Clarke Costelle - Apocalypse War of Worlds 1945-1991 (2019) Part 1 The Big Rift (1945-1946)
Summer 1945. Leaving the atrocities of war behind, the Allies wholeheartedly celebrate a return to peace. But behind the scenes of global reconstruction, a more drawn-out, insidious confrontation is in the making. Soon, an “iron curtain” will come down, dividing the Communist Eastern bloc, dominated by the Soviet Union, and the West, behind the United States. This is the Cold War, the War of Worlds. In a frantic arms race, the United States have invented the worst threat possible - the nuclear bomb. During the course of fifty years, the great heads of state, Stalin, Khrushchev, Mao, and Kennedy, face each other off in a precarious balance of terror. In Indochina, Korea, Vietnam and Afghanistan, they wage war on each other through other peoples. Nonetheless, it is still the same war between East and West. The same leaders, the same terrified civilians, the same regions destroyed by bombs, the same rows of starving prisoners… Beyond those who are in power, all of mankind can, at any time, be plunged into the Apocalypse. The story of this fantastic period of history between 1945 and 1991, which was defined by the confrontation of two worlds and two systems. The capitalist West, dominated by the ever-powerful United States, is pitted against the Communist East, the Soviet Empire. Both sides possess the ultimate weapon, the Nuclear Bomb, which neither can use, at the risk of causing their own peril. This terrifying balance of fear paradoxically ensures a half-century of peace and prosperity in the West. There are many heated moments during this “Cold War”, and Asia is the chosen place for these “localized” wars in which the Superpowers confront each other through other populations engaged in merciless battles. This brought us to make a series that will be as colorful as it is violent, and which will explore the key wars and interludes of peace and progress. If there was a noun that encapsulated the “Cold War” best it's probably “nuclear deterrence”. Both sides of the geopolitical tensions the Eastern Bloc of the collectivist Soviet Union and the Western Bloc of the individualist United States (and their allies) now had at their disposal nuclear weapons. These weapons made these nations immeasurably powerful but conversely rendered both innocuous to one another. The heavy losses of the first and second World Wars still weighed heavily on the minds and hearts of these superpowers, but guaranteed mutual destruction was the strongest factor that prevented each from declaring all-out war. What were the superpowers to do? They can't stand each other yet they can't fight each other, at least directly. Thus, there were the proxy wars battles between the allies of nations that represented East vs West without technically being East vs West. The Cold War was a conflict of intimidation, symbolism, grand-standing and agitation both parties dancing on the edge of war but neither willing to start one. It cost the world millions of lives, but had the nuclear option been used, it would have cost us all our lives. The apocalypse was but a few turning of keys and pushing of buttons away at any moment. No matter how peaceful we are at any given moment the danger of nuclear fallout will always loom over us all.
Written & Directed by Isabelle Clarke, Daniel Costelle ; A Co-Production by CC&C Clarke Costelle & CIE, INA and ECPAD with Participation by France Televisions,RTBF,Planete+,TV5 Quebec and SVT
Part 1 The Big Rift (1945-1946)
Summer 1945. Leaving the atrocities of World War II behind, the Allied nations wholeheartedly celebrate victory and enjoy a return to world peace. But, behind the scenes of the post-war era, a more drawn-out, insidious confrontation is in the making between those who must build the world of tomorrow. In the West, the Americans and the British are concerned about Stalin's growing power in the East. He no longer hides his expansionist designs. Communist ideology continues to spread, especially in Indochina, where one of the twentieth century's longest conflicts is in the works. In this former French colony, Ho Chi Minh will emerge as the great figure of the Vietnamese struggle for independence. This convinced Communist clandestinely formed a small army which was going to fight the French troops sent to reconquer the territory in 1946. But behind this seemingly isolated conflict lie other issues, through which the Western world and the Communist bloc will soon clash. Especially since the Americans experimented in the summer of 1945 with a new extremely effective and terribly destructive weapon the atomic bomb. It is the cold war, the war of the worlds, that threatens mankind with a new apocalypse.
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