Explaining History

During the First World War, nearly a hundred thousand poor Chinese labourers dug British trenches on the western front. Their government hoped that the war would provide opportunities to revise crippling treaties imposed on her by Britain and France and claim back territory lost to Germany and Japan. When Chinese hopes were dashed at the Paris Peace Conference, the long term political consequences in China were immense and dominated the next three decades. Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We connect the past to the present. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and share.▸ Support the Show & Get Exclusive ContentBecome a Patron: patreon.com/explaininghistory▸ Join the Community & Continue the ConversationFacebook Group: facebook.com/groups/ExplainingHistoryPodcastSubstack: theexplaininghistorypodcast.substack.com▸ Read Articles & Go DeeperWebsite: explaininghistory.org Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Benito Mussolini dominated Italy for two decades and was able to rule partly because of the relationship he had with the Italian people. To many ordinary Italians he was an immensely popular figure and many viewed him as down to earth and in touch with the lives of Italy's working poor. This podcast explores his cult of personality. Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We connect the past to the present. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and share.▸ Support the Show & Get Exclusive ContentBecome a Patron: patreon.com/explaininghistory▸ Join the Community & Continue the ConversationFacebook Group: facebook.com/groups/ExplainingHistoryPodcastSubstack: theexplaininghistorypodcast.substack.com▸ Read Articles & Go DeeperWebsite: explaininghistory.org Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Potsdam Conference was the last major meeting of the allied powers and took place after the surrender of Germany. The conference was a key event in the development of the Cold War and drew up the conflict's battle grounds in Europe and Asia Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We connect the past to the present. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and share.▸ Support the Show & Get Exclusive ContentBecome a Patron: patreon.com/explaininghistory▸ Join the Community & Continue the ConversationFacebook Group: facebook.com/groups/ExplainingHistoryPodcastSubstack: theexplaininghistorypodcast.substack.com▸ Read Articles & Go DeeperWebsite: explaininghistory.org Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In January 1942 Reinhard Heydrich, Himmler's deputy held a conference at Wannsee in Berlin to order the mass extermination of all of Europe's Jews. This podcast explores the relationship between the conference and the course of the war.For a detailed analysis of this and the Jewish Holocaust, read Julia Routledge's excellent new ebook The Genocidal Century: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Genocidal-Century-Mass-Killing-20th-ebook/dp/B00PCMAV1E/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1415438292&sr=1-1 Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We connect the past to the present. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and share.▸ Support the Show & Get Exclusive ContentBecome a Patron: patreon.com/explaininghistory▸ Join the Community & Continue the ConversationFacebook Group: facebook.com/groups/ExplainingHistoryPodcastSubstack: theexplaininghistorypodcast.substack.com▸ Read Articles & Go DeeperWebsite: explaininghistory.org Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Harold Wilson was Britain's Prime Minister from 1964-1970, a period in which optimistic visions of a new country faltered and faded. By the end of the decade the modern, meritocratic and scientific country that he promised in 1964 had not materialised. This podcast explores Wilson and the challenges he and Britain faced. Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We connect the past to the present. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and share.▸ Support the Show & Get Exclusive ContentBecome a Patron: patreon.com/explaininghistory▸ Join the Community & Continue the ConversationFacebook Group: facebook.com/groups/ExplainingHistoryPodcastSubstack: theexplaininghistorypodcast.substack.com▸ Read Articles & Go DeeperWebsite: explaininghistory.org Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

At the end of the Second World War Europe was devastated, starving and in chaos. Millions of refugees and displaced persons were dependent on the United Nations to feed and shelter them. Some of the newly restored governments saw it as an ideal opportunity to expel unwanted ethnic minorities and in parts of the continent, fighting between communist and non communist forces continued. Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We connect the past to the present. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and share.▸ Support the Show & Get Exclusive ContentBecome a Patron: patreon.com/explaininghistory▸ Join the Community & Continue the ConversationFacebook Group: facebook.com/groups/ExplainingHistoryPodcastSubstack: theexplaininghistorypodcast.substack.com▸ Read Articles & Go DeeperWebsite: explaininghistory.org Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

by February 1945 The Soviet Union controlled most of Eastern Europe and outnumbered the Western Allies 3-1. Stalin was in a uniquely powerful bargaining position at the Yalta Conference in the Crimea to shape the post war world and demand concessions from Churchill and Roosevelt. Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We connect the past to the present. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and share.▸ Support the Show & Get Exclusive ContentBecome a Patron: patreon.com/explaininghistory▸ Join the Community & Continue the ConversationFacebook Group: facebook.com/groups/ExplainingHistoryPodcastSubstack: theexplaininghistorypodcast.substack.com▸ Read Articles & Go DeeperWebsite: explaininghistory.org Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In late 1943 the British, Americans and Soviets met at Tehran to discuss the final stages of the war and what the post war world would look like. Throughout the meeting Churchill's war strategies were steadily undermined by American disagreements and the growing power and confidence of the Soviet leader Joseph Stalin. Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We connect the past to the present. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and share.▸ Support the Show & Get Exclusive ContentBecome a Patron: patreon.com/explaininghistory▸ Join the Community & Continue the ConversationFacebook Group: facebook.com/groups/ExplainingHistoryPodcastSubstack: theexplaininghistorypodcast.substack.com▸ Read Articles & Go DeeperWebsite: explaininghistory.org Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Leni Riefenstahl was Adolf Hitler's favourite film maker and became an increasingly popular member of his inner circle, producing films like Triumph of the Will and Olympia throughout the 1930s. After the war she distanced herself from the Nazis crimes but evidence shows her complicity in them, despite acquittal at the Nuremberg Trials. Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We connect the past to the present. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and share.▸ Support the Show & Get Exclusive ContentBecome a Patron: patreon.com/explaininghistory▸ Join the Community & Continue the ConversationFacebook Group: facebook.com/groups/ExplainingHistoryPodcastSubstack: theexplaininghistorypodcast.substack.com▸ Read Articles & Go DeeperWebsite: explaininghistory.org Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In 1920 the sale, import and manufacture of alcohol in America was banned and for the next thirteen years the government waged an increasingly fruitless war against smugglers and gangsters to keep America dry. How did a society that cherished libertarian principals and the limited role of the state come to enact such far reaching laws? Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We connect the past to the present. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and share.▸ Support the Show & Get Exclusive ContentBecome a Patron: patreon.com/explaininghistory▸ Join the Community & Continue the ConversationFacebook Group: facebook.com/groups/ExplainingHistoryPodcastSubstack: theexplaininghistorypodcast.substack.com▸ Read Articles & Go DeeperWebsite: explaininghistory.org Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.