Interview with History Legends, war mapper

Best video coverage of the Ukraine war online

and welcome…to the headquarters.

A fellow in Montreal, History Legends, creates by far the most comprehensive video coverage of the frontline in Ukraine. Instagram banned his war coverage last June. Thus, the History Legends Youtube channel here has taken off. I interviewed History Legends by email below.

1. Background (where you're from, how'd you get so knowledgeable about military matters, how'd you start on YT, etc.)

I am from Montreal, Canada. My dad taught me everything regarding military matters. I read about military history since I know how to read basically through my dad's books. As for social media, it all started on Instagram. When I was in university, I ran this big military history account, roughly 88,000 followers at its peak, called HistoryLegends. Some of my most popular posts back then got 500,000 views. However, because of censorship, Instagram tanked my account. My posts barely reached any new people, which made it very hard to monetize. Eventually I woke up one morning in June 2022, and simply got a message from Instagram saying  that they had suspended my account. All my work was gone overnight. 

However I envisioned this outcome, so that's why I started a Tiktok and posted my first Youtube video in September 2019 or 2020. Youtube was also easier to monetize. 

2. Are you making good money on YT? Do they censor you?

At first, no. It was hard. However with time, the more videos you post, the more views and subscribers you get. At this point, let's say I do Youtube full-time. That's also why I like Youtube. There is this cumulative effect where your work is never lost. Videos from 2-3 years can still bring you some revenue. I've had a video I posted over a year and a half ago that had "flopped" but recently, it just started to become viral.

The problem with Youtube is not Youtube itself, but the advertisers on Youtube. They don't want to associate their brands with certain topics. This can impact creators that cover more controversial issues. 

Personally, I grew a significant following due to my coverage of the Ukraine War, so I can't say I got "censored". However, some of my videos that grew too fast, or that talked about certain "sensitive" topics got heavily suppressed, and demonetized. That's how I see it because Youtube will never tell you exactly why they "censored" one of your videos. They will only tell you that you went against one of their many Community Guidelines. Sometimes I had to change the title of a video to something more PC in order to get my video monetized again. 

3. Have people online tried to cancel you?

Not yet, or at least not publicly, but I do feel that some worms are acting against me behind the scenes. 

4. What are your goals for the project?

The objective is to stick to the facts, whether we are talking about the war in Ukraine or past historical events. My channel first got popular when mocking the "Wokeness" and blatant rewriting of history that we could see in the latest World War 2 video games. 

5. Can you list people you think offer the best coverage of the war?

In terms of military discussions and mapping of the war, I would say: Defense Politics Asia, Weeb Union, and NWE WAR REPORTS.  

6. Where do you think this will all end up? Does NATO implode? 

I don't know. We have had many surprises since the start of the war, but I don't think that NATO will implode. I made a video about it. 

The problem is that at the moment there is no alternative to NATO. France has been pushing for a European Army for decades to decouple from the US, but there is a lot of resistance from other European countries. Who would take command of this multinational force anyway? France? Many countries don't want to be under French command, and send their troops to help French interests in Africa. Germany? Because of recent history, many countries are hostile to this idea. Let's also say that the US military-industrial complex is doing everything in its power to stall any European Army projects; it's bad for business. 

Meanwhile, with NATO, the command structure is much simpler. The United States is in charge, no questions asked. They have the largest military, by far, and represent roughly 70% of NATO's defense budget. 

7. Have you been to Russia or Ukraine?

No.