Volume five of the six volume television series “Cold War” features episodes 17 to 20 and covers the period from 1954 to 1990. The Soviet Union and their Cuban allies find themselves rivals with the United States and their allies in supporting wars in Africa and the Middle East during the 1960’s and 1970s, including the Six Day War between Israel and the Arab states led by Egypt in 1967, the invasion of, and civil war in Angola in 1975 and the deposing of emperor Haile Selassie by a Marxist regime in Ethiopia in 1977. Detente is fading as the Cold War takes a new turn. Central America, the Caribbean and South America become the new focus for control between the United States and the Soviet Union as a push towards nationalism begins to spread, particularly in the Central American region, right on the United States’ back door. Countries such as Guatemala and Cuba were experiencing revolutionary upheaval and it was in the late 1950s that Fidel Castro and Che Guevara established a Soviet-backed communist regime in Cuba, making for a very nervous United States. During the 1960s left-wing groups were fighting the authorities in Guatemala, Venezuela, Columbia and Peru, with Chile, Nicaragua and El Salvador facing their own revolutions during the 1970s and 1980s. In the midst of all this turmoil, Jimmy Carter and Leonid Brezhnev promised to reduce East-West tensions but for all their good intentions, this promise was doomed to fail. Meanwhile Afghanistan, vital to Moscow’s interests, was becoming a focus of superpower rivalry. CIA plots, KGB counter-plots and finally an invasion of Afghanistan by the Soviet Union in December 1979 - which was to become the Soviet Union’s Vietnam. In 1980, the US under the presidency of Ronald Reagan, covertly increased military aid to the Afghan rebels with money and arms being channeled through Pakistan - which controlled the way aid was distributed among the many Mujahedeen factions. Pakistan hoped to install a fundamentalist Islamic regime in Afghanistan. Finally, by 1989, after the killing of almost 15,000 Soviet soldiers, 1,000,000 Afghans, and a further 5,000,000 Afghans displaced or wounded, Moscow withdrew its troops. Narrated by Kenneth Branagh. (For more information see www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cold.war)
Content notification
Our collection comprises over 40,000 moving image works, acquired and catalogued between the 1940s and early 2000s. As a result, some items may reflect outdated, offensive and possibly harmful views and opinions. ACMI is working to identify and redress such usages.
Learn more about our collection and our collection policy here. If you come across harmful content on our website that you would like to report, let us know.
How to watch
Collection
In ACMI's collection
Credits
Collection metadata
ACMI Identifier
315566
Language
English
Subject categories
Anthropology, Ethnology, Exploration & Travel → Central America
Anthropology, Ethnology, Exploration & Travel → East and west
Anthropology, Ethnology, Exploration & Travel → Guatemala
Anthropology, Ethnology, Exploration & Travel → Somalia
Anthropology, Ethnology, Exploration & Travel → South America
Armed Forces, Military, War & Weapons → Cold War
Armed Forces, Military, War & Weapons → East and west
Armed Forces, Military, War & Weapons → Islam and politics - Afghanistan
Armed Forces, Military, War & Weapons → Israel-Arab Border Conflicts, 1949-
Armed Forces, Military, War & Weapons → Israel-Arab conflicts
Armed Forces, Military, War & Weapons → Nuclear disarmament
Crime, Espionage, Justice, Police & Prisons → United States. Central Intelligence Agency
Documentary → Documentary films - United States
Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Chile - Politics and government
Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Communism
Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Cuba - Politics and government
Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → East and west
Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → El Salvador - Politics and government
Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Ethiopia - Politics and government
Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Human rights
Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Islam and politics - Afghanistan
Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Islamic fundamentalism - Afghanistan
Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Nuclear disarmament
Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Poland - Politics and Government
Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Socialism
Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → South Africa - Politics and government
Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Soviet Union - Politics and government
Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → United States - Politics and government
Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → United States. Central Intelligence Agency
History → Islam and politics - Afghanistan
History → Islamic fundamentalism - Afghanistan
History → Middle East - History
History → Nasser, Gamal Abdel, 1918-1970
History → Nicaragua - Politics and government - 1937-1979
History → Soviet Union - Foreign relations - United States
History → Soviet Union - History - 20th century
History → United States - History - 1969-
History → United States. Central Intelligence Agency
People → Guevara, Ernesto, 1928-1967
People → Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, Shah of Iran, 1919-
People → Nasser, Gamal Abdel, 1918-1970
People → Pinochet Ugarte, Augusto
Television → Television programs → Television programs - United States
Sound/audio
Sound
Colour
Colour
Holdings
VHS; Access Print (Section 1)