Love,hate & propaganda:cold war

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Episode 1: In the Shadow of Fe ar Short-lived alliances end as war time allies become enemies once again. Soviet leader Joseph Stalin tries to build an image as the sole conqueror of the Third Reich and Father of his people - with a little help from the movies. The Soviet Union consolidates its grip on the countries of Eastern Europe. Within Germany’s borders, a game of psychological chicken between East and West leads to the dramatic Berlin Blockade and Airlift. While Americans enjoy unprecedented prosperity, Republican Senator Joseph McCarthy’s House on Un-American Activities leads a witch hunt against anyone suspected of pro-communist views. Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin leads his own witch-hunt within the communist empire, and his methods are decidedly more brutal. The balancing of the nuclear scales will lead to a climate of fear and mistrust that will last for more than forty years. Episode 2: TURNIN G UP TH E HEAT In the Soviet Union, the death of Stalin brings hope for more peaceful times. His successor Nikita Khrushchev brings a more jovial face to the Soviet dictatorship, and he tries to revamp the country’s image by hosting a huge party for the world’s youth. But he shows his true colours with the hard-handed repression of reform in Hungary. The battle for black civil rights in America gives the Soviets a powerful propaganda weapon, especially in Africa where the superpowers fight for influence in the era of decolonization and independence. The launch of Sputnik is one of the greatest propaganda coups for the Soviets, and extends the field of battle into space. The American president ups the ante: he wants to go to the moon. Both sides develop weapons of mass annihilation. The US government launches propaganda campaigns to reassure people that a nuclear attack can be survived and that the atomic bomb may not be so scary. But with the sudden construction of the Berlin Wall and then the Cuban Missile Crisis, the world seems on the brink of nuclear war.

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