they were pushed out of the soviet union. now there is no need for partisans anymore, because there are no lines to fight behind. most of the units were disbanded. they were amalgamated into the regular red army units. one of those units that i portray -- one of the other things that i find that's interesting about the soviet contribution is -- one of them was the partisans. the other one was cavalry. so, i represent the cavalry, in my case the cavalry sergeant. my uniform is a fairly standard late-war uniform, we'll call it. i have my red stripe on my pants to represent the cavalry movement. my hat also, of course, has various combinations of colors. the idea being, the blue on my epaulets, and the symbol with the crossed sabers. i'm carrying a saber. that harkens back to the cossacks. there were other types of sabers. calvary men were lightly armored. they were mounted. the point here -- the advantage, the interesting thing about the soviet military in terms of cavalry is that they had these large numbers of mounted cavalry

and had assumed the soviets would not let them win without a fight. despite planes had been monitoring the r 7 launch facility since the outset and it was thought that a moon shot could not be launched from there. often the cia's analysts couldn't believe their eyes. the thing about it though with the satellites where you are same a same thing about iraq 3rd 4th and that that you have to if you're down or constructing something. you've got to do it well because we've got are. but the u.s. just couldn't find anything there was simply no evidence of a lunar program. then in 1964 they saw a lot of new activity and construction sites at baikonur. it was the 1st indication that moscow was planning something bigger after all. in fact the construction work had been running at full speed since august when khrushchev had finally given the green light for a manned moon mission. soviet cosmonauts would be working around the clock from then on the. movement to be misused we had 24 hour shifts sometimes we couldn't go home for several weeks but we slept at work on

images from early soviet science fiction films inspired the a man. generations of moonstruck rocket man like. one orbit of earth is the last he said to me then and 25 years man will be on the moon. i said no that science fiction maybe it will happen someday but we want to experience it. and he said it will happen and our lifetime is that the put in that. but the vision of landing on the moon was still pure speculation perhaps simply outlandish dreams coverly of realized that he needed a completely new rocket and a convincing argument. his legendary r 7 sputnik carrier rockets was too weak to transport people to the moon but he hadn't even started yet his next triumph came in 1961 with you what he got in the 1st man in space. the kremlin boss was delighted with the coup whereas sputnik success had shocked the americans they got in flight humiliated them. just a few days after the soviet triumph president kennedy announced a bold sunset full hearty plan. i believe nation should commit. with. returning him safely to the year. there was no official react

and soviet athletes there was. a long distance race going on in the in the stadium i was in the on the ground in the center on the grass still on the track was around there and. it was very hot that day one of the american athletes fainted while he was on on the track and he fell down and minutely the officials were standing by me and i were ran up there they helped him up to his feet. and he got through did get some spray or something to gain for medicine so he recovered. he should go no longer than let me continue let me continue and he started running again. but in the opposite direction but in the opposite direction he returned running back and they stopped a minute to stop them and no turn turn this way. they're right everyone was a gas and he started running of course he didn't win so all but but when he crossed the finish line at the end he received a standing ovation from the whole group of the entire stadium packed well over 60000 people soviet fans. in the close of the game a standing ovation. and that's

the family waited for permission to enter the soviet union for several years and only in 1951 the soviet embassy in washington sent a positive response the wants family set off without having any idea how different life had become in the soviet union on april 3rd 1952 george wants to spend we return to the u.s.s.r. we got out of the train that brought us across the river from poland into belorussia to breast and my father was saw overwhelmed. by returning to his native homeland as cheers appeared in his eyes and. he one bowed down and kissed the ground. and i was very impressed i saw remember that. picture vividly in my mind my father. coming down on his knees and kissing the ground. since the inception of the soviet union western media had always viewed this country with suspicion and even hostility george was pleasantly surprised people were helpful in kind still recovering from the sufferings of the war the country were just rebuilding and people were lucky they felt lucky they were alive that. most important thing. because life was one time gift. and you have to live it the to the be

unionn and the soviet share out long border vital to the soviet union and the security of the world.en the anti-u.s. sentiment, how do you think the united states can and sure the stability of the region? pres. reagan: you said the border between iran and the soviet union? well i think one of the first , things that has to happen is for stability, has got to be in iran itself, to establish a government that can speak as a government for iran. and part of our problem in all of these long 444 days, has been the inability of anyone seemingly to speak for that nation. to have a government. now, i think that any country would want to help another if they really showed an intent to have a government that would abide by international law, and do what they could to help in that regard. but until such a thing appears apparent there, i don't think there is anything we can do. go ahead, young lady. >> mr. president, if it is your intention to signal the world that this country will risk on -- will respond with swift retribution in cases of international terrorism in the future why is it your po

inside afghanistan and we were successful the soviets left afghanistan and then we said great good by leaving these trained people who were fanatical in afghanistan and pakistan leaving them well armed creating a mess frankly that at the time we didn't really recognize we were just so happy to see the soviet union fall and we thought ok fine we're ok now everything's going to be so much better now you look back the people we're fighting today we were supporting in the fight against the soviets. one of potsdam 75 years ago today carved out a post world war 2 order our next guest is linked to the post 911 order joining me via skype from doha is the taliban spokesperson so he'll show him thank you so much as i have a coming on the back of this cause of a taliban attacks going on at the moment but the u.s. army finally announcing that it is retreating it is leaving your country nato has not been counting the numbers of afghan dead since the usa began its longest war and in fact the news in nato nations is that your people your taliban people are taking russian money to kill nato soldiers

between the united states and soviet union. through the end of the vietnam era, the reagan buildup and the fall of the berlin wall and i have to tell you during that time, congress played an enormously important role in conducting oversight whether it was a republican administration or democratic administration to ensure that our national security interests were protected there in the cold war. i want to commend all of you, chairman and all of your members for your continuing critical oversight to make sure that we protect our country. let me begin by making clear that there is little question that we are in a new chapter of the cold war with russia. but this new chapter with vladimir putin's russian federation is in some ways more dangerous than what we faced with the old soviet union. the soviet union, we were in a rough parity with our nuclear capabilities. a new our strength, we know their strength and in some ways that gave us leverage to be able to deal with them from a position of strength. the deal with vladimir putin,

in various modes over the past eight years those were eventful years covering the collapse of the soviet union they cover the death of some very important people. and my sister who served as the editor it is the mood of which i write with carl sagan and mario, and teddy kennedy and so on. and then to analyze the problems that there was a section on the commenting to reflect and then celebrating and appreciating these people. it is a wide ranging collection. >>cspan: with former columns and articles that they contain like this? >> the operative word is ordinarily. the answer is ordinarily they don't buy anything unless they are part of the constituency the day after tomorrow talk about spending the money outside of his new book but if a publisher brings back a collection that usually means people bought it. >>cspan: what is this in numbers you have written? >> 35th. >>cspan: what has sold the best? >> the second of my one books and then the mystery books came in between 75 and 100 except the last one came out shortly after the cold war and i was a casualty of that then most of them have b

>> remember, the soviet union was our ally. they wereis idea that the bad guys here, they were our allies and they lost 20 million people fighting the germans. there was a different perspective of who the soviets were during the war than there is now or even during the cold war. there were multiple penetrations of the operation, secrets were smuggled out, designs were smuggled out. terrific damage. a lot of it was not discovered until the 1950's or later. again, by the same point, america was conducting espionage against the soviets. andwhole world was at war you trusted your allies only as far as you have to. saidd yet grandpa famously -- they found out the bomb worked i believe the day after he arrived in's tam -- in pots dam, and stalin took it very lightly and said i hope you make good use of it. grandpa got very nervous that he was very nonchalant about it. >> we have a question from jeff, who says i am curious about the reaction and response to the soviets in -- of the soviets in the dropping of the bomb. that my understa

william: you did call the soviet union the evil empire. you saw the soviets shoot down and murder an american major. other times you suggested you and mr. gorbachev could work together to achieve peace. are those contradictory positions? pres. reagan: no, i thought that when questions were asked of me about the soviet union, i spoke -- bluntly about what i felt that i knew about them and the fact that they are expansionist, they are aggressive, and they have never retracted lenin's statement that their mission is a one world communist state. but we have to live in a world together. i believe the only way there will be world war iii is if the soviet union wants a war. if they want peace, there will be peace because no one else wants a war. we certainly don't. i have never known of a war and my lifetime that we started. so i think that it is necessary that we face each other. we know they don't like our system, russia, we don't like their system. but we have to see if we can get alone in the world. as i say, they are the only ones who can ca

december 24th 1979 soviet troops invaded going to stand leaders of the soviet union said they'd been invited by a gun to common defeated. the soviet invasion set up on the on the part of decades of conflict. from the soviet of gone before the most was complete withdrawal in the 1980 s. and the eventual collapse of the communist government. civil war followed eventually leading to the taliban's rice to power. once backed by the cia the movement through most of a lot of fun until 2001. that's when the u.s. led coalition invaded after the 911 attacks the taliban leadership fled kabul 6 general elections have been held since then. gun politicians squabble for power and struggle to control. territory but the taliban did not recognize the authority of any of the elected government. nearly 2 decades later u.s. forces signed an agreement to withdraw from afghanistan so why did the taliban but not harbor hardline groups attacked the u.s. and its allies the agreement came after nearly 7 years of efforts to pursue political reconciliation between the part of on the afghan government the u.s. an

union and the united states one thing that we didn't have # in the soviet union is free access to guns the united states now has more guns than people over 400000000 guns throughout the entire population isn't that scary aren't you concerned that it may end up in a very very. ugly way yes i am worried about it but here's another side of it we haven't had an a more armed population for decades but the real danger the real threat to most people is from the police not from the other people who have guns. and what you're seeing is not a movement against guns you're seeing a movement against the whole lease and by the way this is not to blame the police they have put in an impossible situation they are being asked to contain a system in a society that is broken and needs fundamental change and the police tend not do what they're asked to do and so they overreact and then the people overreact but that's what happens when systems fall apart which is why i think that's what's happening now it is very popular these days to blame systemic racism on capital is man i don't want to downplay the rol

in north korea, the soviet union lost no time in setting up a communist puppet government.n the south, the united states and united nations strove to establish an independent democratic republic. two years ago, as seoul the capital of korea, a commission supervised free election south of the 38th parallel and the republic of korea, a was born. its president was sigmund reid. in may, 1950, the citizens of this young republic went to the polls again to exercise their democratic rights to choose their government onto their democratic constitution. even as the citizens of the korean republic voted in free elections, the north korean communist leaders were boasting of their intention to unify the country by force. and this was their target -- a partly mountainous peninsula and the 20 million peace loving citizens of the republic of korea. ♪ the attack by the north korean communists came suddenly and without warning. the heroic republican army faced by superior forces with all the advantages of deception and surprise, rally to the defense of the republic improvising quickly to be

william: you did call the soviet union the evil empire. soviets murdered an american major. and at other times you and mr. gorbachev could work together to achieve peace. are those contradictory positions? pres. reagan: not at all. at the beginning of this administration, when questions were asked of me in press conferences about the soviet union, i spoke bluntly about what i felt i knew about them and the fact they are expansionist, they are neversive, they have withdrawn or retracted the lenin statement that their mission is a one world communist state. at the same time, we have to live together. i believe the only way there will be world war iii is the soviet union once a war. if they want peace, there will be peace, because no one else wants a war. we certainly don't. of a war in known my lifetime that we started. that it is necessary that we face each other. ournow they don't like system and we don't like their system. cannothave to see if we get along in the world. they are the only ones that can cause a war. william: do you expect to be meeting with mr. gorbachev? pre

peoples republic of mongolia 921 the soviet union sided with its economically weaker. engineers in moscow designed the lines and forced laborers were sent from russian prison camps to reinforce the mongolian trackwork has to drive this gigantic project through. the 1111 kilometers of track through the most difficult terrain gave mongolia a big boost. it was a great success for the soviets to who would do it by the wealth of mineral resources. as military considerations also played a major role in the fraternal relief action. the chance mongolian rail link from the russian border in the north to china in the south is still the backbone of all the rail traffic in mongolia today. because of the enormous distances many passenger trains run overnight sleeping cars are the best way to weather the long journey times. is also on the roofs of the so-called dealer trains most of the passengers on board are mongolian merchants on their way to their chinese neighbors. there they buy goods that are lace is sold at a profit in their shops back home. in a large part of the mongolian

leadership and getting on quite well with the soviet leadership. when did you decide, when did you change your mind about negotiating? >> i have always felt there should be negotiations. i have always felt that that was the answer, not an eventual war, as so many think built into their thinking that it is inevitable someday. you must remember, when i first came here in the first two years i was here, soviet leaders kept dying on me. i met with some. we will be having a fourth summit when i go to moscow. i came here with a belief that what was needed was realism and strength. do not be lured into a detente because it sounds good or to make a treaty in which you shake hands and yet you know that the evils are still going on. realism was to make evidence that i had a career view of what the differences were. strength was in the building up of our defense structure and some things such as when i came here, they had leveled were aimed at europe and the great targets of europe, nuclear missiles. there was no counter weapon in europe against that. the nat

i don't think we found it after the collapse of the soviet union. we need to i think reinvigorate some of our international institutions to take into hasunt that the world changed since 1946, 1947, maybe the 1950's, and how do we do that in a way that is constructive? that is a very important issue. clearly, the issue all of us home buty day in our the whole world faces collectively is the issue of the environment and how we ensure that our home here on earth -- that we do not foul our own nest beyond any kind of recognition. i think first and foremost we need to have a conversation about that in the united states because i think there is a great deal of disagreement in the united states. first of all, on the facts. but secondly come on what the policy should be. and how do we band together with other countries in the world? obviously, the previous administration had made efforts in that regard. this administration chose not to pursue that agreement. but how do we together, because we are in the world together, and any solution to that problem has t

and we appreciate the fact that that second world war was won with soviet assistance and the soviet union was an ally at that time. and we've always made it clear that we want a productive load bearing relationship with the russian government including the current russian government. and i went with boris johnson when he was foreign secretary to moskow to deliver that last message, which seemed at the time to be appreciated by our russian hosts. however, three months after that saw the giu poisonings in salsbury and eventually led to more than 150 russian diplomats being excelled across europe and the united states by the u.k. and its partners. and so i think the fundamental question has to be why does russia reject these overtures that countries like the u.k. but there are others make in terms of a load bearing relationship? we're never going to always agree with russia. but we're often never going to agree on a huge number of subjects, but we are both members at the security council, and we do have certain interests in global stability. and that ought to be a good foundation for some pr

it was a great success for the soviets to do. by the wealth of mineral resources. us military considerations also played a major role in if eternal relief action. the chance mongolian rail link from the russian border in the north to china in the south is still the backbone of all rail traffic in mongolia today. because of the enormous distances many passenger trains run overnight sleeping cars are the best way to weather the long journey times. is also on the roofs of the so-called dealer trains most of the passengers on board are mongolian merchants on their way to their chinese neighbors. there they buy goods that allays has sold at a profit in their shops back home. to a large part of the mongolian population now lives from this trade including some women from a city in northern central mongolia. about. we're on a train for 4 days. but if you include all the shopping in beijing or even further away then you get to a total of at least 10 days on the road. everyone both retailers and wholesalers takes the train to travel between the 2 countries of the period you

thousands of our troops died in vietnam at the hands of soviet weapons. thousands of russians died in afghanistan in part because of the mujahadeen but that's when we treated each other as enemies. for years russia has known to have been providing weapons to the talent than and for the most part those weapons are used to killamericans . but now they've added this additional obscenity by putting a bounty on the heads of american soldiers so they are acting like an enemy and they learned that they can act like an enemy and wetreat them like a friend . the president best those great honor and friendship when he brings up the g8. we have, we still allow our financial institutions to lend money to the russian state . and we had a law requiring that sanctions be imposed on the sovereign debt issue and the treasury imposed the lightest possible version of these that still allows for americans to invest in russian sovereign debt and american banks to a russian state enterprise area of course, [inaudible] and of course there's a pipeline being built that will make

was a nickname finally acknowledgment and in the washington elites that it was a rift between the soviet union and china and the nixon's damned it was to get to triangulate to get in there and do work all off have characters work players working simultaneously and it actually works to the benefit of all 3 but i mean my campaign was interpreted as the china that nixon's intent was to change the internal order china and i think that's a misrepresentation of the historical record this is about foreign policy go ahead . absolutely i actually had the great honor and privilege of working for richard nixon when he visited china in 1985 as a private citizen and we travel together to several cities in china in addition to beijing nixon impressed me a great deal with his vision with his historical perspective and also with his carry on channel u.s. relations so i see what my own pale did in the nixon presidential library is a sekret it is a really an insight of the nixon historical legacy now i see what the united states need to do is to figure out a way to get along with china whether us is bigge

there's only one source of resources for them and that is the soviet union. suing for peace in the early part of 1941, they have no alternative but to go in in the summer of 1941 to the soviet union. they don't have enough oil, they don't have enough to do what they want to do. so everything is an currently frontloaded, which is why you have -- if you think of an old-fashioned spear with a wooden shaft and a shiny point, your grenadier divisions, your motor divisions, they are the shiny silver rivets. and the rest of the wooden shaft, who were kind of moving with horses and carts and on their own two feet. the way soldiers have always traditionally moved around. and it is one thing doing it in something, miles or and the maximum you can go is about 250 miles. it's another thing altogether when your army is actually only a little but bigger than it was when they invaded france in the low countries and your battle fund is 1200 miles and the distances are in terms of modern combat. that's where it all starts. darker i was really interested in this, you describe

the possibility of loose nukes was not top of mind for most in the former soviet union. we in the us had grave concerns whether these countries, less secure from bad actors so they did not pose environmental hazards. senators none and lugar did something unprecedented, they move forward a bill in the congress that used us funding to help countries eliminate nuclear weapons. in retrospect it is so obvious that destroying nukes makes the world safer especially for americans, likely target of many of these weapons of mass distraction. of course we should have done everything to make that happen but you think american taxpayer money to destroy another country's weapons had never been done before. many felt it was the other country's responsibility so it was controversial. even though it was clearly in our own interests and even though it was so evident that countries that were emerging from the wreckage of the soviet state were not capable at least at that point. they had the vision to see what was necessary and the tenacity to push the legislation through congress and they