Reading time:

1–2 minutes

Drawing from the classic history of war reporting The First Casualty by Phillip Knightley, we explore the history of news, propaganda and misinformation from the Nanjing Massacre and the battle of Shanghai in 1937-8 to Pearl Harbour in 1941.


This is part seven of the Explaining History study course based on the AQA A level history module Revolution and Dictatorship: Russia 1917-53.


In this episode we explore the aftermath of the Russian Civil War and the challenges that the Bolshevik Regime faced from within the party, the peasantry and the Kronstadt sailors. We also explore how Lenin’s changes to the party functioning enabled the rise of StalinStalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (18 December 1878 – 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician, dictator and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. Read More.





Help the podcast to continue bringing you history each week


If 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

Get the weekly analysis

One piece every week connecting current events to their historical roots — free, every Tuesday.

Subscribe free →

Paid tier also available — deeper dives, full archive, essay guides.

If this was useful, there’s more where it came from.

Every week I publish one piece connecting a current event to its historical roots — free, every Tuesday. Paid subscribers get two additional deeper dives and full archive access.

Subscribe to Explaining History →

Leave a Reply

Discover more from Explaining History Podcast

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading