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The Collapse Nobody Predicted In the spring of 1918, Germany appeared to be winning the First World War. The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk in March had knocked Russia out of the conflict, freeing over a million German troops for transfer to the Western Front. Operation Michael, launched in March, achieved the largest territorial gains on the Western Front since 1914, driving deep into Allied lines and threatening to split the British and French armies. By May, German forces were closer to Paris than at any point since 1914. And yet by November, Germany had surrendered. The speed and completeness of the…
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Why did Russia explode into violence and anarchy in 1905? How the the Czar react? Russia’s experience in 1905 set the stage for the revolution in 1917 and showed to all sides, the Czar, workers, peasants and nobles, who could trust who, and how high the stakes were. 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 Content Become a Patron: patreon.com/explaininghistory ▸ Join the Community & Continue the Conversation Facebook Group:…
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What You’ll Learn in This Episode The origins and structure of Russia’s aristocratic class under the Tsarist system How the nobility related to the autocracy — support, tension, and dependence Why Russia’s aristocrats failed to present a credible alternative to the Tsar in 1917 The Bolshevik assault on the nobility and the destruction of Russia’s landed elite How the elimination of the aristocracy reshaped Russian society and politics A World of Privilege: Russia’s Aristocracy Before 1917 At the turn of the twentieth century, Russia remained one of the most socially unequal societies in the industrialised world. While Western European nobles…
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What You’ll Learn in This Episode The conditions inside Russia in early 1917 that made revolution almost inevitable How a spontaneous bread riot in Petrograd grew into the collapse of the Romanov dynasty The role of the army in tipping the balance — why soldiers refused to fire on the crowds What the Provisional Government was, who led it, and why it failed to consolidate power The nature of “dual powerDual Power The political condition in Russia between February and October 1917 in which power was contested between the Provisional Government (representing the liberal and democratic forces of the February…
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What You’ll Learn in This Episode Why the United States announced the Truman DoctrineTruman Doctrine Full Description:The Truman Doctrine established the ideological framework for the Cold War. It articulated a binary worldview, dividing the globe into two alternative ways of life: one based on the will of the majority (the West) and one based on the will of a minority forcibly imposed upon the majority (Communism). This doctrine justified US intervention in conflicts far from its own borders, arguing that a threat to peace anywhere was a threat to the security of the United States. Critical Perspective:Critically, this doctrine provided the moral…
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What You’ll Learn in This Episode What the Lend-LeaseLend-Lease Full Description The American programme, begun in March 1941, by which the United States supplied Britain, the Soviet Union, and other Allied nations with war matériel without demanding immediate payment. By 1945 the United States had supplied approximately $50 billion in goods including aircraft, tanks, food, and raw materials. Lend-Lease allowed Britain to maintain the war effort before American entry and provided the Soviet Union with crucial supplies — particularly trucks and food — that contributed significantly to its capacity to fight. Critical Perspective Soviet authorities consistently downplayed the significance of…
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What You’ll Learn in This Episode Why control of the Atlantic was the single most important strategic question of the Second World War How German U-boats nearly severed Britain’s supply lines in 1940–42 The technological and tactical innovations — radar, depth charges, convoy systems — that turned the tide The decisive year of 1943 and why May became known as “Black May” for the U-boat fleet The human cost on both sides and what the Battle of the Atlantic reveals about industrial warfare at sea Britain’s Lifeline: Why the Atlantic Mattered Of all the campaigns of the Second World War,…
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What You’ll Learn in This Episode The conditions inside Germany in autumn 1918 that made revolution almost inevitable How sailors’ mutinies at Kiel sparked a revolutionary wave across Germany’s cities The role of the Social Democrats in ending the war and suppressing the radical left What the Spartacist uprising of January 1919 revealed about the divisions within German socialism Why the revolution failed to produce a genuinely democratic transformation of German society The World the War Destroyed: Germany in Autumn 1918 By October 1918, the German Empire was collapsing. Four years of industrial warfare had killed nearly two million German…
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What You’ll Learn in This Episode The roots of political terrorism in nineteenth-century Russia and the intelligentsia’s role in it How anarchist and nihilist ideas spread through educated Russian society in the 1860s–1880s The strategy of “propaganda by the deed” and why revolutionaries believed violence could transform society The assassination of Tsar Alexander II in 1881 and its political consequences How the failure of terrorism shaped the next generation of Russian revolutionary strategy The Intelligentsia and the Revolutionary Tradition In the mid-nineteenth century, Russia produced one of the most remarkable political cultures in the world: educated men and women who…
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What You’ll Learn in This Episode Who the “Fellow Travellers” were — Western intellectuals who sympathised with Soviet communism without joining the Party Why so many writers, artists and academics in the 1930s were attracted to the Soviet experiment The role of “Potemkin village” visits to the USSR in shaping and distorting Western perceptions How the Moscow Show TrialsShow Trials Full Description:Highly publicized, choreographed trials of prominent Bolshevik leaders (such as Zinoviev, Kamenev, and Bukharin). The defendants were forced to confess to impossible crimes, such as conspiring with Fascists or plotting to kill Lenin, to justify their execution. The Show Trials were…