Clarke Costelle - Apocalypse War of Worlds 1945-1991 (2019) Part 5 The Wall (1956-1962)

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 5 The Wall (1956-1962)

February 24, 1956. During the Soviet Communist Party's twentieth Congress, Khrushchev stuns everyone by denouncing Stalin's crimes. Without denying the ideology, the USSR's new leader seeks to distance himself from his predecessor and open up to the outside world. “Mister K” is full of surprises. He drinks Pepsi with Nixon and insists on spending a day at Disneyland when he visits America… But behind this clown-like character, the “executioner of the Ukraine” hasn't gone soft. In 1956, he didn't hesitate to crush the uprising in Budapest in bloodshed. Now, he is preparing a co-existence with newly elected President Kennedy that will not be all peaceful construction of the Berlin Wall, the Cuban missile crisis, and not forgetting the aid to Ho Chi Minh in the preparation of his new war for reunification… The Vietnam War is beginning. Kennedy tries to retaliate in Vietnam, he sends military advisers to train the army of the south. And in Berlin, on June 26, 1963, he gave the famous speech of hope, declaring in front of an excited crowd “Ich bin ein Berliner”.

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