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True, for historical content, with political and financial context, the channel called TIK is particularly incisive. Not at all the belaboured agreement that historians consider historical consensus. He willingly goes against the grain, and with excellent and informative results. It is not possible to watch an episode of his without having your approved thinking challenged.
I visited East Berlin in 1986. It was a remarkable place. Essentially across the street from West Berlin, yet it could have been on a different continent, and in a different decade.
I remember visiting Prague shortly after the fall of the Iron Wall, and I got precisely that impression. It was like going through a tunnel to an earlier time.
You're very lucky to have been able to do that. I am about 10-years too young for that kind of traveling. However, I have been to Belarus a few times in 2011 and 2012 and while it is now more advanced than the Soviet Union was, there are still strong ties to it and allows me a small time warp.
Crossing Checkpoint Charlie was a trip into another world or a time warp. The East appeared gray and dismal while the sun kept everything bright and in color in the West side.
@@chipmunkhunt You'd think they'd at least have learned to slap a coat of paint on the buildings. If there was one thing Communist regimes often did, it was to create a showcase Potemkin-village capital for foreign visitors (and for the trusted elite to enjoy), a Communist theme park of sorts that did not at all reflect the grim reality in the rest of the country.
I was ten years old in 1953 and attended a movie every weekend. Movie theaters then showed weekly newsreels as a regular feature between the flicks. Most people then had no TV. I remember the riots in East Germany being covered, and later film of returning POWs looking out of the windows of their train. The gaunt, stark look of one of them really struck me.
My grandmother used to be a farmer in Eastern Germany during the early days, she still remembers when the government officials came with horses carriages and confiscated everything in the name of collectivisation. All the chickens, goat's, cows. They took everything and left nothing. She still remembers how her mother cried as everything they had worked for went up in smoke.
@@tonyc.1121 No, authoritarianism sucks. Democratic socialism leads to longer lives with less stress for everyone. The world is rife with examples of democratically accountable socialism working well for citizens.
Amazingly, I spoke to some socialist youths that contended these events as well as those of Hungary in 1956 and Prague in 1968 never happened. They believed they were made up by capitalist propaganda, some even pointing out I was inventing the events. This was back in the late 80s in Ecuador. Since I grew up in Vienna in the 70s and 80s, all 3 were very close in time and in geography to me so I was completely bewildered as to how such ignorance was possible. Some of these youths became MPs during Correa's regime some 15 or 20 years later.
My mum, now 85, remembers joining strikes and protests in Jessen and Wittenberg when she was 15-16. She escaped by swimming the Elbe in February 56 after 'borrowing' funds for the train to the border from her Junge Pioneer platoon. The oppression was very real.
@Wolfman no, she swam. The Berlin Wall was erected in 1961 but prior to that the border with West Germany was patrolled, mined, wired and not a nice place to be in most places, so I've been told. From memory she got the train to Wittenberge, then walked and crossed near Lenzen. She was on the run for things she had said out loud and for swiping Junge Pioneer funds to fund her escape. Her main reason for leaving was to obtain medicine for her father, unavailable in the East. Opa had planned her route and she had relatives waiting for her on the west bank. I have since met the local police sergeant (back in 1986 when he had just retired) and some of her classmates and they verified her version of events pretty closely. The Sgt had actually let her out of a cell where she was waiting to be sent 'East' and told her to run. He had served with her brother=in=law on the Eastern Front. Of course, they could all be embellishing events but I'll give them the benefit of the doubt as I wasn't there.
@Wolfman You might be correct, but I'll stick with the 'official' version. Enough people told me their version of the events over the years so we'll have to agree to disagree. Obviously your father's experiences are different to my mother's.
I never knew about this and was never taught this in school. I didn't even know the wall was built in the sixties. I thought it was built as soon as the war ended. One more thing, I never knew I like history so much! Dr. Felton, thank you so much!
Here a first hand account regarding the feelings of east Germans towards the Russian occupiers. My grandmother, born in the 1940s, a warm-hearted person, lived in east Germany from its founding in 1949 until its dissolution in 1990. When she hears the Russian language, especially when spoken by Russian women, her usually cheery mood turns serious, she starts frowning, following up by a spiteful remark like "verdammte Russenweiber" which translates somewhat to "damn Russian broads/ hags". Granny told me, that during the time of the east German dictatorship, the wifes of Russian army officers behaved very arrogant and disrespectful toward the German population. They had lots of money and bought all the nice and rare goods (clothing, furniture, high quality foods etc.) which left nothing for average east Germans like my grandmother.
@@dominiqueborz8476 I think to be fair, without knowing the context for _why_ it was offered, it can't really be said if rejecting it would have been good or bad.
@@dominiqueborz8476 One of the reasons the West rejected the proposal was because it would harm their ability to reintegrate Germany into the international community. They would've been made to be neutral like Austria was. Also, the deal required that Germany renounce its claims to the lands east of the Oder-Neisse Line that they lost at the end of WWII, which the Germans were not willing to accept. Unfortunately, as it turned out, they would have to renounce their claims anyway in 1990.
@@dominiqueborz8476, did you miss the bit where Stalin butchered more Russians than Hitler and Stalin up until Hitler invaded Russia, Stalin was the best friend the nazies had.
interesting that Stalin offer on reuniting Germany (as a neutral country) was mentioned by Mark Felton as it is little known and mostly a sidenote for most people. However, Austria was - like Gernany - split into Zones and Stalin offered the the same deal to austria which was accepted unifing Austria in 1952 again.
@@Alexey-kf4wr Turkey and Norway. A reunited and neutral Germany in 1949-1952 would have greatly de-escalated the Cold War, but thats not what London and Washington wanted
@@vlad_47 Norway/Russia have a tiny border that still doesn't have decent logistical capacity. I was much worse back then. Turkey did join NATO after Stalin demanded control of the straights and hosted NATO bases, but I doubt they would agree to become a nuclear wasteland. Not to mention, how much the Turkish population "loved" Americans and the British, that would have to be massed over there, before attacking across mountain ranges into Caucasus.
Hey Mark, glad you are feeling better and back to making videos. Very interesting! I knew about Hungary in 1956 and Prague in 1968 but this is the first I have heard of any of this in East Germany in 1953.
@@MrShobar & then promptly tossed in the portion of history's dustbin, memory hole of commie apologist's (looking @ lame stream media & hurry up offense education system,just to name a couple)...but we've no excuse for not knowing about it as it was "widely publicized".(wtfe)
From what I understand in the last days of the Reich pretty much anyone who asked for it would have been able to get a rifle, grenades, panzerfaust, whatever was available. Volksturm - children and old people and citizens otherwise not eligible for service given arms in the final defense of the Fatherland. So that does make me wonder why you don't really hear about anything like that with older weapons being used against the Soviet occupiers happening. At least a tank or two taking a shaped charge or the occasional checkpoint getting attacked. Maybe they got all used up during the last defense and they did a really thorough job in confiscating what remained afterwards?
Well, when one out of every 6 East German citizens was working (spying) for the Stasi, a rate only surpassed by North Korea, and understanding how the victorious allies VIGOROUSLY disarmed the entire Axis territories (yes, even knives !!!) , this comes as no surprise at all. Secondly, as proven by the Hungarian uprising, the Molotov Cocktail still remains the cheapest, easiest and most deadly weapon ever devised.
Little correction, the SED was not the only political party that was allowed in the GDR. There was - amongst others - the DBD, LDPD and the CDU. Also Moscow was not allowing the increase in quota's as it suspected that there was a riot going to happen. Being in the transitional process after Stalins death the Executive committee summoned Ulbricht to Moscow and demanded that the quota's to be turned back. But it was already too late. A spontanious uprising started with constructuion workers who held a march in Berlin. The Berlin population joined in and the numbers grew and grew. The riots spread to other cities so that the SED started to worry a lot that the end of their short reign was close. Besides that, excellent video.
“Some of the arrests being of Soviet soldiers who refused to open fire on unarmed protesters” considering the fresh feelings of animosity between most Berliners and Russian soldiers in general, that was an honorable act of insubordination that I’m glad I heard about.
Most likely due to a generational change on the part of the Red Army. Those Russian kids in uniform in 1953 most likely had very serious qualms about firing on unarmed civilians, they weren't the rage-filled wartime generation anymore.
@ 7:20 The Soviet Troops who refused to fire on unarmed protesters and were then arrested were obeying the laws of the USSR and East Germany. While those laws allowed self-defense, it was, and is, illegal to murder defenseless, unarmed people. One of the hallmarks of a Totalitarian State is that people who obey laws are arrested while those who violate laws, even committing murders, are not only not arrested, they are rewarded. Hitler did the same. Normally I sign off with a smiley face, but this is nothing to smile about.
By war's end, my grandmother along with my father and aunt were stuck in East Germany (Saxony) while the rest of her family had made it to Canada. They too decided to "vote with their feet" in 1953 and took a huge risk sneaking through a dense forest to escape, with my father and aunt being only 8 and 6 at the time. They saw some soldiers in the distance at one point, and tried to sneak away, but were caught. Fortunately, they were British soldiers who took them to safety. Weeks later they were reunited here in Canada with the rest of the family. My grandfather had escorted them through, but returned to East Germany as he did not want to leave his parents behind. His father was not pleased, so he snuck across again a second time!
The Stasi eventually had around 15 nuclear bunkers hidden beneath farms across the DDR. Each had a KGB/Russian hallway with communication direct to Moscow. The communication equipment in this area was in Cyrillic. This way in the event of emergency the Stasi could operate from the bunkers and maintain contact with their puppet masters.
So when theyre the USSR allies theyre puppets,but when theyre provisional dictatorships imposed by other (ehem,WESTERN) countries theyre just "allies",uh?
@@hiredmurderer6228 yes. The USSR was the Evil Empire. The Russians are back at it in Ukraine committing war crimes and torture. The FRG had elections anyway. The CDU and SPD were in elections unlike the DDR where the SED ruled continuously from 1949-1990.
Aaaaannnndddd He is Baaack..... welcome back Professor Felton. It is good to hear you speak. The voice of history rings out and lifts the veil of darkness from the forgotten aspects of our History. I wish you continued good health and happiness.
Worth mentioning that the events here on 17 June 1953 caused the Federal Republic to declare that date a public holiday in solidarity. The "Day of German Unity" (Tag der Deutschen Einheit) remained a public holiday in West Germany until it was changed to the 3 October following actual German reunification in 1990.
My fraternal grand mother used the term 'rubbish' when referring to trash as a noun. She was Pennsylvania Deutsch (German). I had not heard that word used as a verb though. Interesting. As always, thank you for a well researched, well produced channel targeting primarily modern European military history.
"Fraternal grand mother?" The word "fraternal" is an adjective having to do with a brother. Did you maybe mean "paternal," as in your father's mother? Your brother's grandmother should be yours also, unless he's your half-brother and does have a different set of grandparents.
I visited East Berlin in 1989. The one image I recall is of darkened streets, no private economic activity whatsoever except for one gent selling vanilla ice cream cut with a trowel wrapped in oily newspaper...in the lobby of the ' Palace of the Republic '...since demolished
So called Soviet Communism gets its idea of state ownership from aristocracies, I believe. In Tsarist Russia, the Tsar owned everything. Lenin's communists merely adopted that policy. Even in England, when I lived there, I was surprised to find out that the Queen owned all the land in central London, and property "owners" were actually leasing the land for 99 years. (If I am wrong on that, please correct me.) In the Middle Ages, independent peasants who owned their own land often had the land taken by a lord, and reduced to serfdom, which is a form of slavery. How is that any different from communist collectivization with work quotas then imposed on workers?? "Communism" does not end societal classes -- it merely replaces one aristocracy with another.
Berthold Brecht wrote a poem about the uprising called "The Solution" which ended: "Wouldn't it have just been easier had the government dissolved the people and elected another?"
With Remembrance Sunday coming up, I would like Mark to consider doing some videos on the various cemeteries located across Europe, including the Axis power cemeteries located in the former USSR, such as Krasnodar-Apsheronsk in Russia and Schatkowo in Belarus.
Thanks for covering this Dr Felton. This was the first major Uprising against Communism after WW2. History has largely ignored it, and the Western powers largely ignored it at the time. The Germans weren't deemed worthy of assistance. Its my view that Stalins offer of a unified Germany was rejected by the west, because it suited the west that Germany remained dived, and thus weak. I remember the hand ringing and disappointment from the media when Germany was united in 1990. Back to the Uprising. In 1987 i worked with a German called Hansi, who took part in the Uprising aged 17. He had lived in Dessau. He told me, weapons that had been hid away since 1945 were recovered and used against the Communist government in retaliation when the State Police had fired on the peacefull protesters. The Red Army crushed the Uprising. The Soviets stooge Regime murdered the ring leaders. My freind Hansi was a wanted man. He fled to West Germany. Joined the German merchant navy, met an English girl in Newcastle and married her. One day talking during lunch he was reminiscing about home. I asked... "Do you think Germany will ever be united"? He said... "they will never allow Germany to unite. I will never see home again". 3 years later Communism had collapsed, and Germany united. I often wondered if Hansi ever visited home again?
West rejected Stalin's offer because they did not want demilitarized Germany. They always planned to use Germany as springboard for eventual invasion of USSR.
Dr. Felton, you teach me how little I know. I grew up in the 60's and until now knew very little of the history of East Germany from 1949 until 1991. Until watching this video I did not even understand when and why the Berlin wall was built. Thank you.
I recently read Sinclair McKay's Berlin - Life and death in the city at the center of the world. Essentially, it's a history of the city in the 20th century, hinging on the events of April/May 1945. I highly recommend this book.
Hearing something I've never heard before from your Channel is nothing new, but I'm surprised I've never heard of this in particular. Thank you for another wonderful history lesson!
2:30 I don't know why you don't mention this, but it's quite obvious why West Germany rejected the reunification plan under Stalin: Because the condition was neutrality. Adenauer at the time prioritized a Western orientation over reunification, so the plan was rejected. BTW: Austria DID go the neutralitiy route, which is the reason why Austria to this day is not a member of NATO, and only joined the European Common Market in 1995. (EU wasn't a thing at the time, regardless of what Brusseles tells you)
Outstanding Mark.. finally I got to see again that footage that (I think) life had a picture of on it's cover of the E. German soldier jumping the wire.. I had not seen that footage sine it first happened.. For some reason every one that talks about that time never shows it.. to me it is a very powerful point. When even solder's think there regime is to much.. Well thanks my friend.
Another good video. One tiny comment I have is that Stalins proposal for unification was conditional on Germany becoming neutral (ie American troops out and no NATO membership). Without that western support it seems likely the new democracy would have been highly vulnerable to Soviet subversion. It’s not surprising it was turned down by Konrad Adenauer. A position vindicated in the long term when unification happened on West Germany’s terms.
Established Titles does not give you Real Titles at all, you don't get anything at all, the Laird title is limited to ONE per property and cannot be divided like that, more importantly, your "souvenir plots" can't be registered due to a prohibition as per Land Registration (Scotland) Act 2012, s 50 (2).
One thing I'm wondering about, when this was happening in Berlin how did the allies respond? As far as stepping up security on their ends. Does anyone know for example did we the allies put more troops on alert and on the boarder?
Mark Felton is THE best history channel on TH-cam and certainly better than a certain channel on TV and TH-cam who also does history, a channel name best not spoken aloud!
Thank you Dr. Felton. This is history the world needs to know. All to often, people tend to forget what was real, and rely on the revisionists to tell them what to think.🙂
@@MrShobar there are those who ignore certain parts of history, and only dwell upon areas that they use to support their narratives or political points of view.
the 17th of june became a national holiday in west germany called "Tag der deutschen Einheit" loosely translated 'day of german unity'...upon re-unification it was moved to october 3rd, the day the border "fell"
@@ByddinRhyddidCymru only Berlin was occupied by the four powers, which ended in January 90 I was stationed there you have no clue the west was occupied till 1954
5:01 - The SED was not the only legal party in East Germany - yes it was the ruling party There were others. The DBD, LDPD, CDU, and NDPD were all legal parties bound to the SED via the National Front. This is similar to how China is run today, with there being legal parties other than the CCP.
We have been in Berlin last week and visited also the "Gedenkstätte Berliner Mauer". There is a permanent museum. This event gets also the attention it - of course - diserves. @Mark Felton, thanks for this video
The outdoor Wall and death zone are interesting and worth preserving. The East Germans called it the Antifascist Bulwark as if people wanted to break into East Germany. There used to be ditches for vehicles that would be driving out from the DDR that were proof the Antifascist Bulwark was a prison wall. East Germany eventually made L shaped Wall sections that stopped vehicles and they filled the ditches and put in sand and anti personnel mines and tripwire shotguns.
The complete dissolution of one government (in this case Nazi Germany) and the occupation/installment of an entirely different government is still something that is difficult to wrap one's head around. I am a casual reader of history and it boggles the mind to ponder what the average citizen in Germany endured from 1933 onward (and the millions of WWII victims and the rest of Europe too, of course).
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Commander Felton sounds good.
Love your videos keep them up
My last name is already Lord...could I buy a plot and be a LAIRD?Lord Laird?
Don't go for this website folks. It's a scam.
l was 7 years old when the wall went up.......Thanks🇺🇸
Dr. Felton single handedly doing what History Channels have not been capable of doing in decades. Thanks Dr. Felton!
Or your problem was the right choise in the former days.
True, for historical content, with political and financial context, the channel called TIK is particularly incisive. Not at all the belaboured agreement that historians consider historical consensus. He willingly goes against the grain, and with excellent and informative results. It is not possible to watch an episode of his without having your approved thinking challenged.
@@precisi0n86 Sorry? Are you responding to a comment of mine?
@@The_ZeroLine why are you speaking with me? You do not appear to be responding to any comment I made?
Hostory channels should be called aliens and pawn shops channels
Mark Felton: the history channel we all want to be
Did you just assume Mark identifies as a channel??
What the history channel should be again
Yall gonna look like twats in ten years time when the Mayan Nazi aliens the History Channel has warned us about make their appearance
Its the channel ever
Damn right
I visited East Berlin in 1986. It was a remarkable place. Essentially across the street from West Berlin, yet it could have been on a different continent, and in a different decade.
I remember visiting Prague shortly after the fall of the Iron Wall, and I got precisely that impression. It was like going through a tunnel to an earlier time.
You're very lucky to have been able to do that. I am about 10-years too young for that kind of traveling. However, I have been to Belarus a few times in 2011 and 2012 and while it is now more advanced than the Soviet Union was, there are still strong ties to it and allows me a small time warp.
Crossing Checkpoint Charlie was a trip into another world or a time warp. The East appeared gray and dismal while the sun kept everything bright and in color in the West side.
@@chipmunkhunt You'd think they'd at least have learned to slap a coat of paint on the buildings. If there was one thing Communist regimes often did, it was to create a showcase Potemkin-village capital for foreign visitors (and for the trusted elite to enjoy), a Communist theme park of sorts that did not at all reflect the grim reality in the rest of the country.
Look up “Winter adé” by Helke Misselwitz on youtube to get an impression of the GDR in this time (late 80s).
I was ten years old in 1953 and attended a movie every weekend. Movie theaters then showed weekly newsreels as a regular feature between the flicks. Most people then had no TV. I remember the riots in East Germany being covered, and later film of returning POWs looking out of the windows of their train. The gaunt, stark look of one of them really struck me.
The historical voice of youtube is back. And what better way than to teach me about something else Ive never heard of.
My grandmother used to be a farmer in Eastern Germany during the early days, she still remembers when the government officials came with horses carriages and confiscated everything in the name of collectivisation. All the chickens, goat's, cows. They took everything and left nothing.
She still remembers how her mother cried as everything they had worked for went up in smoke.
Socialism sucks. I hope your family was okay.
Socialists when their ideology enables intellectuals to opress workers
@@tonyc.1121 No, authoritarianism sucks. Democratic socialism leads to longer lives with less stress for everyone. The world is rife with examples of democratically accountable socialism working well for citizens.
@@Lawman212 Life expectancy might nit be so high for those who still doubt...
@@Lawman212 Please name 10 that fit into your category.
One of the outcomes was released German POW’s. Wow, fascinating!
Amazingly, I spoke to some socialist youths that contended these events as well as those of Hungary in 1956 and Prague in 1968 never happened. They believed they were made up by capitalist propaganda, some even pointing out I was inventing the events. This was back in the late 80s in Ecuador. Since I grew up in Vienna in the 70s and 80s, all 3 were very close in time and in geography to me so I was completely bewildered as to how such ignorance was possible. Some of these youths became MPs during Correa's regime some 15 or 20 years later.
Talk to any millennial in the US and you'll have deja vu
Nothing strange. Lies are, with violence, the most important parts of the communist DNA !
@@jamespfitz you mean gen z
My mum, now 85, remembers joining strikes and protests in Jessen and Wittenberg when she was 15-16. She escaped by swimming the Elbe in February 56 after 'borrowing' funds for the train to the border from her Junge Pioneer platoon. The oppression was very real.
She must have understood that oppression really well when she was 15 😆
@@aleksazunjic9672 Both times she was raped by Soviet soldiers, at 14 and 15 I'm sure she formed a view on oppression we have no grasp of.
@Wolfman no, she swam. The Berlin Wall was erected in 1961 but prior to that the border with West Germany was patrolled, mined, wired and not a nice place to be in most places, so I've been told. From memory she got the train to Wittenberge, then walked and crossed near Lenzen. She was on the run for things she had said out loud and for swiping Junge Pioneer funds to fund her escape. Her main reason for leaving was to obtain medicine for her father, unavailable in the East. Opa had planned her route and she had relatives waiting for her on the west bank. I have since met the local police sergeant (back in 1986 when he had just retired) and some of her classmates and they verified her version of events pretty closely. The Sgt had actually let her out of a cell where she was waiting to be sent 'East' and told her to run. He had served with her brother=in=law on the Eastern Front. Of course, they could all be embellishing events but I'll give them the benefit of the doubt as I wasn't there.
@Wolfman You might be correct, but I'll stick with the 'official' version. Enough people told me their version of the events over the years so we'll have to agree to disagree. Obviously your father's experiences are different to my mother's.
I never knew about this and was never taught this in school. I didn't even know the wall was built in the sixties. I thought it was built as soon as the war ended.
One more thing, I never knew I like history so much!
Dr. Felton, thank you so much!
Here a first hand account regarding the feelings of east Germans towards the Russian occupiers. My grandmother, born in the 1940s, a warm-hearted person, lived in east Germany from its founding in 1949 until its dissolution in 1990. When she hears the Russian language, especially when spoken by Russian women, her usually cheery mood turns serious, she starts frowning, following up by a spiteful remark like "verdammte Russenweiber" which translates somewhat to "damn Russian broads/ hags". Granny told me, that during the time of the east German dictatorship, the wifes of Russian army officers behaved very arrogant and disrespectful toward the German population. They had lots of money and bought all the nice and rare goods (clothing, furniture, high quality foods etc.) which left nothing for average east Germans like my grandmother.
Did you miss the line where Stalin offered to unify West and East but the West rejected ....we all have suffered due to our dictators.
@@dominiqueborz8476 I think to be fair, without knowing the context for _why_ it was offered, it can't really be said if rejecting it would have been good or bad.
Well .....just 5 years before that you germans were committing war crimes against the russians (jews pols, etc etc etc) so ..................
@@dominiqueborz8476 One of the reasons the West rejected the proposal was because it would harm their ability to reintegrate Germany into the international community. They would've been made to be neutral like Austria was. Also, the deal required that Germany renounce its claims to the lands east of the Oder-Neisse Line that they lost at the end of WWII, which the Germans were not willing to accept. Unfortunately, as it turned out, they would have to renounce their claims anyway in 1990.
@@dominiqueborz8476, did you miss the bit where Stalin butchered more Russians than Hitler and Stalin up until Hitler invaded Russia, Stalin was the best friend the nazies had.
Thanks!
And Ulbricht's heirs have now made it to the Netherlands, having a go at their farmers.
interesting that Stalin offer on reuniting Germany (as a neutral country) was mentioned by Mark Felton as it is little known and mostly a sidenote for most people. However, Austria was - like Gernany - split into Zones and Stalin offered the the same deal to austria which was accepted unifing Austria in 1952 again.
Yeah but he wanted it united under Soviet control. So essentially "no no please give me the rest of Germany, I'll take good care of it))))"
@@BichaelStevens Not true.
If that was allowed to happen, how would Americans manage to threaten the Soviet Union? From South Korea and Japan? Lol
@@Alexey-kf4wr Turkey and Norway.
A reunited and neutral Germany in 1949-1952 would have greatly de-escalated the Cold War, but thats not what London and Washington wanted
@@vlad_47 Norway/Russia have a tiny border that still doesn't have decent logistical capacity. I was much worse back then. Turkey did join NATO after Stalin demanded control of the straights and hosted NATO bases, but I doubt they would agree to become a nuclear wasteland. Not to mention, how much the Turkish population "loved" Americans and the British, that would have to be massed over there, before attacking across mountain ranges into Caucasus.
Hey Mark, glad you are feeling better and back to making videos. Very interesting! I knew about Hungary in 1956 and Prague in 1968 but this is the first I have heard of any of this in East Germany in 1953.
Then you need to pay closer attention. This was widely reported at the time and has been publicized since that time.
@@MrShobar But I agree that Berlin 1953 hasn't been recognized as a major rebellion like the two other ones have.
@@MrShobar & then promptly tossed in the portion of history's dustbin,
memory hole of commie apologist's (looking @ lame stream media & hurry up offense education system,just to name a couple)...but we've no excuse for not knowing about it as it was "widely publicized".(wtfe)
@@curtiskretzer8898 Someday try to write something coherent and someone might listen.
Glad you're better, Dr. Felton. Your recently non-narrated videos 'spoke volumes' during your recovery. You bring history 'alive.'
what I like so much about this channel is that it always covers a somewhat forgotten part of history. 👍
Welcome back all the way, Mark! We’ve missed your voice!
Never heard of this incident before. Thank you!
Glad to have you back and reporting on important events. You are in top form. Keep up the excellent work, Dr. Felton.
I am a little surprised that none in the crowd used a stashed away panzerfaust on the T34.
From what I understand in the last days of the Reich pretty much anyone who asked for it would have been able to get a rifle, grenades, panzerfaust, whatever was available. Volksturm - children and old people and citizens otherwise not eligible for service given arms in the final defense of the Fatherland. So that does make me wonder why you don't really hear about anything like that with older weapons being used against the Soviet occupiers happening. At least a tank or two taking a shaped charge or the occasional checkpoint getting attacked. Maybe they got all used up during the last defense and they did a really thorough job in confiscating what remained afterwards?
@@angry_zergling I'm guessing a mixture of "let's not get caught with military hardware" and "finally, war is over, let's get rid of this"
I picture Ostfront veterans (who weren’t still POWs in the Soviet Union) jumping on the T-34/85 tanks with Molotovs and other devices.
Well, when one out of every 6 East German citizens was working (spying) for the Stasi, a rate only surpassed by North Korea, and understanding how the victorious allies VIGOROUSLY disarmed the entire Axis territories (yes, even knives !!!) , this comes as no surprise at all. Secondly, as proven by the Hungarian uprising, the Molotov Cocktail still remains the cheapest, easiest and most deadly weapon ever devised.
Little correction, the SED was not the only political party that was allowed in the GDR. There was - amongst others - the DBD, LDPD and the CDU. Also Moscow was not allowing the increase in quota's as it suspected that there was a riot going to happen. Being in the transitional process after Stalins death the Executive committee summoned Ulbricht to Moscow and demanded that the quota's to be turned back. But it was already too late. A spontanious uprising started with constructuion workers who held a march in Berlin. The Berlin population joined in and the numbers grew and grew. The riots spread to other cities so that the SED started to worry a lot that the end of their short reign was close.
Besides that, excellent video.
Also the riots took place in almost every bigger town and not only in Berlin.
Facinating. I never studies this event tho I know they did this across Eastern Europe. Really good and thank you!
“Some of the arrests being of Soviet soldiers who refused to open fire on unarmed protesters” considering the fresh feelings of animosity between most Berliners and Russian soldiers in general, that was an honorable act of insubordination that I’m glad I heard about.
Most likely due to a generational change on the part of the Red Army. Those Russian kids in uniform in 1953 most likely had very serious qualms about firing on unarmed civilians, they weren't the rage-filled wartime generation anymore.
I walked through the Brandenburg Gate in the mid 90s. As a former Cold Warrior, this was something I thought I would NEVER do.
Join the club.
My Bucket List includes a visit to my father's home city of Leipzig.
Yeah we all figured the only way we'd get into East Germany was as part of the liberation forces.
@ 7:20 The Soviet Troops who refused to fire on unarmed protesters and were then arrested were obeying the laws of the USSR and East Germany. While those laws allowed self-defense, it was, and is, illegal to murder defenseless, unarmed people. One of the hallmarks of a Totalitarian State is that people who obey laws are arrested while those who violate laws, even committing murders, are not only not arrested, they are rewarded. Hitler did the same. Normally I sign off with a smiley face, but this is nothing to smile about.
By war's end, my grandmother along with my father and aunt were stuck in East Germany (Saxony) while the rest of her family had made it to Canada. They too decided to "vote with their feet" in 1953 and took a huge risk sneaking through a dense forest to escape, with my father and aunt being only 8 and 6 at the time. They saw some soldiers in the distance at one point, and tried to sneak away, but were caught. Fortunately, they were British soldiers who took them to safety. Weeks later they were reunited here in Canada with the rest of the family. My grandfather had escorted them through, but returned to East Germany as he did not want to leave his parents behind. His father was not pleased, so he snuck across again a second time!
@Wolfman Maybe in Berlin, but defecting was still illegal. Before the wall, people still got shot
I like that term, “voting with their feet.”
Welcome back Dr Mark Felton! I'm so glad that you got your normal voice back.
Amazing video as always. You never fail to amaze me.
Glad to see, and hear your felling better Mark,
My kids know this intro theme and will stop what they're doing to come watch. Always fantastic content!
Another superb entry from Mr. Felton. I’m always glad to see more content from him.
The Stasi eventually had around 15 nuclear bunkers hidden beneath farms across the DDR. Each had a KGB/Russian hallway with communication direct to Moscow. The communication equipment in this area was in Cyrillic. This way in the event of emergency the Stasi could operate from the bunkers and maintain contact with their puppet masters.
The uranium for USSR atombombs came from DDR at this time.
Well, German state now has underground bunkers with cables leading all the way to Washington, so they could take orders from their Zio masters :P
So when theyre the USSR allies theyre puppets,but when theyre provisional dictatorships imposed by other (ehem,WESTERN) countries theyre just "allies",uh?
@@hiredmurderer6228 yes. The USSR was the Evil Empire. The Russians are back at it in Ukraine committing war crimes and torture. The FRG had elections anyway. The CDU and SPD were in elections unlike the DDR where the SED ruled continuously from 1949-1990.
Aaaaannnndddd He is Baaack..... welcome back Professor Felton. It is good to hear you speak. The voice of history rings out and lifts the veil of darkness from the forgotten aspects of our History. I wish you continued good health and happiness.
Same incident happened in Hungary too! Hungarian university students rebelled against the Soviet regime! Between 23 October and 4 November 1956!
Had never heard of this! Thanks again for this channel.
Worth mentioning that the events here on 17 June 1953 caused the Federal Republic to declare that date a public holiday in solidarity. The "Day of German Unity" (Tag der Deutschen Einheit) remained a public holiday in West Germany until it was changed to the 3 October following actual German reunification in 1990.
It perfectly sums up the relation between East and West Germans to this day.
There were two famous stamps commemorating this event of 17 June 1953 issued by Berlin.
The day was remembered for many years afterwards.
Straße der 17 Juni.
PR stunt after they agitated and bribed the east german population to start the unrests in the first place
Glad to hear you're doing better Dr. Felton.
We don't need history Channel when we have quality content like this
We don't need the History Channel period. Felton does more with one video in a week than the Hysterical Channel does with all their garbage in a year.
Bravo! Welcome back, Mark!
How have I never heard about this before? I should have known about this 10 years ago. Thank you Dr. Felton
Thanks
Thanks for this video on a not so well known event during the Cold War.
The intro music is so iconic!
Never heard of this before, well done doing what mainstream historians wont talk about.
If there was a mark felton tv channel, i would leave it on all day.
My fraternal grand mother used the term 'rubbish' when referring to trash as a noun. She was Pennsylvania Deutsch (German). I had not heard that word used as a verb though. Interesting.
As always, thank you for a well researched, well produced channel targeting primarily modern European military history.
It’s a very British term, nobody I know uses “trash” in England
"Fraternal grand mother?" The word "fraternal" is an adjective having to do with a brother. Did you maybe mean "paternal," as in your father's mother? Your brother's grandmother should be yours also, unless he's your half-brother and does have a different set of grandparents.
"To rubbish" (as a verb) is a neologism.
Hope you are feeling better now Mark! 🙌
Another great video, best history channel.
Excellent! This should be required watching for all students and voters!
I visited East Berlin in 1989. The one image I recall is of darkened streets, no private economic activity whatsoever except for one gent selling vanilla ice cream cut with a trowel wrapped in oily newspaper...in the lobby of the ' Palace of the Republic '...since demolished
Fascinating Mark, a chapter of history I was unaware of. Love your work as always
Top job Mark. You deserve your success.👍
I love this guy always look forward to his videos…if you see this, thank you sir
Happy to hear you narrating again, Mr. Felton. Thank you and stay safe.
So called Soviet Communism gets its idea of state ownership from aristocracies, I believe.
In Tsarist Russia, the Tsar owned everything. Lenin's communists merely adopted that policy.
Even in England, when I lived there, I was surprised to find out that the Queen owned all the land in central London, and property "owners" were actually leasing the land for 99 years.
(If I am wrong on that, please correct me.)
In the Middle Ages, independent peasants who owned their own land often had the land taken by a lord, and reduced to serfdom, which is a form of slavery.
How is that any different from communist collectivization with work quotas then imposed on workers??
"Communism" does not end societal classes -- it merely replaces one aristocracy with another.
Thank you for todays lesson. Hope you're feeling better Dr. Felton
Berthold Brecht wrote a poem about the uprising called "The Solution" which ended: "Wouldn't it have just been easier had the government dissolved the people and elected another?"
I'm familiar with that poem, didn't know it was about this.
Excellent Topic Selection and Video. It is Refreshing to see Videos like this on lesser known subjects.
With Remembrance Sunday coming up, I would like Mark to consider doing some videos on the various cemeteries located across Europe, including the Axis power cemeteries located in the former USSR, such as Krasnodar-Apsheronsk in Russia and Schatkowo in Belarus.
Good to hear your voice, Mark and happy your feeling better. Take care, Mike 😊
Thanks for covering this Dr Felton. This was the first major Uprising against Communism after WW2. History has largely ignored it, and the Western powers largely ignored it at the time. The Germans weren't deemed worthy of assistance. Its my view that Stalins offer of a unified Germany was rejected by the west, because it suited the west that Germany remained dived, and thus weak. I remember the hand ringing and disappointment from the media when Germany was united in 1990. Back to the Uprising. In 1987 i worked with a German called Hansi, who took part in the Uprising aged 17. He had lived in Dessau. He told me, weapons that had been hid away since 1945 were recovered and used against the Communist government in retaliation when the State Police had fired on the peacefull protesters. The Red Army crushed the Uprising. The Soviets stooge Regime murdered the ring leaders. My freind Hansi was a wanted man. He fled to West Germany. Joined the German merchant navy, met an English girl in Newcastle and married her. One day talking during lunch he was reminiscing about home. I asked... "Do you think Germany will ever be united"? He said... "they will never allow Germany to unite. I will never see home again". 3 years later Communism had collapsed, and Germany united. I often wondered if Hansi ever visited home again?
West rejected Stalin's offer because they did not want demilitarized Germany. They always planned to use Germany as springboard for eventual invasion of USSR.
Wow hope he did
Честь и хвала русским солдатам ✊✊✊
Welcome back Dr Felton it’s good to hear you voice back.
Dr. Felton, you teach me how little I know. I grew up in the 60's and until now knew very little of the history of East Germany from 1949 until 1991. Until watching this video I did not even understand when and why the Berlin wall was built. Thank you.
Glad you are feeling better Sir!
I learnt more about East Berlin in 9 minutes than I did in 5 years at school.
I recently read Sinclair McKay's Berlin - Life and death in the city at the center of the world. Essentially, it's a history of the city in the 20th century, hinging on the events of April/May 1945. I highly recommend this book.
Hearing something I've never heard before from your Channel is nothing new, but I'm surprised I've never heard of this in particular. Thank you for another wonderful history lesson!
I remember this event but I was in the 3d grade and didn’t understand all of it. Thanks for showing what I was missing.
This is exactly what I needed after watching Kleo on Netflix.
Suggestions: how about stories about the 1956 Hungarian Uprising and the 1968 Czech Uprising ( The Prague Spring, I believe).
And this generation's Arab Spring, yes?
Hi Mark! You are appreciated indeed, good sir!
2:30 I don't know why you don't mention this, but it's quite obvious why West Germany rejected the reunification plan under Stalin: Because the condition was neutrality. Adenauer at the time prioritized a Western orientation over reunification, so the plan was rejected.
BTW: Austria DID go the neutralitiy route, which is the reason why Austria to this day is not a member of NATO, and only joined the European Common Market in 1995. (EU wasn't a thing at the time, regardless of what Brusseles tells you)
Glad your back to form, Mark.
Outstanding Mark.. finally I got to see again that footage that (I think) life had a picture of on it's cover of the E. German soldier jumping the wire.. I had not seen that footage sine it first happened.. For some reason every one that talks about that time never shows it.. to me it is a very powerful point. When even solder's think there regime is to much.. Well thanks my friend.
Aaaah, "The Great War" by Wilfred Josephs at 6:20. I see Dr. Felton is a man of good taste.
Another good video. One tiny comment I have is that Stalins proposal for unification was conditional on Germany becoming neutral (ie American troops out and no NATO membership). Without that western support it seems likely the new democracy would have been highly vulnerable to Soviet subversion. It’s not surprising it was turned down by Konrad Adenauer. A position vindicated in the long term when unification happened on West Germany’s terms.
It's good to hear your voice again on your fine videos.
Established Titles does not give you Real Titles at all, you don't get anything at all, the Laird title is limited to ONE per property and cannot be divided like that, more importantly, your "souvenir plots" can't be registered due to a prohibition as per Land Registration (Scotland) Act 2012, s 50 (2).
1953 battle of Berlin Part 2 of the award winning original
One thing I'm wondering about, when this was happening in Berlin how did the allies respond? As far as stepping up security on their ends. Does anyone know for example did we the allies put more troops on alert and on the boarder?
They started withdrawing troops from Korea
Mark Felton is THE best history channel on TH-cam and certainly better than a certain channel on TV and TH-cam who also does history, a channel name best not spoken aloud!
Thank you Dr. Felton. This is history the world needs to know. All to often, people tend to forget what was real, and rely on the revisionists to tell them what to think.🙂
Who has suppressed this story? I've known about it for years.
@@MrShobar there are those who ignore certain parts of history, and only dwell upon areas that they use to support their narratives or political points of view.
@@heatherporterfield7343 So it wasn't revisionists that tell people what to think, just ignorance?
the 17th of june became a national holiday in west germany called "Tag der deutschen Einheit" loosely translated 'day of german unity'...upon re-unification it was moved to october 3rd, the day the border "fell"
Holy Crap! There were still Russian Forces in Germany till 1994!
There’s still American forces in Germany today
@@ByddinRhyddidCymru difference is American troops are in Germany by invitation of the German government.
@@ByddinRhyddidCymru only Berlin was occupied by the four powers, which ended in January 90 I was stationed there you have no clue the west was occupied till 1954
@Tired of War shouldn't you be talking about essential oils and the dome above the clouds?
@@f00koff42 lmao
Another terrific video, Mark. I greatly enjoy your perspective on great events. Keep up the good work!
As Eisenhower said to the US photographers at Nazi concentration camps, record all you can because someone will say it never happened.
Excellent piece of history, thank you.
5:01 - The SED was not the only legal party in East Germany - yes it was the ruling party
There were others. The DBD, LDPD, CDU, and NDPD were all legal parties bound to the SED via the National Front. This is similar to how China is run today, with there being legal parties other than the CCP.
This is also the case in North Korea contemporarily.
Great footage and infos, thank you very much, Danke!
We have been in Berlin last week and visited also the "Gedenkstätte Berliner Mauer". There is a permanent museum. This event gets also the attention it - of course - diserves.
@Mark Felton, thanks for this video
The outdoor Wall and death zone are interesting and worth preserving. The East Germans called it the Antifascist Bulwark as if people wanted to break into East Germany. There used to be ditches for vehicles that would be driving out from the DDR that were proof the Antifascist Bulwark was a prison wall. East Germany eventually made L shaped Wall sections that stopped vehicles and they filled the ditches and put in sand and anti personnel mines and tripwire shotguns.
Great video. I hope you're feeling better.
As a German this became my favorite history channel. Thank you Mr Felton.
I didn't know about this before so thank you for your time and video today
Operative words:Unarmed civilians.
Hugely interesting. I had no knowledge of these episodes at all, and I consider myself quite knowledgeable about this era. Thanks Mark.
The complete dissolution of one government (in this case Nazi Germany) and the occupation/installment of an entirely different government is still something that is difficult to wrap one's head around. I am a casual reader of history and it boggles the mind to ponder what the average citizen in Germany endured from 1933 onward (and the millions of WWII victims and the rest of Europe too, of course).
Glad to hear ya again
Collectivisation you will own nothing and be happy. Thank you for your hard work.
Never heard of this. Thank you for making this vid