Throughout the Second World War, Britain saw its colonies as sources of available manpower, food and finance. As Britain's fortunes changed throughout the conflict, so did its attitude to the present and future of the rest of the empire. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Harlem was the epicentre of black cultural and intellectual life in the inter war decades. Competing radical nationalist and communist parties struggled with each other to attract members from with black community. Each attempted to address the problems of discrimination and prejudice that black Americans faced. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After 1936 the Spanish Civil War became the focal issue for Europe's socialist and communist parties. The rise of Hitler to power had made anti fascist struggle the most important battle for communist movements, especially as Stalin had encouraged political divisions between communist and social democratic parties in the run up to 1933. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Did Britain have a sexual revolution in the 1960s? All indications suggest that momentous change occurred in attitudes to pregnancy, marriage, divorce and homosexuality in that decade. However, in reality Britain had experienced a long century of changing attitudes to sex and private life. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

At the end of the Second World War, intense ethnic hatreds had been reawoken in Yugoslavia and Josef Tito's victorious communist partisans took advantage of internecine feuds and attempted to suppress them in order to establish Yugoslavia as a communist state. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the second half of the 1930s, after explosive economic growth during the five year plans the USSR was convulsed by murderous political violence. The phenomenon of Stalinist terror has occupied the writing of historians for decades and in this podcast we examine two perspectives. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In 1845, at the height of Britain's industrial revolution, Friedrich Engels, the son of a German cotton industrialist came to live in Manchester. His study of the lives of the English working classes was the first major work to highlight the appalling effects of the industrial revolution on the poor. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the middle years of the Second World War, Bulgaria became a target for repeated and heavy RAF and USAAF bombing raids. Bulgaria's alliance with Germany proved to be a disaster for the country, but there was very little real strategic value for the western allies in the Balkans. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the late 19th and early 20th Centuries, railways and steam boats became tools for European powers to colonially exploit a weakened China. Following the 1911 revolution however, rail became a key device by the nationalist Sun Yat Sen to unify a chaotic and fissile country. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the 1920s and 1930s the ownership of Britain's newspapers concentrated in an ever smaller number of hands. Lords Northcliffe, Rothermere and Beaverbrook were able to wield unprecedented political power because they had captured a mass audience of readers. They advanced their own political agendas and existed on the far right of the political spectrum in an age of political uncertainty and crisis. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In 1905 the destruction of the Russian fleet by the Japanese sent political and cultural shockwaves throughout the world. Colonised Asia saw weaknesses in European power that had hitherto never been revealed. The implications for European colonial powers like Britain and France were significant. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In March 1933 the arrest of thousands of communists, socialists and trade unions saw the birth of Hitler's concentration camp system. However, the idea that the camps were a product of an ordered and planned seizure of power should be revised as new evidence suggests that the camps grew out of chaos and the autonomous actions of the SA.****The new A level history series that gives teachers some fresh perspectives and new energising ideas for their lessons will start on October 19th with the first webinar which will focus on modern Britain. On November 2nd I will be co hosting with Alf Wilkinson on Soviet Russia and then on the 9th with Richard Kennet where we will be talking about Nazi Germany. Finally, I’ll be presenting with Helen Snelson on November 16th on post war Germany from 1945-1991. If you’re a subscriber to Explaining History you can get a discount on each booking by following the link that comes with this podcast and quoting the promotionally code WF0009023, which is also listed... Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Why did British, American and European philosophers, writers and journalists embrace Maoism and the violent repression of China after 1949? This podcast attempts to explore the thoughts and motivations of a range of sympathetic 'fellow travellers'. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the mid to late 1970s, faith in politicians and a belief in the moral sanctity of the office of President went into decline in the USA. The Watergate Scandal that ended the career of Richard Nixon was followed by the presidencies of Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter. Both men were seen as weak and ineffective by wide sections of the public. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How did the British Labour Party emerge after 1900, from a wide array of affiliated socialist parties and trade unions? This podcast explores the origins and the rise of the party and its effect on British politics in the Edwardian era. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In August 1968, during a year of violence and political tension in America, protesters fought a pitched battle in the streets of Chicago with the police. The anti Vietnam war demonstrators clashed outside the Democratic National Convention, while inside the pro and anti war factions of the divided Democrats attacked one another. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Between 1926 and 1937 the Marxist intellectual Antonio Gramsci was imprisoned by Mussolini's fascist government following the dictator's crack down on left wing parties. During his incarceration he wrote some of the most important critiques of capitalist society of the 20th Century. Gramsci's prison notebooks are a fundamental part of Marxist thought and attempt to answer questions that Marx was unable to address about the workings of capitalist society. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In 1949, following the creation of the Soviet controlled German Democratic Republic, Walter Ulbricht, the German Communist Party leader unleashed a wave of repression against the last surviving Jews. The repression was inspired by events in the USSR and the Middle East and help to highlight the moral and ideological pragmatism of the GDR. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In 1945, following the dropping of two atom bombs on Japan, General Douglas MacArthur became the ruler of the country for six years. He imposed on Japan a modern constitution, while helping to absolve Emperor Hirohito from any blame in the atrocities perpetrated by his armies during the Second World War.Webinar Links (discount code: WF0009023)Modern Britain: http://www.hoddereducation.co.uk/Event/562Germany 1945-91: http://www.hoddereducation.co.uk/Event/561Nazi Germanyhttp://www.hoddereducation.co.uk/Event/563Soviet Russiahttp://www.hoddereducation.co.uk/Event/564 Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In January 1945 the city of Budapest was surrounded by the Red Army and Hitler's occupying forces made a desperate and futile last stand. The siege of the city by the Red Army is often overshadowed by the subsequent downfall of Berlin, but the consequences for the inhabitants were no less savage. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the second half of the 1930s the Polish Government abandoned its previously liberal policies towards Poland's large Jewish population and instead hoped to force mass migration to the British mandate of Palestine. Their partners in this endeavour were the extreme right wingers on the zionist movement, the revisionists, led by Vladimir Jabotinsky.If you can spare a dime towards the hosting, I'd be ever so grateful: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/help-fund-the-explaining-history-podcast/x/13613771#/ Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the 1960s a diverse movement of protest and activism closely associated (but not limited to) the hippy movement developed in the USA. The politicised parts of the counterculture demanded the overthow of capitalism but did not look to the USSR as a possible replacement - Soviet communism had long since been discredited.Webinar Links (discount code: WF0009023)Modern Britain: http://www.hoddereducation.co.uk/Event/562Germany 1945-91: http://www.hoddereducation.co.uk/Event/561Nazi Germanyhttp://www.hoddereducation.co.uk/Event/563Soviet Russiahttp://www.hoddereducation.co.uk/Event/564Also, if you can spare a dime towards the hosting, I'd be ever so grateful: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/help-fund-the-explaining-history-podcast/x/13613771#/ Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When Leonid Brezhnev came to power in 1964 he was determined to undo many of the liberalising reforms of his predecessor Nikita Khrushchev. However, his appointment of Alexei Kosygin gave joint control of the economy to a moderniser who attempted to introduce more market based reforms. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

At the end of the Second World War, the USA reshaped the world economy in its own interests. The acute economic problems facing great Britain due to the cost of the war were a matter of indifference to many US policy makers and large sections of the American public. When John Maynard Keynes, Britain's pre-eminent economist proposed that Britain seek a loan from the USA, tough negotiations followed which would have a profound effect on post war Britain's economy and society.Also, if you can spare a dime in the annual crowd funding drive, I'd be terrifically grateful:https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/help-fund-the-explaining-history-podcast/x/13613771#/ Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When Rudolf Hoess, the commandant of Auschwitz between 1940 and 1943 was tried for his crimes in 1947 he was open and revealing about the process of genocide at the camp and the attitudes of the SS men under his command to their work. The testimony raises as many questions and challenges for Holocaust historians as it answers. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In 1916 a British officer, Thomas Edward Lawrence and an Arab prince, Feisal of Mecca led a guerrilla army of Bedouin against the Ottoman Empire in Arabia. In the 1920s Lawrence became an international celebrity due to his wartime exploits and he has remained a mythologised figure for much of the 20th Century. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the post war decades the dream of new affordable housing came true for millions of white Americans. Black, Latino, Jewish and other ethnic minority families were excluded from the new utopia of the suburbs and instead many lived in increasingly deprived inner city ghettoes. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

At the end of the Second World War, the British Army marched into the French colony of Indochina, which had been occupied by Japan for the previous four years. The British used Japanese and Indian troops to prevent a Viet Minh nationalist government establishing itself and returned French colonists to power. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the second half of the 19th Century a quiet publishing revolution was taking place. Victorian ladies with education and wealth were able to produce new newspapers, pamphlets and books demanding equal political and legal rights for women. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Between 1918 and 1939 France's overseas colonial empire, like Britain's, grew with the acquisition of Ottoman territories as mandates. France's empire was ruled using different ideas and institutions to Britain but both systems struggled to hold together during economically and politically turbulent decades. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In 1947, two days after India became an independent nation, the plans to partition the country into a Hindu India and Muslim East and West Pakistan were announced. British policies of divide and rule, combined with hastily drawn up boundaries and a lack of a real understanding about the possible outcome led to ethnic violence on an enormous scale. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In 1945, after the devastation of a long war across Asia, Britain's hold over her Indian empire was greatly weakened. The new Labour Government was notionally committed to Indian independence, but it was the inability of Britain to continue ruling and the development of India as a powerful new military force in the region that made independence an inevitability. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the aftermath of the October Revolution in 1917, Constructivism, a radical avante garde modernist style of architecture became influential. The Constructivists enthusiasm for the revolution was not shared by Lenin and the Bolsheviks who viewed it with suspicion. In 1932 architecture and all other forms of art and culture were finally harnessed in the interests of Stalinism and the Constructivists were replaced by Stalinist architecture. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Following the death of US president Franklin Roosevelt, his successor, Harry Truman entered the Oval Office in the last days of World War Two. The inexperienced and untested president charted a new course in US diplomacy, ending his predecessor's accommodation of Soviet demands. One of the key moments in the development of the Cold War began in April 1945 with Truman's presidency. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

By the end of the 1960s the Cold War was in deadlock and America was mired in war in Vietnam. Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger attempted to address these crises but in a secretive and controlling fashion. The results were a major shift in Cold War relations but also terrible devastation and destruction in Asia. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

During the Second World War, Subhas Chandra Bose courted Soviet, Nazi and Imperial Japanese leaders in order to build an army to force the British out of India. He died in a plane crash in Taiwan in 1945 but was seen by many in India as a freedom fighter and a hero. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In 1974 the government of Edward Heath was defeated in an election called to give Heath a mandate against the trade unions. His nemesis was the miners union organiser Arthur Scargill. In 1984 Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher inflicted a crushing defeat on the union movement, a victory long in the planning by the Conservative Government. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In August 1945 two atomic bombs were dropped on Japan ending the Second World War in Asia. However the bombs did not end conflict across the region, instead they ended Japan's involvement as an imperial power. Fighting continued in Asia throughout the next three decades as the new fault lines of the cold war emerged and European powers sought to regain control of their colonies. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

At the end of the Second World War, the USA was the wealthiest society in history and experienced an economic boom that was to last for nearly three decades. This boom had a profound transformational effect on American society and was the dawning of the USA that dominated the world in the second half of the 20th Century. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

During the chaos of the First World War a generation of British and American correspondents in Russia astutely predicted the failure of the Provisional Government and came to see the Bolsheviks as a viable alternative. Some, like Arthur Ransome and John Reed went further and became passionate advocates for the new regime led by Vladimir Lenin. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Throughout the 20th Century Romania has endured the twin catastrophes of fascism and communism. During the Second World War Romania was deeply involved in the holocaust and the development of an aggressive nationalism that remained undiminished throughout the communist era was chiefly to blame. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Margaret Thatcher was a politician convinced that a return to 'family values' after two decades of seeming moral decline in the 60s and 70s was part of the key to restoring British fortunes. Throughout the 1980s, however, this manifested itself in a prolonged attack on gay rights, during a time when the existence of the HIV virus and AIDS was associated in the press with the LGBT community. During the 1980s however, Conservative policies led to a politicisation of the gay community and the question of gay rights in a way that had not previously occurred in Britain. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In February 1943, after one of the longest coldest winters of the war, the news that the German 6th Army had been lost at Stalingrad shocked the nation. In response Joseph Goebbels, the public face of the regime made the most important speech of his career announcing a new time of struggle and total war. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

During the First World War the racist terrorist organisation the Ku Klux Klan reformed and by 1924 boasted four million members. However five years later it was once more a political irrelevance. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In August 1961 East German and Soviet forces created a wall around West Berlin, preventing East Germans from fleeing to the west. The failures of Soviet Communism and the attractions of a prosperous west had led a fifth of the population to migrate. This podcast explores the crisis and how the wall led to a gradual stabilisation in the Cold War in Europe. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the early 1970s John Lennon embarked on a brief and rather inglorious career as a political activist while based in America. His activism was an indication of the wider radicalisation of the decade and can help us to examine the prevalence of the counter culture in 1970s America. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In 1966 after four years of existing at the margins of the Chinese Communist Party following the disasters of the Great Leap Forward, Mao Zedong returned. He claimed that revisionist and right deviationist elements within the party were derailing the revolution and only the millions of Red Guards and the Chinese workers and peasants could put China back on track to socialism. The result was the catastrophic cultural revolution. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Erich Fromm, one of the most overlooked intellectual figures of the 20th Century wrote insightful critiques of consumerist capitalism and explanations of the appeal of Nazism. His work also explored the dilemmas of being human in an increasingly alienating world. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.