Podcast Episodes

Revolutionary Violence in Madrid in 1936

After the first attempt at a national uprising by the fascist generals in Spain ended in failure, Madrid became a dangerous and violent city dominated by anarchist militias. Many had no trust for the…

Published on 3 years, 2 months ago

East German anti Semitism

The surviving Jews who became citizens of East Germany faced a precarious existence when the GDR was established. Not only was Stalin, the Soviet dictator, becoming ever more anti Semitic in the fina…

Published on 3 years, 2 months ago

Britain's post war strategic questions

In the aftermath of the Second World War, the economic strains on Britain after six years of conflict were immense, but Britain's international commitments were if anything even greater than during t…

Published on 3 years, 2 months ago

Tenth Anniversary Special - Myths of the Blitz

This is the tenth anniversary episode of the Explaining History Podcast, thankyou to everyone who has listened to my lo-fi ramblings over the years, I hope you've found it interesting.

This week, we e…

Published on 3 years, 3 months ago

The Croat Spring 1971

Yugoslavia, a state created in 1919 and recreated from the ashes of war once again in 1945 was a federation of balkan nationalities held together after World War Two by the totalitarian Leninist Jose…

Published on 3 years, 3 months ago

Iraq and India - 1941

In 1941, Iraq was a nominally independent country, but still part of the British sphere of influence in the Middle East. Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany saw the growing wave of Arab nationalism in Ira…

Published on 3 years, 4 months ago

The Soviet State and the Peasants (Part Two)

The world of the Soviet peasantry was complex and seemingly contradictory, and did not easily fall into the class stratification that the new Soviet regime believed could define all social categories…

Published on 3 years, 4 months ago

Displaced Persons in Germany -1945

When the Second World War in Europe ended in May 1945, some 40 million people, German and non German were displaced in the four occupied zones of the country alone. This podcast is the first of two r…

Published on 3 years, 4 months ago

The Soviet State and the Peasants

In the decade after the October Revolution the relations between the Soviet government and the peasantry declined as Stalin, Lenin and Trotsky all percieved that a new 'capitalist' peasantry was emer…

Published on 3 years, 5 months ago

Stalin and Poland - 1939

This podcast explores Stalin's plans for Poland in the run up to the outbreak of the Second World War, and Neville Chamberlain's flawed diplomacy in the aftermath of the fall of Czechoslovakia. Stali…

Published on 3 years, 5 months ago