The 20th Century on Film

Crisis of Humanity (3x17)

Air date: Sep 19, 2020

This documentary takes a look behind the scenes at the crises that humanity faced in the 20th century and shook the world. The Spanish flu, the Great Depression, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Chernobyl nuclear accident, and the stories of people who confronted unprecedented crises. The Spanish Flu, which spread around the world on the backs of World War I soldiers and killed more than 40 million people; the Great Depression, which left more than 50 million workers jobless and forced the liberal economy to redistribute wealth; the Cuban Missile Crisis, which averted all-out nuclear war when U.S. and Soviet military personnel on the ground refused orders to launch nuclear warheads; the Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident, in which 800,000 workers built a huge sarcophagus in the midst of radiation to stop the spread of damage. This is a story of people who stood up to an unprecedented crisis.