-
In August 1939 the Nazi Soviet Pact shocked the world. Two dictators and sworn enemies, who were under no illusions about future conflict with each other signed a non aggression pact and trade deal. It contained a secret clause about the division and occupation of Poland, a state which neither viewed as legitimate and 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 viewed as an existential threat. Here’s a short video on the agreement and its…
-
Hi student listeners and readers, here’s a few thoughts on the exams you’ll be sitting over the next few weeks. It’s a short recording to help you think in a way that’s going to benefit you and hopefully leave you feeling less stressed and more focused.
-
By 1946 General Douglas MacArthur was installed as America’s imperial viceroy in Tokyo, with more power over the Japanese than any US president before or since has had over the American people. His tenure in Japan led to a revolution in the practices of government and the development of a modern constitutional monarchy. He was careful not to threaten the position of Emperor Hirohito, despite clear evidence of his guilt in war crimes across Asia.
-
The horrors of the fall of Berlin in April and May 1945 have been depicted in films and documentaries such as Oliver Hirschbeigel’s Downfall (2004). That Hitler spent his final days in a bunker and died by his own hand are facts that are widely understood and the mental image of a besieged and dying regime holding out ’til the end occupy a place in our darkest imaginings. The fate of Budapest in the same year is far less well known, but in many ways the two cities were in timately connected in the horror of the war and the onslaught…
-
In the middle of the 1930s the official policy towards the Jews in Poland began to change. The liberal approach to the large Jewish population pioneered by Josef Pilsudski, the father of the nation, died with him in May 1935. What came in its place was a plan to export Poland’s Jews to Palestine, then a British mandate in the Middle East. The development of Poland as a nation state from 1918 onwards led to growing demands for a racially homogenous society from Polish nationalists. Whilst the treatment of the Jews and plans for their future treatment were in no…
-
Between 1926 and 1937 the Marxist intellectual Antonio Gramsci was imprisoned by Mussolini’s fascist government following the dictator’s crack down on left wing parties. During his incarceration he wrote some of the most important critiques of capitalist society of the 20th Century. Gramsci’s prison notebooks are a fundamental part of Marxist thought and attempt to answer questions that Marx was unable to address about the workings of capitalist society. Explaining History helps you understand t
-
Hi all, apologies for the lack of posting, it’s a busy time of year for a history teacher, but without further ado, here are two recent videos. The first is on the subject of Barry Goldwater, the Republican nominee for the Presidential Election of 1964. Goldwater lost to Lyndon Johnson, who won by the biggest margin in US electoral history. However, the ideas Goldwater expounded, fiscal conservatism and a return to American ‘family values’ shaped the following decades in profound and lasting ways. The second video is on the American counter culture, a complex and shifting group of idealists, fellow…
-
In 1949, following the creation of the Soviet controlled German Democratic Republic, Walter Ulbricht, the German Communist Party leader unleashed a wave of repression against the last surviving Jews. The repression was inspired by events in the USSR and the Middle East and help to highlight the moral and ideological pragmatism of the GDR. Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We connect the past to the present. If you enjoy
-
In 1945, following the dropping of two atom bombs on Japan, General Douglas MacArthur became the ruler of the country for six years. He imposed on Japan a modern constitution, while helping to absolve Emperor Hirohito from any blame in the atrocities perpetrated by his armies during the Second World War.Webinar Links (discount code: WF0009023)Modern Britain: http://www.hoddereducation.co.uk/Event/562Germany 1945-91: http://www.hoddereducation.co.uk/Event/561Nazi Germanyhttp://www.hoddereducation
-
In January 1945 the city of Budapest was surrounded by the Red Army and Hitler’s occupying forces made a desperate and futile last stand. The siege of the city by the Red Army is often overshadowed by the subsequent downfall of Berlin, but the consequences for the inhabitants were no less savage. 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.▸ Sup