All language subtitles for Cold War - S01E14 - Red Spring (The 60s) (480p x265 EDGE2020).eng

NARRATOR:
Prague, 1964.

Nikita Khrushchev visits
Anton in Novotny,

the loyal communist ruler
of Czechoslovakia.

Khrushchev boasted that
the Soviet system

was dynamic
and healthy.

[speaking Russian ]

Communists were brothers,

members of
the same family,

sharing resources,
sharing a joke.

[ laughter ]

But only four years later,

the Soviet Union
returned to Prague

with tanks.

D ♪

NARRATION:
Khrushchev brimmed with confidence.

He hated formality --

he acted on impulse --

he loved a fight.

He wanted to make
the Soviet Union happy

as well as glorious.

[ Man speaking Russian ]

INTERPRETER: He believed
that socialism had to be liberated

from the debris
of Stalin's rule

and from bureaucracy.

It should be made
more democratic.

The gates should be opened,

but gradually
step by step.

Because for him,

socialism was
like paradise on earth.

NARRATION:
To show his confidence,

Khrushchev allowed
ah American exhibition

into Moscow
in 1959.

For the first time,

Russians could touch and taste
American achievement.

NARRATOR: Some of the women
complained sometimes it smelt like benzine,

and men wanted to know
if it would make them drunk.

NARRATION: But Khrushchev
knew that the Soviet Union

was beating America
in the space race.

For Khrushchev,
here was evidence

that communism meant
not just power

but technical progress.

The first generation
of Soviet cosmonauts --

Gagarin, Titov,

and the first woman
in space,

Valentina Tereshkova,

became instant
national heroes.

They personified Khrushchevs
vision --

a modernized,
vigorous Soviet Union

which would lead the world
into the future.

The Soviet Union's natural
resources seemed limitless.

Khrushchev believed that
the Soviet people would work

even harder if they were freed
from fear and poverty.

[speaking Russian ]

NARRATION:
But the cold War's pressure to rearm

kept the old priority
for heavy industry alive,

especially in
the expanding defense sector.

[Woman speaking Russian ]

INTERPRETER: They would
shout, "Come on, come on, speed up!"

But sometimes we used
to get irritated

because we knew
even without their orders

that we had to
hurry up.

We knew that there
was a threat

that bombs and missiles
could reach us --

so we had
to defend ourselves.

There was no feeling

that we were on
equal terms with the West,

or that we could come
to any agreement.

NARRATION: The Cold War also
kept huge armed forces in the field.

Khrushchev tried
to out them back,

but the generals resisted.

[ Man speaking Russian ]

INTERPRETER:
it was very prestigious to join the military.

First, because you earned
a higher wage.

When I graduated
I was paid 240 roubles,

and an engineer
only got 120 roubles.

Also, I received
five uniforms

and that mattered.

And in the military
you got an apartment.

NARRATION:
Cities like Sverdlovsk,

900 miles east
of Moscow,

were dominated by
giant armament plants.

Production was a matter
of fulfilling --

or outstripping --

targets set by
the planners in Moscow.

Patriotic propaganda kept
the workers straining

to produce
more and faster.

[speaking Russian ]

INTERPRETER: We believed
that it was our duty to the motherland

and we worked
very hard.

A lot of young people
worked at our factory.

About 3,000 young communists --
Komsomol members.

We had our own committee

and we created
youth brigades

which competed
against each other.

The best brigades were
awarded pennants and trophies.

NARRATION:
Khrushchev and the Party still relied

on propaganda and patriotism

to keep the economy going.

[speaking Russian ]

[speaking Russian ]

People forgave us a lot
because of the Cold War.

The West didn't
only harm us,

it also helped us.

Because by frightening us,
it played into our hands.

We could say to the people,

"Tighten up your belts,
be patient,

we have to wait
for a better life

and be prepared
for the worst."

And we used that.

[speaking Russian ]

INTERPRETER:
We had such a huge country,

with vast resources,
all the people worked.

So why were we dressed
so badly

in whatever we could
lay our hands on,

and ate whatever there was,
and not what we wanted?

The explanation was simple --

Uncle Sam
and the imperialists are

making an atomic bomb,

so we had to make two
in order to frighten them.

If they made two bombs,
we had to produce four.

I“ [orchestra plays] I“

NARRATION: Government films
celebrated the onward march to communism.

But most people
in the Soviet Union still lived

in hardship and overcrowding.

[speaking Russian ]

INTERPRETER:
They were mainly communal flats.

In one flat there were
2 or 3, sometimes 4 rooms,

and in each room
lived a whole family.

Can you imagine
a whole family in one room?

There was
only one kitchen

and only one of all
other conveniences.

It was an awful life.

NARRATION:
Khrushchev was impatient to see

Soviet people living
as well as Americans --

or even better.

He tried to shift
the planned economy

towards light industry
and consumer needs.

But the Soviet Establishment,
set in its ways,

resisted change.

[speaking Russian ]

INTERPRETER: He understood
that politics is about people.

The basis of his policy was
to improve people's lives.

He knew he had
to deal differently

with the outside world,

that change was needed.

He understood it as a man
with a lot of common sense,

peasanfs common sense.

He had very strong
instinctive gut feelings

and he followed them.

But professional politicians
and diplomats at the time

were horrified.

They said, "What is he doing?"

NARRATION:
To solve the housing shortage,

prefabrication seemed
the answer.

In the 1960s,

apartment blocks shot up
around every Soviet city.

For millions of Russians

it was an opportunity
for a new life.

[speaking Russian ]

Of course we were happy.

We had waited every day
for this apartment

like a cake
out of the oven.

We were fed up with lodging
with three other families.

When we moved here,
we thought it was paradise.

We've lived here ever since
and it's fine.

NARRATION:
Living conditions improved,

but there was still a shortage
of goods in the shops.

[ Nedoboyeva speaking Russian ]

INTERPRETER:
We were quiet hard up.

I can't say we were rolling
like cheese in butter.

We had to queue
for a loaf of bread.

Such products as cereal,
pasta, and bread --

they were all rationed.

NARRATION:
To solve the food shortage,

Khrushchev rushed through
agricultural reforms.

He launched
the Virgin Lands campaign,

which ploughed up the natural
grasslands of central Asia

and planted them
with wheat.

Khrushchev boasted
that he would overtake America

in meat, milk, and grain.

Volunteers poured out
to the Virgin Lands

with the old
communist zeal.

[woman speaking Russian ]

INTERPRETER: The Virgin Lands
and Khrushchev are inseparable.

He was such a vivacious,
enthusiastic person.

He woke up
the whole country.

He inspired people.

It was exciting
and romantic.

Though that sounds naive now,

it was
a wonderful time.

NARRATION:
But there were not enough fertilizers,

railroad cars,
or grain silos.

Much of the harvest
was wasted.

[speaking Russian ]

INTERPRETER: It was
hard to get meat in our town

so we had
to go to Moscow.

We took huge rucksacks
and we went on a bus,

120 kilometers to Moscow.

We went to Gum,

the central department store
on Red Square

and spent
a whole day shopping.

We bought sausages,
cookies --

all the delicacies.

We held our rucksacks open

while our mothers
did the shopping.

Then we went back
on the bus.

It was a real celebration.

Moscow got the bulk
of the supplies.

The provinces were
sausage less and meatless.

NARRATION:
Moscow, the showcase capital city,

was allowed
special supplies.

[ Merzlikina speaking Russian ]

INTERPRETER:
We had no advertising.

We just looked at
what the others were wearing.

We tried to keep
in step with fashion.

We normally bought only
inexpensive clothes and shoes,

but we tried to get
something modern.

We wanted to look good,

not to look old-fashioned.

NARRATION:
People wanted more out of life,

and found ways
to get it.

Russians who worked
in the defense industry

got special privileges.

Soviet home movies recorded
changing behavior --

the company picnic.

[speaking Russian ]

We used to go
in very large groups,

about 40 people.

We used to buy food,

and cook in large pots
on open fires.

We slept in tents.

That's how we spent
our time.

NARRATION:
Resorts were run by the Party

and the trade unions.

Millions of families
took a free vacation.

Official films
showed the world

a new image of modern
Soviet man and woman.

Western lifestyles
were alluring.

[ Moskalenko speaking Russian ]

INTERPRETER:
Fashion did penetrate our country.

In the late '50s
and the beginning of the '60s,

when we got trousers,

we changed them to make them
very narrow and flute-like.

You could only get them
on and off

by using soap
on your legs.

We were punished severely
for wearing them.

[ Projector running ]

[ Man speaking Russian ]

INTERPRETER:
I think that the "war of the trousers"

was of great importance.

People suddenly started
allowing themselves something

they could not have
during all of those decades

of Soviet Power.

The young people who did this
were rounded up.

[speaking Russian ]

There were special patrol guards
with red bands on their arms.

And if they saw that someone was
dressed English style,

not Soviet style,

he was pulled
out of the crowd

and taken to the militia
station

where they out the trousers,
then out their hair,

and then let them off home.

That's how they fought against
Western fashion.

NARRATION:
But the new sounds, the new dances,

still found their way in --

the twist with a glance
over the shoulder.

New portable radios could
sometimes pick up

forbidden programs
from abroad.

[speaking Russian ]

Society was trying
to crawl out

from under the stones
of totalitarianism.

You couldn't get
any discs here,

and to record them off air
was almost impossible

because the radio
was jammed.

But, I don't know how,

some were smuggled in.

Copies were made
on X-ray plates

and sold illegally.

It was music
on X-rays.

You played it on the bones
of your relatives.

[speaking Russian ]

INTERPRETER: We used to go
from one end of town to the other,

paid crazy money
for them.

Each record cost
one rouble.

That was a lot of money
at the time.

So I skipped lunch at school
for a week,

for two weeks.

Several of us would
save up the money together

and go and get a record,
get back,

put the record on
and listen to Rock and Roll --

to Elvis Presley.

That was really something.

NARRATION:
But most ordinary Russians received

only what the state approved.

[speaking Russian ]

INTERPRETER:
We made sure our people were getting

only what we believed
they needed,

and what we thought
was beneficial

and necessary for our State,

our system,

and the policy
of our Party,

which played the leading role
in our society.

[speaking Russian ]

They interfered
in all spheres of our life.

If a man behaved badly
in the family,

if he was drinking
or had another woman,

then his wife would
tell the Party

or Komsomol organization,

and he would be called
before a party meeting.

NARRATION:
The young were trying to make up

their own rules.

The old Russian family
was losing control

of its children.

In vain, the communist
youth movement tried

to preserve
traditional morals.

[speaking Russian ]

To have sex before marriage,

for us was
very bad manners.

The first night was
normally after the wedding.

Of course, there were
some young people

who did not stick
to this.

They behaved freely...

but they were called
before the Komsomol committee,

where they had
to explain themselves.

We tried to deal
with their emotional conflicts

and give them direction.

D ♪

[speaking Russian ]

NARRATION:
Writers and artists grew bolder,

challenging
the censors.

The young crowded to hear
new voices,

speaking from
the heart.

MAN:
I'd become popular nationally,

not as a political poet,
as a poet of love

because for many, many
years of Cold War

after 1945,

some poets even didn't use
in the poetry about love,

the Word "I...

They were using "we,"
"we love."

"I love you as I love
my country," for instance.

That was typical, you know,
hypocritical quotation

from poetry of that time.

And even poems about...

not political poems,

about loneliness, for instance --

like my poem,
early poem --

it was accused like
anti-Soviet poem,

because if I am
Soviet man,

how I could be lonely

if I'm member of such
a giant collective

like two millions
of my friends

who are working for
ideals of communism,

something like that.

I remember these
hypocritical articles.

[speaking Russian ]

INTERPRETER: The KGB did not
deal directly with artists and writers.

But if certain facts came
to the attention of the KGB,

and if they discovered
anti-Soviet content

or something that contradicted
our ideology and policies...

then the KGB could
get involved

and try to find out
who started it,

Why,

and what their motives
were.

NARRATION:
The Party was in control everywhere.

In 1962,

hard-liners
persuaded Khrushchev

to visit an exhibition
of modern art.

They hoped
he would be shocked,

and restore even
tighter censorship.

He asked, "These are
some unfinished canvases?"

They saki, “No.“

"But why they have
no human faces

or landscapes
of our Motherland?" he asked.

And they answered him,

"Because they hate
the faces

of our Soviet workers,
miners.

NARRATION:
The hard-liners succeeded.

Khrushchev exploded

and shouted abuse
at the painters and sculptors.

[ Man speaking Russian ]

INTERPRETER:
The exhibition was a provocation.

It was like
a move in chess

which had several
targets at once.

It was a trap set
for the intelligentsia,

which included a trap
for me,

because I had won
lots of competitions.

And it was also meant

to provoke Khrushchev
into repression.

[speaking Russian ]

He didn't like --

he didn't understand
avant garde art.

He liked opera,
classical music, folk music.

Realistic art where one
could see a forest

and know it was
a forest.

The ideologists told him
he was very wise

not to understand it

because behind it,

bourgeois ideology is
penetrating our pure society,

and it could all
end up rather badly.

[speaking Russian ]

NARRATION:
The censors stifled free speech

in other parts
of the Soviet Empire.

In Czechoslovakia,

where a rigid Stalinist
leadership blocked all reform,

the struggle was
the same --

the free-thinking artist
trying to elude the Party censor.

In those years,

Vaclav Havel began to write
for the theater.

[Speaking Czech ]

INTERPRETER: To criticize
communist ideology was like suicide.

It was better
to find another way,

to write
about human rights,

human freedom
and basic human existence,

rather than enter
into a direct confrontation

with ideology.

You know
the censorship itself,

it's not the worst evil.

The worst evil is --

and that is
the product of censorship --

is the self-censorship

because that twists spines,

that destroys
my character,

because I have to think
something else

and say something else.

I have to always
control myself.

I am stopping
to being honest.

I am becoming hypocrite.

And that is
what they wanted.

They wanted everybody
to feel guilty.

NARRATION:
Whatever went wrong,

the communist system itself
must never be blamed.

Khrushchev had still hot solved
the problem

of food supply,

but he was buoyant
about his grand schemes.

He ordered everyone
to grow corn,

claiming -- wrongly --
that new Soviet varieties

could survive
in cold climates.

[speaking Russian ]

The poor girls and boys
had to warm up the fields,

day and night,
so that the corn would grow.

They burnt fires
all through the night,

especially if
a frost was forecast.

Sometimes they fell asleep
too close to the fire

and burnt their hands
and faces.

So the corn, for us,
was not the queen of the fields,

but an evil stepmother.

When they couldn't
save the crops,

despite
burning the fires,

the boys would put on
a brave face.

But the girls cried
bitter tears,

because the crop had died.

NARRATION:
In 1963, the harvest failed.

There were bread shortages
and renewed rationing.

Wheat head to be
imported from the West.

[speaking Russian ]

INTERPRETER:
At least we'd always had bread before.

But when suddenly
it disappeared,

thanks to him,

Khrushchev was cursed --

but only at home.

In the street
you had to keep quiet.

But at home,

even though
my father was a communist,

he used to swear
and curse Khrushchev

because he made life
much more difficult for us.

NARRATION: The Soviet
people, officials and citizens alike,

were losing patience
with Khrushchev.

His great plans all seemed
to end in calamity.

Khrushchevs peasant
boisterousness

amused the West,
but it shocked Russians.

They found him clownish,
irresponsible.

Over Cuba, he had nearly
blundered into nuclear war.

[speaking Russian ]

He caused unrest
among the Party elite.

Almost everyone was
dissatisfied with him

but for various reasons.

These could be personal,

or because of
the constant reforms

he introduced
and then cancel led...

or his unsuccessful moves
in politics.

Of course personal reasons
played a part, too.

A lot of people were afraid

that he would undermine
the stability of the system.

[speaking Russian ]

The fruit was overripe.

We had to decide quickly,

before the fruit fell
and started to decay

and infect society.

Because then society would
start to rot.

That is why we made the decision
to depose Khrushchev.

It was done quietly,
without any blood.

NARRATION:
The Politburo selected Leonid Brezhnev

to lead the attack
oh Khrushchev.

In October, 1964,

Khrushchev was deposed.

[speaking Russian ]

INTERPRETER:
I met him.

He gave me his briefcase

and he never
touched it again.

He said,
"it's all finished. I resign."

When they all went to lunch,
I left.

I didn't want
to join them."

I don't think they actually
invited him

to have lunch
anyway.

He was in a state
of nervous stress.

He had tears
in his eyes.

He was very unsettled.

He couldn't find
a place for himself.

He would go
to the dacha,

come back,
sit around.

It was month and a half
before he gradually calmed down.

NARRATION:
Few people missed Khrushchev.

Many wanted a firm hand
on the tiller again.

[ Nedoboyeva speaking Russian ]

INTERPRETER:
Everybody was satisfied with the wiser,

more sensible position
taken up

by the new leadership

and by Brezhnev in particular.

That was our first impression.

It was more acceptable
to the people

because it was
more stable.

Before that, the situation
had been uncertain

and we didn't know
what would happen

from one day
to the next.

NARRATION:
Stability was restored in the Soviet Union,

but unrest stirred
in the Empire.

In Czechoslovakia,

the repressive regime
of Anton in Novotny

still stamped on demands
for a more open society.

They tried to push back

the progress of freedom,

but they didn't succeed
any more.

We made two steps forward

and we were repressed
by one step,

but we gained
one step always.

NARRATION:
By February, 1968

the Czechoslovak reformers
were taking over.

Brezhnev flew to Prague

to size up the new leader,
Alexander Dubcek.

Brezhnev accepted that
some change was inevitable.

Alexander Dubcek seemed
a loyal communist

who would alter only
what was necessary.

By March 1968,

Dubcek and the new President
Ludvik Svoboda were in charge,

but their reforms were already
shocking

the rest
of the Communist world.

The reformers were confident

that they could bring
communism up to date.

The Party would
still lead --

but by consent,
not force.

There would be freedom
to speak and write,

to travel
and organize.

There would even be
a form of market economy.

Dubcek's vision was named --

"Socialism with
a human face."

One of the first changes
was the ending of censorship.

Suddenly the papers were
full of truth,

revealing the crimes
of Stalinist Czechoslovakia.

Everywhere crowds gathered
in an anxious debate.

[ Overlapping conversations ]

[ Applause ]

After two decades
of terror and silence,

Czechs and Slovaks
had found their voice again.

GOLDSTUCKER:
People came in thousands,

and if they didn't get in,

they listened outside
for hours on end.

People suddenly realized

that they can
live more freely.

And they came

very anxious to learn

about the new enlarged
boundaries of their lives.

NARRATION:
Western styles and visitors poured in.

This May Day
there was genuine joy.

Trust was growing
between the people

and their leaders.

But could communism
be reformed?

[Speaking Czech ]

INTERPRETER: On the one hand
they wanted to preserve communism

and socialism
as they called it.

But on the other hand

they wanted to give it
a human face...

which meant that they wanted
to lift the lid a little.

But they hoped that the lid
would not fly off

with the pressure
inside the cooker, as it were,

that they would still be able
to contain the situation.

It was funny that,
you know, before...

you know,
in the '50s and like that,

you know, people were
looking over their shoulders,

you know, who could
be following you,

and if they had somebody
brought from the West,

some newspaper,
it was in the pockets,

deep in the pockets.

In the '60s,
in the euphoria of free press,

everybody was
talking freely

and at the same time
looking over their shoulders,

because it was not...

I think it was
a freedom in spasm,

a spasmodic freedom
that people were really --

it was like a freedom,
unleashed by fever, you know,

it was not really
a comfortable freedom.

It was not.

NARRATION:
In May, a grim Soviet Prime Minister,

Alexei Kosygin,
visited the Czechs.

Soviet dislike of
Dubcek's reforms

had turned to horror.

Moscow feared the Communist
party might lose power.

Worse, Dubcek might change sides
in the Cold War.

A few hard-line
Czechoslovak Communists

agreed with the Kremlin.

[ Bilak speaking Czech ]

INTERPRETER:
They didn't ask for anything special,

just to halt the disintegration
of the party,

stop anti-Soviet activity

and anti-socialist propaganda.

Stop the growing voices
saying that

Czechoslovakia should leave
the Warsaw Pact.

They said quite openly,
"We cannot accept it,

we cannot allow the border
of the West

to come right up
to the Soviet border."

NARRATION:
In the early summer,

Warsaw Pact troops staged

very public maneuvers
in Czechoslovakia.

After the exercise,

they left their signals network
in place.

They warning was not
hard to read.

Threats from Moscow
and the Warsaw Pact

failed to make Dubcek
climb down.

In July, Brezhnev, Kosygin,
and the entire Politburo

arrived from Moscow
with renewed demands.

[ Man speaking Russian ]

INTERPRETER:
The situation was quite tense.

We came to an agreement

that the Czechoslovaks would
themselves carry out

a certain number
of crucial measures

to restore order.

This involved some
changes in personnel,

the introduction of tighter
control over the mass media,

and stricter work among
certain layers of society.

And the imposition
of censorship,

because openly anti-communist,
anti-Soviet publications

and articles
started to appear.

NARRATION:
Two days later,

the Czechoslovak leaders made
some concessions.

But it was too late.

The Soviet Politburo
had already decided

to solve the problem --
by force.

On the night of August 21,

Soviet paratroopers
seized Prague Airport.

Soviet and Warsaw Pact armies

burst through
the Czechoslovak frontiers.

[ Radio announcement
in Czech ]

NARRATION:
As the invasion began,

the Czechoslovak leaders
were meeting in Prague.

[Speaking Czech ]

INTERPRETER: We listened
to the airplanes flying overhead.

Dubcek was waiting
for a telephone message,

but instead
the door suddenly opened,

and paratroopers came in
carrying Kalashnikovs.

They stood behind us
and the commander said

they were taking us
under protection

in the name of the forces
of the Warsaw Pact.

What will happen later,
we will see.

We were prisoners.

NARRATION:
Before their arrest,

the party's leaders managed
to condemn the invasion.

By morning,

Soviet tanks had taken over
the center of Prague.

[chanting in Czech]

[speaking Russian ]

INTERPRETER:
A lot of the population were bewildered.

They were surprised.

When we had taken up
our positions

in front
of the target buildings,

people starting coming up
to us, asking,

"What's going oh?
What's happened?"

[Woman speaking Czech ]

INTERPRETER:
They came like burglars

and pretended
they wanted to help us.

So we went
to speak to them.

We climbed
on the tanks

and we told them
to go back home,

that they had lost their way

or been sent
to the wrong place.

They were really surprised

and didn't understand what
we were trying to tell them.

[gunshot]

[woman speaking Czech ]

INTERPRETER:
Suddenly we heard a shot.

I saw a boy,
only two meters away from me,

fall to the ground.

The armored car
started to advance.

People moved
to the side streets.

But there were so many of us,

we couldn't all fit
in those narrow streets.

I was at the edge
of the crowd.

The armored car
struck me.

There was nothing
I could do.

It hit my knee
with the front wheel.

[ Gunshots ]

GOLDSTUCKER:
You see, I went through

the Hitler invasion
in 1939,

And I must say that
the Soviet invasion in '68

was even crueller impact

than the Hitler one,
Hitlerite one.

Because Hitler was
our declared enemy,

we didn't expect anything
from him but the worst.

But here, those who
for years and decades

preached they're our
best friends, our brothers,

the guarantors
of our independence,

came with an army
of half a million

to suppress our drive
for a little bit more freedom.

They came to crush it.
They came to murder it.

To murder that attempt
to democratize socialism.

[speaking Russian ]

INTERPRETER:
This action was dictated first of all

by the need...

to preserve the balance of power

in the relations
between the East and West.

And of course we were
interested in preserving there,

the established system.

NARRATION:
Czechoslovakiefs kidnapped leaders decided

resistance
was hopeless.

In a tragic broadcast,

Dubcek broke
the news.

[Speaking Czech ]

The Czechoslovak experiment,
the most daring attempt

to marry communism
with democracy,

had failed.