Original subtitles

- [Narrator] August 29th, 2161.

Red Square Moscow.

Nuclear bunker number 214.

200 years ago, following a global thermonuclear war,

humanity was almost annihilated.

Those who were able to hide in vast underground shelters

just before the final strike survived

two centuries of nuclear winter.

The others succumbed to radioactive fallout.

Cut off from the outside world,

new generations were raised into belief

that the planet had become uninhabitable,

and yet, profiting from the absence of man,

to reclaim its own, and its almost entirely

wiped out all traces of human civilization.

But none of this ever happened.

A few decades earlier, two leaders will manage

to keep cool heads and avoid the apocalypse.

Our history is no more than a series of incredible events.

Every one of us can influence its course.

(intense music)

The most infinitesimal of our decisions

can influence the future of humanity.

To know the past is to foresee the future.

December second, 1956.

Fidel Castro, a former lawyer in exile

lands on the Cuban shores with 81 guerrilla fighters.

October 14th, 1962, an American U-2 spy plane

flies over mystery installations

in the heart of the island of Cuba.

October 27th, 1962, the commander of a Soviet submarine

is on the point of launching a nuclear torpedo

at a U.S. Navy vessel.

These three intimately connected events

are the key moments of the Cuban missile crisis,

and they took humanity to the brink of a third world war.

Cuba.

A Caribbean island.

It becomes a Spanish colony in 1492,

and then an American protectorate.

In reality, at the beginning of the 20th century,

the imposing neighbor controlled the country.

A succession of dictators obtain

political and military support from the Americans

in return for commercial advantages.

Following the coup of 1952,

Colonel Batista becomes the Cuban head of state.

After increasing his salary by five times,

he suspends the Constitution,

reintroduces capital punishment,

and bans the right to strike.

On the island, corruption is the only thing

rising faster than poverty.

Batista, close to the mafia, welcomes gambling,

prostitution, money laundering, and drug trafficking.

The United States lets it happen.

Trade relations with the island

are more important than Cuban's rights.

But poverty and deprivation

are portal ground for opposition.

On December second, 1956, Fidel Castro,

a former lawyer in exile turned guerrilla,

lands with 81 partisans.

The rebellion rapidly swells.

It turns into a civil war.

At the beginning of 1959, the dictator Batista flees.

Castro, at the head of the revolution,

can implement his political program.

Promotion of education and health,

equality between men and women,

the right to vote, but most important,

nationalization of American companies.

The American government sees red.

For them, Castro is a communist, and therefore, an enemy.

Relations between the two countries rapidly deteriorate.

In October, 1960, the United States imposes a trade embargo,

then cuts off al diplomatic relations.

No more American goods, sugar exports plunge.

Cuba is throttled.

Deprived, isolated, the island has just lost

its principle trading partner,

and doesn't know to whom they could turn.

- [Narrator] Welcome to the memory of humanity.

Here, we can control time, analyze and compare

billions of events and alter them

to rewrite history endlessly.

All the events in our history,

however minute they might be,

are memorized and interconnected.

It only requires one to be changed

for all the others to be shaken to the core.

What is the difference between an embargo and a blockade.

An embargo is an economic sanction imposed

by one country against another.

It means cessation of all commercial exchange

with that state in order to put it

in a position or shortage, and force it to negotiate.

A blockade is an act of war.

It means the forceful prevention of exchanges

between a country, and the rest of the world.

Whether maritime, land, or aerial, it is like a siege.

Nobody can enter or leave the country.

In 1977, the UN embargo on arms sales

to South Africa contributed to the questioning

of the Apartheid regime.

In 1990, the UN embargo on Iraq ruined the country,

and produced grave consequences

for the health of its population.

In 1960, an official embargo is placed

on Cuba by the United States.

In reality, it is a blockade.

Deprived of its principle partner,

the island is left isolated.

Faced with shortages, people may radicalize.

The situation then becomes worse than before.

- [Narrator] 1960, the port of Havana.

After crossing the Atlantic ocean,

thousands of barrels of oil are landed

from imposing cargo ships.

Imported from the USSR,

Soviet oil is allowing Cuba to hold out.

For Nikita Khrushchev, leader of the Soviet Union,

this is the chance to strike a blow

to his American adversary.

For 15 years, the two super powers have been engaged

in an unofficial war, the Cold War.

Yet, in 1945, the two states were allies.

Together they defeated Hitler.

But that alliance was fragile.

The United States is an economic and military superpower.

The Soviet Union aspires to become one.

Very quickly, there's a misunderstanding

between the two former allies.

The two powers are based on incompatible,

ideological and economic systems.

Each tries to attract other countries to it.

Countries that join them, by choice, or by force.

Capitalists against communists.

Western block against eastern block.

The world is divided.

An iron curtain descends over Europe.

In 1949, tension ratchets up with the creation of NATO.

The armies of western Europe align themselves

with those of the united States.

In August of the same year,

the Soviets develop their first nuclear bomb,

catching up to the Americans.

All through the decades that follow,

the two nuclear superpowers never

confront each other directly.

The conflict is waged by proxy,

by intermediate countries, the Korean War,

Berlin Wall, Vietnam War.

In 1962, the Soviet Union seizes the occasion.

Cuba, lying less that 100 miles from the American coast,

is a strategic position for the new nuclear missiles.

- [Narrator] Victory comes from superior firepower.

During World War Two, the Americans developed

the first nuclear bomb.

In 1957, the Soviets launched the Sputnik satellite

using the most powerful space rocket ever designed.

These two technological advances

are the two pillars of one of the most

destructive weapons ever invented,

the ballistic nuclear missile.

This weapons was designed to reign nuclear fire

at the other end of the earth.

The largest missiles are 32 meters high,

like the Soviet R36.

They are autonomous, and can travel a distance

of up to 11,000 kilometers,

and hit a target on the other side of the globe

within an accuracy of 700 meters.

There are many variants.

Some are launched from giant land silos

spread across the country.

Others are placed on mobile transporters.

Finally, some are invisible 'til the last moment,

fired from submarines that have infiltrated

to the very coasts of the enemy.

The objective is total annihilation of the enemy.

In case of a conflict with another country

disposing of similar weapons, the only certainty,

is that it's best to strike first.

- [Narrator] April 17th, 1961.

1,400 anti Castro Cubans, trained and equipped by the CIA

land in Cuba at the Bay of Pigs.

Supported by the United States,

this military invasion's objective

is to overthrow the Cuban government.

It's a disaster.

For the United States, it's a humiliation.

For years, the CIA has been trying in vain

to destabilize the regime.

Bombing, sabotage, terrorism,

propaganda, embargo, nothing works.

On the contrary...

Each attack brings Cuba a little closer to the Soviet Union.

And yet, Fidel Castro is not a communist.

On several occasions, he even tries

to resume relations with United States.

All the Cuban leader asks is for the right

to decide his own political line.

But America's aggressive attitude pushes Castro

into the arms of the Soviet Union.

The point of no return is being crossed.

At the end of 1961, the United States begin

setting up 15 Jupiter class ballistic missiles in Turkey,

aimed at the Soviet Union.

They are a direct threat to Moscow.

In May, 1962, in response, Castro and Khrushchev decide

to set up missiles on the island of Cuba

to defend it against a possible American invasion.

Castro moves over to the east.

At the beginning of July,

Khrushchev gives the green light for Operation Anadyr.

50,000 soldiers, 36 long range nuclear missiles,

40 Mig fighters, anti aircraft batteries,

bombers, tanks and four submarines.

All of this is transported aboard 86 ships.

The Soviet Union is flexing its muscles.

Highly strategic, this operation is classified

as a defense secret.

During the first weeks,

the United States is unaware of anything.

On September eighth, the first missiles reach Cuba.

The first launch site is rapidly set up.

On the 28th, a U.S. Air Force

reconnaissance plane spots a cargo ship.

On its deck, it photograph's plane parts

that seem to belong to bombers.

United States is then convinced

that the Soviets are spending a fortune

transporting nuclear weapons.

But for now, they can prove nothing.

- [Narrator] If you want peace, prepare for war.

After the horrific bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki,

no country has ever dared to use nuclear bombs.

A weapon useless?

Not really.

The aim is not to use it, but to threaten to use it.

That is the principle of deterrence.

Nuclear deterrence uses terror.

The more nuclear arms a country possesses,

the more it creates fear and respect amongst its neighbors.

The United States possessed as many as

33,000 nuclear war heads.

The Soviet Union, 41,000.

When you realize that a single one of these weapons

can wipe a city the size of London off the map,

you think twice before you start a fight.

The problem with this strategy,

is that it relies entirely upon

the decisions of its leaders.

How do you interpret an aircraft

that's strayed from its route,

and enters your areal space?

How do you react to an accident

that you think could be an attack?

In the middle of the Cold War,

when provocations occur on a daily basis,

this doctrine can plunge leaders into a real impasse.

With each threatening the other with nuclear attack,

neither able to take action, or retreat,

the situation can become explosive.

- [Narrator] October 16th, 1962, 8:45 a.m., Washington.

American president, John F. Kennedy is facing

an unprecedented situation.

His areal reconnaissance experts are absolute.

The Soviets are setting up R-12

missile launch ramps in Cuba.

Miami is directly threatened.

According to the experts, the missiles will be

operational with 10 days.

At once, under the pretext of a full scale

military exercise, the U.S. Navy deploys

off the coat of Cuba.

The strategic defense alert level

is at level three on a scale of five.

Level one, or Defcon one means a country is at war.

Officially, the USSR is stating

that no nuclear missiles are installed in Cuba.

However, during the following days,

U-2 reconnaissance planes photograph more launch sites,

and they appear to be operational.

Over the North Pole, fleets of B-52 strategic bombers

carry out continuous patrols, armed with nuclear weapons,

they are ready to bomb the Soviet Union at any moment.

At six p.m., Khrushchev is warned,

if the missiles are not withdrawn,

the United States will retaliate.

Seven p.m., Kennedy addresses the nation.

He announces that the United States

will not stand by and do nothing,

and that he is placing Cuba under quarantine.

October 23rd, the Cuban army is on a war footing.

In Europe, the Soviet Armed Forces are in a state of alert.

At 6:51 p.m., Kennedy informs Khrushchev,

the two sides must make an effort

to avoid any incident erupting.

October 24th, an 800 kilometer American naval blockade

is in place and effective around Cuba,

officially, it is still a quarantine.

The first Soviet freighters arrive within the zone.

Faced with the impressive American fleet,

they'll reduce speed, or stop their engines.

Those carrying the last of the nuclear missiles

are ordered to turn around.

Tension is at its height.

The least false move can ignite the powder keg.

Under the water, invisible, the Soviet submarines

brave the American warships.

Khrushchev writes to Kennedy,

the blockade is an act of aggression,

he's going to ignore it and carry on.

10 p.m., the United States prepare for eminent war.

The defense alert level rises

from Defcon three to Defcon two.

In their silos, 145 nuclear missiles

are made ready to be launched in less than 30 minutes.

China states its support for the USSR.

The world is on the brink of war

between the two nuclear superpowers.

On October 26th, Khrushchev offers a compromise.

He is prepared to give up the defense of Cuba

if the United States promises never to invade the island.

On the same day, without any knowledge of this offer,

Robert Kennedy, the president's brother,

offers the withdrawal of the American missiles in Turkey

in exchange of the dismantling

of the Soviet installations in Cuba.

On the brink of the abyss,

a diplomatic solution is on the horizon.

If Kennedy seizes the opportunity,

the crisis can still be defused.

But on October 27th, a U-2 spy plane is shot down over Cuba.

Khrushchev immediately orders

the Soviet commanders to stop shooting.

Kennedy keeps a cool head and calms his military command.

More seriously, right in the heard of the blockade,

submarine B-59 has just been detected.

It's being pursued by 11 U.S. Navy destroyers,

and an aircraft carrier.

The American's drop training death charges

to force it to the surface.

These charges are harmless,

but the Soviet commander doesn't know that.

Without news from Moscow for 24 hours,

his officers hesitate, and can't agree.

Has war broken out?

According to procedure, when attacked,

they must retaliate with a special torpedo,

a nuclear torpedo.

The weapons is loaded into the torpedo tube,

the crew is prepared to open fire on an American ship,

and start the third world war.

But, at the last moment, the commander decides not to fire.

- [Narrator] We have just reached a turning point.

A turning point is a key event a crossroads in our history

where the world swings one way, or the other.

The commander of the Soviet submarine

decides not to launch his nuclear torpedo.

Let's imagine what might have happened

if he had followed procedure.

The explosion would have impacted on all ships in the area.

In reaction, the United States

would have moved to Defcon one.

The bombers patrolling the North Pole would have been

ordered to drop their bombs on the Soviet Union.

From the United Stated territory,

100 intercontinental missiles

would have lifted off into the stratosphere,

and then unleashed their nuclear warheads.

The Soviet Union would have immediately retaliated

with its nuclear submarine launchers.

The third world war would have been

a global thermonuclear war.

The last one.

From space, the globe would have been

lit up by a host of strikes.

Within two hours, hundreds of millions of people

would be dead, and the planet would have

been plunged into a nuclear winter.

Radioactive clouds would have shrouded

the contaminated earth for centuries.

The decision by a single man

that would have annihilated humanity.

- [Narrator] On the morning of October 28th,

humanity is still here.

The previous day, president Kennedy accepted

the Soviet offer.

At nine o'clock, on radio Moscow,

Khrushchev announces the dismantling

of the missiles in Cuba.

Fidel Castro, abandoned by his ally, is furious.

Kennedy publicly declares that

the United States will never invade Cuba.

This is an enormous concession.

Secretly he promises Khrushchev that he will

withdraw his missiles from Turkey,

a decision considered to be a weakness

by some of his military staff.

The two leaders, each under militaristic

pressure from their advisors,

were able to keep cool heads and common sense.

Throughout the crisis, they never stopped

communicating with each other.

The Cuban missile crisis is the only moment

in our history when the defcon two level was reached.

On November 20th, American land forces

returned to Defcon four.

The airborne defenses will only

return to level three in 1965.

This crisis brought the world back to reality

by bringing it to the brink of a total war.

From August, 1963, a permanent liaison is established

between the Kremlin and the white house, the hotline.

In 1972, assault one treaties limit

strategic nuclear weapons.

The two superpowers commit to limiting

the number of atomic weapons.

Today, there are still more than 15,000 nuclear weapons.

In 2016, France, the United States, the United Kingdom,

Russia, and Israel voted against a UN resolution

aiming to bring negotiations forward

on nuclear disarmament.

Nevertheless, 123 states voted for,

which will make 2017 the year of talks,

but that is another story.

- [Narrator] It's all about communication.

For the American president,

as much for his Soviet counterpart,

credibility, reputation and prestige

seem to have been essential to their

decisions as reasons of estate.

Having once reached a certain point,

neither could retreat without losing face

with his people, and his political class.

Khrushchev had to show Castro,

and therefore all the other leaders,

that he was strong and able to protect them.

Kennedy had to prove that he was able

to make the Soviets back down.

How do you not lose face?

Who has the courage to lay down his arms first?

Who decides to fire?

But these personal considerations

impacted upon billions of human beings.

Today, after the end of the Soviet union in 1991,

and the death of Fidel Castro in 2016,

these tensions appear to have eased.

And yet, the Russian Federation has recently announced

the development of a new intercontinental

missile of unparalleled power.

The Satan two, capable of wiping out a whole region.

The saying goes, that man is a wolf to man.

Throughout his history, he is never ceased

to invent new weapons to destroy himself.

But he has also learned from his mistakes,

and been able to turn back when necessary,

as during the Cuban crisis.

Because in 1962, although humanity

was foolish enough to go to the brink,

it was also intelligent enough to step back.

(intense music)