According to the Chinese Zodiac Calendar, 1958 was the Year of the Dog. In literature, Boris Pasternak won the 1958 Nobel Peace Prize for his novel Doctor Zhivago but Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World was the best- selling book. The soundtrack to the film South Pacific topped the charts while The Bridge on the River Quai won seven Oscars.
In sports, the 1958 FIFA World Cup final resulted in Brazil beating Sweden 5-2. Charly Gual of Luxembourg won the Tour de France. Closer to home, the European Economic Commission came into being while Gaston Eyskens was reelected for the second time as prime minister of Belgium. But the event that most encapsulated collective world events took place on the Heysel/Heizel plateau in northwest Brussels. On April 17th Expo58—-or the 1958 Brussel’s World Fair opened— giving the us a snapshot into the world’s state-of-being. Let us take a look…
Expo58 was the first world’s fair following World War II. The fair’s mission statement sought to showcase the most influential cultural ,social and technological trends of a world that was recovering from the nightmare of World War II. More than forty nations had pavilions that emphasized their own national personality. For example, the exposition “One Day in Czechoslovakia” was intended to present their country with a “beautiful dream.”
Their organizers hoped to express a brighter tomorrow with solid ties to the past. This concept was rare considering the hardline communist regime of the 1950s. By contrast the Mexican Pavillion was focused on their past with films, plays and musicals choreographed to represent specific periods of Mexican history.
Yugoslavian organizers attempted to delineate itself from the Soviet Union by symbolically showing its independent socio-economic system. Their original pavilion’s design was to create a modernist pavilion suspended in the air by a giant cable. When the concept was too costly revisions were made but the symbolism was telling. However no two pavilions defined themselves more acutely than the Soviet pavilion when contrasted with the American exhibition.
In 1958 Europe found itself divided into opposing blocs lead by the rival superpowers of the United States and the Soviet Union. Known as the Cold War this was an era of military, economic, ideological, and cultural competition. Expo58 offered an unparallel opportunity to propagandize their respective ideologies—-namely capitalism vs. communism—before an audience in Brussels—the heart of Europe.
The Soviets chose to demonstrate their considerable industrial and scientific progress. Upon entering the Soviet pavilion, the statue of Lenin and a model of Sputnik 1 and 2 greeted the visitor. Soviet planners, not so subtly, comingled official ideology (communism) with the latest attainments of Soviet technology and science.
After the successful first man-made satellite to orbit the earth—namely Sputnik I and Sputnik II—these 1957 events were focal points in the Soviet pavilion. Replete with an emitting bleeping sound and the model of the cabin that carried the dog Laika into space. There was also a display about the Soviet” rocket technology with models not only of satellites but also their atomic reactor, and a nuclear-powered ice-breaker. Collectively these exhibits were featured as cutting-edge accomplishments.
A Soviet exhibit organizer pointed out what the Soviets hoped to achieve in Brussels:
“ We have no other goal but to show the world what we are doing in the Soviet Union in contrast to the complacent and overly comfortable Americans.”
Soviet Deputy Minister of Trade Ivan Bolshakov went a step further as he told the Brussel’s planning committee:
“Now that we have launched a satellite, American’s have begun to worry that we will beat them.”
Bolshakov’s observation would prove to be apocryphal.
Directly across from the Soviet pavilion was the vast U.S.A.’s exhibit. Their proximity was no accident as the fair’s organizers hoped to “stage” the Cold War’s tensions side-by-side. America’s pavilion—labeled by some as “the pleasure dome”– by contrast was dominated by Madison Avenue advertising that sought to showcase the “openness and plentitude of the American way of life.”
Fashion shows, men’s gadgets, sporting equipment, leisure time products, convertible cars, and early prototypes of a computer and colour televisions dominated the pavilions. Coca-Cola, hamburgers, and trendy ice cream were the refreshments of choice. The biggest draw was the Circarma Pavillion—then the largest circular building in the world—which housed a movie theater in the round system.
Circarma projected a cinematic spectacle on a 360-degree screen which allowed viewers to sit surrounded by the wonders of American scenery. A Disney film entitled America the Beautiful was shown continuously on a loop. Technological displays were minimal but icons of American life were front and center.
Capitalism vs. Communism, The USA vs The Soviet Union, capitalism vs. communism, cutting edge soviet Technology vs. American complacency and comfort were the extended metaphors featured for EXPO 58’s 40 million visitors. It is important to realize that America had no space achievements prior to EXPO 58. The contrasts were stark and shocking but the American establishment was quick to react. In the immediate days to follow, President Eisenhower said:
“The United States needed to meet the Soviet challenge with resourcefulness and vigor.”
Later that year the National Aeronautics and Space Act (NASA)— a federal agency dedicated to space exploration, was created. After some very public failures, the United States launched Explorer1 — their first satellite mission. National Aeronautics and Space Act (NASA)—a federal agency dedicated to space exploration– was signed shortly thereafter.
These events led to a space program that Project Mercury and Project Apollo followed and by 1969 America had a man on the moon. What has become known as the Space Race had begun! It is undeniable that the genesis of the competition between the superpowers was due, in part to some 1958 exhibit pavilions in northwest Brussels.
DID YOU KNOW?
— After Expo58 , the unique Yugoslave pavilion was sold and reconstructed as part of St. Paul’s College in the Belgian municipality of Wevelgem. It still stands today.
—Real Madrid won the European Cup 3-2 over AC Milan in Heysel Stadium, Brussels.
—Less discussed in the Space Race is the fact that there were cooperative efforts between the rival superpowers. Their crowning achievement was the 1975 Apollo-Soyuz Project whereby a Soviet capsule was docked successfully with the U.S.A. Apollo module.
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