Warfare

The Cold War saw an era of heightened tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union - double agents, clashing political ideologies, and advancements in nuclear war; it was a tense time on the geopolitical stage. But how did all of these factors ultimately lead to the CIA knowingly recruiting former Nazi's into their ranks? In the third episode of our CIA series, James is joined by Profes...

An accusation that has dogged the Qatar World Cup throughout the tournament is that of ‘sportswashing’. You’ve probably seen it in an article, or heard it in a news report. But what does ‘sportwashing’ actually mean, and where did it come from? While the term itself wasn't coined until 2015, the idea of despotic rulers and authoritarian regimes using large-scale sporting events to help cleanse the...

The CIA is one of the most well-known and powerful government organisations across the globe. But who's responsible for its creation, and why have they been overlooked by the history books? In the wake of the Second World War, four agents played key roles in the organisations formation - dubbed the 'Wise Gals' by their colleagues, Adelaide Hawkins, Mary Hutchison, Eloise Page, and Elizabeth Sudmei...

2022 marks 80 years since the Red Devils first remarkable campaign in North Africa. In Britain, they were known as the parachute regiment, but after their daring feats in the Second World War the name Red Devils quickly stuck. In this episode, James is joined by BBC journalist and former British Army officer Mark Urban, to learn more about the eccentric group of individuals who, quite literal...

2022 marks the 75th anniversary of the Central Intelligence Agency, more colloquially known as the CIA. While viewed today as one of the most advanced and powerful intelligence agencies in the world, the United States didn't always sit at the top of this list. Long before the CIA had been created, Great Britain, China, and even the Soviet Union had long standing intelligence agencies, aiding in ma...

8.5 million soldiers died as a result from wounds and disease during the First World War, plunging a society into mourning as loved ones were left to deal with the loss of their family and friends. Desperately wanting to connect with their loved ones, families of fallen soldiers would seek out ways to do so, thus leading to the rise of spiritualism and the belief of ghosts in the post war years. I...

The Irish War of Independence in 1919 was fought between the Irish Revolutionary Army and British Forces, with support of the RIC and USC. Wounds of this conflict are still visible today, both in Ireland and across the world. While there's a tendency to view this conflict as an insular issue of the time, with most fighting rooted in the Irish countryside - the struggle for independence was actuall...

November 22nd marks 59 years since the assassination of US President John F. Kennedy. One of the most famous assassinations in history, JFK's death sent shockwaves not only through the United States, but across the world. However, before that fateful day in history, JFK was a journalist, a Senator, and finally President - but what do we know about his early political career? And what actually went...

Accounts of the Second World War usually involve tales of exceptional bravery in battle, as the allied nations stood together against fascism. But from the eyes of the 60,000 conscientious objectors who refuse to take up arms, the war looks extremely different - a perception of which has almost been entirely forgotten. A conscientious objector not only faced inordinate public scrutiny from their f...

Exactly a century after the 1922 March on Rome which brought fascist dictator Benito Mussolini to power, the far-right party Brothers of Italy have been voted into government. Fratelli d'Italia (FDL), which has its roots in Italy’s post-war Neo-fascist social movement, is lead by prime minister Giorgia Meloni - the most right-wing Italian leader since Mussolini himself. So with these contemporary...

The 11th of November marks Remembrance Day, a memorial day honoured since the end of the First World War. Hostilities ended on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918 after four years of global conflict. As we use this day to look back at those lost, it's important to understand what caused one of the most devastating conflicts in modern history. On the 28th of June 1914, Arch...

The Second Battle of El Alamein marked a key turning point in the Second World War - a moment when the Allies were no longer on the defensive, but on the offensive. Fought in the unrelenting deserts of North Africa, the eventual Allied victory prevented Nazi expansion into North Africa and the Middle East. Had the Axis-Power and German Field Marshall Erwin Rommel managed to breakthrough at El Alam...

The current uprisings in Iran have connections that date back to the 1979 Iranian revolution, which saw the country go from a monarchy, to an Islamic Republic. It became one of the most defining moments of the 20th century.  Ayatollah Khomeini was now the Supreme Leader of the Republic of Iran, and a conservative rule of the country was now enforced. Freedoms that had been enjoyed previously...

In a scathing attack on the West, Russian President Vladimir Putin has declared the world faces its most dangerous decade since WW2 - having reaffirmed that Russia will use every available weapon in its arsenal, including tactical nuclear weapons. Not only that, Russia has also made unsubstantiated claims that Ukraine is preparing to deploy a dirty bomb - a mix or explosives and radioactive waste....

Here’s a special episode of Cautionary Tales, a podcast from our friends at Pushkin Industries. On Cautionary Tales, bestselling author Tim Harford shares stories of human error, natural disasters, and tragic catastrophes from history that contain important lessons for today. In 1917, a brilliant British officer developed a way to use an emerging military technology: the tank. The British army pro...

As protests continued across Iran last week, a number of Iranian-made kamikaze drones were fired by Russian forces at targets thousands of miles away in Kyiv, Ukraine. It marks the first time that these Iranian weapons have been used against a European capital, as well as a new low for relations between Iran and the West - which were already under strain. So how did we get here? In this episode, J...

The siege of Dien Bien Phu took place in 1954 and was a definitive victory for Vietnam. Although the battle brought an end to French colonial rule, the separation of the country’s north and south created a volatile political environment between capitalism and communism, eventually leading to American involvement. But how did the long time leader of Vietnam - Ho Chi Minh, take his guerilla army and...

The Battle of Midway has gone down in history as a key turning point in the Pacific Campaign of the Second World War. In June 1942, the US Navy outthought, outflanked and overwhelmed the formidable Imperial Japanese forces thanks largely to the work of pioneering codebreakers. Japan's first-line carrier strength was obliterated as well as a huge percentage of the country's highly-trained pilots, e...

In a world so dependent on the need for oil and gas, it's no wonder why oil rich nations like Russia hold such power on the global stage. The power these Petrostates have influence foreign policy and conflicts around the globe. But why does oil play such a key role in global geo-politics? And what does the development of clean energy mean for those dependent on oil? In this episode, James is joine...

In World War Two the ancient fortress of Colditz Castle was used by the German Army to hold its most defiant prisoners of war. Located near Leipzig, deep in Germany, it was almost impossible to escape. If an Allied escapee did manage to make it out of the castle walls, they’d face a journey home of hundreds of miles in enemy territory, with no guarantee of safety or help. But the men of Colditz we...

When we think of pirates our minds turn to figures both real and fictitious such as Blackbeard and Long John Silver, or perhaps even Somali pirates off the Horn of Africa. We certainly don't tend to think of their involvement in the American Revolution. After all, why would we? What role did those involved in piracy even play in the Revolutionary War? Well to answer that very question James is joi...

The resistance fighters of the Moro, an indigenous Muslim population of the Philippines, have been described as most the most successful and least-known guerrillas of World War II's Pacific Theatre. The Moro mounted an armed opposition so vigorous that the soldiers of the Imperial Japanese Army found themselves outfought time and again by their far less well-armed adversaries. When the soldiers of...

General George S. Patton was one of America's most successful - and indeed unconventional - military leaders. From a young age, 'Georgie' Patton believed he was destined to lead a great army, and after an eventful youth - in which he even competed in the 1912 Olympic Games - the Californian forged an incredible military career during both World Wars. In this episode James is joined by General Patt...

Warning: This episode contains content that some listeners may find upsetting No matter the war being fought, it's a sad fact that war crimes take place all around the world - we need only look to Russia's offensive war in Ukraine to see how civilians can be illegally targeted in an indiscriminate and disproportionate fashion. With contemporary events in mind, we decided to take a look at the long...

When you think of the Blitz, you think of the Blitz on London. The two are synonymous, and not without reason. Over 57 consecutive nights and days, Luftwaffe raids left tens of thousands dead in Britain's capital in late 1940. But the truth is that the heavy bombardment of the UK involved so many towns and cities across the country: from Plymouth in the southwest, to Swansea in Wales, to Belfast i...