Now apply the same to our side, we can't be sure that the opponent doesn't hide nuclear weapons, so we hide some too. 6. Defense against Nuclear Warhead is in need of upgrades, and a lots of upgrades. Maybe super wide area laser that shoot down every single warheads, dummy or not. For example. Basically we need 100% effective anti nuclear, or we just stuck in nuclear versus nuclear. 7. There is also our need of negating nuclear fallout, or nuclear radiation, which we don't know yet how to do that. Not hit with nuclear warhead is nice and all, but the radiation still hits hard, such is the dread of nuclear warhead. So unless our defense against Nuclear is 100% denying the power and effect of nuclear warhead ,our available option is only threatening each other with nuclear.
Nuclear disarmament is very much a case of 'Great idea! You first.'.
and unfortunately, even if we somehow did achieve complete nuclear disarmament, we’ll still always have the knowledge of *how* to make nuclear weapons. Any spike in geopolitical tension or the election/succession of a particular politician in any number of countries could bring them back pretty quickly
@@salamanderred8148 Well, the advantage of disarmament is that, while you can certainly have secret nukes, you cannot maintain a massive end-the-world arsenal of them. If all the major nuclear powers were to agree to mutual disarmament, sure, they'd probably all keep a few bombs squirreled away, and there would still be the risk of a rogue nation like North Korea or Iran using one, but it would effectively end the risk of destroying humanity.
@@macdjord And then whats to stop large conventional wars from happening again?
Wow. I wasn’t even told but you sold the idea of anxiety induced tension so well I thought I was being asked for the launch decision and not the animated man. It’s just 2D animation but the narration makes it so immersive. It’s terrifying. To have to make a choice in a game where the only winning move is not to play. I did a research assessment for the Cuban missile crisis and it’s one of the most interesting topics I’ve ever done in Modern History. The fact nuclear war came down to Vasili Arkhipov saying no was such a grim revelation to me. With all that’s happening in the world now with Ukraine, and now HAMAS, it’s important we stay educated anon the cost of nuclear escalation. Thank you Kurzgesagt.
You’ve watched WarGames a couple times, I’m guessing?
@@agent_sus3273 Bingo
Wow this video hits different the last few days
That POV was really well done and does a really good job at making the viewer feel the pressure of that moment.
It gave me an anxiety attack XD
I was going “NO DONT LAUNCH THE BOMBS”
@@babywitches1750 rip
“Mankind invented the atomic bomb, but no mouse would ever construct a mousetrap.”
superior species though 🙃
@@-opus Yes, I agree. Mice are superior to humans.
The P in humanity stands for peace
@@-opusas a dolphin I agree. Mice are far superior then humans. Like, what superior species would create things that destroy themselves?
Fr why are we so evil? “Peace is good war is bad” - the few non-corrupted humans that are left
As they say, you can’t put the genie back in the bottle.
■Nuclear War Result Winner : Nobody Loser : All mankind
There, fixed it for you 😉
As someone who played Defcon, I had no idea ICBMs had many mini-warheads in them. In some way, I guess that explains why countermeasures fail in-game. Edit: WOW, some really neat stuff in the responses. I also didn't expect this comment to blow up either.
They were an innovation of the 60s, so if the game is simulating 50s ICBMs it’d be one warhead per rocket. That’s part of why the space race pushed toward larger rockets - bigger payloads could launch cluster warheads as in the manner described in the video!
It's called MRV (Multiple Reentry Vehicle) or MIRV (Multiple Independently targetable Reentry Vehicle)
I haven't played Defcon, but perhaps you'd be interested in the game ICBM on steam
Yea the only way to defend from them is to shoot them down before they split Which is mostly very unlikely due to lack of time
@@helikopterbojowyka-5234especially since they “split” mostly before re-entering the atmosphere
This was unimaginably distressing, but a sacrifice needed to fully understand how dire the situation is and how hopeless we would be if this would happen
Then I recommend you DON'T watch "Threads" made by the BBC in the late 80s, which shows the buildup to a nuclear war then the attack in GRAPHIC detail, followed by the aftermath. It is, hands down, THE most disturbing thing you'll ever watch
If i were the president i woud not press the button
@@swedishwildlife916 I'd press the button so hard and fast that I might break it. I'm not afraid of dying, and I won't spare the enemy any destruction and suffering if they attack first. Although I understand that you came from Sweden, so self-hatred in ingrained in your culture.
America is painfully unaware of the war that's going on around us, through media. Way too many are voting for our downfall, and millions more are passively sitting out. Meanwhile, the enemy marches every day
@@trevorday7923 out of all the horror movies I’ve watched, Threads was by far the most frightening. Especially when I watched it after Day After Tomorrow. Ah the bomb drill days.
I thought this scenario wouldn't happen during my lifetime but right now it doesn't seem that unrealistic
Did y’all expand your team? The videos are coming out a lot more often, it seems. I’m totally here for it! 👍
Who doesn't love fast Kurzgesagt videos
Soros is now paying the bill, that's the difference. They have become just another propaganda arm of the new world order.
They realized they have to compete with Mitsi Studio now and Mitsi is like the edgy 90's cool kid that rides a skateboard and says "dude" and wears sunglasses.
@@twelvecatsinatrenchcoathardly, kurzgesagt has 20 million more subscribers than them
Imagine Putin watching this while taking a dump ! 🤣
I found this surprisingly stressful to watch, but extremely informative.
dont worry, a nuclear war is never going to happen.
Nutshell inspires me.. My parents said if i get 50K followers They'd buy me a professional camera for recording..begging u guys , literally Begging...
Same
That was part of the point they wanted to make.
Wondering if they'd ever make a sandbox learning tool like universe sandbox but in the style of these illustrations. Where you can look into detail on the science of objects too
Nice presentation 👍🏻 I think ppl also should build basement for fmly with minimum 1 month food stock
The animation got so much better from the most popular videos i seen on this channel. I'm so proud of the talent involved here, props to everyone who worked on this video.
Thanks!
Nutshell inspires me.. My parents said if i get 50K followers They'd buy me a professional camera for recording..begging u guys , literally Begging...
The "There's nothing we can do for them" part actually sent a shiver down my spine
ok
At no point in the video does he say those words
since radiation poisoning is so hard to treat on it's own, throw in millions of men, women, children and others all suffering from it with limited and small amounts of non-irradiated supplies, it is a true nightmare after the blast as well
@@Russian4647 dude, watch the fucking part where they're talking about how the people in busy cities can't escape
@@SHESA_PUNKROCKER rewatched and looked… here’s the time stamp: 2:01 “not much can be done for the people stuck in traffic” is similar, but not the same as “there’s nothing we can do for them” and the guy who posted this comment, used quotation marks… you know why they’re called that? Because they are used for quoting. He was ‘quoting’ the video but he quoted inaccurately..
Just the thing to watch before going to bed.
Humans: why wont aliens visit us? Average human disagreement:
Imagine how fast life can change because like 16 people can’t get along
Good. Launch em all baby.
@@The13thRonin Touch grass
@@Kokorocodon I'd rather touch the nuclear button, manlet.
@@The13thRonincan you say that without crying though?
@@The13thRoninchild
Exactly this scenario happened during the Norwegian rocket scare 1995. Due to communication failures Russia wasn't notified of the start of a norwegian sounding rocket which had the mission to do high altitude research of the aurora. Unfortunately the rocket veered off course heading toward Russia on a course that coincided with the air corridor for Minuteman III missiles from North Dakota into Russia. The russian satellite based early warning system detected the launch of the unheralded rocket. A reentry course was calculated and it was determined that the missile had it's course set on Moscow. Still, it was just a single missile so the command center tried to estimate if this was a plausible threat. They only had minutes to judge and came to the conclusion that the missile showed all the characteristics for a submarine launched Trident missile launched near the Norwegian coast. At first it was judged that it could be a precursor attack to blind Russia's early warning systems enabling a massive missile strike. This got the chain of command on full alert and president Yeltsin was informed. Yeltsin at the time was stationed in the hospital for treatment of medical conditions stemming from alcohol abuse. The Nowegian rocket now separated from it's second stage and now looked on the early warning system like a MIRV attack on Moscow. It was now determined that this could be a decapiitation strike. A direct hit on the russian command center would disable Russia of a counterattack. This was deemed plausible as a NATO strategy, which adopted this kind of strategy during the Reagan aera. At the time Russia had a 6 eyes approach. A nuclear strike could only be launched if 3 people simultaneously gave the launch order. This was the president of Russia (Yeltsin), the defense minister and the commander of the strategic rocket forces. The defense minister and the commander already transmitted their permission and it only hinged on Yeltsin. Yeltsin turned the keys and the launch order for the retaliation strike was activated. Wikipedia is unfortunately a bit short on why we still exist. From the story I heard an encryption error occurred for transmitting the order. Missile command couldn't decrypt the order and asked for a repetition with the correct key. In those 2 minutes the rocket again changed it's course and headed out for the White Sea. The order wasn't repeated. Yeltsin later said they watched the missile until it finally plunged into the sea. This had been the scariest 20 minutes he ever had.
A software error... We were saved by a software error. As someone in IT industry, never have I been this grateful for a bug or error.
Wikipedia is short on reasoning of why we still exist, because it's a lie. Yeltsin didn't push the button, because he could not believe US would launch such an attack. And in a couple of minutes it was known that the rocket is not military, he said so himself in an interview. Though MOD really did vote for launch.
Any sources on Yeltsin turning the key? Most of my google hits seem to say that no-one really knows what happened with Yeltsin during those minutes, and we are only left with what got revealed to the public later. Turning the key and/or a software error not seemingly reported.
According to the German Wikipedia, the nuclear briefcase was made ready, but the order was not given.
Russian leaders felt so much on the rope back at that incident it could have been dismissed with an arguement similar to the 1983 incident (6:28): if NATO (the USA) was gonna launch a decapitation strike at Moscow, it would have belonged to a larger first strike aimed at all of Russia's nuclear & military capabilities (silos, air bases,...) with roughly a hundred missiles at minimum; Stanislav Petrov (the guy at the early warning system in the 1983 incident) used the same reasoning to clear up the warning of 5 possible incoming missiles (that turned out to be sun glares) - it would have been more than that if the USA were to launch a preemptive strike
The General & the President has kept their cool in this intensely heated scenario.
War. War never changes.
5:13 "CAN WE LAUNCH" He said calmly
Did anyone notice the general's green suit messing with the green screen at 4:42? This video is incredible!
green screen🤣
I will never want my nation to reduce our nuclear arsenal because we can never truely be sure other nations do the same.
This can't happen soon enough. I'm stoked!
I worked as a ICBM maintainer for almost a decade and the accuracy of this video is chilling
How fast can these ICBM travel up and then back down?!
@@PeanutBreathing Just google Peacekeeper ICBM. And understand that it's an obsolete technology. You're welcome !
@@PeanutBreathing I think about a dozen times longer than a Minute, Man. ...Bad time for puns?
@@PeanutBreathing ascent is much slower than reentry. I don't know the exact speed for launch, but I know on reentry the RVs are coming in at about 29,000 K/hr, so about MACH 23 roughly. That's why your only really hope is shooting them down on their way up. Because on the way down it's like shooting a bullet with another bullet. All in all the process takes 20-30 minutes depending on your target
@@PeanutBreathing For a silo-based missile, it takes something like 30 minutes from launch to impact on another continent. If it's launched from a submarine, or from an island closer to the target, it might be only a few minutes.