Podcast Episodes

The fall of Greece and Crete 1941

A series of strategic errors, missed opportunities and disasters handed Germany victory in Greece and Crete and led to two further allied evacuations. However, the fall of Crete was the most costly a…

Published on 8 years, 1 month ago

Chiang, Mao and the battle for China 1945-49 (Part One)

In 1946 General George Marshall met both Mao Zedong and Chiang Kai Shek, and concluded that the nationalist cause in China was lost. From this fateful decision a gradual change in American policy tow…

Published on 8 years, 1 month ago

Sachsenhausen, Dachau and the later Nazi Camps 1936-39

After the initial chaotic phase of the development of the camp system, by 1936 new purpose build camp complexes that dwarfed their predecessors emerged. Sachsenhausen in 1936 was part of this new mod…

Published on 8 years, 1 month ago

The Crisis of American Labor Unions 1945-50

In the post war years a rise in union militancy was matched by an increase in anti union hostility by the federal government and a decline in union power due to a changing labour force and the privat…

Published on 8 years, 1 month ago

Mussolini's War in Greece: 1940-41

The impulsive decision by Mussolini to invade Greece dragged the Balkans into the Second World War, with terrible consequences for Greece, Albania, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria and Romania. His inept campaig…

Published on 8 years, 1 month ago

The Politics of Stalinism Part Two

More on the inner workings of the Soviet Communist Party after 1928

Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We connect the past …

Published on 8 years, 2 months ago

The Bolsheviks and the Peacemakers 1919

Continuing from a previous podcast on the complications of the Russian Revolution to the attempts to create a European peace in 1919, this episode focuses on the differing approaches proposed to deal…

Published on 8 years, 2 months ago

American Labour Militancy 1945-46

In the immediate aftermath of the Second World War a strong, organised American working class movement faced an uncertain future of stagnating wages and fears about a return to the Great Depression. …

Published on 8 years, 2 months ago

Eisenhower, the CIA and the death of Stalin

The cold war certainties that existed up until March 1953 were thrown into doubt when Stalin died, leaving Eisenhower and his spy chief Alan Dulles with no reliable intelligence as to Soviet intentio…

Published on 8 years, 2 months ago

Hitler's Civil Service

In 1933 Hitler sought to extend his power over the German Civil Service and to politicise it by purging non Nazis. However, he hoped to achieve this without damaging the workings of a powerful organ …

Published on 8 years, 2 months ago