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In the 1930s Woodie Guthrie became the authentic voice of the dispossessed, drifting American diaspora in the drought afflicted heartlands of the USA. However, he was part of a long tradition of American folk and protest music.Explaining History is funded through advertising and donations. For more content, journalism and ideas, visit the Explaining History Patreon page here: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=763386 Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversat
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Despite impressive victories against the allied powers during the First World War, by 1918 the Ottoman Empire was exhausted by fighting and the advantage was shifting towards Britain in the Middle East. General Edmund Allenby skilfully encircled Ottoman armies in late 1918, seizing Damascus and Beirut.Explaining History is funded through advertising and donations. For more content, journalism and ideas, visit the Explaining History Patreon page here: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=763386 Explain
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In the immediate aftermath of the German revolution, radical forces on the left and right were discontent with the development of a centre left Weimar Government. In January 1919, the army and freikorps violently suppressed the revolutionary movement of the Independent Social Democrats, also known as the Spartacists.Explaining History is funded through advertising and donations. For more content, journalism and ideas, visit the Explaining History Patreon page here: https://www.patreon.com/user?u
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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 economic upheaval. The results were chaotic and led to one of the most intense periods of economic hardship since the Russian Civil War.Explaining History is funded through advertising and donations. For more content, journalism and ideas, visit the Explaining History Patreon page here: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=763386 Explaining History helps you un
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Today’s post will be a quick discussion of points raised by Christopher Duggan’s excellent book Fascist Voices: An Intimate History of Mussolini’s Italy. Regarding the information environment of the regime and its impact on public perception. While it is indulgent, I feel it is important to stress how crucial a role information plays in any society. Firstly, it is important to realise that Fascist policies regarding information, did not spring out of the ground. As a result of the chaotic nature of the unification of Italy (Risorgimento) and the fractured nature of both, society and the polity, the Kingdom of…
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Days after the November armistice was signed, the Red Army launched its bid for the Baltic States and only local anti communists, former German soldiers and German mercenaries stood in their way. The consequences for Latvia were horrendous, with warcrimes on both sides and civilians bearing the brunt of the violence.Explaining History is funded through advertising and donations. For more content, journalism and ideas, visit the Explaining History Patreon page here: https://www.patreon.com/user?u
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Strange Fruit was the first popular song that reached a mainstream audience which addressed the question of violence against black people in America and it made Billie Holiday, its original singer, a star. The song lived far beyond her death in 1959 and shaped protest music America throughout the 20th Century.Explaining History is funded through advertising and donations. For more content, journalism and ideas, visit the Explaining History Patreon page here: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=763386
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Whilst Leningrad’s citizens starved, Soviet party bosses enjoyed food, warmth and comfort. Laying siege to the city, the demoralised and ever more brutal German Army started to see by the spring of 1942 the impossibility of Hitler’s dreams in Russia.If you’re able to support the Explaining History Podcast, you can fund it through Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=763386 Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We co