Janet Stowell
Video Workshop: CNN / THE COLD WAR
General Information:
The CNN “Cold War” series comprises 24 episodes, purchased by our school on 8 VHS videocassettes
with 3 episodes per cassette. Each episode, 48 minutes long and arranged somewhat chronologically,
covers a period of time during the Cold War era from 1917 to 1991. The series was broadcast initially in
September 1998 on CNN and some of the information in it was based on newly de-classified documents,
as well as interviews with many of the main players on the world stage (some quite elderly). The
segments contain either archival footage of Cold War events, with audio narration of what’s happening by
Kenneth Branagh, or segments of taped interviews with the people involved in the events themselves,
including Soviet soldiers, spies, and advisors (with translation), Americans like Clark Clifford, George
Kennan, McNamara, foreign leaders (the interviews with Castro are riveting), and many others. The
“Episode Scripts” (see below on how to access) put the interviews in bold so you can tell where the
explication and footage stop and the interviews and speeches begin. The interviews are not with
historians but with individuals who actually participated in the events. The videos also include (also in
bold in the transcripts) actual footage and audio of parts of important speeches, beginning with FDR,
Stalin, Churchill and Truman.
Good News, Bad News:
The bad news is that the series is very dense and comprehensive (almost 20 hours of video) and it is
difficult to find much “summary” material in it that fits into our jam-packed U.S. history courses. The good
news is that there is an excellent general website for the series, with summaries of what is in each
episode (“Episode Recap”) and complete transcripts (“Episode Script”) for each episode and also a
separate “Educator’s Guide” containing a plethora of resources, including interactive maps, suggestions
for classroom activities tied to each episode, background information, etc. which was created specifically
for teachers. The “Educator’s Guide” also divides each 45 minute episode into 6 segments of 7-8
minutes each which are carefully indexed and so it is not difficult to target exactly what is wanted within
the episode and use that segment in class. Using the “Educator’s Guide” is essential for breaking this
down for classroom use.
Here’s where to access the general website that contains the “Episode-by-Episode” summaries
and transcripts:
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cold.war/
To go directly to the “Episode-by-Episode” website just click on that section and then you can access
each episode separately, for example, here’s the link to Episode 1: Comrades (1917-1945):
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cold.war/episodes/01/
An interesting option at the episode specific websites is the “Brinkmanship: You Make the Call” link. For
each episode, a decision-making moment is framed, advisers (fictional but representing accurate
viewpoints) are available and decision options are listed. The “player” makes a policy choice and then
finds out what actually happened. These would be good springboard activities into the video itself.
The Educator’s Guide homepage is accessed at:
http://turnerlearning.com/cnn/coldwar/index.html
The “Episode Rundown” on this page features the following summary of what each episode contains and
is a good place to start:
Episode 1
America, Russia and Britain have been united against
COMRADES
September 27, 1998
Nazi Germany. Now the ideological split between
capitalism and communism is reasserted. War-time
allies confront each other.
Episode 2
IRON CURTAIN
October 4, 1998
Episode 3
MARSHALL PLAN
October 11, 1998
Episode 4
BERLIN
October 18, 1998
Episode 5
KOREA
October 25, 1998
Episode 6
REDS
November 1, 1998
Episode 7
AFTER STALIN
November 8, 1998
Episode 8
SPUTNIK
November 15, 1998
Episode 9
THE WALL
November 22, 1998
Episode 10
CUBA
November 29, 1998
Episode 11
VIETNAM
December 6, 1998
The Soviet Union dominates Eastern Europe. Stalin
insists that the governments of its client states will be
pro-Communist. The U.S. prepares to assume world
leadership. Churchill warns the world.
The United States adopts the Truman Doctrine and
plans to bolster economic recovery in Europe. Stalin
sees this as a threat and forbids his satellites to
participate.
Berlin is a western enclave in Eastern Europe. The
Soviets blockade in the city. The allies airlift
supplies. Soviet scientists explode an atom bomb.
Now there is nuclear parity.
June 1950, North Korea, with Stalin's blessing,
invades the South. America, with United Nations
backing, defends South Korea and confronts China.
There is stalemate at Panmunjom. Eventually an
armistice is signed.
The world is polarized across an ideological divide.
American democracy succumbs to a bout of antiCommunist hysteria. Stalin reinforces the climate of
terror on which his rule is based.
East Germans, Poles, Hungarians riot against Soviet
rule. America, pledged to contain communism, not
overthrow it, does nothing. Khrushchev consolidates
Soviet power.
October 1957, the first Russian satellite, Sputnik,
orbits the earth. America is dismayed. John F.
Kennedy pledges America will be first again. The
Russians launch Yuri Gagarin into space.
Thousands of East Germans escape to the West
through Berlin. Khrushchev is determined to oust the
West from Berlin. The East Germans erect the Berlin
Wall.
Khrushchev decides to site short and medium range
missiles in Cuba. The sites are detected. The U.S.
blockades the island. The two powers confront each
other in the most dangerous crisis of the Cold War.
Vietnam is divided. The U.S. commits its armed
forces in defense of the "free" South. Protests mount.
During the Tet offensive, the Viet Cong briefly
penetrate the U.S. Embassy in Saigon. This is not a
war America can win.
Episode 12
MAD
December 13, 1998
Episode 13
MAKE LOVE NOT
WAR
January 10, 1998
Episode 14
RED SPRING
January 17, 1998
Episode 15
CHINA
January 24, 1998
Episode 16
DETENTE
February 7, 1998
Episode 17
GOOD GUYS, BAD
GUYS
February 14, 1998
Episode 18
BACKYARD
February 21, 1998
Episode 19
FREEZE
February 28, 1998
Episode 20
SOLDIERS OF
GOD
March 7, 1998
Episode 21
SPIES
March 14, 1998
The U.S. and the U.S.S.R. confront each other, each
armed with nuclear weapons. Each side must deter
the other. This is mutually assured destruction.
Western economies prosper, young people reject
affluence and the Cold War. There is protest and
violence. The music reflects this disenchanted
generation.
Eastern economics are crippled by defense spending.
The young want blue jeans and rock music. When
Czechoslovakians try to liberalize, they are crushed
by Soviet tanks.
Chinese communists are victorious. Mao Zedong's
reforms, at first popular, turn catastrophic. China
splits with the Soviets. President Nixon makes an
historic visit to Beijing.
Nixon meets with the Soviet's Brezhnev and signs
SALT. The U.S. abandons Vietnam. A thaw occurs in
the Cold War. Apollo and Soyuz meet in space.
Both sides of the Cold War use surrogates to wage
ideological and sometimes physical conflict. The
Cold War becomes a shooting war in the Third
World.
America seeks to destablize 'leftist' governments in
Latin America, providing aid to 'right-wing'
governments, however unsavory.
President Carter calls for civil liberties in the
U.S.S.R. Soviets arm Eastern Europe - the U.S. plans
to station missiles in Western Europe. Solidarity in
Poland pushes for reform. Reagan is elected
President.
The Shah, America's ally, falls in Iran. The Soviets
invade Afghanistan and become embroiled in a
Vietnam-type of war. American perceives the
invasion as the action of an aggressive expansionsist
power, and helps arm the Mujahedin rebels.
For the spies, the Cold War is always hot. Theirs is a
story of deceit, treachery, and a bullet in the back of
the head. But while human intelligence (KGB, FBI
and the Stasi) always plays a role in the Cold War,
increasingly, technical intelligence grows in scope
and sophistication.
Episode 22
STAR WARS
March 21, 1998
Episode 23
THE WALL
COMES DOWN
March 28, 1998
Episode 24
CONCLUSIONS
April 4, 1998
Reagan vows to defeat the "evil empire." SDI, an
anti-missile system in space, will shield in the U.S.
Gorbachev knows the U.S.S.R. cannot win the arms
race.
The Soviet bloc is breaking up. Hungary and Poland
slip away from communist control. In scenes of
unrivalled jubilation, the hated Berlin Wall comes
down.
As the USA seeks to bring the Cold War to a close,
Germany reunites. But for Gorbachev, the cost of
perestroika is the implosion of the U.S.S.R.
The “Cold War Themes” button at the left of the Educator’s Guide offers 8 interesting questions
to frame the study of the Cold War and links these questions and themes to specific episodes:
Why did the Cold War not become a hot war? Why was there no
World War III? Was it nuclear weapons? Rational leadership?
Had war become too expensive and obsolete? Was war fought
with something other than military means?
Episodes
4, 5, 9,
10, 11, 14,
15, 17, 18,
20, 22, 23,
24
Was the Cold War principally an ideological confrontation, or
just a contest for supremacy between two great powers? How did
the rules of confrontation change with each generation? Was this
struggle based on politics? Economics? Strategic Interests?
Episodes
1, 2, 3,
6, 7, 10,
15, 20, 23,
24
What role did culture play in the Cold War? Why did a Cold
War culture develop, and why does it last in some aspects?
Episodes
1, 2, 3,
6, 8, 12,
13, 14, 20,
21, 23, 24
How do the 'experiences' of a country affect its decision-making?
How do the experiences of countries shed light on actions and
choices they made during the Cold War?
Episodes
1, 2, 3,
4, 7, 8,
9, 10, 11,
12, 13, 15,
16, 23, 24
What role do personalities play during the Cold War?
Episodes
1, 2, 5,
6, 7, 10,
14, 15, 16,
21, 22, 24
How important were individual countries, other than the U.S.
and the Soviet Union, in determining the course of the Cold
War? Did smaller powers manipulate the larger powers (e.g.
Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Cuba)?
Episodes
3, 4, 5,
7, 9, 10,
11, 17, 18,
19, 20, 23,
24
Was the Cold War a result of two "empires" clashing? How did
each power maintain control over its empire? The U.S. empire in
Western Europe was established through invitation, whereas the
Soviet "empire" in Eastern Europe was established and
maintained through coercion and intimidation. In the Third
World, the U.S. and the USSR often resorted to coercion and
intimidation. Was the Cold War the culmination to an Age of
Empire?
Episodes
1, 2, 3,
4, 5, 22,
24
How important was the power of perception during the Cold
War? What "weapons" were used to fight the Cold War?
(propaganda, surrogates, economics) How did the Cold War
affect average people?
Episodes
3, 8, 12,
21, 24
Within the Educator’s Guide, clicking on any specific episode links you to a set of resources
developed specifically for that episode, including Essential Questions, Resources, Eyewitnesses,
Segment Summaries & Discussion Questions, Activities, People, Places & Terms, Episode
Timeline, Episode Transcript which are found at the bottom of the page. All of these seem to
work well (and are linked as examples in this document) except for the link to episode
transcripts. The only way I could access actual transcripts was to go in through the general
website and then go to the episode index.
As an example, here is what you will find as Essential Questions for Episode l:
ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS
After viewing Comrades and engaging in the corresponding
discussion questions and activities, students will be able
to answer the following:

What were the inherent conflicts between the two competing systems of
capitalism and communism?

What made the U.S. and the Soviet Union "Comrades?"

How were Cold War boundaries drawn?

How did the experiences with WWII affect U.S. and Soviet post-war
policy?

How does Comrades shed light on the broad themes of the Cold War?
The Segment Summaries & Discussion Questions for each episode (there are 6 segments in each
45 minute episode so each segment is 7-8 minutes long) are also excellent and are formatted into
a worksheet which can be printed directly from the site. I’ve pasted the one for Episode I,
Section I into this document as an example:
Segment One
After years of fighting fascism, American, British and Soviet soldiers meet in Berlin in 1945. At
the Potsdam Conference, the Big Three, Winston Churchill, Harry Truman and Joseph Stalin,
meet to settle on a postwar order. Many scholars believe that the Cold War that was to follow
had its origins after WWI, in a clash of ideologies-Communist and Capitalist. During the Russian
Civil War of 1917-1920, Great Britain and United States supported the "White" Russian army
against the "Red" Bolsheviks. By 1921, the Bolsheviks had consolidated power in Russia,
establishing the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). After the Civil War, both the
Soviet Union and the United States turn inwards. In the 1930's, the United States experiences a
depression while the Soviet Union undergoes massive industrialization and agricultural
collectivization.

Who were the Big Three? What decisions did they make that would affect the
international community?

What role did the United States and Great Britain play in the Russian Revolution? How
did this participation affect the relationship between the Bolsheviks and the West?

Based on information from the video, describe U.S. and Soviet foreign policies during the
1920's and 1930's. What was happening in the two countries? Explain what is meant by
"American politics shifted to the left."

What do you think would have happened if the United States and the Soviet Union had
remained involved in Europe after WWI and not "turned inward?"

Why was President Roosevelt's recognition of the Soviet Union significant? How do you
interpret the relationship between America and the Soviet Union in the 1930's?
The segments are generally around 8 minutes long and so this is a way of targeting exactly what
you want to teach from the video and having a ready-made viewing guide to go along with it.
The other options in the educator’s guide for each episode are detailed and comprehensive. The
Eyewitnesses button links to short profiles and quotations from those who appear in the video.
The Activities button links to a huge variety of lesson ideas and activities. The Resources button
links to photographs, speeches, charts, etc., in some cases directly and in other cases via the
general website for the series. The People, Places & Terms button links details about people and
places mentioned in the video and an online glossary and the Episode Timeline provides just
that, a timeline of the episode that also might serve well as a note-taking sheet for students if
copied into a Word document. (All links here are live, just use move the cursor to them and
follow directions for a preview.)
Following are my timed notes on several episodes, with the “episode recap” summary by CNN
first. There is no break in the video version of this after each episode—my guess is that they
were commercial breaks when the series was shown initially on television. I have highlighted
what I consider to be the best parts of the series.
Episode 1: COMRADES (1917-1945)
1.
REVOLUTION / 1:00-9:00
CNN’s summary:
The seeds for the Cold War are planted during World War I and the ensuing revolution in Russia. In 1917, the
new communist government led by Vladimir Lenin withdraws Russia from the war -- and signs a separate peace
with Germany. Many of the Western Allies view the new Russian government with suspicion.
Russia's treaty with Germany ends fighting on the Eastern Front. But from 1918 to 1920, civil war rages in Russia
-- with the anti-communist forces receiving support from the West and elsewhere as part of an unsuccessful
attempt to oust the Bolsheviks.
Following Lenin's death in 1924, Joseph Stalin rapidly rises to power. By the 1930s, Stalin's "Great Purge" is
under way. Millions are arrested, and many are executed or sent to prison camps, as Stalin tightens his grip on
the nation.
My summary with timing:
1:00-3:00
Intro: Begins with atomic blast and then shows hidden underground shelter for U.S. Congress
during nuclear war. Interesting footage—where is this place? Then the credits roll for a minute.
4:00-7:00
End of WW2, scenes of Berlin and Potsdam arrival of Churchill, Stalin & Truman. This is great
footage. It’s Truman’s 1st conference as president. Stalin is late (minor heart attack?). The
narration and footage then moves to the history of the Communist takeover as outlined above
with some good scenes of the revolution.
7:00-9:00
II.
Stalin’s rise to power from 1924-1929 after Lenin’s death.
DEPRESSION / 9:00-15:15
CNN’s summary:
At the end of the 1920s, the Great Depression plunges much of the world into economic hard times. In the West,
there is growing support for the Soviet Union -- where socialism offers an alternative to the harsh realities of
capitalism. Around the same time, Stalin begins the first of the Soviet Union's five-year plans for economic
development. Many in the United States and elsewhere chose to ignore reports of the widespread calamities
caused by Stalin's policies of collectivization.
In the United States, President Roosevelt promises a New Deal, a series of sweeping reforms. And among those
policy changes, the United States recognizes the Soviet Union.
American politics also shifts to the left during the Depression, especially as the trend toward fascism grows in
Europe.
My summary with timing:
9:00-11:30
Crash footage with narration. FDR’s 1932 oath & inaugural speech. Good footage of this.
11:30-14:00
Collectivization in Soviet Union with brutality shown. Objectors are imprisoned. Lenin’s
comrades forced to confess to crimes and imprisoned. Footage of them in court. USSR
becomes police state under Stalin.
14:45-15:15
Dictatorships in Europe—Franco
III.
WARTIME ALLIANCES / 15:15-25:45
CNN’s summary:
Despite European attempts at appeasing Hitler, Nazi Germany continues its war preparations. Stalin, in an
attempt to buy time for the Soviet Union, signs a non-aggression pact with Berlin on August 23, 1939.
German troops storm into Poland just over a week later, starting World War II. Soviet forces take over the Baltic
states and invade Finland. Stalin's treaty serves to keep Moscow out of the greater war, while the Nazis conquer
much of Western Europe. But Hitler's appetite for territory isn't sated. The Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union,
"Operation Barbarossa," takes the Soviet military by surprise.
After months of retreats and millions of casualties, the Red Army begins to beat back the German forces. The
costly Soviet victory during the Battle of Stalingrad in 1943 ends the German advance and signals the beginning
of the end for the Nazis.
My summary with timing:
15:15:16:00
Footage of Hitler / FDR
16:00-18:00
Chamberlin & Munich. All of the above from Franco is great footage and a brief narration of this
period of pre-WW2 history. Stalin watches and learns about appeasement, signs non-aggression
pact.
18:00-19:00
Kruschev is leader of Soviets in Baltics and Finland. FDR condemns arrangement with Nazis.
19:00-20:00
“Operation Barbarossa” takes Soviets by surprise. Results will be to “…bring Russian power to
heart of Europe in four years.”
21:20-23:30
Pearl Harbor & question of US aid to Russia
24:10
Stalingrad
25:00
US cheers Soviets for contributions to war—footage of FDR speech and cheering Americans.
25:20-25:45
Dark side of Soviet power—Katyn massacre—shows Soviets are dangerous ally.
IV.
SUMMITS / 25:45-43:20
CNN’s summary:
In 1943, the leaders of Britain, the Soviet Union and the United States gather in Tehran, Iran, where they agree to
work toward the defeat of Nazi Germany. They also begin to map out the future of post-war Europe.
The so-called "Big Three" meet again in February 1945 in Yalta, a town on the Black Sea and a resort for
Russia's former czars.
While in Yalta, Joseph Stalin, now marshal of the Soviet Union, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and U.S.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt consider the fate of Poland, which is already occupied by the Soviets.
Yalta ends with Britain and the United States securing Stalin's agreement that the Soviets will attack Japan once
Germany is defeated. Victory over the Nazis, meanwhile, is fast becoming reality. Soviet and U.S. troops meet on
the Elbe River in April 1945, effectively cutting Germany in two.
Roosevelt dies soon after the Yalta summit, just weeks before V-E Day. Vice President Harry S. Truman then
assumes the presidency and represents the United States at the first post-war "Big Three" meeting -- which takes
place in Potsdam, just outside Berlin. But there are already signs that the wartime alliance between the West and
the Soviets is quickly unraveling.
My summary with timing:
25:45-28:40
Great commentary and footage of Teheran conference (1943). FDR is convinced by Stalin to
stay in bugged Soviet embassy and all of his conversations are taped. Stalin goes over them
daily (interviews with Soviet agents talk about this). There is color footage of Churchill, FDR &
Stalin meeting, shaking hands, etc. and discussion of “Uncle Joe” nickname—they wanted to like
Stalin!
28:40-29:00
Discussion of division of Poland
29:00
D-Day footage and desire of Russian’s for 2nd front in Europe
30:00
Map of Europe, narration about problems in Poland where the Poles hope to liberate themselves
from Germans at Warsaw. The Russians do not help them, sit back for 63 days and then take
over.
31:30
Video of Churchill’s handwritten note showing how to divide up Europe and how much each side
should control.
32:15
Yalta begins. FDR looks really ill, USSR is only 14 miles from Berlin.
35:20-38:20
One of the best parts of the series. Yalta concludes with handshakes footage. Agreement on
Polish elections, joint government in Germany discussed. FDR dies two months later and there is
footage of his funeral train and narration of how this changes the political landscape. This section
concludes with the grim discoveries in Europe of the German death camps and graphic footage
as well as the commentary that by this time, the Germans preferred to surrender to the American
soldiers rather than the Soviets.
38:20-40:45
The meeting at the Elbe, first recounted in interviews with actual soldiers (including a Red Army
female soldier) from both sides were there (this is really good) with still photographs and then the
re-enactment two days later for the movie cameras in living color. This would be a great segment
to discuss propaganda, oral history, etc.
40:45-41:45
Berlin left to the Russians, in part because of huge losses. Great footage here—one Russian
talks about making the flag that will fly about the Reichstag from old tablecloths.
41:48
The UN is founded in San Francisco.
42:30-43:30
Truman announces surrender of Germans. There a really good map here in the video.
V.
HIROSHIMA/NAGASAKI / 43:20-48:00
CNN’s Summary:
The Potsdam conference ends on August 2, 1945. Four days later, the United States drops an atomic bomb on
the Japanese city of Hiroshima. A second atomic device is dropped on the port city of Nagasaki three days after
Hiroshima. Japan soon surrenders, ending World War II.
But the world has entered the Nuclear Age, a time of unprecedented danger. And that nuclear threat would
overshadow all the future Cold War confrontations to come.
My summary with timing:
43:20-45:00
Truman, though inexperienced, realizes that there are problems with earlier agreements. This is
called by one attendee (George Elsey—an aide to Truman) “a bad-tempered conference.”
45:00-45:50
Actual footage of the conference rooms, Truman finds out just before that the A-bomb works.
45:50-48:00
Atlee replaces Churchill. Point made that this seems to surprise Stalin more than news of Abomb. 4 days after the conference ends, the bomb is dropped on Hiroshima, and color footage of
the devastation there concludes this episode.
Episode 2: IRON CURTAIN (1945-1947)
I.
HOMECOMINGS 48:00-55:30
CNN’s Summary:
The United States emerges from World War II with both its government and economy intact. In fact, the American
war machine has revitalized the nation's businesses and brought affluence to more people on levels unimaginable
during the pre-war Depression.
In the Soviet Union, soldiers return home to a nation ravaged by war. Most are amazed to find themselves alive
following a war that has killed an estimated 27 million Soviet civilians and military personnel.
My summary with timing:
48:00-49:30
(Intro) Fulton, MO speech by Winston Churchill-1946. “Iron Curtain has descended across the
continent. Live footage as he rattles off all countries behind the curtain. Excellent. Commentary
by Clark Clifford (special counsel to Truman) explains that speech was not well received at first.
50:00
Scenes of soldiers arriving home on ships, kissing ground, being kissed. 300,000 don’t return but
for those who did, America is in good shape. Quotations from returning veterans, points out that
economy in US is good after the war. Discusses post-war boom economy.
53:00
Contrast with Soviet soldiers returning home, showing train pulling into station with flowers &
women welcoming veterans. Discusses destruction of Russia, nearly 70,000 villages destroyed,
cities in rubble. Pre-war achievements ruined, terrible living conditions.
II. CONQUERED, DIVIDED 55:30-1 HR 2:00
Germany, which had terrorized and occupied much of the European continent, now finds itself divided among the
victors. Four occupation zones are established, and each of the Allies sets up a sector in Berlin.
Meanwhile, national borders are being redrawn in an attempt to settle old scores. Millions of ethnic Germans are
expelled from Poland, Czechoslovakia and Hungary.
55:30
Soviet woman soldier in front of Brandenburg Gate. Berlin—the final battlefield—is shown with
excellent footage of postwar rubble and destruction. Russian troops behave badly—looting and
rape. Female Berlin resident tells on screen of her rape by Russian soldiers (very chilling).
Footage of Molotov touring Berlin. Berlin is divided in four zones. Reparations discussed.
Russia kidnaps craftsmen & scientists and takes them to Soviet Union. Good footage of people
trying to move possessions through rubble of cities, Germans turned into victims.
59:30
Map of Europe.
60:00
Soviets take over homes in Poland, story is told by woman who was child at the time. 12 million
Germans expelled in “population transfer”.
III. SOVIET CONTROL 1 HR 2:00-1 HR 9:00
New regional power struggles spring up in Europe following World War II, as communist and capitalist factions vie
for control. The most notable and brutal example of these is the drawn-out civil war in Greece.
Although he did not support the Greek communist cause during that country's civil war, Soviet leader Joseph
Stalin has succeeded in establishing a buffer zone between his nation and the West -- by creating a series of
Soviet satellite states.
1 HR 2:00
Happy Londoners—King and Atlee discuss British interests in post-war Europe and how to
balance with distrust of communists. Problems in Greece which Stalin stays out of. Stalin builds
up pro-Soviet governments in neighboring nations. Yalta has given Soviets control of central
Europe. Soviet troops are threatening presence in these nations. Those opposed to Communist
regimes would “disappear.” In Berlin, the communists were careful. Soviet methods were the
same as Nazi methods in some ways (interviews).
1 HR 7:00
Eisenhower comes to pay respects to Soviets. Color footage of parade with both Eisenhower
and Stalin. Those with different views were taken to prison camps.
IV. WARNINGS 1 HR 9:00-1 HR 20:00
Comments by Stalin in early 1946, that capitalism and imperialism made future wars inevitable, set off alarm bells
in the West. George Kennan, a career U.S. diplomat in Moscow, was asked by the State Department for his view
on Soviet motives and intentions. His famous cabled response warned there could be no permanent, peaceful
coexistence with the Soviet Union.
Days after Kennan's telegram, Winston Churchill, the former British prime minister, arrives in the United States.
He later speaks at a college in Fulton, Missouri, the home state of his host, U.S. President Harry Truman.
Although the speech was not well-received at the time, it coined the phrase that best described the political and
ideological divide between the Soviets and the West as the Cold War began.
1 HR 9:00
Poles begin to clear rubble and rebuild country. Some are willing to work with Soviets. Poles
agree to close alliance with Soviet Union. Stalin scares even his advisers. Opera & dinner for
visiting Poles. Footage of Bolshoi Theatre speech Feb, 1946. Stalin says war with capitalism
and imperialism is inevitable.
1 HR 15:00
Stalin tightens dictatorship. Concerns Americans. George Kennan gives analysis, 8,000 word
cable is sent saying that Moscow wants to expand and must be contained. (Kennan talks about
this and his secretary complains about how long it was.)
1 HR 17:30
Churchill comes to US and gets to know Truman. Shows Fulton speech privately to Truman.
Great footage here of Truman and Churchill together, Truman introducing Churchill. More of the
“Iron Curtain” speech here. Growing Communism poses challenge to rest of world. Immediately
after speech, Stalin compares Churchill to Hitler, says speech is call to arms against Russia.
V. TRUMAN'S DOCTRINE 1 HR 20:00-1 HR 33:00
Churchill's "Iron Curtain" speech set the tenor for the growing tensions between the Soviet Union and its former
allies.
The chill in relations between communists and capitalists coincides with the unusually bitter winter of 1946-47. As
shortages and famine gripped an exhausted Europe, President Truman announced what became known as the
Truman Doctrine.
1 HR 20:00
Turkey—America sends message to Stalin not to push its influence. Iran is also an issue since
Soviet and British troops had occupied it during WW2 to keep supply lines open. Young shah
takes over from father. All thought that the occupation troops would leave after war but Stalin
won’t. Taken up by security council at UN but Soviet delegate walks out. Truman is nervous,
wants list of Soviet violations of agreement. Aides suggest larger policy review (discussed in
interviews with George Elsey and Clark Clifford)—conclude that Soviets are real threat to
American security. Report concludes that war with USSR would be worse than any other war.
Kept secret.
1 HR 25:00
Bikini Atoll bomb test, all powers are working to develop nuclear bombs. Paris Conference—US
ready to end German reparations. Molotov, foreign minister, is tough negotiator. In Paris, the
wartime alliance begins to break up as US and Britain want to develop stable economies in their
zones in Germany. Burns, US Secy of State, gives speech that signals end to cooperation with
USSR. Good footage and commentary here. Discussion of German boundaries with Poland by
allies is threat to Poland and serves to strengthen Polish ties to Soviet Union.
1 HR 29:00
Newsreel footage of Moscow people and shops. Very hard time for Soviet citizens—no food, etc.
Collective farms can’t function without workers lost in war. Children starving, malnutrition
everywhere. Germans are hungry too—allies worry that poverty will drive Germans toward
communism. Chilling footage of starving Germans in hospitals.
1 HR 32:00
Britain suffers through severe winter of 1946 as well—poverty, bread rationing, trying to keep
Germans alive. Britain can’t afford commitments to help in Mediterranean, economic and military
aid to Greece and Turkey. US had to move to help quickly.
1 HR 33:30
Truman to Congress: US will contain advance of Communism anywhere on the globe.
Episode 3: MARSHALL PLAN (1947-1952)
I.
POSTWAR EUROPE
1 HR 34:30-1 HR 37:30
The events that brought about the Marshall Plan were spurred on by a combination of man-made and natural
disasters. Immediately following World War II, much of Europe was in chaos.
Millions of refugees roam the continent, some attempting to return home after the war, others fleeing westward,
away from Soviet domination. Governments lie toppled, national economies remain in ruin.
Meanwhile, the harvest of 1946 is poor, and the winter of '46-47 is one of the worst in memory. The strife leads
many in Western Europe to consider communism as an end to the hard life and injustices they suffer.
1 HR 34:30
(Intro) Footage of Italy, 1947, membership in Communist party grows and this worries America.
Truman speech in reaction. “We must keep hope alive.”
1 HR 36:30
May Day, Moscow—May 1947—Red Army largest in world, Stalin controls Eastern Europe with
communist model. Alarms the rest of the world.
II. TRUMAN DOCTRINE 1 HR 37:30-1 HR 40:00
After decades as a global power, Britain finds itself unable to cope with the growing postwar crisis on the
European continent. Exhausted by World War II, London wants to hold on to its traditional, imperial role. But the
winter of 1946-47 brings an end to Britain's longtime status as a main player in world politics.
In February 1947, Britain informs the United States that London is ending aid to Greece and Turkey. U.S.
President Harry Truman then seizes the moment. At a joint session of Congress, Truman successfully persuades
lawmakers to authorize $400 million in aid for Turkey and Greece.
During that speech, he also establishes the Truman Doctrine -- a clear distinction between the capitalist and
communist worlds.
1 HR 37:30
Financial problems in Britain leads them to end aid to Turkey and Greece. Truman speech
footage—Feb. 1947. All realize this is major historical event. Calls for 400 million dollars for aid
to Greece and Turkey. Anti-Communism of Truman Doctrine persuades Congress to act.
1 HR 39:15
Footage of European post-war rubble. Appeal of Communism to young people and poor to
create a classless society and better world. “Only party to join if you wanted to change the
world.” Great threat to democracies.
III. GEORGE MARSHALL 1 HR 40:00-1 HR 43:30
Truman turns to his secretary of state, George Marshall, to put Europe back on its feet economically. Marshall
had been famous for his logistical skills while U.S. Army chief of staff during the war.
Marshall meets with others from the so-called "Big Four" in Moscow, in an attempt to determine the future of thenoccupied Germany. But the talks go nowhere.
1 HR 40:00
Marshall called on to face this threat. Very formal (Truman has to call him General Marshall). Big
Four meet and try to agree on future of Germany. Marshall has interview with Stalin in Kremlin.
This convinces Marshall that Soviets were just stalling for time so that popular unrest would lead
to communist regimes without Red Army invasion. Stalin wants to keep Germany on its knees.
Americans want Germans to lead way for European recovery. Marshall convinced of need to act
quickly, calls for European rescue plan. Would Congress give $$?
IV. THE PLAN 1 HR 43:30-1 HR 51:00
Marshall formally announces what will become known as the European Recovery Program during a ceremony at
Harvard University. The Marshall Plan offers billions of dollars in U.S. aid to European countries -- including those
under Soviet occupation.
Soviet spies in London keep Moscow up to date on the Marshall Plan, which the Kremlin views with growing
suspicion. Stalin orders his foreign minister, Vyacheslav Molotov, to pull out of a Paris conference designed to
frame Europe's response to the Marshall Plan.
As Molotov leaves Paris, he accuses the West of working to divide Europe into two hostile camps. In fact,
Czechoslovakia considers attending the Paris conference on the Marshall Plan -- only to be told in no uncertain
terms that Moscow is against it.
1 HR 43:30
Footage of Marshall speech, stills of speech at Harvard where he announces it. Brits are happy
to see Americans involved in re-building effort. Soviets also need investment. In theory, Marshall
plan is available to east and west—but Stalin is suspicious. Conference to discuss plan and
implementation with footage of arrivals of world leaders.
1 HR 45:45
Spies on both sides are passing “controllers” document after document. Soviet intelligence gives
Stalin new information about plan (after 6 days of conference). Stalin tells Molotov to leave
negotiations, accusing west of dividing Europe into two hostile camps. US not surprised. Czech
wants to join plan, including 1/3 of reps who are communists. Stalin summons Czech leaders to
Moscow and insists they do not send delegates to Paris conference, not participate in Marshall
Plan. Czech leaders forced to endorse Stalin’s views.
V. COUP 1 HR 51:00-1 HR 56:00
In September 1947, as the Marshall Plan gets under way, the Soviets set up the Cominform, the Communist
Information Bureau. They also establish Comecon, the Warsaw Pact's version of an economic trading bloc.
But these new ties among European communists mean an end to Eastern European hopes for different types of
socialist governments on the continent. That reality is driven home in February 1948 -- when a communist coup
topples the government of Czechoslovakia.
1 HR 51:00
17 nations sign up for Marshall Plan. Primary purpose is compassionate good will. Soviets see it
as Americans wanting to impose their influence and see it as an aggressive act by US. Stalin
asks Communist parties everywhere to take parties. Soviets offer economic aid to Eastern
Europe.
1 HR 53:30
Communists take over power in Czech in 4 days. Yann Mazaryk “falls” (or was pushed?) from
window. Funeral symbolizes end of free Czech. Shocks American Congress which is still
discussing Marshall Plan aid. Pushes Americans to give aid because of Soviet advance.
VI. AID TO EUROPE 1 HR 56:00-2 HR 2:20
Just weeks after the communist coup in Czechoslovakia, the U.S. Congress approves the first $5 billion in
Marshall Plan aid. Twenty percent of the aid is in loans, 80 percent in grants. The first shipments are food and
fertilizer, followed by machinery.
In the four years of the plan, the Marshall agency spends $13.5 billion in 16 countries. In turn, Europe's purchase
of U.S. goods and machinery brings many Marshall Plan dollars back into the American economy, fueling a
postwar boom.
One of the European countries most desperate for aid is Greece -- devastated by years of Nazi occupation and
civil war. One novel and successful program sent big U.S. mules to Greek farmers.
1 HR 56:00
April 3, 1948--Congress approves 5 Billion $$ Marshall Plan aid. 20% loans, 80% grants. Footage
of first shipments. Food, fertilizer, machines. 13.5 billion dollars spent in four years in 16
countries. Re-directed many aid dollars back into US industry, fueling postwar boom. Some saw
this as self-serving.
1 HR 58:00
Greece is desperately in need of help. Some Communist guerillas still there. 2,000 villages
destroyed. Civil war has added to that. Greece gets nearly 700 million $$ in economic
assistance. Interview with James Warren who, at 24, was in charge of Greek import program—
great footage here of kids getting shoes, etc. Northern villages need farm draft animals—get
Missouri mules who are unruly after long sea voyage. Interview with Greek men and great
footage of farmers drawing lots to get mules and trying to get them to work. “We were very
thankful…Long live America…”
VII. FEAR AND RESPONSE 2 HR 2:20-2 HR 20:00
The Soviet Union urges its communist colleagues in Western Europe to take action against the Marshall Plan. In
response, a series of strikes and demonstrations sweep through Italy and France. Threats by the United States to
withdraw Marshall Plan aid have an impact, though, and the strikes eventually fail.
Fears that Italy's Communist Party would win the 1948 elections bring about a propaganda campaign in the
United States, as well as a campaign of covert operations from the newly formed CIA. Following the Christian
Democrats' victory in Italy, Washington unleashes a wave of aid, reviving the Italian economy. Meanwhile,
Yugoslavia under Marshal Tito breaks with Moscow after several years of uneasy alliance. Those nations that
remain within the Soviet embrace would eye the West for 40 years -- and wonder.
2 HR 2:20
Problems in other places: French workers go on strike. French get Marshall aid after they’ve
stopped strikes. Yugoslavia under Tito trying to gain more independence from Stalin. Stalin
expels him from Cominform and Tito turns to West & requests US economic assistance. 1950
Tito signs agreement with US. US agents distribute 150 million $$ in aid.
2 HR 6:00
Italy 1948—Communists dominate. In April there is 1st election since war. Great worry that
communists will win popular vote. Italian Americans urged to write to relatives telling them not to
vote for communists. Quotes from letters. CIA decides to take offensive to develop program of
covert action in Italy. Marshall pushes “National Security Act” and discussion of what powers that
gives to CIA. Begins covert operations to support Christian Democrats and anti-Communists in
Italy. Interview with agent who “had bags of of money to deliver to politicians.” Catholic church
campaigns against communists—Pope Pius XII. Use of propaganda against Communists—films
shown outdoors at night. Church has great influence over citizens. Pope excommunicates
many members of Italian communist party just days before election b/c communists are atheists.
April 18, 1948—Christian Democrats have landslide victory. Communists are broken-hearted
(interviewee cries on film).
2 HR 17:00
CIA draws it own conclusions—1st political action covert program is successful. US now releases
a flood of Marshall aid to Italy. Turin—Fiat Motor receives machinery, fuels revival of Italian
industry. Agnelli-Fiat chairman—interview. Marshall Plan’s message: modernize your economies
and you too can be successful. Brought Europeans toward the west and NATO.
2 HR 19:45
Marshall Plan helps to create European consumer society. Soviet block forced to build
competing model.
Episode 4: BERLIN (1948-1949)
I. DIVIDED GERMANY
Following World War II, Germany is divided into four zones of occupation -- Soviet, British, French and American.
Germany, and Berlin in particular, are the only places where communist and capitalist forces come into direct
contact.
Three and a half million Berliners live deep inside Soviet lines. The Nazis' once-proud capital, reduced to a pile of
rubble by Allied anger, is down to its bare essentials.
II. CURRENCY REFORM
In June 1948, an announcement by the Western Allies brings a crisis to Berlin. They establish a currency reform
meant to wipe out the German black market and further tie the vulnerable German economy to the West. The
Soviets are not told and are infuriated by the action. Moscow says Berlin is located in the Soviet zone and
therefore "economically forms part of it."
Sir Brian Robertson, the British military governor in Berlin, along with his U.S. counterpart, Gen. Lucius Clay,
respond by introducing a special version of a new German currency, the deutschmark, stamped with a "B" for
Berlin.
III. AIRLIFT
On Thursday, June 24, 1948, West Berlin wakes to find itself under a Soviet blockade -- and in the midst of the
first major confrontation of the Cold War. The Western Allies impose a counter-blockade on the Soviet zone. The
Soviets hope to starve the West out of Berlin.
The West had been through a similar short-term Soviet blockade of Berlin two months earlier -- and had
responded with an airlift using air corridors set up in a 1945 agreement with the Soviets. Now, new plans are
drawn up -- for long-term replenishment of West Berlin from the air.
IV. NEW ALLIES
The Berlin airlift brings a new mindset to the Western Allies, who start thinking of West Germany as an ally, rather
than an occupied territory. In West Berlin, the airlift brings people sustenance and hope. In one memorable
instance, the airlift -- in the form of American pilot Gail Halvorsen -- rains candy on West Berlin's desperate
children.
As it becomes evident that the Soviets are not going to back down from their blockade, the Western Allies
consider how to expand their airlift operations. Larger cargo planes are brought in, as well as bombers with cargo
capacity.
V. WEST-EAST
Berliners are still free to move around their city, despite the Soviet blockade. While West Berlin is suffering
through shortages of electricity and other essentials, the eastern sector offers a relatively normal lifestyle.
Politically, however, the city is on edge.
Soviet troops harass West Berliners who go to the eastern zone. And in September, a communist attempt to take
over the city council sparks mass protests -- which end in violence.
VI. BLOCKADE ENDS
The Soviet Union ends its blockade of Berlin on May 12, 1949. A month earlier, at the airlift's peak, Western cargo
planes were landing at one of Berlin's three airports at a rate of one every 62 seconds. By the time the airlift
ended, more than 275,000 flights had carried 2.3 million tons of supplies to Berlin -- an effort that went down in
history as an aviation and logistical feat.
At least 79 people, including 31 Americans, 39 British and nine Germans, had lost their lives, mostly in plane
crashes. But the confrontation proved to be only the opening act in the decades-long Cold War.
Episode 5: KOREA (1949-1953)
I. INVASION
The surrender of Japan at the end of World War II also meant an end to 35 years of Japanese occupation in
Korea. As they had in Germany, Soviet and U.S. troops liberated Korea -- and agreed to divide the nation along
the 38th parallel as a temporary measure.
But as both sides withdrew their troops, they also set up rival governments, creating the Democratic People's
Republic of Korea in the North, and the Republic of Korea in the South.
II. WAR
Both North Korean leader Kim Il Sung and his South Korean counterpart, Syngman Rhee, dreamed of reunifying
the peninsula under their respective governments. But Kim acted first. He pleaded with Stalin, who -- after first
rejecting the idea -- helped North Korean forces plan for the invasion of the South.
Stalin also was heartened by the communist victory in China in 1949 and believed it was time to open an Asian
front against capitalism. On June 25, 1950, the North Korean army rolled south in a surprise assault.
III. U.N. ACTS
The United States took advantage of a Soviet boycott of the United Nations to have the U.N. Security Council
condemn North Korean aggression -- and create a U.N. military force that would defend South Korea.
That U.N. force included soldiers from 16 nations, with the largest contingent coming from the United States --- all
under the command of U.S. Gen. Douglas MacArthur. At first, the U.N. troops were helpless against the North
Korean assault -- and for a while appeared on the verge of being driven from the peninsula. But a daring attack
behind North Korean lines at the port of Inchon rolls back the North Korean advance.
IV. CHINA
North Korea's neighbor, the People's Republic of China, watched with alarm as U.N. forces drove the North
Koreans out of the South. MacArthur assured U.S. President Truman there was no possibility of China entering
the war. But unknown to Western leaders, 500,000 Chinese -- called the People's Volunteers -- were preparing to
enter Korea.
In November 1950, after repeated warnings through diplomatic channels, China attacked -- sending the surprised
U.N. forces reeling southward.
Episode 6: REDS (1947-1953)
I. FEAR
In the 1940s and '50s, the Cold War was fought through fear and persecution on both sides of the globe. In the
United States, anti-communism became strident. Those who refused to completely renounce communism and its
supporters were considered suspect. This was underscored by the actions of the FBI, under its leader J. Edgar
Hoover.
In the Soviet Union, fences were raised against the outside world. The Gulag -- the secret government system of
labor camps -- housed millions of prisoners.
II. HOLLYWOOD
At home, Americans feared communist subversion. Congress revived the House Committee on Un-American
Activities. In 1947, the committee investigated America's film industry. Some of Hollywood's best-known actors,
producers and writers were called to testify.
But 10 witnesses, who became known as the Hollywood Ten, defied the committee's line of questioning. The 10
were imprisoned. Hundreds more in Hollywood, suspected of communist sympathies, were blacklisted -- and
unable to find work.
III. WITCH HUNTS
Several U.S. politicians used the Red Scare to their advantage. A State Department official, Alger Hiss, was
accused by a former communist of passing secrets to the Soviet Union. Leading the prosecution against Hiss -who was later jailed for perjury -- was a young California congressman named Richard Nixon.
Fear of communism also brought Republican Sen. Joseph McCarthy into the limelight. During Senate hearings,
McCarthy claimed to have lists of communists in the U.S. military, State Department and other government
agencies. For months, McCarthy was able to attack people's reputations at will. He eventually fell out of public
favor and power -- after he denounced leading Republicans and senior Army officials as communists.
IV. ROSENBERGS
The fate of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg came to symbolize the excesses of the U.S. Red Scare. The couple were
convicted of passing atomic secrets to the Soviet Union and sentenced to death.
Despite protests that the death sentence against the Rosenbergs -- who had young children -- was
unconstitutional, they became the first U.S. civilians to be executed in peacetime for espionage.
V. CONFORMITY
In the Soviet bloc, Joseph Stalin was eliminating all traces of outside influences -- and any dissent against his
form of communism. Following his split with Yugoslav leader Marshal Tito, Stalin had Czechoslovakia's
Communist Party secretary, Rudolf Slansky, arrested and charged with Titoism, spying and sabotage. Slansky
and 10 others were executed in 1952.
In the Soviet Union, those who discussed change, even in private, risked punishment. At age 17, Susanna
Pechuro was arrested and charged with treason and terrorism as a member of a secret discussion group. Three
of her friends were executed. Over the years, millions shared their fate -- many vanishing without a trace.
VI. STALIN
In 1952, an old but still-unchallenged Stalin presided over the 19th Congress of the Soviet Communist Party.
Before a hall packed with international dignitaries, Stalin declared that capitalists were losing the global class
struggle.
But at home, Stalin saw treachery everywhere. Most of all, he suspected so-called cosmopolitans, mostly Jewish
intellectuals and professionals. In January 1953, nine Kremlin doctors -- five of whom were Jewish -- were
accused of plotting with Western intelligence to kill Soviet leaders. The affair inflamed Russian anti-Semitism.
Weeks later, Stalin collapsed of a brain hemorrhage. No one dared treat him as he lay half-conscious on the floor.
Stalin died on March 5, 1953. Even those in the Soviet bloc who hated him could not imagine a future without him.
Episode 7: AFTER STALIN (1953-1956)
I. STALIN
In March 1953, Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin dies following a brain hemorrhage. Despite his decades of brutal rule
-- or perhaps because of it -- the sense of loss among Soviets is strong.
Stalin died without naming a successor in the Kremlin. Following his death, a collective leadership of four men
emerged. One of those men, Nikita Khrushchev, would soon rise to the top of the Soviet hierarchy.
II. EAST GERMANY
Stalin had chosen Walter Ulbricht to govern East Germany. After the Soviet leader's death, Ulbricht continued his
policy of rebuilding East Germany along Stalinist lines. But repressive policies and harsh working conditions were
prompting thousands of East Germans to leave for the West.
Anger over strict production quotas boiled over in June 1953. Government authority in East Berlin collapsed as
demonstrators took to the streets. Soviet troops were called in to put down the revolt. At least 40 people were
killed, and thousands more were arrested.
III. NATO/POLAND
In September 1953, Konrad Adenauer was re-elected chancellor of West Germany. With U.S. backing, Adenauer
persuaded Britain and France to allow West Germany into NATO, the Western military alliance. In 1955, West
Germany was allowed to form an army. In response, the Soviets formed their own military alliance -- the Warsaw
Pact.
In June 1956, workers in the Polish city of Poznan demanded an end to harsh working conditions. The Polish
military responded with tanks and gunfire, killing 74 people. The uprising in Poznan fueled calls for reform in
Poland. Polish communists chose Wladyslaw Gomulka, who had been imprisoned under Stalin, as their new
leader. Gomulka calmed Soviet fears -- and threats of invasion -- by promising that Poland would remain part of
the Warsaw Pact.
IV. HUNGARY
As Soviet troops were returning to their barracks in Poland, students in Hungary's capital of Budapest launched a
more serious challenge to Soviet rule, demonstrating in sympathy with the Poles.
The demonstrators demanded free elections, an end to the secret police and the withdrawal of Soviet troops from
Hungary.They also urged Imre Nagy, recently ousted as Hungarian premier, to take charge. Street battles broke
out between demonstrators and the secret police. The Soviet Union still occupied Hungary, and Soviet tanks were
moved into Budapest. But Hungarians fought back.
V. CRACKDOWN
After four days of fighting, Nagy, who was quickly installed as Hungarian Prime Minister, arranged a ceasefire,
assuring Moscow of Hungary's loyalty. Soviet forces withdrew from the city on October 28.
Losses on both sides had been heavy, but Hungarians believed they had won their revolution. Open elections
were held in villages and towns. New councils were formed to challenge the state. Carried along by events he
could not control, Nagy on November 1 announced Hungary's neutrality and withdrawal from the Warsaw Pact.
Three days later, the Soviet army re-entered Budapest, smashing all opposition. Despite appeals from Nagy for
Western support, no help was forthcoming. Western attention was diverted by a crisis at the Suez Canal . What's
more, U.S leaders were reluctant to intervene in the affairs of a Soviet satellite.
Thousands were killed in the crackdown. Nagy was arrested and eventually executed. Two hundred thousand
Hungarians fled the country. Khrushchev had re-enforced the Iron Curtain.
Episode 8: SPUTNIK (1949-1961)
I. DUCK & COVER
In August 1949, the United States finds itself shocked to discover the Soviet Union has broken Washington's
atomic monopoly. The new Soviet bomb was developed quickly, thanks to the acquisition of U.S. atomic secrets
by Soviet agents. The bomb also signals the start of the nuclear arms race between the Cold War rivals.
By 1952, the United States develops and tests the first hydrogen bomb. The Soviets match that milestone several
years later. Meanwhile, American children watch as bomb shelters are dug in their backyards and learn in school
to "duck and cover" should nuclear bombs fall in their neighborhoods
II. SPUTNIK
In 1952, Dwight Eisenhower was elected to succeed Harry Truman as U.S. president. Less than a year later,
Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin was dead, starting a power struggle among the Kremlin leadership. In 1955,
Eisenhower met with a Soviet delegation in Geneva and proposed an "Open Skies" policy -- giving both sides the
freedom to fly over each other's territory and observe for themselves military developments on the ground. Nikita
Khrushchev, then emerging as top Soviet leader, announced his delegation's refusal.
Soviet engineers, meanwhile, had been busy developing missile technology. They tested the world's first
intercontinental ballistic missile in May 1957. And on October 4 of that year they surprised the world by launching
Sputnik -- the world's first satellite.
III. CATCH-UP
Sputnik came as a shock to the West and especially the United States, which realized the Soviets now had the
ability to send not only satellites around the world, but nuclear weapons as well. The U.S. military tried to push
forward with its own satellite, called Vanguard, but the first attempt to launch Vanguard was a spectacular failure.
Eventually, with the help of German scientist Werner von Braun, the Explorer satellite was fired into space on top
of a military Redstone missile.
In 1959, Khrushchev became the first Soviet leader to visit the United States. While he and Eisenhower spent part
of the visit discussing ways to slow the arms race, Khrushchev's visit is best remembered for his ideological
sparring with then-U.S. Vice President Richard Nixon.
IV. U-2
Eisenhower was concerned about how big the "missile gap" was between the United States and Soviet Union.
U.S. reconnaissance planes, designated U-2s, secretly flew over the U.S.S.R., looking for evidence of missiles.
On one such mission, a U-2 was shot down by the Soviet military.
Despite U.S. denials, the Soviets presented as evidence the plane's wreckage -- as well as its pilot, Francis Gary
Powers, who had survived the shoot-down. The U-2 incident undermined a Paris summit several weeks later
between Khrushchev and Eisenhower. Powers was sentenced to prison but was later exchanged for a Soviet spy.
V. DISASTER/TRIUMPH
Khrushchev feared the American U-2 flights had exposed his claims of missile superiority as a bluff. At the
Baikonur Cosmodrome, engineers under the command of Marshal Nedelin were ordered to create a new missile.
During the rush to production, a fire erupted -- killing nearly 200 people.
While the Soviets were behind in the missile race, they still had one card to play: Yuri Gagarin. On April 12, 1961,
Gagarin achieved international acclaim when he became the first human to be launched into space.
Episode 9: The Wall (1958-1963)
I. BERLIN
By 1958, West Germany was NATO's front line along the Iron Curtain. The United States had been training a new
West German army since 1955. German rearmament brought back nightmares for many Europeans, especially
for the Soviets and East Germans.
Berlin, meanwhile, was creating a different kind of nightmare for the Soviet bloc. The city was still under the joint
occupation of France, Britain, the U.S.S.R. and the United States -- an arrangement that began when the four
powers were wartime allies. Berliners could move freely between the city's Eastern and Western sectors, giving
East Germans a tantalizing glimpse of the West.
West Berlin was considered a danger to the existence of East Germany. Nikita Khrushchev proposed Berlin
become a "free city," with its own foreign policy. But the West rejected Khrushchev's idea.
II. KHRUSHCHEV
Khrushchev issued a new demand, calling on the Western powers to withdraw from Berlin. Ensuing talks between
the West and the U.S.S.R. got nowhere. But the talks persuaded Khrushchev to shelve his Berlin ultimatum. In
September 1959, he became the first Soviet leader to visit the United States, where he met with President
Eisenhower.
Khruschev's hopes for a Cold War truce lasted only six months. A second Eisenhower-Khrushchev summit
collapsed before it had even begun -- following the shoot-down of an American U-2 spy plane, which had been
flying over Soviet airspace.
III. EAST GERMANY
By the end of the 1950s, East Germany portrayed itself as a socialist paradise. But the reality was far different.
Dependence on heavy industry created shortages of essential goods and consumer items. East Germany knew it
could not compete with the swelling prosperity of West Germany.
Every month, thousands of East Germans fled across the open Berlin border and took refuge in the West. Most of
the refugees were young and skilled. Their departure was bleeding the East German economy to death. East
German leader Walter Ulbricht urged Khrushchev to recognize East Germany as a sovereign state.
IV. THE WALL
John F. Kennedy became U.S. president in January 1961. He agreed to meet Khrushchev in June of that year.
But shortly before the summit in Vienna, Kennedy's attempted invasion of Castro's Cuba, at the Bay of Pigs, failed
miserably. Khrushchev attempted to bully Kennedy at the summit, warning him that Soviet bloc forces could
invade West Berlin at any time.
By that time, the flow of refugees from East to West Berlin had become a torrent. East German officials begged
Moscow to let them stem the flow. On the morning of August 13, 1961, East German and Soviet troops sealed the
East Berlin side of the border, closing crossing points and erecting barricades. Berlin was divided.
V. DIVIDED
Angry West Berliners demonstrated against the division of their city, a divide that separated many families. The
allies were unsure how to react -- their rights within Berlin had not been challenged by the Soviets. But a border
crossing confrontation prompted U.S. Gen. Lucius Clay to bring up tanks. The Soviets responded with their own
show of force. Both sides later withdrew their armor.
Many in the East, meanwhile, risked death to flee across the Wall. Within the first year, 50 Germans died trying to
cross to the West. One of them, 18-year-old Peter Fechter, bled to death in the no-man's land between East and
West, in front of outraged West Berliners.
In 1963, Kennedy visited West Berlin -- telling its residents that all free people were citizens of Berlin and
"therefore as a free man, I take pride in the words, 'Ich bin ein Berliner.'"
Yet for the next three decades, the Wall remained a symbol of the Cold War's cruelty and Europe's division. Its
message was a bitter one: Whatever happened beyond that line, the West might lament, but would not interfere.
Episode 10: CUBA (1959-1962)
I. REVOLUCION
Throughout the 1940s and '50s, the Caribbean island of Cuba had been a playground for the United States.
Cuban land and industry were almost entirely owned by U.S. corporations. But after years of guerrilla fighting
against the dictatorship of Cuban leader Fulgencio Batista, revolutionary forces headed by Fidel Castro entered
Havana in January 1959.
More than 500 people were tried and executed in Cuba, after appearing before the revolutionary judges.
Thousands fled to exile in the United States. But to most Cubans, Castro was a hero.
II. NATIONALIZATION
Castro's new government nationalized millions of acres of Cuban land previously held by American companies
and distributed it to the people. Castro flew to New York to speak at the United Nations. U.S. President
Eisenhower would not meet with him. But Soviet leader Khrushchev was delighted to embrace a new
revolutionary and offered Cuba economic assistance.
Cuba decided to purchase oil from the U.S.S.R., but U.S. companies refused to refine it. Castro then nationalized
the U.S.-owned refineries and other industries in Cuba. Washington retaliated with a complete trade embargo
against Cuba. It also launched the first of several CIA campaigns to topple Castro's regime.
III. BAY OF PIGS
A plan to overthrow Castro was presented to the new U.S. president, John F. Kennedy, soon after his
inauguration in 1961. CIA agents had been secretly training Cuban exiles to invade their homeland. They thought
the Cuban people would welcome such an invasion and rise up to overthrow Castro. Kennedy agreed to the
invasion plan -- but demanded crucial changes to hide U.S. involvement.
On April 15, 1961, six U.S. bombers disguised as Cuban aircraft took off from Nicaragua and attacked Cuban
airfields -- but caused only minimal damage. The next day, a CIA-trained force of 1,500 guerrillas arrived at the
Bay of Pigs, 125 miles south of Havana. But their plans soon turned into disaster.
Kennedy, now faced with international condemnation for the bombing, canceled additional air support for the
invasion. Castro's remaining air force quickly destroyed ships carrying vital ammunition supplies for the invaders.
Without American air support or supply, the invasion force was quickly outnumbered and outmaneuvered. All of
the invaders were captured or dead within 72 hours.
IV. MISSILE CRISIS
The failure of the Bay of Pigs invasion did not keep the United States from plotting new plans to get rid of Castro - even assassination was carefully weighed. Cuba, meanwhile, looked to Moscow for military support. Nikita
Khrushchev offered to deploy Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba. After initial resistance, Castro accepted. By July
1962, the CIA had noticed an increase in Soviet ships heading for Cuba. By mid-October, U-2 spy planes flying
over Cuba brought back pictures of ballistic missile sites.
With nuclear warheads less than 100 miles from the United States, the Soviets had the ability to strike without
warning. Kennedy formed a special inner cabinet of advisers -- the Executive Committee of the National Security
Council, or ExCom -- to weigh the options. Under consideration: a military invasion to topple Castro and "surgical
air strikes" against the missiles bases. But taking either step without warning risked turning world opinion against
the United States.
Another solution was devised: The U.S. Navy would stop and search all ships heading for Cuba. Washington
called it a "quarantine."
IV. AT THE BRINK
On October 22, President Kennedy told the world about the discovery of Soviet missiles in Cuba and announced
that a blockade was in force against all ships bound for Cuba. Kennedy demanded the removal of the missiles
from Cuba.
For several days the world held its breath as the United States and Soviet Union appeared to be moving toward
nuclear war. Washington took its case to the United Nations and prepared for air strikes and a massive invasion
of Cuba.
Havana announced a "combat alarm" -- more than a quarter-million Cubans stood ready to repel a U.S. invasion.
Soviet forces on the island were equipped with nuclear-tipped tactical missiles, ready to answer any invader.
In the United States, a wave of panic buying swept across the country as people tried to prepare for a possible
nuclear holocaust. And though Soviet leaders tried to keep the crisis from their people, the news was leaking out,
raising fears.
V. A WAY OUT
On October 26, with tensions increasing, Kennedy received an offer from Khrushchev. The Soviet leader offered
to withdraw his missiles from Cuba -- if the United States promised never to invade the island. The next morning,
Khrushchev added another condition: the United States was to remove all its missiles from Turkey.
As Kennedy considered the options, the crisis escalated again -- when a Soviet-led Cuban missile battery shot
down a U-2 spy plane. The Pentagon was prepared to bomb the missile site, as contingency plans required -- but
Kennedy ordered that no action be taken. He wanted time to deal with Khrushchev.
The president sent his brother, Attorney General Robert Kennedy, to meet with Soviet Ambassador Anatoly
Dobrynin. They struck a deal: Soviet missiles would be removed from Cuba in return for the unpublicized removal
of missiles from Turkey. On Sunday October 28, Khrushchev announced the withdrawal of the Soviet missiles
from Cuba. Under close American surveillance, Soviet ships took the missiles back home.
The crisis was over, but both sides were well aware how close they had come to nuclear annihilation.
Episode 11: Vietnam (1954-1968)
I. DIVIDED
For eight years, Vietnam was a colonial battleground -- as France fought a nationalist movement led by Ho Chi
Minh. Despite financial backing from the United States, the French lost control of Vietnam in 1954 -- after a
Vietnamese force captured the French outpost at Dien Bien Phu.
An international peace conference in Geneva temporarily divided Vietnam into a communist-led North and noncommunist South and agreed that countrywide elections would be held in 1956. America opposed the elections,
fearing the communists would gain control. The elections were never held.
II. IRON FISTS
The North Vietnamese embarked on radical land reforms, persecuting and imprisoning landowners and
aggravating a refugee crisis. By 1955, close to a million people had fled south.
In South Vietnam, the United States supported the regime of President Ngo Dinh Diem, an autocratic anticommunist determined to resist Hanoi. To fight Diem and unite Vietnam under the Hanoi government, the
communists in 1960 created the National Liberation Front -- the guerrilla organization also known as the Viet
Cong.
Groups such as the Viet Cong were encouraged by Moscow. U.S. President John F. Kennedy, after suffering a
setback against the communists in Cuba and trying to control the crisis in Berlin, wanted to show U.S. resolve in
Asia. He sent American military advisers to South Vietnam.
III. OVERTHROW
Diem's attempts to control the Viet Cong grew more extreme and created growing discontent in South Vietnam.
Several monks burned themselves to death as part of public protests against the Diem regime.
A group of Diem's generals turned against him. On November 1, 1963, they attacked the Presidential Palace,
believing they had or would have American support. By the next day, the government was overthrown and Diem
was dead, murdered by his own soldiers.
While the people of Saigon initially responded with enthusiasm to Diem's overthrow, the coup left the country with
no clear leader.
IV. GULF OF TONKIN
Within weeks of Diem's murder, President Kennedy was assassinated.
Vice President Lyndon Johnson assumed office determined not to lose Vietnam to the communists. He sent
Defense Secretary Robert McNamara to South Vietnam to repledge U.S. support.
In August 1964, the USS Maddox, an American destroyer on patrol in the Gulf of Tonkin, exchanged fire with
North Vietnamese torpedo boats. Two days later, the ship's captain reported he was under attack again. Despite
conflicting evidence, the Pentagon insisted there had been a second unprovoked attack.
The incident prompted Johnson to push the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution through Congress. The measure allowed
LBJ to wage war in Vietnam.
V. ESCALATION
In March 1965, four months after Johnson was elected president by a landslide, the first U.S. ground troops
landed at Da Nang.
Johnson was convinced that, without the support of a massive U.S. force, South Vietnam was doomed. In
response to the U.S. troop buildup, North Vietnam began to send thousands of soldiers to fight in South Vietnam.
In the Ia Drang valley in Vietnam's central highlands, the North Vietnamese and U.S. armies met in the first major
battle of the war. It was an American victory -- but U.S. casualties were heavy.
American GIs, meanwhile, found themselves in a baffling war. They were unable to distinguish friend from foe.
American bombing and shelling drove tens of thousands of Vietnamese from their villages. American television
networks kept a running tally of the U.S. "body count."
Johnson attempted to force the North Vietnamese to the negotiating table by bombing North Vietnam -- including
the Ho Chi Minh Trail, the primitive but highly effective supply line that linked North Vietnam with its fighters and
supporters in the South. But the tactic failed.
VI. QUAGMIRE
The growing scale and savagery of the war in Vietnam created growing dissent back in the United States.
Johnson was politically weakened by the anti-war movement.
In 1968, communist forces launched wide-scale attacks throughout South Vietnam to coincide with Tet, the
Vietnamese new year. The communists hoped to spark a general uprising across the country, a mission that
ultimately failed. But the strength of the offensive came as a shock to the American public and Johnson.
He offered to begin peace talks with the North Vietnamese -- and announced he would not run for another term in
office.
In May 1968, peace talks began in Paris but soon deadlocked. Richard Nixon, who had begun his campaign for
the presidency, called for an "honorable" end to U.S. military involvement in Vietnam. But his campaign aides
were secretly urging South Vietnamese officials to not strike a peace deal until after the election.
The war was to last another four years, costing thousands more lives.
Episode 12: MAD (1960-1972)
I. ON ALERT
During the Cold War, the armed forces of both the United States and U.S.S.R. were in a state of constant
vigilance. War, if it came, would soon go "nuclear." Ballistic Missile Early Warning System radars were in
operation in Alaska, Greenland and England. America, still remembering the surprise attack at Pearl Harbor, did
not want to be surprised again.
In 1961, John F. Kennedy became the new American president. He inherited the doctrine of "massive retaliation"
to any Soviet attack. Massive retaliation had been conceived at a time of clear U.S. nuclear superiority. But now,
the Russians were trying to catch up.
II. BUILDUP
Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev wanted to remind the West of his nation's power. On October 30, 1961, he broke
a moratorium on nuclear testing. A Russian bomber dropped the largest bomb the world had ever seen. Its
explosion was the equivalent of more than 50 million tons of TNT, more than all the explosives used in World War
II. It was so powerful that people 50 miles from ground zero were blown off their feet.
President Kennedy, angered by the new Soviet tests, announced that the United States would proceed in its
development of nuclear weapons. But public opinion in the West was turning against the nuclear arms buildup. In
Europe, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and other "ban the bomb" groups began to emerge. Kennedy
and his defense secretary, Robert McNamara, meanwhile, were having second thoughts about the strategy of
massive retaliation -- now it meant the United States would be initiating the use of nuclear weapons against an
equally equipped Soviet Union.
McNamara presented U.S. military planners with an appealing alternative: No Cities/Counterforce. Soviet cities
were no longer to be targeted, only Soviet military forces. But the new strategy was dismissed by the Soviets as
self-deluding.
III. CLOSE CALL
In October 1962, the Cuban Missile Crisis brought the world to the brink of nuclear war. For nearly two weeks,
Moscow and Washington were involved in a tense contest of wills over the presence of Soviet missiles in Cuba.
Khrushchev, confronted by Kennedy's nuclear superiority, backed down -- ending the crisis. But both sides were
shocked at how close they had come to nuclear war. They set up a "hot line," a direct communications link
between the Soviet and U.S. capitals.
Several months later, the Soviet Union, United States and Britain agreed to a Limited Test Ban Treaty, ending
atmospheric tests. Nuclear testing would continue, but underground. The race to increase stockpiles continued as
well, as the Kremlin -- smarting from the Cuban crisis -- vowed never again to confront America from a position of
weakness.
A grim logic was beginning to emerge. Nuclear disarmament was not achievable, yet nuclear war was
unthinkable. The White House became convinced that the strategy of MAD, mutual assured destruction, was the
only deterrent to nuclear conflict.
IV. DETERRENCE
For MAD to succeed, each side needed to be able to retaliate, even after it had suffered a surprise attack.
Submarines now played a crucial role -- as mobile launch platforms for nuclear missiles. Both sides practiced civil
defense against nuclear attack, but it was generally believed that it was impossible to defend against nuclear
weapons.
Even short of total war, nuclear deterrence carried its own dangers. In 1966 over the coast of Spain, a U.S.
bomber collided in mid-air with a tanker aircraft. As the planes crashed, four hydrogen bombs were scattered over
the coast. Three hit the ground and were recovered. One fell into the sea and was lost for 80 days. Such "Broken
Arrow" incidents were growing, as both sides increased their nuclear arsenals.
V. ANTI-MISSILES
The Soviet military was unconvinced by the MAD theory. They worked to develop anti-ballistic missiles -- ABMs -that could destroy U.S. missiles in flight. The introduction of ABMs destabilized the concept of MAD. Tensions in
the Middle East, brought on by the 1967 Six Day War, prompted U.S. President Johnson and Soviet Premier
Kosygin to meet for a summit. The issue of ABMs was high on their agenda.
U.S. scientists, meanwhile, prepared a counter-measure: Multiple Independently Targeted Re-Entry Vehicles -MIRVs for short. One single missile could now carry 10 separate warheads, each capable of destroying a city.
By 1969, the superpowers were, between them, spending more than $50 million a day on nuclear armaments. It
was a burden both sides found intolerable, and it led to negotiations known as SALT, the Strategic Arms
Limitation Talks. SALT dragged on until 1972, when U.S. President Nixon went to Moscow to sign the arms
agreements with Soviet Premier Brezhnev. ABMs had now been discredited, but the two sides could not come to
a lasting agreement on offensive nuclear weapons. Preparations for global annihilation continued.
Episode 13: MAKE LOVE, NOT WAR (1960s)
I. HAVES/HAVE NOTS
In 1960, John F. Kennedy -- who seemed to many the embodiment of a new age -- was elected president of the
United States. Kennedy had attacked President Eisenhower's conduct of the Cold War and promised to defend
the free world against communism. He increased the U.S. military budget, creating thousands more defense
industry jobs.
But while the U.S. economy was booming, the good life was not available to all Americans. In many Southern
states, laws prevented blacks and whites from traveling together, eating together, or even going to the same
school. Black Americans were denied jobs and the right to vote. Civil rights activists held peaceful demonstrations
-- but were often beaten and jailed just the same.
Gov. George Wallace of Alabama saw the growing civil rights movement as part of a communist conspiracy -- a
view shared privately by FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover. Discrimination against blacks -- covered extensively on
television -- damaged America's credibility as freedom's champion in the Cold War.
II. THE GREAT SOCIETY
Kennedy was assassinated in November 1963. His successor, Lyndon Johnson, had a vision of the Great
Society. Central to that vision was a war against poverty and the abolition of racial discrimination. Johnson was
able to pass the Civil Rights Act in 1964 -- and later that year won an easy victory against his Republican
opponent, Sen. Barry Goldwater, who denounced Johnson's Great Society as creeping socialism.
Meanwhile, dissent was flourishing on America's campuses. At the University of California at Berkeley, students
borrowed the tactics of the Civil Rights Movement, organizing strikes and sit-ins.
III. SEX/WAR
American ideals of political freedom were now being extended into the personal realm. The availability of new
birth control such as "The Pill" revolutionized many peoples' views on sexual behavior.
In 1965, Johnson began sending U.S. ground troops to Vietnam. Despite the extension of the military draft,
Johnson's efforts in Vietnam enjoyed popular support.
IV. COUNTERCULTURE
While some Americans went off to war in Vietnam, others were challenging what was termed "the Establishment."
They rejected materialism -- not for communism but instead for love, peace, drugs and rock 'n' roll. All over the
United States, young men of draft age were turning on, tuning in and dropping out.
A vast majority of America spurned the new counterculture. But protests against the war were growing -- with
marches and draft-card burnings. Meanwhile, America's war in Vietnam dragged on. By 1967, 500,000 U.S.
soldiers were there.
V. DISCONTENT
In America's inner cities, some black activists trained as paramilitaries in what they saw as a civil war against a
racist police force. Led by Huey Newton, they called themselves the Black Panthers. By the summer of 1967,
discontent boiled over into riots in several major U.S. cities. By March 1968, with a growing war in Vietnam and
conflict at home, Johnson declared he would not run for a second term as president.
1968 also saw the killings of two prominent Americans. Civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. was shot dead
by a white gunman. Several weeks later, Robert Kennedy -- brother of the late president and himself a
presidential candidate -- was killed while campaigning in California.
VI. CRACKDOWN
In August 1968, Democratic Party delegates arrived in Chicago to pick their candidate for the November
presidential elections. Along with the delegates came about 100,000 anti-war demonstrators. The protesters
gathered in city parks in preparation for a march on the convention hall. But Chicago Mayor Richard Daley had no
intention of allowing them to take over the convention. On the day the Democrats were due to nominate their
presidential candidate, the demonstrators battled with police.
The situation inside the convention hall was also combative. Supporters of anti-war candidate Eugene McCarthy
were prevented from debating the war. Vice President Hubert Humphrey became the Democratic presidential
candidate. With a promise to crack down on lawlessness, his Republican opponent, Richard Nixon, won the
November elections by less than 1 percent of the vote. The Cold War, and the war in Vietnam, would continue.
Episode 14: RED SPRING (1960s)
I. KHRUSHCHEV
In the early 1960s, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev believed that socialism had to be liberated from the debris of
bureaucracy and the terrors of Stalinism. He wanted to liberalize the system step by step -- making the U.S.S.R.
happy as well as powerful.
Khrushchev was impatient to see his people living as well as Americans -- or even better. To solve the national
housing shortage, prefabricated apartment blocks shot up around every Soviet city. Living conditions improved,
but there was still a shortage of goods in the shops. Khrushchev tried to shift the planned economy toward light
industry and consumer needs. But the Soviet establishment, set in its ways, resisted change.
II. CATCHING UP
To solve the Soviet food shortage, Khrushchev rushed through agricultural reforms. He launched the Virgin Lands
campaign, which plowed up the natural grasslands of central Asia and planted them with wheat. Khrushchev
boasted the U.S.S.R. would overtake America in production of meat, milk and grain. Volunteers poured out to the
Virgin Lands, filled with patriotic and communist zeal. But the Virgin Lands program was a failure. There were not
enough fertilizers, railroad cars or grain silos. Much of the harvest was wasted.
More and more Russians, meanwhile, were getting a taste of such amenities as the company picnic -- and paid
vacations at resorts run by the Communist Party and trade unions. Aspects of Western lifestyle also began to filter
into the Warsaw Pact. Soviet teen-agers, imitating their Western counterparts, narrowed their trousers. But those
caught wearing such garb were severely punished by militia and other officials. And, despite state disapproval,
new music, ideas about art and dances from the West were also entering the Soviet lifestyle.
III. OUSTER/UNREST
The Soviet people, officials and citizens alike, were losing patience with Khrushchev. His great plans all seemed
to end up badly. They found him a clownish, irresponsible leader who had nearly blundered into a nuclear war
with the United States over Cuba. The Soviet Politburo selected Leonid Brezhnev to lead an attack on
Khrushchev. In October 1964, Khrushchev was deposed.
Stability was restored in the Soviet Union, but unrest stirred elsewhere in the Warsaw Pact. By February 1968,
reformers within the Czechoslovak government were taking over. Brezhnev, now Soviet leader, flew to Prague to
meet with the new Czechoslovak leader, Alexander Dubcek. Brezhnev accepted that some change was
inevitable. But what was taking place in Czechoslovakia was already shocking the rest of the communist world.
IV. RED SPRING
The reformers in Czechoslovakia were confident they could modernize communism. The party would still lead -but by consent, not force. There would be freedom to speak and write, to travel and organize. There would even
be a form of market economy. Dubcek's vision was called "socialism with a human face."
One of the first changes in Czechoslovakia that year was an end to censorship. Suddenly, newspapers were filled
with truth, revealing the crimes of earlier Stalinist times. Crowds gathered in the streets to debate issues.
Meanwhile, Soviet dislike of Dubcek's reforms had turned to fear that the Czechoslovak Communist Party might
lose power. There was also concern that Dubcek might change sides in the Cold War.
V. BEAR CLAW
Threats from Moscow and elsewhere in the Warsaw Pact failed to make Dubcek change from his path of reform.
In July 1968, the entire Soviet Politburo arrived from Moscow with renewed demands. The Czechoslovak leaders
agreed to some concessions. But it was too late. The Soviets had already decided to solve their problem in
Czechoslovakia by force.
On the night of August 21, Soviet and Warsaw Pact armies invaded Czechoslovakia. Dubcek and other Czech
leaders were arrested. By morning, when Soviet forces had reached the center of Prague, crowds of people took
to the streets -- trying to reason with the tank crews. Clashes broke out, bringing death and destruction to the
Czech capital. The Czechoslovak experiment, the most daring attempt to marry communism with democracy, had
failed.
Episode 15: CHINA (1949-1972)
I. A NEW CHINA
In 1949, the People's Liberation Army arrived in Beijing -- celebrating a communist victory and the end of their
decades-long civil war against the Nationalists. Led by Mao Tse-tung, the communists establish the People's
Republic of China. The U.S. government, which had considered China among its allies in Asia, is devastated by
the "loss" of China to the communists.
Exhausted by the long war, Mao needed external help for China's reconstruction. One of his first acts is to visit
Moscow, seeking military protection and economic aid. Mao wanted to conclude a Chinese-Soviet friendship
treaty with Stalin -- but the two leaders remained wary of each other. After several months of negotiation, the
Chinese and the Soviets signed a mutual defense treaty -- which also guaranteed aid for China.
II. REFORM/WAR
China's new rulers embarked on radical land reforms. Land was taken from private owners and handed to the
peasants. Former landowners were denounced and humiliated. One million people lost their lives.
In 1950 North Korea -- with Soviet and Chinese backing -- attacked South Korea. Forces under a U.S.-led United
Nations command pushed the North Korean invaders back to the Chinese border. China feared an attack on its
own territory -- and sent more than 1 million troops across the border into Korea. More than 500,000 Chinese
were killed in the Korean conflict.
III. TENSIONS
Stalin's death in 1953 had a deep impact in China. Despite Mao's misgivings, he had long respected Stalin's iron
authority. Nikita Khrushchev soon emerged from the Kremlin power struggle as the new Soviet leader.
Khrushchev and his Politburo visited China to maintain the Beijing-Moscow alliance -- a move that made the new
Eisenhower administration in Washington increasingly anxious. As part of its policy to contain communism, the
United States financed a military buildup on Taiwan -- home for the Chinese Nationalists.
But Mao did not give way to the American show of strength. His forces shelled the Nationalist-held islands of
Quemoy and Matsu. The rising U.S.-Chinese tensions concerned Khrushchev -- who told Beijing that war with
imperialism was no longer inevitable.
IV. SPLIT
Khrushchev's attempts to steer the U.S.S.R. away from its Stalinist past -- and his denunciation of Stalin as a
criminal -- alarmed Mao, who took such actions as a threat to his own style of leadership. China, meanwhile, was
chafing over Soviet attempts to control the Beijing government. In the late 1950s, Khrushchev visited China at
least twice to renew Soviet support.
But China's relations were already strained with its declared "big brother," and the Soviet leader could find no
common ground with Chinese officials. Khrushchev, who had recently visited the United States, was accused by
the Chinese of being an American stooge. Soon afterward, Soviet advisers were withdrawn from China. The
struggle for pre-eminence in the communist world was now out in the open.
V. FAMINE/REVOLUTION
In 1958, Mao had thought up a new policy -- the Great Leap Forward -- a grandiose plan to transform China into a
rich world power. Mao's method was a more extreme version of Stalin's brutal collectivization of the 1930s.
People were told to produce steel in backyard furnaces. Crops were left to rot. Scientific knowledge and common
sense were ignored. No one dared to tell the truth for fear of arrest -- or worse. Peasants' food was taken from
them to make up bogus quotas. The result was one of the worst man-made disasters in history. More than 30
million people starved to death.
By 1966, haunted by the failure of the Great Leap Forward, Mao was fighting to maintain his domination in China.
He launched the Great Cultural Revolution. Millions of young people were recruited into Mao's Red Guards. Their
idealism was exploited to create mayhem and destroy every vestige of the past. The upheaval of the Cultural
Revolution coincided with escalating tensions between China and the U.S.S.R. -- including a series of military
clashes along the Chinese-Soviet border.
VI. PINGPONG DIPLOMACY
Mao, fearful of Moscow's belligerence, decided he wanted better relations with the United States. The new U.S.
President, Richard Nixon, was a lifelong anti-communist. But Nixon, wanting to limit Soviet power and end the
Vietnam War, drew closer to China. The first sign of a thaw in U.S.-Chinese relations came in 1971 -- when a U.S.
table tennis team, playing in Japan, was suddenly invited to China.
The so-called "pingpong diplomacy" led to more breakthroughs -- culminating with Nixon's historic trip to China in
February 1972. The visit was mostly symbolic -- formal diplomatic relations were not restored until 1979 -- but it
helped reduce tensions between the two nations and brought new pressure on a shared rival: the Soviet Union.
Episode 16: DÉTENTE (1969-1975)
I. NIXON
By the end of the 1960s, the United States and Soviet Union faced a choice: slow down their Cold War
competition -- a process that would be called détente -- or continue an arms race that could end in all-out war.
In 1969 a new U.S. president, Richard Nixon, came to power. Nixon had new ideas about how to make the Cold
War less dangerous. He was ready to accept the Soviet Union as America's nuclear equal.
Although Nixon wanted to revise Washington's Cold War strategy, his first priority was to get American troops out
of the war in Vietnam. By 1969 the war had cost the lives of 30,000 U.S. troops -- with no end in sight. Nixon told
his South Vietnamese allies he planned to withdraw U.S. troops and hand over the ground war to the Vietnamese
-- in a process the Nixon administration called "Vietnamization." In 1969, the first U.S. troops were pulled out of
Vietnam.
II. ANTI-WAR
In Vietnam, the Northern government in Hanoi launched a new offensive against the U.S.-supported South. Nixon
agreed to his generals' suggestion that U.S. warplanes bomb North Vietnam's bases in neutral Cambodia -- but
he insisted the raids be kept secret.
Despite Nixon's wishes, the American public found out about the bombing campaign in Cambodia, and anti-war
demonstrations took place across the country. Nixon countered with what became known as his "silent majority"
speech -- asking the American people for his support. After it became clear the Cambodian raids were not helping
U.S. efforts in South Vietnam, Nixon ordered a ground assault in Cambodia. More violent protests followed on
American campuses. At Kent State University, U.S. National Guardsmen shot and killed four students.
III. DÉTENTE
In Moscow, Communist Party chief Leonid Brezhnev wanted to relax Cold War tensions with America in a policy
that would be called détente. His thoughts coincided with ideas presented by Willy Brandt, the former mayor of
Berlin and the new West German chancellor. Brandt wanted to improve relations with the Soviet bloc. His plans,
called Ostpolitik, included the recognition of rival East Germany as a state. Brandt became the first West German
chancellor to visit East Germany. He also visited Moscow and Poland -- and agreed to recognize Poland's
western border, which had been carved out of territory seized from Germany in 1945.
Brandt's actions eased tensions between the two Germanys -- but they also worried the United States, which
feared it would lead to German nationalism.
IV. DIPLOMATIC GAME
Richard Nixon and his national security adviser, Henry Kissinger, were the architects of the new U.S. approach to
the Cold War. The two men preferred to work in secret. Through back channels, they set up summit meetings in
Beijing and Moscow. They wanted the summits in China and the U.S.S.R. to help the United States get out of
Vietnam. They also hoped to bring China into their diplomatic game. The pair alarmed the Soviets by traveling to
Beijing for a historic summit with the Chinese leadership.
Soon after, in March 1972, North Vietnam launched a new offensive on the South. Nixon responded with more air
attacks on the North. The U.S. retaliation appeared to put a proposed U.S.-Soviet summit in jeopardy; would the
Soviets receive Nixon in Moscow while his planes were bombing their North Vietnamese ally? But the summit
went ahead in May. Despite harsh Soviet rhetoric, both sides agreed to limit nuclear weapons, laying the
foundation for détente.
V. VIETNAM
Two weeks after Nixon's return from Moscow, men working for his re-election campaign were arrested for
breaking into the Washington headquarters of the Democratic Party. It was the start of a major scandal:
Watergate. At the same time, Kissinger was negotiating with the North Vietnamese on ending the war in Vietnam.
Hanoi had presented Kissinger with a draft agreement -- but the South Vietnamese government refused to sign it.
The peace talks broke down.
Nixon ordered air raids on North Vietnam, hoping to pressure Hanoi into an agreement while bolstering the South.
The bombing served its purpose. North and South Vietnam agreed to the deal Kissinger put together. Under the
peace accords U.S. troops would leave Vietnam, the Saigon government would stay in power, but North
Vietnam's troops would stay in the South.
VI. A NEW RELATIONSHIP
In August 1974, facing impeachment over the Watergate scandal, Nixon resigned as U.S. president and was
replaced by Gerald Ford. The Soviet leadership was astounded by Nixon's downfall.
Meanwhile, the Vietnam peace accords had not stopped the fighting there. The South struggled unsuccessfully to
defend itself against Hanoi's final offensive. By April 1975, the remaining Americans in Saigon fled.
As Vietnam came under communist control, Soviet leaders hoped to guarantee the U.S.S.R.'s security and worldpower status with a treaty that would recognize the postwar division of Europe. But the treaty, to be signed in
Helsinki, ran into a stumbling block: human rights. Members of the U.S. Congress were taking the Soviet Union to
task over its treatment of dissidents.
Despite differences over human rights, an agreement was signed and U.S.-Soviet détente was under way. The
most public symbol of the new relationship between the rival superpowers was the Apollo-Soyuz project. In
space, cooperation was replacing years of Cold War confrontation.
Episode 17: GOOD GUYS, BAD GUYS (1967-1978)
Episode 18: BACKYARD (1954-1990)
Episode 19: FREEZE (1977-1981)
Episode 20: SOLDIERS OF GOD (1975-1988)
Episode 21: SPIES (1944-1994)
Episode 22: STAR WARS (1980-1988)
Episode 23: THE WALL COMES DOWN (1989)
Episode 24: CONCLUSION (1989-1991