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In the immediate aftermath of the Chinese Civil War and the seizure of power by the Chinese Communist Party, Mao Zedong began a violent struggle for control of China’s countryside. In a bid to develop a rural powerbase for himself and his party, Mao encouraged communities to tear themselves apart in cycles of denunciation and revenge. 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
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In the immediate aftermath of the First World War, British anxieties over revolutionary tensions in India were high. The action of a lone British general at Amritsar in April 1919 shattered the fragile peace between the colonising British and the colonised Indians, radicalising the independence movement throughout the inter war period. Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We connect the past to the present. If you enjoy th
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During the First World War, nearly a hundred thousand poor Chinese labourers dug British trenches on the western front. Their government hoped that the war would provide opportunities to revise crippling treaties imposed on her by Britain and France and claim back territory lost to Germany and Japan. When Chinese hopes were dashed at the Paris Peace Conference, the long term political consequences in China were immense and dominated the next three decades. Explaining History helps you understand
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The Potsdam Conference was the last major meeting of the allied powers and took place after the surrender of Germany. The conference was a key event in the development of the Cold War and drew up the conflict’s battle grounds in Europe and Asia 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 ContentBecome a Patron:
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In 1921 Britain, America and Japan were among ten powers that met in Washington DC for the world’s first ever disarmament conference. The declining power of the British and the rising confidence of Japan in Asia created the conditions for possible future conflict and all three nations positioned themselves to safeguard their interests. Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We connect the past to the present. If you enjoy th
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Between 1918 and 1921 the Russian Civil War claimed 14 million civilian and military lives. The conflict between the new Bolshevik government and the White counter revolutionaries also saw the fragmentation of the empire, famine and the intervention of Britain, France, America and Japan. 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
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In 1945 France returned to its former colony in Indochina, determined to re-assert control after humiliation by Japan. The nationalist Vietminh were determined to fight for their independence and nine years later inflicted a catastrophic defeat on France at the long battle of Dien Bien Phu. How was France brought to her knees in Indochina and what were the consequences for France? Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We co
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From the 1840s onwards China endured over half a century of an unprecedented onslaught from Britain and other western powers. She was defeated, humiliated and forced to sign treaties that drained her of her wealth, Japan quickly reformed her economy and military to prevent the same process from occurring. This podcast explores the relationship between the west’s ‘Scramble For China’ and the downfall of the Qing Dynasty. You can also download the companion ebook here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sun-
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How did the fall of France, the invasion of the Soviet Union and Pearl Harbour have bearing on the fate of Vietnam? This podcast explores not only the actions of the great powers towards Vietnam during the Second World War, but also the actions of the Vietnamese themselves and their resistance to both French and Japanese occupation. 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
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Japan enjoyed spectacular military successes from December 1941 to February 1942, but from May to November that year was dealt a series of defeats that would ultimately spell doom for the Japanese war effort in the Pacific. Why was the Japanese advance halted in the South Pacific so quickly? 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