The Era of the Second World War: 05: Making Peace | History File

The Era of the Second World War: 05: Making Peace | History File

Conflict and Warfare | BBC Two | 1994 | 19'27''

Looking at the drift from wartime alliance to Cold War hostility between the USSR and the Western powers. Ev...

S02E02: Coup | The Second Russian Revolution

S02E02: Coup | The Second Russian Revolution

Conflict and Warfare | BBC Two | 1991 | 59'28''

The inside story of the coup is told by Gorbachev himself and all those who were closest to him.

S02E01: Portents | The Second Russian Revolution

S02E01: Portents | The Second Russian Revolution

Conflict and Warfare | BBC Two | 1991 | 49'26''

The rising tensions, warning signs and machinations that preceded Gorbachev's arrest while on holiday.

S01E06: End of the Beginning | The Second Russian Revolution

S01E06: End of the Beginning | The Second Russian Revolution

Conflict and Warfare | BBC Two | 1991 | 49'20''

How Gorbachev's last attempt to move to a market economy ended in failure.

S01E05: Breaking Ranks | The Second Russian Revolution

S01E05: Breaking Ranks | The Second Russian Revolution

Conflict and Warfare | BBC Two | 1991 | 48'54''

The story of how the last of the world's great empires began to break up. Gorbachev and his colleagues encouraged nati...

S01E04: Revolution from Below | The Second Russian Revolution

S01E04: Revolution from Below | The Second Russian Revolution

Conflict and Warfare | BBC Two | 1991 | 49'17''

In 1989 the First Congress of People's Deputies changed the face of Soviet politics. But Gorbachev had unwittin...

S01E03: The Yeltsin File | The Second Russian Revolution

S01E03: The Yeltsin File | The Second Russian Revolution

Conflict and Warfare | BBC Two | 1991 | 49'10''

How did Boris Yeltsin rise to the top as a Soviet Communist Party official? How did he come to fall out with Mikhail...

S01E02: The Battle for Glasnost | The Second Russian Revolution

S01E02: The Battle for Glasnost | The Second Russian Revolution

Conflict and Warfare | BBC Two | 1991 | 49'06''

In 1988 Gorbachev left Russia for a week - and hardliners moved to try and undermine his authority. The attem...

S01E01: Enter Gorbachev | The Second Russian Revolution

S01E01: Enter Gorbachev | The Second Russian Revolution

Conflict and Warfare | BBC Two | 1991 | 49'27''

The story of how Mikhail Gorbachev became president of the Soviet Union. Victor Grishin talks about how Gorbachev bea...

The Cuban Missile Crisis: 02: Eyeball to Eyeball | Timewatch

The Cuban Missile Crisis: 02: Eyeball to Eyeball | Timewatch

Conflict and Warfare | BBC Two | 1992 | 49'42''

October 1962: the dramatic story of the US naval blockade, the shooting down of a US spy plane and the Soviet pr...

The Cuban Missile Crisis: 01: Defying Uncle Same | Timewatch

The Cuban Missile Crisis: 01: Defying Uncle Same | Timewatch

Conflict and Warfare | BBC Two | 1992 | 49'53''

A two-part Timewatch Special that recalls the time, 30 years ago, when the world went to the brink of nuclear wa...

The Soviet Union’s Last Stand

The Soviet Union’s Last Stand

Conflict and Warfare | BBC Four | 2007 | 58'58''

Documentary telling the inside story of Communist hardliners' failed attempts to seize power from Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev, whi...

Khrushchev – the Peasant Premier | Timewatch

Khrushchev – the Peasant Premier | Timewatch

Conflict and Warfare | BBC Two | 1994 | 59'07''

In the centenary year of his birth, and using previously unseen home movies, this film explores the contradictions of the ...

Margaret Thatcher – The Iron Lady | Strange Days: Cold War Britain

Margaret Thatcher – The Iron Lady | Strange Days: Cold War Britain

Conflict and Warfare | BBC Two | 2013 | 6'59''

Margaret Thatcher's image as a cold war warrior developed, in part, as a result of an article writte...

Ronald Reagan’s ‘Ash Heap of History’ speech in 1982 | Strange Days: Cold War Britain

Ronald Reagan’s ‘Ash Heap of History’ speech in 1982 | Strange Days: Cold War Britain

Conflict and Warfare | BBC Two | 2013 | 4'13''

President Ronald Reagan arrived in London in June 1982. He delivered ...

The Cuban Missile Crisis | Strange Days: Cold War Britain

The Cuban Missile Crisis | Strange Days: Cold War Britain

Conflict and Warfare | BBC Two | 2013 | 5'39''

Dominic Sandbrook examines the Cuban Missile Crisis looking at the relationship between Present Kennedy and Prime M...

Hungary and the Suez Canal in 1956 | Strange Days: Cold War Britain

Hungary and the Suez Canal in 1956 | Strange Days: Cold War Britain

Conflict and Warfare | BBC Two | 2013 | 4'59''

In October 1956, the Bolshoi Ballet arrived in London. It was an example of 'soft power'. At the same tim...

Winston Churchill’s Iron Curtain speech in 1946 | Strange Days: Cold War Britain

Winston Churchill’s Iron Curtain speech in 1946 | Strange Days: Cold War Britain

Conflict and Warfare | BBC Two | 2013 | 6'12''

Churchill announced the allied victory in his VE Day speech but was then defeated in t...

00: Learning Zone | Strange Days: Cold War Britain

00: Learning Zone | Strange Days: Cold War Britain

Conflict and Warfare | BBC Two | 2013 | 33'17''

A version made specially for schools of the BBC Two history series on Britain and the Cold War. Presented by Dominic Sandb...

03: Two Tribes | Strange Days: Cold War Britain

03: Two Tribes | Strange Days: Cold War Britain

Conflict and Warfare | BBC Two | 2013 | 59'17''

In the 1970s and '80s, as the end of the world seemed a real possibility, everything from sport to music became weapons.

02: The Looking Glass War | Strange Days: Cold War Britain

02: The Looking Glass War | Strange Days: Cold War Britain

Conflict and Warfare | BBC Two | 2013 | 59'03''

Dominic Sandbrook examines the Cold War years, looking at the frontline of the conflict as consumerism was pitched...

01: Red Dawn | Strange Days: Cold War Britain

01: Red Dawn | Strange Days: Cold War Britain

Conflict and Warfare | BBC Two | 2013 | 59'02''

Historian Dominic Sandbrook examines the Cold War. He looks at the first chilling years of the conflict, when the opposing ideo...

Berlin: Life Before the Wall | Panorama

Berlin: Life Before the Wall | Panorama

Conflict and Warfare | BBC | 1961 | 19'49''

It's with surprising ease that Robert Kee steps across the border from East to West Berlin as, before the erection of the wall, the d...

Episode 2 | Cold War, Hot Jets

Episode 2 | Cold War, Hot Jets

Conflict and Warfare | BBC Two | 2013 | 59'02''

As an 'Iron Curtain' fell across Europe, the jet bomber came to define how the Cold War was fought. Able to fly faster, higher and further tha...

Episode 1 | Cold War, Hot Jets

Episode 1 | Cold War, Hot Jets

Conflict and Warfare | BBC Two | 2013 | 58'44''

How the invention of the jet engine gave hope to Britain as the country recovered from the Second World War, becoming a lucrative export and a...

Post-war Berlin | Twentieth Century History

Post-war Berlin | Twentieth Century History

Cold War conflicts | BBC One | 1978 | 8'56''

An explanation of how the allies aided Berlin in its post-war recovery.

Korean War | Twentieth Century History

Korean War | Twentieth Century History

Cold War conflicts | BBC One | 1978 | 9'53''

An explanation of how the Korean war unfolded.

BalloonBallon (2018)

BalloonBallon (2018)

Conflict and Warfare | BBC Four | 2020 | 1'56'41''

The Strelzyk family attempt to escape from East Germany to the west in a homemade hot air balloon. In German with English subtitles.

Postwar: E14: United Nations | Politically

Postwar: E14: United Nations | Politically

Conflict and Warfare | BBC Radio 16 | 2025 | 13'42''

Both main parties supported the United Nations, but they disagreed about what that meant.

Postwar: E13: From Yalta to Potsdam | Politically

Postwar: E13: From Yalta to Potsdam | Politically

Conflict and Warfare | BBC Radio 15 | 2025 | 13'43''

Between the Yalta and Potsdam conferences, everything changed.

Cumbria’s Atomic Pioneers | A History of the World

Cumbria’s Atomic Pioneers | A History of the World

Conflict and Warfare | BBC One | 2010 | 29'07''

Stuart Maconie goes in search of Britain's atomic past, discovering the world's first nuclear power station, tucked ...

When The Wind Blows (1986)

When The Wind Blows (1986)

Animation | Channel 4 | 1997 | 1'20'54''

Based on the work of Raymond Briggs, this chilling yet humorous story follows an elderly couple as they muddle through a nuclear attack, placing t...

Living Between Enemy Lines

Living Between Enemy Lines

Cold War conflicts | BBC News | 2024 | 26'02''

A rare insight into a village which sits within Korea's Demilitarised Zone.

Ceausescu: Behind the Myth

Ceausescu: Behind the Myth

Cold War conflicts | BBC One | 1991 | 59'43''

Edward Behr presents a personal profile on the rise and fall from power of the Romanian President, Nicolae Ceausescu.

03: Geneva 1985 | Summits

03: Geneva 1985 | Summits

Conflict and Warfare | BBC Four | 2008 | 59'13''

David Reynolds uncovers the story of three summit meetings that shaped the modern world. He sees how Reagan and Gorbachev helped ensure a peaceful ...

02: Vienna 1961 | Summits

02: Vienna 1961 | Summits

Conflict and Warfare | BBC Four | 2008 | 59'13''

David Reynolds uncovers the story of three summit meetings that shaped the modern world. How Kennedy and Khrushchev's meeting in Vienna in 1961 nea...

Episode 4 | Ameireaga air Film/America in Colour

Episode 4 | Ameireaga air Film/America in Colour

Cold War conflicts | BBC Alba | 2018 | 46'17''

To Americans the 1950s are the golden years. Having recovered from World War II, the life of the nation was on the up. The n...

Vietnam War | Panorama

Vietnam War | Panorama

Cold War conflicts | BBC One | 1967 | 49'58''

Panorama looks at the Vietnam War. Includes an investigation into the attitudes of US citizens to the war and coverage of Sennator Robert Kennedy's sp...

Vietnam: Journal of a War | Panorama

Vietnam: Journal of a War | Panorama

Cold War conflicts | BBC One | 1966 | 51'06''

Panorama reports on the Vietnam War.

Cuba Missile Crisis Ends | Panorama

Cuba Missile Crisis Ends | Panorama

Conflict and Warfare | BBC | 1962 | 55'59''

The news and current-affairs programme looks at the implications of the end of the Cuban missile crisis. Hosted by Richard Dimbleby, stud...

Meeting Fidel Castro | Panorama

Meeting Fidel Castro | Panorama

Cold War conflicts | BBC | 1961 | 16'39''

Fidel Castro leads a group of journalists on a tour of Cuba. Among the scenes are reminders of the recent failed Bay of Pigs invasion. Robin ...

Cuba: Anti-Castro Rebels | Panorama

Cuba: Anti-Castro Rebels | Panorama

Cold War conflicts | BBC | 1961 | 22'47''

Cuban exiles share their reasons for fleeing their homeland. In Washington, Robin Day questions two members of the Senate Foreign Relatio...

Challenge of the Sixties | Panorama

Challenge of the Sixties | Panorama

Conflict and Warfare | BBC | 1960 | 44'25''

Panorama reports from India, Africa, America and Russia to highlight the problems and challenges that the next ten years will bring. The ...

Cuban revolution | Panorama

Cuban revolution | Panorama

Cold War conflicts | BBC | 1959 | 20'30''

Including a report on Fidel Castro's Cuban revolution.

Baghdad | Panorama

Baghdad | Panorama

Conflict and Warfare | BBC | 1956 | 21'46''

Including a report by Adrian Crawley from Baghdad, Edward Ward speaking from the Hungarian Frontier, an interview by Christopher Chataway of an Australian...

Hungarian revolution | Panorama

Hungarian revolution | Panorama

Conflict and Warfare | BBC | 1956 | 26'31''

Including a report from Hungary filmed in October, narrated by Hungarian writer George Mikes. The film shows a population joyful of a seeming...

The Secret Life of the Berlin Wall

The Secret Life of the Berlin Wall

Conflict and Warfare | BBC Two | 2009 | 1'29'33''

Documentary exploring the story of the Berlin Wall, uncovering a world of flawed heroes and heroic villains, compromised victories and sad...

Beyond Utopia: Escape from North Korea

Beyond Utopia: Escape from North Korea

Cold War conflicts | BBC Four | 2024 | 1'44'23''

A documentary that takes a suspenseful, immersive look at the lengths to which people will go to gain freedom, following various indiv...