Podcast Episodes

The Fellow Travellers

Why did so many western intellectuals decide to offer their support to the Soviet Union in the 1930s? Writers like George Bernard Shaw, Freda Kirchwey and left intellectuals like Sidney and Beatrice …

Published on 12 years, 1 month ago

Terrorism, Anarchism and Russia's Intelligentsia

By the late 19th Century Russia was a rapid increase in acts of terrorism against the state, the assassination of government ministers, bombings of state buildings and attempts (eventually successful…

Published on 12 years, 6 months ago

The German Revolution 1918

How did Germany's defeat in World War One lead to a revolution that swept away the Kaiser and result in the rise of a liberal socialist government? What compromises and deals did the new administrati…

Published on 12 years, 6 months ago

Theodor Herzl

Theodor Herzl is credited with being the father of Zionism and the intellectual force behind the founding of the state of Israel, even though he died nearly half a century earlier. How did Herzl's id…

Published on 12 years, 6 months ago

Germans and the Holocaust

What did ordinary German people know or think about the genocide of the Jewish people? This podcast encourages students of Nazi Germany to move away from simplistic views of German Moralities.

Explai…

Published on 12 years, 7 months ago

De-Nazification

How did Germany deal with the legacy of the Holocaust and Nazism? How did West and East German governments address the memory of crimes committed during the war?

Explaining History helps you understa…

Published on 12 years, 7 months ago

The Battle Of The Atlantic

Both Britain and Germany had tried to starve each other into submission on the high seas in the First World War. The British were slow to adopt new tactics in the Second World War against the renewed…

Published on 12 years, 7 months ago

Lend Lease

Why did Roosevelt agree to help arm Britain and France before America joined the war? How did his Arsenals of Democracy Speech affect the nation?What effect did Lend Lease have on America's future en…

Published on 12 years, 9 months ago

The Marshall Plan

Why did the USA offer billions of dollars in aid to Europe in 1948? How did the USSR react to this?This podcast explores the dangers to liberal democracy and the fragile peace in 1948 and George Mars…

Published on 12 years, 9 months ago

The Truman Doctrine

When President Harry Truman announced a huge military aid package to Greece in 1947 it signalled a sea-change in America's stance in the growing Cold War, and showed a willingness to commit fully to …

Published on 12 years, 10 months ago