Narrator: IN THE 1800s,
THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE WAS RULED BY A CZAR, OR KING.
CZARS HAD CONTROLLED RUSSIA
FOR SEVERAL HUNDRED YEARS.
CZARIST RUSSIA HAD A RIGID SOCIAL STRUCTURE.
A FEW PRIVILEGED PEOPLE LIVED LIVES OF LUXURY,
BUT THE MAJORITY STRUGGLED JUST TO GET BY.
A THIRD OF ALL RUSSIANS WERE SERFS,
PEASANTS FORCED TO WORK THE LAND
FOR MASTERS WHO CONTROLLED THEIR LIVES.
LIFE IN RUSSIA HAD BEEN THIS WAY FOR CENTURIES.
BUT IN THE 1800s,
PEOPLE WERE GROWING INCREASINGLY DISSATISFIED.
MOST CZARS RULED AS FIRM AUTOCRATS.
THEY IMPOSED THEIR WILL ON THEIR SUBJECTS
AND SHOWED LITTLE CONCERN FOR PEOPLE'S NEEDS.
BUT SOMETIMES THE CZARS HAD TO MAKE CHANGES.
IN 1861, UNDER PRESSURE FROM ALL SIDES,
CZAR ALEXANDER II FREED THE SERFS.
BUT THE ACTION BACKFIRED.
NO LONGER FORCED TO WORK THE LAND,
MANY FORMER SERFS MOVED TO THE CITY
TO WORK IN FACTORIES.
INSTEAD OF FINDING PROSPERITY,
THEY FOUND OVERCROWDING, POVERTY, AND DISEASE.
THE CZAR'S REFORM HADN'T MADE THE PEOPLE HAPPIER.
IT MADE THEM MORE DISCONTENT.
WHEN ALEXANDER'S SON AND GRANDSON
SUCCEEDED TO THE THRONE,
THEY ABANDONED HIS REFORMS
AND RETURNED TO THE POLICY OF HARSH REPRESSION.
THE CZARS BECAME INCREASINGLY UNPOPULAR,
AND OPPOSITION TO THE CZARIST REGIME
CONTINUED TO GROW.
THEN IN 1904,
WAR BROKE OUT BETWEEN RUSSIA AND JAPAN.
BOTH NATIONS WANTED TO GAIN CONTROL OF MANCHURIA
AND KOREA IN EAST ASIA.
RUSSIA BELIEVED IT COULD EASILY DEFEAT THE JAPANESE.
AT THE SAME TIME,
THE RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT SAW THE WAR
AS AN OPPORTUNITY TO RALLY SUPPORT AROUND THE CZAR
AND DISTRACT RUSSIANS FROM THEIR DISSATISFACTION
WITH THINGS AT HOME.
BUT THE RUSSIANS GREATLY UNDERESTIMATED
JAPAN'S MILITARY STRENGTH.
DURING THE RUSSO-JAPANESE WAR,
THE RUSSIANS SUFFERED DEFEAT AFTER DEFEAT.
IN 1905, JAPAN DESTROYED THE ENTIRE RUSSIAN BALTIC FLEET.
MANY PEOPLE BLAMED THE CZAR, NICHOLAS II,
FOR THE HUMILIATING LOSSES.
NEWSPAPERS AND REVOLUTIONARY LEAFLETS
SPREAD THE NEWS OF THE MILITARY DISASTERS
AND FANNED PENT-UP DISCONTENT
CREATED BY YEARS OF OPPRESSION.
THE WORKERS CALLED A GENERAL STRIKE,
PROTESTERS FLOODED THE STREETS,
AND LIBERALS DEMANDED A CONSTITUTION.
AMID THE TURMOIL, ON JANUARY 22, 1905,
A YOUNG PRIEST LED A LARGE GROUP OF WORKERS
IN A PEACEFUL MARCH TO THE WINTER PALACE.
CARRYING RELIGIOUS ICONS,
THEY PLANNED TO PRESENT A PETITION TO THE CZAR.
BUT NICHOLAS II CALLED IN HIS TROOPS.
CZARIST SOLDIERS OPENED FIRE ON THE CROWD,
KILLING MORE THAN A HUNDRED INNOCENT PEOPLE
AND WOUNDING SEVERAL HUNDRED MORE.
THIS EVENT, KNOWN AS "BLOODY SUNDAY,"
SPARKED THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION OF 1905.
FOR MONTHS, RUSSIA WAS TORN BY STRIKES, RIOTS,
MUTINIES, AND POLITICAL ASSASSINATIONS.
NICHOLAS FEARED THAT THE VIOLENCE
WOULD TOPPLE HIS EMPIRE.
TOWARD THE END OF 1905,
HE ISSUED THE OCTOBER MANIFESTO.
IN THIS DOCUMENT, HE PROMISED BASIC CIVIL LIBERTIES.
HE ALSO ANNOUNCED THE FORMATION
OF A NATIONAL LEGISLATURE, OR DUMA,
THAT WOULD HAVE TO APPROVE ALL NEW LAWS.
THE FIRST DUMA MET THE FOLLOWING YEAR.
IT DID NOT TAKE LONG FOR DELEGATES TO LEARN
THAT DESPITE PROMISED REFORMS,
NICHOLAS II WAS STILL IN CHARGE.
AFTER 10 WEEKS, NICHOLAS SIMPLY DISSOLVED THE DUMA
BECAUSE THE MAJORITY OF THOSE ELECTED HAD OPPOSED HIM.
NICHOLAS HAD SURVIVED THE REVOLUTION OF 1905,
BUT THE PEOPLE'S ANGER DIDN'T DISAPPEAR.
AND IN JUST A FEW SHORT YEARS,
THE PEOPLE WOULD RISE AGAIN,
AND THE CZAR'S REGIME AND HIS EMPIRE
WOULD COME CRASHING DOWN.
IN THE EARLIEST YEARS OF THE 1900s,
WESTERN EUROPEANS WERE ACCUSTOMED TO PEACE.
NO MAJOR WAR HAD BEEN FOUGHT ON THE CONTINENT
FOR NEARLY HALF A CENTURY.
SPURRED BY INDUSTRIAL GROWTH,
WESTERN EUROPE'S ECONOMIES PROSPERED.
BUT ECONOMIC RIVALRY, IMPERIAL COMPETITION,
AND AGGRESSIVE NATIONALISM AND MILITARISM
WERE SPREADING ACROSS THE CONTINENT.
THE GREAT POWERS EXPANDED THEIR ARMIES AND NAVIES
AND BEGAN AN ARMS RACE.
MANY HOPED THE BUILDUP OF ARMS
WOULD ACT AS A DETERRENT TO WAR.
BUT THE INCREASING EMPHASIS ON THE MILITARY
ONLY AGGRAVATED THE MISTRUST
THAT COUNTRIES FELT TOWARD ONE ANOTHER.
FEAR OF WAR LED COUNTRIES TO SIGN TREATIES
PLEDGING TO SUPPORT ONE ANOTHER
IF THEY WERE ATTACKED.
GRADUALLY TWO POWERFUL ALLIANCES EMERGED --
THE TRIPLE ALLIANCE OF GERMANY, ITALY, AND AUSTRIA-HUNGARY,
AND THE RIVAL TRIPLE ENTENTE OF FRANCE, RUSSIA, AND BRITAIN.
THE ALLIANCE SYSTEM
FURTHER INCREASED INTERNATIONAL TENSIONS.
THESE TENSIONS FINALLY ERUPTED
ON JUNE 28, 1914,
WHEN A SERBIAN NATIONALIST ASSASSINATED
ARCHDUKE FRANCIS FERDINAND OF AUSTRIA-HUNGARY.
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY DECLARED WAR ON SERBIA.
THE ALLIANCE SYSTEM THEN SET OFF A CHAIN REACTION,
AS ONE BY ONE, THE MAJOR POWERS DECLARED WAR ON EACH OTHER.
NEWSPAPERS SOON BEGAN CALLING THE CONFLICT THE "GREAT WAR"
BECAUSE IT ENGULFED MOST OF EUROPE
AND INVOLVED MASSIVE NUMBERS OF TROOPS.
THE FRENCH MOBILIZED ALMOST 8.5 MILLION MEN,
THE BRITISH, NEARLY 9 MILLION,
THE RUSSIANS, 12 MILLION,
AND THE GERMANS, 11 MILLION.
THE FIGHTING LASTED FOR FOUR LONG YEARS.
WHEN THE WAR STARTED,
EUROPEANS WERE FULL OF ENTHUSIASM AND PATRIOTISM.
YOUNG MEN RUSHED TO ENLIST AS CROWDS CHEERED THEM ON.
BUT THE ENTHUSIASM WAS SHORT-LIVED.
THIS WAS A NEW KIND OF WAR --
FAR DEADLIER THAN ANY FOUGHT BEFORE.
ON THE WESTERN FRONT,
THE WARRING ARMIES DUG A VAST SYSTEM OF TRENCHES,
STRETCHING FROM SWITZERLAND TO THE ENGLISH CHANNEL.
SOLDIERS LIVED A HARSH EXISTENCE --
EATING, SLEEPING, AND FIGHTING IN THE TRENCHES.
THOUSANDS DIED SEIZING AND DEFENDING
THE SMALLEST BITS OF TERRITORY.
NEW TECHNOLOGY MADE WORLD WAR I
MORE DEVASTATING THAN ANY PREVIOUS CONFLICT.
MACHINE GUNS COULD FIRE HUNDREDS OF BULLETS A MINUTE.
ARTILLERY, HOWITZERS, AND MORTARS
COULD SHELL ENEMY POSITIONS FROM MILES AWAY.
FACTORIES PRODUCED DEADLY MILITARY HARDWARE,
SUCH AS FIGHTER PLANES,
ARMORED TANKS, AND SUBMARINES.
AND POISON GAS WAS NOW PART OF THE SOLDIERS' ARSENAL.
THIS NEW CHEMICAL WEAPON CAUSED AGONIZING BURNS AND BLISTERS
AND BLINDED OR CHOKED ITS VICTIMS.
SOLDIERS WERE EVENTUALLY GIVEN GAS MASKS,
WHICH HELPED TO REDUCE THE EFFECTS OF BEING GASSED --
AN EVER-PRESENT HAZARD OF THE WAR.
WORLD WAR I FINALLY ENDED IN 1918.
THE HUMAN AND MATéRIEL COSTS OF THE CONFLICT
WERE STAGGERING.
IT IS ESTIMATED THAT 10 MILLION PEOPLE DIED
AND 20 MILLION WERE WOUNDED.
AFTER THE FIGHTING WAS OVER,
FAMINE AND DISEASE ADDED TO THE DEATH TOLL.
BUT WORLD WAR I's ENDURING IMPACT
WAS EVEN MORE FAR-REACHING.
THE TREATIES THAT ENDED THE WAR
PLANTED THE SEEDS OF CONFLICTS YET TO COME.
AND THE NEW WEAPONS THAT EMERGED DURING THE TERRIBLE STRUGGLE
FOREVER CHANGED THE FACE OF WAR.
IN 1913, CZAR NICHOLAS II AND HIS WIFE, ALEXANDRA,
CELEBRATED THE 300th ANNIVERSARY OF THE ROMANOV DYNASTY.
FOR THREE LONG CENTURIES,
CZARS FROM THE ROMANOV FAMILY HAD RULED RUSSIA.
REBELLIONS AGAINST THE INJUSTICES OF THE CZARIST REGIME
BROKE OUT NOW AND THEN,
BUT THEY HAD ALWAYS BEEN CRUSHED.
AFTER THE FAILURE OF THE REVOLUTION OF 1905,
LIFE IN RUSSIA SEEMED TO RETURN TO NORMAL.
BUT AN INTERNATIONAL CRISIS
WAS ABOUT TO FAN THE FLAMES OF DISCONTENT ONCE AGAIN.
WHEN WORLD WAR I ERUPTED,
CZAR NICHOLAS SENT HIS ARMIES INTO BATTLE AGAINST GERMANY.
RUSSIA HAD THE SECOND-LARGEST ARMY IN EUROPE,
BUT IT WAS ONE OF THE LEAST-INDUSTRIALIZED
COUNTRIES IN THE WAR.
ITS MILITARY RELIED ON SHEER NUMBERS
AGAINST ITS MORE-ADVANCED GERMAN ENEMY.
AS A RESULT, RUSSIAN CASUALTIES MOUNTED QUICKLY.
RUMORS OF MILITARY INCOMPETENCE SPREAD
AND SOON TURNED THE RUSSIAN PEOPLE AGAINST THE WAR.
TO HELP BOLSTER MORALE,
NICHOLAS DECIDED TO GO TO THE FRONT LINES
AND TAKE CONTROL OF THE ARMY HIMSELF.
WHILE HE WAS AWAY,
CZARINA ALEXANDRA WAS LEFT IN CHARGE OF THE COUNTRY.
BUT MANY DIDN'T TRUST ALEXANDRA
BECAUSE SHE HAD BEEN A GERMAN PRINCESS
BEFORE MARRYING NICHOLAS.
THIS LED TO A STRING OF RESIGNATIONS
AMONG THE CZAR'S MINISTERS.
THE CZARINA PUT HER TRUST IN A MAN
WHOSE NAME WOULD COME TO HAUNT THE CZAR -- GRIGORY RASPUTIN.
RASPUTIN WAS A SEMILITERATE PEASANT
AND A SELF-PROFESSED HOLY MAN.
HE WAS WELL-KNOWN FOR HIS RELIGIOUS FERVOR
AND EARTHLY INDULGENCES.
BUT RASPUTIN HAD WON ALEXANDRA OVER
WITH HIS CHARISMA AND HIS ABILITY TO HELP HER SON.
ALEXIS, THE CZAR'S ONLY SON,
HAD HEMOPHILIA, A GENETIC BLOOD DISORDER.
RASPUTIN SEEMED TO BE THE ONLY PERSON
WHO COULD ALLEVIATE THE BOY'S SUFFERING.
RASPUTIN GAINED A STRONG INFLUENCE OVER THE ROYAL FAMILY.
ALEXANDRA, WHO CAME TO SEE RASPUTIN
AS IMPORTANT TO THE SAFETY OF HER SON,
WAS COMPLETELY CAPTIVATED BY HIM.
WHEN THE CZAR WENT TO THE FRONT LINES
TO SUPERVISE THE TROOPS,
RASPUTIN TRANSFORMED HIS INFLUENCE
OVER ALEXIS AND ALEXANDRA
INTO POLITICAL POWER.
OFFICIALS WHO CRITICIZED HIS GROWING POWER
WERE REMOVED FROM THEIR POSTS.
THE CZARINA REPLACED THEM WITH RASPUTIN'S FRIENDS
OR OTHERS WHOM HE COULD CONTROL.
RASPUTIN'S BEHAVIOR
AND SCANDALS INVOLVING THE OFFICIALS HE RECOMMENDED
UNDERMINED THE CZAR'S AUTHORITY.
MAKING MATTERS WORSE, BACK ON THE FRONT LINES,
NICHOLAS WAS HAVING NO BETTER LUCK
THAN THE GENERALS HE HAD REPLACED.
THE CZAR'S POPULARITY PLUMMETED
AS RUSSIAN CASUALTIES MOUNTED.
FOOD BECAME SCARCE,
AND INFLATION INCREASED THE SUFFERING ON THE HOME FRONT.
SEEING THAT THE EMPIRE WAS IN TROUBLE AGAIN,
A GROUP OF WEALTHY RUSSIAN NOBLES IN ST. PETERSBURG,
INCLUDING THE CZAR'S COUSIN,
DECIDED THAT THE CZAR'S AUTHORITY MUST BE RETURNED.
GETTING RID OF RASPUTIN WAS THE FIRST STEP.
[ SPEAKING RUSSIAN ]
IN DECEMBER 1916, THEY PLOTTED TO ASSASSINATE RASPUTIN
AND END THE SHAME HE WAS HEAPING ON THE MONARCHY.
WHEN A GENEROUS PORTION OF POISON FAILED TO KILL HIM,
RASPUTIN WAS SHOT...
[ GUNSHOT ]
...AND HIS BODY WAS THROWN INTO THE FROZEN NEVA RIVER.
BUT IT WAS TOO LATE.
RASPUTIN'S INCOMPETENT POLITICAL APPOINTEES
HAD HELPED CONVINCE THE RUSSIAN PEOPLE
THAT THE CZAR'S GOVERNMENT WAS HOPELESS.
AND AS THE CZAR'S ONGOING WAR WITH GERMANY
MADE RUSSIA'S FAILURES MOUNT AND ITS FOOD DWINDLE,
THE GOVERNMENT WAS ROCKED TO ITS VERY FOUNDATIONS.
FINALLY, NICHOLAS WAS FORCED TO ABDICATE IN 1917.
HE BECAME A PRISONER --
FIRST IN HIS OWN PALACE, THEN IN SIBERIA.
RUSSIA ERUPTED INTO REVOLUTION AND CIVIL WAR.
REVOLUTIONARY BOLSHEVIKS SEIZED POWER
AND BATTLED AGAINST THE FORCES STILL LOYAL TO THE CZAR.
THE BOLSHEVIKS FEARED
THAT THE CZAR MIGHT ONE DAY RETURN TO POWER.
SO ON THE NIGHT OF JULY 16, 1918,
THEY EXECUTED THE CZAR AND HIS FAMILY.
[ GUNFIRE ]
BY LATE 1920, THE FIGHTING WAS OVER.
VLADIMIR LENIN AND HIS BOLSHEVIKS,
NOW KNOWN AS "COMMUNISTS,"
WERE BUSY TURNING THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE
INTO THE SOVIET UNION.
AND THE ROMANOV DYNASTY
THAT HAD RULED RUSSIA FOR MORE THAN 300 YEARS
WAS GONE.
TODAY ALL SOUTH AFRICAN CITIZENS
LIVE IN A DEMOCRATIC SOCIETY
AND HAVE EQUAL RIGHTS.
HOWEVER, FOR MOST OF THE 20th CENTURY,
A POLITICAL SYSTEM THAT CAME TO BE KNOWN AS "APARTHEID"
ASSIGNED PRIVILEGES AND ENFORCED LAWS BASED ON RACE,
KEEPING WHITE SOUTH AFRICANS
SEPARATE FROM NONWHITE SOUTH AFRICANS.
BLACK SOUTH AFRICANS HAVE LIVED WITH PEOPLE OF EUROPEAN DECENT
SINCE DUTCH SETTLERS
BEGAN MOVING INTO THE COUNTRY IN THE 1600s.
BUT WHITE SOUTH AFRICANS
WANTED TO CONTROL THE COUNTRY.
BEGINNING IN THE EARLY 1900s,
THE GOVERNMENT PASSED LAWS THAT ESTABLISHED
THE LEGAL SEGREGATION OF RACIAL GROUPS
KNOWN AS "APARTHEID."
APARTHEID LAWS PROVIDED WHITE SOUTH AFRICANS
WITH HIGHER WAGES FOR THE SAME JOBS.
THESE LAWS ALSO EVICTED
BLACK SOUTH AFRICANS FROM THEIR LAND
AND MADE IT ILLEGAL FOR BLACK SOUTH AFRICANS
TO TRAVEL ANYWHERE WITHOUT PASSES.
OTHER LAWS PREVENTED BLACK SOUTH AFRICANS
FROM VOTING IN ELECTIONS
AND FORCED THEM TO LIVE ON CROWDED RESERVES
CALLED "BANTUSTANS,"
WHICH WERE LOCATED IN ARID, INFERTILE AREAS.
WITHOUT THE ABILITY TO FARM SUCCESSFULLY,
BLACK SOUTH AFRICANS
BECAME DEPENDENT ON WHITE SOUTH AFRICANS
IN ORDER TO PROVIDE FOR THEMSELVES AND THEIR FAMILIES.
MANY HAD TO GIVE UP FARMING
AND WORK AS SERVANTS OR LABORERS.
IN 1912, BLACK SOUTH AFRICAN NATIONALISTS
FOUNDED THE POLITICAL ORGANIZATION CALLED
THE "AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS"
TO FIGHT FOR JUSTICE AND EQUALITY
FROM THE WHITE MINORITY GOVERNMENT.
A.N.C. MEMBERS INCLUDED A SMALL NUMBER OF WHITE SOUTH AFRICANS
WHO WERE SYMPATHETIC TO THE ORGANIZATION'S GOALS.
BUT THEIR EFFORTS MADE THE GOVERNMENT MORE RESTRICTIVE.
IN THE 1940s, THE WHITE MINORITY GOVERNMENT
CRACKED DOWN EVEN MORE
AND EXTENDED THE SYSTEM OF APARTHEID.
MEMBERS OF THE AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS
BELIEVED NONVIOLENCE AND LEGAL MEANS
WERE THE WAY TO FIGHT APARTHEID.
THEY PROTESTED UNJUST LAWS WITH MARCHES, BOYCOTTS,
AND CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE,
THE REFUSAL TO OBEY A LAW.
BUT SOUTH AFRICA'S WHITE MINORITY GOVERNMENT
FOUGHT TO PRESERVE APARTHEID
THROUGH ARRESTS, THREATS, AND VIOLENCE.
MANY WHITE SOUTH AFRICANS
WERE NOT SENSITIVE TO THE PROTESTS
RAISED BY BLACK SOUTH AFRICANS ABOUT APARTHEID.
THEY LIVED IN GOOD HOMES, HAD WELL-PAYING JOBS,
AND WERE FREE TO TRAVEL WHEREVER THEY LIKED.
BUT FOR BLACK SOUTH AFRICANS,
LIFE ON THE RESERVES WAS A CONSTANT STRUGGLE.
THEY HELD LOW-PAYING JOBS AND COULD NOT ALWAYS FIND
AFFORDABLE HOUSING OR HEALTHCARE.
OVERCROWDING MADE FOOD AND CLEAN WATER SCARCE.
ELECTRICITY WAS RARE OUTSIDE OF THE CITIES AND SUBURBS
WHERE WHITE SOUTH AFRICANS LIVED.
MANY BLACK SOUTH AFRICANS
WERE ANGRY WITH THEIR TREATMENT BY THE GOVERNMENT.
THEY JOINED THE AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS
AND PROTESTED FOR THE END OF APARTHEID AND FOR EQUAL RIGHTS.
THEY TRIED TO END APARTHEID
BY WORKING TO GET THE LAWS CHANGED.
IN RESPONSE, THE GOVERNMENT CRACKED DOWN
ON BOTH WHITE AND BLACK PEOPLE
WHO OPPOSED APARTHEID.
MANY WHITE SOUTH AFRICANS
BEGAN TO VIEW BLACK SOUTH AFRICANS
AS DANGEROUS TERRORISTS
WHO WANTED TO DESTROY BOTH THEM AND THE GOVERNMENT.
BUT BLACK SOUTH AFRICANS
SAID THEY WERE ONLY TRYING TO GAIN THEIR FREEDOM
FROM AN OPPRESSIVE POLITICAL SYSTEM.
BLACK SOUTH AFRICANS
SUSPECTED OF BEING MEMBERS OF THE AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS
WERE OFTEN ARRESTED AND SENT TO JAIL.
SOME WERE MURDERED BY SOUTH AFRICAN POLICE.
THE BLACK SOUTH AFRICAN STRUGGLE FOR FREEDOM
NOW INCLUDED FIGHTING FOR IMPRISONED MEMBERS
OF THE AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS,
MANY OF WHOM WERE ABUSED AND TORTURED IN JAIL.
DESPITE MANY OF ITS MEMBERS BEING KILLED OR IMPRISONED,
THE AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS
CONTINUED TO EXIST IN SOUTH AFRICA,
INSPIRING OTHERS TO FIGHT FOR AN END TO APARTHEID.
IN THE LATE 1900s,
REFORMERS LIKE ARCHBISHOP DESMOND TUTU
WOULD USE THE AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS' NONVIOLENT TACTICS
TO SUCCESSFULLY BRING ABOUT CHANGE.
BISHOP TUTU WOULD HELP EXPOSE
THE HORRORS OF APARTHEID TO THE WORLD.
HE WOULD CALL FOR THE END OF APARTHEID,
AN END TO THE GOVERNMENT BAN
AGAINST THE AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS,
AND THE RELEASE OF ALL POLITICAL PRISONERS.
THE STRUGGLE THAT THE AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS BEGAN IN 1912
WOULD NOT END UNTIL THE SOUTH AFRICAN GOVERNMENT
FINALLY REJECTED APARTHEID IN 1989.
THROUGHOUT THE 1900s, THE AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS
WAS A LEADING FORCE FORCE FOR CIVIL RIGHTS IN SOUTH AFRICA.
MANY COURAGEOUS LEADERS, SUCH AS NELSON MANDELA,
WORKED TO END APARTHEID,
OFTEN AT THE COST OF THEIR FREEDOM
AND THEIR LIVES.
THEIR LEGACY LIVES ON
IN THE AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS TODAY.
LET US FORGET THE PAST.
LET US NOW WORK TOGETHER
TO MAKE THIS COUNTRY A GREAT COUNTRY.
[ SLOW BLUEGRASS MUSIC PLAYS ]
Narrator: IN THE 1920s,
THE UNITED STATES WAS ONE OF THE RICHEST
AND MOST POWERFUL COUNTRIES IN THE WORLD.
BUT THE STOCK MARKET CRASH OF 1929
AND THE GREAT DEPRESSION THAT FOLLOWED
BROUGHT THE GOOD TIMES TO AN END.
12 MILLION AMERICANS LOST THEIR JOBS
AT A TIME WHEN THERE WAS NO WELFARE,
NO UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE, AND NO SOCIAL SECURITY.
FOR SOME, SOUP KITCHENS AND BREADLINES
PROVIDED THE ONLY RELIEF.
TIMES WERE HARD ENOUGH
FOR PEOPLE IN LARGE CITIES ACROSS THE NATION,
BUT AMERICAN FARMERS AND THEIR FAMILIES
SUFFERED ESPECIALLY SEVERE HARDSHIPS.
JOHN STEINBECK'S NOVEL "THE GRAPES OF WRATH"
IS A RECORD OF THE FARMER'S STRUGGLE
TO MAKE A LIVING DURING THE DEPRESSION.
THE NOVEL TELLS THE STORY OF THE JOADS,
A FAMILY OF FARMERS
WHO WERE FORCED OUT OF OKLAHOMA BY A DROUGHT
DURING THE DEPRESSION.
THEIR STORY WAS NOT UNUSUAL.
MILLIONS OF AMERICAN FARMERS,
ESPECIALLY THOSE LIVING IN THE GREAT PLAINS,
EXPERIENCED THE SAME HARDSHIPS.
Guthrie: PEOPLE WERE JUST HAVING TO LEAVE EVERYTHING.
THEY JUST LEFT THEIR BELONGINGS
AND TOOK WHAT THEY COULD CARRY
AND WENT TO CALIFORNIA.
Narrator: LIKE THE JOADS,
FARMING FAMILIES FROM THE MIDWEST
THOUGHT THEY COULD FIND WORK PICKING FRUIT
IN CALIFORNIA'S VAST ORCHARDS.
BUT CALIFORNIA WAS NOT EVERYTHING
THEY HAD HOPED IT WOULD BE.
THERE WERE LOTS OF PEOPLE HERE WHO WERE LOOKING FOR WORK.
THERE WERE A LOT OF PEOPLE WHO WERE LIVING MARGINALLY.
Narrator: HUGE CORPORATE GROWERS HAD TAKEN OVER THE FARMS.
THEY HELD ENORMOUS POWER,
AND THEY HAD MORE WORKERS THAN THEY COULD USE.
JOBS IN THE LARGE FARMS WERE HARD TO FIND.
BARBED-WIRE FENCES WERE BUILT
TO KEEP THE MIGRANTS
FROM GOING OUTSIDE OF SPECIAL SETTLEMENT AREAS
AND INTO THE SURROUNDING COMMUNITY.
Rawls: THE GREAT LANDOWNERS FEARED
THAT THIS NEW GROUP OF MIGRANTS COMING TO CALIFORNIA
WERE GOING TO BE MORE EASILY ORGANIZED
INTO A FIGHTING FORCE.
"THEY'RE WHITE AMERICANS.
"THEY'RE GOING TO BE DEMANDING
"THE SO-CALLED AMERICAN STANDARD OF LIVING IN CALIFORNIA.
WE'RE GONNA HAVE TROUBLE FROM THEM."
Narrator: THE MIGRANTS WERE SICK AND STARVING.
NEVERTHELESS, AGRICULTURAL BUSINESSES THROUGHOUT CALIFORNIA
WERE DISCARDING PRODUCE
SO THAT WHAT REMAINED COULD BE SOLD FOR A HIGHER PRICE.
JOHN STEINBECK'S NOVEL "THE GRAPES OF WRATH"
EXPOSED THE HORRIBLE LIVING AND WORKING CONDITIONS
FORCED ON THE MIGRANT FARMERS.
IT ALSO MADE HIM A LOT OF ENEMIES.
WEALTHY FARMERS, POLITICIANS,
AND EVEN FBI DIRECTOR J. EDGAR HOOVER
ACCUSED STEINBECK OF LYING, INCITING PEOPLE TO RIOT,
AND OF BEING A COMMUNIST.
BUT THE AUTHOR AND HIS BOOK GOT SOME POWERFUL HELP
FROM FIRST LADY ELEANOR ROOSEVELT.
Man: WHEN MRS. ROOSEVELT, WHO BASICALLY CAME OUT TO SEE
THE CONDITIONS OF THE MIGRANT WORKERS --
WHEN SHE MENTIONED HIS NAME AND HIS BOOK,
IT COMPLETELY CHANGED THE CREDENTIALS
OF THAT PARTICULAR PIECE OF MATERIAL,
WHICH UP UNTIL THEN, PEOPLE WERE SAYING,
WAS EITHER AN OUTRIGHT LIE.
"IT WASN'T HAPPENING. HE WAS DISTORTING THE FACTS."
Narrator: IN 1933,
PRESIDENT FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT
CREATED AN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL PROGRAM
TO FIGHT THE GREAT DEPRESSION CALLED THE "NEW DEAL."
THE GOVERNMENT SET UP A SOCIAL SECURITY SYSTEM,
BEGAN GIVING FINANCIAL AID TO FARMERS,
AND PUT PEOPLE TO WORK ON CIVIL PROJECTS.
FOR FARMERS LIKE THE JOADS,
THE NEW DEAL DIDN'T BRING
AN IMMEDIATE END TO THE GREAT DEPRESSION,
BUT IT DID GIVE MILLIONS OF PEOPLE
THE HELP THAT THEY NEEDED TO SURVIVE
AND THE PROMISE OF A BETTER FUTURE.
ONE OF THE MOST DECISIVE BATTLES OF WORLD WAR II --
IN FACT, OF ALL TIME --
BEGAN ON THE BEACHES AT NORMANDY IN FRANCE.
ON JUNE 6, 1944,
MORE THAN 150,000 AMERICAN, BRITISH, AND CANADIAN SOLDIERS
CAME ASHORE TO LIBERATE FRANCE
AND DEFEAT NAZI GERMANY.
[ GUNFIRE ]
THE SUPREME ALLIED COMMANDER, GENERAL DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER,
KNEW THAT A CAREFULLY PLANNED STRIKE
WAS THE ONLY WAY THAT THEY COULD DEFEAT GERMAN SOLDIERS
STATIONED ON THE SHORES OF FRANCE.
EISENHOWER, ALONG WITH HIS GENERALS,
CREATED A BRILLIANT PLAN OF ATTACK.
ALLIED PLANES WOULD DROP PARATROOPERS BEHIND ENEMY LINES.
AT THE SAME TIME, THOUSANDS OF SHIPS FILLED WITH ALLIED TROOPS
WOULD CROSS THE ENGLISH CHANNEL.
THE TROOPS WOULD STORM THE BEACHES,
AND THE NAZIS WOULD HAVE TO RETREAT
BEFORE A MASSIVE INVASION FORCE.
THE GERMANS HAD A LARGE NUMBER OF TROOPS IN NORTHERN FRANCE,
BUT BY 1944,
MANY UNITS CONSISTED OF INEXPERIENCED SOLDIERS,
LED BY A FEW OLDER, SEASONED OFFICERS.
[ GUNSHOTS ]
THE INVASION STARTED WITH BOMBINGS FROM THE SKY
A DAY BEFORE D-DAY, ON THE 5th OF JUNE.
FLEETS OF ALLIED BOMBERS TOOK OFF
TO DELIVER THOUSANDS OF TONS OF BOMBS.
SOME BOMBS WERE DROPPED AWAY FROM THE INVASION ZONE
TO MISLEAD GERMAN FORCES.
OTHER BOMBS WERE USED TO DESTROY GERMAN RAILWAYS,
AIRFIELDS, MILITARY BASES,
AND COASTAL ARTILLERY BATTERIES.
THE GERMANS WERE NOT EXPECTING ALLIED PLANES
TO DROP PARATROOPERS INTO THE FRENCH COUNTRYSIDE
JUST AFTER MIDNIGHT ON JUNE 6, 1944.
Man: THEY CAME FROM THE WEST IN GREAT WAVES,
ALMOST SILENT,
THEIR GIANT SHADOWS COVERING THE EARTH.
SUDDENLY WHAT LOOKED LIKE HUGE CONFETTI
DROPPED OUT OF THEIR FUSELAGES
AND FELL QUICKLY TO EARTH -- PARATROOPERS.
ALL EYES WERE RAISED,
AND THE FLAK STARTED FIRING.
WHILE PARATROOPERS LANDED,
ALLIED SHIPS CARRIED TROOPS ACROSS THE ENGLISH CHANNEL.
THE ALLIED NAVAL FORCES
BOMBARDED THE GERMAN COASTAL DEFENSES
TO PREPARE THE WAY FOR THE LANDING.
ALLIED TROOPS FOUGHT THEIR WAY ASHORE
DESPITE UNDERWATER MINES
AND CONSTANT MACHINE-GUN FIRE.
THOUGH MANY ALLIED SOLDIERS DIED IN THE ATTACK,
THERE WERE MORE THAN ENOUGH TO GAIN A FOOTHOLD IN FRANCE.
Man #2: WHITE LINES WERE RACING AT US THROUGH DARK MASSES OF WATER.
LANDING CRAFT SPIT OUT BROWN CLUMPS OF SOLDIERS
AT THE BEACH.
THEY WERE WEARING FLAT STEEL HELMETS FOR THEY WERE BRITS.
THEN I SPOTTED TANKS -- ONE, TWO, THREE --
A WHOLE PACK.
THEY DROVE UP ON THE COASTAL ROAD TOWARD US.
THE ALLIES KEPT ADVANCING THROUGH FRANCE,
DRIVING THE GERMANS DEEPER AND DEEPER INTO THE COUNTRY.
MEANWHILE, ALLIED FORCES FROM ITALY
INVADED SOUTHERN FRANCE.
AND THE FRENCH RESISTANCE ROSE UP
AGAINST THE NAZIS IN PARIS,
THE HEADQUARTERS OF THE GERMAN OCCUPATION.
UNDER PRESSURE FROM ALL SIDES,
THE GERMANS CONTINUED THEIR RETREAT THROUGH FRANCE.
THE ALLIES ENTERED THE CITY OF PARIS ON AUGUST 25, 1944.
THE ALLIED INVASION OF NORMANDY
HAD PAVED THE WAY FOR THE LIBERATION OF FRANCE.
DURING THE WEEKS AND MONTHS THAT FOLLOWED THE INVASION,
THOUSANDS OF GERMAN SOLDIERS WERE KILLED OR CAPTURED.
EVEN THE GERMAN 352nd INFANTRY DIVISION,
WHICH HAD FIERCELY BATTLED THE AMERICANS ON OMAHA BEACH,
WAS DEFEATED.
WITHIN SEVERAL MONTHS,
THE ALLIES LIBERATED ALL OF FRANCE
AND BEGAN TO CONCENTRATE ON CONQUERING GERMANY ITSELF.
THE NAZIS CONTINUED TO FIGHT AGAINST THE ALLIES,
BUT THEY COULD NOT OVERCOME THEM.
THE NAZIS SURRENDERED ON MAY 7, 1945 --
LESS THAN A YEAR AFTER THE INVASION AT NORMANDY.
SPACE TRAVEL WAS ONLY A DREAM
UNTIL APRIL 12, 1961,
WHEN FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER,
A HUMAN WAS LAUNCHED INTO ORBIT AROUND THE EARTH.
THE SPACE AGE WAS BORN.
BUT FOR SCIENTISTS AND ENGINEERS IN THE UNITED STATES,
THIS GREAT ACHIEVEMENT WAS NOTHING TO CELEBRATE
BECAUSE ONCE AGAIN,
IT WAS THE SOVIET UNION AND NOT THE UNITED STATES
THAT WAS LEADING THE WAY INTO SPACE.
JUST A FEW YEARS EARLIER, IN 1957,
THE SOVIET UNION HAD LAUNCHED THE FIRST SATELLITE INTO SPACE.
NOW WITH THE FIRST MANNED SPACECRAFT IN HISTORY,
PILOTED BY YURI GAGARIN,
THE RUSSIANS COULD TRULY CLAIM
THAT THEIR COMMUNIST STATE
WAS THE UNDISPUTED SCIENTIFIC LEADER OF THE WORLD.
Cronkite: WE WERE NO LONGER THE DOMINANT
SCIENTIFIC/TECHNICAL/ MANUFACTURING
NATION OF THE WORLD.
THE RUSSIANS HAD DONE SOMETHING WE HAD NOT DONE.
Narrator: THE RUSSIANS CLAIMED THAT THEIR VICTORY IN SPACE
WAS EVIDENCE OF THE SUPERIORITY
OF COMMUNISM OVER DEMOCRACY.
SINCE THE END OF WORLD WAR II,
WHEN THE UNITED STATES AND THE SOVIET UNION
HAD EMERGED AS SUPERPOWERS,
BOTH NATIONS HAD OPPOSED EACH OTHER IN A COLD WAR.
THE TWO SUPERPOWERS BUILT UP THEIR MILITARY POWER
BUT CAREFULLY AVOIDED DIRECT CONFRONTATION WITH EACH OTHER.
INSTEAD, THEY COMPETED FOR POWER AND INFLUENCE IN OTHER WAYS.
Man on radio: ...HAS AGAIN ENVELOPED THE MERCURY CAPSULE.
Narrator: FOR THE LEADERS OF THE UNITED STATES AND THE SOVIET UNION,
SUCCESS IN SPACE WAS A WAY TO PROVE
THAT THEIR IDEOLOGY WAS SUPERIOR
TO THAT OF THEIR COMPETITORS.
THE "SPACE RACE," AS IT WAS CALLED,
BECAME A CONTEST BETWEEN DEMOCRACY AND COMMUNISM.
AND THE COMMUNIST SOVIETS WERE WINNING THE RACE.
THE UNITED STATES HAD NOT BEEN ABLE
TO LAUNCH A SATELLITE INTO SPACE
UNTIL FOUR MONTHS AFTER THE SOVIET SATELLITE SPUTNIK
HAD COMPLETED ITS MISSION.
THE UNRELIABILITY OF U.S. ROCKETS
KEPT AMERICA'S FUTURE ASTRONAUTS FIRMLY ON THE GROUND.
BUT WHEN JOHN F. KENNEDY TOOK OFFICE IN 1961,
AMERICA GOT A PRESIDENT
DETERMINED TO WIN THE SPACE RACE.
KENNEDY PROMISED THAT THE FIRST U.S. MANNED FLIGHT
WAS GOING TO BE SOON.
ON MAY 5, 1961,
ONLY 23 DAYS AFTER YURI GAGARIN'S HISTORIC FLIGHT,
AMERICAN ASTRONAUT ALAN SHEPARD
BECAME THE SECOND HUMAN BEING LAUNCHED INTO SPACE.
ALAN SHEPARD'S FLIGHT LASTED ONLY 15 MINUTES,
BUT IT PROVED THAT THE SOVIETS WEREN'T THE ONLY ONES
WHO COULD LAUNCH A HUMAN BEING INTO SPACE.
Shepard on radio: WHAT A BEAUTIFUL VIEW.
START RETRO-SEQUENCE.
RETRO-ATTITUDE ON GREEN.
Narrator: SO THE SPACE RACE CONTINUED.
THE LEADERS OF THE SOVIET UNION
KNEW THAT THEY HAD TO DO SOMETHING
TO GET BACK AHEAD OF THE AMERICANS.
JUST 16 DAYS AFTER SHEPARD'S SUCCESSFUL FLIGHT,
THE SOVIET ROCKET VOSTOK 2 ORBITED THE EARTH 17 TIMES.
THE SOVIETS HAD OPENLY CHALLENGED THE UNITED STATES.
BUT INSTEAD OF INCREASING
THE NUMBER OF TIMES A VESSEL ORBITED THE PLANET,
AMERICAN SCIENTISTS AND ENGINEERS
CHOSE TO DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT.
THE UNITED STATES RESPONDED BY DESIGNING A NEW ROCKET
THAT COULD TAKE ASTRONAUTS FARTHER INTO SPACE
THAN THEY HAD EVER GONE BEFORE.
THE ASTRONAUTS WOULD ORBIT THE EARTH
FROM A GREATER DISTANCE THAN THE SOVIETS.
ON FEBRUARY 20, 1962,
ASTRONAUT JOHN GLENN ORBITED THE PLANET
AT A HIGHER ALTITUDE THAN ANYONE IN HISTORY,
ON BOARD THE STATE-OF-THE-ART FRIENDSHIP 7.
Man: PEOPLE WERE HERE IN 1927, 35 YEARS AGO...
Narrator: JOHN GLENN COMPLETED HIS MISSION
AND TOUCHED DOWN AS ONE OF AMERICA'S GREATEST HEROES.
THE SPACE RACE WOULD EVENTUALLY END,
AND THE SOVIET UNION WOULD DISSOLVE.
BUT THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF JOHN GLENN, ALAN SHEPARD,
AND OTHER EARLY ASTRONAUTS LIVED ON.
THEY WERE THE TRAILBLAZERS
FOR THE MANY ASTRONAUTS
WHO HAVE FOLLOWED THEM INTO SPACE.
TODAY IN A NEW SPIRIT OF FRIENDSHIP AND COOPERATION,
ASTRONAUTS FROM AMERICA, RUSSIA,
AND OTHER COUNTRIES WORK TOGETHER
TO EXPLORE THE SOLAR SYSTEM AND BEYOND.
BERLIN, THE CAPITAL OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY,
IS A MODERN UNIFIED CITY TODAY.
BUT LESS THAN A GENERATION AGO, IT WAS DIVIDED --
BOTH PHYSICALLY AND POLITICALLY.
THE BERLIN WALL,
A MASSIVE CONCRETE BARRIER WITH BARBED WIRE,
SPLIT THE CITY INTO DEMOCRATIC WEST
AND COMMUNIST EAST BERLIN.
THE WALL WAS AN UGLY SYMBOL OF THE COLD WAR
BETWEEN COMMUNIST EASTERN EUROPE,
LED BY THE FORMER SOVIET UNION,
AND THE CAPITALIST DEMOCRACIES OF THE WEST,
LED BY THE UNITED STATES.
THE PEOPLE OF BERLIN WERE CAUGHT IN THE MIDDLE
OF THIS STRUGGLE BETWEEN SUPERPOWERS.
THE ORIGINS OF THE BERLIN WALL CAN BE TRACED TO WORLD WAR II
AND THE TENSE POST-WAR PERIOD THAT FOLLOWED.
THE VICTORIOUS ALLIES DIVIDED GERMANY.
THE AMERICAN, BRITISH, AND FRENCH ZONES
BECAME THE DEMOCRATIC NATION OF WEST GERMANY.
THE SOVIET ZONE BECAME THE COMMUNIST COUNTRY
OF EAST GERMANY.
EVEN THOUGH IT WAS ABOUT 100 MILES INSIDE EAST GERMANY,
THE FORMER CAPITAL CITY OF BERLIN WAS ALSO DIVIDED.
THE SECTOR OCCUPIED BY THE SOVIETS WAS EAST BERLIN.
THE SECTORS OCCUPIED BY THE AMERICANS, BRITISH,
AND FRENCH WERE WEST BERLIN.
AFTER THE WAR, THE U.S. RUSHED
MONEY AND OTHER RESOURCES TO WEST GERMANY
TO SUPPORT IT AGAINST COMMUNIST EASTERN EUROPE.
BUT RATHER THAN SENDING AID TO EAST GERMANY,
THE SOVIETS DEMANDED THAT THE EAST GERMANS PAY THEM BACK
FOR THE LOSSES THEY INCURRED DURING THE WAR.
AS A RESULT, THE EAST GERMAN ECONOMY
STAGNATED UNDER COMMUNIST RULE.
MEANWHILE, WEST GERMANY REBUILT ITS CITIES AND FACTORIES.
BY THE 1950s,
WEST BERLIN WAS A SHOWCASE FOR WEST GERMAN PROSPERITY --
A DEMOCRATIC ISLAND OF ECONOMIC SUCCESS
INSIDE IMPOVERISHED EAST GERMANY.
FOR DISCONTENTED EAST GERMANS,
WEST BERLIN OFFERED THE PROMISE OF FREEDOM AND PROSPERITY.
AS A RESULT, INCREASING NUMBERS OF EAST BERLINERS
FLED TO WEST BERLIN.
BETWEEN 1945 AND 1961,
ABOUT 4 MILLION EAST GERMANS LEFT FOR THE WEST.
THIS WAS A GREAT EMBARRASSMENT
TO EAST GERMANY'S COMMUNIST GOVERNMENT.
EVEN WORSE, THE LOSS OF LARGE NUMBERS
OF SKILLED WORKERS AND PROFESSIONALS
WAS A SERIOUS THREAT
TO EAST GERMANY'S ALREADY-FLOUNDERING ECONOMY.
AT LAST, IN AUGUST 1961,
THE FRUSTRATED EAST GERMAN GOVERNMENT
BUILT THE BERLIN WALL,
CUTTING OFF EAST BERLIN FROM THE WEST.
THE WALL WAS 15 FEET HIGH IN SOME PLACES
AND TOPPED WITH BARBED WIRE.
SOLDIERS WITH MACHINE GUNS ATOP THE WALL
AND LAND MINES SCATTERED AROUND ITS PERIMETER
FURTHER ENSURED THAT NO ONE GOT ACROSS.
OVER THE YEARS, THE EAST GERMANS FORTIFIED
AND EXPANDED THE BARRIER,
ADDING ELECTRIFIED FENCES AND ANTI-VEHICLE TRAPS.
IN TIME, THE WALL EXTENDED 28 MILES
AND TOTALLY DIVIDED EAST AND WEST BERLIN,
SEPARATING FAMILIES, NEIGHBORHOODS,
AND LOVED ONES.
THE WALL ACHIEVED ITS INTENDED GOAL.
IT STOPPED THE FLOOD OF PEOPLE TO WEST BERLIN.
BUT IT ALSO BECAME AN EMBARRASSMENT FOR THE SOVIETS,
WHO TOUTED EAST GERMANY AS A COMMUNIST PARADISE.
INSTEAD, EAST GERMANY EARNED AN IMAGE
AS A NATION WHOSE CITIZENS
HAD TO BE FORCIBLY RESTRAINED FROM FLEEING.
OVER THE YEARS,
ABOUT 5,000 EAST GERMANS MANAGED TO GO OVER, UNDER,
OR THROUGH THE BERLIN WALL INTO WEST BERLIN.
BUT 5,000 OTHERS WERE CAPTURED AND IMPRISONED,
AND ABOUT 200 WERE KILLED WHILE TRYING TO ESCAPE.
THE BEGINNING OF THE END FOR THE BERLIN WALL CAME IN 1989.
EAST GERMANY WAS IN A DEEP POLITICAL CRISIS.
INCREASINGLY, EAST GERMANS WERE OPENLY PROTESTING
AGAINST THE GOVERNMENT.
THIS CULMINATED IN A MASS DEMONSTRATION
OF 500,000 PEOPLE.
[ SHOUTING ]
IN NOVEMBER 1989,
THE EAST GERMAN GOVERNMENT RESIGNED,
AND A NEW GOVERNMENT TOOK OVER.
THE NEW LEADERSHIP
PROMISED TO REMOVE TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS
BETWEEN EAST AND WEST GERMANY.
THE COUNTRY'S BORDER WITH WEST GERMANY WAS OPENED.
FOR THE FIRST TIME IN MORE THAN 28 YEARS,
GERMANS COULD PASS FREELY FROM EAST TO WEST.
JOYFUL BERLINERS BEGAN TO TEAR DOWN THE WALL,
AND THOUSANDS OF EAST GERMAN CITIZENS
SWARMED ACROSS THE BORDER.
ON OCTOBER 3, 1990,
EAST AND WEST GERMANY WERE REUNITED.
A UNIFIED BERLIN WAS THE NEW GERMAN CAPITAL.
TODAY THE BERLIN WALL IS GONE.
THE ONLY REMNANTS ARE A ROW OF COBBLESTONES,
MARKING ITS POSITION IN DOWNTOWN BERLIN,
AND A FEW SCATTERED SECTIONS KEPT AS MEMORIALS.
THESE REMNANTS SERVE AS CONCRETE REMINDERS
OF THE HARSH REALITIES OF THE COLD WAR
AND THE COMMITMENT TO DEMOCRACY
THAT FINALLY BROUGHT THE BERLIN WALL DOWN.
AFTER ITS DEFEAT IN WORLD WAR II,
JAPAN GAVE UP CONTROL OF THE KOREAN PENINSULA.
THE SOVIET UNION AND THE UNITED STATES
AGREED TO TEMPORARILY DIVIDE THE PENINSULA
ALONG THE 38th PARALLEL.
THE NORTHERN HALF WAS CONTROLLED BY THE SOVIET UNION
AND BECAME A COMMUNIST STATE.
THE SOUTHERN HALF WAS SUPPORTED BY THE UNITED STATES.
THE NORTH AND SOUTH KOREAN GOVERNMENTS
KEPT AN UNEASY PEACE THROUGH THE LATE 1940s.
THEN IN JUNE 1950,
JOSEPH STALIN, THE GENERAL SECRETARY OF THE SOVIET UNION,
APPROVED THE NORTH KOREAN PLAN
TO CONQUER THE WHOLE PENINSULA.
THE NORTH KOREAN LEADER, KIM IL SUNG,
PLANNED TO FORCIBLY UNITE THE PENINSULA UNDER COMMUNISM.
ON JULY 15, 1950,
TANKS ROLLED ACROSS THE 38th PARALLEL.
NEARLY 100,000 WELL-TRAINED AND WELL-ARMED COMBAT TROOPS
SWARMED INTO THE SOUTH,
MEETING LITTLE RESISTANCE FROM THE SOUTH KOREAN ARMY.
THE UNITED STATES SUPPORTED SOUTH KOREA
AND ITS PRESIDENT, SYNGMAN RHEE,
WHILE THE SOVIET UNION FUNNELED MONEY AND WEAPONS
INTO COMMUNIST NORTH KOREA.
PRESIDENT HARRY S. TRUMAN
WAS AFRAID THAT THE NORTH KOREAN INVASION
WAS JUST THE BEGINNING OF A SOVIET PLAN
TO CONQUER THE FREE WORLD.
HE BELIEVED THAT THE REAL THREAT
WAS A SOVIET INVASION OF WESTERN EUROPE.
MEANWHILE, COMMUNIST CHINA'S CHAIRMAN, MAO TSE-TUNG,
WAS DETERMINED TO STAND BY THE NORTH KOREAN COMMUNISTS.
HE FEARED THE GROWTH OF AMERICAN POWER IN EAST ASIA.
THE SECURITY COUNCIL OF THE UNITED NATIONS
CALLED AN EMERGENCY SESSION.
WITH THE SOVIET UNION ABSENT,
THE COUNCIL PASSED A RESOLUTION
URGING MEMBERS TO HELP SOUTH KOREA
DEFEND ITSELF AGAINST THE ATTACK.
IN JUNE 1950,
AMERICAN TROOPS WERE RUSHED TO THE AID OF SOUTH KOREA,
BUT THE AMERICAN AND SOUTH KOREAN FORCES
WERE QUICKLY OVERWHELMED.
BY SEPTEMBER 10th, THE SOUTH KOREAN ARMY
AND A SMALL AMERICAN FORCE HAD BEEN DRIVEN DOWN
TO THE TIP OF THE PENINSULA.
THE U.N. SECURITY COUNCIL
APPOINTED AMERICAN GENERAL DOUGLAS MacARTHUR
TO TAKE COMMAND OF ALL UNITED NATIONS FORCES IN KOREA.
Daily: WE WERE INFORMED
THAT THERE WOULD BE NO MORE RETREATS --
THAT WE WOULD STAND, HOLD OUR POSITIONS,
NO MORE WITHDRAWALS,
AND THAT IF WE HAD TO,
WE WOULD HAVE TO DIE IN THAT POSITION.
AND THAT'S THE WAY IT WAS STRESSED TO US --
THAT WE HAD TO HOLD.
Narrator: GENERAL MacARTHUR DECIDED TO TAKE A DARING GAMBLE.
ON SEPTEMBER 15, 1950,
U.N. FORCES LANDED AT INCHON ON KOREA'S WEST COAST.
THE NORTH KOREANS COULD NOT RESIST THE ATTACK,
AND MacARTHUR'S TROOPS TOOK ADVANTAGE OF THEIR WEAKNESSES.
SOON AFTER, THE NORTH KOREAN FORCES RETREATED,
AND INCHON WAS FIRMLY IN THE HANDS
OF THE UNITED NATIONS FORCES.
GENERAL MacARTHUR HAD WON AN IMPORTANT BATTLE
AGAINST THE COMMUNISTS,
AND PRESIDENT TRUMAN ORDERED HIM TO DRIVE THE NORTH KOREANS
BACK ACROSS INTO NORTH KOREA.
MacARTHUR WAS GIVEN PERMISSION TO CROSS THE 38th PARALLEL,
SEPARATING NORTH AND SOUTH KOREA,
TO COMPLETELY DESTROY THE NORTH KOREAN ARMY.
ALARMED BY THE ADVANCING U.N. FORCES,
CHAIRMAN MAO TSE-TUNG
ORDERED MORE THAN 150,000 CHINESE TROOPS
INTO NORTH KOREA
TO SAVE THE NORTH KOREAN GOVERNMENT AND PROTECT CHINA.
EARLIER THAT SAME DAY,
GENERAL MacARTHUR HAD GUARANTEED TRUMAN
THAT CHINA WOULD NEVER ENTER THE WAR.
BY THE END OF 1950,
THE NORTH KOREANS AND THEIR CHINESE ALLIES
HAD SUCCEEDED IN DRIVING ALL UNITED NATIONS FORCES
BACK BELOW THE 38th PARALLEL.
FRUSTRATED, GENERAL MacARTHUR PLANNED
TO EXPAND THE WAR INTO CHINA.
"IN WAR, THERE IS NO SUBSTITUTE FOR VICTORY," HE SAID,
AND THAT MEANT ALL-OUT WAR WITH CHINA.
MacARTHUR EVEN PROPOSED
USING ATOMIC BOMBS AGAINST THE CHINESE.
BUT TRUMAN, AFRAID OF BRINGING THE SOVIET UNION INTO THE WAR,
SAID NO.
THE PRESIDENT AND THE JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF AT THE PENTAGON
REFUSED TO LISTEN TO MacARTHUR'S DEMANDS,
AND SOON THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT
REPLACED GENERAL MacARTHUR.
BY JUNE OF 1953,
BOTH NORTH KOREA AND THE UNITED NATIONS FORCES
HELD THEIR GROUND AT THE 38th PARALLEL,
ROUGHLY THE SAME POINT WHERE THE WAR HAD BEGUN.
PHYSICALLY AND EMOTIONALLY SPENT,
BOTH SIDES AGREED TO DISCUSS A TRUCE.
THE COMBATANTS AGREED TO AN ARMISTICE
IN JULY OF 1953
AND SIGNED THE AGREEMENT ENDING THE WAR
ON JULY 27, 1953.
AMERICA'S SOLDIERS, BATTLE-WEARY AND WORN,
WERE HAPPY TO HAVE MADE IT THROUGH THE NIGHTMARE.
BUT FOR KOREANS, THE DIVISIONS CONTINUED TO GROW.
WHILE LEADERS ON BOTH SIDES HAVE TRIED TO BRING PEOPLE
ON THIS SHATTERED PENINSULA TOGETHER,
ANGER AND DISTRUST HAVE CONTINUED
TO KEEP THE NORTH AND SOUTH APART.
AFGHANISTAN IS A COUNTRY IN SOUTH CENTRAL ASIA.
STEEP, RUGGED MOUNTAINS COVER MUCH OF THE LAND.
IT IS AN ARID AND INHOSPITABLE PLACE.
BUT AFGHANISTAN'S LOCATION
ON A STRATEGIC LAND ROUTE
BETWEEN INDIA, IRAN, AND CENTRAL ASIA
HAS ATTRACTED TRADERS AND CONQUERORS
THROUGHOUT ITS LONG HISTORY.
THE ARMIES OF ALEXANDER THE GREAT
AND GENGHIS KHAN WERE FOLLOWED IN MODERN TIMES
BY THOSE OF THE BRITISH AND THE SOVIETS.
THE SOVIET UNION INVADED IN 1979,
BUT IT WAS FORCED TO WITHDRAW A DECADE LATER
BY THE AFGHANI MUJAHIDEEN,
A GROUP OF GUERILLA FIGHTERS
BACKED AND TRAINED BY THE UNITED STATES,
SAUDI ARABIA, PAKISTAN, AND OTHER COUNTRIES.
THE RUSSIANS LEFT BEHIND A COMMUNIST GOVERNMENT.
BUT IN 1992,
MUJAHIDEEN GUERILLAS AND OTHER ISLAMIC REBELS
CAPTURED THE CAPITAL CITY OF KABUL
AND SET UP A NEW GOVERNMENT.
STILL, THE KILLING DIDN'T STOP.
OVER THE NEXT FEW YEARS,
RIVAL GROUPS FOUGHT EACH OTHER FOR CONTROL.
CIVIL WAR SPREAD THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY.
[ GUNFIRE ]
AND A NEW GROUP AROSE CALLED THE "TALIBAN,"
A NAME THAT MEANS "RELIGIOUS STUDENT."
THE TALIBAN CONSISTED OF DEVOUT ISLAMIC GUERILLA FIGHTERS
AND REFUGEES RETURNING FROM PAKISTAN.
MANY HAD STUDIED AT THE MADRASSAS,
OR RELIGIOUS SCHOOLS,
ON THE PAKISTANI BORDER.
ANGRY THAT THE MUJAHIDEEN
HAD FAILED TO FULLY ENFORCE ISLAMIC LAW,
THE TALIBAN'S LEADERS DECLARED A JIHAD --
A HOLY STRUGGLE AGAINST THE MUJAHIDEEN.
BY EARLY 1995,
THE TALIBAN HAD SEIZED POWER IN THE CITY OF KANDAHAR
IN SOUTHEASTERN AFGHANISTAN.
THE TALIBAN HAD BEEN WELCOMED THERE
BECAUSE THEY REPLACED CHAOS AND CORRUPTION WITH ORDER.
ALLAH AKBAR.
OVER THE NEXT TWO YEARS, THE TALIBAN FOUGHT FIERCELY
AGAINST RIVAL FACTIONS,
SWIFTLY SEIZING POWER OVER MOST OF AFGHANISTAN.
TALIBAN LEADERS CLAIMED THAT THEIR AIM
WAS TO SET UP A STRICTLY ISLAMIC STATE
UNLIKE ANY OTHER IN THE MUSLIM WORLD.
THEY FOLLOWED AN EXTREME INTERPRETATION
OF THE KORAN, ISLAMIC LAW,
AND AFGHAN TRIBAL LAWS AND CUSTOMS.
IN ISLAM, THERE ARE A GREAT RESPECT FOR MAN AND WOMAN,
FOR THE NEIGHBORS, FOR THE NONMUSLIMS,
FOR THE PROPERTIES.
AND THERE ARE RULES AND REGULATIONS IN ISLAM --
EVEN HOW TO EAT, HOW TO SLEEP,
HOW TO WALK,
AND HOW TO TALK WITH THE PEOPLE.
Narrator: THE TALIBAN VIOLENTLY OPPOSED WESTERN INFLUENCES.
TELEVISION SETS WERE STRUNG UP ON POSTS AT THE CITY GATES.
CHESS, FOOTBALL,
EVEN KITE FLYING WERE BANNED,
AND WOMEN WERE ALLOWED OUTSIDE
ONLY WHEN WEARING TRADITIONAL FULL-LENGTH BURKAS.
MOVIE THEATERS WERE CLOSED, AND MUSIC WAS FORBIDDEN.
TALIBAN OFFICIALS RIPPED OUT OFFENSIVE CASSETTE TAPES.
AFGHANISTAN WAS EFFECTIVELY CLOSED OFF
FROM MOST OF THE OUTSIDE WORLD.
THE TALIBAN THEN CLOSED DOWN GIRLS' SCHOOLS
AND SENT FEMALE TEACHERS HOME ON RELIGIOUS GROUNDS.
DURING THE SOVIET OCCUPATION,
EDUCATION AND EMPLOYMENT FOR WOMEN
HAD BEEN ON THE RISE.
NOW BASIC SCHOOLING WAS FORBIDDEN FOR GIRLS.
AND ANY WOMAN THAT CHALLENGED HER NEW PLACE IN SOCIETY
WAS QUICKLY PUNISHED.
THE TALIBAN LEADERSHIP INSISTED THEIR ACTIONS
WERE JUST AND NECESSARY AND BASED ON SHARI'A --
RELIGIOUS LAW OF ISLAM.
BUT A GROWING NUMBER OF MUSLIMS IN AFGHANISTAN --
BOTH WOMEN AND MEN --
DISAGREED WITH THE TALIBAN'S HARSH INTERPRETATION OF ISLAM.
Woman: I FELT THAT I HAVE NO WORDS IN THIS SOCIETY.
I CANNOT DO ANYTHING FOR THIS SOCIETY,
AND THIS SOCIETY CANNOT DO ANYTHING FOR ME.
THEY CANNOT ACCEPT ME AS A HUMAN BEING.
Narrator: THE TALIBAN WAS FINALLY REMOVED FROM POWER
BY A U.S.-LED MILITARY COALITION
AFTER THE TALIBAN LEADERSHIP WAS LINKED
TO THE TERRORIST ATTACKS OF SEPTEMBER 11, 2001.
A TRANSITIONAL GOVERNMENT WAS SET UP.
IT INCLUDED WOMEN, AND IT MADE PLANS FOR A NEW CONSTITUTION
AND FREE ELECTIONS.
COUNTRIES FROM AROUND THE WORLD
CONTRIBUTED MONEY
AND ARMED PEACE-KEEPERS TO REBUILD THE COUNTRY
AND MAINTAIN ORDER.
BUT DIVISIONS AND CONFLICT CONTINUED IN AFGHANISTAN.
RIVALRIES BETWEEN ETHNIC GROUPS AND WARLORDS
THREATENED THE COUNTRY'S STABILITY.
AND THE TALIBAN, HAVING RETREATED TO THE MOUNTAINS,
CONTINUED TO DIRECT GUERILLA RAIDS
AGAINST FOREIGN PEACE-KEEPERS
AND PLANNED FOR THE DAY
WHEN THEY MIGHT RETURN TO POWER.
SOUTH AFRICA IS A DIVERSE NATION
WITH A HISTORY OF RACIAL INJUSTICE.
FROM 1948 UNTIL 1989,
THE COUNTRY'S WHITE MINORITY GOVERNMENT
KEPT PEOPLE OF DIFFERENT RACES
SEPARATED BY A SYSTEM CALLED "APARTHEID."
A YOUNG LAWYER NAMED NELSON MANDELA
AND MEMBERS OF THE AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS
FOUGHT AGAINST APARTHEID
AND THE SOUTH AFRICAN GOVERNMENT'S OPPRESSION
OF BLACK SOUTH AFRICANS,
LARGELY THROUGH NONVIOLENT PROTEST.
INSTEAD OF ARMING THEMSELVES,
MANDELA AND OTHER MEMBERS OF THE AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS
ORGANIZED WORKER STRIKES AND MARCHES.
THEY ENCOURAGED BLACK SOUTH AFRICANS
TO TAKE PART IN ACTS OF CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE.
INTENDED AS PEACEFUL DEMONSTRATIONS,
THEY OFTEN BECAME SCENES OF VIOLENCE,
ESPECIALLY WHEN SOUTH AFRICAN POLICE
TRIED TO REMOVE THE PROTESTORS.
[ CHANTING IN NATIVE LANGUAGE ]
HOPING TO STOP THE MARCHES,
THE GOVERNMENT OUTLAWED THE AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS
AND BEGAN IMPRISONING ITS LEADERS.
THE CONFLICT ONLY WORSENED.
Narrator: IN 1964,
NELSON MANDELA WAS ARRESTED, TRIED,
AND CONDEMNED TO LIFE IN PRISON
FOR CONSPIRACY TO COMMIT TERRORIST ACTS.
HE WAS SENT TO ROBBEN ISLAND PRISON,
WHERE GUARDS BEAT AND TORTURED THEIR PRISONERS.
DESPITE BEING IN PRISON,
MANDELA AND OTHER AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS MEMBERS
CONTINUED THEIR PROTEST.
PRISONERS STAGED HUNGER STRIKES AND WORK SLOWDOWNS.
THEIR DREAM OF FREEDOM AND EQUALITY NEVER DIED.
WHILE MANDELA AND OTHER AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS LEADERS
PROTESTED IN PRISON,
YOUNG PEOPLE CONTINUED TO PROTEST ON THE STREETS.
THE GOVERNMENT CONSIDERED EACH DEMONSTRATION,
EACH ROCK THEY THREW, EACH CLASS THEY MISSED
A CRIME AGAINST THE STATE.
THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE WERE KILLED
IN CONFRONTATIONS WITH THE SOUTH AFRICAN POLICE
AND MILITARY.
THEIR DEATHS BROUGHT WORLD ATTENTION
TO THE HORRORS OF APARTHEID.
BUT GOVERNMENT FORCES DID NOT COMMIT ALL THE KILLINGS.
A POLITICAL FEUD BETWEEN THE AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS
AND ITS RIVAL, THE INKATHA FREEDOM PARTY,
RESULTED IN BLACK-ON-BLACK VIOLENCE.
THE FEUD RESULTED IN THE DEATHS OF SOME 15,000 PEOPLE
IN THE 1980s AND '90s.
IN THE LATE 1980s,
PROTESTS FOR THE RELEASE OF NELSON MANDELA
AND THE END OF APARTHEID INTENSIFIED.
STILL, THE GOVERNMENT CHOSE TO IGNORE THE PROTESTORS.
THE ESCALATION OF VIOLENCE
LED THE GOVERNMENT TO ORDER A STATE OF EMERGENCY,
WHICH PERMITTED POLICEMEN TO USE VIOLENCE
IN CONFRONTATIONS WITH THE AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS.
BUT INTERNATIONAL AWARENESS OF THE DEADLY STRUGGLE
FINALLY PUT PRESSURE ON THE SOUTH AFRICAN GOVERNMENT.
THE UNITED STATES, ALONG WITH MANY OTHER COUNTRIES,
IMPOSED STRICT ECONOMIC SANCTIONS ON SOUTH AFRICA.
FOREIGN BOYCOTTS HURT THE COUNTRY'S ECONOMY.
BOTH BLACKS AND WHITES
SUFFERED FROM SOUTH AFRICA'S ECONOMIC DOWNTURN.
INTERNATIONAL OUTRAGE AND ECONOMIC PRESSURE
FINALLY FORCED SOUTH AFRICA'S WHITE LEADERSHIP
TO ABANDON APARTHEID.
IN 1989, THE SOUTH AFRICAN GOVERNMENT
OFFICIALLY ENDED APARTHEID
AND LIFTED THE BAN ON THE AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS.
SOON AFTER THAT, NELSON MANDELA WAS RELEASED,
ENDING 27 YEARS OF IMPRISONMENT.
IN 1994, THE COUNTRY HELD ITS FIRST MULTIRACIAL ELECTION
AND ELECTED NELSON MANDELA AS ITS FIRST BLACK PRESIDENT.
SOUTH AFRICA ESTABLISHED A DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT.
IT ADOPTED A CONSTITUTION
THAT INCLUDED A BILL OF RIGHTS.
THE END OF APARTHEID
HAS OPENED UP MANY OPPORTUNITIES FOR BLACK SOUTH AFRICANS.
FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 300 YEARS,
BLACK SOUTH AFRICANS HAVE POLITICAL POWER.
THEY ARE FREE TO MOVE, WORK,
AND LIVE WHEREVER THEY CHOOSE.
BUT FOR MANY, QUALITY OF LIFE HAS NOT IMPROVED.
PRESIDENT NELSON MANDELA PROMISED JOBS, BETTER HOUSING,
AND BETTER SCHOOLS FOR ALL SOUTH AFRICANS.
BUT DESPITE HIS PROMISE,
MORE THAN 1/3 OF BLACK SOUTH AFRICANS
CONTINUE TO LIVE AT OR BELOW THE POVERTY LINE.
AND POVERTY IS NOT THE ONLY THING
THAT BLACK SOUTH AFRICANS MUST COPE WITH.
THE MEMORIES OF APARTHEID
ARE DIFFICULT TO FORGET AND EVEN HARDER TO FORGIVE.
IT HAS BEEN DIFFICULT FOR SOUTH AFRICANS
TO ERASE THE IMPACT OF THEIR PAST.
EVEN TODAY, UNEMPLOYMENT, CRIME,
AND A WIDE GAP BETWEEN RICH AND POOR
CONTINUE TO THREATEN SOUTH AFRICA'S DEMOCRACY.
BUT EVEN WITH ALL OF ITS PROBLEMS,
SOUTH AFRICA'S LONG STRUGGLE AGAINST APARTHEID
HAS BROUGHT THE COUNTRY MANY SUCCESSES.
NELSON MANDELA GAVE SOUTH AFRICANS A FRESH START
AND THE OPPORTUNITY TO LIVE AS FREE PEOPLE.
ONLY TIME WILL TELL IF NEW OPPORTUNITIES
WILL BRING SUCCESS TO ALL SOUTH AFRICANS.
SHORTLY AFTER THE END OF WORLD WAR II,
THE SOVIET UNION AND THE UNITED STATES
BEGAN A STRUGGLE FOR GLOBAL SUPREMACY.
THIS STRUGGLE, CALLED THE "COLD WAR,"
TRIGGERED AN ARMS RACE, WITH BOTH SIDES
PRODUCING HUGE ARSENALS OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS.
IN THE SPRING OF 1962,
SOVIET PREMIER NIKITA KHRUSHCHEV
FOUND A WAY TO MOVE SOVIET MISSILES
JUST 90 MILES FROM THE UNITED STATES.
HE USED THE COMMUNIST NATION OF CUBA TO ACHIEVE HIS GOAL.
ONLY A FEW YEARS EARLIER,
FIDEL CASTRO HAD SEIZED CONTROL OF CUBA
AND ESTABLISHED A COMMUNIST DICTATORSHIP.
HE ASKED FELLOW COMMUNISTS IN THE SOVIET UNION
FOR MILITARY AND FINANCIAL AID.
CUBA'S REVOLUTION HAD ALARMED THE UNITED STATES,
AND THAT ALARM TURNED TO PANIC
WHEN CASTRO LET THE SOVIETS
BUILD NUCLEAR-MISSILE BASES ON THE ISLAND,
JUST 90 MILES FROM FLORIDA.
FOR AMERICANS, THAT DISTANCE WAS TOO SHORT FOR COMFORT.
KHRUSHCHEV SENT SHIPS
LOADED WITH NUCLEAR MISSILES AND SUPPLIES
TO FIDEL CASTRO IN CUBA.
COMMUNIST MOVEMENTS AND REBELLIONS
WERE SPREADING AROUND THE WORLD,
PARTICULARLY IN CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA.
KHRUSHCHEV WANTED TO SHOW THESE COUNTRIES
THAT THE SOVIET UNION WAS JUST AS POWERFUL
AS THE UNITED STATES.
IN JUST A FEW DAYS,
MISSILES ON CUBA WERE POINTED AT AMERICA.
PRESIDENT KENNEDY WANTED TO FIND A WAY TO REMOVE THE MISSILES
WITHOUT STARTING A WAR WITH THE SOVIET UNION.
THE PRESIDENT DECIDED TO CUT THE ISLAND OFF
FROM THE OUTSIDE WORLD.
THE UNITED STATES NAVY SET UP A QUARANTINE, OR BLOCKADE,
TO KEEP SOVIET VESSELS OUT.
BUT UNBEKNOWNST TO THE UNITED STATES,
FOUR OF THE APPROACHING SOVIET WARSHIPS WERE SUBMARINES
ARMED WITH NUCLEAR-TIPPED TORPEDOES.
KHRUSHCHEV AT FIRST REFUSED TO RESPECT THE QUARANTINE
OR REMOVE THE MISSILES FROM CUBA.
HE GAVE SOVIET SUBMARINE CAPTAINS
PERMISSION TO FIRE THEIR NUCLEAR TORPEDOES
IF THEY OR ANY SOVIET SHIP WAS THREATENED.
THE CRISIS WAS GROWING.
KENNEDY AND KHRUSHCHEV WERE ON THE BRINK OF NUCLEAR WAR.
AND THEN THE UNTHINKABLE HAPPENED.
Narrator: THE SOVIET UNION
AGREED TO WITHDRAW THE MISSILES FROM CUBA
IN EXCHANGE FOR AN AMERICAN PLEDGE
NOT TO INVADE CUBA.
IN AN ADDITIONAL SECRET UNDERSTANDING,
THE UNITED STATES AGREED
TO EVENTUALLY REMOVE AMERICAN MISSILES FROM TURKEY.
THE PUBLIC BREATHED A HUGE SIGH OF RELIEF,
BELIEVING A NUCLEAR WAR HAD BEEN NARROWLY AVERTED.
HOWEVER, THE DANGER WAS FAR FROM OVER.
THE FOUR SOVIET SUBS
WITH NUCLEAR TORPEDOES IN THEIR TUBES
WERE NOT ORDERED HOME.
THEY REMAINED A DEADLY PRESENCE.
ONE NIGHT WHILE ON PATROL,
AN AMERICAN SHIP FOUND ONE OF THE SOVIET SUBMARINES
OFF THE COAST OF CUBA.
CAPTAIN KELLY OF THE DESTROYER U.S.S. BLANDY
ORDERED THREE PRACTICE DEPTH CHARGES FIRED
AS A SIGNAL FOR THE SUBMARINE TO COME TO THE SURFACE.
Rump: WE HELD HIM DOWN BETWEEN 15, 16 HOURS.
AND SINCE HE WAS A DIESEL SUBMARINE,
WHICH MEANT THAT HE HAS TO SURFACE AT SOMETIME --
A NUKE COULD STAY DOWN FOR INDEFINITE TIME --
HE WAS EVENTUALLY GONNA RUN OUT OF AIR,
AND HE'D HAVE TO COME TO THE SURFACE.
EITHER THAT OR STAY DOWN AND NEVER COME UP.
Narrator: THE SOVIET CAPTAIN CAME TO THE SURFACE
SURROUNDED BY THE U.S. NAVY.
Interpreter: I EMERGED SLOWLY AND FOUND MYSELF SURROUNDED
BY FOUR DESTROYERS.
ONE WAS ABOUT 150 FEET FROM ME,
ANOTHER, DIRECTLY AHEAD,
A THIRD ONE, TO ONE SIDE.
IN A WORD, THEY WERE ALL AROUND ME.
Narrator: HE HAD BEEN GIVEN THE POWER TO FIRE,
BUT THE SOVIET CAPTAIN CHOSE TO DISPLAY HIS FLAG IN PEACE.
IF HE HAD FIRED A NUCLEAR TORPEDO,
IT MIGHT HAVE TRIGGERED A THIRD WORLD WAR.
THE SOVIET CAPTAIN'S SUBMARINE
WAS ESCORTED OUT TO SEA BY THE U.S. NAVY.
SOON ALL FOUR SOVIET SUBMARINES WERE FORCED TO SURFACE
AND WERE ESCORTED AWAY FROM THE AMERICAN QUARANTINE ZONE.
TODAY THE COLD WAR IS A FADING MEMORY,
BUT THE RUSSIAN AND AMERICAN SAILORS
WHO MET FACE-TO-FACE IN THE WATERS OFF CUBA
ARE REMEMBERED -- REMEMBERED AS HEROES
WHO BRAVELY BACKED OFF
AND AVERTED THE DESTRUCTION OF NUCLEAR WAR.
THE SPACE AGE BEGAN WITH THE LAUNCH OF SPUTNIK.
THE FORMER SOVIET UNION LAUNCHED THIS SATELLITE IN 1957.
IT WAS THE FIRST SATELLITE BUILT
TO ORBIT THE EARTH.
SPUTNIK ALSO SET OFF A FRANTIC SPACE RACE
BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES AND THE FORMER SOVIET UNION,
THE WORLD'S TWO SUPERPOWERS.
HOW DID THE U.S. AND THE FORMER SOVIET UNION
COMPETE IN THE SPACE RACE?
IN 1962, JOHN GLENN BECAME THE FIRST AMERICAN ASTRONAUT
TO ORBIT THE EARTH.
BUT JUST ONE YEAR LATER,
THE FORMER SOVIET UNION BOASTED THE FIRST WOMAN ASTRONAUT,
OR COSMONAUT, TO FLY IN SPACE.
IT WAS A LAUNCH AS MUCH ABOUT POLITICS
AS IT WAS ABOUT SCIENCE.
MANY HIGHLY QUALIFIED FEMALE DOCTORS
AND ENGINEERS IN THE SPACE PROGRAM
WERE PASSED OVER BY THE SOVIET GOVERNMENT.
THE SOVIETS WANTED A WOMAN WHO WAS AN ORDINARY RUSSIAN GIRL --
A WORKER WITH A COMMON BACKGROUND --
TO REPRESENT COMMUNIST IDEALS.
HER FLIGHT WOULD SHOW THE WORLD
THAT ONE NEED ONLY BE A GOOD CITIZEN TO GO INTO SPACE.
WHEN THE TIME CAME TO SELECT THE WOMAN TO GO INTO SPACE,
NO ONE WAS SURPRISED
THAT THE 24-YEAR-OLD VALENTINA TERESHKOVA
WAS A WORKER FROM A FARMING FAMILY.
TERESHKOVA SEEMED THE PERFECT CHOICE --
NOT JUST FOR THE FLIGHT,
BUT FOR THE PUBLIC ROLE SHE WOULD TAKE ON AFTERWARDS.
HER FLIGHT WAS LAUNCHED ON JUNE 16, 1963.
[ SPEAKING RUSSIAN ]
Interpreter: I HAVE BEGUN MY DUTIES.
ALL OF THE SYSTEMS ARE WORKING PERFECTLY.
I FEEL EXCELLENT.
Narrator: TERESHKOVA WAS A HEROINE TO HER PEOPLE.
BUT TO THE SOVIET GOVERNMENT,
TERESHKOVA WAS AN EXAMPLE OF THE COUNTRY'S POWER.
BECAUSE OF THIS, TERESHKOVA HAD TO CONCEAL
MANY DIFFICULTIES THAT CAME WITH HER FLIGHT.
HER WEAKNESSES COULD BE SEEN AS HER COUNTRY'S WEAKNESSES.
SHE BECAME NAUSEATED AND WAS UNABLE TO EAT
DURING THE THREE-DAY FLIGHT.
SPACE SICKNESS IS COMMON,
BUT TERESHKOVA KNEW
THAT IT WOULD REFLECT BADLY ON HER COUNTRY
IF HER ILLNESS WAS KNOWN.
SHE SAID NOTHING ABOUT IT.
WHEN SHE RETURNED TO EARTH,
SHE CONCEALED WHAT SHE HAD DONE
BY GIVING THE SPACE FOOD AWAY TO PEASANTS.
THAT'S NOT ALL TERESHKOVA CONCEALED.
[ SPEAKING RUSSIAN ]
Interpreter: WHEN THE LANDING CRAFT RETURNED,
THE INNER GLASS PLATE OF THE WINDOW WAS CRACKED.
THIS WAS A SERIOUS FAILURE,
BECAUSE IF THE GLASS BROKE, SHE WOULD DIE.
EVENTUALLY, WE LEARNED
THAT SHE CRACKED THE WINDOW WITH THE CAMERA.
IT WAS A CRITICAL QUESTION OF SPACECRAFT DESIGN,
AND THE COSMONAUT CONCEALED THE TRUTH.
SHE SO WANTED TO BE LIKED.
Narrator: FEMALE COSMONAUTS REMAINED IN TRAINING,
BUT THEY WERE NOT ASSIGNED FLIGHTS.
WHY WOULD THE FORMER SOVIET UNION CHOOSE TO TRAIN WOMEN
IF THEY WERE NOT ALLOWED TO FLY INTO SPACE?
THE WOMEN WERE USED AS PROPAGANDA --
EXAMPLES OF SOVIET POWER.
THOUGH THE COMPETITION TO EXPLORE SPACE
MADE DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS
BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES AND THE FORMER SOVIET UNION
DIFFICULT FOR MORE THAN 40 YEARS,
THESE LONGTIME ENEMIES HAVE PUT THE PAST BEHIND THEM
TO FOCUS ON SCIENCE.
SINCE THE COLD WAR ENDED IN 1991,
THE UNITED STATES AND RUSSIA --
PART OF THE FORMER SOVIET UNION --
HAVE COOPERATED IN A JOINT EXPLORATION OF SPACE.
UKRAINE IS ONE OF THE LARGEST COUNTRIES IN EASTERN EUROPE,
YET THE ENTIRE COUNTRY IS SLIGHTLY SMALLER
THAN THE STATE OF TEXAS.
IT SHARES BORDERS WITH POLAND, SLOVAKIA, HUNGARY,
ROMANIA, MOLDOVA, BELARUS,
RUSSIA, AND BOTH THE BLACK SEA
AND THE SEA OF AZOV TO THE SOUTH.
EVEN THOUGH PEOPLE HAVE LIVED IN THE UKRAINE
SINCE THE TIME OF THE GREEKS AND ROMANS,
THE COUNTRY JUST BECAME INDEPENDENT IN 1991.
BEFORE 1991, THIS COUNTRY WAS A PART
OF THE FORMER SOVIET UNION.
PEOPLE AROUND THE WORLD CALLED THE UKRAINE
THE "BREADBASKET OF THE SOVIET UNION"
BECAUSE OF ITS RICH FARMLAND.
THIS COUNTRY'S MEAT, MILK, GRAIN, AND VEGETABLES
HAVE LONG BEEN SOLD THROUGHOUT EASTERN EUROPE AND RUSSIA.
THOUGH MANY UKRAINIANS LIVE IN THE COUNTRYSIDE
AND WORK IN THE AGRICULTURAL INDUSTRY,
MORE THAN HALF OF THE UKRAINE'S 48 MILLION PEOPLE
LIVE IN ITS CITIES.
THIS INCLUDES UKRAINIANS, RUSSIANS,
AND PEOPLE OF MANY OTHER EASTERN EUROPEAN ETHNICITIES.
MANY UKRAINIANS HAVE JOBS IN THE COUNTRY'S BANKS,
RESTAURANTS, FACTORIES, AND FARMS,
BUT ROUGHLY 1/3 OF THE NATION'S PEOPLE LIVE IN POVERTY.
AND MANY OF THE UKRAINE'S INDUSTRIES
ARE IN DESPERATE NEED OF MODERNIZATION.
ON APRIL 26, 1986,
THE AGING CHERNOBYL NUCLEAR POWER PLANT EXPLODED.
PARTICLES OF RADIOACTIVE DUST SPREAD OVER NORTHERN UKRAINE
AND ITS NEIGHBORING COUNTRIES.
THE RADIATION CONTAMINATED EVERYTHING NEAR THE REACTOR.
ANYONE WHO ATE VEGETABLES, MEAT, OR DAIRY PRODUCTS FROM THAT AREA
RISKED BECOMING SICK OR DYING.
SOME OF UKRAINE'S FARMS
REMAIN TOO RADIOACTIVE TO GROW FOOD SAFELY,
SO FARMERS MUST GROW GRAIN AND RAISE ANIMALS
ON CONTAMINATED SOIL
OR ON THE LIMITED SUPPLY OF LAND
THAT HAS NOT BEEN CONTAMINATED.
UKRAINIANS ARE REBUILDING THEIR COUNTRY,
BUT THE PROCESS TAKES A LOT OF TIME.
MANY PEOPLE ARE NOT ABLE TO AFFORD TREATMENT
FOR THE EFFECTS OF CHERNOBYL'S RADIATION.
AND DOCTORS EXPECT THAT THOUSANDS OF UKRAINIANS
WILL DEVELOP CANCER BECAUSE OF RADIATION.
BUT UKRAINIANS ARE DOING THEIR BEST
TO PUT CHERNOBYL BEHIND.
[ SINGING IN UKRAINIAN ]
UKRAINIANS ARE NOT LIVING IN THE PAST.
THEY ARE USING THEIR AGRICULTURAL WEALTH
AND MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY
TO MAKE THEIR COUNTRY A BETTER PLACE TO LIVE.
SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO
IS LOCATED IN SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE.
IT IS BORDERED BY ALBANIA, BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA,
BULGARIA, CROATIA, HUNGARY,
THE FORMER YUGOSLAV REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA,
AND ROMANIA.
SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO USED TO BE PART
OF A MUCH LARGER COLLECTION OF REPUBLICS
CALLED "YUGOSLAVIA."
IN THE EARLY 1990s,
YUGOSLAVIA UNRAVELED ALONG ETHNIC LINES,
AND MOST OF ITS REPUBLICS SPLIT OFF
AND BECAME INDEPENDENT COUNTRIES.
KOSOVO, A PROVINCE WITHIN THE REPUBLIC OF SERBIA,
TRIED TO BREAK AWAY, AS WELL.
THE ETHNIC ALBANIAN MAJORITY IN KOSOVO
WANTED TO ESCAPE THE INCREASINGLY BRUTAL
RULE OF THE SERBS,
WHO WERE NOW THE MOST POWERFUL REPUBLIC IN YUGOSLAVIA.
BUT THE SERBS WOULDN'T LET KOSOVO GO.
YEARS OF GUERILLA WAR FOLLOWED.
THOUSANDS DIED, AND THOUSANDS OF ETHNIC ALBANIANS
WERE DRIVEN FROM THEIR HOMES.
FOLLOWING A NATO BOMBING CAMPAIGN ON SERB TROOPS,
UNITED NATIONS PEACE-KEEPERS MOVED INTO KOSOVO IN JUNE 1999.
THEY'VE BEEN THERE EVER SINCE.
BUT THE WAR HAD LEFT BEHIND AN INVISIBLE KILLER...
...LAND MINES AND UNEXPLODED BOMBS.
BOTH SIDES LAID THOUSANDS OF LAND MINES.
AND YEARS OF FIGHTING LEFT UNEXPLODED BOMBS AND AMMUNITION
SCATTERED THROUGHOUT THE REGION.
THOUGH THE FIGHTING WAS OVER,
PEOPLE STILL SUFFERED FROM THE WAR.
BUT NOW KOSOVO IS SLOWLY BECOMING A SAFER PLACE
AS WORKERS HAVE BEGUN CLEARING THE LAND MINES
LEFT BEHIND FROM THE WAR.
Man: I HAVE NEVER BEEN IN A MINEFIELD
AS DENSE AS THIS ONE, PERSONALLY.
I'VE WORKED IN CAMBODIA, KUWAIT, MOZAMBIQUE,
A FEW OF THE SMALLER COUNTRIES IN AFRICA --
AND NEVER, EVER THE DENSITY OF MINES I'VE FOUND HERE.
Narrator: THESE TEAMS OF U.N.-SPONSORED LAND-MINE REMOVERS
ARE DOING THE DANGEROUS AND TIME-CONSUMING WORK
OF FINDING AND ELIMINATING THE HIDDEN LAND MINES.
[ MAN SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY ON RADIO ]
IN THEIR FIRST YEAR,
THE DE-MINERS CLEARED NEARLY HALF THE MINES
AND UNEXPLODED BOMBS IN KOSOVO.
AND INJURIES FROM MINES HAVE BEEN CUT IN HALF.
THEY STILL HAVE WORK TO DO,
BUT THE DE-MINERS HAVE ALREADY CLEARED MANY AREAS
NEAR FARMS AND SCHOOLS.
WITH THESE AREAS CLEARED,
THE PEOPLE ARE NOW RETURNING TO THEIR VILLAGES
AND ARE BEGINNING TO REBUILD THEIR HOMES, SCHOOLS,
HOSPITALS, AND THEIR LIVES.
THE REALLY, REALLY GOOD FEELINGS I ACTUALLY GET
IS ONCE WE'VE COMPLETED AN AREA,
IS ACTUALLY GOING BACK THERE AND SEEING IT BEING USED.
WE'VE SEEN THESE PEOPLE STAYING AWAY.
THEY CAN'T GROW THEIR CROPS.
THEY JUST CAN'T ACCESS THE GROUND.
AND THEN YOU'VE CLEARED IT.
YOU'VE GONE IN THERE, AND YOU'LL SEE VILLAGES GROW.
YOU'LL SEE LIFE COME BACK INTO VILLAGES.
THAT'S A GOOD FEELING I GET.
Narrator: SPANNING THE CONTINENTS OF EUROPE AND ASIA,
THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION IS BORDERED BY NORWAY, FINLAND,
ESTONIA, LATVIA, BELARUS,
UKRAINE, GEORGIA, AZERBAIJAN,
KAZAKHSTAN, MONGOLIA, AND CHINA.
AND NEARLY TWICE THE SIZE OF THE UNITED STATES,
IT'S THE LARGEST COUNTRY ON THE PLANET.
RUSSIA IS SO BIG, IT COVERS 11 TIME ZONES.
RUSSIA USED TO LEAD A COLLECTION OF COMMUNIST COUNTRIES
THAT INCLUDED MANY OF ITS CURRENT NEIGHBORS.
THIS COLLECTION WAS CALLED
THE "UNION OF SOVIET SOCIALIST REPUBLICS," OR U.S.S.R.
THE CITY OF MOSCOW WAS THE CAPITAL OF THE U.S.S.R.
AND THE ULTIMATE SYMBOL OF COMMUNIST POWER.
BUT AFTER STRUGGLING
WITH ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL PROBLEMS FOR YEARS,
THE U.S.S.R. COLLAPSED IN 1991.
MOSCOW BECAME THE CAPITAL CITY
OF THE NEWBORN RUSSIAN FEDERATION.
TODAY MOSCOW LEADS THE REST OF RUSSIA IN POPULATION,
INDUSTRY, CULTURE,
SCIENCE, AND EDUCATION.
UNDER COMMUNISM,
THE FACTORIES AND MACHINES THAT PRODUCED THE COUNTRY'S GOODS
WERE OWNED BY THE GOVERNMENT.
THE GOVERNMENT DECIDED WHAT
AND HOW MUCH OF EVERYTHING WAS PRODUCED.
BUT THE LEADERS OF THE NEW RUSSIAN FEDERATION
ADOPTED A DEMOCRATIC POLITICAL SYSTEM
AND A MARKET ECONOMY.
A MARKET ECONOMY
IS NOT CONTROLLED BY A CENTRAL AUTHORITY.
CAPITALISM WORKS ON A MARKET ECONOMY.
THE RUSSIAN PEOPLE ARE NOW ALLOWED TO OWN SOME BUSINESSES
AND ARE FREE TO PRODUCE AND BUY AND SELL WHAT THEY WANT.
BUT CHANGE HAS BEEN SLOW IN RUSSIA.
THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
STILL DEPENDS LARGELY ON SELLING OFF ITS NATURAL RESOURCES
TO MAKE MONEY.
80% OF RUSSIAN EXPORTS ARE OIL,
NATURAL GAS, METALS, AND TIMBER.
AND RUSSIA STILL RELIES ON THE SAME OUTDATED MACHINERY
AND WORK PRACTICES THAT THEY HAVE USED FOR DECADES.
BUT 1991 DID BRING SOME MAJOR CHANGES.
WESTERN BUSINESSES HAVE NOW COME TO RUSSIA.
THE URBAN LANDSCAPE HAS BEEN TRANSFORMED.
NEW HOTELS, BANKS, AND OTHER BUSINESSES
HAVE BEEN DRAWN TO RUSSIA
NOW THAT THE COUNTRY IS OPEN TO PRIVATE INVESTMENT.
RUSSIANS CAN NOW BUY MANY OF THE THINGS
PEOPLE IN THE WEST TAKE FOR GRANTED.
THE RELIGIOUS LANDSCAPE HAS CHANGED, AS WELL.
UNDER COMMUNISM, RELIGION WAS DISCOURAGED.
BUT NOW PEOPLE CAN EXPRESS THEIR BELIEFS MORE FREELY
AND RELIGION IS BECOMING MORE WIDESPREAD.
TODAY RUSSIA HAS ABOUT 60 MILLION MEMBERS
OF THE RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH,
AS WELL AS FOLLOWERS OF ISLAM, BUDDHISM,
JUDAISM, AND OTHER RELIGIONS.
MORE CHANGES ARE LIKELY
IF RUSSIA CAN KEEP UP ITS RECENT ECONOMIC GROWTH
AND POLITICAL REFORMS.
BUT FOR NOW, THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS TO THE NEW RUSSIA
ARE THE SAME THINGS THAT WERE IMPORTANT TO THE OLD ONE --
ITS WORKERS, ITS FACTORIES,
AND ITS TRADITIONS.
[ RUSSIAN FOLK MUSIC PLAYS ]