COLD WAR: SPUTNIK, 1949-1961 {PT. 8 OF 24} (TV)
Summary
The eighth in this twenty-four-part documentary series examining the events of the Cold War, from 1917 to the early 1990s. This series consists of interviews and archival footage, accompanied by historical narration by Kenneth Branagh. This episode revolves around the growing post-World-War-II technology race between the United States and the Soviet Union, which took place on two fronts -- nuclear weaponry and space exploration. It begins with the August 1949 detonation by the Soviets of their first atomic bomb, a test that the program argues inaugurated the nuclear-arms race. American nuclear physicist Harold Agnew recalls the surprise in the U.S. at the rapid development of the bomb by the Russians -- and at the espionage among western scientists that helped in that development. The U.S. response, the filmmakers explain, was to plan a hydrogen bomb. Although some scientists such as Robert Oppenheimer objected, the H-Bomb was developed and tested in 1952; documentary footage of the test is included. After touching briefly on the non-nuclear war that had erupted meanwhile in Asia -- the Korean conflict -- the program details the succession of President Harry Truman, who was reluctant to use nuclear weapons, by Dwight D. Eisenhower, who threatened the U.S.S.R. with massive retaliation for any attacks. By 1954, viewers are told, changes were afoot in the Soviet Union. Stalin was dead, and Nikita Khrushchev was preparing the Red Army for nuclear war. The Americans meanwhile continued nuclear testing; in 1954, one test accidentally exposed Japanese fishermen to radiation, bringing a storm of unfavorable international publicity down on the U.S. government. Archival footage is shown of British philosopher Bertrand Russell voicing the concern he and others shared over the path humanity appeared to have chosen. The program moves on to 1955, when the Soviet Union dropped the first airborne hydrogen bomb. After showing footage training American school children to "duck and cover" themselves in the event of nuclear attack, it quotes citizens of both the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. about their lack of understanding of the dangers involved in nuclear war -- and of the motives of each other's countries. Next, the documentary discusses the 1955 "Open Skies" summit between the two nations, which led to little accord. The Soviets, viewers learn, went on to display new bombers that could transport nuclear weapons all the way to the United States. The American response to this perceived threat, the U-2 spy plane, is described. The program moves on to the Soviet pride and American fear about Sputnik, the world's first space satellite, launched by the U.S.S.R. in October 1957. The initial American response, the Vanguard, fizzled, but with the aide of emigre Werner von Braun the U.S. government launched the Explorer satellite, and Americans began a campaign to educate their youth scientifically. The program returns to the U-2 spy plane, detailing the arrest and conviction of American pilot Gary Powers for his violation of Soviet air space. Despite this setback, the American satellite and missile programs were gearing up. Americans had one more shock in store, however, as the Soviets surprised the world by launching the first man into space -- cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin. Commercials deleted.
Cataloging of this program was made possible by The Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation, 1999.
This selection from the Alan Gerry Cable Collection has been made available by the Gerry Foundation, Inc.
Details
- NETWORK: CNN
- DATE: November 15, 1998 8:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:46:45
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T:58478
- GENRE: Public affairs/Documentaries
- SUBJECT HEADING: Cold War; Manned space flight; Unmanned space flight; Sputnik 1; Nuclear testing; Atomic Bomb; Hydrogen Bomb; U S - Foreign relations - U S S R; U S S R - Foreign relations - U S; U-2 affair; She Made It Collection (Pat Mitchell)
- SERIES RUN: CNN - TV series, 1998-1999
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Pat Mitchell … Executive Producer
- Jeremy Isaacs … Executive Producer
- Vivian Schiller … Senior Producer
- Martin Smith … Series Producer
- Richard Melman … Producer
- Isobel Hinshelwood … Series Associate Producer
- Alison McAllan … Series Associate Producer
- Gillian Widdicombe … Production Executive
- Ted Turner … Series Concept by
- Trevor Williamson … Editor
- Svetlana Palmer … Research
- Paul Jenkins … Research
- Miriam Walsh … Film Research
- Lawrence Freedman … Writer
- Carl Davis … Music by
- Kenneth Branagh … Narrator
- Harold Agnew
- Dwight D. Eisenhower
- Yuri Gagarin
- Nikita S. Khrushchev
- J. Robert Oppenheimer
- Francis Gary Powers
- Bertrand Russell
- Joseph Stalin
- Harry S. Truman
- Wernher von Braun