The Cold War/Transcript

Part 1
OverSimplified: I've decided that in order to sell more merch, I should do a face reveal wearing it. So are you ready? Here we go! Boom. New minimalist and Cold War merch available now, and get the new limited-edition Churchill character pin before it sells out, with more characters coming in the future. Link in the description down below.

(The video starts)

OverSimplified: The year is 1917. Fighting rages on the eastern front of the First World War. Both Germany and Russia are on the brink of collapse.

(the camera zooms in the back of a brick wall with a German general and a german soldier)

German general: Soldier, I need you to bring me this man.

German soldier: Got it. (Brings John Lennon) Found him, sir.

German general: Wha—... who ... NO... Not LennON! LenIN! The Russian communist! What!? Why would I need a Beatle?! Lenin! The Russian communist! He was exiled to Switzerland! (facepalms) You know what? I'll do it myself.

(Lenin sips coffee)

German general: Who wants to start a revolution?!!

(Soviet Anthem plays)

(Intro music)

OverSimplified: The Germans put Lenin on a train and sent him all the way back to Russia, hoping he and his mates would create an internal crisis. And create an internal crisis they did. The government was overthrown and Lenin was in charge. He immediately pulled out of the First World War, made the country Communist, started a three-year long civil war, got shot, broke the economy, caused a famine, and then he died. On his deathbed, he said,

Vladimir Lenin: Hey, man. Tell whoever's in charge of giving people jobs not to let that jerk Stalin become the next leader. By the way, who did I put in charge of giving people jobs?

Unspecified character: That would be Stalin, sir.

(Silence)

* Lenin dies*

OverSimplified: Stalin was a rising force in the Communist Party. He still had some opponents, but conveniently, all of them were arrested or disappeared. So that was lucky. And so, Stalin took over. He implemented his Five-Year Plans, which transformed the country from an agriculture-based economy to an industrial one, and like Lenin before him, he reigned with terror. Anyone who dared criticize or oppose him would either be killed or left to rot in the horrendous Soviet work camps. Then, a short man with a silly mustache tried to take over the world, punched the Russians all the way to Moscow, and then the Russians, with some help from their faithful ally—the winter—punched them all the way back to Berlin. At this point, being allies, America, the UK, and the Soviet Union were good chums. They held a couple of conferences near the end of the war to decide what would happen next.

Harry S. Truman: Hey, Stalin. After all your trials and tribulation, you must be pretty happy to be standing here in Berlin.

Joseph Stalin: Tsar Alexander made it all the way to Paris.

(Silence)

Harry S. Truman: Uhhh... Hey, uh, j—just give me a second. (Whispering to Churchill) Hey, man. I think something's up with Stalin.

Winston Churchill: I know, right? What should we do?

Harry S. Truman: Shall I tell him about the bomb?

Winston Churchill: Yeah, tell him about the bomb. That will scare him.

Harry S. Truman: (To Stalin) Sooo... we got this crazy new big A-bomb that can destroy an entire city in one go.

Joseph Stalin: Yes, my spies told me already. Oh, wait. I meant to act surprised. WOW! THAT'S AMAZING!

Winston Churchill: He already knew! How?!

Harry S. Truman: Ummm...

(The screen cuts to a flashback about Harry S. Truman in a coffee shop called Star Ducks with a popup on his computer saying "Are you sure you want to share nuclear secrets via public Wi-Fi?")

Harry S. Truman: Am I sure I want to send nuclear secrets via unsecure, public, coffee-shop Wi-Fi? AM I EVER! *SENT*

(Flashback ends)

Winston Churchill: Dude, use a VPN.

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Joseph Stalin: Does the "A" stand for "atomic" or "ass?"

OverSimplified: Then, America dropped their big A-bomb on Japan, and World War II officially came to an end.

Harry S. Truman: Hooray! We won! OK, so now it's time to establish the New World Order. Stalin, you're in charge of Eastern Europe. Now, we want you to let them all hold elections.

Joseph Stalin: Oh, yes, of course. Elections.

Harry S. Truman: And these elections will be free and fair, right?

Joseph Stalin: Oh, yes. Certainly. Free and fair. Definitely free and fair.

(the screen cuts to Joseph Stalin, along with some Soviet spies on a map of Europe)

Joseph Stalin: Communist, Communist, Communist, Communist, Communist, Communist. If that's not free and fair, I don't know what is.

OverSimplified: Throughout Eastern Europe, Soviet puppet governments were established as a buffer zone between the USSR and the West, with Churchill proclaiming an Iron Curtain had descended across the continent. The relationship between the old Allies was deteriorating fast.

(the map zooms in to Greece)

Over the next few years, the British intervened in the Greek Civil War to prevent a communist takeover.

(the map pans to Turkey)

In Turkey, the Russians began demanding more control of Turkey's sea access routes, which prompted the US to send their largest battleship to Turkey for a "friendly visit."

(the map pans to Iran)

After World War II, Iran was now occupied by both the Soviets and the British, with an agreement to both pull out once the war was over. The British pulled out; Stalin was like,

Joseph Stalin: You know what? I think I might stick around.

(the screen cuts to a UN office called the UN Security Council, with the countries of Egypt, USA, Brazil, China, UK, and the Soviet Union (Joseph Stalin), along with the UN saying)

United Nations: All in favor of kicking Russia out of Iran?

(Everyone raises their hands)

Joseph Stalin: You want to know something? You guys suck.

OverSimplified: Pressure from the UN forced the Soviets to leave, and with the establishment of NATO, the Soviets had no doubt that the West was out to encircle and destroy them, and America announced the Truman Doctrine, in which they basically said,

Harry S. Truman: Those guys are not cool, cannot be trusted, and we will do everything we can to prevent the spread of Communism around the world.

OverSimplified: Many view this moment as the official declaration of the Cold War.

(the screen zooms in to an unknown city in Europe, demolished)

OverSimplified: Back in Europe, everyone was living in a post-apocalyptic void brought on by the Second World War. Cities were reduced to rubble, not enough food... it was terrible.

Joseph Stalin: This is great! The more they suffer, the more likely it is they'll turn to communism!

Soviet Advisor: Dude, you're really messed up. What's wrong with you?

Joseph Stalin: My father used to punish me severely.

OverSimplified: America realized what was going on, and quickly made a move. Under the Marshall Plan, they sent 12 billion dollars to Western Europe for its economic recovery. The countries of Stalin's Eastern Bloc looked on with envy.

United States: Hey, Czechoslovakia. You want to come get some economic aid?

Czechoslovakia: Yeah, but I have to check with my mom first.

(Their "mom" is Stalin)

Czechoslovakia: Sorry, America... I can't come.

OverSimplified: This was a full-on economic battle raging between capitalism and communism in Europe. If the Western nations developed faster and better than the East, that would be a defeat for Stalin, so he set up his own rival economic recovery plan, which he called "COMECON," and he also set up "COMINFORM," which gave him more political control over the Eastern Bloc, but nowhere did this economic battle rage harder than in the city of Berlin. Caught over 100 miles (160 km) behind Soviet lines, the city had been divided up between the Allies, and the western segments were still under Western control. East Berliners could travel freely to West Berlin, see the economic prosperity and think,

Ivan: Hmmm... maybe this communism thing ain't so great after all. I'm gonna have fun tonight!

(Later)

* Ivan opens door* * Turns on lights*

Joseph Stalin: You're home late.

Ivan: Oh. Stalin, I was just out with my friends.

Joseph Stalin: Friends?! You stink of capitalism! You were out engaging in imperialist debauchery again! (crying) I swear, Ivan. I can't keep doing this.

OverSimplified: Stalin wanted the West out, so he said,

Joseph Stalin: Hey, guess what? I'm blockading all of your supply routes to West Berlin. What are you gonna do about it?

Harry S. Truman: I suppose we'll just fly the supplies in.

(the dream cloud consists of Berlin and a million aircrafts passing)

Joseph Stalin: Alright, Truman. You win this round.

OverSimplified: The Berlin Airlift was an incredible undertaking and a major success for the Western Allies, and Stalin ended his blockade of West Berlin. His aggressive actions worried the West, but not as much as this did.

* Atomic bomb test*

OverSimplified: The Soviet Union had developed their very own atomic bomb. The USA no longer had a nuclear monopoly. The world now knew that if a major war broke out between the two superpowers, it would be more destructive than anyone could imagine, so it was comforting when Stalin came out and said that war between the Soviet Union and the West was unlikely. Oh, wait, inevitable! He said it was inevitable.

United States: Hey, you know who I haven't checked in on in a while? My good friend, China!

(China is up in flames)

United States: Whoa, what happened to you?

OverSimplified: What happened to them was a full-blown civil war that had been going on since 1927. The People's Liberation Army, under the leadership of Mao Zedong, successfully defeated the Republic of China, who fled to Taiwan. The now-communist China and the Soviet Union signed a mutual defense treaty. This was terrible news for the West. But wait! There's more!

(the screen cuts to Korea)

OverSimplified: After the Second World War, Korea was divided along the 38th parallel. In the north, the Soviets set up a communist regime. In the south, America set up an anti-communist regime. Both were led by very sweet-looking old men, but don't let that deceive you. They were both ruthless dictators, and both dreamed of reuniting Korea under their own regime.

(the screen cuts to a black screen and shows pictures of Syngman Rhee and Kim Il-Sung. When OverSimplified says "they were ruthless dictators", the leader's smiles turn into angry faces, and when he says "Both dreamed of uniting Korea under their own regime", the map of Korea is shown and the two people say "REUNIFICATION! but i'm in charge)

OverSimplified: Now that he had the bomb, Stalin was feeling a little more cocky, and he finally gave Kim permission to attack. The North launched a surprise invasion of the South on June 25th, 1950. With Soviet aid, the North Koreans steamrolled through, taking Seoul in just three days, and replacing one ruthless dictator with another. The UN were freaking out, and quickly created an emergency force made up of troops from 16 countries to defend the south. The West still held Busan, and made landings at Incheon near Seoul. They pushed the North Koreans out of Seoul, replacing the ruthless dictator that had replaced the first ruthless dictator with the same ruthless dictator that had previously been replaced by the new ruthless dictator, and the West then continued all the way up the Korean Peninsula. At this point, China was getting worried that the UN may just keep going. The US had sent this guy to lead the operation. After winning the Pacific Theater of World War II, General Douglas MacArthur's head was big, and his balls were bigger. He reassured President Truman that there was absolutely no way at all that the Chinese would ever get involved. Meanwhile, half a million Chinese troops were crossing into Korea.

Douglas MacArthur: Nuke 'em.

Harry S. Truman: No.

Douglas MacArthur: NUKE 'EM!

Harry S. Truman: NO!

Douglas MacArthur: Aw, c'moooon.

Harry S. Truman: You're fired!

OverSimplified: The US considered the nuclear option, but now that the Soviets also had the bomb, they didn't want to risk all-out global destruction. The Communists pushed the West right back almost to the exact same spot they had all started from, and they ended up in a stalemate, where they remained until both sides finally agreed to work towards a peace settlement in 2018. Back in America, Americans decided they wanted a new president who would be tough on communism, so they elected famed World War II general Eisenhower, who is really hard to draw. It's 1953. Hey, Stalin. How you doing— Oh, he's dead. He had a cerebral hemorrhage, and his reign of terror kinda came back to bite him in the ass because he had imprisoned all of his best doctors, and those that were left were too terrified to treat him. The new leader, Nikita Khrushchev, called a meeting, and said,

Nikita Khrushchev: Hey, guys. You know how Stalin was imprisoning and murdering us all for doing basically nothing? Yeah, he was kind of a jerk.

* The audience gasps*

Nikita Khrushchev: I'm really not sure how this is news to you.

OverSimplified: Khrushchev truwent on a campaign of de-Stalinization. Statues of Stalin were taken down, Stalingrad was renamed, and Khrushchev announced that he wanted the Soviet people to be happy and would allow greater freedom in the Soviet Union. So how did that work out? Well, an uprising in East Germany was brutally suppressed, a revolution in Hungary was brutally suppressed, and demonstrations in Poland were brutally suppressed, although he did finally allow some mild reforms. Back in the Soviet Union, he permitted more cultural expression, but then began banning stuff based on his own personal taste.

Nikita Khrushchev: Modern art looks like a child urinated on a canvas. Banned! Jazz music sounds like the feeling of needing to fart. Banned! Your poetry is really depressing! How could anyone in the Soviet Union be depressed? You're banned!

OverSimplified: Khrushchev wanted the Soviet people to be happy, but not like that, or that, or that. Young people began enjoying abhorrent Western pop culture.

Father: Son, remove that disgusting imperialist apparel at once!

Son: Shut up, Dad! You can't tell me what to do! (Gets arrested by police) Well, would you look at that. Turns out he CAN tell me what to do...

OverSimplified: The West had initially liked the cut of Khrushchev's jib, but world events soon soured relations even more. The two sides were spying on each other a whole lot throughout the Cold War. The KGB had spies and informants in nearly every aspect of Western life and government; so much so that whenever the US tried to send spies into the Soviet Union, the KGB were usually ready to arrest them on the spot. Members of the Manhattan Project aided the Soviet Union in acquiring the bomb. Some American officials believed they were on the wrong side.

American: I'll sell you three secrets for five million dollars.

Soviet: Okay, go ahead.

American: The Allies are digging a tunnel under East Berlin to tap your communications, there's an American agent living at this address in Moscow, and sometimes, when I'm home alone, I like to put on my wife's dresses, sit in the corner, and cry for hours.

(Silence)

Soviet: Very interesting.

OverSimplified: In America, fear took hold during the Red Scare and the McCarthy trials. American values imploded as fear of communism collided with freedom of thought and expression, and "Communist" kind of became a buzzword thrown around to describe anything people didn't like. Hollywood? Communist! Your next-door neighbor's dog? Communist!! When the grocery store cashier asks if you need a bag when you clearly can't carry ten tups [sic] of Baconnaise in your hands? COMMUNIST!!!!!!! But one area in particular where the US had an edge over the Soviet Union was in its espionage technology. In particular, U-2 spy planes flew across Russia, carrying out surveillance from the skies. There was a nasty incident in 1960 though, when one was shot down and Khrushchev was furious.

Nikita Khrushchev: Who the hell is this?

American: He's a... high-altitude weather enthusiast who flew off course.

Nikita Khrushchev: OK, that sounds plausible... Waaaaaiit a minute. Why does he have a gun and a poison needle?

American: Because... He's a... very NAUGHTY high-altitude weather enthusiast.

OverSimplified: But much to America's concern, the Soviet Union appeared to be ahead in the space race. Everyone freaked out when Russia launched the world's first satellite, and then they actually sent a man into space. (Yuri Gagarin) Even worse, there also appeared to be a missile gap in the Soviets favor, and Khrushchev was so confident that he even allowed the US to set up a technology exhibit in Moscow, attended by a certain Vice President Richard Nixon.

Richard M. Nixon: Check this out. We have color TV.

Nikita Khrushchev: Yes, but we've been to space and can obliterate you with our massive nuclear arsenal.

Richard M. Nixon: Check out this vegetable peeler.

OverSimplified: Tensions increased further when both sides upgraded their atomic bombs to hydrogen bombs, and after West Germany was allowed to join NATO in 1955, Khrushchev set up the defensive Warsaw Pact, strengthening the military ties between the Soviet Union and its satellites states. In 1960, Americans decided they wanted a new president who would be tough on communism, so they elected John F. Kennedy. The Soviet Union was advancing its technology, but it was also bleeding its coffers dry, and all of the money was going towards the military, not the people. Life under communism was still as hard as ever, and Berlin remained a thorn in the Soviet side. The contrast between the economically prosperous West and the struggling East was clearer day-by-day, and East Berliners were still able to freely travel to the West. Now, many of them were deciding to stay there. Millions defected to West Germany via West Berlin, causing Eastern factories to lose workers and taking a heavy toll on the economy. Soviet leaders decided this couldn't continue any longer. First, Khrushchev tried this:

Nikita Khrushchev: Leave West Berlin, or else...

John F. Kennedy: Or else what?

Nikita Khrushchev: Or else... I'll be really mad at you.

John F. Kennedy: Yeeeeah, no, we're gonna stay. Listen man. West Berlin is ours, East Berlin is yours. That's just how it is.

OverSimplified: Kennedy felt pretty good about the show of American resolve, but wait a second. Did you catch that? Let's replay it.

John F. Kennedy: ...Eeeeeaaaasssst Beeeeeeerrrliiinn iiiissssss yooouuurrrrsss.

OverSimplified: Uh, oh. Kennedy just told Khrushchev that the USA wouldn't interfere in what the Soviets did with their section of Berlin, so Khrushchev came up with a new idea:

Nikita Khrushchev: We're gonna build a wall, and it's gonna be a big beautiful wall,.

Soviet advisor: *Whispers* No, Sir. That's wrong; its going to keep in the East Berliners.

Nikita Khrushchev: Oh, sorry. It's gonna keep in all the Mexicans.

* facepalm*

OverSimplified: On August 13, 1961, Berliners woke up to find their city divided into two, with barbed wire and guards blocking the border between East and West. Over time, a wall was constructed throughout the city. Families were torn apart. Thousands would risk their lives escaping over the wall, and hundreds would die trying. To the despair of Berliners, the West were unable to do anything about it, but the wall did put on full display the failure of the communist system. As Kennedy said,

John F. Kennedy: Democracy is not perfect, but we have never had to put a wall up to keep our people in.

OverSimplified: As part of the agreement between the two sides, US diplomats were still allowed to travel to East Berlin, but suddenly East Berlin crossing guards started giving them the business, and Kennedy was like,

John F. Kennedy: Nu-uh.

OverSimplified: In October, the US rolled tanks up to the crossing point at Checkpoint Charlie as a show of strength. The Soviets did the same, and the two were in a standoff. They stayed like that for sixteen hours, and the world braced for nuclear Armageddon. Thankfully, though, Kennedy called Khrushchev directly and was like,

John F. Kennedy: Hey, man. This is getting way too hot! How about you back your tanks up by an inch and we'll do the same?

Nikita Khrushchev: Sounds good. Okay.

John F. Kennedy: How about you back your tanks up by another inch and we'll follow suit?

Nikita Khrushchev: All right... Hey, you wanna do another inch?

OverSimplified: And they both very slowly inched away from the apocalypse

John F. Kennedy: PHEW! Let's hope that's the biggest crisis of my presidency!

Nikita Khrushchev: It wasn't...

(Dramatic music plays)

Part 2
OverSimplified: This video was made possible by Skillshare, an online learning community where you can learn just about anything. Support my channel by signing up using the link below, and get your first two months for free. For anyone who thinks recent US history has never been crazy as it is right now, allow me to present to you the 1960s: extreme cultural division, major political assassinations, and the closest the world has ever come to nuclear apocalypse. Shocked by the CIA's intrusive methods for putting down socialism in Latin America, a certain Fidel Castro met with a certain Che Guevara in a bar in Mexico City, and the two of them decided they should grow some awesome beards and overthrow the Cuban government, which is exactly what they did. Cuba had been America's summer playground, and America didn't like seeing a communist regime being set up in its own backyard, so the US immediately began training up Cuban exiles to invade Cuba and overthrow Castro. However, as the day of the operation came closer, Kennedy wanted to conceal any US involvement in the plan, so he massively scaled back American air support, and as a result, the Bay of Pigs Invasion was a humiliating defeat for America, but Castro felt there was still an impending US threat to his regime. Meanwhile, in the Soviet Union, Khrushchev had a lot of medium-range nuclear missiles that couldn't reach America, but they could if they were positioned, say, on an exotic Caribbean island off the coast of Florida.

Fidel Castro: Hey, I'm a communist who hates America. You're a communist who hates America. You know what that means?"

Nikita Khrushchev: WE SHOULD FALL IN LOVE!

Fidel Castro: Uh, I was just going to suggest you set your missiles up in Cuba.

Nikita Khrushchev: Oh. No, no, you're right; that's a better idea. (Quickly and quietly) Be still, my beating heart...

OverSimplified: On October 14, 1962, a US spy plane over Cuba noticed something strange.

American official: Sir, you need to look at this photograph.

John F. Kennedy: You're right! That's the cutest dog I've ever seen!

American official: Sir, I was referring more to the Soviet missiles.

OverSimplified: America freaked out as they realized what was going on. They were completely vulnerable, and they had to act fast. They knew that airstrikes or an invasion of Cuba would likely mean nuclear war with the Soviet Union, so Kennedy came up with another idea: a blockade. The US navy announced it would stop and search any Soviet ships heading to Cuba and would sink any that did not comply. In response, the Soviet put its military into full combat readiness. The US did the same and began drawing up plans for an attack on Cuba. Things were escalating fast, and both superpowers were getting ready for World War III. Emergency communications between the two sides broke down as Khrushchev rejected Kennedy's demands for the missiles to be removed, and for the first time in history, the US strategic air command moved to DEFCON 2. DEFCON 1 means nuclear war. The Soviets shot down a U2 spy plane over Cuba. A Soviet nuclear submarine in the Caribbean mistakenly believed war had already broken out, and two of the senior officers gave the go-ahead to fire its nuclear torpedo. Thankfully, the third senior officer, this beautiful man, refused to authorize the decision. The US finalized its preparations, and I kid you not, the day before the US were set to decide the day and time for the Cuban invasion, Khrushchev was like,

Nikita Khrushchev: Hey. You know if you just removed your missiles from Turkey, we'd remove ours from Cuba?

John F. Kennedy: Yeah, yeah. That sounds good to me.

OverSimplified: It was a bit more complicated than that, but at the last second, the two sides finally came to an agreement: Soviet missiles were shipped out of Cuba and the world breathed one gigantic sigh of relief except for one guy, who was bloody livid.

John F. Kennedy: Phew! Let's hope THAT's the biggest crisis of my presidency!

OverSimplified: Unfortunately for him, his presidency was to end with one. Having nearly blown up the planet, a few changes were made. First, the superpowers agreed to a limited Test Ban Treaty. Secondly, the Soviets ousted Khrushchev and replaced him with Leonid Brezhnev, who was a kisser. He liked to kiss. Both sides were deeply concerned at the prospect of nuclear war, but still, the arms race raged on throughout the 60s and 70s. US intelligence worked out that the Soviets' nuclear arsenal was not as powerful as they previously thought, but in fact it was America that held the advantage. ABMs and MIRVs were developed and the doctrine of MAD. If both sides knew they would be completely destroyed by a nuclear war, neither would risk starting one, but even without war, the world was already feeling the effects of nuclear weapons. In 1966, above the pleasant town of Palomares in Spain, a US bomber collided with a tanker mid-air, and four hydrogen bombs fell and landed near the town below.

United States: It hasn't exploded, so I'm sure everything's fine. Wooah, boy! Uhh, hey, I wouldn't eat that if I were you.

A girl: Okay.

United States: What were you going to do today?

The girl: Go for a swim?

United States: Yeah, I wouldn't. Are you breathing right now?

The girl: Yeah?

United States: Yeah... I wouldn't.

OverSimplified: It took the Americans two and a half months to find one of the bombs, which had gone missing in the ocean. This was the fourteenth time America had lost a nuclear bomb since 1950. Nobody knows how many bombs the Soviet Union lost, so sleep well tonight. After Kennedy's assassination, Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson took over, and he inherited a developing crisis in the east: Vietnam. Back in the 50s, the Vietnamese had kicked their French colonizers out once and for all, and the country was divided into two. In the North, a communist regime, and in the South, an anti-communist regime.

(the screen cuts to a black screen and shows pictures of Ho Chi Minh and Ngo Ninh Diem. When OverSimplified says "they were ruthless dictators", the leader's smiles turn into angry faces, and when he says "Both dreamed of uniting Vietnam under their own regime", the map of Vietnam is shown and the two people say "REUNIFICATION! but i'm in charge)

wOverSimplified: Both were led by very sweet-looking old men, but don't let that deceive you. They were both ruthless dictators, and both dreamed of reuniting Vietnam under their own regime, so the North established the National Liberation Front, also known as the Vietcong, to carry out a campaign of guerrilla warfare in the South with Soviet support. The US sent advisors to help train the South Vietnamese to deal with the threat, but President Diem's brutal policies pushed more and more South Vietnamese to support the Vietcong, and over the next decade, the situation escalated to a breaking point. America feared the Domino Effect; that is, if South Vietnam fell to communism, would Cambodia be next? Then Laos? Thailand? Burma? India? LBJ had to make a choice between losing South Vietnam or sending in the troops. And so in they went. From 1965, America found itself in a war unlike anything it had ever fought before. Let's Play Spot the Vietcong Soldier!

(ticking)

(buzzer)

OverSimplified: Did you see him? Of course not. That's because millions of young American men were drafted and sent to fight a ruthless enemy who used the thick jungle as its shield. It was nearly impossible to tell where the enemy was, or worse, who it was, and as a result, the civilian population got caught up in the brutal crossfire. The city of Saigon found itself under regular attack, and America launched a bombing campaign in the North during Operation Rolling Thunder. The Vietcong used the Ho Chi Minh Trail running through Laos and Cambodia to supply the campaign. It was a long and brutal war, and I could never do it just in this video, but in terms of the Cold War, Vietnam was probably the biggest of many, many global conflicts that signaled a turning point. Under the threat of nuclear war, the two superpowers began working to make their relationship more constructive, and as a result, their ideological battle shifted away from the potential of direct conflict and more towards attempting to influence smaller proxy wars around the world.

(the map pans to the Middle East)

OverSimplified: In the Middle East, the Soviet Union provided aid against Israel during the Six-Day War, and then again when the US backed Israel during the Yom Kippur War.

(the map pans to Angola in Southern Africa)

OverSimplified: In Africa, the Angolan Civil War saw US-supported South Africans fighting Soviet-supported Cubans.

(the map pans to the horn of Africa)

OverSimplified: In the conflict between Somalia and Ethiopia, the superpowers interestingly switched sides as regimes changed,

(the map pans to the United States in North America, then zooms down to Nicaragua)

OverSimplified: and the US continued fighting the spread of communism in its own backyard, funding the famous Contra groups to fight the socialist junta in Nicaragua. These proxy wars were fierce enough to begin with, but superpower intervention amplified the destruction, and created alarming levels of human suffering throughout the Third World, and in Vietnam, that human suffering was all being broadcast back home via good old television. Going into the late 60s, America was a changing nation. This became this, this became this, and this became this. The new slogan that was taking route, "Make Love, Not War." The majority of Americans did not approve of Johnson's handling of the Vietnam War, and in 1968, a silent majority elected Law and Order candidate Richard Nixon. As the Vietnam War appeared to be increasingly unwinnable, and public opinion turning increasingly sour, Nixon made the decision to begin bringing the troops home, and ended US involvement in Vietnam by 1973. Two years later, the South fell. The Cold War was now taking its toll on both superpowers. In Russia, a huge percentage of the budget was still going to the military, people were still hungry, and they just didn't have access to the same lifestyle and goods as the West, and what did they have to show for it? They weren't even winning the Space Race anymore. Both sides needed to reduce spending in order to rescue their economies, and so both welcomed with open arms an easing of hostilities, otherwise known as "détente." To improve relations, Nixon became the first US President to visit Moscow in 1972, and Brezhnev returned the favor a year later. A number of treaties were signed, including the 1972 SALT agreement, that limited nuclear weapons. Relations with China were even improving via Ping-Pong Diplomacy, when the US table tennis team went on a tour of the People's Republic. However, internally, China was still pushing anti-capitalist propaganda, which led to some mixed messages. Nixon even visited China in 1972, and it was a barrel of laughs.

(jaunty theme music)

OverSimplified: Everything was going great for Nixon until it was uncovered that back home he was being and violating Constitutional Protocol.

Richard M. Nixon: I'm announcing today my resignation as President, and I'm passing the office to my Vice President, Gerald Ford.

Leonid Brezhnev: Wow! You mean in America, the people can actually remove their leader when he breaks the law? Why not just rule by force? Where's the corruption?"

Gerald R. Ford: And my first act as President is to pardon Nixon!

Leonid Brezhnev: Ah, there it is.

OverSimplified: After the whole fiasco, Americans decided what they really wanted was just a nice, safe guy who wouldn't cheat on them, so they elected Jimmy Carter, and the two sides met in Vienna, where they signed yet another Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty.

Jimmy Carter: It's an honor, Premier Brezhnev.

Leonid Brezhnev: Likewise, President Carter. (kiss)

Jimmy Carter: Please don't do that.

OverSimplified: But that's not to say there was no longer any tension between the two sides because there was, heaps of it. Once again, the Soviet Union put down further attempts at reform and rebellion in the Eastern Bloc. The Euromissile Crisis saw new and improved classes of intermediate-range missiles being deployed in Europe. In 1979, the Soviets thought it would be a good idea if they had their own Vietnam and invaded Afghanistan to prevent a US-sponsored Islamic insurgency, and in response to these various crises, Olympic Games were boycotted. Conservatives were concerned that US policy had become too soft, and in 1980, they decided they wanted a president who would be tough on communism, so they elected Ronald Reagan, and Reagan came in guns-blazing. Concerned at the Soviet Union's human rights violations, he made a speech calling them an "evil empire," and he also wanted to renew the arms race using technological advances in computing and lasers. He came up with the Space Defense Initiative, also known as Star Wars, which was basically a big, defensive anti-nuke shield around the country, but a lot of people thought it was a pretty dumb idea. The Soviet Union proceed the shift in rhetoric, as the USA getting ready for war, and they were feeling especially threatened as their relationship with their communist ally, China, had broken down.

(the map pans to a corner with the USSR, China, Korea border)

OverSimplified: Relations took a big hit in 1983, when the Soviets shot down a Korean airliner that had strayed into their airspace, and it looked like the world was going right back to mid-20th-century Cold War tension. But then, Brezhnev got really old and died, and was replaced by this guy who was really old and died, and was replaced by this guy who was really old and died, and he was replaced by Mikhail Gorbachev. Coming into office in 1985, he was the real game-changer. His philosophy differed a lot from previous Soviet leaders. He felt that the reason the Soviet system and economy was struggling was that it didn't allow the Soviet people to find satisfaction in their work because they weren't allowed to speak freely, and lived in fear. Gorbachev wanted the Soviet people to be happy, but unlike previous Soviet leaders, he actually made the change happen. Within the first couple of years, he began the political movement for more openness and transparency, and the restructure of the Soviet political and economic systems, and change very quickly took effect.

OverSimplified: People could criticize the government, they could enjoy Western pop culture, the media interviewed Margaret Thatcher, but most importantly, the Soviet people could now enjoy Pizza Hut. All hail to Gorbachev!

(on the phrase "People could criticize the government" contains a person saying to Gorbachev "You suck!", "they could enjoy Western pop culture", contains a boy's room with well, western pop culture, " the media interviewed Margaret Thatcher", contains 2 news anchors interviewing Margaret Thatcher and saying "HEY GUUUUURL!", and "the Soviet people could now enjoy Pizza Hut" contains a Pizza Hut, in Moscow, and a few OverSimplified characters)

OverSimplified: He also knew that the arms race needed to end in order to rescue the Soviet economy, and a positive relationship with the West must be established. Constructive dialogue reopened and resulted in the INF Treaty, which saw all intermediate-range missiles eliminated, which was huge. Reagan's tone towards the Soviet Union began to soften, and things were looking up. But what would these reforms mean for the Eastern Bloc? For decades, the Soviets had been brutally repressing any attempt at change. Now would they be allowed? And that was the exact question on Hungary's lips, when the Prime Minister visited Moscow. Gorbachev's response: he didn't necessarily agree with the reforms, but he wouldn't stop them either. He was prepared to let the Eastern Bloc choose its own future. This was massive, and the Hungarian leaders began planning free, multi-party elections. Poland followed suit, and also held elections in June. The anti-Soviet party, Solidarity, won 99 out of 100 seats in the Senate. But not just that. In Hungary, the barbed-wire border between East and West was removed. The Iron Curtain was unravelling. But not all Eastern Bloc leaders were happy. Notably, East Germany was still ruled by a hardline Stalinist, Erich Honecker, and many East Germans were still eager to get out. They had been trapped by the Berlin Wall, but now they were doing the math. If they could travel to Hungary, and Hungary's border with the West was loosening, could they now make it to the West? That summer, East Germans decided Hungary was the latest top holiday destination. They travelled there in droves, and using various methods, tens of thousands crossed the border into Austria and the West. Honecker was furious, and blocked travel to Hungary, but that civil liberties train had started rolling, and it wasn't stopping. Thousands more flocked to the West German embassy in Prague, where they stormed the fence around the embassy gardens, and a temporary refugee camp was set up. In September, deals were struck to allow the refugees to travel West via train. Back in East Germany, the people were running on a civil liberties high, and they wanted their next hit. Dissent was growing. Over time, demonstrations turned to mass protests, with plain-clothed secret police officers doing their best to put down the dissent, but it had grown well out of their control, and worse, the biggest demonstration was yet to come.

Erich Honecker: We're gonna put all of this down by force, right guys? Guys?

OverSimplified: Unfortunately, everyone had realized what he had not. This was bigger than them, and the entire East German Politburo voted him out of power. On November 4th, over half a million East Germans took to the streets of East Berlin. For many, there was still one big target left in their sights: that damn wall. The pressure on the East German government was too great, and on November 9th, they made a bit of a chaotic announcement that the travel ban between East and West was being lifted. The change wasn't meant to take effect until the next day, and crossing guards still had orders to shoot on sight any who tried to cross, but that night, huge crowds gathered at the crossing points, and the guards were overwhelmed. In an astronomically historic moment, after decades of family separation and travel restriction, the people were allowed to pass through. East and West Berliners couldn't believe it and celebrated together throughout the night. Some even climbed the wall and began to topple it. The Iron Curtain had fallen, and a year later, Germany would be reunited. Elections in Bulgaria, a peaceful revolution in Czechoslovakia, and a violent one in Romania brought to an end communist authority in the Eastern Bloc. America decided it would be best if it just stayed away and let the change happen, as the anti-communist movement continued all the way back to Moscow. Gorbachev had given the people the freedom to demonstrate. Now, they demonstrated for an end to the communist single-party rule, and Gorbachev had to give in. For the first time in history, elections were held, in which candidates not officially endorsed by the party were allowed to run. Ambitious rival of Gorbachev Boris Yeltsin led a growing democratic movement. Now, things here get quite confusing. The dissolution of the Soviet Union is a complicated topic, so believe me, this is OverSimplified, but it went a little bit like this: The Soviet Union was made up of a number of smaller Soviet republics, the largest of which was Russia. Yeltsin got himself elected the President of Russia and began a struggle for sovereignty against Gorbachev and the Soviet Union. Communist hardliners were horrified at what Gorbachev was allowing, so they briefly kidnapped him and tried to set up their own emergency government, but Yeltsin and his supporters all gathered around the White House in Moscow and were like,

Boris Yeltsin: No. We have a tank.

OverSimplified: So the hardliners had to concede and released Gorbachev.

Mikhail Gorbachev: Wow. Thanks, Boris. That was a close one.

Boris Yeltsin: No problem, and thanks to you for all the great freedom you've given us.

Mikhail Gorbachev: Anytime, pal!

Boris Yeltsin: And just to inform you, I've used that freedom you've given us to go behind your back and make a deal with Ukraine and Belarus to dissolve the Soviet Union and set up the Russian Federation. In other words, you're no longer in charge, I am.

(Pause)

Mikhail Gorbachev: Dude... so uncool.

Boris Yeltsin: And so, decades of tension and the everlasting threat of nuclear war finally came to an end, as democratic governments were established in many of the old Soviet republics, and the world got along together forever after, ?

(dramatic music)

Nikita Khrushchev: Hey, this modern art thing is growing on me. Where can I learn to do that?

Painter: Skillshare!

OverSimplified: Skillshare is an online learning community with classes in design, technology, business, and more. Learn how to code your own games and apps, learn a musical instrument, learn how to animate videos like mine, learn Japanese. Premium membership gives you unlimited access to all of these classes and more. And better yet, everything is taught by genuine experts working in their field. Skillshare is also more affordable than other learning platforms with an annual subscription being less than $10 a month. What's that? You wish you had an exclusive deal just for OverSimplified viewers? Well, wish no more, my friend! The first 500 people to use this link, which can be found in the description below, will get their first two months for absolutely free! Plus, you'll be supporting my channel and keeping these videos coming, so be sure to use the link in the description box below and learn something new today.