COLD WAR: IRON CURTAIN {PART 2 OF 24} (TV)

Summary

The second in this twenty-four-part documentary series examining the events of the Cold War, from 1917 to the early 1990s. This series consists of interviews and archival footage, accompanied by historical narration by Kenneth Branagh. This episode depicts the formation and early solidification of what Winston Churchill called the "iron curtain" between east and west in a landmark speech in Fulton, Missouri, in 1945 that opens the program. The documentary goes on to focus on the growing postwar prosperity in the United States and to contrast it with the ruins in the Soviet Union and Germany. The behavior of the Russian victors in Berlin is highlighted with memories from Berlin resident Elfriede von Assel, who recalls her rape by Soviet soldiers. While ordinary soldiers looted and raped, the filmmakers suggest, the Soviet government seized resources and sometimes key individuals for war reparations. It also redrew the border between Germany and Poland, giving the latter much of the eastern territory of the former and ousting Germans from their lands. The program chronicles the increasing dominance of the U.S.S.R. over its western neighbors, quoting Sir Frank Roberts of the British Embassy in Moscow, President Truman's aide George Elsey, and Robert Tucker of the U.S. Embassy in Moscow about the growing concern in the west about this behavior. The documentary returns to postwar Berlin, and Berlin communist Wolfgang Leonhard discusses the party's careful plan to increase its prominence in the allied-run territory. In the Soviet Union, the filmmakers contend, Stalin remained anxious to maintain his power -- and cautious of the west. Many Russians who had been imprisoned by the Germans during the war, and had thus glimpsed the west, were arrested in the postwar period. Martha Mautner of the U.S. Embassy in Moscow describes one such case. At the height of his power, viewers are told, Stalin made a speech warning of future wars between capitalism and communism. Paul Nitze of the U.S. State Department recalls interpreting this speech as almost a declaration of war, while Vladimir Yerofeyev of the Soviet Foreign Ministry and Sir Frank Roberts explain it rather as a general statement of the Soviet leader's communist politics. The documentary continues to focus on western suspicion of Stalin and his motives, moving on to a discussion of American diplomat George Kennan's famous telegram from Moscow to the U.S., which depicted the Soviets as, in Kennan's words, "the same group of people who ... had tried to deal with Hitler at our expense and never had changed their views about us." A subsequent meeting between American President Truman and Winston Churchill is described, with additional emphasis on Churchill's Fulton speech, which occurred during this visit to the United States. Robert Tucker of the American Embassy in Moscow describes Stalin's hostile reaction to Churchill's rhetoric. The program moves on to describe Soviet activities in Turkey and in Iran. Yerofeyev explains that after the war, during which Soviet and British troops had occupied Iran, Stalin was reluctant to withdraw. Archival footage shows the adverse reaction of the United Nations security council to the continued Soviet presence in Iran, which eventually forced Stalin to withdraw. Clark Clifford and George Elsey remark on Truman's concern about Stalin's seeming global ambitions; they explain that they authored a report for the president that depicted the U.S.S.R. as "a real menace to freedom in this world." The program moves back to the question of Germany. In archival footage, American Secretary of State James Byrnes makes a speech arguing that the U.S. government wishes to give Germany back to its people. The documentary explains that Byrnes further suggested returning to Germany German land annexed to Poland after the war, a suggestion that alarmed Polish officials, according to General Wojciech Jaruzelski of the Polish Army. The program goes on to delineate deteriorating economic conditions throughout Europe. It notes that these crises spurred American officials to see the role of the U.S. as even more crucial in world affairs. It concludes by describing Truman's address to Congress vowing to stop the advance of communism throughout the world. Commercials deleted.

Cataloging of this program was made possible by The Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation, 1999.

This selection from the Alan Gerry Cable Collection has been made available by the Gerry Foundation, Inc.

Details

• NETWORK: CNN
• DATE: October 4, 1998 Sunday 8:00 PM
• RUNNING TIME: 0:46:48
• COLOR/B&W: Color
• CATALOG ID: T:58479
• GENRE: Public affairs/Documentaries
• SUBJECT HEADING: Cold War; Iron Curtain, origin of; Berlin Question, 1945-; World War II; She Made It Collection (Pat Mitchell)
• SERIES RUN: CNN - TV series, 1998-1999
• COMMERCIALS: N/A

CREDITS

• Pat Mitchell … Executive Producer
• Jeremy Isaacs … Executive Producer
• Vivian Schiller … Senior Producer
• Martin Smith … Series Producer
• Isobel Hinshelwood … Series Associate Producer
• Alison McAllan … Series Associate Producer
• Gillian Widdicombe … Production Executive
• Ted Turner … Series Concept by
• Shelagh Brady … Editor
• Beryl Wilkins … Editor
• Gerald Lorenz … Research
• Svetlana Palmer … Research
• Steve Bergson … Film Research
• Miriam Walsh … Film Research
• Neal Ascherson … Writer
• Carl Davis … Music by
• Kenneth Branagh … Narrator
• James Byrnes
• Winston S. Churchill
• Clark Clifford
• George Elsey
• Wojciech Jaruzelski
• George Kennan
• Wolfgang Leonhard
• Martha Mautner
• Paul Nitze
• Frank Roberts
• Joseph Stalin
• Harry S. Truman
• Robert Tucker
• von Assel, Elfriede
• Vladimir Yerofeyev