The Cold War - OverSimplified (Part 2)

Summary

Este video ofrece una visión general de los años 60 y la Guerra Fría, destacando eventos clave como la invasión de la Bahía de Cochinos, la Crisis de los Misiles de Cuba, y la influencia de la Unión Soviética y los Estados Unidos en conflictos globales. Explica cómo la tensión entre las superpotencias llevó a la firma de tratados de limitación de armas y al eventual alivio de la hostilidad con el detente. Además, aborda la desintegración de la Unión Soviética y la caída del Muro de Berlín, poniendo fin a la Guerra Fría y preparando el escenario para la expansión de la democracia en Europa del Este. Finalmente, el video proyecta una perspectiva optimista sobre la cooperación mundial, animando a los espectadores a aprender algo nuevo a través de Skillshare, una comunidad en línea de aprendizaje.

Takeaways

• 📚 Skillshare es una comunidad en línea de aprendizaje donde se puede aprender casi cualquier cosa.
• 🔍 La década de 1960 en EE. UU. estuvo marcada por la división cultural, asesinatos políticos y la más cercana aproximación al apocalipsis nuclear.
• 🧔 Fidel Castro y Che Guevara se unieron para derrocar el gobierno cubano y establecer un régimen comunista.
• 🐷 La invasión de Bahía de Cochinos fue un fracaso para los Estados Unidos debido a la falta de apoyo aéreo.
• 🚀 Durante la Crisis de los Misiles de Cuba, los Estados Unidos y la Unión Soviética estuvieron al borde de un conflicto nuclear.
• 🔄 La Guerra Fría llevó a la creación de tratados como el Tratado de Limitación de Armas Estratégicas (SALT) y la desescalada de la carrera armamentista.
• 🌿 La Guerra de Vietnam marcó un punto de inflexión en la Guerra Fría y aumentó el escepticismo estadounidense sobre la guerra.
• 📺 La televisión transmitió la dura realidad de la guerra en Vietnam a los hogares de EE. UU., afectando la opinión pública.
• 🤝 La detente de la Guerra Fría se materializó con la firma de tratados y la mejora de las relaciones entre superpotencias.
• 🏆 La Guerra Fría también vio la competencia en el espacio y la carrera armamentística, incluyendo el desarrollo de tecnologías como los MIRV y la iniciativa SDI.
• 💔 La caída del Muro de Berlín y la disolución de la Unión Soviética pusieron fin a la Guerra Fría y llevaron a la transición hacia gobiernos democráticos en Europa del Este.

Q & A

¿Qué eventos culturales y políticos marcan la década de 1960 en los Estados Unidos?

La década de 1960 en los Estados Unidos estuvo marcada por una división cultural extrema, asesinatos políticos importantes y la situación más cercana a una apocalipsis nuclear que el mundo haya conocido.

¿Cómo se describe la reunión entre Fidel Castro y Che Guevara?

Fidel Castro y Che Guevara se encontraron en un bar en la Ciudad de México, donde decidieron crecer barbas impresionantes y derrocar el gobierno de Cuba.

¿Por qué Estados Unidos comenzó a entrenar a exiliados cubanos después del establecimiento del régimen comunista en Cuba?

Estados Unidos no le agrado ver un régimen comunista cerca de su territorio, por lo que comenzó a entrenar a exiliados cubanos para invadir Cuba y derrocar a Castro.

¿Qué fue el resultado de la Invasión de Bahía de Cochinos y por qué fue un fracaso?

La Invasión de Bahía de Cochinos resultó en una humillante derrota para los Estados Unidos debido a que Kennedy redujo significativamente el apoyo aéreo estadounidense para ocultar la participación de los EE. UU. en el plan.

¿Cómo se describe la crisis de los misiles de Cuba y qué sucedió el 14 de octubre de 1962?

La crisis de los misiles de Cuba se desencadenó cuando un avión espía de los Estados Unidos vio algo extraño en Cuba, revelando la presencia de misiles soviéticos en la isla. Esto causó un gran alarma en los Estados Unidos, quienes se sintieron completamente vulnerables y tuvieron que actuar rápidamente.

¿Qué estrategia propuso Kennedy para evitar una guerra nuclear con la Unión Soviética?

Para evitar una guerra nuclear, Kennedy propuso un bloqueo. El ejército de los Estados Unidos anunció que detendría y buscaría a cualquier barco soviético que se dirigiera a Cuba y hundiría a aquellos que no se sometieran.

¿Cómo se resolvió la crisis de los misiles de Cuba y qué acuerdo se alcanzó?

La crisis de los misiles de Cuba se resolvió cuando Khrushchev propuso que si los Estados Unidos retiraba sus misiles de Turquía, la Unión Soviética haría lo mismo en Cuba. Finalmente, se llegó a un acuerdo y los misiles soviéticos fueron retirados de Cuba.

¿Qué cambios ocurrieron después de la crisis de los misiles de Cuba?

Después de la crisis, las superpotencias acordaron el Tratado de Prohibición Limitada de Pruebas Nucleares y los soviéticos despidieron a Khrushchev, reemplazándolo por Leonid Brezhnev.

¿Cómo describirías la participación de Estados Unidos en la Guerra de Vietnam?

La participación de Estados Unidos en la Guerra de Vietnam fue una guerra brutal y desgarradora, donde millones de jóvenes estadounidenses fueron reclutados y enviados a luchar contra un enemigo que utilizaba la espesura de la jungla como escudo.

¿Qué evento significativo ocurrió en 1966 sobre la ciudad de Palomares en España?

En 1966, sobre Palomares en España, un bombardero de los Estados Unidos chocó con un tanque en el aire, y cuatro bombas de hidrógeno cayeron cerca de la ciudad.

¿Cómo cambió la actitud de la Unión Soviética hacia la Guerra Fría después de la crisis de los misiles de Cuba?

Después de la crisis de los misiles de Cuba, la Unión Soviética y los Estados Unidos comenzaron a trabajar para hacer su relación más constructiva, lo que llevó a una batalla ideológica que se desvió de la posibilidad de un conflicto directo y se dirigió hacia intentar influir en guerras proxy alrededor del mundo.

¿Qué evento importante marcó el final de la Guerra Fría?

El final de la Guerra Fría se marcó con la caída del Muro de Berlín y la disolución de la Unión Soviética, lo que llevó a la establecimiento de gobiernos democráticos en muchas de las antiguas repúblicas soviéticas.

Outlines

00:00

😀 Años 60: Un período turbulento en la historia de EE. UU.

Este párrafo abarca la década de 1960, un tiempo de gran división cultural en EE. UU., con asesinatos políticos significativos y la más cercana que el mundo ha estado a una apocalipsis nuclear. Se menciona la reunión de Fidel Castro y Che Guevara, la invasión fallida de Playa de los Cochinos, y la crisis de los misiles de Cuba, que culminó en un acuerdo que vio la retirada de misiles soviéticos en Cuba a cambio de la retirada de misiles estadounidenses en Turquía. Además, se discuten los cambios que siguieron, como el Tratado de Limitación de Pruebas Nucleares y el cambio de liderazgo en la Unión Soviética.

05:03

🌎 Guerra Fría y conflictos globales

Este párrafo explora la Guerra Fría y cómo la lucha ideológica entre las superpotencias se desplazó hacia conflictos por proxy en diferentes partes del mundo. Se describe la participación de EE. UU. y la Unión Soviética en guerras como la Guerra de Vietnam, la Guerra de los Seis Días, la Guerra de Yom Kipur y otros conflictos en África y América Central. Además, se aborda el impacto del cambio de actitud de la sociedad estadounidense hacia la guerra y la eventual retirada de las tropas de Vietnam, así como la búsqueda de una detente y el papel de figuras como Richard Nixon y Gerald Ford.

10:04

🚀 La iniciativa 'Star Wars' y el final de la Guerra Fría

Este párrafo comienza con la presentación de la Iniciativa de Defensa Espacial de Reagan, conocida como 'Star Wars', y su percepción como una idea poco práctica. Luego, se describe cómo la tensión entre EE. UU. y la Unión Soviética aumentó, pero comenzó a disminuir con la llegada de Mikhail Gorbachev al poder. Gorbachev impulsó reformas significativas en la Unión Soviética, incluyendo la apertura política y económica, lo que llevó a la disolución del Muro de Berlín y la eventual caída del Telón de Acero. Se discuten los eventos que llevaron a la disolución de la Unión Soviética y la lucha de poder entre Gorbachev y Boris Yeltsin.

15:05

🎨 Skillshare: La comunidad de aprendizaje en línea

Este párrafo promueve Skillshare como una comunidad en línea para aprender una amplia variedad de habilidades y conocimientos. Se destaca la oferta especial para los espectadores de OverSimplified, que incluye dos meses de membresía premium gratis. Se mencionan algunas de las clases disponibles, como programación, aprendizaje de instrumentos musicales, animación de videos y aprendizaje del idioma japonés, y se enfatiza que los cursos son impartidos por expertos en sus respectivos campos.

Keywords

💡Cuba

Cuba es un país ubicado en el Caribe, central en la narrativa del video debido a su papel crucial en la crisis de los misiles de 1962. Durante la década de 1960, la revolución cubana liderada por Fidel Castro y Che Guevara resultó en un gobierno comunista en la isla, lo que provocó una tensión significativa con los Estados Unidos, preocupados por la presencia de un régimen comunista tan cerca de su territorio. Este conflicto culminó con la crisis de los misiles de Cuba, un punto de inflexión en la Guerra Fría.

💡Guerra Fría

La Guerra Fría fue un período de tensión política y militar entre los bloques de poder liderados por los Estados Unidos y la Unión Soviética, que se extendió desde finales de la Segunda Guerra Mundial hasta la disolución de la Unión Soviética en 1991. El video explora varios aspectos de la Guerra Fría, incluyendo la crisis de los misiles de Cuba, la Guerra de Vietnam y la detención de la carrera de armas, mostrando cómo estos eventos moldearon las relaciones internacionales de la época.

💡Vietnam

La Guerra de Vietnam fue un conflicto armado que tuvo lugar durante los años 60 y 70 del siglo XX, en el que los Estados Unidos intervinieron en apoyo del régimen survietnamita contra el comunismo del Norte de Vietnam y las fuerzas del Vietcong. El video describe cómo la guerra se tornó en un símbolo de la Guerra Fría y cómo su cobertura en televisión afectó la opinión pública estadounidense, llevando a un cambio en la política exterior de los Estados Unidos hacia el final del conflicto.

💡MAD (Doctrina del Mutuo Annihilation Asegurada)

La Doctrina del Mutuo Annihilation Asegurada (MAD, por sus siglas en inglés) fue una estrategia de disuasión nuclear durante la Guerra Fría que se basaba en la idea de que ninguna de las dos superpotencias, Estados Unidos y la Unión Soviética, debería comenzar una guerra nuclear ya que ambas serían destruidas por las represalias. El video menciona cómo esta doctrina influyó en la política de defensa y en la percepción de la guerra nuclear durante ese tiempo.

💡Berlin Wall

El Muro de Berlín fue una barrera que separaba Berlín Este, controlado por la Unión Soviética, de Berlín Oeste, controlado por los aliados occidentales, y simbolizaba la división entre el bloque comunista y el bloque capitalista durante la Guerra Fría. El video narra cómo el muro cayó en 1989, lo que marcó el final del Iron Curtain y el comienzo del proceso de reuniificación de Alemania.

💡Crise de la Baye des Cochons (Invasión de la Bahía de los Cochinos)

La Invasión de la Bahía de los Cochinos fue un intento fallido por parte de los Estados Unidos de derrocar el régimen de Fidel Castro en Cuba en 1961. El video describe cómo este evento resultó en una humillante derrota para los Estados Unidos y cómo aumentó la tensión entre EE. UU. y Cuba, contribuyendo a la crisis de los misiles de Cuba.

💡Mikhail Gorbachev

Mikhail Gorbachev fue el líder soviético que introdujo políticas de glasnost (transparencia) y perestroika (reestructuración económica) en la Unión Soviética. El video destaca cómo estos cambios llevaron a una nueva era de diálogo constructivo entre la Unión Soviética y los Estados Unidos y eventualmente contribuyeron a la disolución de la Unión Soviética y el fin de la Guerra Fría.

💡Ronald Reagan

Ronald Reagan fue el presidente de los Estados Unidos durante los años 80, conocido por su postura firme frente a la Unión Soviética, a la que denominó una "evil empire" (imperio del mal). El video menciona cómo su liderazgo y la iniciativa de la Iniciativa de Defensa de la Guerra Fría (también conocida como Programa Estrela) influyeron en la dinámica de la Guerra Fría y la carrera armamentista.

💡Crisis de los Misiles de Cuba

La Crisis de los Misiles de Cuba fue un punto culminante de la Guerra Fría en 1962, cuando los Estados Unidos descubrieron que la Unión Soviética estaba instalando misiles nucleares en Cuba. El video describe cómo este evento llevó al mundo al borde de una guerra nuclear y cómo un acuerdo entre Kennedy y Khrushchev finalmente resolvió la crisis.

💡Domino Effect

El Efecto Domino era la teoría de que si un país caía bajo el control comunista, otros países en la región podrían seguir el mismo destino. El video hace referencia a esta teoría para explicar la preocupación de los Estados Unidos de que si Vietnam del Sur caía, otros países asiáticos podrían ser los siguientes, lo que llevó a la intervención estadounidense en la Guerra de Vietnam.

💡Ping-Pong Diplomacy

La Diplomacía del Ping-Pong fue un evento histórico en 1971 cuando un equipo de tablero chino invitó a los jugadores estadounidenses a visitar China, lo que se consideró un gesto de buena voluntad y un paso hacia la mejora de las relaciones entre los dos países. El video menciona este evento como parte de los cambios en las relaciones internacionales que ayudaron a suavizar las tensiones de la Guerra Fría.

Highlights

The 1960s was a time of extreme cultural division, major political assassinations, and the closest the world has ever come to nuclear apocalypse.

Fidel Castro and Che Guevara met in Mexico City and decided to overthrow the Cuban government, which they successfully did.

The US trained Cuban exiles to invade Cuba and overthrow Castro, but the Bay of Pigs Invasion was a humiliating defeat due to scaled back American air support.

Khrushchev and Castro decided to place Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba, which led to the Cuban Missile Crisis when US spy planes discovered them.

The US and Soviet Union came dangerously close to nuclear war during the Cuban Missile Crisis, with both sides moving to DEFCON 2.

At the last second, Khrushchev and Kennedy reached an agreement to remove missiles from Turkey and Cuba, averting nuclear war.

The superpowers agreed to a limited Test Ban Treaty and made changes in response to the close call during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

The Vietnam War was a brutal conflict that escalated and saw the US send millions of young men to fight a ruthless enemy in dense jungle.

The Vietnam War marked a turning point in the Cold War, as the US and Soviet Union shifted from direct conflict to proxy wars around the world.

The US and Soviet Union began working to make their relationship more constructive, leading to detente and a series of arms control treaties.

Mikhail Gorbachev came to power in the Soviet Union in 1985 and implemented reforms for greater openness, transparency, and economic restructuring.

Gorbachev's reforms allowed the Eastern Bloc to choose its own future, leading to the Iron Curtain unravelling and the fall of communism in Eastern Europe.

The Berlin Wall fell in 1989, marking a historic moment as East and West Berliners were reunited after decades of separation.

Germany was reunified in 1990, and democratic governments were established in many former Soviet republics, signaling the end of the Cold War.

The US and Soviet Union shifted their ideological battle away from direct conflict and focused on influencing proxy wars around the world.

The Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 and the US response marked a period of renewed Cold War tensions.

Ronald Reagan's presidency saw a hardline stance against the Soviet Union, with his 'evil empire' speech and the proposed Strategic Defense Initiative.

The INF Treaty in 1987 eliminated all intermediate-range nuclear missiles, a major step towards ending the arms race.

Transcripts

This video was made possible by Skillshare, an online learning community

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For anyone who thinks recent US history has never been crazy as it is right now,

allow me to present to you

the 1960s.

Extreme cultural division,

major political assassinations,

and the closest the world has ever come

to nuclear apocalypse.

Shocked by the CIA's intrusive methods for putting down socialism in Latin America,

a certain Fidel Castro met with a certain Che Guevara in a bar in Mexico City,

and the two of them decided they should grow some awesome beards

and overthrow the Cuban government.

Which is exactly what they did.

Cuba had been America's summer playground,

and America didn't like seeing a communist regime being set up in its own backyard.

So the US immediately began training up Cuban exiles

to invade Cuba and overthrow Castro.

However, as the day of the operation came closer,

Kennedy wanted to conceal any US involvement in the plan.

So he massively scaled back American air support,

and as a result the Bay of Pigs Invasion was a humiliating defeat for America.

But Castro felt there was still an impending US threat to his regime.

Meanwhile in the Soviet Union,

Khrushchev had a lot of medium-range nuclear missiles that couldn't reach America.

But they could if they were positioned, say, on an exotic Caribbean island off the coast of Florida?

- "Hey, I'm a communist who hates America.

You're a communist who hates America.

You know what that means?"

- "We should fall in love!"

- "Uh, I was just going to suggest you set your missiles up in Cuba."

- "Oh, no - no, you're right, that's a better idea.

Be still, my beating heart..."

On October 14th 1962,

a US spy plane over Cuba noticed something strange.

- "Sir, you need to look at this photograph."

- "You're right! That's the cutest dog I've ever seen!"

- "Sir, I was referring more to the Soviet missiles."

America freaked out as they realized what was going on.

They were completely vulnerable, and they had to act fast.

They knew that airstrikes or an invasion of Cuba would likely mean nuclear war with the Soviet Union,

so Kennedy came up with another idea.

A blockade.

The US navy announced it would stop and search any Soviet ships heading to Cuba.

And would sink any that did not comply.

In response, the Soviet put its military into full combat readiness.

The US did the same, and began drawing up plans for an attack on Cuba.

Things were escalating fast,

and both superpowers were getting ready for World War 3.

Emergency communications between the two sides broke down

as Khrushchev rejected Kennedy's demands for the missiles to be removed.

And for the first time in history,

the US strategic air command moved to DEFCON 2.

DEFCON 1 means nuclear war.

The Soviets shot down a U2 spy plane over Cuba.

A Soviet nuclear submarine in the Caribbean mistakenly believed war had already broken out

and two of the senior officers gave the go-ahead to fire its nuclear torpedo.

Thankfully the third senior officer, this beautiful man,

refused to authorise the decision.

The US finalised its preparations,

and I kid you not, the day before the US were set to decide the day and time for the Cuban invasion,

Khrushchev was like,

- "Hey. You know if you just removed your missiles from Turkey, we'd remove ours from Cuba?"

- "Yeah. Yeah, that sounds good to me."

It was a bit more complicated than that, but at the last second,

the two sides finally came to an agreement.

Soviet missiles were shipped out of Cuba and the world breathed one gigantic sigh of relief.

Except for one guy, who was bloody livid.

- "Phew! Let's hope that's the biggest crisis of my presidency!"

Unfortunately for him, his presidency was to end with one.

Having nearly blown up the planet, a few changes were made.

First, the superpowers agreed to a limited Test Ban Treaty.

Secondly, the Soviets ousted Khrushchev, and replaced him with Leonid Brezhnev.

Who was a kisser.

He liked to kiss.

Both sides were deeply concerned at the prospect of nuclear war,

but still the arms race raged on throughout the 60s and 70s.

US intelligence worked out that the Soviets' nuclear arsenal was

not as powerful as they previously thought,

but in fact it was America that held the advantage.

ABMs and MIRVs were developed.

And the doctrine of MAD.

If both sides knew they would be completely destroyed by a nuclear war,

neither would risk starting one.

But even without war,

the world was already feeling the effects of nuclear weapons.

In 1966,

above the pleasant town of Palomares in Spain,

a US bomber collided with a tanker mid-air,

and four hydrogen bombs fell and landed near the town below.

- "It hasn't exploded so I'm sure everything's fine.

Wooah, boy!

Uhh, hey, I wouldn't eat that if I were you."

- "Okay."

- "What were you going to do today?"

- "Go for a swim?"

- "Yeah. I wouldn't.

Are you breathing right now?"

- "Yeah?"

- "Yeah...

I wouldn't."

It took the Americans two and a half months to find one of the bombs,

which had gone missing in the ocean.

This was the fourteenth time America had lost a nuclear bomb since 1950.

Nobody knows how many bombs the Soviet Union lost.

So sleep well tonight.

After Kennedy's assassination,

Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson took over.

And he inherited a developing crisis in the east.

Vietnam.

Back in the 50s, the Vietnamese had kicked their French colonisers out once and for all,

and the country was divided into two.

In the North, a communist regime.

And in the South, an anti-communist regime.

Both were led by very sweet-looking old men.

But don't let that deceive you.

They were both ruthless dictators,

and both dreamed of reuniting Vietnam under their own regime.

So the North established the National Liberation Front,

also known as the Vietcong,

to carry out a campaign of guerrilla warfare in the South

with Soviet support.

The US sent advisors to help train the South Vietnamese to deal with the threat,

but President Diem's brutal policies pushed more and more South Vietnamese

to support the Vietcong.

And over the next decade,

the situation escalated to a breaking point.

America feared the Domino Effect.

That is, if South Vietnam fell to communism, would Cambodia be next?

Then Laos? Thailand? Burma? India?

LBJ had to make a choice.

Between losing South Vietnam,

or sending in the troops.

And so in they went.

From 1965, America found itself in a war unlike anything it had ever fought before.

Let's Play: Spot the Vietcong Soldier!

(ticking)

(buzzer)

Did you see him?

Of course not.

That's because millions of young American men

were drafted and sent to fight a ruthless enemy

who used the thick jungle as its shield.

It was nearly impossible to tell where the enemy was,

Or worse, who it was.

And as a result,

the civilian population got caught up in the brutal crossfire.

The city of Saigon found itself under regular attack,

and America launched a bombing campaign in the North during Operation Rolling Thunder.

The Vietcong used the Ho Chi Minh Trail running through Laos and Cambodia

to supply the campaign.

It was a long and brutal war,

and I could never do it justice in this video.

But in terms of the Cold War,

Vietnam was probably the biggest of many, many global conflicts

that signalled a turning point.

Under the threat of nuclear war,

the two superpowers began working to make their relationship more constructive.

And as a result their ideological battle shifted away from the potential of direct conflict,

and more towards attempting to influence smaller proxy wars around the world.

In the Middle East, the Soviet Union provided aid against Israel during the Six-Day War,

and then again when the US backed Israel during the Yom Kippur War.

In Africa, the Angolan Civil War saw US-supported South Africans

fighting Soviet-supported Cubans.

In the conflict between Somalia and Ethiopia,

the superpowers interestingly switched sides as regimes changed.

And the US continued fighting the spread of communism in its own backyard,

funding the famous Contra groups to fight the socialist junta in Nicaragua.

These proxy wars were fierce enough to begin with,

but superpower intervention amplified the destruction,

and created alarming levels of human suffering throughout the Third World.

And in Vietnam, that human suffering was all being broadcast back home

via good old television.

Going into the late 60s,

America was a changing nation.

This became this.

This became this.

And this became this.

The new slogan that was taking route, "Make Love, Not War."

The majority of Americans did not approve of Johnson's handling of the Vietnam War.

And in 1968,

a silent majority elected Law and Order candidate Richard Nixon.

As the Vietnam War appeared to be increasingly unwinnable,

and public opinion turning increasingly sour,

Nixon made the decision to begin bringing the troops home,

and ended US involvement in Vietnam by 1973.

Two years later, the South fell.

The Cold War was now taking its toll on both superpowers.

In Russia, a huge percentage of the budget was still going to the military,

people were still hungry,

and they just didn't have access to the same lifestyle and goods

as the West.

And what did they have to show for it?

They weren't even winning the Space Race anymore.

Both sides needed to reduce spending in order to rescue their economies,

and so both welcomed with open arms an easing of hostilities.

Otherwise known as detente.

To improve relations,

Nixon became the first US President to visit Moscow in 1972.

And Brezhnev returned the favour a year later.

A number of treaties were signed,

including the 1972 SALT agreement,

that limited nuclear weapons.

Relations with China were even improving via Ping-Pong Diplomacy,

when the US table tennis team went on a tour

of the People's Republic.

However, internally, China was still pushing anti-capitalist propaganda,

which led to some mixed messages.

Nixon even visited China in 1972, and it was a barrel of laughs.

(jaunty theme music)

Everything was going great for Nixon.

Until it was uncovered that back home he was being a very naughty boy and violating Constitutional Protocol.

- "I'm announcing today my resignation as President.

And I'm passing the office to my Vice President, Gerald Ford."

- "Wow! You mean in America the people can actually remove their leader when he breaks the law?

Why not just rule by force? Where's the corruption?"

- "And my first act as President is to pardon Nixon!"

- "Ah, there it is."

After the whole fiasco, Americans decided what they really wanted

was just a nice, safe guy who wouldn't cheat on them.

So they elected Jimmy Carter.

And the two sides met in Vienna where they signed yet another Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty.

- "It's an honour, Premier Brezhnev." - "Likewise, President Carter."

(kiss)

- "Please don't do that."

But that's not to say there was no longer any tension between the two sides.

Because there was,

heaps of it.

Once again, the Soviet Union put down further attempts at reform and rebellion in the Eastern Bloc.

The Euromissile Crisis saw new and improved classes of intermediate-range missiles

being deployed in Europe.

In 1979,

the Soviets thought it would be a good idea if they had their own Vietnam

and invaded Afghanistan to prevent a US-sponsored Islamic insurgency.

And in response to these various crises,

Olympic Games were boycotted.

Conservatives were concerned that US policy had become too soft,

and in 1980, they decided they wanted a President who would be tough on communism.

So they elected Ronald Reagan.

And Reagan came in guns-blazing.

Concerned at the Soviet Union's human rights violations,

he made a speech calling them an "evil empire".

And he also wanted to renew the arms race using technological advances in computing and lasers.

He came up with the Space Defence Initiative, also known as Star Wars.

Which was basically a big, defensive anti-nuke shield around the country.

But a lot of people thought it was a pretty dumb idea.

The Soviet Union proceed the shift in rhetoric,

as the USA getting ready for war.

And they were feeling especially threatened as their relationship with their communist ally, China

had broken down.

Relations took a big hit in 1983,

when the Soviets shot down a Korean airliner that had strayed into their airspace.

And it looked like the world was going right back to mid-20th-century Cold War tension.

But then Brezhnev got really old and died,

and was replaced by this guy who was really old and died,

and was replaced by this guy who was really old and died,

and he was replaced by Mikhail Gorbachev.

Coming into office in 1985, he was the real game-changer.

His philosophy differed a lot from previous Soviet leaders.

He felt that the reason the Soviet system and economy was struggling

was that it didn't allow the Soviet people to find satisfaction in their work.

Because they weren't allowed to speak freely, and lived in fear.

Gorbachev wanted the Soviet people to be happy.

But unlike previous Soviet leaders,

he actually made the change happen.

Within the first couple of years he began the political movement for more openness and transparency.

And the restructure of the Soviet political and economic systems.

And change very quickly took effect.

People could criticise the government, they could enjoy Western pop culture,

the media interviewed Margaret Thatcher,

but most importantly the Soviet people could now enjoy Pizza Hut.

All hail to Gorbachev!

He also knew that the arms race needed to end in order to rescue the Soviet economy,

and a positive relationship with the West must be established.

Constructive dialogue reopened and resulted in the INF Treaty,

which saw all intermediate-range missiles eliminated.

Which was huge.

Reagan's tone towards the Soviet Union began to soften,

and things were looking up.

But what would these reforms mean for the Eastern Bloc?

For decades, the Soviets had been brutally repressing any attempt at change.

Now would they be allowed?

And that was the exact question on Hungary's lips,

when the Prime Minister visited Moscow.

Gorbachev's response,

he didn't necessarily agree with the reforms,

but he wouldn't stop them either.

He was prepared to let the Eastern Bloc

choose its own future.

This was massive.

And the Hungarian leaders began planning free, multi-party elections.

Poland followed suit, and also held elections in June.

The anti-Soviet party, Solidarity, won 99 out of 100 seats in the Senate.

But not just that. In Hungary the barbed-wire border between East and West was removed.

The Iron Curtain was unravelling.

But not all Eastern Bloc leaders were happy.

Notably, East Germany was still ruled by a hardline Stalinist,

Eric Honecker.

And many East Germans were still eager to get out.

They had been trapped by the Berlin Wall, but now they were doing the math.

If they could travel to Hungary, and Hungary's border with the West was loosening,

could they now make it to the West?

That summer, East Germans decided Hungary was the latest top holiday destination.

They travelled there in droves, and using various methods,

tens of thousands crossed the border into Austria and the West.

Honecker was furious, and blocked travel to Hungary.

But that civil liberties train had started rolling and it wasn't stopping.

Thousands more flocked to the West German embassy in Prague,

where they stormed the fence around the embassy gardens,

and a temporary refugee camp was set up.

In September, deals were struck to allow the refugees to travel West via train.

Back in East Germany, the people were running on a civil liberties high,

and they wanted their next hit.

Dissent was growing,

over time, demonstrations turned to mass protests,

with plain-clothed secret police officers doing their best to put down the dissent,

but it had grown well out of their control.

And worse, the biggest demonstration was yet to come.

- "We're gonna put all of this down by force.

Right guys?

Guys?"

Unfortunately, everyone had realised what he had not.

This was bigger than them.

And the entire East German Politburo

voted him out of power.

On November 4th, over half a million East Germans took to the streets of East Berlin,

for many, there was still one big target left in their sights.

That damn wall.

The pressure on the East German government was too great,

and on November 9th,

they made a bit of a chaotic announcement that the travel ban between East and West was being lifted.

The change wasn't meant to take effect until the next day.

And crossing guards still had orders to shoot on sight any who tried to cross.

But that night, huge crowds gathered at the crossing points,

and the guards were overwhelmed.

In an astronomically historic moment,

after decades of family separation and travel restriction,

the people were allowed to pass through.

East and West Berliners couldn't believe it,

and celebrated together throughout the night.

Some even climbed the wall,

and began to topple it.

The Iron Curtain had fallen.

And a year later, Germany would be reunited.

Elections in Bulgaria, a peaceful revolution in Czechoslovakia,

and a violent one in Romania,

brought to an end communist authority in the Eastern Bloc.

America decided it would be best if it just stayed away and let the change happen,

as the anti-communist movement continued all the way back to Moscow.

Gorbachev had given the people the freedom to demonstrate.

Now, they demonstrated for an end to the communist single-party rule.

And Gorbachev had to give in.

For the first time in history,

elections were held in which candidates not officially endorsed by the party were allowed to run.

Ambitious rival of Gorbachev,

Boris Yeltsin led a growing democratic movement.

Now things here get quite confusing.

The dissolution of the Soviet Union is a complicated topic.

So believe me, this is OverSimplified.

But it went a little bit like this.

The Soviet Union was made up of a number of smaller Soviet republics,

the largest of which was Russia.

Yeltsin got himself elected the President of Russia,

and began a struggle for sovereignty against Gorbachev and the Soviet Union.

Communist hardliners were horrified at what Gorbachev was allowing,

so they briefly kidnapped him,

and tried to set up their own emergency government.

But Yeltsin and his supporters all gathered around the White House in Moscow and were like,

- "No. We have a tank."

So the hardliners had to concede, and released Gorbachev.

- "Wow. Thanks Boris, that was a close one."

- "No problem. And thanks to you for all the great freedom you've given us."

- "Anytime, pal!"

- "And just to inform you.

I've used that freedom you've given us to go behind your back and make a deal with

Ukraine and Belarus to dissolve the Soviet Union

and set up the Russian Federation.

In other words,

You're no longer in charge, I am."

- "Dude.

So uncool."

And so decades of tension and the everlasting threat of nuclear war finally came to an end,

as democratic governments were established in many of the old Soviet republics.

And the world got along together,

forever after.

Right guys?

(dramatic music)

- "Hey, this modern art thing is growing on me.

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