Yuri Gagarin

Yesterday was the 50th Anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's flight into space - the first human being ever to do so. You can watch a video of him in action and read about why he is still considered such a great hero in Russia here.

Chinese Perspective on the Korean War

Korea is in the news again this week, after the North Koreans shelled the South Korean island of Yeonpyeong, killing four people and causing substantial damage. It has led to a considerable increase of tension on both sides and the threat of further conflict in the near future. These BBC articles examine why tensions are so high along the border, and why, as leader Kim Jong Il prepares for his son Kim Jong Un to take over, they might be escalating now.

The video shown above provides some historical perspective, interviewing a Chinese soldier, Wang Xinshan, who explains why he and his country felt so threatened at the time of the Korean War, and why China chose to intervene. A historian, Barbara Demick, meanwhile explains how ever since North Korean life has been completely dominated by the legacy of the war, with all of its citizens trained to believe that South Korea and its allies were fully responsible and might invade again with the smallest provocation.

PS: Here is an article with British soldiers' memories of their experiences in the Korean conflict.
PS: There is no official comment on the incident yet from North Korea's news agency. Here is a leading foreign policy blog's opinion on why this is the case.

Summer reading

On the subject of summer reading... here is an interview with Peter Hennessy about the recent release of his updated version of 'The Secret State: Preparing for the Worst 1945-2010'. It is a great interview with Hennessy who gives a glimpse of his thorough research and analysis together with some great anecdotes. The book is well worth considering for a summer read particularly if you are looking for an issue to mention in your personal statement and you are interested in the Cold War.
Add any books you have found that might be worth a read...

Hungarian Revolution request

After a request at Year 12 Induction, here are some suggestions for those who want to take their interest in the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 further.
Some of the books available are:
Explosion: the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 - John P C Matthews
One Day that shook the Communist World – Paul Lendvai
Journey to a Revolution: A personal memoir and History – Michael Korda
Twelve Days: Revolution 1956 – Victor Sebestyen (More from Sebestyn here)
If you are keen on film, Children of Glory and Freedom's Fury are definitely worth watching. Here are also some links to the BBC's archive on the event.

If you are interested in Hungary during the Cold War, you may also be curious about Eastern Europe as a whole during the Cold War.
There are some fantastic TV series about this period. For example, The Lost World of Communism series looks at communist society in Czechoslovakia, Romania and East Germany and the lives of ordinary people. The Cold War series (narrated by Kenneth Branagh)is a powerful series which includes a large number of interviews by those who made the political decisions at the time and those involved in the key historical events. Books such as Stasiland by Anna Funder about life in East Germany during the period are also well worth the investment of your time.
Any further recommendations, please add.

PS: Here is a review of 4 accounts of the revolution published to mark the 50th Anniversary in 2006

Norman Stone on the Cold War

Here is a review of Norman Stone's new book "The Atlantic and its Enemies: A personal history of the Cold War". It is described by Geoffrey Wheatcroft as "eccentric" and "rambling" but looks like it might be one for the summer reading list. Beware those however who are not Thatcher fans, as it sounds like it gives a lot of credit to her for 'saving' Britain...

The End of the Cold War

Today marks the 20th anniversary of the "End of the Cold War". On 3 December 1989 George Bush and Mikhail Gorbachev held a summit meeting aboard a storm-lashed Russian cruise ship off the coast of Malta. It was the first time the two had met since the sequence of events in Eastern Europe that had led to the fall of the Berlin Wall. Gorbachev said, "we are at the beginning of a long road to a lasting peaceful era" and assured Bush that he would never start a "hot war" against the USA. More details of the summit can be found here. December 3 also marked the date that the entire East German government resigned, paving the way for reunification with the West.

The Velvet Revolution

On 17 November 1989 a group of students in Prague began demonstrating for freedom and democracy in Czechoslovakia. Thousands of people joined them and 12 days later the Communist Party gave up its power. The anniversary was marked in Prague yesterday with rather more low key celebrations than were seen in Berlin, but Vaclav Havel, the playwright who became the figurehead of the revolution and later the president of the Czech Republic, was there to retrace the steps of the first demonstrators. There is BBC footage of the celebrations here and archive film of the events in 1989 here and here. John Simpson shares his opinions here. For the local perspective, here is the Prague Post.

Fall of the Wall: 20 Years Today

Today marks the 20th Anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall. Here is a video showing the incidents that led to its collapse, and if you didn't see it, we recommend you watch the BBC documentary about the Wall which you can see here.

PS: Here's a link to the article from The Times reporting events from that day and another explaining why celebrations will be slightly muted as 9 November also marks the anniversary of Kristallnacht.
PPS: Here's footage from the BBC reports from that night, and explanation from Brian Hanrahan about its significance (Recommended!)

Fall of the Wall

The Berlin Wall was breached on 9 November 1989. The celebrations that followed effectively marked the end of the Cold War, leading to the collapse of Communism in Eastern Europe and the unification of Germany. It was an exceptionally dramatic and exciting time to live through and it seems difficult to believe for many people that 20 years have passed since then.

There is lots of information about to mark this anniversary. The BBC has created an archive of material about the history of the wall. Jeremy Vine has made a radio programme which includes interviews with Germans who tried to escape over and under the wall. The Times has created an archive of its reports on the Wall's history, and also includes reports about modern Germans' attitudes to the wall in both east and west.

Berlin Wall video

Here is an interesting 5 minute video from the Guardian about the Berlin Wall, with residents of the city describing what it was like to live in its shadow. Several people who attempted to escape are also interviewed.

PS: The Guardian is publishing new videos all of this week. Here is a link to them and other interesting articles.

East German jokes

West Germany's intelligence service has released a collection of jokes made in East Germany during the Cold War. You can read some of the here, such as,
"If Christmas had happened in East Germany, it would have been cancelled. Mary would't find any napppies for the baby Jesus, Joseph would be called up to the army and the three kings wouldn't get a travel permit."
Or, "What would happen if the desert became communist? Nothing for a while, and then there would be a sand shortage."
The humour is pretty dry, but it reveals the way many East Germans coped with the repressive regime and their dreary surroundings - through cynicism and sarcasm. Of course, the penalty for being caught telling such jokes could be very high. The Stasi had 189,000 informants who reported any criticsm of mockery of the government, and many people were arrested and sent to labour camps.

The report is published by Der Spiegel, a German news magazine, and you can find further coverage (in English) of the events marking the anniversary of 1989 here.

Berlin Wall Exhibition

The Imperial War Museum in Manchester has an exhibition running until March about the Berlin Wall and how it affected the city. There are lots of photographs as well as a Trabant, a searchlight and a piece of the wall itself. Here are a selection of images from the wall's 28 year history, and here is the Times' review of the exhibition, plus other interesting articles, including the Jewish history of the city, and a visit to the headquarters of the Stasi.

Apollo 11

Today is the 40th anniversary of the launch of the Apollo 11 mission, which on 20 July 1969 successfuly landed Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the moon. There is of course a huge amount of material on the web for the anniversary, including contributions from the BBC, the Daily Telegraph and NASA itself. This article puts the conflict firmly within the context of the Cold War, showing that Kennedy's speech in 1961 to put a man on the moon by the end of the decade was a clear response to American fears that the USSR was dominating the space race. It was thought that such a mission would help to rebuild national prestige and restore Kennedy's reputation after the recent debacle at the Bay of Pigs. After Kennedy's assassination it almost became a sacred duty for Lyndon Johnson to fulfil this pledge, despite the massive expense of the Apollo programme