Explaining History

When Russia left the First World War in 1918, the generals and politicians of the Central Powers were convinced that victory was in sight. Germany's determination to end the war quickly resulted in the Ludendorff Spring Offensives that failed disastrously and within months the final cost of the war led to collapse not of Britain and France but of Germany and its allies. Explaining History is funde...

Rising living standards, new scientific innovation and a faith in progress were prevalent in America in the immediate aftermath of the Second World War. However, social progress was segregated and enjoyed mainly by white Americans, creating the conditions of future conflict in the 1950s and 1960s. Explaining History is funded through advertising and donations. For more content, journalism and idea...

When President of the Reichbank and Economics Minister Hjalmar Schacht suggested slowing the pace of rearmament to Hitler in the mid 1930s, he was replaced by the ineffectual but loyal Herman Goering. A new policy to rearm Germany, the Four Year Plan was Hitler's subsequent attempt to finally address the seemingly intractable problems of Germany's war industries and economy. Explaining History is...

The journey made by Vladimir Lenin in 1917 from Zurich to Petrograd was part of a German strategy to undermine its enemies from within. Previous attempts at subversion in the British Empire, specifically in Ireland had failed, and there was no way of knowing if Lenin would succeed. Creating chaos in Russia was as much as Germany could realistically hope for, but Russia's withdrawal from the war wa...

At the start of the Second World War, India had several overlapping defence concerns and Britain sought to place more cost and responsibility on the government of India. This podcast explores the strategic crisis facing India at the commencement of the war. Explaining History is funded through advertising and donations. For more content, journalism and ideas, visit the Explaining History Patreon p...

While the German Army prepared to seize Moscow, the longest siege of the war began at Leningrad on the Gulf of Finland. It would result in the deaths of over a million citizens and see the city completely cut off from Stalin's control for much of the war. Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We connect the past to the presen...

An interventionist state, the capture of global markets and the destruction of economic opponents (Germany and Japan) and the loss of Britain's economic world power saw America emerge as the wealthiest nation in world history from 1945 onwards. This prosperity would shape the hopes and ambitions of an entire generation. Explaining History is funded through advertising and donations. For more conte...

After a summer and autumn of devastating defeats at the hands of the Wehrmacht, the Red Army was finally able to inflict a major setback on Hitler's forces just nine miles from Moscow itself. A combination of the Russian winter, Germany's poor preparations and hardened Siberian divisions saw the first major German retreat of the war in December 1941. Explaining History is funded through advertisin...

Following the unilateral declaration of war by the Viceroy of India, Lord Linlithgow, in 1939 without consulting any of India's political parties, longstanding political divisions deepened. The Indian Congress Party and the Muslim League began to agitate for their visions of the future. Explaining History is funded through advertising and donations. For more content, journalism and ideas, visit th...

As Lloyd George's political career ebbed away and he became increasingly marginalised in British politics, his sympathies for Germany and his positive view of Hitler led him to visit the Nazi dictator in September 1936. Explaining History is funded through advertising and donations. For more content, journalism and ideas, visit the Explaining History Patreon page here: https://www.patreon.com/user...

In the half decade after the Second World War, the fortunes of America's trade union movement declined and communist led trade unions were ostracised by the AFL and CIO. This was consistent with the broader shift towards the political right happening in America in the late 1940s. Explaining History is funded through advertising and donations. For more content, journalism and ideas, visit the Expla...

Despite Germany's spectacular advances and the devastating defeats inflicted on the Red Army, Hitler failed to capture Moscow. In late October 1941 the first snows fell, his dreams of a final victory over the USSR disappeared. Explaining History is funded through advertising and donations. For more content, journalism and ideas, visit the Explaining History Patreon page here: https://www.patreon.c...

In July 1914 as the final desperate negotiations to avoid war failed, the Ottoman Empire engaged in secret diplomacy with both Germany and Russia to gain as much from the forthcoming conflict as possible. However it was the arrival of a German dreadnought in Constantinople that tied Turkey to the Central Powers. For more content, journalism and ideas, visit the Explaining History Patreon page here...

Britain had a very limited internal security and overseas intelligence capability before the Boer War. However, a government and public obsessed with fears of subversion led to pressures to create a series of agencies that resulted in MI5, Britain's domestic security service. For more content, journalism and ideas, visit the Explaining History Patreon page here: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=7633...

The training of a ruthless fraternity who's sadism was encouraged and given free reign - this was the training role of the Nazi camp system. It became the proving ground for a generation of SS men who would later perpetrate the Holocaust. Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We connect the past to the present. If you enjoy t...

A war of historically unprecedented size and ferocity needed the industrial productivity all belligerent powers. However, American productive capacity dwarfed its European neighbours, as did America's ability to raise finances to pay for the conflict. Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We connect the past to the present. I...

In the aftermath of the First World War a federation of Balkan states that had emerged from the collapsed Austro Hungarian and Ottoman Empires, each with conflicting agendas, created a new South Slav Federation; Yugoslavia. The Paris Peace Conference would determine the new nation's future. Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interview...

The devastation of Germany and Eastern Europe by Hitler created the perfect environment for Soviet rule. Shattered, bewildered and destitute populations had little choice but to accept the domination of the Red Army. If you enjoyed today’s podcast and would like to join in the debate or learn more, visit us on the Explaining History Podcast Facebook group here: https://www.facebook.com/groups...

Francoist Spain avoided direct conflict with Britain and America, but waged war against the USSR. By 1943 the tide of war had turned against Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, but Franco's survival instincts enabled his regime to endure long into the post war era. Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We connect the past to the...

In 1933 Hitler appointed Hjalmar Schacht as the president of the Reichsbank. Hitler had little understanding about economics and relied on the financial engineering of his new chief banker. However, the problems of the German economy persisted even through the period of rearmament. If you enjoyed today’s podcast and would like to join in the debate or learn more, visit us on the Explaining History...

As Germany armies surges across western Russia in the summer of 1941, Stalin seemed to lose his nerve and suffer a breakdown. This podcast explores how Stalin recovered and held on to power which seemed momentarily to be close to evaporating. If you enjoyed today’s podcast and would like to join in the debate or learn more, visit us on the Explaining History Podcast Facebook group here . Explainin...

In the last years of the Second World War, a new education act designed to create a school system for post war Britain was established. It was instrumental in creating the post war British class system, but many of the educational advances hoped for failed to materialise. Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We connect the p...

A review of Babushka's Journey and a discussion of the field of Gulag memoir literature (listen to the end for details on how to get your free copy). Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We connect the past to the present. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and share. ▸ Support the Show & Get Exclusive Content Becom...

How did the decline of Richard Nixon and the humiliations heaped upon America in the 1970s lead to the rise in popularity of a once marginal Republican figure, Ronald Reagan? This podcast explores the transition between the two figures in the Republican Party. Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We connect the past to the p...

The internal logic of Stalinism was based around perceived threats, class enemies, overseas conspiracies and an all pervading secrecy. Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We connect the past to the present. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and share. ▸ Support the Show & Get Exclusive Content Become a Patron: pat...