You know, when they forced Khruschev out, he sat down and wrote two letters to his successor. He said - "When you get yourself into a situation you can't get out of, open the first letter, and you'll be safe. When you get yourself into another situation you can't get out of, open the second letter". Soon enough, he gets into a tight situation, and he opens the first letter. It says - "Blame it all on me". So he blames it all on the old guy, and it worked like a charm. When he got himself into a second situation, he opened the second letter. It said - "Sit down, and write two letters".
@@lomparti thats the problem i always have with people who lose their minds whenever the candidate they dont like wins the presidency. they act like the entire world is coming to the end, as if the president is some almighty king who decides & chooses everything, who lives and dies. fucking local & state elections & laws effect you more than the president does, and you never hear people freaking out about those.
Does this film was sponsored by Estonian? Somehow it seems that YES. Other baltic countries also played big role in this collapse. For me this film was not very objective.
This documentary should be called how Estonia acheived its independence, not the collapse of the soviet union. The events in the batic states, though important in their own right, were but a sidenote to the really important stuff happening in Moscow.
Sor Alb, you are 100% correct! While the chronology of events that occurred in the Baltic States were a very significant factor and/or catalyst leading to the implosion and demise of the Soviet Union (including the crippling of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union), it should also be understood that; a) During and after the attempted coup d'etat of August 19/1991, both the Communist "hawks" on one side and Mikhail Gorbachev's Administration on the other side became discredited in the eyes of most Soviet citizens as both were accused of being incompetent and corrupt, b) Gorbachev fancied himself as a peace-maker and not as a war monger. Therefore, he rejected the option of using force to prevent any potential "bloodbath" as well as any further disintegration of the USSR and instead wrongfully believed that he had the ability to negotiate a "new" peace with the Soviet Republics by decentralizing the USSR, c) (Note: This is where the documentary made a major error by totally ignoring the vital role that Ukraine as the second most powerful Union Republic played in the dissolution of the Soviet Union). So, in essence, the "Genie" (AKA the Union Republics) escaped from its bottle (AKA the CPSU/USSR) and with that, the destruction of the Soviet Russian Empire.
Well, I'd argue the Baltic states were one of the key reasons behind why the Soviets collapsed. The revolutions of 1989 already shook the soviets to its core, but they weren't directly part of the Union. The Baltic States, as members of the Soviet Union, drumming up independence at the same time only added to the fuel for independence in other Soviet states. The 1989 revolutions spread one by one, and when Ukraine also decided to call it quits, the union was finished. There was no point to continue on when the second biggest republic of the Union quit.
@@romandawydiak4476 Yeah, Ukraine's role in the fall of the soviet union is often underestimated. After the baltic states, the stans were on their way out, and Azerbaijian was also way out the door. Many communists still believed that the Soviet experiment could continue as Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus. Ukraine's large population calling for independence at the same time meant that there was no hope left for the Soviets to continue existing.
@@romandawydiak4476 Yeah, I my self thought so too.. too much Baltic, too little other Soviet Republics. Ukraine was a cornerstone as her lands were voluntarily forced or forcedly volunteered in the 20s then. And with such a large state seceeding from USSR there was no USSR anymore. Ukraine and Kazakhstan were , one could say, the Non-Russian heavyweights within the USSR. Why the need for Baltic States anyway? If they go independent, it is just a needle by size. Secesseion of the Baltics wouldn't have thrown USSR in disarray. It's like to go crazy because some cake crumb falls off the Soviet table. If a fat slice like Ukraine is gone you better start to worry.
@@yuchenchen8012 Invalid argument, on this occasion the size of brain, bravery and motivation had a higher effect than a size of land. Since when the amount of land is a problem to Kremlius? Estonians should be recognised for the impact their example of determination had. It's the hardest to be the first to bring the change.
For these who don't remember: Lithuania declared Re-Establishment of independence on March 11, 1990; Latvia declared Re-Establishment of independence on May 4, 1990; Estonia declared Re-Establishment of independence on August 20, 1991.
yeah and estonia declared sovereignty on nov 16 1988 its all a comment section game of "first!!!" but it doesnt matter, it was an unified action, estonia couldn't do it without the other baltic states, the baltic states couldnt do it without moscows weakness, moscow wouldnt have been weak if it wasnt for the international state of things... and so on. but the republics wanting freedom worked together fantastically, all these actions a'la baltic chain, were gigantic in showing unity of the baltics against moscow.
Darius A, no one cares, lol You did not establish anything, you were just released by Russians, just like you were leashed by them before. Till next time, lol
I had tears in my eyes watching this video. I'm Polish and pact between Hitler and Stalin impacted my country immensely. Thank you friends from Estonia.
I never knew that the Molotov-Ribentrop agreement's secret annex included the annexation of Baltic states by the USSR. Every time i red about or heard something about it, the main point of this secret part of the Pact was the agreement to carve out Poland between the Third Reich and the USSR. I wasn't aware of other significant points in it that talked about the annexation of Baltic and the invasion of Finland. It's always nice to learn something new about the topic or an event that is considered to be the general knowledge. Well at least general knowledge to an educated person or to a person that's willing to learn and absorb new ideas.
@@chrisa2612 Sure. The Voting Rights Act wasn't signed until 1965, before that black people couldn't even vote in some states. The idea of ever having a black man in the oval office must've seemed pretty unimaginable at the time.
The fact is.... During the collapse of the Soviet union, only one old bolshevik was alive to see the demise. His name was Lazar kaganovich. He was the last surviving Old Bolshevik from the time of Vladimir Lenin & was in the inner circle of Joseph Stalin along with Vyacheslav Molotov (the guy behind Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact )
In the middle of 1987 in Tallinn, Estonia, it was not the first students' demonstration against Soviet policy, but the second. The first one took place in December of 1986 in Almaty, Kazakhstan. That demonstration was suppressed by the military troops brought from Ryazan', Russia, and many students were killed.
I never realised the seeds of their independence lay in those secret clauses in the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact. I read a whole book on the pact for a history project back in the early 90s but never knew its contemporary significance. Thank you for putting this online.
What about polish german non-aggression pact signed in january 26 1934 by Josef Pilsudski in Poland with vos Germán counterpart hans-adolfvons Moltke,7 year before Rivventrop-molotov, the polish already knew that the german interest was Russialand
The secrecy, denial, and distortion of the pact today, is how Putin's regime is still holding on. Most Russians dont even know about the pact, and those who do adopt the distorted version of it, which completely justifies it.
Sad he isnt mentioned in Google search much at all. He had the smoking gun and refused to put it away. Bravo. The people of Estonia must have been terrified of the wrath of the Soviets.
As many people are complaining that it is focused on Estonia - the original title was actually "Eestlased Kremlis" ("Estonians in the Kremlin"). The English title is misleading, but likely not many people would watch it with the original title... Yet, it is more informative than most of the docs created by big companies (and made with much smaller budget). Check out "The Soviet Story"; as it was made in Latvia, a lot of the footage is Latvian; it's just natural with the available budget, contacts and other options.
Thank you for uploading this video, it clears alot of things up for me, I grew up during the collapse of the S.U. but was too young to really know what happened.
Informative documentary. Good to see the backstory and chronology. I was in my early 30s during these events and I remember that the world, as we knew it, changed within a few months. Thank you.
and this is just recent history and so many events .... if you will learn history of each european country counting back 1000 yeasr you would be next Einstein
@John Anthony Saburao Unless you can change that history before it even happens! On a side note, many African empires and kingdoms were able to prosper and survive far longer than any other civilizations around the world. Of course, this was before the rest of the world (mainly the Europeans and Arabs) started to invade the continent and enslaved most of the populace.
"Everything the Communists told us about Communism turned out to be false. But everything the Communists told us about Capitalism turned out to be true."
As the old saying goes, "anyone who accepts Communist propaganda at face value, or makes false equivalencies between Communist dictatorships and Western democracies, is a totalitarian criminal."
Brilliant film, watching this unfold as a teenager in California was astounding. We could not believe that the USSR was just fading away. This film puts beautiful faces to the brave deeds, and incredible efforts that brought about Freedom.
@@miguelborges3125 LOL you're using a term on me that is used almost globally to refer to people who blindly follow liberal Democratic govts🤣 calm down boy
I got news for you fake news has existed since long before this. “Everything they believe will be a lie and then we will know our campaign is complete.” William J Casey 1981
now the media's only purpose is the propagation of brainwashing falsehoods... All of this to consolidate the power of corporations and twisted political parties...
Maybe you noticed the TV NEWS almost in the end of the video. It was called AK and it flickered and exposed eye symbol. Also Gorbachev and kallas are both freemasons. Don't get fooled... It was controlled by same criminal secret sects as today.
Oh jesus fucking christ, every single roach is claiming to have single-handed destroyed it. U.S Chernobyl disaster wartime economy since Stalin Poles Perestroika Afghans Alcohol prohibition and now this. who is gonna be the fucking next...
I watched the whole thing and have a better idea of the situation but many more questions than answers. It also seems very heavily focused on Estonia and I was hoping to learn more(or anything) about the resolution of Germany as well. Suffice to say, education on this topic is taught to us in the West but in a very cursory manner.
Great documentary. Even though I remember that time well, I did not realize the importance of the secret pact in the chain of events leading to the break up of USSR.
Everytime I see Gorbachev I keep picturing the scene from the movie "Naked Gun" of the guy grabbing his head in a head lock and trying to wipe off the birthmark on his head with a rag thinking it was a stain. LMFAO
I think the producers of this vid are also responsible for; The power of Nightmares, The manufacture of consent, Bitter lake, and Hypernormalisation. I think.
Its almost orgasmic to find something, like this, that is so informative and well done about a time in history that most of us THINK we know about. Yet I did not know about any of this. lol Brilliant film.
I didn’t know about how the Estonians used the secret protocols of the Non-Aggression Pact (though I did know about those protocols) to leverage their independence. But I did remember the human chain across the three Baltic States.
52:10 them asking where they will show the footage and their excitement when they hear "Estonia" honestly breaks my heart now. The Russian people went from being free to being ruled by, let's face it, a dictator -- once again. "Let's be friends.", that's what people want, not conflicts.
Putin says the collapse of the Soviet Union was the biggest geopolitical disaster of the 20th century. I'd say the rise of the Soviet Union was the biggest geopolitical disaster of the 20th century.
Great watch. I've always viewed the collapse of the USSR as a series of independence movements against the new Russian empire, because all roads ultimately led to Moscow. The Kremlin was at the centre of everything. While true to a large extent, it's also interesting to see how Russia, led by Yeltsin, wanted to secede 'from itself', so to speak. In the simplistic history I grew up with (I was too young to follow events at the time), it was always presented as a straightforward 'Russia vs the Republics'. In fact, Russia was in a civil conflict of its own, so perhaps its fairer to view the demise as less a movement against Russian imperialism (which was no less real for it) than against Soviet imperialism specifically. Just as the British empire had British victims because it was in reality the empire of the British aristocracy and working British got screwed), the Soviet empire had Russian victims too.
ultonian63 The Estonian language does have some words that derive from German (when German nobles lived in Livonia) but mostly our language is related a lot more to Finnish, due to both languages being in the Finno-Ugric language group.
@@hbtm_434 Sure HBTM, I'm aware of the German influence (eg loss = Schloss, amet = Amt, kunst = Kunst) but I'm sure that someone who knew German and looked at a piece of Estonian text wouldn't conclude that the language looked Germanic.
A more or less non-violent end to an empire that had required about 300,000 direct casualties and about as 450,000 military personnel dead from disease to come into being (according to Soviet demographer Boris Urlanis; source- Wikipedia). Good documentary. Eye opener to the Baltic situation in the late 80's.
Very well done. I think now historians are emphasizing that the cost of the Soviet military buildup, the cost of the Afghan war, and the cost of Chernobyl were eventually just too much for the Soviet economy which was very fragile anyway.
Yep... But personally, I believe that between December 25, 1991 and September 21, 1993, Russia was able to dream of positive change. However, then the same old thing happened again, and here we are.
The dissolution of the USSR started before 1989, blowing up in 1953 in Berlin, 1956 in Poland and later in Hungary (which was the bloody one!) and Prague in 1968. These events led to Solidarity and the brave Poles to carry it through to the end. With the Pope on board and a clear zeal to be free , it still took a great deal of lucky twists and turns , as if scripted by a higher power . The USSR was just plain inefficient, a nation of bureaucrats , deeply rooted among the social lines.
@Xavier Edwards Russians *LITERALLY* made the Soviet Union, how the fuck are you the victim here? It's even in your national song, which used to be the Soviet union's song. There are russian nationalists bragging about how the Russians invaded all of its neighbours to create the soviet union. If you mean the Germans and the patriotic war, or Napoleonic war, Japan/Russo war or even the first guy who failed miserably in conquering Russia: The Swedish Conqueror King during the nordic war - sure, you were invaded but never conquered. You have never been conquered by anyone other than the Mongols and yourselves.
Who's here after watching HBO's Chernobyl? (I don't like such stupid comments 'whos here in 2019' but here I just want to see how many people got interested in Soviet Union history after the show)
I m here after watching chernobyl. I ve been binge watching chernobyl videos on youtube lately and this has popped up. Chernobyl may have been one of the causes of the fall of soviet union because it exposed the mass deficiencies in soviet infastructure
@@kelvinbremont1341 it started with the Baltic Republics but it was Gorbachev who allowed meetings and agreements with them to start the process. If the Soviet Union and Gorbachev still wanted the Soviet Union it would have continued to exist. The truth is they wanted better economic opportunity with the WEST. Russia is still alive and well and they now have the same national anthem as they had in the Soviet Union which was selected by Stalin after WWII. Putin brought it back after Yelstan had changed it.
It’s because Estonian, Finnish, and Hungarian are all Finno-Ugric languages originating around the Ural Mountains, in the age of migration they ended up in different places, so the languages diverged, but they’re all from the same root.
@@mynamejeb8743 The problem with the collapse of Communism is that nobody was held accountable like Nazi refugees. The cost is now that they are spread around the world without a single problem for them. They were once all rounded up in one place but now they are spread around the world and specially concentrated in D.C. in the USA. Now things that were once so much forbidden in the West as terrorism is now part of politics with even Communist Parties in a lot of countries. People were way less brainwashed by politics before 2012. It happened an eerie boom of politics that took over the world not for the better I guess. People are also getting increasingly more domesticated in such a way that is unbearable to talk with most of them. A gazelle would look like a prey close to them. They are ready for any authority to do anything with them. People also don't have self beliefs... they always believe in what "everybody else" already believes and just follows. So they don't know what really is right or wrong inherently, truly in its reality... they just consider what "most people" considers already, so when they don't know what "most people" considers already, they are stuck in a pit completely clueless about the morality of such thing. This level of collectivism and lack of individualism is detrimental to society as a whole. It's dangerous. Plus, Civilization is way more prone to fall this way. *Even science can be politicized now!* We are losing culture as a whole and replacing it with politics... a dystopian political culture that knows to care only about this. It became the life's purpose of many people now when before we had more nuanced interests and actual intra-cultures that were lost in a mere 15 years leaving the whole scenario way more plain and boring to the point of the designs of the cars become the same thing over a decade! The world is way more boring now and people have their whole attentions free to politics as politics that was always boring before became way more interesting now. See??
@@mynamejeb8743 The whole social justice thing was lost a long time ago and became only a mere orchestra, a show. It's devastatingly disappointing the whole stupidity of people of believing this crude cheap show called politics is true! If they wanted just votes they should just do a single constant campaign of encouraging the people to vote no matter which side. But what they really want is to indirectly control the amount of votes from each side so they don't ever need to rig elections with fake votes. The voting system is legit, but the brainwashing is SO EFFECTIVE to the minuscule level where they can keep it 51% against 49% constantly every single election switching just a little amount of people engaged in politics to vote. Since I was a kid I looked at these percentages and told myself they know just how much proportion of amount of political propaganda from one side to the other is necessary to reach these numbers of people voting without having to rig the elections! It's genius! Or maybe not! But you get the point. The proportion of votes always show that both candidates half won all of the times, but just because one number is higher the candidate is considered 100% winner instead of just 51%. This is the invisible dance of democracy. As long as people believe that the politicians are in true opposition fighting against each other it works because there are sides to vote. But taking democracy out, the playing members and the leaders they represent are always the same. Democracy gives a lot of security due to its dynamics because anything else would be dictatorship. Let's say we live in a "very dynamic dictatorship"...
Many Russians held him responsible for the economic hardships that plagued the country in the 1990s that resulted in mass poverty and hyperinflation. Ye you should listen that guy
It is amazing how Gorbachev is smiling and laughing while people talk about dismantling the country. I try to imagine Brejnev or Khrushchev in the same situation...or Stalin....OMG...
@@jamescromarty1455 There still existed old school guys. There existed operative plans in the spirit of Stalin. The trains were ready, hundreds of thousands of pairs of handcuffs were stored and waited for the X hour. It might have happened. Blood might have been shed. Lives could have been destroyed.
Gorbachev grew up a Stalinist. When the extent of Stalin's criminal, anti-human actions was revealed it profoundly changed his opinion, about Stalin, about communism, and about the entire USSR.
I remember that my mom was an ussr citizen and when the ussr collapsed alot of people were shocked, TV channels were closed or something..., alot of people were confused ,after that, the crimes started alot and cops were confused and it was hard to take controle that time, and i heard alot of people said that there were good times,so i started to became curios and interested, anyways i think ussr had a good and bad things and it had alot of talented people... but ussr was a worthful country.
@KAY EM yeah well communists were a lot poorer than the western people, which is why they tried to flee from the east to the west. So yeah sorry captitalism>communism
A member of the Estonian delegate spoke to Gorbachev: "It is the issue of discrimination...but everything is decided by an official in high office." Isn't it the same with the current EU? Everything is decided by the unelected technocrats? The EU is USSR EUSS - European Union of Soviet Socialist
No it's not.. You poor British airheads were free to join this successful union & still free to leave. Notice the days with ongoing special treatment of you lazy nutters along with loads of subventions will finish too. Shut up with your unsubstantiated nonsense and Sail on 👋🙌
ffs you have a whole European Parliament, of course they will employ technical experts for safety standards etc. Every government does. YOU ARE A CLEVER KREMLIN TROLL! KUDOS!
My Mother being from the Ukraine remebers when the Soviet Union collapse watching it happen on tv My Mother said it would eventually happen and she was right and also said Her country The Ukraine was considered the bread basket of the Soviet Union My Mother Died in 2019 and we took her home to be buried in her home country I will miss her Love you mom you are where you belong
I never knew Estonia's perseverance was one of the engines that powered the downfall of USSR. This is to prove that nobody can truly ever defeat a united people. As a Romanian who had to suffer because of the Communism, I give thanks to the Baltic people, whom I can consider to be my friends, for the good they indirectly did to my life. It would have been a drastically different live, should Communism have continued.
The damn Bolsheviks claimed to be athiests to hid her blood lusts to Gods people everyehere.They were Satanists and proved it starting in old Soviet Union. To paraphrase Reagan:Putin before you retire, tear down that Vile Lenin tomb and bury his evil remains in some unmarked hole. How can his body be still there while this POS was the man who gave the orders too butcher theCzars family and servants? Destroy that vile symbol of Pure evil Mr. President .Now!!
In the USA it was quite a mental shift to take this in...for my entire life, there'd been this looming USSR threat, or so we thought, and then it was suddenly just gone.
Gorvachov was a mother. Can you imagine today if a separatist region of China were to look for its independence and have the passivity and approval for meeting of Xi?..Can you imagine that?..Unthinkable, with a strong leader. But possible with a mother like Gorbi.
These were supposed to be sovereign governments. If you just crush any resistance, you reveal yourself to be the bastard people suspect you might be, and your empire can crumble even faster. Also we don't have to guess what Xi would do since Taiwan is de-facto independent and Xi and his predecessors just have to stand by and watch.
42:59 Where is the image of the three political figures taken from? The text is in Romanian, and it seems to me to be some painting in a church and I wonder where could that be. I could pay a visit to that place
The chancellor, the late chancellor, was only partly correct. He was obsolete. But so is the State, the entity he worshiped. Any state, entity, or ideology becomes obsolete when it stockpiles the wrong weapons: when it captures territories, but not minds; when it enslaves millions, but convinces nobody. When it is naked, yet puts on armor and calls it faith, while in the Eyes of God it has no faith at all. Any state, any entity, any ideology which fails to recognize the worth, the dignity, the rights of Man... that state is obsolete. A case to be filed under "M" for "Mankind" - in The Twilight Zone.
phenomenal piece. learned so much. ILL BET ANYTHING RUSSIANS TODAY ABSOLUTELY HATE THIS DOCUMENTARY AND LOOK BACK ON THIS PERIOD IN HISTORY WITH A SOME SHAME. I WONDER... PUTIN SURE WOULD FEEL THAT WAY. FANTSTIC FILM.
I've leafed through a couple of books that discussed the breakup of the USSR mostly written in the late-70s. However, it is generally accepted that these authors got lucky with their predictions. There really isn't an exact reason the USSR couldn't have lasted for quite a while longer. It had major structural problems and had reached a point where reforms would have likely broken the thing apart to some extent (unless of course, the reforms were much more radical than what Gorbi went for) but if they had maintained the contours of the old Stalinist system they could have puttered on for god knows how many years. Alternatively, the USSR could easily have continued as a loose federation with pro-market and democratic reforms. The USSR could have even taken the route of China and kept a Stalinist structure with market reforms. ...I genuinely think that without the august coup the USSR would have continued to exist in some form or another. At least in name. You have to realize that just a decade earlier the Soviet Union was a very stable system albeit with major structural problems.
The USSR almost did survive, of sorts. Ironically, the August Coup was meant to save the USSR, but in actuality doomed it. Most of the Republics were in the process of drafting a new treaty that would have kept much of the old Soviet structure together, including the name (sorta). However, the coup gave local leaders the justification to declare independence and secure their own local power structure.
Seeing how the former Soviet states are after the collapse of the USSR, it would probably have been better to keep it going. Putin would have never risen to power if everyone was afraid of ruining the system defined by the New Union Treaty
Actually, the market system itself failed in 1929. The only thing that kept capitalism on life support was the government regulations against heedless speculation, and bubble forming. Remember that.
The USSR was "made in the USA". It was an extremely useful and profitable Wall Street investment. The majority of the Bolsheviks were Americans that spoke russian, and trained in small arms and terrorism in NYC under the eye of the leader Leon Trotsky, who lived in Manhattan luxury apartment and traveled in a limousine provided by his Wall St sponsors. En-route to Russia, Trotsky was imprisoned by the Canadian governments...........for 3 months the US state department, the President and Wall St luminaries lobbied to have Trotsky released which eventually succeeded. During the 1920's through to 1945 the US government allowed expertise and technology to be provided to the USSR...........only the gigantic 1941 lend lease program of aid to the USSR saved it from certain defeat at the most critical phase of the war. US supplies were crucial in alleviating shortages and boosting production in the gigantic armaments industries of the USSR that had existed since the 1930's deep in the far east, at places like Magnitorsk and Chelyabinsk.
I am long for the day when freedom will be back again in my homeland .... Vietnam, and also in my neighbor countries Laos and Cambodia. We have suffered enough. Enough !!! Down with Communism !!!
As an American, I am deeply regretful for how we destroyed so much of your country. I wish you the best in the future, and I hope you overthrow your commie scum some day.
@@ElectronFieldPulse Many thanks Jacob. I hope that day is near. If it is not in my lifetime then it will be for the next generation. There are only three countries under communists left in the world now i.e. VN, China and NK ( Juche). There is only one outcome for them. Communism will be gone ... for the sake of humanity.
The Russia Federation, who exists now was founded only in 1992 year, before was the Russian Soviet Federative Socialistic Republic (RSFSR) . Not to be confused. I am from Russia and i am glad that Russian speeches was translated right
Watching this today...feels incredibly strange. This was made in 2006 and with the idea that the Soviet empire fell mostly peacefully. With all the hopes and dreams. Now it is july 2022 and a war is going on between a Russia wanting an empire back and a Ukraine that has struggled for 30 years to westernize.
I would say that the beginning of the end was the Chernobyl disaster. During this episode the glasnost policy was tested and the international community developed a hard line against Soviet secrecy. Near the end it was Gorbachev himself who was promoting openness and truth, and we all know that the USSR was a house of cards.
It certainly helped. So did Afghanistan. There was a widespread unwillingness to serve either Soviet army or civil defense since blood was shed and radiation poisoning was caught just due to mismanagement of idiotic leaders made possible by the regime.
Death of Soviet Union was a disaster. Suddenly they had tariffs, divided infrastructure, divided agriculture and industrial base. Excluding Baltic states, USSR should have devolved into an EU style association with Kremlin controlling all shared infrastructure from national power grid to boarder controls for the new states as the CIS with teeth. Each state should have been a laboratory of prosperity and freedom. Potential was huge! You can't smash, overnight, a 70 year old system without great hardship and war. The break up needed to be managed but Gorbachev was too weak. The EU is no Empire but multinational and USSR needed to shift slowly. "Freedom" hurt most everyone outside major cities. Later, the CIS could have merged or partnered with EU
That's because the USSR and much of the Eastern Bloc were way behind the west technologically. It was common for people to be still be using technology built in the 1950's.
Very subtle camera work zooming in on the man's crutchesat 9:35, an implication that he was physically intimidated (beaten and hurt) into holding a pro soviet opinion perhaps?
if u looked and listen him on the Doc film, he was unfortunally the only memeber of Estonian delegation who was a pro soviet, he spoke 0 estonian and was elected by commy rats living in Estland.
His input is also censored by the media. ...and he is the only one who says anything of importance - everyone else was just bullshitting. I've wondered if the "collapse" of the Union was really the selling of the perimeter of Russia to US and China industry and banking. Russia falls to the Bolsheviks. Bolsheviks occupy surrounding lands, making all the resources in play and redrawing national lines for mining and transport. Yadda yadda, the fall of the Union, tanks come in and kidnap some guy, he acquiesces and peace out. Mafiocracy ensues....Putin kills the remaining Bolsheviks and restores the Republic.
![[ENGSUB] UNPRODUCTIVE DAY ใช้ชีวิต (เปื่อยๆ) ด้วยกัน 1 วัน! | OUROAD CLOSEFRiEND SS2 EP.9](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/pyYKZ3kra9w/mqdefault.jpg)
You know, when they forced Khruschev out, he sat down and wrote two letters to his successor. He said - "When you get yourself into a situation you can't get out of, open the first letter, and you'll be safe. When you get yourself into another situation you can't get out of, open the second letter". Soon enough, he gets into a tight situation, and he opens the first letter. It says - "Blame it all on me". So he blames it all on the old guy, and it worked like a charm. When he got himself into a second situation, he opened the second letter. It said - "Sit down, and write two letters".
Beautiful.
Leaders in Democratic countries do the same
👍👍👍👍✔
Is this true?? @mario
Lol. This is not true, but it’s a good story.
This was excellent. Love the raw footage of the meetings and video clips from the people involved.
Yes! No cheesy reenactments, no sensationalizing, no upbeat action music. Basically just the bare facts.
..yeah...thats called a documentary...
No word about Caucasian conflicts, nothing about Central Asia. Bullshit
"who is running the soviet union?"
"we dont know."
At 46:31
The International Bankers
Zod 23 - fact, lots of evidence
Just like today the masses have no clue who runs America, they think Trump runs the show. lol
@@lomparti thats the problem i always have with people who lose their minds whenever the candidate they dont like wins the presidency. they act like the entire world is coming to the end, as if the president is some almighty king who decides & chooses everything, who lives and dies. fucking local & state elections & laws effect you more than the president does, and you never hear people freaking out about those.
I never thought I'd see an Estonian-Centric film.
@High Overlord Snarffie Beagle Nah, Borat is from Kazakhstan (Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan)
Does this film was sponsored by Estonian? Somehow it seems that YES. Other baltic countries also played big role in this collapse. For me this film was not very objective.
@@VytautasLL
Did actually see the documentary?
@@VytautasLL yes it seems to support the collapse and the counter revolution
And it's great to see their perspectives. My ancestors were Lithuanian so I feel a lot of love towards the Baltic and hope we can keep it free.
This documentary should be called how Estonia acheived its independence, not the collapse of the soviet union. The events in the batic states, though important in their own right, were but a sidenote to the really important stuff happening in Moscow.
Sor Alb, you are 100% correct! While the chronology of events that occurred in the Baltic States were a very significant factor and/or catalyst leading to the implosion and demise of the Soviet Union (including the crippling of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union), it should also be understood that; a) During and after the attempted coup d'etat of August 19/1991, both the Communist "hawks" on one side and Mikhail Gorbachev's Administration on the other side became discredited in the eyes of most Soviet citizens as both were accused of being incompetent and corrupt, b) Gorbachev fancied himself as a peace-maker and not as a war monger. Therefore, he rejected the option of using force to prevent any potential "bloodbath" as well as any further disintegration of the USSR and instead wrongfully believed that he had the ability to negotiate a "new" peace with the Soviet Republics by decentralizing the USSR, c) (Note: This is where the documentary made a major error by totally ignoring the vital role that Ukraine as the second most powerful Union Republic played in the dissolution of the Soviet Union). So, in essence, the "Genie" (AKA the Union Republics) escaped from its bottle (AKA the CPSU/USSR) and with that, the destruction of the Soviet Russian Empire.
Well, I'd argue the Baltic states were one of the key reasons behind why the Soviets collapsed. The revolutions of 1989 already shook the soviets to its core, but they weren't directly part of the Union. The Baltic States, as members of the Soviet Union, drumming up independence at the same time only added to the fuel for independence in other Soviet states. The 1989 revolutions spread one by one, and when Ukraine also decided to call it quits, the union was finished. There was no point to continue on when the second biggest republic of the Union quit.
@@romandawydiak4476 Yeah, Ukraine's role in the fall of the soviet union is often underestimated. After the baltic states, the stans were on their way out, and Azerbaijian was also way out the door. Many communists still believed that the Soviet experiment could continue as Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus. Ukraine's large population calling for independence at the same time meant that there was no hope left for the Soviets to continue existing.
@@romandawydiak4476 Yeah, I my self thought so too.. too much Baltic, too little other Soviet Republics. Ukraine was a cornerstone as her lands were voluntarily forced or forcedly volunteered in the 20s then. And with such a large state seceeding from USSR there was no USSR anymore. Ukraine and Kazakhstan were , one could say, the Non-Russian heavyweights within the USSR. Why the need for Baltic States anyway? If they go independent, it is just a needle by size. Secesseion of the Baltics wouldn't have thrown USSR in disarray. It's like to go crazy because some cake crumb falls off the Soviet table. If a fat slice like Ukraine is gone you better start to worry.
@@yuchenchen8012 Invalid argument, on this occasion the size of brain, bravery and motivation had a higher effect than a size of land. Since when the amount of land is a problem to Kremlius? Estonians should be recognised for the impact their example of determination had. It's the hardest to be the first to bring the change.
What an excellent documentary, a pleasure to watch and very informative about history that is ignored in most schools.
th-cam.com/video/FWqzSLXN7IM/w-d-xo.html
th-cam.com/video/4uDp4k0Oo9w/w-d-xo.html
Exactly they praise Communists and blame the evil USA for their demise
@@jasont9907 In what country schools teach that?
For these who don't remember:
Lithuania declared Re-Establishment of independence on March 11, 1990;
Latvia declared Re-Establishment of independence on May 4, 1990;
Estonia declared Re-Establishment of independence on August 20, 1991.
yeah and estonia declared sovereignty on nov 16 1988
its all a comment section game of "first!!!" but it doesnt matter, it was an unified action, estonia couldn't do it without the other baltic states, the baltic states couldnt do it without moscows weakness, moscow wouldnt have been weak if it wasnt for the international state of things... and so on.
but the republics wanting freedom worked together fantastically, all these actions a'la baltic chain, were gigantic in showing unity of the baltics against moscow.
Darius A, no one cares, lol
You did not establish anything, you were just released by Russians, just like you were leashed by them before. Till next time, lol
I had tears in my eyes watching this video. I'm Polish and pact between Hitler and Stalin impacted my country immensely. Thank you friends from Estonia.
Poor Polish, won the war against Nazis, lost the peace with U.S.S.R. Was attacked by both.
@@ripp846 forgets to say polish signed NAP with hitler, pilsudski pact & annexed czechoslovakia :)
@fan8281 so many dumb stuff, it was just game for few while few knew what will occur
I never knew that the Molotov-Ribentrop agreement's secret annex included the annexation of Baltic states by the USSR. Every time i red about or heard something about it, the main point of this secret part of the Pact was the agreement to carve out Poland between the Third Reich and the USSR. I wasn't aware of other significant points in it that talked about the annexation of Baltic and the invasion of Finland. It's always nice to learn something new about the topic or an event that is considered to be the general knowledge. Well at least general knowledge to an educated person or to a person that's willing to learn and absorb new ideas.
Yes it's a fact, and ww2 started not only by Germans invasion to Poland but the same day Russians invading Poland.
They stole our freedom and tried to russify us completely!!!
You would wanna know what USSR were allowed to conquer and what they could not. I think they also took some land from moldova and romania.
Yea the Soviet Union was an empire through and through
I did not know this either, until a few years ago. We are not taught this in school.
1960s America - the three most unthinkable events -
Mars invades
USSR disappears
Cubs win the World Series
I suppose now we're just waiting on Mars
+ America elects a black president
@@runi5413 in the 60s?
@@chrisa2612 Sure. The Voting Rights Act wasn't signed until 1965, before that black people couldn't even vote in some states. The idea of ever having a black man in the oval office must've seemed pretty unimaginable at the time.
You should include World War I and II. They were the catalysts for the way we live today.
USSR didn’t disappear until the 90s.
The fact is.... During the collapse of the Soviet union, only one old bolshevik was alive to see the demise. His name was Lazar kaganovich. He was the last surviving Old Bolshevik from the time of Vladimir Lenin & was in the inner circle of Joseph Stalin along with Vyacheslav Molotov (the guy behind Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact )
Because Stalin had all the others killed…. “Revolution eats its own children”
In the middle of 1987 in Tallinn, Estonia, it was not the first students' demonstration against Soviet policy, but the second. The first one took place in December of 1986 in Almaty, Kazakhstan. That demonstration was suppressed by the military troops brought from Ryazan', Russia, and many students were killed.
Thanks, this is the first time I've seen mention of this.
I never realised the seeds of their independence lay in those secret clauses in the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact. I read a whole book on the pact for a history project back in the early 90s but never knew its contemporary significance. Thank you for putting this online.
What about polish german non-aggression pact signed in january 26 1934 by Josef Pilsudski in Poland with vos Germán counterpart hans-adolfvons Moltke,7 year before Rivventrop-molotov, the polish already knew that the german interest was Russialand
"They" have their own non-russian ethnic identities. There are no other "seeds".
@@oydaladno4992 but the fascist poles are always complaining about russian collussion
The secrecy, denial, and distortion of the pact today, is how Putin's regime is still holding on. Most Russians dont even know about the pact, and those who do adopt the distorted version of it, which completely justifies it.
You have great documentary called SOVIET STORY on YT on this topic.
Endel Lippmaa proves knowledge is more powerful than anything including soviet union
Sad he isnt mentioned in Google search much at all. He had the smoking gun and refused to put it away. Bravo. The people of Estonia must have been terrified of the wrath of the Soviets.
11:00 I LOVE how they used Revolutionary Etude here, by Chopin, when talking about the revolutions that were occurring in the Soviet Union.
I am an Indian we are very curious about of your history. It's very good initiative as well as reference for us.
the new star wars trilogy is garbage
@Alan Dempsey yep
Why here tho
I like turtles!
Leeeroy Jeeenkins!!!!
@@ocpofficialrep7026 let's talk about forts, couch forts...
These are the things that people all over the world should watch and learn... Thank You - ... to the persons involved in this production...
Fascinating documentary - thanks for posting.
As many people are complaining that it is focused on Estonia - the original title was actually "Eestlased Kremlis" ("Estonians in the Kremlin"). The English title is misleading, but likely not many people would watch it with the original title... Yet, it is more informative than most of the docs created by big companies (and made with much smaller budget).
Check out "The Soviet Story"; as it was made in Latvia, a lot of the footage is Latvian; it's just natural with the available budget, contacts and other options.
Thank you for posting this documentary here
I don't think it was much of a secret the Baltic states desired independence throughout the existence of the Soviet Union!
Thank you for uploading this video, it clears alot of things up for me, I grew up during the collapse of the S.U. but was too young to really know what happened.
Now you being foolished again
Informative documentary. Good to see the backstory and chronology. I was in my early 30s during these events and I remember that the world, as we knew it, changed within a few months. Thank you.
Thank you for the documentary! It vastly helps with my European History course.
and this is just recent history and so many events ....
if you will learn history of each european country counting back 1000 yeasr you would be next Einstein
Mostly based in Asia. But okay
There is no empire or kingdom will last forever,according to history! And its true!
"Hold my beer."
-SPQA
China basically been around forever
How about Japanese royal family?
@Deenie Beenie we are in late stage capitalism, it will fall.
@John Anthony Saburao Unless you can change that history before it even happens! On a side note, many African empires and kingdoms were able to prosper and survive far longer than any other civilizations around the world. Of course, this was before the rest of the world (mainly the Europeans and Arabs) started to invade the continent and enslaved most of the populace.
"Everything the Communists told us about Communism turned out to be false. But everything the Communists told us about Capitalism turned out to be true."
As the old saying goes, "anyone who accepts Communist propaganda at face value, or makes false equivalencies between Communist dictatorships and Western democracies, is a totalitarian criminal."
Brilliant film, watching this unfold as a teenager in California was astounding. We could not believe that the USSR was just fading away.
This film puts beautiful faces to the brave deeds, and incredible efforts that brought about Freedom.
and by freedom you mean economic depression and more authoritarianism
Freedom😂
You're living under the rule of a bunch of corporate oligarchs boy. Don't lecture others about freedom. Useful idiot.
@SwordFish ironically enough the use of the expression “useful idiot” in 2021 shows you’re more of an useful idiot than op ever was.
@@miguelborges3125 LOL you're using a term on me that is used almost globally to refer to people who blindly follow liberal Democratic govts🤣 calm down boy
When real news existed.
It has always existed. Just because some dick head in the Oval Office doesn’t like criticism doesn’t mean news is fake.
I got news for you fake news has existed since long before this.
“Everything they believe will be a lie and then we will know our campaign is complete.”
William J Casey 1981
now the media's only purpose is the propagation of brainwashing falsehoods...
All of this to consolidate the power of corporations and twisted political parties...
Maybe you noticed the TV NEWS almost in the end of the video.
It was called AK and it flickered and exposed eye symbol.
Also Gorbachev and kallas are both freemasons.
Don't get fooled... It was controlled by same criminal secret sects as today.
@@Lou-ry6yq If it can be independently verified using source material... It isn't fake
Great video. Highly informative and well-produced
New title: How the little country of Estonia killed the USSR
Poland - never forget, always remember
New title how eastern europe is dying from hunger 2020
Oh jesus fucking christ, every single roach is claiming to have single-handed
destroyed it.
U.S
Chernobyl disaster
wartime economy since Stalin
Poles
Perestroika
Afghans
Alcohol prohibition
and now this.
who is gonna be the fucking next...
@@KronStaro Yes Tibet, remember how allies helped you
Better one: "A new D-Day: the invasion of Estonia with Dollar$$ instead of an army".
Very interesting and inspiring. Thanks for uploading this!
I watched the whole thing and have a better idea of the situation but many more questions than answers. It also seems very heavily focused on Estonia and I was hoping to learn more(or anything) about the resolution of Germany as well. Suffice to say, education on this topic is taught to us in the West but in a very cursory manner.
Great documentary. Even though I remember that time well, I did not realize the importance of the secret pact in the chain of events leading to the break up of USSR.
Everytime I see Gorbachev I keep picturing the scene from the movie "Naked Gun" of the guy grabbing his head in a head lock and trying to wipe off the birthmark on his head with a rag thinking it was a stain. LMFAO
This is one of the best documentary i have ever watched, amazing
I think the producers of this vid are also responsible for; The power of Nightmares, The manufacture of consent, Bitter lake, and Hypernormalisation. I think.
the bottom line people want to control their own destiny not someone else
corey oldknow - and they still don't.
@Sp3nd Coin Chekist brain_farts much...
Democrats want to control your health care
Now its African American turn to do this in the United states
@Sp3nd Coin I hope that is some kind of joke... Stalin bringing FREEDOM?
Its almost orgasmic to find something, like this, that is so informative and well done about a time in history that most of us THINK we know about. Yet I did not know about any of this. lol Brilliant film.
I didn’t know about how the Estonians used the secret protocols of the Non-Aggression Pact (though I did know about those protocols) to leverage their independence. But I did remember the human chain across the three Baltic States.
52:10
them asking where they will show the footage and their excitement when they hear "Estonia" honestly breaks my heart now. The Russian people went from being free to being ruled by, let's face it, a dictator -- once again. "Let's be friends.", that's what people want, not conflicts.
Putin says the collapse of the Soviet Union was the biggest geopolitical disaster of the 20th century.
I'd say the rise of the Soviet Union was the biggest geopolitical disaster of the 20th century.
Great watch. I've always viewed the collapse of the USSR as a series of independence movements against the new Russian empire, because all roads ultimately led to Moscow. The Kremlin was at the centre of everything. While true to a large extent, it's also interesting to see how Russia, led by Yeltsin, wanted to secede 'from itself', so to speak. In the simplistic history I grew up with (I was too young to follow events at the time), it was always presented as a straightforward 'Russia vs the Republics'. In fact, Russia was in a civil conflict of its own, so perhaps its fairer to view the demise as less a movement against Russian imperialism (which was no less real for it) than against Soviet imperialism specifically. Just as the British empire had British victims because it was in reality the empire of the British aristocracy and working British got screwed), the Soviet empire had Russian victims too.
I visited Estonia in the early 2000's. Well worth your time to go visit.
Are Estonians related to Swedes ? Their language looks Germanic?
@@johnleber3369 their language is actually very close to Finnish.
@@johnleber3369 You obviously don't know any German.
ultonian63 The Estonian language does have some words that derive from German (when German nobles lived in Livonia) but mostly our language is related a lot more to Finnish, due to both languages being in the Finno-Ugric language group.
@@hbtm_434 Sure HBTM, I'm aware of the German influence (eg loss = Schloss, amet = Amt, kunst = Kunst) but I'm sure that someone who knew German and looked at a piece of Estonian text wouldn't conclude that the language looked Germanic.
found this in my suggested last night and watched it till 2 am
A more or less non-violent end to an empire that had required about 300,000 direct casualties and about as 450,000 military personnel dead from disease to come into being (according to Soviet demographer Boris Urlanis; source- Wikipedia). Good documentary. Eye opener to the Baltic situation in the late 80's.
1:23 The BGM had this 'Deus Ex' vibe.
Thank you. I wish I'd seen this 5 years ago.
Black and white film from 80s & 90s. That's a perspective for being behind the west.
Great documentary movie! Greetings from Poland.
Very well done. I think now historians are emphasizing that the cost of the Soviet military buildup, the cost of the Afghan war, and the cost of Chernobyl were eventually just too much for the Soviet economy which was very fragile anyway.
Country can't fall just because of economy. People hated USSR. System just politically bankrupt.
This is one of the most well made documentaries iv ever seen.
Estonia the Baltic Tiger - also a good documentaries in YT.
Gives answer how Estonia develops after 30 year from collapse Soviet Union.
@@kulnokaiklem thx ill check it out
Great posting! Thank you so much.
Remarkable in its clarity. Brings alive the dull. Recommended for everyone.
Well it is 2024 and the USSR has gone but Russia unfortunately has not changed
Yep... But personally, I believe that between December 25, 1991 and September 21, 1993, Russia was able to dream of positive change. However, then the same old thing happened again, and here we are.
Slava Russia!! ❤
@@r.s.visvesh715 😂😂😂
The dissolution of the USSR started before 1989, blowing up in 1953 in Berlin, 1956 in Poland and later in Hungary (which was the bloody one!) and Prague in 1968. These events led to Solidarity and the brave Poles to carry it through to the end. With the Pope on board and a clear zeal to be free , it still took a great deal of lucky twists and turns , as if scripted by a higher power . The USSR was just plain inefficient, a nation of bureaucrats , deeply rooted among the social lines.
Everyone forgot about 1956 apparently.
Stalin killed everyone that remembered...
Ray c Stalin was dead by 1953
@Xavier Edwards Russians *LITERALLY* made the Soviet Union, how the fuck are you the victim here? It's even in your national song, which used to be the Soviet union's song. There are russian nationalists bragging about how the Russians invaded all of its neighbours to create the soviet union.
If you mean the Germans and the patriotic war, or Napoleonic war, Japan/Russo war or even the first guy who failed miserably in conquering Russia: The Swedish Conqueror King during the nordic war - sure, you were invaded but never conquered.
You have never been conquered by anyone other than the Mongols and yourselves.
Who's here after watching HBO's Chernobyl?
(I don't like such stupid comments 'whos here in 2019' but here I just want to see how many people got interested in Soviet Union history after the show)
I m here after watching chernobyl. I ve been binge watching chernobyl videos on youtube lately and this has popped up. Chernobyl may have been one of the causes of the fall of soviet union because it exposed the mass deficiencies in soviet infastructure
@High Overlord Snarffie Beagle how old were you when chernobyl happened? You were in US?
Very informative documentary
Thanks for upload
I never knew Russia played such big role in breaking Soviet Union.
Everybody wanted to dissolve the USSR. In each republic.
@@carlosmpsenyorcapitacollon6977 not everyone
@@T9RX3 who then?
@@kelvinbremont1341 it started with the Baltic Republics but it was Gorbachev who allowed meetings and agreements with them to start the process. If the Soviet Union and Gorbachev still wanted the Soviet Union it would have continued to exist. The truth is they wanted better economic opportunity with the WEST. Russia is still alive and well and they now have the same national anthem as they had in the Soviet Union which was selected by Stalin after WWII. Putin brought it back after Yelstan had changed it.
@@T9RX3 so a few of the Baltic republics did NOT want to dissolve?
didn't know that Estonian language sounds so similar to Finnish or Suomi however you call it
Check out the National Anthems too almost the same
You do now
estonia just sounds like speech impaired finnish to me
Uralic languages :)
It’s because Estonian, Finnish, and Hungarian are all Finno-Ugric languages originating around the Ural Mountains, in the age of migration they ended up in different places, so the languages diverged, but they’re all from the same root.
There’s a moral to this video for western countries at the moment, take time to View it and you will realise what people can do.
What can they do ? You lost me.
@ So....are you saying we can overthrow liberal democrats? We'll keep that in mind.
@@Astrobucks2 yes u can but overthrowing a government comes with a cost as well despite how right their beliefs might be
@@mynamejeb8743 The problem with the collapse of Communism is that nobody was held accountable like Nazi refugees. The cost is now that they are spread around the world without a single problem for them. They were once all rounded up in one place but now they are spread around the world and specially concentrated in D.C. in the USA.
Now things that were once so much forbidden in the West as terrorism is now part of politics with even Communist Parties in a lot of countries. People were way less brainwashed by politics before 2012. It happened an eerie boom of politics that took over the world not for the better I guess. People are also getting increasingly more domesticated in such a way that is unbearable to talk with most of them.
A gazelle would look like a prey close to them. They are ready for any authority to do anything with them. People also don't have self beliefs... they always believe in what "everybody else" already believes and just follows. So they don't know what really is right or wrong inherently, truly in its reality... they just consider what "most people" considers already, so when they don't know what "most people" considers already, they are stuck in a pit completely clueless about the morality of such thing. This level of collectivism and lack of individualism is detrimental to society as a whole. It's dangerous. Plus, Civilization is way more prone to fall this way. *Even science can be politicized now!*
We are losing culture as a whole and replacing it with politics... a dystopian political culture that knows to care only about this. It became the life's purpose of many people now when before we had more nuanced interests and actual intra-cultures that were lost in a mere 15 years leaving the whole scenario way more plain and boring to the point of the designs of the cars become the same thing over a decade! The world is way more boring now and people have their whole attentions free to politics as politics that was always boring before became way more interesting now. See??
@@mynamejeb8743 The whole social justice thing was lost a long time ago and became only a mere orchestra, a show. It's devastatingly disappointing the whole stupidity of people of believing this crude cheap show called politics is true! If they wanted just votes they should just do a single constant campaign of encouraging the people to vote no matter which side. But what they really want is to indirectly control the amount of votes from each side so they don't ever need to rig elections with fake votes. The voting system is legit, but the brainwashing is SO EFFECTIVE to the minuscule level where they can keep it 51% against 49% constantly every single election switching just a little amount of people engaged in politics to vote. Since I was a kid I looked at these percentages and told myself they know just how much proportion of amount of political propaganda from one side to the other is necessary to reach these numbers of people voting without having to rig the elections! It's genius! Or maybe not! But you get the point. The proportion of votes always show that both candidates half won all of the times, but just because one number is higher the candidate is considered 100% winner instead of just 51%. This is the invisible dance of democracy. As long as people believe that the politicians are in true opposition fighting against each other it works because there are sides to vote. But taking democracy out, the playing members and the leaders they represent are always the same. Democracy gives a lot of security due to its dynamics because anything else would be dictatorship. Let's say we live in a "very dynamic dictatorship"...
Yegor Gaidar has written a pretty good book about the collapse of USSR.
Many Russians held him responsible for the economic hardships that plagued the country in the 1990s that resulted in mass poverty and hyperinflation. Ye you should listen that guy
hi is a traitor gaigar is trastor. hypocrate false.
Gorbachev seems like a good man. It takes someone with a true heart to willingly give up that level of power.
It is amazing how Gorbachev is smiling and laughing while people talk about dismantling the country. I try to imagine Brejnev or Khrushchev in the same situation...or Stalin....OMG...
Times had changed gone where the days when they could just be taken out back and shot with no consequences.
@@jamescromarty1455 There still existed old school guys. There existed operative plans in the spirit of Stalin. The trains were ready, hundreds of thousands of pairs of handcuffs were stored and waited for the X hour. It might have happened. Blood might have been shed. Lives could have been destroyed.
Gorbachev grew up a Stalinist. When the extent of Stalin's criminal, anti-human actions was revealed it profoundly changed his opinion, about Stalin, about communism, and about the entire USSR.
@@dewok2706 I must admit that Russian/USSR politics are really complicated.
I remember that my mom was an ussr citizen and when the ussr collapsed alot of people were shocked, TV channels were closed or something..., alot of people were confused ,after that, the crimes started alot and cops were confused and it was hard to take controle that time, and i heard alot of people said that there were good times,so i started to became curios and interested, anyways i think ussr had a good and bad things and it had alot of talented people... but ussr was a worthful country.
"i said i wish the ussr came back"...so did Putin, and he's working hard at it
Because your just dumb. You idiots love to be controled like mice
@KAY EM yeah well communists were a lot poorer than the western people, which is why they tried to flee from the east to the west. So yeah sorry captitalism>communism
There were hard times....I remember all the old people/pentioners starving and freezing, the hyperinflation of the 1990's having left them penniless.
@@mshbeatbox You idiot love to be controlled by some west medias.
So Stalin was actually the reason the Soviet Union fell apart. That secret document and its clauses sealed the Soviet's doom and split
A member of the Estonian delegate spoke to Gorbachev: "It is the issue of discrimination...but everything is decided by an official in high office."
Isn't it the same with the current EU? Everything is decided by the unelected technocrats?
The EU is USSR
EUSS - European Union of Soviet Socialist
No it's not..
You poor British airheads were free to join this successful union & still free to leave.
Notice the days with ongoing special treatment of you lazy nutters along with loads of subventions will finish too.
Shut up with your unsubstantiated nonsense and Sail on 👋🙌
Is history repeating itself?......by definition it does.
ffs you have a whole European Parliament, of course they will employ technical experts for safety standards etc. Every government does.
YOU ARE A CLEVER KREMLIN TROLL! KUDOS!
Unelected how? We have European elections.
@@OmmerSyssel Successful hahahah. EU days are numbered, and im not even British
Winners write/distort History!
Because those who lose aren’t discontented at all 🙄🙄🙄
My Mother being from the Ukraine remebers when the Soviet Union collapse watching it happen on tv My Mother said it would eventually happen and she was right and also said Her country The Ukraine was considered the bread basket of the Soviet Union My Mother Died in 2019 and we took her home to be buried in her home country I will miss her Love you mom you are where you belong
I never knew Estonia's perseverance was one of the engines that powered the downfall of USSR. This is to prove that nobody can truly ever defeat a united people. As a Romanian who had to suffer because of the Communism, I give thanks to the Baltic people, whom I can consider to be my friends, for the good they indirectly did to my life. It would have been a drastically different live, should Communism have continued.
Romanians served the Nazis. Be thankful you're not destroyed. Russians are too kind to Romanians.
Scorpius look at how kind the USSR was to Romania in 1989, indeed, they were not very kind.
The damn Bolsheviks claimed to be athiests to hid her blood lusts to Gods people everyehere.They were Satanists and proved it starting in old Soviet Union.
To paraphrase Reagan:Putin before you retire, tear down that Vile Lenin tomb and bury his evil remains in some unmarked hole. How can his body be still there while this POS was the man who gave the orders too butcher theCzars family and servants? Destroy that vile symbol of Pure evil Mr. President .Now!!
This proves the GREATER IMPORTANCE of LANGUAGE to human kind than any other identities that later artificially stressed on him by OTHERS .
I think you are Kannadiga..
tad viddhi pranipatena
pari prashnena sevaya...
I- I'm watching this at 2 am because I'm bored
\
10:52 chopin revolutionary etude
17:12 mozart requirem
the world is so different now that I can hardly believe that this happened only 30 or so years ago
When everyone is entitled to everything, no one is responsible for anything..
Well said.
Excellent documentary. Thank you.
It was interesting seeing people living back in those times. Completely different time in history.
Nothing escapes you, does it ?
Some of us were adults then kiddo.
Those were some brave people back then who defied Moscow and helped bring about Estonian independence.
If the SU didn't fall, Gorbachev could be its leader still today.
When you run out of money to steal you have hundreds of millions starving and a mega rich class who wants even more ,thats where it always ends
@ayy lmao your teachers misled you junior go play video games you just want free shit it doesn’t work that way
In the USA it was quite a mental shift to take this in...for my entire life, there'd been this looming USSR threat, or so we thought, and then it was suddenly just gone.
Don't worry Putin has your back
@@wom_Bat When the USSR collapsed, it pretty much ended as a threat. Putin is working hard to regain that former threatening stature.
awesome hearing so much Estonian spoken
Gorvachov was a mother. Can you imagine today if a separatist region of China were to look for its independence and have the passivity and approval for meeting of Xi?..Can you imagine that?..Unthinkable, with a strong leader. But possible with a mother like Gorbi.
These were supposed to be sovereign governments. If you just crush any resistance, you reveal yourself to be the bastard people suspect you might be, and your empire can crumble even faster. Also we don't have to guess what Xi would do since Taiwan is de-facto independent and Xi and his predecessors just have to stand by and watch.
W hatever
O ld
G ay
42:59 Where is the image of the three political figures taken from? The text is in Romanian, and it seems to me to be some painting in a church and I wonder where could that be. I could pay a visit to that place
Very interesting documentary and insightful
The chancellor, the late chancellor, was only partly correct.
He was obsolete.
But so is the State, the entity he worshiped.
Any state, entity, or ideology becomes obsolete when it stockpiles the wrong weapons: when it captures territories, but not minds; when it enslaves millions, but convinces nobody.
When it is naked, yet puts on armor and calls it faith, while in the Eyes of God it has no faith at all.
Any state, any entity, any ideology which fails to recognize the worth, the dignity, the rights of Man... that state is obsolete.
A case to be filed under "M" for "Mankind" - in The Twilight Zone.
Genious.. hats off
phenomenal piece. learned so much. ILL BET ANYTHING RUSSIANS TODAY ABSOLUTELY HATE THIS DOCUMENTARY AND LOOK BACK ON THIS PERIOD IN HISTORY WITH A SOME SHAME. I WONDER... PUTIN SURE WOULD FEEL THAT WAY. FANTSTIC FILM.
I need to visit Estonia, Tallinn is such a beautiful city. Very nice flag btw.
I've leafed through a couple of books that discussed the breakup of the USSR mostly written in the late-70s. However, it is generally accepted that these authors got lucky with their predictions. There really isn't an exact reason the USSR couldn't have lasted for quite a while longer. It had major structural problems and had reached a point where reforms would have likely broken the thing apart to some extent (unless of course, the reforms were much more radical than what Gorbi went for) but if they had maintained the contours of the old Stalinist system they could have puttered on for god knows how many years. Alternatively, the USSR could easily have continued as a loose federation with pro-market and democratic reforms. The USSR could have even taken the route of China and kept a Stalinist structure with market reforms.
...I genuinely think that without the august coup the USSR would have continued to exist in some form or another. At least in name. You have to realize that just a decade earlier the Soviet Union was a very stable system albeit with major structural problems.
The USSR almost did survive, of sorts. Ironically, the August Coup was meant to save the USSR, but in actuality doomed it. Most of the Republics were in the process of drafting a new treaty that would have kept much of the old Soviet structure together, including the name (sorta). However, the coup gave local leaders the justification to declare independence and secure their own local power structure.
Afghanistan, trying to keep up with U.S. defense spending under Reagan, and Chernobyl all helped to doom the USSR.
Seeing how the former Soviet states are after the collapse of the USSR, it would probably have been better to keep it going. Putin would have never risen to power if everyone was afraid of ruining the system defined by the New Union Treaty
Actually, the market system itself failed in 1929. The only thing that kept capitalism on life support was the government regulations against heedless speculation, and bubble forming. Remember that.
If it was constantly under global surveillance it would probably still be around, and they say its the best. I've never seen so many neutral faces.
The USSR was "made in the USA". It was an extremely useful and profitable Wall Street investment. The majority of the Bolsheviks were Americans that spoke russian, and trained in small arms and terrorism in NYC under the eye of the leader Leon Trotsky, who lived in Manhattan luxury apartment and traveled in a limousine provided by his Wall St sponsors. En-route to Russia, Trotsky was imprisoned by the Canadian governments...........for 3 months the US state department, the President and Wall St luminaries lobbied to have Trotsky released which eventually succeeded. During the 1920's through to 1945 the US government allowed expertise and technology to be provided to the USSR...........only the gigantic 1941 lend lease program of aid to the USSR saved it from certain defeat at the most critical phase of the war. US supplies were crucial in alleviating shortages and boosting production in the gigantic armaments industries of the USSR that had existed since the 1930's deep in the far east, at places like Magnitorsk and Chelyabinsk.
You forgot the keyword: Jews
USA is controlled by the lizard people bro, they had to say yes.
I am long for the day when freedom will be back again in my homeland .... Vietnam, and also in my neighbor countries Laos and Cambodia. We have suffered enough. Enough !!! Down with Communism !!!
You wish to be a French colony again?
@@theopot5798 Here we go again...your father must be Pon Pot...Why so rude.
Vietnam is called little China (economically).
As an American, I am deeply regretful for how we destroyed so much of your country. I wish you the best in the future, and I hope you overthrow your commie scum some day.
@@ElectronFieldPulse Many thanks Jacob. I hope that day is near. If it is not in my lifetime then it will be for the next generation. There are only three countries under communists left in the world now i.e. VN, China and NK ( Juche). There is only one outcome for them. Communism will be gone ... for the sake of humanity.
The Russia Federation, who exists now was founded only in 1992 year, before was the Russian Soviet Federative Socialistic Republic (RSFSR) . Not to be confused. I am from Russia and i am glad that Russian speeches was translated right
Collapse? Bull. It just changed shape. Slightly.
It lost weight.😂
146 vs 293 millions is a big loss of potential manpower
Oh yes, slightly, Russia and those countries are not communisy anymore. Capitalism or welfare states exist in place of communism. Free market......
Watching this today...feels incredibly strange. This was made in 2006 and with the idea that the Soviet empire fell mostly peacefully. With all the hopes and dreams. Now it is july 2022 and a war is going on between a Russia wanting an empire back and a Ukraine that has struggled for 30 years to westernize.
this war is a consequence of the USSR dissolution. just delayed for various reasons. and hello, Chechen wars?
Not all failed empires are prepared to accept their place in history. Russia is learning the slow, hard way as befits their culture.
@@davidjack7418 and so is America
I would say that the beginning of the end was the Chernobyl disaster. During this episode the glasnost policy was tested and the international community developed a hard line against Soviet secrecy. Near the end it was Gorbachev himself who was promoting openness and truth, and we all know that the USSR was a house of cards.
It certainly helped. So did Afghanistan. There was a widespread unwillingness to serve either Soviet army or civil defense since blood was shed and radiation poisoning was caught just due to mismanagement of idiotic leaders made possible by the regime.
the opening quote hits so much different now
Loving this Euro music
I lived and studied in former USSR during these tumultuous times
Death of Soviet Union was a disaster. Suddenly they had tariffs, divided infrastructure, divided agriculture and industrial base. Excluding Baltic states, USSR should have devolved into an EU style association with Kremlin controlling all shared infrastructure from national power grid to boarder controls for the new states as the CIS with teeth. Each state should have been a laboratory of prosperity and freedom. Potential was huge!
You can't smash, overnight, a 70 year old system without great hardship and war. The break up needed to be managed but Gorbachev was too weak. The EU is no Empire but multinational and USSR needed to shift slowly. "Freedom" hurt most everyone outside major cities. Later, the CIS could have merged or partnered with EU
Why does 1991 feel like 1971?
I was thinking the same thing lol this feels like something from the 70s
Because they were backward country, I remember growing up in Ukraine in 90s and everything from America or Japan felt like from the future
That's because the USSR and much of the Eastern Bloc were way behind the west technologically. It was common for people to be still be using technology built in the 1950's.
Laslo Brorsonius they never got printed circuit boards, it really kept them behind. Everything was tubes
In the West, 1971 and 1991 were worlds apart - completely different! I guess in the communist East progress was very slow.
Very subtle camera work zooming in on the man's crutchesat 9:35, an implication that he was physically intimidated (beaten and hurt) into holding a pro soviet opinion perhaps?
We will never be communist
@@Oo7Hola You never know America and Europe has been slipping towards communism since the Soviet Union.
if u looked and listen him on the Doc film, he was unfortunally the only memeber of Estonian delegation who was a pro soviet, he spoke 0 estonian and was elected by commy rats living in Estland.
Perhaps he was beaten & hurt because he held pro Soviet opinions - see how he sat away from the delegates
His input is also censored by the media. ...and he is the only one who says anything of importance - everyone else was just bullshitting.
I've wondered if the "collapse" of the Union was really the selling of the perimeter of Russia to US and China industry and banking.
Russia falls to the Bolsheviks. Bolsheviks occupy surrounding lands, making all the resources in play and redrawing national lines for mining and transport. Yadda yadda, the fall of the Union, tanks come in and kidnap some guy, he acquiesces and peace out. Mafiocracy ensues....Putin kills the remaining Bolsheviks and restores the Republic.