Here’s Why Communism Works Every Time | Prove Us Wrong

Summary

This episode of Forgotten History, presented by Colin Heaton, delves into the controversial impacts of communist regimes led by notorious figures such as Mao Zedong, Joseph Stalin, and Pol Pot. It examines how these leaders transformed nations but at immense human costs, with millions suffering due to policies like famine, forced labor, and purges. The video contrasts the perceived achievements in industrialization and military successes against the backdrop of brutal repression and mass casualties. It reflects on their lasting legacies, both praised and condemned, and highlights the complexities of their rule as both creators of global powerhouses and perpetrators of unimaginable human rights abuses.

Highlights

• Mao Zedong led China through drastic reforms known as Maoism, resulting in millions of deaths due to famines and purges. 🌾
• Joseph Stalin's reign in the USSR saw mass industrialization at the cost of severe purges and famines. 🛠️
• Pol Pot's Cambodia experienced the Khmer Rouge genocide, exterminating about 25% of the population. ☠️
• These leaders are remembered for harsh regimes that used fear and repression to maintain control. 👁️
• Their complex legacies are both criticized for human rights abuses and admired for national achievements. 🏛️

Key Takeaways

• Mao Zedong, Stalin, and Pol Pot drastically changed their countries, but often at the expense of millions of lives. 💀
• Communist regimes are often marked by the pursuit of power, leading to brutal repressions and famines. 🏴
• Despite their leadership bringing about industrial and military strength, the human cost was staggering. 📉
• Comparing communist leaders reveals common patterns of authoritarianism masked as revolutionary advancements. 🔍
• The impact of these leaders continues to influence modern geopolitical landscapes and historical discourse. 🌎

Overview

The video episode by Forgotten History takes a formidable dive into the history of communism under leaders like Mao Zedong, Joseph Stalin, and Pol Pot. Each leader's regime is explored meticulously, showcasing how their policies led to profound national changes but also extreme human suffering. The video narrates how they pushed for rapid industrialization, often through draconian measures like forced labor, land collectivization, and political purges.

As the narrative unfolds, it draws comparisons between these leaders, noting common tactics used to cement power, such as instigating cults of personality and utilizing state terror to suppress dissent. These regimes promised equality and progress but often led to widespread misery and death, depicted starkly through detailed accounts of famines, purges, and genocides.

Despite the overwhelming human cost and moral tragedies inflicted by these regimes, the video does not shy away from delving into the reasons some admire these leaders. Their ability to transform agrarian societies into formidable global powers is acknowledged, yet it leaves the viewer contemplating the ethical implications of such achievements.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 03:00: Introduction and Overview of Mao Zedong's Impact This chapter introduces Mao Zedong, highlighting his significant and impactful role as a Chinese leader. It mentions his ruthless strategies in establishing his version of communism, which resulted in the deaths of approximately 20 million people from famines, civil wars, and persecution between the 1920s and 1940s. The chapter sets the stage for a further exploration of events from 1958 to 1969.
• 03:00 - 06:00: Mao's Childhood and Education The chapter discusses the oppressive regime under Chairman Mao where over 70 million people suffered from torture, execution, and starvation. It delves into questioning Mao's choice of such a destructive path for China and examines his legacy as a communist leader. The chapter also hints at current events in China that reflect the harsh period of Mao's rule. The narrative is introduced by Colin Heaton, who provides his background as a soldier, sniper, and history professor.
• 06:00 - 09:00: Rise of Communism in China The chapter provides an introduction to a significant historical figure, Ma Dong, and the context of his early life. It begins by highlighting Ma Dong's birth on December 26, 1893, in Shiaoan village, located in Hunan Province, China. He was born into a wealthy peasant family, being the son of Mao Yi Chang. The mention of his two brothers, Zimmen and Zetan, indicates a family background that might have influenced his early years and perspectives, setting the stage for his contributions to the rise of communism in China. The chapter promises to explore questions and issues surrounding Ma Dong's life and the historical impact of communism in China as part of a broader historical analysis.
• 09:00 - 13:00: Mao's Military Strategies and the Long March The chapter begins with a brief overview of Mao's education, noting his attendance at Shiaosan Primary School at age 8, his entry into middle school in Chiang Sha in 1911, and his attendance at a Higher Primary School (equivalent to high school) in Dong Shan Province at 16. It highlights his early religious influence as a Buddhist, like his mother, before shifting to a focus on his later adoption of Leninist Marxism and communism.
• 13:00 - 16:00: Mao's Policies and the Great Leap Forward The chapter explores the revolutionary movements against Emperor Puyi and the Manchu dynasty, highlighting the influential role of Sun Yat-sen, a Western-educated Christian, who led the Tongmenghui society in advocating for a republican government. Mao Zedong's support for this movement is discussed, as he and others believed that the monarchy was authoritarian, indifferent to the populace, and complicit with foreign occupiers such as the European powers and Japan.
• 16:00 - 19:00: Cultural Revolution and International Influence The chapter 'Cultural Revolution and International Influence' discusses the end of the monarchy in China and the birth of the republic. It explains how various political factions' movements resulted in the monarch's abolition, with Yuan Shik assuming the presidency as a compromise. The narrative also touches upon Ma's early interest in history, highlighting his fascination with military leaders such as Napoleon Bonaparte, George Washington, and American Civil War generals.
• 19:00 - 30:00: Comparison with Stalin's Regime The chapter titled 'Comparison with Stalin's Regime' discusses the inspirations and philosophical foundations that influenced a leader, possibly Mao, in his pursuit of a centralized government. It highlights his admiration for the strategies in Sun Tzu's 'The Art of War' and his interest in various ideologies and philosophies, including the works of Adam Smith and Montesquieu. These influences motivated him to establish or preserve a nation amid turmoil, drawing a parallel to the centralized control seen in Stalin's regime.
• 30:00 - 39:00: Stalin's Biography and Early Activities The chapter discusses Stalin's early beliefs and intellectual influences. It highlights his preference for a system better than the free market, which he believed disadvantaged workers and favored industry controllers. Stalin studied several notable philosophers and influential thinkers including Charles Darwin, Emanuel Kant, John Locke, and John Stuart Mill. It is known that he regarded Niccolò Machiavelli's 'The Prince' and 'The Discourses' as reference guides. Moreover, the chapter notes that Mao, aligning with similar ideological studies, examined American military campaigns in the west during the Indian wars, focusing on the defiance of the natives.
• 39:00 - 50:00: Stalin's Rise to Power and World War II The chapter titled 'Stalin's Rise to Power and World War II' discusses the broader geopolitical context, possibly highlighting the influence of American Indian tribes on guerrilla tactics. It reflects on the dissatisfaction among the Chinese population over Japan's acquisition of former German colonies in China post-World War I, as confirmed by the Treaty of Versailles. This chapter also touches on the growing unrest in China due to Japan's partial occupation starting in 1919. Additionally, it notes Ma's career in education, teaching history at Zhu Yi Primary School, which may indicate a connection to the larger historical narratives of power and resistance.
• 50:00 - 58:00: Stalin's Post-War Policies and Legacy This chapter discusses Stalin's post-war policies and legacy. The narrative begins with the influence of communist ideologies on key figures, highlighting the impact of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels on future leaders. Particularly, it mentions the role of communist ideas in organizing resistance against corrupt governance, as exemplified by the protest against Jang Jing Yao, the notorious governor of Hunan Province. These ideas form the basis of discussions on wealth and land distribution, setting the stage for examining Stalin's approach to similar issues post World War II.
• 58:00 - 69:00: Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge The chapter discusses the influence of Maoism and its military strategies, along with the political policies and theories associated with it. Mao was significantly influenced by one of his teachers, a revolutionary and member of the Kuman Tang (KMT), which he joined. The KMT aimed for a China free from Japanese influence and occupation, pursuing a western capitalist model encompassing free markets, industrialization, and free trade. The focus was primarily on the wealthy landowners.
• 69:00 - 72:00: Conclusion and Call to Action The chapter discusses the ideological divide and eventual split between the KMT and communists in China, highlighting the tensions over concepts of shared land and wealth. The division was further solidified after party leader Signyats Sin's death in May 1925, when Cheng Kaishek took over and distanced himself from Mao's communists, despite Mao initially seeing Cheng's national revolutionary army as an ally against external threats like Japan.

Here’s Why Communism Works Every Time | Prove Us Wrong Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 [Music] Mao Zong, also pronounced Maong, was the most impactful Chinese leader in history. His ruthless approach to establishing his brand of communism saw perhaps 20 million people or more killed from the 1920s to 1940s during famines, civil war, and persecution. From 1958 to 1969 alone, it is estimated
• 00:30 - 01:00 that over 70 million more people were tortured, executed, placed in Goolags, or intentionally starved to death under the great communist leader, Chairman Mao. Why did he follow a path that was so self-destructive for his country? What is his legacy as a leader and communist icon? What do we see occurring in China today that may hearken back to the dark ages of Ma's reign of terror? Hello, I'm Colin Heaton, former soldier, Marine Corps Scott Sniper, history professor,
• 01:00 - 01:30 historian, and book author. And we will answer these questions and other issues on this segment of Forgotten [Music] History. Ma Dong was born on 26th December 1893 in Shiaoan village, Hunan Province. the son of a wealthy peasant farmer Mao Yi Chang and he and his two brothers Zimmen and Zetan had a
• 01:30 - 02:00 comparatively excellent education. At age 8, Mao was sent to Shiaosan Primary School. In 1911, Mao began middle school in Chiang Sha and at 16 attended the Higher Primary School in nearby Dong Shan Province which was high school. Mao also became a Buddhist like his mother Wen Ki but later became a devoted follower of communism and Leninist Marxist teachings from his early days. During this time
• 02:00 - 02:30 revolutionary winds were already blowing against Emperor Pui and the Manchu dynasty as Sun Yatsin an American educated Christian led the Tong Ming society striving for a republican form of government which Mao supported. Mao and many others felt that the monarchy was authoritarian and did not care about the people that they collaborated with the European powers and the Japanese who occupied Chinese soil hence the
• 02:30 - 03:00 rebellion from many sectors of society. As a result of the mass movement by several political factions the monarchy was abolished creating the republic of China but as a consolation the monarchist Yuan Shik became president. As a boy, Ma was very well read and interested in history and he was inspired by military leaders and their campaigns. He studied Napoleon Bonapart, George Washington and American Civil War generals as well as the art of
• 03:00 - 03:30 war by Sunsu. He saw that these men struggled and fought for what they believed in whether to create a new nation or fighting to preserve one in turmoil which inspired him. By the time he entered Ping University, he had studied politics and philosophy such as Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations and Montescu's The Spirit of the Laws as well as the works of Western scientists and philosophers. Ma believed that centralized government control would be
• 03:30 - 04:00 better for the people than a free market that created competition where the worker was at a disadvantage and disposable to those who controlled industry. He also studied men such as Charles Darwin, Emanuel Kant, John Lock, John Stewart Mill, and other influential thinkers. It is known that he kept a copy of Nicolo Makaveli's the prince and the discourses as a reference guide. Mao also studied the American military campaigns in the west during the Indian wars as he saw the defiant nature of the
• 04:00 - 04:30 American Indian tribes inspiring. These may have influenced his mindset as he later became a light infantry and guerilla leader. Model like most Chinese were very upset that Japan had been given Germany's former colony in China confirmed in the Treaty of Versailles as Japan had been a member of the Allies in World War I. Unrest was rising in the country at Japan's partial occupation which began in 1919. After graduation, Ma had begun teaching history at the Zhu Yi Primary School and
• 04:30 - 05:00 was instrumental in organizing protest against the pro- Dwan governor of Hunan Province, Jang Jing Yao, who earned the nickname Ciang the Venomous due to his corrupt government and violent rule against the centers. Ma also delved deeply into the writings of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engles, keeping a copy of the communist manifesto. This would later become his bible as he developed his own thoughts and philosophies. He firmly believed in the concept of universal wealth and land distribution so that no one would be
• 05:00 - 05:30 wealthy at the expense of others who would be left in poverty. His military strategies and political policies and theories are collectively known as Maoism. Ma was also influenced by one of his old teachers Yep, a revolutionary and member of the Kuman Tang or KMT which Ma joined. The KMT wanted a China free of Japanese influence and occupation and modeled on the western capitalist paradigm with free markets, industrialization, and free trade. The wealthy land owners were the primary
• 05:30 - 06:00 members of the KMT, which Mao found to be anathema to his communist concepts of shared land and shared wealth. This division would be the catalyst for the break between the two factions. When party leader Signyats Sin died in May 1925, he was succeeded by Cheng Kaishek who moved to distance the KMT nationalists from Ma's communists. Mao had initially supported Cheng's national revolutionary army whom he saw as a potential ally against the Japanese as
• 06:00 - 06:30 Chang launched the northern expedition attack on the warlords in 1926 who Mao had also been fighting. Spurred on by this expedition, many peasants supported Mao and rose up and confiscated the land of the wealthy land owners who supported the KMT and who were often killed. These actions further alienated the KMT nationalists from the communists. Many KMT members were land owners and were not on board with communist land redistribution. In 1927, Mao supported
• 06:30 - 07:00 the communist separation from the capitalist oriented KMT and he moved to have Chang removed from power. Mao advocated for the death penalty or a life imprisonment for anyone found guilty of counterrevolutionary activity such as resisting land redistribution, arguing that in a revolutionary situation, peaceful methods cannot suffice. This land confiscation and redistribution disaster finally severed relations. During the Chinese civil war between the KMT and the CCP, the Chinese
• 07:00 - 07:30 Communist Party, Mao founded the Chinese Workers and Peasants Red Army. During 1927, Chang marched on the communist stronghold of Shanghai and unleashed the Green Gang, a notorious criminal organization who murdered at will, killing up to 25,000 pro-communist Chinese. This was when the Red Army was created and Mao became an important commander. Ma proclaimed that even the lame, the deaf, and the blind could all come in useful for the revolutionary struggle, and he increased the army's
• 07:30 - 08:00 numbers. Mao had openly called Chang a puppet of the imperialists and a slave to the capitalists and branded him an anti-revolutionary, which was a correct assessment. He incorporated two groups of bandits into his army, numbering an additional 1,800 soldiers. He had laid down rules for his soldiers, prompt obedience to orders. All confiscations were to be turned over to the government, and nothing was to be confiscated from poorer peasants. In doing so, he created a very
• 08:00 - 08:30 welldisiplined and efficient fighting force. Mao joined the forces with two leaders, General Zu and Lin Bao, whose army had almost been wiped out. But Zu and Mao disagreed on the strategy they should take. Stalin had taken a great interest and supported Mao and called Zu to Moscow in 1929, leaving Mao in charge. Part of what helped form Mao's hatred for anything non-communist was when in November, his second wife, Yang Kui and sister were captured and
• 08:30 - 09:00 beheaded by KMT General Hijian. Some believe it was ordered by Chang. During the Japanese occupation of China in the 1930s, Mao's communists were far more effective and reliable in fighting the Japanese forces than was the nationalist Kumantang Army under General Isimo Cheng Kaishek. Mao led the Red Army of the Chinese Communist Party, the CCP, the forerunner of the People's Liberation Army, to evade the pursuit of the
• 09:00 - 09:30 National Army of the Chinese Nationalist Party, the Kumantangg. The long march by Mao to escape the nationalist underqeng lasted from 1934 to 1935 which reportedly covered over 5,600 miles in just over 13 months. The march was illconceived and not well thought out. It started out with about 100,000 people, but less than 8,000 arrived at the end through death from hunger, combat, and exposure. While on the long march, Ma's wife, he
• 09:30 - 10:00 Zen, had been injured by a shrapnel wound to the head. She traveled to Moscow for medical treatment, and Mao proceeded to divorce her and marry an actress, Jen King. Zizen was thrown into a Russian insane asylum. After the massive Japanese invasion of the rest of China in 1937, Miles forces functioned as guerilla units operating in small units and using hitand-run tactics. Unlike the Chinese nationalist, who later fought as a conventional force alongside American and British Commonwealth forces, Mao knew that
• 10:00 - 10:30 without the KMT, he would not be able to defeat the Japanese. So, he sent a peace offering for an alliance with Chang, who initially refused. But after a Chang was detained by his own KMT leadership, there was the formation of the United Front which Stalin strongly endorsed. This alliance was a smart move because after the destruction of Shanghai and Nank King by the Japanese, the numbers within the army soared beyond 400,000 soldiers and their counteroffensive killed over 20,000 Japanese soldiers.
• 10:30 - 11:00 Once World War II became global in 1939 and Japan began to invade all of Asia and the Southwest Pacific, Allied commanders knew that Chang viewed the communist as a greater threat than the Japanese. Trying to get Chang reigned in to fight the Japanese and not the communist proved to be a difficult task. However, Miles forces also fought the Kumang in an ongoing civil war only interrupted by Allied intervention to keep both parties focused upon fighting the Japanese. Chen's response was, "The Japanese will
• 11:00 - 11:30 be gone, but the communists will still be here." To justify his use of Allied supplied weapons against Mao and not supporting the war against Japan. US forces met with Mao and the Communists as part of the Dixie mission, who reported back to General Stillwell that the Communists were better organized, more determined, and definitely more effective at fighting the Japanese than the nationalist KMT under Chang. However, because the KMT was anti-communist, American military aid went to Cheng at the expense of the
• 11:30 - 12:00 communists and Mao who were supported by Stalin in a limited way. After World War II, the civil war continued and the communist forces fighting the nationalist government under Chang. After the nationalists lost the struggle due to great support from Mao from Stalin, they were forced to flee to Formosa, later renamed Taiwan. Chang moved the government to Taipei, Taiwan, where he resumed his duties as president of the Republic of China on one March 1950. This was the birth of what became known as the Republic of China,
• 12:00 - 12:30 juxtaposed to the Communist People's Republic of China. Mao was now the total ruler of 1ifth of the world's population at that time. In 1958, Mao launched the Great Leap Forward that aimed to rapidly transform China's economy from agrarian to industrial to compete with the industrialized West, which was an avoidable disaster. Ma's attempt to rapidly catch up to the western industrialized world was a complete failure as he confiscated farmland to
• 12:30 - 13:00 build factories and used his hard currency to purchase steel and other metals to build up China's infrastructure. This forced many millions of Chinese farmers who would have been growing food to migrate to the major cities for work. Much of it they were unqualified for, thus launching another great famine, perhaps the largest in history. This illconceived action led to the deadliest famine in history and the deaths of up to 55 million people or more between 1958 and 1962.
• 13:00 - 13:30 In 1963, Mao launched the Socialist Education Movement, banning pro-western literature and enforcing a communist indoctrination policy. In 1966, he initiated the Cultural Revolution, a program to remove counterrevolutionary elements in Chinese society, which lasted 10 years and was marked by violent class struggle, widespread destruction of cultural artifacts, and a clear demonstration of Ma's mental illness and a rising cult of personality. Between 1959 and 1969, he was the
• 13:30 - 14:00 chairman of the Chinese Communist Party with undisputed authority. His long-term plan was to export his brand of communism all over the world, hence his various adventures. As part of his plan, China was also heavily involved with other Southeast Asian conflicts such as the Korean War, where he sent 300,000 soldiers across the Yaloo River to support the North Korean communist leader Kimong. He supported Ho Chi Min during the Vietnam War where he gave sanctuary to North Vietnamese aircraft evading
• 14:00 - 14:30 American fighters and the Cambodian civil war which brought Polep Putt and the Cam Rouge to power. The government under Mao was responsible for vast numbers of deaths with estimates ranging from 40 to 80 million victims through starvation, persecution, prison labor, and mass executions, not including the deaths prior to 1959, which estimates have as between 30 and 40 million due to starvation and purges. Ma ruthlessly suppressed his people by force, including executions
• 14:30 - 15:00 and placing them in goolags. He unnecessarily caused the deaths of tens of millions through his mismanagement and lack of understanding as to how to convert an agrarian economy into an industrial one. He also threatened to retake Taiwan by force, but never had the capability. He also strived to expand his brand of communism around the world, where we see China's influence even today. Sound familiar? He has been praised in some communist circles for transforming China from an agrarian
• 15:00 - 15:30 third world backwater into a leading world power. The claims are that he greatly advanced literacy, women's rights, basic healthcare, primary education and life expectancy. These successes are always in dispute. His own publication, the little red book, contains his thoughts and philosophies and was required reading in China and is still popular today. The results of Ma's reign included murder, torture, the creation of the Goolag system, which still exists, and several famines that killed
• 15:30 - 16:00 so many Chinese that the numbers are still in dispute. Ma may have personally been responsible for up to 100 million deaths. And that is his greatest legacy. He was the architect of a superpower, yet his hands were stained with the blood of millions. A man who ruled through fear, reshaped history, and turned his nation into a global force, but at an unimaginable human cost. Under Stalin's reign of terror, the Soviet Union underwent rapid
• 16:00 - 16:30 industrialization and collectivization, transforming it into a global superpower. However, his rule was marked by brutal purges, max executions, forced labor camps known as goolags, and widespread famine, particularly the holomore in Ukraine. His authoritarian control resulted in severe human rights abuses and mass repression. Who was Joseph Stalin? A visionary leader or one of history's most ruthless
• 16:30 - 17:00 tyrants? His name still echoes in history, a symbol of power, paranoia, and oppression. This is his story. Hello, I'm Colin Heaton, former history professor, Army and Marine Corps veteran, and welcome to this episode of Forgotten History.
• 17:00 - 17:30 [Music] Joseph isovich Jukashilli was born on December 18, 1870 in Gori, Russian Empire, modern-day Georgia. He grew up in extreme poverty with an abusive alcoholic father, Biserian Chukashi, who frequently beat him. His mother, Kik Galadz, was a washwoman who cared for him, especially after he contracted
• 17:30 - 18:00 small pox as an infant, which left his face scarred by life. A childhood accident involving a horsedrawn carriage permanently damaged his left arm, exempting him from military service in World War I. Despite speaking only Georgian at home, Stalin learned Russian while attending the Gory Church School from 1888 to 1894. His mother wished for him to become an Orthodox priest and he was sent to the Tifflas Theological
• 18:00 - 18:30 Seminary. However, his exposure to Karl Mars and other revolutionary text led to his expulsion in 1899, officially for ill health, but more than likely due to his radical activities. Stalin briefly worked as a clerk at the Tifflas Observatory, his only paid employment outside of politics. He soon became involved in an underground revolutionary movement, organizing labor demonstrations and strikes in the caucuses. His excessive zeal in pushing workers into violent
• 18:30 - 19:00 confrontations with the police alienated many fellow conspirators. By 1903, the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party split into two factions, the Mencheviks and the Bolevixs. Stalin joined the more militant Bolsheviks under Vladimir Linen becoming a key operative. Stalin married a Georgian womanina in 1904. She died 3 years later leaving behind a son Yakov whom Stalin later
• 19:00 - 19:30 treated with contempt. In 1907 he orchestrated a bank heist in Tublissi to fund the party marking his early involvement in criminal activities for political gain. Stalin's early years were defined by arrest, imprisonments, and exiles. Despite being arrested seven times between 1902 and 1913, Stalin consistently received light sentences, leading some boleviks to suspect that he was an informant for the Tsoris
• 19:30 - 20:00 police. After escaping from Siberian exile in 1917, Stalin returned to Petrorad and resumed editorship of Pravda. Initially advocating for cooperation with the provisional government, he quickly shifted to Lenin's militant stance, supporting the Bolevik revolution in October 1917 that overthrew the Romanov dynasty. However, Stalin played a secondary role to Leontrosky in the revolution. But during the Russian civil war in 1918 to 1921 between the Bolevik
• 20:00 - 20:30 reds and the opposition whites hoping to remove Lenin's influence, Trosky proved to be a capable commander and the Bolevixs eventually won. This placed Stalin in the shadow of his future primary rival. Following Linen's death in 1924, Stalin outmaneuvered his rivals including Trosky, Zenobv, and Kamev. Lenin did not want Stalin to succeed him, but only those men were really
• 20:30 - 21:00 aware of it. He consolidated power through strategic appointments and political purges and created the Goolag system. See our video on Stalin's Cannibal Island on that subject. By the late 1930s, he had eliminated opposition and established a totalitarian regime. Friends and enemies both were sacrificed and Trosky after exile was assassinated in Mexico City in 1940. And see our video on
• 21:00 - 21:30 Trosky. Stalin's policies forcibly collectivized agriculture. Seizing private farmland and placing peasants under state control. Resistance, especially in Ukraine, led to mass executions, deportations, and the Holomore famine, which killed millions. Industrialization under successive 5-year plans propelled the USSR into an industrial powerhouse, but at an immense human cost. Beginning in 1934, Stalin
• 21:30 - 22:00 initiated widespread purges targeting Communist Party members, military leaders, and intellectuals. The great purges of 1936 to 1938 saw show trials, forced confessions, and executions of Stalin's former allies, including Zenovv, Kamv, and Bkharin. The Red Army suffered devastating losses with approximately 75% of its officers purged. The greatest loss was Marshall Nikolai Tukachevski,
• 22:00 - 22:30 Russia's greatest military genius, who had designed the Soviet military from top to bottom, organized a battle plan with contingencies using ground, air, and partisan assets in case of a future war. His loss would come back to haunt Stalin. Stalin signed the Molotovar ribbon pact with Hitler in 1939, allowing the USSR to annex parts of Eastern Europe. And when Germany invaded Poland on September 1st,
• 22:30 - 23:00 1939, both nations divided that country. Soviet forces then occupied the Baltic states of Estonia, Latia, and Lithuania. Stalin then took the opportunity to invade Finland in November 1939, a blunder which cost him 400,000 soldiers and ended in a truce in March 1940, giving him parts of Curelia. But it showed how deficient his military was. The poor performance of the Red Army in Finland showed the weaknesses Stalin had
• 23:00 - 23:30 inflicted upon the military with his purges. But it foreshadowed an even greater disaster. In 1941, Stalin took over military operations, a job for which he was wholly unsuited, and Germany invaded the Soviet Union, catching Stalin off guard despite him being warned by British intelligence that an attack was coming. The British had just broken the Enigma code. The Red Army's initial failures resulted in catastrophic losses. Stalin then executed 300 senior
• 23:30 - 24:00 officers for incompetence by October 1941. Though it was his own purges and poor decisions and ridiculous orders that had crippled the military's leadership. Seeing the brutality and incompetence of Stalin militarily, nearly 1 million Soviet citizens fled to German occupied Eastern Europe. The largest contingent were Ukrainians led by the anti-communist Stephan Bandera. Many joined the German
• 24:00 - 24:30 military which created one Ukrainian, two Russian, two Latvian and one Estonian Waffan SS division as well as the 15th SS Kasac cavalry corps to fight Stalin. At the suggestion of Marshall Georgie Zhukov, Stalin brought back many of the generals he had sent to the Goolags whom those he did not kill, such as Constantine Rockazoski, a protetéé of Tugachevski, who would save Moscow and
• 24:30 - 25:00 plan operation Begratian in 1944. Despite the early setbacks, with the reintroduction of competent field commanders, American Lyn leafs and his massive industrial program, Soviet forces rebounded, winning crucial battles at Moscow, Stalingrad and Kursk. Stalin later emerged as a key figure in Allied conferences such as at Tehran in 1943 and Yaltta in 1945 negotiating with Roosevelt who were socialistminded and
• 25:00 - 25:30 admired Stalin and Winston Churchill who despised and distrusted him. Stalin wanted all Soviet PS liberated by the Allies and all German soldiers captured east of the Ela River handed over to him and in return he would give Eastern Europe free elections. FDR believed him. Churchill did not. Roosevelt and Churchill wanted a Soviet commitment to enter the war against Japan and Stalin agreed. Stalin's diplomatic cunning and
• 25:30 - 26:00 never intending to honor his promises secured Soviet dominance in Eastern Europe, setting the stage for the Cold War. After Roosevelt's death, Stalin met Harry S. Truman, who along with Churchill, held their Potdam conference. Truman being of the same mindset as Churchill did not trust Stalin and Truman wanted all Americans in Soviet custody such as downed air crews handed over to complete the deal made with
• 26:00 - 26:30 FDR. The Soviet prisoners returned to Stalin's control were killed or sent to the gulags as he had issued the order that there are no Soviet prisoners only traders and collaborators. This applied to his own son, Yakov, captured by the Germans, whom Stalin abandoned, and he would not entertain a prisoner exchange. When Stalin held his great victory parade in Red Square, not a single ampute could be seen out of the million military personnel present.
• 26:30 - 27:00 That was because he sent many of them to gulags so that they could not be seen as their presence would have diminished the image of the perfect Soviet military man. Stalin and his policies had killed up to at least 30 million Soviet citizens before the war. He lost over 20 million during the war and killed another 10 million or more after the war. With that depleted manpower, the
• 27:00 - 27:30 lack of agricultural workers, which along with the drought that followed 1945, this created a third famine that cost another 2 million lives by 1948. After the war, Stalin imposed communist regimes across Eastern Europe, violating promises of free elections. His control over Soviet society remained absolute with renewed purges and repression. He supported North Korea's invasion of
• 27:30 - 28:00 South Korea in 1950, but avoided direct military intervention. Stalin's paranoia intensified in his final years. The doctor's plot of 1953, accusing Jewish doctors of conspiring against Soviet leaders, was poised to trigger another massive purge. But Stalin died on March 5th, 1953 in Moscow of a cerebral hemorrhage before it could be fully enacted. Stalin's rule left an indelible mark on
• 28:00 - 28:30 the Soviet Union and the world. His policies industrialized the USSR, making it a global superpower, but at the cost of millions of lives. His reign was characterized by mass repression, forced labor, and economic policies that prioritized state control over individual well-being. Despite his role in defeating Nazi Germany, his legacy remains deeply controversial. His successors, particularly Nikita Kruev, a Ukrainian himself, denounced Stalin's
• 28:30 - 29:00 excesses. Yet Stalin's influence persisted in Soviet governance. The Cold War rivalry he helped instigate shaped global politics for decades. Ultimately, Stalin exemplified the paradox of totalitarianism, achieving national strength through brutality, leaving behind a legacy of both power and suffering. His impact continues to shape historical discourse serving as a cautionary tale of the dangers of unchecked authority. Cambodia was a nation under
• 29:00 - 29:30 various regimes from French colonial rule until the Japanese occupation in 1941. Then again as a French colony until 1953 when it became an independent kingdom from 1953 to 1970. Later it became a short-lived republic from 1970 to 1975 until overthrown by the Cime Rouge regime in 1975 which ended in 1979. It remained a communist country until 1993 when it
• 29:30 - 30:00 once again became a kingdom. Cambodia was a major sanctuary and supply base for the North Vietnamese and Vietkong forces where they were protected from American military operations until the election of President Richard M. Nixon. In 1968, following the end of the Allied involvement in Vietnam, a communist regime took power in Cambodia just as one erupted in Laos and millions would die as a result of one madman. What were the killing fields of
• 30:00 - 30:30 Cambodia? Why did the communist regime of Vietnam go to war with its former communist ally and supporter? How did Paul Pot join Stalin, Ma, Hitler, and others in the pantheon of mass murderers? Hello, I'm Colin Heaton, former soldier, Marine Corps Scott Sniper, history professor, historian, and book author. And we will answer these questions and other issues on this segment of Forgotten History. [Music]
• 30:30 - 31:00 Salathsar better known by his nam dear Paul was born on May 19th 1925 in prick sab located about 100 miles north of the Cambodian capital Ponampen. He came from a rich family that owned some 50 acres of rice patty 10 times the national average. In 1934 Pulpot moved to Ponampen where he spent a year at a
• 31:00 - 31:30 Buddhist monastery before attending a French Catholic primary school. In 1949, he went to Paris on a scholarship. While there, he studied radio technology and became quite active in communist groups. In January 1953, when Pulpot returned to Cambodia, the whole region was in active revolt against French colonial rule. Cambodia officially gained its independence from France later that year, as did Indochina, the next year, which became Vietnam and Laos. Paul Pot
• 31:30 - 32:00 meanwhile joined the Communist Camir People's Revolutionary Party, the KPRP, established in 1951 with support of the North Vietnamese in opposition to French occupation. From 1956 to 1963, Pulpot taught history, geography, and French literature at a private school while simultaneously plotting a revolution. During the Vietnam War, Cambodia was one of the few sanctuaries for communist Vietkong and North Vietnamese forces fighting the Allied coalition. Cambodia
• 32:00 - 32:30 was officially off limits to American forces as they pursued the enemy along the Ho Chi Min Trail and across the Meong River. Noramanuk was the hereditary prince of the royal family and the national leader, but he was a political survivor and when it suited him, he supported whichever political entity rose to the occasion. He courted Ho Chi Men and China, entertained the communist revolutionaries in his country, and later supported Paul Pot and agreed with the programs of re-education. Due to Cambodia violating its self-stated neutrality in the war,
• 32:30 - 33:00 in March 1969, US President Richard M. Nixon ordered a secret bombing campaign as well as military ground operations into Cambodia to interdict and destroy enemy troops and camps. Over the span of four years, US planes dropped 500,000 tons of bombs on Cambodia, more than three times the amount dropped on Japan during World War II. These operations killed tens of thousands of communist soldiers and supporters and brought the communists of China, North Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos
• 33:00 - 33:30 even closer into a rather fragile alliance. By the time the US bombing campaign ended in August 1973, the number of Camir Rouge troops had increased exponentially and they now controlled approximately 3/4 of Cambodia's territory. Soon after they began shelling the capital, Ponamp pin with rockets and artillery. The Cambodian civil war was in full swing and final assaults on the refugee field capital started in January 1975 with the Camir Rouge bombarding the
• 33:30 - 34:00 airport and blockading river crossings. China and North Vietnam were the primary Cime supporters during the Civil War. As a result of their influence, the US airlift of supplies failed to prevent thousands of children from starving. Finally, on April 17, 1975, the Camir Rouge entered the city, winning the civil war and ending the fighting. About half a million Cambodians had died during the civil war, yet the worst was still to come. The Cam Rouge communists and their insane leader Paul Pot came to
• 34:00 - 34:30 power in 1975 and almost immediately the Cam Rouge forcibly evacuated Ponampen's 2.5 million residents. Most of these were civil servants, doctors, lawyers, teachers, and other highly educated professionals. These people were deemed intellectuals and therefore anti-revolutionary and they were stripped of their homes and private possessions and forced into slave labor working in the fields and rice patties with the peasants. The Cime Rouge's most notorious prison, S21, which held up to 20,000 prisoners, had only seven survivors and was revealed in May 1979.
• 34:30 - 35:00 That death camp was converted into the Tulle Slaying Genocide Museum. In fact, Paul Pot operated over 150 Cime Rouge death camps. It seems ironic that a French educated intellectual would purge all of the other intellectuals in the country to impose his communist ideals. But that was the Marxist game plan. Between 1975 and 1979, the Cime Rouge genocide killed between 1.5 and 2 million people, nearly 25% of Cambodia's
• 35:00 - 35:30 entire population. During the genocide, China was the main international patron of the Camir Rouge, supplying more than 15,000 military advisers and most of its external aid and therefore was complicit. This was all part of Pulpot's re-education program and it was a brutal process. One prime example of those targeted was Dr. Hang Essengor who was trained as a surgeon and gynecologist. His practice was in the capital Ponampen
• 35:30 - 36:00 when the Cimeir received control of the country and renamed it the Democratic Republic of Capuchia. Thousands of highly educated people were murdered in their homes and in the streets in a political and social cleansing operation as they were considered a threat to the limited intellects of the mainly illiterate peasant communist forces. Gore knew that he had to conceal his education, medical skills, and even the fact that he wore glasses, which meant that he had financial means go some form
• 36:00 - 36:30 of highpaying employment or running the risk of being perceived as an intellectual to avoid the new regime's intense hostility towards intellectuals and professionals. Dr. Gore was expelled from Panama Penin along with the bulk of its more than 2 million inhabitants. as part of the Cam Rouge's year zero social experiment. He and his wife Mihoy along with thousands of others were imprisoned in a concentration camp and she died giving birth along with their unborn child. Although he was a highly trained gynecologist, he was unable to treat his
• 36:30 - 37:00 wife who needed a ceerian section as that would have ensured that they were all killed. Finally, after the guards were distracted during a mass execution, and their attention was diverted by the Vietnamese army invading, he eventually crawled between Camar Rouge and Vietnamese lines to safety in a Red Cross refugee camp and eventually left with his niece for the United States. Dr. Gore was unable to resume his medical practice in the United States, but he became an actor and starred with Sam Wat in the highly acclaimed film The
• 37:00 - 37:30 Killing Fields. Gora is the only actor of Asian descent to win an Academy Award for best supporting actor. At first, Pulp Pot largely governed from behind the scenes. He became prime minister in 1976 after Prince Normuk was forced to resign. By that time, border skirmishes were occurring regularly between the Cambodians and the Vietnamese. The fighting intensified in 1977 and in December 1978, the Vietnamese sent more than 60,000 troops along with air and
• 37:30 - 38:00 artillery units across the border. On January 7th, 1979, they captured Ponampen and forced Pulpot to flee back into the jungle where he resumed guerrilla operations. The world was learning of the mass murders by Pulpot in violation of all the existing conventions regarding armed conflict and human rights. This included more than 30,000 Vietnamese civilians who had been tortured and murdered by Pulpots's forces. Thousands of Vietnamese were forcibly taken back across the border as slave labor to work the rice patties and
• 38:00 - 38:30 work on building projects. A prime example for the Vietnamese retaliation was the Bachuk massacre when the Cam Rouge tortured and killed the entire population of over 3,000 people with only one woman surviving to tell the tale. Even communist Vietnam with its own bloodstained history had seen enough and invaded Cambodia in late 1978. In a clear display of communist fratricside, China who supported pulp pots of madness invaded Vietnam in February
• 38:30 - 39:00 1979, a month after Vietnam captured Penamp on January 9th. During the Cambodian genocide, the bones of millions of people who died from malnutrition, overwork, or inadequate health care joined those who were just executed, filling up the mass graves across the country. Under Paul Pot, the state controlled all aspects of a person's life. Money, private property, jewelry, gambling. Most reading material and religions were outlawed. Agriculture was collectivized. Children were taken
• 39:00 - 39:30 from their homes and forced into the military and communist indoctrination. the re-education camps and strict rules govern sexual relations, vocabulary, how someone even spoke and clothing. These laws were laid down and renamed in the name of the country Democratic Capua. Throughout the 1980s, the Cam Rouge received arms from China and political support from the United States, ironically enough, which opposed the decadel long Vietnamese occupation. But the Camir Rouge's influence began to decrease following a 1991 ceasefire
• 39:30 - 40:00 agreement and the movement completely collapsed by the end of that decade. In 1997, a Camir Rouge splinter group captured Pulpot and placed him under house arrest. He died in his sleep in Analong Vang village, Odari on April 15th, 1998 at age 72 due to heart failure. Despite the millions killed due to the tyrannical regime, the United Nations backed human rights criminal tribunal has convicted only a handful of Cam
• 40:00 - 40:30 Rouge leaders for crimes against humanity. Thank you for watching this episode of Forgotten History. If you liked what you saw, please click like, share, and subscribe. And if you would like to assist with the everinccreasing cost of production, please consider becoming a channel member and joining our Patreon page. [Music] Please check out our merchandise store and thanks for watching.