Elizabeth Bentley’s defection exposed a Soviet espionage network and sparked the second Red Scare in America. How do you think her revelations shaped the country’s response to the Cold War? Share your thoughts below!
The McCarthyism clearly came from the fascist right of the US, those that didn't want war with Hitler, but wanted him to be left alone as he conquers Europe.
The red scares were used as political weapons against many people who had no allegiance to the Soviet Union. People who were in a minority or were simply concerned about general social justice. My mother’s stepmother was blacklisted during the first red scare for the simple reason that she was a union organizer. She met my grandfather interviewing for a job as a housekeeper since she couldn’t get regular employment. She was a lifelong devout Catholic but that didn’t stop people from smearing her as a “godless” communist.
Hoover would not share his information with the White House because he would also have to reveal his ways of obtaining it which would have stopped things in the tracks. But he could share it with ambitious politicians in the Congress who need not ask how he got it.
30 years later his methods and spying on American civil rights and Anti-Vietnam War activists would be revealed when an FBI office in Media Pennsylvania was broken into in 1971 and documents are leaked to the Washington Post m
I love the choice of thumbnail. Antonio Prohias left Cuba because he got on the wrong side of Castro and created his famous Spy vs Spy for Mad Magazine. His biography is fascinating and his work brilliant. Definitely worth an episode all to himself.
Since your coverage of the Second World War is over, maybe you can do a week by week coverage of the Spanish Civil War. I don't think any channel on TH-cam has ever done that. This channel could be the first.
Even after changing the title to 'How the US Paranoia of the Left was Born', I don't think it's really accurately conveying the content of the video. The paranoia was already there, most obviously demonstrated by the fact that these are the events that lead in to the *second* Red Scare.
@@WorldWarTwo There's no need to be snarky, your point is well taken. But I think this is a good faith comment speaking to the fact that the United States has always had a paranoia of leftist thought. The framers of the country specifically designed their byzantine electoral college system and system of checks and balances to prevent a centralization of power, most notably; the nation has a repeated history of (even pre-WW1) declaring unions to be literal criminal conspiracies, based on their perceived threat to business. Your title conveys the sense of "there is a *justified* mistrust of **modern** leftist politics based on what the Soviet Union did." That, of course, omits the fact that the Soviet Union was an organized "communist" nation-state and global superpower with the resources, reach and wherewithal to seed spies around the United States. None of which can be credibly said about modern leftist politics. I deeply respect your (proven) commitment to retelling history with as little modern political bias as possible. But looking at this as objectively as I can: I'd rephrase the title.
@@ThatMarcusTerritory Looking at today's youth, the paranoia is justified. My people survived communism only for kids today to want it back! Barely 30 years later!
Small correction at 14:40. The House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) was controlled by the Democratic Party, not Republican. It's first chairman in 1945 was Edward Hart (D-NJ). People often make this mistake because the big name of the time was Republican Joe McCarthy, but as a Senator he had nothing to do with HUAC. The Red Scare was very bipartisan at the time, as you do correctly state later. Edit: 6 of the 8 charimen of HUAC were Democrats. This isn't because Democrats are more involved, but because they controlled the House more often than Republicans did.
No, that's incorrect. Republicans controlled both houses of Congress following the 1946 elections. The chairman of HUAC at the time, Parnell Thomas was a Republican from New Jersey.
Its not a poor title. Its just that people who support communism are unable to watch or hear anything that might challenge their views without getting upset
@@JimmyTwoTimesJimmyTwoTimes cut the cope, it's a horrible title crafted for controversy. It has nothing to do with communism. Like, stalinists don't even like this channel. It's a biased title, they should talk about how the US excused their paranoia, why it happened, what they understood. Saying that "X was justified" is taking a position. Like, imagine if they released a video saying "Why Stalin paranoia was justified". That would be horrible and in poor taste. This is similar. It's in poor taste because of how it presents itself. And they know better. The title has probably been decided by some shitty community manager hired to raise numbers. I would be deeply surprised if this was any of the original team, like, they never did this before.
Not to be too political but the fact that demagogues have long labeled non-fascists as fascists or non-communists as communists does not mean that hostility towards fascism or communism was or is paranoia, far from it. Over 50 years ago many of my college Professors were avowed Communists. I got an A in one class by writing a paper based on Fidel Castro's 1962 pamphlet called (in English) History Will Absolve Me. That pamphlet justified persecution of political opponents and I have no doubt that if my paper had mocked his pamphlet instead of justifying it with citations, my grade in that paper would have without question been an F. Communists and fascists have always been at best "fashion driven drones," at worst monsters, and have always been very much to be feared. Actual Communists and Fascists are not entitled to any sympathy! Harassment of non-political Jewish students up to and including vandalism of private property and physical assaults amid university policies of neutrality about it at elite universities by Fascists in the 1930s and Communists in the 2020s and much worse than that is ample proof of this.
@@yeedbottomtext7563 A lot of simple people when they can't attack a person's message because the message is correct try to attack the person instead. You are a good example of this
Do you guys have any plans to continue this series going forward into the 50s and 60s for the CIA and KGB? Thank you in advance for your response response.
I have an unrelated question. And I want it to be wrong. I have heard that part of reinhardt heidrich's ( i think I spelled that wrong) earlier duties included compiling dossiers on "enemies of the state " . He also did this for certain soviet generals, thus fuelling Stalin's paranoia and prompting the massive purge of the Soviet military. Is any of this correct? I hope it isn't. Cheers Tony
It’s contested. There was so much obfuscation on both sides that it’s impossible to determine. What we know is that the Soviets and the Nazis continued parts of the military cooperation that began during the Weimar Republic. Some of that was sharing low priority intelligence. Reinhardt claimed responsibility for stoking the fires during the purges, but there’s no hard evidence that has come to light showing that this was true. The Soviet files on the ‘enemies of the state’ are such a mess that it’s impossible to separate out what came from where. The more likely scenario is that Stalin was going after anyone’s he feared could be a threat, and his loyalists cobbled together whatever rumors, innuendo, and fabrications they could get their hands on, possibly information from the Germans was part of that.
@@spartacus-olssoncould you elaborate on the specifics of the "military cooperation" during the Weimar era? I may be getting things wrong here but the nazis had no military power or authority during that time so what exactly do you mean?
@ I mean that they didn’t completely discontinue the secret cooperation to circumvent sanctions and the Treaty of Versailles that the Germans and Soviets began right after WW1. The Nazis had nothing to do with that - as you say they were not in power - but when they did seize power the Reichswehr and later the Wehrmacht were allowed to continue some of the cooperation. Stalin, aiming to continue his fast charging of Soviet industry went along.
What a delightful description about those who are no better than others. ‘The only ones who listened to me were they’ or like fascists, communists, moaïsts, magaïsts, and on and on who tolerated only those who listened to them depicts the general type of people. The egocentrists who whatever they say is all about them and that's where all the devilish is suddenly no longer devilish. It is these kinds of people who are most dangerous no matter what they call themselves. Today you see them everywhere again....
US paranoia was justified since it's not paranoia when they're out to get you. However the response to that paranoia was a monumental fuck up and handled by the wrong people.
@@BokicaK1 I don't believe a word. Any literate person can read about Communist suppression and strict government control of labor unions. As the old Russian joke went: "They pretend to pay us and we pretend to work."
@@jamesstutts1681 The original title was "Why US paranoia of leftism was justified". The title wasn't even careful to use "how" as in an explanation of the events that led for the red scare to gain political strength.
Racism is am incorrect idea because the genetic differences between ethnic groups is not signficant enough to justify treating or viewing one inherently worse than the other Feminism on the other hand is completely different, the damage it's caused to the family unit, culture, and demographic structures needs to be studied in the future so that the ideology never returns again
The amount of people on both sides who are gonna take the title at face value without actually watching the video will be historic for the channel lmao. It neither justifies McCarthyism nor downplays the truth of Soviet spy networks. Ya'll need to learn a little something called "nuance." How can you watch this series without learning that lesson?
Maybe they should’ve considered giving the video a title that accurately reflects the content and nuance that they discuss in the video. Instead they went with some rage-bait designed to get clicks.
Maybe the channel shouldn't use such an inflammatory title which paints all American leftists as pro-Soviet, pro-Stalinist stooges if they wanted to avoid angry comments and antisemitic pro-McCarthyist trolls 🤷.
@manbo1213 that's capitalism baby. They might be a history channel, but they're still a company. Besides, they describe McCarthyism as a witch hunt in the first 30 seconds of the video lmao.
@@manbo1213 If finding out communism is a bad thing is rage bait for you than you have a lot bigger things in your life to worry about than a YT video title
Hoover always felt the US came in on the wrong side of the war. He was always happy to note when a suspect was Jewish, and maintained cordial relations with the Gestapo, right up to the declaration of war. When the OSS was created, Hoover insisted that the FBI would be responsible for counter-espionage in the western hemisphere, while OSS and its successor, CIA, would operate in the eastern hemisphere: Eurasia and Africa. Where did the Nazis flee after the war? Mostly to Hoover's bailiwick.
I was born under Pinochet and to this day, even from a upper class moderately right wing family, it has affected my life negatively in many ways, thanks to the "justified paranoia of leftism" of the US. I know the context of this video is within ww2, but either way, the title grossed me out immediately. Who cares if you you just made my day a little worse, I suppose you wanted the controversial reactions and comments, so congrats.
So all the antisemitism was also correct? The crackdowns on student protesters? For how long was it justified? Was it justified in the Nixon administration? I’m not saying we shouldn’t have been concerned with the sickening authoritarian Soviet regime, but things can be gray, my dude. This channel is generally better than this about this sort of thing.
Maybe the American people behind these channel don't want to be arrested in January so they're avoiding upsetting the Führer (half-joking) After all, he did declare "war on the media" and made it clear he would send the DOJ after them...
Why do so many of the posts here all read the same? All "This is an L take" It's almost like its the same person posting all the hatred for this channel using different accounts because Reddit got triggered by the title
@@SolarpunkEnjoyer If they were all worded the exact same you might have had a point. Im just asking you take a little time and be more creative in your posts instead of just doing the same one over and over
@@PresidentBiIICIinton Except there's nothing about this video on either r/communism or r/socialism 1 hour after it's been posted on YT, despite of what some people (or maybe one person, huh?) are saying.
Communism has never been tried as far as the leftists are concerned so all of the negative things associated with communism was done by leftists trying to achieve "real communism" it's really that easy.
I just want to point out for those say "it's just a title get over it" I implore you to compare the comments under this video with any other video from the series. You'll notice a suspicious drastic increase in hate speech under this video, people justifying paranoia of the entire American left being "out to get them" to literally calling people pansies, etc. It's not a coincidence, this title unequivocally had a part to play here. Whoever made the title really should've known better & the fact it's still not changed after being up for several hours tells me this isn't an oopsie, this was planned.
In fact if anything, given Elizabeth's actions if you're going to put a clickbait title it'd be more accurate to call this video "how the left saved America from the soviets". Her going to report on the soviet spy rings once she saw it was not pro workers utopia is not Elizabeth realizing "the left" was really a threat, from her perspective what she was doing by reporting to the FBI WAS the leftist decision most aligned with her leftist disposition.
You’re early… that’s the reason for the garbage not having been taken out yet. Many (too many to feel good about the world) of our videos attract comment filth from the extremes, both left and right. But yes, this title served more than even the level headed could handle, so we changed it. Meanwhile, we’ll be advising everyone to take a 💊 and chill. The world will end… eventually, but it won’t be the title of any of our videos that brings about that end. We’re important, but not that important.
@WorldWarTwo I appreciate the amendment & the response! The youtube comments can indeed get pretty nasty around anything conflict related so it's extra appreciated yall distinguished genuine critique from the general noise that is the youtube comment section!
Hate speech isn't a thing in America. We have the First Amendment, so no one goes to prison the same they they say something like they do in Britain now.
Unbelievably based title. It's so rare to see people actually accurately address the very real Soviet Espionage network in the US and how the US was not taking it seriously enough.
I’m non communist but not anti communist. Anti communism implies that you want to fight communism actively even if it doesn’t pose a threat to you. On the other hand I wouldn’t want communism to be implemented in countries where most people don’t want it.
The title is so uncharacteristic for this channel, almost like it wants to generate controversy. Well, at least you didn't do it in the weekly episodes. I'll skip this one in disagreement with this clickbaity practice. Love you guys, but quality has always been your standard. This title is just... in poor taste. Edit: just for clarification, they changed it. It previously said "why the US paranoia of the left was justified". It's way better now.
Couldn't have said it better myself, love the channel & I'm still looking forward to future videos, but this channels content has performed more than well enough to not justify such a title. It is uncharacteristic of the typical integrity of their videos.
The paranoia was justified The validity of these justifications in general when applied to people individually is a different story The problem of Leftist Spying was there, this doesn't excuse behaviors in response which also were morally dubious Though morals always are subjective
@Genessyss It was, the spy rings did exist, it wasn't paranoia over nothing But this doesn't mean that all actions based on this paranoia were also justified Morality is a fine line that everyone sees somewhere else
@@heylolp9 buhuu, spy rings always existed... The US spyed on the German cancelor a few years ago and they were allies. Just because a spy ring exists does not give the right of a government to destry the lives of thousands of people (more over when that government self proclaims the "country of freedom")
what do you mean? america loves fascists, fascists are the most effective anti-communists, that’s why they love propping them up in other countries so much.
Strange because I don't see a lot of fascists promoting fascism in academia in America. I wish I could say the same thing about communism. Guess the Americans weren't worried enough back then...
If you thing "fascism" in America is a legitimate concern, then you are hopelessly brainwashed. Not even the most radical left wingers in the media truly believe fascism is a problem.
The key to understanding political sentiments is not to assume the person in question has methodically thought through the logic of political theory and come up with their 'answer." What people do is to align themselves politically with what movements and parties they perceive as reflective of their own personality type. It is far more about psychology than it is about rational historical and socioeconomic dialectics.
@@yeedbottomtext7563I don't even have a reddit account, and before you ask i'm not a communist either. I just don't think this channel should attract far right retards to its comment section.
@@equalopportunityoffender1816 I am not "you people", why do you say that anyway. You seem to want to lump me specifically in with some bogey man group which you enjoy to rally against. Either say what you mean or admit you're a spinless worm.
Considering operation paperclip, the USSR theories of capitalism being fascism approaching were also justified? Sorry, that's not a good approach to the topic.
The US did Operation Paperclip because they wanted their scientific ideas, not their political ones. How do these Soviet theories justify Operation Osoaviakhim?
Given how the UdSSR was far closer to 30s Germany in their approach to oppressing the people and persecuting minorities I would argue that the soviet's got it backwards.
Rage bait title that once again reflects the privileged position of the channel creators. McCarthyism affects me personally, since it lead to my journalist grandfather getting blacklisted for many years. Have a horrible day. Unsubbed.
You mean when average people realized their government was chock full of Soviet agents and the "sophisticated" ("academic" ideologues) people thought that was great. No reason to be paranoid!
How do the three of you with Spartacus, manage to take such interesting topics and make them sound so boring and uninspired, it's been a decade you've been at it, none of your grandma jokes were ever funny, You've finished WW2, do you think it's about time you've learned from Indy how to make an interesting and coherent video?!
The commenters who are shocked, deeply shocked that the USSR had agents in the U.S. government are conveniently ignoring that at the time we had at least one agent in the Politburo. All countries spy on all countries. Also, there are some peculiar aspects of U.S. libel law. When she testified before HUAC she had Congressional immunity and could not be sued for anything she said. On two occasions she waived that immunity and talked about two former government employees on television news programs. Both sued her (and the networks) and both won. By the way, the Olmsted biography is a great read.
i don't think anyone is schoked that there were soviet syp in the us gov, at most some may be surprised, however a lot me induced are deeply disappointed by the wording used by WWT tho it's better it's still not neutral, if you don't see what i'm talking about, change the theme from McCarthyism to stalin great purge.
@@charliesmith4072 as of yet, no but i might give it a try as i love old movies. Tho i have to say that i struggle to see the point you are trying to make, does this 1942-43 movie show any curent day commentator of this comment section ? because i still havent seen anyone who shocked by that "discovery", let alone deeply shocked.
@@haeuptlingaberja4927 Remember that most Americans lack access to education and health services. This is their academia. They don't know the inside of a college classroom.
Broke: mCaRtHyiSm is unAmErICaN aNd 1984!11!!1! Woke: McCarthy was right Bespoke: McCarthy was wrong, he didn't go far enough, he was in over his head and had no idea how bad things really were
lol the title is like “yeah maybe this system that lead to millions of people starving is a threat/bad idea” and we got leftoids in the comments bringing up MLK getting shot.
The same people who shot mlk now pretend to champion his voice to instead say that it's your gender, sexuality and race that determines what you are. They would hate him today and label him a nazi just for being a reverend.
@@VicePresidentKamala you are the 5th person saying that so i went and cheked but id ont see the post oculd you tell me where you found this info ? because i can't find it anywhere i cheked r/socialim as well but that too was a bust.
Most of the comments I see are talking about how the red scare was justified and based. Like sorry if you actually think that you don't believe in democracy
As an Orthodox Jew it disgusts and infuriates me that my kinsmen, irreligious and disconnected from Judaism though they be, had any part to play in any of this.
Great episode can use more of these with that topic, not enough people actually know what the communists methods are and their results on most people was which had to live under them.
Elizabeth Bentley’s defection exposed a Soviet espionage network and sparked the second Red Scare in America. How do you think her revelations shaped the country’s response to the Cold War? Share your thoughts below!
The McCarthyism clearly came from the fascist right of the US, those that didn't want war with Hitler, but wanted him to be left alone as he conquers Europe.
So there were no American or Western spies in the Soviet union? How those two are different?
the fact that it's called a Red "Scare" tells you who won out in the end....
The threat of Soviet spies were very real, but reaaalllly not a fan of this video title within the context of American politics
The red scares were used as political weapons against many people who had no allegiance to the Soviet Union. People who were in a minority or were simply concerned about general social justice. My mother’s stepmother was blacklisted during the first red scare for the simple reason that she was a union organizer. She met my grandfather interviewing for a job as a housekeeper since she couldn’t get regular employment. She was a lifelong devout Catholic but that didn’t stop people from smearing her as a “godless” communist.
So everyone's rightfully talking about the title, but that's a 10/10 thumbnail
The people are Mad about the video without watching it. Fitting!
Spy vs Spy. Enjoyed the cartoon short on MadTv
I’m sure the title won’t cause any anger in the comments 😂
It's good for reddit communists to hear this stuff
@@metalshredmetal1148 The very way Reddit admins run their subreddits is a demonstration of what communist leaders will do once coming to power.
Great Point Indiana:
Justified paranoia what can go wrong 🙂
@@metalshredmetal1148americans would have sweared on how good the communists were in WW2.
@@metalshredmetal1148
Those darned commies. As a young Yippie 60 years ago, I relished the accusation. What's yer point, Reagan fanboy?
Hoover would not share his information with the White House because he would also have to reveal his ways of obtaining it which would have stopped things in the tracks. But he could share it with ambitious politicians in the Congress who need not ask how he got it.
30 years later his methods and spying on American civil rights and Anti-Vietnam War activists would be revealed when an FBI office in Media Pennsylvania was broken into in 1971 and documents are leaked to the Washington Post m
And he did. Hoover manipulated the nation whenever possible for his own personal power.
Good Night, and Good Luck is a good movie about Edward R Murrow's battle with McCarthy if anyone is interested
Welp, there goes the comments section... also "Red Ring exposed by Blonde Queen" would be a very different article nowadays
I don't think they will let a couple of upset people from Reddit who are breaking the rules here destroy the comments for the rest of us
Do you think they didn’t intentionally put it that way?
Seggs sells even in the allegedly buttoned up 1950’s ‘Murica.
We try to keep the comments as civil as we can. Thanks for watching.
@@WorldWarTwo Why did you cave and change the title? Was kind of a weak move
I was wondering how long that previous title would last lol as always, great stuff!
I love the choice of thumbnail. Antonio Prohias left Cuba because he got on the wrong side of Castro and created his famous Spy vs Spy for Mad Magazine. His biography is fascinating and his work brilliant. Definitely worth an episode all to himself.
Thanks for the comment, it was Sparty's idea and Mikolaj created it.
It's the real reason the people who came from reddit are Mad.
Since your coverage of the Second World War is over, maybe you can do a week by week coverage of the Spanish Civil War. I don't think any channel on TH-cam has ever done that. This channel could be the first.
Time Ghost is currently doing a series on the Korean War.
Doing both would add complexity, which might make it implausible.
Even after changing the title to 'How the US Paranoia of the Left was Born', I don't think it's really accurately conveying the content of the video. The paranoia was already there, most obviously demonstrated by the fact that these are the events that lead in to the *second* Red Scare.
The first ended… remember?
@@WorldWarTwo There's no need to be snarky, your point is well taken. But I think this is a good faith comment speaking to the fact that the United States has always had a paranoia of leftist thought. The framers of the country specifically designed their byzantine electoral college system and system of checks and balances to prevent a centralization of power, most notably; the nation has a repeated history of (even pre-WW1) declaring unions to be literal criminal conspiracies, based on their perceived threat to business. Your title conveys the sense of "there is a *justified* mistrust of **modern** leftist politics based on what the Soviet Union did." That, of course, omits the fact that the Soviet Union was an organized "communist" nation-state and global superpower with the resources, reach and wherewithal to seed spies around the United States. None of which can be credibly said about modern leftist politics.
I deeply respect your (proven) commitment to retelling history with as little modern political bias as possible. But looking at this as objectively as I can: I'd rephrase the title.
@@ThatMarcusTerritory Looking at today's youth, the paranoia is justified.
My people survived communism only for kids today to want it back! Barely 30 years later!
@@BichaelStevens --- GET GOING . . . GO TO Ucraina.
@@marianotorrespico2975 Гойда, слонярка, гойда! Слава Украйни))))
Happy 4th year and 250k dead!
Never seen Mother & Daughter with SO much Flair, Style and Character. Awesome. Gotta envy Sparty =)
Thanks for watching!
How I love this mother/daughter team! Every episode they present is well written and their presentation and energy brings it all to life. Excelsior!
Small correction at 14:40. The House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) was controlled by the Democratic Party, not Republican. It's first chairman in 1945 was Edward Hart (D-NJ). People often make this mistake because the big name of the time was Republican Joe McCarthy, but as a Senator he had nothing to do with HUAC. The Red Scare was very bipartisan at the time, as you do correctly state later.
Edit: 6 of the 8 charimen of HUAC were Democrats. This isn't because Democrats are more involved, but because they controlled the House more often than Republicans did.
Thanks for putting that out there, man. Now what?
Commies lie about anything...all for the power...er I mean cause....
@@marianotorrespico2975 Puts the current Democrat Party in perspective, doesn't it? Its anti-democratic credentials go WAAAYYY back....
No, that's incorrect. Republicans controlled both houses of Congress following the 1946 elections. The chairman of HUAC at the time, Parnell Thomas was a Republican from New Jersey.
Are you trying to implicitly draw a modern party association? Because this was before the party flip of the 1960s.
Seems nothing ever changes with the FBI no matter who's in charge.
I think it's in the nature of such structures. Don't check on it for a while and you have a Russia.
Very timely and insightful, darlings.
Lmao spicy title to say the least
Only "spicy" for the sad fact that history repeats itself.
It sure baited a lot of people into showing they didn't watch the video
@@RedmondBarryII They saw a reddit post insulting the video and came here from it
How is it spicy
It was supposed to be a little provocative but we changed after it attracted too much commentary irrelevant to the actual video. Thanks for watching.
"It's not paranoia if they're really out to get you."
Wonderful introduction of that elongated time and multiple heads of NkVD spying networks
Well done ladies, beautifully presented! Every day's a school day.
Hi Astrid and Anna
Awesome video to explain about the story. Want more content like this
Keep going
Thanks
Not exactly the US's Finest Hour.
I greatly appreciate the change from the original title to this one. The original one made me apprehensive of watching it
Why apprenhesive? You need to listen all the opinions sometimes
@@josjos1847 I have a feeling you listen to a lot of National Socialist opinions very closely.
It's not paranoia if they're really out to get you.
that Mississippi fellow sounds extremely based‼️
Astra looks like she is about o tell me “No Capes”
She is in charge of a lot of the set design and costumes!
Guys, just watch the video. It’s not as partisan as y’all are thinking. It’s just a poor title.
Asking a lot for communists to watch something before getting emotional about it
Its not a poor title. Its just that people who support communism are unable to watch or hear anything that might challenge their views without getting upset
They aren't here to watch the video. They are here because r/communism told them this video was evil.
@@JimmyTwoTimesJimmyTwoTimes cut the cope, it's a horrible title crafted for controversy. It has nothing to do with communism. Like, stalinists don't even like this channel. It's a biased title, they should talk about how the US excused their paranoia, why it happened, what they understood. Saying that "X was justified" is taking a position. Like, imagine if they released a video saying "Why Stalin paranoia was justified". That would be horrible and in poor taste.
This is similar. It's in poor taste because of how it presents itself. And they know better. The title has probably been decided by some shitty community manager hired to raise numbers. I would be deeply surprised if this was any of the original team, like, they never did this before.
@@Blunderbussythey did this with the video about soviet women
Not to be too political but the fact that demagogues have long labeled non-fascists as fascists or non-communists as communists does not mean that hostility towards fascism or communism was or is paranoia, far from it. Over 50 years ago many of my college Professors were avowed Communists. I got an A in one class by writing a paper based on Fidel Castro's 1962 pamphlet called (in English) History Will Absolve Me. That pamphlet justified persecution of political opponents and I have no doubt that if my paper had mocked his pamphlet instead of justifying it with citations, my grade in that paper would have without question been an F. Communists and fascists have always been at best "fashion driven drones," at worst monsters, and have always been very much to be feared. Actual Communists and Fascists are not entitled to any sympathy! Harassment of non-political Jewish students up to and including vandalism of private property and physical assaults amid university policies of neutrality about it at elite universities by Fascists in the 1930s and Communists in the 2020s and much worse than that is ample proof of this.
Yuri Bezmenov told us all of this years ago.
Its really that simple
A grifter saving his own skin and bank account
@@yeedbottomtext7563 A lot of simple people when they can't attack a person's message because the message is correct try to attack the person instead.
You are a good example of this
@@JimmyTwoTimesJimmyTwoTimesGFY buddy. He has said nothing notable whatsoever.
@@yeedbottomtext7563truly, you are a giant of an intellectual. Your argument is truly ironclad.
Do you guys have any plans to continue this series going forward into the 50s and 60s for the CIA and KGB? Thank you in advance for your response response.
Indy and Spartacus sure have changed a lot
Good evening Comrades. 😉
I have an unrelated question. And I want it to be wrong.
I have heard that part of reinhardt heidrich's ( i think I spelled that wrong) earlier duties included compiling dossiers on "enemies of the state " . He also did this for certain soviet generals, thus fuelling Stalin's paranoia and prompting the massive purge of the Soviet military.
Is any of this correct? I hope it isn't.
Cheers
Tony
It’s contested. There was so much obfuscation on both sides that it’s impossible to determine. What we know is that the Soviets and the Nazis continued parts of the military cooperation that began during the Weimar Republic. Some of that was sharing low priority intelligence. Reinhardt claimed responsibility for stoking the fires during the purges, but there’s no hard evidence that has come to light showing that this was true.
The Soviet files on the ‘enemies of the state’ are such a mess that it’s impossible to separate out what came from where. The more likely scenario is that Stalin was going after anyone’s he feared could be a threat, and his loyalists cobbled together whatever rumors, innuendo, and fabrications they could get their hands on, possibly information from the Germans was part of that.
@@spartacus-olssoncould you elaborate on the specifics of the "military cooperation" during the Weimar era? I may be getting things wrong here but the nazis had no military power or authority during that time so what exactly do you mean?
@@KT-pv3kl Governments come and go, channels tend to stay open.
@@danielwillens5876 yes and what is "military" about that statement?
I specifically asked about "military" cooperation.
@ I mean that they didn’t completely discontinue the secret cooperation to circumvent sanctions and the Treaty of Versailles that the Germans and Soviets began right after WW1. The Nazis had nothing to do with that - as you say they were not in power - but when they did seize power the Reichswehr and later the Wehrmacht were allowed to continue some of the cooperation. Stalin, aiming to continue his fast charging of Soviet industry went along.
What a delightful description about those who are no better than others. ‘The only ones who listened to me were they’ or like fascists, communists, moaïsts, magaïsts, and on and on who tolerated only those who listened to them depicts the general type of people. The egocentrists who whatever they say is all about them and that's where all the devilish is suddenly no longer devilish. It is these kinds of people who are most dangerous no matter what they call themselves. Today you see them everywhere again....
US paranoia was justified since it's not paranoia when they're out to get you. However the response to that paranoia was a monumental fuck up and handled by the wrong people.
Controversial Title choice
"How the US justified its Leftist Paranoia" would be a better and less inflammatory title.
Have to generate the clicks somehow. At least the click bait is kept in the title on this channel
It wasn't "paranoia", if it was justified. And, I might add, it WAS justified.
@@greg4367
The paranoia part was not justified and, as McCarthyism showed, there was plenty of paranoia to go around
@rick7424 there were spies sending the soviets nuclear secrets it was totally justified
@@rick7424 They stole Nukes Rick
they were scared that workers would actually get rights.
@@Atlas_Alter and that women and African Americans would actually gain equality.
Jup. That’s probably the saddest part of all of it.
Workers had no rights in Communist countries! Ask anybody who grew up in the USSR or the satellite countries.
@@jerseycitysteveI am from Eastern Europe. Workers has more right during communist era than now in capitalism
@@BokicaK1 I don't believe a word. Any literate person can read about Communist suppression and strict government control of labor unions. As the old Russian joke went: "They pretend to pay us and we pretend to work."
Hey, if you're striking to make an apolitical telling of history ( your own words btw), maybe this wasn't the best title?
How is this a bad title?
They’re speaking of the original title, we changed it as it attracted too much garbage commentary.
@@jamesstutts1681 The original title was "Why US paranoia of leftism was justified".
The title wasn't even careful to use "how" as in an explanation of the events that led for the red scare to gain political strength.
Was suspicion of the civil fights movement justified?
Only to those who consider racism, white supremacy and defense of the 1% justified 😉
--- NO, BUT RACISTS NEED NO EXCUSES . . . to impose christer racism.
Racism is am incorrect idea because the genetic differences between ethnic groups is not signficant enough to justify treating or viewing one inherently worse than the other
Feminism on the other hand is completely different, the damage it's caused to the family unit, culture, and demographic structures needs to be studied in the future so that the ideology never returns again
The amount of people on both sides who are gonna take the title at face value without actually watching the video will be historic for the channel lmao. It neither justifies McCarthyism nor downplays the truth of Soviet spy networks. Ya'll need to learn a little something called "nuance." How can you watch this series without learning that lesson?
Maybe they should’ve considered giving the video a title that accurately reflects the content and nuance that they discuss in the video. Instead they went with some rage-bait designed to get clicks.
Maybe the channel shouldn't use such an inflammatory title which paints all American leftists as pro-Soviet, pro-Stalinist stooges if they wanted to avoid angry comments and antisemitic pro-McCarthyist trolls 🤷.
@manbo1213 that's capitalism baby. They might be a history channel, but they're still a company. Besides, they describe McCarthyism as a witch hunt in the first 30 seconds of the video lmao.
Reddit has posts telling people to brigade the video because they hate the message
@@manbo1213 If finding out communism is a bad thing is rage bait for you than you have a lot bigger things in your life to worry about than a YT video title
Hoover always felt the US came in on the wrong side of the war. He was always happy to note when a suspect was Jewish, and maintained cordial relations with the Gestapo, right up to the declaration of war. When the OSS was created, Hoover insisted that the FBI would be responsible for counter-espionage in the western hemisphere, while OSS and its successor, CIA, would operate in the eastern hemisphere: Eurasia and Africa. Where did the Nazis flee after the war? Mostly to Hoover's bailiwick.
I was born under Pinochet and to this day, even from a upper class moderately right wing family, it has affected my life negatively in many ways, thanks to the "justified paranoia of leftism" of the US. I know the context of this video is within ww2, but either way, the title grossed me out immediately. Who cares if you you just made my day a little worse, I suppose you wanted the controversial reactions and comments, so congrats.
Yes, its vile.
Hard agree. :(
Here in eastern erope, the commies destroyed my country, our economy, we used to be much richer. Fuck them
So all the antisemitism was also correct? The crackdowns on student protesters? For how long was it justified? Was it justified in the Nixon administration? I’m not saying we shouldn’t have been concerned with the sickening authoritarian Soviet regime, but things can be gray, my dude. This channel is generally better than this about this sort of thing.
You are talking about the left wing attacks on Hebrew students on college campuses?
@@ethantaylor9613 They're Polish right-wingers, antisemitism comes with territory to them lol
@@anyoneseenmybicepilostitin2727 I think you’re getting off topic here
Maybe the American people behind these channel don't want to be arrested in January so they're avoiding upsetting the Führer (half-joking)
After all, he did declare "war on the media" and made it clear he would send the DOJ after them...
What a dumb question. Jews and there conspiracies in WW2 didn't exist, Soviet Union and there deep infiltration? Very very real.
Anna looking great as always! Beautiful and brilliant!
Lolled at the firestorn in the comment section. Fight, fight, fight in the comment section, ill grab my popcorn.
Lol Reddit tankies are trying to brigade this video because someone posted it in their subreddit and they can't face reality lmao
Anyone who uses the term "tankie" unironically is clearly engaging in bad faith discourse, and is also probably no older than 16.
Are the tankies (people who supported Stalin’s invasion of Hungary) in the room with us right now?
False. There is nothing on r/socialism or r/communism about this video (1 hour after its release)
Yep I was trolling on r/communism saw the post and came to this video from it
@@equalopportunityoffender1816 Discourse with tankies isn't worth it anyhow.
It's not paranoia if it's justified.
Yeah, that title is a bit of a mess
What happened in China around this time fed into all this as well.
Why do so many of the posts here all read the same? All "This is an L take" It's almost like its the same person posting all the hatred for this channel using different accounts because Reddit got triggered by the title
The same can be said about the people saying the opposite
@@SolarpunkEnjoyer If they were all worded the exact same you might have had a point. Im just asking you take a little time and be more creative in your posts instead of just doing the same one over and over
@@SolarpunkEnjoyer I understand on Reddit you guys all use the same language, but it makes your posts obvious here
They are from reddit
@@PresidentBiIICIinton Except there's nothing about this video on either r/communism or r/socialism 1 hour after it's been posted on YT, despite of what some people (or maybe one person, huh?) are saying.
Thanks!
Thanks for the superchat!
edit: thanks WWT for changing the title into something more neutral and you guys for the likes.
Leftistism is just Marxism taking on a new form.
@@DaveE7492no marxism is leftism taking a new form
Communism has never been tried as far as the leftists are concerned so all of the negative things associated with communism was done by leftists trying to achieve "real communism" it's really that easy.
I just want to point out for those say "it's just a title get over it" I implore you to compare the comments under this video with any other video from the series. You'll notice a suspicious drastic increase in hate speech under this video, people justifying paranoia of the entire American left being "out to get them" to literally calling people pansies, etc. It's not a coincidence, this title unequivocally had a part to play here. Whoever made the title really should've known better & the fact it's still not changed after being up for several hours tells me this isn't an oopsie, this was planned.
In fact if anything, given Elizabeth's actions if you're going to put a clickbait title it'd be more accurate to call this video "how the left saved America from the soviets". Her going to report on the soviet spy rings once she saw it was not pro workers utopia is not Elizabeth realizing "the left" was really a threat, from her perspective what she was doing by reporting to the FBI WAS the leftist decision most aligned with her leftist disposition.
You’re early… that’s the reason for the garbage not having been taken out yet. Many (too many to feel good about the world) of our videos attract comment filth from the extremes, both left and right. But yes, this title served more than even the level headed could handle, so we changed it. Meanwhile, we’ll be advising everyone to take a 💊 and chill. The world will end… eventually, but it won’t be the title of any of our videos that brings about that end. We’re important, but not that important.
@WorldWarTwo I appreciate the amendment & the response! The youtube comments can indeed get pretty nasty around anything conflict related so it's extra appreciated yall distinguished genuine critique from the general noise that is the youtube comment section!
Hate speech isn't a thing in America.
We have the First Amendment, so no one goes to prison the same they they say something like they do in Britain now.
Well well well turns out Americans have no issue with authoritarianism
--- CORRECT . . . just ask the Indians, the Blacks, the Mexes, and the women.
@@marianotorrespico2975just like the Germans in Germany. They don’t care just as long as they’re not in the out group.
Unbelievably based title. It's so rare to see people actually accurately address the very real Soviet Espionage network in the US and how the US was not taking it seriously enough.
Primarily because it was overshadowed by the paranoia created by McCarthyism.
@@rick7424 That isn't true at all. Look up Weather Underground
@@rick7424 That's a lie
@@rick7424 In real life though it wasn't. The left just tried to conceal it
@@metalshredmetal1148 What is? Are you denying the red scare existed or that McCarthysim was wrong?
I’m non communist but not anti communist. Anti communism implies that you want to fight communism actively even if it doesn’t pose a threat to you. On the other hand I wouldn’t want communism to be implemented in countries where most people don’t want it.
The title is so uncharacteristic for this channel, almost like it wants to generate controversy. Well, at least you didn't do it in the weekly episodes. I'll skip this one in disagreement with this clickbaity practice. Love you guys, but quality has always been your standard. This title is just... in poor taste.
Edit: just for clarification, they changed it. It previously said "why the US paranoia of the left was justified". It's way better now.
Go cry about it pansy
Couldn't have said it better myself, love the channel & I'm still looking forward to future videos, but this channels content has performed more than well enough to not justify such a title. It is uncharacteristic of the typical integrity of their videos.
The episode on women's rights in the soviet union was also pretty bad, its clear that they are working in their own bias.
@@FoxWolfWorld
You violate the rules of the channel while defending it. You do not seem like the normal crowd
The title is actually fixed now! Which honestly is better.
In the spirit of unity, why not focus on the things both sides can agree on -- that Elizabeth Bentley is a very handsome woman!
The paranoia was justified
The validity of these justifications in general when applied to people individually is a different story
The problem of Leftist Spying was there, this doesn't excuse behaviors in response which also were morally dubious
Though morals always are subjective
did you just say paranoia is justified? you are very smart
@@Genessyss Paranoia can be justified. You aren't very smart
@Genessyss It was, the spy rings did exist, it wasn't paranoia over nothing
But this doesn't mean that all actions based on this paranoia were also justified
Morality is a fine line that everyone sees somewhere else
@@heylolp9 buhuu, spy rings always existed... The US spyed on the German cancelor a few years ago and they were allies. Just because a spy ring exists does not give the right of a government to destry the lives of thousands of people (more over when that government self proclaims the "country of freedom")
@@heylolp9 Yeah Genessyss is a reddtor. Don't waste your time
We were so worried about communists in America, we neglected to worry about fascists. 😮
what do you mean? america loves fascists, fascists are the most effective anti-communists, that’s why they love propping them up in other countries so much.
We were never that worried about fascist. Even when we were fighting them, we were always more worried about the communists.
Strange because I don't see a lot of fascists promoting fascism in academia in America. I wish I could say the same thing about communism. Guess the Americans weren't worried enough back then...
@@MrGoblin1000 Baloney. Is that why FDR was slobbering all over Stalin at Yalta?
If you thing "fascism" in America is a legitimate concern, then you are hopelessly brainwashed. Not even the most radical left wingers in the media truly believe fascism is a problem.
The key to understanding political sentiments is not to assume the person in question has methodically thought through the logic of political theory and come up with their 'answer." What people do is to align themselves politically with what movements and parties they perceive as reflective of their own personality type. It is far more about psychology than it is about rational historical and socioeconomic dialectics.
That is why Marx is so popular with the envious and resentful.
I'm afraid you summoned right-wing turbo virgins with that title.
You came from r/communism.
You are the turbo virgin you ascribe to combat.
Back to rebbit little one
@@SlanderousSlav There is literally no post about this video on r/communism. You people don't even try anymore.
@@yeedbottomtext7563I don't even have a reddit account, and before you ask i'm not a communist either. I just don't think this channel should attract far right retards to its comment section.
@@equalopportunityoffender1816
I am not "you people", why do you say that anyway. You seem to want to lump me specifically in with some bogey man group which you enjoy to rally against. Either say what you mean or admit you're a spinless worm.
Considering operation paperclip, the USSR theories of capitalism being fascism approaching were also justified?
Sorry, that's not a good approach to the topic.
The US did Operation Paperclip because they wanted their scientific ideas, not their political ones. How do these Soviet theories justify Operation Osoaviakhim?
USSR had their own version of operation paperclip and as a reminder the soviets cooperated with the nazis first.
Given how the UdSSR was far closer to 30s Germany in their approach to oppressing the people and persecuting minorities I would argue that the soviet's got it backwards.
I do not like this Title Charlie, it's smug aura mocks me!
Rage bait title that once again reflects the privileged position of the channel creators. McCarthyism affects me personally, since it lead to my journalist grandfather getting blacklisted for many years. Have a horrible day. Unsubbed.
Audios
Maybe grandpa shouldn't have been a commie
@@nicholasmaximus3412 Nazi.
@@nicholasmaximus3412he wasn't.
@@nicholasmaximus3412 You need sound proof first.. McCarythism is the closest we've come to replicating the Great Purge in 1930's, i'd rather not.
We support women's rights and women's wrongs. A little spying has never hurt anyone right
Except Eric Swalwell who got caught with that Chinese spy
Rare L from this channel, very telling that all the Nazis came out to comment on this one.
There are 30 comments None of them are pronazi you goof
Go away commie, go meet your daddy Stalin
Can other people see these "nazis" are do they only exist in your head?
@@Andy_Sidaris someone doesn't know what a dogwhistle is
Edit: The comment histories of many of the repliers really proves my point
@@equalopportunityoffender1816 I guess you have to be a female dog to hear it
You mean when average people realized their government was chock full of Soviet agents and the "sophisticated" ("academic" ideologues) people thought that was great. No reason to be paranoid!
"Chock full" is incorrect.
"How the ruling class kept up the illusion of democracy to the masses"
My god comments... chill. it's the WW2 guys & gals! Im sure it's just a catchy title with a comprehensive video.
r/communism started to raid the comments
How do the three of you with Spartacus, manage to take such interesting topics and make them sound so boring and uninspired, it's been a decade you've been at it, none of your grandma jokes were ever funny, You've finished WW2, do you think it's about time you've learned from Indy how to make an interesting and coherent video?!
❤ Anna ❤
The commenters who are shocked, deeply shocked that the USSR had agents in the U.S. government are conveniently ignoring that at the time we had at least one agent in the Politburo. All countries spy on all countries. Also, there are some peculiar aspects of U.S. libel law. When she testified before HUAC she had Congressional immunity and could not be sued for anything she said. On two occasions she waived that immunity and talked about two former government employees on television news programs. Both sued her (and the networks) and both won. By the way, the Olmsted biography is a great read.
i don't think anyone is schoked that there were soviet syp in the us gov, at most some may be surprised, however a lot me induced are deeply disappointed by the wording used by WWT tho it's better it's still not neutral, if you don't see what i'm talking about, change the theme from McCarthyism to stalin great purge.
@@nuwua3972 Never saw "Casablanca", did you?
@@charliesmith4072 as of yet, no but i might give it a try as i love old movies.
Tho i have to say that i struggle to see the point you are trying to make, does this 1942-43 movie show any curent day commentator of this comment section ? because i still havent seen anyone who shocked by that "discovery", let alone deeply shocked.
@@nuwua3972 The "shocked" reference is taken from "Casablanca" as a reference to clear hypocrisy. It is obvious when you see the movie.
Stolen cars don't change their title that fast. :)
We can’t clean up the drivel and nonsense commentary that the original attracted fast enough…
@@WorldWarTwo We all knew the comments section would be lit in good ways and in bad. I get why you did it lol
Biggest L I've seen this channel make. Worst take I've seen in a week.
The explaining is about WHY they justified it, not that it was
@@thematthew761 You are talking to someone who thinks communism is a good thing. They are emotional and not thinking rationally.
@@metalshredmetal1148 ye
@metalshredmetal1148 All that assumption from a random take of "L"?
Calm your horses chief, you are more emotional than them rn lmao.
o7
What a L take. Disappointing to see it. Also was killing Malcolm X also justified what about MLK?
Go back to r/socialism or wherever your little raid was organized.
How does Malcolm X and his death at the hands of the NOI have anything to do with the Soviet Union. Mental.
@@SlanderousSlav They are coming here from Reddit posts and so are using the arguments from Reddit that make no sense
@@SlanderousSlav Count the number of posts saying this is an L take. They all use the same language These aren't sincere people.
Take your meds kid
Wow, amazing video and very brave to do this in the academic world, thank you for your courage WWII team.
TH-cam videos are "the academic world?" Really?! Wer wusste? Dorftrottel.
@@haeuptlingaberja4927 More people come to YT for academia than all of the universities in the world combined. You should stick to Reddit posts
@metalshredmetal1148
So, it's the popularity of McDonald's argument, is it? I know nothing about Reddit. You are a horse apple on the road of history.
@@haeuptlingaberja4927 Cry more
@@haeuptlingaberja4927 Remember that most Americans lack access to education and health services. This is their academia. They don't know the inside of a college classroom.
Operation Paperclip baby. 😆😆😆😆
Broke: mCaRtHyiSm is unAmErICaN aNd 1984!11!!1!
Woke: McCarthy was right
Bespoke: McCarthy was wrong, he didn't go far enough, he was in over his head and had no idea how bad things really were
This channel absolutely does not agree with that assessment
Maybe you should watch the video before commenting, because that is absolutely not what they say lmao
@@rick7424 i would put the video in the "Woke" camp. but who says i have to agree with them?
@@alwinlowdham2670 Meaningless buzword meant as bait.
@@rick7424 talk about missing the point. you are not aware of the broke woke bespoke meme format?
I feel justified in unsubscribing.
lol the title is like “yeah maybe this system that lead to millions of people starving is a threat/bad idea” and we got leftoids in the comments bringing up MLK getting shot.
R/communism is directing people here. It's mostly just people using alts to prop up their posts though
The same people who shot mlk now pretend to champion his voice to instead say that it's your gender, sexuality and race that determines what you are. They would hate him today and label him a nazi just for being a reverend.
@@VicePresidentKamala you are the 5th person saying that so i went and cheked but id ont see the post oculd you tell me where you found this info ? because i can't find it anywhere i cheked r/socialim as well but that too was a bust.
Most of the comments I see are talking about how the red scare was justified and based. Like sorry if you actually think that you don't believe in democracy
I'm digging these two beautiful women as the host 😍
The Cold War never ended
Do you condemn AfD though?
No.
@@MemeMaster-bg4mfEmbarrassing.
@@MemeMaster-bg4mf Based
@@dougedsall3317 Do you condemn every communist in history?
@@JimmyTwoTimesJimmyTwoTimesI question anyone who doesn’t
🏴🚩
Lmao no
Thank goodness for the title change, this is more accurate and true to history.
Tankieeees, come out to plaaay-yayyy, TANKIEEEEEES, come out to PLAAAYEE-YAY!!!!
And you all are talking about paranoia?
Love the thumbnail!
Aparently bait becomes believable if the target is stupid enough, lmao.
Indeed, high IQ nazi were civilized in '45 by these 'stupid ones'
:)
As an Orthodox Jew it disgusts and infuriates me that my kinsmen, irreligious and disconnected from Judaism though they be, had any part to play in any of this.
The Rosenbergs made their decisions. They chose to follow an antisemitic ideology than their culture, and history shall remember them as such.
the vaunted "freedom of speech" abrogated by the its most staunch proselytizers.
or.
freedom for me, but not for thee.
Feels bad when the other side uses your own tactics against you doesn't it?
Well I'm definitely supporting this channel now
Great episode can use more of these with that topic, not enough people actually know what the communists methods are and their results on most people was which had to live under them.
Thanks for watching.
Here for the algoooo
Much appreciated!
Unironically a stunning and brave video. Good work WW2 channel
They covered all crimes against humanity during WWII and you call this video brave?
@ yes.
Unbelievable content as always!!
It seems that boy from Winnipeg, William Stephenson did alright for himself after the war.