The Red Empire

DocumentaryWar & Politics

The story of an empire: From its founding in 1922 to its dissolution in 1991, the Soviet Union was shaped by revolutionary idealism, but also by oppression and decay. The USSR evolved from Stalinist terror through the Thaw under Khrushchev to political processes such as glasnost and perestroika under Gorbachev. Finally, in 1991, it collapsed.

Watch Now Back to Catalog

Episodes & Seasons

Browse episodes by season for this series.

Miniseries

3 Episodes

EP 01

01.New Man and Great Terror

52m

2022-10-25

01.New Man and Great Terror

52m

Aired 2022-10-25

1922 was the birth year of the Soviet Union. Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, and Transcaucasia united to form the USSR. A completely new state entity emerged. Initially, the backward agrarian country needed electricity and industry. Stalin pushed for the forced collectivization of the peasants and rigorous industrialization. The price was high...

Watch Episode

EP 02

02.Great War and New Dreams

52m

2022-10-25

02.Great War and New Dreams

52m

Aired 2022-10-25

The history of the Soviet Union from its entry into the war in 1941 to the end of the 1960s: It tells the story of the so-called Great Patriotic War, Stalin and the rise to superpower status, but also how Stalin's successor Khrushchev attempted to give the country new impetus.

Watch Episode

EP 03

03.Superpower and Catastrophe

54m

2022-10-25

03.Superpower and Catastrophe

54m

Aired 2022-10-25

The third part of the documentary series reconstructs the last two decades of the USSR. The revolutionary energy with which the country was founded still seemed not to have completely dissipated. Idealism and the fervor of the patriots were still present. Gorbachev brought new directions. With glasnost and perestroika, the empire was to be reformed...

Watch Episode