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How did Russia begin 1450 - Present AP US History Khan Academy.m4a | But they were also known as traders. What you see here are two of the major centers of power and trade in the ninth century. You have Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire, and you have Baghdad, the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate. You also see these major waterways in Eastern Europe, in particular the Dnieper and the Volga Rivers. And so you have these significant trade routes going from the Baltic Sea, either via the Dnieper, crossing the Black Sea to Constantinople, or going from the Baltic to the Volga, all the way to the Caspian Sea, and eventually making their way to Baghdad. And this is well documented. There is archeological evidence of Viking jewelry along these routes. |
How did Russia begin 1450 - Present AP US History Khan Academy.m4a | You also see these major waterways in Eastern Europe, in particular the Dnieper and the Volga Rivers. And so you have these significant trade routes going from the Baltic Sea, either via the Dnieper, crossing the Black Sea to Constantinople, or going from the Baltic to the Volga, all the way to the Caspian Sea, and eventually making their way to Baghdad. And this is well documented. There is archeological evidence of Viking jewelry along these routes. There's evidence of artifacts from these far off lands in Viking territory. And we believe what the Varangians traded were furs that they hunted in this area of Northern Europe. Now the people who lived in this area were known as the Slavs. |
How did Russia begin 1450 - Present AP US History Khan Academy.m4a | There is archeological evidence of Viking jewelry along these routes. There's evidence of artifacts from these far off lands in Viking territory. And we believe what the Varangians traded were furs that they hunted in this area of Northern Europe. Now the people who lived in this area were known as the Slavs. And there were several broad groups of Slavs that you will hear historians refer to. You have the Western Slavs, who you could view as some of the ancestors of modern Poles, Czechs, and Slovaks. You have the Southern Slavs, in what would eventually be referred to as the Balkans. |
How did Russia begin 1450 - Present AP US History Khan Academy.m4a | Now the people who lived in this area were known as the Slavs. And there were several broad groups of Slavs that you will hear historians refer to. You have the Western Slavs, who you could view as some of the ancestors of modern Poles, Czechs, and Slovaks. You have the Southern Slavs, in what would eventually be referred to as the Balkans. And then you have the Eastern Slavs, in what will eventually be Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine. Now to be clear, they weren't unified groups. There were many, many, many, for example, Eastern Slavic tribes. |
How did Russia begin 1450 - Present AP US History Khan Academy.m4a | You have the Southern Slavs, in what would eventually be referred to as the Balkans. And then you have the Eastern Slavs, in what will eventually be Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine. Now to be clear, they weren't unified groups. There were many, many, many, for example, Eastern Slavic tribes. Our best account of the early history, especially in the period as we get into the ninth century, comes from what is known as the Russian Primary Chronicle. And keep in mind, this was written at a much later period. It was written in the early 12th century. |
How did Russia begin 1450 - Present AP US History Khan Academy.m4a | There were many, many, many, for example, Eastern Slavic tribes. Our best account of the early history, especially in the period as we get into the ninth century, comes from what is known as the Russian Primary Chronicle. And keep in mind, this was written at a much later period. It was written in the early 12th century. It is sometimes ascribed to the Kievan monk Nestor. So at previous times, it was known as Nestor's Chronicles. But we don't even have surviving accounts of this. |
How did Russia begin 1450 - Present AP US History Khan Academy.m4a | It was written in the early 12th century. It is sometimes ascribed to the Kievan monk Nestor. So at previous times, it was known as Nestor's Chronicles. But we don't even have surviving accounts of this. We have surviving accounts of copies of this, or what we believe are copies of this. What I'll share is a version of the Russian Primary Chronicle known as the Laurentian Text from 1377. And this is, of course, an English translation. |
How did Russia begin 1450 - Present AP US History Khan Academy.m4a | But we don't even have surviving accounts of this. We have surviving accounts of copies of this, or what we believe are copies of this. What I'll share is a version of the Russian Primary Chronicle known as the Laurentian Text from 1377. And this is, of course, an English translation. It gives us some of the earliest accounts of the relationship between the Varangians and the Eastern Slavs, and how what we have come to identify as the Russian people, and the Ukrainian people, and the Belarusian people, how they got their start. So right before this passage, it talks about how the Varangians tried to get tribute from some of the Eastern Slavic tribes. And it says, the tributaries of the Varangians drove them back beyond the sea, and refusing them further tribute, set out to govern themselves. |
How did Russia begin 1450 - Present AP US History Khan Academy.m4a | And this is, of course, an English translation. It gives us some of the earliest accounts of the relationship between the Varangians and the Eastern Slavs, and how what we have come to identify as the Russian people, and the Ukrainian people, and the Belarusian people, how they got their start. So right before this passage, it talks about how the Varangians tried to get tribute from some of the Eastern Slavic tribes. And it says, the tributaries of the Varangians drove them back beyond the sea, and refusing them further tribute, set out to govern themselves. So they pushed them back beyond what we now call the Baltic Sea, and they decided to govern themselves. There was no law among them. Tribe rose against tribe, and they began to war one against another. |
How did Russia begin 1450 - Present AP US History Khan Academy.m4a | And it says, the tributaries of the Varangians drove them back beyond the sea, and refusing them further tribute, set out to govern themselves. So they pushed them back beyond what we now call the Baltic Sea, and they decided to govern themselves. There was no law among them. Tribe rose against tribe, and they began to war one against another. They said to themselves, let us seek a prince who may rule over us and judge us according to the law. They accordingly went overseas to the Varangian Rus'. So they went back to the Rus', and they said, these warring Eastern Slavic tribes said, our land is great and rich, but there is no order in it. |
How did Russia begin 1450 - Present AP US History Khan Academy.m4a | Tribe rose against tribe, and they began to war one against another. They said to themselves, let us seek a prince who may rule over us and judge us according to the law. They accordingly went overseas to the Varangian Rus'. So they went back to the Rus', and they said, these warring Eastern Slavic tribes said, our land is great and rich, but there is no order in it. Come to rule and reign over us. They thus selected three brothers. The oldest, Rurik, located himself in Novgorod. |
How did Russia begin 1450 - Present AP US History Khan Academy.m4a | So they went back to the Rus', and they said, these warring Eastern Slavic tribes said, our land is great and rich, but there is no order in it. Come to rule and reign over us. They thus selected three brothers. The oldest, Rurik, located himself in Novgorod. Right over here. So Novgorod literally means new town. Gorod means town. |
How did Russia begin 1450 - Present AP US History Khan Academy.m4a | The oldest, Rurik, located himself in Novgorod. Right over here. So Novgorod literally means new town. Gorod means town. The district of Novgorod became known as the land of Rus'. So a lot of really interesting things going on. The Varangians first are trying to get tribute from these tribes, which is a way of saying, tax them, making them subservient to these Vikings. |
How did Russia begin 1450 - Present AP US History Khan Academy.m4a | Gorod means town. The district of Novgorod became known as the land of Rus'. So a lot of really interesting things going on. The Varangians first are trying to get tribute from these tribes, which is a way of saying, tax them, making them subservient to these Vikings. And even though these Eastern Slavs were able to push them back, according to the primary chronicle, they said, hey, we need your help. We want you to rule over us. There's very few times in history where people are asking a foreign group to rule over them. |
How did Russia begin 1450 - Present AP US History Khan Academy.m4a | The Varangians first are trying to get tribute from these tribes, which is a way of saying, tax them, making them subservient to these Vikings. And even though these Eastern Slavs were able to push them back, according to the primary chronicle, they said, hey, we need your help. We want you to rule over us. There's very few times in history where people are asking a foreign group to rule over them. And so this is an interesting question. Remember, this history is written under the rule of one of the descendants of Rurik. So do you think it was actually this way? |
How did Russia begin 1450 - Present AP US History Khan Academy.m4a | There's very few times in history where people are asking a foreign group to rule over them. And so this is an interesting question. Remember, this history is written under the rule of one of the descendants of Rurik. So do you think it was actually this way? Or do you think the Varangians maybe forced themselves on the Eastern Slavs and later created this narrative that they were invited to come in? But according to the primary chronicle, we have Rurik coming from Scandinavia to Novgorod and establishing the land of Rus'. Now the word Rus' is really interesting. |
How did Russia begin 1450 - Present AP US History Khan Academy.m4a | So do you think it was actually this way? Or do you think the Varangians maybe forced themselves on the Eastern Slavs and later created this narrative that they were invited to come in? But according to the primary chronicle, we have Rurik coming from Scandinavia to Novgorod and establishing the land of Rus'. Now the word Rus' is really interesting. Most historians believe it to be the source of what we now say Russia or even Belarus, which means white Rus'. Some historians think it comes from the name of Sweden at the time. Some believe that the Rus' were a subgroup of Varangians, of Vikings. |
How did Russia begin 1450 - Present AP US History Khan Academy.m4a | Now the word Rus' is really interesting. Most historians believe it to be the source of what we now say Russia or even Belarus, which means white Rus'. Some historians think it comes from the name of Sweden at the time. Some believe that the Rus' were a subgroup of Varangians, of Vikings. Some believe that the word is derived from those who row. But either way, the primary chronicle goes on to tell us, from 870 to 879, on his deathbed, Rurik bequeathed his realm to Oleg, who belonged to his kin and entrusted to Oleg's hands his son Igor, for he was very young. And then from 880 to 882, Oleg set himself up as prince in Kiev and declared that it should be the mother of Russian cities. |
How did Russia begin 1450 - Present AP US History Khan Academy.m4a | Some believe that the Rus' were a subgroup of Varangians, of Vikings. Some believe that the word is derived from those who row. But either way, the primary chronicle goes on to tell us, from 870 to 879, on his deathbed, Rurik bequeathed his realm to Oleg, who belonged to his kin and entrusted to Oleg's hands his son Igor, for he was very young. And then from 880 to 882, Oleg set himself up as prince in Kiev and declared that it should be the mother of Russian cities. So Rurik's immediate successor is Oleg. And in the early 880s, he goes and establishes himself in Kiev, expanding the land of Rus'. This is Kiev right over here. |
How did Russia begin 1450 - Present AP US History Khan Academy.m4a | And then from 880 to 882, Oleg set himself up as prince in Kiev and declared that it should be the mother of Russian cities. So Rurik's immediate successor is Oleg. And in the early 880s, he goes and establishes himself in Kiev, expanding the land of Rus'. This is Kiev right over here. And because Oleg was able to take Kiev, the state that emerges from Rurik and Oleg, not only is it known as the land of the Rus', but is often known as the Kievan state and they're often known as the Kievan Rus'. And you can see here how that state expands over the next few hundred years. As we get to the year 900, you have this off-white color and you can see it is in control of both Novgorod and Kiev. |
How did Russia begin 1450 - Present AP US History Khan Academy.m4a | This is Kiev right over here. And because Oleg was able to take Kiev, the state that emerges from Rurik and Oleg, not only is it known as the land of the Rus', but is often known as the Kievan state and they're often known as the Kievan Rus'. And you can see here how that state expands over the next few hundred years. As we get to the year 900, you have this off-white color and you can see it is in control of both Novgorod and Kiev. As you get to 1015, it's taken even more territory and by 1113, which is near the peak of the Kievan state, you see that it has taken control of a good chunk of Eastern Europe. And as the state expands, its character changes as well. As you get to the end of the 10th century, you have a major event in one of Rurik's descendants, Vladimir, often known as Vladimir the Great. |
How did Russia begin 1450 - Present AP US History Khan Academy.m4a | As we get to the year 900, you have this off-white color and you can see it is in control of both Novgorod and Kiev. As you get to 1015, it's taken even more territory and by 1113, which is near the peak of the Kievan state, you see that it has taken control of a good chunk of Eastern Europe. And as the state expands, its character changes as well. As you get to the end of the 10th century, you have a major event in one of Rurik's descendants, Vladimir, often known as Vladimir the Great. He decides to convert to Eastern Orthodox Christianity. And in a future video, I might talk about his rationales or what historians view as his rationales for conversion. And as we will see, over time, and because of not only his conversion, but essentially the conversion of the entire Kievan state, over time, especially with the eventual decline of the Byzantine Empire, what would eventually be Russia becomes a center of Eastern Orthodox Christianity. |
How did Russia begin 1450 - Present AP US History Khan Academy.m4a | As you get to the end of the 10th century, you have a major event in one of Rurik's descendants, Vladimir, often known as Vladimir the Great. He decides to convert to Eastern Orthodox Christianity. And in a future video, I might talk about his rationales or what historians view as his rationales for conversion. And as we will see, over time, and because of not only his conversion, but essentially the conversion of the entire Kievan state, over time, especially with the eventual decline of the Byzantine Empire, what would eventually be Russia becomes a center of Eastern Orthodox Christianity. Now, the Kievan state lasts as an independent state until we get to the 13th century. And for many other videos, you might be guessing what happens in the 13th century. You have Genghis Khan and then his descendants emerge out of Eastern and Central Asia. |
How did Russia begin 1450 - Present AP US History Khan Academy.m4a | And as we will see, over time, and because of not only his conversion, but essentially the conversion of the entire Kievan state, over time, especially with the eventual decline of the Byzantine Empire, what would eventually be Russia becomes a center of Eastern Orthodox Christianity. Now, the Kievan state lasts as an independent state until we get to the 13th century. And for many other videos, you might be guessing what happens in the 13th century. You have Genghis Khan and then his descendants emerge out of Eastern and Central Asia. And in 1240, you have the Mongol invasion, at which point, many of the principalities within the land of Rus become tributaries to the Mongolians. And they would be so for the next roughly 200 years until Ivan the Great comes along and is able to exert independence from the Mongols for the Rus. But we will cover that in a future video. |
Pre Columbian Americas World History Khan Academy.m4a | And we have archeological evidence of humans in Southern Chile as early as 14,500 years ago, and as well in Florida as early as 14,500 years ago. So humans had migrated into and settled in the Americas many, many, many thousands of years ago. And like other places in the world, they followed similar development patterns. The first evidence we have of the development of agriculture in the Americas is about seven to eight or 9,000 years ago. So once again, it coincides with when agriculture, we believe, started to emerge in other parts of the world. And the more archeological evidence we find, we'll probably find dates that go even further back than that. In fact, I've seen some that go eight, 9,000 years ago. |
Pre Columbian Americas World History Khan Academy.m4a | The first evidence we have of the development of agriculture in the Americas is about seven to eight or 9,000 years ago. So once again, it coincides with when agriculture, we believe, started to emerge in other parts of the world. And the more archeological evidence we find, we'll probably find dates that go even further back than that. In fact, I've seen some that go eight, 9,000 years ago. Now one misconception, significant misconception, about the Americas is that when the Europeans colonized, remember Columbus sailing in 1492 looking for the East Indies, and then he bumps into this, he actually doesn't bump into the whole continent, he bumps into an island that's close to the continent. But with that, you start having the beginning of the European colonization of the Americas, roughly the last 500 years. And one misconception that folks often have is, well, it was maybe sparsely populated, mainly by hunter-gatherer nomadic people, and nothing could be further from the truth. |
Pre Columbian Americas World History Khan Academy.m4a | In fact, I've seen some that go eight, 9,000 years ago. Now one misconception, significant misconception, about the Americas is that when the Europeans colonized, remember Columbus sailing in 1492 looking for the East Indies, and then he bumps into this, he actually doesn't bump into the whole continent, he bumps into an island that's close to the continent. But with that, you start having the beginning of the European colonization of the Americas, roughly the last 500 years. And one misconception that folks often have is, well, it was maybe sparsely populated, mainly by hunter-gatherer nomadic people, and nothing could be further from the truth. The modern estimates of the population of the Americas at the time of the European colonization, roughly around 1500, is one is 50 to 100 million people. And to put that in perspective, so that's right around there, that's about 10 to 20% of the world population at that time. The world population at that time was about 500 million people. |
Pre Columbian Americas World History Khan Academy.m4a | And one misconception that folks often have is, well, it was maybe sparsely populated, mainly by hunter-gatherer nomadic people, and nothing could be further from the truth. The modern estimates of the population of the Americas at the time of the European colonization, roughly around 1500, is one is 50 to 100 million people. And to put that in perspective, so that's right around there, that's about 10 to 20% of the world population at that time. The world population at that time was about 500 million people. And given that the Americas is about 1 3rd of the land, if you don't count Antarctica, it's not that different of a population density than the other continents. And we have significant cities that were in place in the pre-Columbian era, in the era before Columbus and the European colonization. For example, you might have heard of the Aztecs, that's really the core, the Mexica people, the Mexica tribe, in many ways, the foundations of the Mexican people pre-European colonization. |
Pre Columbian Americas World History Khan Academy.m4a | The world population at that time was about 500 million people. And given that the Americas is about 1 3rd of the land, if you don't count Antarctica, it's not that different of a population density than the other continents. And we have significant cities that were in place in the pre-Columbian era, in the era before Columbus and the European colonization. For example, you might have heard of the Aztecs, that's really the core, the Mexica people, the Mexica tribe, in many ways, the foundations of the Mexican people pre-European colonization. You might have also be familiar with the Mayan civilization, one of the longest-lasting civilizations in, actually, in history. They're famous for one of the earliest cultures where we have the hieroglyphics, where we have writing. You are probably familiar with the Inca Empire, and yes, that is me on a recent trip. |
Pre Columbian Americas World History Khan Academy.m4a | For example, you might have heard of the Aztecs, that's really the core, the Mexica people, the Mexica tribe, in many ways, the foundations of the Mexican people pre-European colonization. You might have also be familiar with the Mayan civilization, one of the longest-lasting civilizations in, actually, in history. They're famous for one of the earliest cultures where we have the hieroglyphics, where we have writing. You are probably familiar with the Inca Empire, and yes, that is me on a recent trip. And at the time of the Inca Empire, it is believed that it was possibly the largest empire on the Earth at that time, incredibly complex structures and social structures they had. Now, what's often less talked about are things like the Mississippian culture, which was in North America, right over here. The Mississippi River is named for them. |
Pre Columbian Americas World History Khan Academy.m4a | You are probably familiar with the Inca Empire, and yes, that is me on a recent trip. And at the time of the Inca Empire, it is believed that it was possibly the largest empire on the Earth at that time, incredibly complex structures and social structures they had. Now, what's often less talked about are things like the Mississippian culture, which was in North America, right over here. The Mississippi River is named for them. This is their famous city of Cahokia, near St. Louis. And in that peak, it would have 40,000 people in it. Around the world at that time, at the time of the Mississippian culture, there weren't many cities in the world that had 40,000 people. |
Pre Columbian Americas World History Khan Academy.m4a | The Mississippi River is named for them. This is their famous city of Cahokia, near St. Louis. And in that peak, it would have 40,000 people in it. Around the world at that time, at the time of the Mississippian culture, there weren't many cities in the world that had 40,000 people. So it wasn't these just hunter-gatherers and people who were nomadic. There were sophisticated civilizations with sophisticated cultures and dense population centers. And it had also been in place for a long time, similar in time frame to some of the great ancient civilizations that we see in Mesopotamia, the Indus Valley, and in China. |
Pre Columbian Americas World History Khan Academy.m4a | Around the world at that time, at the time of the Mississippian culture, there weren't many cities in the world that had 40,000 people. So it wasn't these just hunter-gatherers and people who were nomadic. There were sophisticated civilizations with sophisticated cultures and dense population centers. And it had also been in place for a long time, similar in time frame to some of the great ancient civilizations that we see in Mesopotamia, the Indus Valley, and in China. For example, the oldest civilization we know of in Mesoamerica is the Olmec civilization, right over here. Here's a few of their artifacts they have. If we go into the Andes, near modern-day Peru, we have the Chavin culture, right over there. |
Pre Columbian Americas World History Khan Academy.m4a | And it had also been in place for a long time, similar in time frame to some of the great ancient civilizations that we see in Mesopotamia, the Indus Valley, and in China. For example, the oldest civilization we know of in Mesoamerica is the Olmec civilization, right over here. Here's a few of their artifacts they have. If we go into the Andes, near modern-day Peru, we have the Chavin culture, right over there. As you can see, a lot of these cultures, at least the ones that I'm putting here, and this is just a sample, I'm sampling some of North America, some around Mesoamerica, and some in the Andes. And then you can even go further back, and you can go to the Coral civilization. And what's really interesting about the Coral civilization is some archaeologists call this the first civilization. |
Pre Columbian Americas World History Khan Academy.m4a | If we go into the Andes, near modern-day Peru, we have the Chavin culture, right over there. As you can see, a lot of these cultures, at least the ones that I'm putting here, and this is just a sample, I'm sampling some of North America, some around Mesoamerica, and some in the Andes. And then you can even go further back, and you can go to the Coral civilization. And what's really interesting about the Coral civilization is some archaeologists call this the first civilization. And it's unclear whether they farmed grains and cereals that we often associate with civilizations. They used their surplus crops to have a more specialized labor force. But they were a maritime culture. |
Pre Columbian Americas World History Khan Academy.m4a | And what's really interesting about the Coral civilization is some archaeologists call this the first civilization. And it's unclear whether they farmed grains and cereals that we often associate with civilizations. They used their surplus crops to have a more specialized labor force. But they were a maritime culture. Even today, the coast of Peru is a significant source of all of the, or a good chunk of the seafood in the world. But a significant culture developed there. These are the remnants of their pyramids. |
Pre Columbian Americas World History Khan Academy.m4a | But they were a maritime culture. Even today, the coast of Peru is a significant source of all of the, or a good chunk of the seafood in the world. But a significant culture developed there. These are the remnants of their pyramids. And they developed, we believe, in the fourth millennium BCE. So this is around the same time as when Egypt first got unified by Menes, or you have the first Sumerians in Mesopotamia. And as far back as them, you have these khipu knots, which many archaeologists view as a form of writing, as a form of record-keeping. |
Pre Columbian Americas World History Khan Academy.m4a | These are the remnants of their pyramids. And they developed, we believe, in the fourth millennium BCE. So this is around the same time as when Egypt first got unified by Menes, or you have the first Sumerians in Mesopotamia. And as far back as them, you have these khipu knots, which many archaeologists view as a form of writing, as a form of record-keeping. And it was even used later on by the Incas. So the big takeaway here is to challenge that misconception that the Americas somehow were not as populations and civilizations like everything else. It was only when the Europeans came in that all of that started to happen. |
Pre Columbian Americas World History Khan Academy.m4a | And as far back as them, you have these khipu knots, which many archaeologists view as a form of writing, as a form of record-keeping. And it was even used later on by the Incas. So the big takeaway here is to challenge that misconception that the Americas somehow were not as populations and civilizations like everything else. It was only when the Europeans came in that all of that started to happen. No, well before the Europeans came in, North and South America had been settled. Agriculture developed at a similar time scale. Significant complex civilizations, writing developed on a similar time scale. |
Pre Columbian Americas World History Khan Academy.m4a | It was only when the Europeans came in that all of that started to happen. No, well before the Europeans came in, North and South America had been settled. Agriculture developed at a similar time scale. Significant complex civilizations, writing developed on a similar time scale. But once you have the European colonization, some people say it was intentional. It was probably a combination of intentional and just diseases that were unfamiliar to the people here. Within 150 years, that 50 to 100 million population, so now we're talking about roughly by 1650, so you move a little bit future forward in time, the population had gone to roughly six million people. |
Pre Columbian Americas World History Khan Academy.m4a | Significant complex civilizations, writing developed on a similar time scale. But once you have the European colonization, some people say it was intentional. It was probably a combination of intentional and just diseases that were unfamiliar to the people here. Within 150 years, that 50 to 100 million population, so now we're talking about roughly by 1650, so you move a little bit future forward in time, the population had gone to roughly six million people. Some people refer to it a genocide. Some people would say it's a combination of an intentional extermination of people plus just inadvertent disease. Whatever it is, this was the significant decline of a complex and diverse set of populations. |
Background of the Carthaginians World History Khan Academy.m4a | discussed in previous videos, how Rome became a republic in 509 BCE. But it's worth noting, and I've done this in other videos, that at that point, Rome was not this vast empire. It was really just in control of Rome itself. But over the next few hundred years, it starts to expand. Rome is a militaristic society. The Roman legions start to exert its influence over more and more of the surrounding people on the Italian peninsula. And we keep going several hundred years until we enter into the third century BCE. |
Background of the Carthaginians World History Khan Academy.m4a | But over the next few hundred years, it starts to expand. Rome is a militaristic society. The Roman legions start to exert its influence over more and more of the surrounding people on the Italian peninsula. And we keep going several hundred years until we enter into the third century BCE. And this is a map of what the Mediterranean at least looks like, roughly as we enter into that third century BCE. And you see, even though that Rome has now exerted its power over most of the Italian peninsula right over here, it was not the dominant power in the Mediterranean. It was really the upstart, the new and growing empire. |
Background of the Carthaginians World History Khan Academy.m4a | And we keep going several hundred years until we enter into the third century BCE. And this is a map of what the Mediterranean at least looks like, roughly as we enter into that third century BCE. And you see, even though that Rome has now exerted its power over most of the Italian peninsula right over here, it was not the dominant power in the Mediterranean. It was really the upstart, the new and growing empire. There were other significant empires. You see here the remnants of Alexander the Great's empire, his successors, each now with their own significant empire, and in particular, Ptolemaic Egypt and Seleucid Persia, which had control over much of the Middle East. And the other empire that you see here in blue was the Carthaginian Empire. |
Background of the Carthaginians World History Khan Academy.m4a | It was really the upstart, the new and growing empire. There were other significant empires. You see here the remnants of Alexander the Great's empire, his successors, each now with their own significant empire, and in particular, Ptolemaic Egypt and Seleucid Persia, which had control over much of the Middle East. And the other empire that you see here in blue was the Carthaginian Empire. And as we will see, in the third and second centuries BCE, Rome and Carthage are going to come at loggerheads. And Rome eventually is going to overthrow Carthage as the dominant empire in the Mediterranean. But you can see in this map right over here, entering into the third century BCE, Carthage that you see in blue was a significant empire. |
Background of the Carthaginians World History Khan Academy.m4a | And the other empire that you see here in blue was the Carthaginian Empire. And as we will see, in the third and second centuries BCE, Rome and Carthage are going to come at loggerheads. And Rome eventually is going to overthrow Carthage as the dominant empire in the Mediterranean. But you can see in this map right over here, entering into the third century BCE, Carthage that you see in blue was a significant empire. So the question is, who were these Carthaginians? So the answer is that they were Phoenicians. And another answer is even the Phoenicians did not call themselves Phoenicians, but to understand where all of this came from, we have to go back 5,000 years ago, 5,000 years before, roughly 5,000 years before now, around 3,000 BCE, where you have these city states like Tyre and Sidon. |
Background of the Carthaginians World History Khan Academy.m4a | But you can see in this map right over here, entering into the third century BCE, Carthage that you see in blue was a significant empire. So the question is, who were these Carthaginians? So the answer is that they were Phoenicians. And another answer is even the Phoenicians did not call themselves Phoenicians, but to understand where all of this came from, we have to go back 5,000 years ago, 5,000 years before, roughly 5,000 years before now, around 3,000 BCE, where you have these city states like Tyre and Sidon. I don't know if you can see those well. Let me rewrite it. That is Tyre. |
Background of the Carthaginians World History Khan Academy.m4a | And another answer is even the Phoenicians did not call themselves Phoenicians, but to understand where all of this came from, we have to go back 5,000 years ago, 5,000 years before, roughly 5,000 years before now, around 3,000 BCE, where you have these city states like Tyre and Sidon. I don't know if you can see those well. Let me rewrite it. That is Tyre. This is Sidon. Now this map is obviously a map of the third century BCE. But if you go back to when these cities were founded, in fact, before they were, I guess you could say, put under the influence of Nebuchadnezzar and then Achaemenid Persia, these were independent city states. |
Background of the Carthaginians World History Khan Academy.m4a | That is Tyre. This is Sidon. Now this map is obviously a map of the third century BCE. But if you go back to when these cities were founded, in fact, before they were, I guess you could say, put under the influence of Nebuchadnezzar and then Achaemenid Persia, these were independent city states. And they're actually existing cities in modern-day Lebanon. And in this region, then the leading cities were Tyre and Sidon, you had a group of people that would later be known as the Phoenicians. And the Phoenicians were famous for many things. |
Background of the Carthaginians World History Khan Academy.m4a | But if you go back to when these cities were founded, in fact, before they were, I guess you could say, put under the influence of Nebuchadnezzar and then Achaemenid Persia, these were independent city states. And they're actually existing cities in modern-day Lebanon. And in this region, then the leading cities were Tyre and Sidon, you had a group of people that would later be known as the Phoenicians. And the Phoenicians were famous for many things. So they were famous as traders, as really shipbuilders and traders. And they colonized much of, or large segments of the coastline of the Mediterranean. And this is going back thousands and thousands of years. |
Background of the Carthaginians World History Khan Academy.m4a | And the Phoenicians were famous for many things. So they were famous as traders, as really shipbuilders and traders. And they colonized much of, or large segments of the coastline of the Mediterranean. And this is going back thousands and thousands of years. And Carthage was one of those colonies. It was established in the ninth century, this is what modern-day historians believe, sometime between 846 and 813 BCE. It was a Phoenician colony. |
Background of the Carthaginians World History Khan Academy.m4a | And this is going back thousands and thousands of years. And Carthage was one of those colonies. It was established in the ninth century, this is what modern-day historians believe, sometime between 846 and 813 BCE. It was a Phoenician colony. It was set up as really a trading post for the Tyrians right over here. And the reason why they're called Phoenicians, they didn't call themselves Phoenicians, these Phoenician people. They were called that by the Greeks and later the Romans, because they were famous for trading their purple dye. |
Background of the Carthaginians World History Khan Academy.m4a | It was a Phoenician colony. It was set up as really a trading post for the Tyrians right over here. And the reason why they're called Phoenicians, they didn't call themselves Phoenicians, these Phoenician people. They were called that by the Greeks and later the Romans, because they were famous for trading their purple dye. So they had their purple dye, which they got, which was derived from mollusk mucus that they were able to get from the sea, as great sea traders and shipbuilders. So they had this purple dye. And the term for this purple dye, it was related to the word Panican or Phoenician, and I know I'm not pronouncing it well. |
Background of the Carthaginians World History Khan Academy.m4a | They were called that by the Greeks and later the Romans, because they were famous for trading their purple dye. So they had their purple dye, which they got, which was derived from mollusk mucus that they were able to get from the sea, as great sea traders and shipbuilders. So they had this purple dye. And the term for this purple dye, it was related to the word Panican or Phoenician, and I know I'm not pronouncing it well. And so the Greeks and the Romans of the time called them the Phoenician people for their purple dye. Now Carthage, as we will see in probably the next video, Carthage has a series of wars with Rome, which are called the Punic Wars. And I've always wondered, where does that term Punic come from? |
Background of the Carthaginians World History Khan Academy.m4a | And the term for this purple dye, it was related to the word Panican or Phoenician, and I know I'm not pronouncing it well. And so the Greeks and the Romans of the time called them the Phoenician people for their purple dye. Now Carthage, as we will see in probably the next video, Carthage has a series of wars with Rome, which are called the Punic Wars. And I've always wondered, where does that term Punic come from? Why isn't it called the Carthaginian Wars or the Roman-Carthaginian Wars? And that's because the Carthaginians were referred to their origins as coming from Phoenicia, and the Latin term for that was Ponicus, once again related to the Greek word for that purple dye. So Ponicus became Punic, and so the idea of Phoenician, Phoenician, these are all related words to each other. |
Background of the Carthaginians World History Khan Academy.m4a | And I've always wondered, where does that term Punic come from? Why isn't it called the Carthaginian Wars or the Roman-Carthaginian Wars? And that's because the Carthaginians were referred to their origins as coming from Phoenicia, and the Latin term for that was Ponicus, once again related to the Greek word for that purple dye. So Ponicus became Punic, and so the idea of Phoenician, Phoenician, these are all related words to each other. So when we're talking about the Punic Wars, these are the Romans, or this is the modern-day English, the Romans would have said Ponicus, these wars referring to the wars with Carthage who are descendant from the Phoenicians. Now, just as a side note, another thing that you might be wondering about is hey, this word Phoenician, it looks familiar. It looks like phonetic, like the phonetic alphabet, and that was the other famous contribution of the Phoenicians is that our alphabet, the idea of our alphabet was derived from the phonetic alphabet of the Phoenicians. |
Background of the Carthaginians World History Khan Academy.m4a | So Ponicus became Punic, and so the idea of Phoenician, Phoenician, these are all related words to each other. So when we're talking about the Punic Wars, these are the Romans, or this is the modern-day English, the Romans would have said Ponicus, these wars referring to the wars with Carthage who are descendant from the Phoenicians. Now, just as a side note, another thing that you might be wondering about is hey, this word Phoenician, it looks familiar. It looks like phonetic, like the phonetic alphabet, and that was the other famous contribution of the Phoenicians is that our alphabet, the idea of our alphabet was derived from the phonetic alphabet of the Phoenicians. So the Phoenicians did many, many, many things. They settled much, they were one of the real naval powers of the Mediterranean going back thousands and thousands of years. By the time we get to the Middle Roman Republic, we're in the third century BCE, we're in the 200s BCE, the ancient cities of Tyre and Sedan, they're now part of the Seleucid Empire. |
Background of the Carthaginians World History Khan Academy.m4a | It looks like phonetic, like the phonetic alphabet, and that was the other famous contribution of the Phoenicians is that our alphabet, the idea of our alphabet was derived from the phonetic alphabet of the Phoenicians. So the Phoenicians did many, many, many things. They settled much, they were one of the real naval powers of the Mediterranean going back thousands and thousands of years. By the time we get to the Middle Roman Republic, we're in the third century BCE, we're in the 200s BCE, the ancient cities of Tyre and Sedan, they're now part of the Seleucid Empire. The Seleucid Empire was one of the successor empires of Alexander the Great, but their offspring, so to speak, Carthage, is now a dominant power in the Mediterranean. And with Rome starting to exert its might, although it has very powerful armies, it does not at this point have a very powerful navy. But as we will see, as we get to 264 BCE, these two great powers in the Mediterranean start to come into a little bit of conflict. |
Archdukes, Cynicism, and World War I Crash Course World History #36.m4a | World War I changed our outlook. It normalized cynicism and irony, which I think you'll agree are the dominant lenses for describing our world today. Basically, I'd argue that World War I helped make possible everything from The Simpsons to intentionally unattractive mustaches. Mr. Green, Mr. Green, are you referring to me? Oh, me from the past. You're an embarrassment to our family, also to all our other selves. Most people think of World War I as a tragedy, because it didn't need to happen, and it didn't accomplish much except for creating social and economic conditions that made World War II possible. |
Archdukes, Cynicism, and World War I Crash Course World History #36.m4a | Mr. Green, Mr. Green, are you referring to me? Oh, me from the past. You're an embarrassment to our family, also to all our other selves. Most people think of World War I as a tragedy, because it didn't need to happen, and it didn't accomplish much except for creating social and economic conditions that made World War II possible. So when we're talking about causes of the war, inevitably we're also assigning blame. The immediate cause was, of course, the assassination in Sarajevo of the Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand on June 28, 1914 by a Bosnian-Serb nationalist named Gavrilo Princip. Quick aside, it's worth noting that the first big war of the 20th century began with an act of terrorism. |
Archdukes, Cynicism, and World War I Crash Course World History #36.m4a | Most people think of World War I as a tragedy, because it didn't need to happen, and it didn't accomplish much except for creating social and economic conditions that made World War II possible. So when we're talking about causes of the war, inevitably we're also assigning blame. The immediate cause was, of course, the assassination in Sarajevo of the Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand on June 28, 1914 by a Bosnian-Serb nationalist named Gavrilo Princip. Quick aside, it's worth noting that the first big war of the 20th century began with an act of terrorism. So Franz Ferdinand wasn't particularly well-liked by his uncle, the Emperor Franz Joseph. Now that is a mustache. But even so, the assassination led Austria to issue an ultimatum to Serbia, whereupon Serbia accepted some, but not all, of Austria's demands, leading Austria to declare war against Serbia. |
Archdukes, Cynicism, and World War I Crash Course World History #36.m4a | Quick aside, it's worth noting that the first big war of the 20th century began with an act of terrorism. So Franz Ferdinand wasn't particularly well-liked by his uncle, the Emperor Franz Joseph. Now that is a mustache. But even so, the assassination led Austria to issue an ultimatum to Serbia, whereupon Serbia accepted some, but not all, of Austria's demands, leading Austria to declare war against Serbia. And then Russia, due to its alliance with the Serbs, mobilized its army. Germany, because it had an alliance with Austria, told Russia to stop mobilizing, which Russia failed to do. So then Germany mobilized its own army, declared war on Russia, cemented an alliance with the Ottomans, and then declared war on France, because, you know, France. |
Archdukes, Cynicism, and World War I Crash Course World History #36.m4a | But even so, the assassination led Austria to issue an ultimatum to Serbia, whereupon Serbia accepted some, but not all, of Austria's demands, leading Austria to declare war against Serbia. And then Russia, due to its alliance with the Serbs, mobilized its army. Germany, because it had an alliance with Austria, told Russia to stop mobilizing, which Russia failed to do. So then Germany mobilized its own army, declared war on Russia, cemented an alliance with the Ottomans, and then declared war on France, because, you know, France. Germany's war plan, the Schlieffen Plan, required that it invade France in the most expedient way possible, which as you can see is via Belgium. And Great Britain was a friend of Belgium, I mean as much as anyone can be a friend of Belgium, and so they declared war on Germany. So by August 4th, all the major powers of Europe were at war with each other. |
Archdukes, Cynicism, and World War I Crash Course World History #36.m4a | So then Germany mobilized its own army, declared war on Russia, cemented an alliance with the Ottomans, and then declared war on France, because, you know, France. Germany's war plan, the Schlieffen Plan, required that it invade France in the most expedient way possible, which as you can see is via Belgium. And Great Britain was a friend of Belgium, I mean as much as anyone can be a friend of Belgium, and so they declared war on Germany. So by August 4th, all the major powers of Europe were at war with each other. By the end of the month, Japan, honoring its alliance with Britain, would be at war with Germany and Austria as well. When all was said and done, counting colonies and spheres of influence, the world map would eventually look like this. You'll never guess who wins. |
Archdukes, Cynicism, and World War I Crash Course World History #36.m4a | So by August 4th, all the major powers of Europe were at war with each other. By the end of the month, Japan, honoring its alliance with Britain, would be at war with Germany and Austria as well. When all was said and done, counting colonies and spheres of influence, the world map would eventually look like this. You'll never guess who wins. So there were many opportunities not to mobilize and declare war, none of which were taken. Some blamed the web of alliances itself, which is what Woodrow Wilson wanted to fix with the League of Nations. Some blamed Russia, the first big country to mobilize. |
Archdukes, Cynicism, and World War I Crash Course World History #36.m4a | You'll never guess who wins. So there were many opportunities not to mobilize and declare war, none of which were taken. Some blamed the web of alliances itself, which is what Woodrow Wilson wanted to fix with the League of Nations. Some blamed Russia, the first big country to mobilize. Some blamed Germany for the inflexibility of the Schlieffen Plan. Leninists claimed the war grew out of imperialism and was fueled by capitalist rivalries. And others claimed it was a war between Germany's radical modernism and Britain's traditional conservatism. |
Archdukes, Cynicism, and World War I Crash Course World History #36.m4a | Some blamed Russia, the first big country to mobilize. Some blamed Germany for the inflexibility of the Schlieffen Plan. Leninists claimed the war grew out of imperialism and was fueled by capitalist rivalries. And others claimed it was a war between Germany's radical modernism and Britain's traditional conservatism. But if I had to assign blame, I'd go with the alliance system and the cultural belief that war was, in general, good for nations. War helped define who was them and who was us, and doing that strengthened the idea of us. And in World War I, war was perceived to be necessary and often even glorious. |
Archdukes, Cynicism, and World War I Crash Course World History #36.m4a | And others claimed it was a war between Germany's radical modernism and Britain's traditional conservatism. But if I had to assign blame, I'd go with the alliance system and the cultural belief that war was, in general, good for nations. War helped define who was them and who was us, and doing that strengthened the idea of us. And in World War I, war was perceived to be necessary and often even glorious. The trench warfare on the Western Front is most famous for its brutal futility. Great Britain and France on one side, Germany on the other, with no man's land in between. World War I was a writer's war, and there's a lot of metaphorical resonance in living men digging holes where they would in time die. |
Archdukes, Cynicism, and World War I Crash Course World History #36.m4a | And in World War I, war was perceived to be necessary and often even glorious. The trench warfare on the Western Front is most famous for its brutal futility. Great Britain and France on one side, Germany on the other, with no man's land in between. World War I was a writer's war, and there's a lot of metaphorical resonance in living men digging holes where they would in time die. The lines of trenches on the Western Front covered only about 400 miles as the crow flies, but because of the endless zigzagging, the trenches themselves may have run as much as 25,000 miles. But the stalemate of trench warfare wasn't seen on every front. Especially at the beginning of the war, there was a lot of offensive movement, especially in the initial German strikes. |
Archdukes, Cynicism, and World War I Crash Course World History #36.m4a | World War I was a writer's war, and there's a lot of metaphorical resonance in living men digging holes where they would in time die. The lines of trenches on the Western Front covered only about 400 miles as the crow flies, but because of the endless zigzagging, the trenches themselves may have run as much as 25,000 miles. But the stalemate of trench warfare wasn't seen on every front. Especially at the beginning of the war, there was a lot of offensive movement, especially in the initial German strikes. Especially on the Eastern Front, where the Germans were very successful against the Russians, who had a large but pretty hapless army. Also for the blessed few of you who sat through all of Lawrence of Arabia, you'll remember that T.E. Lawrence's exploits took place in the context of World War I, with the British battling the Ottomans. |
Archdukes, Cynicism, and World War I Crash Course World History #36.m4a | Especially at the beginning of the war, there was a lot of offensive movement, especially in the initial German strikes. Especially on the Eastern Front, where the Germans were very successful against the Russians, who had a large but pretty hapless army. Also for the blessed few of you who sat through all of Lawrence of Arabia, you'll remember that T.E. Lawrence's exploits took place in the context of World War I, with the British battling the Ottomans. This brings up an important point. World War I featured combatants from around the world. Britain's army especially included soldiers from India, Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada, who was just happy to be invited. |
Archdukes, Cynicism, and World War I Crash Course World History #36.m4a | Lawrence's exploits took place in the context of World War I, with the British battling the Ottomans. This brings up an important point. World War I featured combatants from around the world. Britain's army especially included soldiers from India, Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada, who was just happy to be invited. Africans also served with the French, and for a lot of these people, their experiences helped build nationalist movements when the survivors returned home after the war. That's about as close as we get to a silver lining. The war itself was incredibly destructive. |
Archdukes, Cynicism, and World War I Crash Course World History #36.m4a | Britain's army especially included soldiers from India, Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada, who was just happy to be invited. Africans also served with the French, and for a lot of these people, their experiences helped build nationalist movements when the survivors returned home after the war. That's about as close as we get to a silver lining. The war itself was incredibly destructive. Over 15 million people were killed and over 20 million wounded. In France, 13.3% of the male population between the age of 15 and 49 died in the war. The war also saw a lot of civilians die, especially in the Ottoman Empire, where more than 2 million of the 3 million people killed were non-combatants. |
Archdukes, Cynicism, and World War I Crash Course World History #36.m4a | The war itself was incredibly destructive. Over 15 million people were killed and over 20 million wounded. In France, 13.3% of the male population between the age of 15 and 49 died in the war. The war also saw a lot of civilians die, especially in the Ottoman Empire, where more than 2 million of the 3 million people killed were non-combatants. But like so many other wars, World War I's most efficient killer was disease. Stupid disease, always hijacking history. Dysentery, typhus, and cholera were rampant, and otherwise minor injuries would prove fatal when gangrene set in. |
Archdukes, Cynicism, and World War I Crash Course World History #36.m4a | The war also saw a lot of civilians die, especially in the Ottoman Empire, where more than 2 million of the 3 million people killed were non-combatants. But like so many other wars, World War I's most efficient killer was disease. Stupid disease, always hijacking history. Dysentery, typhus, and cholera were rampant, and otherwise minor injuries would prove fatal when gangrene set in. I mean, 25% of arm wounds among German soldiers were fatal. And that's not even to mention the famous influenza epidemic that broke out toward the end of the war, which killed more than three times as many people as the war itself. The main reason the war was so deadly was the combination of new technology and outdated tactics. |
Archdukes, Cynicism, and World War I Crash Course World History #36.m4a | Dysentery, typhus, and cholera were rampant, and otherwise minor injuries would prove fatal when gangrene set in. I mean, 25% of arm wounds among German soldiers were fatal. And that's not even to mention the famous influenza epidemic that broke out toward the end of the war, which killed more than three times as many people as the war itself. The main reason the war was so deadly was the combination of new technology and outdated tactics. While we may think about tanks, airplanes, and poison gas, all of which made their debut in the First World War, the two most devastating technologies were American. Machine guns and barbed wire. Attempting to march in lines toward an enemy's trench, soldiers of both sides were mowed down by machine gun fire. |
Archdukes, Cynicism, and World War I Crash Course World History #36.m4a | The main reason the war was so deadly was the combination of new technology and outdated tactics. While we may think about tanks, airplanes, and poison gas, all of which made their debut in the First World War, the two most devastating technologies were American. Machine guns and barbed wire. Attempting to march in lines toward an enemy's trench, soldiers of both sides were mowed down by machine gun fire. According to one German machine gunner at the Battle of Somme in 1916, the British officers went in front. I noticed one of them walking calmly, carrying a walking stick. When we started firing, we just had to load and reload. |
Archdukes, Cynicism, and World War I Crash Course World History #36.m4a | Attempting to march in lines toward an enemy's trench, soldiers of both sides were mowed down by machine gun fire. According to one German machine gunner at the Battle of Somme in 1916, the British officers went in front. I noticed one of them walking calmly, carrying a walking stick. When we started firing, we just had to load and reload. They went down in their hundreds. You didn't have to aim. We just fired into them. |
Archdukes, Cynicism, and World War I Crash Course World History #36.m4a | When we started firing, we just had to load and reload. They went down in their hundreds. You didn't have to aim. We just fired into them. At the Somme, the British lost 60,000 men in the first day of fighting. Remember the old colonialist verse, whatever happens, we have got the maxim gun and they have not? Yeah, well, now everybody had machine guns. |
Archdukes, Cynicism, and World War I Crash Course World History #36.m4a | We just fired into them. At the Somme, the British lost 60,000 men in the first day of fighting. Remember the old colonialist verse, whatever happens, we have got the maxim gun and they have not? Yeah, well, now everybody had machine guns. One of the things we try to remember here at Crash Course is that people both make history and are made by it. World War I brings this fact into stark relief because we know so much about the soldiers who fought in it, and how they wrote about the war really changed our relationship with systemic violence. For most soldiers, there was nothing glamorous or heroic about this war. |
Archdukes, Cynicism, and World War I Crash Course World History #36.m4a | Yeah, well, now everybody had machine guns. One of the things we try to remember here at Crash Course is that people both make history and are made by it. World War I brings this fact into stark relief because we know so much about the soldiers who fought in it, and how they wrote about the war really changed our relationship with systemic violence. For most soldiers, there was nothing glamorous or heroic about this war. For the British, for example, the trenches were two things above all, wet and smelly. The dampness came from the fact that the British trenches were in the wettest part of Flanders. The smell was mainly decomposing flesh. |
Archdukes, Cynicism, and World War I Crash Course World History #36.m4a | For most soldiers, there was nothing glamorous or heroic about this war. For the British, for example, the trenches were two things above all, wet and smelly. The dampness came from the fact that the British trenches were in the wettest part of Flanders. The smell was mainly decomposing flesh. Nothing glorious about that. On the upside, soldiers were at least rarely hungry, and there was a lot of food from home, which is worth underscoring because it reminds us that home wasn't very far away. Even for the British, at their closest, the front was only 70 miles from England. |
Archdukes, Cynicism, and World War I Crash Course World History #36.m4a | The smell was mainly decomposing flesh. Nothing glorious about that. On the upside, soldiers were at least rarely hungry, and there was a lot of food from home, which is worth underscoring because it reminds us that home wasn't very far away. Even for the British, at their closest, the front was only 70 miles from England. They could read newspapers from London one day later than Londoners could. While going over the top – Stan, no puns in this episode! Right, while going over the top of the trench to cross no man's land and attack the enemy trench is what lights our romantic imagination, most soldiers' lives were dominated by the fear of shelling. |
Archdukes, Cynicism, and World War I Crash Course World History #36.m4a | Even for the British, at their closest, the front was only 70 miles from England. They could read newspapers from London one day later than Londoners could. While going over the top – Stan, no puns in this episode! Right, while going over the top of the trench to cross no man's land and attack the enemy trench is what lights our romantic imagination, most soldiers' lives were dominated by the fear of shelling. According to a journal published by French soldiers, there's nothing more horrible in war than being shelled. It's a form of torture that the soldier can't see the end of. Suddenly, he's afraid of being buried alive. |
Archdukes, Cynicism, and World War I Crash Course World History #36.m4a | Right, while going over the top of the trench to cross no man's land and attack the enemy trench is what lights our romantic imagination, most soldiers' lives were dominated by the fear of shelling. According to a journal published by French soldiers, there's nothing more horrible in war than being shelled. It's a form of torture that the soldier can't see the end of. Suddenly, he's afraid of being buried alive. The man stays put in his hole, helplessly waiting for, hoping for, a miracle. Although soldiers then, as now, lived under conditions it's difficult to imagine, there was more than the threat of death to distress them. According to German officer Ernst Jünger, it was not danger, however extreme, that depresses the spirit of men so much as over-fatigue and wretched conditions. |
Archdukes, Cynicism, and World War I Crash Course World History #36.m4a | Suddenly, he's afraid of being buried alive. The man stays put in his hole, helplessly waiting for, hoping for, a miracle. Although soldiers then, as now, lived under conditions it's difficult to imagine, there was more than the threat of death to distress them. According to German officer Ernst Jünger, it was not danger, however extreme, that depresses the spirit of men so much as over-fatigue and wretched conditions. And for most soldiers, especially the British and French, the pay for their efforts was pitiful, so why did they even keep fighting? Duty, nationalism, loyalty to comrades, and fear of being shot for desertion all played a role, but so did alcohol. As one British medical officer said, had it not been for the rum ration, I do not think we should have won the war. |
Archdukes, Cynicism, and World War I Crash Course World History #36.m4a | According to German officer Ernst Jünger, it was not danger, however extreme, that depresses the spirit of men so much as over-fatigue and wretched conditions. And for most soldiers, especially the British and French, the pay for their efforts was pitiful, so why did they even keep fighting? Duty, nationalism, loyalty to comrades, and fear of being shot for desertion all played a role, but so did alcohol. As one British medical officer said, had it not been for the rum ration, I do not think we should have won the war. Ernst Jünger also remarked on the propensity of soldiers to drink their troubles away. Though ten out of twelve had fallen still, the last two, as sure as death, were to be found on the first evening of rest over the bottle, drinking a silent health to their dead companions. Oh, it's time for the open letter? |
Archdukes, Cynicism, and World War I Crash Course World History #36.m4a | As one British medical officer said, had it not been for the rum ration, I do not think we should have won the war. Ernst Jünger also remarked on the propensity of soldiers to drink their troubles away. Though ten out of twelve had fallen still, the last two, as sure as death, were to be found on the first evening of rest over the bottle, drinking a silent health to their dead companions. Oh, it's time for the open letter? Whew! An open letter to alcohol. I wonder what's in today's secret compartment. |
Archdukes, Cynicism, and World War I Crash Course World History #36.m4a | Oh, it's time for the open letter? Whew! An open letter to alcohol. I wonder what's in today's secret compartment. Oh, shocking, it's a golf club. And an actual disco golf ball made by a Crash Course fan. Dear Alcohol, Oh, that's... Like disease, you've been a key figure in human history, despite not actually being a person. |
Archdukes, Cynicism, and World War I Crash Course World History #36.m4a | I wonder what's in today's secret compartment. Oh, shocking, it's a golf club. And an actual disco golf ball made by a Crash Course fan. Dear Alcohol, Oh, that's... Like disease, you've been a key figure in human history, despite not actually being a person. And for millennia, you've played an important role in war, often helping soldiers do their duty, often distracting them from it. But here's the thing, Alcohol, in my experience, which is extensive, if you need to be drunk to do something, you should maybe not do the thing. Unless of course the thing is golf. |
Archdukes, Cynicism, and World War I Crash Course World History #36.m4a | Dear Alcohol, Oh, that's... Like disease, you've been a key figure in human history, despite not actually being a person. And for millennia, you've played an important role in war, often helping soldiers do their duty, often distracting them from it. But here's the thing, Alcohol, in my experience, which is extensive, if you need to be drunk to do something, you should maybe not do the thing. Unless of course the thing is golf. Best wishes, John Green. So what did we take away from the so-called Great War? Well, not much. |
Archdukes, Cynicism, and World War I Crash Course World History #36.m4a | Unless of course the thing is golf. Best wishes, John Green. So what did we take away from the so-called Great War? Well, not much. Let's go to the Thought Bubble. The Treaty of Versailles, which ended World War I, fixed the blame for the war on Germany, which proved ruinous to the German economy and destructive to its political institutions, and unless you're really nostalgic for totalitarian communism, you've got to say that World War I was also a disaster for Russia, because it facilitated the rise of the Bolsheviks. The Russian Revolution had two phases. |
Archdukes, Cynicism, and World War I Crash Course World History #36.m4a | Well, not much. Let's go to the Thought Bubble. The Treaty of Versailles, which ended World War I, fixed the blame for the war on Germany, which proved ruinous to the German economy and destructive to its political institutions, and unless you're really nostalgic for totalitarian communism, you've got to say that World War I was also a disaster for Russia, because it facilitated the rise of the Bolsheviks. The Russian Revolution had two phases. In the first phase, called the February Revolution, because get this, it occurred in February, army mutinies and civil unrest forced the overthrow of the Romanov dynasty, which had been in power in Russia since, like, forever, to use a proper historian term. The monarchy was replaced by a provisional government, led eventually by Alexander Kerensky, who made the terrible decision to keep Russia in the war, which led to the October Revolution, so-called because it happened in October, in which Vladimir Lenin and his Bolsheviks took over, famously promising the Russian people peace, bread, and land, to which the Russian people responded, hey, you just named three of our favorite things. Lenin's first big achievement was signing a separate peace with Germany and getting Russia out of the war, which was helpful to him since he needed to fight a civil war that wouldn't end until 1922. |
Archdukes, Cynicism, and World War I Crash Course World History #36.m4a | The Russian Revolution had two phases. In the first phase, called the February Revolution, because get this, it occurred in February, army mutinies and civil unrest forced the overthrow of the Romanov dynasty, which had been in power in Russia since, like, forever, to use a proper historian term. The monarchy was replaced by a provisional government, led eventually by Alexander Kerensky, who made the terrible decision to keep Russia in the war, which led to the October Revolution, so-called because it happened in October, in which Vladimir Lenin and his Bolsheviks took over, famously promising the Russian people peace, bread, and land, to which the Russian people responded, hey, you just named three of our favorite things. Lenin's first big achievement was signing a separate peace with Germany and getting Russia out of the war, which was helpful to him since he needed to fight a civil war that wouldn't end until 1922. This might have helped Germany, too, except the US entered the war on the side of the British and the French, which led to another outcome of the war, increased geopolitical influence for the US. The US was already becoming a major economic power, and being able to avoid the destruction and loss of manpower associated with World War I certainly didn't hurt. The war helped catapult the US from being a debtor nation to a creditor one, and Wilson's leading role in negotiations at Versailles, even though he didn't actually get what he wanted, made America a big player on the world stage for the first time. |
Archdukes, Cynicism, and World War I Crash Course World History #36.m4a | Lenin's first big achievement was signing a separate peace with Germany and getting Russia out of the war, which was helpful to him since he needed to fight a civil war that wouldn't end until 1922. This might have helped Germany, too, except the US entered the war on the side of the British and the French, which led to another outcome of the war, increased geopolitical influence for the US. The US was already becoming a major economic power, and being able to avoid the destruction and loss of manpower associated with World War I certainly didn't hurt. The war helped catapult the US from being a debtor nation to a creditor one, and Wilson's leading role in negotiations at Versailles, even though he didn't actually get what he wanted, made America a big player on the world stage for the first time. Thanks, Thought Bubble. But just so we don't get completely Eurocentric, another major outcome of the war was the end of the Ottoman Empire and the emergence of the nation-state of Turkey. The rest of the world saw some change, too, but not much for the better. |
Archdukes, Cynicism, and World War I Crash Course World History #36.m4a | The war helped catapult the US from being a debtor nation to a creditor one, and Wilson's leading role in negotiations at Versailles, even though he didn't actually get what he wanted, made America a big player on the world stage for the first time. Thanks, Thought Bubble. But just so we don't get completely Eurocentric, another major outcome of the war was the end of the Ottoman Empire and the emergence of the nation-state of Turkey. The rest of the world saw some change, too, but not much for the better. In Africa, Britain took Germany's colonies, and even though Indians fought and died in a higher percentage than Americans in World War I, India didn't gain any real autonomy. All these terrible outcomes led to a general sense of disappointment in literary circles. And this feeling of pointlessness and cynicism was expressed by the writers of The Lost Generation. |
Archdukes, Cynicism, and World War I Crash Course World History #36.m4a | The rest of the world saw some change, too, but not much for the better. In Africa, Britain took Germany's colonies, and even though Indians fought and died in a higher percentage than Americans in World War I, India didn't gain any real autonomy. All these terrible outcomes led to a general sense of disappointment in literary circles. And this feeling of pointlessness and cynicism was expressed by the writers of The Lost Generation. It was a war full of loss. Millions of people were lost. Traditional ideas of war's nobility and heroism were lost as well. |
Archdukes, Cynicism, and World War I Crash Course World History #36.m4a | And this feeling of pointlessness and cynicism was expressed by the writers of The Lost Generation. It was a war full of loss. Millions of people were lost. Traditional ideas of war's nobility and heroism were lost as well. I mean, what is heroism when you're just sitting in a trench waiting to be blown up? And after World War I, war might be necessary, but it would never again be glorious. We see this shift in the writing and art that emerged from the Great War, as artists transitioned from Romanticism to Modernism. |
Archdukes, Cynicism, and World War I Crash Course World History #36.m4a | Traditional ideas of war's nobility and heroism were lost as well. I mean, what is heroism when you're just sitting in a trench waiting to be blown up? And after World War I, war might be necessary, but it would never again be glorious. We see this shift in the writing and art that emerged from the Great War, as artists transitioned from Romanticism to Modernism. Think of Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises, which is about a man rendered not noble, but impotent by war. The dark, cruel irony there, that you go to war to become a man, and then war takes away the organ often called your manhood? That defined Hemingway's worldview. |
Archdukes, Cynicism, and World War I Crash Course World History #36.m4a | We see this shift in the writing and art that emerged from the Great War, as artists transitioned from Romanticism to Modernism. Think of Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises, which is about a man rendered not noble, but impotent by war. The dark, cruel irony there, that you go to war to become a man, and then war takes away the organ often called your manhood? That defined Hemingway's worldview. And it also defines ours. Thanks for watching. I'll see you next week. |