In July 1914 as the final desperate negotiations to avoid war failed, the Ottoman Empire engaged in secret diplomacy with both Germany and Russia to gain as much from the forthcoming conflict as possible. However it was the arrival of a German dreadnought in Constantinople that tied Turkey to the Central Powers.For more content, journalism and ideas, visit the Explaining History Patreon page here: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=763386 Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Britain had a very limited internal security and overseas intelligence capability before the Boer War. However, a government and public obsessed with fears of subversion led to pressures to create a series of agencies that resulted in MI5, Britain's domestic security service.For more content, journalism and ideas, visit the Explaining History Patreon page here: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=763386 Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The training of a ruthless fraternity who's sadism was encouraged and given free reign - this was the training role of the Nazi camp system. It became the proving ground for a generation of SS men who would later perpetrate the Holocaust. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A war of historically unprecedented size and ferocity needed the industrial productivity all belligerent powers. However, American productive capacity dwarfed its European neighbours, as did America's ability to raise finances to pay for the conflict. 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 First World War a federation of Balkan states that had emerged from the collapsed Austro Hungarian and Ottoman Empires, each with conflicting agendas, created a new South Slav Federation; Yugoslavia. The Paris Peace Conference would determine the new nation's future. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The devastation of Germany and Eastern Europe by Hitler created the perfect environment for Soviet rule. Shattered, bewildered and destitute populations had little choice but to accept the domination of the Red Army.If you enjoyed today’s podcast and would like to join in the debate or learn more, visit us on the Explaining History Podcast Facebook group here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/148115359176123/ Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Francoist Spain avoided direct conflict with Britain and America, but waged war against the USSR. By 1943 the tide of war had turned against Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, but Franco's survival instincts enabled his regime to endure long into the post war era. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In 1933 Hitler appointed Hjalmar Schacht as the president of the Reichsbank. Hitler had little understanding about economics and relied on the financial engineering of his new chief banker. However, the problems of the German economy persisted even through the period of rearmament.If you enjoyed today’s podcast and would like to join in the debate or learn more, visit us on the Explaining History Podcast Facebook group here. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As Germany armies surges across western Russia in the summer of 1941, Stalin seemed to lose his nerve and suffer a breakdown. This podcast explores how Stalin recovered and held on to power which seemed momentarily to be close to evaporating.If you enjoyed today’s podcast and would like to join in the debate or learn more, visit us on the Explaining History Podcast Facebook group here. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the last years of the Second World War, a new education act designed to create a school system for post war Britain was established. It was instrumental in creating the post war British class system, but many of the educational advances hoped for failed to materialise. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A review of Babushka's Journey and a discussion of the field of Gulag memoir literature (listen to the end for details on how to get your free copy). Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How did the decline of Richard Nixon and the humiliations heaped upon America in the 1970s lead to the rise in popularity of a once marginal Republican figure, Ronald Reagan? This podcast explores the transition between the two figures in the Republican Party. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The internal logic of Stalinism was based around perceived threats, class enemies, overseas conspiracies and an all pervading secrecy. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hitler's invasion of the USSR was the largest land invasion in history, but it was the most under reported theatre of fighting in the entire war. This podcast explores why so little was known about the Russian Front by news audiences in Russia, Britain and America. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Following Roosevelt's election victory in November 1940, the news that Britain faced certain bankruptcy in dollar terms presented the president with the first major challenge of his new term. The lend lease agreement, signed in March 1941 was the solution. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is the second podcast on labour relations and the Truman Presidency. In 1947, Congress took up the baton of anti union legislation, just as the president was having second thoughts. The Taft Hartley Act was the most significant anti union legislation of the post war era and rolled back many of organised labour's achievements during the New Deal. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is the third part of a series on Operation Barbarossa, the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union. This podcast focuses on the views and beliefs of attackers, defenders and the citizens caught in the middle. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When US volunteers from the International Brigade returned to America after two years of bloodshed and slaughter in Spain, they received a frosty welcome from a suspicious FBI and police. Much of the American public knew very little about the war and understood nothing of what was at stake. 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 First World War, utopian visions of a future world without war informed a generation of diplomats, politicians and peace makers. The horrors of the First World War meant that this vision had become an urgent necessity. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mao, Stalin, Truman and MacArthur's calculations, along with the ambitions of Kim Il Sung and Syngman Rhee turned Korea from a Cold War sideshow into the first hot war of the long Cold War age. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Incoherence was one of the defining features of Nazi economic thinking, as competing economic tendencies within the party and externally were suborned to Hitler's racial ideas. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

At the height of the allied intervention in Russia, David Lloyd George wavered in his enthusiasm for the mission but his political ally and friend Churchill had no such doubts and did everything in his power to encourage an allied crusade against the Bolshevik regime. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Following his death in 1883 Marx was elevated the position of a secular prophet of history by the guardians of his legacy the German Social Democratic Party. The 20th Century Marx is a very different individual to the real 19th Century intellectual and revolutionary. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the last years of the 1970s a fringe economic ideology captured the centre ground in Britain, America and China, transforming the world economy and shifting the balance of power from labour to capital for a generation. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hitler, his ministers and many of his generals fully intended to fight a war of racial annihilation in Russia unlike anything previously seen. This podcast explores the economic and racial thinking behind the Nazi Generalplan Ost. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The question of whether or not to negotiate with Russia and what form the allied intervention in the Russian Civil War should take divided Britain, France and America at the Paris Peace Conference. The Bolshevik response to the western powers was equally mercurial and ambig.uous Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I am working on a plan and I need everyone's input to create a historical literacy course in these frighteningly confused times. Please listen and then give me your thoughts. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On June 22nd 1941 Nazi Germany and its allies launched the largest invasion in history against the Soviet Union. The attack on the USSR had consequences that would be felt for the rest of the 20th Century. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Despite impressive advances against the Axis powers in 1940 and 1941, the organisation and leadership of Rommel's Afrika Korps devastated Britain's position in North Africa by the summer of 1942. Inflexibility and weak leadership led to one of Britain's greatest wartime humiliations, the fall of Tobruk. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The prolonged crisis of the Russian Empire throughout the 19th and early 20th Centuries that resulted from the advance of modernisation led to the creation of revolutionary tensions not just from the left but from the right. Extreme anti semites, Slavophiles and defenders of Orthodoxy merged into the fascist Union of Russian Peoples and their street fighters the Black Hundreds. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The British, aware of their imminent loss of world power in Asia, encouraged the partition of India. Military planners and politicians hoped that a Muslim state, favourable to British interests and opposed to the USSR would emerge in the shape of Pakistan Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany presented the country and its exiles with the first of several crises. The disastrous outcome of the war for Nazi Germany meant that not just Germany's but Austria's fate would be decided in London, Washington and Moscow Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Despite British setbacks and failures in Greece and an overstretched force in North Africa, Churchill was determined to seize Syria from the French Vichy collaborationist regime. The fighting to take Damascus was far harder and more difficult that Churchill had anticipated. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Paranoia and the obsessional belief that the party and state were infiltrated by enemies and saboteurs created a culture of confession and interrogation. This existed at all levels of society from the bottom to the top and found its ultimate expression in the terror of the late 1930s. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With ever more alarming new unfolding in Europe and the fate of Britain hanging in the balance, Franklin Roosevelt decided to stand for re-election for a second time, breaking with tradition that a president serves a maximum two terms. Facing him was the former Democrat Wendell Wilkie, a political outsider who rejected isolationism just as Roosevelt did. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The formation of the Communist Party of Great Britain had direct organisational, financial and ideological input from Lenin himself. He saw it as essential to have a political foothold in Britain, following the British decision to intervene against the Bolsheviks in the Russian Civil War. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Nazi regime's consolidation of power led to an assault on the structures of Germany's federal system. It resulted in the creation of regional governors, but these were local tyrants soon left without any real power Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 airborne operation ever mounted by Germany. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 towards Chiang developed with profound consequences. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 model camp system, designed to work as a means of transforming and 'educating' inmates into becoming ideal members of the racial community. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 privatisation of social security. This led to a gradual decline in union power. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 campaign led Hitler to wage war in Greece and the Balkans to prevent the region from becoming a foothold for the British. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

More on the inner workings of the Soviet Communist Party after 1928 Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 dealing with Soviet Russia by the Paris Peacemakers and the risks of leaving the vast country out of the proceedings. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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. By 1946 the USA faced unprecedented union militancy and strike action Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 intentions. The Cold War entered one of its most dangerous and uncertain phases as a result. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 of state. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Despite being vastly outnumbered in Egypt, a small British Empire force inflicted devastating losses on a vast Italian Army. Mussolini's poorly led and poorly motivated troops were swiftly defeated by a small but well equipped and mobile force. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.