MAD World

A new era of terror begins after atomic bombs are dropped on Japan. As the Second World War comes to a close, two superpowers rise with opposing ideologies and growing animosity. The USSR sweeps through Eastern Europe, imposing harsh dictatorships on the people. Many try to escape. The tension between communism and capitalism rises – will the USA once more drop the atomic bomb?

In 1949 several Western Europe nations form NATO. The Soviets successfully test their first atomic bomb. The arms race is on, with the H-Bomb next. The resulting paranoia leads to show trials, witch hunts and assassinations. South Korea is invaded by the communist North, and the Korean War begins. Whether in the arms race, proxy wars or espionage, the Cold War is running hot.

By the mid 1950s, there is a build up of military bases on both sides of the iron curtain. A few years later, revolution puts a Communist dictatorship on the USA’s doorstep in Cuba. The Space Race begins with the launch of Sputnik. Almost overnight, the Soviet Union seals off West Berlin with the building of the Berlin Wall.

The cold war burns hot in 1962 when the USSR places nuclear warheads in Cuba. Soon, the first US troops arrive in Vietnam staying more than a decade. In the Prague Spring of 1968, a movement towards 'communism with a human face' is doomed. It's a giant leap for mankind, when man walks on the moon in 1969. In 1972, Richard Nixon becomes the first US president to visit communist China.

Cold war tensions continue in the 1970s. The US pulls its troops out of Vietnam while the nuclear arms race is spiralling out of control with the testing of the Neutron bomb. In Angola, a civil war breaks out and weapons flow into the country, as do mercenaries. At last in Vienna in 1979, Jimmy Carter and Leonid Brezhnev sign a treaty limiting nuclear weapons systems.

Cold War II Just as détente seems to be the 'new normal', the West is outraged when the soviet military moves into Afghanistan. The US immediately offers arms and support to the anti-government rebels. Boxer Muhammad Ali leads an Olympic boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics. Fear of global annihilation causes mass ‘No Nukes’ protests.

In the 1980s, the US continues to halt the spread of communism. An extremist leader takes over the Caribbean island of Grenada in 1983, Ronald Reagan sends in the marines overnight. In Nicaragua rebel 'Sandinistas' fight the 'Contra' guerillas. In 1987, Reagan announces a new arms program dubbed ‘Star Wars’.  Mikhail Gorbachev the new president of the USSR attempts to end the Cold War.

By the 1980s, the Solidarity movement in Poland has become a beacon of dissent. In Germany 1989, the Berlin wall comes down. In Romania, President Ceaușescu and his wife have lived like imperial rulers for decades. Their fall from grace is nothing if not dramatic. Meanwhile the soviet republics break free. The Soviet Union is no more, the Cold War is over.