The Abyss (1963-1991) (E06)

November 22, 1963. The entire world is in shock. President Kennedy has just been assassinated during a trip to Dallas. Even Khrushchev himself seems touched by the tragic news. In a surprising coincidence, South Vietnamese president Diem was assassinated twenty days earlier, in a coup organized by his generals? The players change, but the Vietnam war drags on. America's new President Johnson sinks his country further into the quagmire of war. Close to three million young Americans discover Hell - the jungle, the unbearable heat, and the Viet Cong, with its tunnels and traps. For the first time, television plays a special role in the war. In 1968, the American people discover the fiasco taking place in Vietnam through footage of the disastrous Tet Offensive aired on TV. Massacres, abuse and torture of American soldiers and the obvious defeat of their army. Soon, the United States has no choice but to recall its troops. This is victory for the Communist world? But the USSR is bankrupt. Weakened by its various campaigns around the world, the Soviet Union fails to triumph in Afghanistan. Soon, the "satellite" republics reclaim their rights. Each in turn overthrows its Moscow-imposed government. In 1989, the Berlin Wall falls, followed by the explosion of the Soviet empire? The red flag with its gold star comes down from the Kremlin spires. This marks the end of the Cold War. The War of Worlds is over. (National Geographic)