How the Space Race Influenced Soviet Society - COLD WAR DOCUMENTARY

the space race is one of the icons of the Cold  War it was not only a head-to-head competition   between the superpowers an opportunity to  highlight the triumphs of each respective   system but also an opportunity to collaborate  to work together for the furtherance of Science   and Humanity although there is often a  vigorous debate over who won the Space   Race there is no question whatsoever that it  had a tremendous impact on not only Soviet   political life but unsoviet Society in  general I'm your host David and this   week we are going to look at the effects of  the Soviet space race this is the Cold War foreign yet but I do try to enjoy some of the smaller  things in life which is why I love my membership   with bespoke post bespoke post is a monthly  membership club which delivers amazing boxes of   top shelf goods from under the radar Brands  it's free to join you can skip a month if   you want and even cancel any time bespoke post  introduces you every month to cool new 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of the Space Race was marked by  a multitude of Soviet firsts the first satellite   in orbit the first animal in Space the first  man in space the first woman in space the first   tortoises to go around the moon and so on all  of these firsts brought glory and Prestige to   the USSR and to the Communist system in general  and at a long and lasting impact but when they   happened is a huge factor in this impact the  Space Race came at the same time as khrushchev's   thaw a period of Hope for Soviet citizens the  estate Terror of The Stylist period with its   indiscriminate imprisonment and executions had  come to an end and although the USSR was by no   means a free country its citizens could breathe  more freely than they had been able to for decades   for the first time in its history the Soviet  government which had been so focused on Military   industrialization and production began to include  the manufacture of consumer goods as part of its   plans housing was becoming a new priority and  quality of life began to rise now the threat   of nuclear war still persisted and the West was  still the enemy but more normalized relations   were being created Nikita Khrushchev made his  first visit to the United States the first by   a Soviet leader as the space race progressed and  achieved Milestones before the U.S space program   the Soviet Union showed that it could be on par if  not ahead of the United States in both scientific   and technological advancement so let's look at  some of the Spheres where this made an impact   to start with as we've already alluded to the  Space Program had an enormous positive impact on   the confidence of the Soviet state and its people  there was a tangible result to the work of the   Soviet Union not just the utopian and propagandist  promises for the future which had been a fixture   since the 1920s the Socialist system had not only  put Sputnik into space before the Americans but   they put the first man in space too this was  seen as the Soviets emerging from the darkness   of stalinism and a huge step towards the promised  arrival of communism as described by Peter Vale   and Alexander Guinness quote for the Soviet  person the cosmos was also the symbol of total   Liberation Stalin had been unmasked solzhenitsyn  had been printed transistor radios were finally   available there was talk about initiative and  critique traveling to the cosmos seemed The   Logical conclusion of the process of Liberation  and at the beginning of a period of freedom   the Space Age eclipsed The soundless Cult of  Personality replacing the mustache with not   just the achievements of the space program but  those who fulfilled the missions the men who went   into space the cosmonauts images and monuments  of Stalin were removed and replaced by symbols   of achievement in space statues of Gagarin  Tereshkova leonov and corollov appeared and   streets were renamed in their honor the Space  theme even extended into the world of Soviet   products including cigarette brands named after  Leica and Sputnik Soviet bureaucracy reported   an increase in patriotic feelings in the wake of  successful missions to space although we should   probably be cautious in determining if these were  genuine increases or mere propaganda reports but   an example of one of these reports if you choose  it to believe its authenticity or not comes from   a secretary of the Party Committee on a call Hawes  who wrote now in our Collective Farm the time is   ripe at the height of haymaking time laying halage  and preparing the grass flower the farmer's toil   with unprecedented increase the victory in space  inspires them to new labor achievements of course   as you might expect Soviet success didn't only  have a domestic impact but an international one as   well genuine worry in the United States began as  Sputnik was seen as a clear sign that the Soviet   Union had gained a technological advantage with  not only scientific implications but military ones   as well a Rand Corporation report on the reaction  of Americans to the early successes of the Soviet   space program showed that quote the American  public was badly shaken by the sudden Soviet   success in being first to launch an earth circling  satellite vehicle government officials executive   and Congressional demanded immediate action to  offset the Soviet Technical and propaganda success   it was also understood that the R7 semiyorka  rocket that was used to launch Sputnik could   double as an intercontinental ballistic missile  capable of carrying a nuclear payload but it   wasn't just Soviet success American failures at  this time seemed to highlight a gap for example   while the Soviets landed lunic 2 on the surface  of the Moon becoming the first man-made object   to do so the American attempt to replicate this  Pioneer 4 missed the moon entirely by about 37   000 miles no matter that lunac 2 was destroyed by  the force of its impact the fact that it arrived   at all was still seen as a victory this  helped to generate a fear that the Soviets   also had the upper hand in getting to the Moon  first which would allow them to militarize it   now we know with the benefit of hindsight that  these fears never materialized into anything   in fact the exploration of space became one of  the shiny examples of cooperation between the   two otherwise rival superpowers and it wasn't  just a byproduct of Dayton in the 1970s either   even before the launch of Sputnik came the first  attempts at coordination with the start of the   international geophysical year which ran from July  of 1957 to December of 1958. the igy looked to   spark International Space cooperation by creating  an organization that included 60 000 scientists   representing 66 different nations including  those from the United States and the Soviet Union   continuing this Spirit of cooperation in 1959 saw  the United Nations create the committee on the   peaceful uses of outer space it was established  as a forum for all nations but especially the   US and the USSR to share information regarding  space information and discoveries this committee   was subject to The Winds of politics mind you  and under the Eisenhower Administration it saw   little participation from the United States but  President Kennedy looked at it differently he   congratulated Khrushchev in 1961 following the  Soviet launch of a probe intended to go to Venus   wishing the Soviet Union quote Success in another  chapter of man's exploration of the universe   Khrushchev responded to Kennedy with gratitude and  quote wishes for success in the new stage of the   exploration of the cosmos and this shift away  from hostile competition was even reflected in   Kennedy's First State of the Union Address quote  together let us explore the Stars specifically I   now invite all nations including the Soviet Union  to join with us in developing a weather prediction   program in a new communication satellite program  and in preparation for probing the distant planets   of Mars and Venus probes which may someday  unlock the deepest secrets of the universe   today this country is ahead in the Science and  Technology of space while the Soviet Union is   ahead in a capacity to lift Vehicles into orbit  both nations would help themselves as well as   other nations by removing these Endeavors from the  bitter and wasteful competition of the Cold War   these are no small words given the context of the  time at which they were spoken during Kennedy's   tenure as president the UN committee increased  its activity and explored possible avenues for   cooperation in space although the Cuban Missile  Crisis caused a chill in relations it did not   take long for the superpowers to sign the first  memorandum of understanding on space exploration   in the summer of 1963. this envisaged cooperation  on the use of weather and communication satellites   as well as a joint geomagnetic survey this even  helped lead to the launch of the echo 2 satellite   in January of 1964 where the Soviet Union helped  NASA test the passive communication ability of the   satellite even through the 1960s the level of  competition between the United States and the   Soviet Union was largely cordial with leaders  from both sides congratulating the other on   respective successes this eventually led to the  Joint soyuz Apollo program symbolizing a level of   cooperation in space that was in stark contrast to  the competition on Earth now the Soviet cosmonauts   themselves became icons not only in the Soviet  Union and in other socialist countries but   around the world including the capitalist West  cosmonauts on their return from space would have   to put their media training to use as they were  sent on massive tours at the globe within four   months of Yuri gagarin's flight he had traveled to  Brazil Bulgaria Canada Cuba Czechoslovakia Finland   Great Britain and Iceland between 1961 and 1962 he  visited 22 different countries even being greeted   by over 3 million people on a visit to Calcutta  in India schedules for cosmonauts were so hectic   in fact that they would often need to decline  both private and public meetings and there were   frequent complaints from the cosmonauts themselves  that their PR duties were preventing them from   Cosmonaut duties they became one of the chief  propaganda tools for the Soviet system portrayed   as icons and Role Models the cosmonauts themselves  struggled with this with Gagarin once confessing   that quote it is awkward to be seen as a super  ideal person it's as if I always did everything   right but like anybody else I make many mistakes I  have my weaknesses one shouldn't idealize a person   one should take him just as he is in real life  it's annoying when I am portrayed as a sugar boy   who is so sweet that it's nauseating but these  misgivings had to be put aside as the global   Heroes were made into exemplary models of the  ideal new Soviet man in August of 1962 Khrushchev   stated that hero cosmonauts are people who even  now already embody the wonderful traits of the   member of the Communist Society High intellectual  culture moral Purity and perfect physique their   deeds are driven by the love for motherland sense  of public duty and Noble ideals of communism   Gagarin was made to be the epitome of all of this  in the words of one of his fellow cosmonauts Yuri   personified the whole generation of Soviet people  whose childhood was signed by the war an Indian   journalist said the first cosmonaut was chosen  ideally to represent the Soviet man before the   nations of the entire world his perfect features  Pleasant look his charming smile and even his   short height which stresses his youthful stature  everything makes the most favorable impression   on anyone who meet him saw him in cinema or on  television and the Soviet propaganda machine   was happy to propagate this carefully nurturing  an image of a normal guy a handsome young family   man who was well cultured liked to read and he  was honest he was also a man who excelled at   his job which just so happened to be Mastery of  space keep in mind for many consumers of Soviet   propaganda this was something new different from  that militaristic saber rattling and threats   that many had become used to it was an image that  conveyed youthfulness energy and change this was   the perfect background for Khrushchev to further  his own messages of Reform to not only the Soviet   Union but to the world at the 22nd party Congress  in October of 1961 he described cosmonauts as   quote not merely a conqueror of outer space  not merely a hero of Science and Technology but   first and foremost he is a real living Flesh and  Blood new man who demonstrates in action all the   invaluable qualities of the Soviet character which  Lenin's party has been cultivating for decades   so we keep saying that the Soviet space propaganda  was successful and it was especially with children   space exploration was popular so popular to  the point that the soviet-born playwright   Svetlana boyim said Soviet Children of the  1960s did not dream of becoming doctors   and lawyers but cosmonauts or a force came to  worse geologists Boys Around the World looked   up to Gagarin and soon after a female role  model also presented in Valentina Tereshkova   cosmonauts became Idols the biggest celebrities  of the era the Soviet education system glorified   cosmonauts as Heroes calling on Soviet youth  to follow similar paths every Pioneer Palace   even in rural towns had future Cosmonaut clubs  where meetings with Scientists were arranged and   children were encouraged to build model aircraft  and Rockets the cosmos became the perfect tool to   encourage children to pursue interest in science  and technology a part of the Soviet mandate since   the creation of the country propaganda images  of children meeting with cosmonauts became   a recurring theme in newspapers magazines  and as murals in schools in Pioneer palaces   and this process was not just limited to the  USSR the intercosmos program created by the   Soviet Union in 1967 was designed to help other  nations with their own space programs and missions   through intercosmos 14 non-soviets became  cosmonauts bringing interest and excitement   about space travel to various other nations of  the world I won't speak too much about intercosmos   because I want to do more on the subject as part  of its own video but for those of you who remember   the film goodbye Lenin the Cosmonaut featured in  that movie is Sigmund Jan who went to space via   the intercosmos program great movie by the way  but lots of murals and model clubs weren't the   only evidence of space exploration fueling  interest in The Sciences journals saw their   circulation drastically increase for example  the journal Science Life saw a circulation   increase from 150 000 copies in 1957 to 1.75  Million by 1965. technology for youth saw its   circulation increase from 250 000 in 1955 to 1.2  million by 1964. these are enormous increases   but this increase in interest wasn't just in  existing journals or forums new ones appeared such   as science and religion this journal engaged in  popularizing Soviet scientific achievements while   simultaneously attacking religion planetariums  also became very popular as a forum for hosting   lectures films and other educational events  centered on space exploration by 1973 there   were more than 70 planetariums operating in the  USSR mobile planetariums were even developed buses   equipped with telescopes and loudspeakers would  travel to factories plants and Farms promoting   the successes of Soviet scientific achievement  they also gave the opportunity for Citizens not   from the scientific Community to use a telescope  and wait there's more space exploration had an   impact in the cultural sphere as well now it  isn't like space and sci-fi literature didn't   already exist in pre-revolutionary Russia and in  the Soviet Union the 1908 novel red star and the   1912 novel engineer many both written by Alexander  bogdanov are among the early Classics of Russian   science fiction After the Revolution came poems  like Vladimir mayakovsky's 150 million Vladimir   krilovs we will find another shining path to  our planet and Mikhail garasimov's let's raise   a palace of world freedom in the canals of Mars  Rose to prominence they were joined by novels   like Alexi tolstoy's novel Elita about the export  of proletarian Revolution to Mars to join in the   fight against slavery Elita was turned into a 1929  film the first space film made in the Soviet Union   so space wasn't new in the Soviet cultural  landscape but by the 1950s as the Space Race   captured headlines in real life there was a  corresponding increase in space themes from   Soviet film and literature Evan ephraimov's 1957  Andromeda nebula a space age tale as well as the   stories of arkadi and Boris strugotsky are true  Classics of Soviet sci-fi on the Silver Screen   films like 1959's the sky is calling in 1961's the  planet of storms proved extremely popular 1972 saw   the release of Taming of the fire a fictionalized  account of the life of Sergey kerolov the head of   the Soviet space program and it became tradition  to show the film every April 12th the anniversary   of gagarin's flight into space other popular films  inside the Soviet Union included Moscow Cassiopeia   and boys in the universe but internationally  it was films like Solaris and stalker from   one of the greatest directors of all time  Andre tarkovsky that gained the most claim   all of this paints a strong positive spin on the  effects of the Soviet space race but there was   also a negative effect directed at religion for  those of you who may have missed our episodes   looking at Soviet policies towards religion  and Faith a very brief summary would be to   describe it as not in favor Marxist Dogma saw it  as the remnant of an unjust past and as something   incompatible with Communism science and progress  as such there were massive government-led attacks   against organized religion Khrushchev used the  success of the space program as a weapon against   religion and religious belief Soviet propaganda  emphasized cosmonauts who were Godless Communists   as storming Heaven Soviet achievements were viewed  through a prism of the victory of a materialist   and atheist worldview over religion the cosmonauts  themselves were extensively used in anti-religious   propaganda and campaigns often attributing a comet  supposedly made by Gagarin during his flight that   quote I see no God up here for those of you  familiar even in passing with Soviet propaganda   posters you will recognize the Bagan yet poster  now we would be remiss if we didn't mention that   these space-based anti-religion campaigns didn't  last long and although it's difficult to assess   how effective they might have been in general  it's widely understood that many Soviet citizens   didn't see a contradiction between religion and  space exploration Khrushchev may have hoped for   a knockout blow against the religious but it just  wasn't to be by the late 1960s and into the 1970s   the enthusiasm of Soviet Society towards space and  space related subjects began to fade in 1969 after   the near tragic end of the soyuz 5 Mission where  Boris volinov almost died during re-entry there   were attempts to conceal the near fatal incident  despite this details and rumors leaked out causing   some embarrassment also in 1969 during a welcoming  reception for the returning Cruise of soyuz   4 and 5 at the Kremlin there was an attempted  assassination of Landon Brezhnev by a disgruntled   army officer who fired on the wrong car killing  the driver and wounding several cosmonauts   as a result of this incident Soviet leaders  never participated in the welcoming ceremonies   again removing some attention from the space  program this combined with a diminishing number   of successes including a failure to go to the Moon  as well as the increasing stagnation of the Soviet   Union overall turned the once enthusiasm for the  Soviet space program into cynicism people began   to question if the cosmonauts were even doing  anything themselves and if it wasn't just the work   of the engineers and the rockets that they were  benefiting from there is a story of Gagarin having   a meal with a small group of Kom small activists  not long after the 1967 fatal crash of soyuz won   in which gagarin's friend and colleague Vladimir  kamarov was killed at the dinner one of the   compsamal members kept interrupting Gagarin saying  that all the work of the cosmonauts is being   done by Soviet space technology and that being a  cosmonaut was an easy way to become a hero of the   Soviet Union it was recounted in the story that  Gagarin teared up asking and what about kamarov   who burned up what do you say about that and then  leaving the table incidentally Gagarin himself   was the backup Cosmonaut for the study was one  Mission if kamarov had not been fit at launch time   the Soviet space program continued through the  1970s and the 1980s right up to the collapse of   the Soviet Union and perhaps even Beyond depending  on how you want to view Sergey krikolov the last   Soviet citizen but despite its continuance it  never had the same impact as it did in that first   decade inward focus on the ills of the Soviet  system and a lack of huge successes to show for   the Investments being made tarnished the once  lustrous jewel in the Soviet Crown despite this   it's important to recognize those early Soviet  achievements and the impact that they had on the   USSR and indeed the world we hope you've enjoyed  this episode and to make sure you don't miss   our future work please make sure you subscribe to  our Channel and have created an entire propaganda   campaign 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Channel: The Cold War

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Keywords: space race, society, conservatism, rise, over, strategic, air, command, preared, nuclear, war, communism, union, communist, Ukraine, Khrushchev, how, housed, republic, china, russian, dominant, laws, social, people, world, american, Stalin, Cold War, soviet union, stalin documentary, kings and generals, operation unthinkable, the cold war, USSR, US, capitalism, us, marshal plan, stalin, nato, united states, khrushchev, eisenhower, cambridge five, yugoslavia, korean war, america, changed, focus, consumer, teenager, culture

Id: m7VVH6ML8sU

Length: 24min 15sec (1455 seconds)

Published: Sat Nov 05 2022