Why did communist Grenada keep the Queen? (Short Animated Documentary)

Communist governments and monarchies don't mix. But when Grenada had a communist revolution in 1979, it opted to keep the Queen as its leader. Which is a bit odd. So why? To find out watch this short and simple animated history documentary.

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[maskthemney]

'As a result, the Grenadian Communist monarchy was toppled' Well, there's a sentence I never expected to hear.

[turmuthoer]

This reminds me of the Indo-Pakistan War of 1947. Both India and Pakistan were dominions at the time, meaning George VI was technically at war with himself. There was also the awkward fact that the armed forces of both countries, now at war with each other, were still largely under the command of British officers. So you had Indian troops being directed by British generals, fighting against Pakistani troops being directed by British generals, with both sides fighting for George VI as their king.

[jasondaveries]

Monarcho-communism sounds like something a kid who's really into political compass memes would come up with

[cannonball]

Queen Elizabeth: "Grenada is a communist monarchy."
Czar Nicholas: "OK, just rub it in"

[Gabriel-sdf]

"Both sides were expecting to outlive each other" bold ones aren't they? Trying to outlive the queen that is.

[filneqstar-craft]

Fun fact: Grenada wasn't the only communist monarchy in the history. It was also Mongolia from 1921 to 1924 when Mongolian khan, Bogda Chan, became a communist when Soviets took control of his state.

[tjoconnell]

A question I never thought of asking. Good work history matters.

[Seirra]

Best part of this is Reagan didn’t tell Thatcher they were invading ahead of time, and this caused a minor diplomatic incident since the USA technically declared war on the UK by declaring war on one of the members of the Commonwealth. Reagan called up Thatcher to apologize since we obviously weren’t going to fight them and that call is actually on YouTube. It’s so great because Reagan sounds like a little boy apologizing to his mom. And Thatcher doesn’t even say it’s okay she just says something to the effect of “it’s too late now so don’t fuck it up”.

[jostein]

Reminds me of a well known quote from King Haakon of Norway when he was called out for pointing to the Labour Party to form a government in 1928 (while they were still 'revolutionary'): "I am also the King of the Communists, "

[Swordsman]

Thatcher and Maurice Bishop waving the Governor-General on a stick at each other was the funniest thing I'd seen in a while so thanks for that!

[brandonb]

As a Grenadian you have no idea how happy this video made me thank you especially on our Independence Day

[macsenplays]

Not only is it Grenadian Independence Day, but yesterday was the kickoff of the Queen's Platinum Jubilee.

With being the head of state of a communist state, she really has done everything.

[comechocolate]

A communist monarchy is probably the most cursed thing I’ve ever heard regarding history.

[Hand-in-Shot_Productions]

I have heard of the Grenadian communist monarchy, but for a while, I didn't know why this seemingly paradoxical form of government happened! Thanks for the information!

[pauljensen]

A little-known side note.
When the US invaded in 1983, it forgot to ask/tell the UK government and it created a diplomatic mess because the US technically declared war on the UK.
In thr process of clearing up the diplomatic mess, the USSR could tell that there was a great number of confidential diplomatic cables. Since the KGB nor the GRU couldn't declassify the cables, they were left in the dark about what was on them. The Soviet Union somehow got in mind that NATO was about to attack under the cover of an exercise known as "Able Archer '83". The amount of classified cables looked like preparations for war, and so the USSR prepared for war only to find that NATO wasn't actually planning on attacking.
Egg on everyone's face.

[ashcoria]

I have an interesting idea. Why did the West Indies Federation Split? All of the islands spoke English, had a common history, had a population of mainly Black African origin, and had Queen Elizabeth as their monarch.

[benabroad]

These videos are so good. They are answers to questions no one asked, but when you see the question you NEED the answer.

[natethenoble]

The entire Caribbean was swinging left for a period in the 70s, not just Grenada. Guyana's two major parties both were socialist, but divided along ethnic lines between the descendants of African Slaves and Indian Indentured Workers. In Jamaica, the 70s were dominated by the PNP, whose leader Michael Manley promoted a strong Democratic Socialist Agenda. In the latter case, the PNP and JLP entered into a low intensity civil war that led to the birth of crime and violence that plague Jamaica today.

[spartanworrior]

This channel really is the master of both answering questions we’ve never heard of and answering question that confuses but ones we don’t quite care enough about to find out the answer

[RJunite]

What I really love about this channel, is that every time something significant happens, it always shows a leader galloping through a daisy field.