Other titles:20 ANS QUI FIRENT 2 MONDES (French title) [Alternative Title]
TWEE WERELDEN - TWINTIG JAREN (Dutch title) [Alternative Title]
TO VERDENS TJUE ÅR (Norwegian title) [Alternative Title]
IKI DÜNYA IKI GERÇEK (Turkish title) [Alternative Title]
Summary: A comparison of two countries - Belgium and Czechoslovakia - each having had a similar economy and a minority language problem. The film shows how these two countries, devastated by the war, have fared since 1949. Belgium, with the initial help of the Marshall Plan, has prospered under a free economy, protected by the shield of NATO. Czechoslovakia, deprived of this help by the USSR and drawn into her orbit, has not prospered. The events leading up to the Russian invasion of Czechoslovakia in August 1968 are recalled in some detail.
Description: The postwar baby boom leads to a protest-happy generation growing up without an understanding of privation. In the democratic states of Europe Postwar Marshall Plan led recovery is accompanied with public political discourse, contrasting with Communist states. Czechoslovakia demonstrates some independence, with Foreign Minister Jan Masaryk signing with his Belgian counterpart Paul-Henri Spaak the 1947 Agreement on Cultural Relations. Scenes of the Foreign Ministers Ernest Bevin (United Kingdom), Georges Bidault (France) and Vyacheslav Molotov (Soviet Union) meeting in Paris (27 June 1947). Molotov withdraws from meeting and Czechoslovakia is forbidden from participating in the Marshall Plan. Czech Communist leader Klement Gottwald seizes power in the 1948 Czechoslovak coup d'état, with Masaryk found dead a few weeks later. Increasing dominance of Czecheslovakia by the Soviet Union is contrasted with Yugoslavia and the productivity enjoyed there due to participation in the Marshall Plan. In separate meetings of the United Nations Soviet Foreign Minister Andrey Vyshinsky offers criticism of Yugoslavia, Spaak stresses the Western preference for free elections. Whitsun rallies in the German Democratic Republic (GDR, DDR) are shown. Soviet expenditure on military is contrasted with Western emphasis on public prosperity. In Brussels people shop rather than march. Unrest in the Soviet bloc is briefly characterised: street battles in the DDR during the urpising of 1953, the Poznan riots of 1956 lead to the release from prison and reinstation of Władysław Gomułka as First Secretary of the Pollish United Worker’s Party in Poland, civilians flee the crushing of the Hungarian rising in 1956. Repressions in the East contrasted with growing Western productivity. [END OF REEL 1]
At Expo 58 (Brussels World’s Fair) the Czech pavilion draws attention due to its multimedia cinema performance. In 1961 the Berlin Wall is erected, splitting families and blocking individuals from work. NATO policy encourages engagement with the Eastern countries. In 1964 the Belgian-Czechoslovakian agreement is revived. De Gaulle’s visit to Romania in May 1968 is shown. Unrest grows in the democratic West. Footage is included of uprisings in 1968 in Berlin, Leuven, Paris, and the United States. The use of a country’s own force is quelling the uprising is emphasised. France’s withdrawl from NATO in 1967 and the subsequent relocation of the Alliance’s headquarters to Belgium is shown. The workings of a new, secure, multimedia situation room within the headquarters is briefly described. The film then moves to concentrate on the invasion of Czechoslovakia by its Warsaw Pact allies and the background to this in the Prague Spring. Public announcement of the removal of Antonín Novotný as President of Czechoslovakia is shown. [END OF REEL 2]
Ludvík Svoboda replaces Novotný as President. Reforms are introduced in Czechoslovakia. Travel restriction to Western Europe are removed. The loosening of restrictions on journalists draws criticism from the Russian press. Protests occur in St. Stephen’s Square in Prague, and a petition is delivered to the Soviet embassy. Meetings are held at Čierna nad Tisou and at Bratislava between Warsaw Pact leaders to resolve the growing crisis. The film shows the signing of the Bratislava agreement by First Secretary of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia Alexander Dubček, Chairman of the State Council of the DDR Walter Ulbricht, First Secretary Gomułka and General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Leonid Brezhnev, affirming a shared commitment to internationalist Marxist-Leninism. Invasion of Czechoslovakia follows in August. Street scenes illustrate public opposition to the presence of Warsaw Pact troops and citizens remonstrating with troops. The Czechoslovakian leadership is arrested and brought to Moscow, where the Moscow Protocol is agreed in an attempt to legitamise the invasion. The ‘Brezhnev doctrine’ is subsequently announced – Communist countries must follow the Soviet model. Travel restrictions are reintroduced and returning Czechoslovakian holidaymakers are met at an airport by soldiers. Scenes depicting the contrasting ability of Western Europeans to travel freely end the film. [END OF REEL 3]
Another (earlier) version of the film is held. While for the most part very similar the other version uses some different footage and a different sound mix and has a different script. The version catalogued above is more concise and has more specific information. Principal differences between the two versions can be seen in the emphasis on Soviet rebuilding, the context of Berlin in 1961 and the new situation centre at NATO headquarters in Belgium. This other version also concludes on the decleration that the collective defence detailed in article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty is "the cheapest price to pay for peace".
Alternative Title:20 ANS QUI FIRENT 2 MONDES (French title) [Alternative Title]
TWEE WERELDEN - TWINTIG JAREN (Dutch title) [Alternative Title]
TO VERDENS TJUE ÅR (Norwegian title) [Alternative Title]
IKI DÜNYA IKI GERÇEK (Turkish title) [Alternative Title]
Colour:B&W
Digitised:Yes
Object_Number:NAT 2057
Sound:English
Access Conditions:IWM NATO
Featured Period:
Production Date:1969
Production Country: NATO
Production Details: North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Sponsor)
Audio-Visuel, France (Production company)
Personalities, Units and Organisations:
Keywords:
Physical Characteristics: Colour format: B&W
Sound format: English
Soundtrack language: English
Title language: Sound
Technical Details: Format: 35mm
Number of items/reels/tapes: Number of items/reels/tapes: 3
Footage: 2866ft; Running time: c. 31 mins 50 secs (A version)
Footage: 2642ft; Running time: c. 29 mins 20 secs (B version)
