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Rethinking Japan's war against China 1937-45
For the Chinese people, the Second World War began in 1937, with Japan's ruthless invasion of the mainland and the destruction of cities such as Nanj…
7 years, 9 months ago
The fall of Damascus and Mesopotamia 1918
Despite impressive victories against the allied powers during the First World War, by 1918 the Ottoman Empire was exhausted by fighting and the advan…
7 years, 9 months ago
Woodie Guthrie and the Dust Bowl
In the 1930s Woodie Guthrie became the authentic voice of the dispossessed, drifting American diaspora in the drought afflicted heartlands of the USA…
7 years, 9 months ago
The Crushing of the Spartacists: 1919
In the immediate aftermath of the German revolution, radical forces on the left and right were discontent with the development of a centre left Weima…
7 years, 9 months ago
Shops and shortages under Stalin 1929-39
Stalin's decision to ban private trade and to create state monopolies was carried out in haste with little planning during a period of immense econom…
7 years, 9 months ago
Billie Holiday and Strange Fruit - 1939
Strange Fruit was the first popular song that reached a mainstream audience which addressed the question of violence against black people in America …
7 years, 10 months ago
The Freikorps vs the Red Army - Latvia 1919
Days after the November armistice was signed, the Red Army launched its bid for the Baltic States and only local anti communists, former German soldi…
7 years, 10 months ago
The Siege of Leningrad Part Two
Whilst Leningrad's citizens starved, Soviet party bosses enjoyed food, warmth and comfort. Laying siege to the city, the demoralised and ever more br…
7 years, 10 months ago
The problems of American rearmament: 1941
Years of inconsistency in America's foreign and defence policy throughout the 1930s had left deep confusion at the highest levels of government about…
7 years, 10 months ago
War exhaustion and the Central Powers
When Russia left the First World War in 1918, the generals and politicians of the Central Powers were convinced that victory was in sight. Germany's …
7 years, 11 months ago