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The US Navy and the Battle of Midway
America's war in the Pacific had begun with Japan's surprise attack on Pearl Harbour and within six months the US Navy inflicted a devastating defeat on Japan at the Battle of Midway. American admira…
Published on 5 years, 7 months ago
Pacifism and British Politics 1933-39
In the 1930s the deteriorating world situation presented all major political parties in Britain with profound dilemmas, whether to back pacifism, collective security or appeasement. The peripheral Br…
Published on 5 years, 7 months ago
Slave labour and the Nazi Armaments Industry 1942-45
In 1942 Heinrich Himmler appointed a new administrator to the head of his concentration camp network, Oswald Pohl. Pohl saw the key to his personal advancement the utilisation of slave labour for arm…
Published on 5 years, 7 months ago
Class origin, social stigma and the Stalin Constitution 1935-39
By 1935 the Soviet regime appeared to relax its stance towards citizens deemed to be class enemies and their children. Stalin said: "A son does not answer for the father." However, persecution of for…
Published on 5 years, 7 months ago
140 Days to Hiroshima: Explaining History Interview with David Barrett
This special episode of the Explaining History Podcast features historian David Barrett, whose new book 140 Days to Hiroshima examines the decision making regarding the dropping of the first atomic b…
Published on 5 years, 8 months ago
China's Neoliberal Turn - 1978
In the late 1970s, as Britain, America and other wealthy countries were developing free market solutions to the problems of inflation and low growth, China selected aspects of capitalism to incorpora…
Published on 5 years, 8 months ago
France, China and Vietnam 1949-51
By 1949 the development of a communist state in China radically changed the fortunes of France in Vietnam, a shift in dynamics that made the war for France virtually un-winnable. In 1950, a well arme…
Published on 5 years, 8 months ago
The aftermath of the fall of the Philippines: May 1942
By the summer of 1942 the Japanese military was drunk on the victories it had achieved in the previous six months of war. It had over run Singapore, Malaya, Burma and Indochina, and it had dealt Amer…
Published on 5 years, 8 months ago
Poison gas on the Western Front - 1915-18
Between 1915 and 1918 all sides in the First World War used poison gas against one another, but it was Germany that was the biggest pioneer of battlefield chemical weapons. The last year of the war s…
Published on 5 years, 8 months ago
Leninism and the Communist Party of Great Britain - 1921
The Communist Party of Great Britain was established in 1920 and was heavily influenced by Comintern, the Communist International organisation in Moscow. Lenin was interested in shaping the party in …
Published on 5 years, 9 months ago