The Origin of Eastern Europe Explained

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The story of Eastern Europe is one of successes and failures, competing interests, and the rise and fall of states and empires. The ancient Greek and Roman empires knew the importance of Eastern Europe for trade and settlement. Later, during the Migration Period, also known as the “Barbarian Invasions,” Eastern Europe became the stomping grounds for many people groups. The Visigoths, Huns, Slavs, and central Asian Turkic tribes like the Avars and Khazars all made their way into Eastern Europe.
This book extends past contemporary histories of Eastern Europe, which usually end at the fall of the Berlin Wall, to cover more recent events, including the conflicts in Bosnia and Kosovo and the 2014 Crimean crisis.

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[Artur_M.]

This is a very, very oversimplified, awkward and disjointed attempt at summarizing an enormous topic. And of course you had to propagate the notion that Rus' = Russia, among many other smaller and greater inaccuracies and omissions. Despite all that I'm glad that you are taking interest in the region and hope you'll continue making videos about it, focusing on more specific topics and improving.

Are you aware that your very profile picture is a depiction of Polish Legions on Haiti, by Polish painter (born in modern-day Belarus) - January Suchodolski?

BTW Most Poles will take offense to being called "Eastern European" and insist that we are "Central". Personally, I don't care either way. I think that this attitude is a misguided reaction to the negative stereotipization and ignorance about this region and its history, treated as something separate from the _proper_ European history.

[lmaocetung]

This is very simplified, you didn't even mention the Napielonic wars, this video was pretty much just about Poland and Russia

[xnespor]

Hungary, Slovakia, Czech, Austria lived 400 years together as one state, one goverment. But Austria is now West and rest is East. Despite the fact that Vienna is much eastern than e.g. Prag. All this east-west concept is just relict of Cold war.

[yoanalexander]

The summary of Cyril and Methodius is somewhat inaccurate. They didn't form old church Slavonic. They did create the glagolitic alphabet but it wasn't popular. It wasn't until their students developed the Cyrillic alphabet in the First Bulgarian Empire that a common script for eastern slavs becomes reality. What is now referred as Old Church Slavonic finds it's beginnings in the initial writings from the First Bulgarian Empire (although the language was already the common tongue among slavs in the region, only the script was new). You should have mentioned the First Bulgarian Empire in connection to the Cyrillic alphabet as it's a well known fact in history. The then Bulgarian monarchy's and church contribution to popularizing Cyrillic is undeniable.

[razvanandreiantonescurogoz]

There is no way you did a video on Eastern Europe without any mention of Dacia and Thracia. Watch "The Thracians : a Hidden History" and "Decebalus and the Dacian wars" (Daco-Roman wars)

[ИванГеоргиев-де]

I have not read the book but when I saw how much of Bulgarian history was cut from the ignore that cyril and methodius came to bulgaria making it the first country to spread the cyrilic missing the whole medieval history with cherry on top being you not saying Bulgarians in the first Balkan war even tho we created the union I am just curious is it om purpose or just lack of knowledge

[tomaskeprt]

There is nothing like a history of Eastern Europe.

[lamaahruloma]

I am afraid it's not the Eastern Europe in any sense, neither the Eastern Bloc.

[robert]

Well done. You showed how eastern europe is a constant opressed and war ridden region because it is in between big powers geographically. This is simplified what you did but the main message came across very well even if it was an objective video. I liked watching it. Thank you very much

[johnfriedgen]

I love how you skip the schism of 1054

[stevenguevara]

If I were ever to visit that’s where I would go. Greece, Bulgaria

[pawelnowak]

Poland was never eastern Eurooean country. That term from cold war have always been wrong. Poland adopted christianity from Latin western world in 966 AD and had nothing in common with Eastern Europe

[robert]

13:10 "prevent sharing power" he occupied the land. Many many countries occupied the regions of eastern europe. Even to this day in 2022.

[denifnaf]

Hungary, polland, chzechia and slovakia are central european

[DianaOler]

Not even once in mentioning poland there was a note to it being polish-lithuanian commonwealth.

[stevoplex]

No mention of Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia, Montenegro, Belarus, Estonia, Latvia, Macedonia, Albania, and Kosovo?

[MasiukA]

Rus and Russian are not the same thing. Rus are the predecessors of Russians, Ukrainians, and Belarusians. It's like saying the the Romans and Romanians are the same thing.

[peterjobovic]

A very simple and inaccurate video with a great deal of arrogance at the end. Beast in Cage ... omg. What is simply called Eastern Europe is divided into 3 parts which are different. Central Europe (German influence), Balkans (Greek and Turkish influence) and Eastern Europe (Russian influence). These territories are culturally, religiously and historically different.

[bigozimak]

Q why did Alexander go to the east instead of the west
A because there was nothing to plunder in the west

[MMerlyn]

The map at 11:52 is wrong, there was no "Moldova" after WW1, Bessarabia united with Romania in 1918.