Because one David is clearly not enough! As they say in Russia - "there should be more of a good person"!

My grandmother had befriended a German officer in Båtsfjord - Finnmark (northern Norway). When the Germans retreated they left most people in Båtsfjord behind because there was not time to force evacuate every city, so the German officer gave my grandmother a huge stack of food, which she shared with the whole town after the Germans retreated. My grandmother was such a good person, and it also comes to show that not every German soldier was evil, just because they were being run by an evil regime. That German officer came back visiting my grandmother and grandfather when my dad was little, and he's the one who told me this story. The people of Båtsfjord didn't like to have a German back there again, even if he was a good person, which also shows that not only the Germans could judge people by your nationality.

Icelanders hearing us mentioned in anything ever. THEY ACKNOWLEDGE OUR EXISTENCE!! 😂

Together we are strong! Warm greetings to all Nordic brothers and sisters from Finland 🇫🇮🇸🇪🇸🇯🇩🇰🇮🇸

LOL, loved the humor and of course the great review, thanks David and team.

I love this video series.

I didn't know that David had a twin brother. This man is full of surprises.

Great job guys, keep it up!

great job guys - thanx!

Humor approved! :) You are getting visibly better with each episode.

The bobblehead by the camera - yes! Clearly, it gives you +10 to History - because yet again you did great work

Keep up the good work,love you guys

This is an impressive channel. Good work.

Keep up the good work. This is a great channel. 👍

Of course I get a Bernie ad on the video about Scandinavia, never change Bernie, never change.

In northern Norway, around Kirkenes, there is an iron mine that one would think would be attractive to the Russians. After the Russians liberated the area from the Germans, how did Norway ever get it back? It's an interesting area. There are patrols on the Norwegian side and strict signs about not provoking the Russians, but other than the border markers there is nothing to suggest a major border in the region. I've stood an arms length from Russia. When the Germans left they leveled Kirkenes and the surrounding area. Thereare still German concrete rivetments near the Kirkenes airport.

Wow! I am very glad my friend recommended your channel. The history is correct, and the jokes are great as well. Could you maybe talk about Danish Greenland? As that was the only thing you didn't mention. Keep up the good work. 👍

Love your channel

Do Operation Gladius.

well can you make some video about thailand i want to know why they in axis but don't have to pay any (major) war reparation? and how they survive from the third indo-china war?

The Norwegian troops that were sent to Finnmark had actually been trained in and sent from Sweden and not England

Very good channel

Funny story. When Iceland declared independence apparently the king of occupied Denmark congratulated them. Probably the first time in history a monarch has "high-fived" decolonization.

The casual Stalin in the background always cracks me up.

The last two videos were great.just by adding humor coldwar documentaries have become far more enjoyable. Passed the time in which I got bored after ten minutes👍

The Cod Wars: coming soon

Really nice episode! Not much is heard from Scandinavian countries. Can you do the Benelux next?

When will we see somting about the Netherlands ? Btw I realy like your movies !!! Keep up the good work !

Love this series, do you have a video about the netherlands after ww2

I was impressed when I first heard how swiftly Norway recovered from the war. And I can respect how the rest of Scandinavian countries felt about both sides. My compliments to all those who made this video a reality.

What I take from this is that Social Democracy works and Communism does not

Interesting to get to know a bit about Iceland after the war 👍

Awesome channel!!

Please eventually do a video on the Border War in Southern Africa, a great example of cold war proxies.

What's with the green tint in this video? Luv the vids!!!!!!

You didn't mention the part where Sweden tried to form a Nordic defense alliance, which was rejected by Denmark and Norway, nor did you explain why Sweden remained formally neutral despite cooperating with NATO against the Soviet union.

More countries than I was expecting.

please make a video about Italy!!

I live in Vadsø Finnmark. My grandma and grandpa hid out in a cave during the evacuation of Finnmark, and they even got a lot of food from a German officer that wanted to help them because they were friends. My grandma and grandpa shared the food with the city of Båtsfjord after the evacuation, which prevented a lot of starvation.

Can you make a video on Non-Aligned Movement?

You went way north, can you go way south and do an episode on South Africa during the Cold War?

One ammendment: Gerhardsen received the nickname "Landsfaderen" (father of the country)

Einar Gerhardsen was not Norways prime minister between 1951 and 1955, when Oscar Torp (also Arbeiderpartiet, or "Labour") held the office. FYI.

*For all of Scandinavia at that time with their very low population with high taxes, low military budget no nukes,staying out of other countries business reviving the economy fast was a no brainier.*

Watching this guy makes me miss Indy nidal

New favorite channel btw!!!

Great video! After the Soviets liberated Eastern Finnmark in late October 1944 the German Army started burning down the rest of Finnmark county. An area the size of Denmark with 75000 Norwegians becoming refugees. My grandfather, and his family were one of these 75000 people. Because of that in my family today we have only two pictures of my granddad's life prior to 1944. The Russian left Finnmark in august 1945; and Finnmark the Danish island of Bornholm were the only two European places in the Red Amy's possesions of 1945, that were handed back to the country's original owner before the USSR itself ended up in the history books. That something for Russians to remember today, with Putin's seemingly atempt to recreate the USSR today.

Iceland is very militarily strategic.

Brilliant, David. I shall now cease from referring to you as "a poor man's Indy Neidel!" Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

An unknown fact. The Norwegian government did consider getting nuclear weapons during the 1950s and 1960s if i remember correctly. They considered it because they knew that if ww3 broke out the soviet union would have them outnumbered in a 2:1 margin or more, and planned to use them against the armies that would be moving toward Norway. They scrapped the idea though, and it have been largely forgotten by the people and parts of the state.

Gerhardsen did stand down as PM between 1951 to 1955, to finally regain his strength. Being active in the resistance movement during the occupation, he was both tortured by Gestapo and survived four years in various camps, including Sachsenhausen.

Can't wait for the Cod Wars!

Not a word about Greenland? Did I miss it somewhere?

No mentioning of Greenland? Though it’s not part of Scandinavia it’s still part of the Danish kingdom and was a Danish colony at the time around Second World War. It played a part in the Cold War with danish government forcing local population to move because of the expansion of the American Thule base and the issue wether Danish government knew the Americans had nuclear weapons in Greenland or not. You should really do an episode about Greenland and it’s role in the Cold War. It still plays a big role nowadays with super powers being very interested in the arctic area.

What about Greenland?

I think had a podcast on the Roman Empire, isn’t that right?

Scandinavian countries are strong when together....

I'm glad that you didn't forget my home country ICELAND

Sweden attempted to form a Nordic Defensive Alliance prior to 1939, but Finland and Norway both rejected it... Sweden also warned Finland and Norway that their defensive budgets were far too small and that it invited attack. And then Finland and Norway were attacked a couple years later. Sweden did much to help Finland without outright becoming involved militarily, with a lot of material support direct from its own arsenals. So much so that when Norway was invaded a month after the Winter War ended, Sweden had little left to give Norway and was in absolutely no position to resist the Germans. It is unfortunate that that the alliance was not created. It might have given pause to both Hitler and Stalin.

You guys always forgeting Iceland, and winter it's coming ;)

Can you imagine what the Soviet Union would have done the population of Denmark if they got their hands on the country.

Greece please

Since you are looking at northern countries during the Cold War, what about Canada?

Mmmm sorry, ice...what???

Very good but I was hoping you would get a bit more into each country's motivation for joining nato

A minor point but where you mention the trials in Norway after the war one of the clips is of a German general at a nazi show trail after the plot to assassinate Hitler. Also, controversial point, but Norway was probably the only country to benefit from nazi occupation as their slave labour organisation (Todt) built the rail and road infrastructure that would never have been built otherwise. Its possible to hike around Oslo and come across tragic memorials to Yugoslav and Soviet prisoners worked to their deaths

BUT WHAT ABOUT GREENLAND

I heard three Norwegians instead of Free Norwegians and I wondered for a bit how three Norwegian would be able to occupy the whole of Finnmark :P

I thought it was supposed to be about Scandinavia.

Aww, no mention of the mysterious Isdal Woman? Maybe it's a topic for a different day.

Three...or four, very influential small nations.

Scandanavia and the Road to NATO me in 2023: this one aged well

Iceland is not a part of Scandinavia but it is a part of the Nordic. The very definition of Scandinavia is Denmark, Norway and Sweden. When it comes to geografic Scandinavia is Norway and Sweden but the Scandinavian peninsula is Norway Sweden and North-Western Finland.

Find it funny that Norway is part of NATO but not the EU while Sweden isn't part of NATO but is part of the EU.

Greenland?

I think today east Germans would like the Nordic model over their current west German model today. It's not socialist like them, but not excessively competitive. Swedish Welfare system is a mix of socialism and capitalism but as progressive on social issues like germany.

Pretty good video overall, but I do want to correct you about south Schleswig. It's not that there was a significant German speaking population there when there wasn't before. Both Northern and southern Schleswig had Danish and German populations for ages. The second world war changed nothing in this regard. It wasn't the policy of the Nazis to drive out Danes or to settle Germans there to bolster German claims. Schleswig is complicated and has been populated by both Danes and Germans for ages. South Schleswig was majority German and North Schleswig was majority Danish, that's why they voted in a referendum before the war over where they would be citizens.

2:37 And that, boys, is how men used to sharpen their scythe, before harvesting the field. .... Those crops have no idea what's about to hit them.

Sweden got marshall aid despite never joining the war? *cries in Finnish*

Einar Gerhardsen wasn't the primeminister in London! It was Johan Nygaardsvolds! Einar Gerardsen was arrestert by the Germans an was in arrest in Norway!

The Scandinavians had some shape or form of ethnic groups such as karelians who attended weekly Bible talks and attended Orthodox Churches churches. So, they didn't consider the Russians to be the enemy unlike Slavic Poles. Finns were braver than Soviet soldiers. President Kallio during the treaty signing ceremony at the end of the winter war said something insignificant to his five negotiators who actually signed the Winter war agreement. Mr. Kallio says he spent time in Karelian villages learning medieval Russian, unlike other Finns and Swedes who didn't leave for Sweden after independence. after the treaty was signed, Mr. Kallio's luck changed for the worse, and had paralysis and and lost his hand as per legend. He said Karelia was conquered from Russian Novgorod province by Sweden, who next called the language of the locals of Karelia dialect a fictional oorgic-Finnic language. Sweden told the Finns to lie and say that Karelians language is a Ugric Finnic language. Actually Karelian language was similar form of ancient form of medieval Russian language, he said. Karelian language is to Russian language as Shakespearean medieval English is to modern English of England. Karelians say they can adjust to anu conqueror, Finns, Swedes or Russians. Karelians consider themselves to adhere to the American Amish form of village life, while speaking a vintage form of Russian at home. Including mercenaries and Karelians, Finland had a population of 3.65 million souls, including Swedes and Karelians. Just a few Aboriginal Inuits and Eskimos formerly livin well to the north of the arctic circle hand have since been removed on reindeer driven sledges to Greenland, another icy continent by previous European kings. He said Finland will be still a large country of uninhabited pine forests and birch woods and that the negotiators should still give away South Karelia, in return for keeping north karelia and West karelia and the rest of Finland. The five co-signers agreed. In fact, /President Kallio reasoned, Soviets will let us retain North Karelia.

OM NOM NOM!!

For Konge og fedreland

Finland was neutral if Soviets or anybody asked. In reality trading with the west and selling western quality consumer goods to USSR. Finland wasn't allowed to have Marshall aid or get too close to the West. After 1991 Finland wanted to join EU and joined 1995 with Austria and Sweden. Sweden and Finland have not joined NATO yet. I guess wars in former Yugoslavia,Afghanistan and Iraq wasn't the best PR for joining NATO.

Can't help but think those 400,000 soldiers in Norway could've been useful out east against the Soviets....

Good job, never knew Sweden was never occupied; and other dets. Thanks! 💖😎

Don't wanna catch the clap, even if it's a viking clap....

*sad Greenland noises*

7:45 - Isn't that the fascist symbol "fasces" in the background of the logo?

Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland should have stuck together. The loss of their neutralities to NATO is really against their principles. Luxembourg, The Netherlands and Belgium should also have regained their neutralities. Sweden didn't have a lot of choice with their neutrality as did Finland. The occupied Nordic countries and Luxembourg clearly loved neutrality.

Nordic countries close proximity to USSR gave me a lot of socialists ideas to experiment on.

"Nude Kristensen"

Nordic model being funded by the United States, thats pretty ironic. Would have appreciated hearing how the Danish king was percieved after the liberation, as he surrendered after 6 hours! Whilst our grand king Haakon, said NO!, and we would continue the struggle. Anyways, love you Danes. Love you too David.

But... what is Scandinavia?

"Sweden had been untouched by the ravages of the Second World War." Yeah because they gave Germany their iron ore in exchange for not invading them.

Nude Kristensen? Lmao.

During the war, the danish Conservative party leader John Christmas Møller made a government in exile in the UK after being chased out for not acknowledging the collaboration government led by the center-left parties. He was made foreign minister in the unity-government formed after liberation. He was the main architect in getting Bornholm back from the USSR. He is not really remembered today, but he has a few some town squares and a few statues in his honor. After the war the danish political left made sure to erase any memory of their collaboration with the nazi’s and many resistance groups that was not from the left, was washed away from history. Maybe free and democratic again, but Denmark in 45-55 was a disgrace with people fighting over the power vacuum and even using German teenagers(and children) to remove the mines the Wehrmacht had put up on the western shores. Basicly kidnapping Greenlandic children to impose the Danish way if life on them before they would know what Greenlandic lifestyle their parents had and many could only return home after turning 18. My own grandmother was one of those children who was kidnapped in that experiment.

iceland is not scandinavia

I struggle with delineating the difference between social democrats and eastern europe "communist". The only difference I see is that the social democrats will actually leave if you vote them out, but the communist wouldn't.

I Know That It Has Been Said Multiple Times Before. But Iceland Is Not A Scandinavian Country (Even Thought They Were A Part Of The Danish Empire/Grand Kingdom).