History of the Second World War

On this episode of our Spanish Civil War Interview Series I was joined by Jess McIvor, a PhD researcher to discuss the portrayal of women fighters during the Spanish Civil War. One of the really interesting pieces of the story of the Civil War is how it interacted with the views of the different groups around what they felt Spanish society was and should be. The presence of women within the militi...

On this episode of our Spanish Civil War Interview Series I was joined by Dr. Karl Qualls to discuss his research into the Spanish child refugees that would make their way to the Soviet Union during the Spanish Civil War. These children would have unique experiences during their time within the Soviet Union, first expected to be a few months, turned into years and then decades. Many of them would...

While the Spanish Civil War was Spanish in both origin and participation, there would be both diplomatic and military involvement from other nations around the world. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode of our Spanish Civil War Interview Series I was joined by Ed Packard from the Basque Children Association. We discussed the story of the 4000 children that were brought to Britain in 1937. These children came to Britain at a time when their homes and their families were in serious danger, and their story is a mixture of fascinating and heartbreaking. If you want to learn more you g...

Madrid was the capital of Spain, and with its location in the center of the Iberian peninsula it was within striking distance of a nationalist advance. Capturing the city would be a huge political victory for the Nationalists, and so it would be the site of one of the first major battles of the Civil War. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode of our Spanish Civil War Interview Series I was joined by Alexander Clifford to discuss the International Brigades which would be such an important part of the Spanish Civil War. These groups of international volunteers would bolster the Republican cause, both from a public relations perspective as well as on the battlefields of Spain. We discussed why these individuals chose to go...

On this episode of our Spanish Civil War Interview Series I was joined by Harry Taylor, a PhD researcher who focuses on the reaction of Britain to the Spanish Civil War. Harry has done a lot of research into information like how the Civil War was portrayed in British newspapers and the grassroots efforts to try and assist those experiencing hardship in Spain. We talked about many different topics,...

In this episode we will discuss how the Republican zone of control was organized and some of the disagreements between the various factions. As these disagreements will be an essential theme of this entire series of episodes, this will not be the last time we discuss it. We will also end this episode with some discussion of the role of women within the Republic, and how that participation differed...

On this episode of our Spanish Civil War Interview Series I was joined by Dr. Ariel Lambe from the University of Connecticut to discuss her book No Barrier Can Contain It: Cuban Antifascism and the Spanish Civil War as well as her ongoing researching into Cuban antifascism in the period surrounding the Spanish Civil War. My conversation with Dr. Lambe was fascinating, and provided unique insight i...

We check in with the leadership situation in the aftermath of the coup, and then discuss the violence of the opening months of what was rapidly becoming a civil war. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode of our Spanish Civil War Interview Series I was joined by Dr. Morris Brodie. One of the major reasons I wanted to do this interview series was to talk to people who had done research into the reactions of people outside of Spain to the events occurring within Spain. It can be challenging to research this myself given the scale of the world, and I was very excited with Dr. Brodie ag...

On this episode of our Spanish Civil War series I chatted with Dr. Danny Evans. Some of our previous interviews in this series revolved around Anarchism, and this time I discussed the Anarchist movement during the Civil War. We discussed the preparedness of the Anarchist groups for the war, their reactions to the start of the conflict, and then many of the political developments that occurred with...

As political unrest escalated military leaders all across Spain and Morocco began to put in place a plan to drastically alter the situation in Spain. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode of our Spanish Civil War Interview Series I was joined by Dr. Matthew Kerry the author of Unite, Proletarian Brothers! Radicalism and Republicanism in the Second Spanish Republic which was released earlier this year. Our discussion focused on the events in Asturias, a region of Spain, in 1934. During October 1934, there would be a national strike throughout Spain, and in most areas...

This is our first episode in our Spanish Civil War interview series. In the decades before the Spanish Civil War Spain had experienced a very rocky political period. The Spanish economy had been somewhat precarious even before the economic upheavals of the First World War, and the resulting economic booms and busts of that war would set the country up for a tumultuous 1920s and 1930s. There were m...

Over the last few months I have been recording interviews with a host of excellent guests. All of these interviews have been centered around one topic, the Spanish Civil War. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This episode is the first interview for the podcast, but certainly not the last. Last week I released the Warspite special, when I did that I did the normal social media stuff, and when I posted on Twitter Iain Ballantyne was tagged. For every series of episodes for the podcast there is a foundational source, it is sometimes the book I read first, sometimes the book I find the most useful, but the...

Spanish politics would have a rough and rocky century before the First World War, and the uncertainty was only beginning. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After the Italians moved into Ethiopia there was little doubt in how the war would end, unless another European power became involved. Sources: * Great Britain and the Abyssinian Crisis, 1935-1936 by Louis John Smith * Black Nationalism and the Italo-Ethiopian Conflict 1934-1936 by William r. Scott * 'No More Hoares to Pairs': British Foreign policymaking and the Abyssinian Crisis, 1935 by Andrew...

A memorial stands near Prussia Cove in Southwest England, a small reminder of a ship that had served its purpose, defending a worldwide empire for 30 years and during some of its darkest days. It reads "HMS Warspite 1915 - 1945 Ran aground and broken up on these rocks 1947, her final haven. Known to all who served aboard her as The Grand Old Lady. May she with many gallant shipmates rest in peace....

In October 1935 Italian forces would invade Ethiopia ending months of negotiations and discussions that attempted to find a peaceful end to tensions that had been growing for over a year. Sources: * Great Britain and the Abyssinian Crisis, 1935-1936 by Louis John Smith * Black Nationalism and the Italo-Ethiopian Conflict 1934-1936 by William r. Scott * 'No More Hoares to Pairs': British Foreign po...

In early 1936 German troops would move into the Rhineland, in violation of the Treaty of Versailles. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Nazi leaders were planning for a war, but to fight a war they needed an army, equipment, and an economy that could support both. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This episode is a bit of a grab bag of topics. The Nazi government would put in place the Nuremberg Laws to further their discrimination against Jews, while also being unable to define who actually should be discriminated against. In early 1935 a small part of Germany would decide whether to join with France. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Nazi leaders had goals, and those goals required changes to be made. The people, the church, and the children would be only some of the areas effected. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices