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A recurring claim in populist right-wing discourse asserts that Adolf Hitler and the Nazi movement were “socialist.” This argument leans superficially on the word “Socialist” in the Nazi Party’s name (National Socialist German Workers’ Party) and occasional anti-capitalist rhetoric used by Nazi propagandists. However, the overwhelming consensus of historical scholarship rejects this claim . Nazism is classified as a form of fascist, far-right ultranationalism, fundamentally opposed to Marxist and socialist ideologies . This paper addresses the “Hitler was a socialist” fallacy through a review of the historiography and a thematic analysis of key areas: ideology, economic policy, political rhetoric versus…
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• GET THE COMPLETE STUDY NOTE BUNDLE ON THE CAUSES OF THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION HERE Introduction The Russian Revolution of 1917 – comprising the February Revolution and the October Revolution – was a watershed that toppled the centuries-old Tsarist autocracy and led to the establishment of Bolshevik rule. Historians have long debated the causes of this revolution, producing a rich historiography with contrasting interpretations. These debates often fall into distinct schools of thought: the Soviet (Marxist-Leninist) view, which portrays the revolution as an inevitable class uprising; the Western liberal (or “orthodox”) view, which emphasizes political failures and sees the Bolshevik…
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Introduction The outbreak of the First World War in 1914 was the result of a complex interplay of long-term structural forces and short-term decisions. Historians have long debated the war’s causes, proposing various explanations that highlight factors such as rampant nationalism, imperial rivalries, militarism and the arms race, entangling alliances and diplomatic failures, economic competition, and the chain of events during the July Crisis. This literature review examines key historiographical debates on the war’s origins from 1870 to 1914, surveying interpretations from classic scholars like A.J.P. Taylor and Fritz Fischer to more recent voices such as Christopher Clark. Over time,…
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Donald Trump has signalled a great strategic alignment away from the principles of Pax Americana, the post war unofficial imperium that America has operated since 1945 towards something that resembles the concert of great powers before the First World War. One of the powers thrown into diplomatic and strategic crisis as a result of this is Britain.Help the podcast to continue bringing you history each weekIf you enjoy the Explaining History podcast and its many years of content and would like to
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Between 1876 and 1920 the Ottoman Empire experienced its final crises, and despite delivering several shock defeats to allied powers during the First World War it was overcome by 1918 and subject to humiliating terms in 1920 – the consequences of which have reverberated across the 20th Century. This is the first of several podcasts on this huge historical transition that is still playing out across the Middle East and beyond. Help the podcast to continue bringing you history each weekIf you enjo
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This episode is part of our study series AQA – Revolution and Dictatorship – Russia 1917-53. In this episode we look at Stalin’s Terror.Help the podcast to continue bringing you history each weekIf you enjoy the Explaining History podcast and its many years of content and would like to help the show continue, please consider supporting it in the following ways:If you want to go ad-free, you can take out a membership hereOrYou can support the podcast via Patreon hereOr you can just say some nice
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America is withdrawing strategically and diplomatically from Europe and leaving Ukraine to its fate. The history of Atlanticism from 1941 to the present day has been a complex relationship often relying on figures like Roosevelt and Churchill whose interests aligned and on America seeing its strategic interests aligning with Europe. This podcast explores the negotiations between Churchill and Roosevelt during the Arcadia Conference and the current decline of relations (including the fabled Briti
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This episode is the forth in our isms and ologies series on Anarchism and gives an explanation of anarchist thought on managerialism and state bureaucracyHelp the podcast to continue bringing you history each weekIf you enjoy the Explaining History podcast and its many years of content and would like to help the show continue, please consider supporting it in the following ways:If you want to go ad-free, you can take out a membership hereOrYou can support the podcast via Patreon hereOr you can j
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What is soft power? It was a term conceptualised by Joseph Nye at the end of the Cold War to encapsulate America’s moral and cultural appeal to the world. The current decline in the use of soft power by Trump administration was first accelerated by the neocons under George W. Bush, who accepted explicitly that the War on Terror would mean the abandonment of the pretence of moral leadership and this was encapsulated by torture at Abu Ghraib prison, rendition flights and Guantanamo Bay. This podca
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What is globalisation? In its current incarnation, it is the now collapsing system of quasi free markets established by the US and its allies after the Second World War that ensured a degree of stability in trade for wealthy countries and the plunder of poorer ones emerging from control by European empires. This podcast explores the functioning of this high point of globalisation and the crises within it. Help the podcast to continue bringing you history each weekIf you enjoy the Explaining Hist
Explaining History Podcast
Month: February 2025
February 2025
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