25: 1989: People Power | People’s Century

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Synopsis

By the 1970s the people in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe were becoming aware of the economic failures of central planning.

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More episodes from this series

1: 1900: Age of Hope | People's Century

1: 1900: Age of Hope | People's Century

BBC Two | 1995 | 53'57''

At the beginning of the twentieth century the world was stable and certain, but unequal. The Paris Exhibition of 1900 symbolises the ...

2: 1914: Killing Fields | People's Century

2: 1914: Killing Fields | People's Century

BBC Two | 1995 | 53'37''

The Great War is fought with larger armies and deadlier weapons than ever before, bringing death and carnage on an unprecedented s...

3: 1917: Red Flag | People's Century

3: 1917: Red Flag | People's Century

BBC Two | 1995 | 53'12''

The October Revolution brings forth a new Marxist Leninist society in what becomes the Soviet Union. Its people, now freed from feudal e...

4: 1919: Lost Peace | People's Century

4: 1919: Lost Peace | People's Century

BBC Two | 1995 | 53'18''

The trauma of the First World War gives Europe no appetite for any further conflicts, but within subsequent two decades the world woul...

5: 1930: Sporting Fever | People's Century

5: 1930: Sporting Fever | People's Century

BBC Two | 1995 | 53'31''

Once an amateur pursuit, sport becomes larger and more competitiveness to satisfy the public's need for excitement and identity.

6: 1924: On the Line | People's Century

6: 1924: On the Line | People's Century

BBC Two | 1995 | 53'40''

Henry Ford uses Taylorism, division of labour and the assembly line to manufacture automobiles, and other industries in the United St...

7: 1927: Great Escape | People's Century

7: 1927: Great Escape | People's Century

BBC Two | 1995 | 52'50''

The cinema excites, inspires and influences people seeking escape from their usually dull lives. Hollywood booms in the 1920s, and i...

8: 1929: Breadline | People's Century

8: 1929: Breadline | People's Century

BBC Two | 1995 | 53'59''

The economic boom of the roaring twenties comes to a sudden halt in 1929 and the subsequent Great Depression. In the years after a demo...

9: 1933: Master Race | People's Century

9: 1933: Master Race | People's Century

BBC Two | 1995 | 53'17''

The Third Reich brings barbarity to the modern era. Germany is rebuilt through huge public works program, winning Hitler adulation fr...

10: 1939: Total War | People's Century

10: 1939: Total War | People's Century

BBC Two | 1995 | 53'40''

The Second World War enmeshes civilians to the horrors of war on an unprecedented scale.

11: 1945: Brave New World | People's Century

11: 1945: Brave New World | People's Century

BBC Two | 1996 | 53'35''

Despite being allies against Hitler, disagreement and rivalry soon break out between the Soviet Union and the West, leading to t...

12: 1948: Boomtime | People's Century

12: 1948: Boomtime | People's Century

BBC Two | 1996 | 52'33''

Europe is exhausted and impoverished in the years after the Second World War. The United States implements the Marshall Plan to rebuild...

13: 1947: Freedom Now | People's Century

13: 1947: Freedom Now | People's Century

BBC Two | 1996 | 53'12''

European powers are forced to relinquish their colonies in Africa following the Second World War, but in most cases the newly indepe...

14: 1945: Fallout | People's Century

14: 1945: Fallout | People's Century

BBC Two | 1996 | 54'13''

Nuclear weapons make the world more dangerous than ever before. The destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 by atom bombs is haile...

15: 1951: Asia Rising | People's Century

15: 1951: Asia Rising | People's Century

BBC Two | 1996 | 53'34''

Through thrift, hard work and discipline, Japan and later South Korea enjoy economic miracles that bring growth, prosperity and conf...

16: 1957: Skin Deep | People's Century

16: 1957: Skin Deep | People's Century

BBC Two | 1996 | 53'25''

Through nonviolent and more direct methods, people rally to fight segregation in South Africa, and several states in the United States.

17: 1959: Endangered Planet | People's Century

17: 1959: Endangered Planet | People's Century

BBC Two | 1996 | 53'30''

Rising consumption patterns extract a huge toll on nature. Toxic contamination in Minamata and Love Canal and the Torrey Canyo...

18: 1963: Picture Power | People's Century

18: 1963: Picture Power | People's Century

BBC Two | 1996 | 52'33''

Governments, advertisers and revolutionaries seek to exploit television's ability to instantly communicate compelling messages to ...

19: 1954: Living Longer | People's Century

19: 1954: Living Longer | People's Century

BBC Two | 1997 | 52'29''

Medical advances allow people to live longer and healthier lives. Penicillin is developed in time to save lives during the Second ...

20: 1949: Great Leap Forward | People's Century

20: 1949: Great Leap Forward | People's Century

BBC Two | 1997 | 53'42''

Communism helps modernise China, but the decisions and personality cult of CCP Chairman Mao Zedong has a traumatic effect on ...

21: 1968: New Release | People's Century

21: 1968: New Release | People's Century

BBC Two | 1997 | 53'34''

The baby boom produced a cohort of children in the affluent and secure post-war world who for the first time would question establis...

22: 1970: Half the People | People's Century

22: 1970: Half the People | People's Century

BBC Two | 1997 | 53'08''

Women struggle to win political and economic rights in societies gamed to entrench male privilege. Even with limited suffrage, a...

23: 1975: War of the Flea | People's Century

23: 1975: War of the Flea | People's Century

BBC Two | 1997 | 53'37''

While in the second half of the century there are fewer conventional wars, civil conflicts under the backdrop of superpower riva...

24: 1979: God Fights Back | People's Century

24: 1979: God Fights Back | People's Century

BBC Two | 1997 | 53'22''

Religion makes a comeback into people's lives in the Islamic world and elsewhere, as people seek guidance and spiritual sustenan...

25: 1989: People Power | People's Century

25: 1989: People Power | People's Century

BBC Two | 1997 | 53'09''

By the 1970s the people in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe were becoming aware of the economic failures of central planning.

26: 1997: Fast Forward | People's Century

26: 1997: Fast Forward | People's Century

BBC Two | 1997 | 53'58''

Governments around the world liberalise trade and withdraw from intervening in the economy, giving new opportunities to those who a...

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