The destruction of the CDU

The destruction of the CDU (German: Die Zerstörung der CDU) is the title of a video released on May 18, 2019, in the run-up to the 2019 European elections by the German YouTuber Rezo on YouTube.[1] The video is 55 minutes long and is accompanied by a 13-page source list.[2] It was viewed over ten million times in a week after airing.[3]

Beforehand

Months before the initial broadcast, on February 13, 2019, Rezo tweeted the earliest hint to the video: "How come no one has made a thorough destruction video against the CDU yet? Around 41 minutes long or so" – the 41 minutes are a reference to a similarly styled and instrumentalized criticism video released by Rezo in January 2019.[4][5]

Content

In the video he criticized the current German government parties (the CDU, the CSU, the SPD), the AfD, and the FDP.

He accuses the Union parties, in particular, of contributing to the ever-widening gap between rich and poor in Germany, climate change, "advancing with and support the US unquestioningly in their armed conflicts".[6]

He also commented on the topics of education, copyright and drug policy.[7]

At the end of the video he provides an indirect recommendation to vote for Alliance 90/The Greens and Die Linke. His video also shows Volt Europa, DiEM25 and ÖkoLinX as other voting options.[8][2] The instrumental tracks used in the video, and other videos of a similar style, are "Drowned Night" by "Max Anson" in the introduction, "This Means War" by "DJ Denz the Rooster" in the chapter transitions,[9] "The Postman" by Kikoru,[10] "Visions" by Cushy,[11] "Big Body" and "Deus Ex Machina" Ballpoint,[12] "Little did we know" and "Gossip talk" and "It's not me" by Arthur Benson,[13] and "Life in color" by Philip Ayers.[14] Some similarly styled videos by Rezo also feature the track "Scarily Similar" by Alfie-Jay Winters.

Resonance

The video, which was accessed millions of times within days, attracted international media interest and was part of the social debate.[15][16] It was the most watched German YouTube video in 2019.[17]

Follow-up

On May 24, 2019, Rezo released another video titled A Statement of 70+ Youtubers[18] (German: Ein Statement von 70+ Youtubern, later, A Statement from 90+ Youtubers, Ein Statement von 90+ Youtubern) in which they express their support for Rezo's concerns and "[therefore ask all]: Do not vote for the CDU/CSU, do not vote for the SPD. Do not vote for any other party that does so little in the sense of logic and science, and destroys our future according to scientific consensus. And certainly not the AfD who even denies this consensus".

References
  1. von der Mark, Fabian (23 May 2019). "Opinion: German YouTuber takes on Angela Merkel's CDU". Deutsche Welle.
  2. Rezo (18 May 2019). "Die Zerstörung der CDU" [The Destruction of the CDU]. YouTube (in German).
  3. "Die Zerstörung der CDU. – Rezo ja lol ey". Archived from the original on 2019-05-26. Retrieved 2019-09-26.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) (This capture conveniently uses the legacy HTML-based layout instead of JS-based Polymer, meaning the view counter is visible.)
  4. Original tweet in German: "Warum hat eigentlich noch keiner ein ordentliches Zerstörungsvideo gegen die CDU gemacht?... So 41 Minuten lang oder so.", rezomusik, 10:16 AM - 13 February 2019
  5. [Die Zerstörung von 2Boughs Image und allen Bewertern auf YouTube. (video by Rezo ja lol ey, 17. Januar 2019]
  6. "Wie ein YouTuber den Zorn der Union auf sich zieht" [How a YouTuber drew the wrath of the Union]. Die Welt (in German). Axel Springer. 22 May 2019.
  7. "Rezo spitzt zu, verkürzt, pauschalisiert – sein Anti-CDU-Video ist trotzdem ein Lehrstück" [Rezo exaggerates, shortens, generalizes – his anti-CDU video is still a lesson.]. Stern (in German). 22 May 2019.
  8. Fiedler, Maria (23 May 2019). "Abrechnung mit der CDU − Das Rezo-Video zeigt, was junge Menschen an der Politik nervt" [Reckoning with the CDU - The Rezo video shows what annoys young people in politics]. Tagesspiegel-online (in German).
  9. 1:35, 5:38
  10. 49:03
  11. 2:13
  12. 3:42, 4:53
  13. 2:11, 4:05
  14. 53:42
  15. Schlagnitweit, Lilly (21 May 2019). "Youtuber kritisiert Regierungsparteien: Rezos Real Talk" [Youtuber criticizes government parties: Rezos Real Talk]. Die Tageszeitung (in German).
  16. Küchemann, Fridtjof (20 May 2019). "YouTuber Rezo stellt Video "Die Zerstörung der CDU" ins Netz" [YouTuber Rezo puts the video "The Destruction of the CDU" online]. Faz.net (in German). Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
  17. Breher, Nina (5 December 2019). ""Die Zerstörung der CDU" ist erfolgreichstes Youtube-Video 2019" ["The destruction of the CDU" is the most successful YouTube video of 2019]. Der Tagesspiegel Online (in German). Retrieved 3 January 2020.
  18. "Youtuber: „Dies ist ein offener Brief, ein Statement" – Rezo legt mit neuem Video nach" [Youtuber: "This is an open letter, a statement" – Rezo follows up with a new video.]. Handelsblatt (in German). 24 May 2019.
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