Fall Out (Finale)

Summary

HISTORY This Week — “Fall Out (Finale)” (July 30, 2026)

Overview of the Episode

This gripping season finale of HISTORY This Week traces the aftermath of World War II and the early tensions of the Cold War, focusing on the global fallout after the Allied victory and the birth of the US-Soviet rivalry. Through narration, archival voices, and commentary from historians and experts, the episode explores how the world shifted from wartime alliance to ideological standoff, the forging of new global institutions, the division of Germany and Europe, the Marshall Plan, and the nuclear arms race—a “fallout” that would define the modern world and leave humanity balanced on the edge of Armageddon.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The End of World War II and Emergence of Superpowers

• Post-War Jubilation and Division of Power
  • September 1945: Both Germany and Japan surrender, ending the war. (04:32)
  • The United States and the Soviet Union emerge as the two global superpowers. (04:45)
• Legacy of Allied Victory
  • The Allies’ triumph is celebrated not only for military victory but for defending ideals of freedom and democracy.
  • Quote: “One of the great legacies of the Second World War is that a disputatious, complicated, often wrong nation like the United States can…marshal significant force to do the right thing.” – Historian/Expert (04:54)
• The Price of War
  • The unprecedented human toll: 70 million dead (most civilians), with the Soviets, Chinese, Germans, Japanese, British, Americans, and Jews all suffering massive losses. (07:05)

2. Redrawing the World Order

• The Creation of the United Nations
  • FDR’s vision is realized with the founding of the United Nations, designed to prevent another world war. (08:02–08:46)
  • The Security Council’s structure is rooted in the wartime alliance but sows seeds of future tension: “Because it’s not just winning the battle of the day, it’s trying to prevent the next one.” (09:17)
• Managing Postwar Germany
  • Germany is divided into four occupation zones.
  • Competing visions: the Western Allies wish to rehabilitate and integrate Germany into markets; the Soviets seek reparations and security. (09:57–10:56)
  • The Nuremberg Trials seek justice but also reveal fractures—Western allies push for fairness, Soviets for retribution. (11:19–12:45)

3. Rising Tension and the Onset of the Cold War

• Mutual Suspicion Grows
  • Constant tension emerges between the US/Britain and the Soviet Union. (13:05)
• Stalin’s Calculations
  • Stalin, emboldened by Soviet territorial gains, builds a “buffer” of communist states in Eastern Europe, ensuring loyalty through control and repression.
  • Quote: “For Stalin, the key thing for Eastern and Central Europe is that it must be loyal to the Soviet Union. That’s non-negotiable.” – Historian/Expert (15:16)
• The Race for the Bomb
  • The United States’ atomic monopoly drives Stalin to launch a crash Soviet nuclear program, overseen by the ruthless Beria. (16:05–17:16)
  • Stalin’s mindset: Communism and capitalism are inherently at odds; another great conflict is inevitable. (13:54–14:21)

4. From Alliance to Confrontation

• The “Iron Curtain” Descends
  • Winston Churchill’s “Iron Curtain” speech (18:20–19:14) reframes the Soviet-Western relationship as an emerging, unbridgeable ideological divide.
  • Quote: “From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the continent.” – Winston Churchill (18:35)
  • Truman supports Churchill’s tough stance, while Stalin sees it as a provocation. (19:20–19:31)

5. American Commitment: The Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan

• Communist Expansion and the Domino Theory
  • After the French and Italian Communist parties surge, the British signal exhaustion; the US is pressed to act.
  • Quote: “This is a really important moment, the winding down of the British Empire, early 1947.” (23:54)
• The Truman Doctrine
  • Truman dramatically pledges US support for “free peoples…resisting attempted subjugation.” (25:18)
  • Marks the end of isolationism and the start of global American engagement; $400 million is sent to Greece and Turkey. (26:19–26:24)
  • Quote: “The Truman Doctrine is a radical shift. It’s putting American power behind a global ideological contest with the Soviet Union.” – Historian/Analyst (26:34)
• The Marshall Plan
  • Massive aid ($13.3 billion) is offered to rebuild Europe and prevent communist influence.
  • Quote: “The best guarantee against communism are well fed bellies, good schools, orderly societies…the things that only happen in a prosperous economy.” – Historian/Commentator (28:31)

6. Drawing Lines: Soviet Reaction and Czechoslovakia

• Stalin’s Response
  • Stalin views Marshall Aid as a Western imperialist plot to undermine Soviet power and blocks Eastern bloc participation. (28:51–29:34)
• Czechoslovakia Coup
  • When Czechoslovakia considers Western assistance, Stalin orchestrates a communist coup, stamping out any liberalization. (29:57–31:11)

7. Berlin: Flashpoint of Crisis

• The Berlin Blockade and Airlift (1948–49)
  • Soviets attempt to force Western withdrawal by blockading West Berlin. (33:29–34:19)
  • Truman and the Allies respond with the Berlin Airlift—flying in vital supplies around the clock, risking direct confrontation. (35:18–36:17)
  • Truman deploys B29s to Europe as a nuclear warning; the Soviets, wary of war, back down after a prolonged standoff. (36:32–37:37)
  • Quote: “In the end, it was Stalin who blinked.” – Historian/Expert (37:37)

8. From Hot to Cold: NATO and the Nuclear Arms Race

• Birth of NATO
  • The US, Canada, and Western Europe form NATO as a deterrent against Soviet aggression and to institutionalize security. (42:04–43:14)
  • Quote: “NATO is created to keep the Americans in, the Russians out, and the Germans down.” – Historian/Analyst (43:14)
• The World Crosses the Nuclear Threshold
  • The Soviets successfully test their first atomic bomb, ending the US monopoly. (43:40–44:22)
  • The world enters a new era of instability with two superpowers both armed with nuclear weapons.
  • Quote: “You’ve got two superpowers, two nuclear powers…The world is much less stable.” – Historian/Expert (44:48)
  • The Cold War is set to be one of war “after the other. Big wars, small wars, guerrilla wars, proxy wars…But…there has not been a World War 3.” – Historian/Commentator (45:19)

9. Moral Legacies and Lasting Consequences

• The Changed World
  • The war alters not just borders but the very moral and philosophical underpinnings of global affairs.
  • Quote: “World War II began in a universe that would have been recognizable 50 years before. It ends in a world that wouldn’t have been recognizable to anyone because of the splitting of the atom.” – Historian/Expert (45:44)
• Living on the Edge
  • The episode closes with Eisenhower’s somber wisdom: “The only way to win the next world war is to prevent it.” (46:38–47:25)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Victory and Ideals
  • “The Allies won this war in the cause of freedom and the ideals of anti fascism.” – Historian/Expert (04:42)
• Stalin’s Chilling Mindset
  • “He starts to create a new economic centralized system in Central and Eastern Europe...with all of the decisions...made in Moscow.” – Historian/Expert (15:27)
• The Game-Changer
  • “Truman’s a poker player…For these years after the war, he always had an ace in the hole. He had the bomb. The Soviets didn’t. That surety was gone.” – Historian/Commentator (44:37)
• Lasting Uncertainty
  • “One war replaced by another, and the world remains on edge.” – Narrator (46:38)

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Major Timestamps

• 04:32 – End of World War II; global jubilation and power shift
• 08:02–08:46 – United Nations founded; Security Council tensions
• 11:19–12:45 – Nuremberg Trials: justice and tensions
• 15:04–15:44 – Stalin’s postwar policies in Eastern Europe
• 18:35–19:14 – Churchill’s “Iron Curtain” speech
• 25:18 – Truman Doctrine: the US declares new global role
• 28:07–28:31 – The Marshall Plan: rebuilding, containing communism
• 29:57 – The 1948 communist coup in Prague
• 33:29–37:37 – The Berlin Blockade and Airlift
• 42:04–43:14 – Creation of NATO
• 43:56–44:22 – Soviet Union tests its first atomic bomb
• 45:44 – Moral/philosophical legacy of World War II and nuclear threat
• 46:38–47:25 – Eisenhower’s warning: “The only way to win the next world war is to prevent it.”

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Tone and Language

• The episode maintains a serious, reflective, and occasionally somber tone, befitting the subject matter and historical stakes.
• Language is accessible but authoritative, balancing factual narration with pointed historical insight.
• Commentary shifts between awe at the scale of change, concern at the fragility of peace, and pragmatic analysis of political calculation.

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For Listeners Who Haven’t Heard the Episode

If you missed the episode, this finale paints the tense landscape of the postwar world, where hope for peace quickly gave way to rivalry and existential risk. The drama of shifting alliances, ideological battles, pivotal speeches, and nuclear brinkmanship is brought alive through vivid narration and expert commentary. The episode’s urgent theme—how close the world came, and continues to come, to catastrophic conflict—makes history feel immediate, unresolved, and deeply relevant.

Transcript

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I think the American Revolution is the most important event since the birth of Christ.

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It's two steps forward and then it's one or two steps back.

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[Jill Schlesinger]

History.

[Host]

Free shipping, free returns and a 30 night trial so you can test it out. Dream big and wake up better. The headlines will still be there in the morning. You might as well wake up. Ready for them.

[Narrator]

Queen Carvania stood haloed by the morning sun.

[Historian/Commentator]

An army hung on her every word.

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My champions, I have spoken.

[Narrator]

I sold my chariot on Carvana.

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[Narrator]

The History channel original podcast September 1945. Germany and Japan have surrendered unconditionally. The destruction and death of the Second World War is over. There is jubilation around the world. The United States and the Soviet Union emerged from the conflict as the globe's two dominant superpowers. They fought side by side when they shared a common enemy. But now that that enemy has been defeated, an American Soviet rivalry appears unavoidable.

[Tom Hanks]

This is World War With Tom Hanks. Episode 20 Fallout.

[Narrator/Voice Actor]

It's official. It's all over. It's total victory. The day of days for America and her allies. Peace. It's wonderful.

[Narrator]

The war is over. The entire world begins to breathe and live again.

[Historian/Expert]

The Allies won this war in the cause of freedom and the ideals of anti fascism. The ideals of democracy.

One of the great legacies of the Second World War is that a disputatious, complicated, often wrong nation like the United States can in extremis, marshal significant force to do the right thing. It took us a long time. As Churchill is alleged to have said, you can always count on the Americans to do the right thing. Once we've exhausted every other possibility. We spent blood and treasure to defeat fascism.

The United States had fulfilled Roosevelt's ambitions to be the arsenal of democracy to orders of magnitude. No one could have predicted.

[Narrator]

In New York, hundreds of thousands line the docks to greet America's ships and welcome home their sons and daughters. President Harry Truman is honored with a ticker tape parade through the city's canyon of heroes. Speaking in Central park, the President addresses the nation.

[Narrator/Voice Actor]

The world cannot afford to let the cooperative spirit of the Allies in this war disintegrate. The world simply cannot allow this to happen.

[Narrator]

In Red Square, thousands celebrate and honor Generalissimo Joseph Stalin.

[Historian/Expert]

He's dressed in a white marshall summer uniform with shoulder boards like a Russian Romanov. Emperor Stalin emerges from the Second World War with astonishing almost religious prestige.

In the Soviet Union, Stalin and the United States had made an alliance that ultimately brings Hitler and then Japan to its knees. The spirit of cooperation is so high that Dwight Eisenhower, the supreme Allied command in Europe, probably one of the future staunchest anti communists in American history, stands right next to Stalin.

[Narrator]

The bloodshed and horror of the Second World War is unprecedented in human history. Nearly 70 million people are killed, the majority civilians. An estimated 27 million Soviets, 20 million Chinese, 10 million Germans and Japanese, 1 million British and Americans and 6 million Jews.

[Historian/Expert]

Europe is destroyed. The Brits are bankrupt. The Americans and the Soviets, they're demobilizing.

[Historian/Commentator]

What's really clear coming out of World War II is that the United States has an incredibly important role to play in the world. She hasn't been physically touched by the war other than Pearl Harbor. America is the superpower.

[Historian/Expert]

There's every expectation that some kind of peaceful coexistence will emerge. When the Americans talk about the way they want the international system to be, they talk about the United Nations. The United nations in many ways is Franklin Roosevelt's dream come true during the war.

It's Roosevelt who says we must have this international body. It's a very hopeful group, lots of ideals, the UN charter, all of this comes into being in 1945.

[Narrator/Voice Actor]

Here, leaders of the United nations, representing all but a fraction of the earth's population, are laying the foundations of international security in the post war world.

[Historian/Expert]

Out of the fires of war, they wanted for there to be an organization where we don't have 1939.

Again, the United nations combines two ideas. The first is the General assembly, where equal states can meet and confer and make resolutions. There is also the wartime military alliance between the Soviets, the British, France and the United States, as well as China. And that's the Security Council that will be the cornerstone to ensuring peace.

Because it's not just winning the battle of the day, it's trying to prevent the next one.

[Narrator]

One of the first challenges is to determine how Germany will fit into the post war world.

[Historian/Expert]

We can't today perhaps understand just how threatening and powerful Germany seemed to the allied leadership in 1945. They had just fought two world wars. The greatest enemy of which of theirs was Germany. Ultimately, they realized the control of Germany is going to play a huge role in determining the future of Europe.

The American view is just like the Soviet one at the beginning in the sense that we've got to divide Germany. We've got to make sure that it can never rise up Again, that's the first urgent thing.

[Narrator]

The Allies split Germany into four occupation zones. The British, Americans and French will govern western Germany. The Soviets will govern the East. Berlin, deep within the Soviet zone, is divided between all four nations. The wartime Allies have very different plans for the new Germany.

[Historian/Commentator]

What Stalin is doing is taking as much of the wealth, as much of the factories, as much of the productive capacity and stockpiles from occupied Germany back to the Soviet Union. Stalin would say he was only taking what the Germans owed him for the horrible suffering during the war. Conversely, the Western Allies want Germany rehabilitated.

[Historian/Analyst]

The Western idea is not to devastate Germany economically through reparations, but bring them into global markets and connect Germany to the world. And through that you'll get German people who are incentivized to do things that are constructive instead of destructive. So it's going to need industrialists, middle managers, local governance. And many of these people would have been members of the Nazi party.

[Narrator]

The crimes of the Nazi Third Reich are so horrific that the wartime Allies determine there must be an attempt to achieve justice.

[Historian/Expert]

Nuremberg is highly symbolic as the spiritual heart of Nazi Germany and as the place where hopefully the demons of Nazism can be purged.

[Narrator/Voice Actor]

Everyone in court stands up as the tribunal enters. Four judges and alternate members. French, American, British and Russian. The defendants to plead guilty or not guilty to the charges against them. Rudolf Kisch. Nein.

[Tom Hanks]

Not guilty.

[Narrator]

22 Nazi leaders are put on trial.

[Narrator/Voice Actor]

The next defendant called was Ribbentrop, the nichtchilde.

[Historian/Expert]

Robert Jackson, chief prosecutor of the Nuremberg tribunals, announces that history will judge the fairness of the trial not by the convictions and the executions it obtains, but by the acquittals. But the Soviets are expecting these to be good old fashioned show trials.

[Narrator/Voice Actor]

Wilhelm Keitel Speckle.

[Tom Hanks]

I plead not guilty.

[Historian/Expert]

Stalin had seen how effective show trials could be in his own consolidation of power in the 1930s.

[Tom Hanks]

Not guilty.

[Historian/Expert]

And was happy to give the Germans a trial.

[Narrator/Voice Actor]

Hermann Wilhelm Goering.

[Tom Hanks]

Not guilty.

[Historian/Expert]

And then hang them.

[Narrator]

12 of the defendants receive the death sentence. Hermann Goering avoids the gallows by committing suicide. Seven are given lengthy prison terms, although the Soviets object. Three are acquitted.

[Historian/Expert]

From 45 onwards. You just have this constant growing tension between the United States and Britain on one hand and the Soviet Union on the other. And Stalin has to play quite a careful game. He wants to keep what he has, but he doesn't want to directly antagonize the United States with because the United States is still much more powerful economically. It has complete air and sea control and it has the atom bomb

[Narrator/Voice Actor]

World

[Narrator]

War II devastated the Soviet Union. Joseph Stalin must rebuild his country, ensure its security and consolidate his power. But some of Stalin's ambitions will conflict with the post war plans of his western allies.

[Historian/Expert]

Stalin saw the wartime alliance as a way to defeat Nazi Germany. But never something that would permanently reshape the globe or that would make capitalism and communism friends. Stalin is an ideologue that can never be forgotten. He believes that communism and capitalism are incompatible, that they will actually at some point wage a great fight for the future. And he believes communism will win.

Stalin is in an extraordinary position. There's a moment when he reviews what they've conquered in World War II and he looks at the map of Europe and Russia and he says we really haven't done badly. And it's an understatement.

The Red army is in Berlin and most countries to the east, Poland, the Baltics, the Hungary, Romania of Bulgaria. The Soviet wave broke right around Berlin and they just never receded.

Stalin has done better than any of the greatest czars in Russian history. Peter the Great, Catherine the Great. He's created the biggest Russian empire in history.

[Narrator]

Stalin intends to create a buffer against the West. Militarily and ideologically.

[Historian/Expert]

He would say we have now had two world wars where first Imperial Russia and then the Soviet Union have been invaded through Eastern and Central Europe. I am going to make sure that they are never a threat to the Soviet Union again.

For Stalin, the key thing for Eastern and Central Europe is that it must be loyal to the Soviet Union. That's non negotiable and the recipe for doing that is communism.

He starts to create a new economic centralized system in Central and Eastern Europe. Controlled governments, armies, secret police, factories, agricultural systems with all of the decisions effectively for the economies of those countries being made in Moscow.

[Historian/Analyst]

The Europe that the United States wants to build does not look very much like the Europe that the Soviets want to build.

[Narrator]

The United States has an enormous advantage over the Soviet Union. The atomic bomb. The Soviets construct numerous sites across the USSR in in order to accomplish task number one.

[Historian/Expert]

Task number one is to create a nuclear weapon. That breakneck speed. No resources are too much.

The nuclear program is what the Soviet Union was almost designed to do. It's a big country with lots of natural resources it can marshal immobilize for the nuclear project. It's not completely unlike the Manhattan Project which was also top down secretive and resource heavy. And the Soviet Union puts the full weight of its coercive power behind this project.

[Narrator]

Stalin puts one of his most ruthless Lieutenants in charge. The chief of his secret police, lavrenti

[Historian/Expert]

beria, is a man of brutal ruthlessness and sadism. One of the great monsters of the soviet story. He rapes women, he tortures victims himself. But he's also as efficient as a swiss clock, and he uses everything. He happily turns off power in several cities just to power a project. He gives scientists villas, dachas, cars, shooting rifles, holidays. But at the same time, he threatens to kill them and their whole families if they ever deceive him. And he drives on the project.

It's not going to be quick for stalin. There's no way that he can flip a switch and acquire nuclear weapons. But the soviet union simply can't sit on its laurels in 1946. It has to ready itself for a new phase of conflict.

[Narrator]

After the turmoil of the second world war, the people of great britain and the united states hoped to return to a normal, prosperous life with peaceful coexistence among nations, including with the soviet union.

[Historian/Expert]

For the past five years, Stalin had been your friend. He had been uncle joe.

[Narrator]

But once again, a familiar voice sounds a warning.

[Historian/Commentator]

Winston churchill's in a pretty bad mood. He was thrown out by the british public In a dramatic election defeat in 1945. His wife said it might be a blessing in disguise. He said, well, I think it's a pretty good disguise. He feels he won the second world war, he saved britain, and here he is on the speaking circuit.

[Narrator]

Winston churchill receives an invitation to give a speech at a small college in president truman's home state.

[Historian/Commentator]

This is an opportunity for churchill to say some things that he's got on his mind. It's also an opportunity to spend some time with the president of the united states of america. And then he's going to stand on that stage, and he's going to tell the american people some home truths.

[Narrator/Voice Actor]

From stated in the boat baltic to trieste in the adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the continent.

[Historian/Commentator]

The famous iron curtain speech, where he very clearly lays out what is happening in europe. One side free, the other side not

[Narrator/Voice Actor]

behind that line to all our subjects, to a very high and in some cases, increasing measure of control from moscow.

[Historian/Commentator]

Churchill sees soviet communism, stalinism, as great a threat, really, as nazism was the generation before.

[Narrator/Voice Actor]

This is certainly not the liberated europe we fought to build up.

[Historian/Expert]

It's dynamite. Because what churchill is doing is reframing the wartime alliance.

[Historian/Commentator]

The soviet empire was a malign force in the world world.

[Historian/Expert]

Truman, by the way, is absolutely on board with this speech. But to stalin, this is just Proof that Churchill is a warmonger.

[Narrator]

The alliance that defeated Nazi fascism is beginning to fray.

[Host/Producer]

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[Narrator]

In late 1946, the French vote to elect a new government, the Communist Party does well winning a plurality of seats in the french legislature.

[Historian/Expert]

With the politics of Europe in a state of extraordinary upheaval because of the catastrophe of the war, you, do have a high degree of concern in washington about countries in western Europe turning in a communist direction.

There's a lot of unrest. There are strikes starting to take place in france. There's a huge pro communist movement in italy. And stalin thinks maybe he'll win some of these countries without even having to send an army in

[Narrator]

to the south. Stalin attempts to pressure turkey into giving him control of the turkish straits, which would allow access to the mediterranean and the middle east. And in Greece, communist guerrillas and government forces are fighting an ongoing civil war.

[Historian/Expert]

These are countries that have never been viewed as essential to american security. The united states does not have a history of, of backing the governments of Turkey or Greece.

[Narrator]

The british have been funding the greek army and sending weapons to turkey.

[Historian/Commentator]

But early in 1947, in the White house, this document arrives and it's a shocker. It's from the british government and it says, for a long time we've been supporting Greece and turkey, but we are broke.

[Historian/Expert]

This is a really important moment, the winding down of the British Empire, early 1947. They do not wish to be this sort of great force in the eastern mediterranean, which they had been for a long time.

[Historian/Commentator]

It becomes clear to truman and the american state department that this issue in Greece and Turkey Is actually a threat to national security. They believe that if Greece and Turkey become stalinized, these are dominoes, and the rest of western europe could possibly fall.

[Historian/Expert]

And the British say to the Americans, if you want to make sure these places remains pro western, you, as the United States are going to have to use military force. Now that is a real put up or shut up moment for truman.

[Historian/Commentator]

Truman is a very practical, plain spoken, linear thinker. He doesn't come into office with some big vision of what the world should be. He sort of picks up the mantle of FDR and tries to build a post war order according to what he thought FDR would have done. But really, from the moment of meeting Stalin at potsdam onward, he's starting to formulate his own views.

And now truman recognizes that this is a turning point in this new post war world. What's happening on another side of the globe can be critical to America's national security.

[Narrator]

After deliberating with his diplomatic and military advisors, President truman addresses a joint session of congress.

[Narrator/Voice Actor]

I believe that it must be the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressure. We must assist free peoples to work out their own destinies in their own way.

[Narrator]

The United States is shifting away from isolationism. The Truman Doctrine is now US Policy.

[Historian/Analyst]

The Truman Doctrine is the culmination, going all the way back to Woodrow Wilson, of setting out these American ideals, setting out these American principles, but this time backing them with more power, more force. Because Truman's vision is that the US Will support any country that is resisting communist aggression, any country.

[Historian/Expert]

It is difficult to overstate what a dramatic departure the Truman Doctrine is for the United States in 1940.

[Historian/Commentator]

In 1941, the United States had to be dragged into war. But what Truman is saying is now we're ready to take the fight wherever democracy requires us.

[Narrator/Voice Actor]

We must take immediate and resolute action.

[Historian/Commentator]

Truman asks Congress, and he receives $400 million of military aid for Greece and Turkey. This is only the beginning.

[Historian/Analyst]

This is a radical shift, not only in the way that America had thought about its place in the world, but a radical shift in where Harry Truman's own mind was. It's actually putting American power behind a global ideological contest with the Soviet Union.

[Narrator]

As the American Soviet alliance fades, a contest between superpowers emerges. Europe is in the grip of one of the coldest winters in memory. People have little to eat and struggle to stay warm. They begin to despair at the slow pace of post war recovery.

[Historian/Commentator]

Western governments have not been able to rebuild their economies. Agriculture has been destroyed, transportation has been destroyed, manufacturing has been destroyed, and there's an enormous refugee crisis that is ongoing.

[Historian/Expert]

During the war, there was the deliberate forced movement of populations, so there are millions and millions of refugees on the roads, in camps, in towns and cities and villages that are not their own.

[Narrator]

Truman and his advisors fear that Europe is on the verge of collapse. General George Marshall, one of the chief architects of American victory in World War II, believes the whole world hangs in the balance.

[Historian/Expert]

What Truman and George Marshall, his secretary of state, realize is you need to rebuild the European economy. It has to be not just the militarized Truman doctrine, but there needs to be a way of getting money to support western European or capitalist states.

[Historian/Commentator]

The Marshall plan is a $13.3 billion essentially handout to foreign governments to help these countries rebuild themselves, westernize and stabilize politically.

[Historian/Expert]

And it would be keeping people alive in places where starvation was an actual real thing. So it's done for altruistic reasons, but also geopolitical ones.

[Historian/Commentator]

President Truman and George Marshall believe that the best guarantee against communism are well fed bellies, good schools, orderly societies, the kind of things that can only happen in a prosperous economy.

[Narrator]

Stalin recognizes how Marshall's plan threatens his objectives.

[Historian/Analyst]

To him is another trick. It's another American way to try to undermine the Soviet Union and pull Europe into the American orbit.

[Historian/Expert]

It's presented as Stalin's typical paranoia. Actually, he's got every reason to distrust the West. He was right.

[Narrator/Voice Actor]

Today our aid to the free nations of Europe is helping them to resist dictatorship.

[Historian/Expert]

Stalin understands that Western goods with Western money would lead to Western values of liberal democracy, of open society and also would spread the attractions of capitalism. And it would undermine Stalin's own rule.

So for him, the Marshall Plan has to be stomped down.

[Narrator]

Stalin directs the countries under his command to reject the American offer.

[Historian/Commentator]

Very clearly, Stalin has drawn a line and said, this is my turf, this is your turf, and that's that.

[Narrator]

Stalin expects to maintain complete control of the East European countries. Liberation from Germany by the Red Army. But one nation will test him.

[Historian/Expert]

Czechoslovakia is deeply connected to the Western European economy. The Czechs have advanced industry. They could become wealthy with access to Western capital in the form of the Marshall Plan.

[Narrator]

The democratically elected government in Prague is led by President Edvard Benedict. Several of its ministers are members of the Czech Communist Party. Stalin pressures Bene to reject American aid and compels the Czech Communists to seize control. Over the next few months, local Communists stir up unrest throughout the country.

[Historian/Expert]

The citizens of Czechoslovakia haven't quite gotten the memo that they're really the subordinates of Soviet power.

[Narrator]

In 1948 there is a communist led coup in Prague that topples the the Benesh government and places another East European country firmly in Moscow's orbit.

[Historian/Expert]

Nal Stalin decides to take fewer risks in Eastern Europe. No risks at all. He doesn't believe that ultimately Communism will flower politically and economically and that working peoples around the world will just embrace it because it is the true and scientific approach to human civilization. He believes in power

across Eastern Europe. He crushes any hint of liberalism, free speech. He doubles down on his Soviet system. He arrests tens of thousands of people. More people are sent to the Gulags after the war than before the war. In the 1930s, during the Great Terror.

[Narrator]

Martial aid is an essential component in the American post war recovery plan for Europe. But its success widens the increasing divide economically and politically between east and West.

[Historian/Expert]

We are now in a bipolar world.

[Tom Hanks]

America emerged from the war enriched. They want to see us weaken for many years and impose their will on us.

[Historian/Expert]

It's the world of rivalry like the world had never seen.

[Narrator/Voice Actor]

The Soviet Union has proved again and again that it cannot be trusted.

[Historian/Expert]

And it's a race, It's a competition for preeminence and it's ultimately going to be a competition for security.

[Narrator]

And Berlin, the former capital of the third reich, Is at the center of the conflict. In the summer of 1948, billions of Marshall aid dollars flow into the countries of western europe.

[Narrator/Voice Actor]

Europe is slowly but surely edging back towards economic health. Careful planning for the use of the $324 million allotted has helped western germany temporarily to its feet.

[Narrator]

Great britain and the United states merge their german occupation zones. The french will soon join them. A common currency is introduced, the deutsche mark. Stalin understands that the western powers intend to establish a strong and independent west Germany. Since the end of the war, Great britain, France, the United states and the soviet union have occupied berlin. It lies deep within soviet dominated eastern Germany.

[Historian/Expert]

Now imagine for someone as paranoid as Stalin having the these western militaries going back and forth between berlin and the western occupation zones. This is a source of instability, disruption. It's dangerous.

[Narrator]

Stalin wants to sever direct contact between Berlin and the western half of germany.

[Historian/Expert]

He doesn't want to invade west Berlin because that's an act of war. But what he believes he can do is he can blockade berlin.

[Historian/Commentator]

At this time, Berlin is still a pile of rubble. It has very little tactical significance for the united states government.

[Historian/Expert]

So it really made no sense to keep west Berlin. And stalin believed that in the end the west would blink and withdraw.

[Narrator]

On June 24, the Soviets cut all road, rail and water routes, Leaking west berlin to western germany.

[Narrator/Voice Actor]

Suddenly, the trains stop traffic between berlin and the western zones was banned.

[Historian/Expert]

The famous autobahns were deserted and even

[Narrator/Voice Actor]

canal traffic was at a standstill. The blockade even cut electric power and put out 75% of the lights.

[Historian/Commentator]

Truman is a pragmatic person. This could be a moment where he says it's not worth saving this city Because I don't know what Stalin's going to do. I don't know how dangerous this is going to be. Instead he says, we're not going anywhere.

The US and britain realize that this is Stalin testing the wire. It'll be Berlin first, then it'll be elsewhere. And the allies choose to make it a red line.

Keep in mind it's 1948. For Truman, it's an election year. It's the first post war election. It's the first election in the nuclear age, the first election in the television age. He's aware that all eyes are on him.

The british and americans ask what can we do short of war? And the answer is they can keep Berlin supplied not by road, not by rail, not by canal, but by air.

[Narrator]

The British and the Americans construct an air bridge into West Berlin.

[Historian/Commentator]

The plan is to deliver on airplanes everything that a modern city needs to survive. Food, got coal, you've got fuel, you've got medical supplies. It's a superb example of an operation that's pulled together very quickly. Huge numbers of aircraft, planes flying around the clock. These British and American officers, the same officers that have organized the triumphs of logistics that you see during the Second World War.

[Narrator]

A continuous stream of cargo planes land in West Berlin every few few minutes. But to reach the city, they must fly over hundreds of miles of Soviet controlled territory.

[Historian/Commentator]

They're choosing to defy Stalin. And if you fill the airspace with military aircraft, even though they're unarmed, you have to assume that Stalin might strike back.

[Historian/Expert]

So you have all this military capacity. You have the paranoia and fear in Washington and in Moscow. You have this hall of mirrors quality. The two countries are involved in a kind of escalatory spiral.

[Narrator]

Truman now deploys dozens of B29s to air bases in England. The same plane that dropped the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

[Historian/Commentator]

Nuclear weapons go from being a secret weapon to a public strategic weapon.

The pressure on Truman at this point is incalculable. He knows that this move could be provocative enough to start World War iii.

But the Americans are hoping that this strong show of resolve will encourage Stalin to back off. They are gambling that Stalin does not want World War three.

[Narrator]

After nearly a year of daily international tension, Stalin halts the blockade.

[Narrator/Voice Actor]

Here's a glimpse of Berlin itself as the first trains and vehicles got going at night.

[Narrator]

All routes that connect Berlin to the west are reopened. Restrictions within Berlin between the Soviet zone and American, British and French zones are lifted as well.

[Historian/Expert]

Stalin set up a challenge for the West. He was probing the West. He needed to know how far he could go. But in fact, Truman rose to the challenge. And in the end, it was Stalin who blinked.

[Historian/Commentator]

A little.

[Host]

Look behind the scenes, producing history this week. Some weeks eats my whole schedule. And Instacart is how I survive it. It connects you with thousands of stores and as fast as 30 minutes, you can have quality groceries delivered right to your door. Last week is a perfect example. I was locked in on sound design, headphones on, mixing some music under a scene. Finally in the zone when everything clicks that flow state and the last thing you want to do is break the spell. Problem was my fridge was basically practically empty and I hadn't eaten all day, but instead of stopping to run to the store, I opened Instacart. Picked out fresh produce, cold brew, real dinner for the night. Kept working, never took the headphones off, and a little while later it was all at my door. Quality. I'd have picked myself. No hours lost. If I can get time back to focus on what matters. Working on a show like this, that's a game changer. Instacart brings convenience, quality and ease right to your door so you can focus on what matters most. Download the Instacart app now and get groceries just how you like. Hey, before we jump back into the show, let's take a quick break. But not just any break. This is a refreshing break with Snapple. We all know about Snapple's iconic real facts, so let's take a minute to go over some of my faves. Snapple RealFact 2002 On May 1, 1931, the Empire State Building officially opened in New York City. Snapple RealFact 1916 the first Nobel prizes were awarded on December 10, 1901. Snapple RealFact 1361 A nun held one of the first PhDs in computer science. Snapple Real Fact 2043 On August 6, 1762, the first ever sandwich was created when someone requested a dish with meat between two pieces of bread. So grab a Snapple, take a second and enjoy the moment. Because let's be honest, this might be the most refreshing part of your day. Snapple, make your break more interesting. All right, now let's get back to the show. Every week on this show we dig into moments when sometimes the right person wasn't in place at the right time. Armies without the general they needed. Expeditions without the right navigator. Entire plans that fell apart because nobody had the one person who could actually do the job. History is full of workplace chaos. If I had to hire someone tomorrow, say a new researcher, I wouldn't just post must like history. I'd want someone who could chase down a primary source, knows how to fact check a centuries old claim. Someone who can jump in and handle the chaos of an actual production week. This is a job for sponsored jobs and the numbers back it up. In the time I've been talking to you, companies made 27 hires on Indeed according to Indeed Data worldwide. That's the kind of speed that would have saved more than a few historical disasters. Reach candidates with the exact skills, certifications or locations you actually need. No more sorting through a stack of close enough. Honestly, half of history could have gone differently with a decent shortlist. Spend less time searching and more time actually interviewing candidates who check all your boxes. Less stress, less time, more results when you need the right person to cut through the chaos. This is a job for Indeed Sponsored Jobs and listeners of this show will get a $75 sponsored job credit to help get your job the premium status it deserves@ Indeed.com podcast just go to Indeed.com podcast right now and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast. Indeed.com podcast need to hire this is a job for Indeed sponsored Jobs.

[Narrator]

As relations between the United States and the Soviet Union continue to deteriorate, Western governments plan to provide collective security against possible Soviet aggression.

[Historian/Commentator]

When the United States and the Soviet Union look like they can be on the verge of war, it became obvious that the United States United States couldn't continue to ad hoc this to lurch from crisis to crisis to crisis.

[Historian/Expert]

The post war path that FDR anticipated was one in which the United nations would help adjudicate disputes and rule the peace. What he was not able to fully anticipate was that a struggle against his former ally, the Soviet Union would become the defining force of the era.

[Narrator]

Representatives from Europe, Canada and the United States meet in Washington to discuss the formation of a new military alliance, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, NATO.

[Historian/Analyst]

The idea is to create what military strategists call deterrence. It's an alliance that is created to make sure that the Russians know that if they attack more one state in the alliance, they could theoretically face a war against all of the states in that alliance. NATO is created to keep the Americans in, the Russians out, and the Germans down.

[Historian/Expert]

What Harry Truman does with the Marshall Plan, with the Truman Doctrine with NATO is establish an infrastructure of deterrence to try to contain the communistic influence.

[Narrator/Voice Actor]

If there is anything inevitable in the future, it is the will of the people of the world for freedom and for peace.

[Narrator]

But the world is about to cross a threshold from which there is no return. In an appropriately desolate landscape, the Soviet Union prepares to test its first atomic bomb.

[Historian/Expert]

Lavrenti Barrier Stalin's kind of mega manager, arrives to supervise in a little hut in the middle of nowhere. He's incredibly nervous. If it doesn't work, his downfall is quite likely. He watches from a safe distance.

[Narrator]

The test is a success.

[Historian/Expert]

Stalin's overjoyed and relieved. Now he's got an equal footing with the west and they cannot push him around anymore.

After this period when Stalin's struggling to catch up with America, he's back in the game.

[Historian/Commentator]

Truman's a poker player. And for these years after the war, he always had an ace in the hole. He had the bomb. The Soviets didn't. That surety was gone. There was no turning back.

Back.

[Historian/Expert]

You've got two superpowers, two nuclear powers that are facing each other across the world, and all of a sudden the world is much less stable.

An 18th or 19th century scholar would say, oh, you're going to have a war between those two powers. It's inevitable, right, because they're the two great superpowers. But the atomic weapons change things. If the Soviets and the United States can't compete in the military sense directly because it's too dangerous, well, then you compete indirectly.

[Historian/Commentator]

After 1949, there'll be one war after the other. Big wars, small wars, guerrilla wars, proxy wars between the two superpowers. But what hasn't happened is the big one. There has not been a World War 3, a general war involving the globe that involves nuclear weapons.

[Historian/Expert]

World War II began in a universe that would have been recognizable 50 years before it ends, in a world that wouldn't have been recognizable to anyone because of the splitting of the atom. The moral and philosophical underpinning that enabled the Allies to triumph in World War II. An appreciation for the individual support for the dignity of all peoples, a bias for democracy, have for almost a century now enabled us to live and thrive in a world where Armageddon is always at hand. But it hasn't come, not least because we've done the right thing.

[Narrator]

The Second World War alters everything. National, political, even moral boundaries are redrawn. What was inconceivable before the war is now part of the fabric of life. The conflict that follows the Cold War poses even graver consequence, because now, for the first time in human history, the world could literally destroy itself. One war replaced by another, and the world remains on edge. As President Dwight D. Eisenhower observed, the only way to win the next world war is to prevent it.

[Tom Hanks]

World War II with Tom Hanks is produced by A and E Factual Studios, Newtopia Ltd. Playtone Productions and Back Pocket Studios in association with Motion Entertainment for the History Channel. This episode was narrated by Tom Hanks and mixed by John Lloyd. Additional voicing provided by me, Jeremy Reagan from the History Channel. Our executive executive producers are Eli Lehrer and Liv Fiddler for Playtone. Executive producers are Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman for Back Pocket Studios. Our executive producer is Ben Dickstein.

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[Host/Producer]

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