[MUSIC PLAYING] As the modern world
faces a deadly pandemic and an uncertain future,
it's natural to wonder how our species has survived
similar disasters in the past. How did humanity
whether the Black Death? What about the Great
Depression or the Spanish flu? In fact, some of
the developments in human history we consider
our crowning achievements arose out of the innovations
we developed to cope with our greatest disasters. Today, we're going
to take a look at how some of the worst periods
in human history got better. But before we get started, be
sure to subscribe to the Weird History channel and let us
know in the comments below what other relevant historical topics
you would like to hear about. OK, so we're going
to take the good, we're going to take the bad. We're going to take them
both, and there we'll have the facts of life,
the facts of life, doo-doo-doo, doo-doo-doo. In 1918, a devastating
pandemic that came to be called the Spanish
flu swept across the world. How deadly was it? How about over five times
deadlier than World War I? Yep, that's right. While the First World War did
claim an astonishing 18 million lives, that's very
little compared to the estimated 100 million
lives lost to the Spanish flu. But when the pandemic
eventually ended, it triggered major changes
for medical care in nations all across Europe. Realizing that public
health is far too complex to treat as just a
challenge to an individual, several European
governments concluded that it was a public issue. Those nations quickly converted
to universal health care systems. In the 1920s,
European governments began offering health care
at no out-of-pocket costs to the individual, with
the related expenses paid by everyone through
taxes or other mechanisms. The Soviet Union was the first
to introduce a public health care system, with several
other Western European nations developing their own
models soon thereafter. [MUSIC PLAYING] In 1666, England's capital was
consumed by a devastating fire that destroyed 80% of the city. And just to keep
things interesting, an outbreak of the plague was
sweeping across the country. What came to be called
the Great Plague ultimately killed a full
20% of London's population. However, despite the
death and destruction, England would
quickly bounce back from both the fire
and the plague. The turnaround didn't
happen by itself though. The injured nation
got a hand from their scientific community. In London, Robert Hooke
and Christopher Wren used current
scientific principles to create a new vision and a
new layout for the capital. Meanwhile, in
Cambridge, the Plague forced a young Isaac Newton
to retreat to his home and bide his time by
conducting experiments. During this time, Newton
developed calculus and conducted landmark
experiments with light. Oh yeah, he also came up
with the theory of gravity. Of course, Newton didn't have to
catch up on episodes of Fargo. Ha, he had that going for him. In 1929, the stock
market crashed-- hard. And in the ensuing
Dust Bowl of the 1930s, the United States found
itself in the midst of a severe economic crisis. Unemployment hit 25% in 1930,
and over 15 million Americans found themselves
hunting for work. The efforts of the White House,
occupied by President Herbert Hoover from 1929 to
'33, had little effect on stopping the growing impact
of the economic meltdown. A reluctance to interfere
with the economy and a protectionist
trade strategy are often cited as missteps
in managing the situation. His successor, Franklin
Delano Roosevelt, scrambled with a very
different approach. Roosevelt tried many programs
to shorten the economic crisis. These can be collectively
described as The New Deal, starting in 1933, and another
round of initiatives, sometimes referred to as The
Second New Deal, in 1935. The changes under FDR affected
taxes, housing, unemployment insurance, social security,
banking, international trade, infrastructure-- boy,
it affected a lot. Changes included everything
from guaranteeing the right to unionize while
simultaneously suspending select anti-trust laws. And it included a push
to end Prohibition. A cold beer does make
an economic depression a little more bearable. This was all done to ease the
burden of the Great Depression and avoid or lessen such
an event in the future. Roosevelt's actions would
redefine the role of government in the lives of
Americans, expanding both its size and scope and
its influence over the economy. To state the obvious, the
Black Death was pretty bad. In fact, in the 14th century,
it wiped out roughly 60% of Europe's population. A Florentine chronicler
who lived at the time observed that all the
citizens did little else except to carry dead
bodies to be buried. And as usually the case,
the devastating pandemic triggered an economic collapse. Unemployment skyrocketed. Trade ceased. And many gave up hope. You can't really blame them. It would take Europe
centuries to really recover from the damage
done by the Plague. But recover, they did, although
things would never be the same. The plague had
depopulated Europe, hitting the peasant
class especially hard, and led to a
shortage of laborers. Those who survived were now able
to bargain for pay and better treatment, and perhaps
more importantly, it gave them mobility
as their services were in demand all over. This was true for both urban
and agricultural workers. When the Plague finally
passed, peasants and artisans weren't particularly interested
in returning to the old way. Feudalism in Western
Europe became untenable, and its slow demise was
hastened with the French peasant revolt of 1358, the
Guild revolts of 1378, and the Peasants' Revolt
of London in 1381. The Plague had effects
beyond just socioeconomic. Over in Italy, like
in other countries, many questioned the
presiding medieval model and became interested in
the classical scholarship and values of ancient
Greece and Rome. This movement would spark
the unprecedented era of human achievement now
known as the Renaissance. In a previous Weird
History video, we called 536 CE the
worst year to be alive. Volcanic eruptions blanketed
the world in a hazy fog, causing crops to
fail in the fields. One contemporary chronicler
reported a failure of bread from the years 536 to 539. Widespread starvation
was quickly followed by the
Justinian plague, which claimed 50 million lives. You don't recover from that
kind of thing overnight. But over time, the
volcanic eruptions stopped and the climate warmed. In the Middle East,
wetter weather even helped the climate flourish. In Constantinople,
Emperor Justinian, who was probably
less than thrilled to now have a deadly
plague named after him, worked to reform
the Byzantine Empire and set in on a
more stable path. In the seventh
century, Europeans would begin mining silver,
an early development in a new medieval economy
which brought with it the rise of the merchant class. In 1845, Ireland's potato
crop was devastated by fungus, ushering in what has come to
be known as the Irish Potato Famine. For the next seven years, 75%
of the country's potato crop would fail. Thousands would be forced to
rely on starvation rations. Millions would flee
Ireland as refugees, and millions more would perish. Even after the famine ended,
Ireland continued to suffer. But at the same
time, Irish refugees who settled in countries
around the world spread their culture,
enriching places like the United States,
which became home to almost one million
Irish immigrants in the 1840s and 1850s. Those immigrants would
become the backbone of the new industrial economy. And while they faced bigotry
in their new country, by the 20th century, one
Irish Catholic descendant would become president. That was John F Kennedy. On October 8, 1871, the
Great Fire of Chicago was sparked, as folklore has it,
when Mrs. O'Leary's cow kicked over a lantern. And while that might not really
be the cause of the fire, the disaster did really
claim hundreds of lives. It also really left tens
of thousands homeless and destroyed close
to 18,000 buildings. In the aftermath, the
city undertook what was called a Great Rebuilding. New building codes
improved safety, and architects of
the Chicago School were soon designing high rises
that would reshape the city's skyline forever. British journalist
Mary Anne Hardy, who visited Chicago after the
fire, remarked phoenix-like, the city has risen
from the ashes grander and statelier than ever. After victory in
Europe was achieved by German surrender
in World War II, conflict continued in
the Pacific theater with devastating casualties. In a bid to secure
the end of the War and an unconditional surrender
from Japan, on August 6, 1945, the United States of America
dropped an atomic bomb on the Japanese
city of Hiroshima. The attack would
claim 80,000 lives, and thousands more would
perish from radiation poisoning in the years that followed. Japan, estimating that no more
than one or two similar bombs could exist, decided to
endure the destruction and the War would continue. In response, the US would drop
another atomic bomb three days later, this time on Nagasaki. On August 15, Emperor Hirohito
announced to his people that Japan would unconditionally
surrender to Allied forces. These attacks would be the
first time and the last time any nation would use a
nuclear device on a city. While the Cold War saw
several close calls, the US and Soviet Union managed
to avoid nuclear conflict, and in 1968, they
even came together to agree to stop the
spread of atomic devices. The Treaty on the
Non-proliferation of Nuclear Weapons brought together all
five states that held atomic devices as of 1970-- the United States, the Soviet
Union, the United Kingdom, France, and China. Along with
non-nuclear countries, the signatories agreed
not to use atomic devices or help spread them. The treaty also called for
the five nuclear countries to begin reducing
their stockpiles. The French Revolution
and its fallout would end millions of lives. The infamous Reign
of Terror alone would send thousands to
the guillotine, including the king and queen of France. It wasn't what the
revolutionaries originally had in mind. At first, they pushed for
a constitutional monarchy, but things got out of
hand and quickly devolved into a radical bloodbath. You know how it is. Anyway, the world watched
the French Revolution, and in some countries,
it triggered reactionary movements,
while in others, it encouraged governments to
adopt more democratic reforms. But perhaps most importantly,
the French Revolution pushed forward the
concept of human rights. The Declaration of the Rights
of Man and to the Citizen was passed by the
National Assembly in 1789. It declared that all
citizens hold the right to liberty, property, security,
and resistance to oppression. The Thirty Years' War was
a time in European history when several major
powers waged war against each other
for, well, 30 years. Triggered by religious conflicts
rooted in the Reformation, the war dragged on all
the way from 1618 to 1648. By the time it was over, roughly
eight million people were dead. Over time what started out
as a religious conflict morphed into a battle for
Europe's political future. Finally, the Peace of Westphalia
brought the fighting to an end and laid out a new course
for 17th century Europe. The settlement
set the boundaries of Europe's countries
through a mutually agreed upon legal process, and for the
first time in recorded history, Europe resolved an extremely
complex geopolitical conflict using the law, rather than war. A new balance of
power was established, and religious freedom was even
extended to several minority faiths. While European powers would wage
massive wars in the following centuries, the
peace of Westphalia would always provide a
roadmap for solving problems without bloodshed. During ancient
China's warring states period, rival kingdoms waged
war to expand their territories. Starting in the 5th century
BCE, warriors were constantly clashing on the battlefield. The whole thing went
on about 300 years and finally ended with the
Qin unification of China. During this time, the brutal
emperor Qin Shi Huangdi suppressed his rivals by
executing them and burning their books. He didn't try to hide it either. His plan was plainly known
as The Burning of the Books and the Burying
of Philosophers-- not really a catchy name,
but at least it was honest. But eventually, the Han dynasty
overthrew the Qin dynasty and ushered in a
Golden Age for China. This stable innovative period
lasted for four centuries. During the Han era, China
sent diplomats across Asia, explored new trade routes, and
established the legendary Silk Road. The period would
for centuries after be remembered as a peaceful,
united time in the country's history. So what do you think? Will our next era
be gold or mud? Let us know in the
comments below. And while you're at it, check
out some of these other videos from our Weird History.
