Curated Video
Who Started World War I: Crash Course World History 210
In which John Green teaches you WHY World War I started. Or tries to anyway. With this kind of thing, it's kind of hard to assign blame to any one of the nations involved. Did the fault lie with Austria-Hungary? Germany? Russia? Julius...
TED Talks
Toby Eccles: Invest in social change
Here's a stat worth knowing: In the UK, 63% of men who finish short-term prison sentences are back inside within a year for another crime. Helping them stay outside involves job training, classes, therapy. And it would pay off handsomely...
Crash Course
The Congress of Vienna: Crash Course European History
The end of the Napoleonic Wars left the great powers of Europe shaken. Judging from the destruction that had been wrought across the continent, it seemed to the powers that be that the Enlightenment had liberated the people, and led to...
SciShow
Why There's a Straight Line Through Scotland
If you take a look at a map of Scotland, you'll notice an eerily straight line running through the highlands, this is the Great Glen Fault the product of half a billion years of time and geology.
Crash Course
WWI's Civilians, the Homefront, and an Uneasy Peace: Crash Course European History
World War I was a total war for millions of people in Europe. Many men were enlisted in the fighting, but the war work had implications for the daily lives of a huge number of Europeans. Women entered the workforce in huge numbers, and...
TED Talks
Joseph Nye: Global power shifts
Historian and diplomat Joseph Nye gives us the 30,000-foot view of the shifts in power between China and the US, and the global implications as economic, political and "soft" power shifts and moves around the globe.
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: How did trains standardize time in the United States? - William Heuisler
If you live in the United States, you may live in the Eastern Standard Time Zone. Or maybe you live in Mountain Standard Time or one of the other standardized time zones. But these time zones have not always been around. In fact, it's a...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: The rise and fall of the Celtic warriors | Philip Freeman
One summer evening in 335 BCE, Alexander the Great was resting by the Danube River when a band of strangers approached his camp. Alexander had never seen anything like these tall, fierce-looking warriors with huge golden neck rings and...
TED-Ed
TED-ED: The history of Tea - Shunan Teng
Tea is the second most consumed beverage in the world after water __ and from sugary Turkish Rize tea to salty Tibetan butter tea, there are almost as many ways of preparing the beverage as there are cultures on the globe. Where did this...
Crash Course
Expansion and Resistance: Crash Course European History
In 19th century Europe, with nation building well under way, thoughts turned outward, toward empire. This week, we're looking at how Europeans expanded into Africa, Asia, and Oceania during the 1800s. You'll learn about China and the...
Crash Course
Thomas Jefferson & His Democracy Crash Course US History
In which John Green teaches you about founding father and third president of the United States, Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson is a somewhat controversial figure in American history, largely because he, like pretty much all humans, was a...
Crash Course
World War II: Crash Course European History
Only a couple of decades after the end of the First World War--which was supposed to be the War that Ended All Wars--another, bigger, farther-flung, more destructive, and deadlier war began. Today, you'll learn about how the war in...
Crash Course
World War II, A War for Resources: Crash Course World History
In which John Green teaches you about World War II, and some of the causes behind the war. In a lot of ways, WWII was about resources, and especially about food. The expansionist aggression of both Germany and Japan were in a lot of ways...
Crash Course
Decolonization and Nationalism Triumphant Crash Course World History
In which John Green teaches you about the post-World War II breakup of most of the European empires. As you'll remember from previous installments of Crash Course, Europeans spent several centuries sailing around the world creating...
Crash Course
Decolonization: Crash Course European History
After World War II, Europe was changing radically, and its place in the world was changing as well. European powers had colonized around the world in the 18th and 19th centuries, and in the 20th century, it all came crashing down. Of...
TED-Ed
TED-ED: The rise and fall of the Berlin Wall - Konrad H. Jarausch
On August 13, 1961, construction workers began tearing up streets and erecting barriers in Berlin. This night marked the beginning of one of history's most infamous dividing lines: the Berlin Wall. Construction continued for a decade as...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: How the Suez Canal changed the world | Lucia Carminati
Today, nearly 30% of all global ship traffic passes through the Suez Canal, totaling over 20,000 ships in 2021. The site of the canal had been of interest to rulers as far back as the second millennium BCE, but plans to construct a...
Curated Video
Coal, Steam, and The Industrial Revolution: Crash Course World History
In which John Green wraps up revolutions month with what is arguably the most revolutionary of modern revolutions, the Industrial Revolution. While very few leaders were beheaded in the course of this one, it changed the lives of more...
Crash Course
The Seven Years War Crash Course World History
In which John teaches you about the Seven Years War, which may have lasted nine years. Or as many as 23. It was a very confusing was. The Seven Years War was a global war, fought on five continents, which is kind of a lot. John focuses...
Crash Course
Tea, Taxes, and The American Revolution Crash Course World History
In which John Green teaches you about the American Revolution and the American Revolutionary War, which it turns out were two different things. John goes over the issues and events that precipitated rebellion in Britain's American...
Crash Course
Napoleon Bonaparte: Crash Course European History
We try not to get into too much great man history here at Crash Course, but we have to admit: Napoleon Bonaparte is a pretty big deal. Join us as we track the rise, further rise, fall, rise, fall, mortal fall, and posthumous rise of...
Crash Course
Coal, Steam, and The Industrial Revolution Crash Course World History
In which John Green wraps up revolutions month with what is arguably the most revolutionary of modern revolutions, the Industrial Revolution. While very few leaders were beheaded in the course of this one, it changed the lives of more...
Crash Course
The Seven Years War and the Great Awakening Crash Course US History
In which John Green teaches you about the beginnings of the American Revolution in a video titled The Seven Years War. Confusing? Maybe. John argues that the Seven Years War, which is often called the French and Indian War in the US,...
Crash Course
18th Century Warfare: Crash Course European History
European powers had a lot of wars in the 18th century, and they weren't confined to Europe. Conflict raged across the globe, in what might be called a World War...but we don't call it that, because we already have a couple of those...