1 00:00:01,627 --> 00:00:04,671 [tense music] 2 00:00:05,464 --> 00:00:08,300 - September, 1945. 3 00:00:08,300 --> 00:00:11,637 Germany and Japan have surrendered unconditionally. 4 00:00:11,637 --> 00:00:15,724 The destruction and death of the Second World War is over. 5 00:00:15,724 --> 00:00:18,185 There is jubilation around the world. 6 00:00:18,977 --> 00:00:21,563 The United States and the Soviet Union emerged 7 00:00:21,563 --> 00:00:26,151 from the conflict as the globe's two dominant superpowers. 8 00:00:27,069 --> 00:00:30,447 They fought side by side when they shared a common enemy. 9 00:00:30,447 --> 00:00:33,575 But now that that enemy has been defeated, 10 00:00:33,575 --> 00:00:38,080 an American-Soviet rivalry appears unavoidable. 11 00:00:39,289 --> 00:00:41,708 - All wars changed the world, 12 00:00:41,708 --> 00:00:43,835 but none of them changed the world like 13 00:00:43,835 --> 00:00:45,003 the Second World War did. 14 00:00:45,879 --> 00:00:48,840 - Japan's on the march. Germany's on the march. 15 00:00:50,467 --> 00:00:53,845 No one can imagine the nightmare they're about to unleash. 16 00:00:53,845 --> 00:00:56,848 The most destructive war in human history. 17 00:00:56,848 --> 00:00:59,643 - Suddenly the world is turned upside down 18 00:00:59,643 --> 00:01:01,353 and all hell is let loose. 19 00:01:03,397 --> 00:01:06,358 - The West is stunned by the speed of the advance. 20 00:01:07,693 --> 00:01:09,444 - You get the Allies led 21 00:01:09,444 --> 00:01:13,323 by the Big Three: Roosevelt, Churchill, Stalin. 22 00:01:13,323 --> 00:01:14,866 Men who are dealing 23 00:01:14,866 --> 00:01:18,453 with immensely complicated questions. 24 00:01:18,453 --> 00:01:21,206 - It's the biggest military operation 25 00:01:21,206 --> 00:01:22,374 of human history. 26 00:01:22,374 --> 00:01:24,459 - The Allies have to come together, 27 00:01:24,459 --> 00:01:27,296 not just militarily, but industrial scale. 28 00:01:27,296 --> 00:01:29,464 It's a global perspective. 29 00:01:29,464 --> 00:01:31,133 - They have to fight in every climate 30 00:01:31,133 --> 00:01:34,219 from the Arctic to the jungles of the Pacific 31 00:01:34,219 --> 00:01:37,681 to the deserts of Africa and the depths of the ocean. 32 00:01:40,976 --> 00:01:43,312 - But there was no certainty of victory. 33 00:01:44,521 --> 00:01:47,274 It was going to be a horrific bloodbath. 34 00:01:47,274 --> 00:01:49,443 - We see humans at their absolute worst, 35 00:01:49,443 --> 00:01:51,903 how they treat other human beings. 36 00:01:51,903 --> 00:01:53,447 And we see them at their absolute best, 37 00:01:53,447 --> 00:01:56,283 willing to give their lives that others might live. 38 00:01:56,283 --> 00:01:58,327 - World War II was a struggle 39 00:01:58,327 --> 00:02:02,372 in which there could be one victor and one vanquished. 40 00:02:07,169 --> 00:02:12,215 [explosion booming] [siren wailing] 41 00:02:18,513 --> 00:02:21,266 [crowd cheering] 42 00:02:22,934 --> 00:02:24,227 - [Reporter] It's official. 43 00:02:24,227 --> 00:02:27,105 It's all over. It's total victory. 44 00:02:28,148 --> 00:02:31,109 The day of days for America and her allies. 45 00:02:33,445 --> 00:02:35,447 - [Reporter] Peace, it's wonderful. 46 00:02:41,536 --> 00:02:43,747 - [Tom] The war is over. 47 00:02:43,747 --> 00:02:47,626 The entire world begins to breathe and live again. 48 00:02:53,799 --> 00:02:57,552 - The Allies won this war in the cause 49 00:02:57,552 --> 00:03:01,515 of freedom and the ideals of anti-fascism, 50 00:03:01,515 --> 00:03:03,809 the ideals of democracy. 51 00:03:08,271 --> 00:03:11,024 - One of the great legacies of the Second World War 52 00:03:11,024 --> 00:03:15,404 is that a disputatious, complicated, 53 00:03:16,363 --> 00:03:17,698 often wrong 54 00:03:17,698 --> 00:03:21,243 nation like the United States 55 00:03:21,952 --> 00:03:25,163 can in extremis marshal significant force 56 00:03:25,163 --> 00:03:26,915 to do the right thing. 57 00:03:27,833 --> 00:03:29,000 It took us a long time. 58 00:03:29,751 --> 00:03:31,420 As Churchill is alleged to have said, 59 00:03:31,420 --> 00:03:33,004 you can always count on the Americans to do 60 00:03:33,004 --> 00:03:34,256 the right thing once 61 00:03:34,256 --> 00:03:36,091 we've exhausted every other possibility. 62 00:03:37,467 --> 00:03:40,887 We spent blood and treasure to defeat fascism. 63 00:03:42,264 --> 00:03:45,517 - [Michel] The United States had fulfilled Roosevelt's ambitions 64 00:03:45,517 --> 00:03:48,186 to be the arsenal of democracy to orders 65 00:03:48,186 --> 00:03:51,022 of magnitude no one could have predicted. 66 00:03:55,527 --> 00:03:58,280 [dramatic music] 67 00:04:03,201 --> 00:04:04,369 - [Tom] In New York, 68 00:04:04,494 --> 00:04:06,121 hundreds of thousands lined the docks 69 00:04:06,121 --> 00:04:07,956 to greet America's ships 70 00:04:09,207 --> 00:04:11,960 and welcome home their sons and daughters. 71 00:04:14,254 --> 00:04:16,089 President Harry Truman is honored 72 00:04:16,089 --> 00:04:17,632 with a ticker tape parade 73 00:04:17,632 --> 00:04:19,718 through the city's Canyon of Heroes. 74 00:04:21,803 --> 00:04:23,305 Speaking in Central Park, 75 00:04:23,305 --> 00:04:25,640 the President addresses the nation. 76 00:04:27,768 --> 00:04:30,353 - [Harry Truman] The world cannot afford to let 77 00:04:30,353 --> 00:04:33,106 the cooperative spirit of the Allies 78 00:04:33,106 --> 00:04:35,650 in this war disintegrate. 79 00:04:36,818 --> 00:04:39,321 The world simply cannot allow this to happen. 80 00:04:41,281 --> 00:04:44,284 [audience cheering] 81 00:04:47,120 --> 00:04:49,831 [upbeat music] 82 00:04:52,125 --> 00:04:53,877 - [Tom] In Red Square, 83 00:04:53,877 --> 00:04:57,506 thousands celebrate and honor Generalissimo Joseph Stalin. 84 00:05:00,550 --> 00:05:04,012 - He's dressed in a white Marshal's summer uniform 85 00:05:04,012 --> 00:05:08,350 with shoulder boards like a Russian Romanov emperor. 86 00:05:09,476 --> 00:05:11,353 Stalin emerges from the Second World War 87 00:05:11,353 --> 00:05:14,564 with astonishing, almost religious prestige 88 00:05:14,564 --> 00:05:15,690 in the Soviet Union. 89 00:05:16,817 --> 00:05:19,110 - [Michel] Stalin and the United States have made 90 00:05:19,110 --> 00:05:22,113 an alliance that ultimately brings Hitler and then Japan 91 00:05:22,113 --> 00:05:23,114 to its knees. 92 00:05:23,698 --> 00:05:26,243 The spirit of cooperation is so high 93 00:05:26,243 --> 00:05:28,245 that Dwight Eisenhower, the Supreme Allied Command 94 00:05:28,245 --> 00:05:29,746 in Europe, probably one 95 00:05:29,746 --> 00:05:32,040 of the future staunchest anti-communists 96 00:05:32,040 --> 00:05:35,377 in American history, stands right next to Stalin. 97 00:05:36,169 --> 00:05:38,880 [upbeat music] 98 00:05:49,182 --> 00:05:51,768 [tense music] 99 00:05:51,768 --> 00:05:53,436 - [Tom] The bloodshed and horror 100 00:05:53,436 --> 00:05:56,773 of the Second World War is unprecedented in human history. 101 00:05:57,816 --> 00:06:02,487 Nearly 70 million people are killed, the majority civilians. 102 00:06:04,322 --> 00:06:09,244 An estimated 27 million Soviets. 103 00:06:09,244 --> 00:06:12,080 20 million Chinese. 104 00:06:12,414 --> 00:06:15,000 10 million Germans and Japanese. 105 00:06:16,334 --> 00:06:18,670 1 million British and Americans. 106 00:06:20,088 --> 00:06:21,756 And 6 million Jews. 107 00:06:25,385 --> 00:06:28,263 - Europe is destroyed. 108 00:06:29,264 --> 00:06:30,765 The Brits are bankrupt. 109 00:06:31,683 --> 00:06:34,853 The Americans and the Soviets, they're demobilizing. 110 00:06:35,770 --> 00:06:37,814 - What's really clear coming out 111 00:06:37,814 --> 00:06:40,692 of World War II is that the United States 112 00:06:40,692 --> 00:06:43,361 has an incredibly important role to play in the world. 113 00:06:44,404 --> 00:06:47,073 She hasn't been physically touched by the war other 114 00:06:47,073 --> 00:06:48,450 than Pearl Harbor. 115 00:06:49,534 --> 00:06:51,411 America is the superpower. 116 00:06:52,329 --> 00:06:53,830 - [Timothy] There's every expectation 117 00:06:53,830 --> 00:06:57,125 that some kind of peaceful coexistence will emerge. 118 00:06:58,293 --> 00:07:00,920 When the Americans talk about the way they want 119 00:07:00,920 --> 00:07:02,964 the international system to be, 120 00:07:02,964 --> 00:07:05,550 they talk about the United Nations. 121 00:07:05,550 --> 00:07:08,428 The United Nations, in many ways, 122 00:07:08,428 --> 00:07:11,556 is Franklin Roosevelt's dream come true. 123 00:07:14,351 --> 00:07:16,811 [tense music] 124 00:07:18,647 --> 00:07:22,150 - During the war, it's Roosevelt who says we must 125 00:07:22,150 --> 00:07:25,362 have this international body. 126 00:07:25,362 --> 00:07:27,280 It's a very hopeful group. 127 00:07:27,280 --> 00:07:29,824 Lots of ideals, the UN Charter, 128 00:07:29,824 --> 00:07:32,869 all of this comes into being in 1945. 129 00:07:32,869 --> 00:07:35,038 - [Reporter] Here, leaders of the United Nations, 130 00:07:35,038 --> 00:07:36,373 representing all but a fraction 131 00:07:36,373 --> 00:07:37,999 of the earth's population, 132 00:07:37,999 --> 00:07:40,001 are laying the foundations of international security 133 00:07:40,001 --> 00:07:41,586 in the post-war world. 134 00:07:42,504 --> 00:07:44,923 - [Jon] Out of the fires of war, 135 00:07:44,923 --> 00:07:47,801 they wanted for there to be an organization 136 00:07:47,801 --> 00:07:50,970 where we don't have 1939 again. 137 00:07:50,970 --> 00:07:52,931 - [Michel] The United Nations combines two ideas. 138 00:07:52,931 --> 00:07:54,974 The first is the General Assembly, 139 00:07:54,974 --> 00:07:59,521 where equal states can meet and confer and make resolutions. 140 00:07:59,521 --> 00:08:02,482 There is also the wartime military alliance 141 00:08:02,482 --> 00:08:05,068 between the Soviets, the British, France, 142 00:08:05,068 --> 00:08:07,737 and the United States, as well as China. 143 00:08:07,737 --> 00:08:09,739 And that's the Security Council that will be 144 00:08:09,739 --> 00:08:13,076 the cornerstone to ensuring peace. 145 00:08:13,076 --> 00:08:15,495 - [Jon] Because it's not just winning the battle 146 00:08:15,495 --> 00:08:19,457 of the day, it's trying to prevent the next one. 147 00:08:21,084 --> 00:08:23,795 - [Tom] One of the first challenges is to determine 148 00:08:23,795 --> 00:08:28,049 how Germany will fit into the post-war world. 149 00:08:28,049 --> 00:08:31,803 - [Phillips] We can't today perhaps understand just 150 00:08:31,803 --> 00:08:35,056 how threatening and powerful Germany seemed 151 00:08:35,056 --> 00:08:38,643 to the Allied leadership in 1945. 152 00:08:38,643 --> 00:08:41,020 They had just fought two world wars, 153 00:08:41,020 --> 00:08:44,774 the greatest enemy of which of theirs was Germany. 154 00:08:44,774 --> 00:08:48,445 Ultimately, they realized the control of Germany is going 155 00:08:48,445 --> 00:08:49,946 to play a huge role 156 00:08:49,946 --> 00:08:51,906 in determining the future of Europe. 157 00:08:53,491 --> 00:08:57,162 - The American view is just like the Soviet one 158 00:08:57,162 --> 00:08:58,830 at the beginning in the sense that we've got 159 00:08:58,830 --> 00:09:00,749 to divide Germany. 160 00:09:00,749 --> 00:09:03,418 We've got to make sure that it can never rise up again. 161 00:09:04,794 --> 00:09:06,671 That's the first urgent thing. 162 00:09:08,048 --> 00:09:12,302 - [Tom] The Allies split Germany into four occupation zones. 163 00:09:12,302 --> 00:09:13,636 The British, Americans, 164 00:09:13,636 --> 00:09:16,765 and French will govern Western Germany. 165 00:09:16,765 --> 00:09:19,642 The Soviets will govern the East. 166 00:09:19,642 --> 00:09:22,437 Berlin, deep within the Soviet zone, 167 00:09:22,437 --> 00:09:24,773 is divided between all four nations. 168 00:09:26,524 --> 00:09:28,818 The wartime Allies have very different plans 169 00:09:28,818 --> 00:09:30,445 for the new Germany. 170 00:09:31,654 --> 00:09:33,656 [tense music] 171 00:09:33,656 --> 00:09:37,077 What Stalin is doing is taking as much of the wealth, 172 00:09:37,077 --> 00:09:38,870 as much of the factories, 173 00:09:38,870 --> 00:09:41,122 as much of the productive capacity and stockpiles 174 00:09:41,122 --> 00:09:45,460 from occupied Germany back to the Soviet Union. 175 00:09:45,460 --> 00:09:48,046 Stalin would say he was only taking 176 00:09:48,046 --> 00:09:51,424 what the Germans owed him for the horrible suffering 177 00:09:51,424 --> 00:09:52,467 during the war. 178 00:09:54,803 --> 00:09:58,723 Conversely, the Western Allies want Germany rehabilitated. 179 00:09:59,808 --> 00:10:02,185 - The Western idea is not to devastate Germany 180 00:10:02,185 --> 00:10:04,104 economically through reparations, 181 00:10:04,104 --> 00:10:06,314 but bring them into global markets, 182 00:10:06,314 --> 00:10:08,274 connect Germany to the world, 183 00:10:08,274 --> 00:10:10,443 and through that you'll get German people 184 00:10:10,443 --> 00:10:12,445 who are incentivized to do things 185 00:10:12,445 --> 00:10:14,989 that are constructive instead of destructive. 186 00:10:14,989 --> 00:10:18,118 So it's gonna need industrialists, middle managers, 187 00:10:18,118 --> 00:10:20,537 local governance, that many of these people would 188 00:10:20,537 --> 00:10:22,872 have been members of the Nazi party. 189 00:10:26,209 --> 00:10:28,128 - [Tom] The crimes of the Nazi Third Reich 190 00:10:28,128 --> 00:10:29,754 are so horrific 191 00:10:29,754 --> 00:10:32,841 that the wartime Allies determine there must be 192 00:10:32,841 --> 00:10:35,718 an attempt to achieve justice. 193 00:10:35,718 --> 00:10:37,470 - [Michel] Nuremberg is highly symbolic 194 00:10:37,470 --> 00:10:40,932 as the spiritual heart of Nazi Germany 195 00:10:40,932 --> 00:10:43,226 and as the place where hopefully the demons 196 00:10:43,226 --> 00:10:45,436 of Nazism can be purged. 197 00:10:47,105 --> 00:10:48,481 - [Reporter] Everyone in court stands up 198 00:10:48,481 --> 00:10:50,108 as the tribunal enters. 199 00:10:50,650 --> 00:10:55,530 Four judges and alternate members: French, American, 200 00:10:55,530 --> 00:10:57,115 British, and Russian. 201 00:10:58,366 --> 00:11:02,162 - The defendants are to plead guilty or not guilty 202 00:11:02,162 --> 00:11:03,454 for charges against them. 203 00:11:04,372 --> 00:11:05,707 Rudolf Hess. 204 00:11:07,208 --> 00:11:08,209 - Nein! 205 00:11:10,044 --> 00:11:13,131 - [Tom] 22 Nazi leaders are put on trial. 206 00:11:13,131 --> 00:11:15,008 - [Reporter] The next defendant called was Ribbentrop. 207 00:11:15,008 --> 00:11:16,843 - Sich nicht schuldig. 208 00:11:16,843 --> 00:11:18,761 - Robert Jackson, chief prosecutor 209 00:11:18,761 --> 00:11:20,096 of the Nuremberg tribunals, 210 00:11:20,263 --> 00:11:23,224 announces that history will judge the fairness 211 00:11:23,224 --> 00:11:25,977 of the trial not by the convictions 212 00:11:25,977 --> 00:11:29,689 and the executions it obtains, but by the acquittals. 213 00:11:29,689 --> 00:11:31,149 But the Soviets are expecting these 214 00:11:31,149 --> 00:11:33,276 to be good old-fashioned show trials. 215 00:11:33,276 --> 00:11:34,485 - Wilhelm Keitel. 216 00:11:34,485 --> 00:11:36,905 - Sich nicht schuldig. 217 00:11:36,905 --> 00:11:40,283 - Stalin had seen how effective show trials could be 218 00:11:40,283 --> 00:11:43,703 in his own consolidation of power in the 1930s. 219 00:11:43,703 --> 00:11:45,330 - Nicht schuldig. 220 00:11:45,330 --> 00:11:47,081 - [Michel] And was happy to give the Germans a trial. 221 00:11:47,540 --> 00:11:50,418 - Hermann Wilhelm Göring. 222 00:11:50,418 --> 00:11:51,753 - Nicht schuldig. 223 00:11:51,753 --> 00:11:52,837 - And then hang them. 224 00:11:57,717 --> 00:11:59,385 - [Tom] 12 of the defendants receive 225 00:11:59,385 --> 00:12:00,511 the death sentence. 226 00:12:02,764 --> 00:12:06,142 Hermann Göring avoids the gallows by committing suicide. 227 00:12:08,436 --> 00:12:11,272 Seven are given lengthy prison terms. 228 00:12:12,815 --> 00:12:17,528 Although the Soviets object, three are acquitted. 229 00:12:17,528 --> 00:12:19,530 - [Phillips] From '45 onwards, 230 00:12:19,530 --> 00:12:22,492 you just have this constant growing tension 231 00:12:22,492 --> 00:12:24,619 between the United States and Britain on one hand 232 00:12:24,619 --> 00:12:26,412 and the Soviet Union on the other. 233 00:12:27,247 --> 00:12:30,875 And Stalin has to play quite a careful game. 234 00:12:30,875 --> 00:12:33,586 He wants to keep what he has. 235 00:12:33,586 --> 00:12:35,880 But he doesn't want to directly antagonize 236 00:12:35,880 --> 00:12:37,131 the United States. 237 00:12:37,131 --> 00:12:38,549 Because the United States 238 00:12:38,549 --> 00:12:40,802 is still much more powerful economically. 239 00:12:40,802 --> 00:12:43,304 It has complete air and sea control. 240 00:12:44,472 --> 00:12:46,349 And it has the atom bomb. 241 00:12:49,435 --> 00:12:52,105 [soft music] 242 00:12:52,105 --> 00:12:54,774 - [Tom] World War II devastated the Soviet Union. 243 00:12:57,443 --> 00:13:02,448 Joseph Stalin must rebuild his country, ensure its security, 244 00:13:02,907 --> 00:13:04,909 and consolidate his power. 245 00:13:07,328 --> 00:13:09,664 But some of Stalin's ambitions will conflict 246 00:13:09,664 --> 00:13:13,084 with the post-war plans of his Western allies. 247 00:13:14,711 --> 00:13:17,630 - [Phillips] Stalin saw the wartime alliance as a way 248 00:13:17,630 --> 00:13:19,173 to defeat Nazi Germany. 249 00:13:19,173 --> 00:13:21,843 But never something that would permanently reshape 250 00:13:21,843 --> 00:13:24,345 the globe or that would make capitalism 251 00:13:24,345 --> 00:13:25,972 and communism friends. 252 00:13:27,348 --> 00:13:31,644 Stalin is an ideologue. That can never be forgotten. 253 00:13:31,644 --> 00:13:35,315 He believes that communism and capitalism are incompatible. 254 00:13:35,315 --> 00:13:38,443 That they will actually at some point wage a great fight 255 00:13:38,443 --> 00:13:41,362 for the future and he believes communism will win. 256 00:13:41,362 --> 00:13:43,906 - [Simon] Stalin is in an extraordinary position. 257 00:13:43,906 --> 00:13:46,576 There's a moment when he reviews what they've conquered 258 00:13:46,576 --> 00:13:48,244 in World War II. 259 00:13:48,244 --> 00:13:51,706 And he looks at the map of Europe and Russia and he says, 260 00:13:51,706 --> 00:13:54,834 we really haven't done badly, and it's an understatement. 261 00:13:54,834 --> 00:13:58,254 - The Red Army is in Berlin and most countries 262 00:13:58,254 --> 00:13:59,964 to the east: Poland, 263 00:13:59,964 --> 00:14:03,176 the Baltics, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria. 264 00:14:03,176 --> 00:14:06,804 The Soviet wave broke right around Berlin 265 00:14:06,804 --> 00:14:08,806 and they just never receded. 266 00:14:08,806 --> 00:14:10,641 - [Simon] Stalin has done better than any 267 00:14:10,641 --> 00:14:12,769 of the greatest czars in Russian history, Peter the Great, 268 00:14:12,769 --> 00:14:14,270 Catherine the Great. 269 00:14:14,270 --> 00:14:17,065 He's created the biggest Russian empire in history. 270 00:14:17,523 --> 00:14:19,650 - [Tom] Stalin intends to create a buffer 271 00:14:19,650 --> 00:14:24,113 against the West, militarily and ideologically. 272 00:14:25,323 --> 00:14:27,909 - [Phillips] He would say, we have now had two world wars 273 00:14:27,909 --> 00:14:30,244 where first Imperial Russia and then the Soviet Union 274 00:14:30,244 --> 00:14:33,164 have been invaded through Eastern and Central Europe. 275 00:14:33,164 --> 00:14:35,249 I am gonna make sure that they are never a threat 276 00:14:35,249 --> 00:14:36,751 to the Soviet Union again. 277 00:14:37,835 --> 00:14:39,754 - For Stalin, the key thing for Eastern 278 00:14:39,754 --> 00:14:41,839 and Central Europe is that it must be loyal 279 00:14:41,839 --> 00:14:43,091 to the Soviet Union. 280 00:14:43,216 --> 00:14:45,718 That's non-negotiable and the recipe for doing 281 00:14:45,718 --> 00:14:47,053 that is communism. 282 00:14:48,179 --> 00:14:49,597 - [Alexandra] He starts to create 283 00:14:49,597 --> 00:14:52,600 a new economic centralized system in Central 284 00:14:52,600 --> 00:14:54,268 and Eastern Europe. 285 00:14:54,268 --> 00:14:57,688 Controlled governments, armies, secret police, factories, 286 00:14:57,688 --> 00:14:59,857 agricultural systems, with all 287 00:14:59,857 --> 00:15:02,110 of the decisions effectively for the economies 288 00:15:02,110 --> 00:15:04,570 of those countries being made in Moscow. 289 00:15:04,570 --> 00:15:06,364 - The Europe that the United States wants 290 00:15:06,364 --> 00:15:09,283 to build does not look very much like the Europe 291 00:15:09,283 --> 00:15:11,369 that the Soviets wanna build. 292 00:15:11,369 --> 00:15:14,038 [tense music] 293 00:15:16,082 --> 00:15:18,668 - [Tom] The United States has an enormous advantage 294 00:15:18,668 --> 00:15:22,296 over the Soviet Union, the atomic bomb. 295 00:15:26,467 --> 00:15:29,846 The Soviets construct numerous sites across the USSR 296 00:15:29,846 --> 00:15:32,890 in order to accomplish task number one. 297 00:15:34,100 --> 00:15:37,562 - [Simon] Task number one is to create a nuclear weapon 298 00:15:37,562 --> 00:15:40,106 at breakneck speed. 299 00:15:40,106 --> 00:15:42,984 No resources are too much. 300 00:15:42,984 --> 00:15:44,610 - [Michael K.] The nuclear program is what the Soviet Union 301 00:15:44,610 --> 00:15:46,154 was almost designed to do. 302 00:15:46,154 --> 00:15:48,573 It's a big country with lots of natural resources. 303 00:15:48,573 --> 00:15:51,784 It can marshal and mobilize for the nuclear project. 304 00:15:51,784 --> 00:15:53,703 It's not completely unlike the Manhattan Project, 305 00:15:53,703 --> 00:15:57,748 which was also top-down, secretive and resource-heavy. 306 00:15:57,748 --> 00:15:59,834 And the Soviet Union puts the full weight 307 00:15:59,834 --> 00:16:01,919 of its coercive power behind this project. 308 00:16:02,837 --> 00:16:04,046 - [Tom] Stalin puts one 309 00:16:04,046 --> 00:16:07,049 of his most ruthless lieutenants in charge, 310 00:16:07,049 --> 00:16:09,635 the chief of his secret police. 311 00:16:09,635 --> 00:16:11,637 - [Simon] Lavrentiy Beria is a man 312 00:16:11,637 --> 00:16:14,056 of brutal ruthlessness and sadism. 313 00:16:14,056 --> 00:16:17,351 One of the great monsters of the Soviet story. 314 00:16:17,351 --> 00:16:22,106 He rapes women, he tortures victims himself. 315 00:16:22,106 --> 00:16:24,734 But he's also as efficient as a Swiss clock, 316 00:16:24,734 --> 00:16:26,736 and he uses everything. 317 00:16:26,736 --> 00:16:28,821 He happily turns off power 318 00:16:28,821 --> 00:16:31,908 in several cities just to power a project. 319 00:16:31,908 --> 00:16:33,826 He gives scientists villas, 320 00:16:33,826 --> 00:16:37,205 dachas, cars, shooting rifles, holidays. 321 00:16:37,205 --> 00:16:38,706 But at the same time, 322 00:16:38,706 --> 00:16:40,791 he threatens to kill them and their whole families 323 00:16:40,791 --> 00:16:42,710 if they ever deceive him. 324 00:16:42,710 --> 00:16:44,712 And he drives on the project. 325 00:16:45,421 --> 00:16:47,131 - [Michael K] It's not gonna be quick for Stalin. 326 00:16:47,131 --> 00:16:48,758 There's no way that he can flip a switch 327 00:16:48,758 --> 00:16:50,718 and acquire nuclear weapons. 328 00:16:50,718 --> 00:16:52,011 But the Soviet Union simply can't sit 329 00:16:52,011 --> 00:16:54,096 on its laurels in 1946. 330 00:16:54,096 --> 00:16:56,641 It has to ready itself for a new phase of conflict. 331 00:16:57,600 --> 00:17:00,144 [tense music] 332 00:17:01,687 --> 00:17:04,315 - [Tom] After the turmoil of the Second World War, 333 00:17:04,315 --> 00:17:06,776 the people of Great Britain and the United States hope 334 00:17:06,776 --> 00:17:09,487 to return to a normal, prosperous life. 335 00:17:10,946 --> 00:17:13,574 With peaceful coexistence among nations, 336 00:17:15,242 --> 00:17:17,118 including with the Soviet Union. 337 00:17:18,119 --> 00:17:20,164 - [Phillips] For the past five years, 338 00:17:20,164 --> 00:17:24,042 Stalin had been your friend. He had been Uncle Joe. 339 00:17:24,042 --> 00:17:25,752 - [Tom] But once again, 340 00:17:25,752 --> 00:17:27,588 a familiar voice sounds a warning. 341 00:17:28,965 --> 00:17:30,925 - Winston Churchill's in a pretty bad mood. 342 00:17:30,925 --> 00:17:33,010 He was thrown out by the British public 343 00:17:33,010 --> 00:17:35,930 in a dramatic election defeat in 1945. 344 00:17:35,930 --> 00:17:38,474 His wife said it might be a blessing in disguise. 345 00:17:38,474 --> 00:17:40,434 He said, well, I think it's a pretty good disguise. 346 00:17:40,434 --> 00:17:43,312 He feels he won the Second World War. He saved Britain. 347 00:17:43,312 --> 00:17:46,524 And here he is on the speaking circuit. 348 00:17:46,524 --> 00:17:49,527 [ship horn honking] 349 00:17:52,405 --> 00:17:54,699 - [Tom] Winston Churchill receives an invitation 350 00:17:54,699 --> 00:17:56,951 to give a speech at a small college 351 00:17:56,951 --> 00:17:58,995 in President Truman's home state. 352 00:18:00,121 --> 00:18:01,747 - This is an opportunity for Churchill 353 00:18:01,747 --> 00:18:04,709 to say some things that he's got in his mind. 354 00:18:04,709 --> 00:18:06,544 It's also an opportunity to spend some time 355 00:18:06,544 --> 00:18:08,629 with the President of the United States of America. 356 00:18:08,629 --> 00:18:10,298 And then he's gonna stand on that stage 357 00:18:10,298 --> 00:18:14,552 and he's gonna tell the American people some home truths. 358 00:18:15,761 --> 00:18:18,639 [tense music] 359 00:18:18,639 --> 00:18:23,561 - From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, 360 00:18:24,937 --> 00:18:27,773 an iron curtain has descended across the continent. 361 00:18:28,816 --> 00:18:30,985 - The famous Iron Curtain speech, 362 00:18:30,985 --> 00:18:36,115 where he very clearly lays out what is happening in Europe. 363 00:18:36,949 --> 00:18:39,327 One side free, the other side not. 364 00:18:39,327 --> 00:18:41,245 - Behind that line, 365 00:18:41,245 --> 00:18:43,706 all are subject to a very high 366 00:18:43,706 --> 00:18:48,711 and in some cases increasing measure of control from Moscow. 367 00:18:49,128 --> 00:18:52,298 - [Dan S.] Churchill sees Soviet communism and Stalinism 368 00:18:52,298 --> 00:18:54,091 as a greater threat really, 369 00:18:54,091 --> 00:18:56,761 as Nazism was a generation before. 370 00:18:56,761 --> 00:18:59,764 - This is certainly not the liberated Europe we fought 371 00:18:59,764 --> 00:19:00,848 to build up. 372 00:19:02,350 --> 00:19:03,643 - [Phillips] It's dynamite. 373 00:19:04,602 --> 00:19:06,937 Because what Churchill is doing is reframing 374 00:19:06,937 --> 00:19:08,272 the wartime alliance. 375 00:19:09,190 --> 00:19:11,233 - [Dan S.] He's casting the Soviet empire 376 00:19:11,233 --> 00:19:13,027 as a malign force in the world. 377 00:19:13,778 --> 00:19:15,154 - [Phillips] Truman, by the way, 378 00:19:15,154 --> 00:19:18,616 is absolutely on board with this speech. 379 00:19:18,616 --> 00:19:20,493 But to Stalin, this is just proof that Churchill 380 00:19:20,493 --> 00:19:21,952 is a warmonger. 381 00:19:23,204 --> 00:19:26,457 - [Tom] The alliance that defeated Nazi fascism 382 00:19:26,457 --> 00:19:28,376 is beginning to fray. 383 00:19:31,879 --> 00:19:35,633 [tense music] 384 00:19:39,470 --> 00:19:43,265 - [Tom] In late 1946, the French vote to elect a new government. 385 00:19:44,600 --> 00:19:47,311 The Communist Party does well, 386 00:19:47,311 --> 00:19:51,023 winning a plurality of seats in the French legislature. 387 00:19:51,607 --> 00:19:53,192 - With the politics of Europe in a state 388 00:19:53,192 --> 00:19:55,444 of extraordinary upheaval because of the catastrophe 389 00:19:55,444 --> 00:19:57,780 of the war, you do have a high degree of concern 390 00:19:57,780 --> 00:20:00,408 in Washington about countries in Western Europe turning 391 00:20:00,408 --> 00:20:02,034 in a communist direction. 392 00:20:02,368 --> 00:20:04,578 - [Alexandra] There's a lot of unrest. 393 00:20:04,578 --> 00:20:07,164 There are strikes starting to take place in France. 394 00:20:07,164 --> 00:20:10,251 There's a huge pro-communist movement in Italy. 395 00:20:10,251 --> 00:20:12,753 And Stalin thinks, maybe he'll win some 396 00:20:12,753 --> 00:20:15,756 of these countries without even having to send an army in. 397 00:20:18,968 --> 00:20:20,469 - [Tom] To the south, 398 00:20:20,469 --> 00:20:22,179 Stalin attempts to pressure Turkey 399 00:20:22,179 --> 00:20:25,099 into giving him control of the Turkish straits, 400 00:20:25,099 --> 00:20:27,560 which would allow access to the Mediterranean 401 00:20:27,560 --> 00:20:28,602 and the Middle East. 402 00:20:29,770 --> 00:20:31,564 And in Greece, communist guerrillas 403 00:20:31,564 --> 00:20:36,360 and government forces are fighting an ongoing civil war. 404 00:20:37,653 --> 00:20:38,988 - [Timothy] These are countries 405 00:20:38,988 --> 00:20:40,948 that have never been viewed as essential 406 00:20:40,948 --> 00:20:42,074 to American security. 407 00:20:42,450 --> 00:20:45,494 The United States does not have a history of backing 408 00:20:45,494 --> 00:20:47,955 the governments of Turkey or Greece. 409 00:20:49,123 --> 00:20:50,958 - [Tom] The British have been funding the Greek army 410 00:20:50,958 --> 00:20:52,626 and sending weapons to Turkey. 411 00:20:54,670 --> 00:20:58,299 [explosion booming] 412 00:20:58,299 --> 00:21:01,093 - But early in 1947 in the White House, 413 00:21:01,093 --> 00:21:03,971 this document arrives, and it's a shocker. 414 00:21:03,971 --> 00:21:06,640 It's from the British government, and it says, 415 00:21:06,640 --> 00:21:09,310 For a long time, we've been supporting Greece 416 00:21:09,310 --> 00:21:12,062 and Turkey, but we are broke. 417 00:21:14,148 --> 00:21:15,483 - [Phillips] This is a really important moment, 418 00:21:15,483 --> 00:21:17,735 the winding down of the British Empire. 419 00:21:17,735 --> 00:21:20,738 But early 1947, they do not wish to be 420 00:21:20,738 --> 00:21:23,449 this sort of great force in the Eastern Mediterranean, 421 00:21:23,449 --> 00:21:25,242 which they had been for a long time. 422 00:21:26,202 --> 00:21:27,620 - [A.J.} It becomes clear to Truman 423 00:21:27,620 --> 00:21:30,164 and the American State Department that this issue 424 00:21:30,164 --> 00:21:31,916 in Greece and Turkey is actually a threat 425 00:21:31,916 --> 00:21:33,626 to national security. 426 00:21:33,626 --> 00:21:35,085 They believe that if Greece 427 00:21:35,085 --> 00:21:38,297 and Turkey become Stalinized, these are dominoes, 428 00:21:38,297 --> 00:21:41,842 and the rest of Western Europe could possibly fall. 429 00:21:41,842 --> 00:21:43,803 - [Phillips] And the British say to the Americans, 430 00:21:43,803 --> 00:21:48,432 if you wanna make sure these places remain pro-Western, 431 00:21:48,432 --> 00:21:49,892 you as the United States are gonna 432 00:21:49,892 --> 00:21:52,520 have to use military force. 433 00:21:52,520 --> 00:21:55,523 Now that is a real put up or shut up moment for Truman. 434 00:21:57,817 --> 00:21:59,652 - [Sarada] Truman is a very practical, 435 00:21:59,652 --> 00:22:02,571 plain-spoken, linear thinker. 436 00:22:02,571 --> 00:22:05,241 He doesn't come into office with some big vision 437 00:22:05,241 --> 00:22:07,117 of what the world should be. 438 00:22:07,117 --> 00:22:09,787 He sort of picks up the mantle of FDR and tries 439 00:22:09,787 --> 00:22:13,040 to build a post-war order according 440 00:22:13,040 --> 00:22:15,125 to what he thought FDR would have done. 441 00:22:15,125 --> 00:22:17,545 But really from the moment of meeting Stalin 442 00:22:17,545 --> 00:22:21,215 at Potsdam onward, he's starting to formulate his own views. 443 00:22:22,925 --> 00:22:24,468 - [A.J.] And now Truman recognizes 444 00:22:24,468 --> 00:22:26,595 that this is a turning point. 445 00:22:26,595 --> 00:22:28,514 In this new post-war world, 446 00:22:28,514 --> 00:22:30,140 what's happening on another side 447 00:22:30,140 --> 00:22:33,310 of the globe can be critical to America's national security. 448 00:22:34,603 --> 00:22:36,355 - [Tom] After deliberating with his diplomatic 449 00:22:36,355 --> 00:22:39,275 and military advisors, President Truman addresses 450 00:22:39,275 --> 00:22:41,527 a joint session of Congress. 451 00:22:43,279 --> 00:22:45,948 - [Harry Truman] I believe that it must be the policy 452 00:22:45,948 --> 00:22:49,285 of the United States to support free peoples 453 00:22:49,285 --> 00:22:51,871 who are resisting attempted subjugation 454 00:22:51,871 --> 00:22:56,667 by armed minorities or by outside pressure. 455 00:22:56,667 --> 00:22:58,919 We must assist free peoples to work out 456 00:22:58,919 --> 00:23:01,505 their own destinies in their own way. 457 00:23:03,173 --> 00:23:04,300 - [Tom] The United States 458 00:23:04,300 --> 00:23:06,343 is shifting away from isolationism. 459 00:23:07,636 --> 00:23:10,097 The Truman Doctrine is now U.S. policy. 460 00:23:12,725 --> 00:23:14,268 - [Michael N.] The Truman Doctrine is the culmination, 461 00:23:14,268 --> 00:23:16,478 going all the way back to Woodrow Wilson, 462 00:23:16,478 --> 00:23:18,480 of setting out these American ideals, 463 00:23:18,480 --> 00:23:20,357 setting out these American principles, 464 00:23:20,357 --> 00:23:21,442 but this time backing them 465 00:23:21,442 --> 00:23:23,402 with more power, more force, 466 00:23:23,402 --> 00:23:26,280 because Truman's vision is that the U.S. will support 467 00:23:26,280 --> 00:23:28,574 any country that is resisting communist aggression. 468 00:23:28,574 --> 00:23:29,992 Any country. 469 00:23:29,992 --> 00:23:31,243 - [Michel] It is difficult to overstate 470 00:23:31,243 --> 00:23:34,163 what a dramatic departure the Truman Doctrine 471 00:23:34,163 --> 00:23:36,749 is for the United States. 472 00:23:36,749 --> 00:23:38,751 - In 1941, the United States 473 00:23:38,751 --> 00:23:40,336 had to be dragged into war. 474 00:23:40,336 --> 00:23:41,962 But what Truman is saying is now, 475 00:23:41,962 --> 00:23:43,464 we're ready to take 476 00:23:43,464 --> 00:23:46,926 the fight wherever democracy requires us. 477 00:23:46,926 --> 00:23:51,263 - [Harry Truman] We must take immediate and resolute action. 478 00:23:51,263 --> 00:23:52,848 - [Robert] Truman asks Congress, 479 00:23:52,848 --> 00:23:55,225 and he receives $400 million 480 00:23:55,225 --> 00:23:57,645 of military aid for Greece and Turkey. 481 00:23:58,771 --> 00:24:00,230 This is only the beginning. 482 00:24:02,775 --> 00:24:05,194 [tense music] 483 00:24:05,194 --> 00:24:06,737 - [Michael N.] This is a radical shift, 484 00:24:06,737 --> 00:24:08,572 not only in the way that America had thought 485 00:24:08,572 --> 00:24:10,240 about its place in the world, 486 00:24:10,240 --> 00:24:13,160 but a radical shift in where Harry Truman's own line was. 487 00:24:13,160 --> 00:24:14,912 It's actually putting American power behind 488 00:24:14,912 --> 00:24:17,665 a global ideological contest with the Soviet Union. 489 00:24:17,665 --> 00:24:20,542 [cannons booming] 490 00:24:24,463 --> 00:24:26,757 - [Tom] As the American-Soviet alliance fades, 491 00:24:26,757 --> 00:24:30,594 a contest between superpowers emerges. 492 00:24:34,723 --> 00:24:35,683 [tense music] 493 00:24:38,560 --> 00:24:40,187 - [Tom] Europe is in the grip 494 00:24:40,187 --> 00:24:42,189 of one of the coldest winters in memory. 495 00:24:43,148 --> 00:24:46,443 People have little to eat and struggle to stay warm. 496 00:24:47,945 --> 00:24:51,281 They begin to despair at the slow pace of post-war recovery. 497 00:24:53,867 --> 00:24:55,828 - [Sarada] Western governments have not been able 498 00:24:55,828 --> 00:24:57,830 to rebuild their economies. 499 00:24:57,830 --> 00:25:00,124 Agriculture has been destroyed. 500 00:25:00,124 --> 00:25:02,084 Transportation has been destroyed. 501 00:25:02,084 --> 00:25:04,003 Manufacturing has been destroyed. 502 00:25:04,003 --> 00:25:08,298 And there's an enormous refugee crisis that is ongoing. 503 00:25:08,298 --> 00:25:09,883 - [Alexandra] During the war, 504 00:25:09,883 --> 00:25:11,802 there was the deliberate forced movement of populations. 505 00:25:11,802 --> 00:25:14,596 So there are millions and millions of refugees 506 00:25:14,596 --> 00:25:16,932 on the roads, in camps, 507 00:25:16,932 --> 00:25:19,977 in towns and cities and villages that are not their own. 508 00:25:24,189 --> 00:25:26,692 - [Tom] Truman and his advisors fear that Europe 509 00:25:26,692 --> 00:25:29,319 is on the verge of collapse. 510 00:25:29,319 --> 00:25:32,322 General George Marshall, one of the chief architects 511 00:25:32,322 --> 00:25:35,451 of American victory in World War II, believes, 512 00:25:35,451 --> 00:25:38,162 the whole world hangs in the balance. 513 00:25:39,204 --> 00:25:40,706 - What Truman and George Marshall, 514 00:25:40,706 --> 00:25:42,041 his Secretary of State realize, 515 00:25:42,041 --> 00:25:44,918 is you need to rebuild the European economy. 516 00:25:44,918 --> 00:25:47,671 It has to be not just the militarized Truman Doctrine, 517 00:25:47,671 --> 00:25:49,757 but there needs to be a way of getting money 518 00:25:49,757 --> 00:25:53,719 to support Western European or capitalist states. 519 00:25:53,719 --> 00:25:55,012 - [A.J.] The Marshall Plan 520 00:25:55,012 --> 00:25:59,767 is a $13.3 billion essentially handout 521 00:25:59,767 --> 00:26:01,185 to foreign governments 522 00:26:01,185 --> 00:26:03,353 to help these countries rebuild themselves, 523 00:26:03,353 --> 00:26:06,607 westernize, and stabilize politically. 524 00:26:06,607 --> 00:26:08,776 - [Dan C.] And it would be keeping people alive 525 00:26:08,776 --> 00:26:12,446 in places where starvation was an actual real thing. 526 00:26:12,446 --> 00:26:15,157 So it's done for altruistic reasons, 527 00:26:15,157 --> 00:26:17,242 but also geopolitical ones. 528 00:26:17,242 --> 00:26:19,161 - [Robert] President Truman and George Marshall 529 00:26:19,161 --> 00:26:23,040 believe that the best guarantee against communism are 530 00:26:23,040 --> 00:26:25,959 well-fed bellies, good schools, 531 00:26:25,959 --> 00:26:28,504 orderly societies, the kind of things 532 00:26:28,504 --> 00:26:31,465 that can only happen in a prosperous economy. 533 00:26:31,465 --> 00:26:33,884 [tense music] 534 00:26:36,845 --> 00:26:39,681 - [Tom] Stalin recognizes how Marshall's plan 535 00:26:39,681 --> 00:26:41,975 threatens his objectives. 536 00:26:41,975 --> 00:26:43,519 - [Michael N.] To him, it's another trick. 537 00:26:43,519 --> 00:26:45,687 It's another American way to try to undermine 538 00:26:45,687 --> 00:26:49,024 the Soviet Union and pull Europe into the American orbit. 539 00:26:50,359 --> 00:26:54,029 - [Simon] It's presented as Stalin's typical paranoia. 540 00:26:54,029 --> 00:26:57,157 Actually, he's got every reason to distrust the West. 541 00:26:57,157 --> 00:26:58,408 He was right. 542 00:26:58,408 --> 00:27:02,079 - Today, our aid to the free nations of Europe 543 00:27:02,079 --> 00:27:05,040 is helping them to resist dictatorship. 544 00:27:06,125 --> 00:27:08,043 - [Simon] Stalin understands that Western goods 545 00:27:08,043 --> 00:27:11,547 with Western money would lead to Western values 546 00:27:11,547 --> 00:27:14,675 of liberal democracy, of open society, 547 00:27:14,675 --> 00:27:18,220 and also would spread the attractions of capitalism. 548 00:27:18,220 --> 00:27:21,348 And it would undermine Stalin's own rule. 549 00:27:22,349 --> 00:27:23,517 - [Phillips] So for him, 550 00:27:23,517 --> 00:27:24,977 the Marshall Plan has to be stomped out. 551 00:27:26,562 --> 00:27:28,772 - [Tom] Stalin directs the countries under his command 552 00:27:28,772 --> 00:27:30,691 to reject the American offer. 553 00:27:31,733 --> 00:27:34,403 - [Sarada] Very clearly, Stalin has drawn a line 554 00:27:34,403 --> 00:27:38,282 and said, this is my turf, this is your turf, 555 00:27:38,282 --> 00:27:39,283 and that's that. 556 00:27:40,659 --> 00:27:43,036 - [Tom] Stalin expects to maintain complete control 557 00:27:43,036 --> 00:27:45,831 of the East European countries liberated from Germany 558 00:27:45,831 --> 00:27:46,957 by the Red Army. 559 00:27:48,667 --> 00:27:50,544 But one nation will test him. 560 00:27:51,920 --> 00:27:54,840 [tense music] 561 00:27:54,840 --> 00:27:56,758 - [Michael K.] Czechoslovakia is deeply connected 562 00:27:56,758 --> 00:27:58,760 to the Western European economy. 563 00:27:58,760 --> 00:28:00,262 The Czechs have advanced industry. 564 00:28:00,262 --> 00:28:03,140 They could become wealthy with access to Western capital 565 00:28:03,140 --> 00:28:05,309 in the form of the Marshall Plan. 566 00:28:05,309 --> 00:28:07,227 - [Tom] The democratically elected government 567 00:28:07,227 --> 00:28:11,106 in Prague is led by President Edvard Benes. 568 00:28:11,106 --> 00:28:13,066 Several of its ministers are members 569 00:28:13,066 --> 00:28:14,651 of the Czech Communist Party. 570 00:28:15,652 --> 00:28:18,405 [dramatic music] 571 00:28:19,615 --> 00:28:22,409 Stalin pressures Benes to reject American aid 572 00:28:23,368 --> 00:28:26,163 and compels the Czech communists to seize control. 573 00:28:28,081 --> 00:28:29,583 Over the next few months, 574 00:28:29,583 --> 00:28:33,086 local communists stir up unrest throughout the country. 575 00:28:34,463 --> 00:28:35,631 - [Michael K.] The citizens of Czechoslovakia 576 00:28:35,631 --> 00:28:36,965 haven't quite gotten the memo 577 00:28:37,090 --> 00:28:39,593 that they're really the subordinates of Soviet power. 578 00:28:40,761 --> 00:28:42,930 [dramatic music] 579 00:28:42,930 --> 00:28:46,475 - [Tom] In 1948, there is a communist-led coup 580 00:28:46,475 --> 00:28:49,353 in Prague that topples the Benes government 581 00:28:49,353 --> 00:28:52,230 and places another East European country firmly 582 00:28:52,230 --> 00:28:53,690 in Moscow's orbit. 583 00:28:55,525 --> 00:28:58,487 - [Timothy] Now Stalin decides to take fewer risks 584 00:28:58,487 --> 00:29:00,906 in Eastern Europe, no risks at all. 585 00:29:00,906 --> 00:29:02,324 He doesn't believe 586 00:29:02,491 --> 00:29:05,953 that ultimately communism will flower politically 587 00:29:05,953 --> 00:29:08,455 and economically and that working peoples around 588 00:29:08,455 --> 00:29:10,958 the world will just embrace it because it is the true 589 00:29:10,958 --> 00:29:14,211 and scientific approach to human civilization. 590 00:29:14,211 --> 00:29:15,504 He believes in power. 591 00:29:17,589 --> 00:29:20,133 [tense music] 592 00:29:22,886 --> 00:29:24,346 - [Simon] Across Eastern Europe, 593 00:29:24,346 --> 00:29:29,434 he crushes any hint of liberalism, free speech. 594 00:29:29,643 --> 00:29:32,396 He doubles down on his Soviet system. 595 00:29:33,522 --> 00:29:35,816 He arrests tens of thousands of people. 596 00:29:37,150 --> 00:29:40,237 More people are sent to the Gulags after the war 597 00:29:40,237 --> 00:29:43,281 than before the war in the 1930s during the Great Terror. 598 00:29:47,202 --> 00:29:49,830 [tense music] 599 00:29:51,873 --> 00:29:54,751 - [Tom] Marshall aid is an essential component 600 00:29:54,751 --> 00:29:57,838 in the American post-war recovery plan for Europe. 601 00:29:59,881 --> 00:30:01,341 But its success widens 602 00:30:01,466 --> 00:30:05,762 the increasing divide economically and politically 603 00:30:05,762 --> 00:30:07,806 between East and West. 604 00:30:08,765 --> 00:30:11,351 - We are now in a bipolar world. 605 00:30:12,310 --> 00:30:16,523 [man speaking in Russian language] 606 00:30:22,112 --> 00:30:24,281 - [Michel] It's a world of rivalry 607 00:30:24,281 --> 00:30:25,866 like the world had never seen. 608 00:30:25,991 --> 00:30:28,452 - The Soviet Union has proved again and again 609 00:30:28,452 --> 00:30:30,704 that it cannot be trusted. 610 00:30:30,704 --> 00:30:32,748 - And it's a race. 611 00:30:32,748 --> 00:30:34,916 It's a competition for preeminence 612 00:30:34,916 --> 00:30:38,128 and it's ultimately going to be a competition for security. 613 00:30:39,171 --> 00:30:40,922 - [Tom] And Berlin, the former capital 614 00:30:40,922 --> 00:30:44,634 of the Third Reich, is at the center of the conflict. 615 00:30:47,721 --> 00:30:49,056 [tense music] 616 00:30:49,681 --> 00:30:51,725 - [Tom] In the summer of 1948, 617 00:30:51,725 --> 00:30:54,603 billions of Marshall aid dollars flow into the countries 618 00:30:54,603 --> 00:30:55,729 of Western Europe. 619 00:30:57,105 --> 00:30:58,565 - [Reporter] Europe is slowly 620 00:30:58,565 --> 00:31:01,401 but surely edging back towards economic health. 621 00:31:01,401 --> 00:31:02,778 Careful planning for the use 622 00:31:02,778 --> 00:31:05,155 of the $324 million allotted 623 00:31:05,155 --> 00:31:09,242 has helped Western Germany temporarily to its feet. 624 00:31:09,242 --> 00:31:10,911 - [Tom] Great Britain and the United States merge 625 00:31:10,911 --> 00:31:13,455 their German occupation zones. 626 00:31:13,455 --> 00:31:15,082 The French will soon join them. 627 00:31:16,124 --> 00:31:20,504 A common currency is introduced, the Deutschmark. 628 00:31:20,504 --> 00:31:23,173 Stalin understands that the Western powers intend 629 00:31:23,173 --> 00:31:26,676 to establish a strong and independent West Germany. 630 00:31:29,054 --> 00:31:32,015 Since the end of the war, Great Britain, France, 631 00:31:32,015 --> 00:31:35,894 the United States and the Soviet Union have occupied Berlin. 632 00:31:36,770 --> 00:31:40,273 It lies deep within Soviet dominated Eastern Germany. 633 00:31:41,566 --> 00:31:43,985 [tense music] 634 00:31:43,985 --> 00:31:46,696 - [Timothy] Now imagine for someone as paranoid as Stalin 635 00:31:46,696 --> 00:31:50,033 having these Western militaries going back 636 00:31:50,033 --> 00:31:54,496 and forth between Berlin and the Western occupation zones. 637 00:31:54,496 --> 00:31:57,749 This is a source of instability, disruption, it's dangerous. 638 00:31:58,542 --> 00:32:00,836 - [Tom] Stalin wants to sever direct contact 639 00:32:00,836 --> 00:32:03,547 between Berlin and the Western half of Germany. 640 00:32:04,923 --> 00:32:06,550 - [Phillips] He doesn't wanna invade West Berlin 641 00:32:06,550 --> 00:32:08,093 because that's an act of war, 642 00:32:08,093 --> 00:32:11,054 but what he believes he can do is he can blockade Berlin. 643 00:32:11,888 --> 00:32:14,975 - [A.J.] At this time, Berlin is still a pile of rubble. 644 00:32:14,975 --> 00:32:17,978 It has very little tactical significance 645 00:32:17,978 --> 00:32:19,479 for the United States government. 646 00:32:20,480 --> 00:32:22,274 - [Simon] So it really made no sense 647 00:32:22,274 --> 00:32:23,441 to keep West Berlin, 648 00:32:23,441 --> 00:32:25,152 and Stalin believed 649 00:32:25,152 --> 00:32:29,197 that in the end the West would blink and withdraw. 650 00:32:32,909 --> 00:32:36,288 - [Tom] On June 24th, the Soviets cut all road, 651 00:32:36,288 --> 00:32:38,707 rail and water routes linking West Berlin 652 00:32:38,707 --> 00:32:40,000 to Western Germany. 653 00:32:41,084 --> 00:32:43,920 - [Reporter] Suddenly the trains stopped. 654 00:32:43,920 --> 00:32:46,923 Traffic between Berlin and the Western zones was banned. 655 00:32:48,675 --> 00:32:51,720 - [Reporter] The famous autobahns were deserted, 656 00:32:51,720 --> 00:32:53,930 and even canal traffic was at a standstill. 657 00:32:55,307 --> 00:32:57,017 - [Reporter] The blockade even cut electric power 658 00:32:57,017 --> 00:32:59,603 and put out 75% of the lights. 659 00:33:02,355 --> 00:33:04,566 - [Sarada] Truman is a pragmatic person. 660 00:33:04,566 --> 00:33:07,485 This could be a moment where he says, 661 00:33:07,485 --> 00:33:10,405 it's not worth saving this city 662 00:33:10,405 --> 00:33:12,157 because I don't know what Stalin's gonna do. 663 00:33:12,157 --> 00:33:14,284 I don't know how dangerous this is gonna be. 664 00:33:15,493 --> 00:33:17,537 Instead, he says, we're not going anywhere. 665 00:33:19,164 --> 00:33:20,290 - [Dan S.] The U.S. and Britain realize 666 00:33:20,415 --> 00:33:22,918 that this is Stalin testing the wire. 667 00:33:22,918 --> 00:33:25,795 It'll be Berlin first, then it'll be elsewhere. 668 00:33:26,796 --> 00:33:30,425 And the Allies choose to make it a red line. 669 00:33:30,425 --> 00:33:32,219 - [A.J.] Keep in mind, it's 1948. 670 00:33:32,219 --> 00:33:34,012 For Truman, it's an election year. 671 00:33:34,012 --> 00:33:35,722 It's the first post-war election. 672 00:33:35,722 --> 00:33:37,724 It's the first election in the nuclear age. 673 00:33:37,724 --> 00:33:39,935 The first election in the television age. 674 00:33:39,935 --> 00:33:42,854 He's aware that all eyes are on him. 675 00:33:42,854 --> 00:33:44,439 - [Dan S.] The British and Americans ask, 676 00:33:44,439 --> 00:33:45,941 what can we do short of war? 677 00:33:45,941 --> 00:33:49,486 And the answer is, they can keep Berlin supplied. 678 00:33:49,486 --> 00:33:53,490 Not by road, not by rail, not by canal, but by air. 679 00:33:55,033 --> 00:33:57,535 [tense music] 680 00:33:59,037 --> 00:34:00,789 - [Tom] The British and the Americans construct 681 00:34:00,789 --> 00:34:03,583 an air bridge into West Berlin. 682 00:34:04,459 --> 00:34:06,294 - [Dan S.] The plan is to deliver it on airplanes 683 00:34:06,294 --> 00:34:09,755 everything that a modern city needs to survive. 684 00:34:09,755 --> 00:34:11,967 Got food, got coal, you got fuel, 685 00:34:11,967 --> 00:34:14,386 you've got medical supplies. 686 00:34:14,386 --> 00:34:16,096 It's a superb example of an operation 687 00:34:16,096 --> 00:34:18,014 that's pulled together very quickly. 688 00:34:18,014 --> 00:34:21,601 Huge numbers of aircraft, planes flying around the clock. 689 00:34:21,601 --> 00:34:22,978 These British and American officers, 690 00:34:23,143 --> 00:34:26,147 the same officers that have organized the triumphs 691 00:34:26,147 --> 00:34:28,984 of logistics that you see during the Second World War. 692 00:34:30,944 --> 00:34:33,571 - [Tom] A continuous stream of cargo planes land 693 00:34:33,571 --> 00:34:35,364 in West Berlin every few minutes. 694 00:34:36,408 --> 00:34:38,243 But to reach the city, 695 00:34:38,243 --> 00:34:40,495 they must fly over hundreds of miles 696 00:34:40,495 --> 00:34:42,455 of Soviet-controlled territory. 697 00:34:44,331 --> 00:34:46,042 - [Dan S.] They're choosing to defy Stalin. 698 00:34:48,043 --> 00:34:52,674 And if you fill the airspace with military aircraft, 699 00:34:52,674 --> 00:34:54,592 even though they're unarmed, 700 00:34:54,592 --> 00:34:57,929 you have to assume that Stalin might strike back. 701 00:34:59,347 --> 00:35:01,558 - [Michael K.] So you have all this military capacity. 702 00:35:01,558 --> 00:35:06,563 You have the paranoia and fear in Washington and in Moscow. 703 00:35:06,855 --> 00:35:09,482 You have this hall of mirrors quality. 704 00:35:09,482 --> 00:35:10,775 The two countries are involved 705 00:35:10,775 --> 00:35:12,485 in a kind of escalatory spiral. 706 00:35:18,700 --> 00:35:21,703 - [Tom] Truman now deploys dozens of B-29s 707 00:35:21,703 --> 00:35:24,247 to air bases in England, 708 00:35:24,247 --> 00:35:26,791 the same plane that dropped the atomic bombs 709 00:35:26,791 --> 00:35:29,210 on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. 710 00:35:30,503 --> 00:35:32,922 - [Dan S.] Nuclear weapons go from being a secret weapon 711 00:35:32,922 --> 00:35:36,843 to a public strategic weapon. 712 00:35:36,843 --> 00:35:39,846 - [A.J.] The pressure on Truman at this point is incalculable. 713 00:35:39,846 --> 00:35:42,724 He knows that this move could be provocative enough 714 00:35:42,724 --> 00:35:44,684 to start World War III. 715 00:35:46,353 --> 00:35:47,812 - [Dan S.] But the Americans are hoping 716 00:35:47,812 --> 00:35:51,274 that this strong show of resolve will encourage Stalin 717 00:35:51,274 --> 00:35:52,734 to back off. 718 00:35:53,234 --> 00:35:57,322 They are gambling that Stalin does not want World War III. 719 00:36:01,326 --> 00:36:03,161 [tense music] 720 00:36:03,161 --> 00:36:04,829 - [Tom] After nearly a year 721 00:36:04,829 --> 00:36:09,376 of daily international tension, Stalin halts the blockade. 722 00:36:12,170 --> 00:36:13,755 - Here's a glimpse of Berlin itself 723 00:36:13,755 --> 00:36:16,383 as the first trains and vehicles got going at night. 724 00:36:19,469 --> 00:36:20,762 - [Tom] All routes 725 00:36:20,762 --> 00:36:22,472 that connect Berlin to the West are reopened. 726 00:36:27,644 --> 00:36:30,313 Restrictions within Berlin between the Soviet zone 727 00:36:30,313 --> 00:36:34,651 and American, British, and French zones are lifted as well. 728 00:36:35,860 --> 00:36:38,154 - [Simon] Stalin set up a challenge for the West. 729 00:36:38,988 --> 00:36:40,573 He was probing the West. 730 00:36:41,825 --> 00:36:44,160 He needed to know how far he could go. 731 00:36:44,911 --> 00:36:49,958 But in fact, Truman rose to the challenge. 732 00:36:49,958 --> 00:36:52,669 And in the end, it was Stalin who blinked. 733 00:36:57,382 --> 00:36:59,217 [tense music] 734 00:37:01,344 --> 00:37:03,179 - [Tom] As relations between the United States 735 00:37:03,179 --> 00:37:06,808 and the Soviet Union continue to deteriorate, 736 00:37:06,808 --> 00:37:08,017 Western governments plan 737 00:37:08,017 --> 00:37:10,603 to provide collective security 738 00:37:10,603 --> 00:37:13,189 against possible Soviet aggression. 739 00:37:13,189 --> 00:37:15,358 - [Robert] When the United States and the Soviet Union 740 00:37:15,358 --> 00:37:18,361 look like they can be on the verge of war, 741 00:37:18,361 --> 00:37:19,738 it became obvious 742 00:37:19,863 --> 00:37:22,031 that the United States couldn't continue to ad hoc this, 743 00:37:22,031 --> 00:37:25,034 to lurch from crisis to crisis to crisis. 744 00:37:26,202 --> 00:37:29,080 - [Jon] The post-war path that FDR anticipated 745 00:37:29,080 --> 00:37:32,167 was one in which the United Nations 746 00:37:32,167 --> 00:37:37,672 would help adjudicate disputes and rule the peace. 747 00:37:38,506 --> 00:37:40,884 What he was not able to fully anticipate 748 00:37:40,884 --> 00:37:46,097 was that a struggle against his former ally, the Soviet Union, 749 00:37:46,097 --> 00:37:49,267 would become the defining force of the era. 750 00:37:50,518 --> 00:37:53,062 [tense music] 751 00:37:54,314 --> 00:37:56,316 - [Tom] Representatives from Europe, Canada, 752 00:37:56,316 --> 00:37:59,444 and the United States meet in Washington to discuss 753 00:37:59,444 --> 00:38:02,322 the formation of a new military alliance, 754 00:38:02,322 --> 00:38:06,367 the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, NATO. 755 00:38:07,327 --> 00:38:08,536 - [Michael N.] The idea is to create 756 00:38:08,536 --> 00:38:11,164 what military strategists call deterrence. 757 00:38:11,164 --> 00:38:13,166 It's an alliance that is created to make sure 758 00:38:13,166 --> 00:38:16,169 that the Russians know that if they attack one state 759 00:38:16,169 --> 00:38:18,588 in the alliance, they could theoretically face a war 760 00:38:18,588 --> 00:38:20,882 against all of the states in that alliance. 761 00:38:21,800 --> 00:38:23,593 NATO is created to keep the Americans in, 762 00:38:23,593 --> 00:38:25,678 the Russians out, and the Germans down. 763 00:38:29,390 --> 00:38:31,184 - [Jon] What Harry Truman does 764 00:38:31,184 --> 00:38:34,103 with the Marshall Plan, with the Truman Doctrine, 765 00:38:34,103 --> 00:38:40,235 with NATO, is establish an infrastructure of deterrence 766 00:38:40,735 --> 00:38:45,323 to try to contain the communistic influence. 767 00:38:45,323 --> 00:38:47,367 - If there is anything inevitable 768 00:38:47,367 --> 00:38:50,453 in the future, it is the will of the people of the world 769 00:38:50,453 --> 00:38:53,206 for freedom and for peace. 770 00:38:57,001 --> 00:38:59,212 - [Tom] But the world is about to cross a threshold 771 00:38:59,212 --> 00:39:02,006 from which there is no return. 772 00:39:04,092 --> 00:39:06,761 [tense music] 773 00:39:09,013 --> 00:39:12,642 In an appropriately desolate landscape, 774 00:39:12,642 --> 00:39:16,646 the Soviet Union prepares to test its first atomic bomb. 775 00:39:18,231 --> 00:39:21,693 - [Simon] Lavrentiy Beria, Stalin's kind of mega manager, 776 00:39:21,693 --> 00:39:24,404 arrives to supervise in a little hut 777 00:39:24,404 --> 00:39:26,281 in the middle of nowhere. 778 00:39:27,907 --> 00:39:29,325 He's incredibly nervous. 779 00:39:30,285 --> 00:39:33,913 If it doesn't work, his downfall is quite likely. 780 00:39:35,498 --> 00:39:38,001 He watches from a safe distance. 781 00:39:44,632 --> 00:39:47,677 [explosion booming] 782 00:39:51,973 --> 00:39:53,641 - [Tom] The test is a success. 783 00:39:54,976 --> 00:39:58,730 - [Alexandra] Stalin's overjoyed and relieved. 784 00:39:58,730 --> 00:40:01,691 Now he's got an equal footing with the West, 785 00:40:01,691 --> 00:40:04,444 and they cannot push him around any more. 786 00:40:04,444 --> 00:40:06,321 - [Simon] After this period when Stalin's struggling 787 00:40:06,321 --> 00:40:08,031 to catch up with America, 788 00:40:08,031 --> 00:40:10,283 he's back in the game. 789 00:40:10,283 --> 00:40:12,076 - [A.J.] Truman's a poker player, 790 00:40:12,076 --> 00:40:13,786 and for these years after the war, 791 00:40:13,786 --> 00:40:15,371 he always had an ace in the hole. 792 00:40:15,371 --> 00:40:19,000 He had the bomb, the Soviets didn't. That surety was gone. 793 00:40:19,000 --> 00:40:20,960 There was no turning back. 794 00:40:20,960 --> 00:40:22,712 - [Alexandra] You've got two superpowers, 795 00:40:22,712 --> 00:40:25,798 two nuclear powers that are facing each other across 796 00:40:25,798 --> 00:40:28,217 the world, and all of a sudden the world 797 00:40:28,217 --> 00:40:29,636 is much less stable. 798 00:40:32,472 --> 00:40:35,642 - [Dan C.] An 18th or 19th century scholar would say, oh, 799 00:40:35,642 --> 00:40:37,185 you're gonna have a war between those two powers. 800 00:40:37,185 --> 00:40:38,478 It's inevitable, right? 801 00:40:38,478 --> 00:40:40,146 Because they're the two great superpowers. 802 00:40:40,146 --> 00:40:43,441 But the atomic weapons change things. 803 00:40:43,441 --> 00:40:46,152 If the Soviets and the United States can't compete 804 00:40:46,152 --> 00:40:48,154 in the military sense directly 805 00:40:48,154 --> 00:40:49,989 because it's too dangerous, 806 00:40:49,989 --> 00:40:52,158 well, then you compete indirectly. 807 00:40:53,868 --> 00:40:55,662 - [Robert] After 1949, 808 00:40:55,662 --> 00:40:57,121 there'll be one war after the other: 809 00:40:57,538 --> 00:41:01,584 big wars, small wars, guerrilla wars, 810 00:41:01,584 --> 00:41:04,879 proxy wars between the two superpowers. 811 00:41:06,089 --> 00:41:08,967 But what hasn't happened is the big one. 812 00:41:10,301 --> 00:41:13,763 There has not been a World War III, 813 00:41:13,763 --> 00:41:16,349 a general war involving the globe 814 00:41:16,349 --> 00:41:19,018 that involves nuclear weapons. 815 00:41:19,018 --> 00:41:22,647 - [Jon] World War II began in a universe that would 816 00:41:22,647 --> 00:41:25,441 have been recognizable 50 years before. 817 00:41:26,484 --> 00:41:30,571 It ends in a world that wouldn't have been recognizable 818 00:41:30,571 --> 00:41:34,117 to anyone because of the splitting of the atom. 819 00:41:35,660 --> 00:41:40,748 The moral and philosophical underpinnings that enabled 820 00:41:40,748 --> 00:41:44,085 the Allies to triumph in World War II, 821 00:41:44,085 --> 00:41:46,629 an appreciation for the individual, 822 00:41:46,629 --> 00:41:50,049 support for the dignity of all peoples, 823 00:41:50,049 --> 00:41:52,635 a bias for democracy, 824 00:41:52,635 --> 00:41:57,640 have for almost a century now enabled us to live 825 00:41:57,640 --> 00:42:02,395 and thrive in a world where Armageddon is always at hand. 826 00:42:03,521 --> 00:42:05,106 But it hasn't come, 827 00:42:05,106 --> 00:42:09,485 not least because we've done the right thing. 828 00:42:15,199 --> 00:42:17,910 - The Second World War alters everything. 829 00:42:17,910 --> 00:42:22,081 National, political, even moral boundaries are redrawn. 830 00:42:22,081 --> 00:42:25,084 What was inconceivable before the war is now part 831 00:42:25,084 --> 00:42:27,295 of the fabric of life. 832 00:42:27,295 --> 00:42:30,673 The conflict that follows, the Cold War, 833 00:42:30,673 --> 00:42:33,092 poses even graver consequence, 834 00:42:33,092 --> 00:42:35,470 because now for the first time in human history 835 00:42:35,470 --> 00:42:39,599 the world could literally destroy itself. 836 00:42:39,599 --> 00:42:44,562 One war replaced by another and the world remains on edge. 837 00:42:45,396 --> 00:42:48,691 As President Dwight D. Eisenhower observed, 838 00:42:48,691 --> 00:42:53,988 the only way to win the next world war is to prevent it.