Lebt wohl, Genossen!

December 1991: Mikhail Gorbachev, the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, calls the main Western heads of state. Shortly after, in a televised speech, Mikhail Gorbachev announces: “I quit my duties as President of the USSR.” He ends 80 years of history. It is an unexpected outcome to the grand communist vision that had held the world in anticipation since the October Revolution in 1917.

1. Episode: Victory (1975-1979)  In 1975 the Soviet Union is at the peak of its power: the final act of the Helsinki Conference officially confirms the Soviet dominance in East Europe, meanwhile the other superpower is in a deep depression after the Watergate scandal, and the defeat in Vietnam. But as consequence of the Helsinki Conference dissident groups like Charta 77 or the Moscow-Helsinki Group emerge and start to undermine the state authorities. And the socialist youth starts to dream about freedom under the raising influence of rock music, jeans and Western media. (Verleiher-Text)