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Mao, Stalin and Khrushchev: 1949-57
When Stalin died, Mao felt entitled to lead the world communist movement and looked upon Khrushchev as an insignificant upstart. However, Soviet atti…
7 years, 4 months ago
The Nazi Party and Germany's working class 1933
In 1933 the Nazi Party came to power and encountered a once powerful workers movement that was now deeply weakened and which hoped for compromise. Hi…
7 years, 4 months ago
The Armenian Legionnaires 1914-21
Review of Susan Paul Pattie's Armenian Legionnaires, published by IB Tauris.
Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critica…
7 years, 5 months ago
Oswald Mosley and post war British fascism 1945-66
In the aftermath of the Second World War, British fascist Oswald Mosley, free from internment, attempted to revive his political career. In the 1950s…
7 years, 5 months ago
Amateurism, incompetence and the Bolshevik seizure of power
In the immediate aftermath of the October Revolution, there was a power vacuum in Petrograd that the Bolsheviks seemed to fill in name only. The new …
7 years, 5 months ago
American society and foreign policy 1945-47
In 1945 there was every chance that America might retreat into isolationism once more. The US population sought to avoid overseas commitments, but th…
7 years, 6 months ago
Stalinism and the black market 1928-39
The shortages of the command economy and the failings of Stalinism made speculation, theft and the black market an essential part of everyday life in…
7 years, 6 months ago
Prisoner's experiences in pre war Nazi camps 1933-39
As the 1930s progressed, the experience of life for prisoners in the camps became ever more regimented and focused on back breaking manual labour.
Ex…
7 years, 6 months ago
Austria Hungary's Wartime Secret State 1914-18
Long accustomed to dealing with the challenge of national movements within the Austro Hungarian Empire, the various police and intelligence forces me…
7 years, 6 months ago
The baby boom and post war America 1945-64
In America and much of the developed world, two decades of dramatically increased birth rates caused profound demographic, social and economic change…
7 years, 7 months ago